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Irruputuncu

Volcano shared by Bolivia and Chile

Irruputuncu is a volcano in the commune of Pica, Tamarugal Province, Tarapacá Region, Chile, as well as San Pedro de Quemes Municipality, Nor Lípez Province, Potosí Department, Bolivia. The mountain's summit is 5,163 m (16,939 ft) high and has two summit craters—the southernmost 200 m (660 ft)-wide one has active fumaroles. The volcano also features lava flows, block and ash flows and several lava domes. The volcano is part of the Andean Central Volcanic Zone (CVZ). The volcano has been active during the Pleistocene and Holocene, with major eruptions occurring 258.2 ± 48.8 ka ago, between 55.9 ka and 140 ka ago and 1570 ± 900 BP (380 ± 900 AD), which were accompanied by the formation of ignimbrites. Historical volcanic activity is less clear; an eruption in 1989 is considered unconfirmed. Plumes linked to phreatomagmatic eruptive activity were observed on 26 November 1995 and 1 September 2003. Seismic activity is also observed on Irruputuncu, and ongoing fumarolic activity releasing 21–50 t/d (0.24–0.57 long ton/ks) of sulfur dioxide has left sulfur deposits in the active crater. The Central Volcanic Zone is thinly inhabited and most volcanoes are not under reconnaissance, but Irruputuncu is watched by the Chilean SERNAGEOMIN geologic service. The possibility of geothermal energy production from the volcano has been examined. ## Etymology and alternative names The name Irruputuncu derives from Aymara iru spiny Peruvian feather grass and phutunqu a small vessel or a hole, pit, crater. Alternative names are Irruputunco and Iruputuncu. ## Geography and geology ### Regional setting The subduction of the Nazca plate and the Antarctic plate beneath the western side of South America has generated a belt of volcanic activity named the Andean Volcanic Belt. The belt is separated in a number of volcanic zones by segments lacking recent volcanic activity; in these segments, shallow subduction of the plates presumably displaces the asthenosphere away from these segments. The segments with active volcanism are the Northern Volcanic Zone (NVZ), the Central Volcanic Zone (CVZ), the Southern Volcanic Zone (SVZ) and the Austral Volcanic Zone (AVZ). The "Volcanoes of the World" catalogue counts about 575 eruptions in the entire volcanic belt. Volcanic activity in the belt is usually linked to the dehydration of the subducting slabs, which causes water and other subducted components to be added to the overlying mantle. In the case of the CVZ, this addition generates magmas that are further modified by the thick crust in the area, forming andesites, dacites and rhyolites. ### Local setting Volcanism in the CVZ is linked to the subduction of the Nazca plate beneath the South America plate. This subduction within the past c. 27.5 mya has triggered a thickening of the crust and orogeny. Approximately 44 volcanic centres that are either active or potentially active are found in the CVZ. Some centres are fumarolically active; these include Alitar, Lastarria and Tacora. Irruputuncu and other volcanoes including Guallatiri, Isluga, Lascar and San Pedro have displayed phreatic or magmatic-phreatic activity. The arid climate of the area has led to good preservation of volcanic structures. A small gap about 100 km (62 mi) wide, which is known as the "Pica gap" but includes the Pliocene-Pleistocene Alto Toroni volcano that features vigorous seismic activity, separates Irruputuncu from Isluga in the north. Irruputuncu is part of an elliptical alignment of volcanoes that extends to the east, which may be linked to a cup-shaped intrusion in the crust. Older Pliocene volcanoes around Irruputuncu are Laguna volcano to the northeast and Bofedal to the southeast. Irruputuncu lies at the end of a chain of volcanoes that trends northeastward away from it. It may be part of a larger volcano system in the area. The volcanic complex sits on top of ignimbrite layers, the Miocene Ujina and Pleistocene Pastillos Ignimbrites. These ignimbrites are c.150 m (490 ft) and 20–90 m (66–295 ft) thick, the former is a welded ignimbrite that was erupted 9.3 ± 0.4 mya and the latter in two stages 0.79 ± 0.2 - 0.73 ± 0.16 mya and 0.32 ± 0.25 mya. In terms of composition, the Ujina is pink-grey crystals and pumice and the Pastillos a gray-white pumice forming the lower member and the upper member of the Pastillos contains cinerites with accessory claystones, siltstones and diatomites. Further volcanic rocks beneath Irruputuncu are hydrothermally altered dacites that may be part of an older now deeply eroded edifice. Irruputuncu is a relatively small, 5,163 m (16,939 ft) high volcano, which covers a surface area of 23.861 km² (9.213 sq mi) with a volume of 4 km³ (0.96 cu mi) and has two summit craters, of which the 200 m (660 ft)-wide southwestern one is fumarolically active. Crater II, the youngest crater, is surrounded by the Crater lava flows that form lava domes and seven short lava flows 0.54–0.94 km (0.34–0.58 mi) long, 68–107 m (223–351 ft) thick and with a total volume of 0.042 km³ (0.010 cu mi) emitted from it. They have weakly developed ogives and there is no evidence of glacial activity anywhere on the volcano. The current edifice is constructed within a collapsed amphitheater of an older edifice. Overall, the volcano has a pristine morphology. Block and ash flows and thick lava flows of high viscosity form the stratocone. A rhyolitic ignimbrite is found southwest of the volcano. The oldest lava flows on the northern and eastern side of the volcano were erupted from a northeastern crater named Crater I and are 35–113 m (115–371 ft) thick with erosional features and preserved ogives. They have a volume of around 0.097 km³ (0.023 cu mi). The younger flows are known as Queñoas lava flows; they form six distinct flows on the western sides of the volcano. They have different appearances depending on the side; the northwestern flows form lateral lava levees and ogives and reach thicknesses of 117–180 metres (384–591 ft) while the other flows have lobate structures with thicknesses of 23–95 m (75–312 ft). These thicknesses may be the result of high-viscosity magma and/or low eruption rates. A major block and ash deposit with the volume of 0.023 km³ (0.0055 cu mi) covers a surface area of 11.333 km² (4.376 sq mi); it was highly mobile considering the distances it reached from the volcano on all three sides of the younger crater. It contains large blocks and has long flow ridges. A second block and ash flow formed by the collapse of lava domes covers 0.801 km² (0.309 sq mi). Its blocks are somewhat smaller and its ridges are poorly developed. Fissure eruptions have generated large lava flows from the flanks. The El Pozo ignimbrite covers a surface area of 0.02 km² (0.0077 sq mi) northwest of the volcano with a thickness of 50 m (160 ft), an approximate volume of 0.001 km³ (0.00024 cu mi) and is probably linked to Irruputuncu, in which case it would be the volcano's oldest unit. Irruputuncu underwent a flank collapse that subdivides the volcano into two edifices, the older Irruputuncu I and the younger Irruputuncu II, about 140 ± 40 ka ago. This flank collapse extends 6.3 km (3.9 mi) southwest from the older crater I and is about 10 m (33 ft) thick. It was formed by the collapse of the southwestern flank and forms three distinct units formed by hummock-forming lava blocks and flow ridges up to 1 km (0.62 mi) long. Each stage is associated with an individual crater named Crater I and Crater II. The flank collapse was probably produced by oversteepening of the volcano or by asymmetric growth. Subsequent activity of the volcano has completely filled the scarp. The lack of ground deformation during eruptive activity suggests the magma chamber of Irruputuncu may be more than 7–15 km (4.3–9.3 mi) deep, which may be linked to the thickness of the crust beneath the Central Andes, ranging 50–70 km (31–43 mi). Irruputuncu displays vigorous fumarolic activity that occupies about half the summit crater and is visible within several 10 km (6.2 mi). The 200 m (660 ft) high fumaroles have temperatures of 83–240 °C (181–464 °F) and are composed mainly by sulfur dioxide, followed by minor amounts of hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, methane, nitrogen and oxygen. In addition, argon, carbon monoxide, helium, hydrogen and sulfur are found. The temperatures of the fumaroles are comparable with or exceed the boiling point at such altitudes. ASTER imagery indicates Irruputuncu's fumarole field has a small surface area with high temperatures. Total sulfur dioxide flux from the volcano is between 21–50 t/d (0.24–0.57 long ton/ks). The fumarolic activity has left sulfur deposits on the volcano. Sulfur deposits are found in the youngest crater in an area of about 0.011 km² (0.0042 sq mi), and also form small sulfur flows with pahoehoe-type morphology. Deposits are generally yellow but close to the fumaroles they display different colours depending on their temperatures. Upon exposure to the air they can burn. Gravel and eolian deposits form sedimentary units around the volcano. ### Composition Irruputuncu's rocks consist of andesite- and dacite-containing hornblende and pyroxene. The El Pozo ignimbrite is pumice-rich and has a composition between trachyandesite and trachydacite. Minerals amphibole, biotite, hornblende, quartz and plagioclase comprise the rocks. The Irruputuncu I lava flows are composed of trachyandesitic with biotite and plagioclase, while the Queñoas are composed of andesite and trachyandesite. The block and ash flows and Crater lavas consist of solely trachyandesitic rocks. Overall, these rocks belong to the potassium-rich calc-alkaline series typical of CVZ volcanoes. The magmas are formed by plagioclase and clinopyroxene crystallization with some mixing. Irruputuncu's rocks show minor evidence of crustal contamination, similar to other CVZ volcanoes located within transition zones. Water is the most important component in the volcano's fumarolic gases, comprising 96.05% to 97.95% by volume. Examinations of deuterium and oxygen-18 content of the water have determined that like the water of fumaroles in other Andean volcanic centres, Irruputuncu water is a mixture of weather-related water and water contained in andesite. The helium isotope ratios indicate the magmatic component dominates the gasses at Irruputuncu, Much of the carbon dioxide comes from subducted and crustal carbonates. The gases escape from oxidizing magma at 491–781 °C (916–1,438 °F) and pass through a weakly developed hydrothermal system with temperatures of c. 340 °C (644 °F). Argon isotope ratios appear to be radiogenic. ## Eruptive history The oldest rocks at Irruputuncu are lavas that have been dated by potassium-argon dating to 10.8 ± 0.6 mya. The oldest component clearly belonging to the volcano is the El Pozo ignimbrite that was erupted 258.2 ± 48.8 ka, forming a multi-layered ignimbrite that was probably generated by the injection of new, hot magma into older, cooler magma. A lava dome on the upper flank on the western side of the volcano is 0.14 ± 0.04 mya old. The block and ash flow between 55.9 ka and 140 ka old, but has not been precisely dated. The Crater lavas are 55.9 ± 26.8 ka old. The block and ash flow on the southwestern flank was formed 1570 ± 900 years BP. Tephra layers found in the Salar Grande area of the Atacama Desert may originate at Irruputuncu. Historical activity of Irruputuncu is unclear. An unconfirmed eruption was reported in Bolivia in December 1989 and fumarolic activity in the crater was reported on 25 March 1990. Another report indicates activity in December 1960. Eruption plumes on Irruputuncu, which reached an altitude of 1,000 m (3,300 ft) and dispersed to the east, probably triggered by phreatomagmatic activity, were seen on 26 November 1995. The plume's colour changed between black and white repeatedly. Another plume was observed on 1 September 2003; neither of these incidents were accompanied with noticeable ground deformation. Like some other volcanoes in the area, activity at Irruputuncu has not been preceded by ground inflation during historical times. Several theories, including aliasing of the imagery, have been proposed to explain the lack of ground inflation. Ongoing seismic activity at a rate of about 5–6 earthquakes per 10 days recorded in two separate phases, November 2005-March 2006 and April 2010-February 2011 respectively and including one seismic swarm during the first measurement period, has been recorded at Irruputuncu. Some of this activity may be caused by mine blasts from nearby mining projects. Geothermal anomalies of about 9 K (16 °F) have been noted, including hot springs west and northwest of the volcano. ## Threats and geothermal prospecting With the exception of Peruvian volcanoes such as Misti, most of the volcanoes of the CVZ are in remote areas and are not closely watched. Irruputuncu is a remote volcano; a road between Iquique and the Collahuasi mine and mining infrastructure west of the volcano are the major sites that could be affected by future activity. The 1995 eruption drew attention to volcanic hazards in the Western Cordillera. In Chile, Irruputuncu is surveilled by SERNAGEOMIN, which produces regular status reports and which in 2020 classified it as a "type III" volcano, owing to its proximity to Collahuasi mine. There are also hazard maps available. Future eruptions could involve both the emission of lava domes and lava flows or explosive eruptions; the western and northwestern flanks would be the most affected. Irruputuncu has been examined as a potential location for a geothermal energy project involving a company named Minera Doña Inés de Collahuasi. A geothermal prospect made at the base of Irruputuncu indicated the presence of water at temperatures of up to 220 °C (428 °F) in a deep reservoir. ## Climate and vegetation Polylepis tarapacana trees on Irruputuncu have been used (through tree rings) to reconstruct atmospheric radiocarbon concentrations and regional climatic variability, including El Niño-Southern Oscillation variability. ## See also - Geology of Bolivia - Geology of Chile - List of volcanoes in Bolivia - List of volcanoes in Chile

Henri-Georges Clouzot

French film director, screenwriter and producer

Henri-Georges Clouzot (; 20 November 1907 – 12 January 1977) was a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best remembered for his work in the thriller film genre, having directed The Wages of Fear (1953) and Les Diaboliques (1955), which are critically recognized as among the greatest films of the 1950s. He also directed documentary films, including The Mystery of Picasso (1956), which was declared a national treasure by the government of France. Clouzot was an early fan of the cinema and, desiring a career as a writer, moved to Paris. He was later hired by producer Adolphe Osso to work in Berlin, writing French-language versions of German films. After being fired from UFA studio in Nazi Germany due to his friendship with Jewish producers, Clouzot returned to France, where he spent years bedridden after contracting tuberculosis. Upon recovering, he found work in Nazi-occupied France as a screenwriter for the German-owned company Continental Films. At Continental, Clouzot wrote and directed films that were very popular. His second film Le Corbeau drew controversy over its harsh look at provincial France, and he was fired from Continental before its release. As a result of his association with Continental, he was barred by the French government from filmmaking until 1947. After the ban was lifted, Clouzot reestablished his reputation and popularity in France during the late 1940s with successful films including Quai des Orfèvres. After the release of his comedy film Miquette, Clouzot married Véra Gibson-Amado, who would star in his next three feature films. In the early and mid-1950s, Clouzot drew acclaim from international critics and audiences for The Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques; both films would serve as source material for remakes decades later. After the release of La Vérité, his wife Véra died of a heart attack, and Clouzot's career suffered due to depression, illness and new critical views of films from the French New Wave. Clouzot is one of three filmmakers whose films have won the Golden Bear at Berlin, the Golden Lion at Venice, and the Palme d'Or at Cannes (the other two being Robert Altman and Michelangelo Antonioni). Clouzot's career became less active in later years, limited to a few television documentaries and two feature films in the 1960s. He wrote several unused scripts in the 1970s and died in Paris in 1977. ## Biography ### Early years Henri-Georges Clouzot was born in Niort, Deux-Sèvres, to mother Suzanne Clouzot and father Georges Clouzout, a bookstore owner. He was the first of three children in a middle-class family. Clouzot showed talent by writing plays and playing piano recitals. His father's bookstore went bankrupt in 1922, and the family moved to Brest where Georges Clouzout became an auctioneer. In Brest, Henri-Georges Clouzot went to Naval School, but was unable to become a Naval Cadet due to his myopia. At the age of 18, Clouzot left for Paris to study political science. Whilst living in Paris, he became friends with several magazine editors. His writing talents led him to theater and cinema as a playwright, lyricist and adaptor-screenwriter. The quality of his work led producer Adolphe Osso to hire him and send him to Germany to work in Studio Babelsberg in Berlin, translating scripts for foreign-language films shot there. ### Career #### Screenwriting career (1931–1942) Throughout the 1930s Clouzot worked by writing and translating scripts, dialogue and occasionally lyrics for over twenty films. While living in Germany, he saw the films of F. W. Murnau and Fritz Lang and was deeply influenced by their expressionist style. Clouzot made his first short film, La Terreur des Batignolles, from a script by Jacques de Baroncelli, in 1931. The film is a 15-minute comedy with three actors. Film historian and critic Claude Beylie reported this short was "surprisingly well made with expressive use of shadows and lighting contrasts that Clouzot would exploit on the full-length features he would make years later". Clouzot's later wife, Inès de Gonzalez, said in 2004 that La Terreur des Batignolles added nothing to Clouzot's reputation. In Berlin, Clouzot saw several parades for Adolf Hitler and was shocked at how oblivious he felt France was to what was happening in Germany. In 1934, Clouzot was fired from UFA Studios for his friendship with Jewish film producers such as Adolphe Osso and Pierre Lazareff. In 1935, Clouzot was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was sent first to Haute-Savoie and then to Switzerland, where he was bedridden for nearly five years in all. Clouzot's time in the sanatorium would be very influential on his career. While bedridden, Clouzot read constantly and learned the mechanics of storytelling to help improve his scripts. Clouzot also studied the fragile nature of the other people in the sanatorium. Clouzot had little money during this period, and was provided with financial and moral support by his family and friends. By the time Clouzot left the sanatorium and returned to Paris, World War II had broken out. French cinema had changed because many of the producers he had known had fled France to escape Nazism. Clouzot's health problems kept him from military service. In 1939, he met actor Pierre Fresnay, who was already an established film star in France. Clouzot wrote the script for Fresnay's only directorial feature Le Duel, as well as two plays for him: On prend les mêmes, which was performed in December 1940, and Comédie en trois actes, which was performed in 1942. Despite writing scripts for films and plays, Clouzot was so poor that he resorted to trying to sell lyrics to French singer Édith Piaf, who declined to purchase them. In World War II, after France was invaded by Germany and subsequently during the German occupation, the German-operated film production company Continental Films was established in October 1940. Alfred Greven, the director of Continental, knew Clouzot from Berlin and offered him work to adapt stories of writer Stanislas-André Steeman. Clouzot felt uncomfortable working for the Germans, but was in desperate need of money and could not refuse Greven's offer. Clouzot's first film for Continental was the adaptation of Steeman's mystery novel Six hommes morts (Six Dead Men). Clouzot retitled the film Le Dernier des six, having been influenced by actress Suzy Delair while writing the script, allowing her to choose the name of the character she would play. #### Early directorial work (1942–1947) After the success of Le Dernier de six, Clouzot was hired as the head of Continental's screenwriting division. Clouzot began work on his second Steeman adaptation, which he would also direct, titled The Murderer Lives at Number 21. It starred Fresnay and Delair playing the same roles they had performed in Le Dernier de six. Released in 1942, the film was popular with audiences and critics. Clouzot's next film was Le Corbeau based on a true story about a woman who sent poison pen letters in 1922. Grevin was against Clouzot making this film, stating that topic was "dangerous". Le Corbeau would be the last film that Fresnay and Clouzot would work together on. Clouzot had used all possible means to try to anger the actor during the filming, and after he quarreled with Fresnay's wife, Yvonne Printemps, Fresnay and Clouzot broke off their friendship. Le Corbeau was a great success in France, with nearly 250,000 people having seen it in the first months of its initial release. Le Corbeau was released in 1943 and generated controversy from the right-wing Vichy regime, the left-wing Resistance press and the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church considered the film "painful and hard, constantly morbid in its complexity". The Vichy press dubbed it the antithesis of the Révolution nationale and demanded it be banned due to its immoral values. The anti-Nazi resistance press considered it Nazi propaganda because of its negative portrayal of the French populace. Two days before the release of Le Corbeau, Continental films fired Clouzot. After the liberation of France, Clouzot and several other directors were tried in court for collaborating with the Germans. For his sentence, Clouzot was forbidden from going on set of any film or from using a film camera for the rest of his life. Clouzot received letters of support from filmmakers and artists Jean Cocteau, René Clair, Marcel Carné and Jean-Paul Sartre, who were against the ruling. Clouzot's sentence was later shortened from life to two years. There is no official document making note of any apology or appeal. During his two-year banishment from filming, Clouzot worked with one of his supporters, Jean-Paul Sartre, who had been one of the first people to defend Le Corbeau. #### Return to filmmaking and acclaim (1947–1960) After Clouzot's ban was lifted, he reestablished his reputation and popularity during the late 1940s with films such as Quai des Orfèvres and Manon. For Quai des Orfèvres, Clouzot asked the author Stanislas-André Steeman for a copy of his novel, Légitime défense, to adapt into a film. Clouzot started writing the script before the novel arrived for him to read. Quai des Orfèvres was released in 1947 and was the fourth most popular film in France, drawing 5.5 million spectators in that year. Clouzot directed and wrote two films that were released in 1949. For Manon, he wanted to cast unknown actors. He scoured schools to find an actress for the lead role, and chose 17-year-old Cécile Aubry after viewing over 700 girls. Manon was released in 1948 and was watched by 3.4 million filmgoers in France as well as winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Clouzot directed and wrote the short film Le Retour de Jean, which was part of the anthology film Return to Life. Le Retour de Jean was influenced by the short period when Clouzot lived in Germany in the early 1930s and stars Louis Jouvet as a survivor of a concentration camp who finds a wounded Nazi war criminal whom he interrogates and tortures. Clouzot's next film was the comedy Miquette et Sa Mère, which was a financial failure. During the film's production, Clouzot met Véra Gibson-Amado, whom he married on 15 January 1950. Clouzot and Véra took a film crew with them to Véra's homeland in Brazil for their honeymoon, where Clouzot made his first attempt at directing a documentary film. The Brazilian government took issue with Clouzot filming the poverty of people in the favelas rather than the more picturesque parts of Brazil. The film was never finished because the costs became too high. Clouzot became fascinated with the region and wrote a book, Le cheval des dieux, recounting his trip. Upon returning to France, he was offered a script written by Georges Arnaud, an expatriate living in South America who had written about his own experiences there. Clouzot found it easy to imagine the setting of the script and was very anxious to film Arnaud's story. He started writing the film, The Wages of Fear, with his brother, Jean Clouzot, who would collaborate with him on all his subsequent films under the name of Jérôme Geronimi. Production on The Wages of Fear lasted from 1951 to 1952. In order to gain as much independence as possible, Clouzot created his own production company called Véra Films, which he named after his wife. The sole female role in The Wages of Fear is played by Véra. Clouzot wrote the role specifically for his wife, as the character does not exist in the original novel. The Wages of Fear is about a South American town where a group of desperate men are offered money to drive trucks carrying nitroglycerin through rough terrain to put out an oil well fire. The Wages of Fear was the second most popular film in France in 1953 and was seen by nearly 7 million spectators. It won awards for Best Film and Best Actor (for Charles Vanel) at the Cannes Film Festival. Clouzot's next big hit was Les Diaboliques, whose screenplay he took away from director Alfred Hitchcock. Les Diaboliques involves the story of a cruel headmaster who brutalizes his wife and his mistress. The two women murder him and dump his body in a swimming pool, but when the pool is drained, no corpse is found. In 1954, Les Diaboliques won the Louis Delluc Prize and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for best foreign film. In this early and mid-1950s period, with the films The Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques, Clouzot came to be fully embraced by international critics and audiences. Both films were screened and reviewed in America as well as in France, and were rated among the best thrillers of the decade. In 1955, Clouzot directed the documentary The Mystery of Picasso, about the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso. The film follows Picasso drawing or painting 15 different works, all of which were intentionally destroyed following the film's production. Clouzot and Picasso were old acquaintances, having met when Clouzot was 14. The Mystery of Picasso won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, but was a financial failure in France, being seen by only 37,000 filmgoers during its initial run in 1956. In 1984, the film was declared a national treasure by the government of France. Clouzot's next feature film was Les Espions, which was released in 1957. Les Espions featured actors from around the world including Véra Clouzot, Curd Jürgens, Sam Jaffe and Peter Ustinov. Les Espions would be the last acting role for Clouzot's wife Véra, who had been suffering from severe heart problems since filming Les Diaboliques (incidentally, in that film she had also portrayed a frail woman suffering from heart disease). Les Espions is set in a rundown sanitarium that is taken over by international spies. One of the spies claims to have invented a nuclear explosive device which attracts the attention of the Russian and American counterspies. Les Espions was not released in the United States and was a financial failure in France. Clouzot later admitted that he only liked the first two-thirds of Les Espions. Producer Raoul Levy suggested Clouzot's next film should feature Brigitte Bardot as the lead actress. In response, Clouzot wrote the script for La Vérité. Bardot plays Dominique Marceau, who is on trial for the murder of her former boyfriend Gilbert Tellier. As her trial progresses, the relationship between Dominique and Gilbert becomes more finely shaped. Bardot later described La Vérité as her favorite of all the films she worked on. Released in 1960, La Vérité was the second most popular film in France with 5.7 million spectators and was Bardot's highest-grossing film. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. #### Later career and failing health (1960–1977) Although Clouzot's reputation had grown internationally, he lost notability in French cinema due to rise of the French New Wave. The New Wave directors refused to take Clouzot's thriller films seriously, and expressed their displeasure publicly through articles and reviews in the film criticism publication, Cahiers du cinéma. Clouzot took their criticism to heart, saying in the magazine Lui that he didn't find his films Les Diaboliques and Miquette et Sa Mère important or interesting anymore. The next film he worked on was L'Enfer, which was never completed. The film examines the sexual jealousy of a man towards his flirtatious wife, whose psychological state deforms everything with desire. Lead actor Serge Reggiani fell ill one week after shooting began and had to be replaced. Clouzot himself also became ill during production, which led doctors and insurance agents to order the production be stopped. Between 1965 and 1967, Clouzot filmed for French television five documentaries of Herbert von Karajan conducting Verdi's Requiem, Dvořák's New World Symphony, Schumann's 4th Symphony, Beethoven's 5th Symphony and Mozart's 5th Violin Concerto. After production finished on the documentaries, Clouzot was able to finance his final picture. Clouzot's return to work reassured the doctors and insurers, and he returned to the film studio to make his final film La Prisonnière. The film began production in September 1967 and was halted when Clouzot fell ill and was hospitalized until April 1968. He began filming La Prisonnière again in August 1968. Clouzot incorporated stylistic elements of his aborted film L'enfer into La Prisonnière. La Prisonnière is about a woman who is introduced to a photographer who takes masochistic submissive pictures of young women. The woman volunteers herself as a model for these pictures and is surprised at her own pleasure in the activity. After finishing La Prisonnière, Clouzot's health grew worse. In the 1970s, he wrote a few more scripts without ever filming them, including a feature about Indochina. He also planned to direct a pornographic film in 1974 for Francis Micheline, but the film was abandoned. Clouzot's health grew worse and he required open-heart surgery in November 1976. On 12 January 1977 Clouzot died in his apartment while listening to The Damnation of Faust. Clouzot is buried beside Véra in the Montmartre Cemetery. ### Personal life In the late-1930s, Clouzot went to a cabaret show featuring entertainers Mistinguett and Suzy Delair at the Deus Anes Cabaret. Clouzot waited for Delair at the stage door and after meeting her, the two became a romantic couple for the next 12 years. Clouzot had Delair star in two of his films, The Murderer Lives at Number 21 and Quai des Orfèvres. Delair eventually left Clouzot after working with him on Quai des Orfèvres. Clouzot met his first wife Vera Clouzot through actor Léo Lapara, who had minor parts in Le Retour de Jean and Quai des Orfèvres. Véra met Clouzot after divorcing Lapara and while working as a continuity assistant on Clouzot's Miquette et Sa Mère. Clouzot named his production company after Véra and had her star in all three films made by the company: The Wages of Fear, Diabolique and Les Espions. Véra also contributed to the script of La Vérité. Véra Clouzot died of a heart attack shortly after the filming of La Vérité. Clouzot fell into a depression over her death. After her funeral, he moved to Tahiti, but returned to France in December 1960. Clouzot met his second wife, Inès de Gonzalez, for the first time at a casting call for a film based on Vladimir Nabokov's Laughter in the Dark. In 1962, Clouzot met de Gonzalez again after she had returned from South America. In December 1963, Clouzot and Inès de Gonzalez married. In the 1960s, Clouzot converted to Roman Catholicism. ## Style With the exception of the comedy film Miquette et sa mère, every directorial feature of Clouzot involves deception, betrayal and violent deaths. When basing screenplays on written work, Clouzot often changed the stories dramatically, using only key points of the original story. The author Stanislas-André Steeman, whom Clouzot worked with twice, said Clouzot would only "build something after having contemptuously demolished any resemblance to the original, purely for the ambition of effect". When writing for his own features, Clouzot created characters that were usually corrupt and spineless, with the capacity for both good and evil within them. Clouzot was very demanding with his actors, and would often quarrel with them to get them in the mood he desired. Suzy Delair recalled that Clouzot slapped her, but said of it, "So what? He slapped others as well...He was tough but I'm not about to complain". Pierre Fresnay recalled that Clouzot "worked relentlessly, which made for a juicy spectacle...That's to say nothing for his taste of violence, which he never tried with me". When Clouzot worked with Brigitte Bardot, one scene required her character to drool and sleep. He offered her powerful sleeping pills, saying they were aspirin; this led to her stomach having to be pumped. Although he was harsh on his actors, he did not treat them fiercely off set. Delair recalled that off set there was an "innocence about him" that was not seen. Clouzot biographer Marc Godin suggested Clouzot's life provides clues to understanding his style as a filmmaker. Clouzot was viewed by many of his collaborators as a pessimist, short-tempered, and almost always angry. Brigitte Bardot described Clouzot as "a negative being, forever at odds with himself and the world around him". His outlook on life is reflected in his own films that focus on the darker side of humanity. ## Legacy Despite criticism following the arrival of the French New Wave, career retrospectives of Clouzot's work have been positive. Twenty years after his death, film critic Noël Herpe wrote in the French film journal Positif that "Les Diaboliques (just like Les Espions and La Verite) reveals a sterile and increasingly exaggerated urge to experiment with the powers of fiction". Film historian Philipe Pilard wrote, "There is no doubt that if Clouzot had worked for Hollywood and applied the formulas of U.S. studios, today he would be lauded by the very critics who choose to ignore him". Clouzot today is generally known for his thriller films The Wages of Fear and Diabolique. Clouzot's ability in the genre led to comparisons with Alfred Hitchcock. Clouzot respected Hitchcock's work, stating, "I admire him very much and am flattered when anyone compares a film of mine to his". Several of Clouzot's films have been remade since their original releases. Director Otto Preminger adapted Le Corbeau into his 1951 film The 13th Letter. In 1977, the year of Clouzot's death, William Friedkin directed a remake of The Wages of Fear called Sorcerer. French director Claude Chabrol adapted Clouzot's script for L'Enfer in 1994 for a film likewise titled L'Enfer. In 1996, an American remake of Les Diaboliques was released under the title Diabolique, starring Sharon Stone. ## Filmography - L'assassin habite... au 21 (The Murderer Lives at Number 21, 1942) - Le corbeau (The Raven, 1943) - Quai des orfèvres (Goldsmiths' Quay, 1947) - Manon (1949) - Miquette et sa mère (Miquette, 1950) - Le salaire de la peur (The Wages of Fear, 1953) - Les diaboliques (Diabolique, 1955) - Le mystère Picasso (The Mystery of Picasso, 1956) - Les espions (The Spies, 1957) - La vérité (The Truth, 1960) - La prisonnière (Woman in Chains, 1968)

Mandalay (poem)

1890 poem by Rudyard Kipling

"Mandalay" is a poem by Rudyard Kipling, written and published in 1890, and first collected in Barrack-Room Ballads, and Other Verses in 1892. The poem is set in colonial Burma, then part of British India. The protagonist is a Cockney working-class soldier, back in grey restrictive London, recalling the time he felt free and had a Burmese girlfriend, now unattainably far away. The poem became well known, especially after it was set to music by Oley Speaks in 1907, and was admired by Kipling's contemporaries, though some of them objected to its muddled geography. It has been criticised as a "vehicle for imperial thought", but more recently has been defended by Kipling's biographer David Gilmour and others. Other critics have identified a variety of themes in the poem, including exotic erotica, Victorian prudishness, romanticism, class, power, and gender. The song, with Speaks's music, was sung by Frank Sinatra with alterations to the text, such as "broad" for "girl", which were disliked by Kipling's family. Bertolt Brecht's Mandalay Song, set to music by Kurt Weill, alludes to the poem. ## Development ### Background The Mandalay referred to in this poem was the sometime capital city of Burma, which was part of British India from 1886 to 1937, and a separate British colony from 1937 to 1948. It mentions the "old Moulmein pagoda", Moulmein being the Anglicised version of present-day Mawlamyine, in South eastern Burma, on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Martaban. The British troops stationed in Burma travelled up and down the Irrawaddy River on paddle steamers run by the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company (IFC). Rangoon to Mandalay was a 700 km (435 mi) trip, and during the Third Anglo-Burmese War of 1885, 9,000 British and Indian soldiers were transported by a fleet of paddle steamers ("the old flotilla" of the poem) and other boats to Mandalay from Rangoon. Guerrilla warfare followed the occupation of Mandalay, and British regiments remained in Burma for several years. Kipling mentions the Burmese royal family of the time: "An' 'er name was Supi-yaw-lat - - jes' the same as Theebaw's Queen." Thibaw Min (1859–1916, often spelt Theebaw at that time) was the last reigning king of Burma, with his palace in Mandalay. He married his half-sister, Supayalat, shortly before becoming king in 1878 in a bloody palace coup supposedly engineered by his mother-in-law. He introduced a number of reforms but, in 1885, made the mistake of attempting to regain control of Lower Burma from the British forces that had held it since 1824. The result was a British invasion that immediately sent Thibaw and Supayalat into exile in India. So, to the soldier in Kipling's poem, his and her names are familiar, as the last and very recent royalty of a British colony. ### Writing Rudyard Kipling's poem Mandalay was written between March and April 1890, when the British poet was 24 years old. He had arrived in England in October the previous year, after seven years in India. He had taken an eastward route home, travelling by steamship from Calcutta to Japan, then to San Francisco, then across the United States, in company with his friends Alex and "Ted" (Edmonia) Hill. Rangoon had been the first port of call after Calcutta; then there was an unplanned stop at Moulmein. Kipling was struck by the beauty of the Burmese girls, writing at the time: > I love the Burman with the blind favouritism born of first impression. When I die I will be a Burman ... and I will always walk about with a pretty almond-coloured girl who shall laugh and jest too, as a young maiden ought. She shall not pull a sari over her head when a man looks at her and glare suggestively from behind it, nor shall she tramp behind me when I walk: for these are the customs of India. She shall look all the world between the eyes, in honesty and good fellowship, and I will teach her not to defile her pretty mouth with chopped tobacco in a cabbage leaf, but to inhale good cigarettes of Egypt's best brand.[^1] Kipling claimed that when in Moulmein, he had paid no attention to the pagoda his poem later made famous, because he was so struck by a Burmese beauty on the steps. Many Westerners of the era remarked on the beauty of Burmese women. ### Publication Mandalay first appeared in the Scots Observer on 21 June 1890. It was first collected into a book in Barrack-Room Ballads, and Other Verses in 1892. It subsequently appeared in several collections of Kipling's verse, including Early Verse in 1900, Inclusive Verse in 1919, and Definitive Verse in 1940. It appears also in the 1936 A Kipling Pageant, and T. S. Eliot's 1941 A Choice of Kipling's Verse. ## Structure The poem has the rhyming scheme AABB traditional for ballad verse. However, Kipling begins the poem with the "stunningly memorable" AABBBBBBBB, the A being sea - me, and the B including say - lay - Mandalay. Another ballad-like feature is the use of stanzas and refrains, distinguished both typographically and by the triple end rhymes of the refrains. The poem's ending closely echoes its beginning, again in the circular manner of a traditional ballad, making it convenient to memorise, to recite, and to sing. The metre in which the poem is written is trochaic octameters, meaning there are eight feet, each except the last on the line consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one. The last foot is catalectic, consisting only of the stressed syllable: > Ship me / somewheres / east of / Suez, / where the / best is / like the / worst, > Where there / aren't no / Ten Com/mandments / an' a / man can / raise a / thirst; > For the / temple/-bells are / callin', / and it's / there that / I would / be— > By the / old Moul/mein Pa/goda, / looking / lazy / at the / sea. In Kipling's time, the poem's metre and rhythm were admired; in The Art of Verse Making (1915), Modeste Hannis Jordan wrote: "Kipling has a wonderful 'ear' for metre, for rhythm. His accents fall just right, his measure is never halting or uncertain. His 'Mandalay' may be quoted as an excellent example of rhythm, as easy and flowing as has ever been done". The poet and critic T. S. Eliot, writing in 1941, called the variety of forms Kipling devised for his ballads "remarkable: each is distinct, and perfectly fitted to the content and the mood which the poem has to convey." ## Themes ### Colonialism #### For The literary critic Sharon Hamilton, writing in 1998, called the 1890 Mandalay "an appropriate vehicle for imperial thought". She argued that Kipling "cued the Victorian reader to see it as a 'song of the Empire'" by putting it in the "border ballad" song tradition, where fighting men sang of their own deeds, lending it emotional weight. She further suggested that, since Kipling assembled his 1892 Barrack-Room Ballads (including Mandalay) in that tradition during a time of "intense scrutiny" of the history of the British ballad, he was probably well aware that Mandalay would carry "the message of...submission of a woman, and by extension her city, to a white conqueror". She argues that the soldier is grammatically active while the "native girl" is grammatically passive, indicating "her willing servitude". Hamilton sees the fact that the girl was named Supayalat, "jes' the same as Theebaw's Queen", as a sign that Kipling meant that winning her mirrored the British overthrow of the Burmese monarchy. #### Against Andrew Selth commented of Hamilton's analysis that "It is debatable whether any of Kipling's contemporaries, or indeed many people since, saw the ballad in such esoteric terms, but even so it met with an enthusiastic reception." In 2003, David Gilmour argued in his book The Long Recessional: The Imperial Life of Rudyard Kipling that Kipling's view of empire was far from jingoistic colonialism, and that he was certainly not racist. Instead, Gilmour called Mandalay "a poem of great charm and striking inaccuracy", a view with which Selth concurs. Selth notes that contemporary readers soon noticed Kipling's inaccurate geography, such as that Moulmein is 61 kilometres (38 miles) from the sea, which is far out of sight, and that the sea is to the west of the town, not east. Ian Jack, in The Guardian, wrote that Kipling was not praising colonialism and empire in Mandalay. He explained that Kipling did write verse that was pro-colonial, such as "The White Man's Burden", but that Mandalay was not of that kind. A similar point was made by the political scientist Igor Burnashov in an article for the Kipling Society, where he writes that "the moving love of the Burmese girl and British soldier is described in a picturesque way. The fact that the Burmese girl represented the inferior and the British soldier superior races is secondary, because Kipling makes here a stress on human but not imperial relations." ### Romanticism Hamilton noted, too, that Kipling wrote the poem soon after his return from India to London, where he worked near a music hall. Music hall songs were "standardized" for a mass audience, with "catchiness" a key quality. Hamilton argued that, in the manner of music hall songs, Kipling contrasts the exotic of the "neater, sweeter maiden" with the mundane, mentioning the "beefy face an' grubby 'and" of the British "'ousemaids". This is paralleled, in her view, with the breaking of the rhyming scheme to ABBA in the single stanza set in London, complete with slightly discordant rhymes (tells - else; else - smells) and minor dissonance, as in "blasted English drizzle", a gritty realism very different, she argues, from the fantasizing "airy nothings" of the Burma stanzas with their "mist, sunshine, bells, and kisses". She suggests, too, that there is a hint of "Minstrelsy" in Mandalay, again in the music hall tradition, as Kipling mentions a banjo, the instrument of "escapist sentimentality". This contrasted with the well-ordered Western musical structure (such as stanzas and refrains) which mirrored the ordered, systematic nature of European music. Michael Wesley, reviewing Andrew Selth's book on "The Riff from Mandalay", wrote that Selth explores why the poem so effectively caught the national mood. Wesley argues that the poem "says more about the writer and his audience than the subject of their beguilement." He notes that the poem provides a romantic trigger, not accurate geography; that the name Mandalay has a "falling cadence...the lovely word has gathered about itself the chiaroscuro of romance." The name conjures for Wesley "images of lost oriental kingdoms and tropical splendour." Despite this, he argues, the name's romance derives "solely" from the poem, with couplets like > For the wind is in the palm-trees, and the temple-bells they say: > 'Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay!' The literary critic Steven Moore wrote that in the "once-popular" poem, the lower-class Cockney soldier extols the tropical paradise of Burma, drawn both to an exotic lover and to a state of "lawless freedom" without the "Ten Commandments". That lover was, however, now way out of reach, "far removed from...real needs and social obligations." Selth identified several interwoven themes in the poem: exotic erotica; prudish Victorian Britain, and its horror at mixed marriages; the idea that colonialism could uplift "oppressed heathen women"; the conflicting missionary desire to limit the behaviour of women in non-prudish societies. In Selth's view, Mandalay avoids the "austere morality, hard finance, [and] high geopolitics" of British imperialism, opting instead for "pure romanticism", or — in Wesley's words — "imperial romanticism". ### A common touch Eliot included the poem in his 1941 collection A Choice of Kipling's Verse, stating that Kipling's poems "are best when read aloud...the ear requires no training to follow them easily. With this simplicity of purpose goes a consummate gift of word, phrase, and rhythm." In Jack's view, the poem evoked the effect of empire on individuals. He argued that Kipling was speaking in the voice of a Cockney soldier with a Burmese girlfriend, now unattainably far away. He argued that the poem's 51 lines cover "race, class, power, gender, the erotic, the exotic and what anthropologists and historians call 'colonial desire'." Jack noted that Kipling's contemporaries objected not to these issues but to Kipling's distortions of geography, the Bay of Bengal being to Burma's west not east, so that China was not across the Bay. ## Impact According to Selth, Mandalay had a significant impact on popular Western perception of Burma and the far East. It was well known in Britain, America, and the English-speaking colonies of the British Empire. The poem was widely adapted and imitated in verse and in music, and the musical settings appeared in several films. The ballad style "lent itself easily to parody and adaption", resulting in half-a-dozen soldiers' songs, starting as early as the 1896 campaign in Sudan: > By the old Soudani Railway, looking southward from the sea, > There's a camel sits a'swearin' – and, worse luck, belongs to me: > I hate the shadeless palm-tree, but the telegraphs they say, > 'Get you on, you 'Gippy soldier, get you on to Dongolay.' Selth noted that the poem's name became commercially valuable; some 30 books have titles based directly on the poem, with names such as The Road from Mandalay and Red Roads to Mandalay. In 1907, H. J. Heinz produced a suitably spicy "Mandalay Sauce", while a rum and fruit juice cocktail was named "A Night in Old Mandalay". ### In music Kipling's text was adapted by Oley Speaks for what became his best-known song "On the Road to Mandalay", which was popularized by Peter Dawson. Speaks sets the poem to music in time, marked Alla Marcia; the key is E-flat major. This version largely replaced six earlier musical settings of Mandalay (by Gerard Cobb (1892), Arthur Thayer (1892), Henry Trevannion (1898), Walter Damrosch (1898), Walter Hedgcock (1899), and Arthur Whiting (1900); Percy Grainger composed another in 1898, but did not publish it). The total number of settings is now at least 24, spanning jazz, ragtime, swing, pop, folk, and country music; most of them use only the first two and the last two stanzas, with the chorus. Versions also exist in French, Danish, German, and Russian. Arranged and conducted by Billy May, Speaks's setting appears in Frank Sinatra's album Come Fly with Me. Kipling's daughter and heiress objected to this version, which turned Kipling's Burma girl into a Burma broad, the temple-bells into crazy bells, and the man, who east of Suez can raise a thirst, into a cat. Sinatra sang the song in Australia in 1959 and relayed the story of the Kipling family's objections to the song. Bertolt Brecht referred to Kipling's poem in his Mandalay Song, which was set to music by Kurt Weill for Happy End and Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny''. ## See also - 1890 in poetry - 1890 in literature - The Gods of the Copybook Headings [^1]: From Sea to Sea (1899) Volume 2 Chapter 2 telelib.com

True Love Waits (song)

Song by Radiohead

"True Love Waits" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead. Radiohead worked on it for over two decades before releasing it on their ninth album, A Moon Shaped Pool (2016). Radiohead first performed "True Love Waits" in 1995, with the singer, Thom Yorke, on acoustic guitar accompanied by synthesiser. Yorke performed it solo on guitar or Rhodes piano several times in the following years, and it became one of Radiohead's best-known unreleased songs. A performance was released on I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings (2001). Radiohead and their producer, Nigel Godrich, attempted to record "True Love Waits" several times, experimenting with different styles, but could not settle on an arrangement. Some of these versions were released on the compilations MiniDiscs [Hacked] (2019) and Kid A Mnesia (2021). In 2016, Radiohead released "True Love Waits" as the closing track on A Moon Shaped Pool, rearranged as a minimal piano ballad. It received positive reviews, and Pitchfork named it among the greatest songs of the decade. Several critics felt the long wait made the studio version more powerful. Though it was not released as a single, "True Love Waits" entered the French SNEP and US Billboard Hot Rock Songs singles charts. ## History ### 1995—1996: First performances Radiohead first performed "True Love Waits" in December 1995 in Brussels while touring for their second album, The Bends. The songwriter, Thom Yorke, performed it on acoustic guitar accompanied by an "airy" keyboard melody. Over the years, the song became a fan favourite and one of Radiohead's best-known unreleased songs. ### 1996—1997: OK Computer Radiohead worked on "True Love Waits" for their third album, OK Computer (1997), but discarded it. Keyboard loops recorded for "True Love Waits" in this period were released on the 2017 reissue OKNOTOK 1997 2017. Other versions recorded in this period were leaked in the 2019 compilation MiniDiscs [Hacked], including a version featuring "spacey" synthesisers and a wah-wah effect. ### 1999—2001: Kid A and Amnesiac Radiohead worked on "True Love Waits" again during the sessions for their albums Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001), which were recorded simultaneously. They hoped to find an arrangement beyond "just acoustic guitar". The guitarist Ed O'Brien kept an online diary of the band's progress, and wrote in January 2000: > ["True Love Waits"] has been kicking around for about four years now and each time we approached it we seemed to be going down the same old paths. It actually sounds like the start of something exciting now. One month later, he wrote: > This is something like approach number 561 but it is a great song. It's simply trying to find a way of doing it which excites us. And we may have found a way, at the very least we've found a new approach ... It may of course be utter crap and we have so lost the plot on this song. Please don't let that be the case. During this period, Radiohead created an electronic version of "True Love Waits" using the keyboard loops recorded in the OK Computer sessions. Yorke said later: "We felt like 'True Love Waits' was this wholesome acoustic thing, and then suddenly putting this quite fierce thing... We weren't sure if it was the right thing, so it fell by the wayside." This version became a different track, "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors", released on Amnesiac. The original "True Love Waits" version of "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors" was released on the 2021 reissue Kid A Mnesia. Rolling Stone described it as harsh and industrial. ### 2001—2016: Further performances During Radiohead's 2001 Amnesiac tour, Yorke performed "True Love Waits" solo several times on acoustic guitar. A performance was included on I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings (2001). He performed it on several more occasions, including his solo performances at the 2009 Latitude Festival and the Cambridge Corn Exchange in 2010. From 2006, Radiohead began performing a slower version on Rhodes piano as an introduction to "Everything in Its Right Place". According to the Phoenix New Times, "This is a looser, lighter take ... without the clear chord changes and forceful desperation of the acoustic version, one that somehow emphasises the romantic quality of the lyrics rather than the loneliness." ### 2016: A Moon Shaped Pool In 2016, more than 20 years after it was written, Radiohead released "True Love Waits" as the last track on their ninth album, A Moon Shaped Pool, in a minimal piano arrangement. Radiohead performed this new arrangement on the Moon Shaped Pool tour, until their 2018 leg in South America, when Yorke again performed "True Love Waits" solo on acoustic guitar. ## Composition The live version of "True Love Waits" released on I Might Be Wrong has Yorke performing the song alone on acoustic guitar. According to Pitchfork, it features unexpected chord changes and "vehement" guitar strumming. The Phoenix New Times likened the "earnest" and "simple" arrangement to Radiohead songs from the same era, such as "Fake Plastic Trees". The studio version, released as the final track on A Moon Shaped Pool, was described as "mournful post-rock" and a "deconstructed ambient piano ballad". It features no guitar; instead, it uses a minimal, four-note piano figure, over which pianos are gradually overdubbed, creating polyrhythmic loops and textures. Bass enters in the second verse. Chart Attack described it as "slow and melancholy" in the tradition of Radiohead album closers such as "Videotape" from In Rainbows (2007). According to Yorke, the first verse — "I'll drown my beliefs / To have your babies / I'll dress like your niece / And wash your swollen feet" — addresses the "difference between young and old", when people grow out of childish behaviour; the narrator is offering not to grow up to keep someone they love. The lines "And true love lives / On lollipops and crisps" were inspired by a story Yorke read about a child left alone by his parents for a week who survived by eating snacks. The song has a "pleading" refrain: "Don't leave, don't leave." ## Reception Reviewing I Might Be Wrong in 2001, Matt LeMay of Pitchfork wrote that "True Love Waits" is "absolutely gorgeous ... it can hold its own against any song on OK Computer". He felt that the song, along with the performance of "Like Spinning Plates", "justified the existence" of the album. Ted Kessler of NME praised Yorke's vocals as "clear and true". Nicholas Taylor of PopMatters described the performance s "a bittersweet victory of love" that "shows that behind all of Radiohead's modernist nightmares is a fragile, desperate desire to connect, fully and meaningfully, with just one person". Pitchfork wrote that the work-in-progress versions of "True Love Waits" released on MiniDiscs [Hacked] did not work, and offered insight into why Radiohead had struggled to finish it. Rolling Stone and Arizona Republic named the studio version of "True Love Waits" the best song of May 2016. The Arizona Republic critic Ed Masley wrote that the new arrangement "heightens the sense of desperate yearning in Yorke's vocal as he begs his lover not to leave". Pitchfork named it the week's best new track and the ninth-best song of 2016. The critic Nathan Reese wrote: "'True Love Waits' is an elegiac coda to one of Radiohead's most inward-facing albums and a fitting treatment to a song that many already considered a classic. The wait was worth it." In 2017, Consequence of Sound named it the 12th-greatest Radiohead song, writing that it "shimmers with rainfall piano instead of mopey guitar". In 2019, Vulture named it the greatest Radiohead song and Pitchfork named it the 93rd-greatest song of the decade. Though the Quietus critic Mike Diver was critical of A Moon Shaped Pool, he praised "True Love Waits" as Radiohead's most affecting song since their 2008 single "Nude". The NME writer Damian Jones said it was Radiohead's saddest song. Steve Jozef of the Phoenix New Times felt the new arrangement captured the best elements of Yorke's guitar and Rhodes piano performances, saving it from sentimentality, and was "the most straightforward, unpretentious, and emotionally raw composition on the album". The GQ critic Jake Woolf found the studio version disappointing, with "mushy piano that weighs the song down emotionally", and missed the "brightness" of the guitar version. Louder Sound said it was "weary and defeated, which may be deliberate, but less emotionally engaging". Several critics felt the long wait made the studio version more powerful. The Vulture journalist Marc Hogan wrote that "the difference between the studio cut and its various predecessors floats over the proceedings like a ghost in the machine". The Pitchfork critic Jillian Mapes wrote of the "sense that an older, wiser man" was singing, and that the lyrics were more heartfelt "now that he seems resigned to haunting the afterlife". In Consequence of Sound, Nina Corcoran wrote that the long wait "allowed Radiohead to peel [the] words when riper than ever". The Phoenix New Times writer Jozef speculated that the studio version was influenced by Yorke's recent separation from his partner of almost 25 years, Rachel Owen. Whereas the early arrangement, likely written shortly after Yorke met Owen, has a "hopeful, proud character", the Moon Shaped Pool version sounds "resigned, isolated, lost". The Rolling Stone critic Andy Beta wrote that "the effect is like stumbling upon an old love letter years after a relationship has grown cold", and that whereas the "don't leave" refrain once suggested redemption, it now sounded like a goodbye. ## Charts ## Personnel - Colin Greenwood - Jonny Greenwood - Ed O'Brien - Philip Selway - Thom Yorke - Nigel Godrich – production, engineering, mixing - Sam Petts-Davies – engineering - Maxime LeGuil – assistant engineering - Bob Ludwig – mastering

Si Una Vez

1995 single by Selena

"Si Una Vez" (English: If I Once) is a song recorded by American recording artist Selena for her fourth studio album, Amor Prohibido (1994). It was written by Pete Astudillo and produced by Selena's brother-producer A.B. Quintanilla. "Si Una Vez" is a mariachi fusion song and draws influence from cumbia and Latin dance music. Lyrically, Selena questions why she ever fell in love with an abusive partner, saying she will never repeat her mistakes. The lyrics suggest unrequited love and female empowerment. "Si Una Vez" received positive reviews from music critics who found the song to have showcase the singer's vocal abilities. The Broadcast Music Inc. recognized it as the Single of the Year at the 1996 BMI Pop Awards. Many musicians have since recorded the song and released it on their respective albums including Mexican mariachi singer Alicia Villareal, American reggaeton performer Ivy Queen, American indie rock band Girl in a Coma, and American salsa singer Manny Manuel. The latter's version peaked at number one on the United States Billboard Tropical Songs chart, and ended 1995 as the fourteenth most successful U.S. tropical song. ## Background and composition "Si Una Vez" was written by Selena y Los Dinos backup dancer and vocalist Pete Astudillo. The song was co-written by Selena's brother-producer A.B. Quintanilla who, along with Argentine musician Bebu Silvetti, served as producers. Keyboardist of the group, Ricky Vela retold in a 2002 interview how the band hired a professional trumpeter to record parts of the song. In the live version performed at the Astrodome for Selena’s last concert in 1995, the trumpet intro was mostly replaced with a bell synth playing the background melodies. "Si Una Vez" is a Spanish-language mariachi fusion track with influences of cumbia and Latin dance music. Author Deborah Paredez called "Si Una Vez" as having punk music undertones. In 2002, A.B. spoke on how Amor Prohibido was experimental music-heavy and commented on how "Si Una Vez" was an example of his ideas of keeping the band's image modern. The song makes use of the Guitarrón guitar under a cumbia beat. "Si Una Vez" is written in the key of D minor and is played in a moderate groove of 84 beats per minute. It incorporates music from several musical instruments, including the piano and guitar. Lyrically, Selena reminiscences her failed relationship and wonders why she ever fell in love with an abusive partner who betrayed and left her, vowing to never allow a man like that back into her life. The lyrics suggest unrequited love and female empowerment. ## Critical reception and legacy "Si Una Vez" was named by the Latin Times as one of the top-ten best karaoke songs sung in Spanish. Writing for the Latin Times, Maria Valdez called the song "fun" especially when running into your former partner at a karaoke party and found the track to showcases a singer's vocal abilities. Texas Public Radio's Nathan Cone, said "the song "resonates best" with South Texas". Entertainment Weekly contributor David Browne, commented on Selena's vocals as being "full-throated, warbling" and that it "recalls Lydia Mendoza, conjunto's leading lady." A New University writer found the recording to have "showcase [the singer's] passion with her vocals." Selena performed the song during one her final performances on March 12, 1995 during the Calle Ocho Festival in Miami, which attracted over 100,000 fans. Selena was shot and killed by Yolanda Saldívar, her friend and former manager of the singer's Selena Etc. clothing boutiques, on March 31, 1995. Selena's performance of the song during her Houston Astrodome concert on February 26, 1995, was emulated by Jennifer Lopez as her role as the singer for the 1997 biopic film about Selena. "Si Una Vez" is considered by Billboard magazine to be one of Selena's signature songs. Terra named "Si Una Vez" as one of Selena's "most famous works" along with her other songs "El Chico del Apartamento 512", "Amor Prohibido" and "Fotos y Recuerdos". The Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) recognized "Si Una Vez" at the BMI Pop Music Awards as Single of the Year in 1996. ## Covers Mexican singer Mary Boquitas recorded the song for the tribute album Mexico Recuerda a Selena (2005). Mexican mariachi singer Alicia Villareal performed and recorded "Si Una Vez" for the live televised tribute concert Selena ¡VIVE! in April 2005. American reggaeton singer Ivy Queen covered "Si Una Vez" for her fifth studio album Flashback (2005). She said in an interview how she felt "honored to be able to cover one of Selena's songs". Ivy Queen chose to cover "Si Una Vez" finding it to be identifiable to her and because of the song's message which the singer stood for. Jonathan Widran of AllMusic called her versions a "reggaetón-ed up twist". In 2010, indie rock group Girl in a Coma recorded a punk cover of "Si Una Vez". The group decided to record the song because it was their favorite recordings of Selena. Girl in a Coma performed the song live during the 2010 Tejano Music Awards as a homage to Selena. In April 2011, A.B.'s band Kumbia All-Starz performed their version of the song during their tour for La Vida De Un Genio (2010) in Bolivia. Colombian singer Kali Uchis performed "Si Una Vez" at the 2015 SXSW festival. Vibe magazine found Uchis' performance to have given them "shivers". ## Charts ## Certifications ## Awards ## Covers ### Manny Manuel version American merengue musician Manny Manuel covered the song on his debut album, El Rey de Corazones (1995). Out of the five singles released from the album, "Si Una Vez" was Manuel's most successful single off of the El Rey de Corazones album. The song debuted at number 29 on the United States Billboard Hot Latin Tracks and number three on the U.S. Tropical Songs chart. The following week, "Si Una Vez" rose to numbers 22 and two on the Hot Latin Songs and Tropical Songs chart, respectively. On October 14, 1995, the track climbed to number 21 on the Hot Latin Songs chart, while it fell to number four on the Tropical Songs chart. In its fourth week, "Si Una Vez" jumped to number 18 on the Hot Latin Songs chart, while over at the Tropical Songs chart the song rose to number three. Despite increased airplay spins, "Si Una Vez" fell to number 20 on the Hot Latin Songs chart. On November 11, 1995, "Si Una Vez" peaked at number one on the Tropical Songs chart for one week, receiving airplay honors that week. #### Chart performance #### Year-end charts ### Play-N-Skillz version Hip-hop production duo Play-N-Skillz produced a cover of the song, featuring Frankie J, Leslie Grace and Wisin. Spanglish and English versions of the song, with Becky G and Kap G in place of Grace and Wisin, were released on February and March 2017 and are included in the soundtrack of the 2017 video game Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands. The track has gone on to peak at number one on the US Billboard Latin Rhythm Digital Song Sales and number two on the US Billboard Latin Digital Song Sales. #### Weekly charts #### Year-end charts #### Sales ## Credits and personnel All credits were taken from the album's liner notes. - Selena – vocals - Joe Ojeda – keyboards - Ricky Vela – keyboards - Chris Pérez – guitar - Suzette Quintanilla – drums - Los Dinos – bajo sexto - A.B. Quintanilla III – writer - Pete Astudillo – writer - Lisette Lorenzo – art direction ## See also - Latin music in the United States - List of Billboard Tropical Airplay number ones of 1994 and 1995

Washington State Route 231

Highway in Washington

State Route 231 (SR 231) is a 74.97-mile (120.65 km) long state highway in the U.S. state of Washington serving communities in Lincoln and Stevens counties. The highway, located entirely west of Spokane in the Inland Empire, serves Sprague, Edwall, Reardan, Springdale and Chewelah. The route extends from SR 23 north of Sprague to a concurrency with U.S. Route 2 (US 2) near Reardan and an intersection with US 395 south of Chewelah. Although SR 231 was established in 1964, the US 2 concurrency has existed as State Road 7 since 1909. Later, Secondary State Highway 2G (SSH 2G) and Secondary State Highway 3J (SSH 3J) were established in 1937 and formed SR 231 in 1964. The highway crosses the Spokane River on the Spokane River Bridge at Long Lake Dam, which was constructed in 1949 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 before repair work in late 2008. ## Route description State Route 231 (SR 231) begins at SR 23 0.79 miles (1.27 km) north of Sprague and a diamond interchange with Interstate 90 (I-90), co-signed as U.S. Route 395 (US 395). SR 23 is the "parent" or main route of SR 231 and travels northwest to Harrington and south to Downtown Sprague, spanning 66.00 miles (106.22 km), 8.97 miles (14.44 km) shorter than SR 231. Traveling northeast, the highway traverses a hill and cliff, passing Browns Lake, and turns west. The direction of the roadway becomes north through a narrow valley and SR 231 arrives in Edwall as Oregon Street. The roadway briefly turns east as Main Street before crossing a BNSF Railway line and continuing northeast alongside the tracks. After turning north into the plains, the highway parallels Crab Creek to intersect US 2 west of Reardan. Becoming concurrent with US 2, the road becomes Broadway Street and enters Reardan. SR 231 turns north at Aspen Street and crosses the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad and a marsh via a causeway. As Spring Creek Road, the highway travels northwest parallel to Spring Creek into Spring Creek Canyon. After the canyon, the roadway crosses the Spokane River on the Spokane River Bridge at Long Lake Dam, the border between Lincoln and Stevens counties, west of Little Falls Dam and Long Lake. Nearly a mile north of the bridge, SR 231 intersects SR 291, a connector to Spokane. After the intersection, the highway travels north through the community of Ford and continues through a valley into Springdale. Within Springdale, the roadway is named Second Street and intersects SR 292, which connects east to US 395 near Loon Lake. After crossing a BNSF Railway track, Second Street turns west as Shaffer Street and passes the Springdale Community Health Center, the local medical clinic. SR 231 crosses Sheep Creek and the same railway as Second Street and leaves Springdale, parallel to the railroad, into a valley. The highway intersects former SR 232 and ends at an intersection with US 395 4.27 miles (6.87 km) south of Chewelah. ## History SR 231 was established in 1964, but sections of the current route have been in the state highway system as early as 1909, when State Road 7 was established and included a section near Reardan. In 1913, the Inland Empire Highway was established and connected Loon Lake to Springdale and Chewelah. A county-maintained road connected Sprague to Browns Lake by 1919 and in 1923, State Road 7 became State Road 2 and the Inland Empire Highway became State Road 3. The U.S. route system was formed in 1926 and two highways, numbered U.S. Route 10 (US 10) and U.S. Route 395 (US 395), were co-signed with State Roads 2 and 3, respectively. State Road 2 became Primary State Highway 2 (PSH 2) in 1937 and a secondary route, Secondary State Highway 2G (SSH 2G) was created, extending from Sprague to Reardan, in 1937. State Road 3 became PSH 3 during the same year and a secondary route, SSH 3J, was also established to span from the Little Falls Dam at Long Lake to Springdale. US 10 was replaced by the western extension of US 2 in 1946. Three years later, in 1949, the Spokane River Bridge at Long Lake Dam was constructed and spanned from the southern terminus of SSH 3J to Lincoln County. In 1957, PSH 3 and US 395 were moved to an eastern route bypassing Springdale, while SSH 3J was extended north towards Chewelah and a branch of the highway was added to Loon Lake, both along the former route of PSH 3. SSH 3J was extended south to PSH 2 and US 2 in Reardan, east of the northern terminus of SSH 2G, in 1963. During the 1964 highway renumbering, SR 231 was created from SSH 2G and SSH 3J and became concurrent with US 2; US 2 replaced PSH 2 and US 395 replaced PSH 3, while the branch of SSH 3J to Loon Lake became SR 292. The Spokane River Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 2, 1995 along with the rest of the bridges on the Spokane River northwest of Spokane, and the bridge was repaired in late 2008. In the 1990s, the state proposed a jurisdictional transfer with Lincoln County to decommission the Sprague–Reardan section of SR 231. The highway was later used to haul uranium waste by truck following attempts by WSDOT to force the contractor to fund safety improvements on its haul route. ## Major intersections

HMS Duchess (H64)

British D-class destroyer

HMS Duchess was a D-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. The ship was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet before she was transferred to the China Station in early 1935. She was temporarily deployed in the Red Sea during late 1935 during the Abyssinia Crisis, before returning to her duty station where she remained until mid-1939. Duchess was transferred back to the Mediterranean Fleet just before the Second World War began in September 1939. While escorting the battleship HMS Barham back to the British Isles, she was accidentally rammed by the battleship in thick fog and sank with heavy loss of life on 12 December 1939. ## Description Duchess displaced 1,375 long tons (1,397 t) at standard load and 1,890 long tons (1,920 t) at deep load. The ship had an overall length of 329 feet (100.3 m), a beam of 33 feet (10.1 m) and a draught of 12 feet 6 inches (3.8 m). She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of 36,000 shaft horsepower (27,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). Steam for the turbines was provided by three Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers. Duchess carried a maximum of 473 long tons (481 t) of fuel oil that gave her a range of 5,870 nautical miles (10,870 km; 6,760 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The ship's complement was 145 officers and men. The ship mounted four 45-calibre QF 4.7-inch Mk IX guns in single mounts. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, Duchess had a single 12-pounder (3-inch (76.2 mm)) gun and two quadruple Mk I mounts for the 0.5-inch Vickers Mk III machine gun. She was fitted with two above-water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes. One depth charge rail and two throwers were fitted; 20 depth charges were originally carried, but this increased to 35 shortly after the war began. ## Service and collision Duchess was ordered on 2 February 1931 under the 1930 Naval Estimates and was laid down at the yards of the Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company, Jarrow, County Durham on 12 June 1931. She was launched on 19 July 1932 and commissioned on 24 January 1933, at a total cost of £229,367, excluding equipment supplied by the Admiralty, such as weapons, ammunition and wireless equipment. The ship was initially assigned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean and made a brief deployment to the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea in September–November 1933. Upon her return, her superheaters were repaired at Malta between 18 December and 6 January 1934. She was given a refit at Chatham Dockyard from 3 September to 23 October to prepare the ship for service on the China Station. Duchess arrived in Hong Kong in January 1935 where she joined the 8th Destroyer Flotilla. The ship was attached to the Mediterranean Fleet in the Red Sea from September to November during the Abyssinian Crisis. She made a number of goodwill visits during her time on the station as well as conducting anti-piracy patrols. During a typhoon at Hong Kong on 2 September 1937, a merchant ship crushed Duchess's stern when it dragged its anchors. Her repairs were not completed until 14 October. The ship remained on the station until late August 1939, when the imminent start of the Second World War caused the Admiralty to order her to take up her war station with the Mediterranean Fleet at Malta. Duchess arrived there on 12 October and remained in the Mediterranean for the next two months. In December the ship, along with her sisters HMS Delight, HMS Duncan and HMS Dainty, was assigned to escort the battleship HMS Barham back to the UK, and they departed Gibraltar on 6 December. During the morning of 12 December, Barham collided with Duchess off the Mull of Kintyre in heavy fog. The destroyer capsized and her depth charges exploded, killing 136 of her crew including her commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Robert C. M. White, who was trapped in his sea cabin when the sliding door jammed.

Butterflies (Michael Jackson song)

2001 single by Michael Jackson

"Butterflies" is a song by American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson. It was written and composed by Andre Harris and Marsha Ambrosius, and produced by Jackson and Harris. The track appears on Jackson's tenth studio album, Invincible (2001), and is Jackson's final single from a studio album. The song also appeared in The Ultimate Collection (2004). "Butterflies" is a midtempo ballad. The single received generally positive reviews from music critics; some music reviewers described the song as being one of the best songs on Invincible while others felt that it was a "decent track". The song was only released in the United States to radio airplay. It peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100, and also charting at number two and thirty-six, respectively, on alternative Billboard charts in 2001 and 2002. There was no music video released for the song. ## Background and development "Butterflies" was recorded by Michael Jackson in 2001 for his tenth studio album, Invincible, which was released the same year. The song was written by Andre Harris and Marsha Ambrosius, who is one half of the London bred neo-soul act Floetry, and was produced by Jackson and Harris. Jackson first met Ambrosius and Natalie Stewart, who is also a member of Floetry, through John McClain, who is DreamWorks's senior urban executive and Jackson's manager. Stewart said she was surprised that Jackson invited her and Ambrosius to a studio and asked for their input on the recording of the track. She recalled in an interview with LAUNCH magazine, "It was incredible because he asked, he continually asked, 'Marsh, what's the next harmony? Girls, does this sound right? What do you think? Is this what you were looking for? He was so open". When Ambrosius first met Jackson, it took a few minutes to calm down. She recalled to the same publication Stewart was interviewed by, "To begin with, I was kinda shook. Because you don't realize how you're going to feel until you're put in that situation. I had the tears in my eyes and got kinda nervous. But as I got into it, I realized it was work, it was a job. I had to vocally conduct a legend." Harris commented on the single, "He's showing you, I'm still the Michael Jackson that did 'Billie Jean' and 'Rock With You' because 'Butterflies' really falls along those lines." Unlike the previous single released from Invincible, a music video was not made to promote the song. ## Composition "Butterflies" is a midtempo love ballad song with groove musical influences. Vaughn Watson of the Providence Journal noted that the track is a "velvety old-school soul ballad" with "elegiac horn riffs" and "simple '70s-style David Ruffin soul." Stephen Thomas Erlewine, a writer for AllMusic noted that "Butterflies" had "Bacharach-styled horns." Lonell Broadnax, Jr., a contributing writer to the Daily Helmsman Online felt that "Butterflies" is a soulful song which takes Jackson back to his "rhythm and blues roots". Ben Rayer of the Toronto Star felt that the song had a "oozy slow jam". "Butterflies" is written in the time signature of common time. Throughout the song Jackson's vocal range spans from E₃ to F₅. The track is played in the key of A major. "Butterflies" has a moderately slowly tempo and its metronome is ninety-two beats per minute. ## Critical response The track received generally positive reviews from music critics. Ken Barnes of USA Today described the song as being a "hopelessly sappy ballad oozing with fuzzy sentiments. I'd say it's more like caterpillars." Frank Kogan of The Village Voice, citing the lyrics, "I would give you anything baby, just make my dreams come true/Oh baby you give me butterflies" wrote "so, would he give her, like, caterpillars in exchange? birds?" and added that what grabs his attention about a song like "Butterflies" is not the "melody but the weirdly ringing wrench-against-faucet clang on the backbeat." Christie Leo of the New Straits Times gave the track a more positive review, calling the song a "luxuriant" ballad. Pop music critic Robert Hilburn, writing for the Los Angeles Times, described "Butterflies", and another song from Invincible ("Speechless"), as being "as woefully generic as their titles". A journalist of the same publication felt that track was about romantic "jitters". Darryl Frierson of University Wire felt that songs like "Butterflies" can set the "mood for any romantic interlude". Joel Rubinoff of The Record said that "Butterflies" was one of the "only good songs" from Invincible, while a writer for The Atlanta Journal cited the song as being a "decent track". A writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution viewed "Butterflies" as being "laid-back". Mark Anthony Neal of PopMatters wrote in his music review for Jackson's 2002 album, entitled Love Songs, that in song's such as "Butterflies", it shows the "essence" of Jackson's "genius has been in the boy's uncanny ability to perform, even the mundane, outside of the box." Elliot Sylvester of The Independent felt that ballads on Invincible such as "Speechless and "Butterflies" are "almost to a formulaic fault." Chicago Tribune rock music critic Greg Kot said that Jackson is not "convincing as the vulnerable ladies' man on drippy ballads" such as "Butterflies". Stephen Thomas Erlewine, a writer for Allmusic, commented that Invincible was "highlighted" by "lovely ballads" such as "Break of Dawn" and "Butterflies". David Browne of Entertainment Weekly wrote in his review for Invincible that, "The ballads are a squishy bunch with glaringly banal lyrics, pleasantries like 'Butterflies' and 'Break of Dawn' that could emanate from just about" anyone. A journalist for The Philadelphia Inquirer called the track "gorgeous" and Bomani Jones of Salon.com called "Butterflies" a "sparkling" track. Ben Rayer of the Toronto Star wrote that Jackson "fares best" on "Butterflies". Catherine Halaby of the Yale Daily News said that songs on the album like "Heaven Can Wait", "Butterflies", and "You Are My Life" "fulfill the quota for sugary ballads". Jon Pareles, writing for The New York Times, said that tracks on Invincible like "Butterflies"' and "Don't Walk Away" are "melting love ballads". Pareles noted in his review for the album that songs on it are recurring themes present on Jackson's albums, such as love ballads, as well as tracks pertaining to making the world a better place. Tim Perzyk of the Duke Chronicle wrote, "By the time 'Butterflies' spins on track seven, it's unclear why Michael didn't record a collaborative boxed set with Mariah Carey, whose 'Heartbreaker,' 'Breakdown' and 'Butterfly' would fit quite nicely" into Jackson's Invincible album. Pop music critic Craid Seymour of the Buffalo News wrote that "another winning tune" on the album is the "dreamy 'Butterflies,' which flows along at a groovy midtempo pace." Kevin C. Johnson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch described "Butterflies" as being about the "feeling that special someone gives him." Music critics writing for the South Florida Sun Sentinel said that the track shows the "shy, loving, gentle side" of Jackson. ## Chart performance "Butterflies" entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early November 2001, at number sixty. The single eventually peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100 the week ending January 26, 2002. The track also charted within the top ten, peaking at number two, on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart on January 26, 2002; the song was held from the top position from Ja Rule and Ashanti's "Always on Time" 2001 single. In 2002, "Butterflies" also peaked at number thirty-six on the Billboard Top 40 Mainstream chart. The track, which was released as a promotional single internationally, did not chart on any music charts outside of the United States. The song was Jackson's last hit single in the United States in the final years of his career. ## Track listings Promo CD single (Epic ESK 54863) 1. "Butterflies" (album version) – 4:40 Michael Jackson - Butterflies (Track Masters Remix) - A1. "Butterflies" (Master Mix) (featuring Eve) – 3:47 - A2. "Butterflies" (Michael a cappella) – 2:13 - B1. "Butterflies" (Eve a cappella) (featuring Eve) – 3:47 - B2. "Butterflies" (Master Mix Instrumental) – 3:47 ## Credits and personnel - Written and composed by Andre Harris and Marsha Ambrosius - Produced by Michael Jackson and Andre Harris - Lead vocal by Michael Jackson - Background vocals by Michael Jackson and Marsha Ambrosius - All musical instruments performed by Andre Harris - Horns by Norman Jeff Bradshaw and Matt Cappy - Recorded by Andre Harris and Bruce Swedien - Assistant engineering by Vidal Davis - Mixed by Bruce Swedien Source: ## Charts ### Weekly charts ### Year-end charts ## Release history

Aditya Mehta

Indian snooker player, born October 1985

Aditya Mehta (born 31 October 1985 in Mumbai, India) is an Indian former professional snooker player. He participated on the World Snooker Tour for the 2007–08 season, and between 2011 and 2018. He reached a highest world ranking of 49. Mehta participated in the final of ranking event for the first time at the 2013 Indian Open where he played Ding Junhui, but lost 0–5. Mehta has several medals at the Asian and World Games. He won the gold at the men's event at the 2013 World Games, and the team event at the 2009 Asian Games. Mehta compiled a total of 41 century breaks whilst on tour, the highest of which was at the 2014 Paul Hunter Classic where he made his first ever maximum break in competition. ## Career ### Early career Mehta was born on 31 October 1985 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. He began his career by playing Challenge Tour from 2004. He was nominated for a Main Tour place for the 2008–09 season by the Asian Confederation of Billiard Sports after he finished as runner-up at the 2008 ACBS Asian Snooker Championship. He was the first Indian to play on the Main Tour since Yasin Merchant did in the 1990s. He was unable to retain his place on the Tour at the end of the season having not qualified for a single event but regained a place for the 2011–12 season after being awarded the Asian nominated place. Aditya won both a bronze and silver medal in singles and team events at the 2010 Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China. ### 2011–2012 season: Asian champion In the 2011–2012 season, as a new player on tour, Mehta would need to win four qualifying matches to reach the main stages of all ranking events. At the second event of the season, the Shanghai Masters, Mehta defeated Stuart Carrington 5–0, Rod Lawler and Jamie Jones both 5–4, before losing to former world number six Ryan Day 2–5. He played in 10 of the 12 Players Tour Championship events this season, with his best result coming in ninth event where he beat two-time World Snooker Championship runner-up Matthew Stevens 4–3 in the last 16, but then lost to Martin Gould 1–4 in the quarter-finals. In April, Mehta won the 2012 Asian Snooker Championship with a 7–5 victory over compatriot Pankaj Advani. He finished the snooker season ranked world number 80 and therefore out of the top 64 who retain their places for the next season. However, as he won the Asian championship he earned a spot on the tour for the following season. ### 2012–2013 season: First ranking appearance Mehta started the 2012–13 season at the Wuxi Classic. He beat Sam Baird 5–3, James Wattana and Jimmy White both 5–1, but then lost out to Jamie Cope 4–5 in the final qualifying round. He also lost in the final qualifying round for the Shanghai Masters following a 3–5 defeat to Mark King. Mehta reached the main stage of a ranking event for the first time in his career in August, by qualifying for the International Championship. He overcame Michael Leslie and Mike Dunn, both 6–3 and then came back from 3–5 behind to beat Jimmy White 6–5. In the last qualifying round he defeated Jamie Cope 6–4 to seal his place at the event in Chengdu, China. At the event he defeated Zhu Yinghui in the wildcard round, before winning 6–4 against Stuart Bingham to reach the last 16 where he played world number two Judd Trump. In his first televised match in a ranking tournament Mehta was whitewashed 0–6 by Trump. However, his run in the tournament matched the best performance by an Indian player in a ranking event set by Yasin Merchant over two decades earlier. Mehta did not qualify for another event this season with his year ending in the second round of World Championship qualifying, following a 9–10 loss to Alan McManus. He finished the season ranked world number 73. After the season ended, Mehta took part in the 2013 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games competing as an independent athlete. He reached the final of the team snooker event, alongside Kamal Chawla and Brijesh Damani, where they lost 2–3 to the Chinese team. He also won a bronze medal in the singles, reaching the semifinals before losing 2–4 to Ding Junhui. ### 2013–2014 season: Ranking event finalist In July 2013, Mehta won the singles event at the World Games by beating Liang Wenbo 3–0. The 2013–14 season saw the introduction of the Indian Open, the first ranking event held in India. Mehta reached the event for it by defeating Xiao Guodong 4–2 in qualifying. In the first round of the event held he made a break of 127 in the deciding frame against Peter Ebdon to win 4–3 and then beat Hammad Miah 4–1 to reach the last 16 for the second time in his career. Mehta defeated two-time world champion Mark Williams 4–2 to face compatriot Pankaj Advani. Mehta defeated Advani to reach the semi-finals. He then me Stephen Maguire who he defeated on a 4–3 to reach the final. In his first ranking event final, Mehta played Ding Junhui, but was unable to win a frame, losing 0–5. As the tournament runner-up, Mehta won £25,000. A month later he was beaten in the quarter-finals of the minor-ranking Antwerp Open 4–0 by Jack Lisowski and finished 29th on the Order of Merit, just outside the top 25 who reached the PTC finals. Mehta's was unable to advance beyond the first round of a ranking event for the remainder of the season. He increased his ranking by 24 places during the season to end it as the world number 49, retaining his place on Tour. ### 2014–2015 season: Maximum break Mehta did not come through the qualifying rounds of the first three ranking events of the 2014–15 season, before beating James Wattana 6–3 to play in the International Championship where he was whitewashed 6–0 by Michael White in the first round. Mehta made his first maximum break in his second round loss against Stephen Maguire at the 2014 Paul Hunter Classic PTC event. At the 2014 UK Championship he defeated Alex Davies 6–4, before losing 6–1 to Judd Trump in the second round. He reached the last 32 of a ranking event for the first time this year by defeating Sydney Wilson 4–0 and world number five Barry Hawkins 4–2 at the Welsh Open, but Alan McManus beat Mehta 0–4. At the 2015 Indian Open, Mehta held a 3–0 lead over Mark King and missed a shot on match-ball to win 4–1. Instead, King levelled at 3–3 and Mehta took the deciding frame to play world number eight Ricky Walden in the second round. Mehta was defeated 4–2 and stated that the difference between the 50 world ranking positions was "obvious in the match". His only match before the end of the season was a 10–7 loss to Jak Jones in the opening round of World Championship qualifying. ### 2015–2016 season: Neck injury Mehta qualified for the 2015 International Championship, but lost in the wildcard round 6–4 to local amateur player Wang Yuchen. Before the 2015 UK Championship he stated that a neck injury sustained in 2014 had been affecting his practice hours and confidence in his game. Mehta defeated Sam Baird 6–5 at the UK Championship, before losing 6–2 to Neil Robertson in the second round. In February 2016, in order to recover from his neck injury he pulled out of the remaining events for the season. At the end of the season, he gained a two-year pass to retain his place on tour after finishing 53rd on the European Order of Merit. ### 2016–2017 season Mehta qualified again for the 2016 International Championship by beating Jack Lisowski 6–4 and then eliminated Ryan Day 6–2. At the event he lost 6–3 to Joe Perry. He was defeated 4–3 after having been 3–0 ahead of Anthony McGill in the second round of the Northern Ireland Open. He also got to the second round of the Scottish Open before losing 4–2 to Noppon Saengkham. Mehta won 5–2 over Barry Hawkins in qualifying for the China Open and he won three frames to tie his first round match with Li Hang at 4–4, but lost the deciding frame. Mehta finished the season ranked 80th in the world. ### 2017–18 season: Return to amateur status At the 2017 China Championship, Mehta lost in the opening round to Ali Carter 5–4. At the third ranking event of the season, the Riga Masters, Mehta defeated Rory McLeod 4–2, before losing to Jamie Cope by the same scoreline in the second round. The English Open was Mehta's best performance since the 2015 Indian Open. Mehta defeated Sam Craigie 4–0, Ian Preece 4–2 and Chen Zifan 4–1 to reach the last 16 of a ranking event for the third time. Mehta played Neil Robertson, who he lost 4–1 to. At the 2017 UK Championship, Mehta defeated Sam Baird in the opening round on a deciding frame 6–5, but lost in the second round to Luca Brecel 6–3. Mehta reached the second round of the Welsh Open defeating Martin O'Donnell, before losing to Mark Williams. Mehta's final ranking appearance of the season was at the Gibraltar Open, where he reached the third round. He defeated Brian Ochoiski and Kurt Dunham before losing to Tian Pengfei. His final match of the season was in the first round of qualifying for the 2018 World Snooker Championship, where he lost 8–10 to Zhao Xintong. Mehta finished the season outside of the top-64 in the world rankings, and did not retain his place on the World Snooker Tour. After returning to being an amateur player, Mehta played less due to his neck issues. However, in 2019 alongside Pankaj Advani-Aditya the pair won the IBSF World Team Snooker Championship, defeating the Thai team 3–1. ## Personal life He is a brand ambassador of snooker website rkgsnooker.com where he writes regular blog posts and columns. He practises with Alfie Burden and Anthony Hamilton in London. He is sometimes referred to as "The Sun of Indian Snooker". ## Performance and rankings timeline ## Career finals ### Ranking finals: 1 ### Non-ranking finals: 1 (1 title) ### Pro-am finals: 1 (1 title) ### Amateur finals: 3 (1 title)

Typhoon Ellen (1983)

Pacific typhoon in 1983

Typhoon Ellen, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Herming, was considered the worst typhoon to hit China since 1979. Typhoon Ellen was first noted as a tropical disturbance east of the International Date Line on August 26, 1983, and became a tropical storm soon after crossing the dateline on the morning of August 29. Initially, strong wind shear inhibited development over the next five days, and the cyclone began to track south of west. On September 2, conditions aloft finally improved and the cyclone strengthened into a typhoon on September 4 as it tracked west-northwest. Approaching Luzon late on September 5, Ellen intensified rapidly into a strong typhoon with winds of 200 km/h (125 mph) before interaction with Luzon began to weaken the cyclone. Its final landfall was at Portuguese Macau on the morning of September 9 as a minimal typhoon. The next day, Ellen ceased to exist. Despite passing north of the Philippines, the storm killed three and left 15 persons injured. Damage in the country totaled \$680,000 (1983 USD). While passing near British Hong Kong, 50,000 people lost electrical services. Around 200 homes were destroyed; a total 2,000 people lost their homes, 1,600 of whom sought shelter. Throughout the city, eight people perished and 339 were hurt, including 120 seriously. Ellen spawned the second tornado ever recorded in Hong Kong, and the first ever recorded during a typhoon. Elsewhere, in Portuguese Macau, little damage was reported. Offshore, 40 crew members were rescued in a shipwreck. In a separate incident, eight people were lost at sea. Furthermore, ten Taiwan fishing boats capsized in the South China Sea, resulting in 48 fishermen missing, though 103 persons also survived. Overall, damage totaled \$79 million and 23 people died. ## Meteorological history Typhoon Ellen originated from a tropical disturbance located 500 km (310 mi) south-southwest of the Johnston Atoll on August 26. Based on the development of rainbands, satellite intensity estimates via the Dvorak technique indicated winds of 55 km/h (35 mph). The disturbance crossed the dateline two days later and a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) was subsequently issued. At 0000 UTC on August 29, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) first classified the system. Initially, the storm did not develop significantly due to strong wind shear caused by an intense high pressure area north of the cyclone. This also caused Ellen to turn west-southwest. On August 31, however, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) started warning on the system, declaring it a tropical storm. The next day, the JTWC briefly downgraded the system into a tropical depression; however, the JMA held the storm's intensity to 65 km/h (40 mph) for several days. On September 2, the storm began to turn west-northwest and environmental conditions became much more favorable for development. The JMA upgraded Ellen into a severe tropical storm early the following morning. Later on September 3, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PASAGA) started tracking the storm and assigned it with the local name Herming. At 1200 UTC, the JTWC upgraded Ellen into a typhoon, though the JMA did not follow suit until early on September 4. After maintaining this intensity for 12 hours, Ellen deepened slightly that evening, though the JTWC suggests that the storm intensified into a Category 2 hurricane on the United States Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. By midday on September 5, data from both agencies indicated that Ellen developed winds 110 mph (175 km/h) while located 370 km (230 mi) west of Luzon. Thereafter, Ellen began to rapidly intensify and according to the JTWC, the pressure decreased by 28 mbar (0.83 inHg). At 0600 UTC on September 6, Ellen reached peak intensity, with the JMA estimating winds of 120 mph (195 km/h) and a pressure of 925 mbar (27.3 inHg). Meanwhile, the JTWC suggests that Ellen reached a peak intensity of 125 mph (200 km/h) and a slightly higher pressure of 928 mbar (27.4 inHg). Ellen's peak intensity was short-lived; Typhoon Ellen soon began to weaken steadily as it moved through the Luzon Straits while interacting with Luzon. After turning northwest, the JMA reported the winds had reduced to 90 mph (145 km/h) at 0000 UTC on September 7. At that time, the JTWC noted that Ellen's winds were equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane. However, the JMA suggests that the weakening trend leveled off late on September 7. The next day, PASAGA ceased monitoring the system as it was no longer a threat to the Philippines. According to the JMA, the system moved ashore near Macao at 0000 UTC on September 9 as an 85 mph (135 km/h) typhoon, though the JTWC estimates that the storm was a little weaker at landfall. Ellen dissipated rapidly overland, and the JTWC downgraded Ellen into a tropical depression 12 hours later. However, the JMA kept watching the system until 0600 UTC on September 10. ## Preparations and impact Due to the storm's threat to Hong Kong, a no. 10 hurricane signal was issued. Across Hong Kong, schools and government offices were ordered to be closed and 250 shelters were opened. In addition, most shops and restaurants as well as all financial markets were closed. Despite passing north of the Philippines, the storm killed three and 15 people sustained injuries. Damage in the country totaled \$680,000. A total of 605 dwellings were damaged, excluding 105 that were destroyed. Upon making landfall in , winds gusted to 154 km/h (96 mph) at Stanley. Rainfall totaled 231.8 mm (9.13 in) at Hong Kong's Royal Observatory (RO or ROHK, now HKO). Twenty-two ships were wrecked, including a 21,000-ton freighter, forcing the rescue of all 40 crew members. A 185 ft (56 m) yacht Osprey carried nine people, eight of which were lost and presumed dead. Several minor collisions were reported between ships. Along the coastal province Guandong in southern China, communications and public services were disrupted. Ferry services from Hong Kong to Macao were suspended. On September 8, ten Taiwan fishing boats capsized in the South China Sea; consequently, 48 fishermen were missing, though 103 persons survived and later took refuge at Pratas Island, Taiwan (ROC). In Hong Kong, 50,000 people lost power. About 200 houses were destroyed. More than 2,000 people were left homeless; 1,600 of the homeless sought emergency shelter. Flights to the Kai Tak Airport were cancelled as the airport was closed for 12 hours. Large areas of farmland were damaged. Throughout the city, eight people perished, including a girl that was crushed by a falling cabinet. Two sisters were killed via a landslide while a fireman died when trying to rescue someone. Additionally, 339 people were injured, including 120 seriously. Forty-five people were injured due to flying glass and failing objects. Typhoon Ellen also spawned the second tornado ever recorded in Hong Kong, and the first ever recorded during the passage of a typhoon. According to the HKO, Ellen was Hong Kong's worst typhoon since Typhoon Hope of 1979. In nearby Macao, minor property damage was reported and 15 people were initially rendered as missing. However, by October 13, 10 people remained missing and were then presumed dead. In all, damage totaled \$79 million (1983 USD) and 20 people were killed due to Typhoon Ellen in mainland China. ## See also - Typhoon Ora (1972) - Typhoon Mangkhut - a typhoon in 2018, that followed the same track as Ellen.

Freedom (Sugababes song)

"Freedom" is a promotional song by English girl group Sugababes. It was written by Jason Pebworth, Jon Shave, George Astasio, Kyle Abrahams, Peter Ighile, Mariah Young-Jones and Rowan Martin, and produced by The Invisible Men in collaboration with Parker & James. The song premiered in May 2011 during a music festival in Morocco, and was promoted with various snippets and teasers in addition to an advertisement for the Nokia N8. It is an electropop song with elements of dubstep. It is the final song this lineup released before they disbanded and the original lineup reformed. "Freedom" was due for release as the lead single from their anticipated eighth studio album, although the song was cancelled as an official single and instead made a free digital download via Amazon. Despite the controversy surrounding its release, the song received positive reviews from critics, who complimented its sound and the use of dubstep. The music video, which was directed by Sean De Sparigo and filmed in July 2011, features the Sugababes in an underground club. The trio performed "Freedom" at the T4 on the Beach festival on 10 July 2011. ## Background Following the release of their seventh studio album Sweet 7, which was met with poor reviews and low sales, it was confirmed that the Sugababes had begun work on their eighth studio album. In February 2011, group member Heidi Range stated that the Sugababes were aiming to finish the album in time for a summer 2011 release. She revealed that the group completed a song which they believed could be the album's lead single. The Sugababes confirmed in May 2011 that they would premiere "Freedom" at the Mawazine Festival in Morocco. In July 2011, the group's management confirmed that the group had left their longtime record company Island Records and signed a three-album deal with Sony's RCA label. The artwork for "Freedom" was revealed in August 2011; it features the Sugababes on a sofa wearing deep green clothing. ## Composition and lyrics "Freedom" was written by Jason Pebworth, Jon Shave, George Astasio, Kyle Abrahams, Peter Ighile, Mariah Young-Jones and Rowan Martin. Pebworth, Shave and Astasio produced the song under their stage name The Invisible Men, in collaboration with Parker & James, consisting of Abrahams and Ighile. "Freedom" is an electropop song with elements of dubstep. It is backed by synthesizers with a "moody" arrangement. According to the British website Orange, "Freedom" is a "controlled, steady anthem" with a "darker, deeper and more soulful" sound. During the pre-chorus, the group chants the lines "So raise your hands / One fist in the air / For free-ee-ee-ee dom-dom-dom" over a prominent dubstep beat. Sugababes member Amelle Berrabah interpreted the track as about "being free, liberated and being powerful". ## Release and reception A snippet of "Freedom" appeared online on 1 June 2011 as part of an advertising campaign for the Nokia N8. In July 2011, the Sugababes released a teaser of the song online, while the full version premiered online in August 2011. "Freedom" was due to be officially released on 5 September 2011, although the date was pushed back to 25 September. The song was made available to pre-order on the iTunes Store, however, four days before its release date, the pre-order link was removed and "Freedom" was cancelled as an official single. Instead, the song was released as a free digital download via Amazon. The decision was clarified in a statement posted on the Sugababes' official Facebook page: "As a thank you to their fans, the Sugababes are offering their new single, 'Freedom' as a free download via Amazon." Several media outlets reported that the single's release was cancelled due to major radio stations' reluctance to play the song, as well as the presumption that it would underperform in the charts. Despite the controversy surrounding its release, "Freedom" received positive reviews from critics. Robert Copsey of Digital Spy gave it a four out of five star rating, and wrote: "Truth be told, by the time the head-spinning dubstep moment kicks in, we're too busy throwing our finest shapes to care who's in the band anyway." A journalist from Orange regarded "Freedom" as an "unusual club track", and praised it as a "fine addition" to the Sugababes' collection of songs. ## Promotion The music video for "Freedom" was directed by Sean De Sparengo, and filmed in London in July 2011. It took one day to film, and is primarily set in an underground club with red lighting, reminiscent of that featured in the group's 2002 single "Freak like Me". De Sparengo commented on the concept and visual attributes of the video, saying: "One of the interesting things for the concept for this video is that we knew we had to make everything look incredibly beautiful. It was about making a video where the Sugababes felt like they were at the top of their game." The video made its premiere in August 2011. A behind the scenes clip was uploaded to the Sugababes official VEVO channel on YouTube. Daily Mirror praised the band's appearance in the video. The Sugababes performed "Freedom" on 10 July 2011 at the T4 on the Beach festival. It was the first performance of the song on television, in which group member Jade Ewen told 4Music that they were "really excited about it." In September 2011, the trio performed "Freedom" on several television shows including This Morning, Daybreak, Big Friday Wind Up, and Super Saturday. They also performed the song at London's nightclub G-A-Y, where they wore coordinating rubber outfits. ## Tracklist - Streaming Only. 1. "Freedom" - 3:25 2. "Freedom" (Kris Di Angelis 'Back to 95' Remix) - 6:32

USS Galena (1862)

American military ship

USS Galena was a wooden-hulled broadside ironclad built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War. The ship was initially assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and supported Union forces during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862. She was damaged during the Battle of Drewry's Bluff because her armor was too thin to prevent Confederate shots from penetrating. Widely regarded as a failure, Galena was reconstructed without most of her armor in 1863 and transferred to the West Gulf Blockading Squadron in 1864. The ship participated in the Battle of Mobile Bay and the subsequent Siege of Fort Morgan in August. She was briefly transferred to the East Gulf Blockading Squadron in September before she was sent to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for repairs in November. Repairs were completed in March 1865 and Galena rejoined the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in Hampton Roads the following month. After the end of the war, the ship was decommissioned at Portsmouth, New Hampshire in June. She was transferred to Hampton Roads in 1869, condemned in 1870, and broken up for scrap in 1872. ## Background After the United States received word of the construction of the Confederate casemate ironclad, CSS Virginia, Congress appropriated \$1.5 million on 3 August to build one or more armored steamships. It also ordered the creation of a board to inquire into armored ships. The U.S. Navy advertised for proposals for "iron-clad steam vessels of war" on 7 August and Gideon Welles, the Secretary of the Navy, appointed the three members of the Ironclad Board the following day. Their task was to "examine plans for the completion of iron-clad vessels". Well before this date, Cornelius Bushnell had commissioned a design for an armored sloop from naval architect Samuel H. Pook in June for \$1,500 anticipating an order from the Union Navy to counter the Confederate ironclad already known to be under construction. Bushnell expected that order because his bid, at a higher cost, for building the steam Unadilla-class gunboat Owasco had already been accepted provided that he subcontract the construction to Charles Mallory & Sons Shipyard of Mystic, Connecticut. In exchange, the Navy asked if Bushnell could give a price on an armored gunboat. He could and subcontracted the building of his design to Maxson, Fish & Co., also of Mystic, on 20 July, the day after a bill to authorize construction of a number of armored ships was introduced in the Senate. The building of the Galena's wooden hull began two days later. The Ironclad Board initially accepted two of the sixteen designs submitted in early September, the armored frigate that became USS New Ironsides and Bushnell's design. The board required a guarantee from Bushnell that his ship would float despite the weight of its armor and he needed to have his design reviewed by a naval constructor to that end. Cornelius H. DeLamater recommended that Bushnell consult with his friend John Ericsson. The two first met on 9 September and again on the following day, after Ericsson had time to evaluate Galena's design and give his guarantee. During this second meeting Ericsson showed Bushnell his own design, the future USS Monitor. Bushnell got Ericsson's permission to show the model of his design to Welles and the latter told Bushnell to show it to the board. Despite a preliminary rejection, the board accepted Ericsson's proposal on 16 September after he explained his design in person the previous day. The three ironclad ships differed substantially in design and degree of risk. The Monitor was the most innovative design by virtue of its low freeboard, shallow-draft iron hull, and total dependence on steam power. The riskiest element of its design was its rotating gun turret, something that had not previously been tested by any navy. Ericsson's guarantee of delivery in 100 days proved to be decisive in choosing his design despite the risk involved. The wooden-hulled Galena's most novel feature was her armor of interlocking iron rails. New Ironsides was much influenced by the French ironclad Gloire and was the most conservative design of the three, which copied many of the features of the French ship. ## Design and description Galena'''s original design, dated 28 June, was for a schooner-rigged corvette with three masts, 162 feet (49.4 m) long at the waterline with a beam of 32 feet (9.8 m), a depth of hold of 10 feet 8 inches (3.3 m) and an estimated displacement of 800 long tons (810 t). The ship's sides were protected by wrought iron plates 2.5 inches (64 mm) thick, backed by 1.5 inches (38 mm) of india rubber and the 18-inch (460 mm) side of the hull. The ship's deck consisted of armor 1.25 inches (32 mm). A revised design was submitted to the Ironclad Board, for which a contract was awarded on 28 September, in which the sloop was enlarged, probably because it was uncertain if the original design could support the proposed armor's weight. As built, Galena was 180 feet (54.9 m) long between perpendiculars and 210 feet (64.0 m) long overall. She had a beam of 36 feet (11.0 m), a depth of hold of 12 feet 8 inches (3.9 m), and a draft of 11 feet (3.4 m). The ship displaced 950 long tons (970 t) and had 738 tons burthen. The number of masts was reduced to two and the amount of tumblehome greatly increased. Her crew numbered 150 officers and enlisted men. On her only ocean voyage in her original configuration, Galena rolled heavily. While under construction, the armor scheme was modified. The rubber backing was replaced by an additional 5⁄8 inch (16 mm) of iron although Commodore Joseph Smith, Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and Pook were uncertain if the ship could support this weight. To reduce the weight several alternatives were proposed. One proposal was to reduce the thickness of the protection to 1⁄2 inch (13 mm) for a distance from 20 feet (6.1 m) from the bow and stern and the other was to reduce the armor's thickness above the sills of the gun ports to 2 inches (51 mm) and the deck armor's thickness to 1/2-inch over 2 1/2 inches of wood. It is unknown exactly how the situation was resolved, but one report on 31 March 1862 suggests that the two proposals were combined as it said that the armor was two inches thick above the gun ports, except around the stern where it was 1/2-inch thick. Galena was powered by a single-cylinder horizontal Ericsson vibrating-lever steam engine, which drove one propeller. The 800-indicated-horsepower (600 kW) engine used steam generated by two boilers and gave the ship a top speed of 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph). It had a bore of 48 inches (1,219 mm) and a stroke of 36 inches (914 mm). During her trip to Hampton Roads after commissioning, the ship reached a speed of 7–8 knots (13–15 km/h; 8.1–9.2 mph) using her sails. The ship was armed with two 6.4-inch (163 mm), 100-pounder Parrott rifles in pivot mounts fore and aft and four 9-inch (229 mm) smoothbore Dahlgren guns. Each nine-inch gun weighed approximately 9,000 pounds (4,100 kg). They could fire a 70–90-pound (31.8–40.8 kg) shell to a range of 3,450 yards (3,150 m) at an elevation of 15°. The muzzle-loading Parrott rifles fired a 70–100-pound (31.8–45.4 kg) shell and had a maximum range of approximately 2,250 yards (2,060 m). The 20-caliber guns weighed about 9,800 pounds (4,400 kg) each. ## Career Galena's keel was laid down by Maxson, Fish & Co. in 1861 and she was launched on 14 February 1862. The ship was commissioned on 21 April 1862 with Commander Alfred Taylor in command. Galena arrived in Hampton Roads on 24 April, after having suffered several engine breakdowns en route, and was assigned to Flag Officer L.M. Goldsborough's North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Commander John Rodgers relieved Taylor the same day. When Goldsborough inspected the ship shortly after her arrival he ordered that her spars be cut away and the nuts on the inside of her hull to be covered with sheet iron to prevent them from breaking loose when the ship was hit. Galena prepared for action on 4 and 7 May when the ironclad Virginia sortied into Hampton Roads, but the Virginia did not attack. On 8 May, the ship, together with the gunboats Port Royal and Aroostook, sailed up the James River with orders to cooperate with Major General George B. McClellan's Army in Peninsula Campaign and harass retreating Confederate forces. The ships silenced one battery and ran past another covering the river without damage before Galena ran aground later that day. She was not damaged, although she required a day and a half of work before she was freed. Rodgers' ships were reinforced by the ironclads Monitor and Naugatuck on 12 May and they reached City Point the following day. ### Battle of Drewry's Bluff On the morning of 15 May, Galena led her squadron up to Drewry's Bluff, about 8 miles (13 km) from Richmond, where the Confederates had blocked the river and placed a battery on the 90-foot (27 m) bluff to cover the obstacles. Galena anchored some 600 yards (550 m) from the bluff and opened fire at 07:45, while the wooden ships remained further downriver. Monitor attempted to fire on the battery as well, but her guns could not elevate enough to reach it. Galena engaged the Confederate position for over three hours, until her ammunition was nearly exhausted. Her fire was largely ineffective, although her shells did manage to kill seven and wound eight members of the battery. In return, the ship was hit an estimated 44 times on her port side, of which 13 hits penetrated her armor and she had three large holes punched through her spar deck. She suffered 13 crewmen killed and a further 11 wounded. In a letter to his wife, Rodgers said that "her sides look as though she had an attack of smallpox". Two sailors and one marine aboard Galena were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions during the battle: Fireman Charles Kenyon, Quartermaster Jeremiah Regan, and Corporal John F. Mackie. Mackie was the first member of the U.S. Marine Corps to receive the medal. Galena remained on the James River after the battle and returned to City Point. She shelled Confederate soldiers along the river banks and bombarded City Point to cover a landing force which set fire to the depots. On 27 June, Major General McClellan came aboard the ship to locate a new camp which was later established near Harrison's Landing. On 30 June, McClellan was compelled to withdraw down the James, covered by gunfire from Galena and the other gunboats. They continued to support his forces until they were transferred to Northern Virginia. Galena patrolled the river to defend transports and supply ships against Confederate raids and ambushes until she was detached from the James River Flotilla in September 1862 Galena and Monitor were retained at Newport News, Virginia, in case the Confederate ironclads building at Richmond sortied into Hampton Roads. Galena departed Hampton Roads on 19 May 1863 and arrived at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, two days later, where she was decommissioned for repairs and reconstruction. Most of her ineffective armor was removed, except around the engines and boilers; her armament was increased to eight nine-inch Dahlgren guns and a single 100-pounder Parrot rifle, and she was rebuilt as a ship-rigged sloop with three masts. Recommissioned on 15 February 1864, Galena, now under the command of Lieutenant Commander C. H. Wells, sailed on 18 February for the Gulf of Mexico and the West Gulf Blockading Squadron. The ship became icebound at New Castle, Delaware, until she was towed out to sea by an ice boat, and was forced to put into port for repairs. She departed Norfolk on 10 May and arrived at Pensacola, Florida on 20 May for blockade duty off Mobile, Alabama, during which she shelled Fort Morgan and fired upon various blockade runners as they attempted to evade the blockade. ### Battle of Mobile Bay Rear Admiral David Farragut, commander of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron, was to split his ships into two columns. The four monitors would comprise the starboard column, closest to Ft. Morgan, and their mission was to bombard the fort while the wooden ships in the other column passed by, and to sink the ironclad ram CSS Tennessee. Once past the fort the wooden ships were to prevent the escape of the Confederate wooden gunboats to Mobile. To ensure that his wooden ships could get past Ft. Morgan, Farragut ordered that they be lashed together in pairs so that one ship could pull the other if the Confederates succeeded in knocking out its boilers or engines. Galena was tied to the port side of the larger sloop Oneida and the pair were the last ships in the port column when the battle began on the morning of 5 August. While passing the fort, Oneida had her starboard boiler disabled by a shell hit and her crew was attempting to reroute her steam to both engines when she was engaged by Tennessee at a range of 200 yards (180 m). The ironclad only managed to fire three shots that did little damage. Galena was struck six times while passing the fort with little damage, although her rigging was badly cut up. Two crewmen were wounded and another died of his wounds. Four of Galena's sailors were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions during the battle: Seaman William Gardner, Quartermaster Thomas Jordan, Quartermaster Edward S. Martin, and Coxswain Edward B. Young. Galena intermittently bombarded Fort Morgan until it surrendered on 23 August and sailed from Mobile Bay on 31 August to temporarily serve as a part of the East Gulf Blockading Squadron at Key West, Florida. The transfer was made permanent on 24 September and she was ordered to the Philadelphia Navy Yard for repair a month later. The ship did not arrive until 4 November and repairs did not begin until 22 November. Galena was recommissioned on 29 March 1865 and was reassigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. She reached Newport News on 2 April where the ship patrolled the mouth of the Nansemond River and in the James River until her departure on 6 June for Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Galena was decommissioned there on 17 June until she was recommissioned on 9 April 1869 for transfer to back to Hampton Roads, where she was again decommissioned on 2 June. Condemned by survey in 1870, Galena'' was broken up in 1872 at the Norfolk Navy Yard.

2018 Chicago Marathon

Annual race in Chicago, Illinois

The 2018 Chicago Marathon was the 41st edition of the Chicago Marathon, an annual marathon race that is held in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The race took place on the morning of October 7, 2018 in wet conditions, with a total of 44,584 runners completing. Britain's Mo Farah won the men's race, having gapped second placed Mosinet Geremew towards the end of the race, to take his only World Marathon Major win, in a European record time of 2:05:11. The women's race was won by Kenya's Brigid Kosgei in a personal best time of 2:18:35, nearly three minutes ahead of the next finisher. The men's wheelchair races came down to a sprint finish, which was won by Daniel Romanchuk, with Marcel Hug a second behind, while the women's race was won by Manuela Schär. ## Course The marathon is defined as a race 26 miles and 385 yards (26.219 miles (42.195 km)) long by the international athletics governing body World Athletics (known as the IAAF in 2018). The 2018 course was slightly different to that run in previous years. The race started and finished in Grant Park. Before leaving the park, runners went underneath the BP Pedestrian Bridge before entering Downtown Chicago where they went along Michigan Avenue, Grand Avenue, and State Street. The course turned north onto LaSalle Street and entered Lincoln Park around mile 5, before contining to Sheridan Road and turning back south along Broadway, passing through Boystown, Old Town, and River North. The runners crossed the Chicago River via the Wells Street Bridge before re-crossing the river heading west via the Monroe Street Bridge. The course passed through Greektown on Adams Street before turning back east in the 16th mile. The course continued down Jackson Boulevard then turned south through Little Italy and Pilsen before crossing the river again via Cermak Road. It then continued south through Chinatown before turning north just after mile 23 back towards the downtown. There was a slight uphill section after mile 26 before the course re-entered Grant Park to finish. ## Field In the elite men's race, the defending champion, American Galen Rupp, had his participation announced in a May 2018 press release. Among recent results, he won the 2017 edition in a time of 2:09:20, the 2018 Prague Marathon in 2:06:07, finished second at the 2017 Boston Marathon, and third at the marathon at the 2016 Olympic Games. Brit Mo Farah, who had run a personal best of 2:06:21 at the London Marathon in April, had his participation announced in a press release in June. Race director Carey Pinkowski called Farah and Rupp "two of the greatest distance runners of all time". The press release also announced the reintroduction of pacemakers into the race. Previous champions Dickson Chumba and Abel Kirui were announced in another press release published in August. Chumba ran a personal best of 2:04:32 at the 2014 Chicago Marathon and won the race in 2015. Kirui won the race in 2016, held a personal best of 2:05:04 and had run 2:05:30 to win the 2018 Tokyo Marathon. Other participants included Ethiopians Mosinet Geremew and Birhanu Legese who achieved personal bests of 2:04:00 and 2:04:15, respectively, at the 2018 Dubai Marathon, Kenyans Kenneth Kipkemoi, Paul Lonyangata, Geoffrey Kirui, Bedan Karoki, Stephen Sambu, and Augustine Choge, and Japanese runners Yuki Kawauchi, Suguru Osako, and Ryo Kiname. In the May 2018 press release, the participation of American Jordan Hasay, the first runner in the elite women's field, was announced. She had debuted at the 2017 Boston Marathon, finishing in a time of 2:23:00 and improved on this time to finish third at the 2017 Chicago Marathon in 2:20:57. She was joined by Americans Amy Cragg, who held a personal best of 2:21:42 set at the 2018 Tokyo Marathon, and Laura Thweatt, announced in a press release in July. However, in September, both Hasay and Cragg withdrew with Hasay citing a stress fracture in her heel bone. The rest of the field was announced in the August press release. Ethiopian Roza Dereje held the fastest personal best, a time of 2:19:17 set at the 2018 Dubai Marathon. The race was to be her first World Marathon Major race. She was joined by fellow Ethiopian and sub-2:20 runner Birhane Dibaba, who had finished third at both the 2014 and 2015 Chicago Marathon. Kenyan Brigid Kosgei had finished second at the 2017 Chicago Marathon in 2:20:22 and had set a personal best of 2:20:13 at the London Marathon in April, the third fastest personal best in the field. Other runners included Ethiopian Shure Demise, Japanese runner Yuka Ando, and Mexican Madai Perez. The field for the wheelchair races was announced on September 18, 2018. The fourth fastest in the women's field, Tatyana McFadden returned to attempt to win her eighth consecutive Chicago Marathon victory and to defend her course record of 1:39:15. The race was to be "hotly contested" by McFadden and the likes of the Swiss Manuela Schär, Americans Amanda McGrory and Susannah Scaroni, and Australian Madison de Rozario. Schär held the fastest personal best in the field; she won the 2017 Boston Marathon in 1:28:17, nearly five minutes ahead of the second fastest personal best in the field, held by McGrory. Between them, McFadden and McGrory had won every Chicago Marathon since 2007. De Rozario had moved to marathon racing the previous year and had managed a fourth placed finish in Chicago in a time of 1:39:22. Also in the field were Switzerland's Sandra Graf, Netherland's Margriet van den Broek, Americans Katrina Gerhard and Arielle Rausin and Brazilian Aline dos Santos Rocha. The previous year's race was "dominated" by Marcel Hug, who returned to defend his title. Hug had most recently won in Boston and finished second in London, and with a personal best of 1:18:04, he was the fastest in the field. Australian Kurt Fearnley, a "veteran" of the discipline, joined Hug. He had won the Chicago Marathon five times between 2007 and 2015 and had most recently finished fourth in Tokyo and fifth in London. With a personal best of 1:18:51, he was the third fastest in the field. The British seven-time London Marathon winner David Weir was debuting in Chicago while four-time Chicago Marathon winner Josh George was returning, having not won since 2014. Others in the field included the Canadian Josh Cassidy, who held the second fastest personal best in the field, Americans Daniel Romanchuk and Aaron Pike, Spaniards Rafael Botello and Jordi Madera, and Japan's Hiroki Nishida and Ryota Yoshida. The wheelchair field was described as "internationally diverse" and "very competitive". ## Summary The race took place on Sunday, October 7, 2018. The wheelchair men's race started at 7:20 a.m., the wheelchair women's race one minute later with the first wave of runners at 7:30 a.m. There was a 30% chance of rain, temperatures of 60 °F (16 °C) with humidity at 87%, described as "high" by the Chicago Tribune. There were 20 aid stations along the course. The IAAF post-race report noted that it had rained prior to the race, leaving a "sheen of water on the streets", with the rain returning "briefly" during the race. A total of 44,584 runners, comprising 23,934 men and 20,650 women, finished the race, with an average time of 4:34:01. Romanchuk won the men's wheelchair race in 1:31:34 with Hug finishing a second behind. Weir finished third in 1:31:43. The three had led together for much of the race before Weir was dropped with about 200 metres (660 ft) to go before the other two competed for the win in a "terrific sprint finish". Schär won the women's wheelchair race in a time of 1:41:38, with de Rozario in second and Scaroni in third in 1:43:16 and 1:44:48, respectively. The elite men's race started with a 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) of 14:52 before a lead pack of 14 went through 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) in 30:10 accompanied by two pacemakers. The group was reduced to 13 by the halfway point, which they passed in 1:03:03. Just after the 30 kilometres (19 mi) mark, following a "scorching" 4:29 19th mile, the pack began to break up, with Karoki, Abel Kirui, Kipkemoi, Geoffrey Kirui, Geremew, Legese, Farah, Rupp, and Osako still present. Abel Kirui was the next to drop before a move by Kipkemoi dropped Karoki, Legese, then Rupp. Nearly 1:56 into the race, Farah and Geremew broke away from the others. At 2:03:35, Farah gapped Geremew and held his lead to the line, winning in a time of 2:05:11, a European record and his only World Marathon Major win. Geremew crossed the line in 2:05:24 with Osako coming third in an Asian record of 2:05:50, an achievement which earned him ¥100 million (equivalent to \$879,000 in 2018) through a marathon development project by the National Corporate Federation of Japan. Kipkemoi and Rupp finished fourth and fifth in times of 2:05:57 and 2:06:21, respectively. The women's race set off at a "brisk tempo", passing through the first 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) in 16:47. The leading group consisted of Kosgei, Kiplagat, Demise, Dibaba, Dereje, and Veronica Nyaruai, which went through 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) in 33:24, before Nyaruai dropped off the pace at 15 kilometres (9.3 mi). After passing through the halfway mark in 1:10:09, Kosgei made a move about 30 kilometres (19 mi) in, dropping Kiplagat and Birhane, and building a lead of 45 seconds over second-placed Dereje, a lead which grew to two minutes by 40 kilometres (25 mi). Kosgei went on to win the race in 2:18:35, a personal best of 1:38. Dereje finished second in 2:21:18 and Demise in third in 2:22:15. Nearly four minutes behind her was Kiplagat, who finished fourth in 2:26:08. ## Results The results were as follows. ### Men ### Women ### Wheelchair men ### Wheelchair women

Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir

Expansion pack

Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir is an expansion pack for the role-playing video game Neverwinter Nights 2, developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Atari Interactive. It was released in late 2008 in North America, Europe, and Australia. Like previous entries in the Neverwinter Nights series, Storm of Zehir is based on the paper and pencil fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, and uses the game's 3.5 edition ruleset. Storm of Zehir was inspired by older video games like the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale franchises. The storyline foreshadows the events of the fourth edition of Dungeons & Dragons and follows the adventures of a group of merchants in the Samarach and Sword Coast areas of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. Storm of Zehir received mixed reviews from critics. Reviewers were pleased with new features introduced in the game, like more options for party customization and an overland map, but were not impressed with the game's storyline and technical achievements. ## Gameplay Storm of Zehir is an expansion of Neverwinter Nights 2 and continues the formula of a role-playing video game played from an overhead third-person perspective. Players first create a character along the lines of the Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 rules by selecting a variety of traits, such as a race, class, and feats. New character creation options include the yuan-ti pureblood and gray orc races, the swashbuckler class, and the hellfire warlock and doomguide of Kelemvor prestige classes. The rest of the player's party can also be created, unlike Neverwinter Nights 2, but pre-made characters are available if the player is not interested in complete customization. The party can then explore several regions on the Forgotten Realms continent of Faerûn. The game provides an overland map that is used to move between different areas like towns and dungeons. While on the map, characters can use various skills to identify treasure, monsters, and other points of interest, such as side quests and secret locations. The party can rest while on the map, but doing so puts them at risk of random encounters in the form of wandering monsters. In combat, players have access to a variety of abilities and magic spells, based on the makeup of the party. Storm of Zehir uses the dice-based d20 System of Dungeons & Dragons and each action requires a random number generated by a die roll. The player can control a character individually by selecting specific actions to be taken against enemies, or allow the game's artificial intelligence to fight by using a pre-selected set of behaviors for each character. Defeating monsters and completing quests bestows experience points on the party, which are used to gain levels and become more powerful. The player character can engage in other activities outside of combat, such as completing quests and interacting with non-player characters. While in conversation with other characters, the player character can influence them by using several skills, such as "Intimidate" or "Diplomacy". The entire party can assist in this process if they have the appropriate skills. Characters can create weapons, armor, and other goods with raw materials through a system of skill-based crafting. Storm of Zehir also includes a regional economy whereby players can establish trading outposts in various towns and create caravan routes between them, providing merchandise to consumers along each route. The caravans can be personally observed and managed by the player, such as providing security if attacked by bandits. ## Plot The plot events and characters are described, below, using in-universe tone. ### Setting Like other games in the Neverwinter Nights series, Storm of Zehir takes place in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, on the continent of Faerûn on the planet Abeir-Toril. It is set mostly in the Samarach and Sword Coast regions, with visits to locations featured in previous games such as Crossroad Keep and the city of Neverwinter. Since the Shadow War depicted in Neverwinter Nights 2 and the subsequent disappearance of the game's protagonist, the Knight–Captain, Neverwinter and the surrounding area have been declining economically. Several merchant companies have been attempting to establish a foothold in the region, with limited success. ### Story Storm of Zehir's story begins with the player character escorting a ship called the Vigilant, sailing from the Sword Coast to Samarach. Halfling captain Lastri Kassireh quickly advises the party to go below decks in anticipation of an impending storm. The violent storm, coupled with a possible act of sabotage, culminates in the Vigilant becoming shipwrecked on the shores of the xenophobic nation of Samarach. The captain is missing, but the party quickly sets to work organizing the survivors, such as finding defensible positions nearby and salvaging equipment from the wreckage. Before long, a tribe of goblins discovers the group, and their leader issues a challenge in an unknown language. One of the other passengers of the Vigilant, the bard Volothamp "Volo" Geddarm, claims to speak the goblin tongue but inadvertently insults the goblins and instigates a battle. After the goblins are defeated, a group of humans approaches and arrests the party on suspicion of treachery, escorting them to the Open Palm market in the nearby city of Samargol. There, a local merchant named Sa'Sani intervenes on the party's behalf, revealing herself to be the recipient of the goods traveling aboard the waylaid Vigilant. She subsequently recruits the party to investigate the ship's demise and the whereabouts of Captain Kassireh. After rescuing the captain from goblins, investigating the wreckage of the Vigilant, and recovering some of Sa'Sani's goods, the merchant offers the characters employment in her trading corporation. The party undertakes various missions throughout Samarach for her, establishing trade routes through the jungles of Chult and protecting caravans along them. As the group continues to expand their trading operation, they eventually discover a large plot involving followers of the new yuan-ti god, Zehir. They learn that the yuan-ti, evil serpentine humanoids, have been infiltrating human settlements from their temples in the jungles of Chult and posing as merchants. After Sa'Sani commits an act of murder at Crossroad Keep, the party learns that she is a yuan-ti priestess of Sseth who has adopted this guise. The characters are given the option of aiding Sa'Sani against a powerful yuan-ti House Se'Sehen that shifted its attention to the new god, Zehir. In order to stop the House Se'Sehen's plot to conquer Sword Coast, the party has to infiltrate the House's stronghold, the Temple of the World Serpent, and assassinate N'Safa, the high priest, and a powerful being called the "Herald of Zehir", which is a gift from the god himself. Afterwards, the party has the opportunity to slay Sa'Sani as well. ## Development Development of Storm of Zehir began during the end of development of Neverwinter Nights 2's first expansion, Mask of the Betrayer, and was initially referred to as "NX2" by its designers. The game was formally announced by Atari in June 2008. It would be developed by Obsidian Entertainment, creators of Neverwinter Nights 2 and Mask of the Betrayer, and was given a release date of the fourth quarter of 2008. Despite being released after the fourth edition of Dungeons & Dragons, Storm of Zehir would continue to use the 3.5 edition rules. The design team for Storm of Zehir was smaller than that of Mask of the Betrayer and was given a shorter development period. Like Neverwinter Nights 2, Obsidian was inspired by older role-playing video games for Storm of Zehir, such as Fallout and the Baldur's Gate series. Assistant producer Rob McGinnis said "[The game] plays more like a classic CRPG". The game was intended to be "more authentic" to pencil and paper Dungeons & Dragons by offering players a light-hearted approach to adventuring and a focus on exploration. The designers included a party system they felt was more teamwork-oriented, such as the ability to custom-make the entire party and allowing party members to collaborate on social interactions. The game's programmers were instructed to include the ability to change party members whenever the player wished. Storm of Zehir's storyline occurs concurrently with Mask of the Betrayer, which was set in the Rashemen region of Faerûn. The story was shaped by lead designer Tony Evans and written by Obsidian designer Annie Carlson. The team leads decided to create an adventure that they considered more in line with the roots of Dungeons & Dragons by departing from the more serious, epic stories presented in Neverwinter Nights 2 and Mask of the Betrayer. Evans said "This direction for the title can be seen throughout - finding random (and not random) goodies while searching the overland map, the addition of the Swashbuckler class, the variety of personalities in the cohorts ..." The game's music was composed with this in mind; Evans wanted themes that would portray the feel of a "light-hearted adventure". Audio director Alexander Brandon collaborated with composers of games like the Heroes of Might and Magic series and Primal, as well as "rookie composers" from Rogue Dao Studios. Brandon had the option of using a live orchestra, but decided against it to include more music in the game. Obsidian implemented an overland map feature to allow players the opportunity to explore the areas of the game in great detail. Designer Nathaniel Chapman said "Furthermore, it provided an opportunity to increase the effectiveness of various skills that, frankly, were underutilized in previous Neverwinter Nights titles". Obsidian created the map with a design philosophy centered on "interstitial space". Chapman explains: > It's essentially the term for the space that exists between the things you are mainly concerned with in your study. So, if you're interested in looking at cells in the body, the goo that surrounds the cells is referred to as interstitial space. If you're designing a building, the space between each floor is interstitial space. That, in a way, is the space that Overland Maps in games like Fallout, Baldur's Gate, Final Fantasy, Darklands, and, of course, Storm of Zehir are conveying - those monster-filled roads, boundless plains and spooky forests you travel through on your way to meet interesting people (and possibly kill and loot them). The map's first prototype was inspired by the map seen in the Indiana Jones films. It behaved similarly to normal gameplay, and Obsidian decided to revamp it to create a "more dynamic and reactive interstitial space". Characters would be able to avoid monsters by having a high enough Survival skill and could find hidden items and locations with high Search skills. Groups of adventuring NPCs could be observed and interacted with by players, including helping them fight aggressive monsters. Trade caravans created within the game's economic subplot are visible and the player can actively protect their own investments. The overland map feature was created with the modding community in mind, and players using the Neverwinter Nights 2 toolset can modify the map's options on an individual basis. Storm of Zehir was ready for mass production on November 1, 2008 and was released on November 18, 2008 in North America, November 21 in Europe, and December 11 in Australia. It was also made available for download on digital distribution service Direct2Drive. ## Reception Storm of Zehir received mixed reviews. Critics were generally pleased with the departure from previous games in the series in terms of open-ended gameplay and its similarities to "old school" role-playing video games, but they criticized the game's story and frequency of random encounters. It was a runner-up in the RPG category for IGN's Best of E3 Awards at the Electronic Entertainment Expo video game convention in 2008. Reviewers were in favor of Storm of Zehir's focus on exploration and the ability to postpone or ignore the game's main storyline, and they compared the gameplay to older role-playing video games such as Icewind Dale II and Fallout. GameZone's reviewer said "This is a game that harkens back to the good old days of adventure D&D video-gaming", and IGN said "this feels like an homage to the old school D&D games of the past". The ability to handcraft an entire party instead of just the main character was welcomed, with GameSpot's reviewer noting "Rather than playing as a solo hero chosen for some great destiny, you roll up a party of four average joes just like you did way back when in D&D classics like the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale franchises," (Baldur's Gate did not actually contain the ability to create the entire party in single player mode; however, in multiplayer, this was possible) and IGN saying "There's a strange kind of nerd joy when it comes to creating a D&D party". Reviewers also appreciated the "Party Conversation System", which allows typically underutilized social skills to be used by the entire party during conversation. GameSpy said "It's a terrific convention in which the game responds not to one but to every member of an adventuring party. [Characters] have the option to interject some special comment into a conversation that might open up otherwise unavailable avenues". Reviewers were grateful that the time-based, "spirit-eating" gameplay mechanic of Mask of the Betrayer was not included. Reviewers generally praised Storm of Zehir's use of the Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition rules with the exception of GameSpy, who expressed skepticism of the ruleset in a preview of the game. The game's handling of character death was not well received, despite being more faithful to the pencil and paper version than previous Dungeons & Dragons video games. Unlike Neverwinter Nights 2 and Mask of the Betrayer where defeated characters would be automatically revived after a battle, Storm of Zehir requires a powerful spell or a "Coin of Waukeen" to resurrect dead allies. Reviewers considered this requirement unforgiving; GameSpy said "This merely forces the player to troop back to town through a zillion meaningless random encounters. This may be "realistic" (whatever that means in a world where players fight against newborn gods and sentient snakes), but it's simply not fun. Baldur's Gate had this all worked out over a decade ago. Why do we need to re-invent the wheel?" Critics gave the game's technical achievements a lukewarm reception. Several reviewers described the Electron engine as aging; IGN Australia said "The two year-old engine is surprisingly sluggish for something that looks dated. The simplistic Overhead Map adds nothing to the visual attractiveness, but this isn't a bad-looking game". GameZone referred to the graphics as "serviceable", and IGN said "The world map is a bit ugly, but otherwise Storm of Zehir looks slightly better than its predecessors". Critics widely panned the voice acting, but praised the music. The focal point of criticism was Storm of Zehir's story. Critics considered its focus on trade and economics shallow compared to the epic adventures presented in Neverwinter Nights 2 and Mask of the Betrayer. GameSpy referred to the storyline as a "boringly generic adventure", and GameSpot said "The quests reflect this mundane storyline. You run a lot of lame errands to kill specific monsters and recover lost or stolen merchandise, and you clean out a bunch of formulaic dungeons, caves, graveyards, and the like". Other complaints included the presence of random encounters on the overland map, which were considered excessive, as well as long load times.

Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War

1998 video game

Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War, known as Conflict: FreeSpace – The Great War in Europe, is a 1998 space combat simulation IBM PC compatible computer game developed by Volition, when it was split off from Parallax Software, and published by Interplay Productions. In 2001, it was ported to the Amiga platform as FreeSpace: The Great War by Hyperion Entertainment. The game places players in the role of a human pilot, who operates in several classes of starfighter and combats against opposing forces, either human or alien, in various space-faring environments, such as in orbit above a planet or within an asteroid belt. The story of the game's single player campaign focuses on a war in the 24th century between two factions, one human and the other alien, that is interrupted in its fourteenth year by the arrival of an enigmatic and militant alien race, whose genocidal advance forces the two sides into a ceasefire in order to work together to halt the threat. Descent: FreeSpace was well-received as a single-player space simulation that integrated all the desired features of its genre, from competent AI wingmen, to the presence of large capital ships that dwarf the fighters piloted by the player and explode spectacularly when destroyed. The game's multiplayer mode was criticised, as it was plagued by lag and inaccurate tracking of statistics. An expansion for the game, which was less well-received, was also released in 1998 under the title of Silent Threat, and focuses on events after the main game's campaign with the player working for an intelligence branch of the Terrans' armed forces that later attempt to overthrow the Terran government. A sequel to Descent: FreeSpace entitled FreeSpace 2, was released in 1999 to critical acclaim. ## Gameplay Descent: FreeSpace features two modes of play; a single player campaign and multiplayer matches, with the game's main menu designed around the interior of a ship's quarterdeck, with various elements (mostly doors) leading to different options, such as starting a new game, configuring the game, reviewing the crafts featured in the game and various story elements, and replaying completed single player missions. In both modes, the player controls their craft and other commands through either a joystick, or a keyboard (either on its own or with a mouse), and primarily view the game's environments from the first-person perspective of a cockpit within a starfighter. While the game features additional third-person camera viewpoints, the game's interface - the head-up display (HUD) - can only be viewed from the primary viewpoint, and can be customised with different colours. Because of the flexibility in the control scheme, some have categorised the game as being a flight simulator, since it has more controls and commands than a typical arcade game, yet its flight model is simple, and incorporates some elements of Newtonian physics such as precise collision physics. When conducting a match or a single-player mission, players rely on the HUD of their craft to provide information for them. This includes: the state of their craft and its shields, the amount of energy for primary weapons and the craft's afterburners (both recharge over time), along with management of sub-systems and which primary and secondary weapons are being used; overall damage taken on the player's craft and sub-systems (the latter repairs over time, unless destroyed); information on both allied and hostile craft being targeted, displayed in the lower-left corner of the HUD, including their condition and condition of sub-systems, speed, and their distance to the player's own craft; a warning system that alerts the player about incoming enemy missiles; and an in-game radar that tracks all craft in the area around them (green for allies, red for enemies, and blue for craft entering or leaving the area). In single-player missions, the HUD also displays the condition of any wingmen the player has supporting them, represented by a circle that changes to a darker colour when the craft has taken critical damage and becomes an outline when the wingman has either departed or be killed in action, along with an "Escort" list that keeps track of notable vessels that the player either must escort or destroy, the number next to the vessel's name indicating how much hull integrity they have. The game features a flexible targeting system that works in conjunction with the HUD, allowing the player to track any craft around them or in front of them, as well as hostiles and any craft marked in the Escort list. While the player has full manual control of the system, they can also opt to have it automatically track the nearest hostile target, as well have their craft match its current target's speed through the targeting system. The starfighters available for use to the player in both modes, fall under several roles - space superiority, assault, recon, interceptor and bomber. Each type of craft available in the game for use, vary in speed, shielding, manoeuvrability, and the number of weapon banks available for primary and secondary weapons; the carrying capacity for secondary weapons also varies between crafts. Primary weapons cover guns that vary in damage and firing rate, and which drain the weapon energy banks of a starfighter when continuously used, with some specifically designed to do damage to either shields, hull, or subsystems. Secondary weapons cover missiles and bombs, each designed to be either a "dumb-fire", heat-seeking, or aspect-seeking projectile in combat. In both modes, the player can choose what craft they use and which weapons it is armed with, while in battle, they can opt to switch to between which primary weapons they use (provided the craft has more than one gun mount), as well as switch between secondary weapons and firing between single or double rounds. Along with weapons, each craft carries a set amount of countermeasures which can be used, along with skillful manoeuvring, to avoid incoming missiles. Along with control over weapons, players can alter their craft's main sub-systems - Weapons, Shields and Engines - via an energy management system, which dynamically affects their efficiency as a result; altering the energy level of the engines, affects their craft's maximum speed and the amount of energy available for its afterburners. Players also have access to a communication system that can be used to call in a support craft to repair destroyed sub-systems and re-arm secondary weapons, while in single-player mode, it can be used to call in reinforcements (if available) and direct wingmen (either a single craft, a wing, or all craft, depending on how many are still active) to either engage a player's target, engage all hostiles, protect a target, or depart from the battle. ### Single-player In the game's single-player mode, players take on the role of a Terran pilot in the game's main campaign, who engages in a series of mission that become increasingly challenging as they progress into the game's main storyline; the difficulty of this campaign can be changed by the player, in between missions. Apart from other starfighters, the campaign sees the player sometimes encountering other vessels - cruisers, destroyers, medical ships, science vessels, transports, freighters and escape pods – along with stationary turrets, cargo containers, and large space-station installations, either friendly or hostile. To ease players into the various controls of the game, training missions are included in the campaign, mixed in between regular missions, that gradually introduce the player to advanced commands and techniques. For each mission that is undertaken, the player is given a briefing that details the relevant information pertaining to its circumstances and the objectives that are expected to be completed, although such briefings do not detail actual situations and objectives the player will face; in between some mission, a command briefing is given prior to a mission's briefing, outlying the current situation of the campaign, as well as details on new ships and weapons the player may use. To complete a mission and subsequently unlock the next one, players must meet a number of objectives defined for it and survive long enough to receive clearance to return to base; not all objectives can be completed, as some are scripted to be failed as part of the campaign's story. If a player dies on a mission, or fail to complete vital objectives (i.e. protecting an important ship), players can restart a mission and try it again. While objectives are not listed, the player is given a list of directives in their HUD, detailing what they must do (i.e. destroying a target(s)); multiple targets of a directive include numbers in brackets, which decreases when targets are destroyed or depart, while directives that are completed turn blue, and those failed turn red. Before committing to a mission in the campaign, players are given control to denote what craft and weapons are used by both themselves and the wingmen they have control over at the start of the mission, which adds an element of strategy to the campaign, though what ships and weapons are available depend upon what stage of the campaign the player is on. Not all missions allow the load-out to be changed - in some missions, it is fixed; in others, it is whatever the player had for themselves and their wingmen from the previous mission, including the conditions their crafts were in. Once a mission is completed, the player receives a debriefing which outlays the result of the player's actions and what could have been done better; players can get a hint, defined as "Recommendations" in the game, that can detail what exactly they could do to improve their performance in the mission, and have the ability to restart a mission in order to approach it differently. In some missions, the results of the player's action can often affect later missions - for example, an enemy capital ship allowed to flee in a particular mission may return in a later mission. Players can earn medals in the campaign, either by completing specific missions, or completing hidden bonus objectives, along with promotions based on kills - each kill earns points depending on the type of craft destroyed, with the amount affected by the difficulty the player is set at - and badges based on total number of kills made. Any mission completed in the campaign, can be played again through in-game mission simulator found in the game's main menu. In addition to the game's standard campaign, the player may also make their own missions and campaigns through the use of a free editor bundled with the game - the FreeSpace Editor (FRED for short) - which allows players to have the same capabilities as Volition's development team in making their own missions, with the ability to import personal audio and 3D animation files. ### Multiplayer In the game's multiplayer mode, players compete in multiplayer matches online or over a local area network (LAN), in which they can band together to complete cooperative missions, or split up into teams to battle against one another. At the time the game was released, online gameplay was free over the services offered by Parallax Online, which also kept track of players' statistics and rankings, while voice chat is available, although reviewers advised it to be used only on broadband or LAN. ## Plot ### Main campaign #### Setting The setting of the game takes place in the 24th century when humanity has discovered interstellar travel through the use of interstellar subspace jump nodes that function in the same manner as wormholes, allowing it to spread out across the stars and colonise new worlds. Prior to the game beginning, humanity (referred to as Terrans) formed the Galactic Terran Alliance (GTA) as the central power of all of their systems' governments and military, and became engaged in a war over systems and resources against the Vasudans of the Parliamentary Vasudan Empire (PVE). By the time the story begins, this war has entered its fourteenth year, as a third species, dubbed Shivans, makes an unprovoked attack on the Terran system of Ross 128. The player, acting as a new Terran pilot in the GTA, is initially involved in the conflict with the PVE before the fights focus on the new species' arrival and subsequent assaults. Vasudans are represented as carbon-based biped, who are taller than humans, and have a durable biological system and a skeletal-looking physical appearance, while Shivans appear insect-like in appearance, with multiple legs and eyes and the capability of walking on walls and ceilings. A fourth race, dubbed "The Ancients", is not shown in the game but referenced during the single-player story as having lived thousands of years ago and having once held an empire in the systems controlled by the Vasudans and Terrans, before they were driven to extinction by the Shivans. In the game, each race's ships bear distinctive appearances and are named after notable aspects of Earth's history, religious text, and mythologies: Terran craft have a plain but practical design that is easy to mass-produce, with military ships named after figures in Greek, Norse and religious mythology, and science craft named after noted figures of science; Vasudan craft are artistic with sleek lines and curves, and are named after ancient Egyptian myths and locations; Shivan ships are pointy and asymmetrical in insidious black and red colours, and are named after fictional, reptilian species, demons and figures in various religious text. #### Plot In 2335, on the fourteenth year of the Terran–Vasudan war, a lone GTA pilot scrambles to warn of an impending new threat, after forces from the GTA and PVE are destroyed by an unknown race, but is killed shortly after arriving in the Ross 128 system along with all GTA assets within the system. Unable to find evidence of a new race in the aftermath of the attack, GTA command covers up the incident as best as possible, disclosing it as an unsubstantiated rumour, as GTA forces co-ordinate an offensive manoeuvre on contested system held by the PVE. During one such engagement in the Antares system, GTA forces are forced to recover prototypes of a new weapon system stolen by one of its officers, Lt. Alexander McCarthy, who had gone rogue; during his capture, he proclaims that there is a far greater threat to both sides. Shortly after the PVE begins to lose control of Antares, the unknown race strikes both GTA and PVE forces, devastating both sides. In the aftermath of the attack, both sides call a ceasefire to contend with the new race, dubbed as "Shivans". Finding that the Shivans have two distinct advantages – their ships cannot be tracked by current sensor systems, while their smaller craft withstand current weapon system through the use of a shielding system – the GTA and PVE launch an ambitious raid on Shivan cargo depots to rectify this, acquiring components and data that allow them to even the odds. Despite the ceasefire coming into effect after the operation, a Vasudan death cult called "The Hammer of Light" (HoL), who worship the Shivans, launches attacks against both GTA and PVE forces. Contending with HoL forces, combined GTA-PVE forces soon begin making use of shielding technology in their fighters and bombers, and strike back at Shivan targets, eventually leading to the successful capture of a Shivan cruiser - the Taranis. However, celebrations on its capture are short-lived when a Shivan super-destroyer, dubbed the Lucifer, tracks down the ship, destroying it and many other allied ships. To the shock of the new alliance, the Lucifer is found to possess a powerful shield system that makes it immune to all conventional weaponry, thus allowing the Shivans to spearhead its invasion towards the homeworlds of the Vasudans and Terrans. Realising that the Vasudan's homeworld will be hit first, GTA-PVE forces prepare to counter the invasion, despite interference by HoL forces. To prepare for this, the alliance makes use of a captured Shivan fighter to scan incoming Shivan ships preparing an assault on the Vasuda system. Despite managing to destroy a Shivan destroyer during the eventual invasion, the GTA loses one of its own destroyers, the Galatea, to the Lucifer's weaponry. Having obliterated all opposition, the Lucifer subsequently bombards the Vasudans' home-planet, causing several billion casualties in the process. In the aftermath of the incident, GTA-PVE forces launch a rescue mission to recover surviving refugees from Shivan forces. With the Shivans now beginning to encroach on the Terrans' homeworld in the Sol system, the alliance receives unexpected news of a discovery that had been made in the Altair system, by a refugee fleet that had been forced to land on an uncharted planet within the system. Investigating this, the alliance uncover remnants of a long-extinct alien civilisation on the planet, dubbed "the Ancients", who had amassed a vast galactic empire several thousands of years ago, before the Shivans wiped them out. Uncovering data within the remains of this civilisation, the Alliance discovers that, prior to their destruction, the Ancients had developed the technology to track ships in subspace, and had discovered that the Shivans shield technology doesn't work in subspace, a flaw that also exists within the Lucifer's own shields. Armed with this knowledge, the alliance launches a desperate assault to stop the super-destroyer as it prepares to enter the jump node to Sol from the Delta Serpentis system. A small task-force of fighter and bomber squadrons follows the Lucifer into subspace and destroys the vessel as it emerges into the Sol system. Its destruction causes the Sol jump node to collapse, cutting off Earth from the rest of the galaxy. The GTA and PVE celebrate a pyrrhic victory, as the "Great War" finally comes to an end, with the Vasudan homeworld devastated and the Terran homeworld isolated. In an epilogue, a narrator speculates the Shivans were not necessarily evil, stating that they were "great destroyers but also the great preservers", and that their role was to exterminate other species who advanced beyond their ordained place in the cosmic order; the Ancients were targeted as they subdued or annihilated countless other species in building their vast empire. The narrator postulates that had it not been for the Shivan's intervention, the Ancients would have likely grown too powerful for the Terrans and Vasudans to survive against, and thus theorises that the Terrans' expansion would have made them a threat to any other fledgling species. ### Silent Threat expansion #### Setting The setting of the expansion takes place after the events of the "Great War", with both the GTA and PVE working together to rebuild their systems and deal with the remnants of the Shivan Armada. In the story, players assume the role of a pilot from the GTA, who has recently joined one of the fleets for Galactic Terran Intelligence (GTI), the GTA's intelligence service, which consists of three branches - Research & Development (R&D), Intelligence, and Special Operations. The player's character is assigned as a pilot for Special Operations during the storyline. #### Plot Following the end of the "Great War", both the GTA and the PVE attempt to focus on the rebuilding of their systems and dealing with the remnants of the Shivan forces, although the alliance between them is in a fragile state. In order to ensure the alliance does not collapse, GTA command assigns the GTI to the task of preserving it, while assisting in protecting valuable research projects and dealing with the remaining Shivan forces. During engagements, a science vessel that had been recorded as being officially destroyed during the war with the Shivans, the Einstein, turns up during an operation to protect Vasudan craft. Although the crew escape before the vessel is destroyed, suspicions surrounding the science vessel's appearance are aroused, when recovery of the ship's escapes pods is compounded by confusion in communications that lead to two of the GTI's destroyers, the Krios and the Repulse, arriving and claiming to be there to recover the pods; the latter later proves they were assigned to this responsibility. As the GTA and PVE launch further attacks on the Shivans, it is quickly discovered that what is left is unorganised, leading the alliance to co-ordinate a full invasion of their main strongholds, as other systems they occupied slowly return under Terran and Vasudan control. But as the last remaining threat from the Shivans is crushed, officers in the highest echelons of the GTI effect an attempt to cover-up plans for a coup against the GTA by going after the Krios, the only ship aware of the plot and thus a threat to their plans. The pilots sent out by the Krios during the final fight with the Shivans, return early, arriving in time to discover the treason and alert GTA command. Realising that much of the GTI has gone rogue and are fighting against the alliance, remnants of the GTI still loyal to the GTA is merged with its battle-groups and begins conducting operations to bring down the ringleaders, including the capture of the Repulse. Shortly after destroying the GTI's headquarters, the alliance discovers that a crippling attack against a Vasudan destroyer, the Hope, which had been maintaining a blockade against GTI forces, was conducted by a super-destroyer created by the GTI's R&D branch, designated the Hades. Investigations into its origins reveals that the GTI had known about the Shivans much earlier than the GTA and PVE during the "Great War", and that the Einstein was officially declared as destroyed in order to observe the species without interference. The Hades was planned for the war against the Vasudans until the ceasefire was put into effect by the GTA and the PVE; thus the GTI assisted in the war, only to eliminate the Shivan threat while utilising the race's technology that it had uncovered to further enhance the super-destroyer. Their rebellion was designed in order to overthrow the GTA government and dissolve the treaty with the Vasudans; the Krios destruction was because the head of Special Operations had unearthed the plot after managing to get details from some of the crew of the Einstein. Seeking to destroy it, GTA-PVE forces launch a massive assault on the Hades, and manage against the odds to destroy the vessel, ending the rebellion, and further cementing the alliance between the two species, as they resume their work to rebuilding their systems. ## Development FreeSpace was Volition's first project after the split from Parallax Software, which also spawned Outrage Entertainment. It is not part of the canon of the Descent video game series, and contained none of its ideas and only small portions of its code. It was only prefixed with Descent to avoid trademark issues with Mijenix Corporation's "FreeSpace", a disk compression utility. Volition also used the term "FreeSpace" in the game to initially describe what became later known as subspace. The game was conceived by Adam Pletcher, with all the features of space simulator games his team had found to be fun. The games TIE Fighter and Wing Commander were their primary inspirations, and those influences made their way into the game's flight model, along with the influence of historical World War II dogfights. Themes from the fiction of Star Wars, Space: Above and Beyond, and Ender's Game form a part in shaping the background and story of the FreeSpace world. The chaotic battles between masses of ships commonly found in science fiction anime became one of the features of FreeSpace. Begun with a crew of five, the project grew to a staff of 17. The game's code was built from scratch. Most of the software modules were interlinked with each other, increasing the job's complexity and difficulty. The code incorporated small portions of Descent'''s code for specific functions. Mike Kulas, who had worked on several versions of Flight Simulator and Descent, brought his experience into the game's artificial intelligence (AI). The game's difficulty levels are based on advancing the enemy AI, rather than simply increasing damage and "hit points" of enemies. Some realism was incorporated into the game's physics, such that an impact on one part of a starfighter's body will send it spinning appropriately, unlike sphere-based collision detection, in which an impact would simply 'push' the starfighter in a particular direction. Due to time and budget constraints, many of the initially planned cutscenes and stories were cut from the final product. Examples of such cuts include a campaign path where the Terran-Vasudan alliance goes on a retreat, and scenes of racial tension within the alliance. Despite the promise of a deathmatch mode for multiplayer, it was cut from the final product. The expansion Silent Threat also suffered the same fate of cuts due to budgetary and time concerns. Apogee Software announced on December 12, 1997 that they would be publishing FreeSpace for the first three months before handing the publishing rights back to Interplay Entertainment. This was part of their agreement with Interplay for the latter's purchase of the rights to Descent, and Apogee decided to release FreeSpace as shareware, with themselves as the merchant of the registered version. Interplay, however, bought the full rights to FreeSpace from Apogee in late April 1998, keeping the ownership of the game solely to themselves. Volition aimed for a quality release, and promised to deliver a product without major bugs. Minor bugs would be fixed in a prompt manner. The shipped game had deficiencies admitted by the team, such as problems with the multiplayer code, and a few design issues. The game underwent four patches, which resolved most of the bugs, and improved the multiplayer performance. Complaints about an online mission giving unfair scores led to Volition removing the mission from scoring play. Another patch allowed EAX capability to be enabled for Creative Sound Blaster sound cards. Interplay played its part in drumming up the community's interest by holding contests, and expanding material for the FreeSpace universe. Meanwhile, Volition created official star maps, and released Vasudan voice clips and story development notes. Interplay hired science-fiction writers such as Fred Saberhagen, Simon Hawke, and Jeff Grubb to write weekly FreeSpace stories for two months. Preparing for Silent Threat's release, Interplay held a contest from July 28 to August 25, 1998, in which the submitted fan-designed missions could win their authors prizes such as free copies of Silent Threat, FreeSpace apparel, and gaming hardware. Entries were judged by a panel from PC Gamer, and qualified entries constituted half of the missions in Silent Threat. On December 14, 1999, Hyperion Entertainment made acquisition of the license to port FreeSpace to the Amiga system. The publisher was changed to Haage & Partner Computer on October 18, 2001. Despite the game's official release being announced for December 2001, the approval to do so could only be gotten on January 7, 2002. The game was shipped without a printed manual, but had additional German and French language support. Hyperion had stated they would port over Silent Threat if the FreeSpace port sold well. To date, Silent Threat has yet to be ported over to the Amiga platform. ## Reception PC Data, which tracked computer game sales in the United States, reported that Descent: FreeSpace earned nearly \$4 million and sold around 100,000 copies by October 1999. Next Generation reviewed the PC version of the game, rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "overall, despite a few minor lapses, Descent Freespace: The Great War is definitely a keeper. Although it is too similar, especially in its controls, to other space sims [...] to be considered 'revolutionary', it does take the space-combat simulation genre one step further". Descent: FreeSpace received generally good reviews following its launch, with PC Gamer UK placing it 20th in its 1999 Top 100 Awards. Reviewers were split on several aspects of the game. While many praised the graphics of the game, some approving of how well rendered an in-game asteroid stood out before the background of softly glowing nebulae, galaxies and stars, others felt the 3D effects were not "spectacular" to those of the software rendered version, commenting that rendered nebulae were unconvincing and that the models of in-game ships lacked detail and had blurry textures. Despite the differences between them, all reviewers unanimously agreed that the explosions effects in the game, including the many small details of the capital ships upon breaking up, were the most impressive they had seen (at the time). Other splits included comparisons between the game and that of Wing Commander: Prophecy and X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter; while some felt the game combined elements of both with better qualities and a strong story, others felt it had simply taken inspiration from space simulation classics, offered very little in original ideas, lacked depth in the story, with some suggesting the player could have had a greater role in the outcome of the game's story, and that they were simply playing a "very sweet looking arcade title" with considerable detachment from some of the game's elements. Despite the splits in opinion, many felt the game's AI was well designed, from the wingmen being competent and performing orders without issues, to the enemy vessels acting in concert with each other during missions, yet one reviewer was dismayed that the game's screen size was fixed and could not be changed. Much criticism was made of the game's multiplayer mode. Despite a reviewer giving a glowing praise to it over cable modems, the majority, who played it over dial-up access, roundly condemned it. Many chiefly complained about lag in the game; some found themselves facing a similar situation in which the ship's gun fired only seconds after they depressed the trigger and that their ship randomly jumped over the multiplayer battlegrounds, while one reviewer called the mode "bug ridden" after finding many of their shots did not register hits or kills on enemy ships after over 40 minutes of play. One reviewer on GameSpot questioned the game's claims it could support 16 players online when they found it couldn't support just two over a 56k modem. The game's expansion Silent Threat, received generally less favourable reviews. While its stand-alone missions were complemented well for being conceived as part of a contest by the game's developers - Volition put in a call to the FreeSpace community to stop creating "Battle of Endor"-type missions through FRED, and instead create missions based on Volition's Jason Hoffoss' Zen philosophy of accomplishing more with less - the expansion was judged as decent but uninspiring, with many noting that the campaign missions lacked variety than those of standard escort or destroy missions, and offering no new equipment which were unable to compete against the older equipment, with some feeling that the story was worse than the main game due to its "cold and inhuman" briefings and non-player characters. The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Descent: FreeSpace for "PC Simulation Game of the Year" at the 2nd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, although it lost to Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit. Descent: FreeSpace was a finalist for Computer Games Strategy Plus's "Sci-Fi Simulation of the Year" and Computer Gaming World's "Best Space Sim" awards in 1998, both of which ultimately went to I-War. The editors of Computer Gaming World called it "an excellent game, featuring some of the best wing-man AI to hit the genre, but it was too derivative of previous space sims". PC Gamer US nominated it as the year's best action game, and its editors wrote that "Freespace came from nowhere to wrest the 3D space combat crown from the Wing Commander series with style". However, this award went to Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six''.

Nitrogen narcosis

Reversible narcotic effects of respiratory nitrogen at elevated partial pressures

Narcosis while diving (also known as nitrogen narcosis, inert gas narcosis, raptures of the deep, Martini effect) is a reversible alteration in consciousness that occurs while diving at depth. It is caused by the anesthetic effect of certain gases at high pressure. The Greek word νάρκωσις (narkōsis), "the act of making numb", is derived from νάρκη (narkē), "numbness, torpor", a term used by Homer and Hippocrates. Narcosis produces a state similar to drunkenness (alcohol intoxication), or nitrous oxide inhalation. It can occur during shallow dives, but does not usually become noticeable at depths less than 30 meters (100 ft). Except for helium and probably neon, all gases that can be breathed have a narcotic effect, although widely varying in degree. The effect is consistently greater for gases with a higher lipid solubility, and although the mechanism of this phenomenon is still not fully clear, there is good evidence that the two properties are mechanistically related. As depth increases, the mental impairment may become hazardous. Divers can learn to cope with some of the effects of narcosis, but it is impossible to develop a tolerance. Narcosis can affect all divers, although susceptibility varies widely among individuals and from dive to dive. The main modes of underwater diving that deal with its prevention and treatment are scuba diving and surface-supplied diving at depths greater than 30 metres (98 ft). Narcosis may be completely reversed in a few minutes by ascending to a shallower depth, with no long-term effects. Thus narcosis while diving in open water rarely develops into a serious problem as long as the divers are aware of its symptoms, and are able to ascend to manage it. Diving much beyond 40 m (130 ft) is generally considered outside the scope of recreational diving. In order to dive at greater depths, as narcosis and oxygen toxicity become critical risk factors, specialist training is required in the use of various helium-containing gas mixtures such as trimix or heliox. These mixtures prevent narcosis by replacing some or all of the inert fraction of the breathing gas with non-narcotic helium. ## Classification Narcosis results from breathing gases under elevated pressure, and may be classified by the principal gas involved. The noble gases, except helium and probably neon, as well as nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen cause a decrement in mental function, but their effect on psychomotor function (processes affecting the coordination of sensory or cognitive processes and motor activity) varies widely. The effect of carbon dioxide is a consistent diminution of mental and psychomotor function. The noble gases argon, krypton, and xenon are more narcotic than nitrogen at a given pressure, and xenon has so much anesthetic activity that it is a usable anesthetic at 80% concentration and normal atmospheric pressure. Xenon has historically been too expensive to be used very much in practice, but it has been successfully used for surgical operations, and xenon anesthesia systems are still being proposed and designed. ## Signs and symptoms Due to its perception-altering effects, the onset of narcosis may be hard to recognize. At its most benign, narcosis results in relief of anxiety – a feeling of tranquillity and mastery of the environment. These effects are essentially identical to various concentrations of nitrous oxide. They also resemble (though not as closely) the effects of alcohol and the familiar benzodiazepine drugs such as diazepam and alprazolam. Such effects are not harmful unless they cause some immediate danger to go unrecognized and unaddressed. Once stabilized, the effects generally remain the same at a given depth, only worsening if the diver ventures deeper. The most dangerous aspects of narcosis are the impairment of judgement, multi-tasking and coordination, and the loss of decision-making ability and focus. Other effects include vertigo and visual or auditory disturbances. The syndrome may cause exhilaration, giddiness, extreme anxiety, depression, or paranoia, depending on the individual diver and the diver's medical or personal history. When more serious, the diver may feel overconfident, disregarding normal safe diving practices. Slowed mental activity, as indicated by increased reaction time and increased errors in cognitive function, are effects which increase the risk of a diver mismanaging an incident. Narcosis reduces both the perception of cold discomfort and shivering and thereby affects the production of body heat and consequently allows a faster drop in the core temperature in cold water, with reduced awareness of the developing problem. The relation of depth to narcosis is sometimes informally known as "Martini's law", the idea that narcosis results in the feeling of one martini for every 10 m (33 ft) below 20 m (66 ft) depth. Professional divers use such a calculation only as a rough guide to give new divers a metaphor, comparing a situation they may be more familiar with. Reported signs and symptoms are summarized against typical depths in meters and feet of sea water in the following table, closely adapted from Deeper into Diving by Lippman and Mitchell: ## Causes The cause of narcosis is related to the increased solubility of gases in body tissues, as a result of the elevated pressures at depth (Henry's law). Modern theories have suggested that inert gases dissolving in the lipid bilayer of cell membranes cause narcosis. More recently, researchers have been looking at neurotransmitter receptor protein mechanisms as a possible cause of narcosis. The breathing gas mix entering the diver's lungs will have the same pressure as the surrounding water, known as the ambient pressure. After any change of depth, the pressure of gases in the blood passing through the brain catches up with ambient pressure within a minute or two, which results in a delayed narcotic effect after descending to a new depth. Rapid compression potentiates narcosis owing to carbon dioxide retention. A divers' cognition may be affected on dives as shallow as 10 m (33 ft), but the changes are not usually noticeable. There is no reliable method to predict the depth at which narcosis becomes noticeable, or the severity of the effect on an individual diver, as it may vary from dive to dive even on the same day. Significant impairment due to narcosis is an increasing risk below depths of about 30 m (100 ft), corresponding to an ambient pressure of about 4 bar (400 kPa). Most sport scuba training organizations recommend depths of no more than 40 m (130 ft) because of the risk of narcosis. When breathing air at depths of 90 m (300 ft) – an ambient pressure of about 10 bar (1,000 kPa) – narcosis in most divers leads to hallucinations, loss of memory, and unconsciousness. A number of divers have died in attempts to set air depth records below 120 m (400 ft). Because of these incidents, Guinness World Records no longer reports on this figure. Narcosis has been compared with altitude sickness regarding its variability of onset (though not its symptoms); its effects depend on many factors, with variations between individuals. Thermal cold, stress, heavy work, fatigue, and carbon dioxide retention all increase the risk and severity of narcosis. Carbon dioxide has a high narcotic potential and also causes increased blood flow to the brain, increasing the effects of other gases. Increased risk of narcosis results from increasing the amount of carbon dioxide retained through heavy exercise, shallow or skip breathing, or because of poor gas exchange in the lungs. Narcosis is known to be additive to even minimal alcohol intoxication. Other sedative and analgesic drugs, such as opiate narcotics and benzodiazepines, add to narcosis. ## Mechanism The precise mechanism is not well understood, but it appears to be the direct effect of gas dissolving into nerve membranes and causing temporary disruption in nerve transmissions. While the effect was first observed with air, other gases including argon, krypton and hydrogen cause very similar effects at higher than atmospheric pressure. Some of these effects may be due to antagonism at NMDA receptors and potentiation of GABA_A receptors, similar to the mechanism of nonpolar anesthetics such diethyl ether or ethylene. However, their reproduction by the very chemically inactive gas argon makes them unlikely to be a strictly chemical bonding to receptors in the usual sense of a chemical bond. An indirect physical effect – such as a change in membrane volume – would therefore be needed to affect the ligand-gated ion channels of nerve cells. Trudell et al. have suggested non-chemical binding due to the attractive van der Waals force between proteins and inert gases. Similar to the mechanism of ethanol's effect, the increase of gas dissolved in nerve cell membranes may cause altered ion permeability properties of the neural cells' lipid bilayers. The partial pressure of a gas required to cause a measured degree of impairment correlates well with the lipid solubility of the gas: the greater the solubility, the less partial pressure is needed. An early theory, the Meyer-Overton hypothesis, suggested that narcosis happens when the gas penetrates the lipids of the brain's nerve cells, causing direct mechanical interference with the transmission of signals from one nerve cell to another. More recently, specific types of chemically gated receptors in nerve cells have been identified as being involved with anesthesia and narcosis. However, the basic and most general underlying idea, that nerve transmission is altered in many diffuse areas of the brain as a result of gas molecules dissolved in the nerve cells' fatty membranes, remains largely unchallenged. ## Diagnosis and management The symptoms of narcosis may be caused by other factors during a dive: ear problems causing disorientation or nausea; early signs of oxygen toxicity causing visual disturbances; carbon dioxide toxicity caused by rebreather scrubber malfunction, excessive work of breathing, or inappropriate breathing pattern, or hypothermia causing rapid breathing and shivering. Nevertheless, the presence of any of these symptoms can imply narcosis. Alleviation of the effects upon ascending to a shallower depth will confirm the diagnosis. Given the setting, other likely conditions do not produce reversible effects. In the event of misdiagnosis when another condition is causing the symptoms, the initial management – ascending to a shallower depth – is still beneficial in most cases, as it is also the appropriate response for most of the alternative causes for the symptoms. The management of inert gas narcosis is simply to ascend to shallower depths, where much of the effect disappears within minutes. In the event of complications or other conditions being present, ascending remains the correct initial response. Should problems persist, it may be necessary to abort the dive. The decompression schedule can still be followed unless other conditions require emergency assistance. Inert gas narcosis can follow a gas switch to a decompression gas with higher nitrogen fraction during ascent, which may be confused with symptoms of decompression sickness, in a rare example of a situation in which it is not advisable to ascend immediately. If this is suspected to be the problem, it is better to switch back to the less narcotic gas if practicable, and adjust the decompression schedule to suit. This problem can be aggravated by the possibility of inert gas counterdiffusion, which is most likely to affect the inner ear, and can usually be avoided by a better selection of gas mixtures and switching depths. ## Prevention The most straightforward way to avoid nitrogen narcosis is for a diver to limit the depth of dives. The other main preventive measure is properly informed selection/choice of which gas to use for the particular dive under consideration. Since narcosis becomes more severe as depth increases, a diver keeping to shallower depths can avoid serious narcosis. Most recreational training agencies will only certify entry level divers to depths of 18 to 20 m (60 to 70 ft), and at these depths narcosis does not present a significant risk. Further training is normally required for certification up to 30 m (100 ft) on air, and this training should include a discussion of narcosis, its effects, and management. Some diver training agencies offer specialized training to prepare recreational divers to go to depths of 40 m (130 ft), often consisting of further theory and some practice in deep dives under close supervision. Scuba organizations that train for diving beyond recreational depths, may exclude diving with gases that cause too much narcosis at depth in the average diver (such as the typical widely used nitrox mixtures used for most recreational diving), and strongly encourage the use of other breathing gas mixes containing helium in place of some or all of the nitrogen in air – such as trimix and heliox – because helium has no narcotic effect. The use of these gases is considered to be technical diving and requires further training and certification. While the individual diver cannot predict exactly at what depth the onset of narcosis will occur on a given day, the first symptoms of narcosis for any given diver are often more predictable and personal. For example, one diver may have trouble with eye focus (close accommodation for middle-aged divers), another may experience feelings of euphoria, and another feelings of claustrophobia. Some divers report that they have hearing changes, and that the sound their exhaled bubbles make becomes different. Specialist training may help divers to identify these personal onset signs, which may then be used as a signal to ascend to avoid the narcosis, although severe narcosis may interfere with the judgement necessary to take preventive action. Deep dives should be made only after a gradual training to test the individual diver's sensitivity to increasing depths, with careful supervision and logging of reactions. Scientific evidence does not show that a diver can train to overcome any measure of narcosis at a given depth or become tolerant of it. Equivalent narcotic depth (END) is a commonly used way of expressing the narcotic effect of different breathing gases. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Diving Manual now states that oxygen and nitrogen should be considered equally narcotic. Standard tables, based on relative lipid solubilities, list conversion factors for narcotic effect of other gases. For example, hydrogen at a given pressure has a narcotic effect equivalent to nitrogen at 0.55 times that pressure, so in principle it should be usable at more than twice the depth. Argon, however, has 2.33 times the narcotic effect of nitrogen, and is a poor choice as a breathing gas for diving (it is used as a drysuit inflation gas, owing to its low thermal conductivity). Some gases have other dangerous effects when breathed at pressure; for example, high-pressure oxygen can lead to oxygen toxicity. Although helium is the least intoxicating of the breathing gases, at greater depths it can cause high pressure nervous syndrome, a still mysterious but apparently unrelated phenomenon. Inert gas narcosis is only one factor influencing the choice of gas mixture; the risks of decompression sickness and oxygen toxicity, work of breathing, cost, and other factors are also important. Because of similar and additive effects, divers should avoid sedating medications and drugs, such as cannabis and alcohol before any dive. A hangover, combined with the reduced physical capacity that goes with it, makes nitrogen narcosis more likely. Experts recommend total abstinence from alcohol for at least 12 hours before diving, and longer for other drugs. ## Prognosis and epidemiology Narcosis is potentially one of the most dangerous conditions to affect the scuba diver below about 30 m (100 ft). Except for occasional amnesia of events at depth, the effects of narcosis are entirely removed on ascent and therefore pose no problem in themselves, even for repeated, chronic or acute exposure. Nevertheless, the severity of narcosis is unpredictable and it can be fatal while diving, as the result of illogical behavior in a dangerous environment. Tests have shown that all divers are affected by nitrogen narcosis, though some experience lesser effects than others. Even though it is possible that some divers can manage better than others because of learning to cope with the subjective impairment, the underlying behavioral effects remain. These effects are particularly dangerous because a diver may feel they are not experiencing narcosis, yet still be affected by it. ## History French researcher Victor T. Junod was the first to describe symptoms of narcosis in 1834, noting "the functions of the brain are activated, imagination is lively, thoughts have a peculiar charm and, in some persons, symptoms of intoxication are present." Junod suggested that narcosis resulted from pressure causing increased blood flow and hence stimulating nerve centers. Walter Moxon (1836–1886), a prominent Victorian physician, hypothesized in 1881 that pressure forced blood to inaccessible parts of the body and the stagnant blood then resulted in emotional changes. The first report of anesthetic potency being related to lipid solubility was published by Hans H. Meyer in 1899, entitled Zur Theorie der Alkoholnarkose. Two years later a similar theory was published independently by Charles Ernest Overton. What became known as the Meyer-Overton hypothesis may be illustrated by a graph comparing narcotic potency with solubility in oil. In 1939, Albert R. Behnke and O. D. Yarborough demonstrated that gases other than nitrogen also could cause narcosis. For an inert gas the narcotic potency was found to be proportional to its lipid solubility. As hydrogen has only 0.55 the solubility of nitrogen, deep diving experiments using hydrox were conducted by Arne Zetterström between 1943 and 1945. Jacques-Yves Cousteau in 1953 famously described it as "l'ivresse des grandes profondeurs" or the "rapture of the deep". Further research into the possible mechanisms of narcosis by anesthetic action led to the "minimum alveolar concentration" concept in 1965. This measures the relative concentration of different gases required to prevent motor response in 50% of subjects in response to stimulus, and shows similar results for anesthetic potency as the measurements of lipid solubility. The (NOAA) Diving Manual was revised to recommend treating oxygen as if it were as narcotic as nitrogen, following research by Christian J. Lambertsen et al. in 1977 and 1978, but this hypothesis has been challenged by more recent work. A study on the effects of the environment on inert gas narcosis published by Lafère et al. in 2016 concluded that pressure and gas composition may be the only significant external factors influencing inert gas narcosis. It also found that the onset of narcosis follows a short period of raised alertness during descent, and some of the effects persist for at least 30 minutes after the dive. As of about 2020, research using critical flicker fusion frequency (CFFF) and EEG functional connectivity has shown sensitivity to nitrogen narcosis, but is not sensitive to helium partial pressure, in laboratory trials. ## See also

Committee of Secretaries-General

Committee of senior civil servants and technocrats in German-occupied Belgium during World War II.

The Committee of Secretaries-General (French: Comité des Sécretaires-généraux, Dutch: Comité van de secretarissen-generaal) was a committee of senior civil servants and technocrats in German-occupied Belgium during World War II. It was formed shortly before the occupation to oversee the continued functioning of the civil service and state bureaucracy independently of the German military occupation administration. The Committee formed an integral part of the policy of "lesser evil" (moindre mal) collaboration in which Belgian officials were required to seek compromises with German military demands in order to maintain a degree of administrative autonomy. It comprised the Secretaries-General of each of the major government departments. However, the German administration began to introduce new members from August 1940 including those such as Victor Leemans and Gérard Romsée [nl] who were sympathetic to authoritarianism. They helped to facilitate the more radical administrative reforms demanded by the Germans, although the Committee refused to involve itself in the deportation of Belgian Jews. As the visible face of the German administration, the Committee became more and more unpopular as the war progressed. Several of its members were prosecuted for collaboration after the Liberation of Belgium in September 1944 but several, including Leemans, subsequently pursued political careers in post-war Belgium. ## Background The committee was installed by the Belgian government of Hubert Pierlot on 16 May 1940 as an administrative committee to oversee the basic functioning of the Belgian state in the absence of the official government. While the ministers departed for Bordeaux in France, the Secretaries-General (chief civil servants responsible for each department) of each ministry were ordered to remain in the country, along with all other civil servants, to allow the state to continue functioning. The Committee formed part of the policy of officially sanctioned "lesser evil" collaboration among the civil service and government bureaus left behind. ## Purpose and role During the German occupation of Belgium in World War I, many Belgian workers had refused to work for the German administration as a form of passive resistance. This had led to large-scale reprisals against civilians as the occupiers had attempted to enforce their policies by armed force. The Committee hoped to avoid the Germans becoming involved in the day-to-day administration of the territory as they had during World War I, while also allowing Belgium to maintain a degree of national autonomy and independence. The committee also hoped to be able to prevent the implementation of more radical German policies, like forced labor and deportation. The legal basis of the committee was a law of 7 September 1939, through which in times of crisis, a secretary-general could exert full control over his own department, but without having the full status of being a minister. ### Place within the German administration After the Belgian surrender on 28 May 1940, the Germans formed a Militärverwaltung (Military Administration) in the country; commanded by the German aristocrat and career soldier, General Alexander von Falkenhausen. A section of the administration called the Militärverwaltungsstab (Military Administrative Staff), commanded by SS-Gruppenführer Eggert Reeder, was responsible for the day-to-day civil administration of the territory. The Militärverwaltungsstab would present its demands to the Secretaries-General, even though the committee was separate, in order to have them carried out. ## Composition The original committee of five was installed after the departure of the government in May 1940. In August 1940, they were joined by a further five new Secretaries-General representing other ministries. In early 1941, there was a reshuffle, replacing many of the original members. The 1941 reshuffle introduced more pro-Germans into the committee, such as Gérard Romsée who was a noted member of the pro-Nazi Vlaams Nationaal Verbond (VNV) party. Original committee August 1940 additions 1941 reshuffle ## Policies Throughout 1940 the Secretaries-General continued to follow their "policy of lesser-evils", influenced by the Galopin doctrine, in the hope that the occupiers would respect the protocol established at the Hague Conventions of 1907. From the summer of 1940, the Committee became increasingly divided between the members keen for closer collaboration with the Germans, led by Victor Leemans, and those who wished to remain strictly within the proscribed Belgian legal framework, led by Ernst de Bunswyck. In October 1940, the Germans were able to pass fundamental changes to the system of regional Burgomasters in the country though the Committee without resistance. The committee had announced in October 1940 that it would refuse to enforce anti-Jewish legislation, but did not resist their implementation by the military government. The committee's ambivalent stance meant that Belgian policemen and civil servants were not instructed to refuse to participate in rounding-up of Jews as part of the Final Solution from 1942. Tensions grew between the Germans and the committee in December 1940, and in early 1941 the Germans reshuffled the committee; appointing more pro-Nazi members. From March 1941, it became clear that the committee would no longer be able to resist German demands, even those clearly violating the Hague Convention. From 1942, collaborationist members of the committee were able to further their policies. In Internal Affairs, Romsée began encouraging an overtly collaborationist policy in his department, encouraging Burgomaster positions to be given to pro-Nazi members of the right-wing Rex and VNV parties in Wallonia and Flanders respectively. Many existing Burgomasters were dismissed on a variety of pretexts in order to clear the path for the new candidates. He also appointed the pro-German Emiel Van Coppenolle (also a friend of Romsée) to the head of the Belgian police service. These measures gave the pro-German members of the Committee direct control over the country's local government, its police force and security service. At the same time, Leemans encouraged the merger of various "Central offices" to co-ordinate industries (along lines of the pre-war Gleichschaltung in Germany) and greater economic integration into the Großraumwirtschaft (Greater Economy) and Nazi Germany. Other members of the committee were also responsible for creating other groupings, like the Office National de Travail (ONT; National Office for Work) which would be used for coordinating the deportation of Belgian workers to factories in Germany from October 1942. In October 1942, the Germans began to implement compulsory deportation of Belgian workers to work in German factories. The introduction of the policy, which had been imposed in World War I and which the committee had hoped to avoid at all costs, marked the last blow to the committee's influence. Legislation decreed the Secretaries-General are known as "Arrêtés" (Rulings), whereas those decreed by the Military Administration directly are entitled "Ordonnances" (Orders). ## Criticism Despite its aims, the committee was in large part responsible for the ease with which the Germans could implement their policies in Belgium and was unable to moderate many German policies, such as deportation of workers to Germany (though delayed to October 1942) or the persecution of Jews. In particular, encouraging the Germans to delegate tasks to the Committee meant that the Germans were effectively using the established national civil service, which allowed much more efficient implementation than could have been achieved by force. Since Belgium was also dependent on Germany for the imports of food it needed, the committee was always at a disadvantage during negotiations. The committee was heavily criticised by the Belgian government in exile in London for aiding the Germans. The Secretaries-General were also unpopular within Belgium itself. In 1942, the journalist Paul Struye described them as "the object of growing and almost unanimous unpopularity." As the face of the German occupation authority, they also became unpopular with the public, which blamed them for the German demands they were implementing. After the war, several of the Secretaries-General were tried for collaboration with the occupants. Most were acquitted after basic examination. Romsée (Secretary-General for Internal Affairs) was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and Schuind (responable for Justice) was sentenced to five years. Many of the former Secretaries-General went on to careers in politics after the war. Both De Winter and Leemans served as senators for the centre-right Christian Social Party (PSC-CVP) and Leemans ended his career as President of the European Parliament. ## See also - Administrative Council (Norway) – a similar body in German-occupied Norway - Hans Hirschfeld - a Dutch civil servant who pursued a similar path in the German-occupied Netherlands - Belgium in World War II - King Leopold III

Pichilemu

Pichilemu (Mapudungun: Small forest, ), originally known as Pichilemo, is a beach resort city and commune in central Chile, and capital of Cardenal Caro Province in the O'Higgins Region. The commune comprises an urban centre and twenty-two villages, including Ciruelos, Cáhuil, and Cardonal de Panilonco. It is located southwest of Santiago. Pichilemu had over 13,000 residents as of 2012. The Pichilemu area was long populated by the indigenous Promaucaes. European-Chilean development began in the mid-sixteenth century, as conquistador Pedro de Valdivia gave Juan Gómez de Almagro the Topocalma encomienda (which included the current territory of Pichilemu) in January 1541. Pichilemu was established as a subdelegation on 16 August 1867, and later as an "autonomous commune" on 22 December 1891, by decree of the President Jorge Montt and Interior Minister Manuel José Irarrázabal. Agustín Ross Edwards, a Chilean politician and member of the Ross Edwards family, planned to develop it as a beach resort on the Pacific Ocean for upper-class Chileans. Pichilemu is home to five of the National Monuments of Chile: Agustín Ross Cultural Centre and Park; the wooden railway station, Estación Pichilemu; El Árbol tunnel; and the Caballo de Agua. Part of the city was declared a Zona Típica ("Traditional Area" or "Heritage Site") by the National Monuments Council, in 2004. The city is part of District No. 16 and is in the senatorial constituency of O'Higgins Region electoral division. Pichilemu is home to the main beach in O'Higgins Region. It is a tourist destination for surfing, windsurfing and funboarding. Tourism is the main industry of the city, but forestry and handicrafts are also important. Pichilemu has many expansive dark sand beaches. Several surf championships take place in the city each year at Punta de Lobos. ## History Pichilemu was inhabited by Promaucaes, a pre-Columbian tribal group, until the Spanish conquest of Chile. They were hunter-gatherers and fishermen who lived primarily along the Cachapoal and Maule rivers. The remaining Promaucaes were assimilated into Chilean society through a process of hispanicisation and mestisation after the conquest of Chile. Aureliano Oyarzún, professor of pathology at University of Chile, investigated pre-Ceramic middens from Pichilemu and Cahuil. His book Crónicas de Pichilemu–Cáhuil (Chronicles of Pichilemu–Cáhuil) was published posthumously, in 1957. Tomás Guevara published two volumes of Historia de Chile, Chile Prehispánico (History of Chile, Pre-Hispanic Chile) in 1929, which discusses the indigenous centre of Apalta, the Pichilemu middens, the Malloa petroglyphs, a stone cup from Nancagua, and pottery finds in Peralillo. José Toribio Medina (1852–1930), who was a writer and historiographer, spent most of his life in Colchagua Province, and completed his first archeological investigations in Pichilemu. In 1908, he published Los Restos Indígenas de Pichilemu (English: The Indigenous Remains of Pichilemu), in which he stated that the Indians that were inhabiting Pichilemu when the Spaniards arrived at Chile were Promaucaes, part of the Topocalma encomienda, given on 24 January 1544, by Pedro de Valdivia to Juan Gómez de Almagro, therefore establishing Pichilemu. During the colonial and Republican periods, agriculture was promoted by the government. Many Chilean haciendas (estates) were successful during this time, including the Pichileminian Hacienda San Antonio de Petrel. Part of the land where San Antonio de Petrel was created was given by the Captaincy General of Chile to Bartolomé de Rojas y Puebla in 1611, who later acquired more lands in order to establish it. San Antonio de Petrel produced leather, jerky, soles, tallow, and cordovan, as well as other products which would later be exported to Peru, or sold in Santiago and Valparaíso. San Antonio de Petrel was bordered by properties of Lauriano Gaete and Ninfa Vargas, and Pedro Pavez Polanco. The area around Pichilemu was densely populated, especially in Cáhuil, where there are salt deposits that were exploited by natives. Pichilemu has had censuses taken since the 17th century. In 1872, President of Chile Aníbal Pinto commissioned the corvette captain Francisco Vidal Gormaz to perform a survey of the coast between Tumán Creek and Boca del Mataquito. He concluded that Pichilemu was the best place to construct a ferry. The family of Daniel Ortúzar, inheritors of the hacienda San Antonio de Petrel, constructed a dock in 1875, which served as a fishing port for a few years, and would be decreed as a "minor dock" by President José Manuel Balmaceda in 1887. Homes were built along the dock on what currently is the Daniel Ortúzar Avenue (Avenida Daniel Ortúzar). The name Pichilemu comes from the Mapudungún words pichi (little) and lemu (forest). During the Civil War of 1891, Daniel Ortúzar and the priest of Alcones were transferred as prisoners from Pichilemu to Valparaíso via the dock, which was later burned. The dock was later reconstructed and used until 1912, but it never reached "port" status. The inheritors of Lauriano Gaete and Ninfa Vargas, who were proprietors of the land which is currently Central Pichilemu, founded the town in late 1891 after conceiving the design of the city with engineer Emilio Nichón. By decree of President Jorge Montt and his Interior Minister, Manuel José Irarrázabal, the city was officially established as an "autonomous commune" on 22 December 1891. José María Caro Martínez became the first mayor of the city in 1894, and regularised and improved the design of the city the same year. Caro Martínez held the mayor office until 1905. Agustín Ross Edwards, a Chilean writer, Member of Parliament, minister, and politician, bought a 300-hectare (740-acre) tract of land, and named it La Posada, in 1885. At the time, it was merely a set of thick-walled barracks. Agustín Ross turned Pichilemu into a summer resort town for affluent people from Santiago. He designed an urban setting that included a park and a forest of over 10 hectares (25 acres). He transformed La Posada into a hotel, named Gran Hotel Pichilemu, which has since been renamed to Hotel Agustín Ross. He built the Ross Casino (currently a cultural centre), several chalets, terraces, embankments, stone walls, a balcony facing the beach, and several large homes with building materials and furniture imported from France and England. However, Ross was not able to build the dock he had planned for the city. He died in 1926 in Viña del Mar. Agustín Ross' inheritors donated all of his construction (streets, avenues, squares, seven hectares of forests, the park in front of the hotel, the perrons, the balcony, and the terraces) to the Municipality of Pichilemu, on the condition that the municipality would hold them for recreation and public access. The Agustín Ross Casino, constructed in 1905, and the Agustín Ross Park, constructed in 1885, have since become an important part of the city, and have been declared Monumentos Históricos (Historic Monuments) by the National Monuments Council. After the creation of the Cardenal Caro Province, by decree of General Augusto Pinochet on 3 October 1979, Pichilemu became its capital. The province is named after the first Chilean Catholic Cardinal, José María Caro Rodríguez, who was born in Pichilemu. Pichilemu was severely affected by the 2010 Chile earthquake and its subsequent tsunami, which caused massive destruction in the coastal zone. On 11 March 2010, at 11:39:41 (14:39:41 UTC), a magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurred 15 kilometres (9 mi) northwest of Pichilemu, killing one person. ## Geography Pichilemu is located 126 kilometres (78 mi) west of San Fernando, in the westernmost area of the O'Higgins Region, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. It is within a three-hour drive of the Andes Mountains. It is near the Cordillera de la Costa (Coastal Mountain Range) which rises to 2,000 metres (6,562 ft) in elevation. The city is bordered by Litueche to the north, Paredones to the south, and Marchigüe and Pumanque to the east. To the west lies the Pacific Ocean. Pichilemu covers an area of 749.1 square kilometres (289.2 sq mi). Pichilemu is located close to a geological fault (Pichilemu Fault), which is according to reports between the city and Vichuquén at 15 km depth, 40 km in length and 20 km wide. It is not known whether the fault was formed during the March 2010 earthquake or if it was just reactivated. Although the majority of the forest areas around Pichilemu are covered with pine and eucalyptus plantations, a native Maulino forest (now the Municipal Forest) remains. It contains species such as litres, quillayes, boldos, espinos, and peumos. The city consists of an urban centre and twenty-two rural villages: Alto Colorado, Alto Ramírez, Barrancas, Cáhuil, Cardonal de Panilonco, Ciruelos, Cóguil, El Maqui, El Guindo, Espinillo, Estación Larraín Alcalde, La Aguada, La Palmilla, La Villa, La Plaza, Las Comillas, Pueblo de Viudas, Quebrada del Nuevo Reino, Pañul, Rodeillo, San Antonio de Petrel, and Tanumé. Nearby bodies of water (apart from the Pacific Ocean) include the Estero Nilahue, which flows to Laguna Cáhuil, Estero Petrel, which flows to Laguna Petrel, and El Barro, El Bajel, and El Ancho lagoons, the latter of which provides the city with drinking water. Pichilemu experiences a Mediterranean climate, with winter rains which reach 700 millimetres (28 in). The rest of the year is dry, often windy, and sometimes with coastal fog. Occasionally the city receives winds as high as 150 kilometres per hour (93 mph). ## Demographics By the 17th century, Pichilemu had 1,468 inhabitants. In 1787, Pichilemu held 1,688 inhabitants, and the population rose to 11,829 by 1895. From there onward, the city's population progressively decreased: 7,787 inhabitants in 1907; 7,424 in 1920; 6,929 in 1930; and 6,570 in 1940. In 1952, the city's population increased to 7,150 inhabitants; however, the 1960 census showed it decreased to 5,724 inhabitants, and to 5,459 in 1970. The number of people in Pichilemu reached 8,844 in 1982, and in 1992, 10,510. As of the 2002 census, the population comprised 12,392 people, and 6,228 households. The 2002 census classified 9,459 people (76.3%) as living in an urban area and 2,933 people (23.7%) as living in a rural area, with 6,440 men (52.0%) and 5,952 women (48.0%). According to the 2002 Casen survey, 544 inhabitants (4.4%) of the population live in extreme poverty compared to the average in the greater O'Higgins Region of 4.5%, and 1,946 inhabitants (15.7%) live in mild poverty, compared to the regional average of 16.1%. The National Statistics Institute of Chile has estimated that, as of 2010, 78.96% of the inhabitants in the city were living in an urban area and 21.04% were living in a rural area, with 52.4% men and 47.5% women; the population density was estimated as 19.09 per square mile. In the 2012 census, the population of Pichilemu was 13,916 inhabitants; although earlier estimates put it higher. Most of the people from Pichilemu are Catholic, as of the 2002 census, 7,611 persons (83.44%), well above the national and regional average (69.96% and 79.08%, respectively); the evangelical population is considerably lower, at only 689 people (7.55%); 361 (3.96%) said they were Atheists or Agnostic individuals, while the remaining 460 (5.04%) are part of other religions. Based on information from the Casen survey, twenty-four persons living in Pichilemu declared themselves as Aymaras in 2006, and in 2009, 390 people said they were part of the Mapuche indigenous ethnic group; the survey revealed no one living in Pichilemu claimed to be either of the Atacameños or of the Rapa Nui indigenous peoples. ## Governance Pichilemu, along with the communes of San Fernando, Nancagua, Chimbarongo, Peumo, San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, Las Cabras, Placilla, Chépica, Santa Cruz, Pumanque, Palmilla, Peralillo, Navidad, Lolol, Litueche, La Estrella, Marchihue, and Paredones, is part of Electoral District No. 16 and belongs to the Senatorial Constituency (O'Higgins) of the electoral divisions of Chile. Pichilemu is governed by the mayor (alcalde), who manages the executive function. The City Council (concejo municipal) manages the legislative function. The mayors and the councilors are elected popularly every four years, with possibility of re-election. The current mayor of Pichilemu is Cristian Pozo Parraguez (independent), elected in May 2021. The councilors are Danilo Robles Cáceres, Mario Morales Cárceles, Sofía Yávar Ramírez, José Luis Cabrera Jorquera, Tobías Acuña Csillag, and Hugo Toro Galaz. Both the mayor and the councilors took office on 28 June 2021, and their term will expire on 6 December 2024. The Pichilemu Police, known in Spanish as Carabineros de Pichilemu, and officially Tercera Comisaría de Carabineros de Pichilemu, are commanded by Ítalo Roco Soto. The police station is located in front of the former Pichilemu post office building, in Daniel Ortúzar avenue. ## Economy Tourism is the main industry of Pichilemu, especially in the urban centre and some rural areas such as Cáhuil and Ciruelos. Forestry, mainly pine and eucalyptus, is another major industry. The area is also known for handicrafts. Although fishing is not very important to O'Higgins Region, due to unsuitable coastlines, it is common in Pichilemu, Bucalemu, and Navidad. Pichilemu has a clay deposit in the Pañul area. According to archaeological investigations, pottery was first manufactured in the area around 300 BCE. It is still a stalwart today — Ciruelos and El Copao are well known for the pottery created there. ## Landmarks The Bosque Municipal (Municipal Forest) was donated by the Ross family in 1935. The main access to the forest is in front of Ross Casino, near Paseo el Sol; or by a road near the Colegio Preciosa Sangre. The forest has a footpath surrounded by palms, pines, and many other varieties of trees. Conchal Indígena (Indigenous Midden) is an archaeological site of pre-Hispanic times. It is located on the site of an ancient fishing village 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from Punta de Lobos and 0.3 kilometres (0.19 mi) south of Los Curas Lagoon. Laguna Los Curas (Los Curas Lagoon) is a natural area used for eco-tourist activities such as fishing located 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) south of Pichilemu. Another lagoon, the Laguna del Perro (The Dog's Lagoon) is located 8.5 kilometres (5.3 mi) south of Pichilemu. It is used for recreational activities. Laguna El Alto (El Alto Lagoon) is a small, rain-fed lagoon located at Chorrillos Beach that is often used for camping and picnics. The lagoon is an hour and a half drive from Pichilemu, traveling to the north by Chorrillos beach. Poza del Encanto is a lagoon located 30 kilometres (19 mi) from Pichilemu. It is home to a large variety of native fauna. The Estero Nilahue (Nilahue Lagoon) is located 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from Pichilemu. It has several beaches, including El Bronce, El Maquí, and Laguna El Vado. St. Andrew Church is located in Ciruelos, 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) from Pichilemu. It was constructed in 1779, and its altar was built in the 1940s. It has a harmonium, confessional boxes, and ancient images of saints. Its original image of St. Andrew was made of papier mache. The old parish was created by Archbishop Rafael Valentín Valdivieso in 1864. Cardinal José María Caro Rodríguez was baptized there. The feast day of St. Andrew is celebrated every 30 November at the church. The Museo del Niño Rural (the Rural Kid Museum) was created as an initiative of teacher Carlos Leyton and his students. It is a modern building that utilises traditional architecture. Three rooms contain a collection of stone tools, arrowheads, and clay tools made by the indigenous people of the region. Also on display are domestic tools from early colonists. El Copao is a hamlet located 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) east of Pichilemu. Its main industry is domestic pottery production, using clay as a raw material. Pañul is a settlement located 17 kilometres (11 mi) from Pichilemu. Its name in Mapudungun means "medicinal herb." Pañul produces pottery made with locally obtained clay. Cáhuil is a small settlement located 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) south of Pichilemu. Its name in Mapudungun means "parrot place". Cahuil lagoon is used for fishing, swimming, and kayaking; kiteboarding lessons are offered on the lagoon. The Cáhuil Bridge is open to motor traffic, and has a view of the Cahuil zone. The bridge provides access to Curicó, Lolol, Bucalemu, and other nearby places. Pichilemu was declared a Typical Zone by the National Monuments Council of Chile, by decree No. 1097 on 22 December 2004. The city is home to five other National Monuments: Ross Park, Ross Casino, El Árbol Tunnel, the wooden railway station, Estación Pichilemu, and Caballo de Agua. ### Agustín Ross Cultural Centre The current Cultural Centre, in front of Ross Park, is a three-floor casino constructed with imported materials in the early 1900s by Agustín Ross. It originally housed a mail and telegraph service, with a large store. The first casino in Chile was opened in this building on 20 January 1906. It operated until 1932, when the Viña del Mar Casino was opened. The building was renovated and reopened in 2009 as a cultural arts center. It currently houses several gallery spaces and the public library. During its restoration, workers found many historical artifacts, including a copy of Las Últimas Noticias from February 1941 when Ross Casino served as a hotel; an American telephone battery dating from the period of 1909 to 1915; and a tile from the casino's ceiling signed by workers during the building's construction in 1914. Ross Park, created by Agustín Ross in 1885, contains hundred-year-old native Chilean palms (Phoenix canariensis) and many green spaces. It was restored in December 1987, and is now a popular walking destination. The former casino was named National Monuments in 1988. Ross hotel was created by Agustín Ross in 1885, and originally named Great Hotel Pichilemu (Gran Hotel Pichilemu). It is one of the oldest hotels in Chile. Although it is still partially open to guests, it is in a state of disrepair. ### Railway station The old wooden railway station, Estación Pichilemu, constructed around 1925, is one of the National Monuments of Chile. In the O'Higgins Region, 357 kilometres (222 mi) of railway lines were constructed, but only 161 kilometres (100 mi) still exist. The 119 kilometres (74 mi) San Fernando–Pichilemu section was constructed between 1869 and 1926. Passenger services operated on the line until 1986 and freight services were operational until 1995. In 2006, the Peralillo–Pichilemu section was removed completely. It remained in operation until the 1990s, and became a National Monument on 16 September 1994. It has since become an arts and culture centre and tourism information office. It exhibits decorative and practical objects from the 1920s, and features many old clothes. ### Beaches Pichilemu has several expansive dark sand beaches. The water is cool all year-round, and many tourists choose to swim at the shore break during the summer months. Common activities include bodyboarding, surfing, windsurfing, and kitesurfing. The northernmost of the beaches is Playa Las Terrazas or Playa Principal (The Terraces Beach or Main Beach), which is in front of Ross Park. It is popular for surfing. Near the beach and at Ross Park, there are balustrades and long stairs dating from the early 1900s. There is a balcony over the rocks at the southern end of the beach. It is the busiest during the summer months. Several surf schools, such as La Ola Perfecta, and Lobos del Pacífico, are located nearby, as is the fish market at Fishermen Creek. Located south of the town and around the other side of the Puntilla, Playa Infiernillo (Little Hell Beach) is rocky and has tide-pools. This area is used for fishing. South of Infiernillo is Playa Hermosa (Beautiful Beach), which is popular for walking and fishing. Further south, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from Pichilemu, Punta de Lobos has a beach sheltered from the southern winds. It is an increasingly popular destination for tourists and surfers. Several surf contests are held there every year. The size of waves varies throughout the year. Large swells in fall and winter can reach heights of up to 15 metres (49 ft). It is widely considered one of the best beaches for surfing worldwide. In 2012, it was named one of the "50 most thrilling surf destinations". Pichilemu is regarded as the prime location for surfing in Chile, particularly at Punta de Lobos. Every October and December, an International Championship of Surf is held at La Puntilla Beach. Punta de Lobos hosts the Campeonato Nacional de Surf (National Surfing Championship) every summer. ## Media There is one local print newspaper in circulation: La Voz de la Región ("The Voice of the Region"), published every two weeks, first appeared on 2 January 2014, and is directed by Patricio Flores Retamales. Two others have ceased publication in recent years: El Expreso de la Costa ("The Express of the Coast"), a monthly newspaper directed by Félix Calderón Vargas, published between 2000 and 2015; and El Faro del Secano ("The Dryland's Lighthouse"), founded in November 2013 by local journalist Óscar Rojas Connell and distributed until 2015. Radio services come from Radio Entreolas, Radio Atardecer, Radio Somos Pichilemu (directed by former Mayor Jorge Vargas González and his wife and current Councilor Andrea Aranda), Radio Isla, and Radio Corporación. A television channel, Canal 3 Pichilemu, also broadcasts in the area. ## Education Education establishments in Pichilemu include Liceo Agustín Ross Edwards (Agustín Ross Edwards High School); a secondary school in El Llano; the primary and secondary school named Charly's School, and the primary school Escuela Digna Camilo Aguilar (Digna Camilo Aguilar School), both also located in El Llano; Colegio Libertadores (Liberators School), a primary school in Infiernillo; Colegio de la Preciosa Sangre (Precious Blood School), a primary and secondary school located near El Llano; Colegio Divino Maestro (Divine Master School), a primary school located near Cáhuil Avenue; Escuela Pueblo de Viudas (Pueblo de Viudas School), a primary school in Pueblo de Viudas; and Jardín Amanecer (Dawn Garden), a kindergarten school in El Llano. Higher education first arrived at Pichilemu in 1970, when the Centro Medio Profesional de Pichilemu (Pichilemu Secondary-Professional Centre) was created; however, it was discontinued the next year. In 2002, thirty-one years after the Centro Medio Profesional was discontinued, the Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano (Academy of Christian Humanism University) began to give classes of Engineering in Public Gesture Management, and Engineering in Environment Gesture Management. The university worked at the dependencies of Liceo Agustín Ross Edwards until 2008. At least ten people obtained their professional titles, while other ten are still in the process of obtaining their titles, as of December 2011. In November 2011, Governor of Cardenal Caro Province Julio Ibarra announced that an institute of higher education would be brought to the province, whose name, Instituto Profesional IPG (IPG Professional Institute), was disclosed one month later. During the inauguration of the 2012 school year in Pichilemu, Education Regional Secretary Minister (Seremi) Pedro Larraín said IPEGE would work in the dependencies of Colegio de la Preciosa Sangre of Pichilemu. ## See also - Outline of Chile - List of cities in Chile - People from Pichilemu

WSCV

Telemundo TV station in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

WSCV (channel 51) is a television station licensed to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States, serving as the Telemundo outlet for the Miami area. It is one of two flagship stations of the Spanish-language network (the other being WNJU in the New York City market). WSCV is owned and operated by NBCUniversal's Telemundo Station Group alongside NBC station WTVJ (channel 6). The two stations share studios on Southwest 27th Street in Miramar; WSCV's transmitter is located in Pembroke Park, Florida. The station also serves as the de facto Telemundo outlet for the West Palm Beach market, as that area does not have a Telemundo station of its own. Channel 51 in Fort Lauderdale first went on the air in 1968. It operated as a primarily English-language independent station as WSMS-TV from 1968 to 1970 and as WKID from 1972 to 1980. From 1980 to 1984, the station primarily broadcast the ON TV subscription service until its owner, Oak Communications, sold it to John Blair & Co., which relaunched it the next year as Spanish-language WSCV. It was one of Telemundo's charter stations in 1987 and has since experienced ratings increases and expanded its local news offerings. ## History ### WSMS-TV The construction permit for channel 51 was awarded in 1965, but channel 51 did not begin broadcasting until December 6, 1968, as WSMS-TV. The Broward Broadcasting Company, owned by attorney Paris G. Singer, was the original permit holder. The call letters had been selected to mean "Where Sun Meets Sea"; a proposed sister station for Tampa would have been WTSS, for "Where The Sun Sets". Delayed from a planned October 1 start due to bad weather, WSMS was the first station in Fort Lauderdale in 12 years, operating from its studios on Federal Highway. The station aired syndicated programming as well as all-color local news and sports, alongside other local productions including Romper Room, the afternoon interview show Talk About Town and the cartoon show Capt'n' Zero, plus local stock market reports. Channel 51's news moved to 10 p.m. in July 1969, making it the only local newscast in that time slot in South Florida. Engineering difficulties forced WSMS-TV to suspend operations on February 6, 1970; while local news reports only mentioned engineering problems, in its request for silence with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), WSMS-TV also cited financial difficulties. In April, the station announced it would remain off air, citing the financial condition of Gold Coast Telecasting, the licensee. ### WKID In 1971, a buyer appeared for the silent television station. A subsidiary of Recreation Corporation of America (RCA), owner of the Pirates World amusement park in Dania, filed to acquire channel 51; Singer became an officer in the new company. The new owners changed the call letters to WKID and planned to target a youth audience, with the studios to be at Pirates World. Though one objection was made to RCA's plans, by Hank Zinkil—a state representative and former mayor of Hollywood attempting to exaggerate that Pirates World had been "the source of great controversy" due to rock concerts which required consistent crowd control, and a drug dealing site—the FCC dismissed Zinkil's challenge. From a new 1,049-foot (320 m) tower affording market-wide coverage, WKID returned to the air on February 14, 1972. Pirates World closed in December 1973 after the opening of Walt Disney World sapped its customer base. The amusement park site became an eyesore with 48 abandoned buildings, amidst which WKID continued to operate through 1975. On the night of February 24, two bombs went off at the studios in Dania and a production office the station leased in Miami; a Cuban exile group took credit, blaming WKID's policy of rapprochement with communist Cuba in its Spanish-language programming. Licensee Channel 51, Inc., went bankrupt in March, and Pirates World with the WKID studio was condemned in September. Channel 51 moved the next month to temporary quarters in Pembroke Park as WKID was acquired by an investment group headed by Bill Johns and Alvin Koenig in 1976; the group became known as CB TV Corp. in 1977. Johns and Koenig had already been operating the station on RCA's behalf since 1972. In the 1970s, WKID was the second-largest source of Spanish-language television programming in South Florida, providing the only prime time shows not being aired on WLTV. In the evening hours in 1977, it leased out airtime to Latin Network, which programmed "TV Sol", complete with news and entertainment programs in Spanish. During this era, cable providers that carried competing independent WCIX outside of the Miami market, especially in the Tampa and Orlando areas, carried WKID during the overnight hours, after WCIX signed off for the night; channel 51 served up The All Night Show, a campy mix of movies hosted by Dave Dixon, to this audience. WKID-TV was also among the first broadcast outlets for what would become the Christian Television Network, as the network purchased a block of evening airtime every night on channel 51 prior to the establishment of its first station, WCLF in Tampa. In 1980, CB TV Corp. sold WKID to Oak Industries, a cable television equipment manufacturer and owner of ON TV, a subscription television (STV) service that was carried during the evening hours. ON TV could only be viewed for a monthly fee and required a set-top decoder box and outdoor antenna for adequate reception. The station's advertiser-supported programming during this period included business news from the Financial News Network during the daytime hours and a horse racing show hosted by Bob Savage in the early evening. Subscription service from ON TV initially commenced at 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and at 10 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, expanding in 1982 to a 4 p.m. start. With the expansion of cable television in the Miami area, ON TV proved to be an ill-fated venture; by July 1984, when it laid off half its staff, subscriptions had fallen from a 1982 high of 44,700 to 28,500, making it the smallest of Oak's STV operations at the time. ### WSCV Oak's financial difficulties and the failure of ON TV motivated the company to sell WKID. At the end of July 1984, Oak announced that it had sold the station to John Blair & Co. for \$17.75 million; the new buyers intended to program it as a Spanish-language station. Financial News Network programming ceased in October 1984. Blair, led by Cuban-American media entrepreneur Julio Rumbaut, completed the acquisition in December. Channel 51 then went off the air as Blair prepared to implement the station's relaunch as WSCV, south Florida's second Spanish-language television station. The new call letters, when pronounced in Spanish, read "Doble-U Ese Se Ve" (which is translated into English as "that one is seen"). The launch took longer than expected due to transmitter troubles; WSCV finally launched on June 2, 1985. The new WSCV positioned its programming as a local, independent Miami-targeted alternative to the Mexican-dominated Spanish International Network (now Univision) and its station WLTV (channel 23), with a program hosted by Rolando Barral as part of its charter lineup. (Barral left within months to return to WLTV.) Reflecting the market it aimed to serve, the station played both the United States and Cuban national anthems at sign-on and sign-off; its logo incorporated features of the Cuban flag. Another feature in the station's early months were Major League Baseball telecasts; announcers in the channel 51 studio produced Spanish-language commentary for games of the Baltimore Orioles and other teams. In 1986, the Reliance Group acquired WSCV and WKAQ-TV in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from John Blair & Co., which was paid \$300 million to thwart a hostile takeover. The year before, Reliance had purchased Oak's Los Angeles station, KBSC-TV, and relaunched it as Spanish-language KVEA—much like WSCV, the first competition to a long-running SIN station in a large Hispanic market. In October 1986, Reliance then bought WNJU serving the New York City area. On January 12, 1987, the new stations were integrated into one network: Telemundo, supplying additional programming and national news coverage. While Rumbaut had done much to build WSCV in the early years of what he called "the World Series of Spanish television", his exit would be acrimonious. In February 1988, WSCV was the only Telemundo station (of a total of nine) to air a speech by President Ronald Reagan about aid to the Contras, after the news staff petitioned Rumbaut to air the address. The move was poorly received by the network; after a meeting in New York, he presented his resignation. Roberto Rodríguez Tejera then attempted to present editorials relating to Rumbaut's resignation; on orders from the Telemundo Group, engineers shut the station's signal off during the editorial, infuriating staffers. He was replaced by Alfredo Durán, formerly of WLTV. Later that year, the station moved news production from its original facilities in Hollywood to Telemundo's Hialeah headquarters, coinciding with a top-to-bottom station relaunch; offices and other station functions followed suit in 1990. Durán would leave in 1991, seeking new career challenges. The next year, José Cancela jumped from Univision, at the time in a process of a sale, to run WSCV. On October 11, 2001, NBC acquired the Telemundo network, including WSCV, from Sony and Liberty Media for \$1.98 billion (increasing to \$2.7 billion by the sale's closure) and the assumption of \$700 million in debt, in an equal cash and stock split by NBC's then-parent General Electric. The acquisition was finalized on April 12, 2002, making WSCV part of a duopoly with NBC's WTVJ. WSCV and WTVJ were the first stations to be fully integrated among the several duopolies the deal produced; the WTVJ studio center in Miramar had been designed when NBC was considering purchasing another Spanish-language station, facilitating some of the task. In 2020, WSCV's general manager assumed oversight of WTVJ after its general manager retired. ## News operation Local news was on WSCV's slate from the moment it relaunched in 1985. The station initially aired a 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. local newscast, anchored by Cuban-born Lucy Pereda and news director Eduardo Arango. Pereda left before the end of 1985 to work for the Spanish International Network (going on to host Mundo Latino, its first national morning show), while Arango was ousted in early 1986 over differences in philosophy with Rumbaut. However, the presence of WSCV's 10 p.m. news, an hour before WLTV's, led the latter station to move up its newscast to match. As with the station in general, the news on WSCV was positioned as "Cuban" to the more Mexican-influenced WLTV. Rafael Orizondo, who replaced Arango in an interim capacity, said at a 1986 forum, "Our newscasts are designed for the Cuban community, not for the Hispanic community. We emphasize the Cuban, and to call Fidel Castro a dictator and say he is an assassin does not cost us any credibility." In late 1986, WSCV hired María Montoya, a former actress who had arrived in Miami as part of the Mariel boatlift of 1980, and Ambrosio Hernández, who had worked at several radio stations in Chicago, to complement the team. Upon Alfredo Durán becoming general manager in 1988, aggressive moves were made to improve the ratings. The newscast was moved back from 11 p.m., where it had been relocated earlier in the year, to 10. Durán lured well-known WLTV reporter Alina Mayo Azze to WSCV. Her hiring was soon eclipsed by another with romantic overtones; Durán was in a relationship with Leticia Callava, the main female anchor at WLTV and described by Tom Jicha of The Miami News as "to Spanish-language news what Ann Bishop is to English-language news". Despite claiming that Callava was not about to jump stations in May, when Callava was demoted by WLTV after Durán's move, she left that station and signed with WSCV in August, teaming with Mayo Azze to become the first two-woman anchor pairing on Spanish-language television in Miami on a relaunched Noticentro 51 (Newscenter 51). Durán also toned down the Cuban emphasis of channel 51, stripping the Cuban flag colors from the logo and asking weather presenter Ángel Martín to stop referring to Cuba as "that beautiful land where we were born". The move, which helped to lift WSCV's ratings slightly, escalated Miami's Spanish-language news war: Hernández defected to a rebuilding WLTV. When Mayo Azze left in 1990, she was replaced on the anchor desk by Argentine news anchor Nicolas Kasanzew, who became famous covering the Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas/Guerra del Atlántico Sur) for the state-run network ATC. Kasanzew was demoted to a reporter two years later as part of a major shakeup in which three newscasters were fired and news production was suspended for a week as the station readied a "clean slate", with Callava the only remaining anchor. At the time, WLTV was still beating WSCV two-to-one in the evening news ratings race. This continued until Hernández returned to WSCV in early 1993. Montoya returned to WSCV in 1999 when the station began to expand its local news with the first Spanish-language midday newscast in the country. Two years later, WSCV expanded to morning news for the first time, debuting the 6 a.m. news hour Primera Edición (First Edition) as part of a national strategy to add local morning newscasts. Weekend news followed that September. After being told that management desired to replace her on the evening news with Montoya, Callava left WSCV in late 2001 after 13 years. While WLTV still led in news ratings into the 2000s, WSCV steadily increased its share of the marketplace. Despite changes in its anchor lineup—Montoya would depart WSCV in 2013, while Hernández departed in 2015 to rejoin Univision—WSCV added several new newscasts in the 2010s as part of national local news expansions across the Telemundo station group. A 5:30 p.m. show debuted at WSCV and 13 other Telemundo stations in 2014, followed by a 5 p.m. newscast in 2016. Steady improvement led to ratings leadership. By 2022, WSCV was the leading station in total households and the 25–54 news demo in the morning, early evening, and late news, regardless of language. ## Technical information ### Subchannels The station's digital signal is multiplexed and includes three of the four subchannels offered by WTVJ, which converted to ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) broadcast in January 2023. WSCV's main subchannel is in turn offered on the WTVJ multiplex. ### Analog-to-digital conversion WSCV ended programming on its analog signal, on UHF channel 51, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal moved from its pre-transition UHF channel 52, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to channel 30, continuing to use virtual channel 51.

Edward Aburrow Sr

English cricketer (c.1715–?)

Edward Aburrow Sr (c.1715–death date unknown), also known as Cuddy, was an English cricketer of the mid-Georgian period who played for Slindon and Sussex under the patronage of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond. He also represented various England teams. A resident of Slindon, Sussex, he was a contemporary of the three Newland brothers – Richard, John and Adam – who were his colleagues in the Slindon team. Outside of cricket, Aburrow Sr was a tailor in Slindon but he became involved in smuggling. He was jailed in 1745, though he turned King's evidence to gain parole. He relocated to Hambledon, Hampshire and his son Edward Aburrow Jr, also known as "Curry", became a regular Hambledon player. Aburrow Sr was an outstanding bowler who is believed to have been right-handed, but his style and pace are unknown. Like all bowlers of the time, he used an underarm action, and delivered the ball all along the ground. Although there are tentative mentions in 1742, Aburrow Sr is first definitely recorded by name in the 1744 season and played until at least 1751. ## Cricket career Edward Aburrow Sr is often called "Cuddy" in sources. He relied for his cricketing opportunities on the 2nd Duke of Richmond, who had captained his own team for many years until he broke a leg in 1733. No longer able to play himself, Richmond channelled his enthusiasm for cricket into patronage of Slindon Cricket Club; the village of Slindon bordered on his Goodwood House estate. Aburrow was a member of Slindon's team as a contemporary and colleague of the three Newland brothers – Richard, John and Adam. ### 1742–1743 There are references in 1742 match announcements to "the Sussex Man from Slending" and "the noted bowler from Slendon". Richard Newland was the most famous Slindon player, but as a batting all-rounder. The team's most noted bowler was actually Aburrow. At the end of that season, Slindon played two eleven-a-side matches against London Cricket Club at the Artillery Ground in Finsbury, London, but lost them both, the second by the huge margin of 184 runs. F. S. Ashley-Cooper, in a brief description of Slindon village at the time, says it was most famous for its cricket and "its chief players were the Messrs Newland – Adam, John and Richard – and Cuddy (Aburrow)". ### 1744 The first definite reference in contemporary records to Aburrow by name is in the 1744 season. On 2 June 1744, a combined Surrey and Sussex team played against London at the Artillery Ground. Surrey and Sussex won by 55 runs and the match is now famous for the world's oldest known match scorecard, which lists individual scores but no details of dismissals. London, whose team included given men, was the host club and their opponents were all from the counties of Surrey and Sussex. The visitors batted first and scored 102. London replied with 79, so Surrey and Sussex had a first innings lead of 23. In their second innings, Surrey and Sussex reached 102/6 and then apparently declared their innings closed, although the Laws of Cricket did not allow for declarations in 1744. In the final innings, London needed 126 to win but were all out for 70. Aburrow, whose name is first in the batting order, scored 5 runs in the first innings and 0 in the second. The scorecard was kept by the Duke of Richmond at Goodwood House. Two weeks later, Aburrow played for England against Kent at the Artillery Ground. The match was commemorated in Cricket, An Heroic Poem (1745) by James Love. Kent captain Lord John Sackville is reported to have held a remarkable catch in the second innings to dismiss Richard Newland, who made the top two scores in the match with 18\* and 15. Aburrow scored 0 and 2. He apparently took no wickets. Sackville's catch may have been the defining moment of the match, which Kent won by one wicket after John Cutbush and William Hodsoll managed to score the remaining few runs with nine wickets down. Towards the end of the season, Slindon came into the limelight. They played London at the Artillery Ground on 10–11 September and won by an unknown margin. In celebration, they issued a famous challenge to other clubs by offering to play against "any parish in England". As far as is known, the only acceptances came from Addington and Bromley. The match against Addington commenced on the 12th but it was delayed by rain. Slindon led by two runs at close of play but there are no further reports. The match against Bromley was scheduled for the 14th but, again, there are no reports and so it may be assumed that both matches were rained off. Aburrow and Richard Newland are the only players known to have taken part in the London and Addington matches. On 17 September, there was a single wicket "threes" match at the Artillery Ground between teams led by Robert Colchin (aka "Long Robin") and Richard Newland. Colchin had Val Romney and John Bryant on his side; Newland had Aburrow and Joe Harris. Aburrow was a late replacement for John Mills of Horsmonden, described as "the famous Kent bowler". The stake was 200 guineas and the players were described as the "best in England". The result, however, is unknown. ### Later career Aburrow is not mentioned in the 1745 sources. He was jailed in that year for assisting a gang of smugglers (see below). He continued to play cricket after he was released and the last known references to him are from the 1751 season, the year after Richmond had died. Aburrow played in two matches for England against Kent and was on the winning team both times, in the first by 9 runs and in the second by an innings and 9 runs. These were also the last two known matches of Richard Newland's career. ## Criminal activity David Underdown points out that, like many Sussex villages at the time, Slindon was a violent place with strong smuggling connections. Aburrow was both the village tailor and the cricket team's best bowler, but even so he gained a reputation for smuggling. He was jailed in 1745 after he was found guilty of bearing arms whilst landing "prohibited goods" at Elmer's Sluice on the Sussex coast. He spent time in Horsham gaol. However, he turned King's evidence and earned a parole. In 1747, Aburrow married a Slindon girl called Elizabeth Coot. Their eldest son, Edward Aburrow Jr was born at Slindon in 1750 and, soon afterwards, the family relocated to Hambledon, Hampshire. Underdown surmises that their departure may have been necessary because Aburrow Sr, as an informer, could have been threatened with reprisals. Richmond's patronage of Slindon presents a paradox because most of the villagers were Roman Catholics and the most influential family there, the Kempes, were Tories. Richmond was both Anglican and "a passionate Whig". Another converse arises from Richmond's vehement campaign against smuggling. His main target was the notorious Hawkhurst Gang, but he showed similar intolerance towards Aburrow, whose family he described as "notorious villains" (one of Aburrow's brothers had been hanged), even though Aburrow was his best bowler at Slindon.

Johnny McNichol

Scottish footballer (1925–2007)

John McNichol (20 August 1925 – 17 March 2007) was a Scottish footballer who played more than 500 games in the Football League in England. An inside forward, he played more than 150 games for Brighton & Hove Albion and more than 200 for each of Chelsea and Crystal Palace. McNichol graduated from junior footballer and apprentice motor mechanic in his native Scotland to a professional contract with English First Division club Newcastle United. After two years, he had found success with the reserve team but was never selected in the first eleven. Brighton & Hove Albion, struggling in the Third Division, broke their transfer record to sign him. McNichol spent four years with the club, acquiring "the reputation as the finest inside-forward in the Third Division", before moving to the First Division as Chelsea manager Ted Drake's first signing. He was part of the Chelsea team that won the League championship in the 1954–55 season. In 1958 he joined Crystal Palace, whom he captained to promotion from the Fourth Division, and finished his on-field career in the Southern League as player-manager of Tunbridge Wells Rangers. He then spent 25 years working on the commercial side of football with two of his previous clubs. ## Early life and career McNichol was born in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. His father, Danny, died when he was five, so McNichol and seven siblings were raised by their mother, Catherine. He attended St Joseph's School in Kilmarnock, and started work as a messenger boy for a local draper's shop when he left school. His shop work stopped him playing football on Saturdays, but he was able to play some midweek football for Junior club Hurlford United. When he was taken on at the local bus garage as an apprentice motor mechanic, he became available on Saturdays as well. Hurlford paid him ten shillings a game, nearly as much as his apprentice's wages. During the Second World War, McNichol was called up to the Fleet Air Arm as a mechanic, but was able to play friendly matches for Inverness-based club Clachnacuddin. Because of the number of professional players stationed around the country, such matches were played at a fairly high standard. ## Newcastle United After the war, McNichol returned to Hurlford, but, amid interest from other clubs, he accepted a trial with Newcastle United. After two trial matches, he signed professional forms with the club on his 21st birthday. McNichol spent two years at Newcastle, but never made a first-team appearance. Behind the likes of England international forwards Roy Bentley and Len Shackleton in the pecking order, he doubled his income working as a motor mechanic for a local funeral director whose "two or three Rolls-Royces [made] a nice change from working on bus engines". In his second season, he was part of the reserve team that won the Central League title, but a disagreement over personal terms on his contract renewal – the Newcastle management felt a lower wage was justified because of the player's earnings outside the game – prompted McNichol to seek first-team football elsewhere. ## Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion had finished bottom of the Third Division South the season before and were struggling financially, yet manager Don Welsh persuaded the directors to break the club transfer record by paying £5,000 for a player yet to make his debut in the Football League, and persuaded McNichol to sign. He made his first appearance in the League on 21 August 1948, at the age of 23, as Brighton drew with Swindon Town at home. The club finished sixth in the division in McNichol's first season and eighth, despite having no regular goalscorer – McNichol's nine goals made him top scorer – in 1949–50. The next year, McNichol played in all of Brighton's games, the only man so to do, and again finished as top scorer for the season, this time with 14 goals. According to Carder and Harris, he "had a superb season with a brand of play which won him the reputation as the finest inside-forward in the Third Division". Appointed club captain when Billy Lane took over from Welsh as manager, McNichol flourished under Lane's attacking policy. He scored 14 goals in the 1951–52 season as Brighton narrowly failed to mount a successful challenge to Plymouth Argyle for the title, "was again the star of the side", and "was thought by many to be the most stylish inside-forward to play for the Albion". That season, McNichol scored a hat-trick against eventual runners-up Reading, which caught the eye of manager Ted Drake. Shortly before the next season started, he became Drake's first signing for his new club, Chelsea, at a fee of £12,000 plus the player Jimmy Leadbetter, a club record fee received for Albion. He had scored 39 goals in all competitions from 165 appearances. Although scouts from bigger clubs had been watching the player since soon after his arrival at the club – he had apparently already turned down moves to Manchester City, Everton and Huddersfield Town – Brighton's supporters were disappointed, seeing his sale as a backward step. ## Chelsea On his Chelsea debut away at Manchester United, McNichol found himself playing at right back after ten minutes when Sid Tickridge sustained an injury. Once restored to the forward line, his goals helped Chelsea avoid relegation to the Second Division at the end of his first season. A "dramatic last-minute goal ... enabled Chelsea to snatch a lucky victory at West Bromwich" with three games left, and he scored the third goal of Chelsea's 3–1 defeat of Manchester City in their last fixture of the season which confirmed their escape from the relegation positions. Two seasons later, Chelsea won the First Division title for the first time. As they beat Charlton Athletic in March 1955 to "maintain their challenging position in the Championship", The Times reporter described how "McNichol filled the role of general, and was instigator of many dangerous movements". Two weeks later, McNichol, "the most effective of their forwards", scored twice as a Chelsea team displaying "a propensity to play the man in preference to the ball" beat Tottenham Hotspur 4–2, and the title was confirmed with one game still to play. McNichol had missed only two games in the 42-game season, and scored 14 goals, a good return for a player in his position; an inside forward was normally more a creator than a scorer of goals, but his profile on Chelsea's website describes him as "clever, astute and most of all a clinical finisher". He stayed at the club for three more seasons, but later lost his place in the side to the young Jimmy Greaves: "There was no disgrace in losing my place to him. I couldn't grumble about that. We used to get on very well, and he would listen to the instructions I gave him. Then he became world famous!" The respect was mutual: though Greaves described the Chelsea title-winning side as "almost certainly one of the least talented teams ever to win the title", he made an exception for McNichol, "the ball player of the team". In all competitions, he made 202 appearances for Chelsea and scored 66 goals. While at Brighton, McNichol had worked in a local garage, wanting to keep up his skills in case injury put an early end to his football career. When he joined Chelsea, his decision to remain living in the area had upset Drake. In addition, he bought a newsagent's shop in Hove, so not only did he have to travel by train from the south coast – as did teammates Stan Willemse and Eric Parsons – he further annoyed the Chelsea management by getting up even earlier each morning to open the shop before coming in to training. His wife Connie, whom he had known since childhood, ran the business in his absence. He claimed to have "earned more working in that shop than playing for Chelsea. Even in that championship season." ## Crystal Palace Just ahead of the transfer deadline in March 1958, McNichol signed for Third Division South club Crystal Palace. He was expected to fill a role "similar to the one he has performed so well at Stamford Bridge – helping in the development of promising young forwards", and was appointed captain. He scored on his debut for the club, and produced seven goals from the twelve games he played in what remained of the 1957–58 season. By October 1958, manager George Smith felt the player was feeling the strain of his dual role, so relieved him of the captaincy. As McNichol grew older, his playing position became more defensive, as he became first a wing half, then a full back. Palace had been placed in the Fourth Division when the Football League structure was reorganised on national lines prior to the 1958–59 season, and McNichol, long since restored to the captaincy, led them to promotion to the Third Division in 1961, their first promotion for 40 years. Soon afterwards, he applied for the managerial post at former club Brighton & Hove Albion, then in the Second Division, but was unsuccessful. A broken arm suffered in August 1961 forced McNichol to miss a Palace match for the first time in a three-and-a-half-year club career. He played on for two seasons, but his professional career was brought to a close by facial injuries, a fractured cheekbone and broken jaw, sustained during the 1962–63 season. In all competitions, he scored 15 goals from 205 appearances. ## Later life and career McNichol remained in the South of England, spending four years as player-manager of Tunbridge Wells Rangers in the Southern League. Having sold the newsagents, he returned to Crystal Palace to work in the commercial side of the game, where he was responsible for the establishment of weekly pools and bingo competitions as a means of raising funds for the club. He moved back to Brighton & Hove Albion to occupy a similar role from 1979 to 1992, and after retirement continued to live in the Saltdean area of Brighton. Despite the successes of his career, McNichol had regrets. He described Chelsea's decision not to accept their invitation to participate in the inaugural season of the European Cup as his "one big disappointment", and "thought it was strange at the time", despite the national team selectors' preference for players plying their trade for Scottish clubs, that he was never chosen to represent his country. McNichol retained contact with his previous clubs. One of 24 former players and managers nominated as "Albion Legends" as part of Brighton's centenary events in 2001, he took an active role in the celebrations. He died of a stroke on 17 March 2007 at the age of 81. ## Honours Newcastle United Reserves - The Central League winners: 1947–48 Chelsea - Football League First Division winners: 1954–55 Crystal Palace' - Football League Fourth Division runners-up: 1960–61 ## See also - List of footballers in England by number of league appearances (500+)

Walter Oesau

German World War II flying ace and wing commander

Walter "Gulle" Oesau (28 June 1913 – 11 May 1944) was a German fighter pilot during World War II. A fighter ace, he served in the Luftwaffe from 1934 until his death in 1944. He rose to command Jagdgeschwader 1, which was named in his honor after his death. He served with the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War with the Jagdgruppe 88. He claimed nine aircraft during the campaign, becoming one of only 28 people to earn the award of the Spanish Cross in Gold and Diamonds. At the start of World War II, Oesau was given command of a fighter group within Jagdgeschwader 20. The group took part in the Invasion of Poland, later moving to the Western Front as the redesignated III Gruppe, Jagdgeschwader 51. Oesau operated on both the Western and Eastern Fronts. He returned to operations as commander of Jagdgeschwader 1. He was killed in action on 11 May 1944 aged 30. JG 1 was given the name "Oesau" in his honor. ## Early life Walter "Gulle" Oesau was born to a bank director in Farnewinkel near Meldorf, Germany on 28 June 1913. He joined the German Army (Heer) in October 1933 and served in the Second Artillery Regiment as an enlisted soldier. After being transferred to a Luftwaffe transport unit, he undertook flying training in 1934 as a cadet (Fahnenjunker) at the Luftwaffe Academy (Deutsche Verkehrsfliegerschule) in Hanover. Upon completion of his training he was assigned to Jagdgeschwader 132, as a Leutnant. The unit was re–designated as Jagdgeschwader 2 "Richthofen" in May 1939. ## Combat career ### Spanish Civil War Oesau started his operational career with the Condor Legion, along with future contemporary aces such as Werner Mölders and Adolf Galland. He was one of the first to join 3. Jagdgruppe 88 in Spain in April 1938. The Staffel, commanded by Werner Mölders, took part in the Spanish Civil War where Oesau claimed nine victories, flying 130 combat missions. For this he received the Spanish Cross (Spanienkreuz) in Gold with Diamonds. He was also wounded in this conflict which earned him the Spanish Wound Badge. He also received the Medalla de la Campaña and the Medalla Militar. ### Western Front 1939–40 On 1 March 1939 Oesau joined the Headquarters Flight (Stabsschwarm) of I./JG 2. By 15 July 1939 Oesau was promoted to Oberleutnant and given command of 2./JG 20. On 15 July 1939, I./JG 20 was activated in Döberitz initially consisting of two Staffeln drawn from JG 2. Prior to the invasion of Poland I./JG 20 was transferred to Strausberg on 26 August 1939. From there, the group was transferred to Sprottau (modern Szprotawa) anticipating an attack from the Polish Air Force. A week later the group moved to Brandenburg. On 21 February 1940, the unit was relocated to Bönninghardt under the control of JG 51. It continued to operate in this fashion until the end of the Battle of France. On 4 July it was re–designated III./JG 51. Oesau served as Staffelkapitän of 7./JG 51. #### Battle of France Oesau got his first World War II victory during the Battle of France on 13 May 1940, when he claimed a French Curtiss P-36 Hawk over Halsteren in the Netherlands, earning him the Iron Cross 1st class (Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse). On 31 May, he claimed three Spitfires during a patrol North West of Dunkirk and next day he claimed a Bristol Blenheim. On 13 June 1940, he shot down the last French aircraft kill claimed by JG 51, a French Amiot bomber. By the end of hostilities in France on 25 June, his World War II tally stood at 5 (13 including Spanish kills). Following the Battle of France, the Luftwaffe started its attacks on Channel convoys as a prelude to the Battle of Britain. The primary task of JG 51 during this time was to provide fighter escort to these bomber missions. The commander of JG 51, Oberst Theo Osterkamp established a policy of unrestricted combat air patrol (freie Jagd) of fighter Staffeln providing loose protection rather than close escort to the bombers, actively seeking out Royal Air Force fighters. On 7 July 1940 Oesau claimed one Spitfire. #### Battle of Britain On 10 July 1940, the first major clashes of the Battle of Britain occurred in a phase known as the Kanalkampf. 20 Bf 109s of III./JG 51 led by Hauptmann Hannes Trautloft and 30 Bf 110 C of I./Zerstörergeschwader 26 escorted 20 Dornier Do 17 bombers of II./Kampfgeschwader 2 attacking a large convoy off Folkestone. Oberleutnant Oesau was leading 7./JG 51. Trautloft noticed three of a flight of six intercepting Hurricanes of No. 32 squadron higher than the escorts, attempting to intercept the bombers. Soon they were joined by four squadrons of British fighters: No. 56 Squadron, No. 111 Squadron, No. 64 Squadron and No. 74 Squadron. Oesau was able to claim three Spitfires. Two 7./JG 51 aircraft crash landed in France. British losses show that no Spitfire was lost or destroyed in the ensuing battle. Only one No. 32 Hurricane, piloted by Pilot Officer Higgs, was destroyed in a collision with one of the Do 17s and only one other Hurricane was damaged. It is possible Oesau was responsible for damaging Higgs' Hurricane, causing him to lose control. Two Spitfires landed with light damage while a third was also slightly damaged and force-landed at RAF Manston. Over claiming of enemy losses was rife on both sides during the battle. On 19 July, III./JG 51 were confronted by Defiants of No. 141 Squadron south of Folkestone. As the German pilots were now aware of the Defiant's lack of forward armament, they soon gained the advantage in combat and claimed 11 Defiants shot down in 8 minutes. Oesau was credited with one Defiant, taking his score to 19. He was the first one of JG 51 to reach double digits in World War II. RAF losses record six Defiants destroyed and two damaged. On 18 August 1940, III./JG 51 escorted Dorniers attacking Hornchurch airfield. Intercepted by Hurricanes over Kent, Oesau claimed one Hurricane shot down as his 20th victory, earning him the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) two days later, the first pilot of JG 51 to be thus honored. On 24 August 1940, Trautloft took over as Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 54, and Oesau replaced him as Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 51. By October 1940, Oesau had a total score of 48 (including 26 Spitfires). On 10 November 1940, Oesau succeeded Wilhelm Balthasar as Gruppenkommandeur of III. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 3. With 39 victories he was currently the 4th highest scoring fighter pilot behind Helmut Wick, Werner Mölders and Adolf Galland. On 5 February 1941, the RAF flew "Circus" No. 3 targeting the airfield at Saint-Omer. That day, Oesau shot down the Hurricane piloted by Sergeant H. D. Denchfield from No. 610 Squadron over Desvres, France. This was his 40th aerial victory. Oesau was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub) next day. It also earned him a second entry in the Wehrmachtbericht. In early 1941, JG 3 returned to Germany to replace their Bf 109 'Emils' with the new 'F' variant (Friedrich). However, Oesau disliked the Bf 109F and kept flying his 'Emils' for some time. JG 3 returned to France in May 1941 and Oesau added two more kills on 16 May and 28 May bringing his total to 51. ### Operation Barbarossa Oesau's III./JG 3 was then involved in Operation Barbarossa the invasion of Russia, launched on 22 June 1941. Oesau shot down his first Soviet aircraft on 24 June 1941, and by 30 June 1941 had reached his 60th victory, downing a Tupolev SB bomber. Next day he downed three more SB bombers near Lvov (modern Lviv, Ukraine). This earned him his 3rd entry in the Wehrmachtbericht. On 10 July 1941, Oesau claimed 5 more aircraft and two more kills by 11 July 1941. On 12 July 1941, he shot down 7 Soviet aircraft in one sortie. In the five weeks since moving to the Eastern Front, Oesau was credited with 44 Soviet aircraft downed. He became the third pilot to reach 80 victories, the 80th kill an Ilyushin DB-3 bomber. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern) on same day. He was the third person to earn the Swords. He was again then wounded, receiving heavy splinter injuries in face and knee. A fortnight later he was transferred to the Western Front to take over JG 2. ### Defence of the Reich 1941–44 He succeeded Balthasar for the second time as JG 2 commander, who had died in combat with Spitfires over northern France when he pulled the tail off his Bf 109F in a dive. The Bf 109F-2 proved an excellent match to the Spitfire V, but Oesau disliked its reduced armament compared to the 'Emil', and continued to fly an E-4 model in preference to the Bf 109F, until lack of spares forced him to switch to the newer variant. Upon his appointment on 4 July 1941, he addressed JG 2 with the following words. > In the spirit of Manfred von Richthofen, and following the example set by my predecessors, Major Wick and Hauptmann Balthasar, constant readiness and devotion to duty will enable us to achieve yet further successes. JG 2 was tasked with defending targets in occupied France against the RAF fighter offensive. For the next two years Oesau led JG 2 through the war of attrition waged by the RAF. On 10 August 1941 Oesau claimed a Spitfire for his first kill with JG 2. Over the next two days, he claimed four more Spitfires. By the end of September 1941, Oesau had claimed two more Spitfires. JG 2 participated in the Luftwaffe air cover of the Channel Dash. Two Boeing B-17C Flying Fortresses of No. 90 Squadron attacked the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. In one of the highest altitude interceptions of World War II, the bombers were attacked by I./JG 2, resulting in the destruction of one. This aircraft put JG 2's score past the 800 mark, matching the score of their Great War namesake. Kills No. 88 to 92 were all Spitfires claimed between Calais and Dungeness on 12 August 1941. Oesau claimed his 100th kill on 26 October 1941, the third pilot to do so. This earned him his 4th entry in the Wehrmachtbericht. He was then grounded from flying on operations, as his experience and leadership qualities were regarded as too valuable to risk further in front line combat. He did fly on occasional sorties, the most famous involving the shooting down of an Avro Lancaster bomber of No. 44 Squadron RAF piloted by Warrant Officer G. T. Rhodes in April 1942, during a rare RAF daylight raid on the MAN engine plant in Augsburg. It was his 101st kill. In August 1942, the Geschwaderstab of JG 2 exchanged their Bf 109 F aircraft for Fw 190 A–2s. From late 1942 onwards JG 2 was in the front line against the increasingly numerous United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) day bomber formations of B-17s and B-24s. Oesau added four more to his tally by mid-1943. Shortly before his 30th birthday, Oesau was elevated to a series of Luftwaffe staff and administration positions. On 1 July 1943 he was posted as Fighter Leader Brittany (''Jagdfliegerführer Bretagne), before being appointed as Geschwaderkommodore of JG 1 on 12 November 1943, following the death of JG 1's Hans Philipp in October 1943. The ban on Oesau's combat flying was lifted. While commanding JG 1, Oesau became an expert (Experten) at shooting down 4 engine bombers, with 14 bomber kills claimed. He was awarded the Combined Pilots-Observation Badge in gold and diamonds on 17 October 1943. He was awarded the German Cross in Gold (Deutsches Kreuz in Gold) on 10 January 1944. For Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe Hermann Göring it was an ongoing concern that inadequate numbers of fighters were able to continually engage the bomber streams, at the very time that the USAAF's 8th Air Force's new commander, Maj. Gen. Jimmy Doolittle had instituted a new fighter strategy against the Luftwaffe. Hence on 23 February 1944 – near the midpoint of the USAAF's Big Week bomber offensive against the Luftwaffe, also being carried out by the 15th Air Force flying out of Italian bases – Generalmajor Joseph Schmid Commander of I. Jagdkorps established a new rule for the fighters returning to base. They were to arrive at the nearest designated fighter airfield for resupply instead of returning to their own base. They were to be commanded by the senior pilot landing on that airfield, irrespective of their unit. This was meant to turn around the fighters in time to intercept returning bombers. On the next day, B-24s of 2nd Bomb division of the Eighth Air Force bombed Gotha. JG 1 (under Oesau), JG 11 and JG 3 were sent to intercept. Due to high winds, the bombers were ahead of the escorts unprotected. Two groups of JG 1 met them before Gotha and 9 B-24s were claimed as a result. Since B-17s of 1st Bomb division also bombed Schweinfurt, other fighter units also arrived to intercept, eventually involving almost all the Western day fighter units of the Luftwaffe. This caused some confusion among pilots landing on airfields other than their own. This tested the directive of Schmid. Oesau led one of two such improvised formations successfully, with the other led by Hauptmann Borris of I./JG 26 Oesau added 4 fighters to his score between January and March 1944, and his tally stood at 117. On 8 May 1944 he claimed a Thunderbolt shot down over Hanover; his last kill. ## Death While being the Geschwaderkommodore of JG 1 Oesau frequently received his share of Hermann Göring's anger and frustration over the failure to beat off the Allied bomber offensive. Göring questioned the commitment of commanders who were not flying regularly and thus not really "leading" their respective units. In this context it should be stated that in order not to risk one of the Luftwaffe expert's life [German fighter aces were called Experten], there was an automatic ban on Oesau for further combat flying since his 100th victory. Perhaps the ban was lifted temporarily or bypassed when he was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of JG 1. On the other hand, Oesau might simply have ignored the ban and continued to lead missions. Oesau added several victories over American heavy bombers in the first five months of 1944. On 11 May 1944 one thousand U.S. heavy bombers from Eighth Air Force attacked railway targets in Eastern France and North East Belgium. They were escorted by even more numbers of P-38 and P-51 fighters. Oesau was in bed with influenza. Upon hearing the news, Göring phoned Oesau's staff: Göring – "Is the Kommodore flying?" Staff – "No, he is in bed with fever." Göring – "Yes, yes, I know that kind!", Göring said scornfully, Göring – "He has also turned tired and coward!" Angered by this comment, Oesau took off in a Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6/AS "Green 13" (Werknummer 20601—factory number) from Paderborn despite a high fever. Leading three aircraft of the Geschwaderstab, the schwarm broke formation over the Ardennes as it approached the bombers. In the dogfight Oesau's wingman reported damage to his machine and he was ordered to break off. Left alone, Oesau faced P-38s and possibly P-51s as well. According to Major Hartmann Grasser, Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 1, who was on the same mission, there were five P-38s facing Oesau. What followed is unclear as there are several versions. Oesau was chased by 1st Lt. James Leslie Doyle, 1st Lt. Wilbur L. Jarvis III and 1st Lt. James C. Austin, of the 428th Fighter Squadron (474th FG, 9th AF). All three were experienced pilots and chased Oesau from 28,000 feet to tree-top level. In the ensuing 20-minute dogfight, Oesau defended skillfully, though his aircraft was damaged by gunfire. While attempting an emergency landing, his Gustav received a final burst of fire in the cockpit area and crashed into the ground 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) southwest of St. Vith. His body was thrown clear of the aircraft some yards away. According to the "Eighth Air Force Mission Folder for 11 May 1944, Mission 351", Lt. Doyle engaged in a turning dogfight with a pair of Bf 109s, scoring hits on the leader. Doyle had then broken off combat without claiming a kill, unaware that his victim, Oesau, had been killed by a 20 mm shell. Doyle's kill had been the first kill of the 474th Fighter Group in its first combat with the Luftwaffe. There is some dispute regarding who exactly shot down his fighter. Some sources claim that he was shot during the dogfight and while the aircraft was falling to the ground, he was shot at again a few feet above ground, possibly by the Mustangs of 354th FG. Lt Wilbur Jarvis, No. 2 in the flight led by Doyle received a Damaged credit (not a kill) for Oesau's aircraft. Doyle noted bullet damage in the cockpit area and his gun camera footage showed that it was Oesau's Green 13. German records indicated that his death was caused by an explosive shell in the cockpit, his body having several bullet wounds. Later an image from the Gun camera was published (without caption) that purportedly showed Oesau's aircraft from the right side. Oesau was aged 30 at the time of his death. He had a total of 127 kills gained over 300 missions. 27 were Spitfires, 14 four-engined bombers, 44 were scored on the Eastern Front and 9 in the Spanish Civil War. In recognition of his record, JG 1 received the title Oesau in honor of its fallen Geschwaderkommodore. Only Werner Mölders had a similar honor with JG 51 Mölders. Walter Oesau is buried in Meldorf, close to his birthplace and the town museum (Dithmarscher Landesmuseum) has documented his last journey in pictures. ## Aftermath Johannes Steinhoff, the high-ranking Luftwaffe ace (176 Kills) who went on to become the Chief of Staff for Allied Air Forces in Central Europe, once said: "Walter Gulle Oesau was the toughest fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe". In 1940, frustrated with the perceived lack of success against RAF Fighter Command, Göring was keen on infusing the fighter force leadership with younger blood. He perceived a lack of aggressiveness in the Jagdgeschwader leadership. The likes of Theo Osterkamp were the first victim of this policy, handing over JG 51 to Werner Mölders. Oesau was considered to be one such rising star. However, being a star and staying in Göring's favor required keeping up the kill rate and promotions were invariably linked to scores. According to Dr. Kurt Tank, the Focke–Wulf designer, although many of the younger generation were good flyers, they were unable to cope with problems of overall planning and broader strategic aspects. However, Oesau was one of the outstanding leaders ever produced by Luftwaffe fighter wings with the likes of Werner Mölders and Adolf Galland. The decision to continually retain or return gifted experts (Experten) to front line battle proved extremely costly, resulting in the death in combat of many of the earlier experts and aces. This, coupled with the acute shortage of well trained pilots and the fact that by 1943 they were facing a better equipped and well-trained enemy, meant the life expectancy of even the most gifted was tragically short. Author John Weal says that, although other Geschwaderkommodore would end up dying in combat, nothing would showcase the changing fortunes of Luftwaffe fighter forces than the death of Walter Oesau. ## Personality and personal life German historian Hans Otto Böhm commented on Oesau as "One of my best professors". There is little information available on the personal side of Walter Oesau. He had good sense of humor and liked to spend time with his friends. He was a simple man, who did not display any flamboyant personal emblems on his aircraft. His aircraft while commanding JG 2 did not have any special markings except for the unit's normal yellow under–cowling. While Oesau commanded, JG 2, like many others, dropped the special symbols for Stab (headquarters flight) units in favor of numerals. This helped make the leader's aircraft anonymous. Unlike other aces, Oesau reportedly never had markings on his rudder representing his personal tally, although this is contradicted by some photos displaying what may be his aircraft rudder painted with score of downed aircraft. The authenticity of the photograph is questioned by some as there are also Ju 87 photos supposedly signed by Oesau (he never flew a Stuka bomber). ## Summary of career ### Aerial victory claims According to US historian David T. Zabecki, Oesau was credited with 125 aerial victories, nine of which during the Spanish Civil War. Mathews and Foreman, authors of Luftwaffe Aces — Biographies and Victory Claims, researched the German Federal Archives and found documentation for 127 aerial victory claims, plus three further unconfirmed claims. This number includes nine claims during the Spanish Civil War, 44 on the Eastern Front, and 74 on the Western Front, including 13 four-engined bombers. Victory claims were logged to a map-reference (PQ = Planquadrat), for example "PQ 05 Ost 0021". The Luftwaffe grid map (Jägermeldenetz) covered all of Europe, western Russia and North Africa and was composed of rectangles measuring 15 minutes of latitude by 30 minutes of longitude, an area of about 360 square miles (930 km²). These sectors were then subdivided into 36 smaller units to give a location area 3 km × 4 km (1.9 mi × 2.5 mi) in size. ### Awards - Spanish Medalla de la Campaña - Spanish Medalla Militar - Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords and Diamonds - Iron Cross (1939) - 2nd Class (15 May 1940) - 1st Class (20 May 1940) - Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Gold for fighter pilots with pennant "300" - Wound Badge (1939) in Black - German Cross in Gold on 17 October 1943 as Oberstleutnant and Jagdfliegerführer 4 - Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords - Knight's Cross on 20 August 1940 as Hauptmann and Staffelkapitän of the 7./Jagdgeschwader 51 - 9th Oak Leaves on 6 February 1941 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of the III./JG 3 - 3rd Swords on 15 July 1941 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur'' of the III./JG 3 ### Date of Rank

Dutch brick

Yellow brick

Dutch brick (Dutch: IJsselsteen) is a small type of red brick made in the Netherlands, or similar brick, and an architectural style of building with brick developed by the Dutch. The brick, made from clay dug from river banks or dredged from river beds of the river IJssel and fired over a long period of time, was known for its durability and appearance. Traditional Dutch brick architecture is characterized by rounded or stepped gables. The brick was imported as ballast into Great Britain and the colonies in the east of America. Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, founded in 1591, was originally built of red Dutch brick. Dutch brickmakers emigrated to New Netherland in America, where they built kilns for firing bricks locally. Bricks were being burned in New Amsterdam (New York) by 1628, but the imported bricks were of better quality. At first the bricks were used only for chimneys, but they were later used to face the lower story of the house, and then the entire house. Most of the surviving "Dutch Colonial" houses in New York do not in fact follow Dutch architectural practices, but there are several examples in Albany County which do. Bricks were also exported by the Dutch for major buildings in their colonies in the east and around the world. The Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town, South Africa, was built in 1666, and its entrance was made of the small yellow bricks called ijselstene (IJssel stones). Christ Church in Malacca, Malaysia, the oldest Dutch church building outside the Netherlands, was made of Dutch bricks that had been brought as ballast in ships from the Netherlands, coated with Chinese plaster. ## Background and manufacture The word "brick" may be of Dutch origin. A 1901 dictionary of architecture defines "brick" as "a regularly shaped piece of clay hardened in the sun or by the heat of a kiln and intended for building; commonly one of very many pieces of uniform size." The "Dutch Brick" is described as "a hard, light-coloured brick originally made in Holland [sic] and used in England for pavements; hence a similar brick made in England." Until well into the twentieth century the manufacture of brick in the Netherlands (and elsewhere) used manual labor mostly, and the low-paid workers involved in the industry were as marginal socially as the manufacturing industry geographically—the raw materials were gathered on river banks, and the firing of the bricks took place well away from towns and farms to lessen any nuisance caused by fire and smoke. Workers, as was noted in municipal reports, often already belonged to the lower levels of society and were frequently simply let go at the end of the season, adding to the municipal burdens: "As the number of brick kilns increases, so does poverty," according to the 1873 report of the Ubbergen municipality, near Nijmegen, on the Waal river. The clay for the bricks was dug from river banks (of the Waal, Rhine, and IJssel rivers) and other open-air locations, and was left outside (in a mound called the kleibult) through the winter so that any organic material could decay; the weather (rain, frost, drought) helped make the clay more manageable. At the end of this period the clay was mixed with sand and other materials, a process done by foot, by workers stomping on the clay. It was then molded into the proper shape by an artisan, the tichelaar ("brickmaker"). Children handed the brickmaker the raw material and removed the shaped bricks. Child labor was common in the industry: until well into the nineteenth century children eight years old and younger worked 16 hours per day, and children four years old stacked and carried bricks for hours at a stretch. Molds were moistened with water and strewn with sand to enable the shaped brick to be more easily removed. The "raw" or "green" stones were laid out in long rows to dry and when they were dry enough they were stood up on their side so the bottom could dry; this work was often done by women and children. Often it was the women who did the much heavier labor of moving the dried bricks to the ovens, hauling wheelbarrows with loads of up to 80 kilograms, and stacking and preparing the ovens and tending to the fire (which burned peat or coal). Ovens came in two types—a single-use construction of the kind used in the production of charcoal, and a more permanent type, basically consisting of two walls one meter and a half thick. Ovens could hold up to a million bricks. Masonry bricks were fired between 900 °C (1,650 °F) and 1,125 °C (2,057 °F), klinkers between 1,150 °C (2,100 °F) and 1,250 °C (2,280 °F). Typically, bricks were baked at low heat for two weeks to remove all remaining moisture from the clay, and then for four weeks at a higher temperature, followed by two weeks of cooling down. Since the klinker was partially vitrified by being fired at a higher temperature it was harder than the standard. Klinkers were imported into England for use as paving. Small, yellow Dutch bricks used to be imported into the United States, and as of 1840 there were still old buildings in New York faced in these bricks. They were considered superior in appearance and in durability. An 1888 report noted that "in New York and other Atlantic cities we find houses built of brick brought from Holland [sic] fully two hundred years ago, without a flaw or sign of decay, and apparently as firm and sound as when first laid in the wall." ## Europe Houses found today in Zeeland are closer in appearance to the fine Dutch brick houses of New York than are houses from other parts of the Netherlands. Brick farm houses built separately from barns are found in Zeeland, but none have survived in other locations. Unlike the common practice in New York, the farm houses in Zeeland do not have separate outside doors for each room. The Dutch also used bricks to pave the roads, or chaussees, in the Netherlands. By the 1640s the Dutch were considered to be the leaders in Europe both in making bricks and in bricklaying. The Summer Garden in Saint Petersburg, Russia, exhibits the work of Dutch brickmakers and bricklayers. Saint Michael's Castle, built in Saint Petersburg between 1797 and 1801 for the Emperor Paul I, is "an enormous quadrangular pile, of red Dutch brisk, rising from a massy basement of hewn granite." Sans Souci, the palace built for Frederick the Great in Potsdam, was built with a facade of rich red Dutch brick. In recent years the Dutch brick industry has attracted unwelcome attention from the European Union (EU) competition authorities. In the early 1990s the industry had excess capacity due to technological advances, competition from other materials and an economic slowdown. Producers with combined market share of 90% agreed to reduce capacity, shutting down the older and inefficient plants. The producers compensated those who closed plants. However, the agreement also included fixing production quotas and fining members who produced more than their quota. The members of what was in effect a cartel were forced to drop the quota agreement by the EU. ### Great Britain and Ireland Imported Dutch brick was often used in buildings in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. In Dartmouth, a house built in 1664 for mariner Robert Plumleigh had traditional timber-framed architecture but included elaborate star-shaped chimney stacks made from imported Dutch brick. Houses in Topsham, Devon, also used Dutch brick for chimneys, window heads and dressing. One house from the late 17th century in Dutch Court in Topsham is built entirely of Dutch brick. The ports of Exeter and Topsham both shipped wool to the Netherlands, and the returning ships brought bricks as ballast from Amsterdam or Rotterdam. Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, founded in 1591, was originally built of red Dutch brick. Jigginstown House in Naas, County Kildare, Ireland, was built by John Allen for Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford (1593–1641) using Dutch brick "of the most superior manufacture". The Red House in Youghal, Ireland, was built of red Dutch brick in 1710 by the Dutch architect Leuventhal for the Uniacke family. ## United States In general, bricks were not imported to the American colonies. Probably none were imported to Virginia and Maryland, but in New England there was one possible example in New Haven, and there are records documenting the shipment of 10,000 bricks to Massachusetts Bay in 1628 and several thousand bricks being shipped to New Sweden. It is possible that the terms "Dutch brick" and "English brick" referred to the size of the locally-made bricks, with the Dutch bricks being the smaller. However, in New Netherland there are records of brick being imported from the Netherlands as ballast in 1633, and of continued shipments until the American Revolution (1765–1783). Bricks were being fired in New Amsterdam (New York) by 1628, but the imported bricks were of better quality. At first, the bricks were used only for chimneys, but they were later used to face the lower story of the house, and then the entire house. Dutch brickmakers emigrated to New Netherland, where they built kilns for firing bricks locally. In New Amsterdam, brick was used for the director general's house, the counting house, the city tavern and other important buildings. Houses were gable-ended, often with stepped designs, and the bricks ranged in color from yellow or red to blue or black. An account of New York published in 1685 said, "The town is broad, built with Dutch brick, consisting of above five hundred houses, the meanest not valued under an hundred pounds." A New Englander who visited New York in 1704, forty years after the Dutch had yielded the town to the British, admired the appearance of the glazed brickwork of the houses of "diverse coullers and laid in Checkers". In 1845 there was still a one-story Dutch brick house built in 1696 in Flatbush, Brooklyn. The date and the owner's initials were formed by blue and red glazed bricks. A view of part of Albany, New York, as it was in 1814 shows a mixture of Dutch, English and Federal styles, although Dutch brick was reportedly used for one of the English-style houses. One house in the Dutch style was said to date from the American Revolution. If so, it would have been one of the last genuine Dutch-style houses to be built in the United States, reflecting the conservative Dutch culture of Albany at that time. Most of the surviving "Dutch Colonial" houses in New York do not in fact follow Dutch architectural practices, but there are seven in Albany County that do. The houses have a wood frame with brick walls as a decorative shell. They each have two parapet gables edged with "mouse toothing" ornamental brickwork. All the Dutch brick buildings used iron wall anchors spread across several bricks to tie the brick shell to the wooden frame of the house. Sometimes the anchor gives the date of construction. The brickwork of the houses incorporated various designs including spear shapes and a form like a fleur-de-lis. ## Other Dutch colonies Dutch bricks and brickwork were also imported and utilized in other colonies throughout the Dutch Empire in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. Fort Zeelandia was built on a small island off Tainan in Formosa (Taiwan) between 1624 and 1634 after the Dutch acquired Formosa from China as a trading colony. It was built using bricks from Batavia (Jakarta), where the Dutch East India Company had its headquarters. After a siege in 1662, the Dutch surrendered the fort to Koxinga, a Ming dynasty general. The fort was destroyed by an explosion in 1873 when a shell from a British warship blew up the ammunition storehouse. The masonry was later used for other purposes. All that remains is part of the southern wall. The Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town, South Africa, was built in 1666. The gateway was built in 1682, with a pediment and two pilasters of grey-blue stone, and an entrance made of the small yellow bricks called ijseltene (IJssel stones). Christ Church, Malacca, Malaysia, is the oldest Dutch church building outside the Netherlands. It was built by the local Dutch burghers after the town had been taken from the Portuguese, and was completed in 1753. The church covers 82 by 41 feet (25 by 12 m), with a ceiling 40 feet (12 m) high. The foundations were local laterite blocks. The walls, which are massive, were made of Dutch bricks that had been brought as ballast in ships from the Netherlands, and they were coated with Chinese plaster. On the island of Sint Eustatius in the Netherlands Antilles, the houses were built from local volcanic stone, from imported wood, or from red or yellow Dutch brick imported from the Netherlands. The traditional masonry houses were both large and solid. The country house of Johannes de Graaff, who commanded Sint Eustatius from 1776 to 1781, features a 33.6-by-9.7-foot (10.2 by 3.0 m) duck pond made of brick. ## Gallery ## See also - Brick Gothic

Bhimsen Thapa

Nepalese statesman who served as the Mukhtiyar of Nepal from 1806 to 1837

Bhimsen Thapa (Nepali: भीमसेन थापा (August 1775 – 29 July 1839)) was a Nepalese statesman who served as the Mukhtiyar (equivalent to prime minister) and de facto ruler of Nepal from 1806 to 1837. He is widely known as the longest-serving prime minister of Nepal and was inducted into the "National heroes of Nepal" by King Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah. Born into an ordinary military family in the Gorkha Kingdom, Bhimsen first came close to the Crown Prince Rana Bahadur Shah at an early age in 1785. In 1798, he was recruited as a bodyguard for the King by his father. Thereafter, he rose to influence after helping the exiled ex-King Rana Bahadur Shah engineer his return to power in 1804. In gratitude, Rana Bahadur made Bhimsen a Kaji (equivalent to a minister) of the newly formed government. Rana Bahadur's assassination by his stepbrother Sher Bahadur Shah in 1806 led Bhimsen to initiate investigations into the context in which he ordered the death penalty for ninety-three people popularly known as the 1806 Bhandarkhal massacre, after which he claimed the title of Mukhtiyar (equivalent to prime minister) himself. The death of King Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah in 1816 at the immature age of 17, with his heir, King Rajendra Bikram Shah being only 3 years old, along with the support from Queen Tripurasundari (the junior queen of Rana Bahadur Shah) allowed him to remain in power even after Nepal's defeat in the Anglo-Nepalese War. After the death of Queen Tripurasundari in 1832, the intrigues of the newly adult King Rajendra, the conspiracies and infightings with the British envoy Brian Houghton Hodgson, Senior Queen Samrajya Laxmi Devi and the rival courtiers (especially the Kala Pandes, who held Bhimsen Thapa responsible for the death of Damodar Pande in 1804) finally led to his imprisonment on false charges of the murder of an infant prince and ultimately his death by suicide in 1839. Bhimsen is remembered for being the first Nepalese statesman to fully comprehend the British system of protectorate in India carried out by Lord Wellesley and his subsequent activities to keep British authorities at bay and prevent the Kingdom of Nepal from being a part of the British Empire through long and persistent anti-British politics during both wartime and peacetime. The territorial expanse of the Gurkha empire had reached its greatest extent from the Sutlej River in the west to the Teesta river in the east during his prime ministership. However, Nepal entered into a disastrous Anglo-Nepalese War with the partially British Empire owned East India Company lasting from 1814 to 1816, which was concluded with the Treaty of Sugauli, by which Nepal lost almost one-third of its land. He is widely remembered for bringing about a large number of social, religious, economic, and administrative reforms, as well as the modernization of the Nepalese Army on the template of the French military forces. During his lifetime, he commissioned the construction of many temples and monuments including the highly famed Dharahara also known as Bhimsen Stambha ("Bhimsen Tower"). Widely considered one of the 19th century's most significant figures in Nepalese history, Bhimsen is seen as a patriotic, clever, and diplomatic statesman who played an important role in defending his country against then-widespread British colonial imperialism in South Asia. His Foreign Policy was largely motivated by Rational National-Interest, National Sustenance and Nationalism. He is also well praised as a reformer and for his efficient systematization and management of the state administration, programmes and policies. However, he has been criticized for instigating an inhumane political massacre in his early political career, the elimination of his political rivals and the consolidation of political and military power within his family. ## Early years Bhimsen Thapa was born in August 1775 at Pipal Thok village of Gorkha district, to father Amar Singh Thapa (sanu) and mother Satyarupa Maya. Bhimsen belonged to a Chhetri family of Bharadars (courtiers). His ancestors were members of Bagale Thapa clan from Jumla who migrated eastwards. His grandfather was Bir Bhadra Thapa, a courtier in Prithvi Narayan Shah's army. Bhimsen Thapa had four brothers — Nain Singh, Bakhtawar Singh, Amrit Singh, and Ranbir Singh. From his step-mother, he had two brothers — Ranbam and Ranzawar. While it is not certain when Bhimsen got married, he had three wives with whom he begot one son, that died at an early age in 1796, and three daughters – Lalita Devi, Janak Kumari and Dirgha Kumari. Lack of a son caused him to adopt Sher Jung Thapa, son or grandson of his brother Nain Singh. Not much detail is known about Bhimsen Thapa's early life. At the age of 11, Bhimsen came into contact with the Nepalese Royal Palace when his Bratabandha (sacred thread) ceremony was held together with the Crown Prince Rana Bahadur Shah in Gorkha in 1785. In 1798, his father took him to Kathmandu and enrolled him as a bodyguard to the king. In Kathmandu, Bhimsen took up residence at Thapathali, after which he lived in Bagh Durbar near Tundikhel after becoming a Kaji (equivalent to a minister). ## Rise to power: 1798–1804 ### Royal household The premature death of Pratap Singh Shah (reigned 1775–77), the eldest son of Prithvi Narayan Shah, left a huge power vacuum that remained unfilled, seriously debilitating the emerging Nepalese state. Pratap Singh Shah's successor was his son, Rana Bahadur Shah (reigned 1777–99), aged two and one-half years at his accession. The acting regent until 1785 was Queen Rajendra Lakshmi, followed by Bahadur Shah (reigned 1785–94), the second son of Prithvi Narayan Shah. Court life was consumed by rivalry centered on alignments with these two regents rather than on issues of national administration, and it set a bad precedent for future competition among contending regents. The exigencies of Sino-Nepalese War in 1788–92 had forced Bahadur Shah to temporarily take a pro-British stance, which had led to a commercial treaty with the British in 1792. Meanwhile, Rana Bahadur Shah's youth had been spent in pampered luxury. In 1794 Rana Bahadur came of age, and his first act was to re-constitute the government, with his uncle, Bahadur Shah, removed from all official position. In mid-1795, he became infatuated with a Maithili Brahman widow, Kantavati Jha, and married her on the oath of making their illegitimate half-caste son (as per the Hindu law of that time) the heir apparent, by excluding the legitimate heir from his previous marriage. By 1797, his relationship with his uncle, who was living a retired life, and who wanted to seek refuge in China on the pretext of meeting the new emperor, had deteriorated to the extent that he ordered his imprisonment on 19 February 1797 and his subsequent murder on 23 June 1797. Such acts earned Rana Bahadur notoriety both among courtiers and common people, especially among Brahmins. That same year in 1797, Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah was born and was hastily declared the crown prince. However, within a year of Girvan's birth, Kantavati contracted tuberculosis; and it was advised by physicians that she perform ascetic penances to cure herself. To make sure that Girvan succeeded to the throne while Kantavati was still alive, Rana Bahadur, aged just 23, abdicated in favor of their son on 23 March 1799, placing his first wife, Rajrajeshwori, as the regent. He joined his ailing wife, Kantavati, with his second wife, Subarnaprabha, in ascetic life and started living in Deopatan, donning saffron robes and titling himself Swami Nirgunanda or Nirvanananda. This move was also supported by all the courtiers who were discontented with his wanton and capricious behavior. It was around this time that both Bhimsen Thapa and his father Amar Singh Thapa (sanu) were promoted from Subedar to the rank of Sardar, and Bhimsen began to serve as the ex-King's chief bodyguard. Bhimsen received the position of personal secretary of King Rana Bahadur from the patronage of Mulkaji Kirtiman Singh Basnyat, since both his father and grandfather were in close military affiliations with Kaji Abhiman Singh Basnyat - the uncle of Kirtiman Singh. Meanwhile, Rana Bahadur's renunciation lasted only a few months. After the inevitable death of Kantavati, Rana Bahadur suffered a mental breakdown during which he lashed out by desecrating temples and cruelly punishing the attendant physicians and astrologers. He then renounced his ascetic life and attempted to re-assert his royal authority. This led to a direct conflict with almost all the courtiers who had pledged a holy oath of allegiance to the legitimate King Girvan; this conflict eventually led to the establishment of a dual government and to an imminent civil war, with Damodar Pande leading the military force against the dissenting ex-King and his group. Since most of the military officers had sided with the courtiers, Rana Bahadur realized that his authority could not be re-established; and he was forced to flee to the British-controlled city of Varanasi in May 1800. ### Exile in Varanasi: 1800–1804 As Rana Bahadur Shah's bodyguard and advisor, Sardar Bhimsen Thapa also accompanied him to Varanasi. Rana Bahadur's retinue included his first wife, Raj Rajeshwari Devi, while his second wife, Subarna Prabha Devi, stayed back in Kathmandu to serve as the regent. Since Rana Bahadur was willing to do anything to regain his power and punish those who had forced him to exile, he served as a focal point of dissident factions in Varanasi. In November 1800, he first sought help from the British in exchange for which he was willing to concede a trading post in Kathmandu and grant them 37.5% of the tax revenue derived from the hills and 50% from the Terai. However, the British were in favor of working with the existing government in Nepal, rather than risk the uncertainties of restoring an exiled ex-King to power. The Kathmandu Durbar was willing to appease the British and agreed to sign a commercial treaty so long as the wayward Rana Bahadur and his group were held in India under strict British surveillance. This arrangement was kept a secret from Rana Bahadur and his group; but when they eventually became aware of the strictures on their movement, and hence the treaty, they were incensed at the British as well as the proponents (Damodar Pande and his faction) of this treaty in Nepal. An intrigue was set in motion with the aim of splitting the unity of courtiers in Kathmandu Durbar and fomenting anti-British feelings. A flurry of letters were exchanged between the ex-King and individual courtiers in which he tried to set them up against Damodar Pande and tried to woo them by promises of high government positions, which they could hold for their entire life, and which could be inherited by their progeny. Baburam Acharya holds Bhimsen responsible for all these schemes, reasoning that Rana Bahadur did not have the mental capacity for such negotiations and intrigues. He contends that Bhimsen was responsible for negotiation with the British as well as responsible for writing letters in the name of the ex-King, while the ex-King was biding his time in debauchery. Similarly, historian Chittaranjan Nepali considered that in addition to the realization of the motive of Nepali Bharadars to detain Rana Bahadur's retinue in Banaras, Bhimsen also had fully realized the real meaning of the system of protectorates adopted by the East India Company Government. Meanwhile, Rajrajeshwari, perhaps due to frustration over her debauched husband, or due to political reasons, left Varanasi, crossed the border of Nepal on 26 July 1801, and taking advantage of the weak regency, was slowly making her way towards Kathmandu with the view of taking over the regency. Back in Kathmandu, the court politics turned complicated when Mulkaji (or chief minister) Kirtiman Singh Basnyat, a favorite of the Regent Subarnaprabha, was secretly assassinated on 28 September 1801, by the supporters of Rajrajeswori. In the resulting confusion, many courtiers were jailed, while some executed, based solely on rumors. Bakhtawar Singh Basnyat, brother of assassinated Kirtiman Singh, was then given the post of Mulkaji During his tenure as the Mulkaji, on 28 October 1801, a Treaty of Commerce and Alliance was finally signed between Nepal and East India Company. This led to the establishment of the first British Resident, Captain William O. Knox, who was reluctantly welcomed by the courtiers in Kathmandu on 16 April 1802. The primary objective of Knox's mission was to bring the trade treaty of 1792 into full effect and to establish a "controlling influence" in Nepali politics. Almost eight months after the establishment of the Residency, Rajrajeshwari finally managed to assume the regency on 17 December 1802. ### Return to Kathmandu After Rajrajeshwori took over the regency, she was pressured by Knox to pay the annual pension of 82,000 rupees to the ex-King as per the obligations of the treaty, which paid off the vast debt that Rana Bahadur Shah had accumulated in Varanasi due to his spendthrift habits. The Nepalese court also felt it prudent to keep Rana Bahadur in isolation in Nepal itself, rather than in the British controlled India, and that paying off Rana Bahadur's debts could facilitate his return at an opportune moment. Rajrajeshwari's presence in Kathmandu also stirred unrest among the courtiers that aligned themselves around her and Subarnaprabha. Sensing an imminent hostility, Knox aligned himself with Subarnaprabha and attempted to interfere with the internal politics of Nepal. Getting a wind of this matter, Rajrajeshwari dissolved the government and elected new ministers, with Damodar Pande as the Mulkaji, while the Resident Knox, finding himself persona non grata and the objectives of his mission frustrated, voluntarily left Kathmandu to reside in Makwanpur citing a cholera epidemic. Subarnaprabha and the members of her faction were arrested. Such open display of anti-British feelings and humiliation prompted the Governor General of the time Richard Wellesley to recall Knox to India and unilaterally suspend the diplomatic ties. The Treaty of 1801 was also unilaterally annulled by the British on 24 January 1804. The suspension of diplomatic ties also gave the Governor General a pretext to allow the ex-King Rana Bahadur to return to Nepal unconditionally. As soon as they received the news, Rana Bahadur and his group proceeded towards Kathmandu. Some troops were sent by Kathmandu Durbar to check their progress, but the troops changed their allegiance when they came face to face with the ex-King. Damodar Pande and his men were arrested at Thankot where they were waiting to greet the ex-King with state honors and take him into isolation. After Rana Bahadur's reinstatement to power, he started to extract vengeance on those who had tried to keep him in exile. He exiled Rajrajeshwari to Helambu, where she became a Buddhist nun, on the charge of siding with Damodar Pande and colluding with the British. Damodar Pande, along with his two eldest sons, who were completely innocent, was executed on 13 March 1804; similarly some members of his faction were tortured and executed without any due trial, while many others managed to escape to India. Rana Bahadur also punished those who did not help him while in exile. Among them was Prithvi Pal Sen, the king of Palpa, who was tricked into imprisonment, while his kingdom forcefully annexed. Subarnaprabha and her supporters were released and given a general pardon. Those who had helped Rana Bahadur to return to Kathmandu were lavished with rank, land, and wealth. Bhimsen Thapa was made a second kaji; Ranajit Pande, who was the father-in-law of Bhimsen's brother, was made the Mulkaji; Sher Bahadur Shah, Rana Bahadur's half-brother, was made the Mul Chautariya; while Ranga Nath Paudel was made the Raj Guru (royal spiritual preceptor). ## As Kaji: 1804–1806 ### Expansion in the West By the time Bhimsen came to power, the territory of Nepal extended up to the border of Garhwal in the west. During the reign of Bahadur Shah, Nepal had concluded a treaty with Garhwal demanding that it pay NRs. 9,000 per year. Later Rana Bahadur Shah reduced it to NRs. 3,000. However, in 1804, Garhwal refused to pay the amount upon which Bhimsen sent an army under the command of Bada Kaji Amar Singh Thapa (not to be confused with his father), Bhakti Thapa and Hasti Dal Shah to attack Garhwal and in the Battle of Khurbura in May 1804, the huge 12000 Garhwali troops fled the war after their King Pradyumna Shah was shot dead by Kaji Ranajit Kunwar, thus extending the territory of Nepal up to the Sutlej river in the west. As the Nepalese army were preparing for the Kangra campaign in September 1805, military desertion increased; as a result, Bhimsen ordered his brother Nain Singh to arrest such military deserters. ### Baisathi Haran After the power shuffle, in 1805, Bhimsen became the architect of an unpopular plan of seizing all the tax free land granted to temple guthis and as birta to Brahmin priests in order to fill the empty state coffers. The objective was to scrutinize the cases in which tax-exempt lands had been used without valid documentary proof of land grant by a benefactor; owners with valid evidence or owners who could take an oath of validity were not affected. The money was spent in financing the military campaigns in the far west in Jamuna-Sutlej region. This was a very radical reform in the staunchly religious society of the time and became known as Baisathi Haran in the Nepalese history. ### Bhandarkhal massacre of 1806 After returning to Kathmandu, in complicity with Rana Bahadur, Bhimsen indulged in appropriating the palaces and properties of deposed members of Shah family, which he shared between himself and his supporter Rangnath Paudel. This aroused resentment and jealousy among Sher Bahadur Shah (Rana Bahadur's step-brother) and his faction since they did not receive any portion of this confiscated property, despite their help in reinstating Rana Bahadur to power. They were also wary of Bhimsen's growing power. By this time, Rana Bahadur was a nominal figure and Kaji Bhimsen Thapa was single-handedly controlling the central administration of the country, being able to implement even unpopular reforms like Baisathi Haran. Bhimsen felt the need to finish off his rivals, but at the same time, felt a need to take precaution before going after immediate members of the royal household. For almost two years after returning to Kathmandu, Rana Bahadur had no official position in the government – he was neither a king, nor a regent, nor a minister – yet he felt no qualms in using the full state power. Not only did Rana Bahadur carry out the Baisathi Haran under Bhimsen's advice, he was also able to banish all non-vaccinated children, as well as their parents, from the town during a smallpox outbreak, in order to prevent King Girvan from catching that disease. Now, after almost two-year, all of a sudden Rana Bahadur was made Mukhtiyar (chief authority) on 26 February 1806 and Bhimsen tried to implement his schemes through Rana Bahadur. Bhimsen had also secretly learned of a plot to oust Rana Bahadur. Tribhuvan Khawas (Pradhan), a member of Sher Bahadur's faction, was imprisoned on the re-opened charges of conspiracy with the British that led to the Knox's mission, but for which pardon had already been doled out, and was ordered to be executed. Tribhuvan Khawas decided to reveal everyone that was involved in the dialogue with the British. Among those implicated was Sher Bahadur Shah. On the night of 25 April 1806, Rana Bahadur held a meeting at Tribhuvan Khawas's house with rest of the courtiers, during which he taunted and threatened to execute Sher Bahadur. At around 10 pm, Sher Bahadur in desperation drew a sword and killed Rana Bahadur Shah before being cut down by nearby courtiers, Bam Shah and Bal Narsingh Kunwar, also allies of Bhimsen. The assassination of Rana Bahadur Shah triggered a great massacre in Bhandarkhal (a royal garden east of Kathmandu Durbar) and at the bank of Bishnumati river. That very night members of Sher Bahadur's faction – Bidur Shah, Tribhuvan Khawas, and Narsingh Gurung – and even King Prithvipal Sen of Palpa, who was under house arrest in Patan Durbar, were swiftly rounded up and killed in Bhandarkhal. Their dead bodies were not allowed funeral rites and were dragged and thrown by the banks of Bishnumati to be eaten by vultures and jackals. The next few days, all the sons of Sher Bahadur Shah, Bidur Shah, Tribhuvan Khawas and Narsingh Gurung, aged 2 to 15 were beheaded by the bank of Bishnumati; their wives and daughters were given to the untouchables, their bodyguards and servants were also put to death, and all their property seized. Bhimsen managed to kill everyone who did not agree with him or anyone who could potentially become a problem for him in the future. In this massacre that lasted for about two weeks, a total of ninety-three people (16 women and 77 men) lost their lives. Almost one and half months before the massacre, upon Bhimsen's insistence, Rana Bahadur, then 31 years old, had married a 14-year-old girl named Tripurasundari on 7 March 1806, making her his fifth legitimate wife. Taking advantage of the political chaos, Bhimsen became the Mukhtiyar (1806–37), and Tripurasundari was given the title Lalita Tripurasundari and declared regent and Queen Mother (1806–32) of Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah, who was himself 9 years old. Thus, Bhimsen became the first person outside the royal household to hold the position of the Mukhtiyar. All the other wives (except Subarnaprabha) and concubines of Rana Bahadur, along with their handmaidens, were forced to commit sati. Bhimsen obtained a royal mandate from Tripurasundari, given in the name of King Girvan, commanding all other courtiers to be obedient to him. Bhimsen further consolidated his power by disenfranchising the old courtiers from the central power by placing them as administrators of far-flung provinces of the country. The courtiers were instead replaced by his close relatives, who were mere yes-men. On the spot where Rana Bahadur Shah drew his last breath, Bhimsen later built a commemorative Shiva temple by the name Rana-Mukteshwar. ## As Mukhtiyar (Premiership): 1806–1832 ### Expansion in the West (Continued) Bhimsen previously ordered the conquest of the Garhwal Kingdom and the preparations of the Kangra campaign. Gorkhali forces under Badakaji Amar Singh, Rudrabir Shah and Nain Singh overran Nalagarh, crossed the Sutlej river and defeated King Sansar Chand of Kangra at Mahal Mori in May 1806. Unfortunately, Bhimsen lost his brother Nain Singh who was shot dead at the conquest of the Kangra fort in the winter of 1806–07. Afterwards in 1807, it was put under Nepalese siege and by early 1809, most of the land of Kangra jagir had been incorporated into Nepal, although the fort was still held out. Sansar Chand took refuge among the Sikhs of Punjab and by August 1809, the Nepalese army was forced to retreat back by the combined army of Sansar Chand and Ranjit Singh, the ruler of Punjab. Other states like Salyan were also annexed to Nepal during his rule. Before the Anglo-Nepalese War, the territory of Nepal extended from Sutlej river in the west to Teesta river in the east. Most of this territory, however, was lost in the Anglo-Nepalese War. In 1811, Bhimsen was given the title of General, thus enjoying a dual position of Mukhtiyar and General. ### Anglo-Nepalese War: 1814–1816 The Anglo–Nepalese War (1814–1816), sometimes called the Gorkha War, was fought between Nepal and the British Empire owned East India Company as a result of border tensions, trade dispute, and ambitious expansionism of both the belligerent parties. The hostility between the two parties had been brewing for more than a decade since the failure of Knox's mission. Bhimsen had installed his own father Amar Singh Thapa as the governor of Palpa, leading to a serious border disputes with the British East India Company. The border dispute with the British on the frontier of Butwal, Terai, was the immediate reason which led to the Anglo-Nepalese War in 1814. The British had been striving to annex the hill regions of Nepal and were responsible for creating border disputes. At the border demarcation, the British representative Major Bradshaw disrespected the Nepalese representatives – Rajguru Ranganath Poudyal and Kaji Dalabhanjan Pande, with a view of invoking a war against the Nepalese. This war was the most important event during the Mukhtiyari (Mukhtiyarship) of Bhimsen Thapa since it affected every aspect of the later course of Nepalese history. Considering the many successes that the Nepalese army had seen during the expansion campaign of Nepal, Bhimsen Thapa on the Nepalese side was one of the main proponents of the war with the British, which was against the better advice of the likes of Bada Kaji Amar Singh Thapa, who actually did the fighting and knew about the hardships of war. Among those high ranked ministers and commanders who supported the war was Kaji Dalabhanjan, while among those who opposed the war was Kaji Amar Singh (Bada), Rajguru Ranga Nath, Kaji Ranadhoj Thapa, Chautaria Bam Shah and Chautaria Hastidal Shah. Bhimsen's attitude before the war is summarized in the following reply to King Girvan which depicts his strong belief on the Nepalese strategic military advantage: > Through the influence of your good fortune, and that of your ancestors, no one has yet been able to cope with the state of Nipal. The Chinese once made war upon us, but were reduced to seek peace. How then will the English be able to penetrate into the hills? Under your auspices, we shall by our own exertions be able to oppose to them a force of fifty-two lakhs of men, with which we will expel them. The small fort of Bhurtpoor was the work of man, yet the English being worsted before it, desisted from the attempt to conquer it; our hills and fastnesses are formed by the hand of God, and are impregnable. I therefore recommend the prosecution of hostilities. We can make peace afterwards on such terms as may suit our convenience. Kaji Ranadhoj Thapa also agreed with Bhimsen's reply regarding the Nepalese strategic military advantage over British in the hills but counterargued that the expelled hill Rajas will unite against the Gorkha Empire and disclose the confidentiality of the hills to the British. Similarly, Kaji Amar Singh (Bada) also opined that hill Rajas will defect to the British side. Based on intelligence reports, Bhimsen predicted that the first point of British attack would be the Doon area, which later proved to be correct. The British launched two successive waves of invasion campaigns. The Nepalese army was commanded largely by the members and relatives of the larger Thapa caucus that includes the Thapa dynasty and Family of Amar Singh Thapa. During the war, Bhimsen tried to form a coalition with Ranjit Singh of Sikh Empire and Daulat Rao Scindia of Gwalior State and launch a collective war against the British; thus opening multiple geographical frontiers of combat. Both rulers did not wish to see the Nepalese lose; however, they also did not want to commit themselves to the losing side. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816, which ceded around one-third of Nepal's territory to the British. Furthermore, according to the treaty, Nepal had to allow for the establishment of a permanent British resident in Kathmandu and had to forgo all self-determination in foreign affairs. During the war, Bhimsen Thapa served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Nepalese army; and thus he had to bear the direct responsibility of Nepalese defeat. ### Hold on power In May 1816, Edward Gardner arrived in Kathmandu as the first British Resident after the conclusion of the Treaty of Sugauli. Bhimsen used all his influence to cultivate peace, although not friendliness, with the British, "a Power," as he said, "that crushed thrones like potsherds." His foreign policy after the war was essentially the one handed down by Prithvi Narayan Shah – to keep Nepal isolated from any foreign influences. As such, although he was forced to accept a British resident in Kathmandu as per the Treaty of Sugauli, he made sure to cut off the resident from all contacts with life in Nepal to the point of making the Resident a virtual prisoner. Apart from petty harassment, the Resident was only allowed to travel within the Kathmandu valley, that too only with special escorts. The resident was also barred from meeting the king or any courtiers at will. Thus the threat of having a Resident in Kathmandu was not as keen as had been anticipated. Later British Resident Hodgson also remarked how the British couldn't capitalize the 1816 war victory over Nepal where he opined that the British should have either "crippled them [Nepal] effectually" or force Nepal in "giving surplus soldiery employment" to the British armies. On 20 November 1816, King Girvan Yuddha died of smallpox, aged nineteen. Girvan had two wives – the first wife committed sati with Girvan, while the second wife also died of smallpox after 14 days of Girvan's death. Thus, Girvan was succeeded by his only son, Rajendra Bikram Shah, an infant of two years old, after 18 days of his father's death on 8 December 1816. Therefore, Bhimsen Thapa, in collusion with the queen regent, Tripurasundari, remained in power despite the defeat of Nepal in the Anglo-Nepalese War of 1814–16. There was a sustained opposition against Bhimsen from factions centered around leading members of other aristocratic families, notably the Pandes, who denounced what they felt was his cowardly submission to the British. Paradoxically, the peacetime after the Anglo-Nepalese War saw the inflation and modernization of the Nepal army, which Bhimsen used to keep his opposition under control, while at the same time convincing the suspicious British that he had no intention of using it against them. Bhimsen appointed his own family members and his most trusted men to the highest positions at the court and in the army, while members of older aristocratic families were made administrators of far-flung provinces of the kingdom, away from the capital. Thus, Bhimsen was able to continue making all the administrative decisions of the country, while the Regent Queen Tripurasundari would unquestioningly approve these decisions by stamping the royal seal issued in the name of King Rajendra on these government orders. The Regent never dared to express any doubts regarding Bhimsen's decisions. Nevertheless, to make sure that the King, his wives – Samrajya Laxmi Devi (senior) and Rajya Lakshmi Devi (junior) – and the Regent were insulated from influences of people other than Bhimsen and his closest relatives, Bhimsen had instated his youngest brother, Ranvir Singh Thapa, in the royal palace to keep a watch on the royal family and to keep guard against any outside person. Any priest or courtier who wished to be granted an interview with the King, the Queens, or the Regent, had to get approval from Ranbir Singh and the interview had to be conducted under his watchful presence. Similarly, the royal family was not allowed to leave the palace without Bhimsen's permission either. Bhimsen had also neglected the formal education of Rajendra, due to which he had grown to be uncritical and weak minded to the extent that he was even unaware that he was virtually a prisoner. However, his wives were more alert and wary of Bhimsen since, according to Baburam Acharya, they received unfiltered news of the world outside the royal palace from their handmaidens, who would leave the palace compounds and go to their homes during their menstruation and gather news and rumors of the day, which they would then relate to the Queens. ### Tussles with Samar Jung Company After the Bhandarkhal Massacre of 1806, Bhimsen was put in charge of the Samar Jung Company, which was established in 1796 as the royal palace guard unit and camped inside the palace compound itself, whose command was later handed over to his brother Bakhtawar Singh This position allowed Bakhtawar to gain the confidence of both King Girvan and the Regent Queen Tripurasundari. After the end of the Anglo-Nepalese War, Bakhtawar was suspected by Bhimsen of playing anti-Mukhtiyar politics and of joining the opposing court factions. At the time, Bakhtawar was living in joint family with his brother, without the division of their ancestral property. After the conclusion of a treaty with the British to hand over some of the annexed land in Tarai back to Nepal, Bhimsen turned his attention to address Bakhtawar Singh's influence over the royalty. However, their mother pleaded only a light punishment for Bakhtawar. Thus, he was dismissed from his position and imprisoned in Nuwakot. This move was highly unpopular among the personnel of the Samar Jung Company. As such, Bhimsen had the Samar Jung Company removed from its position of royal palace guard. Some of the officers and soldiers of the Samar Jung Company were imprisoned, while the remaining personnel were assigned guard duties in common jails as well as monitoring of road construction by convicts. As a further punishment, the Mukhtiyar cancelled their holidays on Saturday, whereas all other companies enjoyed such benefit. Their Devata flag carried by Nishan flag-bearers were also treated with indignity. ### Policies and reforms British Historian Henry Ambrose Oldfield contended that Bhimsen strengthened Nepal back to the pre-British war position through the adoption of militarization, financial and economic policies. > Bhimsen who was possessed of great perseverance as well as determination, devoted almost exclusively all his time and talents to the services of the State. During the minority of King, he raised Nipal [Nepal], although deprived of nearly one-third of her dominions, to nearly as strong a military position on our frontier as she had occupied before the war. He nearly doubled her internal resources by careful attention to the state of her finances, and by judicious re-adjustment of the national taxes. #### Defence policy ##### Militarization Bhimsen implemented the reorganization of Nepalese Army on the basis of European military system and the maintenance of the newly reorganized strong army was done from the confiscation of Birta funds of 1805. He appointed French military officials to modernize the military on the basis of French military ranks and uniforms. Military jobs were made attractive by increasing facilities including Jhara (porter) facility even in the peacetime under his Mukhtiyari. Due to extensive lack of labour forces in the country, he issued legal obligations to all adult males of all castes to provide compulsory labour to the state subject to royal exemptions. Those state jobs included construction and maintenance of forts, bridges, roads, and production of ammunition for military expeditions. > Bhim Sen took advantage of the continuance of peace, not only to improve the finances of the country, but to render the army more efficient both in numbers and in discipline. The martial feelings of soldiery were every way encouraged; their rights and privileges were jealously preserved; but they were at the same time kept from that idleness which is so favourable to mutiny and intrigue, by strict attention to drill and discipline and by being employed in the construction of magazines, arsenals, cannon, foundry, &c., and by the establishment of two large cantonments-one for the artillery and one for the line-at Kathmandu. ##### Passport policy Bhimsen considered Churia hills as the basic line of defense of the Kingdom of Nepal. He thus wanted to build communications to the western parts such as Kumaon, Garhwal and Yamuna-Sutlej region of Kingdom of Nepal and block the strategic routes to the Kathmandu valley. The possessions of passers-by were strictly searched and even private letters were censored. Such was implemented to prevent outflow of secret information of Nepal to British Company government. Passport system was introduced to check the access to the capital city with officials appointed on the Churai routes with instructions as follows: > In case you permit any person, irrespective of his status, leaving this side to proceed onward even though he does not have (a document bearing) signature of passports authority. We shall behead you. #### Trade and economic policies The trade policy of Bhimsen Thapa was influenced from King Prithvi Narayan Shah who believed foreign (in the context English) traders would weaken the economy of the country and impoverish the general people. Customs offices were relocated within the country to reduce discomfort to native traders. Essential arrangements and facilities were provided to native traders and officials were warned not to intimidate native traders. Bhimsen is quoted to have said: > If Tibetans and Firangis [i.e. foreigners or, in the contemporary context, Englishmen] meet and trade with each other, our ryots and traders will lose their employment and result will not be good. He brought forth the increment of custom duties leading to higher state revenue generation from eighty thousand rupees in 1816 to two and half lakh rupees (NPR 250,000) in 1833. After 1807, markets were opened in the Terai and Inner Terai under direct governmental efforts and supervision to facilitate native traders. For instances; in 1809, market towns were made at Hitaruwa in Makawanpur and at Bhadaruwa in Saptari. Indian traders were also encouraged to trade within the country and Nepalese officials were instructed to take care of the development of border markets, land reclamation and settlement, and protection of land encroachment. In 1811, timber exports from Chitwan to Calcutta were introduced together with the diversification of agricultural products to strengthen the export. Also, mining and minting coins were undertaken by the Bhimsen government. #### Judicial reforms Bhimsen put forth the principle of Equality before the law in Nepal. In 1826, a regulation was issued by him through Lalmohar (Red Seal) of Maharaja directing Kaji Dalbhanjan Pande to maintain the sanctity of judiciary and it further stated: > irrespective of castes, creeds or position in the society, all are same in the eyes of law. Mohi (tenant farmers) felt it easier to pay taxes in kind to their Zamindars due to cash shortage. He directed the Zamindars to accept foodgrain as tax and not to harass the farmers. The regulation further directed that it was the responsibility of Zamindars to make arrangements for cash and not of the farmers. The anti-bribery regulations were issued due to reports of Zamindars, Amalis, and regional officials taking up bribery from people in the far-flung provinces. Bhimsen through his regulations declared it illegal to give or take any form of bribes or gifts from people. Merchants at Ridi in 1829 and Tansen in 1830 lost their thatched shopping houses to fire. The affected merchants demanded individual rights on property and allowance of building concrete shopping houses. He accepted the merchants' proposal of building concrete shopping houses and allowed individual rights on the property. Due to long ongoing unification campaigns of Nepal, there was anarchy in Nepalese administration before Bhimsen's Mukhtiyari. In Achham Province, Zamindars, Amalis, and traders perpetrated great injustice to farmers by increasing heavy interest on loans, to which farmers revolted. Bhimsen being moved by the plight of the victims issued Lalmohar with binding instructions to write off outstanding dues at once. #### Slavery reforms In 1807 dealing with slavery, the government of Bhimsen directed revenue officials to collect outstanding taxes and fines in terms of cash and ordered the freedom of all enslaved farmers in case of defaulting taxes and no farmer would be enslaved for non-payment of taxes. In 1812, he imposed a general restriction on human trafficking in Garhwal Sirmur and other areas. The children of debtors were acquired by the traders against the accumulated interest of the loans and were sold on profit. The feudal lords did not allow them legal facilities and considered slaves as non-human. Bhimsen challenged the widespread notion of inhuman treatment of slaves. In 1830, Bhimsen having introduced anti-slavery regulations beforehand in 1807, restricted all of the Danuwar traders in Western Nepal to acquire and sell Kariya slaves and also freed slaves from the custody of their owner. The regulation was targeted to provide legal rights to slaves and boost their morale. Six years afterward, he restricted ban on sales of children prevalent among Magar community of Marsyangdi and Western Pyuthan. The slave trading was made illegal on various parts of Nepal by Bhimsen. It was considered one of the greatest achievement in the history on comparison to their British counterparts. Wilberforce in England was obtaining the public mandate against it while one of the most powerful Prime Minister in the world (in the 1800s) – William Pitt was hesitant to outlaw the slave trading. #### Socio-religious reforms The socio-religious customs like birth and death ceremonies among Newar community was leading to indebtedness. The priests took up huge ceremonial fees and failure to adhere to such customs led people to excommunication in the Newar society. In 1830–31, Bhimsen by issuing Lalmohar, a regulation was introduced with a limit of ceremonial fees and the amount of expenditure was restricted. #### Land management reforms Around 1808, Bhimsen ordered the reclamation of wastelands in Terai region for increasing state revenue and offered irrigation facilities to settlers reclaiming the wastelands. In places where there was a lack of tenants, farmers were allocated the wastelands with tax exemption and loan was provided for new incoming settlers. The wastelands reclamation policy was largely advantageous to the government and tenants, and was greatly successful in Eastern Terai. For the coordination of this policy, officials were appointed all over the state in 1811. #### Postal reforms Hulaki (postal) system from Kathmandu to the western front was implemented in 1804 through rotational relays of porters. In 1808 during the premiership of Bhimsen, it was reported that minors were engaged in Hulaki services in the villages with small Hulaki households. The regulation issued by Bhimsen's government was to increase the number of relays in the villages consisting low Hulaki households and person forcing minors and females for personal Hulaki services would be severely punished. These Jhara (porter) services for Hulaki system were regularly required due to which some were compensated with land under Adhiya (half-ownership) tenure and others in the form of cash wages compensation. Regulations issued in July 1809 was: > In the areas west of Dharmasthali (in Kathmandu) and east of Bheri River, inspect whether or not Hulaki outposts for transport or mail have been established as mentioned in the previous order. According to this order, Hulaki porters had been granted a 50 percent concession in the Walak levies, in addition to full exemption from (other) compulsory labour obligations and taxes on their homesteads... > In areas west of Bheri river and east of Jamuna river, make an estimate of the amount required for payment to Hulaki porters employed for the transport of mail on the basis of sum sanctioned in the previous order and the sum required according to arrangements made this year for different areas and submit a report accordingly. #### Foreign policy Bhimsen was widely known to have resorted to a negative political stance against the British imperialism throughout his life. He was an advocate of "Asian Unity" against the British Imperialism. He issued restrictions on the British Resident refraining him to interfere on the national politics and national administration, and prohibited the Resident maintaining any secret relationship with Nepalese citizens. He worked to reduce the British Resident to a mere ambassador of a friendly state. He viewed the British Residents as disturbances in the local administration, who would encourage factional fightings with a motive to colonize such factional chaos ridden states. He also had fully realized the main motive of the system of protectorates adopted by the East India Company Government. In this context, German philosopher and historian Karl Marx quoted that > Bhimsen was the only man in Asia who braved to protest submission to colonists. British historian William Hunter also remarked about his comprehension of British system of protectorate. Historian Nayaraj Panta considered that Bhimsen's action to suppress British influences on Nepal and strengthening of Nepalese military forces was important to save the fate of the only Hindu Kingdom in the world. British Resident Hodgson on his 19 December 1833 report lauded how Bhimsen successfully defied the British colonial powers that succeeded over all of India: > The Feringhis (it is eternally rung into his ear) have seized and conquered all [ India ]: they are the ablest and most designing of men; they have been kept eighteen years from devouring Nepal solely by the unparalleled vigilance and energy of Bhim Sen. All pleasant communications from and with the Residency are studiously thrown into shade. All unpleasant ones, however trivial, are studiously glared upon the eyes of the Raja and of the other chiefs, not a soul among whom nor any attendant of theirs or of the Raja's being suffered to come near the Residency and learn the simple verity. And in this state of things any fiction, however gross, relative to our characters or views may be made to tell more or less with the naturally proud and suspicious Sirdars, and with the hopeless little recluse who occupies the throne. After the 1816 war, Bhimsen had been preventing direct communications between the British Residents and the King, which Resident Brian Houghton Hodgson had reacted negatively. On his report dated 18 February 1833 to Governor General of India, Resident Hodgson wrote: > All these circumstances have combined to render Bhim Sen of late provokingly captious and suspicious towards us; lest, I suppose, the Raja should perchance to be undeceived as to the figments palmed on him relative to our political impracticability and political dishonesty. The [Prime] Minister, in defiance of custom alike and of decency, would now restrict still further the very little direct commerce ever maintained between the Resident and the Maharaja. ### Heritages built In 1811, he built the bridge at Thapathali over Bagmati River connecting strategically significant cities; Kathmandu and Patan. In 1825, he built the famous Dharahara Tower on the orders of then reigning Queen Tripurasundari of Nepal. Beforehand, he had already built the taller antecedent of Dharahara for himself in 1824. The taller Dharahara collapsed in the 1833 Nepal earthquake and was never repaired. The smaller Dharahara had 11 storeys before 1934 Nepal earthquake reduced it to two storeys. The original Dharahara Tower built by Bhimsen was 225 feet tall and was completely destroyed in the 2015 Nepal earthquake. It was recognized by UNESCO. Dharahara is considered as majestic and nationalistic legacy of Bhimsen. The feat of completing twin Dharahara towers by Bhimsen in a span of two years was considered a unique architectural achievement. In 1811, he also constructed Bagh Durbar after being appointed General reside near to Basantapur Palace. He initially moved from Gorkha district to Thapathali Durbar and further to Bagh Durbar. It had a spacious Janarala Bag (General's Garden), pond and many temples glorifying the Mukhtiyar General. Later when Thapa rule was revived again, Mathabar Singh recaptured the lost palace and began to reside for two more years. The National Museum of Nepal at Chhauni was once a residence of Bhimsen. The building has collection of bronze sculptures, paubha paintings and weapons including the sword gifted by the Emperor of the French Napoleon Bonaparte. ## Infighting ### Reasons The Gorkha aristocracy had led Nepal into a disaster on the international front but preserved the political unity of the country, which at the end of the Anglo-Nepalese War in 1816 still was only about twenty-five years old as a unified nation. The success of the central government rested in part on its ability to appoint and control regional administrators, who also were high officers in the army. In theory, these officials had great local powers; in practice they spent little energy on the daily affairs of their subjects, interfering only when communities could not cope with problems or conflicts. Another reason for Gorkha success in uniting the country was the willingness to placate local leaders by preserving areas where former kings and communal assemblies continued to rule under the loose supervision of Kathmandu, leaving substantial parts of the country out of the control of regional administrators. Even within the areas directly administered by the central government, agricultural lands were given away as jagir to the armed services and as birta to court favorites and retired servicemen. The holder of such grants in effect became the lord of the peasants working there, with little if any state interference. From the standpoint of the average cultivator, the government remained a distant force, and the main authority figure was the landlord, who took part of the harvest, or (especially in the Tarai) the tax collector, who was often a private individual contracted to extort money or crops in return for a share. For the leaders in the administration and the army, as military options became limited and alternative sources of employment grew very slowly, career advancement depended less on attention to local conditions than on loyalty to factions fighting at court. ### Actors Five leading families or factions contended for power during this period—the Shahs, Thapas, Basnyats, Pandes, and the Chautariyas, who were of Shah dynasty but acted as counselors for the King. Working for these families and their factions were hill Brahmans, who acted as religious preceptors or astrologers, and Newars, who occupied secondary administrative positions. No one else in the country had any influence on the central government. When a family or faction achieved power, it killed, exiled, or demoted members of opposing alliances. Under these circumstances, there was little opportunity for either public political life or coordinated economic development. ### Consequences The struggle for power at the court had unfortunate consequences for both foreign affairs and for internal administration. All parties tried to satisfy the army in order to avoid interference in court affairs by leading commanders, and the military was given a free hand to pursue ever-larger conquests. As long as the Gorkhas were invading disunited hill states, this policy—or lack of policy—was adequate. Inevitably, continued aggression led Nepal into disastrous collisions with the Chinese and then with the British. At home, because power struggles centered on control of the king, there was little progress in sorting out procedures for sharing power or expanding representative institutions. A consultative body of nobles, a royal court called the Assembly of Lords (Bharadari Sabha), was in place after 1770 and it had substantial involvement in major policy issues. The assembly consisted of high government officials and leading courtiers, all heads of important Gorkha families. In the intense atmosphere surrounding the monarch, however, the Assembly of Lords broke into factions that fought for access to the prime minister or regent, and alliances developed around patron/client relationships. ## Downfall: 1832–1838 ### Death of Queen Tripurasundari and family intrigues The power balance began to change after King Rajendra came of age and his grandmother, Tripurasundari, died on 26 March 1832 due to cholera. Bhimsen lost his main support and the court became a stage for a power struggle, which even though started off as an attempt to assert the King's authority from the Mukhtiyar, spread to various aristocratic clans and their attempt to secure total authority. King Rajendra was frivolous and mostly indulged in pleasure, so, he still feared the Mukhtiyar and the Thapa faction as "...a race of men who for the last fifty-five years have dragged the country and its princes at the wheels of military car." It was no secret that Bhimsen was able to maintain his supremacy due to the large standing army under his and his family's command; and in the subsequent years, different factions would attempt to increase their influence based on the strength of the number of battalions under their grip. After Tripurasundari's death, the royal seal by which government orders were approved naturally went into the hands of the senior queen Samrajya Laxmi, who knew all too well of its powers and wanted to emulate the queens of the past by establishing her own regency. In 1833, Bhimsen established a new battalion "Singha Nath" under the command of his nephew Mathabar Singh. Sensing Samrajya Laxmi's ambition, Ranbir Singh started to stroke her dislike of Bhimsen in the hopes of becoming the Mukhtiyar himself. Mathabar Singh, who had enjoyed an ardent support from the military, strongly supported Bhimsen to check Ranbir Singh's aspirations. A quarrel occurred between Mathabar Singh and Ranbir Singh regarding the latter's shift of loyalty towards the Senior Queen Samrajya Lakshmi, resulting in Mathabar Singh resigning from the command of Sri Nath Regiment Historian Hunter remarked that Mathabar Singh resigned from two battalions after getting moderations from Ranbir Singh in 1834, to which all the soldiers of both battalions except 200 troops, "laid down their arms" in protest and declined to serve under any other officers; the frightened King harmonized the situation by appointing Mathabar Singh as General Commander of the Eastern districts with 3000 troops under his command in November 1834. Getting a whiff of Ranbir Singh's ambitions, Bhimsen strongly reprimanded Ranbir Singh which caused him to resign from his position and live in retirement in his house at Sipamandan. However, Bhimsen later managed to placate his brother, by giving him the title of Chota (Little) General, and send him to Palpa as its governor. To counter the opposition arising in Darbar after the incident, he appointed young Kaji Surath Singh Thapa, a grandson of Bada Kaji Amar Singh Thapa to a very high administrative position in the Darbar and made him joint chief signatory. Since he could find nobody that he could trust to keep watch over the royal palace, Bhimsen from then on started to live in an ordinary rented house located near the palace premise. ### Moderation by royals The King and the Queens also started to openly challenge Bhimsen's authority. By this time, Rajendra and his wives had heard the widespread rumor that Bhimsen, in order to remain in power, had killed the late King Girvan and his wives by administering poison a few days after Girvan's coming off age. So when Rajendra was afflicted by an ordinary illness, the Queens cautioned the King and prohibited him to take the medicine offered by the royal physician, Sardar Ekdev Upadhyay, who was loyal to Bhimsen. Similarly, during the annual muster of 1833, during which the civil and military officers were promoted, renewed, retained, or retired, everything was conducted according to Bhimsen's plan, but Rajendra delayed the retainment of Bhimsen's own position as the Mukhtiyar. This forced Bhimsen to share the administrative burden between Rajendra, Samrajya Laxmi, and himself, and ask for their opinions on administrative matters, in order to reduce further friction between himself and the royalty. Rajendra was put in charge of defense, finance, and foreign relations; while Samrajya Laxmi was put in charge of justice, accountancy, and civil administration. Nevertheless, Rajendra's activities were heavily influenced by the advice of Samrajya Laxmi, while the Junior Queen Rajya Laxmi had no say in any matter; furthermore, the King and the Senior Queen did not dare yet to outright dismiss Bhimsen's plans and advice, fearful of the large army under his command. This arrangement worked well for the next three years; for instance, on 26 August 1833, Nepal was struck by a great earthquake, and all three power holders were able to coordinate with each other and provide emergency relief to the citizens. ### Provocation by the frustrated Senior Queen Queen Samrajya Laxmi was ambitious to show herself as powerful and as independent as her predecessor Queen Tripurasundari. Initially, King Rajendra supported Bhimsen instead of Ranbir Singh and the removal of Ranabir Singh sabotaged the Queen's plan. King Rajendra appointed Bhimsen to the post of Commander-In-Chief and praised Bhimsen for his long service to the nation. However, Queen Samrajya Laxmi would harass King Rajendra by such words as: > You are an independent Raja indeed. You are a slave of Bhim Sen Thapa.... a sheep led to the slaughter. Has he bewitch you or has he poured lead into your ears rendering you deaf. Let me and my children leave you to the fate your imbecility deserve, or ...you become religious and go to Benaras to bath and pray and leave me without the eldest boy to rule the country and try if a woman can succeed where a man has failed in annihilating the Thapas and asserting the lawful rights of sovereignty among her people. Queen Samrajya Laxmi was very frustrated by King Rajendra's failure to remove Bhimsen from power. On 8 November 1835, she caused a turmoil by leaving the Durbar at midnight, angered by King Rajendra's inability to stop Bhimsen from dealings with the Governor General, with whom she felt the King should be directly dealing with. Meanwhile, she demanded the King to establish a new regiment; however the King failed to obtain the required financial allocation from the Mukhtiyar. Instead, King Rajendra authorized Bhimsen with a Sunnad in favour of the Mukhtiyar. Upon learning this, the Queen Samrajya Laxmi shouted angrily at King Rajendra: > You have given him a Sunnad making once for all everything to the Minister, who with his family and creatures will eat up all so that neither have we any right nor any means to provide for our children. You are no Raja, other rule and spend, you have your mere gaddi and mouthful to eat. Such too is my share and your children. She also demanded an allocation of Rs. 50,000 for her children from the Terai revenues. If her demands were not to be met, she threatened to part from the state affairs. However, despite all her efforts to pressurize King Rajendra, she achieved no success. ### Rivalry with British envoy and libel against Bhimsen by Hodgson In 1833, Brian Hodgson, who had spent many years in Nepal serving as the Assistant Resident, and who had a good knowledge about Nepal's biodiversity, culture, and politics, became the new British Resident. Bhimsen had known the motives of British colonial policies of engulfing native states in India carried by Lord Wellesley and therefore he considered them as the detrimental force that encourages the factional fightings to turn states into chaos and ultimately colonizes them. British historian William Wilson Hunter even stated that the British Residency has been the centre of anti-Bhimsen politics. Bhimsen had been keeping the British Residents out of any direct communications with the King since 1816. Hodgson considered Bhimsen as a "vigorous, ambitious but unprincipled opponent". Thus, Hodgson was desperate to have direct communications with the King and wanted to break Bhimsen's monopoly over the control of British Residents, thereby aspiring for his fall from power. Hodgson began to portray Bhimsen as an immoral person in his reports to his superior, Governor General of India, on 18 February 1833. Hodgson reported to the Governor General that the Pande family who deserved the high ranks of the state was sidelined from the Court by Bhimsen and Bhimsen's relatives were installed in every offices monopolizing "all the loaves and fishes". But in fact, a lot of Pande politicians had occupied high ranks in the Bharadari Sabha (Council of State) and other ranks in the government offices which includes Dalabhanjan Pande, Ranajit Pande, Karbir Pande, Rana Jang Pande and Bhotu Pande. In fact, Bhimsen even called back his arch rivals like Rana Jang Pande and Karbir Pande to assume some position in the government offices. Furthermore, Bhimsen did not retain the judiciary powers in his family and had entrusted it to the Pande family member Dalabhanjan Pande through a Lalmohar traditionally dated Roj 5 Sudi 3 Falgun 1883 Bikram Samvat (1827 CE) which also stressed on the principles of equality before the law. Thus, Historian Chittaranjan Nepali considers this writing of Hodgson to Governor General as a libel attempt against Bhimsen. Hodgson also fabricated details about Bhimsen to the Governor General, that "mere children of his kindred hold high commands" and gave two fictional names "Colonel Shamsher Singh, aged 13, and Colonel Bahadur Jang, aged 12 years" without any details of their relationship with Bhimsen. Historian Chittaranjan Nepali counters Hodgson's assertion by assuming Bhimsen's adoptive son ('Dharmaputra') Sher Jung Thapa as an original intent of Hodgson, who was also, however, not promoted to the position of Colonelship at the time of issuance of this report. Sher Jung was initially given a minor rank of Captain in 1825 (1882 Bikram Samvat) and was promoted to Colonelship only after a long period of 10 years in 1835 (1892 Bikram Samvat). Historian Nepali further contends that Bhimsen didn't promote his other minor relatives to high commands based on the fact that even the closest relatives like Sher Jung was not promoted, and contends that it was a political intrigue on the part of Hodgson to defame Bhimsen. Hodgson further fabricated a story to the Governor General of India that King Rajendra rejected treatments from court physicians during his illness on the context of them being Bhimsen's men and the King further blamed Bhimsen to have poisoned both his father and grandfather to death; which he further alluded that the King's allegations against Bhimsen was true and popular general belief among the Nepalese public. However, King Rajendra never mentioned that he rejected treatments on the pretext of possible poisoning by Bhimsen's alleged court physicians, however, in his 1839 letter to Chinese Amban wrote that both of his parents were poisoned to death by Bhimsen's alleged court physicians during their illness. Also, later in 1839 during the revival of poisoning cases against Bhimsen, two new additional fabricated cases of death by poisoning of King Girvan and his wife was brought. Furthermore, it was widely known that King Rajendra's grandfather King Rana Bahadur Shah died from the sword assault by his step-brother Sher Bahadur Shah during an open court discussion while his father King Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah along with his wife died from the smallpox to which historian Chittaranjan Nepali contends as another attempt of libel against Bhimsen by Hodgson. ### Failure of Mathabar Singh Thapa's mission to Britain Although the British Residents were officially instructed to keep out of the internal politics of Nepal, the Resident was courted by both the King as well as the Mukhtiyar. Hodgson was waiting for an opportunity to exploit the rift between the Mukhtiyar and the royal family and begin a more aggressive campaign to increase British influence and trading opportunities. Hodgson also believed the large standing army to be a security threat and that the border tensions could be pacified if the King was directly in control, rather than a Mukhtiyar who needed to keep on the right side of the army. By 1834, Hodgson had come to a conclusion that he would not be able to have his way so long as Bhimsen was in control of the Nepalese administration; thus he strongly sympathized with the Pande faction, and he wished to install Fateh Jung Shah, who was more favorably disposed to him, as the Mukhtiyar. Hodgson reported to the Government of India on the dominance of Bhimsen over the position of the King as: > the Rajah is surrounded by the Minister's creature and is at present helpless. Bhim Sen has all the powers in his hands...The Rajah is so uncomfortable in his honorary confinement that the probability is the Minister may work on him with success to make voluntary retirement of his throne in favour of his infant son and in the highest conformity with the sacred code of the Hindu, to which His Highness is proved. In August 1834, Hodgson proposed to conduct a new commercial treaty between Nepal and Britain, which Bhimsen in principle agreed to but disagreed with several of the clauses. At a time when his authority was diminishing, Bhimsen could not afford to antagonize the Resident; but at the same time, he could not accept his proposals and be seen as subservient to the British by the Nepalese court. Nevertheless, he tried to maintain a friendly and conciliatory attitude toward the Resident, in order to win him as his ally, by loosening the restrictions on his movements and granting direct access to the King. In the meantime, a royal letter was received from the Maharaja Ranjit Singh, ruler of Sikh Empire in Punjab, addressed to King Rajendra. The Nepalese court seized this opportunity to re-establish diplomatic contact with Punjab as well as other states such as Burma and Gwalior. In April 1835, Bhimsen also hatched a plan to make a state visit to Britain, hoping to force Britain to acknowledge the sovereignty of Nepal; but since he could not make the visit himself, his nephew Colonel Mathabar Singh Thapa was chosen as the representative of Nepal, bearing a few gifts and a letter from King Rajendra addressed to King William IV. The idea was initially received favorably by Hodgson as well as the Governor-General, who hoped that the mission could increase the trust between the two nations. In this process, Mathabar Singh was promoted to Chota General; his brother, Ranbir Singh, the governor of Palpa, was made Full General; and Mathabar's nephew, the sixteen-year-old Sher Jung Thapa, was made Commanding Colonel. Thus, Bhimsen managed to consolidate his military powers. Both Rajendra and Samrajya Laxmi were also pleased with this plan, and on 1 November 1835, Bhimsen was conferred the title of Commander-in-Chief. On 27 November 1835, Mathabar Singh left Kathmandu with a retinue of two thousand men, including 200 officers and 600 soldiers, for London via Calcutta. Mathabar was given a grand welcome in Calcutta by the acting Governor-General Charles Metcalfe; and while there, Mathabar started to indulge in needless luxuries and show offs. Meanwhile, Hodgson sent a secret letter to Metcalfe asking him not to allow Mathabar to make a state visit to Britain. Hence, Metcalfe was only willing to grant him the visa of an ordinary traveler, and not the diplomatic visa of a state representative. Mathabar thus returned to Nepal in March 1836, having wasted a vast sum of money, without accomplishing any of his goals. The deliberate sabotage of Mathabar's mission was Hodgson's diplomatic attack against Bhimsen. Until that time, it was widely believed by both the royal family as well as the common people that Bhimsen's good relationship with the high ranking British officials, since he was the only one allowed to communicate with them, was responsible for preventing the East India Company to take full control of Nepal. The mission's failure unambiguously revealed to everyone that this was not the case, and severely undermined Bhimsen's political credibility. Mathabar Singh spent a sum of one lakh and fifty thousand in Calcutta on the fruitless mission. Mathabar's extravagant expenditure was also heavily criticized by Samrajya Laxmi, since at that time the state coffer was in dire condition; and to pacify her, Bhimsen had to reimburse the extra expenses from his own pockets. ### Rise of the Kala Pandes By this time, Ranajang Pande, the youngest son of Damodar Pande, was stationed as a captain in the army in Kathmandu. He was aware of the disunity between Samrajya Laxmi and Bhimsen, and thus he had secretly expressed his loyalty to Samrajya Laxmi and had vowed to help her in bringing Bhimsen down for all the wrongs he had committed against his family. Beforehand, Karbir Pande and his three brothers including Rana Jang, were already called back from Terai region and were given the governmental posts by Bhimsen himself based on the directives issued on traditionally dated 1872 Bikram Samvat, Poush Sudi 12 Roj 6 (1815-16 CE). Historian Chittaranjan Nepali contends that this excessive decency and benevolence towards his arch rivals Pandes is one of the major reason for his downfall. In November 1834, Ranajang requested to the King for the restoration of his family properties and honors, to which the King of Nepal favorably received the request. Ranajang also tried to communicate with the Chinese Amban in Lhasa to restore his family connections with Tibet and falsely tagged Bhimsen being inclined to the enemy of China i.e. the British. Factions in the Nepalese court had also started to develop around the rivalry between the two queens, with the Senior Queen supporting the Pandes, while the Junior Queen supporting the Thapas. About a month after Mathabar's return to Kathmandu, a child was born out of a sexual relationship between him and his widowed sister-in-law. It was a customary practice for a widowed woman to marry and have a sexual relationship with her husband's brother among all 4 Varna and 36 castes of Nepal including the high caste Upadhyaya Brahmans and Chhetris, which was safeguarded by then prevalent Sanatana practices. However, this news was spread all over the country by the Pande faction to defame Mathabar Singh, and the resulting public disgrace forced Mathabar Singh to leave Kathmandu and reside in his ancestral home in Pipal Thok, Borlang, Gorkha. To save face, Bhimsen gave Mathabar the governorship of Gorkha. Thus, British Historian Perceval Landon considered the charge to be "a mere prejudice" against Mathabar and a part of "unceasing intrigues" of the Pande faction for the "exhibition of their hostility". Taking advantage of Mathabar's absence in Kathmandu, the military battalions under his command were distributed to other courtiers during the annual muster at the beginning of 1837. Nevertheless, Bhimsen managed to secure his and his family members' positions in the civil and military offices. An investigation was also started to check Bhimsen's expenditures in establishing various battalions. Such events led the courtiers to feel that Bhimsen's Mukhtiyari would not last very long; thus Ranbir Singh, in the hopes of becoming the next Mukhtiyar, wrote a letter to the King asking him to be recalled to Kathmandu from Palpa. His wish was granted; and Bhimsen, pleased to see his brother after many years, made Ranbir Singh the acting Mukhtiyar and decided to go to his ancestral home in Borlang Gorkha for the sake of pilgrimage. But in truth, Bhimsen had gone to Gorkha to placate his nephew and bring him back to Kathmandu. In Bhimsen's absence, King Rajendra established a new battalion, Hanuman Dal, to be kept under his personal command. By February 1837, both Ranajang and his brother, Ranadal Pande, had been promoted to the position of a kaji; and Ranajang was made a personal secretary to the King, while Ranadal Pande was made the governor of Palpa. Ranjang was also made the chief palace guard, the position formerly occupied by Ranbir Singh and then Bhimsen. Thus, this curtailed Bhimsen's access to the royal family. On 14 June 1837, the King took over the command of all the battalions put in charge of various courtiers, and himself became the Commander-in-Chief. ### Poisoning case On 24 July 1837, Rajendra's youngest son, Devendra Bikram Shah, an infant of six months, died suddenly. It was at once rumored that the child had died of poison intended for his mother the Senior Queen Samrajya Laxmi Devi: given at the instigation of Bhimsen, or someone of his faction. On this charge, Bhimsen, his brother Ranbir Singh, his nephew Mathbar Singh, their families, the court physicians, Sardar Ekdev and Eksurya Upadhyay, and his deputy Bhajuman Baidya, with a few more of the nearest relatives of the Thapas were incarcerated, proclaimed outcasts, and their properties confiscated. The physicians Ekdev and Eksurya, being Brahmins, were severely tortured but spared, while Bhajuman Baidya was impaled and killed. Under torture, Ekdev confessed, and thus confirmed a widely circulated rumor, that he was directed by Bhimsen to poison not just Devendra, but King Girvan as well. There is a general consensus among historians that Bhimsen was not behind the poisoning. Bhimsen had nothing to gain by killing an infant less a year old, and the accusation was simply a ruse to answer foreign inquiries on Bhimsen's imprisonment. It was a general practice among the physicians of the time to check the strength of their medicine by first letting the mother taste it, before giving it to their newborn. It was later rumored that it was the Junior Queen who had actually contrived to kill the Senior Queen by poisoning the medicine intended for her newborn. While the poison did not express itself on the intended Queen, it managed to kill the infant prince, and the powerless Bhimsen was made a convenient scapegoat. Historian Gyanmani Nepal contends this to be closer to the truth. Historian William Wilson Hunter contended that "the whole charge was an invention trumped up by the Pandis to secure Bhim Sen's overthrow as they themselves confessed six years later". Hodgson on his reports to Governor General of India dated 18 September 1837 revealed that in fact King Rajendra knowingly held Bhimsen in the false charges because of his personal enmity. ### Dismissal from office and subsequent pardon Immediately after the incarceration of the Thapas, a new government with joint Mukhtiyars was formed with Ranganath Paudel as the head of civil administration, and Dalbhanjan Pande and Ranajang Pande as joint heads of military administration. This appointment established the Pandes as the dominant faction in the court, and they started to make preparations for war with the British in order to win back the lost territories of Kumaon and Garhwal. While such war posturing was nothing new, the din the Pandes created alarmed not just the Resident Hodgson but the opposing court factions as well, who saw their aggressive policy as detrimental to the survival of the country. After about three months in power, under pressure from the opposing factions, the King removed Ranjang as Mukhtiyar and Ranganath Paudel, who was favorably inclined towards the Thapas, was chosen as the sole Mukhtiyar. King Rajendra, due to the fear of a possible rebellion, restricted the Bhimsen established Singhanath battalion, to move out of the Kathmandu valley through a Rokka issued in March 1838 (Chaitra 1894 Bikram Samvat). Thereafter, Bhimsen's case was re-opened and heard in the royal court. Fearful that the Pandes would re-establish their power, Fatte Jang Shah, Mukhtiyar Ranga Nath Poudel, and the Junior Queen Rajya Laxmi Devi obtained from the King the liberation of Bhimsen, Mathabar, and the rest of the faction, in March 1838 about eight months after they were incarcerated for the poisoning case. British historians William Hunter and Henry Oldfied both asserted that Bhimsen fell into the King's feet and begged for mercy before receiving the pardon which is counterargued by Nepalese Historian Chittaranjan Nepali as a "mere mockery of his great personality". Some of the Thapa family's confiscated land, as well as the Bagh Durbar, was also returned. Upon his release, the soldiers loyal to Bhimsen crowded behind him in jubilation and followed him up to his house; a similar treatment was given to Mathabar Singh and Sher Jung Thapa. Though only some of their confiscated properties were returned by the initial Lalmohar, the second Lalmohar issued at the end of 1838 (Marga month of 1895 Bikram Samvat) completely returned all of their confiscated properties. Although pardon had been granted to Bhimsen, his former office was not re-instated; thus he went to live in retirement at his patrimony in Borlang, Gorkha. However, Ranganath Poudel, finding himself unsupported by the King, resigned from the Mukhtiyari, which was then conferred on Pushkar Shah; but Pushkar Shah was only a nominal head, and the actual authority was bestowed on Ranjang Pande. In March 1838, King Rajendra sent Mathabar Singh on a confidential mission to Sikh Emperor Ranjit Singh; initially he was arrested in May 1838 by the British during night time at Sutlej river, later allowed to proceed to Sikh capital but ultimately deported back to the British surveillance in Shimla by the Sikh Emperor on the suspicion of anti-British activities. Sensing that a catastrophe was going to befall the Thapas, Ranbir Singh gave up all his property and became a sanyasi, titling himself Abhayanand Puri but Bhimsen Thapa preferred to remain in his old home in Gorkha. The Pandes were now in full possession of power; they had gained over the King to their side by flattery. The Senior Queen had been a firm supporter of their faction, and they endeavored to secure popularity in the army by promises of war and plunder. ## Suicide: 1839 At the beginning of 1839, Ranajang Pande was made the sole Mukhtiyar. However, knowledge about Ranajang's war preparations and his communication with other princely states of India, fomenting anti-British sentiments, alarmed the Governor-General of the time, Lord Auckland, who mobilized some British troops near the border of Nepal. In order to resolve this diplomatic fiasco, Bhimsen was recalled from Gorkha and the rest of his confiscated property was also released. Bhimsen suggested some of the battalions under Ranjang's command to be given to other courtiers, thus severely weakening Ranjang's military power, and in the process convincing the British that Nepal was not on the path to war. The King agreed to this arrangement; however, this aroused a strong suspicion in Samrajya Laxmi, who determined to eradicate Bhimsen's influence permanently. By this time, Bhimsen's furious nephew Mathabar Singh was living at the Sikh court in Punjab which caused fear among King Rajendra and Rana Jang that he would bring British support or wreak havoc in the case Bhimsen was attacked. Therefore, secret assassins were sent by the Nepalese royal court to poison him at Punjab. After assassins failed to poison him, with a desire to eliminate both uncle and nephew together, Rana Jang attempted to call him back to Nepal by making "specious promises" which Mathabar Singh thwarted after getting a hold of Rana Jang's intentions. In April 1839, the accusation of poisoning the young prince in 1837, along with two other fabricated cases, was revived against Bhimsen and his faction, and forged papers and evidence were produced professing to incriminate him. The date when Bhimsen was charged on the alleged crime was 18 May 1839, according to then Assistant British Resident J.R. Tickell. The two fabricated cases were the poisoning of the King Girvan's wife and King Girvan Yuddha himself who was widely known to have died from smallpox. Bhimsen pleaded and asked the proof of these additional crimes for which he had been charged and asked that why these accusations were not brought when he was dismissed and imprisoned. Only Rana Jang spoke against him in the Darbar. The Assistant British Resident J.R. Tickell observed that "...Not a voice raised in his (Bhimsen's) behalf throughout the Darbar, the chiefs sat by in dejected silence." Bhimsen appealed for justice and tried to defend himself, but the King, blindly believing the forgeries, denounced him as a traitor and put him in house arrest in a room at the ground floor of his own Bagh Durbar. Although pardon had already been given, based on these forged evidences, the court physicians, Ekdev and Eksurya Upadhyay were again arrested and tortured. Except for Mathabar Singh, who was under British surveillance in India, rest of the Thapa family were again arrested, their properties confiscated, were declared outcasts, and were proclaimed to be expelled from every public office for seven generations. While under house arrest, Bhimsen smuggled a letter to the Resident Hodgson appealing him to intervene on his behalf, which Hodgson refused at that moment but sought permission from his superiors to do so. Bhimsen was given brutal treatment at the orders of Rana Jang during the arrest. He was kept "almost starved" in a dark underground cell which was "less a prison than a ditch of filth". Rana Jang did not choose direct assassination of Bhimsen but some strong calculated savage measures to make Bhimsen commit suicide. One of the savage measures was that the false rumours on the method of punishment to Bhimsen was circulated every day. Meanwhile, Bhimsen's third wife, Bhakta Kumari, happened to insult the Senior Queen Samrajya Laxmi, who upon hearing about this insult, was so angered that she order Bhakta Kumari to be removed from Bagh Durbar and put in a common jail. After this, the rival faction spread a rumor around Kathmandu that Bhakta Kumari would be stripped of her clothes and paraded through the streets of the city and he would be forced to watch it while being dipped into a mound of human faeces. This rumor also fell on Bhimsen's ears; and unable to bear such indignity, Bhimsen attempted suicide by slitting his throat with a khukuri. The news of this attempted suicide further angered the King and the Queen, who came to look at his body, and instead of feeling sympathy for the old minister and ordering immediate medical care, Bhimsen's blood-soaked, unconscious body was ordered that same day to be dragged through the streets and dumped by the same bank of Bishnumati river, where Bhimsen had dumped the dead bodies of 45 people 33 years ago during the Bhandarkhal massacre. Bhimsen finally died nine days later, surrounded by vultures, jackals, and dogs. Since suicide was considered a grave crime, soldiers were stationed at his death spot so that his body would not be removed and given ordinary cremation rites; and his body was allowed to be devoured by scavenging animals. On the spot where Bhimsen drew his last breath, a Shiva temple by the name Bhim-Mukteshwar was later constructed by his nephew Mathabar Singh Thapa, The road to Bhim Mukteshwar Temple is named after Mathwar and now known as Math Mukteshwar Marga. While there is a general consensus on the cause and circumstances of Bhimsen's death, there is a disagreement on the exact date of his death. Baburam Acharya contends that Bhimsen attempted suicide on 28 July in his house and died nine days later on 5 August by the banks of Bishnumati; while Henry Ambrose Oldfield, William Wilson Hunter and Perceval Landon, contend that the suicide was attempted on 20 July and the death occurred nine days later on 29 July in his house, only after which his dead body was disposed by the banks of Bishnumati. Historian K.L. Pradhan and Gyanmani Nepal claimed the date to be 28 July. British Resident Hodgson's report of the event to the Governor General of India was dated 30 July 1839 where he reports the death on 29 July and precisely around 4pm on that date. ### Reactions to suicide On 30 July 1839, British Resident Hodgson wrote to the deputy secretary with the Governor General of India and reacted about the death of Bhimsen as a decline of a great statesman in his words "Thus, has perished, the great and able statesman". Then ruling governor general of India Lord Auckland replied to Hodgson through his secretary T.H. Maddock on a letter dated 15 August 1839. He stated: > I am directed to state that the measures of indignity, insult and cruelty which the Government of Nepal has adopted towards the late and able Minister of that State, have been viewed by the Governor-General with feelings of extreme disgust and abhorrence. They portray a spirit of vindictive hatred towards the late General Bhim Sen, venting itself on its unfortunate victim by outrages so atrocious and unmanly as to lead to the belief that the moral feeling of the Court has been much vitiated since the deposition of Bhim Sen, and that, under the present system and present Government, the manners of the people will rapidly sink into a state of barbarity from which they were being gradually weaned by a long course of pacific rule, under an able and comparatively enlightened administration. Historian Landon also posthumously expressed the brutality of death of Bhimsen in his book titled "Nepal": > His was a life of contrast and no Greek tragedy has ever presented a more dramatic catastrophe than his fearful end. ## Aftermath The death of Bhimsen Thapa did not resolve the factional fighting at court. Five months after Bhimsen's death, Ranajang Pande was again made prime minister; but Ranajang's inability to control the general lawlessness in the country forced him to resign from prime minister's office, which was then conferred on Pushkar Shah, based on Samrajya Laxmi's recommendation. While Pushkar Shah was not as anti-British as Ranajang Pande, he was nevertheless unfavorably predisposed towards them. During his tenure, a border dispute with the British in April 1840 resulted in Governor-General of India, 1st Earl of Auckland dispatching some troop near the Nepalese border once again, which Pushkar managed to resolve diplomatically. There was also a brief army mutiny in June 1840, as a reaction against the government's attempt to cut military salary, during which houses of several noblemen including Chautaria Pushkar Shah, in favor of this unpopular act were vandalized and burned. The mutiny was calmed only after King Rajendra publicly agreed not to implement the reform. Taking advantage of this mutiny, Resident Hodgson sent an incriminating report against the Nepalese government to his superiors in Calcutta. The Governor-General demanded the King to dissolve the incumbent government and appoint ministers more favorable towards the British. Thus, Pushkar Shah and his Pande associates were dismissed, and Fatte Jang Shah was appointed the Prime Minister in November 1840. Dismissal of Pushkar Shah curtailed Samrajya Laxmi's power. When Rajendra refused to abdicate in favor of their eldest son Surendra, the heir apparent, she left Kathmandu and settled at a border town in Terai. However, during the monsoon season, Samrajya Laxmi was afflicted with malaria from which she died in October 1841 at the age of twenty-seven. The death of the Senior Queen Samrajya Laxmi allowed the emergence of the Junior Queen Rajya Laxmi and Crown Prince Surendra onto the political stage. To consolidate her political influence and see her own son, rather than the heir apparent, Surendra, succeed on the throne, Rajya Laxmi had obtained pardon for Sher Jung Thapa and other jailed members of Thapa family. It was only after this that Bhimsen Thapa managed to get a symbolic funeral rite in August 1841. Thus, the Nepalese court was split into three factions centered around the King, the Queen, and the Crown Prince. Fatte Jung and his administration supported the King, the Thapas supported the Junior Queen, while the Pandes supported the Crown Prince. The resurgent Thapa coalition succeeded in sowing animosity between Fateh Jung's ministry and the Pande coalition, who were swiftly imprisoned. During his two years in power, Fatte Jung was able to maintain a rule of law in the country; however, after the incarceration of the Pandes, nobody could rein in the worsening sadistic tendencies, sometimes with fatal consequences, of Surendra, who was then still a minor. Under immense pressure from the Queen and the nobility, along with the backing from army and the general populace, the King in January 1843 handed the highest authority of the state to his Junior Queen, Rajya Laxmi, curtailing both his own and his son's power. The Queen, seeking the support of her own son's claims to the throne over those of Surendra, invited Mathabar Singh Thapa back after almost six years in exile. Upon his arrival in Kathmandu, an investigation of his uncle's death took place, and a number of his Pande enemies were massacred. As for Ranajang Pande, he had by that time contracted mental illness and would not have posed any threat to Mathabar. Nevertheless, Ranajang was paraded through the streets and made to witness the execution of his family members, after which he was forced to commit suicide by poison. By December 1843, Mathabar Singh was appointed prime minister; but after a year in power, he alienated both the King and the Queen by supporting Surendra's claim over the throne. On 17 May 1845, he was assassinated, on both the King and Queen's orders, by his nephew, Jang Bahadur Kunwar. The death of Mathabar Singh ended the Thapa hegemony and set the stage for Kot massacre and the establishment of Rana Dynasty, a dictatorship of hereditary prime ministers, which was founded on the basic template provided by Bhimsen Thapa. These events provided the long period of stability the country needed but at the cost of political and economic development. ## Personal life Bhimsen Thapa had three wives as per the stone inscription of Bhimbishwar Mahadev temple at Bungkot. His only son died at a young age in 1796 and his three daughters – Lalita Devi, Janak Kumari, and Dirgha Kumari were married to Pande nobles – Uday Bahadur Pande, Shamsher Bahadur Pande and Dal Bahadur Pande respectively. Uday Bahadur and Colonel Shamsher Bahadur were the sons of Kaji Bir Keshar Pande and Sardar Dal Bahadur was the son of Bir Keshar's cousin Garud Dhoj Pande, who were son of MulKaji Ranajit Pande. On the month of Magh 1876 Bikram Samvat (1820 CE), Bhimsen's mother Satyarupa Maya issued a Dharmapatra prohibiting the partition of her five sons and the partition of the ancestral properties until her death. She later died on the month of the Ashadh 1877 Bikram Samvat (1820 CE) and the ancestral property partition was done on the month of Shrawan 1877 Bikram Samvat. ## Legacy and assessments ### Character and dominance Bhimsen Thapa was a military leader and a de facto ruler of Nepal. Bhimsen is regarded as one of the national heroes of Nepal. He was considered a clever, farsighted, politically aware and practically diplomatic politician. Hisorian Chittaranjan Nepali contended that Bhimsen was an altruistic nationalist who never befriended with or accepted any foreign suzerainty. Historian Ludwig Stiller considered Bhimsen to be "..a very clever statesman but he was not an economist by any means." He was considered by many as a patriotic nationalist with a pervasive control over the Kingdom. In this context, his contemporary King Rana Bahadur Shah of Nepal had told that > If I die the nation will not die, but if Bhimsen dies the nation will collapse. Similarly, British historian Perceval Landon in his book "Nepal" had quoted that > But during those three and thirty years Bhimsen was Nepal, and Nepal was Bhimsen. Historian Baburam Acharya considered Bhimsen as an "unjust" but "devoted patriot" who developed and rewarded agricultural innovations in Nepal. He considered Bhimsen to be a nationalist with personal interest and a very cruel temperament. He termed Bhimsen as a military dictator who had control over 6000 armed forces. However, historian Kumar Pradhan negates that Bhimsen could not be termed as military dictator because he himself was dependent on Pajani System (annual renewal) for renewal of his every tenure of office. Pradhan also asserts that Bhimsen did not manipulate the Army which could be seen when he was not backed up by any soldiers after his removal from Mukhtiyarship. Pradhan asserts that administrative system of Nepal was people-centric and upward mobility. Most of the Thapa Bharadars (courtiers) were appointed before 1816 and there was no monopoly of any single family in the inner circle of court. Similarly, Pradhan explains that there was no monopoly of Bhimsen because the regulations were all issued in the name of Maharaja. Historian Chittaranjan Nepali in his 1956 book Janaral Bhimsen Thapa Ra Tatkalin Nepal argued that Bhimsen was as powerful as Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana but he never initiated any rolls of Succession to hereditary premiership within his family like Jung Bahadur did. Resident Hodgson, one of the arch rivals who brought the downfall of Bhimsen, ultimately expressed tribute to Bhimsen on 30 July 1839 and went on to laud Bhimsen as one of the most able contemporary statesman in all of native South Asian states beside Ranjit Singh. British historian Henry Ambrose Oldfield contended that Bhimsen was extremely concerned about the independence of his country "Nothing was nearer and dearer to his heart than the independence of his country". Historian Ludwig Stiller considered Bhimsen as a mere politician than a ruler and criticizes the excessive positive or negative representation used by Bhimsen's primary biographers: Historian Chittaranjan Nepali who "lionized him" and Historian Baburam Acharya who labelled him as a "mere schemer". He contends that despite being a powerful historical personality for three decades, Bhimsen was a mere politician of the court for the most portion of his period and his power was limited. Thus, he contends that Bhimsen used to negotiate and convince other courtiers to capitalize the political crisis into his advantage. Nepalese-Canadian author Manjushree Thapa had written a column about him. She wrote: > He did not succeed in the 1814–16 war with the British, but the Thapas love him nonetheless because he tried so hard to control those pesky imperialists, overseeing military battles and negotiating treaties himself while trying to beat down Hodgson. ### Religious views Historian Baburam Acharya attributes the below idea to be of Bhimsen Thapa in the letter of then-minor King Girvan Yuddha Bikram Shah to Kaji Ranajor Thapa dated May 1814 (Sunday Jestha Sudi 4, 1871 Bikram Samvat); > One is born in this world in order to undergo the fruits of actions performed in past life. After the fruits of such actions are undergone, the soul is separated from the body. It then departs to another world to undergo the fruits of actions performed by it during its residence in the body. This is the way of the world. ### Physical appearance Historian Chittaranjan Nepali described Bhimsen as a tall-statured person with an impressive physical personality. ### Memorials and tributes There is a park dedicated to him constructed in the Gorkha Municipality called Bhimsen Park. It is in two kilometers walk from Gorkha Darbar. The park constitutes 3 ropani of land and was used by descendants of Thapa dynasty for ritual purposes in the Dashain festival. The Bhimsen Thapa Memorial Day is celebrated on 25 July. Historian John Whelpton was awarded the 2018 Bhimsen Thapa Memorial Award by the Bhimsen Thapa Memorial Foundation on the 243rd Bhimsen Thapa Memorial Day in Kathmandu. ### Cultural depictions Nepalese playwright Balkrishna Sama wrote a play on him named Bhimsen Ko Antya which went on to receive the 2029 Bikram Samvat (c.1972-1973 CE) Sajha Purashkar. The historical biography of Bhimsen written by historian Chittaranjan Nepali went on to receive the 2013 Bikram Samvat (c.1956-1957 CE) Madan Puraskar in the sociology category. ### Popular legends Historian Chittaranjan Nepali states that there were some widespread folk legends about Bhimsen. On 28 June 1955, he had an interaction with General Kaiser Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana who foretold one of the legends about Bhimsen prevalent in then Nepalese society. The folk legend stated that Bhimsen had cursed then King of Nepal with a fate to consume from a Mana vessel (Nepali: भरेको माना खानुपर्नेछ). Another folk legend stated that the corpse of Bhimsen suddenly disappeared from the place of his death; the descendants of Chautariya Fatte Jang Shah had kept the hands while the skull was kept in some secret location in London. Furthermore, it was also widely believed that the family of Fatte Jang annually worships the preserved physical remains of Bhimsen. ## Gallery

Oh Santa!

2010 single by Mariah Carey

"Oh Santa!" is a song by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey from her second Christmas album and thirteenth studio album, Merry Christmas II You (2010). Carey wrote and produced the song in collaboration with Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox. It was released as the lead single from the album on October 1, 2010 by Island Def Jam Records. It is an up-tempo R&B song about Carey making a plea for Santa Claus to bring back her partner in time for the Christmas holidays. It received a positive response from music critics, with many praising its composition and style. The track set a record on the United States Billboard Adult Contemporary songs chart, debuting at number twelve and peaking at number one the following week for four weeks. It became the first song to reach the summit in two weeks. It further became Carey's seventh number-one song on the chart. Carey filmed a 1960s-style music video to accompany the song's release as a single, and performed it on various programs in the lead up to Christmas, including her own TV special called Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to You. It was later adapted to be the finale of A Christmas Melody, a 2015 Hallmark Channel Christmas movie, with its lyrics tweaked to be relevant for Broadway child performer Fina Strazza's character singing about her single mother finding love. On December 4, 2020, a new version was released featuring singers Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson, as a single from the soundtrack to Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special for Apple TV+. ## Background and composition "Oh Santa!" was written and produced by Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox for Carey's second Christmas/thirteenth studio album, Merry Christmas II You (2010); Rye Songs administered by Songs of Universal (BMI)/Shaniah Cymone Music\|EMI April Music Inc. (ASCAP)/WBM Music Corp Inc./Pamela & Lorrence's Publishing LLC (SESAC). Her vocals were recorded by Brian Garten, Marcus Johnson and Thomas Kanarek, Martin Cooke, Nicholas Essif and Peter Mack, and the music by John Horesco at Guardian Angel Studios, Westlake Recording Studios, Henson Studios and Capitol Recording Studios. It was mixed by Phil Tan and Damien Lewis at The Ninja Beat Club. Dupri played the drums and Randy Jackson performed bass. Cox plated the keyboard and percussion. The background vocals were sung by Angie Fisher, Melonie Daniels, Maryann Tatum, Sharlotte Gibson and Toni Scruggs. "Oh Santa!" was one of four original compositions by Carey to be included on the album. It premiered on October 1, 2010, in the United States. An EP consisting of six remixes by Jump Smokers and Low Sunday were released on December 7, while a mix of "Oh Santa! and one of Carey's previous Christmas songs "All I Want for Christmas Is You", titled "Oh Santa! All I Want for Christmas Is You (Holiday Mashup)", was released on December 17. "Oh Santa!" is an up-tempo and festive R&B song, which lasts for a duration of three minutes, thirty-one seconds. It has a 1960s girl-group swing feel. The song, in the key of C♯ major, has a tempo of 80 beats per minute. Carey's voice spans more than three octaves, from B₂ to the high note of F₆. Instrumentation consists of sleigh bells, jingle bells, hand claps and a piano melody, backed by a "school-yard chant beat". Lyrically, Carey makes a plea to Santa Claus asking him to bring back her "baby" in time for Christmas, singing "Santa's gon' come and make him mine this Christmas." ## Critical reception Mike Diver of the BBC wrote that "Oh Santa!" is a "boisterous" song which "makes perfect sense" as a lead single. He continued to write that although it fell substandard to "All I Want for Christmas Is You", it would still "warrant revisiting 12 months down the line". Rolling Stone writer Caryn Ganz commented on the composition, writing "Mariah bops to a schoolyard-chant beat". Joey Guerra of the Houston Chronicle described the song as "irresistible" and predicted that it would "dominate ringtones" in the run up to Christmas. A reviewer for Idolator described the track as a "boppy" Christmas version of Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend". Rich Juzwiak of The Village Voice was critical of the song, writing "Of the four Mariah-penned new tracks, the Jermaine Dupri/Bryan-Michael Cox collaboration 'Oh Santa!' tries the hardest, an antique kitchen-sink replica that manages to invoke a cheerleading squad, the Pointer Sisters, Mariah's own 'Loverboy', and Hey Ya!'. Full of mumbling and cattiness, it's difficult to sing along to, so its prospects of becoming a perennial favorite are dim." ## Chart performance In the United States, "Oh Santa!" became a record-breaking entry on the Billboard Adult Contemporary songs chart. It debuted at number twelve for the issue dated December 11, 2010. The track soared to number one the following week, marking the quickest ascent to the peak position since Nielsen BDS began tracking airplay in 1993, in just two weeks. Previously, eight songs had reached number one within three weeks, four of which were Christmas entries due to adult contemporary radio stations playing an increased amount in the holiday season. "Oh Santa!" became Carey's seventh number-one hit on the chart, and her first in fifteen years since "One Sweet Day" (1995–96), a duet with Boyz II Men. The singer also topped the chart with her debut single "Vision of Love" (her first) and "Love Takes Time" in 1990, "I Don't Wanna Cry" in 1991, and "Can't Let Go" and "I'll Be There" in 1992. "Oh Santa!" remained atop the chart for four consecutive weeks altogether. It finished at number 42 on the 2011 Adult Contemporary year-end chart. For the week ending October 30, 2010, Carey occupied the top two positions on the Holiday Digital Songs chart: "Oh Santa!" debuted at number one while "All I Want For Christmas Is You" charted at number two. On January 1, 2011, the track debuted at number one-hundred on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and number forty on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Songs chart. Elsewhere, the track debuted at number thirty-six on the South Korean Gaon International Digital Singles Chart for the week ending November 20, 2010. It later peaked at number thirty-two for the week ending December 25, 2010. On the International Download Singles Chart, the track peaked at number thirty. "On Santa!" peaked at number sixty-eight on the Japan Hot 100. The song peaked at number seventy-three on January 1, 2011, for two consecutive weeks on the Canadian Hot 100 chart. ## Music video The music video for "Oh Santa!" was directed by Ethan Lader and was shot in Los Angeles on October 6, 2010. Reports surfaced online that Carey's then-husband Nick Cannon would be directing the video, however Cannon dispelled the rumors on Twitter, saying "I am NOT directing." The video for "Oh Santa!" premiered on entertainment news program Access Hollywood on November 2, 2010. Prior to its release, various media outlets speculated that the video was going incorporate the same on-set style as seen in Outkast's music video for their 2003 single "Hey Ya!", with the singer as the main feature in front of a large audience. Carey's fan site MariahDaily posted a message on their website asking people within the Los Angeles area to appear for a casting call for a chance to be featured in the video. ### Synopsis The video draws influence from the 1950s and 1960s variety shows and features Carey wearing a short, red "sexy Santa" ensemble, whilst on stage with a band, which featured gospel backup singers as well as a group of dancers, consisting of cheerleaders. The plotline is centered on Carey hosting a "Mariah Carey Christmas" television show. The announcer introduces Carey saying "here she is, the greatest singer of all time, Ms. Mariah Carey!". The video then shows Carey's backup singers belting out the chorus while the singer is seen performing in front of a cheering audience. Her collection of fragrances is also advertised in the opening. In the second half of the video, Santa Claus makes an appearance, waving to friends and sharing a hug with Carey. The video ends with the singer laughing while the audience cheers and claps for her performance. ### Reception Becky Bain of Idolator commented on the simple structure and themes of the video, writing "There’s not much to this simple vid, but it does feature Carey doing her usual hand-waving theatrics while hitting some absolutely killer high notes." Bain also observed that the vast majority of the shots of Carey are either long shots, showing the singer from a distance, or close-up shots, showing Carey from the shoulders and above so that the viewer was not able to easily recognize that she was pregnant. Nicole James of MTV Buzzworthy also praised the content of the video, writing "Of course, it wouldn't be a Mariah Carey video without some glitz and glam so the stage and backdrop are covered in (what else?) glitter. Mariah puts on a great show and sings her heart out with that famous eight-octave range ... scrooges need not apply, 'Oh Santa!' is fun and festive and has you longing for a sip of eggnog." ## Remixes When the song was first released as a single in 2010, six dance remixes were commissioned and were later released as a digital EP on December 7, 2010. A mashup of the song with 1994's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" produced by Jump Smokers titled "Oh Santa! All I Want for Christmas Is You (Holiday Mashup)" was also released on December 13, 2010. ## Track listings and formats - Album version 1. " Oh Santa!" – 3:31 - Mashup digital download 1. "Oh Santa! All I Want for Christmas Is You (Holiday Mashup)" - Oh Santa! (The Remixes) EP 1. "Oh Santa!" (Jump Smokers Edit) – 3:53 2. "Oh Santa!" (Low Sunday Edit) – 4:09 3. "Oh Santa!" (Jump Smokers Extended) – 4:08 4. "Oh Santa!" (Low Sunday Club) – 6:16 5. "Oh Santa!" (Jump Smokers Instrumental) – 3:52 6. "Oh Santa!" (Low Sunday Instrumental) – 6:18 ## Charts ### Weekly charts ### Year-end charts ## Mariah Carey, Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson version For the tenth anniversary of the song, Carey re-recorded and re-released the song commercially as a new remix. Carey recorded the new version of the song with Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson. The new version served as the lead single from Carey's second soundtrack album, Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special. The song was released across all streaming platforms on December 4, 2020, accompanied by its official music video, premiered the same day on Carey's YouTube account. ### Background Talking to Billboard, Carey stated in regards to the song that "originally, I was blending with myself [...] but it was cool to be able to work with the different vocal textures and play around with it and reimagine it." She went on to describe the song as a "girl group moment". ### Reception The remix received positive reviews on release. Billboard writer Rania Aniftos wrote that the three singers "trading verses and harmonies" amounts for a "truly angelic result". Chris Murphy, writer for Vulture went on to say that "the trio, the remix, and the accompanying music video absolutely makes the nice list in every possible way." In its first week of release, the song sold 10,000 downloads in the United States and 9,250 equivalent units in the United Kingdom. ### Charts ### Release history ## See also - List of Billboard Adult Contemporary number ones of 2010 - List of Billboard Adult Contemporary number ones of 2011 - List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart

New York State Route 324

State highway in western New York, US

New York State Route 324 (NY 324) is an east–west state highway located in the western portion of New York in the United States. Officially, NY 324 begins at NY 384 in Niagara Falls and overlaps Interstate 190 (I-190, the Niagara Section of the New York State Thruway) south to Grand Island, where it separates from I-190 and continues southward as Grand Island Boulevard. As signed, however, NY 324 begins at the southern end of the official overlap and is contained entirely within Erie County. At the southern edge of Grand Island, NY 324 joins I-190 to cross over to the mainland, where it runs due east across three towns before reaching its eastern end at a junction with NY 5 in the town of Clarence. NY 324 is known by two names along its routing: Grand Island Boulevard on Grand Island and Sheridan Drive in the northern suburbs of Buffalo. As the latter, the route serves as a major commercial strip for Tonawanda, Amherst, and Clarence. NY 324, assigned c. 1933, is one of two routes to occupy part of Sheridan Drive; the other is New York State Route 325, which follows the westernmost 1.42 miles (2.29 km) of the street. NY 324 once extended northwest to downtown Niagara Falls; however, it was truncated to its current western terminus on January 1, 1962. ## Route description According to the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), NY 324 begins at NY 384 in eastern Niagara Falls. NY 324 heads south, overlapping with I-190 (the Niagara Section of the New York State Thruway) across the North Grand Island Bridge to Grand Island, where it leaves the expressway at exit 20. However, as signed, NY 324 begins at the north end of Grand Island, where it splits off from the Interstate Highway as Grand Island Boulevard. South of exit 20, the official and signed routings are identical. Maintenance of the route is split between NYSDOT, the New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA), and Erie County. All but the northernmost 0.02 miles (0.03 km) of the portion of the route that overlaps with I-190 is maintained by NYSTA. The two county-maintained sections extend from exit 20B to Grand Island Boulevard on Grand Island and from exit 15 to Grand Island Boulevard in Tonawanda, where NY 324 utilizes small portions of the county-owned Long Road and Kenmore Avenue, respectively. The remainder of NY 324 is maintained by NYSDOT. From I-190 exit 20, NY 324 runs in a more southeasterly direction, serving as the main commercial strip on Grand Island, before it overlaps I-190 in order to cross the Niagara River. Once on the mainland, the structure of exits on I-190 allows only the westbound portion of NY 325 to use Grand Island Boulevard west of I-190's exit 15, following Grand Island Boulevard past the exit to an intersection with NY 266, then turning right to follow it to exit 17 to merge with I-190. The eastbound route of NY 324 is unable to do so; instead, it parts company with the Interstate Highway on the other side of the river at exit 15, where it turns north to parallel I-190 on Kenmore Avenue. The eastbound portion of Grand Island Boulevard on this stretch is maintained as reference route 950C. After 250 yards (229 m), it veers east onto Tonawanda's portion of Grand Island Boulevard for 0.5 miles (0.8 km) to a junction with Sheridan Drive. The latter carries NY 325, a 1.42-mile (2.29 km) route that begins at NY 266 on the banks of the Niagara and passes through a commercial and industrial area of the town of Tonawanda. NY 324 takes on the Sheridan Drive name here and assumes a more due easterly course across northern Erie County. Though the street is signed as a state highway on both NY 324 and NY 325, most residents simply refer to this road by its local name. Through much of this portion, the road is divided, with a tree-lined median strip. Businesses, both local and national, line both sides of the road and traffic is heavy. It crosses some other major strips such as Niagara Falls Boulevard (U.S. Route 62 or US 62), a major contributor to traffic on Sheridan due to the proximity of the Boulevard Mall, and Millersport Highway (NY 263), which feeds the Amherst campus of the University at Buffalo. In Amherst it meets the Youngmann Expressway (I-290) where NY 240 (Harlem Road), reaches its northern end. Past the Youngmann development abates, green returns to the roadside and the median ends, although the road remains four-lane and high-volume. There is another pocket of development around the Wegmans supermarket north of Williamsville, which has seen some rapid growth in the last few years. NY 324 crosses its last major route, Transit Road (NY 78), on an overpass just north of the once-thriving Eastern Hills Mall, which had been the premier mall in the Buffalo area until it began losing tenants and customers to the larger Walden Galleria in Cheektowaga. Beyond Transit, the road is still four-lane but primarily residential as it enters the Town of Clarence. After Harris Hill Road, the highway bends to the southeast once again for a final mile into its eastern end at Main Street (NY 5). This last section was widened from two lanes to four in the mid-1990s, and has seen some development but still remains lightly trafficked most of the day. ## History Sheridan Drive was constructed during the early 1920s as a town of Tonawanda project to help alleviate the anticipated growth of the village of Kenmore. Despite its construction, the new road was not without controversy. During construction, new traffic lights were put in with concrete supports were opposed heavily by the town of Tonawanda and its residents, resulting in the traffic lights not having been built for many years. The town also felt that the construction of a superhighway in the middle of the country in Tonawanda was unjustified with the average traffic in that area. After construction of Sheridan Drive was completed in 1925, a monument with a statue of General Phillip Sheridan was constructed to commemorate the new road. However, the taxpayers feeling enough money had already been spent on the road, the statue of Sheridan was never constructed and only the monument to the road's construction was completed. In order to give the road a new look, the road had large trees planted throughout what was considered a desolate area at the time. Due to an archaic law in Erie County, the town of Tonawanda and the town of Amherst, who completed the road in 1925, were requested in 1935 to take over \$2 million (1935 USD) in debts bonded for its construction. The county noted that the towns' inability to pay for the road made the new road a financial burden for the county. To make things worse, the new road did not bring the immediate influx of business that was advertised and was looking early on as a giant mistake on the part of the county and towns. When NY 324 was assigned c. 1933, it began at NY 384 (River Road; now NY 266) in the town of Tonawanda and followed Sheridan Drive eastward to NY 5 in the town of Clarence. By 1935, what is now NY 324 between Niagara Falls and Tonawanda via Grand Island was designated as NY 325. NY 324 was extended northward to NY 384 in Niagara Falls c. 1937, supplanting the entirety of NY 325. The NY 325 designation was reassigned to the short piece of Sheridan Drive not designated as NY 324. The route was extended one final time by 1948 to follow NY 384 westward from the North Grand Island Bridge into downtown Niagara Falls. NY 324 remained unchanged until January 1, 1962, when the overlap with NY 384 was removed. Although the overlap with the new I-190 on the North Grand Island Bridge was also removed from maps during the same period, and is no longer signed, this overlap was never officially removed from either NYSDOT's description of the route or the annual NYSDOT Traffic Data Report. ## Major intersections ## See also

Bomis

Dot-com company

Bomis (/ˈbɒmɪs/, rhyming with "promise") was a dot-com company best known for supporting the creations of free-content online-encyclopedia projects Nupedia and Wikipedia. It was co-founded in 1996 by Jimmy Wales, Tim Shell, and Michael Davis. By 2007, the company was inactive, with its Wikipedia-related resources transferred to the Wikimedia Foundation. The company initially tried a number of ideas for content, including being a directory of information about Chicago. The site subsequently focused on content geared to a male audience, including information on sporting activities, automobiles, and women. Bomis became successful after focusing on X-rated media. "Bomis Babes" was devoted to erotic images; the "Bomis Babe Report" featured adult pictures. Bomis Premium, available for an additional fee, provided explicit material. "The Babe Engine" helped users find erotic content through a web search engine. The advertising director for Bomis noted that 99 percent of queries on the site were for nude women. Bomis created Nupedia as a free online encyclopedia (with content submitted by experts) but it had a tedious, slow review process. Wikipedia was initially launched by Bomis to provide content for Nupedia, and was a for-profit venture (a Bomis subsidiary) through the end of 2002. As the costs of Wikipedia rose with its popularity, Bomis' revenues declined; these losses were compounded by the dot-com crash. Since Wikipedia was a drain on Bomis' resources, Wales and philosophy graduate student Larry Sanger decided to fund the project as a nonprofit. Sanger was laid off from Bomis in 2002. Nupedia content was merged into Wikipedia, and it ceased in 2003. The non-profit Wikimedia Foundation began in 2003 with a board of trustees composed of Bomis' three founders (Wales, Davis, and Shell) and was first headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida, Bomis' location. Wales used about US\$100,000 of revenue from Bomis to fund Wikipedia before the decision to shift the encyclopedia to non-profit status. Wales stepped down from his role as CEO of Bomis in 2004. Shell served as CEO of the company in 2005, while on the Wikimedia Foundation board of trustees. Wales edited Wikipedia in 2005 to remove the characterizations of Bomis as providing softcore pornography, which attracted media attention; Wales expressed regret for his actions. The Atlantic gave Bomis the nickname "Playboy of the Internet", and the term caught on in other media outlets. Scholars have described Bomis as a provider of softcore pornography. ## History ### Background Jimmy Wales left a study track at Indiana University as a PhD candidate to work in finance before completing his doctoral dissertation. In 1994 Wales was hired by Michael Davis, CEO of finance company Chicago Options Associates, as a trader focusing on futures contracts and options. Wales was adept at determining future movements of foreign currencies and interest rates; he was successful in Chicago, became independently wealthy, and was director of research at Chicago Options Associates from 1994 to 2000. He became acquainted with Tim Shell from email lists discussing philosophy. Wales wanted to participate in the online-based entrepreneurial ventures which were increasingly popular and successful during the mid-1990s. His experience (from gaming in his youth) impressed on him the importance of networking. Wales was interested in computer science, experimenting with source code on the Internet and improving his skill at computer programming. In his spare time after work at Chicago Options Associates, Wales constructed his own web browser. While at the firm, he noted the successful 1995 initial public offering of Netscape Communications. ### Foundation Wales co-founded Bomis in 1996, with business associates Tim Shell, and his then-manager Michael Davis, as a for-profit corporation with joint ownership. Wales was its chief manager. In 1998 he moved from Chicago to San Diego to work for Bomis, and then to St. Petersburg, Florida (where the company subsequently relocated). The staff at Bomis was originally about five employees. Its 2000 staff included programmer Toan Vo, Andrew McCague and system administrator Jason Richey; Wales employed his high-school friend and best man in his second wedding, Terry Foote, as advertising director. In June 2000, Bomis was one of five network partners of Ask Jeeves. The majority of the revenue that came in to Bomis was generated through advertising. The most successful time for Bomis was during its venture as a member of the NBC web portal NBCi; this collapsed at the end of the dot-com bubble. Although Bomis is not an acronym, the name stemmed from "Bitter Old Men in Suits" (as Wales and Shell called themselves in Chicago). The site began as a web portal, trying a number of ideas (including serving as an access point for information about Chicago). It later focused on male-oriented content, including information on sporting activities, automobiles, and women. ### Hosted content Working from the Open Directory Project, Bomis created and maintained hundreds of webrings on topics related to lad culture. In 1999 the company introduced the Bomis Browser, which helped users block online pop-up ads. Its webring on Star Wars was considered a useful resource for information on Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999). Additional webrings included sections helping users find information on the 1942 film Casablanca, Hunter S. Thompson, Farrah Fawcett, Geri Halliwell of the Spice Girls, and the 1998 film Snake Eyes. "Bomis: The Buffy the Vampire Slayer Ring", devoted to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, organized over 50 sites related to the program. Sheila Jeffreys noted in her Beauty and Misogyny that in 2004 Bomis maintained "The Lipstick Fetish Ring", which helped users with a particular attraction to women in makeup. Bomis became successful after it focused on X-rated and erotic media. Advertising generated revenue which enabled the company to fund other websites, and the site published suggestive pictures of professional models. In addition to Bomis the company maintained nekkid.com and nekkid.info, which featured pictures of nude women. About ten percent of Bomis' revenue was derived from pornographic films and blogs. The website included a segment devoted to erotic images, "Bomis Babes", and a feature enabled users to submit recommended links to other sites appealing to a male audience. Peer-to-peer services provided by the site helped users find other websites about female celebrities, including Anna Kournikova and Pamela Anderson. In the Bomis Babes section was the Bomis Babe Report, begun in 2000, with pictures of porn stars in a blog format. The Bomis Babe Report produced original erotic material, including reports on pornographic film actors and celebrities who had posed nude. It was referred to as The Babe Report for short. Wales referred to the site's softcore pornography as "glamour photography", and Bomis became familiar to Internet users for its erotic images. During this period Wales was photographed steering a yacht with a peaked cap, posing as a sea captain with a female professional model on either side of him. In the photograph, the women were wearing panties and T-shirts advertising Bomis. A subscription section, Bomis Premium, provided access to adult content and erotic material; A three-day trial was US\$2.95. While Bomis Babes provided nude images of females to subscribers, Bomis Premium featured lesbian sexual practices and female anatomy. Bomis created the Babe Engine, which helped users find erotic material online through a web search engine. According to Bomis advertising director Terry Foote, 99 percent of searches on the site related to nude women. ### Nupedia and Wikipedia Bomis is best known for supporting the creation of free-content online-encyclopedia projects Nupedia and Wikipedia. Tim Shell and Michael Davis continued their partnership with Wales during the 2000 Nupedia venture. Larry Sanger met Jimmy Wales through an e-mail communication group about philosophy and objectivism, and joined Bomis in May, 1999. Sanger was a graduate student working towards a PhD degree in philosophy, with research focused on epistemology; he received his degree from Ohio State University, moving to San Diego to help Bomis with its encyclopedia venture. At the time Sanger joined Bomis the company had a total workforce of two employees with help from programmers. Sanger and Wales began Nupedia with resources from Bomis; at the beginning of 2000, the company agreed to provide early financing for Nupedia from its profits. Nupedia went live in March, when Wales was CEO of Bomis; Sanger was Nupedia's editor-in-chief. Nupedia's reading comprehension was intended for high-school graduates, and Bomis set its goal: "To set a new standard for breadth, depth, timeliness and lack of bias, and in the fullness of time to become the most comprehensive encyclopedia in the history of humankind." Although Bomis began a search for experts to vet Nupedia articles, this proved tedious. In August 2000 Nupedia had more than 60 academics contributing to the peer-review process on the site, most with doctorates in philosophy or medicine. Scholars wishing to contribute to Nupedia were required to submit their credentials via fax for verification. At that time, Bomis was attempting to obtain advertising revenue for Nupedia and the company was optimistic that it could fund the project with ad space on Nupedia.com. Wikipedia began as a feature of Nupedia.com on January 15, 2001, later known as Wikipedia Day. Someone working from the office.bomis.com server created the first edit to the website, the creation of HomePage with the text "This is the new WikiPedia!" It was originally intended only to generate draft articles for Nupedia, with finished articles moved to the latter. Wikipedia became a separate site days after the Nupedia advisory board opposed combining the two. In September 2001, Wales was simultaneously CEO of Bomis and co-founder of Wikipedia; Sanger was chief organizer of Wikipedia and editor-in-chief of Nupedia. Nupedia was encumbered by its peer-review system, a seven-step process of review and copyediting, and Wikipedia grew at a faster rate. In November 2000, Nupedia had 115 potential articles awaiting its peer-review process. By September 2001, after a total investment of US\$250,000 from Bomis, Nupedia produced 12 articles; from 2000 through 2003, Nupedia contributors produced a total of 24 finalized articles. Wikipedia had about 20,000 articles and versions in 18 languages by the end of 2001. Bomis originally planned to make Wikipedia profitable, providing staffing and hardware for its initial structure; Wikipedia would not have survived without this early support. Bomis provided web servers and bandwidth for the projects, owning key items such as domain names. Wales used money from Bomis to maintain the Wikipedia servers in Tampa, Florida. As the cost of Wikipedia rose with its popularity, Bomis' revenues declined as a result of the dot-com crash. In late 2000 Bomis had a staff of about 11 employees, but by early 2002 layoffs reduced the staff to its original size of about five. Sanger was laid off in February 2002; from January 15, 2001, through March 1, 2002, he was the sole paid editor of Wikipedia. Sanger stepped down from his dual roles as chief organizer of Wikipedia and editor-in-chief of Nupedia on March 1, 2002, feeling unable to commit to these areas on a volunteer basis and a dearth of "the habit or tradition of respect for expertise" from high-ranking Wikipedia members. He continued contributing to community discussions, optimistic about Wikipedia's future success. After Sanger's departure, Wikipedia was managed by Wales and a burgeoning online community. Although Wales thought advertising was a possibility, the Wikipedia community was opposed to business development and Internet marketing was difficult in 2002. Wikipedia remained a for-profit venture (under the auspices of Bomis) through the end of 2002. By then it had moved from a .com domain name to .org, and Wales said that the site would not accept advertising. Material from Nupedia was folded into Wikipedia and it was discontinued by 2003. ### Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees By 2003 Wikipedia had grown to 100,000 articles in its English-language version, and it became difficult for Bomis to continue financially supporting the project. With Wikipedia a drain on the company's resources, Wales and Sanger decided to fund the project on a non-profit basis. Bomis laid off most of its employees to continue operating, since Wikipedia was not generating revenue. The company owned Wikipedia from its creation through 2003, and Wales used about \$100,000 of Bomis' revenue to fund Wikipedia before the decision to shift the encyclopedia to non-profit status. In June 2003 Wikipedia was transferred to a nascent non-profit organization, the Wikimedia Foundation, which was formed as a charitable institution to supervise Wikipedia and its associated wiki-based sites. When the foundation was established, its staff began to solicit public funding and Bomis turned Wikipedia over to the non-profit. All Bomis-owned hardware used to run Wikipedia-associated websites was donated to the Wikimedia Foundation, and Wales transferred Wikipedia-related copyrights from Bomis to the foundation. It was first headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida, where Bomis was located. The foundation shifted Wikipedia's dependence away from Bomis, allowing it to purchase hardware for expansion. The Wikimedia Foundation board of trustees was initially composed of Bomis' three founders: Jimmy Wales and his two business partners, Michael Davis and Tim Shell. Shell and Davis were appointed to the board by Wales, but after Wikipedia community members complained that the board was composed of appointed individuals, the first elections were held in 2004. Two community members, Florence Devouard and Angela Beesley, were elected to the board of trustees. In August 2004 Wales was chief executive officer of Bomis, and on September 20 Wikipedia reached the million-article mark on an expenditure of \$500,000 (most directly from Wales). In November 2004 he told the St. Petersburg Times he no longer controlled Bomis' day-to-day operations, but retained ownership as a shareholder. In 2005, Tim Shell was CEO of Bomis and one of the board members overseeing Wikipedia. Shell remained CEO of Bomis in 2006, becoming vice-president of the Wikimedia Foundation and continuing to serve on its board. Bomis co-founder Michael Davis became treasurer of the Wikimedia Foundation that year. Wales told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2007 that although he retained partial ownership of Bomis, "It's pretty much dead." According to the Internet Archive, the Bomis website was last accessible with content in 2010; when accessed in 2013 by the archive, it had a welcome message for PetaBox. When accessed in 2014 by the archive, the website featured a blank white page with a line of text saying "Hello, world!". ## Aftermath In 2005, Wales made 18 changes to his Wikipedia biography. He removed references to Bomis Babes as softcore pornography and erotica, and Larry Sanger as co-founder of Wikipedia. Wales' actions were publicized by author Rogers Cadenhead, attracting attention from US and UK media. In 2011, Time listed Wales' 2005 edits in its "Top 10 Wikipedia Moments". Wikipedia policy warned users not to edit their own biography pages, with its rules on autobiographical editing quoting Wales: "It is a social faux pas to write about yourself." Larry Sanger said, "It does seem that Jimmy is attempting to rewrite history", and began a discussion on the talk page of Wales' biography about historical revisionism. Wales called his actions fixing mistakes, but after Cadenhead publicized the edits to his biography he expressed regret for his actions. In The Times Wales said that individuals should not edit their own Wikipedia biographies, telling The New Yorker that the standard applied to himself as well. Wales warned that the activity should be discouraged because of the potential for bias: "I wish I hadn't done it. It's in poor taste." Bomis was called the "Playboy of the Internet" by The Atlantic, and the sobriquet was subsequently used by publications including The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, MSN Money, Wired, The Torch Magazine, and the 2007 book The Cult of the Amateur by Andrew Keen. Wales considered the "Playboy of the Internet" nickname inappropriate, although he was asked in interviews if his time at Bomis made him a "porn king". The 2010 documentary film about Wikipedia, Truth in Numbers? Everything, According to Wikipedia, discussed this characterization of Wales by journalists. Wales, interviewed in the film, called the characterization inaccurate and explained that his company responded to content demand from customers. In later interviews, he responded to "porn king" questions by telling journalists to look at a page on Yahoo! about pornography related to dwarfism. According to a 2007 article in Reason, "If he was a porn king, he suggests, so is the head of the biggest Web portal in the world." ## Analysis The Chronicle of Philanthropy characterized Bomis as "an Internet marketing firm... which also traded in erotic photographs for a while." Jeff Howe wrote in his 2008 book, Crowdsourcing: How the Power of the Crowd is Driving the Future of Business, about "one of Wales's less altruistic ventures, a Web portal called Bomis.com that featured, among other items, soft-core pornography." In his 2008 book, The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It, legal scholar Jonathan Zittrain wrote that "Bomis helped people find 'erotic photography', and earned money through advertising as well as subscription fees for premium content." The Guardian described the site as on "the fringes of the adult entertainment industry", and The Edge called Bomis.com an "explicit-content search engine". Business 2.0 Magazine described it as "a search portal... which created and hosted Web rings around popular search terms – including, not surprisingly, a lot of adult themes."

Buddhist devotion

Devotional practices of Buddhists

Devotion, a central practice in Buddhism, refers to commitment to religious observances or to an object or person, and may be translated with Sanskrit or Pāli terms like saddhā, gārava or pūjā. Central to Buddhist devotion is the practice of Buddhānussati, the recollection of the inspiring qualities of the Buddha. Although buddhānussati was an important aspect of practice since Buddhism's early period, its importance was amplified with the arising of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Specifically, with Pure Land Buddhism, many forms of devotion were developed to recollect and connect with the celestial Buddhas, especially Amitābha. Most Buddhists use ritual in pursuit of their spiritual aspirations. Common devotional practices are receiving a blessing, making merit, making a resolution, prostrating, making offerings, chanting traditional texts and pilgrimage. Moreover, many types of visualizations, recollections and mantras are used in Buddhist meditation in different traditions to devote oneself to a Buddha or a teacher. The often politically motivated practice of self-immolation is a less common aspect of devotion in some Buddhist communities. Buddhist devotional practices can be performed at home or in a temple, in which images of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and enlightened disciples are located. Buddhist devotion is practiced more intensively on the uposatha observation days and on yearly festivals, which are different depending on region and tradition. ## Definition The term devotion in the context of Buddhism is defined by Sri Lankan scholar Indumathie Karunaratna as "the fact or quality of being devoted to religious observances or a solemn dedication to an object or a person". It is covered in the Pali language by terms such as pema (affection), saddhā (faith or belief), pasāda (serene confidence), bhatti (faith) and gārava (respect). Pema is often used in the initial attraction a student feels for his spiritual teacher; saddhā is deeper, although still considered an initial step on the spiritual path. Saddhā and gārava might inspire a layperson to ordain as a monk, whereas saddhā and pema may help a devotee to attain a good afterlife destination. Bhatti in early Buddhism has the meaning of 'faithful adherence to the [Buddhist] religion', but in later texts, it develops the meaning of an advanced form of devotion. Apart from these terms, the term pūjā is also used for expressions of "honor, worship and devotional attention". Pūjā is derived from the Vedic root pūj-, meaning 'to revere, to honor'. According to the Pāli Studies scholar M.M.J Marasinghe, in the Theravāda Pāli Canon, it did not have the meaning of ritual offering yet. It did include honoring through physical, verbal and mental ways. The term pūjā originated with Dravidian culture, in which it may have been used for a ritual or an element of ritual procedure, and these ritual connotations may have affected Buddhism at a later period. According to anthropologist William Tuladhar-Douglas, however, the root pūj- had a ritual meaning from the early Buddhist period. Although in traditional texts devotional acts are sometimes not considered part of the path to enlightenment itself, they are considered a way to prepare oneself for the development of this path. Devotion is expressed through the three doors of action (body, speech and mind). It is regarded as a form of giving, which is done for both one's own benefit and that of the other. In many Buddhist societies, devotional practices are engaged in because of this-life benefits (healing, exorcism of malevolent spirits), because of karmic pursuits (accumulating good karma for the next lives to come) and because the devotee would like to attain Nirvana. ## History In early Buddhism, it was a common practice to recollect the qualities of the Buddha, known as buddhānussati. In the period of the arising of Mahāyāna Buddhism, there was a growing sense of loss in Buddhist communities with regard to the passing away of the Buddha, and a growing desire to be able to meet him again. These developments led to the arising of faith-based forms of Buddhism such as Pure Land Buddhism, in which the practice of buddhānussati involved celestial Buddhas such as the Amitābha Buddha. Devotional practices became commonplace, as new techniques were developed to recollect the qualities and magnificence of the celestial Buddhas, such as visualization and chants. In Buddhist devotion the Triple Gem, that is the Buddha, his teaching (Sanskrit: Dharma, Pali: Dhamma), and his community (Sanskrit: Saṃgha, Pali: Saṇgha) are mostly honored. However, this does not mean that deities have no role in Buddhist devotion: they do, but are usually put on a subordinate level with the Buddha at the top of the spiritual hierarchy. In some Buddhist societies, the devotional life has significantly been influenced by pre-Buddhist devotion to deities and spirits. In modern times, Buddhist devotion has changed in many ways. Traditional days of observance can no longer be maintained in the same way due to the introduction of a seven-day workweek, and chants and other practices have been abridged or standardized to adapt to modern society. Goods offered in devotion have been commercialized. Nevertheless, devotional practices still continue to exist and evolve. Today, most Buddhists use ritual in pursuit of their spiritual aspirations. ## Symbols Devotion to the Triple Gem is mostly expressed toward the Buddha image. However, other symbols have also been used throughout Buddhist history, including the lotus flower, the Wheel of the Dhamma, the Bodhi Tree and the stupa. Sometimes, devotees also pay honor to foot prints believed to have been left behind by Gautama Buddha or a previous Buddha. ## Practices Buddhism regards inner devotion as more important than outer ritual. However, devotion does have an important place in Buddhism. Devotion is developed through several practices, expressed through physical movement, speech, and mind. Buddhist devotion is not only direct to the Buddha, but also to the Buddha's teaching (Sanskrit: Dharma; Pali: Dhamma) and inanimate objects considered sacred such as stūpas (hemispherical structures containing relics) or Buddhist texts (Sanskrit: sūtra; Pali: sutta). Sutras are Buddhist texts seen as the body of the Dharma or the body of the Buddha. An important idea in Buddhist devotional practice is that good qualities of mind can be developed by association with someone or something linked to high spiritual attainment. In Burmese Buddhism, devotion to the Buddha is seen to bear fruits, not because the Buddha is seen to respond to the devotion, but rather because of the spiritual power inherent in his words or relics, and because of the merit of the worship itself. In Theravāda Buddhism, devotional ceremonies can be classified as ceremonies for making merit (doing good deeds, e.g. offerings to monks), ceremonies to ward off danger (e.g. chanting certain Buddhist texts) and ceremonies adapted from folk religion. Almost all lay practices are focused on making merit, and gaining a personal spiritual benefit is, therefore, an important part of Buddhist devotion. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, it is common to combine several devotional practices in one three-fold or seven-fold ceremony. In the threefold ceremony, practitioners will confess their wrongdoings and rejoice in the goodness that others have done. Thirdly, either merits are dedicated to other living beings, or the Buddhas are requested to keep on teaching for the benefit of the world. In the seven-fold series, all four of these practices are also engaged in, plus an obeisance and an offering are given, and the Buddhas are requested to not yet leave the world to go to final Nirvana. These ceremonies, whether three- or sevenfold, often precede a meditation session. Several elevenfold series are also known, which also include going for refuge, upholding the five ethical precepts and reminding oneself of the aim of enlightenment for all living beings. The ceremonies are described in several Mahāyāna sūtras, among which the Avataṃsaka Sūtra and the Gandavyūha. ### Blessing In Buddhism, ceremonies are meant to provide a blessing. A Buddhist practitioner may engage in devotional practices to ask for blessings from a Buddha or enlightened being. Monks and nuns are also believed to be able to convey spiritual power by giving a blessing (Sanskrit: adhiṣṭhāna, Pali: adhiṭṭhāna) through chanting, a blessed object or some other means. The spiritual power of monastics is considered to come from their ordination lineage and virtue. In expressing faith and devotion to a Buddha or other spiritually advanced being, devotees may also ask for repentance to help free themselves from the retribution of bad karma or as an exercise for self-improvement. Sometimes a distinction is made between the direct, visible help a Buddha gave to a disciple, for example, by giving encouragement, and the hidden powers that a Buddha had and still has, which he also uses to help living beings. These hidden powers can refer to psychic powers, or it can also refer to the power gained when a practitioner invokes the Buddha's name. ### Merit-making and resolve Merit is an energy that can be accumulated through merit-making practices, often performed with people who are considered to have the spiritual power to give blessings, like monastics. This energy can also be directed at a goal chosen, through a resolve (Sanskrit: praṇidhāna, Pali: paṇidhāna) often made. Such a resolve may be focused on this-worldly goals such as health, intelligence, protection from harm, but also goals that are less mundane, such as rebirth in heaven, rebirth in a Pure Land, and enlightenment. Throughout history, these resolves have often been recorded on materials like stone. It is also believed that merit can be transferred to other living beings to help them, or transferred to a deity, who is expected to help in return. Finally, it is believed merit can help to weaken the effects of bad karma. ### Prostration In Buddhism, prostration is performed in several situations. Buddhists may prostrate for images of Gotama Buddha, and in Mahāyāna Buddhism also to other Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Devotion towards bodhisattvas is focused on their compassion, their skill and extraordinary powers. Apart from that, lay devotees may prostrate for a stūpa or a Bodhi Tree (a tree of the same type that the Buddha became enlightened under), but also to a monastic, or sometimes a religious teacher of some kind. They may also prostrate to their parents or to their elders. Monastics will prostrate for a monk ordained earlier, but female monastics are expected to prostrate to all male monastics, regardless of date of ordination. Prostration is done as an expression of humility and an acknowledgement of the other's spiritual experience. It is usually done three times, to pay respect to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Saṁgha. The prostration is done by holding the hands in front of the chest and bringing them to the different parts of the upper body, to indicate paying respect by the three gates of action, or to indicate the spiritual realization of the truth by a Buddha, realized through body, speech and mind. After that, one either bows with the elbows and head onto the ground, or by fully outstretching one's entire body. Apart from such threefold prostrations, prostrations may also be done continuously as a form of repentance, or as part of the ritual of circumambulating (walking around) a stūpa or other holy place . Finally, sometimes a pilgrimage is completely or partly done by prostrating oneself forward. At a more basic level, respect may be shown by a gesture of clasped hands held against the chest (') and raising the hands to one's head or chin, depending on the position and level of respect at which the other person is. ### Offering Another important practice is the giving of offerings () out of respect and humility to a Buddha image or other artifact. This is often combined with chanting. Buddhists may offer flowers as a symbol of growth, or incense to remind themselves of the "odor of sanctity" of the Buddha. Candles and lights may also be offered, symbolizing the dispelling of the darkness of ignorance. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a set of seven offerings is often given, in which the first two offerings represent hospitality, and the other five the senses. Such an offering indicates respect through one's entire being, as represented by the five senses. When an offering is given in a temple, the devotees will normally take off their shoes, wash the object to be offered, approach the image or stūpa holding their hands in añjali and perform the actual offering, after which they prostrate. The offering of flowers and other offerings and care that is given to a holy place are not only signs of respect, but they also are meant to change the environment of the devotee in a place where the Buddha would be at home. Offerings given to the monastic community are also considered a form of devotion, and offerings of food are often given to the Buddha image first, after which offerings are given to the monks for their breakfast or mid-day meal. ### Recitation Recitation of traditional texts is encouraged in many Buddhist traditions. A very basic form that is very important is the recitation of Three Refuges, of which every phrase is repeated three times. This is called taking refuge, and it is done by a naming the Buddha, the Dharma and the Saṃgha as refuges. The anussatis or recollections can also be chanted, as well as a review of the five precepts. Protective chantings (Pali: paritta) are also widespread. Many forms of protective chanting exist in Buddhism, among which the well-known Karaṇīyamettā Sutta. Whereas some of these chants are used to ward of specific dangers, such as that during childbirth, or meant for specific occasions, such as weddings, others are considered to be beneficial in a more general sense. They are believed to affect only the life of the practitioner who recites them with a mind of faith. They are considered to bring benefits to mental health and well-being, and are a form of practicing loving-kindness in thought. Moreover, they are considered to speed up the fruits of good karma, please the devas (deities) and are expressions of the truth of the Buddha's teachings. In Mahāyāna Buddhism mantras and dhāraṇīs are also used, which include the Heart Sutra and the mantra Om Maṇi Padme Hum. Dharanis are often summaries of teachings that function like mnemonic aids. Besides these, there are also chantings in homage to Amitābha in Pure Land Buddhism, chantings in homage to the Lotus Sutra in Nichiren Buddhism and chantings in homage of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara in East Asian and Tibetan Mahāyāna Buddhism. In Nichiren Buddhism, the Lotus Sūtra is honored through a seven-syllable mantra, the title of the sūtra, which is engraved on a plaque called the gohonzon. This plaque is the central focus of Nichiren devotion, and chanting the mantra in honor of the sūtra is considered of great benefit to the practitioner. In Tibetan and other forms of Mahāyāna Buddhism, the name of Avalokiteśvara is called upon through the Om Maṇi Padme Hum mantra, which is done by using praying wheels, by printing the mantra on prayer flags and carving it on stones and other materials. But this mantra is not the only form of chanting which is preserved in ritual ways: other mantras and Buddhist verses are also kept in the form of tiny scrolls kept in ornaments, amulets and even tattoos. Chanting of Buddhist texts is the most widespread mental cultivation practice for lay people. It is believed to help overcome hindrances and negative emotions in the mind and cultivate positive ones. Buddhist chants are reflections on the good spiritual qualities of the Three Refuges or an enlightened teacher, and aspirations of spiritual perfection. Furthermore, chanting texts is considered a way to manifest the healing power of the Buddhist teaching in the world, and to benefit and protect the nation and the world. In early Buddhism, recitation of texts was done mainly for its mnemonic purpose, in a time period when religious texts were not written down. Later on, even though writing became widespread, recitation was still continued out of devotion and to commit the teachings to memory out of respect. Some elements of chanting in Buddhism, such as the monotonous style, still indicate its original mnemonic nature. Although much chanting is done in ancient ritual languages such as Sanskrit or Pali, chants in vernacular languages also exist. A common Pali chant starts with Namo tassa..., and is often chanted to introduce a ceremony. In many Buddhist traditions, prayer beads are used during the chanting. Apart from being a tool to count the number of recitations chanted, in some traditions, the beads are a symbol of the Buddhist faith. Moreover, in Pure Land Buddhism, the beads are a reminder of the Buddha Amitābha's greatness and one's own limited capacities compared to him. Apart from chanting, in some traditions, offerings of music are given in honor of the Triple Gem, consisting of traditional music performed by specialists, or just the ritual music that accompanies the chanting. Recitation of texts need not always be in the form of ritual chanting: in Tibet, it is considered meritorious to invite monks to read from Buddhist texts, sometimes for days on end. Devotion can also be expressed in lofty forms of everyday speech, as in the verbs used when talking about a Buddha image in some Southeast Asian languages. ### Meditation In many Buddhist traditions, faith is attributed an important role in the preparation process for meditation practice. Faith is often mentioned hand-in-hand with moral discipline, which practitioners require to improve their mindfulness and energy. This mindfulness and energy will then help practitioners move forward in meditation practice, culminating in wisdom and understanding. More specifically, in the Theravāda meditation manual called the Visuddhimagga, several personality types are distinguished, among them the faith type. Each personality type requires its own approach in meditation practice. People of the faith type have some similarities with the greedy personality type, but differ in that they cling to what is beneficial and wholesome. For this type, several anussati are recommended, which means 'recollection of'. Examples are the recollection of the qualities of the Triple Gem, recollection of the benefits of moral discipline or giving, or reflection on the good qualities of devas. In texts such as the Visuddhimagga, devotion to the Triple Gem was developed into several forms of meditation: buddhānussati, dhammānusati and saṅghānusati, respectively. In these recollections, practitioners reflect on the attributes of the Triple Gem following the stock formulas found in many places in the Tipiṭaka, the early Pali scriptures. The recollection is believed to lead the practitioner to joy, inner peace and concentration. Sometimes practitioners internalize a Buddha image as a mental image used in meditation. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, especially in Pure Land Buddhism, faith-based meditations can also be found: five recollections are used to remind oneself of the goodness of Amitābha Buddha. The first three represent body, speech and mind: practitioners honor Amitābha Buddha through physical action, e.g. by prostrating; through speech, by chanting in praise of him; and by resolving to be reborn with him in the Pure Land. The fourth recollection is a series of visualizations, similar to the faith-based meditations from the Visuddhimagga and descriptions in the Pāli Canon. In these visualizations, practitioners imagine Amitābha Buddha, the Pure Land, and after that, themselves being reborn there. The fifth "recollection" is the practice of skillful means to help others to achieve rebirth in the Pure Land as well. Apart from these visualizations, the chant in honor of Amitābha Buddha can also be recited in a meditative way, silently in one's mind or through the rhythm of one's breath. Pure Land meditations were also practiced in Tibetan Buddhism. Although there was less focus on Amitābha Buddha, some Nyingma masters did teach Amitābha visualizations. Furthermore, in Kagyu tradition a technique was taught which was believed to help cross over to a Pure Land at the time of death, called 'pho ba. There are also devotional visualization meditations in Tantric Buddhism, as can be found in Tibetan, Chinese, Korean and Japanese Buddhism. These practices differ from the Pure Land visualizations in that, apart from a Buddha, the teacher (guru) is very important in the process, and a form of meditation directed towards the guru is also taught. Practitioners often take refuge in their spiritual teacher, who symbolizes the Triple Gem. Furthermore, they often take refuge in a yidam (Tibetan), which Buddhist Studies scholar Peter Harvey translates as 'tutelary deity'. This can be a Buddha, a bodhisattva or a deity. By focusing on the exemplary aspects of one's teacher, who is also visualized in meditation, one develops faith in the practice. Furthermore, the practitioner needs to go through an initiation ritual, in which the guru transmits the knowledge on a particular yidam, and a mantra, visualization practice and sometimes ritual gestures that are appropriate for that deity. Unlike Pure Land visualizations, there are many deities to choose from. The mantra is regarded to express the nature of the yidam, and the gestures are considered to evoke the appropriate states of mind. Moreover, visualization techniques and mantra syllables are believed to actually evoke the deity recalled and incorporate the deity in one's being. Using these practices, the devotee is believed to be guided by the yidam to transform his faults, for example anger, to a "parallel kind of wisdom" (Harvey). When incorporating the yidam into one's being, the devotee is actively imitating the activities associated with that yidam, and this is believed to speed up the attainment of Buddhahood. There are several other tantric devotional meditation forms, including visualizing one's lineage of teachers and prostrating for them, and imagining one's teacher as a Buddha. In Shingon Buddhism, a visualization meditation is often practiced called Ajikan. In this practice, done by both monastics and lay people, devotees invite the Mahāvairocana Buddha to attend the meditation, and visualize a letter A, as a mystical symbol of voidness and the origin of all existence. Devotion can also be expressed through walking meditation, which is very clearly seen in the Pure Land tradition. Pure Land devotees may practice walking meditation continuously for ninety days on end. Devotees walk around an image of Amitābha Buddha, visualizing him and chanting his name: breaks are only taken for bodily functions. The practice was first proposed by the Chinese writer Shandao. ### Pilgrimage Pilgrimage has been described by scholars as the summit of all devotional practices in Buddhism. According to early texts, it is advocated by the Buddha himself. He suggests to pay respect to four places, that is, the place where he is born (Lumbini), the place where he has first attained enlightenment (Bodh Gaya), the place where he preached his first teaching (Sarnath), and finally, the place where he attained his Final Nibbāna (Kusinara). Indeed, to dispel any doubt about the usefulness of such pilgrimage, the Buddha states that he accepts in advance all gifts presented to memorial places such as cetiyas or stūpas, and places of pilgrimage. Such offerings and pilgrimage are therefore considered just as fruitful after he has died, as when he was still alive. Pilgrimage to these four sites in India, especially to Bodh Gaya, has been popular in ancient times, and is now popular again, though on a much larger scale than before. Among the four sites, Bodh Gaya is considered by many to be the most important. The Buddha is believed to have realized the truth there that lies at the foundation of Buddhism. Other places were later added, particularly in other countries, where pilgrimage to the original sites would be daunting. In traditional Buddhist countries such as Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand, Bodhi trees, ancient relics and other holy places (like the cetiya) are also visited as part of pilgrimages. In 11th-century Japan, an institutional system was developed called Shugendō, in which various parts of Japan's geography came to be regarded as symbols of the Buddhist teaching, or to stand for certain bodhisattvas or important historical figures in Japanese Buddhism. Numerous pilgrimage routes were developed to honor these sites, as narratives about them were written down and monasteries and shrines were established on them. In Tibetan Buddhism, many pilgrimage guides have been written with practical instructions for the pilgrim, but also to describe the mystical vision which accompanies the pilgrimage. Buddhists might go on pilgrimage for several reasons: to gain merit, to remind themselves of the Buddha's life, to suffuse themselves with the spiritual power of the pilgrimage places and its artifacts, as a promise made to a bodhisatta in exchange for favors, to gain protection from devas that protect the pilgrimage places, or to bring harmony to their family. Furthermore, pilgrims might want to dedicate the good karma of the trip to their ill or deceased relatives. But often the pilgrimage is simply done to enjoy the nature or cultural settings, to escape city life, or out of nostalgia for the past. Just like pilgrimages in any other religion, the pilgrimage gives devotees the chance to remove themselves from their everyday social-economic position in society, and to become part of another kind of community, characterized by a new ambiguous status. In some Buddhist countries, pilgrimages must be done on foot. Sometimes, pilgrims also perform ascetic or devotional practices such as having a cold bath as part of the visits, or prostrating along the path. Pilgrimages are sometimes done in certain periods, such as in Sri Lanka on days of observance or in certain seasons, and in Tibetan Buddhism as scheduled by a twelve-year cycle. Furthermore, in modern times, Buddhist pilgrimage has often been done as a political statement against certain regimes. Examples of well-known pilgrimage sites are the Temple of the Tooth in Sri Lanka, the Shwe Dagon temple in Myanmar, Mount Wutai and Mount Tai in China, the Kumano Shrine in Japan, and the Bodnath Stūpa in Nepal. ### Other practices Another form of devotional respect is to circumambulate three times around a Buddha image or holy place, keeping it to the right. Traditionally, it is recommended to do this clockwise, with the right shoulder facing the image or place, and if possible, bared. The holy place which is circumambulated can be a temple, a monastery, a mountain or a city. This custom is also symbolic for the sun moving around the central, cosmic mountain, and is practiced in groups at yearly festivals, as well as at funerals. It is usually performed on foot, but sometimes in a vehicle. One practice that has been more controversial than most devotional practices in Buddhism, is the practice of self-immolation. In Buddhist teaching, the human body is regarded as without intrinsic value, but becomes valuable depending on how it is used. The practice of self-immolation is based on this idea, according to which "abandoning the body" in doing good deeds is regarded as a form of heroism. Although the practice seems to go against the Buddhist concept of the Middle Way, Buddhist teaching does emphasize dealing with the natural urges of the body.The practice became more common in China during the fourth until the tenth century CE, with Japan following suit, in the Kamakura Period. The practice was first described in the twenty-third chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, in which the bodhisattva Bhaiṣajyarāja set his own body on fire as a supreme offering to a Buddha. Apart from these Indian origins, the practice may have been preceded by indigenous practices to conjure up rain. Regarded by some as a highly developed form of doing good ('), devotees burnt parts of their body, such as an arm or a finger, in honor of the sūtra, or hoping to be reborn in a Pure Land. Burning oneself fully as an act of devotion, also known as '', was a highly respected practice in China at the time, and was often organized as a public event, attended by emperors and officials. During the Vietnam War, Buddhist monks used self-immolation as a way to express political dissent. When the monk Thich Quang Duc performed self-immolation in 1963, this was widely featured in international press reports. This contributed to the US government eventually withdrawing from supporting President Diem, who suppressed Buddhism. Self-immolation became more and more subject of criticism from the eight century CE onward, from Confucianists, state officials and also from Buddhist monks themselves. In the 21st century CE, the practice has become uncommon. Nevertheless, up until the 1990s and 2000s, Vietnamese monks were still reported to practice self-immolation, and Chinese and Korean monks still offered their fingers, burning them. ## Places Although almost all devotional practices can be done in one's own home, it is custom to meet in the local temple on festivals and days of observance. Buddhist temples often contain dormitories for monastics, who meditate and study there, and lead devotional practices at the temple. Theravāda, Chan and Zen Buddhist temples usually only have an image of Gautama Buddha in the main room, perhaps combined with images of his close disciples Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana. In Mahāyāna Buddhist temples, more diversity can be found, including different heavenly Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and sometimes a series of arahant disciples (disciples that have achieved personal enlightenment). The Buddhist temple usually contains a room for meetings, meditations or preaching, and may contain a stūpa with relics or Buddhist texts, or a Bodhi tree. This type of room in a temple is called the buddhavasa, or the 'Buddha's dwelling place', whereas the dormitories for monastics are called sanghavasa, or the 'Sangha's dwelling place'. In Chinese, Japanese and Korean temples, the room with stūpas and relics is often a separate hall from the teaching hall, and there is usually a separate hall with Buddha images as well. In modern Mahāyāna temples in the West, however, the temple's structure is often simplified. Last of all, in Vajrayāna temples, iconic devotional paintings called thankas can be found, as well as mandalas, which picture Vajrayāna cosmology. Stūpas and Buddha images may be donated by a single supporter, or by a community of devotees, motivated by merit-making motives. In most Buddhist traditions, Buddha images are regarded as more than just representations, but as actually imbued with a spiritual power connected to the Three Refuges and the faith of the devotee, as reflected in consecration ceremonies and legendary accounts. Similarly, relics are also widely honored, because they are seen as an embodiment of the Buddha. Believed by some scholars to be a Buddhist invention, devotion to relics brings Buddhism from a distant age and place closer to home. Also, some Buddhists believe the relics have supernatural abilities, such as the ability to reproduce themselves. Temples with well-known relics such as the Temple of the Tooth in Sri Lanka are worshipped by thousands of people per day, and well-known relics often provide both the religion as the region with a cultural identity. The stūpas that contain the relics are not just honored for the relics, however; by some Buddhists they are also seen as symbolizing the state of enlightenment. Buddhist temples may be built in a place deemed sacred following the principles of the country's sacred geography, geomancy or because of a pilgrimage route. It is common in Buddhist temples to take off one's shoes or change them. In ancient times, shoes were a status symbol and taking them off was, therefore, an expression of humility. It might also have been done to keep the temple grounds clean. Another custom is to put the Buddha image on the highest spot in the room, and devotees will prevent raising their head higher than the image or point their feet at the image. ## Festivals and observance days All Buddhist traditions have festivals, during which devotion is practiced. Many of these are Buddhist in origin, others are a response to pre-Buddhist cultural traditions, the agricultural year cycle, certain national deities, or important events in the local history. In many Theravāda countries, the traditional New Year is celebrated mid-year, during which certain Buddhist customs are observed. This includes ceremonies for reflection on misdeeds and resolving to do good, and release of animals. Other important festivals are Vesak, Asalha Puja, the Pavāraṇa Day and Kaṭhina. Vesak is the day that celebrates the birth, enlightenment and final enlightenment (after death) of the Buddha Gautama. In some countries, however, these three events are celebrated as separate days. In East Asian countries, many of these festivals are also celebrated, but other festivals with pre-Buddhist origins are held as well, combined with Buddhist elements. An example of this is the Ghost Festival, on which is recollected that Maudgalyāyana Sthavira dedicated good karma to his deceased mother, out of gratitude to her. This festival was a response to Confucian ideals of filial piety. Some Buddhist festivals honor a certain Dharma text. For example, the Thai festival of Thet Mahachat is dedicated to the recitation of the Vessantara Jātaka, a story about kingship and merit-making. Apart from festivals, in Theravāda Buddhism, there are also observance days (Pali: uposatha) following the ancient Indian lunar calendar. Uposatha days are observed by the more strict devotees, who will go to their local temple to give food, take upon themselves the five or eight precepts, listen to teachings and meditate. In other traditions, there are also monthly or bimonthly, weekly or daily observances. Moreover, the monastic rains retreat (vassa) is for many devotees a time to focus more on chanting and meditation. ## See also - Ratana Sutta'' - Awgatha - Burmese Buddhist Devotion - Sacca-kiriya - Buddhist liturgy - Sādhu - Funeral/Bardo - Death anniversary - Bon (festival) - Higan - Transfer of merit - Offering (Buddhism) - Segaki - Silken Painting of Emperor Go-Daigo

Japanese battleship Mikasa

Japanese pre-dreadnought battleship

Mikasa (三笠) is a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the late 1890s, and is the only ship of her class. Named after Mount Mikasa in Nara, Japan, the ship served as the flagship of Vice Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō throughout the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, including the Battle of Port Arthur on the second day of the war and the Battles of the Yellow Sea and Tsushima. Days after the end of the war, Mikasa's magazine accidentally exploded and sank the ship. She was salvaged and her repairs took over two years to complete. Afterwards, the ship served as a coast-defence ship during World War I and supported Japanese forces during the Siberian Intervention in the Russian Civil War. After 1922, Mikasa was decommissioned in accordance with the Washington Naval Treaty and preserved as a museum ship at Yokosuka. She was badly neglected during the post-World War II Occupation of Japan and required extensive refurbishing in the late 1950s. She has been partially restored, and is now a museum ship located at Mikasa Park in Yokosuka. Mikasa is the last remaining example of a pre-dreadnought battleship anywhere in the world and also the last example of a British-built battleship still existing. ## Background The combat experience of the lightly armoured Matsushima-class cruisers during the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895 convinced the Imperial Japanese Navy of weaknesses in the Jeune Ecole naval philosophy, and Japan embarked on a program to modernize and expand its fleet in preparation for further confrontations. In particular, Japan promulgated a ten-year naval build-up programme, with the construction of six battleships and six armoured cruisers at its core. These ships were paid for from the £30,000,000 indemnity paid by China after losing the First Sino-Japanese War. As with the earlier Fuji and Shikishima-class battleships, Japan lacked the technology and capability to construct its own battleships, and turned again to the United Kingdom for the four remaining battleships of the programme. Mikasa, the last of these ships, was ordered from the Vickers shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness in 1898 at the cost of £880,000 (8.8 million yen at that time). Although she closely resembled several of the other ships ordered in this program, she was the only ship in her class. ## Design and description The design of Mikasa was a modified version of the Formidable-class battleships of the Royal Navy with two additional 6-inch (152 mm) guns. Mikasa had an overall length of 432 feet (131.7 m), a beam of 76 feet (23.2 m), and a normal draught of 27 feet 2 inches (8.3 m). She displaced 15,140 long tons (15,380 t) at normal load. The crew numbered about 830 officers and enlisted men. The ship was powered by two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller, using steam generated by 25 Belleville boilers. The engines were rated at 15,000 indicated horsepower (11,000 kW) using forced draught, and designed to reach a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) although Mikasa proved to be faster during her sea trials in December 1901, reaching 18.45 knots (34.17 km/h; 21.23 mph) from 16,341 indicated horsepower (12,185 kW). She carried a maximum of 2,000 long tons (2,000 t) of coal which allowed her to steam for 9,000 nautical miles (17,000 km; 10,000 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). Mikasa's main battery consisted of the same four Elswick Ordnance Company 40-calibre twelve-inch guns used in all of the preceding Japanese battleships. They were mounted in twin-gun barbettes fore and aft of the superstructure which were additionally protected with armoured hoods, thus resembling true gun turrets. The hydraulically powered mountings could be loaded at all angles of traverse while the guns were loaded at a fixed angle of +13.5°. They fired 850-pound (386 kg) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2,400 ft/s (730 m/s). The ship's secondary armament consisted of fourteen 40-calibre 6-inch (152 mm) quick-firing guns mounted in casemates. Ten of these guns were positioned on the main deck and the other four guns were placed above them at the corners of the superstructure. They fired 100-pound (45 kg) shells at a muzzle velocity of 2,300 ft/s (700 m/s). Protection against torpedo boat attacks was provided by twenty QF 12-pounder 12 cwt guns. The 12-pounders fired 3-inch (76 mm), 12.5-pound (5.7 kg) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2,359 ft/s (719 m/s). Lighter guns consisted of eight 47-millimetre (1.9 in) three-pounder Hotchkiss guns and eight 47-millimetre 2.5-pounder Hotchkiss guns. The three-pounder gun fired 3.19-pound (1.45 kg) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 1,927 ft/s (587 m/s) while the 2.5-pounder fired 2.5-pound (1.1 kg) shells at a muzzle velocity of 1,420 ft/s (430 m/s). The ship was also equipped with four submerged 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes, two on each broadside. The waterline armour belt of Mikasa consisted of Krupp cemented armour that had a maximum thickness of 9 inches (229 mm) over the middle of the ship. It was only 4 inches (102 mm) thick at the ends of the ship and was surmounted by a six-inch strake of armour that ran between the barbettes. The barbettes were 14 inches (356 mm) thick, but reduced to six inches at the level of the lower deck. The armour of the barbette hoods had a thickness of 8–10 inches (203–254 mm). The casemates protecting the secondary armament were 2–6 inches (51–152 mm) thick and the deck armour was 2–3 inches (51–76 mm) in thickness. The forward conning tower was protected by 14 inches of armour, but the aft conning tower only had four inches of armour. Mikasa, like all the other Japanese battleships of the time, was fitted with four Barr & Stroud FA3 coincidence rangefinders that had an effective range of 7,300 metres (8,000 yd). In addition the ships were also fitted with 24-power magnification telescopic gunsights. ## Construction and career Mikasa, named after Mount Mikasa, was laid down by Vickers at their Barrow-in-Furness shipyard on 24 January 1899. Baroness (later Countess) Hayashi, the wife of the then resident minister to Great Britain (later Ambassador), served as Mikasa's sponsor, launching the hull on a rainy, but otherwise perfect ceremony on 8 November 1900. She would be completed on 1 March 1902, and after a visit to Devonport, she left Plymouth on 13 March, bound for Yokohama, under the command of Captain Hayasaki. At the start of the Russo-Japanese War, Mikasa, commanded by Captain Hikojirō Ijichi, was assigned to the 1st Division of the 1st Fleet. She participated in the Battle of Port Arthur on 9 February 1904 when Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō led the 1st Fleet in an attack on the Russian ships of the Pacific Squadron anchored just outside Port Arthur. Tōgō had expected his surprise night attack on the Russians by his destroyers to be much more successful than it actually was and expected to find them badly disorganized and weakened, but the Russians had recovered from their surprise and were ready for his attack. The Japanese ships were spotted by the cruiser Boyarin which was patrolling offshore and alerted the Russian defences. Tōgō chose to attack the Russian coastal defences with his main armament and engage the Russian ships with his secondary guns. Splitting his fire proved to be a bad idea as the Japanese 8-inch (203 mm) and six-inch guns inflicted very little significant damage on the Russian ships who concentrated all their fire on the Japanese ships with some effect. Although a large number of ships on both sides were hit, Russian casualties numbered only 17 while the Japanese suffered 60 killed and wounded before Tōgō disengaged. Mikasa was hit by two ten-inch shells during the engagement that wounded seven crewmen. The ship participated in the action of 13 April when Tōgō successfully lured out a portion of the Pacific Squadron, including Vice Admiral Stepan Makarov's flagship, the battleship Petropavlovsk. When Makarov spotted the five battleships of the 1st Division, he turned back for Port Arthur and Petropavlovsk struck a minefield laid by the Japanese the previous night. The Russian battleship sank in less than two minutes after one of her magazines exploded, and Makarov was one of the 677 killed. Emboldened by his success, Tōgō resumed long-range bombardment missions, which prompted the Russians to lay more minefields which sank two Japanese battleships the following month. During the Battle of the Yellow Sea on 10 August, Mikasa was at the head of the column of Japanese battleships and was one of the primary targets of the Russian ships. She was hit twenty times, two of which knocked out her aft 12-inch gun turret, and suffered 125 casualties among her crew. In turn, she concentrated most of her fire upon the battleships Poltava and Tsesarevich although both ships were only lightly damaged by the Japanese shells which generally failed to penetrate any armour and detonated on impact. ### Battle of Tsushima At the Battle of Tsushima on 27 May 1905, Mikasa again led the 1st Fleet into combat, this time against the Second and Third Pacific Squadrons detached from the Baltic Fleet. The ship opened fire at the battleship Knyaz Suvorov, the Russian flagship, at 14:10, and was joined by the battleship Asahi and the armoured cruiser Azuma shortly afterwards. Within an hour the Japanese ships had started a serious fire aboard the Russian ship, badly wounded the fleet commander, Vice Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky, knocked out her rear twelve-inch gun turret, and jammed Knyaz Suvorov's steering so that she fell out of formation. During this time, Mikasa was the focus of the Russian fire as the leading ship in the Japanese column and was hit by 6 twelve-inch and 19 six-inch shells. They did very little damage and Tōgō was able to cross the T of the Russian squadrons. Knyaz Suvorov's steering was later repaired, but she blundered between the Japanese and Russian fleets several times later in the battle and Mikasa fired three torpedoes at her to no avail. Later in the battle, the ship appears to have fired mostly on the battleship Borodino although Fuji fired the shots that caused the Russian ship's magazines to explode and sink her. At 18:04, a twelve-inch shell detonated prematurely in the barrel of the right gun of the forward turret, disabling the gun and knocking out the left gun until 18:40. Another twelve-inch shell had exploded in that same barrel almost two hours earlier, but had not damaged the gun. One six-inch gun jammed after firing 19 rounds, but the only other damage to any of the ship's guns was one six-inch gun that was disabled by a Russian shell of the same size that entered through the gun port. She fired 124 twelve-inch shells during the battle, more than any other ship except Asahi's 142. In total, Mikasa was hit more than 40 times during the battle, including 10 twelve-inch and 22 six-inch shells, but none of them seriously damaged her. While Mikasa suffered 113 personnel casualties, the entire Japanese force combined only lost 117 men killed and 583 wounded to all causes during the battle. Six days after the Treaty of Portsmouth that ended the war was signed, Mikasa sank at her moorings after a fire and magazine explosion at Sasebo on the night of 11/12 September 1905 that killed 251 crewmen. She was refloated on 7 August 1906, reconstructed and repaired at Sasebo Naval Arsenal. The navy took the opportunity to upgrade her existing armament with more powerful 45-calibre twelve-inch and six-inch guns during the two years it took to repair the ship. Mikasa was restored to active service on 24 August 1908. In 1912, Mikasa came extremely close to suffering another main magazine detonation, when a suicidal sailor attempted to blow her up at anchor near Kobe. During World War I, she served on coast-defence duties, based at Maizuru, during 1914–15 and was then assigned to the Second and Fifth Squadrons, in that order, for the rest of the war. The ship supported the Japanese intervention in Siberia during the Russian Civil War during 1921 and was reclassified on 1 September 1921 as a first-class coast-defence ship. On 17 September, Mikasa ran aground near Askold Island off Vladivostok, but was not seriously damaged. ### Preservation The ship was decommissioned on 23 September 1923 following the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and scheduled for destruction. However, at the request of the Japanese government, each of the signatory countries to the treaty agreed that Mikasa could be preserved as a memorial ship with her hull encased in concrete. On 12 November 1926, Mikasa was opened for display in Yokosuka in the presence of Crown Prince Hirohito and Tōgō. Following the surrender of Japan in 1945, the ship deteriorated under control of the occupation forces. In 1955, American businessman John Rubin, formerly of Barrow, England, wrote a letter to the Japan Times about the state of the ship, which was the catalyst for a new restoration campaign. With the support of the Japanese public, and also Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the restored battleship reopened in 1961. On 5 August 2009, Mikasa was repainted by sailors from USS Nimitz. Mikasa is the only surviving example of a pre-dreadnought battleship in the world. Mikasa is remembered in Barrow-in-Furness, the town of its construction, by Mikasa Street on Walney Island. ## See also - Russian cruiser Aurora, a surviving Russian warship of the Battle of Tsushima - USS Olympia, a U.S. Navy protected cruiser preserved in Philadelphia - USS Texas, sole surviving dreadnought battleship - Greek cruiser Georgios Averof, the only armored cruiser still afloat

Mississippi Highway 245

State Highway in Mississippi

Mississippi Highway 245 (MS 245) is a state highway located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. It is the designation for two separate sections of the old U.S. Route 45 Alternate (US 45 Alt.) that the state continues to maintain. The Crawford section, designated in 2007, runs south to north from US 45 Alt. back to US 45 Alt. in Lowndes County. The other section's southern terminus is at US 45 Alt. south of Okolona in Chickasaw County and the northern terminus is at MS 145 in Shannon in Lee County. Along the way this section intersects MS 41 and the eastern terminus of MS 32 in Okolona. The section from Chickasaw County to Lee County was designated in 1998, after the completion of a four-lane bypass for US 45 Alt.. ## Route description MS 245 is located in Lowndes, Chickasaw, and Lee counties. The route is legally defined in Mississippi Code § 65-3-3, and it is maintained by Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) as part of the Mississippi State Highway System. In Lowndes County, MS 245 starts at its intersection with US 45 Alt., and it begins traveling northwestwards. After passing through a small area of trees, the road intersects Main Street and Tarlton Road, entering the city limits of the town. It then passes under a railroad and enters the outskirts of Crawford. MS 245 intersects multiple streets as it turns north towards US 45 Alt.. North of Long Street, the road begins to bend northeastwards, and it soon ends at US 45 Alt. In Chickasaw County, MS 245 starts at US 45 Alt. south of Egypt. The road begins traveling northwestwards through farmland, intersecting County Roads 410 and 155 (CRD 410 and CRD 155, respectively). North of CRD 252, the route crosses Jolly Creek. MS 245 turns north at CRD 149 and enters Okolona at Filgo Road. Inside the city, the road is known as Church Street, and it enters travels through the residential areas around it. MS 245 meets MS 41 and the western terminus of MS 32 at Monroe Avenue. North of Okolona Elementary School, the road intersects Main Street, which leads to downtown Okolona. On the northern side of the city, MS 245 intersects the entrance to Okolona High School, and it leaves the city limits north of Rasberry Drive. The road turns northeastwards at that point, and it begins traveling through farmland. South of CRD 136, the route crosses over Tallabinnela Creek, and it enters Lee County at CRD 139. The road crosses the Tubbalubba Creek north of the intersection, and Chiwapa Creek north of CRD 506. Past Chiwapa Creek, MS 245 enters Shannon, and it is known as Romie Hill Avenue. The road intersects the entrance of Shannon Elementary School at Mobley Street. The route ends at MS 145 (Noah Curtis Street), and the road continues as MS 145. ## History The sections that became part of MS 245 were previous part of several older designations. The first two designations, MS 23 and MS 25, were given by 1932, for a gravel road from Starkville to Shannon, and a gravel road from Macon to Tennessee–Mississippi state line, respectively. The section of MS 23 from Okolona to Shannon was paved by 1937. By 1939, the section of MS 25 from Brooksville to Mayhew was paved. Both designations were replaced by MS 45W around 1940. MS 45W was renumbered to US 45 Alt. by 1968. In 1998, a bypass around Okolona was opened, and US 45 Alt. was rerouted onto the newly constructed divided highway. This was planned as part of the 1987 Four-Lane Highway Program, and the section cost \$18.7 million. MS 245 was the designation for US 45 Alt.'s old alignment, from Okolona to Shannon. In 2007, more parts of US 45 Alt. were upgraded to a four-lane highway, and Crawford was bypassed as a result. ## Major intersections ## See also

1970 Caribbean–Azores hurricane

Atlantic hurricane in 1970

The 1970 Caribbean–Azores hurricane was an unnamed Atlantic hurricane that became the wettest known tropical cyclone to affect the United States territory of Puerto Rico on record. The long-lived system formed on September 24 just off the west coast of Africa, and for several days maintained a general westward track. It passed through the Lesser Antilles on October 1, and later stalled in the eastern Caribbean Sea. On October 8, the depression crossed over the Dominican Republic, and subsequently it accelerated to the northeast. It was declassified as a tropical cyclone on October 12, although its remnants persisted for another week before dissipating in the westerlies near the Azores. The depression produced heavy rainfall in the Lesser Antilles, reaching 12 in (300 mm) on Barbados; it left three deaths and moderate damage on the island. Another death was reported in the United States Virgin Islands. Torrential rainfall on Puerto Rico inflicted heavy damage, totaling \$65 million (1970 USD, \$ 2023 USD). The highest precipitation total was 41.68 in (1,059 mm) in Jayuya, of which 17 in (430 mm) fell in a 24‐hour period. Most of the damage can be attributed to damaged sugar cane and coffee crops. At least 18 people were killed on the island, and the system was considered one of the worst disasters in Puerto Rican history. ## Meteorological history The origins of the depression were identified as a tropical wave on September 22 over western Africa. The system exited the west coast of Africa the next day, and on September 24 it developed into a tropical depression about 95 mi (153 km) southwest of Conakry, Guinea. The depression moved generally westward, gradually intensifying to attain peak winds of 35 mph (56 km/h) by September 25. A nearby upper-level trough — an elongated area of low pressure — hindered further strengthening, and on October 1 the depression struck the island of Saint Lucia. As it crossed the Lesser Antilles, its winds and barometric pressure approached the values of a tropical storm. In the Caribbean, the trough caused the depression to slow to a westward drift, resulting in several days of heavy rainfall in the region, particularly Puerto Rico. One forecast on October 5 anticipated a continued westward track toward Jamaica. Instead, the depression turned to the north the next day under the influence of the upper-level westerlies. On October 7, the depression attained its lowest pressure of 1000 mbar (29.53 inHg), off the southern coast of Hispaniola. The next day, it made landfall in Peravia Province in the Dominican Republic. After crossing the country and exiting into the Atlantic Ocean, the depression accelerated to the northeast, followed by an eastward turn on October 10 before another turn to the northeast. By October 12, the depression could no longer be classified as a tropical cyclone, although satellite imagery indicated that its remnants continued northeastward. On October 15 the system turned to the west, suppressed by a strong high-pressure area to its north. It re-intensified while crossing through the Azores, attaining a pressure of 994 mbar. It turned to the northwest and was absorbed into the westerlies on October 20. ## Preparations, impact, and aftermath Around October 3, forecasters advised residents on islands from Barbados and St. Vincent through Guadeloupe to prepare for floods, high seas, and gale-force gusts. On October 10, a warning to be on guard against gusts was issued to owners of light aircraft in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. As it crossed through the islands, the depression produced heavy rainfall, including 8.90 in (226 mm) on Saint Lucia, 2.19 in (56 mm) on Dominica, and 12 in (300 mm) on Barbados. In the latter island, the depression left 200 people homeless, caused \$500,000 in damage, and killed three people. Heavy rains impacted the U.S. Virgin Islands, including a total of 11.4 in (290 mm) recorded by the National Park Service on Saint John. The rains caused flooding across the territory, washing out roads and destroying several houses. One boy was swept away by the floodwaters, although he was rescued by two people. A girl was also swept by the floods and drowned. The desalination plant on Saint Croix was damaged during the floods, temporarily stopping the supply of drinking water; water from Puerto Rico had to be shipped to provide the 700,000 gallons needed daily. On St. Thomas, the main airport was closed for several days. For six days, the depression dropped rainfall across the northern Caribbean, particularly in Puerto Rico. The highest overall rainfall total was 41.68 in (1,059 mm), recorded at a station near Jayuya in the center of the island. This was the highest rainfall total from a tropical cyclone on record in Puerto Rico, surpassing that of the deadly hurricanes of 1928 and 1899, which produced 29.6 in (750 mm) and 23.0 in (580 mm), respectively. The station at Jayuya also recorded 17 in (430 mm) in 24 hours. Four other locations reported over 30 in (760 mm). Such heavy rainfall caused 20 rivers to swell above flood stages. The depression left 10,000 people homeless across Puerto Rico, with 3,000 housed in emergency shelters in San Juan. At least 600 houses were destroyed and another 1,000 damaged. Damage was particularly severe in Barceloneta, Aibonito, and Coamo. Across the island, the depression affected at least 40 state roads, with fifteen blocked by landslides, and eleven bridges destroyed. Flooding forced the closure of Puerto Rico Highway 2 between Manatí and Barceloneta. The depression left more than \$40 million (1970 USD, \$ 2023 USD) in crop damage, primarily to sugarcane and coffee, as reported by William R. Poage, the chair of the House Agricultural Committee. Throughout Puerto Rico, the depression caused damage estimated at \$65 million (1970 USD, \$ 2023 USD), as well as at least 18 confirmed fatalities. A report six months after the depression indicated there were 34 people missing, although their status is unknown. In the aftermath of the disaster, Luis A. Ferré, the Governor of Puerto Rico, declared a state of emergency over the whole island, asking for \$10 million (1970 USD) in federal aid. On October 12, two days after the rains subsided, President Richard Nixon declared the territory as a disaster area. Ferre also appeared in a telethon to raise funds for the homeless. The National Guard, the Red Cross, and other volunteer groups helped the displaced persons. In all, the disaster was described as one of the worst in Puerto Rico history. The Governor of the Virgin Islands, Melvin Evans, requested aid similar to Puerto Rico, and that territory was also declared a federal disaster area about a week after the rains ended. The heavy rainfall in the Virgin Islands caused a marked dinoflagellate algal bloom in the days after the rains ended. ## See also - 1970 Atlantic hurricane season

Reborn doll

Hyper-realistic doll

A reborn doll is a hand made art doll created from a blank kit or a manufactured doll that has been transformed by an artist to resemble a human infant with as much realism as possible. The process of creating a reborn doll is referred to as reborning and the doll artists are referred to as reborners. Reborn dolls are also known as lifelike dolls or reborn baby dolls. The hobby of creating reborn baby dolls began in the early 1990s when doll enthusiasts wanted more realistic dolls. Since then, an industry and community surrounding reborn dolls has emerged. Reborn dolls are primarily purchased online but can be available at fairs. Depending on craftsmanship, they range in price from hundreds to thousands of dollars. Reborning involves numerous time-consuming steps. The most basic form of the process involves taking a vinyl doll, adding multiple hand painted layers of paint, and adding other physical features to the doll. Artists can pick different brands to best suit the doll they wish to create. Consumers can also buy reborn doll kits that include the doll parts and supplies for creating their own reborn. Making a doll from a kit is called newborning and allows artists to omit some steps in the fabrication process. Many supplies are needed for both external and internal modifications of reborns to make the doll seem more realistic. Some consumers of reborn dolls use them to cope with their grief over a lost child (a memory reborn), or as a portrait doll of a grown child. Others collect reborns as they would regular dolls. These dolls are sometimes played with as if they are an infant. Critics debate whether reborn dolls are harmful, or whether these dolls can help in the grieving process. Because of their realistic appearance, reborn dolls have occasionally been mistaken for real babies and "rescued" from parked cars after being reported to the police by passers-by. ## History The art of making reborn dolls began in the United States in the 1990s. Reborning follows a long tradition of collectors, artists, and manufacturers restoring and enhancing dolls in order to portray more realism. The internet has allowed doll artists and collectors to create an online society focused on reborn dolls. In 2002, the first reborn was offered on eBay. This has expanded the reborn market allowing artists to open online stores which function figuratively as nurseries. The niche market for the dolls began with doll collectors who admired the superior lifelike accuracy of the doll. The market quickly reached those who wanted to use the doll as an emotional outlet, either to mother or for therapeutic purposes. Mass media coverage has helped to develop the phenomenon in other countries. Reborning enjoys popularity in the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, Africa, Latin America and many other countries around the world. Doll manufacturers have also taken advantage of the trend and sell supplies, tools, and accessories catering to reborn followers. This has allowed reborners to invent new techniques causing the dolls to become increasingly realistic over time. Magazines, books, organizations, and conventions dedicated to reborn dolls have been started as a result of this popularity. ## Fabrication Reborns are vinyl dolls, created by reborn artists. The appearance of the doll depends on the creator; however, certain reborn artists allow customers to customize their doll, usually using a photograph to replicate a particular infant. ### Reborning Any type of vinyl doll can be used for reborning. Dolls vary by size, shape, and materials, making some more desirable or popular than others. According to Doll Reader Magazine, Berenguer Babies, Zapf, Lee Middleton, Apple Valley, and Secrist Dolls are doll companies that make dolls which are easy to transform into reborns. Kathryn Peck of Doll Reader Magazine explains that with JC Toys Berenguer Babies, it is because the dolls already resemble human babies in their expressions, body shapes, surface materials, and other lifelike attributes. ### Kits A reborn can be created from a blank kit as opposed to reborning a whole manufactured doll. Manufacturers have reacted to the growing trend of artists transforming dolls by hiring reborn artists to become doll sculptors and design doll molds and kits. When reborning from a kit, the first several steps of the process are completed by reborn sculpt artists and doll manufacturers. The kit comes as a disassembled blank baby doll ready to be reborned, and select supplies. Other supplies not provided in the kit can be purchased separately. ### Supplies Starter kits are equipped with basic reborning necessities such as limbs, faces, heads, paint brushes, eyelashes, acrylic/glass eyes, weighting pellets, 'heat set' or air dry paints, cloth bodies, cable ties, nose drill bits, fake tears, thinning shears, cosmetic foam wedges, cotton dipped applicators, and glue. These supplies may be purchased separately from a variety of retailers. The nose drill bits are used for creating and perfecting the nostrils of the doll. Acetone or a paint thinner medium is needed for removing the factory paint from the doll. Hair is an optional choice to add to a doll. Fine mohair, human hair, or wigs are usually used, but it is found in a variety of types. Rooting tools are utilized for this process and are available in numerous sizes 20, 36, 38, 40, and 42. The smaller the number the thicker the needle which will grab more hair and leave a bigger hole in the head of the doll. Eyes for a reborn doll are offered in a variety of brands and sizes. ### Process The technique of reborning a play doll typically involves a number of steps. To begin, the doll is taken apart and factory paint is removed. Then a blue color wash may be applied to give the appearance of realistic baby skin undertones. For dolls with an awake appearance eyes must be replaced. The outer layer of the vinyl doll is given its skin tone by adding dozens of layers of different paint tones to build up and achieve a realistic human skin effect. If heat set paints are used, the doll parts must be heat set by baking them inside an oven or by using a heatgun after each layer of paint is applied. Lighter skin tone dolls can take 15 to 30 layers. The effects of the blue color wash combined with the outside layers of paint creates the appearance of veins, and layers of paint done with special sponges give the doll its newborn mottled look. Manicured nails and opening of the nose holes are other details that are added during this process. There are air dry paints now available to reborn artists, sold under several brand names. Many feel that repeated baking of vinyl can cause it to break down over time. In addition, there are fumes and chemicals released during the heating process. The next step is to apply hair. The hair can be done in one of three ways: painting, wigging, or rooting. When rooting, the hair is added by hand with a rooting needle, micro-rooting is usually 1–4 hair strands per plug. When each hair is added individually strand by strand with only one hair per plug this is called mono-rooting. This can take up to 30 or more hours per head. Once the hair is finished, the original vinyl body is weighted with a soft stuffed body filled with pellets/fine glass beads/fiberfill.The weight corresponds with its age to achieve a realistic effect. Various additions also can be added to give the doll an even more lifelike appearance. Reborns heads are often weighted, so that owners have to support the head like one would a real newborn. Purchasers can have magnets attached inside the mouth or head for attaching a pacifier or hair bows. Electronic devices that mimic a heartbeat or make the chest rise and fall to simulate breathing are common. Reborns can come with an umbilical cord, baby fat, heat packs to make the reborn warm to the touch, or voice boxes that mimic infant sounds. For preemie dolls, they may come in incubators with a breathing apparatus attached to their nose. ## Collecting Institutions have developed to aid reborn hobbyists with collecting by providing information, products, and social networking. These institutions include magazines, and associations and organizations which sponsor conferences and conventions. Collectors and artists have described their reasons for purchasing and/or creating reborn dolls as varying from a love of dolls to a passion for art. ### Purchasing Reborn dolls are handmade art made by artists and can not be factory produced. They are usually found online and can be purchased through the artists' online stores (often termed nurseries), through artists' personal or doll/nursery pages on facebook where you can see all their previous work for assurity or through many Facebook groups and pages and at numerous doll conventions/fairs. Incomplete crafting "kits" to create original reborns can also be purchased from various online stores. There is a large price range depending on the quality of the doll, the sculpt used and the experience of the artist; they can sell anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars. There are many factors to look for when purchasing a reborn. If the complexion is too dark this is called a blue baby, and indicates it was dyed excessively or uses colored sand for weight that could have seeped into the vinyl. The type of material used to weight the reborn should be considered because some materials do not react well with vinyl and will cause it to deteriorate. The doll should not be shiny. This indicates the doll was washed with acetone before painting, which prevents the color from correctly sticking to the doll's surface. It may also be caused by the type of paint used to color the doll. This is corrected with a special matte varnish. The parts used are important, as original parts may be replaced. The replacement parts must be appropriately proportioned with the doll and made of quality material. At times having the original body retains the doll's value either because it was made to fit that specific doll, or the artist left a signature mark. Eye brand, size, fitting, and alignment should be closely examined as well. Another feature to observe is the type of paint used for coloring and whether the doll is realistic in its details such as veins and newborn imperfections. The type of hair and technique used in applying the hair may determine the quality. Some artists open the nose, the holes should be correctly shaped, and the nails should be properly manicured. ### Associations and organizations The International Reborn Doll Artists (IRDA) originated at the first conference for reborn doll artists on January 21, 2005. The IRDA group was assembled in order to offer education for improved skills in the art of reborn doll creation. They offer skill building tutorials and instruction so reborners can remain up to date on the newest techniques and meet others who share a common interest in reborn doll fabrication. A reborn artist can join the organization at any skill level, but members are asked to uphold a list of standards that were created by the IRDA's executive board. This ethical code stipulates the guidelines members are to follow in advertising, listing, and describing their dolls in order to divide credit fairly between manufacturers, sculptors, and artists. ### Conferences and conventions The First Annual International Reborn Doll Artists Conference was held in Orlando, Florida on January 21–23, 2005 in conjunction with IDEX The Annual Debut of the World's Finest Collectibles. In January 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Doll Reader Magazine sponsored the IDEX Reborn Competition at the First International IDEX Reborn Convention. Doll Reader Magazine started publishing over twenty-five years ago. It is now published nine times a year, keeps collectors informed on trends of modern-day doll collecting, and continues to sponsor the IDEX trade shows that feature reborn competitions and conventions. In the summer of 2008, ABC News followed a reborn convention in Illinois. ABC News was also in St. Louis, Missouri to attend the first annual Tiny Treasures Show held in 2008. The show features exhibitors, collectors, retailers, manufacturers, workshops, and contests for reborners. Reborn dolls can be found at doll fairs as well. ## Social issues and reactions The overwhelming majority of reborn customers are older women. The process of buying a reborn can be done to simulate an adoption process, rather than a prosaic sale of a product. As part of this, the dolls often come with fake birth certificates or adoption certificates. Many women collect reborns as they would a non-reborn doll, whilst others purchase them to fill a void of a lost child and may treat reborns as living babies. Media features and public receptions have used such adjectives as "creepy" to describe the reborns. This can be explained by the uncanny valley hypothesis. It states that as objects become more lifelike they gain an increasing empathetic response, until a certain point at which the response changes to repulsion. Department stores have refused to stock the dolls because of this reaction, claiming they are too lifelike. ### Emotional bond Many reborn owners are simply doll collectors, while others have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death, have no means for adoption, or suffer from empty nest syndrome. They may utilize the dolls as a substitute for a child. Some owners dress the dolls, wash their hair, and may even take them for walks in strollers and take them shopping. Reborn hobbyists refer to the emotional response to holding their dolls as cuddle therapy. Studies suggest cuddling a baby releases hormones which produce a sense of emotional well-being, and some psychologists believe that this may happen with realistic dolls as well. Consultant psychiatrist Raj Persaud explains that mothering a real newborn baby releases the hormone oxytocin in the mother, and hypothesizes that this may explain why "reborn mothers" become emotionally attached to the reborn baby doll. For grieving parents who form emotional bonds with reborn dolls, some child bereavement counselors advise against parents substituting their deceased child with the dolls. Reborn mothers contend that they are not replacing children but remembering them. Psychiatrist Sue Varma, teacher at the NYU school of medicine, says mothering reborn dolls rather than just collecting them can become a problem when it is used as prop and becomes the person's only form of socializing. Psychiatrist Gail Saltz with New York Presbyterian Hospital supports the use of reborns for people who do not want to make the commitment of having a real child, and also to comfort bereaved parents. She offers that in this case the reborn may symbolize a step in the grieving process. Concern should only come if someone who lost a baby grows too attached to their reborn because it could indicate their grief is not getting resolved. In this case, the likeness of the doll to the deceased child risks being harmful as a permanent replacement for the grieving parents. Ian James, a doctor at the Centre for the Health of the Elderly at Newcastle General Hospital in the U.K., said that holding the dolls helps calm elderly residents, helping them feel peaceful and quiet. ### Law enforcement incidents There have been multiple notable instances where reborn babies have been mistaken as real due to their realistic appearance. In July 2008, police in Queensland, Australia, smashed a car window to rescue what seemed like an unconscious baby only to find it was a reborn doll. The police stated that the doll was "incredibly lifelike" and that bystanders who thought a baby was dying were frightened by the incident. A similar incident was reported in the United States, in which police broke the window of a Hummer to save a baby that turned out to be a reborn doll. On June 18, 2019, NYC Police confirmed the death of an infant found in a park in Queens who was identified, more than 1 hour later, to actually be a doll. In 2009, reborners uncovered a blogging hoax in which a woman – described by ABC News as an "anti-abortion blogger" – claimed she was pregnant with a terminally ill child. She opened a P.O. box in order to receive gifts, money, and prayers. The hoax was uncovered when reborners reading the blog realized that the pictures of the baby posted on the blog were actually a reborn doll they recognized through the familiar reborn sculpture. ### Media appearances Reborn dolls have been featured in a number of movies, series and television shows. A December 10, 2008, episode of Dr. Phil entitled "Obsessions" discussed the topic of reborning. In January 2008, a Channel 4 series, My Fake Baby, explored the lives of women who collect the lifelike baby dolls. Featuring this documentary the British television magazine show on Channel 4, Richard & Judy, held an interview with the reborn artist in the documentary, Jaime Eaton, collector Mary Flint and psychiatrist Raj Persuad. On January 2, 2009, an ABC News article described both the manufacturing and the emotional interaction of reborn dolls, while a January 2 20/20 episode talked about the mothering process and attachment to reborns. On January 31, 2008, Inside Edition aired a segment showing artist Eve Newsom and her reborn dolls. In July 2014, an episode of Perception, an American fictional series about a neuropsychiatrist who helps solve murders, called "Inconceivable" was all about a real baby and a reborn. In December 2015, Shaylen Maxwell, owner and artist of Reborn, Sweet was featured in The Globe and Mail in a LIFE feature on the therapeutic value of reborn dolls in treating anxiety and grief. In April 2019, a reborn doll is featured in the Netflix produced horror show Chambers. A reborn doll also plays a significant part in the 2019 M. Night Shyamalan psychological horror television series Servant. An episode of High Maintenance (season 3, episode 8, "Proxy") features a couple caring for a reborn doll. ## See also - Uncanny valley

Dylan Cozens (ice hockey)

Canadian professional ice hockey player

Dylan Cozens (born February 9, 2001), nicknamed the "Workhorse from Whitehorse", is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Sabres selected him seventh overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. He is the first player from Yukon to be a first-round Western Hockey League (WHL) draft pick, a first-round NHL draft pick, and a member of the Canada men's national junior ice hockey team. Born and raised in Whitehorse, Cozens began ice skating on a backyard rink when he was three years old. He often played against older opponents due to the limited pool of ice hockey players in his hometown, and after being injured by an adult player in a house league game, Cozens decided to move to British Columbia and play within his age group. After attending the Delta Hockey Academy, he was taken by the WHL's Lethbridge Hurricanes. After posting 22 goals and 53 points in his rookie junior ice hockey season, he received the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy for the top first-year WHL player. He followed this performance with 84 points in 68 games the next season, and 85 points in 51 games before the COVID-19 pandemic ended the 2019–20 WHL season early. In his final WHL season, Cozens was a First Team All-Star and the runner-up for the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy. Cozens joined the Sabres for the season, recording a point in his NHL debut. He battled several setbacks during his rookie season, including time in COVID-19 protocols and two upper-body injuries. The following season, Cozens, who had been playing on the wing as a rookie, moved back to his natural centre position to occupy a space abdicated by Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel. ## Early life Cozens was born on February 9, 2001, in Whitehorse, Yukon, to Mike Cozens and Sue Bogle. When he was three years old, Cozens' father built a backyard ice rink on which he learned how to skate and later play ice hockey. Because there were limited hockey players in Whitehorse, Cozens often played against older opponents; when he was 12, he broke his leg after being boarded by an adult man in a house league game. The incident convinced Cozens and his family to find teams within his age group outside of Whitehorse, and at the age of 14, Cozens moved to British Columbia to develop his skills at the Delta Hockey Academy. During Delta's 2015–16 season, Cozens scored 19 goals and 31 points in 25 regular season games, as well as five goals and six points in three postseason games. In January, Cozens participated in the 2016 John Reid Memorial Bantam Tournament with the Delta team. He led all tournament players with nine goals and 15 points in six games and was named to the Reid Division All-Star Team. Outside of Delta, Cozens also spent time with the Prince George Cariboo Cougars of the BC Hockey Major Midget League to build his strength and skills in the minor ice hockey circuit. ## Playing career ### Junior The Lethbridge Hurricanes of the Western Hockey League (WHL) selected Cozens in the first round, 19th overall, of the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft. It was the first time that a Yukon-born player had been selected in the first round of the WHL draft. He signed with the team that May, but because he was below the WHL's age minimum for the upcoming 2016–17 season, he played for the Yale Hockey Academy in Abbotsford, British Columbia, instead. He scored his first junior ice hockey goal in his WHL debut, a 5–3 loss to the Saskatoon Blades on November 13, 2016. After three games, he returned to Yale, where his 57 points (27 goals and 30 assists) in 30 games were tied for the CSSHL Midget Prep league lead. Cozens added another two goals and four points in three CSSHL playoff games, and once the Yale season ended, he rejoined Lethbridge for the WHL postseason. There, he had three goals and eight points in 12 playoff games before the Hurricanes were eliminated by the Regina Pats in the Eastern Conference Championship series. Cozens returned to the Hurricanes for a full rookie season in 2017–18. After recording 13 points in as many games, including a five-game point streak and a three-point game against the Medicine Hat Tigers, he was named the WHL Rookie of the Month for October 2017. Cozens recorded his first WHL hat-trick on January 13, leading Lethbridge to a 5–2 victory over the Kootenay Ice. That performance, combined with three goals and six points in a two-game series against the Red Deer Rebels, earned Cozens WHL Player of the Week honours for the week ending January 14. In his first full season of junior ice hockey, Cozens posted 22 goals and 53 points in 57 regular-season games, and he received the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as the top rookie in the WHL. The Hurricanes faced the Rebels in the first round of 2018 WHL playoffs, and Cozens recorded his first postseason hat-trick in the second game of the series. Although the Hurricanes lost to the Swift Current Broncos in the WHL Eastern Conference Championship series, Cozens was named the WHL Rookie of the Month for April 2018 after recording seven goals and 13 points in 16 playoff games. Cozens was a finalist for the CHL Rookie of the Year award at the end of the season, a title that ultimately went to Alexis Lafrenière of the Rimouski Océanic. At the start of the 2018–19 season, the NHL Central Scouting Bureau ranked Cozens, who had five goals and ten points in four games, an "A"-level prospect. His 14 points in 10 games led Lethbridge in scoring, and Cozens was one of three Lethbridge players to represent Team WHL at the 2018 CHL Canada/Russia Series. On November 23, Cozens recorded the first six-point game of his junior hockey career, scoring a hat-trick and recording an additional three assists in Lethbridge's 8–4 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings. In January, Cozens was appointed the captain of Team Cherry at the 2019 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. Cozens finished his sophomore junior hockey season with 34 goals and 84 points in 68 regular-season games, and the NHL Central Scouting Bureau ranked him the No. 5 prospect among all North American skaters. He added an additional four goals and eight points in seven playoff games, but the Calgary Hitmen eliminated the Hurricanes in a winner-takes-all Game 7 of their opening-round playoff series. On June 21, the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL) selected Cozens seventh overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. He was the first Yukon-born player ever taken in the first round of the NHL draft. Cozens signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Sabres on July 15, 2019. After attending Buffalo's training camp, Cozens returned to Lethbridge for the 2019–20 season. He was named the WHL Player of the Week for the second week of the season after posting six points and a +2 plus–minus rating in two games against the Rebels and the Edmonton Oil Kings. After recording 10 goals and 17 points through the first 13 games of the season, Cozens was named an alternate captain for Team WHL at the 2019 Canada/Russia Series. Cozens told reporters that he wanted to "stay at an NHL level" during the Hurricanes' season, and by December 11, he led the team with 42 points (19 goals and 23 assists) in 28 games. Halfway through the season, Cozens and Ty Prefontaine were named co-captains for the Hurricanes. By the time that concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic forced the WHL to indefinitely postpone the 2019–20 season, Cozens led Lethbridge with 38 goals and 85 points in 51 games. Cozens was named to the WHL Eastern Conference First All-Star Team at the end of the season, and he was the runner-up for the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy, an award which went to Adam Beckman of the Spokane Chiefs. Cozens finished his WHL career with 95 goals and 223 points in 179 regular-season games, as well as 14 goals and 29 points in 35 postseason games. ### Professional Cozens joined the Sabres for the season, making his NHL debut on January 14, 2021. Although Buffalo lost the game 6–4 to the Washington Capitals, Cozens recorded his first NHL point with an assist on Tobias Rieder's second-period goal. He scored his first goal on January 22, also against the Capitals. Although Cozens's goal tied the game 2–2, Washington ultimately won the game 4–3 in a shootout. In February, Cozens was one of several Buffalo skaters to miss time in COVID-19 protocols. Drafted as a centre, Cozens spent most of his rookie NHL season on the wing, only returning to the centre to fill in for an injured Jack Eichel in March. Cozens suffered additional setbacks with two separate upper body injuries: after missing four games at the beginning of March, he sat out an additional six games following a hard check from Philippe Myers of the Philadelphia Flyers on March 29. He had a strong April, assisting seven times in an eight-game span, and finished his rookie NHL season with four goals and 13 points in 41 games. With Sam Reinhart's offseason departure and Eichel indefinitely sidelined due to a dispute with the Sabres' front office, an opportunity opened for Cozens to become a top-six centre for Buffalo during the season. He recorded the first multi-goal game of his career on November 12, scoring twice in a 3–2 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Cozens entered an extended slump in the stretch of the season, going without a goal between February 25 and April 5. He finally broke the drought after 17 games with a power play goal in Buffalo's 4–2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes. Cozens finished his first full NHL season with 13 goals and 38 points in 79 games. All but two of those goals came before the midseason NHL All-Star Game break. Cozens told reporters after the season that when his offensive production faltered, he switched his focus to improving his defense. On February 7, 2023, the Sabres signed Cozens to a 7 year contract extension worth \$49.7 million. ## International play Cozens made his first international tournament appearance at the 2017 World U-17 Hockey Challenge in British Columbia. He captured a silver medal with Canada Red, who lost the championship final 6–4 to the United States team, and put up seven points in the tournament, tying the team high. The following year, Cozens served as an alternate captain for the Canadian under-18 team at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Alberta. He scored a controversial goal in the semifinals, tying the Canada-USA game with 0.00 left on the clock to take the match into overtime, where Canada won 6–5 to eliminate Team USA. No video replay was available to replay the goal, and the victory stood. Cozens and Team Canada took gold in the tournament, with Cozens scoring four goals and nine points over the course of the Cup. Cozens finished his under-18 tournament career as an alternate captain for Team Canada at the 2019 IIHF World U18 Championships in Sweden. Canada failed to medal in the tournament, losing 5–2 to the United States in the third-place match. Cozens had four goals and nine points in seven games, tied for eighth among all tournament participants. Following his under-18 career, Cozens became the first Yukon player to represent the Canada men's national junior ice hockey team when he joined them for the 2020 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships in the Czech Republic. He scored two goals and seven assists in seven World Junior games, winning a gold medal when Canada defeated Russia 4–3 in the championship match. Cozens was originally named an alternate captain for Team Canada at the 2021 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, but after captain Kirby Dach suffered a wrist injury, he and Bowen Byram were promoted to co-captains. He had eight goals and 16 assists, second among all participants, and was named to the tournament all-star team, while Canada took silver after a 2–0 shutout loss to the United States. Cozens played in his first senior World Championship tournament in 2022, where he finished third in overall scoring and received a silver medal. ## Career statistics Career statistics derived from Elite Prospects. ### Regular season and playoffs ### International ## Awards and honours

French prisoners of war in World War II

French and French colonial soldiers captured by Nazi Germany

Although no precise estimates exist, the number of French soldiers captured by Nazi Germany during the Battle of France between May and June 1940 is generally recognised around 1.8 million, equivalent to around 10 percent of the total adult male population of France at the time. After a brief period of captivity in France, most of the prisoners were deported to Germany. In Germany, prisoners were incarcerated in Stalag or Oflag prison camps, according to rank, but the vast majority were soon transferred to work details (Kommandos) working in German agriculture or industry. Prisoners from the French colonial empire, however, remained in camps in France with poor living conditions as a result of Nazi racial ideologies. During negotiations for the Armistice of 22 June 1940, the Vichy French government adopted a policy of collaboration in hopes for German concessions allowing repatriation. The Germans nevertheless deferred the return of prisoners until the negotiation of a final peace treaty, which never occurred due to the United Kingdom's refusal to surrender and Germany's defeat in the Battle of Britain. The absence of a large proportion of the male population of France also had important consequences on the position of women in occupied France and charity fundraising on behalf of the prisoners played an important role in French daily life until late in the occupation. Limited repatriation of certain classes of POWs did occur from 1940 and the government was keen to encourage the return of prisoners, even launching the unpopular relève system in order to exchange prisoners of war for French labourers going to work in Germany. Nevertheless, many prisoners remained in German captivity until the defeat of Germany in 1945. Prisoners who returned to France, either by repatriation or through escaping, generally found themselves stigmatised by the French civilian population and received little official recognition. ## Background France declared war on Germany alongside the United Kingdom following the German invasion of Poland in September 1939. The Anglo-French Supreme War Council decided to stay on the defensive along the border, relying on the Maginot Line in helping counter an anticipated German offensive across the German-French border. As neither side made any offensive moves, a Drôle de Guerre (Phoney War) developed as both sides stood-off along the border. On 10 May 1940, the Germans launched an invasion of France through neutral Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Shortly afterwards, a breakthrough at Sedan outflanked the force which the French and British had sent into Belgium. By the end of May, the Belgian and Dutch armies had surrendered and the British were evacuating their Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk. German forces reached Paris on 14 June. In total, around 100,000 French soldiers were killed in action. The trauma from the German victories caused a period of division within the government of the Third Republic. German commanders finally met with French officials on 18 June who sought a cessation of hostilities, with the goal being an armistice with Germany. Marshal Philippe Pétain, who had been celebrated as a war hero in World War I, came to power as Prime Minister. Pétain's government signed an armistice agreement on 22 June 1940 to end hostilities. Shortly afterwards, he established a new conservative and authoritarian Vichy regime ostensibly to lead a moral renewal of France and to purge the country of the communism, freemasonry, and Jewish influence which conservatives blamed for causing the military defeat in June 1940. Although the Vichy regime continued to control the so-called zone libre in southern France, the north and north-west of the country, including Paris, became the zone occupée under German military occupation. Alsace-Lorraine became a de facto part of Germany while Italy also received a small occupied region in France's south-east. In practice, Vichy exercised only very limited form of sovereignty in the occupied zones. Vichy was nominally independent and saw itself as neutral in the ongoing conflict. It retained control over France's pre-war colonial empire but in practice was essentially a German client state. ## Prisoners of war of Germany By the time of the armistice on 22 June, approximately 1.8 million French soldiers were in captivity; a figure representing roughly 10 percent of the total adult male population of France at the time. One of the terms of the Compiègne Armistice was that French prisoners would remain in German custody until the end of the war which was thought to be imminent. French prisoners came from all backgrounds, regions and civilian occupations within France and also included a substantial number of soldiers from the French colonial empire. Nevertheless, approximately a third of all French prisoners of war were French farmers or peasants and, in some regions, the total proportion of agricultural workers captured was much higher. This created labour shortages in many civilian occupations, particularly agriculture which was largely unmechanised. During the interwar period, France had experienced considerable immigration from elsewhere in Europe. In particular, a large number of Poles and Spanish republicans, who had emigrated to France, subsequently served in the French army and were captured by the Germans. These foreign prisoners were often singled out for worse treatment. In 1944 and 1945, as the German situation deteriorated, provision of food to POW camps became more sporadic and starvation became a problem. As Soviet troops advanced westwards, camps in the east were evacuated and moved on foot, in so-called death marches, away from the front in extremely poor conditions. ### Prison camps Initially most French prisoners were detained in France, but after repeated escapes, the Germans decided to move the vast majority to new camps in Germany and Eastern Europe. Conditions in camps varied considerably geographically and over time. Conditions were particularly poor in the summer of 1940, when facilities proved insufficient to accommodate the large number of new POWs, and in the particularly cold winter that same year. Gradually, as prisoners were repatriated, relieving overcrowding, conditions generally improved. From 1943, however, as the war on the Eastern Front turned against Germany, conditions worsened and the food supply became more precarious. Some camps were purpose-built, like Stalag II-D, but others could be former barracks, asylums or fortresses. Prisoners were generally divided into camp by rank. Officers, given different status to other ranks, were imprisoned in Oflags (short for Offizierslager or "Officers' Camp") while NCOs and other ranks were imprisoned in Stalags (or Stammlager, "Main Camp"). Each Stalag included numerous Arbeitskommandos (work unit) outside the camp itself, some of which could be hundreds of kilometers away. The vast majority of prisoners (c. 93 percent) were not confined behind barbed wire, but instead worked in German factories or in farms, sometimes without guards. Prisoners arriving in camps were divided into groups by the Germans. Mostly, this consisted of bringing soldiers of similar backgrounds (Communists, Jews or Bretons) together for administrative purposes and to limit their interaction with other prisoners. Although this sorting of soldiers generally occurred on a small scale only, a camp was established at Lübeck for French prisoners dubbed "enemies of the Reich", where they could be detained in isolation. Prisoners considered rebellious, however, were often sent to special camps in which conditions were extremely poor. ### Daily life Within Stalags and Oflags, prisoners had substantial amounts of leisure time. Letters and parcels from home could take months to arrive in camps and be distributed by the Red Cross; consequently, most had little regular contact with their families. The Red Cross also provided food, books, sports equipment and musical instruments, as well as information and letters. Thanks to the access to books, the historian Fernand Braudel wrote most of his influential work La Méditerranée et le monde méditerranéen à l'époque de Philippe II (1949), which established the analytical concept of the longue durée, while in captivity in Germany. Numerous clubs, bands, sports teams and societies operated within the camps. In Stalag IX-A, French prisoners established both symphony and jazz orchestras and a choir. An informal "temporary university" was also established in the same camp. The future French President François Mitterrand delivered a series of lectures on the ancien régime to his fellow prisoners in another camp. Jean-Paul Sartre also delivered lectures on philosophy. Drama was also extremely popular and, despite only having very limited resources, numerous plays were staged. Politically, the prisoners of war in Germany were given virtually more freedom than civilians in occupied France. In accordance with the Geneva Conventions, French prisoners elected hommes de confiance (Men of trust) from among their number to represent their interests. The Germans attempted to encourage prisoners to adopt Nazi or collaborationist ideologies, even supporting the creation of a pro-German newspaper, Le Trait d'Union, for prisoners and pro-Vichy Cercles Pétain groups existed in many separate camps. Although Pétain was generally supported by the prisoners, Pierre Laval who was Petain's de facto Prime Minister was extremely unpopular. Laval's re-promotion in 1942 following his dismissal in December 1940, together with the failure of his Relève system, widely undermined support for Vichy among prisoners. ### Work and forced labour Most French prisoners of war were not held in camps for most of the war, but instead, over 93 percent of French prisoners of war lived and worked on Kommandos of work details. Under the terms of the Geneva Convention NCOs were, like officers, exempted from work during captivity, but Germans often forced them to work. Workers were fed but virtually their entire wages were paid directly to the German army and prisoners were only allowed to retain 70 pfennigs per day. Work Kommandos were very variable, but those in agriculture were generally considered better than ones in factories or mining, where conditions were worse and prisoners were vulnerable to Allied bombing raids. In rural areas of Germany, French prisoners replaced locals conscripted into the German army as agricultural labourers. Guarding Kommandos came to be regarded as an unnecessary waste of manpower - it was thought unlikely that a prisoner would attempt to escape in a country where he did not know the language. This meant that, in practice, prisoners were allowed a wider measure of freedom compared to the camps. They were often viewed with curiosity by the German rural population, and the French prisoners were often allowed to mix quite freely with German civilians. Although unlawful, many French prisoners began relationships with German women. ### African and Arab prisoners Around 120,000 prisoners from the French colonies were captured during the Battle of France. Most of these troops, around two-thirds, came from the French North African possessions of Tunisia, Morocco and, particularly, Algeria. Around 20 percent were from French West Africa. The rest were from Madagascar and Indochina. Influenced by Nazi racial ideology, German troops summarily killed between 1,000 and 1,500 black prisoners during the Battle of France. Among those captured who narrowly escaped execution was Léopold Sédar Senghor, an academic who would become the first President of independent Senegal in 1960. Unlike their white compatriots, the colonial prisoners of war were imprisoned in Frontstalags in France rather than being brought to Germany. By keeping colonial soldiers in France on the pretext of preventing the spread of tropical diseases, the Germans also wanted to prevent the "racial defilement" (Rassenschande) of German women outlawed by the Nuremberg Laws of 1935. Black troops were treated worse than their white compatriots, and some of them were used for "degrading" anthropological experiments or subjects of medical testing into diseases. Although the living conditions for black soldiers gradually improved, they were still considerably lower than those of white French soldiers. The mortality rate among black soldiers was also considerably higher. Some colonial troops were repatriated before the end of the war. Around 10,000 North African prisoners were released in 1941. Escapes and repatriations reduced the number of colonial prisoners of war to 30,000 by July 1944. With the Allied advance through France in 1944, between 10–12,000 prisoners were transported to Stalags in Germany where they were held until the end of the war. Former colonial prisoners of war were demobilised in 1944 but received less compensation than their white counterparts. A mutiny among former prisoners at Thiaroye in French Senegal on 30 November 1944 was repressed with violence. ## Other prisoners of war During the Battle of the Alps, 154 French soldiers were captured by the Italians. These prisoners were forgotten during the armistice negotiations, and the final agreement makes no mention of them. They were held at the POW camp in Fonte d'Amore in Sulmona, along with 600 Greeks and 200 Britons, treated, by all accounts, in accordance with the laws of war. Their fate is unknown after Italy's armistice with the Allies, when they presumably came under German control. The Allies captured 38,000 Vichy French soldiers in the Syria–Lebanon campaign in June 1941. The prisoners of war were offered the choice of joining the Free French or being repatriated to France. Only 5,668 men volunteered to join the Free French; the remainder chose to be repatriated. According to a statement given by Winston Churchill to the House of Commons on 10 November 1942, "upwards of 1,000 prisoners" loyal to Vichy were taken by the British during October in the Madagascar campaign. The intention of the British was again to repatriate those POWs who did not wish to join the Free French, perhaps in exchange for British officers interned in France. Following the Japanese occupation of French Indochina, about 4,500 French prisoners were confined in a makeshift prison established at the Citadel of Hanoi in northern Vietnam. Inside its makeshift hospital, where sanitation and medical services were lacking, about half a dozen died every day. ## Repatriation ### Wartime repatriation Initially, following the armistice, it was rumoured that all French troops would be soon returned by the Germans. Petain tasked Georges Scapini, a World War I veteran and a pro-German member of the Chamber of Deputies, to negotiate the release of hostages. Scapini initially argued to the Germans that the transfer of prisoners as a goodwill gesture would ensure French public support for the Axis occupation and the Vichy regime. From his contacts with the German Ambassador Otto Abetz and Hermann Reinecke of the OKW, however, he realized that the prisoners were to be used as a bargaining chip to ensure French collaboration, and that a full transfer of French prisoners would be impossible. After the expulsion of 100,000 Jews from Lorraine was ordered by its Gauleiter Josef Bürckel, Hitler would make the concession of allowing France to assume the protecting power for its own prisoners of war. This was also because the previous protecting power of France, the United States, began to sympathize with Britain and after its diplomatic staff became too small to conduct routine inspections of German prison camps. From the autumn of 1940, the Germans began to repatriate French reservists whose private occupations were in short supply in Vichy France, such as medical workers like doctors and nurses along with postmen and gendarmes. In 1941, after lobbying by the Vichy government, the policy was extended to French veterans of World War I and fathers of four or more children. Individual prisoners with good contacts could also be requested for repatriation. In practice, this meant that a disproportionate number of prisoners who were released early came from the upper classes. In 1941, the Germans introduced the Flamenpolitik, intended to divide German-occupied Belgium by favouring Dutch speakers over French ones. In February 1941, repatriation of Flemish prisoners began. At the time, Dutch dialects were still widely spoken in French Flanders and, although Belgian prisoners were primarily targeted by the policy, some French prisoners were also released as a result. The reintegration of French prisoners into civilian life was facilitated by a network of Maisons du Prisonnier (Prisoner Houses), established across France, which would help them readjust and find work. Generally, prisoners generally found it easy to regain their pre-war jobs because of the shortage of labour. The government had hoped that returning prisoners of war would be more sympathetic to the Vichy regime, but prisoners coming back were not noticeably more loyal to Vichy than other groups. #### The relève (1942) The relève (relief) was a policy championed by Pierre Laval in which, in exchange for French workers volunteering to work in Germany, a proportional number of prisoners would be released. The policy was announced in June 1942 and soon became extremely unpopular and divisive across French society, and among the prisoners themselves. The Vichy government had originally hoped that a much greater number of prisoners would be released under the scheme, but the Germans refused to repatriate prisoners in the proportions which Vichy had suggested. In the end, around 100,000 prisoners were repatriated under the scheme. Many, however, were old or sick prisoners who the Germans were often keen to release from custody in any event due to their inability to work (and who technically should have been released under earlier quotas) rather than peasant soldiers portrayed by Vichy propaganda. The failure of the relève to attract sufficient numbers of French workers led to its abandonment in favour of the forced Service du travail obligatoire (STO; "Obligatory Work Service") in 1943. #### Transformation (1943) The implementation of forced labour deportations from France was accompanied by a new policy in 1943. For every French worker who arrived in Germany, one POW could be "transformed" into a "free worker" (travailleur libre). Prisoners had the option and could choose to be transformed from being a prisoner of war to become a free worker in a German factory. Around 221,000 prisoners joined the scheme. The policy benefited the Germans, for whom the prisoners were a good source of extra labour, but it meant they were also able to transfer to the front German soldiers guarding POW camps, freeing 30,000 of them as a result of the policy. ### Escape Although the exact number of French prisoners who escaped from captivity in Germany is unknown, it has been estimated at around 70,000, representing approximately five per cent of all French prisoners. The Vichy government did not encourage prisoners to escape, but many of its officials were sympathetic to escapees who reached French territory. Some prisoners, particularly those working in agriculture, spent substantial amounts of time without guards, and prisoners caught by the Germans trying to escape were rarely severely punished. During the period of detention in France, fines were sometimes imposed on locals for mass escapes of prisoners in the region. It was partially to prevent escapes that led to the German decision to deport prisoners to the Reich. As sick prisoners were often repatriated, many faked illness in an attempt to return home. From 1941, when those in certain occupations were repatriated, others produced fake identification documents to enable them to be released. Among the escapees was Henri Giraud, a French General who had commanded a division in 1940, who escaped from Königstein prison and, despite his pro-Vichy sympathies, joined the Free French in 1943. Jean-Paul Sartre also managed to escape by forging papers demonstrating that he had a disability, leading to his repatriation. ## Effects in occupied France ### Vichy and prisoner of war relief The continued imprisonment of French soldiers was a major theme in Vichy propaganda. Prisoners of war featured in the programme of moral rejuvenation promised as part of the Révolution nationale (National Revolution). A recurring idea was the idea of prisoners of war as martyrs or penitents, suffering in order to redeem France from its pre-war excesses. The period of detainment was therefore depicted as a form of purification which would overcome internal divides within France and atone for the defeat of 1940. The government sponsored numerous initiatives aimed at improving conditions or achieving repatriation. At the request of the Vichy government, Georges Scapini, a deputy and World War I veteran, was appointed to lead a committee to monitor the treatment of French prisoners in Germany. Scapini's Service Diplomatique des Prisonniers de Guerre (Diplomatic Service of Prisoners of War; SDPG) was given responsibility to negotiate with the German authorities in all matters concerning prisoners of war. A government-backed national fund-raising campaign was run by the Secours National (National Aid) for the benefit of French prisoners. Among other activities, the Secours ran a week-long campaign nationally in 1941. At a local level, many communities ran independent initiatives to raise money for their local community's prisoners, often organised around communities or churches, which held prayer days for POWs. These campaigns were immensely successful, and despite German restrictions on public gatherings, French civilians were able to raise large collections from lotteries and sponsored sports matches. These local prisoner relief schemes were "among the greatest stimulants of sociability under the occupation" and helped to foster a sense of community. Infighting along political and social lines did however occur in local aid committees, and there were also numerous cases of corruption and theft from local funds. Later in the war, the Vichy government increasingly tried to take control of local fund-raising, but this was often resisted by the local groups themselves. In order to show solidarity with their relations in France, prisoners also raised funds among themselves to send back to their native regions if they had been targeted by Allied strategic bombing or food shortages. ### Effect on gender relations Initially, there was considerable confusion among families with members serving in the army. It took several months for relations and friends to discover the fate of their relatives and name of casualties. Initially, only very few prisoners, usually those working in important civilian industries, were sent back to France. For wives and families of prisoners of war, life under the occupation was particularly hard. In pre-war France, the husband was generally the household's chief wage earner, so many households saw a sharp drop in income and living standards. Only very small allowances were made by the government to families of POWs, which was not sufficient to offset the economic difficulties caused. The large proportion of men in prisoner of war camps changed the gender balance in jobs. Many women took over running family farms and businesses, and others were forced to look for employment. The prisoners of war also posed a big problem for Vichy's policy of moral rejuvenation summarised in its motto Travail, famille, patrie (Work, family, homeland). From October 1940, Vichy attempted to limit women's access to work which had particular effects on prisoners' families. Because of the emphasis on family values under Vichy, the government was especially worried about infidelity among the wives of prisoners in Germany. Concerned about prisoners' wives having babies, the law of 15 February 1942 made abortion a treasonable offence that carried the death penalty. For having administered 27 abortions, Marie-Louise Giraud was guillotined on 30 July 1942. In December 1942, a law was issued making cohabitation with wives of prisoners of war illegal. The government also made divorce much harder and officially made adultery an insufficient reason for legal separation in order to stop suspicious POWs divorcing their wives in France. Wives of prisoners who had had affairs were also often demonised by their local communities who considered it equivalent to prostitution. Generally, however, Vichy's moral legislation had little real effect. ## Aftermath and legacy From the early repatriations, returned prisoners were generally treated with pity, suspicion and disdain by French civilians. Many believed that they had only been allowed to return in exchange for agreeing to collaborate. Later Vichy propaganda had implied that prisoners lived in good conditions, so many civilians believed that the prisoners had suffered much less than civilians during the conflict. As veterans of the 1940 Battle of France, the prisoners were blamed for the French defeat and portrayed as cowards who had surrendered, rather than fight to the death. They were also unfavourably compared with other men of their generation who had served in the Free French Forces or Resistance. Prisoners had little effect on the resistance in France. Initially there were three resistance networks based around repatriated prisoners split along political lines, but in March 1944, the three merged to form the National Movement of Prisoners of War and Deportees. After the war, there was a decade-long period of divisive debate about whether POWs should be considered as veterans, therefore making them eligible for a veteran's card with its accompanying benefits, but this was not resolved until the 1950s. A national organization of former prisoners was established, under the name Fédération nationale des combattants prisonniers de guerre (National Federation of Prisoner of War Veterans), which campaigned for the rights of former POWs. French prisoners were banned by a court from referring to themselves as "deportees" which had been exclusively applied to political prisoners and Holocaust victims. No medal for prisoners was ever established, although the Médaille des Évadés (Escapees' Medal) was awarded to almost 30,000 prisoners who had escaped from camps in Germany. ## See also - Belgian prisoners of war in World War II - German mistreatment of Soviet prisoners of war - Liberation of France

Norman, Oklahoma

Norman (/ˈnɔːrmən/) is the third-most populous city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,026 as of the 2020 census. It is the most populous city and the county seat of Cleveland County and the second-most populous city in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area after the state capital, Oklahoma City, 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Norman. The city was settled during the Land Run of 1889, which opened the former Unassigned Lands of Indian Territory to American pioneer settlement. It was named in honor of Abner Norman, the area's initial land surveyor, and was formally incorporated on May 13, 1891. Norman has prominent higher education and related research industries, as it is home to the University of Oklahoma, the largest university in the state, with nearly 32,000 students. The university is well known for its sporting events by teams under the banner of the nickname "Sooners", with over 85,000 people routinely attending football games. The university is home to several museums, including the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, which contains the largest collection of French Impressionist art ever given to an American university, as well as the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. Norman's National Weather Center (NWC) houses a unique collection of university, state, federal, and private-sector organizations that work together to improve the understanding of events related to the Earth's atmosphere. Norman lies within Tornado Alley, a geographic region colloquially known for frequent and intense tornadic activity. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC), a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that delivers forecasts for severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and other high-impact hazardous weather in the contiguous United States, is located at the NWC. Additionally, research is conducted at the co-located National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), which operates various experimental weather radars and develops innovative tools, applications, and techniques aimed at improving forecasts and warnings of severe weather. ## History The Oklahoma region became part of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Before the American Civil War, the U.S. government began relocating the Five Civilized Tribes—the five Native American tribes that the United States officially recognized via treaty—to Oklahoma. Treaties of 1832 and 1833 assigned the area known today as Norman to the Creek Nation. After the Civil War, the Creeks were accused of aiding the Confederacy; as a result they ceded the region back to the United States in 1866. In the early 1870s, the federal government undertook a survey of these unassigned lands. Abner Ernest Norman, a 23-year-old surveyor from Kentucky, was hired to oversee part of this project. Norman's work crew set up camp near what is today the corner of Classen Boulevard and Lindsey Street; it was there that the men, perhaps jokingly, carved a sign on an elm tree that read "Norman's Camp," in honor of their young boss. In 1887, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway began service to the area, which was later opened to settlement as part of the Land Run of 1889; early settlers decided to keep the name "Norman." On April 22, 1889, that first Land Run in what would become the state of Oklahoma saw the founding of Norman, with at least 150 residents spending the night in makeshift campsites, and by the next morning a downtown was already being constructed. Almost immediately two prominent Norman businessmen, former Purcell railroad freight agent Delbert Larsh and railroad station chief cashier Thomas Waggoner, began lobbying for the territorial government to locate its first university in Norman. The two were interested in growing the city and had reasoned that, rather than try to influence territorial lawmakers to locate the heavily contested territory capital in Norman, it made sense to attempt to secure the state's first university instead (a move that would be far less controversial). On December 19, 1890, Larsh and Waggoner were successful with the passage of Territorial Council Bill 114, establishing the University of Oklahoma in Norman about 18 years before Oklahoma statehood. The City of Norman was formally incorporated on May 13, 1891. The new Norman was a sundown town. African Americans were not allowed to live within the city limits or stay overnight until the early 1960s, nor could they study at the University of Oklahoma. In 2020, the Norman City Council issued an apology. Norman has grown throughout the decades. By 1902 the downtown district contained two banks, two hotels, a flour mill, and other businesses; by 1913 over 3,700 people lived in Norman when the Oklahoma Railway Company decided to extend its interurban streetcar running from Oklahoma City to Moore into Norman, spurring additional population growth. The rail lines eventually transitioned to freight during the 1940s as the United States Numbered Highway system developed. The population reached 11,429 in 1940. With the completion of Interstate 35 in June 1959, Norman found its role as a bedroom community to Oklahoma City increasing rapidly; in 1960 Norman's population was 33,412 but by the end of the decade had grown to 52,117. Throughout the 1960s Norman's land mass increased by 174 sq mi (450 km²) by annexing surrounding areas. The city's growth trends have continued early in the 21st century, with the population reaching 95,694 in 2000, 110,925 in 2010, and 128,026 in 2020. ### Military in Norman In 1941, the University of Oklahoma and Norman city officials established Max Westheimer Field, a university airstrip, and then leased it to the U.S. Navy as a Naval Flight Training Center in 1942. It became the Naval Air Station Norman, and it was used for training combat pilots during World War II. A second training center, known as Naval Air Technical Training Center, and a naval hospital were later established to the south. In the years following World War II the airstrip was transferred back to the university's control. Today the airstrip is called the University of Oklahoma Westheimer Airport. Following the war the remaining military presence and post-war veterans who came to Norman to get an education again grew the city's population, which was 27,006 by 1950. The Navy again utilized the bases in a lesser capacity from 1952 to 1959 in support of the Korean War effort. ## Geography The U.S. Census Bureau reported Norman's geographical coordinates as (35°14'26"N 97°20'43"W). This appears to be the geographical center of the city limits, which include all of Lake Thunderbird. Virtually all of Norman's development is well to the west of this point. As of 2010, the city has a total area of 189.42 sq mi (490.6 km²), of which 178.77 sq mi (463.0 km²) is land and 10.65 sq mi (27.6 km²) is water. The center of this large incorporated area is 20 mi (30 km) from the center of Oklahoma City, and separated primarily by Moore, is in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. ### Topography Norman and the surrounding areas are mostly flat with an elevation near 1,171 ft (357 m). The terrain in the western section of Norman is prairie, while the eastern section, including the area surrounding Lake Thunderbird, consists of some 6,000 acres (24 km²) of lakes and Cross Timbers forest. The lowest point within city limits is approximately 970 ft (296 m) above sea level (located at 35.20388N, 97.17735W). The highest point is approximately 1,245 ft (379 m) above sea level (located at 35.21266N, 97.39000W). ### Climate Norman falls within a temperate, humid subtropical climate region that is identified as "Cfa" class on the Köppen climate classification. On average Norman receives about 38 in (970 mm) of precipitation per year; May and June are the wettest months. Temperatures average 61 °F (16 °C) for the year. Average daytime highs range from 50 °F (10 °C) in January to 92.5 °F (33.6 °C) in July; average lows range from around 28 °F (−2 °C) in January to 71 °F (22 °C) in July. Summers can be extremely hot, as was evident in the historically hot summer of 1980, and again in 2011, when temperatures climbed above 100 °F (38 °C) over most days from mid-June through early September Consistent winds, averaging near 10 mph (16 km/h) and usually from the south to southeast, help to temper hotter weather during the summer and intensify cold periods during the winter. The average growing season in Norman is 209 days, but plants that can withstand short periods of colder temperatures may have an additional three to six weeks. Winter months tend to be cloudier than those in summer, with the percentage of possible sunshine ranging from an average of about 55% in winter to nearly 80% in summer. Norman lies within an area colloquially referred to as "Tornado Alley", a region of the United States known for frequent tornadic activity, and the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, which encompasses Norman, is known for being one of the more tornado-prone areas in the United States. The risk for tornadoes is greatest in the springtime months of March through June when the majority of all reported tornadoes occur. Severe weather, including tornadoes, still occurs outside this range. Notably, a high-end EF2 tornado tore through the southeastern side of Norman on the night of February 26, 2023, passing within a mile of the NWC. There have been several other tornado events in recent years. On May 10, 2010, numerous tornadoes occurred in Cleveland County, resulting in the loss of multiple homes and businesses within Norman city limits. Weak tornadoes also struck Norman on April 13, 2012 and May 6, 2015. ## Demographics As of the census of 2010, there were 110,925 people, 44,661 households, and 24,913 families residing within the city. By population, Norman was the third-largest city in Oklahoma and the 225th-largest city in the United States. The population density was 616 inhabitants per square mile (238/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 84.7% White, 4.3% African American, 4.7% Native American, 3.8% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.9% from other races, and 5.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.4% of the population. Of the 44,661 households, 25.0% had children under the age of 18, 41.5% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.2% were non-families. Individuals living alone made up 30.7% of all households; 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.94. The age distribution was 5.8% under the age of 5, 5.7% from 5 to 9, 5.2% from 10 to 14, 8.9% from 15 to 19, 16.0% from 20 to 24, 9.0% from 25 to 29, 6.6% from 30 to 34, 5.6% from 35 to 39, 5.3% from 40 to 44, 5.9% from 45 to 49, 5.9% from 50 to 54, 5.4% from 55 to 59, 4.6% from 60 to 64, 3.2% from 65 to 69, 2.3% from 70 to 74, 1.8% from 75 to 79, 1.4% from 80 to 84, and 1.3% over 85 years of age. The median age was 29.6 years. Males made up 49.7% of the population while females made up 50.3%. The median household income in the city was \$44,396, and the median income for a family was \$62,826. Males had a median income of \$41,859 versus \$35,777 for females. The per capita income for the city was \$24,586. About 11.8% of families and 19.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.9% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over. Although religious information is not collected by the U.S. census, according to a 2000 survey by Dale E. Jones of the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, 50.2% of the population in Norman is affiliated with a religious institution. Of those 43.6% were Southern Baptist, 15.0% Catholic Church, 13.0% United Methodist, 3.3% Assembly of God, 2.8% Churches of Christ, 2.1% Latter-day Saint (Mormon), 2.1% Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, 1.9% Disciples of Christ, 1.7% Presbyterian Church, and 14.6% other Christian denominations or religions. ## Economy The University of Oklahoma employs over 11,600 personnel across three campuses, making it a significant driver of Norman's economy. The campus is a center for scientific and technological research, having contributed over \$277 million to such programs in 2009. Norman is also home of the National Weather Center, a cooperative research effort between the University of Oklahoma and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that houses a number of weather- and climate-related organizations; the city is also the location of the National Weather Museum & Science Center. As a result of this ongoing academic and public weather research, several private meteorological businesses are present in the city, including Weathernews Americas, Inc., Vieux and Associates, Inc., Verisk Analytics, Pivotal Weather, and DTN (formerly Weather Decision Technologies). In addition to weather, Norman is a center for other scientific ventures, public and private. The Oklahoma Geological Survey, which conducts geological research, and the Oklahoma Renewable Energy Council, which is a public-private alliance that fosters renewable energy technology with the aim of establishing more viable applications, make the city their home. Southwest NanoTechnologies is a producer of single-walled carbon nanotubes. Bergey Windpower is a supplier of small wind turbines. Other major employers in the city include Norman Regional Health System, Norman Public Schools, Johnson Controls, Griffin Memorial Hospital, Hitachi, Astellas Pharma Technologies, Albon Engineering, Xyant Technology, MSCI, SITEL, the United States Postal Service National Center for Employee Development, Sysco Corporation, and AT&T. ### Fair trade In 2010, Norman became the 17th city in the United States to adopt a council resolution giving it status as a Fair Trade Town. The resolution states that the city of Norman supports the purchasing of goods from the local community; when goods cannot be purchased locally the city will support buying from producers abroad who meet Fair Trade standards. These standards include supporting quality of life in developing countries and planning for environmental sustainability. ### Top employers According to the Norman's 2022 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are: ## Culture ### Museums and theater Norman enjoys many cultural attractions that are funded by the university. The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art made national and international news in 2000 when it was given the Weitzenhoffer Collection, the largest collection of French Impressionist art ever given to an American university. The collection includes works by Mary Cassatt, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Camille Pissarro. The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is a museum containing over 50,000 sq ft (5,000 m²) of exhibits ranging from archaeology, paleontology, ethnology, herpetology, ornithology, and Native American studies. Its exhibits are intended to immerse visitors in the state's long history. The museum features many complete collections of dinosaur fossils and is also noted for its Paleozoic collection, considered to be one of the largest and most important in existence. The Moore-Lindsay House is a Queen Anne-style home built prior to 1900 by prominent Norman home builder William Moore; it was purchased by the city of Norman in 1973 and today serves as the city and Cleveland County's historical museum. Located at 508 N. Peters, the Moore-Lindsay House's architecture is representative of Norman during the Victorian era. The Cleveland County Historical Society maintains a collection of over 5,000 rare books, documents, and other artifacts in its archives located inside the house. Catlett Music Center at the University of Oklahoma features many orchestral and jazz performances and the Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts' Schools of Dance, Drama, and Musical Theatre offer many student programs throughout the year. The city is also home to many privately funded galleries and performance sites. ### Community events Norman hosts many free festivals and community events that occur throughout the year. The Norman Medieval Fair is a celebration of medieval-themed games, art, and culture, with highlights of jousting, human chessmatch combats & other combat shows, and several musical & dance acts. The event is typically held during the last weekend of March or first weekend of April in Reaves Park, near the university. It has been held annually in Norman since 1976 and was originally a forum for the English Department at the University of Oklahoma. It is the largest weekend event held in the state of Oklahoma, with over 325,000 people in attendance in 2006 and growing yearly. Events Media Network has named Medieval Fair one of the top 100 events in the United States. Norman Music Festival is an annual weekend music festival held in April in downtown Norman. Established in 2008, the event had over 26,000 people in attendance during the 2009 festival. Originally a one-day event, the festival has quickly grown so large that it is now an all-weekend concert series. The festival highlights both local musicians and internationally acclaimed artists and features many forms and styles of music. Groovefest is a music festival hosted annually at Andrews Park. On the last Sunday in September, the music festival is held to help raise awareness about human rights. The event was established in 1986 by the University of Oklahoma chapter of Amnesty International. The Chocolate Festival, the only fundraiser of the year for the city's Firehouse Arts Center, was ranked No. 3 for food festivals across America by the Food Network. This festival offers various chocolate tasting sessions, chocolate art competitions and exhibits, chocolate dessert competitions and more. It has been an annual tradition since 1983. The National Weather Festival takes place at the National Weather Service every fall, featuring food trucks, weather balloon launches, educational booths, and meet-and-greets with local meteorologists. Jazz in June is a music festival held the last full weekend in June at various venues across Norman. The festival features both jazz and blues musical performances as well as jazz educational clinics taught by professional musicians appearing in the festival and post-concert jam sessions at local venues which bring headliners and local artists together. Jazz in June, one of the major cultural events in the state as well as the City of Norman, attracts a combined concert audience of 50,000 drawn from throughout the state, region and nation. Another 100,000 or more enjoy these same performances through post-festival broadcasts on KGOU Public Radio as well as other public radio stations throughout the state, region and nation. May Fair is an arts festival held every year during the first weekend in May at Andrews Park. It features top area performers, fine art, crafts, and food. Summer Breeze Concert Series is a series of concerts held from Spring to Fall at various park venues across Norman. The series is sponsored by the Performing Arts Studio. Midsummer Nights' Fair is a nighttime arts festival held during two evenings in June. The fair features art, music, and food and is held outside the Firehouse Art Center located in Lions Park. The Norman Mardi Gras parade is a celebration of Mardi Gras occurring on the Saturday closest to Fat Tuesday. The parade is held in downtown Norman and features themed costumes and floats. The Main Street Christmas Holiday Parade is a celebration of Christmas and the holiday season held every December in downtown Norman. The parade features holiday-themed costumes and floats. ## Sports The University of Oklahoma sponsors many collegiate sporting events in Norman. The school is well known for its football program, having won seven NCAA Division I National Football Championships. In addition, it has the best winning percentage of any Division I FBS team since the introduction of the AP Poll in 1936 and has played in four BCS National Championship Games since 1998. During football season, the Oklahoma Sooners football program contributes significantly to Norman's economy. During game day weekends, Norman sees an influx out of town traffic from all over the country with over 80,000 people routinely attending football games. Norman's local businesses, especially areas around campus and Campus Corner, benefit greatly from the game day traffic alone. The program ranks in the top 10 of ESPN's top college football money-makers with home games generating revenues at approximately \$59 million and game day operating expenses at about \$6.1 million. In 1951 and 1994 its baseball team won the NCAA national championship, and the women's softball team won the national championship in 2000, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, and 2023. The men's and women's gymnastics teams have won ten national championships since 2001. Other university men's sports include: basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, football, Ultimate Frisbee, tennis, track and field, and wrestling. The OU Sooners men's hockey team competes in the American College Hockey Association, at the "club" level, but has yet to apply for higher-level play. Due to the lack of a rink in Norman, the team plays at the Blazers Ice Centre in south Oklahoma City. Women's sports include: basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, football, Ultimate Frisbee, rowing, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. The Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA), a non-profit professional association of men's collegiate golf coaches, is located in Norman. ## Parks and recreation Norman's Parks and Recreation Department facilitates 55 neighborhood and community parks, three recreation centers, a golf course and driving range, three disc golf courses, a complete swim complex with waterslides, a wading pool, 32 tennis courts, and three special services centers (that offer cultural arts and senior citizen activities). Griffin Community Park Sports Complex includes 16 soccer fields, 14 baseball/softball fields, and four football fields. ## Law and government A council-manager government has been in place in Norman since the adoption of its city charter on June 28, 1919. A councilor from each of the city's eight council wards is elected to office every two years, each serving a two-year term. Councilors are elected from their own respective wards based on a plurality voting system; a councilor from each ward serves on the Norman City Council. A mayor is elected by the entire voting population of Norman and serves as an at-large councilor; the mayor serves a three-year term. As a whole, the council acts as the legislative body of city government; it aims to pass laws, approve the city budget, and manage efficiency in the government. The City Council appoints a professional City Manager who is responsible for the city's day-to-day administrative activities. The City of Norman has approximately 650 employees working in 11 departments and 31 boards and commissions that help oversee and implement the city's policies and services. The City Council meets biweekly in City Hall, at 201 W. Gray Street; various boards and commissions meet in accordance with their own schedules. The mayor is Larry Heikkila (elected in 2022), and the city manager is Darrel Pyle (appointed in 2019). In accordance with the charter of the city of Norman, all city elected positions are nonpartisan. - Thomas B. Wagoner, circa 1889 - Pryor Adkins, circa 1894 - ? - N.E. Sharp, circa 1912 - ? - T. Jack Foster, circa 1929 - ? - Al Fuzzell, circa 1952–1953 - H. W. Masters, circa 1954 - Jack Milton, circa 1955 - James F. Long, circa 1956 - June Tompkins Benson, 1957–1960 - Earl Sneed 1960-1965 - William S. Morgan, circa 1967 - Gordon D. Masters 1969–1972 - Bill Nations, 1992–1998 - Bob Thompson, 1998–2001 - Ron Henderson, 2001–2004 - Harold Haralson, circa 2005 - Cindy Simon Rosenthal, circa 2007–2016 - Lynne Miller, 2016–2019 - Breea Clark, 2019–2022 - Larry Heikkila, 2022–present Municipal and state laws are enforced by the Norman Police Department. The police department consists of up to 171 commissioned officers and 71 office employees and is Oklahoma's third-largest police department. The city serves as the county seat of Cleveland County. ## Education ### Higher education #### Colleges and universities The University of Oklahoma is the largest university in the state of Oklahoma, with approximately 30,000 students enrolled. The university was founded in 1890, prior to Oklahoma statehood. The university includes Norman, Oklahoma City and, Tulsa campuses with the main campus located in Norman. In 2007, The Princeton Review named the University of Oklahoma one of its "Best Value" colleges. The school is ranked first per capita among public universities in enrollment of National Merit Scholars and has seen 28 Rhodes Scholars graduate since the program's inception in 1902. PC Magazine and the Princeton Review rated it one of the "20 Most Wired Colleges" in both 2006 and 2008, while the Carnegie Foundation classifies it as a research university with "highest research activity." The school is well known for its athletic programs, having won many awards including seven NCAA Division I National Football Championships. #### CareerTech The city of Norman is served by the Moore Norman Technology Center. The school was established in 1972 and has been awarded the Oklahoma Association of Technology Center's Gold Star School Award on multiple occasions. The Franklin Road Campus consists of six buildings totaling 323,500 sq ft (30,100 m²) of classroom, meeting, and office space. The school has a full-time staff of 207. ### Primary and secondary schools #### Public schools Public school districts in Oklahoma are independent of other local governments. Several districts overlap the municipal boundaries of the City of Norman. Norman Public Schools is the largest district serving Norman; there are 15 elementary schools, four middle schools, and two high schools in the district. More than 17,000 students are enrolled in the district, making it one of the largest in the state. Noble Public Schools is a school district that serves southeastern portions of Norman, the adjoining cities of Noble and Slaughterville, and parts of Cleveland County. It consists of two elementary schools, an intermediate school, a middle school, and a high school. Little Axe Public Schools serves the eastern area of Norman. It consists of an elementary, junior, and high school. Other school districts with territory within the city are the Robin Hill Public School District and the Moore Public School District. #### Private schools Several private schools also serve the area: - All Saints Catholic School – pre-kindergarten through 8th grade - Blue Eagle Christian Academy – kindergarten through 10th grade - Community Christian School – kindergarten through 12th grade - Norman Christian Academy – pre-kindergarten through 7th grade - Robinson Street Academy – kindergarten through 12th grade - Rose Rock School – pre-kindergarten through kindergarten - Terra Verde Discovery School – kindergarten through 5th grade - Trinity Lutheran School – pre-kindergarten through 6th grade - Veritas Classical Christian Academy – pre-kindergarten through 12th grade ### Libraries Norman is served by three public libraries, Norman Public Library Central, Norman Public Library East, and Norman Public Library West, all of which are part of the 12-branch Pioneer Library System which serves the entirety of Cleveland County, McClain County and Pottawatomie County in Central Oklahoma. The library has a reciprocal agreement with the Metropolitan Library System of Oklahoma City through which those eligible for a library card in one system are also eligible in the other. Cardholders are also able to borrow books unavailable in the PLS collection through the use of Interlibrary Loan. Books can be reserved and shipped to a local library free of charge. In addition to books, the library maintains a collection of periodicals, DVD videos, audio books, e-books and research materials. The Bizzell Memorial Library at the University of Oklahoma is the largest library in the state of Oklahoma, containing more than five million volumes. In addition to books, the library maintains over 17,000 ft (5,200 m) in length of manuscripts and archives, 1.6 million photographs, and more than 1.5 million maps. The library also houses more than 50 books printed before the year 1500. ## Media The Norman Transcript is the most widely circulated Norman-based newspaper in the city. It is a daily newspaper covering events in Cleveland and McClain counties. It is the oldest continuous business in Norman and was founded shortly after the Land Run of April 1889 on July 13, 1889. The Oklahoma Daily is a student-run newspaper at the University of Oklahoma. It was first published in 1897, several years after the university's founding. The paper has received numerous awards for journalism excellence including the Associated Collegiate Press' Pacemaker Award. KGOU is a full-service public radio station licensed to the University of Oklahoma. The station serves Norman and the greater Oklahoma City metropolitan area with a news/talk/jazz format, using programs from National Public Radio, Public Radio International, and others. Norman TV is a government-access television station airing on Cox Communications cable television channel 20. It broadcasts programming provided by the City of Norman, including video from city council meetings. ## Infrastructure ### Transportation #### Airports Scheduled air transport, major commercial air transportation is available at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, located approximately 20 mi (30 km) northwest of Norman. The airport serves more than 3.78 million passengers per year. Norman is served locally by Max Westheimer Airport, a general aviation airport run by the University of Oklahoma. The airport is one of only two airports in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area designated as a reliever airport to Will Rogers World Airport. Max Westheimer Airport is capable of handling aircraft up through and including executive class jet aircraft. #### Buses The Cleveland Area Rapid Transit, operated by the University of Oklahoma, provides bus service throughout the 191 sq mi (490 km²) Norman area. CART also provides service to the Social Security Administration offices in Moore, as well as to Oklahoma City's EMBARK transit hub downtown. EMBARK maintains a fleet of buses and trolleys serving the greater Oklahoma City area, with a new light-rail system expected to begin operations in 2018. All service to Will Rogers World Airport is not currently available. In 2008, CART became the 39th public transportation system in the United States to be featured on Google Transit, a website that allows transportation users to electronically plan their travel routes. In 2010, CART buses were modified to include a GPS tracking system that allows riders to see the location of buses and their predicted arrival times via the CART and Google websites. CART buses transport more than 1.3 million travelers annually. #### Rail Inter-city passenger train service is available via Amtrak at Norman Depot. Amtrak's Heartland Flyer provides daily round trip service to downtown Oklahoma City and Fort Worth, Texas. Although Norman currently has no light rail or commuter rail service, there is growing interest in incorporating such services into the city's future transportation plans as part of the Oklahoma City metro area's regional transit system. #### Roads and highways The predominant form of transportation in Norman is roads and highways with 80.0% of all residents driving alone to work, 9.0% carpooling, and just 1.3% taking public transportation. As of 2007, Interstate 35 alone was handling over 99,000 vehicles per day. Other major highways include State Highway 9, a portion of which serves 28,000 vehicles per day, and U.S. Highway 77, which serves more than 25,000 vehicles per day. Norman is served by two major federal highways: - Interstate 35 - U.S. Highway 77 Norman is served by two major Oklahoma state highways: - State Highway 9 - State Highway 77H Norman is also connected to the planned South Loop Turnpike via the Norman Spur Turnpike, which follows State Highway 9 from a point west of Interstate 35 to the H.E. Bailey Turnpike (Interstate 44) south of Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City. Plans are going forward to connect the Norman Spur to Airport Road (Oklahoma 152) in Oklahoma City and to the north to the existing John Kilpatrick Turnpike that ends just south of Interstate 40 near Yukon and moving north across the north side of Oklahoma City to the Turner Turnpike to Tulsa. The expansion will allow Norman residents a high-speed, limited-access route to the west without having to enter the heavily trafficked areas of Oklahoma City. Future plans call for an extension east and north of the Turnpike to connect Norman directly to Interstate 40 east and the Turner Turnpike to Tulsa, greatly reducing travel times for residents because they will be able to avoid Oklahoma City's traffic in all directions except for northbound Interstate 35. ### Utilities Electric utility companies servicing Norman include Oklahoma Gas & Electric, which is headquartered in Oklahoma City, and Oklahoma Electric Cooperative (a utility cooperative). Natural gas is provided by Oklahoma Natural Gas. The city's Utility Department offers water, wastewater, and recycling services to parts of the city as well as solid waste pickup citywide. Telephone networks, broadband internet, and cable television service are available from several companies including Cox Communications and AT&T. #### Drinking water controversy In a study published in 2007, the National Institutes of Health deemed hexavalent chromium VI (chromium-6) to be a likely carcinogen in lab animals when consumed in large quantities (\>62.5ppm) in drinking water. The EPA does not currently require testing for or set limits on chromium-6 levels in American cities' water supplies (but it does require total chromium-3 and chromium-6 levels not exceed 100 ppb). The official total chromium-3/chromium-6 level present in Norman's drinking water has ranged from 20 to 80 ppb. It has been proposed that the source of the chromium-6 is the Garber-Wellington Aquifer, which is known to have elevated levels of heavy metals. The issue of chromium-6 levels gained national attention with the 2000 film release of Erin Brockovich, which detailed a California woman's legal fight against Pacific Gas and Electric Company for allegedly contaminating her hometown with excessive levels of the element. In the past the Norman water supply has also been criticized for the presence of excessive levels of arsenic. The city is attempting to combat this problem by building new wells and removing older ones. ### Health systems Norman Regional Health System is a multi-campus system that provides medical services in Norman and throughout south central Oklahoma. Its Porter Avenue campus, located north of downtown Norman, is a 337-bed general hospital providing a wide range of services including acute care. In October 2009, the Norman Regional HealthPlex campus opened in west Norman. It provides a 152-bed facility specializing in cardiology, cardiovascular services, as well as women's and children's services. ## Notable people ## Neighborhoods Norman has a wide variety of neighborhoods. Downtown Norman is an area of approximately 2 sq mi (5 km²) bounded by University Blvd., Symmes St., Porter Ave., and Daws St.; primary streets include Main St. and Gray St. The area consists of restaurants, art galleries, and other businesses; it is home to some of the oldest buildings in Oklahoma. Hall Park is an area northeast of downtown Norman that was originally an independent township; in 2005 it was annexed into Norman, becoming one of its neighborhoods. The area is home to many middle-class suburban homes and is historically important in that it was advertised as the United States' first "all-electric town." President Ronald Reagan, then an executive with General Electric, attended Hall Park's grand opening ceremonies in 1962 where he was named the town's honorary first mayor. The University of Oklahoma and the area surrounding it are home to many historically significant neighborhoods. The university itself has a unique Gothic-inspired architecture known as "Cherokee Gothic," so named by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Churches and houses in the surrounding neighborhoods can be described as neo-Gothic or Queen Anne in style. Norman has two city-designated historic preservation districts in the area: the Miller Historic District, bounded by Symmes St., Classen Blvd., and Miller Ave.; and the Chautauqua Historic District, bounded by Symmes St., Brooks St., Chautauqua Ave., and Lahoma Ave. Both of these residential neighborhoods contain houses designed from a mixture of architectural styles dating from 1903 to 1935, with the majority of the Miller neighborhood being of the Bungalow or American Craftsman style homes. Any external changes or repairs to homes in these areas must be approved by the Norman Historic Preservation Commission. The area immediately north of the university is known as Campus Corner and contains a mixture of businesses, bars, and restaurants. The neighborhoods to the east of the campus are home to many students, both in residential housing and high-rise condos/apartments. Norman enjoys many tree-lined landscapes, participating in the ReLeaf Norman and Tree City USA programs. ## Twin towns – sister cities In accordance with Sister Cities International, an organization that began under President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956, Norman has been given four international sister cities in an attempt to foster cross-cultural understanding: - Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy - Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-de-Dôme, France - Colima, Col., Mexico - Seika, Kyoto, Japan ## See also

Pepper Martin

American baseball player

Johnny Leonard Roosevelt "Pepper" Martin (February 29, 1904 – March 5, 1965) was an American professional baseball player and minor league manager. He was known as the "Wild Horse of the Osage" because of his daring, aggressive baserunning abilities. Martin played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman and an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals during the 1930s and early 1940s. He was best known for his heroics during the 1931 World Series, in which he was the catalyst in a Cardinals' upset victory over the Philadelphia Athletics. Martin was an integral member of the Cardinals' teams of the 1930s that became known as the Gashouse Gang for their roguish behavior and practical jokes. Early in his career, he was labeled by some contemporary press reports as the next Ty Cobb because of his spirited, hustling style of play. However, because his headlong attitude on the playing field took a physical toll on his body, he never lived up to those initial expectations. After the end of his playing career, he continued his career in baseball as a successful minor league baseball manager. ## Baseball career ### Early career Born in Temple, Oklahoma, Martin moved to Oklahoma City with his parents at the age of six where he grew up playing baseball. He began his professional baseball career at the age of 19 when he signed to play as a shortstop in the Oklahoma State League for a team in Guthrie, Oklahoma. When the league folded in 1924, his contract was sold to the Greenville Hunters of the East Texas League. In 1925, he posted a .340 batting average in 98 games for the Hunters and his contract was acquired by the St. Louis Cardinals to play for their Western Association affiliate, the Fort Smith Twins. He continued to post batting averages above the .300 mark. In 1927, Martin hit for a .306 average in 147 games with the Houston Buffaloes, earning him a promotion to the major leagues. After spending five years in the minor leagues, Martin made his major league debut with the Cardinals on April 16, 1928 at the age of 24. He posted a .308 batting average in 39 games as a utility player, helping the Cardinals win the National League pennant. Martin made one appearance as a pinch runner in the 1928 World Series, when the Cardinals lost in four straight games to the New York Yankees. Despite his respectable batting average, Martin was sent back to the Houston Buffaloes in January 1929 where he hit for a .298 batting average. The following season, he was promoted to the Rochester Red Wings where his offensive statistics improved with 20 home runs, a .363 batting average and a .631 slugging percentage, helping the Red Wings win the 1930 International League title. The Red Wings then defeated the Louisville Colonels of the American Association to win the Junior World Series. Martin's performance earned him a return to the major leagues with the Cardinals in 1931. When veteran center fielder Taylor Douthit went into a hitting slump, Martin replaced him and played well enough that Cardinals' president, Branch Rickey, traded Douthit to the Cincinnati Reds in June. Martin impressed observers with his hustle in the outfield as well as on the base paths where he often slid into bases head-first. He ended the year with a .300 batting average along with seven home runs and 75 runs batted in to help the Cardinals clinch the 1931 National League pennant by 13 games over the New York Giants. ### World Series star The 1931 World Series was a rematch of the previous year's participants, pitting the Cardinals against the Philadelphia Athletics. Led by Connie Mack, the Athletics had won the previous two World Series and were heavily favored to win for a third consecutive year. They featured a lineup that included five future National Baseball Hall of Fame members in Mickey Cochrane, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, Waite Hoyt and Al Simmons. In Game 1 held at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Martin had three hits, including a double, a stolen base and drove in one run in a 6-2 loss to the ace of the Athletics staff, 31-game winning pitcher Lefty Grove. Martin proved to be the difference in Game 2 in what was otherwise a tight pitching duel between Bill Hallahan of the Cardinals and George Earnshaw for the Athletics. He scored the first run of the game in the second inning by stretching a single into a double when the ball was mishandled in the outfield, stealing third base, and then scoring on a sacrifice fly. Martin added another run in the seventh inning when he hit a single, stole second base, took third base on a fielder's choice, and then scored on a squeeze bunt. Those would be the only runs of the game as Hallahan pitched a three-hit shutout to even the series at one win apiece. The series then moved to Shibe Park in Philadelphia for Game 3, where Martin had two hits, including a double and scored twice in a 5-2 Cardinals' victory over Grove. In Game 4, he produced the only two hits by the Cardinals as they lost to Earnshaw, 3-0. Martin almost single-handedly provided the offense for the Cardinals in Game 5, driving home four runs with two singles, a home run and a sacrifice fly, as the Cardinals triumphed 5-1. Although he was held hitless in the final two games of the series, he made an impressive catch to extinguish an Athletics two-run rally in the ninth inning of Game 7 to end the game and clinch the world championship for the Cardinals. He set a then record 12 hits in the series, including four doubles, a home run, five stolen bases and five runs batted in. Martin's .500 series batting average may have made the difference in the series outcome, as without him the Cardinals batted just .205 as a team. During the series, Martin was asked how he had learned to run so fast; he replied, "I grew up in Oklahoma, and once you start runnin' out there there ain't nothin' to stop you". Longtime major league manager, John McGraw, described Martin's performance as "the greatest individual performance in the history of the World Series." In December, he was selected as male athlete of the year by the Associated Press. ### Later career Martin experienced an injury-plagued season in 1932, missing several weeks when he dislocated his shoulder in April and missed a month and a half when he broke a finger in July while sliding into home plate. In August, Cardinals manager Gabby Street converted Martin into a third baseman in an attempt to fill the gap left by the injured Sparky Adams. Martin was not a naturally gifted third baseman, often fielding balls after having stopped them with his chest. He ended the season with a .238 batting average with four home runs and 34 runs batted in as the Cardinals fell to seventh place in the National League. Having rebounded from his injuries, in 1933 Martin was leading the league in hitting with a .363 batting average in the middle of June, earning him a starting role as the third baseman for the National League team in the inaugural Major League Baseball All-Star Game held on July 6, 1933. Now hitting as the Cardinals' leadoff hitter, he finished the season ranked sixth in the league with a career-high .316 average and led the league with 122 runs scored and 26 stolen bases. Martin ranked tenth in the league with a .456 slugging percentage, and he had a career-high .387 on-base percentage along with 36 doubles, 12 triples and eight home runs as the Cardinals improved to a fifth-place finish. He came in fifth place in the voting results for the 1933 National League Most Valuable Player Award. Martin's batting average dropped to .289 in 1934, but he once again led the league in stolen bases as the Cardinals rallied from seven games behind the New York Giants in early September to win the National League pennant on the last day of the season. He made an appearance as a relief pitcher on August 19, allowing one hit in two innings pitched. In a memorable 1934 World Series against the Detroit Tigers, the Cardinals were down 3 games to 2, before rebounding to win the final two games. The series was highlighted by several rough plays on the base paths that culminated in Game 7, when Joe Medwick made a rough slide into Tigers' third baseman Marv Owen. The following inning, outraged Detroit fans pelted Medwick with debris when he assumed his defensive position in the outfield. The disturbance wasn't quelled until the umpires appealed to Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who had Medwick removed from the game. Martin ended the series with 11 hits for a .355 average, stole two bases and scored eight runs in the series. He experienced difficulties in the field, committing 3 errors in Game 4 and setting a World Series record with four errors overall. While in a St. Louis hospital in December 1934, for a minor operation on his left arm, Martin insisted that he be entertained by a cowboy musical group that he had hired. He created such a disturbance among the other patients that the hospital staff moved him to an isolated wing. Martin, along with Cardinals teammates such as Leo Durocher, Dizzy Dean and Joe Medwick among others, became known as the 1934 Gashouse Gang due to their boisterous activities on and off the field. He played the guitar in a hillbilly band composed of Cardinals players named The Mudcat Band. Although Martin had a good year offensively in 1935, he continued to struggle defensively at third base. In the midst of a tight pennant race in July, he committed three costly errors in a loss to the New York Giants, and ended the year with 30 errors. He was hitting for a .333 average by mid-season to earn the starting third baseman's position in the 1935 All-Star Game. For the season, he hit for a .299 average with nine home runs and 54 runs batted in. In October, Martin underwent surgery again, this time on his right arm. In January 1936, Branch Rickey asked Martin to curtail his extra-curricular activities. Already well known as a hunting and fishing enthusiast, Martin had taken up the hobby of midget car racing and was also playing in football and basketball games during the winter months. He also became the vice-president and general manager of an Oklahoma City ice hockey team. Martin moved back to the outfield, playing as the Cardinals' right fielder in 1936 as the Cardinals battled the New York Giants for the National League title before settling for second place. He responded with a good year offensively, hitting for a .309 average with career-highs in home runs (11) and in runs batted in (76). Martin also led the National League in stolen bases with 23. He continued to hit well by 1937, although he was relegated to a part-time role, as his spirited, headlong style of play took its toll on his body. At the beginning of the 1939 season, he was named as the Cardinals' team captain, taking the job from Leo Durocher, who had been traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers. He experienced a resurgence, leading the team with a .340 batting average in June before a sprained wrist put him out of action for two weeks. He ended the season with a .306 batting average in 88 games, helping the Cardinals to finish second in the National League. Martin hit for a respectable .316 average in 1940 before the Cardinals named him as the player-manager of the Sacramento Solons of the Pacific Coast League in October. Martin led Sacramento to a second-place finish in 1941 before leading them to their first Pacific Coast League championship in 38 years in 1942. He then became a player-manager for the Rochester Red Wings in 1943. When professional baseball experienced a shortage of players during World War II, Martin returned to the major leagues in 1944 with the Cardinals at the age of 40. In 40 games with the Cardinals, he posted a .279 batting average and an impressive .386 on-base percentage to help the Cardinals clinch the 1944 National League pennant. Martin did not appear in the 1944 World Series, playing his final major league game on October 1, 1944. ## Career statistics In a 13-year major league career, Martin played in 1,189 games, accumulating 1,227 hits in 4,117 at bats for a .298 career batting average along with 756 runs, 270 doubles, 75 triples, .443 slugging percentage, 59 home runs, 501 runs batted in, 146 stolen bases, 369 bases on balls and an on-base percentage of .358. He retired with a .973 career fielding percentage in 613 games as an outfielder and a .927 fielding percentage in 429 games as a third baseman. A four-time All-Star, Martin's World Series career batting average of .418 (23-for-55) is still a series record, and he is tied for 10th with seven World Series stolen bases. He led the National League three times in stolen bases and once in runs scored. On May 5, 1933, Martin hit for the cycle in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at the Baker Bowl. ## Managerial career After the end of his major league career, Martin returned to the minor leagues, serving as a player-manager with the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League in 1945 and 1946 before becoming the player-manager for the Greenville Spinners of the South Atlantic League in 1947. His fiery, competitive nature was still evident in July 1945 when it was reported that he had punched one of his players for not performing to his standards. While managing the Miami Sun Sox of the Florida International League in 1949, he was fined and suspended for the remainder of the season for choking an umpire. In August 1951, he made news again when he was arrested after a Sun Sox game when he went into the stands to punch a spectator in Lakeland, Florida. When the Sun Sox released him, Martin was hired to manage the Miami Beach Flamingos of the Florida International League in 1952. Despite leading them to a 103-49 record, the Flamingos finished the season one game behind his former team, the Sun Sox. In 1953, he became the manager of the Fort Lauderdale Lions and led them to the Florida International League title. After spending the 1954 season as the manager for the Portsmouth Merrimacs, Martin was named as a coach for the Chicago Cubs in September 1955. Stan Hack was fired as the Cubs manager when they finished in last place in the 1956 season, and the new Cubs manager, Bob Scheffing, asked for Martin's resignation along with the rest of the coaching staff. Martin returned to the minor leagues once again where he became a player-coach for the Tulsa Oilers, playing his final game at the age of 54. He took his final field assignment as the manager of the Miami Marlins in 1959. ## Later life Before his death, Martin served briefly as the athletic director of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at McAlester, Oklahoma. He died on March 5, 1965, after suffering a heart attack. His wife, Ruby, survived him by over four decades, dying just after her 99th birthday in 2009. Martin was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame in 1992 and was enshrined into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2017. ## See also - List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle - List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders - List of Major League Baseball annual stolen base leaders - List of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise

Quantum mechanics

Description of physical properties at the atomic and subatomic scale

Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, quantum field theory, quantum technology, and quantum information science. Classical physics, the collection of theories that existed before the advent of quantum mechanics, describes many aspects of nature at an ordinary (macroscopic) scale, but is not sufficient for describing them at small (atomic and subatomic) scales. Most theories in classical physics can be derived from quantum mechanics as an approximation valid at large (macroscopic) scale. Quantum mechanics differs from classical physics in that energy, momentum, angular momentum, and other quantities of a bound system are restricted to discrete values (quantization); objects have characteristics of both particles and waves (wave–particle duality); and there are limits to how accurately the value of a physical quantity can be predicted prior to its measurement, given a complete set of initial conditions (the uncertainty principle). Quantum mechanics arose gradually from theories to explain observations that could not be reconciled with classical physics, such as Max Planck's solution in 1900 to the black-body radiation problem, and the correspondence between energy and frequency in Albert Einstein's 1905 paper, which explained the photoelectric effect. These early attempts to understand microscopic phenomena, now known as the "old quantum theory", led to the full development of quantum mechanics in the mid-1920s by Niels Bohr, Erwin Schrödinger, Werner Heisenberg, Max Born, Paul Dirac and others. The modern theory is formulated in various specially developed mathematical formalisms. In one of them, a mathematical entity called the wave function provides information, in the form of probability amplitudes, about what measurements of a particle's energy, momentum, and other physical properties may yield. ## Overview and fundamental concepts Quantum mechanics allows the calculation of properties and behaviour of physical systems. It is typically applied to microscopic systems: molecules, atoms and sub-atomic particles. It has been demonstrated to hold for complex molecules with thousands of atoms, but its application to human beings raises philosophical problems, such as Wigner's friend, and its application to the universe as a whole remains speculative. Predictions of quantum mechanics have been verified experimentally to an extremely high degree of accuracy. A fundamental feature of the theory is that it usually cannot predict with certainty what will happen, but only give probabilities. Mathematically, a probability is found by taking the square of the absolute value of a complex number, known as a probability amplitude. This is known as the Born rule, named after physicist Max Born. For example, a quantum particle like an electron can be described by a wave function, which associates to each point in space a probability amplitude. Applying the Born rule to these amplitudes gives a probability density function for the position that the electron will be found to have when an experiment is performed to measure it. This is the best the theory can do; it cannot say for certain where the electron will be found. The Schrödinger equation relates the collection of probability amplitudes that pertain to one moment of time to the collection of probability amplitudes that pertain to another. One consequence of the mathematical rules of quantum mechanics is a tradeoff in predictability between different measurable quantities. The most famous form of this uncertainty principle says that no matter how a quantum particle is prepared or how carefully experiments upon it are arranged, it is impossible to have a precise prediction for a measurement of its position and also at the same time for a measurement of its momentum. Another consequence of the mathematical rules of quantum mechanics is the phenomenon of quantum interference, which is often illustrated with the double-slit experiment. In the basic version of this experiment, a coherent light source, such as a laser beam, illuminates a plate pierced by two parallel slits, and the light passing through the slits is observed on a screen behind the plate. The wave nature of light causes the light waves passing through the two slits to interfere, producing bright and dark bands on the screen – a result that would not be expected if light consisted of classical particles. However, the light is always found to be absorbed at the screen at discrete points, as individual particles rather than waves; the interference pattern appears via the varying density of these particle hits on the screen. Furthermore, versions of the experiment that include detectors at the slits find that each detected photon passes through one slit (as would a classical particle), and not through both slits (as would a wave). However, such experiments demonstrate that particles do not form the interference pattern if one detects which slit they pass through. Other atomic-scale entities, such as electrons, are found to exhibit the same behavior when fired towards a double slit. This behavior is known as wave–particle duality. Another counter-intuitive phenomenon predicted by quantum mechanics is quantum tunnelling: a particle that goes up against a potential barrier can cross it, even if its kinetic energy is smaller than the maximum of the potential. In classical mechanics this particle would be trapped. Quantum tunnelling has several important consequences, enabling radioactive decay, nuclear fusion in stars, and applications such as scanning tunnelling microscopy and the tunnel diode. When quantum systems interact, the result can be the creation of quantum entanglement: their properties become so intertwined that a description of the whole solely in terms of the individual parts is no longer possible. Erwin Schrödinger called entanglement "...the characteristic trait of quantum mechanics, the one that enforces its entire departure from classical lines of thought". Quantum entanglement enables the counter-intuitive properties of quantum pseudo-telepathy, and can be a valuable resource in communication protocols, such as quantum key distribution and superdense coding. Contrary to popular misconception, entanglement does not allow sending signals faster than light, as demonstrated by the no-communication theorem. Another possibility opened by entanglement is testing for "hidden variables", hypothetical properties more fundamental than the quantities addressed in quantum theory itself, knowledge of which would allow more exact predictions than quantum theory can provide. A collection of results, most significantly Bell's theorem, have demonstrated that broad classes of such hidden-variable theories are in fact incompatible with quantum physics. According to Bell's theorem, if nature actually operates in accord with any theory of local hidden variables, then the results of a Bell test will be constrained in a particular, quantifiable way. Many Bell tests have been performed, using entangled particles, and they have shown results incompatible with the constraints imposed by local hidden variables. It is not possible to present these concepts in more than a superficial way without introducing the actual mathematics involved; understanding quantum mechanics requires not only manipulating complex numbers, but also linear algebra, differential equations, group theory, and other more advanced subjects. Accordingly, this article will present a mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics and survey its application to some useful and oft-studied examples. ## Mathematical formulation In the mathematically rigorous formulation of quantum mechanics, the state of a quantum mechanical system is a vector $\psi$ belonging to a (separable) complex Hilbert space $\mathcal H$. This vector is postulated to be normalized under the Hilbert space inner product, that is, it obeys $\langle \psi,\psi \rangle = 1$, and it is well-defined up to a complex number of modulus 1 (the global phase), that is, $\psi$ and $e^{i\alpha}\psi$ represent the same physical system. In other words, the possible states are points in the projective space of a Hilbert space, usually called the complex projective space. The exact nature of this Hilbert space is dependent on the system – for example, for describing position and momentum the Hilbert space is the space of complex square-integrable functions $L^2(\mathbb C)$, while the Hilbert space for the spin of a single proton is simply the space of two-dimensional complex vectors $\mathbb C^2$ with the usual inner product. Physical quantities of interest – position, momentum, energy, spin – are represented by observables, which are Hermitian (more precisely, self-adjoint) linear operators acting on the Hilbert space. A quantum state can be an eigenvector of an observable, in which case it is called an eigenstate, and the associated eigenvalue corresponds to the value of the observable in that eigenstate. More generally, a quantum state will be a linear combination of the eigenstates, known as a quantum superposition. When an observable is measured, the result will be one of its eigenvalues with probability given by the Born rule: in the simplest case the eigenvalue $\lambda$ is non-degenerate and the probability is given by $|\langle \vec\lambda,\psi\rangle|^2$, where $\vec\lambda$ is its associated eigenvector. More generally, the eigenvalue is degenerate and the probability is given by $\langle \psi,P_\lambda\psi\rangle$, where $P_\lambda$ is the projector onto its associated eigenspace. In the continuous case, these formulas give instead the probability density. After the measurement, if result $\lambda$ was obtained, the quantum state is postulated to collapse to $\vec\lambda$, in the non-degenerate case, or to $P_\lambda\psi/\sqrt{\langle \psi,P_\lambda\psi\rangle}$, in the general case. The probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics thus stems from the act of measurement. This is one of the most difficult aspects of quantum systems to understand. It was the central topic in the famous Bohr–Einstein debates, in which the two scientists attempted to clarify these fundamental principles by way of thought experiments. In the decades after the formulation of quantum mechanics, the question of what constitutes a "measurement" has been extensively studied. Newer interpretations of quantum mechanics have been formulated that do away with the concept of "wave function collapse" (see, for example, the many-worlds interpretation). The basic idea is that when a quantum system interacts with a measuring apparatus, their respective wave functions become entangled so that the original quantum system ceases to exist as an independent entity. For details, see the article on measurement in quantum mechanics. The time evolution of a quantum state is described by the Schrödinger equation: $i\hbar {\frac {d}{dt}} \psi (t) =H \psi (t).$ Here $H$ denotes the Hamiltonian, the observable corresponding to the total energy of the system, and $\hbar$ is the reduced Planck constant. The constant $i\hbar$ is introduced so that the Hamiltonian is reduced to the classical Hamiltonian in cases where the quantum system can be approximated by a classical system; the ability to make such an approximation in certain limits is called the correspondence principle. The solution of this differential equation is given by $\psi(t) = e^{-iHt/\hbar }\psi(0).$ The operator $U(t) = e^{-iHt/\hbar }$ is known as the time-evolution operator, and has the crucial property that it is unitary. This time evolution is deterministic in the sense that – given an initial quantum state $\psi(0)$ – it makes a definite prediction of what the quantum state $\psi(t)$ will be at any later time. Some wave functions produce probability distributions that are independent of time, such as eigenstates of the Hamiltonian. Many systems that are treated dynamically in classical mechanics are described by such "static" wave functions. For example, a single electron in an unexcited atom is pictured classically as a particle moving in a circular trajectory around the atomic nucleus, whereas in quantum mechanics, it is described by a static wave function surrounding the nucleus. For example, the electron wave function for an unexcited hydrogen atom is a spherically symmetric function known as an s orbital (Fig. 1). Analytic solutions of the Schrödinger equation are known for very few relatively simple model Hamiltonians including the quantum harmonic oscillator, the particle in a box, the dihydrogen cation, and the hydrogen atom. Even the helium atom – which contains just two electrons – has defied all attempts at a fully analytic treatment. However, there are techniques for finding approximate solutions. One method, called perturbation theory, uses the analytic result for a simple quantum mechanical model to create a result for a related but more complicated model by (for example) the addition of a weak potential energy. Another method is called "semi-classical equation of motion", which applies to systems for which quantum mechanics produces only small deviations from classical behavior. These deviations can then be computed based on the classical motion. This approach is particularly important in the field of quantum chaos. ### Uncertainty principle One consequence of the basic quantum formalism is the uncertainty principle. In its most familiar form, this states that no preparation of a quantum particle can imply simultaneously precise predictions both for a measurement of its position and for a measurement of its momentum. Both position and momentum are observables, meaning that they are represented by Hermitian operators. The position operator $\hat{X}$ and momentum operator $\hat{P}$ do not commute, but rather satisfy the canonical commutation relation: $[\hat{X}, \hat{P}] = i\hbar.$ Given a quantum state, the Born rule lets us compute expectation values for both $X$ and $P$, and moreover for powers of them. Defining the uncertainty for an observable by a standard deviation, we have $\sigma_X=\sqrt{\langle {X}^2 \rangle-\langle {X}\rangle^2},$ and likewise for the momentum: $\sigma_P=\sqrt{\langle {P}^2 \rangle-\langle {P}\rangle^2}.$ The uncertainty principle states that $\sigma_X \sigma_P \geq \frac{\hbar}{2}.$ Either standard deviation can in principle be made arbitrarily small, but not both simultaneously. This inequality generalizes to arbitrary pairs of self-adjoint operators $A$ and $B$. The commutator of these two operators is $[A,B]=AB-BA,$ and this provides the lower bound on the product of standard deviations: $\sigma_A \sigma_B \geq \frac{1}{2}\left|\langle[A,B]\rangle \right|.$ Another consequence of the canonical commutation relation is that the position and momentum operators are Fourier transforms of each other, so that a description of an object according to its momentum is the Fourier transform of its description according to its position. The fact that dependence in momentum is the Fourier transform of the dependence in position means that the momentum operator is equivalent (up to an $i/\hbar$ factor) to taking the derivative according to the position, since in Fourier analysis differentiation corresponds to multiplication in the dual space. This is why in quantum equations in position space, the momentum $p_i$ is replaced by $-i \hbar \frac {\partial}{\partial x}$, and in particular in the non-relativistic Schrödinger equation in position space the momentum-squared term is replaced with a Laplacian times $-\hbar^2$. ### Composite systems and entanglement When two different quantum systems are considered together, the Hilbert space of the combined system is the tensor product of the Hilbert spaces of the two components. For example, let A and B be two quantum systems, with Hilbert spaces $\mathcal H_A$ and $\mathcal H_B$, respectively. The Hilbert space of the composite system is then $\mathcal H_{AB} = \mathcal H_A \otimes \mathcal H_B.$ If the state for the first system is the vector $\psi_A$ and the state for the second system is $\psi_B$, then the state of the composite system is $\psi_A \otimes \psi_B.$ Not all states in the joint Hilbert space $\mathcal H_{AB}$ can be written in this form, however, because the superposition principle implies that linear combinations of these "separable" or "product states" are also valid. For example, if $\psi_A$ and $\phi_A$ are both possible states for system $A$, and likewise $\psi_B$ and $\phi_B$ are both possible states for system $B$, then $\tfrac{1}{\sqrt{2}} \left ( \psi_A \otimes \psi_B + \phi_A \otimes \phi_B \right )$ is a valid joint state that is not separable. States that are not separable are called entangled. If the state for a composite system is entangled, it is impossible to describe either component system A or system B by a state vector. One can instead define reduced density matrices that describe the statistics that can be obtained by making measurements on either component system alone. This necessarily causes a loss of information, though: knowing the reduced density matrices of the individual systems is not enough to reconstruct the state of the composite system. Just as density matrices specify the state of a subsystem of a larger system, analogously, positive operator-valued measures (POVMs) describe the effect on a subsystem of a measurement performed on a larger system. POVMs are extensively used in quantum information theory. As described above, entanglement is a key feature of models of measurement processes in which an apparatus becomes entangled with the system being measured. Systems interacting with the environment in which they reside generally become entangled with that environment, a phenomenon known as quantum decoherence. This can explain why, in practice, quantum effects are difficult to observe in systems larger than microscopic. ### Equivalence between formulations There are many mathematically equivalent formulations of quantum mechanics. One of the oldest and most common is the "transformation theory" proposed by Paul Dirac, which unifies and generalizes the two earliest formulations of quantum mechanics – matrix mechanics (invented by Werner Heisenberg) and wave mechanics (invented by Erwin Schrödinger). An alternative formulation of quantum mechanics is Feynman's path integral formulation, in which a quantum-mechanical amplitude is considered as a sum over all possible classical and non-classical paths between the initial and final states. This is the quantum-mechanical counterpart of the action principle in classical mechanics. ### Symmetries and conservation laws The Hamiltonian $H$ is known as the generator of time evolution, since it defines a unitary time-evolution operator $U(t) = e^{-iHt/\hbar}$ for each value of $t$. From this relation between $U(t)$ and $H$, it follows that any observable $A$ that commutes with $H$ will be conserved: its expectation value will not change over time. This statement generalizes, as mathematically, any Hermitian operator $A$ can generate a family of unitary operators parameterized by a variable $t$. Under the evolution generated by $A$, any observable $B$ that commutes with $A$ will be conserved. Moreover, if $B$ is conserved by evolution under $A$, then $A$ is conserved under the evolution generated by $B$. This implies a quantum version of the result proven by Emmy Noether in classical (Lagrangian) mechanics: for every differentiable symmetry of a Hamiltonian, there exists a corresponding conservation law. ## Examples ### Free particle The simplest example of a quantum system with a position degree of freedom is a free particle in a single spatial dimension. A free particle is one which is not subject to external influences, so that its Hamiltonian consists only of its kinetic energy: $H = \frac{1}{2m}P^2 = - \frac {\hbar ^2}{2m} \frac {d ^2}{dx^2}.$ The general solution of the Schrödinger equation is given by $\psi (x,t)=\frac {1}{\sqrt {2\pi }}\int _{-\infty}^\infty{\hat {\psi }}(k,0)e^{i(kx -\frac{\hbar k^2}{2m} t)}\mathrm{d}k,$ which is a superposition of all possible plane waves $e^{i(kx -\frac{\hbar k^2}{2m} t)}$, which are eigenstates of the momentum operator with momentum $p = \hbar k$. The coefficients of the superposition are $\hat {\psi }(k,0)$, which is the Fourier transform of the initial quantum state $\psi(x,0)$. It is not possible for the solution to be a single momentum eigenstate, or a single position eigenstate, as these are not normalizable quantum states. Instead, we can consider a Gaussian wave packet: $\psi(x,0) = \frac{1}{\sqrt[4]{\pi a}}e^{-\frac{x^2}{2a}}$ which has Fourier transform, and therefore momentum distribution $\hat \psi(k,0) = \sqrt[4]{\frac{a}{\pi}}e^{-\frac{a k^2}{2}}.$ We see that as we make $a$ smaller the spread in position gets smaller, but the spread in momentum gets larger. Conversely, by making $a$ larger we make the spread in momentum smaller, but the spread in position gets larger. This illustrates the uncertainty principle. As we let the Gaussian wave packet evolve in time, we see that its center moves through space at a constant velocity (like a classical particle with no forces acting on it). However, the wave packet will also spread out as time progresses, which means that the position becomes more and more uncertain. The uncertainty in momentum, however, stays constant. ### Particle in a box The particle in a one-dimensional potential energy box is the most mathematically simple example where restraints lead to the quantization of energy levels. The box is defined as having zero potential energy everywhere inside a certain region, and therefore infinite potential energy everywhere outside that region. For the one-dimensional case in the $x$ direction, the time-independent Schrödinger equation may be written $- \frac {\hbar ^2}{2m} \frac {d ^2 \psi}{dx^2} = E \psi.$ With the differential operator defined by $\hat{p}_x = -i\hbar\frac{d}{dx}$ the previous equation is evocative of the classic kinetic energy analogue, $\frac{1}{2m} \hat{p}_x^2 = E,$ with state $\psi$ in this case having energy $E$ coincident with the kinetic energy of the particle. The general solutions of the Schrödinger equation for the particle in a box are $\psi(x) = A e^{ikx} + B e ^{-ikx} \qquad\qquad E = \frac{\hbar^2 k^2}{2m}$ or, from Euler's formula, $\psi(x) = C \sin(kx) + D \cos(kx).\!$ The infinite potential walls of the box determine the values of $C, D,$ and $k$ at $x=0$ and $x=L$ where $\psi$ must be zero. Thus, at $x=0$, $\psi(0) = 0 = C\sin(0) + D\cos(0) = D$ and $D=0$. At $x=L$, $\psi(L) = 0 = C\sin(kL),$ in which $C$ cannot be zero as this would conflict with the postulate that $\psi$ has norm 1. Therefore, since $\sin(kL)=0$, $kL$ must be an integer multiple of $\pi$, $k = \frac{n\pi}{L}\qquad\qquad n=1,2,3,\ldots.$ This constraint on $k$ implies a constraint on the energy levels, yielding $E_n = \frac{\hbar^2 \pi^2 n^2}{2mL^2} = \frac{n^2h^2}{8mL^2}.$ A finite potential well is the generalization of the infinite potential well problem to potential wells having finite depth. The finite potential well problem is mathematically more complicated than the infinite particle-in-a-box problem as the wave function is not pinned to zero at the walls of the well. Instead, the wave function must satisfy more complicated mathematical boundary conditions as it is nonzero in regions outside the well. Another related problem is that of the rectangular potential barrier, which furnishes a model for the quantum tunneling effect that plays an important role in the performance of modern technologies such as flash memory and scanning tunneling microscopy. ### Harmonic oscillator As in the classical case, the potential for the quantum harmonic oscillator is given by $V(x)=\frac{1}{2}m\omega^2x^2.$ This problem can either be treated by directly solving the Schrödinger equation, which is not trivial, or by using the more elegant "ladder method" first proposed by Paul Dirac. The eigenstates are given by <math> \psi_n(x) = \sqrt{\frac{1}{2^n\\, n!}} \cdot \left(\frac{m\omega}{\pi \hbar}\right)^{1/4} \cdot e^{ \- \frac{m\omega x^2}{2 \hbar}} \cdot H_n\left(\sqrt{\frac{m\omega}{\hbar}} x \right), \qquad </math> $n = 0,1,2,\ldots.$ where H_n are the Hermite polynomials $H_n(x)=(-1)^n e^{x^2}\frac{d^n}{dx^n}\left(e^{-x^2}\right),$ and the corresponding energy levels are $E_n = \hbar \omega \left(n + {1\over 2}\right).$ This is another example illustrating the discretization of energy for bound states. ### Mach–Zehnder interferometer The Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) illustrates the concepts of superposition and interference with linear algebra in dimension 2, rather than differential equations. It can be seen as a simplified version of the double-slit experiment, but it is of interest in its own right, for example in the delayed choice quantum eraser, the Elitzur–Vaidman bomb tester, and in studies of quantum entanglement. We can model a photon going through the interferometer by considering that at each point it can be in a superposition of only two paths: the "lower" path which starts from the left, goes straight through both beam splitters, and ends at the top, and the "upper" path which starts from the bottom, goes straight through both beam splitters, and ends at the right. The quantum state of the photon is therefore a vector $\psi \in \mathbb{C}^2$ that is a superposition of the "lower" path $\psi_l = \begin{pmatrix} 1 \\ 0 \end{pmatrix}$ and the "upper" path $\psi_u = \begin{pmatrix} 0 \\ 1 \end{pmatrix}$, that is, $\psi = \alpha \psi_l + \beta \psi_u$ for complex $\alpha,\beta$. In order to respect the postulate that $\langle \psi,\psi\rangle = 1$ we require that $|\alpha|^2+|\beta|^2 = 1$. Both beam splitters are modelled as the unitary matrix $B = \frac1{\sqrt2}\begin{pmatrix} 1 & i \\ i & 1 \end{pmatrix}$, which means that when a photon meets the beam splitter it will either stay on the same path with a probability amplitude of $1/\sqrt{2}$, or be reflected to the other path with a probability amplitude of $i/\sqrt{2}$. The phase shifter on the upper arm is modelled as the unitary matrix $P = \begin{pmatrix} 1 & 0 \\ 0 & e^{i\Delta\Phi} \end{pmatrix}$, which means that if the photon is on the "upper" path it will gain a relative phase of $\Delta\Phi$, and it will stay unchanged if it is in the lower path. A photon that enters the interferometer from the left will then be acted upon with a beam splitter $B$, a phase shifter $P$, and another beam splitter $B$, and so end up in the state $BPB\psi_l = ie^{i\Delta\Phi/2} \begin{pmatrix} -\sin(\Delta\Phi/2) \\ \cos(\Delta\Phi/2) \end{pmatrix},$ and the probabilities that it will be detected at the right or at the top are given respectively by $p(u) = |\langle \psi_u, BPB\psi_l \rangle|^2 = \cos^2 \frac{\Delta \Phi}{2},$ $p(l) = |\langle \psi_l, BPB\psi_l \rangle|^2 = \sin^2 \frac{\Delta \Phi}{2}.$ One can therefore use the Mach–Zehnder interferometer to estimate the phase shift by estimating these probabilities. It is interesting to consider what would happen if the photon were definitely in either the "lower" or "upper" paths between the beam splitters. This can be accomplished by blocking one of the paths, or equivalently by removing the first beam splitter (and feeding the photon from the left or the bottom, as desired). In both cases, there will be no interference between the paths anymore, and the probabilities are given by $p(u)=p(l) = 1/2$, independently of the phase $\Delta\Phi$. From this we can conclude that the photon does not take one path or another after the first beam splitter, but rather that it is in a genuine quantum superposition of the two paths. ## Applications Quantum mechanics has had enormous success in explaining many of the features of our universe, with regard to small-scale and discrete quantities and interactions which cannot be explained by classical methods. Quantum mechanics is often the only theory that can reveal the individual behaviors of the subatomic particles that make up all forms of matter (electrons, protons, neutrons, photons, and others). Solid-state physics and materials science are dependent upon quantum mechanics. In many aspects, modern technology operates at a scale where quantum effects are significant. Important applications of quantum theory include quantum chemistry, quantum optics, quantum computing, superconducting magnets, light-emitting diodes, the optical amplifier and the laser, the transistor and semiconductors such as the microprocessor, medical and research imaging such as magnetic resonance imaging and electron microscopy. Explanations for many biological and physical phenomena are rooted in the nature of the chemical bond, most notably the macro-molecule DNA. ## Relation to other scientific theories ### Classical mechanics The rules of quantum mechanics assert that the state space of a system is a Hilbert space and that observables of the system are Hermitian operators acting on vectors in that space – although they do not tell us which Hilbert space or which operators. These can be chosen appropriately in order to obtain a quantitative description of a quantum system, a necessary step in making physical predictions. An important guide for making these choices is the correspondence principle, a heuristic which states that the predictions of quantum mechanics reduce to those of classical mechanics in the regime of large quantum numbers. One can also start from an established classical model of a particular system, and then try to guess the underlying quantum model that would give rise to the classical model in the correspondence limit. This approach is known as quantization. When quantum mechanics was originally formulated, it was applied to models whose correspondence limit was non-relativistic classical mechanics. For instance, the well-known model of the quantum harmonic oscillator uses an explicitly non-relativistic expression for the kinetic energy of the oscillator, and is thus a quantum version of the classical harmonic oscillator. Complications arise with chaotic systems, which do not have good quantum numbers, and quantum chaos studies the relationship between classical and quantum descriptions in these systems. Quantum decoherence is a mechanism through which quantum systems lose coherence, and thus become incapable of displaying many typically quantum effects: quantum superpositions become simply probabilistic mixtures, and quantum entanglement becomes simply classical correlations. Quantum coherence is not typically evident at macroscopic scales, except maybe at temperatures approaching absolute zero at which quantum behavior may manifest macroscopically. Many macroscopic properties of a classical system are a direct consequence of the quantum behavior of its parts. For example, the stability of bulk matter (consisting of atoms and molecules which would quickly collapse under electric forces alone), the rigidity of solids, and the mechanical, thermal, chemical, optical and magnetic properties of matter are all results of the interaction of electric charges under the rules of quantum mechanics. ### Special relativity and electrodynamics Early attempts to merge quantum mechanics with special relativity involved the replacement of the Schrödinger equation with a covariant equation such as the Klein–Gordon equation or the Dirac equation. While these theories were successful in explaining many experimental results, they had certain unsatisfactory qualities stemming from their neglect of the relativistic creation and annihilation of particles. A fully relativistic quantum theory required the development of quantum field theory, which applies quantization to a field (rather than a fixed set of particles). The first complete quantum field theory, quantum electrodynamics, provides a fully quantum description of the electromagnetic interaction. Quantum electrodynamics is, along with general relativity, one of the most accurate physical theories ever devised. The full apparatus of quantum field theory is often unnecessary for describing electrodynamic systems. A simpler approach, one that has been used since the inception of quantum mechanics, is to treat charged particles as quantum mechanical objects being acted on by a classical electromagnetic field. For example, the elementary quantum model of the hydrogen atom describes the electric field of the hydrogen atom using a classical $\textstyle -e^2/(4 \pi\epsilon_{_0}r)$ Coulomb potential. This "semi-classical" approach fails if quantum fluctuations in the electromagnetic field play an important role, such as in the emission of photons by charged particles. Quantum field theories for the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force have also been developed. The quantum field theory of the strong nuclear force is called quantum chromodynamics, and describes the interactions of subnuclear particles such as quarks and gluons. The weak nuclear force and the electromagnetic force were unified, in their quantized forms, into a single quantum field theory (known as electroweak theory), by the physicists Abdus Salam, Sheldon Glashow and Steven Weinberg. ### Relation to general relativity Even though the predictions of both quantum theory and general relativity have been supported by rigorous and repeated empirical evidence, their abstract formalisms contradict each other and they have proven extremely difficult to incorporate into one consistent, cohesive model. Gravity is negligible in many areas of particle physics, so that unification between general relativity and quantum mechanics is not an urgent issue in those particular applications. However, the lack of a correct theory of quantum gravity is an important issue in physical cosmology and the search by physicists for an elegant "Theory of Everything" (TOE). Consequently, resolving the inconsistencies between both theories has been a major goal of 20th- and 21st-century physics. This TOE would combine not only the models of subatomic physics but also derive the four fundamental forces of nature from a single force or phenomenon. One proposal for doing so is string theory, which posits that the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and interact with each other. On distance scales larger than the string scale, a string looks just like an ordinary particle, with its mass, charge, and other properties determined by the vibrational state of the string. In string theory, one of the many vibrational states of the string corresponds to the graviton, a quantum mechanical particle that carries gravitational force. Another popular theory is loop quantum gravity (LQG), which describes quantum properties of gravity and is thus a theory of quantum spacetime. LQG is an attempt to merge and adapt standard quantum mechanics and standard general relativity. This theory describes space as an extremely fine fabric "woven" of finite loops called spin networks. The evolution of a spin network over time is called a spin foam. The characteristic length scale of a spin foam is the Planck length, approximately 1.616×10⁻³⁵ m, and so lengths shorter than the Planck length are not physically meaningful in LQG. ## Philosophical implications Since its inception, the many counter-intuitive aspects and results of quantum mechanics have provoked strong philosophical debates and many interpretations. The arguments centre on the probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics, the difficulties with wavefunction collapse and the related measurement problem, and quantum nonlocality. Perhaps the only consensus that exists about these issues is that there is no consensus. Richard Feynman once said, "I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics." According to Steven Weinberg, "There is now in my opinion no entirely satisfactory interpretation of quantum mechanics." The views of Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg and other physicists are often grouped together as the "Copenhagen interpretation". According to these views, the probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics is not a temporary feature which will eventually be replaced by a deterministic theory, but is instead a final renunciation of the classical idea of "causality". Bohr in particular emphasized that any well-defined application of the quantum mechanical formalism must always make reference to the experimental arrangement, due to the complementary nature of evidence obtained under different experimental situations. Copenhagen-type interpretations were adopted by Nobel laureates in quantum physics, including Bohr, Heisenberg, Schrodinger, Feynman, and Zeilinger as well as 21st century researchers in quantum foundations. Albert Einstein, himself one of the founders of quantum theory, was troubled by its apparent failure to respect some cherished metaphysical principles, such as determinism and locality. Einstein's long-running exchanges with Bohr about the meaning and status of quantum mechanics are now known as the Bohr–Einstein debates. Einstein believed that underlying quantum mechanics must be a theory that explicitly forbids action at a distance. He argued that quantum mechanics was incomplete, a theory that was valid but not fundamental, analogous to how thermodynamics is valid, but the fundamental theory behind it is statistical mechanics. In 1935, Einstein and his collaborators Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen published an argument that the principle of locality implies the incompleteness of quantum mechanics, a thought experiment later termed the Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen paradox. In 1964, John Bell showed that EPR's principle of locality, together with determinism, was actually incompatible with quantum mechanics: they implied constraints on the correlations produced by distance systems, now known as Bell inequalities, that can be violated by entangled particles. Since then several experiments have been performed to obtain these correlations, with the result that they do in fact violate Bell inequalities, and thus falsify the conjunction of locality with determinism. Bohmian mechanics shows that it is possible to reformulate quantum mechanics to make it deterministic, at the price of making it explicitly nonlocal. It attributes not only a wave function to a physical system, but in addition a real position, that evolves deterministically under a nonlocal guiding equation. The evolution of a physical system is given at all times by the Schrödinger equation together with the guiding equation; there is never a collapse of the wave function. This solves the measurement problem. Everett's many-worlds interpretation, formulated in 1956, holds that all the possibilities described by quantum theory simultaneously occur in a multiverse composed of mostly independent parallel universes. This is a consequence of removing the axiom of the collapse of the wave packet. All possible states of the measured system and the measuring apparatus, together with the observer, are present in a real physical quantum superposition. While the multiverse is deterministic, we perceive non-deterministic behavior governed by probabilities, because we do not observe the multiverse as a whole, but only one parallel universe at a time. Exactly how this is supposed to work has been the subject of much debate. Several attempts have been made to make sense of this and derive the Born rule, with no consensus on whether they have been successful. Relational quantum mechanics appeared in the late 1990s as a modern derivative of Copenhagen-type ideas, and QBism was developed some years later. ## History Quantum mechanics was developed in the early decades of the 20th century, driven by the need to explain phenomena that, in some cases, had been observed in earlier times. Scientific inquiry into the wave nature of light began in the 17th and 18th centuries, when scientists such as Robert Hooke, Christiaan Huygens and Leonhard Euler proposed a wave theory of light based on experimental observations. In 1803 English polymath Thomas Young described the famous double-slit experiment. This experiment played a major role in the general acceptance of the wave theory of light. During the early 19th century, chemical research by John Dalton and Amedeo Avogadro lent weight to the atomic theory of matter, an idea that James Clerk Maxwell, Ludwig Boltzmann and others built upon to establish the kinetic theory of gases. The successes of kinetic theory gave further credence to the idea that matter is composed of atoms, yet the theory also had shortcomings that would only be resolved by the development of quantum mechanics. While the early conception of atoms from Greek philosophy had been that they were indivisible units – the word "atom" deriving from the Greek for "uncuttable" – the 19th century saw the formulation of hypotheses about subatomic structure. One important discovery in that regard was Michael Faraday's 1838 observation of a glow caused by an electrical discharge inside a glass tube containing gas at low pressure. Julius Plücker, Johann Wilhelm Hittorf and Eugen Goldstein carried on and improved upon Faraday's work, leading to the identification of cathode rays, which J. J. Thomson found to consist of subatomic particles that would be called electrons. The black-body radiation problem was discovered by Gustav Kirchhoff in 1859. In 1900, Max Planck proposed the hypothesis that energy is radiated and absorbed in discrete "quanta" (or energy packets), yielding a calculation that precisely matched the observed patterns of black-body radiation. The word quantum derives from the Latin, meaning "how great" or "how much". According to Planck, quantities of energy could be thought of as divided into "elements" whose size (E) would be proportional to their frequency (ν): $E = h \nu\$, where h is Planck's constant. Planck cautiously insisted that this was only an aspect of the processes of absorption and emission of radiation and was not the physical reality of the radiation. In fact, he considered his quantum hypothesis a mathematical trick to get the right answer rather than a sizable discovery. However, in 1905 Albert Einstein interpreted Planck's quantum hypothesis realistically and used it to explain the photoelectric effect, in which shining light on certain materials can eject electrons from the material. Niels Bohr then developed Planck's ideas about radiation into a model of the hydrogen atom that successfully predicted the spectral lines of hydrogen. Einstein further developed this idea to show that an electromagnetic wave such as light could also be described as a particle (later called the photon), with a discrete amount of energy that depends on its frequency. In his paper "On the Quantum Theory of Radiation," Einstein expanded on the interaction between energy and matter to explain the absorption and emission of energy by atoms. Although overshadowed at the time by his general theory of relativity, this paper articulated the mechanism underlying the stimulated emission of radiation, which became the basis of the laser. This phase is known as the old quantum theory. Never complete or self-consistent, the old quantum theory was rather a set of heuristic corrections to classical mechanics. The theory is now understood as a semi-classical approximation to modern quantum mechanics. Notable results from this period include, in addition to the work of Planck, Einstein and Bohr mentioned above, Einstein and Peter Debye's work on the specific heat of solids, Bohr and Hendrika Johanna van Leeuwen's proof that classical physics cannot account for diamagnetism, and Arnold Sommerfeld's extension of the Bohr model to include special-relativistic effects. In the mid-1920s quantum mechanics was developed to become the standard formulation for atomic physics. In 1923, the French physicist Louis de Broglie put forward his theory of matter waves by stating that particles can exhibit wave characteristics and vice versa. Building on de Broglie's approach, modern quantum mechanics was born in 1925, when the German physicists Werner Heisenberg, Max Born, and Pascual Jordan developed matrix mechanics and the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger invented wave mechanics. Born introduced the probabilistic interpretation of Schrödinger's wave function in July 1926. Thus, the entire field of quantum physics emerged, leading to its wider acceptance at the Fifth Solvay Conference in 1927. By 1930 quantum mechanics had been further unified and formalized by David Hilbert, Paul Dirac and John von Neumann with greater emphasis on measurement, the statistical nature of our knowledge of reality, and philosophical speculation about the 'observer'. It has since permeated many disciplines, including quantum chemistry, quantum electronics, quantum optics, and quantum information science. It also provides a useful framework for many features of the modern periodic table of elements, and describes the behaviors of atoms during chemical bonding and the flow of electrons in computer semiconductors, and therefore plays a crucial role in many modern technologies. While quantum mechanics was constructed to describe the world of the very small, it is also needed to explain some macroscopic phenomena such as superconductors and superfluids. ## See also - Bra–ket notation - Einstein's thought experiments - List of textbooks on classical and quantum mechanics - Macroscopic quantum phenomena - Phase-space formulation - Regularization (physics) - Two-state quantum system ## Explanatory notes

San Francisco tech bus protests

Protests over private buses using public stops in San Francisco

The San Francisco tech bus protests were a series of protests in the San Francisco Bay Area beginning in late 2013, when the use of shuttle buses employed by local area tech companies became widely publicized. The tech buses have been called "Google buses" although other companies—such as tech companies Apple, Facebook, and Yahoo, and biotechnology corporation Genentech, also pay for private shuttle services. The buses are used to transport employees from their homes in San Francisco and Oakland to corporate campuses in Silicon Valley, about 40 miles (64 km) south. Anti-tech bus protesters viewed the buses as symbols of gentrification and displacement in a city where rapid growth in the tech sector and insufficient new housing construction has led to increasing rent and housing prices. In reaction to the protests, the City of San Francisco began provisional regulation of the shuttle services in August 2014, with some of the shuttle stops being closed or reassigned to other locations within the city. A permanent solution, known as the Commuter Shuttle Program, took effect on February 1, 2016. This subjected the shuttle services to regulatory processes and monetary compensation requirements, imparting greater legitimacy upon their use. Owing to these new regulations, by May 2017 the protests had largely abated. ## Background The core issues surrounding the use of buses were that only employees of tech companies were allowed to use them, and for a substantial amount of time the buses used city infrastructure without compensating the city for their use. According to Berkeley professor Abigail De Kosnik, the resulting protests can be viewed as "synecdoches for the anger that many San Francisco residents feel towards technological privilege and its facilitation of a widening of a class divide in the city", and that the Google bus protests were "attempts to disrupt the smoothness of technological privilege's spread." ### Transportation needs Growth in the technology sector of Silicon Valley at the beginning of the 21st century encouraged an influx of tech workers to the area, increasing demand for public transportation in the greater Bay Area. Inadequate links between San Francisco and Silicon Valley workplaces became a leading factor in Silicon Valley employers' 2008 implementation of tech buses as viable alternatives for transportation. As a net gain, busing ensured employees had a convenient way to commute to work while allowing for tech workers to live outside of Silicon Valley. According to a 2012 report by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), there were approximately 6,500 tech commuters who used shuttle buses to take them from their respective homes to work locations outside the city. ### Gentrification At the same time, the growth of the technology companies caused gentrification. Rents were rising and evictions were increasing in frequency by late 2013. The use of exclusive busing services, along with the suburban locations of tech companies, served to isolate tech workers from other San Francisco residents in a manner similar to gated communities. One commentator remarked: > The buses roll up to San Francisco's bus stops in the morning and evening, but they are unmarked, or nearly so, and not for the public. Most of them are gleaming white, with dark-tinted windows, like limousines, and some days I think of them as the spaceships on which our alien overlords have landed to rule over us. Sometimes the Google Bus just seems like one face of Janus-headed capitalism, in that they contain the people too valuable even to use public transport or drive themselves. ### Dueling transportation systems Concerns soon arose over the busing, most notably the shuttles' use of public bus stops. Having different transport systems attempting to use the same areas at each stop in an uncoordinated fashion brought about unnecessary traffic congestion, for which the City of San Francisco was not compensated. An internal city report stated: > Prior to August 2014, San Francisco did not regulate or collect fees from commuter shuttles. Shuttles operated throughout the City on both large arterial and small non-arterial streets. Shuttles loaded and unloaded passengers in a variety of places whether it was legal or not, including white loading zones, red Muni zones, and other vacant curb spaces. When curb space was unavailable, shuttles often would load or unload passengers in the travel lane. The lack of rules for where and when loading and unloading were permitted resulted in confusion for shuttle operators and neighbors, inconsistent enforcement, and real and perceived conflicts with other transportation modes. ## Protests The protests started on December 9, 2013, when activists from a group called Heart of the City blocked and entered a double-decker bus used by Google at 24th Street and Valencia in San Francisco's Mission District. The main strategy used during the protests was to briefly detain buses while engaged at their stops loading passengers. Afterwards, messages by the protesting groups were disseminated through media, communicating their actions to larger audiences outside the city. This sparked other groups across the Bay in Oakland and out of state in Seattle to protest private tech commuter buses in their areas. In the majority of incidents, protesters merely blocked the buses from leaving their stops. At a protest organized by Eviction Free San Francisco on December 20, 2013, a group of protesters blocked a bus while an organizer using a loudspeaker from the back of a truck drew attention to the blockade, which lasted 30 minutes. On April 1, 2014, April Fools' Day, protesters wearing blue, yellow and red costumes blocked a tech bus carrying Google workers at 24th and Valencia, preventing it from departing. An organizer named "Judith Hart" — claiming to be the president of Google's new Gmuni division – began answering questions on a loudspeaker from the gathering crowd of onlookers while distributing Gmuni passes, which she claimed allowed the public to ride the tech buses for free. After several people from the crowd were denied boarding, the organizer acknowledged to arriving police that the bus driver "may not have received notice of the program" and the bus was ultimately allowed to depart. Across the bay in Oakland, protesters were more pointed in their blockade, with one protester breaking the window of a bus while an unrelated second protester slashed the tire of another bus. Other protesters detaining a bus in Oakland unfurled a banner containing expletives. In one incident on April 2, 2014, a protester climbed to the roof of a Yahoo bus close by Bay Area Rapid Transit's MacArthur station in Oakland, and vomited on the windshield. According to an organizer from San Francisco, the protests in Oakland were not affiliated with the San Francisco groups, with "the only real connection is that most of our communities are being heavily displaced and people are very angry". ## Reactions ### Law enforcement In almost all incidents, the protesters who were obstructing buses eventually moved of their own accord or at police direction. Very few incidents of arrests were made during the protests, due largely to so-called Graham factors, whereby use of the police power to arrest is considered inexpedient in cases where people are viewed as peacefully protesting. In these cases, San Francisco Police Department officers are trained to de-escalate the situation by using other, non-confrontational means, such as communicating with non-compliant subjects. ### SF Board of Supervisors With the accumulation of media and public interest that the protests garnered, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors held their first three-hour meeting on the protests at City Hall on January 7, 2014. Tech bus operators had been offered a solution whereby they would be charged \$1 per stop per day, regardless of how many workers got on or off. Angry residents, citing the \$2 fee San Franciscans had to pay to board city buses, demanded that the private bus services pay more for their share. In the meantime, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency was asked by the Board of Supervisors to commission a panel to begin gathering information on a long-term solution. Six months later, in July 2014, SFMTA began implementing its first preliminary fee of \$1.00 for each public stop used by the buses, which was expected to raise \$1.5 million during the 18 months that it was to be in effect. ### Tech companies In February 2014, Google donated \$6.8 million to SFMTA to provide free public transit for low-income children in San Francisco. On March 31, 2014, tech-advocacy group sf.citi—led by Ron Conway, angel investor in Google and other tech companies—released a statement of support for SFMTA's pilot program. ## Resolution In 2015 SFMTA released the results of its fact-finding pilot program, which found that about 47% of workers in tech areas would commute to and from work using their own vehicles if they did not have the tech buses available to them, increasing the amount of privately owned vehicles on area roadways. This led SFMTA's board of directors to approve a broader solution, thereafter known as the Commuter Shuttle Program. The program allowed the city to regulate the buses by delineating where they could travel to, their size, and how much each bus was to pay the city as compensation for their usage of city bus stops. Sporadic protesting continued until February 2016, when SFMTA approved an extension to the program, allowing it to continue beyond its initial end date of March 31, 2017. This extension carried tighter regulations of the buses, including limits to larger buses, final approval on all main roads to be used, and city provided safety training for the drivers. Stricter coordination would also be made through continuous GPS tracking of the buses. Finally, the extension made permanent the city's ability to collect their per-stop fee, which as of October 2018 stood at \$7.65 per stop.

Regina Martínez Pérez

Mexican journalist and murder victim

Regina Martínez Pérez (7 September 1963 – 28 April 2012) was a Mexican journalist and veteran crime reporter for Proceso, a center-left Mexican news magazine known for its critical reporting of the social and political establishment. Born in a small town in the state of Veracruz, Martínez Pérez left her hometown to study journalism at Universidad Veracruzana. After graduating from university, she went to work at a state-owned television company in Chiapas in the early 1980s, but she encountered various forms of censorship that convinced her to pursue a career in print media. After five years in Chiapas, Martínez Pérez relocated to Veracruz and worked for several local newspapers. In Veracruz, Martínez Pérez faced several challenges of censorship by the political establishment for her direct reporting, and particularly for being an outspoken critic of human rights violations, government corruption, abuse of authority, and for her in-depth coverage of the drug trafficking organizations that operate in Veracruz. Early in the morning of 28 April 2012, Martínez Pérez was murdered inside her home in Xalapa after being severely beaten. A suspect was arrested in October 2012 and publicly confessed to the murder, while the Mexican authorities concluded that the motive of the murder was theft. However, the suspect later retracted his confession and stated that he had been tortured and threatened by officials to lie and admit to the murder. Investigators have relied solely on the suspect's confession to incriminate him; the DNA and fingerprint samples collected at the murder scene did not match the suspect's according to sources close to Committee to Protect Journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists, Proceso magazine, and several journalists and press freedom organizations have complained about irregularities in the investigation and question the legitimacy of the whole case. They believe that their colleague's murder was part of a campaign of intimidation against those who investigate alleged links between drug traffickers and politicians in the state of Veracruz. ## Early life Regina Martínez Pérez was born in the small town of Rafael Lucio, Veracruz on 7 September 1963. Her parents, María Lorenza Pérez Vázquez and Florencio Martínez Romero, had 11 children. From a young age, Martínez Pérez wanted to be a journalist; after graduating from high school, she left her hometown to study journalism at Universidad Veracruzana (UV). Shortly after graduating, she moved to the state of Chiapas to work as a reporter for Mexican Rural Television (Televisión Rural Mexicana – TRM), a state-owned television company, in the early 1980s. Martínez Pérez was part of a group of former students from the UV who were hired by the government to work at the television company. But after demanding better working conditions and facing censorship from the company, she left the company to pursue a career in print media. ## Career Martínez Pérez worked for several newspapers in Chiapas, like El Sol de Chiapas and Número Uno, for five years before she returned to her home state of Veracruz, where she became the editorial assistant of the news channel Cuatro Más. The journalist then left to work for the daily Política, where she covered topics on security and social justice. Martínez Pérez was also a journalist and investigative crime reporter for the Diario de Xalapa newspaper. Her journalistic career in Veracruz, however, faced several challenges from the political elite; governors and government secretaries wanted to censor Martínez Pérez for criticizing their administration. Instead of self-censoring like other media outlets in the state, she became known for her direct reporting style, which frequently angered the authorities. She wrote over 63 reports covering political assassinations, natural disasters, authority abuses, human right violations, corruption, and government mismanagement. After working for the Diario de Xalapa, Martínez Pérez became a local correspondent for the newspaper La Jornada in the state and later joined the news magazine Proceso, where she worked for more than ten years. The news magazine is well known for having an "anti-establishment publication" style, and often runs articles that criticize politicians across the country. Many of its reporters have been threatened in the past for their journalistic coverage. In Proceso, Martínez Pérez was an open critic of government corruption and abuse of authority, and wrote extensively on the local drug trade and organized crime. She was particularly known in Mexico for her in-depth reporting on the Mexican drug cartels and how they corrupted government officials in Veracruz. Among her last publications before her murder was a political profile about Reynaldo Escobar Pérez and Alejandro Montano, two politicians of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who were running for office in Congress. A week before her murder she had also written about an incident in which the Mexican Navy arrested nine policemen in the state who were allegedly working for a drug trafficking organization, the arrest of a high-profile leader of Los Zetas drug cartel known as Comandante Chaparro, and a story involving mayor Martín Padua Zúñiga from the National Action Party (PAN) who was arrested with drug traffickers following a gunfight with the Mexican Army. ## Death Martínez Pérez was murdered early in the morning of 28 April 2012 in her home in the Felipe Carrillo Puerto neighborhood in Xalapa, the capital of Veracruz. When police went to her home to investigate in response to a neighbor's call about her door being open all day, Martínez Pérez's corpse was found on the bathroom floor. According to official reports, she had been severely beaten around her face and ribs, and then strangled to death. The cause of death was asphyxia by strangulation. At the time of her death, the Mexican authorities said they were investigating all the possible motives behind her assassination, including personal motives and theft, and that they would investigate whether the killing was work-related. In October 2012, new details emerged in her murder investigation. Charges were brought against Jorge Antonio Hernández Silva (alias El Silva) and José Adrián Hernández Domínguez (alias El Jarocho), two men who were alleged to have murdered Martínez Pérez. Silva, who had already been arrested, confessed to the murder. According to Silva's confession, the reporter knew Domínguez and therefore allowed both of them into her house on the night of her murder. After some conversation, Domínguez grew angry and started beating Martínez Pérez with the intention of forcing her to reveal where she hid her money and other valuable possessions. Silva then joined his accomplice in the beating until they killed her. Investigators said that the attackers had plunged the journalist's head into a toilet bowl, hit her on the head several times with brass knuckles, and threw her against a tub, where she cracked her skull. Martínez Pérez unsuccessfully tried to defend herself by grabbing a kitchen knife and stabbing one of the attackers in the forearm, but they managed to overpower her as she only weighed 108 lbs (48.9 kg). Both men then stole a plasma TV, two cellphones, a laptop computer, a camera and a small box, and the journalist's wristband from her home before leaving the crime scene. ### Investigation When Silva was arrested in October 2012, he confessed to the murder of Martínez Pérez. Investigators and authorities in Veracruz concluded that the journalist was killed during a robbery. When placed before a judge, Silva retracted his confession and stated that he had been tortured, held hostage for over a week, and threatened by Veracruz authorities in order to make him confess to the assassination. Silva said that officials had threatened to kill his mother, his last remaining family member. During a press conference, the Veracruz authorities relied solely on the confession of Silva as evidence against him. None of them made references to DNA, fingerprint, or blood samples from the murder scene. Sources close to the Committee to Protect Journalists stated that the samples collected at the crime scene do not match those of any of the criminals listed on the national database. This should rule out both Silva and Domínguez (who is still at large) from the murder, because both of them have extensive criminal records. Proceso news magazine immediately took a critical stance toward the investigation and said that they did not believe that the Veracruz authorities were capable of completing a clean investigation. The committee to Protect Journalists believes that the murder case was possibly fabricated, and that Silva was likely used as a scapegoat by the authorities. Just a few items were stolen from Martínez Pérez's house while valuable goods were left behind, so they allege that theft was not the real motive behind her murder. According to Mexican law, Proceso was allowed to participate in the investigation, so they appointed a top journalist to cover every detail of it. Proceso has complained that the Veracruz authorities have lied to them regarding possible developments in the investigation. Six months after Martínez Pérez's slaying, the Veracruz authorities stated that her murder was also a crime of passion. According to the reports, Domínguez was the alleged boyfriend of the journalist. In April 2013, Proceso stated that it had received classified information that its senior editor who was covering the investigation, Jorge Carrasco, was a possible target by corrupt Veracruz officials. Reportedly, members of the administration of Governor Javier Duarte de Ochoa were allowed to carry out "hostile actions against the reporter in response to his most recent publication on the Regina Martínez case." Sources close to the news magazine alleged that officials were plotting to kill the reporter while he was in the nation's capital, Mexico City. The Veracruz authorities responded by stating that the accusations were false and asked Proceso to provide evidence for its claims. The governor promised that he would investigate the threats, and the journalist went into hiding with several armed bodyguards. That same month, Silva was sentenced to 38 years and 2 months in prison for the murder. The judge also ordered the murderer to pay roughly US\$8,000 in reparations for her death and the stolen possessions. Proceso, however, expressed its doubt on the murder case and trial once again, stating that they did not believe the court was sentencing the right man. Many journalists continue to dispute the facts in the case, believing that the murder was retribution for reports by Martínez Pérez on drug trafficking and political corruption; they have questioned the investigation by the state of Veracruz. Proceso magazine's reporter said the investigators never explored the possibility that her journalism may have been the motive behind her murder. Press freedom organizations across the world have complained that the case was designed to cover up the crime instead of clarifying what actually happened. "We don't believe them [the authorities]", said Proceso reporter Jorge Carrasco on behalf of the whole newspaper magazine. The case was the subject of a podcast by A Safer World for Truth and openDemocracy released in December 2021. ## Context ### Background Veracruz is the most dangerous place in Mexico for journalists; at least nine journalists have been killed since Governor Javier Duarte de Ochoa took office in 2010, many of them by the Los Zetas drug cartel. Most of these reporters were killed under unclear circumstances, and few arrests have been made in their respective investigations. Given the high levels of corruption, criminal impunity, and drug-related attacks against the press all across Veracruz, many local journalists have decided to leave the state and relocate in other parts of Mexico. The atmosphere in Veracruz has also forced many media outlets to self-censor and stop reporting on the drug violence. With traditional reporting being too dangerous and intimidating, social media and blogs are often the only outlets for reporting serious crimes. The state of Veracruz used to be controlled by the Gulf Cartel before business was handed over to Los Zetas, their former allies, when they went to war across northeastern Mexico in early 2010. Since 2011, much of the drug-related violence is a result of the turf wars between Los Zetas and the Sinaloa Cartel, a drug trafficking organization based in western Mexico and headed by Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán, Mexico's most-wanted drug lord. These criminal groups are fighting for Veracruz because of its lucrative smuggling routes for contraband, drug trafficking, and illegal migrants heading to the United States. It has one of Mexico's busiest ports, and officials say that there is no way they can inspect all of the containers that come in by ship. Corruption is also widespread in Veracruz; investigators have been slow and reluctant to link the Martínez Pérez murder to organized crime. According to the committee to Protect Journalists, Veracruz is by "general consensus one of the most politically corrupt [states in Mexico]". Mexico was ruled by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) for 71 years until it lost the presidential seat to the conservative National Action Party (PAN) in 2000. The PRI has long been criticized for being corrupt and allowing the drug trafficking organizations in the country to operate freely if they maintained relative peace. Although the PRI lost the national presidency in 2000, some states remained under the rule of PRI politicians. "Democratic transition never quite reached Veracruz," a state of 8 million people. PRI governors in Veracruz continued to rule with the state with tactics largely abandoned by the PRI at a national level. ### Journalists assassinated Martínez Pérez was the fifth journalist killed in Veracruz during the sexenio of Governor Javier Duarte de Ochoa, which started in 2010. The first journalist assassinated was Noel López Olguín (March 2011), followed by Miguel Ángel López Velasco and his son Miseal (June 2011). Then Yolanda Ordaz de la Cruz was killed (July 2011), followed by Martínez Pérez (April 2012). Just a few days after her death, the mutilated bodies of four media professionals were discovered. There would be still another journalist murdered in Veracruz: Víctor Manuel Báez (June 2012). Although not officially counted in the death toll of journalists, at least three journalists have been kidnapped and have remained in captivity since 2010: Manuel Gabriel Fonseca Hernández (September 2011), Miguel Morales Estrada (July 2012), and Sergio Landa Rosales (November 2012). Nearly 100 journalists, bloggers and writers have been kidnapped or killed in Mexico since 2000, making the country one of the most dangerous places on the planet in which to be a journalist. Most of these crimes, too, have remained unsolved, and only a few perpetrators have been brought to justice. On 22 June 2012, former President Felipe Calderón signed the "Law for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists" (Spanish: Ley Para la Protección de Personas Defensoras de Derechos Humanos y Periodistas), which makes attacks against journalists a federal crime and establishes a fund for investigating these crimes. The law also establishes several preventative measures to protect journalists, such as providing them bodyguards, armored vehicles, bullet-proof vests, security cameras, wireless equipment and satellite cellphones to communicate in case of any danger, and temporary relocation if deemed necessary. Congress passed a law on 7 June 2012 that allowed the federal government to investigate attacks against journalists, crimes which used to be under the jurisdiction of state and municipal forces. ## Reactions Irina Bokova, who is the Director-General of UNESCO, said, "News of the murders of Gabriel Huge and Guillermo Luna Varela – tortured and killed less than one week after the murder of Regina Martínez Pérez – is deeply disturbing, and reflects an alarming state of affairs in the state of Veracruz. That these gruesome crimes have been committed on the eve of World Press Freedom Day – a day on which we honour the vital role played by journalists in upholding democratic values, protecting citizens' rights to be informed and calling those in power to account – makes the situation all the more intolerable. I condemn these three murders in the strongest possible terms and urge the Mexican authorities to act quickly and decisively to find those responsible. Impunity is not an option." Proceso magazine wrote, in reaction to its colleague's murder, "The murder of journalist Regina Martinez Perez, on Saturday April 28, is the result of a broken country, a situation of daily violence in which extreme acts are not the exception but the rule daily." On 29 April 2013, the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico observed a moment of silence to remember Regina Martínez, after a proposal made by Manuel Rafael Huerta from the Labor Party (PT). Huerta mentioned in his petition that a year after the murder the circumstances were still unclear and the official version from the government of Veracruz was not to be believed. The president of the chamber left those comments out, but found the proposal relevant and invited deputies to join in the minute of silence. In 2020 Forbidden Stories coordinated reports of international journalists on Mexican drug cartels, which included continuation of Martínez Pérez' work. ## See also - Mexican Drug War - List of journalists killed in Mexico - List of unsolved murders

Eccles, Greater Manchester

Town in Greater Manchester, England

Eccles (/ˈɛkəlz/) is a town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Salford and 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Manchester, split by the M602 motorway and bordered by the Manchester Ship Canal to the south. The town is famous for the Eccles cake. Eccles grew around the 13th-century Parish Church of St Mary. Evidence of pre-historic human settlement has been discovered locally, but the area was predominantly agricultural until the Industrial Revolution, when a textile industry was established in the town. The arrival of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway led to the town's expansion along the route of the track linking those two cities. ## History ### Toponymy The derivation of the name is uncertain, but two suggestion have been proposed. The received one is that the Eccles place-name is derived from the Romano-British Ecles or Eglys (eglwys in Welsh means 'church'), which in turn is derived from the Ancient Greek ecclesia via the Latin. Following the arrival in AD 613 of the invading Anglo-Saxons in Lancashire, many existing British place-names, especially rivers and hills (the River Irwell for example), survived intact. The root Ecles, found in several village names, could be an example of this. So, the suggestion is that the word denoted the site of a building, or a ruin featuring the landscape, which was recognised by the Anglo-Saxons as a church. Eccles would then have been a village founded around one such, and so Ecles may be the likely source of the modern name. In Kenyon's Origins of Lancashire (1991), however, the author casts doubt on the further suggestion that native British Church administration survived into Anglo-Saxon times, as there is not an exact correlation between Eccles place-names and pre-Domesday hundreds in south Lancashire. An alternative etymology is derived from that known to belong to Eccles in Kent, recorded as "Aiglessa" in the Domesday Book of 1086 and so conclusively deriving from the Old English (pre 7th century) æc-læas meaning 'oak pasture'. ### Early history Pre-historic finds in the parish of Eccles include dugout boats found at Barton upon Irwell, an arrowhead, a spear and axes at Winton, which taken together appear to suggest the existence of a hunting and travelling society. Human habitation in the area may extend as far back as 6000 BC, with two separate periods of settlement on Chat Moss, the first around 500 BC and the second during the Romano-British period. The village may have been founded by refugees from Manchester (Mamucium) during the Diocletianic Persecution in the early 4th century, although excavations in 2001–2005 revealed that the civilian settlement at Manchester had probably been abandoned by the mid-3rd century. Throughout the Dark Ages the parish appears to have been remote enough to be untouched by any local conflicts, while absorbing successive waves of immigrants from nearby towns. The Manor of Barton upon Irwell once covered a large area; in 1276 it included townships such as Asphull, Halghton, Halliwelle, Farnword, Eccles, Workedele, Withington (latterly Winton), Irwelham, Hulm, Quicklewicke, Suynhul and Swinton. Before this date it would appear to have been even larger, but by 1320 the manor boundaries were described as "Tordhale Siche descending to Caldebroc, then to the pit near Preste Platteforde and then to another pit, then to the ditch of Roger the Clerk, then to the hedge of Richard the Rimeur, then following the hedge to Caldebroc." The manor was originally controlled by the Barton family until about 1292 when by marriage it came into the ownership of the Booth family, who retained it for almost 300 years. In 1586 the Trafford family assumed control of the manor, and established themselves in 1632 at Whittleswick, which was renamed Trafford Park. The parish of Eccles contained the townships of Barton upon Irwell, Clifton, Pendlebury, Pendleton and Worsley. Toward the end of the Middle Ages the parish had an estimated population of about 4,000 Communicants. Agriculture remained an important local industry, with little change from the Medieval system due to a lack of adequate drainage and fertiliser. No evidence exists to demonstrate the layout of the area, but it would likely have been the same as the surrounding areas of Salford, Urmston and Warrington where oats and barley would have been grown. Local cottage industries included blacksmiths, butchers, thatching, basket weaving, skinning and tanning. Weaving was popular, using linen and wool;merchants traded in corn; badgers bought and sold local produce. Although the local gentry supported the Royalists, the English Civil War had little effect on the area. Troops would occasionally pass through the parish and there was a skirmish at Woolden, but the only other mention of local involvement was the burial of two (probably) local soldiers in 1643. The Jacobite army passed through in 1745, in its advance and subsequent retreat. ### Textiles and the Industrial Revolution In 1795 John Aikin described the area: > The agriculture of the parish is chiefly confined to grazing, and would be more materially benefited by draining; but the tax upon brick, a most essential article in this process, has been a very great hindrance to it. The use of lime—imported from Wales, and brought by the inland navigations to the neighbourhood of our collieries—has become very general in the improvement of the meadow and pasture lands. During the 18th century the predominance of textiles in the region is partly demonstrated in the parish registers of 1807, which show that 46 children were baptised with 34 fathers employed as weavers. In Memoirs of seventy years of an eventful life (1852) Charles Hulbert wrote: > The principal employment of the working population of Eccles and vicinity at that time, was the manufacture of Cotton Goods on the home or domestic plan. These were not then, according to my present recollection, more than two Spinning Manufactories in Manchester, Arkwright's with its loft chimney, and Douglas's extensive Works, on the River Irwell, near the Broken bank ... At the period of my first residence in Eccles Parish, I believe the above Mills chiefly supplied the Weavers of Eccles and other parishes with twist for warps, which were purchased by the Master Manufacturers. During the early 19th century the growth of industry meant the majority of the area's inhabitants were employed in textiles or trade, while a minority worked in agriculture. The factory system was also introduced; in 1835, 1,124 people were employed in cotton mills, and two mills used power looms. Local hand-produced specialities included striped cotton ticks, checks, Nankeens and Camrays. Two cotton mills are visible on the 1845 Ordnance Survey map of the area. The area also became renowned for its production of silk, with two mills at Eccles and one at Patricroft. Many factory workers were children under 12 years of age. In 1830 James Nasmyth (son of Alexander Nasmyth) visited the newly opened Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and on his return to Manchester noted the suitability of a site alongside the canal at Patricroft for an engineering works. He and his brother leased the land from Thomas de Trafford, and established the Bridgewater Foundry in 1836. The foundry was completed the following year with a design based upon assembly line production. In 1839 Nasmyth invented the steam hammer, which enabled the manufacture of forgings at a scale and speed not seen before. In the same year the foundry started to manufacture railway locomotives, with 109 built by 1853. Nasmyth died a wealthy man in 1890. The Eccles Spinning and Manufacturing Company came into being following a meeting called by the Mayor of Eccles, in which concern was expressed at the decline in local industry. Two earlier Eccles mills had been destroyed by fire, resulting in significant local unemployment. Designed by Potts, Son and Hennings of Manchester, Bolton and Oldham, it was opened in 1906. The imposing mill contained a multi-storey spinning mill, engine house and extensive weaving sheds. Early housing in the village consisted of groups of thatched cottages clustered around and near the parish church. The influx of workers from areas around the village accompanied an increased demand for extra housing. Even after the establishment of the local board of health new properties were often built in the gardens of existing dwellings, leading to severe overcrowding. In 1852 the streets were paved with boulders, sewerage was non-existent, and water supply was a local well. During the latter half of the 19th century new housing was erected alongside the railway, and large areas of open land were soon occupied with new housing estates built for the area's more wealthy residents. The construction of the Manchester Ship Canal provided many local residents with jobs; 1,888 people were employed on the section of the new canal at Barton. A stone aqueduct over the River Iwell dating from 1761 and designed by James Brindley was demolished and replaced by a new moveable aqueduct: the Barton Swing Aqueduct. ### Post-industrial history Eccles was not immune to the general decline of the textile industry in the 20th century. The Bridgewater Foundry ceased operations in 1940, taken over by the Ministry of Supply and converted into a Royal Ordnance Factory. The factory closed in the late 1980s, and the land is now occupied by a housing estate. Eccles is included in the City of Salford's Unitary Development Plan 2004–2016 as part of the western gateway, a major focus for economic development during the plan period. Areas to be developed include the Barton Strategic Regional Site, Dock 9 at Salford Quays, Weaste Quarry near Eccles, and remaining land at Northbank, and the plan provides for improvements which include the A57 – Trafford Park link at Barton and provisional support for a further expansion of the Metrolink system through the area and a link between the A57 and M62 at Barton. Under this plan the town's retail environment would also be maintained and enhanced. ## Governance In 1854 the Barton, Eccles, Winton and Monton Local Board of Health was established for the northern part of the township of Barton. Eccles was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1892, part of which was in Barton poor law union, an inter-parish unit established to provide social security, and in 1933 this was expanded to include most of Barton Moss civil parish, and part of Worsley Urban District. A small part of the borough was transferred in 1961 to the County Borough of Salford. In 1974 the borough was abolished and its area transferred to Greater Manchester to form part of the City of Salford. The Eccles area incorporates the wards of Barton, Winton, and Eccles. Following its review of parliamentary representation in Greater Manchester, the Boundary Commission for England recommended that Eccles be split between two new constituencies; Salford and Eccles, from the existing Salford constituency and the central/eastern part of Eccles, and Worsley and Eccles South, from the existing Worsley constituency and the southern/western part of Eccles. ## Geography Eccles is 3.7 miles (6 km) west of Manchester, on the north bank of the Manchester Ship Canal. The area is along a gentle slope from 160 feet (49 m) above sea level to the north, to 60 feet (18 m) above sea at the south, near the Irwell. The underlying geology is made up of New Red Sandstone and pebble beds. The coal measures of the Lancashire coalfield extend south to Monton and Winton. On the surface deposits of clay and loose sands are prevalent throughout the area, along with vegetable moulds formed by rotted vegetation from the previous ice age. These areas have, when drained, provided fertile soil for local agriculture, benefited by the 19th century practice of dumping nightsoil from nearby Manchester. Parts of the area are within an indicated floodplain. Eccles' climate is generally temperate, like that of the rest of Greater Manchester. The mean highest and lowest temperatures (13.2 °C (55.8 °F) and 6.4 °C (43.5 °F)) are slightly above the national average, while the annual rainfall (806.6 millimetres (31.76 in)) and average hours of sunshine (1394.5 hours) are respectively above and below the national averages. ## Demography ### Overall At the 2001 Census, Eccles was part of the Greater Manchester Urban Area and had a population of 36,610, of which 17,924 (48.96%) were male and 18,686 (51.04%) female. It occupied 812 hectares, compared with 783 at the 1991 census, a population density of 45.09 people per hectare compared with an average of 40.20 across the Greater Manchester Urban Area. The median age of the population is 37, compared with 36 within the Greater Manchester Urban Area and 37 across England and Wales. The majority of the population of Eccles was born in England (91.94%); 2.61% were born elsewhere within the United Kingdom, 0.70% within the rest of the European Union, and 2.99% elsewhere in the world. Data on religious beliefs across the town in the 2001 census show that 77.07% declared themselves to be Christian, 12.05% said they held no religion, and 2.26% reported themselves as Muslim. Eccles is within the Manchester larger urban zone, and the Manchester travel to work area. ### By ward The Eccles area consists of the wards of Barton, Winton, and Eccles. According to the Office for National Statistics, at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, the ward of Eccles had a population of 11,413, of which 5,546 were male, and 5,867 female. The ward of Winton had a population of 12,752, and the ward of Barton had a population of 10,434, giving the larger administrative area of Eccles a total population of 34,599. Eccles is the ninth-most densely populated ward in Salford, and has the highest number and proportion of people aged 75 and over of all wards in Salford. Levels of crime are below the average for the city. The adult population tends to be more qualified than the city average, and primary and secondary education results are also slightly higher than average for Salford. Unemployment is below average, with people tending to work longer hours. More residents live in purpose-built and converted flats than do in the city as a whole, with a minority occupying detached houses or bungalows. Between 1994 and 2004, 367 homes were added to the ward, above the average for Salford. Neighbouring Winton is the sixth-most densely populated ward in the region and in 2001 had proportionally more children than the city as a whole. Crime is generally below average, with falling rates of burglary in 2005. Education standards for both adults and children are below city average with minor improvements to GCSE results between 2005 and 2006. Unemployment is higher than average for Salford, with areas of severe income deprivation both to the north and south of the ward. Residents are on average more likely to live in semi-detached housing, with 208 homes added between 1994 and 2004. To the south, the ward of Barton is the third most densely populated in Salford with little population change between 1991 and 2001. It has proportionally more over-85-year-olds than the city as a whole, with low adult and primary school education standards, but significant improvements in GCSE results of late. Some parts of Barton are amongst the worst 20% of areas in the country for child poverty, with below-city-average childcare provision. Unemployment is higher than average for Salford. Almost half the homes in the ward are terraced housing, with an extra 300 properties built between 1994 and 2004. ## Economy To the east of the town centre, the West One retail park was opened in November 2001 at a cost of £53m. It is in competition with the nearby Trafford Centre and Lowry Outlet Mall, and as a result has suffered a loss of trade. Most of its units were abandoned but following the decision by Tesco to scrap plans for a £30m Tesco Extra store in 2013 a number of new openings have improved the retail offering; The Range, Home Bargains, Smyths Toys Superstores., PureGym and Jollyes Petfood Superstore. A Morrisons supermarket is near the town centre. One of the UK's largest online lighting retailers Value lights, is also located in an 80,000 square foot distribution centre in the centre of Eccles. Until shortly after its closure was announced on 9 May 2006, the Great Universal Stores group used the former Eccles Spinning and Manufacturing Company building in Winton. Operations have since been transferred to a site in Shaw and Crompton. The town still has a manufacturing industry. Valtris Speciality Chemicals (Ackros Chemicals prior to April 2016), a leading chemical additive supplier and its predecessors have occupied a site on Lankro Way since 1937, the site in Eccles employs more than 100 people working in manufacturing, research, administrative and business management roles. Americhem Europe manufactures colouring for plastics and nylon fibres, employing 75 staff with a turnover of £10m. The Eccles-based insurance broker and financial services specialist CBG Group, which worldwide employs 180 people, has its head office near the town centre. The employment agency Morson Group has its headquarters in Eccles and supplies thousands of employees to various hi-tech employers. Eccles cakes, first produced and sold in the town in 1796, are now exported across the world. ## Landmarks The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin is the only Grade I listed building in Eccles. There are two Grade II\* listed buildings in the Eccles area. The Church of St Andrew was completed by the architect Herbert Edward Tijou in 1879. Monton Unitarian Church was completed in 1875 by Thomas Worthington. The town's war memorial was erected in 1925. Local sculptor John Cassidy was commissioned to design the structure. Built from Portland stone and topped with a bronze figure, it was unveiled by Lord Derby in August 1925. It is now a Grade II listed building. Eccles Library was built on a slum clearance site in the town centre. The building was funded by Andrew Carnegie and designed by Edward Potts (who also designed the canalside mill picture above), and opened on 19 October 1907. Designed in the Renaissance style, it is now a Grade II listed building. Potts had hoped that the building would become "the Eccles University". The former Lyceum Theatre on Church Street is a Grade II listed building. Salford City Council is currently bidding for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway to be included in UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites. Eccles railway station has recently undergone restoration work by the 'Friends of Eccles Railway Station', including clean-ups, renovation of the station garden, and a mural. Both Monton Green and Ellesmere Park are designated conservation areas, and a Site of Biological Importance is located near Rutland Road and Chatsworth Road. ## Transport The Salford to Warrington turnpike trust was formed in 1752 and assumed control of the road from Pendleton to Irlam. Opinions as to the quality of the road were mainly negative; writing in 1795, John Aikin said "Much Labour and a very great expense of money have been expended on the roads of this parish, but they still remain in a very indifferent state, and from one plain and obvious cause, the immoderate weights drawn in carts and waggons." On the poor quality roads, the Liverpool to Manchester stagecoach took almost an entire day to make the journey. Matters appear to have improved by the 19th century, along with the opening of several more trust roads throughout the parish. In the early part of the 19th century some existing routes were widened and straightened, including the modern-day Regent Road in Salford. All the roads except one were surfaced with boulders. In 1832 a daily omnibus service from Manchester reached Eccles and Pendleton. In 1877, following the laying of tracks in the road, horse-drawn trams were used; these eventually gave way in 1902 to electric trams under the control of the Salford Corporation. Motorised buses were introduced in 1938. The opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway on 15 September 1830 was a pivotal moment in transport history. The world's first railway constructed to carry passengers as well as freight, it signalled the beginning of the end for both the turnpike trusts and the canal system. Stagecoach services ceased as passengers started to use the faster railway. The opening day was historic for more than one reason though; Eccles became a part of an early railway accident. During a stop at Parkside railway station near Newton-le-Willows, Member of Parliament for Liverpool, William Huskisson was seriously injured by an approaching locomotive. He was taken to the vicarage in Eccles for treatment, but died of his injuries. There have been two further serious railway incidents in Eccles, the first in 1941, and the second in 1984. The line was widened in 1882, and improvements were made to the station infrastructure, however on 11 January 1971 a fire destroyed the wooden station building, which has never been rebuilt. The Tyldesley Loopline was opened by the London and North Western Railway on 1 September 1864 with stations at Monton Green (opened 1887), Worsley, Tyldesley and Leigh. The railway provided a link between Eccles (located on the existing Liverpool and Manchester line) and Wigan. In 1870 an additional branch line from this, the Roe Green Loopline, was opened to Bolton to support the surrounding collieries, the largest of which was at Mosley Common. The London and North Western Railway also built a line from Patricroft railway station to Molyneux Junction, via Clifton Hall Tunnel (built in 1849). The line connected with the East Lancashire Railway to Radcliffe and Bury. Clifton Hall Tunnel collapsed on 28 April 1953. The Tyldesley Loopline was closed on 5 May 1969 under the Beeching axe, and the closure of the Roe Green branch line followed in October 1969. In 1851 the Earl of Ellesmere hosted a visit to Manchester by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. They stayed at Worsley Hall, with a view of the canal, and were given a trip between Patricroft railway station and Worsley Hall, on state barges. Large crowds had gathered to cheer the royal party, which apparently frightened the horses drawing the barge so much that they fell into the canal. The M602 motorway was opened throughout on 3 November 1971. The Borough Council had previously formed the Eccles Borough Council's General Purposes Committee, which from December 1962 began to purchase land for the route of the new road, while overseeing a powerful public relations scheme. A demolition programme commenced in January 1967, with some residents re-housed in newly built housing stock. The council also had to arrange for the purchase of land at the interchange with the present-day M60, and to re-route part of the Thirlmere Aqueduct. Construction began on 8 December 1969, along a route limited by the existence of housing estates, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the M62 junction at Worsley, and the Bridgewater Canal. Consideration was given to the route of the disused Eccles-Tyldesley-Wigan railway line; the height of the motorway was lowered to accommodate a new railway bridge in case the line was ever re-instated. The nearby bridge for the Clifton Junction branch railway was demolished with explosives. In addition to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the town is now served by the Eccles Line of the Metrolink light rail system which, along with regular bus services, terminates at Eccles Interchange. Work on the Metrolink branch to Eccles began in July 1997 and was completed by July 2000, with the official opening ceremony in January 2001; trams leave every twelve minutes. ## Education One of the early schools in Eccles was the 18th century day school in the parish of St. Mary's, south of the Irwell on the de Trafford estate. A Catholic Sunday school was opened in Eccles during the 19th century, in a building in Back Timothy Street (now the location of Eccles Library). Another day school was also opened in cottages on Barton Lane. The first substantial school in the area however was opened in 1851 along Church Street. A boys' school was opened in 1888. St Patrick's RC High School is currently the best-performing secondary school in Salford, with one of the highest scores in England. The Eccles area contains a number of primary and secondary schools, including (but not limited to) St. Mary's R.C. Primary School, Branwood Preparatory School, New Park High School and Monton Green Primary School. Eccles College is a further-education college. It opened in 1973 and provides a wide range of A-level and vocational course for school-leavers. ## Religion As the population of Eccles increased during the Industrial Revolution the medieval parish of Eccles was gradually divided into smaller parishes, and surrounding townships gained their own churches. The Grade II\* listed St Andrew's church in St Andrew's Parish was built in the 1870s and opened in 1879 (the tower was added in 1889). Over the next 40 years various decorative improvements were made to the building, including stone carvings, stained glass, and wall paintings (covered in 1965). Four months after the church was consecrated a church school was opened, the forerunner of the present St Andrew's Primary School. A second school in Monton (then part of the parish) opened in 1881. In 1912 Monton became a separate parish with its own church, St Paul's. Roman Catholics living in Eccles originally attended worship at a chapel on the de Trafford estate, south of the Irwell, however the chapel was demolished and replaced by All Saints' Church. The first Rector of the Roman Catholic Parish of Eccles was, from 1879, a Father Sharrocks. The first public Roman Catholic procession in Eccles since the Reformation took place on 18 August 1889. The area has a variety of other churches, including the Church of St James at nearby Hope, and a Baptist church. Other denominations catered for include Methodist New Connexion, Zion Methodist New Connexion, Wesleyan, and The Salvation Army (opened in 1881). ## Sport The amateur rugby union club Eccles Rugby Football Club were winners of a cup competition organised by Swinton Lions on 4 January 1881 and were first recorded as members of the Lancashire County Rugby Football Union in 1886. Eccles RFC's membership of the RFU lapsed in 1891. The club was re-established in 1897 and has maintained its existence since. Before the first world war Eccles played its rugby at Peel Green Road close to the Barton Swing Aqueduct, between the wars it played on the opposite bank of the Manchester Ship Canal at Redclyffe Road close to Barton Power Station, before moving to its current ground at Gorton Street in the summer of 1948. The amateur rugby league club Salford City Roosters, formerly known as the Eccles Roosters, are also based in Eccles and were formed in 1977. To the west of Eccles lies the 12,000 capacity City of Salford Stadium, home to both professional Rugby League team Salford Red Devils and professional Rugby Union team Sale Sharks along with new transport infrastructure and the Trafford Centre. Immediately west of the new stadium site is Boysnope Park Golf Club, an 18-hole par-72 parkland course with floodlit driving range. Eccles is home to the City of Salford Volleyball Club one of English volleyball's premier women's teams, the club competes in Volleyball England's Women's SUPER8's competition as well as having a number of development teams ## Public services Eccles became the first municipal corporation in England to operate a motorised fire engine in 1901. It was supplied to Eccles Corporation by a local firm, the Protector Lamp and Lighting Co., also known for manufacturing Miners' Safety Lamps. Barton Aerodrome, the first municipal aerodrome in the UK to be licensed by the Air Ministry, was opened on 29 January 1930 on a site at Barton-on-the-Moss. The first Power Station in Eccles was built along Cawdor Street, and opened on 14 December 1896 by Alderman W. D. Kendall. The second and much larger Barton Power Station was built in 1920 alongside the Manchester Ship Canal and Bridgewater Canal. It was opened on 11 October 1923 by the Earl of Derby, and supplied electricity to Manchester and the South East Lancashire Electricity District. It ceased generation in March 1974, operating from thereon only as a switching station, and was demolished in June 1979. Salford Royal hospital opened in 1882 as the Salford Union Infirmary, a hospital for sick paupers, in association with the union workhouse. It was later renamed as Hope Hospital, taking the name of the nearby medieval Hope Hall, demolished in 1956. The hospital was given its current name in 2007. ## Notable people Edward Potts was a renowned architect born on 2 March 1839 in Bury. He moved to Oldham and designed many of the town's mills and was ranked with P. S. Stott as the greatest mill architect of Victorian Lancashire. He moved to Eccles in 1891 and was responsible for the design of the town's library. He was a Liberal member of the borough council from 1902 to 1905, the first chairman of the town's library committee (1904), and a Justice of the Peace in 1906. He inaugurated popular Saturday-night concerts during the winter months and, keen to reduce the incidence of infant mortality, gave a sovereign to the mother of every child who reached the age of one. He died on 15 April 1909 and was buried at Chadderton Cemetery. The hymn-writer William Cooke was born in Eccles in 1821. The humanitarian aid worker Alan Henning was from Eccles before he was murdered by Jihadi John. Dr Anthony Thomas Kerigan (b 1945) moved to Canada and provided 5 decades of medical support to the Southern Ontario Region. His medical and palliative work paved the way for 1000s of patients to receive care, they would have not otherwise have received. ## Culture Eccles is perhaps best known for the Eccles cake. Dating from the 18th century, they were first sold from a shop owned by James Birch in 1793. Traditionally made in the town from a recipe of flaky pastry, butter, nutmeg, candied peel, sugar and currants, they are sold across the country and exported across the world. They are sometimes referred to as "dead fly pies". Eccles Wakes (a holiday to celebrate the dedication of the Parish Church) were celebrated annually until 1877, when the tradition was abolished by the Home Secretary. The Wakes were held over three days, beginning on the first Sunday after 25 August. ## See also - Listed buildings in Eccles, Greater Manchester - Peel Green

Haunting Ground

2005 video game

Haunting Ground is a survival horror video game developed and published by Capcom for the PlayStation 2 in 2005. The story follows Fiona Belli, a young woman who wakes up in the dungeon of a castle after being involved in a car accident. She quickly befriends a White Shepherd, Hewie, and begins to explore the castle with his aid to seek a means of escape and unravel the mysteries of it and its inhabitants. The game shares many similarities with Capcom's earlier survival horror title Clock Tower 3 (2002), and has been described as a spiritual successor to the Clock Tower series. The player controls Fiona as she explores the environment, evades and hides from enemy pursuers, and occasionally fights against the castle's inhabitants. Sometimes Fiona will panic when in danger, in which case she begins to run on her own and the player loses some control. Hewie is a central part to the gameplay, and accompanies Fiona throughout the game. He can be given orders to explore the environment, attack enemies, and otherwise aid in Fiona's survival. Capcom added the dog mechanic during development thinking retailers and players alike would not enjoy a survival horror title with a lone female protagonist. Haunting Ground was released April 2005 and received mixed reviews. The graphics and presentation were praised, but critics found the gameplay somewhat repetitive, predictable, and derivative of previous horror titles. The game's voyeuristic nature and the sexual objectification of Fiona were highlighted by critics as some of the game's best elements. They felt that by exposing Fiona as a vulnerable object of desire, the game makes her and therefore the player feel more fragile and endangered, building a more disturbing atmosphere. ## Gameplay Haunting Ground is a survival horror game with similar gameplay elements to Clock Tower 3 (2002). The player controls Fiona Belli directly and gives commands to her canine companion, Hewie. Fiona can run and perform a backstep maneuver, both of which reduce stamina. She can also crouch down to hide from enemy pursuers. Fiona can kick and tackle enemies as well, but tackling also reduces stamina. Losing too much stamina will result in Fiona becoming exhausted, causing her movements to slow down or possibly stop altogether. Exhaustion can be revived with certain items or with time. Fiona can interact with the environment by checking items, opening doors, and climbing ladders. The player can utilize hiding spots to evade pursuers. Other areas act as retaliation points that allow Fiona to use her environment to counterattack against her enemy, although some of these locations can only be used once. Commanding Hewie is an integral part of Haunting Ground'''s gameplay. At the beginning of the game, he won't be completely friendly and obey all of Fiona's commands. The player has to build a friendship and gain his trust in order to survive the game. Hewie can be told to sniff out items, check suspicious areas or items, attack an enemy, or called back to Fiona's side. The player can praise Hewie by petting and feeding him, both of which can heal his vitality. Likewise, he can be scolded when he won't listen to commands. He can be told to "stand ready" before attacking, which increases his attack power. Enemies can hear footsteps and other sounds. When Fiona is in a dangerous situation, she may fall into a panic. During panic mode, visibility gets worse, the menu can't be opened, and she will begin running on her own, tripping and falling into walls. Panic mode will elapse after some time, or certain items can be used to calm her down. There are glowing orbs called "Luminescents", which will put Fiona in a state of panic and attract enemies to her. If Fiona sustains a significant amount of damage, she will slow down and become unable to backstep. If she receives too much damage she can die. Damage heals with time or items can be used to bring her vitality back to normal. While some items are used to heal Fiona and Hewie, others are used to damage enemies. Some can be thrown while others are set like traps for the enemy to walk over. Some items are found by searching while others can be crafted in refining rooms. ## Plot Fiona Belli is an 18-year-old woman who recently moved to college. While visiting her parents, Ugo and Ayla, the family is involved in a car accident, and Fiona alone awakens in a cage in the dungeon of a castle. Her memories of the incident are hazy. Noting that the cage that keeps her prisoner has been left unlocked, she steps out and begins searching for answers and a way out of the castle. Soon after, she befriends a White Shepherd named Hewie. As Fiona begins to unravel the mystery in which she finds herself, she learns that she is the carrier of the Azoth, an alchemic element, which for unknown reasons is being sought by Riccardo, the castle's keeper. The first enemy Fiona encounters is Debilitas, a large, mentally disabled groundskeeper who thinks of Fiona as one of his dolls. Fiona learns from a mysterious man named Lorenzo, that to escape the castle, she needs a staff from the chapel. However, upon taking the staff, Debilitas corners Fiona and Hewie, forcing a confrontation. They defeat Debilitas, but soon find their next enemy, Daniella, an icy maid. Daniella covets Fiona's ability to smell, taste, touch, feel, and "experience pleasure". She is especially jealous that Fiona can create life (via a fertile womb). Daniella is defeated when she is impaled with a shard from a ceiling window pane. The third villain is Riccardo, who wields a flintlock pistol. For the majority of the game, Riccardo keeps his face hidden under a hood. Upon revealing himself however, Fiona is shocked to see her dead father's face. Riccardo reveals that he and her father, Ugo, are clones. He murdered Ugo in the car accident as revenge for leaving the castle and marrying Fiona's mother. He plans to use Fiona (by means of her womb and use of her Azoth) to bring about his own rebirth, so that he may live forever. As they fight atop a water tower, Hewie rescues Fiona by attacking Riccardo, causing him to fall from the summit. The final enemy is Lorenzo, who seemed to be an ally, but who now menaces Fiona in several different forms. Fiona first meets him as an old, crippled man. He tells Fiona that Riccardo was always the problem child, and that he created both Riccardo and Ugo in an attempt to find a body with an Azoth which he could use to gain immortality. Ugo had the Azoth, but left the castle to marry Ayla. Now with Riccardo dead, Lorenzo believes that Fiona is his, so he can take the Azoth she inherited from her father. He chases after Fiona, but she is able to crush him in a rock press. However, she soon encounters a resurrected, youthful Lorenzo; the life energy he acquired from Riccardo's body has allowed him mastery over his own aging process. With the help of Hewie, Fiona causes Lorenzo to fall into a pit of lava. At this point, the castle begins to shake and collapse, and Lorenzo returns as a flaming skeleton. He chases Fiona as she heads for the exit, and attempts to block her escape, but as they reach the door, he finally dies, and Fiona and Hewie leave the castle. The game features multiple endings based on decisions made by the player: if Debilitas survives, he encounters Fiona and Hewie at the castle gate and lets them leave peacefully, otherwise he does not appear. If the game has been completed at least once and Debilitas survives, Fiona and Hewie can leave the castle early in the game, leaving a frustrated Lorenzo within. If Hewie's relationship with Fiona is poor, he does not rescue her at a critical juncture in the game, resulting in Riccardo capturing and impregnating Fiona. ## Development and release Capcom began development knowing they wanted to make a survival horror game with a lead female character. Believing that the female lead would not bode well with retailers and players alike, they added in a dog partner that could attack enemies. After this change, they further designed the gameplay around this partner mechanic. The cinematics were directed by actor and director, Naoto Takenaka. He directly supervised the motion capture performances used for all the characters, placing emphasis on dramatic performance. He took inspiration from Universal Monsters such as Frankenstein and Bela Lugosi's Dracula. Takenaka played the motion capture role for Riccardo, and Japanese actors Yasue Sato and Jiro Sato played Fiona and Debilitas respectively. Rather than streaming audio files, the music for Haunting Ground was generated by using the PS2's built-in sounds. This way, the composers could easily change the tempo of the music during gameplay. Capcom debuted Haunting Ground under its Japanese name Demento at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2004. The game was released in Japan on April 21, 2005, and later in PAL territories on April 29, and in North America on May 10. Critics described the game as a spiritual successor to the Clock Tower series, although it has never been officially declared as such. In July 2012, Haunting Ground appeared to be slated for a PlayStation 3 re-release as a "PS2 Classic", having been rated by the ESRB with Sony Computer Entertainment named as the publisher. It was re-released for the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Store exclusively in Japan in April 2015. ## Reception Haunting Ground received "mixed or average" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic. Critics were quick to compare it to the Clock Tower series, specifically its 2002 installment, Clock Tower 3 (2002). The defenseless heroine elements and hide-and-chase gameplay were found to be highly derivative of the former titles. The dog companion was, for some, a well-received addition to the gameplay formula, with Eurogamer's Kristan Reed comparing it positively to Ico. Others found the dog and other gameplay elements to be repetitive and contributors to poor pacing. The graphics, cinematics, and atmosphere were universally praised. The staff at 1UP.com described the environments as "some of the most detailed, lavish 3D environments Capcom has ever produced". Kill Screen's Astrid Budgor compared Haunting Ground's "psychological landscape" to Dario Argento's film Suspiria (1977) and also highlighted its grotesque expressionism. Despite these highlights, critics ultimately felt that Haunting Ground was too predictable and relied heavily on clichés previously established in the horror genre. For this reason, Reed said it "becomes stifled by its own eventual lack of ambition to break away from the norms instilled by two generations of Japanese horror adventures". The staff at 1UP.com felt the game was dated when compared with the recently released Resident Evil 4 (2005), but said: "Haunting Ground isn't without merit, it's just that the merits are buried deep in an occasionally thrilling, mostly 'been there, done that' game of indistinct origin". Some critics highlighted Haunting Ground's sexual themes surrounding the objectification of Fiona as one of its best elements. Jeremy Dunham of IGN stated that "Haunting Ground's success comes from making the player feel like a desired and endangered object". He found the plot was kept interesting due to the disturbing suggestive behaviors of Fiona's pursuers. Kill Screen's Budgor also found the drive for the enemies to kill Fiona creates a continuous tension, as its unclear nature lends to an uncomfortable confusion for both Fiona and the player. GameSetWatch's Leigh Alexander stated that "disparaging Haunting Ground for its copious objectification of women is a facile task...it’s precisely that off-putting sexuality that makes Daniela terrifying, that makes Fiona’s circumstances so explicitly repugnant, that sharpens Haunting Ground’s fear factor to a knife in the gut". Alexander praised the game's voyeuristic themes and presenting of Fiona as "an object of desire". She notes that "Fiona is both a sex object and a victim...a fragile little woman...both male and female players can distinctly feel the threat to her person, the disconcerting wickedness of her enemies, thanks to her overt sexualization throughout the game". Budgor found that removing the player's control at critical points highlights Fiona's subjectivity, with the sounds and images expressing ideas of "violation, transgression, and bodily autonomy". Alexander ultimately felt Haunting Ground to be a "perfect illustration of how sexuality can be used to great effect". ## Legacy Haunting Ground has been a subject of game studies regarding the relationship between players and their avatars. It was found that the altering states of Fiona's subjectivity change the role of the player in the game. The player is never a spectator, nor do they take on the embodiment of Fiona, but float between these states of involvement. Fiona appeared as a character card in SNK vs. Capcom Card Fighters DS (2006), and as a costume for Cammy in Street Fighter V. Fiona, Hewie and Debilitas were also seen in a cutscene in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars''.

Alepotrypa Cave

Cave and archaeological site in the Mani region of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece

The Alepotrypa Cave is an archaeological site in the Mani region of the Peloponnese peninsula. In addition to being inhabited by early farmers, this site was used for burial and cult purposes. Archaeological evidence has revealed that this is one of the largest Neolithic burial sites ever found in Europe. Two adult human skeletons were found at the site from a burial dating to the 4th millennium BC, as well as remains from at least 170 separate persons. Archaeologists are uncertain about the significance of a Mycenaen ossuary, which has been dated to the 2nd millennium BC and appears to have been reburied at Alepotrypa. While there is no direct evidence, it is possible that the ossuary may link Alepotrypa to Tainaron, which was regarded as the entrance to Hades in classical mythology. ## Overview The Alepotrypa Cave (Greek: Αλεπότρυπα, literally meaning 'The Fox's Hole,' a very common word to describe a cave where a fox lives), is one of the caves of Diros located in the Mani region of the Peloponnese peninsula. The Mani peninsula is mostly made up of Mesozoic carbonate rocks like limestone, which erode as a result of hydrogeological conditions on the peninsula and form karst caves like Alepotrypa. Study of the cave's stalagmites has provided information about human activities in the cave and climate variations. By studying variations of trace elements, Meighan Boyd was able to find evidence of certain human activities in the cave, such as burning animal dung. She was also able to confirm and date several periods of drought. In addition to being one of the earliest known inhabited sites in the southern Laconia region of the Peloponnese, the Alepotrypa Cave is also one of the largest Neolithic burial sites in Europe. Burials in the cave date from between 6,000 and 3200 BC, and archaeologists have found bones belonging to at least 170 different persons. Two adult human skeletons were found at the site, dating to the 4th millennium BC, along with a Mycenaen ossuary that archaeologists believe dates to the 2nd millennium BC. The settlement was abandoned around 3200 BC, after a catastrophic earthquake caused extensive damage that blocked the cave's entrance. Finds from the cave were well-preserved due to the cave's sealed entrance and lack of human activity in the area. The site was threatened by private construction work between 1958–1970, but the Greek Ministry of Culture cancelled the "touristic exploitation" of the site. Excavations led by Giorgos Papathanassopoulos began in 1970, but were delayed until 1978 due to political complications in Greece. The site was excavated between 1978 and 2005, after which the project was largely put on hold due to lack of funding. In 2010 the Diros Regional Project was founded to conduct a regional survey as the Alepotrypa excavation team began to prepare their findings for publication. Late Neolithic (LN) material has been found in the cave itself, but as of 2013 the survey team has only found material dating to the Final Neolithic (FN) in the nearby open-air areas. ## Archaeology During the Neolithic era, the cave itself served as a burial site while farmers inhabited a large village outside the cave. Based on evidence found at the site, archaeologists believe that the early farmers who inhabited this area ate mostly barley and wheat, and suggest that non-lethal head injuries found on the skulls may indicate violent confrontations. Primary burial, cremation and secondary burial are all represented at the site, and it was also used for shelter and storage. Evidence of cultic practice has also been found, including the head of a stalagmite type marble idol. Other finds from the excavation include Late Neolithic stone, pottery and clay vessels, jewelry and weapons. Painted and incised pottery, shell beads, stone axes, and a complete flint arrowhead have been found, along with blades and flakes of Melian obsidian. Silver jewelry found at the site suggests the area was wealthy, as silver was extremely rare in Bronze Age and Neolithic Europe. A rare early copper axe, which scholars believe can be dated to the Final Neolithic period, was also found at the Alepotrypa site. Paul Cartledge writes that "there was apparently no transitional Chalcolithic phase in the Peloponnese" and adds that the copper tools found in the Alepotrypa Cave "provide a convenient transition" to the Early Helladic era. ## Comparisons to Hades Mythological tradition says there was an entrance to the underworld domain of the Greek god of death Hades at the nearby site of Tainaron, and archaeologists working on the excavation believe it is possible that the cultural memory of the burial site at Alepotrypa had become associated with Tainaron by the classical period. Archaeologists have speculated that a later Mycenaean ossuary dating from 1300 BC may have been carried to the site for reburial during the late Bronze Age. One possible explanation offered by the lead excavator Giorgos Papathanassopoulos is that the persons who inhabited this site took the cultural memory of an underground realm where the dead were buried with them. Anastasia Papathanasiou, co-director of the Diros excavation added that "there's no direct evidence, but we can't rule out that possibility". ## See also - Embracing Skeletons of Alepotrypa

The Dykeenies

Scottish indie rock band

The Dykeenies are a Scottish indie rock band from Cumbernauld, formed in 2005. The group consists of brothers Brian Henderson (vocals, synthesizers) and Andrew Henderson (bass guitar, backing vocals), along with Steven Ramsay (lead guitar, backing vocals) and John Kerr (drums, backing vocals). Since their formation, they have released one studio album, Nothing Means Everything, accompanied by three singles. After a worldwide tour, the band began work on their second album, which was released in October 2011. They broke up in January 2012, before re-forming for two performances in 2017. The Dykeenies released their EP 'I Wanted To Show Her All The Beautiful Things in the World' on 11 May 2018. The title of the 2018 EP was taken from Bret Ellis-Easton's 'American Psycho'. ## History ### Beginnings and King Tut's (2005–2006) The band played their first headline gig at the 350-capacity ABC2, a small venue in Glasgow in late 2005. The gig was a sell-out show. In November 2005, they were named as the inaugural "Artist of the Month" in the Your Sound competition; a scheme run by Glasgow music venue King Tut's Wah Wah Hut along with DF Concerts to project local unsigned talent. They would go on to play a sold-out show at King Tut's, despite only ever having appeared at the venue once before. As well as this, a demo version of the song "New Ideas" was included in Have Yourself a Filthy Little Christmas, a compilation album released as a free download by independent record label Filthy Little Angels on 12 December 2005. They progressed to play an even bigger venue in Glasgow when they supported Mystery Jets at Glasgow's Queen Margaret Union (one of two Student unions of Glasgow University) on 3 May 2006,despite at this point never having released a single. After winning the Your Sound competition, the band signed to King Tut's Recordings. Again, despite having released little or no material at the time, the band were asked to play the "T Break" stage at T in the Park in Kinross, Scotland, on 9 July 2006. A week later, The Dykeenies released their first single, a double a-side "New Ideas/Will It Happen Tonight?". A video was recorded for the former track, featuring the band playing inside King Tut's Wah Wah Hut. In September 2006, the band signed to independent record label Lavolta Records. Two months later, the band released their first EP through Lavolta, titled Waiting for Go. The release featured the title track, as well as tracks "Things You Cannot See", "Feels Like Sleep" and "Dark Time". It was produced by Jim Abbiss, who had previously worked with Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian and Bombay Bicycle Club; and mixed by previous New Order and Kaiser Chiefs collaborator Cenzo Townshend. Following the release of the EP, the band were invited by NME to play on the first ever four band O₂ Rock N Roll Riot Tour, alongside The Horrors, The Fratellis and The Maccabees. ### Nothing Means Everything (2007–2010) The band were given another boost into the musical limelight with the help from Xfm Scotland (now Galaxy Scotland). The radio station began by asking them to be a part of Xfm Scotland's first ever "Winter Wonderland" gig, one of three one-day winter music festivals taking place in venues across the United Kingdom. They were then called up again to support Maxïmo Park at Edinburgh's Liquid Room as part of "Xfm Live Sessions" on 31 March 2007. Following numerous headline and support gigs in and around Glasgow between November 2006 and March 2007, The Dykeenies released a new recording of "New Ideas" on 9 April 2007, with previously unreleased tracks "Safe", "Simplify" and "Layers" featuring alongside various remixes as b-sides. The band marked the release with an extensive UK tour, including playing their first headline gig at Glasgow's QMU, a venue they had previously only played supporting Mystery Jets. This single was the band's first entry into the UK Singles Chart, reaching number 54. The band would release further singles "Clean Up Your Eyes" and "Stitches" between July and September 2007, reaching number 53 and 61, respectively. The band released their debut album, Nothing Means Everything, on 17 September 2007. They would again play the QMU in support of the album, a concert which was originally booked for Glasgow's ABC, but was moved due to scheduling problems. During the concert, the band covered "Starman" by David Bowie, an artist they have stated as a major musical influence. On 9 December 2008, The Daily Record announced that guitarist Alan Henderson had left the band, leaving over "musical differences". Vocalist Brian Henderson said that Alan was not seeing eye to eye on musical terms with the rest of the band. On 11 December 2008, the band announced a one-off date at King Tut's on 18 February 2009, their first gig since playing London's Underage Festival on 8 August 2008. The event sold out. A full tour was later announced, playing sixteen dates across the UK. Brian Henderson stated in an interview with The Daily Record that the band are currently experimenting with a number of new instruments, including bongo drums, acoustic guitars, and gospel choirs. Henderson added that the band are seven songs from finishing the album. During the band's March tour, they included new songs "Awake", "Square Balloons", "Minus One", "Traps" and "Are You With Me Now?". The latter has been released as a free download through the band's website and MySpace. The band's new single "Sounds of the City" was released on 27 April 2009, with an instrumental version of the song as a B-side. As well as this, the band played a number of summer music festivals in 2009, including T in the Park, Summer Sundae, and the Loopallu festival in Ullapool. ### Canyon of Echoes and split (2011–2012) The band announced on 18 July 2011 via their Myspace and Facebook accounts that their new album Canyon of Echoes will be released on 3 October 2011. They undertook a short UK tour to support the release. On 29 August 2011 they premiered the video for new single 'Awake' on their official Facebook and YouTube channel. In January 2012, the Dykeenies announced their split. ### Reunion, live shows and new EP (2016–present) In November 2016, The Dykeenies Facebook page announced live shows set for May 2017. They have since confirmed that this is an official reunion and have new songs already written. On 11 May 2018, The Dykeenies released a new EP titled 'I Wanted To Show Her All The Beautiful Things in the World'; their first new record since 2011. ## Musical style The Dykeenies' musical style has been noted primarily as indie rock, with influences including The Cribs, Bloc Party and The Futureheads. Their musical style has also been compared to art rock and, more prominently, art pop. God Is in the TV Zine described "New Ideas" as sounding "like the first few tracks of Silent Alarm", as well as comparing "Will It Happen Tonight?" to We Are Scientists. Dykeenies have also stated that David Bowie is a major influence of the band, releasing a cover version of Starman as part of their Live at the Apple Store, Glasgow EP. One particular live review even linked the band to the short-lived "New Rave" genre, as well as comparing lead singer Brian Henderson's vocals to that of Brian Molko. Nothing Means Everything has been noted as being a more mature pop album, with "The Panic" in particular noted as having dark lyrical content. ## Discography ### Studio albums - Nothing Means Everything (2007) - Canyon of Echoes (2011) ### Extended plays - Waiting for Go (2006) - Live at the Apple Store, Glasgow (2007) - I Wanted To Show Her All The Beautiful Things in the World (2018) ### Singles "—" denotes releases that did not chart.

1921 Vanderbilt Commodores football team

American college football season

The 1921 Vanderbilt Commodores football team was an American football team representing Vanderbilt University during the 1921 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. It was Dan McGugin's 17th season as head coach, and Wallace Wade's first season as assistant coach. Vanderbilt outscored its opponents 161–21 for a record of 7–0–1 (5–0–1 in conference games) and a share of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) championship. The team's leading scorer was halfback Rupert Smith and its captain was "Pink" Wade, father of future Vanderbilt star Bill Wade. The Commodores played their home games at Dudley Field. The season included the first of a seven-game series with the Texas Longhorns at the Texas State Fair. It also featured the first time the Kentucky Wildcats were able to score on the Commodores, and the "muddiest game" in Vanderbilt history against rival Sewanee. Vanderbilt tied the Georgia Bulldogs on an onside kick to win a share of the conference title. Vanderbilt was the only undefeated contender, and selector Clyde Berryman retroactively awarded the Commodores a national championship. ## Pre-season 1921 was Wallace Wade's first year as a full-time assistant coach for the Commodores, and the intensity of their practices had increased since his arrival (the first workout on September 12). Wade had played guard on a Brown Bruins football team which represented the Eastern U.S. in the 1916 Rose Bowl. Before coming to Vanderbilt Wade coached at the Fitzgerald & Clarke School in Tullahoma, Tennessee, where he won a state prep-school championship in 1920 with a 16–3 record. Also moving from Fitzgerald & Clarke were Lynn Bomar, Hek Wakefield, Pos Elam, and Red Williams. Other Commodore players debuting on the team included Putty Overall and Rupe Smith, who played for the Middle Tennessee State Normal School in the years surrounding the First World War. Returning veterans included Neely, Frank Godchaux, Doc Kuhn, Tot McCullough, Pink Wade, Alvin Bell, Alfred Sharp, and Percy Conyers. Godchaux was the first player to follow in his father's footsteps as a Vanderbilt football player. Captain Pink Wade, father of future Vanderbilt quarterback Bill Wade, moved from fullback to guard. Tackle Tex Bradford had played for Texas Christian University for two years; after sitting out a year at Vanderbilt, he was eligible to play for the Commodores. According to sportswriter Ferguson "Fuzzy" Woodruff, "While prospects seem fair to middling in most of the big southern colleges, there are two notable exceptions. Dan McGugin expects nothing of Vanderbilt this year. Dan has lost Berryhill, his only reliable backfield man, through the matrimonial route." Coach Dan McGugin was elected to the Tennessee state senate, beginning his term in 1921. According to a story on file in the Vanderbilt University Library quoted by Chuck Offenburger, "McGugin didn’t want to get involved in politics, but he 'was drafted into service by a citizens committee'". ## Schedule ## Season summary ### Week 1: Middle Tennessee State Normal - Sources: Vanderbilt opened the season at Old Dudley Field against the Middle Tennessee State Normal of Murfreesboro, winning 34–0. The field was at the northeastern corner of the campus, where Wilson Hall, Kissam Quadrangle, and a portion of the Vanderbilt University Law School now stand, adjacent to today's Twenty-First Avenue South. Normal was coached by Alfred B. Miles. Commodore touchdowns were scored by Tot McCullough, Thomas Ryan, Rupert Smith, Percy Conyers, and Alvin Bell. Two extra points were scored by Smith, and one by Bell. During the game, Vanderbilt began using substitutes. The Commodore, Vanderbilt's yearbook, reported on the passing game: "Practically the only thing of note was the aerial efficiency—Kuhn to Ryan and Kuhn to McCullough". Tex Bradford reportedly had to wear street shoes during the game, because Vanderbilt had not yet received cleats large enough to fit him. ### Week 2: Mercer - Sources: In the second week of play Vanderbilt defeated the Mercer Baptists 42–0, Mercer's worst loss of the year. After no first downs in the first quarter Vanderbilt scored four touchdowns in the second quarter on 173 total yards, 91 on two passes. The Baptists were led by second-year head coach Josh Cody. Before the game, Wade told his players "in no uncertain terms that the coaches were disgusted that such ragged material should display no symptoms of fight". The Baptists had sustained injuries in its opening game against the Georgia Bulldogs, and their practice schedule was hampered by rain. Near the end of the first quarter, Godchaux finally got off a good punt to Mercer's 10-yard line and Tom Ryan made the tackle. Godchaux returned Mercer's punt ten yards, beginning a drive gaining six yards off-tackle. On the next play Doc Kuhn passed to Tot McCullough for twelve yards and first down on the nine-yard line. Rupert Smith ran to the five-yard line, and then to the two. Red Williams fumbled on the next play, but it was recovered by Alfred Sharp in the end zone. After a Mercer punt and a return of fifteen yards by Ryan, Vanderbilt began a scoring drive highlighted by Godchaux' 48-yard run around the left end for a touchdown. A Baptist fumble, recovered by Tex Bradford, led to the next touchdown. After Vanderbilt was caught offside, Smith sprinted 11 yards off-tackle and the ball was at Mercer's 16-yard line. Red Williams ran for 12 yards on a split buck play, and Rupe Smith scored a touchdown on the next play. Mercer then ran a fake punt which netted four yards around the left end. The Baptists punted, giving Vanderbilt the ball at their own 39-yard line. After two short gains, Kuhn ran 10 yards from a punt formation and Meiers ran six more off-tackle. The next play was a 55-yard pass from Jess Neely to Tot McCullough for a touchdown, and the half ended with Mercer's 25-yard kick return. Mercer was again forced to punt in the second half from its 15-yard line, and Neely had a 25-yard return to begin the next scoring drive. Williams reached the five-yard line when he was injured in a tackle, and Lynn Bomar went in as a substitute. On the next series of downs, Meiers scored a touchdown. A long pass was intercepted by Rupe Smith, who returned the ball to his own 35-yard line. Smith ran seven yards, and Bomar crossed the 50-yard line for nine yards and first down. Bomar ran three more yards before Smith ran down to Mercer's 10-yard line. Smith gained a few more on an end run before passing to Ryan for another touchdown. When Mercer again punted, Mixon eluded four tacklers and returned the punt 42 yards before running out of bounds at the Mercer five-yard line. The Commodores failed to score, and the game ended with an exchange of punts. Vanderbilt's starting lineup was McCullough (left end), Bradford (left tackle), Wade (left guard), Sharp (center), Wilson (right guard), Elam (right tackle), Ryan (right end), Kuhn (quarterback), Godchaux (right halfback), Smith (left halfback), and Williams (fullback). ### Week 3: at Kentucky - Sources: In the third game of the season, the Commodores traveled to Lexington and defeated the Kentucky Wildcats 21–14 in a close game. The Wildcats, coached by second-year head coach William "Indian Bill" Juneau, practiced their signals under cover of night behind closed gates. The Commodores were considered the toughest team on Kentucky's schedule, and it was the most exciting home game for Kentucky fans in some time; a sportswriter called it "the hardest-fought battle that has been staged on the Kentucky gridiron in many a day". According to Bruce Dudley, the Commodores were outplayed by the Wildcats for three quarters. Their opponents completed 10 out of 20 passes, including passes between quarterback Bobby Lavin and Fuller. Before this game, Kentucky had never scored against Vanderbilt; the Commodores were heavy favorites, with a distinct weight advantage. The Lexington Herald reported, "That Nashville is intensely interested in the outcome of the game is evidenced by the fact that a special wire, giving the game play by play, will be installed at the field and connected with the Nashville papers". Vanderbilt's first two touchdowns came early. After the kickoff went to Kentucky and the Wildcats' Saunders returned the ball to the 30-yard line, a punt was kicked to the Commodores; after a good return but little gain, the ball was punted back to Kentucky. Lavin fumbled on the return, and the ball was recovered by Neely on the 10-yard line. On third down, Frank Godchaux ran around the end for a touchdown; Rupert Smith scored the second and third touchdowns for the Commodores. After an exchange of punts, Vanderbilt began a drive on Kentucky's 32-yard line. Neely passed 22 yards to Pink Wade, with short runs by Smith and Bomar followed by Smith running around right end for a touchdown; Kentucky's Server kicked the ball into the end zone for a touchback. Alfred Sharp was ejected from the game for fighting, and the Commodores were penalized half the distance to the goal. Neely punted the ball to Lavin, who returned the ball five yards. On the next play, Lavin ran around the edge for 19 yards; three plays later, fullback Birkett Pribble carried the ball in for the score. After a punt by Neely the Wildcats were penalized 10 yards for holding, followed by an unfavorable punt which put the ball at Kentucky's 30-yard line. Punts back and forth sent Vanderbilt closer to midfield. Godchaux made a 20-yard run around the right end, and Tot McCullough caught a 24-yard pass; Smith then skirted around end for the Commodores' final score. The Wildcats' "Slug" Fleahman blocked Neely's punt, giving Kentucky the ball at the 12-yard line, and Lavin wove through the Commodore defense for Kentucky's final touchdown. Late in the game Kentucky threatened to tie the score, but turned the ball over on downs at the two-yard line; Neely sealed the win by running the ball 34 yards to the 36-yard line. Vanderbilt's starting lineup was McCullough (left end), Bradford (left tackle), Lawrence (left guard), Sharp (center), Wade (right guard), Elam (right tackle), Ryan (right end), Godchaux (quarterback), Smith (left halfback), Neely (right halfback), and Williams (fullback). ### Week 4: at Texas - Sources: The season's fourth game saw the Commodores, favored to lose by two touchdowns against the Texas Longhorns, pull off a 20–0 upset. According to Edwin Pope's Football's Greatest Coaches, "The Texas game, sparked by McGugin's unforgettable oratory, was the big one; and Vandy got out of the year without a loss". Blinkey Horn, sportswriter for The Tennessean, wrote on "a Turkish bath day which blistered tongues and made legs weary the McGuginites shook off the galling heat and won a hellish battle on a hellish afternoon." The game was the first of a seven-year series, from 1921 to 1928 (except 1924), between Vanderbilt and Texas at the Texas State Fair in Dallas. The crowd at Fair Park Stadium was expected to be the largest to watch a game in Dallas. The Longhorns were coached by Berry Whitaker in his second year as head coach. Texas won the Southwest Conference with an undefeated record in 1920. The 1921 team was arguably the best in Longhorns history, and Vanderbilt football seemed to be in decline when Georgia Tech defeated the Commodores 44–0 the year before. As Charles Cason writes, "Instead of hammering detailed strategy into them," coach Dan McGugin took his team to the nearby grave of former Vanderbilt quarterback and third-team All-American Irby "Rabbit" Curry in Marlin. Just before the teams took to the field, referring to this grave, McGugin tapped his fingers on the locker room floor and began his noted speech: > You are about to be put to an ordeal which will show the stuff that's in you! What a glorious chance you have! Every one of you is going to fix his status for all time in the minds and hearts of his teammates today. How you fight is what you will be remembered by. If any shirk, the Lord pity him. He will be degraded in the hearts of the rest as long as they live... On third down near the middle of the second quarter, Texas' Ivan Robertson (with the Commodores' Tom Ryan and Tex Bradford running after him) was intercepted by Vanderbilt captain Pink Wade. Wade returned the interception for 65 yards and the game's first touchdown. In the fourth quarter, Bomar returned an interception for a 40-yard touchdown. The last Vanderbilt scoring drive came later. After a Vanderbilt interception, Texas drew a 30-yard (half the distance to the goal) penalty for slugging. Doc Kuhn completed a pass to Tot McCullough on the eight-yard line. The Longhorn defense held, but was offside on fourth down. This gave the Commodores a first down on the one-yard line, leading to a line plunge for a touchdown by Frank Godchaux. Some Texas supporters blamed its lack of depth on the line for the loss. The Longhorns' passing game was considered satisfactory, going 10 of 31 for 125 yards with five interceptions (two for touchdowns), and some felt that any failure of the passing game could be blamed on the line play. According to Dallas sportswriter Joe Utay, Texas lost because of overconfidence. Blinkey Horn wrote "Vandy outcharged, outfought, and outgamed the boastful Texans. Their courage was finer. Their stamina was greater." Texas punted 10 times to Vanderbilt's 14, and the Commodores completed two out of five passes for 57 yards. Texas intercepted the ball twice, and Vanderbilt five times. The Commodores had six first downs to the Longhorns' eight. Each school netted about \$7,500 from the game. Texas's only loss this year was to Vanderbilt. The Commodores' starting lineup was Ryan (left end), Elam (left tackle), Wade (left guard), Sharp (center), Bailey (right guard), Bradford (right tackle), Conyers (right end), Godchaux (quarterback), Neely (left halfback), Smith (right halfback), and Bomar (fullback). ### Week 5: Tennessee - Sources: For the fifth game of the season, Vanderbilt played the Tennessee Volunteers at waterlogged Old Dudley Field. Vanderbilt won 14–0, with Fatty Lawrence and team captain Pink Wade (who had lumbago) sitting out the game. Acting as captain in Wade's absence, Doc Kuhn scored all of Vanderbilt's touchdowns; he "made possible the touchdown by miraculous sidestepping", evading two tacklers. According to Blinkey Horn, the Tennessee coaches "never saw, in all the spying trips, such interference as the Commodores made yesterday for Doc Kuhn". In the first quarter, Kuhn's 19-yard end run made the score 7–0; in the second, he had a 30-yard touchdown run with Lynn Bomar as lead blocker. During the second half Freddie (Froggie) Meiers carried an onside kick over for a touchdown, but it was called back. The Tennessee backs were repeatedly thrown for no gains or losses all game, and steady improvement by the Commodores was noticed. Vanderbilt's starting lineup was McCullough (left end), Bradford (left tackle), Bailey (left guard), Sharp (center), Overall (right guard), Elam (right tackle), Ryan (right end), Kuhn (quarterback), Smith (left halfback), Neely (right halfback), and Bomar (fullback). ### Week 6: Alabama - Sources: In the sixth week of play, Vanderbilt beat the Alabama Crimson Tide 14–0 in Birmingham. The score reflected predictions, since the Commodores were favored by two touchdowns. Jess Neely played a role in each scoring drive. Early in the first quarter, Vanderbilt had the ball in the middle of the field after an Alabama punt. Two line bucks preceded Neely, who connected with Tot McCullough for a 30-yard pass play. Neely ran for an additional 17 yards, putting the ball on the nine-yard line. After a run by Godchaux, Lynn Bomar bucked over the line for the touchdown. Quarterback Doc Kuhn started the second half after sitting out the first because of injuries, invigorating the Commodores. The second scoring drive started when Paul Stumb intercepted a pass. Neely ran for 21 yards around the right end before Kuhn connected with Tot McCullough for a 25-yard pass. Rupe Smith (or Kuhn) then ran the remaining few yards for the touchdown. Alabama had a chance to score, making it to Vanderbilt's 18-yard line. The Commodore defense prevailed, Alabama's forward passes failed, and the ball went over on downs. Other chances included Alabama halfback Rosenfeld intercepting a pass with a clear field ahead of him, returning it 32 yards before Vanderbilt's Red Rountree tackled him from behind. Alabama back Charles Bartlett also returned a punt 25 yards before he was tackled by the last Commodore who could have done so. The Crimson Tide was captained by sophomore end Al Clemens, later captain of the first Alabama team coached by Wallace Wade. On November 9, between the Alabama and Georgia games, the project for a new stadium at Vanderbilt began with the aid of civic clubs. The Commodores' starting lineup was McCullough (left end), Elam (left tackle), Bailey (left guard), Sharp (center), Overall (right guard), Bradford (right tackle), Ryan (right end), Godchaux (quarterback), Smith (left halfback), Neely (right halfback), and Bomar (fullback). ### Week 7: Georgia - Sources: In the seventh week of play, Vanderbilt faced the defending SIAA champion Georgia Bulldogs at Curry Field, and secured a tie against the favored Bulldogs. Before the game, the match was described by The New York Times as an "important clash"; another source called it a "tooth and toe nail event." Georgia had the best line in the South, featuring four All-Southern players. No team scored through the Bulldogs' line all year. Georgia was in its second year under coach Herman Stegeman. Birmingham News sports editor "Zipp" Newman wrote weeks before the game, "Stegeman has a powerful team and with all the regulars in the game, the team has a chance of going through the season undefeated unless it be Vanderbilt that stops her". Vanderbilt's record against Georgia was 6–1; its only loss was 4–0, in 1898, and the all-time score was 184–4 in favor of the Commodores. The Bulldogs were favored to win their first meeting since 1912. In the first quarter, both teams were evenly matched. The Commodores had their best chance to score when Thomas Ryan beat the defense, but he dropped Neely's pass. Vanderbilt also had a chance to score when a Georgia field goal was blocked by Lynn Bomar and picked up by Tot McCullough, who was caught from behind before he could score. In the second quarter, Georgia outplayed Vanderbilt. The Commodores had two first downs in the first half, both because of Bulldog penalties. A Commodore punt was returned 15 yards by Georgia to the Vanderbilt 30-yard line, and the Bulldogs completed an 18-yard pass from Dick Hartley to halfback Jim Tom Reynolds on Vanderbilt's 12-yard line. After three short gains, Hartley advanced five yards and Vanderbilt was penalized for being offside. Jim Reynolds, gaining a yard or so, went over for the touchdown with a counter on the following series; the close call was disputed. At the end of the half, Georgia had gained 113 yards to Vanderbilt's nine. The teams were as evenly matched in the third quarter as they had been in the first, with Vanderbilt gaining only two first downs. Soon after the start of the fourth quarter Neely intercepted a pass, weaving for a 25-yard return to Georgia's 40-yard line. Two long pass attempts failed, and Thomas Ryan lined up to punt. Rupert Smith sneaked in behind Ryan, rushing to recover the 25-yard onside kick from scrimmage. Smith jumped up to get the ball from a horde of Bulldogs after they let it bounce, and raced for a 15-yard touchdown. After he added an extra point, the game ended in a 7–7 tie. Lynn Bomar's play as a linebacker was noted. According to Nashville Tennessean sportswriter Blinkey Horn, "Georgia would have trampled Vanderbilt to atoms but for Lynn Bomar ... [who] was the stellar performer of the game. In the first-half he made two-thirds of the tackles"; Bomar stopped five Georgia touchdowns that day. Tom Ryan's punting was also key to keeping the game close, despite the Bulldogs' 18 first downs. Georgia defeated Alabama and Clemson in the following weeks, giving Vanderbilt and Georgia equal right to the 1921 SIAA title. The Commodores' starting lineup was McCullough (left end), Elam (left tackle), Bailey (left guard), Sharp (center), Wade (right guard), Bradford (right tackle), Ryan (right end), Godchaux (quarterback), Smith (left halfback), Neely (right halfback), and Bomar (fullback). ### Week 8: Sewanee - Sources: Vanderbilt ended the season with a 9–0 win over Sewanee in the "muddiest game" in its history. The Commodores, playing in knee-deep mud and water, were unrecognizable. The teams were considered a fairly-even match before the game; although Sewanee felt confident that its line gave it a chance to win, it was apprehensive about Vanderbilt's passing game. Lynn Bomar was injured in the game, which was for bragging rights and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association title. The game was scoreless until the fourth quarter, when Sewanee fumbled the snap on a punt and the punter was smothered by Jess Neely, Frank Godchaux, and Pink Wade for a safety. Later in the quarter, Henry (Hek) Wakefield punted the ball 54 yards from his own 38-yard line and Pos Elam recovered a fumble by Sewanee's Powers. Wakefield ran in the game's only touchdown, off-tackle from about five yards out. Sewanee had more first downs than Vanderbilt—six to Vanderbilt's two—but also had four successive fumbles. The Commodores' starting lineup was McCullough (left end), Elam (left tackle), Bailey (left guard), Sharp (center), Wade (right guard), Bradford (right tackle), Ryan (right end), Kuhn (quarterback), Smith (left halfback), Neely (right halfback), and Williams (fullback) ## Post-season On November 30, Vanderbilt accepted an offer to play the University of Florida in a post-season game on New Year's Day in Jacksonville. The regular season ended with four undefeated teams in the South; Centre, Georgia Tech, the Georgia Bulldogs, and Vanderbilt. Centre (which upset Harvard) lost to Texas A&M in the 1922 Dixie Classic, leaving Vanderbilt as the only undefeated team in all its games. Georgia coach Herman Stegeman, in the section on Southern football in Spalding's football guide, wrote that Vanderbilt had a good year but was unable to play up to its full capabilities and the Commodores should prepare for a fine season the next year. For Stegeman, the contest for the theoretical title of greatest Southern team in 1921 was between Centre, Georgia Tech, and Georgia. Clyde Berryman retroactively listed Vanderbilt as national champion. Lynn Bomar at fullback, Pos Elam at tackle, and Thomas Ryan at end were listed on Walter Camp's list of notable players. Bomar, Elam, Ryan, Tot McCullough, Alfred Sharp, and Pink Wade all made an All-Southern team although, according to the yearbook, Tom Ryan was the only player in the group to appear on an All-Southern team. ## Personnel ### Depth chart The following chart provides a visual depiction of Vanderbilt's lineup during the 1921 season with games started at the position reflected in parenthesis. The chart mimics a short punt formation while on offense, with the quarterback under center. ### Varsity letter winners #### Line #### Backfield ### Reserves ### Scoring leaders ### Coaching staff - Dan McGugin (Michigan '03), head coach - Wallace Wade (Brown '16), line coach - K. W. McKenzie, Manager

SS Winfield Scott

1850 sidewheel steamer

SS Winfield Scott was a sidewheel steamer that transported passengers and cargo between San Francisco, California and Panama in the early 1850s, during the California Gold Rush. After entering a heavy fog off the coast of Southern California on the evening of December 1, 1853, the ship crashed into Middle Anacapa Island. All 450 passengers and crew survived, but the ship was lost. Winfield Scott has been the object of numerous salvage operations since the crash, and currently rests underwater as part of the Channel Islands National Park and Marine Sanctuary. The Winfield Scott wreck site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. ## History ### California Gold Rush The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848 brought thousands of people to California in search of fortune until the late 1850s. Since neither the Panama Canal nor the First transcontinental railroad had been constructed, people emigrating to California from the Eastern United States had three main routes of passage. They could travel over land, which was expensive and dangerous, or they could sail the roughly 14,000-mile (23,000 km) route around South America. This was more attractive to some but no less dangerous, due in part to the rough waters of the Drake Passage. In addition to the inherent dangers of either route, the journey often took as long as six months to complete. The third route involved traversing the jungles of the Isthmus of Panama, then departing via the southern coast of Panama. While this cut the length of the sea journey in half, ships to ferry passengers from Panama to San Francisco were not commonplace. As a result, many had to wait months to complete the second half of their journey. To fill this growing need for swift passage from Panama to California, shipbuilding activities increased dramatically. ### Construction and service Winfield Scott (originally to be named Placer) was constructed by the shipbuilding company Westervelt and MacKay of New York, and was completed in March 1850. The ship was named for the celebrated United States Army general Winfield Scott (the stern was built with a bust in his likeness), and she was launched on 27 October 1850. An announcement in the October 20 edition of the New York Herald stated that "We understand that no expense has been spared to secure strength, safety and speed..." Her hull was wooden with double iron bracing and was made from White oak, Live oak, Locust, Redcedar and Georgia yellow pine. The steamer, owned by Davis, Brooks and Company, initially transported passengers on the New York-New Orleans route. In 1852, the ship's ownership was transferred to the New York and San Francisco Steamship Company Line, and she arrived in San Francisco on April 28, 1852. Once there, she began taking gold seekers, nicknamed argonauts, on the Panama Route (between San Francisco and Panama). After the demise of the New York and San Francisco Steamship Company Line (which had been renamed as the New York and California Steamship Company in May 1853), the ship's ownership was again transferred on July 8, 1853, this time to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. ### Last voyage Winfield Scott, bound for Panama, departed from San Francisco on the morning of 1 December 1853. In addition to her complement of passengers and crew, the ship was transporting a shipment of gold bullion worth an estimated US\$2 million. The ship's progress was slowed in the afternoon when repairs had to be made to a leaking boiler, but she had resumed course at full speed. Later that evening, Captain Simon F. Blunt navigated the ship into the Santa Barbara Channel in an effort to save time. Captain Blunt knew the channel well, having helped survey the area a few years previously. At approximately 11 PM, the ship encountered a heavy fog, and ran aground into Middle Anacapa Island (approximately 400 miles from port). Her speed at the time of the wreck was estimated at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). She struck the island bow first, and when Capt. Blunt attempted to back away the stern was struck, removing the ship's rudder. With the ship taking on massive amounts of water and unable to steer, all aboard, perhaps as many as 500 people, began scrambling for land. The ship was completely evacuated in approximately two hours, and the survivors spent the first night camped on a pinnacle of rock that measured 50 by 25 yards (46 by 23 m). The next day they moved to a larger piece of land on the island. One of the passengers, Asa Cyrus Call, recalled "a terrible jar and crashing of timbers...I hurried out on deck, where my attention was fixed on a wall of towering cliffs, the tops of which were hidden by the fog and darkness and appeared about to fall and crush us. All round was the loud booming of angry breakers surging about invisible rocks." On 2 December, the steamship SS California, returning to San Francisco from Panama, was alerted to the presence of the wreck survivors by the smoke of a gun they had fired. California rescued the women and children, as well as Winfield Scott'''s complement of gold bullion. On 9 December California returned to rescue the remaining passengers. The crew stayed behind to recover as much of the mail and passenger luggage as possible. Winfield Scott, however, had sustained too much damage and was left in the waters of the channel. ## Wreckage and salvage The remains of Winfield Scott are located under 25–30 feet (7.6–9.1 m) of water in the Channel Islands National Park and Marine Sanctuary. The wreckage site was verified in 1981 and was registered with the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The site is protected by California and United States law, which prohibits divers from removing any part of the wreckage. A salvage operation was undertaken in 1894, utilizing San Pedro''. Much of the iron machinery, as well as hundreds of copper bolts, were recovered. An additional salvage operation during World War II recovered additional iron and brass for the war effort. The remaining wreckage is considered important from an historical perspective, as it represents a tangible example of mid-19th century shipbuilding. Although much of the wooden hull has long since disintegrated, some of the machinery is still relatively intact. Between 1853 and 1980, more than 140 shipwrecks were documented in the Channel Islands National Park Marine Sanctuary. As of December 2000, twenty sites had been located. The prevailing currents and weather conditions of the area make it a dangerous place for navigation. ## Legacy ### Light beacon Shortly after the wreck, the United States Coast Survey recommended that a permanent lighthouse facility be built on Anacapa Island. Due to a lack of funding, the installation (an unmanned acetylene beacon on a fifty-foot tower) was not constructed until 1912. The tower was replaced by a lighthouse in 1932. ## See also - National Register of Historic Places listings in Ventura County, California - List of shipwrecks

American Graffiti

1973 US film by George Lucas

American Graffiti is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz and Lucas, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Harrison Ford, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Bo Hopkins, and Wolfman Jack. Set in Modesto, California, in 1962, the film is a study of the cruising and early rock 'n' roll cultures popular among Lucas's age group at that time. Through a series of vignettes, it tells the story of a group of teenagers and their adventures over the course of a night. While Lucas was working on his first film, THX 1138, Coppola asked him to write a coming-of-age film. The genesis of American Graffiti took place in Modesto in the early 1960s, during Lucas's teenage years. He was unsuccessful in pitching the concept to financiers and distributors, but found favor at Universal Pictures after every other major film studio turned him down. Filming began in San Rafael, California, but the production crew was denied permission to shoot beyond a second day. As a result, production was moved to Petaluma. The film is the first movie to be produced by George Lucas's Lucasfilm. American Graffiti premiered on August 2, 1973, at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland, and was released on August 11, 1973, in the United States. The film received widespread critical acclaim and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Produced on a \$777,000 budget, it has become one of the most profitable films ever. Since its initial release, American Graffiti has earned an estimated return well over \$200 million in box-office gross and home video sales, not including merchandising. In 1995, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. A sequel, More American Graffiti, was released in 1979. ## Plot On their last evening of summer vacation in 1962, high school graduates Curt Henderson and Steve Bolander meet two other friends, confident drag-racing king John Milner and unpopular but well-meaning Terry "The Toad" Fields in the parking lot of Mel's Drive-In in Modesto, California. Steve and Curt are to travel "Back East" in the morning and start college but the latter has second thoughts about leaving. Laurie, Steve's girlfriend and Curt's sister, arrives moments later, Steve suggesting to her that they see other people while he is away at college to "strengthen" their relationship. Though not openly upset, it affects her interactions with him through the night. Curt, Steve and Laurie attend the high-school sock hop. En route, Curt sees a beautiful blonde woman driving a white Ford Thunderbird next to them, who mouths "I love you" before turning a right. The interaction causes Curt to desperately search for her throughout the night. After leaving the hop, he is coerced into joining a group of greasers called "The Pharaohs", who force him into several tasks including stealing coins from arcade machines and hooking a chain to a police car, ripping out its back axle. During a tense ride, the Pharaoh leader tells Curt that "The Blonde" is a prostitute, which he does not believe. With Steve allowing Terry to take care of his car while he's studying at college, Terry cruises around the strip and picks up rebellious Debbie. Now calling himself "Terry The Tiger", he attempts all night to impress her by lying about the car being his and purchasing alcohol with no ID. While he and Debbie leave Steve's car in a rural spot in order to share a romantic interlude, thieves steal the car. Later, after the alcohol has made Terry violently sick, he sees Steve's car and attempts to steal it back. The car thieves appear and beat him up until John intervenes. Terry eventually admits to Debbie that he's been lying about the car all along and he actually drives a scooter; she suggests it is "almost a motorcycle" and says she had fun with him, agreeing to meet up with him again. In an attempt to get cruising company for the evening, John inadvertently picks up Carol, a precocious 12-year-old who manipulates him into driving her around all night. Lying to suspicious friends that she's a cousin and he's stuck with babysitting duty, they have a series of petty arguments until another car's occupants verbally harass her as she attempts to walk home alone, John then deciding to protect her. Meanwhile, skilled racer Bob Falfa is searching out John to challenge him to the defining race for John's drag-racing crown. During his night of goading anyone he comes across for a challenge, he picks up an emotional Laurie after the argument with Steve that was brewing all night. After leaving the Pharaohs, Curt drives to the radio station to ask omnipotent disc jockey "Wolfman Jack" to read a message out on air for the blonde in the White Thunderbird. He encounters an employee who tells him the Wolfman does not work there and that the shows are pre-taped for replay, claiming the Wolfman "is everywhere" but promises to have the Wolfman air the request. As Curt leaves, he notices the employee talking into the microphone and realizes he is in fact the Wolfman, who reads the message for the blonde asking her to call Curt on the pay phone at Mel's Drive-In. After taking Carol home, John is found by Bob Falfa, successfully goading him into the definitive race along Paradise Road outside the city, with some spectators appearing to watch. As Terry starts the drag race, John takes the lead but Bob's tire blows out, swerving into a ditch and rolling over before bursting into flames. Steve, aware that Laurie was Bob's passenger, rushes to the wreck as she and Bob crawl out and stagger away before the car explodes. While John helps his rival to safety, Laurie begs Steve not to leave her, he assures her that he will stay with her in Modesto. Exhausted, Curt is awakened by the pay phone. He finally speaks to the blonde, who does not reveal her identity but hints at the possibility of meeting that night. Curt replies that he is leaving town. Later at the airfield, he says goodbye to his parents and friends before boarding the plane. After take off, he looks down at the ground from the window and sees the white Thunderbird driving along the road below. Curt thoughtfully gazes into the sky. In 1964, John was killed by a drunk driver, and Terry was reported missing in action near An Lộc. In 1965, Steve is an insurance agent in Modesto and Curt is a writer living in Canada. ## Cast ### Main credits ### Notable ensemble ## Development ### Inspiration During the production of THX 1138 (1971), producer Francis Ford Coppola challenged co-writer/director George Lucas to write a script that would appeal to mainstream audiences. Lucas embraced the idea, using his early 1960s teenage experiences cruising in Modesto, California. "Cruising was gone, and I felt compelled to document the whole experience and what my generation used as a way of meeting girls," Lucas explained. As he developed the story in his mind, Lucas included his fascination with Wolfman Jack. Lucas had considered doing a documentary about the Wolfman when he attended the USC School of Cinematic Arts, but he ultimately dropped the idea. Adding in semiautobiographical connotations, Lucas set the story in his hometown of 1962 Modesto. The characters Curt Henderson, John Milner, and Terry "The Toad" Fields also represent different stages from his younger life. Curt is modeled after Lucas's personality during USC, while John is based on Lucas's teenaged street-racing and junior-college years, and hot rod enthusiasts he had known from the Kustom Kulture in Modesto. Terry represents Lucas's nerd years as a freshman in high school, specifically his "bad luck" with dating. The filmmaker was also inspired by Federico Fellini's I Vitelloni (1953). After the financial failure of THX 1138, Lucas wanted the film to act as a release for a world-weary audience: > [THX] was about real things that were going on and the problems we're faced with. I realized after making THX that those problems are so real that most of us have to face those things every day, so we're in a constant state of frustration. That just makes us more depressed than we were before. So I made a film where, essentially, we can get rid of some of those frustrations, the feeling that everything seems futile. ### United Artists After Warner Bros. abandoned Lucas's early version of Apocalypse Now (during the post-production of THX 1138), the filmmaker decided to continue developing Another Quiet Night in Modesto, eventually changing its title to American Graffiti. To co-write a 15-page film treatment, Lucas hired Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, who also added semiautobiographical material to the story. Lucas and his colleague Gary Kurtz began pitching the American Graffiti treatment to various Hollywood studios and production companies in an attempt to secure the financing needed to expand it into a screenplay, but they were unsuccessful. The potential financiers were concerned that music licensing costs would cause the film to go way over budget. Along with Easy Rider (1969), American Graffiti was one of the first films to eschew a traditional film score and successfully rely instead on synchronizing a series of popular hit songs with individual scenes. THX 1138 was released in March 1971, and Lucas was offered opportunities to direct Lady Ice, Tommy, or Hair. He turned down those offers, determined to pursue his own projects despite his urgent desire to find another film to direct. During this time, Lucas conceived the idea for a space opera (as yet untitled) which later became the basis for his Star Wars franchise. At the 1971 Cannes Film Festival, THX was chosen for the Directors' Fortnight competition. There, Lucas met David Picker, then president of United Artists, who was intrigued by American Graffiti and Lucas's space opera. Picker decided to give Lucas \$10,000 to develop Graffiti as a screenplay. Lucas planned to spend another five weeks in Europe and hoped that Huyck and Katz would agree to finish the screenplay by the time he returned, but they were about to start on their own film, Messiah of Evil, so Lucas hired Richard Walter, a colleague from the USC School of Cinematic Arts for the job. Walter was flattered, but initially tried to sell Lucas on a different screenplay called Barry and the Persuasions, a story of East Coast teenagers in the late 1950s. Lucas held firm—his was a story about West Coast teenagers in the early 1960s. Walter was paid the \$10,000, and he began to expand the Lucas/Huyck/Katz treatment into a screenplay. Lucas was dismayed when he returned to America in June 1971 and read Walter's script, which was written in the style and tone of an exploitation film, similar to 1967's Hot Rods to Hell. "It was overtly sexual and very fantasy-like, with playing chicken and things that kids didn't really do," Lucas explained. "I wanted something that was more like the way I grew up." Walter's script also had Steve and Laurie going to Nevada to get married without their parents' permission. Walter rewrote the screenplay, but Lucas nevertheless fired him due to their creative differences. After paying Walter, Lucas had exhausted his development fund from United Artists. He began writing a script, completing his first draft in just three weeks. Drawing upon his large collection of vintage records, Lucas wrote each scene with a particular song in mind as its musical backdrop. The cost of licensing the 75 songs Lucas wanted was one factor in United Artists' ultimate decision to reject the script; the studio also felt it was too experimental—"a musical montage with no characters". United Artists also passed on Star Wars, which Lucas shelved for the time being. ### Universal Pictures Lucas spent the rest of 1971 and early 1972 trying to raise financing for the American Graffiti script. During this time, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and Columbia Pictures all turned down the opportunity to co-finance and distribute the film. Lucas, Huyck and Katz rewrote the second draft together, which, in addition to Modesto, was also set in Mill Valley and Los Angeles. Lucas also intended to end American Graffiti showing a title card detailing the fate of the characters, including the death of Milner and the disappearance of Toad in Vietnam. Huyck and Katz found the ending depressing and were incredulous that Lucas planned to include only the male characters. Lucas argued that mentioning the girls meant adding another title card, which he felt would prolong the ending. Because of this, Pauline Kael later accused Lucas of chauvinism. Lucas and producer Gary Kurtz took the script to American International Pictures, who expressed interest, but ultimately believed American Graffiti was not violent or sexual enough for the studio's standards. Lucas and Kurtz eventually found favor at Universal Pictures, who allowed Lucas total artistic control and the right of final cut privilege on the condition that he make American Graffiti on a strict low budget. This forced Lucas to drop the opening scene in which the Blonde Angel, Curt's image of the perfect woman, drives through an empty drive-in cinema in her Ford Thunderbird, her transparency revealing she does not exist. Universal initially projected a \$600,000 budget but added an additional \$175,000 once producer Francis Ford Coppola signed on. This would allow the studio to advertise American Graffiti as "from the man who gave you The Godfather". The proposition also gave Universal first-look deals on Lucas's next two planned projects, Star Wars and Radioland Murders. As he continued to work on the script, Lucas encountered difficulties on the Steve and Laurie storyline. Lucas, Katz, and Huyck worked on the third draft together, specifically on the scenes featuring Steve and Laurie. Production proceeded with virtually no input or interference from Universal since American Graffiti was a low-budget film, and executive Ned Tanen had only modest expectations of its commercial success. However, Universal did object to the film's title, not knowing what "American Graffiti" meant; Lucas was dismayed when some executives assumed he was making an Italian movie about feet. The studio, therefore, submitted a long list of over 60 alternative titles, with their favorite being Another Slow Night in Modesto and Coppola's Rock Around the Block. They pushed hard to get Lucas to adopt any of the titles, but he was displeased with all the alternatives and persuaded Tanen to keep American Graffiti. ## Production ### Casting The film's lengthy casting process was overseen by Fred Roos, who worked with producer Francis Ford Coppola on The Godfather. Because American Graffiti'''s main cast was for younger actors, the casting call and notices went through numerous high-school drama groups and community theaters in the San Francisco Bay Area. Among the actors was Mark Hamill, the future Luke Skywalker in Lucas's Star Wars trilogy. Over 100 unknown actors auditioned for Curt Henderson before Richard Dreyfuss was cast; George Lucas was impressed with Dreyfuss's thoughtful analysis of the role, and as a result, offered the actor his choice of Curt or Terry "The Toad" Fields. Roos, a former casting director on The Andy Griffith Show, suggested Ron Howard for Steve Bolander; Howard accepted the role to break out of the mold of his career as a child actor. Howard would later appear in the very similar role of Richie Cunningham on the Happy Days sitcom. Bob Balaban turned down Terry out of fear of becoming typecast, a decision he later regretted. Charles Martin Smith, who, in his first year as a professional actor, had already appeared in two feature films, including 20th Century Fox's The Culpepper Cattle Co. and four TV episodes, was eventually cast in the role. Although Cindy Williams was cast as Laurie Henderson and enjoyed working with both Lucas and Howard, the actress hoped she would get the part of Debbie Dunham, which ended up going to Candy Clark. Mackenzie Phillips, who portrays Carol, was only 12, and under California law, producer Gary Kurtz had to become her legal guardian for the duration of filming. For Bob Falfa, Roos cast Harrison Ford, who was then concentrating on a carpentry career. Ford agreed to take the role on the condition that he would not have to cut his hair. The character has a flattop in the script, but a compromise was eventually reached whereby Ford wore a Stetson to cover his hair. Producer Coppola encouraged Lucas to cast Wolfman Jack as himself in a cameo appearance. "George Lucas and I went through thousands of Wolfman Jack phone calls that were taped with the public," Jack reflected. "The telephone calls [heard on the broadcasts] in the motion picture and on the soundtrack were actual calls with real people." ### Filming Although American Graffiti is set in 1962 Modesto, Lucas believed the city had changed too much in ten years and initially chose San Rafael as the primary shooting location. Filming began on June 26, 1972. However, Lucas soon became frustrated at the length of time it was taking to fix camera mounts to the cars. A key member of the production had also been arrested for growing marijuana, and in addition to already running behind the shooting schedule, the San Rafael City Council immediately became concerned about the disruption that filming caused for local businesses, so withdrew permission to shoot beyond a second day. Petaluma, a similarly small town about 20 miles (32 km) north of San Rafael, was more cooperative, and American Graffiti moved there without the loss of a single day of shooting. Lucas convinced the San Rafael City Council to allow two further nights of filming for general cruising shots, which he used to evoke as much of the intended location as possible in the finished film. Shooting in Petaluma began June 28 and proceeded at a quick pace. Lucas mimicked the filmmaking style of B-movie producer Sam Katzman (Rock Around the Clock, Your Cheatin' Heart, and the aforementioned Hot Rods to Hell) in attempting to save money and authenticated low-budget filming methods. In addition to Petaluma, other locations included Mel's Drive-In in San Francisco, Sonoma, Richmond, Novato, and the Buchanan Field Airport in Concord. The freshman hop dance was filmed in the Gus Gymnasium, previously known as the Boys Gym, at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley. More problems ensued during filming; Paul Le Mat was sent to the hospital after an allergic reaction to walnuts. Le Mat, Harrison Ford, and Bo Hopkins were claimed to be drunk most nights and every weekend, and had conducted climbing competitions to the top of the local Holiday Inn sign. One actor set fire to Lucas's motel room. Another night, Le Mat threw Richard Dreyfuss into a swimming pool, gashing Dreyfuss's forehead on the day before he was due to have his close-ups filmed. Dreyfuss also complained over the wardrobe that Lucas had chosen for the character. Ford was kicked out of his motel room at the Holiday Inn. In addition, two camera operators were nearly killed when filming the climactic race scene on Frates Road outside Petaluma. Principal photography ended August 4, 1972. The final scenes in the film, shot at Buchanan Field, feature a Douglas DC-7C airliner of Magic Carpet Airlines, which had previously been leased from owner Club America Incorporated by the rock band Grand Funk Railroad from March 1971 to June 1971. ### Cinematography Lucas considered covering duties as the sole cinematographer, but dropped the idea. Instead, he elected to shoot American Graffiti using two cinematographers (as he had done in THX 1138) and no formal director of photography. Two cameras were used simultaneously in scenes involving conversations between actors in different cars, which resulted in significant production time savings. After CinemaScope proved to be too expensive, Lucas decided American Graffiti should have a documentary-like feel, so he shot the film using Techniscope cameras. He believed that Techniscope, an inexpensive way of shooting on 35 mm film and using only half of the film's frame, would give a perfect widescreen format resembling 16 mm. Adding to the documentary feel was Lucas's openness for the cast to improvise scenes. He also used goofs for the final cut, notably Charles Martin Smith's arriving on his scooter to meet Steve outside Mel's Drive-In. Jan D'Alquen and Ron Eveslage were hired as the cinematographers, but filming with Techniscope cameras brought lighting problems. As a result, Lucas commissioned help from friend Haskell Wexler, who was credited as the "visual consultant". ### Editing Lucas had wanted his then wife, Marcia, to edit American Graffiti, but Universal executive Ned Tanen insisted on hiring Verna Fields, who had just finished editing Steven Spielberg's The Sugarland Express. Fields worked on the first rough cut of the film before she left to resume work on What's Up, Doc?. After Fields's departure, Lucas struggled with editing the film's story structure. He had originally written the script so that the four (Curt, Steve, John, and Toad) storylines were always presented in the same sequence (an "ABCD" plot structure). The first cut of American Graffiti was three and a half hours long, and to whittle the film down to a more manageable two hours, many scenes had to be cut, shortened, or combined. As a result, the film's structure became increasingly loose and no longer adhered to Lucas's original "ABCD" presentation. Lucas completed his final cut of American Graffiti, which ran 112 minutes, in December 1972. Walter Murch assisted Lucas in post-production for audio mixing and sound design purposes. Murch suggested making Wolfman Jack's radio show the "backbone" of the film. "The Wolfman was an ethereal presence in the lives of young people," said producer Gary Kurtz, "and it was that quality we wanted and obtained in the picture." ## Soundtrack The choice of music was crucial to the mood of each scene; it is diegetic music that the characters themselves can hear and therefore becomes an integral part of the action. George Lucas had to be realistic about the complexities of copyright clearances, though, and suggested a number of alternative tracks. Universal wanted Lucas and producer Gary Kurtz to hire an orchestra for sound-alikes. The studio eventually proposed a flat deal that offered every music publisher the same amount of money. This was acceptable to most of the companies representing Lucas's first choices, but not to RCA—with the consequence that Elvis Presley is conspicuously absent from the soundtrack. Clearing the music licensing rights had cost approximately \$90,000, and as a result, no money was left for a traditional film score. "I used the absence of music, and sound effects, to create the drama," Lucas later explained. A soundtrack album for the film, 41 Original Hits from the Soundtrack of American Graffiti, was issued by MCA Records. The album contains all the songs used in the film (with the exception of "Gee" by the Crows, which was subsequently included on a second soundtrack album), presented in the order in which they appeared in the film. ## Release Despite unanimous praise at a January 1973 test screening attended by Universal executive Ned Tanen, the studio told Lucas they wanted to re-edit his original cut of American Graffiti. Producer Coppola sided with Lucas against Tanen and Universal, offering to "buy the film" from the studio and reimburse it for the \$775,000 (equivalent to \$ million in ) it had cost to make it. 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures made similar offers to the studio. Universal refused these offers and told Lucas they planned to have William Hornbeck re-edit the film. When Coppola's The Godfather won the Academy Award for Best Picture in March 1973, Universal relented and agreed to cut only three scenes (amounting to a few minutes) from Lucas's cut. These include an encounter between Toad and a fast-talking car salesman, an argument between Steve and his former teacher Mr. Kroot at the sock hop, and an effort by Bob Falfa to serenade Laurie with "Some Enchanted Evening". The studio initially thought that the film was only fit for release as a television movie. Various studio employees who had seen the film began talking it up, and its reputation grew through word of mouth. The studio dropped the TV movie idea and began arranging for a limited release in selected theaters in Los Angeles and New York. Universal presidents Sidney Sheinberg and Lew Wasserman heard about the praise the film had been garnering in LA and New York, and the marketing department amped up its promotion strategy for it, investing an additional \$500,000 (equivalent to \$ million in ) in marketing and promotion. The film was released in the United States on August 11, 1973 to sleeper hit reception. The film had cost only \$1.27 million (equivalent to \$ million in ) to produce and market, but yielded worldwide box office gross revenues of more than \$55 million (equivalent to \$ million in ). It had only modest success outside the United States and Canada, but became a cult film in France. Universal reissued Graffiti on May 26, 1978, with Dolby sound and earned an additional \$63 million (equivalent to \$ million in ), which brought the total revenue for the two releases to \$118 million (equivalent to \$ million in ). The reissue included stereophonic sound and a couple of minutes the studio had removed from Lucas's original cut. All home video releases also included these scenes. Also, the date of John Milner's death was changed from June 1964 to December 1964 to fit the narrative structure of the upcoming sequel, More American Graffiti. At the end of its theatrical run, American Graffiti had one of the greatest profit-to-cost ratios of a motion picture ever. Producer Francis Ford Coppola regretted having not financed the film himself. Lucas recalled, "He would have made \$30 million (equivalent to \$ million in ) on the deal. He never got over it and he still kicks himself." It was the 13th-highest-grossing film of all time in 1977 and, adjusted for inflation, is currently the 43rd highest. By the 1990s, American Graffiti had earned more than \$200 million (equivalent to \$ million in ) in box-office gross and home video sales. In December 1997, Variety reported that the film had earned an additional \$55.13 million in rental revenue (equivalent to \$ million in ). Universal Studios first released the film on DVD in September 1998, and once more as a double feature with More American Graffiti (1979) in January 2004. The 1978 version of the film was used, with an additional digital change to the sky in the opening title sequence. Universal released the film on Blu-ray with a new digitally remastered picture supervised by George Lucas on May 31, 2011. ## Reception American Graffiti received widespread critical acclaim. Based on reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, of the critics enjoyed the film with an average score of . The consensus reads: "One of the most influential of all teen films, American Graffiti is a funny, nostalgic, and bittersweet look at a group of recent high school grads' last days of innocence." Metacritic calculated a score of 97 out of 100, indicating “universal acclaim”. Roger Ebert gave the film a full four stars and praised it for being "not only a great movie, but a brilliant work of historical fiction; no sociological treatise could duplicate the movie's success in remembering exactly how it was to be alive at that cultural instant". Gene Siskel awarded three-and-a-half stars out of four, writing that although the film suffered from an "overkill" of nostalgia, particularly with regards to a soundtrack so overstuffed that it amounted to "one of those golden-oldie TV blurbs," it was still "well-made, does achieve moments of genuine emotion, and does provide a sock (hop) full of memories." On Allocine, a French site, it received a 3.0 out of 5 based on 7 critic reviews. Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote, "American Graffiti is such a funny, accurate movie, so controlled and efficient in its narrative, that it stands to be overpraised to the point where seeing it will be an anticlimax." A.D. Murphy from Variety felt American Graffiti was a vivid "recall of teenage attitudes and morals, told with outstanding empathy and compassion through an exceptionally talented cast of unknown actors". Charles Champlin of The New York Times called it a "masterfully executed and profoundly affecting movie." Jay Cocks of Time magazine wrote that American Graffiti "reveals a new and welcome depth of feeling. Few films have shown quite so well the eagerness, the sadness, the ambitions and small defeats of a generation of young Americans." Pauline Kael of The New Yorker was less enthused, writing that the film "fails to be anything more than a warm, nice, draggy comedy, because there's nothing to back up the style. The images aren't as visually striking as they would be if only there were a mind behind them; the movie has no resonance except from the jukebox sound and the eerie, nocturnal jukebox look." She also noted with disdain that the epilogue did not bother to mention the fates of any of the women characters. Dave Kehr, writing in the Chicago Reader, called the film a brilliant work of popular art that redefined nostalgia as a marketable commodity, while establishing a new narrative style. ### Themes American Graffiti depicts multiple characters going through a coming of age, such as the decisions to attend college or reside in a small town. The 1962 setting represents nearing an end of an era in American society and pop culture. The early 1960s musical backdrop also links between the early years of rock 'n' roll in the mid- to late 1950s (i.e., Bill Haley & His Comets, Elvis Presley, and Buddy Holly), and mid-1960s, beginning with the January 1964 arrival of The Beatles and the following British Invasion, which Don McLean's "American Pie" and the early 1970s revival of 1950s acts and oldies paralleled during the conception and filming. The setting is two months before the Cuban Missile Crisis, and before the outbreak of the Vietnam War and the John F. Kennedy assassination and before the peak years of the counterculture movement. American Graffiti evokes mankind's relationship with machines, notably the elaborate number of hot rods—having been called a "classic-car flick", representative of the motor car's importance to American culture at the time it was made. Another theme is teenagers' obsession with radio, especially with the inclusion of Wolfman Jack and his mysterious and mythological faceless (to most) voice. ### Accolades The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: - 1998: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – \#77 - 2000: AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – \#43 - 2007: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – \#62 ## Legacy Internet reviewer MaryAnn Johanson acknowledged that American Graffiti rekindled public and entertainment interest in the 1950s and early 1960s, and influenced other films such as The Lords of Flatbush (1974) and Cooley High (1975) and the TV series Happy Days. Alongside other films from the New Hollywood era, American Graffiti is often cited for helping give birth to the summer blockbuster. The film's box-office success made George Lucas an instant millionaire. He gave an amount of the film's profits to Haskell Wexler for his visual consulting help during filming, and to Wolfman Jack for "inspiration". Lucas's net worth was now \$4 million, and he set aside a \$300,000 independent fund for his long-cherished space opera project, which would eventually become the basis for Star Wars (1977). The financial success of Graffiti also gave Lucas opportunities to establish more elaborate development for Lucasfilm, Skywalker Sound, and Industrial Light & Magic. Based on the success of the 1978 reissue, Universal began production for the sequel More American Graffiti (1979). Lucas and writers Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz later collaborated on Howard the Duck (1986) and Radioland Murders (1994). They were both released by Universal Pictures, for which Lucas acted as executive producer. Radioland Murders features characters intended to be Curt and Laurie Henderson's parents, Roger and Penny Henderson. In 1995, American Graffiti was deemed culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. In 1997 the city of Modesto, California, honored Lucas with a statue dedication of American Graffiti at George Lucas Plaza. Director David Fincher credited American Graffiti as a visual influence for Fight Club (1999). Lucas's Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) features references to the film. The yellow airspeeder that Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi use to pursue bounty hunter Zam Wesell is based on John Milner's yellow deuce coupe, while Dex's Diner is reminiscent of Mel's Drive-In. Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman conducted the "rear axle" experiment on the January 11, 2004, episode of MythBusters. Given the popularity of the film's cars with customizers and hot rodders in the years since its release, their fate immediately after the film is surprising. All were offered for sale in San Francisco newspaper ads; only the '58 Impala (driven by Ron Howard) attracted a buyer, selling for only a few hundred dollars. The yellow Deuce and the white T-bird went unsold, despite being priced as low as \$3,000. The registration plate on Milner's yellow deuce coupe is THX 138 on a yellow, California license plate, slightly altered, reflecting Lucas's earlier science-fiction film (THX 1138). ## See also - List of American films of 1973 - United States in the 1950s - 1960s in the United States - Happy Days - Grease''

Hot to the Touch

"Hot to the Touch" is the first episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. The episode was written and storyboarded by Cole Sanchez and Rebecca Sugar, from a story by Patrick McHale, Kent Osborne, and Pendleton Ward. It originally aired on Cartoon Network on April 2, 2012. The episode serves as a direct continuation of the third season episode "Incendium". The series follows the adventures of Finn (voiced by Jeremy Shada), a human boy, and his best friend and adoptive brother Jake (voiced by John DiMaggio), a dog with magical powers to change shape and grow and shrink at will. In this episode, Finn develops a crush on Flame Princess (voiced by Jessica DiCicco) and tries to get to know her, which proves difficult due to her destructive and uncontrollable power. The episode was the first to be storyboarded by Sanchez and Sugar; Sugar's previous storyboard partner, Adam Muto, helped clean up the episode's drawings. Sugar wrote a short rap for the episode, rapped by Andy Milonakis. Originally, Sugar wanted Milonakis to write his own, but he felt the song was of quality and he wanted to rap Sugar's version. "Hot to the Touch" was seen by 2.655 million viewers and marked a significant increase in ratings for the series. It received largely positive critical reviews, with reviewers from both The A.V. Club and Slate applauding the episode's emotional range. ## Plot After the events in Incendium, Finn pursues Flame Princess (voiced by Jessica DiCicco), trying to explain to her that he does not want to hurt her. However, Flame Princess, confused by Finn's aversion to fire, assumes that he merely wants to taunt her. She ventures to the Goblin Kingdom, intent on turning it into her new domain. Finn and Jake, meanwhile, return to the tree fort and, with the help of N.E.P.T.R. (voiced by Andy Milonakis), build flame-retardant battle robots. The two heroes descend on the Goblin Kingdom, and begin putting out the fire; this, in turn, hurts Flame Princess, both emotionally and physically, judging from her shedding of a single tear. Finn, horrified at the pain he has caused the object of his affections, exits his robot and calls for Flame Princess's attention, before crying. The tears alert Flame Princess that Finn is a "water elemental", and that the two will only hurt each other, due to the opposition of their natural states. ## Production "Hot to the Touch" was written and storyboarded by Cole Sanchez and Rebecca Sugar, from a story developed by series creator Pendleton Ward, Patrick McHale, and Kent Osborne. This was the first episode that Sugar and Sanchez worked on together; Sugar's previous partner Adam Muto served as the episode's creative director, and also helped clean up the episode's storyboards. Sugar was excited to get a chance to show how Flame Princess interacted in the Land of Ooo, because in "Incendium", she was only shown inside of her lantern. The line about Finn wanting to play BMO with Flame Princess was based on Sanchez's experiences with his high school girlfriend; he reasoned that, since Finn was younger, his ultimate idea of love would be to sit next to his love interest and play video games. The episode features Andy Milonakis reprising his role as N.E.P.T.R., a character that was last seen in the first season episode "What is Life?" The short rap "Working for the Master" that is sung by N.E.P.T.R. was written by Sugar. She had originally planned for her demo version to merely be a "filler" track, as she expected Milonakis to want to write his own rap. To her surprise, however, Milonakis enjoyed Sugar's lyrics and insisted that he perform her version. Sugar's father, Rob, later released her demo version on his YouTube channel. Series composer Tim Kiefer produced the song's instrumental. Inspired by Wu-Tang Clan's penchant for sampling, Kieffer took his music from the season one episode "What is Life?" and edited it substantially, creating the "clattery bumpin' beat" featured in the episode. ## Reception "Hot to the Touch" aired on Cartoon Network on April 2, 2012. The episode was seen by 2.655 million viewers. The episode also ranked as the number one telecast for all children demographics, according to Nielsen ratings. It also marked a 96 percent increase in ratings, when the numbers for "Hot to the Touch" were compared to the ratings for the same time period in 2011. The episode first saw physical release as part of the 2014 DVD, Princess Day, which included 16 episodes from the series' second through sixth seasons. It was later re-released as part of the complete fourth season DVD in October 2014. Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club gave the episode a largely positive review, noting that "in the episode’s 10 minutes, the writers create an apt metaphor for pubescent dating, as Finn and FP struggle to make a relationship work." He noted the symbolism inherent in making Flame Princess a fire elemental, writing that "fire is the perfect element for a hormonal teenage princess, and FP can’t control her emotions, burning everything in her path as she reacts to Finn’s advances." Sava also complimented the return of N.E.P.T.R., as well as his short rap, which Sava called "a perfect little musical interlude at the midway point of the episode." Mike Lechevaillier of Slate magazine, in a review of the fourth season, wrote that "it's frequently astonishing to observe the confidence and wide-ranging appeal with which Adventure Time unswervingly depicts the many stages of infatuation." The reviewer highlighted "Hot to the Touch" as an example of such an example, noting that Flame Princess represents "an uncomplicated yet vastly pertinent metaphor for the hypothesis that the closer you cherish someone, the likelier they are to singe your soft exterior and the easier it is for them to affectionately melt your exposed heart." Marc Snetiker of Entertainment Weekly awarded the episode a "B", noting that "the season four premiere of this inspired 'toon about a boy and his precocious dog is as colorful, clever, and unpredictably funny as ever." ## Explanatory notes

Missouri Route 103

State highway in Missouri

Route 103 is a short highway in southeastern Missouri. Its southern terminus is at Route Z inside the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. The route travels north and intersects a few county roads as it leaves the national park. The road ends at U.S. Route 60 in a three-way junction. After being proposed in 1930, a road was built from the national park to US 60 in 1933. The gravel road was designated as Route 103, and it was paved five years later. ## Route description All of the route is located in Carter County. In 2016, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) calculated 267 vehicles, including 29 trucks travelling on Route 103 north of its southern terminus. This is expressed in terms of annual average daily traffic (AADT), a measure of traffic volume for any average day of the year. Route 103 begins at the intersection of Peavine Road and Route Z inside the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, at the Big Spring Historic District. The road travels westward through the forest, and it curves northward near the southern terminus of Skyline Drive. The route then intersects the eastern terminus of County Road 202 (CRD 202) north of Skyline Drive. About one mile (1.6 km) past CRD 202, Route 103 leaves the national park, and it meets the northern ends of Skyline Drive and Peavine Road. The road shifts to the northeast, and intersects a road leading to the unincorporated area of Chicopee. The road ends at US 60 in South Van Buren at a three-way junction south of Current River and the city of Van Buren. ## History Around 1930, a road was proposed to start from the Ozark National Scenic Riverways to US 60 as a park connection. The gravel road was constructed by 1933, and it was designated as Route 103. The route was paved by 1938, as part of a larger project with a cost of \$836,300 (), with a fraction going to Route 103's improvement. In 1959, a project was announced to establish a supplemental route, Route Z, that would start at the southern terminus of Route 103. The route was built as a gravel road by 1961, and it was paved around nine years later. ## Major intersections

Standing asanas

Yoga poses with one or both feet on the ground

The standing asanas are the yoga poses or asanas with one or both feet on the ground, and the body more or less upright. They are among the most distinctive features of modern yoga as exercise. Until the 20th century there were very few of these, the best example being Vrikshasana, Tree Pose. From the time of Krishnamacharya in Mysore, many standing poses have been created. Two major sources of these asanas have been identified: the exercise sequence Surya Namaskar (the salute to the sun); and the gymnastics widely practised in India at the time, based on the prevailing physical culture. The origin of standing asanas has been controversial since Mark Singleton argued in 2010 that some forms of modern yoga represent a radical reworking of hatha yoga, in particular by adding standing asanas and transitions (vinyasas) between them, and by suppressing most non-postural aspects of yoga, rather than a smooth continuation of ancient traditions. These changes enabled yoga to be practised as a flowing sequence of movements rather than as static poses, and in turn this allowed sessions to focus on aerobic exercise. ## Context Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. Its spiritual and philosophical goal was to unite the human spirit with the Divine; its practices were mainly meditative. The branch of yoga that makes use of physical postures in addition to other practices such as meditation and purifications is hatha yoga; it flourished from the 11th century. The term "Yoga" in the Western world often denotes a modern form of hatha yoga, yoga as exercise, consisting largely of the postures called asanas. The earliest asanas were cross-legged meditation seats; other postures were gradually added. ## In hatha yoga Among the few standing poses definitely practised in hatha yoga before the 20th century is Vrikshasana, tree pose. It is described in the 17th century hatha yoga text Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā 2.36. It may be far older than that; a 7th-century stone carving in Mahabalipuram appears to contain a figure standing on one leg, perhaps indicating that a pose similar to Vrikshasana was in use at that time. It is said that sadhus disciplined themselves by choosing to meditate in the pose. Some other standing poses have been suspected of having medieval origins, without reliable evidence. One difficulty is naming; the existence of a medieval pose with the name of a current standing pose is not proof that the two are the same, as the names given to poses may change, and the same name may be used for different poses. For example, the name Garudasana, Eagle Pose, is used for a sitting pose in the Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā, 2.37. The name Garudasana is given to a pose close to Vrikshasana in the 19th century Sritattvanidhi; the modern standing pose named Garudasana is not seen until the 20th century. Another issue is the use that is made of a pose; the existence of a pose in medieval times is not proof that it was used in hatha yoga. For example, Natarajasana, the pose of Dancing Shiva, is depicted in 13th - 18th century Bharatnatyam dance statues of the Eastern Gopuram, Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram, implying, according to Ananda Bhavanani, that the pose was used in medieval hatha yoga and that there was a cultural interchange between yoga and dance. However, Elliott Goldberg observes that Natarajasana is not found in any medieval hatha yoga text, nor is it mentioned by any pre-20th century traveller to India, nor is it found in artistic depictions of yoga such as the Sritattvanidhi or the Mahamandir near Jodhpur. Goldberg argues that the pose was among the many introduced into modern yoga by Krishnamacharya in the early 20th century, and taken up by his pupils such as B. K. S. Iyengar, who made the pose a signature of modern yoga. Another case is Utkatasana, sometimes called chair pose, though its name, Utkata, means "fierce". In modern yoga, it is indeed a challenging squatting pose with the thighs approaching the horizontal, whereas in the 19th century Sritattvanidhi it is illustrated as a low squatting pose with the buttocks resting against the heels; the Gheraṇḍa Saṃhitā 2.27 is similar, but the heels are raised. ## In yoga as exercise Standing asanas such as Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Dog), Virabhadrasana (Warrior Pose) and Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) are a conspicuous feature of the yoga practised around the modern world. Nearly all the standing poses now practised were unknown in hatha yoga until the 20th century. Many are described in Iyengar's 1966 Light on Yoga. Some, such as Tadasana, appear in the 1896 Vyayama Dipika, a manual of gymnastics, as part of the "very old" sequence of danda (Sanskrit for "staff" or "stick") exercises. Norman Sjoman suggests that it is one of the poses adopted into yoga in Mysore by Krishnamacharya and forming the "primary foundation" for his vinyasas, the flowing movements between poses. The pose would then have been taken up by his pupils Pattabhi Jois and Iyengar. In 1924, Swami Kuvalayananda founded the Kaivalyadhama Health and Yoga Research Center in Maharashtra. He and his rival Yogendra began to combine asanas with Indian systems of exercise and modern European gymnastics, having according to the scholar Joseph Alter a "profound" effect on the evolution of yoga. Krishnamacharya, known as the father of modern yoga, studied under Kuvalayananda in the 1930s and created in his Mysore yogashala "a marriage of hatha yoga, wrestling exercises, and modern Western gymnastic movement, and unlike anything seen before in the yoga tradition." Norman Sjoman argues that Krishnamacharya drew on the Vyayama Dipika gymnastic exercise manual to create the Mysore Palace system of yoga. Sjoman further observes that whereas many traditional asanas are named for objects (like Padmasana, lotus pose), legendary figures (like Matsyendrasana, the sage Matsyendra's pose), or animals (like Kurmasana, tortoise pose), many of Iyengar's asanas have names that simply describe the body's position (like Utthita Parsvakonasana, "Extended Side Angle Pose"); these are, he suggests, the ones developed in the 20th century. The yoga scholar Mark Singleton argues that Krishnamacharya was familiar with the physical culture of his time, which was influenced by Scandinavian gymnastics such as the system of Niels Bukh; Krishnamacharya's experimentation with asanas and his innovative use of gymnastic jumping between poses may well explain, Singleton suggests, the resemblances between modern standing asanas and Scandinavian gymnastics. The origin of standing asanas has been controversial since Singleton's 2010 book Yoga Body argued that some forms of modern yoga represent a radical reworking of hatha yoga, in particular by adding standing asanas and transitions (vinyasas) between them, and by suppressing most non-postural aspects of yoga, rather than a smooth continuation of ancient traditions. The addition of vinyasas enabled sequences consisting mainly of standing asanas to be practised in a continuous flow. Such a sequence could be performed quickly if desired, making for aerobic exercise, possibly at the expense of a more meditative practice. ## Surya Namaskar Surya Namaskar is a major source of standing asanas. In its modern form, it was created and popularised by the Rajah of Aundh, Bhawanrao Shriniwasrao Pant Pratinidhi, early in the 20th century. It was offered as a separate practice (not then described as yoga) from Krishnamacharya's yoga, and taught in the next-door hall of the Mysore Palace. Surya Namaskar was not recorded in any Haṭha yoga text before the 19th century. Its standing poses, integral to modern international yoga as exercise and the vinyasas used in some styles to transition between the asanas of Surya Namaskar, vary somewhat between schools. In Iyengar Yoga, other poses can be inserted into the basic sequence. In Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, the basic sequence incorporates the lunging Anjaneyasana and the sitting pose Dandasana; other lunges such as Ashwa Sanchalanasana are also often incorporated.

Bogong moth

Species of moth

The bogong moth (Agrotis infusa) is a temperate species of night-flying moth, notable for its biannual long-distance seasonal migrations towards and from the Australian Alps, similar to the diurnal monarch butterfly. During the autumn and winter it is found in southern Queensland, western New South Wales, western Victoria, and also in South and Western Australia. Adult bogong moths breed and larvae hatch during this period, consuming winter pasture plants during their growth. During the spring, the moths migrate south or east and reside in mountains such as Mount Bogong, where they gregariously aestivate over the summer until their return towards breeding grounds again in the autumn. The moth's name, bogong, is derived from an Australian Aboriginal language; the Dhudhuroa word bugung describes the brown colouration of the moth. It is an icon of Australian wildlife due to its historical role as an important food source and because Aboriginal peoples would come to where the moths spend the summer to feast on them and hold intertribal gatherings. In recent years, it has invaded major cities like Canberra, Melbourne, and Sydney due to strong winds during its spring migration. Starting around 1980 and accelerating rapidly after 2016, the Bogong Moth population has sharply declined as a result of increasingly severe droughts, along with increased temperatures in caves used by the moths for aestivation, both primarily resulting from anthropogenic climate change. In December 2021 the bogong moth was added to the IUCN Red List as an Endangered Species. ## Taxonomy and etymology Bogong moths was first described by French lepidopterist Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1832, who described the moth as Noctua infusa from a type specimen from Australia. He described the moth as having blackish-brown hind wings. However, in 1903 British entomologist George Hampson classified a specimen with white hind wings under this name, alongside another specimen of Agrotis spina with blackish-brown hind wings. Australian amateur entomologist Alfred Jefferis Turner identified A. spina as a synonym of A. infusa in 1920. I. F. B. Common, an Australian entomologist, found specimens with both hind wing colours in 1954. Specimens with the white hind wings were only found during specific months in mercury vapour light traps near Canberra, and he attributed the white hind wing specimens to a seasonal form. The moth's name, bogong, is derived from the Dhudhuroa word bugung, meaning brown moth. Its presence has contributed to the naming of numerous locations and landmarks. For example, a town, Bogong, in the Australian state of Victoria has been named after the moth. Mount Bogong, located south of the Bogong High Plains, is also named after the moth, with its traditional name, Warkwoolowler, meaning the mountain where Aboriginal people collected the "boo.gong fly". The Taungurung name for the bogong moth is debera. In the Australian state of New South Wales, a series of mountains in the Kosciuszko National Park are named the Bogong Peaks. ## Description Adult bogong moths have an overall dark brown colouration, with a dark stripe interrupted by two light-coloured spots on the wings, distinguishing it from other moths. There are visual differences between the migratory and nonmigratory forms of the moth; migratory moths have brown hind wings while nonmigratory moths have paler hind wings. Bogong moths have a wingspan ranging between 40–50 mm (1.6-2.0 in), and a body length of around 25–35 mm (1-1.4 in). The average weight of an adult bogong moth is 0.326 grams. Bogong moth eggs are dome–shaped in appearance and are vertically ridged. They are 0.7 mm (0.03 in) in diameter and 0.4 mm (0.02 in) in height. Caterpillars initially start out with a pale colouration, but as they grow and consume food they become green with pale and dark stripes and spots. Larvae achieve a maximum length of 50 mm (2.0 in). ## Distribution and habitat Bogong moth populations are primarily located across southern Australia, west of the Great Dividing Range. The regions contain populations of nonmigratory and migratory moths of this species, distinguished by their differing seasonal presences in each region. The adult bogong moth lays eggs across New South Wales, southern Queensland, and northern parts of Victoria, where larvae hatch and grow until adulthood. During the spring season and subsequent summer aestivation, bogong moths migrate south or east towards the Australian Alps, and can be found in the Australian Capital Territory and Bogong Mountains. However, bogong moths can also be found in locations as far as Tasmania and New Zealand due to strong winds that blow them off their path. ### Breeding grounds Bogong moth eggs and larvae are primarily found in self-mulching soils (soil that mixes itself) and crop pastures, where both wild and agricultural larval food sources are abundant during the autumn and winter seasons. The heavy presence of larvae in these pastures can lead to significant crop damage. During the spring and summer seasons, when grasses overtake these pastures, conditions are unfavourable for larval survival since larvae do not consume these plants. This leads to delayed breeding, as bogong moths are multivoltine and so can raise multiple generations. Instead, adult bogong moths migrate in a southerly direction during the summer and aestivate (remain dormant), until conditions are favourable again. ### Aestivation sites During the spring migration, adult bogong moths can be found in their ideal aestivation sites, which generally consist of cool, dark caves and crevices but can include spaces underneath tors and even fallen tree trunks. Stable temperatures and humidity make these locations ideal for bogong moth aestivation. Crevices regulate their environment through wind flow, and caves generally have more regular temperatures and greater humidity. This reduces water loss in bogong moths during their inactivity. While temporary sites can be used in lower elevations, these sites undergo massive population fluctuations and movements throughout their use. Permanent aestivation sites are generally found in higher altitudes of 1500 metres (4920 ft) or above, with the largest, most stable aggregations found on the summits of mountains such as Mt. Gingera. ## Life cycle Adult bogong moths lay up to 2000 eggs in the soil or on plants near the soil after returning from aestivation sites in the autumn migration. Incubation times vary depending on temperature, with eggs hatching after a period of 4–7 days in laboratory conditions. The larvae of bogong moths undergo six instars. Caterpillars grow slowly throughout the first three instars, taking until June to develop over the winter. However, the larvae go through fast growth during the spring, reaching the final instar in late August to September, soon before migration. They are active at night, when they feed on plants within breeding grounds. Larvae undergo pupation in soil chambers at a depth of 20–150 mm (0.8-7.9 in). Pupation can last between 3–11 weeks depending on the temperature and environment. Pupae are 20 mm (0.8 in) in length and have a shiny, brown appearance. Adults emerge from the soil chambers and shortly after begin migration. Adult bogong moths are active at night, and have different seasonal behaviors. During the spring, bogong moths feed and migrate south, where they aestivate during the summer. Adult bogong moths are not sexually mature yet, and do not actively seek food during this period of dormancy. In autumn, the moths migrate again and return to their breeding grounds, laying eggs and dying. ## Behaviour ### Food resources Bogong moth larvae subsist on winter pasture crops and wild crop weeds such as cape weeds within bogong moth breeding grounds, primarily depending on annual dicotyledons that grow during the winter. Attacks on a wide variety of cultivated crops have been seen, with plants such as Medicago species, wheat, cabbages, cauliflowers, silver beet, peas, and potatoes all recorded being consumed by bogong moth caterpillars. However, the larvae avoid grasses, which overtake pastures during the summer, making summer unfavourable due to lack of larval food sources. Adult bogong moths feed on the nectar of flowers such as Epacris, Grevillea and Eucalyptus while breeding or migrating, but will not actively feed during aestivation. ### Migration Bogong moths undergo whole scale long-distance migration biannually, in which they can travel up to 965 km (600 miles). The spring migration begins in early September and occurs from the lowlands of Southern Australia south towards the Australian Alps for purposes of reaching aestivation sites. During the summer, the moths remain in their aestivation sites until autumn, when they migrate back towards the breeding grounds of the lowlands as early as February, but primarily in April. The bogong moth utilizes particular aestivation sites repeatedly throughout migrations, as seen with the development of parasites that depend on the regular arrival and departure of the moths from caves. The population within each aestivation site fluctuates throughout the summer due to moth mortality and the departure and arrival of moths either migrating further south for aestivation or north to return to breeding grounds. However, this differs from changes during migration periods, when the populations rapidly increase with arrival or decrease with departure. Bogong moths are nocturnal migrants, but the exact mechanism for long-distance navigation is not clear. It is possible that they are oriented by light, as seen in the influence of light intensity on activity during aestivation. Additionally, bogong moths may use an internal magnetic compass to aid in navigation, as seen in the similar monarch butterfly. A study published in 2018 concluded that the Bogong moth uses a combination of the Earth's magnetic field and recognizable landmarks to calibrate their route. However, there are also nonmigratory populations; this generally occurs in areas with favourable conditions, where migration to avoid harsh conditions such as seasonal changes in larval food crop abundance is not necessary. Some populations of bogong moths in areas such as Tasmania and in coastal populations of New South Wales do not migrate, and reach sexual maturity at a faster rate than migratory populations. ### Social aggregation During the spring migration, bogong moths gregariously aggregate with densities reaching 17,000 moths per square metre (10.8 square feet) within caves, crevices, and other areas hidden from the sunlight. The lack of light and relatively constant temperature and humidity makes these spots favourable during aestivation. The first moths that arrive occupy the deepest and darkest locations, using their fore tarsi to grip onto the rock faces, and aggregations form around these initial areas, with moths arriving later settling for less ideal areas with more sunlight, higher temperatures, and decreased humidity. To diminish the amount of light that reaches their light-sensitive eyes, later moths push themselves underneath the wings and abdomens of moths that arrived earlier and place their hind legs on top of the moths beneath them. This physical contact and aggregation allow the moths to retain body moisture. When the aestivating moths are disturbed, the moths within the area of disturbance briefly spread out and leave the aggregation, dropping excrement when unsettled before quickly returning to the aggregation and re-positioning themselves. While the moths mostly remain dormant during aestivation, there are some periods of activity within the aggregation which are correlated to changes in light intensity. During dawn and dusk, portions of the population become active, first crawling around and spreading out, and then flying out of their shelter into the open. While some water drinking has been observed, no evidence of copulation or active foraging has been found during these periods of activity. ### Diapause Facultative diapause, an optional period of delayed development in response to environmental conditions, accompanies the biannual migration of the bogong moths. While one generation of moths goes through the two migrations each year, multiple generations are possible in favourable conditions and higher temperatures, as growth across all life stages can occur faster. For example, without the diapause, the bogong moth would normally complete sexual maturation within 50 days. However, this maturation is delayed due to the lack of larval food sources during the summer season. During the summer, hot temperatures occur and grasses, which are an unfavourable diet for bogong moth larvae, overtake pastures and make up the majority of the plants occupying the pastures. Bogong moths avoid this harsh environment by delaying development during the summer so that their eggs do not hatch in a poorly-suited environment; instead, they migrate to cooler, more suitable areas and delay their development during aestivation until the winter season, when they return to the breeding grounds and winter pasture crops begin to grow again. During aestivation, the bogong moths remain dormant for several months, possibly delaying development due to the lower temperatures. The food they consume during the migration is also dedicated to building fat reserves for aestivation rather than development, as bogong moths must consume more food during the autumn migration before maturation and mating. However, in areas with favourable conditions, bogong moths do not have to migrate during the summer. ## Ecology ### Enemies #### Predators The bogong moth suffers from predation during both its migration and aestivation. During the spring and autumn migrations, several species of birds, mammals, and even fish have been recorded preying on the moth. Little raven, currawong and Richard's pipit congregations form to feast on bogong moths as they travel from aestivation sites during migration. Aboriginal people also travelled to aestivation sites to feast on the dormant moths, and may have searched for these bird congregations to locate these sites. Bats also attack the moths during active flight periods during the dusk, and foxes, bush rats, and dusky antechinus have been recorded eating moths. Of the mammals that prey on the bogong moth, the endangered mountain pygmy-possum is the most reliant on bogong moths as a source of food. #### Parasites Two species of mermithid nematodes parasitize the bogong moth during its aestivation: Amphimermis bogongae and Hexamermis cavicola. The parasites are transmitted to bogong moths through water; the early instar larval nematodes reside in the debris of the cave floors of common aestivation sites, and crawl up to reach the moths through trickles of water coming down the walls. Bogong moths are infected upon their arrival within the caves once they drink the water. After a few months, the larval nematodes emerge from the moths, which causes the moth to die, and burrow into the cave floor, where they mature and lay eggs over the winter and wait for the next spring migration of the moths. The nematodes are unusual in that they parasitize adult bogong moths instead of the more commonly utilized larval host stage. The nematodes' life cycles demonstrate an adaptation to the migration of the bogong moths, as they are dependent on bogong moths returning to the same aestivation sites. ### Biovector of arsenic Concerns have been raised over the potential role of agriculture in turning the bogong moth into a biovector of arsenic in the Australian Alps. Aggregations of bogong moths in aestivation sites has led to the bioaccumulation of the pollutant in both the surrounding local environment and within predators, particularly in the endangered mountain pygmy possum. However, no conclusive evidence has directly linked agriculture as the source of arsenic in bogong moths. In 2001, a few months after rainfall had washed out debris consisting of dead moths from within the cave, the complete death of local grasses was seen outside of an aestivation site of the bogong moth. Investigation into the causes of the grass mortality showed that the concentration of arsenic in the surrounding areas was much higher than normal, and the source was determined to be the bogong moths. Since the bogong moths do not feed at their aestivation sites, they had absorbed arsenic from lowland feeding sites as larvae and subsequently transported it over long distances into the mountains. Bioaccumulation, the absorption and accumulation of substances by organisms, occurs with arsenic in bogong moths. While levels within each individual moth are small, the sheer quantity of moths in the area led to a concentration of the pollutant to damaging levels in the environment. The presence of arsenic has also been shown in the feces of mammals such as the mountain pygmy-possum, demonstrating the bioaccumulation of this pollutant in animals. While no source has been determined, concerns have been raised over the possible role of agriculture in the bioaccumulation of arsenic due to its presence in historically and presently-used insecticides. This has led to the discontinued use of insecticides in controlling the bogong moth in urban areas, in favour of less intrusive methods. ### Decline in numbers In the spring and summer seasons of 2017-8 and 2018-9, dramatic drops in numbers of the moths in the Alpine caves have been observed. Millions of the moths have usually lined the walls of these caves over summer, but for the past two seasons there have been none in some caves, according to Professor Eric Warrant of Lund University in Sweden. He says that the drop in numbers was probably caused by a lack of rainfall due to winter drought in their breeding areas and climate change, the lack of rain producing insufficient vegetation to feed the caterpillars. Some caves still harboured thousands of moths, which suggested that the moths "came from different breeding grounds, where one location wasn't as badly affected by the drought as the other. I don't think they will disappear completely, but there's certainly a possibility that they could become locally extinct at their breeding grounds.", Warrant said. Other biologists and ecologists have pointed to the dramatic effect on animals which feed on the moths, which are an important source of protein for wildlife, including the threatened mountain pygmy possum as well as other insectivorous mammals and birds. "The vulnerability of the Australian Alps to climate change is the worst in the world because we've got these short little mountains so when it gets warmer, there is nowhere for these cold-adapted species to go", according to Euan Ritchie, a wildlife ecologist at Deakin University. ## Interactions with humans ### Food source Bogong moths were historically used as a food source by Aboriginal peoples located in South-eastern Australia. Groups would travel to the area towards the summits of mountains to harvest moths, where they also met with other Aboriginal peoples, fostering inter-tribal relations as people gathered and feasted during these harvests. They would go into the caves and scrape aestivating moths off the walls into nets and dishes using sticks. Once gathered, the moths would be roasted to remove the scales and wings and then either eaten immediately or ground into a paste and made into "moth meat" cakes that would last and could be taken home. The moth was said to have a nice nutty flavour that was most similar to walnuts or almonds. The bogong moth is an icon of Australian wildlife due to this historical role as an important food source and as an inter-tribal gathering point in Southeastern Australia. An excavation of Cloggs Cave, near Buchan in Victoria, revealed microscopic remains of moth on a small grinding stone, estimated to be about 2,000 years old. This is the first confirmed evidence of insect food remains discovered on a stone artefact in the whole world. The Gunaikurnai people were one of the peoples who used to travel to the mountains to obtain the high-fat, energy-rich food, and stories of these travels had been passed down in their oral history. The excavation was done by researchers from Monash University in collaboration with the traditional owners, represented by the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Corporation (GLaWAC). ### Pest of crop plants Bogong moths have had a role in damaging crop plants since winter pastures serve as breeding grounds and larval food sources. Outbreaks of caterpillars have been recorded across New South Wales, with damage primarily done to heavy black soil flats. Medicago species, wheat, cabbages, cauliflowers, silver beet, peas, and potatoes have been recorded as being attacked by bogong moth larvae. #### Control The bogong moth is a minor and irregular pest of crop plants in Australia. This makes it difficult to predict their pattern and control. Typically, control of this species is not cost-effective. However, if there are heavy damaging outbreaks of the bogong moth, insecticide is applied to the crops that are affected by it. ### Migration issues Millions of bogong moths have been blown off course from their spring migration into major cities like Canberra, Melbourne, and Sydney due to strong winds, with notable instances of Bogong Moth invasions including the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. The large amount of light and noise present can also attract moths towards cities. Parliament House in Canberra, present in the middle of the Bogong Moth flight path during migrations, was notably susceptible to moths. Light pollution from the building traps them during their flight and encourages the moth to find shelter within crevices, shadows, and sometimes even the insides of the buildings during the light and heat of the day. Efforts have been made to try and drive the moths out by turning off lights, covering attractive corners and pathways indoors, and using insecticides. However, insecticide use has ceased in urban areas due to concerns over environmental consequences. ## Conservation status In December 2021 the bogong moth was added to the IUCN Red List as an Endangered Species, based on a February 2021 assessment.

Sappho 16

Fragment of a poem by Sappho

Sappho 16 is a fragment of a poem by the archaic Greek lyric poet Sappho. It is from Book I of the Alexandrian edition of Sappho's poetry, and is known from a second-century papyrus discovered at Oxyrhynchus in Egypt at the beginning of the twentieth century. Sappho 16 is a love poem – the genre for which Sappho was best known – which praises the beauty of the narrator's beloved, Anactoria, and expresses the speaker's desire for her now that she is absent. It makes the case that the most beautiful thing in the world is whatever one desires, using Helen of Troy's elopement with Paris as a mythological exemplum to support this argument. The poem is at least 20 lines long, though it is uncertain whether the poem ends at line 20 or continues for another stanza. ## Preservation Fragment 16 was preserved on Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1231, a second-century manuscript of Book I of an edition of Sappho, published by Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt in 1914. In 2014, a papyrus discovered by Simon Burris, Jeffrey Fish, and Dirk Obbink – P. GC. inv. 105 – added a few words to the known text of the poem. This papyrus dates to the late-second or early-third century, and is in the same hand as a second papyrus published for the first time in 2014 (P. Sapph. Obbink), which preserves five stanzas of Sappho's Brothers Poem. ## Poem Fragment 16 is, along with the other poems of Book I of Sappho's works, composed in Sapphic stanzas. This metre is made up of stanzas of four lines, the first three of which are Sapphic hendecasyllables, of the form " ̄ ̆ ̄ × ̄ ̆ ̆ ̄ ̄ ̆ ̄ ̄", followed by a five-syllable adonean, of the form " ̄ ̆ ̆ ̄ ̄". At least five stanzas survive; whether the poem ends there or continues into what Burris, Fish, and Obbink number fragment 16a is disputed. The poem is one of five surviving poems by Sappho which is about "the power of love". It expresses the speaker's desire for the absent Anactoria, praising her beauty. This encomium follows the poet making the broader point that the most beautiful thing to any person is whatever they love the most; an argument that Sappho supports with the mythological example of Helen's love for Paris. Some commentators have argued that the poem deliberately adopts this position as a rejection of typical Greek male values. The poem follows a chiastic structure, beginning with a preamble, moving through to the mythical exemplum of the story of Paris and Helen, and returning to the subject of the preamble for the concluding stanza. The poem begins with a priamel – a rhetorical structure where a list of alternatives are contrasted with a final, different idea. The first stanza opens with a list of things which some people believe are the most beautiful in the world: "some say an army of horsemen, others say foot soldiers, still others say a fleet". The poet goes on to propose a more general rule: that in fact superlative beauty is a property of "whatever one loves". This introductory stanza is followed by a mythological exemplum to demonstrate this idea – that of Helen of Troy, who abandoned her husband, daughter, and parents to be with the man she loved. This use of Helen as a mythological exemplum might be seen as problematic: after all, Helen is the most beautiful mortal, and yet Sappho has her judging Paris to be the most beautiful. Harold Zellner explains this apparent paradox as an integral part of the argument that Sappho makes that the most beautiful is the one that one loves: the apparent contradiction between Helen being the most beautiful, and Helen finding Paris the most beautiful, can be resolved if we agree with Sappho's definition of beauty. After setting out Sappho's definition of what beauty is, the poem moves into a more personal section, recalling the narrator's beloved, Anactoria. The transition from the mythological example of Helen and Paris to the narrator's desire for Anactoria is missing, so it is not known what exactly reminded the narrator of her. George Koniaris believes that this transition, with the apparently spontaneous introduction of Anactoria, makes Sappho's praise for her seem fresh; by contrast, Hutchinson sees it as emphasising the deliberate artificiality of the work. ### Text — via William Annis ### Helen of Troy Many commentators have suggested that Sappho's use of Helen as an example in this poem is intended as a rejection of masculine in favour of feminine values. For instance, John J. Winkler argues that the poem sets Sappho's definition of beauty against a masculine ideal of military power. However, G. O. Hutchinson notes that, though the definition of beauty Sappho attacks might seem a characteristically male one, the definition she replaces it with is generally applicable, rather than being solely relevant to women. Page duBois has argued that Sappho's portrayal of Helen in this poem is a reversal of the relationships between men and women in the Homeric poems, where men act upon women; Helen in Sappho's poem is, according to duBois, an actor who has her own agency and makes her own choices. Others disagree: Eric Dodson-Robinson suggests that the relationships portrayed by Homer between men and women are more complex than duBois suggests, and Margaret Williamson argues that Sappho portrays Helen not just as one who acts, and who is celebrated for her action, but also one who is acted upon. As well as Homer's Helen, the poem has been seen as responding to, or being responded to by, Alcaeus' portrayal of Helen in fragments 283 and 42. Ruby Blondell argues that Sappho's portrayal of Helen is much more concerned with her agency than Alcaeus' is. While in Alcaeus, Paris is the "deceiver of his host", in Sappho his role is more of a passive object of desire. ### Anactoria Anactoria is probably the same person as Anagora of Miletus, mentioned in the Suda as a pupil of Sappho. She is listed by Maximus of Tyre along with Atthis and Gyrinna, as one whom Sappho loved as Socrates loved Alcibiades, Charmides, and Phaedrus. In the poem, Anactoria is absent, though it is not evident from the surviving lines exactly why. One suggestion is that she has left Sappho in order to marry. Christopher Brown argues that the description of Anactoria's αμαρυχμα ("the radiant sparkle of her face") is suggestive of the χαρις ("grace", "charm") of a "nubile girl" of marriageable age, and that it is likely that Anactoria has returned to her native city in order to marry. Eric Dodson-Robinson suggests that the poem could have been performed at a wedding, with Anactoria the bride leaving her family and friends. George Koniaris disagrees, arguing that there is "no special reason" to believe that Anactoria left Sappho for a man. Glenn Most goes further, saying that there is no reason to believe that Anactoria's absence was anything more than temporary. ## Continuation after line 20 Scholars disagree on whether fragment 16 continued after line 20 or ended at this point. Before the discovery of the Green Collection papyri, most scholars believed that the poem ended at line 20, and when Burris, Fish, and Obbink published the Green Collection papyri, they too ended the poem there. If the poem did end at this point, the priamel around which the poem is based is complete, and the poem would have had a ring structure. However, Joel Lidov argues that the stanza which Burris, Fish, and Obbink consider the first of fragment 16a fits better as the end of fragment 16. Rayor and Lardinois also believe that lines 21–24 of P. GC. inv. 105 are part of fragment 16, drawing comparisons with line 17 of fragment 31 and the ending of the Tithonus poem, two other cases where a poem by Sappho ends with the narrator reconciling herself to an impossible situation.

The Fabulous Baker Boys

1989 film by Steve Kloves

The Fabulous Baker Boys is a 1989 American romantic comedy-drama musical film written and directed by Steve Kloves. The film follows a piano duo consisting of brothers, Jack and Frank Baker, (Jeff Bridges and Beau Bridges) who hire an attractive singer Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer) to revive their waning career. After a period of success, complications ensue when the younger brother develops a romantic interest in the singer. The Fabulous Baker Boys was Kloves's directorial debut and second screenplay. He conceived the story based on Ferrante & Teicher, a piano duo he had grown up watching perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. This inspired him to write a film about working class musicians who are also siblings. Determined to direct the film himself, Kloves sold the script to producers Paula Weinstein and Mark Rosenberg. It was subsequently rotated among several production companies before it was ultimately obtained by 20th Century Fox in 1986. Pfeiffer underwent several months of voice training to perform all of her character's songs, which largely consist of jazz and pop standards. While both Bridges brothers play their instruments on camera, their audio was dubbed by the film's composer, Dave Grusin, and musician John F. Hammond, respectively. Although primarily set in Seattle, Washington, the film was shot mostly in Los Angeles, California, from December 1988 to March 1989. The Fabulous Baker Boys was released on October 13, 1989, to positive reviews but underperformed at the box office. Critics praised Pfeiffer's performance in particular with the stand out scene being her sultry performance of "Makin' Whoopee" on top of a grand piano. Critic Roger Ebert compared the performance to Rita Hayworth's in Gilda (1946) and Marilyn Monroe's in Some Like it Hot (1959). The film was nominated for four Academy Awards at the 62nd Academy Awards: Best Actress (for Pfeiffer), Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Score. Pfeiffer won nearly every acting award for which she was nominated during the 1989–1990 awards season, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, but lost the Academy Award to Jessica Tandy. ## Plot The Fabulous Baker Boys are a piano duo consisting of brothers Jack and Frank Baker. For 15 years, they have been performing show tunes in bars and lounges throughout Seattle, Washington on a pair of matching grand pianos. While Frank dutifully serves as the duo's manager, Jack has grown weary of the hackneyed material they have come to perform over the years, but his complacency leaves him uninspired to pursue his talents further. Apart from occasionally playing the music he enjoys at a local jazz club, Jack's personal life largely consists of meaningless one-night stands; caring for his aging Labrador, Eddie; and spending time with Nina, a lonely girl from his apartment building whose single mother neglects her in favor of romantic pursuits. Concerned about a sudden decrease in stable gigs and loss of income, Frank decides to hire a female singer to revive interest in their act. After auditioning several unsuccessful candidates, they meet Susie Diamond, a former escort who demands an audition despite being several minutes late. Although initially at odds with Frank over her boldness and unprofessionalism, Susie impresses both brothers with her audition, and they hire her. Their debut performance as a trio is flawed but ultimately well-received, and the rebranded act gradually receives better gigs and higher salaries in return. The now in-demand trio is booked for an extended engagement at a luxurious resort. Jack and Susie flirt with each other cautiously in-between gigs, but neither acts upon their feelings. Noticing a growing attraction between them, Frank forbids Jack from pursuing Susie in fear that a relationship between the two would compromise the group's stability and newfound success. Frank returns to Seattle prematurely when one of his children suffers a minor injury. Taking advantage of his absence to contemporize their setlist, Susie and Jack deliver a sultry performance of "Makin' Whoopee" during the hotel's New Year's Eve festivities, after which they finally succumb to their feelings and sleep together. Susie opens up to Jack about her past as an escort, but Jack remains emotionally distant. When the couple returns to Seattle, Frank quickly deduces that Jack and Susie have slept with each other; tensions arise when both rebel against Frank's creative control and song choices. After spending another night with Jack, Susie tells him she has received a lucrative job offer to record television jingles for cat food, which would require her to leave the group. Jack is quietly heartbroken that Susie would even consider leaving but refuses to admit how he truly feels, instead acting as though her departure is of no concern to him. Susie accepts the job after a final performance with The Fabulous Baker Boys, and the two part ways following a heated argument in which Susie accuses Jack of being a coward in his pursuits of both her and his career. Jack and Frank quarrel about the increasingly humiliating gigs Frank has been booking them due to Susie's departure, which Frank blames Jack for. After nearly breaking Frank's hand during a physical altercation, Jack quits the band. He takes his frustrations out on Nina upon returning home but apologizes soon afterward, learning she will rely on him less once her mother marries her newest boyfriend. Now prepared to venture out on his own, Jack visits Frank to make amends. Having opted to offer piano lessons from his home, Frank accepts Jack's decision to pursue a solo career and explains he thought he was helping his younger brother live a carefree life, of which he was sometimes jealous. They reminisce about the early days of their act with a final duet. Jack visits Susie, who is not particularly enjoying her new job, and expresses regret about his behavior towards her. Susie is not quite ready to resume their relationship but the two part as friends, with Jack telling her he has a feeling they will see each other again. Jack watches as Susie walks off to her new job until she is nearly out of sight. ## Cast ## Production ### Writing and development Screenwriter Steve Kloves was inspired to write The Fabulous Baker Boys based on Ferrante & Teicher, a piano duo he had grown up watching perform on The Ed Sullivan Show during the 1960s. He found himself fascinated by "blue-collar entertainment – people who work in the arts in a kind of working class way." Remembering that during his childhood parents typically enrolled their children in piano lessons simply to "give them culture", he decided to write a story about piano-playing brothers, citing familial dysfunction as a common theme among his work. Although he felt a story about a waning piano act would provide strong material for a feature-length film, some of Kloves's peers warned him "it was a completely bizarre, terrible idea for a movie", expressing concerns that its dark subject matter and frequent arguments would not translate well on screen. Kloves conducted little research while penning the film, instead opting to write its first draft based on what he learned from spending time in hotels. Kloves recalled that he would sometimes visit hotel bars "and hear some guy play the piano ... and some of them were pretty good. The way my mind tripped off on it was that this guy's parents gave him piano lessons to improve his life and give him an opening into culture and there he was, 20 years later, at a Holiday Inn playing 'Feelings'." Since Kloves typically writes his films around its characters, he spent six months writing notes about the main characters' relationships with each other before finalizing the story. He also used index cards to indicate specific scenes and moments which he organized on a board, but found this approach was not always successful. A first draft of the screenplay was completed as early as April 1985, in which Kloves describes the titular characters as "a poor man's version of Ferrante and Teicher." The Fabulous Baker Boys was Kloves's directorial debut. Kloves's experience writing his previous film, Racing with the Moon (1984), motivated him to direct The Fabulous Baker Boys himself because the final version of the former "wasn't what I saw in my head". Although Kloves had always aspired to direct the film himself, he considered his prospects unlikely due to his young age (he was 25 years-old when he first started optioning the script to filmmakers) and lack of filmmaking experience, having only written one film prior. Fearing a different director would struggle to fulfill his vision, his determination ultimately delayed the project by several years. Kloves decided to keep the script to himself until he could secure funding that would also allow him to direct his own project. Kloves finally sold The Fabulous Baker Boys as a spec script to then-Warner Bros. worldwide production president Mark Rosenberg, after originally selling it to producers Paula Weinstein and Gareth Wigan of WW Productions. Weinstein and Wigan eventually negotiated a deal to share the film rights with Rosenberg. Kloves attempted to work on the film with director George Roy Hill, but they experienced creative differences. Following the dissolution of WW Productions, Weinstein became an executive consultant at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) under Alan Ladd, Jr., while Rosenberg eventually left Warner Bros to found Mirage Productions with filmmaker Sydney Pollack. Partnering with Mirage, Weinstein briefly relocated The Fabulous Baker Boys to MGM, only for the film to move once again to 20th Century Fox following Ladd, Jr.'s departure from MGM. Kloves attributes his struggles with getting the film made to Warner Bros.' reluctance to release the film's rights to a different studio "and watch it be a success for someone else", despite Warner Bros. disinterest in producing the film themselves. Pollack was retained as an executive producer. Kloves credits Rosenberg, Pollack, and Weinstein with helping him earn approval to direct the film, having been fans of his previous work. The film's development began in 1986, and was completed over the course of four years, the length of which The New York Times journalist Bernard Weinraub attributed to the film's melancholy nature and Kloves's insistence on directing. Kloves's final draft of his screenplay is dated November 4, 1988. ### Casting When casting The Fabulous Baker Boys began, Kloves recalled that while studio executives often dismissed his script as "dreary and depressing", most actors considered for the film found it "funny and moving". Wallis Nicita was the film's casting director. Bill Murray briefly expressed interest in starring while the film was in early development. The studio had also considered casting Murray's Saturday Night Live castmate, comedian Chevy Chase, as either Jack or Frank Baker, despite both actors having little musical experience. Brothers Dennis and Randy Quaid were offered the titular roles but turned them down. Although both Jeff and Pfeiffer were Kloves's first choices for their respective roles, he was initially reluctant to cast Beau, despite Jeff's suggestion. Kloves, Rosenberg, and Weinstein personally visited Jeff Bridges at his home in Montana to offer him the role of Jack Baker. After spending an afternoon asking Kloves various questions about the film, Jeff accepted because "I've had very good luck with first-time directors." Shortly after being cast, Jeff suggested his own older brother Beau Bridges for the role of Jack's older brother Frank. Initially reluctant to entertain the "gimmick" of casting brothers as on-screen siblings, Kloves relented upon meeting Beau for the first time at a restaurant. According to Kloves, "I saw Beau walk into the restaurant, and it just hit me – he was Frank Baker. By the end of the breakfast I decided to embrace it, and it's one of the better decisions I made, because at the end of the day it wasn't a gimmick – Beau was terrific." Beau recalled that the studio had wanted a more famous actor to play the elder Baker, but Jeff lobbied for him. After sharing the script with him and insisting that he read it, Beau was worried that the studio's resistance to cast him would threaten Jeff's prospects. Jeff encouraged Beau to show the studio a Polaroid of both brothers performing street theatre when they were teenagers. Beau believes the photograph solidified his casting. Jeff believes acting opposite his brother helped make their characters' relationship and chemistry more convincing to audiences. Because Beau's character is balding in the script, Jeff shaved a bald patch onto the back of Beau's head for the film. The Fabulous Baker Boys was the first and only time Jeff and Beau appeared in the same film. While the film was under Hill's direction, Kloves suggested singer Whitney Houston for the female lead. Although Jeff believes he was the first actor cast in the film, Michelle Pfeiffer claims Kloves originally approached her five years before the film was made, but the studio was not interested in casting her at the time. Kloves clarified that although he had been interested in both Pfeiffer and Jeff from the beginning, Pfeiffer proved difficult to contact at the time, therefore he cast Jeff first in the interim. Without an actress secured for the female lead, both the cast and crew were momentarily concerned about the film's progress. Several actresses were considered for the role of lounge singer Susie Diamond, including Jodie Foster, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Debra Winger. Singer Madonna turned down the role because she found the film "too mushy". Despite liking the script, Pfeiffer was hesitant to commit to another film due to having just recently completed several prestigious projects in a row. She had originally planned to go on hiatus after filming Dangerous Liaisons (1988) until Kloves convinced her otherwise over the course of visiting her at her home for a week. Drawn to the character of Susie, the actress described her as "one of the most alive characters that I've played ... She's a purely emotional creature ... She's not afraid to take risks, and she doesn't lie to herself ... There's a purity in her honesty that I really respect." Kloves recalled that some of his peers were surprised by his choice in Pfeiffer because they doubted her comedic acting abilities, but the director maintains that "she was always funny and adept at doing character humor." Pfeiffer reminded Rosenberg of Marilyn Monroe's performance in Some Like it Hot (1959). Pfeiffer was initially worried about working opposite a pair of brothers but admitted her concerns were ultimately unfounded. Kloves wrote the character of Blanche "Monica" Moran, a waitress and aspiring singer, specifically for Jennifer Tilly, which would become her breakthrough role. ### Filming A two-week rehearsal took place after the film was cast, during which Kloves observed each main cast member discover how they would approach their respective roles. Kloves was particularly impressed with Beau's process, explaining, "in the first week of rehearsal he went back and forth between being very high and very low ... [by] ... the second week he suddenly found the sweet spot for the character and stayed there with perfect pitch for the entire shoot." Kloves and the three main actors visited local bars to study lounge performers, while Kloves directed improvisational sessions at the Bridges' homes. Both Jeff and Beau had piano keyboards in their dressing rooms and spent several months learning to play the film's songs during pre-production, specifically studying how their musical performances should appear to onlookers. Jeff did not attend the 1988 London Film Festival where he was being honored due to his commitment to filming The Fabulous Baker Boys. Before production began, Pfeiffer was warned that preparing for Susie would require twice as much effort as a typical acting performance, likening the process to "a musician preparing to do an album." On camera, Pfeiffer lip-synced to the songs she recorded in the recording studio. Principal photography began on December 5, 1988, and was completed over the course of two months by March 1989. The film had a production budget of \$11.5 million. Although primarily set in Seattle, Washington, The Fabulous Baker Boys was mostly filmed in Los Angeles, California. Kloves consulted with production designer Jeffery Townsend to retain the melancholy Seattle atmosphere on the Los Angeles set. Some scenes were shot at the Ambassador Hotel, with its Coconut Grove nightclub being used for several nighttime scenes. The hotel itself was permanently closed in 1989, shortly after filming concluded. The Greystone Mansion was used for several exterior shots. The Millennium Biltmore Hotel also served as a location for some of the film's interior scenes and musical sequences, including "Makin' Whoopee", which was shot in its Crystal Ballroom. Pfeiffer was originally hesitant to film the scene in which her character sings "Makin' Whoopee" on top of Jack's grand piano. Fearing audiences would find her laughable, she attempted to talk her way out of the scene the day before it was shot, but Kloves persisted. The sequence was choreographed by Peggy Holmes, her first solo choreographing job. Pfeiffer received only one choreography lesson in preparation for the musical number, and wore knee and elbow pads during rehearsals. The scene ultimately required six hours to film; trying to appear graceful atop the slippery piano surface proved challenging for Pfeiffer, particularly when she steps down from the piano onto its keys without looking down at her feet. Wanting Susie's wardrobe to accurately depict clothes she could realistically afford, costume designer Lisa Jensen sourced most of Pfeiffer's costumes from discount and vintage clothing stores throughout California, for less than \$100 each. Although Pfeiffer's character is intended to appear sexy, Jensen opted not to simply rely on revealing clothing but rather play "hide and seek" with her body, explaining that Susie avoids clothes that are "obviously sexy". Pfeiffer's red evening gown worn during the "Makin' Whoopee" scene was the only dress Jensen designed herself. Fashion designer Ronaldus Shamask designed the black cocktail dress purchased for Susie's first performance, which Jensen tailored to appear skin-tight on Pfeiffer. Kloves told cinematographer Michael Ballhaus that, aesthetically, he had envisioned the film as an Edward Hopper painting: "I always saw the movie in terms of the burnished red of the booths, a kind of dark crimson with amber light and a slightly threadbare quality, like the surroundings are all going to seed a bit." Ballhaus also helped determine the actors' blocking for certain scenes. Ballhaus claims Kloves allowed him "complete freedom" over filming because Kloves does not consider himself to be a visual director. Ballhaus decided to use "deliberately ugly" lighting during the film's early scenes in undesirable venues and gradually improve the lighting by the time the characters arrive at the resort. Kloves and Ballhaus also favored simple camera movements and opted to reserve dramatic camera movements for stand-out scenes that required higher energy, such as "Makin' Whoopee". Having developed a reputation for filming women, Ballhaus incorporated his signature 360-degree camera rotation into Pfeiffer's scene, which he had envisioned upon first reading the script due to its sexually suggestive nature. Feeling the scene warranted a firmer, stronger appearance from Pfeiffer, the cinematographer also prepared by watching several of her films and consulting with her makeup artist. They rehearsed the scene using a video camera prior to filming the final version. Jeff instructed his makeup artist to paint broken capillaries onto his nose every morning to demonstrate his character's alcoholism. Jeff and Beau choreographed their climactic fight scene themselves, drawing inspiration from their father's childhood lessons. Much of the fight was improvised, including the moment Jack threatens to break Frank's hand so he can no longer play the piano. While Jeff believes they had neglected to choose a safe word should either of them become truly injured while fighting, Beau claims his brother ignored their safe word to the point where Beau visited the hospital because he thought he had really broken his hand. Jeff explained that although he had heard Beau screaming in pain, he thought he was simply acting the scene very well. The actors also suffered discomfort from the barbs of the wire fence they thrashed themselves against, which they had originally thought would be a comfortable material. ### Music Musician Dave Grusin composed the film's original score. The score largely consists of jazz music and pop standards, most of which were performed by Grusin on keyboards with tenor saxophonist Ernie Watts, guitarist Lee Ritenour, trumpeter Sal Marquez, bassist Brian Bromberg, and drummer Harvey Mason. The music was recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood, California in Studio 1. Pfeiffer performed all of her own vocals for her character and the film's soundtrack. Kloves described Pfeiffer's singing voice as good but not "professionally great", believing a more professional-sounding singer would have made the film unrealistic. Despite having sung in the musical film Grease 2 (1982), Pfeiffer was never a professional singer, and found the songs in The Fabulous Baker Boys challenging because they are "written to showcase the voice ... so [she] had to retrain the way I listen to music" to sound as though she was singing live, accompanied by only two pianos. Pfeiffer had not sung on camera since Grease 2 seven years prior. To strengthen her vocal chords, the actress enrolled in voice lessons for two months under vocal coach Sally Stevens. Stevens was personally recruited by Grusin, with whom she had collaborated several times prior. The Fabulous Baker Boys was Stevens's first professional vocal coaching job, therefore much of her coaching was instinctual. Stevens believes Grusin "thought that in my career I had done what the Susie Diamond character had done and that Michelle, consciously or unconsciously, would pick up some things." Observing that Pfeiffer naturally possesses a strong sense of rhythm and phrasing, Stevens worked with Pfeiffer to finesse her pronunciation. The film consists of 27 songs, at least four of which are performed by Pfeiffer, including "More Than You Know", "Ten Cents A Dance", "Makin' Whoopee" and "My Funny Valentine". The actress was mostly unfamiliar with The Fabulous Baker Boys' selection of Tin Pan Alley standards, thus she studied the works of jazz singers Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Rickie Lee Jones, Billie Holiday, and Helen Merrill for inspiration. According to Kloves, these songs were selected because he found them accurate to the film's time period, lounge setting, and characters. "More Than You Know" required at least 20 takes until Pfeiffer was satisfied with her performance, for which she specifically drew inspiration from singer Linda Ronstadt's rendition. Her recording sessions often lasted 10 hours, after which she would study her tapes at home. Despite this, Pfeiffer's rendition of "More Than You Know" is not included on the soundtrack album, which only features two of Pfeiffer's solos: "Makin' Whoopee" and "My Funny Valentine". After the film's release, Pfeiffer was offered a recording contract for her musical efforts but declined. Most of Jeff and Beau's piano playing was dubbed for the final film, despite both actors knowing how to play the piano. They worked with a teacher to learn all of the film's songs in order to film close-ups of their hands and faces. Grusin dubbed Jeff, while John F. Hammond dubbed Beau. Hammond also coached and produced some of Pfeiffer's vocals. Jeff said his work on The Fabulous Baker Boys has ultimately increased his standards when it comes pursuing future musical projects. The film's motion picture soundtrack was released on January 1, 1989. Reviewing the album, music critic Scott Yanow wrote that Pfeiffer "does a credible job singing" with both of her solos, while Encyclopedia.com contributor Victoria Price said "Grusin successfully mirrors the feel of the sexy standards performed by Michele Pfeiffer". The soundtrack peaked at 97 on the Billboard 200. According to a survey conducted by Billboard, The Fabulous Baker Boys was the fifth best-selling jazz album of 1989. ## Themes The Fabulous Baker Boys is a character study. In the book Virtue and Vice in Popular Film, author Joseph H. Kupfer identified sibling love, conflict, artistry, and survival among topics the film explores. In a review of the film, Alan Jones of Radio Times described The Fabulous Baker Boys as a "salute to family, romance, friends and disillusionment". According to Pfeiffer, the film is largely about people following their dreams. She identified Susie as an adventurous character who embraces life and is therefore unlikely to "do one thing—including being a singer—for the rest of her life", whereas Jack "thinks when he turns a corner that a bus is going to run over him", serving as his "mirror image". Pfeiffer also identified the character Nina as a clue to Susie's own upbringing. Frank Calvillo of Cinapse wrote that Jack, Susie and Frank "have all been through the [w]ringer of life in one way or another and have the scars to prove it. Yet they each retain a mixture of despair and hope throughout in their own quiet ways." The group's dynamic changes once Susie is introduced and The Fabulous Baker Boys become a trio. According to the film's blurb on the Golden Globe Awards website, "Susie becomes the agent that makes them re-evaluate where they are going, and how honest they have been with each other." Calvillo believes that while Jack and Frank are cynical and optimistic, respectively, Susie is pragmatic. Jack and Frank also have opposing views on their lives, careers, and Susie. Moira Macdonald of The Seattle Times wrote that, although Jack and Susie are the film's romantic couple, its true love story is between Jack and Frank. Film Threat said, with Susie, "there's no heart of gold. There's just a heart, one that keeps Jack at highway's length, merely working with him at first, but soon enough the attraction happens, though in an atypical way because these two are atypical. It's not easy and it's not love because this isn't the kind of movie for that." Turner Classic Movie's biography of Beau reported that several critics perceived his performance as "partly autobiographical". Film critic Roger Ebert believes "There's probably some autobiographical truth lurking beneath the rivalry of the Bridges brothers, old wounds from the 20 years they have both been working in the movies." While Macdonald considered Seattle to be as much of a main character as the film's cast, Calvillo argues that the city "could be any cold metropolis, and with the exception of cars, hairstyles, and fashion, there's really no telling when the movie actually takes place." Observing that much has changed about the city since the film's initial release, Macdonald concluded that The Fabulous Baker Boys serves as "a time capsule, for Seattle and for me ... Seattle and I aren't the same anymore, but 'The Fabulous Baker Boys' — elegantly and forever frozen in time — reminds us of who we were." Film Threat credited Ballhaus's cinematography with "mak[ing] Seattle as alive as the characters, as active as their desires", whereas Jack walking through Seattle represents "the feeling of an entire city, of everyone doing whatever they do, and the sun rises, and sets, and the cycle continues, the same cycle for others as it is for Jack." Identifying Kloves as an heir to New Hollywood directors Bob Rafelson or Peter Bogdanovich, Paula Vazquez Prieto of La Nación described The Fabulous Baker Boys as the director's attempt to "revitalize the memory of jazz repertoire musicals, the appeal of those characters on the margins of fame, the melancholy of a city like Seattle, the value of the story in the heart of the mainstream." Slant Magazine'''s Chuck Bowen considers the film to be a lesser-known example of the film noir genre due to its depiction of "dream worlds that offer portraits of estrangement and economic frustration", in which Seattle "is rendered ... as a surreal realm that appears to have been ported in nearly unchanged from the backlots of the thrillers and studio musicals of the 1930s and 1940s." Similarly, Stefan Milne of the Seattle Metropolitan wrote that the film resembles "1940s Hollywood romance and glamour" despite its 1980s setting. Describing The Fabulous Baker Boys as potentially "the loneliest mainstream American movie since In a Lonely Place", Bowen credits the director with "fashioning something that's conscious of its artistic heritage without scanning as self-conscious, like most neo-noirs. This is the key to the film's considerable emotional pull, as you're allowed to give yourself over to the narrative's purplish pathos without feeling as if you're being set up for an elaborate, ironic joke". The critic likened some of Kloves's dialogue to classic Hollywood films Mildred Pierce (1945) and Sweet Smell of Success (1957). ## Release ### Box office Prior to its release, the film received significant press for the idea of Pfeiffer playing a former sex worker and the novelty of the Bridges brothers portraying brothers on-screen. The Fabulous Baker Boys was released on October 13, 1989 in 858 theaters, grossing \$3,313,815 during its opening weekend. Tickets initially sold well in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles due to strong word of mouth. Originally released in over 800 theatres during its opening weekend, 20th Century Fox head of distribution Tom Sherak informed Kloves the following Monday that the studio would be removing the film from most of these theatres by the following weekend. The Fabulous Baker Boys would go on to earn \$18.4 million worldwide against its \$11.5 million budget. Despite its mediocre box office performance, the film proved to be a major top-seller once released on home video, for a period trailing behind the Back to the Future franchise in terms of popularity. According to a poll conducted by Billboard, The Fabulous Baker Boys was the second most rented home video in July 1990. AllMovie contributor Aubry Anne D'Arminio attributes the film's home video achievements to positive word-of-mouth following its four Academy Award nominations. The film was released to DVD on August 21, 1998. ### Critical response The Fabulous Baker Boys received critical acclaim upon release. The film holds a 97% rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Its story is nothing special, but The Fabulous Baker Boys glows beneath luminous performances from its perfectly cast stars." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 85 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. Pauline Kael of The New Yorker said The Fabulous Baker Boys defines 1980s glamour. Praising its performances, Ballhaus' camera work and Grusin's score, Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader wrote that the film demonstrates "plenty of old-fashioned virtues". Time film critic Richard Schickel called the film "a Hollywood rarity", hailing Susie and Jack's relationship as "one of the truest representations of modern romance that the modern screen has offered." Praising Kloves's writing and directing, Schickel deemed The Fabulous Baker Boys worth of "the protection only large, enthusiastic audiences can provide." The New York Times' Janet Maslin described The Fabulous Baker Boys as a "film specializing in smoky, down-at-the-heels glamour, and in the kind of smart, slangy dialogue that sounds right without necessarily having much to say". Praising its cast, musical numbers and cinematography, Maslin felt the familiarity of its characters "does nothing to make them less dazzlingly attractive", despite finding some scenes and plotlines unnecessary. Desson Howe of The Washington Post was complimentary towards both the leads' performances and Ballhaus' lighting. Praising the performances of Pfeiffer and Jeff, the Los Angeles Times film critic Sheila Benson called The Fabulous Baker Boys "as salty and sexy and unhousebroken a movie as you could hope to find", while film critic Emanuel Levy lauded Kloves's direction, crediting it with bolstering each cast member's performance. Pfeiffer received unanimous acclaim for her performance, with several reviewers commenting on her physical appearance and sex appeal. Maslin called Pfeiffer an unexpected but "electrifyingly right" choice for the role. Film critic Roger Ebert labeled The Fabulous Baker Boys "one of the movies they will use as a document, years from now, when they begin to trace the steps by which Pfeiffer became a great star ... This is the movie of her flowering - not just as a beautiful woman, but as an actress with the ability to make you care about her, to make you feel what she feels." Ebert also compared Pfeiffer's performance to those by actresses Rita Hayworth and Marilyn Monroe. Writing for The Washington Post, Rita Kempley described Pfeiffer as "slinky and cynical, more Bacall than Bacall. Like the sun through a magnifying glass, she burns an image on the screen." Awarding Pfeiffer the title ”sexiest woman in the movies”, Steve Simels of Entertainment Weekly credited her performance with salvaging the film, with which he was otherwise unimpressed. Hailing Pfeiffer as "the sexiest presence in movies today and an exceptional comic and dramatic actress," Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers felt the film would simply "evaporate" without Pfeiffer, concluding, "make no mistake: It's Michelle Pfeiffer who puts the 'fabulous' into Baker Boys." Both Jeff and Beau's performances were also widely praised. Schickel called the actors "better than fabulous - Jeff not quite falling over the line into unredeemable cynicism, Beau never succumbing to the pull of moral blandness." Writing for The Buffalo News, Jeff Simon said "Pfeiffer is so sensationally alluring [that it] might blind you to how good the Bridges brothers are", particularly praising Beau's performance. Maslin felt Beau was provided with his own "chance to shine", embodying "the seniority Frank needs to keep the unruly, undependable Jack in line", while Kempley declared Jeff's performance the best of his career. Despite feeling the film is "hardly original", Time Out described the Bridges as "a superb double act", writing Jeff particularly "manages with very sparse dialogue to convey a wealth of information about a less than sympathetic character". Although Variety felt nothing is particularly original about the film, they praised the cast and Kloves's direction, predicting Pfeiffer's performance of "Makin' Whoopee" will be remembered for years to come. Although Hilary Mantel of The Spectator praised the film's music, performances and dialogue, she felt the film lacked content and plot, concluding, "its inconsequentiality soon begins to grate on the nerves." Film critic Andrew Sarris reported that, at the time of its initial release, some pundits criticized the film's melancholy tone and ambiguous ending. In terms of year-end placements, Ebert ranked The Fabulous Baker Boys the 19th best film of 1989, while the National Board of Review cited it among the year's 10 best. Writer Piero Scaruffi named the film one of the best of 1989, while The Washington Post declared The Fabulous Baker Boys one of the 10 best films of the 1980s. ### Accolades The Fabulous Baker Boys was nominated for several awards and accolades. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards at the 62nd Academy Awards in 1990: Best Actress for Pfeiffer, Best Cinematography for Ballhaus, Best Original Score for Grusin and Best Film Editing for William Steinnkamp. The film ultimately lost all four awards for which it had been nominated. Pfeiffer dominated the 1989-1990 awards season, winning nearly every award for which she had been nominated. In addition to the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama, Pfeiffer won the National Board of Review Award for Best Actress, the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress, the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress, the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress. At the time, she was one of only seven actresses to win a Golden Globe and all four major critics' organizations awards for a single performance. Despite being largely favored to win the Academy Award, she ultimately lost to Jessica Tandy, becoming the only one of the seven actresses to not win the Academy Award for the same performance. Film critic Emanuel Levy theorized that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences opted to award Tandy due to the actress' age and the fact that her film, Driving Miss Daisy (1989), had been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, while Pfeiffer's film was not. Several critics at the time deemed Pfeiffer's loss a surprising upset. Pfeiffer also lost the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role to Tandy. Grusin's soundtrack won the Grammy Award for Best Album or Original Instrumental Background Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television, while his arrangement of "My Funny Valentine" (sung by Pfeiffer) won the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals. The film was also nominated for the Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards for Best Original Film Score, while winning the BAFTA Award for Best Sound. Kloves's screenplay was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award. Ballhaus won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Cinematography and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography. Beau won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor. ## Legacy According to Robert Cettl, author of Sensational Movie Monologues, critics appreciated The Fabulous Baker Boys at the time of its release as an example of dedicated "small picture" filmmaking which they felt Hollywood had abandoned in favor of blockbuster films with high budgets. In 2007, The Guardian cited The Fabulous Baker Boys among the "1000 films to see before you die". In 2008, Entertainment Weekly named The Fabulous Baker Boys the 12th sexiest film of all time. In 2021, Time Out ranked The Fabulous Baker Boys the sixth-best romance film of all time. The American Film Institute nominated the film for inclusion on its 100 Years...100 Passions and 100 Years...100 Songs (for "Makin' Whoopee") lists in 2002 and 2004, respectively. The film is credited with establishing Pfeiffer as a bankable actress and leading lady in Hollywood. Ranking it the best performance of her career, GoldDerby deemed The Fabulous Baker Boys as "the movie that really put [Pfeiffer] over the top", describing her character as "some of the best work ever put on screen by an actress". Erin Shelly of the Arizona Daily Sun believes the film "cemented Michelle Pfeiffer's reputation as a movie star." While naming The Fabulous Baker Boys the 24th best romance film of all time, The Guardian's Jane Graham said the film "made her the biggest female film star in the world, and catapulted her to the top of every Most Desirable Female survey for most of the 90s." The sequence in which Pfeiffer performs "Makin' Whoopee" atop Jeff's grand piano has become the film's most famous scene. The Berlin International Film Festival said the scene "has gone down in film history". According to Adam White of The Telegraph, the musical number "is arguably one of the most famous scenes in movie history", while The Independent's Adam White called it "one of cinema's most memorable moments". The musical sequence has also been named one of the sexiest scenes in film history by several journalists and media publications. In a 2006 article, the Irish Examiner ranked it the eighth sexiest film scene. According to HBO contributor Nick Nadel, the scene has "exploded into the pop culture landscape" in the decades following the film's release. Writing for Den of Geek, novelist Aliya Whiteley believes the scene "immediately entered into filmic language", observing its influence on subsequent films such as Pretty Woman (1990). The sequence has been parodied and parodied in various media, including Saturday Night Live, Hot Shots! (1991), Shrek 2 (2004), and episodes of Animaniacs. A 1992 episode of The Golden Girls features actress Rue McClanahan singing "I Wanna Be Loved By You" on top of a grand piano in a performance based on Pfeffer's. McClanahan has called the episode her favorite from the sitcom. In a 2012 commercial for Topshop, actress Kate Bosworth based her rendition of "Winter Wonderland" on Pfeiffer's performance of "Makin' Whoopee". According to Turner Classic Movies, Tilly's brief appearance bolstered her career by "alert[ing] critics and viewers to her comic gifts" for future films. Following The Fabulous Baker Boys' success, Kloves would direct only one more film before returning to screenwriting full-time. He became best known for writing seven films in the Harry Potter film series, one of the most successful film franchises of all time. J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, had little authority over whom would adapt her novels, but admitted to being a fan of The Fabulous Baker Boys. In the book Martini, author David Taylor credited The Fabulous Baker Boys with helping revive the appearances of martinis, cocktails, and cocktail lounges in films during the 1990s. MyNorthwest.com's Feliks Banel called the film "one of the most critically acclaimed Hollywood movies ever filmed in Seattle". ## Future One year after the film's release, Beau said "there will definitely not be any follow-up" to The Fabulous Baker Boys'', claiming "There's not much more to say about those characters." However, the actor expressed interest in working with his brother again on a future project. During a 2014 reunion interview, Pfeiffer said she "would love to see where these three people are... I don't know that it'll ever happen, but yeah, that would be fun". In 2021, Pfeiffer revealed she and Jeff had been persistently asking Kloves about making a sequel.

Rattlesnake Fire (2018)

2018 wildfire in Arizona, United States

The Rattlesnake Fire was a wildfire that burned 26,072 acres (10,551 ha) in Navajo and Greenlee Counties, in Arizona. The fire was detected on April 11, 2018, on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation and spread onto the San Carlos Indian Reservation and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests over the following four days. Fanned by high winds, the Rattlesnake Fire spread rapidly until it was contained on May 1. The fire continued to burn within containment until May 27. No structures were damaged or destroyed by the fire, but 15 firefighters were injured. Investigators suspected the cause of the fire was human activity, but it was never determined with certainty. ## Background Wildfires are a natural part of the ecological cycle of the Southwestern United States. The Rattlesnake Fire was one of 2,000 wildfires that burned 165,356 acres (669.17 km²) in Arizona in 2018. In January 2018, Doug Ducey, the Governor of Arizona, warned that Arizona—then in a historically dry winter season, plagued by drought, and recovering from the 2017 wildfire season—could face a "disastrous" wildfire season in 2018. In June 2019, the Ecological Restoration Institute (ERI) at Northern Arizona University published a study of the 2018 wildfire season in Arizona and New Mexico. The ERI observed that the amount of land burned in the 2018 season was below the average of the previous ten seasons. 13 fires were studied, of which four were in Arizona and included the Rattlesnake Fire. ## Fire Around 1:30 PM (MST) on April 11, 2018, a 165-acre (67 ha) fire was detected east of Rattlesnake Point, on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Navajo County, Arizona. High winds fed the Rattlesnake Fire and grounded firefighting aviation until April 14. As a result, the burned area grew rapidly; on April 12, it spread to 400 acres (160 ha) and into the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests. The fire expanded into the San Carlos Indian Reservation the next day and then, on April 14, into the Bear Wallow Wilderness, in Greenlee County. By April 15, the Rattlesnake Fire had grown to 2,644 acres (1,070 ha). By April 17, the Rattlesnake Fire had grown to 6,271 acres (2,538 ha), then nearly doubled to 11,339 acres (4,589 ha) the next day. Firefighters were able to make substantial progress on April 22 due to improved weather, and estimated that the spread of the Rattlesnake Fire had been 25% contained. By April 24, high winds were again fanning the Rattlesnake Fire, which grew over to 21,513 acres (8,706 ha) the next day. The fire then grew to 25,996 acres (10,520 ha) by April 29, by which time its containment was estimated at 63%. It grew to its maximum extent—26,072 acres (10,551 ha)—on May 1. Cooler, wetter weather aided firefighters in increasing the Rattlesnake Fire's containment to 82% by May 3. The fire continued to burn in containment until going out on May 27. ## Aftermath The Rattlesnake Fire burned 26,072 acres (10,551 ha) over 46 days in the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, San Carlos Indian Reservation, and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests. More than 500 firefighters worked to contain and suppress the Rattlesnake Fire. Only 1,000 acres (400 ha) of the total burned area suffered severe foliage mortality and the burn scar was judged almost in its entirety to have not been severely burned. Containment and suppression of the Rattlesnake Fire cost \$11.4 million (). No structures were damaged or destroyed by the Rattlesnake Fire, but 15 firefighters were injured while working to contain its spread. The United States Forest Service began investigating the cause of the Rattlesnake Fire on April 14, suspecting human activity. No definite cause was determined.

Battle of Cirta

203 BC battle of the Second Punic War

The Battle of Cirta was fought in 203 BC between an army of largely Masaesyli Numidians commanded by their king Syphax and a force of mainly Massylii Numidians led by Masinissa, who was supported by an unknown number of Romans under the legate Gaius Laelius. It took place somewhere to the east of the city of Cirta (modern Constantine) and was part of the Second Punic War. The numbers engaged on each side and the casualties suffered are not known. During the Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio expelled the Carthaginians from Iberia (modern Spain and Portugal) in 206 BC. Scipio then contacted several Numidian leaders, who ruled North African territories to the west of those controlled by Carthage. Scipio failed to win over the Masaesyli Numidian king Syphax, who had previously fought the Carthaginians; but did persuade the Massylii Numidian prince Masinissa, whom he had fought against in Iberia, to defect to the Roman cause. Encouraged by the Carthaginians, Syphax overran Masinissa's lands and drove him into exile. In 204 BC the Romans, led by Scipio, invaded North Africa. Masinissa rode to support them with a small force. Syphax brought a large army to assist Hasdrubal Gisco's Carthaginians. After several months Scipio inflicted a heavy defeat on Hasdrubal and Syphax at the battle of Utica. The pair regathered their forces but were defeated again at the battle of the Great Plains. Masinissa's forces fought alongside the Romans in both battles. Syphax fled back to his capital, Cirta, and hastily raised a new army. Masinissa pursued, together with a Roman force under Scipio's second-in-command, Laelius. Masinissa and Laelius pressed for an immediate battle, but when they achieved this Syphax's troops initially had the better of the fighting. As increasing numbers of Roman infantry entered the fray, Syphax's men were first held off and then broke and fled. Syphax was captured. Masinissa took his cavalry to Cirta, which surrendered when Syphax was paraded in chains. The following year Scipio defeated Hannibal at the battle of Zama, which effectively ended the war. Masinissa was installed as king of all of Numidia. ## Background The First Punic War was fought between the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC: Carthage and Rome. The war lasted for 23 years, from 264 to 241 BC, before the Carthaginians were defeated. It took place primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily, its surrounding waters and in North Africa. From 236 BC Carthage expanded its territory in Iberia, (modern Spain and Portugal). In 226 BC the Ebro Treaty with Rome established the Ebro River as the northern boundary of the Carthaginian sphere of influence. A little later Rome made a separate treaty of association with the city of Saguntum, well south of the Ebro. In 219 BC Hannibal, the de facto ruler of Carthaginian Iberia, led an army to Saguntum and besieged, captured and sacked it. In early 218 BC Rome declared war on Carthage, starting the Second Punic War. Hannibal led a large Carthaginian army from Iberia, through Gaul, over the Alps and invaded mainland Italy in late 218 BC. During the next three years Hannibal inflicted heavy defeats on the Romans at the battles of the Trebia, Lake Trasimene and Cannae. Hannibal's army campaigned in Italy for 14 years before the survivors withdrew. There was also extensive fighting in Iberia from 218 BC. In 210 BC Publius Cornelius Scipio arrived to take command of Roman forces in Iberia. During the following four years Scipio repeatedly defeated the Carthaginians, driving them out of Iberia in 206 BC. One of Carthage's allies in Spain was the Numidian prince Masinissa, who led a force of light cavalry in several battles. These Numidians were mostly lightly-equipped skirmishers who threw javelins from a distance and avoided close combat. ### Numidian alliances To the west of Carthaginian-controlled territory in North Africa was an extensive area controlled by shifting alliances of Numidians. Adjacent to territory where Carthage had a strong influence was an area controlled by a tribal alliance known as the Massylii, centred around the towns of Zama and Thugga. Further west was the much larger kingdom of the Masaesyli, whose capital was at Cirta (modern Constantine). The Carthaginians maintained several garrisons in these areas in an attempt to exert their influence, but largely relied on diplomacy. In 213 BC Syphax, the powerful king of the Masaesyli Numidians, declared for Rome. In response Carthaginian troops were sent to North Africa from the active theatre in Spain. In 206 BC the Carthaginians ended this drain on their resources by dividing several small Numidian kingdoms with Syphax. One of those disinherited was the Massylii Numidian prince Masinissa. Scipio was already anticipating an invasion of North Africa and while in Iberia had been negotiating with both Masinissa and Syphax. Scipio visited Syphax in North Africa in 206 BC – at the same time as the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal Gisco, whom Scipio had defeated in Spain, was attempting to reinforce Syphax's loyalty. Scipio failed to win over Syphax, who reaffirmed his support for Carthage and symbolised this by marrying Hasdrubal's daughter Sophonisba. It had previously been arranged that Sophonisba was to marry Masinissa. A succession war broke out among the Massylii, part of the near-constant petty wars between the various Numidian tribes, factions and kingdoms. The Carthaginians encouraged Syphax to invade the home territory of the Roman-supporting Masinissa. Masinissa suffered several defeats, was wounded and had his army scattered; Syphax took over his kingdom. ## Prelude In 206 BC Scipio returned to Italy. He was elected to the senior position of consul in early 205 BC, despite not meeting the age requirement. Opinion was divided in Roman political circles as to whether an invasion of North Africa was excessively risky. Hannibal was still on Italian soil; there was the possibility of further Carthaginian invasions, shortly to be realised when Mago Barca landed in Liguria; the practical difficulties of an amphibious invasion and its logistical follow up were considerable; and when the Romans had invaded North Africa in 256 BC during the First Punic War they had been driven out with heavy losses, which had re-energised the Carthaginians. Eventually a compromise was agreed: Scipio was given Sicily as his consular province, which was the best location for the Romans to launch an invasion of the Carthaginian homeland from and then logistically support it, and permission to cross to Africa on his own judgement. But Roman commitment was less than wholehearted; Scipio could not conscript troops for his consular army, as was usual, only call for volunteers. The total number of men available to Scipio and how many of them travelled to Africa is unclear; the ancient historian Livy gives totals for the invasion force of either 12,200, 17,600 or 35,000. Modern historians estimate a combat strength of 25,000–30,000, of whom more than 90 per cent were infantry. With up to half of the complement of his legions being fresh volunteers, and with no fighting having taken place on Sicily for the past five years, Scipio instigated a rigorous training regime, which lasted for approximately a year. Roman ships under Scipio's second-in-command, Gaius Laelius, raided North Africa around Hippo Regius, gathering large quantities of loot and many captives. Masinissa was contacted, he expressed dismay regarding how long it was taking the Romans to complete their preparations and land in Africa. ## Invasion of Africa In 204 BC, probably June or July, the Roman army disembarked at Cape Farina in North Africa, 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of the large Carthaginian port of Utica. Masinissa joined the Romans with either 200 or 2,000 men, the sources differ. He and his men hoped to use an alliance with Rome to recover Masinissa's kingdom from Syphax. A fortified camp was established very close to Utica. Two large reconnaissance forces, consisting of both Carthaginians and Numidians were heavily defeated; the second because of the involvement of Masinissa's cavalry. The Romans pillaged an ever-wider area, sending their loot and prisoners to Sicily in the ships bringing their supplies. Scipio then besieged Utica. The city stood firm and a Carthaginian army under Hasdrubal set up a fortified camp 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) from the Romans with a reported 33,000 men. Syphax joined him, establishing his own camp 2 kilometres (1 mi) away with a reported 60,000 troops. The size of both of these armies as reported by ancient historians have been questioned by their modern counterparts as being infeasibly large. Nevertheless, it is accepted that the Romans were considerably outnumbered. The presence of these two armies forced Scipio to lift the siege of Utica after forty-five days and withdraw to a strong position 3 kilometres (2 mi) away on a rocky prominence at Ghar el-Melh, which became known as Castra Cornelia. Scipio sent emissaries to Syphax in an attempt to persuade him to defect. Syphax in turn offered to broker peace terms to end the war. A series of exchanges of negotiating parties followed. With his delegations Scipio sent junior officers disguised as slaves to report back on the layout and construction of the enemy camps. Scipio drew out the negotiations with Syphax, stating that he was in broad agreement with the proposition, but that his senior officers were not yet convinced. ### Battle of Utica As the better weather of spring approached, Scipio made an announcement to his troops that he would shortly attempt to storm the defences of Utica and began preparations to do so. Simultaneously he was planning a night attack on both enemy camps. On the night of the attack two columns set out: one was commanded by Laelius, the Roman army's second in command. This force consisted of about half the Romans and was accompanied by Masinissa's Numidians. Its target was Syphax's camp. Scipio led the balance of the Roman force against the Carthaginian camp. Thanks to the careful prior reconnoitring both forces reached the positions from which they were to start their attacks without issue, while Masinissa's Numidian cavalry positioned themselves in small groups so as to cover every route out of the two enemy camps. Laelius's column attacked first, storming the camp of Syphax's Numidians and concentrating on setting fire to as many of their reed and thatch barracks as possible. The camp dissolved into chaos, with many of its Numidian occupants oblivious of the Roman attack and thinking the barracks had caught fire accidentally. The Carthaginians heard the commotion and saw the blaze, and some of them set off to help extinguish the fire. With pre-planned coordination Scipio's contingent then attacked. They cut down the Carthaginians heading for their ally's camp, stormed Hasdrubal's camp and attempted to set fire to the wooden housing. The fire spread between the close-spaced barracks. Carthaginians rushed out into the dark and confusion, without armour or weapons, either trying to escape the flames or to fight the fire. The organised and prepared Romans cut them down. The ancient historian Polybius writes that Hasdrubal escaped from his burning camp with only 2,500 men. Numidian losses are not recorded. With no Carthaginian field army to threaten them, the Romans resumed their siege of Utica and pillaged an extensive area of North Africa with large and far-ranging raids. ### Battle of the Great Plains When word of the defeat reached Carthage there was panic, with some wanting to renew the peace negotiations. The Carthaginian Senate also heard demands for Hannibal's army to be recalled. A decision was reached to fight on with locally available resources. A force of 4,000 Iberian warriors arrived in Carthage; their strength was exaggerated to 10,000 to maintain morale. Hasdrubal raised further local troops with whom to reinforce the survivors of Utica. Syphax remained loyal and joined Hasdrubal with what was left of his army. The combined force is estimated at 30,000 and they established a strong camp on a flat plain by the Bagradas River known as the Great Plains within 30–50 days of the defeat at Utica. This was near modern Souk el Kremis and about 120 kilometres (75 mi) from Utica. Hearing of this, Scipio immediately marched most of his army to the scene. The size of his army is not known, but it was outnumbered by the Carthaginians. A sufficient force was left to hold the Roman camps and to continue the siege of Utica. After several days of skirmishing both armies committed to a pitched battle. Upon being charged by the Romans and Masinissa's Numidians all of those Carthaginians who had been involved in the debacle at Utica turned and fled; morale had not recovered. Only the Iberians stood and fought. They were enveloped by the well-drilled Roman legions and wiped out. Hasdrubal fled to Carthage, where he was demoted and exiled. The majority of the Romans remained in the area under Scipio, devastating the countryside and capturing and sacking many towns. They then moved to Tunis, which had been abandoned by the Carthaginians and was only 39 kilometres (24 mi) from the city of Carthage. In desperation the Carthaginian Senate recalled both Hannibal and Mago from Italy, and entered into peace negotiations with Scipio. Meanwhile, Masinissa's Numidians had pursued their fleeing countrymen under Syphax; accompanied by part of the Roman force, under Laelius. The historian Peter Edwell comments that this was a high-risk enterprise. ## Battle of Cirta Syphax withdrew as far as his capital, Cirta, where he recruited more troops to supplement those survivors who had stayed with him on the retreat from the Great Plains. These commenced an intensive training regime. Masinissa and Laelius's force took 15 days to reach Masinissa's ancestral lands, those of the Massylii. Here Masinissa was proclaimed king and Syphax's administrators and garrisons were expelled. Not wanting to allow Syphax to train his new troops up Masinissa and Laelius pressed on towards Cirta. When the conflict started it was as a sprawling cavalry engagement, with each side sending detachments to hurl javelins at the other and then withdrawing. Having more cavalry, Syphax's army gained the upper hand. Laelius then inserted groups of Roman light infantry between Masinissa's cavalry detachments. These infantry were velites, younger men serving as javelin-armed skirmishers; they each carried several javelins, which would be thrown from a distance, a short sword and a 90-centimetre (3 ft) shield. These were able to hold off the enemy cavalry and form an approximate battle line. The Roman heavy infantry were then able to advance. These were equipped with body armour, a large shield and short thrusting swords, as well as either two javelins or a thrusting spear. Seeing these legionaries advancing to join the battle, Syphax's troops broke and fled. Syphax attempted to rally his men, but his horse was shot and he was thrown and captured. Many of Syphax's defeated and demoralised troops fled back to Cirta. Masinissa pursued them with the cavalry; Laelius followed with the infantry. After Syphax was paraded beneath the city walls in chains Cirta surrendered to Masinissa, who then took over much of Syphax's kingdom and joined it to his own. Syphax was taken as a prisoner to Italy, where he died. ## Aftermath Scipio and Carthage entered into peace negotiations, while Carthage recalled both Hannibal and Mago from Italy. The Roman Senate ratified a draft treaty, but because of mistrust and a surge in confidence when Hannibal arrived from Italy, Carthage repudiated it. Hannibal was placed in command of another army, formed of his and Mago's veterans from Italy and newly raised troops from Africa, with 80 war elephants but few cavalry. The decisive battle of Zama followed in October 202 BC. Hannibal was supported by 2,000 Numidian cavalry commanded by a relative of Syphax's, Tychaeus. Masinissa fought alongside the Romans with 6,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry. After a prolonged fight the Carthaginian army collapsed. Masinissa played an important role in the Roman victory. Hannibal was one of the few on the Carthaginian side to escape the field. After the Romans had returned to Utica, Scipio received word that a Numidian army under Syphax's son Vermina was marching to Carthage's assistance. This was intercepted, surrounded by a Roman force largely made up of cavalry and defeated. The number of Numidians involved is not known, but Livy records that more than 16,000 were killed or captured. This was the last battle of the Second Punic War. ### Peace The peace treaty the Romans subsequently imposed on the Carthaginians stripped them of all of their overseas territories and some of their African ones. An indemnity of 10,000 silver talents was to be paid over 50 years. Hostages were taken. Carthage was forbidden to possess war elephants and its fleet was restricted to 10 warships. It was prohibited from waging war outside Africa and in Africa only with Rome's express permission. Masinissa was to be recognised as the ruler of all of Numidia. Many senior Carthaginians wanted to reject it, but Hannibal spoke strongly in its favour and it was accepted in spring 201 BC. Henceforth it was clear Carthage was politically subordinate to Rome. Scipio was awarded a triumph and received the agnomen "Africanus". Masinissa established himself as the senior ruler in Numidia. ### Third Punic War Masinissa exploited the prohibition on Carthage waging war to repeatedly raid and seize Carthaginian territory with impunity. Carthage appealed to Rome, which always backed their Numidian ally. In 149 BC, fifty years after the end of the Second Punic War, Carthage sent an army, under Hasdrubal the Boeotarch, against Masinissa, the treaty notwithstanding. The campaign ended in disaster at the battle of Oroscopa and anti-Carthaginian factions in Rome used the illicit military action as a pretext to prepare a punitive expedition. The Third Punic War began later in 149 BC when a large Roman army landed in North Africa and besieged Carthage. In the spring of 146 BC the Romans launched their final assault, systematically destroying the city and killing its inhabitants; 50,000 survivors were sold into slavery. The formerly Carthaginian territories became the Roman province of Africa. ## Notes, citations and sources

Harmonic series (mathematics)

Divergent sum of all positive unit fractions

In mathematics, the harmonic series is the infinite series formed by summing all positive unit fractions: $\sum_{n=1}^\infty\frac{1}{n} = 1 + \frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{3} + \frac{1}{4} + \frac{1}{5} + \cdots.$ The first $n$ terms of the series sum to approximately $\ln n + \gamma$, where $\ln$ is the natural logarithm and $\gamma\approx0.577$ is the Euler–Mascheroni constant. Because the logarithm has arbitrarily large values, the harmonic series does not have a finite limit: it is a divergent series. Its divergence was proven in the 14th century by Nicole Oresme using a precursor to the Cauchy condensation test for the convergence of infinite series. It can also be proven to diverge by comparing the sum to an integral, according to the integral test for convergence. Applications of the harmonic series and its partial sums include Euler's proof that there are infinitely many prime numbers, the analysis of the coupon collector's problem on how many random trials are needed to provide a complete range of responses, the connected components of random graphs, the block-stacking problem on how far over the edge of a table a stack of blocks can be cantilevered, and the average case analysis of the quicksort algorithm. ## History The name of the harmonic series derives from the concept of overtones or harmonics in music: the wavelengths of the overtones of a vibrating string are $\tfrac12$, $\tfrac13$, $\tfrac14$, etc., of the string's fundamental wavelength. Every term of the harmonic series after the first is the harmonic mean of the neighboring terms, so the terms form a harmonic progression; the phrases harmonic mean and harmonic progression likewise derive from music. Beyond music, harmonic sequences have also had a certain popularity with architects. This was so particularly in the Baroque period, when architects used them to establish the proportions of floor plans, of elevations, and to establish harmonic relationships between both interior and exterior architectural details of churches and palaces. The divergence of the harmonic series was first proven in 1350 by Nicole Oresme. Oresme's work, and the contemporaneous work of Richard Swineshead on a different series, marked the first appearance of infinite series other than the geometric series in mathematics. However, this achievement fell into obscurity. Additional proofs were published in the 17th century by Pietro Mengoli and by Jacob Bernoulli. Bernoulli credited his brother Johann Bernoulli for finding the proof, and it was later included in Johann Bernoulli's collected works. The partial sums of the harmonic series were named harmonic numbers, and given their usual notation $H_n$, in 1968 by Donald Knuth. ## Definition and divergence The harmonic series is the infinite series $\sum_{n=1}^\infty\frac{1}{n} = 1 + \frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{3} + \frac{1}{4} + \frac{1}{5} + \cdots$ in which the terms are all of the positive unit fractions. It is a divergent series: as more terms of the series are included in partial sums of the series, the values of these partial sums grow arbitrarily large, beyond any finite limit. Because it is a divergent series, it should be interpreted as a formal sum, an abstract mathematical expression combining the unit fractions, rather than as something that can be evaluated to a numeric value. There are many different proofs of the divergence of the harmonic series, surveyed in a 2006 paper by S. J. Kifowit and T. A. Stamps. Two of the best-known are listed below. ### Comparison test One way to prove divergence is to compare the harmonic series with another divergent series, where each denominator is replaced with the next-largest power of two: $\begin{alignat}{8} 1 & + \frac{1}{2} && + \frac{1}{3} && + \frac{1}{4} && + \frac{1}{5} && + \frac{1}{6} && + \frac{1}{7} && + \frac{1}{8} && + \frac{1}{9} && + \cdots \[5pt] {} \geq 1 & + \frac{1}{2} && + \frac{1}{\color{red}{\mathbf{4}}} && + \frac{1}{4} && + \frac{1}{\color{red}{\mathbf{8}}} && + \frac{1}{\color{red}{\mathbf{8}}} && + \frac{1}{\color{red}{\mathbf{8}}} && + \frac{1}{8} && + \frac{1}{\color{red}{\mathbf{16}}} && + \cdots \[5pt] \end{alignat}$ Grouping equal terms shows that the second series diverges (because every grouping of convergent series is only convergent): $\begin{align} & 1 + \left(\frac{1}{2}\right) + \left(\frac{1}{4} + \frac{1}{4}\right) + \left(\frac{1}{8} + \frac{1}{8} + \frac{1}{8} + \frac{1}{8}\right) + \left(\frac{1}{16} + \cdots + \frac{1}{16}\right) + \cdots \[5pt] {} = {} & 1 + \frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{2} + \cdots. \end{align}$ Because each term of the harmonic series is greater than or equal to the corresponding term of the second series (and the terms are all positive), and since the second series diverges, it follows (by the comparison test) that the harmonic series diverges as well. The same argument proves more strongly that, for every positive integer $k$, $\sum_{n=1}^{2^k} \frac{1}{n} \geq 1 + \frac{k}{2}$ This is the original proof given by Nicole Oresme in around 1350. The Cauchy condensation test is a generalization of this argument. ### Integral test It is possible to prove that the harmonic series diverges by comparing its sum with an improper integral. Specifically, consider the arrangement of rectangles shown in the figure to the right. Each rectangle is 1 unit wide and $\tfrac1n$ units high, so if the harmonic series converged then the total area of the rectangles would be the sum of the harmonic series. The curve $y=\tfrac1x$ stays entirely below the upper boundary of the rectangles, so the area under the curve (in the range of $x$ from one to infinity that is covered by rectangles) would be less than the area of the union of the rectangles. However, the area under the curve is given by a divergent improper integral, $\int_1^\infty\frac{1}{x}\,dx = \infty.$ Because this integral does not converge, the sum cannot converge either. In the figure to the right, shifting each rectangle to the left by 1 unit, would produce a sequence of rectangles whose boundary lies below the curve rather than above it. This shows that the partial sums of the harmonic series differ from the integral by an amount that is bounded above and below by the unit area of the first rectangle: $\int_1^{N+1}\frac1x\,dx<\sum_{i=1}^N\frac1i<\int_1^{N}\frac1x\,dx+1.$ Generalizing this argument, any infinite sum of values of a monotone decreasing positive function of $n$ (like the harmonic series) has partial sums that are within a bounded distance of the values of the corresponding integrals. Therefore, the sum converges if and only if the integral over the same range of the same function converges. When this equivalence is used to check the convergence of a sum by replacing it with an easier integral, it is known as the integral test for convergence. ## Partial sums Adding the first $n$ terms of the harmonic series produces a partial sum, called a harmonic number and denoted $H_n$: $H_n = \sum_{k = 1}^n \frac{1}{k}.$ ### Growth rate These numbers grow very slowly, with logarithmic growth, as can be seen from the integral test. More precisely, by the Euler–Maclaurin formula, $H_n = \ln n + \gamma + \frac{1}{2n} - \varepsilon_n$ where $\gamma\approx 0.5772$ is the Euler–Mascheroni constant and $0\le\varepsilon_n\le 1/8n^2$ which approaches 0 as $n$ goes to infinity. ### Divisibility No harmonic numbers are integers, except for $H_1=1$. One way to prove that $H_n$ is not an integer is to consider the highest power of two $2^k$ in the range from 1 to $n$. If $M$ is the least common multiple of the numbers from 1 to $n$, then $H_k$ can be rewritten as a sum of fractions with equal denominators $H_n=\sum_{i=1}^n \tfrac{M/i}{M}$ in which only one of the numerators, $M/2^k$, is odd and the rest are even, and (when $n>1$) $M$ is itself even. Therefore, the result is a fraction with an odd numerator and an even denominator, which cannot be an integer. More strongly, any sequence of consecutive integers has a unique member divisible by a greater power of two than all the other sequence members, from which it follows by the same argument that no two harmonic numbers differ by an integer. Another proof that the harmonic numbers are not integers observes that the denominator of $H_n$ must be divisible by all prime numbers greater than $n/2$, and uses Bertrand's postulate to prove that this set of primes is non-empty. The same argument implies more strongly that, except for $H_1=1$, $H_2=1.5$, and $H_6=2.45$, no harmonic number can have a terminating decimal representation. It has been conjectured that every prime number divides the numerators of only a finite subset of the harmonic numbers, but this remains unproven. ### Interpolation The digamma function is defined as the logarithmic derivative of the gamma function $\psi(x)=\frac{d}{dx}\ln\big(\Gamma(x)\big)=\frac{\Gamma'(x)}{\Gamma(x)}.$ Just as the gamma function provides a continuous interpolation of the factorials, the digamma function provides a continuous interpolation of the harmonic numbers, in the sense that $\psi(n)=H_{n-1}-\gamma$. This equation can be used to extend the definition to harmonic numbers with rational indices. ## Applications Many well-known mathematical problems have solutions involving the harmonic series and its partial sums. ### Crossing a desert The jeep problem or desert-crossing problem is included in a 9th-century problem collection by Alcuin, Propositiones ad Acuendos Juvenes (formulated in terms of camels rather than jeeps), but with an incorrect solution. The problem asks how far into the desert a jeep can travel and return, starting from a base with $n$ loads of fuel, by carrying some of the fuel into the desert and leaving it in depots. The optimal solution involves placing depots spaced at distances $\tfrac{r}{2n}, \tfrac{r}{2(n-1)}, \tfrac{r}{2(n-2)}, \dots$ from the starting point and each other, where $r$ is the range of distance that the jeep can travel with a single load of fuel. On each trip out and back from the base, the jeep places one more depot, refueling at the other depots along the way, and placing as much fuel as it can in the newly placed depot while still leaving enough for itself to return to the previous depots and the base. Therefore, the total distance reached on the $n$th trip is $\frac{r}{2n}+\frac{r}{2(n-1)}+\frac{r}{2(n-2)}+\cdots=\frac{r}{2} H_n,$ where $H_n$ is the $n$th harmonic number. The divergence of the harmonic series implies that crossings of any length are possible with enough fuel. For instance, for Alcuin's version of the problem, $r=30$: a camel can carry 30 measures of grain and can travel one leuca while eating a single measure, where a leuca is a unit of distance roughly equal to 2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi). The problem has $n=3$: there are 90 measures of grain, enough to supply three trips. For the standard formulation of the desert-crossing problem, it would be possible for the camel to travel $\tfrac{30}{2}\bigl(\tfrac13+\tfrac12+\tfrac11)=27.5$ leucas and return, by placing a grain storage depot 5 leucas from the base on the first trip and 12.5 leucas from the base on the second trip. However, Alcuin instead asks a slightly different question, how much grain can be transported a distance of 30 leucas without a final return trip, and either strands some camels in the desert or fails to account for the amount of grain consumed by a camel on its return trips. ### Stacking blocks In the block-stacking problem, one must place a pile of $n$ identical rectangular blocks, one per layer, so that they hang as far as possible over the edge of a table without falling. The top block can be placed with $\tfrac12$ of its length extending beyond the next lower block. If it is placed in this way, the next block down needs to be placed with at most $\tfrac12\cdot\tfrac12$ of its length extending beyond the next lower block, so that the center of mass of the top two block is supported and they do not topple. The third block needs to be placed with at most $\tfrac12\cdot\tfrac13$ of its length extending beyond the next lower block, and so on. In this way, it is possible to place the $n$ blocks in such a way that they extend $\tfrac12 H_n$ lengths beyond the table, where $H_n$ is the $n$th harmonic number. The divergence of the harmonic series implies that there is no limit on how far beyond the table the block stack can extend. For stacks with one block per layer, no better solution is possible, but significantly more overhang can be achieved using stacks with more than one block per layer. ### Counting primes and divisors In 1737, Leonhard Euler observed that, as a formal sum, the harmonic series is equal to an Euler product in which each term comes from a prime number: $\sum_{i=1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{i}=\prod_{p\in\mathbb{P}}\left(1+\frac1p+\frac1{p^2}+\cdots\right)=\prod_{p\in\mathbb{P}} \frac{1}{1-1/p},$ where $\mathbb{P}$ denotes the set of prime numbers. The left equality comes from applying the distributive law to the product and recognizing the resulting terms as the prime factorizations of the terms in the harmonic series, and the right equality uses the standard formula for a geometric series. The product is divergent, just like the sum, but if it converged one could take logarithms and obtain $\ln \prod_{p\in\mathbb{P}} \frac{1}{1-1/p}=\sum_{p\in\mathbb{P}}\ln\frac{1}{1-1/p}=\sum_{p\in\mathbb{P}}\left(\frac1p+\frac1{2p^2}+\frac1{3p^3}+\cdots\right)=\sum_{p\in\mathbb{P}}\frac1p+K.$ Here, each logarithm is replaced by its Taylor series, and the constant $K$ on the right is the evaluation of the convergent series of terms with exponent greater than one. It follows from these manipulations that the sum of reciprocals of primes, on the right hand of this equality, must diverge, for if it converged these steps could be reversed to show that the harmonic series also converges, which it does not. An immediate corollary is that there are infinitely many prime numbers, because a finite sum cannot diverge. Although Euler's work is not considered adequately rigorous by the standards of modern mathematics, it can be made rigorous by taking more care with limits and error bounds. Euler's conclusion that the partial sums of reciprocals of primes grow as a double logarithm of the number of terms has been confirmed by later mathematicians as one of Mertens' theorems, and can be seen as a precursor to the prime number theorem. Another problem in number theory closely related to the harmonic series concerns the average number of divisors of the numbers in a range from 1 to $n$, formalized as the average order of the divisor function, $\frac1n\sum_{i=1}^n\left\lfloor\frac{n}i\right\rfloor\le\frac1n\sum_{i=1}^n\frac{n}i=H_n.$ The operation of rounding each term in the harmonic series to the next smaller integer multiple of $\tfrac1n$ causes this average to differ from the harmonic numbers by a small constant, and Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet showed more precisely that the average number of divisors is $\ln n+2\gamma-1+O(1/\sqrt{n})$ (expressed in big O notation). Bounding the final error term more precisely remains an open problem, known as Dirichlet's divisor problem. ### Collecting coupons Several common games or recreations involve repeating a random selection from a set of items until all possible choices have been selected; these include the collection of trading cards and the completion of parkrun bingo, in which the goal is to obtain all 60 possible numbers of seconds in the times from a sequence of running events. More serious applications of this problem include sampling all variations of a manufactured product for its quality control, and the connectivity of random graphs. In situations of this form, once there are $k$ items remaining to be collected out of a total of $n$ equally-likely items, the probability of collecting a new item in a single random choice is $k/n$ and the expected number of random choices needed until a new item is collected is $n/k$. Summing over all values of $k$ from $n$ down to 1 shows that the total expected number of random choices needed to collect all items is $nH_n$, where $H_n$ is the $n$th harmonic number. ### Analyzing algorithms The quicksort algorithm for sorting a set of items can be analyzed using the harmonic numbers. The algorithm operates by choosing one item as a "pivot", comparing it to all the others, and recursively sorting the two subsets of items whose comparison places them before the pivot and after the pivot. In either its average-case complexity (with the assumption that all input permutations are equally likely) or in its expected time analysis of worst-case inputs with a random choice of pivot, all of the items are equally likely to be chosen as the pivot. For such cases, one can compute the probability that two items are ever compared with each other, throughout the recursion, as a function of the number of other items that separate them in the final sorted order. If items $x$ and $y$ are separated by $k$ other items, then the algorithm will make a comparison between $x$ and $y$ only when, as the recursion progresses, it picks $x$ or $y$ as a pivot before picking any of the other $k$ items between them. Because each of these $k+2$ items is equally likely to be chosen first, this happens with probability $\tfrac2{k+2}$. The total expected number of comparisons, which controls the total running time of the algorithm, can then be calculated by summing these probabilities over all pairs, giving $\sum_{i=2}^n\sum_{k=0}^{i-2}\frac2{k+2}=\sum_{i=1}^{n-1}2H_i=O(n\log n).$ The divergence of the harmonic series corresponds in this application to the fact that, in the comparison model of sorting used for quicksort, it is not possible to sort in linear time. ## Related series ### Alternating harmonic series The series $\sum_{n = 1}^\infty \frac{(-1)^{n + 1}}{n} = 1 - \frac{1}{2} + \frac{1}{3} - \frac{1}{4} + \frac{1}{5} - \cdots$ is known as the alternating harmonic series. It is conditionally convergent by the alternating series test, but not absolutely convergent. Its sum is the natural logarithm of 2. Explicitly, the asymptotic expansion of the series is $\frac{1}{1} - \frac{1}{2} +\cdots + \frac{1}{2n-1} - \frac{1}{2n} = H_{2n} - H_n = \ln 2 - \frac{1}{2n} + O(n^{-2})$ Using alternating signs with only odd unit fractions produces a related series, the Leibniz formula for π $\sum_{n = 0}^\infty \frac{(-1)^{n}}{2n+1} = 1 - \frac{1}{3} + \frac{1}{5} - \frac{1}{7} + \cdots = \frac{\pi}{4}.$ ### Riemann zeta function The Riemann zeta function is defined for real $x>1$ by the convergent series $\zeta(x)=\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{n^x}=\frac1{1^x}+\frac1{2^x}+\frac1{3^x}+\cdots,$ which for $x=1$ would be the harmonic series. It can be extended by analytic continuation to a holomorphic function on all complex numbers except $x=1$, where the extended function has a simple pole. Other important values of the zeta function include $\zeta(2)=\pi^2/6$, the solution to the Basel problem, Apéry's constant $\zeta(3)$, proved by Roger Apéry to be an irrational number, and the "critical line" of complex numbers with real part $\tfrac12$, conjectured by the Riemann hypothesis to be the only values other than negative integers where the function can be zero. ### Random harmonic series The random harmonic series is $\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{s_{n}}{n},$ where the values $s_n$ are independent and identically distributed random variables that take the two values $+1$ and $-1$ with equal probability $\tfrac12$. It converges with probability 1, as can be seen by using the Kolmogorov three-series theorem or of the closely related Kolmogorov maximal inequality. The sum of the series is a random variable whose probability density function is close to $\tfrac14$ for values between $-1$ and $1$, and decreases to near-zero for values greater than $3$ or less than $-3$. Intermediate between these ranges, at the values $\pm 2$, the probability density is $\tfrac18-\varepsilon$ for a nonzero but very small value $\varepsilon< 10^{-42}$. ### Depleted harmonic series The depleted harmonic series where all of the terms in which the digit 9 appears anywhere in the denominator are removed can be shown to converge to the value . In fact, when all the terms containing any particular string of digits (in any base) are removed, the series converges.

Global Force Wrestling

American professional wrestling company

Global Force Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion founded in 2014 by Jeff Jarrett, the co-founder and former President of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (now known as Impact Wrestling), and his wife Karen Jarrett. It was owned and operated via its parent company Global Force Entertainment, LLC. The promotion ran several live events and tapings for a potential television show. Jeff Jarrett returned to Impact Wrestling in an executive role in January 2017 and Karen Jarrett announced that GFW had "merged" with Impact on April 20, 2017. Impact Wrestling assumed the GFW name the following month, but it was dropped when Jeff Jarrett departed the company four months later. Jarrett resumed promoting events under the name in December 2017, but has not run any events since October 2018. ## History ### Formation and live events With Jeff Jarrett out as minority investor of TNA Wrestling, he debuted the branding of Global Force Wrestling (business name Global Force Entertainment, LLC) in April 2014 and began promoting the brand and establishing international partnerships with wrestling promotions across the world. The organization had a strategic partnership with 25/7 Productions and David Broome (creator of NBC's The Biggest Loser). Broome stated that the organization planned to create new on-air content 52 weeks per year. By August 2014, GFW announced working agreements with Mexican promotion Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA), Japan's New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion, multiple European promotions, South African promotion World Wrestling Professionals (WWP), and promotions from Australia and New Zealand. As part of GFW's relationship with New Japan Pro-Wrestling, it presented NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom 9 at the Tokyo Dome on the American pay-per-view market on January 4, 2015. The pay-per-view featured English language commentary from Jim Ross and Matt Striker. Wrestle Kingdom 9 reportedly drew 12,000 to 15,000 buys in North America. Throughout May 2015, Jarrett announced talent for their roster, which included Bullet Club members Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows, the Killer Elite Squad, and Chael Sonnen as an expert analyst. Jarrett also announced that four champions (Global, NEX\*GEN, Tag Team and Women's Champion) would be crowned at the July 24 tapings. The first Global Force Wrestling house show took place on June 12, 2015, at The Ballpark at Jackson in Jackson, Tennessee, as part of GFW's "Grand Slam Tour", which entailed holding events at minor league baseball stadiums. In that show's main event, Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows defeated the New Heavenly Bodies. On July 9, 2015, Jeff Jarrett announced that the name of GFW's television program was "Amped". Tapings for Amped took place at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 24, August 21, and October 23, 2015. In a December 2015 interview, Jeff Jarrett said that they had sixteen one-hour shows filmed at the Las Vegas tapings and hoped to have the programs air globally on television in the future. GFW announced that they had signed an international TV distribution deal with Boulder Creek TV in the UK on September 14, 2015, and with New Zealand's TVNZ Duke on February 18, 2016. Despite this, no tapings of Amped ever aired until 2017, when footage from them was aired as Impact One Night Only pay-per-view specials. Overall, the promotion held 36 live events. ### Association with Impact Wrestling and lawsuits After returning to TNA in early 2017 as the promotion's chief creative officer, Jarrett stated that GFW and the newly renamed Impact Wrestling were "becoming one day-by-day". On the April 20 episode of Impact Wrestling, Karen Jarrett announced that GFW and Impact Wrestling had officially merged. In a press release issued on June 28, Impact Wrestling announced that their parent company, Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp., had entered into an agreement to acquire the rights to GFW. After the announcement, Impact Wrestling rebranded and took on the Global Force Wrestling name. Jeff Jarrett took an indefinite leave of absence from the company in September and Anthem slowly reverted to using the Impact Wrestling name. Impact Wrestling's rebranding was officially over on October 23, when Impact announced that its business partnership with Jeff Jarrett and GFW was terminated. The deal for Anthem to acquire GFW was never completed and Jeff Jarrett continues to own the rights to GFW. On August 14, 2018, Jeff Jarrett and Global Force Entertainment announced that it had filed a lawsuit against Anthem Sports & Entertainment in the District Court of Tennessee for copyright infringement over the GFW rights, as Jarrett owned all GFW properties since its creation in 2014. It was revealed on February 19, 2019, that Jarrett filed another lawsuit claiming that Impact Wrestling had deleted the master copies of all 16 hours of GFW Amped. Jarrett also sued in attempt to get the trademarks of his name and likeness from Anthem. Anthem counter-sued in July 2019, arguing that they were the rightful owners of the "Jeff Jarrett" copyright, that Jarrett knew the master tapes had been deleted, that they made no money off of GFW's content and that the looks and trademarks of GFW and their former Global Wrestling Network app are not similar. A mistrial was declared on July 30, 2020. The jury had come to a verdict but this was voided by a judge after a motion by Anthem stated that comments made by Jarrett's attorney had prejudiced them. In October, Jarrett's request for a new trial was denied without prejudice, meaning that he could have requested a new trial at a later date. However, Jarrett and Anthem reached a settlement in January 2021. ### Promotional return Global Force Wrestling returned with a private show held for the Kentucky Wildcats and Northwestern Wildcats on December 27, 2017. In May 2018, FITE TV announced that they had reached a deal with Global Force Entertainment to produce content for the streaming network. The first event GFW produced for FITE TV was Starrcast, which was held during the week of All In from August 28 to September 2, 2018. On October 21, 2018, GFW co-produced the NWA 70th Anniversary Show with the National Wrestling Alliance in Nashville, Tennessee. Global Force Wrestling would become dormant in the following year, as Jarrett was hired by WWE as a backstage producer and member of their creative team, a job which would last through to January 2021 as he left in order to pursue new projects potentially related to GFW. ## Championships ### GFW Global Championship ### GFW NEX\*GEN Championship ### GFW Women's Championship ### GFW Tag Team Championship ### Other championships used by GFW ## See also - List of Global Force Wrestling events and specials - List of former Global Force Wrestling personnel - List of Global Force Wrestling tournaments

Mass in B minor structure

Structure of the movements in Bach's Mass in B minor

The Mass in B minor is Johann Sebastian Bach's only setting of the complete Latin text of the Ordinarium missae. Towards the end of his life, mainly in 1748 and 1749, he finished composing new sections and compiling it into a complex, unified structure. Bach structured the work in four parts: 1. Missa 2. Symbolum Nicenum 3. Sanctus 4. Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei et Dona nobis pacem The four sections of the manuscript are numbered, and Bach's usual closing formula (S.D.G = Soli Deo Gloria) is found at the end of the Dona nobis pacem. Some parts of the mass were used in Latin even in Lutheran Leipzig, and Bach had composed them: five settings of the Missa, containing the Kyrie and the Gloria, and several additional individual settings of the Kyrie and the Sanctus. To achieve the Missa tota, a setting of the complete text of the mass, he combined his most elaborate Missa, the Missa in B minor, written in 1733 for the court in Dresden, and a Sanctus written for Christmas of 1724. He added a few new compositions, but mostly derived movements from cantata movements, in a technique known as parody. The Mass is a compendium of many different styles in vocal composition, in both the "stile antico" reminiscent of Renaissance music (even containing Gregorian chant) and the Baroque concertante style of his own time: fugal writing and dances, arias and a movement for two four-part choirs. Similar to architecture of the period, Bach achieved a symmetry of parts, with the profession of faith (Credo) in the center and the Crucifixus in its center. Bach scored the work for five vocal parts (two sopranos, alto, tenor and bass, SSATB). While some choral movements are for only four parts, the Sanctus is scored for six voices (SSAATB), and the Osanna even for two four-part choirs. Bach called for a rich instrumentation of brass, woodwinds and strings, assigning varied obbligato parts to different instruments. ## History and parody The Mass was Bach's last major artistic undertaking. The reason for the composition is unknown. Scholars have found no plausible occasion for which the work may have been intended. Joshua Rifkin notes: > ... likely, Bach sought to create a paradigmatic example of vocal composition while at the same time contributing to the venerable musical genre of the Mass, still the most demanding and prestigious apart from opera. Bach first composed a setting of the Kyrie and Gloria in 1733 for the Catholic royal court in Dresden. He presented that composition to Frederick Augustus II, Elector of Saxony (later, as Augustus III, also king of Poland), accompanied by a letter: > In deepest Devotion I present to your Royal Highness this small product of that science which I have attained in Musique, with the most humble request that you will deign to regard it not according to the imperfection of its Composition, but with a most gracious eye ... and thus take me into your most mighty Protection. He arranged the text in diverse movements for a five-part choir and solo voices, according to the taste in Dresden where sacred music "borrowed" from Italian opera with a focus on choral movements, as musicologist Arthur Wenk notes. Bach expanded the Missa of 1733 to a Missa tota from 1748 to 1749, near the end of his life. In these last years, he added three choral movements for the Credo: its opening Credo in unum Deum, Confiteor and Et incarnatus est. The Sanctus was originally an individual movement composed for Christmas 1724 in Leipzig. Most other movements of the mass are parodies of music from earlier cantatas, dating back as far as 1714. Wenk points out that Bach often used parody to "bring a composition to a higher level of perfection". The original musical sources of several movements are known, for others they are lost but the score shows that they are copied and reworked. Bach selected movements that carried a similar expression and affekt. For example, Gratias agimus tibi (We give you thanks) is based on Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir (We thank you, God, we thank you) and the Crucifixus (Crucified) is based on the general lamenting about the situation of the faithful Christian, Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (Weeping, lamenting, worrying, fearing) which Bach had composed already in 1714 as one of his first cantatas for the court of Weimar. Bach quoted Gregorian chant twice, in the Credo in unum Deum as a theme and in the Confiteor as a cantus firmus embedded in complex polyphony. Bach achieved a symmetry of the parts, with the profession of faith (Credo) in the center and the movement Crucifixus in its center. Markus Rathey, Associate Professor of Music History at the Institute of Sacred Music at the Yale School of Music, sees a similarity to architecture of the period, such as the Palace of Versailles. Bach knew buildings in that style, for example Schloss Friedrichsthal in Gotha, built in 1710. Rathey continues: > The symmetry on earth mirrors the symmetric perfection of heaven. The purpose of art at this time—in architecture, the visual arts, and music—was not to create something entirely new, but to reflect this divine perfection, and in this way to praise God. We find such a symmetric outline in many pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach,19 but only in a few cases is this outline as consequent as in the B Minor Mass. The parts Kyrie, Gloria and Credo are all designed with choral sections as the outer movements, framing an intimate center of theological significance. According to Christoph Wolff, the Mass can be seen as a "kind of specimen book of his finest compositions in every kind of style, from the stile antico of Palestrina in the 'Credo' and 'Confiteor' and the expressively free writing of the 'Crucifixus' and 'Agnus Dei', to the supreme counterpoint of the opening Kyrie as well as so many other choruses, right up to the most modern style in galant solos like 'Christe eleison' and 'Domine Deus'". Bach made "a conscious effort to incorporate all styles that were available to him, to encompass all music history as far as it was accessible". The Mass is a compendium of vocal sacred music, similar to other collections that Bach compiled during the last decade of his life, such as the Clavier-Übung III, The Art of Fugue, the Goldberg Variations, the Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes and The Musical Offering. ## Overview Bach's autograph score of the Mass in B minor is subdivided in four sections. Part I is titled Missa, consisting of the same Kyrie and Gloria which constituted his Missa of 1733. The second part is titled Symbolum Nicenum (Latin for Nicene Creed, a.k.a. Credo). An early version of the first movement of this section is extant. The third section, called Sanctus, is based on an early version composed in 1724. The Hosanna and Benedictus, traditionally concluding the Sanctus, are however not included in this section, but open the next, which is called Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei et Dona nobis pacem. {\| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" \|- \|+ Comparison of Bach's titles to the parts of the mass \|- ! scope="col" \| Five usual sections of the Mass ordinary ! scope="col" \| Mass in B minor sections ! scope="col" \| Number of movements ! scope="col" \| Year from ! scope="col" \| Year to \|- \| style="text-align: center;" \| I. Kyrie ! rowspan="2" \| I. Missa (consisting of Kyrie and Gloria) \| style="text-align: center;" \| 3 \|\| 1733 \|\| 1733 \|- \| style="text-align: center;" \| II. Gloria \| style="text-align: center;" \| 9 \|\| ? \|\| 1733 \|- \| style="text-align: center;" \| III. Credo ! II. Symbolum Nicenum \| style="text-align: center;" \| 9 \|\| 1714 \|\| 1749 \|- \| rowspan="2" style="text-align: center;" \| IV. Sanctus including Hosanna and Benedictus ! III. Sanctus \| style="text-align: center;" \| 2 \|\| 1724 \|\| 1724 \|- ! rowspan="2" \| IV. Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei et Dona nobis pacem \| style="text-align: center;" \| 3 \|\| 1732 \|\| 1749 \|- \| style="text-align: center;" \| V. Agnus Dei ending on "dona nobis pacem" \| style="text-align: center;" \| 2 \|\| 1725 \|\| 1749 \|- ## Scoring The work is scored for five vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra. Its movements are listed in a table with the scoring of voices and instruments, key, tempo marking, time signature and source. The movement numbering follows the Bärenreiter edition of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, first in a consecutive numbering (NBA II), then in a numbering for the four individual parts (NBA I). The voices are abbreviated S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor, B for bass. Bach asked for two sopranos. Practical performances often have only one soprano soloist, sharing the parts for the second soprano (SII) between soprano and alto. A four-part choir is indicated by SATB, a five-part choir by SSATB. The Sanctus requires six vocal parts, SSAATB, which are often divided in the three upper voices versus the lower voices. The Osanna requires two choirs SATB. Instruments in the orchestra are three trumpets (Tr), timpani (Ti), corno da caccia (Co), two flauti traversi (Ft), two oboes (Ob), two oboes d'amore (Oa), two bassoons (Fg), two violins (Vl), viola (Va), and basso continuo. The continuo is not mentioned in the table as it is present all the time. The other instruments are grouped by brass, woodwinds and strings. Bach based movements of the Mass in B minor on earlier compositions. What is known about reworked earlier material is indicated in the last two columns of the table (earlier composition; year of composition), including some educated guesswork, as found in the indicated scholarly literature. This does not include the 1733 version of Part I (the movements that constitute the Kyrie and Gloria), but earlier compositions which Bach used as basis for that version. ## Structure ## Parts and movements ### No. 1 Missa Kyrie and Gloria The section Kyrie is structured, following tradition, in a threefold acclamation of God, a chorus for the Kyrie I, a duet Christe, and a different chorus for Kyrie II. Kyrie I is in B minor, Christe in D major, Kyrie II in F-sharp minor. The three notes B, D and F-sharp form the B minor triad. Butt notes D major as the central key, corresponding to the "atonement of Christ". The Gloria is structured in symmetry as a sequence of choral movements and solo movements, arias and a central duet, in three sections. The first is opened with a chorus followed by an aria, closed in the last section in symmetry by an aria followed with a chorus; the middle section alternates choral music with solo movements. The trumpets are introduced as a symbol of divine glory in several movements, beginning and ending in D major, with a planned architecture of keys in the middle movements. The central duet is in the "lowly" key of G major, referring to Christ as a "human incarnation of God". A corno da caccia appears only once in the whole work, in the movement Quoniam, which is about the holiness of God. #### Kyrie I The first movement is scored for five-part choir, woodwinds and strings. As the Dresden Mass style required, it opens with a short homophonic section, followed by an extended fugue in two sections, which both begin with an instrumental fugue. Christoph Wolff notes a similarity between the fugue theme and one by Johann Hugo von Wilderer, whose mass Bach had probably copied and performed in Leipzig before 1731. Wilderer's mass also has a slow introduction, a duet as the second movement and a motet in stile antico, similar to late Renaissance music, as the third movement. Bach based the work on a composition in C minor, as mistakes in the copying process show. The vast movement has aspects of both a fugue and a ritornello movement. In the first fugal section, the voices enter in the sequence tenor, alto, soprano I, soprano II, bass, expanding from middle range to the extreme parts, just as the theme expands from the repeated first notes to sighing motives leading upwards. In the second fugal section, the instruments begin in low registers, and the voices build, with every part first in extremely low range, from bass to soprano I. In both sections, the instruments open the fugue, but play with the voices once they enter. #### Christe The acclamation of Christ stresses the second person of the Trinity and is therefore rendered as a duet of the two sopranos. Their lines are often parallel, in an analogy to Christ and God proclaimed as "two in one". Probably a parody of an earlier work, it is Bach's only extant duet for two sopranos, stressing that idea. Rathey points out that the duet is similar in many aspects to the love duets of Neapolitan opera. Typical features of these duets are consonant melodies, in parallel thirds and sixths, or imitating each other, with sigh motifs as on the word Christe. Rendering Christe eleison as a duet follows the Dresden Mass style. #### Kyrie II The second acclamation of God is a four-part choral fugue, set in stile antico, with the instruments playing colla parte. This style was preferred at the court in Dresden. The theme begins with intervals such as minor seconds and major seconds, similar to the motif B-A-C-H. The first entrances build from the lowest voice in the sequence bass, tenor, alto, soprano. According to Christoph Wolff, Bach assimilated the stricter style of the Renaissance only in the early 1730s, after he had composed most of his cantatas, and this movement is his first "significant product" in the style. #### Gloria The Gloria is structured in nine movements. The first and last are similar in style, concertante music of the eighteenth century. In further symmetry, the opening in two different tempos corresponds to the final sequence of an aria leading to "Cum sancto spiritu", the soprano II solo with obbligato violin "Laudamus te" to the alto solo with obbligato oboe "Qui sedes", and the choral movements "Gratias" frame the central duet of soprano I and tenor "Domine Deus". The text of the Hymnus Gloria begins with the angels' song from Luke's Christmas story. Bach used this section, the central duet and the concluding doxology as a Christmas cantata, Gloria in excelsis Deo, BWV 191 (Glory to God in the Highest), probably in 1745, a few years before the compilation of the Mass. The opening is set as a five-part chorus, beginning with an instrumental presentation of the material. In great contrast to the first section Kyrie, it is in D major, introducing the trumpets and timpani. The first thought, "Gloria in excelsis Deo" (Glory to God in the Highest), is set in 3/8 time, compared by Wenk to the Giga, a dance form. #### Et in terra pax The continuation of the thought within the angels' song, "Et in terra pax" (and peace on earth), is in common time. The duration of an eighth note stays the same, Bach thus achieves a contrast of "heavenly" three eights, a symbol of the Trinity, and "earthly" four quarters. The voices start this section, and the trumpets are silent for its beginning, but return for its conclusion. #### Laudamus te An aria for soprano II and obbligato violin express the praise and adoration of God in vivid coloraturas. It has been argued that Bach might have thought of the Dresden taste and the specific voice of Faustina Bordoni. #### Gratias agimus tibi A four-part chorus in stile antico illustrates the idea of thanks and praise, again with trumpets and timpani. It is based on the first choral movement of Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29, which also expresses the idea of thanks to God and praise of his creation (but this cantata movement may have been derived from an even earlier source). The first part of the text, devoted to thanks, is a melody in even tempo that rises gradually and falls again. The voices enter without instrumental support in dense succession. The countersubject on the second line "propter magnam gloriam tuam" (for your great glory), devoted to the glory of God, is more complex in rhythm. Similarly, in the cantata the second line "und verkündigen deine Wunder" (and proclaim your wonders) leads to a more vivid countersubject. Towards the end of the movement, the trumpets take part in the polyphony of the dense movement. #### Domine Deus The section addressing God as Father and Son is again a duet, this time of soprano I and tenor. The voices are often in canon and in parallel, as in the Christe. The movement is likely another parody, possibly from the 1729 cantata Ihr Häuser des Himmels, BWV 193a. As the Christe, it is a love-duet addressing Jesus. Both duets appear as the center of the symmetry within the respective part, Kyrie and Gloria. Here an obbligato flute opens a concerto with the orchestra and introduces material that the voices pick up. Rathey points out, that the scoring at first glance does not seem to match the text "Domine Deus, Rex coelestis" (Lord God, Heavenly King), but it matches the continuation "Domine Deus, Agnus Dei" (Lord God, Lamb of God), stressing the Lutheran "theologia crucis" (theology of the cross) that the omnipotent God is the same as the one revealed on the cross. #### Qui tollis When the text reaches the phase "Qui tollis peccata mundi" (who takest away the sins of the world), the music is given attacca to a four-part choir with two obbligato flutes. The movement is based on the first choral movement of Schauet doch und sehet, ob irgend ein Schmerz sei, BWV 46. The cantata text was based on the Book of Lamentations, , a similar expression of grief. Bach changed the key and the rhythm because of the different text. The key of B minor connects this description of "Christ's suffering and mankind's plea for mercy" to the similar quest in the first Kyrie. The keys G – B – D form the G major triad, leading to the "home key" of the Gloria, D major. Bach uses only part of the cantata movement, without the instrumental introduction and the second part. #### Qui sedes The continuation of the thought, "Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris" (who sits at the right [hand] of the Father), is expressed by an aria for alto and obbligato oboe d'amore. It is probably a parody. In Bach's earlier settings of the mass he had treated "Qui tollis and "Qui sedes" as one movement, here he distinguished Jesus at the right hand of the father by dance-like music. Wenk likens it to a gigue. #### Quoniam tu solus sanctus The last section begins with an aria for bass, showing "Quoniam tu solus sanctus" (For you alone are holy) in an unusual scoring of only corno da caccia and two bassoons. Paczkowski points out the symbolic function of this corno da caccia as well as the polonaise. By using the polonaise, Bach not only expressed the text by musical means, but also paid respect to the King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, August III, to whom the Mass is dedicated. Probably a parody, it is the only movement in the work using the horn. The unusual scoring provides a "solemn character". Butt observes that Bach uses a rhythmic pattern throughout the movement in the two bassoons which is even extended into the following movement, although they originally were independent. The repeated figure of an anapaest provides the "rhythmic energy of the texture." #### Cum sancto spiritu On the continuing text "Cum sancto spiritu" (with the Holy Spirit), the choir enters in five parts, in symmetry to the beginning. A homophonic section is followed by a fugue. The concertante music corresponds in symmetry to the opening of the Gloria, both praising God. ### No. 2 Symbolum Nicenum The text of the profession of faith, Credo, is the Nicene Creed. It is structured in three sections, regarding Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Bach follows the structure, devoting two choral movements to the first section, beginning the second section with a duet, followed by three choral movements, and opening the third with an aria, followed by two choral movements. The center is the Crucifixus, set in E minor, the lowest key of the part. The Crucifixus is also the oldest music in the Mass, dating back to 1714. The part begins and ends with a sequence of two connected choral movements in contrasting style, a motet in stile antico, containing a chant melody, and a concerto. The chant melodies are devoted to two of the key words of this part: Credo (I believe) and Confiteor (I confess). #### Credo in unum Deum The Credo begins with "Credo in unum Deum" (I believe in one God), a polyphonic movement for five-part choir, to which two obbligato violins add independent parts. The theme is a Gregorian Chant, first presented by the tenor in long notes on a walking bass of the continuo. The other voices enter in the sequence bass, alto, soprano I, soprano II, each one before the former one even finishes its line. The two violins enter independently, reaching a seven-part fugue. The complex counterpoint of the seven parts, five voices and two violins, expands the theme of the chant, often in stretto function, and uses a variety of countersubjects. In the second exposition (sequence of fugue entries), the bass voice is missing, leading to anticipation and a climactic entry in augmentation (long notes) beginning the third exposition, just as an entry of the first violin ends the second exposition. Musicologist John Butt summarizes: "By using numerous stile antico devices in a particular order and combination, Bach has created a movement in which a standardised structure breeds a new momentum of its own". This movement in stile antico contrasts with the following modern concerto-style movement, Patrem omnipotentem. This contrast is reminiscent of the contrast between the two Kyrie movements and foreshadows the last two movements of the Symbolum Nicenum. Recent research dates the movement to 1747 or 1748 and suggests that it might have been the introduction to a Credo by a different composer, before Bach began to assemble the Mass. #### Patrem omnipotentem The thought is continued in "Patrem omnipotentem" (to the Father, almighty), in a four-part choral movement with trumpets. The movement probably shares its original source with the opening chorus of Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm, BWV 171 (God, as Your name is, so is also Your praise), which also expresses the idea of thanks to God and praise of his creation. The voices sing a fugue to a concerto of the orchestra. The bass introduces the theme, without an instrumental opening, while the other voices repeat simultaneously in homophony "Credo in unum Deum" as a firm statement. The theme contains all eight notes of the scale, as a symbol completeness. Bach noted at the end of the movement that it contains 84 measures, the multiplication of 7 and 12, a hint at the symbolic meaning of numbers. The word "Credo" appears 49 times (7\*7), the words "Patrem omnipotentem" 84 times. #### Et in unum Dominum The belief in Jesus Christ begins with "Et in unum Dominum" (And in one Lord), another duet, this time of soprano and alto, beginning in a canon where the second voice follows the first after only one beat. The instruments often play the same line with different articulation. The movement is based on a lost duet which served already in 1733 as the basis for a movement of Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen, BWV 213. Bach headed the movement "Duo voces articuli 2" which can be translated as "Two voices express 2" or "the two vocal parts of Article 2". The text included originally the line "Et incarnatus est de Spiritu sancto ex Maria virgine et homo factus est", illustrating "descendit" by a descending figure for the violins. When Bach treated "Et incarnatus est" as a separate choral movement, he rearranged the text, and the figure lost its "pictorial association". #### Et incarnatus est The virgin birth, "Et incarnatus est" (And was incarnate), is a five-part movement. It is probably Bach's last vocal composition, dating from the end of 1749 or the first weeks of 1750. Until then, the text had been included in the preceding duet. The late separate setting of the words which had been given special attention by previous composers of the mass, established the symmetry of the Credo. The humiliation of God, born as man, is illustrated by the violins in a pattern of one measure that descends and then combines the symbol of the cross and sighing motifs, alluding to the crucifixion. The voices sing a motif of descending triads. They enter in imitation starting in measure 4, one voice every measure in the sequence alto, soprano II, soprano I, tenor, bass, forming a rich texture. The text "ex Maria vergine" (out of the virgin Mary) appears in an upward movement, "et homo factus est" (and made man) is even in upward triads. #### Crucifixus "Crucifixus" (Crucified), the center of the Credo part, is the oldest music in the setting of the Mass, dating back to 1714. It is a passacaglia, with the chromatic fourth in the bass line repeated thirteen times. Wenk likens it to a sarabande. The movement is based on the first section of the first choral movement of Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12. Bach transposed the music from F minor to E minor, changed the instrumentation and repeated each bass note for more expressiveness. Bach begins the movement with an instrumental setting of the bass line, while the cantata movement started immediately with the voices. The suffering of Jesus is expressed in chromatic melodic lines, dissonant harmonies, and sigh-motifs. The final line, on the 13th repeat of the bass line, "et sepultus est" (and was buried) was newly composed, with the accompaniment silent and a modulation to G major, to lead to the following movement. At the end, soprano and alto reach the lowest range of the movement on the final "et sepultus est" (and was buried). A pianissimo ending of this movement, contrasted by a forte Et resurrexit, follows the Dresden Mass style. #### Et resurrexit "Et resurrexit" (And is risen) is expressed by a five-part choral movement with trumpets. The concerto on ascending motifs renders the resurrection, the ascension and the second coming, all separated by long instrumental interludes and followed by a postlude. "Et iterum venturus est" (and will come again) is given to the bass only, for Bach the vox Christi (voice of Christ). Wenk likens the movement to a Réjouissance [de] dance, a "light festive movement in triple meter, upbeat three eighth notes". #### Et in Spiritum Sanctum A bass aria renders "Et in Spiritum Sanctum" (And in the Holy Spirit) with two obbligato oboes d'amore. Only wind instruments are used to convey the idea of the Spirit as breath and wind. Speaking about the third person of the Trinity, the number three appears in many aspects: the aria is in three sections, in a triple 6/8-time, in A major, a key with three sharps, in German "Kreuz" (cross). A major is the dominant key to D major, the main key of the part, symbolising superiority, in contrast to the E minor of the "Crucifixus" as the lowest point of the architecture. The two oboes d'amore open the movement with a ritornello, with an ondulating theme played in parallels, which is later picked up by the voice. The ritornello is played between the three sections, the second time shortened, and it concludes the movement. The sections cover first the Holy Spirit, then his adoration with the Father and the Son, finally how he acted through the prophets and the church. The voice sings in highest register for the words "Et unam sanctam catholicam ... ecclesiam" (and one holy universal ... church), and expands in a repeat of the text in long coloraturas the words "catholicam" and "ecclesiam". Wenk likens the movement to a Pastorale, a "Christmas dance", often on a drone bass. #### Confiteor The belief in the baptism for the forgiveness of sins, "Confiteor" (I confess), is expressed in strict counterpoint, which incorporates a cantus firmus in plainchant. The five-part choir is accompanied only by the continuo as a walking bass. The voices first perform a double fugue in stile antico, the first entries of the first theme, "Confiteor unum baptisma" (I proclaim the one baptism), from soprano to bass, followed by the first entries of the second theme, "in remissionem peccatorum" (for the remission of sinners), in the sequence tenor, alto, soprano I, soprano II, bass. The voices follow each other in fast succession, only one or two measures apart. The two themes appear in complex combinations, until the cantus firmus is heard from measure 73 as a canon in the bass and alto, and then in augmentation (long notes) from measure 92 in the tenor. Then the movement slows down to Adagio (a written tempo change, rare in Bach), as the altos sing the word "peccatorum" (sinners) one last time in an extremely low range. As the text turns to the words "Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum" (and expect the resurrection of the dead), the slow music modulates daringly with enharmonic transformations through several keys, touching E-flat major and G-sharp major, vividly bringing a sense of dissolving into disorder as well as expectation before the resurrection to come. Whenever the word "mortuorum" appears, the voices sing long low notes, whereas "resurrectionem" is illustrated in triad motifs leading upwards. #### Et expecto The expectation of a world to come, "Et expecto" (And I expect) is a joyful concerto of five voices with trumpets. Marked "Vivace a Allegro", the voices begin with a trumpet fanfare in imitation on the same text as before. The movement is based on a choral movement dating from about 1729 which is used in Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille, BWV 120 and a related wedding cantata BWV 120a. In BWV 120 it sets the words Jauchzet, ihr erfreuten Stimmen (Exult, you delighted voices). After this statement, which ends in homophony, the instruments begin a short section in which runs in rising sequences alternate with the fanfare, in which the voices are later embedded. The word "resurrectionem" appears then in the runs in the voices, one after the other in cumulation. A second repetition of instruments, embedded voices and upward runs brings the whole section to a jubilant close on the words "et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen" (and the life of the world to come. Amen), with extended runs on "Amen". Wenk likens the movement to a bourrée, a dance in "quick duple meter with an upbeat". ### No. 3 Sanctus #### Sanctus Sanctus (Holy) is an independent movement written for Christmas 1724, scored for six voices SSAATB and a festive orchestra with trumpets and three oboes. In the original, Bach had asked for three soprano parts, alto, tenor and bass. Only the score and duplicate parts of this performance survived. The music in D major is in common time, but dominated by triplets. The three upper voices sing frequently alternating with the three lower voices, reminiscent of a passage by Isaiah about the angels singing "Holy, holy, holy" to each other (). The number of voices may relate to the six wings of the seraphim described in that passage. #### Pleni sunt coeli The continuation, "Pleni sunt coeli" (Full are the heavens), follows immediately, written for the same scoring, as a fugue in dancing 3/8 time with "quick runs". ### No. 4 Osanna, Benedictus, Agnus Dei et Dona nobis pacem #### Osanna in excelsis Osanna in excelsis (Osanna in the Highest) is set for two choirs and a festive orchestra, in the same key and time as the previous movement. The movement is based, as is the opening chorus of the secular cantata Preise dein Glücke, gesegnetes Sachsen, BWV 215, probably on the opening movement of the secular cantata Es lebe der König, der Vater im Lande, BWV Anh 11, of 1732. The movement contrasts homophonic sections with fugal development. Wenk likens the movement to the Passepied, a dance in "fast triple meter with an upbeat". #### Benedictus The following thought, Benedictus, "blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord", is sung by the tenor in an aria with an obbligato instrument, probably a flauto traverso, leading to a repeat of the Osanna. The intimate music contrasts with the Osanna like the Christe eleison with Kyrie eleison. It is written in the latest Empfindsamer Stil (sensitive style) as if Bach had wanted to "prove his command of this style". #### Agnus Dei Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) is sung by the alto with obbligato violins in unison. The source for the aria is possibly the aria Entfernet euch, ihr kalten Hertzen (Leave, you cold hearts), the third movement of the lost wedding cantata Auf, süß entzückende Gewalt, BWV Anh 196 [it]. It was the basis also for the fourth movement of the Ascension Oratorio, Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen, BWV 11, the aria Ach, bleibe doch, mein liebstes Leben. #### Dona nobis pacem The final movement, Dona nobis pacem (Give us peace), recalls the music of thanks expressed in Gratias agimus tibi. This concluding choral movement in Renaissance style follows the Dresden Mass style. As the Gratias agimus tibi, the movement is based on the first choral movement of Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29, with minor alterations because of the different text. The text appears on both the theme and the countersubject, here stressing "pacem" (peace) at the beginning of the line. By quoting Gratias, Bach connects asking for peace to thanks and praise to God. He also connects the Missa composed in 1733 to the later parts.

Thyroid ima artery

Artery of the head and neck

The thyroid ima artery (thyroidea ima artery, arteria thyroidea ima, thyroid artery of Neubauer or the lowest thyroid artery) is an artery of the head and neck. It is an anatomical variant that, when present, supplies blood to the thyroid gland primarily, or the trachea, the parathyroid gland and the thymus gland (as thymica accessoria) in rare cases. It has also been reported to be a compensatory artery when one or both of the inferior thyroid arteries are absent, and in a few cases the only source of blood to the thyroid gland. Furthermore, it varies in origin, size, blood supply, and termination, and occurs in around 3.8% of the population and is 4.5 times more common in fetuses than in adults. Because of the variations and rarity, it may lead to surgical complications, particularly during tracheostomy and other airway managements. ## Structure The thyroid ima artery is an embryonic artery and it occurs because of the failure of the vessel to close, remaining patent (open). The artery has a variable origin. It mostly arises from the brachiocephalic trunk, but may also originate from the aortic arch, the right common carotid, the subclavian, the pericardiacophrenic artery, the thyrocervical trunk, the transverse scapular or the internal thoracic artery. It ascends in front of the trachea in the superior mediastinum to the lower part of the thyroid gland. It differs in size and ranges from as small as accessory thyroid arteries to the size of primary thyroid vessels. The diameter of the lumen of the artery ranges from 3 to 5 millimetres (0.12 to 0.20 in). The artery may be present as an accessory thyroid artery, but sometimes appears to compensate for incompetence or absence of one or more main thyroid vessels. Since it begins from below the thyroid gland and ascends upwards, it is mostly associated with absence or reduced size of the inferior thyroid arteries. In such cases, it is known as the accessory inferior thyroid artery. In rare cases, the artery has been seen to be compensating for absence of one or both superior thyroid arteries. In cases where the length of the thyroid ima artery is shorter, the artery ends by supplying the thymus gland and is known as thymica accessoria. ## Function When present, the thyroid ima's chief supply is the thyroid gland, though it also supplies the trachea. The artery may extend and supply the parathyroid glands. An infrequently observed artery, it is more frequently reported in the context of enlarged parathyroid glands (parathyroid adenomas). The artery ends by supplying the thyroid gland, or the parathyroid glands, as a single unit or as multiple branches. The artery is also found to be the only supply of the parathyroid gland in rare cases. ## Clinical significance The artery is only present in approximately 3–10% of the population. Thyroid ima artery is of surgical importance; due to its relatively small size and infrequent presence it can cause complications such as severe bleeding. Knowledge of occurrence of the artery is especially important during tracheostomy, sternotomy and thyroidectomy. Because the artery is smaller than the other thyroid vessels, and having an origin from one of the bigger vessels, a brisk cut while performing the surgery may cause complications such as severe hemorrhage and significant blood loss. The artery, if dissected, may draw back into the mediastinum and further complicate the condition by causing hemorrhage and clots in the thoracic cavity. ## History The thyroid ima artery was first defined by German anatomist Johann Ernst Neubauer [de] in the year 1772. Hence, it was named the thyroid artery of Neubauer. The artery originates lower than the inferior thyroid arteries, so it is also known as the lowest thyroid artery. Arteria thyroidea ima is the Latin name of the artery. ## Other animals The presence of thyroid ima artery is also observed in other higher primates. The artery has been reported in gorillas, gibbons, macaques and gray langurs. Variations in the origin were also seen; it was found to originate from the aorta in the thorax, or the carotid in the neck.

Quarrington, Lincolnshire

Quarrington is a village and former civil parish, now part of the civil parish of Sleaford, in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The old village and its church lie approximately 1 miles (2 km) south-west from the centre of Sleaford. Suburban housing developments at New Quarrington and Quarrington Hill effectively link the two settlements. Bypassed by the A15, it is connected to Lincoln and Peterborough, as well as Newark and King's Lynn (via the A17). At the 2011 census, Quarrington and Mareham ward, which incorporates most of the settlement, had an estimated population of 7,046. Quarrington was a rural community during the early and middle Anglo-Saxon period while mills along the River Slea in the Middle Ages gave the village its likely alternative name of Millthorpe. The Bishop of Lincoln and Ramsey Abbey held manors in Quarrington after the Norman Conquest, but the Carre family of Sleaford were the principal land-owners between 1559 and 1683, when its estate passed by marriage to the Marquesses of Bristol. Although the growth of Victorian Sleaford saw the town encroach into the parish's boundaries, the old village remained a small cluster of farm buildings and cottages for much of its history. The sale of most of the surrounding farmland by successive Marquesses of Bristol in the late 20th century led to the rapid development of residential estates on Quarrington Hill and in New Quarrington which have engulfed the original settlement. Low crime rates, affordable housing, high standards of living and access to good schools have attracted home-buyers to the area, contributing to a sharp rise in the population. The medieval St Botolph's Church, a grade II\* listed building, lies at the heart of the old village and remains a hub for the Anglican community. The village's primary school serves local children, who continue their secondary education in one of Sleaford's three secondary schools. The nearest railway station on the Grantham to Skegness and Peterborough to Lincoln lines is in Sleaford. In the 19th century, the most common employment was in agriculture and more than half of the village's population were farm labourers. By 2011, most residents were employed in the wholesale and retail trades, public administration and defence, human health and social work, and manufacturing. ## History ### Early Scattered Palaeolithic and Bronze Age materials have been discovered in and around Quarrington but while nearby Old Sleaford is known to have been settled in the Iron Age and occupied by the Romans, there is little evidence for sustained pre-Saxon settlement at Quarrington. ### Medieval Between 1992 and 1995, archaeologists evaluating 34 trenches across 13 hectares of land around the village uncovered 56 ditches or gullies, a number of postholes, a large collection of pottery sherds and "extremely rare" evidence of metalworking from the 6th–7th centuries. The site has been dated to the 5th–9th centuries, representing an early and middle Anglo-Saxon settlement. Although noted for its metalworking and its size, the archaeologists concluded that it "displayed all the signs of a typical rural community", reflecting how "the vast majority" of the Anglo-Saxon population lived. Analysis of animal bones revealed that sheep-farming increasingly replaced pig-rearing at the site during this period. The pottery found at the site suggests that Quarrington had a strong, southern trade network; in the early Anglo-Saxon period this network encompassed Lincolnshire and Leicestershire, while pottery from Northamptonshire was prevalent in the middle Saxon period. A small early Anglo-Saxon cemetery containing inhumations was uncovered in the parish in 2000. Quarrington's medieval name was recorded in the Domesday Book (1086) as Corninctune or Cornunctone, from the Old English cweorn ("mill") and tun ("homestead"), meaning "miller's homestead", reflecting the importance of the watermills which were built along the River Slea. Bardi, one of the pre-conquest landowners at Quarrington, had owned 10 mills in Sleaford and Quarrington in 1066, and the 11 or 12 in existence by 1086 represents the largest cluster of mills in Lincolnshire. The archaeologists and historians Christine Mahany and David Roffe suggest that Quarrington was a specialised part of Bardi's compact estate, geared in particular to milling. The historian John Blair has speculated that this specialised function may have been associated with an earlier monastic estate centred on Sleaford, also suggested by the grid-aligned 7th- and 8th-century ditches uncovered at Quarrington during the 1990s excavations and by evidence of later grain-processing at Sleaford. Ramsey Abbey was granted a manor in Quarrington by Jol of Lincoln, a monk, in c. 1051. The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded the abbey's manor consisted of one carucate and six bovates and had two churches. Mahany and Roffe concluded that one of the churches was probably at Old Sleaford, where the abbey held a manor as sokeland of Quarrington. Bardi's manor in Quarrington had been granted to the Bishop of Lincoln by 1086 and consisted of nine carucates and two and a half bovates plus 60 acres of meadow and two mills. A separate village, Millthorpe was also recorded, but the archaeologists Fiona Walker and Tom Lane suggest this may have been an alternative name for Quarrington. Amongst the bishop's tenants was Hugh de St Vedasto or Vedeto, who held a knight's fee in c. 1200–10. His family were prominent tenants in the village; Amicia, wife of Hugh de St Vedasto, died in possession of lands and tenements there in 1253, and Alexander and William de St Vedasto are named in connection in other documents. Henry Selvein, a knight, held Quarrington of the abbey and in c. 1166 granted the lands to Haverholme Priory. Excavations have revealed later medieval pits and pottery in the village, with ditches reflecting a predominantly agricultural use of the land. In the Lay Subsidy of 1334, Quarrington and Millthorpe were valued at £4 10s. 41⁄2d., slightly below average for its wapentake. ### Early and later modern The Bishop of Lincoln alienated his lands at Quarrington to the Crown in 1547; they passed to Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector, but reverted to the Crown on his attainder for treason in 1549. Mary I granted them to Edward Clinton, 9th Baron Clinton and later Earl of Lincoln, who sold them to Robert Carre of Sleaford in 1559. Carre acquired numerous manors, including Old and New Sleaford, during the mid-16th century and they passed through marriage from his male-line descendants to the Earls (later Marquesses) of Bristol. A 1563 diocesan return shows that 17 families lived in the village and 120 people took Holy Communion; by the early 18th century, the diocesan visitations by Edmund Gibson show the number of families had risen to 35. The local historian Edward Trollope recorded few changes in the early modern period, with the exception of a fire that burnt down the rectory in 1760; it was rebuilt in c. 1845. Two 17th-century buildings still exist: the Bristol Farmhouse and the coursed rubble Manor House, which one "widow Timberland" occupied in 1691. The town's fields were enclosed in 1796 and a map of the village was drawn up at the same time, showing the settlement along Town Road and Townside Road with Rector Field and Earl Field to the north and north-east respectively. At the time, more than 210 acres of land were allotted to the rectory by Lord Bristol in place of the tithes it had previously been entitled to. During the mid and late-19th century, the population of the old village of Quarrington declined (from 98 in 1851 to 72 in 1871). Aside from the rectory and church, the village included two large farms and a cluster of labourers cottages around Town Road. By 1872, the parish spanned 1,620 acres and the village contained 63 houses. The same year, Trollope wrote that "the appearance of this small village, lying around its well cared for church, is very pleasing". As Sleaford expanded, houses were built along London and Station Roads, pushing the town inside the Quarrington parish boundaries in what became New Quarrington. Sanitation in the poorest parts of Sleaford worsened during the 19th century and a Local Board of Health was charged with improving living conditions. In 1879, Lord Bristol sold land on Quarrington Hill to the board, who built a pumping station to transport clean fenland water east into the town. Most of the land remained in possession of the Marquesses of Bristol throughout the 20th century, but from the 1970s the indebted 6th Marquess and his son, the 7th Marquess, sold much of their farmland around Sleaford and Quarrington. In 1989, the Bristol Estates office in Sleaford closed. The result was a boom in housebuilding, especially in the fields around Quarrington. In the 1980s, hundreds of houses were constructed in Southfields, and developments on Quarrington Hill followed in the late 1990s. Low house prices and crime rates, and good educational facilities in Sleaford made the new homes attractive. As the local historian Simon Pawley wrote, "Quarrington ... began to look more like a suburb of Sleaford than a village in its own right". In July 2015 planning permission for a further 200 homes between Northfield Road and the A15 was granted by North Kesteven District Council. ## Geography ### Topography Quarrington is a settlement south west of Sleaford, a market town in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire. Quarrington proper is clustered around Town Road and between Grantham Road (the B1517) and London Road. To the north of Grantham Road is Quarrington Hill and to the north and east of the old village is New Quarrington; all the settlements are linked by contiguous housing developments to form a suburb of Sleaford. Lincolnshire County Council's State of the Environment Report (1994) found that roughly three-quarters of Lincolnshire is low-lying, with much of it near sea-level; Quarrington lies between approximately 15 and 25 meters above sea level, close to Lincoln Cliff, a limestone scarp running north–south through Lindsey and Kesteven. The bedrock under most of Quarrington is Cornbrash limestone belonging to the Great Oolite Group of Jurassic rocks formed 168−165 million years ago. The soil belongs to the Quarrington series, a type of brown, calcareous sand. The county's agricultural land is generally of "very good" quality; as a result, intensive arable and vegetable farming is predominant while pastoral farming declined in the 20th century. Quarrington and Sleaford are on the edge of the Fens, a low-lying region of the East of England which, before drainage from the 17th to the 20th centuries, was marshy and liable to flooding. Draining has revealed nutrient-rich soils and enabled 88% of the land to be cultivated, especially for arable farming, and most of it is graded amongst the most productive farmland in the country. ### Climate According to the Köppen classification, the British Isles experience a maritime climate characterised by relatively cool summers and mild winters. Lincolnshire's position on the east of the Isles allows for a sunnier and warmer climate relative to the national average, and it is one of the driest counties in the United Kingdom. Although it may vary depending on altitude and proximity to the coast, the mean average temperature for the East of England is approximately 9 °C to 10.5 °C; the highest temperature recorded in the region was 37.3 °C at Cavendish on 10 August 2003. On average, the region experiences 30 days of rainfall in winter and 25 in summer, with 15 days of thunder and 6–8 days of hail per year; on 25 August 2001, hail the size of golf balls were reported in Sleaford and other parts of central Lincolnshire. Wind tends to affect the north and west of the country more than the East, and Lincolnshire tends to receive no more than 2 days of gale per year (where gale is a gust of wind at \>34 knots, sustained for at least 10 minutes). Despite this, tornadoes form more often in the East of England than elsewhere in the country; Sleaford experienced tornadoes in 2006 and 2012, both of which caused damage to property. ## Government and politics Before 1832, Quarrington was in the Lincolnshire parliamentary constituency, which encompassed all the county except for four boroughs. In the 1818 election, 49 of the 2,000 people living in New and Old Sleaford and Quarrington qualified to vote. In 1832, the Reform Act widened the franchise and divided Lincolnshire. Quarrington was in the South Lincolnshire constituency that elected two members to parliament. The franchise was widened by the reforms so that roughly 15% (202) of males in Sleaford and Quarrington could vote in 1868. The constituency was abolished in 1885 and Quarrington was in the new North Kesteven constituency. It merged with the Grantham seat in 1918. In 1997, Quarrington was reorganised into Sleaford and North Hykeham. The member returned in 2010 for Sleaford and North Hykeham was the Conservative candidate Stephen Phillips, who replaced Douglas Hogg. Lincolnshire elected a Member of the European Parliament from 1974 until 1994, and then became part of the Lincolnshire and Humberside South constituency until 1999; since then, it has elected members as part of the East Midlands constituency; from 1999, there were six members for the East Midlands, but the number was reduced to five from 2009 until Brexit in 2020. The ancient parish of Quarrington lay within Kesteven's Aswardhurn wapentake. It was incorporated into Sleaford Poor Law Union in 1851. The Public Health Act 1872 established urban sanitary districts (USD) and Quarrington became part of the Sleaford USD, which in turn was reorganised into Sleaford Urban District (UD) by the Local Government Act 1894. Sleaford UD was abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 and, by statutory instrument, Sleaford civil parish became its successor, thus merging Quarrington, New Sleaford, Old Sleaford and Holdingham civil parishes. Subsequently, it has been served by Sleaford Town Council, North Kesteven District Council and Lincolnshire County Council. ## Economy In 1831, more than 60% of Quarrington's adult males worked in agriculture and more than a quarter were employed in retail and handicraft industries; more than half were labourers and slightly more than a quarter were characterised as "middle sorts". Sleaford had a weekly market throughout the 19th century and a livestock market on Northgate from 1874 until 1984. At the 2011 census, the largest socio-economic grouping in the census's Quarrington and Mareham ward is workers in lower-tier managerial or administrative roles (25.9%), followed by intermediate (14.7%), semi-routine (14.6%) and higher managerial (10.9%) occupations; no other group comprised 10% or more. In terms of industry, the most common, based on those working in the sector, are wholesale and retail trade (including automotive repairs) at 15.5%, public administration and defence (15.4%), human health and social work (14.3%) and manufacturing (10.0%), with no other groups representing 10% or more. The largest group of working-age persons by economic activity are those in full-time employment, who make up 47.5% of this section of the population while 15.4% are part-time employees and 7.7% are self-employed; 13.7% of the working-age population are retired. 2.9% were unemployed, with approximately 38.0% of those in long-term unemployment and roughly 27.5% aged 16 to 24. An unemployment survey of Lincolnshire in 2014 found that the county experienced a decline in unemployment (based on Jobseekers Allowance claimants) by 29% over the preceding 12 months, while the county's unemployment rate was marginally below the national average. ## Demographics At the 2011 Census, Sleaford Quarrington and Mareham ward had an estimated total population of 7,046, which accounts for roughly 6.5% of the total population of North Kesteven. After Quarrington civil parish was abolished in 1974, the population statistics for the new Sleaford parish which absorbed it were divided into four wards, which did not necessarily correspond to the former boundaries of Quarrington CP. The town's population (including Quarrington) grew by 39% between 1991 and 2001, the fastest growth rate of any town in Lincolnshire; this has been attributed in part to the developments around Quarrington since the 1980s and a joint planning strategy report found that "This growth has largely been the result of people moving to the area attracted by the quality of life, low crime rates, relatively low house prices and good-quality education." The district population is predicted to rise by a further 29% between 2008 and 2033, compared with a national average of 18%; in 2013, county councillors approved plans to build 4,500 new homes. The 2011 Census revealed that approximately 94.3% of Quarrington and Mareham ward's resident population were White British; the second largest ethnic group was White (other) at 3.0%, then Asian (including Asian British) at 0.7%, followed by White Irish at approximately 0.6%, Black, Afro-Caribbean and Black British at 0.2% and Arab at 0.1%; no other ethnic group represented 1% or more of the population. 88.0% of residents were born in England and 4.9% in other parts of the United Kingdom; 4.0% were from EU countries, with 2.0% coming from EU member states which joined after March 2001. Most people in the Quarrington and Mareham ward identified as Christian. 72.5% of the residents stated they were Christian and 26.5% registered as "no religion" or chose not to state any; no other group constituted more than 1% of the population. Between December 2013 and November 2014, 1,289 criminal acts were reported in the policing neighbourhood of Sleaford Town (which includes Quarrington), of which 43.9% were classed as anti-social behaviour, making it the largest portion of reported crimes. In 2010, recorded crime levels were amongst the lowest in the country and, for the year ending June 2014, the crime rate in the North Kesteven district is the lowest in Lincolnshire at 24.38 crimes per thousand residents. ## Religion In the 17th century, the rectory of Quarrington and the vicarage of Old Sleaford combined to form the ecclesiastical parish of Quarrington with Old Sleaford. The parish boundaries of Quarrington with Old Sleaford were last altered in 1928. The rectory is in the Diocese and Archdeaconry of Lincoln and has been in the Lafford Rural Deanery since 1968; the current rector of Quarrington is the Rev Sandra Benham and the patrons are alternatively the Bishop of Lincoln and Sir Lyonel Tollemache, 7th Baronet. The grade II\* listed St Botolph's Church serves Quarrington's Anglican community. Its 13th-century north arcade is the oldest part of the church. The tower and spire date to the following century and St Botolph's listing reflects the "excellent" 14th century tracery in two of its windows. The chancel was rebuilt when Charles Kirk restored the church in 1862−3 and an extension was completed in 2001. The church had 120 sittings at the Census of Religious Worship in 1851; there were 20 morning attendees, 40 who came to the church in the afternoon and 20 Sunday scholars. As of 2015, family services are held on the first Sunday of the month at 11:00am and Holy Communion is carried out every second, third and fourth Sunday at 11:00am and every Wednesday at 10:00am. In the early 1900s a second church was designed to be built on donated land in the parish but closer to Sleaford. Disruption during World War I, parish boundary changes in 1928 and rising costs delayed the plans. Instead, a church hall was built in 1932 on Grantham Road and is now used as a community centre. The current rectory was constructed c. 2000 and a curate's house of a similar age was being rented by the Church of England in 2009. ## Transport Holdingham roundabout connects the A17 to the A15 road from Peterborough to Scawby. The A15 passed through Quarrington and Sleaford until 1993 when its bypass was completed. The main route through the village is Grantham Road (B1517) which connects the A15 to Southgate in Sleaford. London Road forks from it after the railway crossing in Sleaford and continues along the eastern edge of Quarrington to Silk Willougby and the A15. The nearest railway stations are at Sleaford and Rauceby. The railways arrived in the 19th century when plans to build the Boston, Sleaford and Midland Counties Railway were sanctioned by Act of Parliament 1853. The line from Grantham opened in 1857; Boston was connected in 1859, Bourne in 1871 and Ruskington on Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway in 1882. As of 2015, Sleaford is a stop on the Peterborough to Lincoln Line and the Poacher Line, from Grantham to Skegness; Rauceby is a stop on the Poacher line only. Grantham, roughly 14 miles (23 km) away by road and two stops from Sleaford (and one from Rauceby) on the Poacher Line, is a major stop on the East Coast Main Line. Trains from Grantham to London King's Cross take approximately 1 hour 15 minutes. ## Education The 1833 House of Commons enquiry into education in England found that Quarrington had no schools and still had none in the 1860s when New Quarrington was emerging. The lack of school and an accessible church became a cause for concern. The Marquess of Bristol gave an acre of land on the western edge of New Quarrington, between London and Grantham Roads, on which to build a school. Sleaford architect Charles Kirk constructed the school and master's house at his own expense in 1867 for "to provide a place where the adults and children only of the labouring and other poorer classes of Quarrington and Old Sleaford may be instructed in the catechism and doctrine and worship of the Church of England". The school operated along the National Society's recommended lines, with two teachers and 65 pupils on roll in 1870. The school could accommodate c. 100 children and had an attached chancel. The school was extended in 1898, the 1960s and 1980s. The successor, St Botolph's Church of England School, moved out of the old premises into new accommodation in 2002. As of 2015, the school is a voluntary controlled mixed primary school admitting juniors and infants with 394 pupils on roll, and was rated "good" by Ofsted. Sleaford is served by three secondary schools with sixth forms: Carre's Grammar School, a boys' grammar school, Kesteven and Sleaford High School, a girls' grammar school, and St George's Academy, a mixed comprehensive school. The grammar schools are selective and pupils are required to pass the Eleven plus exam. St George's is not selective. The co-educational Joint Sixth Form consortium between the three schools allows pupils to choose from subjects taught at any or all of them. ## See also - Listed buildings in Sleaford, which includes the one grade II\* and five grade II listed buildings in Quarrington.

Cape May County, New Jersey

County in New Jersey, United States

Cape May County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on the Cape May peninsula, bound by the Delaware Bay to its west and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and east. Adjacent to the Atlantic coastline are five barrier islands that have been built up as seaside resorts. A consistently popular summer destination with 30 miles (48 km) of beaches, Cape May County attracts vacationers from New Jersey and surrounding states, with the summer population exceeding 750,000. Tourism generates annual revenues of about \$6.6 billion as of 2018, making it the county's single largest industry. The associated leisure and hospitality industries are Cape May's largest employers. Its county seat is the Cape May Court House section of Middle Township. As of the 2020 census, the county was the state's second-least populous county, with a population of 95,263, a decrease of 2,002 (−2.1%) from the 2010 census count of 97,265, which in turn reflected a decline of 5,061 (-4.9%) from the 102,326 counted in the 2000 census. The county is part of the Ocean City, NJ metropolitan statistical area and the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD combined statistical area, also known as the Delaware Valley. Before Cape May County was settled by Europeans, the Kechemeche tribe of the Lenape Native Americans inhabited South Jersey. Beginning in 1609, European explorers purchased land from, and contributed to the decline of, the indigenous people. The county was named for Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, a Dutch captain who explored and charted the area from 1620 to 1621, and established a claim for the province of New Netherland. In 1685, the court of Cape May County was split from neighboring Burlington County, although the boundaries were not set until seven years later. In 1690, Cape May (originally known as Cape Island) was founded, becoming America's oldest seaside resort. The county was subdivided into three townships in 1798: Lower, Middle, and Upper. The other 16 municipalities in the county, including two no longer in existence, were established between 1827 and 1928. In 1863, the first railroad in the county opened, which carried crops from the dominant farming industry. Railroads later led to the popularity of the county's coastal resorts. The need for improved automotive access to the county led to the development of the Garden State Parkway, which opened in 1956. The most populous place was Lower Township with 22,057 residents in the 2020 census, and its geographically largest municipality is Middle Township, which covers 82.96 square miles (214.9 km²). The county is part of the South Jersey region of the state. ## History ### Etymology Before Cape May County was settled by Europeans, the indigenous Kechemeche tribe of the Lenape people inhabited South Jersey, and traveled to the barrier islands during the summer to hunt and fish.[^1] During the 17th century, the area that is now Cape May County was claimed as part of New Netherlands, New Sweden, the Province of New Jersey under the British crown, and later West Jersey. On August 28, 1609, English explorer Henry Hudson entered the Delaware Bay and stayed one day on land, north of what is now Cape May Point. As early as 1666, the southern tip of New Jersey was known as Cape Maey, named after Dutch explorer Cornelius Jacobsen May, who sailed the coastline of New Jersey from 1620 to 1621. In 1630, representatives of the Dutch West India Company purchased a 16 sq mi (41 km²) tract of land along the Delaware from indigenous people, and bought additional land 11 years later. Due to the large number of whales in the region of Cape May, Dutch explorers founded Town Bank around 1640 along the Delaware Bay as a whaling village. It was the first European settlement in what is now Cape May County, and was populated by descendants of Plymouth County. ### History In 1685, the court of Cape May was split from Burlington County, which at that time encompassed all or nearly all of South Jersey. In 1690, a settlement began at Cape Island (now Cape May). As whaling declined due to overpopulation, Town Bank diminished in importance in favor of Cape May, and was largely washed away by 1750. In 1692, Cape May County was designated as one of the original four counties of West Jersey, defined as the land from the most northerly portion of Great Egg Harbor Bay to a point 20 mi (32 km) east of the mouth of the Maurice River (called West Creek), south to the tip of Cape May. The limits of the county were adjusted over the next two centuries, mostly the portion near Maurice River Township. The first water mill in the county was constructed in 1699 in Cold Spring. Nearby, the First Baptist Church was built in 1712, and the first Cold Spring Presbyterian Church was built in 1718. Both churches, as well as nearby private homes, functioned as the center of early county government. In 1744, the county chose Romney Marsh – later Cape May Court House – near the county's center to become the county seat. The first jail and courthouse were built in 1764. The county's population was around 1,000 in 1750, isolated from the rest of New Jersey by forests. Cape May grew independently as America's oldest bathing resort by 1765, leading to the city's current motto "The Nation's Oldest Seashore Resort". Amid the British blockade of the Delaware Bay in the American Revolutionary War, two British ships pursued and attacked the American brig Nancy, which fled to the coast at Turtle Gut Inlet (located in Wildwood Crest today). The Nancy was abandoned and sabotaged, killing at least 30 British sailors when the brig exploded after they boarded. The Battle of Turtle Gut Inlet on June 29, 1776, was the only Revolutionary War battle fought in the county. Cape May County was split into three townships on February 21, 1798 – Lower, Middle, and Upper. The three townships were previously established as precincts on April 2, 1723. During the War of 1812, British forces raided farms in the county for food and fresh water. In retaliation, residents dug canals to the ocean, making the water no longer drinkable. In 1827, Dennis Township was created from portions of Upper Township, 101 years after its namesake Dennisville was founded in 1726. The oldest independent borough in the county was Cape Island Borough in 1848, which became the city of Cape May in 1869. Over the next 60 years as transport to the region improved, most of the current municipalities in the county were created. Sea Grove, later renamed Cape May Point, was founded in 1875. In 1879, Ocean City was founded as a religious retreat. Sea Isle City was founded in 1882, followed by West Cape May in 1884. In 1885, Anglesea (renamed North Wildwood in 1906) and Holly Beach (later a part of Wildwood) were founded. A land development company established Avalon in 1887. In 1891, Woodbine was founded on the mainland as an agriculture settlement for Russian Jews who fled religious persecution. From 1894 until 1945, South Cape May existed as an independent borough until it was largely destroyed by the 1944 Great Atlantic hurricane. In 1906, the eastern coastal boundary of Cape May County was established at a point 3 nautical miles (3.5 mi; 5.6 km) east of the coast. The last municipalities to be established were Wildwood Crest (in 1910), Stone Harbor (in 1914), and West Wildwood (in 1920). In 1928, North Cape May was founded, but was dissolved in 1945 after it failed to attract development following the Great Depression. During World War II, Cape May Canal was built to connect the Delaware Bay and Cape May Harbor, completed in March 1943. The completion of the Garden State Parkway in 1955 brought hundreds of thousands of tourists, as well as a larger year-round population. Since the 1970s, the mainland has become more developed, due to the high cost of building on the barrier islands. Commercial development concentrated along U.S. Route 9 in Rio Grande, Cape May Court House, and Marmora. Concurrent with the 1980 Presidential election, Cape May County residents voted in favor to create a new state of South Jersey along with five other counties in a nonbinding referendum. ## Geography and climate Cape May County is 29 mi (47 km) long and 15 mi (24 km) at its widest. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of the 2020 Census, the county had a total area of 620.31 square miles (1,606.6 km²), of which 251.52 square miles (651.4 km²) was land (40.5%) and 368.79 square miles (955.2 km²) was water (59.5%). The county is located about 150 mi (240 km) south of New York City, 80 mi (130 km) southeast of Philadelphia, and 150 mi (240 km) east of Washington, D.C. To the south and east of the county is the Atlantic Ocean. The location near water provides milder temperatures than surrounding areas, as well as a continuous breeze, which contribute to the area's tourism-driven economy. Sea level along the coast is the lowest point. The highest elevation is found at three areas in Belleplain State Forest in the county's northern corner, which are approximately 60 ft (18 m) above sea level. Overall, the county is flat and coastal. Much of Cape May County lies on the Cape May Peninsula, which is part of the Atlantic coastal plain. The peninsula is bounded to the west by the Delaware Bay, and to the east is 1.5 to 3 mi (2.4 to 4.8 km) of marshes and water channels making up the Intracoastal Waterway. There are over 1,574 mi (2,533 km) of streams and rivers in the county, with the Great Egg Harbor River and its tributaries covering the northern portion of the county. There are also 24,150 acres (9,770 ha) of ponds, lakes, bays, and reservoirs. There are five barrier islands, measuring 32 mi (51 km) in total, that are adjacent to the mainland. The islands have gently-sloped beaches and are largely built up. There were only barrier four islands from 1922, when Turtle Gut Inlet was filled in to create Wildwood Crest, until 1945, when Cape May Canal was constructed through the southern portion of the county. ### Climate Given its maritime influence and southernmost location within New Jersey, Cape May County has a more moderate climate than surrounding areas. During the summer, the county is often 3–5 degrees cooler, and 5–10 degrees warmer in the winter. Much of the county is in USDA plant hardiness zone 7a/7b, with a small portion in the county's southeastern extreme in zone 8a. This equates to an average annual minimum temperature of 0 to 10 °F (−18 to −12 °C). The average temperatures in the county seat of Cape May Court House range from a low of 22 °F (−6 °C) in January to a high of 85 °F (29 °C) in July, although a record low of −22 °F (−30 °C) was recorded in January 1942 and a record high of 103 °F (39 °C) was recorded in July 1993. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 2.91 inches (74 mm) in June to 4.68 inches (119 mm) in August, and annual precipitation is around 40 in (1,000 mm). The region typically gets 10 to 15 in (250 to 380 mm) of snowfall each year, much less than the mountains of New Jersey. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Cape May County has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa). According to the Trewartha climate classification this climate is Do (oceanic.) The county has windy conditions throughout the year. Owing to its location along the coast, Cape May County has experienced the effects of tropical cyclones for centuries. In Whale Beach on Ludlam Island, core samples suggested the passage of an intense hurricane sometime between 1278 and 1438. The next significant hurricane in the area was September 3, 1821. Around 1800 UTC (2:00 PM local time), the eye of the hurricane crossed over Cape May, estimated as a Category 4 on the Saffir–Simpson scale. It is estimated that an identical hurricane to the 1821 storm would cause over \$1 billion in damage in Cape May County, and \$107 billion in damage nationwide. The Gale of 1878 flooded Cape May County and produced 84 mph (135 km/h) winds. During the passage of Hurricane Gloria in 1985, Ocean City recorded a wind gust of 101 mph (163 km/h). Hurricane Sandy struck the state on October 31, causing at least \$150 million in damage in the county from its high winds and high tides. At the terminal for the Cape May–Lewes Ferry in North Cape May, Sandy produced the highest tide on record at 8.9 ft (2.7 m), surpassing the previous record of 8.8 ft (2.7 m) set by Hurricane Gloria. Cape May County has experienced a variety of other weather effects. In March 1962, a stalled coastal storm produced several days of extremely high tides along the barrier islands, which damaged the boardwalks of Cape May, Avalon, and Sea Isle City. The 1991 Perfect Storm produced high tides and beach erosion. In January 2016, a blizzard nicknamed "Winter Storm Jonas" produced record high tides in the county, reaching 9.0 ft (2.7 m) at the terminal for Cape May–Lewes Ferry, surpassing that of Hurricane Sandy. Nearly every municipality in the county reported damage, and in coastal towns, the beaches were severely eroded. Since 1997, three tornadoes have touched down in the county, all of them weak. ### Flora and fauna The uplands, wetlands, and open waters of the county support one of the largest concentration of migratory birds in North America. Nearly 900,000 migratory birds were observed in 1995 in Avalon. Along the Delaware Bay, 800,000 to 1.5 million birds pass through the area each spring. In 1947, the Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary was established, which was designated as a National Natural Landmark in 1965. In addition to the 151 species of birds that frequent the county, there are two species of whales, the loggerhead sea turtle, the northern pine snake, two species of treefrog, and the tiger salamander that inhabit the waters of Cape May County. Eight species of fish and four species of shellfish populate the coastal waters. About 30% of the county is covered by forests that runs the length of the Cape May peninsula and connects with the Pinelands. The largely unfragmented forest provides breeding grounds for the barred owl, red-shouldered hawk, and wood thrush, and also provides habitat for insects and migratory birds. In the county's swampy interior, there are over 20 species of trees and 40 species of shrubs. About 42% of the county consists of wetlands. The marshes between the mainland and the barrier island are dominated by the common reed, narrow-leaved cattail, bulrushes, and smooth cordgrass. Along the beach, the American beachgrass predominantly make up dune systems, along with other plant species. The county utilizes five underground aquifers, including two that derive from the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer. Severe storms resulted in saltwater intrusion of the county's freshwater supply. The suitable growing conditions led to West Cape May considering itself the "lima bean capital of the world", until Guatemala surpassed it in the 1990s. The city still hosts an annual lima bean festival. ### Geology The oldest rocks in the county are at a depth of 5,000 ft (1,500 m), formed during the Precambrian era. These metamorphic rocks include gneiss, quartzite, and schist. During the Paleozoic era, the region was part of a mountainous landmass that extended from the Arctic to Mexico. Erosion during the Triassic and Jurassic periods formed valleys that gathered sediment, which deposited and layered as the coastline receded and rose. In the Paleocene and Eocene epochs, as well as the later Miocene epoch, the area that is now Cape May County was under water. The coastline receded again during the Quaternary period. During the Sangamonian interglacial period, melting glaciers formed rivers that carried sediment to the coast. The Bridgeton Formation deposited silt and clay through a fluvial process, while the later Cape May Formation deposited sand, silt, clay, and gravel. The Great Egg Harbor River in its formative stage produced a delta that covered much of what is now Cape May County with sediment. During the most recent ice age (Wisconsin glaciation), the sea level dropped to 430 ft (130 m) below its current depth. Around 14,000 years ago, glaciers began melting, and the barrier islands of Cape May County formed, likely from spits and lines of dunes. ## Demographics ### 2020 census As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county had 95,263 people, 40,939 households, and 26,792 families. The population density was 378.9 inhabitants per square mile (146.3/km²). There were 99,606 housing units at an average density of 396.2 per square mile (153.0/km²). The county's racial makeup was 85.6% White, 3.74% African American, 0.26% Native American, 0.95% Asian, and 5.95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.83% of the population. There were 40,939 households, of which 23.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.7% were married couples living together, 26.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 15.5% had a male householder with no wife present and 34.5% were non-families. 15.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.70. About 17.6% of the county's population was under age 18, 6.7% was from age 18 to 24, 29.2% was from age 15 to 44, and 27.0% was age 65 or older. The median age was 50.5 years. The gender makeup of the county was 48.4% male and 51.5% female. For every 100 females, there were 94.0 males. The county's median household income was \$69,980, and the median family income was \$83,695. About 8.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.2% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over. Cape May County is part of the Ocean City, NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area, as well as the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD Combined Statistical Area. ### 2010 census The 2010 United States census counted 97,265 people, 40,812 households, and 25,956 families in the county. The population density was 386.9 inhabitants per square mile (149.4/km²). There were 98,309 housing units at an average density of 391 per square mile (151/km²). The racial makeup was 89.83% (87,369) White, 4.69% (4,565) Black or African American, 0.21% (205) Native American, 0.86% (834) Asian, 0.04% (36) Pacific Islander, 2.47% (2,399) from other races, and 1.91% (1,857) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.22% (6,054) of the population. Of the 40,812 households, 21.6% had children under the age of 18; 48.3% were married couples living together; 11% had a female householder with no husband present and 36.4% were non-families. Of all households, 31.2% were made up of individuals and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.89. 18.9% of the population were under the age of 18, 8% from 18 to 24, 20.1% from 25 to 44, 31.6% from 45 to 64, and 21.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47.1 years. For every 100 females, the population had 94.6 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 92.4 males. As of the 2010 census, there were 98,365 houses in the county, of which only 42% were occupied year round. There are 47 campgrounds with 17,999 campsites, greater than the number of campsites in all other counties in the state combined. There are also 18,700 hotel rooms in the county. The median household income of the county was \$57,168 as of 2013, the fourth-lowest of New Jersey's 21 counties. About 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. The county ranked last in the state in terms of residents with Assets Limited, Income Constrained, and Employed (ALICE), representing nearly one-third of the county's residents. ## Government ### County government Cape May County is governed by a Board of County Commissioners consisting of five members elected at-large in partisan elections to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either one or two seats up for vote as part of the November general election. At an annual reorganization meeting held in January, the board selects a director and deputy director from among its members. In 2016, commissioners were paid \$17,973 and the director was paid an annual salary of \$18,973. As of 2023, Cape May County's commissioners are (with terms for director and vice director ending every December 31st): Each county in New Jersey is required by the New Jersey State Constitution to have three elected administrative officials known as "constitutional officers." These officers are the County Clerk and County Surrogate (both elected for five-year terms of office) and the County Sheriff (elected for a three-year term). Cape May County's Constitutional Officers are: The Cape May County Prosecutor is Jeffrey H. Sutherland, who was appointed to the position by Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie and sworn into office on December 21, 2017. Cape May County, along with Atlantic County, is part of Vicinage 1 of New Jersey Superior Court. Atlantic County has a civil courthouse in Atlantic City, while criminal cases are heard in Mays Landing; the Assignment Judge for Vicinage 1 is Julio L. Mendez. ### Policing The current county sheriff is Bob Nolan, elected in 2017 after working in the sheriff's office for 30 years, most recently as undersheriff. The first county sheriff was Benjamin Godfrey in 1692. Aside from maintaining law and order, the sheriff's responsibilities include the sale of property, overseeing the corrections facility, transporting of jurors, and collecting court-ordered judgments. The first county jail was built in 1705 in Middle Township, and the current jail was built in 1977. A new facility is scheduled to be completed in August 2018, at the cost of \$37 million. In 2015, Cape May County had 3,332 criminal offenses, the fifth fewest of any county in New Jersey. This represented a crime rate of 35.1 offenses per 1,000 people, and a violent crime rate of 4.7 offenses per 1,000 people. ### Federal representatives The 2nd Congressional District covers all of Cape May County. ### State representatives The county lies entirely within the 1st Legislative District. ## Politics Though New Jersey is generally Democratic in recent state-wide elections, Cape May County is a mostly Republican county, with the highest percentage of voters registered as Republicans of any county in the state. As of October 1, 2021, there were a total of 74,585 registered voters in Cape May County, of whom 31,859 (42.7%) were registered as Republicans, 18,498 (24.8%) were registered as Democrats and 23,325 (31.3%) were registered as unaffiliated. There were 903 voters (1.2%) registered to other parties. Among the county's 2010 Census population, 69.9% were registered to vote, including 81.1% of those ages 18 and over. In the 2008 and 2012 United States presidential elections, Republicans carried the county by an 8.6% margin over Barack Obama. However, in 2016 and 2020, Republican Donald Trump won the county by more than 15 points. Despite the county's strong Republican lean, at least one Democrat has won the county in recent years. In 2018, Democrat Jeff Van Drew outpolled Republican Seth Grossman in the county by a margin of 21,595 (52.6%) to 19,003 (46.3%) in that year's congressional election. Although, Van Drew changed his partisan affiliation in 2019 and won the county as a Republican over Democratic challenger Amy Kennedy by a margin of 34,627 (60.7%) to 21,899 (38.4%). In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 54.34% of the vote (18,992 votes) to Democratic Governor Jon Corzine's 38.28% of the vote (13,379 votes), while Independent Chris Daggett won 6.08% (2,126 votes). In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 23,531 votes in the county (71.6%), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 8,798 votes (26.7%). In the 2017 gubernatorial election, Republican Kim Guadagno received 16,118 (53.2%) of the vote, and Democrat Phil Murphy received 13,566 (44.8%) of the vote. In the 2021 gubernatorial election, Republican Jack Ciattarelli received 62.8% of the vote (24,260 ballots cast) to Democrat Phil Murphy's 36.7% (14,183 votes). ## Economy The primary job sectors in Cape May County are related to hotel accommodation, food service, retail, health care/aide, arts/entertainment, and construction. Historically, Cape May County's economy was driven by whaling and farming, until seasonal resorts were built in the 19th century. These industries remain a part of the county's job sector, along with agritourism, and around 30,000 people in the private industry. The largest employer is Morey's Piers, which hires 1,500 people. Cape Regional Medical Center hires over 1,000 people. More than 10,000 people are in the hospitality sector. As of February 2018, the unemployment rate in Cape May County was 14.3%, significantly more than the 5.2% unemployment rate in August 2017. Each year, the unemployment rate peaks in the wintertime and drops in the summertime, reflective of the county's dependence on seasonal tourism-driven jobs. As of February 2018, Cape May County had the highest unemployment rate in New Jersey, followed by neighboring Atlantic and Cumberland counties. The Bureau of Economic Analysis calculated that the county's gross domestic product was \$5.0 billion in 2021, which was ranked 19th in the state and was a 6.4% increase from the prior year. As of 2018, the tourism industry generated about \$6.6 billion worth of income in Cape May County, representing 43% of county employment. Retail, food, and beverage represented \$2.6 billion, while camping and lodging represented about \$2.4 billion in expenditures. Recreational activities generated \$708 million in expenditures. Eco-tourism generated \$670 million, and transportation costs were \$390 million. There is little heavy industry in the county due to environmental concerns. ### Tourism The majority of Cape May County's industry is tourism, due to its beaches and location between the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. During the summer season (which traditionally ranges from Memorial Day to Labor Day), tourists often outnumber locals 9 to 1. As of 2010, the four largest markets for tourism in Cape May County were Greater Philadelphia, North Jersey, New York, and the Canadian province of Québec. In addition to sales tax, hotel occupancy tax and other assessments charged throughout the state, tourism-related business in North Wildwood, Wildwood and Wildwood Crest, such as hotels and restaurants, are required to collect an additional 2% tourism sales tax that is used to cover costs for promoting tourism. Beginning in 1968 the county government began campaigns to attract tourists from Canada. In 1970 it established a tourism office in Montreal and later made strides to get tourists from other parts of Quebec. The county government made efforts to train tourism establishments on how to receive French-speaking Canadian tourists. In 1991, Canadian tourism into Cape May County remained strong despite an economic recession occurring in Canada. As of 1993, most Canadian tourists to the county were Francophones, who typically began their visits during the final two weeks of the month of July, when many Canadians working in the construction and garment sectors receive two-week paid time off. Most of the French Canadian tourists who visit Cape May County stay in hotels in The Wildwoods or campgrounds on the mainland. In the 1990s, Cape May County established an international tourism office in Montréal, along St. Catherine's Street, but closed it around 1995, due to budget cuts. By 2010 the tourism office of Cape May County established a French language coupon booklet. In 2010, Cape May County tourism director estimated that 13% of visitors to the region originated from Quebec. Beach tags are required for beach access in some of the most popular beaches and are collected under the terms of a 1955 state law that allows oceanfront municipalities to charge "reasonable fees" for providing safety and maintenance at the beaches. The highest seasonal beach tag fee in the county was \$35. The sale of daily, weekly and seasonal tags is a major source of revenue for the communities, with the six beachfront communities in Cape May County that charge for beach tags generating \$10 million in revenue in 2016. Ocean City brought in \$4.1 million in revenue in the 2016 season, the most of any municipality in the state. In the 2017 budget, the projected \$4.1 million in fees for beach tag and \$3 million for parking were two of Ocean City's biggest revenue sources, accounting for almost 9% of the city's annual budget of almost \$80 million. Cape May City, with revenue of \$2.2 million, was ranked third in the state. Four of the five municipalities in the state with guarded oceanfront beaches available with free public access are in the county, including Strathmere in Upper Township and the Wildwoods communities of North Wildwood, Wildwood and Wildwood Crest. ### Fishing and farming Fishing has been an important industry in Cape May County since at least the 17th century, when the county's first European settlement was founded as a whaling village. In 1693, whaling proved such a successful industry that colonial Governor Andrew Hamilton instituted a 10% tax on whale products. By the mid-1700s, overfishing had diminished the whale population in the region. In the early 1800s, shipbuilding was an important industry, which declined by the 1850s. Fishing remains an important aspect of Cape May County's economy. In 2016, the combined port of Cape May and Wildwood ranked the ninth largest commercial fishing port in the United States as measured by monetary value, as well as the second largest on the east coast, only after New Bedford. Fishermen brought in 47 million lbs (21 million kg) of seafood, mainly scallops, worth \$85 million (2016 USD). This was up from \$73.7 million in 2009, when the overall market value of the port was estimated at \$442 million, making it the fourth most valuable port in the country. In the 1980s, the scallop industry was worth only \$15 million in the state of New Jersey. In 1990, laws limiting the catch and area of scallops led to a healthier and steadier population to harvest, which allowed for growth in the industry. Cold Spring Fish and Supply Company provides 500 jobs and is the county's third-largest employer. Farming became an important industry in the county by the 19th century, when nearly 70,000 acres (28,000 ha), or about 40% of the county's land area, was involved in farming. The industry's popularity led to the first freight railroad in 1863, and continued to be a fixture of the county's economy until the 1960s. There is an annual lima bean festival in West Cape May featuring foods made with the locally grown lima beans. ## Education There are 16 school districts operating schools, two of them countywide, and three non-operating school districts. School districts include: K-12: - Cape May County Special Services School District (countywide for special education) - Middle Township Public Schools - Ocean City School District - Wildwood City School District Secondary: - Cape May County Technical School District (countywide) - Lower Cape May Regional School District Elementary (K-8, except as noted): - Avalon School District - Cape May City School District (K-6) - Dennis Township Public Schools - Lower Township School District (K-6) - North Wildwood School District - Stone Harbor School District - Upper Township School District - West Cape May School District (K-6) - Woodbine School District - Wildwood Crest School District Non-operating: - Cape May Point School District (non-operating since 1931) - Sea Isle City School District (non-operating since 2012) - West Wildwood School District There are 25 public elementary and/or middle schools in Cape May County, including two in Avalon and Stone Harbor (which since 2011 agree to share each other's schools), one in Cape May, two in Dennis Township, five in Lower Township, three in Middle Township, one in North Wildwood, two in Ocean City, three in Upper Township, one in West Cape May, three in Wildwood, one in Wildwood Crest, and one in Woodbine. The following public high schools are in the county: Cape May County Technical High School, Lower Cape May Regional High School, Middle Township High School, Ocean City High School, and Wildwood High School. There are also eight private schools in the county, including Wildwood Catholic Academy. As of 2013, 31% of county residents had at least bachelor's degree, and 89.7% had at least a high school diploma. In 1973, Atlantic Community College began offering night classes at Middle Township High School. In 1999, the college name was formally changed to Atlantic Cape Community College'', and a full service campus was opened in 2005 in Cape May Court House. The community college has partnerships with Fairleigh Dickinson University, Rutgers University, and Stockton University. The Cape May County Library has locations in Cape May, Cape May Court House, Lower Township, Stone Harbor, Sea Isle, Upper Township, Wildwood Crest, and Woodbine, as well as a bookmobile. Ocean City also has its own independent library. ## Services Cape Regional Medical Center opened as Burdette Tomlin Memorial Hospital in 1950, keeping that name until 2007. It is the only hospital in the county. The facility has expanded over time since its foundation, and now has 242 beds, with a staff of 1,060 people, to service the population and tourists in the county. AtlantiCare opened two urgent care centers in the county since the 1990s. From 2010 to 2015, opioid prescriptions rose 11%, in terms of the amount of morphine milligram equivalents (MME) per person. This rise was among the top 20% of counties nationally, and the second-highest in New Jersey. In the period from 2011 to 2015, health conditions in the county deteriorated, falling to 19th in a survey of New Jersey's 21 counties for child well-being; only neighboring Cumberland and Atlantic counties were worse. The county mortality rate was 13.7%, the highest in the state, which is largely due to the county's large elderly population. Beesley's Point Generating Station was a coal-based power plant located in Upper Township that generated 447 megawatts of power. The coal plant released among the most emissions of any New Jersey station. The plant's fuel source was scheduled to be changed to natural gas, pending the construction of the Atlantic Reliability Link through the Pinelands National Reserve. In 2017, the Pinelands Commission approved the proposed 22 mi (35 km) pipeline, which would be built under area roads. In response, the New Jersey Sierra Club and the Pinelands Preservation Alliance sued to stop the construction. Prospective green energy projects include the Deepwater Wind-leased Delaware Wind Energy Area, located about 16 mi (26 km) southeast of Cape May. The prospective wind turbines there are capable of generating 3,500 MW of electricity. ## Municipalities The 16 municipalities in Cape May County (with 2010 Census data for population, housing units and area; along with communities within each municipalities for which census-designated places are noted with their population) are: ## Recreation Cape May County Park & Zoo is located in Cape May Court House. ### Parks and recreation As of 2015, 49% of the lands in Cape May County were preserved open space. On November 9, 1989, the voters of Cape May County approved the Open Space Preservation Tax, which generates \$4.9 million each year. Since then, the program spent \$65 million to preserve open space, farmlands, and historic sites. Belleplain State Forest was established in 1928 in northwestern Cape May County and adjacent Cumberland County, and consists of 21,254 acres (8,601 ha) of young pine, oak, and Atlantic white cedar trees. Corson's Inlet State Park was established in 1969 near the southern end of Ocean City to protect and preserve one of the last undeveloped areas of land along the New Jersey coastline. Cape May Point State Park was established at the southern end of the county in 1974, having been previously used as a military base until the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 damaged the facility. There are 10 wildlife management areas in the county, including Peaslee, which extends into neighboring Cumberland County, and Tuckahoe/MacNamara, which extends into neighboring Atlantic County. In 1942, a 40 acres (16 ha) area of wooded land was donated to the county, which housed the 4-H fair. In November 1962, county residents approved a referendum to create a park commission, which was established in 1967 to maintain the county's parks. The lands donated in 1942 became Park Central, and is now over 200 acres (81 ha). In 1978, the Cape May County Park & Zoo was created within Park Central, which houses 250 species of animals. Nearby Cape May County Park East has basketball and tennis courts. Park North is the Richard M. Cameron Wildlife Sanctuary, located in Palermo. Park South is the Fishing Creek Wildlife Preserve, which is 1,700 acres (690 ha) of wetlands and trails. The 93 acres (38 ha) undeveloped Great Sound State Park is in Middle Township. In 1978, the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve became the first National Reserve in the United States, a 1,100,000 acres (450,000 ha) region of South Jersey that spans seven counties, including Cape May. The act, and additional legislation from the New Jersey legislature, created the Pinelands Commission, which manages the growth in the Pine Barrens, and coordinates federal, state, and local governments. Each county appoints a commissioner, and since January 2018, Woodbine mayor William Pikolycky has represented the county. From 1988 until 2011, the National Park Service operated the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail Route, which promoted awareness and protection of nearly 300 mi (480 km) of New Jersey coastline. In 1989, the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge was established from lands purchased by the Nature Conservancy, and has grown in size since its establishment. ### Breweries, distilleries, and wineries Cape May Brewing Company opened in 2011 at the Cape May Airport, and by 2015 was the third-largest brewer in New Jersey. Tuckahoe Brewing also opened in 2011 in Ocean View, but moved to a bigger facility in Egg Harbor Township in neighboring Atlantic County in 2015. In 2015, Slack Tide Brew opened in Clermont. In 2016, Ludlam Island Brewery opened in the former location of Tuckahoe Brewing, after originally seeking to open the facility in Sea Isle City. Also in 2016, Cold Spring Brewing began operations out of a barn from 1804, as part of Historic Cold Spring Village, and 7 Mile Brewery opened in Cape May Court House. In 2017, Avalon Brew Pub opened in Avalon, and Bucket Brigade Brewery opened in Cape May Court House. Mudhen Brewery opened in Wildwood in April 2018. Gusto Brewery opened in December 2018 in North Cape May. The first distillery to open in the county since the prohibition era was Lazy Eye Distillery, which opened a second facility in Wildwood in 2015 after opening its first facility in Atlantic County in 2014. In the same year, Cape May Distillery opened in Green Creek. In 2017, Nauti Spirits opened in Cape May on a 60 acres (24 ha) farm. In 2007, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture designated Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, and Ocean counties as the Outer Coastal Plain American Viticultural Area (AVA) in 2007, recognizing the area as well-suited for grape growing. In late 2014, local wineries sought for a distinct Cape May Peninsula AVA. As of 2015, there were six wineries in the county. Cape May Winery & Vineyard opened in 1995 in North Cape May as the first commercial winery in the county. Turdo Vineyards & Winery opened to the public in North Cape May in 2004. Natali Vineyards opened in 2007 in the Goshen section of Middle Township. In 2009, Hawk Haven Vineyard & Winery opened to the public in the Rio Grande section of Lower Township. In 2012, Jessie Creek Winery opened in Cape May Court House, and in the same year, Willow Creek Winery opened in West Cape May. ## Transportation The indigenous population left behind a series of trails across Cape May County by the late 17th century. In 1695, John Somers operated the first ferry service across the Great Egg Harbor Bay to Beesley's Point in Cape May County. Beginning in 1697 and completed in 1707, the residents of Cape May County financed the construction of a road running from Cape May to the ferry in Beesley's Point, and onward to Burlington. Roads were built across the county to connect with the court house, but in low-lying areas these routes were corduroy roads, built from a series of logs. Local businessmen built the Dennis Creek Causeway in 1803, which eventually became NJ 47, which contributed to the growth of towns along the Delaware Bay, although people traveled to the county more often by steamboat. In August 1863, the Cape May and Millville Railroad opened, connecting the county more quickly to points to the northwest. The railroad shipped freight from the county's many farms, and brought more people to the area, contributing to the development of coastal resorts. Travelers often brought their lunch in shoe boxes, leading to their nickname "shoobies". By 1892, much of the county was accessible by railroad, including all of the barrier islands. A second rail line was added in 1893 that connected Cape May to a branch of the rail line that ran from Atlantic City to Camden. By the 1890s, bicycling became common throughout the county, and bikeriders successfully lobbied the county to build better roads. Between 1900 and 1915, the county government built over 100 miles of gravel roads, a fact promoted in a county promotional brochure, but also the cause of controversies. County engineer N. C. Price was dismissed in 1903 due to accusations of poor building materials and inflated costs, and in 1921, two freeholders were jailed for defrauding the county, resulting in a smaller board of freeholders. In 1916, the New Jersey legislature created the state highway system, taking responsibility for the maintenance and building of major roads. In 1917, the road between Cape May and Seaville became Route 14, which was renumbered Route 4 in 1927, and later U.S. 9 by the 1940s. The road ran the length of the state, and connected Cape May County with Atlantic County via the Beesley's Point Bridge built in 1928. From 1934 to 1946, the Cape May County Bridge Commission issued bonds and secured funding for five toll bridges to connect the barrier islands with each other. By the 1950s, state routes 47, 49, 50, 52, and 83 were established, connecting various municipalities. In 1956, the Great Egg Harbor Bridge opened, connecting the county with Atlantic County and points north and west via the Garden State Parkway. A parallel bridge carrying northbound traffic of the Garden State Parkway opened in 1973. The road brings hundreds of thousands of people to the county during the summertime. The parkway passes through the length of the county, and has its southern terminus, known as Exit Zero, in Lower Township, connecting with U.S. Route 9. Further transportation connections were made after the Cape May–Lewes Ferry began operation in 1964, which can carry up to 100 cars and 800 people on its fleet of five boats. In 1971, Route 147 replaced county routes for the roadway from North Wildwood to U.S. 9, and in the same year, Route 162 was established for a new bridge over the Cape May Canal. In 1972, U.S. 9 was relocated from its southern terminus in Cape May to the ferry; the former route was redesignated Route 109. Route 347 was designated in the 1990s as an alternate route to Route 47. The county has a total of 1,036.15 miles (1,667.52 km) of roadways, of which 730.07 miles (1,174.93 km) are maintained by the local municipality, 200.98 miles (323.45 km) by Cape May County, 74.18 miles (119.38 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and 30.92 miles (49.76 km) by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. There are 23 bridges owned by the county, including a series of causeways and bridges connecting the five barrier islands to the mainland. There is limited public transportation within the county. The ensuing traffic congestion during summer months causes roadway congestion. NJ Transit buses operate the following lines in and out of the county: 313, 315, 316, 319, 507, 509, 510, and 552. The Great American Trolley Company operates private trolleys in Cape May, the Wildwoods, and Ocean City. The county also has a Fare Free Transportation system for limited populations. There are three airports in the county. The oldest is Ocean City Municipal Airport, opened in 1937. In 1941, Cape May Airport opened about 5 mi (8.0 km) north of Cape May, originally as Naval Air Station Wildwood. Woodbine Municipal Airport opened in 1945. In 2009, the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area (MSA) ranked as the sixth highest in the United States for percentage of commuters who walked to work (8.4%). ## See also - National Register of Historic Places listings in Cape May County, New Jersey - South Seaville Camp Meeting [^1]: {{cite book\|author=John P. Snyder\|url= Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968\|publisher=Bureau of Geology and Topography\|year=1969\|location=Trenton, New Jersey\|access-date=March 26, 2018\|archive-date=June 5, 2012\|archive-url=

150 Nassau Street

Residential building in Manhattan, New York

150 Nassau Street, also known as the Park Place Tower and the American Tract Society Building, is a 23-story, 291-foot (89 m) building in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is located at the southeast corner of Spruce Street and Nassau Street, next to 8 Spruce Street, the former New York Times Building, and New York City Hall. 150 Nassau Street was built in 1894–1895 as the headquarters of the American Tract Society (ATS), a nonprofit, nonsectarian but evangelical organization that distributed religious tracts. Designed by the architect R. H. Robertson, it is one of the first skyscrapers built from a steel skeleton and was among New York City's tallest buildings when it was completed. 150 Nassau Street is located near Park Row, which contained several newspaper headquarters. The building failed to make a profit during ATS's occupancy, and the New York Life Insurance Company foreclosed on the building in 1914. After ATS moved out, the New York Sun occupied the building from 1914 to 1919. The building's 10th through 23rd floors were converted into condominiums between 1999 and 2002. In 1999, it was designated as a city landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. The American Tract Society Building is also a contributing property to the Fulton–Nassau Historic District, a National Register of Historic Places district created in 2005. ## Site 150 Nassau Street is located in the Financial District of Manhattan, just east of New York City Hall and the Civic Center. The building is located on a parallelogram-shaped plot that abuts Nassau Street to the west for 100 feet 7 inches (30.66 m) and Spruce Street to the north for 94 feet 6 inches (28.80 m). The Morse Building is immediately to the south, while a public plaza and 8 Spruce Street is located to the east. The Potter Building and 41 Park Row are located across Nassau Street and Pace University is located across Spruce Street. ## Architecture 150 Nassau Street was designed by Robert Henderson Robertson in the Romanesque style. The building is 291 feet (89 m) tall with 23 stories. 150 Nassau Street was one of New York City's first skyscrapers to employ a steel skeletal frame. It is designed with elements of Romanesque Revival and Renaissance Revival architecture. ### Form Much of the building is 20 stories high, except for its northwestern corner, which contains a small three-story tower with a pitched roof. The top of the main roof is 261 feet (80 m) tall, but the top of the pitched roof is 291 feet (89 m). The floors above the first story are U-shaped, with a small light court facing south. Two water towers were located above the main roof, but were removed. The Nassau Street side consists of a three-story arcade, meant to complement 41 Park Row to the west, with an open-air top story. ### Facade At the time of 150 Nassau Street's construction, the facades of many 19th-century early skyscrapers consisted of three horizontal sections similar to the components of a column, namely a base, midsection, and capital. 150 Nassau Street contains six horizontal layers, divided by band courses and cornices: of these, two are in the base, three in the midsection, and one at the capital. Both principal facades contain five vertical bays. The main entrance, located in the center bay on Nassau Street, consists of a double-height archway supported by two pairs of columns, one on each side. Underneath the arch is an elaborate entablature and a semicircular transom. The windows are mostly sash windows. The principal facades are the northern and western facades, which are made of self-supporting masonry on the ground through fifth floors, and brick and terracotta supported by the building's box girders on the upper floors. The basement on the Spruce Street side is visible due to the downward slope of the lot from west to east. On the lowest two floors of both principal facades, each bay contains an arched window. On each of the third through 20th floors, there are two sash windows in each bay. The 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th floors are framed by cornices on their tops and bottoms, and divide the midsection into three distinct horizontal segments. The 19th through 23rd floors form a "capital"; the 19th and 20th floors cover the entire lot area and are similar in design to the lower floors, but the 21st floor contains an arched, open-air arcade measuring two bays wide on Spruce Street and five bays wide on Nassau Street. The 21st through 23rd stories constitute the building's tower: 21st and 22nd stories contain tile walls and rectangular windows, while the 23rd floor contains a pitched roof with dormers. The southern and eastern facades are made of self-supporting brick below the 13th floor and are supported by lattice girders above that point. These facades mostly lack ornament. The lower five stories of the eastern facade served as a party wall to a now-demolished building on Spruce Street. Terracotta, possibly created by New York Architectural Terra Cotta, was used for decorative detail on the facade. When built, the top story contained further ornamentation such as a flagpole and finials, which caused the building to stand out on the skyline. The winged figures on the facade's uppermost portion were similar to that of Robertson's previous Corn Exchange Bank building at William and Nassau Streets. ### Foundation The ground directly underneath 150 Nassau Street was made of a layer of fine red sand extending 36 feet (11 m) deep, then a 7-to-8-foot (2.1 to 2.4 m) layer of clay, followed by another layer of fine sand. The layer of bedrock was located 100 feet (30 m) underground, and the builders decided against digging to the depth of the bedrock using pneumatic caissons. During construction, the foundation was excavated to a depth of 35 feet (11 m). The builders then drove pilings into the ground. Each piling was made of spruce tree trunks between 20 and 25 feet (6.1 and 7.6 m) long and 10 to 14 inches (250 to 360 mm) wide. Atop each piling was granite blocks, then vertical brick piers, and finally cast-iron footings for the building's columns. Along portions of the south and west walls, the builders could not install pilings to provide foundations for the columns. These columns were instead supported by cantilevers made of trusses; six pairs of cantilevers were used. Several neighboring buildings, including the Morse Building, were underpinned while the foundation was being built. The columns are generally spaced 18 to 19 feet (5.5 to 5.8 m) apart. ### Features 150 Nassau Street uses some 2,665 short tons (2,379 long tons; 2,418 t) of metal. Generally, each floor is supported by pairings of I-beams, with each pairing spaced about 6.3 feet (1.9 m) apart. The I-beams under the basement through third floors are 12 inches (300 mm) thick, while the I-beams under the remaining floors are 15 inches (380 mm) thick. Box girders are also located under the 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th floors, and plate girders are under the 19th floor. The floors themselves are made of flat brick arches 12 inches (300 mm) deep. The columns were wrapped with 4 inches (100 mm) of brick to provide fireproofing. 150 Nassau Street features six elevators arranged around a semicircular space in the northwest corner of the building. Of these, two were originally "express elevators" running non-stop to the upper floors. The building's only fire staircase is located on the opposite side of the semicircular elevator lobbies on each floor. Upon the building's completion, the ATS described the new facilities as "convenient or necessary for an office of the highest standard". These included radiators under every window, as well as steam, electric and gas services. Two storefronts were located at ground level and there was space for four additional stores in the basement; the 22nd floor also contained a restaurant. The rest of the building had space for more than 700 offices. As built, each floor had 36 offices, which could be rented either as singular units or as part of a multi-unit suite. The corridors in the building were built to a relatively narrow width to maximize office space. Since the building's 2002 renovation, the lowest nine floors contain 80 corporate offices. The 10th through 23rd floors contain 45 luxury condominiums, most of which are two- or three-bedroom units. The top three floors contain a penthouse unit with 6,400 square feet (590 m²) of space, an outdoor deck, a private terrace on the roof, and ceilings 18 feet (5.5 m) tall. The penthouse, dubbed the "Skyhouse", was designed by David Hotson and Ghislaine Viñas, and includes features such as geometrical designs and an 80-foot (24 m) slide. As originally planned, the 23rd story was to be used as condominiums. ## History ### Planning The American Tract Society, or ATS, was established in 1825 as a nonprofit, nonsectarian but evangelical organization. It was the first organization in the U.S. formed specifically to give out religious tracts. ATS bought land in 1825 at the southwest corner of Nassau and Spruce Streets, completing its four-story Tract House the next year. The house's addresses were subsequently changed to 144 Nassau Street in 1827, and then to 150 Nassau Street in 1833. A five-story Tract House was built on the same site in 1846–1847. ATS subsequently went into financial decline after the Panic of 1873. By 1886, the society had voted for a "thorough examination of all [its] affairs and business". In 1894, ATS's executive committee proposed relocating uptown to Madison Square Park, stating that most of New York City's commerce had relocated further north. Two years later, ATS decided instead to build a new speculative skyscraper on its current land, calling the site "a safe and remunerative investment". During the late 19th century, the surrounding area had grown into the "Newspaper Row", as several newspaper headquarters had been built on the adjacent Park Row, including the New York Times Building, the Potter Building, the Park Row Building, and the New York World Building. Meanwhile, printing was centered around Beekman Street, less than one block south of 150 Nassau Street. ### Construction ATS bought two nearby lots in March 1894 and Robertson announced plans for a new 23-story skyscraper on the site the following month. Robertson submitted these plans to the New York City Department of Buildings in May 1894. The structure was expected to cost \$1 million. ATS financed the project by mortgaging its existing property. Construction began almost immediately afterward. William Williams Crehore was the engineering consultant, John Downey was the general contractor, and George R. Read served both as construction supervisor and managing agent. Keystone Bridge Works was the steel supplier, Atlas Iron Construction was the steel contractor, and Louis Weber Building was the masonry contractor. The structure was erected with the largest derrick utilized in the city at the time, completing two stories per week. Two double-drum engines were installed on the seventh floor of the light court to bring up the material: one with 30 horsepower (22 kW) and the other with 50 horsepower (37 kW). There were fears that the adjacent Morse Building was structurally unstable when a crack appeared in the facade due to 150 Nassau Street's construction, though engineers said it was not serious. During the new building's construction, ATS was exempt from real-estate taxes. In early 1895 the under-construction building was assessed at \$300,000, of which \$6,000 of taxes would have normally had to be paid. The New York Life Insurance Company offered ATS a \$1.25 million mortgage loan on the property that July. The project was completed by September 1895. At that point, it was among the city's tallest buildings, behind only the Manhattan Life Insurance Building, the World Building, Madison Square Garden, and St. Patrick's Cathedral. However, 150 Nassau Street contained usable space up to its top story, while the other structures' top sections were composed mainly of spires or domes. 150 Nassau Street was largely a speculative development, relying on businesses from the nearby Civic Center neighborhood to occupy the structure. Upon the building's completion, the New York City Department of Public Works leased the basement, 17th floor, and one of the two ground-level storefronts. ### American Tract Society use The construction of the new headquarters caused ATS to go into debt. From its opening, 150 Nassau Street was beset with "painful disappointments", in part because of its inability to attract tenants. Several major elevator accidents also occurred at the building. In one such accident, a cab dropped from a lower floor to the cellar, and in another, a cab dropped from the eighth to the fifth floor without slowing down; however, no serious injuries were incurred in either incident. The third such incident occurred in November 1896, when a cab dropped from the 10th floor to the basement, injuring three people. ATS replaced the Otis elevators with Crane elevators in early 1897. Despite this, in September 1897, another elevator dropped 19 floors, killing the two occupants. The coroner's jury did not find anyone culpable in the 1897 incident, but highlighted a need for a "competent" elevator maintenance engineer. The elevator accidents, which were covered intensively by the media, were among the reasons why tenants were reluctant to rent space in the building. By 1900, 150 Nassau Street had over 3,000 employees. In subsequent years, 150 Nassau Street was occupied by ATS's publishing and administrative offices, as well as several "tenants of questionable character", which in turn led to accusations of mismanagement. ATS defaulted on the mortgage in 1913, and after unsuccessfully attempting to raise funds, gave the structure to the New York Life Company the following year. ### Later history In August 1914, it was announced that the New York Sun would move into 150 Nassau Street and demolish its former headquarters nearby at Nassau and Frankfort Streets. The Sun started moving into the building in July 1915, taking space in the basement and the second through fifth floors. Around the same time, 150 Nassau was placed for sale. The New York Life Insurance Company filed a lawsuit to foreclose on the building's \$1.25 million mortgage. In 1916, a New York Supreme Court judge appointed a referee to oversee the foreclosure, and New York Life took over the building. The building was damaged the same year by a fire at a nearby low-rise building on Beekman Street. The Sun moved to 280 Broadway during 1919, the same year that 150 Nassau was sold to the 150 Nassau Street Corporation. Tenants during this time included the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, founded in 1921. 150 Nassau Street Corporation defaulted on the building's mortgage in 1936, and New York Life took back the building. New York Life retained ownership of 150 Nassau until January 1945, when David S. Meister bought the building. Meister then resold the property in November 1946 to a group of investors represented by Ralph Freidus. The New York World and Tribune buildings immediately to the north were demolished in the 1950s and 1960s, and Pace College (later Pace University) built 1 Pace Plaza on the site of the latter. Pace also acquired 150 Nassau Street and other nearby buildings in 1967, with plans to destroy them and build an office tower. These plans did not proceed and Pace University sold 150 Nassau Street in 1982. Nassau Equities bought the building in 1998 and proposed renovating the upper stories with offices and residences. A controversy ensued when Nassau Equities' executive Jack Lefkowitz attempted to evict all the tenants at once. The next year, on June 15, 1999, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building as an official city landmark. Renovations took place during 2001 and were completed the next year. On September 7, 2005, the building was designated as a contributing property to the Fulton–Nassau Historic District, a National Register of Historic Places district. The penthouse unit went unsold until 2007 when it was purchased by Google engineering director Craig Nevill-Manning and his wife. By 2013 the penthouse was on sale for \$20 million. That same year, residents filed a lawsuit to prevent a Denny's restaurant from opening in the building. The restaurant moved to 150 Nassau Street anyway, but closed permanently in 2018. ## Critical reception Lower Manhattan's late-19th century skyscrapers generally received mixed reception. Negative criticism focused mainly on the layered design of the facade. A writer for the Architectural Record said that 150 Nassau Street had a "repetition of motif". Sarah Landau, summarizing critics' general sentiments toward the building, said that "detractors object[ed] to the breaking up of the street elevations into six horizontal divisions and to the considerable diversity of treatment from top to bottom", but that the layers were typical of Robertson's designs. Montgomery Schuyler praised the design of the building's top, but was critical of the facade's six-part horizontal division, saying that it was "arbitrary" and failed to "correspond to any actual requirement, mechanical or aesthetic". The building also received praise because of the facade's layering, rather than in spite of it. An Engineering News article stated that, as a result of the inclusion of details such as belt courses, "the general treatment of the building by its designer is very good and the appearance is quite pleasing". Robertson himself found skyscrapers to be "uninteresting architecturally", but that despite the many restrictions that he felt to be a hindrance to skyscraper design, "something monumental could be made out of the building". The Landmarks Preservation Commission wrote that the building was architecturally notable as the result of a "contemporary search for an appropriate solution for the architectural expression for a skyscraper". ## See also - List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan below 14th Street

Appears

1999 song by Ayumi Hamasaki

"Appears" is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released by Avex Trax on November 10, 1999 as the sixth single from her second studio album Loveppears (1999), which was released on the same day. Alongside this, it has been released in several other territories with different release dates under her Western alias Ayu. It also served as Hamasaki's first limited edition single, limiting physical sales to 300,000 copies. The track was written by Hamasaki herself, while production was handled by long-time collaborator Max Matsuura. Musically, "Appears" is a dance song written in third person perspective, and is about the third person watching what appears to be a happy and loving relationship. Upon its release, "Appears" received positive reviews from music critics. Alexey Eremenko, writing for AllMusic, selected the track as the best song from the album and her career. However, an editor from CD Journal criticized the amount of remixes on the CD single. Commercially, the single was a success in Japan, peaking at number two on the Oricon Singles Chart and TBS' Count Down TV chart. It sold just below its restricted 300,000 units, and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for shipments of 200,000 units. An accompanying music video was directed by Wataru Takeishi, which displays Hamasaki walking around New York City and observing people. To promote the single, it appeared on several remix and greatest hits compilation albums conducted by Hamasaki, and has been included on some of her concert tours, including part two of her 2000 concert tour and the 2007 Secret Tour. ## Background and composition "Appears" was written by Hamasaki herself, while production was handled by longtime collaborator Max Matsuura. The song's instrumentation consists of guitar by musician Naoya Akimoto and keyboards by Japanese pop band HΛL. It was then composed together by Kazuhito Kikuchi and mixed by HΛL. An alternative version of "Appears" was released as the single-edit, which was primarily composed and mixed by Kikuchi, but this edit did not appear on the final cut of Hamasaki's second studio album Loveppears (1999). Musically, "Appears" is a dance song, a genre that is heavily influenced throughout the parent album. In a special commentary for Hamasaki's compilation album A Ballads (2003), where a third version of the track is included, she stated that the lyrical content was written in third person perspective, a trait that is shared with the rest of the album's tracks. She stated that the song is about the third person watching a happy and loving relationship: "It's about lovers who appear to be happy and are living each day in their usual way. But there is a sense that a third person is watching from a distance." The song's title is loosely based on the album's title Loveppears, which was originally planned to be called "Lovers Appear". ## Release "Appears" was released by Avex Trax on November 10, 1999 as the sixth single from the album, which was also released on the same day. The CD single, which was distributed in Japan and Hong Kong, included 12 tracks: six remixes of "Appears", two remixes of her previous single "Whatever", and two remixes of her previous promotional single "Immature". The last two tracks are instrumentals of the HΛL remix and Keisuke Kikuchi remix of "Appears" and "Immature" (titled '99 Greetings Mix and JT Original CM Mix). Two separate 12" vinyls were distributed by Japanese label Rhythm Republic, featuring remixes of both "Appears" and "Whatever". It was Hamasaki's first single to be distributed in North America, which was remixed by American DJ Junior Vasquez and released on May 27, 2001. It was furthered distributed by Drizzly Records throughout Europe in 2005–06 under Hamasaki's Western alias Ayu; it was released on 12" vinyl and CD single formats. The artwork for digital and Japanese formats featured a darkened skin version of Hamasaki's portrait on Loveppears; like both covers, it garnered controversy due to its provocative nature. ## Reception Upon its release, "Appears" received positive reviews from music critics. AllMusic's Alexey Eremenko, whom contributed to writing Hamasaki's biography on the website, selected the track as some of her best work. A mixed review came from a staff member at CD Journal, who questioned the inclusion of remixes on the CD single. Though the editor commended the club inspired composition, he/she criticized how it took over Hamasaki's vocal performance and felt the sound was slightly "geeky". Commercially, the single was a success in Japan. It debuted at number two on the Oricon Singles Chart, selling 273,760 units in its first week of sales. It lasted three weeks on the top 200, becoming one of Hamasaki's lowest spanning singles in that chart. It debuted at number two on the Count Down TV chart hosted by Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS), stalled from the top spot by Hikaru Utada's "Addicted to You". It lasted four weeks in the top 100. Part one of the "Appears"/"Whatever" 12" vinyl reached number 96 on the same chart, entering on chart date February 5, 2000. By the end of 1999, it had sold over 282,000 units in Japan, making it the 81st highest selling single of that year in that country; it was also Hamasaki's fifth addition on the Oricon Yearly Chart, just behind her singles "To Be", "Love (Destiny)", "Boys & Girls", and her extended play A (1999). That same year, it ranked at number 84 on TBS' Annual Chart. In January 2000, the single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for shipments of 200,000 units. As of July 2016, "Appears" has sold 290,550 units in Japan, and is her 28th highest selling single based on Oricon Style's data base. ## Music video and promotion An accompanying music video was directed by Wataru Takeishi. The video opens with shots of New York City, and then has Hamasaki on a rooftop. Hamasaki is then singing the track with several different camera angles circulating her and the city. During the first verse, it has her in an apartment, sitting on a couch with a butterfly hair clip; this scene is used throughout the entire video. It then has three shots of her in different clothes; one with a brown leather jacket, brown wig and cowboy hat, the second with a red dress on, and the third with a black jacket and crop hair style. The shot with her in the brown leather jacket, brown wig and cowboy hat then shows her on a rooftop singing the song. The final pre-chorus and chorus has her driving through New York City, and has her in a pink dress watching the snow fall; it ends with her in the red dress, holding her hands out for the snow to fall. The music video was included on several DVD compilations released by Hamasaki: A Clips (2000), A Complete Box Set (2004), the digital release of A Clips Complete (2014), and the DVD and Blu-Ray re-release edition of her 2001 compilation album A Best (2016). "Appears" has been heavily promoted on compilation albums and live performances. As of July 2016, it has been included on eight of Hamasaki's remix albums, including Super Eurobeat Presents Ayu-ro Mix (2000) and Ayu-mi-x II Version Non-Stop Mega Mix (2001). The single has also been used on greatest hits albums conducted by Hamasaki, including A Best (2001), the HΛL's remix on A Ballads (2003), A Complete: All Singles (2007), and most recently on her 2014 Christmas compilation Winter Ballad Selection. It was specially remixed by Junior Vasquez and added onto Hamasaki's remix extended play, The Other Side Two: Junior Vasquez. The single has been included on three major concert tours hosted by Hamasaki, including part two of her 2000 concert tour, her 2007 Secret Tour, and her 2012 Hotel Love Songs tour in Japan. ## Track listing and formats - CD single 1. "Appears" ('99 Greeting Mix) – 5:38 2. "Appears" (Scud Filter Mix) – 6:03 3. "Appears" (Dub's Eurotech Remix) – 8:03 4. "Whatever" (Ferry 'System F' Corsten Dub Mix) – 7:38 5. "Appears" (JP's SoundFactory Mix) – 7:58 6. "Appears" (HAL's Mix) – 4:41 7. "Immature" (D-Z Dual Lucifer Mix) – 4:35 8. "Whatever" (Ferry 'System F' Corsten Vocal Extended Mix) – 6:29 9. "Appears" (Keith Litman's Mix Of Truth) – 8:25 10. "Immature" (JT Original CM Version) – 4:45 11. "Appears" (Scud Filter Mix) [Instrumental] – 6:03 12. "Immature" (JT Original CM Version) [Instrumental] – 4:45 - "Appears" / "Whatever" 12" vinyl (Part 1) 1. "Appears" (Dub's Eurotech Remix) – 8:03 2. "Appears" (HAL's Mix) – 4:41 3. "Appears" (Scud Filter Mix) – 6:03 4. "Appears" ('99 Greeting Mix) – 5:38 - "Appears" / "Whatever" 12" vinyl (Part 2) 1. "Appears" (JP's SoundFactory Mix) – 7:58 2. "Appears" (Keith Litman's Mix Of Truth) – 8:25 3. "Whatever" (Ferry 'System F' Corsten Vocal Extended Mix) – 6:29 - US vinyl 1. "Appears" (Junior's Club Mix) – 9:41 2. "Appears" (Junior's Instrumental) – 9:45 3. "Appears" (Junior's Padapella) – 8:02 - "Appears" / "Immature" 12" vinyl 1. Appears" ('99 Greeting Mix) – 5:38 2. "Immature" (JT Original CM Version) – 4:45 - Germany 12" vinyl 1. "Appears" (Armin van Buuren's Rising Star 12" Instr. Mix) – 9:11 2. "Appears" (Armin van Buuren's Sunset Dub Mix) – 9:23 3. "Appears" (Kyau vs. Albert Remix) – 8:15 4. "Appears" (Kyau vs. Albert Dub) – 7:58 5. "Appears" (Vince The Saint vs. Villa Remix) – 6:08 - German CD single 1. "Appears" (Armin van Buuren's Rising Star Radio Edit) – 4:08 2. "Appears" (Kyau vs. Albert Radio Edit) – 3:38 3. "Appears" (Armin van Buuren's Rising Star 12" Mix) – 9:11 4. "Appears" (Kyau vs. Albert Dub) – 7:58 5. "Appears" (Vince The Saint vs. Villa Remix) – 6:08 - UK CD Single 1. "Appears" (Armin van Buuren's Rising Star 12" Mix) – 9:11 2. "Appears" (Kyau vs. Albert Remix) – 8:15 3. "Appears" (Vince The Saint vs. Villa Remix) – 6:08 4. "Appears" (Armin van Buuren's Rising Dub Mix) – 9:20 5. "Appears" (Kyau vs. Albert Dub) – 7:58 6. "Appears" – 9:14 - Digital download 1. "Appears" ('99 Greeting Mix) – 5:38 2. "Appears" (Scud Filter Mix) – 6:03 3. "Appears" (Dub's Eurotech Remix) – 8:03 4. "Whatever" (Ferry 'System F' Corsten Dub Mix) – 7:38 5. "Appears" (JP's SoundFactory Mix) – 7:58 6. "Appears" (HAL's Mix) – 4:41 7. "Immature" (D-Z Dual Lucifer Mix) – 4:35 8. "Whatever" (Ferry 'System F' Corsten Vocal Extended Mix) – 6:29 9. "Appears" (Keith Litman's Mix Of Truth) – 8:25 10. "Immature" (JT Original CM Version) – 4:45 11. "Appears" ('99 Greeting Mix) – 5:38 12. "Appears" (Scud Filter Mix) [Instrumental] – 6:03 13. "Immature" (JT Original CM Version) [Instrumental] – 4:45 ## Personnel Credits adapted from the CD liner notes of Loveppears; Recording - Recorded at Soundtrack Studios, New York City, New York, US. Credits - Ayumi Hamasaki – vocals, songwriting, background vocals - Max Matsuura – production - Kazuhito Kikuchi – composing, programming, mixing - Naoya Akimoto – guitar - HΛL – keyboards, programming - Wataru Takeishi – music video director - Dave Way – mixing ## Charts ### Weekly charts ### Yearly chart ## Certification ## Release history

Run the World (Girls)

2011 song by Beyoncé

"Run the World (Girls)" is a song recorded by American singer Beyoncé, from her fourth studio album 4 (2011), released as the lead single from the album on April 21, 2011. It was written and produced by R&B singer The-Dream and Beyoncé, while heavily sampling "Pon de Floor" by Major Lazer written by Nick "Afrojack" van de Wall, Wesley "Diplo" Pentz, David "Switch" Taylor and Adidja "Vybz Kartel" Palmer. Additional production was handled by Switch and Shea Taylor. The song's development was motivated by Beyoncé wanting to do something different: a mixture of different cultures and eras, a new sound, and a message which would give women strength. An unedited demo of the song, then thought to be titled "Girls (Who Run the World)", was leaked on the internet on April 18, 2011. "Run the World" premiered on US radio on April 21, 2011, and was digitally released the same day. "Run the World" is an electropop and R&B song that heavily samples "Pon de Floor" by Major Lazer. The song's title and lyrics comprise an unapologetically aggressive message promoting female empowerment. "Run the World" initially divided critics; some complimented the song's sample, its musical direction, and Beyoncé's aggressiveness, while others criticized the continuation of past themes and stated that they wanted to see Beyoncé covering new topics. Several critics compared "Run the World" to Beyoncé's other singles with similar themes such as "Independent Women" (2000) – with Destiny's Child, and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" (2008) among others, stating that "Run the World" takes a more direct and assertive approach towards female empowerment. In the United States, the single peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It fared better internationally, reaching the top ten in Australia, Belgium, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Scotland. It was also a top 20 hit in Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The song's accompanying music video was directed by Francis Lawrence and was filmed in California over a three-day span. The video won Best Choreography at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards and Best Dance Performance at the 2011 Soul Train Music Awards. Beyoncé promoted "Run the World" with high-profile live performances, notably at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards and on the French X Factor. Although her performance at the Billboard Music Awards was well received by critics, it ignited controversy surrounding the production due to visual similarities to a performance by Italian entertainer Lorella Cuccarini in February 2010 at the 60th Sanremo Music Festival in Italy. "Run the World" was used to awaken the crew of the final mission of the US Space Shuttle Atlantis and was dedicated to Mission Specialist Sandra Magnus. Heather Morris covered "Run the World" for "Asian F", an episode of the American television show Glee. ## Background and development In an interview with The Capital FM Network in early March 2011, Shea Taylor confirmed that 4's lead single would premiere at the end of April. "Run the World" was written by Terius "The-Dream" Nash, Beyoncé, Nick van de Wall, Thomas Wesley Pentz, Dave Taylor, and Adidja Palmer. It was produced by Switch, The-Dream, Beyoncé and Taylor. "Run the World" was recorded by DJ Swivel and Pat Thrall at MSR Studios, New York City, and was mixed by Serban Ghenea at MixStar Studios, Virginia Beach. Before release, the song's title was rumored to be "Girls (Who Run the World)". On April 14, 2011, two portions of the song leaked online while an unfinished demo of "Run the World (Girls)" was leaked online on April 18, 2011. In an interview with Billboard, Beyoncé described the song: > It's definitely riskier than something a bit more... simple. I just heard the track and loved that it was so different: it felt a bit African, a bit electronic and futuristic. It reminded me of what I love, which is mixing different cultures and eras — things that typically don't go together — to create a new sound. I can never be safe; I always try and go against the grain. As soon as I accomplish one thing, I just set a higher goal. That's how I've gotten to where I am. Between June 16 and June 27, 2011, one song from 4 each day was available to listen to on Beyoncé's official website, together with its accompanying photographs from the album packaging and a quote. On June 27, 2011, "Run the World (Girls)" was the twelfth song to be made available. In the accompanying quote, Beyoncé said: "I try to write songs that will bring out the best in all of us and keep us close together. I think about saying the things that women want to say but sometimes are not confident enough to say. I am going to continue to write those songs that give women strength." ## Release and artwork After the single leaked on the internet, it was released early. "Run the World (Girls)" premiered on US radio on April 21, 2011, at 8 am. EST, and was made available for download on iTunes Stores worldwide the same day. According to Digital Spy, the single was available on iTunes, and podcast service Concrete Loop, without payment a few hours before its official release. "Run the World (Girls)" was released to mainstream, urban contemporary and urban adult contemporary radio on April 26, 2011. According to MTV News, "Run the World (Girls)" was well received by Beyoncé's fans on Twitter. A Digital EP with three remixes of the song was released in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and the UK, on September 2, 2011. The cover art for "Run the World (Girls)" was previewed on April 20, 2011. On the cover, Beyoncé strikes a bold pose while standing in sand. With her fist in the air covered in forearm protectors, Beyoncé wears a hip cut draping yellow Emilio Pucci dress and black stiletto boots. The Los Angeles Times wrote that the photograph points to a "...post-apocalyptic war zone, donning an elaborate gold headdress and holding a red flag emblazoned with a black 'B'." The photograph was taken on April 14, 2011. Tray Hova of Vibe magazine complimented the cover art of the single, stating that Beyoncé looks "resplendent as hell" on the cover and that "Nobody's complaining about Bey season here." Eleanor Young, in Marie Claire, described the cover art as "hideous". Ray Rogers of Billboard stated that Beyoncé "clearly transmits her trademark message of female empowerment". Becky Bain of Idolator described the cover as "pretty disappointing", and that, with a "ballistic, over-the-top club banger" song like "Run the World (Girls)", she expected something more than a body shot of Beyoncé, and criticized the cover for being confusing regarding the location of the photography. However, Bain complimented Beyoncé on her choice of stilettoes as "...serious business". ## Composition "Run the World" is an electropop and R&B song. Jocelyn Vena of MTV News described the song as a "club banger" and "female empowerment/girl power type of song", like several of Beyoncé's previous singles, including "Independent Women" (2000)—with Destiny's Child—and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" (2008). Shea Taylor said that the track draws more from pop music than R&B, and is reminiscent of Michael Jackson's prime work. "Run the World (Girls)" also incorporates dancehall influences in the tradition of "Get Me Bodied" (2007). The "high energy" song contains elements of go-go, and is set to a marching militaristic drumbeat sampled from the club song "Pon de Floor" by Major Lazer and Vybz Kartel. "Run the World" also consists of heavy synth pangs and African and marching percussion. A review in The Huffington Post, and Kevin O'Donnell of Spin magazine, noted that "Run the World (Girls)" features shout vocals and raw chanting. In an interview with Ray Rogers of Billboard, Beyoncé stated that this was something she wanted to showcase in 4, "I used a lot of the brassiness and grittiness in my voice that people hear in my live performances, but not necessarily on my records." Kathy McCabe of Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph likened "Run the World" to "Single Ladies" and "Diva" (2009). Johnston Breihan of The Village Voice compared "Run the World (Girls)" to schoolyard chants, due to its "cheer-team beats" and the repetitive use of the word "Girls". Billboard magazine's critic Jem Aswad described the song's production, lyrics and Beyoncé's vocals: > "Run the World (Girls)" is a complex but catchy track that's actually more reminiscent of M.I.A. and Santigold than Sasha Fierce. The song combines a dancefloor-defying military drumbeat, a sample from Switch's group Major Lazer, an unconventional song structure and some incongruously pretty, layered melodics that are basically chanted but still employ [Knowles'] full vocal range. The lyrics, however, are just as female-empowering as we've come to expect. There's much more to the song than first meets the ear—it confuses on first listen but coalesces beautifully with repeated plays. Rap-Up stated that Beyoncé is dominant over men in "Run the World". "Run the World" opens with a short piano solo and a heavy beat. Beyoncé chants, "Girls! / We run this mutha / Girls! / Who run the world." It moves into smoother, more persuasive but still boastful lyrics, "I think I need a barber/ None of these niggas can fade me/ I'm so good with this/ I remind you I'm so 'hood with this." She then delivers the repetitive hook and chorus lines. In the second verse, Beyoncé sings that education gives women strength and independence. Other lyrics of this theme include the line, "smart enough to make these millions, strong enough to bear the children, then get back to business." Jocelyn Vena of MTV News said that Beyoncé sings in her signature staccato style on the second verse of the song. She repeats the chorus after the bridge lines and her vocals fade out as the song finishes. ## Critical reception Critics had mixed reactions towards the track. Amos Barshad writing for the New York magazine described "Run the World (Girls)" as "kind of a monster — aggressive and intense and totally committed". He also called the song declarative and felt that as a lead single, it was "bluntly effective." Matt Donnelly of The Los Angeles Times compared "Run the World (Girls)" to several of Beyoncé's previous singles, stating that the song has a harder edge than "Independent Women Pt. 1", nevertheless, it does not contain "the gritty, futuristic chic" of "Diva" (2009). Jenna Clarke of The Sydney Morning Herald called it an "infectious sounding track" having a catchy dance beat with empowering lyrics and added that the song showcases "a grittier sounding Beyoncé", yet still following the "power footsteps" of her other chart topping hits such as "Single Ladies" and "Crazy In Love" (2003). Kevin O'Donnell of Spin magazine described the song as "a rousing girl power anthem", which resembles "Single Ladies" and "If I Were a Boy" (2008), and highlighted that "Run The World (Girls)" is "far rowdier" than any of those songs because of its synth squiggles and raw chanting. Jarett Wieselman of the New York Post considered "Run the World (Girls)" to be one of the most exciting tracks Beyoncé has ever released. Jocelyn Vena of MTV News called "Run the World (Girls)" a "sassy [song with] girl-power lyrics paired with [a] club appeal", further writing that the song is "loud and proud in its relentless message", and that Beyoncé "is clearly rallying the troops to her side". Nick Minichind of VH1 lauded the song for several pointed comments on empowerment which according to him, "are skillfully weaved into the lyrics, without feeling out of place." He also wrote that "Run the World (Girls)" restores girls' own subjectivity and that the bridge shows a "practically Cleopatra-channeling Beyoncé." Lewis Corner from Digital Spy described "Run the World (Girls)" as "yet another female-empowerment revolution that is sure to dominate dancefloors this summer". Robert Copsey, also writing for Digital Spy, awarded the song four stars out of five, complimenting the "earthy beats, hypnotising hooks and militant drums pound[ing] relentlessly as Queen B declares it's 'GRLZ who run this mutha' with more woman-friendly conviction than Geri Halliwell at a Spice Girls convention circa 1998." Tom Breihan of Pitchfork Media wrote that "Run the World (Girls)" is "as devotedly pro-female as the title would lead you to expect", and is as dancefloor-directed as Beyoncé gets, in the tradition of "Get Me Bodied" and "Single Ladies". Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani wrote "[Beyoncé] misses the mark big time here" and called the song "plain daft". He, however, praised the song's bridge and Beyoncé "warm, gooey harmonies". Maura Johnston of The Village Voice disapproved of the song's lack of structure, calling it "a bit overstuffed, but fairly enjoyable". Dallas Observer critic Shahryar Rizvi stated that the track "cribs a bit" from Major Lazer's "Pon de Floor" and M.I.A.'s track "Boyz", but added that Beyoncé being a couple of years late in acquiring this sound was "a problem". In a negative appraisal, Tom Hull cited the song's "punk rigidity" as the worst of 4's "overkill production", while saying, "girls are ever going to run the world sounding like the Sweet." ### Rankings Digital Spy ranked "Run the World" at number 16 on its list of 25 Best Songs of 2011. Jon Pareles of The New York Times placed the song in his list of Top Songs from 2011. It received a Teen Choice Award for Choice R&B/Hip-Hop Track at the 2011 Teen Choice Awards. "Run the World" was nominated for Best Single at the 2011 Virgin Media Music Awards. On The Village Voice's 2011 year-end Pazz & Jop singles list, "Run the World (Girls)" was ranked at number 137. The song was nominated for Best R&B/Urban Dance Track at the 27th Annual International Dance Music Awards. In 2013, John Boone and Jennifer Cady of E! Online placed the song at number seven on their list of ten best Beyoncé's songs, writing that it "had everyone, male and female, dancing". The same year, the writers of Complex magazine put the song at number 25 on their list of Beyoncé's 25 best songs, adding that her assertion "we run this mother", "practically wills every woman who hears this song to aspire to bigger things". ## Chart performance Three days after its release to digital download outlets, the single debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 18 on April 24, 2011. A week later it had risen to number 11 and debuted at number five on the UK R&B chart. The song descended the chart for five consecutive weeks to number 45 before rising again to number 23 on the singles chart and from number 12 to number 6 on the R&B chart on May 29, 2011, when the music video was released. In Ireland, the single debuted at number 11 on April 28, 2011, the highest chart entry that week and in France, "Run the World (Girls)" debuted at number 33 with 2,065 copies sold. It peaked at number 12. On May 1, 2011, the song entered the Australian Singles Chart at number 12, being the highest new entry that week, and at number six on its urban chart. One day later, "Run the World (Girls)" debuted at number 21 in New Zealand, where it was the highest new entry that week. "Run the World (Girls)" declined in the charts in Australia and New Zealand. However, after the release of its music video, the single rose from number 42 to number 15 on the ARIA Singles Chart and peaked at number 4 on its urban chart on May 30, 2011. The following week, it climbed to number 10 on the singles chart, where it peaked. It was certified 5× platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for sales of over 350,000 copies. The video release helped "Run the World (Girls)" re-enter the New Zealand Singles Chart at number 26 on May 23, 2011 and it peaked the following week at number nine. "Run the World (Girls)" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) for sales of over 7,500 copies. "Run the World (Girls)" debuted at number 40 on Canadian Hot 100 chart issue dated May 7, 2011. Paul Tuch of Nielsen SoundScan called the debut impressive as the song was released between digital and radio charts. It stands as Beyoncé's highest entry as a solo artist on the chart. After declining in the chart for three consecutive weeks, "Run the World (Girls)" left the chart in the week ending May 28, 2011. For the week ending June 11, 2011, the single recovered from number 60 to number 16 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart, receiving the titles of the greatest chart mover and the greatest digital gainer. For the issue dated May 7, 2011, "Run the World (Girls)" debuted at number 23 on the US Hot Digital Songs chart, selling 77,000 downloads sold. and at number 65 on the Radio Songs chart with 18 million listener impressions. It accordingly debuted at position 33 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and was the highest debut on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, opening at number 41. Digital sales of the single declined by 39%, amassing a total of a total of 47,000 downloads; it fell to number 39 on the Hot Digital Songs chart. "Run the World (Girls)" was the highest debut, starting at number 37 on the US Pop Songs chart issue dated May 21, 2011. For the same week ending, the song continued to descend the Hot 100 chart to number 65. One week later, the single debuted at number 43 on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart, becoming Beyoncé's nineteenth solo entry on that chart. The same week, the single fell to number 76 on the Hot 100 chart. After descending the Hot 100 chart for four consecutive weeks, "Run the World (Girls)" recovered 26 places, moving from number 76 to number 50 for the week ending June 4, 2011, promoted by the song's re-entry on the Hot Digital Songs chart at number 44 after its music video's release. The following week, the single escalated to number 29 on the Hot 100 chart, which was its peak, as it descended the Hot 100 chart in subsequent weeks. "Run the World (Girls)" peaked at number one on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart issue dated July 9, 2011. On August 8, 2022, it was certified 4× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales and streams of over 4,000,000 units. ## Music video ### Background and release The music video for "Run the World (Girls)" was directed by Francis Lawrence. Beyoncé worked with eight choreographers, including Frank Gatson and Sheryl Murakami. The Mozambican dance group Tofo Tofo was also a major source of inspiration for the video's choreography; after having seen their videos on YouTube but struggling to adopt the group's unique dancing style on her own, Beyoncé invited Tofo Tofo to LA, where they taught her their style and were featured in the music video themselves as well. The executive producer was Missy Galanida. Filming took place in the Mojave Desert and Inglewood, California. Images from the Mojave shoot were leaked online on April 12, 2011, showing Beyoncé standing in a smoky, post-apocalyptic war zone, wearing a gladiator outfit and a gold crown, and waving a red flag with a "B" logo. She was surrounded by dancers in brightly colored skirts, black military-style jackets and peaked caps. Other images showed an army of women posing against a ravaged car with the word "Révolution" sprayed on it. Posters of Beyoncé's face are seen behind the women. In an interview with MTV News on April 18, 2011, director Francis Lawrence, who had previously directed the video for Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" (2009), discussed the music video: > "I just shot a Beyoncé video at the beginning of this last week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, which was fun, and I hadn't done a video since 2009. It'll be big, it'll probably be one of the bigger Beyoncé music videos ever done. And, I can say that I think the song is unbelievable. The Gaga thing took me by surprise, 'cause I've done videos for probably 15 years, and I had forgotten what it felt like to have a video premiere and have it be anticipated and have it explode. And yeah I hope the same for Beyoncé, but I don't know if that's gonna happen. It is a fantastic song, so I really hope that song catches for her, and I think the video's gonna be really fun and cool and different for her." On May 4, 2011, another 20-second clip of the music video was released, showing a troupe of females in a rural location, however Beyoncé is not seen during the clip. A third teaser was released on May 10, 2011, showing Beyoncé standing in front of a burning car, riding a horse and assembling an army in a post-apocalyptic clip. At a private listening party held on May 12, 2011, for 4, Beyoncé offered a small group of fans a preview of five songs from the album and the official video for "Run the World (Girls)", which reportedly features a lion and Beyoncé writhing around in sand. The video was scheduled for release on May 13, 2011, at 12:01 a.m, however Vevo confirmed that the release would be delayed because Beyoncé was "...perfecting it". The video premiered on American Idol on May 18, 2011. The director's cut of the music video is included on the deluxe version of 4. The video was released on July 1, 2011, but was leaked on June 29, 2011. ### Fashion In the video for "Run the World (Girls)", Beyoncé's outfits include armor, a high priestess' headdress, lingerie and runway couture Beyoncé is first seen wearing a red and gold embroidered dress with thigh-high boots, both by Alexander McQueen from fall/winter 2010. In the first dance scene of the video, she is wearing a Brian Lichtenberg patchwork fur vest. For a dance routine in sand, she wears a black fringed Norma Kamali outfit, followed by a Givenchy dress in a scene depicting Beyoncé with two larger-than-life hyenas. During a scene involving warriors, Beyoncé is wearing a black cut-out dress shown at Jean Paul Gaultier's spring couture show. A short Gareth Pugh dress with golden sequins and two gowns by Emilio Pucci – one yellow with a plunging neckline, the other emerald green with an asymmetrical cut – complete Beyoncé's outfits. ### Synopsis The video begins with Beyoncé riding a black horse over an open, deserted plain. As the horse lifts off the ground, scenes of Beyoncé standing atop a ruined vehicle are shown, as she leads a large army of women. Additional scenery includes a large bull in the middle of the battleground and a large banner featuring an African themed drawing of Beyoncé. A woman seemingly nailed on a cross is later seen. As several scantily clad women are shown, a SWAT team of men charge towards the battlefield as a sample from Major Lazer's "Pon de Floor" is played. As the male forces arrive, Beyoncé, is wearing a large golden helm and is surrounded by a lion, a large group of women prepared for battle and banners featuring Beyoncé insignia. As the song begins, Beyoncé removes her armor and confronts the male army, engaging in a series of shoulder-thrusting dance routines. Beyoncé dances seductively towards the men as scenes of Beyoncé wearing several outfits are seen, the first of which is a white evening gown as she grasps the chains of two chained hyenas. As the confrontation escalates, Beyoncé appears next to several flaming vehicles, and she undergoes another costume change. Returning to the main plot, the video shows Beyoncé in front of a small group of her female army, wearing a yellow ensemble and black heeled-boots. As the dancing commences, scenes of the two clashing armies are seen while Beyoncé writhes in sand. The females, now an even larger group, are shown dancing, using powerful and emphatic movements, in front of the male army with alternating costumes and several flags in the background. The video ends with the front line of females confronting the men face to face, raising their right arms and saluting to them as Beyoncé rips off the male general's badge, placing it on herself. ### Reception The video received general acclaim from critics. On the night of the video's premiere, Rap-Up complimented Beyoncé on starting a "dance revolution", her "heavily-choreographed visuals" and "menagerie of wild animals, outrageous fashion, and epic dance sequences". Eric Henderson of Slant Magazine wrote that Beyoncé comes off like "barely sentient" but added that she remains cohesive and rational as a human being in real life. He further wrote: "Her reserve of crazy is far from bottomless, and she seems to save it all for her music videos, and I love her for that [...] [The video is] awesome in distressingly fragmented ways." Gina Serpe of E! Online wrote that "for anyone still laboring under the illusion that Beyoncé does not mean business, well, just watch this video. Described by B[eyoncé] herself as 'futuristic', 'electronic' and 'African', the 29-year-old fused all that and more into a still remarkably cohesive music video." CBS News wrote the "smoking hot video [was] blowing up on the web". The Huffington Post wrote that Beyoncé largely brings back the elements that made "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"'s video a hit, citing women's empowerment and a brand new dance. Jarett Wieselman of the New York Post complimented Beyoncé's wardrobe and dancing in the video, and wrote that the choreography ensures the lyrics, "my persuasion can build a nation". James Montgomery of MTV News wrote Beyoncé has returned "to claim her throne" and that the message in the video "hammers the point home with all the subtlety of a jackhammer". He highlighted the "elaborate, hip-displacing dance routines, haute-couture costuming, wide-screen cinematography and expensive-looking sets". Larry Fitzmaurice of Pitchfork Media wrote that "a thousand YouTube bedroom dancers flood[ing] the Internet with their own takes" were to come in the near future. Rolling Stone praised Beyoncé's dance moves and wrote that it is the latest addition "to the canon of dance pop videos with over-the-top apocalyptic imagery". Nick Neyland of Prefix Magazine wrote Beyoncé made the best music video of 2011, commending its "big budget extravagance, full of preposterous costumes and ridiculously over the top dance routines". Sarah Anne Hughes of The Washington Post wrote that Beyoncé uses "the non-violent tactic of dance to fight off some bad guys in riot gear" and that Beyoncé's alter ego Sasha Fierce "is out in full force as she uses an army of swiveling and shimmying women, her middle finger and two hyenas on leashes to keep control of a post-apocalyptic society". Billboard magazine wrote that Beyoncé made a triumphant return in the elaborate music video for "Run the World (Girls)" after creating classic clips for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", "Crazy in Love", and "Ring the Alarm". ### Accolades On July 20, 2011, the video received three nominations at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards in the categories Best Female Video, Best Choreography, and Best Cinematography. It won the Best Choreography category. The video was nominated for Best Video at the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards. On November 27, 2011, the video won Best Dance Performance at the 2011 Soul Train Music Awards. It was nominated for Best Video at the 2011 Virgin Media Music Awards and Favorite Music Video at the 2012 People's Choice Awards. The writers of Slant Magazine put the music video at number 12 on their list of The 25 Best Music Videos of 2011. The Guardian included "Run the World (Girls)" on its list of the best pop videos of 2011, praising its "glorious effect" and the heavy choreography, before concluding that it is "tiring just watching it". On BET's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2011, "Run the World (Girls)" was ranked at number two. The video was nominated for Best Pop Video and Best Choreography at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards Japan, and International Artist Video of the Year at the 2012 MuchMusic Video Awards. It was nominated for World's Best Video at the 2012 World Music Awards. In 2013, John Boone and Jennifer Cady of E! Online placed the video at number seven on their list of Beyoncé's ten best music videos, comparing her dancing in the sand with Shakira's. ## Live performances Beyoncé's first live performance of "Run the World (Girls)" was on May 17, 2011, on Surprise Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular at the United Center in Chicago. The special aired on May 23, 2011. Beyoncé wore a tuxedo leotard with red heels and was accompanied by 40 female back-up dancers. The show was organized to commemorate the 25th and final season of The Oprah Winfrey Show. Celebrities including Madonna, Tom Hanks, John Legend, Dakota Fanning, Tom Cruise and his wife Katie Holmes were present. Beyoncé altered the bridge's lyrics, singing: "Oprah, your persuasion can build a nation." The crowd held up blue lights in the arena as Beyoncé sang the song twice while Winfrey danced. According to the Chicago Tribune, Beyoncé received the loudest applause of the show. Beyoncé performed "Run the World (Girls)" live at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards ceremony at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 22, 2011. The writers of Billboard magazine described the live performance as both "stunning" and "impressive". Erika Ramirez of the same magazine put the performance at number one on her list of "Beyonce's 5 Biggest TV Performances" saying that it "showcased the strength of her reign best". It was also placed in the list of 15 Awesome Billboard Music Award Performances by the writers of the magazine. During her promotional tour of Europe, Beyoncé performed at several festivals and made only a limited amount of television appearances. Beyoncé performed the song at a private concert in Nice, France, on June 20, 2011. One week later, Beyoncé flew to the United Kingdom to serve as the closing act at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival on June 26, 2011, where "Run the World (Girls)" was featured as the second to last song on the 90-minute set list, before finishing with "Halo". Beyoncé was also the solo female ever to headline the Pyramid stage in over twenty years. Beyoncé then returned to France, where she performed the song along with her live band on Le Grand Journal in June 2011. "Run the World (Girls)" was sung live by Beyoncé on June 28, 2011, on the French X Factor. On July 1, 2011, Beyoncé gave a free concert on Good Morning America as part of its Summer Concert Series on August 14, 2011, and during her 4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé shows in Roseland Ballroom, New York City, to an audience of 3,500. Beyoncé wore a gold dress and performed with her all-female band and backing singers, called the Mamas. During the ITV special A Night with Beyoncé which aired on December 4 in the United Kingdom, Beyoncé performed "Run the World (Girls)" to a selected crowd of fans. In May 2012, Beyoncé performed "Run the World" during her Revel Presents: Beyoncé Live revue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States' entertainment resort, hotel, casino and spa, Revel. The revue was also called "Back to Business" which was picked from a lyric of the song. A writer of Black Entertainment Television noted, "She dazzled fans with an assortment of high-energy performances of her upbeat hits like... 'Run the World (Girls).'" Caryn Ganz of Spin magazine praised the "swaggy" march, while Rebecca Thomas of MTV News wrote that Beyoncé's choreography during the performance of "Run the World", "is meant to do the same: a series of sensual quickstep moves that revolve around the hips and legs." Ben Ratliff of The New York Times mentioned the song in the "almost continuous high point" of the concert. The song also acted as the opening number of her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour. After a video intro of Beyoncé imitating Mary Antoinette, Beyoncé rises from beneath the stage along with sparks and flames, leading into the opening performance of "Run the World (Girls)". The song was part of the set list of Beyoncé and Jay-Z's co-headlining On the Run Tour (2014). As well as her Formation World Tour (2016) and her OTR II Tour (2018) with Jay-Z again. "Run The World (Girls)" was also part of her Renaissance World Tour (2023) set list. ### Controversy Following her performance at the Billboard Music Awards, Beyoncé initially received widespread praise from fans, critics and celebrities. However, the following day, critics voiced concerns about similarities to a performance by Italian pop star Lorella Cuccarini in February 2010 at the 60th Sanremo Music Festival. Billy Johnson, Jr of Yahoo! Music wrote: "Kenzo Digital, who spent a month creating Beyoncé's interactive video, told Yahoo! News that Lorella concert footage is only part of the inspiration for Beyoncé's show: "[The Cuccarini artists] are awesome and do incredible work as well, but there are a lot of different inspirations for where our piece came from." In a Yahoo! Amplified interview with Daniel Kreps, Digital said: "It's just a bare white screen. It's a technique in video art since the [19]80s in terms of frontal projection and interactive things. That's really nothing new. It's not even a new technology. It's just an incredibly simple, awesome storytelling device, and with a performer like Beyoncé it becomes incredibly powerful." Beyoncé later responded through an interview with AOL Music, saying she was inspired after finding Cuccarini's performance online: > "My makeup artist showed me the performance of Lorella Cuccarini a year ago, and it inspired me so much. I then met with the talented people who worked on it. The technology and concept were so genius. She was inspired after discovering Cuccarini's performance online. Thank God for YouTube or I would have never been exposed to something so inspiring. I never worked so hard on anything in my life as that performance for the Billboard Awards." ## Usage in media and cover versions Beyoncé pre-recorded a message to the astronauts of the final mission of the US Space Shuttle Atlantis on July 16, 2011. With "Run the World (Girls)" playing in the background, Beyoncé said: "Good morning Atlantis. This is Beyoncé. Sandy, Chris, Doug, and Rex, you inspire all of us to dare to live our dreams—to know that we are smart enough and strong enough to achieve this. This song is especially for my girl Sandy and all the women who have taken us to space with them, and the girls who are our future explorers." "Run the World (Girls)" was used in a commercial for Beyoncé's fragrance, Pulse (2011). Released on August 18, 2011, the 15-second advertisement, directed by Jake Nava, shows Beyoncé wearing a metallic gown and walking through lights an instrumental version of the song plays in the background. A dancer who had worked with Beyoncé, Heather Morris, covered "Run the World (Girls)" for the American television show Glee episode "Asian F", which aired on October 4, 2011. Morris danced to the song wearing a leather cheerleading skirt. Amy Lee of The Huffington Post described Morris' dance choreography as "amazing" and Kristen Dos Santos of E! News called Morris' performance "knockout" and added that it might be Glee's best performance to date. Morris' version debuted at number 91 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and at number 47 on the US Hot Digital Songs chart for the week ending October 22, 2011. On August 25, 2013, girl group Adira–Belle performed "Run the World (Girls)" during the fifth season of The X Factor Australia. Giles Hardie of The Sydney Morning Herald rated their performance six out of ten and wrote it was a "terrible song choice". He also felt that it was "a bit early for Beyoncé for these girls perhaps as the song was bigger than them". "Run the World (Girls)" is featured on the dance rhythm game, Just Dance 2022. ## Format and track listing \*; Digital download 1. "Run the World (Girls)" [Single Version] – 3:56 \*; UK digital remix single 1. "Run the World (Girls)" [Chris Lake Remix] – 6:24 2. "Run the World (Girls)" [Kito Remix] – 3:37 3. "Run the World (Girls)" [Billionaire Remix] – 5:19 \*; US digital remix single 1. "Run the World (Girls)" [Kaskade Club Remix] – 5:02 2. "Run the World (Girls)" [RedTop Club Remix] – 6:02 3. "Run the World (Girls)" [Jochen Simms Club Remix] – 6:17 ## Credits and personnel Credits are taken from 4 liner notes. - Afrojack – writing - Diplo – writing - Jordan "DJ Swivel" Young – recording - Serban Ghenea – mixing - John Hanes – mix engineering - Beyoncé Knowles – vocals, writing, production - The-Dream – writing, production - Vybz Kartel – writing - Phil Seaford – mixing assistance - Switch – writing, production - Shea Taylor – co-production - Pat Thrall – recording - Pete Wolford – mix engineering assistance ## Charts ### Weekly charts ### Year-end charts ## Certifications ## Release history ## See also - List of number-one dance singles of 2011 (U.S.)

Port of Skagen

Danish port

The Port of Skagen, also Skagen Harbour, (Danish: Skagen Havn) is located in Skagen, northern Denmark. The country's leading fishing port consists of an industrial harbour that supports the area's fishing industry as well as facilities for cruise ships. It also has a shipyard and fish-processing facilities. The harbour's marina is open to visitors during the summer months. The fishing harbour was built between 1904 and 1907, with inner and outer sections established under the supervision of hydraulic engineer Palle Bruun. The official inauguration was on 20 November 1907. The distinctive warehouses next to the harbour were designed by Thorvald Bindesbøll, and opened in May 1908. In 1932, on the occasion of the harbour's 25th anniversary, Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen's statue of the fisherman and lifeboatman was unveiled. The harbour was expanded to the east between 1935 and 1938, and in the 1950s an 11 million krone (kr) expansion took place to the west, increasing the off-shore area by 70,000 square metres (750,000 sq ft) and the on-shore area by 90,000 square metres (970,000 sq ft). Between 1964 and 1979 the harbour was further expanded towards the east in a 35 million kr project to facilitate growth at the port, doubling the size of the harbour and providing new facilities for auctioning the catches from the 400 fishing boats registered in Skagen. The Skagen Port Authority is responsible for the harbour's administration. FF Skagen, one of three companies supporting the Danish fish meal industry, has its processing plant on Skagen wharf. The harbour is being adapted to accommodate large international cruise ships. A new 450 m (1,480 ft) berth to be completed by 2015 will also provide facilities for oil bunkering and enhanced facilities for the fishing industry. ## Description The Port of Skagen is situated in Ålbæk Bugt (Ålbæk Bay). The harbour covers a total area of 1,015,000 m² (10,930,000 sq ft), consisting of 645,000 m² (6,940,000 sq ft) of land and 370,000 m² (4,000,000 sq ft) of water. The quays and moorings have a total length of 5.5 km (3.4 mi), of which 970 m (3,180 ft) have a depth of 9 m (30 ft). The harbour consists of three main basins (docks with water levels controlled by flood gates): Ydre Forhavnsbassin, Vesthavn and Østhavn. The Vesthavn consists of Indre Forhavnsbassin, Bundgarnsbassin, Auktionsbassin, Mellembassin and Vestre Bassin, while the Østhavn consists of Østbassin I and Østbassin II. Skagen Lystbådehavn (Skagen's pleasure boat harbour) administers the area between Gamle Pier and Pier 2 in the Mellembassin. The harbour can accommodate ships up to 130 metres (430 ft) long and 20 metres (66 ft) wide with a draft of 7 metres (23 ft). Ships less than 90 metres (300 ft) long can moor at Quay 4 with a draft of 9 metres (30 ft). The largest vessel to have visited Skagen Harbour is the cruise ship Silver Cloud with a length of 156 metres (512 ft), which moored on Quay 4 in 2010 and 2011. The Lystbådehavn (marina) between Piers 1 and 2 is open to visiting pleasure boats from 1 April to 30 September. While the Port of Skagen supervises the marina during the summer months, the facilities are used for berthing fishing boats in the off-season. Frederikshavn Municipality is the official administrator. Facilities on Pier 1 include a diesel fuelling station at the end the pier and a barbecue. There is also a service building with toilets, showers, washing machines and dryers. Wifi internet access is available throughout the marina. ## History ### Early history and background After years of discussion between Skagen's fishermen and the authorities, a commission was finally established in the 1880s, leading to an early proposal for a harbour by Customs Inspector Holm that was not accepted. Under pressure from the fishermen, the Minister of the Interior called on an engineer by the name of Berg to prepare a new proposal in 1888. This led to parliamentary approval on 23 April 1903, followed by a call for tenders on 26 January 1904. On the basis of a bid from Gunnarson & Søn og Elzelingen, work was initiated in February 1904 on Skagen's Sønderstand (south shore) just outside the town. The work was supervised by the hydraulic engineer Palle Bruun who had reported on harbours in the Faroe Islands. The design consisted of two breakwaters some 500 m (1,600 ft) apart that stretched out to sea. With their outer extensions providing an entrance some 60 m (200 ft) wide, the harbour covered an area of almost 160,000 m² (1,700,000 sq ft). The basin was divided by two cross piers, creating an outer harbour and an inner harbour with an entrance 40 m (130 ft) wide. A harbour-master's house, fish warehouse and a customs office were built in parallel. On 19 November 1907, King Frederik VIII ceremonially opened the port in the presence of the Skagen Painters, who had decorated the facilities with flags. Carl Locher had designed an impressive gateway of honour. In May 1908, four fish warehouses on the quayside designed by Thorvald Bindesbøll were opened. In 1932, on the occasion of the harbour's 25th anniversary, Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen's statue of the fisherman and lifeboatman was unveiled. In 1935, Johannes Friis-Skotte, Minister for Transport, announced that the government were funding a 900,000 kr project to expand the harbour towards the east, involving a 100 metres (330 ft) by 200 metres (660 ft) basin with a depth of 4.5 metres (15 ft), designed to facilitate fisherman during the process of unloading. As a result, between 1935 and 1938 the harbour was expanded towards the east, and a new auction room was added in 1938, 100 metres (330 ft) in length and 12 metres (39 ft) wide, with skylights and seven phone booths. ### Post-war developments In 1943, the Rigsdag approved 7 million kr proposals to further expand the harbour towards the west. However, due to the German occupation during the war the project was postponed and it wasn't until 1952 that construction began, rising to a budget of 11 million kr. The off-shore area of the port was expanded by 70,000 square metres (750,000 sq ft) and the on-shore area was enlarged by 90,000 square metres (970,000 sq ft), with some 12 metres (39 ft) of quay. Between 1964 and 1979, the harbour was further expanded towards the east in a 35 million kr project to facilitate growth at the port, doubling the size of the harbour and providing new facilities for auctioning the catches from the 400 fishing boats registered in Skagen. The off-shore area was enlarged by 14 hectares and the on-shore area with 120 hectares. A new auction room was erected between the fisheries inspection building and the auction office. In 1985, the Auktionsbassin (the Auction Basin) of the port was deepened by some 7 metres (23 ft), as was the Vesthavnen (West Harbour) in the early 1990s. In 2001, the Port of Skagen acquired autonomously governed harbour status, after the government sold off several of the national harbours. Under ownership of the municipality, a 12.5 million kr investment was put into deepening the Østbassin 2 (East Basin 2) and building a new 300 metres (980 ft) quay to a depth of 9 metres (30 ft) in its outer part. In 2007, a new dry dock measuring 135 m (443 ft) by 25 m (82 ft) was built for Karstensen's wharf. Additional facilities for fish processing, including a refrigeration plant, were completed in 2008. ## Fishing The Port of Skagen is Denmark's largest fishing port and the first in Europe for landings of pelagic fish, primarily herring. Founded in 1960, FF Skagen is one of three companies supporting the Danish fish-meal industry; its processing plant is located on Skagen wharf. As of 2011, statistics from the Danish Fisheries Directorate list Skagen Harbour as the leading fishing port in Denmark in terms of both the quantity of catches and their value. Statistics for 2013 from NaturErhvervstyrelsen showed a year-on-year increase in fishing takings of 10 percent for a total value of DKK 3.4 billion (c. US \$621 million). Harbour director Willy Bent Hansen reported that the Port of Skagen now represented over 25 percent of all fish landed in Denmark. In April 2014, the 86-meter-long supertrawler "Gitte Henning" landed a record 3,281 tons of whiting in Skagen after returning from its maiden voyage, apparently the largest catch ever in Denmark. ## Recent developments The harbour is currently being adapted to accommodate large international cruise ships. A new 450 m (1,480 ft) berth will be completed by 2015, while the existing 170 m (560 ft) berth will be extended to 200 m (660 ft). On the shipbuilding front, Karstensens Skibsværft continues to prosper with orders for trawlers from Norway. There are also plans for establishing oil-bunkering facilities for large vessels on the outer section of the new port. In July 2014, Berlingske reported that from 2015 the enlarged harbour was expected to attract up to 40 large cruise ships per year compared to only a dozen smaller ships at present. The larger vessels will carry up to 3,500 passengers. Port of Skagen was covering the cost of the work which amounted to DKK 226 million (US\$41 million). The new harbour would provide new jobs increasing the workforce from some 2,000 today to 2,600 on completion. Karstens Skibsværft, Danish Yacht, and the herring processing firm, Skagerrak Pelgic, were reported to be the most successful companies in Skagen but the town was also home to FF Skagen, the world's top producer of fish meal and fish oil.

Liu Kang

Mortal Kombat character

Liu Kang (Chinese: 劉鋼; pinyin: Liú gāng; Wade–Giles: Liu² Kang¹ or Chinese: 劉康; pinyin: Liú kāng; Wade–Giles: Liu² K'ang¹) is a character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise by Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios. Depicted as Earthrealm's greatest warrior and champion, he is the main protagonist of the series. He debuted in the original 1992 game as a Shaolin monk with special moves, which were intended to be the easiest for players to perform. Since his introduction, Liu Kang has appeared as playable in every main installment except Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (2002). He is also one of the protagonists of the action-adventure spin-off Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (2005). The character's storyline sees him win the eponymous Mortal Kombat tournament in the first and second games, saving Earthrealm from being conquered by the opposing forces of Outworld. During both the original and rebooted timelines, Liu Kang receives a more villainous depiction by Raiden appearing as a reanimated corpse in the former and an undead revenant who rules Netherrealm in the latter. He returns to his heroic role in Mortal Kombat 11 (2019), in which he becomes the god of fire. Liu Kang has appeared in various media outside of the games, including as the hero of the 1995 film adaptation and its 1997 sequel Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. Reception of the character has been mainly favorable for his special moves and gameplay, although criticism has been directed towards his Bruce Lee-inspired yells. His characterization in the reboot games received negative response for his death at Raiden's hands but his resurrection in Mortal Kombat 11 earned better response for becoming a more heroic figure. ## Creation and design Original concept sketches for a proposed Midway Games fighting title by artist and lead game designer John Tobias featured a Japanese character named Minamoto Yoshitsune. However, according to Tobias, during production of what would become Mortal Kombat, the Midway staff "just couldn't deal with the name". The character was renamed Liu Kang as a nod to actor Gordon Liu, who starred in the 1978 film The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. His ethnicity was subsequently changed to Chinese and he "was originally going to be a traditional monk – bald and in robes". Liu Kang was played by Korean actor and martial artist Ho-Sung Pak in the first two games, but Pak's refusal to shave his head resulted in the character instead being modeled after Bruce Lee and depicted as "a renegade monk [who] grew his hair back". Tobias additionally drew inspiration from the 1973 film Enter the Dragon in developing Liu Kang's backstory. Liu Kang's design in the first game had him shirtless with short hair, while wearing only black pants and white shoes. Starting with Mortal Kombat II, his outfit incorporated a red palette by way of single vertical stripes on his pants and a matching headband, in addition to black shoes and studded wrist guards. Mortal Kombat 3 contained minor changes to the character's depiction, with longer hair and thin black leg strips wrapped above his ankles in order to give him a "sleeker" look. In a 1995 interview, lead series programmer Ed Boon, discussing the development team's decision to include Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat 3, said: "It'd be like doing part three of Star Wars and not having Luke Skywalker in there. You don't do that." This design was carried over into Mortal Kombat: Deception and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, but due to his resurrection as a zombie, his skin was ash gray and he wore hooked chains around his wrists; his alternate costume featured him as a living person. The character's death in the previous game, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, inspired the composition of a "funeral song" by series music composer Dan Forden, titled "Liu Kang's Tomb", and was included in Deception in the arena containing his tomb. After the developers had received feedback that unlocking him in Deception had proved difficult, Liu Kang became a regular playable character in the PlayStation Portable port Unchained. Like all the characters from Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Liu Kang was selected to be a playable character based on his popularity. Liu Kang again retained his Mortal Kombat 3 design in the 2008 crossover fighting game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, accentuated with a championship belt adorned with the Mortal Kombat dragon emblem. Tobias, who departed Midway in 1999, said in a 2012 interview that had he continued to work on Mortal Kombat, he would have kept the plot centered around Liu Kang and then his son. According to Ed Boon, Mortal Kombat 11 was written in order to end the story arc of Liu Kang. In May 2023, Ed Boon stated that for the upcoming Mortal Kombat 1, he had decided to use Liu Kang for the game's cover to signify the change to a new story arc, notwithstanding that fellow characters Scorpion and Sub-Zero have generally been used for the games' covers. Liu and fellow fighter Kung Lao were meant to compliment each other: one as the present day chosen one and the other as a reflection of a failed past, yet it was their sense of righteous purpose that bonded their friendship. The 1995 Mortal Kombat film producers chose to combine Liu and Kung Lao's characters, making Liu the descendant of The Great Kung Lao in the films, which, according to Tobias, "caus[ed] confusion in our games for years to follow. Any mention of Liu Kang as descendent of The Great Kung Lao in the games was a mistake." Tobias has said that although "there have been deviations in different media to serve their purposes, ... the truth of Liu's hero's journey and the root of the character’s inspiration usually seemed to find their way." Liu Kang was one of Tom Choi's first roles in his career during the Midway Games. When recording his lines, Ed Boon told Choi that he had an idea to have the character say several nonsensical lines very quickly in his special moves, most notably the Bicycle Kick. Choi found it strange that the character came back from the dead, but still saw him as "cool". He also noted that the character of Liu Kang was unique for being an Asian lead, despite the game being made in the West. However, he noticed the creative teams change leading decisions involving changes in the story such as Liu Kang taking a lesser role in several games. Before the games' releases, Choi rewatched material he created, including Mortal Kombat and Fallout. He was also proud that Liu Kang appeared in other media and portrayed by different actors. Voice actor Matthew Yang King was fond of Liu Kang and Kung Lao's friendship, comparing them to brothers who have a tendency to compete several times, especially in Mortal Kombat 11. When first voicing him, the actor noticed nobody had ever played that largely because they were hiring Caucasian actors and they felt a lot of the time those Caucasian actors so uncomfortable sort of voicing the two Shaolin Monks. He felt that Liu Kang was an "ode" to Bruce Lee and wanted to keep that appeal in the games. He also enjoyed the Mortal Kombat 11 character arc, in which the protagonist becomes a god, and recording the game's dialogue. ### Gameplay Liu Kang's first "Fatality" (a finishing move that executes defeated opponents), titled "Shaolin Uppercut", was created by actor Ho-Sung Pak. The move has Liu Kang perform a butterfly kick (often mistaken for a cartwheel) on his opponent before connecting with an uppercut that knocks them offscreen, and then landing. According to Tobias, the background not darkening during the finisher was a glitch that was kept in and rationalized as symbolizing Liu Kang's noble motivations. While the "Shaolin Uppercut" was carried over into Mortal Kombat II, Liu Kang was otherwise given more graphic Fatalities thereafter, as he was depicted by Midway as having "strong Shaolin beliefs, but was no longer a part of the Shaolin monks". He was additionally designed as a character that both casual and experienced gamers could play with little difficulty. Liu Kang specializes in kicks. His most common move is a flying kick that launches him across the screen to connect with his opponent's torso. Mortal Kombat II introduced another of the character's signature special moves, the "Bicycle Kick", which propels him across the screen with a flurry of kicks, resembling the pedaling of a bicycle, which targets the opponent's midsection. Liu Kang also has the "Dragon Fire" ability, which sends a fiery flame in the shape of a Chinese dragon across the screen out of the character's hands towards the opponent. After Mortal Kombat II, including in Deception and Armageddon, he gains the ability to perform the "Dragon Fire" while crouching and in the air. In contrast to the Shaolin Uppercut, the Dragon fatality is meant to instantly kill the opponent, conveying the character's sense of revenge against his nemesis, Shang Tsung, who had killed his fellow Shaolin partners in Mortal Kombat II. The series' composer and co-designer John Vogel has said that "Dragon Fire" is his favorite Fatality because of how it changes Liu Kang's appearance. Liu Kang also has a Fatality move that causes him to vanish and a Mortal Kombat arcade machine to drop down and crush his opponent. ## Appearances ### Mortal Kombat games #### In Midway Games Introduced in the first Mortal Kombat game as a Chinese Shaolin kung fu monk, Liu Kang enters the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament in order to protect Earthrealm from being destroyed. He defeats Grand Champion Goro and the tournament host, the nefarious sorcerer Shang Tsung, and emerges as the new Mortal Kombat champion. By Mortal Kombat II (1993), Liu Kang finds that many of his Shaolin brethren were killed in a vicious attack by a horde of nomadic mutants led by Baraka under orders from the evil Outworld emperor Shao Kahn, Shang Tsung's master. Enraged, Liu Kang travels to Outworld to seek revenge, backed by friend and fellow Shaolin monk Kung Lao. At the tournament, Liu Kang defeats Shao Kahn. Liu Kang once again faces Khan in In Mortal Kombat 3 to stop the emperor during another invasion. In Mortal Kombat 4 (1997), Liu Kang discovers that his lover, Princess Kitana, has been captured by the disgraced Elder God Shinnok's forces, and begins gathering Earth's warriors to defeat him. Liu Kang confronts Shinnok and emerges victorious. Kitana then invites Liu Kang to Edenia, but he is unable to commit himself to a relationship due to his duty as Earthrealm's champion. Liu Kang becomes unplayable for the first and only time in the Mortal Kombat series in 2002's Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, in which the titular partnership of Shang Tsung and fellow sorcerer Quan Chi join forces to kill him in the game's introductory sequence. In Mortal Kombat: Deception (2004), an unknown party reanimates Liu Kang's corpse and sends it on a murderous rampage, leaving his soul to attempt to regain control. He returns as a playable character in this game, albeit in an undead form and as a secret character that can only be unlocked by completing the game's training mode. His spirit enlists the reformed ninja Ermac to try to save Kitana and his Earthrealm allies from the Dragon King Onaga. Liu Kang has not fully regained control of his body in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (2006), where he is playable along with the entire series roster. In the game, it is revealed that his superior, the Thunder God Raiden, had revived Liu Kang's corpse in Deception. Liu Kang's bond with Kitana had succeeded in keeping his power in check, with Nightwolf then assuming her position as Liu Kang's "spiritual anchor" in an attempt to find a way to reunite his body and soul. Along with Kung Lao, Liu Kang is the lead character in the 2005 spin-off action-adventure game Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, which serves as a retelling of the events leading up to Mortal Kombat II and features the two Shaolin monks traveling to Outworld to find and defeat Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn while rescuing Kitana along the way. Liu Kang is among the 11 characters representing the Mortal Kombat franchise in the title Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (2008), which features fights between characters from the Mortal Kombat and DC Comics universes. In this game, Liu Kang appears as the protagonist of the first chapter of the Mortal Kombat story mode. Tobias said he wanted to see the fight between Liu Kang and Batman, as he noted their back-stories are very similar because both had attempted to help their respective leaders regain their senses. #### NetherRealm Studios titles In the Mortal Kombat reboot (2011), which is a retelling of the first three games, Liu Kang reprises his role from the first three tournaments as one of Raiden's chosen warriors. Raiden begins to have visions, sent to him by his future self, of Shao Kahn killing everybody, and attempts to alter events to prevent Shao Kahn's victory. Liu Kang's faith in Raiden and the Elder Gods is shattered when Raiden's actions result in Shao Kahn killing Kung Lao, as well as Kitana and most of their allies being killed by a soul-infused Sindel. When Raiden eventually figures out that they must allow Kahn to merge the two realms for the Elder Gods to intervene, Liu Kang ignores his pleas and fights him so he can face Kahn himself. Raiden accidentally murders Liu Kang in self-defense, but successfully prevents Shao Kahn from merging the two realms. Liu Kang returns in Mortal Kombat X as Quan Chi's undead revenant, serving Shinnok to enact revenge on Raiden and the Elder Gods. Following Quan Chi's death and Shinnok's defeat, he and Kitana become the new rulers of Netherrealm. They are visited by Raiden, who brings them Shinnok's disembodied head as a warning for them not to attack Earthrealm. In Mortal Kombat 11, Liu Kang plans to invade Earthrealm. After Raiden and the Special Forces destroy his castle in Netherrealm, Liu Kang and his allies join the keeper of time, Kronika. While making preparations, Kronika brings a younger version of Liu Kang to the present. Despite learning of what happens to him in the future, Liu Kang continues to trust Raiden and aligns himself with Earthrealm's warriors to combat Kronika. When he clashes with Raiden after the latter uses Shinnok's amulet to strengthen himself, the thunder god discovers that Kronika has manipulated them into fighting each other in multiple timelines. Kronika kidnaps the past Liu Kang so his revenant can absorb his soul. Raiden merges with the revenant and the younger Liu Kang, transforming them into "Fire God Liu Kang". With Raiden's godly powers and his revenant counterpart's knowledge of Kronika's plan, he storms Kronika's keep and engages her in battle. Liu Kang defeats Kronika and is either joined by a mortal Raiden or Kitana in shaping a new timeline. In the DLC story expansion Aftermath, Liu Kang and Raiden attempt to restart their history, only to be interrupted by Shang Tsung, Nightwolf and Fujin, who inform them that they need Kronika's Crown of Souls to do so. Shang Tsung has the Fire God send him, Fujin and Nightwolf back in time to retrieve a past version of the Crown. While Shang Tsung is successful, he discovers that Liu Kang has manipulated events to ensure his victory. Liu Kang erases Shang Tsung from history and, in the process of forging his New Era, visits Kung Lao's ancestor to give him special training for his future battles. Liu Kang will appear in the upcoming 2023 reboot game, which will be set in the third timeline created by himself after he attained godhood in Mortal Kombat 11. ### Other media #### Printed media Liu Kang was the hero of the comic book adaptation of the Mortal Kombat series by Malibu Comics. In the first miniseries, Blood and Thunder, his backstory was mostly kept intact as a Shaolin monk attempting to restore the tournament to its rightful owners. The miniseries dirverged from the videogames in not making Liu Kang the chosen one to defeat Goro, which instead fell on twin monk brothers named Sing and Sang, two original characters created specifically for the comics. After they are killed by Goro in the third issue, Liu Kang becomes the Shaolin's only hope in defeating Shang Tsung. The following miniseries, Battlewave, has Liu Kang win the first tournament after defeating Goro. He then returns to his normal life as an architect in Chicago, having left the Order of Light before the events of the first series. However, he suffers constant attacks by an unknown force of ninjas and later receives help from Johnny Cage's bodyguard Bo when Goro ambushes him in an office building. Eventually, he decides to travel to Outworld, realizing that he cannot avoid Mortal Kombat. #### Film and television Liu Kang is the main protagonist of the 1995 Mortal Kombat film, in which he is played by Robin Shou. Director Paul W. S. Anderson wanted Liu Kang's character to be "really engaging" and cast Shou, noting his skill in martial arts. Anderson compared Shou with Jackie Chan, noting that he started his career in Hong Kong working as a stuntman, including with Chan. In the film, Liu Kang takes part in the tournament out of guilt over his brother's death at the hands of Shang Tsung. Raiden recruits Liu Kang on the journey to Shang Tsung's island, where he helps him get over his brother's death and defeat the sorcerer. The relationship between Liu Kang and Kitana is portrayed as more metaphysical than romantic. Shou said that in the original script he "was supposed to fall in love with Talisa Soto [Kitana]. I was looking forward to it, but they thought we have so much action, we don't want to add romance to it. They cut it out." Randy Hamilton voiced Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins, a straight-to-video animated prequel released four months prior to the film. Shou and Talisa Soto (Kitana) were the only two actors to reprise their roles from the first film in the 1997 sequel Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. In the sequel, Liu Kang joins the Earthrealm warriors to stop Shao Kahn. Shou stated that he felt pressure while filmiing to trying to find a style between American and Hong Kong artist, such as Jet Li and Steven Seagal. According to Chris Conrad, who played Cage, "Robin and Talisa were very, very cool. It’s a fun, well developed franchise. Robin and Talisa and the entire cast was just so pleasant and fun to be around." Thai actor and martial artist Tony Jaa was a stunt double for Shou. Brian Tee played Liu Kang in the 2013 second season of director Kevin Tancharoen's web series Mortal Kombat: Legacy. Tee was initially not fond of the character; he said that he would have preferred to portray Sub-Zero and that there were more actors who were more suited to depicte Liu Kang's Bruce Lee-like persona. He elaborated that Liu Kang "was this one note caricature of a martial artist/kung fu guy. I wanted someone with a lot more depth and a lot more feeling and character struggle." Upon reading the script, Tee was surprised by its take on the character as an anti-hero, especially his rivalry with Kung Lao. Tee did a majority of stunts with the help of stunt coordinator Garrett Warren, choreographer Larnell Stovall, and his stunt double, Kim Do. Liu Kang was played by Ludi Lin in the 2021 reboot film Mortal Kombat. An orphaned street child now living as a warrior monk and protege of Raiden, Liu Kang guides Earthrealm's warriors towards discovering their abilities. After his friend and senior kung fu student (Chinese: 師兄; pinyin: shīxiōng) Kung Lao is murdered by Shang Tsung, he avenges him by killing Kabal. Ludi Lin regards Liu Kang as a lone wolf archetype of character but still "alpha male" who cares about his allies. While finding Liu Kang as a pacifist, he believes the character also finds the moment needed to execute violence and will always fight back. In preparing for his role, he studied most of Bruce Lee's works. During production, Ludi Lin was concerned that he would receive death threats if the character did not wear his signature red bandana; he eventually convinced the director to pick the red bandana from Kung Lao's hat and wear it in the film's climax. When Liu Kang incinerates Kabal in the climax, the team originally intended to include a game reference known as "toasty" where a character is incinerated by a fire attack but it was removed due to the team finding it "cringe". Liu Kang is one of the lead characters in the 1996 animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, and was voiced by Brian Tochi. He is not the sole protagonist, instead sharing that role with several other Earthrealm heroes. Jordan Rodrigues voiced the role of Liu Kang in the 2020 animated movie Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge, in which Liu Kang, Cage, and Sonya Blade reprised their roles from the first Mortal Kombat game with Scorpion's aid. Rodrigues reprised his role in the sequel Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms as the film's central protagonist. For this film, the cas and crew sought to convey the father-son relationship between Raiden and Liu Kang, as Liu Kang's parents are revealed to have been killed during the protagonist's early days. The depth Raiden is given helps Liu Kang to surpass his own doubts and become the champion. Rodrigues stated that Liu Kang’s patience paid off and the trauma only added "fuel to the fire to Liu Kang’s burning heart". ## Reception The character has received mostly mixed positive response by gaming publications. Digital Spy compared him with Street Fighter character Ryu, stating that while both are "kind of dull", they develop appealing techniques across their respective series. GamesRadar+ referred to him as one of gaming's various "kickass Bruce Lee clones", citing his similarities with Bruce Lee and noting his shouts. A.V. Club compared Liu Kang's relationship with Kitana to the titular characters in the movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), noting how the games often give them proper scenes despite the franchise being focused on violent battles. There was also commentary about Liu Kang's moves. GameDaily complained about the character's voice, saying that "Liu Kang screams out like a chicken"; IGN's Douglas Perry wrote that he preferred Liu Kang over Kung Lao as a playable character in Shaolin Monks because of his "intuitive fighting moves", adding that his shouts were "annoying" yet "strangely pleasing". GamesRadar+ wrote that "the strange squeals he emits during his trademark Bicycle Kick move are unforgettable". In Mortal Kombat: Games of Death, David Church wrote that Liu Kang and Shang Tsung were obvious references to Lee and Han from Enter the Dragon, noting Liu Kang's high-pitched vocalizations, Fatality moves, usage of Jeet Kune Do, and exaggerated kung fu style. Liu Kang's dragon Fatality has been described as one of the best Fatalities in the series, while the arcade throw has been criticized as a failed attempt at meta-humor. They have also praised his wormhole fatality in the 2023 Mortal Kombat 1, with some even calling it their favourite Fatality in the game, according to TheGamer, due to the notable gore performed on the enemy. Upon his death in Deadly Alliance, IGN's Jeremy Dunham noted that Liu Kang was killed as part of the series' "'starting over' mentality". Complex remarked that the Mortal Kombat developers "finally found their groove again with Deadly Alliance, which began by snapping Liu Kang's neck". Game Informer described his death as a "shock". His redesign in Mortal Kombat: Deception earned mixed responses, with praise being given to his berserker combat style. GamesRadar used Liu Kang as an example of a stereotype of gaming heroes who reveal an evil alter ego that ruins the character's appealing traits, and considered him to be "a little like the Shaolin version of Goku, in that he's saved his world countless times and come back from the dead even more frequently". Meanwhile, Jesse Schedeen of IGN said, with regard to the DC universe crossover game, that "it just wouldn't be right having a game without [Liu Kang]". Den of Geek favorably reviewed Liu Kang's darker characterization starting with Deception and the reboot. Both Den of Geek and Hardcore Gamer also found Liu Kang's possible role in the series after the reboot to be shrouded in mystery, due to his possible revival as a villain as well as how he is not available to face Shinnok. He was highly praised for his role of being the protagonist in Mortal Kombat 11. GameRevolution enjoyed Liu Kang's ending in Mortal Kombat 11 and wondered which of his two endings – where he allies with either Raiden or Kitana – would be taken as canonical. PCGamesN praised the handling of his characterization and noting that players had looked forward to his best ending, which was difficult to achieve. Upon God Liu Kang's inclusion in the game as playable, GameRevolution compared it with Ryu's evil persona. Shacknews enjoyed the actions Liu Kang makes as a god due to the major direction the narrative takes in the DLC Aftermath as he aims to restart the generation. Den of Geek commented that Liu Kang's role as a protagonist in Mortal Kombat 11 was well handled as he fit the heroic role through his transformation into the God of Fire and Lightning. Polygon has stated that both Liu Kang and Raiden "fell from grace" in 2000s, and that Mortal Kombat 11 provided the last opportuinty to redeem the two characters. Robin Shou's take on Liu Kang in the 1995 film was also the subject of analysis in the book The Deathly Embrace: Orientalism and Asian American Identity, which discusses the character's attempt to face his fears and accept that he is not responsible for his brother's death, as well as the film's themes of individualism. Bloody Disgusting praised the fight coreography for Liu Kang's fight against Reptile. Den of Geek praised Ludi Lin's acting in the reboot and compared his possible love interest with Kitana in the potential sequel to Romeo and Juliet.

Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity

Japanese visual novel, released 2008

Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity (タユタマ -Kiss on my Deity-) is a Japanese visual novel developed by Lump of Sugar. It was first released as an adult game for Windows PCs on July 11, 2008 in both limited and regular editions, and was later followed by an Xbox 360 version. Tayutama is Lump of Sugar's third title after their previous titles Nursery Rhyme and Itsuka, Todoku, Ano Sora ni. The story centers on the male protagonist Yuri Mito, a high school student who is the son of a family that presides over the local Shinto shrine. As Yuri performs a ritual to transfer a relic that hosts a fictional, supernatural race called Tayutai, he and his friends accidentally summon a goddess, who incarnates as a young girl. The gameplay in Tayutama mainly consists of reading a text-based, branching plot line with multiple endings, and offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction based on the player's decisions. The game received two awards from the 2008 Bishōjo Game Awards for its visuals. It received a fan disc titled Tayutama: It's Happy Days in May 2009, and made several transitions to other media. It received a manga adaptation illustrated by artist Yukiwo, who co-created an original story for the adaptation. A twelve-episode anime series produced by the animation studio Silver Link was broadcast in Japan between April and June 2009. A manga anthology series drawn by multiple artists, an Internet radio talk show used to promote the anime adaptation, and several music albums were also released. ## Gameplay Tayutama is a romance visual novel in which the player assumes the role of Yuri Mito. Its gameplay mainly consists of reading and progressing through the story's narrative and dialogue. The game's text is accompanied by character sprites, which represent who Yuri is talking to, appearing on top of background artwork. Throughout the game, the player encounters CG artwork at certain points in the story, which take the place of the regular background art and character sprites. When the game is completed at least once, a gallery of the viewed CGs and played background music is available on the game's title screen. Tayutama follows a branching plot line with nonlinear sequences and multiple endings, where the plot's direction is affected by the player's decisions. Throughout gameplay, the player is given multiple options to choose from, and text progression pauses at these points until a decision is made. These decisions determine the sequence in which the story's events will occur, and progress the plot toward a specific heroine's ending. There are four main plot lines in the original Windows version that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. This is increased to five plot lines in the Xbox 360 version with the extended scenario for Nue. In order to view all plot lines in their entirety, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and make different decisions to progress the plot in alternate directions. ## Plot ### Setting and themes The main part of Tayutama takes place in a town called Ashihara-chō (葦原町), which houses various landmarks such as the Sosei Academy (創聖学院, Sōsei Gakuin), which the main characters attend, and the Yachimata Shrine (八衢神社, Yachimata Jinja), a local Shinto shrine managed by Yuri's family. Sosei Academy consists of two departments: a notorious all-girls department named Flawless (フローレス, Furōresu), which stems its roots from the Sosei Girls' Academy; and a recently added coeducation department named Slightly (スライトリー, Suraitorii). The campus grounds are separated into two parts which houses the two separate departments. Students attending the Flawless department live in a dormitory across from the school building, which is separated from Slightly's school building and schoolyard by a small forest. Supernatural phenomena are a recurring theme in Tayutama. The fictional, mythological race Tayutai (太転依) is worshiped by the Yachimata Shrine, and its members are able to take shape in various forms, including humans. Various characters also possess supernatural abilities, such as Yuri who excels in Shinto studies and practices, and Mashiro, who is a Tayutai herself. Yumina and Ameri both receive wings as a result of gaining the favor and allying respectively with Houou and Ouryu, two Tayutai. Mifuyu is befriended by Nue, another Tayutai, and is physically powerful enough to engage a Tayutai in battle. ### Principal characters The player assumes the role of Yuri Mito (泉戸 裕理, Mito Yūri, voiced by Satoshi Hino), the protagonist of Tayutama. Yuri comes from a family that presides over the Yachimata Shrine, and holds a vast knowledge in Shinto practices. He takes an interest in automobile maintenance, and also aspires to be an auto mechanic or designer. Mashiro Mito (泉戸 ましろ, Mito Mashiro, voiced by Noriko Rikimaru), the main heroine of Tayutama, is a Tayutai girl with a high understanding of spiritual powers. She is the incarnation of the goddess Kikuramikami no Hime (綺久羅美守毘売, voiced by Haruka Nagami), and wishes for a mutual harmony between humans and Tayutai. She falls in love with Yuri soon after being left in his care, to the extent that she claims to be his wife. Several characters also become involved in Yuri and Mashiro's attempt to create a world where both humans and Tayutai can coexist together. Ameri Kawai (河合 アメリ, Kawai Ameri, voiced by Asami Shimoda), another heroine, is Yuri's energetic and outgoing childhood friend. She frequently carries around candies, which she often shares with others, and has a crush towards Yuri, but is unable to carry her feelings further. Yumina Takanashi (小鳥遊 ゆみな, Takanashi Yumina, voiced by Kaori Mizuhashi), also a heroine, is Yuri's stepsister who resided with his family until their mother's death. She is often shy and quiet in front of others, and takes an interest in activities such as drawing and cooking. Yumina transfers into Flawless early in the story, and often voluntarily takes care of the household chores for Yuri's family. Mifuyu Kisaragi (如月 美冬, Kisaragi Mifuyu, voiced by Shizuka Itō), the last of Tayutama's heroines, is an honor student from Flawless. She is calm and intelligent, and tends to act as an elder sister figure to other Flawless students. She is skilled in various martial arts, and is in particular proficient in kenjutsu. ### Story The story of Tayutama revolves around the male protagonist Yuri Mito, whose family manages the local Shinto shrine. One day during spring break, Yuri and his friends Ameri Kawai and Sankurou Kaname find in the school's woods a mysterious relic that was used in the past to seal the Tayutai, an ancient, mythological race. Yuri discovers that the school board has determined that the relic is insignificant for preservation, and that it will be demolished to allow the school to expand. After coming to the conclusion that destroying the relic may have adverse consequences, the trio attempts to relocate the relic's spirits. As Yuri performs the ritual, he summons Kikuramikami no Hime, a Tayutai goddess who explains to him the belligerent relationship between humans and Tayutai; Kikuramikami then incarnates as a young girl, Mashiro, in hopes of maintaining a mutual relationship with humans. Shortly afterwards, the relic is destroyed in an accident, releasing the entire race of Tayutai. Among them are Nue, Houou, and Ouryu, three influential Tayutai who hold humans in low regard and are referred to collectively as the "Three Mightiest" (三強, Sankyō). Following the incident, Yuri takes Mashiro to the Yachimata Shrine to live with his family, and later finds Mashiro as a teenager, who proclaims herself to be Yuri's wife. In their attempt to create a world where humans and Tayutai can peacefully coexist, Yuri and Mashiro battle the members of the Three Mightiest in a successive, nonlinear order determined by the player's decisions. In one scenario, Nue, a young female Tayutai, begins to steal undergarments from the Flawless dormitories due to her curiosity in them. She is defeated by Mashiro and Mifuyu Kisaragi, and finds herself befriended by Mifuyu, who later begins to take care of her as a guardian. Yumina Takanashi, Yuri's stepsister, also begins to take care of Hou, an exhausted bird Tayutai who begins to nest on Yumina's head. Yumina is later attacked by Ou, another Tayutai who makes up the Houou couple with Hou, before the couple reconciles with the help of Yuri and Mashiro. Lastly, Ameri allies herself with Ouryu, the last of the Three Mightiest, out of jealousy from the amount of attention Mashiro receives from Yuri. After Ameri reconciles with Yuri, Ouryu agrees to stop attacking humans, and acknowledges Mashiro's goal. ## Development and release Tayutama is the third title developed by Lump of Sugar. The visual novel's scenario was written by Chihiro Fumikata. The character designs and illustrations for the visual novel were drawn by Fumitake Moekibara; Moekibara also served the same position for Lump of Sugar's previous titles. The game's music was composed entirely by Shigenobu Ōkawa, who was also one of the two composers for Itsuka, Todoku, Ano Sora ni. Tayutama was first released for Windows on July 11, 2008 in both limited and regular editions. The limited edition contained the game itself, a vocal collection CD, an official fan book, character portraits, and a phone strap; the regular edition did not contain the aforementioned extras. A fan disc of Tayutama, titled Tayutama: It's Happy Days, was released on May 29, 2009 in both limited and regular editions. The limited edition of It's Happy Days contained the game itself and a visual fan book with short summaries of the game's characters, illustrations, conception materials, and an interview with the game's development team. 5pb. released an Xbox 360 version of the original game on November 5, 2009. The Xbox 360 version contains remastered graphics, additional music, and additional scenarios for Nue, a supporting female character being promoted to a heroine. It was released in both limited and regular editions, and the limited edition contains the game itself, a phone strap, and a drama CD adaptation. A sequel titled Tayutama 2: You're the Only One was announced on April 24, 2015 to commemorate Lump of Sugar's 10th anniversary and released on September 23, 2016. The game was submitted to Steam Greenlight by Chinese publisher Hikari Field on September 15, 2016. An append disc for Tayutama 2, featuring the characters of Tayutama, was released to users who purchased Lump of Sugar's previous titles, Rensō Relation and Kodomo no Asobi. ## Adaptations ### Printed media A manga adaptation based on Tayutama was serialized between the January and July 2009 issues of the manga magazine Comp Ace. The manga series was drawn by illustrator Yukiwo and written by Yūya, and features an original story in which Yuri becomes a girl. The individual chapters were later compiled into a single bound volume published by Kadokawa Shoten on June 26, 2009. Enterbrain published a series of four-panel comic strip anthologies, titled Magi-Cu 4-koma Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity. The anthology series spanned four volumes, and it was released under Enterbrain's Magi-Cu Comics imprint between April 25 and October 26, 2009. The contents of the anthologies were drawn by numerous artists, and eighteen different illustrators contributed to the first volume. An art book titled Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity Official Book was released with the game's limited edition release on July 11, 2008. The book included content such as sketches of the characters and staff comments. A 112-page visual fan book for the fan disc, Tayutama: It's Happy Days, was first released with the game's limited edition release on May 29, 2009; it was also released separately on January 22, 2010. The book contains content such as illustrations and computer graphic artwork from the game, development materials, and staff interviews. ### Anime A Tayutama anime adaptation was first announced in Enterbrain's Tech Gian magazine on December 20, 2008. The anime series was produced by Silver Link, directed by Keitaro Motonaga and written by Makoto Uezu. The anime was first exhibited as a video at Media Factory's Spring Anime Festival in the Ryōgoku KFC Hall in Tokyo, on March 29, 2009. The exhibition featured a public showing of the anime's first episode along with Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom and Queen's Blade's respective episodes, and also talk shows featuring voice actors from the three series. The anime was first broadcast in Japan between April 5 and June 21, 2009 on the Chiba TV broadcasting network, and was later broadcast on other independent stations and the AT-X network. The series was released in Japan as six separate Blu-ray Disc and DVD volumes between June 25 and November 25, 2009; each volume also contains an animated extra titled Tayutayu: Pure my Heart (たゆたゆ -Pure my heart-). Sentai Filmworks licensed the anime for distribution by Section23 Films in North America, and the series was released as a volume of two DVDs on March 16, 2010. An Internet radio talk show titled Tayutama Radio: Hirusagari no Yometachi (タユタマらじお -昼下がりの嫁たち-) was hosted by Noriko Rikimaru and Asami Shimoda, who voiced Mashiro and Ameri respectively in the anime. The radio show was first streamed on the Japanese Internet radio network Onsen on March 9, 2009, and continued to do so every Monday until its tenth episode on July 13, 2009. ## Music The Windows version of Tayutama has four main theme songs: "Konna Haru no Sora o" (こんな春の空を), the first opening theme, and "Niji o Mitsuketa Yō na Iro de" (虹を見つけたような色で), the ending theme, were sung by Haruka Shimotsuki; "Shunkan Spline" (瞬間スプライン, "Shunkan Supurain", "Instantaneous Spline"), the second opening theme, and "Cherry", an insert song, were sung by Kicco. The Xbox 360 version featured three theme songs: "Ōka Shunkō" (桜花春煌), the first opening theme song, and "Eien o Hajimeyou" (永遠を始めよう, "Let's Begin Eternity"), the ending theme, were both performed by Kicco; "Doko made mo Tomo ni" (どこまでも共に, "Together Anywhere"), the second opening theme, was performed by Shimotsuki. There are also four additional insert songs, one for each heroine and was sung by their respective voice actresses. The insert song for Mashiro is "Marital Vows"; the insert song for Ameri is "Going My Way" (ごーいんぐまいうぇい, Gōingu Mai Uei); the insert song for Yumina is "Flower Doll"; and lastly, the insert song for Mifuyu is "Rainy Pain". The first music release was a maxi single entitled "Shunkan Spline". The single contains the titular theme song and "Cherry", and was released on June 27, 2008. The game's original soundtrack was released on July 9, 2008. Of the 31 tracks collected in the album, two are the theme songs "Konna Haru no Sora o" and "Niji o Mitsuketa Yō na Iro de". Another maxi single, titled "The Fine Every Day", was released on April 22, 2009. The single contains the opening theme for the anime, "The Fine Every Day", and the opening theme for Tayutama: It's Happy Days, "Jōnetsu no Uoburu" (情熱のウォブル, "Passionate Wobble"), both sung by Kicco. A maxi single by Ui Miyazaki, titled "Kizuna no Uta" (キズナノ唄, "Song of Bonds"), was released on May 27, 2009 featuring the titular ending theme for the anime. An image song album, titled Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity Chara-son + (「タユタマ-Kiss on my Deity-」キャラソン+, Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity Kyarason+), was released on July 24, 2009 containing the Windows version's second opening theme and inserts. Lastly, an album titled Xbox 360 Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity Theme Songs (Xbox360ソフト「タユタマ-Kiss on my Deity-」主題歌集, Xbox 360 Sofuto "Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity" Shudaika-shū) was released on November 25, 2009. ## Reception and legacy According to a sales ranking conducted by PCPress, Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity was the second best-selling bishōjo game in July 2008, only falling behind Key's Little Busters! Ecstasy. It was also the second most widely sold game on Getchu.com for July 2008, and was the sixth most widely sold game of the year on the website. The game was also the twenty-seventh most widely sold game on the website for the month of April 2009. The game received two awards from the 2008 Bishōjo Game Awards panel, a silver prize for graphics, coming behind Akabeisoft2's The Devil on G-String, and a gold prize for character designs. Tadamoto Ōsawa, the editor-in-chief of the Japanese bishōjo magazine BugBug, praised Moekibara for his heroines' appealing character designs, and cited Mashiro as a character fitting for the award. The anime adaptation received mixed reviews. Chris Beveridge of Mania.com praised the series' aesthetics. He stated that it "has a solid looking presentation to it with its animation style and character design," and in particular found the costume and setting designs appealing. However, he criticized how the storyline "has a whole lot of the familiar ... that keeps it from standing well on its own," and described the series as "not bad, it's just another show that we've seen before." Stig Høgset of T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews also noted the characters are "generally pleasant to look at." He described the adaptation's story as "fairly straightforward and hardly difficult to follow," but criticized it as "basically written with a complete disregard for logic and common sense." Høgset concluded by comparing Tayutama's anime adaptation to Natsume's Book of Friends, stating that although the former is "honestly trying to tell a decent story about the possible friendship between two different races ... [the latter] does this a hell of a lot better." Several characters from Tayutama also appear in video games created by other developers. Ameri, Mashiro, and Mifuyu were featured as playable characters in the fighting game Twinkle Queen. The game was released on August 26, 2010 for Wii, and also featured characters from The Devil on G-String, Windmill's Shukufuku no Campanella, and BaseSon's Shin Koihime Musō. Ameri and Mashiro were also featured as characters in Illusion's Characolle! 3D animation program series. The program's fourth entry, Characolle! Lump of Sugar, was released on July 1, 2011, and included the characters' models and scenery assets based on Tayutama's locales as part of the package.

Nesomys narindaensis

Extinct species of rodent

Nesomys narindaensis is an extinct rodent that lived in northwestern Madagascar. It is known from subfossil skull bones and isolated molars found in several sites during field work that started in 2001. First described in 2010, it is placed in the genus Nesomys together with three smaller living species, which may differ in some details of molar morphology. The presence of N. narindaensis, a rare element in the local rodent fauna, suggests that the region was previously more humid. ## Taxonomy Remains of Nesomys narindaensis were found during fieldwork in northwestern Madagascar that started in 2001. The species was described in a 2010 paper by Pierre Mein and colleagues, together with another extinct rodent, Brachytarsomys mahajambaensis. The specific name, narindaensis, where one of the sites where the species has been found is located. It is placed in the genus Nesomys, together with three smaller living species, N. audeberti, N. lambertoni, and N. rufus. Nesomys is classified in the exclusively Madagascan subfamily Nesomyinae of the family Nesomyidae, which includes various African rodents. ## Description Nesomys narindaensis is known from a damaged skull, missing part of the back, a mandible (lower jaw) with the first two molars (m1 and m2), and four isolated molars (one first upper molar, M1, one third upper molar, M3, and two m2). It is larger than each of the three living species, and the known material additionally differs from those in a few details that may not hold in larger samples. Total skull length is 61.3 mm, longer than in the largest living species, N. lambertoni (50.3–53.8 mm). The width of the palate between the M1 is 8.7 mm (7.2–7.9 mm in N. lambertoni) and the length of the upper toothrow is 9.04 and 9.16 mm on the two sides of the skull (7.2–7.9 mm in N. lambertoni). M1 is flat-crowned. The anteroloph, a crest at the front of the tooth, lacks a smaller accessory spur that is present in N. rufus. The paracone, one of the main cusps, is quite small; this cusp is more prominent in N. rufus. The mesoloph, a crest on the middle of the tooth, is distinct but short and located further to the back than in N. rufus. M2 has a longer mesoloph. M3 is largely flat-crowned, but the paracone is a bit more prominent than the rest. The valley between the cusps at the front is deeper than the valleys at the back. Each of the upper molars has three roots. The m1 is long and narrow. The anteroconid, the cusp at the front of the tooth, is oriented perpendicularly to the main axis of the tooth and on the lingual (inner) side is separated from the metaconid cusp. The protoconid, another cusp on the labial (outer) side, is connected at its back to a longitudinal crest, which in turn anchors the transverse mesolophid crest, and then joins the hypoconid labial cusp. In front of the hypoconid, an ectostylid (a smaller cuspule) is present. The entoconid cusp, located lingually, is relatively high and is separated from the mesolophid before it by a deep valley. Another crest, the posterolophid, is present behind the hypoconid. At the front of the m2, crests known as the anterolophid and anterolabial cingulum are present before the protoconid and the metaconid. As on the m1, a transverse mesolophid and an ectostylid are present. The hypoconid and the entoconid are present, as is the posterolophid behind them. Within the posterolophid, there is a small valley that is absent in N. rufus. Both m1 and m2 have two roots; m3 is unknown. ## Distribution and ecology Remains of Nesomys narindaensis have been found at the sites of Antsingiavo, Ambongonambakoa, and Ambatomainty in northwestern Madagascar, which are latest Pleistocene (126,000 to 10,000 years ago) and early Holocene (less than 10,000 years ago) in age. Nesomys is a rare element of the rodent fauna, which is dominated by multiple species of Eliurus and Macrotarsomys. Modern Nesomys live on the ground in eastern (N. audeberti and N. rufus) and western (N. lambertoni) Madagascar. The only surviving western species, N. lambertoni, is restricted to a relict humid karst area; the presence of N. narindaensis and Brachyuromys mahajambaensis suggests that the past environment in northwestern Madagascar was also more humid. Subfossil remains of Nesomys have been recorded from some other localities in northwestern Madagascar, but these have not been described.

Cyril Colnik

Austrian metalsmith

Cyril Colnik (20 September 1871 – 25 October 1958) was a metalsmith originally from Austria sometimes called "The Tiffany of wrought iron".. He emigrated to the United States to attend the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where he won a gold medal for his entry to the exposition. He settled in Milwaukee Wisconsin, Colnik opened a workshop there in 1894. He was a pacifist, which lead him to close his business instead of making armaments for World War I. Colnik spent the remainder of his career working in and around Milwaukee, retiring in 1955 and dying in 1958. ## Early life Colnik was born in 1871, in the Austrian village of Trieben, Styria. His parents were Dominick and Anna Rudmilla Colnik; his father was a veterinarian, a politician and an economist. The family lived on a large estate, and from an early age, Colnik spent time around the property's smithy, according to author Alan Strekow. He apprenticed in the 1880s as a mechanical assistant. He studied iron work in Vienna, and then moved to Graz to study under Franz Roth. He served in the apprenticeship in the metal shop in with Roth after which he studied in France and other countries in Europe, before eventually settling in Munich, Germany. In Munich, he worked in Reinhold Kirsch's workshop. He finished his studies there at the Munich Industrial Art School. Artisan Reinhold Kirsch recognized him as an exceptional student, and sent him to America as part of the German ironworking team at the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition. ## Career When Colnik arrived in Chicago in 1893, he was 22 years old. He worked on the hands of a donated clock for display at the Exposition. Colnik also entered an example of his work. His entry was a grille depicting the patron of blacksmiths: Vulcan, the God of Fire. The grille that he entered is described as a masterpiece by Strekow; he originally created it while still a student in Munich. He received a gold medal for his work depicting Vulcan, and also won a prize for an escutcheon entry. The United States experienced the Panic of 1893 and entered economic depression soon after the exposition, so he never received a physical copy of the medal. At the Exposition, the brewer Frederick Pabst was showcasing a beer garden. It is thought that Pabst convinced Colnik to move to Southeastern Wisconsin. Colnik created many metal items for the wealthy German brewer, including an intricate wrought-iron and antler chandelier which ended up in a Milwaukee tavern called "Von Trier". Colnik soon opened his own shop in Milwaukee, and between 1894–1905 he gained a reputation for excellent iron work, according to Strekow. His wrought iron factory provided a variety of products for the wealthy residents in the area. Colnik was a pacifist and suspected that his shop may be called upon to make armaments for the war effort during World War I, so he closed his workshop. During the Great Depression in the 1930s Colnik worked for the Works Progress Administration (WPA). He created the gates for Wisconsin Memorial Park, among other public works. He was admitted to the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 1938: the first non-architect to be admitted into the organization. Colnik was also commissioned to do work for John Ringling, creating the iron work for the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. He retired in 1955 at the age of 84. Today, several of his ironwork sketches and photographs are exhibited at the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum in Milwaukee. In 2008 he was given a Wisconsin Visual Art Lifetime Achievement Award. ## Personal life In 1905, Colnik married Marie Charolette (née Merz), the daughter of a Milwaukee shoemaker. On 24 May 1905 Colnik also became a naturalized United States citizen. In 1906 the couple had had a daughter, Gretchen. Colnik died on 25 October 1958 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, survived by his daughter. ## See also - Jessie and John F. Kern House - Herman Uihlein House - St. Paul's Episcopal Church (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) - Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum ## Gallery

Interstate 370

Highway in Maryland

Interstate 370 (I-370) is a 2.54-mile (4.09 km) Interstate Highway spur route off I-270 in Gaithersburg, Maryland, to the western end of the Maryland Route 200 (MD 200, Intercounty Connector) toll road at an interchange that provides access to the park and ride lot at the Shady Grove station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro. Despite the number, I-370 does not connect to I-70 itself. The road continues to the west of I-270 as Sam Eig Highway, a surface road. Along the way, I-370 has interchanges with MD 355 and Shady Grove Road. The freeway was completed in the late 1980s to connect I-270 to the Shady Grove station. I-370 was always part of the planned Intercounty Connector but was the only segment to be built at the time. The opening of MD 200 east of I-370 resulted in the truncation of I-370 to the interchange with MD 200 and the redesignation of the road leading into the Shady Grove station as MD 200A. ## Route description I-370 begins a short distance to the west of the I-270 interchange in Gaithersburg, Montgomery County, heading northeast as a six-lane freeway. Southwest of this interchange, the road continues as Sam Eig Highway (named after Washington real estate developer Sam Eig) which interchanges with Washingtonian Boulevard before becoming a surface road. The highway passes woods to the northwest and a shopping center to the southeast as it reaches an interchange with I-270. From this point, I-370 turns east and runs between residential neighborhoods to the north and business parks to the south, with trees separating the road from these areas. The freeway curves northeast again and comes to the MD 355 interchange. Past this, the highway passes more commercial development before reaching a bridge over CSX's Metropolitan Subdivision railroad line. A short distance later, I-370 comes to a trumpet interchange with MD 200A, a road that provides access to Shady Grove Road and the Shady Grove station of Washington Metro's Red Line. At this point, I-370 ends and the freeway continues east as MD 200 (Intercounty Connector), a toll road. ## History What is now I-370 was originally proposed as part of the Intercounty Connector in the late 1970s. The I-370 freeway opened on December 17, 1988, connecting I-270 to the Shady Grove station. After three and a half years of construction, the freeway was four lanes wide and 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. Its construction cost \$169 million (equivalent to \$ in ), with federal funds paying for 90 percent of the cost. The state of Maryland's portion of the cost was funded with a portion of the proceeds of a \$0.05-per-US-gallon (\$0.06/imp gal; \$0.01/L) gas tax increase in 1987. Prior to its opening, driving from I-270 to the Shady Grove station involved exiting at Shady Grove Road and passing six traffic lights to arrive at the station. Upon its opening, the remainder of the Intercounty Connector was planned but not yet built. At the time, it was the fourth shortest Interstate, after I-878 in New York, I-375 in Detroit, and I-395 in Baltimore. In 2007, construction began on MD 200, which was to head east from I-370. At this time, the ramp from Shady Grove Road to westbound I-370 was shifted to a new alignment. In 2009, the lanes along I-370 were shifted to allow for construction of the MD 200 interchange. Construction on this segment of MD 200 was completed in February 2011, with the road opening to traffic on February 23. As a result of the completion of MD 200, the eastern terminus of I-370 was truncated to the west end of MD 200, with the freeway connection to the Shady Grove station becoming MD 200A. ## Exit list ## See also

Video game walkthrough

Guide to assist players in completing either an entire video game or specific elements of it

A video game walkthrough is a guide aimed towards improving a player's skill within a particular video game and often designed to assist players in completing either an entire video game or specific elements. Walkthroughs may alternatively be set up as a playthrough, where players record themselves playing through a game and upload or live-stream it to the internet. Walkthroughs may be considered guides on helping to enhance the experience of players, to assist towards unlocking game achievements or simply as a means to socialise with like-minded individuals as a distraction from everyday life. Walkthroughs originated as text-based descriptive instructions in magazines for playing through a video game. With the growth in popularity of computers and the internet, video game walkthroughs expanded to digital and video formats, with the typical average age of watchers being 23 years old and predominantly male, according to a study undertaken in Finland during 2015. Some individuals and companies have been known to earn lucrative income through the process of recording and offering guides publicly. ## History Video game walkthroughs were originally included in video game magazines or on text-bulletin boards. In the late 1980s through to the mid 2000s, video game walkthroughs were also available through telephone 'hot-lines' in the United States. Despite the rise in popularity of internet-based guides, text-based walkthroughs are still present today in both print and digital formats. Examples of print publications include strategy guides published by Prima Games, whereas text-based digital guides are hosted on gaming websites such as IGN, GamesRadar, and GameFAQs, often in the form of wikis. Until its closure by parent company Future plc, Computer and Video Games (CVG) also created and hosted digital guides on their now defunct website. Player created digital walkthroughs are typically designed to assist other players in accomplishing certain feats within video games and are similar to text-based or telephony-based walkthroughs, except they can also be solely for entertainment purposes. These digital walkthroughs are typically uploaded to video sharing websites such as YouTube or live-streamed playthroughs to media streaming sites such as Twitch. Let's Play videos are a special type of walkthrough generally more focused on entertaining rather than informing the viewer through humorous commentary given by the video's host as they complete the game. ## Format Given there is no standardized format for the creation of text-based walkthroughs, guides exist that contain extensive examples and step-by-step instructions on how to write text-based walkthrough content. Prima Games and Computer and Video Games have produced walkthroughs. Prima Games produces official, dedicated text-based video game walkthroughs and strategy guides for a variety of video games in both print and digital formats. Computer and Video Games (CVG) published both text and video-based walkthroughs of video games on their website and official YouTube channel until their closure by Future in February 2015 in asset consolidation between various Future brands. IGN also creates and publishes video game walkthroughs in both text and video formats. When it comes to video walkthroughs of games, gameplay may be recorded in multiple ways, such as through the use of screencast software, built-in recording features in some emulators or via a video capture device connected to a console or another computer. Some video games also include built-in recording features, such as Grand Theft Auto V (2013), which included in-game recording and editing features in its PlayStation 4 and Xbox One re-releases, allowing players to record and edit gameplay to share with others. Video content is typically shared over the internet via streaming, using video sharing and media streaming websites such as YouTube and Twitch, where the content has a potential audience consisting of millions of people. ## Motivations In a study on the different motivations of walkthrough viewers conducted by Max Sjöblom and Juho Hamari from the University of Tampere in 2016, numerous viewer motivations were discussed. From the findings, the five most significant motivations were found to be improving player experience, confidence, knowledge about a particular game, socializing and creating an 'escape' or distraction from their everyday life. Walkthroughs may also guide players throughout an entire game or only certain sections and may be guides on finding rare collectables or unlocking achievements. According to Barbara Ortutay of the Associated Press, players "not only see the live and recorded video sessions as a way to sharpen their abilities, but also as a way to interact with star players in chatrooms or simply be entertained." According to Business Insider and The Verge, viewers of this genre of video content and live streams use them not only for their entertainment value, but also to assist with a variety of things ranging from purchasing decisions to "get[ting] better at playing games." GameRadar+ has called the watching of video game playthroughs the "Netflix of video games" and CNN declared the watching of video games being played by other people via videos and live streams "must-see TV". Some video game players have been able to make a viable business model out of playing video games as both a guide and for the entertainment of viewers; internet personalities such as TheRadBrad, DanTDM, Chuggaaconroy and Ali-A have been cited as examples of video game players who have been able to make money from creating video game walkthroughs. As a result of the influx of players uploading or streaming their content, multi-channel networks were formed in order to assist content creators in multiple areas, in exchange for a percentage of the advertisement revenue generated. ## Demographics In February 2015, a study of video game walkthrough viewers was conducted by the University of Tampere in Finland and recruited respondents through self-selection (over 93% reported to have a Twitch account). From 1091 validated responses, the average age was approximately 23 years old, of which 92.3% were male. The majority of respondents earned less than ten thousand dollars a year with a secondary level of education. The majority of viewers have a secondary level of education (52.19%), with all other education levels tending to watch less. ## See also - Longplay (video games)

SMS Blücher (1877)

Screw corvette of the German Imperial Navy

SMS Blücher was a Bismarck-class corvette built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the late 1870s. The Bismarck-class corvettes were ordered as part of a major naval construction program in the early 1870s, and she was designed to serve as a fleet scout and on extended tours in Germany's colonial empire. Blücher was laid down in March 1876, launched in September 1877, and was commissioned into the fleet in late 1878. Unlike her sister ships, Blücher was converted shortly after entering service into a torpedo training ship to experiment with the new self-propelled torpedoes and develop German torpedo doctrine. Blücher served in this capacity for the entirety of her active career. She was initially based in Kiel in the Baltic Sea, under the command of Alfred von Tirpitz. Between the 1880s and early 1900s, most of the officers and crewmen in the German fleet received their torpedo training aboard the ship. In 1907, Blücher suffered a boiler explosion that badly damaged the ship and killed thirty men. Deemed too old to warrant repairing, Blücher was instead sold to a Dutch company that used her as a coal storage hulk; her ultimate fate is unknown. ## Design The six ships of the Bismarck class were ordered in the early 1870s to supplement Germany's fleet of cruising warships, which at that time relied on several ships that were twenty years old. The ships were intended to patrol Germany's colonial empire and safeguard German economic interests around the world, though Blücher spent much of her career as a torpedo training ship in German waters. Blücher was 82.5 meters (270 ft 8 in) long overall, with a beam of 13.7 m (44 ft 11 in) and a draft of 5.68 m (18 ft 8 in) forward. She displaced 2,890 metric tons (2,840 long tons) at full load. The ship's crew consisted of 18 officers and 386 enlisted men. She was powered by a single marine steam engine that drove one 2-bladed screw propeller, with steam provided by four coal-fired fire-tube boilers, which gave her a top speed of 13.9 knots (25.7 km/h; 16.0 mph) at 2,989 metric horsepower (2,948 ihp). She had a cruising radius of 2,380 nautical miles (4,410 km; 2,740 mi) at a speed of 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph). As built, Blücher was equipped with a full ship rig, but this was later reduced. Blücher was armed with a variety of torpedo tubes throughout her career, ranging in number from four to seven. These were all 35 cm (13.8 in) tubes, and they were placed in various positions in the ship, above and below the waterline. Her gun armament consisted of four 8 cm (3.1 in) 25-cal. breech-loading guns and up to thirteen 37 mm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss revolver cannon. ## Service history ### Construction through 1890 Blücher was laid down in March 1876 under the contract name "C", and she was launched on 20 September 1877. The Chief of the Marinestation der Ostsee (Baltic Sea Naval Station), Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) Reinhold von Werner christened the ship at her launching after Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, the famous Prussian Army commander during the Napoleonic Wars. In late 1878, the ship was ready to begin sea trials, which lasted until 30 January 1879. On entering service, Blücher was assigned to torpedo testing duties; the navy planned to use the ship as a support ship for torpedo boats in the event of a war. By early 1880, the ship had been converted for this use; her original intended armament was removed and replaced with a variety of torpedo tubes, and her sailing rig was reduced. On 10 August, she finally entered service with the Torpedo School at Kiel, where Alfred von Tirpitz served as her first commander. In the years that Blücher was in service, the majority of German naval officers and enlisted men received their torpedo training aboard the ship, though she did not actually begin training new crews until 1 May 1881. She was initially based in the Kieler Förde, and on 17 September she participated in a naval review to demonstrate the new torpedo weapons for Kaiser Wilhelm I. While off Friedrichsort outside of Kiel, the Torpedo School conducted a series of demonstrations that began with four torpedo-armed pinnaces launching torpedoes at targets, followed by Blücher, which approached at full speed and launched torpedoes at the anchored target ship Elbe, scoring a direct hit amidships and sinking her. On 27 October, Blücher was decommissioned following the end of the annual training maneuvers. In 1882, the torpedo boat Ulan was assigned as Blücher's tender. From 22 June to 15 July, Blücher went on a training cruise in the Baltic Sea, which was followed by the annual fleet training exercises held in August and September. She spent the entirety of 1883 in commission, the first year she did so. In 1884, the navy organized a torpedo boat division for the first time, which included Kühn, Flink, Scharf, Sicher, Tapfer, and Vorwärts and the torpedo gunboat Jäger. During tests on 4 August, the old gunboat Wolf was sunk as a target. Blücher then went to Wilhelmshaven in September to assist in the testing of new torpedo boats being built there. She spent 1885 conducting training exercises with the torpedo boats in the training squadron. In 1886, the ship was assigned to the newly formed Inspektion des Torpedowesens (Torpedo Inspectorate); the year passed uneventfully, apart from a short trip to Wilhelmshaven. On 1 October, Blücher was decommissioned for a major overhaul. The Kaiserliche Admiralität (Imperial Admiralty) considered restoring Blücher to a fully-functional warship, with her place in the Torpedo School taken by the frigate Elisabeth, but this plan was not adopted. In the course of the overhaul, the ship's classrooms were modernized and search lights were installed on the deck to allow night-time torpedo training. On 30 April 1887, Blücher returned to service and she participated in a naval review held to celebrate the beginning of work on the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal in June. For the following year, Blücher was occupied with the normal routine of training exercises. She participated in training maneuvers in Norwegian waters off Kristiansand in 1889 that emphasized long-range firing. ### 1891–1909 Owing to the increased demands of the development of torpedo tactics, the Admiralität allocated the new aviso Greif to that purpose, allowing Blücher to focus solely on training of torpedo crews. The year 1891 passed uneventfully, and in May 1892 she began another major overhaul. Her place as the torpedo training ship was temporarily taken by the old ironclad warship Sachsen, which held the role until 1 December. In early 1893, Blücher returned to service; on 6 September three members of her crew had an accident off Kiel, where they accidentally capsized their boat. Blücher served as the flagship of IV. Division during the annual fleet maneuvers that year. From 1894, Blücher and Greif operated together. On 18 September, Blücher assisted the protected cruiser Prinzess Wilhelm, which had run aground of the island of Bornholm. In 1895, Blücher took part in celebrations marking the opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, and in September that year she underwent another overhaul. Her place in the Torpedo School was taken by the ironclad Friedrich Carl. The following year, Blücher again served as a divisional flagship during the annual training exercises in August and September. By this time, work began on the new Torpedo School in Flensburg-Mürwik, since the strong currents and increased shipping traffic through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal made it difficult to continue operations in Kiel. Flensburg also offered greater distances, which were necessary for the latest models of torpedoes that had significantly increased ranges. The years 1897 and 1898 passed in the same routine as previous years, with stints as the training squadron flagship during the fleet maneuvers both years. In 1900, Blücher was decommissioned for another major overhaul at the Kaiserliche Werft in Kiel, with her place again taken by riedrich Carl. She returned to service on 2 April 1901, but while in transit from the shipyard, she slipped a screw and had to be taken under tow. On 31 October 1902, the new Torpedo School was opened and Blücher was transferred to Flensburg, along with four torpedo boats. The ironclad Württemberg was assigned to the Torpedo School to support Blücher and the torpedo boats. By 1906, Blücher had deteriorated significantly in condition, and on 25 September, she was reduced to serve only as a stationary training and barracks ship. On 6 November 1907, Blücher suffered a serious boiler explosion. The boiler had not been used for several weeks, and the crew failed to prepare it properly, causing the high-pressure steam line to blow out the front wall of the boiler. The resulting explosion pierced the deck forward and aft of the funnel, causing serious damage to the ship. Ten men were killed instantly in the explosion and another twenty-four were seriously wounded, of whom another six died later. Casualties were limited by the fact that most of the crew were ashore at the time of the accident. Blücher was towed into port at Flensburg where a thorough investigation of the accident took place. On 29 February 1908, she was stricken from the naval register. Uranus (formerly the ironclad Kaiser) was converted into a barracks ship to take Blücher's place, and the latter vessel was sold to a private company from Rotterdam, which used the vessel as a coal storage hulk in Vigo, Spain. Her ultimate fate is unknown. For the victims of the explosion, a memorial was erected in Flensburg in February 1909 and the ship's figurehead was placed at the Naval Academy Mürwik.

Wilhelm D. Styer

United States general

Wilhelm Delp Styer (22 July 1893 – 26 February 1975) was a lieutenant general in the United States Army during World War II. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point with the class of 1916, he was commissioned into the United States Army Corps of Engineers and served with the Pancho Villa Expedition and on the Western Front. Between the wars he obtained a degree in civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was executive officer and assistant district engineer of the New York Engineer District. During World War II, Styer was deputy commander of the Construction Division in the Quartermaster Corps and later the Corps of Engineers. In March 1942, he became the chief of staff of the Services of Supply. He became deputy commanding general of the Army Service Forces in August 1943, as the Services of Supply was renamed. In this capacity he served on the Military Policy Committee, which oversaw the Manhattan Project. In May 1945, Styer became the commanding general of Army Forces, Western Pacific. As such, he chaired the tribunal that tried and convicted Generals Tomoyuki Yamashita and Masaharu Homma for war crimes. He retired in 1947. ## Early life Wilhelm Delp Styer was born on 22 July 1893, in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was the son of Brigadier General Henry D. Styer, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point class of 1884, who led U.S. troops in Siberia at end of World War I. His mother Bessie née Wilkes was the granddaughter of the Rear Admiral Charles Wilkes, the Antarctic explorer. He had a brother, Charles Wilkes Styer Sr., who later became a rear admiral, and a sister, Katherine Elizabeth "Bess" Styer, who married Adrian Melvin Hurst, who also became a rear admiral. Styer attended schools in the United States and the Philippines, and the National Preparatory Academy in Highland Falls, New York. He entered West Point on 14 June 1912, graduated third in the class of 1916, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army Corps of Engineers on 13 June 1916. Several of his fellow graduates would, like Styer himself, attain general officer rank in the future. They included Stanley Eric Reinhart, Dwight Johns, William M. Hoge, Calvin DeWitt Jr., Horace L. McBride, Fay B. Prickett and Robert Neyland. During his graduation leave in July and August 1916, he was a voluntary assistant instructor with the New Jersey National Guard, which was then under his father's command. He was posted to the Engineer Depot in Columbus, New Mexico, on 21 September 1916. On 5 October 1916, he joined the 2d Engineers, with which he served in the Pancho Villa Expedition. He was promoted to captain on 15 May 1917, a few weeks after the American entry into World War I. In August 1917, Styer sailed for France with his regiment. He attended the Army General Staff College at Langres in November, graduating first in his class and becoming an instructor there. He was promoted to major on 13 May 1918, and served as an observer with the British 19th (Western) Division during the Third Battle of the Aisne in June 1918. He saw action of the staff of the 3d Division in the Battle of Château-Thierry in July, and as an operations officer with the III Corps and 2d Division in the Aisne-Marne offensive in July and August. In September he embarked for the United States on USS Mount Vernon to join a new unit, but the ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat and was forced to return to Brest. A second attempt was more successful, and he was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Engineers in Washington, D.C., where he was serving when the war ended on 11 November 1918 due to the Armistice with Germany. ## Between the wars On 23 September 1918, Styer married Dorothea Haeberle, the daughter of George C. Haeberle, a prominent businessman from Niagara Falls, New York, in a ceremony at Niagara Falls. They had a son, George Delp Styer, who graduated from Norwich University in 1942, and became an Army officer. In March 1919, Styer became a student at the U.S. Army Engineer School at Fort Humphreys in Virginia. He reverted to the rank of captain on 16 February 1920. Styer graduated from Fort Humphreys in June 1920, and was posted to the Massachusetts National Guard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was promoted to major again on 10 February 1921. He enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in June 1921, and graduated in June 1922 with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He returned to the Office of the Chief of Engineers in Washington, D.C., where he reverted to the rank of captain a second time on 4 November 1922. On 5 October 1925, he was posted to the New York Engineer District as executive officer and assistant district engineer. He was the district engineer from 16 June 1926 to 14 August 1926, and again from 30 June 1928 to 1 August 1928. From 11 December 1928 to 28 August 1931, Styer was an Engineer in Europe with the American Battle Monuments Commission. He returned to the United States, and was District Engineer of the Pittsburgh Engineer District from 16 September 1931 to 9 May 1936. He was then assigned as Assistant Engineer for Maintenance at the Panama Canal from 19 May 1936 to 17 July 1939. Nearly twenty years after he was first promoted to major, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel on 1 June 1937. ## World War II ### Construction Division From 4 September 1939 to 19 June 1940, Styer was a student at the Army Industrial College. He became the commanding officer of the 8th Engineer Squadron at Fort McIntosh, Texas, from 3 August to 24 November 1940, and was executive officer of the Engineer Replacement Center at Fort Humphreys and Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. On 12 December 1940, he was assigned to the Construction Division in the Office of the Quartermaster General. The US Army was about to embark on a national mobilization, and it was the task of the Construction Division to prepare the necessary accommodations and training facilities for the vast army that would be created. This enormous construction program had been dogged by bottlenecks, shortages, delays, spiralling costs, and poor living conditions at the construction sites, and newspapers published accounts charging it with incompetence, ineptitude, and inefficiency. A new head, Colonel Brehon B. Somervell, took over the Construction Division on 12 December 1940, and four days later Somervell reorganized it, bringing Styer in as his deputy, and replacing all but two of the Construction Division's branch heads, one of the exceptions being Colonel Leslie R. Groves, Jr. One of Styer's tasks was finding talented officers to work on construction projects. His appeal to the Chief of Engineers released three officers, including Major Hugh J. Casey and Captains Edmund K. Daley and Garrison H. Davidson. By December 1941, 375 projects had been completed and 320 were still under way, with a total value of \$1.8 billion. On 16 December 1941, the Construction Division was transferred from the Quartermaster Corps to the Corps of Engineers. Styer, who had been promoted to colonel on 8 April 1941, drew up the plan for the transfer and the new organization, in which he remained the deputy head. He was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal for his services. ### Army Service Forces On 5 February 1942, the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, General George C. Marshall, announced that he was considering a radical reorganization of the War Department, and gave his staff 48 hours to comment on the proposals. Somervell, now the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-4, and Styer drew up a plan for a new, overarching logistics command initially known as the Services of Supply. Their proposal was accepted, and the new command was created on 28 February 1942. `It was renamed the Army Service Forces in March 1943, as the term "supply" was felt to be too narrow a description of the broad range of logistical activities carried out by the organization. Somervell became its commander, and Styer his chief of staff from 9 March 1942. Styer was promoted to brigadier general the next day, and major general on 8 August 1942. He became deputy commanding general of the Army Service Forces on 13 August 1943.` In September 1942, the director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), Vannevar Bush, suggested Styer be appointed director of the Manhattan Project, but Somervell did not wish to lose his services, and engineered the appointment of Groves instead. On 23 September 1942, Styer became a member of the Military Policy Committee, a group chaired by Bush (with James B. Conant as his alternate) with Rear Admiral William R. Purnell as its third member. As director, Groves was answerable to the Military Policy Committee, which was responsible for the higher direction of the Manhattan Project. When the Combined Policy Committee was formed in September 1943 by the Quebec Agreement, its chairman, Secretary of War Henry Stimson, had Styer appointed as his deputy. Styer also became chairman of its technical subcommittee, which included America's Richard Tolman, Britain's James Chadwick and Canada's C. J. Mackenzie. The technical subcommittee became very influential, as it furnished most of the data on which the Combined Policy Committee based its decisions. Styer was not confined to his office. In 1943, Somervell sent him to the China Burma India Theater to report on the Ledo Road. Styer's report persuaded the Combined Chiefs of Staff to allocate the required personnel, equipment and supplies to develop the road. He was promoted to lieutenant general on 7 November 1944. ### Army Forces, Western Pacific In April 1945, Somervell sent him to the Philippines to report on preparations for Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan. The Supreme Allied Commander in the South West Pacific, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, asked Styer to become head of a logistics organisation for Operation Downfall. Styer accepted the offer, but when he returned in May 1945 to assume the post, he found it was not what he had accepted. Instead, he became the commanding general of Army Forces, Western Pacific, a command co-equal with Lieutenant General Robert C. Richardson, Jr.'s Army Forces, Middle Pacific, which included logistical units, but also combat forces, while the planning responsibilities remained with MacArthur's General Headquarters. On 24 September 1945, with the war over, MacArthur ordered Styer "to appoint military commissions for the trial of such persons accused of war crimes". To try General Tomoyuki Yamashita, Styer appointed a commission of five general officers: Major Generals Russel B. Reynolds, Leo Donovan and James A. Lester, and Brigadier Generals Morris C. Harwerk and Egbert F. Bullens. Styer had the authority to reduce the sentence handed down by the commission, but he upheld the commission's death sentence on 12 December. The sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. On 22 February 1946, Styer signed the order for Yamashita's execution, which took place the following morning. General Masaharu Homma, the Japanese conqueror of Bataan and Corregidor, was subsequently also tried and convicted of war crimes committed by his troops during the notorious Bataan Death March, and Styer signed Homma's execution order too. ## Later life Styer retired from the Army at his own request on 29 April 1947. He died in Coronado, California, on 26 February 1975. He was survived by his wife, son, brother and sister. His medals and decorations included two awards of the Distinguished Service Medal, and the Distinguished Service Star from the government of the Philippines. He was also appointed an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Styer was interred at Arlington National Cemetery on 18 March 1975.

Battletoads (1991 video game)

1991 beat 'em up/platform video game by Rare

Battletoads is a beat 'em up/platform video game developed by Rare and published by Tradewest. It is the first installment of the Battletoads series and was originally released on 1 June 1991 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was subsequently ported to the Mega Drive and Game Gear in 1993, to the Amiga and Amiga CD32 in 1994 (despite the former having been developed in 1992), and released with some changes for the Game Boy in 1993 in the form of Battletoads in Ragnarok's World. In the game, three space humanoid toad warriors form a group known as the Battletoads. Two of the Battletoads, Rash and Zitz, embark on a mission to defeat the evil Dark Queen on her planet and rescue their kidnapped friends: Pimple, the third member of the Battletoads, and Princess Angelica. The game was developed in response to the interest in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. It received mostly positive reviews upon release, with critics praising the graphics and variations of gameplay; however, many critics were divided over the difficulty. It won seven awards from the 1991 Nintendo Power Awards, and has since been renowned as one of the most difficult video games ever created. It was later included in Rare's 2015 Xbox One retrospective compilation, Rare Replay. ## Gameplay The game is a platform scrolling beat 'em up, with varying elements of racing, climbing and vehicle-based obstacle courses. Players start with three lives each time the game is started, which get replenished every time the player continues after getting defeated. The game contains no saving system or password features. The player has a maximum of six hit points that can be replenished by eating flies. While the levels of Battletoads vary greatly in gameplay style, the game is generally presented as a "beat'em up", in which players progress by defeating enemies while avoiding the hazards in the environment. Throughout the game, the Toads are equipped with a regular punch as well as other "Smash Hits" that can be performed against enemies: the "Turbo Thwack", "Swingin' Size Thirteen", "Jawbuster", a punch with an enlarged knuckle named "Kiss-My-Fist", a headbutt attack named the "Battletoad Butt", "BT Bashing Ball" which is only used while hanging on the Turbo Cable in the second level where the toad character shape-shifts into a wrecking ball, the "Take Out the Trash", where an enemy is picked up and thrown overhead, a clasping of both hands to bash an enemy named "Nuclear Knuckles", "the Punt" where a 'toad repeatedly kicks an enemy after he knocks one into the ground, and a very powerful kick named the "Big Bad Boot". These special moves are usually activated after three or four regular punches or running at a faster pace, which is done by pressing left or right on the D-pad twice in a row followed by a B-button press that triggers the Smash Hit. Due to the variety of gameplay styles between stages, all attacks are only usable in certain levels. Objects from the environment or enemies can also be used as weapons, such as legs from broken-apart Walkers, beaks from ravens, pipes on the wall of Intruder Excluder, and flagpoles from the Dark Queen's tower. Side-scrolling stages are generally presented as having an isometric perspective, while platforming stages that feature vertical progression are presented non-isometrically, which allows the player characters to crouch. Several levels in the game feature sections in the form of an obstacle course, where the players must dodge a series of obstacles with speed increasing as the level progresses. Other types of level include two "tower climb" levels, a descent to a chasm while hanging from a rope, a level with underwater sections, a maze chase riding a unicycle-style vehicle, a platforming "snake maze", and a race level in which the players have to fall as quickly as possible through countless platforms to reach the bottom of a tower before an enemy does. Hidden in four of the levels are "mega warp" points, which, when reached, allow the players to automatically advance by two levels. ## Plot and levels Professor T. Bird and the three Battletoads, Rash, Zitz, and Pimple, are escorting Princess Angelica to her home planet using their spacecraft, the Vulture, for her to meet her father, the Terran Emperor. When Pimple and Angelica decide to take a leisurely trip on Pimple's flying car, they are ambushed and captured by the Dark Queen's ship, the Gargantua. The Dark Queen and her minions have been hiding in the dark spaces between the stars following their loss to the Galactic Corporation in the battle of Canis Major. Pimple then sends out a distress signal to the Vulture, alerting Professor T. Bird, Rash, and Zitz. Learning that the Gargantua is hidden beneath the surface of a nearby planet called Ragnarok's World, Professor T. Bird flies Rash and Zitz there in the Vulture to rescue them. Between levels, the toads receive briefing comments from Professor T. Bird, along with teasing from the Dark Queen. The professor drops the toads to the first level, Ragnarok Canyon, the surface of the planet guarded by axe-wielding Psyko-Pigs and Dragons that the player can fly with if taken out first; its boss is the Tall Walker, which throws boulders the heroes must throw back at it while avoiding its lasers. The toads then enter the world by descending through a downward-vertical-scrolling Impact Crater, the second level named Wookie Hole, where they face threats of ravens that can cut off the toads' Turbo Cable, Retro Blasters that pop out of the wall and shoot electrical bolts, Electro Zappers that form a line of 2,000 volts of energy, and plants named Saturn Toadtraps that eat toads. Ride levels include the third stage, the Turbo Tunnel, where the players dodges stone walls while riding on a Speed Bike and having to use ramps to get across long gaps; the fifth level, Surf City, where the player bounces on water surfaces on a "Space Board" while dodging logs, whirlpools, mines, and spiked balls; the seventh stage, Volkmire's Inferno, where the 'toads fly on the Toad Plane in a fire environment going through Force Fields and dodging fireballs and rockets; and level eleven, the Clinger-Wringer, where the toads ride on the stage's titular unicycles while being chased by a hypnotic energy orb, named the Buzzball. All of them include a section of beat 'em up gameplay, with Surf City being the location a boss fight with Big Blag, the chief of the Dark Queen's rat army that can squash the Battletoads with his weighty blubber slam, and Buzzball also serving as Clinger-Wringer's boss. The fourth stage, the Ice Cavern, is a platform level where the player has to use snowballs and ice blocks to destroy barriers while dodging those cold elements as well as spikes and hedgehogs and facing snowball-throwing snowmen. Level six, Karnath's Lair, is a set of rooms that each consist of only one exit and multiple snakes moving in varied, twisting rectangular patterns that serve as platforms, and the toads must traverse them while also dodging spikes. Intruder Excluder, the vertical-scrolling eighth stage, is the most platform-oriented level in Battletoads; it involves several jumps on platforms, springs and through electric barriers between moving gaps of platforms, avoiding obstacles such as rolling Big Balls, Snotballs, suction valves named Suckas and poisonous gas guns named Gassers, and its only beat 'em up sections being encounters with Sentry-Drones, The player must get from the bottom to the top of the level, where a boss fight with the Queen's genetically modified biogen Robo-Manus takes place. Level nine, Terra Tubes, is a mixture of a platform and underwater stage, and the only instance of the toads swimming in the game; it involves the player going through a non-linear pipe entrance into the Gargantua, with sections including encounters with Mechno-Droids and Steel-Beck duck creatures that guard the tubes, chases from the Krazy Kog, and rivers infested with spikes, sharks, electric eels named Elctra-Eels, and instant-attacking Hammerfish. The tenth level, the Rat Race, is one of two levels in Battletoads to be located in the Gargantua, the other being the eleventh level, Clinger-Winger. Rat Race is a downward-vertical-scrolling with the same hazards and enemies as Intruder Excluder. In the stage, the Dark Queen sends fast rodent Giblet to activate three bombs in the ship for it to explode, and the player must self-destruct them before the rat makes it to them. After the bombs are successfully switched off, a showdown with the Queen's least quick-witted commander, General Slaughter who only attacks with his head, ensues. The Battletoads escape the ship and, in another upward-vertical-scrolling stage named the Revolution, go to the top of the Dark Queen's Tower; the level involves the camera staying on where the toads move, thus presenting them as 2D sprites, but they and other enemies move circularly around the tower, thus making the background rotate as if it were three-dimensional. In the level, a variety of platforms must be jumped on in order to progress, such as those that sink the longer the playable character is on, those that disappear and re-appear, those that move around the tower, and springs; foes include oafs named Hornheads, Shadow Clouds that either harm the player with poisonous gas or blow wind to change the player's speed, Spiked Balls that rotate around the tower, and Swellcheeks where the only way for the player to avoid being blown away by its wind power is hanging on the flag poles. Once the Queen is defeated, she claims it will not be the last they would see from her, turns into a whirlwind and flies into space, "retreating into the shadowy margins of the galaxy to recoup her losses". With Pimple and Princess Angelica rescued, the four are brought back into the Vulture and fly away from the planet. ## Development The game was developed by Rare and published by Tradewest. Rare founders Tim and Chris Stamper created the series in response to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles craze of the early 1990s. To create a contrast to the popular media franchise and other beat 'em ups of the time, Rare added extra mechanics in the game to help separate it from these genres, such as racing stages and climbing courses. Rare decided early to take the game's art style and tone in a cartoony direction, both to distance Battletoads further from other beat 'em up franchises and to comply with Nintendo's restrictions on violence in games. According to Rare artist Kevin Bayliss, the characters of Battletoads were conceived in order to "produce merchandise" on a mass scale, in a similar vein to Tim Burton's Batman. Bayliss claims that he did most of the work on sketching the game's characters while Tim Stamper was largely responsible for translating the sketches and artwork into sprites. Rare attempted to create variation through shifts in gameplay between levels, and intentionally made Battletoads "crazy hard" in order to increase its longevity. Bayliss frequently heard the team's programmer Mark Betteridge scream in anger after failing to complete levels he had assembled himself. Despite their own difficulties, the team's consensus was that Battletoads was possible to complete with practice and skill. The game underwent changes through early stages of development, and at one point was originally titled Amphibianz. Bayliss originally designed Battletoads as a Disney-themed video game, however as the game gradually became more violent, Bayliss took extra liberties to tone it down and restrict all usage of weapons in the game, whilst creating a sense of uniqueness for the characters. According to Bayliss, the box art was designed by him but airbrushed and produced by Tim Stamper. Bayliss' initial design for the box art was rejected as the team felt that it failed to attract customers' attention, but the team was satisfied with their second and final revision. ## Release and promotion Battletoads was presented at the 1991 winter Consumer Electronics Show; an article about the event from Electronic Gaming Monthly claimed it to be "highly innovative." A few months after the initial North American release in June 1991 for the NES, Battletoads got a Japanese-localized release for the Famicom, getting distributed in Japan by NCS, as opposed to Tradewest. This release featured several gameplay tweaks, which resulted in a marginally easier experience. ## Initial reception Battletoads started at number 26 on Nintendo Power's July 1991 Top 30 list of NES games for Players' Picks only with 464 points, rising to number 13 the following issue with 858 points. In September 1991, it premiered on the actual Top 30 list at number 11 with 3,219 points, landing in the top ten of both respective lists for Players' Pick (number seven) and Pros' Picks (number six). In the October 1991 issue, the game skyrocketed to the number-three spot on the overall list with 6,008 points, remaining in that position in the November issue with 6,397 points. By January 1992, the issue Nintendo Power turned the Top 30 list into a Top 20 list (as they added Top 20 rankings for games of other consoles), Battletoads budged to number two with 6,140 points that month, staying in that ranking for three more consecutive issues but remaining out of the top spot due to having significantly less points than the long-lasting Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990). Afterwards, the game remained in the top ten for 17 more consecutive months, and eleven times in the top five. The game still charted when the Top 20 NES list ended in November 1994, and most of the game's final eleven months on the chart were in the bottom half, with only one of those months in February 1994 being in a top ten spot. Battletoads was greeted with mostly enthusiastic reviews upon release, with critics calling it one of the best all-time video games, one of the best games of 1991, one of the best all-time NES games, and the greatest NES game of 1991. The "innovative and fun" presentation was frequently praised, particularly when it came to the cutscenes, the cartoon style of the characters and attacks, the music and sound, multi-layer scrolling, variety of colors, humor, and the first level gimmick of the Big Walker boss being from the perspective of the boss. Only minor complaints were made, such as towards the sprites being too small, the attacks looking too non-aggressive, some backgrounds being a "bit bland on occasions," and flickering. Gameplay-wise, Battletoads was praised for its diverse gameplay styles, addictiveness, and motivating challenge level. Rob Bright of Nintendo Magazine System explained that "progress isn't slow, but then it isn't a breeze," and Julian Rignall of Mean Machines wrote that it's "brilliantly designed to allow you to get just a little bit further each time you play, and give experts the potential to hone their skills and rack up enormous amount of bonus points." Chris Bieniek appreciated the simplicity of the controls of its multiple speciality moves, particularly how attacks triggered by the B button change between levels. The platforming bits, however, were criticized for having poor collision detection that result in cheap deaths; reviewers from Sega Force also noted this problem in the Mega Drive port and called the game a "run-of-the-mill" platformer with unresponsive controls, "random" difficulty between levels, very little surprises, and "menial" objectives. Battletoads was nominated for the 1991 Nintendo Power Awards in nine categories, winning the first place in the categories: Graphics and Sound (NES), Theme and Fun (NES), Best Play Control (NES) and Best Multi-Player or Simultaneous (NES), it was also given the title of the Overall Best Game for NES of 1991. ## Later years AllGame acclaimed Battletoads as a mixture of a "great sense of humor (especially in the two-player mode) with a surprisingly good storyline and near-perfect gameplay," also praising its "smooth and responsive" controls "fluid" character animation, and the stages being "huge, gorgeously rendered and full of surprises." In a negative retrospective review, Spike ranked the game's ending as the sixth biggest letdown in video game history. In 1997, Nintendo Power ranked the NES version as the 89th best game on any Nintendo platform. In 2010, UGO included it on their "Top 25 games that need sequels" also featuring the Arctic Cavern level on the list of "coolest ice levels". Topless Robot ranked Battletoads as the number one "least terrible Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rip-off" in 2008, also naming it as one of ten best beat-'em-ups of all time in 2010 and as one of ten video games that should have gotten toys in 2011. In 2012, it was also listed among ten "classic videos games that deserve an HD remake" by Yahoo! News. GamesRadar ranked it the 18th best NES game ever made, stating that "it was a fun game but its most notable element was its difficulty". Jeremy Dunham of IGN listed Battletoads as the 40th best NES game of all time. ### Difficulty Battletoads has been noted by critics for its extreme difficulty. The game has even been included on numerous occasions among the hardest games ever made, including the number one spot according to GameTrailers. A reviewer of Destructoid stated that despite the game's "brutal and unbalanced" difficulty, it was often remembered as one of the most "beloved titles" of the eight-bit generation. A consumer guide named The Winner's Guide to Nintendo (1991), published upon the game's release, admitted the Turbo Tunnel level to be "one of the toughest challenges of any NES game." In 2012, Yahoo! Games stated that the game was still widely recognised as one of the most difficult games ever made, particularly noting the chance of players accidentally killing their partner in two-player mode. Nerdist remarks that Battletoads'''s sudden difficulty spike was intended to combat the video game rental industry; if the game was more difficult, then it would take longer to complete, and consumers would be more likely to purchase a retail cartridge instead of renting one. Hardcore Gaming 101 writer Eric Provenza analyzed Battletoads to be unlike other video games known for their difficulty, such as Ninja Gaiden (1989) and Adventure Island, in that it does not get harder gradually; there are different mechanics, enemies, and obstacles for each section, with no opportunities for players to familiarize themselves with them due to limited continues and lives and the absence of a password system or save feature. The game starts as "a quirky beat-em-up before rapidly shifting into high-speed obstacle courses and manic action platforming with very little cohesion." Game Players explained that while most of the game's challenges involved patterns that could be memorized by playing the game several times, it had long section lengths and very few continues; he also noted the two-player involving both players having to start over a stage if only one player loses all of his lives. ### Legacy The game's initial success led to Rare developing various sequels which would later become part of the Battletoads franchise. A spin-off game for the Game Boy, also titled Battletoads, was first released in November 1991. Despite having the same box art and title as the NES release, Battletoads for the Game Boy is a separate game in the series, featuring different levels and mechanics from the original. Two direct sequels, Battletoads in Battlemaniacs and Battletoads & Double Dragon, were both released for various consoles in 1993, with the latter being placed number 76 on IGN's "Top 100 NES Games of All Time" list. Battletoads Arcade was released in 1994 to mediocre sales. A pilot episode for a Battletoads TV series was also produced by Canadian DIC Entertainment, in an attempt to capitalise on the popularity of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The pilot originally aired in syndication in the United States on the weekend of Thanksgiving 1992, but it was never picked up as a full series. In July 2020, Megalopolis Toys announced a partnership with Interplay to release a line of six-inch action figures based on the games. ## Ports Due to the extreme difficulty of the original NES Battletoads, almost all subsequent ports of the game went to varying measures to tone it down, in an attempt to make the game more accessible to casual players. This caused some of the more demanding levels to be modified, and some of them even removed altogether in certain versions of the game. Later, in 1992 it was ported to the Amiga home computers by Mindscape, though the Amiga version went on unreleased until 1994. A Mega Drive version developed by Arc System Works and a Game Gear version were released by Sega (in Europe and Japan) and Tradewest (in North America) during 1993. The Mega Drive version features toned-down difficulty, as well as providing higher definition and more colourful graphics than the NES version. The Game Gear port features downscaled graphics, also removing three levels and the two-player mode. While the Genesis port was appreciated by critics for keeping the gameplay and humorous animations of the NES title, its presentation was criticized as not improved enough from its 8-bit predecessor, with GamePro suggesting it lacked "soaring stereo orchestration," digitized voices, or even "one croak" to significantly differentiate it. Also in 1993, a Game Boy version of the game was released, titled Battletoads in Ragnarok's World. This version was missing several levels and featured single-player support only. Tim Chaney, European CEO of Virgin Interactive, purchased the Master System rights for Battletoads from Tradewest after the game found popularity in the United States and had planned to release that version also in 1993, but it never materialised. In 1994 Mindscape brought the game to the Amiga CD32 and released it together with the previously unreleased Amiga version. It had also planned ports for PC DOS and the Atari ST back for the originally intended 1992 release of the computer versions, but these two were never released. A port for the Atari Lynx was also announced and planned to be published by Telegames, but it was never released. During E3 2015 it was announced that the NES version of Battletoads would be coming to the Xbox One as part of Rare Replay, a retrospective collection of 30 emulated classic games from Rare. Rare Replay'' was released on August 4, 2015, featuring a fix to a bug in the original game that made the eleventh level unplayable for player 2.

Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions

"Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions'" is the nineteenth episode of the first season of the American crime-thriller television series Millennium. It premiered on the Fox network on April 25, 1997. The episode was written by Ted Mann and Harold Rosenthal and directed by Thomas J. Wright. "Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions" featured guest appearances by Sarah-Jane Redmond and Richard Cox. Millennium Group consultant Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) is convinced to return to work after the death of a close friend. However, it soon becomes apparent that his first case back on the job is much deeper than he had expected. "Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions" features the final appearances in the series by both Bill Smitrovich and Robin Gammell. The episode has received mixed to positive reviews from critics, and was viewed by approximately 6.5 million households in its initial broadcast. ## Plot Millennium Group consultant Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) runs out to a supermarket parking lot where he witnesses a lawyer, Alistair Pepper (Richard Cox), being confronted over groceries by a man named Sammael (Rodney Eastman). Sammael raises his hand, and a bolt of lightning arcs from his fingers to strike Pepper dead; however, when Black reaches Sammael, he finds a pistol at the killer's feet. A few days before fellow Group member Peter Watts (Terry O'Quinn) investigates a murder in a suburban home, in which occult paraphernalia has been laid out in a disorganized manner. Watts contacts Black for help with the case. However, Black is still recovering from the murder of his friend Bob Bletcher (Bill Smitrovich), who was murdered in Black's home. Watts hangs up when he sees Sammael looking through the house's window, but by the time he can investigate, Sammael is gone. Watts later shows Black a picture taken at the murder scene, with Sammael recognizable among a crowd of people. Elsewhere, a man named Martin (Guy Fauchon) is arrested after slitting a babysitter's throat at a public park; despite the seemingly random nature of the crime, Black believes that the man may be connected to Bletcher's murder. However, he soon starts to suspect that Martin may be innocent of the crime he has been arrested for. Black also has a dream in which a mutilated Bletcher tries and fails to speak to him, which leads Black to believe he has lost his ability to see into the minds of others. The case against Martin falters as evidence disappears and witnesses fail to identify him in a line-up. Black is approached by Pepper, Martin's self-appointed lawyer, who extends Black an invitation to join his legal practice. Martin later claims in court to have killed Bletcher. Elsewhere, another Millennium Group member, Mike Atkins (Robin Gammell), receives a telephone call from someone pretending to be Black. Meanwhile, Black suspects that the occult-oriented murder may have been committed to draw the Group, and Black, into the open again. In his jail cell, Martin cuts his own throat with a concealed razor blade; however, a coroner later finds that his death was caused by an aneurysm. Black believes that Pepper is somehow involved. Watts and Black find Atkins murdered in a hotel room, and chase a suspect down a fire escape and into a supermarket. Inside, Black finds Pepper, but as Pepper moves in and out of view, his appearance seems to change to that of Martin, and then of Lucy Butler (Sarah-Jane Redmond), the woman Black suspects to have killed Bletcher. Pepper leaves the supermarket and approaches his car, where he is confronted and killed by Sammael. As Black apprehends Sammael, he is told that Pepper was killed as a "consequence of his own error"; Black takes it to mean that there is a larger mystery to which his own involvement is only tangential. ## Production "Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions" is the third of four episodes of Millennium to have been written by Ted Mann, who had previously written "The Judge" and "Loin Like a Hunting Flame", and would go on to write the first season finale "Paper Dove". Director Thomas J. Wright would go on to direct twenty-six episodes across all three seasons. Wright would also direct "Millennium", the series' crossover episode with its sister show The X-Files. "Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions" is co-writer Harold Rosenthal's only credit throughout the series. Both the title of the episode and the invocation spoken by the character of Sammael refer to four of the nine choirs of angels in Christian theology. Christian angelology holds that there are three groupings of three choirs each. The Thrones are the third-highest ranking choir, belonging to the group charged with attending to God, and are described as stern incarnations of holy justice. Dominions, the fourth-highest choir, belong to the group appointed to deal with God's creations. Dominions lead the lower orders and impart wisdom to humanity. Powers belong to the same tier as Dominions, and are tasked with countering the threat of temptation by the devil and demons. Principalities are the seventh-highest ranking choir and belong to the lowest grouping of angels, those most likely to appear to mankind. Principalities oversee those humans who rule over others, teaching kings and heads of families the skills needed to lead. "Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions" features the final appearance of the character Bob Bletcher. Smitrovich had first portrayed Bletcher in "Pilot", appearing intermittently throughout the first season. Bletcher was murdered in the previous episode, "Lamentation". The episode also features the death of Millennium Group member Mike Atkins, played by Robin Gammell, who had also portrayed the character in the earlier episode "Gehenna". Sarah-Jane Redmond, who had first portrayed Lucy Butler in "Lamentation", would return in the second season episode "A Room with No View", and the third season episodes "Antipas" and "Saturn Dreaming of Mercury". ## Broadcast and reception "Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions" was first broadcast on the Fox Network on April 25, 1997. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 6.7 during its original broadcast, meaning that 6.7 percent of households in the United States viewed the episode. This represented 6.5 million households, and left the episode the sixty-fifth most-viewed broadcast that week. "Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions" received mostly positive reviews from critics. The A.V. Club's Zack Handlen rated the episode an A, describing it as "gleefully grim". Handlen felt that the episode represented the series coming into its own, noting that "Millennium, after weeks of hinting at possibilities without delivering much of anything, has finally started to give a real sense that yes, there is a lot of bad news happening, and it really does make a twisted kind of sense". Bill Gibron, writing for DVD Talk, rated the episode 3.5 out of 5, noting that it shared similar themes with the direction the series would take in its second season. Gibron described the episode as "spooky and somewhat surreal", adding that "the entire installment [sic] crackles with possibilities". Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated "Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions" four stars out of five, describing it as being "surprising, intriguing, moody and pretentious". Shearman compared the episode thematically to Mann's earlier script for "The Judge", and noted that while the story "doesn't make for an especially comprehensible yarn, it does produce an episode that is genuinely uneasy viewing".

Baorangia bicolor

Edible fungus in the genus Baorangia

Baorangia bicolor, also known as the two-colored bolete or red and yellow bolete after its two-tone coloring scheme of red and yellow, is an edible fungus in the genus Baorangia. It inhabits most of eastern North America, primarily east of the Rocky Mountains and in season during the summer and fall months but can be found across the globe in China and Nepal. Its fruit body, the mushroom, is classed as medium or large in size, which helps distinguish it from the many similar appearing species that have a smaller stature. A deep blue/indigo bruising of the pore surface and a less dramatic bruising coloration change in the stem over a period of several minutes are identifying characteristics that distinguish it from the similar poisonous species Boletus sensibilis. There are two variations of this species, variety borealis and variety subreticulatus, and several other similar species of fungi are not poisonous. ## Taxonomy and naming Baorangia bicolor was originally named in 1807 by the Italian botanist Giuseppe Raddi. American mycologist Charles Horton Peck named a species collected in Sandlake, New York, in 1870, Boletus bicolor. Although this naming is considered illegitimate due to article 53.1 of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, Peck is still given as the authority in the Bessette et al. (2000) monograph of North American boletes. Boletus bicolor (Raddi) is not a synonym of "Boletus bicolor" Peck. Peck's Boletus bicolor describes the Eastern North American species that is the familiar "two-colored bolete", while Raddi's Boletus bicolor describes a separate European species that is lost to science. This taxonomic conflict has yet to be resolved. In 1909 a species found in Singapore was named Boletus bicolor by George Edward Massee; this naming is illegitimate and is synonymous with Boletochaete bicolor according to Singer. Molecular studies found that Boletus bicolor was not closely related to the type species of Boletus, Boletus edulis, and in 2015 Alfredo Vizzini transferred Boletus bicolor to the genus Baorangia. The original botanical name for this two-colored bolete was derived from the Latin words bōlētus, meaning "mushroom", and bicolor, meaning "having two colors." ## Description The color of the cap of the two-colored bolete varies from light red and almost pink to brick red. The most common coloration is brick red when mature. The cap usually ranges from 5 cm (2.0 in) to 15 cm (5.9 in) in width, with bright yellow pores underneath. The two-colored bolete is one of several types of boletes that have the unusual reaction of the pore surface producing a dark blue/indigo when it is injured, although the reaction is slower than with other bluing boletes. When the flesh is exposed it also turns a dark blue, but less dramatically than the pore surface. Young fruit bodies have bright yellow pore surfacesthat slowly turn a dingy yellow in maturity. The stem of the two-colored bolete ranges from 5 cm (2.0 in) to 10 cm (3.9 in) in length and ranges from 1 cm (0.4 in) to 3 cm (1.2 in) in width. The stem coloration is yellow at the apex and a red or rosy red for the lower two thirds. When injured it bruises blue very slowly and may hardly change color at all in some cases. The stem lacks a ring and lacks a partial veil. ### Microscopic characteristics The spore deposit of the two-colored bolete is olive-brown. Viewed with a microscope, the spores are slightly oblong to ventricose in face view; in profile view, the spores are roughly inequilateral to oblong, and have a shallow suprahilar depression. The spores appear nearly hyaline (translucent) to pale dingy ochraceous when mounted in potassium hydroxide solution (KOH), have a smooth surface, and measure 8–12 by 3.5–5 μm. The tube trama is divergent and gelatinous, originates from a single central strand, not amyloid, and will often stain yellow-brown when placed in dilute potassium hydroxide (KOH). ### Chemical tests Further methods of identification are chemical tests. With the application of FeSO₄ to the cap cuticle (pileipellis), it will turn a dark grey, almost black color and with the application of potassium hydroxide or NH₄OH it has a negative coloration. The context stains a bluish grey to an olive green when FeSO₄ is applied to it, a pale orange to a pale yellow with the application of KOH, and negative with the application of NH₄OH. ## Edibility The two-colored bolete is an edible mushroom, although some may have an allergic reaction after ingestion that results in stomach upset. The mushroom has a very mild to no taste although it is said to have a very distinctive taste like that of the king bolete. It can be cooked several ways, and the varying color of the cap can be used to determine if the mushroom is ready to be eaten. If the cap is a lighter red, then it is less mature and is in a stage where it is often larva infested or it can be soft fleshed, in some cases both. The cap should have a dark brick red color when safe to eat. Drying the two-colored bolete is a good method for storage. It is important to note the time it takes for the two-colored bolete to bruise when identifying it for consumption; the mushroom should take several minutes to bruise compared to the instant bruising of Boletus sensibilis, which is poisonous and has many of the same visual characteristics of the two-colored bolete. ## Distribution and habitat The two-colored bolete is distributed from southeastern Canada and the Great Lakes Region, primarily east of the Rocky Mountains, as far south as the Florida peninsula, and out to the Midwest as far as Wisconsin. It is commonly found in deciduous woodland and usually grows under or close to broad-leaved trees, especially oak. It can be found in isolation and in groups or clusters, primarily during June through October. The two-colored bolete is also found in China and Nepal, where it is one of the most used mushrooms of over 200 species of edible mushrooms used in Nepal. This unusual distribution of the two-colored bolete and other mushrooms is known as the Grayan disjunction; the phenomenon is characterized by a species living in one continent or island and then also on the other side of the world with no specimens of the species living in between the specific habitats. The Grayan disjunction is not uncommon among fungi. ## Similar species The two-colored bolete has several species that are similar to it and the differences are minute in most cases. Boletus sensibilis differs from the two-colored bolete in that it has an immediate bruising reaction and is poisonous, causing stomach upset if ingested, and in some cases a severe allergic reaction. B. miniato-olivaceus has a full yellow stem and slightly lighter cap coloration. It also has a more immediate bruising reaction than the two-colored bolete and the stem is slightly longer in proportion to the cap. B. peckii differs from the two-colored bolete by having a smaller average size, a rose red cap that turns almost brown with age, flesh that is paler in color, and a bitter taste. B. speciosus differs from the two-colored bolete by having a fully reticulated stem, more brilliant colors, and very narrow cylindrical spores. Hortiboletus rubellus subsp. rubens and the two-colored bolete have been found to have almost no difference between them, and they cannot be distinguished by appearance alone. Boletus bicoloroide is very similar to the two-colored bolete, the major differences between them being B. bicoloroide has only been found in Michigan and has larger spores. B. bicoloroide is also slightly larger than the two-colored bolete, around 1 cm (0.4 in) longer in the stem and 1 cm (0.4 in) in the cap. This species has not been as thoroughly researched as the two-colored bolete, thus macrochemical tests, edibility, distribution range, and the spore print color are all unknown. ## Varieties There are two varieties of the two-colored bolete: borealis and subreticulatus. Both varieties have a very similar habitat to that of the main species, except they appear to be limited to just the North American continent. Both varieties also have a slightly different coloration than that of the two-colored bolete, have deeper pores, and are not as often eaten or used in regional recipes. ### Variety borealis Variety borealis has a slightly darker color scheme than the main species. The coloration in general is darker; the cap can vary from a bright apple red to a dark brick red with maturity, to almost purple in some instances. The pore surface has a varying coloration of orange red to red and becoming a dull brown red with age. The bruising coloration is a blue green and the spore print is olive brown. The distribution of variety borealis is relatively small, ranging from Michigan to the upper New England states. The similar distribution and coloration to Boletus carminiporus has caused the two to be confused. New molecular evidence shows that borealis is not closely related to Baorangia bicolor var. bicolor. ### Variety subreticulatus Variety subreticulatus, like variety borealis, has a generally darker coloration than the two-colored bolete, but varies much more than either. When fresh the coloration of the cap varies from a rose red, red, rose pink, dark red, and purple red. With age it changes to a cinnamon red or a rusty rose color, with yellowing toward the margin. The pore surface is similar to that of the main species–yellow when fresh and with age changing to a dull ochre yellow; the bruising coloration is blue but is much lighter and sometimes not appearing to stain when bruised at all. The spore print is olive brown. The distribution of variety subreticulatus is very similar to the distribution of the two-colored bolete in North America, and appears north to eastern Canada and south to Florida, and west to Wisconsin. ## See also - List of North American boletes

Death of Abdulredha Buhmaid

Death during 2011–2012 Bahraini uprising

Abdulredha Mohamed Hasan Buhmaid (or Buhamaid, Arabic: عبدالرضا محمد حسن بوحميد) was a 28-year-old Bahraini protester shot by a live bullet in the head on 18 February 2011. He died in hospital three days later, the seventh death in the Bahraini uprising. Buhmaid was among a group of protesters who on 18 February marched toward the Pearl Roundabout following the funeral procession of protester Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima, who was killed four days earlier. When the protesters neared Pearl Roundabout, the army opened fire. Buhmaid collapsed to the ground, and blood poured from his head after it was hit by a bullet. The army opened fire twice more. Protesters regrouped after each round of shooting. Riot police finally intervened and dispersed protesters. Over one hundred protesters were injured, some seriously. Buhmaid was taken to Salmaniya hospital where attempts to revive him failed over the course of three days. He died on the afternoon of 21 February. Several witnesses including journalists and medics accused authorities of shooting directly at protesters, preventing some ambulances from reaching the site and firing at others. The government however, denied those statements. It stated that warning shots were fired in the air and accused protesters of faking injuries. An investigation by a government-appointed commission of inquiry blamed the army for Buhmaid's death. The incident marked the first time that the Royal Bahraini Army was used to confront civilians, and at the time was considered "the bloodiest" incident since protests erupted. Following the incident, the government offered dialogue which the opposition said they will only take part in after the withdrawal of the army. The general labor union called for a general strike. Internationally, the attack on protesters was condemned by Barack Obama and Human Rights Watch. High Representative of European Union expressed her deep concerns and called for restrain and immediate dialogue. Britain revoked over forty arms licenses to Bahrain after an earlier announcement that it would review them and German president canceled a planned visit to the country. Buhmaid is remembered by the opposition as a martyr, leader and symbol of peacefulness. ## Short biography Buhmaid (or Buhamaid, 28) was married and had three children. He lived in Malkiya, south west of Manama. According to his wife, he had strong ties with his brothers. In an interview with the Bahraini newspaper Al Wasat, she said he used to take part in any political event in his area. "He was hoping to be Malkiya's first martyr and so he became", she added. ## Background Inspired by the successful uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, protests erupted in Bahrain on 14 February. During the day named as the Day of Rage, over 6,000 people participated in fifty-five demonstrations and political rallies in twenty-five different locations throughout Bahrain. Security forces responded to protests by firing tear gas, rubber bullets, sound bombs and birdshot. More than thirty protesters were injured and Ali Mushaima died as a result of birdshot injury in his back. The following day, during the deceased funeral, another protester was killed the same way. Angry protesters marched to and occupied Pearl Roundabout. By nightfall, their numbers had swelled to over 10,000. On 16 February, thousands of protesters continued to occupy Pearl Roundabout. On 17 February (later referred to as the Bloody Thursday), police launched a pre-dawn raid on sleeping protesters. Four protesters were killed and more than 300 were injured bringing the number of those killed in the events to six. Health workers and a journalist were allegedly attacked by security forces. The army was deployed following clearance of Pearl roundabout which then set up checkpoints and barriers. The Interior Ministry issued a warning to stay off the streets, and the army warned that it was ready to take "punitive measures" to restore order. Protesters resorted to Salmaniya Hospital's car parks where thousands of them protested against the government. All 18 Members of Parliament from Al Wefaq, the only opposition political party represented in Parliament, submitted their resignations. ## Incident On 18 February, over 50,000 participated in the funerals of crackdown victims. One was held in Al Daih, another in Karzakan. The largest however, was in Sitra. At about 4:46 in the afternoon, about a thousand protesters, most of them young men who participated in Al Daih funeral of Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima marched toward Manama, defying the government ban on gatherings. By 5:18 they had reached a road junction; to the right was Salmaniya hospital and to the left Pearl Roundabout. They turned left after a short pause. On their way, they clashed with riot police who withdrew from the site. Protesters continued their march removing barriers set by police a day ago. By 5:30 protesters were 80 to 200 meters away from army forces stationed in Pearl Roundabout which "were armed with M16 assault rifles, Dilmun rifles and Browning .50 calibre machine guns mounted on top of armoured vehicles". The protest was peaceful and protesters were "holding their hands in the air and chanting 'peaceful, peaceful'". Some were holding flowers. As protesters continued marching, army troops opened fire. Abdulredha Buhmaid was among the protesters. He was shot by a bullet in the head, collapsed to the ground and in the words of a witness, "blood was rushing from his head". Others sustained severe injuries inflicted by gunshots, two of whom also fell to the ground. Several eyewitnesses said army troops "gave no warning", but one witness said he heard them issue a warning several minutes after the initial shooting. Another witness said they heard a "faint voice of someone over a loudspeaker in the distance but could not make out what the speaker was saying". Most protesters ran after hearing gunshots and a helicopter chased them. After shooting stopped, protesters regrouped. One youth picked a rock and headed toward the army, only to be stopped by four other protesters. A witness interviewed by Physicians for Human Rights said that he and other protesters moved closer to army forces following the initial shooting. According to him he asked "Why do you shoot us? We had our hands up. We are peaceful. What do you want from us?", one soldier replied "I want you to leave. If you do not turn back, I have orders to shoot". Arriving ambulances started evacuating the injured when army opened fire again. When the shooting stopped, about fifty protesters started praying on the road, and few stood in front facing the army with their hands in the air. The army opened fire for a third time. The period of each shooting was short, because "people immediately started running away", witnesses said. After that, riot police intervened, firing tear gas and birdshot to disperse protesters, inflicting more injuries among them. A cameraman working for the Associated Press said he saw "army units shooting anti-aircraft weapons, fitted on top of armored personnel carriers, above the protesters in apparent warning shots and attempts to drive them back from security cordons". Bahraini photojournalist Mazen Mahdi said that the army shot "live fire from machine guns" and that paramedics were blocked from helping the wounded. "The first was a warning shot in the air. But after that, they just opened fire at the people ... They shot at the ambulances when they came in", he added. A senior emergencies researcher and medics interviewed by Human Rights Watch confirmed that some of the twelve ambulances sent were prevented by security forces from reaching the site. The Daily Telegraph said ambulances and paramedics "were shot at" and that "several were detained and at least one ambulance was impounded". Michael Slackman of The New York Times reported that he and a colleague were "shot at from a helicopter" shortly after army opened fire on protesters. Associated Press witnesses, The Daily Telegraph, and The New York Times mentioned that army personnel positioned in high buildings and helicopters fired on protesters. Jalal Firooz, resigned MP of Al Wefaq, Bahrain's main opposition party, said he saw soldiers fire on protesters. A report by three local rights groups mentioned that "photos of the injuries suggest that army aimed at the upper body area". Riot police chased down protesters who fled to Salmaniya, Bahrain's main hospital. Security forces backed off after initially advancing toward the hospital and firing tear gas into it. That night, over seven thousand protesters staged an anti-government sit-in in hospital parks, described by The Guardian as "the only place in Manama where they now feel safe to gather in numbers". The incident marked the first time that the Royal Bahraini Army was used to confront civilians, and at the time was considered "the bloodiest" incident since protests erupted. ### Casualties At least 120 people were injured according to medical officials. Salmaniya hospital was "overwhelmed" with casualties, some of whom were taken to private hospitals. Doctors said that nine of the thirty-two casualties who reached Salmaniya hospital were in critical condition. Some medics cried while treating the injured, some of whom had bullets still lodged into their bodies, X-rays showed. A doctor interviewed by Al Jazeera English pleaded for help from "all countries in the world". Describing the situation in hospital as a war, Dr. Ghassan said, "They are shooting at people's heads. Not at the legs. People are having their brains blown out". Two doctors said they treated patients who "seemed to be [injured by] live bullets rather than shotgun pellets, judging by the entry and exit holes". Buhmaid was taken to Salmaniya hospital. Blood was still "pouring from his head and he was unconscious". He was "clinging to life" in intensive care unit where doctors "struggled to stop his bleeding". "This is a bullet, gunshot wound, direct to his head and he's bleeding profusely from his nose, from his ear, his brain is shattered into pieces", said a doctor. Buhmaid's "brain was destroyed, but his body was still alive". His clinical death prompted a nurse on 20 February to smash a glass-framed image of the Prime Minister. Remaining in ICU for three days, Buhmaid was medically declared to be dead early in the afternoon of 21 February, becoming the seventh victim of the uprising. Listing him under "Deaths Attributed to Security Forces", the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry appointed by King Hamad to investigate the events stated that Buhmaid's death "may be attributed to the BDF [army]" while also referring to the contrary result of the military investigation. ### Government account On the night of 18 February, Fasial al-Hamar, then the Minister of Health, issued a press release aired on the national TV which denied there had been any deaths. He said the situation at Salmaniya hospital was calm and that only seven people were being treated for minor injuries. He also warned against what he called "rumors" spread in some satellite channels and websites. Bahrain's ambassador to the United States said that if army forces did fire live ammunition, "Probably they were warning shots only". "The forces that were used were proportional according to the law, they were legal, they were necessary because they were stopping the shops. The economy was hurting, the national economy. We had to take action and action was taken by the law," he added. However he admitted protesters did not use live rounds and promised that "Investigations will happen. And they will continue". The army said that protesters defied its orders to evacuate the area. According to its statement, after at least fifteen minutes of repeating the same orders, soldiers fired warning shots to the air. It also alleged that protesters were accompanied by "a line of ambulances" out of which they took blood bags to "feign that they had been injured". Military prosecutors carried out an investigation and concluded that the trajectory of the bullet that killed Buhmaid were inconsistent with the bullet having been shot by the BDF, on the basis of an ordnance expert's report that concluded the shot was fired from a high elevation. ## Aftermath Following the incident, the government offered dialogue with opposition and ordered army to withdraw from Pearl Roundabout. On 19 February, army troops were replaced by riot police. Hundreds of protesters moved to the site from different locations. A standoff between protesters and riot police was created, until the latter suddenly moved away. Thousands of protesters re-occupied the site following police withdrawal. ### Funeral Buhmaid's funeral was held on 22 February in his village, Malkiya. Over 9,000 participated in the funeral procession which started from roundabout 13 in Hamad Town and ended in Malkiya graveyard. At the same day during afternoon, over 100,000 participated in a protest dubbed "March of loyalty to martyrs" in honor of the seven victims of the uprising. ### Medics' trial In May 2011, 47 doctors, nurses, and dentists were charged for their actions during the uprising. One of the charges was conducting unnecessary operations to Buhmaid, which led to his death. In a press conference, Minister of Justice said "Buhmaid was shot in the head and he underwent a surgery in the presence of the media. His head had been open in an exaggerated manner, which led to his death". ## Reactions ### Domestic Buhmaid's family said they were sad for his death, but their pride had overcome it. Appearing on the national TV, the crown prince authorized by his father, the king, offered unconditional dialogue with opposition. He offered "condolences to the people of Bahrain for the painful days they are living" and asked them to remain calm. Opposition activists demanded withdrawal of army and resignation of government for the dialogue to begin. "[There is no] serious will for dialogue because the military is in the streets", said Matar Matar, resigned MP of Al Wefaq. The general labor union called for an indefinite general strike "unless the army is pulled out from the streets and peaceful demonstrations are permitted". ### International Barack Obama criticized the government actions. In reference to government of Bahrain and Yemen, he said "The United States condemns the use of violence by governments against peaceful protesters in those countries and wherever else it may occur". Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of European Union demanded "restraint" from all parties and said that report of violence "deeply concerned" her. She called for dialogue to begin "without delay". The United Kingdom revoked forty four arm licenses to Bahrain, twenty of them open licenses. Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said "We are deeply concerned about the situation in Bahrain and the events which have led to the deaths of several protesters". German president canceled a planned trip to the country. "Freedom of assembly and freedom of speech in Bahrain have to be fully guaranteed", a spokesman quoted him saying. Lawrence Cannon, then Canada's Foreign Minister called the Bahraini government to "exercise restraint" and lunch an investigation into protesters' deaths. "Canada urges Bahrain to respect its citizens' rights to freedom of expression and assembly, and to engage in peaceful dialogue with its people to address their concerns", he added. Human Rights Watch condemned the attack. "The Bahraini army has done what the Egyptian army did not do and exactly what the United States and its other partners urged it not to do -- it has opened fire on its own people," its Washington director said. Fareed Zakaria, CNN's international affairs analyst, said that the crackdown on protesters was a "rash move that will enrage many of its people and cost the regime international prestige". "This is a terrible mistake and they will pay a heavy price for it. The regime in Bahrain is doing something very rash and unwise; it is trying to respond by using force and punitive measures. This is not going to work in the end", he added. ## Legacy Buhmaid was the first person named a "field commander" by February 14 Youth Coalition, which also named their attempt to reoccupy Pearl Roundabout in the first anniversary of the uprising, "operation of the martyr leader Abdulredha Buhmaid". His death was described by the online opposition newspaper, Bahrain Mirror, as a "legendary scene that will remain forever in the conscience of humanity". A poster found in two articles of the aforementioned newspaper described Buhmaid as "the martyr who brought down an army with his peacefulness". Speaking to participants of a sit-in front of United Nations building in Manama on 22 February 2012, Ahlam al-Khuza'e of Al Wefaq said that shooting scene of Buhmaid was "the top manifestation of peacefulness". On 29 February, opposition parties organized a gathering in Malkiya to honor Buhmaid. Thousands participated in the gathering including Isa Qassim, Bahrain Shias' top religious figure. ## See also - Timeline of the Bahraini uprising (February–March 2011)

2013–14 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team

American college basketball season

The 2013–14 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan during the 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for the 47th consecutive year at the Crisler Center, with a capacity of 12,707. It was nicknamed "Team 98" in reference to that it was the program's 98th season overall and its 97th consecutive year as a member of the Big Ten Conference. The team was led by seventh-year head coach John Beilein. The team won the 2013–14 Big Ten Conference regular-season championship, for the 14th time in program history and the eighth time outright. It was Beilein's fourth conference championship and his second at Michigan. Although the 2012–13 team graduated five seniors and had two underclassmen (Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr.) who were first-round draft choices in the 2013 NBA draft from the 2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament national runner-up team, three of the five national runner-up team starters (Mitch McGary, Glenn Robinson III and Nik Stauskas) were returning. The entering class included a pair of state Boys Basketball Gatorade Players of the Year in Indiana Mr. Basketball Zak Irvin and Derrick Walton, runner-up Mr. Basketball of Michigan, three scholarship players and four walk-ons. The team was a top-10 preseason selection, according to the vast majority of preseason rankings, and many media outlets selected McGary as a preseason All-American. Plagued with back problems during the season, McGary played in eight of the team's first eleven games before opting for season-ending surgery. During the conference portion of the schedule Michigan won its first eight games, including a stretch of three games in which it defeated top-ten opponents in consecutive games (which no Division I team accomplished since the 2006–07 NCAA Division I men's basketball season). Michigan won at Wisconsin for the first time since 1999 and at Ohio State for the first time since 2003. The team defeated the same ranked opponent (Michigan State) twice in the same season for the first time in thirteen years. The Wolverines were led by 2014 Consensus All-American and Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year Stauskas, a unanimous first-team All-B1G selection. Caris LeVert (B1G 2nd team), Robinson (B1G honorable mention) and Walton (B1G All-Freshman) also earned conference honors, and Beilein was named Coach of the Year by the B1G media. ## Preseason roster changes ### Departures The team lost several players from the 2012–13 team. On April 14, 2013 Burke entered the 2013 NBA Draft, and on April 17 Hardaway entered the draft. On April 18, McGary and Robinson decided not to enter. On June 27, 2013 Burke was selected ninth in the 2013 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves and traded to the Utah Jazz for the 14th and 21st picks, which were used to select Shabazz Muhammad and Gorgui Dieng. Hardaway was drafted 24th by the New York Knicks. In addition to the NBA draft class, the team had a 5-member senior class of Eso Akunne, Josh Bartelstein, Blake McLimans, Corey Person and Matt Vogrich. ### 2013–14 team recruits On November 16, 2012 Michigan men's basketball received signed National Letters of Intent (NLIs) from 6-foot-9-inch (2.06 m) forward Mark Donnal, 6-foot-6-inch (1.98 m) guard Irvin and 6-foot (1.83 m) guard Derrick Walton Jr. for the 2013–14 academic year. The previous season's roster had five seniors: forward Blake McLimans and guards Eso Akunne, Josh Bartelstein (captain), Corey Person and Matt Vogrichguard. After graduating, McLimans transferred to play a redshirt year with the 2013–14 Miami RedHawks men's basketball team. Donnal is the younger brother of then Iowa Hawkeye and later National Football League offensive lineman Andrew Donnal. The entering class made great strides during the summer of 2012. Irvin jumped from number 68 to number 31 in the Rivals.com ranking, and Walton jumped from 57 to 44. At the end of August Irvin was rated 21st, 31st and 62nd in the national class of 2013 by ESPN, Rivals.com and Scout.com, respectively; Walton was ranked 32nd, 44th and 43rd, respectively and Donnal was ranked 96th, 104th and 80th. At the end of November 2012, the Michigan entering class of 2013 was ranked 11th, 11th and 15th as a class. When the final Rivals.com class of 2013 rankings were published on April 15, 2013 Irvin, Walton and Donnal were ranked 24th, 37th and 111th, respectively. Walton was runner-up in the 2013 Mr. Basketball of Michigan by a 2130–2086 margin to Iowa State signee Monte Morris, despite one more first-place vote. Irvin was named 2013 Indiana Mr. Basketball, giving Hamilton Southeastern High School the state's first back-to-back winners from the same high school (the other was Gary Harris). Walton and Irvin were 2013 Parade All-American honorees, and were named state Boys Basketball Gatorade Player of the Year. Walton was expected to assume the starting point-guard role from Burke, ahead of Spike Albrecht. The class originally included Austin Hatch (who made a verbal commitment on June 13, 2011), but Hatch was critically injured in a June 24 plane crash which killed his parents. On April 29, Andrew Dakich (son of Dan Dakich) committed to Michigan as a walk-on. Dakich and Cole McConnell, another walk-on, joined the incoming class which reported for summer practice on June 22, 2013. On September 13, Sean Lonergan joined the team as a third walk-on. Sophomore Brad Anlauf, who redshirted on the 2012 Michigan Wolverines football team, joined the team after walk-on tryouts. ## Roster Beilein said that barring injuries, Mark Donnal would spend the season as a redshirt. He did in fact redshirt. ## 2014–15 team recruits Ricky Doyle, D. J. Willson and Kameron Chatman signed their National Letters of Intent on November 13, 2013. Hatch signed a NLI on November 14, 2013. He had survived a plane crash that killed his mother and two siblings in 2003 and another days after signing his NLI with Michigan in 2011 which killed his father and stepmother and sat out the 2011–12 and 2012–13 high-school basketball seasons for Canturbury. He moved to Los Angeles, playing as a fifth-year high-school senior at Loyola High School of Los Angeles. On January 8, 2014, he appeared in his first high-school basketball game since the 2011 crash and sank his first three-point shot. Chatman led Columbia Christian to the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) Class 1A championship over Horizon Christian Schools on March 8, 2014. On March 10, he was one of 26 players selected for the April 18, 2014 Jordan Brand Classic. ## Preseason ### Pre-offseason rankings The earliest preseason predictions were made the day after the 2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, before final decisions by college players about declaring for the 2013 NBA draft and before many high-school players signed a National Letter of Intent about their 2013 matriculation. With the expectation that most of the talented players from the previous season (Burke, Robinson, Hardaway and McGary) would enter the draft, Michigan was not projected as a ranked team by ESPN. USA Today projected that if one of the four possible 2013 NBA draft entrants returned, Michigan would be ranked 24th; if all returned, Michigan would be the preseason \#1. On April 29, the day after the 2013 NBA Draft entry deadline (with McGary and Robinson returning), the team was ranked ninth by ESPN's Jason King and ESPN's Andy Katz. CBSSports.com's staff ranked Michigan as \#4. ESPN's Dick Vitale predicted that the team would be a preseason seventh on May 2. The following day, Nicole Auerbach and Scott Gleeson of USA Today projected the Woverines as the seventh-ranked team. On May 30, Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy selected Michigan as number seven. On April 30, ESPN's Eamonn Brennan named McGary a first-team 2013–14 pre-offseason All-American selection. In June 2013, Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy named McGary and Robinson as the best and fourth-best players at their respective positions (center and small forward) for the upcoming season. ### Fall press A Big Ten Conference preseason media poll, announced at its October 31 media-day conference, predicted that Michigan would finish second to rival Michigan State (ahead of Ohio State) and selected McGary and Robinson for its preseason All-Big Ten team. A Big Ten Network media poll, announced the day before and providing additional detail, also selected McGary and Robinson for its All-Big Ten Conference team. McGary and Robinson were on the 50-man Naismith Award and Wooden Award preseason watchlists. A poll of Big Ten beat writers also selected Michigan to edge out Ohio State for second place. Michigan began the season ninth in the preseason Coaches' Poll and seventh in the AP Poll. On September 6 Sporting News named McGary to its preseason first All-American team as the best overall player in the Big Ten Conference, ranking Robinson fifth overall and Irvin and Walton the second- and third-best conference newcomers respectively. It chose Beilein as the conference's third-best coach. The Associated Press made McGary a first-team preseason selection. Sports Illustrated ranked Walton the ninth-best freshman overall and second-best in the Big Ten, behind Noah Vonleh. The Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook named McGary a preseason second-team All-American. Lindy's Sports selected Robinson as the best NBA prospect in the Big Ten, the second-best small forward in the country and named him to the preseason All-Big Ten team with Aaron Craft, Keith Appling, Gary Harris and Adreian Payne. The magazine chose Stauskas and McGary for its second team, naming McGary as the nation's second-best power forward and Stauskas as the nation's tenth-best shooting guard and the Big Ten's best shooter. Athlon Sports selected McGary for its preseason All-American second team, McGary for the preseason All-Big Ten first team and Robinson for the preseason All-Big Ten second team. CBS and NBC Sports selected McGary as a second-team All-American. Although McGary joined McDermott, Smart, Wiggins and Julius Randle on USA Today's preseason All-American first team in its Sports 2013–14 College Basketball Preview Magazine, the paper's sports staff later named him to their second team. Dick Vitale selected McGary and Aaron Craft for his All-Solid Gold preseason first team. The September 6 Sporting News announcements included a number-seven ranking for Michigan, with concern about Walton's ability to replace national Player of the Year Burke. Later that month the team was ranked eighth by USA Today, and the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook made Michigan ninth in its preseason poll. Lindy's Sports ranked Michigan its preseason 10th team, and Athlon Sports listed the Wolverines 12th in its preseason ranking. SLAM Magazine made Michigan its preseason ninth selection, and CBS Sports ranked the team 12th in its preseason poll. Sports Illustrated gave Michigan a power ranking of sixth; its college basketball preview edition placed Robinson on one of its four regional covers, ranking the team seventh overall. ### Practice and exhibition On October 4 Cole McConnell became the Wolverines' official blogger, succeeding Josh Bartelstein. The team held an open practice on October 21, and the University of Michigan hosted its on-campus media-day press conference three days later. On October 31, the Big Ten Conference hosted its media day in Rosemont, Illinois. For the second exhibition game on November 4, against at Crisler Center, the Big Ten Network scheduled its first live Student U closed-circuit telecast. During the first week of the season, the team elected Robinson, Jordan Morgan and Jon Horford its captains. ## Schedule ### November Michigan began the regular season on November 8 with a 69–42 victory against UMass Lowell. Several returning players set (or tied) career highs, and six freshman saw their first action. The game followed a ceremony in which the team raised a banner to the rafters to celebrate its 2013 NCAA tournament regional championship and national runner-up finish. On November 12, against South Carolina State, Michigan opened a 59–23 lead at halftime by making 12 of 19 three-point attempts and won 93–59. Stauskas and LeVert set career highs in points, combining to make 11 of 13 from the three-point line, and Horford added a career-high 15 rebounds. After missing the preseason and first two regular season games, Mitch McGary returned to play against Iowa State on November 17 (posting nine points, six rebounds and four steals) as Michigan lost its first game of the season 77–70. The Wolverines defeated Long Beach State in the first round of the 2013 Puerto Rico Tip-Off on November 21, as Michigan set a tournament record by making 14 three-point shots. The next day (against Florida State in the semifinals), Michigan was behind by 10 points at halftime, 16 points with 17:16 remaining and 63–54 with a few minutes left before winning 82–80 in overtime. In the final four minutes, Michigan used a 1-3-1 zone to force five turnovers during a 13–5 spurt to make up a 64–56 deficit. On November 24, the team lost the championship game to Charlotte on a last second tip-in; although Stauskas was the tournament's MVP, the team fell to 0–2 all-time against Charlotte. During the game, "Caris LeVert missed most of the first half in foul trouble. Glenn Robinson III missed the final 30 minutes with a back injury after taking a tough first-half fall, and Nik Stauskas ...played the final 91⁄2 minutes with a twisted ankle." Leading scorer Stauskas sat out the November 29 game against Coppin State, but with 24 points from freshman Zak Irvin Michigan won 87–45; McGary and Morgan made their first starts of the season. Irvin's performance was recognized on December 2, when he was the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week. ### December On December 3, Michigan played Duke (#10 in the AP Poll and \#8 in the Coaches' Poll) at Cameron Indoor Stadium in the ACC–Big Ten Challenge in a rivalry game. Michigan lost, 79–69. The Wolverines defeated Houston Baptist by 54 points on December 7, the widest victory margin of the John Beilein era, tying the 2008–09 and the 2010–11 team records of 16 three-point shots in a game. With the loss to Duke, Michigan, fell out of the AP Poll with the sixth-longest active streak (44 weeks). On December 14, the Wolverines lost to (#1, \#1) Arizona 72–70. Arizona gained the lead in the final 24.6 seconds, after Michigan led for most of the game. After the loss, the team fell off the Coaches' Poll. On December 21, Michigan defeated Stanford at the Barclays Center without McGary, who had back trouble. Stauskas had 19 points and four assists, and Robinson had 17 and six rebounds. Irvin posted 12 points (on four of eight three-point shots) and six rebounds, sharing Freshman of the Week honors with Noah Vonleh on December 23. The game was part of a triple-header. McGary announced on December 27 that he would have back surgery. The following day Michigan defeated Holy Cross 88–66, with Robinson posting a career-high 23 points. ### January In the January 2 Big Ten Conference opener against Minnesota, Michigan won its fifth consecutive game against Minnesota and its fifth consecutive game at the Williams Arena. After winning two games by a combined 50 points last year, Michigan beat Northwestern 74–51 to mark its sixth straight victory over the Wildcats. The team gave Nebraska its first loss in the new Pinnacle Bank Arena on January 9, its first five-game win streak since the 2013 NCAA tournament. By beating Penn State on January 14, Michigan won its first four conference games for the first time since the 2002–03 team won its first six games. In the game Stauskas had a game-high 21 points, a team-high five assists and six rebounds. On January 18 Michigan defeated (#3 AP, \#3 Coaches) Wisconsin at the Kohl Center for the first time since the 1998–99 team won on February 27, 1999 against the 1998–99 Badgers, ending an 11-game losing streak at Wisconsin. It was the highest-ranked team to lose to Michigan on the road, surpassing a victory over \#5 Duke on December 5, 1964 by the Cazzie Russell-led 1964–65 team. After the win, Michigan returned to the national polls (#21, \#T25). On January 21 Stauskas was the Big Ten Conference Player of the Week for the first time, leading the conference in scoring and 20-point games. On January 22 Michigan defeated (#10, \#10) Iowa, matching the 6–0 start of the 2002–03 team and the Wolverines' first defeat of consecutive top-10 opponents since the 1996–97 team defeated \#10 Duke and \#6 Arizona. It was the first time Michigan defeated consecutive top-10 opponents in consecutive games since the 1992–93 team defeated \#5 North Carolina and \#2 Kansas in December 1992. Stauskas tied his career high of 26 points, with five rebounds and five assists. On January 25, ESPN's College GameDay covered the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry game. With Michigan State on an 11-game winning streak (including seven in conference) and Michigan on an eight-game winning streak (including six in conference), the game was the first time in Big Ten history that two teams met who were 6–0 or better in conference play. Michigan defeated the (#3, \#3) Spartans 80–75, with Stauskas and Walton contributing 19 points apiece. It was the first time in school history that the team defeated three consecutive AP Poll top-10 opponents, and the first time since the 2006–07 Florida Gators that any team—and the first time since the 1986–87 Iowa Hawkeyes that a Big Ten team—won three consecutive games against top-10 opponents. It gave the team consecutive road wins against top-five opponents after a 36-game losing streak against them. Michigan's 7–0 Big Ten start was its best since the 1976–77 Wolverines won their first eight games. Stauskas was the Big Ten and CBS Sports National Player of the Week, and Walton was the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on January 27. Stauskas was also named the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) on January 28. Michigan extended its winning streak to 10 games, tying its 1976–77 8–0 Big Ten start by beating Purdue. Caris LeVert had his first double-double, with a career-high 11 rebounds. ### February Michigan began the month with a loss to Indiana on February 2. The team rebounded against Nebraska on February 5 with its largest conference-game victory margin (79–50) under John Beilein and its largest conference-game victory margin since defeating Indiana 112–64 on February 22, 1998. On February 8 the Wolverines played poorly against (#17, \#13) Iowa, losing 85–67 and surrendering the most points in a non-overtime game since December 12, 2007 (against Oakland). It was the team's biggest point deficit since its loss to Wisconsin by 18 on February 6, 2010. Michigan then defeated the (#22, 20) Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena, the first Michigan victory at Ohio State since the 2002–03 team defeated the Buckeyes on January 15, 2003, and ending a nine-game losing streak at Ohio State. It was the first road sweep of Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin since 1992–93. On February 16 Michigan lost to (#21, 21) Wisconsin. The Wolverines set a season low on February 23 with three turnovers and no turnover points against (#13, 14) Michigan State, rebounding from an early 22–11 deficit to win 79–70. Stauskas led the way with 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting, with 21 in the second half (including 10 which brought the score from a 48–43 deficit to a 53–51 lead). He had five assists, three rebounds and no fouls, and was Big Ten Player of the Week for the third time on February 24. It was the first time Michigan defeated the same ranked opponent twice in a season since the 2000–01 team defeated the 2000–01 Iowa Hawkeyes twice. The Wolverines (19–7, 11–3 Big Ten) regained first place in the Big Ten race, ahead of Michigan State (22–6, 11–4), gaining control of its destiny for the conference title with four games remaining against teams in the bottom half of the standings averaging five conference wins. On February 26, Michigan defeated Purdue 77–76 with a buzzer beater by Robinson (against his father's alma mater) in overtime. Michigan trailed by 19 (27–8) in the first half and 13 (37–24) at halftime. The 19-point deficit was the largest overcome by the Wolverines that season, raising their overtime record to 13–3 under Beilein (including eight of their last nine and three straight). It was the team's first buzzer beater since DeShawn Sims' on November 29, 2008 against Savannah State. ### March On March 1, Michigan clinched a share of the Big Ten regular-season championship by defeating Minnesota 66–56. The Wolverines faced an Illinois team on March 4 which had held its previous four opponents under 50 points. Michigan scored 52 points in the first half and went on to win 84–53, tying the school record of 16 three-point shots. Stauskas had 24 points, including a career-high seven three-point shots, as part of a seven-for-nine three-point effort. With the win, Michigan clinched its first outright (unshared) Big Ten Conference championship since 1985–86. It was the team's 14th Big Ten championship, and its eighth outright. Beilein had his fourth career conference championship and his second with Michigan. The Wolverines closed out the season with an 84–80 victory over Indiana which included a season-high 26 free throws. With a team-high 21 points, Stauskas shared his fourth Player of the Week honor with Shavon Shields. The team's 15 conference wins were the most since 1992–93. During conference play, Michigan led the conference in field goal percentage (48.8 percent), free-throw percentage (78.0 percent), rebounds (29.8), scoring margin (6.7), assist-turnover ratio (1.44) and road attendance (15,711). ### Postseason Michigan entered the 2014 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament as the number-one seed for the first time. The Wolverines defeated Illinois 64–63, after losing a 13-point second-half lead and getting a game-winning basket with 7.9 seconds remaining from center Jordan Morgan. Although Michigan led for most of the game, the team only scored six points in the last 7+1⁄2 minutes. On March 15 the Wolverines defeated (#24, 24) Ohio State 72–69, Michigan's 12th consecutive win in games decided by single digits. The team had a 16-point first-half lead and a 12-point second-half lead before Ohio State took its first lead (61–60) of the game with 7:59 remaining. Michigan finished the game with a 7–1 run in the last 4:12 to win. Morgan set a school record for most games played (137), passing Stu Douglass. Michigan State (#22, 22) won the first postseason game between the state rivals, 69–55, to claim the Big Ten tournament championship. The Wolverines were seeded number two in the Midwest region of the 2014 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Michigan opened the tournament by defeating Wofford 57–40, the fewest points scored by a Michigan opponent that season, and the victory ensured that the Wolverines would not have consecutive NCAA Tournament losses for the first time since 1993. Michigan then defeated Texas 79–65, advancing to the Sweet 16 for the second straight season. The team's back-to-back trips marked the first time Michigan played in consecutive Sweet 16s since its three straight appearances in 1992–94. Michigan recorded 14 three-pointers in the game, setting a school record in NCAA tournament play and giving Beilein his 700th win. The Wolverines defeated Tennessee 73–71 in the March 28 regional semifinal. Although they led by 15 points in the second half, four turnovers in the last 97 seconds reduced the lead to 72–71 in the final seconds. Michigan set a school record for the most three-point shots in a season (312), breaking the previous record of 305 set in 2008–09. In the March 30 Elite Eight regional final against (RV, \#22) Kentucky, Michigan led by ten points in the first half before Kentucky ended the half with a 15–5 run to tie the score at 37. Kentucky took the lead several times in the second half, with Michigan battling back to tie the score at 39, 47 and 51. With Michigan leading 55–51 with 11:31 remaining, Kentucky answered with 11 straight points for its largest lead of the game (forcing Michigan to use a timeout with 6:24 left). With less than 30 seconds left in the game, Michigan tied the game at 72 with a wild scramble (including three offensive Wolverine rebounds) before Kentucky buried a deep three-pointer with 2.3 seconds remaining to win 75–72. Michigan recorded seven three-pointers in the game, bringing the school season record to 319. The Wolverines' 59 wins this season and the previous one set a school record for a two-year period. ### Results \|- !colspan=12 style="background:#242961; color:#F7BE05;"\| Exhibition \|- \|- !colspan=12 style="background:#242961; color:#F7BE05;"\| Non-conference Regular Season \|- \|- !colspan=12 style="background:#242961;"\| Big Ten Regular Season \|- \|- \|- \|- \|- \|- \|- \|- \|- \|- \|- \|- \|- \|- \|- \|- !colspan=12 style="background:#242961;"\| Big Ten tournament \|- !colspan=12 style="background:#242961;"\| NCAA tournament ## Statistics The team posted the following statistics: ## Honors During the season, the team earned recognition from the Big Ten conference for player and freshman of the week as well as watchlist recognition by various committees. Following the season, both the conference and various media outlets continued to confer accolades on the team. ### Players of the Week During the regular conference season, the Big Ten named one or two Players of the Week and one or two Freshmen of the Week each Monday (except Martin Luther King Day, when the awards were delayed until Tuesday). Stauskas also received National Player of the Week recognition from CBS Sports on January 27 and Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week recognition from the USBWA on January 28. ### Inseason honors Stauskas was one of four Big Ten players (with Keith Appling, Gary Harris and Roy Devyn Marble) named to the 30-man Naismith College Player of the Year midseason watchlist, and John Beilein was one of ten finalists for the United States Basketball Writers Association's Henry Iba National Coach of the Year Award. Stauskas and Harris were two of 15 finalists for the John R. Wooden Award. ### Postseason honors Following the season, Stauskas was the Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year and a unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection by coaches and the media, becoming Michigan's fifth (and its second consecutive) B1G Player of the Year. Caris LeVert was a second-team All-B1G selection, and Glenn Robinson III received an honorable mention from coaches and the media. Derrick Walton was an All-Freshman selection by the coaches, and Beilein was named Big Ten Coach of the Year by the media. On March 11 Stauskas was named District V (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin) Player of the Year, Beilein was named District V Coach of the Year and LeVert was named to the All-District V team by the USBWA. Stauskas was listed on the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division I All‐District 7 first team on March 12 and USA Today's All-American third team, was named to the 2014 Big Ten All-Tournament Team and was a first-team All-American selection by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). Brad Anlauf and Jordan Morgan received Academic All-Big Ten recognition. Stauskas was a second-team 2014 NCAA Men's Basketball All-American selection by Sports Illustrated Sporting News, and Bleacher Report, and a third-team selection by NBC Sports. When he was named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press he became a consensus All-American, and was named to the Wooden All-American team. Beilein was also a finalist for the Naismith College Coach of the Year and Jim Phelan Awards. ### Records The team and its players set several school records during the season: Team - Single-season three-pointers (319) - Consecutive-season combined wins (59) - Turnovers per game Nik Stauskas - Sophomore season career total three-pointers (172) Jordan Morgan - Career games played (142) - Career field-goal percentage (419 of 664, 63.1 percent) - Single-season field-goal percentage (98 of 140, 70 percent) ## Rankings Michigan began the season ninth in the Coaches' Poll and seventh in the AP Poll. ## Postseason departures ### NBA draft considerations Talks about the 2014 NBA draft began awkwardly when Paul Stauskas told Sports Illustrated about his son, Nik: "He knows all he has to do is keep his nose to the grindstone for another couple of months, and there’s a really good possibility he might be able to go pro." Several days later Stauskas tried to distance himself from his father's statement, apologizing to his fans. After the season Stauskas, Robinson and McGary said that they were considering entering the draft, but had not made a decision. Each submitted evaluation requests to the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee, which was required to respond by April 14 (giving the players until April 27 to declare their eligibility). On April 10 it was reported that Stauskas had decided to turn pro, but he denied he had made a decision. The reports were based on rumors that Stauskas had decided to hire Mark Bartelstein (father of former Michigan teammate Josh Bartelstein and agent for former teammate Tim Hardaway Jr.) as his agent. In an April 15 joint press conference on the Big Ten Network, Robinson and Stauskas announced that they were declaring their eligibility for the NBA draft. When he learned that he had tested positive for marijuana after the Sweet Sixteen victory over Tennessee and was facing a one-year suspension, McGary also entered the draft. ### NBA draft selections With Burke and Hardaway's 2013 selection, by the end of the 2014 NBA draft every player who started in the 2013 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Game was drafted by the NBA in 2013 or 2014. The three 2014 selections (Stauskas, McGary and Robinson) contributed to one of the best Big Ten draft classes in some time; of the seven athletes selected, five were first-round picks. That was the most first-rounders since 1990 and the most overall since 2000, when eight players were selected. ### Postseason departures Jon Horford announced on April 10 that he would use his year of redshirt eligibility by transferring to a graduate program at another school. By graduating, he became immediately eligible to join another team for the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. On April 26, Horford announced that he would play for the Florida Gators men's basketball team. Jordan Morgan graduated after using all his eligibility, signing as an undrafted free agent to play with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the July 2014 NBA Summer League. ### Team players drafted into the NBA Sources: ## See also - 2013–14 Michigan Wolverines women's basketball team

Pretzel Pezzullo

American baseball player

John "Pretzel" Pezzullo (December 10, 1910 – May 16, 1990) was a professional baseball player whose career spanned eight seasons, two of which were spent with the Major League Baseball (MLB) Philadelphia Phillies. Pezzullo, a pitcher, compiled an earned run average (ERA) of 6.36, allowing 61 earned runs off of 116 hits, five home runs, and 51 walks while recording 24 strikeouts over 861⁄3 innings pitched. Pezzullo also played in six seasons of minor league baseball. He made his MLB debut at the age of 24 after spending a season in the minor leagues for the New York Giants organization. Pezzullo earned the nicknamed "Pretzel" after his unusual pitching style. After retiring from baseball, Pezzullo moved to Dallas, Texas, where he died of cancer on May 16, 1990. ## Early life Pezzullo was born on December 10, 1910, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He had four siblings and is of Italian ancestry. Pezzullo attended school until the eighth grade, after which he went to trade school to learn cabinet and pattern making. He was officially listed as standing 5 feet 11 inches (180 cm) and weighing 180 pounds (82 kg) when he played professionally. ## Professional career Pezzullo began his professional baseball career in 1934, when he played for the Richmond Colts, an affiliate of the New York Giants. Pezzullo finished the season fifth in the Piedmont League in wins, with 16, while finishing fourth on the Colts in games pitched, recording 27 games over the season. He was called "a good pitching prospect" by Chicago Tribune sports writer Arch Ward. On November 1 of that year, Pezzullo was traded as a part of a four-man deal that sent him, Blondy Ryan, Johnny Vergez, George Watkins, and cash to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for Dick Bartell. For the 1935 season, Pezzullo, who pitched for the major-league Phillies, recorded a team-worst ERA of 6.40, along with a 3–5 win–loss record over 40 games pitched. He hit seven batters by a pitch, tying him for the seventh most hit batsmen in MLB. In Pezzullo's final MLB game in 1936, he walked six batters in two innings pitched. ### Minor league career Pezzullo also played for two minor league teams during the 1936 season: the Richmond Colts and the Hazleton Mountaineers. Combined, Pezzullo went 14–10 with a 5.19 ERA. The following season he played for the Savannah Indians and the Colts; for the Indians, Pezzullo went 13–8 over 165 innings pitched. The following season, he played only for the Indians, an affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. His 26 wins were best in the Sally League, while his 288 innings pitched also led all Southern League players. In a game against the Spartanburg Spartans, Pezzullo struck out 17 batters. After the season, he was sold to the double-A Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League, where, under managers Tony Lazzeri and Jack Burns, Pezzullo won 11 games and lost 12. He went 5–16 the following year, before leaving the team for the Syracuse Chiefs and the Buffalo Bisons in his final year of professional baseball in 1941. ## After baseball After retiring from baseball, Pezzullo moved to Dallas, Texas, where he married Betty (née Tolcyk) and had one daughter, Patti Moore. In Dallas, he designed aircraft missile models and founded Gulf Industries, a Grand Prairie-based model subcontracting firm. Pezzullo died on May 16, 1990, of cancer. Funeral processions were held on May 18 at Holy Redeemer Mausoleum Chapel in DeSoto, Texas, where he was interred. ## See also - Philadelphia Phillies all-time roster (P–Q)

Megan Rapinoe

American soccer player (born 1985)

Megan Anna Rapinoe (/rəˈpiːnoʊ/ ; born July 5, 1985) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a winger for OL Reign of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), as well as the United States national team. Winner of the Ballon d'Or Féminin and named The Best FIFA Women's Player in 2019, Rapinoe won gold with the national team at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup and she played for the team at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup where the U.S. finished in second place. Rapinoe co-captained the national team alongside Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan from 2018 to 2020. She previously played for the Chicago Red Stars, Philadelphia Independence, and MagicJack in Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), as well as Olympique Lyon in France's Division 1 Féminine. Rapinoe is internationally known for her crafty style of play and her activism off the pitch. Her precise cross to Abby Wambach in the 122nd minute of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinal match against Brazil resulted in an equalizer and eventual win for the Americans after a penalty shootout. The last-minute goal received ESPN's 2011 ESPY Award for Best Play of the Year. During the 2012 London Olympics, she scored three goals and tallied a team-high four assists to lead the United States to a gold medal. She is the first player, male or female, to score a goal directly from a corner at the Olympic Games, having done so twice. She won the Golden Boot and Golden Ball awards at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France. Rapinoe is an advocate for numerous LGBTQIA+ organizations, including the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and Athlete Ally. In 2013, she received the Board of Directors Award from the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. Rapinoe was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2020. In July 2022, Rapinoe received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Joe Biden. ## Early life Rapinoe grew up in Redding, California, with her parents, Jim and Denise, and five siblings, including her fraternal twin Rachael Rapinoe. Denise and Jim raised seven children together, not all their own. Denise has a son and daughter, Michael and Jenny, from a previous marriage; then came older brother Brian and then the twins five years later. Jim and her grandfather Jack both served in the Army. She has Italian (from her paternal grandfather) and Irish ancestry. She idolized her older brother Brian and started playing soccer at age three after watching him play the sport, but he started using drugs when the girls were in second grade. When she was ten and he was fifteen, he was put in juvenile detention, and was thereafter in and out of various prisons including Pelican Bay State Prison. Brian has since made a determined effort to avoid drugs after seeing his younger sister's success in international soccer. For Rachael and Megan, soccer was a means to get away from the drug abuse that is widespread in California. ### High school Rapinoe spent most of her youth playing with teams coached by her father until high school. Instead of playing soccer at Foothill High School, Rapinoe played for the Elk Grove Pride club team, located south of Sacramento. She competed in track as a freshman and sophomore; competed in basketball as a freshman, sophomore, and senior; and was on the honor roll every semester of high school. Rapinoe was named Parade and National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-American as a junior and senior. She was named to McDonald's All-American Girls High School Soccer West Team in 2004. Rapinoe played for the under-14 Northern California state Olympic Development Program (ODP) team in 1999, as well as the regional ODP team in 2002. ### Elk Grove United, 2002–2005 From 2002 to 2005, Rapinoe played for Elk Grove Pride in the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) along with her sister, Rachael, and future national teammate, Stephanie Cox. She and her family commuted two-and-a-half hours from her hometown to play with the team. During the US Youth Soccer National Championships, she scored an equalizer goal in the 18th minute to tie the game 1–1 against the Peachtree City Lazers. Elk Grove United finished second at the nationals after the Lazers scored a game-winning goal in the second half. ### University of Portland Pilots, 2005–2008 Rapinoe and her sister attended the University of Portland in Portland, Oregon. The Rapinoe twins almost committed to Santa Clara University before choosing to play for the Portland Pilots on full scholarships. Rapinoe played in the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship in 2004, where the United States finished third. The result was that she did not play college soccer in that year. In 2005, as a freshman, Rapinoe helped the Pilots to an undefeated season and the NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship. During the College Cup quarterfinal against Notre Dame, she scored twice and served one assist, helping the Pilots win 3–1 and advance in the College Cup. During the College Cup final against UCLA, she scored one goal and served an assist helping the Pilots win 4–0. She was named NSCAA First Team All-American and was on the Soccer America First Team Freshman All-America. Rapinoe made the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship All Tournament Team and was the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year. She was also named to the All-West Coast Conference First Team and the All-West Coast Conference Freshman Team. Rapinoe played and started all 25 games as an attacking midfielder, scoring 15 goals and adding 13 assists for 43 points – ranking fifth for freshman point totals in the school's history. That year, she also scored seven game-winning goals. As a sophomore in 2006, Rapinoe was among the nation's leading scorers with ten goals and two assists in eleven matches. During a match against Washington State University on October 5, she suffered her first season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL) injury. Despite her injury, she was one of four Portland players in the program's history, including Christine Sinclair, Tiffeny Milbrett, and Shannon MacMillan, to score 25 goals and 15 assists in two seasons. In 2007, Rapinoe suffered her second season-ending ACL injury two games into the season. She was granted a medical hardship waiver by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) but did not use it. After taking her time to recover from her second ACL injury, Rapinoe returned for the 2008 season and was on the starting lineup in all 22 games for the Pilots. She helped the team secure a 20–2 record scoring five goals and serving 13 assists. Her 13 assists ranked first for the Pilots as well as in the West Coast Conference and she was named West Coast Conference Player of the Year. She was also named a Soccer America First-Team All-American and NSCAA Second Team All-American. Although she had one more season of college eligibility remaining due to her NCAA medical hardship waiver, she opted to enter the Women's Professional Soccer Draft instead. Rapinoe's 88-point career, including 30 goals and 28 assists, ranks tenth in the school's history despite her playing only 60 games. ## Club career ### Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), 2009–2011 Rapinoe was selected second overall in the 2009 WPS Draft by the Chicago Red Stars for the inaugural season of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), the highest division of soccer in the United States at the time. She was on the starting lineup in 17 of the 18 games in which she appeared for the Red Stars for a total of 1375 minutes on the pitch. Rapinoe scored two goals and assisted on three others. In August 2009, she was named to the league's All-Star Team and played in the 2009 WPS All-Star Game against Swedish Damallsvenskan champions Umeå IK. In 2010, she started in 19 of the 20 games in which she appeared for the Red Stars. She scored one goal. In December 2010, Rapinoe signed with expansion team Philadelphia Independence after the Chicago Red Stars ceased operations. She appeared in four games and scored one goal before being traded to MagicJack (formerly Washington Freedom) while she was in Germany for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. It was reported that the "cash considerations" involved in the transfer were . The average salary for a female player in the league was . Rapinoe scored two goals in her eight regular season appearances for MagicJack helping the team finish third in the league standings and secure a spot in the playoffs. During the team's semi-final match against the Boston Breakers on August 17, 2011, Rapinoe scored in the 61st minute solidifying the team's 3–1 win and advancement to the championship final. MagicJack was later defeated 2–0 by the Philadelphia Independence in the final. On October 25, 2011, the WPS voted to terminate the MagicJack franchise, leaving Rapinoe and many other players as free agents for the 2012 season. The league suspended operations in early 2012. ### Sydney FC and Seattle Sounders Women, 2011–2012 In October 2011, Rapinoe signed with Australian W-League team Sydney FC as a guest player for two games. In her second game against Melbourne Victory, she scored with seven minutes remaining to seal three points for Sydney. The win was the first for Sydney during the 2011–12 season. Sydney FC went on to finish third in the regular season and advanced to the playoffs where they were defeated by Brisbane Roar in penalty kicks. During the summer of 2012, Rapinoe joined fellow national team members Hope Solo, Sydney Leroux, Alex Morgan and Stephanie Cox to play with the Seattle Sounders Women in between camps with the national team as they prepared for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Of the signing, Sounders head coach Michelle French said, "Stemming from her leadership and success at the University of Portland, Megan has continued to evolve and grow into one of the most exciting, unpredictable, creative, and flashy players in the women's game." Rapinoe made two appearances during the regular season with the team, serving two assists. With Rapinoe and her national teammates' presence on the team, the Sounders sold out nine of their ten home matches at the 4,500 capacity Starfire Stadium. Average attendance during the 2012 season for the Sounders Women was four times higher than the next closest team. ### Olympique Lyonnais, 2013–2014 In January 2013, Rapinoe signed for six months with Olympique Lyonnais, the French side that had previously won six consecutive French league championships and two straight European titles, for a reported (or approximately ) a month. Rapinoe played in six regular season matches for the team, scoring two goals primarily playing as a left winger in the squad's 4–3–3 formation. Rapinoe made her UEFA Women's Champions League debut during the first leg of the 2012–13 quarterfinal against FC Malmö on March 20. She scored one goal during her 24 minutes on the pitch contributing to Lyon's 5–0 final victory. She later scored a goal and served an assist during Lyon's 6–1 win over FCF Juvisy in the second leg of the semi-finals. Rapinoe became the fifth American woman in history to play in a Champions League final when Lyon faced German side VfL Wolfsburg on May 23. Lyon was defeated 1–0 in the final. Rapinoe concluded her Champions League debut having made five appearances, scoring two goals and serving one assist. After returning to Lyon for the 2013–14 season, Rapinoe scored three goals in her eight appearances for the club. During the 2013–14 Champions League, she made four appearances for Lyon and scored one goal during the team's 6–0 defeat of FC Twente. Lyon was eliminated in the Round of 16. In January 2014, it was announced that Rapinoe had ended her time with Lyon earlier than planned and would be returning to the Seattle Reign for the entire 2014 season. She finished her time with Lyon having scored 8 goals in 28 matches in all competitions. ### Seattle Reign FC, 2013–present In 2013, Rapinoe joined Seattle Reign FC to which she had been previously allocated in the National Women's Soccer League. Before Rapinoe joined the squad, the team had been struggling to score goals and were in ten games. With the addition of Rapinoe, her national team and former Seattle Sounders Women teammate, Hope Solo, and some lineup changes to the front line, the Reign improved their goal-scoring ability and turned their league record around. During a match against her former team in the WPS, the Chicago Red Stars, Rapinoe played a direct role in all of Seattle's four goals – leading the team to a 4–1 win over Chicago. After scoring two goals and serving one assist during the match, she was named NWSL Player of the Week for Week 16 for the 2013 NWSL season. Despite only playing approximately half of the season (12 out of 22 regular season games), Rapinoe was the Reign's leading scorer with five goals. After suffering a foot injury during the first home match of the 2014 season on April 14, Rapinoe sat out several games and made her second season appearance on July 3 against Western New York Flash. Her four goals and one assist during the regular season helped the Reign secure the league's regular season title (NWSL Shield) with a record and 54 points – 13 points ahead of the second place team, FC Kansas City. During the team's playoff semi-final match against Washington Spirit, Rapinoe scored a goal helping the Reign win 2–1 and advance to the championship final against FC Kansas City. Despite Rapinoe's goal during the championship final, the Reign was ultimately defeated by Kansas City 2–1. Rapinoe returned to the Reign for the 2015 season. During the team's first match against Western New York Flash, she scored her first professional hat trick and served an assist to Jess Fishlock to help the Reign defeat the Flash 5–1. She was subsequently named the league's NWSL Player of the Week for week 1 of the season. In September 2019, the Reign FC recognized Rapinoe, along with 11 others, as a Reign FC Legend, joining the 36 previous legends. During the 2021 season, Rapinoe scored six goals in 12 appearances for the club and co-captained the squad with Lauren Barnes. In August 2021, Rapinoe was named NWSL Player of the Month. The Reign finished in second place during the regular season with a record. After advancing to the NWSL Playoffs, they were eliminated by eventual champions Washington Spirit. On July 8, 2023, Rapinoe announced that she would retire from professional soccer after the 2023 National Women's Soccer League season. ## International career ### Youth national teams Rapinoe played for the United States under-16 national soccer team in 2002 and traveled with the team to France and Houston, Texas. She also played at the United States Youth Soccer Association International Tournament in Houston in May 2003. From 2003 to 2005, Rapinoe played for the United States under-19 team. She made 21 appearances and scored nine goals. Her first camp with the under-19 team occurred in January 2003 in Chula Vista, California. She traveled with the team during a European tour to the Netherlands and Germany in July 2003. She scored her first goal with the team against Mexico on March 1, 2003. Rapinoe played in three matches at the 2004 CONCACAF Under-19 qualifying tournament, scoring three goals. During the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship in Thailand she scored a team-high three goals, including one in the third place match victory against Brazil. ### Senior national team #### National team debut and injury recovery, 2006–2009 Rapinoe trained with the United States women's national soccer team for the first time during the team's 2006 Residency Training Camp in Carson, California. She made her debut for the senior team on July 23, 2006, during a friendly match against Ireland. She scored her first two goals on October 1, 2006, during a friendly match against Taiwan. Due to two separate ACL injuries, Rapinoe did not play for the senior team in 2007 or 2008 and subsequently missed the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Upon her return to the team in 2009, she led the team in points with five, including two goals and one assist. She was on the starting lineup in six of the seven games in which she played the same year. During the 2009 Algarve Cup, Rapinoe scored the game-winning goal against Norway leading the team to a 1–0 victory during the team's third group stage match of the tournament. After the U.S. finished at the top of their group, they were defeated during a penalty kick shootout by Sweden in the championship final. #### 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup In 2010, Rapinoe started eight of the ten games she played and scored four goals with two assists. Rapinoe scored against Sweden and China and twice against Guatemala at the 2010 CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament, in which she played three games. After the United States finished third at the tournament, they traveled to Italy to vie for a place at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in the UEFA-CONCACAF play-off against Italy. During the team's second match of the series, Rapinoe served the assist for Amy Rodriguez's game-winning goal helping the United States earn a berth to the 2011 World Cup. Rapinoe was named to the United States roster for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. During the team's second group stage match against Colombia, she entered the match during the 50th minute and scored almost immediately to put the United States up 2–0. Rapinoe celebrated her goal by running to the corner to the left of Colombia's goal, picking up an on-field microphone being used for the match's television broadcast, tapping it, and singing Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." into it. During the quarterfinal match against Brazil, Rapinoe came on as a substitute and served the precise cross to Abby Wambach's equalizer goal in the 122nd minute of the game: a goal that holds the record for latest goal ever scored in a World Cup match. Rapinoe would later convert her shot during the penalty shootout to help send the United States to the semi-finals. Rapinoe described her last minute cross against Brazil: "I just took a touch and friggin' smacked it with my left foot. I don't think I've hit a ball like that with my left foot. I got it to the back post and that beast in the air just got a hold of it." Following the match against Brazil, Rapinoe was named ESPN's Next Level Player of the Week for completing 5 of 10 crosses while the rest of the team was 0 for 18. She served an assist in the semi-final against France in which the United States won 3–1. During the dramatic final match against Japan in front of spectators at sold-out Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt and a record-breaking international television audience, Rapinoe served her third assist of the tournament to Alex Morgan who scored the game-opening goal in the 69th minute. The United States tied Japan 2–2 during regular and overtime leading to their second penalty kick shootout of the tournament. They were defeated 3–1 in penalties and concluded the tournament with a silver medal. Rapinoe's tournament record included one goal and three assists. She played in all six games for the United States. #### 2012 London Olympics Rapinoe helped lead the United States to a gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. During the team's second group stage match against Colombia, she scored the game-winning goal in the 33rd minute in what became a 3–0 win for the Americans. After the U.S. defeated North Korea 1–0 in their final group stage match, they faced New Zealand in the quarterfinals and won 2–0. During a dramatic semi-final match against Canada at Old Trafford, Rapinoe scored two game-equalizing goals in the 54th and 70th minutes. Her first goal was scored directly from a corner — a corner kick that goes untouched by another player into the net. She is the first and so far only player, male or female, to score an Olimpico at the Olympic Games. The U.S. defeated Canada 4–3 with a stoppage time goal in the 123rd minute by Alex Morgan. With her two goals, Rapinoe is one of only five players, including Wei Haiying, Cristiane, Angela Hucles and Christine Sinclair, to have scored two goals during an Olympic semi-final. The United States team clinched the gold medal after defeating Japan 2–1 at Wembley Stadium in front of 80,203 spectators — the largest crowd ever for a women's Olympic soccer game. Rapinoe assisted on Carli Lloyd's second goal of the final in the 53rd minute. She ended the tournament with three goals and a team-high of four assists (tied with Alex Morgan). Widely regarded as one of the top players of the Olympics, Rapinoe was named to numerous 'Team of the Tournament' lists including those selected by the BBC and All White Kit. Rapinoe achieved a career-best 8 goals and 12 assists for the United States in 2012. #### 2013–2014 At the 2013 Algarve Cup in Portugal, Rapinoe was named the Player of the Tournament, despite playing in only two of the four matches in which the United States competed. She was injured in practice and did not play during the final as the team defeated Germany to win the 2013 Algarve Cup. During a friendly match against South Korea on June 20, 2013, Rapinoe served a corner kick that ended up being the assist for Abby Wambach's record-breaking 159th international goal. Wambach's goal broke the world record for most international goals scored by a male or female. During a friendly match against New Zealand at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California, Rapinoe scored the game-opening goal on a direct free kick (her 23rd international goal) to help the U.S. win 4–1 and was named Player of the Match. #### 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup In April 2015, Rapinoe was named to the roster for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada coached by national team head coach Jill Ellis. During the team's first group stage match against Australia, she scored the game opening goal in the 12th minute. She also scored a second goal in the 78th minute. With an additional goal scored by teammate Christen Press in the 61st minute, the United States won 3–1. During training for a Victory Tour match to celebrate the team's World Cup win in late 2015, Rapinoe tore her anterior cruciate ligament. The national team game that she was training for was later cancelled due to poor field conditions. #### 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup Rapinoe was named to the United States' 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup roster in May 2019; it was her third World Cup appearance. In a 13–0 win over Thailand during the group stage of the tournament, she contributed a goal. The United States advanced to the knockout stage, where they faced Spain. Rapinoe scored twice in a 2–1 victory that sent the U.S. to a quarterfinal matchup against the host country, France. In the fifth minute, Rapinoe scored on a free kick to give the United States an early lead. She later added a second goal, and the U.S. held on to earn a semi-final berth. Rapinoe was named Player of the Match by FIFA for her performances in the round of 16 and quarterfinals. Because of an injured hamstring, Rapinoe was forced to sit out of the United States' semi-final victory over England, but she recovered in time to start in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup Final. During the final on July 7 in front of a sold-out crowd of 57,900 fans at Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Rapinoe scored her 50th international goal on a penalty kick in the 61st minute. After a second goal by teammate Rose Lavelle, the United States defeated the Netherlands 2–0 to clinch its second consecutive World Cup championship. At age 34, Rapinoe was the oldest woman to score in a World Cup final and was named Player of the Match. She was awarded the Golden Boot as the top scorer in the tournament with six goals, having played fewer minutes than her teammate Alex Morgan and England's Ellen White, who also recorded six goals. Rapinoe also earned the Golden Ball award as the best player at the tournament. #### 2020 Tokyo Olympics On August 5, 2021, she scored twice (including a second Olympic Olimpico) in a 4–3 win over Australia in the bronze medal match of the 2020 Summer Olympics. #### 2022 SheBelievesCup In February 2022, U.S. women's national team coach, Vlatko Andonovski, announced that Rapinoe would not be included on the national team roster for the SheBelieves Cup. #### 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup On June 21, 2023, Andonovski named Rapinoe to the United States squad for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia. On July 8, she announced that the 2023 World Cup would be her last major tournament, and that she would retire from professional soccer at the end of the year. On August 6, 2023, the USWNT was knocked out of the tournament on penalties against Sweden in the Round of 16. Rapinoe was one of the three U.S. players to miss a penalty kick in what would be Rapinoe's final World Cup match. ## Personal life Rapinoe has stated that she knew that she was a lesbian by her first year in college. She publicly came out in the July 2012 edition of Out magazine, stating that she had been in a relationship with Australian soccer player Sarah Walsh since 2009. After approximately five years together, Rapinoe and Walsh ended their relationship in 2013. Rapinoe later dated Sub Pop recording artist Sera Cahoone. Rapinoe and Cahoone announced their engagement in August 2015. In January 2017, Rapinoe stated that their wedding plans were on hold. On July 20, 2017, Rapinoe and basketball player Sue Bird of Seattle Storm confirmed that they had been dating since late 2016. In 2018, Bird and Rapinoe became the first same-sex couple on the cover of ESPN's The Body Issue. They announced their engagement on October 30, 2020. Speaking in a 2020 interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air, Rapinoe discussed how her older brother, who was the first to inspire her to play soccer, had suffered with drug abuse. He has also spent periods of time in jail, including solitary confinement. Rapinoe explained that during his incarceration, her brother became involved with white supremacist groups within prison. ### Activism Rapinoe garnered national attention for kneeling during the national anthem at an international match in September 2016 in solidarity with NFL player Colin Kaepernick. Following the match, she stated: > It was a little nod to Kaepernick and everything that he's standing for right now. I think it's actually pretty disgusting the way he was treated and the way that a lot of the media has covered it and made it about something that it absolutely isn't. [...] Being a gay American, I know what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties. It was something small that I could do and something that I plan to keep doing in the future and hopefully spark some meaningful conversation around it. During the 2015 World Cup, she stood in silence for the national anthem. She spoke out against the use of stadiums with artificial turf, its first use in a senior women's or men's World Cup tournament. Rapinoe has been involved in the women's team's equal pay complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission since at least 2016. In March 2019, she, along with 27 of her US Women's soccer teammates filed a lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation accusing it of gender discrimination, hoping to achieve equal pay. In May of the following year a judge dismissed key parts of the lawsuit including the complaint over receiving lower pay than the U.S. men's team but allowed other claims to move to trial. Rapinoe has been a longtime advocate for the inclusion of transgender women in women’s sports, and has characterized the issue as being part of a larger effort to “legislate away people’s full humanity“. ### Philanthropy Rapinoe has done philanthropic work for the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. In 2013, she became an ambassador for Athlete Ally, a nonprofit organization that focuses on ending homophobia and transphobia in sports. In September 2017, Rapinoe and U.S. teammate Alex Morgan were part of a group of soccer players who signed up for the "Common Goal" campaign created by Juan Mata of Manchester United. As participants in the campaign, players donate one percent of their individual wages in support of other soccer-related charities. Rapinoe and Morgan were the first two women players to sign on to the campaign. Rapinoe was among several athletes to criticize the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022. She had been one of five hundred former and current athletes who signed an amicus brief supporting abortion rights for the Supreme Court case back in September 2021. ### Endorsements Rapinoe has signed endorsement deals with Nike and Samsung. She has appeared in multiple commercials for Nike throughout her career. In 2013, she appeared in advertisements for the clothing company Wildfang and began a partnership with medical device company, DJO Global. In 2016, she appeared in television commercials and print advertisements for Energy Brands' Vitamin Water. The same year, she was featured in a Nike commercial starring Cristiano Ronaldo. In 2019, she was sponsored by Procter & Gamble, BodyArmor, Hulu, LUNA Bar, and VISA. In 2021, she was announced as one of the new faces of Victoria's Secret, and appeared in ads for Subway. Rapinoe co-starred in a commercial for ESPN's SportsCenter in January 2023 with Becky Sauerbrunn and Sophia Smith. In July 2023, she starred in a television commercial for Google Pixel, called "Legend". ### Politics In December 2019, Rapinoe endorsed Elizabeth Warren in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. During the opening night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Rapinoe hosted a panel with frontline workers of the COVID-19 pandemic. ## In popular culture ### Print media Rapinoe was featured on the cover of the March 2013 edition of Curve. She was profiled on August 6, 2012, edition of Sports Illustrated, and the July 2012 edition of Out. The April 11, 2013, edition of The New York Times featured an article about her experiences in France, with the national team, and coming out publicly before the 2012 Olympics. In July 2014, she was featured in the ESPN's The Body Issue. In 2019, she became the first openly gay woman in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She was featured on multiple covers of Sports Illustrated, Marie Claire, and InStyle the same year. ### Television and film Rapinoe has made appearances on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Today Show, The Rachel Maddow Show, Meet the Press, Good Morning America, and Jimmy Kimmel Live. In 2012, she appeared in an ESPN feature called Title IX is Mine: USWNT. She was the focus of a Fox Soccer feature, Fox Soccer Exclusive: Megan Rapinoe in November 2012. In 2016, Rapinoe starred with teammates Hope Solo and Crystal Dunn in a docu-series called Keeping Score broadcast by Fullscreen. The episodes follow the athletes as they prepare for the 2016 Rio Olympics and addresses issues such as equal pay and racism. In February 2019, she was featured in Nike's "Dream Crazier" ad with Serena Williams, Simone Biles, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Chloe Kim, and other women athletes. The ad appeared during the 2019 Oscars. In 2019, Rapinoe makes a cameo guest appearance on Showtime's The L Word: Generation Q. In December 2020, it was reported that Rapinoe's bestselling memoir "One Life" is set to be adapted as a scripted TV series after Sony Pictures Television optioned the rights. On July 17, 2023, it was announced that Rapinoe will be one of the players featured in an upcoming Netflix documentary about the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team competing in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The docuseries is slated to premiere this fall. ### Video games and LEGO Rapinoe was featured along with her national teammates in the EA Sports' FIFA video game series starting in FIFA 16, the first time women players were included in the game. In September 2015, she was ranked by EA Sports as the No. 2 women's player following teammate Carli Lloyd. In 2023, Rapinoe was included in LEGO's Icons of Play set. ### Ticker tape parades, White House and Congressional honors, and a corn maze Following the United States' win at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Rapinoe and her teammates became the first women's sports team to be honored with a ticker tape parade in New York City. Each player received a key to the city from Mayor Bill de Blasio. In October of the same year, the team was honored by President Barack Obama at the White House, and the president made note of the Northern California farm that had built a corn maze in the shape of Rapinoe's face. Following the 2019 Women's World Cup, New York City honored the women's national team with a second ticker tape parade and were introduced by Robin Roberts at City Hall. Rapinoe and her teammates were invited to the national capitol by Senator Chuck Schumer and Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Nancy Pelosi. ### Fashion According to Vogue, Rapinoe has developed her own signature look and possesses the swagger and attitude of a style icon whereas The Guardian took note of Rapinoe's "diverse approach to clothes" and referred to her as "an expert in mixing matching." In 2020, Rapinoe signed a contract to be the spokeswoman for international luxury fashion brand Loewe, and in 2022, Rapinoe designed her own logo and limited collection entitled "Victory Redefined" in collaboration with Nike. ### National anthem On September 4, 2016, during a game in Chicago against the Red Stars, Rapinoe knelt during the national anthem in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback who refused to stand during the anthem to protest racial injustice and minority oppression. She said at the time she planned to continue to kneel. Later that week on September 7, the Washington Spirit uncharacteristically played the national anthem prior to the teams taking the field, indicating that they did not want to "subject our fans and friends to the disrespect we feel such an act would represent". In an additional statement, the Spirit management said "to willingly allow anyone to hijack this tradition that means so much to millions of Americans and so many of our own fans for any cause would effectively be just as disrespectful as doing it ourselves." Rapinoe expressed displeasure with this move, saying, "it was incredibly distasteful, four days before one of the worst tragedies in our country, to say I tried to hijack this event." She continued the protest on September 15, 2016, during the national team game against Thailand. U.S. Soccer then issued a statement saying: "Representing your country is a privilege and honor for any player or coach that is associated with U.S. Soccer's National Teams. Therefore, our national anthem has particular significance for U.S. Soccer. In front of national and often global audiences, the playing of our national anthem is an opportunity for our Men's and Women's National Team players and coaches to reflect upon the liberties and freedom we all appreciate in this country. As part of the privilege to represent your country, we have an expectation that our players and coaches will stand and honor our flag while the national anthem is played." In addressing the issue, Rapinoe stated in an interview that "using this blanketed patriotism as a defense against what the protest actually is was pretty cowardly", and further stated that she would probably never sing the national anthem again. ## Autobiography In November 2020 Rapinoe published her autobiography, One Life () which details her early life, her career highlights and setbacks, her activism for racial and gender equality, and her personal relationships. The book became a New York Times best seller and was optioned by Sony Pictures Television. ## Career statistics ### Club ### International goals Note ## Honors Lyon - Division 1 Féminine: 2012–13 - Coupe de France Féminine: 2012–13 OL Reign (formerly Seattle Reign FC) - NWSL Shield: 2014, 2015, 2022 - The Women's Cup: 2022 United States - FIFA Women's World Cup:2015, 2019 - Olympic Gold Medal: 2012 - Olympic Bronze Medal: 2021 - Algarve Cup: 2011, 2013, 2015 - CONCACAF Women's Championship: 2014, 2018, 2022 - SheBelieves Cup: 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023 - Tournament of Nations: 2018 - CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament: 2020 Individual - Algarve Cup MVP: 2013 - NWSL Player of the Week: 2013 Week 16, 2015 Week 1, 2017 Week 11, 2017 Week 14, 2018 Week 1, 2018 Week 7 - NWSL Second XI: 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 - NWSL Best XI: 2018 - IFFHS World's Best Woman Playmaker: 2019 - IFFHS Women's World Team: 2019 - The Best FIFA Women's Player: 2019 - FIFA Women's World Cup Golden Ball: 2019 - FIFA Women's World Cup Golden Boot: 2019 - FIFPro World XI: 2019, 2020 - FIFA Women's World Cup Final Player of the Match: 2019 - Ballon d'Or Féminin: 2019 - IFFHS CONCACAF Woman Team of the Decade 2011–2020 Media - ESPY Award - Best Team (2015, 2019 as a member of the U.S. Women's National Team) ### Awards and recognition Following the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, Rapinoe's hometown of Redding honored her with a parade and named September 10 "Megan Rapinoe Day". She received the Harry Glickman Professional Female Athlete of the Year award at the 60th annual Oregon Sports Awards held on February 12, 2012. On October 25, 2012, she was one of ten female soccer players shortlisted for the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year award. The same year, she was named a finalist for Sports Illustrated's Most Inspiring Performers of 2012. Rapinoe was awarded the board of directors Award by the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center on November 10, 2012, for bringing awareness to LGBT people in sports. In March 2013, Rapinoe was named Player of the Tournament at the 2013 Algarve Cup, which the U.S. won. She tallied a goal and assist in two games played. After scoring two goals and serving one assist during a 4–1 win over the Chicago Red Stars on July 25, 2013, she was named NWSL Player of the Week by the media for Week 16 of the 2013 NWSL season. In December 2014, Rapinoe was inducted into the Shasta County Sports Hall of Fame along with several other athletes from Shasta County including Ryan O'Callaghan and Ricky Ray. In 2015, she was inducted into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame. Also in 2015, she was named NWSL Player of the Week for Week 1 of the 2015 NWSL season. In 2019, Rapinoe won the Golden Boot (the second American to do so after Michelle Akers in 1999) and Golden Ball awards at the Women's World Cup in France. The same year, she was Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year and was named The Best FIFA Women's Player In 2020, Rapinoe won the Best in Sports Shorty Award. On July 1, 2022, the White House announced that Rapinoe would be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. On July 7, 2022, Rapinoe was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest honor given to civilians, by President Joe Biden in a ceremony at the White House; she was among a group of 17 honorees that included Simone Biles. ## See also - List of Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients - List of FIFA Women's World Cup winning players - List of Olympic medalists in soccer - List of soccer players with 100 or more caps - List of LGBT sportspeople - The 100 Best Female Footballers in the World - List of OL Reign players - List of foreign W-League (Australia) players - List of foreign Division 1 Féminine players - List of most expensive association football transfers - List of Nike sponsorships - Timeline of the gender pay gap in sports - List of University of Portland alumni - List of Golden Scarf recipients - List of Victoria's Secret models

Sound and language in Middle-earth

Tolkien's theory of language

J. R. R. Tolkien was both a philologist and an author of high fantasy. He had a private theory that the sound of words was directly connected to their meaning, and that certain sounds were inherently beautiful. Scholars believe he intentionally chose words and names in his constructed Middle-earth languages to create feelings such as of beauty, longing, and strangeness. Tolkien stated that he wrote his stories to provide a setting for his languages, rather than the other way around. Tolkien constructed languages for the Elves to sound pleasant, and the Black Speech of the evil land of Mordor to sound harsh; poetry suitable for various peoples of his invented world of Middle-earth; and many place-names, chosen to convey the nature of each region. The theory is individual, but it was in the context of literary and artistic movements such as Vorticism, and earlier nonsense verse that stressed language and the sound of words, even when the words were apparently nonsense. ## Context ### Author As well as being an author of high fantasy, J. R. R. Tolkien was a professional philologist, a scholar of comparative and historical linguistics. He was an expert in Old English and related languages. He remarked to the poet and The New York Times book reviewer Harvey Breit that "I am a philologist and all my work is philological"; he explained to his American publisher Houghton Mifflin that this was meant to imply that his work was "all of a piece, and fundamentally linguistic [sic] in inspiration. ... The invention of languages is the foundation. The 'stories' were made rather to provide a world for the languages than the reverse. To me a name comes first and the story follows." Human sub-creation, in Tolkien's view, to some extent mirrors divine creation as thought and sound together bring into being a new world. ### Artistic and literary movements The Tolkien scholar Dimitra Fimi notes that around 1900 there were multiple artistic and literary movements that stressed language and the sound of words, and the possibility of conveying meaning even with words that were apparently nonsense. These included Italian Futurism, British Vorticism, and the Imagism of the poet Ezra Pound. Fimi further observes that in the late 19th century, nonsense poets such as Lewis Carroll with his Jabberwocky and Edward Lear sought to convey meaning using invented words. ## Tolkien's "linguistic heresy" ### An aesthetic pleasure The scholar of English literature Allan Turner writes that "the sound pattern of a language was the source of a special aesthetic pleasure" for Tolkien. In his essay about constructing languages, "A Secret Vice", Tolkien wrote that > The communication factor has been very powerful in directing the development of language; but the more individual and personal factor—pleasure in articulate sound, and in the symbolic use of it, independent of communication though constantly in fact entangled with it – must not be forgotten for a moment." Tolkien explained in the essay that the person inventing a language must address the "fitting of notion to oral symbol", and that the pleasure in such invention derives mainly from the "contemplation of the relation between sound and notion". He went so far as to state that he was "personally more interested perhaps in word-form in itself, and in word-form in relation to meaning (so-called phonetic fitness) than in any other department". The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey notes that in The Fellowship of the Ring, the poem A Elbereth Gilthoniel, written in Sindarin, one of Tolkien's invented Elvish languages, is presented directly without translation: > > A Elbereth Gilthoniel silivren penna míriel o menel aglar elenath! Na-chaered palan-díriel o galadhremmin ennorath, Fanuilos, le linnathon nef aear, sí nef aearon! Shippey asks rhetorically what any reader could be expected to make of that. He answers his own question by stating that Tolkien had a private theory of sound and language. This was that the sound of words was directly connected to their meaning, and that certain sounds were inherently beautiful. He intentionally chose words and names in his constructed Middle-earth languages to create feelings such as of beauty, longing, and strangeness. Shippey gives as one example Tolkien's statement that he had used such names as Bree, Archet, Combe, and Chetwood for the small area, outside the Shire, where Hobbits and Men lived together. Tolkien selected them for their non-English elements so that they would sound "queer", with "a style that we should perhaps vaguely feel to be 'Celtic'". Shippey calls this "Tolkien's major linguistic heresy". It would work, he explains, if people could recognise different styles in language, somehow sense the depth of history in words, get some degree of meaning just from the sounds of words, and even judge some sound combinations beautiful. Tolkien, he writes, believed that "untranslated elvish would do a job that English could not". Shippey notes, too, that Tolkien is recorded as saying that "cellar door" sounded more beautiful than the word "beautiful"; the phrase had however been admired by others from at least 1903. ### An unconventional view Tolkien's point of view was a "heresy" because the usual structuralist view of language is that there is no connection between specific sounds and meanings. Thus "pig" denotes an animal in English but "pige" denotes a girl in Danish: the allocation of sounds to meanings in different languages has been taken by linguists to be arbitrary, and it is just an accidental by-product that English people find the sound of "pig" to be hoglike. Tolkien was somewhat embarrassed by the subject of his linguistic aesthetics, as he was aware of the conventional view, due to Ferdinand de Saussure and from the 1950s strengthened by Noam Chomsky and his generative grammar school, that linguistic signs (such as words) were arbitrary, unrelated to their real-world referents (things, people, places). The Tolkien scholar Ross Smith notes that Tolkien was in fact not the only person who disagreed with the conventional view, "unassailable giants of linguistic theory and philosophy like [Otto] Jespersen and [Roman] Jakobson" among them. More recently, sound symbolism has been demonstrated to be widespread in natural language. The bouba/kiki effect, for example, describes the cross-cultural association of sounds like "bouba" with roundness and "kiki" with sharpness. Svetlana Popova comments that Tolkien "came very close" to the findings of psycholinguistics including the bouba/kiki effect, and that his ideas of what makes the sound of a language pleasurable agree with David Crystal's findings. ### True names A specific form of direct association of word and meaning is the true name, the ancient belief that there is a name for a thing or a being that is congruent with it; knowledge of a true name might give one power over that thing or being. Tolkien hints at true names in a few places in his Middle-earth writings. Thus, the Ent or tree-giant Treebeard says in The Two Towers that "Real names tell you the story of the things they belong to in my language", while in The Hobbit, the Wizard Gandalf introduces himself with the statement "I am Gandalf, and Gandalf means me". In the case of Tom Bombadil, an enigmatic character in The Fellowship of the Ring who always speaks in a singing metre and often sings, Turner comments that "the propositional content of language seems to have been absorbed into the music of the sounds alone". Further, Shippey notes, when Tom Bombadil names something, like the ponies that the Hobbits are riding, "the name sticks – the animals respond to nothing else for the rest of their lives". Smith remarked that the sound of the phrase "Tom Bombadil" itself fits very well with the name's "jolly, rumbustious owner". ## Analysis ### Linguistic geography In Turner's view, Tolkien's "linguistic heresy" explains why he believed that his use of different linguistic choices would allow his readers to feel, without understanding why, the distinct nature of each region of Middle-earth. ### Keatsian listening Tolkien allows his characters to listen and appreciate "in highly Keatsian style", enjoying the sound of language, as when the Hobbit Frodo Baggins, recently recovered from his near-fatal wound with the Nazgûl's Morgul-knife, sits dreamily in the safe Elvish haven of Rivendell: > At first the beauty of the melodies and of the interwoven words in elven-tongues, even though he understood them little, held him in a spell, as soon as he began to attend to them. Almost it seemed that the words took shape, and visions of far lands and bright things that he had never yet imagined opened out before him; and the firelit hall became like a golden mist above the seas of foam that sighed upon the margins of the world. Then the enchantment became more and more dreamlike, until he felt that an endless river of swelling gold and silver was flowing over him, too multitudinous for its pattern to be comprehended; it became part of the throbbing air about him, and it drenched and drowned him. Swiftly he sank under its shining weight into a deep realm of sleep. When the Hobbits meet Gildor and his Elves while walking through the Shire, they get the feeling, as Turner comments, that even though they do not speak Elvish, they "subliminally understand something of the meaning". In The Two Towers, while a party of the Fellowship of the Ring is crossing the grassy plains of Rohan, the immortal Elf Legolas hears Aragorn singing a song in a language he has never heard, and comments "That, I guess, is the language of the Rohirrim ... for it is like to this land itself, rich and rolling in part, and else hard and stern as the mountains. But I cannot guess what it means, save that it is laden with the sadness of Mortal Men". When Gandalf declaims the Rhyme of the Rings in the Black Speech of the evil land of Mordor at the Council of Elrond, his voice becomes "menacing, powerful, harsh as stone" and the Elves cover their ears. When the Dwarf Gimli sings of the Dwarf-King Durin, the gardener Hobbit Sam Gamgee says "I like that! I should like to learn it. In Moria, in Khazad-Dum!" Shippey remarks that Sam's response to the sound of language is "obviously ... a model one". ### Phonetic fitness of Tolkien's constructed languages The linguist Joanna Podhorodecka examines the lámatyáve, a Quenya term for "phonetic fitness", of Tolkien's constructed languages. She analyses them in terms of Ivan Fonágy's theory of symbolic vocal gestures that convey emotions. She notes that Tolkien's inspiration was "primarily linguistic"; and that he had invented the stories "to provide a world for the languages", which in turn were "agreeable to [his] personal aesthetic". She compares two samples of Elvish (one Sindarin, one Quenya) and one of Black Speech, tabulating the proportions of vowels and consonants. The Black Speech is 63% consonants, compared to the Elvish samples' 52% and 55%. Among other features, the sound /I:/ (like the "i" in "machine") is much rarer in Black Speech than in Elvish, while the sound /u/ (like the "u" in "brute") is much more common. She comments that in aggressive speech, consonants become longer and vowels shorter, so Black Speech sounds harsher. Further, Black Speech contains far more voiced plosives (/b, d, g/) than Elvish, making the sound of the language more violent. Podhorodecka concludes that Tolkien's constructed languages were certainly individual to him, but that their "linguistic patterns resulted from his keen sense of phonetic metaphor", so that the languages subtly contribute to the "aesthetic and axiological aspects of his mythology". She notes, too, that Tolkien commented that in his 'Elven-latin' language Quenya, he chose to include "two other (main) ingredients that happen to give me 'phonaesthetic' pleasure: Finnish and Greek"; and that he gave Sindarin "a linguistic character very like (though not identical with) British-Welsh: because that character is one I find, in some linguistic moods, very attractive; and because it seems to fit the rather 'Celtic' type of legends and stories told of its speakers".

The New Cup

"The New Cup" is the second episode of the second season of the HBO comedy series Flight of the Conchords, and the series' fourteenth episode overall. This episode first aired in the United States on January 25, 2009. The episode was directed by James Bobin and written by Duncan Sarkies. In this episode, Bret and Jemaine's fortunes unravel after Bret buys a new teacup. With emergency band funds unavailable, Jemaine takes desperate measures in hopes of supplementing their income. "The New Cup" received largely positive reviews from critics, with many noting that both the episode's plot and songs were particularly strong. According to Nielsen Media Research, on its initial broadcast, "The New Cup" was watched by over 500,000 people. Two songs from the episode, "Sugalumps" and "You Don't Have to be a Prostitute", received positive critical acclaim and were later included on the band's second album I Told You I Was Freaky. ## Plot Bret buys a new cup for \$2.79 so that he and Jemaine no longer have to share one cup. A month later, they find out that their check for the phone bill bounced because their account was short \$2.79. The phone company charges them a \$30 overdraft fee, causing the cheque for their gas bill to bounce, and both services are scheduled to be cut off. Immediately after finding this out, their power goes off. Bret ends up selling his guitar to pay the bills, and he performs on stage with Jemaine while playing air guitar and making guitar sounds. Murray writes up his negative opinion of the show in the New Zealand consulate newsletter, giving them "two stars out of 100". When Bret asks Murray for some of the emergency band fund, Murray tells him that he invested the money with a Nigerian man named Nigel Seladu who contacted him over the internet. Nigel promised Murray his money back with "a thousand percent interest" and "a share of his family fortunes". Jemaine and Bret are certain that this is merely a scam. Later on, Bret and Jemaine are confronted by Mel. When she learns they're having money troubles, she offers to pay them for a massage. Both Bret and Jemaine awkwardly try to give her a minimal contact massage while her husband, Doug, is nearby watching. Jemaine later suggests to Bret that they become male prostitutes, similar to the film Pretty Woman. They then launch into a parody of "My Humps" by The Black Eyed Peas called "Sugalumps". Trying their idea out, Jemaine approaches women on the street and asks them if they want to pay money to have sex with Bret, who is standing across the street. They then switch roles, but are unable to drum up any business. At night, their apartment is still without power and Jemaine ends up selling his bass guitar. This results in them playing a gig with both members on air guitar performing "Robots". Jemaine, meanwhile, calls up an old girlfriend and leaves a message on her answering machine asking her if she wants to pay him for the sex they previously had during their relationship. He later ends up meeting his landlord, Eugene, who found his posting for a male prostitute service on the apartment's bulletin board. Eugene advises him to go to a fancy hotel and try his luck. At a band meeting, Murray introduces Nigel Seladu, whose investment offer has turned out to be legitimate and not a scam, and results in Murray earning more than enough money for the Conchords to pay their bills and buy back their guitars. Jemaine is noticeably absent and Bret tells Murray that he is out trying to prostitute himself. Both Murray and Nigel tell Bret to go and stop him. On his way, Bret sings a song called "You Don't Have to be A Prostitute", similar to The Police's "Roxanne". He finds Jemaine in a hotel room about to have sex with a "pretty woman". He starts telling Jemaine that he doesn't need to do this any more but is interrupted by a knock on the door. Bret explains that he called the police to come and save Jemaine. When they enter, they ask Jemaine and Bret if they are prostitutes, to which Jemaine replies "Yes" and Bret replies "No, no. I'm just the guy that wears the big condom". They are both put in jail. Murray comes to bail them out, telling them that he had to spend all of their newly acquired investment return on bail. In the closing scene, a desk-fan knocks over the new cup, causing it to smash on the floor. ## Production "The New Cup" was written by writer Duncan Sarkies, his second writing credit for the series after season one's "New Fans." The episode was directed by series co-creator James Bobin. The episode makes several noticeable references to the film Midnight Cowboy. In the scene wherein Jemaine and Bret ask women if they want to pay money to have sex with them, Bret quotes Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo's (Dustin Hoffman) line "I'm walking here, I'm walking." Earlier in the episode, Jemaine suggested that Bret should wear a cowboy hat to be more attractive to women. In the video for "You Don't Have to be A Prostitute", Jemaine wears a leather cowboy waistcoat and cowboy shows, and wears a cowboy hat during the credits. Further cultural references are made throughout the episode. During the band meeting scene, Murray asks the duo if they can think of "any successful musicians with no instruments?" Jemaine names off The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Boyz II Men, Bobby McFerrin and Luciano Pavarotti before Murray tells them that "there are none." While deliberating whether to become prostitutes, Bret and Jemaine reference Pretty Woman, erroneously believing Richard Gere portrayed a male prostitute in the film. Near the end of the episode, Murray tells Bret and Jemain about a Nigerian man who is seeking money via email. This is a play on the actual Advance-fee fraud that swept the internet in the latter part of the 20th century. ### Songs The first song featured in the episode is "Sugalumps". This song is a stylistic parody of The Black Eyed Peas' hit "My Humps" which The Yale Herald wrote was based around the premise that "balls are significantly more hilarious than boobs". In addition, the song was later described as a "New Zealanders version of" Kelis's "Milkshake." Bret briefly appears as The Prince of Parties, a reference to a song from the season one episode "New Fans." Dave sings his portion of the rap in a style very similar to the opening theme of the TV series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The second song featured in the episode is "You Don't Have to Be a Prostitute." In an interview with The A.V. Club, Jemaine explained that the song was inspired by The Police's hit single "Roxanne". However, the duo wished to make a "judgmental" version that "makes a lot of assumptions about the profession. Singing a song about prostitution, like 'I'll stop you from being a prostitute with this song'". ## Broadcast and reception "The New Cup" debuted on HBO on January 25, 2009. The episode received over 500,000 viewers. This made the episode the third highest rated premium cable episode on Sunday, coming in after an episode of United States of Tara and ranking before an episode of The L Word. Critical reception to the episode was largely positive. The A.V. Club reviewer Genevieve Koski awarded the episode an A− rating and, while noting that the episode was a "rehash" of the season one episode "Bret Gives Up the Dream, wrote, "after getting off to a somewhat shaky start with last week’s season premiere, Flight Of The Conchords seems to be settling back into its groove this week, with a couple of memorable songs to match a memorable plot." IGN reviewer Matt Fowler gave it an 8.4 out of 10 rating and noted that Flight of the Conchords is at its best when "the antics remain tightly between [Bret and Jemaine], and this episode sticks with that," noting that the episode "winds up being rather great." Noted television critic Alan Sepinwall wrote, "Taken on its own, though, this [episode] was perfection, as both comedy and as musical." Furthermore, he called the episode "magnificently constructed". Many reviews complimented the episode's songs. Huffington Post reviewer Mike Moody noted that both the dry humor in the episode and its songs were humorous, writing, "I usually find myself heading to the kitchen when the songs come on -- but I usually glance back at the TV to see if Jemaine is making a funny face – and I rush back to the couch once the last note drops. But I can't wait to download tonight's Police-inspired ['You Don't Have to be a Prostitute'] jam." The Guardian named "Sugalumps" one of the top five best season two Flight of the Conchords songs.

Graham Westley

Association football player and association football manager (born 1968)

Graham Neil Westley (born 4 March 1968) is an English professional football manager and former professional footballer. He was most recently manager of League Two club Stevenage. Westley's playing career, spent mostly as a striker in non-League football, was curtailed due to injury whilst playing for Kingstonian. It was at Kingstonian that he started his managerial career, at the age of 28, managing them for five months before spending a year as manager of Enfield. In 1999, Westley became manager of Farnborough Town, helping the club earn promotion to the Football Conference in 2002. He left Farnborough the following season, to become manager of Stevenage Borough in January 2003. He took the club to within one game of promotion to the Football League, but left the club in 2006 when his contract expired. Westley then had a brief spell as manager of Rushden & Diamonds, as well as acting as caretaker manager at Conference North club Kettering Town. Westley rejoined Stevenage in May 2008 and managed the club to FA Trophy success in 2009, before securing promotion to the Football League for the first time in the club's history after finishing the 2009–10 season as league champions. The club won back-to-back promotions in his first season as a Football League manager, via the League Two play-offs. Westley left Stevenage to join fellow League One club Preston North End in January 2012. He was sacked by the club in February 2013. A month later, Westley rejoined Stevenage, his third spell at the club. He managed the club for another two years, before leaving in May 2015. He took charge at Peterborough United four months later, before being sacked shortly before the end of the 2015–16 season. Westley was appointed manager at League Two club Newport County in October 2016, with the club lying bottom of the Football League, and was sacked five months later. He was appointed as head coach of Barnet in January 2018, before managing Stevenage for a fourth time for two months from December 2019. ## Playing career Westley was born in Hounslow, London and he started his footballing career as an apprentice with Queens Park Rangers. During his time at QPR, Westley represented England at under-18 level. He then joined Gillingham in March 1986. He made two Third Division appearances for the club before joining Barnet. He made three appearances and scored one goal for them in the Football Conference during the 1987–88 season, making his debut for the club in a 2–2 draw against Macclesfield Town at Moss Rose. Westley joined Wycombe Wanderers in the latter stages of 1987 for a fee of £7,500, making a scoring debut in a 2–1 away victory at Telford United. He scored in Wycombe's next two games, and was a first team regular until manager Peter Suddaby left the club in January 1988. Westley played just once under new manager Jim Kelman and left soon afterwards to sign for Kingstonian. He played 24 times for Wycombe, scoring five goals in all competitions during the club's 1987–88 campaign. He later played for a number of non-League clubs, including Kingstonian, Wealdstone, Farnborough Town, Harlow Town, Enfield, Aylesbury United, Harrow Borough, Tooting & Mitcham United, Molesey and Walton & Hersham – three of which he would later go on to manage. He was voted Player of the Season at Enfield, before being swapped to Aylesbury in exchange for Darren Collins in December 1992. During his time at Kingstonian, he suffered a dislocated ankle and broken leg in three places, which subsequently cut his playing career short as he never fully recovered from the injury. ## Managerial career ### Early management While recovering from a broken leg, at the age of 28, Westley was appointed as manager of Kingstonian in December 1996 after approaching the club about their vacant managerial post. His first two games as manager of the club both ended in 4–4 draws against Walton & Hersham and Harrow Borough, with Westley saying "at the time, there was something raw and exciting about the team that I sent out. Although there was also something evidently missing". His first victory as manager was a 2–0 victory against Wokingham Town in the Isthmian League Cup, before securing his first league win in the following game, a 5–2 win away at Aylesbury United. Kingstonian drew clear of relegation, with Westley recalling a 3–2 victory over champions Yeovil Town at Huish Park as a "memorable victory". Despite helping Kingstonian avoid relegation, he was sacked after five months, being replaced by Geoff Chapple. He managed Kingstonian for 25 games, recording nine wins, eight losses, and eight draws. In September 1997, Westley was appointed as manager of another club he had previously played for in the form of Isthmian League Premier Division club Enfield. He appointed Graham Pearce as his assistant, who had also previously played for, and managed, Enfield. He outlined his ambition of ensuring the club returned to the top tier in non-League, despite the club struggling with financial difficulties, he stated "my ambition is to see silverware in the table, and if you can't take the pressure, you shouldn't take big jobs like this one". His first game as manager of Enfield was a 2–0 home defeat to St Albans City. Enfield finished in seventh place in Westley's first season there and he left the club after nine months in charge. He managed the club for 41 games; winning 19, losing 16, and drawing six, with a win percentage of 46.34%. ### Farnborough Town In 1999, Westley bought a controlling interest in Farnborough Town and appointed himself as manager. He managed the club to a 12th-place finish in his first season and enjoyed success in the Isthmian Cup; winning the competition in 2000. The following season, Farnborough won the Isthmian League Premier Division; securing 31 victories from 42 matches and amassing 99 points. Westley overhauled the squad shortly after the club's promotion to the Football Conference, which he later stated as a "huge regret". At this point, he also tried to arrange a merger with Kingstonian, citing the club's "Football League rated ground" as the reasoning behind his proposed idea, although it never happened due to "fans resistance". During the 2001–02 season, the club consolidated their position in the first tier of non-League football; finishing in seventh place in the league. The following season, Westley managed the club to the third round of the FA Cup after a 3–0 victory at Southport, where they faced Darlington at Feethams. They won the match 3–2 and the club were drawn at home to Arsenal in the fourth round. The match was moved to Highbury, Arsenal's home stadium, because the tie stood to make around £600,000 in gate receipts from playing at Highbury, whereas playing at Cherrywood Road would have generated the club an estimated £50,000. Westley left the club after the sell-out 'home' tie at Highbury, which they lost 5–1. Shortly after his resignation, he became manager at Football Conference club Stevenage Borough in January 2003, signing a three-year contract. Westley confirmed he would be leaving his shareholding in Farnborough to other existing shareholders, and would also be withdrawing his financial backing at the club. On moving to Stevenage, Westley said "I've enjoyed my time at Farnborough, but I feel that I need to move on now and that I need to concentrate on football management, which is where my ambitions lie". He also stated that Stevenage's "long-term potential" was another key factor behind the move. ### Stevenage When Westley took over the Hertfordshire club, Stevenage were positioned in 21st place in the Football Conference, and were six points adrift of safety. Westley was appointed as first-team manager, with no board involvement. With an initial objective of keeping the club in the highest tier in non-League football, he signed seven players from his previous club Farnborough, as well as his former assistant Graham Pearce and goalkeeping coach Graham Benstead. His first game as manager of the club was a 1–1 draw at home to Morecambe on 13 February 2003, before earning his first win as Stevenage manager in his third match, a 2–0 victory away at local rivals Barnet on 8 March 2003. The victory served as the catalyst for an eight-game unbeaten run, recording six consecutive victories to ensure the club avoided relegation and finished the season in 12th place. Stevenage finished in eighth place during the 2003–04 season, Westley's first full season. As was the case in previous seasons, Westley made wholesale changes at the end of the season, releasing several of the players he had originally signed from Farnborough, and replacing them with a mixture of players with Football League experience, as well as players from further down the non-League pyramid. Westley also gave first team opportunities to players who had progressed through the club's youth system, which included George Boyd. The new squad lost five games of the opening eight games of the club's league season. Following a 4–1 home defeat to part-time Canvey Island, with Stevenage supporters calling for Westley to leave the club, he walked across the pitch to the East Terrace and told supporters he "would turn it around". The team responded with four consecutive victories. Stevenage went into the final day of the season needing to beat already-relegated Leigh RMI, and had to rely on Tamworth to avoid defeat against Morecambe, who were currently occupying the final play-off spot. Stevenage defeated Leigh 2–0, while Tamworth held Morecambe to a goalless draw, ultimately meaning Stevenage had reached the play-offs on the final day of the season. They overcame second-placed Hereford United 2–1 on aggregate, before losing 1–0 to Carlisle United at the Britannia Stadium in the final. The 2005–06 season marked Westley's third season as manager of the club, and although the club were consistent at Broadhall Way throughout the season, the team did not replicate this form away from home, winning four away games all season. There were also question marks surrounding the discipline of the squad under Westley's control, as Stevenage received 14 red cards during the season, more than any other club in the league. A 2–0 defeat away to relegation-threatened Forest Green Rovers on the final day of the season meant that Stevenage failed to reach the play-offs, finishing sixth in the league table. After failing to reach the play-offs, Westley confirmed in May 2006 that he would leave the club when his contract expired in June, ending his three-and-a-half years with the Hertfordshire club. ### Rushden & Diamonds Westley was appointed manager of Conference National club Rushden & Diamonds in December 2006, with the club placed 22nd in the league table, two points adrift of safety. Westley's first game as manager of Rushden was a 1–0 victory away at Cambridge United on 26 December 2006. He signed several players who he had previously managed at Stevenage; signing Jamie Cook, David Perpetuini, and Dino Maamria. Westley also brought in Michael Bostwick and Chris Beardsley, younger players who he had previously written about in his weekly column in The Non-League Paper. The team won five consecutive games in the league, including victories away at the top two teams in the league at the time, Oxford United and Dagenham & Redbridge. Westley was sacked after a 2–2 draw at Aldershot Town in February 2007. He had taken the club from 22nd in the league to 12th in the space of two-and-a-half months, and the club were on a seven-match unbeaten run at the time. Westley managed Rushden for 13 games; winning seven, drawing three and losing three. No reasons were given as to why Westley left the club and he was replaced two days later by Garry Hill. ### Kettering Town After leaving Rushden, Westley was appointed caretaker manager of Conference North club Kettering Town for the rest of the 2006–07 season on 20 April 2007. His first game as manager was a 0–0 draw away to Stalybridge Celtic. Kettering finished the season in second place and they were beaten on penalties by Farsley Celtic in the play-off semi-final after a 1–1 aggregate scoreline over two legs. He left Kettering when his short-term contract expired in May 2007, managing the club for four games. ### Return to Stevenage After almost a year without work in football, Westley returned as manager of Stevenage on 2 May 2008, two years after he had left. On his return, Westley stated he had come to "finish the job he started", referring to trying to guide the club into the Football League for the first time in its history. He said that "the moment was right" for him to return to football management and that he "had some very good times at Stevenage before". His appointment was met with scepticism by some Stevenage supporters, but Westley promised to deliver a winning team. Westley started by overhauling the squad in the summer transfer window and brought in 12 players. Among those brought in were Gary Mills and David Bridges, who Westley had managed during his time at Kettering. He also signed Michael Bostwick and Mark Albrighton, who he had also signed at Rushden & Diamonds. Stevenage started the season by losing three out of their first four games and conceding 13 goals in the process, including a 5–0 defeat to Wrexham on the first day of the season. Through the first half of the club's 2008–09 season, Stevenage were suffering from the same inconsistency that was common in his first spell as manager, losing three consecutive matches in November, the last of which was a 2–1 home defeat to Wrexham; it was to be Stevenage's last defeat at Broadhall Way in the league for 18 months. Westley brought in former player, Dino Maamria as first-team coach at the club. This, coupled with signings during the season, such as Chris Day, Mark Roberts, and Jon Ashton, meant that Stevenage improved during the second half of the season. A club record 24-match unbeaten run lasting from December 2008 to April 2009 meant that the club made the Conference Premier play-offs, finishing in the last play-off place. Despite taking a 3–1 lead into the second leg, Stevenage lost 4–3 on aggregate to Cambridge United. The club won the FA Trophy that season, beating York City 2–0 in the final at Wembley Stadium. The FA Trophy success was Westley's first managerial honours won as manager of Stevenage. After the game, he signed a one-year contract extension. Stevenage started the 2009–10 season by recording one win from their first five games of the season. Following a 2–1 defeat to Oxford United in August 2009, the team went on a 17-match unbeaten run from August to December 2009, moving into the top two. Unlike in previous seasons, the club were performing strongly away from home, and secured victories at promotion rivals Luton Town and Mansfield Town. A 4–1 victory against Cambridge United on New Year's Day meant that Stevenage were positioned in first place in the league table for the first time in the season. Two away defeats within the space of a week in February meant that rivals Oxford United had an eight–point lead going into March 2010. Stevenage responded by winning eight consecutive games; including a 1–0 victory over Oxford United in late March, subsequently replacing Oxford at the top of the table. Stevenage earned promotion to the Football League with two games to spare following a 2–0 victory against Kidderminster Harriers at Aggborough on 17 April 2010. The team won their last six games of the league season without conceding a goal, and recorded 42 points from a possible 45 from their last 15 league fixtures. Stevenage finished the season having amassed 99 points from 44 games, winning the league by 11 points. The promotion meant Westley had led Stevenage to the Football League for the first time in their history, as well as managing a Football League team for the first time in his managerial career. Westley also guided the club to another FA Trophy final; this time losing 2–1 after extra-time against Barrow at Wembley Stadium. At the end of the season, Westley signed a new two-year contract; keeping him contracted to the club until 2012. On signing the new deal, Westley said "I am grateful for all the support that we have all been given in the past two years. I am delighted to have the opportunity to manage the launch of the club into the Football League". In his first two seasons back at the club, from May 2008 to May 2010, Westley has been in charge for 114 games, winning 70 games and recording a win percentage of 61.40%. Similarly to the previous season, but in contrast to his first spell at the club, the 2010–11 season saw five players joining the club, while five players left the club in the close season. The club started the season inconsistently, with Westley stating the season would be a "massive learning curve" for both himself and the players. Following four defeats in six games in December 2010 and January 2011, Stevenage were positioned in 18th in League Two, four points above the relegation places. Throughout February and March 2011, Stevenage won nine games out of eleven, moving into the play-off positions. This included winning six matches in a row, a sequence only matched by Bury that season. A 3–3 draw against Bury on the final day of the season meant that Stevenage finished the season in sixth place. They faced fifth-placed Accrington Stanley in the 2010–11 League Two play-off semi-finals, winning both legs by a 3–0 aggregate scoreline. They defeated Torquay United 1–0 in the final at Old Trafford on 28 May 2011. The victory meant that Westley had guided the club to back-to-back promotions, playing in League One for the first time in the club's history. On securing promotion, Westley said "It's a fantastic feeling. The players work so hard and they deserve everything they get". During the 2010–11 season, Westley also guided the club to the Fourth Round of the FA Cup, where they lost to Reading 2–1. In the previous round, Stevenage defeated Premier League club Newcastle United 3–1 at Broadhall Way. After the match, Westley said before the game he had told the players to "go out and win the match 5–0. We established that if we did just 20% of what it would take to win 5–0 then we would still win the game". At the start of the 2011–12 season, Westley signed a three-year contract extension at Stevenage that kept him contracted to the club until 2014. Westley acquired five players on free transfers, while also releasing five of the existing squad. Stevenage were positioned just outside the play-off places after securing a 5–1 victory against Sheffield Wednesday at Broadhall Way in September 2011. The club also inflicted Charlton Athletic's first league defeat of the season after a 1–0 win against the league leaders. The victory against Charlton was to spark a 13-match unbeaten run for the team, and a 6–1 away victory at Colchester United on Boxing Day 2011 meant the club were in sixth place, the final play-off position. After managing Stevenage for three-and-a-half years, Westley left Stevenage in January 2012, joining fellow League One club Preston North End. His final game as manager of Stevenage was a 1–0 away victory at Reading in the FA Cup third round. ### Preston North End In January 2012, Preston North End asked for permission to speak to Westley with the view to employing him as their new manager. Though the Hertfordshire club described the approach as "unwelcome", permission was granted. After personal terms and a compensation package were agreed, Westley was appointed as Preston's new manager on 13 January 2012. His first game in charge of the club was a 2–0 home defeat against Leyton Orient on 21 January 2012. He earned his first win as Preston manager in his fourth match in charge, securing a 1–0 home victory over Hartlepool United on 14 February 2012. Following Preston's 2–0 televised defeat to Sheffield Wednesday on 31 March 2012, Westley stated that a Sheffield Wednesday player had informed him that four Preston players had leaked the Preston team and tactics to opposition players ahead of the match. Westley stated "It doesn't surprise me. When you have got people in your own camp working against you it is tough". Preston won two games out of the next 17 during the remainder of the season, and finished in 15th place. At the end of the season, Westley criticised the club's "mediocre" mentality, stating the squad have "not got a clue what it takes to get success". Westley overhauled the playing squad ahead of the 2012–13 season; Preston announced that 21 players would be leaving the club, 14 of which were released at the end of their contracts, while a further seven were transfer-listed. Preston signed 18 players during the summer transfer window, including Scott Laird, John Mousinho, Joel Byrom, and Chris Beardsley, four players from Westley's former club, Stevenage. Westley stated a desire for the new group of players to be committed to his ideas. Preston started the season by defeating Championship club Huddersfield Town 2–0 at Deepdale in the League Cup. Later on in the month, Preston secured consecutive 4–1 home victories, beating Crystal Palace and Swindon Town respectively, as well as defeating Hartlepool United 5–0 a month later. After this, the club went on to win two leagues matches in four months from October 2012 to February 2013. A day after Preston's 3–1 away defeat to Yeovil Town on 12 February 2013, the club released a statement announcing Westley had been sacked. With Preston sitting five points above the relegation zone, "the board felt that a change of manager was the only way forward". On his time at Preston, Westley stated he had to "slash the wage bill by 60 percent", and as a result the "re-building was well underway but the club lost confidence in me whilst I was doing it. They just want results. Short-term pain is necessary sometimes. It was necessary at Preston. And the fans got restless. I get that. Just as managers have to be brave enough to grit their teeth and face up to that, so owners have to be brave at difficult times. And they have to be able to understand the issues. I knew the answers to problems but I wasn't being allowed to solve all the problems". ### Third spell at Stevenage After a month out of work, Westley rejoined Stevenage on 30 March 2013, his third spell as manager at the club. On the appointment, Stevenage chairman Phil Wallace stated – "Graham was keen to come back to Stevenage and, although I met some strong candidates, without doubt I think he's the best man for the job right now. The club enjoyed a great deal of success before he left last year and we moved forwards significantly in his time here on several levels". On his return, Westley stated "I'm really happy to be back, the training ground is fantastic, the club just keeps moving forward. All the facilities keep improving and I hope that I can come back and make another positive difference". In his first game back in charge of the club, Stevenage secured a 1–0 victory over Hartlepool United on 1 April 2013. Stevenage ended the 2012–13 season in 18th place, and Westley released four players and transfer-listed three others. He signed seven players in preparation for the 2013–14 season, and further strengthened by signing striker François Zoko in September. However, Stevenage never recovered from a poor start to the season, and despite a late run of six undefeated games ended the campaign in last-place and were therefore relegated into League Two, finishing eight points shy of safety. Westley responded by releasing nine players, whilst a further four were sold on. Westley was forced to largely rebuild the squad for the 2014–15 season, and brought in 15 new signings, including Dean Wells, Calvin Zola, and Charlie Lee. He guided the team to a play-off place with a sixth-place finish, before they were beaten by Southend United 4–2 on aggregate in the semi-finals after conceding two goals in extra-time of the second leg fixture at Roots Hall. On 21 May 2015, Westley was replaced as manager by ex-England striker Teddy Sheringham. ### Peterborough United After flying out to the United States to meet with Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony, Westley was appointed manager of the League One club on 21 September 2015. He was named as League One Manager of the Month for November 2015 after Peterborough earned 12 points and scored 14 goals from four league matches, which earned him praise for his team's open and attacking style of play. Having initially moved into the play-off places in January 2016, Peterborough were positioned in 14th place following a 2–0 defeat to Scunthorpe United at London Road on 23 April 2016, and Westley was subsequently sacked later that day. ### Newport County Westley was appointed manager of League Two club Newport County on 7 October 2016, following the sacking of Warren Feeney. Despite Westley criticising his players with some "harsh words", saying he was "not prepared to tolerate that sort of rubbish anymore", Newport went on to lose eight successive games, which Westley described as "embarrassing" and "humiliating". Club secretary Graham Bean resigned in December, saying "Graham Westley is an impossible man to work with... he needs to learn some manners and start treating people with some respect". Shortly afterwards Westley again courted controversy after refusing to leave opposition manager Derek Adams's press conference. He signed 14 players in the January transfer window, a move he admitted was a "short-term risk". However, he failed to arrest the team's declining fortunes and was sacked on 9 March 2017 with Newport 11 points adrift at the bottom of League Two. The club's board said that they had consulted both fans and the players over their decision to sack Westley; he had been confronted by irate supporters at Rodney Parade and after his sacking transfer-listed midfielder Mark Randall came out to say he had been "treated quite unfairly" by Westley. Caretaker-manager Michael Flynn managed to organise an unlikely escape from relegation for the "Exiles" after overseeing seven victories in the remaining 12 games of the 2016–17 season. Westley maintained that his strategy had played a key part in Newport's survival, stating "If you go back to the AGM just after the turn of the year, Newport were rooted to the bottom of the Football League and I was very clear there was one way out of it – turning the whole squad over in January. I put together a team to function on the bog of a pitch that was Rodney Parade and my strategy is what kept that club in the Football League. Yes, it happened under Flynny's management but I think anyone who is honest would say I did a very good job in working out a way of surviving and building a squad that would win the games at home to keep them in the League". ### Barnet Westley was appointed as head coach of League Two club Barnet on 15 January 2018. Barnet chairman Anthony Kleanthous stated the move had come to fruition after Westley had been recommended to him by Peterborough United director of football, Barry Fry. Despite his previous ties with local rivals Stevenage, Westley had been identified as a "high impact manager" capable of changing Barnet's fortunes, with the club sitting bottom of League Two at the time of his appointment. He joined Barnet on a rolling contract. Westley's first game in charge was a 1–1 draw with Lincoln City on 20 January 2018. He was sacked by Barnet on 19 March 2018, two months into his time there, and was immediately replaced with Martin Allen. Barnet had won two matches out of 11 with Westley in charge, drawing four and losing five. ### Fourth spell at Stevenage Westley returned to Stevenage for a fourth time on 15 December 2019, four-and-a-half years after his last spell as manager of the club. He signed a contract until the end of the 2019–20 season, with the club positioned in 23rd place in League Two at the time of his appointment. Westley officially started his role on 23 December 2019 and the club signed nine players during the January transfer window. Having won two of his 15 matches as manager, Westley resigned on 16 February 2020 with Stevenage in 24th place and seven points adrift at the bottom of League Two. ## Personal life Westley wrote a weekly column in The Non-League Paper, sharing his views and experiences on the non-League game. He is the chief executive of the Aimita Corporation, an organisation that provides performance management consulting. Westley also has a Master of Arts degree in company direction. ## Statistics ### Playing statistics Source: ### Managerial statistics ## Honours Farnborough Town - Isthmian League Cup: 2000–01 - Isthmian League Premier Division: 2000–01 Stevenage - FA Trophy: 2008–09; runner-up: 2009–10 - Conference Premier: 2009–10 - League Two play-offs: 2010–11 Individual - Conference Premier Manager of the Month: October 2005, January 2009, January 2010 - League One Manager of the Month: November 2015

You're Gonna Love Tomorrow

"You're Gonna Love Tomorrow" is the fifth season premiere episode of the American comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives, and the 88th episode overall. It originally aired on September 28, 2008, in the United States on ABC (American Broadcasting Company). The episode was written by series creator Marc Cherry and directed by Larry Shaw. "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow", as well as all subsequent episodes, takes place five years after the events of the fourth season finale following Cherry's decision to revamp the series with a time jump. In the episode, Edie (Nicollette Sheridan) returns to Wisteria Lane after a five-year absence with her new husband, Dave (Neal McDonough). While Susan (Teri Hatcher) hesitates to make a romantic commitment to Jackson (Gale Harold), Lynette (Felicity Huffman) struggles with her defiant teenage children and her husband's midlife crisis. Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) deals with her daughters' weight problems and Bree (Marcia Cross) faces the ramifications of her success. "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow" received mostly positive reviews from television critics, most of whom agreed that the time jump refreshed the show. According to Nielsen ratings, the episode drew over 18 million viewers, making it the most-watched show of the night and the second most-watched program of the week across all networks. ## Plot ### Background Desperate Housewives focuses on the lives of several residents living on Wisteria Lane. In recent episodes, Susan (Teri Hatcher) and Mike Delfino (James Denton) celebrate the birth of their son. Bree Hodge (Marcia Cross) chooses to raise her grandson while her daughter, Danielle (Joy Lauren), attends college. She also issues an ultimatum, telling her husband, Orson (Kyle MacLachlan), that she will leave him if he does not turn himself into the police after committing a hit-and-run. Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria) struggles with Carlos' (Ricardo Antonio Chavira) permanent blindness. Also, Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan) leaves Wisteria Lane after the other residents shun her for her malice. ### Episode "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow" takes place five years after the aforementioned events. Important plot information that takes place during the time jump is revealed in flashbacks. Orson has completed his prison sentence and the success of Bree's catering company has provided her the opportunity to write her own cookbook. Her business partner, Katherine Mayfair (Dana Delany), resents how Bree's success has changed her and intentionally sabotages Bree's television interview, further straining their friendship. A flashback reveals that Danielle married a lawyer and coldly took her son away from Bree. Meanwhile, Lynette is frustrated with Tom's (Doug Savant) relaxed approach to parenting their rebellious teenage sons, Porter and Preston (Charlie Carver and Max Carver, respectively). She encourages him to employ more disciplinary actions. During the time jump, Susan and Mike were involved in a car crash that killed a mother and her child. As a result, the couple divorced and now share custody of their son, M.J. (Mason Vale Cotton). Susan engages in a sexual relationship with her house painter, Jackson Braddock (Gale Harold), but keeps their romance a secret from her friends and family. Jackson seeks a more substantial relationship, but Susan is weary of such a commitment following her divorce. Elsewhere, Gabrielle has been raising two overweight daughters, Juanita (Madison De La Garza) and Celia (Daniella Baltodano), and has also lost her own figure as well. Gabrielle tricks Juanita into exercising by driving away and making Juanita chase after her car. After five years of absence, Edie returns to Wisteria Lane with her mysterious husband, Dave (Neal McDonough), who seems to have a calming effect on his ill-tempered wife. Later, Dave receives a phone call from Dr. Samuel Heller (Stephen Spinella), who reminds him that monthly check-ins are a condition of his release. After the conversation, Dr. Heller reviews a taped therapy session in which Dave threatens to get revenge on the man who destroyed his life. ## Production "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow" was written by series creator and executive producer Marc Cherry and directed by Larry Shaw. Filming for the episode was scheduled to begin on July 7, 2008. The episode is the first to fully employ the five-year jump, which was introduced in the final two minutes of the fourth season finale. While developing the fifth season, Cherry began brainstorming ways to revamp the series. He stated: "The soap tends to build up, and I wanted to get back to where we were that very first season, where it's just the problems of some ordinary women and they were small and relatable." Cherry credits the producers of Lost for the idea of the time jump. The writers hoped the time jump would also help them avoid repeating mistakes they made during the show's poorly received second season, during which they relied heavily on storylines from the previous season. Cherry said that the time jump would be permanent, with executive producer Bob Daily clarifying that some brief flashback scenes would be used to enhance the storytelling and provide context for current plot lines. Cherry had originally wanted to do a ten-year jump, mostly to age the young characters into their teenage years in order to open up more storyline possibilities. The writers ensured that although they were changing the storyline circumstances, the characters remained the same with minimal changes to their personalities. According to series writer Matt Berry, the time jump allowed the writers to work with the characters "without most of the baggage they'd accumulated in the earlier years, and put them into starting places so we could move them forward and build in new story arcs." For this reason, the writers treated the season premiere as a pilot, in which, according to Daily, they "could give the women a new drive." Daily identified the Susan character as having undergone the greatest change, stating that she has given up on looking for a "fairy-tale romance" and is emotionally distant in her new relationship. He also stated that the character of Gabrielle has dealt with the biggest change in terms of her circumstances, as she continues to deal with her husband's blindness and their financial problems. Actress Eva Longoria had to gain weight and wear additional body padding for her character's new storyline. Dana Delany stated that her character, Katherine, who was portrayed as an antiheroine in the previous season, is more relaxed following the time jump. However, Delany clarified that while Katherine is now friends with the other characters, she and Bree would become frenemies as a result of their business partnership. Nicollette Sheridan, commented that Edie, who played an integral role in the season's mystery story arch, is "a lot more conscientious about things [this season], without losing her comedic edge." Several casting changes were made as a result of the five-year jump. Neal McDonough's involvement was announced in July 2008. McDonough did not audition for the role of Dave Williams, but was offered it after meeting with Cherry. Gale Harold continued appearing as Jackson, Susan's new love interest, after appearing briefly in the flashforward segment at the end of the fourth season. The roles of the Scavo children were recast in order to reflect their new ages following the time jump. Charlie and Max Carver replaced Brent and Shane Kinsman as Preston and Porter, respectively. The Kinsman twins appeared in a flashback in this episode. Joshua Logan Moore was cast as Parker, a role previously played by Zane Huett, and Kendall Applegate joined the cast as Penny, who had previously been portrayed by several toddler actresses. Despite their casting announcements alongside the Carver twins, Moore and Applegate did not appear in "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow". The flashforward segment at the end of the fourth season also introduced Kaila Say and Daniella Baltodano as Gabrielle's daughters, Juanita and Celia, respectively. Only Baltodano continued portraying her role for the fifth season; Say was replaced by Madison De La Garza during the summer hiatus. Andrea Bowen, who starred as Susan's daughter, Julie, departed from the cast, as her character left for college at the end of the fourth season. Teri Hatcher expressed disappointment in the producers' decision, but Cherry stated that Bowen would return in the future. Joy Lauren, who portrayed Bree's daughter, Danielle, and Lyndsy Fonseca, who played Katherine's daughter, Dylan, also left the main cast, although the former appeared in the season premiere as a guest star. Because the fourth season ended leaving Mike's whereabouts unknown, James Denton's return to the series was questioned during hiatus. Denton stated in May 2008 that producers would not make a decision on his character until mid-June and that he was preparing to find work in case his contract was terminated. It was later confirmed that he would return to the series. The Wisteria Lane set, which is located on the Colonial Street backlot set at Universal Studios, underwent changes for the time jump. Production designer P. Erik Carlson explained, "[former production designer Thomas A. Walsh] had already created a fairly Utopian world, and we wanted to exaggerate and enhance it a little bit more, mostly through the use of color. We didn't want it to feel ridiculously futuristic or viewers would be jarred by the contrast." Bree's garage was remodeled into a testing kitchen as result of the character's catering business. Additionally, all houses were repainted with bolder colors, with the exception of Gabrielle's home, in order to reflect the Solis' financial situation. ## Reception ### Ratings According to Nielsen ratings, "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow" was watched by 18.684 million viewers and held an 11.4 rating/17 share on its original American broadcast on September 28, 2008. The episode was watched in 13.105 million total households. It was number one in its timeslot, beating Sunday Night Football on NBC, Cold Case on CBS, and Family Guy and American Dad! on Fox. The episode was the most-watched program of the night in both total viewers and the young adult demographic. It was the second-most watched program of the week across all networks by viewers 18 to 49 years old, behind Grey's Anatomy, and the second-most watched program in total viewership, behind Dancing with the Stars. The episode also performed better than any original broadcast of the series since January 2008. It outperformed the fourth season finale by two million total viewers and showed a 17 percent increase in viewers 18 to 49 years old. At the time, the episode was the least-watched season premiere of the series, falling half a million viewers from the fourth season premiere, "Now You Know", a year earlier. However, "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow" outperformed "Now You Know" in the demographic of women between 18 and 34 years of age with an 8.3 rating/20 share in that demographic. In the United Kingdom, the episode premiered on Channel 4 on October 22, 2008. It was watched by 2.39 million viewers, becoming the sixth most-watched program of the week on the channel. ### Critical reception The episode received mostly positive reviews from critics. Tanner Stransky of Entertainment Weekly called the five-year jump "a stroke of genius, effectively increasing our insight into these ladies' world by twofold." He called the Gabrielle storyline a true depiction of motherhood and applauded the scene in which Carlos and Gabrielle discuss her low self-esteem. He complimented the Bree storyline, particularly the argument scene between Bree and Katherine. He enjoyed the Dave storyline, but expressed disappointment that Edie's reappearance was the only scene that involved all of the leading women. Additionally, Stransky was not intrigued by Lynette's storyline and deemed it "more of the same" for the character. He criticized Susan's storyline, calling it annoying. He also dismissed the writers' ploy to give viewers the impression that Mike had died for almost the entire episode. TV Guide's Matt Roush gave the episode an 'A', stating, "Moving the story ahead five years didn't so much reinvent the show as it recharged and refreshed the scintillating mix of domestic comedy and sudsy intrigue that we've always enjoyed." He highlighted the comedic Gabrielle storyline while approving the additions of McDonough and Harold to the cast. In his review of the first two episodes of the season, Brian Lowry of Variety said that while "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow" is satisfactory and establishes the five-year jump effectively, the second episode is better, calling it "a knock-out." Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker commended the time jump as a reflection of both the characters' and series' ambitions, rating the episode a 'B+'. Joanna Weiss of The Boston Globe gave the episode a mixed review. She said that the time leap proved to be successful, as the show had been "flailing" for several seasons and concluded that, "so far, at least, this season promises to be less about plot than personality. That doesn't mean the show is perfect - it never was - but it's better, and that's a big relief." The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Rob Owen was positive in his review, noting that the writers handled the five-year leap well, especially in regards to Lynette's storyline. He complimented the episode's comedy and expressed his hope that the time jump would allow the writers to focus on humor rather than overly-dramatic storylines.

Æthelric II

11th-century Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Selsey

Æthelric (died c. 1076) was the second to last medieval Bishop of Selsey in England before the see was moved to Chichester. Consecrated a bishop in 1058, he was deposed in 1070 for unknown reasons and then imprisoned by King William I of England. He was considered one of the best legal experts of his time, and was even brought from his prison to attend the trial on Penenden Heath where he gave testimony about English law before the Norman Conquest of England. ## Early life Æthelric was a monk at Christ Church Priory at Canterbury prior to his becoming a bishop. Several historians opine that he might have been the same as the Æthelric who was a monk of Canterbury and a relative of Godwin, Earl of Wessex. That Æthelric was elected by the monks of Canterbury to be Archbishop of Canterbury in 1050, but was not confirmed by King Edward the Confessor who insisted on Robert of Jumièges becoming archbishop instead. The evidence is not merely that they shared the same name, because the name was a relatively common one in Anglo-Saxon England. Other evidence pointing to the possibility of them being the same person includes the fact that he was felt to have been unfairly deposed in 1070 as well as the bishop's great age in 1076. Æthelric was consecrated bishop in 1058 by Stigand, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Æthelric was consecrated by Stigand, unlike most of the English bishops of the time period, because at that point, Stigand held a valid pallium, or symbol of an archbishop's authority and ability to consecrate bishops. ## Deposition Æthelric was deposed by the Council of Windsor on 24 May 1070 and imprisoned at Marlborough, being replaced by Stigand (not the same as the archbishop), who later moved the seat of the diocese to Chichester. It is possible, that his deposition was tied to the fact that about that time, King Harold of England's mother and sister took refuge with the count of Flanders. If Æthelric was related to the Godwins, King William I of England may have feared that the bishop would use his diocese to launch a rebellion. Other reasons put forward include the fact that Æthelric had been consecrated by Stigand, but the other bishop that Stigand had consecrated, Siward the Bishop of Rochester was not deposed. Æthelric was a monk, and while not having a great reputation for sanctity, he was not held to be immoral either. The pope did not feel that his deposition had been handled correctly, so his deposition was confirmed at the Council of Winchester on 1 April 1076. It continued to be considered uncanonical, but Æthelric was never restored to his bishopric. ## Penenden Heath Æthelric was carted from imprisonment to the Trial of Penenden Heath of Odo of Bayeux, earl of Kent. This took place sometime between 1072 and 1076. At that time, he was the most prominent legalist in England. He helped clarify Anglo-Saxon land laws, as the trial was concerned with the attempts of Lanfranc to recover lands from Odo. The medieval writer Eadmer also consulted Æthelric for information on Eadmer's Life of St Dunstan. Presumably Æthelric died soon after the trial, as he was already an old man when he attended the trial. ## Note

Antinous

Lover of Roman emperor Hadrian

Antinous, also called Antinoös, (/ænˈtɪnoʊʌs/; Greek: Ἀντίνοος; c. 111 – c. 130) was a youth from Bithynia and a favourite and lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian. Following his premature death before his twentieth birthday, Antinous was deified on Hadrian's orders, being worshipped in both the Greek East and Latin West, sometimes as a god ([] Error: : no text (help)) and sometimes merely as a hero ([] Error: : no text (help)). Little is known of Antinous's life, although it is known that he was born in Claudiopolis (present day Bolu, Turkey), in the Roman province of Bithynia et Pontus. He was probably introduced to Hadrian in 123, before being taken to Italy for a higher education. He had become the favourite of Hadrian by 128, when he was taken on a tour of the Roman Empire as part of Hadrian's personal retinue. Antinous accompanied Hadrian during his attendance of the annual Eleusinian Mysteries in Athens, and was with him when he killed the Marousian lion in Libya, an event highly publicised by the Emperor. In October 130, as they were part of a flotilla going along the Nile, Antinous died amid mysterious circumstances. Various suggestions have been put forward for how he died, ranging from an accidental drowning to an intentional human sacrifice or suicide. Following his death, Hadrian deified Antinous and founded an organised cult devoted to his worship that spread throughout the Empire. Hadrian founded the city of Antinoöpolis close to Antinous's place of death, which became a cultic centre for the worship of Osiris-Antinous. Hadrian also founded games in commemoration of Antinous to take place in both Antinoöpolis and Athens, with Antinous becoming a symbol of Hadrian's dreams of pan-Hellenism. The worship of Antinous proved to be one of the most enduring and popular of cults of deified humans in the Roman empire, and events continued to be founded in his honour long after Hadrian's death. Antinous became a symbol of male homosexuality in Western culture, appearing in the work of Oscar Wilde, Fernando Pessoa and Marguerite Yourcenar. ## Biography ### Birth and childhood Antinous was born to a Greek family near the city of Claudiopolis, which was located in the Roman province of Bithynia, in what is now north-west Turkey. He was born in the territory to the east of the city called Mantineion, a rural locality: > This was important later for the cult character expressed in his statues: he was a figure of the country, a woodland boy. The year of Antinous's birth is not recorded, although it is estimated that it was probably between 110 and 112 CE. Early sources record that his birthday was in November, and although the exact date is not known, Royston Lambert, one of Antinous's biographers, asserted that it was probably on 27 November. Given the location of his birth and his physical appearance, it is likely that part of his ancestry was not Greek. ### Status There are various potential origins for the name "Antinous"; it is possible that he was named after the character of Antinous, who is one of Penelope's suitors in Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey. Another possibility is that he was given the male equivalent of "Antinoë", the name of a woman who was one of the founding figures of Mantineia, a city which probably had close relations with Bithynia. Although many historians from the Renaissance onward asserted that Antinous had been a slave, only one of around fifty early sources claims that. This possibility remains unlikely, as it would have proven heavily controversial to deify a former slave in Roman society. There is no surviving reliable evidence attesting to Antinous's family background, although Lambert believed it most likely that his family would have been peasant farmers or small business owners, thereby being socially undistinguished yet not from the poorest sectors of society. Lambert also considered it likely that Antinous would have had a basic education as a child, having been taught how to read and write. ### Life with Hadrian The Emperor Hadrian spent much time during his reign touring his empire, and arrived in Claudiopolis in June 123, which was probably when he first encountered Antinous. Given Hadrian's personality, Lambert thought it unlikely that they had become lovers at this point, instead suggesting it probable that Antinous had been selected to be sent to Italy, where he was probably schooled at the imperial paedagogium at the Caelian Hill. Hadrian meanwhile had continued to tour the empire, only returning to Italy in September 125, when he settled into his villa at Tibur. It was at some point over the following three years that Antinous became his personal favourite, for by the time he left for Greece three years later, he brought Antinous with him in his personal retinue. > The way that Hadrian took the boy on his travels, kept close to him at moments of spiritual, moral or physical exaltation, and, after his death, surrounded himself with his images, shows an obsessive craving for his presence, a mystical-religious need for his companionship. Lambert described Antinous as "the one person who seems to have connected most profoundly with Hadrian" throughout the latter's life. Hadrian's marriage to Sabina was unhappy, and there is no reliable evidence that he ever expressed a sexual attraction for women, in contrast to much reliable early evidence that he was sexually attracted to boys and young men. For centuries, sexual relations between a man and a boy had been socially acceptable among Greece's leisured and citizen classes, with an older erastes (the "lover," aged between 20 and 40) undertaking a sexual relationship with an eromenos (the "beloved," aged between 12 and 18) and taking a key role in his (the latter's) education. There is no historical evidence available to support at what age Antinous became a favourite of Hadrian. Such a societal institution of pederasty was not indigenous to Roman culture, although bisexuality was socially accepted in some of the upper echelons of Roman society by the early 2nd century. It is known that Hadrian believed Antinous to be intelligent and wise, and that they had a shared love of hunting, which was seen as a particularly manly pursuit in Roman culture. Although none survive, it is known that Hadrian wrote both an autobiography and erotic poetry about his boy favourites; it is therefore likely that he wrote about Antinous. Early sources are explicit that the relationship between Hadrian and Antinous was sexual. During their relationship, there is no evidence that Antinous ever used his influence over Hadrian for personal or political gain. In March 127, Hadrian – probably accompanied by Antinous – travelled through the Sabine area of Italy, Picenum, and Campania. From 127 to 129, the Emperor was then afflicted with an illness that doctors were unable to explain. In April 128, he laid the foundation stone for a temple of Venus and Rome in the city of Rome, during a ritual where he may well have been accompanied by Antinous. From there, Hadrian went on a tour of North Africa, during which he was accompanied by Antinous. In late 128, Hadrian and Antinous landed in Corinth, proceeding to Athens, where they remained until May 129, accompanied by Empress Sabina; the Caesernii brothers, frequent companions of the Emperor; and Pedanius Fuscus the Younger (a great-nephew of Hadrian). It was in Athens in September 128 that they attended the annual celebrations of the Great Mysteries of Eleusis, where Hadrian was initiated into the position of epoptes in the Telesterion. It is generally agreed, although not proven, that Antinous was also initiated at that time. From there they headed to Asia Minor, settling in Antioch in June 129, where they were based for a year, visiting Syria, Arabia, and Judaea. From there, Hadrian became increasingly critical of Jewish culture, which he feared opposed Romanisation, and so introduced policies banning circumcision and building a Temple of Zeus-Jupiter on the former site of the Jewish Temple. From there, they headed to Egypt. Arriving in Alexandria in August 130, there they visited the sarcophagus of Alexander the Great. Although welcomed with public praise and ceremony, some of Hadrian's appointments and actions angered the city's Hellenic social elite, who began to gossip about his sexual activities, including those with Antinous. Soon after, and probably in September 130, Hadrian and Antinous travelled west to Libya, where they had heard of a Marousian lion causing problems for local people. They hunted down the lion, and although the exact events are unclear, it is apparent that Hadrian saved Antinous's life during their confrontation with it, before the beast itself was killed. Hadrian widely publicised the event, casting bronze medallions of it, getting historians to write about it, commissioning Pancrates to write a poem about it, and having a tondo depicting it created which was later placed on the Arch of Constantine. On this tondo it was clear that Antinous was no longer a youth, having become more muscular and hairy, perceptibly more able to resist his master; and thus it is likely that his relationship with Hadrian was changing as a result. Throughout history there has been much controversy concerning the relationship between Hadrian and Antinous. In Royston Lambert's book Beloved and God, he writes "But as far as the central issues go – the history of Antinous, his relationship with Hadrian and the death – we have precious little more information than the earliest writers." Many of these early writers were biased towards Hadrian especially in regard to his relationship with Antinous. The controversy surrounding the relationship between Hadrian and Antinous is due to a lack of extant evidence for where Antinous was during the years from 123–130 CE. The first mention of Antinous is from Pancrates and his Lion Hunt poem from 130 CE. What hard evidence that is available is the Pincian obelisk. On the west side of the relief there is a mutilated phrase which states "he grew up to be a beautiful youth". This would suggest that Antinous was already an ephebe and that he was established in his home in Bithynia when he met Hadrian. Many scholars believe with the circumstantial evidence that the relationship of Hadrian and Antinous lasted approximately three years from 127 CE to October 130 CE when Antinous drowned in the Nile. The conclusion is that there is little documentation for or about the actual relationship of Hadrian and Antinous. ### Death In late September or early October 130, Hadrian and his entourage, among them Antinous, assembled at Heliopolis to set sail upstream as part of a flotilla along the River Nile. The retinue included officials, the Prefect, army and naval commanders, as well as literary and scholarly figures. Possibly also joining them was Lucius Ceionius Commodus, a young aristocrat whom Antinous might have deemed a rival to Hadrian's affections. On their journey up the Nile, they stopped at Hermopolis Magna, the primary shrine to the god Thoth. It was shortly after this, in October 130 – around the time of the festival of Osiris – that Antinous fell into the river and died, probably from drowning. Hadrian publicly announced his death, with gossip soon spreading throughout the Empire that Antinous had been intentionally killed. The nature of Antinous's death remains a mystery to this day; however, various hypotheses have been put forward. 1. One possibility is that he was murdered by a conspiracy at court. However, Lambert asserted that this was unlikely because it lacked any supporting historical evidence, and because Antinous himself seemingly exerted little influence over Hadrian, thus meaning that an assassination served little purpose. 2. Some scholars suggest that Antinous may have been killed by Hadrian himself, either in an attempt by the latter to regain his health, or during an argument between the two. Elizabeth Speller, one of Hadrian's biographers, notes that the second idea aligns with the emperor's well-documented fits of anger and violence. However, most scholars reject the notion that Hadrian murdered his own lover, judging by his overwhelming grief at Antinous's death. 3. Another suggestion is that Antinous had died during a voluntary castration as part of an attempt to retain his youth and thus his sexual appeal to Hadrian. However, this is improbable because Hadrian deemed both castration and circumcision to be abominations and as Antinous was aged between 18 and 20 at the time of death, any such operation would have been ineffective. 4. A fourth possibility is that the death was accidental, perhaps if Antinous was intoxicated. According to his now-lost memoirs, Hadrian himself believed this to be the case. 5. Another possibility is that Antinous represented a voluntary human sacrifice. The earliest surviving evidence for this comes from the writings of Dio Cassius, 80 years after the event, although it was subsequently repeated in many later sources. In the 2nd-century Roman Empire, a belief that the death of one could rejuvenate the health of another was widespread, and Hadrian had been ill for many years; in this scenario, Antinous could have sacrificed himself in the belief that Hadrian would have recovered. If this last situation were true, Hadrian might not have revealed the cause of Antinous's death because he did not wish to appear either physically or politically weak. Conversely, opposing this possibility is the fact that Hadrian disliked human sacrifice and had strengthened laws against it in the Empire. ## Deification and the cult of Antinous Hadrian was devastated by the death of Antinous, with contemporaries attesting that he "wept like a woman." In Egypt, the local priesthood immediately deified Antinous by identifying him with Osiris due to the manner of his death. In keeping with Egyptian custom, Antinous's body was probably embalmed and mummified by priests, a lengthy process which might explain why Hadrian remained in Egypt until spring 131. While there, in October 130, Hadrian proclaimed Antinous to be a deity and announced that a city should be built on the site of his death in commemoration of him, to be called Antinoöpolis. The deification of human beings was not uncommon in the Classical world. However, the public and formal divinisation of humans was reserved for the Emperor and members of the imperial family. Thus, Hadrian's decision to declare Antinous a god and create a formal cult devoted to him was highly unusual, and he did so without the permission of the Roman Senate. The Emperor was criticised for his immense grief at Antinous's death, especially considering that he had delayed the apotheosis of his own sister Paulina when she died. Although the cult of Antinous therefore had connections with the imperial cult, it remained separate and distinct. Hadrian also identified a star in the sky between the Eagle and the Zodiac to be Antinous, and came to associate the rosy lotus that grew on the banks of the Nile as being the flower of Antinous. It is unknown exactly where Antinous's body was buried. It has been argued that either his body or some relics associated with him would have been interred at a shrine in Antinoöpolis, although this has yet to be identified archaeologically. However, a surviving obelisk contains an inscription strongly suggesting that Antinous's body was interred at Hadrian's country estate, the Villa Adriana at Tibur in Italy. It is unclear whether Hadrian genuinely believed that Antinous had become a god. He would have also had political motives for creating the organised cult, for it enshrined political and personal loyalties specifically to him. In October 131, Hadrian proceeded to Athens, where from 131/32 he founded the Panhellenion, an attempt to nurture consciousness of Greek identity, to erode the feuding endemic to the Greek city-states, and to promote the worship of the ancient gods; being Greek himself, Antinous as a god assisted Hadrian's cause in this, presenting a symbol of pan-Hellenic unity. In Athens, Hadrian also established a festival to be held in honour of Antinous in October, the Antinoeia. Antinous was understood differently by his various worshippers, in part due to regional and cultural variation. In some inscriptions he is identified as a divine hero, in others as a god, and in others as both a divine hero and a god. In Egypt, he was often understood as a daemon. Inscriptions indicate that Antinous was seen primarily as a benevolent deity, who could be turned to aid his worshipers and cure them of ailments. He was also seen as a conqueror of death, with his name and image often being included in coffins. In the west, Antinous was associated with the Celtic sun-god Belenos. ### Antinoöpolis The city of Antinoöpolis was erected on the site of Hir-we. All previous buildings were razed and replaced, with the exception of the Temple of Ramses II. Hadrian also had political motives for the creation of Antinoöpolis, which was to be the first Hellenic city in the Middle Nile region, thus serving as a bastion of Greek culture within the Egyptian area. To encourage Egyptians to integrate with this imported Greek culture, he permitted Greeks and Egyptians in the city to marry and allowed the main deity of Hir-we, Bes, to continue to be worshipped in Antinoöpolis alongside the new primary deity, Osiris-Antinous. He encouraged Greeks from elsewhere to settle in the new city, using various incentives to do so. The city was designed on a Hippodamian grid that was typical of Hellenic cities, and embellished with columns and many statues of Antinous, as well as a temple devoted to the deity. Hadrian proclaimed that games would be held at the city in Spring 131 in commemoration of Antinous. Known as the Antinoeia, they would be held annually for several centuries, being noted as the most important in Egypt. Events included athletic competitions, chariot and equestrian races, and artistic and musical festivals, with prizes including citizenship, money, tokens, and free lifetime maintenance. Antinoöpolis continued to grow into the Byzantine era, being Christianised with the conversion of the Empire. However, it retained an association with magic for centuries to come. Over the centuries, stone from the Hadrianic city was removed for the construction of homes and mosques. By the 18th century, the ruins of Antinoöpolis were still visible, being recorded by such European travellers as Jesuit missionary Claude Sicard in 1715 and Edme-François Jomard the surveyor c. 1800. However, in the 19th century, Antinoöpolis was almost completely destroyed by local industrial production, as the chalk and limestone was burned for powder while stone was used in the construction of a nearby dam and sugar factory. An excavation of the city in the early twentieth century revealed a relatively realistic funeral tondo painted on wood. Although the men in the portrait are traditionally identified as brothers, there is speculation that they were lovers, the reason for this being that behind the beardless figure is a representation of Antinous-Osiris, the only pictorial representation that has survived of a statue of the deified young man. ### The cult's spread Hadrian was keen to disseminate the cult of Antinous throughout the Roman Empire. He focused on its spread within the Greek lands, and in Summer 131 travelled these areas promoting it by presenting Antinous in a syncretised form with the more familiar deity Hermes. On a visit to Trapezus in 131, he proclaimed the foundation of a temple devoted to Hermes, where the deity was probably venerated as Hermes-Antinous. Although Hadrian preferred to associate Antinous with Hermes, he was far more widely syncretised with the god Dionysus across the Empire. The cult also spread through Egypt, and within a few years of its foundation, altars and temples to the god had been erected in Hermopolis, Alexandria, Oxyrhynchus, Tebytnis, Lykopolis, and Luxor. The cult of Antinous was never as large as those of well established deities such as Zeus, Dionysus, Demeter, or Asclepios, or even as large as those of cults which were growing in popularity at that time, such as Isis or Serapis, and was also smaller than the official imperial cult of Hadrian himself. However, it spread rapidly throughout the Empire, with traces of the cult having been found in at least 70 cities. The cult was most popular in Egypt, Greece, Asia Minor, and the North African coast, but a large community of worshippers also existed in Italy, Spain, and northwestern Europe. Artefacts in honour of Antinous have been found in an area that spans from Britain to the Danube. Although the adoption of the Antinous cult was in some cases done to please Hadrian, the evidence makes it clear that the cult was also genuinely popular among the different societal classes in the Empire. Archaeological finds point that Antinous was worshipped in both public and private settings. In Egypt, Athens, Macedonia, and Italy, children would be named after the deity. Part of the appeal was that Antinous had once been an ordinary human himself, and thus was more relatable than many other deities. It is also possible, however, that his cult borrowed power from parallels between Antinous and beautiful young male immortals in the Greco-Roman pantheon like Apollo, Dionysus, and Silvanus as well as mortal youths beloved by gods in classical mythology like Ganymede, Hylas, Hyacinth, and Narcissus, and that images of the sensuous youth invited imaginary erotic bonding between him and his worshippers. These characteristics were common also to the cults of Attis, Endymion, and Adonis. Like the latter, Antinous was treated as a dying-and-rising god not only in Egypt, but in Rome and Greece; the Obelisk of Antinous in Rome describes the honour and, "Osirantinous" as "the Reborn" and "the Everlasting." At least 28 temples were constructed for the worship of Antinous throughout the Empire, although most were fairly modest in design; those at Tarsos, Philadelphia, and Lanuvium consisted of a four-column portico. It is likely however that those which Hadrian was directly involved in, such as at Antinoöpolis, Bithynion, and Mantineria, were often grander, while in the majority of cases, shrines or altars to Antinous would have been erected in or near the pre-existing temples of the imperial cult, or Dionysus or Hermes. Worshippers would have given votive offerings to the deity at these altars; there is evidence that he was given gifts of food and drink in Egypt, with libations and sacrifices probably being common in Greece. Priests devoted to Antinous would have overseen this worship, with the names of some of these individuals having survived in inscriptions. There is evidence of oracles being present at a number of Antinoan temples. Sculptures of Antinous became widespread, with Hadrian probably having approved a basic model of Antinous's likeness for other sculptors to follow. These sculptures were produced in large quantities between 130 and 138, with estimates being in the region of around 2000, of which at least 115 survive. 44 have been found in Italy, half of which were at Hadrian's Villa Adriana, while 12 have been found in Greece and Asia Minor, and 6 in Egypt. Over 31 cities in the Empire, the majority in Greece and Asia Minor, issued coins depicting Antinous, chiefly between the years 134–35. Many were designed to be used as medallions rather than currency, some of them deliberately made with a hole so that they could be hung from the neck and used as talismans. Most production of Antinous-based artefacts ceased following the 130s, although such items continued to be used by the cult's followers for several centuries. Later survivals of his cult largely rested in the Eastern Roman Empire, where his acceptance into the pantheon of gods was better received. Games held in honour of Antinous were held in at least 9 cities, and included both athletic and artistic components. The games at Bythynion, Antinoöpolis, and Mantineia were still active by the early 3rd century, while those at Athens and Eleusis were still operating in 266–67. Rumours spread throughout the Empire that at Antinous's cultic centre in Antinoöpolis, there were "sacred nights" characterised by drunken revelries, perhaps including sexual orgies. The cult of Antinous endured far beyond Hadrian's reign. Local coins depicting his effigy were still being struck during Caracalla's reign, and he was invoked in a poem to celebrate the accession of Diocletian, who reigned nearly a century after Antinous' death. ### Condemnation and decline The cult of Antinous was criticised by various individuals, both pagan and Christian. Critics included followers of other pagan cults, such as Pausanias, Lucian, and the Emperor Julian, who were all sceptical about the apotheosis of Antinous, as well as the Sibylline Oracles, who were critical of Hadrian more generally. The pagan philosopher Celsus also criticised it for what he perceived as the debauched nature of its Egyptian devotees, arguing that it led people into immoral behaviour, in this way comparing it to Christianity. Surviving examples of Christian condemnation of the Antinous cults come from figures like Tertullian, Origen, Jerome, and Epiphanios. Viewing the religion as a blasphemous rival to Christianity, they insisted that Antinous had simply been a mortal human and condemned his sexual activities with Hadrian as immoral. Associating his cult with malevolent magic, they argued that Hadrian had imposed his worship through fear. During the struggles between Christians and pagan worshippers in Rome during the 4th century, Antinous was championed by members of the latter. As a result of this, the Christian poet Prudentius denounced his worship in 384, while a set of seven contorniates depicting Antinous were issued, based upon the designs of those issued in the 130s. Many sculptures of Antinous were destroyed by Christians, as well as by invading barbarian tribes, although in some instances were then re-erected; the Antinous statue at Delphi had been toppled and had its forearms broken off, before being re-erected in a chapel elsewhere. Many of the images of Antinous remained in public places until the official prohibition of pagan religions under the reign of Emperor Theodosius in 391. Some contemporary Neo-Pagan groups have re-sacralized Antinous. Because of his same-sex relationship with Hadrian, Antinous's modern cult mainly appeals to members of the LGBT community, especially gay men. ## In Roman sculpture > The surviving statues show a well-proportioned body, with downcast eyes and thick, curly hair nestling at the nape of the neck. It is a very classical and, unsurprisingly, a very Greek image. And it is one which remains very familiar as the archetype of perfect beauty. Antinous was not just the last pagan god; he was the inspiration of the last glorious fluorescence of classical art. Hadrian "turned to Greek sculptors to perpetuate the melancholy beauty, diffident manner, and lithe and sensuous frame of his boyfriend Antinous," creating in the process what has been described as "the last independent creation of Greco-Roman art". It is traditionally assumed that they were all produced between Antinous's death in 130 and that of Hadrian in 138, on the questionable grounds that no-one else would be interested in commissioning them. The assumption is that official models were sent out to provincial workshops all over the empire to be copied, with local variations permitted. It has been asserted that many of these sculptures "share distinctive features – a broad, swelling chest, a head of tousled curls, a downcast gaze – that allow them to be instantly recognized". About a hundred statues of Antinous have been preserved for modernity, a remarkable fact considering that his cult was the target of intense hostility by Christian apologists, many of whom vandalized and destroyed artefacts and temples built in honour of the youth. By 2005, classicist Caroline Vout could note that more images have been identified of Antinous than of any other figure in classical antiquity with the exceptions of Augustus and Hadrian. She also asserted that the Classical study of these Antinous images was particularly important because of his "rare mix" of "biographical mystery and overwhelming physical presence". Lambert believed that the sculptures of Antinous "remain without doubt one of the most elevated and ideal monuments to pederastic love of the whole ancient world", also describing them as "the final great creation of classical art". There are also statues in many archaeological museums in Greece including the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, the archaeological museums of Patras, Chalkis and Delphi. Although these may well be idealised images, they demonstrate what all contemporary writers described as Antinous's extraordinary beauty. Although many of the sculptures are instantly recognizable, some offer significant variation in terms of the suppleness and sensuality of the pose and features versus the rigidity and typical masculinity. In 1998, monumental remains were discovered at Hadrian's Villa that archaeologists claimed were from the tomb of Antinous, or a temple to him, though this has been challenged both because of the inconclusive nature of the archaeological remains and the overlooking of patristic sources (Epiphanius, Clement of Alexandria) indicating that Antinous was buried at his temple in Antinoöpolis, the Egyptian city founded in his honour. ### Age The common image of Antinous is of an ephebic teenager which would be of the age of 18 or 19 years old. R. R. R. Smith suggests that the statues of Antinous are concerned with depicting the real age of Antinous at the age of his death, and that this is more likely to be "around thirteen to fourteen". An ephebe of eighteen or nineteen would be depicted with full pubic hair, whereas the statues of Antinous depict him as prepubescent "without pubic hair and with carefully represented soft groin tissue". As for the statues of Antinous portraying his real age, one must remember the statues are artistic representations. If the statues look young, it may only be how the artist envisioned him in their mind. Most of the artists never saw Antinous and based their work on sketches and examples. If the statues have no pubic hair, it is just as likely that the artist thought clumps of hair were unattractive and either left them off or painted them in lightly after the sculpting was done as almost all Roman statues were painted. ## Cultural references Antinous remained a figure of cultural significance for centuries to come; as Vout noted, he was "arguably the most notorious pretty boy from the annals of classical history." Sculptures of Antinous began to be reproduced from the 16th century; it remains likely that some of these modern examples have subsequently been sold as Classical artefacts and are still viewed as such. Antinous has attracted attention from the homosexual subculture since the 18th century, the most illustrious examples for this being Prince Eugene of Savoy and Frederick the Great of Prussia. Vout noted that Antinous came to be identified as "a gay icon." Novelist and independent scholar Sarah Waters identified Antinous as being "at the forefront of the homosexual imagination" in late 19th-century Europe. In this, Antinous replaced the figure of Ganymede, who had been the primary homoerotic representation in the visual arts during the Renaissance. Gay author Karl Heinrich Ulrichs celebrated Antinous in an 1865 pamphlet that he wrote under the pseudonym of "Numa Numantius." In 1893, homophile newspaper The Artist, began offering cast statues of Antinous for £3 10s. At the time, Antinous's fame was increased by the work of fiction and writers and scholars, many of whom were not homosexuals. The author Oscar Wilde referenced Antinous in both "The Young King" (1891) and "The Sphinx" (1894). In "The Young King", a reference is made to the king kissing a statue of 'the Bithynian slave of Hadrian' in a passage describing the young king's aesthetic sensibilities and his "...strange passion for beauty...". Images of other classical paragons of male beauty, Adonis and Endymion, are also mentioned in the same context. Additionally, in Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, the artist Basil Hallward describes the appearance of Dorian Gray as an event as important to his art as "the face of Antinous was to late Greek sculpture." Furthermore, in a novel attributed to Oscar Wilde, Teleny, or The Reverse of the Medal, Des Grieux makes a passing reference to Antinous as he describes how he felt during a musical performance: "I now began to understand things hitherto so strange, the love the mighty monarch felt for his fair Grecian slave, Antinous, who – like unto Christ – died for his master's sake." In Les Misérables, the character Enjolras is likened to Antinous. "A charming young man who was capable of being a terror. He was angelically good-looking, an untamed Antinous." Hugo also remarks that Enjolras was "seeming not to be aware of the existence on earth of a creature called woman." In "Klage um Antinous", Der neuen Gedichte anderer Teil (1908) by Rainer Maria Rilke, Hadrian scolds the gods for Antinous's deification. "Lament for Antinoüs", translation by Stephen Cohn. In 1915 Fernando Pessoa wrote a long poem entitled Antinous, but he only published it in 1918, close to the end of World War I, in a slim volume of English verse. In Marguerite Yourcenar's Mémoires d'Hadrien (1951), the romantic relationship between Antinous and Hadrian is one of the main themes of the book. The story of Antinous' death was dramatized in the radio play "The Glass Ball Game", Episode Two of the second series of the BBC radio drama Caesar!, written by Mike Walker, directed by Jeremy Mortimer and starring Jonathan Coy as "Suetonius", Jonathan Hyde as "Hadrian" and Andrew Garfield as "Antinous." In this story, Suetonius is a witness to the events before and after Antinous's death by suicide, but learns that he himself was used as an instrument to trick Antinous into killing himself willingly to fulfil a pact made by Hadrian with Egyptian priests to give Hadrian more time to live so that Marcus Aurelius may grow up to become the next Emperor. On 13 October 2018, in Toronto, the Canadian Opera Company premiered Hadrian, the second opera by Rufus Wainwright, which tells the tale of the Emperor's grief and his all-consuming need to discover the details surrounding Antinous's death. In June 2023 Hadrian and Antinous were the subject of the podcast The Rest is History by Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook. ## Historiography The classicist Caroline Vout noted that most of the texts dealing with Antinous's biography only dealt with him briefly and were post-Hadrianic in date, thus commenting that "reconstructing a detailed biography is impossible." The historian Thorsten Opper of the British Museum noted that "Hardly anything is known of Antinous's life, and the fact that our sources get more detailed the later they are does not inspire confidence." Antinous's biographer Royston Lambert echoed this view, commenting that information on him was "tainted always by distance, sometimes by prejudice and by the alarming and bizarre ways in which the principal sources have been transmitted to us." ## See also - Antinous (constellation) - Antinous Farnese - Antinous Mondragone - Capitoline Antinous - Statue of Antinous (Delphi) - Townley Antinous

Clive Mantle

English actor

Clive Andrew Mantle (born 3 June 1957) is an English actor. He played general surgeon Mike Barratt in the BBC hospital drama series Casualty and Holby City in the 1990s, and Little John in the 1980s fantasy series Robin of Sherwood. He returned to Casualty in 2016 as Mike Barratt for the show's 30th anniversary. Mantle was educated at Kimbolton School, Cambridgeshire between 1970 and 1975 and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) between 1978 and 1980. He appeared in 11 productions of the National Youth Theatre in five seasons between 1974 and 1978, and began carving a successful career as a stage actor in the 1980s, alongside various television roles. In 1984 he was nominated for an Olivier Award and was joint Best Newcomer in the Plays and Players Awards for his performance as Lennie in Of Mice and Men. That year he was cast as Little John in Robin of Sherwood, a role which he considers the most enjoyable of his career and which has remained one of his best-known roles. He was to appear as the first Nuclear Man in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace in 1987, but his scenes were cut from the film; they were later included with other deleted scenes when the film was released on DVD. After playing several minor roles in other Hollywood films such as White Hunter Black Heart (1990) and Alien 3 (1992), Mantle was cast as consultant Dr Mike Barratt in Casualty, becoming one of its most popular characters. He left Casualty in 1996 after appearing in 85 episodes between October 1992 and November 1996 (and then briefly returning for 2 episodes in 1998), but after struggling with his acting career, he returned to the role in 1999 in Holby City, and appeared in another 32 episodes until 2001. On stage, Mantle has appeared in plays such as Coming Clean, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Educating Rita, and has continued his successful stage career since departing from Holby City. In 2003 he appeared in Rattle of a Simple Man; in 2006 he played the part of The Narrator in The Rocky Horror Show; and over the Christmas and New Year period of 2007–2008, he portrayed the villain Abanazer in a pantomime production of Aladdin at the Theatre Royal in Bath. In 2010 he portrayed comedian Tommy Cooper in the stage entertainment show Jus' Like That! A Night Out with Tommy Cooper; it was one of his most challenging roles, due to the various skills the performance required. More recently, Mantle has become known for his roles on television as Lord Greatjon Umber in HBO's Game of Thrones and as Tony Curry, Ollie's (Will Mellor's) father, in the BBC's White Van Man. ## Early life Mantle was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire, in 1957. He was the cousin of John Hallam and was a keen supporter of Chelsea Football Club from a young age. Mantle studied at the boarding school Kimbolton School in Kimbolton, Huntingdonshire between 1970 and 1975, and was a chorister in the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge for four years. He first worked on a farm in Cambridgeshire during his studies and soon became interested in theatre. He appeared in 11 productions of the National Youth Theatre in five seasons between 1974 and 1978. As a student, Mantle lived in a basement flat in Islington. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) between 1978 and 1980, where he initially found his towering height of 6' 51⁄2" (1.97 m) to be a hindrance to the sort of roles he could convincingly perform in his acting. He said that he was discouraged early on by people who said, "You'll never work, you're too tall to be an actor." He later said about his height: > Height is a very strange thing. If you're literally playing the milkman or the butler or something like that, they'll all think, "Now why is the butler so big? There must be a reason – ah, he's gonna come back later and kill somebody." Then, you don't. It worries an audience in a strange way if someone my height is playing a small part. I was an actor who needed drama school. I used to be so excited about being on stage that I would just run down to the front and shout; they had to knock that out of me. Physically, just being six-foot-five-and-a-half, I'm not one of life's gazelles. But having said that, I was made aware that I can be gazelle-like if I so choose. If I hadn't been to drama school, I would have just slouched around and bent over double and apologised for my height. ## Career ### 1980s In 1980, Mantle debuted on the screen with a small role as Ewen in Christian Marnham's short thriller feature The Orchard End Murder. In 1981, he appeared in the national tours of The Ideal Gnome Expedition for David Wood's Whirligig Theatre and Deborah Warner's play, Woyzeck, which showed at the University Theatre during the Edinburgh Festival. In 1982, he appeared in an episode of the TV series Minder, before taking on the voice of Private Smith in the animated military comedy series Jane. From 3 November 1982, Mantle portrayed Jurgen opposite Eamon Boland, C. J. Allen, Philip Donaghy and Ian McCurrach in David Hayman's award-winning stage production of Coming Clean at the Bush Theatre in London. In 1983, Mantle was cast in the fantasy series Robin of Sherwood as "Little John", a legendary fellow outlaw of Robin Hood, who was said to be Robin's chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men, in a cast which included Michael Praed as "Robin Hood", Peter Llewellyn Williams as "Much", Ray Winstone as "Will Scarlet", and Judi Trott as "Maid Marian". Footage for the series was shot in rural Somerset and Wiltshire, with the Saxon Tithe Barn in Bradford-on Avon functioning as the great hall of Nottingham Castle, Great Chalfield Manor near Melksham doubling as Maid Marion's family home, and numerous battles were shot at Leaford Grange and Nettleton Mill near Castle Combe, locations which Mantle considered to be "wonderfully realised and breathtaking". The waterfall scene for the quarterstaff battle between Robin and Little John in the first episode "Robin Hood and the Sorcerer" was shot at Bowood House. Helen Phillips said of his performance as Little John, "excellently played by Clive Mantle, the series' John at first appears to conform to a, by then, well-established stereotype." Mantle has said of his role: > It is the job I've enjoyed doing more than anything else on TV. I have the greatest memories of beautiful, halcyon days-out filming on location and we had such a great, fun crew working on the show. We still get together once a year. Not just the cast but also the directors, producer, props guys, it's like a family! I think the key to part of the series' success was that this great camaraderie came across on screen. In 1984, he was nominated for an Olivier Award and was joint Best Newcomer in the Plays and Players Awards for his performance as Lennie in Of Mice and Men. Following the success of the play, it was transferred from the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton to the Mermaid Theatre in London. He went on to tour extensively as Lennie in Of Mice and Men, and has appeared in six different productions of the play. He also played Little John in the theatrical production of Robin Hood at the Young Vic Theatre; and Mitch in Tim Albery's production of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. Other theatrical credits include The Relapse; The Red Devil Battery Sign; King John; Johnny Johnson; The Ideal Gnome Expedition; East; Blood on the Neck of the Cat and Bedroom Farce. He has also appeared as the guest star at the Wyndham's Theatre and Theatre Royal Bath, in the award-winning production of The Play What I Wrote. Also in 1984, Mantle was one of four in the live BBC radio comedy show In One Ear. with Nick Wilton, Helen Lederer and Steve Brown. He transferred to TV with a version of it in 1987 called Hello Mum which was also live. In 1986, Mantle replaced Alan Rickman as Achilles in Howard Davies's Royal Shakespeare Company production of Troilus and Cressida at the Barbican Theatre in London. London Theatre Record said that Mantle "gives a curious performance: virtually a mirror-image of Ajax in his nasal, bovine stolidity." He continued with minor screen roles as a ruffian on a bus in Ronald Neame's film Foreign Body and as "Big Ben" Davis in Dempsey and Makepeace in 1986. He was to appear as the first Nuclear Man in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), but the role was left on the cutting room floor. Some of his deleted footage from Superman IV was released on DVD in a Special Edition as part of Superman Ultimate Collector's Edition in November 2006. The footage was included as "Additional Scenes" but was not re-incorporated into the main feature. In 1987–1998 he appeared in two episodes of Smith & Jones, and in 1989 played a policeman in the TV series The Return of Shelley and had a small role as Johnny Ladder in the Menahem Golan-directed film Mack the Knife, a 19th-century set crime comedy which starred Raúl Juliá, Richard Harris, and Julia Migenes in the leading roles. He also appeared in the radio plays Farewell, My Lovely; Frozen Assets; and The Rise and Fall of the Romanov Autocracy. ### 1990s In 1990, Mantle had a small role as an electricity meter reader in the One Foot in the Grave episode "The Return of the Speckled Band", and played Harry, a man who "gave Clint Eastwood a pounding" in White Hunter Black Heart. In 1991, Mantle played an irate husband whose wife is chatted up by Richie (Rik Mayall) in the first episode of Bottom, "Smells", and also had a role as a police inspector in an episode of Drop the Dead Donkey. In 1991–92 he played Dave in Sandi Toksvig's The Pocket Dream at the Nottingham Playhouse and Albery Theatre in London. In 1992 he played a minor character as a bald monk in the film Alien 3, in which he had to shave his head for the role. In applying for the film, Mantle sent off photographs of himself from a RADA play he had once starred in, sporting a similar shaven look. In an interview at the time, he spoke of his role in Alien 3: > I'm playing a heinous criminal. In fact, there are about 12 or 15 of us, the last remaining prisoners on a prison asteroid, which is hurtling through space. It was a hard labour prison, which is about the best place to send all your hardened, nastiest pieces of work. We're not nice people. Also in 1992, he starred in the CITV series WYSIWYG. Mantle is best known for his long stint as general surgeon Dr Mike Barratt in 85 episodes of the TV series Casualty from October 1992 to November 1996 (with a brief return in February 1998), and 32 episodes of Holby City between 1999 and 2001. He previously appeared in Casualty as the brother of a patient in 1988. Mantle received much acclaim for his role and was one of the show's most popular characters. He was praised for being entirely convincing as a hospital consultant and very dominant and authoritative in his role, "shouting orders in incomprehensible hospital-speak." Daily Mirror described him as a "heart-throb consultant" and said that the role brought him "an army of female fans". A 2001 poll by the Scottish Sunday Mail voted him 7th on a list of Top "10 heart-throb docs on the box" in a list which included the likes of George Clooney and Goran Višnjić. Mantle has said that during his role as the doctor he received a lot of fan mail, some of which were medically related and asking for his advice, believing him to be a real doctor, but professed that he couldn't even stand the sight of real blood. He has said, "It's funny because people always treat me like a doctor. Not a day goes by without someone coming up to me and asking me for advice." In 1996, he turned down an offer of £250,000 to continue playing the character, and last appeared in Casualty in November 1996. He said of his departure: > I've had a great time, but I'm frightened that, if I stick around too long, I'll end up unable to do anything else. It's not about money, it's about doing other things and not wanting Mike to pale into insignificance. In 1995, Mantle was honoured with a surprise This Is Your Life edition, presented by Michael Aspel; the title theme drew upon the "Robin of Sherwood", after his role as Little John. During the life tribute, Mantle met his heroes from Worcestershire County Cricket Club, and the Chelsea FA Cup winners from 1970. Also in 1995 Mantle appeared alongside Imelda Staunton on A Bit of Fry & Laurie. In 1994, he played a prophet in Jo Brand Through the Cakehole, and in 1995 he performed on stage as Frank in Educating Rita, a No.1 National Tour. In 1996 he visited Ghana on an eight-day tour for the charity Save The Children. Mantle was a friend of Jill Dando, and played the prosecuting barrister in a TV dramatisation of the trial of Barry George in a Tonight With Trevor McDonald special, Nothing But The Truth. In 1997, Mantle was cast opposite Sarah Lancashire as Jack Deakin in the comedy series Bloomin' Marvellous, written by playwright John Godber, described as "a comedy about a couple who decide to start a family." The series was panned by most critics, and Mantle sarcastically remarked that "I've seen murderers and rapists get a better press than we did." In 1998, he appeared in Stephen Daldry's production of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists at the Liverpool Playhouse and the Theatre Royal Stratford East theatres. In 1998-9 he portrayed Simon Horton, younger brother of David Horton in the British sitcom The Vicar of Dibley for two episodes; Stevyn Colgan said that his imposing height was "used to great comic effect" in this role when he became the love interest of 5' 0" (1.52 m) tall Reverend Geraldine Granger (Dawn French). From March 1999, Mantle played Victor in Jan Sargent's production of The Price at the Bristol Old Vic. Ian Shuttleworth of the Financial Times describes Mantle's Victor as a character who "sacrificed a promising academic career in science to become a cop on the beat simply in order to keep his shattered father" and said that "Clive Mantle expresses his obstinacy through gritted teeth and cold, civil smiles rather than letting it loose", also remarking that both he and his wife Esther (played by Susan Wooldridge) seemed several years too young for their roles. In May 1999, Mantle, a cricket fan, agreed to participate in a celebrity international cricket tournament with the likes of Caprice Bourret, Rory Bremner, Ainsley Harriott, Lawrence Dallaglio, Lesley Garrett, Barry Norman, and Robbie Earle, and played Sri Lanka on 14 May 1999. ### 2000s After experiencing mixed fortunes in his acting career after leaving Casualty, Mantle agreed to return to the role as Dr Mike Barratt in Holby City in 1999. Claire Stoker of Liverpool Echo said that "Clive will always be the best consultant Holby had ever had." Mantle finally left his role in Holby City after 32 episodes in 2001. That year, Mantle participated in a charity trek of the Annapurna circuit in the Himalayas and to Everest Base Camp, reaching 18,420 ft in aid of Hope and Homes for Children. In 2002, Mantle appeared in an episode of Heartbeat. He played a character called Vinny Sanders In 2003, Mantle played Maynard in Ben Bolt's TV movie, Second Nature, which starred Alec Baldwin in the leading role, and appeared in the first episode of the series Fortysomething. He portrayed Percy, described as a "big, bashful Northern mill-worker who lives with his mum", in Patrick Sanford's stage production of Rattle of a Simple Man at the Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold, Flintshire. Gail Cooper of the Western Mail praised his performance and said: > Mantle, better known as dishy and confident consultant Mike Barrett in Casualty, is cast completely against type as Percy, the 42-year-old virgin who admits to being only 35. His body language is superb: awkward, self-effacing, obsessively tidy – Coronation Street fans should think Roy Cropper if they want to imagine the sort of man Percy is. In 2003, Mantle began filming The Bingo Club, one of five specially commissioned one-hour plays which were screened in January 2004 on BBC1. Co-starring Paula Wilcox and John McArdle, The Bingo Tales relates the story of three women facing romantic hardship and growing old. During production, Mantle fell on his face while shooting a fencing scene and was rushed to Selly Oak Hospital with a ruptured ligament in his leg. In 2004, Mantle appeared in an episode of The Afternoon Play, and in 2005 appeared in John Putch's two-part TV movie The Poseidon Adventure, opposite Adam Baldwin, Steve Guttenberg and Rutger Hauer. He also appeared in an episode of Doctors. In 2006, he guest-starred in the Doctor Who audio drama The Settling by Big Finish Productions, and had a role in Simon Shore's TV movie about a boy with autism, After Thomas, He toured as "The Narrator" in The Rocky Horror Show, and also played Brauner opposite Robin Hood's Michael Praed in Haymarket Productions's National Tour of Brian Stewart's Killing Castro. The play was performed at the Festival Theatre in Malvern in June 2006, and was described by the Birmingham Mail as an "acclaimed comedy" which "chronicles the more bizarre of America's attempts to kill the Cuban leader Fidel Castro – including filling his shoes with poison and inventing an exploding cigar." Over the Christmas and New Year period of 2007 and 2008, Mantle portrayed the villain Abanazer in a pantomime production of Aladdin at the Theatre Royal in Bath, described as an attempt by a theatre spokesman for Mantle to "throw off his gentle giant persona and transform himself into a classic panto baddie for the audience to boo and hiss wildly." He performed in 64 shows over the duration of five and a half weeks. In 2008, he appeared in an episode of The Invisibles, opposite Anthony Head, Warren Clarke and Jenny Agutter. In 2009, Mantle had minor roles in Lucy Akhurst's Morris dancing comedy Morris: A Life with Bells On and in the Thaddeus O'Sullivan historical biopic of Sir Winston Churchill, Into the Storm, co-starring Iain Glen, Brendan Gleeson, and James D'Arcy. ### 2010s In 2010, Mantle portrayed Tommy Cooper in the successful stage entertainment show Jus' Like That! A Night Out With Tommy Cooper, which appeared at the Edinburgh Festival. To train for the role, Mantle mastered many of Cooper's magic tricks, studying under Geoffrey Durham for several months. Mantle was thrilled to take on the role as Cooper is his ultimate comic hero, saying "It's such a big privilege playing Tommy – I genuinely love the man. He is one of the funniest comedians this country has ever produced. So this whole tour for me is just an immense thrill." Mantle considered the role highly challenging, given that he had to combine several aspects of skill, from the magic tricks to the joke-telling, the physical comedy, and emulating the distinctive voice. Some people initially questioned the suitability of Mantle for the character, given that he was well known for playing a solemn doctor in Casualty, but he and the play were warmly received by critics. South Wales Echo called it a "compelling, funny and moving play" and said "Clive, best known for his role as Dr Mike Barratt in Casualty, has had to get used to wearing a fez and conjuring up some magic for his title role of Jus' Like That! A Night Out With Tommy Cooper." In 2011 he took a supporting role in the TV series White Van Man as Tony Curry, father of the central character, Ollie "Rogan" Josh Curry, played by Will Mellor. He also has an ongoing role in HBO's Game of Thrones as Lord Greatjon Umber, a close ally of Robb Stark, and has provided the voice to the audio editions of Andy McNab's Nick Stone thrillers. In 2012, Mantle appeared in the Sherlock episode "The Hounds of Baskerville" as Dr Frankland. In 2013, Mantle performed in the black comedy The Ladykillers, playing the part of Major Courtney. He was forced to withdraw from the touring production in March 2013 after he was attacked at the Travelodge hotel in Newcastle. On the night of Saturday 23 March, he became involved in a brawl after asking a group of fellow guests to keep the noise down, during which part of his right ear was bitten off. He had to have emergency surgery at the Royal Victoria Infirmary hospital to have it sewn back on. A 32-year-old man from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire was charged over the incident and appeared before a magistrate in April 2013, and another man was released on bail in connection to the incident; a third man has been released without charge. In June 2014, the two accused were found not guilty of all charges. In 2014, Mantle supplied the voice of Gator in the eighteenth season of the British children's television series Thomas & Friends as well as its sixth CGI animated film Tale of the Brave. He voiced Gator in both British and American dubbed versions. ## Filmography

French ironclad Thétis

French Alma-class ironclad

The French ironclad Thétis was a wooden-hulled armored corvette built for the French Navy in the late 1860s. She was named for the Greek sea-goddess Thetis. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871 she was assigned to a squadron of French ships that attempted to blockade the Prussian ports in the Baltic Sea in 1870. She accidentally rammed her sister Reine Blanche in 1877. En route to the Pacific in 1884 her propeller fell off and she had to return to France under sail. Thétis was eventually hulked in New Caledonia. ## Design and description The Alma-class ironclads were designed as improved versions of the armored corvette Belliqueuse suitable for foreign deployments. Unlike their predecessor the Alma-class ships were true central battery ironclads as they were fitted with armored transverse bulkheads. Like most ironclads of their era they were equipped with a metal-reinforced ram. Thétis measured 69.03 meters (226 ft 6 in) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 14.13 meters (46 ft 4 in). She had a mean draft of 6.26 meters (20 ft 6 in) and displaced 3,569 metric tons (3,513 long tons). Her crew numbered 316 officers and men. ### Propulsion The ship had a single horizontal return connecting-rod steam engine driving a single propeller. Her engine was powered by four oval boilers. On sea trials the engine produced 1,676 indicated horsepower (1,250 kW) and the ship reached 11.99 knots (22.21 km/h; 13.80 mph). Unlike all of her sisters except Jeanne d'Arc, she had two funnels, mounted side-by-side. Thétis carried 250 metric tons (250 long tons) of coal which allowed the ship to steam for 1,620 nautical miles (3,000 km; 1,860 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). She was barque-rigged and had a sail area of 1,453 square meters (15,640 sq ft). ### Armament Thétis mounted her four 194-millimeter (7.6 in) Modèle 1864 breech-loading guns in the central battery on the battery deck. The other two 194-millimeter guns were mounted in barbettes on the upper deck, sponsoned out over the sides of the ship. The four 120-millimeter (4.7 in) guns were also mounted on the upper deck. She may have exchanged her Mle 1864 guns for Mle 1870 guns. The armor-piercing shell of the 20-caliber Mle 1870 gun weighed 165.3 pounds (75 kg) while the gun itself weighed 7.83 long tons (7.96 t). The gun fired its shell at a muzzle velocity of 1,739 ft/s (530 m/s) and was credited with the ability to penetrate a nominal 12.5 inches (320 mm) of wrought iron armour at the muzzle. The guns could fire both solid shot and explosive shells. ### Armor Thétis had a complete 150-millimeter (5.9 in) wrought iron waterline belt, approximately 2.4 meters (7.9 ft) high. The sides of the battery itself were armored with 120 millimeters (4.7 in) of wrought iron and the ends of the battery were closed by bulkheads of the same thickness. The barbette armor was 100 millimeters (3.9 in) thick, backed by 240 millimeters (9.4 in) of wood. The unarmored portions of her sides were protected by 15-millimeter (0.6 in) iron plates. ## Service Thétis, named for the Greek sea-goddess Thetis, was laid down at Toulon in 1865 and launched on 22 August 1867. The ship began her sea trials on 1 May 1868 and was put into reserve at Brest the following year. She was commissioned on 20 July 1870 for the Franco-Prussian War and assigned to the Northern Squadron. On 24 July 1870 she departed Cherbourg in company with the rest of the Northern Squadron and they cruised off the Danish port of Frederikshavn between 28 July and 2 August until they entered the Baltic Sea. The squadron, now renamed the Baltic Squadron, remained in the Baltic, attempting to blockade Prussian ports on the Baltic until ordered to return to Cherbourg on 16 September. The ship was assigned to the Evolutionary Squadron in 1871 and detached to the Levant Squadron the following year. During the Cantonal Revolution Thétis and her sister Reine Blanche spent much of September–October 1873 in the port of Cartagena, Spain where they could protect French citizens. She became the temporary flagship of Vice Admiral Roze after 31 October 1875 when the armored frigate Magenta caught fire and exploded in Toulon. Thétis was paid off on 1 March 1876, but was recommissioned on 18 April 1877 for service with the Evolutionary Squadron. On 3 July 1877 she accidentally rammed Reine Blanche who had to be run ashore to prevent her from sinking. The ship was in reserve between 1878 and 1881 although she was intended to be used as the flagship of the Pacific Squadron. Her sister Montcalm was sent instead. On 8 October 1885 she was commissioned as the flagship of Rear Admiral Marcq de St. Hilaire and sailed for the Pacific. Thétis lost her propeller off Madeira and had to return to Cherbourg under sail where the admiral transferred his flag to the Champlain. She ended her days as a hulk in Nouméa, New Caledonia.

Hans-Ulrich Rudel

German World War II Stuka pilot

Hans-Ulrich Rudel (2 July 1916 – 18 December 1982) was a German ground-attack pilot during World War II and a post-war neo-Nazi activist. The most decorated German pilot of the war and the only recipient of the Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds, Rudel was credited with the destruction of 519 tanks, one battleship, one cruiser, 70 landing craft and 150 artillery emplacements. He claimed nine aerial victories and the destruction of more than 800 vehicles. He flew 2,530 ground-attack missions exclusively on the Eastern Front, usually flying the Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bomber. Rudel surrendered to US forces in 1945 and emigrated to Argentina. An unrepentant Nazi, he helped fugitives escape to Latin America and the Middle East, and sheltered Josef Mengele, the former SS doctor at Auschwitz. He worked as an arms dealer to several right-wing regimes in South America, for which he was placed under observation by the US Central Intelligence Agency. In the West German federal election of 1953, Rudel was the top candidate for the far-right German Reich Party but was not elected. Following the fall of Perón, Rudel moved to Paraguay, where he acted as a foreign representative for several German companies. In 1976, Rudel attended a conference in the United States with various members of the United States military and defense industry as part of the development of the A-10 Thunderbolt II; Rudel's status as a highly decorated attack aircraft pilot and particularly his experience at destroying Soviet tanks from the air was considered relevant to a potential conflict between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. ## Early life Rudel was born on 2 July 1916, in Konradswaldau, in Prussia. He was the third child of Lutheran minister Johannes Rudel. As a boy, Rudel was a poor scholar but a keen sportsman. Rudel attended the humanities oriented Gymnasium, in Lauban. He joined the Hitler Youth in 1933. After graduating with Abitur in 1936, he participated in the compulsory Reich Labour Service (RAD). Following the labour service, Rudel joined the Luftwaffe in the same year and began his military career as an air reconnaissance pilot. ## World War II German forces invaded Poland in 1939 starting World War II in Europe. As an air observer, Rudel flew on long-range reconnaissance missions over Poland. During 1940, he served as a regimental adjutant for the 43rd Aviators Training Regiment, based at Vienna. In early 1941, he underwent training as a Stuka pilot. He was posted to 1 Staffel Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 (StG 2), which was moved to occupied Poland in preparation for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, in June 1941. On 21 September 1941, Rudel took part in an attack on the Soviet battleship Marat of the Baltic Fleet. Marat was sunk at her moorings on 23 September 1941 after being hit by one 1,000-kilogram (2,200 lb) bomb near the forward superstructure. It caused the explosion of the forward magazine which demolished the superstructure and the forward part of the hull. 326 men were killed and the ship gradually settled to the bottom in 11 meters (36 ft) of water. Her sinking is commonly credited to Rudel alone, but Rudel dropped only one of the two bombs that sank her. Rudel's unit then took part in Operation Typhoon, Army Group Center's attempt to capture the Soviet capital. Rudel's gunner from October 1941 was Erwin Hentschel, who served with Rudel for the next two and a half years, both men earning the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during that period. Hentschel completed 1,400 sorties with Rudel and drowned on 21 March 1944 when they were making their way to the German lines following a forced landing. In early 1942, Rudel got married while home on leave. Later in the year, he took part in the Battle of Stalingrad. From May 1941 to January 1942, Rudel flew 500 missions. In February 1943, Rudel flew his 1,000th combat mission, which made him into a national hero. He then participated in the experiments with using the Ju 87 G in the anti-tank role. The anti-tank unit took part in operations against the Soviet Kerch–Eltigen Operation. The footage from an onboard gun camera was used in Die Deutsche Wochenschau, a Reich Ministry of Propaganda newsreel. In April 1943, Rudel was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, receiving the Oak Leaves from Hitler personally in Berlin. Rudel participated in the Battle of Kursk with the same unit. On 12 July 1943 Rudel claimed 12 Soviet tanks in one day. In October 1943, Rudel was credited with the destruction of his 100th tank and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (one of only 160 awarded) on 25 November. Rudel was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of III. Gruppe on 22 February 1944. On 20 March, Rudel performed a forced landing behind Soviet lines and he and Hentschel (his gunner, mentioned above) escaped to the German lines. The men attempted to swim across the Dniester River but Hentschel drowned in the attempt. Upon his return, Ernst Gadermann, previously the troop doctor of III. Gruppe, joined Rudel as his new radio operator and air gunner. Rudel was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (one of only 27 awarded) on 29 March 1944, the tenth member of the Wehrmacht to receive this award. The presentation was made by Hitler personally. Rudel was promoted to Oberstleutnant on 1 September 1944, and appointed leader of SG 2, replacing Stepp, on 1 October 1944. On 22 December 1944, Rudel completed his 2,400th combat mission, and the next day, he reported his 463rd tank destroyed. On 29 December 1944, Rudel was promoted to Oberst (colonel), and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds, the only person to receive this decoration. This award, intended as one of 12 to be given as a post-war victory award for Nazi Germany, was presented to him by Hitler on 1 January 1945, four months before Nazi Germany was defeated. On 8 February 1945, Rudel was badly wounded in the right foot, and landed inside German lines as his radio operator shouted flight instructions. Rudel's leg was amputated below the knee. He returned to flying on 25 March 1945. He claimed 26 more tanks destroyed by the end of the war. On 19 April 1945, the day before Hitler's final birthday, Rudel met with Hitler in the Führerbunker at the Reich Chancellery in Berlin. On 8 May 1945, Rudel fled westward from an airfield near Prague, landing in US controlled territory, and surrendered. The Americans refused to hand him over to the Soviet Union. ## Neo-Nazi activist While Rudel had been interned, his family fled from the advancing Red Army and had found refuge with Gadermann's parents in Wuppertal. Rudel was released in April 1946 and went into private business. In 1948, he emigrated to Argentina via the ratlines, travelling via the Austrian Zillertal to Italy. In Rome, with the help of South Tyrolean smugglers, and aided by the Austrian bishop Alois Hudal, he bought himself a fake Red Cross passport with the cover name "Emilio Meier", and took a flight from Rome to Buenos Aires, where he arrived on 8 June 1948. Rudel authored books on the war, supporting the regime and attacking the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht for "failing Hitler". ### In South America After Rudel moved to Argentina, he became a close friend and confidant of the President of Argentina Juan Perón, and Paraguay's dictator Alfredo Stroessner. In Argentina, he founded the "Kameradenwerk" (lit. "comrades work" or "comrades act"), a relief organization for Nazi war criminals. Prominent members of the "Kameradenwerk" included SS officer Ludwig Lienhardt, whose extradition from Sweden had been demanded by the Soviet Union on war crime charges, Kurt Christmann, a member of the Gestapo sentenced to 10 years for war crimes committed at Krasnodar, Austrian war criminal Fridolin Guth, and the German spy in Chile, August Siebrecht. The group maintained close contact with other internationally wanted fascists, such as Ante Pavelić and Carlo Scorza. In addition to these war criminals that fled to Argentina, the "Kameradenwerk" also assisted Nazi criminals imprisoned in Europe, including Rudolf Hess and Karl Dönitz, with food parcels from Argentina and sometimes by paying their legal fees. In Argentina, Rudel became acquainted with notorious Nazi concentration camp doctor and war criminal Josef Mengele. Rudel, together with Willem Sassen, a former Waffen-SS and war correspondent for the Wehrmacht, who initially worked as Rudel's driver, helped to relocate Mengele to Brazil by introducing him to Nazi supporter Wolfgang Gerhard. In 1957, Rudel and Mengele together travelled to Chile to meet with Walter Rauff, the inventor of the mobile gas chamber. In Argentina, Rudel lived in Villa Carlos Paz, roughly 36 kilometers (22 mi) from the populous Córdoba City, where he rented a house and operated a brickworks. There, Rudel wrote his wartime memoirs Trotzdem ("Nevertheless" or "In Spite of Everything"). The book was published in November 1949 by the Dürer-Verlag in Buenos Aires. Dürer-Verlag (1947–1958) issued a variety of apologia by former Nazis and their collaborators. Besides Rudel, among the early editors were Wilfred von Oven, the personal Press adjutant of Goebbels, and Naumann. Sassen convinced Adolf Eichmann to share his view on The Holocaust. Together with Eberhard Fritsch, a former Hitler Youth leader, Sassen began interviewing Eichmann in 1956 with the intent of publishing his views. The Dürer-Verlag went bankrupt in 1958. Discussion ensued in West Germany on Rudel being allowed to publish the book, because he was a known Nazi. In the book, he supported Nazi policies. This book was later re-edited and published in the United States, as the Cold War intensified, under the title, Stuka Pilot, which supported the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Pierre Clostermann, a French fighter pilot, had befriended Rudel and wrote the foreword to the French edition of his book Stuka Pilot. In 1951, he published a pamphlet Dolchstoß oder Legende? ("Stab in the Back or Legend?"), in which he claimed that "Germany's war against the Soviet Union was a defensive war", moreover, "a crusade for the whole world". In the 1950s, Rudel befriended Savitri Devi, a writer and proponent of Hinduism and Nazism, and introduced her to a number of Nazi fugitives in Spain and the Middle East. With the help of Perón, Rudel secured lucrative contracts with the Brazilian military. He was also active as a military adviser and arms dealer for the Bolivian regime, Augusto Pinochet in Chile and Stroessner in Paraguay. He was in contact with Werner Naumann, formerly a State Secretary in Goebbels' Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda in Nazi Germany. Following the Revolución Libertadora in 1955, a military and civilian uprising that ended the second presidential term of Perón, Rudel was forced to leave Argentina and move to Paraguay. During the following years in South America, Rudel frequently acted as a foreign representative for several German companies, including Salzgitter AG, Dornier Flugzeugwerke, Focke-Wulf, Messerschmitt, Siemens and Lahmeyer International, a German consulting engineering firm. According to the historian Peter Hammerschmidt, based on files of the German Federal Intelligence Service and the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the BND, under the cover-up company "Merex", was in close contact with former SS and Nazi Party members. In 1966, Merex, represented by Walter Drück, a former Generalmajor in the Wehrmacht and BND agent, helped by the contacts established by Rudel and Sassen, sold discarded equipment of the Bundeswehr (German Federal armed forces) to various dictators in Latin America. According to Hammerschmidt, Rudel assisted in establishing contact between Merex and Friedrich Schwend, a former member of the Reich Security Main Office and involved in Operation Bernhard. Schwend, according to Hammerschmidt, had close links with the military services of Peru and Bolivia. In the early sixties, Rudel, Schwend and Klaus Barbie, founded a company called "La Estrella", the star, which employed a number of former SS officers who had fled to Latin America. Rudel, through La Estrella, was also in contact with Otto Skorzeny, who had his own network of former SS and Wehrmacht officers. Rudel returned to West Germany in 1953 and became a leading member of the Neo-Nazi nationalist political party, the German Reich Party (Deutsche Reichspartei or DRP). In the West German federal election of 1953, Rudel was the top candidate for the DRP, but was not elected to the Bundestag. According to Josef Müller-Marein, editor-in-chief of Die Zeit, Rudel had an egocentric character. In his political speeches, Rudel made generalizing statements, claiming that he was speaking on behalf of most, if not all, former German soldiers of World War II. Rudel heavily criticized the Western Allies during World War II for not having supported Germany in its war against the Soviet Union. Rudel's political demeanor subsequently alienated him from his former comrades, foremost Gadermann. Müller-Marein concluded his article with the statement: "Rudel no longer has a Geschwader (squadron)!" In 1977, he became a spokesman for the German People's Union, a nationalist political party founded by Gerhard Frey. ### Public scandals In October 1976, Rudel inadvertently triggered a chain of events, which were later dubbed the Rudel Scandal (Rudel-Affäre). The German 51st Reconnaissance Wing, the latest unit to hold the name "Immelmann", held a reunion for members of the unit, including those from World War II. The Secretary of State in the Federal Ministry of Defence, Hermann Schmidt authorized the event. Fearing that Rudel would spread Nazi propaganda on the German Air Force airbase in Bremgarten near Freiburg, Schmidt ordered that the meeting could not be held at the airbase. News of this decision reached Generalleutnant Walter Krupinski, at the time commanding general of NATO's Second Allied Tactical Air Force, and a former World War II fighter pilot. Krupinski contacted Gerhard Limberg, Inspector of the Air Force, requesting that the meeting be allowed to be held at the airbase. Limberg later confirmed Krupinski's request, and the meeting was held on Bundeswehr premises, a decision to which Schmidt still had not agreed. Rudel attended the meeting, at which he signed his book and gave a few autographs but refrained from making any political statements. During a routine press event, journalists, who had been briefed by Schmidt, questioned Krupinski and his deputy Karl Heinz Franke about Rudel's presence. In this interview, the generals compared Rudel's past as a Nazi and Neo-Nazi supporter to the career of prominent Social Democrat leader Herbert Wehner, who had been a member of the German Communist Party in the 1930s, and who had lived in Moscow during World War II, where he was allegedly involved in NKVD operations. Calling Wehner an extremist, they described Rudel as an honorable man, who "hadn't stolen the family silver or anything else". When these remarks became public, the Federal Minister of Defense Georg Leber, complying with §50 of the Soldatengesetz [de] (Military law), ordered the generals into early retirement as of 1 November 1976. Leber, a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), was heavily criticized for his actions by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) opposition, and the scandal contributed to the minister's subsequent retirement in early 1978. On 3 February 1977, the German Bundestag debated the scandal and its consequences. The Rudel Scandal subsequently triggered a military-tradition discussion, which the Federal Minister of Defense Hans Apel ended with the introduction of "Guidelines for Understanding and Cultivating Tradition" on 20 September 1982. During the 1978 World Cup, held in Argentina, Rudel visited the Germany national football team in its training camp in Ascochinga. The German media criticized the German Football Association, and viewed Rudel's visit as being sympathetic to the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina following the 1976 Argentine coup d'état. During the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden, he visited the German team at Malmö on 8 June 1958. There he was welcomed by team manager Sepp Herberger. ## Personal life, death and funeral Rudel was married three times. His 1942 marriage to Ursula Bergmann, nicknamed "Hanne", produced two sons, Hans-Ulrich and Siegfried. They divorced in 1950. According to the news magazine Der Spiegel, one reason for the divorce was that his wife had sold some of his decorations, including the Oak Leaves with Diamonds, to an American collector, but she also refused to move to Argentina. On 27 March 1951, Der Spiegel published Ursula Rudel's denial of selling his decorations, and further stated she had no intention of doing so. Rudel married his second wife, Ursula née Daemisch, in 1965. The marriage produced his third son, Christoph, born in 1969. Rudel survived a stroke on 26 April 1970. Following his divorce in 1977, he married Ursula née Bassfeld. Rudel died following another stroke in Rosenheim on 18 December 1982, and was buried in Dornhausen on 22 December 1982. During Rudel's burial ceremony, two Bundeswehr F-4 Phantoms appeared to make a low altitude flypast over his grave. Dornhausen was situated in the middle of a flightpath regularly flown by military aircraft, and Bundeswehr officers denied deliberately flying aircraft over the funeral. Four mourners were photographed giving Nazi salutes at the funeral, and were investigated under a law banning the display of Nazi symbols. The Federal Minister of Defence Manfred Wörner declared that the flight of the aircraft had been a normal training exercise. ## Summary of military career Rudel flew 2,530 combat missions on the Eastern Front of World War II. The majority of these were undertaken while flying the Junkers Ju 87, although 430 were flown in ground-attack variants of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. He was credited with the destruction of 519 tanks, severely damaging the battleship Marat, as well as sinking a cruiser (incomplete and heavily damaged Petropavlovsk), a destroyer (the Leningrad-class destroyer Minsk) and 70 landing craft. Rudel also claimed to have destroyed more than 800 vehicles of all types, over 150 artillery, anti-tank or anti-aircraft positions, 4 armored trains, as well as numerous bridges and supply lines. Rudel was also credited with 9 aerial victories, 7 of which were fighter aircraft and 2 Ilyushin Il-2s. He was shot down or forced to land 30 times due to anti-aircraft artillery, was wounded five times and rescued six stranded aircrew from enemy-held territory. Rudel received the following decorations: - Honor Goblet of the Luftwaffe as Oberleutnant in a Sturzkampfgeschwader (20 October 1941) - Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (10 November 1939) & 1st Class (15 July 1941) - Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds - Knight's Cross on 6 January 1942 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 9./Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 - 229th Oak Leaves on 14 April 1943 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 1./Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 "Immelmann" - 42nd Swords on 25 November 1943 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of the III./Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 "Immelmann" - 10th Diamonds on 29 March 1944 as Major and Gruppenkommandeur of the III./Schlachtgeschwader 2 "Immelmann" - 1st, and only, Golden Oak Leaves on 29 December 1944 as Oberstleutnant and Geschwaderkommodore of Schlachtgeschwader 2 "Immelmann" - Pilot/Observer Badge In Gold with Diamonds - Wound Badge In Gold - German Cross In Gold - Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Gold with Diamonds and a badge for 2,000 missions - Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th class - Sudetenland Medal - Eastern Front Medal - Silver Medal of Military Valor (Italy) - 8th (1st and only foreign) Hungarian Gold Medal of Bravery (14 January 1945) ## In fringe culture Rudel remained popular with the German far-right after his death, especially with the German People's Union, the DVU, and its leader Gerhard Frey. Frey and the DVU established the Ehrenbund Rudel – Gemeinschaft zum Schutz der Frontsoldaten (Honour federation Rudel – Community for the protection of the front soldiers) in 1983 during a memorial service for Rudel. British holocaust denier David Irving was given the Hans-Ulrich Rudel Award by Frey in June 1985; he delivered a memorial speech on the death of Rudel. ## Publications

Action of 9 February 1799 (South Africa)

Minor naval engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars

The action of 9 February 1799 was a minor naval engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars between a British Royal Navy frigate and a French privateer frigate fought 100 nautical miles (190 km) west of the southeastern coast of what is now Natal in South Africa. The 32-gun French frigate Prudente had since the start of the war been part of a squadron operating from Île de France (now Mauritius). This squadron had dispersed during 1798, with the ships sent on independent commerce raiding operations across the British trade routes in the Indian Ocean. Prudente had subsequently been seized in the autumn of that year by Anne Joseph Hippolyte de Maurès, Comte de Malartic, the Governor of Île de France, and sold to a private raiding company. In early 1799 Prudente was operating off South Africa, attacking British trade passing to or from the Cape Colony when the ship was discovered by British frigate HMS Daedalus under Captain Henry Lidgbird Ball. Prudente turned away and Ball gave chase, following the French ship closely. After five hours Daedalus caught Prudente and fired a raking broadside into the stern, disabling the French ship. For another hour the action continued at close range until Prudente was forced to surrender. ## Background By 1799 British forces dominated the Indian Ocean, controlling the economically vital trade routes from China, the Dutch East Indies and British India to Europe. The French Navy had originally deployed only two frigates in the region, Prudente and Cybèle, operating from Port Louis on Île de France. This force was subsequently augmented in the summer of 1796 by a large squadron of frigates under Contre-amiral Pierre César Charles de Sercey, which cruised in the East Indies during 1796 and 1797, suffering setbacks at Action of 9 September 1796 and the Bali Strait Incident. During 1798 the squadron dispersed, as his crews became increasingly mutinous and the Colonial Assembly of Île de France grew openly disdainful of his efforts, refusing to provide reinforcements or supplies to his ships. To mitigate this disaffection, Sercey ordered two of his frigates, Prudente and Forte to cruise in the Bay of Bengal against British trade during the autumn of 1798. When these ships returned, Sercey had already sailed for the east, leaving instructions for the frigates to follow. These orders were however countermanded by the Governor of Île de France, Malartic, who ordered the frigates seized while they were in harbour. Although Sercey protested Malartic's actions, the governor issued new orders to the ships: Forte was sent northeast to operate in the Bay of Bengal off Calcutta while Prudente was partially disarmed and sold to a privateering concern to operate against trade as a commercial investment. ## Battle Command of Prudente was given to Captain Emanuel-Hippolite Le Jolliff, who sailed to the region to the east of the British held Cape Colony to prey on transoceanic merchant shipping sailing to and from Cape Town. The cruise achieved some success, including the seizure of an American merchant ship from Canton, which had been given a prize crew of 17 and armed with 6-pounder guns from Prudente's quarterdeck, leaving the French frigate with only 30 guns including its main battery of 12-pounder long guns. At dawn on 9 February 1799, while sailing approximately 100 nautical miles (190 km) southwest of the coast of Natal a sail was seen to the southeast, approaching rapidly. Recognising a British frigate, La Joliff ordered his ships to separate at 07:00, the American ship sailing south while he took Prudente northwards, hoping to draw off the British ship so that the prize could escape. The new arrival was HMS Daedalus, a 32-gun 12-pounder Royal Navy frigate under the command of Captain Henry Lidgbird Ball. Ball maintained pursuit of Prudente, running 6 nautical miles (11 km) behind his opponent until 10:00 when La Joliff swung his frigate to starboard with the wind, Ball following close behind. With the British frigate closing, la Joliff ordered his men to begin firing their stern-chasers at Daedalus and at 12:10 hauled up to engage, firing a broadside into the British ship. Ball shortened sail and brought his ship across the stern of Prudente, firing a devastating raking broadside into the French frigate at 12:25. Ball then drew Daedalus alongside Prudente and the ships fought a close range broadside duel, fire from Ball's ship bringing down the mizenmast on Prudente after 15 minutes. It was only at 13:21, more than an hour after the battle had begun, that La Joliff acknowledged the damage to his ship and struck his colours. ## Aftermath Prudente was badly damaged in the engagement and had lost heavy casualties, including 27 killed and 22 wounded. Losses and damage on Daedalus were much lighter, with only one sailor and one Royal Marine killed and eleven wounded. Ball conducted hasty repairs and then brought the captured Prudente into Table Bay on 15 February. There the captured ship was condemned by the port commander Captain George Losack: although Prudente was a high-quality ship the naval facilities at the Cape Colony were insufficient to conduct the necessary repairs and the French frigate was not subsequently commissioned into the Royal Navy. As a result, there were few rewards for the action, unusually the junior officers of Daedalus were not promoted in the aftermath of the battle. Among the prisoners taken from Prudente was a deserter from the Royal Navy named Thomas Tring, who was subsequently court martialed and hanged. In the Indian Ocean theatre the loss of Prudente was compounded a few weeks later by the capture of Forte at the action of 28 February 1799, which left Sercey with a shortage of available warships. At the action of 11 December 1799 his last frigate, Preneuse, was intercepted and destroyed off Île de France. A commander without a command, the French admiral returned to France and subsequently retired.

Great Marlborough Street

Street near Soho, London

Great Marlborough Street is a thoroughfare in Soho, Central London. It runs east of Regent Street past Carnaby Street towards Noel Street. Originally part of the Millfield estate south of Tyburn Road (now Oxford Street), the street was named after John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, and was laid out around 1704. It was a fashionable address in the 18th century, but its character changed to commercial and retail use by the end of the 19th. Most of the street's original buildings have since been demolished. Great Marlborough Street has had an association with the law since the late-18th century; Marlborough Street Magistrates Court subsequently became one of the most important magistrates courts in London. The department store Liberty is on the corner of Great Marlborough Street with Regent Street and sports a Mock Tudor facade. ## Geography The road is about 0.2 miles (0.32 km) long. At its western end it joins Regent Street and runs east, crossing Kingly Street, Argyll Street, Carnaby Street, and Poland Street. At its eastern end, it becomes Noel Street. The nearest tube station is Oxford Circus to the northwest. No buses run along Great Marlborough Street but there are numerous services on Regent Street. ## History ### 16th – 18th century In the 16th century, what is now Great Marlborough Street was land belonging to the Mercer's Company. It was surrendered to Henry VIII in 1536. The land was subsequently owned by local brewer Thomas Wilson. His son, Richard, inherited this in 1622 who sold it to William Maddox, who called the estate Millfield. In 1670, Maddox's son, Benjamin, let the land to James Kendrick for 72 years, who in turn sub-let what is now Great Marlborough Street to John Steele. The land remained undeveloped, with building focusing on Tyburn Road (now Oxford Street) to the north. The street began to be developed in the early 18th century, when Steele let five acres of land to Joseph Collens for property development. It was named after John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, commander of the English Army who won the Battle of Blenheim in 1704, shortly before construction started. Initially the street was a fashionable address; in 1714, John Macky said it "surpasses anything that is called a street" and praised its architecture. A 1734 report agreed it was popular but added "the buildings on each side being trifling and inconsiderable, and the vista ended neither way with any thing great or extraordinary". Out of one hundred peers summoned before the King in 1716, five lived in Great Marlborough Street. For a time, Thomas Onslow, 2nd Baron Onslow owned No. 11 while Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough at No. 12. For a time in the 18th century, the street was the main London residence of Lord Nelson. No. 13 was formed of two separate houses, both leased by John Richmond in 1710 and subsequently joined as a single property. It was bought by Lord Charles Cavendish in 1740 and later occupied by his son, the scientist Henry Cavendish. Sir John Cust, 3rd Baronet lived at No. 14 from 1754 to 1762. The Byron family were listed as ratepayers of No. 15 during the early 18th century. William Byron, 4th Baron Byron lived here from 1727 until his death in 1736; his widow remained there until 1740. The Baron's son, William Byron, 5th Baron Byron lived here from 1745 to 1774. The Scottish sculptor Thomas Campbell worked here from 1833 to 1843, also taking over the neighbouring No. 16. Sir Lambert Blackwell, 1st Baronet bought No. 16 in September 1709 and stayed there until his death in 1727. His son, Sir Charles Blackwell, 2nd Baronet subsequently lived in the house until he died in 1741. Mary Lepell, maid of honour to Caroline, Princess of Wales (and future wife of John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey) lived in part of a house which is now part of No. 34 from around 1716–1724. Sir John Cust, 3rd Baronet, Speaker of the House of Commons lives in No. 41 (now No. 46) from 1747 to 1752. The first floor of the property was later occupied by the painter Benjamin Haydon from 1808 to 1817; Gilbert Stuart Newton is believed to have taken over his lodgings. The French instrument builder Sébastien Érard moved into No. 18 in 1794. He stayed there until his death in 1831, after which his nephew, Pierre Erard took ownership of it and the adjoining No. 18, and rebuilt the two properties to have a uniform facade. The Pantheon was based at the far eastern end of Great Marlborough Street. It was built on what had previously been gardens in 1772, becoming a popular place of entertainment during the late 18th century. The building burned down in 1792 and was rebuilt; it ceased to be an entertainment venue in 1818. It was later used as a bazaar in the mid-19th century before being demolished in 1937. The site is now the main Oxford Street branch of Marks and Spencer which has a side entrance onto Great Marlborough Street. A number of pubs have been based on Great Marlborough Street for centuries. The Coach and Horses at No. 1 and the Marlborough Head at Nos. 37–38 were both established in the 1730s. However, most of the 18th century buildings on Great Marlborough Street were later demolished, which led to the decline of its reputation as a fashionable street. ### 19th century During the 19th century, various professionals such as architects and scientists were living in Great Marlborough Street. Thomas Hardwick lived here between 1815 and 1825, as did Charles Darwin between 1837 and 1838. A police station was established at No. 21 Great Marlborough Street in 1793. This led to the establishment of Marlborough Street Magistrates Court at No. 20–21 in the early 19th century, which had become one of the most important magistrates courts in England by the end of the century. William Ewart Gladstone gave evidence in the court against a blackmailer who claimed Gladstone had frequented prostitutes in Leicester Square, while the Marquess of Queensbury's libel trial against Oscar Wilde took place here in 1895. The Church of St John the Baptist was built on the site of the former Nos. 49–50 in 1885, and was consecrated on 23 November. The building cost £5,100 (now £) and catered for services in the local parish that had previously been held in rooms or temporary buildings. The church covered a district between Oxford Street, Poland Street, Brewer Street, Bridle Lane, Carnaby Market and Argyll Street. The London College of Music were based at No. 47 Great Marlborough Street from 1896 to 1990. Although it is one of the few 18th century buildings to survive, significant alterations have taken place, including being extended to cover four storeys. Since the college relocated, the building has been occupied by the London College of Beauty Therapy, the largest publicly funded college of its kind. The street inspired the name of Philip Morris's Marlboro cigarettes. The original factory opened on the street in 1881. ### 20th – 21st century In the early 20th century, a number of prominent automobile companies had showrooms on Great Marlborough Street. De Dion-Bouton, the largest automobile manufacturer in the world at the time, opened a London showroom at No. 10 in 1919. Charles Jarrott & Letts, Ltd (concessionaires for de Dietrich; Oldsmobile and Napier cars) was based at No. 45. The department store Liberty is on the corner of Great Marlborough Street and Regent Street. The founder, Arthur Lasenby Liberty, was unable to expand or modernise the existing shop front due to Crown planning restrictions, so he bought numerous properties on Great Marlborough Street in 1925, and rebuilt them in a Mock Tudor design as an extension of the store. It was Grade II\* listed in 1972. Palladium House was built on the corner of Great Marlborough Street and Argyll Street in 1928 by Raymond Hood and Gordon Jeeves. It featured an Art Deco design inspired by the Paris Exhibition of 1925 and was extended in 1935. It is now a Grade II listed building. The magistrates court continued to cover significant trials that were widely reported by the media. In 1963, Christine Keeler was tried here for attempting to obstruct the course of justice. In the late 1960s, a number of rock stars, including The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones, stood trial on drugs offences at the magistrates court. Richards was tried here again in 1973 for possession of heroin and owning unlicensed firearms, but was only fined £205 (now £). John Lennon and Yoko Ono were tried for obscenity here in 1970. The building became Grade II listed in 1970. The courts closed in 1998, and are now the Courthouse Hotel. The European Headquarters of Sony Interactive Entertainment (PlayStation) is at No. 10 Great Marlborough Street. London Studio and Guerrilla Games also have London offices at this address. Creative consultants Collective UK, now a subdivision of Time Inc., have offices on Great Marlborough Street. ## Cultural references Great Marlborough Street is shown on the British Monopoly board as "Marlborough Street". This is as a result of the square being named after Marlborough Street Magistrates Court; the other two orange property squares on the board are Bow Street (named after the Bow Street Runners) and Vine Street (named after the Vine Street Police Station), completing a set based around police and law. Marlboro Cigarettes were given its name due to the first shop opening on the Great Marlborough Street. ## See also - List of eponymous roads in London

Veronica jovellanoides

Species of flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae

Veronica jovellanoides, commonly known as Riverhead speedwell, is a threatened flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae. Endemic to New Zealand, only three plants are known in the wild. All are found within the Ernest Morgan Reserve, a 20 ha forest northwest of Auckland. Its discovery is accredited to a retired plant nursery owner, Geoff Davidson, who organised the land's protection a few decades prior, and found it by chance on a walk in November 2007. V. jovellanoides has a prostrate growth habit, forming large 2 to 3 m (6.6 to 9.8 ft) mats on the ground, and long stems with small, spatula-shaped leaves. Flowering begins in spring (September to November in New Zealand), producing small four-petalled white flowers which have a purple ring around their throats; the inner and centre-most section of the flower. Once pollinated, these become small brown seeds which are dispersed by the wind. ## Description Veronica jovellanoides is a creeping plant which grows into a mat 2 to 3 m (6.6 to 9.8 ft) across. It has 2 m (6.6 ft) long red-brown decumbent stems which are covered in many tiny hairs and grow roots at nodes spaced 5 to 30 mm (0.20 to 1.2 in) apart. Although it can cover a large area, it grows prostrate and only reaches a height of 5 centimetres (2.0 in). It has 3.5 to 11 mm (0.14 to 0.43 in) by 4.5 to 12 mm (0.18 to 0.47 in) spatula-shaped leaves which are green on top and a paler green below. The leaves may also grow on top of one another, have reddish margins, and are suspended from 2 to 10 mm long very hairy petioles. In addition to this, the leaves are hairy and toothed; with three to five pairs of teeth on each side. Flowering occurs from October to December and produces a white flower which has a four-lobed corolla (four petals) and a purple ring around its throat; the ring serving as a nectar guide for pollinators. The flower is 10 to 12 mm (0.39 to 0.47 in) in diameter and the throat is a yellow-green colour. Each inflorescence is made up of up to seven flowers growing off of a raceme-like structure made of a 15-to-25 mm (0.59-to-0.98 in) long peduncle and a 20 to 30 mm (0.79 to 1.2 in) rachis. Pollen is given out by a stamen made of a 4.0-to-4.5 mm (0.16-to-0.18 in) long filament and a 0.8 to 1.0 mm long pink anther, the pollination of which is encouraged by a glabrous nectarial disk. Fruiting is from December to February, yielding pale brown 1.2 to 1.8 mm by 1 to 1.4 mm seeds. The 3.2 to 6.0 mm (0.13 to 0.24 in) by 3.5 to 5.5 mm (0.14 to 0.22 in) pale brown capsules split open on wetting, revealing the similarly-coloured and deeply flattened seed. There are six to ten seeds per locule, within the 0.6 to 0.8 mm long glabrous ovary. V. jovellanoides has 20 pairs of chromosomes. ## Taxonomy ### Discovery and naming Veronica jovellanoides was discovered in November 2007 by Geoff Davidson, a local plant nursery owner and trustee of the NZ Native Forests Restoration Trust, when he found it growing in the Ernest Morgan Reserve on a walk with the field officer (of the NZFRT) Sharon Graham. He mistook it for Jovellana repens at first, but was puzzled by the fact that the reserve is outside of its geographical range, so he took a cutting of it and grew it on. Peter de Lange, a New Zealand botanist, suggested after seeing the plant at Davidson's nursery that it was a member of the genus Veronica. This observation was proven upon the plant's flowering; its stunted corolla tube and four-lobed corolla being characteristic of many species in the genus. An expert of New Zealand Hebe and related genera, Phil Garnock-Jones, was consulted and it was revealed that it was a species new to science. Davidson, de Lange, and Garnock-Jones published their findings in the New Zealand Journal of Botany (NZJB) in 2009. In 2010 Peter de Lange moved the species into the genus Parahebe because many botanists believed that it should be separate from Veronica, though more recent scientific consensus among botanists is that Parahebe, along with many similar genera, should be merged with Veronica. V. jovellanoides does not resemble other species in the genus Veronica, being highly distinctive. Species from the Northern Hemisphere share its creeping herbaceous growth habit, but ones from New Zealand share its: short-tubed corolla; yellowish-green throat; magenta ring; and spatula-shaped leaves. Almost all of the latter species have folds in the lateral lobes of their flowers, however, which V. jovellanoides lacks. The three members of this clade which lack the folds are not totally morphologically similar. V. spathulata, for example, shares its lack of folds and also has spatula-shaped leaves, but has different flowers and is otherwise dissimilar. These features, or lack thereof, they argued, suggest that it diverged early from the Parahebe clade, an idea supported by a then unpublished genetic analysis. This analysis was published in the NZJB in 2013 and in it they concluded that V. jovellanoides''' 20 pairs of chromosomes was unusual given the very few related species that shared the number. ### Etymology The specific epithet jovellanoides is due to its similarity to Jovellana repens with which it was first confused. The common name Riverhead speedwell is after the Riverhead Pine Plantation, a popular recreation spot for Aucklanders, located close to the Ernest Morgan Reserve. V. jovellanoides was given the nickname "Bamboozle", meaning to confuse or throw off, by botanists due to its elusive nature. On trying to find the plant again after its discovery, four people searched the reserve for 80 hours without locating it. Only when 40 members of the Auckland Botanical Society walked together in a line did they find one patch of it. ## Distribution and habitat V. jovellanoides is endemic to New Zealand and occurs only (as of 2009) in the upper North Island in the Ernest Morgan Reserve northwest of Auckland. The 20 ha (49-acre) reserve was formed in 1985 when the land was bought from the landowners by a combination of the NZ Native Forests Restoration Trust, the Auckland Regional Authority and the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust (who were chosen to administer it). There are only three plants known in the wild, all within an area of 6 m² (7.2 sq yd) just 35 m (38 yd) above sea level, growing on a shaded and damp clay bank among ferns, mosses and liverworts. The reserve has the Ararimu Stream running through its southern boundary which was used by Māori as a portage route between the Waitemata and Kaipara harbours. It contains a variety of forest types, such as riparian podocarp forest and successional forest, as well as having several other relatively rare plants. Larger trees include: Dacrycarpus dacrydioides (Kahikatea), Prumnopitys taxifolia (Mataī), and Podocarpus totara var. totara, while Kunzea aff. ericoides (Kānuka) dominates the successional forest. Other species include Phyllocladus trichomanoides (Tanekaha) and some juvenile Agathis australis (Kauri). The three known wild specimens grow in association with Uncinia banksii, U. uncinata, Nertera dichondrifolia, Clematis paniculata, Parsonsia heterophylla, Monoclea forsteril, Leiomitria lanata and Freycinetia banksii. A large number of lichens and bryophytes were also found in the area including: Achrophyllum dentatum, Balantiopsis diplophylla, Bazzania adnexa, Heteroscyphus cunestipulis, Lembidium nutans, Leiomitria lanata, Monoclea forsteri, Paracromastigium furcifolium, Pendulothecium auriculatum, Pyrrhobryum bifarium, Pseudocyphellaria dissimilis, P. multifida, Trichocolea mollisima, and Sticta lacera. ## Cultivation V. jovellanoides is easily grown from both rooted pieces and stem cuttings, but growing from seed has not been tested as of 2009. Plants grown in Wellington have been observed to be very susceptible to a powdery mildew, though at Davidson's nursery in Auckland, where other nearby plants were being affected by a mildew, V. jovellanoides'' was not. In late summer (February in New Zealand) and autumn (March to May) it has been recorded dying back and becoming more difficult to maintain generally. It grows best in a sunny spot with only a small amount of shade and through some scoria pebbles or a similarly gritty material.

SeaCity Museum

Museum in Southampton, England

The SeaCity Museum is a museum in Southampton, England, which opened on 10 April 2012 to mark the centenary of RMS Titanics departure from the city. It is housed within a part of the Grade II\* listed civic centre building which previously housed the magistrates' court and police station. The museum contains two permanent exhibitions, one dedicated to Southampton's connection with RMS Titanic, and the other to the city's role as gateway to the world. A third space for temporary exhibitions is housed in a purpose-built pavilion extension to the civic centre. Further phases of development may yet add to the exhibition space. The museum was designed by Wilkinson Eyre with Kier Southern serving as the main contractor. The budget for the museum was £15M, approximately £5M of which came from the Heritage Lottery Fund, with Southampton City Council and Southampton Cultural Development Trust providing the remainder. The council had planned on selling works from their municipal art collection to fund the museum, but backed down after encountering significant opposition from both within and outside the city. ## Background Plans for a heritage centre in Southampton began to emerge in 2002, with the city council's formation of the Heritage Working Group to explore options and to outline the way forward for such a scheme. In 2004, the following locations were shortlisted as potential sites for the then named "Story of Southampton" heritage centre – - Lower High Street - Mayflower Park - Berth 101 at the Port of Southampton - The former Vosper Thornycroft shipyard, Woolston All of the shortlisted sites were deemed too costly and unworkable. Following these developments, in 2006 Southampton Police announced their intention to vacate their civic centre headquarters due to a lack of space. With the magistrates' court having left the building in 2001, this would leave an entire block of the civic centre vacant. And so the civic centre became a candidate to host the heritage centre, and by 2007 was considered the front runner. Plans were unveiled for the civic centre heritage centre in 2008. The original plans included a 3-storey extension to the building, and a water feature running from nearby Watts Park, both of which were scrapped to reduce the cost by £10M to £28M. `The project was split into two phases. The focus of phase one was to be Southampton's Titanic connection, and the Sea City name was attached. Phase one had a budget of £15M and a completion date due in 2012.` ## Funding Southampton City Council sought Heritage Lottery Funding towards the museum; it was awarded £0.5M in 2009 for the development phase, and a further £4.6M in 2010 for the construction. To raise the rest of the £15M, in 2009, Southampton City Council proposed selling off works from their municipal art collection. The council selected two works to be sold, an oil painting by Alfred Munnings, After the Race (1937), and one of two bronzes by Auguste Rodin, either Eve (1880) or Crouching Woman (1882). The council believed that these works were not core to the gallery's focus on British modern and contemporary 20th and 21st century art. Due to space constraints at Southampton City Art Gallery, only 200 of the 3,500 works in the collection can ever be displayed there at one time; the council believed that the sale of the two works would allow space to be created in the new museum for the display of 100 further works from the collection. It was hoped that the sale would generate £5M towards the museum. The proposed sale of the artwork had backing from the local paper, the Daily Echo, which had campaigned for three years for the deaccessioning of pieces from the "overflowing" municipal collection. There were voices of dissent from within the city however, in spite of Alec Samuels, the then Conservative council leader's assertion that, "If we don't sell some paintings we don't get a heritage centre." Councillors from opposition Liberal Democrat and Labour camps described the proposed sale as a "betrayal of public trust" which would damage the reputation of the city's museum. Alan Whitehead, MP for neighbouring Southampton Test described the proposed sale as an "outstandingly bad idea", which would discourage future donations and bequests to the city and destroy the national standing of its gallery. Labour politicians proposed borrowing funds as an alternative to the proposed sale, but the ruling Conservative faction dismissed this plan, arguing that it would lead to either cuts in front-line services, or increases in council tax, to cover interest and repayments. Opponents formed the "Save our Collection" group to campaign against the proposed art sale; they protested outside the civic centre and handed a petition with over 2,500 signatories opposing the proposed sale to the council and Edward Chaney, then Professor of Fine and Decorative Arts at the Southampton Institute (now Solent University), appeared on BBC South and published articles warning of reputational damage to the gallery and the consequent threat to future bequests and. Nonetheless, the council voted to proceed with its plans, and in September 2009, they formally approached Baroness Scotland of Asthal, then Attorney General for England and Wales to approve the sale. Criticism also came from the Museums Association which stated that the proposed sale would be in breach of the association's code of ethics as Southampton City Council had not fully explored alternate sources of funding. The Munnings forms part of the Chipperfield bequest to the city, over which the Tate held an advisory responsibility. They joined in the criticism, stating that "the sale of works acquired through the Chipperfield bequest to raise funds towards a capital project is not advisable and, indeed, not in the spirit of the bequest." The Art Fund, which had previously provided funding towards the acquisition of Bridget Riley's Red Movement (2005) by the city, expressed concern at the proposed sale, wary that it would "set an uncomfortable precedent, stretching the sector's guidelines and effectively sanctioning the disposal of works of art from publicly-owned collections to support other areas of public sector cultural provision". In November 2009, due to the strong opposition, Southampton City Council placed the proposed art sale on hold to re-evaluate their funding possibilities. By February 2010, the council had cancelled the proposed art sale. The council stated that movements in the property markets had allowed it to consider selling off assets that were previously seen as unviable for sale. The council also looked to other organisations to provide funding, such as partnerships with neighbouring Hampshire County Council through a loan of artworks scheme. And if these efforts were to fail, the council stated that any shortfall would be met through borrowing. A charity, the Southampton Cultural Development Trust was formed in 2010 to raise funds towards the project. The museum further received a grant from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in conjunction with the Wolfson Foundation, and another from the Garfield Weston Foundation. Over its first two years of operations income was £468 thousand (23%) lower than expected. Visitor numbers were 10 thousand lower than expected at 240 thousand. Visitor numbers have continued to fall in subsequent years raising concerns over ongoing funding and long term viability. ## Construction Southampton City Council appointed the design team in July 2009, naming Wilkinson Eyre as lead. A year later, Kier Southern were named as main contractor. Despite reservations over the appearance of the new pavilion, English Heritage gave their approval for the designs, and final planning permission was granted in September 2010. Work began in October. There were some obstacles to the build, contractors discovered significant corrosion to the original building's steel frame which had to be repaired. Adding the necessary security elements to cover museum exhibits in a listed building also proved challenging. Features from the original building were preserved in the design, the former prison cells were kept intact and used as toilet facilities, and a court room was preserved as an exhibition space. By August 2011, contractors had reached the top of the pavilion, and a topping out ceremony was held. The pavilion was designed as three interlocking bays to negotiate the irregular site upon which it sits, which rises two metres from South to North. Stone aggregate was used on the pavilion's exterior to maintain consistency with the original civic centre building's portland stone exterior. Wilkinson Eyre described the pavilion as a "bold architectural addition" which signalled "the presence of a new important cultural attraction within the city". Oliver Green, writing for Museums Journal described the shape of the pavilion as echoing the "prows of ocean liners cutting through art deco waves". The completed museum provides 2,000 m² of exhibition and learning space. The museum opened on time on 10 April 2012, marking the centenary of RMS Titanic'''s departure from the city. Southampton City Council forecast that the museum would receive over 150,000 visitors per year, but these numbers were only achieved in the first year, and annual totals have subsequently fallen consistently. Work on the SeaCity Museum attracted positive attention from industry bodies. The Institution of Structural Engineers shortlisted Ramboll's structural design work for their 2012 Structural Awards; Architects' Journal shortlisted Wilkinson Eyre and interior fitters 8build for their 2012 Retrofit Awards. ## Exhibits There are three exhibitions at SeaCity, all of which were designed by Urban Salon. Two permanent exhibitions are housed in the former police station and magistrates' court. - Gateway to the World examines Southampton's history, and its role as a hub for human migration. Exhibits include a one tonne, seven-metre long replica of RMS Queen Mary, rehoused from Southampton Maritime Museum. Both Southampton Maritime Museum and Southampton Museum of Archaeology closed permanently in September 2011 to allow their exhibits to be rehoused at SeaCity and Tudor House Museum. - Southampton's Titanic Story explores the Titanic tragedy through the eyes of its crew, the majority of whom listed Southampton as their address. A preserved court room uses audiovisual elements to re-enact scenes from the British inquiry into the sinking and to explore its ramifications. The civic centre clock tower, approximately the height of a funnel on the Titanic can be viewed through a roof light as visitors enter the exhibition, giving them an impression of the scale of the ship. The story incorporates audio recordings given by the survivors and features interactive elements allowing visitors to steer the virtual ship and to stoke its engines. The pavilion plays host to temporary exhibitions. The first, to coincide with the Titanic centenary, is Titanic: The Legend which explores the public's enduring fascination with the ship through its portrayal in popular culture. The exhibition hosts screens playing scenes from films such as 1912's In Nacht und Eis and 1997's Titanic. Titanic memorabilia collected include Steiff "mourning bears", beers from the Titanic Brewery, jigsaw puzzles and many other such kitsch that SeaCity scoured the internet to find. Catherine Roberts, reviewing Southampton's Titanic Story for Culture24 described the comparison between the height of the civic centre and the height of the Titanic as inspired. She praised the graphics for making the story digestible for children and adults. And while she mentioned that the motif of following several crew members through the story never quite pans out, she concluded that it was a well-conceived exhibition and that "there can be no better place than Southampton to remember both those who died and those who survived the Titanics first and final voyage." Oliver Green, writing in Museums Journal'' welcomed the new building, comparing it favourably to Southampton Maritime Museum's former home at The Wool House, which he described as being "completely unsuitable for telling the story of 20th century Southampton". Green praised the use of multimedia as "creative but restrained", and highlighted their careful integration with the museum's collections. He finished his review on a hopeful note, eyeing the still undeveloped spaces available in the civic centre building for further expansion. He concluded that it would be "a real shame if the project were to falter at this stage", and that further phases of expansion "must surely be good for the city and its future success." The 2018 Pevsner Architectural Guide to Hampshire:South described it as "notably short of objects or artworks".

1st Filipino Infantry Regiment

Former United States Army infantry regiment

The 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment was a segregated United States Army infantry regiment made up of Filipino Americans from the continental United States and a few veterans of the Battle of the Philippines that saw combat during World War II. It was formed and activated at Camp San Luis Obispo, California, under the auspices of the California National Guard. Originally created as a battalion, it was declared a regiment on 13 July 1942. Deployed initially to New Guinea in 1944, it became a source of manpower for special forces and units that would serve in occupied territories. In 1945, it deployed to the Philippines, where it first saw combat as a unit. After major combat operations, it remained in the Philippines until it returned to California and was deactivated in 1946 at Camp Stoneman. ## Background In 1898, the Philippines was ceded by Spain to the United States and, after a conflict between Philippine independence forces and the United States, Filipinos were allowed to immigrate freely to the United States as U.S. nationals. Most immigrants chose to settle in the Territory of Hawaii and the West coast. In 1934, U.S. policy changed, and their status as nationals was revoked. In 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor, while other Japanese forces attacked the Philippines. Filipino Americans, like other Americans, attempted to volunteer for military service, but were not allowed to enlist since they were neither citizens nor resident aliens. Following a change in legislation it was announced on 3 January 1942, the day after Manila fell, that Filipinos would be permitted to volunteer, and could be drafted, for military service; in California, almost half of the male Filipino American population enlisted. Some who volunteered to serve were refused due to their age; other older volunteers were refused due to the need for agricultural labor. Filipinos were strongly encouraged to volunteer for the Regiment, and only those who did so were assigned to it. Those who did not volunteer to serve in the Regiment served in regular (white) units in various theaters of operation. One example was PFC Ramon S. Subejano, who was awarded the Silver Star for actions in Germany. ## History ### Stateside Constituted in March 1942, the 1st Filipino Infantry Battalion was activated in April at Camp San Luis Obispo, to liberate the Philippines. Colonel Robert Offley was selected as the unit's commanding officer, as he spoke Tagalog and had spent time on Mindoro in his youth. During the following months, Filipino Americans continued to volunteer, and the unit grew. Philippine Army personnel who were in the United States and Filipino military personnel who had escaped the fall of the Philippines and were recuperating in the United States were also instructed to report to the unit. On July 13, 1942, the battalion was elevated to a regiment at the California Rodeo Grounds in Salinas, California. The Regiment was made up of three battalions, each consisting of a headquarters company and four infantry companies. The Regiment had a separate regimental headquarters company, a service company, an anti-tank company, a medical detachment, and a band. Members of this regiment were notably issued bolo knives in place of rifles. The Regiment continued to train and grow, leading to the activation of the 2nd Filipino Infantry Regiment at Fort Ord in November 1942. The 2nd Regiment was assigned to Camp Cooke and the 1st to Camp Beale. Eventually, more than 7,000 soldiers would be assigned to the Filipino Infantry Regiments. While at Camp Beale, there was a mass naturalization ceremony of 1,200 soldiers of the Regiment. As members of the armed forces they were able to become citizens; in 1924 naturalization of Filipino Americans had been barred, as it was determined that only aliens could be naturalized and Filipinos at the time were nationals. In November 1943, it paraded through Los Angeles, with Carlos Bulosan, the influential Filipino author of America Is in the Heart, there to witness it. Members of the Regiment faced discrimination during this period. The anti-miscegenation laws in California meant that the soldiers were banned from marrying non-Filipino women; those soldiers who wished to marry in this way were transported to Gallup, New Mexico, as New Mexico had repealed its anti-miscegenation law after the Civil War. Soldiers of the Regiment faced discrimination in Marysville while visiting from neighboring Camp Beale, as the local businesses refused to serve Filipinos. This was later remedied by the Regiment's commander, who informed the Chamber of Commerce that they were failing to cooperate with the Army, at which point they changed their business practices. Further instances of discrimination against soldiers of the Regiment were also reported in Sacramento and San Francisco, where they were mistaken for Japanese Americans. ### Deployment In April 1944, the Regiment departed California aboard the USS General John Pope for Oro Bay, New Guinea. On the way to New Guinea, the Regiment spent part of June in Australia. Upon arriving at Oro Bay, it was assigned to the 31st Infantry Division, 8th Army to provide area security and continue training. Some soldiers were then assigned to the Alamo Scouts, the 5217th Reconnaissance Battalion, and to the Philippine Regional Section of Allied Intelligence Bureau. One example was Second Lieutenant Rafael Ileto, a future Vice Chief of Staff in the Philippines, who led a team in the Alamo Scouts. Due to the reassignment of these soldiers, both Filipino Infantry Regiments became smaller than authorized. In response, the 2nd Filipino Infantry Regiment was disbanded and used to bring the 1st Filipino Infantry Regiment to 125% of its standard allocated size. The remaining soldiers of the 2nd Filipino Infantry Regiment who did not join the Regiment formed the 2nd Filipino Infantry Battalion (Separate). During its time at Oro Bay, the Regiment was reinforced with Filipinos from Hawaii. These men had not been able to enlist in the Army until 1943 as the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association had successfully argued that their labor was needed in the sugar industry. In February 1945, the Regiment was sent to Leyte and was assigned to the Americal Division, 10th Corps. It would later be reassigned back to the 8th Army, in May 1945, along with the Americal Division. Finally, in the Philippines, it conducted "mopping up" operations on Leyte, Samar, and other islands in the Visayan islands group. In addition, some of the companies of the Regiment provided security for 8th Army General Headquarters, Far East Air Force, two airstrips at Tanauan and Tacloban, and Seventh Fleet Headquarters. Other soldiers would also participate in the Luzon Campaign, fighting on the Bataan Peninsula, and the recapture of former Fort Mills; the Regiment was not awarded formal campaign participation for these individual actions. ### Post-combat By August 1945, operations came to a close due to the Japanese Emperor's decision to end the war following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Soldiers of the Regiment who had been detached to the Alamo Scouts, 5217th Reconnaissance Battalion, and other units were reassigned back to it. During the period between the close of operations and their return to the United States, and without the Imperial Japanese Army to fight, the men of the Regiment clashed with soldiers of the Philippine Commonwealth Army and Philippine Constabulary over differences in pay, culture and local women. Others married women under the War Brides Act, which allowed spouses and adopted children of United States military personnel to enter the U.S. For these newly married couples, a "tent city" was established by Colonel William Hamby, who had succeeded Offley as the Regiment Commander. Many younger soldiers connected to a culture to which they had previously only had a distant relationship, learning language and customs that were not used or practiced in the United States. Soldiers of the Regiment who did either not qualify to return to the U.S., either due to having insufficient service points or their being otherwise ineligible, and those who chose to remain in the Philippines, were transferred to 2nd Filipino Infantry Battalion (Separate) in Quezon City. Returning to the United States aboard the USS General Calan on 8 April 1946, the rest of the Regiment was sent to Camp Stoneman, near Pittsburgh, California, where it was deactivated on 10 April 1946. ## Legacy During the war the efforts of Filipino and American defenders during the Battle of Bataan were widely covered by the press, as were the actions of the 100th and 442nd Infantry. After the war, the efforts of the 442nd continued to be lauded, with the 1951 film Go for Broke! portraying their endeavors. By contrast, the activities of the Filipino Infantry Regiment and her sister units were largely unpublicized; it was not until the documentaries Unsung Heroes and An UnTold Triumph that any significant visual media covered the history of the Regiment. In 1984 an association of veterans of the Regiment erected a marker in Salinas in honor of their former unit. The War Brides Act of 1945, and subsequent Alien Fiancées and Fiancés Act of 1946, continued to apply until the end of 1953, allowing veterans of the Regiment, and other Filipino American veterans, to return to the Philippines to bring back fiancées, wives, and children. In the years following the war, some sixteen thousand Filipinas entered the United States as war brides. These new Filipino American families formed a second generation of Filipino Americans, significantly expanding the Filipino American community.

New Jersey Route 37

State highway in Ocean County, New Jersey, US

Route 37 is a state highway located in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. The route runs 13.43 mi (21.61 km) from a traffic circle with Route 70 in Lakehurst east to an interchange with Route 35 in Seaside Heights. A two– to six–lane divided highway its entire length, Route 37 serves as the major east–west route through the Toms River area as well as a main route to the Barnegat Peninsula, crossing the Barnegat Bay on the Thomas A. Mathis and J. Stanley Tunney Bridges. The route through Toms River Township is lined with many businesses and named Little League World Champions Boulevard in honor of Toms River East Little League's victory in the 1998 Little League World Series. Route 37 intersects many major roads in the Toms River area, including County Route 527 (CR 527), the Garden State Parkway/U.S. Route 9 (US 9), Route 166, CR 549, and CR 571. The route experiences congestion from both development in the area and from traffic bound for the barrier islands in the summer. Route 37 was first legislated in 1927 in two sections: one running from Trenton to White Horse along the current US 206 alignment that replaced part of Pre-1927 Route 2 and the other running from Lakehurst to Point Pleasant that replaced part of Pre-1927 Route 18 between Lakehurst and Toms River. In 1953, Route 37 was legislated along its current alignment, with the designation dropped on the Trenton–White Horse segment to avoid the concurrency with US 206 and the Seaside Heights–Point Pleasant section becoming a realignment of Route 35. Route 37 was then proposed in the 1960s as a freeway running from White Horse to Seaside Heights. This freeway proposal was eventually altered to create Interstate 195 (I-195), running from Trenton to Wall Township. ## Route description Route 37 begins at the Lakehurst Circle traffic circle with Route 70 in Lakehurst, heading east first briefly as an undivided two-lane road, then becoming a four–lane divided highway. Soon after beginning, the route crosses into Manchester Township. It intersects Commonwealth Boulevard, which provides access to the Leisure Village West-Pine Lake Park community, before crossing into Toms River Township. Route 37 continues east with many intersections that feature jughandles and at the intersection with Industrial Way, the road widens to six lanes. Route 37 passes to the north of Holiday City - Silver Ridge Park, an age-restricted community which contributes to the large population of senior residents in the area. The route crosses Conrail Shared Assets Operations' Toms River Industrial Track line before it meets CR 642 (Mule Road) and CR 527 (Oak Ridge Parkway/Lakehurst Road). After the intersection with CR 527, the route passes north of Community Medical Center and crosses over the North Branch of the Toms River. Route 37 features a cloverleaf interchange with the Garden State Parkway/US 9. Past the Garden State Parkway, the route crosses the former alignment of US 9, Route 166. Past this intersection, Route 37 becomes a road lined with several businesses. The route intersects CR 549 (Hooper Avenue) and CR 38 (Clifton Avenue). CR 627 (Vaughn Avenue/West End Avenue) intersects next and Route 37 runs along the border between Toms River to the north and Island Heights to the south. Route 37 meets the southern terminus of CR 627 (Central Avenue) and fully enters Toms River Township again at the Gilford Avenue intersection. Further east, the route intersects CR 549 Spur/CR 571 (Fischer Boulevard). Route 37 crosses the Barnegat Bay on the Thomas A. Mathis and J. Stanley Tunney Bridges with the eastbound bridge featuring a drawbridge that allows ships to pass through while the westbound bridge is a higher-level span. The route continues onto Pelican Island in the Barnegat Bay, crossing into a small piece of Berkeley Township. Route 37 crosses over a part of the Barnegat Bay and heads onto the Barnegat Peninsula, where the route comes to its eastern terminus at an interchange with Route 35 on the border of Berkeley Township and Seaside Heights. At this interchange, access to Seaside Heights is provided by a ramp from northbound Route 35 a short distance past the ramp from eastbound Route 37, connecting to Sumner Avenue, while access from Seaside Heights to westbound Route 37 is provided by a direct ramp from Hamilton Avenue. Due to the area's vacationers, many of which come from New York and Northern New Jersey, Route 37 is routinely congested with seasonal traffic in the summer, especially on and around the Mathis and Tunney Bridges and at the Garden State Parkway interchange as heavy tourist traffic converges on the shore. Additionally, the road sees congestion due to the area's rapid growth in commercial development. ## History The road from Toms River to Seaside Heights was part of the Jersey Coast Way, which stretched from Cape May to the Staten Island Ferry. Prior to 1927, the route between present-day Route 70 in Lakehurst and present-day CR 527 in Toms River was a part of Pre-1927 Route 18, which was legislated in 1923 to run from Camden to Toms River. In the 1927 New Jersey state highway renumbering, Route 37 was legislated to run from Route 27 and Route 30 (now US 1 Business, US 206, and Route 31) in Trenton to Route 35 (now Route 88) in Point Pleasant, passing through White Horse, Allentown, Lakehurst, Toms River, and Seaside Heights. The portion between Trenton and White Horse replaced part of Pre-1927 Route 2, while the portion between Lakehurst and Toms River replaced part of Pre-1927 Route 18. Following the 1927 renumbering, Route 37 existed in multiple separate sections: one running from the Trenton–Hamilton Township line to the White Horse Circle (concurrent with US 206), the crossing of Gropp Lake in Hamilton Township (currently a state-maintained section of CR 524), a 1⁄2-mile (0.80 km) segment between Hamilton Township and Upper Freehold Township west of Allentown (also current CR 524), a section of current CR 539 between Burlington Path Road in Upper Freehold and Hornerstown Road in Plumsted Township, and one running from Route 40 (now Route 70) in Lakehurst to Point Pleasant. The remainder of the route between White Horse and Lakehurst remained incomplete. In the 1953 New Jersey state highway renumbering, Route 37 was legislated to run along its current alignment from Route 70 in Lakehurst to Route 35 in Seaside Heights. The number was dropped between Trenton and White Horse in favor of US 206, while the section between Seaside Heights and Point Pleasant became a realignment of Route 35. Route 37 was proposed in the late 1960s as a freeway that was to run from Route 29 in the Trenton area to Seaside Heights. It was suggested that this freeway be completed by 1975 in order to handle a rapid growth of population in Central New Jersey. In 1967, this proposal was altered to build a road that compromised with the proposed Route 38 freeway between Camden and Wall Township. It soon received federal funding and was built as I-195, running from Trenton to Wall Township. The portion of Route 37 within Toms River Township was officially named Little League World Champions Boulevard in 1998 following Toms River East Little League's victory in the 1998 Little League World Series. ## Major intersections ## See also

Thored

Thored (Old English: Þoreþ; fl. 979–992) was a 10th-century Ealdorman of York, ruler of the southern half of the old Kingdom of Northumbria on behalf of the king of England. He was the son of either Gunnar or Oslac, northern ealdormen. If he was the former, he may have attained adulthood by the 960s, when a man of his name raided Westmorland. Other potential appearances in the records are likewise uncertain until 979, the point from which Thored's period as ealdorman can be accurately dated. Although historians differ in their opinions about his relationship, if any, to Kings Edgar the Peaceable and Edward the Martyr, it is generally thought that he enjoyed a good relationship with King Æthelred II. His daughter Ælfgifu married Æthelred. Thored was ealdorman in Northumbria for much of his reign, disappearing from the sources in 992 after being appointed by Æthelred to lead an expedition against the Vikings. ## Origins Thored appears to have been of at least partially Scandinavian origin, suggested by the title applied to him in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 992. Here, the ealdorman of Hampshire is called by the English title "ealdorman", while Thored himself is styled by the Scandinavian word eorl (i.e. Earl). Two accounts of Thored's origins have been offered by modern historians. The first is that he was a son of Oslac, ealdorman of York from 966 until his exile in 975.[^1] This argument is partly based on the assertion by the Historia Eliensis, that Oslac had a son named Thorth (i.e. "Thored"). The other suggestion, favoured by most historians, is that he was the son of a man named Gunnar. This Gunnar is known to have held land in the East and North Ridings of Yorkshire. If the latter suggestion is correct, then Thored's first appearance in history is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recension D (EF)'s entry for 966, which recorded the accession of Oslac to the ealdormanry of southern Northumbria: > In this year, Thored, Gunnar's son, harried Westmoringa land, and, in this same year, Oslac succeeded to the office of ealdorman. The Anglo-Saxon scholar Frank Stenton believed that this was an act of regional faction-fighting, rather than, as had been suggested by others, Thored carrying out the orders of King Edgar the Peaceable. This entry is, incidentally, the first mention of Westmoringa land, that is, Westmorland. Gunnar seems to have been ealdorman earlier in the decade, for in one charter (surviving only in a later cartulary) dated to 963 and three Abingdon charters dated to 965, an ealdorman (dux) called Gunnar is mentioned. Thored may be the Thored who appears for the first time in charter attestations during the reign of King Edgar (959–75), his earliest possible appearance being in 964, witnessing a grant of land in Kent by King Edgar to St Peter's, Ghent. This is uncertain because the authenticity of this particular charter is unclear. A charter issued by Edgar in 966, granting land in Oxfordshire to a woman named Ælfgifu, has an illegible ealdorman witness signature beginning with Þ, which may be Thored. ## Ealdorman Thored's governorship as ealdorman, based on charter attestations, cannot be securely dated before 979. He did attest royal charters during the reign of Æthelred II, the first in 979, six in 983, one in 984, three in 985, one in 988, appearing in such attestations for the last time in 989. It is possible that such appearances represent more than one Thored, though that is not a generally accepted theory. His definite predecessor, Oslac, was expelled from England in 975. The historian Richard Fletcher thought that Oslac's downfall may have been the result of opposing the succession of Edward the Martyr, half-brother of Æthelred II. What is known about Thored's time as ealdorman is that he did not have a good relationship with Oswald, Archbishop of York (971–92). In a memorandum written by Oswald, a group of estates belonging to the archdiocese of York was listed, and Oswald noted that "I held them all until Thored came to power; then was St Peter [to whom York was dedicated] robbed". One of the estates allegedly lost was Newbald, an estate given by King Edgar to a man named Gunnar, suggesting to historian Dorothy Whitelock that Thored may just have been reclaiming land "wrongly alienated from his family". His relationship with King Edgar is unclear, particularly given the uncertainty of Thored's paternity, Oslac being banished from England in 975, the year of Edgar's death. Richard Fletcher, who thought Thored was the son of Gunnar, argued that Thored's raid on Westmorland was caused by resentment derived from losing out on the ealdormanry to Oslac, and that Edgar thereafter confiscated various territories as punishment. The evidence for this is that Newbald, granted by Edgar to Gunnar circa 963, was bought by Archbishop Osketel from the king sometime before 971, implying that the king had seized the land. Thored's relationship with the English monarchy under Æthelred II seems to have been good. Ælfgifu, the first wife of King Æthelred II, was probably Thored's daughter. Evidence for this is that in the 1150s Ailred of Rievaulx in his De genealogia regum Anglorum wrote that the wife of Æthelred II was the daughter of an ealdorman (comes) called Thored (Thorth). Historian Pauline Stafford argued that this marriage was evidence that Thored had been a local rather than royal appointment to the ealdormanry of York, and that Æthelred II's marriage was an attempt to woo Thored. Stafford was supported in this argument by Richard Fletcher. ## Death The date of Thored's death is uncertain, but his last historical appearance came in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, recension C (D, E), under the year 992, which reported the death of Archbishop Oswald and an expedition against a marauding Scandinavian fleet: > In this year the holy Archbishop Oswald left this life and attained the heavenly life, and Ealdorman Æthelwine [of East Anglia] died in the same year. Then the king and all his counsellors decreed that all the ships that were any use should be assembled at London. And the king then entrusted the expedition to the leadership of Ealdorman Ælfric (of Hampshire), Earl Thored and Bishop Ælfstan [.of London or of Rochester.] and Bishop Æscwig [of Dorchester], and they were to try if they could entrap the Danish army anywhere at sea. Then Ealdorman Ælfric sent someone to warn the enemy, and then in the night before the day on which they were to have joined battle, he absconded by night from the army, to his own disgrace, and then the enemy escaped, except that the crew of one ship was slain. And then the Danish army encountered the ships from East Anglia and from London, and they made a great slaughter there and captured the ship, all armed and equipped, on which the ealdorman was. Scandinavians led by Óláfr Tryggvason had been raiding England's coast since the previous year, when they killed Ealdorman Brihtnoth of Essex at the Battle of Maldon. Historians think that Thored was either killed fighting these Scandinavians, or else survived, but became disgraced through defeat or treachery. Fletcher speculated that Thored was removed from office and replaced by the Mercian Ælfhelm as a result of his failure against the Scandinavians. Another historian, William Kapelle, believed Thored was removed because of his Scandinavian descent, an argument based on the Worcester Chronicle's claim, added to the text borrowed from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, that Fræna, Godwine and Frythegyst fled a battle against the Danes in the following year because "they were Danish on their father's side". A man named Æthelstan who died at the Battle of Ringmere in 1010, "the king's aþum", was probably Thored's son. The term aþum'' means either "son-in-law" or "brother-in-law", so this Æthelstan could also have been Thored's grandson by an unknown intermediary. Thored's immediate successor was Ælfhelm, who appears witnessing charters as ealdorman from 994. [^1]: , , s.a. 966, 975; '', Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England (PASE), retrieved 2009-03-26; Williams, Smyth and Kirby, Biographical Dictionary, s.v. "Oslac ealdorman 963–75", p. 194, s.v. "Thored ealdorman 979–92", p. 223

Kaga ikki

Theocratic feudal confederacy in Kaga Province, Japan 1488–1582

The Kaga ikki, also known as The Peasants' Kingdom, was a theocratic feudal confederacy that emerged in Kaga Province (present-day southern Ishikawa Prefecture), Japan, during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The Kaga ikki was a faction of the Ikkō-ikki, a gathering of peasant farmers, monks, priests, and jizamurai (upper-ranking peasant warriors) that espoused belief in Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism. Though nominally under the authority of the head abbot of the Hongan-ji, the Monshu, the ikkō-ikki proved difficult to control. During the Ōnin War, the ikki in Kaga, with the approval of the Monshu Rennyo, helped restore Togashi Masachika to the position of shugo (military governor). However, by 1474 the ikki fell into conflict with Masachika, and in late 1487, they launched the Kaga Rebellion. Masachika was overthrown, and Togashi Yasutaka, his uncle, took his place as shugo. Under Yasatuka's son, Taneyasu, the Kaga ikki asserted more and more influence over the provincial government. In 1531, a civil war erupted as two factions within the Kaga ikki vied for control. Renjun, a son of Rennyo, won the war, abolished the position of shugo, exiled Taneyasu, and established a much tighter Hongan-ji hegemony over the province. In 1546, the Kanazawa Midō was established as a governing body in Oyama Gobo, which would eventually grow into the present-day city of Kanazawa. The Midō oversaw very loosely organized committees of select warlords and priests, who in turn ruled over the local lords and village leaders. The Kaga ikki controlled Kaga until they were overrun by the forces of Oda Nobunaga in a series of campaigns lasting from 1573 to 1582. ## History ### Emergence of the ikki in Kaga #### Rise of the Ikkō-ikki Throughout the 15th century in Japan, peasant revolts, known as ikki, increased in frequency. With the outbreak of the Ōnin War in 1467 and resultant chaos, they became even more commonplace. Many of the rebels embraced a militant offshoot of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism known as Ikkō-shū. The religious leader Rennyo, eighth Monshu of the Hongan-ji school of Jōdo Shinshū, tried to distance himself from Ikkō-shū, but attracted many converts from the sect to the point were Ikkō-shū became synonymous with Jōdo Shinshū. Due to the violent tendencies of Ikkō-shū adherents, they became known as ikkō-ikki, literally "Ikkō-shū riots" or "Ikkō-shū league". In 1471, Rennyo relocated from Kyoto to Yoshizaki in Echizen Province. Rennyo had attracted his largest following in Echizen and the bordering Kaga Province, a following which included not only low-class peasants but jizamurai, or kokujin, the emergent upper-ranking peasant warrior class. #### Togashi civil war In Kaga, a civil war had broken out between Togashi Masachika and Kochiyo Masachika for control of the position of shugo over the province. Kochiyo was victorious against his brother and drove him out of Kaga. When the Ōnin War began in 1467, Masachika sided with the Hosokawa clan, while Kochiyo sided with the Yamana. Kochiyo also patronized the Takada school of Jōdo Shinshū, a fierce rival of the Hongan-ji school of which Rennyo was head. Masachika, seeking to reclaim his land, reached out to the Ikkō-ikki and asked for their support. In exchange, he promised to end their religious persecution and lift them out of poverty. The priests in Yoshizaki agreed to aid Masachika, and Rennyo, though alarmed by the rebellious attitude of the rebels, tacitly rendered his support as well. Asakura Toshikage, the ruler of Echizen and ally of the Hosokawa, also lent his support. Kochiyo was defeated, and Masachika restored to power. ### Kaga Rebellion Despite having aided Togashi Masachika in his return to power, within a year the Ikkō-ikki of Kaga fell into conflict with him. Claiming that he failed to adequately deliver on his promises of economic reward, the Ikkō-ikki of Kaga revolted in 1474. Rennyo refused to support these rebellions, and the Ikkō-ikki were quickly defeated and forced to take refuge in neighboring Etchū. Shimotsuma Rensu, a ji-samurai from Echizen and an advisor to Rennyo, led another revolt, falsely claiming that Rennyo authorized his actions. This revolt also failed, and Rennyo excommunicated Rensu. Though the early revolts in Kaga failed, unrest continued in the province, as the Ikkō-ikki would refuse to pay taxes and even seize tax revenues and land, despite Rennyo's admonitions of submission to the authorities. In 1487, possibly in an effort to secure a favor in the form of military aid, Masachika responded to shōgun Ashikaga Yoshihisa's call for military aid against Rokkaku Tokoyori in Ōmi Province. In Masachika's absence, the Ikkō-ikki launched a massive revolt, their forces numbering between one hundred thousand and two hundred thousand. Though Masachika quickly returned, the rebels, aided by several disgruntled former vassal families and nobility, overwhelmed him and trapped him in his castle, where he committed seppuku. To replace Masachika as a shugo, the vassal families which opposed Masachika put forward his uncle, Yasakuta, who had previously been a shugo of the province. Ashikaga Yoshihisa was enraged by the rebellion and ordered Rennyo to excommunicate his followers in Kaga. However, Hosokawa Katsumoto, a personal friend and ally of Rennyo, brokered a deal which allowed Rennyo to merely reprimand the Kaga ikki. ### Rule under Togashi Yasakuta and Taneyasu After the overthrow of Togashi Masachika, Kaga became known as "the kingdom of peasants" and "hyakusho no motaru kuni " ("province ruled by peasants"). However, the Kaga ikki were content to live under the rule of Masachika's uncle, Yasutaka. When, in 1493, Hosokawa Masamoto deposed shōgun Ashikaga Yoshitane, Yasakuta and Yoshitane fled to Kaga. Yasakuta then led several campaigns in an effort to restore the shōgun, including two invasions of Echizen: one in 1494 and another in 1504. None of these campaigns featured ikki participation. However, after Yasakuta's death, the ikki asserted more control. They initiated two invasions, one in Etchū in 1506, and one in Echizen in 1508, both in support of ikki rebellions within those respective provinces. By the 1520s, the Kaga ikki had become the primary governmental faction within Kaga. ### Kaga civil war In 1531, the ikki control of Kaga was of such dominance that a conflict for leadership within the Hongan-ji embroiled the province in a civil war, often called the Daishō-Ikki, or Big League-Little League, war. A faction led by Renjun, a son of Rennyo, came to power in the Hongan-ji, and was hostile to the three main Kaga temples. In the resultant war, the three Kaga temples were backed by the Togashi clan, other powerful vassals, local Hongan-ji priests, and the ikki based in Echizen. Renjun was backed by many of the smaller temples and emerged victorious from the conflict when he brought in an Ikkō-Ikki army from Mikawa Province. Togashi Taneyasu was exiled, as were the other opposition leaders, and the position of shugo abolished. ### Rule from Oyama Gobo In the year immediately after the civil war, 1532, Rennyo led the Ikkō-ikki in a campaign to aid Hosokawa Harumoto against Miyoshi Motonaga. During that conflict, the Hongan-ji headquarters at Yamashina was burned down, and Rennyo established a new city in Settsu Province called Ishiyama Hongan-ji, the predecessor to modern-day Osaka. Due to the Kaga civil war and its aftermath, the Hongan-ji acquired large amounts of land in Kaga and thus exerted a powerful economic influence over the region. To manage its increased responsibilities, the Hongan-ji established the Kanazawa Midō, based in the city of Oyama Gobo, in 1546, to oversee Kaga's affairs from then onward. Oyama Gobo quickly grew to a population of 3,000–5,000, establishing the beginnings of what would become the present-day city of Kanazawa. Under the Midō, control of the province was centralized, to the point that rule under it resembled the rule of the daimyōs elsewhere in Japan. ### Conquest by Oda Nobunaga In 1570, daimyō Oda Nobunaga began a campaign against the Ikkō-ikki, besieging the Hongan-ji headquarters at Ishiyama Hongan-ji and attacking ikki strongholds throughout Japan. By 1573, forces led by Akechi Mitsuhide and Toyotomi Hideyoshi pushed through Echizen and into the southern portions of Kaga. A counter-attack by the Kaga ikki in 1574 halted this advance, causing Nobunaga to personally lead the assault into Kaga. In 1575, Nobunaga recaptured Echizen, and Mitsuhide and Hideyoshi again invaded Kaga, this time more rapidly, successively capturing the fortified temples of Daishōji, Hinoya, and Sakumi. By the end of the year, the southern half of Kaga was conquered, and in November of that year Nobunaga boasted to Date Terumune that he had "wiped out several tens of thousands of the villainous rabble in Echizen and Kaga." Nobunaga granted Echizen to his general Shibata Katsuie, and in 1576 Katsuie's nephew Sakuma Morimasa penetrated deeper into Kaga, capturing Miyukizuka. In 1580, Morimasa destroyed the capital, Oyama Gobo. The same year, Ishiyama Hongan-ji surrendered. Despite the resistance of the Ikkō-Ikki being effectively suppressed, a few Kaga ikki fled the plains and entrenched themselves in the mountains at the fortified temples Torigoe and Futoge. Shibata Katsuie captured these strongholds in 1581, but the garrisons he established were over-run and the temples recaptured. Still in the year 1581, Katsuie and Sakuma Morimasa again recaptured the temples, killing all the Ikkō-ikki at the sites. Despite this, in 1582, resistance elements again recaptured Torigoe and Futoge. A third attack was mounted by Morimasa, and this time the final resistance elements were eliminated, ending the last vestiges of ikki rule in Kaga. ## Governance The government structure of the Kaga ikki evolved over time. After the 1488 revolt, Togashi Masachika's uncle Togashi Yasakuta ruled as shugo, and little changed in the decentralized, feudalist structure of Kaga. Along with Yasakuta, several different factions also controlled Kaga. Three sons of Rennyo; Rengo, Renkō, and Rensei, headed the three Hongan-ji temples and led the ikki faction. Several former Masachika vassals, including the Mootori and Yamagawa, also held power. Historian David L. Davis explains that although 1488 is the conventional date given for the beginning of Ikki control in Kaga, it was only under Togashi Yasakuta's son Taneyasu that the ikki began asserting control over the government, becoming the dominant faction in the 1520s. He cites court documents from Kyoto to support his assertion: Until 1504 (when Yasakuta died), the shōgun and shōen considered Yasakuta the legitimate government; from 1504 to 1521, they were uncertain, and after 1521 they would send legal papers to the Hongan-ji office immediately outside of Kyoto. Likewise, military expeditions were initiated by Yasakuta during his tenure. For instance, he made several attempts to restore Ashikaga Yoshitane to power, which included two invasions of Echizen, in 1494 and 1504, respectively. However, after Yasatuka's death, the ikki in Kaga launched an invasion of Etchū in 1506 and Echizen in 1508, both times in support of ikki rebellions in those respective provinces, and both times without any contributions from the old vassal families. In 1531, Renjun, a son of Rennyo, emerged victorious in the Kaga civil war and established a much tighter Hongan-ji hegemony over the province. The leaders of the opposition, including Togashi Taneyasu, were expelled from Kaga, though those who supported them were allowed to return. Without any central governing body, Kaga was consumed by political instability. The Asakura clan to the south and Uesugi to the north posed threats of invasion for Kaga, so the ji-samurai established a centralized authority at the Kanazawa Midō in Oyama Gobo. The Midō oversaw four district organizations of hatamoto – prominent local warlords. Each hatamoto commanded a group, kumi, of which there were roughly twenty in total. These kumi in turn ruled over regional groups of local warriors, priests, and the heads of village communes. The highest political organization of the ikki in Kaga was a committee of hatamoto, and the only permanent political body were the twenty kumi. Important matters would be settled at the meetings of the local hatamoto in consultation with the local Hongan-ji priests. However, these meetings were sporadic and held at the county, rather than provincial, level, and thus, according to Davis, would probably rarely have involved more than five hatamoto and one or two Hongan-ji priests. Kumi meetings were probably similar, with the exception that a hatamoto present at a kumi meeting would have held great respect.

Cyclone Cilla

Category 1 South Pacific cyclone in 2003

Tropical Cyclone Cilla was a tropical cyclone that brought minor damage to several islands in the South Pacific in January 2003. The fifth cyclone of the 2002–03 South Pacific cyclone season, Cyclone Cilla developed from a monsoon trough on January 26 northwest of Fiji. Initially, Cilla moved east, and due to decreased wind shear, Cilla was able to intensify. On January 28, Cilla reached its peak intensity of 75 km/h (45 mph). After slightly weakening, Cilla briefly re-intensified the next day. However, Cilla transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on January 30. Along its path, Cilla dropped heavy rainfall over islands it passed. During its formative stages, the low dropped heavy rain over Fiji, which had already been affected by Cyclone Ami two weeks prior. Damage in Tonga was mostly limited to vegetation and fruit trees; infrastructural damage was also relatively minor. Cilla also brought moderate rain to American Samoa. ## Meteorological history On January 25, 2003, a low-pressure area formed within a monsoon trough about 300 mi (485 km) northwest of Fiji and moved to the east-southeast. That morning, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) began to issue warnings on the system, designating it as 12P. Shortly thereafter, Cilla turned southeast hours later in the general direction of Tonga Early on January 26, RSMC Nadi designated the low as Tropical Depression 07F, after attaining 10-minute sustained winds of 35 mph (55 km/h). At the time, the slow moving system had a poorly defined center of circulation that was hard to identify via radar and satellite imagery. In addition, most of the deep thunderstorm activity was displaced to the north and southeast of the center. Later that morning, the JTWC reported winds of 35 mph (55 km/h); however, the depression did not become any better organized throughout the day. Early the next day, RSMC Nadi upgraded the tropical depression to a Category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian intensity scale and named it Cilla. By 0600 UTC January 27, the JTWC reported that Cilla had attained 1-minute sustained winds of 40 mph (65 km/h), which according to JTWC data, was its peak intensity. Subsequently, Cilla turned east-southeast. Throughout the day, wind shear conditions lessened further; however, shower activity separated from the center, prompting the JTWC to issue its last warning on Tropical Cyclone Cilla later that day. At 2100 UTC January 27, RMSC Nadi remarked that the cyclone had become better organized. Upon attaining peak intensity, the storm passed fairly closed to Tonga. At 0600 UTC January 28, Cilla reached its peak intensity, with 10–minute sustained winds of 45 mph (70 km/h) per RMSC Nadi. At this time, the tropical cyclone was located about 400 mi (645 km) south-southeast of Pago Pago. Rapidly moving, Cilla showed baroclinic characteristics, hinting that the system was a hybrid low, sustaining characteristics of both tropical and nontropical cyclones. According to RMSC Nadi, Cilla weakened slightly as the storm lost organization due to increased wind shear. On January 29, thunderstorm activity once again increased in converge around the center, though at first, the convection was sheared at times. On 0000 UTC, Dvorak satellite intensity estimates yielded a 3.0, suggesting a tropical cyclone with 10–minute winds of 45 mph (70 km/h), Cilla's secondary peak intensity. Satellite images indicated a banding pattern associated with the cyclone. The JTWC briefly watched this system for regeneration, noting it had a "fair" chance. However, continued wind shear began to weaken Cilla, and by 1200 UTC on January 29, Cilla was reduced to a tropical depression just before the system turned south-southeast. With the center exposed from the deep convection, Tropical Depression Cilla transitioned into an extratropical cyclone at 1100 UTC the next day, on January 30. The extratropical cyclone completely dissipated two days later. ## Impact and aftermath As a tropical depression, Cilla passed over Vanua Levu. Even though the region had been severely affected by Cyclone Ami two weeks earlier, flood waters that resulted from rains associated with the cyclone quickly receded due to the storm's rapid motion. When Cilla first posed a threat to Tonga, the Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS) issued a tropical cyclone alert for the entire island chain. Damage in Tonga was mostly limited to vegetation and coconut and banana trees; damage to infrastructure was minor. Peak winds of 32 mph (51 km/h) and peak gusts of 67 mph (108 km/h) were recorded in Ha'apai. Power was lost on Lifuka for about three hours during the night of January 27. Communications services were also affected but restored on January 28. Cilla also affected the American Samoa, providing moderate rainfall over the area, peaking at 2.21 in (56 mm) in Asasfou. The name Cilla was retired by the World Meteorological Organization after the season, and was replaced by Cody. ## See also - Cyclone Cliff - Cyclone Tam (2006) - Cyclone Ami

Well-Manicured Man

Fictional character from the X-Files franchise

The Well-Manicured Man is a fictional character in the American science fiction television series The X-Files. He serves as an antagonist to FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), being a member of the sinister Syndicate the agents seek to foil. Introduced in the third season, the Well-Manicured Man served to highlight discord within the ranks of the Syndicate, and ultimately betrayed them by leaking information to Mulder before committing suicide in the series' first feature film. The Well-Manicured Man was portrayed by John Neville in all of the character's appearances (eight episodes, and the feature film). According to the series' writers, the character represents a non-violent "voice of reason" amongst the series' antagonists. Neville's portrayal of the Well-Manicured Man has been positively received by critics, who have noted his "moral ambivalence" and "unnervingly genteel" manner. ## Character arc Introduced at the beginning of the third season, the Well-Manicured Man is an English member of the Syndicate, a shadow organization within the United States government that exists to hide from the public the fact that aliens are planning to colonize the Earth. He is an important member of the Syndicate, along with The Smoking Man (William B. Davis) and The Elder, and was a friend of William Mulder earlier in his life. The Well-Manicured Man prefers subtlety to brute force, and will attempt to manipulate those in his way before using physical violence. Although the Syndicate's goals are opposed to those of Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), the Well-Manicured Man will, at times, aid them with clues or information, believing that letting out a certain amount of information would help to keep the two close, and consequently allow for them to be controlled. The Well-Manicured Man openly despises The Smoking Man, seeing him as impulsive and unprofessional. The two maintain a bitter relationship within the Syndicate throughout the series. The Well-Manicured Man is instrumental in the Syndicate's secondary agenda, to develop a vaccination against the black oil used by the aliens as a means of mind control. To this end, he works with Russian double agent Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea) to develop a vaccine, eventually testing it—successfully—on a Syndicate mole, Marita Covarrubias (Laurie Holden). In the 1998 feature film The X-Files, when Scully is infected with the black oil and taken to Antarctica, it is the Well-Manicured Man who, having grown disillusioned with the Syndicate, gives Mulder the coordinates needed to find her and a sample of the vaccine needed to cure Scully. The colonists had kept secret a secondary characteristic of the black oil—that those infected with it for prolonged periods would gestate a new colonist lifeform, killing the host. Upon discovering this, the Syndicate vowed to work more closely with the colonists in the hope of being spared this fate, while only the Well-Manicured Man wished to continue working on a vaccination for resistance. This rejection led to his betrayal of the Syndicate, and to him committing suicide by car bomb before his duplicity was discovered. ## Conceptual history John Neville has stated that he was originally hired for just two episodes of the series, but that his character "was regularly brought back, because the audience simply doesn't know if he stands for good or evil". Series creator Chris Carter has described the character in terms of his relationship with The Smoking Man, noting that the two characters can be seen as "differing in approach, differing in philosophy and differing in personality". Writer Frank Spotnitz has described the Well-Manicured Man as "sort of the white knight to the Cigarette-Smoking Man's black knight in this chess game that we were playing". The character has also been described by Carter and Spotnitz as the "voice of reason" within the Syndicate, who "believes that violence is the wrong way to protect the secret" which they guard. The Well-Manicured Man's suicide scene in the series' film adaptation went through several conceptual iterations, with outcomes being considered including an imploding car or suicide by concussion grenade, although ultimately a car bomb scene was decided upon. ## Reception The character of the Well-Manicured Man has been positively received by critics. MTV's Tami Katzoff has called him a "legendary TV character", noting his "moral ambivalence about the work of his shadow organization" and his ability to show "empathy for Mulder and Scully". Writing for The A.V. Club, Sean O'Neal praised the character's "unnervingly genteel" manner, noting that he represented the polar opposite of The Smoking Man. Fellow A.V. Club writer Emily VanDerWerff has also been positive towards the Well-Manicured Man, feeling that the series would have benefited from making more use of the character. The San Francisco Chronicle's Bob Graham has praised Neville's portrayal of the character in the feature film, calling his expository monologue "a Wagnerian demonstration of the art of declamation". Writing for the Los Angeles Daily News, Michael Liedtke and George Avalos described the character as "white-haired, urbane, genteel[—]and dangerous", noting that he was "equally at ease in Virginia's horse country, the tony rooms of Manhattan's Upper West Side and the antiseptic halls of facilities that house bizarre medical experiments". Den of Geek's countdown of "The Top 10 X-Files Baddies" described the Well-Manicured Man as a "super-smooth, super-creep Brit", noting that he served as "a 'boss' of sorts" for the Smoking Man. Speaking of how the role eclipsed his other acting work, Neville has been quoted as saying "It's OK, though. [The X-Files] gave me a kind of profile that I didn't have before, and one shouldn't grumble about that".

Idalia Ramos Rangel

Mexican drug lord

Idalia Ramos Rangel (born 20 May 1955) is a Mexican business owner and suspected drug lord. According to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), she is a high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. In the cartel, Ramos Rangel is known by her aliases Big Momma and La Tía (The Aunt). She has reportedly been responsible for coordinating international drug trafficking shipments from Mexico to the United States since the mid-1980s. Her role in organized crime is unusual, as a woman active in the male-dominated Mexican drug trafficking industry over several decades. Ramos Rangel is wanted in the U.S. states of Texas and Arkansas for her alleged involvement in drug trafficking. According to multiple federal indictments, Ramos Rangel has employed family members to distribute cocaine in the United States on her behalf. She has also employed inmates from U.S. federal facilities to help her distribute drugs after their release from prison. Investigators believe she is hiding in Matamoros, her hometown and center of operations. The FBI is offering a US\$25,000 bounty to anyone providing information that leads to her arrest and conviction. ## Early life and career Idalia Ramos Rangel was born in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, on 20 May 1955. She has naturally black hair and brown eyes and is of Hispanic descent. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Ramos Rangel has been responsible for coordinating international drug trafficking activities from Mexico to the United States since the mid-1980s. She is reportedly a high-ranking member of the Tamaulipas-based Gulf Cartel. She is a particularly unusual figure in organized crime circles, given her involvement over several decades in the male-dominated Mexican drug trafficking industry. In her FBI profile, Ramos Rangel is described as being between and tall, and weighing between 130 lb (59 kg) and 150 lb (68 kg). Ramos Rangel has altered her physical appearance multiple times, by dyeing her hair blonde and through plastic surgery. The FBI suspects that her file pictures may be outdated, and that her appearance may have changed again. Among other personal details in her FBI profile, she is described as having been a business owner running multiple businesses in Mexico, including a sports bar in Matamoros. Investigators have stated that Ramos Rangel is a regular Facebook user, and that she travels to Monterrey, Nuevo León for pleasure. She is a breast cancer survivor. Ramos Rangel uses multiple identities and aliases, including Big Momma, La Tía (The Aunt), Soria Cano, Idalia Ramos Martinez, Idalia Martinez, Idalia Gonzales Perez, Idalia Ramos, Idelia Ramos Rangel, Idalia Rangel, and Idelia Ramos Ramos. Her current whereabouts are unknown, but investigators believe she may be hiding in Matamoros, her center of operations. The FBI is offering a \$25,000 bounty for information leading to her arrest and conviction. She faces federal drug charges in the states of Texas and Arkansas, and has been a fugitive of United States justice since the 1980s. In the late 1990s, U.S. authorities searched a home in Brownsville, Texas during an anti-marijuana operation. The agents were investigating a Mexican drug trafficking ring smuggling marijuana through Mexico, South Texas, Houston, and other parts of the United States. Ramos Rangel was discovered living at the house. US\$15,000 in cash was found in a trash can, with a list of apparent drug transactions. When questioned, Ramos Rangel refused to cooperate. She was arrested, not on drug charges but because she was in the country illegally. She had already served a prison sentence in the United States for a previous drug offense, and had been deported and ordered never to return to the country. Ramos Rangel was a low-level criminal during that time. In subsequent years, she rose through the leadership ranks of the Gulf Cartel. United States officials have issued extradition requests to the Mexican government since her ascent, but acknowledge the legal difficulties of the process. The FBI-led case against Ramos Rangel began in 2010. With the joint participation of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the FBI's case has yielded arrests in Arkansas, Brownsville and Austin. The operation was code-named Operation Dirty Bird. ## Indictments and network In April 2011, the Cameron County Sheriff's Office in Brownsville seized 30 kg (66 lb) of cocaine heading to Chicago, Illinois. According to several witnesses who testified to law enforcement, the cocaine shipment was owned by Ramos Rangel. A Brownsville drug trafficker, Julio Cesar Cardenas, was involved in the scheme, helping a co-conspirator to move Ramos Rangel's drug load. Cardenas assisted by storing 3 kg (6.6 lb) of the cocaine. After police seized the drugs, Cardenas advised the co-conspirator on how to deal with Ramos Rangel, recommending the use of violence, specifically kidnappings and bombs, to settle disputes with her gangsters. On 2 May 2013, Ramos Rangel was indicted by a federal grand jury in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas for several drug trafficking offenses, including possession of narcotics with intent to distribute them; cocaine trafficking; and using a telephone to coordinate drug trafficking activities. A federal warrant for her arrest was issued that day in Arkansas. The indictment was unsealed in court on 14 May. Under a superseding indictment charging other criminals associated with her, another federal arrest warrant was issued for Ramos Rangel in Arkansas on 6 June 2013 following the arrest of several of her alleged associates. The indictments stated that, on or around June 2008, Ramos Rangel and 15 of her associates (updated to 17 by a superseding indictment on 2 April 2014) knowingly possessed, with intent to distribute, at least 5 kg (11 lb) of cocaine. Ramos Rangel's network was accused of distributing over 100 kg (220 lb) of cocaine in Arkansas. Ramos Rangel was identified as the lead conspirator and was accused of employing her children and other relatives to facilitate the drug scheme. Ramos Rangel reportedly coordinated with her son, Mohammed Kazam Martinez ("Mo"), who was imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Institution in Forrest City, Arkansas, to recruit inmates to assist in distributing cocaine for her network upon their release from prison. When Ramos Rangel's network used this hiring method it was a relatively new tactic for Mexican drug cartels. Inmates close to finishing their sentences are employed in order to work for the cartel on their release. These inmates are not directly part of the cartel's hierarchy, and are generally regarded as "work-for-hire" members. Among those inmates were Emmanuel Ilo ("Chi") and Mervin Johnson ("Slim"), who distributed cocaine for her in central Arkansas after they were released. Ramos Rangel's son used the prison's telephone system and emails to communicate with other members of her network. In one recorded telephone conversation with Johnson, quoted in Ramos Rangel's indictment, Martinez mentions his mother's role in the conspiracy while discussing a drug debt, saying: "You owe Big Momma some money. If you keep f\*\*\*ing up, they gonna cut everybody off. You are gonna f\*\*k [Ilo] and me up because of you." Other members of Ramos Rangel's network included her son Homar Martinez, Manuel Garza ("Manny"), Jaime Benavides, her daughter Nishme Martinez ("La Gorda"), Denice Duran Martinez, Yadira Anahy Martinez, Leobarda Jaime Ugalde ("Leo") and Juan Alonso Morales. They helped Ramos Rangel by securing cocaine deliveries from Mexico and Texas to Little Rock, collecting cash proceeds, creating bank accounts and depositing/withdrawing money, liaising with other drug dealers in Mexico and the United States, and smuggling cash earnings back into Mexico. Ramos Rangel used local redistributors, who sold the cocaine in Arkansas. Through Ilo, her network worked with local dealers, including Dwatney Noid, Dwight McLittle ("D.A."), Lamont Williams ("Peter Rabbit"), Gerard Trice ("Fly"), Tarvars Honorable ("Pudgy"), and Shanieka Tatum, who distributed directly to buyers. All of Ramos Rangel's associates deliberately concealed the nature of their activities, and used coded language and countersurveillance to avoid law enforcement detection. Authorities described the case against Ramos Rangel as atypical, as it involved an international criminal group, coordination among federal inmates, and the supply of a large quantity of cocaine to Arkansas. The value of the cocaine trafficked to Arkansas by Ramos Rangel's network is estimated at US\$10 million. If Ramos Rangel is found guilty of the conspiracy charge, she faces a mandatory minimum 10-year sentence, up to life imprisonment, with up to US\$10 million in fines, and five years of mandatory supervised release. If found guilty of possession with intent to distribute less than 500 g (18 oz) of cocaine, the maximum sentence would be 20 years, a US\$1 million fine, and three years of supervised release. The charge of using a communication device to facilitate drug trafficking activities carries a maximum four-year sentence, US\$250,000 in fines, and up to a year of supervised release. She is considered innocent until proven guilty of the drug offenses through due process. ## See also - Mexican Drug War

Yakov Dzhugashvili

Red Army officer and Joseph Stalin's son (1907–1943)

Yakov Iosifovich Dzhugashvili ( – 14 April 1943) was the eldest child of Joseph Stalin, the son of Stalin's first wife, Kato Svanidze, who died nine months after his birth. His father, then a young revolutionary in his mid-20s, left the child to be raised by his late wife's family. In 1921, when Dzhugashvili had reached the age of fourteen, he was brought to Moscow, where his father had become a leading figure in the Bolshevik government, eventually becoming head of the Soviet Union. Disregarded by Stalin, Dzhugashvili was a shy, quiet child who appeared unhappy and tried to commit suicide several times as a youth. Married twice, Dzhugashvili had three children, two of whom reached adulthood. Dzhugashvili studied to become an engineer, then – on his father's insistence – he enrolled in training to be an artillery officer. He finished his studies weeks before Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. Sent to the front, he was imprisoned by the Germans and died at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in 1943 after his father refused to make a deal to secure his release. ## Early life ### Georgia Dzhugashvili was born in Baji, a village in the Kutais Governorate of the Russian Empire (now in Georgia). His mother, Kato Svanidze, was from Racha and a descendant of minor Georgian nobility. His father, Ioseb Dzhugashvili, was from Gori and was a Bolshevik revolutionary. A few months after Dzhugashvili's birth, his father was involved in a high-profile Tiflis bank robbery, and the three of them fled to Baku to avoid arrest. They rented a "Tartar house with a low ceiling on the Bailov Peninsula" just outside the city right on the sea. They returned to Tiflis in October that year as Svanidze was quite ill. She died on , having likely contracted typhus on the trip back. Ioseb left Tiflis immediately after her death, abandoning 8-month-old Iakob to be raised by his Svanidze relatives. Ioseb, who later adopted the name Joseph Stalin, would not return to visit his son for several years, and Iakob would spend the next fourteen years being raised by his aunts. ### Moscow In 1921, Dzhugashvili was brought to Moscow to live with his father. His half-siblings Svetlana and Vasily were born after he moved. This proved difficult for Dzhugashvili as he did not understand Russian and his father was hostile to him, even forbidding Dzhugashvili to adopt the name "Stalin." It is not clear why Stalin had hostility to his son, but it is believed that he reminded Stalin of Svanidze, which was one of the happier times in Stalin's life. Living in Stalin's apartments at the Amusement Palace in the Kremlin, Dzhugashvili slept in the dining room. A kind individual, Dzhughashvili was close to his half-siblings, as well as his step-mother Nadezhda Alliluyeva, who was only six years older than him. Though Dzhugashvili was interested in studying at a university, Stalin did not initially allow it, and it was not until 1930 when he was 23 that Dzhugashvili was admitted. He graduated from the Institute of Transport in 1935, and for the next couple years worked as a chimney-sweep engineer at an electric plant factory named after his father. In 1937, he entered the Artillery Academy, and graduated from there on 9 May 1941. ## Marriages and family Dzhugashvili's first serious relationship was with Zoya Gunina, the daughter of an Orthodox priest and a former classmate of his. In 1928, Dzhugashvili made it known that he wanted to marry Zoya, who was then sixteen. Stalin became enraged at the idea and in response Dzhugashvili attempted suicide, shooting himself in the chest and narrowly missing his heart. While Alliluyeva and Svetlana helped Dzhugashvili, Stalin is reported to have brushed off the attempt by saying "He can't even shoot straight." Dzhugashvili spent several months in the hospital recovering from this ordeal, though the couple did ultimately marry and moved to Leningrad. A daughter was born on 7 February 1929, but she died eight months later of pneumonia and Dzhugashvili and Gunina split up, although they did not officially divorce. After his return to Moscow, Dzhugashvili was rumoured to be marrying Ketevan Orakhelashvili, the daughter of Mamia Orakhelashvili, the First Secretary of the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic. However, Dzhugashvili was shy around her so she instead married Evgeni Mikeladze, a prominent orchestra conductor, earning ridicule from Stalin. His next girlfriend was Olga Golysheva, who was also a student at the Moscow Aviation School. They became engaged but soon that ended and she returned to her home in the Stalingrad Oblast. A son, Yevgeny was born on 10 January 1936, after Golysheva returned home. Dzugashvili only learnt of his son in 1938 and ensured he took his surname, though Stalin never recognised Yevgeny as his grandson. Dzhugashvili married Yulia Meltzer, a well-known Jewish dancer from Odessa. After meeting Meltzer at a reception in a restaurant, Dzhugashvili fought with her second husband, an NKVD officer called Nikolai Bessarab, an aide to Stanislav Redens, the head of the Moscow Oblast NKVD and brother-in-law of Stalin. They soon were married. Historian Miklós Kun has suggested that Meltzer "must have been tempted to gain entry into Stalin’s court by means of her marriage," though this did not work due to the animosity between Stalin and Dzhugashvili. They soon moved into an apartment together, though were only legally married on 18 February 1938, the day before their only child, daughter Galina, was born. ## Second World War ### Capture On 22 June 1941, Nazi Germany and its allies launched Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. Stalin ensured that Dzughashvili and Artyom Sergeyev, his adopted son and fellow artillery officer, went to the front lines. Serving as a lieutenant with a battery of the 14th Howitzer Regiment of the 14th Tank Division near Vitebsk, Dzhugashvili was captured on 16 July during the Battle of Smolensk. The circumstances of his capture are disputed: Sergeyev later said that "the Germans surrounded Yakov’s battery. The order was given to retreat. But Yakov did not obey the order. I tried to persuade him ... but Yakov answered: 'I am the son of Stalin and I do not permit the battery to retreat." Other sources, including Soviet prisoners interrogated, claimed that they willingly gave up Dzhugashvili as they hated the Soviet system. Material from the Russian archives also suggests that he surrendered willingly. The Germans announced the capture of Dzughashvili on 19 July. Stalin reacted negatively to the news: he had previously ordered that no soldiers were to surrender, so the idea that his own son had done so was seen as a disgrace. He was angry that Dzughashvili had not killed himself instead of being captured, and suspected that someone had betrayed him. Meltzer was not immediately told the news and, suspicious of her motives and the idea that Dzhugashvili surrendered, Stalin had her arrested. With Meltzer imprisoned, Svetlana took care of Galina. ### Prisoner of war In an attempt to conceal his identity, Dzhugashvili apparently removed his officer's insignia and tried to pass as a soldier, although he was soon recognised and given to the Abwehr (German military intelligence) for interrogation. During the interrogation, Dzughashvili openly criticised his division and other units of the Red Army, saying they were unprepared for the war, and further commented that military commanders behaved poorly. He felt that the United Kingdom was weak and had "never helped anyone," while praising Germany, noting it was the only major empire left and that the "whole of Europe would be nothing" without it. Although his wife and her family were ethnically Jewish, Dzughashvili was also openly anti-Semitic, claiming Jews "trade, or aspire to careers in engineering, but they do not want to be workers, technicians, or peasant laborers. That’s why no one in our country respects the Jews." The Germans intended to use Dzhugashvili in their propaganda against the Soviets. He was pictured on leaflets dropped over Soviet soldiers, shown smiling with his captors. The back of the leaflet was part of a letter he wrote to Stalin shortly after his capture: "Dear Father! I have been taken prisoner. I am in good health. I will soon be sent to a camp for officers in Germany. I am being treated well. I wish you good health! Greetings to everyone. Yasha." The Soviet Union responded in kind via propaganda: Krasnaya Zvezda ("Red Star"), the official newspaper of the Red Army, announced on 15 August 1941 that Dzhugashvili would be awarded the Order of the Red Banner for his actions during the Battle of Smolensk. He was subsequently moved to a guarded villa in Berlin, where Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Propaganda Minister, hoped to use him on Russian-language radio broadcasts. When that failed to materialise, Dzhugashvili was moved to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. While interned there, Dzhugashvili was constantly frequented by visitors who wanted to meet and photograph the son of Stalin, meetings which began to distress him. He also quarrelled with the British prisoners, and would frequently get in physical altercations with them. After German field marshal Friedrich Paulus surrendered at the Battle of Stalingrad in February 1943, the Germans offered to exchange Dzhugashvili for him, although he specifically asked not to be exchanged for a field marshal. This was outright refused by Stalin, who later stated "Just think how many sons ended in camps! Who would swap them for Paulus? Were they worse than Yakov?" Soviet Foreign Affairs Minister Vyacheslav Molotov also recounted that Stalin refused to swap his son for Paulus because "All of them [Soviet prisoners of war] are my sons." According to Nikolai Tolstoy, there was another proposal as well, with Hitler wanting to exchange Dzhugashvili for Hitler's nephew Leo Raubal, but this was not accepted either. ### Death On 14 April 1943, Dzhugashvili died at the Sachsenhausen camp. Initially, the details of his death were disputed: one account had him running into the electric fence surrounding the camp. However, it had also been suggested that he was shot by the Germans; Kun speculated that it is "conceivable that he committed suicide: he had suicidal tendencies in his youth". Upon hearing of his son's death, Stalin reportedly stared at his photograph; he would later soften his stance towards Dzhugashvili, saying he was "a real man" and that "fate treated him unjustly." Meltzer would be released in 1946 and re-united with Galina, though the years apart had made Galina distant from her mother. In 1977, Dzhugashvili was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, first class, although this was done secretly and the family was not allowed to collect the medal itself. After the war, British officers in charge of captured German archives came upon the papers depicting Dzhugashvili's death at Sachsenhausen. The German records indicated that he was shot after he ran into an electric fence attempting to flee after an argument with the British prisoners; an autopsy showed he died from electrocution before he was shot. The British Foreign Office briefly considered presenting these papers to Stalin at the Potsdam Conference as a gesture of condolence. They scrapped the idea because neither the British nor the Americans had informed the Soviets that they had captured key German archives, and sharing those papers with Stalin would have prompted the Soviets to inquire about the source of these records. ## See also - Mao Anying