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Kandariya Mahadeva Temple
1,172,528,510
Largest Hindu temple in Khajuraho temple complex, India
[ "11th-century Hindu temples", "Hindu temples in Khajuraho", "Religious buildings and structures completed in 1050", "Shiva temples in Madhya Pradesh" ]
The Kandariya Mahadeva Temple (Devanagari: कंदारिया महादेव मंदिर, Mandir), meaning "the Great God of the Cave", is the largest and most ornate Hindu temple in the medieval temple group found at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is considered one of the best examples of temples preserved from the medieval period in India. Because of its outstanding preservation and testimony to the Chandela culture, the temple was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1986. ## Location Kandariya Mahadeva Temple is located in the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh in Central India. It is in the Khajuraho village, and the temple complex is spread over an area of 6 square kilometres (2.3 sq mi). It is in the western part of the village to the west of the Vishnu temple. The temple complex, in the Khajuraho village at an elevation of 282 metres (925 ft), is well connected by road, rail and air services. Khajuraho is 55 kilometres (34 mi) to the south of Mahoba, 47 kilometres (29 mi) away from the Chhatarpur city to its east, 43 kilometres (27 mi) away from Panna, 175 kilometres (109 mi) by road away from Jhansi on the north, and 600 kilometres (370 mi) to the south - east of Delhi. It is 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) from the railway station. Khajuraho is served by Khajuraho Airport (IATA Code: HJR), with services to Delhi, Agra and Mumbai. It is 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the temple. ## History Khajuraho was once the capital of the Chandela dynasty. The Kandariya Mahadeva Temple, one of the best examples of temples preserved from the medieval period in India, is the largest of the western group of temples in the Khajuraho complex which was built by the Chandela rulers. Shiva is the chief deity in the temple deified in the sanctum sanctorum. The Kandariya Mahadeva temple was built during the reign of Vidyadhara (r. c. 1003-1035 CE). At various periods of the reign of this dynasty many famous temples dedicated to Vishnu, Shiva, Surya, Shakti of the Hindu religion and also for the Thirthankaras of Jain religion were built. Vidhyadhara, also known as Bida in the recordings of the Muslim historian Ibn-al-Athir was a powerful ruler who fought Mahmud of Ghazni in the first offensive launched by the latter in 1019. This battle was not conclusive and Mahmud had to return to Ghazni. Mahmud again waged war against Vidhyadhara in 1022. He attacked the fort of Kalinjar. The siege of the fort was unsuccessful. It was lifted and Mahmud and Vidhyadhara called a truce and parted by exchanging gifts. Vidhyadhara celebrated his success over Mahmud and other rulers by building the Kaṇḍāriyā Mahādeva Temple, dedicated to his family deity Shiva. Epigraphic inscriptions on a pilaster of the mandapa in the temple mentions the name of the builder of the temple as Virimda, which is interpreted as the pseudonym of Vidhyadhara. Its construction is dated to the period from 1025 and 1050 AD. All the extant temples in Khajuraho including the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple were inscribed in 1986 under the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites under Criterion III for its artistic creation and under Criterion V for the culture of the Chandelas that was dominant until the country was invaded by Muslims in 1202. ## Features The Kandariya Mahadeva Temple, 31 metres (102 ft) in height, is in the western complex, which is the largest among the three groups of the Khajuraho complex of temples. This western group of temples, consisting of the Kandariya, Matangeshwara and Vishvanatha temples, is compared to a "cosmic design of a hexagon (a yantra or Cosmo gram)" representing the three forms of Shiva. The temple architecture is an assemblage of porches and towers which terminates in a shikhara or spire, a feature which was common from the 10th century onwards in the temples of Central India. The temple is founded on a massive plinth of 4 metres (13 ft) height. The temple structure above the plinth is dexterously planned and pleasingly detailed. The superstructure is built in a steep mountain shape or form, symbolic of Mount Meru which is said to be the mythical source of creation of the world. The superstructure has richly decorated roofs which rise in a grand form terminating in the shikara, which has 84 miniature spires. The temple is in layout of 6 square kilometres (2.3 sq mi), of which 22 are extant including the Kaṇḍāriyā Mahādeva Temple. This temple is characteristically built over a plan of 31 metres (102 ft) in length and 20 metres (66 ft) in width with the main tower soaring to a height of 31 metres (102 ft), and is called the "largest and grandest temple of Khajuraho". A series of steep steps with high rise lead from the ground level to the entrance to the temple. The layout of the temple is a five-part design, a commonality with the Lakshmana and Vishvanatha temples in the Khajuraho complex. Right at the entrance there is torana, a very intricately carved garland which is sculpted from a single stone; such entrances are part of a Hindu wedding procession. The carvings on the entrance gate shows the "tactile quality of the stone and also the character of the symmetrical design" that is on view in the entire temple which has high relief carvings of the figurines. Finely chiseled, the decorative quality of the ornamentation with the sharp inscribed lines has "strong angular forms and brilliant dark-light patterns". The carvings are of circles, undulations giving off spirals or sprays, geometric patterns, masks of lions and other uniform designs which has created a pleasant picture that is unique to this temple, among all others in the complex. In the interior space from the entrance there are three mandapas or halls, which successively rise in height and width, which is inclusive of a small chamber dedicated to Shiva, a chamber where the Shiva linga, the phallic emblem of Shiva is deified. The sanctum sanctorum is surrounded by interlinked passages which also have side and front balconies. Due to inadequate natural light in the balconies the sanctum has very little light thus creating a "cave like atmosphere" which is in total contrast to the external parts of the temple. In the interior halls of the temple and on its exterior faces there are elaborately carved sculptures of gods and goddesses, musicians and apsaras or nymphs. The huge pillars of the halls have architectural features of the "vine or scroll motif". In the corners of the halls there are insets which are carved on the surface with incised patterns. There is a main tower above the sanctum and there are two other towers above the other mantapas also in the shape of "semi-rounded, stepped, pyramidal form with progressively greater height". The main tower is encircled by a series of interlinked towers and spires of smaller size. These are in the form of a repeated subset of miniature spires that abut a central core which gives the temple an unevenly cut contour similar to the shape of a mountain range of mount Kailasa of the Himalayas where god Shiva resides, which is appropriate to the theme of the temples here. The exterior surfaces of the temples are entirely covered with sculptures in three vertical layers. Here, there are horizontal ribbons carved with images, which shine bright in the sun light, providing rhythmic architectural features. Among the images of gods and heavenly beings, Agni, the god of fire is prominent. They are niches where erotic sculptures are fitted all round which are a major attraction among visitors. Some of these erotic sculptures are very finely carved and are in mithuna (coitus) postures with maidens flanking the couple, which is a frequently noted motif. There is also a "male figure suspended upside" in coitus posture, a kind of yogic pose, down on his head. The niches also have sculptures of Saptamatrikas, the septad of mother goddesses along with the gods Ganesha and Virabhadra. The seven fearful protector goddesses include: Brahmi seated on a swan of Brahma; Maheshwari with three eyes seated on Shiva's bull Nandi; Kumari; Vaishnavi mounted on Garuda; the boar-headed Varahi; the lion-headed Narasimhi and Chamunda, the slayer of demons Chanda and Munda. The image of Sardula, a mythical creature with lion face and human limbs in lower panel is a unique figure seen in the temple.
2,697,507
Haakon Lie
1,121,606,454
Norwegian politician
[ "1905 births", "2009 deaths", "20th-century memoirists", "Labour Party (Norway) politicians", "Men centenarians", "Norwegian anti-communists", "Norwegian centenarians", "Norwegian memoirists", "Norwegian people of Finnish descent", "Norwegian resistance members", "Politicians from Oslo", "Writers from Oslo" ]
Haakon Steen Lie (22 September 1905 – 25 May 2009) was a Norwegian politician who served as party secretary for the Norwegian Labour Party from 1945 to 1969. Coming from humble origins, he became involved in the labour movement at an early age, and quickly rose in the party system. After actively working for the resistance movement and the exiled government during World War II, he was elected to the second-highest position in the party after the war, and his years in office were the most successful in the party's history. Lie is widely considered – along with Einar Gerhardsen – to be the architect of the post-war success of the Labour Party, and of the Norwegian welfare state. At the same time, he has also been the subject of criticism for organising surveillance of Norwegian opposition figures, in particular communists. Lie remained active in Norwegian public life, even after his 100th birthday, and in 2008 he celebrated his 103rd birthday with the release of a new biography, "Slik jeg ser det nå" (As I see it now). ## Early life and education Born 22 September 1905 into a family of Finnish origin in Oslo (then named Kristiania), he was baptized Håkon Steen Lie. He would later change the spelling to Haakon during World War II. His father was fireman Andreas Lie (1870-1942) and his mother was homemaker Karen Halvorsdatter Gunderud (1871-1952). Though he describes his childhood as a happy one, his family was poor and, until 1916, his father had to work 120 hours a week. With his parents, two brothers, and two sisters, he grew up at his fathers fire-station sharing one room and a kitchen in the St. Hanshaugen neighborhood. Lie got involved with the labour movement at the age of sixteen, in 1921. Here he met some of his lifelong friends and colleagues: Martin Tranmæl, Oscar Torp and Einar Gerhardsen. When the Labour Party left the Third Communist International in 1923, and was split between the new-founded Communist Party and the remaining social democrats, Lie ended up on the latter wing. The bitter strife between the two factions strongly influenced his lifelong anti-communist stance. ### Early career After first attending Møllergata elementary school and later Ila elementary school, he graduated from Secondary school in 1925 and in 1927, after giving up university studies, (having attended the State School of Forestry in Kongsberg) and a brief stint as an industrial worker, he became a forester. He was happy with this occupation, but after a bout of tuberculosis in 1927, had to give it up as well, and started working as secretary for the party. In 1931 he was made leader of Arbeidernes Opplysningsforbund (AOF, Workers' Information Society), an institution recently created to promote education in the working class. Lie has cited the AOF as the proudest achievement of his career. In the early 1930s he made journeys to both Nazi Germany and Soviet Union. His experience with authoritarian states – both fascist and communist – helped reinforce his political outlook of a democracy/dictatorship dichotomy rather than a simple right/left one. During the Spanish Civil War in 1936–39, he helped organise aid to those fighting the fascists and, during the winter of 1936–37, he visited the country. At one point the former pacifist Lie also took flying lessons to actively participate in the conflict, but this plan was never carried out. ### World War II When Norway was invaded by Germany in April 1940, Lie immediately started organising resistance, taking charge of free radio broadcasts from various locations in the country. For two months this work kept him in constant movement around Norway, and on 7 June 1940, when King Haakon VII and the government left the country for London, he was in Vadsø, replacing a broken transmitter. At this point further broadcasts became impossible, and Lie had to make his way south, through Finland and Sweden, to Oslo. Here he became involved in the underground labour movement, mainly through printing newspapers and spreading information. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the occupying authority in Norway started cracking down harder on opposition. A strike over milk rations in September led to the arrest and execution of the two labour leaders Viggo Hansteen and Rolf Wickstrøm. This was followed by several high-profile arrests – among them Einar Gerhardsen – and Lie had to flee the country. He left his house only hours before the Germans appeared to arrest him. From Sweden he made his way to the United Kingdom, where he worked as a propaganda secretary for the exiled Norwegian labour movement in London. He made two visits to the United States to gather support and financial aid, the first time he went from New York City to Seattle where he held a series of lectures and radio-interviews before he travelled through Canada from the west- to the east coast. The second trip was as a labour attaché with diplomatic status. While Haakon was in exile, his brother Per, who was also a labour activist, was arrested in Norway in 1942. He was imprisoned and eventually sent to Dachau, where he died from typhoid fever in March 1945. ## Party secretary On 20 June 1945, Lie returned to Norway. At the national convention of the Labour Party that same year, he was elected party secretary. While Gerhardsen became chairman and prime minister, and gradually assumed his role as "Father of the Nation" ("Landsfaderen"), Lie maintained party discipline and staked out the political strategy in the background. From his position at the head of the party he helped orchestrate the predominant position the party was to hold in the following years, with absolute parliamentary majorities won in the 1945, 1949, 1953 and 1957 elections. During the reconstruction of the post-war years, he helped lead the party onto a more moderate path. Private versus public ownership of industry now became a practical, rather than an ideological question. The policy proved highly successful; the country experienced unprecedented growth, as well as improved conditions for the working class, during his tenure. ### Anti-communist surveillance Lie had been personally shaken by the post-war Soviet suppression of the social-democratic parties in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. He viewed Yugoslavia leader Josip Broz Tito as the "Martin Luther of communism" after Tito had openly defied the Soviet Union by chiselling out the Third Way. When the Soviets initiated a blockade of Yugoslavia following the Tito–Stalin split, Lie organized humanitarian aid-shipments from Norway. Another concern was that the Pro-Moscow Norwegian Communist Party (NKP) had was gaining support among leftist voters, with opinion polls showing an increase to 15.4%. As he put it :"It was voting based upon the myth of the Soviet Union as the land of peace and socialism - a myth which had to be broken down". It was during this period that Lie, with support from the trade union center set up significant and wide-ranging surveillance of Norwegian communists, (a practice later deemed illegal by a government committee, the Lund commission). Lie himself defended his hard-line tactics, claiming communism had represented a threat to democracy as well as the party, famously exclaiming "The Labour Party is no damn Sunday school! (Norwegian: Arbeiderpartiet er faen ingen søndagsskole!)". There were also external events that aided his cause. The Marshall Plan accepted in 1947 and the Norwegian membership in NATO from 1949 drew the nation closer to the United States. Meanwhile, the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 demonstrated the threat represented by the Soviet Union. Yet Lie was stronger in his support of the United States, and more fierce in his anti-communism, than most within the Labour party. In 1961, a left-wing splinter group who was previously centred around the party newspaper "Orientering" decided to break off and form a new party known as Socialist People's Party (SF). They were later to deny the Labour Party a majority in the 1961 elections as well as to bring down the third cabinet Gerhardsen as a result of the Kings Bay Affair. ### Feud with Gerhardsen Meanwhile, the relationship between Lie and Gerhardsen grew cooler. Gerhardsen was becoming far more amenable to the Soviets in part due to the influence of his wife, Werna, who was highly sympathetic to the Soviet Union (some even claiming she was a KGB informant). Gerhardsen had grown more and more frustrated at Lie's hard-line tactics against communists and perceived Soviet sympathisers, as well as his attempts to stifle foreign policy debate within the Central Committee. Lie on his part grew embittered over what he perceived was the Gerhardsen-couple protecting key leftists, such as Trygve Bull. According to Bull, Lie and Gerhardsen hardly spoke to each other after 1957. At the national party convention of 1967 Gerhardsen openly attacked Lie, to which Lie reportedly responded by threatening to "break" Gerhardsen "like a louse" ("Jeg skal knekke deg som en lus"). Gerhardsen later regretted the attack, and later sent Lie a letter of apology - to which the latter never replied. Lie resigned as party secretary in 1969, and Gerhardsen retired from active politics the same year. It was not until 1985, at the behest of former defence minister Jens Christian Hauge, that the pair officially reconciled. ## Later life Lie remained active as a public commentator and in politics after his retirement from party politics, and even after his centenary. He led the losing campaign for Norwegian membership in the EEC in the early 1970s, and in 2000 he led a battle to prevent the privatisation of the national oil company Statoil. His preferred method of staying updated on current international events was through weekly readings of The Economist. Influenced by the support he experienced from Jewish labour leaders in the United States, he was a supporter of the state of Israel, though he is highly critical of the Israeli government's current treatment of the Palestinians and to the settlement of the West Bank. Lie initiated Operation donor funds for construction of Israeli settlement called "Moshav Norge" (Change to Yanuv) in memory of 28 children crashes in Hurum air disaster. He wrote several books, among them the controversial memoir ...slik jeg ser det ("...the way I see it", 1975), in which he strongly attacked Gerhardsen. He also wrote a two-volume biography of his mentor Martin Tranmæl, Et bål av vilje and Veiviseren ("A Beacon of Resolve", 1988 and "The Pathfinder", 1991). In his latest book, released in 2008 at 103 years of age, being traditionally a strong proponent of cooperation with the United States, he called for enhanced security cooperation between the Nordic countries and argued Norway should buy the Swedish JAS Gripen aircraft instead of the US-made Joint Strike Fighter. In 1970, after retiring as party secretary, he acquired a patch of woodland where he could resume his passion for forestry. For many years he spent his winters in the US state of Florida, but eventually moved back permanently to Norway. Lie died on 25 May 2009, aged 103, after a long illness. He had been hospitalised six months earlier. Friends of Israel in the Norwegian Labour Movement (Norwegian: Venner av Israel i Norsk Arbeiderbevegelse), planted a forest to his memory in Israel. ## Personal life Lie was married twice – first in 1929 to Ragnhild Halvorsen (1905-91) a companion from the labour youth movement. They divorced in 1951 because when he was in America he met Minnie Dockterman, who would be his future wife, thereby creating a scandal. He married Minnie Dockterman in 1952 (1912–99). He left three daughters, two; Gro (1932-) and Turid (1938-) by his first wife and one; Karen (1952) by the second wife. In addition he left five grandchildren as well as six great-grandchildren.
31,194,089
1995–96 South Pacific cyclone season
1,159,867,703
Tropical cyclone season
[ "1995–96 South Pacific cyclone season", "Articles which contain graphical timelines", "South Pacific cyclone seasons" ]
The 1995–96 South Pacific cyclone season was a below average South Pacific tropical cyclone season's on record, with only five tropical cyclones occurring within the South Pacific Ocean to the east of 160°E. The season officially ran from November 1, 1995, until April 30, 1996. The first storm developed on January 12, while the last one dissipated on April 2. During the season the most intense tropical cyclone was Severe Tropical Cyclone Beti, which reached a minimum pressure of 935 hPa (27.61 inHg) as it affected New Caledonia. After the season ended Beti's name was the only name to be retired from the tropical cyclone naming lists and was replaced with Bune, after it inflicted over 5.6 million (USD) worth of damage to Australia, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and New Zealand. During the season, tropical cyclones were officially monitored by the Regional Specialized Meteorological Center (RSMC) in Nadi, Fiji, and the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centers (TCWC) in Brisbane, Australia and Wellington, New Zealand. Throughout the season the United States Navy also monitored the basin and issued unofficial warnings, through its Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) and Naval Pacific Meteorology and Oceanography Center (NPMOC). Tropical cyclones that were located between 160°E and 120°W, as well as the Equator and 25°S, were monitored by RSMC Nadi while any that were located to the south of 25°S between 160°E and 120°W were monitored by TCWC Wellington. During the season the JTWC issued warnings on any tropical cyclone that was located between 160°E and 180° while the NPMOC issued warnings for tropical cyclones forming between the 180° and the American coast. RSMC Nadi and TCWC Wellington both used the Australian Tropical Cyclone Intensity Scale, and measured windspeeds over a 10-minute period during the season, while the JTWC and the NPMOC measured sustained windspeeds over a 1-minute period. ## Seasonal summary Because of a weak–moderate La Niña episode, most tropical cyclones that developed within the season occurred within the Coral Sea. The weak La Nina conditions also affected the amount of tropical cyclones that occurred during the year, with only 5 tropical cyclones occurring within the basin. During December 24, Tropical Cyclone Gertie moved into the basin from the Australian region, before it passed to the south of New Caledonia and weakened below tropical cyclone intensity. Cyclone Yasi, developed on January 12 as a tropical depression before it was named on January 16. As a tropical cyclone, Yasi brought significant rain to both Fiji and Tonga before it dissipated on January 19 to the south of Papette in French Polynesia. After Yasi dissipated, no tropical cyclones were recorded in the basin until March 9; however on February 12, a tropical low developed to the west of New Caledonia. Over the next 24 hours the low deepened to about 1002 hPa before it crossed 160°E and moved into the Australian region where it became known as the Queen Elizabeth II storm. On February 22 and 23, a shallow tropical depression moved around the Fijian archipelago and caused some flooding of low-lying areas in Vanua Levu. On March 9 and 10, Tropical Cyclones Zaka and Atu both developed near New Caledonia, about 1,000 km (620 mi) apart and took similar tracks towards the southeast before becoming extratropical. On March 21, the final tropical cyclone of the season developed to the northeast of Vanuatu. Over the next couple of days the depression gradually developed further and was named as Beti, before it passed over Vanuatu and New Caledonia. On March 29, after it had passed over New Caledonia, Beti degenerated into an extratropical cyclone, before dissipating on April 2. After the season ended the name Beti was retired from the tropical cyclone naming lists. ## Systems ### Tropical Cyclone Yasi On January 12, the FMS reported that a tropical depression had developed over the Fijian island of Vanua Levu, about 430 km (270 mi) to the south of Labasa. Over the next few days, the depression moved towards the southeast before it started to affect Tonga on January 15. During the following day, the depression rapidly developed further as it interacted with the South Pacific Convergence Zone, before the NPMOC initiated warnings on the system and designated it as 08P. At 0000 UTC on January 17, the NPMOC reported that the depression had reached its peak 1-minute sustained windspeeds of 85 km/h (53 mph), while the FMS reported that the depression had intensified into a tropical cyclone while it was located about 510 km (320 mi) to the southeast of Nukualofa, Tonga. However, the FMS did not name it Yasi for another 12 hours, while the system reached its peak 10-minute sustained windspeeds of 85 km/h (53 mph). After it was named on January 17, Yasi accelerated towards the southeast, before it moved out of the FMS's area of responsibility. During January 18, the NPMOC issued their final warning because Yasi had degenerated into an extratropical cyclone. MetService monitored Yasi's remnants for another day, before the system dissipated about 1,520 km (940 mi) to the south of Papeete, French Polynesia. Although no major damage was reported from any of the islands affected some minor damage was reported in Tonga, after Yasi caused heavy rainfall there. ### Tropical Cyclone Zaka On March 9, the FMS started to monitor a tropical depression had developed within an active convergence zone, about 150 km (93 mi) to the northwest of Noumea, New Caledonia. During that day an upper-level trough moved over New Zealand which brought the jet stream over New Caledonia. As a result, this made the depression hard to locate with satellite imagery. However, later that day despite the system being poorly organized, the FMS reported that the depression had intensified into a tropical cyclone and named it Zaka. As they named it RSMC Nadi reported that the system had reached its peak 10-minute sustained windspeeds of 65 km/h (40 mph) with further development of the system restricted by strong vertical wind shear. Early on March 10, the JTWC designated Zaka as Tropical Cyclone 20P, while it had its peak 1-minute windspeeds of 75 km/h (47 mph). The FMS then issued their final advisory at 0600 UTC, as Zaka had weakened into a tropical depression and was moving into TCWC Wellingtons area of responsibility. TCWC Wellington and the JTWC monitored Zaka for another day before it was last noted during March 11 as it became an extratropical cyclone. Zaka dumped 376 mm (14.8 in) of rain on Vanuatu in just 24 hours. ### Tropical Cyclone Atu On March 4, the JTWC started to monitor an area of disturbed weather that had developed within the Australian region about 900 km (560 mi), to the southeast of Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. Over the next few days, the system remained weak and gradually moved southeast before it crossed 160°E and moved into the basin on March 9. During the next day, both the JTWC and the FMS started to monitor the system as a tropical depression as it moved through the Loyalty Islands. On March 11, the depression intensified into a tropical cyclone as it moved southeastward, prompting the FMS to name it Atu at 1800 UTC. Early on March 12, the JTWC reported that Atu had reached its peak 1-minute windspeeds of 100 km/h (62 mph). Later that morning the FMS reported that Atu had reached its peak 10-minute sustained windspeeds of 85 km/h (53 mph). After it had peaked in intensity, Atu weakened under the influence of strong vertical windshear before the JTWC and the FMS issued their final advisories during March 13, as Atu had become extratropical. Atu's remnants were then monitored by the FMS and MetService until they dissipated on March 18. ### Severe Tropical Cyclone Beti On March 19, the JTWC started to monitor a tropical disturbance that was located about 1,145 km (711 mi) to the northwest of Suva, Fiji. Over the next couple of days, the system moved towards the south and gradually developed further in an area of low vertical windshear, before the system was designated as Tropical Depression 23P by the JTWC on March 21. Over the next couple of days, 23P moved further towards the south, before the depression started to move towards the southwest as a ridge of high pressure strengthened on March 23. Later that day, the FMS reported that the depression had intensified into a category 1 tropical cyclone and named it as Beti. During that day, Beti continued to develop further before the system moved into the Coral Sea on March 24, after passing over the Vanuatuan islands of Pentecost and Malekula. As Beti moved into the Coral Sea, the system quickly intensified further, with the FMS reporting on March 25 that Beti had intensified into a category 3 severe tropical cyclone. As Beti intensified into a severe tropical cyclone, the ridge of high pressure weakened as it interacted with an upper-level trough of low pressure. As a result, the system started to move towards the south-southeast. Over the next couple of days Beti continued to intensify as it moved towards New Caledonia, before the JTWC reported at 1800 UTC on March 26, that Beti had reached its peak 1-minute sustained windspeeds of 195 km/h (121 mph). Six hours later, the FMS reported that the system had peaked as a category 4 severe tropical cyclone with 10-minute sustained windspeeds of 165 km/h (103 mph). Later on March 27, Severe Tropical Cyclone Beti made landfall on the Grande Terre island of New Caledonia near its peak intensity and quickly weakened into a category 2 tropical cyclone. During the next day, Beti moved towards the southeast under the influence of the trough, reemerging into the Coral Sea as a weakening tropical cyclone that had started to transition into an extratropical cyclone. Later on March 28, the FMS passed the primary warning responsibility of the cyclone to MetService, before the JTWC issued their final advisory on Beti as it had become extratropical. Over the next few days, TCWC Wellington continued to monitor Beti's remnants, as they came under the influence of a high pressure area and moved around New Zealand's East Coast, before they were last noted on April 2 while located about 1,400 km (870 mi) to the southeast of Wellington. While it was active, Cyclone Beti was responsible for 2 deaths and caused damage in Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, and Vanuatu. The most significant damage occurred in New Caledonia where wind and flooding destroyed crops, gardens and caused disruption to the electricity network, water supply, road and telephone communications. Many homes and roads were also badly damaged, with over 50% of lower standard housing on the outskirts of Noumea damaged after rivers and creeks burst their banks. Press reports indicated that Beti inflicted between FF 22- (US\$4.3 - ) in damage to New Caledonia and that only a few injuries had occurred. Within Vanuatu, Beti caused about , () in damage to food gardens and shelters. As an extratropical cyclone, Beti generated a high surf and long period swells that hit both eastern Australia and New Zealand. Within Australia, the high surf left several competitors in the Australian life surfing championships injured, while another competitor was killed after his boat was swamped by large waves. Within New Zealand, Beti's remnants caused flooding and mud-slips, which led to several roads being closed. A helicopter and its pilot were lost at the height of the storm, while they were travelling from Napier to Gisborne. ### Other systems During December 23, the remnants of Severe Tropical Cyclone Gertie, moved westwards off the Australian mainland and into the Coral Sea near Maryborough. After moving into the Coral Sea, the system underwent a pierod of rapid intensification, during which it reintensified into a tropical cyclone and caused gale-force winds along the southern Queensland Coast. During the following day, gale-force winds eased along the Queensland coast, as Gertie moved north-eastwards into the South Pacific basin, where it peaked with 10-minute sustained windspeeds of 75 km/h (45 mph). The system subsequently passed to the south of New Caledonia and was last noted on December 24, as it weakened below tropical cyclone intensity. During February 12, a tropical low developed to the west of New Caledonia. Over the next 24 hours the low deepened to about 1002 hPa (29.59 inHg) before it crossed 160°E and moved into the Australian region where it became known as the Queen Elizabeth II storm. On February 22 and 23, a shallow tropical depression moved around the Fijian archipelago and caused some flooding of low-lying areas in Vanua Levu. ## Season effects ## See also - Atlantic hurricane seasons: 1995 , 1996 - Pacific hurricane seasons: 1995, 1996 - Pacific typhoon seasons: 1995, 1996 - North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons: 1995, 1996
44,327,405
Siege of Varaždin Barracks
1,104,260,819
Croatian National Guard siege during the Croatian War of Independence
[ "1991 in Croatia", "Barracks in Croatia", "Battles of the Croatian War of Independence", "Conflicts in 1991", "History of Varaždin", "September 1991 events in Europe" ]
The siege of Varaždin Barracks, also referred to locally as Varaždin's days of war (Croatian: Varaždinski dani rata), was the blockade and capture of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) barracks and other facilities in and around the city of Varaždin during the Croatian War of Independence. The blockade began on 14 September 1991, quickly escalated into fighting, and ended on 22 September with the surrender of the JNA garrison. It was part of the Battle of the Barracks—an effort by Croatian armed forces to isolate JNA units based at barracks in Croatia, or capture the barracks to provide arms for Croatia's nascent army. The besieging force outnumbered the JNA garrison in Varaždin, which was divided among several barracks, storage depots and other facilities, but the JNA possessed substantially greater firepower. The balance shifted in favour of the Croatian forces after smaller JNA posts were captured in the first few days of the siege, until only one barracks along with the headquarters of the JNA 32nd Corps remained under JNA control. At that point, the commander of the 32nd Corps, Major General Vladimir Trifunović, and the civilian authorities in Varaždin agreed that the remaining JNA forces in the city would surrender, but all those wishing to leave would be permitted to do so, leaving their weapons behind. The capture of the 32nd Corps' weapons was the most significant achievement of the Battle of the Barracks, and greatly augmented the capabilities of the Croatian military. After he left Croatia, Trifunović was indicted for war crimes by Croatia, tried in absentia and convicted for the combat deaths of six Croatian soldiers and the wounding of dozens of Croatian citizens before and during the siege. He was also prosecuted by Yugoslav authorities for treason, but subsequently pardoned. In 2013, he requested a re-trial on his Croatian war crimes conviction, but died before proceedings could commence. ## Background In 1990, ethnic tensions between Serbs and Croats worsened after the electoral defeat of the government of the Socialist Republic of Croatia by the Croatian Democratic Union (Croatian: Hrvatska demokratska zajednica – HDZ). The Yugoslav People's Army (Serbian: Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija – JNA) confiscated Croatia's Territorial Defence (Croatian: Teritorijalna obrana – TO) weapons to minimize resistance. On 17 August, the tensions escalated into an open revolt of the Croatian Serbs, centred on the predominantly Serb-populated areas of the Dalmatian hinterland around Knin (approximately 60 kilometres (37 miles) north-east of Split), parts of the Lika, Kordun, Banovina and eastern Croatia. In January 1991, Serbia, supported by Montenegro and Serbia's provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo, unsuccessfully tried to obtain the Yugoslav Presidency's approval for a JNA operation to disarm Croatian security forces. The request was denied and a bloodless skirmish between Serb insurgents and Croatian special police in March prompted the JNA itself to ask the Federal Presidency to give it wartime authority and declare a state of emergency. Even though the request was backed by Serbia and its allies, the JNA request was refused on 15 March. Serbian President Slobodan Milošević, preferring a campaign to expand Serbia rather than to preserve Yugoslavia with Croatia as a federal unit, publicly threatened to replace the JNA with a Serbian army and declared that he no longer recognized the authority of the federal Presidency. The threat caused the JNA to abandon plans to preserve Yugoslavia in favour of expansion of Serbia as the JNA came under Milošević's control. By the end of March, the conflict had escalated with the first fatalities. In early April, leaders of the Serb revolt in Croatia declared their intention to amalgamate the areas under their control with Serbia. These were viewed by the Government of Croatia as breakaway regions. At the beginning of 1991, Croatia had no regular army. To bolster its defence, Croatia doubled its police numbers to about 20,000. The most effective part of the Croatian police force was 3,000-strong special police comprising twelve battalions organised along military lines. There were also 9,000–10,000 regionally organised reserve police in 16 battalions and 10 companies, but they lacked weapons. In response to the deteriorating situation, the Croatian government established the Croatian National Guard (Croatian: Zbor narodne garde – ZNG) in May by expanding the special police battalions into four all-professional guards brigades. Under Ministry of Defence control and commanded by retired JNA General Martin Špegelj, the four guards brigades comprised approximately 8,000 troops. The reserve police, also expanded to 40,000, was attached to the ZNG and reorganised into 19 brigades and 14 independent battalions. The guards brigades were the only units of the ZNG that were fully equipped with small arms; throughout the ZNG there was a lack of heavier weapons and there was poor command and control structure above the brigade level. The shortage of heavy weapons was so severe that the ZNG resorted to using World War II weapons taken from museums and film studios. At the time, the Croatian weapon stockpile consisted of 30,000 small arms purchased abroad and 15,000 previously owned by the police. To replace the personnel lost to the guards brigades, a new 10,000-strong special police was established. ## Prelude The views of the Croatian leadership on how to deal with the JNA's role in the Croatian Serb revolt gradually evolved between January and September 1991. Croatian President Franjo Tuđman's initial plan was to win European Community (EC) and United States support; so he dismissed advice to seize JNA barracks and storage facilities in the country. This course of action was first advocated by Špegelj in late 1990; he again urged Tuđman to act while the JNA fought Slovenia's TO in the Ten-Day War in June–July 1991. Špegelj's calls were echoed by Šime Đodan, who succeeded Špegelj as Defence Minister in July. Špegelj remained in command of the ZNG. Tuđman's initial stance was based on his belief that Croatia could not win a war against the JNA. The ZNG was therefore limited to defensive operations, even though the actions of the JNA appeared to be coordinated with Croatian Serb forces. This impression was reinforced by buffer zones established by the JNA after fighting between Croatian Serb militia and the ZNG. The JNA often intervened after the ZNG had lost territory, leaving the Croatian Serbs in control of areas they had captured before the JNA stepped in. The JNA provided some weapons to the Croatian Serbs, although most of their weaponry was sourced from Serbia's TO and the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs. In July 1991, Špegelj and Đodan's advice was supported by a number of Croatian Parliament members. In response, Tuđman dismissed Đodan the same month he was appointed Defence Minister, and Špegelj resigned his command of the ZNG on 3 August. The deteriorating situation in eastern Croatia, including the JNA expulsion of ZNG troops from Baranja, intermittent fighting around Osijek, Vukovar and Vinkovci, increasing losses and the growing conviction that the JNA were actively supporting the Croatian Serb revolt, forced Tuđman to act. On 22 August, he issued an ultimatum to the federal Yugoslav authorities demanding the withdrawal of the JNA to its barracks by the end of the month. The ultimatum stated that if the JNA failed to comply, Croatia would consider it an army of occupation and take corresponding action. On 1 September, the EC proposed a ceasefire and a peace conference was accepted by the Yugoslav Presidency and by Tuđman, despite his earlier ultimatum. The conference started on 7 September, but only four days later, the Croatian member and chair of the presidency, Stjepan Mesić, ordered the JNA to return to its barracks within 48 hours. This order was motivated by Tuđman's concern that the conference would drag on while the ZNG lost territory. Even though the order was opposed by other members of the presidency, it gave Croatia justification to openly confront the JNA. Prime Minister Franjo Gregurić advised Tuđman to implement Špegelj's plan. According to General Anton Tus, Tuđman ordered the ZNG to capture JNA barracks on 12 September, but rescinded the order the next day. The order was reinstated on 14 September after Tus pleaded with Tuđman to re-authorize action, arguing that the ZNG was running out of time. The same day, the ZNG and the Croatian police blockaded and cut utilities to all JNA facilities it had access to, beginning the Battle of the Barracks. This action comprised blockades of 33 large JNA garrisons in Croatia, and numerous smaller facilities, including border posts, and weapons and ammunition storage depots. ## Order of battle Varaždin was the garrison of the JNA 32nd Corps commanded by Major General Vladimir Trifunović. In addition to the Corps headquarters there were several other JNA facilities in and around the city. The most substantial of these were located in Varaždin itself – the Kalnički partizani barracks where Colonel Berislav Popov's 32nd Mechanised Brigade was based, and the Jalkovečke žrtve barracks of the 32nd Mixed Artillery Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Davidović. The Corps' area of responsibility extended beyond Varaždin and its immediate surroundings, where further significant combat units were based. The most significant among them were the 32nd Engineer Regiment in Čakovec, the 411th Mixed Antitank Artillery Regiment based in Križevci, the 73rd Motorised Brigade headquartered in Koprivnica, the 265th Mechanised Brigade based in Bjelovar, and the 288th Mixed Antitank Artillery Brigade in Virovitica. In Varaždin itself, the JNA units included approximately 1,000 troops, making the JNA garrison of Varaždin the second largest in Croatia. Despite this, the JNA did not have sufficient number of troops in the area to secure all its facilities. Croatian forces in and around Varaždin and nearby Čakovec consisted of 640 ZNG troops (including 60 who had been deployed from Zagreb), 100 police, 300 People's Protection (Narodna zaštita) troops and several hundred armed civilians. The ZNG troops were subordinated to the 104th Brigade and to the 5th Battalion of the 1st Guards Brigade – but were lightly armed. Besides small arms, they had only 17 mortars, two 9M14 Malyutka anti-tank guided missile systems, two 12.7-millimetre (0.50 in) anti-aircraft machine guns and four armoured personnel carriers. Initially, command of Croatian forces in the city was not unified and Colonel Želimir Škarec of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia only had a coordination role. ## Timeline ### First hostilities A blockade of the JNA facilities in and around Varaždin was ordered on 13 September 1991, which took effect the next day when utilities and access to the barracks were cut. In response, the Corps command informed Croatian forces that they could no longer guarantee peace unless utilities were restored and JNA military vehicles were allowed to move freely. On 15 September, the Corps began preparing for the demolition of all minor military facilities which could not be defended. At the same time, negotiations began between the Corps command and civilian authorities in Varaždin. At 15:30, the Yugoslav Air Force attacked the Varaždin Airfield. The strike was intended to disrupt flights of Antonov An-2 agricultural aircraft converted to carry 1.5 tonnes (1.5 long tons; 1.7 short tons) of cargo—transporting weapons from the Hungarian town of Nagykanizsa. The attacking force comprised two planes sortied from Željava Air Base, which broke the sound barrier above Varaždin to produce a sonic boom and bombed the airfield. One bomb destroyed an An-2 on the ground and damaged the runway, while the second landed in a nearby field. Between 16:50 and 17:07, there was an exchange of small arms fire between the JNA troops in the Corps headquarters and a nearby police checkpoint, and at 17:35 a mortar attack was launched by the 32nd Mechanised Brigade. The mortar fire targeted the police station and surrounding buildings, and an electrical substation in the nearby village of Nedeljanec. The civilian authorities in Varaždin promptly notified the European Community Monitoring Mission of damage to the city. By 16 September, the JNA artillery bombardment of the city had extended to various street intersections and approaches to the Drava bridge on the Varaždin–Čakovec road. The latter was counter-battery fire, targeting ZNG mortars which fired approximately 150 bombs against the JNA during the entire operation. By the end of 16 September 42 JNA officers and soldiers had deserted from the 32nd Mechanised Brigade. The JNA ordered its border guards posted along the Hungarian border from Čakovec to Ludbreg to lay land mines around their facilities, then cross into Hungary and surrender to that country's authorities. ### Peak of the fighting On 17 September, the commander of the 104th Brigade, Colonel Ivan Rukljić, took command of all Croatian forces in Varaždin. The Yugoslav Air Force attacked an airfield in Čakovec, mimicking the strike carried out in Varaždin a few days earlier. That evening, the heaviest fighting of the siege erupted in Varaždin, and the 104th Brigade reported it was uncertain how long it would be able to maintain the blockades. Croatian forces received additional weapons that day, after the JNA garrisons in Čakovec, Križevci and Virovitica surrendered to the ZNG. In Varaždin itself, corps-level units of the JNA 32nd Corps based at the 15. maj barracks also surrendered to the ZNG that day. The following day, fighting intensified again, as Croatian forces captured several minor JNA facilities in Varaždin itself—leaving the Corps headquarters, the Kalnički partizani barracks and the Jalkovečke žrtve barracks as the only JNA-held military bases in the city. In the course of this fighting, the ZNG suffered one fatality and captured nine JNA officers and 30 soldiers. On 19 September, Croatian forces managed to interdict radio communications between the 32nd Mechanised Brigade artillery and its artillery observers, and set up their own transmitter to direct JNA artillery fire against the Jalkovečke žrtve barracks. This deception was designed to deceive Davidović into thinking that the ZNG had much greater firepower than it did. The plan worked and when ZNG troops entered the barracks compound that day, the 32nd Mixed Artillery Regiment (four officers and 196 soldiers) surrendered. Late in the evening of 19 September, Croatian police and elements of the 3rd Battalion of the 104th Brigade secured the Varaždinbreg weapons storage facility located in the village of Banjšćina near Varaždin, after its JNA commander surrendered the facility and its garrison of 60 without resistance. The capture of JNA weapons greatly improved the Croatian position in negotiations when trying to convince JNA commanding officers of the 32nd Corps to surrender. ### Surrender of the JNA garrison The blockade continued for two more days, with continuing clashes between Croatian and JNA troops. On 21 September, the 32nd Corps found itself in a difficult position. It reported that it could not continue to resist as its weapons and ammunition storage facilities had been lost, and all the barracks had been captured except the base of the 32nd Mechanised Brigade. Furthermore, it noted that there was a possibility that the remaining troops might desert en masse. According to Trifunović, he notified Colonel General Života Avramović, his immediate superior and commander of the 5th Military District, of his intention to surrender. Avramović then told Trifunović to do as he saw fit. A Croatian ultimatum was issued early on 22 September, demanding the surrender of JNA troops in the city, and offering its personnel the chance to leave Croatia "honourably". Trifunović accepted the Croatian terms at 11:00. ## Aftermath One JNA officer and one non-commissioned officer were killed during the fighting, and 15 JNA troops were wounded. Croatian forces sustained losses of two killed and 24 wounded. Two civilians were also killed. Approximately 1,000 JNA officers and soldiers surrendered to the ZNG. The officers and their families living in Varaždin, as well as approximately 450 soldiers who wanted to leave Croatia were transported to Serbia in a convoy comprising twelve buses and several passenger cars. The convoy was provided with a police escort and two representatives of the civilian authorities in Varaždin accompanied the convoy as hostages to guarantee its safe passage. One of the hostages was Radimir Čačić, who became Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia 20 years later. The ZNG captured 74 T-55 tanks, approximately ten special-purpose vehicles (such as PT-76 amphibious light tanks), armoured recovery vehicles, and armoured vehicle-launched bridges, 48 BVP M-80 infantry fighting vehicles, 18 self-propelled anti-aircraft weapons, six 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzers, six M-63 Plamen and four M-77 Oganj multiple rocket launchers, eighteen 155-millimetre (6.1 in) and twelve 152-millimetre (6.0 in) guns with towing vehicles, approximately 180 artillery pieces below 100-millimetre (3.9 in) calibre, several batteries of 60-millimetre (2.4 in), 82-millimetre (3.2 in) and 120-millimetre (4.7 in) mortars, 25,000 small arms, 250 vehicles and pieces of engineering equipment, a large stock of communication equipment and several hundred thousand tonnes of ammunition. Some of the weapons had been disabled on Trifunović's orders shortly before the surrender. The captured weapons were distributed to units deployed in eastern Slavonia, Lika and Dalmatia, and were also used to equip new ZNG units. When the last JNA-held barracks and the 32nd Corps headquarters surrendered, only two major JNA bases remained in the area of responsibility of the Corps—Bjelovar and Koprivnica. The JNA's Bjelovar garrison was captured by the ZNG a week later, while its barracks in Koprivnica surrendered a day after that. The capture of the JNA barracks in and around Varaždin, and particularly the storage facilities of the 32nd Corps was very significant for development of Croatian military. The capture of the barracks is celebrated annually in Varaždin, and is locally referred to as "Varaždin's Days of War" (Varaždinski dani rata). War crimes charges were raised against Trifunović in Croatia, where he was indicted for the deaths of six individuals and the wounding of a further 37, both soldiers and civilians. In 1991, he was tried in absentia by a Croatian court, found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison. In 1994, Trifunović was charged with treason by the Yugoslav authorities for surrendering the entire JNA 32nd Corps to the ZNG. He was convicted and sentenced to 11 years in prison. In early 1996, he was pardoned and released, and the government of Yugoslavia paid him compensation for spending nearly two years in prison. In 2013, Trifunović formally requested a re-trial in Croatia. He died in January 2017, before proceedings could commence.
17,302,122
Bristol Customshouse and Post Office
1,168,911,764
null
[ "Buildings and structures in Bristol, Rhode Island", "Custom houses in the United States", "Custom houses on the National Register of Historic Places", "Government buildings completed in 1858", "Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island", "Historic district contributing properties in Rhode Island", "National Register of Historic Places in Bristol County, Rhode Island", "Post office buildings in Rhode Island" ]
Bristol Customshouse and Post Office is a historic two-story rectangular Italian palazzo style brick building that was used as a post office and customshouse in Bristol, Rhode Island, United States. The land for the site was acquired for \$4,400. The building was designed by Ammi B. Young and completed in 1858 for a cost of \$22,135.75. The building roughly measures 46 feet (14 m) by 32 feet (9.8 m) and is constructed of deep red brick and has three arched openings on each of its sides and stories that are lined with sandstone moldings. The archways protrude from the side of the building and the center archway serves as the first floor with the adjacent archways housing large windows that are barred with iron. As it typical of the style, the second floor is more elaborate with a shallow balcony of iron supported by iron brackets and the paneling of the upper facade's surmounting entablature is elaborately decorative. The sides and rear are similar to the front facade, but include blind recesses and the molding is of a browner sandstone. The building was abandoned in 1962 and acquired by the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in 1964. The YMCA has an adjacent structure and used the building as an ante-space until 1990. Currently, the building is used as offices. The Bristol Customshouse and Post Office is historically significant as it is an example of the Italian palazzo mode of architecture. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. ## Design The land for the site was acquired on April 19, 1856 for \$4,400 and constructed in 1857 for a cost of \$22,135.75. Completed in 1858 from the design by Ammi B. Young, the Bristol Customshouse and Post Office is a two-story rectangular Italian palazzo style brick building that rests upon a raised granite base. The building is about 46 feet (14 m) by 32 feet (9.8 m) and is heated by steam. The front facade is made of deep red brick that has three large arched openings on both stories and a "greyish sandstone molding outlines the arches on both floors and caps the piers which separate the first-floor arches and a decisive molding of the same material forms a belt between the two stories." The archways protrude from the side of the building and the center archway serves as the first floor with the adjacent archways housing large windows that are barred with iron. As it typical of the style, the second floor is more elaborate with a shallow balcony of iron supported by iron brackets and the paneling of the upper facade is "understated, but the surmounting entablature is heavy and elaborately decorated." The cornice as the visual top of the building and conceals the low hipped roof that is only visible from a distance. The sides and rear are similar to the front facade, but include blind recesses and the molding is of a browner sandstone. Alterations to the building are evident in an old photograph, dated to circa 1860–1869, which shows pedimented dormers in the center of the roof, that is believed to have been an addition that has since been removed, but at an unknown time. According to Bristol, Rhode Island: The Bristol renaissance, a photo of the building dated to circa 1900 shows the pedimented dormers. A postcard that was postmarked in 1920 also shows the dormers and the adjacent YMCA building. Also present in the photograph are two chimneys on the front facade and it is evidenced that the side chimney probably arose near the front, however, only one chimney is extant in the rear. The two front chimneys were absent in a circa 1907–1913 post card. The rear chimney was described as "apparently altered" without future explanation in the National Register of Historic Places nomination. The 1971 nomination form noted that the then-current state of the building was in a state of neglect. After passing through the vestibule, the front area served as the postal sorting rooms, office and mail boxes. In this area, the original iron columns are visible between the wood panels of the clerks' windows. The tile floors were noted to be an alteration, but the second floor stair landing likely had its original tiling remain. The second floor was accessible via cast-iron stairs with iron railings, that lead up the customs quarters that had a large room with "seven sets of iron-framed windows, with heavy iron sills and interior shutters". This room was described as "impressively large" because of its 17 feet (5.2 m) high ceilings and 8 feet (2.4 m) paneled door, the floor is made of hard wood and a "very plain marble fireplace is in one corner of the large room". The supports of the building stem from the cellar where granite piers support horizontal iron beams that hold up iron columns on the first floor. ## Use The Bristol Customshouse and Post Office was used as a Post Office and Customs House, as its name implies, until it was abandoned in 1962. Records show that \$1,071.75 in repairs and \$68.36 for "mechanical equipment" was spent by the United States government between July 1908 and June 1909. The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) acquired the building in 1964, the building was attached to a YMCA swimming pool structure and was used as an ante-space until 1990. It was remodeled and currently is used as restaurants and apartments. ## Importance The Bristol Customshouse and Post Office is historically significant as "an example of the rediscovery of the Italian palazzo mode of architecture after the long proliferation-of the Greek Revival." Though Young designed dozens of building for the United States Department of the Treasury, he was a master of the Greek Revival style and his designs varied throughout the years during the popularization of subsequent styles. Young also designed the United States Customshouse in Providence, Rhode Island a year prior, but its design reflected a more "classical, academic theme" in a more Tuscan style. The Bristol Customshouse and Post Office "serves as an excellent example of a style that is little represented in a town which has fine buildings of other styles and periods, and is a reminder of what was once one of the most active seaports in the northeast". ## See also - National Register of Historic Places listings in Bristol County, Rhode Island
42,479,074
Lutz Tavern
1,159,239,902
Bar in Portland, Oregon, U.S.
[ "1947 establishments in Oregon", "2010 disestablishments in Oregon", "2011 establishments in Oregon", "Drinking establishments in Oregon", "Restaurants disestablished in 2010", "Restaurants established in 1947", "Restaurants established in 2011", "Restaurants in Portland, Oregon", "Woodstock, Portland, Oregon" ]
Lutz Tavern is a bar in the Woodstock neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, in the United States. It was established by the Lutz family in 1947, who maintained ownership until the business was purchased by the Barisich family in 1954. Working-class locals and Reed College students frequent the bar, which is known for popularizing the beer Pabst Blue Ribbon. Lutz closed in 2010 after being run by the Barisich family for 56 years, then re-opened under new ownership and management in 2011. ## Description and history Lutz Tavern, established in 1947, is located at 4639 Southeast Woodstock Boulevard in Portland's Woodstock neighborhood. The Lutz family owned the bar until 1954, when it was purchased by the Barisich family. Lilias Barisich, who shared ownership with her brothers after their parents handed it over to them, said of the bar and her mother's operating style: "It's always been a homey place because my mom would kick people out if they acted different. She'd tell them they wouldn't act that way if they were invited to our home for dinner, so there was no call to act like that at the Lutz." For many years, Lutz attracted a mixture of working-class men and Reed College students. The Portland Mercury said the bar served "cheap swill to blue-collar folks and Reed kids that didn't mind walking those extra few blocks." Barisich recalled that "at one time, it was a favorite of concrete workers, city crews and the like. You couldn't keep the floor clean on a Friday afternoon. Every muddy workboot in the city was here." It served beer only, accepted cash only, and offered the "bare minimum of food that the OLCC required". The crowd became steadily younger over time. Lutz has had a "symbiotic bar-restaurant relationship" with nearby Delta Cafe (opened in 1995), where guests on waiting lists for the restaurant could wait in the bar. Before cell phones, Lutz staff would receive calls from Delta and announce when reserved parties could be seated. The nearby music venue 17 Nautical Miles also drew people to the bar. The Oregonian's John Foyston said of the bar in 1999, "The floor stays cleaner, but the decor remains minimal: beer signs, a pool table, handwritten signs advertising the famous hot pickles (60 cents) and ham sandwiches (\$2)." Willamette Week called Lutz a "true dive, but one with outsize influence among bike messengers and other curators of cool". ### Beer In the 1990s, when her parents still operated the bar, Barisich asked if she could sell a case of what was then considered premium beer. She recalled, "I convinced them to let me buy a case of Heineken's, which at that time sold for unheard-of price of a buck a bottle. My dad said that people would never pay that much for a bottle of beer, and they'd only let me buy the case if I promised to drink what didn't sell." Her introduction of premium beer proved to be successful. Lutz would soon be recognized by Blitz-Weinhard for serving more Blitz beer than any other establishment. In 1999, Lutz reportedly served BridgePort IPA, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Widmer Hop Jack and Hefeweizen for \$2.60 per pint, but still offered Blitz and Pabst Blue Ribbon for \$1 per can. #### Pabst Blue Ribbon Though the claim is disputed, Lutz is known nationally for being the origin of Pabst Blue Ribbon's recent popularity. In 2015, Willamette Week's Matthew Singer invited representatives from Lutz and EJ's, the former bar, strip club, and music venue in northeast Portland which also claims to have re-introduced Pabst, to explain their competing claims. Layne Martin, who managed Lutz from 1994 to 2000, said: > There was this absolute scorching deal on cases of PBR and kegs. We were one of the few outlets in Portland that sold kegs to go, so we could sell them at a really good deal. So we started the PBR dollar-can special. I'd say it was around 1997 or 1998. At one point, I know they said we were the largest distributor of Pabst in the state, if not the country. We got written up in The New York Times about it. We were going through hundreds of cases and dozens of kegs a week. Mike Thrasher, EJ's talent buyer from 1995 to 1999, recalled: > I started working at EJ's when it was a strip club in about October 1994. A couple of the key staff and I convinced the owner we would do better as a rock-'n'-roll bar, and decided to launch the new format on 1, 1995. As a future rock club, we decided we needed to rethink our drink selections to suit that clientele. While comparing the prices of the domestic beers, we found that Pabst was cheapest at \$33 per keg. The club gained popularity, and Pabst became the drink of choice. On Tuesdays, Pabst was sold at the full price of \$1.75, but there was no cover to see the bands. Things kept getting busier. It was suggested that Thursdays become a 'beer bust,' where a patron could get unlimited Pabst between opening at 6 pm and 8 pm, when the room was cleared for the show. By this time, perhaps mid-1996, EJ's had achieved some recognition from touring bands and had a steady influx of national talent, which again increased sales. During busy months, we were getting three deliveries a week and moving more than 40 kegs a month. Years later, Pabst became known as the 'hipster' beer of Portland. There is no way for me to warrant that EJ's decision to make PBR its house beer caused this impact, but I have done so nonetheless, for years. Matt Slessler, the field marketing manager for Pabst's Pacific region, weighed in on the debate as well, saying: > We've always thought Lutz was the first one to sell it. But it's like how people claim they saw Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game or were at Woodstock. The landscape is littered with salesmen who say, 'Oh yeah, I was the first one to bring that in.' The first PBR I ever had was at the Jockey Club, this really old-school punk-rock bar on Killingsworth. As far as the very first ones, there was the Lutz and EJ's, and it's always been our thought that Lutz was first. In 2003, Willamette Week published an image of a man drinking Pabst at Lutz with a caption making fun of "middle-class, college-educated, salaried Portland hipsters" for drinking that brand of beer, and noting its relation to MillerCoors. ### Closing and reopening In September 2010, after operating Lutz for 56 years, the owners held a "farewell bash" and closed its doors after deciding that they could no longer borrow money to stay open. However, the bar was re-opened in 2011 by the staff of the Portland establishments Clinton Street Pub and Crow Bar. Willamette Week reported that Lutz began serving liquor, eight taps of "good Northwest micros, and a real kitchen that makes a kick-ass burger" as the result of new management. The Woodstock Neighborhood Association (WNA) originally made plans to paint Woodstock Mural on the east exterior of Lutz. In August 2012, the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) confirmed funding of \$6,000 for the 60-by-15-foot (18.3 m × 4.6 m) painting. The mural's design was divided into three parts to accommodate the exterior wall's three sections. RACC published an image of artist Mike Lawrence's proposed mural and said the goal of the project was to "highlight the best of the neighborhood and instill a sense of community pride". The agency also said the project was still raising funds and hoped to start in the spring of 2013. Efforts stalled, but WNA later proposed a mural with a different design for the east side of the nearby Red Fox Vintage building. In 2013, Lutz earned top honors in the Dill Pickle Club's annual "Perfect Pickle" competition, in which nine restaurants competed. In 2014, The Oregonian reported that Robert Kowalski was the owner of Lutz and several other local establishments, including Crow Bar and Clinton Street Pub. ## Reception The Lutz has been a part of the community for decades. Shortly following Lutz's 2011 re-opening, Ben Waterhouse of Willamette Week quipped that the bar had kept its "old look and clientele: The lineup at the bar on a recent Friday was plaid, fleece, tweed, plaid, plaid, plaid and tweed." In Willamette Week's 2014 "Bar Guide", Matthew Korfhage described Lutz as an "old-school, diner-countered, deep-boothed drinking hole" serving "Reedies, old rockers and rank-and-file preservers of the AFL-CIO to equal satisfaction". He wrote, "The bar's been upgraded in recent years, but this mostly just means the diner-style food's edible and there's no pay phone. But if you hang around past 11 pm on a Friday, the wild union boys of Woodstock again arrive to reclaim the place, smokin', hootin', hollerin', who cares? It's the Lutz." In 2016, Thrillist contributor Dan Schlegel wrote, "The lived-in charm of this Woodstock haunt feels a lot like something out of a Paul Thomas Anderson movie, like the place where you'd meet up at 2 in the afternoon for a drink or six with an estranged half-brother who's involved in some weird pyramid scheme. The cocktails are stiff, the beer list is impressive, and the clientele has way fewer nail-biting Reedies than you'd expect." Nathan Williams recommended Lutz in Eater Portland's 2022 overview of eateries in the Woodstock neighborhood.
36,180,721
2013 24 Hours of Le Mans
1,170,961,941
81th 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race
[ "2013 FIA World Endurance Championship season", "2013 in French motorsport", "2013 in motorsport", "24 Hours of Le Mans races", "Auto racing controversies" ]
The 81st 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: 81<sup>e</sup> 24 Heures du Mans) was a 24-hour automobile endurance racing event for teams of three drivers entering Le Mans Prototype and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars held from 19 to 23 June 2013 at the Circuit de la Sarthe close to Le Mans, France. It was the 81st running of the event, as organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) since 1923. The race was the third and the premier round of the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship, with 32 of the race's 56 entries contesting the championship. A test day was held two weeks prior to the race on 9 June. Approximately 245,000 spectators attended the event. The race was won by an Audi R18 e-tron quattro shared by Dane Tom Kristensen, Brit Allan McNish and Frenchman Loïc Duval after it led the last 248 laps, taking the manufacturers' twelfth victory at Le Mans since its first in the 2000 edition. It was Kristensen's ninth victory, McNish's third and Duval's first. The car started from pole position but lost the lead at the start to the sister No. 1 Audi of André Lotterer, Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer who traded the position with a Toyota TS030 Hybrid shared by Anthony Davidson, Stéphane Sarrazin and Sébastien Buemi under pit stop rotation until it was forced into the pit lane in the seventh hour with a crankshaft position sensor fault. Buemi, Davidson and Sarrazin finished second and Lucas di Grassi, Marc Gené and Oliver Jarvis in another Audi completed the race podium. The Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) category finished with the OAK Racing Morgan car of Bertrand Baguette, Martin Plowman and Ricardo González ahead of the sister entry of Alex Brundle, David Heinemeier Hansson and Olivier Pla by a distance of one lap. The class podium was completed by Greaves Motorsport's Zytek Z11SN, driven by Michael Krumm, Jann Mardenborough and Lucas Ordóñez. One of Porsche's Manthey Racing 991 RSR of Romain Dumas, Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz won the Le Mans Grand Touring Professional (LMGTE Pro) class and the sister No. 91 vehicle of Jörg Bergmeister, Timo Bernhard and Patrick Pilet in second. Porsche also won the Le Mans Grand Touring Amateur (LMGTE Am) category with the No. 76 IMSA Performance Matmut car of Raymond Narac, Christophe Bourret and Jean-Karl Vernay, earning the marque its 100th class victory at Le Mans. The result elevated Kristensen, McNish and Duval to the top of the Drivers' Championship with 94 points. The championship leaders going into the race, Lotterer, Fässler and Tréluyer fell to second while Davidson, Sarrazin and Buemi maintained third due to the trio's second-place finish. Di Grassi, Gené and Jarvis moved from sixth to fourth and the duo of Alexander Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre rounded out the top five. With 102 points, Audi increased their lead over Toyota in the Manufacturers' Championship to 35 points with five rounds left in the season. ## Background The 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans was moved forward one week after a request was filed by the world governing body of motorsport, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), in order to harmonise the 2013 motor racing calendar. It was the 81st annual edition of the event, as well as the third of eight automobile endurance races in the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship. Going into the race, Audi Sport Team Joest drivers André Lotterer, Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer led the Drivers' Championship with 44 points, one ahead of their teammates Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Loïc Duval in second. Anthony Davidson, Stéphane Sarrazin and Sébastien Buemi of Toyota were third with 27 points. Rebellion Racing's Neel Jani, Nico Prost and Nick Heidfeld were fourth with 20 points, and their teammates Andrea Belicchi, Mathias Beche and Cheng Congfu were fifth with 16 points. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Audi (with 51 points) led their rivals Toyota by 20 points. ## Balance of Performance changes The FIA Endurance Committee altered the balance of performance in three of the four categories to try and create parity in the classes. All hybrid and non-hybrid petrol powered LMP1 (Le Mans Prototype 1) cars received an additional 3 L (0.66 imp gal; 0.79 US gal) of fuel capacity for improved fuel mileage, allowing the Toyota TS030 Hybrid to run with a 76 L (17 imp gal; 20 US gal) fuel tank and the Rebellion Racing Lola B12/60s and the Strakka Racing HPD ARX-03c had 80 L (18 imp gal; 21 US gal) fuel tanks. Porsche received an increase in performance by allowing a 0.3 mm (0.012 in) larger air restrictor on the air intake of their engines in the Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Professional (LMGTE Pro) and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance Amateur (LMGTE Am) classes. Aston Martin had 10 kg (22 lb) of ballast added to its LMGTE Pro Vantage while the Chevrolet Corvette C6.R received a 25 kg (55 lb) reduction in weight. The Ferrari 458 Italia and the SRT Viper GTS-R had no performance changes. ## Entries The automotive group Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) granted 56 invitations to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Entries were divided between the LMP1, LMP2 (Le Mans Prototype 2), LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am categories. By the deadline for entries on 16 January, 71 applications had been filed with the ACO. ### Automatic entries Automatic entries were earned by teams which won their class in the previous running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, or had won Le Mans-based series and events such as the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), European Le Mans Series (ELMS), and the Petit Le Mans. Some second-place finishers were also granted automatic entries in certain series. Entries were also granted for the winners of the Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). A final entry was granted to the champion in the ELMS' Formula Le Mans category, with the winner receiving their invitation in LMP2. For the first time, champions in the ALMS or at the Petit Le Mans did not automatically receive an entry. Instead, the ALMS was given three "at-large" entries, which the series awarded to teams who were interested in participating at Le Mans. As automatic entries were granted to teams, the teams could change their cars from the previous year to the next, but were not allowed to change their category. However, automatic invitations in the two GTE categories could be swapped between the two based on the driver line-ups chosen by these teams. On 14 November 2012, the list of automatic entries was announced by the ACO. JMB Racing and Conquest Racing were the two teams who chose not to accept their automatic invitations as they did not run in any series during the 2013 season. ### Entry list In conjunction with the announcement of entries for the WEC and the ELMS, the ACO announced the full 56 car entry list and ten vehicle reserve list during a press conference at the Eurosites George V in Paris on 1 February. In addition to the 32 guaranteed entries from the WEC, ten entries came from the ELMS and eight from the ALMS, while the rest of the field was filled with one-off entries competing only at Le Mans. ### Garage 56 The ACO continued the Garage 56 concept that was started in the 2012 race. Garage 56 allows a 56th entry to the race, using the rigors of the 24 Hours of Le Mans to test new technology. The ACO announced during 2012 that the Swiss-developed GreenGT vehicle had been granted the Garage 56 entry for the 2013 edition. The GreenGT LMP-H2 utilizes a hydrogen fuel cell to run electric motors within an open-top Le Mans Prototype style body. Three weeks before the race, GreenGT withdrew their entry, citing a lack of time to complete the complex fine-tuning of the hydrogen fuel cell system. No reserve was available for the 56th garage. ### Reserves Ten reserves were initially nominated by the ACO, limited to the LMP2 and both of the LMGTE categories. Extreme Speed Motorsports withdrew their Ferrari 458 Italia on 1 March, following a late switch to the ALMS' P2 category. This promoted the No. 98 Aston Martin Racing Vantage to the race entry as a result and the car was moved from LMGTE Am to the LMGTE Pro class to bring the number of Aston Martins in the event to five. Two weeks later, Sébastien Loeb Racing withdrew its Oreca 03-Nissan because of financial troubles, promoting the No. 34 Race Performance Oreca-Judd entry from the reserves. Starworks Motorsport, defending champions of Le Mans and the FIA WEC in the LMP2 category, withdrew their HPD-Honda entry on 9 April due to a lack of funding from sponsors, promoting Morand Racing's Morgan-Judd. Ten days later, Gulf Racing Middle East withdrew the second of its Lola-Nissan B12/80s and DKR Engineering's Lola-Judd replaced the entry. On 21 May, the ACO released a revised entry list that confirmed the withdrawal of Extreme Speed Motorsport's Ferrari 458 Italia, Sébastien Loeb Racing's Oreca 03-Nissan, Starworks Motorsports' HPD-Honda and Gulf Racing Middle East's Lola-Nissan B12/80 from the 24 Hours of Le Mans. On 1 June, GreenGT Technologies announced the withdrawal of the Garage 56 entry, with Prospeed Competition's LMGTE Am Porsche 911 GT3 RSR being announced as its replacement. By the start of the event, only a single reserve entry had not been promoted to the race. ## Testing and practice A test day was held on 9 June, two weeks prior to the race, and required all entrants for the race to participate in eight hours of track time divided into two sessions. All 56 entries were involved as well as a fourth Audi R18 e-tron quattro driven by Marco Bonanomi for 2014 tyre testing, a Signatech Alpine A450 for Paul-Loup Chatin and Tristan Gommendy and a spare Level 5 Motorsports HPD ARX-03b tested by Scott Tucker. Two Team Endurance Challenge-entered Le Mans Prototype Challenge Oreca-FLM09s also participated. Wet weather swept the area during the day and had Audi set the fastest time with a 3 minutes, 22.583 seconds lap from Duval in the No. 2 car at the end of the second session. Lucas di Grassi in the sister No. 3 entry followed in second and Lotterer completed an all-Audi top three lockout in third. Toyota placed fourth and sixth with its best times coming from Sarrazin and Alexander Wurz; they were separated by Bonanomi's Audi. During the first session, Duval was distracted by an unidentified object hitting his windscreen and heavily damaged the No. 2 car in the wall alongside the track at Tertre Rouge corner. Olivier Pla's OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan was the fastest LMP2 car with a late second session effort of 3 minutes, 38.801 and he was eight-tenths of a second faster than Nelson Panciatici's Signatech Alpine. LMGTE Pro was topped by Peter Dumbreck for Aston Martin Racing while Jamie Campbell-Walter also helped the marque lead in LMGTE Am. Crashes from Tracy Krohn of Krohn Racing at the right of Mulsanne corner, AF Corse's Giancarlo Fisichella leaving the same turn and Dominik Kraihamer for Lotus in the Porsche Curves led to stoppages during both sessions. Two days after the test day, Audi and Signatech Alpine held two half an hour practice sessions in the morning and the afternoon on the shorter and permanent Bugatti Circuit in wet weather conditions to ensure that car components worked efficiently before the race. Official practice was held on 19 June with the full 56-car field on track for four hours. A torrential rain shower fell at Le Mans in the early afternoon but it tapered off before practice commenced and the track dried up during the session although light rain returned midway through and some cars spun. Audi again led from the start with Tréluyer's No. 1 car setting a benchmark time until Duval went quickest with a 3 minutes, 25.514 seconds lap. Marino Franchitti's No. 33 Level 5 Motorsports car was the early LMP2 pace setter until Alex Brundle's No. 24 OAK Racing Morgan moved to first but it was Bertrand Baguette's sister No. 35 entry who was fastest with a lap of 3 minutes, 42.813 seconds. He was a second faster than Maxime Martin's No. 46 Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca. An hour into the session, Eric Lux crashed the No. 41 Greaves Motorsport car heavily into a barrier entering the second Mulsanne chicane and the session was stopped due to debris on the track. Lux was unhurt. The LMGTE Pro class lead constantly changed amongst the field with Richard Lietz's No. 91 Porsche 911 RSR fastest with Kamui Kobayashi's No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari two-tenths of a second slower in second. Kristian Poulsen's No. 95 Aston Martin was quickest in the LMGTE Am category. Krohn had a high speed accident at the downhill Dunlop Esses and his car was launched about 20 ft (6.1 m) into the air before landing in a gravel trap, bringing an early end to practice due to a large amount of damage to the barriers. ## Qualifying The first dry session of the week occurred on Wednesday night in the first of three qualifying sessions to set the race's starting order with the fastest lap times set by each team's quickest driver. Audi again led from the outset with Duval's early lap of 3 minutes, 23.169 seconds which he then improved to 3 minutes, 22.349 seconds. The lap was not bettered for the remainder of the session, giving the No. 2 car provisional pole position. Marc Gené's sister No. 3 car followed in second and Lotterer's No. 1 vehicle was third. The two Toyotas replicated their test day results of fourth and sixth with drivers Kazuki Nakajima and Buemi although the former was second early in qualifying and a driveline problem curtailed the No. 8 Toyota's session at Arnage corner; they were separated by the leading LMP1 privateer, the No. 12 Rebellion. John Martin's No. 26 G-Drive Oreca set the only lap under 3-minute, 40 seconds in LMP2 with the best class lap of 3 minutes, 39.535 seconds, ahead of Franck Mailleux's No. 43 Morand Racing Morgan-Nissan and Brundle's No. 24 OAK Racing car. Pierre Thiriet had a heavy accident at the second Mulsanne chicane, denting the barriers alongside the track, and ending the session 15 minutes early because repairs could not be completed in time. The professional category of LMGTE was dominated by Aston Martin who took three of the first four places with the best time coming from Frédéric Makowiecki's No. 99 car as less than a second separated the top seven. Allan Simonsen helped Aston Martin to be fastest in LMGTE Am and he narrowly eclipsed Paolo Ruberti's No. 88 Proton Porsche. Thursday's first qualifying session was affected by a waterlogged track after a short torrential downpour fell minutes before it commenced. Track conditions improved progressively as it dried but all lap times were slower than on Wednesday evening. The best overall lap time of the session came from Davidson in the No. 7 Toyota with a time of 3 minutes, 42.507 seconds and the fastest Audi was the No. 3 entry of di Grassi in second. The second Audi driven by Fässler was third-fastest and the quickest privateer team was the No. 12 Rebellion in fourth. Davidson's No. 8 Toyota rounded out the top five. In LMP2, John Martin kept the No. 26 G-Drive car leading the category while Tom Kimber-Smith drove the No. 41 Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan on its first laps since it was repaired and was second-fastest in its class during the session and was provisionally 19th overall. The sister No. 42 Greaves car was third in the hands of Jann Mardenborough. The No. 40 Boutsen Ginion Oreca-Nissan of Matt Downs crashed heavily into the inside barrier entering Indianapolis corner with its front. Downs was unhurt but qualifying ended early because repairs to the wall ran until after the session. The LMGTE Pro class was led by Jan Magnussen's No. 73 Chevrolet Corvette C6.R while the LMGTE Am category was topped by the No. 96 Aston Martin of Stuart Hall with his teammate Poulsen in second. With the stoppage in the second qualifying session, the third session was expanded by half an hour to give teams more time on the circuit. The track continued to be wet but it dried sufficiently enough to allow for an improvement to lap times with 20 minutes left as on-track grip continued to improve. Two stoppages curtailed running in the session: the first was triggered for ten minutes when Christophe Bourret removed the left-front wheel off the No. 77 IMSA Performance Matmut car in an impact with the wall at the first Mulsanne chicane. Jonny Kane in the No. 21 Strakka Racing HPD ARX-03c caused the second red flag after he heavily clouted a barrier and littered debris at the second Mulsanne chicane. Lotterer and his teammate di Grassi could not usurp Duval's time from Wednesday evening because they were caught out by damp patches on the circuit and the No. 2 started from pole position in the first Audi top three lockout on the Le Mans grid since the 2002 edition. Toyota could not challenge Audi but Sarrazin improved the No. 8 car's best lap in the final seconds of qualifying to start fourth and Nakajima's sister No. 7 vehicle qualified fifth. The No. 12 Rebellion Lola of Jani was the highest-placed privateer in sixth overall. LMP2 continued to be led by G-Drive because of John Martin's lap from first qualifying until Pla's No. 24 OAK Racing Morgan pushed hard in clear air to clinch the pole position in the category with a time of 3 minutes, 38.621 seconds recorded at the end of the session. The car was a second faster than the No. 26 G-Drive Oreca which began from the second position. Oliver Turvey found improved pace in the No. 38 Jota Sport Zytek Nissan and bettered the car's best time to start third and the top three in LMP2 were represented by three manufacturers. Stefan Mücke got the No. 97 Aston Martin to provisional pole position in LMGTE Pro but his teammate Makowiecki in the sister No. 99 car responded immediately to retake the position with a lap of 3 minutes, 54.635 seconds. The No. 91 Porsche of Marc Lieb bettered the car's fastest lap time on the final lap of the third qualifying session to take third place on the starting grid. The lead in LMGTE Am remained with the No. 95 Aston Martin as Simonsen improved his own provisional pole lap to a 3 minutes, 57.776 seconds to go more than a second faster than Proton Competition's Porsche. ### Qualifying results Pole positions in each class are denoted in bold. The fastest time set by each entry is denoted in gray. Notes: - – The noted cars were moved to the back of the starting grid due to not having all three of their drivers setting qualifying lap times within 110 per cent of the class leader's pole time. ## Warm-up The cars took to the circuit on Saturday morning for a 45-minute warm-up session in dry and clear weather. The No. 7 Toyota of Nicolas Lapierre set the team's fastest lap time of the weekend so far at 3 minutes, 26.227 seconds. McNish's No. 2 Audi was 0.504 seconds adrift in second and third was occupied by his teammate Fässler in the sister No. 1 car. The fastest LMP2 lap was set by John Martin's No. 26 G-Drive Oreca with a time of 3 minutes, 43.158 seconds, almost nine-tenths of a second faster than Brendon Hartley in the No. 48 Murphy Prototypes vehicle and Archie Hamilton's No. 25 Delta-ADR car was third. Porsche and AF Corse exchanged first in LMGTE Pro before Toni Vilander's No. 71 Ferrari set the best time in the category, while Patrick Long, driving the No. 77 Dempsey Proton Porsche, was fastest in LMGTE Am and second quickest amongst all LMGTE cars. Several drivers went off the track during the session. Kristensen hit the No. 67 IMSA Performance Matmut car of Pascal Gibon at Indianapolis turn and yellow flags were waved in the area because Kristensen was stranded in the grass to the left of the circuit. Philippe Dumas crashed the No. 70 Larbre Compétition Corvette into a tyre barrier at the Dunlop chicane halfway through the session and the No. 25 G-Drive car of Tor Graves blew its right-rear tyre on the run to the Porsche Curves and veered heavily into the inside barriers and debris was littered on the track. Graves was unhurt. ## Race ### Start Approximately 245,000 spectators attended the event on race day. The weather at the start was damp and overcast. The air temperature throughout ranged from 12.8 to 18.3 °C (55.0 to 64.9 °F) and the track temperature was between 15.5 to 21.8 °C (59.9 to 71.2 °F). The race began at 15:00 Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00), with Grand-Am Road Racing founder and NASCAR vice-chairman Jim France waving the French tricolour to signal the start the race. Lotterer moved past McNish for the lead and then Lapierre overtook McNish for second place at the second Mulsanne chicane but he lost the position at the exit of the corner. Lapierre then reclaimed second from McNish on the approach to Mulsanne turn. Davidson overtook di Grassi for second through the Ford chicane as Darren Turner's No. 97 Aston Martin took the lead of LMGTE Pro from his Aston Martin teammate Bell in the No. 95 car. Lapierre was closing on Lotterer when the safety cars were deployed for an accident at Tetre Rouge corner. LMGTE Am leader Allan Simonsen had pulled clear of the class field when nine minutes into the race the rear-left corner of his car lost traction on a kerb leaving Tetre Rouge corner. When he attempted to correct, his car veered left and he collided heavily with a left-hand armco barrier at a near head-on trajectory. The impact crushed the roof of the car and its supporting roll cage; its force launched it slowly back onto the circuit with a wheel and its doors detached. Medical personnel were swift to tend to Simonsen, who was reported to be conscious and talking to officials before going into unconsciousness. He was extricated from the car and transported to the infield medical centre after about 20 minutes. Simonsen was later declared dead from his injuries at the infield medical centre. His partner Catrina requested that Aston Martin Racing continue racing. The safety cars remained on track for 58 minutes in which the LMGTE Pro order was divided into two-halves. When racing resumed, Davidson and the Audi duo of McNish of di Grassi overtook Lapierre to demote him to fifth. Davidson took the overall lead for the first time on pit stop cycle rotation due to Toyota's better fuel economy over the Audis and kept it until the end of lap fifteen. Lieb moved to the front of LMGTE Pro by passing the Aston Martins of Rob Bell and Turner but the No. 91 Porsche lost the first position to Turner halfway through the second hour. At the start of the third hour, Lotterer was demoted to second when Lapierre moved past him on the exit to Mulsanne corner but he was not recorded as the leader because he entered the pit lane at the end of lap twenty-seven. Rain returned to the track at this time as Turvey and Maxime Martin moved in front of Pierre Kaffer's No. 49 PeCom Racing Oreca for second and third in LMP2. Lapierre stopped at the side of the Mulsanne Straight with a fuel pressure fault for half a minute before resuming in fifth. At the close of hour three, Gibon's No. 67 IMSA Performance Matmut car blew its left-rear tyre and lost the lead of LMGTE Am. The rain later eased and Audi re-established its advantage in the top three overall while Brundle extended the No. 24 OAK Racing car's gap in LMP2 over Mike Conway after he went into the gravel trap at Mulsanne corner while lapping Hall's No. 99 Aston Martin and Matt Griffin assumed the lead in LMGTE Am. The main on-track action involved Lucas Luhr who ran wide in the Porsche Curves and glanced an inside barrier alongside the track but he continued without significant damage to the No. 38 Jota Sport Zytek. Makowiecki moved past his Aston Martin teammate Mücke for the LMGTE Pro lead and Oliver Jarvis was delayed by the No. 39 DKR Engineering Lola through the Porsche Curves and lost third to Buemi. He retook the position from Buemi on the next lap. Later, Bill Auberlen relieved Mücke in the No. 97 Aston Martin and he was overtaken by Patrick Pilet's No. 92 Porsche for second in LMGTE Pro. Seven minutes into the sixth hour, the left-rear tyre of Gommendy's No. 36 Signatech Alpine blew and disintegrated entering the Mulsanne Straight as he hit the barrier at Tetre Rouge turn. The safety cars were dispatched for 15 minutes for debris removal. ### Night As the safety cars were recalled, David Heinemeier Hansson in the No. 24 OAK Racing Nissan collided with Duval's leading No. 2 Audi in the Porsche Curves, losing him the LMP2 lead to the No. 26 G-Drive car of Roman Rusinov. The safety cars were once again required for a short period of time as Kraihamer's No. 32 Lotus T128 shed its rear bodywork on the Mulsanne Straight and nullifying Tréluyer and Jarvis' advantage because Duval returned to second after he made a pit stop during the period. When racing resumed, Duval reset the fastest lap of the race to 3 minutes, 23.269 seconds as Bruno Senna's No. 99 Aston Martin traded the lead of LMGTE Pro with Dumbreck's No. 97 car for two laps. Two of the three contenders for the outright victory had trouble soon after. Jarvis' No. 3 Audi made contact with slower traffic and his right-rear tyre was punctured and spun under the Dunlop Bridge. The tyre carcass fell off as he returned to the pit lane though repairs to the rear of the car were deemed unnecessary by his crew and the car returned to the circuit in fourth overall. Later, the No. 1 Audi of Tréluyer was forced into the garage for 43 minutes to replace a failed crankshaft position sensor and gave the lead back to the sister No. 2 Audi of Duval and Sarrazin's No. 8 Toyota took over second. Darryl O'Young had been the fastest driver in LMGTE Am at the time and brought the No. 55 AF Corse Ferrari into the class lead. John Martin's No. 26 G-Drive entry ceded the lead of LMP2 to Baguette's No. 35 OAK Racing car when he was instructed to enter the pit lane to have an illuminated door number panel repaired, which took two laps to complete. The safety cars were deployed for a fourth time after 8 hours and 50 minutes when Graves spun the No. 25 Delta-ADR vehicle into the barriers at the Porsche Curves and scattered debris on the track. In the outright lead, the safety cars divided the field into two with Kristensen increasing his lead to three minutes and seven seconds over Sarrazin. Safety cars were required once again at the close of the ninth hour when Krohn spun and crashed his Ferrari in the Porsche Curves and retired. Racing resumed ten minutes into hour ten with Gianluca Roda beaching the No. 88 Porsche into the gravel trap at the Dunlop Bridge and allowing actor Patrick Dempsey in the No. 77 Dempsey Proton car into the lead of LMGTE Am. Turner ran the No. 97 Aston Martin into the gravel at Mulsanne corner, allowing Lieb's No. 91 Porsche to pass him for second in LMGTE Pro. In LMGTE Am, Lorenzo Case's No. 55 AF Corse Ferrari returned to the category lead when Dempsey made a scheduled pit stop for fuel. For 21 minutes, safety cars were needed as Tony Burgess destroyed the rear of the No. 30 HVM Status Lola in the Porsche Curves. Burgess was unhurt and he was transported to hospital for a precautionary check-up. As the race approached its halfway point, Howard Blank significantly damaged the No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari as well as the catchfencing at the Dunlop Esses and Tetre Rouge corner, causing an event record seventh safety car period. Blank was unhurt and attempted a return to the pit lane but he could not do so and retired. During the safety car period, the No. 99 Aston Martin had its brake discs changed and gave the LMGTE Pro lead to the No. 92 Porsche. The safety cars were due to be withdrawn just before the conclusion of hour 13 but heavy rain over much of the circuit extended it by nine minutes and several teams installed wet-weather tyres on their cars. Two laps after racing resumed, Lapierre's No. 7 Toyota got ahead of his teammate Buemi for second overall and he maintained it until Buemi retook the position. Before the close of the 14th hour, Kane spun and beached the No. 21 Strakka car in the gravel trap at the Ford Chicane but got the car back onto the circuit. Romain Brandela's No. 39 DKR Engineering Lola piled into the No. 55 AF Corse Ferrari and the No. 88 Proton Porsche before swerving in the front of Buemi's No. 8 Toyota at the Dunlop chicane. Luhr's No. 38 Jota Sport Zytek bowed out of a battle with the No. 42 Greaves Zytek of Michael Krumm for third in LMP2 when he entered the garage for repairs to his front wheel bearing. ### Morning to early afternoon In the 16th hour, Richard Lietz brought the No. 92 Porsche to the pit lane and had its brake discs changed in four minutes, giving the lead of LMGTE Pro to Senna's No. 99 Aston Martin, which held a three-quarters of a minute advantage over him but Lietz lowered it to six seconds by the hour's end. Light rain returned during the 17th hour but it was not heavy enough to affect the race. In LMGTE Am, Bourret led in the No. 76 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche by a lap over Lorenzo Case's No. 55 AF Corse Ferrari while Dempsey in his No. 77 Porsche was being closed on by Marco Cioci's No. 61 car. The 18th hour commenced with Auberlen's No. 98 Aston Martin emitting smoke from the car and leaking a large amount of oil down the Mulsanne Straight before stopping at Mulsanne corner. The safety cars were dispatched for 25 minutes to allow the oil to be dried by track marshals. Racing resumed for only half a minute as the safety cars were needed to tend to repairs to a heavily damaged trackside barrier exiting the second Mulsanne chicane; Belicchi was about to lap a slower GTE Porsche but lost traction at the rear of the No. 13 Rebellion and veered right into a barrier. He returned to the pit lane for extensive repairs to the car's front. When racing resumed, Lietz retook the LMGTE Pro lead. He held it until his spin at the Dunlop chicane delayed Dumbreck, allowing Senna in the class lead and Timo Bernhard's No. 91 Porsche into second. After the safety cars were withdrawn, Makowiecki relieved Senna in the No. 99 Aston Martin and pulled away from Lieb's No. 92 Porsche. Rain again fell on the circuit with five hours and fifteen minutes to go and some cars were caught out in the change of weather. Makowiecki veered to the left coming out of the second Mulsanne chicane and collided with a barrier head-on. That ricocheted the car back to the centre of the track. Makowiecki was unhurt but the safety cars were again required as repairs were made to the wall and Lieb became the new LMGTE Pro leader. After racing continued, Nakajima's No. 7 Toyota cut the Dunlop chicane and launched over the kerb and spun backwards across the circuit. He rejoined without losing third. The rain eased and track conditions improved as Turner reduced Lieb's advantage at the front of LMGTE Pro to 8.8 seconds by the end of the 20th hour. In the 21st hour, a miscommunication with the mechanics of Matteo Malucelli's No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari in his pit box released him with the fuelling hose attached to the car and into a collision with the No. 45 OAK Racing Morgan of Philippe Mondolot. Rain returned to the circuit during the hour. The No. 1 Audi of Lotterer aquaplaned into a gravel trap and narrowly avoided piling into Davidson's No. 8 Toyota on the Mulsanne Straight. The No. 3 Audi of Jarvis moved past Lapierre's No. 7 Toyota for third during pit stop rotation and Lapierre went off at the exit of Indianapolis corner as he battled to retake the position. Kristensen's No. 2 Audi made a pit stop for a slow puncture as heavy rain returned with 90 minutes left and several cars aquaplaned on the saturated circuit. Lapierre's No. 7 Toyota had no grip on the run into the Porsche Curves and veered deep left into the tyre wall at high speed. He exited the car but returned to it after two minutes. Baguette had an anxious moment going into Indianapolis turn in the No. 35 OAK Racing car but kept the LMP2 lead over his teammate Pla's sister No. 24 car. The safety cars were again dispatched as the LMGTE Pro lead returned to Lieb's No. 91 Porsche from Mücke's No. 97 Aston Martin in pit stop rotation. During the safety car period, Pla's No. 25 OAK Racing entry was separated from his teammate Baguette and was four minutes behind as the No. 6 Toyota was repaired in its garage and returned in fourth. Just before the safety cars entered the pit lane with half an hour to go, the No. 97 Aston Martin made a pit stop for tyres and made the LMGTE Pro battle against the two lead Porsches. More rain began to fall 15 minutes later and it turned into a deluge over the entire circuit as Kristensen's No. 2 Audi began the final lap. ### Finish The No. 2 Audi of Kristensen, Duval and McNish led the final 248 laps to claim the manufacturer's twelfth victory at Le Mans since its first at the 2000 race. It was Kristensen's ninth overall victory, McNish's third and Duval's first. Buemi unlapped himself from Kristensen in the final half an hour but fell back a lap soon after. He, Davidson and Sarrazin's No. 8 Toyota finished second and the No. 3 Audi of di Grassi, Jarvis and Gené completed the overall podium in third. On the podium, the Danish flag was flown at half-mast in memory of Simonsen and Kristensen dedicated the victory to him. The No. 21 Strakka HPD ARX-03c of Kane, Danny Watts and Nick Leventis was unhindered after the demise of Rebellion and won the privateer LMP1 category in sixth overall. OAK Racing won the LMP2 class with the No. 35 Morgan of Baugette, Ricardo González and Martin Plowman and the team's second car of Pla, Heinememer Hansson and Brundle was a lap behind for a second-place finish. John Martin, Conway and Rusinov finished third in class in the No. 26 G-Drive Oreca but the car was disqualified because its fuel tank was found to be over the mandated limit of 75 L (16 imp gal; 20 US gal), promoting the No. 42 Greaves Zytek of Mardenborough, Krumm and Lucas Ordóñez to the category podium. In LMGTE Pro, Porsche Manthey Racing claimed the category win on the Le Mans debut of the new 991-generation race car with drivers Lieb, Lietz and Romain Dumas in the No. 92 car, while the LMGTE Am class increased Porsche's total class victories at Le Mans to 100 with the No. 76 IMSA Performance entry of Jean-Karl Vernay, Raymond Narac and Bourret winning. ## Post-race Allan Simonsen was mourned by the motorsport community. A memorial foundation was established in his honour by the Danish Automobile Sports Union and he was given a funeral in his hometown of Odense in Southern Denmark on 2 July. Following Simonsen's death, the ACO announced the improvements to several sections of the circuit in December 2013. Tertre Rouge was re-profiled and new barriers and tire walls were added at the corner's exit onto the Mulsanne Straight. Run-off areas in the Corvette corners were expanded, and TecPro barriers were added behind the tire walls at the start of the Porsche corners. Large kerbs were added to the paved run-off at the second Ford chicane to deter cars from cutting the corner. A new safety system was implemented, which allowed for the intervention of safety vehicles on a particular section of the circuit without the need for neutralising the entire race with safety cars. The system, termed a slow zone, requires cars to slow and maintain a speed of 60 km/h (37 mph) within a specific zone. With their victory, Kristensen, McNish and Duval became the new leaders of the Drivers' Championship with 94 points. Lotterer, Fässler and Tréluyer fell to second and were thirty points behind their teammates. Davidson, Sarrazin and Buemi's second-place result enabled the trio to remain in third while di Grassi, Gené and Jarvis' third-position result allowed them to advance from sixth to fourth. Wurz and Lapierre rounded out the top five drivers in the championship standings. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Audi kept their lead with 102 points but increased it to thirty-five points over Toyota with five rounds left in the season. ## Race results Class winners are marked in bold. Cars failing to complete 70 per cent (244 laps) of winner's distance are marked as Not Classified (NC). ## Standings after the race
8,268,129
Silver Bullet (Knott's Berry Farm)
1,110,722,923
Inverted roller coaster
[ "Inverted roller coasters manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard", "Roller coasters in California", "Roller coasters introduced in 2004", "Roller coasters operated by Cedar Fair", "Western (genre) amusement rides" ]
Silver Bullet is a western-themed steel inverted roller coaster designed by Bolliger & Mabillard located at Knott's Berry Farm, an amusement park in Buena Park, California. The \$16 million roller coaster was announced on December 1, 2003 and opened on December 7, 2004. A first rider auction was also held where people would bid on seats to be the first riders. The track is approximately 3,125 feet (952 m) long and the lift hill is about 146 feet (45 m) tall. The ride lasts two minutes and thirty seconds and features six inversions including a vertical loop, cobra roll, zero-g roll, and two corkscrews. ## History On May 28, 2003, a trademark for the name "Silver Bullet" was filed by Cedar Fair, the owners of the park. Construction for the new roller coaster began in September 2003 with the relocation of The Church of Reflections. As part of an \$85 million investment in all Cedar Fair parks, Silver Bullet was announced to the public on December 1, 2003. The final piece of track was installed on September 30, 2004. On November 5, 2004, Knott's Berry Farm launched a "First Rider Auction" in which people from anywhere in the world would bid against each other in order to be one of the first public riders on Silver Bullet on December 7, 2004. Although sixty seats were made available, only 13 of these received bids. Out of those bids, the highest bid was \$200 (US), and a total of \$1643 was raised with all the money going to the Speech & Language Development Center of Buena Park. After construction and testing was completed, the roller coaster opened first to the media, then to the public on December 7, 2004 though the initial scheduled opening was on Christmas Eve of 2004. Silver Bullet was also one of four attractions that opened at Knott's Berry Farm in the same year and carries a western theme. ## Ride experience The ride entrance is located in the Ghost Town section of Knott's Berry Farm. Silver Bullet's layout passes through three of the park's themed areas: Ghost Town, Fiesta Village, and Indian Trails. After the train departs from the station, it makes a 90 degree right turn before beginning to climb the 146-foot (45 m) lift hill. Once at the top, the train goes through a pre-drop before entering the 109-foot (33 m) downward right drop. Once at the bottom, the train enters a 105-foot (32 m) vertical loop. After exiting the loop, the train makes a banked left turn leading into a cobra roll. Almost immediately after, the train goes through a zero-gravity roll followed by a downward left helix. Then, the train enters the first of two corkscrews which are separated by a banked left turn. Next, the train enters an upward left helix (the beginning of the helix is close to water) before entering the brake run. The train then makes a right turn into a second, shorter, brake run which leads straight back to the station. One cycle lasts approximately two minutes and thirty seconds. ### Track The steel track of Silver Bullet is approximately 3,125 feet (952 m) long, and the height of the lift is approximately 146 feet (45 m) high. Silver Bullet, along with all of Bolliger & Mabillard's other roller coasters, was manufactured by Clermont Steel Fabricators of Batavia, Ohio, and erected by Coan Construction Company. The track is filled with sand to reduce the noise made by the trains. Silver Bullet was also the first Bolliger & Mabillard inverted roller coaster to use magnetic brakes in the brake run. The track and supports of the second brake run to the lift hill are all red. The remaining track is yellow with red rails and the remaining supports are colored white. ### Trains Silver Bullet operates with two steel and fiberglass trains, with a third kept in reserve for maintenance. Each train has eight cars that can seat four riders in a single row, for a total of 32 riders per train. The seats are colored light blue, with orange over-the-shoulder restraints and tri-color wheel coverings (red, orange, and yellow). ## Reception Joel Taylor from Amusement Business praised the ride saying, "In all, it's an exhilarating 2 1/2 minutes from start to finish." He was also impressed with the ride's smoothness and overall excitement, stating that the ride is, "smooth and comfortable while delivering twisting, stomach-churning excitement." ### Awards Since Silver Bullet's debut in 2004, it has consistently been ranked in the top 140 positions in Mitch Hawker's Best Roller Steel Coaster Poll. It peaked at position 99 in 2010. The roller coaster has never placed on the Golden Ticket Awards. 1. No Steel Roller Coaster Poll was held in 2011.
779,874
Patsy Fagan
1,153,097,701
Irish former professional snooker player, 1977 UK champion
[ "1951 births", "Irish snooker players", "Living people", "Sportspeople from Dublin (city)", "UK champions (snooker)" ]
Patsy Fagan (born 15 January 1951) is an Irish former professional snooker player. Having been runner-up in the 1974 English Amateur Championship, he turned professional in October 1976. He experienced early success with victories at the 1977 UK Championship and the 1977 Dry Blackthorn Cup but following a car accident, developed a psychological block when using the which affected his playing and he did not win another title. He lost his professional status in 1989 following a 2–9 playoff defeat by Brady Gollan and now works as a snooker coach. His highest career ranking was 11, in 1978/79. ## Early life and amateur career Fagan was born in Dublin on 15 January 1951, one of twelve children. He started playing snooker at the age of 12, and moved to London in 1968. He played at the Chiswick Memorial Club, and in 1974 it was reported in a local newspaper that in a six-frame session he had recorded a break of 106, another over 80, and three more over 70. In the 1974 English Amateur Championship, he defeated Mick Fisher 6–1 in the Southern section final before being beaten 7–11 by the reigning world amateur champion Ray Edmonds in the main final. In 1975, Fagan became the youngest player ever to win the London and Home Counties billiards championship, playing with a focus on potting the red ball as he defeated Ron Riggins 1,176–881 in the final. In the 1975 English Amateur Snooker Championship he lost 1–4 to Terry Griffiths in the Southern region quarter-finals, and in the 1976 Southern area final he lost 6–8 to Chris Ross despite making a tournament record break of 115. In 1974, Fagan won a money match against Alex Higgins for £2,000, an amount equal to that received by the winner of the 1974 World Snooker Championship. ## Early professional success Regarded as "one of the most exciting players of the mid-seventies", and "one of the men most likely to succeed when he turned professional", Fagan turned professional in October 1976. He made his first maximum break on 15 January 1977, his 26th birthday, against Dave Gilbert at the Clapton Bus Garage Social Club. At the 1977 World Snooker Championship, he beat Jim Meadowcroft 11–9 in qualifying and then lost 7–13 to defending champion Ray Reardon in the last 16, having finished the first session of the match level at 4–4 and the second 7–10 behind. Reardon then won all three in the final session, taking the last two of them on the black. The matches between Fagan and Reardon, and between Fred Davis and John Pulman, were the first to be held at the Crucible Theatre, which as of 2022 had remained as the venue for the World Snooker Championship for 45 years. At the UK Championship in 1977, which at the time was a non-ranking event open only to UK passport holders, Fagan beat Jackie Rea 5–1 in the first round, and Fred Davis 5–0 in the second round. He won in the deciding frame in each of the next two rounds, 5–4 against Jim Meadowcroft in the quarter-finals and 9–8 against John Virgo in the semi-finals, to reach the final against another player in his first year as a professional, Doug Mountjoy. The two finalists shared the first four frames but Fagan won the next four to take a 6–2 lead, after which Mountjoy also won four frames in a row to level the match at 6–6. Fagan then took the next two frames to lead 8–6, eventually winning the match 12–9. Before the UK championship, Fagan had been announced as one of the four invited contenders for the 1977 Dry Blackthorn Cup, along with world championship winners Alex Higgins, John Spencer and Reardon. He beat Spencer in the semi-final then Higgins 4–2 in the final to win the tournament. He received £2,000 prize money for his Dry Blackthorn Cup win, the same amount he had received for his UK championship victory a couple of weeks earlier. ## Later professional career Fagan failed to make an impact at the 1978 Masters, losing 2–4 to John Pulman in the first round. At the 1978 World Snooker Championship he beat John Dunning 9–5 and then Alex Higgins 13–12. In the match against Higgins, Fagan was 10–12 behind but won two frames on the black and the last on the pink. He lost 10–13 to Fred Davis in the quarter-finals. In the 1970s and until 1982, the Irish Professional Championship was played on a challenge basis, and in April 1978 Fagan played defending champion Alex Higgins for the title. Fagan was a frame ahead after the first day of the match, at 5–4. At the start of the next day's play he extended his lead to 8–5 before Higgins drew level at 8–8 and then won seven of the next nine to leave Fagan 10–15 behind at the end of the second day. Higgins won the match 21–13. Entering the 1978 UK Championship as defending champion, Fagan lost the first four frames of his opening match against David Taylor before tying the match at 4–4, eventually losing 7–9. He was also defeated by Taylor in the first round of the 1979 Masters, losing 3–5 after having been 3–2 ahead. From late 1978, following a car accident, Fagan started to experience a psychological block when using the . This version of the "yips" caused him to spend a long time cueing and then usually ; because of this, he would play left-handed rather than using the rest where possible. This problem affected his match against Taylor at the Masters in January 1979. Two months later, he challenged Higgins again for the Irish Professional title. Higgins won the match 21–12, making a break of 124 in 2 minutes and 45 seconds on the final day. Fagan was part of the "rest of the world" team at the 1979 World Challenge Cup, along with Perrie Mans and Jimmy van Rensberg. In their match against the Northern Ireland team, Fagan lost 0–1 to Dennis Taylor on the first day, in a match where Taylor asked him to play again after Fagan had fouled by touching the blue ball with his sleeve whilst using the rest in attempting to hit the yellow ball. Fagan was quoted afterwards as saying "Dennis took advantage of my rest problems but it didn't bother me." On the second day, he beat Jackie Rea 1–0 but then lost 0–3 to Higgins on the second. Northern Ireland won the match 8–7 after having been 2–7 behind. Fagan and his fellow team members also lost 7–8 against the England team. Dennis Taylor also beat Fagan in the quarter-finals of the 1979 UK Championship, 9–6, after Fagan had knocked out Mike Hallett 9–4 and Graham Miles 9–5. In the 1980 World Snooker Championship Fagan lost in his first match, 6–10 to Steve Davis. This was the last time he reached as far as the quarter-final of a major tournament other than the Irish Professional Championship or the 1986 Irish Masters, the latter resulting from a walkover against Kirk Stevens. He lost to Dennis Taylor in a challenge for the Irish Professional Championship in 1981, coming from 0–3 down to lead 5–4 at the end of the first session, and 10–8 at the close of the second session. The third session saw Fagan make a break of 107 on his way to building a 15–12 lead. However, Taylor retained the title, winning 22–21. A 2–9 professional playoff defeat by Brady Gollan in April 1989 meant that Fagan lost his professional status. His highest career ranking had been 11, in 1978/79, and his best finish in a ranking tournament was reaching the quarter-final at the 1978 World Snooker Championship. He subsequently worked as a landscape gardener and a night-shift sorter for the Post Office. Fagan works as a snooker coach and has coached the Paddington professional Alfie Burden, who was the world amateur champion in 2009. Ronnie O'Sullivan sought coaching advice from Fagan in 2011. He entered the 2021 World Seniors Championship, losing 0–3 to Stephen Hendry in the first round. ## Performance and rankings timeline ## Career finals ### Non-ranking finals: 6 (3 titles) ### Amateur finals: 1
44,155,451
John Komnenos (Domestic of the Schools)
1,165,099,362
Byzantine military leader (c. 1015–1067)
[ "1010s births", "1067 deaths", "11th-century Byzantine people", "Byzantine generals", "Domestics of the Schools", "Komnenos dynasty", "Kouropalatai" ]
John Komnenos (Greek: Ἰωάννης Κομνηνός, Iōannēs Komnēnos; c. 1015 – 12 July 1067) was a Byzantine aristocrat and military leader. The younger brother of Emperor Isaac I Komnenos, he served as Domestic of the Schools during Isaac's brief reign (1057–59). When Isaac I abdicated, Constantine X Doukas became emperor and John withdrew from public life until his death in 1067. Through his son Alexios I Komnenos, who became emperor in 1081, he was the progenitor of the Komnenian dynasty that ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1081 until 1185, and the Empire of Trebizond from 1204 until 1461. ## Life John Komnenos was born c. 1015 as the younger son of the patrikios Manuel Erotikos Komnenos, a senior military commander in the late reign of Basil II (r. 976–1025). He is first mentioned in 1057, the year his elder brother Isaac I Komnenos, at the head of a group of generals, rebelled against Michael VI (r. 1056–1057) and forced him off the throne. At the time of the revolt, John held the post of doux, but after his brother's victory, he was raised to the rank of kouropalates and appointed as Domestic of the Schools of the West. Nothing is known of John's activities during his brother's reign, although Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger, who married John's granddaughter Anna Komnene, says that in his capacity as Domestic of the West he left his (unspecified) acts as an "immortal monument" to the people of the Balkan provinces. Isaac's reign was cut short by his clash with the powerful Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Keroularios, who had been instrumental in securing Michael VI's abdication, and the powerful civil aristocracy of the capital. Keroularios and his supporters led the opposition against Isaac's stringent economizing policies, forcing him to resign on 22 November 1059, after which he withdrew to the Stoudios Monastery. The crown then passed to Constantine X Doukas (r. 1059–1067), although Bryennios asserts that it was first offered to John, who refused it, despite the pressure of his wife, Anna Dalassene, to accept. According to the historian Konstantinos Varzos, however, this version is suspect, and may well be a post-fact attempt at legitimizing the eventual usurpation of the throne by John's son, Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118). John is not mentioned in the sources during the reign of Constantine X, perhaps indicating, according to Konstantinos Varzos, that he was in imperial disfavour, despite Bryennios' assertion that both he and his brother remained much honoured by the new emperor. The late 12th-century typikon of the Monastery of Christ Philanthropos, founded by Alexios I's wife Irene Doukaina, is the only source to record that John Komnenos retired to a monastery, probably at the same time as his wife, Anna Dalassene. He died as a monk on 12 July 1067. ## Family John Komnenos married Anna Dalassene, the daughter of Alexios Charon, most likely in 1044. Anna, born c. 1028, long outlived her husband and after his death ran the family as its undisputed matriarch. Anna became involved in conspiracies against the Doukas family, whom she never forgave for taking the throne in 1059. Later she also played a major role in the successful overthrow of Nikephoros III Botaneiates (r. 1078–1081) and the rise of her son Alexios to the throne. After that, and for about fifteen years, she served as the virtual co-ruler of the empire alongside her son. She then retired to a monastery, where she died in 1100 or 1102. With Anna, John had eight children, five boys and three girls: - Manuel Komnenos (c. 1045 – 1071), kouropalates and protostrator, married a relative of Romanos IV Diogenes (r. 1068–1071) - Maria Komnene [Wikidata] (c. 1047 – after 1094), married the panhypersebastos Michael Taronites - Isaac Komnenos (c. 1050 – 1102/4), sebastokrator, married Irene, daughter of the ruler of Alania - Eudokia Komnene [Wikidata] (c. 1052 – before 1136), married Nikephoros Melissenos - Theodora Komnene [Wikidata] (c. 1054 – before 1136), married the kouropalates Constantine Diogenes, son of Romanos IV - Alexios Komnenos (1057–1118), the future emperor, married Irene Doukaina - Adrianos Komnenos (c. 1060 – 1105), protosebastos, married Zoe Doukaina - Nikephoros Komnenos (c. 1062 – after 1136), sebastos and droungarios of the fleet
23,139,208
Middle-earth
1,171,213,535
Continent in Tolkien's legendarium
[ "Fictional continents", "Fictional elements introduced in 1937", "Fictional universes", "Middle-earth", "Middle-earth locations" ]
Middle-earth is the setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the Miðgarðr of Norse mythology and Middangeard in Old English works, including Beowulf. Middle-earth is the human-inhabited world, that is, the central continent of the Earth, in Tolkien's imagined mythological past. Tolkien's most widely read works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, are set entirely in Middle-earth. "Middle-earth" has also become a short-hand term for Tolkien's legendarium, his large body of fantasy writings, and for the entirety of his fictional world. Middle-earth is the main continent of Earth (Arda) in an imaginary period of the Earth's past, ending with Tolkien's Third Age, about 6,000 years ago. Tolkien's tales of Middle-earth mostly focus on the north-west of the continent. This part of Middle-earth is suggestive of Europe, the north-west of the Old World, with the environs of the Shire reminiscent of England, but, more specifically, the West Midlands, with the town at its centre, Hobbiton, at the same latitude as Oxford. Tolkien's Middle-earth is peopled not only by Men, but by Elves, Dwarves, Ents, and Hobbits, and by monsters including Dragons, Trolls, and Orcs. Through the imagined history, the peoples other than Men dwindle, leave or fade, until, after the period described in the books, only Men are left on the planet. ## Context: Tolkien's legendarium Tolkien's stories chronicle the struggle to control the world (called Arda) and the continent of Middle-earth between, on one side, the angelic Valar, the Elves and their allies among Men; and, on the other, the demonic Melkor or Morgoth (a Vala fallen into evil), his followers, and their subjects, mostly Orcs, Dragons and enslaved Men. In later ages, after Morgoth's defeat and expulsion from Arda, his place is taken by his lieutenant Sauron, a Maia. The Valar withdrew from direct involvement in the affairs of Middle-earth after the defeat of Morgoth, but in later years they sent the wizards or Istari to help in the struggle against Sauron. The most important wizards were Gandalf the Grey and Saruman the White. Gandalf remained true to his mission and proved crucial in the fight against Sauron. Saruman, however, became corrupted and sought to establish himself as a rival to Sauron for absolute power in Middle-earth. Other races involved in the struggle against evil were Dwarves, Ents and most famously Hobbits. The early stages of the conflict are chronicled in The Silmarillion, while the final stages of the struggle to defeat Sauron are told in The Hobbit and in The Lord of the Rings. Conflict over the possession and control of precious or magical objects is a recurring theme in the stories. The First Age is dominated by the doomed quest of the elf Fëanor and most of his Noldorin clan to recover three precious jewels called the Silmarils that Morgoth stole from them (hence the title The Silmarillion). The Second and Third Age are dominated by the forging of the Rings of Power, and the fate of the One Ring forged by Sauron, which gives its wearer the power to control or influence those wearing the other Rings of Power. ## Etymology In ancient Germanic mythology, the world of Men is known by several names. The Old English middangeard descends from an earlier Germanic word and so has cognates such as the Old Norse Miðgarðr from Norse mythology, transliterated to modern English as Midgard. The original meaning of the second element, from proto-Germanic gardaz, was "enclosure", cognate with English "yard"; middangeard was assimilated by folk etymology to "middle earth". Middle-earth was at the centre of nine worlds in Norse mythology, and of three worlds (with heaven above, hell below) in the later Christian version. ### Use by Tolkien Tolkien's first encounter with the term middangeard, as he stated in a letter, was in an Old English fragment he studied in 1913-14: > Éala éarendel engla beorhtast / ofer middangeard monnum sended. > Hail Earendel, brightest of angels / above the middle-earth sent unto men. This is from the Crist poems by Cynewulf. The name Éarendel was the inspiration for Tolkien's mariner Eärendil, who set sail from the lands of Middle-earth to ask for aid from the angelic powers, the Valar. Tolkien's earliest poem about Eärendil, from 1914, the same year he read the Crist poems, refers to "the mid-world's rim". Tolkien considered middangeard to be "the abiding place of men", the physical world in which Man lives out his life and destiny, as opposed to the unseen worlds above and below it, namely Heaven and Hell. He states that it is "my own mother-earth for place", but in an imaginary past time, not some other planet. He began to use the term "Middle-earth" in the late 1930s, in place of the earlier terms "Great Lands", "Outer Lands", and "Hither Lands". The first published appearance of the word "Middle-earth" in Tolkien's works is in the prologue to The Lord of the Rings: "Hobbits had, in fact, lived quietly in Middle-earth for many long years before other folk even became aware of them". ### Extended usage The term Middle-earth has come to be applied as a short-hand for the entirety of Tolkien's legendarium, instead of the technically more appropriate, but lesser known terms "Arda" for the physical world and "Eä" for the physical reality of creation as a whole. In careful geographical terms, Middle-earth is a continent on Arda, excluding regions such as Aman and the isle of Númenor. The alternative wider use is reflected in book titles such as The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, The Road to Middle-earth, The Atlas of Middle-earth, and the series The History of Middle-earth. ### In other works Tolkien's biographer Humphrey Carpenter states that Tolkien's Middle-earth is the known world, "recalling the Norse Midgard and the equivalent words in early English", noting that Tolkien made it clear that this was "our world ... in a purely imaginary ... period of antiquity". Tolkien explained in a letter to his publisher that it "is just a use of Middle English middle-erde (or erthe), altered from Old English Middangeard: the name for the inhabited lands of men 'between the seas'." There are allusions to a similarly- or identically-named world in the work of other writers both before and after him. William Morris's 1870 translation of the Volsung Saga calls the world "Midgard". The poem "The Gray Magician" (1918) by Margaret Widdemer says: "I was living very merrily on Middle Earth / As merry as a maid may be / Till the Gray Magician came down along the road / And flung his cobweb cloak on me..." C. S. Lewis's Space Trilogy calls the home planet "Middle-earth" and specifically references Tolkien's legendarium. ## Geography Within the overall context of his legendarium, Tolkien's Middle-earth was part of his created world of Arda (which includes the Undying Lands of Aman and Eressëa, removed from the rest of the physical world), which itself was part of the wider creation he called Eä. Aman and Middle-earth are separated from each other by the Great Sea Belegaer, though they make contact in the far north at the Grinding Ice or Helcaraxë. The western continent, Aman, was the home of the Valar, and the Elves called the Eldar. On the eastern side of Middle-earth was the Eastern Sea. Most of the events in Tolkien's stories take place in the north-west of Middle-earth. In the First Age, further to the north-west was the subcontinent Beleriand; it was engulfed by the ocean at the end of the First Age. ### Maps Tolkien prepared several maps of Middle-earth. Some were published in his lifetime. The main maps are those published in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales, and appear as foldouts or illustrations. Tolkien insisted that maps be included in the book for the benefit of readers, despite the expense involved. The definitive and iconic map of Middle-earth was published in The Lord of the Rings. It was refined with Tolkien's approval by the illustrator Pauline Baynes, using Tolkien's detailed annotations, with vignette images and larger paintings at top and bottom, into a stand-alone poster, "A Map of Middle-earth". ### Cosmology In Tolkien's conception, Arda was created specifically as "the Habitation" (Imbar or Ambar) for the Children of Ilúvatar (Elves and Men). It is envisaged in a flat Earth cosmology, with the stars, and later also the sun and moon, revolving around it. Tolkien's sketches show a disc-like face for the world which looked up to the stars. However, Tolkien's legendarium addresses the spherical Earth paradigm by depicting a catastrophic transition from a flat to a spherical world, in which Aman became inaccessible to mortal Men. ### Correspondence with the geography of Earth Tolkien described the region in which the Hobbits lived as "the North-West of the Old World, east of the Sea", and the north-west of the Old World is essentially Europe, especially Britain. However, as he noted in private letters, the geographies do not match, and he did not consciously make them match when he was writing: > As for the shape of the world of the Third Age, I am afraid that was devised 'dramatically' rather than geologically, or paleontologically. > I am historically minded. Middle-earth is not an imaginary world. ... The theatre of my tale is this earth, the one in which we now live, but the historical period is imaginary. The essentials of that abiding place are all there (at any rate for inhabitants of N.W. Europe), so naturally it feels familiar, even if a little glorified by enchantment of distance in time. > ...if it were 'history', it would be difficult to fit the lands and events (or 'cultures') into such evidence as we possess, archaeological or geological, concerning the nearer or remoter part of what is now called Europe; though the Shire, for instance, is expressly stated to have been in this region...I hope the, evidently long but undefined gap in time between the Fall of Barad-dûr and our Days is sufficient for 'literary credibility', even for readers acquainted with what is known as 'pre-history'. I have, I suppose, constructed an imaginary time, but kept my feet on my own mother-earth for place. I prefer that to the contemporary mode of seeking remote globes in 'space'. In another letter, Tolkien made correspondences in latitude between Europe and Middle-earth: > The action of the story takes place in the North-west of 'Middle-earth', equivalent in latitude to the coastlands of Europe and the north shores of the Mediterranean. ... If Hobbiton and Rivendell are taken (as intended) to be at about the latitude of Oxford, then Minas Tirith, 600 miles south, is at about the latitude of Florence. The Mouths of Anduin and the ancient city of Pelargir are at about the latitude of ancient Troy. In another letter he stated: > ...Thank you very much for your letter. ... It came while I was away, in Gondor (sc. Venice), as a change from the North Kingdom, or I would have answered before. He did confirm, however, that the Shire, the land of his Hobbit heroes, was based on England, in particular the West Midlands of his childhood. In the Prologue to The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien writes: "Those days, the Third Age of Middle-earth, are now long past, and the shape of all lands has been changed..." The Appendices make several references in both history and etymology of topics "now" (in modern English languages) and "then" (ancient languages); > The year no doubt was of the same length,1 [the footnote here reads: 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds.] for long ago as those times are now reckoned in years and lives of men, they were not very remote according to the memory of the Earth. Both the Appendices and The Silmarillion mention constellations, stars and planets that correspond to those seen in the northern hemisphere of Earth, including the Sun, the Moon, Orion (and his belt), Ursa Major and Mars. A map annotated by Tolkien places Hobbiton on the same latitude as Oxford, and Minas Tirith at the latitude of Ravenna, Italy. He used Belgrade, Cyprus, and Jerusalem as further reference points. ## History The history of Middle-earth, as described in The Silmarillion, began when the Ainur entered Arda, following the creation events in the Ainulindalë and long ages of labour throughout Eä, the fictional universe. Time from that point was measured using Valian Years, though the subsequent history of Arda was divided into three time periods using different years, known as the Years of the Lamps, the Years of the Trees and the Years of the Sun. A separate, overlapping chronology divides the history into 'Ages of the Children of Ilúvatar'. The first such Age began with the Awakening of the Elves during the Years of the Trees (by which time the Ainur had already long inhabited Arda) and continued for the first six centuries of the Years of the Sun. All the subsequent Ages took place during the Years of the Sun. Arda is, as critics have noted, "our own green and solid Earth at some quite remote epoch in the past." As such, it has not only an immediate story but a history, and the whole thing is an "imagined prehistory" of the Earth as it is now. ## Peoples and their languages ### Ainur The Ainur were angelic beings created by the one god of Eä, Eru Ilúvatar. The cosmological myth called the Ainulindalë, or "Music of the Ainur", describes how the Ainur sang for Ilúvatar, who then created Eä to give material form to their music. Many of the Ainur entered Eä, and the greatest of these were called the Valar. Melkor, the chief agent of evil in Eä, and later called Morgoth, was initially one of the Valar. With the Valar came lesser spirits of the Ainur, called the Maiar. Melian, the wife of the Elven King Thingol in the First Age, was a Maia. There were also evil Maiar, including the Balrogs and the second Dark Lord, Sauron. Sauron devised the Black Speech (Burzum) for his slaves (such as Orcs) to speak. In the Third Age, five of the Maiar were embodied and sent to Middle-earth to help the free peoples to overthrow Sauron. These are the Istari or Wizards, including Gandalf, Saruman, and Radagast. ### Elves The Elves are known as "the Firstborn" of Ilúvatar: intelligent beings created by Ilúvatar alone, with many different clans. Originally Elves all spoke the same Common Eldarin ancestral tongue, but over thousands of years it diverged into different languages. The two main Elven languages were Quenya, spoken by the Light Elves, and Sindarin, spoken by the Dark Elves. Physically the Elves resemble humans; indeed, they can marry and have children with them, as shown by the few Half-elven in the legendarium. The Elves are agile and quick footed, being able to walk a tightrope unaided. Their eyesight is keen. Elves are immortal, unless killed in battle. They are re-embodied in Valinor if killed. ### Men Men were "the Secondborn" of the Children of Ilúvatar: they awoke in Middle-earth much later than the Elves. Men (and Hobbits) were the last humanoid race to appear in Middle-earth: Dwarves, Ents and Orcs also preceded them. The capitalized term "Man" (plural "Men") is used as a gender-neutral racial description, to distinguish humans from the other human-like races of Middle-earth. In appearance they are much like Elves, but on average less beautiful. Unlike Elves, Men are mortal, ageing and dying quickly, usually living 40–80 years. However the Númenóreans could live several centuries, and their descendants the Dúnedain also tended to live longer than regular humans. This tendency was weakened both by time and by intermingling with lesser peoples. ### Dwarves The Dwarves are a race of humanoids shorter than Men, and larger than Hobbits. The Dwarves were created by the Vala Aulë, before the Firstborn awoke due to his impatience for the arrival of the children of Ilúvatar to teach and to cherish. When confronted and shamed for his presumption by Ilúvatar, Eru took pity on Aulë and gave his creation the gift of life but under the condition that they be taken and put to sleep in widely separated locations in Middle Earth and not to awaken until after the Firstborn were upon the Earth. They are mortal like Men, but live much longer, usually several hundred years. A peculiarity of Dwarves is that both males and females are bearded, and thus appear identical to outsiders. The language spoken by Dwarves is called Khuzdul, and was kept largely as a secret language for their own use. Like Hobbits, Dwarves live exclusively in Middle-earth. They generally reside under mountains, where they are specialists in mining and metalwork. ### Hobbits Tolkien identified Hobbits as an offshoot of the race of Men. Another name for Hobbit is 'Halfling', as they were generally only half the size of Men. In their lifestyle and habits they closely resemble Men, and in particular Englishmen, except for their preference for living in holes underground. By the time of The Hobbit, most of them lived in the Shire, a region of the northwest of Middle-earth, having migrated there from further east. ### Other humanoid peoples The Ents were treelike shepherds of trees, their name coming from an Old English word for giant. Orcs and Trolls (made of stone) were evil creatures bred by Morgoth. They were not original creations but rather "mockeries" of the Children of Ilúvatar and Ents, since only Ilúvatar has the ability to give conscious life to things. The precise origins of Orcs and Trolls are unclear, as Tolkien considered various possibilities and sometimes changed his mind, leaving several inconsistent accounts. Late in the Third Age, the Uruks or Uruk-hai appeared: a race of Orcs of great size and strength that tolerate sunlight better than ordinary Orcs. Tolkien also mentions "Men-orcs" and "Orc-men"; or "half-orcs" or "goblin-men". They share some characteristics with Orcs (like "slanty eyes") but look more like men. Tolkien, a Catholic, realised he had created a dilemma for himself, as if these beings were sentient and had a sense of right and wrong, then they must have souls and could not have been created wholly evil. ### Dragons Dragons (or "worms") appear in several varieties, distinguished by whether they have wings and whether they breathe fire (cold-drakes versus fire-drakes). The first of the fire-drakes (Urulóki in Quenya) was Glaurung the Golden, bred by Morgoth in Angband, and called "The Great Worm", "The Worm of Morgoth", and "The Father of Dragons". ### Sapient animals Middle-earth contains sapient animals including the Eagles, Huan the Great Hound from Valinor and the wolf-like Wargs. In general the origins and nature of these animals are unclear. Giant spiders such as Shelob descended from Ungoliant, of unknown origin. Other sapient species include the Crebain, evil crows who become spies for Saruman, and the Ravens of Erebor, who brought news to the Dwarves. The horse-line of the Mearas of Rohan, especially Gandalf's mount, Shadowfax, also appear to be intelligent and understand human speech. The bear-man Beorn had a number of animal friends about his house. ## Adaptations ### Motion pictures The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, both set in Middle-earth, have been the subject of a variety of film adaptations. There were many early failed attempts to bring the fictional universe to life on screen, some even rejected by the author himself, who was skeptical of the prospects of an adaptation. While animated and live-action shorts were made of Tolkien's books in 1967 and 1971, the first commercial depiction of The Hobbit onscreen was the Rankin/Bass animated TV special in 1977. In 1978 the first big screen adaptation of the fictional setting was introduced in Ralph Bakshi's animated The Lord of the Rings. New Line Cinema released the first part of director Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film series in 2001 as part of a trilogy; it was followed by a prequel trilogy in The Hobbit film series with several of the same actors playing their old roles. In 2003, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King received 11 Academy Award nominations and won all of them, matching the totals awarded to Ben-Hur and Titanic. Two well-made fan films of Middle-earth, The Hunt for Gollum and Born of Hope, were uploaded to YouTube on 8 May 2009 and 11 December 2009 respectively. ### Games Numerous computer and video games have been inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien's works set in Middle-earth. Titles have been produced by studios such as Electronic Arts, Vivendi Games, Melbourne House, and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Aside from officially licensed games, many Tolkien-inspired mods, custom maps and total conversions have been made for many games, such as Warcraft III, Minecraft, Rome: Total War, Medieval II: Total War, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. In addition, there are many text-based MMORPGs (known as MU\*s) based on Middle-earth. The oldest of these dates back to 1991, and was known as Middle-earth MUD, run by using LPMUD. After the Middle-earth MUD ended in 1992, it was followed by Elendor and MUME. ## See also - J.R.R. Tolkien bibliography - Middle-earth canon - Outline of Middle-earth
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Adrian Monk
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Fictional American private investigator
[ "Fictional European-American people", "Fictional San Francisco Police Department detectives", "Fictional characters based on Sherlock Holmes", "Fictional characters from San Francisco", "Fictional characters with eidetic memory", "Fictional characters with obsessive–compulsive disorder", "Fictional characters with post-traumatic stress disorder", "Fictional consultants", "Fictional police officers in television", "Fictional private investigators", "Fictional undercover police agents", "Monk (TV series) characters", "Television characters introduced in 2002" ]
Adrian Monk, portrayed by Tony Shalhoub, is the title character and protagonist of the USA Network television series Monk. He is a renowned former homicide detective for the San Francisco Police Department. Monk has obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and multiple phobias, all of which intensified after the murder of his wife Trudy, resulting in his suspension from the department. He works as a private police homicide consultant and undergoes therapy with the ultimate goal of overcoming his grief, taking control of his phobias and disorder, and being reinstated as a police detective. Series co-creator David Hoberman says that he based Monk partly on himself, and also on other fictional detectives, such as Lt. Columbo, Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes. Other actors considered for the role included Dave Foley, John Ritter, Henry Winkler, Stanley Tucci, Alfred Molina and Michael Richards. The network eventually chose Shalhoub because they felt he could "bring the humor and passion of Monk to life". Stanley Tucci and Alfred Molina had guest appearances on Monk, with Tucci appearing in season 5 episode "Mr. Monk and the Actor", and Molina appearing in season 6 episode "Mr. Monk and the Naked Man". Both Monk and Shalhoub have garnered many accolades. Monk was included in Bravo's list of The 100 Greatest Television Characters of All Time, and Shalhoub has won various awards for his portrayal, including a Golden Globe Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. ## Character development ### Creation Monk was originally envisioned as a "more goofy and physical" Inspector Clouseau type of character. However, co-creator David Hoberman came up with the idea of a detective with obsessive–compulsive disorder. This was inspired by his own bout with self-diagnosed obsessive–compulsive disorder; in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette interview, he stated that, "Like Monk, I couldn't walk on cracks and had to touch poles. I have no idea why—but if I didn't do these things, something terrible would happen." Other fictional inspirations include Columbo and Sherlock Holmes, and his obsession with neatness and order may be an homage to Hercule Poirot. Like Holmes, and occasionally Poirot, Monk is accompanied by an earnest assistant with little or no detective ability, similar to Doctor Watson and Captain Hastings, respectively; Monk's two major allies from the police department, Captain Stottlemeyer and Lieutenant Disher (credited as "Deacon" in the pilot episode), are reminiscent of Inspector Lestrade and Chief Inspector Japp, Holmes's and Poirot's well-meaning but ineffectual respective police counterparts. In addition, Monk has a brother whose abilities of deduction are even more amazing than his, yet much more geographically limited due to his own personal problems, somewhat in the style of Mycroft Holmes (who is more adept than Sherlock but also notoriously lazy). When trying to think of a possible name for the character, co-creator Andy Breckman decided to look for a "simple monosyllabic last name". ### Casting Co-creator David Hoberman revealed that the casting sessions were "depressing". USA Network's executive vice president Jeff Wachtel stated that looking for the right actor to portray Monk was "casting hell". After two years of developing, the producers still had not found an actor to play the part. Although Michael Richards was considered, distributors of the show ABC and Touchstone worried that the audience would typecast him for more comedic roles after his previous work as Cosmo Kramer on the sitcom series Seinfeld. After Richards dropped out of the project, he went on to star in another series about a private detective, The Michael Richards Show, which was cancelled after six episodes. ## Personality ### Phobias In the script for the pilot, "Mr. Monk and the Candidate", Monk is described as being "a modern day Sherlock Holmes", only "nuts". In the introductory scene of the episode, he is examining the scene of Nicole Vasques' murder, and picks up several important clues, but frequently interrupts himself to wonder aloud whether he left his stove on when he left the house that morning. In the season 6 episode "Mr. Monk and the Naked Man", Monk mentions that he has 312 phobias. The strongest of these phobias are: germs, dentists, sharp or pointed objects, vomiting, death and dead things, snakes, crowds, heights, fear, mushrooms, and small spaces, as Monk also mentions in the season 2 episode "Mr. Monk and the Very Very Old Man". In addition, new phobias develop at seemingly random intervals, such as a temporary fear of blankets at the end of the season 5 episode "Mr. Monk Gets a New Shrink". Though it is impossible to determine his strongest phobia, there does appear to be some form of hierarchy between them: in the series finale "Mr. Monk and the End", it is made clear that his fear of vomiting is greater than his fear of death. He has also stated, "Snakes trump heights!". Due to his overpowering fear of germs, Monk refuses to touch door handles and other common objects with his bare hands, avoids contact with anything dirty, and always uses sanitary wipes after human contact, including basic handshakes. He is also unable to eat food that other people have touched—as shown in the season 7 episode "Mr. Monk Falls in Love" when he and Leyla Zlatavich go out to a Zemenian restaurant—and tends to throw away household items after people touch them, such as ladles and plastic storage containers. ### Assistants Monk's phobias and anxiety disorders make him depend on personal assistants, who drive him around, do his shopping, and always carry a supply of wipes for his use, as shown in episodes like "Mr. Monk Meets the Playboy", "Mr. Monk Goes to the Carnival", etc. They also take active roles in organizing his consultancy work, and sometimes investigate cases themselves. His first assistant, Sharona Fleming (Bitty Schram), is a single mother and practical nurse by profession, hired by the police department to help Monk recover from the three-year catatonic state he lapsed into after Trudy's death. After several years of loyal service, Sharona leaves the show in season 3 to return to New Jersey and remarry her ex-husband Trevor. After her abrupt departure, Monk has a chance meeting with Natalie Teeger (Traylor Howard), whom he hires as his new assistant starting in "Mr. Monk and the Red Herring". ### Fixations Monk carries out futile and endless attempts to make the world "balanced". Monk is fixated with symmetry, going so far as to always cut his pancakes into squares. He strongly prefers familiarity and rigorous structure in his activities. Monk only drinks Sierra Springs water throughout seasons 1–5 and a fictional brand (Summit Creek) throughout seasons 6–8, to the point that in the season 2 episode "Mr. Monk Goes to Mexico", Monk goes without drinking for several days because he cannot find any Sierra Springs. Monk also has great difficulty in standard social situations, so much so that he must write down common small talk phrases on note cards in an attempt to successfully socialize. While his obsessive attention to minute detail cripples him socially, it makes him a gifted detective and profiler. He has a photographic memory, and can reconstruct entire crime scenes based on little more than scraps of detail that seem unimportant to his colleagues. His trademark method of examining a crime scene, which Sharona used to call his "Zen Sherlock Holmes thing", is to wander seemingly aimlessly around a crime scene, occasionally holding up his hands, as though framing a shot for a photograph. Shalhoub explained in an interview that Monk does this because it "isolates and cuts the crime scene into slices" and causes Monk to look at parts of the crime scene instead of the whole. Monk's delicate mental condition means that his ability to function can be severely impaired by a variety of factors. One example is shown during the season 5 episode "Mr. Monk and the Garbage Strike", in which the smell of garbage prevents Monk from being able to easily identify the murderer of sanitation union boss Jimmy Cusack, eventually causing him to have a psychotic break. Another example is when entering a chaotic murder scene in the episode "Mr. Monk Meets Dale the Whale", his first impulse is to straighten the lamps, though he is frequently able to hold off his fixations when examining bodies or collecting evidence. Even though Monk's mental state in the series is said to be a result of his wife's death, he shows signs of OCD in flashbacks dating back to childhood. To deal with his OCD and phobias, Monk visits a psychiatrist – Dr. Charles Kroger (Stanley Kamel) in the first six seasons and Dr. Neven Bell (Héctor Elizondo) in the last two seasons – weekly, and at several points, daily. Moments of extreme stress can cause Monk to enter a dissociative state, as seen in the Season 1 episode "Mr. Monk and the Earthquake"; he begins speaking in gibberish during these periods, severely hindering his investigative skills. Over the course of the show (roughly 8 years), Monk overcomes many of his phobias and some aspects of his OCD. Though he has not been cured of many of them, if any at all, he has been able to put them in the back of his mind when involved in case work. One breakthrough is shown in the season 8 episode "Mr. Monk Goes to Group Therapy", when Adrian is locked in a car trunk with his fellow OCD patient and personal rival, Harold Krenshaw. During the terrifying trip, both men overcome their longstanding claustrophobia (fear of small spaces), as well as their own differences, resulting in them becoming friends. Possibly due to this, as well as the many cases Monk has solved over the years, he is reinstated as detective first class by Stottlemeyer in the season 8 episode "Mr. Monk and the Badge". Though he is very excited about his reinstatement initially, Monk realizes that becoming a detective again did not mean that he would be happier. In a session with Dr. Bell, Monk realizes he was always happy as a private detective and consultant to the SFPD as his own boss. After overcoming his fear of heights and single-handedly capturing a killer window-washer, Monk turns in his badge. In the series finale, he learns that his late wife, Trudy, had given birth to a daughter before they had met. The knowledge and events of the episode lead to him becoming more cheerful. ## Character background He has OCD and is quite the germaphobic. Monk also has a brother, Ambrose Monk, an agoraphobic who has not left his house for thirty-two years. ### Childhood and family Monk was born October 17, 1959. This is shown in the episode "Happy Birthday, Mr. Monk", which takes place during the week of October 16, 2009 (It is stated that his 50th birthday is the next day, October 17, 2009). It is known he was born in the fictitious Marin County town of Tewksbury, to parents Agnes (Rose Abdoo) and Jack Monk, Sr (Dan Hedaya). His parents were very strict and over-protective, although his mother was emotionally distant and seemed to have difficulty expressing affection. Adrian's father, Jack Monk, abandoned the family when Adrian was eight years old when he went out for Chinese food and did not return. Adrian has an agoraphobic brother named Ambrose (John Turturro), from whom he was estranged for seven years following Trudy's death. Monk states that his mother died in 1994. The episode "Mr. Monk and the Marathon Man" reveals that Monk ran track in high school, but quit when he entered college. The episode "Mr. Monk and the Other Detective" reveals that his alma mater is the University of California, Berkeley. In "Mr. Monk and the Class Reunion", it is revealed that Monk had the nickname "Captain Cool" in college, and Natalie is amused to find that he got it from the fact he spent every weekend defrosting the student lounge refrigerator in his dormitory. His dorm room was number 303. In the episode "Mr. Monk and the Three Pies", it is revealed that Monk was angry at his brother for never contacting him after Trudy's death. When the two are reunited, Ambrose admits he did not call Adrian because he believed that he was responsible for the incident. Trudy was getting Ambrose cough medicine and was in the store's garage when she was killed. Adrian hugged Ambrose, and told him he is not responsible for Trudy's death. Their father, Jack, remained unseen in the series until the season 5 episode "Mr. Monk Meets His Dad". Jack explains that he did not return to his family because the message in his fortune cookie read "Stand by your man", which he interpreted to mean that he should follow his own path. Adrian does not forgive his father at first, but warms up to him while assisting him on his duties as a truck driver. Jack mentions reading Sherlock Holmes stories to Adrian, who eventually learned to solve the mysteries before hearing the stories' endings. At the end of the episode, Jack teaches Adrian how to ride a bike—something he was not there to do when Adrian was a child. Jack also mentioned that he has a son from another wife, named Jack Jr. (Steve Zahn). Monk later meets Jack Jr. in the episode "Mr. Monk's Other Brother", and helps to clear him of murder. ### Trudy's death Throughout the series, Adrian mourns his wife Trudy (Melora Hardin/Stellina Rusich), who was killed on December 14, 1997, by a car bomb he believes was meant for him. The death of his wife exacerbated Monk's already existing obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). One year later, the San Francisco Police Department granted him a psychological discharge. Monk calls it "a temporary suspension" and hopes to be reinstated. His grief over Trudy's death is intense and with him every day of his life; he has stated more than once that he is never truly happy and never expects to be truly happy ever again. Since Trudy's death, Monk has been consulting with San Francisco police detectives on various cases. As the series progresses, Monk makes several discoveries in his ongoing search for the man who killed his wife. He discovered that the car bomb was indeed meant for Trudy and was built by a man named Warrick Tennyson (Frank Collison), who was hired by a six-fingered man named Frank Nunn (Courtney Gains). In the sixth-season finale, he finally catches up with Nunn, who claims to be yet another pawn with no idea why Trudy was killed. This turns out to be part of a larger plot to have Nunn set up another bombing and then frame Monk for killing him; he is shot before Monk can have him arrested or convince him to surrender the name of his employer in Trudy's murder. Once Monk is cleared in Nunn's death, the police find correspondence from Nunn dating back to the era of Trudy's death. There are no names discovered, but there is a reference to the person responsible, referred to as "The Judge". In the two-part series finale, "Mr. Monk and the End", it is revealed that "The Judge" is Ethan Rickover, an actual courtroom judge portrayed by Craig T. Nelson. Monk learns that the older, married, Rickover had an affair with Trudy when she was in her 20s, and that Trudy gave birth to and subsequently adopted out an infant daughter, Molly Evans, on January 2, 1983. Aspiring to one day join the Supreme Court, Rickover had Trudy murdered for fear that the affair would derail his chances at being elected to the court. When Monk finally helps to expose Rickover, he commits suicide, but not before indicating Molly's current whereabouts. Monk later meets and forms a paternal relationship with Molly in the series finale. ### Music In the pilot episode "Mr. Monk and the Candidate," Monk plays the clarinet during his visit to Trudy's grave. His musical abilities show up again in "Mr. Monk and the Red-Headed Stranger," when he is invited to sit in with Willie Nelson's band and later plays "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" with Nelson at Trudy's grave. Though Monk is not seen playing the clarinet afterwards, it occasionally is brought up in conversation (such as during a conversation with Kris Kedder in "Mr. Monk Goes to a Rock Concert"). Monk describes himself as Nelson's second-biggest fan and Trudy as his biggest. ## Reception ### Critical reception Critical reviews of character Adrian Monk have been positive. Howard Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times called Monk "TV's most original sleuth ever". In a review of the show's pilot, Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle stated: "With his history and his sympathetic but funny 'problems', he [Monk] becomes one of television's most likable characters and floats a show that is, to be frank, riddled with improbability and simplicity". Monk is ranked number 99 on Bravo's list of The 100 Greatest Television Characters of All Time. He was named one of TV's Smartest Detectives by AOL. Shalhoub's performance in the series has also been praised. Michael Sauter of Entertainment Weekly called Shalhoub's performance "original and splendid". Nancy Franklin of The New Yorker said that Shalhoub is "brilliant at conveying the tension between Monk’s desire to conquer his disorder and his dug-in defense of his behavior". Michael Abernethy of PopMatters describes Shalhoub's performance as "exceptional", and Melanie McFarland of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer states that Shalhoub is a "careful and nuanced actor". Alan Sepinwall of the Star-Ledger described Shalhoub as "the perfect fit" for the character. ### Awards Shalhoub has earned various awards and nominations for his work in Monk. He has been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series each year from 2003 to 2010, winning in 2003, 2005 and 2006. In 2003, Shalhoub won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy; he was nominated for the same category in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2009. He received the 2004 and the 2005 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series, with nominations in the same category in 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.
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Pakistani cricket team in Ireland in 2018
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International cricket tour
[ "2018 in Irish cricket", "2018 in Pakistani cricket", "International cricket competitions in 2018", "Pakistani cricket tours of Ireland" ]
The Pakistan cricket team visited Ireland in May 2018 to play a Test match against the Ireland cricket team. It was the first Test match played by the Ireland men's team since they were awarded Test status by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in June 2017. The Ireland women's cricket team had previously played a Women's Test match, also against Pakistan, in July 2000. Pakistan won the one-off fixture by five wickets, with Ireland's Kevin O'Brien named as the man of the match, after he scored the first century for Ireland in Test cricket. Despite the loss, Cricket Ireland deemed the match to be a great success. Pakistan's captain, Sarfaraz Ahmed, praised the performance of the Ireland team during the match. ## Background In July 2000, the Ireland and Pakistan women's teams faced each other in a Women's Test match at College Park, Dublin. Ireland women won the match by an innings and 54 runs, with Isobel Joyce named as the player of the match. It was the first Test match played by the Ireland women's cricket team. On 22 June 2017, at the ICC's annual conference, the Ireland and Afghanistan men's teams were awarded Test status, becoming Full Members of the ICC in the process. The ICC confirmed that a single Test match would be played between Ireland and Pakistan during their meeting in Auckland in October 2017. Cricket Ireland confirmed the date of the Test match at their board meeting in October 2017, with The Village, Malahide, announced as the venue the following month. The match took place ahead of Pakistan's Test series against England and their T20I series against Scotland. The ICC appointed three English officials for the match. Richard Illingworth and Nigel Llong were the onfield umpires, with Chris Broad named as the match referee. The Decision Review System (DRS) was not used for the Test match, as Cricket Ireland decided they could not afford the cost of using the system. Warren Deutrom, CEO of Cricket Ireland, said that he was "delighted" that Ireland's debut Test match will be played at home and thanked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in being Ireland's first Test opponent. Cricket Ireland's director of high performance, Richard Holdsworth, said that Ireland would like to play a return fixture in Pakistan, as long as the security situation in the country remains stable. Deutrom later confirmed that they are considering the PCB's request to tour Pakistan at a later date. Pakistan's last international fixtures before the Test match was a three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series against the West Indies in Karachi in April 2018. Pakistan won the series 3–0. Pakistan's last Test match fixtures were against Sri Lanka, in the United Arab Emirates, in September and October 2017. Sri Lanka won both matches. Ireland had played in the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe in March 2018. They finished the tournament in fifth place, from the ten teams that took part, failing to qualify for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. Ahead of the Test match, Ireland's captain, William Porterfield, said he that he was hoping local conditions would help his side, adding that subcontinental teams take some time to adjust. Pakistan's captain, Sarfaraz Ahmed, said that the team was really looking forward to playing against Ireland and was confident his young side would perform well in difficult conditions. Sarfraz later went on to say that "it is a big honour for me and my team to play this historic Test match" and that the team was ready to play. At a press conference the day before the match, Porterfield said that "a lot of people have devoted a lot of their lives to make this happen" and that "it is going to be a pretty special occasion". ## Squads In April 2018, Pakistani leg-spin bowler Yasir Shah was ruled out for ten weeks, due to stress fracture of a hip, causing him to miss the match. The report said that Yasir would need to "undergo extensive rehabilitation". The Pakistan selectors were reportedly considering either leg spinner Shadab Khan (who was chosen) or left-arm spinner Kashif Bhatti as his replacement. Later that month, following a five-day training camp at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, the PCB named a sixteen-man squad for the tour to the United Kingdom and Ireland, including five uncapped players at Test level. In the same month, Cricket Ireland named twenty-six players who took part in two warm-up fixtures ahead of the final selection for the Test match. Seventeen of Ireland's international players also took part in the opening fixture of the 2018 Inter-Provincial Championship, which started on 1 May 2018. On 4 May 2018, Cricket Ireland announced the squad for the match, with William Porterfield captaining the team. Of the fourteen players named in Ireland's squad, Boyd Rankin had previously played in one Test for England, in the 2013–14 Ashes series. Ed Joyce had also previously played for England, featuring in seventeen One Day Internationals (ODIs) between 2006 and 2007. Two days before the Test, Nathan Smith suffered an injury and was ruled out of Ireland's squad. He was replaced by Craig Young. Prior to travelling to Ireland, Pakistan played two first-class cricket matches in England, against Kent and Northamptonshire. On the day before the Test, Sarfaraz Ahmed confirmed that the eleven that played against Northamptonshire would be the same side to play against Ireland. Therefore, Imam-ul-Haq and Faheem Ashraf both made their Test debuts. After making his debut for Ireland, Ed Joyce joined his sister Isobel in becoming only the second brother and sister to have played in Test cricket, following Denise Emerson and Terry Alderman of Australia. Ed and Isobel Joyce are also the only brother and sister to have made their Test debuts when playing for their respective gender teams on their country's first ever Test appearances. ## Match ### Only Test No play was possible on the first day due to rain, therefore Ireland became the first side to have the opening day of their maiden Test washed out. As a result of no play on the first day, Cricket Ireland lost €75,000 in ticket refunds. Play finally got underway on the second day, with Ireland winning the toss and electing to field. Tim Murtagh became the first bowler for Ireland to bowl a ball in Test cricket. Boyd Rankin took Ireland's first wicket in Tests, dismissing Pakistan's Azhar Ali, who was caught by William Porterfield at second slip. Rankin became the first player since Kepler Wessels in 1994, and fifteenth cricketer overall, to play Test cricket for two different national teams. Kevin O'Brien became the first sportsperson from Ireland to appear in 300 matches for his country. Reflecting on the day, Ireland's wicket-keeper, Gary Wilson, said that Pakistan "got away from us a little at the end" but added that it was a very proud moment for everyone to be presented with their first Test cap. Pakistan declared their first innings before lunch on day three, after scoring 310 runs for the loss of nine wickets. Faheem Ashraf top-scored for Pakistan, with 83 runs, including the fastest Test fifty on debut by a batsman for Pakistan, from 52 balls. Ed Joyce faced the first delivery and scored the first run for Ireland in Test cricket. He also became the first batsman to be dismissed for Ireland, when he was out lbw, bowled by Mohammad Abbas. Ireland were eventually all out for 130 runs, with Kevin O'Brien top-scoring with 40, and Mohammad Abbas finishing with four wickets for 44 runs. For the first time in sixteen years, when New Zealand played in Lahore in 2002, Pakistan enforced the follow-on. Ireland finished day three on 64 without losing a wicket, trailing by 116 runs, with Ed Joyce on 39 not out. After the close of play, Joyce said that "it was a tough wicket, but it has flattened out a little bit", adding that "the first session tomorrow is going to be really important". In the first session of day four, Andrew Balbirnie was dismissed for a pair, therefore becoming the 44th batsman, and first for Ireland, to get a pair on debut in Test cricket. In the second session, Mohammad Amir took his 100th Test wicket, becoming the second left-arm fast bowler for Pakistan to reach the milestone. At the tea interval, Ireland had a lead of 32 runs, with Kevin O'Brien scoring the first fifty in Tests for Ireland. In the final session of day four, O'Brien went on to score his maiden century, and the first for Ireland. He became the 105th batsman to do so on debut in Tests, and the fourth to score a century in their country's maiden Test. Ireland finished the day seven wickets down, with a lead of 139 runs, and O'Brien unbeaten on 118. Afterwards, O'Brien said that it was a "very proud and emotional" moment to score a Test century, and ranked it second on his own personal list, behind the century he scored in the 2011 Cricket World Cup against England in Bangalore. Pakistan's opening batsman, Azhar Ali, said that "the partnership between Thompson and Kevin took the game away from us" and gave credit to the Ireland players and how they batted. At the start of the fifth and final day, O'Brien did not add to his overnight score, being dismissed for the first ball he faced. Mohammad Abbas took the remaining two wickets, to take his second five-wicket haul in Tests, in his sixth match. With Ireland bowled out for 339, that set Pakistan a target of 160 runs to win. Pakistan won the match by five wickets, in the penultimate session of the match, with an unbeaten fifty by debutant Imam-ul-Haq and a fifty from Babar Azam. Ireland's Kevin O'Brien won the man of the match award for his batting performance. As a result, O'Brien broke into the top 100 in the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, at position 66. Ireland's Tim Murtagh and Stuart Thompson were ranked 67th and 76th respectively in the Test bowling rankings. ### Reactions After the match, Pakistan's captain, Sarfaraz Ahmed, said that victory was very important and that the team was very confident in scoring the runs. He added that they were a very young side, but could chase the runs needed to win. He also praised the opposition's performance, saying "the way they bowled, the way they batted, it’s not easy to play Ireland". Ireland's captain, William Porterfield, said that despite losing he was extremely proud of how the team played, saying "it was a hell of an effort". He praised Kevin O'Brien's performance and added it was an all-round team effort. On Ireland's future in Test cricket, he added that he is "very confident in the next generation" and that there will be "hundreds of kids aspiring to be Kevin O'Brien". O'Brien said that he was very proud of his century, but was also disappointed that the team did not put Pakistan under more pressure. Warren Deutrom, CEO of Cricket Ireland, said "this was a great success" and that "there were three things we were hoping for from this match; good crowds, good weather and competitive cricket". Deutrom also commented on forthcoming fixtures for Ireland across the next four to five years in the Future Tours Programme (FTP), and improvements to facilities to prepare for these matches. Deutrom anticipates that Ireland will play one or two Tests a year, once the final fixtures in the FTP are agreed. Talking about the match, he said that despite the first day being washed out, Ireland were "extremely competitive" and he was "delighted" that they got to the final day still with a chance to win the match.
32,193,094
Skyrush
1,154,359,572
Roller coaster at Hersheypark
[ "Hersheypark", "Roller coasters in Pennsylvania" ]
Skyrush is an Intamin prototype Wing Coaster at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States. It opened to the general public on May 26, 2012, as Hersheypark's 12th roller coaster and the park's third coaster made by Intamin. Skyrush features a 200 ft (61 m) cable lift that raises the train at 26 ft/s (480 m/min). The roller coaster is located in the Hollow section of Hersheypark, next to the Comet wooden coaster; Skyrush itself is mainly set above Spring Creek. The concept for what is now Skyrush dates to 2007, but Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company did not file plans for the ride's construction until August 2010. Hersheypark launched the Attraction 2012 marketing campaign to promote what eventually became Skyrush, and the park officially announced the ride in August 2011. Despite delays caused by flooding, Skyrush opened to the general public on May 26, 2012. Reviews of the ride have generally been positive, and Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards ranked Skyrush as the fifth-best new ride for 2012. Additionally, in every year except 2016 and 2020, Skyrush has been ranked in the Golden Ticket Awards as one of the world's 50 best steel roller coasters. ## History The concept for what is now Skyrush dates to 2007, when Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company, operator of Hersheypark in Derry Township, Pennsylvania, solicited designs from five roller coaster manufacturers. Although Hershey executives preferred a proposal by Swiss manufacturer Intamin, the plan would cost twice as much as Fahrenheit, a \$12 million coaster that opened in 2008. Intamin influenced Hersheypark officials to build another attraction in the low-lying Hollow section of the park. On August 17, 2010, Hershey Entertainment presented plans to Derry Township officials for a new attraction reaching 212 ft (65 m) tall. The ride's construction required a zoning variance because it exceeded the township's 200 ft (61 m) height limit. Hersheypark officials also proposed erecting 32 supports inside an artificial pond and removing two dining structures in the Hollow, although they refused to provide further details about the new ride. Hersheypark launched a marketing campaign, Attraction 2012, to promote what eventually became Skyrush. The Patriot-News wrote that the campaign included "fake Web pages, hidden messages, foreign languages and symbolism". Although Hersheypark publicly divulged little about the new ride, Attraction 2012 prompted extensive discussion on social media. Park officials submitted blueprints to Derry Township officials in April 2011, indicating that a roller coaster with a winding layout would be built in the Hollow section of Hersheypark. Work on the coaster had begun in early 2011, when workers began diverting Spring Creek, allowing the ride's concrete supports to be constructed. By June 2011, pieces for the as-yet-unnamed attraction had arrived on site. In conjunction with the Attraction 2012 campaign, Hershey Entertainment filed a trademark for the name "Skyrush" by July 2011. The ride was officially announced on August 2, 2011. Skyrush was to be the first new roller coaster at Hersheypark since Fahrenheit in 2008. Skyrush was built on the site of the Sunken Gardens, a portion of Hersheypark that had not been open to the public since 1972. The Sunken Gardens was redesigned when Skyrush was constructed. The site was flooded in September 2011 during Tropical Storm Lee, which forced workers to remove and reinstall all of the concrete footings; this delayed construction by three weeks. The retaining walls along Spring Creek were rebuilt in conjunction with the Skyrush project, and the area received new landscaping. Because of a relatively mild winter in late 2011 and early 2012, construction crews were able to complete the ride before its scheduled opening on Memorial Day in 2012. The ride's construction employed up to 160 workers simultaneously. Skyrush opened to the general public on May 26, 2012. The ride cost \$25 million and was the 12th roller coaster at Hersheypark, as well as the third coaster that Intamin built at the park (after Storm Runner and Fahrenheit). With Skyrush's completion, Hersheypark rebranded the surrounding section of the park from "Comet Hollow" to "The Hollow". Park officials anticipated that the ride's opening would cause the park's attendance to increase. Skyrush was one of three Wing Coasters to open in the United States in 2012, the others being Wild Eagle at Dollywood and X-Flight at Six Flags Great America. The three Wing Coasters were featured on a Good Morning America segment in June 2012. Skyrush was also Intamin's only Wing Coaster installation until 2016, when Flying Aces opened at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi. ## Ride experience Immediately after leaving the station, a cable lift carries the train to the top of the lift hill. The train then drops at an 85-degree angle, traveling through a large right hand turn and into a large airtime hill. The train next traverses a 270-degree helix before entering another airtime hill. After this, the train enters a right-hand turn that transitions into an overbanked turn. The ride drops and enters a quick transition into a highly-banked right turn, which transitions into a twisted airtime hill. After that, the train enters another airtime hill and a highly-banked turn to the left, crossing over Comet. The train enters the final brake run, then makes a right hand turn and returns to the station. ## Characteristics Skyrush has yellow track and light blue support columns. The ride is 200 ft (61 m) tall and travels at up to 75 mph (121 km/h), with a 3,600 ft (1,100 m) long track. The lift hill is slanted at a 50-degree angle, with a cable lift that travels at 26 ft/s (480 m/min). The ride has a maximum drop of 212 ft (65 m). Its first drop has a vertical angle of 85 degrees; the train achieves its maximum g-force of 5.0 at the bottom of the first drop. There are four banked turns and five airtime hills, as well as a Stengel dive (a kind of banked turn named after the designer Werner Stengel). The course takes about 63 seconds to complete. There are maintenance bays next to the final brake run, where the trains can be taken off the track for maintenance. In addition, a pair of employees inspects the entire track every morning for about five hours. The roller coaster was the first Wing Coaster installed by Intamin. It has two trains, each with 32 seats; there are eight cars in each train, each with one row of four seats. The trains are of extended width, with the two center seats in each row directly above the chassis and two additional seats that hang off the width of the chassis. The seats have lap bar restraints, which consist of flat plates that hold down the lower body of each rider; there are no over-the-shoulder restraints for each rider's upper body. Soon after the ride opened, guests criticized the lap bar restraints as overly painful because the restraints exert high amounts of pressure on the lower body. During the off-season (typically beginning in mid-November and lasting through March of the following year), the queue area next to the station is disassembled. A crane then lifts the trains off the track and into the queue area, where two or three employees overhaul the trains. ## Reception Jane Holahan of the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era wrote in 2012 that she was terrified of the ride, saying that "the ascent is a doozy, swiftly climbing up those 200 feet. None of that slow, creaky psychological terror on the Skyrush, it's all intense action from the very first second." Conversely, Mekado Murphy of The New York Times wrote: "The winged seats significantly change a rider's perspective and make the surrounding environment more a part of the coaster [...] At some of the most aggressive points in the ride, the lap restraint felt like the only thing preventing me from flying out of my seat." James Wesser wrote in 2022: "The out-of-control feeling along with the high g-forces gives me such an adrenaline boost and a way to scream my head off and let go of some stress. It also makes me feel like I am flying!" The same year, a reporter for LNP Always Lancaster wrote that, "unlike the beginning of every other coaster with an ascent at Hersheypark, Skyrush starts impossibly fast and stays that fast throughout the entire minute-long ride." ### Awards In 2012, Skyrush was ranked by Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards as the fifth-best new ride (tied with OzIris at Parc Astérix), garnering six percent of the vote. In addition, every year between 2012 and 2015, Skyrush received a Golden Ticket Award for being of the 50 best steel roller coasters. It also received Golden Ticket Awards in every year between 2017 and 2019, as well as in 2021 and 2022. Skyrush did not rank in the Golden Ticket Awards in 2016, and no roller coasters received awards in 2020. ## See also - 2012 in amusement parks
49,905,007
El Laco
1,162,331,005
Volcanic complex in the Antofagasta Region, Chile
[ "Iron ore mines in Chile", "Mines in Antofagasta Region", "Miocene stratovolcanoes", "Pleistocene stratovolcanoes", "Pliocene stratovolcanoes", "Volcanoes of Antofagasta Region" ]
El Laco is a volcanic complex in the Antofagasta Region of Chile. It is directly south of the Cordón de Puntas Negras volcanic chain. Part of the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andes, it is a group of seven stratovolcanoes and a caldera. It is about two million years old. The main summit of the volcano is a lava dome called Pico Laco, which is variously reported to be 5,325 metres (17,470 ft) or 5,472 metres (17,953 ft) high. The edifice has been affected by glaciation, and some reports indicate that it is still fumarolically active. The volcano is known for its magnetite-containing lava flows of enigmatic origin. In total, there are four lava flows and two dykes, as well as a formation of uncertain nature. In addition to lava flow structures, pyroclastics containing iron oxide are also found within the complex. The magmas formed within a magma chamber with a volume of about 30 cubic kilometres (7.2 cu mi); whether the iron-rich lavas are native magnetite lavas or were formed by hydrothermal processes acting on regular rock is under debate. After their discovery in 1958, these iron deposits have been mined. Similar deposits of volcanic iron oxide exist in Australia, Chile, and Iran. ## Geography El Laco is part of the Cordón de Puntas Negras sector of the Central Volcanic Zone, directly south of that volcanic chain. It sits atop a quartzite and sandstone basement that was lifted from the seaground during the Acadian orogeny and is of Ordovician age. Later, Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentation occurred, which was then buried by Tertiary rhyolites. Two major volcanic lineaments cross in the El Laco area, including the so-called Calama-Olacapato-El Toro lineament. El Hueso volcano to the north is 5,028 metres (16,496 ft)-5,029 metres (16,499 ft) high and has a basement diameter of 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi). It has a crater with a diameter of 1 kilometre (0.62 mi). The city of Antofagasta is located 320 kilometres (200 mi) west of El Laco. Other close towns are Calama and San Pedro de Atacama. The international road through Sico Pass connecting Salta in Argentina with Calama in Chile runs close to El Laco. A number of tourist sites are found in the Atacama Desert adjacent to El Laco, and the dry climate also makes the area suitable for astronomy facilities. ## Geology The El Laco volcanic complex is formed by about seven minor stratovolcanoes and lava domes. The complex started its activity in the Miocene-Pliocene, when porphyric andesites formed a stratovolcano. During the Pliocene, ash and pyroclastic eruptions formed a caldera with a diameter of 4–5 kilometres (2.5–3.1 mi), which also contains a central lava dome that formed 6.5 million years ago. Finally, probably during the Pleistocene, five iron-rich magmas were extruded, named Laco Sur, Laco Norte and Rodados Negros. Laquito and Cristales Grandes, two abyssal iron magma structures, date back to that era. The volcanic complex is located an altitude of 4,300–5,470 metres (14,110–17,950 ft) and covers a surface area of 7 by 5 kilometres (4.3 mi × 3.1 mi) with a minimum volume of 14 cubic kilometres (3.4 cu mi) of volcanic rock. The main summit, Pico Laco or Pitón El Laco, has an altitude of 5,325 metres (17,470 ft), although a maximum height of 5,472 metres (17,953 ft) has also been reported. Pico Laco is an andesitic lava dome with a height of 400 metres (1,300 ft) above the surrounding terrain. The dome, with dimensions of 1.5 by 1 kilometre (0.93 mi × 0.62 mi), has two summits: the higher eastern one and a 5,166-metre (16,949 ft) western summit, and has also been described as a volcanic plug. Pico Laco has been described as a resurgent volcano within a caldera, that is surrounded by secondary vents. Other summits include the northwestern Hueso Chico, a cone with a height of 120 metres (390 ft) above its surroundings and a crater 250 metres (820 ft) wide. This cone is of dacitic composition. "Volcano 5009" is heavily eroded, and its core of lava and hyaloclastite has been exposed. It has a diameter of 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi). Eruptive activity here probably coincided with glacier activity during the Pliocene, as evidenced by moraines in the area. Ages of 10.5 to 1.6 mya have been estimated via potassium-argon dating of the andesite lavas and subvolcanic rocks. An age of 5.3±1.9 mya on lavas in the northern part of the volcanic complex is the oldest obtained date. Other dating has resulted in ages of 3.9±1.3 mya for Pico Laco's dome, 3.8±0.9 mya for lavas beneath San Vicente Bayo, 3.7±0.9 mya for a lava front next to Laco Norte, 2.6±0.6 for Crystales Grandes, 2.1±0.4 for Hueso Chico, and 1.6±0.5 for "Volcano 5009". Cordon de Puntas Negras has younger dates. Another date from Pico Laco is 2.0±0.3 mya; one study suggested four separate episodes of volcano development. Volcanic activity continued after the emplacement of the magnetite bodies. Later alteration included hydrothermal alteration and glacial erosion; the former has left bleached rocks and exhalation deposits. Some minor metasomatic alteration occurred at the contact sites between andesites and iron-containing rocks. Hydrothermal alteration has also been described for lower portions of the volcanic pile and probably occurred because of gases escaping from intruded magma. Moraines found west of El Laco were generated by glaciation both on El Laco and Puntas Negras. Surface exposure dating has indicated ages of 226 and 287 ka for some ice-affected lavas and argon-argon dating produced a youngest age of about 120,000 years. Further, andesitic volcanism in neighbouring volcanoes has blanketed El Laco. Reports exist of continuing fumarolic activity and hot springs with the deposition of clay and other minerals. ## Iron-rich deposits On the flank of the volcano, apatite, hematite, and magnetite deposits are found at altitudes of 4,600–5,200 metres (15,100–17,100 ft). The volcano is mainly known for these flows, but such material is also found in the form of tephra. The deposits lie on top of flat lava flows of andesitic composition, concentrically around Pico Laco. They are named Laco Norte, Laco Sur, San Vicente Alto, San Vicente Bajo, and Rodados Negros. The deposits consist of dykes, hydrothermal deposits, lava flows, pyroclastics, and subvolcanic structures and were erupted from parasitic vents and fissures. The magnetite is classified as porphyry-like. Apatite is present as an accessory mineral in the lavas and is abundant in the intrusions. Iron-rich zones also formed in tuffs and lavas. Magnetite in the subvolcanic bodies exists in more massive crystals. The iron-containing rocks include lava flows, ash, and lapilli, as well as ore breccias. The El Laco magnetite lava flows are unique in the world and formed during active subduction. ### Individual deposits Of these deposits, Laco Norte is the largest and was probably separated from neighbouring Laquito by erosion. It is 60–90 metres (200–300 ft) thick and covers a surface area of 1,000 by 1,500 metres (3,300 ft × 4,900 ft). It was erupted from feeder dykes on its southern and eastern end and forms a table-shaped body on a spur, in the shape of a mesa. At Laco Norte, a structure of five layers is found: a basal andesite, ore in pyroclastic form, magnetite lava, pyroclastics which contain ore, and andesite at the top. Laco Sur has a similar morphology and dimensions of 30–70 by 600 by 750 metres (98 ft–230 ft × 1,969 ft × 2,461 ft); it has been mined. San Vicente Alto is a lava flow on the upper parts of the volcano (30 by 320 by 480 metres (98 ft × 1,050 ft × 1,575 ft)), and San Vicente Bajo is probably a lava dome (250 by 390 metres (820 ft × 1,280 ft)). Laquito (150 metres (490 ft) long and 50 metres (160 ft) wide) and Rodados Negros (500 by 600 metres (1,600 ft × 2,000 ft)) appear to be dykes, while Cristales Grandes (80–100 metres (260–330 ft) long and up to 30 metres (98 ft) wide) is more likely a vein and generally shows signs of hydrothermal formation. A magnetic layer of rock spreads north from the volcano, and a large magnetite body has been modelled beneath Pasos Blancos. ### Structure and appearance The magnetite lavas are primarily aa lava, but other surface features are also found, including pahoehoe features. Columnar morphologies are found on the magnetite, implying that they cooled quickly. There is only one other place in the world where columnar magnetite has been found – Kiirunavaara, in Sweden. Centimeter-sized vesicles to meter-sized tubes coated on the inside by euhedral magnetite were formed in the lava by escaping volcanic gas. Both before and after the magnetite lavas, layers of magnetite-containing pyroclastics were erupted. A 0.5–2-metre (1 ft 8 in – 6 ft 7 in) aureole separates the magnetite rocks from the host rocks. The magnetite lava flows are 50 metres (160 ft) thick, the pyroclastics 30 metres (98 ft) and 20 metres (66 ft) respectively. The pyroclastic-like deposits are porous and fragile and show traces of stratification. The pyroclastics at Laco Sur contain spherules of magnetite as well as some blebs of destinezite. An age of 2.1±0.1 million years has been found for ore by fission track dating. The lavas contain veins likely generated by hydrothermal activity. ### Origin Temperatures estimated for the erupted rocks cover a wide range, with some exceeding 800 °C (1,470 °F). These rocks are of enigmatic origin, which may be magmatic-hydrothermal or magmatic, with the presence of lava bombs of magnetite lava and other evidence supporting the magmatic origin theory. According to the magmatic genetic hypothesis magma would have separated from a precursor magma due to spontaneous unmixing of an Fe-rich melt from an andesitic parent magma in a shallow magma reservoir beneath the volcano. Other viewpoints consider the texture and chemical composition of the rocks as evidence that metasomatism or hydrothermal replacement of andesitic rocks formed the magnetite "lavas". A third hypothesis envisages the crystallization of magnetite within a silicic magma and its subsequent extraction through flotation attached to volatile bubbles. The role of a post-magmatic fluid phase, which was inferred from inclusions in crystals, or of a combination of magmatic and hydrothermal mechanisms has also been suggested. Some magnetite was oxidized to hematite, probably under the influence of rainwater as indicated by isotope analysis. Only a minor amount of hematite is primary. Isotope data indicate that the formation of this magnetite magma was accompanied by the segregation of plagioclase. This plagioclase may have generated the rhyodacite lava dome. An iron-phosphate-rich magma generated the magnetite lava flows after release of volatile substances. The magma was probably bordering on forming a two-phase melt containing nelsonite and rhyolite. A favourable tectonic context associated with the compression of the magma chamber and the presence of faults helped with the eruption of the magnetite. The magma formation probably occurred in a magma chamber. During the cooling of the magma, the ores formed. This process was probably not directed by water-rich phases, and the segregation occurred at a shallow depth. High phosphorus and volatile content may have lowered the melting point of the magma and facilitated its eruption, as well as overcoming density-based constraints on the eruption of iron-rich magmas; the magma would later have forcefully degassed within the volcano. Suggestions that anatexis of iron-rich sediments generated the iron-rich magmas appear implausible. The ultimate origin of the El Laco iron may be subducted metal-containing sediment. ### Human history and exploitation These iron oxide deposits were found in 1958 and first described in 1961. Mining in Laco Sur removed about two million tons of magnetite between the 1970s and 1990s, leaving an open pit exposing 30 metres (98 ft) of rock. In 2009, these mineral reserves were mined by Cia Minera del Pacifico S.A. It is estimated that the deposit contains 733.9 million tons of ore, consisting of 50% iron. The geological interest in these kinds of mineral deposits is enhanced by their frequent association with other minerals, as has been noted at Olympic Dam, Australia. Other magnetite-apatite ore deposits in the Andes are Incahuasi (10.3±0.8 mya), 26 kilometres (16 mi) south of El Laco, and Magnetita Pedernales (Tertiary), about 300 kilometres (190 mi) south-southwest of Laco. ### Comparable deposits The Kiruna magnetites in Sweden resemble the El Laco ones in terms of manganese and vanadium content, and their titanium content is comparably low. The deposits at Kiruna and El Laco have been classified as "Iron oxide-apatite" ore deposits, and El Laco is the best preserved and youngest such deposit on Earth. Other deposits of volcanic iron ore are the Chilean Iron Belt, the Tertiary Cerro el Mercado deposit in Mexico, the Eocambrian Bafq district in Iran, and the Proterozoic Kiruna field in Sweden. Of these, Sierra Bandera in the Chilean iron belt may be another example of surface volcanic iron ore rather than subvolcanic ore as is commonly assumed of these deposits. ## Petrology The main rocks of the volcano are andesite and dacite, which contain biotite and pyroxene as well as blebs containing iron oxide. The iron-containing rocks are a less important component. The whole rock falls into the calc-alkaline class of volcanic rocks, similar to these erupted by the neighbouring volcanoes Lascar and Llullaillaco. The andesites contain plagioclase clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, and phenocrysts of magnetite. Magnetite, and in lesser measure hematite, are the most abundant iron minerals; anhydrite, diopside, goethite, limonite, maghemite, pyrite, scapolite and diadochite are also found. Erupted magma was probably gas-rich, as the magnetite lavas would otherwise have melting points of over 1,500 °C (2,730 °F). The lavas lost most of their sulfur and phosphorus after their eruption. High oxygen-18 amounts in the Laco magmas indicate either crustal contamination or isotopic effects during fractional crystallization. Some atmospheric water influence has been inferred from isotope data as well. Hydrothermal alteration of the central lava dome and iron-bearing deposits has generated alunite, anatase, bassanite, chlorite, copper veinlets, gypsum, illite, jarosite, kaolinite, labradorite, quartz, rutile, sanidine, smectite, sulfur and tridymite. Some of these minerals forms veins inside the rock. Silification is prominent and has formed cristobalite and tridymite. Elemental sulfur is also found. Vast regions of the volcano have been altered hydrothermally at temperatures of 200–250 °C (392–482 °F), giving the rock a clear appearance. Minor exhalation deposits are also found in the form of sulfates that sometimes conserve conduits. Red-coloured alteration halos occur in andesites adjacent to iron deposits, probably due to iron input. It is possible that the formation of the iron-rich magma was accompanied by the production of large amounts of hydrothermal fluids which then triggered the hydrothermal alteration. ## Environment The vegetation in the area is primarily low bushland. Short-tailed chinchillas can be found at El Laco, one of the few occurrences of this threatened species in Chile. El Laco has a classical cold mountain climate at the line between the dry Altiplano with summer precipitation and the hyper-arid Atacama Desert climate. A nearby weather station () at 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) altitude showed an average temperature of 2.3 °C (36.1 °F) in 1991, with strong short-term variability. The majority of precipitation falls during southern hemisphere summer; winter snowfall has been recorded. Air humidity recorded in 1991 was 10–30%.
229,653
Fielding L. Wright
1,172,032,339
American politician (1895–1956)
[ "1895 births", "1948 United States vice-presidential candidates", "1956 deaths", "American people of English descent", "American people of Welsh descent", "American segregationists", "Candidates in the 1948 United States presidential election", "Democratic Party Mississippi state senators", "Democratic Party governors of Mississippi", "Democratic Party members of the Mississippi House of Representatives", "Lewis family", "Lieutenant Governors of Mississippi", "Methodists from Mississippi", "Mississippi Dixiecrats", "Old Right (United States)", "People from Rolling Fork, Mississippi", "Speakers of the Mississippi House of Representatives", "United States Army personnel of World War I", "United States Army soldiers", "University of Alabama alumni", "Webb School (Bell Buckle, Tennessee) alumni" ]
Fielding Lewis Wright (May 16, 1895 – May 4, 1956) was an American politician who served as the 19th lieutenant governor and 49th and 50th governor of Mississippi. During the 1948 presidential election he served as the vice presidential nominee of the States' Rights Democratic Party (Dixiecrats) alongside presidential nominee Strom Thurmond. During his political career he fought to maintain racial segregation, fought with President Harry S. Truman over civil rights legislation, and held other racist views. Wright grew up in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, where he was educated and later attended Gardner–Webb University and the University of Alabama. During World War I he was sent to France as a captain. Wright served in the 149th Machine Gun Battalion and the 105th Engineer Combat Battalion before being honorably discharged in 1919. Following his service in the United States Army, he joined the Mississippi National Guard. After entering politics in the 1920s, Wright was elected to the state legislature, where he served in the late 1920s and through the 1930s. Following the death of Speaker Horace Stansel, he rose to the speakership of the state House of Representatives. After a brief absence from politics, Wright was elected as Mississippi's lieutenant governor and served until he ascended to the governorship following the death of Thomas L. Bailey on November 2, 1946. During his gubernatorial tenure he made efforts to maintain racial segregation and supported Senator Theodore G. Bilbo, a member of the Ku Klux Klan and segregationist, in his attempt to maintain his seat in the United States Senate. Wright was elected to a term in his own right in the 1947 election. In his inaugural address, he voiced opposition to Truman's support of civil rights and called for Southern Democrats to leave the Democratic Party. He served as a leader of the States' Rights Democratic Party, declining offers to run for the presidential nomination, although he later accepted the vice-presidential nomination. In the presidential election, Thurmond and Wright won multiple Southern states, but failed to prevent Truman from winning the presidential election. Wright completed his gubernatorial term on January 22, 1952, and retired from public service. He unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination in the 1955 Mississippi gubernatorial election, and died on May 4, 1956. ## Early life and education Fielding Lewis Wright was born on May 16, 1895, in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, to Frances Foote Clements and Henry James Wright and was named after his uncle, Colonel Fielding Lewis. In 1901, he entered elementary school and graduated in 1911, as a member of the school's second graduating class. Wright attended Gardner–Webb University and the University of Alabama, graduating with a law degree and was later admitted to the legal bar in September 1916. On July 16, 1917, he married Nan Kelly, with whom he had two children. ### Military In April 1918, Wright enlisted into the United States Army and was given the rank of private at Camp Shelby. He served as a member of the 149th Machine Gun Battalion inside the 38th Infantry Division. He later served as the commander of the 105th Engineer Combat Battalion. During World War I he participated in the battles of Belleau Wood and Château-Thierry before being honorably discharged on August 31, 1919. After leaving the army he organized a unit of the Mississippi National Guard in Rolling Fork and was selected to serve as its first captain where he would lead the unit through the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. ## Career ### Local politics During the 1920s Wright served two terms on the Rolling Fork Board of Alderman. In 1927, he was elected to represent the Twentieth district in the state senate and served until 1932. In 1929 he authored a paved highway bill, but it was vetoed by Governor Theodore G. Bilbo due to disputes over the program's implementation. In 1930, he was appointed to serve as the assistant director of the state tax commission to aid in the enforcement and administration of the tax laws. ### Mississippi House of Representatives In 1932, Wright was elected to the state House of Representatives and served until 1940. In 1932, he was appointed to serve as the chairman of the House Committee on Highways and Highway Financing. In 1936, he was appointed to serve as the chairman of the House Rules Committee and was also appointed onto the Levees committee and the Joint Committee on Executive Contingent Fund. On March 19, 1936, he introduced a resolution proposing a state constitutional amendment that would allow for the election of highway commission members starting in the 1938 elections, but the resolution failed. Facing opposition from House and statewide leadership for his highway reforms, he helped organize the removal of Speaker Thomas L. Bailey and his replacement by a fellow highway advocate, Horace Stansel. Stansel made Wright chairman of the House Rules Committee. #### Speaker of the House In February 1936, Speaker Stansel requested for Wright to be designated as the acting Speaker of the House and the request was accepted. On April 4, Stansel died from a heart attack while Wright was still serving as the acting Speaker and Wright participated in the planning of Stansel's funeral. From June 23 to 27, 1936, Governor Hugh L. White was outside of Mississippi to attend the Democratic national convention causing Lieutenant Governor Jacob Buehler Snider to become the acting governor. When Snider left the state, John Culkin, President pro tempore of the Senate, was elevated to acting governor. If Culkin had left the state the Speaker of the House would have become the acting governor, but Wright was not eligible as he was in an acting role. However, Culkin did not leave the state which prevented a constitutional crisis over the succession of acting governor. On September 14, 1936, he was nominated by Pearl Stansel and the House of Representatives voted by acclamation, as he faced no opposition despite statements made by John Armstrong and Ira L. Morgan about being interested in running, to formally appoint Wright as the Speaker of the House. After being appointed to the speakership Wright appointed Hilton Waits to replace him as the chairman of the House Rules committee and appointed R. E. Lee to replace him as the chairman of the Highways and Highway Financing House committee. Waits resigned shortly after being appointed as chairman of the House Rules Committee and Joe Owen was selected by Wright to replace him. Wright would continue to serve as Speaker of the House until 1940. On March 24, 1938, the House of Representatives voted twenty-one to nineteen in favor of drafting articles of impeachment against Land Commissioner R. D. Moore. Wright appointed a five-man committee of Walter Sillers, John T. Armstrong, Gerald Chatham, Guy B. Mitchell, and Sam Lumpkin to draft the articles of impeachment. Moore criticized the committee as being "stacked" against his favor by Wright. ### Interlude Although it was speculated that Wright would run in the lieutenant gubernatorial election in 1939, he announced on July 19, 1938, that he would not seek another term in the House of Representatives and would not seek election to another office. After leaving the state house he started working for the law firm of John Brunini and Sons in Rolling Fork. In 1942, he represented the Union Producing company at a House Ways and Means committee to argue for Mississippi to place flat taxes on oil producers rather than multiple severance and sales taxes. After the United States entered World War II Wright attempted to rejoin the army, but was rejected due to his poor eyesight. ### Lieutenant gubernatorial On November 19, 1942, Wright met with friends in Jackson, Mississippi, and stated that he would be a candidate in the lieutenant gubernatorial election. In January 1943, he formally announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the lieutenant gubernatorial election. Walter D. Davis, a former member of the state House of Representatives and attorney in the Department of War, was appointed to serve as his campaign manager. In the initial primary he won with a plurality of the vote ahead of Paul Spearman and Charles G. Hamilton, who were eliminated, and John Lumpkin, who would continue onto the runoff primary. Wright defeated Lumpkin in the runoff with 155,265 to 108,661 votes winning the Democratic nomination. In the general election he and gubernatorial nominee Thomas L. Bailey faced no opposition. The state House and Senate passed a resolution allowing for Wright to be inaugurated one day before Bailey and Wright was inaugurated as the Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi on January 17, 1944. On March 21, 1944, he gave his first tie breaking vote, in which he voted in favor, when the state Senate voted nineteen in favor to nineteen against on a bill authorizing chancery clerks to use photostat machines in recording records. In April 1944, Wright became acting governor when Governor Bailey went to Kansas City to attend the Methodist general conference as one of Mississippi's two delegates. In 1946, he attempted to call another session of the state legislature to have the state's election laws changed to prevent black voters from participating in the 1947 primaries. In June 1946, he refused to authorize the extradition of George Johnson, a black man facing charges of child abandonment, back to California and refused to commute the death sentence of James Leo Williams, a 25 year old black man convicted for murder, while serving as acting governor. On August 1, 1946, he was made aware of plans by the Department of Justice to investigate the activities of the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi. Wright claimed that he did not know of any activities conducted by the Ku Klux Klan and that the organization had not existed in the state since 1923. ### Gubernatorial #### First term On October 30, 1946, Governor Bailey suffered a stroke and was in poor health for the next four days until he died from a spinal tumor on November 2. Wright was supposed to leave the state for a physical checkup, but remained in Mississippi due to Bailey's poor health and succeeded him following his death to fulfill the remainder of his term as the 49th governor. On November 7, he was formally inaugurated by Chief Justice Sydney M. Smith without a ceremony. The United States Senate, controlled by a Republican majority, refused to seat Senator Theodore G. Bilbo at the request of Senator Glen H. Taylor. Wright threatened to appoint Bilbo to serve as an interim senator if he was not allowed to be seated, for which the Harrison County affiliate of the Bilbo Campaign Committee passed a resolution praising Wright. The issue was resolved when it was proposed that Bilbo's credentials remain on the table while he returned home to Mississippi to seek medical treatment for oral cancer. When Bilbo died on August 21, 1947, Wright stated that "He was a long and faithful servant of the state. He was an outstanding official whose loss will be felt by Mississippi." On May 20, the Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees of America, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, organized a walkout and strike to improve the wages of bus drivers working for Southern Trailways, the Mississippi affiliate of the Trailways Transportation System. On September 28, a man driving a carnival truck attempted to crash into two Trailway buses and later another driver attempted to crash a bus off a highway near Winona. On October 1, Wright threatened to place members of the Mississippi National Guard onboard every bus with orders to shoot to protect the buses. In November, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation was formed as a temporarily state police force to prevent further violence during the strike, although it was criticized as similar to the Gestapo and the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Hattiesburg passed a resolution calling it fascist, Wright successfully transformed it into a permanent police force. #### 1947 election On January 25, 1947, Wright announced his intention to seek election to a term in his own right in the 1947 Mississippi gubernatorial election. Paul B. Johnson Jr., the son of former governor and representative Paul B. Johnson Sr., later announced his intention to challenge Wright in the Democratic primary. On June 12, he formally launched his campaign at a campaign rally in Rolling Fork where he showed his twenty-point platform which included support for veteran benefits, road improvements, sales tax exemptions, and stopping outside influence on Mississippi. On August 5, he won the Democratic primary with over 55% of the popular vote and later received a letter of congratulations from Johnson, who had placed second in the primary. Wright's first ballot victory was the second time in Mississippi history that the Democratic gubernatorial nominee won without a runoff being needed, with Theodore G. Bilbo's 1915 victory being the first. In the general election he defeated former Nebraskan Governor George L. Sheldon, who ran on the ballot as an Independent Republican and who had stated that he had only expected to receive a few thousand votes against Wright. #### Second term On January 20, 1948, Wright was inaugurated as the 50th Governor of Mississippi by Chief Justice Sydney M. Smith. In his inaugural address he called for Southern Democrats to abandon the Democratic Party due to the Fair Employment Practice Committee, and anti-poll tax, anti-lynching, and pro-civil rights measures. He also criticized President Harry S. Truman for his committee on civil rights and support for other "anti-southern" legislation. His speech and call for Southern Democrats to leave the party was praised by Senator James Eastland and Representatives John Bell Williams and Jamie Whitten who stated that they had been ignored by the party's leadership and should not allow the region's racial beliefs to be undermined. However, Senators Allen J. Ellender and Claude Pepper, Representative William Madison Whittington, Governor Benjamin Travis Laney, and Alabama Democratic Chairman Gessner T. McCorvey criticized him stating that they should remain in the party to reform it from the inside. On January 21, the state house and senate approved resolutions supporting threats to leave the party if more "anti-southern" legislation was passed. In April, the state legislature passed the first workers' compensation bill in Mississippi history and it was later signed into law by Wright. Secretary of Labor Lewis B. Schwellenbach praised the passage of the bill as Mississippi was the last of the then forty-eight states to pass a workers' compensation bill. On July 8, Lycurgus Spinks, who had run in the 1947 Democratic gubernatorial primary and was an Imperial Emperor of the United Klans of America, filed a \$50,000 lawsuit against Wright claiming that Wright, W.W. Wright, and George Godwin had convinced John L. Dagget to cancel a contract he had with Spinks. On January 11, 1949, Spinks' lawsuit was dismissed by Judge Sidney Carr Mize of the Southern District Court of Mississippi, but Spinks refiled his lawsuit. On June 29, Spinks removed Wright from his lawsuit, but continued his lawsuit against W. W. Wright and George Godwin. On September 7, Wright declared a state of emergency as Mississippi had suffered its second highest number of polio cases in its history during 1949. #### Segregation In February 1948, a "State-wide Mass Meeting of Negro citizens" organized in Jackson, Mississippi, and called for a biracial committee to oversee the educational improvement project that was started in 1946, but Wright declined their request. Due to federal threats to force the integration of schools Wright reorganized Mississippi's public education system in an attempt to maintain racial segregation. Education funding towards black schools was increased, but still remained inferior to the funding given to white-only schools. In 1951, he opposed attempts by the NAACP to admit black students into white-only colleges and stated that he would "insist on (racial) segregation regardless of the costs or consequences". At the Southern Governors Conference Wright stated that "regardless of what others may say, we in Mississippi are determined that the segregated educational system shall be maintained." ### 1948 presidential election #### Democratic Wright's inaugural address calling for Southerners to abandon the Democratic Party was supported by Senator James Eastland, who was later invited to speak before the state legislature. On January 29, 1948, Senator Eastland gave a speech to a joint session of the Mississippi state legislature where he called for the Solid South to withhold its 127 electoral votes from the Democratic presidential nominee so that "a Southern man would emerge as president of the United States". In February, Wright attended the Southern Governors' Association conference with plans to introduce a resolution calling for the creation of a new Southern party. However, Georgia Governor Melvin E. Thompson gave Wright a copy of a statement condemning his call although Wright stated that he would still introduce his resolution. Alabama Governor Jim Folsom, Maryland Governor William Preston Lane Jr., and Florida Governor Millard Caldwell also criticized Wright while South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond and Texas Governor Beauford H. Jester declined to comment. When he proposed his resolution it was rejected by the eight other governors present and a different resolution calling for a committee to study the effects of recently proposed civil rights legislation was accepted. Although Wright's resolution was unsuccessful another resolution proposed by Thurmond calling for the Truman administration to stop attacking white supremacy or the Southern Democrats would leave the party. After his failure at the Southern Governors' Association conference Wright went to Little Rock, Arkansas to meet with political leaders. While there almost four hundred Arkansas political leaders voted unanimously in favor of a resolution supporting Wright and in Virginia Governor William M. Tuck called for the state legislature to prevent Truman from appearing on the ballot. On March 13, another Southern governor meeting was held where a resolution against civil rights and the party's leadership was supported by the governors of South Carolina, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, Virginia, and Florida while the governors of North Carolina and Louisiana were not at the meeting and the governor of Maryland voted "present". The Anti-Truman Democratic Club of Florida, which controlled twenty-eight of Florida's delegates to the national convention, formed a presidential draft movement supporting Wright. The organization also passed a resolution where it would support South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond or Arkansas Governor Benjamin Travis Laney if Wright did not run for the presidency. After being informed of the movement Wright stated that he was not interested in running for president. Former Alabama Governor Frank M. Dixon attempted to start another draft movement for Wright, but Wright declined to run for president again. On May 10, the States' Rights Democrats conference was held in Jackson, Mississippi, with Wright serving as temporary chairman. The conference was attended by around 2,500 people and a resolution calling for a separate national convention in Birmingham was passed. On May 25, Wright was elected to serve as one of Sharkey County's eight delegates to Mississippi's state Democratic convention. On June 23, he was selected to serve as one of the delegates to the national convention. #### Dixiecrat Wright and former Governor Hugh L. White led the twenty-two member Mississippi delegation to the Democratic National Convention. At the national convention he and the Mississippi delegation supported Governor Laney for the presidential nomination. An attempt was made by Charles Hamilton to prevent the seating of the Mississippi delegation due to its pledge to leave the party if Truman was nominated or if the platform was pro-civil rights. However, the Credentials Committee voted fifteen to eleven in favor of seating Wright's delegation. On July 14, he led the Mississippi delegation in a walkout of the convention to protest the adoption of a pro-civil rights plank into the party's platform. On July 17, the Conference of States' Rights Democrats in Birmingham, Alabama suggested him as a candidate for the vice presidential nomination of the breakaway States' Rights Democratic Party and he later accepted the nomination on August 11. During the election Wright, a supporter of racial segregation, stated that "if any of you [African Americans] have become so deluded as to want to enter our white schools, patronize our hotels and cafes, enjoy social equality with the whites, then true kindness and sympathy requires me to advise you to make your homes in some other state." In the general election he and South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond won the popular and electoral votes of the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and South Carolina, and received one faithless electoral vote from Tennessee. Although the party won multiple states it was unsuccessful in its goal of preventing Truman from winning the election as he still managed to defeat Republican nominee Thomas E. Dewey without the unanimous support of the Solid South. The failure to spoil the election against Truman was credited to the Dixiecrats being a third party within the United States' two-party system, the Republicans' campaign against Truman in which Dewey did not criticize Truman for his administration's scandals, the Progressive presidential nominee Henry A. Wallace focusing on an idealistic foreign policy, remaining support of the New Deal, labor issues voters against the Taft–Hartley Act, and farm issue voters. In 1950, Truman invited every governor from the South to a luncheon, except for Wright and Thurmond, as Truman stated that invitations were given to Democrats only. Wright continued to defend states' rights and segregation, but conceded that complete obstinance along the lines of the 1948 departure from the Democratic Party would cause Mississippi to lose "its standing with everybody in America." ## Later life Upon leaving gubernatorial office, Wright opened a law practice in Jackson. In 1952, he was selected to serve as Mississippi's national committeeman to the Democratic National Committee for a four-year term. During the 1952 presidential election he supported the Democratic presidential ticket of Governor Adlai Stevenson II and Senator John Sparkman and stated that he would not support the Republican presidential ticket of General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Senator Richard Nixon. On October 2, 1954, Wright announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination for governor and he selected Gordon Roach, an attorney who had served as Pike County attorney, as his campaign manager. On May 5, 1955, he formally launched his campaign at his home in Rolling Fork with around 3,500 people in attendance. Hoping to build off of white discontent with the United States Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling mandating desegregation in public schools, Wright framed himself as an ardent segregationist. He argued that his involvement in the Dixiecrat foray made him "the man most feared by Negro leaders who seek to integrate the schools" and pledged to use Mississippi's police power to prevent such integration. Though the media reported his chances favorably, Wright placed third in the Democratic primary behind James P. Coleman and Paul B. Johnson Jr., surprising many observers and preventing him from participating in the primary runoff. He thereafter returned to practicing law and Coleman went on to be elected governor. ### Death and legacy On May 4, 1956, Wright suffered a heart attack and died forty minutes later at his home in Jackson, Mississippi. Following his death, his son Fielding Wright Jr. was selected to succeed him as the president of the United Cerebral Palsy of Mississippi, Incorporated, a cerebral palsy humanitarian organization. His funeral was held on May 6, and was attended by Senator Strom Thurmond, state senator R. M. Kennedy, Mississippi Governor James P. Coleman, Mississippi Lieutenant Governor Carroll Gartin, and Mississippi Secretary of State Heber Ladner. Thurmond stated that his death was "a tremendous loss to the South and to the nation". Most state newspaper obituaries focused on his participation in the 1948 Dixiecrat movement and his staunch segregationist pledges in the 1955 gubernatorial race. He was buried at Kelly Cemetery in Rolling Fork. On November 17, 1960, a section of U.S. Route 61 inside Mississippi was designated as the Fielding L. Wright Memorial Highway. An art center at the Delta State University and a science complex in the Mississippi Valley State University were named after him. In 1990, former Arkansas Governor Sid McMath stated that Wright and Thurmond's nominations were "a racist thing" as "they were against Truman because of his attitude toward race and fair employment and these other things that finally became a matter of course later on, this social legislation." Historian James Patterson Smith wrote that Wright's association with the Dixiecrat movement "built the profoundly negative image that has long obscured his substantial achievements as a progressive legislator". His personal papers were destroyed in a fire shortly after he left office, and he has generally been ignored in historiography or dismissed as a reactionary. ## Electoral history ## See also - Curtis LeMay – vice-presidential nominee of the American Independent Party in 1968 - Herman Talmadge – selected vice-presidential nominee of a faithless elector in 1956 - Thomas H. Werdel – vice-presidential nominee of multiple third parties in 1956
50,989,280
2004 Les Saintes earthquake
1,167,498,897
Earthquake affecting Guadeloupe and Dominica, Leeward Islands
[ "2004 earthquakes", "2004 in Guadeloupe", "2004 in the Caribbean", "2004 tsunamis", "Earthquakes in the Caribbean", "Natural disasters in Dominica", "Natural disasters in Guadeloupe", "November 2004 events in North America" ]
The 2004 Les Saintes earthquake occurred at on November 21, 2004 with a moment magnitude of 6.3 and maximum European macroseismic intensity of VIII (Heavily damaging). The shock was named for Îles des Saintes "Island of the Saints", a group of small islands to the south of Guadeloupe, which is an overseas department of France. Although it occurred near the Lesser Antilles subduction zone, this was an intraplate, normal fault event. It resulted in one death, 13 injuries, and 40 people being made homeless, but the overall damage was considered moderate. A small, nondestructive tsunami was reported, but run-up and inundation distances were difficult to measure due to a storm that occurred on the day of the event. Unusual effects at a volcanic lake on Dominica were also documented, and an aftershock caused additional damage three months later. ## Tectonic setting While the northern and southern boundaries of the Caribbean Plate are complex and diffuse, with zones of seismicity stretching several hundred kilometers across, the eastern boundary is that of the Lesser Antilles subduction zone. This 850 km (530 mi) long subduction zone lacks a uniform curve and has an average dip of 50–60°. The largest known earthquake on the plate interface was a M7.5–8.0 event in 1843, but it did not generate a large tsunami. In opposition, the three largest events between 1950 and 1978 were intraplate normal faulting events. ## Earthquake The mainshock and the primary aftershock occurred on the previously mapped Roseau Fault, a 15 km (9.3 mi), northeast-dipping normal fault that forms the western portion of the northwest-trending Les Saintes channel graben within the overriding North American Plate. Late 1990s bathymetric studies showed that it had vertical fault scarps approaching 120 m (390 ft). The type of slip was primarily extensional, but included a small amount of left-lateral slip, and may have contributed to hydrological/volcanic effects that were observed on the island of Dominica, where a flooded fumarole drained twice. ### Damage A maximum intensity of VIII (Heavily damaging) on the European macroseismic scale was recorded at Terre-de-Haut, where some serious damage occurred to a school, a church, and some homes near the sugar loaf. The same intensity was observed at Terre-de-Bas, where damage was moderate and non-structural in nature. At Petite-Anse, a small area contained some damaged walls, but no complete collapses occurred. At Grand-Bourg on the island of Marie-Galante (where the intensity was deemed to be VI–VII (Slightly damaging–Damaging)) the town hall, a church, and a college were red-tagged (unsuitable for use). The same intensity was assigned to the nearby commune of Saint-Louis, where the newly built town hall had visible cracks and the church was closed due to the potential of aftershocks breaking stained glass windows. ### Boiling Lake In the weeks following the mainshock, no abnormal geochemical or seismic activity was observed at La Grande Soufrière (an active stratovolcano) on Guadeloupe, but on southern Dominica near the Valley of Desolation, a flooded fumarole known as Boiling Lake was discovered empty by tourists on Christmas Day. The 10–15 m (33–49 ft) deep lake lies in an active geothermal area and is normally stable in terms of temperature (80–90 °C (176–194 °F)) and water level. By mid-February, the lake was full again, but its temperature had not returned to normal. The water level dropped again following the M5.8 aftershock on February 14. ### Aftershocks By mid-February, aftershock activity had essentially ceased, with events becoming increasingly far apart. On February 14, a strong and slightly-damaging aftershock occurred. This was also a normal slip event that occurred about 7 km (4.3 mi) northwest of the November 21 mainshock. The damage was minimal, with cracks developing on the roads, some broken water pipes, and wall and roof damage—including at some locations that were damaged during the mainshock. ## Tsunami A small tsunami took place following the shock, and while no tide gauges captured the event, scientists were on scene several days later to investigate. A large storm occurred on the day of the event, and this might have prevented visual observation of the tsunami, but witnesses on Guadeloupe reported the sea level dropped "a few" to as many as 50 cm (20 in). At Anse des Mûriers on Îles des Saintes, a ship captain reported that three minutes after the earthquake the sea dropped about 80 cm (31 in) and also receded from the coast about 5 m (16 ft). In Anse Rodrigue, the tsunami had a run-in distance of 42 m (138 ft). Investigators documented a 50 cm (20 in) run-up at Anse Pajot, but these findings were difficult to distinguish from the storm surge. A maximum run-up of 2 m (6.6 ft) was recorded at Grande-Anse beach and L'anse Rodrigue on Terre-de-Haut Island, and on Grande-Anse Terre-de-Bas Island. The tsunami was recorded as far as 30 km (19 mi) from the epicenter, at Capesterre-Belle-Eau. ## See also - Geography of Dominica - Lesser Antilles - List of earthquakes in 2004 - List of earthquakes in the Caribbean
1,075,887
John Key
1,172,106,295
Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016
[ "1961 births", "21st-century New Zealand politicians", "Honorary Companions of the Order of Australia", "Jewish agnostics", "Knights Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit", "Leaders of the Opposition (New Zealand)", "Living people", "Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives", "New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates", "New Zealand National Party MPs", "New Zealand National Party leaders", "New Zealand agnostics", "New Zealand monarchists", "New Zealand people of Austrian-Jewish descent", "New Zealand people of English descent", "People educated at Burnside High School", "Politicians from Christchurch", "Prime Ministers of New Zealand", "University of Canterbury alumni" ]
Sir John Phillip Key GNZM AC (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th prime minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to 2016. After resigning from both posts in December 2016 and leaving politics, Key was appointed to the board of directors and role of chairman in several New Zealand corporations. After his father died when he was eight, Key was raised by his single Austrian-Jewish mother in the low-income Christchurch suburb of Bryndwr. He attended the University of Canterbury and graduated in 1981 with a Bachelor of Commerce. He began a career in the foreign exchange market in New Zealand before moving overseas to work for Merrill Lynch, in which he became head of global foreign exchange in 1995, a position he would hold for six years. In 1999 he was appointed a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York until leaving in 2001. Key entered the New Zealand Parliament representing the Auckland electorate of Helensville as one of the few new National members of parliament in the election of 2002 following National's significant defeat of that year. In 2004, he was appointed Finance Spokesman for National and eventually succeeded Don Brash as the National Party leader in 2006. After two years as leader of the Opposition, Key led his party to victory at the November 2008 general election. He was subsequently sworn in as prime minister on 19 November 2008. The National government went on to win two more general elections under his leadership: in November 2011 and September 2014. Key was expected to contest for a fourth term of office at the 2017 general election, but on 5 December 2016 he resigned as prime minister and leader of the National Party. He was succeeded by Bill English on 12 December 2016. As prime minister, Key led the Fifth National Government of New Zealand which entered government at the beginning of the late-2000s recession in 2008. He was described as having socially liberal but fiscally conservative views and policies. In his first term, Key's government implemented a GST rise and personal tax cuts, while enacting several austerity measures. His government refused to renew license agreements for multiple television channels, including TVNZ 6, TVNZ 7, Kidzone and Heartland, while reducing funding for Radio New Zealand in real terms. In February 2011, after a major earthquake in Christchurch the nation's second largest city significantly affected the national economy, the government formed the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority. In its second term, Key's government implemented a policy of partial privatisation of five state-owned enterprises, while voters in a citizens-initiated referendum on the issue were 2 to 1 opposed to the policy. He also faced a severe housing crisis, especially in Auckland, and was widely criticised for a perceived lack of action. In foreign policy, Key withdrew New Zealand Defence Force personnel from their deployment in the war in Afghanistan, signed the Wellington Declaration with the United States and pushed for more nations to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership. ## Early life and education Key was born in Auckland to George Key (1914–1969) and Ruth Key (née Lazar; 1922–2000) on 9 August 1961. His father was an English immigrant and a veteran of the Spanish Civil War and World War II, who died of a heart attack when his son was eight years old. Key and his two sisters were raised in a state house in the Christchurch suburb of Bryndwr by his mother, an Austrian-Jewish refugee who escaped the Holocaust. Key is the third prime minister or premier of New Zealand to have Jewish ancestry, after Julius Vogel and Francis Bell. He attended Aorangi School, and then Burnside High School from 1975 to 1979, where he met his wife, Bronagh. He went on to attend the University of Canterbury and earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree in accounting in 1981. He also attended management studies courses at Harvard University. ## Career before politics Key's first job was as an auditor at McCulloch Menzies in 1982. He then became a project manager at Christchurch-based clothing manufacturer Lane Walker Rudkin for two years. He began working as a foreign exchange dealer at Elders Finance in Wellington, and rose to the position of head foreign exchange trader two years later, then moved to Auckland-based Bankers Trust in 1988. In 1995, he joined Merrill Lynch as head of Asian foreign exchange in Singapore. That same year he was promoted to Merrill's global head of foreign exchange, based in London, where he may have earned around US\$2.25 million a year including bonuses, which is about NZ\$5 million at 2001 exchange rates. Some co-workers called him "the smiling assassin" for maintaining his usual cheerfulness while sacking dozens (some say hundreds) of staff after heavy losses from the 1998 Russian financial crisis. He was a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the New York Federal Reserve Bank from 1999 to 2001. In 1998, on learning of his interest in pursuing a political career, National Party president John Slater began working to recruit him. Former party leader Jenny Shipley describes him as one of the people she "deliberately sought out and put my head on the line–either privately or publicly–to get them in there". ## Early political career ### Early years in Parliament Auckland's population growth led to the formation for the 2002 general election of a new electorate called Helensville, which covered the north-western corner of the Auckland urban area. Key beat long-serving National MP Brian Neeson (whose own Waitakere seat had moved on paper to being a Labour seat through the boundary changes) for the National Party Helensville selection. At the 2002 general election Key won the seat with a majority of 1,705, ahead of Labour's Gary Russell, with Neeson, now standing as an independent, coming third. The National Party was heavily defeated in the 2002 election, receiving only 20.9% of the party vote – the party's worst-ever election result. Following the fallout, a leadership coup against the incumbent Bill English was launched by Don Brash, another of the 2002 recruits, in October 2003. English and his supporters offered Key the finance spokesman position for his vote and were confident they had the numbers with him on their side. Brash narrowly won 14 votes to 12 and at the time it was thought Key had changed his support to Brash. The votes were confidential, although later Key stated that he did vote for English. Key won re-election at the 2005 general election, garnering 63% of votes cast. He increased his majority again in , gaining 73% of the electorate vote. ### Finance spokesman The low numbers in the National caucus meant Key was given more opportunities and responsibilities than most new Members of Parliament would. After serving as deputy finance spokesman under Brash, Key was promoted to the Opposition front benches in 2004 as party spokesman for finance. Key was up against Michael Cullen, the Minister of Finance and a veteran of 23 years in parliament. There was concern he would be out of his depth going up against Cullen in his first term and there was talk among the party of trying to "protect" Key. During the 2005 election campaign political commentators felt Key matched Cullen in the debates, although he may have benefited from Labour focusing their campaign on discrediting Brash. Although Brash lost the election, Key remained as finance spokesman. He was promoted to number four on the list, partly due to his success at selling the party's tax package during the campaign. While Keys ambition to become leader had been telegraphed from early in his political career, he was now beginning to rate highly on preferred Prime Minister polls. Rumours that Key was looking to take over the leadership circulated and there was an unofficial agreement between Brash and Key that he would be the natural successor. Things came to a head earlier than expected. In November 2006 Brash resigned as leader, citing damaging speculation over his future as the reason. Brash's resignation followed controversies over an extramarital affair, and over leaked internal National Party documents that were later published in the book The Hollow Men. After months of speculation, Key stood for leadership of the party and was elected unopposed. ## Leader of the Opposition On becoming leader Key convinced Gerry Brownlee, deputy leader under Brash, to step aside and promoted his main rival English to deputy leader and finance spokesman. He showed a ruthless streak by unceremoniously pushing Brash out and refusing to allow another one of the 2002 recruits, Brian Connell, back into the caucus. In his maiden speech as National Party leader, Key spoke of an "underclass" that had been "allowed to develop" in New Zealand, a theme which received a large amount of media coverage. Key followed up on this speech in February 2007 by committing his party to a programme which would provide food in the poorest schools in New Zealand. In opposition he was instrumental in promoting National's change of policy regarding keeping superannuation and Kiwibank. He also supported interest-free student loans and early childhood education funding. He relented on his stance in opposition to Sue Bradford's Child Discipline Bill, which sought to remove "reasonable force" as a defence for parents charged with prima facie assault of their children. Key and Prime Minister Helen Clark agreed a compromise – giving police the discretion to overlook smacking they regarded as "inconsequential". In August 2007 Key came in for criticism when he changed his position regarding the Therapeutic Products and Medicine Bill. At the same time Labour's Trevor Mallard hinted in Parliament that Labour would try to link Key to the 1987 "H-Fee" scandal, which involved Key's former employer Elders Merchant Finance and a payment to Equiticorp Chief Executive Allan Hawkins. Hawkins and Elders executive Ken Jarrett were later jailed for fraud. Key declaring that he had left Elders months before the event, that he had no knowledge of the deal, and that his interview with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) during the investigation into the affair could only have helped to convict the people involved. Then-SFO director Charles Sturt publicly supported Key's statement. Labour MPs criticised Key for not releasing specific policy information at their annual conference. Key responded that National would set its own policy agenda and that there was adequate time before the next election for voters to digest National Party policy proposals. ## Prime Minister (2008–2016) ### First term: 2008–2011 Key became Prime Minister following the general election on 8 November 2008, which signalled an end to the Labour-led government of nine years under Clark. The National Party won 45% of the party vote and 59 of the 122 seats in Parliament, overtaking the incumbent majority Labour Party. National negotiated with smaller parties to form a minority government with confidence and supply from the classical-liberal ACT Party, the centrist United Future and the indigenous-rights-based Māori Party. Key was sworn in as Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism and also appointed as a member of the Executive Council on 19 November 2008, along with his nominated cabinet. He chose Bill English as his Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. During his first term in office National remained high in the polls and one commentator described support for Key as "stratospheric". In 2011 he was nicknamed "Teflon John" in the popular media, as nothing damaging to his reputation seemed to "stick" to him. Key's government introduced several bold economic policies in response to the global economic downturn that began shortly after he took office. The government introduced a plan of personal tax cuts, reducing taxes on all income; the top personal tax rate was lowered from 39% to 38% and then 33%. In its first budget the government raised the rate of Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 12.5% to 15%, despite Key previously stating that an increase would not happen under a National government. Key's government also enacted several austerity measures. His government declined to renew license agreements for multiple television channels, including TVNZ 6, TVNZ 7, Kidzone and Heartland, while reducing funding for Radio New Zealand in real terms. In January 2009, after addressing Chinese New Year celebrations at the Greenlane ASB Showgrounds, Key tripped after coming down a small set of stairs in front of cameras, leaving him with a broken right arm and "embarrassed". Later that year, when arriving at the Ngapuhi Te Tii Waitangi Marae the day before Waitangi Day, Key was briefly shoved and grabbed by two protesters before diplomatic protection officers pulled them off. He told reporters he was "quite shocked" but continued onto the marae and spoke, while police took the two men away and charged them with assault. Key was tied with the National Cycleway Project since its conception at the national Job Summit in early 2009. He proposed it, and as Minister for Tourism, was instrumental in getting NZ\$50 million approved for initial construction work. Key launched New Zealand's campaign for a Security Council seat at the UN General Assembly meeting in September 2009. He met briefly with US President Barack Obama and former US President Bill Clinton. While in New York City, Key appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman. He read out the Top Ten list, 'Top Ten Reasons You Should Visit New Zealand'. In foreign policy, Key supported closer relations with the United States, an ANZUS defence partner. On 4 November 2010, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully signed the Wellington Declaration. The agreement signalled an increase in the strategic partnership between the two nations and covered areas of co-operation including nuclear proliferation, climate change and terrorism. This was followed in June 2012 by a companion document, the Washington Declaration. Since 2008 Key has also engaged in Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations with the United States and other Asia-Pacific economies. On 22 February 2011 a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch, causing widespread damage to the city region and significantly affecting the national economy. It was New Zealand's third deadliest natural disaster, killing 185 people. Addressing the nation, Key said that the disaster "...may well be New Zealand's darkest day". On 29 March 2011, Key created the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) to manage the earthquake recovery, co-operating with the government, local councils and residents. On 8 March 2011, John Key advised Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand to appoint Jerry Mateparae as the next Governor-General of New Zealand. The Queen made the appointment later that day. In October 2011, Key was caught up in a controversy over the replacement of 34 three-year-old Government BMW limousines with new ones at a time of economic restraint. Initially, Key denied any knowledge of the plan, although reports later surfaced showing that his office was aware of the deal. Political opponents accused Key and his government of hypocrisy; he later apologised, calling it a "sloppy" deal, effectively placing most of the blame on his chief of staff. Shortly before the general election in November 2011, a recording was made of a conversation between Key and ACT Party candidate John Banks that they considered private – though the conversation took place in a public cafe. Key made a complaint to the police and compared the incident to illegal phone hacking in the News of the World scandal in Britain. The recording allegedly concerned the leadership of ACT and disparaging remarks about elderly New Zealand First supporters. Journalists and opposition parties demanded the release of the tapes and the affair was nicknamed 'teapot tape'. A senior barrister criticised Key, stating that the comparison of the recording to the phone hacking scandal was a "cheap shot". Statements made by Key regarding New Zealand's national credit rating proved controversial. In October 2011 he claimed that Standard & Poor's (S&P) had said that "if there was a change of Government, that downgrade would be much more likely". S&P contradicted the claim, bringing Key's credibility into question. National won the election, but New Zealand's credit rating was subsequently downgraded anyway – by two different agencies – Standard and Poor's and Fitch Group. ### Second term: 2011–2014 The general election on 26 November 2011 saw National increase its share of the vote and gain a seat, while Labour suffered further losses. Key called the election a "very happy night" and a "strong and solid win" for his party. The Prime Minister re-negotiated confidence and supply agreements with United Future, the ACT Party and the Māori Party, to secure a second term of government. In 2012, Key was implicated in the arrest of Kim Dotcom and the subsequent revelations that the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) had illegally spied on Dotcom. As Prime Minister, Key was directly responsible for the GCSB, which is not allowed to spy on New Zealand citizens – and Dotcom had been granted permanent residency. Three days later, Key apologised for the illegal spying. "I apologize to Mr Dotcom. I apologize to New Zealanders because every New Zealander...is entitled to be protected from the law when it comes to the GCSB, and we failed to provide that appropriate protection for him." It subsequently came to light that Deputy Prime Minister Bill English had been asked by the GCSB to sign a "ministerial certificate" suppressing details of the bureau's involvement in the case while Key was overseas – the only time this had been done in the last ten years. The fallout from Dotcom's arrest continued in December when the High Court ordered the GCSB to "confirm all entities" to which it gave information, opening the door for Dotcom to sue for damages – against the spy agency and the police. Later that month, Key's rating as preferred PM dropped to 39% – the first time in his four years as prime minister that his rating had slipped below 40%. It emerged that Key had known Ian Fletcher, head of the GCSB, since they were at school, but Key denied he had 'shoulder-tapped' Fletcher for the role. Later Key's office released a statement saying he rang Fletcher and recommended he apply for the position at GCSB. Key said he hadn't originally mentioned the phone call because he "forgot". Political commentator Bryce Edwards called it the "most appalling political management since he became Prime Minister back in 2008". Key continued New Zealand's push for a spot on the UN Security Council while in New York in 2013. There he accused rival candidates Spain and Turkey of using aid money to buy votes from small African countries, and said New Zealand would not be spending its way onto the Council. While in New York, Key suddenly fell ill, but recovered in time for meetings with representatives from other countries ahead of the General Assembly. In April whilst visiting Chinese president Xi Jinping in Beijing, Key made headlines by suggesting New Zealand would back any United States or Australian military action against North Korea. The following day he backtracked, saying the chance of New Zealand troops entering North Korea was "so far off the planet". ### Third term: 2014–2016 The general election on 20 September 2014 saw the National Government returned again. National won a plurality with 47.0% of the party vote and 60 of the 121 seats. On election night counts the party appeared to hold the first majority since 1994 with 61 seats, but lost a list seat (for Maureen Pugh) to the Green Party on the official count (including special votes) of the party vote. National re-entered a confidence and supply arrangement with United Future, the ACT Party and the Māori Party. In October, Key created a new ministerial portfolio called the Minister of National Security and Intelligence to serve the newly established Cabinet National Security Committee. The Prime Minister assumed the new portfolio while the Attorney General Christopher Finlayson became Minister Responsible for the GCSB and Minister in Charge of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS), portfolios which have traditionally been held by a prime minister. Key was elected Chairman of the International Democrat Union (IDU), an international alliance of centre-right political parties. The National Party was a founding member party in 1983. In April 2015, Key acknowledged that he had pulled a waitress' ponytail multiple times over several months; when Key learnt she had taken offence, he apologised. International media reported the incident as "ponytail-gate". Key had long supported changing the flag of New Zealand, and during the 2014 general election campaign promised a referendum on the issue. Following the election win, two New Zealand flag referendums were held in November/December 2015 and March 2016. The second resulted in the retention of the current flag. Critics (both national and international) charged that the referendums were unnecessary, expensive and a "wasteful vanity project". The New Zealand housing crisis took hold substantially following Key's third term. From the time Key took office until the year he left, average housing prices had more than doubled. Key repeatedly refused to call the property bubble a crisis, claiming it instead was a "challenge". The prime minister was challenged over his criticism of Helen Clark's government's response to the housing crisis during the 2008 campaign, but reluctance to take a stand now it had worsened considerably. A Newshub poll released in May 2016 showed that 76% of New Zealanders felt the government was not doing enough to control the housing market, while only 20 per cent thought it had housing under control. International trade and the negotiation of free-trade agreements were a priority in Key's third term. He was a leading advocate of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), also supporting the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership (TPSEP). Both agreements provide for a multilateral free-trade area in the Asia–Pacific region. In a September 2016 speech to the Council of Foreign Relations, Key said "[TPP] will boost our economy by at least \$2.7 billion a year by 2030. It will help diversify our economy and create more jobs and higher incomes for New Zealanders". Key was particularly intent on securing the participation of the United States in the agreement; to this end, he discussed TPP with President Barack Obama in April 2016, and hosted Secretary of State John Kerry in Wellington, 9–13 November 2016. The finalised TPP proposal was signed on 4 February 2016 in Auckland, concluding seven years of negotiations. In January 2017, US President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum to withdrawing the United States' signature from the agreement, making its ratification virtually impossible. In February 2016, Key reached an agreement with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to grant New Zealanders living in Australia a pathway to citizenship if they were earning five times over the average wage. As a result of this agreement, the Australian Government introduced the "Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189)" in July 2017 to fast-track the Australian citizenship naturalisation process for New Zealanders living in Australia. New Zealanders living in Australia for at least five years and earning an annual income over A\$53,900 were eligible for the visa. By late February 2018, 1,512 Subclass 189 visas had been issued. However, this visa scheme was criticised by the "Ozkiwi lobby" since two-thirds of New Zealanders living in Australia did not meet the qualifying wage. In March 2016, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, approved the appointment of Dame Patsy Reddy as the next Governor-General of New Zealand, for a five-year term starting in September 2016, on the advice of John Key. Key resigned as Prime Minister and leader of the National Party effective from 12 December 2016, and instructed the party to put into motion the processes to elect a new leader. He expressed interest in spending more time with his family, stating that he had "never seen [himself] as a career politician" and that "this feels the right time to go". Media reports described the decision as unexpected, and noted the popularity of Key and his party. Bill English won the 2016 New Zealand National Party leadership election to succeed Key. ## Post-premiership Following his resignation, Key stated that he would leave Parliament before the 2017 general election. However, he stated that he would resign within six months of the election so as to not trigger a by-election in the electorate. He gave his valedictory speech in Parliament on 22 March 2017 and formally resigned the following month, on 14 April. In May 2017, Key was appointed to the board of directors of Air New Zealand, and took up the position on 1 September 2017. He was also appointed chairman of ANZ Bank New Zealand, taking up the position on 18 October 2017. On 31 March 2020, Key stood down as a director of Air New Zealand. ## Political and social views Key's views were largely aligned with his own party's view. However, he noted that his differences from his predecessor are more of style and focus rather than view. Key noted others' concern at the pace of asset sales, but stated that the arguments against selling assets in the 1980s were largely irrational. In a 2002 interview, he said that "some form of orientation towards privatisation" in health, education and superannuation, such as giving firms tax breaks for employer super schemes, made sense. After his party won a plurality in the 2011 election, Key rejected claims that the National Government lacked a mandate to partially privatise state-owned assets. Key had a mixed voting record on social issues. In 2004 he voted against the bill creating civil unions, stating that, while he personally supports such unions, he acted in accordance with his electorate's views. However, in 2005, Key was part of a large bloc of MPs voting to defeat a bill that defined marriage as being between a man and a woman. Key stated in 2008 that he did not oppose same-sex couples adopting children. In 2013 he expressed support for same-sex marriage and voted for the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013. In 2008 Key voted for an attempt to raise the legal drinking age from 18 back to 20, but ignored a Law Commission recommendation to increase levies on alcohol. He claimed there was "no appetite" for such a move. A report on public attitudes to alcohol law reform was later discovered, which indicated that in 2010, when he made this claim, 56% of New Zealanders supported a price increase. Key says that global warming is a real phenomenon, and that the Government needed to implement measures to reduce human contribution to global warming. Key committed the National Party to working towards reducing greenhouse emissions in New Zealand by 50% within the next fifty years. Commentators note that as late as 2005, Key made statements indicating that he was sceptical of the effects and impact of climate change. As a first-term MP in 2003, Key criticised the Labour-led government's stance on the Invasion of Iraq, claiming that New Zealand was "missing in action" by failing to support its ANZUS allies, the United States and Australia. In August 2007 Key claimed that he would have taken a similar position to Clark and not sent troops to Iraq. In response, the Government argued that his comments from 2003 suggest that Key would have deployed troops had he been Prime Minister at the time. Like his predecessor Helen Clark, Key views a New Zealand republic as "inevitable", although probably not for another decade. "If Australia becomes a republic there is no question it will set off quite an intense debate on this side of the Tasman", he said. "We would have to have a referendum if we wanted to move towards it." Key later stated that he was a monarchist, and that a New Zealand republic would "Not [happen] under my watch". In 2009 Key's government restored titular honours, including knighthoods and damehoods — the abolishment of these titles in 2000 had been seen as an advancement towards republicanism. During the 2020 New Zealand euthanasia referendum, Key publicly expressed support for the End of Life Choice Act 2019, saying that his mother's struggle with Alzheimer's disease prior to her death convinced him to support the decriminalisation of euthanasia. In September 2021, Key criticised the Labour Government's elimination-based lockdown policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, likening it to making New Zealand a hermit kingdom like North Korea. He also accused the Government of ruling by fear and lacking a post-lockdown strategy. To speed up COVID-19 vaccination, he recommended boosting funding for Māori and Pasifika health providers, introducing financial incentives for young people, and allowing only vaccinated people into licensed premises. TVNZ journalist Jack Tame described Key's views on the Government's handling of COVID-19 as provocative but praised his five-point plan as a "collection of sensible ideas worthy of consideration." In August 2022, Key described United States Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi's recent visit to Taiwan as "reckless" and provocative towards China during an interview with TVNZ journalist Jack Tame. Since Beijing regarded the visit as a violation of the One China Policy, China had downgraded bilateral relations with the United States. During his premiership, Key had cultivated a close relationship with the Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, describing Xi as "extremely trustworthy, very open, consistent." ## Personal life ### Personal wealth On 25 July 2008, Key was added to the New Zealand National Business Review (NBR) Rich List for the first time. The list details the wealthiest New Zealand individuals and family groups. He had an estimated wealth of NZ\$50 million, which made him the wealthiest New Zealand Member of Parliament. In the 2016 NBR Rich List, Key had an estimated wealth of NZ\$60 million. Most of his financial investments are held in a blind trust. ### Family Key married Bronagh Irene Dougan in 1984; they met when they were both students at Burnside High School. She has a BCom degree, and worked as a personnel consultant before becoming a full-time mother. They have two children, Stephie and Max. Max is a night-time radio host for George FM, and is also a singer. Stephie is a performance artist. ### Religious views In 2008 Key stated that he attended church frequently with his children, but was an agnostic. He has said that he does not believe in an afterlife, and sees religion as "doing the right thing". ## Honours On 3 August 2010, Key gained the style "The Right Honourable". Previously, as he was not a privy councillor, he had not been entitled to use the style—his predecessor ended the appointment of New Zealanders to the Privy Council. However, in 2010 the Queen approved the use of the style by prime ministers, governors-general, speakers of the House, and chief justices. Key was appointed a Knight Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, in recognition of "services to the State", in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours. Later Key was appointed an honorary Companion of the Order of Australia, for "eminent service to Australia-New Zealand relations", by the Governor-General of Australia on the personal recommendation of the Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull. On 7 August 2017, Key was awarded an honorary doctorate by his alma mater, the University of Canterbury, to become a doctor of commerce. ## See also - Electoral history of John Key - List of New Zealand ministries - Contents of the United States diplomatic cables leak (New Zealand)
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Hurricane Alma (1962)
1,165,416,737
Category 1 Atlantic hurricane in 1962
[ "1962 Atlantic hurricane season", "1962 natural disasters in the United States", "Category 1 Atlantic hurricanes" ]
Hurricane Alma saw the latest development of the first storm since 1941. The first named storm of the 1962 Atlantic hurricane season, Alma formed from a tropical wave located offshore South Florida on August 26. Initially a tropical depression, it subsequently moved inland over South Florida. Impact in the state was minor, generally limited to light rainfall and rough seas. Early on August 27, the depression reemerged into the Atlantic Ocean and strengthened into Tropical Storm Alma later that day. Thereafter, it moved northeastward and remained offshore the East Coast of the United States. Alma strengthened into a hurricane on August 28, while located offshore the Outer Banks of North Carolina. In the eastern portion of the state, strong winds downed electrical poles, which caused power outages. Storm tides caused erosion in some areas. Damage in North Carolina reached \$35,000 (1962 USD). The storm continued to intensify and peaked as an 85 mph (137 km/h) Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale on August 28. The storm's outer bands brought rainfall, rough seas, and strong winds, especially in Massachusetts. However, the precipitation was mostly beneficial, as New England was suffering from drought conditions. In Massachusetts, strong winds caused power and telephone outages, and felled numerous trees. Rough seas offshore Massachusetts destroyed over 100 boats. Losses in New England were less than \$1 million. Alma curved eastward and weakened to a tropical storm in the northwestern Atlantic on August 30. Several hours later, the storm transitioned into an extratropical cyclone while situated south of Nova Scotia. ## Meteorological history A weak circulation, associated with a tropical wave, was first observed by Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) in the eastern Atlantic Ocean on August 14. The system tracked westward and was observed by a research flight on August 18. Four days later, the system entered the Caribbean Sea and continued to remain disorganized. The wave moved across eastern Cuba on August 24, before emerging into the Straits of Florida on the following day. The system finally began to organize, and at 1200 UTC on August 26, a tropical depression developed offshore southeastern Florida coast. Shortly thereafter, the depression made landfall near Boca Raton, Florida with winds of 30 mph (48 km/h). It traveled barely inland and emerged into the Atlantic Ocean near Fort Pierce early on August 27. The depression moved northeastward and strengthened due to its location beneath an anticyclone. Later on August 27, the depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Alma while situated about 150 mi (240 km) east of the Florida–Georgia border. Alma steadily intensified as it paralleled the coastline of The Carolinas, becoming a hurricane on August 28 a few miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Around that time, Alma attained its minimum barometric pressure of 984 mbar (29.1 inHg). At 1800 UTC on August 28, Alma attained its maximum sustained wind speed of 85 mph (137 km/h). A high pressure system over Atlantic Canada caused Alma to turn east-southeastward, while weakening to a tropical storm on August 30. Later that day, the storm transitioned into an extratropical cyclone while situated about 180 miles (290 km) south-southeast of the southwestern tip of Nova Scotia. The high pressure system also caused the extratropical remnants to execute a cyclonic loop between August 31 and September 2. Later that day, the extratropical remnants of Alma curved northeastward, before dissipating south of Newfoundland. ## Preparations and impact In Puerto Rico, heavy rainfall associated with the precursor tropical wave produced flooding in the southeastern portion of the island. On August 25, a day before Alma developed, the precursor system brought high seas to the Atlantic coasts of Florida and Georgia; this resulted in small craft warnings from Daytona Beach, Florida to Savannah, Georgia. Additionally, the storm brought light precipitation to some areas of both states. As the storm traveled parallel to the East Coast of the United States, smalls crafts were also advised to remain in port between Edisto Island and the mouth of the Little River in South Carolina. Along the coast of that state, Alma brought gusty winds and heavy to excessive precipitation in some area, though no damage was reported. Despite its proximity to land, the storm produced peak wind gusts of only 53 mph (85 km/h) in Nags Head. Wind gusts downed a power pole in Hatteras, which caused an hour long power outage for one-third of the town. There, the storm tide was 3 ft (0.91 m) above normal, which resulted in some erosion. The highest rainfall total from Alma in the United States was a report of 10.38 in (264 mm) in Cape Hatteras. Damage in the state amounted to \$35,000. The eye of Alma passed about 70 miles (110 km) south-southeast of the Virginia Capes, and brought light precipitation, gusty winds, and rough surf to the eastern portion of the state. Rainfall peaked at only 0.64 inches (16 mm) in Norfolk, causing no flooding. Minor beach erosion occurred due to tides 1.3 feet (0.40 m) above normal at Hampton Roads. No significant wind damage occurred, as the strongest sustained wind speed in the area was 36 mph (58 km/h) in Cape Henry. In Massachusetts, the outer bands of Alma brought 40 hours of nearly continuous rainfall, as well as gale-force winds for several hours. Precipitation amounts reached up to 3 inches (76 mm), though it was mostly beneficial, as the region of New England was suffering from drought conditions. Slick roads resulted in several traffic accidents. Tides reached 2 ft (0.61 m) above normal in the state of Massachusetts, which resulted in minor coastal flooding. However, Alma produced strong waves that destroyed over 100 boats. Additionally, many cabin cruisers and smaller vessels broke loose from their moorings and smashed against the rocks. The storm produced northerly wind gust up to 51 mph (82 km/h) to the Boston area, in addition to winds of 60 mph (97 km/h) along coastal sections of the state. As a result, many trees fell, causing power and telephone outages, and smashing a house and parked car in Lynn. At the Civil Defense facility in Melrose, winds and rainfall short-circuited the sirens, causing them to wail for more than 2 hours. At the Fair Grounds in Topsfield, a large tent was blown down. One indirect death occurred when a woman was struck by a truck that skidded off the road in Haverhill. Elsewhere in New England, the storm brought rainfall and 60 mph (97 km/h) winds to coastal Rhode Island. Storm damage was reported as far north as Portsmouth, New Hampshire, while precipitation extended northward into Maine. Damage from the storm in New England was estimated at less than \$1 million. ## See also - Hurricane Esther (1961) - Hurricane Gerda (1969) - Hurricane Arthur (2014) - Hurricane Alex (2004)
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Daft Punk
1,173,826,811
French electronic music duo
[ "1993 establishments in France", "2021 disestablishments in France", "Ableton Live users", "Bands with fictional stage personas", "Brit Award winners", "Club DJs", "Columbia Records artists", "Daft Punk", "Electronic dance music duos", "Electronic music duos", "French DJs", "French electronic music groups", "French house music groups", "French musical duos", "Grammy Award winners for dance and electronic music", "Lycée Carnot alumni", "Male musical duos", "Masked musicians", "Musical groups disestablished in 2021", "Musical groups established in 1993", "Musical groups from Paris", "Parlophone artists", "Remixers", "Synthpop groups", "Virgin Records artists", "Walt Disney Records artists", "Warner Records artists" ]
Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining elements of house music with funk, disco, techno, rock and synth-pop. They garnered acclaim and commercial success and are regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music. Daft Punk formed after their indie rock band, Darlin', disbanded. Their debut studio album, Homework, was released by Virgin Records in 1997 to positive reviews, backed by the singles "Around the World" and "Da Funk". From 1999, Daft Punk assumed robot personas for public appearances, with helmets, outfits and gloves to disguise their identities; they made few media appearances. They were managed from 1996 to 2008 by Pedro Winter, the head of Ed Banger Records. Daft Punk's second album, Discovery (2001), had further success, with the hit singles "One More Time", "Digital Love" and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". It became the basis for an animated film, Interstella 5555, supervised by the Japanese artist Leiji Matsumoto. Daft Punk's third album, Human After All (2005), received mixed reviews, though the singles "Robot Rock" and "Technologic" achieved success in the United Kingdom. Daft Punk directed an avant-garde science-fiction film, Electroma, released in 2006. They toured throughout 2006 and 2007 and released the live album Alive 2007, which won a Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album; the tour is credited for popularising dance music in North America. Daft Punk composed the score for the 2010 film Tron: Legacy. In 2013, Daft Punk left Virgin for Columbia Records and released their fourth and final album, Random Access Memories, to acclaim; the lead single, "Get Lucky", reached the top 10 in the charts of 27 countries. Random Access Memories won five Grammy Awards in 2014, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for "Get Lucky". In 2016, Daft Punk gained their only number one on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Starboy", a collaboration with the Weeknd. In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked them the 12th greatest musical duo of all time. They announced their split in 2021. ## History ### 1987–1992: Early career and Darlin' Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter met in 1987 while attending the Lycée Carnot secondary school in Paris. The two became friends and recorded demos with others from the school. In 1992, they formed a band, Darlin', with Bangalter on bass, Homem-Christo on guitar, and Laurent Brancowitz on guitar and drums. The trio named themselves after the Beach Boys song "Darlin'", which they covered along with an original composition. Both tracks were released on a multi-artist EP under Duophonic Records, a label owned by the London-based band Stereolab, who invited Darlin' to open for shows in the United Kingdom. Darlin' disbanded after around six months, having played two gigs and produced four songs. Bangalter described the project as "pretty average". Brancowitz formed another band, Phoenix. Bangalter and Homem-Christo formed Daft Punk and experimented with drum machines and synthesizers. The name was taken from a negative review of Darlin' in Melody Maker by Dave Jennings, who dubbed their music "a daft punky thrash". The band found the review amusing. Homem-Christo said, "We struggled so long to find [the name] Darlin', and [this name] happened so quickly." ### 1993–1996: First performances and singles In September 1993, Daft Punk attended a rave at EuroDisney, where they met Stuart Macmillan of Slam, the co-founder of the Scottish label Soma Quality Recordings. They gave him a demo tape, which formed the basis for Daft Punk's debut single, "The New Wave", a limited release in 1994. The single also contained the final mix of "The New Wave" called "Alive", which appeared on Daft Punk's first album. Daft Punk returned to the studio in May 1995 to record "Da Funk". After it became their first commercially successful single, they hired a manager, Pedro Winter, who regularly promoted them and other artists at his Hype nightclubs. They signed with Virgin Records in September 1996 and made a deal to license tracks through their production company, Daft Trax. Bangalter said that while they received numerous offers from record labels, they wanted to wait and ensure that they did not lose creative control. He considered the deal with Virgin more akin to a partnership. In the mid-to-late nineties, Daft Punk performed live at various events, without the costumes they later became known for. In 1996, they made their first performance in the United States, at an Even Furthur event in Wisconsin. In addition to live original performances, they performed in clubs using vinyl records from their collection. They were known for incorporating numerous styles of music into their DJ sets. ### 1997–1999: Homework Daft Punk released their debut album, Homework, in 1997. That February, the UK dance magazine Muzik published a Daft Punk cover feature and described Homework as "one of the most hyped debut albums in a long long time". According to The Village Voice, the album revived house music and departed from the Eurodance formula. The critic Alex Rayner wrote that it combined established club styles and the "burgeoning eclecticism" of big beat. In 1997, Daft Punk embarked on an international concert tour, Daftendirektour, using their home equipment for the live stage. On 25 May, they headlined the Tribal Gathering festival at Luton Hoo, England, with Orbital and Kraftwerk. The most successful single from Homework was "Around the World". "Da Funk" was also included on The Saint film soundtrack. Daft Punk produced a series of music videos for Homework directed by Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Roman Coppola and Seb Janiak. The videos were collected in 1999 as D.A.F.T.: A Story About Dogs, Androids, Firemen and Tomatoes. Bangalter and Homem-Christo created their own record labels, Roulé and Crydamoure, after the release of Homework, and released solo projects by themselves and their friends. Homem-Christo released music as a member of Le Knight Club with Eric Chedeville, and Bangalter released music as a member of Together with DJ Falcon and founded the group Stardust with Alan Braxe and Benjamin Diamond. In 1998, Stardust released their only song, the chart hit "Music Sounds Better With You". ### 1999–2003: Discovery Daft Punk's second album, Discovery, was released in 2001. The duo said it was an attempt to reconnect with the playful, open-minded attitude associated with the discovery phase of childhood. The album reached No. 2 in the UK, and its lead single, "One More Time", was a hit. The song is heavily autotuned and compressed. The singles "Digital Love" and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" were also successful in the UK and on the US Dance Chart, and "Face to Face" hit number one on the US club play charts. Discovery created a new generation of Daft Punk fans. It also saw Daft Punk debut their distinctive robot costumes; they had previously worn Halloween masks or bags for promotional appearances. Discovery was later named one of the best albums of the decade by publications including Pitchfork and Resident Advisor. In 2020, Rolling Stone included it at number 236 in its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". In 2021, Pitchfork cited Discovery as the centrepiece of Daft Punk's career, "an album that transcended the robots' club roots and rippled through the decades that followed". Daft Punk partnered with the Japanese manga artist Leiji Matsumoto to create Interstella 5555, a feature-length animation set to Discovery. The first four episodes were shown on Toonami in 2001, and the finished film was released on DVD in 2003. That December, Daft Punk released Daft Club, a compilation of Discovery remixes. In 2001, Daft Punk released a 45-minute excerpt from a Daftendirektour performance as Alive 1997. ### 2004–2007: Human After All and Alive 2007 In March 2005, Daft Punk released their third album, Human After All, the result of six weeks of writing and recording. Reviews were mixed, with criticism for its repetitiveness and darker mood. "Robot Rock", "Technologic", "Human After All" and "The Prime Time of Your Life" were released as singles. A Daft Punk anthology CD/DVD, Musique Vol. 1 1993–2005, was released on 4 April 2006. Daft Punk also released a remix album, Human After All: Remixes. On 21 May 2006, Daft Punk premiered a film, Daft Punk's Electroma, at the Cannes Film Festival sidebar Director's Fortnight. The film does not include Daft Punk's music. Midnight screenings of the film were held in Paris theaters starting from March 2007. For 48 dates across 2006 and 2007, Daft Punk performed the Alive 2006/2007 world tour, performing a "megamix" of their music from a large LED-fronted pyramid. The tour was acclaimed and is credited for bringing dance music to a wider audience, especially in North America. The Guardian journalist Gabriel Szatan likened it to how the Beatles' 1964 performance on The Ed Sullivan Show had brought British rock and roll to the American mainstream. Daft Punk's performance in Paris was released as their second live album, Alive 2007, on 19 November 2007. The live version of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" was released as a single, with a video directed by Olivier Gondry comprising audience footage of their performance in Brooklyn. In 2009, Daft Punk won Grammy Awards for Alive 2007 and its single "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". ### 2008–2011: Tron: Legacy Daft Punk made a surprise appearance at the 50th Grammy Awards on 10 February 2008, and appeared with rapper Kanye West to perform a reworked version of "Stronger" on stage at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It was the first televised Daft Punk live performance. In 2008, Daft Punk returned to Paris to work on new material. Winter also stepped down as their manager to focus attention on his Ed Banger Records label and his work as Busy P. He stated in a later interview that Daft Punk were working with an unspecified management company in Los Angeles. The duo held its Daft Arts production office at the Jim Henson Studios complex in Hollywood. In 2008, Daft Punk placed 38th in a worldwide official poll of DJ Mag after debuting at position 71 in the year before. Daft Punk provided new mixes for the video game DJ Hero, and appeared in the game as playable characters. At the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that Daft Punk had composed 24 tracks for the film Tron: Legacy. Daft Punk's score was arranged and orchestrated by Joseph Trapanese. The band collaborated with him for two years on the score, from pre-production to completion. The score features an 85-piece orchestra, recorded at AIR Lyndhurst Studios in London. Joseph Kosinski, director of the film, referred to the score as a mixture of orchestral and electronic elements. Daft Punk also make a cameo as disc jockey programs wearing their trademark robot helmets within the film's virtual world. The soundtrack album was released on 6 December 2010. A music video for "Derezzed" premiered on the MTV Networks on the same day the album was released. The video, which features Olivia Wilde as the character Quorra in specially shot footage, along with images of Daft Punk in Flynn's Arcade, was later made available for purchase from the iTunes Store and included in the DVD and Blu-ray releases of the film. Walt Disney Records released a remix album, Tron: Legacy Reconfigured, on 5 April 2011. In 2010, Daft Punk were admitted into the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, an order of merit of France. Bangalter and Homem-Christo were individually awarded the rank of Chevalier (knight). On October of that year, Daft Punk made a surprise guest appearance during the encore of Phoenix's show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. They played a medley of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" and "Around the World" before the song segued into Phoenix's song "1901". The duo also included elements of their tracks "Rock'n Roll", "Human After All", and "Together", one of Bangalter's releases as a member of Together. They produced N.E.R.D.'s 2010 song "Hypnotize U". ### 2011–2015: Random Access Memories `In 2011, Soma Records released a previously unpublished Daft Punk track, "Drive", recorded while they were signed to Soma in the 1990s. The track was included in a twentieth anniversary multi-artist compilation of the Soma label. In October 2012, Daft Punk provided a 15-minute mix of songs by blues musician Junior Kimbrough for Hedi Slimane's Yves Saint Laurent fashion show. Daft Punk recorded their fourth studio album, Random Access Memories, with musicians including Julian Casablancas, Todd Edwards, DJ Falcon, Panda Bear, Chilly Gonzales, Paul Williams, Pharrell Williams, Chic frontman Nile Rodgers and Giorgio Moroder. Daft Punk left Virgin for Sony Music Entertainment through the Columbia Records label.` Random Access Memories was released on 17 May 2013. The lead single, "Get Lucky", became Daft Punk's first UK number-one single and the most-streamed new song in the history of Spotify. At the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, Daft Punk debuted a trailer for their single "Lose Yourself to Dance" and presented the award for "Best Female Video" alongside Rodgers and Pharrell. In December, they revealed a music video for the song "Instant Crush", directed by Warren Fu and featuring Julian Casablancas. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, Random Access Memories won the Grammy for Best Dance/Electronica Album, Album of the Year and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, while "Get Lucky" received the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Record of the Year. Daft Punk performed at the ceremony with Stevie Wonder, Rodgers, and Pharrell, as well as Random Access Memories rhythm section players Nathan East, Omar Hakim, Paul Jackson, Jr. and Chris Caswell. Daft Punk co-produced Kanye West's sixth studio album, Yeezus (2013), creating the tracks "On Sight", "Black Skinhead", "I Am a God" and "Send It Up" with West. They provided additional vocals for Pharrell's 2014 single "Gust of Wind". On 10 March 2014, an unreleased Daft Punk song, "Computerized", leaked online. It features Jay-Z and contains "The Son of Flynn" from the Tron: Legacy soundtrack; it was once intended to be a single promoting Tron: Legacy. In April 2015, Daft Punk appeared in a short tribute to Rodgers as part of a documentary on his life, Nile Rodgers: From Disco to Daft Punk. In June, a documentary, Daft Punk Unchained, was released. ### 2016–present: Final projects and disbandment Daft Punk appeared on the 2016 singles "Starboy" and "I Feel It Coming" by Canadian R&B singer the Weeknd; "Starboy" topped the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Daft Punk's only US number-one song, and "I Feel It Coming" reached number four. In 2017, Soma Records released a previously unreleased remix of the Daft Punk track "Drive", as part of a compilation featuring various artists. In February 2017, Daft Punk launched a pop-up shop in Hollywood, California, featuring memorabilia, artwork, and a display of the various costumes the duo has worn over the years. The duo also performed with the Weeknd at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards on 12 February 2017. In the years following the Starboy collaborations, Bangalter and Homem-Christo worked solo as producers appearing on several projects. On 21 June 2017, the Australian band Parcels released the song "Overnight", produced and co-written by Daft Punk. It was written after Daft Punk saw Parcels perform and invited the members to their studio. This became Daft Punk's final production as a duo. Between April 9 and August 11 2019, an electronic exhibition based on Daft Punk's song "Technologic" was displayed at the Philharmonie de Paris, featuring costumes, guitars and other elements. On 22 February 2021, Daft Punk released a video on their YouTube channel titled "Epilogue". The video features a scene from their 2006 film Electroma, in which one robot explodes and the other walks away; a title card created with Warren Fu reads "1993–2021" while an excerpt of Daft Punk's song "Touch" plays. Later that day, Daft Punk's longtime publicist Kathryn Frazier confirmed that they had split, but did not give a reason. The news led to a surge in Daft Punk sales, with digital album purchases rising by 2,650 per cent. Their friend and collaborator Todd Edwards confirmed that Bangalter and Homem-Christo remained active separately. On 22 February 2022, one year after their disbandment, Daft Punk announced a 25th-anniversary edition of Homework. It included a remix album, Homework (Remixes), which was later released in physical formats. The same day as the anniversary announcement, Daft Punk broadcast a Twitch stream of their performance at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles from their 1997 Daftendirektour. The video featured previously unreleased footage of the duo without costumes. Daft Punk released behind-the-scenes "archives" from the D.A.F.T. DVD and vinyl album reissues throughout 2022. On 22 February 2023, Daft Punk announced a 10th-anniversary reissue of Random Access Memories. The reissue was released on 12 May 2023 and contained 35 minutes of previously unreleased outtakes and demos, including the duo's final single "Infinity Repeating (2013 Demo)" featuring Julian Casablancas and The Voidz. In April 2023, Bangalter released a solo work, the orchestral ballet score Mythologies. He gave interviews about the project and allowed himself to be photographed without a mask. He cited concerns about the progress of artificial intelligence and other technology as to why Daft Punk split, saying: "As much as I love this character, the last thing I would want to be, in the world we live in, in 2023, is a robot." Bangalter said Daft Punk had wanted to not "spoil the narrative" while they were active, but now felt more comfortable revealing parts of their creative process. He and Homem-Christo still share a studio and equipment. Reflecting on the split, Bangalter said he was “relieved and happy to look back and say: 'Okay, we didn’t mess it up too much.'" ## Artistry ### Musical style Daft Punk's musical style has mainly been described as house, French house, electronic, dance, and disco. Sean Cooper of AllMusic describes their musical style as a blend of acid house, techno, pop, indie rock, hip hop, progressive house, funk, and electro. The Guardian critic Alex Petridis described their approach to music and art as "magpie"-like, with extensive sampling. Daft Punk saw their style as "retrofuturist", incorporating genres from earlier decades into what the New York Times described as "an increasingly grand vision of joyful populism". In the early 1990s, Daft Punk drew inspiration from rock and acid house in the UK. Homem-Christo referred to Screamadelica by Primal Scream as the record that "put everything together" in terms of genre. In 2009, Bangalter named Andy Warhol as one of Daft Punk's early influences. On the Homework track "Teachers", Daft Punk list musicians who influenced them, including funk musician George Clinton, rapper and producer Dr Dre, and Chicago house and Detroit techno artists including Paul Johnson, Romanthony and Todd Edwards. Homem-Christo said: "Their music had a big effect on us. The sound of their productions—the compression, the sound of the kick drum and Romanthony's voice, the emotion and soul—is part of how we sound today." Discovery saw Daft Punk integrating influences from 70s disco and 80s crooners, and featured collaborations with Romanthony and Edwards. A major inspiration was the Aphex Twin single "Windowlicker", which was "neither a purely club track nor a very chilled-out, down-tempo relaxation track", according to Bangalter. The duo used vintage equipment to recreate sounds from older artists, such as the use of a Wurlitzer piano to evoke Supertramp on "Digital Love". For the Tron: Legacy soundtrack, Daft Punk drew inspiration from Wendy Carlos, the composer of the original Tron film, as well as Max Steiner, Bernard Herrmann, John Carpenter, Vangelis, Philip Glass and Maurice Jarre. For Random Access Memories, Daft Punk sought a "west coast vibe", referencing acts such as Fleetwood Mac, the Doobie Brothers and the Eagles, and the French electronic musician Jean Michel Jarre. ### Image For most public and media appearances, Daft Punk wore costumes that concealed their faces. Bangalter said they wanted the focus to be on their music, and that masks allowed them to control their image while retaining their anonymity and protecting their personal lives. He said that the 1974 film Phantom of the Paradise, in which the title character prominently wears a mask, was "the foundation for a lot of what we're about artistically". Daft Punk were also fans of the 1970s band Space, known for wearing space suits with helmets that hid their appearance. The mystery of Daft Punk's identity and their elaborate disguises added to their popularity. The costumes have been compared to the makeup of Kiss and the leather jacket worn by Iggy Pop. During promotional appearances in the 1990s, Daft Punk wore black bags on their heads or Halloween masks. Although they allowed a camera crew to film them for a French arts program at the time, Daft Punk did not wish to speak on screen. According to Orla Lee-Fisher, the head of marketing at Virgin Records UK, in their early career Daft Punk would only consent to photographs without masks while they were DJing. In 1997, Bangalter said they had a "general rule about not appearing in videos". In 2001, Daft Punk began wearing robot costumes for promotional appearances and performances for Discovery, debuted in a special presentation during Cartoon Network's Toonami block. The helmets were produced by Paul Hahn of Daft Arts and the French directors Alex and Martin, with engineering by Tony Gardner and Alterian, Inc. They were capable of various LED effects. Wigs were originally attached to both helmets, but Daft Punk removed them moments before unveiling them. Bangalter said the helmets were hot but that he became used to this. Later helmets were fitted with ventilators to prevent overheating. With the release of Human After All, Daft Punk wore simplified helmets and black leather jackets and trousers designed by Hedi Slimane. Bangalter said Daft Punk did not want to repeat themselves and were interested in "developing a persona that merges fiction and reality". On the set of Electroma, Daft Punk were interviewed with their backs turned, and in 2006 they wore cloth bags over their heads during a televised interview. They said the use of cloth bags had been a spontaneous decision, reflecting their willingness to experiment with their image. Daft Punk wore the robot costumes in their performances at the 2008, 2014, and 2017 Grammy Awards. During the 2014 ceremony, they accepted their awards on stage in the outfits, with Pharrell and Paul Williams speaking on their behalf. Daft Punk used the robot outfits to merge the characteristics of humans and machines. Bangalter said that the personas were initially the result of shyness, but that they became exciting for the audience, "the idea of being an average guy with some kind of superpower". He described it as an advanced version of glam, "where it's definitely not you". After Daft Punk's split, Bangalter likened the robot personas to a "like a Marina Abramović performance art installation that lasted for 20 years". He denied that the robots represented "an unquestioning embrace of digital culture", and said: "We tried to use these machines to express something extremely moving that a machine cannot feel, but a human can. We were always on the side of humanity and not on the side of technology." ### Media appearances Daft Punk's popularity has been partially attributed to their appearances in mainstream media. The duo appeared with Juliette Lewis in an advertisement for Gap, featuring the single "Digital Love", and were contractually obliged to appear only in Gap clothing. In 2001, Daft Punk appeared in an advertisement on Cartoon Network's Toonami timeslot, promoting the official Toonami website and the duo's animated music videos for their album Discovery. The music videos later appeared as scenes in the feature-length film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, in which Daft Punk make a cameo appearance as their robot alter-egos. The duo later appeared in a television advertisement wearing their Discovery-era headgear to promote Sony Ericsson's Premini mobile phone. In 2010, Daft Punk appeared in Adidas advertisements promoting a Star Wars-themed clothing line. Daft Punk made a cameo in Tron: Legacy as nightclub DJs. In 2011, Coca-Cola distributed limited edition bottles designed by Daft Punk. Daft Punk and Courtney Love were photographed for the "Music Project" of fashion house Yves Saint Laurent. The duo appeared in their new sequined suits custom-made by Hedi Slimane, holding and playing instruments with bodies made of lucite. In 2013, Bandai Tamashii released an S.H. Figuarts (SHF) action figure for Daft Punk coinciding with the release of Random Access Memories in Japan. Following a series of teaser trailers, Daft Punk made a rare public appearance at the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix in May on behalf of the Lotus F1 Team, who supported the duo by racing in specially-branded cars emblazoned with the band's logo. Footage of Daft Punk's 2006 performance at the Coachella Festival was featured in the documentary film Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert, released on YouTube in April 2020. Daft Punk were scheduled to appear on the August 6, 2013 episode of The Colbert Report to promote Random Access Memories. They were unable to do so because of contractual obligations regarding their later appearance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. According to Stephen Colbert, Daft Punk were unaware of any exclusivity agreement and were halted by MTV executives the morning prior to the taping. In 2015, Daft Punk appeared alongside several other musicians to announce their co-ownership of the music service Tidal at its relaunch. Eden, a 2014 French drama film, has as its protagonist a techno fan-turned-DJ-turned recovering addict. It features Daft Punk (portrayed by actors) during different stages of their careers. Daft Punk's helmets can be worn by the player in the 2022 video games Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. ## Legacy Daft Punk are regarded as one of the most influential dance acts in history. In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked them the 12th greatest musical duo of all time. The chief Guardian music critic Alexis Petridis named Daft Punk the most influential pop artists of the 21st century. Their collaborator Pharrell Williams said they were responsible for the rise of contemporary EDM, though Bangalter was noncommittal about this, saying only that other acts were using "gimmicks that at the time [Daft Punk used them] were not really gimmicks". The New York Times credited Daft Punk with helping make dance music "fully mainstream". In "Losing My Edge", the first single by LCD Soundsystem, singer James Murphy jokingly bragged about being the first to "play Daft Punk to the rock kids". LCD Soundsystem also recorded the song "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House", which reached No. 29 in the UK and was nominated for Best Dance Recording at the 2006 Grammy Awards. The Soulwax remix of the song also contains samples of many Daft Punk tracks as well as tracks by Thomas Bangalter. Daft Punk tracks have been sampled or covered by other artists. "Technologic" was sampled by Swizz Beatz for the Busta Rhymes song "Touch It". In a later remix of "Touch It" the line "touch it, bring it, pay it, watch it, turn it, leave it, start, format it" from "Technologic" was sung by R&B and rap artist Missy Elliott. Kanye West's 2007 song "Stronger" from the album Graduation borrows the melody and features a vocal sample of Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". Daft Punk's robotic costumes make an appearance in the music video for "Stronger". The track "Daftendirekt" from Daft Punk's album Homework was sampled for the Janet Jackson song "So Much Betta" from her 2008 album Discipline. The track "Aerodynamic" was sampled for Wiley's 2008 single "Summertime". "Veridis Quo" from Discovery was sampled for the Jazmine Sullivan song "Dream Big" from her 2008 album Fearless. Daft Punk's "Around the World" was sampled for JoJo's 2009 song "You Take Me (Around the World)". The song "Cowboy George" by The Fall contains a clip of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". A cappella group Pentatonix performed a medley of Daft Punk songs, released as a YouTube video. As of November 2021, the video had been viewed over 355 million times. The medley won for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or a Cappella of the 57th Grammy Awards. A Daft Punk medley was played at the 2017 Bastille Day parade by a French military band, in front of French President Emmanuel Macron and his many guests, which included US President Donald Trump. Baicalellia daftpunka, a species of flatworm, was named after Daft Punk in 2018 because part of the organism resembles a helmet. ## Discography Studio albums - Homework (1997) - Discovery (2001) - Human After All (2005) - Random Access Memories (2013) ## Concert tours - Daftendirektour (1997) - Alive 2006/2007 (2006–07) ## Awards and nominations In October 2011, Daft Punk placed 28th in a "top-100 DJs of 2011" list by DJ Magazine after placing in the 44th position the year before. On 19 January 2012, Daft Punk ranked No. 2 on Mixmag's Greatest Dance Acts of All Time, with The Prodigy at No. 1 by just a few points.
216,409
Devika Rani
1,173,096,571
Indian actress (1908–1994)
[ "1908 births", "1994 deaths", "20th-century Indian actresses", "21st-century Indian actresses", "Actresses from Visakhapatnam", "Actresses in Hindi cinema", "Alumni of RADA", "Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music", "Bengali people", "Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipients", "Indian film actresses", "People associated with the University of London", "People from Uttarandhra", "Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts", "Tagore family" ]
Devika Rani Choudhuri (30 March 1908 – 9 March 1994), usually known as Devika Rani, was an Indian actress who was active in Hindi films during the 1930s and 1940s. She was the first recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke award. Widely acknowledged as the first lady of Indian cinema, Devika Rani had a successful film career that spanned 10 years. Born into a wealthy, anglicized Indian family, Devika Rani was sent to boarding school in England at age nine and grew up in that country. In 1928, she met Himanshu Rai, an Indian film-producer, and married him the following year. She assisted in costume design and art direction for Rai's experimental silent film A Throw of Dice (1929). Both of them then went to Germany and received training in film-making at UFA Studios in Berlin. Rai then cast himself as hero and her as heroine in his next production, the bilingual film Karma (1933), made simultaneously in English & Hindi. The film premiered in England in 1933, elicited interest there for a prolonged kissing scene featuring the real-life couple, and flopped badly in India. The couple returned to India in 1934, where Himanshu Rai established a production studio, Bombay Talkies, in partnership with certain other people. The studio produced several successful films over the next 5–6 years, and Devika Rani played the lead role in many of them. Her on-screen pairing with Ashok Kumar became popular in India. Following Rai's death in 1940, Devika Rani took control of the studio and produced some more films in partnership with her late husband's associates, namely Sashadhar Mukherjee and Ashok Kumar. As she was to recollect in her old age, the films which she supervised tended to flop, while the films supervised by the partners tended to be hits. In 1945, she retired from films, married the Russian painter Svetoslav Roerich and moved to his estate on the outskirts of Bangalore, thereafter leading a very reclusive life for the next five decades. Her persona, no less than her film roles, were considered socially unconventional. Her awards include the Padma Shri (1958), Dadasaheb Phalke Award (1970) and the Soviet Land Nehru Award (1990). ## Background and education Devika Rani was born as Devika Rani Choudhury on 30 March 1908 in Waltair near Visakhapatnam in present-day Andhra Pradesh, into an extremely affluent and educated Bengali family, the daughter of Col. Dr. Manmathnath Choudhury by his wife Leela Devi Choudhury. Devika's father, Colonel Manmatha Nath Chaudhuri, scion of a large landowning zamindari family, was the first Indian Surgeon-General of Madras Presidency. Devika's paternal grandfather, Durgadas Choudhury, was the Zamindar (landlord) of Chatmohar Upazila of Pabna district of present-day Bangladesh. Her paternal grandmother, Sukumari Devi (wife of Durgadas), was a sister of the nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Devika's father had five brothers, all of them distinguished in their own fields, mainly law, medicine and literature. They were Sir Ashutosh Chaudhuri, Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court during the British Raj; Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri and Kumudnath Chaudhuri, both prominent Kolkata-based barristers; Pramathanath Choudhary, the famous Bengali writer, and Dr. Suhridnath Chaudhuri, a noted medical practitioner. The future Chief of Army Staff, Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri, was Devika's first cousin: their fathers were brothers to each other. Devika's mother, Leela Devi Choudhury, also came from an equally educated family and was a niece of Rabindranath Tagore. Thus, Devika Rani was related through both her parents to the poet and Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Her father, Manmathnath Choudhury, was the son of Sukumari Devi Choudhury, sister of Rabindranath Tagore. Devika's mother, Leela Devi Chaudhuri, was the daughter of Indumati Devi Chattopadhyay, whose mother Saudamini Devi Gangopadhyay was another sister of the Nobel laureate. Thus, Devika's father and maternal grandmother were first cousins to each other, being the children of two sisters of Rabindranath Tagore. Nor was this all: Two of Devika's uncles (Chief Justice Sir Ashutosh and Pramathanath) were married to their first cousins (mother's brother's daughters), the nieces of Rabindranath Tagore: Prativa Devi Choudhury, wife of Sir Ashutosh Choudhury, was the daughter of Hemendranath Tagore, and Indira Devi Choudhury, wife of Pramathanath Choudhury, was the daughter of Satyendranath Tagore. Devika thus had extremely strong family ties to Jarasanko, seat of the Tagore family in Kolkata and a major crucible of the Bengali Renaissance. Devika Rani was sent to boarding school in England at the age of nine, and grew up there. After completing her schooling in the mid-1920s, she enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the Royal Academy of Music in London to study acting and music. She also enrolled for courses in architecture, textile and decor design, and even apprenticed under Elizabeth Arden. All of these courses, each of them a few months long, were completed by 1927, and Devika Rani then took up a job in textile design. ## Career In 1928, Devika Rani first met her future husband, Himanshu Rai, an Indian barrister-turned-film maker, who was in London preparing to shoot his forthcoming film A Throw of Dice. Rai was impressed with Devika's "exceptional skills" and invited her to join the production team of the film, although not as an actress. She readily agreed, assisting him in areas such as costume designing and art direction. The two also traveled to Germany for the post-production work, where she had occasion to observe the film-making techniques of the German film industry, specifically of G. W. Pabst and Fritz Lang. Inspired by their methods of film-making, she enrolled for a short film-making course at Universum Film AG studio in Berlin. Devika Rani learnt various aspects of film-making and also took a special course in film acting. Around this time, they both acted in a play together, for which they received many accolades in Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries. During this time she was also trained in the production unit of Max Reinhardt, an Austrian theatre director. In 1929, shortly after the release of A Throw of Dice, Devika Rani and Himanshu Rai were married. ### Acting debut Devika and Himanshu Rai returned to India, where Himanshu produced a film titled Karma (1933). The film was his first talkie, and like his previous films, it was a joint production between people from India, Germany and the United Kingdom. Rai, who played the lead role, decided to cast Devika Rani as the female lead, and this marked her acting debut. Karma is credited as having been the first English language talkie made by an Indian. It was one of the earliest Indian films to feature a kissing scene. The kissing scene, involving Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani, lasted for about four minutes, and eighty years later, this stands as the record for duration of a kissing scene in Indian cinema as of 2014. Devika Rani also sang a song in the film, a bi-lingual song in English and Hindi. This song is said to be Bollywood's first English song. Made simultaneously in both English and Hindi, Karma premiered in London in May 1933. Alongside a special screening for the Royal family at Windsor, the film was well received throughout Europe. Devika Rani's performance was internationally acclaimed as she won "rave reviews" in the London media. A critic from The Daily Telegraph noted Devika Rani for her "beauty" and "charm" while also crediting her to be a "potential star of the first magnitude". Following the release of the film, she was invited by the BBC to enact a role in their first ever television broadcast in Britain in 1933. She also inaugurated the company's first short wave radio transmission to India. In spite of its success in England, Karma did not interest Indian audiences and turned out be a failure in India when it was released in Hindi as Nagin Ki Ragini in early 1934. However, the film received good critical response and helped Devika Rani establish herself as a leading actress in Indian cinema. Indian independence activist and poet Sarojini Naidu called her a "lovely and gifted little lady". ### Bombay Talkies After the critical success of Karma, the couple returned to India in 1934. Although the Hindi version of the film, released in India in 1934, flopped without a trace, Himanshu Rai had established the required networks in Europe, and was able to start a film studio named Bombay Talkies, partnering with Niranjan Pal, a Bengali playwright and screenwriter who he had met previously in London and Franz Osten, who directed several of Rai's films. Upon inception, Bombay Talkies was one of the "best-equipped" film studios in the country. The studio would serve as a launch pad for future actors including Dilip Kumar, Leela Chitnis, Madhubala, Raj Kapoor, Ashok Kumar and Mumtaz. The studio's first film Jawani Ki Hawa (1935), a crime thriller, starring Devika Rani and Najm-ul-Hassan, was shot fully on a train. ### Elopement Najm-ul-Hassan was also Devika's co-star in the studio's next venture, Jeevan Naiya. The two co-stars developed a romantic relationship, and during the shooting schedule of Jeevan Naiya, Devika eloped with Hassan. Himanshu was both enraged and distraught. Since the leading pair were absent, production was stalled. A significant portion of the movie had been shot and a large sum of money, which had been taken as credit from financers, had been spent. The studio therefore suffered severe financial losses and a loss of credit among bankers in the city while the runaway couple made merry. Sashadhar Mukherjee, an assistant sound-engineer at the studio, had a brotherly bond with Devika Rani because both of them were Bengalis and spoke that language with each other. He established contact with the runaway couple and managed to convince Devika Rani to return to her husband. In the India of that era, divorce was legally almost impossible and women who eloped were regarded as no better than prostitutes and were shunned by their own families. In her heart of hearts, Devika Rani knew that she could not secure a divorce or marry Hassan under any circumstances. She negotiated with her husband through the auspices of Sashadhar Mukherjee, seeking the separation of her finances from those of her husband as a condition for her return. Henceforth, she would be paid separately for working in his films, but he would be required to single-handedly pay the household expenses for the home in which both of them would live. Himanshu agreed to this, in order to save face in society and to prevent his studio from going bankrupt. Devika Rani returned to her marital home. However, things would never be the same between husband and wife again, and it is said that thenceforth, their relationship was largely confined to work and little or no intimacy transpired between them after this episode. Despite the additional expense involved in re-shooting many portions of the film, Himanshu Rai replaced Najm-ul-Hassan with Ashok Kumar, who was the brother of Sashadhar Mukherjee's wife, as the hero of Jeevan Naiya. This marked the debut, improbable as it may seem, of Ashok Kumar's six-decade-long career in Hindi films. Najm-ul-Hassan was dismissed from his job at Bombay Talkies (this was the period in which actors and actresses were paid regular monthly salaries by one specific film studio and could not work in any other studio). His reputation as a dangerous cad established, he could not find work in any other studio. His career was ruined and he sank into obscurity. ### Golden era of Bombay Talkies Achhut Kannya (1936), the studio's next production was a tragedy drama that had Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar portraying the roles of an untouchable girl and a Brahmin boy who fall in love. The film is considered a "landmark" in Indian cinema as it challenged the caste system in the country. The casting of Devika Rani was considered a mismatch as her looks did not match the role of a poor untouchable girl by virtue of her "upper-class upbringing". However, her pairing with Ashok Kumar became popular and they went on to star in as many as ten films together with most of them being Bombay Talkies productions. In the 1930s, Bombay Talkies produced several women-centric films with Devika Rani playing the lead role in all of them. In majority of the films produced by the studio, she was paired opposite Ashok Kumar, who was "overshadowed" by her. Jeevan Prabhat, released in 1937, saw a role-reversal between Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar—she played a higher-caste Brahmin woman who is mistaken by society of having an extra-marital affair with an untouchable man. Her next release Izzat (1937), based on Romeo and Juliet, was set in the medieval period and depicted two lovers belonging to enemy clans of a Maratha empire. Nirmala, released in the following year, dealt with the plight of a child-less woman who is told by an astrologer to abandon her husband to ensure successful pregnancy. In Vachan, her second release of the year, she played a Rajput princess. Durga, her only release in 1939, was a romantic drama that told the story of an orphaned girl and a village doctor, played by Ashok Kumar. ### Widowhood and studio decline Following the death of Rai in 1940, there was a rift between two parties of the Bombay Talkies led by Mukherjee and Amiya Chakravarty. Devika Rani assumed principal responsibility and took over the studio along with Mukherjee. In 1941, she produced and acted in Anjaan co-starring Ashok Kumar. In the subsequent years, she produced two successful films under the studio—Basant and Kismet. Basant Kismet (1943) contained anti-British messages (India was under British rule at that time) and turned out to be a "record-breaking" film. Devika Rani made her last film appearance in Hamari Baat (1943), which had Raj Kapoor playing a small role. She handpicked newcomer Dilip Kumar for a role in Jwar Bhata (1944), produced by her on behalf of the studio. An internal politics that arose in the studio led prominent personalities including Mukherjee and Ashok Kumar to part ways with her and set up a new studio called Filmistan. Due to lack of support and interest, she decided to quit the film industry. In an interview to journalist Raju Bharatan, she mentioned that her idea of not willing to compromise on "artistic values" of film-making as one of the major reasons for her quitting the industry. ## Retirement Following her retirement from films, Devika Rani married Russian painter Svetoslav Roerich, son of Russian artist Nicholas Roerich, in 1945. After marriage, the couple moved to Manali, Himachal Pradesh where they got acquainted with the Nehru family. During her stay in Manali, Devika Rani made a few documentaries on wildlife. After staying in Manali for some years, they moved to Bangalore, Karnataka, and settled there managing an export company. The couple bought a 450 acres (1,800,000 m<sup>2</sup>) estate on the outskirts of the city and led a solitary life for the remainder of their lives. ## Death She died of bronchitis on 9 March 1994—a year after Roerich died—in Bangalore. At her funeral, Devika Rani was given full state honors. Following her death, the estate was on litigation for many years as the couple had no legal claimants; Devika Rani remained childless throughout her life. In August 2011, the Government of Karnataka acquired the estate after the Supreme Court of India passed the verdict in favour of them. ## Legacy Devika Rani was called the first lady of Indian cinema. She is credited for being one of the earliest personalities who took the position of Indian cinema to global standards. Her films were mostly tragic romantic dramas that contained social themes. The roles played by her in films of Bombay Talkies usually involved in romantic relationship with men who were unusual for the social norms prevailing in the society at that time, mainly for their caste background or community identity. Rani was highly influenced by the German cinema by virtue of her training at the UFA Studios; Although she was influenced by German actress Marlene Dietrich, her acting style was compared to Greta Garbo, thus leading to Devika Rani being named the "Indian Garbo". Rani's attire, both in films and sometimes in real life, were considered "risque" at that time. In his book Bless You Bollywood!: A tribute to Hindi Cinema on completing 100 years, Tilak Rishi mentions that Devika Rani was known as the "Dragon Lady" for her "smoking, drinking, cursing and hot temper". In 1958, the Government of India honoured Devika Rani with a Padma Shri, the country's fourth highest civilian honour. She became the first ever recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the country's highest award for films, when it was instituted in 1969. In 1990, Soviet Russia honoured her with the "Soviet Land Nehru Award". A postage stamp commemorating her life was released by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in February 2011. In 2020, Kishwar Desai published a book titled The Longest Kiss: The Life and Times of Devika Rani, which sheds light on Devika Rani's professional accomplishments and her personal misfortunes. ## Filmography - Karma (1933) - Jawani Ki Hawa (1935) - Mamta Aur Mian Biwi (1936) - Jeevan Naiya (1936) - Janmabhoomi (1936) - Achhoot Kannya (1936) - Savitri (1937) - Jeevan Prabhat (1937) - Izzat (1937) - Prem Kahani (1937) - Nirmala (1938) - Vachan (1938) - Durga (1939) - Anjaan (1941) - Hamari Baat (1943)
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Tunnel Vision (Justin Timberlake song)
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[ "2013 singles", "2013 songs", "Justin Timberlake songs", "RCA Records singles", "Song recordings produced by Jerome \"J-Roc\" Harmon", "Song recordings produced by Justin Timberlake", "Song recordings produced by Timbaland", "Songs written by James Fauntleroy", "Songs written by Jerome \"J-Roc\" Harmon", "Songs written by Justin Timberlake", "Songs written by Timbaland" ]
"Tunnel Vision" is a song recorded by American singer Justin Timberlake for his third studio album, The 20/20 Experience (2013). It was written and produced by Timberlake, Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley and Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, with additional writing by James Fauntleroy. "Tunnel Vision" was digitally released on June 14, 2013 by RCA Records as the third single from the album. It is a mid-tempo R&B song with EDM influence and instrumentation featuring Timbaland's signature ad-libs, record-scratching, heavy drums, melodic bass, orchestration and synthesizer. Its lyrics proclaim Timberlake's tunnel vision for his love interest, with several voyeuristic references. "Tunnel Vision" received generally positive reviews from music critics, most of whom praised Timbaland's production, and it was cited as The 20/20 Experience's highlight. After the album's release, the song charted in South Korea and the United States because of high digital sales. It debuted on the singles chart in South Korea at number 27, selling 6,670 digital copies in its first week. "Tunnel Vision" peaked at number 40 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and number eight on the UK R&B Singles Chart. The music video for "Tunnel Vision" was directed by Jonathan Craven, Simon McLoughlin and Jeff Nicholas, and premiered on July 3 on Timberlake's Vevo channel. In the seven-minute video, Timberlake and Timbaland watch nude women and dance. Critics labeled the video NSFW and compared it to the video for Robin Thicke's 2013 single, "Blurred Lines". Originally banned on YouTube, it was later posted with the condition that viewers disclose their age. The song was part of the set list for Timberlake's 2013 Legends of the Summer concert tour with rapper Jay-Z and his fifth solo tour, the 2013–15 20/20 Experience World Tour. ## Production and release "Tunnel Vision" was written by Justin Timberlake, Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley, Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon and James Fauntleroy, and produced by Timbaland, Timberlake and Harmon. Timberlake arranged and produced his vocals, which were recorded at Larabee Studios in North Hollywood, California. Other instrumentalists were Harmon on keyboards and Elliot Ives on guitar. The song was engineered by Chris Godbey (assisted by Alejandro Baima) and mixed by Jimmy Douglass, Godbey and Timberlake at Larabee Studios. On June 10, 2013 Timberlake introduced the artwork for the "Tunnel Vision" single, a black-and-white close-up of the singer's face in the silhouette of a nude woman. Kia Macarechi of The Huffington Post found the artwork unpleasant and unusual; according to Justin Myers of the Official Charts Company, Timberlake "seems to be playing up to his naughty nickname of Trousersnake with the cover". Zach Dionne of New York's Vulture website called the cover "awful boobnose single art", committing to "the smoky naked woman vibe". "Tunnel Vision" and its radio edit were digitally released in France and Italy on June 14 on Amazon. That day, the single was also released in Australia, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden on 7 Digital and the iTunes Store. It was released on June 17 in Norway, the following day in Spain and on June 21 in Switzerland. ## Composition and lyrics "Tunnel Vision" is a mid-tempo R&B song with an EDM influence. Billboard'''s Jason Lipshutz noted that it has an instrumentation that features "fizzing beats abetted by the producer's [Timbaland] signature ad-libs and vocal record-scratches", while according to Sobhi Youssef of Sputnikmusic the song is built on "still-existing chops with a drum heavy, syncopated backbone amidst frenetically shifting bass melodies, sweeping orchestrations, and vacuous synths that all coalesce into a fuzzed out boom-bap." Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork Media called the synthesizer "sinister" and, according to Slant Magazine's Eric Henderson, it has Middle Eastern tones. Joey Guerra of the Houston Chronicle called the beats and vocal loops on "Tunnel Vision" reminiscent of Timbaland's past work with the late American singer Aaliyah. According to Sarah Dean of The Huffington Post, its beat resembles that on 50 Cent's 2007 single "Ayo Technology" (also featuring Timberlake). "Tunnel Vision" features "thrilling" evolutions in production and arrangement complementing Timberlake's vocals, and the song's unusual, abrupt changes unite it throughout. It borrows the "dark alley" rhythm of The 20/20 Experience's third track, "Don't Hold the Wall"; Timberlake sings in his lower register, with an "exciting" upward arpeggio. Timbaland uses the singer's voice as a "flexible instrument to enhance his tech savvy soundscape", constructing "layers of production elements into towers of sonic force". Lauren Martin of Fact called the song the start of Timbaland's "Bollywood influenced 'Indian Flute' era" and a tease; Timberlake's voice is redistributed, with wider range and suspense. The song's lyrics describe Timberlake's tunnel vision of his love interest, with several voyeuristic references. The singer professes his love: "I look around and everything I see is beautiful, because all I see is you." According to The Huffington Posts Dean, Timberlake is in happier state of mind than on his 2002 song "Cry Me a River" or his 2007 single "What Goes Around... Comes Around". However, his lyrics have an obsessive quality: "A million people in a crowded room, but my camera lens is only set to zoom and it all becomes so clear." Mellisa Maerz of Entertainment Weekly wrote that on "Tunnel Vision", Timberlake is lyrically "playing the rom-com director": "Just like a movie shoot, I’m zoomin’ in on you as we ride off into the sun." According to Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times, Timberlake uses references to "cameras and reflective surfaces" to reflect on the "changing nature of celebrity". ## Critical reception Consequence of Sound's Sarah H. Grant wrote that "Tunnel Vision" and "Don't Hold the Wall" were the album's highlights, similar to Timberlake's best work with 'NSYNC. Clyde Erwin Barretto of Prefix Magazine praised its production, which he felt excited listeners. The Huffington Post's Sarah Dean called "Tunnel Vision" her favorite track on the album. Jordan Sargent of Spin wrote that with the song, Timbaland proved that he could still produce otherworldly beats. In The Guardian, Kitty Empire wrote that Timbaland rejuvenated his production talents and "Kanye-calibre ambition". In a less-enthusiastic review, Brad Stern of MTV Buzzworthy dismissed "Tunnel Vision" as "the album's most tediously grating moment". Allan Raible of ABC News praised the track's beat, but thought it would fit better on a song with fewer "tired 'loverman' clichés." Fact magazine's Lauren Martin described "Tunnel Vision" and "Don't Hold the Wall" as "two rousing, if mildly deja vu inducing, efforts." Jed Gottlieb of the Boston Herald said that the song's "electro bump" would have been innovative if it had been released a year earlier. ## Chart performance "Tunnel Vision" sold well digitally after the release of The 20/20 Experience, charting in several countries. The week of March 17, 2013, it debuted on the South Korean Gaon International Chart at number 27 with 6,670 digital copies sold. Although it did not reach the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, "Tunnel Vision" peaked at number 11 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 singles chart and peaked at number 40 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. After its release as a single, the song debuted and peaked at number 75 on the Irish Singles Chart. The week of July 20, "Tunnel Vision" debuted at number 64 on the UK Singles Chart. Its chart position fluctuated for three weeks, peaking at number 61 on August 10. The song was most successful on the UK R&B Singles Chart, where it debuted at number 21 and peaked at number eight by the week of August 10. ## Music video ### Conception and fashion "Tunnel Vision"'s music video premiered on July 3, 2013 on Timberlake's Vevo YouTube channel. The singer tweeted, "Check out the new video for Tunnel Vision and be ready...it's explicit. -teamJT". The video was directed by Jonathan Craven, Simon McLoughlin and Jeff Nicholas, with a cameo appearance by Timbaland. Craven and Nathan Scherrer produced the video for the Uprising Creative. Its director of photography was Sing Howe Yam, and Jacquelyn London edited the video for Sunset Edit. The seven-minute video features Timberlake and Timbaland gazing at three nude women; according to Jason Lipshutz of Billboard, the women are wearing flesh-colored G-strings. In some shots, Timberlake's face is projected onto the women's bodies. Jordan Sargent of Spin called the set pieces where projections of Timberlake interact with the nude dancers "a fractured dynamic that mirrors 'Tunnel Vision' itself". Cinya Burton of E! wrote about Timberlake's video wardrobe, "Apparently when Justin Timberlake isn't in his now-signature suit and tie getup, he's donning AllSaints." The singer wore two head-to-toe ensembles by the brand. The first was a gray Baxley V-neck T-shirt layered under a white Redono half-sleeved shirt, with casual Charge Chino pants. The second, a darker combination worn while he dances against a lighter background, was a black Resident Crew T-shirt, dark gray Pipe Chino pants, a Duncan denim shirt and black Trap boots. According to Burton, "While his ensembles are both dapper", the nude models in the video attracted more attention. ### Critical response and ban Critics have called the video NSFW, comparing it to the 2013 video for "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke with Pharrell Williams and T.I. In an interview with Capital FM, Thicke responded to a question about the videos' similarity: "No comment. I'll let you do all the talking. It's a subject that has no good ending." Fact magazine called the video's concept simple, and said its production team was unconcerned. According to Spin's Jordan Sargent, "Like his new album The 20/20 Experience, in which half the songs run longer than seven minutes, the 'Tunnel Vision' video is self-consciously artistic and mature. But the video is also at times effective, particularly when the editing gets choppier during the bridge." About the nude women in the video, an MTV UK reviewer said that Timberlake drew on Thicke's video. According to Tamar Anitai of MTV Buzzworthy, Timberlake wanted to live his life and celebrate his album's success: "Oh, come on! Don't complain. You bitched and moaned endlessly when Justin Timberlake stopped making music for six years, so don't get all Veruca Salty when he comes back with boobs to spare and boobs to share." In her review, Rachel Maresca of the New York Daily News wrote that Timberlake slurred some of the song's explicit lyrics in the video. According to Kathy McCabe of News Corp Australia, Timberlake escalated the pop-porn movement with the video: "With mummy blogger outrage over Robin Thicke's exploitation of topless women for his Blurred Lines video – and its questionable lyrics – still raging, Timberlake has gone even further in his clip". McCabe wrote that male pop singers have been influenced by Rihanna and Katy Perry, who have "stripped down in the name of a hit. Or art. Or freedom of expression, depending on the press release spin". Clash's Robin Murray wrote that pop music has lacked raunchiness and sex appeal for some time, and Timberlake's return was needed: "Lavish, lush and 21st century in a direct, shocking fashion, the video finds Justin Timberlake on perfect preening form." After the video's release it was banned from YouTube with a message saying, "This video has been removed as a violation of YouTube's policy on nudity or sexual content". The website quickly restored the video with a content warning and the requirement that viewers sign in (to verify their age). Although a YouTube representative declined to comment on individual videos, he issued a statement: "While our guidelines generally prohibit nudity, we make exceptions when it is presented in an educational, documentary or artistic context, and take care to add appropriate warnings and age restrictions". ## Live performances Timberlake first performed "Tunnel Vision" at the Phoenix Park concert in Dublin, Ireland, as part of a set list which included "Cry Me a River", "SexyBack" and "My Love". In a review of the concert, John Balfe of entertainment.ie wrote: "Even the album's more well-known songs like 'Tunnel Vision', 'Mirrors' and 'Suit & Tie' don't yet have the same weight in the setlist as some of JT's more established hits and it was songs like 'SexyBack' that really got the 40,000 strong crowd to move". On July 12 Timberlake appeared on the main stage at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London as part of the Wireless Festival, performing "Tunnel Vision" and other songs dressed in black and wearing a black fedora. The song was on the set lists of Timberlake's 2013 Legends of the Summer Stadium Tour with rapper Jay-Z and his fifth worldwide tour, the 2013–15 20/20 Experience World Tour. ## Track listing 1. "Tunnel Vision" (radio edit) — 4:45 2. "Tunnel Vision" — 6:46 ## Credits and personnel Adapted from The 20/20 Experience album liner notes. Recording location - Vocals recorded and mixed at Larrabee Studios, North Hollywood, California Personnel - Timothy "Timbaland" Mosley – Producer, songwriter - Justin Timberlake – Mixer, producer, songwriter, vocal producer, vocal arranger - Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon – Keyboards, producer, songwriter - James Fauntleroy – Songwriter - Chris Godbey – Engineer, mixer - Jimmy Douglass – Mixer - Alejandro Baima – Assistant engineer - Elliot Ives – Guitar Video credits''' - Jonathan Craven – Director, producer - Simon McLoughlin – Director - Jeff Nicholas – Director - Nathan Scherrer – Producer - The Uprising Creative – Production company - Sing Howe Yam – Director of photography - Jacquelyn London – Editor - Sunset Edit – Editing company ## Charts ## Release history
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Megara (Disney character)
1,173,274,740
Fictional character from Disney's Hercules
[ "Animated characters introduced in 1997", "Animated human characters", "Female characters in animated films", "Female characters in film", "Fictional Greek and Roman slaves", "Fictional characters who have made pacts with devils", "Fictional con artists", "Film characters introduced in 1997", "Hercules (franchise)", "Walt Disney Animation Studios characters" ]
Megara, also known as Meg, is a fictional character who appears in the Walt Disney Pictures 35th animated film Hercules (1997). Voiced by actress Susan Egan, Meg is introduced as a cynical young woman enslaved by Hades, god of the underworld. Hades forces Meg to uncover Hercules' weaknesses by seducing him in return for her freedom, only to develop genuine feelings for the character instead. Loosely based on Megara and Deianira, Hercules' first and second wives in Greek mythology, directors Ron Clements and John Musker adapted Meg into a morally conflicted con artist, while basing her role and personality on 1940s screwball comediennes, particularly actress Barbara Stanwyck's performance in The Lady Eve (1941). Egan had already been starring as Belle in the stage adaptation of Disney's Beauty and the Beast (1994) when she learned of auditions for Hercules. Despite campaigning heavily for the role of Meg, Disney initially prevented Egan from auditioning because the studio felt Meg and Belle's personalities differed too greatly. To prepare for both her audition and the role, Egan drew inspiration from several classic Hollywood actresses, including Joan Crawford, Bette Davis and Lauren Bacall, in addition to Stanwyck. After opting not to draw the character realistically, supervising animator Ken Duncan decided to input elements of Greek pottery into Meg's hair, body and clothing, while borrowing some of Egan's own mannerisms. Reception towards Meg has been positive, with critics welcoming her independence, wit and complexity as departures from previous Disney heroines, as well as praising Egan's performance. The character is considered to be underappreciated by contemporary critics, with several media publications ranking her among Disney's most underrated heroines. Meg has made subsequent appearances in the film's sequel, television spin-off and video game adaptations, as well as a live-action iteration in Once Upon a Time, portrayed by actress Kacey Rohl. ## Development ### Creation and writing Megara's role in Hercules is one of several creative liberties Disney took when adapting the Greek myth into an animated film. In Greek mythology, Megara is Hercules' first wife, with whom the character has several children. The eldest daughter of King Creon, Megara is gifted to Hercules after he defeats the Minyans at Orchomenos. Megara and their children are eventually killed by Hercules himself, having been driven to insanity by Hera, the wife of his unfaithful father Zeus. These elements were entirely omitted from the animated film while retaining a female character named "Meg", instead adapting her into a con artist with a troubled past, whose relationship with Hercules ultimately redeems her. The writers adapted the way in which Hercules meets his second wife, Deianira, into the way he meets Meg. Herakles author Emma Stafford determined that Disney had assimilated the character with Deianira, in addition to making Meg older and more experienced. Directors and screenwriters Ron Clements and John Musker primarily drew inspiration for the film from screwball comedies during the 1930s and 1940s, particularly films directed by Preston Sturges and Frank Capra, with Musker describing Hercules as "a comedy about the battle between idealism and cynicism, in the same way as some of those Sturges and Capra movies". Thus, Meg was written as a cynical heroine who finds it difficult to trust men. The writers based Meg on actress Barbara Stanwyck's character in the film The Lady Eve (1941). Clements said that Meg "was especially interesting for us [to create] because she was so different from the other Disney heroines" of the time period. In addition to her "sharp-tongued" nature, writing Meg as a heroine who plots with the film's villain against its hero was a stark departure from previous Disney heroines and virtually unprecedented at the time. Since Meg initially works for Hades, the writers also drew inspiration from Lola, a temptress contracted to work for the devil in the musical Damn Yankees (1956). According to The Baltimore Sun, Meg was one of Disney's first heroines to have been written with a past and backstory. ### Voice Meg is voiced by American actress and singer Susan Egan who, prior to Hercules, had auditioned for every animated Disney film since 1991's Beauty and the Beast. Disney was interested in recruiting a Broadway performer to voice Meg, instead of casting separate actors as the character's speaking and singing voices. At the time, Egan was starring on Broadway as Belle in the stage adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, a role she originated, and had been four months into her tenure when she learned of auditions for Meg. Despite strong interest in the role and assuming her professional relationship with the studio would benefit her prospects, Disney refused to let Egan audition, stating she was "not right" for the character, since the filmmakers felt Meg's "bad girl" personality was far too different from the kind, sweet-natured Belle for Egan to voice convincingly. Egan pursued the role constantly until Disney finally relented.Several of Egan's Broadway contemporaries vied for the same role, including actresses Donna Murphy and Audra McDonald, both of whom attended her audition. Composer Alan Menken and musical director Michael Kosarin, both of whom Egan had worked with during Beauty and the Beast, oversaw her audition. Egan described the audition process as unusual because the filmmakers avoided looking at her, preferring to either close their eyes or study a drawing of Meg to help determine if her voice complimented their vision and not be distracted by Egan's appearance. Egan read Meg's lines in her naturally deep voice which sounds different than the manufactured "Belle voice" Disney had grown accustomed to hearing, surprising the casting directors and Menken. Egan relayed to the filmmakers that "when I play Belle, I'm acting", describing herself as much more similar to Meg in both voice and personality. Aware that Meg was based on Stanwyck, Egan researched some of Stanwyck's films, as well as the performances of actresses Joan Crawford, Bette Davis and Lauren Bacall, drawing inspiration from their "cadence of acting" and mid-Atlantic accents. Egan then performed "Somewhere That's Green" from Menken's musical Little Shop of Horrors (1982) as her audition song. Apart from periodic updates from Kosarin, Egan would not hear from Disney until six months afterward when the studio chose her as one of three contenders to begin animating the character to, until she was finally cast following her last animation test. Egan had begun to grow anxious because Disney had opted to cast "big name[d]" actors in several prominent roles, considering herself fortunate to play both the speaking and singing parts of her character, which had grown more uncommon in animated films. Egan continued to perform in Beauty and the Beast while working on Hercules, playing Belle throughout the day and Meg during evenings. Egan's first recording session was postponed due to a foot injury she suffered on stage. At one point, Menken warned Egan that she had begun incorporating aspects of Meg's personality into Belle, saying, "You're onstage and your hip juts out ... it's like you're going to roll your eyes and tell the Beast to shave", which she corrected. Egan continued to draw inspiration from classic Hollywood performers, adapting "a hard-boiled frame of mind" when approaching Meg's putdowns, retorts and insults. She channeled actresses Jean Arthur and Ginger Rogers for the scene in which Meg first nicknames Hercules "Wonder Boy". Some of Egan's lines were lifted directly from her audition, particularly "So did they give you a name along with all those rippling pectorals?" and "My friends call me Meg. At least they would if I had any friends". This posed a challenge for the sound engineers, who were tasked with removing background noise such as New York City traffic from the footage. Egan described Meg as "the gorgeous, girl-with-a-track-record" female character that she had always wanted to play, possessing "the Liz Taylor look and the one-liners I wish I could come up with in real life." Egan felt it "fun to be funny" as Meg, believing that her sarcastic and witty personality is typically reserved for male characters. ### Personality and design Meg was inspired by 1940s screwball comediennes, specifically actress Barbara Stanwyck's performances in the films The Lady Eve and Ball of Fire (both 1941). Both Egan and supervising animator Ken Duncan drew inspiration from Stanwyck's "tough-minded" demeanor in her films, with Egan describing Meg as a "fast-talking, 1940s dame who has guys wrapped around her little finger". Egan believes Meg is a character "somewhere in between" good and evil, unlike most Disney heroines who are typically either one or the other. Egan called Meg a "beautiful and brilliant" woman "who knows how to go after what she wants," describing her as "disillusioned with people" until she meets "Hercules, who is so pure of spirit and so honest that it re-establishes her faith in goodness." Egan said Meg and Belle are "not exactly the same type" of character; comparing Meg to her other Disney heroine, Belle, Egan described the former as the Beast to Hercules' Belle: "[Meg is] the one who's had a traumatic event in her life which has forced her to lose faith in people. It takes a pure spirit to reestablish that faith. For the Beast, it was Belle. For Meg, it's Hercules." Furthermore, Egan believes "there's no other character like Meg", elaborating that she lacks the moral compass that Belle has "because that's Hercules’ job in the movie. She's not a princess, and she's not a villain." Egan believes that Meg undergoes "a much larger arch than the Disney princesses" as she experiences a change of heart, describing her as flawed and feeling that Disney not crowning her a princess makes her "more relatable". Disney enlisted cartoonist and caricaturist Gerald Scarfe to help design the film's characters. Alongside Hercules, Meg is one of only two prominent human characters in the film; Scarfe determined that neither character "offer[ed] a lot for caricature" in comparison to the film's non-human characters, opting to draw them as "good looking, hunky, pretty" instead. Observing that Disney heroines "ha[ve] certainly evolved over the years", Scarfe identified Meg as very different from Snow White from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), describing her as "a feisty, in some ways cynical girl who has a lot of oomph." Duncan served as Meg's supervising animator, both designing and animating the character. Duncan Marjoribanks was originally intended to animate Meg, while Duncan had been slated to animate Nessus. Duncan asked to replace Marjoribanks when the latter left the production to work for DreamWorks Animation. Duncan originally attempted to draw Meg as a realistic-looking heroine. Upon deciding to incorporate elements of Greek pottery into the character's hair, Duncan ultimately decided to base the character's entire body on pottery as well. Duncan hoped that his animation would change how Meg's personality was originally depicted in storyboards, from "tough and angry to street smart and playfully sarcastic." Clements and Musker described Meg's head as "sort of a vase shape", while "she's got a Greek curl in the back." Notably, Meg's hair is designed and animated in a way that is very difficult to replicate in real life. Egan feels her character closer resembles Stanwyck than herself, although some of Egan's mannerisms, facial expressions and features, such as Egan's arched eyebrows, were incorporated into the character's appearance by animators watching video footage of the actress recording. While reviewing storyboards early during production, Egan recognized Meg performing a "slicing" gesture with her hand she had originated during her audition when her character says "Thanks for everything, Herc. It's been a real slice", which producer Alice Dewey confirmed had been borrowed directly from Egan's audition. Meg's eye colour had been changed from blue to purple by the time Phil's line warning Hercules not to be distracted by her eyes was written, prompting the writers to change it from "Don't let your guard down because of a pair of big, blue eyes" to "goo-goo eyes". In 2011, Egan enlisted Duncan to animate animal characters in the music video for her single "Nina Doesn't Care". ## Characterization and themes Meg is the film's female lead, whose listless personality distinguishes her from Disney's history of earnest heroines. Stylist writer Kayleigh Dray described Meg as manipulative, sarcastic, fierce, and wise, characteristics that Egan said are typically reserved for male characters in Disney films. IndieWire's Greg Ehrbar observed that Meg's sardonicism is "unusual for a Disney heroine", describing her as a "descendant of a Barbara Stanwyck film noir character" who is also hesitant "to get close to anyone lest they wreck her life further", suffering from a complicated past that leaves her bitter and cynical. The Los Angeles Times' Kenneth Turan remarked that Meg is "a different kind of Disney heroine, the kind of been-around, good-bad girl who could have been voiced by Barbara Stanwyck." Meg is also very sarcastic, a characteristic considered to be unusual among most Disney heroines, often speaking in "misandrist quips." Vice writer Jill Gutowitz reviewed that Meg "was measurably more sexual than any female character" at the time of the film's release; "I had never seen a woman treat men the way she did, luring them with her catlike eyes; tugging them around by the shirt collar; dragging her spindly fingers across their pecs. Meg teased her friends and foes, taunting them with an air of mystery that implied she harbored secrets." Observing that "Female characters tend to be fully good or fully bad in Disney movies—a Maleficent or a Sleeping Beauty, if you will", Kate Knibbs of The Ringer wrote that "Meg is a little harder to neatly categorize, as she's a good person with an attitude problem who makes some bad choices. Disney, Pixar, and the Hidden Messages of Children's Films author M. Keith Booker called Meg Hercules' "version of Kryptonite", Superman's weakness. Describing Meg as "cynical and articulate," The Independent's Judith Welikala stated that the character "shows a more devious side normally confined to villainous females," unlike her predecessors. Sabina Ibarra of Moviefone identified Meg as "one of Disney's few lady anti-heroes", representing "a reluctant hero" until she encounters "someone who brings out the good in her". Meg resents being referred to as a damsel in distress, particularly by Hercules when they first meet. Uninterested in and opposed to the idea of love, the character is cynical towards the idea of new romantic relationships due to suffering from a broken heart as a result of past failed relationships. Particularly when her lover died, and in order to bring him back she sold her soul to Hades. But soon after, he left her for another woman. At the same time, love complicates Meg's motivations, affecting choices she makes both about herself and others. The San Francisco Chronicle's Peter Stack wrote that Meg appears to be "as world-weary as a downtown barfly". Hercules must ultimately prove himself a hero by earning Meg's love. According to Bustle's Tracy Dye, Meg "only used her feminine wiles as a guise to pay her dues to evil Hades". PopSugar's Stacey Nguyen considers Meg one of the studio's most sexually confident characters. According to Shoshana Kessock of Tor.com, Meg is an example "of some creative editing ... where [she finds her] particular power in the films: through blatant uses of sexuality." Meg is depicted sexualizing herself in order to use her sexuality as a weapon unlike Jasmine, Pocahontas and Esmeralda, who instead are sexualized by the men around them. Meanwhile, Meg also undergoes character development, slowly opening up to and sacrificing herself for Hercules. Identifying Meg as "a stronger and more complex female character ... than the typical Disney princess". Booker considers Hercules' decision to sacrifice immortality in order to be with Meg as a "progressive twist" in which the hero sacrifices something important to be with his love interest, as opposed to the woman sacrificing. ## Appearances Meg first appears in Hercules (1997) as a young woman working for Hades, god of the underworld. She meets Hercules when he frees her from Nessus, a centaur Meg had been sent by Hades to recruit for his army. Resisting Hercules' help, Meg distrusts men, having once sold her soul to Hades in return for an ex-boyfriend's life only for him to pursue another woman, leaving Meg indebted to Hades for eternity. Hades enlists Meg to entice the seemingly infallible Hercules in hopes of distracting and ultimately defeating him, offering her freedom for uncovering his weaknesses. Upon convincing Hercules to take a day off, they share a romantic evening during which Meg realizes she has unwillingly begun to fall in love with him, although she denies feeling this way. Meg refuses to assist Hades any further, prompting him to kidnap her in order to lure Hercules upon discovering that Meg is Hercules' weakness. Hades tricks Hercules into giving up his strength in return for Meg's guaranteed safety, only to reveal that Meg was initially working for him. With Hercules incapacitated, Hades attacks Mount Olympus and Thebes, but Hercules remains determined to defend both regions. During the battle, Meg pushes Hercules out of the way of a falling column, by which she is crushed and fatally injured. Meg's injury restores Hercules' strength, which he uses to confront Hades and retrieve Meg's soul from the River Styx before it reaches the underworld, ultimately reviving her. Hercules' sacrifice for Meg proves himself a true hero, becoming a god in the process and finally allowing him to return to Mount Olympus. However, Hercules chooses to relinquish his immortality so that he can remain on Earth with Meg. Meg appears as Hercules' wife in the film's direct-to-video sequel Hercules: Zero to Hero (1999), in which she learns about Hercules' past and childhood. Meg made guest appearances on the television series Disney's Hercules: The Animated Series (1998). A live-action version of Megara appears on the fantasy television series Once Upon a Time, portrayed by actress Kacey Rohl. The character first appears in the 13th episode of the show's fifth season, "Labor of Love", alongside Hercules. The show's iteration of Meg is described as "a plucky young adventurer with a sly sense of humor and a tough, no-nonsense spirit." In the episode, Meg has been imprisoned in the Underworld for several years after being eaten by Cerberus. She has no affiliation with Hades, and little is revealed about her backstory or past relationships. She is imprisoned with Captain Hook, who plots to help her escape. After defeating Cerberus with Hercules and Snow White, Meg leaves the Underworld and returns to Olympus with Hercules. Critics and audiences were divided over Meg's portrayal in the series, with fans expressing their disappointment with the character's characterization on social media. Hypable's Brittany Lovely lamented that Meg "went from a strong female lead who was a damsel in distress who could handle it, to a character who needed not one, but two men to rescue her." Allison Piwowarski of Romper wrote that the show portrayed Meg as "scared and weak" for most of the episode, "until the final moments ... that she seemed to at all represent the character of which she was based on." Feeling that the character had been relegated to a love interest, Piwowarski concluded, "While I'm happy to see that she was able to be the hero at the end of the episode, I wish she would have been the strong female character she truly is throughout the entire episode." Meg appears in the Kingdom Hearts video game series, beginning with Kingdom Hearts II (2005). She meets Sora during his second visit to the Olympus Coliseum while she was contemplating asking Hades to stop sending monsters for Hercules to fight, having grown fond of him. She accepts Sora's offer for him to go in her stead, under the condition that they keep the entire arrangement a secret from Hercules. Hades kidnaps Meg as bait to convince Sora to unlock the Underworld's Underdrome, holding her hostage when Hercules and Auron refuse to fight each other in the Underdrome. Sora and Hercules rescue her, promising to repay the heroes as best as she can. The character appears in the game's sequel Kingdom Hearts III (2019). Meg is a playable character to unlock for a limited time in the video game Disney Magic Kingdoms. She is also a playable character in the racing game Disney Speedstorm, once again voiced by Egan. ## Critical response Critical reception towards Meg has been mostly positive. The Chicago Tribune's Harlene Ellin welcomed Meg as "Disney's first crack at a tough-chick heroine." Michael Ollove of The Baltimore Sun called Meg "one of Disney's most original female characters", comparing her to both Stanwyck and actress Veronica Lake. Ollove continued, "For the first time, Disney has created a female heroine with a past, a girl ... who's been around the Parthenon." Janet Maslin, film critic for The New York Times, called Meg "hipper" than typical Disney heroines, describing her as "a sardonic burgundy-haired vamp who sounds like...Veronica Lake". Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman described the character as "refreshingly saucy". Amy Longsdorf of The Morning Call hailed Meg as "one of the most complicated heroines in the Disney canon", as well as "revolutionary" in terms of her moral ambiguity. The Irish Times wrote that the character "may mark a breakthrough in the roll-call of Disney heroines, as the company's first (albeit implied) non-virginal female romantic lead." John Rundin of Animation World Network called Meg "A surprisingly liberated heroine for a Disney animation film" and the film's sole exception to studio's intolerance "for moral complexity and ambiguity". Egan's performance has also been widely praised. The Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan wrote that Hercules may have been less successful if not for Egan's "excellent, feeling work". James Berardinelli of ReelViews called Egan's performance "suitably sassy" while comparing her character to actress Mae West. Time film critic Richard Corliss reviewed Meg as "wonderfully voiced by Egan", likening the character's relationship with Hercules to Stanwyck's chemistry with actor Eddie Bracken. Derek Armstrong of AllMovie wrote that Egan's "readings drip with the kind of eyeball-rolling feminist wit that makes [Meg] one of Disney's strongest female characters." Josh Spiegel of /Film described Meg as "a vastly more interesting character than Hercules ... in part because Egan's performance is brimming with personality", explaining that although Hercules "often seems like an overgrown child. Meg, at least, is full of creative angles and unexpected byways", voicing his preference for the character over Princess Jasmine from Aladdin (1992). Time ranked Egan's work among the studio's "best voice performances". Geeks + Gamers contributor Virginia Kublawi crowned Egan one of Hercules' MVPs, calling her a sympathetic, "unique character" who uses her sexualtiy and appearance as a weapons unlike previous Disney heroines, describing the trait as "Not necessarily a new or groundbreaking idea, but certainly not one you often see depicted in sympathetic characters in Disney movies." Kublawi further praised the character's design and song while calling her a standout among the film's characters. Writing for CNN, Carol Buckland appreciated Egan's "smart, surprisingly sexy turn as Meg, the bad girl who ends up going good", but warned that parents may be disturbed by her "shady-lady tactics". Similarly, Bob Smithouser of Plugged In was wary of the character's "wiggling hips and allusions to Meg's other Aphroditic charms", calling her "immodest." In a more mixed review, Nell Minow of Common Sense Media agreed that although "Meg is tougher and braver than the traditional damsel in distress," she is "still very much on the sidelines." Karen Mazurkewich of Playback credited Duncan with "upset[tng] the Disney stereotype by crafting a more sly and sexy female lead" via Meg, prior to whom she stated Disney heroines had been "feisty but often cloyingly naive." Shoshana Kessock of Tor.com wrote that Meg "lit up the screen", describing the character as "a complicated woman whose heart and loyalty, though torn throughout the film, are entirely her own." Kessock wrote that the character's sexuality "makes her a difficult character for the PG brand. Yet in the pantheon of Anti-Princesses ... she claims her place among the more in command, take-charge Disney women", concluding, "When she finally does give in to her feelings for Hercules, it is after a lot of soul-searching and character growth, something that could be a good story for young women to learn—if she was given the same air time as the other Disney heroines." Romper's Allison Piwowarski described Meg as "a very powerful character in the Disney universe" who "is just as much of a hero as Herc is." Screen Rant'''s Matthew Wilkinson called Meg "one of Hercules' best characters, mainly because she's full of sass and confidence, while also bringing the emotional aspects as well." Writing for Vice, Jill Gutowitz described Meg's "depth, her wit, her bullheaded resistance to being saved, and her willingness to rebuke masculinity" as "The most intriguing" aspects of her characterization, as opposed to her appearance. ## Legacy Dirk Libbey of CinemaBlend hailed Meg as "one of Disney's most interesting female characters", calling it a shame that her film is less celebrated than some of its contemporaries. A Plus contributor Jill O'Rourke reported that fans often defend Hercules from its detractors due to Meg's role, who she described as an "anti-princess". Mary Grace Garis, writing for Bustle, called Meg "a standout" who is "far better than any Disney Princess", describing her as "more intriguing" than her contemporaries. Garis also identified Meg's independence, sarcasm, and relatability among her strongest attributes, coining her "a goddess amongst princesses". Lindsey Weber of Vulture agreed that Meg is superior to Disney Princesses, calling her a feminist, one of the few Disney heroines to have "an actual personality", and a "great love interest". In a 2017 article, Nerdist crowned Meg "The real star of Hercules". Writing for Odyssey, Nina Siso called Meg one of Disney's "coolest female characters", whereas Freeform deemed Meg a character whom everyone wishes to be. Thought Catalog ranked Meg Disney's 10th "Most Awesome Female Character", commending her independence. Screen Rant ranked Meg Disney's 23rd best heroine, with author Colby Tortorici describing her as more "fleshed out ... than some of the older Disney heroines." Writing for The Independent, Clarisse Loughrey described Meg as "a close runner-up for the title" of the film's hero, calling her "the go-to Disney princess for the cool kids". Media publications have called Meg one of Disney's most underrated characters. Shoshana Kessock of Tor.com believes Meg establishes herself "among the more in command, take-charge Disney women", although her sexuality "makes her a difficult character for the PG [Disney Princess] brand". Odyssey contributor Christina Lograsso called Meg "by far my favorite Disney character out there, and it is time she gets some credit", praising her independence, wit and sympathetic nature. Bustle writer Tracy Dye agreed that the character is "The Most Underrated Disney Heroine Ever", appreciating her departure from previous Disney heroines and crediting her cynicism with "upend[ing] the stereotype in the landscape of many fairytales, which show women who are unremitting in their search for love and 'happily ever after'." In addition to complimenting her wit, complexity and independence, Dye concluded that Meg "offered a realistic portrayal of a woman who had become guarded after having her heart broken", encouraging readers to adopt the character as their own favorite Disney heroine. According to Sara Franks-Allen of ScreenCrush, Meg was excluded from the official Disney Princess franchise due to Hercules' underperformance in theaters, describing her as a "forgotten Disney princess". The Ringer's Kate Knibbs believes Meg "would be the only Disney princess with a shitty ex-boyfriend" if she were an official Disney princess, describing her exclusion as "for the best, because she's also the female Disney character who seems like she'd care the least about the distinction." Naming Meg one of the "10 Best Unofficial Disney Princesses", Collider's Kristin Kranz described her as "one of the most complex, interesting, and authentic feeling of the female characters in animated Disney movies", calling her exclusion from the official Disney Princess franchise a shame. Manuel Betancourt, writing for Catapult, identified Meg as a strong female role model who was one of his "most enduring" during his teenage years due to her dry wit. In addition to gradually abolishing "the more retrograde fairy tale princess stories Disney had been serving for decades", Betancourt believes Meg also helped audiences transition "to objectify its male protagonists". Fans have long revered Meg as a feminist icon. Affinity magazine's Sophia Cunningham considers Meg to be a feminist Disney character who does not "get enough credit", deeming her "my personal favorite Disney character of all time" and calling her line "I'm a damsel, I'm in distress, I can handle this. Have a nice day" famous. Stylist ranked Meg Disney's ninth most feminist Disney princess, with author Kayleigh Dray calling her "a revelation to many bright-eyed Disney fans growing up" and crediting her villainous role with disproving that "non-bubbly women are deemed evil". Natalie Xenos of Metro called Meg "the badass heroine cinema needs", recognizing her as a feminist who "was inspiring girls long before Moana and Elsa". Stacey Nguyen of PopSugar argued that Meg is neither a role model or feminist icon like some of her contemporaries but remains one of her favorite Disney heroines, describing her as "one of the richest, most developed characters in Disney's library" who she believes is deprived of the discussion she deserves. Nguyen crowned the character "the other hero in Hercules''".
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Wanted (2008 film)
1,172,551,464
2008 film by Timur Bekmambetov
[ "2000s American films", "2000s English-language films", "2000s German films", "2008 action thriller films", "2008 films", "American action thriller films", "Bazelevs Company films", "English-language German films", "English-language Russian films", "Fiction about assassinations", "Films about infidelity", "Films about murderers", "Films about secret societies", "Films based on Image Comics", "Films based on Top Cow Productions", "Films based on works by Mark Millar", "Films directed by Timur Bekmambetov", "Films produced by Marc E. Platt", "Films scored by Danny Elfman", "Films set in Chicago", "Films shot in Budapest", "Films shot in Chicago", "Films shot in Prague", "Films shot in the Czech Republic", "Films with screenplays by Chris Morgan", "German action thriller films", "Live-action films based on comics", "Relativity Media films", "Spyglass Entertainment films", "Universal Pictures films" ]
Wanted is a 2008 action thriller film directed by Timur Bekmambetov and written by Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, and Chris Morgan, loosely based on the comic book miniseries by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones. The film stars James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, Terence Stamp, Thomas Kretschmann, Common, and Chris Pratt. Its plot revolves around Wesley Gibson (McAvoy), a frustrated account manager who discovers that he is the son of a professional assassin and decides to join the Fraternity, a secret society in which his father worked. Universal Pictures acquired the adaptation rights from Millar in 2004, and while the eventual script drifted from the comic book supervillain mythos in the original miniseries, he was content to see most of the comic's darker content retained. Production began in April 2007, with filming in the Czech Republic, Budapest, and the story's main setting, Chicago. Bekmambetov's production company, Bazelevs Production, provided the majority of the film's visual effects. Danny Elfman scored the film, employing a guitar-based musical score. Wanted opened on June 27, 2008 to generally positive reviews, with praise for its fast pacing and stylized action scenes, and grossed \$342 million worldwide. A sequel was announced shortly after the film's release, but ultimately stalled in development. ## Plot In Chicago, Wesley Gibson works at a dead-end desk job with an overbearing boss, takes medication for panic attacks, and lives with his abrasive girlfriend Cathy who cheats on him with his co-worker and best friend, Barry. One evening, Wesley is told by a woman named Fox that his recently murdered father was an assassin. The killer, Cross, is now hunting him. When Cross and Fox engage in a shootout, Wesley panics and flees. Cross pursues Wesley, who Fox manages to help escape. Wesley awakens in a factory surrounded by Fox and other assassins. The group's leader, Mr. Sloan, forces Wesley at gunpoint to shoot the wings off of several flies, which he does, much to Wesley's shock. Sloan explains that Wesley's panic attacks are actually a rare ability that allows him to produce massive amounts of adrenaline, granting him superhuman strength and speed. Wesley's father and Cross were members of the Fraternity, a society of assassins that maintains balance in the world. Their headquarters are a repurposed textile mill. Sloan wants to train Wesley so that he may help kill Cross. A panicked Wesley leaves the building. The next morning, he discovers that his bank account now contains \$3.6 million. Filled with new confidence, he insults his boss in front of the whole office and hits Barry in the face with a keyboard. Wesley trains under the Fraternity's cruel tutelage, learning to control his abilities. The assassins teach him speed, marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat, explosives, and pain resistance. When his training is complete, Sloan shows him the "Loom of Fate", which has served for 1,000 years in supplying coded names of targets through deliberate imperfections in the fabric. The Loom identifies those who will create evil and chaos in the future, with Sloan responsible for interpreting the code. Fox's father was a judge, and his defendant hired a hitman who burned him alive in front of her. After joining the Fraternity, she learned the hitman's name appeared in the Loom before he killed her father. This has made her a devoted follower of the Fraternity's code. After several successful missions, Wesley has an unexpected shootout with Cross, who accidentally kills the Exterminator. Sloan sends Wesley after Cross—and secretly gives Fox a mission to kill Wesley, saying that his name has come up in the Loom. Analyzing a wound from the fight, Wesley realizes that Cross used a traceable bullet for the first time (as his previous kills were all untraceable). Wesley traces it to a man named Pekwarsky. He and Fox capture Pekwarsky, who arranges a meeting with Cross. Wesley faces Cross alone on a moving train, which Fox later causes to derail. While Cross saves Wesley from falling, Wesley shoots him. Before dying, Cross reveals that he is Wesley's real father. Wesley was recruited because he was the only person Cross would not kill. After free-falling into a river, Wesley is retrieved by Pekwarsky, who explains that Sloan started manufacturing targets for profit after his name appeared in the Loom. Cross discovered the truth, went rogue, and started killing Fraternity members to keep them away from his son. In order to finish what his father started, Wesley decides to kill Sloan. He attacks the base using explosive rats and kills surviving Fraternity assassins in a shootout. Entering Sloan's office, he is surrounded by Fox and the remaining assassins. Wesley discloses Sloan's deception. Sloan admits his name appeared in the loom alongside the names of those present, saying he had acted to protect them. He gives the members a choice: kill themselves, per the code, or kill Wesley and use their skills to control the world. As the others choose to kill Wesley, Fox curves a bullet around the room, choosing to follow the code and kill everyone, including herself. Sloan escapes in the mayhem. Wesley, penniless again due to his bank account being wiped out by Sloan, apparently returns to his desk job. Sloan arrives to kill him but is shocked when the person turns around and is revealed to be a decoy. Wesley kills Sloan with a sniper rifle from Cross' apartment miles away. ## Cast - James McAvoy as Wesley Gibson, a meek 24-year-old who works in a cubicle but learns he is heir to a career as an assassin - Angelina Jolie as Fox, an accomplished member of the Fraternity and zealous follower of their code who mentors Wesley - Morgan Freeman as Mr. Sloan, leader of the Fraternity and former partner of Mr. X - Thomas Kretschmann as Cross, a rogue assassin who has left the Fraternity - Common as Earl Spellman / The Gunsmith, a professional gunman who trains others to use weapons - Konstantin Khabensky as The Exterminator, an expert in explosives who makes bombs and attaches them to rats - Marc Warren as The Repairman, an assassin who says he "breaks bad habits" by violently beating people - Dato Bakhtadze as The Butcher, a knife-expert who trains Wesley in knife fighting - Terence Stamp as Pekwarsky, a master in the science of killing. He operates as a rogue agent outside of The Fraternity and is also a bullet maker. - David O'Hara as Mr. X, the first Fraternity member who is said to be the greatest assassin - Chris Pratt as Barry, Wesley's co-worker and unfaithful best friend - Kristen Hager as Cathy, Wesley's unfaithful girlfriend - Sophiya Haque as Puja - Lorna Scott as Janice, Wesley's abusive boss ## Production ### Development and pre-production The comic book miniseries Wanted (2003–04), by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones, came to the attention of Universal Pictures through executive Jeff Kirschenbaum, a comic book fan who sought a film adaptation that would be considered a "hard-R" and encouraged the studio to pick up the rights to the miniseries. By 2004, producer Marc Platt had gotten the film rights, and lobbied the studio to get Russian-Kazakh director Timur Bekmambetov, as Platt considered that the visual style and sensibility Bekmambetov showed in Night Watch (2004) and its sequel Day Watch (2006) fit Wanted in the sense that "the comic is dark and edgy but it also has an ironic, comedic tone beneath its violent action." In December 2005, Bekmambetov was hired to direct, his first English-language film, and writers Derek Haas and Michael Brandt were assigned the script. Bekmambetov described the original comic as "risky and very provocative", with "a twist and good characters", and declared that the thing that attracted him the most in Wanted was how it went through various film genres in its plot: "It's a comedy, a tragedy, a drama, a melodrama. Every scene, we change genres and that's why our movie is different." Universal was initially reluctant on giving a potentially lucrative action film to a filmmaker who had never made an English-language film, but Platt convinced the studio that he could "create an environment that would allow Timur to be himself as a filmmaker and exercise his creative muscles." Millar was unhappy with the first draft of the screenplay, considering the approach to be "too tame" and "a little bit Americanized" given he wanted "basically be the opposite of the Spider-Man movie, the idea of someone getting powers and realizing they can do what they want, then choosing the dark path." The author only started to support the direction the project was taking once Bekmambetov "came in with his Eastern European madness" and the intention of coming closer to the spirit of the book. Bekmambetov said that he would take liberty in adapting the comic book's world: "It's difficult for me to just follow. It's interesting for me to create. I feel a little bit different how this world has to be executed." In July 2006, screenwriter Chris Morgan was hired to revise the third act of Haas and Brandt's script. Haas and Brandt returned to refine the character of Wesley Gibson, which they had established in their first draft. Millar saw previsualized footage of the film and said that it exceeded his expectations for the adaptation. He described its first half as being close to the source comic, and added the ending was similar though it was relocated elsewhere from the comic's original setting. The superhero costumes in the series were also removed, with the exception of the leather attire worn by Wesley and Fox. Incidentally, this had been Millar's intent when writing the miniseries, but he and artist J. G. Jones had forgotten to. Millar said, "I wanted them to have those powers and then just wear those costumes for the initiation, but just for one panel. And then I forgot." Millar also stated that he would have liked to keep the supervillain mythos that dictates the original comic in the film. Millar was favorable to most of the changes in the storyline, which includes the story arc of the Fates issuing death orders in line with the series' original theme of predestination. ### Casting James McAvoy, who had screen-tested for the role early in 2006, was initially rejected because the studio was seeking an actor with conventional Hollywood leading man looks and physique. McAvoy was later recalled, being considered to be the "runt of the litter" among those who tested. According to McAvoy, "They [ultimately] wanted someone geeky." McAvoy was cast in the role in October 2006. The Scottish actor, who portrays an American in the film, worked out to improve his physique for the film's action scenes, and suffered several injuries during shooting which included a twisted ankle and an injured knee. Angelina Jolie was cast in March 2007, after screenwriter Dean Georgaris rewrote the screenplay to tailor the role of Fox for her. Mark Millar became much more enthusiastic about the project after learning that Jolie had accepted the role of Fox, saying "the only way they could have got a bigger star to play this role is if they'd hired Tom Cruise in drag." Jolie decided to make Fox seem "distant and unattainable" by having her silent in many scenes. She mentioned Clint Eastwood, who had recently directed her in the film Changeling, as a possible influence for this aspect of her performance. Furthermore, she asked for Fox to get killed, suggesting that "[i]f she was to find out she had killed people unjustly and was a part of something that wasn't fair, then she should take her own life." Common became interested in the role of Gunsmith due to both the script and the prospect of working with McAvoy, Jolie, and Morgan Freeman. Common learned a great deal about firearms as preparation for the role, but said he is not a strong supporter of guns in real life. Konstantin Khabensky, who starred in Bekmambetov's Night Watch, was cast so that the director would have a familiar face around. British television veteran Marc Warren agreed to work in the film because he always wanted to be in a Hollywood blockbuster. Thomas Kretschmann originally intended to pick up the comic series after being cast, but Bekmambetov convinced him not to. Kretschmann said that he undertook "excessive gun training" to "make sure I look good and I look like I know what I'm doing". Kristen Hager originally auditioned for Fox, but accepted the role of Cathy, considering it "fun to play". ### Filming Location plate shooting took place in Chicago in April 2007. Several chase scenes, including one with a low flying helicopter, were shot in Chicago over two days, on Wacker Drive along the Chicago River, between Columbus Drive and LaSalle Street. The opening scene was filmed using the Carbide & Carbon Building. Production moved to the Czech Republic later in May, scheduled for 12 weeks of shooting, which included a scene in Pernštejn Castle. Using a former sugar factory in Prague, production designer John Myhre constructed a large textile factory as part of an industrial world, the setting of a mythological environment in which looms create fabrics that weavers interpret as assassination orders. Afterward, filming moved to Budapest, then returned to Chicago in August. While the actors performed many of their own stunts, with free running and parkour in some of the action scenes, and Angelina Jolie being actually strapped to the hood of a moving Dodge Viper, some of the especially high-risk sequences required digital doubles instead. Two full-sized train cars were built, a Chicago 'L' for a training scene where Fox and Wesley run atop a train, and a Czech Pendolino for the derailment, which was stationed in a gimbal equipped with hydraulics to allow the car to tilt and roll as the train crashed. The film originally had both an alternate opening and an alternate ending. The alternate opening, a flashback to ancient times describing the history of the Fraternity and the Loom of Fate, is available on the special edition DVD and Blu-ray. ### Effects Eight visual effects companies worked on the film's 800 effects shots, the majority of which was done by Bekmambetov's company Bazelevs Production. The first effects supervisor, Jon Farhat, was forced to withdraw from the production due to illness and was replaced by Stefen Fangmeier, who accepted the task as Wanted would only require four months of work. Once Fangmeier visited Bazelevs in Moscow, the effects were behind schedule, with only 12 finished composites out of the planned 500. Fangemier then brought two other supervisors to assist him in finishing many shots per week, so the job could get done by the deadline, a process the supervisor described as "a creative challenge on one hand, but on the other also a significant production challenge." Another major contributor was London-based Framestore, responsible for the climactic train crash. ### Music Danny Elfman wrote the film's score, a job he accepted for being a fan of Bekmambetov's previous films. Considering the film to be a "weird, twisted, sarcastic thing," Elfman decided to make a guitar-based soundtrack, with the "nastiest sounds" and a "heavy metal approach." This included a rock song written and performed by Elfman, "The Little Things", which is featured throughout the film and on the end credits. The film score has been released on June 24, 2008 in North America by Lakeshore Records. ## Release and promotion Wanted was initially set to be released in cinemas on March 28, 2008. However, in December 2007, Universal Pictures announced that it would be pushing back the release date to June 27, 2008, as the studio considered that the film had the potential to stand among the blockbusters that would be released during the United States summer. The film's world premiere happened at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 19, with Wanted acting as the festival opener. Given the Russian origin of the director, Universal released a specially localized version in Russia. The literary translation of the English dialog was written by the writer Sergey Lukyanenko. Several texts appearing on the screen and important for the plot were translated using CGI, without using subtitles or a voice-over translation. Several famous Russian actors, most of which were also in Bekmambetov's Night Watch and Day Watch, dubbed the main characters, and Konstantin Khabensky dubbed himself as The Exterminator. James McAvoy also provided some words in Russian for Wesley Gibson. Danny Elfman's song "The Little Things" received a version in Russian, performed by Elfman himself, and Bekmambetov also directed a music video for the band Delta as part of a viral marketing campaign in Russia. ### Theatrical run Wanted debuted in 3,185 theaters and earned \$50,927,085 in its opening weekend, placing it at second place behind WALL-E. It was the best opening ever for an R-rated film released in June, only surpassed four years later by Prometheus and Ted. Overall, it achieved the seventh-highest opening weekend for an R-rated film, after The Matrix Reloaded, The Passion of the Christ, 300, Sex and the City, Hannibal and 8 Mile. Internationally, the film grossed \$33 million on its opening weekend, breaking records in Russia and South Korea. Wanted earned \$134,508,551 in the United States and \$207,954,512 internationally for a worldwide box office gross of \$342,463,063 against a budget of \$75 million. ### Home video Wanted was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 2, 2008 in the U.S. Two versions were released, including a single-disc DVD and a two-disc edition of both the DVD and Blu-ray. A collectible two-disc gift-set DVD also included collectible postcards, a lenticular film cel in an acrylic frame, and a photobook of the Assassins. The DVD debuted at second place on the charts (behind The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian), and generated over \$65 million in revenue by February 2009. The Blu-ray debuted at first place on the charts. ### Video games Sweden-based developer Stillfront AB launched a browser game based on Wanted in April 2008. The Wanted "Fan Immersion Game" was a massively multiplayer online role-playing game where players took the roles of Fraternity hitmen, performing assassination missions, upgrading weapons and ammunition, and creating alliances or rivalries with other players. A video game sequel to the events of the film, Wanted: Weapons of Fate, was released in March 2009. It was developed by GRIN, and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. ## Reception Reviews of Wanted were positive. The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 71% approval rating based on 209 critics, with a rating average of 6.60/10 and the consensus, "Wanted is stylish, energetic popcorn fare with witty performances from Angelina Jolie (playing an expert assassin), James McAvoy, and Morgan Freeman that help to distract from its absurdly over-the-top plot." It has a score of 64 out of 100 on Metacritic (based on 38 reviews), indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore during Wanted's opening weekend gave the film an average grade of B+ on an A+-to-F scale. Roger Ebert of Ebert & Roeper wrote "Wanted slams the pedal to the metal and never slows down. Here's an action picture that's exhausting in its relentless violence and its ingenuity in inventing new ways to attack, defend, ambush and annihilate". Richard Roeper wrote, "It's made for fans of films that really just want to see some great visuals, some amazing sequences and some terrific performances." Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly encapsulated many critics' views, writing that "Wanted is kind of unintelligible and idiotic. Also kind of nasty and brutish. And also undeniably kind of fun..." Likewise, Tom Long of The Detroit News wrote, "Wanted may be the most absolutely stone bonkers, crazy-good movie of the century. Or it may be a gargantuan piece of trash. Chances are it's a combination of the two. But man, does it rock." Claudia Puig of USA Today found the "thrilling stunts and hyperkinetic action scenes [to be] the undisputed stars of this surprisingly entertaining film." Conversely, Josh Rosenblatt of The Austin Chronicle denounced those same attributes, saying, "If Maxim magazine ever decides to branch out into filmmaking, Wanted is just the kind of ear-throttling nonsense it's bound to produce". David Fear of Time Out New York called it "the cinematic equivalent of an energy drink. The film keeps artificially pumping your adrenal glands with mindless, malnutritional sensations, only to leave you crampy and cranky minutes later. ...[T]his exercise in ultraviolence then insults us by having a beaten, bloodied McAvoy inform viewers that he used to be a loser 'just like all of you.'" Frank Lovece of Film Journal International, one of few mainstream critics to have read the comic-book miniseries, wrote that the film compared poorly with the source material. Noting that the hero in the comic goes even further, "breaking the fourth wall and positioning himself so that he's 'prison-raping' and taunting the reader for having liked the series", Lovece found that, "[w]hile Millar may have contempt for his readers—and, by extension, the medium in which he works—at least he has his own vision, and gets it across with style and wit"; qualities that, in Lovece's opinion, the movie lacked. In the comics press, Erik Amaya of Comic Book Resources wrote that "[t]he film's biggest faults lie in how far it strays from the source" and that "[i]f you've ever seen any movie about leather-clad assassins, you already know how this film plays out. The speed and skill of the movie-making balance out those faults, however." Tom McLean of Newsarama noted that, while the story deviated strongly from the source, the movie "stands out as a highly entertaining action film that preserves the comic's core premise and cheeky attitude while taking the story into very different but still satisfying territory." Among European critics, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote that the film "looks as if it has been written by a committee of 13-year-old boys for whom penetrative sex is still only a rumour, and the resulting movie plays like a party political broadcast on behalf of the misogynist party", concluding, "In an ideal world, the title would have the word 'Not' tacked on to the front." Kim Newman, writing in Empire, praised Bekmambetov as "the most exciting action-oriented émigré since John Woo" and commented that the film's gruesome violence "hint[s] at the comic's uncomfortable suggestion that escapism is merely a licence to become monstrous." ## Accolades ## Possible sequel Even before the film's release, Mark Millar announced director Timur Bekmambetov was planning a sequel, though Millar denied that he would write a sequel to the comic book. He was instead creating a story along with the producers, that would follow the first film's idea of an international guild of assassins. Terence Stamp described Pekwarsky as "something that's written for a sequel", and Common expressed interest in a prequel, feeling that both The Gunsmith and Fox deserved more exposition. Chris Morgan would return to write the sequel's screenplay, but departed in April 2009 due to "excessive workload", leaving the task to Evan Spiliotopoulos. In June 2009, Bekmambetov said that pre-production for Wanted 2 was about to get started, with filming scheduled to begin in late fall or winter. The film will have a reported budget of \$150 million and will be shot in the United States, India, and Russia. He also added that some of the characters would resurrect, particularly Fox and The Exterminator. On September, the director added that even without a finished script Bazelevs had already done previsualization of the action scenes. In 2010, after reports that Angelina Jolie had pulled out of the sequel, Millar said that the script would be rewritten to remove Fox's return, so production could start that year for a late 2011 release. Eventually the production did not take off, leading Bekmambetov to work on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter instead. In a 2011 Q&A, producer Jim Lemley said that "Wanted 2 sounds like it will not happen any time soon if at all". That same year, James McAvoy said, regarding the sequel, "I think the studio is keen to make it, and we really want to make it, but we want to make it if it's right and when it's right, and that might not be ever." McAvoy also expressed interest in a sequel focusing on a character other than Wesley. Universal later brought Wanted screenwriters Michael Brandt and Derek Haas to write the sequel, which Haas described as happening "right after the events that just happened; it'll pick up Wesley a few years later and go back in for another round", while also being "Fox-less and loom-less." Haas would later detail that the script featured a new female protagonist, who Wesley would recruit "sort of in the Fox role." Bekmambetov declared during the interviews for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter that after many years of indecision as the Wanted sequel stalled in development, he proposed an idea to the screenwriters wherein the plot followed Wesley while featuring "a great twist." McAvoy declared that since he "had a blast making the first Wanted", he would make a sequel regardless of the quality of the script; however, he also acknowledged that the extended time the film spent in development "suggests to me that they're not finding it very easy to come up with a story that they're passionate about, so we'll have to wait and see." In 2014, McAvoy acknowledged that a potential sequel has been in the talks, saying he "had a couple of versions of script thrown my way" while adding that Universal is still waiting for the right screenplay. In June 2020, Bekmambetov expressed renewed interest in a sequel, perhaps as a computer screen film because "I cannot imagine an assassin in today's world would run with a gun. Why? He will use drones, he will use computer technology, probably." ## See also - Norns, who "twine the threads of fate"
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Ivory (wrestler)
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American professional wrestler (born 1961)
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Lisa Mary Moretti (born November 26, 1961) is an American retired professional wrestler, teacher and coach. She is best known for her tenure in WWE, where she is a three-time WWE Women’s Champion and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018. Moretti began her career and first found national exposure in the independent promotion Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, where she performed as Tina Ferrari from the mid-to-late-1980s. Moretti debuted in WWE in 1999 as the manager for D'Lo Brown & Mark Henry. She won the WWE Women's Championship twice, before becoming a part of the villainous Right to Censor, a storyline stable of characters with harshly conservative sociopolitical views. This led to her third Women's Championship victory. In her later years with WWE, she wrestled only sporadically. Moretti co-hosted WWE Experience and served as one of the trainers on WWE Tough Enough. After she left WWE in 2005, she wrestled for Women Superstars Uncensored, winning two other titles, and was also inducted into the WSU Hall of Fame. Moretti also began volunteering at her local animal shelter, and in 2007 opened an animal care and grooming facility named Downtown Dog in her hometown. ## Professional wrestling career ### Early years (1986–1994) In her youth, Moretti wrestled with her two brothers and sister. Later, while attending the University of Southern California (USC), Moretti was, in her own words, "dragged by a friend" (later confirmed to be Nadine Kadmiri) to an audition held by the newly formed Las Vegas, Nevada-based Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW). She and Kadmiri were both successful in their audition and went on to train under Mando Guerrero for six weeks, before beginning to wrestle in GLOW under the ring names Tina Ferrari and Ashley Cartier respectively, also forming a tag team known as T & A. Ferrari defeated Colonel Ninotchka to win the vacant GLOW Championship, represented by a crown. She later wrestled for the Powerful Women of Wrestling promotion and the Ladies Professional Wrestling Association under the ring names Nina and Tina Moretti, winning the POWW Championship. On September 23, 1994 at UWF's Blackjack Brawl Moretti, under the name Tina Moretti, wrestled against Candi Devine for the vacant UWF World Women's Championship in a losing effort. ### World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment #### Women's Champion (1999) In January 1999, after several years of absence, Moretti returned to wrestling, signing a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Her first appearance in WWF was accompanying The Godfather, a "pimp" character who was accompanied by various women dubbed the "hos", to the ring. On the February 13, 1999 episode of Raw, however, Moretti was introduced as Ivory, the storyline love interest of Mark Henry. Ivory acted as the fan favorite valet for the tag team of Mark Henry and D'Lo Brown, and made her televised WWF in-ring debut on the February 15 episode of Raw, teaming with Brown to face Jeff Jarrett and Debra in an intergender tag team match that ended in a no contest. Ivory faced Debra in a singles match on the March 1 episode of Raw, defeating Debra by disqualification after she was attacked by the Pretty Mean Sisters (Jacqueline Moore and Terri Runnels). At WrestleMania XV on March 28, Ivory accompanied D'Lo Brown and Test to the ring for their WWF Tag Team Championship title match against Jarrett and Owen Hart. Jarrett and Hart retained their titles following interference from Moore, Runnels, and Debra. During this time, the women in the WWF were known more for their physical appearances and "sex appeal" rather than their wrestling abilities, and featuring women in strip matches or farcical "slop matches", a match that takes place in a pool of slop, were common. Ivory, who was a trained wrestler, entered into a brief feud with Sable, the current title holder, who subsequently dropped the title to Debra. Ivory finally won the Women's Championship on June 14, by defeating Debra and went on to defend her title against Tori at SummerSlam on August 22. Ivory turned heel during her feud with Tori, which continued in the weeks following SummerSlam, defeating Tori in the first ever WWF women's hardcore match on September 6. Ivory was then challenged by Luna Vachon, who Ivory defeated in a farcical hardcore match at Unforgiven on September 26. SLAM! Wrestling called the match "pointless and senseless". In October 1999, Ivory feuded with The Fabulous Moolah, who defeated her for the Women's Championship on October 17, 1999 at No Mercy, in what John Powell of SLAM! Wrestling called the "worst match I've ever seen". She, however, defeated Moolah in a rematch on the October 25 episode of Raw to win her second Women's Championship. Her second title reign ended with a loss to Miss Kitty, an un-trained wrestler, in a Four Corners Evening Gown pool match, a match where a wrestler wins by stripping the evening gown off of her opponents, on December 12 at Armageddon. #### Right to Censor (2000–2001) In late 1999, Ivory began portraying a more conservative character. On January 23, 2000 at the Royal Rumble, she grudgingly took part in the "Miss Royal Rumble" swimsuit contest, which was won by Mae Young. She challenged Jacqueline for the WWF Women's Championship on March 9, but she was unsuccessful. A few weeks later on an episode of Smackdown, she became the first woman to attempt to win the WWF Hardcore Championship, after unsuccessfully trying to pin Crash Holly backstage. Following a period of absence, Ivory returned to WWF television in October 2000 as a member of a villainous alliance of conservative wrestlers known as Right to Censor. The change in character saw her don less suggestive ring attire and more conservative hairstyles. Ivory quickly began a rivalry with Women's Champion Lita, winning the Women's Championship for the third time by defeating Lita, Jacqueline, and Trish Stratus in a Fatal Four-Way match. She retained the title against Lita at the Survivor Series on November 19, with the assistance of Right to Censor leader Steven Richards, in a match that SLAM! Wrestling claimed "illustrated to what heights women's wrestling is capable of reaching in North America if the right talent is permitted to strut their stuff in a wrestling ring and not a pit full of jello." Ivory also retained her title in a Triple Threat match against Stratus and Molly Holly at Armageddon on December 10. Ivory and the Right to Censor began feuding with Chyna after the latter posed for Playboy in late 2000. On the December 7 episode of Raw, Ivory and Val Venis delivered a double-team piledriver to Chyna which, in storyline, injured her neck. Chyna challenged Ivory for the Women's Championship at the Royal Rumble on January 21, 2001. Ivory retained her title when she pinned Chyna, who had appeared to re-aggravate her neck injury. Chyna challenged Ivory for the title once more at WrestleMania X-Seven on April 1 and defeated Ivory in a brief match, ending Ivory's third reign as Women's Champion. The Right to Censor stable was finally disbanded on April 26, 2001. #### Various storylines (2001–2005) Ivory returned to WWF television on the August 6 episode of Raw, joining The Alliance during The Invasion, a storyline where the former wrestlers of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) formed an alliance and "invaded" the WWF. Ivory formed an alliance with former WCW wrestlers Torrie Wilson and Stacy Keibler after helping them defeat Jacqueline in a handicap match, but later turned on Wilson due to her budding romance with Tajiri. Ivory eventually became the valet for Lance Storm. At No Mercy, Ivory accompanied Storm and The Hurricane to the ring, but the Hardy Boyz defeated the two men to retain their WCW World Tag Team Championship. Ivory went on to compete in the women's division, and on November 18 at the Survivor Series, she participated in a six-pack challenge for the vacant Women's Championship, which Trish Stratus won. In early 2002, Ivory served as a trainer in the second series of Tough Enough. After the World Wrestling Federation was renamed "World Wrestling Entertainment" and the roster was split into two "brands", Raw and SmackDown!, Ivory was drafted to the SmackDown! brand. Continuing to portray a villainess, Ivory engaged in a brief feud with Tough Enough co-winners Linda Miles and Jackie Gayda, which led to her facing Miles on the June 8 episode of Velocity. Ivory won the match after Gayda shoved Miles off the top rope and costing her the match. On the June 13 episode of SmackDown!, Ivory teamed with Gayda in a losing effort against Miles and Trish Stratus. Along with several other SmackDown! wrestlers, Ivory was traded to Raw in exchange for The Big Show in November 2002. Throughout the remainder of 2002, she teamed with Victoria in tag team matches and feuded with Trish Stratus. In November of that year, she was also part of the WWE Raw Tour in India, becoming the first female performer to tour the country, however only appeared in media events and signings, as she was not booked to compete. In 2003, Ivory became a face and wrestled sporadically in the women's division. In June of that year, she had three pinfall victories over the WWE Women's Champion, Jazz, but never received a title match opportunity. Her only pay-per-view appearance in the course of the year was on December 14 at Armageddon, where she unsuccessfully challenged Molly Holly for the Women's Championship, after Molly grabbed her tights for leverage, and managed to capture the victory. She also served as a trainer on the third season of Tough Enough, and did broadcasting duties at WWE events. Ivory also spent eight weeks working as a trainer at WWE's then-developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and also made one televised appearance against Jillian Hall in a losing effort. In May of that year, she and Todd Grisham began hosting The WWE Experience, a weekly television show that recapped events from Raw and SmackDown!. On July 22, 2005, several weeks before WWE Experience ended in August 2005, WWE announced that Ivory had opted not to renew her contract with the company. ### Return to the independent circuit (2005–2006) After leaving WWE, Moretti began wrestling sporadically on the independent circuit under her birth name. On November 19, 2005 in Spartanburg, South Carolina at A Tribute to Starrcade, she teamed with Bambi to defeat Team Blondage (Krissy Vaine and Amber O'Neal) for the CCW Tag Team Championship. On April 21, 2006 in Surrey, British Columbia, Moretti defeated Rebecca Knox for Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling (ECCW)'s NWA SuperGirls Championship. She also successfully retained her title in a match the following night. Afterward, Moretti decided to stay with ECCW to help create a strong women's division. She held the title for approximately five months before losing it to Nattie Neidhart on October 8, 2006. On March 5, 2011, Moretti appeared at the Women Superstars Uncensored (WSU) 4 Year Anniversary event, where she was inducted into the WSU Hall of Fame. She also appeared on the event, preventing Rick Cataldo from interfering successfully in the WSU Spirit Championship bout, hitting Cataldo with the Poison Ivory, between Brittney Savage and Sassy Stephie. As a result, Stephie was able to win, capturing the championship and thanking Ivory for her help. ### Sporadic WWE appearances (2015–present) Ivory took part in the WrestleMania Axxess convention from WrestleMania 31 in March 2015 and later appeared on The WWE List, a digital series that aired on WWE.com. On January 27, 2016, she appeared on the WWE Network program Table for 3, alongside fellow wrestlers Alundra Blayze and Molly Holly. On February 12, 2018, it was announced that Ivory would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2018. At the ceremony on April 6, she was inducted by Molly Holly. On April 8, she appeared alongside the 2018 Hall of Fame class at WrestleMania 34. Ivory made her in-ring return for WWE's first ever all-women's pay per view, WWE Evolution, to compete in a battle royal for a future title shot at the WWE Raw Women's Championship. She lasted longer than all of the returning female legends, placing fifth after being eliminated by Asuka. In 2019, she was in attendance for the following year's WWE Hall of Fame ceremony in support of Torrie Wilson. On January 29, 2022, Ivory returned to WWE in her Right To Censor gimmick, entering the 2022 Women's Royal Rumble match at number 18. She started to cut a promo on her way to the ring and lasted an overall 25 seconds in the match, before being eliminated by Rhea Ripley. At age 60, she became the oldest woman to enter the women's Royal Rumble, and the 3rd oldest competitor in any Royal Rumble behind Jerry Lawler at 62, and Jimmy Snuka at 64. ## Other media Moretti (as Ivory) has appeared in nine WWE video games. She made her in-game debut at WWF WrestleMania 2000 and appears in WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role, WWF No Mercy, WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It, WWF Raw, WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth, WWE 2K17 (DLC), WWE 2K18 and WWE 2K19. In 2012, Moretti appeared in the documentary, GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, which was directed by Brett Whitcomb and premiered at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. The documentary served as the inspiration for the fictional television series GLOW on Netflix. Moretti has appeared in numerous San Juan Community Theatre productions, including Chicago as Velma Kelly. She has also judged local dog shows and modelled in the annual county fair show, "Fashion Trashion". ## Personal life Moretti was born in Los Angeles, California and raised in Inglewood, California She has three siblings: two brothers and one sister. She studied public relations at the University of Southern California (USC), and she was a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Express of the United States Football League (USFL) in the mid-1980s. Prior to beginning her career in wrestling, Moretti worked as a make-up artist for the cosmetic brand Revlon. After leaving WWE, Moretti began working in the landscaping industry. Moretti also worked with her niece to help the pet population affected by Hurricane Katrina. In addition, Moretti volunteered for an organization called Best Friends Animal Society, which is a no-kill animal shelter (a shelter that does not euthanize to control animal populations) in Utah. She also worked with her local animal shelter on San Juan Island in northwestern Washington, where she has resided since 2000. While working at the shelter, she met her eventual business partner Jessica Ray, with whom she opened Downtown Dog in 2007. The facility is an animal daycare, as well as a training, grooming, and cat boarding company located in Friday Harbor, Washington. In June 2007, they expanded the business to include veterinary care and later the Bow Wow Bus, which takes the dogs on outings. Moretti has taken classes to learn how to groom animals and now grooms them as part of the business. ## Championships and accomplishments - Carolina Championship Wrestling - CCW Women's Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Bambi - Cauliflower Alley Club - Women's Wrestling Award (2012) - Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling - GLOW Championship (1 time) - GLOW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ashley Cartier - Ladies Sports Club - LSC Championship (1 time) - Powerful Women of Wrestling - POWW Championship (2 times) - Pro Wrestling This Week - Wrestler of the Week (March 13–19, 1988) - SuperGirls Wrestling - SuperGirls Championship (1 time) - Women Superstars Uncensored - WSU Hall of Fame (Class of 2011) - World Wrestling Federation / WWE - WWF Women's Championship (3 times) - WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2018)
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Ianto Jones
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Fictional character in Torchwood
[ "British male characters in television", "Crossover characters in television", "Fictional LGBT characters in television", "Fictional Welsh people", "Fictional bisexual men", "Fictional hackers", "Fictional secret agents and spies in television", "Television characters introduced in 2006", "Torchwood characters" ]
Ianto Jones is a fictional character in the BBC television programme Torchwood, a spin-off from the long-running series Doctor Who, played by Welsh actor Gareth David-Lloyd. A regular within the show, Ianto appears in every episode of the programme's first three series excluding the finale of series 3, as well as two crossover episodes of Torchwood's parent show, Doctor Who. Additionally, Ianto appears in Expanded Universe material such as the Torchwood novels and audiobooks, comic books and radio plays. Within the narrative of the series, Ianto begins as general support officer for Torchwood Three, a team of alien hunters stationed in Cardiff, and develops into an active field agent. Initially the regular character with the least screen time, Ianto's role expanded in response to growing cult appeal. Reserved and efficient, Ianto was often used by writers to add humorous asides to the episodes' scripts. The character becomes the main romantic interest of Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), who is the lead male of the series. Established to have had heterosexual relationships prior to the series, Ianto's story forms a part of the show's ongoing exploration of human sexuality. Expanded Universe material develops on Ianto's sexual orientation and the nature of the relationship with Jack, describing Ianto as bisexual and his feelings for Jack as genuine love. Additionally, writers have used these other media to explore Ianto's characterisation; for example, some stories elaborate on Ianto's backstory, or provide insight into his feelings. Beginning as a casual relationship, with little on-screen definition given, Ianto and Jack's relationship deepened over the first three seasons of the programme. The character's creator Russell T Davies chose to kill off Ianto in the third television series. Professional critics by and large gave the story extremely positive reviews. A number of fans, however, were upset by the death of the character, particularly with regards to the romantic storyline's abrupt ending. Artistically, Davies felt that the relationship's unexplored potential maximised the viewer's sense of grief. Subsequent to the departure, fans set up websites in the character's honour, petitioning the writers to resurrect him in future episodes of the series, raising money for charity. Torchwood writers and actors have expressed an unwillingness to reduce the weight of the death scene by bringing the character back, though David-Lloyd penned a Torchwood comic book wherein an alternative universe Ianto survives. ## Depictions ### Television The character of Ianto Jones is introduced in the first episode of Torchwood, in 2006. Introduced as a mild-mannered and quiet administrator working for Torchwood Three, the first episode to focus on him was "Cyberwoman", which dealt with both his backstory and motivations. In the episode, Ianto is revealed as a former employee of Torchwood One in London (first seen in parent series Doctor Who), whose girlfriend Lisa (Caroline Chikezie) has been partially converted into a Cyberman, a cyborg species seen repeatedly in Doctor Who. Ianto has been keeping her alive, concealed in the basement of the Hub, but she eventually breaks loose and kills two civilians. Ianto is forced into confrontation with team leader Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), who is later able to revive Ianto with a kiss when Lisa knocks him unconscious. Ultimately, the rest of Ianto's team is forced to kill Lisa. Although Ianto's thoughts continue to be concerned with Lisa, mid-series he begins to develop a sexual relationship with Jack. By the penultimate episode of the series, Ianto is willing to shoot colleague Owen Harper (Burn Gorman) to protect Jack, and refutes claims he is merely his "part time shag". In the series finale, an image of what appears to be Lisa's ghost is used to bring Ianto to mutiny against Jack, but still later when Jack (who cannot stay dead) returns to life, he and Ianto immediately kiss one another. Torchwood's second series (2008) begins with the team working without Jack, who departed the Hub at the end of series one to reunite with the mysterious "Doctor" from his past. Ianto's role within the team now more frequently includes field missions to accommodate Jack's absence. When Jack returns in the series two premiere, having seen the end of the world, he attempts to formalise his romantic relationship with Ianto, successfully asking him on a date. Jack and Ianto's relationship becomes more overt, and Ianto's character becomes less burdened by secrets and happier, beginning to express a newfound confidence and dour sense of humour. The penultimate episode of the series, "Fragments" explores Ianto's backstory, specifically how he was recruited into Torchwood Three two years prior; Ianto is persistent that Jack hire him after the destruction of Torchwood One, but only succeeds once he is able to aid Jack in capturing a stray pterodactyl. In the second series finale, Ianto and the team face Jack's 51st-century ex Captain John Hart (James Marsters) and younger brother Gray (Lachlan Nieboer), who has vengefully sought to destroy Jack's world. After Gray kills his teammates Toshiko (Naoko Mori) and Owen, the Torchwood team is left with a membership of only three. Following from this, Ianto makes his first crossover appearance in Doctor Who alongside Gwen (Eve Myles) and Jack in the two-part finale of the 2008 series, where Torchwood is called on to help contact series protagonist the Doctor (David Tennant) during a Dalek invasion. He was also mentioned in the alternate universe created in the Doctor Who episode "Turn Left" when Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) mentioned that he and Gwen were killed in the attempt to stop the Sontarans' invasion of Earth with ATMOs devices, whilst Jack is imprisoned in the Sontaran homeworld. Torchwoods third series (2009) is a five-part miniseries broadcast over one week, called Children of Earth. In part one, Ianto starts to express insecurity to Jack about their status as a couple. The audience is introduced to Ianto's sister Rhiannon (Katy Wix) and brother-in-law Johnny Davies (Rhodri Lewis), who confront Ianto about sightings of him on a date with Jack. Ianto eventually admits to being involved with Jack but concedes that he is not sure where he stands. When aliens called the 456 return to Earth, John Frobisher (Peter Capaldi) puts a hit on Torchwood's lives to cover a conspiracy. In part two, Ianto and Gwen survive a Hub explosion that obliterates Jack. Once regenerated, Jack is sealed in cement by agent Johnson (Liz May Brice) until Ianto rescues him with a forklift truck. In part three, the group watch helplessly as the 456 demand a tribute: 10% of the Earth's children; the government appears willing to comply. In part four, Ianto and Jack storm Thames House to confront the 456. The pair refuse to sacrifice any lives to the alien demands. In response, the aliens release a fatal virus into the atmosphere. Thames House locks down, and Ianto dies in Jack's arms, telling him that he loved him and begging Jack never to forget about him, to which Jack replies he never could. ### Literature Ianto appears in the first six of the Torchwood novels, published by BBC Books. The first wave, Another Life by Peter Anghelides, Border Princes by Dan Abnett, and Slow Decay by Andy Lane, were published in January 2007. Published in March 2008, and tying in with the concurrently airing second series of Torchwood, Ianto appears in the novels Trace Memory by David Llewellyn, The Twilight Streets by Gary Russell, and Something in the Water by Trevor Baxendale. October 2008 saw the release of three more Torchwood books by Peter Anghelides, series writer Phil Ford and writer for the Doctor Who and Torchwood websites, James Goss, the latter's cover for Almost Perfect reflecting changes to the cast after the episode 2008 finale episode "Exit Wounds". The character next appears in Into the Silence, Bay of the Dead and The House that Jack Built in June 2009, and Risk Assessment, The Undertaker's Gift and the short story anthology Consequences in October of that year. First published in January 2008, the monthly Torchwood Magazine began occasionally including Torchwood comic strips, in which Ianto also appears. In 2010, Shrouded is one such two-part comic, written by Gareth David-Lloyd. The comic posits a "what-if" scenario wherein Ianto, "who struggles with his feelings for Jack from the offset", sees a face from the future and embarks on a mission that could change the course of his life (from that of his eventual death in Children of Earth). David Lloyd comments that he "knows [the] character implicitly". In the first part, Ianto (originating from the timeframe of Season Two) is approached by Rhys and Captain John, both post-Children of Earth, who warn Ianto not to believe the offer made by a seductive, time-travelling woman; they do not tell him that their mission is to preserve the timeline in which he dies. In part two, the woman, Mairwyn, informs Ianto of the events of "Exit Wounds" and Children of Earth, and of Jack's departure. Ianto tearfully watches the scene where Jack learns of Gwen's engagement and sleeps with Mairwyn. After learning of the devastating consequences of assisting Mairwyn, he defeats her and later "retcons" himself. However, in a divergent timeline, Ianto appears with Mairwyn, observing his funeral, saying, "I can't believe there's a reality where I said no." In 2010, "Shrouded" was republished in Titan's dedicated Torchwood comic book. During series two, the Torchwood website, `www.torchwood.org.uk` also hosted an interactive online game written by series writer Phil Ford. Updated weekly with the airing of the new episodes, the website features specially shot footage with Gareth David-Lloyd in character as Ianto debriefing and informing the 'player' with regards to their mission. Throughout both series one and two, the interactive websites co-written by James Goss featured electronic literature content (such as fictitious internet messaging conversations and letters) which depict aspects of Ianto and the other Torchwood characters' work and personal lives. The Torchwood Archives by Gary Russell collects much of this online literature in hardback form, along with new original material, some of which expands on what we know of Ianto. For example, it introduces his sister, Rhiannon and brother-in-law Johnny; Rhiannon and Johnny later appear in 2009's third televised series. `Spin-off media has tried to fill in the gaps of Ianto's character history from before he began working at Torchwood Three; Ianto's first week at Torchwood One is shown in a flashback in the novel Trace Memory. The segment also depicts his budding relationship with Lisa Hallett. Also expanding on Jones's time living in London, the comic The Legacy of Torchwood One! (Torchwood #1) shows how Ianto was taken under the wing of Rupert Howarth, a senior researcher, during his first few weeks at Torchwood One. Ianto's characterisation is explored in The Twilight Streets, in which Ianto sheds some light on the difficulty he had "coming out" as a teenager; Ianto's mother tried to have a conversation with him about it, but he remarks "She didn't work me out, Gwen. No one has. And if I ever do, I'll let you know." He then engages in a diatribe with Gwen about what it means to him to be bisexual after Gwen jokes to him that he has the "best of both worlds". A scene in David-Lloyd's "Shrouded", in which Ianto is emailing his sister, Owen is seen to wrestle control of the computer and tries to write to her that "I've recently discovered that I'm a Big Old Gay"; Ianto rebukes him. In the storyline's conclusion, an alternate timeline is created where Ianto did not die in the events of Children of Earth.` However, as with all Doctor Who and Torchwood spin-off media, the canonicity in relation to the television series is unclear. ### Audio drama Ianto also appears in Torchwood audio books, the first two being Hidden written by Steven Savile and narrated by Naoko Mori, Everyone Says Hello written by Dan Abnett and narrated by Burn Gorman, released February 2008, and In the Shadows by Joseph Lidster, released in September 2008. Joseph Lidster also wrote a BBC Radio 4 Torchwood drama, "Lost Souls" which aired in Summer 2008 as an Afternoon Play featuring the voices of John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Gareth David-Lloyd and Freema Agyeman (Martha). Set after the events of the 2008 series, Ianto and the team make their first international adventure to CERN in Geneva, as part of Radio 4's special celebration of the Large Hadron Collider being switched on. The special radio episode's plot focuses on the Large Hadron Collider's activation and the doomsday scenario some predicted it might incite, as well as the team's mourning of Toshiko and Owen's recent deaths. `Three further BBC radio dramas were produced in 2009 for the Afternoon Play slot on Radio 4, each of which feature Ianto Jones. Chronologically, these occur between the second and third televised series but after "Lost Souls". Transmitted in July 2009, the first drama is "Asylum", the second is "Golden Age", and the third is "The Dead Line". "The Dead Line" in particular, focuses on Ianto's characterisation, particularly with respect to his relationship with Jack. AfterElton reviewers stated that the radio drama "delivers for Janto [a portmanteau used by the shipping fandom] fans"; David-Lloyd delivers a monologue as Ianto, verbalising his insecurities to a comatose Jack. When Jack awakens from his coma, he promises, "You will never be just a blip in time, Ianto Jones."` After his character was written out of the televised series, David-Lloyd still lends his voice 2011 audio drama series The Lost Files, tying into the televised fourth series, Torchwood: Miracle Day. Of these, "The House of the Dead" by James Goss focuses the most on Ianto. Ianto encounters the spirit of his father, with the claim that he, Ianto's mother, Owen, Toshiko, and Lisa will all be resurrected if Ianto betrays Jack. Exploiting its radio format, the drama reveals that Ianto is dead, but has been recreated through time by an ancient being called Syriath in order to tempt Jack to allow the Rift to remain open so she can escape, revealing that the story is actually a Jack solo mission set after series three. Jack and Ianto say a final goodbye and tell each other they love one another for the first time. Syriath's plan works and Jack attempts to return to the land of the living alongside Ianto, but Ianto stays behind to close the Cardiff Rift forever with Jack's device. David-Lloyd has reprised the role of Ianto for various Torchwood audio dramas with Big Finish Productions, beginning with 2015's Fall to Earth, in stories taking place prior to Ianto's death. ## Characterisation ### Conception Gareth David-Lloyd has revealed that his character was originally named Idris Hopper. This has led to speculation that he was the same Idris Hopper played by Aled Pedrick who appeared in the 2005 Doctor Who episode "Boom Town" as Margaret Blaine's (Annette Badland) personal assistant. Writer Stephen James Walker wonders if Russell T Davies intended Idris to become a major character on Torchwood in the same way as Toshiko Sato, who originated in Doctor Who's "Aliens of London". Idris Hopper has since appeared in Gary Russell's Torchwood novel The Twilight Streets. Initially, Ianto is introduced as a quiet worker and the least active character in the supporting cast. David-Lloyd started the role believing Ianto would be killed off at the end of the first series, and was surprised when they "worked the character to become more popular, and it started growing from there." When Gareth David-Lloyd was cast in the role, the character was renamed Ianto Jones. This was inspired by the character of Yanto Jones, also played by David-Lloyd, in Russell T Davies's 2004 comedy-drama Mine All Mine. Ianto shares the surname "Jones" with Doctor Who characters Martha Jones and family as well as Harriet Jones, Torchwood character Eugene Jones ("Random Shoes"), and Stuart Allen Jones in Davies's earlier Queer as Folk; Davies states that reusing names (such as Tyler, Smith, Harper, Harkness and Jones) allows him to get a grip of the character on the blank page. In developing the character's attire, costume designer Ray Holman comments: "Ianto has a very distinct look but his suits actually vary quite a lot. He started off with some nice but boring Marks and Spencers suits in series one, which were top-end fitted ones but always very sober. Towards the end of series one, I also got him into a waistcoat, and everyone thought that looked really good. ### Development On how he views the character, David-Lloyd says that "outwardly, he's straight-laced, but there's a darker side to him and a very playful side too." Initially, in series one, Ianto is a quiet and more reserved character. Throughout the first series, Ianto's secrets are exposed to the team, particularly in "Cyberwoman" when his motives for joining Torchwood Three are exposed. David-Lloyd was "bowled over" by the Ianto-centric script for "Cyberwoman" and the "wide range of emotions" it allowed him to play. From this point, Ianto's focus changes and he begins more and more to come out of his shell. Appearing in series two, Ianto assists the team in field missions and is used by the writers as a vehicle for one-liner jokes. Commenting on this, portrayer Gareth David-Lloyd notes that "This season it's much more relaxed and he's not all about keeping secrets, he's about Torchwood and Jack — he's found his meaning and his place so his dry humour comes out a lot more and he's happier." The developments in Ianto's character were also reflected in the wardrobe choice. "For series two," comments Ray Holman, "we evolved the look quite a lot, and now his suits come from all over the place. It's just a question of where I see something that looks right for Gareth, so I've brought him a suit from Savile Row and suits from Zara and Next. We realised we could be a bit more flash with Ianto now he's come out of the background and started to assert himself a bit more. So we moved him into coloured shirts and snazzier ties. He started off in white and grey shirts but we realised his skin tones can take the extra colour and now he's evolving into something much sharper, which looks really good filmed in high definition." In Torchwood Magazine, actor Gareth David-Lloyd comments on some original character developments intended for Ianto. Originally, his character was the one supposed to die at the end of series two episode "Reset". Davies's plan had originally intended for Ianto to be revived, as Owen eventually was, in episode seven. From this point on, the character was intended to be "the Living Dead — pale, but still sexy". The night before filming, however, Davies changed his mind and seven scripts began a process of being rewritten. New lines had to be handed to the actors on the day of filming. Davies also called a discussion with the actors involved to explain the change in the storyline. In the discussion with executive producer Russell T Davies and Burn Gorman, who portrays Owen, it was decided that Owen would experience the zombification storyline as he is a character who more overtly enjoys life, making it more interesting from a narrative perspective. David-Lloyd described the character's development in the third series as "really exciting". He felt that it was "great to be a fully-fledged member of the team now rather than just the administration man." He felt flattered to have the writer and producers put so much confidence in him. In this series, the writers also explore Jones's background; David-Lloyd was happy with the execution of this backstory, through meeting Ianto's sister, and commented that it was quite beautifully written. Through meeting his family, we discover that his father has died and that Ianto has grown very distant from his relatives as per the demands of his job. David-Lloyd first concluded that Ianto was being killed off when his agent told him he was only needed for four out of five episodes. Although there was "a bit of disappointment", he considers himself "lucky" for lasting so long on the series, especially since Ianto was supposed to die in series two. He believed the character's death was justified by "the impact and the drama, and to keep the dangerous reality of Torchwood ever present". Although it was "a tragedy that [Ianto] died", David-Lloyd felt that the series had "addressed everything about him that needed to be said". Creator Russell T Davies felt that killing off Ianto was necessary for Children of Earth; it was his first decision to create a "horrible war casualty" for the story, because it would be unrealistic to have a great threat and have the main characters all come out unscathed. Ianto's death also precedes the death of Captain Jack's grandson Steven (Bear McCausland), and for that scene to occur it necessitated making Jack "badly, badly damaged". Ianto's death caused "maximum damage" to Jack, and the loss of his lover (and grandson) makes Children of Earth a tale of retribution, as Jack had given away twelve children to the same aliens in 1965. Davies has said that Ianto is "absolutely dead". He explains his reasoning; because it's a "much more real world in Torchwood", it wouldn't work to "regenerate or go to a parallel universe." Davies feels that Barrowman and David-Lloyd would both be dismayed were that to happen. He stated "it would devalue the entire plot if we brought him back". Wired magazine described Ianto's arc, ending in the third series, as an "evolution from meek office assistant to heroic warrior". ### Relationship with Jack Much of Ianto's character development is centred on the character's relationship with Captain Jack. On the character's evolution from minor character to romantic interest, Gareth David-Lloyd has commented that "To have a storyline where you're involved with the leading character for any actor is awesome." On the character's development, David-Lloyd has said that through Jack's relationship, "he's found his meaning and ... he's happier." Asked what it is that Ianto receives from Jack, David-Lloyd responds "Support, meaning. I think he lost meaning. He was tortured and Jack gave him that meaning back. And reliability that he'll always be there, I think." John Barrowman and Gareth David-Lloyd have also opined that Jack's relationship with Ianto has however brought out Jack's empathy, and helped to ground him, with John Barrowman reported as saying that Ianto "brings out the 'human' in him, it brings out more of the empathy because he's actually fallen for someone and he really cares about somebody. So, it's really great and I think that's what makes him warm to other people. It makes him more approachable." In the same interview, Gareth David-Lloyd said of the relationship and his character that "I think Ianto's always made him care and that is really the heart of the show. Ianto's always bearing his emotional side and vulnerable side and keeping his feet on the ground. I think of all the characters, he's the one who tries to keep everyone else's feet on the ground. He brings everyone back to reality, often with a dry, witty remark or taking a dig at somebody just to sort of bring people back down." Comparing Jack's relationship with Ianto to his romantic tension with Gwen, David-Lloyd states "I think [there are] different sorts of love or lust, as it might be, and I think that's an ongoing thing ... At the moment, I think there's two different sorts of love going on there." He also states that he feels that Ianto's relationship with Jack is his first same-sex relationship, and doesn't feel that Ianto would be a "labelist", but were he, he would identify as bisexual, but that he "wouldn't regard himself the same way as Jack does because they're from different times." Author Stephen James Walker feels sorry for Ianto, perceiving his relationship with Jack as a one-sided one. To him, Ianto views the relationship as "serious and committed", as seen in "A Day in the Death" where he tells Owen that it is not just about sex. However, from dialogue in "Something Borrowed", Walker believes that Jack appears to equate his relationship with Ianto to nothing more than a "recreational activity". Walker also notes how important it was for Ianto when he cut in to dance with Jack, as this is the first time that his relationship with Jack is presented before the rest of the crew. The novel The House that Jack Built includes a scene where Gwen tries to clarify whether Ianto understands the nature of his relationship with Jack, saying "You do know he's ...", which Ianto finishes "Just a shag?" before adding "Yes I know. I can't help it, though. I've never been much good at casual." In radio play "The Dead Line", set just prior to series three, Ianto expounds his insecurities to Jack, who refutes them, confirming that his feelings for Ianto are real. When asked if the relationship will continue in series three, executive producer Julie Gardner replied, "Yes, I like seeing them as a couple", while director Euros Lyn stated that "the love story between Captain Jack and Ianto [would continue] to unfold" in the third series. While Gareth David-Lloyd feels that the love story between Jack and Ianto was not fully resolved, which is "part of the tragedy", the character and his relationship with Jack had been sufficiently explored in the third series for David-Lloyd to be "happy to walk away from it." Ianto makes a post-death appearance in 2011 audio drama "The House of the Dead". Encountering Ianto's spirit at a haunted location in Wales, Jack and Ianto are permitted a final goodbye. Without Ianto in his life, Jack wishes to be swept up into the Rift as it closes in an attempt at suicide. Ianto tricks Jack into leaving the House of the Dead, however, despite the possibility of resurrection. As they are forced to part forever by the closing of the Rift, the couple declare their love for one another for the first and last time. ## Reception ### Critical reception Awarding the character of Ianto the status of "Cult Spy Icon", British entertainment news website Digital Spy describes him as a "cult legend", citing his dour demeanour, one-liners and "eye candy" label. Gay men's website AfterElton placed Ianto as their seventh best gay and bisexual character in modern science fiction (encompassing television, film and comic books), with Torchwood's Jack, Ianto's love interest, receiving first place. Wired magazine was impressed with the way Ianto's romantic storyline was handled in the third series, and praised Davies's writing for the "deft, sympathetic handling" of the Harkness-Jones romance, compared with the "clumsiness" of the show's homoerotic overtones in previous series. Because Ianto's storyline grows out of the reality of the show, "it plays with such genuine sympathy and pathos that Jones's eventual fate is easily the miniseries' most powerful moment." Wired describes David-Lloyd's performance as Jones as "a key element in the success of the five-episode story arc." One AfterElton contributor disliked the death scene partially for the loss of a "beloved gay character", and because Ianto's death was caused by Jack's stupidity, goading on the aliens. They compared the death scene to that of Tara (Amber Benson) in Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer which he felt was more satisfying, although "unbearably sad" because of its pivotal role in the character arc for Willow (Alyson Hannigan), and as being "possibly the single most significant event in the whole seven-season series." He feels that both Joss Whedon and Russell T Davies toyed with their LGBT fans' affections, and claim "neither Whedon nor Davies seem aware of the impact that these characters were having on viewers starved for such representations." Later, AfterElton published an opposing view, which analysed the character's death in view of the character's earlier refusal to admit to his relationship with a man, and claimed that, instead of being an expression of homophobia, the death was a sign that the LGBT community was leaving behind its image of victimhood. In 2012 David Brown of the Radio Times described Ianto's demise as one of televisions five most shocking death scenes and "surely [Torchwood's] finest hour". The website Den of Geek praised Davies's writing of Ianto's death, and likened the tough story-driven decision to those used in critically acclaimed shows The Sopranos, Battlestar Galactica and The Wire. Den of Geek felt the real tension of knowing any character could die, however popular, was "refreshing" in comparison to impossibly death-defying characters such as 24's Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland). In 2010, Davies's replacement as Doctor Who executive producer, Steven Moffat, commented saying "I thought his death scene was brilliant." When the series screened in New Zealand, GayNZ compared the two contending perspectives, comparing those who viewed Ianto's death from the perspective of "dramatic necessity" to those who disparaged it as the result of thoughtlessness on the part of the series creators about the relative absence of representations of enduring lesbian and gay couples within television series. Ianto's death was compared to that of Tara as in the above critiques, but also contrasted to other television series where lesbian and gay couples were able to have enduring relationships, such as Six Feet Under'''s David Fisher (Michael C. Hall) and Keith Charles (Mathew St. Patrick) and Bad Girls Nikki Wade (Mandana Jones) and Helen Stewart (Simone Lahbib). GayNZ writer Craig Young places Ianto, like Buffy's Tara, in a larger literary tradition, commenting "just as Iphigenia's sacrifice at the hands of Agamemnon was necessary to set in train the events of Aeschylus's Oresteia... just as Ophelia's madness, suicide and accidental death led to the climatic duel between Hamlet and Laertes ... Ianto's death can be argued to be a dramatic necessity which adds to character and narrative development." The article acknowledged there being some validity in criticisms of modern TV dramas which uphold that it is frequently the gay relationships which "can never be seen to have long-term, fulfilled relationships". However, GayNZ questioned whether the pattern was solely gay, noting the equally tragic outcomes of homosexual and heterosexual relationships in American shows Buffy and Nip/Tuck. The website also took note of Ianto fans' displeasure when Jack was introduced to a new romantic partner in Alonso Frame (Russell Tovey) in Doctor Who episode "The End of Time" (2010), mirroring Willow's romance with Kennedy (Iyari Limon) in Season Seven of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The article intentionally avoided making a definitive conclusion as to which "side" of the argument was correct. Young later compared Ianto's death with the subsequent killing off of core heterosexual couples in two British shows, Misfits and Being Human. These latter deaths are described as even more heartbreaking than Ianto's, and Young argues that these character deaths tell us more about transatlantic differences in storytelling than about portrayals of sexuality. ### Fan reaction to death Most of the fans expressed their displeasure following Ianto's death in the third series. The website End of Show comments that "writer James Moran was so inundated with messages to his Twitter account that he posted a number of impassioned pleas to tone down the vitriol." End of Show writer Kirsty Walker comments that fans on Twitter accused Moran of "deliberately egging on the 'shippers'." Moran noted in his blog that of the thousands of messages from viewers, the "vast majority" were extremely positive, managing to express that they were "upset, angry and shocked" without making personal attacks. Moran declared the response from other commentators to be unacceptable, describing their conduct as the spewing of insults and "passive aggressive nonsense". He noted that fans had accused him of deliberately trying to "mislead", "lie" and "hurt" them, said that he hated them, was "laughing at them" and "slapping [them] in the face", and claimed that he had "killed the show", had attempted to drive away existing fans to court newer and "cooler" viewers, and had deliberately hurt depressed people "with dark storylines." In a poll conducted by Digital Spy shortly after Ianto's death, 27.4% of voters claimed that they would no longer watch Torchwood. Responding to these results, Gareth David-Lloyd thanked the fans for their dedication to the show and the character but urged them to have faith in the writers. On the show's Facebook groups, fans expressed anger towards creator Russell T Davies and some claimed they would stop watching the show. Walker herself had felt that the end of Jack's relationship with Ianto could "change the show beyond all recognition." io9 commented that fans on Moran's blog accused him of homophobia; one quoted fan likened it to 1950s-style homophobia "where all the queer folks died ... and the straight people walk away completely unscathed." io9 writer Charlie Jane Anders comments, however, that "as people have had a bit more time to consider the new series, more thoughtful discussions have arisen." One such cited notes that it is unlikely that Children of Earth was intentionally homophobic since the writer (Davies) and lead actor (John Barrowman) are both openly gay. The same reviewer notes that however, "especially when viewed on its own, Children of Earth looks a lot like the same heteronormative, homophobic, biphobic and gratuitous tropes that appear in so many bad representations of queer people in popular culture." In response to the accusations of "de-gaying" Torchwood, Davies advised those people do some research into his career (creator of Queer as Folk) and "stop riding on a bandwagon that they actually don't know anything about". Asked to respond to viewers who felt "cheated" that Jack and Ianto's relationship did not come to fruition, Davies said: > That's the point actually. Both in fiction and in life. When someone dies you lose all that potential. You grieve over everything they could have been. Everything you hoped for them. Everything they might have achieved with their lives, everyone they could have loved. Every job they could have had. Every joy they could have had. It's gone. Soon after the death of Ianto Jones during Torchwood's third series, a campaign to bring him back was started through networking sites such as LiveJournal, Twitter and Facebook. The resulting website, `www.saveiantojones.com`, has organised a protest which encourages fans to send coffee, along with postcards and letters of complaint, to the BBC, a reference to Ianto's status as the "coffee boy". Via the Save Ianto Jones website, fans are also campaigning to raise money for the BBC charity Children in Need in honour of the character. The fundraising site states that "Though we, his devoted fans, still hope that he'll come back ... we mourn him. In the series, he died saving the children of Earth; so it seems fitting to honour his memory by helping the Children in Need." Torchwood Magazine reported that the site had raised nearly £4,000, with individual donations ranging from £2 to £50. John Barrowman described the charity campaign as "a fun way to mourn Ianto" and stated that it was "the kind of thing that's really appreciated". Gareth David-Lloyd was flattered by the strong fan reaction, saying it is "satisfying in drama when you create such an emotional response, because that's what you set out to do in the first place". He praised the fan donations, claiming "So far, they've raised about £3,000 for Children in Need, and £1,000 for Lluest Horse and Pony Trust in West Wales, which I'm a patron of, so that's got to be a good thing". Coventry Telegraph records that by 21 July 2009, £4,172 had been donated in Ianto's name. In an interview with io9 on 28 July 2009, creator Russell T Davies was asked about the controversy surrounding Ianto's death and the fan reaction campaign. He replied "There's a campaign, because he was a coffee boy. But do you know how many packets of coffee they've received so far? Nine. So I think people writing online might sound like thousands of people, but they are nine." However, those involved in the movement believe that this number is much higher due to a post tallying the coffee sent within the community. When asked about the backlash in a separate interview with Michael Ausiello, Russell T Davies said "It's not particularly a backlash. What's actually happening is, well, nothing really to be honest. It's a few people posting online and getting fans upset". He also stated that the character was gone for good, and that his resurrection would devalue the "entire plot." He recommended that fans who wish to stop watching the show should watch Supernatural "because those boys are beautiful", or "look at poetry" if they "can't handle drama". Following these statements, the Save Ianto Jones website encouraged fans to contact BBC Wales rather than Davies, and temporarily presented on its front page the message "Mr Davies has made it clear in recent interviews that he views his fans with contempt, and as disposable, which saddens us" and asked not to be "abused". At Comic-Con 2009, a fan claimed that Davies "hurt" a lot of internet fans with his decision to kill Ianto, which she called "out of line." Davies replied that he would not change his mind regarding the decision, adding, "I've got to be blunt about this, there have been campaigns to send packets of coffee to BBC Wales in protest. There have been nine packets sent. I'm not taking the mickey, but that's a very small number." Executive producer Julie Gardner stated "We want people to be engaged, discuss and not always agree with us. At the end of the day, I make drama to support each author's vision. It's not a democracy. Whether people like it or not, it's storytelling." Simon Brew of Den of Geek has criticised the Internet campaigns to resurrect the character, citing that the show would "lose far more credibility" if he were brought back. Brew also expressed doubt that the fans stating they would boycott a fourth series will do so. He summarised: "Torchwood now needs to continue to have the courage of its convictions, and for that to happen, the reset switch simply isn't an option." On 31 July 2009, Digital Spy conducted a poll asking if it was "time to move on" from Ianto. However, a week later the website did not immediately publish the results, announcing "unfortunately it seems that this particular Poll was the subject of a campaign by diehard fans to distort the outcome". Neil Wilkes opined that this action by the fans "suggests the answer to the question 'Have people overreacted to Ianto's death?' is quite obvious". Later, a footnote amendment noted that 31.4% said it was time to move on, "while the remainder demanded RTD's head on a plate", a reference to his own wording of the original poll, which gave readers the option of moving on from Ianto, or the executive producer's head on a plate. James McCarthy of Wales Online described the reaction from some fans as "sickening" and quoted "crazed" fans on DeviantArt and Facebook who made explicit death threats against the Children of Earth writers. Gareth David-Lloyd stated he was very disappointed in those fans, whose message board conduct he does not support at all and called "completely unacceptable". David-Lloyd added that he "would hope the writers would be able to ignore comments like that". A number of fans were upset by the tone of the first Wales Online article, and their response prompted a follow-up from McCarthy. In their comments, fans pointed out that his article disproportionately highlights what they called the "ill-conceived, knee-jerk reactions" of a few individuals, and stressed that these reactions in no way represent the movement to bring Ianto Jones back, which they hold as fundamentally respectful towards the show's actors and writers. Fans have distanced themselves from the small minority of extremists, and have been keen to stress their peaceful activism, described as "thousands of fans who are raising money for charity, sending polite letters, and doing what we can to be supportive of the character and actor". In 2010, Doctor Who executive producer Steven Moffat told fans who contacted him that he wouldn't want to resurrect Ianto even if he could: "Not reversing it. Stop asking." In a 2011 poll published by the Liverpool Daily Post as part of a live Interview with writer John Fay, 70% of respondents replied that the decision to kill Ianto had been the right one, with 19% responding "indifferent" and only 11% stating that it had been the wrong decision, contrasting with the initial fan response. In response to a question, Fay also stated that he had not been affected by the "scary" fan reaction, maintaining that "a universe in which fictional characters aren't 'allowed' to die is ridiculous and limiting". The public reaction to the death of Ianto has had a wider-reaching impact than simply the Torchwood fan community. For example, comic book writer Peter David cited the reaction to Ianto Jones's death when reflecting on where to go with the gay relationship between the Marvel Comics characters Rictor and Shatterstar in X-Factor'' v. 3. He opined that in "virtually any happy relationship", one of the characters has to die to "provide angst" to the more major character. His concern was "being tagged as against gay people", the way Russell T Davies was, even though Davies is himself gay.
30,944,164
Cortinarius vanduzerensis
1,136,346,193
Species of fungus
[ "Cortinarius", "Fungi described in 1972", "Fungi of Canada", "Fungi of the United States", "Fungi without expected TNC conservation status", "Taxa named by Alexander H. Smith", "Taxa named by James Trappe" ]
Cortinarius vanduzerensis is a species of mushroom in the family Cortinariaceae. Described as new to science in 1972, it is known only from the Pacific Northwest region of North America, where it grows under conifers such as spruce, hemlock, and Douglas-fir. The fruit bodies of the fungus, or mushrooms, have a slimy dark chestnut-brown cap that becomes deeply radially grooved or corrugated in maturity, and reaches diameters of up to 8 cm (3+1⁄8 in). The gills on the underside of the cap are initially pinkish-buff before becoming pale brown when the spores mature. The stem is lavender, measuring 10–18 cm (4–7 in) long and 1–2 cm (3⁄8–3⁄4 in) thick. The mushroom produces a rusty-brown spore print, with individual spores measuring 12–14 by 7–8 micrometers. The edibility of the mushroom has not been determined, and it has been described as "much too slippery to be of value". ## Taxonomy The species was described in 1972 by mycologists Alexander H. Smith and James M. Trappe, based on specimens they found in Cascade Head in Tillamook County, Oregon, in October and November 1970. The species had also been called Cortinarius elatior, but that name refers to a European species. Within the genus Cortinarius, C. vanduzerensis is classified in the subgenus Myxacium. This subgenus includes species in which both the cap and stem are sticky as a result of a glutinous universal veil. Based on the nucleic acid sequence similarity in the internal transcribed spacer region, C. vanduzerensis is closely related to the European and North American C. mucifluus and the Costa Rican species C. costaricensis. A common name for the species is the "pointed Cortinarius", while the specific epithet vanduzerensis refers to the H.B. van Duzer Forest where the species was originally collected. ## Description Young fruit bodies of C. vanduzerensis are covered with a slimy universal veil; the slime layer persists on the cap of young mushrooms, or in moist weather. The shape of the cap is oval to conical with the margin initially appressed, expanding to broadly conic or somewhat flattened in maturity, eventually reaching diameters of 4–8 cm (1+1⁄2–3+1⁄4 in). The cap color is initially chestnut-brown to black, but becomes paler brown as it matures. The surface is radially wrinkled or corrugated, especially near the margin. The flesh is pallid but soon pale cinnamon-buff. The odor and taste are not distinctive. A drop of FeSO<sub>4</sub> solution (a reagent commonly used in mushroom identification) applied to the surface of the cap will turn olive-green. The gills are pinkish-buff when young (in unopened caps), dull cinnamon-brown at maturity when the spores mature. They are packed close together, and are adnate or adnexed. The stem is 8–20 cm (3–8 in) long, 1–2 cm (3⁄8–3⁄4 in) thick, narrowed slightly to the base. It is pallid within but slowly cinnamon buff at least near the base. The stem surface has a thick slime-veil, and is lavender to light purple on the upper portion, but darker on the lower portion. Sometimes the universal veil breaks up into concentric zones over the lower third of the stem. The edibility of the mushroom is not known. David Arora notes that it is "much too slippery to be of value". It is also not recommended due to its similarity to deadly poisonous species. The spore print is a rusty-brown color. In face view, the spores are broadly elliptic to ovate (egg-shaped), while in profile they appear broadly inequilateral; they have dimensions of 12–14 by 7–8 μm. The spore surface is roughened with warts, and they lack an apical pore. The spores contain two nuclei. The basidia (spore-bearing cells in the hymenium) are four-spored, broadly club-shaped, and have contents that are often in the form of yellow masses or granules when stained in Melzer's reagent. The cheilocystida (cystidia on the gill edge) are club-shaped, sometimes with an abruptly tapering point, and measure 17–26 by 9–15 μm. There are no pleurocystidia (cystidia on the gill face). The gill tissue is made of hyphae that are arranged in a roughly parallel fashion (subparallel); there are also brownish to orange-brown fat-containing hyphae present. The epicutis (outer layer of tissue) of the cap is made of a turf of gelatinous hyphae that measure 2.5–6 μm wide; clamp connections are absent to rare in the hyphae. The veil hyphae are 4–8 μm wide, and hyaline (translucent) to yellow when mounted in a dilute solution of KOH. The hyphae of the cortex of the stem are subparallel, and clamps are present. ### Similar species Smith and Trappe noted a similarity to the European Cortinarius elatior, but this species has violet gills at first. C. collinitis has a lighter brown slimy cap, with glutinous bands on the stem that are rarely tinged purple. A third species in this group, C. cylindripes has a lighter colored, sometimes wrinkled cap, and gills that are pale purple when young with fringed edges. C. stillatitius is a related European species found in coniferous (sometimes in mixed) forests. Another glutinous, dark-brown capped species with which C. vanduzerensis might be confused is Phaeocollybia spadicea, but this species has pseudorhiza (a subterranean elongation of the stem) at the stem base and gills that are free from attachment to the stem. ## Habitat and distribution Cortinarius vanduzerensis is a mycorrhizal mushroom that grows in association with conifer trees. The fruit bodies grow solitarily, scattered, in rings or in groups under spruce, hemlock, and Douglas-fir. The mushroom is known only from the Pacific Northwest region of North America, including the Queen Charlotte Islands on the north Coast of British Columbia, Canada. It fruits in the autumn and early winter, or in the late summer in western Canada. Its frequency of occurrence has been described variously as "very common", to "fairly common", or "rare" everywhere except Oregon".
6,628,464
Siddhasana
1,147,660,637
Ancient seated meditation posture in hatha yoga
[ "Asymmetric asanas", "Buddhist meditation", "Medieval Hatha Yoga asanas", "Meditation asanas", "Sitting asanas" ]
Siddhasana (Sanskrit: सिद्धासन; ) or Accomplished Pose, is an ancient seated asana in hatha yoga and modern yoga as exercise suitable for meditation. The names Muktasana (Sanskrit: मुक्तासन, Liberated Pose) and Burmese position are sometimes given to the same pose, sometimes to an easier variant, Ardha Siddhasana. Svastikasana has each foot tucked as snugly as possible into the fold of the opposite knee. Siddhasana is one of the oldest asanas. It is described as a meditation seat in the early Hatha Yoga text, the 10th century Goraksha Sataka. This states that Siddhasana ranks alongside Padmasana (lotus position) as the most important of the asanas, opening the way to liberation. The 15th-century Hatha Yoga Pradipika similarly suggests that all other asanas are unnecessary once Siddhasana has been mastered. ## Etymology The name comes from the Sanskrit words siddha (सिद्ध) meaning both "perfect" and "adept", and asana (आसन) meaning "posture" or "seat". The name Muktasana comes from मुक्त mukta meaning "liberation". Ann Swanson writes that the pose is called accomplished as it was the goal of all other asanas to ready the body to sit in meditation in this way. The name Svastikasana is from the Sanskrit svastika (स्वस्तिक) meaning "auspicious". The posture is described in the eighth century Pātañjalayogaśāstravivaraṇa and in the tenth century Vimānārcanākalpa, where it is a meditation seat. ## History ### Medieval Siddhasana is one of the oldest asanas, being described as a meditation seat in the 10th century Goraksha Sataka 1.10-12. It states that along with lotus position, Siddhasana is the most important of the asanas (1.10), breaking open the door of liberation (1.11). The 15th century Hatha Yoga Pradipika 1.37–45 praises the asana, implying it is the only one that practitioners would need, asking "When Siddhasana is mastered, of what use are the various other postures?" It describes Siddhasana as "the opener of the door of salvation" and "the chief of all asanas", explaining that this is because the posture "cleanses the impurities of 72,000 nadis", channels of the subtle body. The 17th century Gheranda Samhita 2.7 states in terms similar to the earlier texts that "the practitioner who has subdued his passions, having placed one heel at the anal aperture should keep the other heel on the root of the generative organ; afterwards he should rest his chin upon the chest, and being quiet and straight, gaze at the spot between the two eyebrows. This is called the Siddhasana which leads to emancipation". ### Modern Siddhasana is traditionally used for dhyana (meditation) and pranayama (breath exercises). The early Western student of Hatha Yoga, Theos Bernard, wrote that he practised the meditation asanas after the others (that he called the reconditioning asanas) so as to gain the flexibility to do them easily. He stated that he used only Padmasana (lotus position) and Siddhasana. In his 1966 book Light on Yoga, B. K. S. Iyengar quotes several scriptures, stating that the yogin who contemplates Atman and practises Siddhasana for 12 years obtains the yoga siddhis, supernatural powers; and that once the pose is mastered, samadhi follows "without effort". In the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali, Edwin F. Bryant quotes Śaṅkara's verse, among others from a survey of scriptures and commentaries, stating that mastery of postures does not produce the goals of yoga; only getting rid of the Kleshas obstacle to yoga, and samadhi, undeviated absorption on the object of meditation, can produce the goals of yoga. ## Description From a seated position, one heel is brought to press on the perineum with the sole of the foot flat against the inner thigh. The body sits on top of this heel. Adjustments are made until the body is comfortable and the pressure is firmly applied. Then the opposite ankle is placed over the first, so the ankle bones are touching and the heels are above one another with the top heel pressing the pubis directly above the genitals. The genitals will then lie in between the two heels. The toes and outer edge of the top foot are pushed down into the space between the calf and thigh muscles. The toes of the bottom foot are pulled up into the similar space on the opposite side. The spine is held erect. A small meditation cushion or zafu is sometimes used to help align the back vertically. The same pose for women is sometimes called Siddha Yoni Asana. ## Variations Muktasana, Liberation Pose, is either exactly the same as Siddhasana, as stated in the 15th century Hatha Yoga Pradipika, or a variant with the feet close in to the perineum but resting on the ground, that is, left foot touches the perineum, and the right foot is close to the left foot, but resting on the ground. This variant is sometimes called Ardha Siddhasana (Sanskrit अर्ध ardha, half), and is found to be much easier for beginners. Both variants are sometimes called Burmese position when used for meditation. Svastikasana has each foot tucked as snugly as possible into the fold of the opposite knee. Sukhasana, Easy Pose, has the legs crossed at mid-calf. The pose can be supported by sitting on a cushion. ## See also - List of asanas
1,319,467
On Growth and Form
1,170,292,390
Book by the Scottish D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson 1917
[ "1917 non-fiction books", "Mathematical and theoretical biology" ]
On Growth and Form is a book by the Scottish mathematical biologist D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson (1860–1948). The book is long – 793 pages in the first edition of 1917, 1116 pages in the second edition of 1942. The book covers many topics including the effects of scale on the shape of animals and plants, large ones necessarily being relatively thick in shape; the effects of surface tension in shaping soap films and similar structures such as cells; the logarithmic spiral as seen in mollusc shells and ruminant horns; the arrangement of leaves and other plant parts (phyllotaxis); and Thompson's own method of transformations, showing the changes in shape of animal skulls and other structures on a Cartesian grid. The work is widely admired by biologists, anthropologists and architects among others, but less often read than cited. Peter Medawar explains this as being because it clearly pioneered the use of mathematics in biology, and helped to defeat mystical ideas of vitalism; but that the book is weakened by Thompson's failure to understand the role of evolution and evolutionary history in shaping living structures. Philip Ball and Michael Ruse, on the other hand, suspect that while Thompson argued for physical mechanisms, his rejection of natural selection bordered on vitalism. ## Overview D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson's most famous work, On Growth and Form was written in Dundee, mostly in 1915, but publication was put off until 1917 because of the delays of wartime and Thompson's many late alterations to the text. The central theme of the book is that biologists of its author's day overemphasized evolution as the fundamental determinant of the form and structure of living organisms, and underemphasized the roles of physical laws and mechanics. At a time when vitalism was still being considered as a biological theory, he advocated structuralism as an alternative to natural selection in governing the form of species, with the smallest hint of vitalism as the unseen driving force. Thompson had previously criticized Darwinism in his paper Some Difficulties of Darwinism. On Growth and Form explained in detail why he believed Darwinism to be an inadequate explanation for the origin of new species. He did not reject natural selection, but regarded it as secondary to physical influences on biological form. Using a mass of examples, Thompson pointed out correlations between biological forms and mechanical phenomena. He showed the similarity in the forms of jellyfish and the forms of drops of liquid falling into viscous fluid, and between the internal supporting structures in the hollow bones of birds and well-known engineering truss designs. He described phyllotaxis (numerical relationships between spiral structures in plants) and its relationship to the Fibonacci sequence. Perhaps the most famous part of the book is Chapter 17, "The Comparison of Related Forms," where Thompson explored the degree to which differences in the forms of related animals could be described, in work inspired by the German engraver Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), by mathematical transformations. The book is descriptive rather than experimental science: Thompson did not articulate his insights in the form of hypotheses that can be tested. He was aware of this, saying that "This book of mine has little need of preface, for indeed it is 'all preface' from beginning to end." ## Editions The first edition appeared in 1917 in a single volume of 793 pages published by Cambridge University Press. A second edition, enlarged to 1116 pages, was published in two volumes in 1942. Thompson wrote in the preface to the 1942 edition that he had written "this book in wartime, and its revision has employed me during another war. It gave me solace and occupation, when service was debarred me by my years. Few are left of the friends who helped me write it." The unabridged edition is no longer in print in English, but an edition of 346 pages was abridged by John Tyler Bonner, and is widely published under the same title. The book, often in the abridged edition, has been reprinted more than 40 times, and has been translated into Chinese, French, German, Greek, Italian, and Spanish. ## Contents The contents of the chapters in the first edition are summarized below. All but Chapter 11 have the same titles in the second edition, but many are longer, as indicated by the page numbering of the start of each chapter. Bonner's abridgment shortened all the chapters, and removed some completely, again as indicated at the start of each chapter's entry below. ### 1. Introductory (1st edition p. 1 – 2nd edition p. 1 – Bonner p. 1) : Thompson names the progress of chemistry towards Kant's goal of a mathematical science able to explain reactions by molecular mechanics, and points out that zoology has been slow to look to mathematics. He agrees that zoologists rightly seek for reasons in animals' adaptations, and reminds readers of the related but far older philosophical search for teleology, explanation by some Aristotelian final cause. His analysis of "growth and form" will try to show how these can be explained with ordinary physical laws. ### 2. On Magnitude (1st p. 16 – 2nd p. 22 – Bonner p. 15) : Thompson begins by showing that an animal's surface and volume (or weight) increase with the square and cube of its length, respectively, and deducing simple rules for how bodies will change with size. He shows in a few short equations that the speed of a fish or ship rises with the square root of its length. He then derives the slightly more complex scaling laws for birds or aircraft in flight. He shows that an organism thousands of times smaller than a bacterium is essentially impossible. ### 3. The Rate of Growth (1st p. 50 – 2nd p. 78 – Bonner removed) : Thompson points out that all changes of form are phenomena of growth. He analyses growth curves for man, noting rapid growth before birth and again in the teens; and then curves for other animals. In plants, growth is often in pulses, as in Spirogyra, peaks at a specific temperature, and below that value roughly doubles every 10 degrees Celsius. Tree growth varies cyclically with season (less strongly in evergreens), preserving a record of historic climates. Tadpole tails regenerate rapidly at first, slowing exponentially. ### 4. On the Internal Form and Structure of the Cell (1st p. 156 – 2nd p. 286 – Bonner removed) : Thompson argues for the need to study cells with physical methods, as morphology alone had little explanatory value. He notes that in mitosis the dividing cells look like iron filings between the poles of a magnet, in other words like a force field. ### 5. The Forms of Cells (1st p. 201 – 2nd p. 346 – Bonner p. 49) : He considers the forces such as surface tension acting on cells, and Plateau's experiments on soap films. He illustrates the way a splash breaks into droplets and compares this to the shapes of Campanularian zoophytes (Hydrozoa). He looks at the flask-like shapes of single-celled organisms such as species of Vorticella, considering teleological and physical explanations of their having minimal areas; and at the hanging drop shapes of some Foraminifera such as Lagena. He argues that the cells of trypanosomes are similarly shaped by surface tension. ### 6. A Note on Adsorption (1st p. 277 – 2nd p. 444 – Bonner removed) : Thompson notes that surface tension in living cells is reduced by substances resembling oils and soaps; where the concentrations of these vary locally, the shapes of cells are affected. In the green alga Pleurocarpus (Zygnematales), potassium is concentrated near growing points in the cell. ### 7. The Forms of Tissues, or Cell-aggregates (1st p. 293 – 2nd p. 465 – Bonner p. 88) : Thompson observes that in multicellular organisms, cells influence each other's shapes with triangles of forces. He analyses parenchyma and the cells in a frog's egg as soap films, and considers the symmetries bubbles meeting at points and edges. He compares the shapes of living and fossil corals such as Cyathophyllum and Comoseris, and the hexagonal structure of honeycomb, to such soap bubble structures. ### 8. The same (continued) (1st p. 346 – 2nd p. 566 – Bonner merged with previous chapter) : Thompson considers the laws governing the shapes of cells, at least in simple cases such as the fine hairs (a cell thick) in the rhizoids of mosses. He analyses the geometry of cells in a frog's egg when it has divided into 4, 8 and even 64 cells. He shows that uniform growth can lead to unequal cell sizes, and argues that the way cells divide is driven by the shape of the dividing structure (and not vice versa). ### 9. On Concretions, Spicules, and Spicular Skeletons (1st p. 411 – 2nd p. 645 – Bonner p. 132) : Thompson considers the skeletal structures of diatoms, radiolarians, foraminifera and sponges, many of which contain hard spicules with geometric shapes. He notes that these structures form outside living cells, so that physical forces must be involved. ### 10. A Parenthetic Note on Geodetics (1st p. 488 – 2nd p. 741 – Bonner removed) : Thompson applies the use of the geodetic line, "the shortest distance between two points on the surface of a solid of revolution", to the spiral thickening of plant cell walls and other cases. ### 11. The Logarithmic Spiral ['The Equiangular Spiral' in 2nd Ed.] (1st p. 493 – 2nd p. 748 – Bonner p. 172) : Thompson observes that there are many spirals in nature, from the horns of ruminants to the shells of molluscs; other spirals are found among the florets of the sunflower. He notes that the mathematics of these are similar but the biology differs. He describes the spiral of Archimedes before moving on to the logarithmic spiral, which has the property of never changing its shape: it is equiangular and is continually self-similar. Shells as diverse as Haliotis, Triton, Terebra and Nautilus (illustrated with a halved shell and a radiograph) have this property; different shapes are generated by sweeping out curves (or arbitrary shapes) by rotation, and if desired also by moving downwards. Thompson analyses both living molluscs and fossils such as ammonites. ### 12. The Spiral Shells of the Foraminifera (1st p. 587 – 2nd p. 850 – Bonner merged with previous chapter) : Thompson analyses diverse forms of minute spiral shells of the foraminifera, many of which are logarithmic, others irregular, in a manner similar to the previous chapter. ### 13. The Shapes of Horns, and of Teeth or Tusks: with A Note on Torsion (1st p. 612 – 2nd p. 874 – Bonner p. 202) : Thompson considers the three types of horn that occur in quadrupeds: the keratin horn of the rhinoceros; the paired horns of sheep or goats; and the bony antlers of deer. : In a note on torsion, Thompson mentions Charles Darwin's treatment of climbing plants which often spiral around a support, noting that Darwin also observed that the spiralling stems were themselves twisted. Thompson disagrees with Darwin's teleological explanation, that the twisting makes the stems stiffer in the same way as the twisting of a rope; Thompson's view is that the mechanical adhesion of the climbing stem to the support sets up a system of forces which act as a 'couple' offset from the centre of the stem, making it twist. ### 14. On Leaf-arrangement, or Phyllotaxis (1st p. 635 – 2nd p. 912 – Bonner removed) : Thompson analyses phyllotaxis, the arrangement of plant parts around an axis. He notes that such parts include leaves around a stem; fir cones made of scales; sunflower florets forming an elaborate crisscrossing pattern of different spirals (parastichies). He recognises their beauty but dismisses any mystical notions; instead he remarks that : > When the bricklayer builds a factory chimney, he lays his bricks in a certain steady, orderly way, with no thought of the spiral patterns to which this orderly sequence inevitably leads, and which spiral patterns are by no means "subjective". The numbers that result from such spiral arrangements are the Fibonacci sequence of ratios 1/2, 2/3, 3.5 ... converging on 0.61803..., the golden ratio which is : > beloved of the circle-squarer, and of all those who seek to find, and then to penetrate, the secrets of the Great Pyramid. It is deep-set in Pythagorean as well as in Euclidean geometry. ### 15. On the Shapes of Eggs, and of certain other Hollow Structures (1st p. 652 – 2nd p. 934 – Bonner removed) : Eggs are what Thompson calls simple solids of revolution, varying from the nearly spherical eggs of owls through more typical ovoid eggs like chickens, to the markedly pointed eggs of cliff-nesting birds like the guillemot. He shows that the shape of the egg favours its movement along the oviduct, a gentle pressure on the trailing end sufficing to push it forwards. Similarly, sea urchin shells have teardrop shapes, such as would be taken up by a flexible bag of liquid. ### 16. On Form and Mechanical Efficiency (1st p. 670 – 2nd p. 958 – Bonner p. 221) : Thompson criticizes talk of adaptation by coloration in animals for presumed purposes of crypsis, warning and mimicry (referring readers to E. B. Poulton's The Colours of Animals, and more sceptically to Abbott Thayer's Concealing-coloration in the Animal Kingdom). He considers the mechanical engineering of bone to be a far more definite case. He compares the strength of bone and wood to materials such as steel and cast iron; illustrates the "cancellous" structure of the bone of the human femur with thin trabeculae which formed "nothing more nor less than a diagram of the lines of stress ... in the loaded structure", and compares the femur to the head of a building crane. He similarly compares the cantilevered backbone of a quadruped or dinosaur to the girder structure of the Forth Railway Bridge. ### 17. On the Theory of Transformations, or the Comparison of Related Forms (1st p. 719 – 2nd p. 1026 – Bonner p. 268) : Inspired by the work of Albrecht Dürer, Thompson explores how the forms of organisms and their parts, whether leaves, the bones of the foot, human faces or the body shapes of copepods, crabs or fish, can be explained by geometrical transformations. For example: : > Among the fishes we discover a great variety of deformations, some of them of a very simple kind, while others are more striking and more unexpected. A comparatively simple case, involving a simple shear, is illustrated by Figs. 373 and 374. Fig. 373 represents, within Cartesian co-ordinates, a certain little oceanic fish known as Argyropelecus olfersi. Fig. 374 represents precisely the same outline, transferred to a system of oblique co-ordinates whose axes are inclined at an angle of 70°; but this is now (as far as can be seen on the scale of the drawing) a very good figure of an allied fish, assigned to a different genus, under the name of Sternoptyx diaphana. Thompson 1917, pages 748–749 : In similar style he transforms the shape of the carapace of the crab Geryon variously to that of Corystes by a simple shear mapping, and to Scyramathia, Paralomis, Lupa, and Chorinus (Pisinae) by stretching the top or bottom of the grid sideways. The same process changes Crocodilus porosus to Crocodilus americanus and Notosuchus terrestris; relates the hip-bones of fossil reptiles and birds such as Archaeopteryx and Apatornis; the skulls of various fossil horses, and even the skulls of a horse and a rabbit. A human skull is stretched into those of the chimpanzee and baboon, and with "the mode of deformation .. on different lines" (page 773), of a dog. ### Epilogue (1st p. 778 – 2nd p. 1093 – Bonner p. 326) : In the brief epilogue, Thompson writes that he will have succeeded "if I have been able to shew [the morphologist] that a certain mathematical aspect of morphology ... is ... complementary to his descriptive task, and helpful, nay essential, to his proper study and comprehension of Form." More lyrically, he writes that "For the harmony of the world is made manifest in Form and Number, and the heart and soul and all the poetry of Natural Philosophy are embodied in the concept of mathematical beauty" and quotes Isaiah 40:12 on measuring out the waters and heavens and the dust of the earth. He ends with a paragraph praising the French entomologist Jean-Henri Fabre who "being of the same blood and marrow with Plato and Pythagoras, saw in Number 'la clef de voute' [the key to the vault (of the universe)] and found in it 'le comment et le pourquoi des choses' [the how and the why of things]". ## Reception ### Modern "J. P. McM[urrich]", reviewing the book in Science in 1917, wrote that "the book is one of the strongest documents in support of the mechanistic view of life that has yet been put forth", contrasting this with "vitalism". The reviewer was interested in the "discussion of the physical factors determining the size of organisms, especially interesting being the consideration of the conditions which may determine the minimum size". J. W. Buchanan, reviewing the second edition in Physiological Zoology in 1943, described it as "an imposing extension of his earlier attempt to formulate a geometry of Growth and Form" and "beautifully written", but warned that "the reading will not be easy" and that "A vast store of literature has here been assembled and assimilated". Buchanan summarizes the book, and notes that Chapter 17 "seems to the reviewer to contain the essence of the long and more or less leisurely thesis... The chapter is devoted to comparison of related forms, largely by the method of co-ordinates. Fundamental differences in these forms are thus revealed", and Buchanan concludes that the large "gaps" indicate that Darwin's endless series of continuous variations is not substantiated. But he does have some criticisms: Thompson should have referenced the effects of hormones on growth; and the relation of molecular configuration and form; genetics is barely mentioned, and experimental embryology and regeneration [despite Thompson's analysis of the latter] are overlooked. The mathematics used consists of statistics and geometry, while thermodynamics is "largely absent". Edmund Mayer, reviewing the second edition in The Anatomical Record in 1943, noted that the "scope of the book and the general approach to the problems dealt with have remained unchanged, but considerable additions have been made and large parts have been recast". He was impressed at the extent to which Thompson had kept up with developments in many sciences, though he thought the mentions of quantum theory and Heisenberg uncertainty unwise. George C. Williams, reviewing the 1942 edition and Bonner's abridged edition for the Quarterly Review of Biology (of which he was the editor), writes that the book is "a work widely praised, but seldom used. It contains neither original insights that have formed a basis for later advances nor instructive fallacies that have stimulated fruitful attack. This seeming paradox is brilliantly discussed by P. B. Medawar [in] Pluto's Republic." Williams then attempts a "gross simplification" of Medawar's evaluation: > It was a compelling demonstration of how readily one can use physical and geometric principles in trying to understand biology. This was a major contribution in 1917 when vitalism was still being defended by prominent biologists. The battle was as won as it is ever likely to be by the time of the 1942 edition. The book was deficient because of Thompson's lack of understanding of evolution and antipathy for any concepts of historical causation." ### Contemporary The architects Philip Beesley and Sarah Bonnemaison write that Thompson's book at once became a classic "for its exploration of natural geometries in the dynamics of growth and physical processes." They note the "extraordinary optimism" in the book, its vision of the world as "a symphony of harmonious forces", and its huge range, including: > the laws governing the dimension of organisms and their growth, the statics and dynamics at work in cells and tissues including the phenomena of geometrical packing, membranes under tension, symmetries, and cell division; as well as the engineering and geodesics of skeletons in simple organisms. Beesley and Bonnemaison observe that Thompson saw form "as a product of dynamic forces .. shaped by flows of energy and stages of growth." They praise his "eloquent writing and exquisite illustrations" which have provided inspiration for artists and architects as well as scientists. The statistician Cosma Shalizi writes that the book "has haunted all discussion of these matters ever since." Shalizi states that Thompson's goal is to show that biology follows inevitably from physics, and to a degree also from chemistry. He argues that when Thompson says "the form of an object is a 'diagram of forces'", Thompson means that we can infer from an object the physical forces that act (or once acted) upon it. Shalizi calls Thompson's account of the physics of morphogenesis > ingenious, extremely elegant, very convincing and, significantly, aimed at very large features of the organism: the architecture of the skeleton, the curve of horns or shells, the outline of the organism as a whole. Shalizi notes Thompson's simplicity, explaining the processes of life "using little that a second-year physics undergrad wouldn't know. (Thompson's anti-reductionist admirers seldom put it this way.)". He notes that Thompson deliberately avoided invoking natural selection as an explanation, and left history, whether of species or of an individual's life, out of his account. He quotes Thompson's "A snow-crystal is the same today as when the first snows fell": adding "so, too, the basic forces acting upon organisms", and comments that we have forgotten other early twentieth century scientists who scorned evolution. In contrast, he argues, > Thompson owes his continuing influence to the fact that his alternative doesn't beg questions at every turn. (Also, of course, he wrote beautifully, better than the poets of his day.) The anthropologist Barry Bogin writes that Thompson's book > is a tour de force combining the classical approaches of natural philosophy and geometry with modern biology and mathematics to understand the growth, form, and evolution of plants and animals. Bogin observes that Thompson originated the use of transformational grids to measure growth in two dimensions, but that without modern computers the method was tedious to apply and was not often used. Even so, the book stimulated and lent intellectual validity to the new field of growth and development research. Peter Coates recalls that > Peter Medawar famously called On Growth and Form "beyond comparison the finest work of literature in all the annals of science that have been recorded in the English tongue." Coates argues however that the book goes far beyond expressing knowledge elegantly and influentially, in a form "that can be read for pleasure by scientists and nonscientists"; it is in his view > one of the most peculiar and original works of modern science, advancing an idiosyncratic view of how organisms develop, a view that was deeply at odds with the intellectual climate of Thompson's time ... and a textbook on how to think in any field. The science writer Philip Ball observes that > Like Newton's Principia, D’Arcy Thompson's On Growth and Form is a book more often cited than read." Ball quotes the 2nd Edition's epigraph by the statistician Karl Pearson: "I believe the day must come when the biologist will—without being a mathematician—not hesitate to use mathematical analysis when he requires it." Ball argues that Thompson "presents mathematical principles as a shaping agency that may supersede natural selection, showing how the structures of the living world often echo those in inorganic nature", and notes his "frustration at the 'Just So' explanations of morphology offered by Darwinians." Instead, Ball argues, Thompson elaborates on how not heredity but physical forces govern biological form. Ball suggests that "The book's central motif is the logarithmic spiral", evidence in Thompson's eyes of the universality of form and the reduction of many phenomena to a few principles of mathematics. The philosopher of biology Michael Ruse wrote that Thompson "had little time for natural selection." Instead, Thompson emphasised "the formal aspects of organisms", trying to make a case for self-organization through normal physical and chemical processes. Ruse notes that, following Aristotle, Thompson used as an example the morphology of jellyfish, which he explained entirely mechanically with the physics of a heavy liquid falling through a lighter liquid, avoiding natural selection as an explanation. Ruse is not sure whether Thompson believed he was actually breaking with "mechanism", in other words adopting a vitalist (ghost in the machine) view of the world. In Ruse's opinion, Thompson can be interpreted as arguing that "we can have completely mechanical explanations of the living world" – with the important proviso that Thompson apparently felt there was no need for natural selection. Ruse at once adds that "people like Darwin and Dawkins undoubtedly would disagree"; they would insist that > the adaptive complexity that we see in the living world simply cannot be explained by physics and chemistry. If D'Arcy Thompson thought otherwise, it can only be because in some way he was putting special direction into his physical models. He may not have been an explicit vitalist, but there is certainly the odor of spirit forces about what he claims. ## Influence For his revised On Growth and Form, Thompson was awarded the Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal from the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1942. On Growth and Form has inspired thinkers including the biologists Julian Huxley and Conrad Hal Waddington, the mathematician Alan Turing and the anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss. The book has powerfully influenced architecture and has long been a set text on architecture courses. On Growth and Form has inspired artists including Richard Hamilton, Eduardo Paolozzi, and Ben Nicholson. In 2011 the University of Dundee was awarded a £100,000 grant by The Art Fund to build a collection of art inspired by his ideas and collections, much of which is displayed in the D'Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum in Dundee. To celebrate the centenary of On Growth and Form numerous events are being staged around the world, including New York, Amsterdam, Singapore, London, Edinburgh, St Andrews and in Dundee where the book was written. The On Growth and Form 100 website was set up in late 2016 to map all of this activity. ## See also - Evolutionary developmental biology - Kunstformen der Natur
57,457,242
Cyclone Sagar
1,160,718,007
Tropical cyclone which made landfall in Somalia and Somaliland
[ "2018 North Indian Ocean cyclone season", "2018 in Djibouti", "2018 in Somalia", "2018 in Yemen", "Cyclonic storms", "May 2018 events in Africa", "May 2018 events in Asia", "Tropical cyclones in 2018", "Tropical cyclones in Somalia", "Tropical cyclones in Yemen" ]
Cyclonic Storm Sagar was the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall in Somalia and Somaliland in recorded history until Gati in 2020, and the first named cyclone of the 2018 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. Forming on May 16 east of the Guardafui Channel, Sagar intensified into a cyclonic storm on the next day, as it gradually organized. The storm turned to the west-southwest and traversed the entirety of the Gulf of Aden, making landfall over Somaliland on May 19, farther west than any other storm on record in the North Indian Ocean. Sagar weakened into a remnant low on May 20. The storm first affected Yemen, brushing the coast with heavy rainfall and gusty winds. One person was killed when her house caught fire. In Somalia, Sagar dropped a years' worth of rainfall, or around 200 mm (7.9 in). The rains caused deadly flash flooding that washed away bridges, homes, and thousands of farm animals. Sagar killed 53 people throughout the region – 3 in Puntland in Somalia and 50 in Somaliland. In neighboring Djibouti, heavy rainfall killed two people and damaged 1,800 houses, forcing 3,000 people to leave their houses. Damage in the country reached US\$30 million. Sagar's rainfall extended into eastern Ethiopia, damaging schools and houses, and causing a landslide that killed 23 people. ## Meteorological history In mid-May, an area of convection persisted in the western Arabian Sea, to the southeast of the island of Socotra. Minimal wind shear and warm water temperatures favored development. A low-pressure area formed on May 14 and gradually became more defined as it moved northwestward past Socotra. On May 16, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) classified the low as a depression at 12:00 UTC about 200 km (120 mi) northeast of Cape Guardafui, Somalia. A few hours later, the American-based Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) designated the weather system as Tropical Cyclone 01A, once the convection consolidated into organized rainbands to the north and south of the center. The agency noted the potential for land interaction to limit strengthening. Otherwise, environmental conditions favored further strengthening as the storm moved northwestward, steered by a ridge to the northeast and the flow of the regional geography. The IMD upgraded the depression to a deep depression on May 17, after the weather system entered the Gulf of Aden. A few hours later, the agency upgraded the deep depression further to a cyclonic storm, naming it Sagar. The name Sagar was given by India. The storm turned westward and later southwestward, paralleling offshore the coast of Yemen. With the convection supported by upper-level outflow to the north, Sagar continued to intensify. It developed an eye on microwave imagery. Late on May 18, the IMD estimated that Sagar attained peak 3 minute sustained winds of 85 km/h (55 mph), based on the organized structure on satellite imagery. Around the same time, the JTWC estimated Sagar attained peak 1 minute sustained winds of 120 km/h (75 mph), while located about 165 km (103 mi) south of Aden, Yemen, or about 95 km (59 mi) north of Berbera, Somaliland. As Sagar approached the coastline of the western Gulf of Aden, the convection to the south of the storm's center weakened. Between 08:00–09:00 UTC on May 19, the storm made landfall near Lughaya in northwestern Somaliland, with winds of 75 km/h (45 mph). According to the JTWC, Sagar was the strongest tropical cyclone on record to strike Somalia, with estimated 1-minute landfalling winds of 95 km/h (60 mph), but it was overtaken by Cyclone Gati, with 140 km/h (85 mph) on 3 min winds. The storm also made the westernmost landfall in the North Indian Ocean, surpassing a tropical storm in 1984, which took a nearly identical track to the east. The thunderstorms quickly weakened as Sagar progressed inland. On May 20, Sagar weakened into a well-marked low-pressure area over eastern Ethiopia. ## Preparations and impact Along its rare trajectory through the Gulf of Aden, Cyclonic Storm Sagar affected Socotra and coastal Yemen, Somaliland, Somalia, Djibouti, and Ethiopia. Strong winds from Sagar damaged houses on Yemen's mainland. Heavy rainfall along the coast caused isolated flooding, which damaged roads and electric infrastructure. Yemen's temporary capital Aden was hit by strong winds as Sagar approached, and authorities evacuated residents near the coast. An elderly woman was killed when her house caught fire near Aden. In Puntland in northern Somalia and Somaliland, officials warned residents about the storm on the radio and mobile communications. Mayors urged residents in low-lying and coastal areas to evacuate. The Somaliland Coast Guard readied emergency vehicles in Zeila. Following a protracted drought, parts of eastern Africa experienced severe floods in the months before the storm's arrival. Beginning on May 17, Sagar dropped heavy rainfall in northern Somalia and Somaliland, in some parts up to a years' worth of rainfall, or around 200 mm (7.9 in). Although the rains alleviated drought conditions, Sagar also caused deadly flash flooding that carried away houses. In Awdal region, the storm displaced 2,590 people. Thousands of farmers faced food insecurity when the floods wrecked 700 farms, with 277 hectares (680 acres) of arable land destroyed. The floods killed 1,260 goats and sheep, 56 camels, and 19 donkeys. Floods damaged 39 schools and several facilities, and also washed out roads, especially in rural areas. Flash floods in Bari province killed three people. Two of the deaths were due to a bridge that was washed out. High waves washed away or damaged at least 65 boats. About 168,000 people were affected in the country. A total of 3 deaths were reported in Somalia as a result of the cyclone – all in Puntland. 50 deaths were reported in Somaliland. In Djibouti, northwest of Somaliland, Sagar dropped a year's worth of rainfall, totaling 110 mm (4.3 in), which caused rivers to swell. Flooding damaged about 10,000 houses, with 2,000 of them severely damaged, which displaced 3,150 people. The rains flooded crops, streets, and buildings, catching residents off guard and killing at least two people. Infrastructure damage was estimated at US\$30 million. In the Somali Region of eastern Ethiopia, Sagar produced strong winds and heavy rainfall, resulting in flooding and landslides. Near the border of SNNPR and Oromia, a landslide killed 23 people. The storm damaged schools, health facilities, and houses, displacing 194,000 people. The village of Dambal was almost entirely washed away, affecting 150 households. ## Aftermath Following the storm's passage through Somalia, non-governmental organizations provided food, clothing, cash, blankets, and other emergency supplies. World Vision set up seven health clinics that treated hundreds of residents. Armed conflict in the Sool and Sanaag regions prevented humanitarian response from reaching affected residents who fled the violence and the storm. Somaliland's two main ports were damaged, which also disrupted humanitarian assistance. The Somaliland government provided meals to affected residents. The United Arab Emirates provided two helicopters for surveying isolated areas. The United Nations pledged \$2.7 million to help rebuild and provide food and health services. With donations from multiple countries, the Somalia Humanitarian Fund helped restore schools, hospitals, and water supply. About \$3.5 million was allocated to assist residents in the Awdal region. The World Food Programme supplied food to 36,000 people for a three-month period, although their efforts were initially hampered by poor road conditions. Save the Children Canada provided C\$278,340 to rebuild and restore damaged water facilities. Norway sent kr30 million (US\$3.7 million) to Somalia after Sagar, continuing the humanitarian assistance that the country began in 2017. In Djibouti, the relief agency Caritas gave out food and clothing to affected residents. Final exams had to be postponed for 135,000 students after 16 schools were flooded. UNICEF provided water pumps to drain floodwaters from the schools, while the Djibouti Armed Forces assisted in clearing roads. Responding to the disaster, Japan's military base in the country donated food, blankets, and other emergency items. The Ethiopian government provided food to affected residents in the eastern portion of their country who were affected by the storm. ## See also - List of Horn of Africa tropical cyclones - Cyclone Gati - 2013 Somalia cyclone
574,048
Zaprešić
1,167,256,060
Town in Zagreb County, Croatia
[ "1330s establishments in Europe", "Cities and towns in Croatia", "Populated places established in the 1330s", "Populated places in Zagreb County", "Zaprešić" ]
Zaprešić () is a town in Hrvatsko zagorje, Zagreb County in Croatia. It has a population of 19,644 inhabitants in the town proper, with 25,223 in the administrative area. The town's metropolitan area, which encompasses the seven neighbouring municipalities, has a population of 54,640. Zaprešić is the third-largest, and most densely populated town of the county. It is located northwest of the Croatian capital Zagreb, and near the Slovenian border. It is centered on plains north of the Sava River, and is bordered by Medvednica Mountain to the east, and the Marija Gorica Hills to the west. The first human settlement in, and near Zaprešić dates from the Neolithic, and several Roman roads were constructed in the area. Vicinity to transport corridors is also reflected in the meaning of the name (za, 'near or behind', prešće 'crossing'). The first records of the settlement date from 1474. (although, some authors claim that the church of Saint Peter in Zaprešić could have been mentioned in a document supposedly written in 1334). In the late medieval and early modern times, the village history includes being a part of a feudal estate Susedgrad, as well of being a part of Brdovec parish. During the 19th century the town was operating the first meat packaging plant in Croatia. However, it was not formally established as a town until 1995. The town is governed by a mayor, a town government of seven members (upper house), and a town council of twenty one (lower house). Zaprešić has its own fire department, but police coverage is provided by the City of Zagreb. Komunalno poduzeće Zaprešić manages all utilities except electricity. Tap water in Zaprešić is of high quality. Due to its many rail, and road transport corridors, Zaprešić has been dubbed the "northwestern gate to Zagreb County". It lies directly next to the A2 highway connecting Zagreb to Central Europe. It also is adjacent to the main railway leading northwest out of Zagreb. Centered on the tertiary sector, the town's economy is booming due to a large population influx. Zaprešić's educational facilities range from kindergartens to centers of higher education. The town is home to four elementary schools, one high school, and two universities. The Zaprešić metropolitan area contains six castles that together make up what is known as the "palace path." The town also has a museum and an art gallery. The most popular sport in the region is football, and the local team was NK Inter Zaprešić, that used to be a member of the First Football League of Croatia. Other sports are also present in Zaprešić, and the town is home to a golf resort. ## History The first records of human inhabitants in area of what is today Zaprešić can be traced back to the Neolithic, which can be seen by stone axes found in nearby Brdovec, and axes from the Copper Age found in Marija Gorica. Hallstatt culture traces were also uncovered in the area of Sveti Križ. The Romans left their imprints on nearby in the form of the Siscia–Neviodunum–Emona road, which followed Sava River on its left bank through area of what is today Zaprešić, passing near modern settlements. After a lack of records from the first millennium, Zaprešić was mentioned in written sources in the late 11th century. In 1094, following the formation of the Zagreb Diocese, magnate called Aka, an advisor of the Hungarian-Croatian King Ladislav I, was granted land west and east of the Medvednica Mountain in order to protect the newly formed diocese. ### Susedgrad-Stubica Seigniory In the 14th century, the area between rivers Krapina and Sutla (where today Zaprešić is located) was under control of ban of Slavonia. Multiple historical sources refer to this part of land as Zakrapina (probably due to it being behind Krapina river in relation to Susedgrad Castle). Zaprešić became part of the Susedgrad–Stubica Seigniory, centered around Susedgrad Castle westernmost banks of Medvednica. The seigniory was at a time a second-largest estate in the Zagreb County. In 1334, the parish church of St. Peter was founded in Zaprešić, marking the first evidence of the modern settlement of Zaprešić. The settlement developed rapidly, which is attributed to its position on trade and transit routes. During the 15th and 16th centuries, refugees from Lika came to Zaprešić while fleeng the Croatian-Ottoman Wars. Some of these refugees were the so-called Brdovec Franciscans, for whom Lord Zylagy of Susedgrad built an abbey in Marija Gorica. The refugees brought along their Ikavian accent, which was preserved for a long time in some small Zaprešić communities, although the Zaprešić area has historically been Ekavian Kajkavian (yat being or rather than ). The area of Zaprešić and nearby vicinity in the 16th century was known for its vineyards and wine production. The area serfs from Zaprešić and nearby villages took part in famous Peasant revolt of 1573, led by Ambroz Gubec, with some of the serf leaders being from Zaprešić area. Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski, for one thinks that Ambroz Gubec himself managed the estate of Jablanovec, part of modern Zaprešić. Another revolt leader was Ilija Gregorić, a resident of Marija Gorica. Another serf captain was Ivan Turković from Zaprešić. Two years later, the large Susedgrad-Stubica Seigniory started to disintegrate into many small estates owned by members of lower nobility. Dozens of simple diocesan curia houses remained as a consequence of this. ### Contemporary history In 1862, one of the first railway lines in Croatia: Zidani Most-Zagreb-Sisak - was constructed, and it passed through Zaprešić on its way to Zagreb. In 1903, Zaprešić railway station was a hotspot of two anti-Hungarian riots caused by Khuen Hedervary's magyarization policy and breaking of Croatian-Hungarian Settlement of 1868 by installing Hungarian national symbols on railway objects across Croatia. These demonstrations were part of a wider national movement that swept the country at a time. In both occasions the demonstrations turned into a scuffle with local gendarmes which ended up with several peasants killed and dozens of locals arrested. Peasants that were killed or injured by the gendarmes are traditionally celebrated as a heroes and national martyrs. In their honour, two separate memorial boards were placed on the building of Zaprešić railway station in 1928. and 2003. After the First World War, the oldest meat industry in Croatia, the Industrija mesnih proizvoda, was founded. Zaprešić was formally established for the first time in 1952, when the Municipality of Zaprešić (Croatian: Općina Zaprešić) was formed. The municipality operated as part of the Zagreb kotar and later City of Zagreb. The Town of Zaprešić (Grad Zaprešić) was incorporated on 30 November 1995. On that day, parts of the surrounding municipalities of Pušća, and Hruševec Kupljenski (which was disbanded, leaving only a namesake settlement) and the City of Zagreb were incorporated into a new Town of Zaprešić. The settlement of Merenje came under the jurisdiction of Zaprešić on 17 January 1997. ## Geography Zaprešić is a part of the metropolitan area of Croatia's capital and largest city, Zagreb. It is located 18 kilometres (11 mi) northwest of Zagreb, lying near the confluence of the Krapina River, and the Sava River. The small Lužnica River marks the western border of Zaprešić. The Zaprešić metropolitan area consists of Zaprešić and seven surrounding municipalities: Bistra, Brdovec, Dubravica, Jakovlje, Luka, Marija Gorica, and Pušća. It is located in the northwestern part of Zagreb County, bordered on the south by the Sava River, on the east by Zagreb and the Medvednica Mountain, and on the west by the Sutla River and the Slovenian border. According to the official website, three distinct geographic areas make up the Zaprešić area: the western part of the Medvednica Mountain, the Marija Gorica Hills and the plains that lie between. The western part of the Medvednica Mountain is fairly lightly inhabited, with no settlements except at the base of the mountain. These include the Bistra municipality and the Zaprešić settlement of Jablanovec. The Marija Gorica Hills are located mainly in the Marija Gorica municipality between the rivers of Krapina, and Sutla. The third area, the plains, is the area where the Zaprešić itself is located. Zaprešić has a lake, Lake Zajarki, situated between the town and the Sava River in the south. It is colloquially known as Bager (Croatian word for excavator). The lake is currently still used as a gravel pit, although it is a known destination for Zaprešić swimmers and beach goers, as well as local people and foreign tourists who do recreational fishing. Fishing activities on lake Zajarki are regulated by Šrd Šaran, Zaprešić. In 2017. the picnic zone was built on eastern side of a big lake which includes barbecue houses and beach volleyball, handball and football fields. ## Demographics According to the 2011 census, the town of Zaprešić has 25,223 inhabitants, 19,644 of whom live in the settlement of Zaprešić. This makes the urban area of Zaprešić, at 1,036 inhabitants per square kilometer (2,680 inhabitants/sq mi), the most densely populated in the whole of Zagreb County. The metropolitan area of Zaprešić had 54,640 inhabitants in 2011, an increase from 51,040 inhabitants in 2001. About 96% of inhabitants are Croats and 98.3% speak Croatian as their mother tongue. The sex ratio is 90.63 men to 100 women, and the median age is 39.9 years, which makes Zaprešić one of the younger towns in Zagreb County. The town is administratively divided into nine settlements, the largest of which is Zaprešić, covering a third of the town's area. ### Austro-Hungarian 1910 census According to the 1910 census in Croatia, town of Zaprešić had 5,058 inhabitants, which were linguistically and religiously declared to be: ## Economy Due to its accessible location with favorable conditions for expansion, and a very high net migration, and population growth rates (estimated to be 29 persons per 1,000 per year), Zaprešić is expecting an economic boom. Despite the ongoing financial crisis that hit many cities in Croatia, including the capital, the town operates without loans and expects a yearly budget increase in the range of 20 to 30 percent. The tertiary sector is dominant with mainly retailing, and hospitality, and a smaller presence of tourism, as well as souvenir manufacturing and financial services. The secondary sector is also present with ceramic industry (Inker - as of 2006 part of Roca), metalworking (Karbon Nova, Lanac, and Unija metali) and chemical industry (Messer Croatia plin, Montkemija). The primary sector mainly consists of agriculture, and is expected to continue shrinking. There are currently 3,040 hectares (7,512 acres) of arable land for agricultural use, but the town's general urban plan anticipates an economic shift will lower the amount of agricultural use to 930 hectares (2,298 acres) by 2015, thus speeding the process of suburbanization started by the expansion of Zagreb. The future of Zaprešić's economy is seen in the development of small, and mid-sized businesses, tourism, and food-related industries. The town's income tax rate is 12 percent. The town's budget in 2008 amounted to HRK 198 million. The West Gate Shopping Center is a shopping mall planned to create a major job demand in the Zaprešić region. Located next to the Krapina River and A2 motorway, the center serves 2.3 million residents in the Zagreb region. It is also the largest in the Zagreb metropolitan area with 100,000 square meters (1,080,000 sq ft) of gross leasable area. Construction started in late 2007. It was opened in October 2009. ## Culture and media Zaprešić's cultural heritage includes a series of six historic castles and palaces known as "the palace path" (Croatian: staza dvoraca): Lužnica mansion, Januševac palace, Laduč mansion, Oršić family mansion, Jakovlje palace, and Novi Dvori. Of these, Oršić and Januševec are in the zeroth category of cultural heritage preservation of UNESCO, Lužnica is in the first category of the Croatian Ministry of Culture, and Laduč and Novi Dvori are in the second category of the Ministry of Culture. Jakovlje palace is not involved in any cultural preservation program. Novi Dvori (also known as Novi Dvori Jelačićevi – New Jelačić Palace) is known for being the residence of Josip Jelačić, one of the most famous Croatian bans. However, before that it was inhabited by five families (the last one being Erdödy) after its construction in 1611 as a simple two-story house. It remains a well-preserved example of a manorial estate. The palace was left to the state in 1934 by Josip Jelačić's nephew and nieces. The town is home to the Museum of Matija Skurjeni (opened in 1984), a gallery of works by the renowned painter. It is located in the former granary of Novi Dvori. The art gallery Razvid, that opened in 1991, has held exhibitions of works by many important Croatian artists, such as Franjo Ferenčak, Ivan Lovrenčić, Drago Grgas, Davor Vuković (a native of Zaprešić) and Krešimir Trumbetaš. The Zaprešić main library, "Ante Kovačić", is a part of the association of Zagreb City Libraries (Croatian: Knjižnice Grada Zagreba, KGZ), and has 5,541 members with access to 78,385 books. Albin Bonzelli, an employee of Baron Levin Rauch, founded the first library in Zaprešić area in 1921 in Brdovec. A more recent library was founded in 1958, and moved to its present location in 1986. Zaprešić contains the ornithological reserve Zaprešić-Sava, which is located south of the town, at Lake Zajarki. The reserve is covered mainly with woods and thick low vegetation, and criss-crossed by fluvial marshes. Zaprešić operates a hunting office, which is made of eight clubs: Zaprešić, Kuna, Vidra, Fazan, Srnjak, Šljuka (offices in Luka, and Bistra) and Vepar. A radio station operates in Zaprešić: Radio Zaprešić (also known as Round Wave Station Zaprešić, Croatian: Krugovalna postaja Zaprešić). The station broadcasts an FM signal at 96.0 and 99.5 MHz, 24 hours each weekday. It was founded on 15 January 1987. In September 2015., radio station changed its name to "Z fm". The local monthly newspaper Prigorski Kaj has its seat in the nearby settlement of Šenkovec in the Brdovec municipality. In 2009. Television Zaprešić (Croatian: Televizija Zaprešić) started operating as a local cable television channel. In April 2015., Television Zaprešić was granted concession for terrestrial broadcasting and changed its name to Televizija Zapad (English: Television West). The television is dedicated to cover the topics of local importance. ## Sports and recreation Organized sports in Zaprešić started in 1926, with the first football match between unregistered teams from Zaprešić and Savski Marof. The football club NK Sava (now called NK Inter Zaprešić) was soon formed in 1929. There are 20 sport clubs and associations in Zaprešić, and the most popular ones are association football, basketball, handball, bowling, tennis, table tennis, chess, cycling, taekwondo, and bocce. Zaprešić is the home to several influential sports clubs, such as NK Inter Zaprešić (football), KK Fortuna Zaprešić (basketball), RK Zaprešić (handball), KK Zaprešić (bowling) and others. NK Inter Zaprešić currently plays in the top tier Hrvatski Telekom Prva Liga. It is currently the best-placed football club in the county. Most of the sports clubs in Zaprešić are members of the Town of Zaprešić Sports Society (Croatian: Zajednica športskih udruga Grada Zaprešića). The main sports venue is the ŠRC Zaprešić (Sports and Recreation Center Zaprešić), which encompasses a football stadium and a gym. There are other sports courts in Hruševec Kupljenski, Ivanec, Jablanovec, Kupljenovo, and Pojatno. NK Inter Zaprešić's home stadium is ŠRC Zaprešić, located in the northwest part of the town and handling up to 5,528 visitors. The 140-hectare (346-acre) golf resort "Novi dvori" was opened on 16 October 2004, with Prime Minister Ivo Sanader being the first to tee off. However, as of 2009, only a few parts are in use, with a 27-hole course currently under construction. Nine of these holes will be reserved for practice and eighteen for tournament play. The center operates a driving range with two practice courses of different sizes, and an area to practice putting green play. One practice course is sheltered from weather conditions and the whole golf course has night lighting. In terms of normal play, three par 3 holes are currently operational and friendly par 9 tournaments are often held at the course. The course also has other amenities, such as a restaurant and the proximity to the Novi Dvori palace. When the construction ends, the golfers will have access to a conference room, a business center, a fitness club, a sauna, and a massage parlor. ## Government Despite the settlement of Zaprešić's long history, only with the founding of the Town of Zaprešić on 30 November 1995 did it have its own elected representatives. The towns administration includes two tiers of power: a mayor and a town council. The town council is elected each four years. The mayor (Croatian: gradonačelnik) has executive power. He is elected directly by the voters. Current Mayor is Željko Turk (Croatian Democratic Union—HDZ, elected in 2006, re-elected 2009, 2013 and 2017), whose deputy's are Damir Benčević and Alan Labus. Zaprešić is part of the 1st Croatian electoral district, which consists of western Zagreb, and the Zaprešić metropolitan area. The town council (Croatian: gradsko vijeće) has the legislative power over the town. It represents the residents of Zaprešić and manages the town's budget, and it is composed of twenty one members with one presiding and two vice-presiding members. ## Education The Town of Zaprešić provides education ranging from pre-school to higher education. These include four registered kindergartens (stationed on seven locations), four elementary schools, one high school, and one college. Elementary schools located in Zaprešić include Antun Augustinčić, Ljudevit Gaj, and Kupljenovo elementary schools, and a branch of the Bistra elementary school from the Bistra municipality. The Ban Josip Jelačić High School is located on the Franjo Tuđman Square in the northwestern part of the town. Zaprešić has a University of Applied Sciences which offers courses in business and management, named after the Croatian historian and theologian Baltazar Adam Krčelić, and located in the town center on Novak Street. The open university in Zaprešić (Croatian: Pučko otvoreno učilište Zaprešić) offers various courses in languages, computer science, and musical instruments, as well as vocational training. ## Infrastructure Zaprešić is covered mostly by the postal code "10290 Zaprešić", and Croatian Mail operates four post offices in the town: in Ivanec Bistranski, Lužnica, Šibice and Zaprešić. The town proper overlaps with the areas of postal codes "10294 Donja Pušća" (Pojatno), "10295 Kupljenovo" (Hruševec Kupljenski, Kupljenovo, Merenje) and "10298 Donja Bistra" (Jablanovec). Zaprešić has its own police station, PP Zaprešić, a Zagreb County branch of the City of Zagreb Police Department responsible for all of the Zaprešić metropolitan area. Fire coverage is provided by the Town of Zaprešić Fire Department (Croatian: Javna vatrogasna postrojba grada Zaprešića), which also serves the complete seven-municipality metropolitan area. There are six volunteer fire brigades in Zaprešić proper, all members of the Zaprešić Firefighting Community (Croatian: Vatrogasna zajednica Grada Zaprešića). Zaprešić also has a municipal court. All utilities except electricity are managed by Komunalno poduzeće Zaprešić (English: Utility company Zaprešić). Zaprešić's electricity is, as in the rest of Croatia, provided by Hrvatska elektroprivreda, and distributed by Elektra Zagreb, a company managing access to electricity in Zagreb, and Zagreb County. Zaprešić receives tap water from underground water reserves through a water pump in the settlement of Šibice. The water from the water pump is of drinking quality. However, local factories Pliva, and Kvasac produce waste water, which is released into the Sava River through the Harmica-Pliva-Zaprešić water treatment plant. Before the construction of the treatment plant, the polluted water was piped into the Gorjak Creek, endangering the tap water quality. Possible consequences of releasing waste water into the Sava will be dealt with by the construction of the Zajarki water purification system for screening the used water. The ecological problem is multiplied by the fact that the utility company received only 400 requests to clean septic tanks in 2007, although most households in the relatively rural surroundings of Zaprešić use septic systems. There are plans of constructing four hydroelectric power plants around Zagreb with one being in Zaprešić (HE Zaprešić, also known as HE Podsused) as a part of a system of exploiting natural resources of the Sava River. ## Public safety There are two firefighting units active in Zaprešić proper: - Zaprešić Fire Department (Javna vatrogasna postrojba grada Zaprešića) - professional firefighting unit, active under this name since January 2000. - Zaprešić Volunteer Fire Department (Dobrovoljno vatrogasno društvo Zaprešić) - volunteer firefighting unit, founded in February 1901. One of the oldest of its kind in Croatia. ## Transport The town is a major transport hub for the area of Zagreb County and Zagreb itself. It is thus known as the "northwestern gate to Zagreb County." The Zagreb bypass, and the tolled A2 highway (Zagreb–Macelj, toward Austria; part of European Route E59, and pan-European corridor Xa) pass through the eastern part of Zaprešić, providing Zaprešić with highway access at a cloverleaf interchange. The D225 state road is a major arterial road in Zaprešić. It forms the Pavao Lončar and Marshal Tito Streets, leading west towards Brdovec, Marija Gorica and Slovenia, and east towards western Zagreb, Jablanovec, and Stubica. According to the current urban plan, the traffic on the D225 will be re-routed through two bypasses along the northern and western railway lines to clear the center of Zaprešić of 25,000 daily commuters driving on a two-lane road. Mass transit provides intra-city and inter-city connections in form of bus and rail. Zaprešić is a major railway intersection, with railways leading west to Slovenia (Corridor X), north to Zabok, and Kumrovec (Corridor Xa) and east to the main regional railway hub Zagreb. Croatian Railways services the Zaprešić train station with major interstate trains going to the west, but also with the suburban line Savski Marof–Zagreb Main Station–Dugo Selo. The town is serviced by two bus companies: the regional Zagrebački električni tramvaj (ZET) and local Meštrović prijevoz. ZET operates line 172 to Zaprešić, which starts at the Črnomerec bus terminal in Zagreb and runs every 8 to 15 minutes during day, and at irregular intervals during the night. Lines 176 and 177 run to the Zaprešić suburban municipality of Bistra. Meštrović prijevoz, the main intra-city bus company of Zaprešić, operates bus lines connecting Zaprešić and all municipalities in its metropolitan area. Zaprešić lies along the left bank of the Sava River, but it does not have any bridges that would connect the town to Samobor, on the other bank, as the nearest bridge is the Podsused bridge, located in the Podsused – Vrapče district of Zagreb. However, two ferries connect Zaprešić with the roads in Medsave and Samoborski Otok, small villages near Samobor. The widest river in the area, the Sava River, used to be navigable up to Krško, Slovenia in Roman times. However, it is, as of 2009, navigable only up to Rugvica, leaving Zaprešić with no more possibility of river transport. The town does not have a port on any of its rivers. To establish better transport capabilities, and create a solid ground for the emerging air sports that are already available in the town (e.g. hang gliding or paragliding), an airport is planned northeast of the town, between the Krapina River and the railroad. The land at this location is unused, uninhabited, and administratively selected for sports and recreation. The arrangement of the runways, taxiways, air traffic control building, hangar, and other necessary buildings have already been determined. The airport is intended to serve primarily as a sports airport, for teaching flying, and for charter flights. As of January 2009 the date when the construction starts had not yet been announced. ## Notable inhabitants A known historical resident of Zaprešić was Count Josip Jelačić of Bužim (1801–59), the Ban of Croatia from 1848 until his death. Although born in Novi Sad, Serbia (then Habsburg Monarchy), he received an estate in Zaprešić together with his title. He is responsible for abolishing serfdom in Croatia in 1848, but also for an infamous suppression of Croatian intelligentsia, and the Illyrian movement during his reign under the orders of Baron Alexander von Bach, and Emperor Franz Joseph I. A statue of Jelačić riding a horse was constructed by Anton Dominik Fernkorn, and placed on the Zagreb's central square, Ban Jelačić Square. The statue has been repeatedly removed, and reinstated during changes in political power and orientation in Croatia, from monarchist, through ultra-nationalist, and communist, up to democratic. After the Croatian declaration of independence, marking the start of the democratic era, the statue was returned to the square, and Zaprešić credits Jelačić with a major arterial road named in his honor. Baltazar Adam Krčelić (1715–78), a historian, theologian, legal expert, and a canon in Zagreb, lived in what became the Zaprešić metropolitan area. Actually born in Šenkovec, Brdovec, he was rector of the Collegium Croaticum Viennense in Vienna. He wrote 757 books in Latin, and the Kajkavian dialect of Croatian. The Illyrian movement of Slavic independence in Croatia can also be traced to Zaprešić through two of its citizens: Ivan Perkovac (1826–71), publicist from Harmica, Brdovec, editor of Vijenac and Pozor, secretary of Matica hrvatska, and a member of Sabor, the Croatian parliament; and Pavao Štoos (1806–62), a poet, a priest, and an important member of the Illyrian movement from Dubravica. Ante Kovačić (1854–89) from Marija Gorica lived in the aftermath of the Illyrian movement, but nevertheless became a fruitful writer. His most important work is U registraturi (English: In the Registry), a novel following the life of Ivica Kičmanović, a peasant who is raised in a village and goes to live in a large city. Zaprešić's recent history includes several known Croatian public figures, such as Matija Skurjeni (1898–1990), a Croatian naïve painter who lived in Zaprešić from 1953 until his death. He was a co-founder of the Croatian Society of Naïve Painters. An art gallery with his works was opened in Zaprešić in 1987. This art gallery changed to a museum in 2000. Other well-known inhabitants include Davor Gobac (b. 1964), the frontman of Psihomodo Pop. Although he was born in Karlovac, he is a resident of Zaprešić; Davor Vuković (b. 1951), a painter and poet from Herceg Novi, residing in Zaprešić; and Mira Vlahović, an opera singer. Vlahović sang at the Croatian National Theater. The music scene in Zaprešić includes Connect, a hip hop band formed in Zaprešić. Connect is the creator of the Croatian football hip hop hymn "Samo je jedno". Croatian politician and current Croatian Minister of Interior, Davor Božinović, also resides in Zaprešić.
1,836,398
Ecgbert of York
1,167,214,361
8th-century Anglo-Saxon Archbishop of York
[ "678 births", "766 deaths", "8th-century Christian saints", "8th-century Christian theologians", "8th-century English writers", "8th-century Latin writers", "8th-century archbishops", "8th-century bishops", "8th-century jurists", "8th-century theologians", "Anglo-Saxon bishops", "Anglo-Saxon saints", "Archbishops of York", "Ascetics", "Burials at York Minster", "Catholic saints", "Eastern Orthodox saints", "English Christian theologians", "English Roman Catholic saints", "English saints", "Idings", "Year of birth unknown", "Yorkshire saints" ]
Ecgbert (died 19 November 766) was an 8th-century cleric who established the archdiocese of York in 735. In 737, Ecgbert's brother became king of Northumbria and the two siblings worked together on ecclesiastical issues. Ecgbert was a correspondent of Bede and Boniface and the author of a legal code for his clergy. Other works have been ascribed to him, although the attribution is doubted by modern scholars. ## Early life and career Ecgbert was the son of Eata, who was descended from the founder of the kingdom of Bernicia. His brother Eadberht was king of Northumbria from 737 to 758. Ecgbert went to Rome with another brother, and was ordained deacon while still there. Ecgbert has been claimed to have been a student of Bede, who much later visited with Ecgbert in 733 at York, but this statement may simply mean that Ecgbert was a student of Bede's writings, and not that he was formally taught by him. ## Archbishop Ecgbert was named to the see of York around 732 (other sources date the appointment to 734) by his cousin Ceolwulf, the king of Northumbria. Pope Gregory III gave him a pallium, the symbol of an archbishop's authority, in 735. After Eadberht became king, the brothers worked together, and were forbidden by the papacy to transfer church lands to secular control. They also worked together to deal with problems that had developed in the relationship between the church and royal government. An example of the brothers' co-operation is the fact that some of Eadberht's coins feature Ecbert's image on the opposite face. Ecgbert's problems with the monasteries in his diocese came from the secular practice of families setting up monasteries that were totally under their control as a way of making the family lands book-land and free from secular service. Book-land was at first an exclusive right of ecclesiastical property. By transferring land to a family-controlled monastery, the family would retain the use of the land without having to perform any services to the king for the land. ## Educational activities The school Ecgbert founded at York is held by the modern historian Peter Hunter Blair to have equalled or surpassed the famous monasteries at Wearmouth and Jarrow. The school educated not just the cathedral clergy but also the offspring of nobles. Blair also calls the library that was established at York "a library whose contents were unequalled in the western Europe of its day". Among the students at the school was Alcuin, who was placed by his family with Ecgbert. Both Liudger, later the first Bishop of Munster, and Aluberht, another bishop in Germany, also studied at the school in York. ## Correspondents Bede wrote Ecgbert a letter dealing with monastic issues as well as the problems of large dioceses. The letter, written in 734, became known as the Epistola ad Ecgberhtum episcopum. Bede urged Ecgbert to study Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care, and held up Aidan and Cuthbert as examples of model bishops. The main thrust of Bede's letter was to urge Ecgbert to reform his church to more closely resemble Gregory the Great's original plan for it. Bede's admonition to divide up dioceses fell on deaf ears, as Egbert did not break up his large diocese. The suffragans continued to be limited to the bishops of Hexham, Lindisfarne, and Whithorn. Boniface wrote to Ecgbert, asking for support against Æthelbald of Mercia. Boniface also asked the archbishop for some of Bede's books, and in return sent wine to be drunk "in a merry day with the brethern." On another occasion, Boniface sent the archbishop a cloak and towel. ## Writings Ecgbert wrote the Dialogus ecclesiasticae institutionis, which was a legal code for the clergy, setting forth the proper procedures for many clerical and ecclesiastical issues including weregild for clerics, entrance to clerical orders, deposition from the clergy, criminal monks, clerics in court, and other matters. It survives as one complete manuscript, with a few excerpts in other manuscripts. Because Ecgbert was the senior archbishop in England after the death of Nothhelm in 739, it is possible that the Dialogus was intended not just for the Northumbrian church but for the entire church in England. The Dialogus details a code of conduct for the clergy and how the clergy was to behave in society. The exact date it was composed is unclear, but it was probably after 735, based on the mention of the archiepiscopal status of Ecgbert in one title as well as the internal evidence of the work. The historian Simon Coates saw the Dialogus as not especially exalting monks above the laity. Other works were attributed to Egbert in the Middle Ages, but they are not regarded by modern scholars as authentic. These include a collection of church canons, as well as a penitential and a pontifical. The penitential, known as the Paenitentiale Ecgberhti, was ascribed to Ecgbert by the 8th or 9th centuries, but its surviving versions have little or no content that can be reliably traced to Ecgbert. The pontifical, known as the Pontificale Egberti, is thought to owe its attribution to Ecgbert's authorship to the fact that the penitential ascribed to Ecgbert was included within its contents. Lastly, the collection of church laws known previously as the Excerptiones Ecgberhti but today as the Collectio canonum Wigorniensis, has been shown to be the work of a later archbishop of York, Wulfstan, and was not connected with Ecgbert until after the Anglo-Saxon period. Besides these Latin works, an Old English text, known variously as the Scriftboc, Confessionale Pseudo-Egberti or Confessionale Egberti, was once stated to be a translation from Latin by Ecgbert, but is now known to date from the late 9th or 10th century. ## Death and legacy Ecgbert died on 19 November 766, and was buried in his cathedral at York. Ecgbert had a reputation after his death as an expert on canon law and church legislation, both in his native England and on the mainland of Europe. Alcuin also claimed that he was known as a teacher of singing. The historian D. P. Kirby described him as a "great" archbishop. The historian Henry Mayr-Harting stated that Ecgbert "must be regarded as one of the great architects of the English church in the eighth century". ## Veneration Ecgbert is venerated in the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church on 19 November.
29,642,053
Elizabeth Olsen
1,172,807,278
American actress (born 1989)
[ "1989 births", "20th-century American actresses", "21st-century American actresses", "21st-century atheists", "Actresses from Los Angeles", "Actual_play_performers", "American atheists", "American child actresses", "American film actresses", "American people of English descent", "American people of Norwegian descent", "American television actresses", "Campbell Hall School alumni", "Living people", "Olsen family", "People from Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles", "Tisch School of the Arts alumni" ]
Elizabeth Chase Olsen (born February 16, 1989) is an American actress. Born in Sherman Oaks, California, Olsen began acting at age four. She starred in her debut film role in the thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene in 2011, for which she was acclaimed and nominated for a Critics' Choice Movie Award among other accolades, followed by a role in the horror film Silent House. Olsen received a BAFTA Rising Star Award nomination and graduated from New York University two years later. Olsen gained worldwide recognition for her portrayal of Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch in the Marvel Cinematic Universe media franchise, appearing in the superhero films Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), as well as the miniseries WandaVision (2021). Her performance in WandaVision garnered her nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Outside of her work with Marvel, Olsen starred in the monster film Godzilla (2014), the mystery film Wind River (2017), and the dramedy Ingrid Goes West (2017). She executive produced and starred in the drama series Sorry for Your Loss (2018–2019), earning a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination for her role as a widow. ## Early life and education Elizabeth Chase Olsen was born on February 16, 1989, in Sherman Oaks, California. Her mother, Jarnie, is a former dancer, while her father, Dave, is a real estate agent. She is the younger sister of twin fashion designers Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who became successful television and film actresses as children. Olsen also has an older brother, a younger half-brother, and a younger half-sister. Her parents divorced in 1996. Olsen began acting when she was four years old, appearing in Mary-Kate and Ashley's projects, including the 1994 television film How the West Was Fun and the straight-to-video series The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley. As a child, she took acting classes and spent time at musical theatre camp. Olsen nearly quit pursuing acting in 2004 due to the media attention toward Mary-Kate's eating disorder. She went to Campbell Hall School in Studio City, California. Olsen attended New York University (NYU)'s Tisch School of the Arts, during which she took classes at Atlantic Theater Company and spent a semester at the Moscow Art Theatre School in Russia. She attained understudy roles in the 2008 off-Broadway production of the play Dust and the 2009 Broadway production of the play Impressionism, which led to her securing an agent. Olsen graduated from NYU in January 2013. ## Career ### Early roles and acclaim (2011–2014) Olsen made her film debut in the 2011 thriller film Martha Marcy May Marlene. The film, along with her performance, received critical acclaim following its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Olsen earned several award nominations for her portrayal of the titular Martha, a young woman suffering from delusions after fleeing her life in a cult and returning to her family, including those for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. She attributed her interest in the character to her own fascination with mental illnesses. Olsen next appeared in the horror film Silent House, which garnered her "rave reviews". Despite premiering at the Sundance Film Festival alongside Martha Marcy May Marlene, it was released in 2012, during which she also starred in the thriller Red Lights and the comedy Liberal Arts. In January 2013, Olsen garnered a nomination for the BAFTA Rising Star Award at the 66th British Academy Film Awards. She played Edie Parker, novelist Jack Kerouac's first wife and the author of the Beat Generation memoir You'll Be Okay, in the biographical drama Kill Your Darlings. She appeared in the American remake of the 2003 South Korean film Oldboy, playing Marie Sebastian, a nurse who helps the protagonist, played by Josh Brolin, find his daughter. That same year, she starred as the titular Juliet in an off-Broadway production of the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. The New York Times critic Ben Brantley described her portrayal as "alternating between saucy petulance and hysteria". She played the leading role in In Secret, a film adaptation of Émile Zola's 1867 novel Thérèse Raquin. The film was released in February 2014. Later that year, Olsen starred in the monster film Godzilla, opposite Bryan Cranston and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, which received positive reviews and grossed \$529 million against a \$160 million production budget. She and Dakota Fanning co-starred as teenage girls in Brooklyn in the film Very Good Girls, released that same year, which Josh Duboff of Vanity Fair characterized as unfavorably reviewed. ### Marvel Cinematic Universe and continued success (2015–present) Olsen starred in the 2015 superhero film Avengers: Age of Ultron, a sequel to The Avengers, joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe media franchise. In the film, she portrayed Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch, which marked the comic book character's film debut. She first appeared as the character in a post-credits scene of the 2014 film Captain America: The Winter Soldier, alongside Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who portrayed Maximoff's brother, Pietro. Olsen played the part with an accent originating from a fictional country called Sokovia, which she described as similar to Slovakian. She reprised the role in Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019), the last of which became the second highest-grossing film of all time. With the role, Olsen rose to fame. Olsen portrayed Audrey Williams, the wife, manager, and duet partner of singer Hank Williams, portrayed by Tom Hiddleston, in the 2015 biographical film I Saw the Light, directed by Marc Abraham. In 2017, she starred as a novice FBI agent in the mystery film Wind River and a social media influencer in the comedy-drama film Ingrid Goes West, both of which were released in August to critical praise. Vulture's David Edelstein found Olsen's "incongruously high-schoolish demeanor" in Wind River problematic, while Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote that she gave a "major eye-opener of a performance" in Ingrid Goes West, deeming it "toxic perfection". The following year, she appeared in the Netflix film Kodachrome, playing a caregiver to a photographer, played by Ed Harris. Olsen executive produced and starred as a young widow named Leigh Shaw in the Facebook Watch web television series Sorry for Your Loss, which premiered in September 2018. She said the three years it took to develop the series enabled her to immerse herself in Shaw's impulses. Critics reviewed the series positively, and Olsen's performance, which earned her a nomination for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series, was noted as "stunning", "disciplined and sharp", as well as "slyly sympathetic". The series was canceled in January 2020 after two seasons. Alongside Paul Bettany as Vision, Olsen played Maximoff again in the superhero miniseries WandaVision, which premiered on Disney+ in January 2021. In addition to complimenting Olsen and Bettany's chemistry, critics praised the cast, with Vox's Alex Abad-Santos writing Olsen was brilliant in her portrayal and Linda Holmes of NPR highlighting her "indelible central performance" in their respective reviews. Olsen earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film for her performance. She reprised the role in the film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which was released in May 2022 to mixed reviews. Olsen's performance received praise, with Owen Gleiberman of Variety writing that it "generates an operatic fire". Olsen starred as housewife Candy Montgomery in Love and Death, an HBO Max limited series about a 1980 killing in Texas. ## Personal life Olsen says she became an atheist at the age of 13 because she believes "religion should be about community and having a place to go in prayer, not something that should determine women's freedoms." She once held a real estate license in New York, which she obtained after first moving there. Olsen is an ambassador for the company Bobbi Brown Cosmetics. She and actor Boyd Holbrook were in a relationship from 2011 to 2014. Olsen became engaged to musician Robbie Arnett, of the American band Milo Greene, in July 2019 after three years of dating. The two secretly eloped. She and Arnett live in Los Angeles. Together they co-wrote a children's book titled Hattie Harmony: Worry Detective, which was released in June 2022. ## Filmography ### Film ### Television ## Theatre ## Accolades
39,786,201
Tang campaign against Kucha
1,163,430,940
Tang dynasty conquest
[ "640s conflicts", "648", "649", "7th century in China", "Battles involving the Tang dynasty", "Chinese Central Asia", "Emperor Taizong of Tang", "History of Xinjiang", "Military history of the Göktürks", "Wars involving the Tang dynasty" ]
The Tang campaign against Kucha was a military campaign led by the Tang dynasty general Ashina She'er against the Tarim Basin oasis state of Kucha in Xinjiang, which was aligned with the Western Turkic Khaganate. The campaign began in 648 and ended on 19 January 649, after the surrender of the Kuchan forces following a forty-day siege in Aksu. Kuchean soldiers tried to recapture the kingdom with the assistance of the Western Turkic Khaganate, but were defeated by the Tang army. ## Background Kucha, a kingdom in the Tarim Basin, was a vassal of the Western Turkic Khaganate. Under the reign of Emperor Gaozu, the king Suvarnapushpa (Chinese: 苏伐勃𫘝 Sufaboshi) provided the Tang court with tribute in 618. In 630, Suvarnapushpa's successor Suvarnadeva (Chinese: Sufadie) submitted to the Tang as a vassal. A Buddhist of the Hinayana sect, Suvarnadeva had hosted the Buddhist monk Xuanzang when he arrived in Kucha during the same year. Kucha supported Karasahr when the oasis state made a marriage alliance with the Western Turks and ended its tributary relationship with the Tang court in 644. The king of Kucha, Suvarnadeva, renounced Tang suzerainty and allied with the Western Turks. Emperor Taizong responded by dispatching a military campaign led by the general Guo Xiaoke against Karasahr. Karasahr was besieged in 644 by Guo. Tang forces defeated the kingdom, captured the king, and a pro-Tang member of the royal family was enthroned as ruler. The new king was deposed by the Western Turks soon afterwards, and the Western Turks regained suzerainty over Karasahr. Suvarnadeva died between 646 and 648, and his brother Haripushpa (Chinese: Helibushibi) inherited the throne as Kucha's king. Although Haripushpa sent two tribute embassies to the Tang court, Tang Taizong had already decided to punish Kucha's pro-Turk stance by launching an expedition against the kingdom. In 646 Irbis Seguy of the Western Turks sought a Chinese princess for his bride. In return, Taizong asked for several Tarim Basin cities. Ibris' refusal was one of the pretexts for the war. Most of the Tang expeditionary army was made up of 100,000 cavalry supplied by the Tang empire's Tiele allies. The commander-in-chief of the Tang expeditionary army, Ashina She'er, was a member of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate ruling family. He joined the Tang forces after his surrender in 635, and served as a general leading a campaign against Karakhoja. His familiarity with the region as a former Turkic ruler contributed to his success commanding the campaigns against Kucha and Karasahr. Prior to his recruitment as a Tang general, he reigned for five years between 630 and 635, governing the city of Beshbalik in the Dzungarian Basin. Ashina She'er's deputy commanders were Qibi Heli (a Tiele chieftain who had also become a Tang general) and Guo Xiaoke. ## Campaign Ashina She'er's soldiers were organized in five columns. The Tang army bypassed Karasahr and struck at Kucha from the north by moving through the Dzungarian Basin, which was the territory of the Chuyue (possibly Chigil) and Chumi, two Turkic tribes allied with the oasis state. The Tang army defeated the Chuyue and Chumi before entering the Tarim Basin, upon which the king of Karasahr fled his capital city and tried to find a defensible position in Kucha's eastern territories. Ashina She'er's forces pursued the Karasahr king, took him captive, and then executed him. The forces defending Kucha, consisting of 50,000 soldiers, were lured and ambushed by Ashina. They chased after a group of 1,000 horsemen employed by Ashina as a decoy, but encountered additional Tang forces that mounted a surprise attack. The Kuchean forces were defeated and retreated to Aksu, a nearby kingdom in the Tarim Basin. Ashina captured the king following a forty-day siege, ending with the surrender of the Kucha forces on 19 January 649. One of Ashina's officers, acting as a diplomat, persuaded the chieftains of the region to surrender instead of fighting back. Guo Xiaoke, who had led the first Tang campaign against Karasahr in 644, was installed in Kucha as protector-general of the Anxi Protectorate, or the Protectorate of the Pacified West. The headquarters of the protector-general was thus moved from its original location in Gaochang to Kucha. While Ashina was in pursuit of the Kuchean king, Nali, a Kuchean lord, traveled to request the help of the Western Turks. Guo was assassinated after the Kuchean soldiers retook the kingdom with the military assistance of the Western Turks. Ashina returned to Kucha, captured five of the kingdom's cities, and forced the remaining cities to surrender. Tang control was re-established in the oasis state. The brother of the former king, a yabgu or viceroy, was enthroned by the Chinese as a subject of the Tang empire. The king of Kucha, Haripushpa, was taken to the Tang capital as a prisoner. Execution was the punishment of rebellion in accordance with Tang law. The king was pardoned by Taizong and released after a ritual venerating the emperor's ancestors. He was also named Great Army Commander for the Militant Guards of the Left, a title he received from the emperor. ## Aftermath In retribution for the death of Guo Xiaoke, Ashina She'er ordered the execution of eleven thousand Kuchean inhabitants by decapitation. It was recorded that "he destroyed five great towns and with them many myriads of men and women... the lands of the west were seized with terror." After Kucha's defeat, Ashina dispatched a small force of light cavalry led by the lieutenant Xue Wanbei to Khotan, ruled by the king Yuchi Fushexin. The threat of an invasion persuaded the king to visit the Tang court in person. The Tang expeditionary army replaced Haripushpa with his younger brother (the "yabgu"), erected an inscribed stele to commemorate its victory, and returned to Chang’an with Haripushpa, Nali, and Kucha's top general as captives. All three men were given sinecures and kept at the imperial court until 650, when they were sent back to Kucha after it became clear that the vacuum of power created by their absence had reduced the kingdom to a state of civil war and anarchy. The Kucha expedition also killed the pro-Turk king of Karasahr and replaced him with a cousin, but there is no evidence that a Tang military garrison was stationed in Karasahr between 648 and 658. Likewise, the Khotan king's coerced trip to Chang'an does not seem to have resulted in a Tang garrison being sent to Khotan. It has long been claimed that the conquest of Kucha established Tang rule over the entire Tarim Basin. This is in part due to a number of inaccurate Chinese sources linking the expedition to the establishment of the Four Garrisons of Anxi, which comprised Kucha, Karasahr, Khotan, and Kashgar. However, Zhang Guangda has used excavated texts from Gaochang (Karakhoja or Turfan) to show that the Tang abandoned the attempt to move the headquarters of the Protectorate of the Pacified West to Kucha after Guo Xiaoke's assassination. Instead the headquarters returned to Gaochang until 658, when it was moved back to Kucha following a Tang army's suppression of a local pro-Turk revolt against Haripushpa (who died from an illness during the revolt). The Tang only gained a loose suzerainty over the Tarim Basin states in 649, and did not establish military garrisons in the Tarim Basin. Most of the Tarim Basin states transferred their vassalage to the new Western Turk qaghan, Ashina Helu, in 651, reflecting the fact that they regarded the Western Turks as their traditional overlords. The establishment of the Four Garrisons, and with them a formal Tang military protectorate over the Tarim Basin, should be dated to 658 (after Ashina Helu's defeat) or even to 660, since Kashgar remained allied with the Western Turk leader Duman until Duman's defeat in later 659. It has also been claimed that the fall of Kucha led to the decline of Indo-European culture in the Tarim Basin and its replacement by first Chinese and then Turkic culture. In fact, the opposite is true. Kuchean culture flourished during the seventh and eighth centuries and Kuchean music was popular in the Tang capital, in part due to the movement of Kuchean musicians to the Tang court. The Turkicization of the Tarim Basin is a later development that came after the end of the Tang dynasty and had no relation to the earlier Tang protectorate in the Tarim Basin. After 649, the Tang dynasty continued their war against the Western Turks under the reign of Emperor Gaozong, Taizong's successor. Gaozong conducted a campaign led by general Su Dingfang against the Western Turk qaghan, Ashina Helu in 657. The qaghan surrendered, the Western Turks were defeated, and the khaganate's former territories were annexed by the Tang. The Tang retreated from beyond the Pamir Mountains in modern Tajikistan and Afghanistan after a Turkic revolt in 662, and lost the Tarim Basin to local revolts and Tibetan incursions in 665–670. The Tang regained the Tarim Basin in 692 and again lost it to the Tibetans in the 790s, the Four Garrisons having already been cut off from the rest of the Tang empire by a Tibetan conquest of the Gansu Corridor. Although the Tibetan empire collapsed in the middle of the ninth century, the Tang dynasty lacked the means to regain dominance in the Tarim Basin and itself ended in 907 with the abdication of Emperor Ai. ## See also - Turks in the Tang military
2,249,769
Axa Equitable Center
1,169,357,483
Office skyscraper in Manhattan, New York
[ "1985 establishments in New York City", "Axa", "Edward Larrabee Barnes buildings", "Midtown Manhattan", "Office buildings completed in 1985", "Postmodern architecture in New York City", "Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)", "Skyscraper office buildings in Manhattan" ]
Axa Equitable Center (originally the Equitable Tower or Equitable Center West) is an office skyscraper at 787 Seventh Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1986 and designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes, the building measures 752 feet (229 m) tall with 54 stories. Equitable Center West was developed by the Equitable Life Assurance Society (later renamed Equitable Holdings, part of Axa) adjacent to Equitable's existing skyscraper at 1285 Avenue of the Americas. The facade is clad in granite, applied in a two-tone pattern of white horizontal and red vertical bands. The building has three setbacks, as well as a penthouse at the top with arched windows. Equitable acquired an extensive collection of artwork to display in the building's public spaces. There is a public galleria from 51st to 52nd Street, which forms part of 61⁄2 Avenue, as well as an arched entrance atrium from Seventh Avenue. The complex also includes an underground concourse, several restaurants, and a corporate auditorium. The building was proposed in the early 1980s and, after the site was acquired, Equitable's board approved the plans for the tower in 1983. When the tower opened, the company's corporate offices occupied about a third of the space, and the ground story had commercial concerns such as the Le Bernardin restaurant and a branch of the Whitney Museum. Equitable only used the tower as its headquarters until the late 1990s, and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) acquired Axa Equitable Center in 2016. ## Site 787 Seventh (formerly known as the AXA Equitable Building) is at 787 Seventh Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The building's rectangular land lot occupies the western half of the city block bounded by Seventh Avenue to the west, 51st Street to the south, Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) to the east, and 52nd Street to the north. The site covers 80,333 square feet (7,463.2 m<sup>2</sup>), with a frontage of 200 feet (61 m) on Seventh Avenue and 400 feet (120 m) along the side streets. Adjacent is 1285 Avenue of the Americas (1285 Sixth Avenue; Equitable Center East), designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and constructed from 1959 to 1961. The Sixth Avenue building occupies the eastern half of the city block. The sidewalk in front of the building is made of pink granite, extending eastward in front of 1285 Sixth Avenue. The sidewalks adjacent to 1285 Sixth Avenue comprise Urban Plaza North and South, designed by Scott Burton. Axa Equitable Center is also near 810 Seventh Avenue to the northwest, the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel and Flatotel New York City to the north, Credit Lyonnais Building to the northeast, 1271 Avenue of the Americas to the southeast, The Michelangelo to the south, and the Winter Garden Theatre to the southwest. The site occupied by Axa Equitable Center had contained the Victoria and Abbey hotels just before the skyscraper's construction. ## Architecture Axa Equitable Center was designed in the postmodern style by Edward Larrabee Barnes for the Equitable Life Assurance Society. The building is 752 feet (229 m) tall with 54 stories. Severud Associates was the structural engineer and Turner Construction was the main contractor. The structure uses 300,000 square feet (28,000 m<sup>2</sup>) of stone and 28,000 short tons (25,000 long tons; 25,000 t) of steel. Rather than dictate the precise style for the building, Equitable CEO John B. Carter had requested only that Barnes create "a top-quality building". Nonetheless, Carter had specific requests for several of the interior spaces. For Equitable Tower's construction, Equitable acquired \$7 million or \$7.5 million worth of artwork to display in both public and private spaces. The work includes large murals by Sol LeWitt and Roy Lichtenstein and sculptures by Scott Burton and Barry Flanagan. In addition, works by Milton Avery, George Bellows, James E. Buttersworth, Marsden Hartley, and Alex Katz decorated the offices. Some works, such as a mobile by Alexander Calder and the bronze sculpture Day by Paul Manship, were already in Equitable's art collection when Equitable Tower was built. Equitable hired several experts, including art consultant Emily Braun, to assist in arranging the artwork. Equitable publications referred to 787 Seventh Avenue, along with 1285 Sixth Avenue, as "one square block of art". ### Form and facade The entire building is set back 10 feet (3.0 m) from the street on each side. A public galleria runs from north to south, dividing the lowest six floors of the building. The seventh and eighth stories span the north and south ends of the galleria. The north and south elevations rise with three setbacks, while the west and east elevations rise without setbacks. The setbacks on the north and south elevations are placed at the 12th, 34th, and 50th stories, with each setback being 14 feet (4.3 m) deep. Barnes intended for the setbacks to recall those on 30 Rockefeller Plaza and the International Building, two of Rockefeller Center's tallest buildings. One of the early plans for Axa Equitable Center, which was illustrated in a monograph of Barnes's work, was for the massing to instead contain setbacks on the west and east, with the north and south elevations rising as a slab-like wall from the street. In a subsequent iteration of the plans, Barnes had planned deep porches at the setbacks. The facade is made of limestone, granite, and glass. The Indiana limestone and Brazilian granite on the facade is applied in a two-tone pattern. The vertical pilasters are clad with reddish-brown granite, which is also used for some horizontal bands just below each setback. The pilasters divide the facades into horizontal spandrel bands of buff-colored limestone, which alternate with glass windows on each floor. Barnes had used these materials because they harmonized with the colors and materials used on the neighboring buildings. Axa Equitable Center uses 5,800 panes of glass on its facade. The main entrance on Seventh Avenue is set within a semicircular-headed arch measuring 72 feet (22 m) tall. There is a loading dock at the eastern end of the 52nd Street elevation. There are double-height mechanical spaces at each setback. These double-height floors contain recessed windows to give the impression that the red pilasters are massive piers; the recessed windows were inspired by those in Art Deco buildings. The recessed windows on the double-height floors also wrap around to the west and east elevations. The topmost penthouse is embellished with large triumphal-arched windows on its west and east elevations, which illuminate the Equitable boardrooms. The boardroom windows measure 42 feet (13 m) in diameter and 53 feet (16 m) tall. While the original plan had been to use ocular windows, Barnes instead used triumphal arches because they allowed more light to enter the boardroom spaces. ### Galleria and concourse At the middle of the city block is the galleria from 51st to 52nd Street. It is one of six passageways that form 61⁄2 Avenue, a set of full-block passageways from 51st to 57th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. The passageway was built as a "through-block connection" under the Special Midtown District, created in 1982. The space measures 45 feet (14 m) wide and 91 feet (28 m) tall underneath the north and south ends, where the seventh and eighth floors cross the galleria. The center of the space, beneath the skylights, is 124 feet (38 m) tall. Burton designed outdoor seating for the galleria. On the galleria's eastern wall is a passageway to 1285 Sixth Avenue's lobby, which originally connected with the Paine Webber Art Gallery in that building. The lobbies of 1285 Sixth Avenue and Equitable Center measured a combined 800 feet (240 m) long. An elevator lobby for the First National Bank of Chicago, just east of the galleria, contained Agnes Denes's artwork Hypersphere: The Earth in the Shape of the Universe, a set of 144 glass panels. LeWitt commissioned a set of six geometric artworks for the walls of the galleria entitled Wall Drawing: Bands of Lines in Four Colors and Four Directions, Separated by Gray Bands. As the name indicates, LeWitt's artwork consists of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal bands in four colors, created in acrylic paint on limestone. These works, which are up to 106 feet (32 m) high, are illuminated by natural light coming through the rooftop skylights. In addition, Flanagan designed two bronze sculptures at the galleria's north and south ends, each depicting animals in whimsical scenes. The north end contains Young Elephant (1986), while the south end contains Hare on Bell (1985). Two escalators lead from the galleria to Axa Center's public basement concourse. The escalators are placed within a glass enclosure containing a gold-colored frame. The basement concourse is connected to Rockefeller Center's underground concourse, which in turn provides a connection to the New York City Subway's 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center station. Axa Center's basement concourse also contains the Athletic & Swim Club, which has a fitness center and a small swimming pool. Valerie Jaudon had created a mural for the swimming pool's wall, measuring 72 by 12 feet (21.9 by 3.7 m). ### Interior Axa Center contains 1,740,000 square feet (162,000 m<sup>2</sup>) of interior space. According to the New York City Department of City Planning, the building has a gross floor area of 1,633,544 square feet (151,761.2 m<sup>2</sup>). Equitable was allowed to include an additional 49,161 square feet (4,567.2 m<sup>2</sup>) in exchange for providing privately owned public space. The steel superstructure contains two-story outrigger trusses wrapping around the 11th and 36th stories, which transfer the structural loads and absorb the wind loads at each of the setbacks. Belt trusses connect the outrigger trusses to the building's structural core. The roof is surrounded by a hat truss, behind which is mechanical equipment. From the beginning, 787 Seventh Avenue contained several "smart" building systems, such as high-capacity fiber optic cables and conduits, as well as a computerized display to monitor energy use, security, and elevators. The "smart" systems cost \$2 to \$4 million, though that cost also included a retrofit of 1285 Sixth Avenue. The building is internally connected to 1285 Sixth Avenue at the ground floor, concourse, and first eight stories. The 787 Seventh Avenue building was known as Equitable Center West or Equitable Tower, while the 1285 Sixth Avenue building was known as Equitable Center East. The two structures were initially known collectively as the "Equitable Center". #### Atrium and lobby Leading from Seventh Avenue is a five-story atrium, which serves as the main lobby. The atrium is an 80-foot (24 m) cube. Its large size is in part due to a commercial holdout who did not leave the site until construction had already started. At the center of the atrium, Burton designed Atrium Furnishment, which consists of a 40-foot-wide (12 m) marble semicircular banquette and a circular marble fountain with trees. Though the atrium in general has a white marble floor, Atrium Furnishment is surrounded by red granite pavers, which were intended to provide a contrast between the circular artwork and the cubical atrium. A bronze band surrounds the artwork as well. On the eastern wall of the atrium, facing the main archway on Seventh Avenue, is a Lichtenstein artwork, Mural with Blue Brushstroke, which measures 68 by 32 feet (20.7 by 9.8 m). Lichtenstein had painted the mural on-site in 1986. A pair of parallel passageways leads east from the atrium to the galleria, each originally decorated with a separate artwork. Thomas Hart Benton's America Today murals, commissioned in 1931, were originally installed in the northern passageway, around the elevator core. The Benton murals were originally installed in the New School For Social Research, and Equitable had acquired the Benton murals in 1984 for a reported \$3.1 million. The murals were relocated to 1290 Sixth Avenue in the mid-1990s. The southern passageway of the lobby has a niche, which contains Paul Manship's sculpture Day. Manship had crafted Day in 1938 as part of a set of four bronze works called The Moods of Time. #### Retail and restaurants A branch of the Whitney Museum of American Art occupied space in two storefront galleries from 1986 to 1992. There was a north gallery for permanent works and a south gallery for temporary exhibitions. The Equitable Tower location, the largest of the Whitney's four branches at the time, occupied 3,000 square feet (280 m<sup>2</sup>) in each gallery. As part of the arrangement, Equitable gave money to the Whitney and paid the branch's operating expenses for six years. After the Whitney branch closed, its space became the Equitable Gallery. Another tenant was the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, which operated two stores with souvenirs from the city's museums. The Urbanspace food hall has also operated at ground level since 2020. From the building's opening in early 1986, Equitable officials wanted to operate what Newsday described as "nothing but the best of restaurants". Initially, there was an Italian restaurant called Palio and a French restaurant called Le Bernardin. Palio's ground-floor bar measured 30 by 30 feet (9.1 by 9.1 m), with a 24-foot-tall (7.3 m) ceiling, and its second floor contained a dining room. The former bar room's walls still contain a mural by Sandro Chia entitled Palio, which depicts the Palio di Siena horse race. Le Bernardin, a Michelin-starred restaurant, occupies a less architecturally elaborate space, originally decorated with velvet upholstery. A third restaurant, the American grill Sam's Restaurant, opened in late 1987. While Le Bernardin continues to operate in the building as of 2019, the old Palio space has operated as the Aldo Sohm Wine Bar since 2014. Meanwhile, Sam's was replaced by Judson Grill and then Bar Americain. #### Other stories As of 2016, the building has 31 passenger elevators, as well as three freight elevators and two vehicular elevators. Twenty-six of the passenger elevators lead from the lobby to the upper floors. Four of these elevators run from the lobby to floors 2 through 9; eight elevators serve floors 9 through 23; six elevators serve floors 23 through 33; and eight elevators serve floors 34 through 50. There are also two elevators in the annex, serving the lobby through floor 8; another elevator connecting the lobby to the subcellar; and two elevators connecting the Axa Equitable auditorium to the lobby. A broadcast studio and auditorium were also designed for the building. The Equitable auditorium has 487, 495, or 500 seats, accessed from a staircase from the atrium. The auditorium has been used for several major corporate events, including the announcement of a merger between IBM and Lotus Software, as well as the merger announcement of Kimberly-Clark and Scott Paper Company. It has also been used for musical performances, such as a jazz performance by Roy Nathanson in 1990. Equitable officials had their own private bathrooms as well as Chippendale furniture. The 49th and 50th floors comprised Equitable's executive suite and were connected by a stair. The 49th floor was designed with 14 dining rooms, each with works from a different artists. The dining rooms range from a small accommodation, with one table and four chairs, to a dining hall with a baby grand piano, sofas, and a fireplace. There were two executive rooms at the 50th story: one facing east and the other facing west. The rooms had classical-inspired moldings, large woodwork, and custom furnishings designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Conway. The western room, which served as Equitable's main boardroom, was originally designed with a green carpet with a large circular table. The eastern room had Equitable's main dining room and contained Triptych, a trio of landscapes by Brad Davis. ## History Equitable Holdings (originally the Equitable Life Assurance Society) had constructed several structures in New York City since the late 19th century, as well as several across the United States. The first New York City office was the Equitable Life Building on 120 Broadway in Lower Manhattan, completed in 1870. The Equitable Life Building was destroyed by a fire in 1912 and replaced by the current Equitable Building at 120 Broadway. Equitable Life moved to 393 Seventh Avenue (now 11 Penn Plaza) in 1924, and it moved to 1281 Sixth Avenue in 1961. Equitable had occupied all 1.8 million square feet (170,000 m<sup>2</sup>) in its Sixth Avenue building for over twenty years. However, by the 1980s, it was looking to move decentralize its New York City office. The company split into four major divisions, of which only one, Equitable Capital, remained in the Sixth Avenue building. At the time, office space in Midtown Manhattan was in high demand and Equitable felt it could lease its Sixth Avenue building at a great profit. ### Development After considering relocating elsewhere in the United States, Equitable planned to expand its Sixth Avenue headquarters by 1980. Over the next year, it acquired an adjacent "L"-shaped site extending to Seventh Avenue, measuring 67,000 square feet (6,200 m<sup>2</sup>). Except for a small plot on the corner of Seventh Avenue and 52nd Street, Equitable had control of the entire city block. Equitable first announced its intention, in March 1981, to construct a tower on the newly acquired Seventh Avenue site. Demolition of existing buildings, such as the Victoria and Abbey hotels, began soon after. General contractor Turner Construction performed the demolitions manually, even though it had the city government's permission to use dynamite, since it wished to minimize disruption to neighboring structures. During one demolition in 1982, a steel beam fell through the roof of a nearby deli. Equitable's board officially approved plans in February 1983 to move its headquarters to a Seventh Avenue building. Edward Larrabee Barnes was hired as the architect. Equitable's new tower was one of several high-rise developments planned for the area at the time, in spite of a slight decline in New York City's office market. Equitable planned to sell its Sixth Avenue headquarters to get a tax deduction on the new building. The old Sixth Avenue structure would be partially occupied by Paine Webber. Equitable officials were not worried about the fact that Seventh Avenue was not a prestigious executive address. This was a contrast to two decades earlier, when officials had thought Sixth Avenue was "more like Speakeasy Row than Corporate Corridor". While much of the building was to be completed by 1985, the section at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 52nd Street was occupied by an eight-story building and would be delayed. Construction of Equitable Tower had to be closely coordinated to avoid delays or disruptions, since even a one-month delay in completion would cost Equitable \$6 million in rent and \$3 million in construction loans. Work was complicated by the fact that traffic on the neighboring streets could not be disrupted during construction. On two sides of the construction site, there was only 10 to 12 feet (3.0 to 3.7 m) of space within which builders could work, and there was no space for materials to be stored on site. Equitable president John B. Carter announced in May 1985 that a series of artworks would be commissioned for the building. During construction that July, a construction hoist fell from Equitable Tower and killed two workers. ### Opening and early years By early 1986, Equitable had finished the atrium, galleria, plazas, and lobby, as well as a branch of the Whitney Museum. The company had taken the top third of the building and expected to rent out the remaining stories at a rate of \$40 to \$50 per square foot (\$430 to \$540/m<sup>2</sup>), a higher rate than at nearby office buildings. At the time, there were few tenants for the west tower's vacant space, and Equitable was marketing both the west and east towers as part of the same complex. The building ultimately cost \$200 million to construct. A public preview of the new tower's boardrooms took place on February 1, 1986, as part of a benefit event for the Center for Arts Information. The Whitney branch opened on February 11, 1986. Douglas McGill of The New York Times called the Whitney branch the "latest and largest addition to an extensive collaboration between a major art museum and the corporate world." The building was technically owned by Equitable Real Estate Investment Management, which leased space to Equitable for its own corporate offices. Within a year of Equitable Tower's opening, eighty percent of the space had been leased. Among the tenants were arts organizations American Council for the Arts, Center for Arts Information, and Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, which were offered below-market-rate rents. In addition, accounting firm Ernst & Whinney (later Ernst & Young) took space in the tower. By October 1987, when Black Monday occurred, Equitable Tower was fully leased despite charging higher rents per square foot than other buildings in the area. The American grill Sam's Restaurant opened at ground level at the end of that year. ### 1990s and 2000s By 1990, Equitable was in the process of being acquired by the French company Axa. Within two years, Equitable had gone public and downsized most of its employees, leaving only 2,200 working at 787 Seventh Avenue. The company was considering leaving for the suburbs, given the high costs of occupying office space in midtown, but ultimately decided against it. The Whitney branch in Equitable Tower closed in 1992, when its original agreement expired, and it was replaced by an art gallery called the Equitable Gallery. Sam's Restaurant closed the next year, being replaced by another American grill, Judson Grill, in early 1994. Equitable only occupied ten percent of 787 Seventh Avenue by early 1995, when it placed 300,000 square feet (28,000 m<sup>2</sup>) of space for lease. That year, Equitable announced it would be moving one block east to 1290 Sixth Avenue, with only the highest-ranking executives remaining at 787 Seventh Avenue. Much of Equitable's space at 787 Seventh Avenue was taken by law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, and the floor just below the penthouse was occupied by Paramount Capital. With Equitable's relocation, the America Today murals were moved to 1290 Sixth Avenue. In the late 1990s, David Emil planned to open a restaurant called Night Sky on the 50th floor, but it was canceled after Equitable wished to lease that floor as offices. The 1997 chess match of Deep Blue versus Garry Kasparov, in which IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeated world chess champion Garry Kasparov, took place at Equitable Center as well. By 2000, the building's tenants included Bank One, BNP Paribas, Hicks Muse, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher. About a third of the total space, 500,000 square feet (46,000 m<sup>2</sup>), was set to become available for lease in 2002 when Ernst & Young's lease expired. Much of Ernst & Young's space was taken in 2001 by law firm Sidley Austin, which had to renovate 11 floors within two months after its old World Trade Center offices were destroyed in the September 11 attacks. Another lessee that had been displaced from the World Trade Center was investment banking firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, which borrowed space from BNP Paribas and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz before leasing its own fourth-floor space. The Palio restaurant closed in 2002, and Judson Grill closed two years later; the latter was replaced by Bar Americain. Citigroup leased a major block of space, covering 250,000 square feet (23,000 m<sup>2</sup>), in late 2005, including the 50th-floor penthouse. Other tenants in the 2000s included investment manager New Mountain Capital as well as IT company SAS Institute. ### 2010s to present Palio's space became part of Piano Due, which closed in 2011 and was replaced by the Aldo Sohm Wine Bar in 2014. Axa Equitable placed 787 Seventh Avenue and 1285 Sixth Avenue for sale in August 2015. At the time, 787 Seventh Avenue was almost completely occupied, with only 1.6 percent of the space vacant. By the end of the year, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) had shown interest in acquiring 787 Seventh Avenue for \$1.9 billion. This would make Axa Equitable Center one of the most expensive single buildings to ever be sold in New York City. In February 2016, CalPERS announced it had purchased the building. The purchase was financed with a \$780 million mortgage from Deutsche Bank. Bar Americain, at the building's ground floor, closed in 2018. A helicopter crashed on Axa Equitable Center's roof on June 10, 2019, killing the pilot and sparking a fire that prompted the building's evacuation. No one else was hurt in the crash, and the helicopter's wreckage was removed. The Urbanspace food hall opened at the ground level of Axa Equitable Center in early 2020. In 2022, following the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, BNP Paribas renovated its offices at 787 Seventh Avenue to encourage workers to return to the firm's physical offices. In addition, a sign with the name "BNP Paribas" was installed above the Seventh Avenue entrance, replacing Equitable's name. ## Tenants As of 2021, several financial and law firms occupy the space, including: - BNP Paribas, banking group - Citigroup, investment bank - Sidley Austin, law firm - Stifel, investment bank - UBS, investment bank - Willkie Farr & Gallagher, law firm ## Impact ### Reception The design of Equitable Tower was largely criticized upon its completion. Paul Goldberger called the building "54 stories of ambivalence", saying it "adds almost no grace to the skyline". Progressive Architecture was similarly critical of the "undistinguished quality" of the facade, saying: "Barnes's tower can't seem to make up its mind whether it's a Modern skyscraper or a Post-Modern one", Roger Kimball of The New Criterion wrote: "Mr. Barnes seems to have abandoned any attempt at a cogent architectural design. Instead, he has contrived to produce one of the most pretentious and ungainly new buildings in New York." The New Criterion cited Equitable Tower's "large clunky base", its "replaceable"-looking granite and limestone facade, and its massive arches that "seem more like movie-set novelties" as flaws in the design. Suzanne Stephens said the criticism showed that Barnes was "more adept at chipping, chamfering and chiseling buildings with rotated geometries". By contrast, architectural writer Donald M. Reynolds said the building was "one of the largest and most comprehensive collaborations of architecture, urban planning, and public art since Rockefeller Center". The artwork was received more positively by architectural and art critics. The New York Times reported that the artwork was a "statement of [Equitable's] belief not only in the commercial and promotional value of art, but also in the role art can play in the quality of corporate and communal life". Progressive Architecture characterized the collection as "one of the more successful corporate art programs to come along in some time", as opposed to the "resolutely ho-hum" character of much of Equitable Tower. Phaidon Press wrote of the art collection: "AXA Equitable Life Insurance wished to project a positive image of itself to New Yorkers—as progressive, leading edge and civic-minded, as demonstrated by this indisputable gift to the city." Conversely, The New Criterion wrote that the collection was "not art but money", in that it was a showcase of Equitable's wealth rather than a display of art for its own sake. Goldberger thought that, even with the art and public spaces, the building "lacks a kind of freshness, as if everyone involved in this project were doing it by rote". ### Influence on other developments Equitable was the first major company to erect a headquarters on Seventh Avenue in Midtown. At the time of its completion, the building was the only major office structure on Seventh Avenue. This led Architectural Record to say: "Equitable Life Assurance Society has heeded Horace Greeley's dictum, 'Go West', though not, to be sure, very far west." According to Reynolds, the building's construction encouraged office development to move west from Sixth to Seventh Avenue, just as the construction of Rockefeller Center had encouraged a similar westward movement from Fifth to Sixth Avenue. Architectural Record described the building as having been proposed "amidst a swirl of controversy over what some see as an over-concentration of new skyscraper construction in Manhattan's crowded midtown". Nonetheless, the development of Equitable Tower directly improved the character of the surrounding area, particularly the Midtown portion of Seventh Avenue, in the mid-1980s. Following the tower's construction, William Zeckendorf developed the nearby One Worldwide Plaza to improve the character of Eighth Avenue. Though developers praised the development boom that followed Equitable Tower's construction, civic organizations worried that theaters north of Times Square would be quickly replaced by offices. ## See also - Tallest buildings in New York City - List of tallest buildings in the United States
559,489
Red Line (Washington Metro)
1,170,836,080
Washington Metro rapid transit line
[ "1976 establishments in Washington, D.C.", "Railway lines opened in 1976", "Red Line (Washington Metro)" ]
The Red Line is a rapid transit line of the Washington Metro system, consisting of 27 stations in Montgomery County, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is a primary line through downtown Washington and the oldest and busiest line in the system. It forms a long, narrow "U," capped by its terminal stations at Shady Grove and Glenmont. Trains run most frequently during morning and evening rush hours (nominally four to eight minutes apart) and least frequently after 9:30 p.m. (nominally 15 to 18 minutes apart). The Red Line is the only line in the system that does not share its tracks with another Metrorail line. However, it operates parallel to CSX Transportation freight trains along the railroad's Metropolitan Subdivision from the D.C. neighborhood of Brentwood north past Silver Spring, Maryland, and continuing through Twinbrook. ## History Planning for Metro began with the Mass Transportation Survey in 1955, which attempted to forecast freeway and mass transit systems sufficient to meet the needs of 1980. In 1959, the study's final report recommended two rapid transit lines which anticipated subways in downtown Washington. Because the plan called for extensive freeway construction within the District of Columbia, alarmed residents lobbied for federal legislation creating a moratorium on freeway construction through July 1, 1962. The National Capital Transportation Agency's 1962 Transportation in the National Capital Region report anticipated much of the present Red Line route, with the Red Line following the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad right-of-way between Silver Spring and Rockville instead of a direct route between Bethesda and Rockville. With the formation of WMATA in October 1966, planning of the system shifted from federal hands to a regional body with representatives of the District, Maryland, and Virginia. Congressional route approval was no longer a key consideration. Instead, routes had to serve each suburban jurisdiction to assure that they would approve bond referendums to finance the system. Because the least expensive way to build into the suburbs was to use existing railroad right-of-ways, the Red Line took much of its present form, except that it continued to feature a further link between its two stems along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad right-of-way. By 1969, WMATA had decided on the current routing and stations, except for the extension beyond Rockville to Shady Grove. Montgomery County officials opposed ending the Red Line in downtown Rockville, saying it would cause congestion in the area and use scarce vacant land for a storage yard. Metro decided to propose to extend the red line one more station to Shady Grove and the U.S. Department of Transportation conditionally approved funding for the extension on July 26, 1975. Construction on the Red Line began with a groundbreaking ceremony at Judiciary Square on December 9, 1969. Construction proved difficult because the National Park Service prohibited a bridge across Rock Creek and required that the Red Line tunnel under that valley, the tunnel in turn caused both the Dupont Circle and Woodley Park stations to be built further underground. The Red Line was proposed to tunnel under Yuma Street from Connecticut Avenue to Wisconsin Avenue, but local residents sued and that court case delayed construction of the tunnel for two years, then WMATA finally won the right to build the tunnel there. Service on the Red Line (and the Metro as a whole) began on March 27, 1976, with operation between Farragut North and Rhode Island Avenue. Gallery Place's opening was delayed due to a court order regarding lack of accessibility for all, but it opened in the middle of the line on December 15, 1976. The western end of the line was extended one station to Dupont Circle on January 17, 1977, three stations to Van Ness–UDC on December 5, 1981, five stations to Grosvenor–Strathmore on August 25, 1984, and four stations to Shady Grove on December 15, 1984. The eastern end was extended one station from Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood to Brookland-CUA on February 3, 1978. The eastern end was extended three stations to Silver Spring on February 6, 1978—which added Maryland to the system for the first time — two stations to Wheaton on September 22, 1990, and one station to Glenmont on July 25, 1998, completing the line. The only time the Red Line shared tracks with another line was from January 27, 1997, to September 17, 1999, when the Green Line Commuter Shortcut used Red Line tracks from Brookland–CUA to Farragut North. A short time after the Green Line branch north of Fort Totten opened in the early 1990s, the "Green Line Commuter Shortcut" began as a six-month experiment. Passengers could board the Green Line between Greenbelt and West Hyattsville and travel as far as Farragut North without having to transfer; the trains bypassed Fort Totten via a single-track spur between the West Hyattsville and Brookland–CUA stations. Due to its success, the shortcut continued until the mid-city portion of the Green Line was completed in 1999. The NoMa–Gallaudet University station (formerly New York Ave–Florida Ave–Gallaudet University), located between Union Station and Rhode Island Avenue–Brentwood, opened on November 20, 2004. It was the system's first infill station (i.e., a new station built between existing stations). In November 2010, the WMATA authorized \$37 million in capital improvements on the Red Line, a part of \$212 million of work on the Red Line scheduled for 2010 to 2014. In April 2012, a 1,200-car parking garage opened at the Glenmont station, joining the existing 1,700-car garage. Construction on the project, funded by the state of Maryland, began in December 2009. From March 26, 2020, until June 28, 2020, trains were bypassing , , and stations due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. All stations were reopened beginning on June 28, 2020. From September 11, 2021, to January 16, 2022, the Rockville Metro station was closed due to the Rockville Canopy Replacement Project. On February 25, 2022, WMATA opened a new entrance, on the east side of Rockville Pike and a new elevator and staircase to platform at the Medical Center station, eliminating the need for thousands of daily riders who emerge from the station on the west side of the Pike to cross the busy six-lane road to reach the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. In September 2009, Montgomery County applied for a \$20 million federal grant, seeking to begin construction in 2011, but the project was not approved until 2013. Construction began in December 2017. The \$68 million project, mostly funded by from the Department of Defense, also includes new deep elevators, better surface bicycle, and pedestrian facilities, a pedestrian tunnel under Rockville Pike, and an extension of the left-turn lane on southbound MD 355 that opened in late 2021. ## Incidents and accidents ### 2004 Woodley Park accident On November 3, 2004, an out-of-service Red Line train rolled backward into the Woodley Park station and hit an in-service train stopped at the platform. Twenty people were injured. A 14-month investigation concluded that the train operator was most likely not alert. Safety officials estimated that at least 79 would have died had the train been full. The train operator was fired and Metro officials agreed to add rollback protection to more than 300 rail cars. ### 2009 train collision On June 22, 2009, at 5:03 p.m., a six-car train collided with and telescoped onto a stationary train between the Takoma and Fort Totten Metro stations. Eight passengers and a train operator were killed in the collision and at least 70 people were injured. It is the deadliest accident in the history of the Washington Metro. The National Transportation Safety Board's report of July 27, 2010, blamed the crash on a faulty track circuit, part of the automatic train control system. WMATA issued a list of planned changes. ### Chronology Dates on which portions of the Red Line opened for service. ## Route The Red Line begins above ground at Shady Grove, and parallels CSX Transportation's Metropolitan Subdivision (served by MARC Brunswick Line trains) to south of Twinbrook. The route then enters a tunnel and curves west to run under Rockville Pike at North Bethesda. Until Tenleytown, the line follows the route of Rockville Pike and Wisconsin Avenue in a tunnel, except for a bridge over the Capital Beltway (I-495). The tunnel curves east at Tenleytown into Yuma Street to reach the Van Ness–UDC station, curving south there to travel under Connecticut Avenue through south of Farragut Square. A curve under Lafayette Park takes the tunnel east under G Street Northwest through the Metro Center and Gallery Place stations. From Gallery Place through Judiciary Square, the line runs southeast, turning east again at D Street to reach Union Station. There it turns north and surfaces next to Union Station's platforms, follows the Washington Terminal yard tracks north to Brentwood where the line turns northwestward and again joins CSX Transportation's Metropolitan Subdivision tracks, running in a unique gauntlet arrangement with the freight railroad tracks straddling the Metro tracks. The Red Line continues in this manner northwest across the DC-Maryland line, through Takoma and past Silver Spring. It reenters a tunnel at 16th Street and heads north under Georgia Avenue to the end at Glenmont. The Metropolitan Subdivision right-of-way were part of the former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad route to downtown Washington, D.C. The MARC commuter rail system uses this parallel route with stops in Silver Spring and Rockville when traveling between Washington and Martinsburg, West Virginia, while Amtrak uses this parallel route with a stop in Rockville when traveling the Capitol Limited route between Washington, D.C., and the Chicago Union Station. There is a maintenance yard between the NoMa–Gallaudet and Rhode Island Avenue–Brentwood stops. Internally, WMATA calls the Red Line the Shady Grove Route (A) and the Glenmont Route (B), which meet at Metro Center. The Red Line needs 44 trains (10 eight-car trains and 34 six-car trains, consisting of 284 rail cars) to run at peak capacity. Trains run most frequently during morning and evening rush hours (nominally four to eight minutes apart) and least frequently after 9:30 p.m. (nominally 15 to 18 minutes apart). The Red Line is one of two lines that do not enter Virginia, the other being the Green Line. ## Stations The line serves the following stations, from northwest to northeast: ## Future In November 2010, the WMATA authorized \$37 million in capital improvements on the Red Line, a part of \$212 million of work on the Red Line scheduled for 2010 to 2014. In 2011, the WMATA examined the possibility of extending the Red Line past the Shady Grove station to the Metropolitan Grove station by 2040. In April 2012, a 1,200-car parking garage opened at the Glenmont station, joining the existing 1,700-car garage. Construction on the project, funded by the state of Maryland, began in December 2009.
10,139,724
Mr. Monk Gets Jury Duty
1,167,938,170
null
[ "2006 American television episodes", "Juries in fiction", "Monk (TV series) episodes", "Parodies of films", "Parody television episodes", "Television courtroom dramas", "Twelve Angry Men" ]
"Mr. Monk Gets Jury Duty" is the sixteenth and final episode of the fourth season of the American comedy-drama detective television series Monk, and is the show's 61st episode overall. The series follows the adventures of Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub), a private detective with obsessive–compulsive disorder and multiple phobias, and his assistant Natalie Teeger (Traylor Howard). In this episode, Monk is requested to be part of a jury for a minor crime but discovers one of the jurors is involved in a bigger crime. Peter Wolk wrote the episode, which drew influences from the film 12 Angry Men. When "Mr. Monk Gets Jury Duty" first aired in the United States on USA Network on March 17, 2006, it was watched by 5.4 million viewers. The episode was generally well received by critics, who praised its humor and homage to 12 Angry Men. ## Plot Captain Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) and Lieutenant Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford) capture Miguel Escobar (Carlos Gómez), an FBI's Most Wanted List–drug lord. They encounter FBI agent Lapides (Michael Weaver), who informs them that they will babysit Escobar until he is transferred to the federal government's custody. Elsewhere, private investigator Monk (Tony Shalhoub) has been selected for jury duty on the case of a young man named Robert Perry (Edo Walker), who has been accused of stabbing and robbing a man named Karl Pillemer (Blake Silver). The other jurors are convinced of the accused's guilt, but Monk is not. He claims that the wound was self-inflicted and the knife placed in Perry's hand while he was sleeping so Pillemer could pocket the money. During the jury deliberation, Monk sees a police dog sniffing around a dumpster outside the courthouse and deduces that a body is hidden inside. Disher finds the body of a woman with no identification, and Monk remembers that she was in the assembly room when the jurors were selected. The following day, Monk shows the jurors evidence to prove Pillemer's guilt. The jurors are convinced, except for Juror No. 12, Pat (Emmanuelle Vaugier), who changes her vote to guilty before leaving for the bathroom. On Pat's jacket, Monk finds traces of lime, which he had seen on a tarp covering the body. Monk deduces that Pat killed the woman to get on the jury using her identity, and has changed her vote to delay the verdict and stay in the jury room. However, none of the jurors, not even Monk, know that Pat is Escobar's girlfriend, and it is the day that Escobar will be transferred to federal custody. Monk asks the other jurors to help him reveal the woman's deception. When she returns, they switch their votes to guilty to see her reaction. She reacts by producing a gun, knocking the bailiff unconscious, and leaving the jurors bound and gagged to their chairs. She draws the blinds down but leaves them uneven. Meanwhile, Escobar is about to get on the federal courthouse elevator when his girlfriend shoots the guards. Natalie notices the uneven blinds in the jury room window and realizes something must be wrong. She breaks into the jury room and frees Monk; seeing the elevator rise instead of descend, Monk realizes that the two intend to slide from the roof to the dumpster via a garbage chute. He and Natalie call Stottlemeyer to warn him, and the police reach the dumpster just in time to apprehend Escobar and his girlfriend. ## Production "Mr. Monk Gets Jury Duty" was written by Peter Wolk and directed by Andrei Belgrader. While this marked Belgrader's fourth directing credit in the series, it was Wolk's second episode, following season three's "Mr. Monk Gets Fired". Wolk, who previously worked as a criminal defense attorney, had also written for courtroom-themed works such as The Defenders and Fighting the Odds. The story was written by Wolk over a week in 2005 in Summit, New Jersey. The episode was mostly filmed in Los Angeles, apart from the opening Chinatown chase scene, which was shot on-location in San Francisco. Some exteriors were also filmed in other San Francisco Bay Area locations. The jury subplot was heavily inspired by the 1957 film 12 Angry Men. For example, juror Mr. Cobb was named after Lee J. Cobb (who portrayed Juror No. 3 in the film), while the panning shot of the jury room was inspired by an identical shot toward the end of 12 Angry Men. ## Reception "Mr. Monk Gets Jury Duty" was first broadcast in the United States on the USA Network at 10 pm EST on March 17, 2006. According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was viewed by an estimated number of 5.4 million people, making it the second-highest-viewed cable series of the week of March 13–19. 50,000 Monk fans from Green Bay voted it as the 12th best episode of the series in January 2007 (out of 71). Adam Finley of TV Squad called the episode "decent," but later went on to say "[Monk's] interaction between the rest of the jurors was hysterical." A reviewer for TV Guide called it "a humdinger of an episode", praised the chemistry between Shalhoub and Howard, and said the "ID-idea" joke was "neo-screwball comedy at its best." The Digital Fix's Jon White praised the homage to 12 Angry Men, saying it shows the "obvious" care the last four episodes of the season received. The Brazilian counterpart to Universal Channel, who broadcast Monk in the country, elected it as one of the ten best episodes of the series in 2014.
2,681,265
Letters from an American Farmer
1,148,147,736
Book by J. Hector St. John de Crèvecœur
[ "1782 novels", "18th-century American novels", "18th-century French novels", "American philosophical novels", "Epistolary novels", "Fiction set in the 1780s", "French philosophical novels" ]
Letters from an American Farmer is a series of letters written by French American writer J. Hector St. John de Crèvecœur, first published in 1782. The considerably longer title under which it was originally published is Letters from an American Farmer; Describing Certain Provincial Situations, Manners, and Customs not Generally Known; and Conveying Some Idea of the Late and Present Interior Circumstances of the British Colonies in North America. The twelve letters cover a wide range of topics, from the emergence of an American identity to the slave trade. Crèvecœur wrote Letters during a period of seven years prior to the American Revolutionary War, while farming in the fertile Greycourt, blackdirt region of Chester, NY, a small town in Orange County, New York. It is told from the viewpoint of a fictional narrator in correspondence with an English gentleman, and each letter concerns a different aspect of life or location in the British colonies of America. The work incorporates a number of styles and genres, including documentary, as well as sociological observations. Although only moderately successful in America, Letters was immediately popular in Europe upon its publication in 1782. Prompted by high demand, Crèvecœur produced an expanded French version that was published two years later. The work is recognised as being one of the first in the canon of American literature, and has influenced a diverse range of subsequent works. ## Biographical background Born in Caen, Normandy to an aristocratic family, Michel-Guillaume Hector St. John de Crèvecœur received a Jesuit education at the Jesuit Collège Royal de Bourbon. In 1754, having left school, Crèvecœur visited relatives in England where he became engaged; this visit would mark the beginning of a lifelong admiration for the culture and politics of the country. Shortly after this, possibly due to the death of his fiancée, he joined a French regiment in Canada engaged in the French and Indian War (1754–1763). After being wounded in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham (1759), Crèvecœur resigned his commission and began traveling widely across Pennsylvania and New York. In 1765, Crèvecœur became an official resident of New York and naturalized as a British subject, adopting the name J. Hector St. John. After working as a surveyor and trader during the subsequent four years, in which he traveled extensively, he purchased farmland in Orange County, New York and married Mehitabel Tippett. During the following seven years, Crèvecœur wrote Letters from an American Farmer and corresponded with William Seton (possibly referenced in the book as "Mr F. B.", and to whom the French edition was dedicated). As local hostilities between the loyalists and revolutionaries escalated in the build-up to the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), Crèvecœur decided to return to France; scholars have suggested that he did so in order to secure his legal claim to his patrimony. Upon his arrival in New York City in 1778, Crèvecœur found himself under suspicion of being a Revolutionary spy and was detained; whilst in detention, he suffered a nervous collapse. He was released to travel in September 1780, and traveled to London after landing in Ireland. There, he sold the manuscript of Letters to publishers Davies & Davis before leaving for France. ## Summary - Letter I: "Introduction" — Introduction of the fictional persona of James, an American farmer, and the commencement of his correspondence via letters with 'Mr F. B.', an English gentleman. Doubting his writing abilities, he receives advice from his wife and the local minister. - Letter II: "On the Situation, Feelings, and Pleasures of an American Farmer" — Description of the creatures, plants, and activities on and around the farm owned by James. It comments on the differences between the American model of society and that of European countries. - Letter III: "What Is an American?" — Comparison between the physical environment and the societies that emerge from it. Explores the conditions and aspects of the new American country and what constitutes the identity of its citizens. - Letters IV – VIII — Widely referred to as the "Nantucket sequence" or "Nantucket letters". These letters describe various aspects of the Quaker society on the island of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard: - Letter IV: "Description of the island of Nantucket; with the manners, customs, policy and trade, of the inhabitants" - Letter V: "Customary education and employment of the inhabitants of Nantucket" - Letter VI: "Description of the island of Martha's Vineyard, and of the whale-fishery" - Letter VII: "Manners and customs at Nantucket" - Letter VIII: "Peculiar customs at Nantucket" - Letter IX: "Description of Charles Town; Thoughts on Slavery; on Physical Evil; a Melancholy Scene" — An account of "Charles Town" (now Charleston), particularly on the institution of slavery in the town and in the Southern United States. It argues about the destruction that revolves around the slave-master relationships and makes an appeal to the North, in particular, that slavery is a truly evil practice in the midst of the new nation of America. - Letter X: "On snakes and on the humming-bird" — Extensive detailing of a wide variety of snakes, including the cultural practices surrounding them; it also mentions their habits and stories that have been told in America, warning people about certain ones. At the end of this letter, the discussion turns to the hummingbirds found around James' land and their habits and varieties. - Letter XI: "From Mr. Iw——n Al——z, a Russian gentleman describing a visit he paid, at my request, to Mr. John Bertram, the celebreated Pennsylvanian botanist" — Narrated by a Russian gentleman, describing his visit to the famous Pennsylvanian botanist, Mr. John Bertram. The narrator tells of the new methods of fertilizing and irrigation that Bertram has invented and used on his own plants. - Letter XII: "Distresses of a Frontier Man" — Description of the impending American Revolutionary War and James' turmoil at being caught between forces—American and British—beyond his own control, including anxiety over to whom he owes his allegiance. Also considered is the way of life of Native Americans, with whom James and his family intend to live at the close of the book. ## Structure, genre and style Letters is structured around the fictional correspondence via letters between James—an American farmer living in the Quaker colony of Pennsylvania—and an English gentleman, Mr F. B. However, it's only James' letters that are presented, as the addressee's answers are absent. The work consists of twelve letters that address a wide range of issues concerning life in the British colonies in America in the years prior to the American Revolutionary War. The "Introductory Letter" (Letter I) introduces the fictional narrator James, and each subsequent letter takes as its subject matter either a certain topic (Letter III "What is an American?") or a particular location that James visits (Letters IV, VI and IX describe Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and Charles Town respectively), though certain themes span or are referred to within several letters. The exception to this is Letter XI, which is written by a Russian gentleman ("Mr. Iw——n Al——z") describing his visit to the botanist John Bartram, but who is presumed to also be writing to Mr F. B. Arranged as a series of discontinuous letters, the work can appear superficially disconnected, although critics have identified various levels of coherence and organization. The text incorporates a broad range of genres, ranging from documentary on local agricultural practices to sociological observations of the places visited and their inhabitants; Norman Grabo describes it as "an example of the American tradition of book-as-anthology and authorship-as-editing". Whereas early readings of the text tended to consider it "as a straightforward natural and social history of young America", critics now see it as combining elements of fiction and non-fiction in what Thomas Philbrick has termed a "complex artistry". In addition to its usual classification as a form of epistolary, philosophical travel narrative—comparable to Montesquieu's Persian Letters—the text has been considered as a novel, and as a romance. ## Themes ### Shift of tone Letters has been said to exhibit a "model of decline", as the optimistic tone of the early letters is disrupted and the text become increasingly pessimistic; there is a movement from a "joy, pride, wonder" at the spectacle of America, to the "images of the inhuman brutality of slavery". However, there is disagreement over whether this model of decline is produced by James' own disillusionment, or whether it is evidence of Crèvecœur's voice interceding into the narrative; further, critics disagree over where in the narrative the disillusionment occurs, variably placing it in the third, eighth and ninth letters. ### Relationship with the environment Among the most significant and recurring themes of Letters is that of the individual and society's relationship with their environment; the work has been read as an "impassioned, unqualified defense of American agrarianism". The theme appears especially in Letter II, III and in the letters describing Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, where James' views are expressive of the doctrine of environmental determinism, that human growth, development and activities are controlled by the physical environment. Anna Carew-Miller suggests that what the text articulates on this subject is "the [cultural] myth that a man's relationship with the land confirms his masculinity and dignity as a citizen." ## Reception and legacy When Crèvecœur offered his manuscript essays to the London publishers Davies & Davis in 1782, they were initially skeptical about the potential for the Letters to be successful. However, the work proved to be instantly popular in England for a variety of reasons. Proponents of political reform such as William Godwin and Thomas Paine approved of the radical anti-government implications of its message. Romantic writers admired, and were influenced by, its evocation of the natural landscape and the individual's relationship to it. More widely, in the final years of the Revolutionary War, the public was eager for the documentary detail Letters provided about America. The popularity of the book led to a second edition being called for only a year later. In continental Europe, Letters proved equally popular. Dutch and German translations were rapidly produced, and prompted by constant demand, editions appeared in such places as Dublin, Paris and Maastricht. In lieu of a second volume of letters, Crèvecœur produced an expanded French version (Lettres d'un cultivateur américain) that was published in 1784. The French version, which removed the fictional persona of James, is presented as a series of documents that have been neutrally edited, providing greater documentary detail but at the expense of artistry. In the twentieth century there was a revival of interest in the text. Critic David Carlson suggests that it was "Not aesthetics, but the politics of nationalism appears to have been the primary force behind Crevecoeur's critical resurrection"—the Letters being among the first works to depict an American "melting pot". Letters, particularly Letter III ("What is an American?"), is frequently anthologized, and the work is recognized as being one of the first in the canon of American literature. ## See also - Letters on the English (Lettres philosophiques) by Voltaire, and Persian Letters (Lettres persanes) by Montesquieu, two works in the same literary tradition. - John Locke, an English philosopher whose ideas on Social Contract theory inform the views expressed in Letters.
697,946
M-21 (Michigan highway)
1,166,638,689
State highway in Michigan, United States
[ "Interstate 69", "State highways in Michigan", "Transportation in Clinton County, Michigan", "Transportation in Genesee County, Michigan", "Transportation in Ionia County, Michigan", "Transportation in Kent County, Michigan", "Transportation in Shiawassee County, Michigan" ]
M-21 is an east–west state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan connecting the cities of Grand Rapids and Flint. The highway passes through rural farming country and several small towns along its course through the Lower Peninsula. Following the course of a handful of rivers, M-21 also connects some of the state's freeways like Interstate 96 (I-96), US Highway 127 (US 127) and I-75. The highway is used by between 1,700 and 36,000 vehicles daily. M-21 was designated along the highway by July 1, 1919 between Ionia and Goodells near Port Huron. Changes made in the 1920s extended it on the west end to Holland and on the east end to Port Huron. M-21 was truncated at both of its current termini as two Interstate freeways were completed. I-196 functionally replaced M-21 between Holland and Grand Rapids with a portion retained under state maintenance as Old M-21, now M-121. I-69 replaced M-21 from Flint to Port Huron. A section of M-21 through Flint became M-56. That designation was decommissioned in 1984 when M-21 was returned to its former routing in Flint. ## Route description M-21 starts on Fulton Street at a junction with M-37 (East Beltline Avenue) on the east side of greater Grand Rapids. Fulton passes through residential areas on this side of town, and crosses over I-96. Continuing east, the highway passes the headquarters of Amway and crosses the Grand River near its confluence with the Thornapple River in Ada. M-21 runs long the north back of the Grand, turning southeasterly and east to Lowell. The roadway passes through downtown and over the Flat River near its confluence with the Grand. M-21 runs east of town through the southern end of the Lowell State Gaming Area and crosses into Ionia County. The road follows Bluewater Highway along the river, passing to the north of Saranac. It turns northeasterly through lightly forested farmland passing Bertha Brock Park as it approaches the city of Ionia. In town, M-66 runs concurrently along M-21 for a few blocks in the central business district. Bluewater Highway leaves town and continues along the Grand River to Muir, and the trunkline crosses the Maple River on east side of town. M-21 follows the course of the Maple briefly before turning east through farms along the Stony Creek to Pewamo. The highway bypasses the village to the south and crosses into Clinton County near the eastern edge of town. Western Clinton County's landscape is dominated by farms, interrupted by the community of Fowler. The highway enters the county seat, St. Johns on State Street, passing through a residential section of town. In the middle of downtown, M-21 intersects 2nd Street, which carries Business US Highway 127 (Bus. US 127). East of downtown, M-21 passes back into agricultural land and under the US 127 freeway. The landscape is once again dominated by these farms through the western side of the county. M-21 passes into the community of Ovid and over the county line into Shiawassee County. Continuing east through the county, the highway enters Owosso. The trunkline follows Main Street into downtown and crosses the Shiawassee River between junctions with M-52 and M-71 in Owosso. M-21 runs roughly parallel to the river out into the country side. The remainder of the county is the same, dominated by farmland along a straight stretch of flat highway. North of Lennon, M-21 meets M-13 at an intersection on the Shiawassee–Genesee county line. The landscape starts to transition to residential subdivisions as the roadway approaches the Flint area. In Flint Township, M-21 follows Corunna Road and meets I-75/US 23 at exit 118. The road crosses a former branch line of the Canadian National Railway (converted into a bicycle trail) east of the interchange. Corunna Road angles to the northeast near Bradley Avenue and terminates at Court Street. The trunkline turns east and follows Court over a tributary of the Flint River near Aldrich Park. Northeast of the stream, M-21 splits along a one-way pairing of Court and 5th streets. Eastbound traffic follows 5th Street past the city and county buildings in the area. The highway passes over I-475 and terminates at the east frontage road. Traffic connecting between M-21 and I-475 must use the frontage roads to make the connection. All of M-21, except for some segments just outside Grand Rapids and Flint, along with the highway split into two one-way streets inside Flint, is undivided surface road; none of M-21 is freeway. The section between I-75/US 23 and Saginaw Street in Flint is part of the National Highway System, a network of roadways important to the nation's economy, defense, and mobility. M-21, like all state highways, is maintained by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). As part of these responsibilities, the department tracks traffic volumes along its highways. They use a metric called average annual daily traffic (AADT), which is a calculation of the average traffic along a segment of roadway for any average day of the year. Traffic volumes in 2009 vary from 22,756 vehicles in the Forest Hills neighborhood east of Grand Rapids to 1,719 vehicles in Pewamo daily. MDOT reported that the peak AADT was 36,053 vehicles daily near the I-75 interchange in the Flint area. ## History Before the Interstate era, M-21 extended across the entire Lower Peninsula, from the junction with US 31 in Holland near Lake Michigan east to the St. Clair River at Port Huron, and crossed into Canada where the Blue Water Bridge is currently located. M-21 was designated by July 1, 1919 on a routing from Ionia to Goodells. Along the way, it ran through Lyons and Pewamo, joining its current routing to Ovid. M-21 continued through Corunna to Lennon and Flint. There it joined its last routing between Flint and the Port Huron area. The highway was extended to Port Huron by 1924, and the west end was extended to Grand Rapids in 1925 along M-16 (later US 16). The previous routing through Owosso and Lennon was redesignated as M-71 at this time when M-21 was shifted along the current routing between the two communities. The 1926 creation of the United States Highway System led to the extension of M-21 along US 16 to Grand Rapids. From there west, M-21 replaced M-51 on Chicago Drive to Holland. The highway was moved to a new routing between Flint and Lapeer in 1929; the old route was renumbered M-21A. All in-city portions of M-21 were transferred to state control in 1931 with the passage of the Dykstra Act of 1931 (PA 131 of 1931). A Bypass M-21 (Byp. M-21) designation was created in the Grand Rapids area in 1945. This designation ran from the corner of 28th Street and Chicago Drive along Byp. US 16 and Byp. US 131 on 28th Street. At East Beltline Avenue, Byp. US 131/Byp. M-21 turned north back to M-21. M-21A in Flint was turned over to local control in 1948, decommissioning the number. The Byp. M-21 routing was replaced by M-21 in 1953. The former routing in Grand Rapids became Bus. M-21 instead. A bypass of Zeeland opened in 1958, rerouting M-21 around the town. The I-196 freeway opened through Grand Rapids in 1964, and M-21 was routed along the freeway between Chicago Drive in Grandville and downtown, using I-96 to complete the connection to its previous routing on Fulton Street. The first freeway segment of M-21 on the east end was built from Wadhams to Port Huron in 1966. A freeway segment between Flint and Lapeer opened in 1971. M-21 was routed down M-13 to the new freeway where it joined the M-78 designation from M-13 east. The section of M-21 formerly between M-13 and Bus. M-54 was redesignated M-56. The M-78 designation was replaced by I-69 in 1973 after I-69 was extended north from Charlotte. The 1974 completion of I-196 meant the truncation of M-21 to end in Grand Rapids. At the time, M-21 was extended along Fulton Street to the East Beltline, and the business loop was truncated into a spur route redesignated BS I-196. The remaining segment of freeway connecting Flint with Port Huron opened in 1984 as I-69, and M-21 was shortened to Flint. M-56 was replaced by M-21 at this time as well. The former M-21 in Port Huron became BL I-69, and the remainder was turned back to local control. ## Major intersections ## Related trunklines ### M-21A M-21A was an alternate route for M-21 near Flint. It started at an intersection between M-21 (Court Street) and US 10 (Dort Highway) and ran southward concurrently with US 10 to Lapeer Road. The highway turned eastward along Lapeer Road and out of the city of Flint. It continued to an intersection with M-15 south of Davison, where it turned northward, running concurrently with M-15 into downtown. At an intersection with M-21 at Flint Street, M-21A ended. The highway was created in 1929, and it was turned over to local control in late 1948. Major intersections ### Bypass M-21 Bypass M-21 (Byp. M-21) was a bypass route of M-21 in Kent County. It started at the intersection between M-21 (Chicago Drive) and 28th Street in Grandville. From there, it was routed eastward along 28th Street running concurrently with Byp. US 16. At the intersection with US 131 (Division Avenue) on the Wyoming–Paris township line, a Byp. US 131 started and ran concurrently eastward along 28th Street. Byp. US 16/Byp. US 131/Byp. M-21 continued along 28th Street in Paris Township to an intersection with Kalamazoo Avenue where M-37 turned off Kalamazoo and onto 28th Street. Further east, 28th Street and East Beltline Avenue intersected. At that junction, Byp. US 131/Byp. M-21 turned northward along East Beltline while M-37 turned south and Byp. US 16 continued eastward on 28th Street. Running northward in Grand Rapids Township, Byp. US 131/Byp. M-21 intersected US 16/M-50 at Cascade Road before Byp. M-21 terminated at the intersection with M-21 (Fulton Street). During World War II, the state was building a beltline system for Grand Rapids. This highway, numbered M-114 was decommissioned by 1945 and the streets that composed it were given new designations. Byp. M-21 was routed along 28th Street from Grandville to Paris Township and along East Beltline into Grand Rapids Township. In 1953, the mainline M-21 was rerouted to replace its bypass around downtown, decommissioning the Byp. M-21 designation. Major intersections ### Business M-21 Business M-21 (Bus. M-21) was a business route of M-21 in the Grand Rapids area. It started at an interchange between Chicago Drive and I-196/M-21 in Grandville and followed Chicago Drive easterly through downtown Grandville. From there, the highway ran along industrial areas on the north side of Wyoming, running parallel to the I-196 freeway. At the intersection with Clyde Park Avenue, Bus. M-21 turned northward along Grandville Avenue and entered the city of Grand Rapids. At Franklin Street, the business route turned eastward and terminated at US 131. In 1953, M-21 was rerouted to replace its bypass route. The former route through downtown Grand Rapids was redesignated as Bus. M-21. At the time, Bus. M-21 continued eastward along Franklin Street before turning northward on Eastern Avenue into downtown Grand Rapids. Once there, it followed Fulton Street eastward through East Grand Rapids and into Grand Rapids Township where it terminated at East Beltline Avenue. The business loop was truncated to US 131 in 1972, and then redesignated as BS I-196 in 1974. Major intersections ### M-56 M-56 was a state trunkline highway from 1971 to the mid-1980s that replaced the M-21 designation from M-13 to Flint when the M-21 (now I-69) freeway was being built. The highway started at the intersection with M-13 on the Shiawassee–Genesee county line west of Flint. From there, it followed Corunna Road eastward through rural areas of Genesee County. Today, the area is farm fields through Clayton Township, and in Flint Township it is more suburban. The highway intersected the I-75/US 10/US 23 freeway just west of Flint's city line. Once in Flint, M-56 turned northeasterly onto Court Street. At an intersection with Saginaw Street, the highway turned southeasterly and then ended at the I-69/M-21 freeway. In 1971, M-21 was rerouted in the Flint area. After the change, it turned south along M-13 on the Shiawassee–Genesee county line to the M-78 freeway and then routed eastward to replace M-78. The former routing of M-21 on the western side of the county into downtown was redesignated M-56. When the M-21 designation was replaced with the I-69 designation in 1984, the M-56 designation was retired and M-21 was restored in its place. Major intersections ## See also
14,814,434
Saint Kitts and Nevis at the Olympics
1,168,874,943
null
[ "Saint Kitts and Nevis at the Olympics", "Sports governing bodies in Saint Kitts and Nevis" ]
Saint Kitts and Nevis first participated at the Olympic Games in 1996, and have competed in every Summer Olympic Games since then. The country has never won an Olympic medal and has not competed at the Winter Olympic Games. Saint Kitts and Nevis have competed only in athletics and have never won a medal. ## Olympic overview ### 1996 Summer Olympics The first year Saint Kitts and Nevis participated in the Olympics, they sent ten athletes, the most the country has ever sent. Kim Collins and Diane Francis both advanced to the quarterfinals of their events, in the 100 meter sprint and 400 meter dash respectively. They were both eliminated in the quarterfinals and did not advance to the semifinals. The rest of Saint Kitts and Nevis' participants took part in relay races. The men's 4 × 100 relay team placed fourth in their heat with a time of 40.12 seconds, the women's 4 × 100 relay team received a DNF (did not finish), and the women's 4 × 400 relay team finished seventh in their heat with a time of 3:35.12 minutes. None of the relay teams advanced to the next round. ### 2000 Summer Olympics Saint Kitts and Nevis only sent one male and one female athlete to the 2000 Summer Olympics, who both performed well. Kim Collins advanced to the semifinals in both the 100 meter and 200 meter sprints, but was eliminated from the 200 meter sprints. He advanced to the finals of the 100 meter sprint and placed seventh, with a time of 10.17. Valma Bass advanced to the semifinals in the 100 meter and 200 meter sprints, but was eliminated from both. ### 2004 Summer Olympics For the second consecutive Olympics, Saint Kitts and Nevis sent one male and one female to compete in athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Kim Collins once again made it to the finals of the 100 meter. He finished sixth in the 100 meter with a time of ten seconds. Collins was the oldest athlete to compete for Saint Kitts and Nevis at the age of 28. Tiandra Ponteen ran the 400 m dash, advancing to the semifinals. She finished fifth with a time of 51.33 seconds and did not advance to the finals. ### 2008 Summer Olympics Saint Kitts and Nevis sent one male and three female athletes to the 2008 Summer Olympics, who all competed in athletics. Kim Collins competed in two events, and was the only athlete from Saint Kitts and Nevis to advance to the finals. Collins finished in sixth place in the 200 meters, with a time of 20.59 seconds. ### 2012 Summer Olympics Saint Kitts and Nevis sent seven athletes to the 2012 Summer Olympics. One athlete, the sprinter Tameka Williams, admitted prior to competing in the London Games that she took Blast Off Red, which is typically used to increase the performance of horses and greyhounds. It was announced on July 29 that she would not compete. Kim Collins, who has competed in every Olympics that Saint Kitts and Nevis has participated in, was not allowed to compete by his Olympic committee. Collins was required to stay in the Olympic village, but instead stayed with his wife (who was also his coach), closer to the track. The committee said he had violated team rules, and did not allow him to compete. The 4 × 100 meter relay team, made up of—Antoine Adams, Delwayne Delaney, Brijesh Lawrence, Jason Rogers, and Lestrod Roland—set a national record for Saint Kitts and Nevis with a time of 38.41 seconds. They placed sixth and did not advance to the next round. ### 2016 Summer Olympics Saint Kitts and Nevis had seven participants at the 2016 Summer Olympics, led by team captain Antoine Adams. At 40 years old, Kim Collins was the first 40-year old to run a sub 10 second 100-meter dash, for his fifth consecutive Olympic Games. He was the oldest sprinter at these Games. Collins advanced the furthest of any Saint Kitts and Nevis athlete, reaching the semifinals of the 100 meter dash. He finished sixth in his heat with a time of 10.12 seconds and did not advance to the finals. ### 2020 Summer Olympics Saint Kitts and Nevis sent one male and one female athlete to compete in athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Jason Rogers ran the 100 m sprint, advancing to the semifinals. He finished sixth with a time of 10.12 seconds and did not advance to the finals. Amya Clarke ran the 100 m sprint, advancing to round one. She finished seventh with a time of 11.71 seconds and did not advance to the next round. ## Medal tables ### Medals by Summer Games ## Flagbearers ## See also - Saint Kitts and Nevis national athletics team
7,847,562
Cameroon at the 2002 Winter Olympics
1,085,428,920
null
[ "2002 in Cameroonian sport", "Cameroon at the Winter Olympics by year", "Nations at the 2002 Winter Olympics" ]
Cameroon sent a delegation to compete at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, United States from 8–24 February 2002. This was the nation's first appearance at a Winter Olympic Games. Cameroon sent only one representative, cross-country skier Isaac Menyoli. He finished the sprint in 65th place and the 2 × 10 kilometre pursuit in 80th position. ## Background The Cameroon Olympic and Sports Committee was recognised by the International Olympic Committee on 31 December 1962. The country began participating in Summer Olympics soon after, in 1964, and have participated in every Summer Olympics since. Salt Lake City was Cameroon's first appearance at a Winter Olympic Games. The 2002 Winter Olympics were held from 8–24 February 2002; a total of 2,399 athletes representing 77 National Olympic Committees took part. Cameroon sent one athlete to the Salt Lake City Olympics, cross-country skier Isaac Menyoli. He was selected as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony while a ceremony volunteer carried the Cameroonian flag for the closing ceremony. ## Cross-country skiing Isaac Menyoli was 29 years old at the time of the Salt Lake City Olympics, and was dedicated to use his Olympic participation to promote the cause of AIDS education in his native country. He was living in Wisconsin, and took up skiing in earnest only the year before, and competed successfully in five qualifying races. About Cameroon, Menyoli said "My friends think it is very stupid; we celebrate the Summer Olympics at home but the Winter Olympics are unheard of," On 14 February, he took part in the 2 × 10 kilometre pursuit, finishing the first classical 10 kilometres in 45 minutes and 40.3 seconds, ranking 80th and last. Only the top 60 were allowed to proceed to the second 10 kilometre freestyle portion, and Menyoli was eliminated, the slowest qualifying time being 29 minutes and 4.6 seconds. Five days later, on 19 February, he was a competitor in the sprint, finishing the qualifying round in a time of 4 minutes and 10.07 seconds. Only the top 16 could advance to the next round, and he was again eliminated; the slowest qualifying time was 2 minutes and 53.87 seconds. He ended the event in 65th place out of 69 classified finishers. Sprint
792,898
Hatfield College, Durham
1,163,634,091
Constituent college of Durham University
[ "1846 establishments in England", "Colleges of Durham University", "Educational institutions established in 1846", "Grade II listed buildings in County Durham", "Grade II listed educational buildings", "Hatfield College, Durham" ]
Hatfield College is one of the constituent colleges of Durham University in England. It occupies a city centre site above the River Wear on the World Heritage Site peninsula, lying adjacent to North Bailey and only a short distance from Durham Cathedral. Taking its name from a medieval Prince-Bishop of Durham, the college was founded in 1846 as Bishop Hatfield's Hall by David Melville, a former Oxford don. Melville disliked the 'rich living' of patrician undergraduates at University College, and hoped to nurture a collegiate experience that would be affordable to those of limited means; and in which the students and staff were to be regarded as part of a single community. In line with his ambitions, the college pioneered the concept of catered residences for students, where all meals were taken in the hall, and occupants charged fixed prices for board and lodgings — this system became the norm for Durham colleges, and later on at Oxford and Cambridge, before spreading worldwide. As the 20th century progressed, Hatfield was increasingly characterised by its irreverent atmosphere among undergraduates, reputation for academic indifference, sporting achievement — especially in rugby — and possessing a high intake of students from English public schools. College administration, on the other hand, preferred to highlight the willingness of students to get involved in a wide variety of university activities; and argued that 'Hatfield man', contrary to his reactionary image, had often been at the forefront of significant reform on campus. College architecture is an eclectic blend of buildings from a variety of styles and periods. The sloping main courtyard contains an eighteenth-century dining hall, the restrained Jacobethan Melville Building (designed by Anthony Salvin), a Victorian Gothic chapel, and the 'inoffensive neo-Georgian' C Stairs. The trend for revivalist and traditional buildings was disposed of with the modern Jevons Building, located in the college's second courtyard, which interprets older forms in a more 'contemporary' manner. After many decades as a single-sex institution, the first female undergraduates were formally admitted in Michaelmas term 1988. ## History ### Early years The establishment of the college in 1846 as a furnished and catered residence with set fees was a revolutionary idea, but later became the general standard for university accommodation in the modern sense: an "arrangement where students would be provided with furnished rooms and meals for a flat fee". Previously, university students were expected to furnish their rooms themselves. This concept came from the young founding master, David Melville, who believed his model would make a university education more affordable. Essentially, the three principles were that rooms would be furnished and let out to students with shared servants, meals would be provided and eaten in the college hall, and college battels (bills) were set in advance. This system made Hatfield a more economical choice when compared to University College, whose students were generally wealthier, and ensured that student numbers at Hatfield built up steadily. Melville's model was introduced to the wider university after an endorsement from the Royal Commission of 1862. Although not intended as a theological college, for the first 50 years the majority of students tended towards theology, while senior staff members and the principal were in holy orders. Under William Sanday (1876–1883) student numbers rose considerably, prompting a desperate search for extra rooms. It was forced to rent 3 South Bailey (now part of St John's College) in 1879 to accommodate them. Though Hatfield was run on the most economical lines, student poverty was a frequent problem. Dr Joseph Fowler, who, apart from his roles as Chaplain and Senior Tutor in the college, acted as Bursar, allowed undergraduates to take on some debt and even loaned them money, often employing rather creative accounting practises in the process. In 1880, a tennis court was installed for the first time, occupying roughly the same space as the current one. In the 1890s, the college purchased Bailey House and the Rectory (despite its name, most previous occupants were laymen) to accommodate more students. As the end of the century drew closer, the balance of undergraduate students rapidly shifted away from theology. In 1900, there were 49 arts students who had matriculated within the previous 3 years, and 20 in theology. By 1904, just 9 theology undergraduates are recorded, compared to 57 in arts. ### Inter-war The inter-war period saw a decline in college fortunes. In the first two decades of the 20th century, Hatfield had experienced a sharp fall in numbers. This was caused initially by the decision to isolate science courses at the campus in Newcastle, an increased tendency to train priests at specialized colleges, poor finances, and finally the outbreak of the First World War. For 15 years after 1897, total students in residence numbered above 100. This had fallen to 69 in 1916, 2 in 1917, and to 3 in 1918. After the war finished there was a temporary leap to more than 60 undergraduates, but by 1923 there were just 14 men on the college books. In 1924, a new science department was established in Durham, and this, along with the active recruiting efforts of new Master Arthur Robinson (1923–1940), achieved gains in student numbers. Within five years of Robinson's appointment they had quintupled from the low of 1923. However, the economic crisis of the 1920s created uncertainty. Hatfield had more students than University College yet lacked the facilities, especially kitchens, to accommodate them. University College, on the other hand, was comparatively undersubscribed. To address this, the two colleges effectively amalgamated under the guidance of Angus Macfarlane-Grieve, and all meals were taken together in the Great Hall of University College, while each college retained its own set of officers and clubs. Unhappy with this arrangement, some Hatfielders expressed their separate identity in trivial ways: for example, using a different door to enter the Castle dining hall than the University College students, and, in contrast to the University College contingent – turning to face the High Table during grace. The political situation in Europe impacted college activities: during one memorable rag week in 1936, Hatfield students staged a mock Nazi procession to the nearby Market Square, with participants dressing in jackboots, brown shirts, and fascist armbands. One of them, Joe Crouch, a fluent German speaker, comically impersonated Adolf Hitler and delivered an impromptu speech to the assembled crowd. In 1938, fears of an impending war resulted in the construction of an air raid shelter, with dons and servants digging trenches in the Master's garden (now Dunham Court). Gas masks were issued to college residents. Meanwhile, a recent decline in the number of freshers, and the death that year of John Hall How, the Master of University College, gave rise to rumours that Hatfield would be annexed to its older neighbour. ### World War II In October 1939, Hatfielders were barred from their own college when the university decided to use Hatfield as a temporary site for the new Neville's Cross College, an institution for training women teachers. Having spent over a decade taking meals in Castle, they would now be prevented from using Hatfield buildings altogether. Without its own buildings and Master, and the issue of the ongoing war, Hatfield was in a poor position to recruit new students, an era later described as the "wilderness years" by college archivist Arthur Moyes. However, the college received an unexpected new lease of life when the Royal Air Force established short courses at the university for some of its cadets, and soon these cadets made up half of the Hatfield student body. This led the university to postpone plans to merge Hatfield with University College. Plans were revived again in 1943, but met the strong opposition of Hatfield dons, especially Hedley Sparks. In 1946, the centenary year of the college, members formed the Hatfield Association to both represent alumni and demonstrate to the university council that Hatfield was supported. ### Post-war The university finally decided that from October 1949, Hatfield would be reestablished as an independent college – with Vindolanda archaeologist Eric Birley (1949–1956) appointed to serve as the new Master. The post-war period saw Hatfield once again faced with the familiar problem of squeezing in a larger student population, as the war had created a growing backlog. More buildings were constructed and refurbished. Moreover, accommodation was acquired away from the main site and the Senior Common Room was established. In 1962, it was decided that a brass plaque should be fixed to the college gates identifying the establishment as Hatfield College. Just 24 hours after installation, a group of students from a rival Bailey college were caught trying to remove the plaque as a sporting trophy. In 1963, the college received its first taste of student protest, when a "militant minority group of young gentlemen united under the banner of International Socialism". Around the same time students voted to boycott formal dinners after a row with Master Thomas Whitworth (1957–1979) over whether or not jeans counted as formal wear. Reforms were subsequently introduced. Joint standing committees, composed equally of staff and students, were set up to "deliberate almost every conceivable topic" and the undergraduate Senior Man was allowed to take part in meetings of the college's governing body. By 1971, a "liberal and balanced" Governing Body had been achieved: consisting of 4 college tutors, 4 elected tutors, 4 delegates from the Junior Common Room, and a representative from the Hatfield Association alumni group. Writing in the same year, a satisfied Whitworth was able to boast of warding off the "mischievous opportunism" of student "exhibitionists". ### Modern The leadership of James Barber (1980–1996) was a period of significant change. Student numbers rose, increasing to over 650 by the time Barber finished his tenure in office. Living out became compulsory for students for at least part of their career, and many existing buildings were either rebuilt or refurbished to make room for students: The Rectory was remodeled, C & D Stairs were refurbished, the Main Hall was repaired, and Jevons' was redecorated. A Middle Common Room for the postgraduate community was added in Kitchen Stairs. In 1981, the Formal Ball was renamed 'The Lion in Winter', which it has been called ever since. More comically, 'C Scales', a goldfish, was elected as a member of the JCR in 1982 and put forward as a potential Durham Student Union President. In 1984, the JCR was sued by representatives of the band Mud after a student ruined four speakers by pouring beer into an amplifier during a performance at a college ball. Hatfield also became co-educational, which at the time was only 'grudgingly accepted' by the college. In 1985, talk of going mixed was stimulated by the low numbers of applicants selecting Hatfield as their preference, and a recent decline in academic standards – with the college finishing bottom of the results table the previous year. Despite threats of hooliganism, the Senior Common Room decided in May of that year to push forward with plans to go mixed. In March 1987, a student referendum was held, with 79.2% voting for the college to remain men only. The Senate decided that, despite the referendum result, the college would in fact go mixed – and the first female undergraduates arrived the following year. The first female Senior Man held the post in 1992. Her election win, by a single vote, prompted some students to declare a mock 'week of mourning' and walk around the college wearing black arm bands. ## Buildings ### Main Court The oldest part of the college site is likely what is now the dining room, believed to date back to the 17th century. It originally formed part of a town house owned by a wealthy member of local society, and was converted in 1760 into a coaching inn, The Red Lion – a stopping point for coaches travelling between London and Edinburgh. During this time it also hosted concerts, probably featuring the work of composers like Charles Avison and John Garth. In 1799 the old coaching inn reverted to being a private residence. In 1845, it was sold to the university, and emerged as the first component of the newly founded Hatfield College the following year. Much more extensive when first occupied by Hatfield, since then "substantial parts of the building" have been replaced by newer structures. Apart from the dining room, what remains are spaces adjoining it that were once used by travellers, but are now filled by the Senior Common Room (SCR) – formerly a card room – the SCR dining room; and finally, on the higher floors, the 'D Stairs' student accommodation block, which comprises 13 twin rooms. D Staircase has had a reputation for being haunted by a female spirit, recognisable by the aroma of a distinctive perfume. At the west end of the dining room is Kitchen Block, which features the main kitchens as well as a small number of student rooms and offices on the higher floors. 'C Stairs', holding the C accommodation block, was officially opened in 1932 by Lord Halifax. It replaced an earlier section of the coaching inn used since the founding of the college. Designed by Anthony Salvin, A & B Stairs – also used for undergraduate housing – was completed in 1849 at a cost of £4,000, and was the first purpose-built part of the college. Containing A and B accommodation blocks, it was renamed and rededicated as the Melville Building in 2005 after a £1million refurbishment. Author Josceline Dimbleby, the great-great-granddaughter of David Melville, was invited to perform the ceremony. The Rectory was acquired in 1897, and is the administrative hub of the college, encompassing as it does the offices of the Master, the Vice-Master & Senior Tutor, the Assistant Senior Tutor, the Chaplain, the Senior Administrative Secretary, the Senior Tutor's Secretary, the Finance Officer and the Hatfield Trust/Association. The Birley Room, used for social functions, can be found at the ground floor of the Rectory. Added to the college at the same time as the Rectory, Hatfield Cottage is in between the redundant church of St Mary-le-Bow (now the Durham Museum and Heritage Centre) and Gatehouse Block. It is where the Middle Common Room (MCR) is now located, having moved from its former space in Kitchen Block. Gatehouse Block is to the right of the entrance and houses the porters' lodge. It also has single and twin use student rooms. In 1961 the college had begun a project to replace the remnants of a much older gatehouse that was in poor condition. The new pseudo-Georgian replacement was completed by Easter 1962 for a total cost of £55,000. To provide an unbroken front to the North Bailey, decorative gates and railings were installed in the aftermath. ### Dunham Court Named after alumnus Kingsley Dunham, Dunham Court is the second quadrangle of the college. Accessed through an underpass by the chapel, it comprises two buildings, Jevons (Frank Jevons) and Pace (Edward Pace). An influx of extra students after the war stimulated demand for more accommodation and the garden of the old Jevon's House provided the available space. The new building, described by Pevsner as "friendly", with a "nice rhythm of windows towards the river", was finished in 1950 and named after former Vice-Master Edward Pace. The college commenced the largest building project in its history when it demolished old Jevon's House, a "property of advanced decrepitude" once occupied by the bare-knuckle boxer and politician John Gully before its purchase by the university. As parts of the building had become dangerous by this point, the entire structure had to be removed. Construction of the new modernist style Jevons Building, which would complete the new Dunham Court, began in June 1966. It was officially unveiled in a ceremony in June 1968, attended by both Kingsley Dunham and Lord Lieutenant of Durham James Duff. It won a Civic Trust Award the following year. In 1972 a fishpond, since removed, was constructed in the centre of the court at the encouragement of senior college officers. Both buildings contain rooms and social spaces: the college bar and café is located in Jevons, while Pace has a TV lounge, a music room, two gyms, and the JCR Common Room. ### Chapel The college chapel was conceived in 1851 and built by 1854, funded by donations by alumni and topped up with a loan of £150 from the university. Designed by Bishop Cosin's Hall chaplain, James Turner (also a trained architect), it contains head sculptures of William Van Mildert, the founder of the university, and Warden Thorp, the first Vice-Chancellor. Commemorative oak panels mark the fallen of the First World War, with a book of remembrance naming those lost in the Second World War. The chapel houses a Harrison & Harrison organ, which is used to accompany services and for recitals. In 2001, it was refurbished at the cost of £65,000. When Hatfield was founded, attendance at cathedral services was compulsory; and once the chapel was constructed attendance at these services was obligatory for the next 80 years. Since then, the chapel has been described as making up an "important but minority interest" within the college. Hatfield offers eight choral scholarships annually, after an audition and interview process with the chaplain during first term. The choir is led by a student choral director, supported by an organ scholar and deputy organ scholar. It is mainly made up of students who support regular worship in the chapel, but also sing at other churches and cathedrals, with annual tours undertaken both at home and abroad. A further scholarship, the Matthew Fantom Organ Scholarship, is available to those students in the early stages of learning to play the organ and who would not be ready to apply for the regular organ scholarships. ### Other buildings Opposite the gatehouse on North Bailey is Bailey House, an accommodation block which provides 50 single rooms, plus a communal and kitchen area on the ground floor. Palmers Garth is located across the Kingsgate Bridge over the River Wear. It offers 8 twin and 41 single rooms for 57 students. The building was formerly used for administration by the university, and once hosted the careers service until it was handed over to Hatfield College in 1991. The postgraduate accommodation site is James Barber House, or JBH for short, a self-catered residence on nearby Church Street. Named after former Master James Barber, it was completed by Durham County Council as Palatine House in 1968, and originally a care home for the elderly before its purchase by the college in 2006. ## College traditions ### Arms From its foundation, the college used as its arms the personal shield of Thomas Hatfield (Azure, a chevron or, between three lions rampant argent). The crest was made circular in design and was accompanied with the Latin motto "Vel Primus Vel Cum Primis", which literally means "Either First or With the First", though is now loosely interpreted by the college as "Be the Best you can Be". In 1954, the college learned that its crest was unregistered with the College of Arms, and its display, including the use of Bishop Hatfield's shield, was both inappropriate and illegal. Consequently, it sought a grant of its own from the College of Arms, which was approved. The new arms were based on Hatfield's shield, but to difference the college's arms from the bishop's, a crown and plumes above the shield was added, with an ermine border and the college motto scrolled underneath. This new crest was more "official" looking but tricky to reproduce. Rodney Lucas, a student in the 1950s, was asked to produce freehand drawings of the college arms (one with the crest and one without) for use in the annual Hatfield Record. The design without the crest was ultimately chosen and appeared for years on college stationary. In June 1994, Lucas contacted the college with a new rendering of the college arms made on a computer, which was subsequently adopted. The commercial design for the arms was changed once again in 2005. ### Academic dress Similar to most Bailey Colleges, the wearing of the undergraduate academic gown is required for formal events, including to the matriculation ceremony and all formal dinners held in college. ### Formals In Michaelmas term (first term), formal dinners are held twice each week, on Tuesday and Friday. Epiphany term (second term) sees this reduced to mainly Fridays, while few formals are held during Easter term (third term) as students' attention is increasingly focused on exams and assignments. A High table, consisting of senior staff, is also present during formal meals. Unique to Hatfield is the tradition of 'spooning', in which students bang spoons on the edge of the table or on silverware for several minutes before the formal starts. The act immediately ceases when the High Table walks in. ### Grace > Benedicte Deus, qui pascis nos a iuventute nostra et praebes cibum omni carni, reple gaudio et laetitia corda nostra, ut nos, quod satis est habentes, abundemus in omne opus bonum. Per Jesum Christum, Dominum Nostrum, cui tecum et Spiritu Sancto, sit omnis honor, laus et imperium in saecula saeculorum. Amen. This can be translated as: > Blessed God, who feedest us from our youth, and providest food for all flesh, fill our hearts with joy and gladness, that we, having enough to satisfy us, may abound in every good work, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and praise and power for all ages. Amen. Since 1846 the grace has been read at all formal meals in college. It is popular at alumni dinners, where an attempt to read the grace in English was badly received by guests. Widely used in the fourth century and based on earlier Hebrew prayers, it was translated from the Greek and adopted by Oriel College, Oxford. Hatfield copied it practically verbatim; the college believes this was likely influenced by the Rev. Henry Jenkyns, a Fellow of Oriel before becoming Professor of Greek and Classical Literature at Durham. ## Student body As of the 2017/18 academic year, Hatfield College has a population of 1,339 students. There are 1,007 full-time undergraduates and 3 part-time undergraduates. Postgraduate figures include 55 students on full-time postgraduate research programs and 111 studying for full-time postgraduate taught programs, plus a further 94 part-time postgraduate students (research and taught) as well as 69 distance learning students. ### Common rooms The Junior Common Room (JCR) is for undergraduates in the college. It annually elects an executive committee consisting of 10 members, including an impartial chair, who run the JCR in conjunction with college officers. Unlike other colleges, Hatfield exclusively retains Senior Man as its title for the head of the JCR, having rejected a motion to move to "JCR President" in May 2014. A motion to allow the incumbent to choose between "Senior Man", "Senior Woman" or "Senior Student" was also defeated in January 2016. The Middle Common Room (MCR) is the organisation for postgraduate students. Postgraduate accommodation is located at James Barber House. College officers, fellows and tutors are members of the Senior Common Room (SCR). ### Image Having shed its theological image by the Second World War, Hatfield came to be seen in the decades following as a sporty college, with students who often held a relaxed attitude towards studying and were assumed to be disproportionately recruited from socially exclusive private schools. Writing in 1996, college archivist Arthur Moyes admitted that modesty "is not a Hatfield characteristic". Portrayals of Hatfield students as more privileged than others were resisted by then Master Thomas Whitworth in his 1971 college history, Yellow Sandstone and Mellow Brick; instead, Whitworth defined Hatfielders by ambition, and stressed their tendency to seek leadership positions on campus. This viewpoint was echoed years later by his successor, James Barber: > "Go to a University concert, a play or a debate, watch a University sporting event, and Hatfield students will be prominent." Alumni have also praised a "work hard, play hard ethos" conducive to future success and highlighted a strong sense of identity and community. Nevertheless, student articles have criticised Hatfield for being 'rah', and suggested it is responsible for perpetuating negative views about the wider university. Past data has shown it to be popular with applicants from private schools. For the 2015/2016 cycle, 65.8% of applicants were privately educated – against a university total of only 36.1%. To attract a wider range of candidates it has launched an outreach programme working with pupils in local state schools in Gateshead, Hartlepool, and Washington. ### Admissions For the 2015/2016 entry cycle 1,375 applicants selected the college as their preference. This made it the 5th most popular overall, behind University College, Josephine Butler College, Collingwood College, and St Mary's College. 336 accepted applicants ultimately enrolled. Compared to most other colleges, Hatfield received a somewhat higher percentage of gap year applicants, with 7.8% of applicants in the 2015/2016 cycle choosing to defer, against a university average of 3.8%. ## College officers and fellows ### Master The current Master is Ann MacLarnon, Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Durham University, who assumed the role in September 2017. List of past masters - David Melville (1846–1851) - William Henderson (1851–1852) - Edward Bradby (Michaelmas Term 1852) - James Lonsdale (1853–1854) - John Pedder (1854–1859) - James Barmby (1859–1876) - William Sanday (1876–1883) - Archibald Robertson (1883–1897) - Frank Jevons (1896–1923) - Arthur Robinson (1923–1940) - Angus Macfarlane-Grieve (1940–1949) - Eric Birley (1949–1956) - Thomas Whitworth (1957–1979) - James Barber (1980–1996) - Tim Burt (1996–2017) ### Fellows Hatfield College Council awards honorary fellowships to alumni and people who have a close association with Hatfield. On receipt of the fellowship, the fellow automatically becomes an honorary member of the SCR and receives the same benefits. By 2012, honorary fellows numbered 24 in total, notably including former university chancellor Bill Bryson. As of 2018, other staff affiliated to the college include eight junior research fellows and 10 Senior Research Fellows. Current senior fellows include, amongst others, the theologian Douglas Davies. The college also occasionally hosts visiting academics, normally for one term, as part of the fellowship scheme offered by the university's Institute of Advanced Study. ## Sports and societies ### Hatfield College Boat Club Hatfield College Boat Club (HCBC) is the boat club of Hatfield College at Durham University. The club was started in 1846, shortly after the founding of the college, making it one of the oldest student clubs in Durham. There is a Novice Development programme for absolute beginners. It also trains coxes and has a dedicated Coxes Captain. The current college boathouse was completed in Epiphany term of 1881, with the previous structure having to be rebuilt and re-sited at the cost of £250 – club members believing it to be 'inconveniently small' and very exposed to flood damage. Up until 2001 Hatfield shared its boat club with rowers from Trevelyan College. Tension over space, resulting from Hatfield's desire to purchase additional boats, saw the termination of this arrangement, with Trevelyan later electing to store its boats with the local owner of a private boathouse. In 2016, the boathouse was one of several to fall victim to racist graffiti and had a swastika and SS symbol splashed on the doors. Major maintenance was carried out in 2019: the roof was reinforced and the doors sanded and repainted. Notable former members of the club include Alice Freeman, Louisa Reeve, Angus Groom, and Simon Barr. ### Rugby Hatfield College has become known for prowess in rugby in particular – so much so that Thomas Whitworth (Master, 1957–79), a known rugby enthusiast, was often accused of bias in the selection and treatment of rugby-playing students. In intercollegiate rugby, Hatfield became the dominant club in the decades following the war, conceding the colleges cup just once in a 14-year period up to 1971. The Durham University team that triumphed in the 1969 University Athletic Union final against Newcastle University was made up mostly of Hatfield players. Intercollegiate dominance continued into the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, with Hatfield eventually establishing a record of 30 cup wins in 32 years. The 1995 cup final was noteworthy for being an all-Hatfield event, contested by the college's A and B teams. Today, double protein portions for university rugby players are still offered in the college dining hall each meal-time. Will Carling, Will Greenwood, and Marcus Rose are the most notable former undergraduates, all of whom made multiple appearances for England and participated in various editions of the Rugby World Cup. Richard Breakey and Jeremy Campbell-Lamerton were capped by Scotland, while Mark Griffin won several caps for the United States. Josh Basham, Stuart Legg and Ben Woods have all played club rugby for Newcastle Falcons. Another recent graduate, Fitz Harding, is signed to Bristol Bears. ### Other sports and societies Hatfield has its own theatre group, the Lion Theatre Company. It has SHAPED, which is a personal development program. ## Notable alumni Hatfield alumni are active through organisations and events, such as the Hatfield association, which now has a membership of more than 4,000 graduates. Some Hatfielders with more idiosyncratic career paths defy straightforward categorisation and are not listed in the below sections. They include: an academic and United Nations official who married a Princess, a security consultant with ties to a mercenary coup attempt in Africa, a financially profligate serial school founder, and a pioneering clergyman ecologist. The sporting alumni of Hatfield College may be the most famous, among them former England rugby union captain Will Carling, 2003 Rugby World Cup winner Will Greenwood, and former England cricket team captain Andrew Strauss. Fast bowler Frank Tyson and top order batsman Nick Compton and Tim Curtis are three other cricketing former students who made test match appearances for England. In rowing, Simon Barr, Alice Freeman, Angus Groom, Louisa Reeve, and Emily Taylor have all achieved success at international level. Athletes Jon Solly and Mark Hudspith medalled at the 1986 Commonwealth Games and 1994 Commonwealth Games respectively. Katharine Ford is the only Briton to ride an indoor velodrome for 12 hours or more. Politicians and campaigners who have attended the college include Robert Buckland, a former Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor; Edward Timpson, the MP for Eddisbury and former Minister of State for Children and Families; and Labour Party life peer Baron Carter of Coles. From earlier generations of students, theology graduate and noted suffragist Claude Hinscliff, conducted the funeral service for Emily Davison; and Clifford Nelson Fyle, a 1960 English graduate, wrote the lyrics to the Sierra Leone National Anthem. More recently, Jolyon Maugham – a 1995 law graduate – is founding director of the Good Law Project. Hatfielders in the military include Lord Dannatt, a former Chief of the General Staff, and one of his successors in the same role – General Mark Carleton-Smith. The late Air Marshall Peter Walker, Rear Admiral Andrew Burns, the current Fleet Commander, and retired Rear Admiral Matt Parr were also Hatfield undergraduates, in addition to Major-General Peter Grant Peterkin, who would go on to be appointed Serjeant at Arms in the House of Commons. Intelligence officer and conservationist Tracy Philipps, once a soldier amid numerous other activities, won the Military Cross during the First World War for his endeavours in the East African Campaign. At least 5 alumni have held ambassadorial level posts in the Foreign Office. They include: Kim Darroch, previously British Ambassador to the United States; former High Commissioner to Jamaica David Fitton; former High Commissioner to Bangladesh David Carter; Bruce Bucknell, a former British Ambassador to Belarus; and William Quantrill, who served as Ambassador to Cameroon. Peter Waterworth, an ex-Senior Man, was Governor of Montserrat from 2007 to 2011. In the media, broadcaster Jeremy Vine; presenters Mark Durden-Smith, Jonathan Gould, and Mark Pougatch; and David Shukman, Science Editor of BBC News (2012–2021), were all students at the college. Travel writer Alexander Frater was a Hatfield student, as was the poet and memoirist Thomas Blackburn, the fashion journalist Colin McDowell, singer-songwriter Jake Thackray, and comedian Ed Gamble. Landowner Delaval Astley, the 23rd Baron Hastings, played Cameron Fraser in The Archers for a number of years. Ecclesiastical alumni are numerous: with former Bishop of Derby Peter Dawes, former Bishop of Cyprus and the Gulf Clive Handford, royal chaplain Francis ffolkes, 5th Baronet, and Morris Gelsthorpe, the first Bishop in the Sudan, making up just a small sample. In academia, names include computer scientist Keith Clark, Professor of Computational Logic at Imperial College London (1987–2009); particle physicist Nigel Glover, a current professor at Durham; Rebecca Goss, Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of St Andrews; and economists Philip Booth, of the Institute of Economic Affairs, and Gordon Cameron, Professor of Land Economy at the University of Cambridge (1980–1990) and Master of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge (1988–1990); while glaciologist David Vaughan and geologist Joanne Johnson have both conducted research for the British Antarctic Survey. Investment manager Richard Pease, 4th Baronet, Eden Project founder Tim Smit, BP executive Richard Paniguian, telecoms entrepreneur Peter Owen Edmunds, Oliver Bonas founder Oliver Tress, and David Arkless, Chairman of End Human Trafficking Now, are all examples of alumni with a background in the business world. ## Gallery ## See also - List of Hatfield College alumni with articles on Wikipedia - History of Durham University
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Lawrencium
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[ "Actinides", "Chemical elements", "Chemical elements with hexagonal close-packed structure", "Lawrencium", "Synthetic elements", "Transition metals" ]
Lawrencium is a synthetic chemical element with the symbol Lr (formerly Lw) and atomic number 103. It is named in honor of Ernest Lawrence, inventor of the cyclotron, a device that was used to discover many artificial radioactive elements. A radioactive metal, lawrencium is the eleventh transuranic element and the last member of the actinide series. Like all elements with atomic number over 100, lawrencium can only be produced in particle accelerators by bombarding lighter elements with charged particles. Fourteen isotopes of lawrencium are currently known; the most stable is <sup>266</sup>Lr with half-life 11 hours, but the shorter-lived <sup>260</sup>Lr (half-life 2.7 minutes) is most commonly used in chemistry because it can be produced on a larger scale. Chemistry experiments confirm that lawrencium behaves as a heavier homolog to lutetium in the periodic table, and is a trivalent element. It thus could also be classified as the first of the 7th-period transition metals: however, its electron configuration is anomalous for its position in the periodic table, having an s<sup>2</sup>p configuration instead of the s<sup>2</sup>d configuration of its homolog lutetium. This means that lawrencium may be more volatile than expected for its position in the periodic table and have a volatility comparable to that of lead. In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, many claims of the synthesis of lawrencium of varying quality were made from laboratories in the Soviet Union and the United States. The priority of the discovery and therefore the name of the element was disputed between Soviet and American scientists, and while the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) initially established lawrencium as the official name for the element and gave the American team credit for the discovery, this was reevaluated in 1997, giving both teams shared credit for the discovery but not changing the element's name. ## Introduction ## History In 1958, scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory claimed the discovery of element 102, now called nobelium. At the same time, they also tried to synthesize element 103 by bombarding the same curium target used with nitrogen-14 ions. Eighteen tracks were noted, with decay energy around 9±1 MeV and half-life around 0.25 s; the Berkeley team noted that while the cause could be the production of an isotope of element 103, other possibilities could not be ruled out. While the data agrees reasonably with that later discovered for <sup>257</sup>Lr (alpha decay energy 8.87 MeV, half-life 0.6 s), the evidence obtained in this experiment fell far short of the strength required to conclusively demonstrate synthesis of element 103. A follow-up on this experiment was not done, as the target was destroyed. Later, in 1960, the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory attempted to synthesize the element by bombarding <sup>252</sup>Cf with <sup>10</sup>B and <sup>11</sup>B. The results of this experiment were not conclusive. The first important work on element 103 was done at Berkeley by the nuclear-physics team of Albert Ghiorso, Torbjørn Sikkeland, Almon Larsh, Robert M. Latimer, and their co-workers on February 14, 1961. The first atoms of lawrencium were reportedly made by bombarding a three-milligram target consisting of three isotopes of californium with boron-10 and boron-11 nuclei from the Heavy Ion Linear Accelerator (HILAC). The Berkeley team reported that the isotope <sup>257</sup>103 was detected in this manner, and that it decayed by emitting an 8.6 MeV alpha particle with a half-life of 8±2 s. This identification was later corrected to <sup>258</sup>103, as later work proved that <sup>257</sup>Lr did not have the properties detected, but <sup>258</sup>Lr did. This was considered at the time to be convincing proof of synthesis of element 103: while the mass assignment was less certain and proved to be mistaken, it did not affect the arguments in favor of element 103 having been synthesized. Scientists at Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna (then in the Soviet Union) raised several criticisms: all but one were answered adequately. The exception was that <sup>252</sup>Cf was the most common isotope in the target, and in the reactions with <sup>10</sup>B, <sup>258</sup>Lr could only have been produced by emitting four neutrons, and emitting three neutrons was expected to be much less likely than emitting four or five. This would lead to a narrow yield curve, not the broad one reported by the Berkeley team. A possible explanation was that there was a low number of events attributed to element 103. This was an important intermediate step to the unquestioned discovery of element 103, although the evidence was not completely convincing. The Berkeley team proposed the name "lawrencium" with symbol "Lw", after Ernest Lawrence, inventor of the cyclotron. The IUPAC Commission on Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry accepted the name, but changed the symbol to "Lr". This acceptance of the discovery was later characterized as being hasty by the Dubna team. <sup>252</sup> <sub>98</sub>Cf + <sup>11</sup> <sub>5</sub>B → <sup>263</sup> <sub>103</sub>Lr \* → <sup>258</sup> <sub>103</sub>Lr + 5 <sup>1</sup> <sub>0</sub>n The first work at Dubna on element 103 came in 1965, when they reported to have made <sup>256</sup>103 in 1965 by bombarding <sup>243</sup>Am with <sup>18</sup>O, identifying it indirectly from its granddaughter fermium-252. The half-life they reported was somewhat too high, possibly due to background events. Later 1967 work on the same reaction identified two decay energies in the ranges 8.35–8.50 MeV and 8.50–8.60 MeV: these were assigned to <sup>256</sup>103 and <sup>257</sup>103. Despite repeat attempts, they were unable to confirm assignment of an alpha emitter with a half-life of 8 seconds to <sup>257</sup>103. The Russians proposed the name "rutherfordium" for the new element in 1967: this name was later proposed by Berkeley for element 104. <sup>243</sup> <sub>95</sub>Am + <sup>18</sup> <sub>8</sub>O → <sup>261</sup> <sub>103</sub>Lr \* → <sup>256</sup> <sub>103</sub>Lr + 5 <sup>1</sup> <sub>0</sub>n Further experiments in 1969 at Dubna and in 1970 at Berkeley demonstrated an actinide chemistry for the new element; so by 1970 it was known that element 103 is the last actinide. In 1970, the Dubna group reported the synthesis of <sup>255</sup>103 with half-life 20 s and alpha decay energy 8.38 MeV. However, it was not until 1971, when the nuclear physics team at University of California at Berkeley successfully did a whole series of experiments aimed at measuring the nuclear decay properties of the lawrencium isotopes with mass numbers 255 to 260, that all previous results from Berkeley and Dubna were confirmed, apart from the Berkeley's group initial erroneous assignment of their first produced isotope to <sup>257</sup>103 instead of the probably correct <sup>258</sup>103. All final doubts were dispelled in 1976 and 1977 when the energies of X-rays emitted from <sup>258</sup>103 were measured. In 1971, the IUPAC granted the discovery of lawrencium to the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, even though they did not have ideal data for the element's existence. But in 1992, the IUPAC Transfermium Working Group (TWG) officially recognized the nuclear physics teams at Dubna and Berkeley as co-discoverers of lawrencium, concluding that while the 1961 Berkeley experiments were an important step to lawrencium's discovery, they were not yet fully convincing; and while the 1965, 1968, and 1970 Dubna experiments came very close to the needed level of confidence taken together, only the 1971 Berkeley experiments, which clarified and confirmed previous observations, finally resulted in complete confidence in the discovery of element 103. Because the name "lawrencium" had been in use for a long time by this point, it was retained by IUPAC, and in August 1997, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) ratified the name lawrencium and the symbol "Lr" during a meeting in Geneva. ## Characteristics ### Physical Lawrencium is the last actinide. Authors considering the subject generally consider it a group 3 element, along with scandium, yttrium, and lutetium, as its filled f-shell is expected to make it resemble the other 7th-period transition metals. In the periodic table, it is to the right of the actinide nobelium, to the left of the 6d transition metal rutherfordium, and under the lanthanide lutetium with which it shares many physical and chemical properties. Lawrencium is expected to be a solid under normal conditions and have a hexagonal close-packed crystal structure (<sup>c</sup>/<sub>a</sub> = 1.58), similar to its lighter congener lutetium, though this is not yet known experimentally. The enthalpy of sublimation of lawrencium is estimated at 352 kJ/mol, close to the value of lutetium and strongly suggesting that metallic lawrencium is trivalent with three electrons delocalized, a prediction also supported by a systematic extrapolation of the values of heat of vaporization, bulk modulus, and atomic volume of neighboring elements to lawrencium: this makes it unlike the immediately preceding late actinides which are known to be (fermium and mendelevium) or expected to be (nobelium) divalent. The estimated enthalpies of vaporization show that lawrencium deviates from the trend of the late actinides and instead matches the trend of the succeeding 6d elements rutherfordium and dubnium, consistent with lawrencium's interpretation as a group 3 element. Some scientists prefer to end the actinides with nobelium and consider lawrencium to be the first transition metal of the seventh period. Specifically, lawrencium is expected to be a trivalent, silvery metal, easily oxidized by air, steam, and acids, and having an atomic volume similar to that of lutetium and a trivalent metallic radius of 171 pm. It is expected to be a rather heavy metal with a density of around 14.4 g/cm<sup>3</sup>. It is also predicted to have a melting point of around 1900 K (1627 °C), not far from the value for lutetium (1925 K). ### Chemical In 1949, Glenn T. Seaborg, who devised the actinide concept, predicted that element 103 (lawrencium) should be the last actinide and that the Lr<sup>3+</sup> ion should be about as stable as Lu<sup>3+</sup> in aqueous solution. It was not until decades later that element 103 was finally conclusively synthesized and this prediction was experimentally confirmed. 1969 studies on the element showed that lawrencium reacts with chlorine to form a product that was most likely the trichloride, LrCl<sub>3</sub>. Its volatility was found to be similar to the chlorides of curium, fermium, and nobelium and much less than that of rutherfordium chloride. In 1970, chemical studies were performed on 1500 atoms of <sup>256</sup>Lr, comparing it with divalent (No, Ba, Ra), trivalent (Fm, Cf, Cm, Am, Ac), and tetravalent (Th, Pu) elements. It was found that lawrencium coextracted with the trivalent ions, but the short half-life of <sup>256</sup>Lr precluded a confirmation that it eluted ahead of Md<sup>3+</sup> in the elution sequence. Lawrencium occurs as the trivalent Lr<sup>3+</sup> ion in aqueous solution and hence its compounds should be similar to those of the other trivalent actinides: for example, lawrencium(III) fluoride (LrF<sub>3</sub>) and hydroxide (Lr(OH)<sub>3</sub>) should both be insoluble in water. Due to the actinide contraction, the ionic radius of Lr<sup>3+</sup> should be smaller than that of Md<sup>3+</sup>, and it should elute ahead of Md<sup>3+</sup> when ammonium α-hydroxyisobutyrate (ammonium α-HIB) is used as an eluant. Later 1987 experiments on the longer-lived isotope <sup>260</sup>Lr confirmed lawrencium's trivalency and that it eluted in roughly the same place as erbium, and found that lawrencium's ionic radius was 88.6±0.3 pm, larger than would be expected from simple extrapolation from periodic trends. Later 1988 experiments with more lawrencium atoms refined this to 88.1±0.1 pm and calculated an enthalpy of hydration value of −3685±13 kJ/mol. It was also found that the actinide contraction at the end of the actinides was larger than the analogous lanthanide contraction, with the exception of the last actinide, lawrencium: the cause was speculated to be relativistic effects. It has been speculated that the 7s electrons are relativistically stabilized, so that in reducing conditions, only the 7p<sub>1/2</sub> electron would be ionized, leading to the monovalent Lr<sup>+</sup> ion. However, all experiments to reduce Lr<sup>3+</sup> to Lr<sup>2+</sup> or Lr<sup>+</sup> in aqueous solution were unsuccessful, similarly to lutetium. On the basis of this, the standard electrode potential of the E°(Lr<sup>3+</sup> → Lr<sup>+</sup>) couple was calculated to be less than −1.56 V, indicating that the existence of Lr<sup>+</sup> ions in aqueous solution was unlikely. The upper limit for the E°(Lr<sup>3+</sup> → Lr<sup>2+</sup>) couple was predicted to be −0.44 V: the values for E°(Lr<sup>3+</sup> → Lr) and E°(Lr<sup>4+</sup> → Lr<sup>3+</sup>) are predicted to be −2.06 V and +7.9 V. The stability of the group oxidation state in the 6d transition series decreases as Rf<sup>IV</sup> \> Db<sup>V</sup> \> Sg<sup>VI</sup>, and lawrencium continues the trend with Lr<sup>III</sup> being more stable than Rf<sup>IV</sup>. In the molecule lawrencium dihydride (LrH<sub>2</sub>), which is predicted to be bent, the 6d orbital of lawrencium is not expected to play a role in the bonding, unlike that of lanthanum dihydride (LaH<sub>2</sub>). LaH<sub>2</sub> has La–H bond distances of 2.158 Å, while LrH<sub>2</sub> should have shorter Lr–H bond distances of 2.042 Å due to the relativistic contraction and stabilization of the 7s and 7p orbitals involved in the bonding, in contrast to the core-like 5f subshell and the mostly uninvolved 6d subshell. In general, molecular LrH<sub>2</sub> and LrH are expected to resemble the corresponding thallium species (thallium having a 6s<sup>2</sup>6p<sup>1</sup> valence configuration in the gas phase, like lawrencium's 7s<sup>2</sup>7p<sup>1</sup>) more than the corresponding lanthanide species. The electron configurations of Lr<sup>+</sup> and Lr<sup>2+</sup> are expected to be 7s<sup>2</sup> and 7s<sup>1</sup> respectively. However, in species where all three valence electrons of lawrencium are ionized to give at least formally the Lr<sup>3+</sup> cation, lawrencium is expected to behave like a typical actinide and the heavier congener of lutetium, especially because the first three ionization potentials of lawrencium are predicted to be similar to those of lutetium. Hence, unlike thallium but like lutetium, lawrencium would prefer to form LrH<sub>3</sub> than LrH, and LrCO is expected to be similar to the also unknown LuCO, both metals having valence configuration σ<sup>2</sup>π<sup>1</sup> in their monocarbonyls. The pπ–dπ bond is expected to be seen in LrCl<sub>3</sub> just as it is for LuCl<sub>3</sub> and more generally all the LnCl<sub>3</sub>. The complex anion [Lr(C<sub>5</sub>H<sub>4</sub>SiMe<sub>3</sub>)<sub>3</sub>]<sup>−</sup> is expected to be stable with a configuration of 6d<sup>1</sup> for lawrencium; this 6d orbital would be its highest occupied molecular orbital. This is analogous to the electronic structure of the analogous lutetium compound. ### Atomic Lawrencium has three valence electrons: the 5f electrons are in the atomic core. In 1970, it was predicted that the ground-state electron configuration of lawrencium was [Rn]5f<sup>14</sup>6d<sup>1</sup>7s<sup>2</sup> (ground state term symbol <sup>2</sup>D<sub>3/2</sub>), per the Aufbau principle and conforming to the [Xe]4f<sup>14</sup>5d<sup>1</sup>6s<sup>2</sup> configuration of lawrencium's lighter homolog lutetium. But the next year, calculations were published that questioned this prediction, instead expecting an anomalous [Rn]5f<sup>14</sup>7s<sup>2</sup>7p<sup>1</sup> configuration. Though early calculations gave conflicting results, more recent studies and calculations confirm the s<sup>2</sup>p suggestion. 1974 relativistic calculations concluded that the energy difference between the two configurations was small and that it was uncertain which was the ground state. Later 1995 calculations concluded that the s<sup>2</sup>p configuration should be energetically favored, because the spherical s and p<sub>1/2</sub> orbitals are nearest to the atomic nucleus and thus move quickly enough that their relativistic mass increases significantly. In 1988, a team of scientists led by Eichler calculated that lawrencium's enthalpy of adsorption on metal sources would differ enough depending on its electron configuration that it would be feasible to carry out experiments to exploit this fact to measure lawrencium's electron configuration. The s<sup>2</sup>p configuration was expected to be more volatile than the s<sup>2</sup>d configuration, and be more similar to that of the p-block element lead. No evidence for lawrencium being volatile was obtained and the lower limit for the enthalpy of adsorption of lawrencium on quartz or platinum was significantly higher than the estimated value for the s<sup>2</sup>p configuration. In 2015, the first ionization energy of lawrencium was measured, using the isotope <sup>256</sup>Lr. The measured value, 4.96 eV, agreed very well with the relativistic theoretical prediction of 4.963(15) eV, and also provided a first step into measuring the first ionization energies of the transactinides. This value is the lowest among all the lanthanides and actinides, and supports the s<sup>2</sup>p configuration as the 7p<sub>1/2</sub> electron is expected to be only weakly bound. As ionisation energies generally increase left to right in the f-block, this low value suggests that lutetium and lawrencium belong in the d-block (whose trend they follow) and not the f-block. That would make them the heavier congeners of scandium and yttrium, rather than lanthanum and actinium. Although some alkali metal-like behaviour has been predicted, adsorption experiments suggest that lawrencium is trivalent like scandium and yttrium, not monovalent like the alkali metals. A lower limit on lawrencium's second ionization energy (\>13.3 eV) was experimentally found in 2021. Even though s<sup>2</sup>p is now known to be the ground-state configuration of the lawrencium atom, ds<sup>2</sup> should be a low-lying excited-state configuration, with an excitation energy variously calculated as 0.156 eV, 0.165 eV, or 0.626 eV. As such lawrencium may still be considered to be a d-block element, albeit with an anomalous electron configuration (like chromium or copper), as its chemical behaviour matches expectations for a heavier analogue of lutetium. ### Isotopes Fourteen isotopes of lawrencium are known, with mass number 251–262, 264, and 266; all are radioactive. Seven nuclear isomers are known. The longest-lived isotope, <sup>266</sup>Lr, has a half-life of about ten hours and is one of the longest-lived superheavy isotopes known to date. However, shorter-lived isotopes are usually used in chemical experiments because <sup>266</sup>Lr currently can only be produced as a final decay product of even heavier and harder-to-make elements: it was discovered in 2014 in the decay chain of <sup>294</sup>Ts. <sup>256</sup>Lr (half-life 27 seconds) was used in the first chemical studies on lawrencium: currently, the longer-lived <sup>260</sup>Lr (half-life 2.7 minutes) is usually used for this purpose. After <sup>266</sup>Lr, the longest-lived isotopes are <sup>264</sup>Lr (4.8+2.2 −1.3 h), <sup>262</sup>Lr (3.6 h), and <sup>261</sup>Lr (44 min). All other known lawrencium isotopes have half-lives under 5 minutes, and the shortest-lived of them (<sup>251</sup>Lr) has a half-life of 24.4 milliseconds. The half-lives of lawrencium isotopes mostly increase smoothly from <sup>251</sup>Lr to <sup>266</sup>Lr, with a dip from <sup>257</sup>Lr to <sup>259</sup>Lr. ## Preparation and purification Most isotopes of lawrencium can be produced by bombarding actinide (americium to einsteinium) targets with light ions (from boron to neon). The two most important isotopes, <sup>256</sup>Lr and <sup>260</sup>Lr, can be respectively produced by bombarding californium-249 with 70 MeV boron-11 ions (producing lawrencium-256 and four neutrons) and by bombarding berkelium-249 with oxygen-18 (producing lawrencium-260, an alpha particle, and three neutrons). The two heaviest and longest-lived known isotopes, <sup>264</sup>Lr and <sup>266</sup>Lr, can only be produced at much lower yields as decay products of dubnium, whose progenitors are isotopes of moscovium and tennessine. Both <sup>256</sup>Lr and <sup>260</sup>Lr have half-lives too short to allow a complete chemical purification process. Early experiments with <sup>256</sup>Lr therefore used rapid solvent extraction, with the chelating agent thenoyltrifluoroacetone (TTA) dissolved in methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) as the organic phase, and with the aqueous phase being buffered acetate solutions. Ions of different charge (+2, +3, or +4) will then extract into the organic phase under different pH ranges, but this method will not separate the trivalent actinides and thus <sup>256</sup>Lr must be identified by its emitted 8.24 MeV alpha particles. More recent methods have allowed rapid selective elution with α-HIB to take place in enough time to separate out the longer-lived isotope <sup>260</sup>Lr, which can be removed from the catcher foil with 0.05 M hydrochloric acid. ## See also
13,517,330
Matsalu National Park
1,161,698,755
National park in Estonia
[ "Geography of Lääne County", "Landforms of Lääne County", "National parks of Estonia", "Protected areas established in 1957", "Ramsar sites in Estonia", "Tourist attractions in Lääne County" ]
Matsalu National Park (previously Matsalu Nature Reserve, Estonian: Matsalu rahvuspark, often just Matsalu) is a nature reserve and national park situated in Lääne and Pärnu Counties, Estonia. Matsalu National Park spans an area of 486.1 km<sup>2</sup> (187.7 sq mi), comprising Matsalu Bay, the Kasari River delta, the village of Matsalu and surrounding areas. Matsalu Bay is one of the most important wetland bird areas in Europe, due to its prime position on the East Atlantic Flyway. Large numbers of migratory birds use Matsalu as a staging area. Every spring over two million waterfowl pass Matsalu, of which around 1.6 million are long-tailed ducks. Matsalu National Park is a home for a number of endangered species, many of which are listed in the Estonian IUCN Red List, including the white-tailed eagle of the highest conservation category, a lot of bird species of the second and third protection categories, 22 strongly protected plant species, the natterjack toad, and ten species of mammals of the second conservation category. ## Description Matsalu National Park covers a total area of 486.1 km<sup>2</sup> (187.7 sq mi), encompassing Matsalu Bay along with the delta of the Kasari River and its surrounding areas — floodplains, coastal meadows, reedbeds, woodlands, wooded meadows, and the section of Väinameri around the mouth of the bay, which includes more than 50 islands. 224.3 km<sup>2</sup> (86.6 sq mi) of the protected area is terrestrial and 261.8 km<sup>2</sup> (101.1 sq mi) is aquatic. Matsalu Bay is shallow, brackish and rich in nutrients. The bay is 18 km (11.2 mi) long and 6 km (3.7 mi) wide, but has an average depth of only 1.5 metres (5 ft) and a maximum depth of 3.5 m (11 ft). Water salinity is approximately 0.7 per mil. Shoreline length of the bay is about 165 km (102.5 mi). The bay's shoreline lacks high banks and is populated mostly with shingle shores, with muddy and overgrown reed in the innermost, sheltered part of the bay. Kasari River is the biggest of several rivers that run into Matsalu Bay. The delta of the Kasari River is not in its natural condition due to dredging between 1930 and 1960; the alluvial meadow of the delta (40 km<sup>2</sup> (15 sq mi)), most of which is actively managed, is one of the biggest open wet meadows in Europe. Reeds and rushes surrounding the main channel expand westwards up to 100 m (328 ft) every year. Annual inflow into the Matsalu Bay from the Kasari River exceeds the volume of the bay itself approximately eight times; average seasonal variation of the Kasari River exceeds 1.7 metres (6 ft). The rivers carry large quantities of nutrient-rich sediments into the bay from an over 3,500 km<sup>2</sup> (1,350 sq mi) drainage basin. The sediments are deposited in river estuaries, allowing reedbeds to expand. A total of 282 bird species have been recorded in Matsalu, among which 175 are nesting and 33 are transmigrant waterfowl. 49 species of fish and 47 species of mammals are registered in the area of the nature reserve, along with 772 species of vascular plants. Every spring over two million waterfowl pass Matsalu, including 10,000—20,000 Bewick's swans, 10,000 greater scaups, common goldeneyes, tufted ducks, goosanders and many others. A colony of up to 20,000 barnacle geese, over 10,000 greylag geese and thousands of waders stop on the coastal pastures in spring. The most numerous birds of passage (around 1.6 million) are long-tailed ducks. Approximately 35,000—40,000 ducks feed in the reedbeds in spring. In autumn, about 300,000 migratory waterfowl pass Matsalu. The wetland is the biggest autumn stopping ground of common cranes in Europe. The highest recorded number of cranes at the park has been 23,000. ## History Scientific research in Matsalu started around 1870, when Valerian Russow, the curator of the Natural History Museum of the University of Tartu, gave a short overview of birds near Matsalu Bay. Between 1928 and 1936 Eerik Kumari researched birds in Matsalu and suggested a creation of the bird protection area there in 1936. In 1939, parts of the bay (Virtsu-Puhtu) were protected for mud used in mud-baths. Research in Matsalu became regular in 1945, when the Institute of Botany and Zoology of the Estonian Academy of Sciences established a research base in Penijõe. Matsalu Nature Reserve was founded in 1957, mainly to protect nesting, moulting and migratory birds. The first permanent workers (administrators and scientists) started in 1958 and the Penijõe research base became the administrative centre of the newly created nature reserve. The Estonian Bird Ringing Centre (Estonian: Rõngastuskeskus), the coordinator of bird ringing in Estonia, is also located in Penijõe. In 1976, Matsalu was included in the list of wetlands of international importance under the International Convention on the Protection of Wetlands (Ramsar Convention). The European Diploma of Protected Areas was awarded to Matsalu Nature Reserve in 2003 by the Council of Europe, in recognition of the park's success in preserving the diversity of habitats and the numerous species of birds and other biota groups in the nature reserve. Matsalu is the only nature reserve in Estonia to hold the European Diploma. The diploma was extended for five years in 2008. In 2004, Matsalu Nature Reserve, along with surrounding areas, became Matsalu National Park. Matsalu has seven bird-watching towers (Penijõe, Kloostri, Haeska, Suitsu, Jugasaare, Küdeva and Keemu) and three hiking trails. ## Matsalu International Nature Film Festival Matsalu International Nature Film Festival (Estonian: Matsalu loodusfilmide festival) is held every autumn in the nearby town of Lihula. The festival is organized by the non-profit organization MTÜ Matsalu Loodusfilmide Festival, which was set up in late 2003. In February 2010, MTÜ Matsalu Loodusfilmide Festival partnered with the Estonian State Forest Management Centre (RMK) and will jointly organize the film festivals in the future. The first Matsalu Nature Film Festival was held between October 3 and October 5, 2003, in Lihula with a competitive program of 23 films from 7 countries. More than 2,500 people visited the festival that year. The second festival was held between September 23, and September 25, 2004, with participants from 14 countries, a competitive program of 35 films and around 5,000 visitors. The third festival took place between September 22 and September 25, 2005, with a competitive program of 39 films from 16 countries and over 7,000 visitors. The fourth festival, held between September 21 and September 24 in 2006, had 21 participating countries and 41 competing films. The fifth Matsalu Nature Film Festival was held between September 19 and September 23, 2007, and had more than 7,000 visitors. Organizers admit that as the festival is held on a nature reserve, it cannot grow much larger in a little town and therefore plan to bring mostly European nature documentaries to the festival, at the same time not forgetting the human-related topics. In 2007, organizers of the Matsalu International Nature Film Festival received the Environmental Award of the Year from the Estonian Ministry of Environment. The ministry pointed out persistent and successful organization of the film festival over the years, which has popularized nature protection and contributed significantly to environmental awareness. ## Gallery ## See also - Protected areas of Estonia - Lääne County - List of national parks in the Baltics - List of protected areas of Estonia - List of Ramsar sites in Estonia
3,829,685
Xevious 3D/G
1,149,042,810
1997 video game
[ "1996 video games", "Arcade video games", "Multiplayer and single-player video games", "Namco arcade games", "PlayStation (console) games", "PlayStation Network games", "Video game sequels", "Video games developed in Japan", "Video games scored by Shinji Hosoe", "Xevious" ]
is a 1996 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and published by Namco. The eighth entry in the Xevious series, it combines 2D-based gameplay with 3D gouraud-shaded polygon graphics. Players control the Solvalou starship in its mission to destroy a rogue supercomputer named GAMP and the Xevian Forces, using two basic weapon types - an air zapper to destroy air targets, and a blaster bomb to destroy ground targets. The game also features destructive power-ups, new bosses, and two player simultaneous play. When shoot 'em ups saw a revival in the mid-1990s, Namco sought to capitalize on its success with a modernized 3D update to Xevious. Being one of the first games for its System 11 hardware, it has a techno-infused soundtrack, most of which was composed jointly by Ayako Saso and Shinji Hosoe. The hardware allows the game to have a world much closer to the one established in previous games, with settings such as large, Aztec-inspired structures and deserts being pulled from pieces of conceptual artwork for the original. Xevious 3D/G was criticized by fans for drastic departures that interrupted the core mechanics, and that it strayed too far from what they felt made the game so popular in its heyday. A PlayStation conversion, titled Xevious 3D/G+, was released a year later that compiled 3D/G with the original Xevious, Super Xevious, and Xevious Arrangement onto one disc. This version also received criticism for its short length and low difficulty, but praise for its gameplay, techno soundtrack, graphics, and for building on mechanics established in previous games. ## Gameplay Xevious 3D/G is a vertically scrolling shooter with 3D graphics integrated with 2D gameplay. Up to two players control their respective Solvalou starships — blue for player one and red for player two — that must destroy the Xevious forces and their leader before they enslave all of mankind. The Solvalou has two weapons at its disposal: a projectile that can destroy air-based enemies, and a bomb that can destroy ground-stationed enemies. New to this game are power-up items, found in cylindrical stations called "Poladomes" on the ground that must be bombed to acquire it — these include a blue double shot, a green concentrated light beam that cuts through enemies, and a red heat-seeing laser that locks onto any enemy it finds on the screen. The game consists of seven stages, or "areas", including grassy plateaus, large oceans, mechanical bases and outer space. Each area also features a boss that must be defeated in order to progress, including the Andor Genesis mothership from the original Xevious. The final stage features a fight with GAMP, the supercomputer leader of the Xevious forces. Much like the first game, large Sol towers can be found by bombing pre-determined spots on the ground, alongside Rally-X Special Flags that award an extra life when collected. Many references to other Namco games are featured in the game as easter eggs, including a Pooka from the Dig Dug series and a cheat code that replaces both players' Solvalou with Heihachi and Paul from Tekken, featuring their own ending sequences. ## Development With the advent of 3D arcade hardware in the late 1980s and 1990s, Namco became a leader in polygonal video games with titles like Tekken, Ridge Racer, and Alpine Racer. Their System 11 arcade hardware, while technologically inferior to other arcade systems, was a hit with arcade owners for its cheap price, which made it easily affordable for smaller arcade chains. After a brief downturn in the early half of the decade, the shoot'em up genre was beginning to see a revival with games like RayStorm, G-Darius, and Radiant Silvergun, and were very profitable. Wanting to cash in on this sudden revival, Namco decided to create a 3D sequel to Xevious for the System 11 board, featuring mechanics popular with other shooters to draw in newer players. Xevious was massively-successful for Namco; the Family Computer version sold over one million copies and became a platinum seller, which gave Namco hope that it would perform well in the market. The increasing market for arcade game remakes also made the company feel the game would be commercially successful. Xevious 3D/G was one of the first games produced for the System 11 board, following Tekken and Soul Edge, and was billed as its first shooting game. It had a heavy emphasis on its soundtrack, with most of it composed jointly by Shinji Hosoe and Ayako Saso. Being her final work for Namco before joining Arika, Saso incorporated a techno-style score similar to her previous work X-Day, and wanted to retain the classic Xevious sound design in the music instead of composing something radically different. She also wanted to convey the concepts of various guest artists that had contributed music for earlier games in the series. Nobuyoshi Sano and Hiroto Sasaki also contributed two pieces each to 3D/G, with the latter serving as the lead composer for 3D/G+, which features an entirely new soundtrack with contributions from Sano, Takanori Otsuka, Keiichi Okabe, Akihiko Ishikawa, Yoshie Arakawa, Etsuo Ishii, and Akitaka Tohyama. These composers employed similar ideas with the music, many of which have original Xevious tunes blended together with their own pieces. The 3D capabilities of the System 11 hardware allowed the game to have a world closer to the one established in previous sequels, with settings such as large, Aztec-inspired structures and deserts being pulled from pieces of conceptual artwork for the original. It uses gourad-shading techniques for its graphics. Namco chose not to utilize texture mapping for the game, as they felt the realistic style would detract from Xevious's futuristic, flad-shaded look. ## Release Namco demonstrated Xevious 3D/G at the 1996 Amusement Operator's Union (AOU) tradeshow in February, alongside games such as Prop Cycle, Ace Driver Victory Lap, and Namco Classic Collection Vol. 2. Its 3D computer-generated graphics, cinematic cutscenes, and affordable price point were heavily pushed in marketing. The game was officially released in Japan on May 1; it was only sold as a conversion kit for other System 11 arcade games or Namco-manufactured arcade cabinets. A North American released was published later in the year, released in generic black-colored machines. The August 1996 issue of Edge magazine listed a European release date as "TBA", however it is unknown if it was ever officially released in Europe. In early March 1997, GameFan announced that Namco was reportedly underway with porting Xevious 3D/G to the PlayStation, in production alongside a conversion of Time Crisis. Titled Xevious 3D/G+, it was released on March 28 in Japan. Namco demonstrated the game at E3 1997 in North America, presented in conjunction with games like Ace Combat 2, Treasures of the Deep, and Namco Museum Vol. 5, before being publicly released on June 30. It was released later in the year in Europe. Alongside a port of 3D/G, it also includes remade ports of the original Xevious, Super Xevious, and Xevious Arrangement, the last of which was previously released in arcades as part of Namco Classic Collection Vol. 1. 3D/G+ also includes a new arranged soundtrack, slight graphical updates, and full-motion video cutscenes in-between levels. Because the System 11 arcade system board was designed after the internal hardware of the PlayStation, Namco had little difficulty in porting it over to the console. The Japanese version of 3D/G+ featured heavy slowdown problems, which were corrected in the North American release. It is also compatible with the Namco NeGcon controller. A techno soundtrack inspired by the music in 3D/G, titled Xevious 3D/G+ Techno Maniax, was published jointly by Namco and Pony Canyon in October 1997, alongside Tekken 3 Battle Trax. It featured tracks from the original game and newly-composed remixed versions. It was released under Pony Canyon's DigiGroove brand of albums, featuring additional extras alongside the music. Xevious 3D/G+ was digitally re-released for the PlayStation Store in Japan on June 26, 2013 under the Game Archives line of classic game re-releases, being available for both the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. It was followed by a North American release on February 25, 2015, alongside several other Namco-produced PlayStation games. ## Reception While Xevious 3D/G saw success in its first few months on the market, it was seen as being inferior to other shooters already on the market, and wasn't nearly as successful as Namco hoped it would be. According to the May 1996 issue of Japanese publication Gamest, Xevious fans disliked 3D/G for straying from they felt made the original game so famous and well-designed, particularly in the inclusion of highly-destructive power-ups and pre-placed enemies, which was a stark contrast from the original's "no power-up" idea and for having different enemies appear as the players got better at the game. Edge magazine claimed that, aside from a well-made presentation, 3D/G was an average shooter at best, and was not as polished as other games available. The PlayStation version also had a mixed reception. It was a commercial success with nearly 100,000 copies being sold, and was awarded the "Silver Hall of Fame" award from Famitsu magazine, but was noted as being inferior to the shoot'em up catalog already present on the console. Critics showed distaste towards its short length and lack of variety with its power-ups. Next Generation expressed disappointment towards the small amount of levels, claiming it can be finished in under an hour. GameSpot echoed a similar response, adding that the game's relatively low difficulty made it easy to beat it in a day. The four reviewers for Electronic Gaming Monthly said that the game's weakest point was its low amount of power-ups. Most critics agreed that 3D/G had good gameplay and design. IGN, who showed the most positivity towards the game, adored its gameplay and power-up items for being well-made and fun. GameSpot said that it was a decent shooter with interesting mechanics, and that it felt like a true sequel to the original game. GameFan agreed, specifically praising that it tried to build on ideas established in the original instead of going for something radically different, claiming that it felt like a Xevious Gaiden for this reason. GamePro praised it for keeping the original gameplay of Xevious and the included arcade games, concluding: "While it may not be the perfect PlayStation shooter, 3D/G's heritage and plentiful gaming options make it a winner". Computer + Video Games and Next Generation specified that the game had great gameplay and expanded on the core concepts established in its predecessors in a way that made it feel fresh and new. Famitsu favorably compared the game to RayStorm for its gameplay, but that at heart it distanced itself from what made the original Xevious arcade game so successful in its heyday. The game's graphics were also the subject of praise; IGN described them as "Gourad heaven" and beautiful to look at. GameFan said that the simplistic-looking artstyle gave the game a cool, retro look to it, which Computer + Video Games agreed with. Several also complemented the addition of the other Xevious games, which IGN and GameFan claimed made the game worth the admission price. Electronic Gaming Monthly and GameSpot, by contrast, both argued that they felt more like a necessity due to the short length and quality of 3D/G. GameSpot in particular wrote: "The fact that Namco put all of the older Xevious titles on the disc is certainly admirable, but after playing 3D/G for a while, it becomes apparent that it was more of a necessity than anything else". The game's techno soundtrack and responsive controls were also the subject of praise. Retrospectively, Hardcore Gaming 101 argued that 3D/G lost much of the charm that Xevious and its early sequels possessed, and that it felt more like a nostalgic homage than a proper, true sequel to the original. They said that the game suffered from bland visuals and dated gameplay, but that the techno soundtrack by Sayo and Hosoe made it worth playing anyway. Retro Gamer magazine delivered a much different response, praising the game for its evolution of the traditional Xevious gameplay formula for newer audiences. They favorably compared the game to Game Arts's Silpheed for its angled overhead camera and 3D visuals, saying that its fast-paced gameplay and fresh approach made it "a rather lovely remake" of the original. Retro Gamer also stated that its take on the gameplay of its predecessors made it one of the best classic game remakes of the era, concluding with: "The PSone played host to the heyday of the classic-remaker's art (Hasbro's update of Pong, for example, is one of the greatest games of the 32-bit era), and this is a fine example of the form".
12,299,808
Tropical Storm Chantal (2007)
1,171,672,575
Atlantic tropical storm in 2007
[ "2007 Atlantic hurricane season", "Atlantic tropical storms", "Hurricanes in Bermuda", "Hurricanes in Canada", "Tropical cyclones in 2007" ]
Tropical Storm Chantal was a short-lived tropical storm that affected Bermuda in its formative stages and caused flooding and gusty winds in Newfoundland while extratropical. The third named storm of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season, Chantal developed on July 31 from non-tropical origins between Bermuda and Cape Cod, and with favorable conditions, the storm rapidly attained peak winds of 50 mph (80 km/h). The storm accelerated northeastward over an area of progressively colder water temperatures, and after a decrease in convection the National Hurricane Center ceased issuing advisories as Chantal began undergoing extratropical transition early on August 1. Shortly thereafter, the extratropical remnant crossed over southeastern Newfoundland before tracking into the open waters of the north Atlantic Ocean. Prior to forming, the storm dropped moderate rainfall on Bermuda. Subsequent to becoming extratropical, the remnants of Chantal produced gusty winds and heavy precipitation across the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland, causing flooding and wind damage; insured damage totaled \$25 million (2007 CAD, \$24.3 million 2007 USD). ## Meteorological history A frontal system moved off the Carolinas on July 21, and as it drifted southeastward it degenerated into a trough of low pressure; by July 26, it was nearly stationary to the east of the Bahamas. Deep convection initially failed to persist, though on July 28 meteorologists began tracking it with the Dvorak technique. The system tracked northeastward, and initially unfavorable environmental conditions left the system disorganized. However, conditions were forecast to become more conducive for development, and by July 29 the National Hurricane Center remarked it had "potential for tropical or subtropical development." On July 30, the low passed to the west of Bermuda as it continued northeastward, under the influence of a large mid-latitude trough. The system contained an exposed low-level circulation, which intermittently passed beneath a persistent area of convection to its northeast. By early on July 31, ship reports and QuikSCAT observations suggested winds of 35 mph (56 km/h), and the center was well-involved enough with the convection for the National Hurricane Center to classify it as Tropical Depression Three while it was located about 270 miles (430 km) north-northwest of Bermuda, or about 445 miles (716 km) south-southeast of Chatham, Massachusetts. Upon receiving its classification, the depression consisted of a partially exposed low-level center with deep convection occupying the northeastern semicircle. Located over sea surface temperatures of about 80 °F (27 °C), one forecaster noted the depression had "a small window of opportunity... for it to reach tropical storm strength before transitioning to an extratropical cyclone." Convection increased further over the center, and at around 0600 UTC on July 31 the depression intensified into Tropical Storm Chantal while located about 530 miles (850 km) south of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The storm continued northeastward, under the influence of a mid-level trough, and Chantal quickly developed well-defined curved banding features; six hours after becoming a tropical storm, Chantal reached peak winds of 50 mph (80 km/h). The storm tracked through an area of progressively cold waters and cooler air, resulting in the weakening of its convection. The circulation became embedded within the approaching frontal zone, and by 0600 UTC on August 1 Chantal transitioned into an extratropical cyclone. After becoming an extratropical cyclone, Chantal maintained scattered convection near its center, though its main area of convection and clouds extended to its north. Midday on August 1, the cyclone struck Newfoundland along the Avalon Peninsula, hitting the Placentia Area with full force. It subsequently intensified to attain winds of near hurricane-force. On August 3 the cyclone underwent a final weakening trend in the far northern Atlantic Ocean, and on August 5 the extratropical remnants of Chantal merged with another extratropical cyclone to the east of Iceland. ## Impact The precursor disturbance to Chantal began affecting Bermuda on July 30, producing scattered storms and increased cloud cover. The next day the system dropped more rainfall as it passed to the west of the island, and in the two-day period precipitation accumulated to 2.12 inches (54 mm) at the Bermuda International Airport, accounting for 35% of the monthly rainfall total. Thunderstorms were reported on the island, and maximum reported winds on the island reached 45 mph (72 km/h). After Chantal passed Bermuda, a ship with the call sign C60Y4 recorded sustained winds of 37 mph (60 km/h) over the open waters of the north Atlantic Ocean. At around 2300 UTC on July 31, a buoy to the southeast of Nova Scotia reported a pressure of 995 mbar as Chantal passed nearby. Shortly after it first became a tropical storm, the Atlantic Storm Prediction Center of Canada issued gale warnings for the coastal waters off Newfoundland. Later, the Newfoundland Labrador Weather Office issued heavy rainfall warnings for southeastern Newfoundland. In offshore waters, wave heights reached 20 feet (6.1 m). Onshore, the storm produced moderately strong winds, with an unofficial peak gust of 54 mph (87 km/h) reported near where the storm moved ashore. The extratropical remnants of Chantal dropped heavy rainfall in a short duration across Newfoundland; 1.7 inches (43 mm) fell in 1 hour at St. John's West, the highest hourly rainfall total. Across the province, precipitation peaked at 7.89 inches (200 mm) at Argentia. The rainfall caused flooding and street washouts in several towns along the Avalon Peninsula, such as Ship Harbour, Fox Harbour, and Dunville. Several communities in the region declared states of emergencies. In Ship Harbour citizens were isolated for 5 days until a temporary road was made. Also in Spaniard's Bay, the flooding caused a bridge to depress about 1.5 feet (46 cm); a temporary bridge was built within two months, with a permanent replacement scheduled to be finished by the summer of 2008. Insured damage across the area totaled \$25 million (2007 CAD, \$24.3 million 2007 USD). ## See also - List of Bermuda hurricanes - List of Canada hurricanes - Other storms of the same name
44,217,157
Grazing Goat Pictures
1,163,270,373
Indian film and TV production company
[ "2011 establishments in Maharashtra", "Akshay Kumar", "Entertainment companies established in 2011", "Film production companies based in Mumbai", "Television production companies of India" ]
Grazing Goat Pictures is an Indian film and TV production house launched in 2011 by Hindi film actor Akshay Kumar and Ashvini Yardi. Its first film was OMG – Oh My God! which won the National Film Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. The next film in their banner Fugly opened to mixed reviews. The company has also produced regional languages films like 72 Miles (Marathi) and Bhaji in Problem (Punjabi). Both of these opened to positive reviews from critics. The former one was screened at the London and Pune International Film Festivals and won 3 awards at the 2014 Maharashtra State Film Awards ceremony. The company has also produced the Hindi soap opera Jamai Raja which airs on Zee TV. Kumar had appearances in all of his films except 72 Miles. A YouTube channel FOMO Fashion On My Own was launched in 2013. It has been credited as India's first Hindi fashion channel. ## History Akshay Kumar had launched production house Hari Om Entertainment in 2008. Ashvini Yardi had previously worked with Colors and Zee TV as Head of Programming. When she read the script of OMG – Oh My God!, she decided to produce it and launched a company in association with Kumar. The company is based in Juhu, Mumbai and the head office's interior is designed by Kumar's wife Twinkle Khanna. ### Hindi films The company's first film was the Umesh Shukla-directed satirical comedy–drama OMG – Oh My God!, produced in association with Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, Spice Studio and Paresh Rawal's Playtime Creation company. A song was added against the director's wishes. Built on a small budget and based on a Gujarati stage-play titled Kanji Virudh Kanji, it was a remake of the 2001 Australian film The Man Who Sued God. The story depicted the struggles of an atheist Hindu man who sued God after his shop is destroyed by an earthquake. Kumar appeared as Lord Krishna in the film. Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com appreciated the film for bringing "attention to the misuse and commercialisation of religion". Anupama Chopra praised Rawal's acting but felt that the rest character's were flimsy and film's "intentions [were] good, but the preaching [was] boring". The film received poor initial collection at the box office but because of word of mouth it picked up and proved to be a commercial success. The film was banned in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates and faced protests in Punjab where several shows had to be cancelled. A police case was lodged against film's writer, director, Kumar and Rawal for hurting religious sentiments. Bhavesh Mandalia and Umesh Shukla won the National Film Award for Best Adapted Screenplay while Kumar received a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. OMG – Oh My God! has inspired a Telugu remake titled Gopala Gopala which featured Daggubati Venkatesh and Pawan Kalyan in important roles. It was directed by Kishore Kumar Pardasany. Reportedly, the producers of PK offered ₹8 crore (US\$1.0 million) to Shukla to stop shooting. He is planning a sequel. Kumar said that he wanted to make "socially relevant" films. The company had signed Nargis Fakhri for a 3-film deal. In May 2012 it was announced that she would be part of Khiladi 786. However, in the same month she was removed from the cast. The film was produced by Hari Om Entertainment and Asin was cast for the lead role opposite Kumar. The company's second film was the Kabir Sadanand-directed drama thriller Fugly, featuring debutantes Mohit Marwah, Olympic medallist boxer Vijender Singh, Arfi Lamba and Kiara Advani in lead roles. Kumar and Salman Khan did cameo appearances in the film. Jimmy Shergill played a corrupt police officer who frames 4 friends for a murder he has committed and asks for a large sum of money in return for closing the case. The film failed to generate positive response from critics. Shubhra Gupta of The Financial Express said that it "isn’t exactly palatable". Vinayak Chakravorty of India Today said that the film had mixed the elements of Rang De Basanti and Dil Chahta Hai but missed out on their magic. He called the narrative "half-baked" and said that the film "[lost] its plot". It was produced under a budget of ₹10 crore (US\$1.3 million). Kumar was paired opposite Amy Jackson in Prabhu Deva's comedy-drama Singh Is Bliing (2015). The film's worldwide gross was estimated to be around ₹116.27 crore (US\$15 million). ### Regional cinema Kumar and Yardi produced their first Marathi venture 72 Miles Ek Pravas. Inspired from Ashok Vhatkar's novel of the same name, the film showed the problems faced by a teenager boy (Chinmay Sant) who ran away from his boarding school to reach his house which was at a distance of 72 miles from the school. It won three awards at the 2013–2014 Maharashtra State Film Awards—Best Grameen Film. Shakti Shetty wrote in Mid-Day that "the emotions won’t [elude]" the viewers. He praised Tambe's performance by calling it "one of the strongest female performances in recent times". Afternoon Despatch & Courier's reviewer Sandeep Hattangadi called it "quite touching" and "the first of its kind in Marathi". The film was shortlisted for screening at the London and Pune International Film Festivals. Their second Marathi film was Gauri Sarwate-directed Anntar. It was shot in London. The company's next regional film was the Punjabi language comedy Bhaji in Problem (2013). It was produced in association with Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and distributed globally by Krian Media. The film was directed by Smeep Kang. Built on a small budget of ₹5 crore (US\$630,000), it collected ₹17 crore (US\$2.1 million) at the box office. Distributors in the state of Punjab paid record prices for the film after film viewers expressed their eagerness to watch it. Kumar made a guest starring in the film. Sameer Valecha of Punjabimania.com noted that the film "has its own merits and will stand tall on them" and appreciated the actors for their performance. Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh also appeared in the film. After the films' success Kumar said that he will produce more regional language films. In an interview given to The New Indian Express, Ashvini Yardi said that "We want to make Grazing Goat Pictures a global player." She is also planning to produce Bengali films. ### Hindi television Grazing Goat Pictures produced their first Hindi soap opera Jamai Raja starring Ravi Dubey Nia Sharma, Achint Kaur and Delnaz Paul. It airs on Zee TV and completed 100 episodes in December 2014. The company plans to produce more fictional shows. An adaptation of Kanika Dhillon's novel Bombay Duck Is A Fish has also been planned. ## FOMO Fashion On My Own In 2013 Grazing Goat Pictures launched its Internet division Grazing Goats Digital, whose second product was India's first Hindi fashion channel called FOMO Fashion On My Own. Aimed at trend-conscious women, this YouTube channel provides online tutorials on various fashion subjects. ## Filmography ### Films ### Television - Jamai Raja
5,097,171
New York State Route 361
1,054,948,860
Former highway in New York
[ "Former state highways in New York (state)", "Transportation in Dutchess County, New York" ]
New York State Route 361 (NY 361) was a state highway located in Dutchess County, New York, in the United States. The southern terminus of the route was at the Connecticut state line, where it continued to Sharon, Connecticut, as Route 361. The northern terminus was at U.S. Route 44 (US 44) in Millerton. NY 361 was designated in April 1935 and removed from the state highway system and replaced with County Route 62 (CR 62) in 1980 as part of a large-scale highway maintenance swap between the New York State Department of Transportation and the Dutchess County highway department. ## Route description NY 361 began as a continuation of Connecticut's Route 361 adjacent to the bi-state water body of Indian Lake in the town of North East. The route traveled northward on Sharon Road, paralleling the Webatuck Creek to Millerton, where it became South Maple Avenue and terminated at an intersection with US 44 (Main Street). The road itself, however, continued northward to NY 22 in the hamlet of Mount Riga as North Maple Avenue and, outside the village, Rudd Pond Road, connecting Millerton to the Rudd Pond area of Taconic State Park. ## History NY 361 was assigned in April 1931 to a short north–south highway connecting US 44 in Millerton to Route 4 (later Route 361) at the Connecticut state line. The route remained unchanged until April 1, 1980, when ownership and maintenance of the route was transferred to Dutchess County as part of a large scale highway maintenance swap. As part of the swap, NY 361, the routing of NY 82A from Amenia to Pine Plains, NY 402, and three reference routes near the hamlets of Barrytown (near Red Hook), Pine Plains, and East Park (near Hyde Park) were given to the county by the New York State Department of Transportation in exchange for maintenance of the segment of NY 82 between NY 199 and the Columbia County line. Also exchanged was a county route bypassing Millbrook to the northwest (which became NY 44A and later US 44), the portion of the Salt Point Turnpike north of Smith Street in Poughkeepsie (NY 115), and Spackenkill Road between US 9 and NY 376 in Poughkeepsie (NY 113). The former routing of NY 361 is now part of CR 62, which continues north of US 44 to NY 22 in Mount Riga. ## Major intersections ## See also - List of county routes in Dutchess County, New York
25,797,811
Ngoia Pollard Napaltjarri
1,155,687,738
Australian artist (born c. 1948)
[ "1940s births", "2022 deaths", "20th-century Australian painters", "20th-century Australian women artists", "21st-century Australian painters", "21st-century Australian women artists", "Artists from the Northern Territory", "Australian Aboriginal artists", "Australian women painters", "Warlpiri people" ]
Ngoia Pollard Napaltjarri (born c. 1948; died 17 November 2022, also known as Ngnoia) is a Walpiri-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Ngoia Pollard married Jack Tjampitjinpa, who became an artist working with the Papunya Tula company, and they had five children. Having commenced painting in 1997, Ngoia Pollard won a major regional art prize in 2004. She went on to win the painting prize in the 2006 National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards. Her works are held in major private and public collections, including the National Gallery of Australia. ## Life Daughter of Angoona Nangala and Jim Tjungurrayi, Ngoia Pollard was born circa 1948 in Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory, west of Alice Springs. The ambiguity around the year of birth is in part because Indigenous Australians operate using a different conception of time, often estimating dates through comparisons with the occurrence of other events. 'Napaljarri' (in Warlpiri) or 'Napaltjarri' (in Western Desert dialects) is a skin name, one of sixteen used to denote the subsections or subgroups in the kinship system of central Australian Indigenous people. These names define kinship relationships that influence preferred marriage partners and may be associated with particular totems. Although they may be used as terms of address, they are not surnames in the sense used by Europeans. Thus 'Ngoia Pollard' is the element of the artist's name that is specifically hers. Ngoia Pollard attended school at Papunya, and worked at the mission kitchen there. She married Jack Tjampitjinpa and they moved to Kintore, and then on to Mount Liebig (now Amundurrngu Outstation) which at that time was unoccupied, about fifty kilometres west of Haasts Bluff. It was one of many outstations established by people from Papunya in the 1970s. Ngoia Pollard and Jack had five children. Jack died in 1988; as of 2008 Ngoia was still living at Mount Liebig. ## Art ### Background Contemporary Indigenous art of the western desert began when Indigenous men at Papunya began painting in 1971, assisted by teacher Geoffrey Bardon. Their work, which used acrylic paints to create designs representing body painting and ground sculptures, rapidly spread across Indigenous communities of central Australia, particularly following the commencement of a government-sanctioned art program in central Australia in 1983. By the 1980s and 1990s, such work was being exhibited internationally. The first artists, including all of the founders of the Papunya Tula artists' company, had been men, and there was resistance amongst the Pintupi men of central Australia to women painting. However, there was a desire among many women to participate, and in the 1990s large numbers of them began to create paintings. In the western desert communities such as Kintore, Yuendumu, Balgo, and on the outstations, people were beginning to create art works expressly for exhibition and sale. ### Career Ngoia Pollard began her contemporary artistic career by assisting her husband, who painted with Papunya Tula artists for several years prior to his death. In 1997, Ngoia Pollard began painting independently, and in 2004 won the first prize in a central Australian painting competition supported by the region's major newspaper, the Centralian Advocate. In 2006, Ngoia Pollard won the painting prize in the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, with her work Swamps west of Nyirripi. Another of her works painted in the same year, and carrying the same title, was acquired by the Art Gallery of South Australia. 2006 was also marked by an artist's residency in Copenhagen, shared with fellow Indigenous artist Lilly Kelly Napangardi, whom she had known since they attended school together in the 1960s. Collections holding her works include the National Gallery of Australia. She has had solo exhibitions with private galleries in Sydney and Perth. Western Desert artists such as Ngoia Pollard frequently paint particular 'dreamings', or stories, for which they have personal responsibility or rights. Many of Ngoia's works relate to the region of Yamunturrngu, or Mount Liebig, in the country to the west of Haasts Bluff; this is her father's country: > ...infused with the spiritual power of the narrative of the watersnake. This snake lives in the swamps and lakes near Nyrippi (Talarada), unoccupied 'dangerous territory' north west of Mt. Liebig. The transcendental calm of her paintings, with their drifts of monochrome clouds of dots, belie the danger of the land and its creatures that they depict. Her works are often characterised by the use of oval shapes representing swamps and lakes. Her palette is usually black and white, though red may be used to highlight oval forms. The dotted forms represent the ground cracking as water dries up. Other themes in her work include the sand hills of the desert country. ## Collections - National Gallery of Australia - Corrigan Collection
22,107,811
Neil Etheridge
1,173,795,023
Association football player (born 1990)
[ "1990 births", "Birmingham City F.C. players", "Bristol Rovers F.C. players", "British Asian footballers", "Cardiff City F.C. players", "Charlton Athletic F.C. players", "Chelsea F.C. players", "Crewe Alexandra F.C. players", "England men's youth international footballers", "English Football League players", "English men's footballers", "English people of Filipino descent", "Filipino British sportspeople", "Filipino men's footballers", "Footballers from Enfield, London", "Fulham F.C. players", "Isthmian League players", "Leatherhead F.C. players", "Living people", "Men's association football goalkeepers", "Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players", "Philippines men's international footballers", "Premier League players", "Walsall F.C. players" ]
Neil Leonard Dula Etheridge (born 7 February 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Birmingham City and the Philippines national team. He joined the Fulham Academy after three years as a trainee at Chelsea and made his debut for Fulham in the UEFA Europa League against Danish club Odense Boldklub, though he never played in a league match with the club. While with Fulham from 2006 until 2014 he was loaned to various lower tier clubs; Leatherhead, Charlton Athletic, Bristol Rovers, and Crewe Alexandra. After leaving Fulham, Etheridge signed with Oldham Athletic before he was loaned to Charlton Athletic. He joined Charlton on a permanent basis in 2015 after his contract with Oldham ended. After months of being without a club, Etheridge joined Walsall, going on to make more than 90 appearances in all competitions in two seasons. He then moved on to Championship club Cardiff City in 2017. After establishing himself as Cardiff City's first choice goalkeeper, he helped the Welsh side win promotion to the Premier League. He joined Birmingham City, also of the Championship, three years later. Etheridge has one British and one Filipino parent; in international football, he played for his native England at under-16 level, and at senior level has represented the Philippines since 2008 and captained the team. In August 2018, while with Cardiff City, he became the first Filipino to play in the Premier League. ## Early life Etheridge was born in Enfield, London to an English father, Martin Etheridge, and a Filipino mother, Merlinda Dula, a native of Tarlac. He took up football at the age of nine, initially playing as a left midfielder or striker before switching to playing as a goalkeeper in 2000 after volunteering to switch due to an injury to his youth side's regular goalkeeper. He attended Court Moor School in Fleet, Hampshire, where he also represented Hampshire Schools and the Aldershot & Farnborough district teams. ## Club career ### Chelsea Academy Having played for local youth sides Cuffy Chiefs and Hart Boys, Etheridge began attending the Chelsea Academy in 2003 at under-14 level, where he was also teammates with eventual Philippine internationals James and Phil Younghusband. He started out as a forward but eventually switched to playing as a goalkeeper at the suggestion of his coach. ### Fulham In 2006, he moved to local rivals Fulham, and signed professional terms for the club. Etheridge signed for Isthmian League Division One South club Leatherhead in September 2008 on loan for the entire 2008–09 season and made his debut on 20 September in the 2–1 home defeat to Metropolitan Police. During his loan spell, he received the first red card of his career, being sent off for dissent during a 2–1 defeat to Sittingbourne in a preliminary round of the FA Cup. He made six league appearances. In September 2009, Etheridge underwent surgery on both knees after suffering from tendinitis. He was expected to be out for the entire 2009–10 season but returned in January 2010, eventually making nine appearances for the reserves. By the end of the season he signed a new one-year deal, keeping him at Fulham until the summer of 2011, attributing his contract extension to his quick recovery. Etheridge received his first senior team call-up on 11 September 2010, when he was named on the substitutes' bench as cover for Mark Schwarzer in a home game against Wolverhampton Wanderers due to an injury to regular second-choice goalkeeper David Stockdale. In March 2011, Etheridge joined League One club Charlton Athletic on loan, but was recalled six days later without playing for them. Etheridge signed a new contract in May that would extend his stay at Craven Cottage until the summer of 2013. He made his first senior appearance for Fulham against Odense Boldklub in the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League on 14 December. On 23 March 2012 upon his return to Fulham after completing his international duties, it was announced that Etheridge would be out for the rest of the season due to a wrist injury that was sustained in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup. He recovered quickly and on 9 May he has been able to play in the development squad's last game of the season against the reserves of West Bromwich Albion. He joined League Two club Bristol Rovers on an initial one-month loan on 20 September 2012. He made his first Football League appearance for Rovers against Fleetwood Town on 22 September, which was his and Rovers' first clean sheet of 2012–13 season. His arrival at the club coincided with an improvement in the club's form, leading to his loan deal being extended until December 2013. On 21 November, Fulham confirmed that Etheridge had been recalled from his loan at Bristol Rovers. Etheridge signed a one-year extension to his Fulham contract on 8 May 2013, with the option of a further year extension. On 22 November 2013, he joined League One club Crewe Alexandra on loan until 1 January 2014. He rejoined the club on 25 February 2014 on loan until 13 April, but was recalled on 4 April by Fulham. At the end of the 2013–14 season, he was released by Fulham. ### Oldham Athletic and return to Charlton Athletic Following his release from Fulham, Etheridge used his own money to train with Charlton, one of his former loan clubs, where he knew the goalkeeping coach. Struggling to make a living, he was set to return to the Philippines and had already sold his house and cars before joining League One club Oldham Athletic on a two-month deal on 30 October 2014. During his time with the club, he lived at his friend's house, sleeping on the sofa, later describing his situation as "what you've got to do to get by." Etheridge later reminisced on his circumstances, stating that he questioned whether he would ever play football again. He made one appearance for Oldham during his time with the club during a Football League Trophy match against Preston North End. Etheridge rejoined Charlton Athletic on 27 November 2014 on a one-month loan deal. He made his league debut for Charlton on 26 December, in a 1–1 draw against Cardiff City. Manager Bob Peeters had opted to play Etheridge, Charlton's third-choice goalkeeper, ahead of second-choice Nick Pope whose performances in previous games Peeters had described as "a bit unlucky". After the loan, he signed a signed a short-term contract on 5 January 2015 with Charlton until the end of the 2014–15 season. He was released on 12 May 2015 following the end of his contract. ### Walsall Etheridge joined League One club Walsall on 2 July 2015 after agreeing a two-year deal. Signed to compete with Craig MacGillivray for the first-choice goalkeeper spot, he made his debut for the club on the opening day of the 2015–16 season in a 1–1 draw with his former club Oldham. Etheridge credits Walsall's goalkeeper coach Neil Cutler with improving his ability, commenting that Cutler had "taken me to another level." Cutler himself praised Etheridge's progression, stating "with a bit more experience he can go as high as he wants because he makes match-winning saves." In his first season, he made 50 appearances in all competitions, helping the side reach the League One play-offs where they suffered defeat in the semi-final to Barnsley. During his second season with Walsall, Etheridge was one of just four senior players retained from the previous year. He kept 12 clean sheets in 44 appearances as the club finished the season in 14th place, missing the last five matches of the season due to injury. In January 2017, Cardiff City approached Walsall over a potential transfer but pulled out due to the asking price. He played a total of 94 matches with Walsall during his two seasons at the club. ### Cardiff City On 30 May 2017, Etheridge signed for Championship club Cardiff City on a free transfer, after rejecting a new three-year contract with Walsall. Etheridge made his debut for the club on the opening day of the 2017–18 season, keeping a clean sheet during a 1–0 victory over Burton Albion. Etheridge performed well enough playing for Cardiff that fellow goalkeeper Lee Camp was loaned to Sunderland after recovering from injury. He helped his club earn promotion to the Premier League, featuring in 45 out of 46 league matches of the 2017–18 Championship season, keeping 19 clean sheets and conceding 37 goals. Following the club's promotion, Etheridge was rewarded with a new three-year contract by the club. On 11 August 2018, he became the first player from the Philippines and Southeast Asia to play in the Premier League, in a 2–0 loss to AFC Bournemouth, during which he saved a penalty from Callum Wilson. His penalty save also made him the first goalkeeper to save a penalty on his Premier League debut since Allan McGregor for Hull City in 2013. A week later, he saved another penalty in injury time, from Newcastle United's Kenedy, to guarantee a goalless draw. Etheridge's impressive form led to him being nominated for the August Premier League Player of the Month award. Cardiff were relegated from the Premier League after finishing in 18th position and Etheridge won the club's Player of the Year award. On the opening day of the 2019–20 season, Etheridge suffered a hamstring injury during a 3–2 loss at Wigan Athletic, which ruled him out for two months. Alex Smithies replaced Etheridge as Cardiff's first-choice goalkeeper for most of the season. Ahead of the 2020–21 season, with Smithies considered the starting goalkeeper, Cardiff made Etheridge available for a possible transfer. ### Birmingham City Etheridge signed a four-year contract with Championship club Birmingham City on 11 September 2020; the fee was undisclosed. He was on the bench for the following day's match, in which the 19-year-old debutant Zach Jeacock kept a clean sheet, and came into the starting eleven for the goalless draw at Swansea City a week later. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Etheridge received hospital treatment in July 2021 after he contracted COVID-19. Consequently, Etheridge had not played a single league match for Birmingham by October 2021 despite having featured in the 2021–22 EFL Cup. With John Ruddy established as first-choice goalkeeper for the 2022–23 season, Etheridge did not make a Championship appearance until 18 April, when Ruddy was injured during the first half of the visit to Millwall. Between them, they kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 win that ensured Birmingham's Championship status for a further season. ## International career ### England youth Etheridge is a former England under-16 international, having played in the 2005 Victory Shield, in which England and Wales eventually shared the trophy. Despite having represented England at youth level, he remained eligible to represent the Philippines through his mother. ### Philippines #### Early years In 2007, Etheridge received an invitation to play for the Philippines but declined the offer, citing unfamiliarity with the language and the players. He was again invited in early 2008, this time by the new Philippine Football Federation president Jose Mari Martinez. He eventually accepted the invitation after speaking to the new manager and learning about the setup, and after encouragement from Chelsea youth teammate Phil Younghusband. He officially switched allegiance to the Philippines in April 2008. He made his full international debut against Brunei in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers, playing in all three of his country's matches. He kept three clean sheets but the Philippines still failed to qualify due to an inferior goal difference to group winners Tajikistan. He was called up again later that year for the 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup qualification matches. In their opening match, Etheridge kept his fourth successive clean sheet, as the Philippines defeated Timor-Leste 1–0. However, in their remaining three fixtures, Etheridge conceded five goals as the Philippines won another match, drew one and lost one, before being eliminated on the basis of their goals scored record after finishing tied for second. Etheridge later credited his debut for the Philippines in 2008 to his later progress in his club career in 2018 due to having experienced playing for the national team before a crowd of up to 90,000. #### 2010 onward In 2010, Etheridge was named in the Philippines' squad for the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup. The Philippines came in second in their group, with one win and two draws, and conceding only one goal, but both legs of the semi-finals ended in 1–0 defeats for the Philippines against Indonesia. He was then called up for his country for the AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers where he conceded only a single goal, enabling the Philippines to qualify for the group stage. Etheridge announced his interest to join the squad for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup but was originally in doubt to be included due to club commitments. However, after receiving clearance from Fulham to travel, he was included in the final 23-man squad. On 9 March 2012 against North Korea, he saved a penalty taken by Pak Song-chol in the 16th minute as the match ended 2–0. He was sent off in the closing minutes of the semi-final match against Turkmenistan, which the Philippines lost 2–1. Due to the red card, he was suspended for the subsequent third place play-off match, in which the Philippines defeated Palestine 4–3. In August 2014, Etheridge was not included in the training squad for the 2014 Peace Cup, which also serves as the country's preliminary squad for the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup, due to a lack of first team club football. He labelled manager Thomas Dooley "disrespectful" over the omission. In October 2016, it was announced that Etheridge would not be included in the 2016 AFF Championship squad, because of club commitments with Walsall. Etheridge expressed disappointment of missing out on the regional championship, but added that he was committed to playing for his club. In 2018, Etheridge was part of the Philippines' squad that qualified for the AFC Asian Cup for the first time in the nation's history. However, the national side and his club side Cardiff reached an agreement to allow Etheridge to miss the tournament in order to focus on his place as the Premier League side's first-choice goalkeeper. In June 2022, Etheridge was appointed by head coach Thomas Dooley as captain of the Philippines national team. ## Personal life Etheridge has been married to Alexandra Solera since May 2021 and the two have a daughter. Prior to their marriage, Etheridge was engaged to Solera for three years. In the Philippines, Etheridge has worked as an underwear model. In 2015, he opened the Neil Etheridge Goalkeeping Academy in Manila. ## Career statistics ### Club ### International ## Honours Cardiff City - EFL Championship runner-up: 2017–18 Philippines - AFC Challenge Cup runner-up:2014 Individual - Philippine Sportswriters Association Footballer of the Year (Mr. Football Award): 2018
1,482,557
Inchon (film)
1,172,666,724
1981 film directed by Terence Young
[ "1980s American films", "1980s English-language films", "1980s war drama films", "1981 drama films", "1981 films", "American war drama films", "English-language South Korean films", "Film controversies", "Films about Douglas MacArthur", "Films about the United States Marine Corps", "Films directed by Terence Young", "Films scored by Jerry Goldsmith", "Films set in Incheon", "Films set in Seoul", "Films set in Tokyo", "Films set in the 1950s", "Films shot in Ireland", "Films shot in Los Angeles", "Films shot in Rome", "Films shot in Seoul", "Films shot in Tokyo", "Films sponsored by the Unification Church", "Golden Raspberry Award winning films", "Korean War films", "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films", "Political controversies in film", "South Korean war drama films", "Unification Church and the arts", "United States in the Korean War" ]
Inchon (also stylized as Inchon!) is a 1981 epic war film about the Battle of Inchon, considered to be the turning point of the Korean War. Directed by Terence Young and financed by Unification movement founder Sun Myung Moon, the film stars Laurence Olivier as General Douglas MacArthur, who led the United States surprise amphibious landing at Incheon, South Korea in 1950, alongside Jacqueline Bisset, Ben Gazzara, Toshiro Mifune and Richard Roundtree. Inchon's plot includes both military action and human drama. Characters face danger and are involved in various personal and dramatic situations. The film concludes with the American victory over North Korean forces in the Battle of Inchon, which is considered to have saved South Korea. Produced on \$46 million with filming taking place in South Korea, California, Italy, Ireland and Japan, it encountered many problems during production, including a typhoon and the death of a cast member. Both the Unification movement and the United States military provided personnel as extras during the filming. After premiering in May 1981, the film was released theatrically in the United States and Canada in September 1982, before being quickly withdrawn due to critical and financial failure. Never receiving a home video release, it has occasionally been broadcast on television. It was the largest financial loss in film of 1982, earning less than \$2 million against its lofty budget and resulting in losses of around \$41 million. Reviewers at the time gave it consistently negative reviews and later commentators including Newsweek, TV Guide and Canadian Press have classed Inchon among the worst films of all time. ## Plot The film depicts the Battle of Inchon during the Korean War, which took place September 15–19, 1950, and is considered the turning point of the war. The protagonist of the film is General Douglas MacArthur, who led the United States surprise amphibious landing at Incheon in 1950. A subplot in the film involves an American couple who encounter difficulties in their relationship because of the ongoing war. Inchon begins with North Korean soldiers moving past the 38th parallel north into South Korea in June 1950. People flee to the country's capital, Seoul. One of the displaced people is Barbara Hallsworth, a U.S. Army major's wife who lives in a village on the 38th parallel. She is chauffeured to Seoul in a limousine, picking up five South Korean children along the way. After her chauffeur is killed, she drives them to a safe location called the Inn of the Sixth Happiness. Along the way, she shoots a North Korean soldier. Meanwhile, her husband, Frank Hallsworth, is attempting to break off an affair with a young South Korean woman, Lim. Her father Saito is aware of his daughter's affair with Frank and does not disapprove. Frank receives word of the invasion by the North Koreans, and he travels north in an attempt to locate Barbara with the assistance of army sergeant August Henderson. August encounters Barbara and fixes her vehicle's battery, and then reunites her with Frank. Journalists David Feld, Park, and Longfellow are attending a press conference held by MacArthur in Tokyo. MacArthur, however, does not show. He agrees with his wife Jean, that he is the only person who can rescue South Korea from the invasion by the North Koreans. Hallsworth and his former lover succeed in turning on a lighthouse to signal 261 U.S. ships, and the South Korean woman's father activates mines in the channel. She dies during the ensuing battle. The U.S. troops drive out the North Korean forces and the cheering people wave South Korean and American flags. The film proper ends with MacArthur reciting the Lord's Prayer; after this scene, a newsreel of MacArthur is shown. ## Cast - Laurence Olivier as General Douglas MacArthur - Jacqueline Bisset as Barbara Hallsworth - Ben Gazzara as Major Frank Hallsworth - Toshiro Mifune as Saito - Richard Roundtree as Sergeant Augustus Henderson - David Janssen as David Feld - Namkoong Won as Park - Karen Kahn as Lim - Rex Reed as Longfellow - Gabriele Ferzetti as Turkish Brigadier - Sabine Sun as Marguerite - Dorothy James as Jean MacArthur ## Production ### Financing Sun Myung Moon formed One Way Productions in 1974, with Japanese newspaper publisher Mitsuharu Ishii as its head. Before deciding on making a war film, Moon and Ishii considered making biopics of Jesus or Elvis Presley. In 1978, psychic Jeanne Dixon was consulted to communicate with the spirit of General MacArthur, and Dixon said that MacArthur's spirit endorsed the production of the film. Dixon also helped choose Terence Young, known for the James Bond films Dr. No, Thunderball, and From Russia with Love, to direct the film. Inchon was financed by Moon and Ishii. Moon was involved with the film's production from the very beginning. Ishii, a member of the Unification movement in Japan and a friend of Moon, served as the film's producer; and Moon, although credited as "Special Advisor on Korean Matters", contributed \$30 million to One Way Productions. Moon initially did not want the public to know that he was behind the financing of the film and its production; however, upon the film's U.S. release, Moon was identified in newspaper ads as the film's "special advisor". Ishii said he was instructed by God to make the film. Additional funding was provided by Robert Standard, the associate producer and a member of the Unification Church of the United States. Ishii said he was a member of the Unification movement "just like a Catholic is a member of the Catholic Church and I believe Rev. Moon is very sincere about doing the Lord's work". Ishii was president of the World Daily News, which is published by Moon's media conglomerate News World Communications which also published other newspapers, including The Washington Times in the United States. Inchon was initially budgeted at \$18 million, but cost \$46 million to produce. Attempts to solicit funding from Japanese banks fell through, and so the entire project was funded by Moon and the Unification Church. In his book Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, author and scholar of religion J. Gordon Melton noted that "Moon has attempted to project his ideas into all areas of American society" and cited Inchon as an example. Moon later said in a talk to movement members: "Why did we put so much effort into the movie Inchon? No matter what the result the motivation was for people to understand about MacArthur. I wanted to show how MacArthur loved God and loved people. MacArthur came to Japan after World War II and put the nation back together. He really respected and loved the people. He also loved God very much and fought with great strength against tyranny and communism. That is what I want the people to understand." ### Writing Ishii was inspired to write a film with an international cast after watching a South Korean dramatization of the war. He wanted the film to be an "entertaining action film", but also said he was "very interested in depicting MacArthur as a human being and I want the world to know how miserable the war was for the Korean people." Moore commented on the writing process: "The theme I had to deal with in Inchon was too big for a movie that was less than two hours. When Toho was originally involved, they wanted a love story between an American boy and a Korean girl. My technique is to research and then fictionalize, a technique I used successfully in French Connection. But I had to fictionalize the real landing at Inchon, making it seem that a lighthouse was a pivotal factor when in fact it wasn't. I couldn't do that, which is why other writers were brought in." Ishii instructed Moore to include an emphasis on General MacArthur's spiritualism and faith in divine guidance. He told Moore to include three separate love stories in the film, "one between two Americans, one between two Koreans, and one between an American and a Korean". Moore explained that "the love stories were supposed to tell the story of the tragedy of Korea, the tragedy of the Korean War". Ishii stated to Moore that he did not wish for the movie to turn into an "anti-Communist tract". Prior to the completion of the film's screenplay, the film's producers encountered difficulties obtaining an affiliation with a movie studio. Ishii said that North Korea placed pressure on Toho Studios through labor unions in Japan, requesting that the studio pulled out of its affiliation with Inchon. The labor unions criticized the film's production, saying that it was influenced by Moon and his Unification movement, in addition to the Korean CIA and was part of an effort to support the president of South Korea. Because of this criticism, Toho Studios canceled its participation in the Inchon project. ### Casting Laurence Olivier was paid \$1 million to play General Douglas MacArthur in the film. He was contracted for six weeks of filming, and received a payment of \$250,000 upon signing the contract and the remainder was given in four subsequent installments. His salary came out to \$50,000 per day. In addition to this fee, Olivier also received \$2,500 per week for his expenses. Olivier was interviewed during the film's production and explained why he agreed to be part of its cast: "People ask me why I'm playing in this picture. The answer is simple. Money, dear boy. I'm like a vintage wine. You have to drink me quickly before I turn sour. I'm almost used up now and I can feel the end coming. That's why I'm taking money now. I've got nothing to leave my family but the money I can make from films. Nothing is beneath me if it pays well. I've earned the right to damn well grab whatever I can in the time I've got left." Olivier researched the role by traveling to Norfolk, Virginia to visit the MacArthur Museum, and speaking with Alexander Haig, who had served as aide-de-camp to MacArthur. Haig told Olivier that MacArthur's voice sounded like W. C. Fields, and Olivier tried to imitate this. He enjoyed working with accents and obtained recordings of MacArthur's voice. He was interested in various inconsistencies in these recordings, and especially in the difference in vowel sounds made by MacArthur. During filming, the makeup process for Olivier took two and a half hours, but after it was complete, he thought he neither looked like himself nor like General MacArthur. The 72-year-old Olivier, who had been in poor health for years, suffered during filming in Seoul because of the summer heat. Director Terence Young recalled that between takes Olivier lay on a cot, virtually immobile with pain and exhaustion, but that when needed "he dropped fifty years and stepped forward without complaint". Richard Roundtree, known for the title role in the film Shaft, portrayed the character of Staff Sgt. Henderson in the film. Janssen, known for his role in television series The Fugitive, accepted a part as a journalist to work with Laurence Olivier. Actress Karen Kahn portrayed the young Korean lover of Major Frank Hallsworth in the film. In a subsequent interview with The Press Democrat, Kahn said of the film: "It was supposed to be this Gone with the Wind. And it was the worst movie. It's in some of those worst-films-of-all-time books. After that movie I quit. I just couldn't take L.A. I was really thin-skinned. So I just got out." Young was paid \$1.8 million, Jacqueline Bisset was paid \$1.65 million, Ben Gazzara was paid \$750,000, David Janssen was paid \$300,000, Roundtree was paid \$200,000, and Rex Reed was paid \$6,000 per week. Prior to Gazzara receiving the role for Frank Hallsworth it was offered to Nick Nolte for \$1.5 million. Olivier and Young later sued One Way Productions for \$1 million each citing overtime. ### Music Jerry Goldsmith wrote the score for the film. The music was recorded at Rome's Forum Studio in July 1980 and was fraught with difficulties—the studio was not large enough for his orchestra, and room noise made by the players and their equipment affected the tracks. In spite of the problems, Goldsmith was pleased with his score, describing it as a chance to "create interesting music out of a bad situation". The original 1982 soundtrack LP comprised 38 minutes of music, edited and assembled by Goldsmith and engineer Leonard Engel into an ideal listening experience rather than a chronological one. The album was issued on Regency Records; Intrada Records prepared a remixed edition of the complete score in 1988. In 2006 Intrada revisited the score and issued a two-disc set, with the original LP making its compact disc debut on disc 1 and the entire score presented in film order on disc 2. ### Filming Shooting took place in Hollywood, Rome, Ireland, Tokyo and Seoul. The involvement of Moon was "adamantly denied". Moon recommended editing and reshooting changes to the film's script, which "caused the production to return to South Korea three times, Rome twice and Los Angeles twice." The film included several technical errors. Cut-out cardboard pieces were used to depict military aircraft during battle scenes in the film, and one film critic said viewers were almost able to identify the threads attached to the cardboard cut-outs. Footage of a digital watch was spliced into the film, though this technology would not be invented for twenty-five years after the film's time period. There were other problems. Bisset developed laryngitis during the film's production. A set-piece for the film included a re-created version of a lighthouse at Incheon, but this was obliterated by a typhoon. The death of David Janssen during production called for extensive reshoots. During the filming of the landing at Inchon a mistake was made in which the ships turned right rather than left. This was due to an aide, whose walkie-talkie was broken, not relaying the correct information due to fear of embarrassment. The filming mistake cost around \$500,000. \$1 million was spent to bring the crew back to film the three minute scene depicting MacArthur's victory parade. Principal photography cost \$26 million and reshoots in other countries cost \$22 million. Sidney Beckerman was paid \$350,000 to consult Ishii during the editing process. The production hired Samuel Jaskilka, a retired Marine Corps Lieutenant General who took part in the Battle of Inchon as a company commander, as technical advisor to the film. A portion of the movie was filmed aboard the USS Cleveland, an Austin-class amphibious transport dock during an amphibious operation off the coast of South Korea in 1978. The United States Department of Defense allowed 1,500 soldiers from the United States Army and United States Marine Corps to participate as extras in the film, at a cost of \$77,000. The Little Angels Children's Folk Ballet of Korea, founded by Moon in 1962, was featured in the film, along with many Unification movement members. After shooting had finished in South Korea, Olivier returned to England. He was needed in South Korea to shoot the final scene, but as a concession to his poor health, was allowed to film in Rome instead. The film's director Terence Young was not happy with the completed version of the film and said, "the producers have turned Inchon into a Korean propaganda movie." Ishii said: "No problem. We have 20 nations who want this movie." ## Release The world premiere was held in Washington, D.C., on May 4, 1981, via special screening at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, as a benefit for retired United States Navy personnel chaired by Senator Alfonse D'Amato. This was the only time the film was screened in its full 140-minute version. Between 25 and 100 protesters came to demonstrate outside the Center. The gala was a benefit for retired Naval personal sponsored by D'Amato, but he declined to attend when it was announced that Moon would be in attendance. Twelve Congressmen signed on as honorary members of the benefit committee. Although an additional forty-eight Members of Congress accepted tickets to the premiere, Lawrence H. Suid wrote in Guts & Glory that "... no more than fifteen or sixteen were willing to brave the pickets outside the Kennedy Center protesting the Unification Church and its involvement with the movie." On February 13, 1982, President Ronald Reagan, himself a former film actor and president of the Screen Actors Guild, screened the film in the White House. He noted in his diary: "Ran Inchon—it is a brutal but gripping picture about the Korean War and for once we're the good guys and the Communists are the villains. The producer was Japanese or Korean which probably explains the preceding sentence". ### Promotion The Unification movement wanted to distribute on their own, but Young told them this would result in a "total disaster". The Church did however front the full \$11 million promotion budget. The press releases made many mystical claims, such as of a B-29 bomber pilot seeing the face of Jesus Christ during the war, or of MacArthur's spirit causing his face to appear on a photograph of his office door. The press kit also claimed that MacArthur had endorsed the film from the spiritual world (MacArthur having died in 1964). ### Distribution Inchon screened at the 35th Cannes Film Festival in May 1982 but failed to interest any buyers despite a \$250,000 publicity campaign, which included hiring the publicity firm Rogers and Cowan to arrange a large party and give out promotional Inchon jackets. In August 1982, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contracted distribution rights. One Way Productions came to an agreement with MGM that it would cover the costs associated with advertising and distributing if MGM agreed to distribute Inchon for a profit share of only 15%. The normal profit fee for distributors was 30%. One Way also convinced Moon to change his credit from spiritual advisor to special advisor. The film, cut to 105 minutes, was released in the United States on September 17, 1982, but was swiftly pulled from theater exhibitions due to poor commercial performance. It was never shown in the United Kingdom. ### Home media After its release, Inchon was never theatrically rereleased, and never issued on videocassette or DVD. However, it did air on U.S. cable television outlet Goodlife Television Network, at the time owned by the Unification movement. Bootleg copies circulated from individuals that had copied Inchon from these television broadcasts. ## Response ### Box office The film's total North American gross was \$1.9 million. It eventually took in \$5.2 million at the box office. Inchon lost over \$44 million, and was the year's largest cinematic financial failure. In 1989, a survey released by the entertainment research firm Baseline identified Inchon as "the biggest box-office fiasco of the 1980s". Inchon has been included on multiple lists of box office bombs. Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune placed Inchon as number six in a "list of Hollywood's 10 worst mega-flops". Wilmington noted that Inchon displaced the 1980 film Heaven's Gate as "the bomb of the decade". The Washington Post described Inchon as "one of the biggest commercial disasters in film history". In 1995, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that The Guinness Book of World Records called Inchon "the biggest money-loser in film history". Inchon was one of the "10 costliest movies", adjusted for inflation, at \$173 million in 1997 dollars. In a 2006 list of "The top 10 biggest box office failures", Kat Giantis of MSN Movies placed Inchon as tied with Battlefield Earth (a science fiction film based on a novel by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, the fact this film was based on a book written by the founder of the Scientology religion meant that it was heavily promoted by Scientologists) for number seven. ### Critical reception Most newspaper reviewers gave negative reviews, among them were The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Miami Herald and The Washington Post. In The New York Times, critic Vincent Canby commented, "Inchon is a hysterical historical epic, somewhat less offensive than The Green Berets and far funnier...Inchon looks like the most expensive B-movie ever made." A review in Variety commented, "Olivier is convincing in his role throughout most of the saga, the only member of the cast to achieve that status. The screenplay generally treats all others as one-dimensional buffoons, giving them lines that are unintentionally laughable. One reason is that all plot digressions are simply window dressing to the film's focus on the brutally invading North Koreans and the big-scale counterattack by the good guys. No speaking roles are given to the Communists, for example." Moon founded The Washington Times in Washington, D.C., as a part of his international media conglomerate News World Communications in the same year Inchon was released. According to The Times''' rival The Washington Post, a full-length two and a half page version of a film review of Inchon written by critic Scott Sublett that was originally planned for the September 16, 1982 issue of The Times was killed by the newspaper's publisher and editor James R. Whelan. Whelan told Sublett that The Times had a conflict of interest with regard to reviewing Inchon, and would not print his review. Instead, The Times printed a one-paragraph critical synopsis of the film, also written by Sublett, which said in full: "Puerile dialogue, perfunctory acting and haphazard construction doom from the start this visually impressive would-be epic about love and dead Reds in wartime Korea. Olivier (in a performance that is the nadir of his career) joshes, minces and rolls his eyes absurdly as Doug MacArthur. The script, by Robin Moore, is pure twaddle – a cross between South Pacific and The Green Berets." Moore is the author of the novel The Green Berets, upon which the 1968 film was based. On September 21, The Washington Times printed The New York Times′ review of the film. Reviewers Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert selected the film as one of the worst of the year in a 1982 episode of their program Sneak Previews. ### Later commentary Multiple commentators have described Inchon as the worst film ever made, including The Washington Post, Newsweek, TV Guide and the Canadian Press. Inchon was later profiled in multiple books on worst in film, including The Hollywood Hall of Shame by Harry and Michael Medved, and The Worst Movies of All Time by Michael Sauter. In 2000, Kenneth Lloyd Billingsley, writing in the libertarian magazine Reason, said about a proposed film on Stalinism: "A film like this could easily have turned out as big a didactic dud as the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's 1982 bomb, Inchon, with Laurence Olivier as Gen. Douglas MacArthur." A 2009 review by Phil Hall for Film Threat was less negative, and he disagreed with the characterization of the film as the worst ever made, "I was genuinely surprised — this is hardly among the very worst films of all time. That's not to say it is a good film. It is a dull and forgettable movie, and I would never recommend it. However, its reputation for being among the bottom of the cinematic barrel is wholly undeserved." A review in Brassey's Guide to War Films by Alun Evans was critical, calling the film "Arguably the worst war picture made in the last quarter of the 20th century". Robert Niemi commented in his book History in the Media: Film and Television, "Plagued with a terrible script, horrendous production problems, and shoddy performances all around, the resulting film, Inchon ... was bad beyond belief." Niemi wrote that Olivier's performance "was a low point in an otherwise distinguished film career". In his biography of the actor, Olivier, author Terry Coleman called the film "probably the worst he ever made and one of the best paid". Author Lawrence H. Suid wrote in Guts and Glory: The Making of the American Military Image in Film'' that "what combat the film portrayed lacked any believability or authenticity... As a result, the movie met with almost unanimous critical disdain." ### Accolades ## See also - Box-office bomb - List of films considered the worst - Unification Church and North Korea
64,279,175
Now That's What I Call Drag Music, Vol. 1
1,159,823,930
2018 studio album by Willam Belli
[ "2010s comedy albums", "2018 albums", "LGBT-related albums", "Naming controversies", "Self-released albums", "Willam Belli albums" ]
Now That's What I Call Drag Music, Vol. 1, also known as Songs in the Key of Nope, is a comedy album by American drag performer Willam Belli, self-released on October 26, 2018. The album features fellow RuPaul's Drag Race contestants Latrice Royale and Trixie Mattel, as well as drag performer Rhea Litré. In the United States, the album spent two weeks on Billboard's Comedy Albums chart, reaching a peak position of number four. ## Background Willam Belli, mononymously known as Willam, is an actor, drag performer, and recording artist who came to prominence for competing in the fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race in 2012. Now That's What I Call Drag Music is Belli's third studio album, following his debut The Wreckoning (2012) and Shartistry in Motion (2015). Belli wanted to create a studio album similar to his previous songs "Love You Like a Big Schlong" from The Wreckoning and "Boy Is a Bottom" (2013), which parody Selena Gomez & the Scene's "Love You like a Love Song" (2011) and Alicia Keys' "Girl on Fire" (2012), respectively, after drag queens on a gay cruise told him those were their "moneymaker songs" to perform. ## Composition The self-released comedy album is approximately 32.5 minutes long and has nine tracks, including seven parody songs and two originals. The album spans multiple genres; according to Belli, "there's a poop song on there, there's a blow job song, there's a dance song, there's a country song, there's a jazzy song, there's an EDM song". He has said the opening track "Hoops" is his favorite because "it involves my sex life and jewelry, two of my favorite things". The song "Aileen" is a parody of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" about American serial killer and prostitute Aileen Wuornos, co-written by Jackie Beat and featuring fellow Drag Race contestant Trixie Mattel. In a 2018 Billboard interview, Belli said he has "always been kind of obsessed" with Wuornos because of her similarities to one of his aunts who was also a sex worker. Furthermore, he said, "I've done all the things that she's done, except kill people. I've hooked. I've bleached my hair. I've walked down I-95. Done all of it." In 2019, he said Wournos' "upbringing of abuse and neglect seriously handicapped her chances of ending up a productive member of society without a serious redirect somewhere. She was obviously held responsible for her actions by the court, but I'm hoping the people that turned her into the troubled individual she was also reap some sort of karmic punishment, if Aileen's bullets already didn't seal that deal." Latrice Royale, another Drag Race competitor, is featured on "Oral". "Unshart My Fart" is a parody of Toni Braxton's "Un-Break My Heart" (1996). Belli has said she is "proudest" of one of the song's rhymes. Drag queen Rhea Litré is featured on "Fries", a song about french fries. "Derrick" is about fellow Drag Race contestant and Britney Spears impersonator Derrick Barry. The song is a parody of Spears' "...Baby One More Time" (1998), with a medley covering "Stronger" (2000) and "Toxic" (2003). The song's lyrics reference an interview in which Barry incorrectly said people died in the Stonewall riots, a series of demonstrations by members of New York City's LGBT community at the Stonewall Inn in 1969, before being corrected by Belli. ## Release The album was originally called Now That's What I Call Drag Music, Vol. 1 and re-issued as Songs in the Key of Nope to avoid copyright infringement with the compilation album series Now That's What I Call Music!. On November 23, 2018, Belli wrote: > Hey my album got removed from shelves due to a similarity in names from the NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL MUSIC people. They thought "Now That's What I Call Drag Music vol. 1.0" was a violation of their copyright and since I don't have the money or time to fight it, I'm changing the album name to Songs in the key of Nope and rereleasing it. If you bought it on iTunes or Spotify, it'll be available again once the processing is done. ## Promotion The music video for "Hoops" features nude men, some of whom have erections. Belli also released a video for "Aileen", which features Trixie Mattel out of drag. The music video for "Daddy D" was released in November 2018 and features a "bevy of smoking hot daddies", according to Instinct's Ryan Shea. The video features gay pornographic film actors Angel Rivera, Drew Sebastian, and Trelino. Uncensored and safe for work versions were released on Patreon and YouTube, respectively. Belli's music video for "Derrick", released in June 2020, features appearances by Barry and his partners Nebraska Thunderfuck and Nick San Pedro, as well as Drag Race contestant Courtney Act. In the video, Belli says "stop!... doing impressions, girl", referring to Barry's talent show performance on the premiere episode of the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. Pride.com's Daniel Reynolds described the video as "both a burn and a celebration of Barry", and noted Belli's YouTube caption assuring viewers most scenes were filmed prior to stay-at-home orders implemented as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Belli also encouraged people to donate to the Black Lives Matter movement instead of purchasing the song. ## Track listing Track listing adapted from the Apple Store, Spotify, and Tidal 1. "Hoops" – 3:29 2. "Aileen", featuring Trixie Mattel – 2:41 3. "Oral", featuring Latrice Royale – 3:36 4. "Daddy D" – 3:28 5. "Unshart My Fart" – 4:06 6. "Fries", featuring Rhea Litré – 4:04 7. "Derrick" – 2:53 8. "Drugs" – 4:06 9. "Unshart My Fart (Ballad)" – 4:07 ## Charts ## See also - Trixie Mattel discography
14,127,067
HMS Frobisher (D81)
1,168,386,704
Hawkins-class heavy cruisers for the Royal Navy
[ "1920 ships", "Hawkins-class cruisers", "Ships built in Plymouth, Devon", "World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom" ]
HMS Frobisher was one of five Hawkins-class heavy cruisers built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. She was not finished during the war and construction proceeded very slowly after the end of the war in 1918. Completed in 1924, the ship was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet and was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet in 1929, sometimes serving as a flagship. Placed in reserve in 1930, Frobisher was converted into a cadet training ship in 1932 before being returned to reserve in 1937. Two years later she was reactivated to again serve as a training ship. When the Second World War began in 1939, the Royal Navy decided to reconvert her back into a heavy cruiser, but the work was repeatedly delayed by higher-priority repairs for other ships and she did not reenter service until early 1942. Frobisher was transferred to the Eastern Fleet and spent most of the next two years on escort duty. She returned to the UK in early 1944 to participate in Operation Neptune, the naval portion of the invasion of Normandy in June. The ship bombarded German coastal defences on 6 June, but was damaged by a torpedo in August. The Royal Navy decided to convert her back into a training ship while she was under repair and that work was completed in 1945. Frobisher served in that role until she was replaced in 1947 and the vessel was sold for scrap in 1949. ## Design and description The Hawkins-class cruisers were designed to be able to hunt down commerce raiders in the open ocean, for which they needed a heavy armament, high speed and long range. Frobisher had an overall length of 604 feet 2 inches (184.2 m), a beam of 65 feet (19.8 m) and a draught of 19 feet 3 inches (5.9 m) at deep load. The ship displaced 9,860 long tons (10,020 t) at (standard load) and 12,300 long tons (12,500 t) at deep load. Her crew numbered 37 officers and 672 ratings. The ships were originally designed with 60,000-shaft-horsepower (45,000 kW) propulsion machinery, but the Admiralty decided in 1917 to replace their four coal-fired boilers with more powerful oil-burning ones. This change could only be applied to the three least-advanced ships, including Frobisher, although she did not receive the full upgrade. The ship was powered by four Brown-Curtis geared steam turbine sets, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by 10 Yarrow boilers that were ducted into two funnels. The turbines were rated at 65,000 shp (48,000 kW) for a speed of 30.5 knots (56.5 km/h; 35.1 mph). Frobisher carried 2,186 long tons (2,221 t) of fuel oil to give her a range of 5,640 nautical miles (10,450 km; 6,490 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). The main armament of the Hawkins-class ships consisted of seven 7.5-inch (191 mm) Mk VI guns in single mounts protected by 1-inch (25 mm) gun shields. They were arranged with five guns on the centreline, four of which were in superfiring pairs fore and aft of the superstructure, the fifth gun was further aft on the quarterdeck, and the last two as wing guns abreast the aft funnel. Their anti-aircraft suite consisted of three 4-inch (102 mm) Mk V guns and a pair of two-pounder (1.6-inch (40 mm)) guns. Two of the Mk V guns were positioned at the base of the mainmast and the third gun was on the quarterdeck. The two-pounders were mounted on a platform between the funnels. The ships were also fitted with six 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, one submerged and two above water on each broadside. Frobisher's guns were controlled by a mechanical Mark III Dreyer Fire-control Table. It used data provided by the 15-foot (4.6 m) coincidence rangefinder in the gunnery director positioned under the spotting top at the head of the tripod mast. The ship was also fitted with three 12-foot (3.7 m) rangefinders. The Hawkins class were protected by a full-length waterline armoured belt that covered most of the ships' sides. It was thickest over the boiler and engine rooms, ranging from 1.5 to 3 inches (38 to 76 mm) thick. Their magazines were protected by an additional 0.5 to 1 inch (13 to 25 mm) of armour. There was a 1-inch aft transverse bulkhead and the conning tower was protected by 3-inch armour plates. The ships' deck protection consisted of 1 to 1.5 inches of high-tensile steel. ## Construction and career Frobisher, named after Admiral Sir Martin Frobisher, one of the leaders of the fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada in 1587, has been the only ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. The ship was ordered in December 1915, laid down by HM Dockyard, Devonport on 2 August 1916, launched on 20 March 1920 and completed on 20 September 1924. She was assigned to the 1st Cruiser Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet after working up. The ship's Royal Marines participated in an amphibious landing exercise in June 1926. Rear-Admiral William Boyle hoisted his flag in Frobisher when he took command of the squadron in September. The squadron was temporarily deployed to the China Station before Boyle relinquished command on 10 September 1928 to Rear-Admiral Henry Parker. The ship participated in a torpedo exercise on 24 August and then in a fleet exercise in January and a combined exercise with the Atlantic Fleet in March 1929. In 1927–1928 Frobisher was briefly fitted with a prototype F.I.H aircraft catapult and a crane on the quarterdeck, displacing the four-inch AA gun. Together with a fourth AA gun, the displaced gun was moved to a platform between the funnels. In 1929–1930 the ship served with the Atlantic Fleet. By June 1930 her aft superfiring gun had been removed to provide space for a floatplane and her superstructure was built up around the base of the mainmast. Later that year Frobisher was reduced to reserve and became the flagship of the Vice-Admiral Commanding the Reserve. The ship was converted to a cadet training ship in 1932 and the forward quarterdeck 7.5-inch gun and two 4-inch AA guns were removed. By July 1935 she had received her aircraft catapult where the aft superfiring 7.5-inch gun had been located. All of her guns were removed in 1936, as were the above-water torpedo tubes, and a single 4.7-inch (120 mm) was added. Frobisher returned to reserve in 1937 and was stationed at Devonport. The ship was transferred to Portsmouth in early 1939 where she again served as a cadet training ship. ### Wartime service Shortly before the Second World War began in September, the Royal Navy decided to give Frobisher and her sister ship Hawkins limited rebuilds along the lines of their sister Effingham, but with their original armament reinstalled. Work was planned to begin in September, but it did not start until 5 January 1940 at a very low priority. The original plan was to replace all seven 7.5-inch guns and the above-water torpedo tubes, increase the number of 4-inch AA guns to five, add two quadruple and two single two-pounder mounts, and three 20 mm (0.8 in) Oerlikon AA guns. To do this the catapult and crane were removed and the built up superstructure around the mainmast was removed. In 1941 the plan was revised in light of battle experience and another pair of quadruple two-pounder mounts replaced the wing 7.5-inch guns and the single two-pounder mounts were exchanged for four additional Oerlikons. Before the refit was completed in March 1942, a Type 281 early-warning radar, a Type 273 surface-search radar and a pair of Type 285 anti-aircraft gunnery radars were fitted on the roofs of the newly installed four-inch directors. A set of depth-charge rails was added on the stern and the ship was fitted with hydrophones at the bow. Frobisher was assigned to the 4th Cruiser Squadron of the Eastern Fleet after the refit was completed and began escorting convoys and the fleet's capital ships in the Indian Ocean. The ship took over the tow of the French light cruiser Le Triomphant in December 1943 after she had been badly damaged in a typhoon; they arrived in Diego Suarez, Madagascar, on 19 December. Frobisher returned to the UK in March 1944 to prepare for Operation Neptune; the ship had her anti-aircraft armament augmented by a dozen single Oerlikons and her four quadruple two-pounder mounts were replaced by a pair of octuple mounts during a refit that lasted from 5 April to May. On 6 June Frobisher was assigned to Gunfire Bombardment Support Force D which initially targeted the defenses at Sword Beach during the D-Day landings. The ship is known to have bombarded the coastal artillery position at Riva-Bella in Ouistreham and to have knocked out the fire-control observation post in the town proper with a direct hit. During this time, her manually loaded main guns are reported to have fired at a rate of five rounds per minute. In August, she and the repair ship were damaged by long-range G7e Dackel torpedoes fired from E-boats in the Baie de la Seine. While Frobisher was under repair at HM Dockyard, Chatham, the Royal Navy decided to reconvert her into a training ship for 150 cadets. After her repairs were completed in September, the ship steam north to Rosyth, Scotland, to begin the conversion. The two superfiring and the aft quarterdeck 7.5-inch guns were removed as were the four amidships 4-inch AA guns, the octuple two-pounder mounts, some of the single Oerlikons and the depth-charge rails. The directors for the two-pounder guns were also removed. A 6-inch (150 mm) gun was added in the forward superfiring position and a quadruple 21-inch torpedo mount where the aft quarterdeck 7.5-inch gun had been located. Her Type 281 radar was probably replaced by a Type 291 early-warning radar at this time. When her conversion was completed in May 1945, her armament consisted of three 7.5-inch guns, one 6-inch gun, a 4-inch AA gun, 11 or 13 Oerlikons and the quadruple torpedo mount. By July 1946, Frobisher's 4-inch high-angle directors had been removed. The ship was replaced as a cadet training ship by the heavy cruiser Devonshire in 1947. She was sold for scrap to John Cashmore Ltd on 26 March 1949 and arrived at their facility in Newport, Wales, to be broken up on 11 May of that year.
31,884,710
You Win or You Die
1,125,704,735
null
[ "2011 American television episodes", "Fiction about regicide", "Game of Thrones (season 1) episodes", "Mariticide in fiction", "Television episodes written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss" ]
"You Win or You Die" is the seventh episode of the first season of the HBO medieval fantasy television series Game of Thrones. It was written by series creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, and directed by Daniel Minahan. It first aired on May 29, 2011, and was released in advance immediately following the conclusion of "A Golden Crown" to HBO customers with access to HBO Go. The episode furthers the story line of deterioration of the political balance of the Seven Kingdoms, with Eddard Stark revealing what he has discovered to Cersei Lannister while King Robert is still away on a hunt. The title of the episode is part of a quote from Cersei Lannister during the final confrontation with Eddard: "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground." The catchphrase has been frequently used during the promotion of both the books and the television series. The episode was generally well received by critics for its well-acted dramatic tension, but with several criticizing the coupling of exposition and nudity as "sexposition". In the United States, the episode achieved a viewership of 2.4 million in its initial broadcast. ## Plot ### In the Westerlands Lord Tywin gives half his forces to his son Jaime to attack Riverrun, seat of House Tully and Lady Catelyn's childhood home, believing war with the Starks will allow the Lannisters to rule the Seven Kingdoms. ### At Winterfell Osha, now a servant of Winterfell, reveals that she and her fellow wildlings were fleeing the White Walkers. ### At the Wall Benjen's horse returns from north of the Wall without him. Sam believes Jon, assigned as a steward to the Lord Commander instead of a ranger, is being groomed for command. As Jon and Sam take their vows near a heart tree, Jon's direwolf Ghost brings him a dismembered hand. ### In Vaes Dothrak Daenerys fails to convince Khal Drogo to invade her homeland. Ser Jorah receives a royal pardon and realizes Daenerys’ assassination has been ordered. He saves her from an attempted poisoning, and Drogo vows to lead his people to reclaim the Iron Throne for his unborn son. ### In King's Landing Ned confronts Queen Cersei with the knowledge that her children were incestuously fathered by her brother Jaime. Cersei defends her affair and reveals Robert was still in love with Ned's deceased sister, Lyanna. Ned tells Cersei to leave the capital with her children before he tells Robert the truth. Mortally wounded by a boar, Robert dictates his will and testament to Ned, naming him regent until Joffrey comes of age; instead of "Joffrey," Ned writes "my rightful heir." Robert begs Ned to make Joffrey a better man, and tells him to let Daenerys live. Renly tries to convince Ned to launch a coup d'état against the Lannisters, but Ned refuses and dispatches a letter to rightful heir Stannis Baratheon. Ned reveals Joffrey's heritage to Littlefinger, who suggests that if Joffrey proves an unfit ruler, they use the truth to make Renly king instead. Ned refuses, asking Littlefinger to secure the City Watch's support against Cersei's men-at-arms. By the time Robert dies, Renly has fled and Joffrey has ordered his own coronation. Ned and his allies present Robert's will to the court, but Cersei tears it up and orders Ser Barristan Selmy to seize Ned, who orders his men to arrest Cersei and Joffrey. Instead, the City Watch slaughters the Stark men as Littlefinger holds Ned at knifepoint, telling him "I did warn you not to trust me." ## Production ### Writing The episode was written by the showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, based on the original novel by George R. R. Martin. The chapters included in "You Win or You Die" are 46, 48-50, and 55 (Eddard XII, Eddard XIII, Jon VI, Eddard XIV, and Daenerys VI), making it the episode that includes fewest chapters of the source novel in the entire first season. Among the scenes created specifically for the show were a meeting between Tywin and Jaime Lannister (as Lord Tywin is field dressing a stag) and a "training" session between Littlefinger and two new female recruits for one of his brothels. ### Casting "You Win or You Die" marks the first appearance of Charles Dance as Lord Tywin, the patriarch of the Lannister household. Cast in the role shortly after the production began, Dance had been the first choice of the producers and one of the fan favorites for the role. Author George R. R. Martin commented that "his commanding screen presence and steely charisma should make him the perfect Lord Tywin." The deer that is field dressed by Tywin in the opening scene was a real dead stag. Dance had no previous experience with skinning and gutting, and before filming the scene practiced for an hour with a butcher. ### Filming locations Most of the episode was shot on set at the Northern Irish studios of The Paint Hall. The exteriors of the entrance of Vaes Dothrak were filmed in the Sandy Brae area, and for the confrontation between Eddard and Cersei taking place in the Red Keep's gardens (identified as a godswood in the novels) the production used the cloister of the St Dominic Monastery in Rabat, in Malta. ## Reception ### Ratings "You Win or You Die"'s first airing was seen by 2.4 million viewers, stabilizing the show's ratings. This could be considered positive when taking into account that the episode had been offered in advance during the preceding week in HBO's online service, and that it was aired in a three-day holiday weekend which often results in lower viewership. With the second airing, the total audience for the night was 3.2 million viewers. ### Critical response The episode was well received by critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 20 reviews of the episode and judged 100% of them to be positive with an average score of 9.02 out of 10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The cinematic, fast-paced "You Win or You Die" thrusts the plot forward while hinting at painful moments looming for fans." Time's reviewer James Poniewozik called "You Win or You Die" the "most thrilling and thematically rich hour to date," AOL TV's Maureen Ryan found it an excellent outing that "saw the stakes raised in satisfying and suspenseful ways," and HitFix's Alan Sepinwall called it a terrific episode and commended how "it turned the spotlight on the characters who are villains in Ned Stark's version of the story." Poniewozik continued: "We knew this would be a significant episode if for no other reason than that it contains the scene—alluded to in the episode's title—that gives the series its name," a sentiment Sepinwall agreed with. Myles McNutt, writing for Cultural Learnings, also considered "You Win or You Die" a climactic moment in the series. IGN's Matt Fowler noted that this was the episode that saw Ned Stark "unfortunately thwarted by his own honorable intentions," but that his "stubborn nobility is what makes Ned such a great character." The final showdown with the Lannisters seizing control from Eddard was much discussed, with many commentators criticizing Ned's ingenuity and his actions during the episode. In The Atlantic, Scott Meslow wrote that Eddard could never win the "game of thrones" because he is dedicated to playing by the rules. In his opinion, "one can't afford to play fair" when the only outcomes are "win" or "die." McNutt felt that the climax at the episode's end "was really well handled by both the cast and the director (Dan Minahan)." As well as the final confrontation between Eddard and Cersei, other scenes were praised by the critics. The introduction of Charles Dance as Lord Tywin Lannister was considered "a beauty" by Emily VanDerWerff from the A.V. Club, who admired how a single scene depicted not only the relationship between Tywin and Jaime, but also all the dynamics of the Lannister clan. She also praised the work of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in the scene, commenting that despite having few lines, he transmitted that Jaime is cowed by his father very well. Maureen Ryan agreed with that sentiment, and also lauded Natalia Tena's short appearance. David Sims (a second reviewer for the A.V. Club) highlighted the work of Mark Addy in his final scene, extending the praise to the rest of his work on the series. Critics agreed that the scenes with the Dothraki were strong, with the storyline having improved significantly since the first episodes. Poniewozik stated that "this was the first week for me that the Dothraki scenes were not just absorbing but felt like the characters were as well-imagined as those in Westeros," and McNutt felt the episode "finally allows Khal Drogo to become an actual character." Drogo's rant vowing to give his unborn son the Iron Throne led to compliments about Jason Momoa's intensity and Emilia Clarke's calm and loving facial expressions. However, the scene where Littlefinger exposes his motivations while hiring two whores for his brothel was largely criticized as an example of the show's perceived abuse of conversations with prostitutes as an expository device, a situation for which Myles McNutt coined the term "sexposition." Aidan Gillen's acting was consistently praised and the comparison between Littlefinger's actions and faking an orgasm was considered apt, but many agreed with Meslow's statement that it was "annoyingly overshadowed by the series' most gratuitous sex scene to date." Among other criticisms were the scene's excessive length, the repetition of the dramatic approach, and the assumption that viewers were not going to pay attention when presented with a long exposition that did not include sex.
18,775,774
Lactarius subdulcis
1,122,279,930
Species of fungus
[ "Edible fungi", "Fungi described in 1801", "Fungi of Europe", "Lactarius", "Taxa named by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon" ]
Lactarius subdulcis, commonly known as the mild milkcap or beech milk cap, is an edible mushroom in the genus Lactarius. It is brown in colour, with a large number of gills and a particularly thin layer of flesh in the cap. Mycorrhizal, the mushroom is found from late summer to late autumn at the base of beech trees in small groups or individually, where it is one of the two most common species of fungi. Alternatively, it can be found in large groups in fields, sometimes with more than a hundred individual mushrooms. It is found in Europe, and, despite previous research to the contrary, is absent in North America. Although considered edible, it is not particularly useful as food due to its ivy-like taste and the fact that more choice mushrooms will be easily found at the same time. L. subdulcis is known for its abundant, sweet-tasting milk that, unlike the latex of some of its relatives, does not stain fabric yellow. ## Taxonomy Lactarius subdulcis was first described as Agaricus subdulcis by mycologist Christian Hendrik Persoon in 1801, before English mycologist Samuel Frederick Gray placed it in its current genus Lactarius in 1821 in his The Natural Arrangement of British Plants. The specific epithet is derived from Latin words sub "under", and dulcis "sweet", after the milk's delayed sweet taste. As well as mild milk cap, beech milk cap is an alternate common name. ## Description Lactarius subdulcis has a convex cap of 3–7 cm (1–3 in) across that later develops a depression. It sometimes has a small umbo, and in colour can be a reddish-brown, rusty or dark-cinnamon, later paling to buff, though darker in the middle. The cap can be fairly rigid to flexible, and smooth to slightly wrinkled. At first, the margin is incurved though it is sometimes slightly furrowed. The stem is 3–7 cm long and between 6 and 13 mm thick, and is generally cylindrical though can be club-shaped. The stem is sometimes furrowed lengthwise, and is generally the same colour as the cap, though paler at the top. The flesh is pale and there is only a thin layer in the cap. The crowded gills are adnate to slightly decurrent, and can be white or pink in colour. It has white, plentiful milk that does not stain fabrics yellow, differentiating it from other species of Lactarius, such as L. decipiens. It has a faint, oily scent. ### Spores Lactarius subdulcis has cream spore print with a slight salmon tinge. The spores are oval, with largish warts of around 1 micrometre (μm) which are joined by a well-developed network of mostly thin ridges. The spores measure 7.5–11 μm by 6.5–9 μm, and are amyloid or ellipsoid in shape. ## Distribution and habitat Lactarius subdulcis is found in Europe; it does not occur in North America, although a number of similar brownish-orange species were formerly classified under this species. It is found in broad-leaved woodland, especially on the floor at the base of beech trees. Along with L. vellereus, L. subdulcis is the most common fungi found on beech trees. The mushrooms can be found from late summer to late autumn, and are common. They are found individually, or in small groups. They can also be found in fields, generally appearing in large batches, with groups of over a hundred mushrooms not uncommon. ## Edibility Lactarius subdulcis has a mild taste with a slightly bitter after-taste. Though considered edible after cooking, it is not recommended, as it has a taste reminiscent of ivy. There are a number of other mushrooms that appear at the same time and in the same areas as L. subdulcis that are preferable to it, including L. mitissimus, meaning that L. subdulcis is not particularly useful as a foodstuff. The milk is one of distinguishing features, having a sweet taste that turns bitter in the mouth, with L. subdulcis being considered a sweet milk mushroom. ## See also - List of Lactarius species
16,991
Keith Moon
1,173,236,702
English rock drummer (1946–1978)
[ "1946 births", "1978 deaths", "20th-century British male musicians", "20th-century English musicians", "Accidental deaths in London", "British male drummers", "British rhythm and blues boom musicians", "Drug-related deaths in London", "English expatriates in the United States", "English rock drummers", "Golders Green Crematorium", "Musicians from London", "Musicians from Wembley", "People from Alperton", "Plastic Ono Band members", "The Who members" ]
Keith John Moon (23 August 1946 – 7 September 1978) was an English musician who was the drummer for the rock band the Who. He was noted for his unique style of playing and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour. Moon grew up in Wembley and took up the drums during the early 1960s. After playing with a local band, the Beachcombers, he joined the Who in 1964 before they recorded their first single. Moon was recognised for his drumming style, which emphasised tom-toms, cymbal crashes, and drum fills. Throughout his tenure with the Who, his drum kit steadily grew in size, and (along with Ginger Baker) he has been credited as one of the earliest rock drummers to regularly employ double bass drums in his setup. Moon occasionally collaborated with other musicians and later appeared in films, but considered playing in the Who his primary occupation, and remained a member of the band until his death. In addition to his talent as a drummer, Moon developed a reputation for smashing his kit on stage and destroying hotel rooms on tour. He was fascinated with blowing up toilets with cherry bombs or dynamite, and destroying television sets. Moon also enjoyed touring and socialising, and became bored and restless when the Who were inactive. His 21st birthday party in Flint, Michigan, has been cited as a notorious example of decadent behaviour by rock groups. Moon suffered a number of setbacks during the 1970s, most notably the accidental death of chauffeur Neil Boland and the breakdown of his marriage. He suffered from alcoholism and acquired a reputation for decadence and dark humour; his nickname was "Moon the Loon". While touring with the Who, on several occasions he passed out on stage and was hospitalised. By the time of their final tour with him in 1976, and particularly during production of The Kids Are Alright and Who Are You, the drummer's deterioration was evident. Moon moved back to London in 1978, dying that September from an overdose of Heminevrin, a drug intended to treat or prevent symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. Moon's drumming continues to be praised by critics and musicians. He was posthumously inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1982, becoming the second rock drummer to be chosen, and in 2011 he was voted the second-greatest drummer in history by a Rolling Stone readers' poll. Moon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 as a member of the Who. ## Early life Keith John Moon was born to Alfred Charles (Alf) and Kathleen Winifred (Kit) Moon on 23 August 1946 at Central Middlesex Hospital in northwest London; he grew up in Wembley. Moon was hyperactive as a boy, with a restless imagination and a particular fondness for music and The Goon Show. Moon attended Alperton Secondary Modern School after failing his eleven plus exam, which precluded his attending a grammar school. His art teacher said in a report: "Retarded artistically. Idiotic in other respects." His music teacher wrote that Moon "has great ability, but must guard against a tendency to show off." Moon joined his local Sea Cadet Corps band at the age of twelve on the bugle, but found the instrument too difficult to learn and decided to take up drums instead. He was interested in practical jokes and home science kits, with a particular fondness for explosions. On his way home from school, Moon would often go to Macari's Music Studio on Ealing Road to practise on the drums there, learning his basic skills on the instrument. He left school around Easter 1961, at age 14. Moon then enrolled at Harrow Technical College; this led to a job as a radio repairman, enabling him to buy his first drum kit. ## Career ### Early years Moon took lessons from one of the loudest contemporary drummers, Screaming Lord Sutch's Carlo Little, at ten shillings per lesson. His early style was influenced by jazz, American surf music and rhythm and blues, exemplified by noted Los Angeles studio drummer Hal Blaine. His favourite musicians were jazz artists, particularly Gene Krupa (whose flamboyant style he subsequently copied). He also admired Elvis Presley's original drummer DJ Fontana, The Shadows' original drummer Tony Meehan and the Pretty Things' Viv Prince. Moon also enjoyed singing, with a particular interest in Motown. Moon idolised the Beach Boys; Roger Daltrey later said that given the opportunity, Moon would have left to play for the California band even at the peak of the Who's fame. During this time Moon joined his first serious band: the Escorts, replacing his best friend Gerry Evans. In December 1962 he joined the Beachcombers, a semi-professional London cover band playing hits by groups such as The Shadows. During his time in the group Moon incorporated theatrical tricks into his act, including "shooting" the group's lead singer with a starter pistol. The Beachcombers all had day jobs; Moon, who worked in the sales department at British Gypsum, had the keenest interest in turning professional. In April 1964, aged 17, he auditioned for the Who as a replacement for Doug Sandom. The Beachcombers continued as a local cover band after his departure. ### The Who A commonly cited story of how Moon joined the Who is that he appeared at a show shortly after Sandom's departure, where a session drummer was used. Dressed in ginger clothes and with his hair dyed ginger (future bandmate Pete Townshend later described him as a "ginger vision"), he claimed to his would-be bandmates that he could play better; he played in the set's second half, nearly demolishing the drum kit in the process. As Moon later recounted: "[T]hey said go ahead, and I got behind this other guy's drums and did one song—'Road Runner.' I'd several drinks to get me courage up and when I got onstage I went arrgggGhhhh on the drums, broke the bass drum pedal and two skins, and got off. I figured that was it. I was scared to death. Afterwards I was sitting at the bar and Pete came over. He said: 'You ... come 'ere.' I said, mild as you please: 'Yes, yes?' And Roger, who was the spokesman then, said: 'What are you doing next Monday?' I said: 'Nothing.' I was working during the day, selling plaster. He said: 'You'll have to give up work ... there's this gig on Monday. If you want to come, we'll pick you up in the van.' I said: 'Right.' And that was it." Moon later claimed that he was never formally invited to join the Who permanently; when Ringo Starr asked how he had joined the band, he said he had "just been filling in for the last fifteen years." Moon's arrival in the Who changed the dynamics of the group. Sandom had generally been the peacemaker as Daltrey and Townshend feuded between themselves, but because of Moon's temperament the group now had four members frequently in conflict. "We used to fight regularly", remembered Moon in later years. "John [Entwistle] and I used to have fights–it wasn't very serious, it was more of an emotional spur-of-the moment thing." Moon also clashed with Daltrey and Townshend: "We really have absolutely nothing in common apart from music", he said in a later interview. Although Townshend described him as a "completely different person to anyone I've ever met", the pair had a rapport in the early years and enjoyed practical jokes and improvised comedy. Moon's drumming style affected the band's musical structure; although Entwistle initially found Moon's lack of conventional timekeeping problematic, it created an original sound. Moon was particularly fond of touring since it was his only chance to regularly socialise with his bandmates, and was generally restless and bored when not playing live. This later carried over to other aspects of his life, as he acted them out (according to journalist and Who biographer Dave Marsh) "as if his life were one long tour." These antics earned him the nickname "Moon the Loon". #### Musical contributions Moon's style of drumming was considered unique by his bandmates, although they sometimes found his unconventional playing frustrating; Entwistle noted that he tended to play faster or slower according to his mood. "He wouldn't play across his kit", he later added. "He'd play zig-zag. That's why he had two sets of tom-toms. He'd move his arms forward like a skier." Daltrey said that Moon "just instinctively put drum fills in places that other people would never have thought of putting them." Who biographer John Atkins wrote that the group's early test sessions for Pye Records in 1964 show that "they seemed to have understood just how important was ... Moon's contribution." Contemporary critics questioned his ability to keep time, with biographer Tony Fletcher suggesting that the timing on Tommy was "all over the place." Who producer Jon Astley said, "You didn't think he was keeping time, but he was." In the opinion of Atkins, early recordings of Moon's drumming sound tinny and disorganised; it was not until the recording of Who's Next, with Glyn Johns' no-nonsense production techniques and the need to keep time to a synthesizer track, that Moon began developing more discipline in the studio. Fletcher considers the drumming on this album to be the best of Moon's career. Unlike contemporary rock drummers such as Ginger Baker and John Bonham, Moon hated drum solos and refused to play them in concert. At a Madison Square Garden show during the Who's 1974 tour, Townshend and Entwistle decided to spontaneously stop playing during "Waspman" to listen to Moon's drum solo. Moon continued briefly and then stopped, shouting, "Drum solos are boring!" On 23 June 1977, he made a guest appearance at a Led Zeppelin concert in Los Angeles. Moon also aspired to sing lead vocal on some songs. While the other three members handled most of the onstage vocals, Moon would attempt to sing backup (particularly on "I Can't Explain"). He provided humorous commentary during song announcements, although sound engineer Bob Pridden preferred to mute his vocal microphone on the mixing desk whenever possible. Moon's knack for making his bandmates laugh around the microphone led them to banish him from the studio when vocals were being recorded; this led to a game in which Moon would sneak in to join the singing. At the end of "Happy Jack", Townshend can be heard saying, "I saw ya!" to Moon as he tries to sneak into the studio. The drummer's interest in surf music and his desire to sing led to his performing lead vocals on several early tracks, including "Bucket T" and "Barbara Ann" (Ready Steady Who EP, 1966) and high backing vocals on other songs, such as "Pictures of Lily". His performance on "Bell Boy" (Quadrophenia, 1973) saw him abandon "serious" vocal performances to sing in character, which gave him (in Fletcher's words) "full licence to live up to his reputation as a lecherous drunk"; it was "exactly the kind of performance the Who needed from him to bring them back down to earth." Moon composed "I Need You", the instrumental "Cobwebs and Strange" (from the album A Quick One, 1966), the single B-sides "In The City" (co-written with Entwistle) and "Girl's Eyes" (from The Who Sell Out sessions featured on Thirty Years of Maximum R&B and a 1995 re-release of The Who Sell Out), "Dogs Part Two" (1969), "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (1969) and "Waspman" (1972). Moon also co-composed "The Ox" (an instrumental from their debut album, My Generation) with Townshend, Entwistle and keyboardist Nicky Hopkins. The setting for "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (from Tommy) was credited to Moon; the song was primarily written by Townshend and, although there is a misconception that Moon sings on it, the album version is Townshend's demo. The drummer produced the violin solo on "Baba O'Riley". Moon sat in on congas with East of Eden at London's Lyceum Ballroom, and afterwards suggested to violinist Dave Arbus that he play on the track. #### Equipment Moon played a four- and later a five-piece drum kit during his early career. During much of 1964 and 1965 his setups consisted of Ludwig drums and Zildjian cymbals. He began to endorse Premier Drums in late 1965 and remained a loyal customer of the company. His first Premier kit was in red sparkle and featured two high toms. In 1966, Moon moved to an even larger kit, but without the customary hi-hat—at the time he preferred keeping ride rhythms with ride and crash cymbals, but he later reinstated the hi-hats. His new larger configuration was notable for the presence of two bass drums; he, along with Ginger Baker, has been credited as one of the early pioneers of double bass drumming in rock. This kit was not used at the Who's performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. From 1967 to 1969, Moon used the "Pictures of Lily" drum kit (named for its artwork), which had two 22-inch (56 cm) bass drums, two 16-inch (41 cm) floor toms and three mounted toms. In recognition of his loyalty to the company, Premier reissued the kit in 2006 as the "Spirit of Lily". By 1970, Moon had begun to use timbales, gongs and timpani, and these were included in his setup for the rest of his career. In 1973, Premier's marketing manager, Eddie Haynes, began consulting Moon about specific requirements. At one point, Moon asked Premier to make a white kit with gold-plated fittings. When Haynes said that it would be prohibitively expensive, Moon replied: "Dear boy, do exactly as you feel it should be, but that's the way I want it." The kit was eventually fitted with copper fittings and later given to a young Zak Starkey. #### Destroying instruments and other stunts At an early show at the Railway Tavern in Harrow, Townshend smashed his guitar after accidentally breaking it. When the audience demanded he do it again, Moon kicked over his drum kit. Subsequent live sets culminated in what the band later described as "auto-destructive art", in which band members (particularly Moon and Townshend) elaborately destroyed their equipment. Moon developed a habit of kicking over his drums, claiming that he did so in exasperation at an audience's indifference. Townshend later said, "A set of skins is about \$300 [then £96] and after every show he'd just go bang, bang, bang and then kick the whole thing over." In May 1966, Moon discovered that the Beach Boys' Bruce Johnston was visiting London. After the pair socialised for a few days, Moon and Entwistle brought Johnston to the set of Ready Steady Go!, which made them late for a show with the Who that evening. During the finale of "My Generation", an altercation broke out on stage between Moon and Townshend which was reported on the front page of the New Musical Express the following week. Moon and Entwistle left the Who for a week (with Moon hoping to join the Animals or the Nashville Teens), but they changed their minds and returned. On the Who's early US package tour at the RKO 58th Street Theatre in New York in March and April 1967, Moon performed two or three shows a day, kicking over his drum kit after every show. Later that year, during their appearance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, he bribed a stagehand to load gunpowder into one of his bass drums; the stagehand used about ten times the standard amount. During the finale of "My Generation", he set off the charge. The intensity of the explosion singed Townshend's hair and embedded a piece of cymbal in Moon's arm. A clip of the incident became the opening scene for the film The Kids Are Alright. Although Moon was known for kicking over his drum kit, Haynes claimed that it was done carefully and the kit rarely needed repairs. However, stands and foot pedals were frequently replaced; the drummer "would go through them like a knife through butter". ### Other work #### Music While Moon generally said he was only interested in working with the Who, he participated in outside musical projects. In 1966, he worked with Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck, pianist Nicky Hopkins and future Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones on the instrumental "Beck's Bolero", which was the B-side to "Hi Ho Silver Lining" and appeared on the album Truth. Moon also played timpani on another track, a cover of Jerome Kern's "Ol' Man River". He was credited on the album as "You Know Who". Moon may have inspired the name for Led Zeppelin when he supposedly briefly considered leaving the Who in 1966 and spoke with Entwistle and Page about forming a supergroup; Moon (or Entwistle) remarked that a particular suggestion had gone down like a "lead zeppelin" (a play on "lead balloon"). Although this supergroup was never formed, Page remembered the phrase and later adapted it as the name of his new band. The Beatles became friends with Moon, and this led to occasional collaborations. In 1967, he contributed backing vocals to "All You Need Is Love". On 15 December 1969, Moon joined John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band for a live performance at the Lyceum Theatre in London for a UNICEF charity concert. In 1972, the performance was released as a companion disc to Lennon and Ono's album Some Time in New York City. Moon's friendship with Entwistle led to an appearance on Smash Your Head Against the Wall, Entwistle's first solo album and the first by a member of the Who. Moon did not play drums on the album; Jerry Shirley did, with Moon providing percussion. Rolling Stone's John Hoegel appreciated Entwistle's decision not to let Moon drum, saying that it distanced his album from the familiar sound of the Who. Moon became involved in solo work when he moved to Los Angeles during the mid-1970s. Track Records-MCA released a Moon solo single in 1974, comprising cover versions of the Beach Boys' "Don't Worry, Baby" and "Teenage Idol". The following year he released his only solo album, entitled Two Sides of the Moon. Although it featured Moon on vocals, he played drums on only three tracks; most of the drumming was left to others (including Ringo Starr, session musicians Curly Smith and Jim Keltner, and actor-musician Miguel Ferrer). The album was received poorly by critics. New Musical Express's Roy Carr wrote, "Moonie, if you didn't have talent, I wouldn't care; but you have, which is why I'm not about to accept Two Sides of the Moon." Dave Marsh, reviewing the album in Rolling Stone, wrote: "There isn't any legitimate reason for this album's existence." During one of his few televised solo drum performances (for ABC's Wide World), Moon played a five-minute drum solo dressed as a cat on transparent acrylic drums filled with water and goldfish. When asked by an audience member what would happen to the kit, he joked that "even the best drummers get hungry." His performance was not appreciated by animal lovers, several of whom called the station with complaints. #### Film In the 2007 documentary film Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who, Daltrey and Townshend reminisced about Moon's talent for dressing as (and embodying) a variety of characters. They remembered his dream of getting out of music and becoming a Hollywood film actor, although Daltrey did not think Moon had the patience and work ethic required of a professional actor. Who manager Bill Curbishley agreed that Moon "wasn't disciplined enough to actually turn up or commit to doing the stuff." Nevertheless, the drummer landed several acting roles. His first was in 1971, a cameo in Frank Zappa's 200 Motels as a nun afraid of dying from a drug overdose. Although it only took 13 days to film, fellow cast member Howard Kaylan remembers Moon spending off-camera time at the Kensington Garden Hotel bar instead of sleeping. Moon's next film role was J.D. Clover, drummer for the fictional Stormy Tempest (played by Billy Fury) at a holiday camp during the early days of British rock 'n' roll, in 1973's That'll Be the Day. He reprised the role for the film's 1974 sequel, Stardust, in Jim MacLaine's (David Essex) backing band the Stray Cats and played Uncle Ernie in Ken Russell's 1975 film adaptation of Tommy. Moon's last film appearance was in 1978's Sextette. ## Destructive behaviour Moon led a destructive lifestyle. During the Who's early days he began taking amphetamines, and in a NME interview said his favourite food was "French Blues". He spent his share of the band's income quickly, and was a regular at London clubs such as the Speakeasy (where manager Roy Flynn recalls having to throw him out on three occasions) and The Bag O'Nails. The combination of pills and alcohol escalated into alcoholism and drug addiction later in his life. "[We] went through the same stages everybody goes through – the bloody drug corridor", he later reflected. "Drinking suited the group a lot better." According to Townshend, Moon began destroying hotel rooms when the Who stayed at the Berlin Hilton on tour in late 1966. In addition to hotel rooms, Moon destroyed friends' homes—and even his own—including throwing furniture from upper-storey windows. Andrew Neill and Matthew Kent estimated that his destruction of hotel toilets and plumbing cost as much as £300,000 (\$500,000). These acts, often fuelled by drugs and alcohol, were Moon's way of demonstrating his eccentricity and he enjoyed shocking the public with them. Longtime friend and personal assistant, Dougal Butler, observed: "He was trying to make people laugh and be Mr Funny; he wanted people to love him and enjoy him, but he would go so far. Like a train ride you couldn't stop." In a limousine on the way to the airport, Moon insisted they return to their hotel, saying "I forgot something." At the hotel he ran back to his room, grabbed the television and threw it out of the window into the swimming pool below. He then jumped back into the limo, saying "I nearly forgot." Fletcher argues that the Who's lengthy break (15 December 1971 – 11 August 1972) between the end of their 1971 Who's Next Tour and the beginning of the Quadrophenia sessions devastated Moon's health, as without the rigours of lengthy shows and regular touring that had previously kept him in shape, his hard-partying lifestyle took a greater toll on his body. He did not keep a drum kit or practise at Tara, and began to deteriorate physically as a result of his lifestyle. Around the same time he became a severe alcoholic, starting the day with drinks and—changing from the "lovable boozer"—presented himself as a "boorish drunk". David Puttnam recalled, "The drinking went from being a joke to being a problem. On That'll Be the Day it was social drinking. By the time Stardust came round it was hard drinking." ### Exploding toilets Moon's favourite stunt was to flush powerful explosives down toilets. According to Fletcher, Moon's toilet pyrotechnics began in 1965 when he purchased a case of 500 cherry bombs. Townshend remembers walking into the bathroom of Moon's hotel room and noticing the toilet had disappeared, with only the S-bend remaining. The drummer explained that since a cherry bomb was about to explode, he had thrown it down the toilet and showed Townshend the case of cherry bombs. "And of course from that moment on," the guitarist remembered, "we got thrown out of every hotel we ever stayed in." Moon moved from cherry bombs to M-80 fireworks to sticks of dynamite, which became his explosive of choice. "All that porcelain flying through the air was quite unforgettable," Moon remembered. "I never realised dynamite was so powerful. I'd been used to penny bangers before." He quickly developed a reputation for destroying bathrooms and blowing up toilets. The destruction mesmerised him, and enhanced his public image as rock's premier hell-raiser. Tony Fletcher wrote that "no toilet in a hotel or changing room was safe" until Moon had exhausted his supply of explosives. Entwistle recalled being close to Moon on tour and both were often involved in blowing up toilets. In a 1981 Los Angeles Times interview he admitted, "A lot of times when Keith was blowing up toilets I was standing behind him with the matches." Once, a hotel manager called Moon in his room and asked him to lower the volume on his cassette recorder because it made "too much noise." In response the drummer asked him up to his room, excused himself to go to the bathroom, put a lit stick of dynamite in the toilet and shut the bathroom door. Upon returning, he asked the manager to stay for a moment, as he wanted to explain something. Following the explosion, Moon turned the recorder back on and said, "That, dear boy, was noise. This is the 'Oo." ### Flint Holiday Inn incident On 23 August 1967, on tour opening for Herman's Hermits, Moon celebrated what he said was his 21st birthday (although it was thought at the time to be his 20th) at a Holiday Inn in Flint, Michigan. Entwistle later said, "He decided that if it was a publicised fact that it was his 21st birthday, he would be able to drink." The drummer immediately began drinking upon his arrival in Flint. The Who spent the afternoon visiting local radio stations with Nancy Lewis (then the band's publicist), and Moon posed for a photo outside the hotel in front of a "Happy Birthday Keith" sign put up by the hotel management. According to Lewis, Moon was drunk by the time the band went onstage at Atwood Stadium. Returning to the hotel, Moon started a food fight and soon cake began flying through the air. The drummer knocked out part of his front tooth; at the hospital, doctors could not give him an anaesthetic (due to his inebriation) before removing the remainder of the tooth. Back at the hotel, a mêlée erupted; fire extinguishers were set off, guests (and objects) thrown into the swimming pool and a piano reportedly destroyed. The chaos ended only when police arrived with guns drawn. A furious Holiday Inn management presented the groups with a bill for \$24,000, which was reportedly settled by Herman's Hermits tour manager Edd McCann. Townshend claimed that the Who were banned for life from all of the hotel's properties, but Fletcher wrote that they stayed at a Holiday Inn in Rochester, New York, a week later. He also disputed a widely held belief that Moon drove a Lincoln Continental into the hotel's swimming pool, as claimed by the drummer in a 1972 Rolling Stone interview. However, Roger Daltrey, in an interview on BBC's Top Gear, stated that the group was banned from 'an entire state's worth of Holiday Inns', presumably then Michigan. He also claimed that, while he had not personally seen a car in a swimming pool, he had seen a bill for damages and removal. ### Passing out on stage Moon's lifestyle began to undermine his health and reliability. During the 1973 Quadrophenia tour, at the Who's debut US date at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California, Moon ingested a mixture of tranquillisers and brandy. During the concert, Moon passed out on his drum kit during "Won't Get Fooled Again". The band stopped playing, and a group of roadies carried Moon offstage. They gave him a shower and an injection of cortisone, sending him back onstage after a thirty-minute delay. Moon passed out again during "Magic Bus", and was again removed from the stage. The band continued without him for several songs before Townshend asked, "Can anyone play the drums? – I mean somebody good?" A drummer in the audience, Scot Halpin, came up and played the rest of the show. During the opening date of the band's March 1976 US tour at the Boston Garden, Moon passed out over his drum kit after two numbers and the show was rescheduled. The next evening, Moon systematically destroyed everything in his hotel room, cut himself doing so, and passed out. He was discovered by manager Bill Curbishley, who took him to a hospital, telling him "I'm gonna get the doctor to get you nice and fit, so you're back within two days. Because I want to break your fucking jaw ... You have fucked this band around so many times and I'm not having it any more." Doctors told Curbishley that if he had not intervened, Moon would have bled to death. Marsh suggested that at this point Daltrey and Entwistle seriously considered firing Moon, but decided that doing so would make his life worse. Entwistle has said that Moon and the Who reached their live peak in 1975–76. At the end of the 1976 US tour in Miami that August, Moon became delirious and was treated in Hollywood Memorial Hospital for eight days. The group was concerned that he would be unable to complete the last leg of the tour, which ended at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on 21 October (Moon's last public show). During the band's recording sabbatical between 1976 and 1978, Moon gained a considerable amount of weight. By the time of the Who's invitation-only show at the Gaumont State Cinema on 15 December 1977 for The Kids are Alright, Moon was visibly overweight and had difficulty sustaining a solid performance. After recording Who Are You, Townshend refused to follow the album with a tour unless Moon stopped drinking and said that if Moon's playing did not improve he would be fired. Daltrey later denied threatening to fire him, but said that by this time Moon was out of control. ### Financial problems Because the Who's early stage act relied on smashing instruments and owing to Moon's enthusiasm for damaging hotels, the group were in debt for much of the 1960s; Entwistle estimated they lost about £150,000. Even when the group became relatively financially stable after Tommy, Moon continued to rack up debts. He bought a number of cars and gadgets and flirted with bankruptcy. Moon's recklessness with money reduced his profit from the group's 1975 UK tour to £47.35 (). ## Personal life and relationships ### Birthdate Before the 1998 release of Tony Fletcher's Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon, Moon's date of birth was presumed to be 23 August 1947. This erroneous date appeared in several otherwise-reliable sources, including the Townshend-authorised biography Before I Get Old: The Story of The Who. The incorrect date had been supplied by Moon in interviews before it was corrected by Fletcher to 1946. ### Kim Kerrigan Moon's first serious relationship was with Kim Kerrigan, whom he started dating in January 1965 after she saw the Who play at Le Disque a Go! Go! in Bournemouth. By the end of the year she discovered she was pregnant. Her parents, who were furious, met with the Moons to discuss their options, and she moved into the Moon family home in Wembley. She and Moon were married on 17 March 1966 at Brent Register Office, and their daughter Amanda was born on 12 July. The marriage (and child) were kept secret from the press until May 1968. Moon was occasionally violent towards Kim: "if we went out after I had Mandy", she later said, "if someone talked to me, he'd lose it. We'd go home and he'd start a fight with me." He loved Amanda, but his absences due to touring and fondness for practical jokes made their relationship uneasy when she was very young. "He had no idea how to be a father", Kim said. "He was too much of a child himself." From 1971 to 1975 Moon owned Tara, a home in Chertsey where he initially lived with his wife and daughter. The Moons entertained extravagantly at home, and owned a number of cars. Jack McCullogh, then working for Track Records (the Who's label), recalls Moon ordering him to purchase a milk float to store in the garage at Tara. In 1973 Kim, convinced that neither she nor anyone else could moderate Keith's behaviour, left her husband and took Amanda; she sued for divorce in 1975 and later married Faces keyboard player Ian McLagan. Marsh believes that Moon never truly recovered from the loss of his family. Butler agrees; despite his relationship with Annette Walter-Lax, he believes that Kim was the only woman Moon loved. McLagan commented that Moon "couldn't handle it." Moon would harass them with phone calls, and on one occasion before Kim sued for divorce, he invited McLagan for a drink at a Richmond pub and sent several "heavies" to break into McLagan's home on Fife Road and look for Kim, forcing her to hide in a walk-in closet. She died in a car accident in Austin, Texas, on 2 August 2006. ### Annette Walter-Lax In 1975 Moon began a relationship with Swedish model Annette Walter-Lax, who later said that Moon was "so sweet when he was sober, that I was just living with him in the hope that he would kick all this craziness." She begged Malibu neighbour Larry Hagman to check Moon into a clinic to dry out (as he had attempted to do before), but when doctors recorded Moon's chemical intake at breakfast – a bottle of champagne, Courvoisier and amphetamines – they concluded that there was no hope for his rehabilitation. ### Friends Moon enjoyed being the life of the party. Bill Curbishley remembered that "he wouldn't walk into any room and just listen. He was an attention seeker and he had to have it." Early in the Who's career, Moon got to know the Beatles. He would join them at clubs, forming a particularly close friendship with Ringo Starr. Moon later became friends with Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band members Vivian Stanshall and "Legs" Larry Smith, and the trio would drink and play practical jokes together. Smith remembers one occasion where he and Moon tore apart a pair of trousers, with an accomplice later looking for one-legged trousers. In the early 1970s, Moon helped Stanshall with his "Radio Flashes" radio show for BBC Radio 1, filling in for the vacationing John Peel. Moon filled in for Peel in 1973's "A Touch of the Moon", a series of four programmes produced by John Walters. Guitarist Joe Walsh enjoyed socialising with Moon. In an interview with Guitar World magazine, he recalled that the drummer "taught me how to break things." In 1974, Moon struck up a friendship with actor Oliver Reed while working on the film version of Tommy. Although Reed matched Moon drink for drink, he appeared on set the next morning ready to perform; Moon, on the other hand, would cost several hours of filming time. Reed later said that Moon "showed me the way to insanity." ### Dougal Butler Peter "Dougal" Butler began working for the Who in 1967, becoming Moon's personal assistant the following year to help him stay out of trouble. He remembers managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp saying, "We trust you with Keith but if you ever want any time off, for a holiday or some sort of rest, let us know and we'll pay for it." Butler never took them up on the offer. He followed Moon when the drummer relocated to Los Angeles, but felt that the drug culture prevalent at the time was bad for Moon: "My job was to have eyes in the back of my head." Townshend agreed, saying that by 1975 Butler had "no influence over him whatsoever." Although he was a loyal companion to Moon, the lifestyle eventually became too much for him; he phoned Curbishley, saying that they needed to move back to England or one of them might die. Butler quit in 1978, and later wrote of his experiences in a book entitled Full Moon: The Amazing Rock and Roll Life of Keith Moon. ### Neil Boland On 4 January 1970, Moon accidentally killed his friend, driver and bodyguard, Neil Boland, outside the Red Lion pub in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Pub patrons had begun to attack his Bentley; Moon, drunk, began driving to escape them and hit Boland. After an investigation, the coroner ruled Boland's death an accident; Moon, having been charged with a number of offences, received an absolute discharge. Those close to Moon said that he was haunted by Boland's death for the rest of his life. According to Pamela Des Barres, Moon had nightmares (which woke them both) about the incident and said he had no right to be alive. ## Death In mid-1978, Moon moved into Flat 12, 9 Curzon Place (later Curzon Square), Shepherd Market, Mayfair, London, renting from Harry Nilsson. Cass Elliot of the Mamas and the Papas had died there four years earlier, at the age of 32; Nilsson was concerned about letting the flat to Moon, believing it was cursed. Townshend disagreed, assuring him that "lightning wouldn't strike the same place twice". After moving in, Moon began a prescribed course of Heminevrin (clomethiazole, a sedative) to alleviate his alcohol withdrawal symptoms. He wanted to get sober, but because of his fear of psychiatric hospitals, he wanted to do it at home. Clomethiazole is discouraged for unsupervised detoxification because of its addictive potential, its tendency to induce tolerance, and its risk of death when mixed with alcohol. The pills were prescribed by Geoffrey Dymond, a physician who was unaware of Moon's lifestyle. Dymond prescribed a bottle of 100 pills, instructing him to take one pill when he felt a craving for alcohol but not more than three pills per day. By September 1978, Moon was having difficulty playing the drums, according to roadie Dave "Cy" Langston. After seeing Moon in the studio trying to overdub drums for The Kids Are Alright, he said, "After two or three hours, he got more and more sluggish, he could barely hold a drum stick." On 6 September, Moon and Walter-Lax were guests of Paul and Linda McCartney at a preview of a film, The Buddy Holly Story. After dining with the McCartneys at Peppermint Park in Covent Garden, Moon and Walter-Lax returned to their flat. He watched a film (The Abominable Dr. Phibes), and asked Walter-Lax to cook him steak and eggs. When she objected, Moon replied, "If you don't like it, you can fuck off!" These were his last words. Moon then took some clomethiazole tablets. When Walter-Lax checked on him the following afternoon, she discovered he was dead. Curbishley phoned the flat at around 5:00 p.m. looking for Moon, and Dymond gave him the news. Curbishley told Townshend, who informed the rest of the band. Entwistle was giving an interview to two journalists when he was interrupted by a phone call with the news of Moon's death. When asked about the band's future plans, Entwistle burst into tears and quickly ended the interview. Moon's death came shortly after the release of Who Are You. On the album cover, he is straddling a chair to hide his weight gain; the words "Not to be taken away" are on the back of the chair. Police determined that there were 32 clomethiazole pills in Moon's system. Six were digested, sufficient to cause his death; the other 26 were undigested when he died. Max Glatt, an authority on alcoholism, wrote in The Sunday Times that Moon should never have been given the drug. Moon was cremated on 13 September 1978 at Golders Green Crematorium in London, and his ashes were scattered in its Gardens of Remembrance. Townshend persuaded Daltrey and Entwistle to carry on touring as The Who, although he later said that it was his means of coping with Moon's death and "completely irrational, bordering on insane". AllMusic's Bruce Eder said, "When Keith Moon died, the Who carried on and were far more competent and reliable musically, but that wasn't what sold rock records." In November 1978, Faces drummer Kenney Jones joined the Who. Townshend later said that Jones "was one of the few British drummers who could fill Keith's shoes"; Daltrey was less enthusiastic, saying that Jones "wasn't the right style". Keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick, who had rehearsed with Moon earlier in the year, joined the live band as an unofficial member. Jones left the Who in 1988, and drummer Simon Phillips (who praised Moon's ability to drum over the backing track of "Baba O'Riley") toured with the band the following year. Since 1996, the Who's drummer has been Ringo Starr's son Zak Starkey, who had been given a drum kit by Moon (whom he called "Uncle Keith"). Starkey had previously toured in 1994 with Roger Daltrey. The London 2012 Summer Olympic Committee contacted Curbishley about Moon performing at the games, 34 years after his death. In an interview with The Times Curbishley quipped, "I emailed back saying Keith now resides in Golders Green Crematorium, having lived up to the Who's anthemic line 'I hope I die before I get old' ... If they have a round table, some glasses and candles, we might contact him." ## Legacy Moon's drumming has been praised by critics. Author Nick Talevski described him as "the greatest drummer in rock", adding that "he was to the drums what Jimi Hendrix was to the guitar." Holly George-Warren, editor and author of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: The First 25 Years, said: "With the death of Keith Moon in 1978, rock arguably lost its single greatest drummer." According to AllMusic critic Bruce Eder, "Moon, with his manic, lunatic side, and his life of excessive drinking, partying, and other indulgences, probably represented the youthful, zany side of rock & roll, as well as its self-destructive side, better than anyone else on the planet." The New Book of Rock Lists ranked Moon No. 1 on its list of "50 Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Drummers", and he was ranked No. 2 on the 2011 Rolling Stone "Best Drummers of All Time" readers' poll. In 2016, the same magazine ranked him No. 2 in their list of the 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time, behind John Bonham. Adam Budofsky, editor of Drummer magazine, said that Moon's performances on Who's Next and Quadrophenia "represent a perfect balance of technique and passion" and "there's been no drummer who's touched his unique slant on rock and rhythm since." Several rock drummers, including Neil Peart have cited Moon as an influence. The Jam paid homage to Moon on the second single from their third album, "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight"; the B-side of the single is a Who cover ("So Sad About Us"), and the back cover of the record has a photo of Moon's face. The Jam's single was released about a month after Moon's death. Animal, one of Jim Henson's Muppet characters, may have been based on Keith Moon due to their similar hair, eyebrows, personality and drumming style. Jazz drummer Elvin Jones praised Moon's work during "Underture", as integral to the song's effect. Ray Davies notably lauded Moon's drumming during his speech for the Kinks' induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1990: "... Keith Moon changed the sound of drumming." "God bless his beautiful heart ..." Ozzy Osbourne told Sounds a month after the drummer's death. "People will be talking about Keith Moon 'til they die, man. Someone somewhere will say, 'Remember Keith Moon?' Who will remember Joe Bloggs who got killed in a car crash? No one. He's dead, so what? He didn't do anything to talk of." Clem Burke of Blondie has said "Early on all I cared about was Keith Moon and the Who. When I was about eleven or twelve, my favourite part of drum lessons was the last ten minutes, when I'd get to sit at the drumset and play along to my favourite record. I'd bring in 'My Generation'. At the end of the song, the drums go nuts. 'My Generation' was a turning point for me because before that it was all the Charlie Watts and Ringo type of thing." In 1998 Tony Fletcher published a biography of Moon, Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon, in the United Kingdom. The phrase "Dear Boy" became a catchphrase of Moon's when, influenced by Kit Lambert, he began affecting a pompous English accent. In 2000, the book was released in the US as Moon (The Life and Death of a Rock Legend). Q Magazine called the book "horrific and terrific reading", and Record Collector said it was "one of rock's great biographies." In 2008, English Heritage declined an application for Moon to be awarded a blue plaque. Speaking to The Guardian, Christopher Frayling said they "decided that bad behaviour and overdosing on various substances wasn't a sufficient qualification." The UK's Heritage Foundation disagreed with the decision, presenting a plaque which was unveiled on 9 March 2009. Daltrey, Townshend, Robin Gibb and Moon's mother Kit were present at the ceremony. ## Discography Solo albums - Two Sides of the Moon (1975) Other appearances - "When I'm Sixty-Four" for All This and World War II (1976)
59,073,804
Sin Ti (Inna song)
1,093,950,443
2019 song by Inna
[ "2019 singles", "2019 songs", "Inna songs", "Songs written by Inna", "Spanish-language songs" ]
"Sin Ti" (English: "Without You") is a song by Romanian singer Inna, digitally released on 18 January 2019 by Global Records and Roc Nation as the third single from her sixth studio album Yo (2019). It was written by Inna and Cristina Maria Chiluiza, while production was handled by David Ciente. A Spanish language track, it discusses the theme of love and Inna's connection with her love interest. Musically, the song partially showcases the dembow genre, and has an instrumentation consisting of bass, strings, flamenco-tinged Spanish guitar and sampled vocals. Upon its release, "Sin Ti" was met with positive reviews from music critics. They praised the song's lyrics and instrumentation, as well as Inna's vocal delivery, while one likened it to her track "Ra" (2018), which set off her change in direction. An accompanying music video for "Sin Ti" was uploaded to Inna's YouTube channel simultaneously with the single's digital release. Directed by Bogdan Păun, the visual features the singer barefoot on a chair in a field. "Sin Ti" was used in Elite. ## Background and composition "Sin Ti" was made available for digital download on 18 January 2019 by Global Records in Romania, and through Roc Nation elsewhere. It was written by Inna and Cristina Maria Chiluiza, while David Ciente was credited for the production; Max Kissaru handled the mixing and mastering process. Musically, "Sin Ti" is a slowed-down Spanish language song. Its Latin-influenced instrumentation features "heavy" bass, "fleeting" strings and a flamenco-tinged Spanish guitar in the chorus. While elements from the dembow genre are presented in the track's verses, its chorus features "bits of sampled vocals [...] winking in and out of earshot". According to Jonathan Currinn of CelebMix, "Sin Ti" is about "meeting someone who you haven’t met before but who you feel like you know instantly as if you knew them from a past life". Libertatea called it "a sincere love song and a direct and moving declaration", while Jon Pareles of The New York Times thought the track was about "sudden infatuation". Whispering throughout, Inna "pepper[s] her love [interest] with questions that demand an answer" in the refrain. ## Critical reception Upon its release, "Sin Ti" received positive reviews from music critics. Currinn likened "Sin Ti" to Inna's "Ra" (2018), viewing it as continuing her change in direction, while also reflecting elements of the singer's previous dance material. He praised the song's lyrics, as well as Inna's emotional delivery and versatility. Refinery29's Courtney Smith wrote that the singer "creat[ed] a sense of space and longing with sparsity [...] [b]ut the intentionality in her delivery on the chorus is what makes the song sing". Pareles, writing for The New York Times, praised the "catchy, extremely canny production [...] that hops all over the Latin map"; he concluded his review by writing: "In a small world, [Inna]'s up-to-the-minute". Romania Insider picked "Sin Ti" as their "Romanian song of the day". ## Music video An accompanying music video for "Sin Ti" was uploaded to Inna's official YouTube channel on 18 January 2019, preceded by a teaser released the day before. It was directed by Bogdan Păun of NGM Creative, while Alex Mureșan was hired as the director of photography and Loops Production as the producers. RDStyling provided Inna's outfit, and Sorin Stratulat and Andra Manea were credited for her hair styling and make-up, respectively. In the video, a barefoot Inna is seen sitting backwards on a "retro" chair in a field, wearing a fedora hat alongside an "off-the-shoulder" black-and-white dress which has a middle-split. Currinn labelled the clip as "back to basics" and likened it to the singer's visuals for "Rendez Vous" (2016) and "Ra". He further wrote: "This country-style fashion looks stunning on Inna, proving that she can look sexy in anything and truly work her look". ## Credits and personnel Credits adapted from YouTube. - Inna – lead vocals, songwriter - Cristina Maria Chiluiza – songwriter - David Ciente – producer - Max Kissaru – mixing and mastering ## Track listing - Digital download 1. "Sin Ti" – 2:49 ## Release history
845,954
Washington State Route 513
1,168,667,134
Highway in Washington
[ "State highways in Washington (state)", "Transportation in King County, Washington", "Transportation in Seattle" ]
State Route 513 (SR 513) is a 3.35-mile-long (5.39 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Washington, located entirely within the city of Seattle in King County. The highway travels north as Montlake Boulevard from an interchange with SR 520 and over the Montlake Bridge to the University of Washington campus in the University District. SR 513 continues past University Village before it turns northeast onto Sand Point Way and ends at the entrance to Magnuson Park in the Sand Point neighborhood. SR 513 was created during the 1964 state highway renumbering as the successor to Secondary State Highway 1J (SSH 1J), itself created in 1937 and traveling from Downtown Seattle to Lake City. Sections of SSH 1J, including Madison Street from Downtown to Capitol Hill, date as far back as 1854. Most sections of the highway were built in the 1890s and 1900s in preparation for the Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition, which took place on the University of Washington campus in 1909. SR 513 was shortened in 1971 to its present southern terminus, the interchange with SR 520 in Montlake, and to an interchange with Interstate 5 (I-5) on the Seattle–Shoreline city border. In 1991, the highway was truncated to its current northern terminus at Magnuson Park, eliminating its route through Lake City and much of North Seattle. ## Route description SR 513 begins at the intersection of Montlake Boulevard and Lake Washington Boulevard in the Montlake neighborhood of Seattle, part of a partial cloverleaf interchange with SR 520. The highway travels north on Montlake Boulevard and crosses the Montlake Cut section of the Lake Washington Ship Canal on the 320-foot-long (98 m) Montlake Bridge. The bascule drawbridge is designated as a city landmark and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982. SR 513 continues north through the University of Washington campus within the University District and passes Husky Stadium and the campus light rail station before being joined by the Burke-Gilman Trail near the Hec Edmundson Pavilion. The highway turns east onto 45th Street and Sand Point Way at the University Village shopping mall and enters the Sand Point neighborhood near Seattle Children's Hospital. SR 513 continues northeast along the Burke-Gilman Trail past the Seattle branch of the National Archives before the highway ends at an intersection with 65th Street west of Magnuson Park. Every year, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) conducts a series of surveys on its highways in the state to measure traffic volume. This is expressed in terms of average annual daily traffic (AADT), which is a measure of traffic volume for any average day of the year. In 2011, WSDOT calculated that the busiest section of SR 513 was within the University of Washington campus, serving 41,000 vehicles, while the least busiest section was its northern terminus at Magnuson Park, serving 14,000 vehicles. The entire route of SR 513 is part of the National Highway System, identifying it as important to the national economy, defense, and mobility. ## History SSH 1J, the predecessor to SR 513, was added to the state highway system in 1937 and traveled 13.40 miles (21.57 km) within the city of Seattle on streets that have existed since the 19th century. Madison Street, which carried SSH 1J from its southern terminus at U.S. Route 99 in Downtown to Capitol Hill was built in 1864 by local judge John J. McGilvra to connect his homestead at Madison Park to downtown. Other streets carrying SSH 1J, including 23rd and 24th Avenues towards Montlake, Montlake Boulevard through the University District, and Sand Point Way towards Sand Point were built during the early 1890s as the city of Seattle expanded. The rest of SSH 1J, traveling northwest from Naval Station Puget Sound at Sand Point through Lake City to US 99 on the border between Seattle and Shoreline via Roosevelt Way and 145th Street was constructed by the late 1800s to serve the University of Washington campus, site of the Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition in 1909. SSH 1J was replaced by SR 513 during the 1964 state highway renumbering and codified in 1970 on its original route, connecting Downtown Seattle to Montlake and Lake City. In 1971, SR 513 was shortened to 9.22 miles (14.84 km) by moving its southern terminus to an interchange with SR 520 in Montlake and its northern terminus to an interchange with I-5 at 145th Street. The highway was further shortened, to its present length of 3.35 miles (5.39 km), in 1991 by moving its northern terminus from I-5 to Magnuson Park at the site of the former Naval Station Puget Sound. A project to rebuild the Montlake interchange with SR 520 began in 2019 as part of the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge megaproject, which had begun earlier in the decade. The east side of the interchange was covered by a highway lid and lanes of Montlake Boulevard were shifted over to it while the original overpass was demolished. The new overpass opened in July 2023; additional ramps to SR 520 for high-occupancy vehicles from the interchnage are planned to open in 2024. ## Major intersections
440,890
John Baskeyfield
1,136,712,604
British Army soldier (1922–1944)
[ "1922 births", "1944 deaths", "British Army personnel killed in World War II", "British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross", "British World War II recipients of the Victoria Cross", "Military personnel from Staffordshire", "Operation Market Garden", "People from Burslem", "South Staffordshire Regiment soldiers" ]
John Daniel Baskeyfield VC (18 November 1922 – 20 September 1944) was a British Army soldier and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces. Born in 1922, Baskeyfield was called up to the British Army in early 1942. He served with the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, a glider infantry unit of the 1st Airlanding Brigade, part of the 1st Airborne Division, in Sicily and Italy in 1943 before returning to the United Kingdom. The division was next deployed in Operation Market Garden and fought in the subsequent Battle of Arnhem. While defending the Oosterbeek perimeter three days into the battle, Baskeyfield commanded a pair of anti-tank guns that destroyed several enemy tanks before the crews were killed. Baskeyfield subsequently fired the guns alone before he too was killed. His body was not identified after the war and he has no known grave. ## Early life John Baskeyfield was born on 18 November 1922 in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, the son of Daniel and Minnie Baskeyfield. He trained and worked as a butcher during the early years of the Second World War, until he received his call up papers in February 1942 at the age of 19. ## Early military service Baskeyfield joined the South Staffordshire Regiment and served with the 2nd Battalion's anti-tank platoon. The 2nd Battalion was part of the 1st Airlanding Brigade, itself part of the 1st Airborne Division and Baskeyfield accompanied them to North Africa, from where they took part in Operation Ladbroke, the glider-borne element of the Invasion of Sicily in 1943. The division then landed in Italy as part of Operation Slapstick and spent some weeks fighting their way through the country before sailing back to England. ## Battle of Arnhem The Battle of Arnhem was part of Operation Market Garden, an attempt to secure a string of bridges through the Netherlands. At Arnhem the British 1st Airborne Division and Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade were tasked with securing bridges across the Lower Rhine, the final objectives of the operation. However, the airborne forces that dropped on 17 September were not aware that the 9th SS and 10th SS Panzer divisions were also near Arnhem for rest and refit. Their presence added a substantial number of Panzergrenadiers, tanks and self-propelled guns to the German defences and the Allies suffered heavily in the ensuing battle. Only a small force managed to hold one end of the Arnhem road bridge before being overrun on 21 September. The rest of the division became trapped in a small pocket west of the bridge and had to be evacuated on 25 September in Operation Berlin. The Allies failed to cross the Rhine, which remained under German control until Allied offensives in March 1945. ### South Staffordshire's advance Owing to a shortage of aircraft, the Allies planned to fly the entire division to Arnhem over three days. The South Staffordshire Battalion was split between the lifts on day one and day two; most of the unit arrived on day one, with the rest arriving with the second lift. The battalion's anti-tank guns were flown from RAF Manston on day one. Major General Roy Urquhart's original plan envisaged the 1st Airlanding Brigade securing the drop zones for subsequent lifts, but by the end of day one the Allied advance into Arnhem had stalled. Only a small group of the 1st Parachute Brigade, mainly elements of Lieutenant Colonel John Frost's 2nd Battalion, were able to reach the bridge. The 1st and 3rd Battalions were unable to penetrate the outer suburbs of the city and their advance stalled, so in order to support them the first lift of the South Stafford's were sent forward on the morning of 18 September. When the second lift arrived later that day they too were sent forward and arrived at the outskirts of Arnhem that night. The South Staffordshire's anti-tank platoon was kept in the divisional area. In the early hours of the morning of 19 September, an attack was launched on a narrow front between the river and the railway line, in order to force a passage through to the bridge. Most of the support weapons were left in the rear, as they were unable to suitably deploy in the dark and in the narrow confines of the urban surroundings. However, in the face of strong enemy positions and armour, the attack faltered and the British were routed. ### Withdrawal to Oosterbeek ` The remnants of the four battalions fell back in disarray to the main divisional positions at Oosterbeek. Here they were gathered into defensive units by Lieutenant Colonel Sheriff Thompson, Commanding Officer of the 1st Airlanding Light Artillery Regiment, who forcibly stopped many of the panicked troops and had Major Robert Cain form them into a defensive screen half a mile in front of his own 75 Millimetre Howitzers positions. The sector was designated "Thompson Force", but Thompson actually sent Major Richard Lonsdale forward to take command of these outlying troops later in the day.` The German forces made determined attacks against Lonsdale's force on 20 September, starting soon after dawn. Baskeyfield was in charge of two 6 pounder anti–tank guns defending a T junction on the Benedendorpsweg, the southernmost road between Arnhem and Oosterbeek. Baskeyfield's guns faced up the Acacialaan, which joined the Benedendorpsweg from the north, and covered the likely enemy approach along this road and from open ground to the north east. His right flank – to the east – was covered by another anti-tank gun commanded by Lance-Sergeant Mansell. In an initial German assault, Baskeyfield and his gun crews destroyed two tanks and a self-propelled gun as they advanced down the Acacialaan. Baskeyfield allowed the armour to come within 100 yards of his positions before ordering his crews to fire, while paratroopers of the 11th Battalion in nearby houses dealt with attacking infantry. In the course of this action, Baskeyfield's crew was killed or wounded and Baskeyfield himself was badly injured. However he refused to be evacuated and in a later German attack he worked his gun alone, loading, laying and firing it himself. He fired round after round until enemy fire put his gun out of action, and he crawled to the second gun, whose crew had similarly been disabled. From here he engaged another self-propelled gun, dispatching it with two rounds, but was killed shortly afterwards by fire from another German tank. Lonsdale's men fell back to new positions later that day and "Thompson Force" was renamed "Lonsdale Force" when Thompson was wounded on 21 September. The force continued to hold the Oosterbeek perimeter until the Allies withdrew in Operation Berlin on the night of 25 September. ### Victoria Cross The full citation for Baskeyfield's Victoria Cross appeared in a supplement to the London Gazette on 23 November 1944, reading: > War Office, 23rd November, 1944. > > The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the posthumous award of the VICTORIA CROSS to: – > > No. 5057916 Lance-Sergeant John Daniel Baskeyfield, The South Staffordshire- Regiment (1st Airborne Division) (Stoke-on-Trent). > > On 20 September 1944, during the battle of Arnhem, Lance-Sergeant Baskeyfield was the N.C.O. in charge of a 6-pounder anti-tank gun at Oosterbeek. The enemy developed a major attack on this sector with infantry, tanks and self-propelled guns with the obvious intent to break into and overrun the Battalion position. During the early stage of the action the crew commanded by this N.C.O. was responsible for the destruction of two Tiger tanks and at least one self propelled gun, thanks to the coolness and daring of this N.C.O., who, with complete disregard for his own safety, allowed each tank to come well within 100 yards of his gun before opening fire. > > In the course of this preliminary engagement Lance-Sergeant Baskeyfield was badly wounded in the leg and the remainder of his crew were either killed or badly wounded. During the brief respite after this engagement Lance-Sergeant Baskeyfield refused to be carried to the Regimental Aid Post and spent his time attending to his gun and shouting encouragement to his comrades in neighbouring trenches. > > After a short interval the enemy renewed the attack with even greater ferocity than before, under cover of intense mortar and shell fire. Manning his gun quite alone Lance-Sergeant Baskeyfield continued to fire round after round at the enemy until his gun was put out of action. By this time his activity was the main factor in keeping the enemy tanks at bay. The fact that the surviving men in his vicinity were held together and kept in action was undoubtedly due to his magnificent example and outstanding courage. Time after time enemy attacks were launched and driven off. Finally, when his gun was knocked out, Lance-Sergeant Baskeyfield crawled under intense enemy fire to another 6-pounder gun nearby, the crew of which had been killed, and proceeded to man it single-handed. With this gun he engaged an enemy self propelled gun which was approaching to attack. Another soldier crawled across the open ground to assist him but was killed almost at once. Lance-Sergeant Baskeyfield succeeded in firing two rounds at the self propelled gun, scoring one direct hit which rendered it ineffective. Whilst preparing to fire a third shot, however, he was killed by a shell from a supporting enemy tank. > > The superb gallantry of this N.C.O. is beyond praise. During the remaining days at Arnhem stories of his valour were a constant inspiration to all ranks. He spurned danger, ignored pain and, by his supreme fighting spirit, infected all who witnessed his conduct with the same aggressiveness and dogged devotion to duty which characterised his actions throughout. ## Legacy After Arnhem was liberated in April 1945, Grave Registration Units of the British 2nd Army moved into the area and began to locate the Allied dead. Over 1700 men were buried in the Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery, but Baskeyfield's body was never identified. Although several hundred burials in the cemetery are unidentified, there are no records of any unidentified soldiers being exhumed from Acacialaan. Instead Baskeyfield's name is inscribed on the Groesbeek Memorial which commemorates all those Allied servicemen killed between August 1944 and the end of the conflict who have no known grave. Four more VCs were awarded after the battle, including one for Major Robert Cain, commander of B Company, 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment. The 2nd Battalion thus became the only British battalion to receive two VCs during one engagement in the Second World War. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Staffordshire Regiment Museum in Whittington, Staffordshire. A twice life size memorial statue of him was erected in 1990 at Festival Heights in Stoke-on-Trent, by sculptors Steven Whyte and Michael Talbot. The John Baskeyfield V.C. Church of England Primary School in Burslem was named after him but was renamed Saint Nathaniel's Academy on 1 March 2014. Baskeyfield is commemorated by the retirement community at Baskeyfield House, Angels Way, Burslem, built in 2015, and by the Army Reserve Centre, also called Baskeyfield House, at Anchor Road, Stoke on Trent. The artist Terence Cuneo made a painting of Baskeyfield's action, and in 1969 a Staffordshire filmmaker spent three years making a short film about his role in the battle, entitled Baskeyfield VC. A tree on the site of Baskeyfield's second gun, on the corner of Benedendorpsweg and Acacialaan, has been named the Jack Baskeyfield Tree. ## See also - List of Second World War Victoria Cross recipients Four other men were awarded the Victoria Cross at Arnhem: - Major Robert Henry Cain, 2nd Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment. - Lieutenant John Hollington Grayburn, 2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment. - Flight Lieutenant David Samuel Anthony Lord, 271 Squadron, Royal Air Force. - Captain Lionel Ernest Queripel, 10th Battalion Parachute Regiment.
4,401,199
Nederlander Theatre
1,172,064,766
Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York
[ "1921 establishments in New York City", "Broadway theatres", "Nederlander Organization", "Theater District, Manhattan", "Theatres completed in 1921" ]
The Nederlander Theatre (formerly the National Theatre, the Billy Rose Theatre, and the Trafalgar Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 208 West 41st Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1921, it was designed by William Neil Smith for theatrical operator Walter C. Jordan. It has around 1,235 seats across two levels and is operated by the Nederlander Organization. Since 1980, it has been named for American theater impresario David Tobias Nederlander, father of theatrical producer James M. Nederlander. It is the southernmost Broadway theater in the Theater District. The facade is relatively plain and is made of brick, with a fire escape at the center of the second and third floors. The auditorium was originally designed in the early Renaissance style, which has since been modified several times. Unlike other theaters operated by the Shubert family, the interior contained little plaster decoration. The venue has hosted a variety of shows, including the plays Cyrano de Bergerac, Inherit the Wind, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; live performances, including those by Lena Horne; and the musical Rent, which is the theater's longest-running production as of 2022. The modern-day Nederlander Theatre was developed as a carpenter's shop in 1920 before being converted into the National Theatre the following year. When the National opened on September 1, 1921, the Shubert family managed bookings on Jordan's behalf. The Shubert brothers bought the National in 1927 and operated it for three decades. In 1956, as part of a settlement in an antitrust lawsuit, the Shuberts sold the venue to Harry Fromkes, who died shortly thereafter. The National was acquired in 1958 by theatrical producer Billy Rose, who renovated the venue and renamed it after himself the next year. The Nederlander Organization and the Cooney-Marsh Organization acquired the theater in 1978, first renaming it the Trafalgar Theatre; the theater assumed its current name in 1980. Because there were few other Broadway theaters nearby, the Nederlander housed few productions in the late 20th century, becoming popular only after Rent opened. ## Site The Nederlander Theatre is on 208 West 41st Street, between Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue near the southern end of Times Square, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The rectangular land lot covers 10,961 square feet (1,018.3 m<sup>2</sup>), with a frontage of 111 feet (34 m) on 41st Street and a depth of 98.75 feet (30 m). The Nederlander Theatre abuts a hotel and a parking garage, both of which have existed since before the theater was completed in 1921. The city block is shared with the New York Times Building to the west. Additionally, the building is near the Candler Building, Madame Tussauds New York, Empire Theatre, and Eleven Times Square to the northwest; the New Amsterdam Theatre and 5 Times Square to the north; and the Times Square Tower to the northeast. The Nederlander is the southernmost Broadway theater in the Theater District. When the theater was built, the Metropolitan Opera House and seven other theaters were to the south and east, although all of them were closed and demolished by the late 20th century. The lack of other Broadway theaters nearby, and its location at the extreme south end of the Theater District, contributed to its relative unpopularity in the late 20th century. This sharply contrasted with venues on 42nd Street, a major crosstown artery, and venues on 44th and 45th Streets, which benefited from tourist traffic around Shubert Alley. ## Design The theater was designed by William Neil Smith for Walter C. Jordan. The theater contains a floor area of 24,975 square feet (2,320.3 m<sup>2</sup>), as well as 130,825 square feet (12,154.0 m<sup>2</sup>) of unused air rights. ### Facade The brick facade is relatively plain, blending in with other buildings on 41st Street. At ground level are entrances to the theater. There is an iron fire escape on the second and third floors of the facade. There are doors and windows on both levels that lead to the fire escape, and a metal canopy covers the fire escape. Above ground level, there are three arches on the facade: one to the left of the fire escape and two to the right. These archways originally contained windows at the second and third floors and are topped by keystones. A cornice with modillions runs above the top of the facade. Unlike other Broadway theaters, the Nederlander does not have a dedicated stage door, so all performers use the main entrance. When the theater was renamed the Billy Rose Theatre in 1959, the facade was repainted white, leading Newsweek magazine to describe it as "an architect's memory of New Orleans' French Quarter". During the production of the musical Rent between 1996 and 2008, the facade was covered with fake graffiti. ### Auditorium The Nederlander Theatre has an orchestra level and one balcony. The theater was built with 1,200 seats. According to the Broadway League, the theater has 1,235 seats; meanwhile, Playbill gives a figure of 1,168 seats. Only the orchestra level is wheelchair-accessible; the other seating levels can only be reached by steps. The restrooms are at the first balcony level. The balcony is raked, sloping downward toward the stage. In contrast to other theaters, the underside of the balcony slopes upward, increasing visibility at the rear of the orchestra. The orchestra level slopes down toward an orchestra pit in front of the stage. To improve acoustics, the floor of the orchestra pit contained shards of glass, which were then laid atop a concrete slab. Originally, the auditorium was designed in the early Renaissance style. Unlike other theaters operated by the Shubert family, the interior contained little plaster decoration. The interior was made of concrete, which was decorated to resemble burnished Italian walnut panels decorated with gold. The fake woodwork was decorated with "lyric and epic subjects", which protruded slightly from the walnut panels. The walls and balustrades were grained to give the impression of woodwork. Actual carved wood was used for lintels and sills. There were 18 multicolored lights on the auditorium's ceiling, and a 12-foot-tall (3.7 m) crystal chandelier was suspended from the center of the ceiling. At the rear of the auditorium was a projector. The proscenium arch at the front of the auditorium is 40 feet (12 m) tall. The arch contained a few classical details, and its keystone was originally decorated with the letter "N". The arch was initially flanked by one tier of boxes in a streamlined style. The stage itself is 86 feet (26 m) wide, with a height of 100 feet (30 m) from the floor to the overhead gridiron. When Billy Rose renovated the theater in 1959, he made a variety of changes, including repainting the auditorium red, white, and gold. The auditorium's light boxes were originally flanked by plaster cornucopias, but Rose largely replaced them with curlicues. In addition, the original lighting fixtures were replaced with 1950s-style chandeliers; the central chandelier was surrounded by four smaller chandeliers. The arch's keystone was replaced with an "R" keystone after Rose renovated the theater. Rose added a second tier of Moorish-style boxes purely for decorative effect. The carpet was redesigned in 1996 and again in 2008. Most of the original decoration was restored in 2008, when Rose's second tier of boxes was redesigned in a streamlined style. The south wall of the auditorium contained emergency-exit doors to an alleyway, which was converted into a smoking lounge in 1959. Performers used this alleyway during intermissions if they did not want to interact with members of the public. The backstage area contained dressing rooms with bathrooms and windows, which local media described at the time as "the last word in utility and luxury". The theater had been built as a fireproof structure with skylights, water tanks, and hoses. The theater's offices were on the second floor, directly under the balcony, and were accessed from 41st Street. During the 1959 renovation, Rose added a visitors' lounge for performers, and he replaced the roof and water tanks. ## History ### Development and early years The Nederlander Theatre was constructed in 1920 as a carpenter's shop; plans filed with the New York City government called for a "3 sty [non-fireproof] brick Carpenter's shop and storage, club rooms, shower, [apartments] and tennis court". It is one of a few Broadway theaters not constructed specifically to host Broadway shows. In 1921, Walter C. Jordan acquired the building and spent \$950,000 to convert it into a theater. The stage house, mezzanine, proscenium, fire escape, and other theatrical equipment was built at a cost of \$175,000. Work was nearly completed by May 1921. The venue was originally supposed to be known as the Times Square Theatre, but this name was already being used by another structure at 217 West 42nd Street. As such, Jordan renamed the structure the National Theatre at the end of July 1921, shortly after booking Swords (Sidney Howard's first play) as the theater's first production. The Shubert brothers were hired as the theater's managers. The theater opened on September 2, 1921, with Swords. John Willard's melodrama The Cat and the Canary, which opened at the National in February 1922, was a major critical success and ran for three months. Walter Hampden leased the National for a year beginning in 1923, paying \$1 million, which at the time was a record for a Broadway theater. Hampden presented a revival of the play Cyrano de Bergerac, which was a success, lasting for 250 performances. The theater building was less successful, having gone into receivership in November 1923 after Jordan failed to make payments on a mortgage. When his lease expired, Hampden chose to instead operate his own theater. The National then hosted the melodrama Silence in 1924, with H. B. Warner, and the farce The Bride Retires in 1925, with Lila Lee. Later in 1925, the theater staged The Gorilla, which transferred from the Selwyn, as well as a revival of Hamlet. During 1926, the National hosted live performances by magician Harry Houdini; the play The Half-Caste, starring Fredric March; and George M. Cohan's adaptation of the play Yellow. Jordan, who continued to own the theater, was charged with tax fraud in late 1926 after failing to pay the theater's property taxes. ### Shubert management #### 1920s and 1930s In February 1927, the Shubert brothers bought the National Theatre from the Sanjor Corporation, which had owned the theater for eight years. Later that year, Willard staged a short-lived play, Fog, at the theater. This was followed in September 1927 by Bayard Veiller's melodrama The Trial of Mary Dugan, which ran at the National for nearly a year before relocating. Subsequently, the Martin Flavin play The Criminal Code opened at the National in 1929 and lasted for 174 performances. A troupe led by Chinese actor Mei Lanfang briefly performed at the theater in early 1930, followed later that year by the play Grand Hotel (based on Vicki Baum's book Grand Hotel), which ran for 459 performances. At the onset of the Great Depression, many Broadway theaters were impacted by declining attendance, and the theater largely hosted flops in 1932 and 1933. Alfred E. Aarons and Harry J. Sommers leased the National for a year beginning in August 1933, and they renovated the National's auditorium the next month. Meanwhile, the Dry Dock Savings Bank took over the theater that September as a result of a foreclosure auction. By then, the National was in danger of being demolished because of a sharp increase in real-estate values. The theater hosted Sean O'Casey's play Within the Gates in 1934. Subsequently, Guthrie McClintic's production of the drama Ethan Frome was presented there in January 1936, as well as Noël Coward's anthology of plays Tonight at 8:30 that November. The Mercury Theatre company, led by John Houseman and Orson Welles, performed revivals of the plays Julius Caesar and The Shoemaker's Holiday at the National in 1937 and 1938. The Lillian Hellman drama The Little Foxes, starring Tallulah Bankhead, then opened in February 1939 and lasted for 410 performances. #### 1940s and 1950s The Emlyn Williams play The Corn Is Green opened at the National in 1940, starring Ethel Barrymore for more than a year. Margaret Webster's staging of Macbeth then opened in late 1941. The Patriots by Sidney Kingsley opened at the National in 1943; it was followed later the same year by Lerner and Loewe's first Broadway musical, What's Up?, which was a flop. A revival of Anton Chekhov's play The Cherry Orchard was hosted at the National in 1944, with Joseph Schildkraut and Eva Le Gallienne, and Barrymore appeared later that year in the play Embezzled Heaven. During the mid-1940s, the National hosted several productions with over one hundred performances each. These included Lerner and Loewe's musical The Day Before Spring in 1945; the revue Call Me Mister in 1946; and the tragedy Medea with Judith Anderson in 1947. The next several shows were relatively short-lived, including an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment in 1947, as well as revivals of Tonight at 8:30 and Macbeth in 1948. The National's next hit was Charles Gaynor's revue Lend an Ear in late 1948. This was followed the next year by Clifford Odets's The Big Knife, as well as a revival of Caesar and Cleopatra with Cedric Hardwicke and Lilli Palmer. In 1950, the theater featured live performances by Les Ballets de Paris and a revival of King Lear with Louis Calhern. The musical Courtin' Time, followed by a revival of The Constant Wife with Brian Aherne, Katharine Cornell, and Grace George, arrived at the theater the following year. Tennessee Williams's play Camino Real was staged at the National in early 1953, and the comedy of manners Sabrina Fair opened later the same year. The National hosted the play Inherit the Wind starting in 1955. With 806 performances, Inherit the Wind was the theater's most successful non-musical to date, as well as its longest-lasting production for several decades. By the 1950s, the Shubert Organization operated nearly half of all legitimate theaters in New York City, prompting the U.S. federal government to file an antitrust suit against the Shubert family. As part of a settlement made in February 1956, the Shuberts had to sell off some of their theaters. In particular, the Shuberts had to sell the National Theatre within one year of the ruling, and they had to sell three other theaters within two years. That September, the Shuberts sold the National to Harry Fromkes for an estimated \$900,000; at the time, Inherit the Wind was still being staged at the theater. Fromkes died after a fall from his apartment in February 1958, prompting the closure of the play Winesburg, Ohio, which was being performed there at the time. Fromkes's firm defaulted on its mortgage after his death, and the New York Supreme Court appointed a receiver to manage the theater that March. The receiver booked the Harry Kurnitz play Once More, with Feeling!, which opened in late 1958 and ran for 263 performances. ### Rose management Theatrical producer Billy Rose bought the National at a foreclosure auction in June 1958 for \$849,500. At the time, Rose worked for William Zeckendorf's real-estate company Webb and Knapp; this prompted Zeckendorf to sue Rose for ownership of the theater. Rose spent \$500,000 to renovate the theater, hiring Oliver Messel to redecorate the auditorium in a red, gold, and white color scheme. The venue was renamed the Billy Rose Theatre and reopened on October 18, 1959, with the play Heartbreak House, which had 112 performances. The next year, the theater hosted Dear Liar, which was notable as Katharine Cornell's last Broadway appearance, as well as a drama based on John Hersey's novel The Wall. The Billy Rose's next hit was Edward Albee's play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which opened in 1962 and ran for 660 performances over the next two years. Throughout the 1960s, the theater was often empty for extended periods because of a lack of productions. Albee's play Tiny Alice, featuring John Gielgud and Irene Worth, opened at the theater at the end of 1964, but it was not successful. The theater hosted a variety of repertory productions in the late 1960s. These included Yiddish theater performances by the Jewish State Theater of Poland and performances by the Paul Taylor Dance Company in 1967. The Playwrights Repertory Theatre performed several plays by Albee and Samuel Beckett at the theater in 1968, and the Minnesota Dance Theatre performed two plays there later that year. Following a performance by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in early 1969, the revival of Noel Coward's Private Lives was presented later the same year. The Billy Rose hosted two notable shows in 1971: the Royal Shakespeare Company's version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, as well as Harold Pinter's drama Old Times. The City Center Acting Company performed four plays at the Billy Rose in late 1973 and early 1974, marking the company's first Broadway appearance. This was followed in 1974 by Tom Stoppard's play Jumpers, which had 48 performances before closing. The theater's backstage area was damaged by a storm later the same year and was not repaired; as a result, at least two productions were unable to lease the theater in 1975. Several theatrical personalities alleged that the Billy Rose Foundation (which had acquired the theater after Rose died), had allowed the structure to deteriorate. In response, foundation officials said that operating the theater was not its main priority. The Taylor Dance Company returned to the Billy Rose in 1976. The theater's first legitimate show in three years, Gus Weill's The November People, closed after a single performance in January 1978. ### Nederlander management #### Late 1970s and 1980s Two theatrical operators, the Nederlander Organization and the Cooney-Marsh Organization (the latter of which was a partnership between producer Ray Cooney and real-estate developer Laurie Marsh), purchased the venue in December 1978. The venue was immediately renamed the Trafalgar Theatre, a reference to the new owners' British backgrounds; the owners hoped that the new name would evoke Trafalgar Square in London or the Battle of Trafalgar. James M. Nederlander of the Nederlander Organization said: "We want to put big English hits in the theater". The Trafalgar hosted two productions under its new name: Whose Life Is It Anyway? in 1979 and Betrayal in 1980. James M. Nederlander renamed the theater again in 1980 in honor of his father, American theater impresario David T. Nederlander, who had died thirteen years prior. The first show at the renamed Nederlander Theatre would have been the musical One Night Stand, which closed during previews in October 1980. Lena Horne performed her solo show Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music at the theater starting in May 1981; the show lasted for more than a year. In general, the Nederlander Theatre had difficulty securing bookings during the 1980s. The next several productions had relatively short runs, including one show, Teaneck Tanzi: The Venus Flytrap, which closed on its opening day in 1983. The theater's productions in the mid-1980s included 84 Charing Cross Road, Amen Corner, Strange Interlude and Raggedy Ann, as well as a live show taped by Robert Klein in June 1986. In addition, Jerry Weintraub purchased a stake in the operation of the Nederlander Theatre in 1984. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) had started considering protecting the Nederlander as a landmark in 1982, with discussions continuing over the next several years. While the LPC commenced a wide-ranging effort to grant landmark status to Broadway theaters in 1987, the Nederlander was among the few theaters for which the LPC denied either exterior or interior landmark status. David Wilkerson, founding pastor of the Times Square Church, leased the theater in January 1988, a month after the play Sherlock's Last Case had closed. The theater quickly became overcrowded during church services; by 1989, the 1,150-seat Nederlander Theatre was at standing-room only capacity five days a week. This prompted the Nederlanders to lease the Mark Hellinger Theatre to the Times Square Church in February 1989; the Times Square Church moved to the Hellinger the next month. The Nederlander Theatre's next legitimate show, the musical Dangerous Games, lasted four performances. #### 1990s and 2000s The Shuberts, the Nederlanders, and Jujamcyn formed the Broadway Alliance in June 1990, wherein each company set aside one of its theaters to present dramas and comedies at reduced ticket prices. The program covered the Belasco, Nederlander, and Walter Kerr theaters. The Broadway Alliance's first show at the Nederlander Theatre was the play Our Country's Good, which lasted from April to June 1991. More than one year elapsed before the Nederlander hosted its next production, the one-man show Solitary Confinement with Stacy Keach, which ran for two weeks in November 1992. The theater was still difficult to rent and did not host any Broadway shows for over three years; it cost around \$250,000 a year to maintain, regardless of whether it was vacant. The Nederlander hosted concerts by Aretha Franklin in April 1993 and by Jackson Browne that November. The Nederlander Organization unsuccessfully tried to move Cy Coleman's musical The Life there in 1994, but the theater instead hosted auditions for the musical Busker Alley. The next year, the Nederlander hosted another audition, this time for the musical The Capeman. Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Rent was booked at the Nederlander in early 1996; the musical's producers had selected the Nederlander Theatre specifically because of its dilapidated surroundings, which reflected the show's setting. The theater's facade and interior were remodeled to resemble a lower Manhattan nightclub. Rent premiered in April 1996 and quickly became popular. In contrast to many Broadway productions (in which tickets for seats at the rear of the theater were generally the cheapest), Rent's producers reserved the first two rows for the cheapest tickets. This prompted fans to sleep outside the theater to wait for these tickets. The opening of Rent, as well as the renovation of the nearby New Amsterdam Theatre, contributed to the revitalization of the surrounding block of 41st Street. Rent ultimately ran for 5,140 performances through 2008, becoming the theater's longest-running production as well as the seventh-longest-running Broadway show of all time. After Rent closed, the Nederlander was refurbished to accommodate its next show. Workers expanded the restrooms and restored the original design motifs (which had been largely removed during the 1961 renovation). A revival of Guys and Dolls, starring Oliver Platt and Lauren Graham, opened in March 2009; the show played 113 performances before closing that June. The Neil Simon plays Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound were planned to be performed at the theater in late 2009, with alternating performances of each play. Due to poor ticket sales for Brighton Beach Memoirs, the show closed on November 1, 2009, one week after its opening. Simon also canceled the planned production of Broadway Bound, blaming the theater's location for the rapid closure of Brighton Beach Memoirs. #### 2000s to present The musical Million Dollar Quartet made its Broadway debut at the theater in April 2010, running for 489 performances before moving off-Broadway in June 2011. Disney's production of the musical Newsies opened in March 2012; the show's run was extended because of its popularity, and Newsies ultimately lasted until August 2014. As part of a settlement with the United States Department of Justice in 2014, the Nederlanders agreed to improve disabled access at their nine Broadway theaters, including the Nederlander Theatre. Love Letters was originally scheduled to run at the Nederlander after Newsies closed. Instead, the musical Honeymoon in Vegas opened at the theater in January 2015, followed by Amazing Grace that July. The Nederlander hosted two short-lived shows in 2016. The musical Disaster! lasted from March to May 2016, while a revival of Motown: The Musical opened that July and ran for less than a month. The musical War Paint ran at the Nederlander from April to November 2017, followed by Pretty Woman: The Musical from August 2018 to August 2019. The Nederlander then hosted two live appearances in late 2019: Kristin Chenoweth's For The Girls in November and Harry Connick Jr.'s A Celebration of Cole Porter the following month. The Lehman Trilogy was planned to open at the Nederlander in March 2020. The show was in previews when all Broadway theaters were shut down on March 12, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Nederlander reopened on September 25, 2021, with previews of The Lehman Trilogy, which ran from October 2021 to January 2022. The musical Mr. Saturday Night then ran from April to September 2022, and it was followed by Jefferson Mays's solo production of A Christmas Carol at the end of the year. The musical comedy Shucked opened at the Nederlander in April 2023. ## Notable productions Productions are listed by the year of their first performance. ### National Theatre - 1921: Trilby - 1922: The Cat and the Canary - 1923: Cyrano de Bergerac - 1925: The Gorilla - 1925: Hamlet - 1925: The Monkey Talks - 1927: The Trial of Mary Dugan - 1929: The Criminal Code - 1930: Grand Hotel - 1935: Seven Keys to Baldpate - 1936: Ethan Frome - 1936: The County Chairman - 1936: Tonight at 8:30 - 1937: Red Harvest - 1937: Brother Rat - 1938: Julius Caesar - 1938: The Shoemaker's Holiday - 1939: The Little Foxes - 1940: Journey to Jerusalem - 1940: The Corn Is Green - 1941: Macbeth - 1942: Billy the Kid - 1943: The Patriots - 1943: What's Up? - 1944: The Cherry Orchard - 1945: The Assassin - 1945: The Day Before Spring - 1946: Call Me Mister - 1947: Anna Lucasta - 1947: Medea - 1947: Crime and Punishment - 1948: Tonight at 8:30 - 1948: Macbeth - 1948: Lend an Ear - 1949: The Big Knife - 1949: Caesar and Cleopatra - 1950: King Lear - 1951: Courtin' Time - 1951: The Constant Wife - 1952: Candida - 1953: The Bat - 1953: Camino Real - 1953: Sabrina Fair - 1955: Inherit the Wind - 1957: The Tunnel of Love - 1958: Winesburg, Ohio - 1958: Once More, with Feeling! ### Billy Rose Theatre - 1959: Heartbreak House - 1960: Dear Liar - 1962: A Family Affair - 1962: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - 1964: Tiny Alice - 1965: The Right Honourable Gentleman - 1966: Threepenny Opera - 1966: The Rose Tattoo - 1967: Mirele Efros - 1967: Mother Courage and Her Children - 1968: Here's Where I Belong - 1968: Soldiers - 1968: Box & Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung - 1968: The Death of Bessie Smith & The American Dream - 1968: Krapp's Last Tape & The Zoo Story - 1968: Happy Days - 1968: The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui - 1969: Private Lives - 1971: A Midsummer Night's Dream - 1971: Old Times - 1972: The Country Girl - 1972: Purlie - 1973: The Three Sisters - 1973: The Beggar's Opera - 1973: Measure for Measure - 1973: Scapin - 1974: Jumpers ### Trafalgar Theatre/Nederlander Theatre - 1979: Whose Life Is It Anyway? - 1980: Betrayal - 1980: One Night Stand - 1981: Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music - 1982: 84 Charing Cross Road - 1983: Teaneck Tanzi: The Venus Flytrap - 1983: Amen Corner - 1985: Strange Interlude - 1986: Robert Klein on Broadway - 1986: Raggedy Ann - 1991: Our Country's Good - 1996: Rent - 2009: Guys and Dolls - 2009: Brighton Beach Memoirs - 2010: Million Dollar Quartet - 2012: Newsies - 2015: Honeymoon in Vegas - 2015: Amazing Grace - 2016: Disaster! - 2016: Motown: The Musical - 2017: War Paint - 2018: Pretty Woman: The Musical - 2019: Kristin Chenoweth: For The Girls - 2019: Harry Connick, Jr.: A Celebration of Cole Porter - 2021: The Lehman Trilogy - 2022: Mr. Saturday Night - 2022: A Christmas Carol - 2023: Shucked ## Box office record Rent set the Nederlander Theatre's box-office record for the week ending November 29, 2005, when it grossed \$744,496 while playing to 97 percent capacity. Newsies achieved the box office record for the Nederlander Theatre in 2012, playing to 101 percent capacity and grossed \$1,024,516.60 for eight performances the week ending April 15, 2012. This gross was surpassed by War Paint the week ending April 23, 2017, when that show grossed \$1,042,449. The current gross record was set by Pretty Woman: The Musical, which grossed \$1,266,873 over eight performances for the week ending December 9, 2018. ## See also - James M. Nederlander Theatre - Nederlander Organization theater in Chicago - List of Broadway theaters
26,903,628
Bulletstorm
1,164,657,684
2011 first-person shooter game
[ "2011 video games", "Action-adventure games", "Cooperative video games", "Electronic Arts games", "Epic Games games", "First-person shooters", "Games for Windows", "Multiplayer and single-player video games", "Nintendo Switch games", "Obscenity controversies in video games", "PlayStation 3 games", "PlayStation 4 Pro enhanced games", "PlayStation 4 games", "Science fiction video games", "Unreal Engine games", "Video games about revenge", "Video games developed in Poland", "Video games set in the 26th century", "Video games set on fictional planets", "Virtual reality games", "Windows games", "Xbox 360 games", "Xbox One X enhanced games", "Xbox One games" ]
Bulletstorm is a 2011 first-person shooter game developed by People Can Fly and Epic Games and published by Electronic Arts (EA). The video game is distinguished by its system of rewarding players with "skillpoints" for performing increasingly creative kills. Bulletstorm does not have any competitive multiplayer modes, preferring instead to include cooperative online play and score attack modes. Set in the 26th century, the game's story follows Grayson Hunt, a space pirate and former black ops soldier who gets shot down on a war-torn planet while trying to exact revenge on General Sarrano, his former commander who tricked him and his men into committing war crimes and assassinating innocents. Development of the game began in June 2007. Adrian Chmielarz and Cliff Bleszinski served as its director and designer respectively, while Rick Remender, the author of Fear Agent, wrote the game's story. It was originally envisioned to be a cover-based third-person shooter, though the core combat loop and gameplay perspective went through multiple revisions. Pulp magazines, Burnout, Duke Nukem, and Firefly all inspired the team during Bulletstorm's development. The team experimented with competitive multiplayer modes and campaign cooperative multiplayer mode during production but decided to remove them because of technological constraints. Upon its release in February 2011 for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the game received positive reviews from critics who praised its setting, graphics, action, pacing and gameplay, but was criticized for its story, writing and multiplayer modes. It amassed a great deal of controversy with Fox News during its release window for its depiction of sexual jokes for humor. Bulletstorm was a commercial failure for both Epic Games and Electronic Arts, selling one million copies by 2013. Gearbox Publishing released a remastered version of the game titled Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition in April 2017 for Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and a version for Nintendo Switch, titled Bulletstorm: Duke of Switch Edition, in August 2019. A sequel was put on hold as the studio reallocated its resources to work on Gears of War: Judgment. A virtual reality version of the game is currently in development. ## Gameplay As a first-person shooter, Bulletstorm focuses on combat. The game features eight weapons, each with their own distinct behaviors. In addition to standard firearms such as shotguns and assault rifles, the game features unusual weaponry such as the "Bouncer", which shoots explosive bouncing cannonballs, and the "Flailgun", a cannon that shoots bolas weighted by grenades. Each weapon has an alternate fire mode that uses "charges"; for example, the Screamer revolver's "charge shot" turns the weapon into a flare gun that ignites an enemy and sends them into the air. The playable character is equipped with an "instinct leash" that allows him to pull enemies towards him; an upgrade unlocks the "Thumper", which slams down a ball of energy that launches all nearby enemies and explosive barrels into the air. The player can also kick enemies or run and slide into them. If an enemy is launched into the air from the whip or by being kicked/slid into, they go into slow motion, allowing players to perform "skillshots". Skillshots reward the player for killing opponents in the most creative and unusual ways possible. Points are awarded for various actions, such as killing enemies in midair, making use of environmental hazards such as kicking enemies towards spikes and impaling them, or using a weapon's distinct feature. The more complicated or unusual the skillshot, the more points players acquire. Points are used as currency at "dropkits" scattered across the planet to purchase firearms, ammunition and upgrades. Dropkit checkpoints are also the sites where players can swap their weapons, access the Skillshot database, and view players' statistics. Besides the single-player campaign, players can access two additional modes. In "Echoes", players must play through a single-player level and kill the enemies in the most unusual ways possible within a fixed period. Each player is given a rating on their performance, which is then uploaded to a leaderboard. Another mode is "Anarchy", a four-player co-operative multiplayer mode. In Anarchy, players must fight through waves of enemies and perform skillshots. When the group of players gains enough skillshots, they can then unlock new levels and arenas. The Anarchy mode has its own set of skillshots and a unique progression system. ## Plot Bulletstorm takes place in the 26th century, where the universe is run by the "Confederation of Planets". Grayson Hunt (Steven Blum) is the leader of Dead Echo, a black ops team under the command of Confederation General Victor Sarrano (Anthony De Longis). Dead Echo assassinates a man named Bryce Novak and accesses his personal files; they discover Novak was not a criminal "separatist" as they had been told, but a civilian reporter, documenting evidence of Sarrano's corruption and his use of Dead Echo to eliminate his political and personal enemies. When Sarrano tries to have them killed for questioning him, Grayson and his team desert, flee to the edges of the universe, and become pirates. Ten years later, the ship carrying Grayson (now struggling with alcoholism), and his comrades Ishi Sato (Andrew Kishino), Rell Julian (Chris Cox), and Dr. Whit Oliver (Robin Atkin Downes) is intercepted by the Ulysses, Sarrano's flagship, near the ruined planet of Stygia. In a drunken rage, Grayson attempts a suicide attack on Ulysses. Both ships crash land onto Stygia, fatally wounding Ishi. Oliver sends Grayson and Rell to find an energy cell to power the ship's medical equipment so he can operate. Grayson locates an escape pod from Ulysses and retrieves its energy cell and a device called an "instinct leash". They return with the cell, and Doc manages to replace most of Ishi's body with cybernetics, including an AI processor for parts of his brain. However, in the middle of the operation, marauders break into the ship; Doc and Rell are both killed, and while Ishi survives, he is left permanently disfigured by the incomplete surgery. Grayson and Ishi decide to work together to get off the planet, despite Ishi blaming Grayson for their friends' deaths. As they work their way towards the nearest city, the AI processor in Ishi's brain takes over several times, fueled by his anger at Grayson's selfishness and refusal to give up his vendetta. The instinct leash leads Grayson to another escape pod, where they find Trishka (Jennifer Hale), a member of Final Echo, the unit that replaced Dead Echo. She agrees to work with Grayson and Ishi on the condition that they help her rescue Sarrano. Grayson eventually learns that Trishka was Novak's daughter; after Dead Echo inadvertently saved her life, she joined the military to hunt down the "separatists" who killed him. Grayson tells her that Sarrano was in fact responsible for her father's death, but lies about his involvement. The three fight their way to Sarrano's escape pod, which landed on top of a skyscraper. Trishka holds Sarrano at gunpoint and demands answers; he manages to throw her off the roof and informs Grayson and Ishi that the Ulysses is carrying a "DNA bomb" designed to wipe out all life on Stygia so it can be repopulated. He claims that the bomb is damaged and that if it is not disarmed soon, they will die before help arrives. Reluctantly, the two fight alongside him to reach the wreckage of the Ulysses. Sarrano tricks Grayson into arming the bomb and escapes, leaving him and Ishi trapped. Just as it seems they are about to die, Trishka, who turns out to still be alive, rescues them. The three race to Sarrano's rescue ship and get on board just as it takes off. They fight their way through Sarrano's "Heavy Echo" troops and confront him on the ship's bridge. Trishka demands to know who killed her father, and Sarrano reveals that Grayson and his men did. An argument ensues, and Sarrano then uses his own instinct leash to hijack Ishi's body and force him to attack Grayson and Trishka. Encouraged by Grayson, Ishi manages to wrest back control and winds up taking a bullet meant for his friend. Enraged, Grayson impales Sarrano on the wall, but Sarrano is able to eject him and Trishka from the ship back onto Stygia's surface. Grayson and Trishka race back to the Ulysses and board an unused escape pod. They launch it into low orbit, with the explosion of the DNA bomb propelling the pod into space. As Stygia is slowly consumed by the blast, the two talk about Grayson's revenge, the loss of his team, and Sarrano still being alive. Trishka asks Grayson what he is going to do about Sarrano escaping, and the screen fades to black. In a post-credits scene, it is revealed that Sarrano is now a cyborg due to the extent of his injuries. Ishi also survives, albeit under the full control of his AI processor. ## Development Bulletstorm was developed by Polish game studio People Can Fly. They had previously created the Painkiller series, a first-person shooter (FPS) designed for the PC. Bulletstorm was the studio's first triple-A game. Development began in June 2007, and the game enjoyed a roughly three-and-a-half year development cycle. During the game's production, the studio had about 70 people working on it. The game was a collaboration between PCF and Epic Games, which had acquired a majority stake in the studio in August 2007. Electronic Arts (EA) published the game under its EA Partners program, after being impressed by the studio's work on Painkiller. PCF's Adrian Chmielarz directed the game, which was designed by Epic's Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski, and penned by writer and producer Rick Remender. PCF confirmed on February 2, 2011, that Bulletstorm had declared gold, indicating it was being prepared for duplication and release. Since Bulletstorm was the studio's first video game developed for home consoles, Epic Games helped PCF extensively when they were porting the game to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Epic's own Unreal Engine 3 rather than PCF's proprietary engine powered the game. This change allowed the team to create game demos quickly when they were pitching the project to publishers. The initial demo impressed Epic, who agreed to collaborate with PCF. While PCF was the main developer of Bulletstorm, Epic Games ensured that the game was high quality by providing feedback and engine support. Some of the game's development was outsourced to external companies in Germany, China, USA, Sweden, and Poland. Epic, an esteemed developer, helped to secure a publishing agreement with Electronic Arts. While there were communication troubles among the three companies initially, this problem eased when the studio streamlined the communication processes. Whereas EA and Epic had provided their feedback separately to PCF, the new communication model saw EA providing feedback directly to Epic, which would then integrate EA's feedback with their own and deliver it to PCF. Regarding the collaboration with Epic, Chmielarz said that the studio "got some tough love from Epic and their uncompromising approach to quality", and suggested that it was "a fantastic lesson on what quality means". Originally, the studio did not plan to have any unique gameplay feature or an ambitious goal for the game and only wanted to "offer a fun high adventure". The game was initially envisioned to be a cover-based, third-person shooter similar to Gears of War. The gameplay underwent multiple iterations, and as development progressed, it became a cover-based FPS. The team later decided to de-emphasize cover after they had created the weapons, as they felt the cover did not complement with the cover-based gameplay. The studio incorporated systems that would support emergent gameplay. Mega Man inspired the slide mechanic, while Scorpion's spear in Mortal Kombat inspired the leash. Through internal focus testing and seeing how fellow developers played the game, the team realized that "people were playing with their enemies like a cat plays with a mouse before he takes it out". This led to the creation of the Skillshots system, which aimed to reward players' creativity. Bleszinski described the game as "the Burnout of shooters", and cited Duke Nukem, Firefly and Serenity as his inspirations. While the studio had created a playable team deathmatch prototype, they did not incorporate it into the final product because they believed that the market was crowded with competitive FPS at that time. The team created the Anarchy cooperative mode as an alternative. The development of Anarchy began during the late stages of production, and it catered only to hardcore players. He concluded it was the "wrong choice for the online modes" retrospectively. Bleszinski added that the unusual firearms featured in the campaign would not translate well to a competitive game environment, and it would have required PCF to rework all the systems. The game initially had a cooperative mode that allowed friends to play through the campaign together, but it was cancelled after the team had realized that it shifted the game from "being this kind of puzzle shooter into essentially this downhill skiing simulator". Its removal allowed the studio to encourage players to use Skillshots more frequently and enabled the team to create more unique scenarios. The score attack Echoes mode was added in the last six months of production after seeing gamers and journalists competing against each other for high scores playing the game's E3 2010 demo. Chmielarz recruited Rick Remender in 2009, impressed by his work on comic book series Fear Agent and Black Heart Billy. Remender was invited to visit PCF's headquarters in Warsaw for a week and finished drafting the story with the game's team. The game's story focused on "redemption and revenge", and the planet Stigya, a tourist paradise destroyed by a natural disaster of unknown origin, was to evoke the same feeling as BioShock's Rapture. Remender added that the story telling was not intended to be serious, and that the narrative relied a lot on cliches. The character Ichi was described as "Samurai Spock" while General Sarrano, who was initially only a placeholder villain, was described as a "classic psychopath" and "pure evil". Pulp fiction such as Juan Buscamares (a comic series published in January 1998 in Heavy Metal magazine), Indiana Jones, and men's magazines covers from 1920 to 1970 all helped inspire the game's narrative and visuals. The game was criticized on release for its heavy profanity; Chmielarz responded that as Poles, English's profanity was "exotic and fun to us" and he did not realize that the game had so much of it until he read the Polish translation. The team incorporated a language filter, though Chmielarz noted that few noticed its existence. ## Release In 2008, Electronic Arts announced it would be publishing a new Intellectual property (IP) from independent game developer Epic Games. The name "Bulletstorm" was revealed when game developer People Can Fly filed a trademark request for the name in December 2009. Originally, Epic Games designer Cliff Bleszinski was scheduled to announce the game alongside Gears of War 3 during an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on April 8, 2010. However, his appearance was delayed to April 12, 2010. The game was revealed before Bleszinski's scheduled appearance when gaming magazine Game Informer released its May 2010 issue, which mentioned the game on its cover. EA provided extensive marketing for the game. Epic released a limited edition of Bulletstorm exclusively for the Xbox 360 known as the Epic Edition. The Epic Edition includes bonus in-game content when playing Bulletstorm online, and access to the multiplayer beta of Gears of War 3. In January 2011, a viral video for Bulletstorm was released, parodying the Halo 3 "Believe" diorama. This was followed in February with the release of Duty Calls: The Calm Before the Storm, a free downloadable PC game that parodies the Call of Duty series as well as general first-person shooter clichés. Players who preordered the Limited Edition for the PC also received a free copy of Klei Entertainment's Shank. A demo of the game, featuring one of the game's Echoes missions, was released on January 25, 2011, for the Xbox 360 and on January 26, 2011, for the PlayStation 3. Following this announcement, Bleszinski wrote a tweet on January 14, 2011, saying the demo was only for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, which game reviewers considered was a way of making fun of PC players. Epic Games' vice-president Mark Rein later clarified that a PC demo would be released after the game's release. Epic released it on April 4; it featured the same level as the console versions. The demo attracted more than two million players, though in hindsight, Chmielarz believed the demo had confused players, as the Echo mission did not adequately communicate the experience to the player. The game was released for Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on February 22, 2011. Ragdoll effects, blood, splatter and dismembering were initially censored in the game's German version, despite the German Entertainment Software Rating Board granting it an "Adult" rating. The German rating board later reversed its decision with Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition, which was allowed to be released uncensored. Both Bleszinski and Chmielarz criticized the game's marketing campaign, which focused extensively on the game's silliness and relied a lot on jokes. The first downloadable content (DLC) for Bulletstorm, titled Gun Sonata, was released on April 14, 2011, for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and on May 19, 2011, for the PC. The content includes three Anarchy maps, two Echo missions and two Leash colors. The second DLC, Blood Symphony, was released on June 10, 2011, for Xbox 360. The content includes two "Echoes" maps, three "Anarchy" maps, and a new mode called "The Ultimate Echoes". ### Remastered version Gearbox Publishing revealed the remastered version during The Game Awards 2016 in December. It increased texture resolution and included support for 4K resolutions, and additional content created by People Can Fly. The remastered version includes new content such as the Overkill Campaign Mode, which starts the players with access to all the game's weapons and six new Echo maps. Those who pre-ordered the game received access to the Duke Nukem's Bulletstorm Tour downloadable content, allowing players to play as Duke Nukem with new voice lines recorded by Jon St. John. Gearbox' Randy Pitchford explained that the remastered version was not a free update for those who already owned the game on Windows because the license was still held by Electronic Arts, and Gearbox had only secured the rights to help People Can Fly create the remaster. In addition, there were issues in transitioning from the discontinued Games for Windows Live platform. Entitled the "Full Clip Edition" , the remastered version was released on April 7, 2017, for Windows (with a Lite version, which only contains the campaign), PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Gearbox sparked controversy when they partnered with game key reseller G2A for the sales of exclusive Collector's Editions of Full Clip Edition. The studio ultimately canceled its agreement with G2A. A port of the Full Clip Edition for the Nintendo Switch, titled Duke of Switch Edition, was released on August 31, 2019. ### VR version On June 1, 2023, during the 2023 Meta Quest Games Showcase, a VR version, published by People Can Fly and developed by Incuvo, of the game was announced. It is slated for a 2023 release on Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest Pro and PlayStation VR2. ## Reception ### Critical reception According to review aggregator Metacritic, the game received generally positive reviews upon release. The game's combat received acclaim. Writing for GameSpot, Kevin VanOrd described the game as "sometimes ludicrous and often ludicrously fun". He praised the skillshot mechanic for tying into the upgrade system as this gave players an incentive to use them during combat. He also enjoyed the weapons, which enables players to fight against enemies in "intriguing" ways. Tim Turi of Game Informer praised the game for offering players a lot of freedom when controlling Grayson, comparing the game favourably to Mirror's Edge. He also applauded how the game allowed players to combine different moves together freely. Rich McCormick of PC Gamer also liked the skillshot system for allowing players to use their creativity to eliminate enemies. However, he noted that this combat loop falls flat during the latter part of the game where players combat more agile mutant enemies. Arthur Gies, an IGN reviewer, described the game as "violently charming". He felt the skillshot system, the weapons, and the responsive gunplay turned Bulletstorm's combat into a success. He noted, though, that by the end of the game, the combat became monotonous and repetitive as the game failed to offer more diverse combat encounters. David Houghton of GamesRadar compared the game to a "3D puzzle game" and a "high-speed strategy game". He described the game as "a very intelligent, highly intricate, and sumptuously nuanced design masquerading as a big dumb action game" and recognized that its gameplay helped evolve the FPS genre. Critics also generally enjoyed the game's setting and pacing. VanOrd liked the variety in the game's mission design and felt that most of the missions were entertaining and exciting. Despite this, he was disappointed by the game's linear design, making it difficult for the player to control the battlefield when they were facing multiple enemies at once. Gies, Joystiq's Randy Nelson, Christian Donlan of Eurogamer praised the game's setpieces and pacing. Both McCormick and Gies praised the game's visuals and the setting's color palette. Nelson praised Stygia as a setting, describing the campaign as a "wild ride through some truly fantastic, alien locations". Gies also appreciated the game's environmental storytelling, which helped establish Stygia's history and turned it into an interesting setting. The characters and the writing in the game received a mixed opinion. The characters were conflictingly considered rounded or one-dimensional, and VanOrd called the profanity-filled dialogue "cringe-worthy" and undermined the studio's attempt at serious storytelling. Nelson, in contrast, believed the use of profanities fit tonally with the game and offered moments of levity following combat-heavy sequences. Gies described the set-up as original and liked the characters, though he criticized the anticlimactic ending. Nick Chester, writing for Destructoid, said the entertaining story complemented the gameplay fairly well, though he noted the narrative relied on pulp fiction clichés and predictable plot twists. Taylor Cocke of 1Up.com liked how the game parodied other FPS writing and that it broke free of a focus on melodrama. However, he remarked the story was overly serious, and the campaign was dragged down by the stark contrast between the tone of the story and the chaotic and creative nature of the combat. The multiplayer component of the game received lackluster reviews. VanOrd felt the multiplayer was fun but limited in scope. He remarked that the experience, while mostly rewarding, could be frustrating if the players were joined by strangers. He added the mode's maps were too small and players may get bored easily because of a lack of variety. Gies shared a similar sentiment, writing that Anarchy became repetitive very quickly. Gies labeled the absence of campaign co-op as a missed opportunity. While he called Echo a good inclusion, he was disappointed that the leaderboard was not incorporated into the game's main campaign. Nelson liked the Anarchy mode for including new Skillshots, but called the Echo mode "cut-and-dry". Donlan liked the Echo mode for being a distilled experience, which disregarded the story elements completely and compared the leaderboard competition favorably to that of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Zuma Blitz. The remastered version also received generally positive reviews. Scott Butterworth of GameSpot praised the upgraded textures and visuals, "impressive" draw distance and stable frame rate. However, he was disappointed that the Duke Nukem DLC did not meaningfully change the story or change the cutscenes. IGN's Lucy O'Brien praised the improved lighting system and believed that the improved visuals helped elevate the intensity and the urgency of the game's setpieces. However, she noted the original game showed its age due to the presence of invisible walls and the lack of a dedicated jump button. She expressed her disappointment that PCF did not add much that was new to the remaster. Reviewing the Nintendo Switch version, PJ O'Reilly of Nintendo Life expressed his disappointment regarding the absence of multiplayer and the lack of gyroscopic controls. ### Fox News controversy On February 8, 2011, the game came under scrutiny by Fox News in an article on their website by John Brandon, a televised broadcast and another article. Part of a Fox News panel was psychologist Carole Lieberman, who said, "The increase in rapes can be attributed in large part to the playing out of [sexual] scenes in video games". Her statement caused enraged gamers to review bomb her book at Amazon.com. Lieberman later responded by saying that her quotes were taken out of context by Brandon. Nonetheless, she continued to draw correlations between rape and sexual content in video games, claiming to have "thousands" of research papers supporting her claim. To support her claim, Lieberman referred to eight sources, one of them being Bulletstorm. Gaming blog Rock, Paper, Shotgun analysed Lieberman's claims, and found only one of eight sources she provided had anything to do with the subject at hand. Kotaku also quoted data from US Department of Justice that the number of rape cases have been declining since 1973, though Lieberman refuted this by saying that the official rape statistics were "known to be variable and unreliable". Dr. Mark Griffiths, a professor at Nottingham Trent University, whose lectures focused on video game addiction, described Fox's news piece as "sensationalist" in a Guardian interview. He added it would be very difficult to prove that exposure to sexual content in video games contributed to rape crimes because of the large number of confounding factors involved. Brandon followed up his report on February 20, adding that the gaming press "reacted violently" and the experts he had talked to "were nearly universally worried that video game violence may be reaching a fever pitch". Rock, Paper, Shotgun later contacted the experts, most of whom said they had never said there is a conclusive link between video game violence and real world violence. EA defended the game's developers and the game. Its vice president of public relations, Tammy Schachter, wrote the publisher had followed the policies established by the ESRB and marketed the game only to a mature audience. She added that "much like Tarantino's Kill Bill or Rodriguez's Sin City, this game is an expression of creative entertainment for adults." Epic's CEO Mike Capps added that the Fox News controversy helped the game reach a wider audience, and he was delighted the gaming press helped defend the game. He noted his concern that the Fox news piece may mislead an uninformed public. ### Sales EA had high sales expectations for the game. David DeMartini, an EA executive, remarked the game had the potential to perform as well as the Gears of War games. In the United Kingdom, Bulletstorm was the second best-selling video game in its release week behind Killzone 3. In the US, it was the seventh best-selling game in February 2011. It sold around 300,000 units in February; the Xbox 360 was the platform of choice for most players. Capps added the game did not turn a profit for Epic, while an unnamed source from EA revealed that the game "underperformed" for them. In 2013, it was revealed the game sold just under one million copies. Capps added that the game did not sell well on the PC, citing piracy as the main reason behind its disappointing performance, though he admitted it was not a very good port. Chmielarz initially blamed the game's EA marketing, which reduced "fresh ideas to dick-jokes for dude-bros". He later recognized the game was the victim of an industry shift, as smaller-tier games were slowly being phased out. However, Sebastian Wojciechowski, the CEO of People Can Fly following their split from Epic, felt the game sold well, adding it would never be considered as successful or profitable as Epic's Gears of War series at the time. Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition debuted as the 23rd best-selling game in the UK in its release week. Wojciechowski added that the sales of the remaster "went really, really well" and that it validated the studio's belief that it should do something with the IP in the future. ## Sequel According to Capps, the studio had begun development of Bulletstorm's sequel but was sidelined as Epic assigned PCF to work on Gears of War: Judgement, a spin-off in the Gears of War series. PCF became independent in 2015 following a management buyout, and it retained the intellectual property rights to Bulletstorm. Speaking about a potential sequel in 2019, Wojciechowski, said the studio wanted the IP to have a "second life" despite the fact that it was not the studio's short-term goal. Wojciechowski added that should the studio return to the IP, they would consider ways to make it more popular. ## See also - List of commercial failures in video gaming
72,726,365
Chickaboom!
1,166,680,921
2020 album by Tami Neilson
[ "2020 albums", "Albums produced by Delaney Davidson", "Rockabilly albums", "Tami Neilson albums" ]
Chickaboom! is the seventh studio album by Canadian-New Zealand country singer Tami Neilson, released on 14 February 2020, by Neilson Records and Outside Music. A country album inspired by rockabilly, Chickaboom! was nominated for the Juno Award for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year and Aotearoa Music Award for Album of the Year at the 2020 Aotearoa Music Awards. The album debuted at number eight on the Official New Zealand Music Chart. ## Production Neilson was inspired by a rockabilly and country sound for the album, reminiscent of Johnny Cash and Wanda Jackson. Many of the songs in the album are inspired by Neilson's struggles in the music industry and gender inequality. Neilson chose the album's title to express the sound of rockabilly and artists on Sun Records, and to evoke a feeling that the songs would "pop and explode". The album featured a stripped-back instrumentalisation compared to her previous album Sassafrass!, in part to be more easily able to replicate the album's sound in live performances. Neilson produced the album herself and wrote or co-wrote every song on the album excluding the album's closer, "Sleep", which was written by New Zealand country musician Delaney Davidson. Neilson's brother Jay Neilson was a major contributor to the project, performing guitars and appearing as a featured artist on the singles "Hey, Bus Driver!" and "Any Fool with a Heart". The song "Sister Mavis" was written as a tribute to singer Mavis Staples. Neilson's sons provided accompanying vocals for Neilson on the song "Queenie, Queenie". ## Release and promotion "Hey Bus Driver!" featuring Neilson's brother Jay Neilson was released as the lead single from the album in September 2019. Together the pair released Neilson's next single "Any Fool with a Heart" in October, followed by "Ten Tonne Truck" in November, "You Were Mine" in January 2020 and "Queenie, Queenie" in February. A music video was produced for "You Were Mine" and was intended to be released in January, however, due to the severity of the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, Neilson and her team shelved the video, due to it containing scenes of a fiery blaze. Owing to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Neilson was unable to tour in 2020. Instead, she focused on creating a YouTube series, The Tami Show, with her brother Jay. On 19 February 2021, the album was re-released as a deluxe edition, featuring a five song concert recorded at Roundhead Studios for Radio New Zealand recorded with her band and the Big Boss Orchestra. ## Reception On review aggregator Metacritic, Chickaboom! received a score of 84 out of 100 based on four reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Kyle Mullin of Exclaim! praised the album, feeling that the cut-down band (compared to her large-scale backing in Sassafrass! "lets Neilson's outsized voice take center stage, exactly where it belongs". Jim Hynes called "You Were Mine" the album's stand-out track, describing it as "a cross between Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and early Mavis with her explosive vocals". Rich Wilhelm of Pop Matters described Neilson as "the heiress apparent to legendary rockabilly/country queen Wanda Jackson". The album was nominated for the Aotearoa Music Award for Album of the Year at the 2020 Aotearoa Music Awards, and for the Juno Award for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year in 2021, The album's lead single "Hey Bus Driver!" won the APRA award for Best Country Song at the 2020 Country Music Awards in New Zealand. ## Track listing ## Credits and personnel - Brett Adams – lead guitar (5) - Charlie – guest vocals (4) - Chris Chetland – mastering - Delaney Davidson – lead guitar, guest vocals (7), production - Jules Koblun – artwork design - Sabin Holloway – photography (cover) - Joe McCallum – drums, percussion - Jol Mulholland – mixing - Jay Neilson – bass guitar, rhythm guitar, vocals - Tami Neilson – rhythm guitar, producer, vocals - Todd Neilson – photography (stills) - Graham Reid – liner notes - Sam – guest vocals (4) ## Charts ## Release history
14,776,398
Transfer of merit
1,170,169,747
Buddhist devotional practice
[ "Bodhisattvas", "Buddhist belief and doctrine", "Buddhist rituals", "Death customs" ]
Transfer of merit (Sanskrit: pariṇāmanā, Pali: pattidāna or pattānumodanā) is a standard part of Buddhist spiritual discipline where the practitioner's merit, resulting from good deeds, is transferred to deceased relatives, to deities, or to all sentient beings. Such transfer is done mentally, and it is believed that the recipient can often receive this merit, if they rejoice in the meritorious acts of the person transferring. In Buddhism, merit transfer is seen as a better alternative than mourning. Scholars have discussed how the doctrine of transfer of merit can be reconciled with the individual nature of karma in Buddhism. Some scholars believe that the idea originates with early Buddhism, whereas others suspect a later origin. It is widely recognized that transfer of merit was the Buddhist response to pre-Buddhist Brahmanical customs of ancestor worship. In Buddhism, such worship was given an ethical emphasis. The doctrine may also have been influenced by pre-Buddhist ideas of transference of powers. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, transfer of merit became an essential aspect of the ideal of the bodhisattva, the Buddha-to-be, who uses his merits to help all living beings. Transfer of merit is widely practiced in all Buddhist countries, in ceremonies, festivals, and daily practice. In the present day, transfer of merit has become an intrinsic part of Buddhism and has an important social function. ## Translations In the later Pāli tradition (from 5th–7th century CE), the word pattidāna is used, meaning 'giving of the acquired'. In the Sanskrit tradition, the word pariṇāmanā is used for transferring merit, meaning 'change, alternation; ripening, bringing to maturity; development; diversion'. The term 'transfer of merit' has become commonplace, though objected to by many scholars. Indeed, 'transfer of merit' does not render any term from a classical Buddhist language. ## Description Merit (Sanskrit: puṇya, Pali: puñña) is a concept considered fundamental to Buddhist ethics. It is a beneficial and protective force which accumulates as a result of good deeds, acts, or thoughts. Merit-making is important to Buddhist practice: merit brings good and agreeable results, determines the quality of the next life and contributes to a person's growth towards enlightenment. Apart from the concept of merit, in Mahāyāna pariṇāmanā is also associated with the concept of 'roots of virtue' (Sanskrit: kuśala-mūla). Transferring merit is a widespread custom in all Buddhist countries, Mahāyāna, Vajrayāna and Theravāda, and is often practiced at ceremonies and festivals in honor of the dead. Transferring merit to another person, usually deceased relatives, is simply done by a mental wish. Despite the word transfer, the merit of the giver is in no way decreased during such an act. The traditional metaphor is a candle used to light another candle, of which the light does not diminish in the process. The merit transferred cannot always be received, however. According to early Buddhist texts, if dead relatives are reborn in a place that is too high or too low, as a deva (deity), as a human, as an animal or in hell, they cannot receive the merit. They can only receive the merit if they are born as pretas, that is, spirits or ghosts. They must also be able to sympathize with the meritorious act. The transfer of merit is thus connected with the idea of rejoicing. If the relatives do not receive the merit, however, the very act of transferring merit will still be meritorious for the giver himself. This explains part of the definition of pariṇāmanā ('bringing to maturity'): when a giver gives merit, he also gains it in that way. The other person who rejoices in one's meritorious deeds, in that way also receives merit, if he approves of the merit done. Thus, rejoicing in others' merits, apart from being one of ten meritorious acts mentioned in Buddhist texts, is also a prerequisite for the transferring of merit to occur. Because it is believed that merit can actually be transferred, transferring merit to deceased loved ones is seen as a better alternative than mourning. Also, since in the next life there is no such thing as making a living through some occupation, merit is what sustains living beings in the afterlife. Material things cannot be transferred directly to beings in the next world, but the merit accrued by making a donation to the monastic community (Saṅgha) can be transferred. In this way, a certain object donated appears in the next world for the recipient there, although this is through the strength of the intention of giving, not through the physical act of offering by itself. The traditional example of the transferring of merit in the commentaries to the Pāli Tipiṭaka is that of King Bimbisāra, who the Buddha encourages to share his merits with his former relatives, reborn as pretas. In the story, during a visit of the Buddha to Bimbisāra's palace, Bimbisāra asks about some outside noise. The Buddha explains it is the noise of pretas, who in a previous life were the king's relatives. The noise was the pretas crying out of hunger. The Buddha continues that the only way the king could help his former relatives was to transfer the merit from the gifts he had given to the Saṅgha to the pretas. The pretas are then seen to receive the objects given to the monks: Bimbisāra gives food and cloth to the Saṅgha, and the merit of the gifts allows the pretas to receive the objects given as well. ## Purpose The purposes for merit transfer differ. Some Mahāyāna traditions believe that it can help deceased relatives to attain the Pure Land, a heavenly paradise in Pure Land Buddhist cosmology. In many Buddhist countries, transferring merit is connected to the notion of an intermediate state between death and being reborn again, during which the wandering being's future destiny is still uncertain. The merit that is transferred to the deceased will help them to cross over safely to the next rebirth. Or if the spirit has already been reborn, but in an undesirable rebirth, the merits transferred will help to shorten the time that the spirit must spend there. On a similar note, when performing a ceremony to drive away a spirit that has possessed a devotee, devotees may invite a monk for a ceremony to transfer merits to the spirit. Another aim in transferring merit, apart from helping the deceased, is to dedicate it to the devas, the early orthodox view that they cannot receive merit notwithstanding. It is believed that they are not able to do good deeds themselves, and their favor can be obtained in this way. Often, transference to deities is focused on deities that are considered protectors of Buddhism. Furthermore, merit is sometimes transferred to parents as a form of devotion or filial piety. Many Buddhists transfer merits to resolve a bond of revenge that may exist between people, as it is believed that someone else's vengefulness may create harm in one's life. Because of this reason, in Japan a special memorial service (Mizuko kuyō) is often held after an abortion, to dedicate merit to the spirit of the deceased child. Finally, it is also a common practice to transfer merits to all sentient beings, though more commonly so in Mahāyāna Buddhism than in Theravāda. The transfer of demerit or evil, the opposite of transfer of merit, has little to no role in Buddhism. It does sometimes take place in Hinduism, in which it is linked with the idea of pollution. ## Historical analysis ### Relation with karma Initially in the Western study of Buddhism, some scholars believed that the transfer of merit was unique to Mahāyāna Buddhism and that it was developed only at a late period after the historical Buddha. For example, Indologist Heinz Bechert dated the Buddhist doctrine of transfer of merit in its fully developed form to the period between the fifth and seventh century CE. Scholars argued that it was discordant with the early Buddhist understandings of karma, and noticed in the Kathāvatthu text that the idea is partly refuted by Theravādins. Theologian Tommi Lehtonen quotes historian Wolfgang Schumann [de] stating that "the Mahāyāna teaching of the transfer of merit breaks the strict causality of the Hinayānic law of karman (P. kamma) according to which everybody wanting better rebirth can reach it solely by his own efforts". Or as Buddhologist D. Seyfort Ruegg notes, > An idea that has posed a number of thorny questions and conceptual difficulties for Buddhist thought and the history of the Mahāyāna is that often referred to as 'transfer of merit' (puṇyapariṇāmanā). ... Yet such dedication appears, prima facie, to run counter to the karmic principle of the fruition or retribution of deeds (karmavipāka). Generally accepted in Buddhism, both Mahāyānist and non-Mahāyānist, this principle stipulates that a karmic fruit or result (karmaphala) is 'reaped', i.e. experienced, solely by the person—or more precisely by the conscious series (saṃtāna)—that has sown the seed of future karmic fruition when deliberately (cetayitva) accomplishing an action (karman). Scholars have suggested the practice of transference may have developed due to influence of Mahāyāna Buddhism, in which beings aiming to become a Buddha (bodhisattva) can share merit with devotees and thereby save them. Ruegg also argues that the related idea of receiving (Pali: patti, Sanskrit: prāpti) merit through rejoicing, expressed through terms such as pattānumodanā and pattidāna, may have developed due to Mahāyāna influence. Other scholars have argued that the doctrine of the transfer of merit can be found early in the Theravāda tradition, and that the doctrine is sanctioned by early texts. For example, Indologist Richard Gombrich placed its origins around the fourth century BCE. Buddhist Studies scholar Gregory Schopen states that the idea of merit transfer is part of all epigraphical findings that are related to a Buddhist belief in karma, even the earliest, in the third century BCE. Then there also scholars who propose that, although the concept of transfer of merit did not exist as such in early Buddhism, early doctrines did form a basis for it, the concept of transfer of merit being an "inherent consequence" (Bechert) of these early doctrines. Gombrich theorizes that early Buddhism focused on individual karma and responsibility, and that the teaching on transference of merit provided an "escape" to this strict doctrine of individual responsibility. He further argues that the term anumodana, in later Buddhism used for rejoicing as a way to receive merit, in the earliest Pāli texts meant 'giving thanks' and was used when the deceased gave thanks for transferred merit. Later commentators reinterpreted the term to mean 'rejoicing', to fit in with Buddhist orthodoxy. They explained that the deceased gained merit through simply rejoicing in the merits that their relatives made for them. In this way, there was no real transference of merit, but the deceased made merit by themselves, following orthodox doctrine on individual karma. This still is the explanation given by monastics and other notables in countries like Burma and Sri Lanka, when asked about the apparent contradiction between individual retribution of karma and the transfer of merit. ### Transfer of powers The idea that a certain power can be transferred from one person to another was known before Buddhism. In Hindu texts such as the Mahābhārata, it is described that devas can transfer certain powers (tejas). A similar belief existed with regard to the energy gained by performing austerities (tapas). In the Upanishads, certain ceremonies can be found in which a person's deeds are mystically transferred to another. In the Laws of Manu many examples can be found of good or evil deeds of one person being transferred to another person, whether on purpose or not. However, according to Buddhist Studies scholar M. M. J. Marasinghe, the concept of the transfer of merit in early Buddhism is different from pre-Buddhist ideas in several respects: merit is not donated in literal, measurable parts; meritorious acts in relation to the Saṅgha are emphasized; devas do not take any part in it; and it is often a compassionate act towards living beings in the next world who are in suffering. Moreover, anthropologist Charles F. Keyes argues that transfer of merit in Buddhism differs from Hinduism in that no actual substance is exchanged in the rituals, but the transfer is merely abstract. ### Ancestor worship Apart from these transfers of power, a second origin is found in Brahmanical ancestor worship. The Petavatthu text was the Buddhist response to such worship. In this text, transferring merit to deceased relatives is described in detail. The word , literally, 'gone forth', is used in early Buddhism to refer to one's dead relatives in the context of merit transfer. It is the Pāli equivalent of Sanskrit preta (hungry ghost), but also Sanskrit pitṛ (father, ancestor). In the period preceding the arising of Buddhism, it was believed that when somebody died he had to be transformed from a wandering preta to the state of the blissful world of the pitṛs. This was done through the complex śrāddha ceremonies, which would secure the deceased's destiny as a pitṛ. In early Buddhism, however, ancestor worship was discontinued, as it was believed that the dead would not reach heavenly bliss through rituals or worship, but only through the causality of karma. The practice of transfer of merit developed on the basis of the ethical and psychological principles of karma and merit, and by connecting these principles with the sense of responsibility towards parents in the context of ancestor worship. As for the veneration of dead ancestors, Buddhists replaced this by the veneration of the Saṅgha. In many Buddhist countries, the Saṅgha has therefore taken the role of an intermediary between the devotees who dedicate merit and their deceased relatives. In this context, the Saṅgha is considered a "field of merit": a worthy recipient that helps the devotee accrue the merits required for transfer. In his role in funeral rites, the Buddhist monk replaced the Brahmin priest as a recipient of gifts. Through the monk's role as a field of merit, lay people were able to adhere to the high standards of Buddhism and its aim on renunciation of the world. ### Mahāyāna Buddhism The doctrine of the transfer of merit helped to shape Buddhism's relation to local deities: the devotee transfers merits to the deity, in exchange for the favor of protection by the deity. Thus, the doctrine had a huge role, and a huge impact on the extent in which Buddhism was able to fit in with new cultures and their respective deities. In the period preceding Mahāyāna Buddhism, transfer of merit had already grown to be an important practice. In later centuries, in many schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism, it was believed that celestial Buddhas or bodhisattvas could transfer merits to devotees to help relieve their suffering. The latter could then share that merit with others. When a bodhisattva transferred his merits, his merits did not decrease in the process, because transfer of merit was seen as a merit in itself. This was called the inexhaustible store of merit. The idea of the bodhisattva transferring merit has led to several Buddhist traditions focused on devotion. According to Gombrich, this is where the entire idea of the bodhisattva is based on, and according to Buddhist studies scholar Luis Gómez, it is the expression of the Buddhist ideals of compassion and emptiness. In Chinese Buddhism, influenced by Pure Land Buddhism, it became common to transfer merit and help the deceased attain the Pure Land. However, some schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism developed other interpretations on the transfer of merit. The Japanese religious leader Nichiren (1222–1282) believed transfer of merit to be ineffective, because he argued that in this "Age of Dharma Decline" only the devotees' faith and discipline would help them to be saved from suffering and a bad rebirth. In practice, however, Nichiren Buddhism still recognized merit transfer, though not through the clergy as intermediary. On a similar note, some Japanese schools of Pure Land Buddhism, such as the Jōdo Shinshū school, do not perform transfer of merits on doctrinal grounds, though some exceptions occur. ## Role in practice Author Sree Padma Holt and scholar Anthony Barber note that merit transfer was well-established and a very integral part of Buddhist practice in the Andhra region of southern India. In addition, inscriptions at numerous sites across South Asia provide evidence that the transfer of merit was widely practiced in the first few centuries CE. In Theravāda Buddhism, it has become customary for donors to share merits during an , that is, a teaching given by the recipient monks to the donors to rejoice in their merits done. There is also a custom to transfer merits at certain intervals after a relative has died, starting with the first period of usually seven days, another time after a fifty and a hundred days, and after that, every year. Such merit transfer rituals at intervals may be held at the local temple or at home. In some Buddhist countries, certain days have been considered especially suitable for transferring merit, for example on Wan Sart (Thai: วันสารท) in Thailand. Moreover, a custom exists in Thailand and Laos to dedicate merit to parents by ordaining as monks or novices. Sometimes transferring merit is symbolized by pouring water into a vessel. In East Asian Buddhism, the doctrine of merit transfer through offerings to the Saṅgha became widely known through the story of Mulian Rescues His Mother. The yearly festival which refers to this story is widely celebrated in East Asia, and the main practice during the festival is transfer of merits to deceased relatives. Merit transfer has developed to become a standard element in the basic liturgy of all main schools of Buddhism. Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhists transfer merits as part of the 'Seven-part-worship' (Sanskrit: saptāṇgapūjā or Sanskrit: Saptavidhā Anuttarapūjā), and there is almost no ceremony without some form of merit transfer. In some Theravāda countries, for example Sri Lanka, merit transfer is done at the end of a Dharma teaching service. In a 2002–3 field study among Cambodians, devotees were asked why they sponsored a certain ceremony. One of the most frequent answers was "to dedicate merit to my ancestors". A final example is the role of stūpas (structures with relics): it has been suggested that stūpas were built partly because of merit transfer purposes. The transfer of merits has grown that important in Buddhism, that it has become a major way for Buddhism to sustain itself. In Japan, some temples are even called ekōdera, which means a temple for merit transfer, and the practice is widespread, though it is usually led by married priests rather than the celibate Saṅgha as in early Buddhism. In early Buddhism, it was seen as a sign of good character if someone transferred merit to the dead. In the present day, the doctrine of transfer of merit allows communities to engage in merit-making activities as a group, thereby fostering kinship solidarity and enabling social engagement. ## See also - Bodhisattva vow - Treasury of merit (in Christianity)
1,911,062
Shake It Off (Mariah Carey song)
1,165,676,659
2005 single by Mariah Carey
[ "2004 songs", "2005 singles", "2005 songs", "Island Records singles", "Mariah Carey songs", "Music videos directed by Jake Nava", "Song recordings produced by Bryan-Michael Cox", "Song recordings produced by Jermaine Dupri", "Songs written by Bryan-Michael Cox", "Songs written by Jermaine Dupri", "Songs written by Johntá Austin", "Songs written by Mariah Carey" ]
"Shake It Off" is a song performed by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey, taken from her tenth studio album, The Emancipation of Mimi (2005). It was written and produced by Carey along with Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox, and Johntá Austin. The song was initially solicited to radio on July 11, 2005, by Island and Mercury Records as the album's third single in the United States, while "Get Your Number" served as the album's third single elsewhere. Described by Dupri as "ghetto," the track is a R&B song that makes use of pop and hip hop influences and a simple, sparse production. Lyrically, the song follows Carey as she moves on from her relationship with an unfaithful lover, packing her things and breaking up with him over an answering machine. The song was well received by music critics, with many complimenting its simple yet inspirational lyrics, as well as calling it a standout track from the album. It peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, blocked by Carey's own "We Belong Together" and Kanye West's and Jamie Foxx’s "Gold Digger" for six weeks. Furthermore, it marked the first time a female lead artist occupied the top two positions of the Hot 100. The song also peaked at numbers six and five in Australia and New Zealand, and numbers fifteen and nine in Ireland and the United Kingdom, respectively. The song's music video, directed by Jake Nava features numerous extravagant wardrobe changes and starred actor Chris Tucker. The video was nominated for Best R&B Video at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards. "Shake It Off" was performed live by Carey on several televised events, including the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, the 2005 World Music Awards and British program Top of the Pops. Additionally it was performed as a five-piece concert on Good Morning America, and on the New Year's Eve special titled, Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest. "Shake It Off" was included on the set-lists of The Adventures of Mimi Tour (2006), the Angels Advocate Tour (2010), The Elusive Chanteuse Show (2014), The Sweet Sweet Fantasy Tour (2016), the All The Hits Tour with Lionel Richie (2017) and her second concert residency, The Butterfly Returns (2018). ## Background Carey had produced back-to-back commercially and critically failing albums, Glitter (2001) and Charmbracelet (2002). After the release of "Charmbracelet", and its succeeding tour, Carey began working on The Emancipation of Mimi, her tenth studio effort. By November 2004, Carey had already recorded several songs for the album. Island Records head L.A. Reid suggested Carey to compose a few more strong singles to ensure the project's commercial success. Noting that she had written some of her best work with Jermaine Dupri, Reid recommended that Carey meet with Dupri for a brief studio session. Carey took Reid's advice and headed to Atlanta to collaborate with Dupri. During this two-day trip, the duo wrote and produced "Shake It Off" and "Get Your Number," which were eventually released as the album's third and fourth singles. Following this recording session, "Shake It Off" was briefly selected as the album's lead single, replacing the two other contenders "Stay The Night" and "Say Somethin'". Dupri explained to MTV News: > I had that beat actually before she got to the studio. So she came in, she heard that beat and was like, 'Yeah, that's what I want.' That was one of the first records we had. I didn't really know what to do for her because I didn't hear nothing else that was on the album, but I just felt like she didn't have that bounce on her album. ## Composition "Shake It Off" is a mid-tempo R&B song with a pop and hip hop backbeat and a "thumping", sparse production. Written and produced by Carey, Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox and Johntá Austin, the song drew comparisons to several productions from Usher's 2004 album, Confessions. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by W.B.M. Music Corporation, "Shake It Off" is set in common time with a tempo of 66 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of D major with Carey's vocal range spanning from the low-note of D<sub>3</sub> to the high-note of G#<sub>6</sub>. The song follows in the chord progression of Bm<sub>7</sub>–Am<sub>7</sub>–Gmaj<sub>7</sub> The verses and chorus remain in a narrow voice range, until according to Jon Pareles of The New York Times, Carey "gives herself a few of her old sky-high notes as a background flourish" near the song's end. According to Carey's album guide in Rolling Stone, Dupri leaves his trademark on the album's best tracks including "Shake It Off", with the track's production and beat described as "syncopated" and "bouncy." Lyrically, the song features a message of female strength, the song lyrics were described as "goofy" and "fun" by Larry Katz from the Boston Herald. Reading "Just like the Calgon commercial / I really gotta get up out of here", Carey tells her lover that she is leaving him, making a "clever" reference to a commercial. In regards to the latter lyrics, Lawrence Farber from the Windy City Times wrote "they are a playful approach to bitterness—and, more specifically, a cheatin' bad apple." She then sings "By the time you get this message / It's gonna be too late / So don't bother paging me / 'Cause I'll be on my way," establishing that the relationship is over, and that he shouldn't even try to mend the situation. She also makes reference to his infidelity, "with this one and that one / By the pool, on the beach, in the streets." In an interview with MTV News, Dupri discussed the song's composition: > "'Shake It Off' was just like ... That comes from that style of I guess [Usher's] Confessions and just that bounce. It's got a lot of ingredients to it because I never thought that Mariah could make a bouncy type of record. When you hear that song — the whole bounce of the record and the way she's flipping it and the stuff she talking about ... I knew that record was gonna go just because you never heard Mariah talk about this stuff. ... She's like, 'I packed up my Louis Vuitton.' She took it really on the ghetto side. I knew that was gonna strike people. Either it was gonna hit them in a wrong way or they was gonna love it. ## Critical reception "Shake It Off" was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine picked "Shake It Off" as a top pick from the album. Michael Paoletta, writing for Billboard, gave the song a positive review, complimenting its lyrics, production and Carey's vocals. He concluded his review with his assurance that the song would be a success, writing "After 'We Belong Together' brought her back to radio big time, 'Shake It Off' will take Carey's good fortune to the next step." Some critics compared the song heavily to Usher's material from his 2004 album, Confessions. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine wrote "Mariah too heavily bites on the styles of her successors: Usher by way of Dupri on 'Shake It Off'," while Dan Gennoe of Yahoo! Music UK said the song was "Usher-lite". Lawrence Ferber from the Windy City Times described "Shake It Off" as a "standout" track from the album. When discussing the track with Ferber, Carey described the song as her favorite from The Emancipation of Mimi: "Shake it off can apply to anything. Whatever personal dramas we go through, put that song on and you lose the anxiety or intensity of the moment. I'll listen to that song when I've just come out of an annoying meeting. I gotta shake this off." While Todd Burns from Stylus Magazine described it as "sultry", a writer from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram called it "lyrically crude" and "ghetto". Similarly, The Michigan Daily's Chris Gaerig criticized Carey's "airy vocals" and wrote "Carey sounds like a 13-year-old boy going through puberty, singing love songs to a grade school crush." ## Chart performance In the United States, "Shake It Off" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 66, the week's highest debut. In its seventh week on the chart, it reached number two behind Carey's previous single, "We Belong Together," marking the first time a female lead artist occupied the top two positions of the Hot 100. "Shake It Off" was at the number two position for an additional five weeks after "We Belong Together" fell from number one (six weeks in total); it was subsequently held off the top spot by Kanye West's "Gold Digger". The song stayed within the Hot 100 for 26 weeks, and finished at number fifteen on the Billboard Year-End Chart. The single fared well on multiple Billboard component charts, reaching the top spot on the Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) tally, and becoming her second consecutive number-one on the chart following "We Belong Together" as well as her sixth number-one overall. It peaked at number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and number 27 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. "Shake It Off" was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of over 1,000,000 copies. "Shake It Off" was released throughout Australia and New Zealand as the third single from The Emancipation of Mimi in late 2005. In the United Kingdom, it was released as a double A-side along with "Get Your Number," the third single serviced to the United States at the same time. The single performed well outside the United States, reaching number five and six on the New Zealand Singles Chart and Australian Singles Chart, respectively. The single was later certified Gold in Australia by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), denoting shipments of over 35,000 units. On the UK Singles Chart, the song debuted at number nine during the week of October 15, 2005. Dropping to number ten the following week, the song lasted a total of eight weeks in the singles chart before making its descent. ## Remix "Shake It Off" became another remix in which Carey would feature a hip-hop artist, having done so several times in the past. Most notably, Carey began incorporating hip-hop and pop from her 1995 remix of her single "Fantasy", which featured rap verses from Ol' Dirty Bastard (O.D.B.). The song was considered one of the pioneering songs that began the infusion of the "thug-love duet". According to Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times, the song "Nowadays clean-cut pop stars are expected to collaborate with roughneck rappers, but when Ms. Carey teamed up with Ol' Dirty Bastard, of the Wu-Tang Clan, for the 1995 hit 'Fantasy (Remix),' it was a surprise, and a smash." Originally intended to feature only Jay-Z, the remix included rising rapper Young Jeezy, who considered the position the "highest-profile guest appearance to date" that he had been offered. In an interview with MTV News, Jeezy described how he came to be included on the remix: > When I got the call [from Mariah], I was like, 'I don't know if that's me. She was like, 'Nah, it's gonna be your type of beat.' I'm like, 'Oh, for real?' Then when Hov called he said, 'I'm gonna do it with you.' I was like, 'Dag, this is big.' But when I did it, I kept it me and kept it 'hood. At first I ain't think she was gonna like it but she called and said she loved it. From there it was a wrap. That's history. Mariah is known for doing remixes with street cats from Mobb Deep to O.D.B., so to be a part of that was a good look for me and the Def Jam movement. According to Jayanathi Daniel, writer of The New York Sun, Carey's remixes of "Shake If Off" and "It's Like That" helped cement her impression on the music scene during the release of The Emancipation of Mimi, writing "the multiple mix tapes, further legitimized her return." In a review of Jay-Z's material at the time, an editor at XXL rated the remix two out of five stars, criticizing his lyrics and "swag", which he felt were missing during lines reading "The Emancipation of M-I-M-I / I spray semi rrrah, rrrrah / Twenty worldwide nigga get your plaques / Guess who the fuck got his swagger back?". He concluded on a mixed note, writing "With run-of-the-mill punchlines and a dated reference to How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Jay seems to be missing some of his usual swagger on this white label–only remix." ## Music video ### Background The song's music video was originally scheduled to be directed by Brett Ratner, who had shot Carey's previous two videos. However, Jake Nava was used as the director instead, as Ratner had other obligations regarding one of his films. It was filmed during the end of June 2005. When describing the video's concept to MTV News, Carey said "I actually just got the treatment. We came up with some cool concepts." When asked for a more detailed synopsis, Carey declined and responded "It's "really technical. It's a new approach that I would have to let [the director] explain. It's new territory." During a scene in the video in which Carey had to wear very high-heeled pumps, she had the video crew carry her to various sections of the set. When Nava suggested she wear a pair of sensible flat footwear in between shoots, Carey jokingly replied "my feet repel them dahling." When recalling the moment in a later interview, Carey claimed her feet were "in agony" and said "My high heels had left my feet bleeding. Laugh all you want, my feet hurt." ### Synopsis The single's video was directed by Jake Nava, and contains numerous wardrobe changes by Carey in a storyline involving luxurious scenery in which the singer leaves her significant other. It is presented in one continuous shot, with no edits. The video begins with a TV screen and the word 'Mimi' appearing, while on the monitor, Dupri raps his introduction. As the television fades, Carey is then shown lying in a bathtub overflowing with water and rose petals, with her hair flowing over the side of the tub. Next, the camera follows down one floor of the mansion to find Carey, decked out in bright blue makeup and high heels, as she sings "By the time you get this message / It's gonna be too late / So don't bother paging me / 'Cause I'll be on my way," into the phone, which she then throws against the wall. A short scene is then shown of her lover in a strip club, receiving the message Carey had sent him. As he reads it, he blows smoke into the screen, fading to reveal Carey dressed in a sleeveless black coat and dress, before grabbing her bag and heading out the door as she sings, "So I packed up my Louis Vuitton / Jumped in your ride and took off." As she leaves the mansion, she exits into "Emancipation Street", a ghetto looking plaza made up entirely of props and hand made stores on a painted backdrop. With shops named "So So Fetch" and "Pink Yet Lavender", Carey then walks up to a brick wall, where she passes Dupri, who makes a cameo appearance. As she leans on the wall, her coat slips off, and two schoolgirls do a shake dance at the pay phones. As the camera pans upwards to the wall to a sign featuring a photo of Carey and the song's title, Carey then appears driving away in a Lamborghini Murciélago speaking on her PDA with Chris Tucker, who as a cameo, appears on the set of the video shoot, as the man in the passenger's seat. As Carey leaves her lover a second message, he is seen frolicking pool-side with two other women, while she says "with this one and that one / By the pool, on the beach, in the streets." Her phone breaks up as she drives past the "Hollyhood" sign, so she tells him, "Hold on," singing, "Save this recording, because I'm never coming back home." Carey is then shown on bleachers at a high school football game, with Da Brat featured as a cameo act, as she argues with a man in the background. She writes 'MiMi' on one of the bleachers and the letters transform into a large shiny "MIMI" sign made of lights, which appear in large, vibrant lights. Carey walks up to a microphone in front of the large 'MIMI' lights, and dances and sings in front of the camera, wearing a revealing black ensemble and leopard print boots. In the final scene, Carey is seen on a beach, as she slips out of her robe and walks into the sunset, with the glare obscuring whether she's wearing any clothing. ### Reception The video was nominated for a MTV Video Music Award at the 2006 ceremony, in the category of Best R&B Video, but lost to Beyoncé's "Check On It". The song's music video generated strong public reaction, topping the Total Request Live (TRL) music video countdown in its second week in release. Additionally, the music video received strong rotation on MTV, VH1 and BET, having over 500,000 requests in its first 24 hours. Similarly, at the time, music videos were predominantly watched on television, as sites like YouTube were not yet popular. During this period, Yahoo! and AOL began allowing the public to view videos free of charge on their website, allowing them to stream as well. After the launch of the websites, Billboard announced that the video for "Shake It Off" had generated over two million requests on its first day of release, setting a record at the time for the websites. It peaked at number two on Billboard's Hot Videoclip Tracks chart. The video was well received by fans and critics alike, with a writer from The Sacramento Bee writing how he thought it was impressive that Carey at 35, and with over fifteen years in the business, had arranged such a popular video. He also described it as "sassy, fun and ghetto", while outing it as one of her best videos. ## Live performances Following the release of "It's Like That", Carey embarked on several stateside, European and Asian promotional tours in support of The Emancipation of Mimi, as well as its accompanying singles. In the United Kingdom, Carey filmed a two-part appearance on the British music program Top of the Pops, performing "It's Like That", "We Belong Together" and "Shake It Off". After returning to the United States for the a string of televised performances, Carey performed "Shake It Off" at Good Morning America. On August 3, USA Today announced that Carey would be added to the roster of performers at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, held on the 28th of the month. The ceremony was held at the American Airlines Arena in downtown Miami Beach Florida, with Carey's performance taking place at the National Hotel in South Beach. Apart from The Killers, she was the only performer to tape their appearance from an undisclosed location in Miami. After being introduced by Eva Longoria, Carey appeared on a long stage in the hotel's courtyard, with Dupri opening the song with his rap verses in a nearby cabana. After performing "Shake It Off" and the official remix version of "We Belong Together," Carey made her way into the shallow pool, followed by Dupri and the back-up dancers. At the 2005 World Music Awards, Carey performed "Shake It Off" alongside Dupri. Wearing black shorts and a pink blouse, the performance started as Carey got out of a Lamborghini Murciélago on stage, a re-enactment of the video. Additionally, a large lighted 'MIMI' sign was placed behind the stage, also a prop used at the end of the song's music video. The following week, Carey performed the song, as well as its accompanying number "Get Your Number," on the British music chart program, Top of the Pops. On November 15, 2005, the Chicago Tribune announced that Carey would perform during half-time of the Thanksgiving game between the Detroit Lions and the Atlanta Falcons. Airing on the 24th, Carey performed "Shake It Off", as well as her newly released single from the album's re-release, "Don't Forget About Us". Two months later, she celebrated the new year on television, placing as the featured performer at the Times Square Ball drop on New Year's Eve in New York. The special, titled Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest, aired on ABC at 10 pm on December 31, and featured Carey on stage wearing a short sparkling dress, and performing a selection of the album's singles, including "Shake It Off". Aside from performing the song live on several high-profile televised events, Carey included the song on both her Adventures of Mimi and Angels Advocate Tours. On the former tour, the performance began as a large Broadway-styled prop reading 'MIMI', similar to the one from the video, descended from the rafters. As the song began, Carey walked down a spiraled staircase, ushered by one of her several back up dancers. Sporting a black bikini and matching sheer cape, Carey sang the song while, according to some critics, performing some of her most diverse physical movements from the entire show. On her Angels Advocate Tour, Carey performed the song during the first quarter of the concert. According to Ryan J. Downey of MTV News, Carey gave a "rousing rendition" of the song, and "set the tone for what felt like a celebratory evening." ## Formats and track listings Australian limited edition enhanced CD single 1. "Shake It Off" – 3:52 2. "Shake It Off" (Instrumental) – 3:56 3. "Secret Love" – 3:09 4. "Shake It Off" (Video) Get Your Number / Shake It Off UK CD single 1. "Get Your Number" – 3:18 2. "Shake It Off" – 3:54 Get Your Number / Shake It Off European maxi-CD single 1. "Get Your Number" – 3:18 2. "Shake It Off" – 3:54 3. "Secret Love" – 3:09 Shake It Off MC30 EP 1. "Shake It Off" (Radio Mix) – 3:52 2. "Shake It Off" (Remix feat. JAY-Z & Young Jeezy) – 5:03 3. "Shake It Off" (Instrumental) – 3:54 ## Credits and personnel Credits for The Emancipation of Mimi adapted from the album's liner notes. - Mariah Carey – songwriting, producer, vocals, background vocals - Jermaine Dupri – songwriting, producer - Johntá Austin – songwriting, producer, background vocals - Bryan-Michael Cox – songwriting, producer - Phil Tan – audio mixing - Herb Power – mastering - Brian Frye – engineer - John Horesco – engineer ## Charts ### Weekly charts ### Year-end charts ## Certifications and sales ## Release history ## See also - List of artists with the most number ones on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart
401,592
Lou Saban
1,161,632,900
American football player and coach (1921–2009)
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Louis Henry Saban (October 13, 1921 – March 29, 2009) was an American football player and coach. He played for Indiana University in college and as a professional for the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) between 1946 and 1949. Saban then began a long coaching career. After numerous jobs at the college level, he became the first coach of the Boston Patriots in the American Football League (AFL) in 1960. He joined the Buffalo Bills two years later, and led the team to consecutive AFL championships in 1964 and 1965. Saban was the first head coach to win multiple AFL championships, with only Hank Stram passing him. After serving briefly as head coach at the University of Maryland, he was hired as head coach of the Denver Broncos in 1967, where he remained for five years. Saban returned to the Bills—by then in the National Football League (NFL) following the AFL–NFL merger—from 1972 to 1976, reaching the playoffs once but failing to bring Buffalo another championship. Following his departure from Buffalo, Saban returned to college coaching. He coached teams including the University of Miami, Army, University of Central Florida and Peru State College. He also coached at the high school level and for two Arena Football League teams. Saban switched jobs frequently and developed a reputation as an itinerant. At Central Florida, he was nicknamed Lou "two point two" Saban because he typically stayed in a coaching job for about 2.2 years. Saban initially dismissed this characterization, but came to accept it later in life. He held 21 coaching jobs during his 50-year career (lasting an average of 2.38 years for each job), which ended with a job at Chowan University in North Carolina between 2001 and 2002. Saban's combined record as a coach in the AFL and NFL was 95–99–7. His college football record was 94–99–4. Saban suffered from heart problems and had a fall in his home that required hospitalization in 2009. He died in March of that year. ## Playing career ### High school and college Saban was the son of immigrants from Croatia and grew up near La Grange, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. His first job, at age nine, was as a caddy for Al Capone's brother Ralph at a Chicago golf course. He attended Lyons Township High School and joined the school's football team. A runner and passer, he led his high school's athletic conference in scoring as a senior and was named an all-state and all-conference halfback. Saban's high school coach was an Indiana University alumnus and convinced him to enroll there. Saban played for the Indiana Hoosiers football team starting in 1940. He was used as a quarterback in 1941, his sophomore year. He also played as a linebacker and a placekicker. Saban was named to the Associated Press All-Big Ten second team as a quarterback in 1942. He was the captain of Indiana's 1942 team and was selected as its most valuable player. Saban was also a standout shot putter, winning a Big Ten Conference competition at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1943 with a throw of 48 feet and 11 1/2 inches. Later in 1943, Saban joined the U.S. Army as World War II intensified following the attack on Pearl Harbor. In 1944, he was selected to compete in the College All-Star Game, a now-defunct annual contest between the National Football League champion and a selection of the best college players from around the country. Saban, then stationed at Fort Benning in Georgia, was named the college team's second Most Valuable Player after quarterback Glenn Dobbs of the University of Tulsa. He kicked three extra points and played on the defensive line in the all-stars' 24–21 loss to the Chicago Bears. Saban played for Fort Benning's 1944 Third Infantry Cockades football team, while stationed there. He also studied Chinese for five months at the University of California and served in China and India as an Army interpreter. ### Cleveland Browns Saban was selected in the 10th round of the 1944 NFL Draft by Card-Pitt, a temporary merger between the Chicago Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers made necessary after the teams were gutted by players' military service. Saban, however, did not sign with Card-Pitt, and instead joined the Cleveland Browns, a team under formation in the new All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and coached by Paul Brown. Brown said Saban would be used exclusively on defense as a linebacker and as a kicker of extra points. Saban was one of the first arrivals at the Browns' training camp in Bowling Green, Ohio, having left China just three weeks before. Despite Brown's intentions, Saban was used occasionally on the Browns' offense in 1946. He caught a 44-yard pass from quarterback Otto Graham in a September game against the Buffalo Bisons. He was mainly used as a linebacker, however, and had four interceptions as the Browns won the first AAFC championship. In the offseason, he worked for Browns owner Mickey McBride's Yellow Cab Company; many of his teammates spent the offseason either at college making up for time lost to the war or taking jobs to supplement their football incomes. Saban was named the Browns' captain in 1946 after Jim Daniell, the first team captain, was arrested in a scuffle with Cleveland police and was kicked off the team at the end of the season. The following year, he filled in to kick extra points when the team's regular placekicker, Lou Groza, was injured. The Browns amassed a 12–1–1 regular-season record in 1947 and won the AAFC championship for the second time in a row. Never having finished his degree at Indiana, Saban enrolled that summer at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio. After the 1948 season, in which Cleveland won all of its games and a third championship, Saban was named to two news outlets' all-AAFC teams. Saban came into his own as a linebacker in 1948. "Saban has been regarded as the best in football at his position for two years", Brown said in November. "If anything, he's even better this year. He has improved on covering pass receivers." He was a unanimous all-AAFC selection in 1949, when the Browns won their fourth AAFC championship in a row. Saban announced his retirement before the championship game and said in December that he was seeking the head coaching job at the Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland before its merger with the Western Reserve University forming the Case Western Reserve University. ## Coaching career ### College Saban beat more than 50 applicants to win the head coaching job at Case in February 1950, thanks to what the university's president called his "unusually sound knowledge of football" and his "leadership qualities". Saban "possesses the sort of personality and character that is of great value in work with young men", the president said. Saban was 28 years old at the time, and the appointment made him one of the youngest college head coaches in the country. Saban borrowed coaching techniques from Brown, alongside his version of the T formation offense. Saban's team finished the 1950 season with four wins and four losses. By 1951, he was already under consideration for coaching jobs at bigger schools, including Indiana University and Toledo University, where he was mentioned as a "dark horse" candidate to replace former Browns teammate Don Greenwood. His Case teams compiled a 10–14–1 record during his tenure as head coach from 1950 to 1952. Saban resigned in March 1953 to become an assistant at the University of Washington under head coach John Cherberg. He spent just one year at Washington before getting a job as an assistant coach at Northwestern University, saying he wanted to return to the Midwest. In February 1955, Saban was promoted to head coach at Northwestern, succeeding Bob Voigts and becoming the youngest coach in the Big Ten Conference at 33 years old. Saban hired George Steinbrenner as one of his assistant coaches. Saban's tenure as coach of the Northwestern Wildcats football team, however, was brief and unsuccessful. Hampered by injuries, the team lost all of its games in 1955, and calls intensified for Saban's firing as the season wore on. In December, Saban and his entire staff were fired by new athletic director Stu Holcomb. Ara Parseghian was named as his replacement. Saban moved on to a job as head coach at Western Illinois University in 1957, where he quickly built up a successful team. The Western Illinois Leathernecks finished with a record of 6–1–1 in 1958, followed by an undefeated 9–0 season in 1959, when Saban also served as an assistant under Otto Graham in the College All-Star Game. Having built up a 20–5–1 record over three seasons as coach, Saban drew interest from the professional ranks, and the Boston Patriots of the newly formed American Football League (AFL) hired him as head coach before the circuit's inaugural season in 1960. ### Professional Led by quarterback Butch Songin, Saban's Patriots posted a 5–9 record in their first season. The following April, Saban brought in quarterback Babe Parilli, who formerly played for the Browns and Green Bay Packers, as a backup in the AFL's biggest-ever trade at the time. Five games into the 1961 season, however, with the Patriots at 2–3, Saban was fired and replaced by assistant Mike Holovak. Patriots owner Billy Sullivan said the decision was made by a majority vote of the team's board of directors, who "just simply felt all the talent on our team had not been used and felt Mike was the man who would be able to use the talent we had to the extent that it is capable of performing." In January 1962, Saban was named the coach of the Buffalo Bills, another AFL team, signing a one-year contract worth \$20,000 (\$ in dollars). The Bills had a 7–6–1 record in Saban's first season and came in third in the AFL's eastern division behind the Houston Oilers and the Patriots. Cookie Gilchrist, a running back who signed with the Bills after nine years in the Canadian Football League, won most valuable player honors that year and recorded the AFL's first 1,000-yard rushing season. Saban also acquired Jack Kemp, a quarterback, from the San Diego Chargers, who had put him out on waivers while he recovered from a finger injury. Sportswriter Randy Schultz called it one of the biggest bargains in professional football history. The Bills posted a 7–6–1 record again in 1963, but this time it was enough to tie with the Patriots for the best record in the eastern division. This set up the AFL's first-ever playoff game to decide which of the teams would win the division and compete in the championship. The Bills lost the game, 26–8. Helped by Gilchrist's running and quarterback Kemp's passing, the Bills finished the 1964 season with a 12–2 record and won the AFL championship. The team won despite drama involving Gilchrist, who came into conflict with Saban frequently and asked to be traded on numerous occasions. The Bills released him on waivers in November 1964, but canceled the move when Gilchrist apologized. After the 1964 AFL championship win over the Chargers, Saban was named the league's coach of the year. Gilchrist was traded to the Denver Broncos in February 1965, but the Bills continued to win, ending with a 10–3–1 record and winning the AFL championship for the second year in a row. In the 1965 AFL championship game against the Chargers, when offensive linemen Billy Shaw and Dave Behrman were injured, Saban inserted veteran Ernie Warlick opposite rookie Paul Costa in a double tight end formation, which helped the Bills win the game, 23–0. Saban was named coach of the year for the second time in a row, silencing critics who had said he was indecisive, did not use his players properly and was not a good play-caller. Saban unexpectedly departed in early 1966 for the University of Maryland. He said he was leaving because "there can be little left to conquer in professional football". His record at Buffalo was 36–17–3. Saban, however, only stayed at Maryland for one season in which the team posted a 4–6 record. He returned to professional football as coach of the AFL's Denver Broncos in December 1966, signing a 10-year contract with an annual salary of \$50,000 (\$ in dollars). When he joined, the Broncos had yet to have a winning season in seven years of existence. He replaced Ray Malavasi, an assistant who took over after Saban's former Browns teammate, Mac Speedie, resigned from the post after the first two games of the season. Saban engineered a number of trades before the 1967 season. He brought Gilchrist to the team from Miami in a seven-player deal; Denver had sent Gilchrist to Miami the previous season. He also acquired quarterback Steve Tensi from the Chargers in August for first-round draft picks in 1968 and 1969. Denver won its first game, but proceeded to lose nine in a row and finish with a 3–11 record. The team improved only marginally in the ensuing years, posting losing records in 1968 and 1969. The AFL and National Football League completed their merger in 1970, but the Broncos continued to lose, posting a 5–8–1 record. Saban resigned after the Broncos got off to a 2–6–1 start in 1971. He said resigning was "my responsibility to the team" and what while the club made progress, "my only regret is that we have not been able to give Denver a championship". Saban's record as Denver's coach was 20–42–3. Although he was not successful in Denver, he was cited by team owner Gerald Phipps as bringing in the "basic organization that we have now--administrative, scouting, coaching, the whole thing." Saban became well known for his intensity and occasional temper tantrums. A much-watched clip of him bemoaning to Denver line coach Whitey Dovell that "They're killin' me out there, Whitey, they're killin' me!" introduced Saban to a wider audience when it was aired by NFL Films. Saban was named head coach of the Bills for a second time in late 1971. When he arrived, Buffalo was coming off a 1–13 season, although the team had players including running back O. J. Simpson, who had run for 742 yards and five touchdowns that year. While the Bills had a 4–9–1 record, Simpson led the NFL in rushing yards in 1972. Under Saban, Simpson continued to improve in 1973, setting a single-game rushing record with 250 yards in the season opener against the New England Patriots. He surpassed the single-season rushing record later in the year with more than 2,000 yards. Before Saban's arrival, Simpson had never rushed for more than 742 yards in a season. Simpson credited Saban with helping him reach his potential. "He saved my career", Simpson said in 1973, when he was named the NFL's most valuable player. "He promised me he'd give me the football and give me an offensive line, and he sure kept his word." The Bills had a 9–5 record that year but came in second in the AFC East and missed the playoffs. Buffalo finished the 1974 season with another 9–5 record and made the playoffs as the AFC's wildcard team. The Bills, however, lost their first playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and were eliminated. Saban said after the game that the Steelers' offensive domination was the deciding factor. "I'm not sure how they did what they did against us, but they blew us out", he said. Buffalo went on to an 8–6 season in 1975, failing to make the playoffs. After the Bills got out to a 2–3 start in 1976, Saban resigned. He was reportedly angry about how Bills owner Ralph Wilson handled the re-signing of Simpson, who had demanded a trade at the beginning of the season. Saban was replaced by Jim Ringo, who he had hired as an assistant in 1972. Wilson held a grudge against Saban for the rest of his life after his second resignation, refusing to put Saban on the Bills' Wall of Fame because, in Wilson's words, "he quit on me twice!" Walt Patulski, the Bills' first overall draft pick in 1972, also held ill will toward Saban after Buffalo, believing that Saban tried to force his personality onto Patulski and that the effort effectively ruined his career; Patulski would never speak to Saban again after their respective times in Buffalo, despite multiple opportunities to do so. ### Return to college ranks Following his resignation from the Bills, Saban took a post as athletic director at the University of Cincinnati in November 1976. He resigned 19 days later, however, and took a job as the head coach at the University of Miami, reportedly for a \$375,000 salary (\$ today). He had double-bypass heart surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in the summer of 1977, but recovered by the time Miami's season began later that year. When Saban came to Miami, the football team had won just five games in the previous two seasons. Miami posted a 3–8 record in Saban's first year, but improved to 6–5 in 1978. Saban instituted an extensive recruiting network to rebuild Miami's program, and was named the school's athletic director in early 1978. One of his recruits was quarterback Jim Kelly, who starred at Miami and went on to a Pro Football Hall of Fame career with the Bills. Despite Miami's improvement in 1978, Saban departed the school amid controversy. That April, three freshman Miami players attacked a 22-year-old Jewish man wearing a yarmulke who was walking to religious services on campus. They threw the man, who worked at a campus gathering place for UM's Jewish community, into Lake Osceola at the center of campus. When Saban returned to campus a few days later, he was unaware the man was Jewish and reportedly said "Getting thrown in the lake? Sounds like fun to me." Miami's Jewish community complained, and despite numerous apologies, Saban offered to resign mid-season. Saban was convinced to remain through the end of the season, however, before leaving to coach at Army. By the time Saban joined Army, he had developed a reputation as an itinerant coach, a "notorious job-hopper" who was nevertheless respected for rebuilding teams in poor condition. Saban said he wanted to stay at Army "until they put me out to pasture". Saban stayed at Army for only one season. He said he was unhappy with the academy's unwillingness to invest more in its football program. "This is a desperate situation", he said near the end of the 1979 season. "To fight alone as a football staff is impossible." He resigned in July 1980 after leading Army to a 2–8–1 record the previous season. Saban next worked for George Steinbrenner, first in 1980 as an executive at Steinbrenner's Tampa Bay Downs racetrack and the following year as president of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. He took the post as a favor to Steinbrenner, a close friend who had served on his coaching staff at Northwestern in 1955. At the end of 1982, Saban left the Yankees to take a job as head football coach at the University of Central Florida (UCF), a Division II school that aspired to move its program to the top of the college ranks. He took over a team that had gone 0–10 in 1982 and led the Knights to a 5–6 record in 1983. He resigned midway through the 1984 season with UCF's record at 1–6. Saban, by then 63 years old, said he had a meeting with school officials and felt he "had no part in their plans for the future". At UCF, Saban was playfully referred to as Lou "two point two" Saban because his average tenure as a coach was 2.2 years. He was replaced by his assistant, Jerry Anderson. Saban retired in 1985 to Hendersonville, North Carolina. He came out of retirement in 1986, however, to coach high school football in Stuart, Florida, serving as the defensive coordinator for the Martin County High School Fighting Tigers. He left after two seasons and was appointed head football coach at South Fork High School, a rival of Martin County that had a record of 1–9 the previous year. After just one season at South Fork, Saban resigned in March 1989 to take a job as head coach at Georgetown High School in Georgetown, South Carolina. Saban said he was there to have fun and enjoy life, and that his reputation as a coaching "nomad" bothered him. "I've had no chance but to continue on", he said. Saban was hired in 1990 to coach the Middle Georgia Heat Wave, a semipro team in Macon, Georgia, but he left after just four games. Team officials said it was "not a firing", while Saban said there were differences in philosophy and it was "not a resignation." Saban next took a job in 1991 as head coach at Peru State College in Nebraska, compiling a 7–4 record. He resigned in January 1992 because of a new rule that required him to teach at the school, a responsibility he did not want to take on. Saban next signed on as an assistant with the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League. Two years later, he was named as the coach of the arena league's expansion Milwaukee Mustangs but was fired after the team started 0–4. The team's general manager said he wanted to be competitive and thought the club "needed a change". Shortly after his firing, Saban signed on to help start a football program at Alfred State College, a two-year technology school southeast of Buffalo. In 1995, Saban was named the first head football coach at SUNY Canton, a two-year college where he stayed for six seasons. His Canton team was an immediate success, posting a 7–0 record in 1995 and a 34–16 overall record during Saban's time as coach. The school named its football field after Saban in the late 1990s. Saban's final job, which he took at 80 years old, was as head coach at Chowan University in Murfreesboro, North Carolina. He compiled a 2–13 record at Chowan between 2001 and 2002. ## Personal life In his later years, Saban had heart problems and a fall in his home that required hospitalization. He died at his home in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on March 29, 2009. He was married to his first wife, Lorraine, and had a son, Thomas, and 3 daughters, Patricia, Barbara, and Christine. Lorraine committed suicide at their home in Orchard Park, New York in the summer of 1977 while readying to join Lou at his new job in Miami. He shared seven children with his second wife, Joyce but did not have any children together. Lou Saban shares his last name with another famous football coach, Nick Saban. They were called "distant cousins" in a 2005 article where Lou comments on the younger Saban's success. Upon the death of Lou Saban, his widow, Joyce Saban, said the two men might have been second cousins. However, the two Sabans have stated that they are not related. Like Lou Saban, Nick Saban is of Croatian descent. ## Legacy Including his stops at both two- and four-year schools, Saban's overall collegiate coaching record was 94–99–4. Including playoffs, his professional football record stands at 97–101–7. Saban had periods of success as a player and as a coach at the college and professional levels, but his constant moves from job to job eventually came to define him. "I have been known as a peripatetic coach", he said in 1994. "The first time I was called that, I thought it was a dirty word. I looked it up in the dictionary and found it meant I moved around a lot." Saban was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and, in a surprise move, was added to the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame in 2015. In 2011, the Professional Football Researchers Association named Saban to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2011. ## Coaching tree Assistants under Saban who became college or professional head coaches: - Mike Holovak: New England Patriots (1961-1968), New York Jets (1976) - Joe Collier: Buffalo Bills (1966-1968) - Harvey Johnson: Buffalo Bills (1968, 1971) - John Mazur: New England Patriots (1970-1972) - Jerry Smith: Denver Broncos (1971) - Dick MacPherson: Massachusetts Minutemen (1971-1977), Syracuse Orangemen (1981-1990), New England Patriots (1991-1992) - Jim Ringo: Buffalo Bills (1976-1977) - Sam Rutigliano: Cleveland Browns (1977-1984), Liberty Flames (1989-1999) - Red Miller: Denver Broncos (1977-1980), Denver Gold (1983) Additionally, Marty Schottenheimer, who played for Saban from 1965 to 1968 with the AFL's Bills, was influenced by Saban's coaching philosophy. Schottenheimer and the coaches he influenced are considered to be in Saban's coaching tree. ## Head coaching record ### College - Fired after 7 games ### AFL/NFL ### Junior college ## See also - List of American Football League players
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2014 Italian Grand Prix
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[ "2014 Formula One races", "2014 in Italian motorsport", "Italian Grand Prix", "September 2014 sports events in Europe" ]
The 2014 Italian Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 Gran Premio d'Italia 2014) was a Formula One motor race held on 7 September at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Lombardy. It was the 13th round of the 2014 Formula One World Championship and the 65th Italian Grand Prix held as part of the series. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the 53-lap race from pole position. His teammate Nico Rosberg finished second and Williams driver Felipe Massa took third. Hamilton claimed the 36th pole position of his career by recording the fastest lap in qualifying but a slow start dropped him behind Rosberg. He returned to second by lap ten and drew closer to teammate Rosberg. He was instructed by radio to remain at least 2 seconds behind Rosberg but opted to ignore the message and took the lead on lap 29 when Rosberg ran off the circuit. Hamilton maintained the lead for the rest of the race to achieve his sixth victory of the season and the 28th of his career. There were three lead changes among two different drivers during the course of the race. The result saw Hamilton lower Rosberg's lead in the World Drivers' Championship to 22 points with Daniel Ricciardo remaining in third position. Valtteri Bottas moved to fourth position while Fernando Alonso did not finish the race and fell to fifth. Mercedes increased their lead in the World Constructors' Championship to 182 points over the second-placed Red Bull. Williams overtook Ferrari for third with six races left in the season. ## Background The 2014 Italian Grand Prix was the 13th of the 19 round 2014 Formula One World Championship, and the 65th running of the event as part of the series. It was held on 7 September at the 5.793 km (3.600 mi) 11-turn Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Lombardy. The drag reduction system (DRS) had two activation zones for the race: one was on the straight between the second Lesmo corner and the Ascari chicane, and the second was on the straight linking Parabolica to the Rettifilo chicane. Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the white-banded medium and orange-banded hard dry tyre compounds to the race. Before the race Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg led the World Drivers' Championship with 220 points, ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton in second and Daniel Ricciardo in third. Fernando Alonso was fourth on 121 points and Valtteri Bottas was a further eleven points behind in fifth. Mercedes led the World Constructors' Championship with 411 points, and Red Bull were second on 254 points. Ferrari and Williams were third and fourth and McLaren fifth. Following a collision between Hamilton and Rosberg on the second lap of the preceding , the third such incident surrounding the Mercedes team in 2014, which went back to qualifying for the when Rosberg was accused of spoiling Hamilton's lap, the Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff threatened sanctions against one driver if a similar situation happened again and insisted that both men were obliged to serve the team's interests. Hamilton said his objective at Monza was to regain some of the lost ground in the Drivers' Championship and would not give up until the season-closing round in Abu Dhabi: "It's as big as it's been all season so I've got a lot of work ahead of me but anything can happen in this sport." Rosberg was aware of his situation in the title battle and was confident of achieving a strong result: "I'm focused on taking the maximum points possible in the remaining seven races and I know the team is too, starting with a top result this weekend." The Parabolica corner was altered ahead of the race. A large portion of its gravel trap was replaced with asphalt, reportedly for a possible return of the Superbike World Championship in 2015 after series officials raised concerns about a lack of run-off areas on the circuit. The change was heavily criticised by the sport's fan base on social media and certain drivers who felt it removed part of the challenge from Parabolica. The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) race director Charlie Whiting, defended the changes, saying drivers and the FIA asked for changes to be made for safety reasons but acknowledged that the corner might not provide as much of a challenge than before. Others joined in Whiting's defence, including Romain Grosjean, who believed the gravel trap's removal would allow drivers to find their limit quicker because of a lack of fear of a major accident. A total of 11 teams (each representing a different constructor) each fielded two race drivers for the event with one driver change and four free practice participants. Having driven in one of the two Caterham cars in lieu of regular driver Kamui Kobayashi at the preceding Belgian Grand Prix, three-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and 2011 Formula Nippon champion André Lotterer was replaced by Kobayashi. Lotterer planned to race at Monza but did not do so after Caterham team principal Colin Kolles ran Formula Renault 3.5 Series driver Roberto Merhi in the first practice session. He told the press that he needed the maximum amount of driving time because he was a rookie. Kobayashi said he was looking forward to testing an updated CT05 car and did not doubt the team's decision to change drivers. Lotus reserve driver Charles Pic replaced Grosjean for the first free practice session for the first time in 2014. Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters driver Daniel Juncadella used Pérez's Force India vehicle for the session's first half-hour, and Giedo van der Garde drove Adrian Sutil's Sauber car. ## Practice Three practice sessions—two on Friday and a third on Saturday—were held before the Sunday race. The Friday morning and afternoon sessions lasted 90 minutes each; the third, one-hour session was held on Saturday morning. In the first session, which took place in dry and sunny weather, Hamilton was fastest with a time of 1 minute, 26.187 seconds, six-tenths of a second faster than Jenson Button in second, who was fastest until Hamilton's lap, and Rosberg third. Alonso, Kevin Magnussen, Vettel, Kimi Räikkönen, Sergio Pérez, Daniil Kvyat and Nico Hülkenberg occupied position four to ten. During the session several drivers noted the hard compound tyres took longer than anticipated to reach their optimum working temperature, and some went off the track while acquainting themselves with a low-downforce set-up. Ricciardo had DRS trouble and his session ended early when he entered the pit lane with a suspected energy recovery system problem, and Magnussen had rear-braking issues. Rosberg set the fastest lap of the second session at 1 minute, 26.225 seconds; Hamilton was 0.061 seconds behind in second despite electrical repairs taking an hour in the garage, with Räikkönen third. His teammate Alonso was fourth-fastest, with Bottas fifth and Button sixth. Vettel (who ran wide at Parabolica corner on his fastest lap), Magnussen, Massa and Ricciardo followed in the top ten. Multiple drivers went off the track during the session. The Lotus duo of Grosjean and Maldonado struggled to generate heat into their tyres and had further difficulty with braking stability and steering. In the third session, which was held in warmer and sunnier weather, Hamilton set the fastest lap of the weekend so far of 1 minute, 25.519 seconds, ahead of Alonso in second and the Williams duo of Bottas and third and fourth. Button, Vettel, Räikkonen, Kvyat, Ricciardo and Hülkenberg were in positions five to ten. Reoccurring gearbox problems forced Rosberg to abandon his short run programme early. ## Qualifying Saturday afternoon's qualifying session was divided into three parts. The first part ran for 18 minutes, eliminating cars that finished 17th or below. The 107% rule was in effect, requiring drivers to reach a time within 107 per cent of the quickest lap to qualify. The second session lasted 15 minutes, eliminating cars that finished 11th to 16th. The final part ran for 12 minutes and determined pole position to tenth. Cars that qualified for the final session had to start the race on the tyre they set their quickest lap times in the second session. Qualifying took place in warm weather. Hamilton was fastest in all three sessions to claim his fifth pole position of the season, the 36th of his career, and his first since the with a lap of 1 minute, 24.109 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by Rosberg (using a repaired gearbox) who had improved on his first timed lap, but an oversteer through the Ascari chicane prevented him from achieving pole position. The two Williams duo of Bottas and Massa were third and fourth; both drivers could not improve their fastest times on their second attempts. They were ahead of McLaren's Magnussen and Button in fifth and sixth; the latter lost time through the Lesmo corners on his final timed lap. Alonso was slightly slower than Vettel after his first lap, but he improved slightly for seventh. He attributed his pace to recording similar lap times on four sets of tyres. Vettel qualified higher than his teammate Ricciardo for the fourth time in the past six races to secure eighth. Ricciardo started ninth and Pérez tenth. Kvyat was the fastest driver not to qualify for the final session; he took a ten-place grid penalty for an overnight engine change, his sixth of the season. Hence, Räikkonen inherited 11th. Räikkonen lacked car grip and locked his front tyres, ending his first timed lap early because cars exiting the pit lane reduced his visibility for the Rettifilo chicane. After preparing for a second lap, he locked his right-front wheel and drove onto a run-off area. Jean-Éric Vergne was 12th with Hülkenberg 13th after traffic slowed his preparation for a lap at Parabolica and felt the car was loose. Sutil had problems driving but gradually improved his car's balance as he drove, and improved on his final lap to secure 14th, ahead of teammate Esteban Gutiérrez, who made a minor error on his final lap. Maldonado failed to advance beyond the first session; his teammate Grosjean did five laps after missing the first 13 minutes as Lotus repaired a fluid leak. Kobayashi slipstreamed his teammate Marcus Ericsson to pass Jules Bianchi for 18th, with Bianchi not improving because he slid sideways through the Ascari chicane and other drivers were faster on the medium compound tyres. His teammate Max Chilton qualified 20th and Ericsson took 22nd; the latter was hindered by a lack of running on the medium tyres following an engine problem in the third practice session. ### Qualifying classification The fastest lap in each of the three sessions is denoted in bold. Notes: - – Daniil Kvyat was given a ten-place grid penalty for using his sixth engine of the season. ## Race The weather at the start was dry and sunny, with the air temperature 25 °C (77 °F) and the track temperature from 37 to 42 °C (99 to 108 °F). A right-front wheel cooler fitted to Hamilton's car detached and crunched on the front wing, causing Mercedes to push him to his grid slot following a reconnaissance lap. An inspection by Mercedes found there to be no problems for Hamilton. Unlike previous years when softer tyre compounds were selected, making one pit stops was calculated to be faster than two by around 12 seconds. Ericsson was ordered to begin from the pit lane after being penalised for driving too fast under double waved yellow flag conditions in the third practice session. When the race began from its standing start at 14:00 Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00), an incorrect mode dropped Hamilton to fourth and moving Rosberg to the lead into the Rettifilo chicane. Wheelspin dropped Bottas to 11th. Magnussen passed Massa on the left for second going into the Rettifilo chicane. Pérez accelerated faster than Alonso and passed him before Alonso repassed Pérez on the left at Curva Grande corner. Vettel moved to fifth by the end of the first lap but his teammate Ricciardo was put wide onto the chicane's run-off area, dropping four positions over the same distance. Massa attempted to take second from Magnussen by braking later than he did at the start of lap two as Rosberg pulled away from the two. Magnssen went wide at Curva Grande corner and blocked another pass from Massa. DRS was enabled on the next lap and Hamilton used it to attack Massa, allowing Magnussen to pull away from Massa. Magnussen defended but ran deep entering the Rettifilo chicane, allowing Massa to slipstream him into the Variante della Roggia chicane and steered right to claim second place. Magnussen entered the turn off the racing line, spun his tyres on its exit, allowing Hamilton past for third into the first Lesmo corner with better acceleration. Massa and Hamilton pulled away from Magnussen who was being caught by Vettel, Button, Alonso and Pérez. Hülkenberg lost ninth to Räikkonen on the same lap and Bottas was unable to find the space at Parabolica corner to attempt a pass. Bottas did however overtake Hülkenberg for tenth at the Rettifilo chicane. Chilton entered the Variante della Roggia chicane too fast on lap six, and hit the second set of kerbs at the corner, launching his airborne car into the barrier, ending his race. The safety car was not needed. Rosberg led by almost four seconds by the conclusion of the lap and moved his brake bias towards the front of his car. As Massa went faster Rosberg did the same in response. On the following lap, Rosberg locked his tyres into the Rettifilo chicane at 206 mph (332 km/h), drove onto an escape road and slalomed through obstacles to retain the lead. His advantage over Massa fell to two seconds. Hamilton used DRS to steer left before the Rettifilo chicane and passed Massa for second on the 10th lap. Hamilton began drawing closer to Rosberg but required a further few laps to pull clear from Massa; he did not attack Rosberg and stayed out of his teammate's slipstream, nursed his tyres and minimised his fuel usage. Bottas overtook Räikkönen for ninth on lap 13; the next lap, he slipstreamed past Pérez on the left for ninth into the Rettifilo chicane. Bottas overcame Alonso's defence on the outside to take seventh on the main straight during lap 16. Two laps later, Bottas passed Button on his right for sixth. Red Bull elected to bring Vettel into the pit lane at the end of the same lap for hard compound tyres to try and pass Magnussen on pit stop strategy rather than duel Bottas. Pérez followed in response the following lap. Bottas passed Magnussen for fourth at the Rettifilo chicane on lap 21. Magnussen and Alonso made their pit stops on the next lap, rejoining in ninth and eleventh, behind Vettel and Pérez separated them. Magnussen slid exiting the Variante della Roggia chicane trying to pass Pérez. Massa made his pit stop from third on lap 24, and emerged in fifth. Hamilton received instructions for an engine mode change and Rosberg entered the pit lane from the lead on the next lap and handed the lead to Hamilton. Bottas made his stop on the same lap and rejoined alongside Vettel on the main straight but was forced wide, allowing Magnussen to pass him. Hamilton took his pit stop on the 26th lap and handed back first to teammate Rosberg. Bottas also fell behind Pérez but re-passed the latter going into the Rettifilo chicane. Hamilton's race engineer Peter Bonnington radioed him to stay at least 2 seconds behind teammate Rosberg and conserve his tyres for an attack later on. Hamilton was aware from previous experiences earlier in the season that the method to pass a driver was to do so when tyre grip was optimal otherwise it would not have been possible to draw close enough to effect a pass. He recorded the fastest lap at that point to move within seven-tenths of a second of his teammate Rosberg by the start of lap 28, causing debate among Mercedes pit lane staff. Massa at this point was 12 seconds behind and Bonnington allowed Hamilton to attack earlier than planned. Rosberg's front brake temperatures overheated and his attempt to conserve his rear tyres by moving his brake bias towards the front of his car compromised them. Hamilton used DRS and as Rosberg applied his brakes, he drove onto the Rettifilo chicane's run-off area and slalomed his way past some obstacles, promoting Hamilton to the lead. Alonso's energy recovery system failed, triggering a complete electrical shutdown half a minute later, and stopped at the side of Rettifilo's run-off area to retire for the first time in 2014. Button attempted to pass Pérez into the Rettifilo chicane but the two narrowly avoided contact. Bottas tried to pass Magnussen into the same turn but defensive driving from Magnussen forced Bottas to cut the chicane on lap 31. On the 34th lap, Ricciardo turned right and braked later than Räikkönen for ninth into the Rettifilo chicane. Hamilton began to pull away from Rosberg, leading his teammate by 4.3 seconds by the start of lap 36. Bottas steered left into the Rettifilo chicane the following lap and Magnussen turned right, causing Bottas to mount a kerb to avoid a collision; Bottas overtook Magnussen. Soon after, the stewards imposed a five-second stop-and-go penalty on Magnussen for putting Bottas off the track in the latter's earlier passing attempt. Button turned right to pass Pérez into the Rettifilo chicane for seventh on lap 39. Pérez then drew alongside Button through the Curva Grande and Variante della Roggia turns. Pérez steered right and was forced wide onto the Curva di Lesmo chicane kerb in passing Button for seventh. On the following lap, Bottas passed Vettel at the Rettifilo chicane for fourth and his teammate Ricciardo overtook Button for seventh at the same turn. Ricciardo caused Pérez to lock his brakes before the Rettifilo chicane and moved lanes to take seventh at the Variante della Roggia chicane on lap 41. Button passed Pérez at the second attempt into the Rettifilo chicane but had a slow exit after locking his tyres, allowing Pérez to put Button wide into the Variante della Roggia chicane and reclaim eighth. Ricciardo caught and passed Magnussen on his left at the Rettifilo chicane for six on lap 44 despite locking his tyres and drifting sideways. Ricciardo received a message to chase his teammate Vettel, who defended fifth from Ricciardo into the Rettifilo chicane on lap 47 but was slow leaving the turn. Both drivers were alongside through the Curva Grande corner and Ricciardo turned left to pass Vettel for fifth at the Variante della Roggia chicane. Brake problems caused Gutiérrez to hit Grosjean at the Rettifilo chicane on the 51st lap, puncturing Grosjean's right-rear tyre, who slowly drove into the pit lane. Kvyat's brakes failed on lap 52, causing him to turn left onto the grass at the Rettifilo chicane to avoid hitting Räikkönen, and clipping a polystyrene marker as he rejoined the track. Hamilton won the race by 3.1 seconds over Rosberg. Massa took his first podium result of the season in third, and his first since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix. Bottas took fourth, ahead of the Red Bull duo of Ricciardo and Vettel in fifth and sixth. Pérez, Button, Räikkönen and Magnussen rounded out the top ten after his five-second time penalty was applied. Kvyat, Hülkenberg, Vergne, Maldonado and Sutil, Kobayashi and Bianchi, Gutiérrez and Ericsson were the final classified finishers. It was Hamilton's sixth victory of 2014 and the 28th of his career. There were three lead changes in the race; two drivers reached the front of the field. Hamilton led twice for a total of 27 laps, more than any other competitor. ### Post-race At the podium ceremony following the race, Rosberg was booed by the crowd, repeating a similar incident towards him at the previous race in Belgium for a collision with Hamilton, which was the catalyst for their displeasure. Hamilton told the press he felt uncomfortable with the fans behaving in such a manner: "I've had it here, years and years ago, and it's great personally for me to have such great support, from the Ferrari fans and the Mercedes fans. But when I was up there, it was awkward for me to hear them booing Nico because I just don't like that in sport." Wolff affirmed that booing should not be heard on the podium but acknowledged Formula One is an emotional sport for its fans while also saying: "It's a sport and sport should unite." When asked about the booing in the press conference, Rosberg replied while it was "not nice" he hoped over time the fans would forgive him for his past actions. At the podium interviews, conducted by former driver Jean Alesi, Massa said he was happy to finish third and was certain luck was beside him with "a lot more to come." In the hours following the race, conspiracy theories emerged on social media concerning the circumstances of Rosberg losing the lead to Hamilton on lap 29. They suggested the incident was an act of revenge for the collision between Rosberg and Hamilton at the Belgian Grand Prix two weeks prior. Three-time world champion Jackie Stewart said he felt the move was "a bit too easy" and appeared to indicate the error was done purposely: "I thought [Rosberg] could have least made an effort to get round the corner. I first thought 'that's wise', because he knew it wasn't a difficult thing to believe; the second time I thought: 'Hello, what's going on here?'" Wolff denied allegations the mistake was deliberate, suggesting Rosberg was under pressure because of the championship battle but admitted it was uncommon for Rosberg to run wide twice: "Only a paranoid mind could come up with such an idea." Rosberg said Hamilton's fast pace prompted him to push hard and that there was a large probability of flat-spotting a tyre and driving onto the run-off area was the safer option. He stated he learnt about the theory and affirmed there was "no possible reason" for him to purposely drive off the circuit. Television pictures apparently showed Wolff smiling moments after Rosberg's error. Wolff said the broadcast was not live and that the transmission of pit-to-car radio before Rosberg's mistake about him asking Hamilton to slow to preserve his tyres for a late race attack was inaccurate. The stewards deemed Gutiérrez responsible for hitting Grosjean and imposed a 20-second time penalty on him although they accepted he had brake problems. Gutiérrez said his brake problems had manifested in "an inconsistency that sometimes you cannot predict" and the contact with Grosjean was "an unfortunate moment." Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn deemed the incident "unnecessary" and Grosjean said he was unsure as to what happened with Gutiérrez. Williams performance chief Rob Smedley said the team were investigating Bottas' slow start that lost him positions, which it believed it to be clutch-related problem. Bottas stated he felt he was too assertive with his clutch and his race was hindered by a lack of acceleration leaving the chicane: "The start on the formation lap – when we always do the final checks – was a bit compromised because Lewis had a slow getaway, so that maybe hurt a little bit. But definitely the tyres were not in the optimum window." Alonso was convinced he could have finished fifth had he not retired, saying he felt quicker than Ricciardo and revealed his team changed their approach, prompting him to slow after his problem emerged. He stated the remainder of the season was "not going to be too different" after a strenuous campaign in the past 12 rounds but that Ferrari was prepared: "It is the way at the moment but we cannot do anymore than this." Bottas said Magnussen's driving was "on the limit" but was unsure whether the latter deserved a penalty. Magnussen was "frustrated" upon receiving his second consecutive time-penalty and stated he would review the incident and carry over lessons into the season's next race. While initial reactions in the United Kingdom disagreed with the stewards decision, Smedley felt the penalty was justified. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner praised Ricciardo's overtakes and called it a strength of his: "For somebody that had a question mark over his overtaking coming into the year, he [has shown it] is right up there with the best." The result saw Hamilton lower Rosberg's lead in the Drivers' Championship to 22 points, with Ricciardo remaining in third place on 166 points. By finishing fourth Bottas passed the non-finishing Alonso for fourth and the latter fell to fifth. Mercedes further extended their advantage in the Constructors' Championship to lead the second-placed Red Bull by 182 points. Williams overtook Ferrari to move into third place and McLaren were with 110 points with six races left in the season. ### Race classification Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold. Notes: - – Kevin Magnussen had five seconds added to race time for putting Valtteri Bottas off the track. - – Marcus Ericsson started from pit lane for yellow flag infringement during the third practice session. - – Esteban Gutiérrez had 20 seconds added to race time for causing an avoidable collision to Romain Grosjean. ## Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Constructors' Championship standings - Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. - Bold text indicates competitors who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion. ## See also - 2014 Monza GP2 Series round - 2014 Monza GP3 Series round
8,945,570
Tessa Ludwick
1,172,285,717
American actress (born 1988)
[ "1988 births", "20th-century American actresses", "21st-century American actresses", "Actresses from California", "Actresses from Florida", "American actresses of Korean descent", "American adoptees", "American child actresses", "American film actresses", "American musical theatre actresses", "American stage actresses", "American television actresses", "Living people", "People from Hillsborough County, Florida", "South Korean emigrants to the United States" ]
Tessa Ludwick (born October 5, 1988) is a Korean-born American actress from Apollo Beach, Florida. She began acting at the age of 5, when she held a lead role in Allegra's Window, a Nick Jr. children's television program show taped at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. When filming on Allegra's Window ended in May 1996, 7-year-old Ludwick went from Allegra's Window to a lead role in Big Bag, a live action/puppetry preschool television program on Cartoon Network. At the age of 8, she landed the role of Kate, an orphan girl in the touring Broadway musical Annie, the 20th Anniversary. For the next eight months, she toured the United States and Canada with the musical, during which time Ludwick gave eight performances per week. In 2003, Ludwick appeared as the character Yumi in Thirteen, an autobiographical drama film based on American film actress/writer Nikki Reed's experiences as a 12 and 13-year-old girl. In 2004, Ludwick appeared on Movie Surfers, a Disney Channel short show where four teenagers go behind the scenes to report on Disney-related films. Three years later in June 2007, Ludwick began work on Teen Witch the Musical, a stage musical based on the 1989 fantasy-comedy film Teen Witch. ## Early career Tessa Ludwick was born October 5, 1988, in Seoul, South Korea she was adopted by American parents as a infant. Ludwick's career began at age two and a half when Ludwick saw a television commercial about modeling and begged her mother to call the number. Her modeling led to acting roles. In the summer of 1994 at the age of 5, Ludwick spent time reading books but took time off to go to Six Flags Over Georgia, a 230-acre (0.93 km<sup>2</sup>) theme park located west of Atlanta, in Austell. In September of that year, Ludwick attended 1st grade at Apollo Beach Elementary. While attending Apollo Beach Elementary, Ludwick held a minor role in Allegra's Window, a children's television program shown taped at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida and shown on Nickelodeon's preschool block Nick Jr. When filming on Allegra's Window ended in May 1996, 7-year-old Ludwick began a minor role in Big Bag, a live-action television puppet program for preschoolers that was produced by Children's Television Workshop and aired from 1996 to 1998 on Cartoon Network. ## Television, Broadway, and film Ludwick was sent away in 1997 from Big Bag to play in the role of Kate in Annie, the 20th Anniversary, the Broadway musical on tour revival of the 1977 Broadway theatre production of Annie. The Annie, the 20th Anniversary tour ran across the United States and Canada from October 1997 through June 1998, during which time Ludwick gave eight performances per week. The Buffalo News noted that her November 1997 performance as the orphan girl Kate at Buffalo, New York's Shea's Performing Arts Center crafted a personality for the character whose "naturalness [far exceeded] that of the original Broadway cast." Characterized at that time as "bright, bubbly and [bringing] a sparkle wherever she goes," Ludwick additionally made the honor roll in Hillsborough County's program for gifted students in 1998. A year later, Ludwick became a spokesperson for Kids with a Cause, a youth organization based in California dedicated to improving the quality of life of children who suffer from poverty, lack of education, or health-related issues. When she was 13, Ludwick played the character Yumi in Thirteen, a 2003 autobiographical drama film based on American film actress/writer Nikki Reed's experiences as a 12 and 13-year-old girl. About a year later, Ludwick appeared on Movie Surfers, a Disney Channel short show where four teenagers go behind the scenes to report on Disney-related films. After this successful career, she starred in Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide as Jennifer. Tessa has also appeared on a special "7th Graders" edition of the game show The Weakest Link, where she made it to the final round and won \$77,000 against Jill.
6,962,962
Sicklefin weasel shark
1,134,114,464
Species of shark
[ "Fish described in 1852", "Fish of Sri Lanka", "Fish of the Red Sea", "Hemigaleus", "Marine fauna of Southeast Asia", "Palk Strait", "Taxa named by Pieter Bleeker", "Vulnerable fauna of Asia", "Vulnerable fish" ]
The sicklefin weasel shark (Hemigaleus microstoma) is an uncommon species of ground shark in the family Hemigaleidae. It is native to southern India, southern China, and parts of Southeast Asia, living in shallow waters down to a depth of 170 m (560 ft). This lightly built shark is characterized by its very short mouth, broad upper teeth with serrations only on the trailing edge, and strongly sickle-shaped fins with obvious white tips on the two dorsal fins. It is light grey or bronze in colour, often with small white blotches on its sides; it reaches a maximum known length of 1.1 m (3.6 ft). Spending most of its time close to the sea floor, the sicklefin weasel shark is a specialist predator of cephalopods. Its reproductive mode is viviparous, in which the unborn young form a placental connection to their mother. Females probably give birth twice a year, with each litter consisting of two to four pups. The sicklefin weasel shark is widely caught by artisanal fisheries and used for meat, fins, and fishmeal; its low natural abundance and reproductive rate mean that it cannot sustain much fishing pressure. Given that fishing activity is intense throughout its range, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed this species as vulnerable. ## Taxonomy Dutch ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker described the sicklefin weasel shark in 1852. He gave it the specific epithet microstoma, from the Greek mikros ("small") and stoma ("mouth"), and placed it in a new genus, Hemigaleus. His account was based on two females from Jakarta, Indonesia, measuring 63 and 70 cm (25 and 28 in) long. This species was once thought to occur off Australia, but that population is now recognised as a distinct species, H. australiensis. Yuanting Chu's 1960 description of Negogaleus brachygnathus from Chinese waters is probably of the same species as H. microstoma. Albert William Herre's 1929 description of Hemigaleus machlani from the Philippines, though lacking in detail, is also consistent with being of this species. ## Description The sicklefin weasel shark is a slender-bodied species reaching 1.1 m (3.6 ft) in length. The snout is fairly long and rounded, with the nostrils preceded by short flaps of skin. The large, oval eyes are equipped with nictitating membranes and are followed by minute spiracles. The mouth forms a very short, wide arch and conceals the teeth when closed. Moderately long furrows are present at the corners of the mouth. It has 25–34 upper and 37–43 lower tooth rows; the upper teeth are broad and angled with a smooth leading edge and strongly serrated trailing edge, while the lower teeth are narrow, erect, and smooth-edged. The five pairs of gill slits are short. The fins are strongly falcate (sickle-shaped), particularly the dorsal fins, pelvic fins, and lower caudal fin lobe. The pectoral fins are narrow and pointed. The first dorsal fin is positioned about halfway between the pectoral and pelvic fins. The second dorsal fin is about two-thirds as tall as the first and is positioned slightly ahead of the anal fin. The anal fin is smaller than the second dorsal fin. The dorsal surface of the caudal peduncle bears a crescent-shaped notch at the caudal fin origin. The asymmetrical caudal fin has a well-developed lower lobe and a long upper lobe with a ventral notch near the tip. The dermal denticles are small and overlapping; each has five horizontal ridges leading to marginal teeth. This species is light grey or bronze above, often with small white spots on the sides, and pale below. The dorsal fins are tipped in white, which is especially obvious on the second dorsal as the remainder of fin is mostly dark. ## Distribution and habitat The sicklefin weasel shark is found off southern India and Sri Lanka, as well as from southern China and Taiwan to Java and Borneo. It may also occur around the Philippines and in the Red Sea, though specimens from these regions need to be compared taxonomically with those from its confirmed range. It does not seem to be very common naturally. This species inhabits continental and insular shelves from inshore waters to at least a depth of 170 m (560 ft), and usually swims close to the sea floor. ## Biology and ecology The diet of the sicklefin weasel shark is composed almost entirely of cephalopods, though crustaceans and echinoderms may be infrequently eaten. Its small mouth and short gill slits may be adaptations for capturing cephalopods by suction, while its weak jaws and small teeth reflect a diet of mostly soft-bodied prey. This species is viviparous, wherein the developing embryos are sustained to term through a placental connection formed from the depleted yolk sac. Females likely produce two litters per year, implying a gestation period under six months. Between two and four pups are born at a time (average 3.3); newborns measure roughly 45 cm (18 in) long. Males mature sexually around 74–75 cm (29–30 in) long, while females mature around 75–78 cm (30–31 in) long. ## Human interactions The sicklefin weasel shark is not dangerous to humans. It is caught by artisanal fishers throughout its range, mostly in drifting and bottom gillnets, but also in bottom trawls and on longlines. The meat is eaten, the fins are used in shark fin soup, and the offal is processed into fishmeal. However, the small size of this shark limits its economic value. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed the sicklefin weasel shark as vulnerable, noting that it is naturally uncommon and resides in heavily fished regions. In addition, compared to the related Australian weasel shark, it is less productive, thus less resilient to withstand fishing pressure.
25,992,413
The Last Story
1,155,600,066
null
[ "2011 video games", "AQ Interactive games", "Fiction about murder", "Japanese role-playing video games", "Mistwalker games", "Multiplayer and single-player video games", "Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection games", "Nintendo games", "Orphans in fiction", "Role-playing video games", "Romance video games", "Video games developed in Japan", "Video games scored by Nobuo Uematsu", "Video games set on fictional islands", "War video games", "Wii Wi-Fi games", "Wii-only games", "Xseed Games games" ]
is a Japanese action role-playing game, developed by Mistwalker and AQ Interactive for the Wii video game console. Nintendo published the title in all regions except for North America, where it was published by Xseed Games. Initially released in Japan in 2011, the game was released in western territories through 2012. The Last Story takes place upon the island fortress of Lazulis, in a world that is slowly being drained of life by an unknown force. The story focuses on a group of mercenaries looking for work on Lazulis; one of their number, Zael, dreams of becoming a knight. After receiving the mystical "Mark of the Outsider", Zael becomes involved with a noblewoman named Calista in an ongoing war between humans and the beast-like Gurak. During gameplay, the player controls Zael as he and the mercenary group to which he belongs undertake missions on Lazulis. Zael can command the rest of the mercenary squad during missions, and fights in battles that involve action, tactical and stealth elements. Multiple online multiplayer modes were also present. The game was directed and co-written by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the original creator of Final Fantasy, who had the initial idea for the title after seeing the mixed responses to Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. Together with designer Takuya Matsumoto, Sakaguchi decided to make a game that would be different from his previous work and most other role-playing games. Development took between three and four years according to different sources. Its story was originally based in science fiction, but at Nintendo's insistence it was changed to be primarily based around fantasy. Among the staff were regular Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu, and illustrator Kimihiko Fujisaka. It was originally going to be exclusive to Japan, and later its North American release was in doubt after being announced for release in Europe and Australia. During this time, a fan campaign called Operation Rainfall drew considerable attention to the title. The title was a commercial success, and received generally positive reviews worldwide: while the gameplay generally met with praise, opinions varied on the story and graphics. ## Gameplay The Last Story is an action role-playing game (ARPG) incorporating elements of tactical and stealth gameplay. The player controls main protagonist Zael for the majority of the game. Zael is primarily controlled using the Wii Remote from a fixed third-person view. The game can be controlled using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, or the Classic Controller, but does not utilize motion controls. The game's main hub is a public house on Lazulis Island, which also houses a save point for players. Lazulis City is the main setting for most of the game, which provides the player with access to side quests, shops, and areas to collect items when not engaged in the main story. In addition to environments within missions such as ruins and forests where enemies are encountered and fought, there is an arena where the player can improve the party and their combat abilities. If the party is victorious, the party can pick up money and items from non-playable characters betting on the fight. In battle, the player controls Zael alone, with the rest of the party being controlled by the game's artificial intelligence (AI) and directed by player commands. Parties are composed of up to six characters, each with five "lives", with them automatically reviving after a certain time if Zael cannot revive them manually. The attack directions of both party characters and enemies are represented by lines connecting the different characters. Combat plays out in real-time, with attacks either happening automatically when a character is within range or manually. Actions such as dodging and movement are done manually. Blocking and actions such as vaulting over low obstacles are performed by holding the B button. Zael can also move to take cover behind objects, which allows them to break an enemy's line of sight on them or creep along walls. During combat, a character's Tension gauge will fill, enabling the performance of special moves: these can vary from dealing damage to enemies across a wide area to reviving unconscious allies. A skill unique to Zael is Gathering: when activated, all enemies within an area will focus their attention on him, allowing other team members to act without interruption. As the game progresses, Zael can issue commands to the other team members, with the perspective switching to a top-down view for this action. In addition to standard combat, players can switch to a behind-the-shoulder perspective for manually firing Zael's crossbow, which can launch a variety of ammunition at enemies and objects. Enemies in Zael's sights will have their weaknesses and abilities revealed. In battle, destructible objects in the environment can be used by the party to defeat enemies; these objects regenerate after a time rather than remaining destroyed. Magic cast by certain characters with that ability leave the casting area temporarily imbued with a spell's elemental properties creating a magic circle. These circles can cause elemental damage or effects to enemies within the area, or they can imbue the weapons of characters who walk into the circle with said element. Eventually, Zael will learn the ability to "diffuse" magic circles which will spread the spell's effect which varies depending on the element. In addition to the single-player campaign, players could access to online multiplayer through the game's main menu. The multiplayer featured two modes: a competitive mode where players could face each other in various stages, and a co-op mode where a team of players could face bosses from the single-player campaign. For the competitive match, the player had to choose from multiple allied and enemy characters, and all boons granted by equipment or experience levels were removed to level the playing field. Teams of up to six players could be formed for team matches. Players could gain or lose points when they defeated or were defeated by an opponent, and defeated enemies respawned in the battlefield. When all opponents have been defeated, all players were awarded with items and equipment that carried over into the single-player campaign: those who performed the best received higher-quality equipment and "titles" to distinguish them from other players. The co-op battles allowed players to carry over their equipment and character levels from single-player, with the available characters being restricted to Zael's mercenary group. Defeating a boss earned players items themed around it. In both modes, players could communicate using a stock of scripted responses both taken from the single-player campaign and specially created for multiplayer. ## Synopsis The Last Story is set on Lazulis Island, a vast seaborne fortress ruled by Count Arganan and allied to an unnamed human empire in the midst of crisis as the land decays and dies. Dagran, a mercenary, travels to Lazulis in search of employment with the mercenary band he leads: Zael, Syrenne, Yurick, Lowell and Mirania. During the journey, Zael, who dreams of becoming a knight, encounters a mysterious force and is branded on the hand, granting him magical power. While on an errand in town, Zael runs into a woman named Lisa and helps her escape from city guards. Employed as guards to Count Arganan for the wedding of his niece, Lady Calista, to Lord Jirall, Zael encounters Calista and recognizes her as "Lisa". The group also meet General Asthar and his protegee Therius when Syrenne picks a fight with Therius. After Calista explains to Zael in private that hers is an arranged marriage, Lazulis is attacked by the Gurak, a race once banished from Lazulis by humans and now united under their ruler Zangurak. To avoid being killed by the ensuing cannon fire, Zael, Dagran, and Calista stow away on a Gurak ship and eventually take it over. The group are returned to Lazulis by the island's knights. On Lazulis, the mercenaries are accused of aiding the Gurak by the knight Jirall, who is trying to cover up his cowardly behavior during the attack by having anyone who witnessed it imprisoned. Dagran persuades Arganan to release them after showing him Zael's mark, which is revealed to be a mystical "Mark of the Outsider" given to one destined to save Lazulis. Arganan attempts to get Zael onto his side, offering him knighthood and Calista's hand in marriage. Zael swears allegiance to Arganan, who orders Zael to direct Lazulis towards the Gurak lands. During this time, Asthar accepts Zael as a new pupil and gives him a medal following a successful sparring. Shortly after this, Gurak assassins kill Asthar, who tells Zael the medal is a key before dying. Zael is accused of Asthar's murder by Jirall and imprisoned, but Calista frees him. Dagran suggests Jirall is the real killer, and prompts Zael to search Jirall's room, where he finds the murder weapon and a letter revealing dealings with the Gurak. Jirall is imprisoned, though Dagran admits that the evidence was false despite Jirall's guilt. Lazulis arrives in Gurak lands and takes their keep with minimal resistance. Zael learns there that the Gurak are suffering the same degradation of the land as humans are, which motivated their invasion. Seeing the cruelty of Lazulis's soldiers to Gurak civilians, Zael questions his allegiance to Lazulis. While being comforted by Calista, Zael's brand reacts with Calista's blood and Asthar's medal to reveal a secret location on Lazulis. Joined by Therius, they find a Sorceress's ghost who reveals that the "Outsider" is an extraterrestrial being. At the bidding of her lover, Arganan's ancestor, she summoned the Outsider to the planet in an attempt to end conflict. After realizing that it was draining energy from the land, they split it into two halves in order to slow the land's death. If the two halves, now respectively controlled by humans and the Gurak, are reunited and released, the land's decay will halt and the war will end. Realizing Arganan's complicity, Zael refuses his knighthood and sets out with Calista to destroy Lazulis' cannon, which is powered by Lazulis' half of the Outsider. When the Gurak attack Lazulis, they are forced to instead help Arganan use the cannon to drive off the attack. The cannon proves insufficient, and Arganan is killed by the Outsider's power. Zael and the mercenaries aid the people while Therius holds off the attacking Gurak. Zael then heads out with Calista and the mercenaries to retrieve Zangurak's half of the Outsider. Zael defeats Jirall, and then Zangurak; during the latter battle, Lowell suffers fatal injuries. The group then find Dagran with the Outsider, claiming he used the mercenaries in his own quest for revenge against the Lazulis knights who killed his family. After absorbing the Outsider's power, Dagran is defeated; he reconciles with the group before dying, then his spirit uses the Outsider's energy to resurrect Lowell. Zael and Calista reunite the two halves of the Outsider, which leaves the planet. Through Zael and Calista's efforts, humans and Gurak manage to begin coexisting, sharing their technology and using Lazulis as a neutral land. In the epilogue, Therius decides to train new knights in the empire while leaving Lazulis in Zael's care; Zael and Calista are married in her ancient family home; the mercenaries hold a wake for Dagran; and Zael is finally made a knight by Calista. ## Development The initial concepts for The Last Story came to Hironobu Sakaguchi after his departure from Square (now Square Enix) in 2003. After a period working on games at his new studio Mistwalker, Sakaguchi realized that his style of game were not in tune with current gaming trends. Later, he elaborated that The Last Story was primarily born from reflecting on the design mistakes he made during the development of Blue Dragon (2006) and Lost Odyssey (2007): while they tried to innovate with the story, they kept the gameplay very traditional. Sakaguchi drew up a design document for the game, and around that time met up with Takuya Matsumoto, a designer from AQ Interactive who had worked with Sakaguchi on Blue Dragon. They both realized that they held the same views on what was holding their games back in the current market, and decided to collaborate on the game with the goal of creating something new. In an interview with IGN, Sakaguchi said that development took three years: the first year was devoted to a trial-and-error development process devoted to the battle system. A longer development time of four years was reported by Matsumoto in a different interview with Gamasutra. According to Matsumoto, the team leads went to the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) each year and were assured that their game was in-step with current gameplay trends. Production of The Last Story was a collaboration between Mistwalker, AQ Interactive and Nintendo, and was Sakaguchi's first work as a director since Final Fantasy V (1992). The game was going through its final development stages by April 2010, and according to Sakaguchi was "complete" by December that year. Although Sakaguchi's previous RPGs from Mistwalker had been released for the Xbox 360, The Last Story was created for the Wii. According to Sakaguchi, this was because Nintendo's Shinji Hatano shared their vision of a role-playing game that did not follow genre conversions, and so Sakaguchi accepted his offer of collaboration. After being contacted regarding both The Last Story and fellow Wii ARPG Xenoblade Chronicles, Hatano said that the games should be made for a wide audience and using a "romanticist approach". When explaining why The Last Story was exclusive to the Wii, Sakaguchi said that it was because a large proportion of the late development staff, including the testers, came from Nintendo. In a later interview, he said that working with the Wii, which did not use high-definition graphics, presented challenges as some of his ideas could not be implemented due to technical restrictions. Despite this, the team aimed to create a game that would look good when compared to games on high-definition consoles. Matsumoto stated that Nintendo had a strong influence on the game, which did not always sit well with him despite their suggestions ultimately improving the game. He also said that Nintendo's creative and development aid in fine-tuning the game was the reason for its extended development. The basic story was conceived by Sakaguchi and Matsumoto, while the script was written by Sakaguchi, Masaru Hatano and Takatoshi Aoki. The story was contributed to by multiple staff members, which sometimes annoyed Sakaguchi when they suggested something that would be out of character for one of the cast. According to Sakaguchi, the initial version featuring a science fiction storyline was "shot down" by Nintendo, forcing the team to begin all over again with a new setting and characters. Despite the story still using science fiction elements, the team worked to distance the setting from those elements by focusing on bright, natural colors for the environments. The biographies of the main cast were put together during the story's creation. Originally, according to Hatano, the game's theme was to have been the "all-important drama that takes place between a man and a woman", but as development progressed it was changed to a theme of general companionship, although the original story remained the same. Hatano suggested incorporating dialogue into the gameplay rather than restricting it to cutscenes. This approach was inspired by both Uncharted and television series The West Wing. The concept was initially put forward as a joke about Zael's habit of kicking doors open, and how his companions would comment on how he always did this. After receiving positive feedback, they implemented it and kept in Zael's behavior. Sakaguchi used this in-game dialogue to help convey the characters' personalities: as part of this, adlibs from the actors were included, and continual adjustments were made to the script. The characters' artwork also prompted Sakaguchi to make changes so the characters better fitted their presentation. The game's voiced dialogue was estimated at 12,000 lines. The option for players to skip through dialogue was a feature that Sakaguchi did not like, but he knew that some players would not like necessary long cutscenes, so gave them the option of going through them while still following the story. This meant that all the cutscenes needed to be done using the in-game engine rather than pre-rendered graphics. The characters were designed by Kimihiko Fujisaka. Fujisaka, who was acquainted with Sakaguchi, was brought on board the project at the beginning. At that point, only a simple plot outline had been created, and Sakaguchi showed this to Fujisaka and asked what he visualized from it. Due to this, Fujisaka had a lot of leeway in his designs. Due to Sakaguchi living in Hawaii while the game was being developed, Fujisaka was initially nervous about working with him on the project, but ultimately he found their working relationship to be a positive one. An aspect that worried Fujisaka during the early stages was the decision to have the characters able to change their clothing: their original appearances had been designed in relation to their lines, and while designing extra outfits proved difficult, he ultimately enjoyed the experience. Fujisaka also worked as a world designer, initially feeling restricted by the console's limited graphics. Fujisaka said that the city hub began taking shape in 2009, relatively early in development. The world design he initially created was fairly bleak, but after Nintendo insisted on the scenario being changed, he redesigned it around a brighter fantasy aesthetic. Developing the gameplay began at the start of development, with a test environment being built to develop and refine the basics of the battle system. Work within the test build spanned approximately one and a half years. While creating the battle system, the staff decided that the key words should be "order" and "chaos": whoever gained order on the battlefield would be the victor. One of the concepts that emerged from this was Gathering, Zael's ability to direct all enemies' attention towards him. At first, Gathering ended up generating an unwanted amount of chaos on the battlefield, and this resulted in the trial-and-error period for it running on for a long time. The biggest challenge, once the concept had been finalized, was adjusting its effectiveness on the battlefield depending on the situation and enemy types. A concept that did not make it into the final game was "Replay": after an enemy successfully cast a spell, players could rewatch the last few seconds of battle from an overhead view to see what type it was and take that into their strategy. This slowed the pace of combat down too much, so the concept was entirely removed. Hangovers of it include the ability to freeze time during certain actions, and the overhead perspective when commanding party members. The cover system was designed around the limitations of the camera control born from the Wii Remote's control scheme. Matsumoto was responsible for the level design. While preparing destructible elements within the environment, the staff took care that they could be easily recognized by the player. So as to create a more direct experience than other Japanese RPGs, the camera view was deliberately restricted around Zael, so the player would be kept within his point of view. A difficult part of development was balancing story and gameplay, which sometimes caused clashes between Sakaguchi and Matsumoto, as Matsumoto would upset the balance and necessitate Sakaguchi re-balancing it. The battle system and AI was refined by what Matsumoto described as "chaotic battles royal between over 20 people wielding swords, magic and guns or ally command systems". The ability to fire projectiles had a big impact on the battle system's design. This concept was a hangover from the game's origins as a science fiction story. For the multiplayer, Sakaguchi avoided the potential for players to be rude to one-another by restricting their dialogue to segments from the single-player campaign. This was possible given the large amount of ambient dialogue in the game. The game's music was composed by Nobuo Uematsu, a long-time collaborator with Sakaguchi who had worked on the Final Fantasy series, Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. Uematsu initially had a rough time: the first three pieces of music he sent were rejected, and then Uematsu did not respond for some time. Sakaguchi worried that Uematsu might quit the project altogether. In fact, Uematsu realized Sakaguchi's wishes for the title and had to rethink his approach entirely. With the second submission, Uematsu stated that he might leave if his music still did not fit, but it did and he remained as composer. In contrast to the majority of his earlier works, which made heavy use of purely melodic pieces and "jogging music", Uematsu concentrated on a mixture between video game and film music to emphasize emotion and ambient sounds. He also worked to avoid creating signature jingles and fanfares. The most difficult pieces for him were battle tracks: the main battle theme was seven minutes long, but broken into small pieces that varied depending on situations and could be cued in depending on what was happening on the battlefield. The game's theme song, "Toberu Mono" (翔べるもの, lit. "The Flying One"), was composed by Uematsu with lyrics by Sakaguchi. Its lyrics are about the world someone is in not being where they are meant to be, with the phrase "going home" being used progressively through the song. According to Sakaguchi, the theme was quite personal for him, and also displays the "foreignness" of the game. ## Release Sakaguchi revealed that he was working on a new game in July 2009. Initially targeted for a revealing that year, this was delayed for unknown reasons into 2010. The game was announced by Nintendo in January 2010, alongside its platform and logo. It was released on January 27, 2011. Despite prompting interest from genre fans in the west since its official announcement, shortly before its Japanese release, Nintendo announced that The Last Story would remain exclusive to Japan. Nintendo explained that the effort involved in bringing The Last Story overseas would be too much work on top of other important releases such as Kirby's Epic Yarn and titles for the Nintendo 3DS. Despite this, Nintendo stated that there was a strong possibility of it releasing in the United Kingdom due to its growing RPG market. The game was officially announced for Europe in June 2011. The European localization was handled by Nintendo of Europe, using the same team that had done Xenoblade Chronicles. British voice actors were used for the dubbing, making use of various accents for the different characters. Some of the original programmers helped with the implementation of the localization, and it underwent unspecified adjustments. The game was released in Europe on February 24, 2012. It received a limited edition, featuring a CD with seven music tracks and an artbook. It was also released in Australia on February 23. After a continued lack of confirmation of a North American release, including it not being included in Nintendo's 2011 release schedule, a fan-based movement called Operation Rainfall started a campaign to raise awareness for The Last Story, Xenoblade Chronicles, and another Wii RPG titled Pandora's Tower. This campaign included letter writing to Nintendo and petitions for its overseas release. Despite acknowledging the effort, Nintendo stated that there were no plans for a North American release. Matsumoto was severely disappointed by this decision and thought The Last Story would never make it to North America. At this point, Xseed Games, who had developed a reputation for publishing niche Japanese games, took an interest in publishing the title. Initially approaching Nintendo in 2011, Nintendo confirmed that they had no plans to publish the title themselves. After playing through a Japanese copy of the game, the staff were favorably impressed and decided to pitch to Nintendo for the game's North American publishing rights. They were helped by the connections between parent company AQ Interactive and Mistwalker. Xseed Games was the first publisher to ask Nintendo about The Last Story, and after being favorably impressed by their proposal, Nintendo granted Xseed Games publishing rights. While a new localization for North America was considered, it was decided to use Nintendo of Europe's localization as it better fitted the game's atmosphere and aesthetic. It was officially released in North America on August 14, but problems with stock caused Amazon and GameStop to put orders on hold and push their release dates forward. ## Reception ### Critical response The game's story received generally positive reactions from critics, although some criticized it for a lack of originality in the RPG genre. While they did not comment much on the story, Famitsu called The Last Story "very classical RPG". Eurogamer's Martin Robinson found the characters the most appealing part of the game, an opinion shared by Francesco Dagostino of 1UP.com, who particularly cited Syrenne's portrayal. GameSpot's Mark Walton shared this opinion while also praising the story's epic scale. IGN's Keza MacDonald said that it presented a good story and characters within familiar themes and settings. Edge Magazine found the story fairly traditional despite a strong cast and emotional power, while Matthew Castle of Computer and Video Games praised the effort made to flesh out the party members in side-missions despite referring to the main narrative as "tedious". GameTrailers, while noting the familiar plotlines the game explored, said that The Last Story handled its plot better than others of its kind, praising its character development. Game Informer's Joe Juba was fairly critical, finding the story overly predictable and the characters shallow. Jason Wishnov of G4 was also critical of the characters and plot, calling the former "one-note" despite convincing camaraderie and well-written in-game dialogue, and the latter impeded by problems with formulaic writing despite some late-game twists. Simon Parkin, writing for Official Nintendo Magazine, found the characters likable despite a predictable story; Nintendo Power shared points of praise with other reviewers, in addition to praising Zael and Calista's romance, saying that it held the game together during some mid-game stumbles. RPGamer's Alex Fuller said that the story was great despite it using well-worn cliches. Multiple critics gave high praise to the British-voiced localization. The gameplay was generally well received. Famitsu praised the battle system, saying that it was friendly towards casual gamers. MacDonald likewise praised the battle system as "one of the best combat systems I've played with in any RPG, Japanese or otherwise". Walton found the battle system fun and enjoyed the amount of side quests, while Dagostino was highly positive about the game's successful efforts in moving away from genre tradition. Juba enjoyed the multiplayer and praised the game for moving away from the genre's traditional battle systems despite faults with their overall implementation, while Robinson found the gameplay suffered from the design goals that had fueled its creation. Castle was positive about the variety of gameplay and tactical elements despite some stiff combat mechanics, but noted the inability to alter difficulty being a point against the game. Wishnov praised the fast pace and variety of the combat, but found that more cumbersome RPG elements and a lack of overall control negatively impacted the experience. GameTrailers generally praised about the way gameplay and combat was handled despite some "clunky" moments, but was less positive the multiplayer option's balance and variety. Edge, while noting multiple core similarities with other games within the genre, found that other elements came together to make it a more fast-paced cinematic experience than other traditional RPGs; Fuller enjoyed the battle system, but thought that it lacked challenge and had difficulties with the camera. Parkin was generally positive about combat, particularly about the blending and gradual growth of character abilities, while Nintendo Power called the battle system "satisfying" and the multiplayer "surprisingly worthwhile". Multiple reviewers commented on the game's linear structure, with opinions ranging from indifferent to negative. Opinions on the game's visual style varied. Walton called the game's visuals "some of the best ever seen on the Wii", which was echoed to a degree by MacDonald. Castle was generally positive about the game's aesthetics, citing the water effects as particularly good. Edge was fairly mixed, saying that well-done environmental effects or the world-building through character banter were spoiled by low-quality textures and stilted character animations. Juba praised the character models, but found environments to be "ugly and muddy in comparison"; Fuller, while not actively criticizing them, said that players used to high-definition consoles would be disappointed. GameTrailers found the amount of detail put into environments "remarkable" for the Wii hardware despite a lack of scale, while Parkin found the visuals generally unimpressive despite a few stand-out moments. Nintendo Power said that the graphics gave the game's setting an "authentic" appearance despite some low-resolution textures, while Eurogamer praised them for their "sepia tone". Frame rate drops during moments of high activity were generally noted by reviewers. Uematsu's incidental scoring also received praise from multiple critics. ### Sales and accolades Upon release, The Last Story topped Japanese gaming charts, selling 114,722 units. Assessments by Media Create stated that while the game had achieved higher sales than Xenoblade Chronicles due to higher interest in the title, Wii hardware sales remained low, indicating that the title was mostly bought by gamers who already owned a Wii console. By the end of 2011, the game sold just over 157,000 units. Upon its release in the UK, it debuted at \#15. After the release of The Last Story in North America, Xseed Games released a statement saying that The Last Story was their most successful title to date, with its Premium Edition selling out quickly and needing to be replaced with a different special edition. Upon its release, the game received critical acclaim, earning an aggregate score of 80/100 on Metacritic based on 61 critic reviews. It was cited by GamesRadar and Forbes as one of the best games of the year. Similarly, 1UP.com named it as one of the top ten best RPGs on the Wii. In addition it was nominated for "Best Wii/Wii U Game" at the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards, and "RPG of the Year" in GameSpot*'s RPG of the Year award category. In IGN*'s "Best of 2012" awards, it was awarded as "Best Wii U/Wii Sound".
1,123,394
2000 Spanish Grand Prix
1,171,854,754
Formula One motor race held in 2000
[ "2000 Formula One races", "2000 in Spanish motorsport", "May 2000 sports events in Europe", "Spanish Grand Prix" ]
The 2000 Spanish Grand Prix (formally the XLII Gran Premio Marlboro de España) was a Formula One motor race held on 7 May 2000 at the Circuit de Catalunya, in Montmeló, Catalonia, Spain with approximately 79,000 spectators. It was the fifth round of the 2000 Formula One World Championship and the 42nd Spanish Grand Prix. Mika Häkkinen of McLaren won the 65-lap race after starting second. His teammate David Coulthard finished second, with Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello third. Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship from Häkkinen, and Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship from McLaren entering the race. He set the fastest qualifying lap to start on pole position and held off Häkkinen on the first lap. Schumacher led until his first pit stop on lap 24, when Ferrari chief mechanic Nigel Stepney was injured by Schumacher's right-rear tyre after Schumacher was incorrectly instructed to leave his box before the stop was completed. This moved Häkkinen to the race lead, which he held until his pit stop two laps later. Michael Schumacher led for the next 22 laps as he and Häkkinen made their second pit stops together, with Häkkinen taking the lead after a refuelling error slowed Schumacher's pit stop. Häkkinen led the final 22 laps to achieve his first win of the season and 15th of his career. The victory moved Häkkinen into second place in the World Drivers' Championship, fourteen points behind Michael Schumacher. Coulthard dropped to third after finishing second, and Barrichello's third place put him one point ahead of Ralf Schumacher. McLaren's one-two finish in the World Constructors' Championship brought them within seven points of leaders Ferrari. With 12 races remaining in the season, Williams remained third with 15 points. ## Background The 2000 Spanish Grand Prix was the fifth of seventeen races in the 2000 Formula One World Championship, held on 7 May 2000, at the 4.730 km (2.939 mi) clockwise Circuit de Catalunya in Montmeló, Catalonia, Spain, following a two-week break from the preceding . The Grand Prix featured eleven teams of two drivers each (each representing a different constructor), with no changes from the season entry list. Sole tyre supplier Bridgestone brought the soft and medium dry compound tyres to the event. Before the race, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher led the World Drivers' Championship with 34 points, ahead of McLaren teammates David Coulthard (14 points) and Mika Häkkinen (12 points). Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello and Williams' Ralf Schumacher were tied for fourth with nine points. Ferrari led the World Constructors' Championship with 43 points, 17 more than second-placed McLaren. Williams were third with twelve points, while Benetton and Jordan were fourth with eight points each. Following the British Grand Prix on 23 April, all teams conducted in-season testing at the circuit from 25 to 28 April in preparation for the Spanish Grand Prix. Despite spinning into the gravel early in the session, Jos Verstappen was the fastest for Arrows on the first day of testing, ahead of McLaren test driver Olivier Panis. Michael Schumacher was the quickest on the second and third days. The third day was hampered by several drivers stopping on the circuit due to car problems. On the final day, which was held in wet weather in the morning and during the end of the session, Michael Schumacher again remained quickest. Coulthard was leasing his friend David Murray's Learjet the week before the race when it developed engine trouble en route to Côte d'Azur International Airport in Nice and crashed while attempting an emergency landing at Lyon-Satolas Airport in France. Coulthard, his then-girlfriend American model Heidi Wichlinski and personal trainer/bodyguard Andy Matthews survived; Murray's personal pilot David Saunders and co-pilot Dan Worley died. Coulthard sustained bruises to his right rib cage and severe grazed elbows in the crash. FIA Formula One Safety and Medical Delegate Sid Watkins declared Coulthard fit to race. Coulthard's survival from the accident was the main focus of comment in the motorsport media before the Grand Prix. British American Racing (BAR) driver Jacques Villeneuve was passed fit prior to the event. At the , Villeneuve sustained a back injury after his seat became loose during the race, and the worsening effects caused him to withdraw from testing in Barcelona. He also had to go through physiotherapy. Darren Manning, BAR's official test driver, was on standby to replace Villeneuve if necessary. Some teams modified their cars for the event. Most teams continued to refine their vehicles' aerodynamic profiles, but no significant technical innovations were introduced at the Grand Prix. Minardi debuted Formula One's first titanium-constructed gearbox. It was 5 kg (11 lb) lighter than magnesium gearboxes, provided greater rigidity, and was cost-effective. Prost modified their cars' oil systems to improve engine reliability, and made minor aerodynamic changes to the front wing and floor. The team also used an updated Peugeot A20 EV2 engine during Friday's practice sessions before reverting to the EV3 for the rest of the weekend. BAR installed a new car aerodynamic packages, which included new bargeboards and rear wings. The Williams team equipped their cars with cast titanium hub carriers, but they were not used in the race because they interfered with the brake vents operation. ## Practice The race was preceded by four practice sessions, two one-hour sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday. The Friday practice sessions were dry and overcast, but previous rainfall and undercard events made the track dirty, preventing all but nine drivers from setting a time and seven attempted a quick lap. The fastest laps were recorded late in practice. Michael Schumacher led with a lap of 1:21.982 at his second attempt to set a fast time, half a second quicker than his teammate Barrichello in second. Häkkinen was third, Ralf Schumacher fourth and Prost's Jean Alesi fifth. The two Benetton drivers were sixth and eighth, Giancarlo Fisichella ahead of Alexander Wurz; Sauber's Johnny Herbert was seventh. Jaguar's Eddie Irvine and Verstappen were ninth and tenth. In the second practice session, Michael Schumacher was unable to lap faster but remained fastest; Ralf Schumacher went second-fastest with a new set of tyres towards the end of the session. In positions three through ten were Barrichello, Jordan's Jarno Trulli, Coulthard, Williams' Jenson Button. Häkkinen, Sauber's Pedro Diniz, Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Alesi. Pedro de la Rosa lost control of his Arrows car under braking and was beached in the gravel trap, prompting the yellow flags to appear briefly. Fisichella spun 360 degrees backwards into the gravel trap at the Renault corner, then spun again at the next right-hand turn. The weather remained dry for the Saturday morning practice sessions. Coulthard set the third session's fastest lap, 1:21.370, ahead of teammate Häkkinen, who was two-tenths of a second slower; both drivers set their fastest times on new tyres. Ralf Schumacher, Michael Schumacher, Villeneuve, Fisichella and Frentzen made up positions three to seven. The two Arrows drivers were eighth and ninth (with Verstappen ahead of De La Rosa) after setting identical lap times that topped the time sheets. Sauber's Mika Salo was tenth-fastest. During practice, no yellow flags were waved, though Frentzen briefly drove onto the grass late in the session. During the final practice session, Michael Schumacher set the fastest lap of 1:21.088 on new tyres; Coulthard was second. Barrichello was third fastest after finishing 14th the previous session. He lapped faster than Häkkinen, who struggled with a lack of grip and a loose rear end. Ralf Schumacher set the fifth-fastest time. Jordan's drivers were sixth and seventh, Trulli ahead of Frentzen and ahead of De La Rosa, Villeneuve, and Button. ## Qualifying Saturday afternoon's one-hour qualifying session saw each driver limited to twelve laps, with the grid order decided by their fastest laps. During this session, the 107% rule was in effect, requiring each driver to remain within 107 per cent of the fastest lap time to qualify for the race. The session was held in sunny and hot weather. Michael Schumacher took his first pole position of the season and 24th of his career with a time of 1:20.974 on a headwind-affected second run 43 minutes in, going more than a second quicker than the 1999 pole lap. Häkkinen joined him on the grid's front row after lapping 0.076 seconds slower in the final seconds and held pole until Schumacher's lap. Barrichello qualified third, feeling his car did not feel good having not made any changes. Coulthard, fourth, lost time early in qualifying due to an engine fuel pressure pick-up issue. He did not drive the spare McLaren set up for Häkkinen, believing it to be time-consuming, and he had to drive with extra fuel added by his mechanics. Ralf Schumacher, fifth, had excessive oversteer, which prevented him from lapping faster. Villeneuve qualified sixth and said he achieved the best from his car. Both Jordan drivers lined up the grid's fourth row (with Trulli ahead of Frentzen), believing they could have a better starting position because of windy conditions. De La Rosa and Irvine were ninth and tenth. Later that day, the FIA in a mobile laboratory analysed a fuel sample from De La Rosa's car and declared it illegal because it did not match an earlier sample. Arrows announced it would appeal the decision, allowing de la Rosa to keep his starting spot. Button. eleventh, reported crosswinds made his car unstable. He was faster than Verstappen in the slower Arrows car, Salo in the faster Sauber after losing time in the first third of the lap, and Fisichella, who could not lap faster due to low track grip. Herbert, 15th, lost his front wing mounted television camera held on by a thin cable after hitting a kerb early in qualifying. He made a minor error that prevented him from qualifying higher. Diniz (16th) had excessive oversteer. Ricardo Zonta, seventeenth, was unable to find a suitable set-up for his BAR car, and his best lap was nine-tenths of a second slower than teammate Villeneuve's. Alesi qualified eighteenth and was unable to lap faster due to hydraulic issues and circuit cooling. He was ahead of Wurz in nineteenth, who struggled with grip and car setup. Heidfeld's engine failed on the circuit, and marshals extinguished a small fire when he returned to the pit lane. He drove the spare Prost car setup for his teammate Alesi and qualified 20th. The two Minardi drivers Marc Gené and Gastón Mazzacane were 21st and 22nd. ### Qualifying classification Note: - Pedro de la Rosa had started at the back of the grid for using illegal fuel in qualifying. ## Warm-up The drivers took to the track at 09:30 Central European Summer Time (UTC+2) for a 30-minute warm-up in cool and dry weather. Despite going into the gravel after braking too deeply, Michael Schumacher set a lap of 1:22.855 to lead a session for the fifth time that weekend, and also drove the spare Ferrari. Häkkinen was second-fastest; Barrichello was third, followed by Coulthard in fourth. De La Rosa ran into the gravel trap at Elf corner after his engine cut out; he returned to the pit lane to use the spare Arrows vehicle. Coulthard was launched airborne during a lap when he mounted the kerb at the final turn, but his vehicle was undamaged. After the session, Arrows withdrew their appeal after accepting the FIA's findings, and De La Rosa was required to start at the back of the field. ## Race The grid conditions were dry and particularly cloudy before the race; the air temperature ranged between 21 and 30 °C (70 and 86 °F) and the track temperature was between 22 and 23 °C (72 and 73 °F). The race, which began before approximately 79,000 people at 14:00 local time, lasted 65 laps on a dry track for 307.450 km (191.041 mi). Michael Schumacher and Häkkinen intended to make two pit stops during the Grand Prix, with Schumacher, the only driver in the field, opting for medium compound tyres rather than soft compound tyres. Ralf Schumacher began in a spare Williams car after his race car developed an engine sensor problem the day before. There was not an abundance of overtaking, so the race was decided by pit stops.Häkkinen made a better start than Michael Schumacher, who steered right across the circuit to block Häkkinen's path on the outside when the race began. Consequence, Häkkinen was unable to make a strong challenge to Michael Schumacher while braking for Elf corner. Ralf Schumacher got away quickly, passing Coulthard and the slow-starting Barrichello for third. Ralf Schumacher collided with the rear of Häkkinen's car on a large amount of dust as it exited the first right-hand turn, sending Häkkinen slightly sideways. Both drivers were able to continue, with Häkkinen ahead of Ralf Schumacher by being on the inside for the next left-hand turn. By the end of the first lap, Button had moved up from eleventh to ninth, while Irvine had dropped three places. Diniz retired after spinning into the gravel after driving onto dirt on the outside of turn three. At the conclusion of lap one, the top six drivers were Michael Schumacher, Häkkinen, Ralf Schumacher, Coulthard, Barrichello, and Villeneuve. Michael Schumacher began to pull away from Häkkinen. On lap two, De La Rosa collided with Alesi's rear at Wurth corner, forcing Alesi to retire. De La Rosa's front wing broke and retired after beaching in the gravel trap at Campsa corner. Simultaneously, Irvine overtook Verstappen for twelfth position. For the next 16 laps, the gap between Michael Schumacher and the heavily-fuelled Häkkinen fluctuated from 1.6 seconds to 3.4 seconds due to driving through slower traffic, while Coulthard and Barrichello battled Ralf Schumacher for third place. Further back, Villeneuve was delaying Frentzen, Trulli, Button, Salo as the top five pulled away. Green flag pit stops began on the 18th lap, with three drivers stopping. On the next lap, Button made his first pit stop and rejoined in front of Mazzacane. Villeneuve made his only pit stop on the 22nd lap; Frentzen was promoted to sixth. After rejoining the circuit, his car caught fire after telemetry detected a drop in fuel pressure, and he pulled off the track at the exit of the long right-hand Renault corner. Trulli's pit stop, which dropped him to 17th, proved problematic: he stalled his engine, requiring his mechanics to restart it. Ralf Schumacher made a pit stop one lap later and rejoined in fifth. On lap 24, Michael Schumacher made his pit stop. Mechanic Federico Ugozzoni raised the signboard a second before the fuel hose was removed from the Ferrari and Schumacher accelerated from his pit box. Two mechanics attempted to remove the clogged fuel hose from the car's receptacle. Schumacher's right rear wheel struck Ferrari's chief mechanic, Nigel Stepney, who was assisting the refueller. Stepney was dragged before being knocked over; he was taken to the circuit's medical centre for observation before an X-ray examination in Paris revealed a compound fracture of the tibia and stretched leg tendons. Stepney, who was replaced by reserve refuller Andrea Vacari, was ruled out for the following two Grands Prix. Coulthard made a pit stop on the same lap and had trouble exiting his pit box because he selected second gear. He re-emerged behind Ralf Schumacher. At the end of lap 26, Häkkinen made his first pit stop and fell behind Michael Schumacher. On the next lap, Verstappen retired in the pit lane due to a gear selection fault.All the leaders had made their stops by the start of lap 28. The top six in the running order were Michael Schumacher, Häkkinen, Ralf Schumacher, Barrichello, Coulthard and Button. Häkkinen set the race's fastest lap on the same lap, a 1:24.470 as he started to gain on Michael Schumacher. Ralf Schumacher again was pressured by Coulthard in fourth. Häkkinen did not attempt to overtake the race leader, as Michael Schumacher was on the harder compound tyres. Twelve laps later, Coulthard entered the pit lane for seven-and-a-half seconds in his attempt to pass Ralf Schumacher and Barrichello. This triggered the second round of pit stops for the front-runners. Ralf Schumacher and Barrichello made a pit stop on the following lap and rejoined behind Coulthard after being overtaken by Coulthard on the outside at Elf corner. Michael Schumacher and Häkkinen made their pit stops on the 42nd lap, with Häkkinen emerging ahead after a stop lasting 6.7 seconds because Michael Schumacher's pit stop was problematic. The mechanics began refuelling as Vacari had difficulty fitting the fuel pump into the fuel tank neck after the tyres were installed. This meant Schumacher was stationary for ten seconds longer than usual. Salo and Zonta entered the pit lane on lap 45, promoting Button to sixth. Coulthard closed up to Michael Schumacher (who was slowed by around 1.5 to 2 seconds per lap with air leaking from his left rear tyre) by lap 46. Coulthard attempted to overtake Michael Schumacher on the inside of the pit lane straight into the first corner of the following lap, intending to slow Schumacher at the right-hand turn. As a blocking manoeuvre, Schumacher steered right into Coulthard's path at the last possible moment. The two drivers narrowly avoided a collision and Coulthard almost drove onto the grass. Michael Schumacher's left-rear tyre slowed him at the last right-hand turn. Coulthard had better traction and steered to the outside on lap 48, passing Michael Schumacher (who steered right to defend) by braking later into Elf corner. Ralf Schumacher drew close to Michael Schumacher on the 50th lap. Ralf Schumacher attempted to overtake Michael Schumacher on the outside on the same lap at La Caixa corner, but was blocked by his elder brother. Ralf Schumacher was forced wide, losing momentum, and pulling back into the following Banc Sabadell turn. This allowed Barrichello to pass both drivers on the inside for third. Michael Schumacher entered the pit lane on lap 51 for a new set of tyres. He remained fifth, ahead of Button, who was significantly behind Schumacher. He immediately set new personal fastest laps in an effort to catch Ralf Schumacher. However, the order was stable at the front of the field, with Häkkinen leading significantly over Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher dropping back from Barrichello. Button, sixth, retired at the side of the circuit on lap 63, with smoke billowing from his engine that failed without warning. Häkkinen maintained his lead to achieve his first victory of 2000 and the 15th of his Formula One career following the 1999 Japanese Grand Prix the previous season in a time of 1:33.55.390 at an average speed of 196.324 km/h (121.990 mph) after 65 laps. Coulthard drove with three cracked right-hand side eighth and tenth ribs, as well as a bruised right chest wall. He finished second, 16 seconds behind his teammate. Barrichello was third, with Ralf Schumacher fourth, Michael Schumacher fifth and Frentzen was the final points-scorer in sixth. Salo, Zonta, Fisichella, Wurz and Irvine were the next five finishers, and Trulli, Herbert, Gené (who lacked fuel in his car), Mazzacane, Heidfeld and Button (despite his retirement) were the final classified finishers. ### Post-race The top three drivers appeared on the podium to receive their trophies and later spoke at a press conference. Häkkinen said that he was "pleased" to win the race, and admitted to waiting until the pit stop phase to have any chance of overtaking Michael Schumacher. He said that McLaren had more work to do on his car and was looking forward to the next race. Coulthard believed he made the right decision to race despite his injuries, and that the result was "the best thing that could have happened for the team and myself." He also said he was looking forward to resting over the coming days to allow his injuries to heal. Barrichello admitted that the race had not been good for him until his overtake on Michael Schumacher and Ralf Schumacher, and said the absence of Stepney caused his second pit stop to be slower than usual. Attention focused on the battle between Ralf Schumacher and Michael Schumacher during the race. Michael Schumacher blamed his brother for the move and did not understand why he was upset about it. Ralf Schumacher made no comment and stated that he would watch a video of the incident before commenting. Rolf, their father, spoke with the two brothers in an attempt to reconcile the two drivers. Ralf Schumacher said a week after the race that tensions between him and his brother had subsided and that there was no resentment between them, saying, "It's a lot of fun when we are out there on the track duelling against each other." There was similar ill-feeling between de la Rosa and Alesi after their collision on lap two. Alesi accused de la Rosa of blocking him and causing the crash by failing to check his mirrors, while de la Rosa claimed he tried to overtake him in a difficult corner. Ron Dennis, the McLaren team owner, called it "very good outcome" and was pleased with his team's strategy, saying: "It's a great day, particularly satisfying not only when you think of the pressure that's unique to catching up, but also the circumstances of the week, with David's accident." Ferrari team principal Jean Todt admitted that his team were disappointed with their final result, but added: "However, we have always known that even a big advantage can easily be reduced. It was a good fight between Michael and Hakkinen, at least up to the second pitstop." Following the race, Michael Schumacher apologised to Stepney for injuring him. The final results moved Häkkinen from third to second in the World Drivers' Championship, reducing Michael Schumacher's lead from 20 to 14 points. Coulthard's second-place finish dropped him to third, two points behind Häkkinen. Ralf Schumacher fell to fifth with 12 points, while Barrichello moved to fourth with 13 points. Ferrari maintained their World Constructors' Championship lead, but McLaren's one-two finish brought them within seven points. Williams remained third with nine points. Frentzen's sixth-place finish moved Jordan into fourth place, one point ahead of Benetton in fifth, with twelve races remaining in the season. ### Race classification Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold. ## Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Constructors' Championship standings - Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
4,964,166
Andean cock-of-the-rock
1,172,217,598
Species of bird
[ "Birds described in 1790", "Birds of the Northern Andes", "Birds of the Yungas", "Peruvian culture", "Rupicola (bird)", "Taxa named by John Latham (ornithologist)" ]
The Andean cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola peruvianus), also known as tunki (Quechua), is a large passerine bird of the cotinga family native to Andean cloud forests in South America. It is the national bird of Peru. It has four subspecies and its closest relative is the Guianan cock-of-the-rock. The Andean cock-of-the-rock exhibits marked sexual dimorphism; the male has a large disk-like crest and scarlet or brilliant orange plumage, while the female is significantly darker and browner. Gatherings of males compete for breeding females with each male displaying his colourful plumage, bobbing and hopping, and making a variety of calls. After mating, the female makes a nest under a rocky overhang, incubates the eggs, and rears the young by herself. The Andean cock-of-the-rock eats a diet of fruit, supplemented by insects, amphibians, reptiles, and smaller mice. It is distributed all across the cloud forest of the Andes, having a range of around 260,000 km<sup>2</sup> (100,000 sq mi). Even though it is being affected by destruction of its habitat, the Andean cock-of-the-rock is not classified as threatened. ## Taxonomy and etymology One of two species in the genus Rupicola, the other being the Guianan cock-of-the-rock, the Andean cock-of-the-rock was first described by English ornithologist John Latham in 1790. It is classified in the Cotingidae, a family of largely frugivorous tropical forest suboscine passerines. The generic name is derived from the Latin stems rupes "rock" or "cliff", and cola "inhabiting", and is derived from its habit of nesting in rock walls. Its specific epithet peruvianus "of Peru" is masculine despite the -a ending of the genus name (in Latin, names in -cola were masculine or neuter); peruviana is seen in older works. Four subspecies are known: - R. p. peruvianus – (Latham, 1790), nominate subspecies - R. p. aequatorialis – Taczanowski, 1889 - R. p. sanguinolentus – Gould, 1859 - R. p. saturatus – Cabanis and Heine, 1859 ## Description The Andean cock-of-the-rock is a large passerine, approximately 32 cm (13 in) long and weighing around 265 grams (9.3 oz; 0.584 lb), although males are somewhat larger and the heaviest specimens can reach 300 grams (11 oz; 0.66 lb). The bird is one of many bird species to exhibit marked sexual dimorphism. The male has a large disk-like crest and brilliant scarlet or orange plumage. He has a black tail and wings, and pale greyish scapulars. The female is significantly drabber and browner than the male and has a less prominent crest. The bill is yellowish in the male, and dark with a small yellow tip in the female. Depending on gender and subspecies there are significant variations in the color of the iris, ranging from red over orange and yellow to bluish-white in the male, and whitish over reddish to brown in the female. In addition to the display calls described in the breeding section below, foraging birds give a loud querulous “tank?” when disturbed or in flight. ## Distribution and habitat The Andean cock-of-the-rock is distributed in cloud forests of the Andes. It lives in a large range of about 260,000 km<sup>2</sup> (100,000 sq mi) across Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, and Bolivia, mostly in ravines and forested streams in montane areas at 500 to 2,400 m (1,600 to 7,900 ft) elevation. It typically stays in the lower and middle forest levels, but will range higher in fruiting trees and will sometimes enter and cross clearings. It is generally shy and inconspicuous, often seen only briefly after being flushed out or while swiftly flying down a valley. R. p. aequatorialis is the most widespread subspecies, ranging across the Andes of East Colombia to West Venezuela, East Ecuador and East Peru. The nominate subspecies, R. p. peruvianus has a small range stretching only through the Andes of Central Peru. R. p. sanguinolentus ranges throughout the Andes in West Colombia to Northwest Ecuador. The subspecies R. p. saturatus has a range across Southeast Peru and West Bolivia. ## Behavior ### Food and feeding The diet consists mainly of fruit and insects, although small reptiles and frogs have been recorded. The fruits consumed are often from the plant families Lauraceae, Annonaceae, and Rubiaceae, although a few other plant families have also been reported in their diet. They are one of many species recorded following army ants. They occasionally will eat high protein fruits, but they prefer to eat the other fruits on their menu. ### Breeding Male cocks-of-the-rock are polygamous, and have nothing to do with nesting once mating is done. The male's energy instead is devoted to very elaborate display rituals that show off his magnificent plumage. These displays take place in communal leks, where males gather to challenge rivals and beckon the females. The males are easily disturbed, so their behavior is not easy to see. One study reported that the display activity is dependent on light intensity, with the morning display period occurring during the same light intensity level as the afternoon period. At the lek, males have been observed to break up into pairs, performing “confrontation displays”. This consists of facing each other while bowing, jumping, and flapping their wings, sometimes even snapping their bills, and at the same time giving off various squawking and grunting calls. When the female approaches, she becomes even more intense. The display turns into a cacophony of bright color and a frenzied activity filling the air with very strange sounds. Breeding takes place during different times of year in different areas. In Colombia, breeding normally happens in February until July. In Ecuador, the breeding interval spans from July until February. ### Nesting The nests, built entirely by the female, are mud plastered to cave entrances or rocky outcrops in forest ravines. The nests are often constructed from the saliva of the females mixed in with vegetable matter and mud. The nest is shaped like a concave cup. The female typically lays two white eggs. The female incubates these eggs for about 25 to 28 days. ### Impact on environment Andean cocks-of-the-rocks influence the environment around them. It was found that a white-capped dipper renovated an abandoned cock-of-the-rock nest to lay its eggs in. Cock-of-the-rocks also change the surrounding flora through seed dispersal. Seeds that the birds ingest often are found deposited around lek and nesting sites. This favors the germination and growth of those seeds. The diversity of these types of seeds has been found to be increased at lek and nests and decreased throughout the surrounding forest. ### Predators Andean cocks-of-the-rock face slightly larger predators than smaller songbirds. Predators are attracted to leks by the conspicuous behavior of the displaying males. The animals reported to prey on adult cocks-of-the-rock include hawk-eagles, forest-falcons, hawks, owls, jaguars, mountain lions, ocelots and the boa constrictor. ## Relationship with humans The Andean cock-of-the-rock is the national bird of Peru. Juveniles and adults have occasionally been pets. ### Conservation The worldwide population size and trends in population numbers have not been determined, but it is believed that the Andean cock-of-the-rock is not threatened. The species is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species despite habitat destruction. It is patchily distributed, but its range is large enough to sustain it at a Least Concern status.
19,561,642
Randolph, Tennessee
1,167,502,781
null
[ "1820s establishments in Tennessee", "Memphis metropolitan area", "Randolph, Tennessee", "Tennessee populated places on the Mississippi River", "Unincorporated communities in Tennessee", "Unincorporated communities in Tipton County, Tennessee" ]
Randolph is a rural unincorporated community in Tipton County, Tennessee, United States, located on the banks of the Mississippi River. Randolph was founded in the 1820s and in 1827, the Randolph post office was established. In the 1830s, the town became an early center of river commerce in West Tennessee. Randolph shipped more cotton annually than Memphis until 1840. In 1834, the first pastor of the Methodist congregation was appointed. The fortunes of the community began to decline in the late 1840s due to failed railroad development, an unfavorable mail route and other factors. The first Confederate States Army fort in Tennessee was built at Randolph early in the Civil War in 1861, a second fortification at Randolph was constructed later that same year. During the Civil War, the town was burned down twice by Union Army forces. The settlement is located on the second Chickasaw Bluff, the landscape is dominated by valleys carved into the soil as a product of erosion. The surface soil is composed mostly of silt loam, derived from eroded loess, and is found in different qualities and at different stages of erosion. The stratum beneath the surface consists of glacial gravel. Randolph is situated on the southeastern edge of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, an area with a high earthquake risk. Between 1974 and 2004, forty-five earthquakes were recorded in a radius of 20 miles (32 km) around the settlement. Located in the humid subtropical climate zone, the climate is characterized by hot, humid summers and chilly to mild winters. In 2008, Randolph Bluff Historic Park was dedicated. The park is intended to promote the Civil War history of the community and make the unique views of the Mississippi River available to a wider public. As of 2008, Randolph has a population of about 200 and consists of about two dozen dwellings. The economy of the rural community is dominated by agriculture with no major industries and businesses present. The Girl Scouts Heart of the South operates a camp at Randolph. ## History ### European settlement Around 1800, Europeans began settling the land east of the Mississippi River that was inhabited by the Chickasaw Indians for centuries prior to the arrival of Europeans. Chickasaw land in West Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky was ceded in the Jackson Purchase. In 1818, both sides agreed to the transfer by signing the Treaty of Tuscaloosa. In the early 19th century, the terrain of the Chickasaw Bluffs provided promising locations for a harbor on the Mississippi River for Randolph. In 1820, the area had an estimated population of 54. Early in the 1820s, investors John T. Brown and Robert Bedford were the owners of the land that would form Randolph a few years later. Only 40–50 miles (60–80 km) north of Memphis by water, they described the area as "a good landing for Mississippi River flatboats". The Hatchie River, joining the Mississippi River just north of Randolph, was accessible to steamboats upriver to Bolivar. Brown and Bedford chose the site to lay out the plan for Randolph, a promising river town. The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture gives the date of Randolph's official establishment as 1823. Other reports date the foundation to 1827 or 1828. The settlement is named for John Randolph (1773–1833), a leader in the United States Congress from Virginia. ### Cotton commerce #### Success Located on the banks of the Mississippi River, the topography of Randolph provided for an ideal harbor for steamboats and flatboats at all river stages. Randolph became the center of steamboat commerce in Tennessee. The town was an early rival of Memphis over commercial superiority on the Mississippi River. In 1830, Randolph was the most important shipping point in Tennessee. In the mid-1830s, Randolph shipped up to 40,000 bales of cotton on the Mississippi River every year. More cotton was shipped from Randolph than from Memphis until 1840. At the peak of its commercial success, the community was called the "great steamboat depot of West Tennessee". By 1829, Randolph had three commission warehouses, six dry goods stores, ten physicians and one tavern. In 1834, Randolph had a population of approximately 1,000. By that time, the town had four hotels, almost fifty businesses, private schools, and more than ten saloons. In the 1830s, two newspapers were published in Randolph, the Randolph Recorder and the Randolph Whig. In the 1830s, the first bank was founded and a stagecoach line provided a connection between Randolph and Jackson twice a week. The commercial success of Randolph can be attributed in part to the use of slave labor, mostly for the cultivation of cotton. Corn, beans and peas were also cultivated. In the Randolph Recorder during the early 1830s, landowners announced public auctions of slaves or offered rewards for runaway or stolen slaves. #### Decline The fortunes of Randolph declined in the later 1840s and the 1850s due to many factors, starting shortly after the establishment of the town. Five years after the settlement was founded, a dispute over the ownership of the land the town was established on, arose over a faulty land title with land owner Ann Grambelling from New York. Until 1835, the pending lawsuit "prevented the growth of population" in and around Randolph. The residents of the community bought back the land their town was founded on for \$8,000 in a settlement. An unfavorable mail line also had an early and lasting influence on the fortunes of the town. When the mail route was established in 1829, Randolph was put at the end of a branch route of the mail line and received mail only once a week. Failed railroad development further contributed to the demise of the town; and in 1852, residents of Randolph unsuccessfully tried to move the county seat from Covington to Randolph. Financial depression and David Crockett's failed attempt to cut a canal from the Hatchie River to the Tennessee River also were problems that had a negative impact on the future of commercial prosperity in Randolph. During the Civil War, the town was burned down twice, in September 1862 and again in 1865, discouraging many residents from re-building residences and businesses a second time. ### Civil War #### Fortifications Fort Wright was the first Confederate Army fortification built at Randolph. On January 20, 1861, the Memphis Appeal published a pro-secessionist proposal to build a fort at Randolph to defend Memphis. In April 1861, Tennessee Governor Isham G. Harris ordered to establish a camp and complete the fortification at Randolph. About 5,000 troops from Tennessee, Arkansas and the Confederate Army were stationed at the location to accomplish the task. By June 1861, fifty cannons were reported to be ready at Fort Wright. Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821–77) trained at Fort Wright. Forrest and other future leaders in the Confederate States Army and the Army of Tennessee received training at Fort Wright. The fort was Tennessee's first military training camp in which soldiers could gain experience in the construction of fortifications and the setup of artillery batteries. Fort Wright was the forwardmost defensive position on the Mississippi River until July 1861. In 2008, only a powder magazine is left of Fort Wright. Fort Randolph, the second Confederate stronghold in the area during the Civil War, was constructed in Fall 1861. The fortification was situated on the Mississippi River bluffs, about 1 mile (1.6 km) southwest of Fort Wright. In a dispatch published by the New York Times in March 1862, Fort Randolph is described as a "rough and incomplete earthwork (...), more than 100 feet above the river". The position of the fortification allowed a view of the Mississippi River for 6 miles (10 km), both upstream and downstream. In 2008, Fort Randolph is no longer in existence. #### Destruction In 1862, Union Army Major General William T. Sherman (1820–91) and his troops assumed control of Memphis and the surrounding areas. While trying to keep the area under Union control, Sherman became "frustrated by the constant guerrilla activity in his sector". Confederate guerrillas from the Randolph area weakened the Union forces along the Mississippi River. In September 1862, the Union supply ship Eugene was fired at from Randolph. Sherman ordered to "destroy the place, leaving one house to mark the place". Union Army soldiers burned down Randolph in retaliation for the guerrilla attack. To his superior officer, General Ulysses S. Grant, Sherman reported that he had "given public notice that a repetition [of guerrilla attacks] will justify any measures of retaliation". Randolph was burned down a second time by federal soldiers in 1865. ## Geography and climate ### Geography Randolph is located at . The elevation above sea level is 315 feet (96 m). The surface soil in the Randolph area is composed mostly of silt loam of different qualities and at different stages of erosion. About 15% of the surface soil consists of "Adler silt loam" with a slope of 0–1%, found in the frequently flooded plains at Randolph. About 20% of the soil is severely eroded "Memphis silt loam" with 12–25% slopes, and ca. 35% of the soil consists of "Memphis silt loam" with 20–40% slopes. Less than 8% consists of moderately eroded "Memphis silt loam" with slopes from 1–5%. The remaining surface soil is composed of other silts, sands or clays, including "Robinsonville fine sandy loam" (ca. 6%) and "Tunica clay" (ca. 1.5%). Approximately 1.5% of the area is covered by water. The parent material of the "Memphis silt loam" is Pleistocene loess. Loess is a fine-grained, slightly coherent, silty, windblown sediment. Eroded loess consists of extremely fine, sandy particles and forms silt in environments that provide sufficient moisture of the soil, usually caused by occasional flooding or precipitation. Soil derived from eroded loess is sometimes also referred to as loess. #### Landscape The settlement of Randolph is situated on top of the second Chickasaw Bluff, on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River in Tipton County. The four Chickasaw Bluffs are high grounds above the Mississippi River flood plains, composed of eroded pre-historic loess over glacial gravel. The Chickasaw Bluffs west of the community, on the banks of the Mississippi River, and flat cotton-fields east of Randolph dominate the rural landscape surrounding the settlement. In the last 150 years, the general landscape around Randolph has not changed much. In 1862, the hinterland of the town is described to be "full of ravines and gorges". Ravines and gorges are valleys or canyons carved from the landscape as a product of erosion, caused by a stream or river or by seasonal precipitation, funneling water towards less elevated locations of the drainage basin. The landscape cut into the soil of the Mississippi River bluffs by water erosion for centuries is still present in modern times. #### Roads In 1833, a stagecoach road from Randolph to Jackson in Madison County, 70 miles (100 km) east of Randolph, was established. The antebellum route connected the two towns as well as the villages along the way two times per week. Randolph and Memphis were connected by a direct travel route later in the 1830s. The road was part of a mail line between Jackson and Memphis in Shelby County on which mail was delivered weekly on horseback. The exact routing of the segment between Randolph and Memphis is unknown. A fragment of the route bearing the former name, about 1,000 feet (300 m) in length, was in existence until about 2005. The remaining piece of Old Randolph Road was located about 2 miles (3 km) north of the mouth of the Wolf River and 800 feet (240 m) east of the Mississippi River, just south of the mouth of the Loosahatchie River in Memphis. As of 2010, the remaining fragment of Old Randolph Road is destroyed, the land on which the historic mail route was located is used as an industrial property. A publication dated 1862, reports that Randolph is "approached in the rear by several good roads". In 2008, Randolph is located near "good roads" as well as it was during the Civil War, with the exception that modern roads in the area are paved for the most part. U.S. Route 51 passes Randolph 5 miles (8 km) in the southeast and Tennessee State Route 59 (TN 59) passes 0.5 miles (800 m) southeast of the town. Four roads at county level converge at Randolph, as shown in the table below. A portion of Ballard Slough Road is located in the flood plains, this segment is prone to flooding and unpaved. #### Waterways Randolph is located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, just south of the lower mouth of the Hatchie River. In the 1820s, the Hatchie River at Randolph was accessible to steamboats for 60 miles (100 km) upriver to Bolivar in Hardeman County. The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the federal agency responsible for navigable waters and flood protection, among many other peacetime and wartime tasks. From 2005 to 2007, the USACE spent \$9,773,662 to ensure the navigation of the Mississippi River at Randolph for boats and barges and to provide flood protection for the immediately surrounding areas of the town. Contracts include surveying and mapping, engineering and construction, as well as tasks related to conservation and development of the Mississippi River and the river basin at Randolph. Maintenance related projects include dredging of the navigable channel of the Mississippi River at Randolph to remove sedimented sand and mud. Tasks related to conservation include dike construction to protect low-lying areas at Randolph from flooding and subsequent erosion. The Navigation Bulletin No. 2, issued by the USACE in 2006, describes a stone dike construction at Randolph with an approximate elevation of 25 feet (7.6 m) at river mile 770L. #### Earthquakes Located on the southeastern edge of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, the settlement of Randolph is situated in an area with a high earthquake risk. Between 1974 and 2004, ten earthquakes have been recorded in a radius of 10 miles (16 km) around Randolph. The magnitude of the temblors ranged from 1.5 to 3.2 on the Richter scale. The hypocenter depth ranged from 3.1 miles (5.0 km) to 8.2 miles (13.2 km). In the same time period, at a radius of 20 miles (32 km) around Randolph, forty five earthquakes have been reported with magnitudes ranging from 1.0 to 3.2 at a depth between 656 feet (200 m) and 12.1 miles (19.5 km). The highest magnitude earthquake recorded in the area since 1974 occurred on August 19, 1994 – the temblor was measured 3.2 on the Richter scale with an epicenter at coordinates , ca. 2 miles (3 km) west of Randolph, at a depth of 6.6 miles (10.6 km). On January 16, 2009 at 3:09 p.m. local time (21:09 UTC), "a small earthquake shook portions of Tipton County". The earthquake was measured at a magnitude 2.8 on the Richter scale. According to the Center for Earthquake Research and Information (CERI), the epicenter of the temblor was reported to be at coordinates at a depth of 5.3 miles (8.5 km). There were no reports of damage caused by the earthquake. The location of the epicenter was near the first Chickasaw Bluff, about 2 miles (3 km) east of Fort Pillow State Park and ca. 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Randolph. Smaller earthquakes along the New Madrid Seismic Zone are not uncommon. ### Climate Randolph is located in a humid subtropical climate zone. The climate is characterized by hot, humid summers and chilly to mild winters. Significant amounts of precipitation occur in all seasons. At Randolph, July is the warmest month on the average. In 1930, the highest recorded temperature was measured at 108 °F (42 °C). January is the coolest month on the average. In 1951, the lowest recorded temperature was measured at −11 °F (−24 °C). Precipitation peaks in December on the average. The table below displays the average monthly high and low temperatures and precipitation at Randolph. ## Economy Agriculture is the predominating source of income in the area surrounding Randolph, especially the cultivation of cotton. Corn, beans and peas were also cultivated during the last century . After the abolition of slavery in 1865, sharecropping was the primary means of income for low income families in the area. Mostly for the cultivation of cotton, land would be used by sharecroppers in return for a share of the crop to the landowner. Modern machines such as the cotton picker have made the manual cultivation obsolete over time as they took over the work from the manual laborers. In 2008, Randolph has a population of c. 200, and consists of about two dozen dwellings. The economy of the rural community is dominated by agriculture with no major industries and businesses present. ## Culture ### Churches #### Randolph United Methodist Church In 1834, Reverend Samuel R. Davidson became the first pastor at Randolph. He was appointed by the Tennessee Conference of the United Methodist Church. After his appointment as a pastor of the community, a congregation formed around Davidson and built a church at Randolph. The second church at Randolph was built by the congregation in 1883. In 1953, construction of a new church was completed, the building was remodeled in 1975 and serves as a place of worship for the Methodist congregation of Randolph as of 2008. The United Methodist Church at Randolph had 78 pastors as of 1983. In 2008, Reverend Thomas M. Yoder and Reverend Ben Rainey are the appointed pastors at the Randolph Methodist community. Randolph United Methodist Church is located at 98 Ballard Slough Road. The worship attendance for the church is reported as 76 members of the congregation on the average. #### Randolph Assembly of God Randolph Assembly of God is a second place of worship in the town; the church was founded in 2001. In 2008, the congregation is led by Pastor Larry Rose and Pastor Frank Russell. Randolph Assembly of God is located at 1135 Randolph Road. ### Randolph Bluff Historic Park On October 11, 2008, the Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation, a non-profit organization, dedicated Randolph Bluff Historic Park in a celebration with politicians, conservationists, historians and community members. The 19 acres (77,000 m<sup>2</sup>) property on the second Chickasaw Bluff was purchased for \$378,000. The park is intended to promote the Civil War history of the community and make the unique views of the Mississippi River available to a wider public, additional revenue from tourism is expected for the community. Once Randolph Bluff Historic Park is finished, it will be part of the Mississippi River Corridor Tennessee, a project to "create a scenic byway that connects historic sites along the Mississippi River", the project also promotes economical development and the preservation of land and wildlife in the Tennessee counties bordering the Mississippi River. ### Girl Scouts Heart of the South Girl Scouts Heart of the South is a girl scout organization serving 16,500 girls in the Memphis metropolitan area, including counties in West Tennessee, North Mississippi and Crittenden County, Arkansas. Girl Scouts Heart of the South operates six camps and one training center in their area of coverage, including a 104 acres (420,000 m<sup>2</sup>) property in Tipton County, "Camp Annemeekee". The scout camp is located on Girl Scout Road south of Randolph. ## Cemeteries - Old Randolph Cemetery is at coordinates . - Historic Randolph Cemetery is on McClerkin Lane at coordinates . Graves in the cemetery date from the early 19th century to present day. ## Postal A post office was established at Randolph in 1827. The Randolph Post Office was in operation until 1932. The exact location of the post office at Randolph is unknown. In 2008, the U.S. ZIP code for Randolph is 38015 (Burlison, Tennessee). The telephone area code is 901 (Memphis metro area). ## Notable natives - William Clyde Martin (1893–1984), a bishop of three Methodist churches, born in Randolph on July 28, 1893. ## See also - Chickasaw Bluff - Chickasaw Wars - Fort Pillow State Park - Location of Fort Randolph and Fort Wright - Nathan Bedford Forrest - New Madrid Seismic Zone - Steamboats of the Mississippi
57,857,402
Music of the Shadow Hearts series
1,168,218,473
Music of the Shadow Hearts video game series
[ "1999 soundtrack albums", "2001 soundtrack albums", "2004 soundtrack albums", "2005 soundtrack albums", "Disney albums", "Music by video game franchise", "Video game music discographies" ]
The music of the Shadow Hearts role-playing video game series, developed by Japanese game company Sacnoth (later Nautilus), was primarily composed by Yoshitaka Hirota. Hirota collaborated on the original game with Masaharu Iwata, Yasunori Mitsuda and Ryo Fukuda. For its sequel Shadow Hearts: Covenant, Mitsuda returned and was joined by Kenji Ito and Tomoko Kobayashi. The final game From the New World saw Fukuda and Kobayashi return with newcomer Hirotomi Imoto. The Shadow Hearts series originated in the 1999 role-playing game Koudelka, the music of which was composed by company founder Hiroki Kikuta. Each game has received a soundtrack album, with Hirota also producing an arrange album of Shadow Hearts music. Hirota's work on the Shadow Hearts series was directly influenced by his work as a sound designer. The first game's music encompassed a wide range of music genres, with Hirota not wanting it to sound like something from a movie. He also sought to emulate his Gothic-style sound design of Koudelka. The score for Covenant increased the dynamic and emotional elements while retaining the original game's musical style. For From the New World, the team incorporated ethnic elements to represent its setting in the Americas. The recurring theme "Icaro" was initially designed to represent the lead characters of Shadow Hearts, and went on to recur in arranged forms in its two sequels. Reception of the music has generally been positive. ## Series overview Shadow Hearts is a series of role-playing video games for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) produced by Japanese studio Sacnoth, which was later rebranded as Nautilus. The Shadow Hearts series originated as a continuation of Koudelka, an RPG for the original PlayStation conceived by former Square staff member Hiroki Kikuta, who founded Sacnoth to develop the game. The tone of Koudelka inspired that game's art director Matsuzo Machida (originally credited as Matsuzo Itakura) to create the titular first game, which was set in the same universe as Koudelka. Machida took on the role of director. Shadow Hearts was followed by two sequels—Shadow Hearts: Covenant and the spin-off title Shadow Hearts: From the New World—before Nautilus was absorbed into Aruze in 2007 and ended video game production, ultimately ceasing to exist during corporate restructuring in 2009. ## Shadow Hearts ### Shadow Hearts Original Soundtrack Plus1 The music for the original Shadow Hearts was composed by Yoshitaka Hirota, who had worked on the sound design of Koudelka. Hirota worked on the game's music alongside Masaharu Iwata, Yasunori Mitsuda and Ryo Fukuda. Hirota had originally worked as a sound designer on Koudelka. Mitsuda was both an old friend and a frequent collaborator with Hirota on their earlier projects for Square, contributing around ten songs to the soundtrack. Iwata had previously worked on the score of Tactics Ogre, while Fukuda was brought in by Hirota based on their past experience working on the score for Sonic Shuffle. While creating the soundtrack, Hirota wanted to use his background in sound design to make a successor to the "Gothic" style he created for Koudelka's sound effects. He described the inspiration for the soundtrack as coming more from films than games, directly citing the Japanese film Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl. He also attributed possible influence to the games Kowloon's Gate and Baroque, the latter composed by Iwata. Machida gave Hirota's team a basic outline of the game's setting and premise. Hirota's intent was to make the soundtrack "beautiful yet destructive", not wanting players to think it was like a movie score. The soundtrack included over fifty songs, which was a large project for Hirota at this time. He included elements of punk, new wave industrial rock, techno, electronic rock and orchestra. His aim was to create "personal, future ethnic music". A track he later remembered fondly was the battle theme "near death experience", and the theme "qu" which he described as a mixture of ambient sampling and Asian musical elements. Upon first hearing the result, producer Jun Mihara was shocked, as to him the music sounded like a random jumble of genres somehow being fitted together. Despite the shock, he was impressed with the young team's efforts, which motivated him to make the game itself match these images. The game's vocal elements had multiple contributors; the main theme "Icaro" and several additional vocals were provided by Kyoko Kishikawa, while the ending theme "Shadow Hearts" was sung by Hiroko Kasahara. "Icaro" was put together quickly for an internal demo. Hirota wanted the theme to be "short yet striking". Its use in the game's opening sequence where the main protagonist saves the main heroine was intended to show the game's focus on these two characters. Later versions of "Icaro" were used to connect back to that scene and its meaning. The lyrics of "Shadow Hearts" were written by James H. Woan, with lyrics in both Japanese and English. Track titles were also created by Woan. A 2CD soundtrack album for the game, Shadow Hearts Original Soundtrack Plus1, was published by music label Scitron on June 18, 2001. A reprint of the album was released on January 19, 2005. RPGFan called the music "a score of a beauty and quality rarely seen in an OST, that easily stands among the best in recent memory", praising its ambience and unconventional orchestration, although they found some tracks overly dark. The reviewer ended by lauding Hirota's work on the album. Video Game Music Online gave the album a score of 4.5 stars out of 5. The reviewer, while calling the album in general "a mixed bag", praised the emotion and thematic variety displayed by the music. Particular praise went to the battle theme "Near Death Experience", main theme "Icaro", and the vocal theme "Shadow Hearts". His main criticism was towards tracks such as "But-Dad-Dead-Bed" and "Sweet Pillows", which were cited as either uninspired or poorly constructed. He finished by saying "anyone with a taste for adventure and creativity will enjoy this soundtrack significantly". Reviewers of the game also praised the music. Gerald Villoria, writing for GameSpot, praised the soundtrack the audio's strongest point despite some repetition. David Smith of IGN praised the variety and quality of the soundtrack, though he felt Mitsuda's tracks were weaker than his other works. Patrick Gann of RPGFan described the soundtrack as "nothing short of brilliant", describing it as potentially the best RPG soundtrack of 2001. ### Shadow Hearts II Original Soundtrack Composition for Shadow Hearts: Covenant, known in Japan as Shadow Hearts II, was led by Hirota. Mitsuda returned from the original Shadow Hearts, along with series newcomers Kenji Ito and Tomoko Kobayashi; Kobayashi, a staff member at Sacnoth, was responsible for writing some short story-related pieces. The soundtrack includes over sixty songs. Mitsuda contributed between five and six solo pieces, along with working on a few collaborative tracks. The music for the game, as included on the soundtrack album, was composed between June 2002 and the end of 2003. According to sound director Hirotomi Imoto, he asked the composers to take the original sound for Shadow Hearts, deconstruct it and rebuild it. The composers used different tones for their tracks; Hirota created "dark" tracks, Mitsuda focused on melodies with a "beautiful face", and Ito's themes were "mental". Due to the game's shift in tone compared to the original, Hirota wanted a soundtrack that was more dynamic and emotional without surrendering the signature Shadow Hearts sound. Mitsuda had difficulty during early production as he wanted to adapt his music to better fit the Shadow Hearts universe, but at Hirota's insistence he maintained his own style which was fitted into the game's overall score. Covenant was Ito's very first project for the PS2, his first time working with Hirota and Mitsuda, and the first time he ever collaborated on a major track, this being the final boss theme "The 3 Karma". "The 3 Karma" was co-composed by Hirota, Mitsuda and Ito. The piece came together after the three composers had a private meeting, and after the speed and tempo were set each was allowed to go in their own direction. Because of the battle's style, a limited number of instruments were used for the theme. During the recording process, there was a combination of scripted music and improvisations from the performers. The previous game's main theme "Icaro" was included as a part of the soundtrack, with Hirota rearranging it while preserving its core musical notes. The ending theme "Getsurenka" was written by Hirota, with lyrics by Kumiko Hasegawa, and performed by Mio Isayama. "Getsurenka" was described by Machida as the "true feelings" of main heroine Karin. Its tone, according to the producer Asako Oikawa, was decided upon once he and Machida had finalized the game's ending. The lyrics were intended to be the words heroine Karin Koenig wanted to say to Yuri but was unable to before that point. Upon receiving the request, Hasegawa was inspired by their combined effect with a near-full moon outside her home to turn off all the lights and write the lyrics by moonlight; the song was written as a love poem. Isayama was so impressed by the emotion within the lyrics that she "sang from [her] heart". A 2CD soundtrack album, Shadow Hearts II Original Soundtrack, was published by Team Entertainment on March 24, 2004. Video Game Music Online was very positive, citing the battle themes as one of the album's strengths and giving praise to the environmental and dungeon themes. He enjoyed Mitsuda's contributions despite their low number, but felt Ito's use of electronica made his tracks contrast against the rest of the album. Jesse Jones of RPGFan was generally positive, with tracks such as "Astaroth" and the ending theme receiving particular praise, but he felt that several tracks felt lacking compared to the first game. Some tracks including "Town of Twilight" suffered in Jones's eyes due to their overuse in Covenant. Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com praised the soundtrack, positively mentioning Mitsuda's contributions. GamePro positively noted that the music "gets dramatic during every battle", and Bethany Massimilla of GameSpot found it enjoyable and praised the battle and main themes. IGN's Jeremy Dunham felt that the soundtrack was not as good as the first game, but still called it a strength of the game. Mark Marrow of PALGN said the score "does a nice job of fitting in with the context of each area", and RPGFan's Mike Bracken echoed Dunham's opinion on the score's weakness compared to Shadow Hearts despite saying that anyone interested in game music should get the soundtrack album. ### Shadow Hearts: From the New World Original Soundtrack Composition for From the New World was once more led by Hirota, who was joined by Fukuda, Kobayashi (credited as Tomoko Imoto), and newcomer Hirotomi Imoto, the latter also acting as sound director. Due to the game's setting of the Americas, the soundtrack made heavy use of ethnic instruments and vocals, with the overall theme being "thirst"; this was meant to evoke both the desert environment and people's thirst for connections. For the lyrics, the team used both Latin and Italian. The production of the soundtrack, as with the rest of the game, was on a tight schedule and caused trouble for some members. Before starting on the score, Hirota researched the cultures of Native American tribes, seeing a shared belief in coexistence with the world that informed his concept for the game's music. After his research, he came up with the concept of ancient instruments fusing with modern electronic elements, which would become the main theme of the score. Hirota handled the majority of the tracks, with his first completed piece being the theme "Dream Catcher", which played during a key story sequence. Fukada, who previously played a minor role for the last two Shadow Hearts titles, was invited by Hirota to contribute solo tracks to the score. Fukada acted as both composer and arranger for the game. A number of ethnic instruments were used throughout the score, including a didgeridoo and a cajón. Their use tied into the game's setting of the "new world". As with Covenant, the series' main theme "Icaro" was used in an arranged form; this time it appeared in the opening theme "Great Ghost Dance". The choral work for the game was led by Akiko Shikata. During her work on the chorus segments, including the spirit sequences, she had to redo several of her tracks so they would come off as primal, with one piece needing to be redone when Imoto rung her up and complained that it sounded like a "men's festival"; she adjusted it so it sounded more ceremonial. For one early segment set inside a theater, Shikata used the aria "D'Oreste, d'Ajace" from the opera Idomeneo by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. She picked the area due to its dark tone, consequently working it into the environment. The chorus work included the use of Tuvan throat singing for some tracks including "Dream Catcher" and "Great Ghost Dance". The game's ending theme "Spread My Wings" was composed by Hirota, and written and sung by Takehara Tomoaki of the indie funk band Taste of Chocolate. A 2CD soundtrack album, Shadow Hearts: From the New World Original Soundtrack, was released by Team Entertainment on August 24, 2005. Video Game Music Online was generally positive about the album, enjoying several tracks including the "Fusion" themes of heroine Shania and different environment themes due to fitting their locations fairly well. The ending theme "Spread My Wings" was criticised as inferior to the previous theme songs. Summarising the album, the reviewer said: "Overall, it's a good album. Not great, since many of the themes have the potential to become very repetitive after repeated listenings." Wilson felt that the soundtrack was much stronger than that of Covenant though still inferior to the first game, and despite an uneven start the album was generally strong. Massimilla said that the score "remains oddly compelling in the Shadow Hearts style". Dunham was highly positive about the game's soundtrack, giving it high praise in contrast to his opinions on the voice acting. Tristan Kalogeropoulos of PALGN praised the music, saying it matched the game's tone and tied the action together. Gann said that, despite some "redundant" town themes, the soundtrack was one of the game's strongest elements despite disliking "Spread My Wings". ## Other albums ### Koudelka Original Soundtrack The music for Koudelka was composed by Kikuta, who had previously composed the scores of Secret of Mana, Seiken Densetsu 3 and Soukaigi for Square; he wrote the music alongside his roles as the game's director, producer and writer. Kikuta found composing the score the easiest part of development due to mainly working on his own. His concept for the musical elements of Koudelka were created alongside the setting and narrative. The score was arranged by Kikuta and Nick Ingman. To compose the most of the game's tracks, Kikuta used Atari Notator sound software. While he found the lack of compression an issue, the better sequencing compared to the software he used for earlier games was very useful when creating the score for the CGI cutscenes. Due to there being a smaller amount of music than the average RPG, the score was completed within six months. Rather than having looping tracks like his earlier work with Square, the soundtrack of Koudelka used ambient sounds and short tracks related to cutscenes outside of battle themes. The game featured influences from church music. The opening vocal theme "Requiem" was performed by Catherine Bott, while the ending theme "Ubi Caritas et amor"—taken from a larger composition by Maurice Duruflé—was performed by the London Oratory School. Excerpts from the score were used in a CD drama adaptation of the game released in November 1999 by Scitron Digital Contents. The soundtrack album for the game, Koudelka Original Soundtrack, was published on December 1, 1999, by Pony Canyon and Scitron Digital Contents, featuring over an hour of music across 34 tracks. The album included all tracks from the game, and live versions of three of the battle themes arranged by Naoya Akimoto. Harry Simons of Video Game Music Online gave a mixed opinion of the album, praising several tracks but finding the rest either lacking or poorly written. RPGFan's Patrick Gann was highly positive about the game's music aside from the live tracks, which he referred to as "a bomb". Reviewers of the games were divided about the soundtrack. GameSpot's Ike Sato called the soundtrack "simply amazing", and Jake Alley of RPGamer enjoyed most aspects of the music while finding the battle themes clashed with the game's tone. David Zdyrko of IGN was unimpressed by the environmental music and called the battle themes "very worst... [that have] ever been used in a console role-playing game." Ken Chu, writing for RPGFan, found the soundtrack disappointing compared to Kikuta's previous work. Dutch magazine Power Unlimited was particularly scathing, calling the music "a disaster". ### Near Death Experience: Shadow Hearts Arrange Tracks Planning for the arrange album Near Death Experience began as Hirota was producing the soundtrack of From the New World. The album's title derived from his opinion that senses were interconnected. The main wish of Hirota was to rid himself of the practical side of music development, which had previously restrained his creative abilities for the Shadow Hearts series and involved working with multiple composers who stuck to their own styles due to time constraints. For the remixes, Hirota decided to experiment with his own style while retaining the core of each track. The album featured tracks from all three Shadow Hearts games, covering compositions by Hirota, Mitsuda, Ito and Imoto. Each also provided arrangements; Hirota handled five out of the eleven tracks, while the others worked on two each. The album was published by Team Entertainment on August 24, 2005. These four also arranged the tracks. The two music critics who reviewed the title had split opinions on the album despite generally liking the tracks included. Video Game Music Online's Eduardo Friedman called the album "fantastic", particularly noting arrangements for the titular battle theme from the first game and Hirota's arrangement of "The 3 Karma". Mike Wilson of RPGFan ranked the album as a 6.5 out of 10. While he enjoyed some arrangements, he felt there was a general lack of effort put into the arrangements. A track criticised by both was Mitsuda's arrangement of Covenant boss theme "Astaroth", which they felt was inferior to the original.
5,106,497
Russian battleship Tsesarevich
1,170,613,400
Russian pre-dreadnought battleship
[ "1901 ships", "Battleships of Russia", "Battleships of the Imperial Russian Navy", "Battleships of the Soviet Navy", "Maritime incidents in 1904", "Russo-Japanese War battleships of Russia", "Ships built in France", "Shipwrecks of China", "World War I battleships of Russia" ]
Tsesarevich (Russian: Цесаревич) was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy, built in France at the end of the 19th century. The ship's design formed the basis of the Russian-built Borodino-class battleships. She was based at Port Arthur, northeast China, after entering service and fought in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Tsesarevich was torpedoed during the surprise attack on Port Arthur and was repaired to become the flagship of Rear Admiral Wilgelm Vitgeft in the Battle of the Yellow Sea and was interned in Tsingtau after the battle. After the war, the ship was transferred to the Baltic Fleet and helped to suppress the Sveaborg Rebellion in mid-1906. While on a Mediterranean cruise, her crew helped survivors of the 1908 Messina earthquake in Sicily. Tsesarevich was not very active during the early part of World War I and her bored sailors joined the general mutiny of the Baltic Fleet in early 1917. Now named Grazhdanin, the ship participated in the Battle of Moon Sound in 1917, during which she was lightly damaged. The ship was seized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution in late 1917 and decommissioned the following year. Grazhdanin was scrapped in 1924–1925. ## Design and description Tsar Nicholas II had desired a warm-water port on the Pacific since his accession to the throne in 1894. He achieved this ambition in March 1898 when Russia signed a 25-year lease for Port Arthur and the Liaotung Peninsula with China. Japan had previously forced China to sign over the port and its surrounding territory as part of the treaty that concluded the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, but the Triple Intervention of France, Russia, and Germany forced them to return the port in exchange for a sizeable increase in the indemnity paid by the Chinese. Japan invested much of the indemnity money in expanding its fleet, while Russia began a major building programme ("For the Needs of the Far East") to defend its newly acquired port. Russian shipyards were already at full capacity so the Naval Ministry decided to order ships from abroad. Specifications were issued on 14 June 1898 and a few days later the chief designer of the French shipyard Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée proposed a design based on that of the French battleship Jauréguiberry. The Naval Technical Committee approved the design with a few changes to which the French readily agreed. The General Admiral, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich, selected the French design over a competing proposal from the Baltic Works. A contract was signed on 20 July 1898 at a cost of 30.28 million francs (11.355 million rubles) for delivery in 42 months. Tsesarevich's most obvious design feature was her tumblehome hull. This had several advantages because it allowed greater freeboard since the narrow upper decks reduced the structural weight of the vessel's hull, it increased the field of fire of guns mounted on the sides, and it reduced the ship's roll in heavy seas. Its great disadvantage was that it reduced buoyancy and stability which contributed to excessive heel during turns. During the Battle of the Yellow Sea in August 1904, Imperial Japanese Navy observers thought the Tsesarevich was going to capsize when she suddenly turned out of the battleline. Tsesarevich was 118.5 metres (388 ft 9 in) long overall, had a beam of 23.2 metres (76 ft 1 in) and a draught of 7.92 metres (26 ft 0 in). The ship displaced 13,105 tonnes (12,898 long tons). Her crew consisted of 28–29 officers and 750 enlisted men. The ship was powered by two vertical triple-expansion steam engines using steam generated by 20 Belleville boilers at a working pressure of 19 kg/cm<sup>2</sup> (1,863 kPa; 270 psi). The boilers were fitted with economizers that preheated their feed water. The engines were rated at 16,300 indicated horsepower (12,200 kW) and designed to reach a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). Tsesarevich handily exceeded her design speed and reached 18.77 knots (34.76 km/h; 21.60 mph) from 15,254 ihp (11,375 kW) during her official machinery trials in July–August 1903. She normally carried 800 long tons (810 t) of coal, but could carry a maximum of 1,350 long tons (1,370 t). This allowed the ship to steam for 5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). Tsesarevich was fitted with six steam-driven electric generators with a total capacity of 550 kilowatts (740 hp). ### Armament and fire control Tsesarevich's main armament consisted of two pairs of 40-calibre 12-inch guns mounted in electrically powered twin-gun turrets, one forward and one aft of the superstructure. The guns and their mountings were Russian-built, but the turrets themselves were made in France. The guns could be loaded at all angles of elevation and the turrets could traverse 270°. Trials revealed that the ammunition hoists tended to jam when the ship was rolling; the shipyard shipped new hoists to Port Arthur because the Russians wanted the ship in the Far East as soon as possible and they were installed in January 1904. The ship carried 70 rounds per gun. The guns fired one shell every 90–132 seconds. They fired a 731.3-pound (331.7 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity of 2,598 ft/s (792 m/s) to a range of 16,010 yards (14,640 m) at an elevation of 15°. The secondary armament of a dozen 45-caliber Canet Model 1892 6-inch (152 mm) (QF) guns was mounted in six electrically powered twin-gun turrets on the upper deck. The corner turrets had a 150° arc of fire and the center turrets could cover 180°. Each gun was provided with 200 rounds. Their rate of fire was 2–4 rounds per minute. They fired shells that weighed 91 lb (41.4 kg) with a muzzle velocity of 2,600 ft/s (792.5 m/s). They had a maximum range of approximately 12,600 yards (11,500 m). A number of smaller guns were carried for defense against torpedo boats. These included twenty 50-calibre Canet QF 75-millimetre (3 in) guns; 14 in hull embrasures and the remaining six mounted on the superstructure. The ship carried 300 shells for each gun. They fired a 11-pound (4.9 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity of 2,700 ft/s (820 m/s) to a maximum range of 7,005 yards (6,405 m) at an elevation of 13°. Tsesarevich also mounted twenty 47-millimetre (1.9 in) Hotchkiss guns in the superstructure. They fired a 2.2-pound (1.00 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity of 1,400 ft/s (430 m/s) at a rate of around 15 rounds per minute. Eight smaller Maxim QF 37-millimetre (1.5 in) guns were also fitted, but their locations are unknown. They fired a 1-pound (0.45 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity of 1,319 ft/s (402 m/s). The ship carried four 381-millimetre (15 in) torpedo tubes; two of these were mounted above water in the bow and stern, and the two broadside underwater tubes were located near the forward 12-inch magazine. Tsesarevich carried a total of 14 torpedoes. The ship also carried 45 mines to be laid to protect her anchorage in remote areas. The ship was fitted with two British Barr and Stroud coincidence rangefinders that used two images that had to be superimposed to derive the range. The gunnery officer then calculated the proper elevation and deflection required to hit the target and transmitted his commands via a Geisler electro-mechanical fire-control transmission system to each turret. ### Protection Tsesarevich used the latest Krupp armor in a version of the French cellular armor scheme. This consisted of a full-length waterline armoured belt with armored decks above and below. Behind the belt were well-subdivided compartments mostly used to store coal. This was intended to keep the ship afloat regardless of the damage inflicted above the upper armoured deck. The waterline armor belt was 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) high, with 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) below the waterline at normal load. It had a maximum thickness of 250 millimetres (9.8 in) for a length of 60 metres (196 ft 10 in) amidships which gradually reduced to a thickness of 180 millimetres (7.1 in) at the bow and 170 millimetres (6.7 in) at the stern. The belt tapered to a thickness of 170 millimetres at its bottom edge amidships and presumably tapered proportionally along its length. Above the waterline belt was an upper strake of armour that was 1.67 metres (5 ft 6 in) high and had a maximum thickness of 200 millimetres (7.9 in). It was slightly shorter than the waterline belt and similarly reduced in thickness towards the ends of the ship. Forward it consisted of 120-millimetre (4.7 in) armour plates and 130 millimetres (5.1 in) aft. The armor of the main gun turrets and their supporting tubes was 250 millimetres thick with roofs 63 millimetres (2.5 in) thick. Below the upper armour deck the armour of the support tubes decreased to 100 millimetres (3.9 in). The turrets of the secondary armament had 150-millimetre (5.9 in) sides with 30 millimetres (1.2 in) roofs. The sides of the conning tower were 254 millimetres (10.0 in) thick and it had a 63-millimetre roof. It had a communications tube that extended down to the upper armoured deck that was protected by 100-millimetre armour. The funnel uptakes were protected by 19 millimetres (0.7 in) of armour for the height of one deck above the upper armoured deck. Above the upper armour belt there was a deck that ran the full length of the ship that consisted of a 50-millimetre (2.0 in) armour plate laid on 10-millimetre (0.39 in) deck plating. At the top of the waterline belt was two layers of 20-millimetre (0.79 in) armour. It also extended the full length of the ship, but not the full width; it curved downward behind the belt and was connected to the lower edge of the belt by a 20-millimetre plate. It continued downward to the ship's inner bottom plates and formed a sort of torpedo bulkhead. This bulkhead was 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) from the side of the ship and extended for a length of 84 metres (275 ft 7 in). It was backed with coal bunkers. ## Construction and service Construction began on Tsesarevich, named after the title of the heir to the Russian throne, on 18 May 1899 at the Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée shipyard in La Seyne-sur-Mer, France. The ship was laid down on 8 July 1899 and launched on 23 February 1901. Construction was supervised by Captain Ivan Grigorovich, who became the ship's first captain. Tsesarevich entered service in August 1903 and was assigned to the Far East. She arrived in Port Arthur on 2 December 1903. Upon completion, the Tsesarevich was the Russian Navy's best battleship at the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War. After the Japanese victory in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, both Russia and Japan had ambitions to control Manchuria and Korea, resulting in tensions between the two nations. Japan had begun negotiations to reduce the tensions in 1901, but the Russian government was slow and uncertain in its replies because it had not yet decided exactly how to resolve the problems. Japan interpreted this as deliberate prevarication designed to buy time to complete the Russian armament programs. The situation was worsened by Russia's failure to withdraw its troops from Manchuria in October 1903 as promised. The final straws were the news of Russian timber concessions in northern Korea and the Russian refusal to acknowledge Japanese interests in Manchuria while continuing to place conditions on Japanese activities in Korea. These actions caused the Japanese government to decide in December 1903 that war was inevitable. As tensions with Japan increased, the Pacific Squadron began mooring in the outer harbor at night in order to react more quickly to any Japanese attempt to land troops in Korea. ### Russo-Japanese War She was one of three ships to be struck by Japanese torpedoes in the surprise attack on the night of 8/9 February 1904. Tsesarevich was hit abaft the portside torpedo bulkhead and the ship took on an 18° list that was partially corrected by counterflooding compartments on the starboard side. She got underway, but ran aground at the narrow harbor entrance. She was refloated and moved into the harbour for repairs that lasted until 7 June. Some of the ship's guns were removed during the summer to reinforce the defenses of the port. Tsesarevich lost a total of four 75-millimetre, two 47-millimetre and two 37-millimetre guns. The ship was hit twice on 7 August by Japanese 4.7-inch (120 mm) shells fired at long range; a fragment from one of them lightly wounded rear admiral Wilgelm Vitgeft. #### Battle of the Yellow Sea On the morning of 10 August, the First Pacific Squadron sortied from Port Arthur in an attempt to break through the Japanese fleet blockading the port and reach Vladivostok. The Russian squadron consisted of six battleships, Tsesarevich, Retvizan, Pobeda, Peresvet, Sevastopol and Poltava, along with four protected cruisers and eight destroyers. The Japanese fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō, was comprised four battleships, Mikasa, Asahi, Fuji, Shikishima, two armoured cruisers Nishin and Kasuga, as well as seven protected cruisers. Tsesarevich and Pobeda both suffered mechanical problems within an hour of departure that forced the fleet to slow down to a speed of 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph). Tōgō failed in his attempt to cross the Russian's T after spotting them around 12:25 and a general engagement began around 13:25 with the Japanese ships concentrating their fire on Tsesarevich and Retvizan, but the effective Russian fire forced Togo to disengage around 15:20. He closed with the Russians about two hours later and opened fire at 17:35. Neither side was able to mortally damage any ships while the Russians were still in the lead with about a half-hour of daylight left when two 12-inch shells fired by Asahi struck near Tsesarevich's conning tower at 18:40. Shell fragments bounced off the conning tower's overhanging roof into the conning tower, killing Vitgeft, two staff officers and the helmsman. The ship turned to port with the steering wheel jammed and was followed by several other battleships. Tsesarevich became the focus of attention from every Japanese ship so the captain of Retvizan decided to charge the Japanese battleline to buy time for Tsesarevich to fix her steering problem. He succeeded in doing so and the squadron's second-in-command, Rear Admiral Prince Pavel Ukhtomsky gradually asserted command over the scattered Russian ships and ordered them back to Port Arthur in the darkness. Tsesarevich attempted to head north to Vladivostok in the dark, but her damaged funnels greatly increased her coal consumption and reduced her speed to only 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) so that she was forced to head for the German treaty port of Tsingtau instead with three destroyers for escort. Upon arrival the following day, Tsesarevich and her companions were interned and disarmed. The ship had been hit by thirteen 12-inch and two 8-inch (203 mm) shells that killed 12 and wounded 47 members of her crew. ### Post Russo-Japanese War and WWI At the end of the Russo-Japanese war, the ship was transferred to the Baltic in early 1906 and helped to suppress the Sveaborg Rebellion on 1 August. Around 1906, her fighting top was removed and her superstructure was cut down. The 75-millimetre guns in the superstructure were apparently removed as well. Tsesarevich made regular winter cruises to the Mediterranean before World War I and aided survivors of the Messina earthquake in December 1908. In 1909–1910 the ship's machinery was overhauled and her amidships casemated 75-millimetre guns were removed and plated over four years later. Tsesarevich was not very active during the early part of World War I and she reportedly received two 37-millimetre anti-aircraft guns during the war. Her crew joined the general mutiny of the Baltic Fleet on 16 March 1917, after the idle sailors received word of the February Revolution in Saint Petersburg. She was renamed Grazhdanin (Russian: Гражданин (meaning Citizen)) on 13 April 1917 after the February Revolution. The ship took part in the Battle of Moon Sound in October 1917 off the coast of Estonia. During the climatic part of the battle, Grazhdanin engaged the German minesweepers on 17 October with little effect while the predreadnought Slava engaged the German dreadnoughts König and Kronprinz. The latter fired at Grazhdanin and hit her twice, killing one and wounding four crewmen, although neither hit caused significant damage. The German dreadnoughts outranged Grazhdanin, and she was forced to abandon Moon Sound in the face of German pressure. By December the ship was in Kronstadt, where she came under the control of the Bolsheviks, and she was hulked there in May 1918. Grazhdanin was scrapped beginning in 1924, although she was not officially stricken from the Navy List until 21 November 1925.
54,664,284
Typhoon Faith
1,132,972,680
Pacific typhoon in 1998
[ "1998 Pacific typhoon season", "1998 in Vietnam", "1998 in the Philippines", "Typhoons", "Typhoons in Vietnam", "Typhoons in the Philippines" ]
Typhoon Faith, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Norming, struck both the Philippines and Vietnam during December 1998. A tropical disturbance developed within the vicinity of the western Caroline Islands during early December. At midday on December 8, the system developed into a tropical depression. Tracking northwest at a brisk pace, the depression gradually intensified, and was upgraded into a tropical storm at noon on December 9. Quickly intensifying, Faith turned to the west-northwest, and after tracking near Samar Island on the evening of December 10, Faith attained typhoon intensity. After clipping the northern tip of Palawan Island, the typhoon entered the South China Sea at peak intensity. Across the Philippines, 33 people were killed, with 30 others wounded and 36 others listed missing. A total of 6,423 homes were damaged and 3,234 houses were destroyed, leaving more than 20,000 homeless. Damage was estimated at \$25.9 million, with \$6.82 million from crops, \$15.9 million from public infrastructure, and \$3.37 million from private infrastructure. The typhoon tracked westward before tracking west-southwest, only to decelerate to the west-northwest. Increased wind shear took toll on the storm and caused a weakening trend. On December 12, Faith lost typhoon intensity, and two days later, Faith weakened into a tropical depression. After striking Vietnam, the depression rapidly dissipated over land. At least 38 people were killed in Vietnam with over 10,000 evacuated due to flooding in low-lying areas. Damage in Vietnam exceeded \$20 million. ## Meteorological history On December 8, 1998, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert for a tropical disturbance located within the vicinity of the western Caroline Islands. At 06:00 UTC, the JTWC upgraded the system, which was located 565 km (350 mi) east-southeast of Palau, into a tropical depression, with the JMA following suit six hours later. Initially, the depression moved fairly quickly on a northwesterly course in response to a weak trough to its north, while also slowly strengthening and passing about 185 km (115 mi) north of Palau. At 00:00 UTC on December 9, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) began to track the storm and assigned it with the local name Norming. At noon, PAGASA and the JMA upgraded the depression to a tropical storm, and six hours later, the JTWC followed suit. After crossing the 10th parallel north, Faith turned towards the west-northwest, and by December 10, the storm entered a period of rapid intensification. The JMA upgraded Faith into a severe tropical storm early on December 10, and twelve hours later, the JTWC classified Faith, just offshore Samar Island, as a typhoon. The typhoon then tracked across the islands of Samar and Masbate, and next clipped the northern tip of Palawan Island before entering the South China Sea. At 18:00 UTC, the JMA upgraded Faith into a typhoon, while also estimating that it attained its peak intensity of 120 km/h (75 mph) and a minimum barometric pressure of 970 mbar (28.6 inHg). After clearing the Philippines, Typhoon Faith tracked westward and briefly moved west-southwest. On the evening of December 11, the JTWC increased the intensity to 170 km/h (105 mph), its peak wind speed. While maintaining peak intensity, Typhoon Faith slowly decelerated while tracking on a west-northwesterly course as it approached the Vietnamese coast due to the effects of another mid-latitude trough, which eroded the subtropical ridge to its north. As a result of this pattern change, Faith began to encounter increased wind shear, which triggered a weakening trend, and at 00:00 UTC on December 12, the JMA downgraded Faith into a severe tropical storm. At 00:00 UTC on December 14, Faith made landfall in Vietnam just north of Nha Trang. At the time of landfall, the JTWC estimated winds of 115 km/h (70 mph) while the JMA determined that Faith had weakened to a tropical depression. Once inland, the storm began to quickly dissipate; the JMA ceased tracking the system at noon the same day. ## Preparations and impact ### Philippines In advance of the typhoon, authorities issued a No. 3 storm signal, even though only a No. 1 storm signal was issued for Manila. On December 13, all classes in Manila were suspended. Sixteen Philippine Airlines flights to and from the central Philippines were cancelled. In the capital city of Manila, heavy rains caused street flooding. Several villages on Samar island were flooded. Around 400 people combined in the Catanduanes and Aklan provinces were evacuated to shelter due to rising floodwaters. A grocery store in Ibajay collapsed due to high winds. Toppled posts and downed trees clogged highways in the province of Sorsogon. Two bodies were recovered off Dumaguete. Offshore, the Philippine Navy rescued 100 people from a ferry traveling from the Philippines to Malaysia. A 12 m (40 ft) boat sunk offshore Zamboanga City; all 10 of its crew were rescued to safety. Off of Pilas Island, four people were rescued and eleven were missing when the boat Myra-1 sank in heavy seas. Seventeen passengers were rescued, fourteen people were rendered missing, and two bodies were recovered when high waves toppled the motor vessel Lion No. 3. Overall, 33 people were killed, with 30 others wounded and 36 others listed missing. A total of 6,423 homes were damaged and 3,234 houses were destroyed, leaving more than 20,000 homeless. Damage was estimated at \$25.9 million, with \$6.82 million from crops, \$15.9 million from public infrastructure, and \$3.37 million from private infrastructure. The storm affected 17 provinces, and 135 evacuation centers were opened. Following the storm, Philippines President Joseph Estrada pledged emergency funding for four provinces struck by the typhoon, along with a series of wintertime rainstorms. ### Vietnam Faith was the second tropical cyclone to affect Vietnam that month, following Tropical Storm Dawn. Twenty-one people were killed in Khanh Hoa Province and Binh Dinh Province, including five in Da Nang. Nationwide, at least 38 people were killed in Vietnam with over 10,000 evacuated due to flooding in low-lying areas. Damage in Vietnam exceeded \$20 million. A total of 602 homes were destroyed, another 16,327 were damaged, and 58,487 ha (144,520 acres) of rice fields were inundated. ## See also - Typhoon Nancy (1982)
61,100,813
Spencer Knight
1,169,931,082
American ice hockey player
[ "2001 births", "AHCA Division I men's ice hockey All-Americans", "American men's ice hockey goaltenders", "Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey players", "Charlotte Checkers (2010–) players", "Florida Panthers draft picks", "Florida Panthers players", "Ice hockey players from Connecticut", "Living people", "National Hockey League first-round draft picks", "People from Darien, Connecticut", "Sportspeople from Fairfield County, Connecticut", "USA Hockey National Team Development Program players" ]
Spencer Knight (born April 19, 2001) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Panthers selected him in the first round, 13th overall, of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Born and raised in Darien, Connecticut, Knight became a goaltender after watching Henrik Lundqvist play for the New York Rangers. He spent one year at Darien High School and another at Avon Old Farms before joining the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in 2018. After setting a program record by winning 59 games in two seasons, Knight, who was the first goaltender to be drafted by the Panthers in the first round, played college ice hockey for the Boston College Eagles. In his sophomore year with Boston College, he was named both the Hockey East Goaltending Champion and the Player of the Year, and he was a two-time finalist for the Mike Richter Award. Knight left Boston College in 2021 to join the Panthers for the end of their 2020–21 season. He debuted with the team the day after his 20th birthday, becoming the first goaltender born in the 21st century to play in the NHL. Although he made 36 saves in his playoff debut, the Panthers were eliminated from the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round. Knight started the 2021–22 season as part of a goaltending tandem with Sergei Bobrovsky, but Bobrovsky's strong performance and Knight's unevenness led him to become a backup as the season progressed. ## Early life Knight was born on April 19, 2001, in Darien, Connecticut, to Chris and Lilly Knight. He began playing ice hockey at the age of two, and he started playing as a goaltender when he was ten years old. A fan of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League, Knight was partially motivated to goaltend by watching Henrik Lundqvist. He attended Darien High School for one year before transferring to Avon Old Farms, where he became the hockey team's starting goaltender in his first season. Playing alongside Trevor Zegras, Knight posted a 1.89 goals against average (GAA) and .935 save percentage (SV%) at Avon in 22 games as a sophomore. Knight left Avon Old Farms after the 2016–17 season to join the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP) in Michigan. In his first season with the team, Knight went 27–6–0 in 39 games, with a .911 SV%, 2.56 GAA, and one shutout. The following year, he posted a 32–4–1 record, 2.36 GAA, .913 SV%, and two shutouts in 39 games. In 78 games with the NTDP, Knight set the program record with 59 wins across two seasons. ## Playing career ### College Going into the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, the NHL Central Scouting Bureau ranked Knight the No. 1 available goaltender in North America. The Florida Panthers selected him 13th overall, the first time they had taken a goaltender in the first round of the NHL draft, and he was the highest-drafted goaltender of any team since the Dallas Stars selected Jack Campbell 11th overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Before joining the Panthers, however, Knight attended Boston College to play hockey for the Eagles. Knight made his college hockey debut and recorded his first win in the Eagles' opening-night win over Wisconsin. Boston College won the game 5–3, with Knight making 23 saves in the process. After posting a 1.12 GAA and .959 SV% in November, he was named the Hockey East Rookie of the Month. This was followed by a Hockey East Goaltender of the Month honor in December, when he finished the month on a nine-game winning streak. In 15 starts by the end of December, Knight led the conference with four shutouts and was second with a .940 SV% and 1.73 GAA. The Eagles won the Hockey East regular-season title with their 4–1 defeat of rival Boston University on February 29, 2020. Knight made 30 saves to help Boston College to their victory. Boston College would have entered the 2020 Hockey East Men's Ice Hockey Tournament as the No. 1 seed, but the tournament was cancelled due to concerns over the emergent COVID-19 pandemic. Knight finished his freshman season with a 23–8–2 record, .931 SV%, and 1.97 GAA, and he was a finalist for the Mike Richter Award. Although the award ultimately went to Jeremy Swayman of the Maine Black Bears, Knight was named to both the Hockey East All-Rookie Team and the Second All-Star Team. Knight and his teammate Matthew Boldy both received Hockey East Player of the Week Honors for their two-game sweep of the Providence Friars on December 4 and 5, 2020. Knight shut out the Friars in both games, stopping all 66 shots that he faced in the series. He was named the Hockey East Goaltender of the Month as a combined award for November and December after beginning the season 4–0–0 with a .955 SV% and 1.50 GAA. He finished the season with a 15–2–1 record in 18 starts, accompanied by a .937 SV% and 1.99 GAA. Hockey East named Knight both a First Team All-Star and their 2021 Goaltender of the Year. He was also named the Hockey East Player of the Year, becoming the first goaltender to win the award since Thatcher Demko in 2016. A finalist for both the Mike Richter Award and the Hobey Baker Award, the American Hockey Coaches Association named Knight a Division I All-American. Despite making a season-high 43 saves in Boston College's semifinal game against UMass Lowell in the semifinal rounds of the 2021 Hockey East Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Boston College lost the game 6–5 in double overtime. The Eagles advanced to the 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, where they lost 4–1 to St. Cloud State in the Northeast Regional Finals. Knight made 32 saves, but the Huskies outshot the Eagles 36–27 to win the game. After the Eagles' 2020–21 season came to a close, Knight agreed to finish his college career to sign with the Panthers. He finished his career with a 39–12–3 record, a 2.05 GAA, and eight shutouts in 54 starts. ### Professional Knight signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Panthers on March 31, 2021, joining the team for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. He made his NHL debut on April 20, 2021, and made 33 saves on 34 shots of the Panthers' 5–1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. In addition to becoming the youngest goaltender to record a win for the Panthers, he was the first in franchise history to win his debut game. Debuting the day after his 20th birthday, Knight was the first goaltender born in the 21st century to appear in an NHL game. He made four regular-season appearances with the Panthers, winning all of them and posting a .919 SV% and 2.32 GAA. In doing so, he became the youngest goaltender in NHL history to begin his career 4–0. The Panthers entered the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs facing the Tampa Bay Lightning. Facing elimination in Game 5 of the best-of-seven series, coach Joel Quenneville gave Knight the start over Sergei Bobrovsky and Chris Driedger. He allowed a goal on the first shot of the game, from Blake Coleman, but made 36 saves to win the game 4–1 for Florida. At 20 years and 35 days of age, Knight was the second-youngest NHL goaltender to win his playoff debut, following Don Beaupre, who was 19 years and 202 days old when he won for the Minnesota North Stars in the 1981 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Panthers were eliminated from the playoffs in the next game with a 4–0 shutout loss. Knight allowed three goals, with Alex Killorn scoring the fourth on an empty net. The Panthers lost Driedger to the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, and so they entered the 2021–22 season with a goaltending tandem of Bobrovsky and Knight. Florida opened the season 10–0–1, with Knight posting a .918 SV% and 2.51 GAA in his first five starts. Knight's playing time decreased as the season progressed, both due to inconsistent performances on his end and due to Bobrovsky's resurgence. On January 29, 2022, the Panthers sent Knight to the Charlotte Checkers, their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, to "keep his cadence" and continue to receive playing time through the NHL All-Star Game break. He spent all of February in Charlotte, going 7–3–0 with a .917 SV% before he was recalled back to Florida on March 6. After going 6–1–0 with a 2.16 GAA and .925 SV% in seven games that month, including a shutout, Knight was named the NHL Rookie of the Month for April 2022. In 32 games during his sophomore NHL season, Knight finished with a 19–9–3 record, a .908 SV%, and a 2.79 GAA. He entered the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs as a backup to Bobrovsky, not appearing at all in the Panthers' first-round series against the Washington Capitals. On September 27, 2022, Knight signed a three-year contract extension with the Panthers. ## International play Knight won a bronze medal with the NTDP at the 2019 IIHF World U18 Championships in Sweden. He had a 1.51 GAA and .936 SV% in six tournament games, winning five and losing to the Russian team in a semifinal round shootout. That same year, he traveled to the 2019 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships with the silver medalist USA junior team as their third goaltender. After not receiving any playing time in the 2019 tournament, Knight hoped to play a larger role for the United States team at the 2020 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. The team was eliminated in the quarterfinals after a 1–0 loss to Finland, but Knight personally played well, with two wins, a 2.49 GAA, and .913 SV% in the four games in which he appeared. Following his team's early elimination in 2020, Knight and the United States won gold at the 2021 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, shutting out Canada 2–0 in the championship match. Knight finished the tournament with a 5–1–0 record, 1.63 GAA, .940 SV%, and three shutouts, and Team USA named him the Player of the Game for the gold medal match. ## Career statistics Information on career statistics derived from Elite Prospects. ### Regular season and playoffs ### International ## Awards and honors
24,202,898
Expansion of Macedonia under Philip II
1,172,070,560
The Rise of the Macedonian Empire 359-336 BC
[ "4th century BC in Greece", "4th century BC in Macedonia (ancient kingdom)", "4th-century BC conflicts", "Demosthenes", "Greco-Persian Wars", "Late Classical Greece", "Philip II of Macedon", "Rises to prominence", "Wars involving ancient Greece" ]
Under the reign of Philip II (359–336 BC), the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia, initially at the periphery of classical Greek affairs, came to dominate Ancient Greece in the span of just 25 years, largely thanks to the character and policies of its king. In addition to utilising effective diplomacy and marriage alliances to achieve his political aims, Philip II was responsible for reforming the ancient Macedonian army into an effective fighting force. The Macedonian phalanx became the hallmark of the Macedonian army during his reign and the subsequent Hellenistic period. His army and engineers also made extensive use of siege engines. Macedonia during the reign of Philip II was at first preoccupied by wars with marauding Illyrians and Thracians. Chief among Philip's Thracian enemies was the ruler Kersebleptes, who may have coordinated a temporary alliance with Athens. In a series of campaigns stretching from 356 to 340 BC, Philip II managed to ultimately subjugate Kersebleptes as a tributary vassal, conquering much of Thrace in the process. Philip II also fought against the Illyrian king Bardylis, who threatened Macedonia proper, and against Grabos II and Pleuratus in Illyria (centred in modern-day Albania). In his newly conquered territories, he founded new cities such as Philippi, Philippopolis (modern Plovdiv, Bulgaria), Herakleia Sintike, and Herakleia Lynkestis (modern Bitola, North Macedonia). Philip II eventually campaigned against the city-state of Athens and her allies in the Aegean region, as well as Thebes after the decline of its hegemony in mainland Greece. In the defence of the Amphictyonic League of Delphi and in conjunction with the Thessalian League, Macedonia became a key player in the Third Sacred War (356–346 BC), defeating the Phocians, commanded by Onomarchus, at the Battle of Crocus Field in 352 BC. While poised to launch a direct assault on Athens in 346 BC, the Macedonian king was met with an Athenian embassy that arranged a peace treaty known as the Peace of Philocrates. As a result, Macedonia and Athens became allies, yet Athens was forced to relinquish its claims to the city of Amphipolis (in modern-day Central Macedonia). The Peace of Philocrates eventually broke down as hostilities reignited between Athens and Macedonia. Demosthenes, an Athenian statesman who was partially responsible for engineering the peace treaty, delivered a series of speeches encouraging his fellow Athenians to oppose Philip II. The Macedonian hegemony over Greece was secured by their victory over a Greek coalition army led by Athens and Thebes, at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC. In the aftermath the federation of Greek states known as the League of Corinth was established, which brought these former Greek adversaries and others into a formal alliance with Macedonia. The League of Corinth elected Philip as strategos (i.e. commander-in-chief) for a planned invasion of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia. However, Philip was assassinated before he could begin the campaign, a task that instead fell to his son and successor, Alexander the Great. ## Background ### Greece in the early 4th century BC In the aftermath of the Peloponnesian War, the militaristic city-state of Sparta had been able to impose a hegemony over the heartland of Classical Greece (the Peloponessus and mainland Greece south of Thessaly), the states of this area having been severely weakened by the war. This state of affairs was resented by many of the Greek city-states, which had traditionally been ferociously independent, and led directly to the Corinthian War of 395–387 BC. Sparta emerged from this conflict with its hegemony intact, though only as a result of Persian intervention, which led to the so-called King's Peace. The fragility of Spartan dominance had been demonstrated however, and in the next decade, the Thebans would revolt against Sparta. The Spartans were unable to successfully quell the revolt, leading to de facto Theban independence. Then, after several years of desultory conflict, the Thebans finally met the Spartans in open battle at Leuctra (371 BC), and under the leadership of Epaminondas inflicted an unprecedented defeat on the Spartan army, killing the Spartan king Cleombrotus I in the process. Following up on this victory, Epaminondas invaded Peloponnesus in 370 BC and began dismantling the basis of Spartan dominance. Spartan power rested on the forced labour of the helots of Messenia, which allowed the entire male Spartan population to dedicate themselves to warfare. This focused military training system had previously enabled Sparta to exert power out of proportion to its small population. However, after their losses at Leuctra, the Spartans were unable to resist Epaminondas's invasion, and he marched into Messenia and liberated the helots, thereby permanently crippling Sparta. The Thebans then began to extend their influence over Greece, effectively replacing the Spartan hegemony with their own. The Theban generals Pelopidas and Epaminondas campaigned all over Greece for the next 9 years to further Theban power and influence. In 362 BC, Epaminondas's fourth invasion of the Peloponnesus, which reached its climax at the Battle of Mantinea, brought almost every state in Greece into the conflict, on one side or the other. Although the Thebans and their allies were victorious at Mantinea, Epaminondas was killed, and Theban losses were heavy. Xenophon, summing up his account of Mantinea, suggests that: > When these things had taken place, the opposite of what all men believed would happen was brought to pass. For since well-nigh all the people of Greece had come together and formed themselves in opposing lines, there was no one who did not suppose that if a battle were fought, those who proved victorious would be the rulers and those who were defeated would be their subjects; but the deity so ordered ... that while each party claimed to be victorious, neither was found to be any better off ... but [that] there was even more confusion and disorder in Greece after the battle than before. The years of conflict which resulted from the Theban attempts to reorganise Greece had left much of the country war-weary and exhausted; a general peace (excluding only a recalcitrant Sparta) was therefore concluded between all the states of Greece in the aftermath of Mantinea. With the death of Epaminondas and significant loss of manpower at Mantinea, the Thebans returned to their more traditional defensive policy, and within a few years, Athens had replaced them at the pinnacle of the Greek political system, and Theban influence faded quickly in the rest of Greece. It was the Athenians, and their second League, who would be Macedon's main rivals for control of the lands of the north Aegean, and a major theme during the period was the regular state of war between Macedon and Athens. ### Philip's accession In 360 BC, the Macedonian army under Perdiccas III had been defeated in battle by the Illyrians; Perdiccas and 4,000 troops had been killed. The Illyrians prepared to invade Macedon; meanwhile, the Paionians were ravaging Macedonian territory, the Thracians were preparing to invade in support of the pretender Pausanias, as were the Athenians, in support of a different pretender, Argeus. In short, Macedon was in another of its periodic crises. The nominal heir of Perdiccas, his son Amyntas IV, was at this time still an infant. Philip, the sole surviving son of Amyntas III, was the obvious candidate to rule Macedon and was acclaimed by the army, probably as king. It is also possible that he was initially acclaimed as regent for his nephew Amyntas IV, and later usurped the throne, although if so, he did not harm Amyntas. Either way, Philip II became king by 359 BC, and began energetically attempting to save Macedon from destruction. ## Macedonian recovery (359–358 BC) ### Reconstruction of the army Philip's first priorities were to reconstruct the Macedonian army, and restore the morale of both the army and the people. He held a series of assemblies with the Macedonian people, and "exhorting them with eloquent speeches to be men, he built up their morale". He exhaustively re-trained his men with new tactics and equipment. In particular, he instigated the use of the phalanx formation by the Macedonian foot-soldiery, and equipped the troops with 6-metre long pikes (the sarissa), in contrast to the 2–3-metre spear (doru) used by Greek hoplites. ### Diplomacy At the same time, Philip engaged in a flurry of diplomatic activity. He bribed Berisades, son of the Thracian king Cotys, to withdraw Thracian support for Pausanias, and thereby prevented the Thracian invasion. Similarly, he bought off the Paionians with gifts in exchange for their withdrawal from Macedon. Philip may also have concluded a treaty with the victorious Illyrian king Bardylis, possibly surrendering large parts of Macedon in exchange for peace. Although no evidence remains of such a treaty, the fact that Illyrians did not follow up their victory despite Macedon's weakness is suggestive that some agreement was reached. Philip also married Bardylis's daughter (or niece), which may have formed part of the treaty. At any rate, Philip's diplomacy gave Macedon some breathing space and time for recovery. ### Battle of Methone Philip realized that the sole intention of the Athenian support for Argeus was to recover Amphipolis (see below), which they hoped to do by placing Argeus on the throne. Philip therefore withdrew the Macedonian garrison from Amphipolis and declared it autonomous, to undermine the purpose of Athenian support for Argeus. The Athenian expedition, led by Mantias, still landed at Methone on the Macedonian coast, with 3,000 mercenary troops. Mantias now declined to leave Methone, so Argeus instead led the troops to the ancient Macedonian capital of Aegae, hoping that the populace would declare him king. However, the people of Aegae showed no interest in doing so, and Argeus therefore marched back to Methone. On the way, he was attacked and defeated in battle by Philip, many of the Athenian mercenaries being slain and the rest taken captive. According to Diodorus, this victory did much to restore the morale of the Macedonian army, and gave the soldiers encouragement for the battles to come. Having defeated the last immediate threat to Macedon, Philip returned to diplomacy. He released the Athenian prisoners immediately, and sent ambassadors to Athens. He was prepared to abandon all claim to Amphipolis, and this, coupled with his treatment of the Athenian prisoners, persuaded the Athenians to make peace with him. ### Paionia and Illyria The following year (358 BC), Philip heard that the Paionian king, Agis, had died. Taking advantage of their political disarray and transition of power, Philip marched his army into Paionia, where he defeated the Paionians. He then compelled the tribe to swear allegiance to Macedon. Philip was now able to turn to the Illyrians, who were still occupying much of upper Macedon (whether agreed by treaty or not). Elimea and Eordaea had probably been the only principalities loyal to the Macedonian kingdom during the Illyrian invasion. On the other hand, Lynkestis was ruled by a competing dynasty related the Macedonian throne (and probably to Philip's mother, Eurydice) and other Upper Macedonia districts had links to foreign powers. Pelangonia was a traditional Athenian ally in Upper Macedonia whilst Lynkestis, Orestis and Tymphaea had links with the Molossian kingdom and Epirus. All of them enjoyed under the Illyrian and Paionian threat an opportunity to defy the central power and many were now under Bardylis hegemony. Philip held an assembly of the army, gathered together a force of 10,000 men and 600 cavalry and marched into Illyria. Philip had also married Phila of Elimeia, ensuring an alliance with a principality of Upper Macedonia reputed by their cavalry. Bardylis, hearing of the preparations, sent ambassadors to Philip, proposing peace on the basis of the status quo. Philip rejected this, insisting that the Illyrians must withdraw completely from Macedonia, so Bardylis instead prepared for battle, raising 10,000 men and 500 cavalry, according to Diodorus. Diodorus preserves the only account of the battle, which Beloch suggested may have taken place near Monastir. He says that: > When the armies approached each other and with a great outcry clashed in the battle, Philip, commanding the right wing, which consisted of the flower of the Macedonians serving under him, ordered his cavalry to ride past the ranks of the barbarians and attack them on the flank, while he himself falling on the enemy in a frontal assault began a bitter combat. But the Illyrians, forming themselves into a square, courageously entered the fray. And at first for a long while the battle was evenly poised because of the exceeding gallantry displayed on both sides, and as many were slain and still more wounded, the fortune of battle vacillated first one way then the other, being constantly swayed by the valorous deeds of the combatants; but later as the horsemen pressed on from the flank and rear and Philip with the flower of his troops fought with true heroism, the mass of the Illyrians was compelled to take hastily to flight. According to Diodorus, some 7,000 Illyrians died in the battle. The Illyrians withdrew from Macedon and sued for peace. After this campaign Philip had established his authority inland as far as Lake Ohrid. Not only were the Illyrians expelled, but also the king Menelaus of Pelagonia was exiled to Athens, leaving Philip as the sole overlord of the Upper Macedonia area. This allowed him to levy troops from a wider manpower pool during the rest of his reign. Some areas like Pelagonia were outright annexed whilst others like the loyal Elimea or the more distant valleys kept their autonomy as vassals. Philip reorganized the Macedonian administration into districts or ethne and established the companion system to keep the Macedonian nobility controlled. Under that scheme, the sons of the Macedonian nobility were included in the king's household rather than autonomous lords. Many of Philip's and Alexander's more famous generals in the years to come were from the Upper Macedonia nobility. Philip also gained the favour of the Epirotes, his southwestern neighbors, who had also been at war with the Illyrians. The following year, Philip married the niece of the Molossian king of Epirus, Myrtale, which may have brought the frontier area between Macedon and Epirus, Orestis, under Philip's sphere of influence as part of her dowry. To the northwest, Illyrians tribes like the Taulantii or the Dardanians had been expelled but not subjugated. To the north, the Strymon or the Nestus were the limits of Macedonia proper and the extent of control over Paionia was weaker. Sources and coins shows the Paionian had their own kings but most likely under some vassal or tributary status. ### Thessaly Justin and Diodorus both say that Philip also invaded Thessaly in 358 BC. In the years up to 370 BC, Thessaly had enjoyed a brief ascendancy in the Greek world, after being unified under Jason of Pherae, who was appointed Tagus (chief magistrate) of Thessaly. However, Jason was assassinated in 370 BC, and his son Alexander became Tagus. Alexander ruled harshly, and other states of the Thessalian League therefore withdrew their support for him, resulting in a desultory conflict in which both Macedon (under Alexander II) and eventually Thebes became embroiled. This conflict eventually ended in 364 BC when the Thebans were victorious over Alexander, and imposed a peace settlement on Thessaly. However, with the weakening of Thebes in the aftermath of Mantinea, on-off conflict within Thessaly continued. Alexander was himself assassinated in 358 BC, by his wife's brothers Tisiphonus, Lycophron and Peitholaus who became tyrants in his place. According to Diodorus, the Aleuadae, the noble family which dominated politics in the northern Thessalian city of Larissa, were opposed to these new tyrants, and requested aid from Philip. Although Diodorus says that Philip defeated the new tyrants, Buckler considers it more likely that Philip's appearance on the scene allowed the Aleuadae to negotiate a peace settlement with Pherae from a position of greater strength. Philip seems to have come away from the expedition with new wives from both Larissa (Philinna) and Pherae (Nicesipolis, Jason's niece), which is suggestive of a negotiated settlement; certainly, as Buckler says, "Philip came away from Thessaly with a foot in both camps". Philip appears to have had a strong interest in Thessaly from the start of his reign, even despite his problems elsewhere. There are several probable reasons for this interest. Firstly, and most pressingly, Philip probably wanted to take control of the border region of Perrhaebia (traditionally part of Thessaly), in order to secure Macedon's southern border. Secondly, since Larissa controlled the main north–south routes between Macedon and Thessaly, friendly relations with the Aleuadae would help protect Macedon and give Philip access to the rest of Greece. Thirdly, Thessaly had plentiful resources that Philip could see the long-term potential of exploiting: > Thessaly was rich in land, produce, cities and men. Thessalian cavalry was the best in Greece, and the mountainous country surrounding Thessaly supplied numerous peltasts. Success in Thessaly would provide Philip with a new army and additional revenues. Nor could he wisely stand by and watch the tyrants of Pherae overwhelm the Thessalian confederacy. Jason of Pherae had given the Greek world a glimpse of the potential might of a united Thessaly, and no Macedonian king could afford to forget the lesson. ### Summary to 358 BC Through his frenetic activity since coming to the throne, Philip had successfully shored up the Macedonian situation, defeating or making peace with Macedon's erstwhile enemies, whilst securing most of Macedon's borders, and revitalising and retraining his army. ## Conquest in the North (357–353 BC) ### Amphipolis (357 BC) Philip's next aim was to secure Macedon's eastern flank, which bordered Thrace, and in particular the city of Amphipolis. Amphipolis was a major strategic point, situated on the Strymon River, where it controlled the only crossing point on the lower reaches of the river, and therefore access to and from Thrace. Eastwards expansion of his kingdom therefore required that Philip control Amphipolis. The Athenians had founded a colony there in the previous century, only to lose control of it during the Peloponnesian War. The Athenians were very keen to recover Amphipolis, partly because of its history, although the Amphipolitans were not inclined to return to Athenian control. However, the main reasons were because of the location of Amphipolis close to forests needed for shipbuilding, and because it controlled the gold and silver mines of Mount Pangaion. The importance of Amphipolis to the Athenians during this period cannot be overstated; "their longing for it was constant and extreme". Philip began besieging Amphipolis in 357 BC; the Amphipolitans, abandoning their anti-Athenian policy, promptly appealed to Athens, offering to return to its control. However, during the siege, Philip sent a letter to Athens saying that he would hand over the city once he captured it (thus appearing to follow the same policy as he had in 359 BC). The Athenians, thus lulled, waited to see whether he would. The Athenians may also have been unable to send help to Amphipolis. During the summer months, strong northerly winds blew into the Aegean Sea, making it difficult for the Athenians to send ships north. Philip was to make repeated use of the Etesian winds, campaigning during those months (or in winter), when the Athenian navy would be unable to send assistance to his enemies. The Athenians seem to have offered Philip Pydna in exchange for Amphipolis, perhaps during the later stages of the siege, but it is not clear whether Philip agreed to this. By this stage, the Social War of 357–355 BC had broken out between Athens and their erstwhile allies, and they would now have been unable to intervene to help Amphipolis. Philip eventually succeeded in breaching the walls of Amphipolis, through the use of siege engines and battering rams; his forces then stormed and captured the city. Philip expelled those who were hostile to him but, according to Diodorus, treated the rest of the population considerately. ### Pydna and Potidea (357–356 BC) During the siege of Amphipolis, the Chalkidian League, led by Olynthos, began to fear Philip's territorial ambitions (since Amphipolis also controlled access to Chalkidiki), and therefore sought to ally with Athens against him. However, the Athenians still hoped to receive Amphipolis from Philip and so refused. Philip himself feared an alliance of the powerful Chalkidian League and Athens, so he moved to reassure the Olynthians by offering them an alliance on very advantageous terms. As part of the agreement with Olynthos, Philip was to capture the city of Potidea, located in the territory of the Chalkidian League. Potidea was at that time under the control of Athens, and represented a threat to the stability of the league. Philip had no intention of handing over Amphipolis to the Athenians, but acted as if he was just delaying the transfer of the city. He seems to have gone straight on to besiege Pydna after capturing Amphipolis. The Athenians, perhaps still hoping to receive Amphipolis if they allowed Philip to take Pydna, do not seem to have tried to intervene (and may not have been able to). Pydna seems to have fallen to Philip by treachery, in either 357 or 356 BC. In 356 BC, Philip then besieged and captured Potidea, thus marking the beginning of true hostilities with Athens. As promised, he handed Potidea over to the Olynthians, and let the Athenian garrison depart freely back to Athens, since he did not want to cause undue offence to the Athenians ("he was particularly solicitous toward the people of Athens on account of the importance and repute of their city"). The Athenians were by this time fully engaged in fighting the Social War, and were unable to respond effectively to Philip's moves against Potidea and Pydna. ### Alliance against Philip (356–352 BC) In 356 BC, in response to King Philip's machinations, the Athenians allied with the kings of Illyria, Paionia and Thrace, to try to block his advance. Thrace was by now ruled by three kings, descendants of Cotys; in the west was Ketriporis, the son of Berisades (Cotys's second son); in the centre, Amadokos II (Cotys's third son), and in the east Kersebleptes (Cotys's first son). Whether Athens allied to all three Thracian kings is a matter of conjecture; certainly at least Ketriporis joined the alliance. If Kersebleptes did ally with Athens, he appears to have relatively quickly cast off this allegiance, in favour of extending his realm at the expense of Amadokos and Ketriporis. In Illyria, Bardylis' defeat meant a shift in the hegemony among tribes, with the Grabaei led by Grabos II becoming the main power after the defeat of the Illyrians of Bardylis. According to Diodorus, Philip marched on his enemies in this alliance before they had chance to combine, and forced them to ally to Macedon instead. However, other sources suggest that the picture was actually much more complex, and that Philip in turn defeated each of the powers over the next few years, with the exception of Athens. According to Plutarch, an army under Parmenion defeated the Illyrian king Grabos II in 356 BC, shortly after the conclusion of the siege of Potidea. Grabos then became a subject ally of Macedon. The following year, Philip seems to have defeated Ketriporis, and reduced him to the status of a subject ally, although information for this campaign is very limited. He is also presumed to have defeated the Paionians at some point during this period, although there is no explicit record of this. There is no evidence that any of these allies received any substantial aid from Athens, which was still too preoccupied with the Social War. The victory consolidated Philip's control of Upper Macedon. The small, autonomous principalities like Elimiotis and Lynkestis seems to have been integrated the following year, with the former kings being stripped of their titles and reduced to part of Phillip's court. Philip also founded Heraclea Lyncestis as a new urban center in the area. Philip II surrounded Macedon with vassals or subjects allies to replace the coalition he defeated. North of Macedon, the Paionians of the king Lycceius were vassals. The Thracian tribe of the agrianes, neighbors of Paioia, and their king, Langarus, also appear from 352 as allies of Philip and were and from that moment on a relevant support of the Macedonian army. To the northeast, the Thracian kingdom of Ketriporis was also a vassal. To the northwest, the defeated Grabaei were now a buffer state between Macedon and tribes non-subject to Philip, like the Taulantii. The victory against Grabos took place at the same time of the birth of Philips heir, Alexander, son of Myrtale (who changed her name to Olympias), which may also cemented the alliance with Epirus in the southwest. In the following years Olympias' brother, also named Alexander, took refuge in Philip's court and the Macedonian influence increased from 351. Some scholars date from 350 the Macedonian direct control of Tymphaea, another border area between Epirus and Macedon. ### Krinides (356 BC) In 356 BC, whilst Parmenion campaigned against the Illyrians, Philip campaigned in Thrace, and captured the town of Krinides, which had been founded by Thasos in 360 BC. He changed the name to Philippi, after himself, and greatly increased the population. He also greatly improved the gold mines in the surrounding area, the effects of which are described by Diodorus: > Turning to the gold mines in its territory, which were very scanty and insignificant, he increased their output so much by his improvements that they could bring him a revenue of more than a thousand talents. And because from these mines he had soon amassed a fortune, with the abundance of money he raised the Macedonian kingdom higher and higher to a greatly superior position, for with the gold coins which he struck, which came to be known from his name as Philippeioi, he organized a large force of mercenaries, and by using these coins for bribes induced many Greeks to become betrayers of their native lands. The capture of Krinides was thus, in the long term, a very significant event in Philip's rise to power. Among its effects, it is noteworthy that Philip pioneered the use of archers (both mercenary Cretan archers and locally trained Macedonians) and siege engineers in the Macedonia army. Those army corps were expensive but critical for the takeover of fortified cities. Before 350 BC, Philip was already in use of them, changing the preexisting balance of power. ### Maroneia and Abdera (c. 355 BC) Polyaenus recounts that Philip attacked and sacked the cities of Abdera and Maroneia along the coast of Thrace. This occurred during a single campaign, but does not say when. Diodorus does not mention this campaign, making its position within the overall chronology difficult to place. Buckler suggests the following: According to the Athenian politician Demosthenes, Kersebleptes met Philip at Maroneia (in Thrace), together with the Theban general Pammenes, and came to an agreement with Philip; furthermore, he states that Amadokos was hostile to Philip at the time. Demosthenes says that the Athenian general Chares filed the report about the meeting between Philip, Pammenes and Kersebleptes; and Polyaenus says that after Philip's Maroneia campaign, Chares ambushed Philip's fleet off the coast of Neapolis. Since it is recorded that Neapolis appealed to Athens for aid against Philip in 355 BC, it is a strong possibility that these events all took place in 355 BC. It is not entirely clear what occasioned this meeting between Philip and Kersebleptes; Buckler suggests that Philip and Kersebleptes agreed to divide Thrace between them, leaving Kersebleptes free to attack the other Thracian kings (to try to reunite the Thracian kingdom), and leaving Philip free to campaign elsewhere. Conversely, Cawkwell and Sealey suggest the Maroneia campaign was in 353 BC (though without explicit justification). The Maroneia campaign might therefore have been part of the campaign that Philip fought against Cetriporis (probably 355 BC), or a campaign against Amadokos (probably 353 BC). ### Siege of Methone (c. 354 BC) The chronology for activities in Greece during the years 355–352 BC is not entirely clear (see below). Philip certainly started besieging Methone, the last Athenian possession in Macedon, during this period, but different historians choose different dates for this siege. There are two main theories, either 355–354 BC, as favoured by, for instance, Buckler, or 354–353 BC, as favoured by Cawkwell. Philip began the siege, but was frustrated in his attempt to take it, and the siege dragged on for nearly a year. During this time, there were two failed Athenian attempts to relieve the city. Philip was to lose an eye during the siege when he was hit by an arrow. Despite the injury inflicted on him by the defenders, he eventually agreed terms with the citizens of Methone, allowing them all to depart with one garment each. Buckler suggests that this lenient settlement may have been the result of the Thessalian request to intervene in the Third Sacred War (see below); anxious not to miss this opportunity, Philip sought to end the siege as quickly as possible. ### Summary to c. 354 BC By 354/353 BC, in just 5 years since his accession, Philip had unified Macedon and turned it into the dominant power in Northern Greece. He had completely reduced Athenian influence in the region, and was allied to the other major Greek power in the region, the Chalkidian League. He had, in the process, secured access to the Aegean sea, which had been an age-old problem in Macedon, since suitable sites had been monopolised by Greek colonists in the Archaic period. Furthermore, he had overhauled and re-trained the army, which was now battle-hardened, and he now had a supply of ready money to pay for more troops. This rapid rise in the power of Macedon was in part due to Philip's exceptional military and diplomatic skills. However, it was also in part due to the weakened state of the major powers of Greece. Sparta had never recovered from Epaminondas's liberation of Messenia, whilst in turn Thebes was still weakened by Epaminondas's death and the aftermath of Mantinea. Athens, as discussed above, was embroiled in a war with its allies; in 355 BC, the Athenians agreed a peace that left many of its former allies independent, severely weakening Athenian power. Although these powers protested against Philip's actions, they had too many other problems to attempt any intervention; Philip thus went largely unchallenged until 354 BC. ## Thessaly and the Sacred War (356–352 BC) ### Background The Third Sacred War (often just called 'the' Sacred War) broke out in 356 BC, and would present Philip with his first real opportunity to expand his influence into the affairs of central and southern Greece. The war was ostensibly caused by the refusal of the Phocian Confederation to pay a fine imposed on them in 357 BC by the Amphictyonic League, a pan-Greek religious organisation which governed the most sacred site in Ancient Greece, the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Behind the religious element, there probably lay a display of realpolitik in bringing charges against the Phocians, instigated by the Thebans. At this time, Thebes controlled a majority of the votes in the council, and at the autumn meeting in 357 BC, the Thebans were able to have both the Phocians (for the cultivation of the sacred land) and the Spartans (for occupying Thebes some 25 years previously) denounced and fined. Since the fines for both parties were "unjustifiably harsh", the Thebans probably expected neither party to pay, and thus to be able to declare a "sacred war" on either. In response, the Phocians, under the leadership of Philomelos, seized Delphi (which was situated within the boundaries of Phocis), and asserted the ancient claim of Phocis to the presidency of the Amphictyonic League, intending to annul the judgment against themselves. There seems to have been some sympathy in Greece for the Phocians, since other states could see that "the Thebans ... had used the Amphictyony to pursue petty and destructive vendettas". The Phocians were supported by Athens (perennial enemies of Thebes) and unsurprisingly Sparta, who hoped to see their own fine wiped out when the Phocians seized Delphi. However, Philomelos plundered the treasury of Apollo to pay for mercenaries, thus raising a powerful army, but drastically altering the opinion of the other Greek states. In winter 356/355 BC, a "sacred war" was declared against the Phocians by the Amphictyonic council, with the Thebans being the major protagonists. The war started relatively well for the Phocians, but a severe defeat was inflicted on the Phocians at Neon by the Thebans in either 355 or 354 BC, and Philomelos was killed. Undeterred, Onomarchus took over the Phocian effort, and raised new mercenaries to carry on the fight. ### Chronology of the Sacred War The ancient sources for the Sacred War are scant, and generally lacking in firm chronological information. Modern historians' dates for the war have therefore been hotly debated, with no clear consensus. It is generally accepted that the war lasted 10 years, and ended in summer 346 BC (one of the only firm dates), which yields a date of 356 BC for the beginning of the war, with Philomelos's seizure of Delphi. After Philomelos's defeat at Neon, the Thebans thought it safe to send the general Pammenes to Asia with 5000 hoplites; as has been discussed, Pammenes probably met with Philip at Maroneia in 355 BC, presumably on his outward journey. Buckler, the only historian to produce a systematic study of the sacred war, therefore places Neon in 355 BC, and suggests after the meeting with Pammenes, Philip went to begin the siege of Methone. Other historians have placed Neon in 354 BC, because Diodorus says that the battle took place while Philip besieged Methone which Diodorus (at one point) places in 354 BC. However, Diodorus's chronology for the sacred war is very confused—he dates the start and end of the war a year too late, variously says the war lasted 9, 10 or 11 years, and included the siege of Methone twice under different dates—and his dates cannot therefore be relied upon. Disregarding the dates, most historians agree upon the same sequence of events for this part of the Sacred War. The principal question is therefore when that sequence started. Thus, Buckler (as well as Beloch and Cloche) dates Neon to 355 BC, Methone to 355–354 BC, Philip's first Thessalian campaign to 354 BC, and his second to 353 BC. Conversely, Cawkwell, Sealey, Hammond and others give these dates as occurring one year later, beginning with Neon in 354 BC. ### First campaign in Thessaly The Sacred War appears to have laid way for renewed conflict within Thessaly. The Thessalian Confederation were in general staunch supporters of the Amphictyonic League, and had an ancient hatred of the Phocians. Conversely, Pherae had allied itself with the Phocians. In either 354 or 353 BC, the Aleuadae appealed to Philip to help them defeat Pherae. Philip responded positively, perhaps unsurprisingly: > ... the struggle between Pherae and its neighbours offered Philip rich possibilities. The chronic political instability of the area and the support of the Thessalian confederation guaranteed that he would face no united opposition to his ambitions. The Thessalians were giving Philip the same opportunity to become ascendant there that they had given Pelopidas and the Thebans in 369 BC. Philip thus brought an army into Thessaly, probably with the intention of attacking Pherae. Under the terms of their alliance, Lycophron of Pherae requested aid from the Phocians, and Onomarchus dispatched his brother, Phayllos with 7000 men; however, Philip repulsed this force before it could join up with the Pheraeans. Onomarchus then abandoned the siege he was currently prosecuting, and brought his whole force into Thessaly to attack Philip. It is possible that Onomarchus hoped to conquer Thessaly in the process, which would both leave the Thebans isolated (Locris and Doris having already fallen to the Phocians), and give the Phocians a majority in the Amphictyonic council, thus enabling them to have the war declared over. Onomarchus probably brought with him 20,000 infantry, 500 cavalry, and a large number of catapults, and outnumbered Philip's army. The exact details of the campaign that followed are unclear, but Onomarchus seems to have inflicted two defeats on Philip, with many Macedonians killed in the process. Polyaenus suggests that the first of Onomarchus' victories was aided by the use of the catapults to throw stones into the Macedonian phalanx, as they climbed a slope to attack the Phocians. After these defeats, Philip retreated to Macedon for the winter. He is said to have commented that he "did not run away but, like a ram, I pulled back to butt again harder". ### Second campaign in Thessaly Philip returned to Thessaly the next summer (either 353 or 352 BC, depending on the chronology followed), having gathered a new army in Macedon. Philip formally requested that the Thessalians join him in the war against the Phocians; the Thessalians, even if underwhelmed by Philip's performance the previous year, realistically had little choice if they wanted to avoid being conquered by Onomarchus' army. Philip now mustered all the Thessalian opponents of Pherae that he could, and according to Diodorus, his final army numbered 20,000 infantry and 3000 cavalry. #### Pagasae At some point during his campaigns in Thessaly, Philip captured the strategic port of Pagasae, which was in effect the port of Pherae. It is unclear whether this was during the first or second campaign; both Buckler and Cawkwell suggest that it took place in the second campaign, before the Battle of Crocus Field. By taking Pagasae, it is possible that Philip prevented Pherae from being reinforced by sea during his second campaign. Buckler suggests that Philip had learnt his lesson from the previous campaign, and intended to cut Pherae off from outside help before attacking it. #### Battle of Crocus Field Meanwhile, Onomarchus returned to Thessaly to try to preserve the Phocian ascendancy there, with approximately the same force as during the previous year. Furthermore, the Athenians dispatched Chares to help their Phocian allies, seeing the opportunity to strike a decisive blow against Philip. Subsequent events are unclear, but a battle was fought between the Macedonians and the Phocians, probably as Philip tried to prevent the Phocians uniting forces with the Pheraeans, and crucially, before the Athenians had arrived. According to Diodorus, the two armies met on a large plain near the sea (the 'crocus field'), probably in the vicinity of Pagasae. Philip sent his men into battle wearing crown of laurel, the symbol of the Apollo; "as if he was the avenger ... of sacrilege, and he proceeded to battle under the leadership, as it were, of the god". Some of the Phocian mercenaries supposedly threw down their arms, panged by their guilty consciences. In the ensuing battle, the bloodiest recorded in ancient Greek history, Philip won a decisive victory against the Phocians. In total, 6000 Phocian troops had been killed including Onormarchus, and another 3000 taken prisoner. Onomarchus was either hanged or crucified and the other prisoners drowned, as was the ritual punishment demanded for temple-robbers. These punishments were designed to deny the defeated an honourable burial; Philip thus continued to present himself as the pious avenger of the sacrilege committed by the Phocians. Buckler states that: "Nor should one automatically assume that a mass-drowning ... would shock the Greek world. Even the mild-tempered Isocrates felt that the Phocian mercenaries were better off dead than alive ... Dreadful indeed was the punishment, but it was entirely consistent with Philip's role as Apollo's champion". #### Re-organisation of Thessaly It was probably in the aftermath of his victory (if not before) that the Thessalians appointed Philip archon of Thessaly. This was an appointment for life, and gave Philip control over all the revenues of the Thessalian Confederation, and furthermore made Philip leader of the united Thessalian army. Philip was now able to settle Thessaly at his leisure. He probably first finished the siege of Pagasae, to deny the Athenians a landing place in Thessaly. Pagasae was not part of the Thessalian Confederation, and Philip therefore took it as his own, and garrisoned it. The fall of Pagasae now left Pherae totally isolated. Lycophron, rather than suffer the fate of Onomarchos, struck a bargain with Philip, and in return for handing Pherae over to Philip, he was allowed, along with 2000 of his mercenaries, to go to Phocis. Philip now worked to unite the traditionally fractious cities of Thessaly under his rule. He took direct control of several cities in western Thessaly, exiling the dissidents, and in one case refounding the city with a Macedonian population; he tightened his control of Perrhaebia, and invaded Magnesia, also taking it as his own and garrisoning it; "when finished, he was lord of Thessaly." #### Thermopylae Once satisfied with his reorganisation of Thessaly, Philip marched south to the pass of Thermopylae, the gateway to central Greece. He probably intended to follow up his victory over the Phocians by invading Phocis itself, a prospect which greatly alarmed the Athenians, since once he had passed Thermopylae, he could also march on Athens. The Athenians therefore dispatched a force to Thermopylae and occupied the pass; there is some debate as to whether other contingents may have joined the Athenians at Thermopylae. The Athenians were certainly there, since the Athenian orator Demosthenes celebrated the defence of the pass in one of his speeches. Cawkwell suggests that the Athenian force was the one that Diodorus says was dispatched under Nausicles consisting of 5000 infantry and 400 cavalry, and that they were joined by the remnants of the Phocians and the Pheraean mercenaries. However, Buckler argues that Diodorus never mentions Thermopylae, and the force under Nausicles was sent to help the Phocians the following year; instead, he believes that another Athenian force held the pass unassisted. Although it might have proved possible to force the pass, Philip did not attempt to do so, preferring not to risk a defeat after his great successes in Thessaly. ### Summary to 352 BC Cawkwell describes 352 BC as Philip's annus mirabilis. His appointment to high command in Thessaly was a dramatic increase in his power, effectively giving him a whole new army. His actions as the "avenger" and "saviour" of Apollo were calculated to win him goodwill amongst the Greeks in general. As a result of Philip's increased power and influence, Worthington suggests that by the time of Demosthenes' "First Philippic" (351 BC), Philip was already unstoppable in his aim to control Greece. #### Strategic situation The stalemate at Thermopylae pointed the future direction of the ongoing conflict between Philip and the Athenians. Athens was a significant naval power, whilst Macedon had no real navy to speak of. Conversely, Macedon had a very powerful army, especially with the addition of the Thessalians after 352 BC, which Athens could not hope to match. The Athenians could therefore prevent Philip attacking Athens by sea, but not by land—unless they could occupy Thermopylae in time. The pass was narrow enough to make troop numbers irrelevant, and could only be bypassed with some difficulty, meaning the Athenians could hope to resist Philip there; Thermopylae therefore became the key position in the conflict. The Athenians also began to realise that they could not hope to reclaim Amphipolis, or defeat Philip, and must instead act on the defensive; as Demosthenes said: "the war at the outset was concerned with taking revenge on Philip, now at its conclusion with not suffering at Philip's hands". From Philip's point of view, once he controlled Amphipolis, he could operate in the North Aegean unimpeded, especially if he campaigned during the Etesian winds, or in winter, when the Athenian navy could do little to stop him. However, he could not easily advance into Greece, to attack Athens for instance, if Thermopylae was held against him. ## Thrace (353–352 BC) Most historians agree that Philip campaigned in Thrace in 353 BC, but what exactly he achieved is a matter of some confusion. As has been discussed, some, including Cawkwell and Sealey, place the Maroneia and Abdera campaign in 353 BC. Others suggest that, in a campaign whose details are essentially unknown, Philip defeated the central Thracian king, Amadokos, reducing him to the status of subject ally. Since the Maroneia and Abdera campaign took place in Amadokos's territory, it seems likely that, under either chronology, Philip campaigned against Amadokos in 353 BC. In the early part of 352 BC several key events had occurred in, or around Thrace which challenged Philip's influence in the region. The Athenian general Chares captured Sestos, on the Thracian Chersonese early in the year, probably taking the city from Kersebleptes. The Athenians had a long-standing interest in the Chersonese for strategic reasons, and it had formed a significant part of their 'Empire' in the 5th century BC. Firstly, Athens depended largely on the import of grain from the Crimea for her food supply; controlling the Chersonese helped to ensure that supplies could safely pass through the Hellespont. Secondly, the Chersonese was used as a place to settle the excess citizenry of Athens, usually in the form of cleruchies, colonies which were not politically independent of the mother city. After the capture of Sestos, Kersebleptes, who up until now had resisted Athenian attempts to reclaim the Chersonese, now came to terms with Athens. He was probably now worried about Philip's influence in the region, and thus sought to ally with the Athenians, giving them control of all the cities of the Chersonese except Cardia. Furthermore, the Chalkidian League also seems to have turned against Philip in 352 BC, presumably also concerned by his designs on their territory, and sought peace with Athens. Philip probably also campaigned in Thrace in late 352 BC, possibly after returning to Macedon from Thessaly. At this point, if not before, Philip defeated Amadokos and subjugated him, and possibly also expelled Cetriporis from his client kingship. During the campaign, Philip's army reached deep into Kersebleptes' territory and laid siege to the fortress of Heraion Teichos located somewhere near Perinthos, on the coast of the Propontis (although Buckler places this siege in 353 BC). On learning of the siege, the Athenians voted to dispatch 40 triremes to oppose Philip. However, they then heard that Philip had died (or had been taken ill), so the relief mission never actually sailed. It seems clear that Philip did fall ill during the campaign, but exactly how the campaign ended is unclear. It was probably at this time that Philip took Kersebleptes' son as a hostage to Pella, effectively ending Kersebleptes' freedom of action. ## Olynthian War (349–348 BC) As discussed, the Chalkidian League had made peace with Athens in 352 BC, in clear breach of their alliance with Philip, due to their growing fear of Macedonian power. Cawkwell contends that from that moment on, Olynthos and the League were doomed. However, the next few years of Philip's reign appear to have been militarily quiet; Diodorus does not mention any activity by Philip until 349 BC. Philip did not yet make any further efforts to intervene in the Sacred War, which was to rumble on until 346 BC. In the meantime, there may have been some unrest in Macedonia; Philip executed one of his stepbrothers (sons of Amyntas III's second wife), and two more fled to Olynthos. According to Justin, this provided Philip with the pretext of attacking Olynthos and the Chalkidian League. Philip finally began his campaign against the Chalkidian league in 349 BC, probably in July, when the Etesian winds would prevent Athens sending aid. Diodorus says that he started by besieging, capturing and razing the fortress of Zereia (possibly at or near Stageira). Philip seems to have methodically worked his way around the 32 cities of the League, leaving Olynthos to the end. At least some cities submitted to him, including Toroni and Mecyberna—a small town which acted as the harbour of Olynthos—having seen the fate of the cities which resisted Philip. By the spring of 348 BC, the western part of Chalkidiki had been lost, and the Olynthians resorted to ravaging their former territory. Finally, in probably June 348 BC, with all the other cities captured or in submission, Philip moved to attack Olynthos. According to Diodorus, there were two pitched battles against the Olynthians; after being defeated twice, the Olynthians were then confined to the city. Two of the commanders of Olynthos, Euthycrates and Lasthenes, defected to Philip with 500 cavalry shortly before the siege. Diodorus therefore claims that the city fell by treachery; certainly treachery was committed, but it is not clear that this is how the city was captured. Either way, by September the siege was over, and the Chalkidian league had been annihilated. Philip razed the city, and sold the remaining inhabitants into slavery; the same fate awaited the other Chalkidian cities that had not submitted to him. Philip then incorporated Chalkidike into the Macedonian state, distributing the land amongst his followers. ### Athens and the Olynthian War When Philip began his attack in 349 BC, the Olynthians appealed to Athens for aid. In response, Demosthenes gave a series of speeches, now known as the Olynthiacs, encouraging the Athenians to resist Philip. The period from 351 BC to 346 BC marks the gradual ascendancy of Demosthenes in Athenian politics, as he became leader of the Athenian resistance to Philip. However, exactly when Demosthenes became important is disputed; Cawkwell points out that the chance preservation of a good proportion of Demosthenes's speeches may make him seem more important than he was. In the end, the Athenians decided to send a force of 2000 lightly armed mercenaries (referred to in the sources as peltasts, even if strictly speaking, they were not), and 38 triremes to aid the Olynthians. Of these triremes, 30 were already in service under Chares, possibly operating in the north Aegean; the other 8 were to be crewed by Athenians citizens. However, it is not clear whether this force achieved anything. Later, in early 348 BC, the Olynthians appealed for help again. The Athenians sent Charidemos, a former general of Kersebleptes who had been adopted as an Athenian citizen, with 4000 peltasts, 150 cavalry and 18 triremes; of the triremes, 10 were probably already in his service, and the other 8 may have been those sent to Chares in 349 BC. Charidemus joined up with the Olynthians, and together they attacked the former territory of Olynthos in western Chalkidike. Finally, just before the final siege of Olynthos started, the Olynthians appealed a last time for aid. The Athenians prepared to send a force of citizen hoplites, but they were delayed by the weather, probably due to the Etesian winds, and arrive too late to achieve anything. ### Euboea Athens was prevented from sending more effective aid by events on Euboea in 348 BC. A pre-eminent politician from Chalcis, Callias, sought to unite the cities of Euboea in a new confederation, inevitably meaning the end of the hitherto strong Athenian presence on the island. Strategically, this was unacceptable for the Athenians. In 410 BC, the strait between Euboea and the mainland, the Euripos, had been narrowed, and then bridged at Chalcis. If Euboea, and in particular Chalcis, was no longer controlled by Athens then Philip could potentially cross into Euboea from Thessaly, and then cross back into Boeotia via the bridge at Chalcis, thus outflanking Thermopylae. The whole Athenian strategy in the years after 352 BC therefore required that they hold Euboea. In early 348 BC, the Athenians were distracted by events on Euboea, and were in no position to send much help to Olynthos. However, the expedition the Athenians sent to Euboea to try to maintain their position on the island was a disaster, and the Athenians had to seek peace with Chalcis, thereby effectively losing control of the island. It is possible that Philip actually incited the revolt on Euboea, though it is considered more likely that this is a misreading of a speech of the Athenian politician Aeschines. ## End of the Sacred War (347–346 BC) The Athenian politician Philocrates had suggested offering Philip peace in 348 BC, during the Olynthian war. However, the Athenian assembly had effectively rejected this proposal by putting Philocrates on trial, and by the time he was cleared of the charges, it was too late to save Olynthos. The war between Athens and Philip thus continued through 347 BC, as did the Sacred War. In 347 BC, Philip sent privateers to attack Athenians colonies on various Aegean islands. Meanwhile, it was becoming clear that the Sacred War could only be ended by outside intervention. The Phocians had occupied several Boeotian cities, but were running out of treasure to pay their mercenaries; conversely, the Thebans were unable to act effectively against the Phocians. The Phocian general Phalaikos was removed from his command in 347 BC, and three new generals appointed, who successfully attacked Boeotia again. The Thebans appealed to Philip for aid, and he sent a small force to their assistance. Philip sent force enough to honour his alliance with Thebes, but not enough to end the war—he desired the glory of ending the war personally, in the manner of his choosing, and on his terms. In early 346 BC, Philip let it be known that he intended to march south with the Thessalians, though not where or why. The Phocians thus made plans to defend Thermopylae, and requested assistance from the Spartans and the Athenians, probably around 14 February. The Spartans dispatched Archidamos III with 1000 hoplites, and the Athenians ordered everyone eligible for military service under the age of 40 to be sent to the Phocians' aid. However, between the Phocians' appeal and the end of the month, all plans were upset by the return of Phalaikos to power in Phocis; the Athenians and the Spartans were subsequently told that they would not be permitted to defend Thermopylae. It is not clear from the ancient sources why Phalaikos was returned to power, nor why he adopted this dramatic change of policy. Cawkwell suggests, based on remarks of Aeschines that the Phocian army restored Phalaikos because they had not been properly paid, and further that Phalaikos, realizing that the army could not be paid and that the Phocians could no longer hope to win the war, decided to try to negotiate a peace settlement with Philip. ### Peace with Athens When the Athenians received this news, they rapidly changed policy. If Thermopylae could no longer be defended, then Athenian security could no longer be guaranteed. By the end of February, the Athenians had dispatched an embassy, including Philocrates, Demosthenes and Aeschines, to Philip to discuss peace between Athens and Macedon. The embassy had two audiences with Philip, in which each side presented their proposals for the terms of the peace settlement. The embassy then returned to Athens to present the proposed terms to the Athenian Assembly, along with a Macedonian embassy to Athens, empowered by Philip to finalize an agreement. The Athenians debated the peace treaty in April and tried to propose a common peace in which all Greek states could partake (including Phocis). However, Demosthenes (at this point a strong proponent of peace) persuaded the Assembly that Philip would never agree to such a peace, and that Athens's vulnerable position meant that they had little choice but to accept Philip's terms. On 23 April, the Athenians swore to the terms of the treaty which is now known as the Peace of Philocrates in the presence of the Macedonian ambassadors. Amongst the principal terms were that Athens become Philip's ally, and that they forever renounce their claim to Amphipolis. ### End of Thracian independence Following the first Athenian embassy to Macedon, Philip went on campaign against Kersebleptes. Details of the campaign are scarce, but it seems that Philip easily captured the Thracian treasury on the "Sacred Mountain". Then, rather than deposing Kersebleptes, he made him a subject ally, in the same manner as his brother Amadokos. ### Settlement of the Sacred War After agreeing to the peace terms with Macedonian ambassadors in April, the Athenians dispatched a second embassy to Macedon, to extract the peace oaths from Philip. When they arrived, the Athenians (again including Demosthenes and Aeschines) were rather surprised to find embassies from all the principal combatants in the Sacred War were also present, in order to discuss a settlement to the war. When Philip returned from Thrace he received all these embassies. The Thebans and Thessalians requested that he take the leadership of Greece, and punish Phocis; conversely, the Phocians, supported by the Spartans and the Athenian delegations, pleaded with Philip not to attack Phocis. Philip, however, delayed making any decisions; "[he] sought by every means not to reveal how he intended to settle things; both sides were privately encouraged to hope that he would do as they wanted, but both were bidden not to prepare for war; a peacefully arranged concordat was at hand"; he also delayed taking the oaths to the Peace of Philocrates. Military preparations were ongoing in Pella during this period, but Philip told the ambassadors that they were for a campaign against Halos, a small Thessalian city which held out against him. He departed for Halos before making any pronouncements, compelling the Athenian embassy to travel with him; only when they reached Pherae did Philip finally take the oaths, enabling the Athenian ambassadors to return home. It was now that Philip applied the coup de grace. He had persuaded the Athenians and other Greeks that he and his army was heading for Halos, but it seems certain that he also sent other units straight to Thermopylae. All of central and southern Greece was now at Philip's mercy, and the Athenians could not now save Phocis even if they abandoned the peace. Philip could be certain of dictating the terms of the end of the Sacred War, since he could now use force against any state that did not accept his arbitration. He began by making a truce with Phalaikos on 19 July; Phalaikos surrendered Phocis to him, in return for him being allowed to leave, with his mercenaries, and go wherever he wished. Philip then declared that the fate of Phocis would not be decided by him, but by the Amphictyonic Council. However, it is clear that Philip was dictating the terms behind the scenes; allowing the Amphictyons the formal responsibility allowed him to dissociate himself from the terms in the future. In return for ending the war, Macedon was made a member of the Amphictyonic council, and given the two votes which had been stripped from Phocis. This was an important moment for Philip, since membership of the Ampictyony meant that Macedon was now no longer a 'barbarian' state in Greek eyes. The terms imposed on Phocis were harsh, but realistically Philip had no choice but to impose such sanctions; he needed the support of the Thessalians (sworn enemies of Phocis), and could not risk losing the prestige that he had won for his pious conduct during the war. Aside from being expelled from the Amphictyonic council, all the Phocian cities were to be destroyed, and the Phocians settled in 'villages' of no more than fifty houses; the money stolen from the temple was to be paid back at a rate of 60 talents per year; the Phocians were not, however, destroyed, and they retained their land. The Athenians, having made peace with Philip, were not penalised by the Amphictyonic council, and the Spartans also seem to have escaped lightly. Philip presided over the Amphictyonic festival in the autumn, and then much to the surprise of the Greeks, he went back to Macedon and did not return to Greece for seven years. He did however retain his access, by garrisoning the closest town to Thermopylae, Nicaea with Thessalian troops. ### Summary to 346 BC 346 BC was another remarkable year for Philip. The city-states of Greece had exhausted themselves in the previous years, and Philip was therefore the only power capable of finally ending the Sacred War. Ultimately, once in control of Thermopylae, this military strength allowed him to settle the war by mere threat of force. Philip undoubtedly intended to settle the war even before the Thessalians and Thebans requested that he do so, and the terms on which the war was concluded were presumably much as he would have desired; coming to a separate peace with Athens was a bonus. Philip was, through his membership of the Amphictyonic council, now legitimized as a "true" Greek; and by the prestige he had gained for his pious conduct on behalf of Apollo, and by his military strength, he was now the de facto leader of the Greek city-states. Simon Hornblower suggests that Philip was the only real victor in the Sacred War. Furthermore, Philip's domination of northern Greece and the north Aegean was now almost complete, after his success in the Olynthian War and his subjugation of Kersebleptes. Diodorus sums up Philip's achievements in 346 BC: > Philip returned to Macedon, not only having gained a reputation for piety and superb generalship, but also having made considerable preparations for the increase of power that was destined to be his. For he wished to be appointed the commander-in-chief of Greece and to wage war against the Persians. There has been much debate amongst historians about Philip's motives and aims in 346 BC, with particular regard to Athens. Although Philip had made peace and alliance with Athens prior to his settlement of the Sacred War, they failed to send him troops he requested under the terms of the alliance. Although these troops were not ultimately needed by Philip, the Athenian failure to honour the terms gave Philip reasonable grounds for war. However, even when in possession of Thermopylae, he made no hostile moves towards Athens, and still prevented any punishment being meted on Athens by the Amphictyonic council. Why was Philip so lenient towards Athens? Cawkwell suggests that Philip was already beginning to contemplate a campaign against Persia in 346 BC (as tentatively suggested by Diodorus), for which purposes he desired the use of the powerful Athenian navy; hence his request for alliance, and his on-going patience with Athens. This may also provide another explanation for Philip's use of the Amphictyonic council to formally settle the Sacred War; if he was to campaign in Asia, he needed Greece to be peaceful, and a peace imposed through a pan-Greek organisation (backed with the threat of Macedonian intervention), was more likely to succeed than one directly imposed by Macedon. ## Reorganisation and retrenchment (345–342 BC) The next year, Philip returned to the ongoing business of restructuring Macedon. Justin reports that after returning to Macedon, he began transplanting parts of the population to new locations, in particular strengthening the cities of Macedon. This was probably to increase the security of the population, and promote trade; Alexander the Great would later recall that his father had brought "the Macedonians down from the hills to the plains". ### Illyria (345 BC) Philip then went on campaign against the Illyrians, particularly Pleuratus, whose Taulantii kingdom probably lay along the Drin river in modern Albania and was the main independent power in Illyria after Grabus' defeat. During the campaign, Philip suffered a smashed shin-bone, and was only saved from death by the bravery of his Companion cavalry (150 of whom were wounded in the process). Philip did not campaign in 344 or 343 BC, which may have been due to the effects of this severe injury. Instead, Philip contented himself with reorganising Thessaly in 344 BC, reinstating the ancient fourfold "Tetrarchic" administration system. After Philip's Illyrian campaigns, the Illyrian ruler Cleitus was a vassal of Macedon. The previously defeated Grabaei, as well as perhaps the Ardiaei and Autariatae are usually considered vassals of Philip, although the evidence is weak. King Glaucias and his Taulantii were probably expelled from the border area of Dassaretia, but after the harsh battle against Philip they remained independent in the Adriatic coast. ### Molossia and Cassopaea (342 BC) The Molossian kingdom of Epirus had been an important subject ally of Macedon since 350 BC, when Philip had taken the son of king Arybbas, Alexander hostage. During this time at court, Alexander (brother of Philip's wife Olympias), had grown into an admirer of Philip, and Philip therefore decided to replace Arybbas with Alexander. The exact date this occurred is unclear; Cawkwell suggests this happened in early 342 BC, when Alexander would have been 20, as a prelude to his Thracian campaign. Arybbas went into exile in Athens, where he was promised help to regain his kingdom; however, Alexander would remain on the throne (and loyal to Philip) until his death in 334 BC. Philip certainly campaigned against the Epirote Cassopaeans in early 342 BC, taking control of three coastal cities (Pandosia, Elateia and Bucheta) to secure the southern regions of his kingdom. ## Thrace (342–340 BC) In approximately June 342 BC, Philip set off on what must have been a long-planned expedition into Thrace. The campaign was to last for two years, but other than that his forces were large, and that he fought several battles, the ancient sources contain very few details. Undoubtedly Philip's primary aim was to depose Kersebleptes, who according to Diodorus had been causing problems for the Greeks on the Chersonese, once and for all. Philip ended the campaign by marrying Meda of Odessos, daughter of a king of the Getae, which has been taken to suggest that Philip campaigned not just in Thrace, but in the valley of the Hebrus, and north of the Great Balkan range of mountains, near the Danube. During the campaign, Philip founded several cities, most notably Philippopolis on the site of the old Thracian fort of Eumolpia (modern Plovdiv, Bulgaria). A tithe was levied on the Thracians, and the new post of "general in charge of Thrace" may have been established at this time, effectively governor of a new Macedonian province of Thrace. To pacify the north of this region, the Thracians were left mostly independent, under their own kings, who were subject to Philip. Cawkwell rates this extended campaign as one of Philip's major achievements, given the terrain and severe winter conditions. ## Perinthos and Byzantion (340–339 BC) At the end of his Thracian campaign, Philip moved against the city of Perinthos, formerly his ally. Diodorus says that this was because the city had begun to oppose him, and favour the Athenians; however, from Athenian sources, there is no indication that this was the case. One possible explanation is that Perinthos had refused to send aid to Philip during the Thracian campaign, and it was for this reason he decided to attack it. Either way, since Perinthos was a Greek city, Philip's actions gave the Athenian war-party the excuse it had been looking for to disrupt the peace Philip had wrought in Greece, thereby starting a new phase in the wars. ### Breakdown of the Peace Although Demosthenes had been a principal architect of the Peace of Philocrates, almost as soon as it was made, he wished to be rid of it. Over the next few years, Demosthenes became leader of the "war-party" in Athens, and at every opportunity he sought to undermine the peace: "His method was simple and effective. He kept hammering away at untruths until enough Athenians came to believe them." Demosthenes believed that all Philip's successes were due to his bribery and corruption of the Greeks, a view which, although there is little evidence for it, became commonplace until re-examined by modern historians. Conversely, there was also a substantial body of feeling in Athens, led by Aeschines, that the peace should be maintained and developed. From 343 BC onwards, in order to try to disrupt the peace, Demosthenes and his followers used every expedition and action of Philip to argue that he was breaking the peace. One of the first points of conflict may have been Thassos and the north Aegean piracy. The weakening of Athens' naval hegemony and the use of privateers in the last war had led to a resurgence of piracy. In parallel, Philip's continually improving financial situation had allowed him to start building a navy by 342 BC, something that did not pass undetected in Athens. Philip's new navy had occupied the small island of Halonnesus in the northern Aegean after expelling the pirates who had seized the island. Its return during the Philocrates peace became a diplomatic claim by the orator Hegesippus, a Demosthenes supporter. In general, the anti-Macedonian party had allowed or promoted the use of the island of Thasos, in front of the Macedonian and Thracian coastline, as a pirate safe harbor. The Athenians also made similar use of other islands and ports in Thrace. Thassos' internal politics was in the meantime divided between pro and anti-Athenian parties with their continental interests having been seized by Philip during his earlier conquests. Demosthenes refers to Thasos as independent in 340 but the subsequent references to Thasos had been construed by scholars like Rubensohn as suggesting it may have fallen to Philip in 340–338. Finally, in 341 BC, matters began to come to a head. Athens sent out new settlers to the cleruchs on the Chersonsese under the command of Diopeithes, who proceeded to ravage the territory of Cardia, an ally of Philip. Philip therefore wrote to the Athenians to demand that they desist, but in his speech 'On the Chersonese', Demosthenes persuaded the Athenians that since Athens was effectively at war with Philip anyway, there was no need to do what Philip asked; Diopeithes therefore continued to cause trouble in Thrace. Then, in the Third Philippic of approximately May 341 BC, Demosthenes accused Philip of breaking the peace by intervening in the affairs of Euboea. Finally, in the Fourth Philippic delivered later in 341 BC, Demosthenes argued that Athens should send an embassy to the Persian king, requesting money for a forthcoming war with Macedon. The embassy was sent, much to Philip's anger, but was sharply rebuffed by the Persians. ### Perinthos Against this fraught background, Philip started the siege of Perinthos in July 340 BC. Perinthos occupied a strong position on a hill rising to 56 meters, with its own port. Philip did not have a large enough fleet to blockade the port, meaning that Perinthos could be supplied from outside; Philip would therefore have to assault the city. Philip's engineers constructed siege towers (some allegedly 80 cubits high), battering rams and mines for the assault, and in a short time, a section of the wall was breached. However, fighting uphill through the city proved difficult, with the rings of houses providing impromptu defence lines for the Perinthians. Aid, both material and military, now began arriving at Perinthos; the Persian king ordered his satraps on the coast of Asia Minor to send money, food and weapons to the city, while the Byzantians sent a body of soldiers and their best generals. ### Byzantion The Byzantians' actions meant that they too were now at war with Philip. He continued the siege of Perinthos, but now (September) sent half his army to besiege Byzantion. Byzantion was a more important city for Philip, because of its control of the Bosphorus; > [Perinthos] did not really matter to Athens. [Byzantion] did. The corn-ships on their way to Athens down the Bosphorus could still be conveyed past the city, but even so, there was the danger of serious interruption. Given a moderate fleet, whoever controlled [Byzantion] could cause the greatest alarm in Athens. Demosthenes was determined to prevent the capture of the city, and went on an embassy to Byzantion, which agreed to form an alliance with Athens. The Athenians general Chares was already in the vicinity with 40 ships, and was sent to support Byzantion; furthermore, Byzantion's other allies, Chios, Rhodes and Kos also sent aid to the city. Since he still did not control the seas, Philip already faced a difficult task to besiege Byzantion, made all the more difficult by the outside support. Again, Philip's engineers set to work, and created a breach; a night assault was then made, but was repulsed. Frustrated in the two sieges, Philip now lost patience with the Athenians, and wrote to them, declaring war. In Athens, Demosthenes proposed that the Athenians should respond by declaring war on Philip; the motion was passed, and the stone tablet recording the peace of Philocrates destroyed. The Athenians prepared another fleet under the command of Phocion, and dispatched it to Byzantion. The first act in this new war was Philip's seizure of 230 grain ships that had been waiting on the far side of the Bosphorus to be convoyed past Byzantion by Chares. He used the grain for his own supplies and the ships' timbers to build siege engines. However, what happened over the next few months is unclear; although to judge by Philip's activities in 339 BC, he cannot have spent more than three months besieging Byzantion. The walls of Byzantion were very tall and strong, and the city was full of defenders, and well supplied by sea; it is therefore possible Philip gave up on the siege, rather than waste time and men trying to assault it. The Greeks viewed this, and the abandonment of the siege of Perinthos, as a glorious victory. Philip's motives are as unclear as ever; Cawkwell suggests that, since he was now at war with Athens, he decided to go straight to the root of the problem, rather than be detained at Byzantion. ## Philip's final campaigns (339–338 BC) ### Scythia As a prelude to his planned campaign in Greece, Philip went on campaign in the winter of 339 BC, against the Scythians living south of the Danube, near the river's mouth (in Dobruja). He defeated them in battle, taking many captive, and built a statue of Heracles to commemorate his victory. He then marched through the territory of the Triballi in a demonstration of force, which probably lay upstream along the course of the Danube. During a skirmish, he was severely wounded in the leg when a spear passed through it and killed the horse he was riding. Recovering from this wound may have delayed Philip's campaign in Greece, since he did not set off until the autumn of 339 BC. ### Fourth Sacred War Philip's campaign in Greece became linked with a new, fourth, sacred war. The citizens of Amphissa in Ozolian Locris had begun cultivating land sacred to Apollo on the Crisaean plain south of Delphi; after some internal bickering the Amphictyonic council decided to declare a sacred war against Amphissa. A Thessalian delegate proposed that Philip should be made leader of the Amphictyonic forces, which therefore gave Philip a pretext to campaign in Greece; it is, however, probable that Philip would have gone ahead with his campaign anyway. At the start of the 339 BC, the Thebans had seized the town of Nicaea near Thermopylae, which Philip had garrisoned in 346 BC. Philip does not appear to have treated this as a declaration of war, but it nevertheless presented him with a significant problem, blocking the main route into Greece. However, a second route into central Greece was available. In 480 BC, during the Battle of Thermopylae, the Persian king Xerxes had sent his army via a mountain track (the Anopea) to outflank the pass. From this track, on the western side of Mount Kallidromon, another road led off and descended in Phocis. In 480 BC, a thousand Phocian troops were stationed above Thermopylae to guard the road and prevent a Persian assault on Phocis (though they notably failed to prevent the Persians using Anopea). However, in 339 BC, the Greeks had either forgotten the existence of this road, or believed that Philip would not use it; the subsequent failure to guard this road allowed Philip to slip into central Greece unhindered. Philip's relatively lenient treatment of the Phocians in 346 BC now bore fruit. Reaching Elatea, he ordered the city to be re-populated, and during the next few months the whole Phocian confederation was restored to its former state. This provided Philip with a base in Greece, and new, grateful allies in the Phocians. Philip probably arrived in Phocis in November 339 BC, but the decisive phase of the campaign did not occur until August 338 BC. During this period Philip discharged his responsibility to the Amphictyonic council by settling the situation in Amphissa. He tricked a force of 10,000 mercenaries who were guarding the road from Phocis to Amphissa into abandoning their posts, then took Amphissa and expelled its citizens, turning it over to Delphi. He probably also engaged in diplomatic attempts to try to avoid further conflict in Greece, although if so, he was unsuccessful. The Amphictyonic council decided to hold a special session two or three months later. The Athenians and the Thebans did not send envoys to this council. ### Alliance between Athens and Thebes When news first arrived that Philip was in Elatea, just three days march away, there was panic in Athens. In what Cawkwell describes as his proudest moment, Demosthenes alone counselled against despair, and proposed that the Athenians should seek an alliance with the Thebans; his decree was passed, and he was sent as ambassador. Philip had also sent an embassy to Thebes, requesting that the Thebans join him, or at least allow him to pass through Boeotia unhindered. Since the Thebans were still not formally at war with Philip, they could have avoided the conflict altogether. However, in spite of Philip's proximity, and their traditional enmity with Athens, they chose to ally with the Athenians, in the cause of liberty for Greece. The Athenian army had already pre-emptively been sent in the direction of Boeotia, and was therefore able to join the Thebans within days of the alliance being agreed. The details of the campaign leading up to the decisive Battle of Chaeronea are almost completely unknown. Philip was presumably prevented from entering Boeotia by way of Mount Helikon, as the Spartans had done in the run-up to the Battle of Leuctra, or by any of the other mountain passes. There were certainly some preliminary skirmishes; Demosthenes alludes to a "winter battle" and "battle on the river" in his speeches, but no other details are preserved. Finally, in August 338 BC, Philip's army marched straight down the main road from Phocis to Boeotia, to assault the allied Greek army defending the road at Chaeronea. ### The Battle of Chaeronea The allied Greek army had taken up a position near Chaeronea, astride the main road. On the left flank, the allied Greek line lay across the foothills of Mount Thurion, blocking the side-road that led to Lebedea, while on the right, the line rested against the Kephisos river, near a projecting spur of Mount Aktion. The allied Greek army included contingents from Achaea, Corinth, Chalcis, Epidaurus, Megara and Troezen, with the majority of troops being supplied by Athens and Thebes, thus making it an army of allied cities of southern Greece, that had been traditionally self-governed for centuries. The Athenian contingent was led by the generals Chares and Lysicles, and the Thebans by Theagenes. No source provides exact numbers for the allied Greek army; the modern view is that the allied Greek numbers were approximately equal to those of the Macedonians, who according to Diodorus numbered roughly 30,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry. Philip took command of the right wing of the Macedonian wing and placed his 18-year-old son Alexander (the future Alexander the Great) in command of the left wing, accompanied by a group of Philip's experienced generals. Details of the battle itself are scarce, with Diodorus providing the only formal account. He says that "once joined, the battle was hotly contested for a long time and many fell on both sides, so that for a while the struggle permitted hopes of victory to both." He then recounts that the young Alexander, "his heart set on showing his father his prowess" succeeding in rupturing the allied Greek line aided by his companions, and eventually put the allied Greek right wing to flight; meanwhile, Philip advanced in person against the allied Greek left and also put it to flight. This brief account can be filled out, if Polyaenus's anecdotes related to the battle (found in his work Stratagems) are to be believed. Polyaenus's accounts have led some modern historians to tentatively propose the following synthesis of the battle. After the general engagement had been in progress for some time, Philip had his army perform a wheeling manoeuver, with the right wing withdrawing, and the whole line pivoting around its centre. At the same time, wheeling forward, the Macedonian left wing attacked the Thebans on the allied Greek right and punched a hole in the allied Greek line. On the allied Greek left, the Athenians followed Philip, their line becoming stretched and became disordered; the Macedonians then turned, attacked and routed the tired and inexperienced Athenians. The allied Greek right wing, under the assault of the Macedonian troops under Alexander's command, then were also routed, ending the battle. Diodorus says that more than 1000 Athenians died in the battle, with another 2000 taken prisoner, and that the Thebans fared similarly. Cawkwell suggests that this was one of the most decisive battles in ancient history; since there was now no army which could prevent Philip's advance, the war effectively ended. ## Settlement of Greece and League of Corinth (337–336 BC) In the aftermath of Chaeronea, records show desperate attempts in Athens and Corinth to re-build the city walls, as they prepared for Philip to lay siege to them. However, Philip had no intention of besieging any city, nor indeed of conquering Greece. Himself also being Greek, he wanted the rest of the Greeks as his allies for his planned campaign against the Persians, and he wanted to leave a stable Greece in his rear when he went on campaign; further fighting was therefore contrary to his aims. Philip marched first to Thebes, which surrendered to him; he expelled the Theban leaders who had opposed him, recalled those pro-Macedonian Thebans who had previously been exiled, and installed a Macedonian garrison. He also ordered that the Boeotian cities of Plataea and Thespiae, which Thebes had destroyed in previous conflicts, be re-founded. Generally, Philip treated the Thebans severely, making them pay for the return of their prisoners, and even to bury their dead; he did not, however, dissolve the Boeotian confederacy. By contrast, Philip treated Athens very leniently indeed; although the Second Athenian League was dissolved, the Athenians were allowed to keep their colony on Samos, and their prisoners were freed without ransom. Philip's motives are not entirely clear, but one likely explanation is that he hoped to use the Athenian navy in his campaign against Persia, since Macedon did not possess a substantial fleet; he therefore needed to remain on good terms with the Athenians. Philip also made peace with the other combatants, Corinth and Chalcis, which controlled important strategic locations; both received Macedonian garrisons. He then turned to deal with Sparta, which had not taken part in the conflict, but was likely to take advantage of the weakened state of the other Greek cities to try to attack its neighbours in the Peloponnese. The Spartans refused Philip's invitation to engage in discussions, so Philip ravaged Lacedaemonia, but did not attack Sparta itself. ### League of Corinth Philip seems to have moved around Greece in the months after the battle, making peace with the states that opposed him, dealing with the Spartans, and installing garrisons; his movements also probably served as a demonstration of force to the other cities, lest they oppose him. In mid-337 BC, he seems to have camped near Corinth, and began the work to establish a league of the Greek city-states, which would guarantee peace in Greece, and provide Philip with military assistance against Persia. The result, the League of Corinth, was formed in the latter half of 337 BC at a congress organised by Philip. All states signed up to the league, with the exception of Sparta. The principal terms of the concord were that all members became allied to each other, and to Macedon, and that all members were guaranteed freedom from attack, freedom of navigation, and freedom from interference in internal affairs. Philip, and the Macedonian garrisons installed in Greece, would act as the 'keepers of the peace'. At Philip's behest, the synod of the League then declared war on Persia, and voted Philip as Strategos for the forthcoming campaign. ## War with Persia and death of Philip (336 BC) In 336 BC, whilst the invasion of Persia was in its very early stage, Philip was assassinated in Aegae by the captain of his bodyguard, Pausanias, whilst attending the wedding of his daughter by Olympias, Cleopatra, to Olympias's brother (and Cleopatra's uncle) Alexander I of Epirus. Philip's son Alexander III by Olympias was proclaimed king by the Macedonian army and by the Macedonian noblemen. ## Aftermath ### Accession of Alexander Alexander began his reign by having his potential rivals to the throne murdered. He had his cousin, the former Amyntas IV, executed, as well as having two Macedonian princes from the region of Lyncestis killed, while a third, Alexander Lyncestes, was spared. Olympias had Cleopatra Eurydice and her daughter by Philip, Europa, burned alive. When Alexander found out about this, he was furious with his mother. Alexander also ordered the murder of Attalus, who was in command of the advance guard of the army in Asia Minor. Attalus was at the time in correspondence with Demosthenes, regarding the possibility of defecting to Athens. Regardless of whether Attalus actually intended to defect, he had already severely insulted Alexander, and having just had Attalus's daughter and grandchildren murdered, Alexander probably felt Attalus was too dangerous to leave alive. Alexander spared the life of his half-brother Arrhidaeus, who was by all accounts somewhat mentally disabled, possibly as a result of poisoning by Olympias. News of Philip's death roused many states into revolt, including Thebes, Athens, Thessaly, and the Thracian tribes to the north of Macedon. When news of the revolts in Greece reached Alexander, he responded quickly. Though his advisors advised him to use diplomacy, Alexander mustered the Macedonian cavalry of 3,000 men and rode south towards Thessaly, Macedon's neighbor to the south. When he found the Thessalian army occupying the pass between Mount Olympus and Mount Ossa, he had the men ride over Mount Ossa. When the Thessalians awoke the next day, they found Alexander in their rear, and promptly surrendered, adding their cavalry to Alexander's force, as he rode down towards the Peloponnesus. Alexander stopped at Thermopylae, where he was recognized as the leader of the Amphictyonic League before heading south to Corinth. Athens sued for peace and Alexander received the envoy and pardoned anyone involved with the uprising. At Corinth, he was given the title Hegemon, and like Philip, appointed commander of the forthcoming war against Persia. ### Balkan campaign Before crossing to Asia, Alexander wanted to safeguard his northern borders; in the spring of 335 BC, he advanced to suppress several apparent revolts. Starting from Amphipolis, he first went east into the country of the "Independent Thracians", and at Mount Haemus, the Macedonian army attacked and defeated a Thracian army manning the heights. The Macedonians marched on into the country of the Triballi, and proceeded to defeat the Triballian army near the Lyginus river (a tributary of the Danube). Alexander then advanced for three days on to the Danube, encountering the Getae tribe on the opposite shore. Surprising the Getae by crossing the river at night, he forced the Getae army to retreat after the first cavalry skirmish, leaving their town to the Macedonian army. News then reached Alexander that Cleitus, king of Illyria, and King Glaukias of the Taulantii were in open revolt against Macedonian authority. Marching west into Illyria, Alexander defeated each in turn, forcing Cleitus and Glaukias to flee with their armies, leaving Alexander's northern frontier secure. While he was triumphantly campaigning in the north, a rumour of his death caused the Thebans and Athenians to rebel against Macedonian hegemony once more. Alexander reacted immediately but, while the other cities hesitated when he advanced into Greece, Thebes decided to resist with the utmost vigor. However, the resistance was useless, and the city was captured and then razed to the ground, and its territory was divided between the other Boeotian cities. The end of Thebes cowed Athens into submission, leaving all of Greece at least outwardly at peace with Alexander. With Macedon's vassals and allies once again peaceable, Alexander was finally free to take control of the stalled war with Persia, and in early 334 BC he crossed with an army of 42,000 men into Asia Minor. ### Alexander's campaigns in Asia Alexander's 10-year campaign in Asia, and the Macedonian conquest of the Persian empire, were to become the stuff of legend. The Macedonian army campaigned in Asia Minor, the Levant, Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia and Persia, winning notable battles at the Granicus, the Issus and Gaugamela, before the final collapse of Darius's rule in 330 BC. Alexander thus became ruler of the extensive Persian domains, although his rule over most of the territory was far from secure. Alexander continued campaigning in central Asia in the following years, before crossing into the Indian sub-continent. However, the Macedonian army became increasingly unhappy, and eventually mutinied, forcing Alexander to turn back. Alexander spent his final years attempting to consolidate his empire and planning future campaigns but, probably exhausted by years of hard campaigning, he died in Babylon in 323 BC. ## See also - Government of Macedonia (ancient kingdom) - History of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)
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Agneepath (2012 film)
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2012 film by Karan Malhotra
[ "2010s Hindi-language films", "2012 action drama films", "2012 directorial debut films", "2012 films", "Fictional portrayals of the Maharashtra Police", "Films about organised crime in India", "Films directed by Karan Malhotra", "Films scored by Ajay–Atul", "Films shot in Daman and Diu", "Films shot in Maharashtra", "Films shot in Mumbai", "Hindi-language action drama films", "Indian action drama films", "Indian films about revenge", "Remakes of Indian films" ]
Agneepath () is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language action drama film produced by Hiroo Yash Johar and Karan Johar under Dharma Productions and directed by Karan Malhotra in his directorial debut. A remake of 1990 film of the same name directed by Mukul S. Anand and starring Amitabh Bachchan, it centers on a screenplay written by Malhotra and Ila Dutta Bedi, with dialogues written by Piyush Mishra. The film stars Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Rishi Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Kanika Tiwari, Om Puri and Zarina Wahab. It follows Vijay Deenanath Chauhan (Roshan), a common man from the island village of Mandwa who seeks revenge for his father's humiliation and murder at the hands of Kancha Cheena (Dutt); in the process, he befriends Rauf Lala (Kapoor), an underworld gangster, and falls in love with a loquacious girl, Kaali Gawde (Chopra). Karan Johar had harboured intentions of remaking the original Agneepath ever since its release, which was produced by his father Yash Johar. Despite receiving critical acclaim, the film was a commercial failure and brought Yash to financial ruin. Believing that he was not qualified to direct an action film, Johar approached Malhotra, his associate director on My Name is Khan (2010), to helm the project. He considered the film to be a tribute to his father. Principal photography of Agneepath took place in Diu and Mumbai, with several accidents taking place on the sets. The music of the film was composed by Ajay–Atul, with lyrics written by Amitabh Bhattacharya. As with the original, the title is taken from a poem of the same name by Harivansh Rai Bachchan, which forms a thematic link through the film, both literally and metaphorically. Agneepath was theatrically released in India on 26 January 2012, coinciding with the Republic Day celebrations, and in 2650 screens worldwide. Produced on a budget of ₹58 crore (US\$10.85 million), the film broke the record for the highest-opening day for a film in India and became a commercial success with a worldwide gross of over ₹193 crore (US\$36.12 million), emerging as the fifth highest-grossing Hindi film of 2012. Critics highlighted Malhotra's direction and Roshan's performance as praiseworthy, with many considering it to be superior to the original film. At the 58th Filmfare Awards, Agneepath received 5 nominations, including Best Actor (Roshan) and Best Supporting Actor (Kapoor). Additionally, it won 5 IIFA Awards and 4 Zee Cine Awards. ## Plot Within the island village of Mandwa, the school teacher Deenanath Chauhan is highly respected by the villagers. Extremely jealous of Deenanath's popularity in the eyes of the citizens, the village chief summons his evil son Kancha to destroy Deenanath's image in the citizens' eyes. Kancha also has plans to start a drug cartel from Mandwa, knowing that the soil of Mandwa is rich for the cultivation of opium. When Kancha requests the people to lend their lands to him under the pretext of expanding the salt industry of Mandwa, Deenanath dissuades the villagers from doing so. Knowing this, Kancha decides to get rid of the school teacher. He ambushes and murders a young girl inside the school, framing Deenanath for the murder. With the support of the villagers, Kancha then kills Deenanath by hanging him to death from a tree which is witnessed by young Vijay, the son of the teacher. Vijay Deenanath Chauhan, along with his pregnant mother Suhasini, leaves the village. The Chauhans find shelter in a chawl in Dongri, a suburb in Mumbai, but Vijay harbors intentions to go back to Mandwa and kill Kancha. While in Mumbai, Suhasini delivers a baby girl named Shiksha, while Vijay befriends a girl, Kaali Gawde. Vijju / Vijay Deenanath Chauhan is fascinated by Rauf Lala, a local human trafficker, and Kancha's nemesis, and gets into his company by refusing to stand as a witness in court to a crime committed by Lala and joins his gang. Suhasini takes Shiksha with her upon deserting Vijay's side after he kills Kaali's abusive father at a young age and resorts to violence. A grown-up Vijay now works for Rauf Lala and finds himself as his trusted wingman. Once Inspector and now Commissioner, Eknath Gaitonde, who remembers Vijay from the Lala incident, acts as a silent guardian for Vijay and tries to eliminate crime in Mumbai. When Rauf's influence over the drug business in Mumbai is falling, Kancha decides to grow his influence as a drug lord in the city and sends his aid, Shantaram over to Mumbai for the process. Shantaram succeeds in bribing the Home Secretary of Maharashtra, Mr. Borkar to get access to the interiors of Mumbai for smuggling cocaine. Vijay catches Borkar red-handed while trying to smuggle cocaine from Mandwa into Mumbai through his headquarters in Goa. Borkar and Shantaram are forced to hand over the pure cocaine to Lala, thus making them Lala's suppliers rather than rivals. Lala rewards Vijay with the territory of Dongri for his achievement. He further gains Lala's trust by taking a bullet shot which was aimed at Lala's son, Mazhar, this, however, later turns out as a conspiracy involving Vijay and Shantaram to eliminate Mazhar. After having Mazhar shot by Shantaram and subsequently even killing Shantaram himself to eradicate evidence, Vijay brings Mazhar's corpse to Lala, who falls sick and is admitted to a hospital; in the meantime, Vijay takes over Lala's empire and brings all the crimes committed by Lala's gang to an end. All this results in him being contacted by Kancha and invited to Mandwa for a business agreement. However, Kancha is taken aback when Vijay mentions that he wants Mandwa in exchange for Mumbai; Vijay's allies and companions are killed, and he is beaten up severely by Kancha, but despite initially suspecting this deal, Kancha later agrees on the condition that Gaitonde must be killed. Meanwhile, back in Mumbai, Lala regains health and finds out the truth behind Mazhar's death. He gets hold of Shiksha and tries to sell her off. Vijay is notified of this by Kancha and he flees back to Mumbai and kills Lala in a bloody skirmish; Shiksha shares an emotional reunion with Vijay as a grown-up Kaali accompanies them. Soon after, Kancha sends Surya, his right-hand man, to aid Vijay in assassinating Gaitonde. However, During the Ganesh Chaturthi, Surya suspects that Vijay is in league with Gaitonde, and sets out to do the deed himself. However, when Surya tries to assassinate Gaitonde, he is killed by Vijay, who reveals his credentials before murdering him, amid a crowd. Vijay and Kaali fall in love and get married, but Kaali gets killed right after during a shooting spree by Kancha's men in retaliation for Surya's death. Vijay leaves for Mandwa to avenge the death of Deenanath and Kaali. He destroys the island of Mandwa through explosions and after an intense battle, Kancha almost kills Vijay with a knife, but with all his might, Vijay kills Kancha by hanging him from the same tree in which his father was hanged. However, due to his severe injuries, Vijay is last seen in his mother's and sister's hands passing away whilst seeing a vision of his father and his younger self calling him forward and shouting Agneepath. ## Cast ## Production ### Development Karan Johar explained in an interview with The Times of India that he harboured intentions of remaking the original Agneepath ever since its release in 1990. Although the film had received critical acclaim over the years, its commercial failure had devastated his father, producer Yash Johar. Eventually, the idea of a possible remake materialised on the sets of Karan Johar's fourth directorial venture My Name Is Khan, in which Karan Malhotra was his associate director. Johar told Malhotra of his desire to remake the original film and asked him to revisit it again. On not directing the film himself, Johar commented, "I am happy directing films on love, romance, and drama. That's what I do best. I don't think I will be good at an action film. So I am not taking the reins of the film in my hand". However, Johar maintained that the new film would belong to a different milieu as compared to the original. He stated, "We are adapting the film from the original but ours would be a new age version that would fit in well with today's time. We really hope that we are able to do justice to the original and make the remake exciting for today's generation." Karan dedicated the film to Yash Johar as a tribute. In an interview with Filmfare, he added that the protagonist of the film would be "more of an underdog", while the antagonist would be "more flamboyant and menacing" than the original. Several changes were made to the storyline of the original film, including the omission of certain characters and the addition of new ones. The characters of Krishnan Iyer M.A., played by Mithun Chakraborty and Nurse Mary Matthew, played by Madhavi were done away with and new characters such as Rauf Lala and Kaali Gawde were introduced in the screenplay. Moreover, the characterisation of Vijay Deenanath Chauhan was changed, unlike the original which was inspired by Al Pacino's role in Scarface (1983). In an interview with The Calcutta Telegraph, Malhotra explained the adaptation by saying, "The similarity (between the original and this film) lies only in the fact that it is a revenge film; a son seeking revenge for his father's death. Unlike Mr. (Amitabh) Bachchan's film, my film starts and ends in Mandwa and is primarily about the conflict between the mother and the son. It's a completely new film with a lot of new characters." He additionally termed Agneepath to be a "crazily dramatic masala Bollywood film". ### Casting While media reports initially suggested that Abhishek Bachchan was being considered to portray the role of Vijay, Malhotra approached Roshan for the role. Roshan, however, was sceptical on taking up a role earlier played by Amitabh Bachchan and agreed to star in the film only after months of deliberation. He said, "The script had so much passion that I felt very emotional and I made up my mind to do it". On casting Roshan, Malhotra explained, "Hrithik has the charm of a boy and the attitude of a man. Also, he has a certain vulnerability, which I was looking in my characterisation of Vijay Deenanath Chauhan." While explaining the character of Vijay, Malhotra added, "Nobody can play Vijay the way Amitabh Bachchan did, and I would have wanted my Vijay to be subtle even if it wasn't Hrithik. I wanted the negative characters in my film to be bigger. This made Hrithik's victory seem bigger." Roshan did not look up Bachchan's performance in the original for inspiration, as he considered his role to be completely different in Malhotra's vision. However, he faced several difficulties while filming, having suffered from a severe back injury, which caused him considerable pain, throughout the shooting schedule. During an interview with Filmfare he quoted, "Agneepath is the hardest I've ever worked in my life. I didn't know what the film had in store for me. I've never been so tired in my life. I have exhausted my body completely." Kapoor was subsequently cast as Rauf Lala, an underworld don; alien to the opportunity of playing a completely negative character in his entire career, he was initially hesitant to sign the film. Later, in an interview with Daily News and Analysis he stated that when Malhotra had offered him the role, he considered it to be a joke and thought that he would be the reason for the film's failure. Kapoor subsequently insisted on a test look before principal photography could begin, so that he could comfortably fit into the Muslim character of Lala, who wears kohl in his eyes, a karakul cap and is dressed in traditional kurta-pajamas. While shooting for the action sequences, Kapoor suffered several bad falls and bruises, but continued shooting and was thereby praised by Roshan for his professionalism. For the role of Kancha, the antagonist, Dutt was cast. According to Malhotra, the script of Agneepath demanded that the villain be more powerful than the hero, and due to Dutt's bulky frame, he was considered perfect for the role. The character of Kancha demanded that Dutt go bald, but due to a prior commitment to the film Son of Sardar, which was being shot simultaneously, he could not do so for the sake of continuity. Therefore, Hollywood make up artist Robin Slater created a "bald" look for Dutt, with the use of prosthetics. However, due to the summer heat in Diu, the make-up would eventually drip down Dutt's face, which impelled him to finally shave his head. Malhotra admitted to being inspired by Marlon Brando's bald look in the film Apocalypse Now (1979) while designing Dutt's character. Dutt explained his look by saying, "Kancha is suffering from an ailment that leaves him hairless. I shaved my head for the role, not once but twice, and the eye-brows and eye-lashes have been digitally removed." Furthermore, Dutt worked out in the gym twice a day in order to bulk up for the role. During pre-production, media reports suggested that several actresses including Genelia D'Souza, Chopra and Kareena Kapoor were being considered for the role of Kaali Gawde. However, Chopra was approached over the others, and she agreed to do the film instantly. While initial reports suggested that Chopra would be playing the role of a sex worker in the film, they were later denied as rumours; in an interview with Rediff.com, she clarified that she was playing a prostitute's daughter. On Chopra's character, Malhotra commented, "Despite being a male dominated film, the part played by Priyanka Chopra is very prominent. It isn't that of a simple or ordinary lover. She is there for Vijay unconditionally and without any expectations. With all the dangerous people around her, she is like this pretty flower standing there with a smile on her face." Chopra wanted to visit a brothel to prepare for her role, but Malhotra insisted that she don't for safety reasons. Among the supporting roles, Zarina Wahab was cast as Suhasini Chauhan, Vijay's mother, a role originally played by Rohini Hattangadi. Wahab agreed to do the film due to her close association with producer Johar, who had earlier directed her in a brief role in My Name Is Khan. For the role of Shiksha Chauhan, newcomer Kanika Tiwari from Bhopal was auditioned and cast among 6500 girls. Filming for the song was demanding on Katrina Kaif, as she ended up with cuts and blisters on her feet, due to the long, stretched-out schedules. ### Filming Principal photography of Agneepath took place in the union territory of Diu, which was used to double as the village of Mandwa. Johar had to complete several formalities before shooting could begin, due to the sensitive nature of the territory. Malhotra, however did not shoot in the port of Mandwa itself, as it was "too congested". While shooting for the film in Mumbai, a picture of Roshan, filming a dahi handi sequence was leaked to the media. Worried over this, Johar increased the security on the sets and banned the use of cell phones. Additionally, Chopra faced difficulties in allocating dates to shoot for the film, as she was simultaneously shooting for Anurag Basu's Barfi!. According to Malhotra, most of the action stunts in the film were shot by Roshan and Dutt themselves, while body doubles were used to film a few scenes. Several accidents took place during the filming of Agneepath. Chopra's lehenga caught fire, while shooting for an elaborate Ganpati festival song. Roshan too scalded his hands while shooting for the same scene. Roshan also suffered from an eye injury during the shoot of a song, when holi colours were flung into his eyes by some junior artists. During a schedule in October, Roshan suffered from a major back injury while lifting a man weighing 110 kilograms, which was a part of an elaborate action sequence. Shooting was stalled for some time following the incident, while Roshan recuperated in a hospital. While Ravi K. Chandran was assigned as the cinematographer of Agneepath, he opted out of the film after filming certain portions for unknown reasons. Kiran Deohans was later contracted to replace him. Sabu Cyril was contracted as the production designer for the film, along with a team of 200 people. He explained the creation of Kancha's den by saying that he built a haveli-like structure with tantric paintings on the walls, resembling an old fort built by the Portuguese (who had historically occupied Diu). Vijay's home, on the other hand, was a "small sack-like thing" on the terrace of a chawl, which was built on open ground with a hundred houses. Cyril added, "We wanted a tree to be at the edge of a hillside, protruding out due to erosion, with not enough soil. We made this banyan tree with fibre as we wanted it to have a particular look." This tree forms a visual thread to represent Kancha's atrocities in the film. The song "Chikni Chameli" featuring Kaif was shot in Film City, Mumbai, where the entire set of Dutt's villa was recreated. ## Soundtrack The music of Agneepath was composed by Ajay–Atul, with lyrics written by Amitabh Bhattacharya. The songs were composed with the help of live instrumentation being extensively used. While explaining the process involved in composing the soundtrack, Ajay said that Malhotra narrated the story to them for over four hours, whilst humming the background score that he wanted. This was followed by innumerable discussions which made them "understand each other well". He also mentioned that the song "Chikni Chameli" was a remake of their own Marathi song "Kombdi Palali" from the film Jatra (2006). Sony Music acquired the rights to the album for ₹90 million (US\$1.1 million). ## Themes and analysis Agneepath derives its name from a poem of the same name written by Harivansh Rai Bachchan. The poem, which is recited through the film provides a metaphorical link to represent Vijay's quest for vengeance. Several critics consider Agneepath to be a homage to the era of the melodramatic, over-the-top action films of the 1980s and 90s. Critic Rajeev Masand analysed, "Agneepath is a throwback to those heightened action dramas of the 90s, so every dialogue is delivered as a punch-line; our hero may be battered and stabbed, yet he'll rise like the Phoenix, and the women are flung around to be raped or sold as sex slaves." He added, "The film is enhanced by uncompromising, brutal action, and by its striking camerawork, especially those scenes framed against a monsoon sky, heavy with dark clouds." Writing for Hindustan Times, Mayank Shekhar explained that the film, like several other Bollywood films, was inspired by the Indian epic tale of the Ramayana. He also added that "the external logic of a star-driven, fantasy fed film" would "not be easy to gulp for many." While writing a critique for Deccan Chronicle, Suparna Sharma quoted, "Agneepath is more than a remake or a homage to the original. It's about a son righting a wrong and this emotion makes us connect with the film immediately." ## Marketing The first official trailer of Agneepath was launched at a press conference in Mumbai on 29 August 2011. Dharma Productions streamed the event live on the production house's YouTube channel. The event was attended by the entire cast: Roshan, Kapoor, Dutt and Chopra. The trailer of the film was the third most watched trailer in India, behind the films, Don 2 and Ra.One. The film associated itself with McDonald's to provide a discount of ₹50 (63¢ US) to customers buying a meal at the joint. Additionally, few winners were offered a chance to win a lunch date with Roshan. As part of the promotional campaign, Roshan, Dutt and Chopra visited Dubai on 19 January 2012, to interact with fans at a shopping mall, followed by an invitational high tea party. The actors travelled to several places in India including New Delhi, Nagpur and other cities to promote the film. ## Release Prior to its theatrical release, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) certified the film with a UA certificate after demanding a few cuts, due to a high proportion of violence present in the film. Explaining the certificate, Pankaja Thakur, CEO of CBFC stated, "Agneepath has a lot of bloodsheds but none of us felt disturbed by it. The violence is not the type that can psychologically damage a child and the softer scenes of the film managed to offset the darker part of it". The film's posters subsequently featured disclaimers reading, "This film is certified U/A. We advise parental guidance due to violence in the film." The board consequently praised Johar for the step. Initially scheduled to release on 28 December 2011, Agneepath was postponed by a week to 26 January to coincide with the Republic Day celebrations. The film eventually released at around 2650 screens worldwide. The satellite rights of the film were originally sold to Zee Network for a sum of ₹410 million (US\$5.1 million), a month before the theatrical release, which marked a distant first for the studio, whose earlier rights were often sold either to Star India or Sony Pictures Networks. Somehow, this meant that the deal would appear in later stages, and after Baar Baar Dekho being one of the films, several films produced by the studio in 2017, 2018 and 2019 would be sold to Zee TV. Dharma Productions released the DVD of Agneepath on 13 March 2012 across all regions in the NTSC format, with a censor rating of PG-13. The DVD includes special features such as the "making of the film" and "deleted scenes and songs". It is available in Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo format with English and Arabic subtitles presented in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen. The film is now available on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, with its renewed satellite rights now owned by Viacom 18. ## Reception ### Critical reception #### India Upon release, Agneepath received positive reviews from film critics in India with praise directed towards its direction, screenplay, music, cinematography and performances (particularly those of Roshan, Dutt and Kapoor). Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film a score of 4.5 out of 5, and said, "Agneepath is an uncomplicated story of revenge, is hard-hitting yet entertaining, dwells on strong emotions and aggressive and forceful action, yet is dissimilar from the original. It is a fitting tribute to the masterwork." Subhash K. Jha of IANS gave it 4 out of 5 stars, while commenting, "Every component of the film falls into place, with a resounding thump. Agneepath is brilliant in its brutality. It's a riveting and hectic homage to the spirit of the cinema when revenge reigned supreme. And content was king. This new Agneepath takes us back to the era when there was no computer or cellphones. And communication with the audience was immediate and electrifying." Kaveree Bamzai of India Today rated the film 4 out of 5, noting, "Melodramatic, choir-inducing sentiment, ecstatic. Agneepath is that rare mainstream movie written well." Aniruddha Guha of Daily News and Analysis gave the film 3.5 out of 5, reviewing, "An adaptation rather than a remake, the film assumes a life of its own once the central plot has been established. The film then charts a journey of his own." Piyali Dasgupta of NDTV gave it 3.5 out of 5, stating "Watch this film because this one is unadulterated Bollywood entertainment." Daily Bhaskar gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, while adding, "On the whole, Agneepath totally rests on star power which will lure the cine-goers to halls but how far will it impress them remains to be seen." Avijit Ghosh of The Times of India gave the film 3 stars out of 5, and said, "Try to wipe out the movie's earlier version from your mind. You might find it more enjoyable." Sukanya Verma of Rediff gave it 3 out of 5, while commenting, "Agneepath, less of a remake, more of a tribute. The makers of Agneepath should have just called it Dharmapath." Kunal Guha of Yahoo.com gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, saying that, "The biggest dilemma of remaking a movie is how much to retain and what to retain. If the new story takes violent shifts, you lose the audience who came to revisit the original. If you photocopy scene-by-scene, you risk failing to connect with the audience who is accustomed to present sensibilities. The only safe bet: a 'khichdi' of the past and the present, like this one." Mayank Shekhar of Hindustan Times gave the film 3 out of 5 stars while remarking, "This is the kind of genuine theatre experience, now getting rare, which remains most precious in the life of a film-goer. Reason can take over later. I had a ball!" Sonia Chopra of Sify gave it 3 out of 5, and mentioned, "Debut director Karan Malhotra shows great promise in making the film visually arresting and maintaining the consistency of performances. But remaking a cult film means you have big shoes to fill. If you're a loyalist of the late Mukul Anand's Agneepath, you're likely to have reservations with this one. But if you leave the comparisons aside and are willing to forgive the faults, Agneepath is worth a watch essentially to savor Hrithik's performance." Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave Agneepath 3 out of 5 and said, "It is in the end, an old-fashioned revenge drama treated in that melodramatic, over-the-top style. You're not likely to be bored by the intense action and the solid performances, but prepare to be exhausted by just how long this film plays on." #### Overseas Overseas, the film received positive reviews. Russel Edwards of Variety reviewed, "Debuting helmer Karan Malhotra stokes up a fiery revenge tale in Agneepath, an expensively pumped-up, relentlessly energetic retelling of the 1990 Amitabh Bachchan cult favorite of the same name. Toplining Bollywood hunk Hrithik Roshan and veteran actor Sanjay Dutt donning the hat as the antagonist, this dynamic Hindi action extravaganza boosts its potent story with an aggressive style that will ensure audiences feel every blow." Farah Andrews of Gulf News praised the film while saying, "Fans of the 1990 original starring Amitabh Bachchan and Danny Denzongpa as Vijay and Kancha may be wary about the remake, but take it from us, the revamped flick is well worth a watch." Rabina A. Khan of The First Post wrote, "Director Karan Malhotra has made an impressive film under the able guidance of his mentor, Karan Johar. It scores on all directorial aspects – design, sound, edit, costumes, camera, a phenomenal cast, dialogues, and a very gripping screenplay." ### Box office Agneepath broke the record of the highest opening day collections, with a nett of ₹217.6 million (US\$2.7 million) on its opening day, surpassing the previous record held by Bodyguard. Subsequently, the film netted ₹621.1 million (US\$7.8 million) over its extended four-day weekend. The film's collections sustained well on its first Monday and it netted around ₹75 million (US\$940,000), taking its five-day total to ₹695 million (US\$8.7 million) nett. It netted ₹65 million (US\$810,000) on Tuesday and another ₹50 million (US\$630,000) nett on Wednesday. The movie brought its first-week total to ₹858.8 million (US\$11 million) nett, thereby emerging as a major commercial success. The film collected ₹231.2 million (US\$2.9 million) in its second week, thus taking its two-week total to ₹1.09 billion (US\$14 million) nett. The film collected ₹75.9 million (US\$950,000) nett in its third week, taking its three-week nett collections to ₹1.17 billion (US\$15 million). It collected ₹26.1 million (US\$330,000) in its fourth week, taking its four-week nett collections to ₹1.19 billion (US\$15 million). Agneepath was thus declared a "superhit". Agneepath has collected ₹1.20 billion (US\$15 million) in its lifetime run in India. Its final distributor share was ₹655 million (US\$8.2 million). After a successful opening in the domestic market, Agneepath made ₹165 million (US\$2.1 million) in its four-day weekend, overseas. At the time of release, the film holds the record for the twelfth largest opening ever internationally. The film has grossed around \$6 million in overseas markets. ## Awards and nominations
37,358,160
Der Herr denket an uns, BWV 196
1,109,290,579
Church cantata by J. S. Bach
[ "1708 cantatas", "Christian wedding music", "Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach", "Psalm-related compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach" ]
Der Herr denket an uns (The Lord is mindful of us), BWV 196, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. The early church cantata, possibly for a wedding, is difficult to date, but is generally considered to be an early work on stylistic grounds. The text is a passage from Psalm 115, assuring of God's blessing, especially for children. Scholars have suggested the work may have been written for the wedding of Johann Lorenz Stauber, the minister in Dornheim who had married Bach and his first wife there in 1707, and Regina Wedemann, an aunt of Bach's wife, on 5 June 1708. Bach structured the work in five movements – an instrumental Sinfonia, a chorus, an aria, a duet and a final chorus. He scored it for three vocal soloists, a four-part choir and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of strings and continuo. ## History and words The precise date of composition for this cantata is unknown, but it is generally considered to be an early work. The English Bach scholar Richard Jones notes that "although it survives only in a later manuscript copy", its stylistic features are evidence of an earlier date: its text comprises "selected psalm verses only, without any free madrigalian verse", it has no recitative, and the compositional approach "still breathes the air of the seventeenth century". Many of Bach's later church cantatas were composed for the requirements of the liturgical calendar, but the early ones, including Der Herr denket an uns, were written for special occasions. The text is taken from , speaking of a thoughtful and blessing God. The passage includes in verse 14: "The Lord shall increase you more and more, you and your children". Many commentators, from his biographer Philipp Spitta onwards, have concluded that the cantata was written for a wedding. They have proposed weddings where it might have been performed, including Bach's own in October 1707, when he married his first wife Maria Barbara in Dornheim. The Bach scholar Alfred Dürr and others suggest that the cantata may have been written for the wedding of the minister Johann Lorenz Stauber, who had conducted the wedding ceremony for Bach, and Regina Wedemann, an aunt of Maria Barbara, in Dornheim on 5 June 1708. However, the wedding hypothesis is not proven, and the general text could fit other occasions. The cantata was first published in 1864 in the Bach Gesellschaft first edition of the composer's complete works. It was published in the Neue Bach-Ausgabe in 1958, edited by Frederick Hudson. ## Scoring and structure Bach structured the cantata in five movements, an instrumental sinfonia and two choral movements framing two arias, one for soprano (S), the other a duet for tenor (T) and bass (B). As in Bach's other early cantatas, there are no recitatives. Besides the three solo voices, Bach scored the work for a four-part choir and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two violins (Vl), viola (Va), cello (Vc), bass (violone) and continuo, as a copy of the score from around 1731 by Johann Ludwig Dietel, a student of Bach, shows. The duration has been given as 10 minutes and the main key as C major. In the following table of the movements, the scoring follows the Neue Bach-Ausgabe. The table uses the symbol for common time (4/4). The continuo including violone and organ, playing throughout, is not shown. ## Music Each vocal movement of the cantata is assigned to one verse of the psalm. The work has been described as a brief, sunny and festive work. ### 1 The opening sinfonia is march-like in style, reminiscent of processional music. It includes the dotted rhythms characteristic of the French overture in the opening section, and a contrasting minor-mode middle section in triplets. Two elements, the triplets and rising lines in imitation, return in later movements. The musicologist Julian Mincham concludes that "Bach, even at this early stage, was thinking across the movements and beginning to conceive such compositions as unified entities rather than suite-like potpourris". ### 2 The first chorus, "Der Herr denket an uns und segnet uns" (The Lord is mindful of us and blesses us), contains contrapuntal writing which also appears in other early cantatas. The movement opens like an organ prelude, preparing for a permutation fugue, a type of fugue found in Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir, BWV 131, for example. The vocal lines are rising in imitation, as in the sinfonia. ### 3 The soprano aria, "Er segnet, die den Herrn fürchten, beide, Kleine und Große" (He blesses those who fear the Lord, both small and great.), opens with a short ritornello theme and is in ternary form. The vocal line is scalar, contrasting with the obbligato violins, which play at times triplets, as in the sinfonia. ### 4 The duet aria, "Der Herr segne euch je mehr und mehr, euch und eure Kinder" (May the Lord bless you more and more, you and your children), is based on a single line of text. The violins play an imitative motif that does not align with the vocal phrases. the movement has been described as calm and "gently-swaying". Mincham notes a subtle growth "in the imitative opening motives of the violins taken, incidentally, from the sinfonia and dominating this movement throughout". ### 5 The closing chorus, "Ihr seid die Gesegneten des Herrn, der Himmel und Erde gemacht hat. Amen." (You are the blessed of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Amen.), is "awash with rippling scale and arpeggio figures". It concludes with echoing of Amen. ## Recordings - Bach-Collegium Stuttgart and Gächinger Kantorei, dir. Helmuth Rilling. Bach Edition: Cantatas 1. Hänssler Classic, 1975. - Concentus Musicus Wien and Tölzer Knabenchor, dir. Nikolaus Harnoncourt. J. S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk. Teldec, 1989. - Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, dir. Ton Koopman. J.S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 1. Erato, 1994. - Bach Collegium Japan, dir. Masaaki Suzuki. J.S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 1. BIS Records, 1995. - Netherlands Bach Collegium and Holland Boys Choir, dir. Pieter Jan Leusink. Bach Edition: Cantatas Vol. 4. Brilliant Classics, 1999.
68,774,553
Adele One Night Only
1,172,736,060
2021 television special
[ "2020s American television specials", "2021 in American television", "2021 in music", "2021 television specials", "Adele", "CBS television specials", "Concert films", "Oprah Winfrey", "Primetime Emmy Award-winning broadcasts" ]
Adele One Night Only is a television special by English singer Adele. The 88-minute program aired on CBS, and simulcast on Paramount+, on 14 November 2021. It features Adele's performances of previously unreleased songs from her fourth studio album, 30 (2021), as well as material from her previous albums, interspersed with an interview with Oprah Winfrey. The special drew favourable reviews from critics, who praised Adele's voice and performing skills and the choice of the Griffith Observatory as the venue, but some criticised the interview segment. It became the most-viewed entertainment special in the United States since Oprah with Meghan and Harry (2021). The special won five awards from five nominations at the 74th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, a Directors Guild of America Award, and it earned a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Music Film at the 65th ceremony. ## Background Adele announced her fourth studio album, 30, on 13 October 2021, and confirmed it would be released on 19 November 2021. On the day following the announcement, "Easy on Me" was released as the lead single from the album. About the prospect of touring in support of 30, she stated: "This album? No, probably not. I'd love to. I was actually desperate to tour, which for me is wild because I don't like touring. [...] It doesn't sit right with me putting an album out this year and then touring it in 2023." On 18 October, Adele announced that she would star in a television special for CBS, titled Adele One Night Only, which would be filmed during her show in Los Angeles on 14 November and broadcast live on Paramount+. It would feature an interview with Oprah Winfrey and the premiere of unreleased songs from the album. A trailer for the special was aired on 10 November, which featured her performing for an audience including Lizzo, Dwyane Wade, and Gabrielle Union. Adele described it: "It will look really elegant, then I'll tell a load of filthy jokes and stand-up. It will be real whip lash for 'em." Regarding her decision to be part of the special, Winfrey stated that "nobody's more compelling with truth than Adele" and went on to promise viewers a "very special night". ## Synopsis The special was divided into two parts: a live concert filmed at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles and Adele's interview with Winfrey at the latter's home in Montecito, California. Afront a sunset and a view of the Hollywood Hills, Adele opened her show with a performance of "Hello" (2015). The camera frequently cut to celebrities in attendance, whom Adele described as "a mix of close friends and complete strangers". She was dressed in a long and tight-fitting black outfit and dangly earrings. Adele frequently engaged in banter and interacted with the audience, occasionally using profanity which was censored using a three-second delay. The show also included a male attendee proposing to his partner of seven years. Adele explained this to the audience and instructed them to be quiet, as the man walked the blindfolded woman to the front and tearfully proposed to her, after which Adele segued into a performance of "Make You Feel My Love". Adele also performed the then-unreleased tracks "I Drink Wine", "Hold On", and "Love Is a Game", along with the first performance of "Easy on Me". The interview was filmed in a garden reminiscent of the one where Winfrey had interviewed Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex earlier in the year. During this segment, Adele was asked about her upbringing, weight loss, as well as the current status of her love life. She was clad in a white pantsuit, which was originally a skirt suit that Adele asked to be altered. Vanessa Friedman of The New York Times, who thought a white pantsuit was "the single garment most associated with women's liberation and empowerment on the public stage", interpreted this outfit as a political message. Adele discussed her relationship with her estranged father, how it was important for her to heal her relationship with him before he passed away, the moment she knew her marriage was over, her relationship with Rich Paul, and other personal topics. ## Reception ### Ratings In the United States, the special drew 9.92 million viewers and a 1.5 rating in the adult age 18-49 demographic. Its Live+same day count added a viewership of 1.3 million, surpassing the 93rd Academy Awards in April 2021, and making it the most-viewed entertainment special since CBS's Oprah with Meghan and Harry (2021). The viewership for the special's global broadcasts included 2.004 million from Canada, 797.000 from the Netherlands, 747.000 from Australia, 738.000 from Spain, 568.000 from France, 140.387 from Hungary, and 20.000 from Switzerland. ### Critical response Adele One Night Only received rave reviews according to Variety's Cynthia Littleton. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the special has an average score of 69 out of 100, which indicates "generally favorable reviews" based on five reviews. Caroline Framke of Variety believed that though the views of the observatory were stunning, their impact was greatly enhanced by Adele's vocal performance: "She reminded the world why she's become such an icon, in a purer sense of the word than corporate Twitter accounts now use it. No amount of talking through or around her trials or process could quite equal the emotional punch of a clear-eyed Adele simply singing about it all". Writing for Vulture, Jen Chaney thought it occupied a "rarefied air" due to its massive production value, but Adele's voice and performing ability powered through it and reminded listeners why they missed her. Mary Siroky of Consequence believed the event was "gorgeously staged", and she was positive about the performances: "From the first notes of 'Hello,' it became very clear: Adele is not here to play". Los Angeles Times's Lorraine Ali described the interview as "uneventful and distinctly nonrevealing", but she was positive about the proposal during the show and thought Adele's interaction with her son onstage displayed the most vulnerability. Ed Power of The Telegraph shared a similar opinion, and wrote that she was "an enigma who refused to be unlocked" and held back during the interview, but he praised the performances and the observatory as the location of choice. Writing for The A.V. Club, Lily Moayeri believed the constant switching between the interview and performance demanded "too much of a mood swing from viewers", but she appreciated Adele's charisma and the musical segment. ## Set list 1. "Hello" 2. "Easy on Me" 3. "Skyfall" 4. "I Drink Wine" 5. "Someone like You" 6. "When We Were Young" 7. "Make You Feel My Love" 8. "Hold On" 9. "Rolling in the Deep" 10. "Love Is a Game" ## Broadcasting ## Awards and nominations ## See also - Adele at the BBC - Adele Live in New York City
32,234,156
Leotia lubrica
1,173,128,744
Species of fungus
[ "Fungi described in 1772", "Fungi of Asia", "Fungi of Australia", "Fungi of Europe", "Fungi of New Zealand", "Fungi of North America", "Helotiales" ]
Leotia lubrica, commonly referred to as a jelly baby, is a species of fungus in the family Leotiaceae. The species produces small fruit bodies up to 6 centimetres (2.4 in) in height, featuring a "head" and a stalk. Ochre with tints of olive-green, the heads are irregularly shaped, while the stalk, of a similar colour, attaches them to the ground. The appearance can be somewhat variable and is similar to a number of other species, including Cudonia confusa, C. circinans, L. atrovirens and L. viscosa. L. lubrica was first validly described by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, but it was later transferred to Leotia by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon. Its relationship with other members of the genus, of which it is the type species, is complicated. Growing in woodland among moss, plant detritus or other habitats, the L. lubrica fruit bodies are typically found in large numbers, though they can grow in tight clumps or even individually. The species may feed as a saprotroph or possibly obtains nutrition from living trees through ectomycorrhizae. The youngest fruit bodies are small and conical, but the fertile head quickly grows from the stalk. It is often described as inedible, despite its common name, but has occasionally been reported as a good edible. L. lubrica has been recorded in Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia. ## Taxonomy and naming The first species was first validly described scientifically by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in his 1772 work Flora Carniolica exhibens plantas Carnioliae indigenas et distributas in classes, genera, species, varietates, ordine Linnaeano. Scopoli either named the species Elvella lubrica or Helvella lubrica, with the specific name lubrica meaning slimy. Christiaan Hendrik Persoon transferred the species to Leotia, where it remains, in 1794. Other synonyms include Leotia gelatinosa, used by John Hill in 1751, Helvella gelatinosa, used in Jean Baptiste François Pierre Bulliard's Histoire des champignons de la France, and Peziza cornucopiae, a name given by Georg Franz Hoffmann in 1790. The fruit bodies of the mushrooms are typically referred to as jelly babies, but other common names include the lizard tuft, the ochre jelly club, the slippery cap, the green slime fungus, and the gumdrop fungus. The term "yellow jelly babies" is sometimes used to differentiate the species from green jelly babies, Leotia viscosa. Leotia lubrica is the type species of the genus Leotia. It has been hypothesised that the species has a close relationship with L. atrovirens; mycologist Geoffrey Kibby suggested that greenish color of L. atrovirens may be due to infection by an imperfect fungus on L. lubrica, while David Arora proposed that the two species may intergrade. In 2004, results of phylogenetic analysis suggested that L. lubrica, L. atrovirens and L. viscosa, while morphologically well-defined, were not monophyletic. L. lubrica specimens could be split into at least two different groups, one of which also contained specimens of L. viscosa. These groups could be differentiated morphologically by the colour of the stalk when dried. The most basal was shown to be L. atrovirens. ## Description Leotia lubrica produces fruit bodies which range from 1 to 6 centimetres (0.4 to 2.4 in) in height. Each body has a single fertile "head" measuring 1–3 cm (0.4–1 in) across, which is an olive-greenish ochre and gelatinous. To the touch, the surface of the head can be smooth, clammy or slimey. While in shape it is convex, the head is made up of irregular lobes and undulations, and the edge is rolled inward. The underside is paler in colour than the upper surface, and smooth. The head is attached to a central stalk, which ranges from 2–8 cm (0.79–3.15 in) and 3–10 mm wide, though thinner toward the substrate. The stalk is typically cylindrical, but can be flattened, and occasionally has furrows. The colour is similar to that of the head, though more yellow, and the surface is covered in very small granules of a greenish colour. The flesh is gelatinous in the head, while the stalk is mostly hollow, but it can be filled with gel. ### Microscopic features L. lubrica spores are borne in asci measuring around 150 by 10–12 micrometres (μm). They are club-shaped, and each ascus typically bears eight spores. The asci are inoperculate, meaning that they lack a "lid" and must split to release their spores. The elongated ascospores themselves measure 20 to 25 by 5 to 6 μm, and are subfusiform, that is, they taper slightly at each end. The surface is smooth, and they can be curved, and the spores typically contain four small drops of oil. The mature spores are septate; that is, they are divided by several septa throughout their length, with 5 to 7 partitions typical, and hyaline. The threadlike, colourless paraphyses measure 105 to 124 by 1.8 to 2.8 μm. ### Similar species L. lubrica fruit bodies are similar to those of Cudonia confusa, commonly known as the cinnamon jellybaby. The species can be differentiated by the fact that L. lubrica fruit bodies are more sturdy, and those of C. confusa are much paler in colour. Another Cudonia species, C. circinans (which is highly similar to C. lutea), is similar to L. lubrica, though it can be differentiated by its colour (which is more brown), spores (which are smaller and thinner) and texture (which is less slimy and gelatinous than L. lubrica). L. lubrica fruit bodies can also be mistaken for those of the much rarer L. atrovirens, which can be differentiated by its darker colouration. L. viscosa can again be differentiated by colouration; the species has a green head. However, as L. lubrica fruit bodies can sometimes have a greenish hue, differentiation between the two species is not always easy. ## Edibility Its fruit bodies are of little culinary interest, and, contrary to what is suggested by the common name, are often described as inedible by field guides. It has also been reported that the species is in fact edible yet insipid. Charles McIlvaine even considered it good, although others describe it as bland. L. lubrica fruit bodies have been found to contain low levels of monomethylhydrazine, a toxic chemical associated with the poisonous false morel Gyromitra esculenta. In the field, the flesh has no discernible smell or taste. ## Habitat, distribution and ecology Leotia lubrica favours damp deciduous woodland, but can also be found under conifers. Particular favoured habitats include path sides and underneath bracken, while favoured substrates include soil, moss and plant waste. While it has been conventionally regarded as a saprotroph, molecular, isotopic and other lines of evidence have suggested that Leotia lubrica forms ectomycorrhizae. Fruit bodies are typically encountered from late summer to late autumn in Europe, and from late spring to autumn in North America, where it is the most common Leotia species. It has also been recorded in eastern Asia, in China and Tibet, as well as in New Zealand and Australia. The fruit bodies are typically found growing in large numbers, sometimes in clumps, though solitary specimens are occasionally encountered. Several bodies can be connected at their bases, or younger bodies can grow out of the bases of older ones. The youngest fruit bodies are conical in shape. When the body reaches around 2 mm in length, the tip of the cone begins to expand, forming the head. This is the stage at which the hymenium becomes differentiated from the rest of the body, and the bodies quickly reach their mature form, maturing only through growth after that point. Fruit bodies can be infected by the mould Hypomyces leotiarum (asexual reproduction form of Hypomyces leotiicola).
49,286,677
The Big Big Beat
1,165,036,737
null
[ "2015 songs", "2016 singles", "Azealia Banks songs", "Songs written by Azealia Banks" ]
"The Big Big Beat" is a song recorded by American rapper Azealia Banks for her second mixtape Slay-Z (2016). It was released as the lead single from the mixtape on February 19, 2016 after Banks had announced the mixtape in the previous May. Production of the song was handled by new producer An Expresso, while the song was penned by Banks alone. The song contains an uncredited sample of The Notorious B.I.G.'s voice. Lyrically, the track discusses staying true to your roots when you become famous. Several critics highlighted the "club-ready" spirit of the composition and the "catchy" lyrics. A music video for the single was released on April 26, 2016 and features the rapper dancing in a hallway of a downtown skyscraper, on the top of a police vehicle, and at the entrance to Manhattan Criminal Courts Building. ## Background In May 2015, Banks announced on Twitter that she had recorded an entire mixtape of Jay Z covers and remixes, titled Slay-Z, and that she was contemplating releasing it. In August 2015, Banks revealed that due to contractual agreements, she was blocked from releasing any new music until her contract had expired, which would be around March 2016. On February 1, 2016, Banks announced that she would be releasing the aforementioned mixtape, and its lead single "The Big Big Beat" would be released on February 7. The announcement of new music came during a flurry of tweets Banks sent in which she endorsed Donald Trump and his campaign for presidency, which some critics saw as a cheap way of gaining publicity, with Spectrum writer Kerry Cardoza calling it "purely coincidental" that Banks endorsed Trump on the same days as announcing her new single. On February 8, Banks uploaded the single's artwork to Twitter. The following day, it was reported that the single had been pushed back. Banks uploaded the song to her SoundCloud account on February 19, self-releasing the single. On May 6, it was released on iTunes. ## Composition "The Big Big Beat" is a house song which runs for a duration of three minutes and forty-four seconds, and contains an uncredited sample of The Notorious B.I.G.'s voice. Before the release of the song, Banks described the single as giving "Detroit house vibes with major Diana Ross teas[e]". Entertainment Weekly's Dylan Kickham compared the song to that of Banks' work on her debut album, in the sense that both contain "fast, aggressive rap verses over a dancefloor-ready electronic beat and a sing-song bridge", although did not clarify whether this was good or bad. Gregory Adams from Exclaim! thought that the track "fit with various early '90s house sounds, from club synths to a jazzed-up digi-hi-hat beat", and went on to describe the song's lyrics as "maintaining the precarious balance between staying true to the streets while popping up on magazine covers". D-Money from Soul Bounce was enthusiastic in his review, writing "'The Big Big Beat' comes out of the gate swinging with a fat, squelchy synth bass intro and a vocal sample. 'Guess who up in this b\*\*\*h,' Azealia begins, bringing the swing of programmed drums and hi-hats along with her as the groove kicks up the bpm and the party really gets started. She continues flipping her usual boastful rhymes that hit as hard as the kick drum thumps, then things smooth out just a bit as AB flexes her vocals on the chorus". Ione Gamble of Dazed noted Banks' use of softer vocals on the single, compared to that of her previous work, while Brennan Carley of Spin described the song's instrumental work as "glittery synthesizers", alluding that Banks had returned "swinging and vogueing" on the song. ## Critical reception `In a multi-person review conducted by PopMatters, opinions on the track were mixed. Each of the five reviewers gave the single a rating out of ten, which ranged from five to eight. Pryor Stroud gave the song its highest score, describing "The Big Big Beat" as an "amphetamine-addled, dance-pop flirtation that forgoes innuendo and gets straight to the point". Chad Miller commented that the song deserved endless dance remixes, while Emmanuel Elone described the song as "nice" with "decent lyrics". Steve Horowitz gave the track the lowest rating of the reviewers, complaining that the track repeated itself and that while the instrumental was suited to the dance floor, he could easily find bigger beats elsewhere.` Writing for HotNewHipHop, Rose Lilah observed that despite the fact that Banks tends to be outrageous on social media, she still has the ability to create great music when she wants to, going on to comment that she can see potential for the song to become as big of a hit as her debut single, "212". Spin writer Brennan Carley praised Banks' vocals on the track, as did Billboard critic Adelle Platon, who donned the track as a "dancefloor-ready jam". Emma Arnold, a writer for Acclaim, motioned that the track would "make you forget she was ever out of the game", going on to highlight and compliment her "fast-paced flow and thugged out lyrics". XXL critic Emmanuel C.M. lauded the song, describing the song as "fire", and that it showcased Banks' rapid fire delivery and impressive vocal range. Writing for Fuse, Tyler Lauletta commented that the lyrics of the song are "ridiculously catchy lines", calling the track "dance-ready". The Line of Best Fit writer Laurence Day wrote that the combination of contrasting genres worked to great effect, calling the track her "most promising offering in quite some time". Both The Irish Times and USA Today included "The Big Big Beat" in weekly lists of the best songs released in the seven preceding days. The Irish Times gave the track four stars out of a possible five, commenting that it was Banks "at her best", while USA Today placed the song as sixth in their weekly list, comparing it to "Good Vibrations" by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. Eric Torres of Pitchfork Media named the song "Best New Track" in their review, describing the song as "in-your-face impressive, filled with the kind of lush braggadocio the 24-year-old rapper has cut down to a formula". Torres then claimed that the song was "the type of track that's capable of filling dancefloors in seconds, proof that a cavalcade of controversy isn't nearly enough to squander real talent". ## Live performances Banks performed the song during her 2016 "SLAY-Z" tour. She performed the song for the first time on television on Good Day New York on August 22, 2017. ## Release history
36,219,165
Helping Hand (Body of Proof)
1,126,882,248
null
[ "2011 American television episodes", "Body of Proof episodes" ]
"Helping Hand" is the third episode of the first season of the American medical drama Body of Proof. It was originally broadcast in the United States on ABC on April 5, 2011. The episode was directed by John Terlesky and written by Corey Miller. In this episode, Megan (Dana Delany) is shocked after the victim in a shooting is a previous patient when she was a neurosurgeon; however she only remembers the procedure of the woman. Detective Morris (John Carroll Lynch) and Detective Baker (Sonja Sohn) lead the case, interviewing many leads from the crime scene, which results in finding the unexpected killer. Meanwhile; Megan tries to build a better relationship with her colleagues. The episode received overwhelming positive reviews, and was watched by 11.15 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings, on the Tuesday night it aired in the United States. Delany and Lynch received praise from critics for their double act, with being Bud called a "real joy to watch" and his lines, "the best" and that he is the shows "funny guy". The episode's storyline was well received and critics thanked the show for not being "too gory". ## Plot Social worker Elena Rosas (Charise Castro Smith) is found shot dead in a motel. When Megan Hunt (Dana Delany) looks through her autopsy scan, she notices Elena had brain surgery and gets a shock when she realizes that Elena was one of her patients as she used to be a neurosurgeon, however she cannot remember her, just the procedure. Megan speaks with Elena's father Armando (Tony Plana), who remembers Megan from the surgery, and tells her that Elena saw Megan as a role model, due to Elena's mother early death. After speaking with Elena's boss Jeremy Nicholls (Edoardo Ballerini), he states that he cannot understand why Elena was in a motel, as she had no appointments near that location. Traces of breast milk are found on Elena's shirt, showing she was near a baby when she died, which leads them to Holly Bennett (Yaya DaCosta), one of Elena's clients. She reveals that her baby nearly got taken away due to her drug addicted boyfriend, and that whilst Elena was visiting her baby vomited on her, but left in a hurry before she could clean it up. Megan and Detective Bud Morris (John Carroll Lynch) visit Armando to ask if Elena was in a relationship; hence why she was in a motel. They find out that it is Jeremy, but he says that Elena ended their relationship hours before she died. Megan finds out that the shooter was in fact outside the room. They find Sean Wilcox's (Tobias Segal) skin on the bullet, a recently released criminal. Sean denies killing Elena, but states that he was one of Elena's patients, and that she had rented the motel room for him, to give him a place to stay. After falling asleep in the room, he awoke after hearing a shot. After seeing Elena dead on the floor, and himself injured, he ran after thinking no one would believe his account of what happened. After Bud and Detective Samantha Baker (Sonja Sohn) meet with Sean's "friend" Vincent Stone (Zach McGowan), he admits that he was warned off by Elena after phoning Sean six times in one day, so Samantha and Bud start to develop a theory about how Vincent killed Elena. After persuasion by Peter Dunlop (Nicholas Bishop), Sean helps the police, which allows them to get an arrest warrant for Vincent, however Megan finds rice flour on the bullet, which concludes that Vincent did not kill Elena. The rice flour leads them back to Holly, as she has a baby, and rice flour is commonly used for babies. They arrest Holly, who reveals that Elena visited her and discovers Holly was back on drugs, and was going to take Holly's baby. Holly followed Elena, and shot her to prevent this from happening. After the confession, social services arrive, and take Holly's baby away. Back at the office, Curtis Brumfield (Windell Middlebrooks) plays pranks towards Megan and Peter tells Megan that Bud is experiencing marriage problems, so Megan tells him about how to deal with the marriage problems, as Megan is a divorcée. ## Production "Helping Hand" was written by Corey Miller and directed by John Terlesky, most known for directing television series such as Ugly Betty and, Boston Legal. Daniel Licht who has worked on the series since its inception, returned to compose the music for the episode. After the previous episode "Letting Go" aired on Sunday April 3, the normal timeslot of a Tuesday was resumed for this episode. Actor Tony Plana (best known for his role in Ugly Betty, Resurrection Blvd and more recently Desperate Housewives) guest starred in the episode as Armando Rosas. Yaya DaCosta, runner up of America's Next Top Model, Cycle 3 appeared as Holly Bennett and Tobias Segal starred as Sean Wilcox. Playing more minor roles were; Edoardo Ballerini as Jeremy Nicholls, Zach McGowan as Vincent Stone and Charise Castro Smith as this episode's victim, Elena Rosas. This episode was originally meant to mark the first appearance of Joan Hunt (Joanna Cassidy), Megan's mother, however for unknown reasons, her debut episode was changed to the sixth episode of the first season, "Society Hill". "Helping Hand", along with the eight episode's from Body of Proof's first season, were released on a two-disc DVD set in the United States on September 20, 2011. The sets included brief audio commentaries from various crew and cast members for several episode's, a preview of season 2 and a 10-minute "featurette" on the making of the show, with commentaries from the medical consultants who helped with the script, as well as a "Contaminated Evidence" blooper reel. ## Reception ### Ratings In its original American broadcast on April 5, 2011, "Helping Hand" was seen by 11.15 million viewers, according to Nielsen ratings. Among viewers between ages 18 and 49, it received a 2.4 rating/9 share; a share represents the percentage of households using a television at the time the program is airing. This episode achieved a much higher number of viewers than the previous episode, "Letting Go". However, the higher ratings than "Letting Go" was likely due to that episode moving from the normal Tuesday timeslot to a Sunday night. This episode also had a minimal higher viewer number than subsequent episode "Talking Heads". Body of Proof came fourth in the ratings on Tuesday night, it was outperformed by the ABC's Dancing with the Stars and two episodes of CBS's NCIS. "Helping Hand" was watched by 1.77 million viewers upon its airing on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom. ### Critical response "Helping Hand" received overwhelming positive reviews. Of the episode, Christine Orlando of TV Fanatic said, "As I'm realizing how much I'm thoroughly enjoying the characters on Body of Proof, "Helping Hand" has Megan finally noticing how little she knows about them. The best part is, she does something to try and change that and the results are both comical and touching". Orlando praised the scenes between Megan and Curtis, calling them "great" and saying, "Nothing makes you a part of the team like falling for a well-meaning office prank". On the Megan and Bud scenes she said that Megan was "sweet" and "funny" but called her attempts at consoling Bud "clumsy", adding; "Neither completely trusts the other but their growing professional respect has the potential to also become a personal friendship". On this, she said that Bud had some of the best lines in the episode, calling them "the best". She hoped that Peter and Megan's relationship will be explored further and wanted to know "just how these two became partners". Finally, she was glad it was not too "gory" and summarized, "On Body of Proof I'm more interested in the characters than the graphic medical details. Thankfully they continue to give me plenty of what I want". TV OverMind's Carissa Pavlica said she was "really enjoying" the relationship between Kate Murphy (Jeri Ryan) and Megan. Pavlica explained, "In the Pilot, the other medical examiners seemed to hope they could somehow get rid of Megan by tattling on things to Kate. This week, as she saw Megan struggle in her connection with the living, she attempted to reach out and give advice". Of the plot of the episode, Pavlica said; > Did anyone else see the conclusion of the case ahead of time? I was at a total loss. I had written off the baby's mother as soon as they spoke with her. No many shows are able to do that. I can almost always narrow it down to at least two and one of them would be right. I was so far off the mark on with this and I loved it! I love when a show can surprise me. Like TV Fanatic's Christina Orlando, Pavlica commented on Bud adding that he was a "real joy to watch" saying he said the "craziest things", adding that he is the shows "funny guy". Like Orlando, she praised the interaction between Bud and Megan, saying that "her talk with Bud about his divorce gave her a more human feel", adding "The show should get stronger as the interpersonal relationships do". TV Equals's Michelle Carlbert said she liked the music throughout the episode and the scenes with Bud and Megan. She also stated that one of her "favourite bits" was when she was "just as curious as Hunt when Peter and Baker were discussing Bud". Finally, Carlbert said that she enjoyed the scenes between Curtis, Megan and Ethan Gross (Geoffrey Arend).
18,480,168
The Story of Marie and Julien
1,132,538,344
2003 film
[ "2000s French films", "2000s French-language films", "2000s ghost films", "2003 films", "2003 romantic drama films", "Films directed by Jacques Rivette", "Films set in Paris", "French ghost films", "Italian erotic thriller films", "Italian ghost films" ]
The Story of Marie and Julien (French: Histoire de Marie et Julien) is a 2003 drama film directed by Nouvelle Vague film maker Jacques Rivette. The film slowly develops from a drama about blackmail into a dark, yet tender, supernatural love story between Marie and Julien, played by Emmanuelle Béart and Jerzy Radziwiłowicz. Anne Brochet plays the blackmailed Madame X. Béart had previously worked with Rivette in La Belle Noiseuse, as had Radziwiłowicz in Secret Defense. The film was shot by William Lubtchansky, and edited by Nicole Lubtchansky, both frequent collaborators of Rivette's. The film was originally going to be made in 1975 as part of a series of four films, but shooting was abandoned after two days, only to be revisited by Rivette 27 years later. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2003 and had a cinema release in France, Belgium and the UK. It was shown in competition at the San Sebastian International Film Festival and was nominated for the Prix Louis-Delluc. Some critics found the film tedious, long, and pretentious, while others maintained that it was moving, intelligent, and among Rivette's best work. The film was frequently compared to other supernatural thrillers, among them The Sixth Sense (1999), and The Others (2001) and to the Hitchcock film, Vertigo (1958). ## Plot Julien (Radziwiłowicz) is a middle-aged clockmaker who lives alone with his cat in a large house in the Paris suburbs. Julien is blackmailing 'Madame X' (Brochet) who is importing fake antique Chinese silks, and may have murdered her sister. By chance, he meets Marie (Béart), a beautiful young woman he last saw a year ago, and they begin a passionate relationship. Though elusive, Marie agrees to move in with him; she acts strangely at times and appears absent. A mystery connects Marie to Madame X's dead sister and in uncovering Marie's secret Julien risks losing her. The film is separated into four parts, named to reflect the narrative perspective. Julien: Julien dreams of Marie, whom he met just over a year before at a party, and with whom he would have begun a relationship but for them both having partners. He immediately runs into her on the street as she is running for her bus and he is off to meet Madame X. They agree to meet again, but Marie fails to appear and he returns home to find Madame X waiting for him against their agreement, so he raises his price tenfold. Madame X returns the next day to try to bargain, and asks for a letter back that he does not have. Marie invites him to her place for dinner, where Julien tells her his girlfriend ran away with another man and Marie says her boyfriend Simon died six months ago. They have sex, but in the morning Marie has checked out of her apartment. Julien returns home to find that his house has been ransacked. He tries to find her by ringing her old boss, then tracks her down when an unknown woman calls to tell him the hotel Marie is staying at. Julien visits her there, and Marie agrees to move in with him. Julien et Marie: Marie makes herself at home, trying on the clothes of Julien's old girlfriend, exploring the house, and watching him at work. Their lovemaking is passionate, but Marie's behaviour is unusual. She is sometimes cold or trance-like, at one point reciting words in an unidentified language, and she is physically detached and unaware of the time — Julien corrects her "bonjour" to "bonsoir". She is jealous of his ex, compulsively decorates and rearranges a room in his attic, feels compelled to act out her dreams, and does not bleed when scratched — something she keeps from Julien. She sees a girl in her dreams who shows her a "forbidden sign" with her hands. Marie helps Julien in his blackmailing, and after meeting Madame X, who only knows of Marie as "l'autre personne", Marie is handed a letter by someone who says she is Madame X's sister (Bettina Kee); she is the girl Marie dreamed of before. Marie et Julien: The letter is from Madame X's sister Adrienne to Madame X. Julien meets Madame X again, and she tells him her sister killed herself by drowning six months before. He cannot understand who gave Marie the letter, but she insists that her sister left the letter to frame her and although dead she is "reliving" (a revenant) — and Marie is also. Adrienne —who though dead still appears and speaks to her— has told Madame X that Marie is "like me". He thinks she is mad. Julien becomes frustrated at Marie spending so much time alone in the attic. When she finally shows him the room, she says she does not know what it is for. She leaves before Julien wakes and checks into another hotel. He rings Marie's old boss who suggests talking to Marie's friend Delphine; Delphine says that Marie's relationship with Simon drove Marie mad and ended their friendship. Marie: Julien visits Marie and Simon's old apartment, where the letting agent shows him a room that Julien chillingly recognises — it is identical to the room Marie has prepared. This is where Marie hanged herself, trying to frame Simon in revenge after a terrible row. Julien returns home and Marie silently leads him to the attic where she has prepared a noose, feeling she has to hang herself again. Julien carries her downstairs, and they make love again. She leaves to meet Adrienne, who says that she knows that Marie no longer wants to die. They agree they do not know the rules of their situation. Returning, Marie interrupts Julien about to hang himself in a desperate attempt to join her. He runs to the kitchen and tries to slit his wrist; Marie stops him and her wrist and his palm are cut. Marie warns him that he will lose all memory of her, but he says that all he wants is for her to be there. Marie slowly covers her face with her hands — "the forbidden sign" — and Julien becomes oblivious to her and unaware of why he is bleeding. Madame X arrives for her letter and he hands it over, confused by her enquiries about "l'autre personne". Madame X burns the letter, freeing Adrienne. Marie cries while watching Julien sleep, and as her tears land on her wrist her cut bleeds. Julien wakes and asks who she is; she replies that she is "the one he loved". He doubts it as she's "not his type", but she says with a smile to give her a little time. ## Cast - Emmanuelle Béart as Marie Delambre. - Jerzy Radziwiłowicz as Julien Müller. - Anne Brochet as Madame X. - Bettina Kee as Adrienne, the sister of Madame X. - Olivier Cruveiller as Vincent Lehmann, L'éditeur, Marie's old boss. - Mathias Jung as Le concierge, the desk clerk at Marie's apartment. - Nicole Garcia as L'amie, Marie's friend. ## Themes and analysis Like Rivette's earlier film La Belle Noiseuse, the main themes are romantic longing, impermanence, and identity, but this film adds the themes of mortality, chance, and destiny, and motifs are repeated from Rivette's Celine and Julie Go Boating. The name of Julien's cat, Nevermore, evokes Poe's The Raven and its similar themes of death and longing. Julien's work as a clockmaker, literally trying to repair time, is an obvious metaphor, and the film is also timeless, giving no indication of when it is set. The blackmail sub-plot is a device to help tell the central love story between Marie and Julien and to explain Marie's situation; Julien is an unlikely blackmailer and Madame X's benevolence towards him is surprising. The plot features dream logic impinging on reality: Senses of Cinema highlighted the role of "outlandish chance" and Film Comment noted the feeling that the characters are inventing or re-enacting the narrative. Marie may be aware that she is part of a narrative, but she still lacks control over her fate. Michael Atkinson believed that Rivette was working in the "border world between narrative meaning and cinematic artifice". The emotional distance of the characters and the intellectual and artificial-seeming, quasi-theatrical dialogue is deliberate, depicting their simultaneous connection and isolation. The chasm between Marie and Julien, due to his corporeality and her ghostly nature, is emphasised in the contrast between his physical activity and her status as an onlooker. Rivette says he wanted the lovers to appear ill-suited and for the viewer to question the relationship; they love each other passionately yet they are essentially strangers. Béart believes that Marie was more alive than Julien, and that he literally wakes up to her existence only at the very end of the film. Finally revealed to be a ghost story inspired by nineteenth-century French fantasy literature, the film uses the conventions of the genre —that people who die in emotional distress or with an unfinished task may become ghosts— and openly details these conventions. Marie and Adrienne's 'lives' as revenants are reduced to a single purpose, each with only the memory of her suicide and her last emotions remaining. Julien, like the audience, is eventually confronted with Marie's nightmare of repetition. Elements of the horror genre are used, not to scare but to explore memory and loss. To stay with Marie, Julien first has to forget about her, and at the end they have the promise of a new beginning. Marie becomes a living person again rather than an object of fantasy. Marie's tears and blood are a miracle overcoming her death, and may reflect a fantasy of turning back the menopause. The credits are accompanied by an upbeat jazz song performed by Blossom Dearie, Our Day Will Come, that represents love as a pledge, the only music used in the film. There is an aesthetic focus on Béart's body, Julien telling Marie that "I love your neck, your arms, your shoulders, your mouth, your stomach, your eyes - I love everything." The focus is more than erotic as it symbolises Marie's fight for corporeality. The film includes Rivette's first ever sex scenes, one of them arranged by Béart. The five candid and emotionally charged sex scenes focus on their upper bodies and faces, and on their erotic monologues that employ elements of fairy tale, horror, and sadomasochism. Béart is given an ethereal quality by Lubtchansky's cinematography and lighting, and she subtly portrays Marie's detachment and vulnerability. In the latter part of the film Béart is dressed in grey and looks tired and wan, showing Marie's ageing and angst. Béart says she made deliberate use of silence in playing the part. Radziwiłowicz's performance allows the viewer to sympathise with Julien despite the character's initial dislikeable nature. Brochet as Madame X has a cool ease and grace. ## Production ### Original shoot Rivette originally began to make Marie et Julien, as it was then titled, in 1975 with producer Stéphane Tchalgadjieff as part of a series of four films he first called Les filles du feu and later Scènes de la Vie Parallele. Rivette said in 2003 that the film was based on the true story of a woman who committed suicide. He first shot Duelle (:fr:Duelle) in March–April and Noroît (:fr:Noroît) in May, although the latter was not released, and the fourth film, a musical comedy meant to star Anna Karina and Jean Marais, was never shot. Filming began on Marie et Julien that August, with Albert Finney and Leslie Caron in the lead roles and Brigitte Rouan as Madame X, but after two days Rivette gave up filming due to nervous exhaustion. He later used the names of the lovers, Marie and Julien, in his 1981 film Le Pont du Nord. ### Revisiting the screenplay After Rivette had later success with La Belle Noiseuse and Va Savoir in the 1990s, he revisited his older unproduced screenplays. With Hélène Frappat, he published in book form three of his "phantom films" including Marie et Julien in 2002. He decided to film Marie et Julien; a script had never been written and the footage had been lost, but cryptic notes by his assistant Claire Denis that had been kept by Lubtchansky (who had also been cinematographer in 1975) were enough to work from. The original screenplay included a speaking "polyglot cat", characters whose names change, a "suicide room" similar to The Seventh Victim, "Madame X", and an unknown "forbidden gesture" that the notes stated: "Do not forget". ### Filming Rivette worked with scriptwriters Pascal Bonitzer and Christine Laurent using an automatic writing approach that involved writing the script day by day; the actors and filmmakers did not know the direction of the story in advance of each day's filming. Eurimages provided €420,000 of funding in July 2002, and the film was shot that autumn and winter. Rivette immediately thought of Béart, who starred in La Belle Noiseuse, to play the carnal Marie. Béart has said that "Of all the films I've made, this was the one which most disturbed people very close to me. They said: 'It's almost as though the Emmanuelle we know was up there on the screen.'." Béart's image in the media at the time was characterised by the near hysteria seen when she appeared naked on the cover of Elle in May 2003 after filming ended. ### Direction The film illustrates Rivette's view that the act of watching cinema involves game-playing, day-dreaming and paranoid fantasy. He leaves aside the usual devices of the horror genre—no music, shock sound effects, special effects, or gore—evoking feelings and scenes verbally rather than showing them, yet he does employ Hitchcockian "MacGuffins" such as chance encounters, "clues," and the blackmail plot-line. The use of oneiric visuals in the opening and closing scenes of the film was influenced by Rivette's earlier film Hurlevent (1985), an adaptation of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. Some of the dialogue that was in the original notes was read as though quoting. Film critic Glenn Kenny has said that the "calm precision" of the mise en scène in the opening dream sequence "put [him] under such a powerful spell" that "it reconfirmed ... Rivette's standing as an ultimately unquantifiable master". Throughout the film, everyday sounds are amplified by a lack of music, and the film uses sweeping long shots, and several incidental scenes of Julien working, talking with his cat, and of the characters sleeping. Slant Magazine commented that the cat is the film's most interesting character, and Philippa Hawker of The Age notes that the film "has one of the best sequences involving a cat on film." The camera follows the cat and films it looking directly at the camera, giving a sense of artistic freedom and spontaneity. The cinematography by William Lubtchansky furthers Rivette's interest in visual textures. The film's colour palette is largely natural, except for certain scenes—like the initial dream sequence—that are filmed in vivid colours. In the scene where Marie is arranging the attic room, the light changes—from shadow to warm light—just as she places an oil lamp on a stool to indicate that she has placed it correctly; this introduces a supernatural element that contrasts with the realism of the rest of the film. ## Reception Critics' responses were mixed: some found the film evocative and powerful, whereas others saw it as slow and frustrating. Guy Austin writing in Scope noted that "bodily reactions are not part of critical reactions to [the film]. In both press and online, the head governs the body in reactions to Rivette." Rivette had said before the release that "This I know in advance – whether it is good or not, some people will love it and others will hate it." It was nominated for the 2003 Prix Louis-Delluc. Senses of Cinema suggested that it is Rivette's most important work since his 1974 film Celine and Julie Go Boating and saw it as "a film about filmmaking", including it in their favourite films of 2004. DVD Verdict concluded that "it is not only intelligent, but willing to assume the same of its audience". Glenn Kenny rated it as his favourite film of the decade, and film curator Miriam Bale writing in Slant Magazine included it in her ten most enduring films of the decade. Film Comment was equally taken with the film, stating that "what's most remarkable about the film is how moving it is finally, how much is at stake after all—nothing Rivette has done before prepares you for the emotional undertow that exerts itself in The Story of Marie and Julien's final scenes." LA Weekly described the film as "elegant and unsettling"; The Age called it "quietly mysterious and haunting" and "heartrending". Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian was disappointed, arguing that "All the story's power is allowed to leak away by the deliberative heaviness with which Rivette pads through his 150-minute narrative, with its exasperating lack of dramatic emphasis." Philip French noted similarities to Hitchcock's Vertigo and Jean Cocteau's Orphée, but called it "surprisingly flat and unmagical". The New York Times also found it "dry and overdetermined," and Time Out complained that it "never supplies the frissons expected of a ghost story or the emotional draw of a good love story." Film 4 compared it to The Sixth Sense and The Others, but said that "its glacially slow pace will frustrate all but the most patient". (Rivette said when promoting the film that "I like The Sixth Sense because the final twist doesn't challenge everything that went before it. You can see it again, which I did, and it's a second film that's just as logical as the first one. But the end of The Others made the rest of it meaningless.") "An intellectual exercise in metaphysical romance - Ghost for art-house audiences" was Empire's wry take. The Digital Fix argued that Rivette's direction resulted in a product that "if never exactly dull and certainly the work of a master, is ultimately an empty film that has nothing to offer but its own cleverness". Keith Uhlich of Slant Magazine found it was "a lesser Rivette offering — a watchable, ultimately unfulfilling ghost story". ## Distribution The film was ignored by both Cannes and Venice, then premièred at the Toronto International Film Festival on 10 September 2003. It was shown in competition at the San Sebastian International Film Festival later that month, as well as at the 2004 Melbourne International Film Festival and the 2004 International Film Festival Rotterdam, among others. The film opened in France and Belgium on 12 November 2003; that night 239 people watched the film in Paris. The cinema release was on 26 August 2004 in Germany, and on 8 October 2004 in the UK, but there was no US cinema release. The DVD was released on a two-disc set by Arte Video in France on 18 May 2004, and features the theatrical trailer, actor filmographies, a 40-minute interview with Rivette, covering the film's origin, mythology, narrative viewpoints and relations to his other films, and a 15-minute interview with Béart, covering working under Rivette's direction and how the experience of acting in the film compared to her earlier role in La Belle Noiseuse. The US and UK distributions, respectively released on 12 July 2005 by Koch Lorber Films and 28 February 2005 by Artificial Eye, come with optional English subtitles and the special features on a single disc. The Arte Video release additionally features commentary by Lubtchansky over a cut-down (41:45 minute) version of the film, and an analysis of the film by Hélène Frappat (21:28 minutes). The film was also released with Un Coeur en Hiver and Nathalie...'' in "The Emmanuel Beart Collection" by Koch Lorber in 2007.
42,436,932
S/O Satyamurthy
1,170,021,464
2015 film by Trivikram Srinivas
[ "2010s Telugu-language films", "2015 action drama films", "2015 films", "Films about Indian weddings", "Films directed by Trivikram Srinivas", "Films scored by Devi Sri Prasad", "Films set in Andhra Pradesh", "Films set in Tamil Nadu", "Films shot at Ramoji Film City", "Films shot in Andhra Pradesh", "Films shot in Barcelona", "Films shot in Spain", "Films shot in Telangana", "Films with screenplays by Trivikram Srinivas", "Indian action drama films", "Indian nonlinear narrative films" ]
S/O Satyamurthy (read as Son of Satyamurthy) is a 2015 Indian Telugu-language action drama film written and directed by Trivikram Srinivas and produced by S. Radha Krishna under Haarika & Haasine Creations. The film stars Allu Arjun, Upendra, Samantha, Nithya Menen, Sneha, and Adah Sharma while Rajendra Prasad, Sampath Raj, Rao Ramesh, Vennela Kishore, and Ali play supporting roles. Prakash Raj make a cameo appearance as Satyamurthy. The film revolves around three characters; the first follows his heart, the second uses his brain and the third uses his brawn. The first is Viraj Anand, the son of a businessman named Satyamurthy, who gives away his assets to creditors after his father's death. A creditor still owed money is Paida Sambasiva Rao (the second of the three), whose daughter Sameera falls in love with Anand. Sambasiva Rao informs Anand that he has to produce documentation of land sold by Satyamurthy to a landlord, Devaraj Naidu (the third of the three) to marry Sameera. The rest of the film focuses on the consequences faced by Anand and Sambasiva Rao's change in viewpoint toward Satyamurthy. In addition to directing the film, Srinivas wrote its screenplay. Initially planned as a multilingual film shot in Telugu, Malayalam, and Tamil the producers filmed in Telugu and dubbed it into Malayalam with the same title. Devi Sri Prasad composed the score and Prasad Murella was its cinematographer. Production began on 10 April 2014 at Ramanaidu Studios in Hyderabad. Principal photography began on 22 September 2014 in Hyderabad, lasting until mid-March 2015. Except for three songs filmed in Europe, the rest of the film was shot in and around Hyderabad. The Telugu version was released worldwide on 1375 screens on 9 April 2015, and the Malayalam version was released on 24 April 2015. On a ₹40 crore (\$6.23 million) budget, S/O Satyamurthy earned a distributor share of ₹51.9 crore (\$8.1 million) and grossed ₹90.5 crore (\$14.1 million). The film was an above-average grosser based on the return on the distributors' investment of ₹54 crore (\$8.42 million). It is in seventh place on the all-time list of highest-grossing Telugu films at the global box office. With this film, Allu Arjun became the first Telugu actor with two consecutive films earning more than ₹50 crore share worldwide. ## Plot Viraj Anand is the youngest son of an influential businessman Satyamurthy, who dies in an accident. Anand has ₹300 crore (\$46.7 million) worth of property and stock, but it is worthless because he owes an equal amount of money. Paida Sambasiva Rao, one of Satyamurthy's creditors, suggests that Anand file for bankruptcy to protect his wealth, but Anand wants to preserve his father's image. Anand's older brother becomes mentally unstable due to his assistant leaving him and, on Sambasiva Rao's advice, Anand's fiancée Pallavi's father cancels their upcoming wedding. Anand and his family move to a simpler home in Hyderabad, and he becomes the family's sole breadwinner. He joins his friend's event-management company as a wedding planner, and his assistant Param goes with him. Anand is assigned to plan a destination wedding in Ooty, which turns out to be Pallavi's wedding. There, he meets Sameera (also known as Subbalakshmi), a diabetic, and falls in love with her. While planning Pallavi's marriage, Anand faces many difficulties, including an attempt by Pallavi's uncle and his son to stop the marriage because of her father's mistreatment. Pallavi's father and uncle reconcile and Anand is paid more than the agreed-upon amount in gratitude. Sameera turns out to be Sambasiva Rao's daughter; the latter objects to their relationship, revealing that Satyamurthy cheated him when he sold a 8,000-square-foot (740 m<sup>2</sup>) property illegally acquired by a village landlord named Devaraj Naidu. The current market value of the land is worth ₹50 crore (\$7.8 million). Sambasiva Rao tells Anand that he will agree to the marriage if Anand can retrieve the land documents from Devaraj in four weeks. Anand and Param set out for house number 6 in Reddiarpatti to exchange the original documents with the fake ones. Instead, they end up in house number 9 and reveal their intentions to Devaraj, who traps them without harm; Devaraj cannot hurt anyone in front of his wife Lakshmi, from whom he has hidden his true self for 20 years. Sambasiva Rao's family is kidnapped and brought to Devaraj's house. The next day, Anand saves Devaraj from the brother (Kumarasamy Naidu, Devaraj's henchman for 5 years) of his rival Veerasamy Naidu. Impressed, Devaraj agrees to return the land documents if Anand gets engaged to his sister Valli. However, Valli wants to marry Lakshmi's brother Vinay and threatens to kill Anand if he does not break off their engagement. Valli teases Sameera, acting as if she is in love with Anand (which makes Devaraj happy). Devaraj's brother-in-law Koda Rambabu goes to Reddiarpatti, mistakenly believing that Parandhamaiah aka Param is Sameera's lover and Valli's potential lover. He wants to stop the marriage, and at Anand's suggestion Rambabu and Sambasiva Rao ask Veerasamy to have his henchmen kill the bridegroom; this would stop the marriage on the last day of the 4-week deadline imposed by Sambasiva Rao. Although Anand plans to help Valli elope with her cousin Vinay, Veerasamy's henchmen mistake him for Anand and try to kill him. Devaraj and Anand save her cousin; when Devaraj tries to kill Rambabu, Anand says that he was the mastermind behind the plan and wants the real land documents. 9 minutes are left before Sambasiva Rao's deadline; as Anand and Devaraj duel, Anand's mother enters. Devaraj and his family are shocked, remembering that Satyamurthy was fatally injured when he saved Valli from an accident planned by Veerasamy. Before he died, Satyamurthy told Valli that he made a mistake selling illegally acquired land to his friend and wanted to rectify it with the landlord. Devaraj and Sambasiva Rao are full of remorse, and Devaraj returns the land documents to Anand by Satyamurthy's last wish. Anand gives the papers to Sambasiva Rao, who apologizes for his behavior and Sameera reunites with him. Veerasamy dies in an accident and Koda Rambabu is spared. Anand and Sambasiva Rao are on their way home with their families when Pallavi's father meets them with news that the market value of Anand's stock is now worth ₹10 crore (\$1.56 million) due to which their wealth of ₹300 crore (\$46.7 million) is increased by 10 times more. An emotional Anand thanks his father at the spot where Satyamurthy saved Valli's life. ## Cast - Allu Arjun as Viraj Anand - Upendra as Devaraj Naidu - Samantha as Sameera / Subbalakshmi, Viraj's love interest - Nithya Menen as Valli, Devaraj's sister - Sneha as Lakshmi, Devaraj's wife - Adah Sharma as Kolasani Pallavi, Anand's former fiancée - Rajendra Prasad as Paida Sambhashiva Rao, Sameera's father - Rao Ramesh as Pallavi's father - Kota Srinivasa Rao as Devaraj's father - Pavithra Lokesh as Sharada, Anand's mother - Sindhu Tolani as Anand's sister-in-law - Vennela Kishore as Anand's brother - Ali as Paramdhamaiah a.k.a. Param - Brahmanandam as Koda Rammohan, Devaraj's brother-in-law - M. S. Narayana as Pallavi's uncle - Sampath Raj as Veeraswamy Naidu, Devaraj's arch-rival - Baby Vernika as Sweety, Anand's niece - Mamilla Shailaja Priya as Sameera's mother - Vamsi Krishna as Yogeshwar, Pallavi's husband - Chaitanya Krishna as Vinay, Valli's love interest - Ravi Prakash as Kumaraswamy Naidu, Veeraswamy's brother - Sree Vishnu as Bhadram, Anand's friend - Rajitha as Devaraj's elder sister and Koda Rammohan's wife - Prabhu as Devaraj's brother-in-law - Giridhar as Sameera's friend - Surekha Vani as Sweety's school principal - Jeeva as Lawyer - Madhunandan as Company Manager - Ananth Babu as Yogeshwar's uncle - Gautam Raju as Police officer - Satya as Thief - Prabhas Sreenu as Goon - Amit Tiwari as Pallavi's brother - Prakash Raj as Satyamoorthy, Viraj's father (cameo) - Jani Master (cameo) ## Production ### Development Trivikram Srinivas planned to direct Allu Arjun in a film produced by S. Radha Krishna under Haarika & Haasine Creations (who produced their 2012 collaboration Julai), since Srinivas had committed to another film with them. Allu Aravind was later rumoured to co-produce of the film as Geetha Arts. The film's pooja ceremony was held at Radha Krishna's office in early December 2013, and filming was expected to begin in February 2014. Rumors that the film was shelved were denied by a film-unit source, who said that Srinivas' screenplay was nearly complete. Devi Sri Prasad was chosen to compose the score and Prawin Pudi was signed as the film editor, marking Pudi's fifth collaboration with Srinivas. The film was officially launched at Ramanaidu Studios in Hyderabad on 10 April 2014. In June, the film's title was rumoured to be Kavacham. After considerable discussion, the producers reportedly tentatively planned to name the film Trisulam (also the title of a 1982 Telugu film starring Krishnam Raju and Sridevi). Agreements between the principals of both films were reportedly signed in early November 2014. Radhakrishna denied the reports, saying that the film's title would be announced in early December 2014 with its preview. Trivikram reportedly considered the title Hushaaru in mid-January 2015. Another title under consideration was Jaadugar, earlier used for a 1989 Hindi film starring Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Prada. The producers reportedly dropped the first two titles after poor feedback, and Jaadugar was expected to be chosen; S/O Krishnamurthy was also considered. S/O Satyamurthy (read as Son of Satyamurthy) was confirmed as the film's title on 6 March 2015 in a press release from the producers. The film was initially planned for simultaneous release in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam. A dubbed Kannada version, along with Tamil and Malayalam, later was planned because of Upendra and Allu Arjun's popularity in Karnataka. Although the dubbed Malayalam version was also entitled S/O Satyamurthy, the dubbed Tamil and Kannada versions were scrapped for fiscal reasons and it was released in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka with English subtitles. Arjun began dubbing his role in early January, and post-production was scheduled to resume in late February. The actor resumed dubbing on 7 March, after returning from Spain. ### Casting Allu Arjun was part of the project since its initial stages in early November 2013. Samantha Ruth Prabhu was cast as one of the film's heroines, her first collaboration with Arjun. S/O Satyamurthy has three female leads; although Arjun initially denied this, Srinivas confirmed that the film has three heroines. Kriti Sanon was rumoured to be one of the three female leads, although she later denied it. Adah Sharma and Pranitha Subhash were cast as the other two female leads, after Regina Cassandra, Nayantara and Rashi Khanna were considered for Subhash's role. Subhash was later replaced by Nithya Menen because of conceptual differences with Srinivas, although she later said that she never signed for the film and reports that she had walked out were rumours. Rao Ramesh was cast in a crucial role. Although Arjun Sarja was reported to be the film's antagonist in mid-August 2014, Sarja later confirmed that he was not part of the project due to other commitments. Sneha confirmed in mid-September 2014 that she had an important role in the film. Upendra and Rajendra Prasad were said to play important roles in the film, and Upendra later confirmed his inclusion. Vennela Kishore and Surekha Vani were selected to play supporting roles. Kota Srinivasa Rao was cast at the end of November 2014, and Mamilla Shailaja Priya was cast in a supporting role. Supporting character actor M. S. Narayana died after most of his portions in the film was completed. Although Srinivas decided not to delete any of his scenes, he faced a dilemma: whether to use a double or make do with what he had filmed. After evaluating many mimics, Srinivas and Arjun reportedly decided to use Siva Reddy to dub for Narayana's role. Sampath Raj was cast in early February 2015. ### Characters S/O Satyamurthy was considered an image makeover for Arjun. Although his character's name (Viraj Anand) was intended for another role in the film, he requested Srinivas to use the name for the titular character's son. Arjun learned flips, somersaults and other gymnastic skills to perform his stunts. He, his brother Allu Sirish and stylist Ashwin bought his costumes in Dubai, and he lost 10 kilograms (22 lb) with a customised diet and workout. Sneha was rumoured to play Arjun's sister-in-law. Upendra was confirmed in a role paralleling Arjun's in the film, and Sharma reportedly wore a traditional attire to suit her role. Sharma's character was revealed to be unstable, while Arjun's character was nuanced; he was confirmed as an event manager in late October 2014. Nithya Menen would reportedly play a negative role as Upendra's sister in the film. About Arjun's look, stylist Ashwin said it would reflect the current fashion trends in Milan, Paris and London (incorporating pieces from the autumn-winter 2014 and spring-summer 2015 collections). Ashwin said that they shopped in Dubai because Arjun wanted to select his costumes, and the European capitals at that time had only winter collections. Arjun would have several hairstyles in the film. Upendra's role was reported to be a Tamil living in Madurai, and he was confirmed as the landlord at the end of January 2015. He was not included in the film's promotional activities since Srinivas did not want to reveal what he considered a crucial character. The way Kamal Haasan and Wasim Akram handled diabetes in real life inspired Srinivas to make Samantha's character diabetic in the film. Samantha was comfortable in the role, since she too had been diagnosed with the disease two years earlier. Prakash Raj had a limited role, since Srinivas wanted to tell the story of a father by not showing him but instead showing his son's love and his influence on his life. The death of Sampath Raj's character was an accident because Srinivas did not believe in killing his antagonists directly, but to have them die as a result of their mistakes. Srinivas added that his death was planned so the film would have a good ending. ### Filming In early December 2013 it was announced that filming would begin the following February, after Arjun finished Race Gurram. At the end of March 2014, shooting was postponed to the following month and it was later announced that filming would start during the third week of April. In June, filming was again postponed to the following month, when Arjun was scheduled to finish Rudramadevi; he completed the film on 30 July. Principal photography began on 19 September at a Hyderabad-based shopping mall. Samantha arrived at the set on 1 October 2014, after completing Kaththi, and Sharma joined the production unit five days later. A week-long shooting schedule planned at Ooty for scenes with Arjun, Upendra, Samantha and Sneha was disrupted because of unrest in Tamil Nadu due to Jayalalithaa's conviction, and the scenes were filmed near Shamshabad in Hyderabad. Art director Ravinder built a large outdoor set for the destination-wedding scene, with flowers flown in from Bangkok. A fight scene with Arjun was shot at Ramoji Film City under the supervision of Peter Hein. A residential set was built at a cost of ₹3 crore by Ravinder in Kokapet, where scenes with Brahmanandam and Srinivasa Rao were filmed in late November 2014. The Kokapet set, of a Tamil house in Madurai, required three truckloads of trees from a farmhouse in Kadiam (near Rajahmundry) and materials from Delhi and Chennai. For the set, Srinivas and Ravinder travelled to a small city near Madurai and researched houses. By then, filming was nearly complete and the producers confirmed that the dialogue would be finished by the end of November and the songs shot the following month. Filming was suspended because of a strike by Film Federation employees and the Memu Saitham Cyclone Hudhud relief fundraiser at Visakhapatnam. The strike was called off, and shooting resumed on 6 December. When Upendra finished his first shooting schedule for the film, he returned to the set of Uppi 2 on 10 December. In addition to Arjun's action sequences, Some more scenes were filmed at Ramoji Film City. Comedy sequences featuring Arjun and Samantha were shot at Hyderabad in late December. Arjun spent the New Year with his wife and son in South Africa, and was scheduled to return to the set during the second week of January 2015. The final shooting schedule began on 6 January in Hyderabad. Additional filming of action and romantic scenes began on 20 January. S/O Satyamurthy's climactic scenes were filmed on the Kokapet house set in late January. Shooting was scheduled to continue there until the first week of February, when the dialogue would be completed. A fight scene with Arjun and hundreds of other fighters was filmed in early February, and Upendra returned to the Hyderabad set for his scenes. A song, choreographed by Shekhar and featuring Arjun, Samantha and Menen, was filmed on the Kokapet house set in late February. The film unit then went to Spain to film three songs also featuring Arjun, Samantha and Menen, returning on 6 March. S/O Satyamurthy's principal photography completed when the last song (choreographed by Jani and featuring Arjun, Samantha and Sharma) was filmed on 11 March 2015 in a specially erected set at Annapurna Studios. ## Themes and influences Although S/O Satyamurthy was reportedly about a conflict between two families, according to Upendra it revolves around three characters: one who follows his heart, a second who uses his brain and a third who uses his brawn. The characters are a wedding planner (Arjun), a wealthy businessman (Prasad) and a boss (Upendra). Srinivas told the Indo-Asian News Service that his film would highlight a father's role in a person's life, because more films dramatise relationships with mothers. S/O Satyamurthy has urban and rural settings similar to the director's previous film, Attarintiki Daredi (2013). The film refers to situations in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata in the lives of Rama, Sita, Ravana, Yudhishthira and Karna and to the dowry system. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu wrote in her review that the film "attempts to break away from staid portrayal of women and notions of machismo in Telugu cinema". Upendra's character wants his wife to be happy, and hides his dark side from her; Samantha's character is diabetic, and the wall full of post-it notes in Rajendra Prasad's house illustrates marriages where communication has broken down. Dundoo notes lines of dialogue which "scoff" at people who call a girl unlucky if her engagement is broken. For the scenes between M. S. Narayana and Rao Ramesh, Srinivas was inspired by his mother's maternal uncles in the village of Vegeswarapuram in West Godavari district. In an interview, the director said that the screenplay was based on situations faced by people close to him and how they handled them. ## Music Devi Sri Prasad composed the soundtrack album and background score for S/O Satyamurthy. The soundtrack was scheduled to be released on 18 March. The complete album was released on 21 March 2015, coinciding with the Ugadi celebrations, on the H. I. C. C. Novotel Hotel in Hyderabad. ## Release ### Theatrical S/O Satyamurthy's release date was originally scheduled for 20 February 2015 in late November 2014, and was later postponed to 2 April (after the 2015 Cricket World Cup) due to post-production delays. After the film's review by the censors on 30 March 2015, its release date was rescheduled for 9 April. S/O Satyamurthy was one of the rare Telugu films to be released in Tamil Nadu with English subtitles. The film was confirmed for release on 100 screens across Karnataka, at the same time as Rana Vikrama. Its global screen count was 1375, the largest Telugu film release of the year; however, it did not break the record 1450 screens set by 2014's Aagadu. S/O Satyamurthy's dubbed Malayalam version was released on 24 April. The Hindi dubbing rights of the film were bought by Goldmines Telefilms. At first, the Hindi dubbed version was titled as Bunny – The Perfect Gentleman, later the title was changed to Son of Satyamurthy and had a theatrical release in 2016. Allu Arjun's voice was dubbed by Sanket Mhatre. ### Distribution S/O Satyamurthy's overseas theatrical rights were sold to Classics Entertainment for an undisclosed sum in late October 2014, and days later its Karnataka rights were also sold for an undisclosed price. Dil Raju acquired the Nizam regional rights for ₹14 crore, one of the highest prices paid for Nizam rights to a film. Bhopal Reddy acquired the Karnataka regional distribution rights for ₹6 crore. The film's theatrical rights were sold for a total of ₹54 crore. ### Marketing Sai Gopal, who had assisted Srinivas since Swayamvaram (1999), orchestrated S/O Satyamurthy's promotion. Although the film was expected to preview in December 2014, its preliminary preview was released on 6 March 2015 (the night before Holi). The preview featured sixteen actors, including the leads (whose faces were blurred), and the film's logo was muted. In a press release, the producers announced that the film's promotion would be in full swing at the soundtrack release party, with party passes awarded to those predicting the sixteen actors on the preview poster. Its 45-second advance-preview video was released on 7 March, receiving a good response on YouTube (where it was viewed by more than 300,000 people within 12 hours of its release). The film's logo was disclosed the following day. Thirty-one-second 2D and 3D motion posters featuring Arjun, created by Prawin Pudi and designed by Siva Kiran of Working Title, were released on 9 March and two preview posters of Arjun were distributed the following day. S/O Satyamurthy's 27-second trailer was released on 11 March; two posters featuring Arjun, Samantha and Menen in Spain were distributed the following day, and a poster of Arjun was released on 14 March. The theatrical trailer had more than one million views on one YouTube channel in three and a half days, a record. The trailer for a promotional song with Arjun and Prasad was released on 28 March, and the song itself was released on 1 April at 11:00 pm IST. Arjun promoted the film's dubbed Malayalam version at the Lulu International Shopping Mall in Cochin on 21 April. ### Home media MAA TV acquired the film's broadcast-television rights for ₹9.5 crore. S/O Satyamurthy had its global television premiere on 19 July 2015 at 6 p.m. IST. ## Reception S/O Satyamurthy grossed ₹20.5 crore on its first day at the global box office, the third-highest opening-day gross in the history of Telugu cinema. The film also had the best opening-day gross of Arjun's film career, breaking records set by 2014's Race Gurram (his previous film), Temper and Gopala Gopala. Trade analyst Trinath told IANS that the film grossed ₹33.5 crore in two days at the global box office, the biggest opening of the year to date. S/O Satyamurthy earned ₹26.92 crore in three days at the global box office. By the end of its first weekend, the film earned ₹30.31 crore and was the highest-grossing Telugu film of the year to date. Gross earnings for the film's first weekend were ₹48.3 crore. S/O Satyamurthy netted about ₹3.5 crore and grossed ₹5 crore on its fifth day at the global box office, bringing its five-day global gross and net to ₹49.24 crore and ₹35.74 crore. By then, the film had recovered 60 percent of its cost and was third on the list of Telugu films with all-time top first-week worldwide openings, behind Attarintiki Daredi (2013) and Yevadu (2014). S/O Satyamurthy's earnings dropped sharply on its seventh day, and its seven-day global earnings stood at ₹57.9 crore gross and ₹36.94 crore net. The film crossed the ₹40-crore (400-million) mark on its eighth day, netting ₹43.24 crore and grossing more than ₹60 crore in eight days (recouping over 80 percent of its cost). In eleven days, it netted a total of ₹42.55 crore and grossed ₹66.85 crore at the global box office. With consistent weekday performance, the film's fifteen-day global total gross and net figures were ₹71.35 crore and ₹45.05 crore. During its third week, S/O Satyamurthy lost a large number of screens to new releases Dohchay, Kai Raja Kai, Aloukika and Avengers: Age of Ultron. The film still performed decently, grossing ₹5.05 crore and netting ₹2.17 crore in three days for an eighteen-day global total gross and net of ₹77.5 crore and ₹46.92 crore (surpassing the lifetime records of Naayak (2013), Racha (2012), Temper, Eega (2012), Govindudu Andarivadele and Gopala Gopala). It was the tenth-highest-grossing Telugu film of all time at the global box office. At the end of three weeks, S/O Satyamurthy grossed over ₹80 crore . Trade analyst Trinath told IANS that the film's three-week global net was over ₹50 crore, the seventh-highest-grossing Telugu film of all time at the global box office. S/O Satyamurthy grossed ₹90.5 crore and netted a total of ₹51.9 crore at the global box office during its full run; of this, ₹50.75 crore was earned by the Telugu version. Arjun was the first Telugu actor with two consecutive films crossing the ₹50-crore mark at the global box office. Bangalore Mirror called S/O Satyamurthy a blockbuster, grossing ₹92 crore and netting over ₹60 crore at the global box office during its run. ### India The film grossed ₹11.89 crore at the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana box office, ₹4.35 crore in Karnataka and ₹60 lakh in the rest of India on its first day. Early trends suggested that S/O Satyamurthy would net ₹8.5 crore in Andhra Pradesh, and the official tally was ₹9.37 crore; it was the fourth-highest opening-day grossing Telugu film in the state, behind Attarintiki Daredi, Aagadu and Temper. The film earned more than ₹2.9 crore at the Bangalore box office, with an 80-percent occupancy for two days (the highest of Arjun's films to date). S/O Satyamurthy earned ₹7.2 crore in two days at the Karnataka box office. It earned ₹5.15 crore and ₹4 crore on its second and third days in Andhra Pradesh/Telangana, bringing its three-day total to ₹18.42 crore. It earned approximately ₹2.5 crore in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and elsewhere in North India in three days. By the end of its first weekend, S/O Satyamurthy netted ₹20.71 crore, ₹3.5 crore and ₹1 crore in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and the rest of India respectively. Its first-weekend gross in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana was ₹31.5 crore and ₹6.6 crore, ₹1.2 crore, and ₹60 lakh in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and the rest of India respectively. S/O Satyamurthy performed well on its fifth day, earning ₹2.16 crore in Andhra Pradesh for a five-day total of ₹22.87 crore. The film's sixth-day Andhra Pradesh earnings were ₹2.38 crore, bringing its six-day total in the state to ₹25.25 crore. S/O Satyamurthy was the sixth-highest first-week earning Telugu film in Andhra Pradesh, at ₹26.24 crore. The film earned ₹3.9 crore and ₹1.2 crore in Karnataka and the rest of India in its first week. Its Karnataka gross was ₹4.75 crore, the highest ever for a Telugu film in the state. It was the fourth Arjun film to net ₹1 crore in the Nizam region, after Julai, Iddarammayilatho (2013) and Race Gurram. In eighteen days, the film netted ₹33.72 crore , ₹5.45 crore, ₹63 lakh and ₹72 lakh in AP/Nizam, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and the rest of India respectively. During its run S/O Satyamurthy netted ₹37.65 crore, ₹5.8 crore, ₹63 lakh and ₹72 lakh in AP/Nizam, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and the rest of India respectively, ₹14.05 crore in the Nizam region alone. ### Overseas S/O Satyamurthy grossed ₹3.75 crore on its first day at the overseas box office. According to Taran Adarsh, the film earned \$347,267 on its Wednesday premiere in the United States and was the second-highest US premiere grosser (behind Aagadu). It earned \$136,168 on Thursday, bringing its two-day US box-office total to \$483,435 (about ₹3.01 crore). S/O Satyamurthy earned \$233,870 on Friday, bringing its three-day US box-office total to \$720,984 (about ₹4.49 crore). The film passed the million-dollar mark on Sunday, the second Telugu film of 2015 to do so (after Temper). Gross overseas receipts for the first weekend were ₹8.46 crore, with net earnings of ₹5.1 crore. The film continued a good run on the international market despite a drop in collections in India, earning ₹5.6 crore in eight days. S/O Satyamurthy lost 60 percent of its screens after the release of OK Bangaram, but (according to Taran Adarsh) earned \$1,235,073 by 19 April 2015. It broke the lifetime records of Temper, Gopala Gopala and Govindudu Andarivadele in 11 days, and was the ninth-highest-grossing Telugu film of all time at the US box office. The film earned a distributor share of ₹5.2 crore in the US and ₹70 lakh at the remaining overseas box offices during its run. ### Critical response S/O Satyamurthy had a lukewarm reception from critics, with the International Business Times calling the film a "mass entertainer" and criticising its predictability and length. According to Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu, "We've seen enough films with characters placed in the villain's den. Thankfully, the drama is lively and fun moments come through Ali and Brahmanandam. Allu Arjun shoulders the film with his remarkable performance and seems to be getting better with each film. The film's biggest undoing is its length. A trimmer version would be far more engaging". Pranitha Jonnalagedda of The Hans India wrote, "No denying that there are moments of crazy laughter, witty remarks and some thought-provoking words, but Trivikram's benchmark is set so high that the writing of this film doesn't excite us enough. All said and done, if you are a lover of a Telugu cinema who enjoys watching the hero being the Good Samaritan and fancy a few tear-jerking moments, this film is definitely for you!" IndiaGlitz gave S/O Satyamurthy 4.25 out of five stars, calling the film a "family entertainer sans memorable heroism" and adding that its second half "will work with a good many number of audience". Madhavi Tata of Outlook India gave the film three out of five stars, writing that Trivikram's screenplay "has too many sub-plots, but the dialogues sparkle, especially when mouthed by veteran actors". Tata called the film's humour a "big draw", with the best saved for Brahmanandam. Hemanth Kumar of The Times of India gave S/O Satyamurthy three out of five stars, writing that the film "works well as an idea, and leaves you with enough questions and thoughts to reflect upon your own life, but as a cinematic experience, it leaves a lot to be desired". Pravallika Anjuri of Oneindia also gave the film three out of five stars, calling it a "perfect entertainer" despite being the "weakest work of Trivikram till date": "Nevertheless it is shall be a great fun to watch Son of Satyamurthy along with your family. Cut down the expectations and you will definitely love the movie". Behindwoods gave it 2.75 out of five stars: "Without a concrete villain, [the film] still manages to tell us the painful journey of the hero. Thanks to the powerful and meaningful dialogues in the voice-over, [the film] becomes a charming drama", calling it a "family drama that also entertains" and "another winner for the Trivikram-Allu Arjun combo". Suresh Kavirayani of Deccan Chronicle gave S/O Satyamurthy 2.5 out of five stars: "Trivikram has continued the Attarintiki Daredi trend of rich-kid-giving-up-luxuries in this film too. But, the hallmark of the director is missing from this movie. The punch dialogues associated with his films are missing and the screenplay is so-so". Karthik Keramalu of CNN-IBN also gave the film 2.5 out of five stars, calling it an "inconsistent drama with over-the-top action and a grand message" and adding: "If only the screenplay had matched the quality of Allu Arjun's style, which is impeccably taken care of, Trivikram would have won the S/O Satyamurthy lottery". IANS gave S/O Satyamurthy two out of five stars: "While all the quintessential Trivikram trademark moments can be found in S/O Satyamurthy, what you miss is the magic he created in his career's best film Athadu", adding that the film is a "predictable and sloppy family drama with a few high and mostly low moments". ### Accolades 63rd Filmfare Awards - Best Director – Trivikram Srinivas – Nominated - Best Actor – Allu Arjun – Nominated 5th SIIMA - Best Actress (Telugu) – Samantha Ruth Prabhu – Nominated - Best Supporting Actor (Telugu) – Upendra – Nominated - Best Supporting Actress (Telugu) – Sneha – Nominated - Best Comedian (Telugu) – Ali – Nominated - Best Music Director (Telugu) – Devi Sri Prasad – Nominated - Best Lyricist (Telugu) – Devi Sri Prasad (for "Super Machi") – Nominated 2016 CineMAA Awards - Best Music Director – Devi Sri Prasad – Won - Special Appreciation – Rajendra Prasad – Won ## Legacy A dialogue from the film, Maa Nanna drushtilo, Bharyante nacchi techukune badhyata, Pillalu moyyalanipinche baruvu. Kani naa drushtilo Nannante marchipoleni gnapakam ("According to my father, a wife is a voluntary duty and kids are the burden we love to bear. But for me, my father is an unforgettable memory") was spoofed by the producers of the film Kobbari Matta in its promotion. Sakshi published a spoof of the film on 19 May 2015 in which Prakash Raj was replaced by Brahmanandam as the protagonist's father, who tells his son not to follow ethics and values but to give importance only to money. ## See also - List of films featuring diabetes
760,439
1958 Atlantic hurricane season
1,156,281,702
Hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean
[ "1958 Atlantic hurricane season" ]
The 1958 Atlantic hurricane season included every tropical cyclone either affecting or threatening land. There were ten named storms as well as one pre-season tropical storm. Seven of the storms became hurricanes, including five that were major hurricanes, or the equivalent of a Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. The strongest storm was Hurricane Helene, which became a strong Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph (240 km/h) winds and a barometric pressure of 930 millibars (27 inHg) while just offshore the southeastern United States. In May, a subtropical depression formed in the Caribbean and dropped heavy rainfall near Miami, Florida. The first named storm of the season was Alma, which killed three people and caused flooding in Texas. Hurricane Daisy in August was a major hurricane that paralleled the eastern coast of the United States, although due to its small size it did not cause much damage. Hurricane Ella affected much of the northern Caribbean and Texas, most significantly the Dominican Republic where 30 people died. Ella also killed six people in Cuba, where it made landfall as a major hurricane. A few weeks later, Tropical Storm Gerda also struck the Dominican Republic and killed three people. The costliest storm of the season was Helene, which caused \$11.2 million in damage (1958 USD), mostly in North Carolina. Although it passed within 10 mi (16 km) of the state, its effects were mostly limited to the coast, and the hurricane killed one person. The last storm of the season, Janice, killed eight people in Jamaica when its precursor dropped 20 in (510 mm) of rainfall, and one person was killed in the Bahamas. ## Season summary The ten tropical storms during the season is comparable to the 20 year average of ten. In contrast to the previous season when most storms were in the Gulf of Mexico, most storms in 1958 occurred over the western Atlantic Ocean. The first storm, Alma, formed in the middle of June. Subsequently, a trough persisted along the eastern United States, which suppressed tropical cyclone formation. Conditions remained unfavorable in July due to a large ridge suppressing the westerlies. In August, a persistent trough caused three storms – Becky, Cleo, and Daisy – to recurve and remain over the ocean. Most storms formed from the middle of August through the middle of October, when polar air reached as far south as Florida due to a shift in the ridge. Before the season started, the United States Weather Bureau office in Miami began setting up a teleprinter to distribute hourly advisories to newspapers and the American Red Cross. The hurricane season officially began on June 15, and lasted until November 15. When the season started, the Lakeland Frost Warning Service sent four employees to assist the Miami Weather Bureau. The Hurricane Hunters flew daily to investigate potential storms in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. In addition, there was a set of radars from Texas to Maine to track storms. Beginning in 1958, the Weather Bureau predicted the change in tide due to a storm with the assistance of a tide specialist. During the season, a reporter – daughter of Weather Bureau director Gordon Dunn – flew into Hurricane Daisy, becoming the first woman to fly into a hurricane. Utilizing radars along the East Coast of the United States, the Weather Bureau tracked both Hurricanes Daisy and Helene for 575 mi (925 km), which was the first such occurrence of that feat. The season's activity was reflected with a cumulative accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) rating of 121. ACE, broadly speaking, is a measure of the power of the hurricane multiplied by the length of time it existed, so storms that last a long time, as well as particularly strong hurricanes, have high values. ACE is only calculated for full advisories on tropical systems at or exceeding 34 knots (39 mph; 63 km/h) or tropical storm strength. ## Systems ### Tropical Storm One A small circulation crossed Panama from the Pacific Ocean on May 17, and by the following day it was a developing depression near San Andrés in the western Caribbean. The system gradually organized over warm waters while moving to the northwest, developing a well-defined low pressure area by May 23 as it approached western Cuba. Later that day, the depression crossed the western portion of the island before turning to the northeast. On May 24, the system passed southeast of Florida, dropping heavy rainfall that peaked at 12.07 in (307 mm) in Homestead. May 1958 was the second wettest May since 1911, of which half of the precipitation fell during the depression. Several other locations in the Miami area reported record or near-record rainfall for the month. The high rainfall disrupted planting of vegetables, and there was some crop damage. Flooding entered homes and businesses, forcing some evacuations. About 2,900 people lost telephone service, and there was a brief water outage on Key Biscayne. There were also hundreds of vehicle accidents related to the storm. After affecting Florida, the depression continued to the northeast, and although it had a warm core, it was not able to develop significantly due to lack of temperature instability, as well as another low developing southwest of the circulation. The depression was briefly forecast to strike North Carolina, but instead an eastward moving ridge kept it offshore. In Hatteras, North Carolina, the depression dropped 3 in (76 mm) of rainfall. The influx of cold air transitioned the depression to an extratropical cyclone on May 28. An approaching cold front absorbed the depression and produced heavy rainfall in eastern Canada. ### Tropical Storm Alma A tropical wave was first observed in the central Caribbean Sea on June 9. By the following day, there was evidence of a weak closed circulation off the south coast of Jamaica. Moving generally westward, on June 12 it crossed the Yucatán Peninsula, and the system emerged into the Bay of Campeche the next day. On June 14, a tropical depression formed about halfway between the Yucatán Peninsula and Tamaulipas. Within six hours, the depression intensified into Tropical Storm Alma about 150 mi (240 km) east of Tampico. Later that day, a ship reported a pressure of 997 mbar (29.4 inHg) and high seas, and early on June 15 a United States Coast Guard plane measured winds of 50 mph (80 km/h) near the northeast Mexican coast. That day, Alma made landfall about 70 mi (110 km) south of Brownsville, Texas in northeastern Mexico. The storm moved ashore in northeastern Tamaulipas early on June 15 before crossing into southern Texas. After weakening to a tropical depression, Alma straddled the Rio Grande before dissipating in western Texas late on June 16. The United States Coast Guard recommended people to evacuate in beach areas near Brownsville, Texas. As it moved ashore, Alma produced a high tide of 2.9 ft (0.88 m) along Padre Island, and one person drowned near Galveston due to heavy surf. The highest wind gust was 45 mph (72 km/h) at Port Isabel, causing minor damage. However, Alma dropped heavy rainfall further inland, reaching about 20 in (510 mm) near Medina. The rains caused floods that resulted in heavy damage to property and crops. Some rivers and streams rose above their banks due to floods, creating torrents of up to 15 ft (4.6 m) in some arroyos. The floods covered highways and forced about 100 people to evacuate near Sabinal. The rains also knocked out telephone lines in Uvalde County, and temporarily trapped hundreds of scouts. One person drowned along the Concho River, and three people overall died due to the system. ### Tropical Storm Becky Based on reports from the Cape Verde islands offshore Africa, it is estimated a tropical depression developed on August 8. It moved westward due to the subtropical ridge to its north, a motion the depression would continue for much of its duration. Nearby ship reports indicated gradual strengthening, and the depression became a tropical storm on August 11. At 0400 UTC on August 12, the San Juan Weather Bureau office initiated advisories on Tropical Storm Becky about halfway between the Lesser Antilles and Cape Verde. That day, the Hurricane Hunters flew into the storm, reporting a pressure of 1,006 mbar (29.7 inHg) and flight level winds of 70 mph (110 km/h); its peak surface winds were estimated at 60 mph (97 km/h). Also on August 12, a storm warning was issued for the northern Leeward Islands, and a storm watch was issued for the United States Virgin Islands and northern Puerto Rico. After peaking in intensity, Becky continued quickly to the west-northwest, and its fast motion may have prevented further strengthening. On August 14, a flight reported hurricane-force wind gusts in rainbands 210 mi (340 km) east-northeast of the center. The next day, the circulation became poorly defined, and by August 16, Becky had become extratropical after it merged with an approaching cold front. The storm turned to the north and northeast, dissipating later on August 17. As Becky was transitioning into an extratropical storm, it produced high waves along the southeastern coast of the United States. ### Hurricane Cleo A well-developed tropical wave spawned a tropical storm on August 11 to the south of Cape Verde. It moved westward, and ships in the area indicated that it had a large circulation. The Hurricane Hunters flew into the system and observed a well-developed hurricane with winds of 146 mph (235 km/h), which were the highest measured winds. As a result, the San Juan Weather Bureau Office initiated advisories on Hurricane Cleo and issued a hurricane watch for the Lesser Antilles. Subsequent analysis determined that Cleo became a hurricane on August 13. A weak trough near 50° W allowed the hurricane to turn to the north, and Cleo continued to intensify, based on improved definition of the eye on radar imagery. A flight into the storm late on August 16 indicated a pressure of 947 mbar (28.0 inHg) with winds of 140 mph (230 km/h) early on August 16. Originally winds were thought to be higher in Cleo, at 160 mph (260 km/h), which would make it a Category 5 hurricane, but reanalysis later on determined it to be weaker. After maintaining peak winds for about six hours, Cleo began weakening. It turned more to the northwest due to a strengthening ridge to the northeast and the hurricane's outflow weakening the trough. An approaching cold front turned Cleo to the northeast on August 18 and caused it to accelerate. That day, it passed about 450 mi (720 km) east of Bermuda. On August 20, the hurricane became extratropical to the southeast of Newfoundland. In St. John's, the storm dropped about 2 in (51 mm) of rainfall. The remnants of Cleo turned to the east and east-southeast, dissipating on August 22 between the Azores and mainland Portugal. ### Hurricane Daisy A tropical wave moved through the Lesser Antilles on August 20 and gradually spread north. On August 24, a nearby ship reported a low pressure area and strong winds, indicating the formation of a small tropical cyclone near the Bahamas. After a Hurricane Hunters flight indicated winds of 55 mph (89 km/h), the Weather Bureau initiated advisories on Tropical Storm Daisy early on August 25 to the north of the Bahamas. That day it became a hurricane, and initially it moved slowly to the northwest due to a ridge to the northeast. On August 26, a trough turned Daisy to the northeast, and the hurricane continued to intensify due to an anticyclone aloft. By early August 28, the hurricane reached peak winds of 130 mph (210 km/h), and a minimum pressure of 948 mbar (28.0 inHg) while offshore South Carolina. Daisy accelerated to the north, passing about 75 mi (121 km) east of Hatteras, North Carolina; there, gusts peaked at 36 mph (58 km/h) due to the storm's small size. For much of its duration, Hurricane Daisy was visible from radar along the eastern United States, which assisted in tracking the storm. Passing east of Hatteras, Daisy dropped moderate rainfall, peaking at 5.92 in (150 mm) near Morehead City, North Carolina, before turning to the northeast on August 29. The Weather Bureau issued a hurricane warning from Block Island to Provincetown, Massachusetts due to the projected path near New England. Later on August 29, Daisy passed about 70 mi (110 km) southeast of Nantucket. Nearby Block Island reported peak gusts of 45 mph (72 km/h), and a Texas Tower 120 mi (190 km) east of Cape Cod reported gusts to 87 mph (140 km/h). The storm also produced high tides and light rainfall, and forced 600 people to evacuate Nantucket. Due to its small size, there was no major damage in the United States. After affecting Nantucket, Daisy weakened and became extratropical by early on August 30. The remnants turned to the east, passing south of Nova Scotia before dissipating on August 31. In Canada, the storm damaged a boat in the Bay of Fundy that drifted for two days until reaching Saint John, New Brunswick. ### Hurricane Ella A tropical wave spawned a tropical depression near the Lesser Antilles on August 30, which quickly became Tropical Storm Ella. It quickly intensified in the eastern Caribbean into a hurricane by August 31 while passing south of Puerto Rico; there, the outer rainbands caused some flooding that caused minor damage. On September 1, Ella strengthened to winds of 110 mph (180 km/h), as measured by the Hurricane Hunters. At that intensity, the hurricane passed just south of the Dominican Republic before making landfall in southwestern Haiti. In the Dominican Republic, heavy rainfall and floods caused \$100,000 in damage, mostly in the country's southwestern portion. Heavy rainfall caused widespread flooding in southwestern Haiti, and thousands of people became homeless after their houses were damaged. Near Les Cayes, 30 people were killed due to flash flooding. After affecting Haiti, Ella weakened to a Category 1 hurricane before moving ashore in southeastern Cuba early on September 2. While traversing the island, Ella weakened to a tropical storm and was unable to restrengthen. Near Santiago de Cuba, the Bayamo River washed away 25 houses and killed five people. One other person died in the country due to the hurricane. After Ella reached the Gulf of Mexico on September 3, its structure was disrupted, and it remained a tropical storm as it continued to the west-northwest. Its outer rainbands produced gusts of 75 mph (121 km/h) in Grand Isle, Louisiana. Ella struck Texas on September 6 and dissipated soon thereafter. At its final landfall, the storm produced 13.6 in (350 mm) of rainfall in Galveston, Texas, and in the city, one person died after falling overboard a boat. ### Hurricane Fifi A ship on September 4 indicated a tropical depression developed from a tropical wave to the east of the Lesser Antilles. The system initially had two circulations that consolidated into one by September 5. That day, Hurricane Hunters observed 55 mph (89 km/h) winds, which prompted the Weather Bureau to upgrade it to Tropical Storm Fifi. Due to the storm's fast track to the northwest, a gale warning and hurricane watch were issued for the Leeward and northern Windward Islands. On September 6, Fifi intensified into a hurricane and reached peak winds of 85 mph (137 km/h), around the same time that it passed about 150 mi (240 km) northeast of the Leeward Islands. Later, Fifi began weakening, and by September 8 it was downgraded to tropical storm status. The westerlies turned Fifi to the northeast on September 10. After passing southeast of Bermuda, the storm dissipated on September 11. ### Tropical Storm Gerda A tropical wave was first observed on September 11 about 400 mi (640 km) east of the Lesser Antilles. It moved westward, and based on surface reports from the island chain, a tropical depression developed west of Martinique on September 13. The system moved quickly to the west-northwest, becoming a tropical storm by late on September 13. The Hurricane Hunters encountered winds of 70 mph (110 km/h) on September 14 just offshore the Dominican Republic; on that basis the system was designated Tropical Storm Gerda. Shortly thereafter, the storm struck the Barahona peninsula. The high terrain of Hispaniola quickly weakened Gerda, and on September 15 the Hurricane Hunters could not detect a closed circulation. It is estimated that Gerda dissipated offshore southeastern Cuba. The wave continued west, later reaching the Gulf of Mexico. Aided by an approaching trough, a small low pressure area redeveloped on September 19, which struck southern Texas and moved to the northeast. This low eventually dissipated over Louisiana on September 22, having produced gusts of 52 mph (84 km/h) along the Texas coast. When the precursor to Gerda passed through the Lesser Antilles, it dropped 15 in (380 mm) of rain. Stations in the United States Virgin Islands reported winds up to 46 mph (74 km/h). The storm's threat prompted gale warnings along the southern coast of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. In the former island, Gerda killed three people. Two people drowned after falling off a boat on Vieques island, and the other died after his house collapsed while he was inside. The storm damaged coffee, banana, and plantain crops in Puerto Rico. Winds reached 54 mph (87 km/h) in the Dominican Republic. ### Hurricane Helene A tropical wave was first observed near Cape Verde on September 16. On September 21, the Hurricane Hunters observed a circulation, which indicated a tropical depression had formed east of the northern Leeward Islands. It moved to the west-northwest, becoming Tropical Storm Helene on September 23. The next day Helene became a hurricane, aided by an anticyclone aloft. It moved around a large ridge, bringing its center toward the southeastern United States. As the hurricane approached the Carolinas, the hurricane rapidly intensified as the eye became visible on radar, and Helene reached peak winds of 150 mph (240 km/h) on the morning of September 27. An approaching trough turned the hurricane to the northeast, and Helene came within 10 mi (16 km) of the coast of North Carolina. It slowly weakened, and at the same time its size expanded. On September 29, Helene became extratropical as it was moving over Newfoundland. The remnants continued to the northeast, later turning to the southeast and dissipating on October 4 just west of Great Britain. While paralleling the southeastern United States, Helene produced a peak storm surge of 6 ft (1.8 m) near Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina. A station in Wilmington reported sustained winds of 88 mph (142 km/h) and a peak gust of 135 mph (217 km/h), exceeding the previous record for measured wind speed there by a wide margin. At Cape Fear, winds were estimated at 125 mph (201 km/h), with gusts as high as 160 mph (260 km/h). Rainfall from Helene peaked at 8.29 inches (211 mm) in Wilmington International Airport, although rainfall spread as far north as New England. Damage in the United States totaled \$11.2 million, and there was one indirect fatality. In Atlantic Canada, Helene produced high winds and heavy rainfall, causing power outages in Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton Island. A wharf in Caribou, Nova Scotia was destroyed by rough seas generated by Helene, and at least 1,000 lobster traps were carried out to sea as a result. ### Hurricane Ilsa On September 24, ship reports near an area of disturbed weather east of the Lesser Antilles prompted a Hurricane Hunters flight. By the time the aircraft investigated the system, they discovered a tropical storm with winds of 40 mph (64 km/h), which was named Ilsa by the Weather Bureau. Subsequent analysis estimated that the storm became a tropical depression earlier that day. Ilsa quickly intensified into a hurricane on September 25, by which time it was located about 1,100 mi (1,800 km) southeast of Hurricane Helene. Over the subsequent few days, the two hurricanes underwent the Fujiwhara effect, in which Ilsa turned to the north and Helene turned to the northeast. Ilsa quickly intensified on September 26, developing a well-defined eye and spiral rainbands. Early on September 27, it reached peak winds of 110 mph (180 km/h), and subsequently it weakened. On September 29 the hurricane turned to the northeast and accelerated, becoming extratropical and dissipating by the next day. Early in the duration of Ilsa, the Weather Bureau issued a gale warning and hurricane watch for the Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands, and northern Puerto Rico. However, no damage was reported. The storm caused extensive beach erosion and squally conditions in Bermuda. ### Hurricane Janice A tropical wave moved through the Lesser Antilles on September 30. It moved westward through the Caribbean, developing a broad circulation by October 3 as it approached Jamaica. The weak circulation gradually became better organized, developing into a tropical depression near the Cayman Islands on October 4. The system quickly intensified into Tropical Storm Janice as it moved toward the coast of Cuba. An eastward-moving cold front turned the storm to the north and northeast, and Janice crossed central Cuba early on October 6. The storm intensified while moving through the Bahamas, becoming a hurricane on October 7. Janice slowed that day and reached peak winds of 100 mph (160 km/h). On October 9, the hurricane turned to the east-northeast, and by that time had weakened slightly; however, the next day it re-attained its previous peak intensity while passing northwest of Bermuda, reaching a minimum pressure of 968 mbar (28.6 inHg). On October 12, Janice became extratropical in the northern Atlantic Ocean, and the next day merged with a stronger non-tropical low offshore Atlantic Canada. The precursor to Janice dropped heavy rainfall in Jamaica, reaching over 20 in (510 mm) in some locations. Rain-induced flooding destroyed homes, wrecked crops, and damaged coastal wharves and roads. Eight people were killed, and the floods were considered the worst in 25 years. When Janice was still over Cuba, the Weather Bureau issued gale warnings from Vero Beach, Florida to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. In the Bahamas, Janice produced peak winds of 63 mph (101 km/h) on San Salvador Island. In Nassau, one person was killed while trying to move a boat. A dredger was lost and a yacht was seriously damaged in the Bahamas, and damage in the country reached \$200,000. ### Tropical Storm Twelve A low pressure area developed north of Hispaniola from a dissipating cold front, organizing into a tropical depression on October 15. The system moved to the north-northeast, attaining peak winds of 50 mph (80 km/h), based on reports from ships. On October 17, the storm transitioned into an extratropical cyclone as it interacted with an approaching cold front. The storm continued northeastward, merging with a larger storm on October 19 to the south of Atlantic Canada. ## Storm names The following names were used for named storms (tropical storms and hurricanes) that formed in the North Atlantic in 1958. ## See also - 1958 Pacific hurricane season - 1958 Pacific typhoon season - Australian region cyclone seasons: 1957–58 1958–59 - South Pacific cyclone seasons: 1957–58 1958–59 - South-West Indian Ocean cyclone seasons: 1957–58 1958–59
4,256,382
Got 'til It's Gone
1,173,734,028
1997 single by Janet Jackson
[ "1997 singles", "1997 songs", "Alternative hip hop songs", "Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video", "Janet Jackson songs", "Joni Mitchell songs", "Music videos directed by Mark Romanek", "Q-Tip (musician) songs", "Song recordings produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis", "Songs involved in plagiarism controversies", "Songs written by Janet Jackson", "Songs written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis", "Songs written by Joni Mitchell", "Songs written by Q-Tip (musician)", "Trip hop songs", "Virgin Records singles" ]
"Got 'til It's Gone" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson, featuring American rapper Q-Tip and Canadian singer Joni Mitchell, from her sixth studio album, The Velvet Rope (1997). It was written by Jackson, Jam and Lewis, with additional writing by René Elizondo Jr., Mitchell, and Kamaal Ibn Fareed. The song was produced by Jackson, Jam and Lewis. It was released as the lead single from The Velvet Rope in 1997, by Virgin Records. The song was recorded at Flyte Tyme Studios in Edina, Minnesota. For "Got 'til It's Gone", Jackson opted for a less polished sound which resulted in an authentic blend of R&B, pop, and hip hop with traces of reggae influences. "Got 'til It's Gone" was met with mostly positive reviews from music critics, with most praising its fusion of Jackson's pop style with hip hop, and for its revealing theme. "Got 'til It's Gone" was not released as a commercial single, making it ineligible to appear on the Billboard Hot 100. However, the song peaked at number 36 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart and reached number three on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. Internationally, "Got 'til It's Gone" reached the top 20 in several European markets, including France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The accompanying music video for "Got 'til It's Gone" was directed by Mark Romanek and filmed at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, and was premiered right before the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards. Jackson portrays a lounge singer in the video, which takes place during the time of apartheid in South Africa. It was called a masterpiece by critics, winning a Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video. Jackson has performed "Got 'til It's Gone" on all of her concert tours since its release. The song was also covered by singer Marsha Ambrosius, and was also a source for several book titles. ## Background and release In 1996, Janet Jackson renewed her contract with company Virgin Records for \$80 million—the largest recording contract in history at that time and a breakthrough she achieved for the second time in her career. She then began developing her sixth studio album, The Velvet Rope, which chronicled Jackson's struggle with depression and intimacy. In an interview for MTV, she discussed how the depression had made her frequently sad and caused her to take breaks from her music career. She felt this was heightened by her estrangement from the rest of the Jackson family. Jimmy Jam was aware of Jackson's depression during the writing of the album, noticing how she would spontaneously cancel recording sessions and appear constantly troubled. Jackson discussed "Got 'til It's Gone" and The Velvet Rope album during an interview with Rolling Stone, saying: > Singing these songs has meant digging up pain that I buried a long time ago. It's been hard and sometimes confusing. But I've had to do it. I've been burying pain my whole life. It's like kicking dirt under the carpet. At some point there's so much dirt that you start to choke. Well, I've been choking. My therapy came in writing these songs. Then I had to find the courage to sing them or else suffer the consequences – a permanent case of the blues. The song's music video and promotional photos were the first glimpse of the new image Jackson developed for The Velvet Rope campaign, which combined elements from Gothic and African cultures and consisted of red hair, nasal and body piercings, and several tattoos. In an interview with Dotmusic, she commented how she was a fan of Joni Mitchell's work, and that she knew she wanted a rapper on this album, but didn't know who and on what song she could do that, until she found Q-Tip was the "perfect person" for "Got 'til It's Gone". She also described his voice as "mellow and laid-back like the vocal". "Got 'til It's Gone" was serviced to multiple airplay formats, including pop, urban, rhythmic, and adult contemporary/jazz, on September 2, 1997, as the lead single from The Velvet Rope. In the United Kingdom, Virgin released the song on September 22, 1997, as a CD single, a 12-inch vinyl single, and a cassette single. Later that year, on November 10, a two-disc 12-inch single was released. In Japan, a CD single was issued on October 29, 1997. ## Composition and lyrical interpretation "Got 'til It's Gone" was written by Jackson, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, René Elizondo Jr., Q-Tip and Joni Mitchell, and features guest vocals from the latter artists. It contains a sample from Mitchell's 1970 song "Big Yellow Taxi". According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by EMI Music Publishing, the song is set in common time with a key of F major. Jackson's vocals range between G<sub>3</sub> to C<sub>5</sub>. The song has a moderate tempo of 96 beats per minute. For "Got 'til It's Gone", Jackson opted for a less polished sound, the song itself is a blend of various genres such as R&B, pop, and hip hop; it also has influences of reggae. It was inspired by J Dilla's remix of the Brand New Heavies' song "Sometimes", released a few months prior in 1997. Jam spoke of the song's crossover potential, commenting, "Janet has always been one of those artists that bridges R&B and hip-hop and pop and rock". We really thought 'Got 'Til It's Gone' would be accepted [by all audiences] across the board". Jackson revealed that lyrically, "Got 'Til It's Gone" is about a great life lesson she learned—appreciate what you have while you have it. When discussing the song with Jet magazine, Jackson stated, "In my life, I try to take nothing for granted, even if I don't always succeed". Jackson told why she felt compelled to combine the folk elements from Mitchell with Q-Tip's rap verse, saying "Him and Joni Mitchell have something in common: what they write is poetry". "I think of folk and rap among similar strands. Especially lyrically because you can put so much content into one song. Hip hop is great and I think it's good that it talks of the harsh realities of life in the ghettos". Speaking about Q-Tip's appearance, Jackson said, "Q-Tip represents all that's creative and strong about rap. He's real and right to the point, and I loved working with him". Jackson has frequently mentioned Mitchell as an influence and artist she's admired throughout her career, which led to Jackson asking Mitchell to contribute vocals to "Got 'til It's Gone". Jackson stated, "As a kid I was drawn to Joni Mitchell records. Joni's songs spoke to me in an intimate, personal way." Jackson contacted Mitchell personally to ask for permission to use the sample, stating "everyone said it couldn't be done, but if [Mitchell] was going to say no to me, I had to hear it from her myself [...] I called her and told her I wanted her to hear it before she made a decision. Everybody was surprised when a couple of days later, she said yes". Describing the situation, Jackson recalled, "I told her I'd like to send her a tape before she made a decision. She listened to it, and called back a few days later and said she absolutely loved it and would be honored if we did, so I was very excited". ### Des'ree controversy After the release of "Got 'til It's Gone", British singer Des'ree thought the song was very similar to her own song "Feel So High" from her 1992 album Mind Adventures, and sued Jackson and the producers of the song. In July 1998, she was awarded an out-of-court settlement granting her 25 per cent of the publishing royalties from the song; around £2 million. Des'ree later said that her "aim wasn't to get money out of her", but it was purely for justice, as she wanted Jackson to recognize that she had "borrowed" from her work and not given her credit. ## Critical reception "Got 'til It's Gone" received mostly positive reviews from music critics. Larry Flick from Billboard magazine said that the song displays "finesse" and "marked maturity", saying, "Apparently, 'tis the season for pop divas to explore edgy hip-hop territory" and "this jam is a deftly structured study in subtle vocal styling and raw keep rhythms". During his review he also noted the departure from Jackson's upbeat pop and dance style might confuse listeners at first, though was ultimately a wise decision. In its twentieth anniversary, the magazine ranked it as the 29th greatest pop song of 1997. Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph approved the song as "a deliciously light confection". Chris Willman from Entertainment Weekly said that the "relaxed groove" of the song is "certainly an enigmatic teaser". Rob Fitzpatrick of The Guardian described it as an "absolutely sublime pop production", saying Jackson sounded "fresher than ever". Fitzpatrick also praised the song's simple production, adding the "revolutionary use of space and dynamics worked wonders on the radio and in clubs". Jet magazine commented, "Janet has her fans up on the dance floor with the album's first hit Got Til It's Gone", calling Q-Tip's guest verse "street smart". Elysa Gardner from Los Angeles Times also gave the track a positive review, saying the "cool, breezy hip-hop" of the single "cannily intertwines a Joni Mitchell sample and a seductive guest rap by Q-Tip." Gil Kaufman from MTV observed the song "sets the tone for the new, more experimental material", complete with "a spooky vocal loop", "old-school DJ scratching" and "layering it all with Jackson's fragile, whispered vocals, the song is then, now and later all at the same time". British magazine Music Week rated it four out of five, picking it as Single of the Week. They added, "Jackson's most untypical single to date, this loosely woven groove steals a sample from Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi and throws in a Q-Tip rap for good measure to subtly work its magic." Editor Alan Jones wrote, "Her voice is sweet and pretty, and the Mitchell sample sounds surprisingiy appropriate." Jon Pareles from The New York Times considered it "hip-hop-tinged R&B", also noticing "a depressive sobriety" in Jackson's vocals. A reviewer from People magazine praised the track as "an understated, hip-hop pastiche that features the unlikely but inspired pairing of rapper Q-Tip and a sampled Joni Mitchell". Martin Johnson from San Francisco Weekly classified it as "a clever pastiche" which blended well with Jackson's vocals and Q-Tip's "low-key rapping". John Christopher Farley from Time magazine considered it an "R&B reworking" which "draws smartly" from the sample. ## Chart performance "Got 'til It's Gone" was not released as a commercial single in the United States, making it ineligible to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 and several other charts under the chart rules that existed at that time. The song peaked at number 36 on Hot 100 Airplay, and number three on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay charts. In Canada, the song debuted at number 41 on the RPM Singles Chart on the issue dated September 15, 1997, and peaked at number 19 on November 17, 1997. In Australia, "Got 'til It's Gone" debuted at number 13 on the issue dated October 5, 1997, peaking at number 10 and staying on the ARIA Charts for 15 weeks and was certified Gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association for 30,000 copies shipped. In New Zealand, it debuted at its peak of number four, staying on the chart for 12 weeks. It was also certified Gold by Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ) for shipping 15,000 copies across the country. "Got 'til It's Gone" debuted and peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart on the week of October 4, 1997, spending eleven weeks on the chart. It was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) eventually selling nearly 200,000 units in the region. In Austria, it entered the singles chart at number 32. During its fourth week, it rose to its peak of number 11, spending a total of 17 weeks on the chart. In France, the song also peaked at number 11, and was certified Gold by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP). In the Netherlands, "Got 'til It's Gone" entered the singles' chart at number 50 during the week of September 27, 1997. It eventually reached number nine, staying a total of 13 weeks on the chart. On the Swiss Singles Chart dated October 12, 1997, "Got 'til It's Gone" debuted at number 32. After four weeks, it peaked at number 11. ## Music video ### Background and synopsis The accompanying music video for "Got 'til It's Gone" was directed by Mark Romanek and filmed at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. It made its worldwide premiere on September 4, 1997, immediately preceding the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, with the video airing later the same evening on other music channels such as VH1 and BET. Jackson wanted to work with Romanek because she believed him to be "amazing", commenting, "I gravitate toward the directors that I really fall in love with [...]". After hearing the song, Romanek decided to use African photography as a motif, creating what he called a "pre-Apartheid celebration based on that African photography". Joni Mitchell commented: "From the time [music] video began well into the late eighties there was a monstrous image of females being perpetrated without much exception. In the face of that I found this video to be full of humanity. Janet herself was lovely. It had dignity, and it was full of life". Jackson stated that she was "very proud" of the video, adding it was "fun to make". In the music video, Jackson portrays a lounge singer during the time of apartheid in South Africa. Inspired by a blend of '60s and '70s African culture, the video depicts freedom and prosperity, opposing racial segregation and supremacy. Jackson wears "vintage wide-lapeled brown leather jacket, men's tailored trousers, a printed halter top and individually-sectioned pigtails that bring to mind "the higher the hair, the closer to God", according to Soulbounce website. The video portrays a massive house party and includes scenes inspired by the work of photographer Malick Sidibé. Images shown throughout the video include a cigarette lighter flicking by a man's groin, a young child peeking behind a man as if he had been magically birthed, a one-eyed boxer posing, a couple presses up as if simulating rear-entry sex, children jump on mattresses, a lone figure walking outside, and Jackson's shadow crawling up a wall like a stalking animal. Joni Mitchell appears on a TV screen throughout the video, and Sudanese model Alek Wek also makes a cameo. The video ends with bottles thrown at Afrikaan segregation signs, which represents a rebellion against discrimination and racism and a celebration of freedom and embracing unity. ### Reception and analysis Slant Magazine called the "Got Til' Its Gone" video a "masterpiece" and elaborated that it had "as much substance as it does style. Set in South Africa during the time of apartheid, the video is a celebration of the music and rhythms that helped sustain black culture under the weight of segregation. As for style, Janet, who dons little-to-no make-up and a bead of sweat on her brow, has never looked so sexy". MusicOMH observed that the video "stands out" in comparison to Jackson's other clips and "has a powerful impact, a nice shot of Joni Mitchell at the opening and a very dark canvas for Jackson and Q-Tip to work on". Blues & Soul magazine described the clip as "a genuine tour de force. Subtly (and not so subtly) conveying images from a party in the South African townships, together with flash-photography shots of Janet and herself and one Q-Tip of [A] Tribe Called Quest. The whole thing emphasizes the elusive, not to say, precious value of happiness as something to savor. As with the rest of the set, it is perhaps Janet's most mature vehicle yet". Complex commented on the video, saying "This is about as cool as videos get. So many incredible style references in this one it's like a moving Tumblr". In the book Unruly Media: Youtube, Music Video, and the New Digital Cinema, author Carol Vernallis analyzed that despite the video's "bevy of loaded images tied to race and myth", its mood and tone are "overwhelmingly warm", drawing attention to Jackson's and Mitchell's vocal similarities. At the 40th Annual Grammy Awards, the music video for "Got 'til It's Gone" won a Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video. It also received the most nominations at the seventh annual MVPA Awards, winning "Pop Video of the Year" and "Best Art Direction". Billboard magazine noted that "the biggest surprise was that Janet Jackson's "Got 'Til It's Gone" clip was completely shut out" of winning Video of the Year, despite receiving the most nominations. However. the publication noted that the video had "stiff competition" in all of its nominated categories. It was also the winner of VH1's "Most Stylish Video" award in 1997, and was additionally ranked number ten on a list of the "100 Greatest Music Videos of All Time" by Slant Magazine. Complex also placed the video at number 15 on their list of the 25 Most Stylish Hip-Hop Videos. ## Live performances To promote "Got 'til It's Gone" and The Velvet Rope, Jackson performed the song on Top of the Pops and Graines de Star during her European promotional tour, Australian and Japanese TV shows Hey Hey It's Saturday and Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ. After returning to the United States, she performed it on The Oprah Winfrey Show along with "Together Again". Upon returning to her promotional tour in Europe, she performed "Got 'til It's Gone" on French TV programs Les Années Tubes, Hit Machine along with "Together Again", and Spanish television on TV show Música Sí. The singer has also performed "Got 'til It's Gone" on all of her tours since its release. She included the song on the 1998 The Velvet Rope Tour. With the stage decorated with chandeliers while dressed up in "sensible clothing", Jackson performed it as part of the encore of the concert. MTV praised the performance as "high energy", and was also described as a "hypnotic rendition" by The Washington Post. The performance of the song at the October 11, 1998 show in New York City, at the Madison Square Garden, was broadcast during a special titled The Velvet Rope: Live in Madison Square Garden by HBO. It was also added to the setlist at its DVD release, The Velvet Rope Tour – Live in Concert in 1999. It was again performed on the All for You Tour in support of her follow-up album All for You in 2001 and 2002. MTV noted the absence of Joni Mitchell on the video screens, when compared to the previous performance of "Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You)", when singer Carly Simon, sampled on the song, "showed up for a special video guest star appearance". The February 16, 2002 final date of the tour at the Aloha Stadium in Hawaii, was broadcast by HBO, and included a performance of "Got 'til it's Gone". This rendition was also added to the setlist at its DVD release, Janet: Live in Hawaii, in 2002. After a period of six years without going on tour, Jackson embarked on the 2008 Rock Witchu Tour, and included "Got 'til It's Gone" on its setlist. The performance featured a pre-recorded video of Q-Tip performing his verses while Jackson sang on stage. The song was performed as a dedication to the city of Gold Coast, Australia on November 2, 2011 during the Number Ones: Up Close and Personal tour. Jackson also included the song on her 2015-16 Unbreakable World Tour, and on her 2017-2019 State of the World Tour. It is also included the song on her 2019 Las Vegas Residency Janet Jackson: Metamorphosis. ## Usage in media and cover version The song inspired the title of the novel Got til It's Gone, published in 2008, and is mentioned throughout the book. Larry Duplechan's 2008 novel was also titled after the song and references Jackson in the book. Producer DJRum credits "Got 'til It's Gone" as one of the songs which inspired him to pursue a career as a DJ. The song was used on the CBS science fiction series Now and Again, with the show's executive producer saying "the song's melancholy was appropriate" to be used during a scene where actor John Goodman's character passes away. The song is mentioned in Jay-Z's 2010 memoir Decoded, in which he compares the song's meaning to the theme of "December 4th", which appeared on his eighth studio album The Black Album (2003). The song is also mentioned in the novels Getting to the Good Part and In Due Time. In 2012, British singer Marsha Ambrosius covered the song with rapper TWyse. TWyse's rap verse was different from Q-Tip's and Ambrosius re-sang the Joni Mitchell sample. It was featured on the album Bone Appétit Vol. 1 – Main Course by Jeff Bradshaw, released by Hidden Beach Recordings. The video for their cover was dedicated to the seven-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and was shot in New Orleans, Louisiana. ## Track listings - UK, Australian, and Japanese CD single 1. "Got 'til It's Gone" (radio edit) – 3:39 2. "Got 'til It's Gone" (Mellow mix) – 5:11 3. "Got 'til It's Gone" (Nellee Hooper master mix) – 4:18 4. "Got 'til It's Gone" (Mellow mix edit) – 3:51 5. "Got 'til It's Gone" (album version) – 4:00 - UK 12-inch single A1. "Got 'til It's Gone" (album version) – 4:00 A2. "Got 'til It's Gone" (instrumental) – 4:49 B1. "Got 'til It's Gone" (Mellow mix) – 5:11 B2. "Got 'til It's Gone" (Nellee Hooper master mix) – 4:18 - UK cassette single 1. "Got 'til It's Gone" (radio edit) – 3:39 2. "Got 'til It's Gone" (Mellow mix) – 5:11 3. "Got 'til It's Gone" (Nellee Hooper master mix) – 4:18 4. "Got 'til It's Gone" (Mellow mix edit) – 3:51 - European CD single 1. "Got 'til It's Gone" (radio edit) – 3:39 2. "Got 'til It's Gone" (Mellow mix) – 5:11 ## Credits and personnel Credits for "Got 'til It's Gone" are adapted from The Velvet Rope liner notes. Recording - Recorded and mixed at Flyte Tyme Studios in Edina, Minnesota. Personnel - Janet Jackson – lead vocals, songwriting, producing, vocal arrangements - James Harris III – songwriting, producing, vocal and rhythm arrangements, all instruments - Terry Lewis – songwriting, producing, vocal and rhythm arrangements, all instruments - René Elizondo Jr. – songwriting - Joni Mitchell – vocals, songwriting - Kamaal Ibn Fareed – vocals, songwriting - Alex Richbourg – drum programming - Steve Hodge – rap recording, engineering, mixing - Michael McCoy – assistant recording - Brad Yost – assistant engineer - Xavier Smith – assistant engineer ## Charts ### Weekly charts ### Year-end charts ## Certifications
30,727,213
Kepler-11
1,159,445,125
Sun-like star in the constellation Cygnus
[ "Cygnus (constellation)", "G-type main-sequence stars", "Kepler objects of interest", "Kepler-11", "Planetary systems with six confirmed planets", "Planetary transit variables" ]
Kepler-11, also designated as 2MASS J19482762+4154328, is a Sun-like star slightly larger than the Sun in the constellation Cygnus, located some 2,150 light years from Earth. It is located within the field of vision of the Kepler spacecraft, the satellite that NASA's Kepler Mission uses to detect planets that may be transiting their stars. Announced on February 2, 2011, the star system is among the most compact and flattest systems yet discovered. It is the first discovered case of a star system with six transiting planets. All discovered planets are larger than Earth, with the larger ones being about Neptune's size. ## Nomenclature and history Kepler-11 and its planets were discovered by NASA's Kepler Mission, a mission tasked with discovering planets in transit around their stars. The transit method that Kepler uses involves detecting dips in brightness in stars. These dips in brightness can be interpreted as planets whose orbits move in front of their stars from the perspective of Earth. Kepler-11 is the first discovered exoplanetary system with more than three transiting planets. Kepler-11 is named for the Kepler Mission: it is the 11th star with confirmed planets discovered in the Kepler field of view. The planets are named alphabetically, starting with the innermost: b, c, d, e, f, and g, distinguishers that are tagged onto the name of their home star. ## Characteristics Kepler-11 is a G-type star that is approximately 104% the mass of and 102% the radius of the Sun. It has a surface temperature of about 5836 K and is estimated to have an age of around 3.2 billion years. In comparison, the Sun is about 4.6 billion years old and has a surface temperature of 5778 K. With an apparent magnitude of 14.2, it is too faint to be seen with the naked eye. ## Planetary system All known planets transit the star; this means that all six planets' orbits appear to cross in front of their star as viewed from the Earth's perspective. Their inclinations relative to Earth's line of sight, or how far above or below the plane of sight they are, vary by a little more than a degree. This allows direct measurements of the planets' periods and relative diameters (compared to the host star) by monitoring each planet's transit of the star. Simulations suggest that the mean mutual inclinations of the planetary orbits are about 1°, meaning the system is probably more coplanar (flatter) than the Solar System, where the corresponding figure is 2.3°. The estimated masses of planets b - f fall in the range between those of Earth and Neptune. Their estimated densities, all lower than that of Earth, imply that none of them have an Earth-like composition; a significant hydrogen/helium atmosphere is predicted for planets c, d, e, f, and g, while planet b may be surrounded by a steam atmosphere or perhaps by a hydrogen atmosphere. The low densities likely result from high-volume extended atmospheres that surround cores of iron, rock, and possibly H<sub>2</sub>O. The inner constituents of the Kepler-11 system were, at the time of their discoveries, the most comprehensively understood extrasolar planets smaller than Neptune. Currently, observations do not place a firm constraint on the mass of planet g (\<25 M<sub>E</sub>). However, formation and evolution studies indicate that the mass of planet g is not much greater than about 7 M<sub>E</sub>. Kepler-11 planets may have formed in situ (i.e., at their observed orbital locations) or ex situ, that is, they may have started their formation farther away from the star while migrating inward through gravitational interactions with a gaseous protoplanetary disk. This second scenario predicts that a substantial fraction of the planets' mass is in H<sub>2</sub>O. Regardless of the formation scenario, the gaseous component of the planets accounts for less than about 20% of their masses but for ≈40 to ≈60% of their radii. In 2014, the dynamical simulation shown what the Kepler-11 planetary system have likely to undergone a substantial inward migration in the past, producing an observed pattern of lower-mass planets on tightest orbits. Additional yet unobserved gas giant planets on wider orbit are likely necessary for migration of smaller planets to proceed that far inward. The system is among the most compact known; the orbits of planets b - f would easily fit inside the orbit of Mercury, with g only slightly outside it. Despite this close packing of the orbits, dynamical integrations indicate the Kepler-11 system has the potential to be stable on a time scale of billions of years. However, it may be approaching instability due to a secular resonance involving b and c. If this happens, b will most likely become eccentric enough that it collides with c. None of the planets are in low-ratio orbital resonances, in which multiple planets gravitationally tug on and stabilize each other's orbits, resulting in simple ratios of their orbital periods. However, b and c are close to a 5:4 ratio. There could conceivably be other planets in the system that do not transit the star, but they would only be detectable by the effects of their gravity on the motion of the visible planets (much as how Neptune was discovered). The presence of additional gas giant planets is currently excluded up to orbital radius of 30 AU. ## See also - List of multiplanetary systems - Kepler Mission - Gliese 581 - 55 Cancri - HD 10180
65,810,863
Positioning theory
1,120,384,550
Theory in social psychology
[ "Behavioral concepts", "Interpersonal communication", "Social constructionism" ]
Positioning theory is a theory in social psychology that characterizes interactions between individuals. "Position" can be defined as an alterable collection of beliefs of an individual with regards to their rights, duties and obligations. "Positioning" is the mechanism through which roles are assigned or denied, either to oneself or others. The theory describes malleable roles and storylines that determine the boundaries of future acts and the meanings of what people say and do. The theory expands upon the work of psychologist Lev Vygotsky, especially his theory of zone of proximal development (ZPD). It emphasizes the interdependence of positions, speech and other acts, and storylines that arise from them; a change in any one aspect affects the other two. The theory provides a framework to understand a person's specific behavior by considering social, individual, and moral factors. There are three orders of positioning based on how positions are assumed: first-, second- and third-order positioning. Positioning can also be classified into various types depending on the specifics of the situation; these include self, other, tacit, intentional, interactive, reflexive, moral, personal, indirect, and malignant positioning. Positioning theory originated in the 1990s from the paper titled Positioning: the discursive production of selves, which looked to solve a problem that arose "out of a discussion about the problems inherent in the use of the concept of role in developing a social psychology of selfhood". Since its inception, Positioning theory has been developed further with contributions from Bronwyn Davies, Rom Harré, Luk Van Langenhove, and Fathali Moghaddam. The theory has provided a structure for social discourse analysis, and it has been used to study various social situations. Its application has extended into fields such as education, anthropology, communication, and political science. ## Overview Positioning theory provides a framework to comprehend why individuals choose to act with one specific behavior or a narrowed set of behaviors out of the many possible behaviors before them. "Positions" are a collection of specific beliefs that individuals have in context of rights, duties and obligations. They are open to change (compared to "roles" which are fixed) and constitute a basic foundation in helping an individual determine how to behave in a certain way. "Positioning" pertains to the mechanisms by which roles are assigned, appropriated or denied; it also involves the forms in which individuals build themselves and others through discursive activities, such as oral and written expression, usage of language, speech, and other actions based on normative and moral systems. The opportunities for people to act depend on numerous other people. In order to perform tasks, individuals use their own cognitive capabilities as well as the capabilities of others. Researchers have studied the narratives used by individuals to position themselves and others. These studies specifically look at how positions are assumed by individuals (for themselves and others) based on their interpretation of "rights" (what a person is owed by others) and "duties" (what a person owes to others). The theory involves conventions of speech and action that are changeable, questionable, and short-lived. This is in contrast to role theory, in which roles are relatively fixed and static. The theory can be used to investigate how an individual constructs their story, and therein their sense of self, the social acts (including speech) represented in and through their story, and the positions that they reveal. ### Relation to Lev Vygotsky's theories Rom Harré and Fathali Moghaddam suggest that positioning theory adds to the work of earlier theorists like Lev Vygotsky. Positioning theory is explicitly consistent with Vygotskian approaches to learning and teaching, and is applicable to educational research with its emphasis on individual and social attributes. Vygotsky theorized that positive social support can lead to an individual attaining higher mental functioning. In Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (ZPD), a learner can increase their performance on tasks when given support by adults or when collaborating with their peers. Harré and Moghaddam explain that positioning theory can fill the "gap" in Vygotsky's work by emphasizing the variability of positions that come about in a group that might be supporting that learner. Positioning theory highlights the individual and knowledge of the participants in the education context. In such contexts, role and position can seem to overlap and many see positioning as another way of explaining someone's role. The constructs are quite different, as a role is static and a position changes depending on the context. Davies and Harré explain this difference with an example of the role of a "mother". There is a general understanding of the role that a mother plays in someone's life, but what is missing is the internalized understanding of "mother" to each individual person that plays that role. That is, each person has a unique lived experience that affects his or her position. One may anticipate becoming a mother, or one may never be in this position. Additionally, the person could have a strong or poor relationship with their own mother. There is a history of narratives out of each lived experience that determine one's position towards the idea of "mother". This can be applied in educational contexts when looking at the difference between the "role" of a teacher as opposed to the "position" of a teacher. ## Individual and social attributes ### The positioning triangle A diagram can be used to explain the social significance of positioning acts. All corners of the triangle are intertwined; in other words, if one part of the triangle changes, then the other parts change (e.g., changing the storyline would affect both the position and speech-act). Harré and Luk Van Langenhove explain that what people can do is a function of "the capacities of people to do certain things", "the restrictions imposed upon people to do certain things", and "the intentions that people have to do certain things." #### Position Harré and Moghaddam expand upon the idea that position has both social and individual components. Harré describes "position" as "a cluster of short-term disputable rights, obligations and duties" of a person in various social contexts. These rights, duties and obligations are carried through by the characteristics and personality traits of the individual. Traditions and customs are vital sources in the formation of positions. In sum, a position establishes what an individual is authorized to say or do. #### Speech and other acts Each socially meaningful action, intended movement, or speech should be seen as an act of significance. Jumping is an example of an intended action. An individual may be performing this action to jump over an object, follow a physical education instructor, exercise, or model the movement for another person to copy. This action is only important if it is identified under rules for accepted moral or social behaviors, and given meaning under the context in which it is performed. An appropriate situation (for instance, a class of physical education) and meaningful and relevant actions (for example, an instructor showing how to jump) must come prior to the action performed (jumping by the student). There will also be consequences to the performed action (such as being graded on their ability to jump). While one speech act cannot cause another speech act to take place, it can lead to the development of storylines where new positions and other speech acts occur, and can give meaning and accountability to those other speech acts. #### Storyline As a result of speech and other acts, storylines are developed. These social episodes come about as an individual and those around them contribute to a pattern of narratives. The storylines can be seen as who has or does not have a right or a duty to act, and how they may act. When explaining a story, one's position may result in alluding to themselves as a hero, whereas another individual may have a different storyline that positions the same person as a villain. Hence, a change in the storyline could alter the initial positions of the involved individuals. Whilst individuals are conversing with one another, they can use narratives or storylines to have their actions and words be purposeful and significant to themselves as well as others. ### Moral dimension All social structures can be seen as moral orders that set forward rules for acceptable behavior. Speech acts create and activate moral orders. The capacity of individuals to act independently is derived from possibilities for them to behave against certain moral orders or to establish new moral orders. When an individual performs an action, they develop a personal moral order (e.g., justifying one's own behavior that one would otherwise deem as irresponsible or inappropriate). Personal moral orders can sometimes be seen as stronger than moral orders that are set in place for all people to follow. ### Social situations Positioning theory brings about the analysis of any social situation as it relates to these three notions: 1. There are many cultural, legal and institutional moral orders that are pre-determined and assign positions to the individuals (actors). These positions bring about powers and rights that are given to these individuals. 2. There are expanding and emerging storylines that make up a local moral order where the beginning positions can be confirmed or transformed. 3. There are personal moral orders of the individuals involved that impact what they will do and say, like refuting and accepting pre-determined positions or the positions developed through conversation. ### Personhood Positioning theory focuses on two aspects of personhood: 1. Embodied self: Singular, continuous and self-identical. It is the unity and continuity of a person's point of view and their actions in various contexts. 2. Self concept: Beliefs that individuals have about themselves, their moral qualities, their abilities, their fears, and their life. This expands into the sub-concepts of autobiographical self and social self. : : A. Autobiographical self: A form of narrative self-understanding. Autobiographical selves can alter from story to story because of differences based on the audience and the situation in which the person is discussing their story. : : B. Social self: The qualities and traits that an individual displays when they have interactions with others. A person's social self will vary based on context. ## Types of positioning ### Orders of positioning First-order positioning refers to the position an individual assumes, independent of any influence. Second-order positioning refers to changes in first-order positioning from interactions with others in a social environment. In third-order positioning, individuals outside the social environment are influenced by previous social interactions and assume positions based on what they have observed. ### Self and other positioning Self positioning includes how a person positions themselves, while other positioning is how an individual positions others. They are codependent; in order to position oneself, positions of others would need to be defined, and vice versa. ### Tacit and intentional positioning Tacit positioning is involved in everyday interactions, usually of the first order of positioning, and unintentional in nature. It constitutes what has been inherently learnt and internalized over time. Intentional positioning includes positions that are consciously assumed; depending on the end goal of the assumed position, it can be classified into four parts: 1. Deliberate self positioning: A person assumes a specific position with the intention of portraying something in a particular manner, regardless of its factual accuracy, in order to achieve a specific outcome or strategy. 2. Forced self positioning: This occurs in response to an external event and is more of an obligatory response compared to a deliberate one. For example, an individual positions themselves in a particular way in response to an annual performance appraisal. 3. Deliberate positioning of others: In this type of positioning, an individual deliberately positions others to accomplish an underlying goal. Deliberate positioning of others can happen with or without the target individual or individuals present in the social environment. A speaker including their audience in their speech is an example for the former, while gossiping would be an instance of the latter. 4. Forced positioning of others: This occurs when there are external factors present which require an individual to assume specific positions for others. For instance, a person under oath in a trial is required by law to assume positions of others. ### Interactive and reflexive positioning Interactive positioning is exhibited when a person or a group of people position another person based on their behavior and what they say. Reflexive positioning is the positioning of oneself in response to others. Davies and Harré use an example of an interaction between a student and a principal to illustrate both concepts: when a student is caught wearing a hat in the school, the principal asks the student to take it off, but the student refuses to do so and receives a two-day suspension. The principal engaged in interactive positioning toward the student when he asked the student to remove his hat and positioned him as rebellious. The student demonstrated reflexive positioning when he refused to comply. Davies and Harré suggested that storylines or positions that arise from specific interactions can sometimes carry forward to unrelated storylines in the future (for instance, the student may continue to be positioned as rebellious by the principal in future interactions that are unrelated to the past interaction). ### Moral and personal positioning Moral positioning occurs when one behaves in accordance with the rights, duties, and obligations of their role. These positions may be in the form of professor-student, parent-child, or grocery clerk-customer; a particular role results in an individual acting and responding in a certain way. Personal positioning happens based on one's individual properties and life experiences, and does not conform to a generic or expected role. For instance, a person who has studied the law might represent himself in court even without a law degree. ### Indirect positioning Indirect positioning can be seen as the use of characteristics to position an individual, favorably or unfavorably, with relation to oneself and one's own group desires. An example of this could be positioning oneself as "stupid", which might restrict that person from correcting their cognitive performance (pertaining to specific tasks) beyond a certain level. This could also be positioning someone as "irresponsible", which could result in that individual being excluded by their social group from taking on tasks which would require a certain level of responsibility. Harré and Moghaddam use an example of indirect positioning in regard to a leader of a nation being used to position the overall nation itself (e.g., Europe using the phrase "The Cowboy President" in reference to George W. Bush while also indirectly positioning the United States as an ignorant nation). ### Malignant or malevolent positioning Malignant or malevolent positioning is when the discourse about an individual causes others to portray that person in a negative light and treat them poorly as a result. One may hold a critical view of a person with a disability, for example, while being unaware of this biased perspective. ## History Positioning theory originated from gender studies in the 1980s. Bronwyn Davies, professor of education at the University of Western Sydney, drew from feminist scholars to expand upon subjectivity, storyline, and narrative in positioning theory. Subsequently, Rom Harré, Luk Van Langenhove, and Fathali Moghaddam contributed to development of the theory in its early stages. Harré and Van Langenhove introduced conceptual refinements to the theory, including differences between first- and second-order positions, moral and personal positioning, tacit and intentional positioning, as well as self and other positioning. The theory has become a framework for social discourse analysis and is used to study various social situations. Although the theory is rooted in social psychology, it has been used in fields like education, anthropology, communication studies, workplace agency, political identity studies, and public relations and strategic communication. ## See also - Cultural-historical activity theory - Social constructionism - Social constructivism
20,690,585
Red Ensign of Singapore
1,055,153,187
Maritime flag of Singapore
[ "Civil ensigns", "Flags of Singapore", "National symbols of Singapore", "Red Ensigns" ]
The Red Ensign of Singapore is a civil ensign used by privately owned, non-military ships that are registered in Singapore. The overall design of the ensign is a modification of the national flag, with the ratio of the width to the length extended to 1:2. The ensign was created by law in 1966. The use of this ensign is regulated by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA). According to the MPA, the Red Ensign is the only ensign to be used on Singaporean civilian ships, and the national flag is not an acceptable substitute. The ensign must be hoisted on all Singaporean ships on entering or leaving port. ## History In 1966, a year after Singapore's independence from Malaysia, a document entitled Singapore Merchant Marine Ensign and numbered Misc. 5 of 1966, was laid before Parliament on 6 September 1966 by the Deputy Prime Minister. The document created a civil ensign that was to be used on ships registered in Singapore. The Red Ensign has been in use since then. ## Design According to the Parliamentary paper Misc. 5 of 1966, the background of the ensign is red with the ratio of its width to its length being one by two. In contrast, the ratio of the national flag of Singapore is two by three. In the centre of the ensign is a white ring, which surrounds a crescent and five stars also coloured white. The five stars are arranged such that they form a pentagon in the middle. The crescent and stars are taken from the national flag, although in the ensign the crescent appears underneath rather than to the left of the stars, similar to the national coat of arms. According to a 1999 circular National Colours for Singapore Ships issued by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), the red colour of the civil ensign is the same as that of the national flag. The shade of red has been defined by the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts as Pantone 032. ### Construction sheet The MPA's 1999 circular includes a construction sheet with detailed dimensions for the manufacture of the flag. The sheet is in inches and centimetres. The overall dimensions of the flag are 36 inches (91.44 cm) by 72 inches (182.88 cm). The space between the top of the ensign to the top of the ring, and the bottom of the ring to the bottom of the ensign, is 9.7 inches (24.64 cm). The outer diameter of the ring is 16.6 inches (42.16 cm), and the ring itself is 0.95 inches (2.41 cm) in thickness. The outer curve of the crescent has a radius of 5.45 inches (13.84 cm). Each star fits within a circle with a diameter of 3.2 inches (8.13 cm), and the centres of the five stars are positioned 72° from each other along the circumference of an imaginary circle with a radius of 3.25 inches (8.26 cm). The centre of the imaginary circle is 6.4 inches (16.26 cm) from the lowest point of the inner curve of the crescent. ## Regulations Section 36(1) of the Merchant Shipping Act of 1995 empowers the relevant Minister to prescribe an ensign for Singaporean ships, which shall then be the "proper colours for a Singapore ship." Section 36(2) goes on to state that the master of a ship, the ship's owner if he is on board, and any other person hoisting colours may be fined up to S\$1,000 if, instead of the Red Ensign, any other "distinctive national colours" are hoisted on board any Singapore ship without the Minister's consent. Under section 37 of the Act, if a Singapore ship fails to hoist the Red Ensign on entering or leaving any port, the ship master may be fined up to \$1,000. The MPA's 1999 circular calls the attention of owners, masters and officers of Singapore ships to sections 36 and 37 of the Merchant Shipping Act. In particular, paragraph 3 of the circular points out that "the Singapore national flag does not [substitute] the Red Ensign".
42,921,231
1953 FA Charity Shield
1,136,935,411
null
[ "1953 sports events in London", "Arsenal F.C. matches", "Blackpool F.C. matches", "FA Community Shield", "October 1953 sports events in the United Kingdom" ]
The 1953 Football Association Charity Shield was the 29th FA Charity Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Football League First Division and FA Cup competitions. It was held at Highbury Stadium on 12 October 1953. The game was played between Arsenal, champions of the 1952–53 Football League and Blackpool, who had beaten Bolton Wanderers to win the 1953 FA Cup Final. This was Blackpool's first FA Charity Shield appearance to Arsenal's ninth. In the match, Blackpool started strongly and scored first with Stan Mortensen's goal in the 30th minute. Against the run of play, however, Arsenal equalised through Tommy Lawton and in the second half they went ahead when Doug Lishman reacted first to a rebounded shot. Lishman scored his second of the match in the 80th minute, which sealed a seventh Charity Shield honour for Arsenal. ## Background The FA Charity Shield was founded in 1908 as a successor to the Sheriff of London Charity Shield. It was a contest between the respective champions of the Football League and Southern League, and then by 1913 teams of amateur and professional players. In 1921, it was played by the Football League champions and FA Cup winners for the first time. Arsenal qualified for the 1953 FA Charity Shield as champions of the 1952–53 Football League First Division. The other Charity Shield place went to Blackpool who won the 1952–53 FA Cup. The final of the competition, which pitted Blackpool against Bolton Wanderers, was best remembered for Stanley Matthews' performance, and later associated by his name. The 1953 Shield marked Blackpool's first appearance in the annual contest. By contrast, this was Arsenal's ninth Charity Shield appearance; prior to the game they had won six Shields (1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1938 and 1948), and lost two (1935 and 1936). Arsenal announced their team two days before the match, recalling Cliff Holton who had recovered from injury. Blackpool refused to reveal their team until the evening of 12 October, but manager Joe Smith did confirm to the press that Matthews would start. ## Match ### Summary On a foggy, floodlit night at Highbury, it was the visitors who dominated the early proceedings; The Times football correspondent assessing that Blackpool's forward line had "...flowed sweetly, the ball on the ground in the most lovely [sic], sweeping movements." Matthews was at the heart of their best moves and, in particular, one pass through the Arsenal defence sent Bill Perry clear on goal. He tripped over the incoming Arsenal goalkeeper Jack Kelsey, but quickly managed to get up. With Kelsey out of his line, Perry was presented with the chance to score, but his shot hit the post. Blackpool continued to create chances and went ahead after 30 minutes of play. Breaking forward with the ball from the half-way line, Matthews combined with his team-mate Ernie Taylor, which culminated in Stan Mortensen getting the better of his marker and shooting past Kelsey. Despite Blackpool's dominance, Arsenal managed to equalise seconds before half-time. From the left wing, Holton got the better of his opponent Eddie Shimwell by taking the ball off him, and proceeded to cross; the ball found Tommy Lawton who scored from the byline. Once play resumed in the second half, Blackpool struggled to reproduce the same kind of intensity that had merited their earlier lead. Arsenal dictated play the longer the match went on, and looked more assured in defence – The Times singled out Mercer’s growing influence, adding "...one noticed the improvement of [Bill] Dodgin at centre-half, and the high promise of young [Len] Wills, playing only his second game at right back." Arsenal took the lead in the 65th minute when Jimmy Logie's pass was collected by Holton. His shot at goal rebounded into the path of Doug Lishman, who was following up, and he scored. Ten minutes before the end, a cross by Don Roper into Blackpool’s penalty area was headed down by Lawton; the ball reached Lishman who scored again to make sure of Arsenal's win. The Shield was presented to Arsenal by Lord Alexander of Tunis, the Minister of Defence. Gate receipts for the match totalled £6,589. In his assessment of the game, The Manchester Guardian's football correspondent John Woodcock wrote: "The football was not the only thing that had been of a high order. The sportsmanship and spirit in which it was played had been in every way as fine." Arsenal ended the season 12th in the First Division, and reached the fourth round of the FA Cup. Blackpool finished six positions higher in the league, but progressed no further than the fifth round of the cup competition. ### Details Source: ## See also - 1953–54 Football League - 1952–53 FA Cup
23,067,300
Metroid: Other M
1,167,836,692
2010 video game
[ "2010 video games", "Action-adventure games", "Extinction in fiction", "Interquel video games", "Metroid games", "Science fiction video games", "Single-player video games", "Team Ninja games", "Video games about genetic engineering", "Video games developed in Japan", "Video games featuring female protagonists", "Video games scored by Kuniaki Haishima", "Video games set on fictional planets", "Wii games", "Wii games re-released on the Nintendo eShop", "Wii-only games" ]
is an action-adventure game developed by Team Ninja and Nintendo SPD and published by Nintendo for the Wii on August 31, 2010. It is part of the Metroid series, and takes place between the events of Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion. The player controls intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran, who investigates a derelict space station with a Galactic Federation platoon, including her former commanding officer, Adam Malkovich. Longtime Metroid director Yoshio Sakamoto approached Team Ninja to develop Other M, while animation studio D-Rockets handled the cutscenes. The development team employed a simple control scheme to make the game appealing to modern players, and gave significant focus on plot and characterization, with extensive cinematics and voice acting. Other M is played from a third-person perspective using only the Wii Remote, and focuses on exploration and combat. It introduces melee attacks which can only be executed when an enemy's health is reduced. Metroid: Other M received generaIIy positive reviews from critics, who praised its elaborate cutscenes, graphics and action-oriented gameplay, although heavy criticism was directed at its narrative and Samus's characterization. The game also received honors from several publications. It was the third-best-selling video game in Japan during its week of release, and the ninth best-selling game in North America during September 2010. Metroid: Other M was re-released on the Wii U's Nintendo eShop in 2016. The Metroid series entered an extended hiatus following its release, not seeing a mainline entry until Metroid: Samus Returns in 2017. ## Gameplay Metroid: Other M is an action-adventure game with three-dimensional graphics. Players take control of series protagonist Samus Aran, a bounty hunter who investigates a derelict space station, known as the Bottle Ship. The main environment is the vessel interior, known as the Main Sector, along with the other environments that are contained in "sectors" or gigantic spheres within the ship: the Biosphere, a lush, tropical region; the Cryophere, an arctic environment; and the Pyrosphere, a heated, lava-filled area. The gameplay revolves around solving puzzles to uncover secrets, platform jumping, and shooting enemies. The game unfolds in a linear manner, and the in-game map highlights the next objective. Similar to Super Paper Mario, the game operates between two perspectives with differing controls, depending on the orientation of the Wii Remote. The regular gameplay features a third-person perspective, where players hold the Wii Remote horizontally. Samus can jump, fire the arm cannon, and turn into a morph ball, which can roll into narrow passages and drop energy bombs. While gameplay is similar to early Metroid games, the environments are three-dimensional and movement is not limited to a two-dimensional plane. When the Wii Remote is pointed towards the screen, the angle switches into a first-person perspective, where players can lock onto targets and fire missiles; however, players cannot move in this perspective. There are several instances where players will have to constantly switch between play modes; for example, fighting off a horde of flying enemies in third person, while switching to first person to destroy their spawn points. Additionally, the first-person mode is also used in exploration, such as locating hidden items. Metroid: Other M is the first game in the Metroid series to feature melee attacks. With well-timed button presses, players can use special techniques, such as the Sense Move, which allows them to dodge enemy attacks, and the Overblast, where Samus jumps on the enemy and fires a charged shot at point-blank range. Unlike other Metroid games, enemies do not drop items, with the restoration of health and ammo occurring either by using the Navigation Booths, or employing of the Concentration technique, where Samus rests and replenishes missiles and health. Players can also use the Navigation Booths to save their progress. While there are power-ups scattered around the Bottle Ship, a few items are already equipped by Samus, but she agrees to wait to use them until commanding officer Adam Malkovich authorizes her to do so. Players can find items that will augment Samus's abilities, such as Energy and Missile Tanks. As a special feature, players can unlock "Theater Mode"—a two-hour film presentation—after completion of the game. Divided into chapters, this film contains every cutscene of the game, along with several clips of gameplay footage recorded by the developers. ## Plot Metroid: Other M takes place between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion. After awakening in a Galactic Federation facility, Samus Aran departs for space and picks up a distress signal from a derelict vessel known as the "Bottle Ship". Soon after landing, Samus encounters the Galactic Federation 07th Platoon; among the Platoon are Anthony Higgs, an old friend from her military career, and her commanding officer Adam Malkovich. After Samus saves the platoon from monsters, Adam allows Samus to cooperate in their mission, under the condition that she follow his orders. Samus and the 07th Platoon head to the Exam Center in the Biosphere, and learn that the Bottle Ship was conducting research on bioweapons and the person in charge of the project was Dr. Madeline Bergman. After being attacked by a large lizard-like creature, Samus is ordered to follow the monster to the Pyrosphere, but is quickly directed to the Cryosphere to search for survivors. While there, Samus encounters a young woman, but the two are attacked by a soldier piloting an industrial robot. Samus realizes that there is a traitor among the 07th Platoon and decides to call him the "Deleter" until she learns his true identity. After returning to the Pyrosphere to follow the reptilian creature, Samus discovers that it is actually a juvenile stage of the dragon-like Ridley. Anthony draws Ridley's attention and challenges him, but is seemingly killed. Samus fights Ridley, who subsequently escapes. Samus leaves the Pyrosphere and realizes she cannot contact Adam. She follows the "Deleter" to the Bioweapon Research Center where she meets the same woman from before, who introduces herself as "Madeline Bergman". Madeline reveals that the scientists were propagating the Metroids in the Bottle Ship, reproduced from the remnants of the infant Metroid found on Samus's power suit after her return from the planet Zebes. Madeline adds that the scientists have created a Mother Brain-based artificial intelligence called "MB" in order to control the Metroids, which are hidden in Sector Zero, a recreation of Tourian. Before leaving Madeline informs Samus that Adam is the creator of the Metroid operation. Samus heads to Sector Zero, but Adam stops her from entering, warning her that the Metroids in Sector Zero cannot be frozen. When Samus asks Adam why he is credited as the as Metroid military report's creator, he explains that the Galactic Federation headquarters requested him to write the report. In his report he explained why the operation should not be attempted due to potential dangers. Adam states his intention to enter Sector Zero and to destroy it; he explains that, by causing enough damage to the sector, it will detach from the Bottle Ship before self-destructing, thus destroying MB and the Metroids. Before sacrificing himself to destroy Sector Zero, Adam commands Samus to secure a survivor in "Room MW" of the Bioweapon Research Center and to defeat Ridley. Samus returns to the research center, where she finds the body of the "Deleter", whose real identity is revealed to be James Pierce, and the mummified remains of Ridley. She also finds a survivor, and defeats a Queen Metroid. Samus pursues the survivor, who reveals herself to be the real Madeline. Madeline explains that the woman Samus met earlier was in fact MB, the very android created from Mother Brain's genetic material to establish control over the Metroids. Feeling betrayed by the scientists and Madeline (most likely due to Mother Brain's corrupting influence through her DNA), MB telepathically commanded the Space Pirate special forces to attack those on board and had managed to propagate the Metroids in Sector Zero. Samus and Madeline are then confronted by MB herself. A group of Federation troopers rushes into the room, and MB summons the Bottle Ship's most dangerous creatures to attack. Samus clears away these monsters to allow Madeline to shoot at MB with an ice cannon, leaving her defenseless and helpless for the Federation soldiers to finish her off, ending Mother Brain's reign of terror once and for all. The colonel compliments Samus's efforts but orders a soldier to escort Samus back to her ship; the soldier reveals himself as Anthony, the only surviving member of the 07th Platoon. Samus, Madeline and Anthony leave for the Galactic Federation headquarters in Samus's gunship. Days after the incident, Samus returns to the Bottle Ship to retrieve something that is left there. After battling Phantoon, one of the monsters Samus had fought on Zebes, she arrives at the control room and recovers Adam's platoon helmet. The Bottle Ship's self-destruct protocol is remotely activated, which an armorless Samus escapes with Adam's helmet. ## Development Metroid: Other M was developed by "Project M", a team of over 100 people that includes staff from Nintendo, Team Ninja, and D-Rockets, with production lasting for three years. When the Wii console was released, Nintendo producer and chief Metroid designer Yoshio Sakamoto decided to create a new Metroid game for it, but opted to work with an outside company, as his usual development team did not have experience in producing a 3D game. Sakamoto eventually approached Yosuke Hayashi of Team Ninja to discuss the incorporation of the flashy engine used for Ninja Gaiden (2004) into a new engine to encompass his new vision of a 3D Metroid game. Sakamoto served as producer and scenario designer, and main design was done by three designers from previous 2D Metroid games—Metroid Fusion (2002) and Metroid: Zero Mission (2004). Team Ninja took charge of the programming and 3D modeling, and D-Rockets handled the CG cutscenes. Hayashi described the work on the game as "a great honour" since he was a fan of the series, and stated Team Ninja tried to include as many creatures seen in previous games as possible. While Retro Studios tried to create "the ultimate first-person experience" with the Metroid Prime series, Sakamoto's approach with gameplay was different, particularly for the story Other M intended to tell. Sakamoto's intent was to create a game with "controls as simple as those of a NES game", so it would appeal to modern players. Team Ninja agreed with that approach, as they felt control schemes with excessive buttons were possibly turning players off the action genre, and tried to make the game employ only the Wii Remote, without resorting to the Nunchuk. The development team also tried to use the simpler controls to provide flashy action, with varied special attacks that would need few button inputs to be executed. Sakamoto focused on 2D-like gameplay because he considered it more "comfortable" for audiences, particularly during shifts from gameplay to cutscenes, as he thought 2D "[doesn't] have the same distractions when you want to give them story sequences". While the developers felt no need to integrate everything from the Prime series as they were games with different concepts, a few of the elements that "made those games unique" were implemented into Other M, such as the "immersive sight" of the first-person mode. When questioned if Other M would be too similar to Ninja Gaiden, Hayashi responded that while the new game will feature heavy action-based sequences, there will still be the exploration-based sequences characteristic of other Metroid games. Sakamoto said that Other M'''s story progression was in the same manner as Metroid Fusion, and that the collaboration between Nintendo and Team Ninja is "unlike anything that's ever been done at Nintendo; it's more than just a collaborative effort — it's one group working toward a common goal". Before Other M's development, Sakamoto did not think too much about "what kind of person Samus Aran was and how she thinks and her personality", particularly because the games tried to depict Samus as a mysterious person. Sakamoto and Team Ninja put much focus on backstory in the game to present Samus as an "appealing human character", something important for future installments, as players would get further interest in Samus' adventures. Hayashi said that one of the development team's goals was to have the player "connect with Samus as the story and action develops". Sakamoto also said the game would "bring everyone up to the same level of understanding in the Metroid universe", and would not only introduce the series to new players but also create new challenges for fans. The chronological setting between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion was chosen because Sakamoto considered the period important, and without addressing it, they wouldn't be able to make new games that show Samus' adventures that take place after the events of Metroid Fusion. D-Rockets, a company specialized in CG animation for video games and commercials, was brought into the project for its in-game cinematics on Team Ninja productions. Director Ryuji Kitaura said when Nintendo gave him the instructions, he considered the work "overwhelming" - most of D-Rockets work only involved high-quality CG, while Nintendo aimed to "make the parts of the game that the player controls the same quality as the cinematics, in order to make them seamless" and Sakamoto intended to cutscenes to give emotional depth to Samus. Team Ninja and D-Rockets worked separately most of the time, and only started to collaborate about a year into production, to make sure the in-game action and the cutscenes had the same style. Over 300 storyboards which took six months to be completed, and ten teams were employed on the development of cutscenes. For increased realism, professional camera operators helped with the motion capture, and Samus' face had a more detailed frame to make expressions more lifelike. Kitaura tried to include more scenes with Samus outside her powered armor, to illustrate "the human, weak side of Samus, her expressions and gesture", but Sakamoto convinced him otherwise with a declaration that the Power Suit acts as a shield for both enemy attacks and the reveal of her emotions. Other M uses a dual-layer disc due to extensive usage of cinematics in the game. ### Audio Kuniaki Haishima composed the soundtrack of Other M. The team hired Haishima to write the music because the producers felt he could "tell the story with melodies" and "powerfully [helped] us depict Samus' feelings and emotions". Parts of the soundtrack were recorded and performed by Arigat-Orchestra in Tokyo and Asian Philharmonic Orchestra in Beijing. A sheet of piano music was also made within a day at Sakamoto's request; according to audio director Ryo Koike, Sakamoto expressed his desire to create a piano melody for the game. Koike brought in a piano-playing staff member to play the music. When Koike presented it to Sakamoto, he stated that parts of the music were "wrong". Sakamoto's criticism continued until the music became a simpler melody that brought him to tears. For the game's voice acting, Jessica Martin was cast to play Samus in the English version of Other M, and said that recording sessions took over a year which resulted in the voice cast being required to record lines with storyboards and unfinished cutscenes as basis. Adam Malkovich was voiced by Dave Elvin; while Mike McGillicuty provided the voice of Anthony Higgs. In Japanese, voice actors Ai Kobayashi, Rikiya Koyama, Kenji Nomura and Shizuka Itō provided the voices of Samus, Adam, Anthony and MB respectively. Seattle-based Bad Animals Studio and Ginza-based Onkio Haus recorded voice-overs in English and Japanese languages respectively. ## Marketing and release Metroid: Other M was first announced by Nintendo of America president and CEO Reggie Fils-Aimé and a trailer was briefly shown at E3 2009. Fils-Aimé said that Metroid: Other M would take players deeper into Samus' story, and also noted that the game would be a return to the style of the traditional series as opposed to the Metroid Prime series, though the game would have a "harder edge". At E3 2010, the game had a playable demo, which GameTrailers picked as Best Wii Game and Action/Adventure Game of the expo, and was nominated for Game of the Show. Previews of Other M were also featured in the 2010 editions of Game Developers Conference and Nintendo Media Summit. Fils-Aimé expected global sales of between 1.5 and 2 million units. The game was released in North America on August 31, 2010. It had an original release date of June 27, but was postponed by two months, as the high standards of the development team got them behind the completion schedule. In other territories, Other M was released on September 2 in Japan and Australia, and one day later in Europe, where its release was preceded by a large marketing campaign with television spots, trailers at theaters, and online ads. GameStop began providing an art folio for purchasers who pre-ordered the game containing 16 individual high-quality cards; the cards feature concept artwork, in-game screenshots, and a description from Samus' perspective. Two strategy guide books were published in Japan: by Koei Tecmo on September 15, 2010, and by Shogakukan on September 17. Other M was later re-released on the Wii U's Nintendo eShop, in Japan on March 17, 2016, in Europe on March 31, and in North America on December 8. ### Technical issues After the release of Metroid: Other M, the game was reported to have a bug where the door in Sector 3 is permanently locked and impassable, preventing players from continuing. Nintendo revealed that a bug is triggered when the player backtracks to the room within Sector 3 where they have previously obtained the Ice Beam. The company set up a program that allowed players affected by the bug to send in an SD card or their Wii console with their save files to be repaired. As Other M uses a dual-layer disc, Nintendo said that some Wii consoles may have difficulty reading data off a large-capacity medium due to a contaminated laser lens of an optical disc drive. ## Reception Metroid: Other M received "generally favorable reviews", according to a review aggregator website Metacritic. GameSpot's Tom McShea praised the control scheme and combat system as "unique and responsive", and wrote that the search for secrets was "very rewarding". Craig Harris of IGN called the gameplay "a really impressive evolution of the old-school Metroid design", and GameTrailers described it as "a nice compromise between satisfying fans and opening up the series for a wider audience". In a review for an Australian television series Good Game, Stephanie Bendixsen enjoyed the game's atmosphere, while Steven O'Donnell remarked on how the developers "kept the control scheme so simple, and yet it works so well". The writers from Famitsu also praised the game for the Sense Move technique and the switch between perspectives. The graphics were also well received. Christian Donlan of Eurogamer exclaimed that Other M bears graphical similarities to Metroid Prime which "tend to come across as nicely-built video game levels at best". Harris wrote that while the graphics are not being on par with the Prime series, it was still regarded as one of the best-looking games on the Wii. Tom Hoggins of The Daily Telegraph described the environments as "lush and detailed", and said they helped "capturing the ethos of old-school Metroid". Harris also praised the game's "storytelling with motion-captured acting and voice-over", and Wired's Chris Kohler applauded cutscenes "with slick graphic effects". The music was praised as atmospheric and faithful to the franchise, though McShea felt they were "more like outtakes from older entries than a moody new soundtrack". Complaints were raised on the first-person perspective, with Ryan Scott of GameSpy considered it a "weird forced handicap". Phil Kollar of Game Informer expressed disappointment that the game prevents the player from moving while in first person view. The A.V. Club's David Wolinsky found the pixel hunting sequences irritating, while Official Nintendo Magazine's Chris Scullion similarly described them as the "only truly horrible moments" in the game. Critics responded poorly to the mechanic of power-up restriction; they derided it as a deviation from the series' tradition of item discovery, and even more strongly criticized it as nonsensical and condescending in terms of story. GamesRadar derided the game's linearity in comparison with Metroid Fusion, a game which took a similar approach. The website also found the enemies to be "a largely unimpressive collection", a gripe which Edge also had; it wrote that "truly testing enemies are only found in the last stretch". Other M's short length was criticized by reviewers, by critics such as GameTrailers, which writes that the bonuses such as art galleries were not stimulating enough to entice replay value. Heavy criticism was directed toward the script, dialogue, and cutscene length. McShea felt that the unskippable cutscenes and "the overabundance of story in Other M were a negative deviation from Metroid tradition". Kollar states that they "often run as long as 15 minutes, exhausting players with repetition of obvious plot points and overwrought dialogue as mature and interesting as a teenager's diary". Justin Haywald of 1UP.com complained that as the game progresses "instead of getting more of the things that work , you get more of the things you don't care about ". Donlan notes that the plot is considered as "the future's dumbest soap opera". Wolinsky echoes the misgivings about Samus' immaturity, petulant behavior, and misguided loyalty. Tae K. Kim of GamePro writes that while the story and Samus' monologues did not compel them, "it helped contextualize her entire existence" which developed the character to "an actual human being who's using the vastness of space to try and put some distance between herself and the past". Contrarily, Haywald found the portrayal "lifeless and boring" and "nonsensical". G4tv's Abbie Heppe was critical on Samus's portrayal; she wrote that Samus "cannot possibly wield the amount of power she possesses unless directed to by a man", and found that her anxiety attack cannot be reconciled with her previous portrayals. In a feature for 1UP.com, Jeremy Parish states that many Metroid fans were disappointed by the game's story, power-up restrictions and its "awkward handling of its leading lady". Video game scholar Luke Arnott argued that players were dissatisfied with Other M because it did not consistently balance gameplay constraints with player agency, and because it failed at what he calls "imperative" storytelling. Arnott suggested that studying how games like Other M create meaning in virtual spaces may help design better games and situate them within wider theories of postmodern subjectivity. Clyde Mandelin of Legends of Localization noted that the game received mixed-to-positive reactions from Japanese fans. Kotaku's Luke Plunkett wrote that Team Ninja was blamed by "many people" for the game's story; Hayashi later clarified that Sakamoto wrote the story himself. Nintendo Treehouse producer Nate Bihldorff stated that the scene depicting Samus' encounter with Ridley "is not a sign of weakness, but of strength. People who call out that scene as anything but empowering are kind of missing the point". He added that Samus' story "has largely been a matter of individual perception, especially in the US, where people haven't read any of the official manga related to her childhood". In May 2022, former president of Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aime expressed his disappointment with Other M, believing it would be a hit: "I really thought that that was going to be a defining moment for the Metroid franchise. It was giving much more of a perspective about Samus. I really thought that was going to be a killer moment in the franchise's history, and it wasn't. It didn't deliver – not the business results, it really didn't touch the player the way we hoped it would". ### Sales Metroid: Other M was the third-best-selling video game in Japan during its week of release with 45,398 copies sold, ranking it behind Wii Party and Monster Hunter Diary: Poka Poka Airu Village. An additional 11,239 copies were sold the following week. It was also the ninth-best-selling game in North America during September 2010, with 173,000 copies sold. In the United Kingdom, the game failed to make the top 10 and placed 12th in its first week. In November, Fils-Aimé said that the game was close to a half of million copies sold in the United States. ### Awards Other M received honors and distinctions from various gaming sites and publications. In IGN's Best of 2010 Awards, the game received the award for Coolest Atmosphere. It was also nominated for Best Story award, but lost to Epic Mickey. Wired listed it 12th on its list of the twenty best games of the year. Conversely, Entertainment Weekly chose the game as the second worst of 2010. GamesRadar chose Other M as the "mangled makeover" of 2010, writing that it painted Samus as "an unsure, insecure woman who desperately wants the approval of her former (male) commanding officer". Game Informer listed Samus first on their list of the Top 10 Dorks of 2010 due to her "lame backstory", and placed the game third on their Top 10 Disappointments of 2010 list, ranking behind "studio closures, layoffs, [and] restructurings" and the "Infinity Ward debacle". ## Legacy Since its release, elements of Metroid: Other M have appeared in other games. The Geothermal Power Plant is featured as a playable stage in Dead or Alive: Dimensions, a fighting game developed for the Nintendo 3DS by Team Ninja. The stage features Ridley as a stage hazard, while Samus appears as an assist character in the Morph Ball form, who will drop a Power Bomb that switches the combatants' location when a sound is made in the microphone. Yosuke Hayashi confirmed that Samus would not be featured as a playable character in Dead or Alive: Dimensions, stating that "it would be better to let her focus on her job rather than kicking everyone's butt in Dead or Alive: Dimensions". The Pyrosphere also appears as a stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U''.
641,829
Pelham Bay Park
1,169,281,611
Large public park in the Bronx, New York
[ "Geography of the Bronx", "Long Island Sound", "Nature centers in New York City", "Parks in the Bronx", "Pelham Bay Park", "Protected areas of the Bronx", "Urban public parks" ]
Pelham Bay Park is a municipal park located in the northeast corner of the New York City borough of the Bronx. It is, at 2,772 acres (1,122 ha), the largest public park in New York City. The park is more than three times the size of Manhattan's Central Park. The park is operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks). Pelham Bay Park contains many geographical features, both natural and man-made. The park includes several peninsulas, including Rodman's Neck, Tallapoosa Point, and the former Hunter and Twin Islands. A lagoon runs through the center of Pelham Bay Park, and Eastchester Bay splits the southwestern corner from the rest of the park. There are also several recreational areas within the park. Orchard Beach runs along Pelham Bay on the park's eastern shore. Two golf courses and various nature trails are located within the park's central section. Other landmarks include the Bartow-Pell Mansion, a city landmark, as well as the Bronx Victory Column & Memorial Grove. Before its creation, the land comprising the current Pelham Bay Park was part of Anne Hutchinson's short-lived dissident colony. Part of New Netherland, it was destroyed in 1643 by a Siwanoy attack in reprisal for the unrelated massacres carried out under Willem Kieft's direction of the Dutch West India Company's New Amsterdam colony. In 1654 an Englishman named Thomas Pell purchased 50,000 acres (20,000 ha) from the Siwanoy, land which would become known as Pelham Manor after Charles II's 1666 charter. During the American Revolutionary War, the land was a buffer between British-held New York City and rebel-held Westchester, serving as the site of the Battle of Pell's Point, where Massachusetts militia hiding behind stone walls (still visible at one of the park's golf courses) stopped a British advance. The park was created in 1888, under the auspices of the Bronx Parks Department, largely inspired by the vision of John Mullaly, and passed to New York City when the part of the Bronx east of the Bronx River was annexed to the city in 1895. Orchard Beach, one of the city's most popular, was created through the efforts of Robert Moses in the 1930s. ## History ### Pre-colonial times Before the colonization of what is now New York State in the 17th century, Pelham Bay Park comprised an archipelago of islands separated by salt marshes and peninsular beaches. Geologically, most of the park's land first formed during the end of the last ice age, the Wisconsin glaciation, which occurred 10,000 to 15,000 years before the first colonists arrived. The melting of the glaciers caused the formation of the current marshes. Sea level rise from the melting glaciers caused sedimentation along the shore, creating sand and mud flats. Gradually, saltwater cordgrass started to retain sediment, causing some of the inland marshes to flood only during high tide. The Siwanoy (transliterated as "southern people") were the first Native American tribe to inhabit the Long Island Sound's northern shoreline east to Connecticut. They lived a mostly hunter-gatherer existence. The Siwanoy used the modern-day park site as a ceremonial and burial site, as evidenced by the wampum belts found in the area, which were used for diplomatic purposes among local Native American tribes. Two glacial erratics in the park, deposited during the end of the last ice age, were used ceremonially by the Siwanoy: the "Gray Mare" on Hunter Island, and Mishow near the Theodore Kazimiroff Nature Trail. ### 17th and 18th centuries The Dutch West India Company purchased the land in 1639. They called it Vreedelandt, which roughly translates to "land of freedom", and alternatively Oostdorp, meaning "east village". Oostdorp became the area known as Westchester Square, to the southwest of the current park. In 1642, Anne Hutchinson and her family moved from Rhode Island to Split Rock, along the Hutchinson River in what is now Pelham Bay Park. Although the family was English, the land was part of New Netherland under Dutch authority. The exact location of the Hutchinson house is unknown, with one scholar saying that the house was in the modern-day park on the east side of the Hutchinson River, and another saying that the house was on the west side of the river in now Baychester. The Siwanoy destroyed the Hutchinson settlement and killed the family in August 1643, in reprisal for the unrelated massacres carried out under Willem Kieft's direction of the Dutch West India Company's New Amsterdam colony. In 1654 an Englishman named Thomas Pell purchased 50,000 acres (20,000 ha) from the Siwanoy, comprising the land of the current Pelham Bay Park as well as the nearby town of Pelham, New York, and made his estate on 9,188 acres (3,718 ha) of that land. The current park consists of the southernmost portion of Pell's estate, excluding Hart Island and City Island. Pell's land became known as Pelham Manor after Charles II's 1666 charter, and parts of Pell's land claim were in conflict with that of other nearby settlers. Pell died in 1669, willing his property to his nephew John, who sold off City Island in 1685. The land grant was renewed in 1687. The next year, Jacob Leisler bought 6,000 acres (2,400 ha) of the remaining property on behalf of the Huguenots, and with that land, founded the town of New Rochelle for the Huguenots. Upon John Pell's death in 1700, he willed the property to his son Joseph, who in turn transferred ownership to his own son, John. Ownership of the manor then went to the Bartow family, who were maternal descendants of the Pell family. The Pell family burial plot faced the Pelham Bay waterfront on the eastern side of the manor. The land was the site of the Battle of Pell's Point during the American Revolutionary War. After the British forces unsuccessfully attempted to trap the main body of the Continental Army on the island of Manhattan, British Army commander-in-chief General Sir William Howe looked for another location along Long Island Sound to disembark his troops. On October 18, 1776, he landed 4,000 men at Pelham, close to the current park. A brigade of 750 men under the command of the American Colonel John Glover were already inland, and they attacked the British advance units from behind a series of stone walls. After a series of attacks, the British broke off, and the Americans retreated. In 1836, Robert Bartow, a descendant of Thomas Pell, bought 30 acres (12 ha) of his ancestor's old estate. By 1842, construction was complete on the Bartow-Pell Mansion, the family's manor. Bartow died in 1868, and his family sold the mansion to the city in 1880. The mansion went maintained until 1914, when the city and International Garden Club assumed joint maintenance of the building. ### 1870s and 1880s: Creation In the 1870s, landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted envisioned a greenbelt across the Bronx, consisting of parks and parkways that would align more with existing geography than a grid system similar to the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 in Manhattan. That grid had given rise to Central Park, a park with mostly artificial features within the bounds of the grid. However, in 1877, the city declined to act upon his plan. Around the same time, New York Herald editor John Mullaly pushed for the creation of parks in New York City, particularly lauding the Van Cortlandt and Pell families' properties in the western and eastern Bronx respectively. He formed the New York Park Association in November 1881. There were objections to the system, which would apparently be too far from Manhattan, in addition to precluding development on the site. However, newspapers and prominent lobbyists, who supported such a park system, were able to petition the bill into the New York State Senate, and later, the New York State Assembly (the legislature's lower house). In June 1884, Governor Grover Cleveland signed the New Parks Act into law, authorizing the creation of the park system. Legal disputes carried on for years. Opponents argued that building a park system would divert funds from more important infrastructure, and that everyone in the city would need to pay taxes to pay for the parks' construction, regardless of whether they lived near the parks. In particular, Pelham Bay Park was located within Westchester County at the time, out of city limits. The city was reluctant to pay to buy the parkland because of the cost and locations. Supporters argued that the parks were for the benefit of all the city's citizens; that the value of properties near the parks would appreciate greatly over time; that the Pelham Bay Park site could easily be converted into a park; and that Pelham Bay Park would soon be annexed to the city. Ultimately, the parks were established, owing to efforts from supporters. After much litigation, the city acquired the land for the park. Although the residents of Pelham had initially supported the park's creation, they came to oppose it when they found that the park's creation would decrease the town's tax revenue. The 1,700 acres of land for the park were part of the town's 3,000-acre (1,200 ha) area at that time, but could not be taxed, nearly halving the town's tax revenues from land area. One Pelham resident's letter to New York City Mayor Abram Hewitt, asking for financial assistance to supplement the town's growing tax rate, was published in The New York Times in February 1887. A month later, a group of Pelham residents petitioned Hewitt to oppose the park plan. The government of New York City also did not want to pay taxes to the town of Pelham if it bought the land for the park, which had been one of the reasons for its initial opposition to acquiring the land. There was a proposal to have New York City pay taxes to Pelham if it acquired the land, which the city's Tax Department called "entirely novel, and of course, wrong". Despite Pelham residents' opposition to the park, the city acquired the land for Pelham Bay Park in 1887, and it officially became a park in 1888. Pelham Bay Park became a recreation area under the auspices of the Bronx Parks Department, which bought the land for \$2,746,688, . The park used land from multiple estates spread out over an excess of 1,700 acres (690 ha). Some of the old estates' mansions were still standing twenty years later. To alleviate the concerns of Westchester property owners who lost land during the park system's acquisition, the New York City Commissioners of Estimate distributed compensation payments. The Commissioners of Estimate paid a combined \$9 million (), but some land owners sued for more compensation in 1889. ### 1890s to 1920s: Early years In 1890, Mullaly proposed using the site for the 1893 World's Fair due to its size; however, the fair was eventually awarded to Chicago instead. The Pell family's burial vault was also marked for preservation that year, and in July 1891, the descendants of the Pell family were given permission to maintain and restore the plot. After the park opened, several individuals were allowed to reside in the mansions within the park. In 1892, the New York City Department of Public Parks separately allowed the occupation of the Hunter, Hoyt, and Twin Island houses. The next year, two buildings near Pelham Bridge were auctioned off. Pelham Bay Park's ownership was passed to New York City when the part of the Bronx east of the Bronx River was annexed to the city in 1895. Despite the park being for public use, some of the old estates remained standing, with a few occupied by private families. Due to its distance from the city, NYC Parks decided to keep 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) of Pelham Bay and Van Cortlandt Parks in their natural state, unlike some of the other parks closer to Manhattan, which were being extensively landscaped. None of the houses were rented in 1899, but by 1900, thirty-six houses in the park were being used as private residences, comprising 75% of houses rented within parks in the Bronx. This number dropped to thirty-three the next year. In spring 1902, NYC Parks destroyed two houses in the park and used the remaining wood to build free bathhouses, which were used by about 700 bathers per day during that summer. Around 1903, Hunter Island became a popular summer vacation destination. Due to overcrowding on Hunter Island, NYC Parks opened a campsite two years later at Rodman's Neck on the south tip of the island, with 100 bathhouses. Orchard Beach, at the time a tiny recreational area on the northeast tip of Rodman's Neck, was expanded that year. In 1904, an athletic field was opened within Pelham Bay Park. By 1917, Hunter Island saw half a million seasonal visitors. Orchard Beach also became popular, with an average of 2,000 visitors on summer weekdays and 5,000 visitors on summer weekends in 1912. However, the park's condition started to decline in the 1920s as the surrounding areas were developed. The park facilities were dirty and deteriorating due to overuse, and there was a lot of vandalism. Hunter Island was closed and camping was banned, so some park patrons began camping illegally. ### 1930s-1960s: Moses renovation projects The current Orchard Beach recreational area and Split Rock golf course was created through the efforts of New York City park commissioner Robert Moses. Immediately after assuming his position in 1934, Moses ordered engineers to inventory every park in the city to see what needed renovating. He devised plans for a new Orchard Beach recreation area after he saw the popularity of the Hunter Island campsite. On February 11, 1934, Moses announced a plan for the new golf course. Two weeks later, he announced another plan for the upgraded beach, which had been inspired by the design of Jones Beach on Long Island. The beach and existing golf course would be reconstructed through the Works Progress Administration (WPA) under the 1930s New Deal program. Moses canceled 625 leases for the project, and after campers unsuccessfully sued the city, the site was cleared of campers in June. Moses decided to connect Hunter Island and the Twin Islands to Rodman's Neck by filling in most of LeRoy's Bay. The deteriorated Hunter Mansion was demolished with the construction of the beach. The golf courses were reopened in June 1935, sixteen months after construction commenced. John van Kleek designed the brand-new Split Rock golf course as part of the city's program to upgrade or build ten golf courses around the city. A final design for the beach was unveiled in July 1935. The beach project involved filling in approximately 110 acres (45 ha) of LeRoy's and Pelham Bays with landfill, followed by a total of 4,000,000 cubic yards (3,100,000 m<sup>3</sup>) of sand. Moses thought that waste from the New York City Department of Sanitation would be cheaper than sand. In early 1935, workers began placing the garbage fill around Rodman's Neck, Twin Island, and Hunter Island. After the garbage began washing onto the beach, the rest of the site was filled-in using sand starting in 1936. The beach, designed by Gilmore David Clarke and Aymar Embury II, was dedicated in July 1936 despite only being partially complete. The beach officially opened on June 25, 1937. Soon after Orchard Beach opened, it was expanded, starting with the southern locker room in 1939. The water between Hunter and Twin Islands was filled in during 1946 and 1947, with new jetties at each end of the beach. The promenade was extended over the fill and opened in 1947, Further improvements were made to the bathhouse pavilion in 1952 and to the northern jetty in 1955. A new concession stand was added north of the pavilion in 1962, and a privately funded Golf driving range was also added that year. The beach was renovated starting in 1964. In 1959, after the Rodman's Neck section of the park had been used for various purposes, the New York City Police Department used land from the park to create the Rodman's Neck Firing Range at the southern tip of the peninsula. Previously, the parkland at Rodman's Neck had been underused, with the NYPD and United States Army using the land at various times. ### 1960s-present: Cleanup and restoration The City began landfill operations on Tallapoosa Point in Pelham Bay Park in 1963. Plans to expand the landfills in Pelham Bay Park in 1966, which would have created the City's second-largest refuse disposal site next to Fresh Kills in Staten Island, were met with widespread community opposition. The landfill expansion was seen as a way to alleviate the city's accumulations of waste, and Tallapoosa was seen as the only suitable location to put the landfill. The preservation effort was headed by Dr. Theodore Kazimiroff, a Bronx historian and head of The Bronx County Historical Society. It suffered setbacks in August 1967 when the New York City Board of Estimate voted against an initial effort to create to protected area in the proposed landfill expansion site. However, the state and federal governments did not favor the landfill being located at Tallapoosa. In October, Mayor John Lindsay signed a law authorizing in the creation of two wildlife refuges, the Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary and the Hunter Island Marine Zoology and Geology Sanctuary, on the site where the landfill was planned to be expanded. Tallapoosa West continued to be used as a landfill until May 1968, when the landfill permit was revoked. In November of that year, Tallapoosa West was made a part of the Pell refuge. The dump was still operating as late as 1975, when the garbage there was described as being ten stories high. The landfill closed in 1978. However, a report published in 1983 claimed that the Tallapoosa landfill, as well as five others throughout the city, was heavily contaminated with "toxic wastes" dumped from 1964 to 1979. The waste from the landfill reportedly led to health problems for residents of nearby communities such as Country Club. The Tallapoosa landfill at Pelham Bay Park was designated a hazardous-waste site in 1988, and cleanup began in 1989. In 1983, the Theodore Kazimiroff Environmental Center was proposed for the park, alongside a nature trail that would wind through the park's terrain. It would be named out of respect to the late historian, who had died in 1980. The Kazimiroff Nature Trail and the Pelham Bay Park Environmental Center opened in June 1986. A \$1 million renovation of the Orchard Beach pavilions () was completed by 1986. By the end of the decade, large numbers of human and animal remains were being dumped in Pelham Bay Park, including 65 human bodies that were dumped in the park from 1986 to 1995. Pelham Bay Park was also very dirty, and discarded trash from several decades prior was still visible. NYPD officers on these cases theorized that the frequency of body dumpings might be attributable to two things: the park's remote location near highways, as well as a belief that the parkland is haunted by the remains of the Siwanoy buried there. In 1990, NYC Parks received a \$6.3 million gift for improvements to Pelham Bay Park and twenty other parks around the city. NYC Parks used the money to renovate trails and clean up weeds. A renovation of Orchard Beach started in 1995. A water park for the beach was proposed, but ultimately canceled in 1999. A few years later, as part of the city's ultimately unsuccessful bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics, several facilities in Pelham Bay Park were proposed for upgrades. The new facilities would have included a shooting center at Rodman's Neck; a 350-meter (1,150 ft) horseback riding track; and a fencing, swimming, and water polo facility in the Orchard Beach pavilion. The bid ultimately was awarded to London instead. In 2010, construction began on extending the jetty at Orchard Beach at a cost of \$13 million. Soon after, work started on a \$2.9 million project to restore Pelham Bay Park's shoreline, which entailed renovating the seawall, adding a dog run, and creating a new walking trail. In 2012, Native American shell middens were found at Tallapoosa Point, prompting an archaeological investigation. Further digs at the site uncovered more than a hundred artifacts, some of which dated to the third century CE. Work on the restoration project was paused in June 2015 as a result of the finds. The restoration project was restarted in September 2015. ## Geography At 2,772 acres (1,122 ha), Pelham Bay Park is the city's largest, being slightly more than three times the size of the 843-acre (341 ha) Central Park. Pelham Bay Park includes 13 miles (21 km) of shoreline as well as land on both sides of the Hutchinson River. Hunter Island, Twin Island, and Two-Trees Island, all formerly true islands in Pelham Bay, are now connected to the mainland by fill, and are part of the park. Several islands in the Long Island Sound (including the Chimney Sweeps Islands), as well as Goose Island in the Hutchinson River, are also part of Pelham Bay Park. The park is divided into several sections, including two main sections roughly divided by Eastchester Bay. In the eastern section of Pelham Bay Park is Orchard Beach and its parking lot. The eastern section also contains the Hunter Island Wildlife Sanctuary on Twin and Hunter Islands. The Kazimiroff Nature Trail winds through this section. The northwestern section, divided from the eastern section via the Lagoon. It contains both golf courses, as well as the Thomas Pell Sanctuary; the Bartow-Pell Woods; Goose Creek Marsh; and the Siwanoy, Bridle, and Split Rock Trails. The park is crossed by Amtrak's Northeast Corridor railroad at this location, as well as by the Hutchinson River Parkway and New England Thruway. A central section contains a Central Woodland, where the Siwanoy Trail and Turtle Cove Driving Range is present. It also includes Rodman's Neck as well as a portion of the park known as "The Meadow". The Pelham Bridge carries traffic across the Eastchester Bay between the southwest section and the rest of the park. The park contains many different habitats. The largest habitat is the 782-acre (316 ha) forests, followed by the 195-acre (79 ha) salt marshes, the 161-acre (65 ha) salt flats, the 83-acre (34 ha) meadows, the 751-acre (304 ha) mixed scrub, and the 3-acre (1.2 ha) fresh water marsh. In total, about 67% of the park is estimated to be in its natural state, while 33% of the park is estimated to be developed. In the latter half of the 20th century, Pelham Bay Park's biodiversity decreased: in that time, the park was observed to have lost 25% of its 569 native species of plants as well as 12.5% of its 321 non-native species. ### Land features #### Hunter Island Hunter Island () is a 166-acre (67 ha) peninsula filled with woodlands; it had previously been 215 acres (87 ha) until Robert Moses extended Orchard Beach in the 1930s. A former island, it was part of the Pelham Islands, the historical name for a group of islands in western Long Island Sound that once belonged to Thomas Pell. The Siwanoy referred to the island as "Laap-Ha-Wach King", or "place of stringing beads". The island was then renamed after John Hunter, a successful businessman and politician, who purchased the property in 1804 and moved his family to the island in 1813. They built a mansion in the English Georgian style at the highest point on the island (90 feet above sea level). The mansion was destroyed in 1937 during the construction of Orchard Beach. In 1967, the island became part of the Hunter Island Wildlife Sanctuary. #### Twin Island Twin Island, at , is wooded with exposed bedrock with glacial grooves. The East and West Twin Islands (or the "Twins") were once true islands in Pelham Bay but are now connected to each other and to Orchard Beach and nearby Rodman's Neck by a landfill created in 1937. East Twin Island, a rocky formation with "ribbons of color" caused by sedimentary erosion, is connected to neighboring Two Trees Island via a thin mudflat land bridge. Two Trees Island itself consists of a rocky plateau upon which one can see Orchard Beach and the environmental center. West Twin Island was at one time connected to neighboring Hunter Island via a man-made stone bridge, which now lies in ruins in one of the city's last remaining salt marshes. The two islands that are now combined as Twin Island have been owned by NYC Parks since the 1888 acquisition of Pelham Bay Park. A tennis court was built on the island in 1899. Twin Island was restored in 1995 as part of the Twin Islands Salt Marsh Restoration Project, which cost \$850,000. #### Rodman's Neck Rodman's Neck is a peninsula located in the central section of the park (at ). The southern third of the peninsula is used as a firing range by the New York City Police Department (NYPD); the remaining wooded section is part of Pelham Bay Park. The north side, which is joined to the rest of Pelham Bay Park near Orchard Beach, contains several baseball fields. Two small land berms between Rodman's Neck and City Island consist of the island's only connecting road to the mainland. Rodman's Neck was part of the historic Pell property, and since the city acquired the peninsula in 1888, it has been used for multiple purposes. It was used as a United States Army training location during World War I, and was converted to under-utilized parkland in the 1920s. From 1930 to 1936, the peninsula was incorporated as part of Camp Mulrooney, a summer camp for the NYPD. The Army used Rodman's Neck again in the 1950s during the Cold War. and the NYPD built the current firing range at the peninsula's southern tip in 1959. #### Tallapoosa Point Tallapoosa Point is located in the southwest of Pelham Bay Park, near the Pelham Bridge. It used to be a separate island south of Eastchester Bay, having been private property, but was connected to the mainland during the colonial period. The point then became a popular fishing spot. In 1879, the Tallapoosa Club political group started leasing part of the peninsula from the city during the summer, hosting activities there. The club's presence gave the peninsula its current name, and in turn, the club's name was derived from Tallapoosa, Georgia, where some of its members had fought during the American Civil War. The Tallapoosa Club used a mansion originally built by the Lorillard family. They used the mansion until October 1, 1895. Tallapoosa Point was used as a dump from 1963 until 1968, when landfill operations ceased and it became a part of the Wildlife Refuge. Since then it has been a part of the park, but there was an obscure proposal in the 1970s to make Tallapoosa into a ski slope. Tallapoosa Point was later re-planted and serves as a bird habitat. ### Waterways #### Pelham Bay Between City Island and Orchard Beach is a sound named Pelham Bay (), but contrary to its name, it is not a bay, but rather a sound since it is open to larger bodies of water at both ends. It connects to Eastchester Bay at the south, and opens onto Long Island Sound and City Island Harbor at the east. Approximately one third of the original bay was filled in to create Orchard Beach from 1934 to 1938. #### Eastchester Bay Eastchester Bay is a body of water that separates City Island and most of the park from the park's southwest portion and the rest of the Bronx. It is crossed by the Pelham Bridge, which connects the two parts of the park. It is technically also a sound, and the northern end connects via a narrow channel to Pelham Bay. The Hutchinson River empties into Eastchester Bay near the northern end. The lower portion of the bay opens onto the East River, Little Neck Bay, and Long Island Sound. #### Lagoon A lagoon within the park was once part of Pelham Bay, separating Hunter and Twin Islands from the mainland, and was called LeRoy's Bay until the mid-20th century. It was popular for rowing regattas, but could not be used for regulation rowing races as it was blocked by the causeway to Hunter Island. By 1902, there were calls to remove the causeway so LeRoy's Bay could be used as a raceway. The New York City Department of Public Parks decided to create a "temporary" wooden bridge and remove the causeway to allow the bay's tides to flow freely. Most of the lagoon was filled in during the mid-1930s reconstruction of Orchard Beach, and the bay became known as the "Orchard Beach Lagoon", or the Lagoon for short. The lagoon between Orchard Beach and the Westchester border had been popular for regattas, or boat races, for decades, but it was neglected through the 1940s and 1950s. Rocks, weeds, and unwanted cars were tossed into the lagoon regularly. The lagoon was chosen as the site of the 1964 Summer Olympics rowing trials, at which point it was widened and dredged, becoming a four-lane, 2,000-meter (6,600 ft) rowing track. The track, which cost \$630,000, was hosted jointly by the city and the organizers of the 1964 New York World's Fair. New York City hosted several of the 1964 Olympic trials at various locations as part of the World's Fair the same year. Afterward, the now-unnamed lagoon was used by New York-area colleges for boating regattas, since it had been determined to be one of the most suitable locations for boat racing in the United States. Multiple colleges, including Columbia, Manhattan, St. John's, Fordham, Iona, and Yale, utilized the lagoon for collegiate rowing practice. #### Turtle Cove Turtle Cove is a small cove along the north side of City Island Road west of Orchard Beach Road. Around the early 1900s, a land berm was created across Turtle Cove for rails for horsecars. This berm caused the north end of Turtle Cove to become mostly freshwater, which attracted freshwater drinking rare birds in the meadow. A 3-foot (0.91 m) diameter concrete culvert was placed across the berm to allow salt water from Eastchester Bay, but leaves and vegetation blocked this culvert. Starting in June 2009, NYC Parks started a restoration project for the cove, removing the old culvert and digging a canal to flood the north end of the cove with salt water. NYC Parks then placed a foot bridge across the canal. Some 11 acres (4.5 ha) of forest were also restored, with 10,000 trees being replaced. The cove also contains a batting cage and a golf center with miniature golf, PGA simulators, and grass tees. ### Notable natural features #### Glover's Rock Glover's Rock (), a giant granite glacial erratic, has a bronze plaque commemorating the Battle of Pell's Point. However, contrary to popular belief, the rock had nothing to do with the battle. In their respective books, Henry B. Dawson (1886) and William Abbatt (1901) both wrote that Colonel John Glover reputedly stood on the rock and watched the British forces land during the battle. This claim is erroneous, as these distances were computed based on an inaccurate map using estimates recorded by Glover in his "Letter from Mile Square" on October 24, 1776. The actual location where Glover watched British forces land is closer to the second tee of the current Split Rock Golf Course. The rock is only known as such today because Abbatt includes a labeled photograph of it in his book. #### Split Rock Split Rock (), a large dome-shaped granite boulder measuring approximately 25 feet (7.6 m) from north to south and 15 feet (4.6 m) from east to west, is located at the intersection of the New England Thruway and Hutchinson River Parkway, on a triangular parcel of land formed by these roads and a ramp that leads from the northbound Parkway to the northbound Thruway. The only public access to the rock is by a pedestrian trail that begins on Eastchester Place, outside the park. The Bridle Trail passes close to the rock, but is separated from the rock by the parkway's exit ramp. Another park trail, called the Split Rock Trail, leads from the Bartow Circle to the rock. The Split Rock Golf Course was named after the rock. Split Rock also gives its name to Split Rock Road in Pelham Manor, which used to extend into the park itself. The rock appears to be a glacial erratic and derives its name from a large crevice dividing the stone into two half domes. The huge rock broke in half about 10,000 years ago under the stress of glacial movements. Split Rock is also the location near where, in 1643, Anne Hutchinson and members of her family were massacred by Native Americans of the Siwanoy Tribe. Her daughter, Susanna, the only member of the family to survive the massacre, was at the rock during the time of the attack, which took place at the house, a distance away. In 1904, the New York State Legislature approved the placement of a bronze tablet on Split Rock in honor of Anne Hutchinson. The tablet was installed in 1911 by the Colonial Dames of New York. However, it was stolen in 1914. The plaque reads: The boulder is of enough historic importance that in the 1950s, Theodore Kazimiroff of the Bronx Historical Society convinced officials to move the planned Interstate 95 (New England Thruway) a few feet north to save Split Rock from being dynamited. #### Treaty Oak Treaty Oak () is located on the Pell estate near the Bartow-Pell Mansion. It was said that under this oak tree, a treaty was signed between Thomas Pell and Siwanoy Chief Wampage, selling Pell all land east of the Bronx River in what was then Westchester. The Society of the Daughters of the Revolution erected a protective fence and a plaque near the tree, but it was destroyed by lightning in 1906 and toppled in a storm in March 1909. Parts of the original tree were donated to museums and historical societies. A replacement tree was planted in 1915, and the current tree at the location is an elm. ### Wildlife sanctuaries Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary and the Hunter Island Marine Zoology and Geology Sanctuary consist of a total of 489 acres (1.98 km<sup>2</sup>) of marshes and forests within Pelham Bay Park. They were created in 1967 as a result to opposition to a planned landfill on the site of the current sanctuaries. Much of the forests in these sanctuaries are estimated to be at least three centuries old, dating to colonial times. The park also has two nature centers at Orchard Beach and in the southwestern section of the park. #### Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary The Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary, named for Thomas Pell, makes up the westerly part of Pelham Bay Park. Included within its bounds are Goose Creek Marsh and the saltwater wetlands adjoining the Hutchinson River as well as Goose Island, Split Rock, and the oak–hickory forests in tidal marshes bordering the Split Rock Golf Course. The area is home to a variety of wildlife including raccoon, egrets, hawks, and coyotes. #### Hunter Island Marine Zoology and Geology Sanctuary Located north of Orchard Beach, the Hunter Island Marine Zoology and Geology Sanctuary encompasses all of Twin Islands, Cat Briar Island, Two Trees Island, and the northeastern shoreline of Hunter Island. It contains many glacial erratics, large boulders that were deposited during the last ice age, as well as the largest continuous oak forest in Pelham Bay Park. The sanctuary supports a unique intertidal marine ecosystem that is rare in New York State. ### Wildlife-related activities The park is a popular spot for bird watching, with up to 264 species having been spotted. Common bird species observed within the park include great horned owl, northern saw-whet owl, barn owl, red-tailed hawk, and warblers on Hunter Island; American woodcock, willow flycatcher, northern harrier, woodpeckers, black-capped chickadee, tufted titmouse, and white-breasted nuthatch in the meadow west of Orchard Beach; and various songbirds and sparrows north of the Pelham Bay Golf Course. Birds in the park's waters include loons, grebes, cormorants, anseriformes, and gulls from the Twin Island coasts; greater yellowlegs, lesser yellowlegs, loons, hooded merganser, Canada goose, mallard, and egrets in Eastchester Bay and Turtle Cove; and osprey and waterbirds in the lagoon. This is a result of Pelham Bay Park's location within one of the major seasonal bird migration corridors. The National Audubon Society has designated the park as one of four "Important Bird Areas" within the city. Saltwater fishing is also popular within the park, but is prohibited on Orchard Beach when the beach is open during the summer. There are two major areas where fishing is allowed: in the southern part of Pelham Bay Park near Eastchester Bay; and in the northern part near the Lagoon, Turtle Cove, and northern beach jetty. South of Orchard Beach is a 25-acre (10 ha) meadow that hosts the only known population of the moth species Amphipoea erepta ryensis. Another population used to exist in Rye, Westchester County. ### Surroundings Pelham Bay Park is bounded by the town of Pelham, New York, to the north; City Island and Long Island Sound to the east; Watt Avenue and Bruckner Expressway to the south; and the Hutchinson River Parkway to the west. North of the park is the village of Pelham Manor in Westchester County, and a 250-foot-wide (76 m) strip of land that is part of New York City due to a boundary error. Owners of the several dozen houses on the strip have a Pelham Manor zip code and phone numbers and their children attend Pelham public schools, but as Bronx residents pay much lower property taxes than their Westchester County neighbors. To the southeast, the City Island Bridge connects the park to City Island. ## Landmarks, attractions, and recreational features ### Orchard Beach Orchard Beach (), a public beach, is part of Pelham Bay Park and comprises the borough's only beach. The 1.1-mile-long (1.8 km), 115-acre (47 ha) beach faces the Long Island Sound and is laid out in a crescent shape with a width of 200 feet (61 m) during high tide. An icon of the Bronx, Orchard Beach is sometimes called the Bronx Riviera, the Riviera of New York City, Hood Beach, or the Working Class Riviera. It contains a set of twin pavilions, which were both landmarked by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2006. ### Bronx Victory Column & Memorial Grove The Bronx Victory Column & Memorial Grove is a 70-foot-tall (21 m) limestone column that supports a bronze statue of Winged Victory on Crimi Road in the park. The grove of trees that surround the statue were originally planted on the Grand Concourse in 1921 by the American Legion; they were removed in 1928 when construction began on the IND Concourse Line (). In 1930, the American Legion revealed plans to relocate the grove to Pelham Bay Park, where there would be a new monument to honor Bronx servicemen. The monument was designed by John J. Sheridan and sculpted by Belle Kinney and Leopold Scholz. On September 24, 1933, the monument and grove was dedicated to the 947 Bronxites who died in World War I. The column is supported by a 18-foot-tall (5.5 m) pedestal. The statue itself is 18 feet tall and 3,700 pounds (1,700 kg), located atop a series of 14 discs. This brings the monument's aggregate height to more than 120 feet (37 m). While officially a memorial to servicemen from the Bronx, it is also a favorite location for wedding photography. ### Bartow-Pell Mansion A 19th-century plantation-style mansion called the Bartow–Pell Mansion (located at ) is a colonial remnant done in Greek revival style. The mansion, originally built in 1842, was sold to the city in 1880, which maintained it until 1914, when the city and International Garden Club assumed joint maintenance of the building. Since 1975, it has been a National Historic Landmark. ### Pelham Bay and Split Rock Golf Courses The Pelham Bay Golf Course opened in 1901, followed by the Split Rock Golf Course in 1935. The courses, consisting of eighteen holes each, share an Art Deco clubhouse (located at ). The courses are separated by the Northeast Corridor railroad tracks, with the Split Rock course to the northwest and the Pelham Bay course to the southeast. Plans for a golf course in Pelham Bay Park have existed since soon after the park was founded. In 1899, the New York Athletic Club approached Lawrence Van Etten, an architect renowned for designing golf courses, for a request to construct an 18-hole course within the park. The proposed course would be bounded by Pelham Manor to the north; the Harlem River and Port Chester Railroad (now Northeast Corridor) tracks to the west; and Shore Road to the southeast. The city was building Van Cortlandt Park's golf course at the time, but the Bronx district parks commissioner approved Van Etten's plan. Originally, the club wanted to construct a park on Hunter Island, but Van Etten felt that the island was too small for a full 18-hole course. Once the Van Cortlandt Park course was opened, city officials started focusing on plans for the Pelham course. In April 1900, surveyors began studying part of the park as a possible location for a golf course. Later that month, workers began construction at the northwest course location. It was expected that the course would open in June or July of that year, but that the work would not be fully complete until September. New York City greenskeeper Val Flood later stated that he thought the course would open by August; however, by September 1900, work on the course had hardly started due to a lack of workers. By the end of 1900, NYC Parks reported that seeds had been planted for nine greens, and two bunkers and one hazard had been created. The course opened in 1901, but did not gain popularity until 1903 when overcrowding at the Van Cortlandt course drove players to use the less crowded Pelham Bay course instead. In 1934, a new 18-hole course was announced for the north side of the park, along with a renovation to the Pelham Bay course under the WPA. It was part of the rebuilding of 10 golf courses in the city. The new course brought the total number of holes in the park's courses to 36, with each course being between 3,000 and 3,300 feet (910 and 1,010 m) between the first and last tees. This comprised two 18-hole courses or four 9-hole courses. There was also a new two-story brick Greek Revival clubhouse adjacent to both of the 18-hole courses, with a golf store, Pro Shop, cafeteria, lockers, restrooms, and showers. Construction started on the new course and clubhouse in September 1934. The new Split Rock course, based on a plan from John van Kleek, opened in 1935 along with the rebuilt Pelham Bay course. ### Bronx Equestrian Center The northern section of Pelham Bay Park is the home of the Bronx Equestrian Center on Shore Road, where visitors can ride horses and ponies through the parks' trails or obtain riding lessons. The Bronx Equestrian Center also provides wagon rides and hosts wedding events. ### Southwestern section The southwestern part of Pelham Bay Park contains several recreational facilities, but unlike the rest of the park, the southwestern section mainly serves the nearby neighborhoods. The southwest park's largest point of interest is the Aileen B. Ryan Recreational Complex, which contains a running track, two baseball fields, and the Playground for All Children, a play area with special features for physically handicapped children. Another playground, the Sweetgum Playground, is located near Bruckner Boulevard. The 0.25-mile (0.40 km) Pelham Track and Field includes an artificial turf football field as well as long jumping. The southwest park also contains a dog run, four more baseball fields (for a total of six), two bocce courts, several basketball courts, and nine tennis courts. This section of the park also includes the Pelham Bay Nature Center. The neighborhood of Pelham Bay is across the Bruckner Expressway from this section of the park. A long and narrow 41-acre (17 ha) woodland called Huntington Woods, located on the southern border of this park, is named after the tract's last owners. Archer Milton Huntington, the founder of the Hispanic Society of America, and his wife, sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington, had acquired the property in 1896 after the park had been established. The city added 31.6 acres (12.8 ha) of Huntington's estate to the park in 1925 and annexed the remaining land in 1933. The southwestern park also contains two monuments. American Boy was commissioned in 1923 by French sculptor Louis St. Lannes and carved from one block of Indiana Limestone. A tribute to the athletic body, it once stood outside the Rice Stadium and Recreation Building; the stadium, named and funded by the widow of Isaac Leopold Rice, stood at the site from the 1920s until 1989. The former stadium site is now the Pelham Track and Field. The other is the Bronx Victory Column & Memorial Grove. ## Management A nonprofit organization called Friends of Pelham Bay Park (founded in 1992) manages the park, while NYC Parks owns and operates the land and facilities. Compared to the Central Park Conservancy, Friends of Pelham Bay Park does not receive as much funding. Before 1992, there was no private maintenance of the park; the earliest efforts for such a thing date to 1983, when an administrator was appointed to oversee both Van Cortlandt and Pelham Bay Parks. ## Transportation ### Bridges As part of the city's acquisition of Pelham Bay Park in 1888, NYC Parks claimed responsibility for maintenance over the western end of the City Island Bridge, which was within the park. The City Island Bridge had been built by the 1870s. By 1892, the bridge was in need of maintenance, and a proposal for a replacement bridge was approved in 1895. The replacement bridge started construction in late 1898 and was completed in 1901. The Pelham Bridge, which had opened in 1871 on the site of two previous bridges, was also incorporated into the park. Planning for a new bridge started in 1901, and NYC Parks transferred the responsibility for constructing the new bridge to the Department of Bridges in 1902. A new stone bridge was opened in 1908 to accommodate higher volumes of traffic. The century-old City Island Bridge was subsequently replaced again in the 2010s. Planning for the new bridge started in 2005, though a lack of funding delayed the start of construction to 2012. The new bridge was completed in 2015, and the old one was demolished soon after. ### Roads The park is traversed by the Hutchinson River Parkway on its west side. The New England Thruway (I-95), a partial toll road, also has a short highway section in the park's northwest corner. A partial interchange between the two roads is located within the park. To the south, an exit from the Hutchinson River Parkway provides direct access to the park, Orchard Beach, and City Island. The exit and entrance ramps lead east to the Bartow Circle, where the ramps intersect with Shore Road, which runs roughly southwest-northeast, and with Orchard Beach Road, which leads southeast to the Orchard Beach parking lot. Slightly to the southwest of Bartow Circle is the T intersection of Shore Road and City Island Road, which marks the northwest terminus of the latter road. Shore Road continues across the Pelham Bridge to the southwest corner of the park, then turns west and continues onto Pelham Parkway. Meanwhile, City Island Road continues southeast to City Island Circle, where it intersects with Park Drive, a road that connects to Orchard Beach Road in the north and Rodman's Neck in the south. City Island Road then continues southeast across the City Island Bridge to the eponymous island. NYC Parks assumed responsibility for the park's roads in 1888 and gradually paved and expanded them over the following decades. An expansion of Eastern Boulevard (later Shore Road) began in 1895. In 1897, the city started extending Pelham Parkway through to Eastern Boulevard. By 1902, Eastern Boulevard was referred to as "the Shore drive" since it ran close to the LeRoy's Bay shore. The same year, NYC Parks built a 4,230-foot (1,290 m) dirt path, which connected Glover's Rock to Shore Road. Another 4,870-foot-long (1,480 m) dirt road to Pelham Bridge was also built, and a 6,485-foot (1,977 m) pedestrian path from City Island Bridge to Bartow Station was built. The Hutchinson River Parkway in Pelham Bay Park replaced the old Split Rock Road in the park. The original roadway was an undivided, limited-access parkway, designed with gently sloping curves, stone arch bridges, and wooden lightposts. The original 11-mile (18 km) section included bridle paths along the right-of-way. There was also a riding academy where the public could rent horses. The parkway is named for Anne Hutchinson and her family, and passes through the part of the park near where the Hutchinsons were killed by the Siwanoy. The modern-day parkway was extended south from Westchester through Pelham Bay Park in December 1937. The second highway through the park, the New England Thruway, opened in its entirety in October 1958, connecting the Bruckner Expressway in the south with the Connecticut Turnpike in the northeast. ### Public transport Pelham Bay Park is served by the New York City Subway at its eponymous station on the west side of the Bruckner Expressway, which is served by the . The station is part of the former Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT)'s Pelham Line. The line's northern terminus is located at the southeast corner of Pelham Bay Park, and the IRT station there opened in December 1920. An exit from the station leads onto a pedestrian bridge that crosses the expressway and leads directly to the park. MTA Regional Bus Operations' Bx29 route and Bee-Line Bus System's 45 route also stop at the park. The southbound Bx29 makes three stops in the park: on Bruckner Boulevard near the subway station; at the intersection of Shore Road and City Island Road; and at City Island Circle. Meanwhile, Bee-Line's 45 route stops near Bartow-Pell Mansion. The Bx12 bus serves Orchard Beach during the summer only. ### Railroads The Harlem River and Port Chester Railroad was chartered in 1866, connecting the Harlem River in the south and Port Chester in the north. The railroad opened in 1873, with some portions passing through the current park. The route, a branch of the New Haven Line operated by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, contained six stations. One of these stations, called alternatively City Island or Bartow, in Pelham (now part of the park). In 1895, the railroad re-acquired some of the land from the park In 1906, ownership of the Shore Road overpass over the Harlem and Port Chester railroad line was transferred to the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. A railroad of some sort also connected City Island and Pelham Bay Park from 1887 to 1919. Originally composed of the separate Pelham Park Railroad Company and the City Island Railroad, the narrow-gauge horsecar route was operated by the former of the two companies, which ran service between the Bartow station of the Harlem River and Port Chester Railroad and Brown's Hotel on City Island. The 3.2-mile (5.1 km) route was complete by 1892. The IRT absorbed the two companies in 1902 and started designing its own monorail in 1908. The monorail's first journey in July 1910 ended with the monorail toppling on its side, and although service resumed in November 1910, the monorail went into receivership in December 1911. The monorail ceased operation on April 3, 1914, and was subsequently sold to the Third Avenue Railway, which abandoned the line on August 9, 1919. The Harlem River and Port Chester tracks were maintained by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. New stations designed by Cass Gilbert were opened in 1908, but the line's stations were all closed by 1937, having suffered from low ridership. During the late 20th century, the old Harlem River and Port Chester tracks went through a series of ownership changes, and in 1976, Amtrak bought the tracks and integrated the route into its Northeast Corridor. The station house for the line's Bartow station still exists, albeit as a deteriorated shell; the station's roof burned down after it was closed. An overgrown path leads from the bridle trail to the former station site. The city renovated the Shore Road railroad overpass in the early 2000s. Citing the 1906 deed that transferred the bridge's maintenance to the company that owned the railroad below it, the city then filed a lawsuit to make Amtrak pay for the renovation. The United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of Amtrak in 2013. ### Paths Bicycle paths go to all parts of the park and west to Bronx Park, east to City Island, and north to Mount Vernon. The bike trails within the park itself are of varying difficulties. ### Scenic trails The Kazimiroff Nature Trail, a wildlife observation trail, opened in 1986. It traverses 189 acres (76 ha) of Hunter Island. Much of the island's natural features are found along the trail. It was opened in 1986 and comprises two overlapping lasso-shaped paths, one slightly longer than the other. The Siwanoy Trail consists of a trail system that originates in the Central Woodlands section of the park. Originating at City Island Road, it bears to the northeast before splitting into two spurs, one going east to the Rodman's Neck meadow and the other going north around Bartow Circle. At the circle's eastern side, the trail splits again. One spur goes northeast in a self-closing loop to the Bartow-Pell Mansion, and the other goes northwest to connect to Split Rock Trail before going around the Hutchinson River Parkway's interchange with Orchard Beach Road. Split Rock Trail originates at Bartow Circle and stretches for 1.5 miles (2.4 km) along the west side of the park. First designated in 1938 along the path of the former Split Rock Road, the path was renovated in summer 1987. The park is also traversed by a bridle path. That path circumscribes both golf courses, with a spur to the Bronx Equestrian Center.
27,343,341
Ryan Johansen
1,167,036,085
Canadian ice hockey player
[ "1992 births", "Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States", "Canadian ice hockey centres", "Columbus Blue Jackets draft picks", "Columbus Blue Jackets players", "Ice hockey people from Vancouver", "Living people", "National Hockey League All-Stars", "National Hockey League first-round draft picks", "Penticton Vees players", "People from Port Moody", "Portland Winterhawks players", "Springfield Falcons players" ]
Ryan Johansen (born July 31, 1992) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who is playing for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). Growing up, he played minor hockey in the Greater Vancouver area until joining the junior ranks with the Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) for one season. In 2009–10, he moved to the major junior level with the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League (WHL). After his first WHL season, he was selected fourth overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. He would play five seasons with them before being traded to the Nashville Predators for Seth Jones in January 2016. Playing parts of eight seasons with Nashville, he was a key part of seven straight postseason berths for the Predators, including a trip to the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals. Nearing the end of his contract as the Predators declined, he was traded to the Avalanche in the 2023 offseason. Internationally, he has competed for the Canadian national junior team at the 2011 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, where he earned a silver medal and was named to the Tournament All-Star Team. In 2015, he participated in the 2015 NHL Skills Competition and was named the 2015 NHL All-Star Game MVP. ## Playing career ### Amateur Johansen was drafted into the Western Hockey League (WHL) 150th overall by the Portland Winterhawks in the 2007 Bantam Draft. Having been offered an athletic scholarship to play with Northeastern University, he opted to play for the Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) in 2008–09 to protect his eligibility for the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA). He appeared in 42 games for the Vees as a 16-year-old, scoring 5 goals and 12 assists. Convinced of his ability, the Winterhawks persuaded Johansen to forego university and join their club for the 2009–10 WHL season. In Portland, he joined a line with fellow 2010 NHL Entry Draft prospects Nino Niederreiter and Brad Ross. He finished the year with 25 goals and 69 points in 71 games, second among league rookies behind Kevin Connauton and second in team scoring, behind Chris Francis. Helping the Winterhawks make the playoffs one year after finishing last in the WHL, they advanced to the second round. Johansen added 18 points in 13 games, ninth in league scoring and first among rookies, despite playing in only two of four playoff rounds. Johansen rapidly climbed prospect charts for the 2010 NHL Draft, starting the year as a potential second round selection, before rising to 16th among North American skaters when the NHL Central Scouting Bureau (CSB) released its mid-season ranking. Johansen's coach with Penticton noted that, as one of the younger players of his draft class, his skill was often overlooked. NHL scouts praised his speed, playmaking ability and vision on the ice but believed he needed to show more consistency and physicality. He had been compared to Ottawa Senators centre Jason Spezza, while Johansen had said he tried to model his game after San Jose Sharks centre Joe Thornton. He finished the season as the tenth ranked skater according to Central Scouting and was projected to be a top 20 pick, perhaps as high as top 10. With the fourth overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, Johansen was chosen by the Columbus Blue Jackets. A couple of months after his draft, Johansen signed with Columbus to a three-year, entry-level contract on September 9, 2010. With a base salary of \$900,000, the deal could have reached \$1.975 million per year if he achieved all his bonus incentives. Attending his first NHL training camp that month, he did not make the Blue Jackets roster and was returned to Portland on October 2 for another year of junior hockey. Back in the WHL, Johansen was chosen to represent the league at the 2010 Subway Super Series, a six-game exhibition tournament featuring all-stars from the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) against Russian junior players. He completed the 2010–11 season improving to 92 points (40 goals and 52 assists) in 63 games, ranking seventh among league scorers. ### Professional #### Columbus Blue Jackets (2011–2016) Prior to the start of the 2011–12 season, Johansen participated in the Blue Jackets training camp and their annual NHL Prospects Tournament. Following training camp, Johansen made the Blue Jackets opening line-up and subsequently made his NHL debut on October 7, 2011. He registered 8 minutes and 46 seconds of ice time in his debut as the Blue Jackets fell 3–2 to the Nashville Predators. Johansen later registered his first NHL point, an assist on a Kris Russell goal, in a 4–3 loss to the Ottawa Senators on October 22. Three days later, Johansen and fellow rookie John Moore both scored their first career NHL goals against the Detroit Red Wings to lead the team to their first win of the season. This marked the first time in franchise history that two players scored their first NHL goals in the same game. As he continued to be a mainstay in the Blue Jackets lineup, Johansen became the third player in NHL history to tally two game-winning goals as his first in the NHL. After playing in his ninth game of the season, having recorded two goals and two assists in that span, Johansen was notified by Blue Jackets head coach Scott Arniel that he would remain with the team and not be returned to junior. By November 14, Johansen was tied with Vinny Prospal for the team's goal-scoring lead with five. Johansen also became the first player since Brian Propp to score his club’s first three game-winners of the season. Although he would experience bouts of pointlessness, Johansen was often placed on the top line with Rick Nash and Jeff Carter. By mid-January, Johansen had accumulated seven goals and eight assists for 15 points through 36 games and was tied for the NHL lead among rookies with three game-winning goals. As a result, he was one of 12 rookies selected to participate at the 2012 NHL All-Star Skills Competition. Due to the NHL's decision to lock out the players at the start of the 2012–13 season until a new collective bargaining agreement could be reached, Johansen was reassigned to the Blue Jackets' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Springfield Falcons. He made an immediate impact on their top line by tallying six points in seven games to lead them to a 5–1–1 record for the first time in franchise history. Through December, Johansen steadily led the team with 18 points through 22 games while playing an average of 20 minutes per night on their top line. On February 24, 2013, Johansen was re-called by the Blue Jackets for the remainder of the season after an agreement was reached. At the time, he had accumulated 13 goals and 13 assists through 33 games. However, after only collecting two assists and two penalty minutes in 10 games with the Blue Jackets, Johansen was re-assigned to the Falcons on February 6. He was recalled back to the NHL on February 24 and immediately centered a line with Matt Calvert and Nick Foligno. On April 12, Johansen played in his 100th career NHL game against the St. Louis Blues and scored a goal for the second consecutive game. By the end of the month, Johansen had tallied five goals and seven assists for 12 points with 12 penalty minutes through 40 games. Shortly after the Blue Jackets were eliminated from playoff contention, he was re-assigned to the Falcons on April 28 to help them with their 2013 Calder Cup Championship run. After being benched by the Falcons coaching staff during the 2012 Calder Cup Championships, Johansen described himself as hitting "rock bottom." He subsequently spent the offseason gaining muscle and he returned to the Blue Jackets training camp weighing 222 pounds. Although the Blue Jackets struggled to win games at the start of the 2013–14 season, Johansen began to develop chemistry with new linemates Brandon Dubinsky and Cam Atkinson on the top line. Alongside his new linemates, Johansen tallied 13 points through 20 games and recorded 54 shots on net to rank second on the team behind Atkinson. By the end of November, Johansen led the team with 10 goals and 9 assists for 19 points as they finished the month maintaining a 10–3–2 record. Johansen continued to remain a consistent offensive threat even after being reunited with his original line of R. J. Umberger and Foligno. By December 5, he had registered 20 points in 28 games to put him on pace for a 60-point season. This trend continued throughout the month and by December 18, he led the team with 27 points through 34 games while also maintaining a nine-game point streak. He also improved his face-off win percentage to 52.85 while also taking the most face-offs for the team with 306. By early February, Johansen led the Blue Jackets in goals and points while tied for 14th in the NHL with 23 goals. On April 8, Johansen scored the game-winning goal at 3:33 of overtime to lead the Blue Jackets to their 41st win of the season and tie a franchise record. After scoring another game-winning goal a few days later, he helped the Blue Jackets clinch the first wild-card spot to face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs. Johansen finished the regular season playing in all 82 games and leading the Blue Jackets with 33 goals and 30 assists for 63 points. His efforts were subsequently recognised with the NHL's Third Star of the Week. During the 2014 off-season, Johansen and the Columbus Blue Jackets engaged in lengthy contract negotiations which Blue Jackets president of hockey operations John Davidson called "absurd" and "extortion." He later revealed that the team had offered Johansen numerous contract offers including \$6 million, \$32 million, and \$46 million. Johansen eventually agreed on a three-year contract worth \$3 million the first two years and \$6 million in the last on October 6 after he had already missed the majority of training camp. Despite the holdout, Johansen made an immediate impact on the Blue Jackets lineup by quickly tallying six goals and 14 assists for 20 points through 17 games. #### Nashville Predators (2016–2023) On January 6, 2016, Johansen was traded by the Blue Jackets to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Seth Jones. He made an immediate impact on the lineup upon joining the team by tallying three goals and five assists through his first seven games with the team. Although he became a mainstay playing alongside James Neal on the Predators top line, the two failed to find a stable left-winger to play alongside them. As the two eventually found a stable partner in Calle Jarnkrok, Johansen added 18 points in his first 26 games with the Predators. From January 16 to March 23, the team maintained a 17–6–6 record while Johansen and Neal had combined for 10 goals and 20 points through the month of March. Although the Predators then suffered a losing streak from March 26 to April 2, the team qualified for the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs when the Colorado Avalanche lost to the Washington Capitals. At the time, Johansen had tied for second with 13 points while Neal led the team with 17 points over 15 games. He subsequently finished the regular season with 34 points in 42 games with Nashville. Upon qualifying for the playoffs, Johansen and the Predators met with the Anaheim Ducks in the first round. The trio of Johansen – Neal – Jarnkrok maintained their strong offensive abilities by collaborating for the first goal just 35 seconds into Game 1. However, during Game 6, head coach Peter Laviolette moved Filip Forsberg up on the top line with Johansen and James Neal. The trio immediately developed chemistry together and combined for the game-winning goal to force Game 7. After the team won their franchise's first Game 7, they advanced to the second round against the San Jose Sharks. Johansen, Neal, and Forsberg all finished the Anaheim series ranked third on the team with three points. By Game 3 against the Sharks, Johansen had maintained a three-game point streak to rank fifth among all centres in the playoffs. Unlike the previous season, Johansen began the 2016–17 season playing alongside Kevin Fiala and Filip Forsberg. However, the line would soon evolve to include Forsberg, Johansen and Viktor Arvidsson as the Predators main top line as the month continued. On this line, he tallied four assists over eight games before scoring his first goal of the season in the Predator's 5–1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on November 1. Following this goal, he quickly tallied three goals and two assists over two games after only tallying five points in his previous 14 games. By December 2, Johansen had tied with Forsberg for the team's scoring lead with 16 points, including tallying seven points over his previous four games. At the end of the month, Johansen led the team with 17 assists and 24 points while linemate Arvidsson ranked second with 9 goals and 14 assists. Johansen played in his 400th career NHL game on January 26, 2017, as the Predators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4–3. Following his milestone game, Johansen quickly accumulated two goals and six assists over seven games to continue leading the Predators with 38 points. By early March, Johansen and Forsberg tied for the team scoring lead with 49 points while Johansen led the team with 39 assists. On March 27, Johansen tallied his 100th career goal into an empty net for a 3–1 win over the New York Islanders. He finished the regular season with 47 assists and 61 points while leading the team with 54.6 percent of faceoff wins. His line with Forsberg and Arvidsson combined for 76 goals, 180 points, and controlled 58.9 percent of total shot attempts. As the Predators faced off against the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs, Johansen continued his dominant performance by tallying at least one point in all four games of the first round sweep. In their second round matchup against the St. Louis Blues, Johansen scored the series-winning goal in Game 6 to help the Predators advance to the Western Conference Finals. However, his success was soon cut short as he suffered a thigh injury during their Game 4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks. Johansen immediately underwent emergency surgery for an acute compartment syndrome in his left thigh and was ruled out for the remainder of the playoffs. At the time of the injury, he was tied for the team lead with 13 points through 14 playoff games. Despite his absence, the Predators reached the Stanley Cup Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins, falling in six games to the defending champions. Following the loss, Johansen signed an eight-year, \$64 million contract worth \$8 million annually through the 2024–25 season, the biggest signing in Predators' history. Johansen recovered during the offseason and returned for the Predator's training camp ahead of the 2017–18 season. As Roman Josi was named team captain, Johansen was named an alternate captain alongside Forsberg and Mattias Ekholm. As the Predators struggled to produce goals through October, head coach Peter Laviolette moved Scott Hartnell to the top line with Johansen and Arvidsson in early November to generate more offensive opportunities. This was shortlived however and Johansen was again reunited with Forsberg and Arvidsson on the Predators top line. After going goalless throughout October, Johansen scored his first goal of the season on November 17 to break Devan Dubnyk's franchise shutout record. Although he would miss three games with an upper-body injury in early December, Johansen continued to produce offensively for the Predators and tallied two assists in his return on December 13. Although Johansen would suffer a minor mid-game injury in January, he remained the sole original player on the top line as the Predators lost both Forsberg and Arvidsson to injuries. Once the two wingers returned, the line continued to dominate on the ice and helped the Predators maintain a 15-game point streak through late February and early March. On April 5, Johansen and the Predators won their first Central Division title in franchise history to clinch a spot in the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs. He finished the regular season fourth on the team with 15 goals and 39 assists for 54 points through 79 games. Johansen's top line helped the Predators beat the Colorado Avalanche and helped them force a Game 7 against the Winnipeg Jets. In Game 6 against the Jets, Johansen tallied his 12th and 13th points of the playoffs to tie his career high in points during a post-single season. Although the Predators were eliminated from the playoffs in Game 7 of the second round, Johansen's line with Forsberg and Arvidsson combined for 18 goals over the playoffs. When Johansen was reunited with Forsberg and Arvidsson to start the 2018–19 season, he immediately started the season by tallying multiple assists in five out of the first six games. The trio combined for 28 points through the first nine games of the season as the Predators maintained a 7–2–0 record and a five game point streak. By November 7, Johansen led the team in scoring with 15 points followed closely behind by Forsberg and Arvidsson with 14 and 12 respectively. However, despite their early success, the line began to fragment as Johansen went on a seven-game goalless streak while Arvidsson suffered a lower body injury. While Arvidsson recovered, head coach Peter Laviolette alternated between Colton Sissons, Kevin Fiala, and Craig Smith on the Predators' top line with Johansen and Forsberg. In spite of his alternating linemates, Johansen continued to lead the team in scoring with 17 assists and 21 points while also winning 55.4 percent of his face-offs. By the end of the month, Johansen and Forsberg were the only Predators skaters to have accumulated over 20 points, although Forsberg would soon miss numerous games due to an upper-body injury. While both of his linemates were out of the lineup, Johansen gained Ryan Hartman and Kevin Fiala as his new regular linemates. In the first seven games following Forsberg's injuries, he quickly accumulated one goal and four assists for five points. Once Forsberg returned to the lineup, the trio immediately re-established their chemistry and combined for three of the teams' four goals during their 4–3 win over the Blackhawks on January 9. Following his linemates return, Johansen maintained a six-game point streak that was snapped in a loss to the Winnipeg Jets on January 17. In the same game, Johansen served a minor penalty for high-sticking Jets forward Mark Scheifele, was subsequently suspended for two games, and forfeited \$86,021.50 to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund. Despite missing two games, Johansen still returned to the Predators lineup as their leading scorer with eight goals and 34 assists for 42 points. On March 16, Johansen tallied his 400th career NHL point with an assist on Forsberg's goal in a loss to the San Jose Sharks. Later that month, he tallied his 50th assist of the season to become the second player in franchise history to reach this milestone. Johansen finished the regular season with 14 goals and 50 assists to lead the team with 64 points as they qualified for the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs. Johansen entered the first round against the Dallas Stars with a six-game scoring streak of three goals and six assists from the previous playoffs. Although Johansen remained with his usual linemates, they failed to reproduce their previous playoff production and finished the postseason with a combined four points through six games. Following one of his best offensive seasons, Johansen experienced a dip in production in part due to various changes to the Predator's lineup and the shortened season as a result of COVID-19. Unlike the previous seasons, Johansen spent the majority of the shortened 2019–20 season with Jarnkrok and Arvidsson as his wingers instead of Forsberg. In early December, Johansen was fined \$5,000 for elbowing Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brayden Point during their 3–2 overtime loss. As the Predators struggled to win games and maintained a 19-15-7 record heading into January, head coach Laviolette was replaced with John Hynes. Despite the new head coach, Johansen and the Predators continued to struggle to score goals. By late January, Johansen had 10 goals and 27 points while his line averaged 0.93 expected goals per 20 minutes at five-on-five. When the NHL paused play due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Johansen was on pace for 43 points with 14 goals and 22 assists through 68 games. He later expressed his disappointment in his play, stating: "I'll be honest, it has chewed me up this year. This is an experience I haven't had since I was a young player, and it ate me up. You've got teammates counting on you, you've got this big contract, and you're just trying to find it." While the league paused play, Johansen and teammates Josi, Matt Duchene, and Pekka Rinne established a fund at two Dunkin' Donuts locations in Nashville to serve hospital workers. Once the NHL resumed for the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, Johansen was reunited with Forsberg and Arvidsson for the Qualifiers against the Dallas Stars. Johansen began the shortened 2020–21 season with four assists in 10 games before being sidelined with an upper body injury. He subsequently missed seven games to recover before returning to the lineup for their game against the Detroit Red Wings on February 23. However, his season continued to be derailed as he only played four more games before being added to the Predators' COVID-19 list. His time on the protocol was shortlived and he was removed on March 4. Throughout the remainder of the season, Johansen occasionally gained Eeli Tolvanen as his winger in place of Arvidsson. On April 6, 2022, Johansen recorded his first career NHL hat-trick to help the Predators maintain their lead for the Western Conference's first Wild Card spot. Despite playing with struggling line mates, Johansen finished the regular season with 26 goals and 37 assists for 63 points. During the 2022–23 season, Johansen was reunited with former Portland Winter Hawks teammate Nino Niederreiter. By late November, the duo had combined for 14 goals in 18 games. The two were joined by Tolvanen for six games before he was removed from the top line. On November 11, 2022, Johansen played in his 800th career NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche. In February 2023, during a game against the Vancouver Canucks, Johansen was inadvertently cut by the skate of Quinn Hughes and underwent surgery on his lower right leg. At the time of the injury, he ranked fifth on the Predators with 28 points through 55 games. Johansen was expected to need 12 weeks to recover and thus miss the remainder of the regular season. #### Colorado Avalanche (2023–present) Following the season and seven and a half seasons within the Predators organization, Johansen was traded at 50% retention for the remaining two years of his contract to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for the rights to Alex Galchenyuk on June 24, 2023. ## International play Johansen was invited to take part in the Canadian national junior team's selection camp in August and December 2011. He was later named to the squad, competing in the 2011 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, held in Buffalo, New York. Making his international debut against Russia, he scored his first goal for Canada in a 5–3 win. In the quarterfinal against Switzerland, he was named the player of the game, having scored his second goal of the tournament. He scored again in the semifinal against the United States to help Canada advance to the gold medal game, where they were defeated 5–3 by Russia. Johansen finished with three goals and nine points, third in team scoring behind Brayden Schenn and Ryan Ellis, and was named to the Tournament All-Star Team. ## Personal life Johansen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, to Randall and Rosalind Johansen. He has a younger brother, Lucas, who currently plays for the Hershey Bears in the AHL after being drafted by the Washington Capitals in 2016. Johansen played his first years of minor hockey with the Vancouver Thunderbirds organization until his family moved to the suburb of Port Moody. He played in Port Moody at the double-A level through to bantam (age 13–14 level), including a peewee (age 11–12) provincial championship. In 2007–08, he played with the Vancouver North East Chiefs of the British Columbia Major Midget League. ## Career statistics ### Regular season and playoffs ### International ## Awards and honours
4,061,738
Thomas Farrell (United States Army officer)
1,168,903,720
American general (1891–1967)
[ "1891 births", "1967 deaths", "Manhattan Project people", "Military personnel from New York (state)", "People associated with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki", "People from Brunswick, New York", "Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)", "Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States)", "Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army)", "Recipients of the Legion of Merit", "Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni", "United States Army Corps of Engineers personnel", "United States Army generals", "United States Army generals of World War II", "United States Army personnel of World War I", "United States Military Academy faculty" ]
Major General Thomas Francis Farrell (3 December 1891 – 11 April 1967) was the Deputy Commanding General and Chief of Field Operations of the Manhattan Project, acting as executive officer to Major General Leslie R. Groves Jr. Farrell graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a degree in civil engineering in 1912. During World War I, he served with the 1st Engineers on the Western Front, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the French Croix de guerre. After the war, he was an instructor at the Engineer School, and then at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He resigned from the Regular Army in 1926 to become Commissioner of Canals and Waterway for the State of New York from 1926 to 1930, and head of construction and engineering of the New York State Department of Public Works from 1930 until 1941. During World War II he returned to active duty as Groves' executive officer in the Operations Branch of the Construction Division under the Office of the Quartermaster General. He went to the China-Burma-India theater to help build the Ledo Road. In January 1945, Groves chose Farrell as his second-in-command of the Manhattan Project. Farrell observed the Trinity test at the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range with J. Robert Oppenheimer. In August 1945, he went to Tinian to supervise the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Afterwards he led teams of scientists to inspect the effects of the atomic bombs. In 1946 he was appointed chairman of the New York City Housing Authority. He subsequently worked as a consultant for the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority on projects such as the Cross Bronx Expressway. He was a member of the evaluation board for Operation Crossroads, and was an advisor to Bernard Baruch, the United States representative on the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission. During the Korean War, Farrell returned to active duty once more, serving with the Defense Production Administration, and then with the Atomic Energy Commission as its Assistant General Manager for Manufacturing. He oversaw a vast increase in the Commission's production capabilities before retiring again in 1951. From 1960 to 1964, he worked on the preparations for the 1964 New York World's Fair. ## Early life Thomas Francis Farrell was born on 3 December 1891 in Brunswick, New York, the fourth of nine children of John Joseph Farrell Sr., a farmer, and his wife Margaret née Connolly. Farrell was raised on the family's 200-acre (81 ha) farm, where his father had an apple orchard, and raised pigs and dairy cattle. The children helped with the farm chores, and delivering the milk, but none stayed on as adults. Farrell graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1912. His first professional job was working on the New York State Barge Canal. Seeing Irish workers being mistreated by bosses made him a staunch supporter of organized labor. He worked on the Panama Canal from 1913 to 1916. Farrell joined the Corps of Engineers Officers Reserve Corps in 1916. He married Maria Ynez White in 1917 before departing for France with the American Expeditionary Force (AEF). He joined the 1st Engineers with the rank of second lieutenant, and departed from Hoboken, New Jersey on the USAT Finland on 6 August as the assistant supply officer with the rank of first lieutenant. He became a captain and regimental supply officer in October, and subsequently, with the rank of major, commanded the 2nd Battalion from January to May 1918, Company F from May to July, and finally the 1st Battalion from July 1918. Farrell participated in the Battle of Cantigny, the Aisne-Marne Offensive, the Battle of Montdidier-Noyon and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The 1st Engineers' main role was maintenance of the roads and construction of bridges in the 1st Division area, although detachments also employed Bangalore torpedoes to clear paths through barbed wire. However, during the Argonne battle, Farrell's 1st Battalion was committed to the line as infantry. For his leadership in the action that followed, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. His citation read: > for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with 1st Engineers, 1st Division, A.E.F., at Bois-de-Moncy, France, October 8–9, 1918. On October 8 when ordered to take and hold Hill 269, which was strongly held by enemy forces, Major Farrell with great skill and with undaunted courage and determination led his battalion to the attack, seized and held this vital point despite the fact that he was attacked by greatly superior numbers on three sides and nearly surrounded by strong enemy forces who showed extraordinary determination to regain this highly important position. He held the hill until reinforcements could reach him after darkness had fallen on 9 October 1918. His fearless leadership, utter disregard for his own safety, and complete devotion to duty raised the morale of his battalion to a high pitch and inspired them to acts of great endeavor. Farrell was also awarded the Croix de guerre with palm for his actions, and the 1st Battalion received a citation from Major General Charles Summerall, the commander of V Corps. After the Armistice with Germany in November 1918, the 1st Engineers participated in the occupation of the Rhineland, with Farrell's 1st Battalion basing itself at Ebernhahn. The 1st Engineers returned to the United States in August and September 1919. After the war, Farrell joined the Regular Army. He served as an instructor at the Engineer School at Camp A. A. Humphreys from 1921 to 1924, and then at the United States Military Academy at West Point until 1926. Farrell resigned from the Regular Army in 1926, but remained in the reserves. The Governor of New York, Al Smith, appointed Farrell as Commissioner of Canals and Waterway for the State of New York. He was head of construction and engineering of the New York State Department of Public Works from 1930 until 1941. He was considered as a possible candidate to replace Frederick Stuart Greene as Superintendent of Public Works, but Greene did not retire. The Great Depression led to a vast expansion of public works activity, both nationally and in New York. Major projects in New York included the 1939 New York World's Fair at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, as well as the construction of LaGuardia Airport. ## World War II ### Construction in the United States Farrell returned to active duty in February 1941 with the rank of lieutenant colonel to act as then-Colonel Leslie R. Groves Jr.'s executive officer in the Operations Branch of the Construction Division under the Office of the Office of the Quartermaster General. At this point, the US Army was about to embark on a national mobilization, and it was the task of the Construction Division of the Quartermaster Corps to prepare the necessary accommodations and training facilities for the vast army that would be created. The enormous construction program had been dogged by bottlenecks, shortages, delays, spiralling costs, and poor living conditions at the construction sites. Newspapers began publishing accounts charging the Construction Division with incompetence, ineptitude, and inefficiency. Farrell and Groves worked out new, simplified procedures for centralized procurement that provided the flexibility needed to get projects done on time with the accountability that such enormous expenditures demanded. He was awarded the Legion of Merit for his services. ### China-Burma-India In September 1943, the Chief of Army Service Forces, Lieutenant General Brehon B. Somervell, created a special India Committee to coordinate activities in the China-Burma-India theater with those of Army Service Forces back home. Farrell, now a colonel, was appointed to the committee to oversee construction. The creation of a line of communications from India to China would be the largest engineer undertaking of the war. A number of new units were trained in the United States specifically for the task. In a reorganization later that year, Farrell became Chief Engineer of the Services of Supply in the China-Burma-India theater. In December he also became head of its Construction Division. Farrell, who was promoted to brigadier general in January 1944, organized his command into two divisions and six districts. He was in charge of the work inside India; construction of the Ledo Road itself was the responsibility of Colonel Lewis A. Pick. In addition to this work, Farrell had to support Operation Matterhorn, the deployment of B-29 bombers to China and India, which involved the construction and expansion of a series of air bases. The B-29s required runways that were almost twice the size of those for the older B-17s, and he was forced to divert his resources to construct a 6-inch (150 mm) oil pipeline to the Matterhorn airfields. To bridge the fast-following rivers of northern Burma, Pick and Farrell selected the H-20 Portable Steel Highway Bridge. Production of these had been discontinued in favor of the Bailey bridge, but Farrell's technical arguments won out and the Corps of Engineers had to reinstate production of the H-20. In view of these difficulties, Farrell obtained Bailey bridges from British sources. In the end, all the major bridges beyond the Irrawaddy River would be Baileys. He also made the decision, controversial in Washington, to shift the terminus of the 6-inch (150 mm) oil pipeline from Calcutta to Chittagong in order to avoid crossing the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers, and the dangers of concentrating too many vulnerable installations in the Calcutta area. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. ### Manhattan Project In December 1944, the Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson, ordered Groves, now the Director of the Manhattan Project, to find a deputy. Stimson was concerned about what would happen if Groves became incapacitated. "You can have any officer in the Army," Stimson told Groves, "no matter who he is, or what duty he is on." Groves told Colonel Kenneth Nichols, the commander of the Manhattan District, that his first choice would be Farrell. Nichols replied: "He would be my first choice too." "Site Y" was the code name for the remote Los Alamos County, New Mexico facilities that housed the main group of researchers and was responsible for final assembly of the bombs. Farrell was briefed on the physics of the atomic bomb by Robert Oppenheimer, and he made several extended tours of the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, which had been chosen as the site for the Trinity test. On signing a receipt for the plutonium from Oak Ridge, Farrell commented: > I recall that I asked them if I was going to sign for it shouldn't I take it and handle it. So I took this heavy ball in my hand and I felt it growing warm, I got a certain sense of its hidden power. It wasn't a cold piece of metal, but it was really a piece of metal that seemed to be working inside. Then maybe for the first time I began to believe some of the fantastic tales the scientists had told about this nuclear power. Farrell observed the Trinity (nuclear test) with Oppenheimer from the control dugout located 10,000 yards (9,100 m) from the test tower. He initially said to a fellow officer The long-hairs have let it get away from them. In his report on the test to President Truman on 21 July 1945, Farrell stated: > The effects could well be called unprecedented, magnificent, beautiful, stupendous, and terrifying. No man-made phenomenon of such tremendous power had ever occurred before...It lit every peak, crevasse and ridge of the nearby mountain range with a clarity and beauty that cannot be described but must be seen to be imagined. Seconds after the explosion came, the air blast pressed hard against the people watching, to be followed almost immediately by the strong, sustained, awesome roar which warned of doomsday and made us feel we puny things were blasphemous to dare tamper with the forces previously reserved for the Almighty. Words are inadequate tools for the job of acquainting those not present with the physical, mental and psychological effects. It had to be witnessed to be realized. . Farrell assumed special responsibility for combat operations. He served on the target committee, acting as its chairman when Groves was absent. In July 1945, Farrell arrived on Guam to coordinate the project with the local commanders. One of his tasks was to brief General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, which he did on July 26. Farrell was joined by Rear Admiral William R. Purnell, who represented the Military Liaison Committee, and Captain William S. Parsons, the commander of Project Alberta. They became, informally, the "Tinian Joint Chiefs", with decision-making authority over the nuclear mission. Farrell notified Groves that the Little Boy bomb would be ready for use on or about 3 August, weather permitting. In the space of a week on Tinian, four B-29s crashed and burned on the runway. Parsons became very concerned. If a B-29 crashed with a Little Boy, the fire could cook off the explosive and detonate the weapon, with catastrophic consequences. Parsons raised the possibility of arming the bomb in flight with Farrell, who agreed that it might be a good idea. Farrell asked Parsons if he knew how to do it. "No sir, I don't", Parsons conceded, "but I've got all afternoon to learn." After the bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August, Farrell, along with Generals Carl Spaatz, Nathan Twining, Barney Giles and James H. Davies, debriefed Parsons, the aircrews and the observers, and sent Groves a detailed report. Farrell brought forward the date for the next attack because good weather was only predicted until 9 August. He signed the Fat Man bomb, "To Hirohito, with love and kisses, T. F. Farrell." The bomb was loaded on the B-29 Bockscar. During pre-flight inspection, a fuel pump was found to be faulty, meaning that 800 US gallons (3,000 L; 670 imp gal) of fuel in the bomb bay tank could not be used, although it would have to be carried. Farrell took the difficult decision to continue the mission, in view of the worsening weather. This was only the first of a number of problems that faced the mission crews that day, but the mission was carried out successfully. The surrender of Japan on 14 August precluded further attacks. Groves had already directed Farrell to prepare teams to inspect the effects of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Farrell had begun assembling the required personnel and equipment. Farrell arrived in Hiroshima by air on 8 September as part of a group, equipped with portable geiger counters, that was headed by himself, and also included Brigadier General James B. Newman, Jr from the US Army Air Forces, Japanese Rear Admiral Masao Tsuzuki, who acted as a translator, and Colonel Stafford L. Warren, the head of the Manhattan District's Medical Section. They remained in Hiroshima until 14 September and then surveyed Nagasaki from 19 September to 8 October. They were greatly impressed by both the damage done by the atomic bombs, and the extensive Japanese preparations for the Allied invasion that had been planned prior to the surrender. ## Post-war Farrell was promoted to the rank of major general in October 1945. He remained Deputy Commander of the Manhattan Project until he retired from active service in April 1946. He was appointed chairman of the New York City Housing Authority by Mayor William O'Dwyer on Robert Moses's recommendation. In the aftermath of the war, providing public housing, especially for returning veterans, was a major priority for the city. Unlike other projects of the time, New York City public housing was not racially segregated. Writing in 1950, Farrell declared, "New York's public housing projects demonstrate that Negroes and whites can live together." He served as a member of the evaluation board for Operation Crossroads, and was an advisor to Bernard Baruch, the United States' representative on the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission. In 1950, during the Korean War, Farrell returned to active duty with the Army once more, and served with the Defense Production Administration. In July 1951, he was transferred to the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), the successor organization to the Manhattan Project, where he became the Assistant General Manager for Manufacturing. In this role, he oversaw a vast increase in the Commission's production capabilities. The construction of new reactors at the Hanford and Savannah River Sites would eventually triple the production of nuclear weapons. Farrell left the AEC and active duty Army again in February 1952. He subsequently worked as a consultant for the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority on projects such as the Cross Bronx Expressway. From 1960 to 1964, he worked on the preparations for the 1964 New York World's Fair at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. His children were Thomas, Barbara, Peter, Patricia, and Stephen. Thomas graduated from West Point in the class of 1942, received the Silver Star Medal and the Distinguished Service Cross, and reached the rank of captain before being killed at Anzio on 25 February 1944. An Army port repair ship, the Thomas F. Farrell Jr., was named in his honor. Peter graduated from West Point in the class of 1950. He served with the Army in the Vietnam War, where he commanded the 6th Battalion, 56th Air Defense Artillery during the Tet Offensive. He retired from the Army in 1978 with the rank of colonel. Farrell's daughter, Barbara Vucanovich, was the first woman from Nevada to be elected to the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1983 to 1997. His granddaughter, Patricia Dillon Cafferata, served as Nevada State Treasurer from 1983 to 1987. Farrell died at Saint Mary's Hospital in Reno, Nevada, on 11 April 1967. His wife Ynez had died the year before. Ironically, the man who had spent a lifetime building things was principally remembered for the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. ## In popular culture He was portrayed by Henry O'Neill in The Beginning or the End, a docudrama about the Manhattan Project.
1,658,667
Test Track
1,173,301,654
Attraction at Epcot in Walt Disney World
[ "1999 establishments in Florida", "Amusement rides introduced in 1999", "Amusement rides manufactured by Dynamic Structures", "Chevrolet", "Epcot", "Future World (Epcot)", "Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions", "World Discovery" ]
Test Track is a high-speed slot car thrill ride manufactured by Dynamic Attractions located in World Discovery at Epcot, a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. The ride is a simulated excursion through the rigorous testing procedures that General Motors uses to evaluate its concept cars, culminating in a high-speed drive around the exterior of the attraction. The attraction soft-opened to the public on December 19, 1998, after a long delay due to problems revealed during testing and to changes in design. As a result, the attraction officially opened on March 17, 1999. Test Track replaced the World of Motion ride, which closed three years earlier in 1996. Originally, guests rode in "test vehicles" in a GM "testing facility" through a series of assessments to illustrate how automobile prototype evaluations were conducted. The highlight of the attraction is a speed trial on a track around the exterior of the building at a top speed of 64.9 miles per hour (104.4 km/h) making it the fastest Disney theme park attraction ever built. Test Track closed for refurbishment on April 15, 2012, and re-opened on December 6, 2012. It is now sponsored by the Chevrolet brand instead of General Motors as a whole. Guests now design their own car in the Chevrolet Design Studio. Then they board a "Sim-Car" and are taken through the "digital" testing ground of the "SimTrack". Throughout the ride, guests see how their designs performed in each test. After the ride, guests can see how their car did overall, film a commercial, race their designs, and have a picture taken with their own virtually designed vehicle with a chosen backdrop in the background. Test Track is located in World Discovery, formerly known as Future World East. ## History ### Test Track Presented by General Motors (March 1999–April 2012) World of Motion was an attraction that was located in the current building of Test Track and was sponsored by General Motors. When the sponsorship expired, GM was in the process of conducting lay-offs and cutbacks forcing the company to question whether or not to sign another sponsorship agreement. Upon deciding to sign another agreement, GM wanted Disney to construct a new ride on the site of World of Motion. The new ride would focus specifically around their automobiles, rather than the fanciful history of transportation from the pre-historic (animal transportation) to the modern age (automobiles, planes, etc.) that were previously housed in the space. In 1976, Disney Imagineers had visited GM's Milford Proving Ground; the Imagineers later made a second trip to the facility as they designed Test Track. After numerous problems encountered during the construction of the ride, Test Track soft-opened on December 19, 1998, but did not officially open until March 17, 1999, nearly two years later than planned. In November 1995, Epcot announced that World of Motion would be transformed into Test Track. After the attraction closed on January 2, 1996, everything inside the ride building was removed. Meanwhile, the elevated track was already being constructed outside and behind the building, part of the high-speed test portion of the ride. Work outside the building began in the fall of 1995, while work inside the building began in the spring of 1996. The ride was scheduled to open 29 months after World of Motion's closing, in May 1997, but after numerous problems arose, the ride opening was delayed by nearly two years. The cars used on the ride were designed to resemble the look of a test car that is used to go through multiple safety tests. Throughout the construction of Test Track, numerous problems occurred causing delays in the ride opening. After failing to open as scheduled in May 1997, park officials announced on October 15, 1997 that the opening was delayed until at least sometime in 1998. The first problem that Imagineers had to overcome was that the wheels used on the ride vehicles could not stand up to the demand of the ride course and speed. This problem was resolved but a second, more critical issue caused the ride to be delayed by over a year. For Test Track to run with the highest hourly capacity possible, twenty-nine ride vehicles would be needed. The ride's programming system could only handle operating a maximum of six cars over the layout of the ride, and the system suffered frequent software crashes. The original software was scrapped, and eventually programmers were able to get the computer system able to run twenty-nine ride vehicles at once. Despite some rumors about rain affecting the outdoor segment, park officials assured that weather issues were not a factor in the delay. In August 1998, Disney announced that the opening of Test Track would be delayed once again. Officials told park guests that the technology was new and still being developed. Reports planned to reschedule the opening for 1999. After the problems were resolved, Test Track soft-opened to the public on December 19, 1998. The ride was still prone to breakdowns and did not officially open until March 17, 1999. Even after its grand opening, the ride still suffered from frequent downtime, although efficiency gradually improved. Shortly after its opening, to improve capacity, Test Track was one of the first rides at the Disney parks to employ a dedicated single rider line. The six-seated cars were often left with empty seats, as most riders arrived in groups of two or four. The single rider line helped each car leave full and reduce long lines. In November 1999, Epcot added a FASTPASS entrance to Test Track. ### Test Track Presented by Chevrolet (December 2012–present) On January 6, 2012, Disney Parks announced plans to renovate Test Track during the second and third quarters of the year and re-open the ride by fall 2012. As part of the update, Test Track's sponsor became General Motors' Chevrolet marque instead of GM as a whole. The new additions include a pre-show area where guests "design" a new car for testing in the Chevrolet Design Center, then they board Test Track's existing six-passenger ride vehicles, to be known as "SimCars", to see how their design fares on the Center's driving course. The experience concludes in a renovated showroom featuring current and future Chevrolet products. The ride vehicles were repainted and while the track was unchanged, the setting was overhauled. On April 27, 2012, Walt Disney's social media manager Jennifer Fickley-Baker released a set of concept design photos. Within the photos, it was confirmed that the ride will have 4 main tests: capability, efficiency, responsiveness, and power. The ride closed on April 15, 2012 and soon later, barriers were placed along all walk-ways leading to either the entrance or exit of the ride. Also, a musical show called "Test Track All Stars" was added in front of the former main entrance to Test Track, which closed on December 4, 2012. The refurbished attraction first opened to guests during a soft opening on December 3, 2012. The grand re-opening took place on December 6, 2012. Test Track was closed on January 13, 2020 for a refurbishment. It then reopened a month later on February 26. On September 2, the attraction was shut down again due to technical issues. ## Ride overview ### 1999–2012 #### Queue During the first part of the queue, guests viewed a sample repair and test shop. As guests entered the queue in the welcome center they were shown tests performed on cars and parts before being released. The queue wound by different tests for tires and car doors, an anechoic chamber for radio receivers, and an area for crash test dummies to be tested. At the end of the queue, a group of guests would be brought into a briefing room where they were shown automobile testing facilities and examples of tests being performed. The host, Bill McKim (John Michael Higgins) told the guests that they would take part in some of these tests and also told the technician Sherrie what tests to set up. Small videos of each test were shown as he spoke. He finally told her to choose one final "surprise test," and a video of a car crashing into a barrier was shown as a door opened for guests to enter the interior queue. #### Ride Upon reaching the end of the second queue, guests were loaded into test cars. Upon dispatching from the loading dock, the car was brought through an accelerated hill climb. Next, the car's suspension was tested over different types of road surfaces, including German and Belgian blocks & cobblestones. Next, the car's anti-lock braking system was turned off and the car tried to navigate a course of cones, knocking many over in the process. The anti-lock brakes were then turned back on and a similar cone course was navigated easily. Guests were shown a video overlay of the difference. Then, the cars were brought through three environmental chambers: the heat chamber (featuring 192 heat lamps), the cold chamber, and the corrosion chamber (featuring robots on both sides that spray yellow mist). The handling of the car was then tested. It climbed a set of hills with blind turns while increasing its speed by 10% each time. At the top, the car almost crashes into an oncoming semi-truck before swerving out of the way. The car was now brought to the final test shown in the briefing room: the barrier test. The car lined up across from a barrier and began to accelerate towards it. Just before hitting the barrier a series of flashes occurred, where a picture of the guests was taken, and the barrier opened to a track outside. The car traveled along a straightaway into a boot-shaped turnaround over an employee parking lot, then took a lap around the building with banked turns and a max speed of 64.9 mph (104.6 km/h). As the car returned to the loading dock, a thermal scan was taken of the guests and shown on a large screen. Like many Disney attractions, Test Track exited into a themed gift shop featuring merchandise associated with the attraction. Guests could also view and purchase photos taken of their vehicle on the ride or scan their Photopass to view or purchase the photos later. There was also an area where there was a showroom of the all-new, prototype, or legendary GM vehicles. #### Post-show: The Assembly Experience Experience designer Bob Rogers and the design team BRC Imagination Arts, were commissioned to create the new post-show experience entitled "The Assembly Experience." The Assembly Experience is a walk-through environment, giving guests the illusion that they are on the floor of a vast automotive assembly plant. Automotive doors, seats and engines glide overhead on assembly line chainveyors, while simulated automotive die-press caused the floor to "rumble" as each automotive part was pressed. Video monitors provided real GM workers a chance to tell EPCOT visitors how they felt about their products and their work. ### 2012–present #### Queue The first queue uses the same area as the old but is themed to the Chevrolet Design Studio at EPCOT. “Designers” (as the Test Track Technicians call the guests) pass by two concept cars, the Chevrolet Miray, and the Chevrolet EN-V. Afterwards, the standby queue leads to a section where a small model car is drawn on through projections while one of Chevrolet's employees discusses the design process for cars. Then the standby queue goes by large touchscreens where designers can take tutorials on how to design a car. Once at the front of the queue, designers use their MagicBand, park ticket, or receive a white RFID card called a "design key" and wait for a set of doors to open leading into one of the two design studios. Once in the studio, designers have a set amount of time (that depends on how busy the attraction is) to design their own "Chevrolet Custom Concept Vehicle" that will be tested on the sim-track based on four performance attributes: Capability, Efficiency, Responsiveness or Power. Once the time expires, designers move to the second queue which leads to the boarding area. For Lightning Lane designers, the queue goes directly to the main design studios. For single riders, guests use their MagicBand, ticket, or a design key to select a pre-designed vehicle from one of the four performance attributes: Capability, Efficiency, Responsiveness or Power. Once guests select their vehicle, they move to the same second queue. While waiting to board the sim-cars, all designers must scan their MagicBand, ticket, or design key again at the gate to upload their Chevrolet Custom Concept Vehicle to the sim-car. #### Ride After designers board the sim-cars and the seat belts are fastened, the car that they designed will embark on an exciting journey through the digital testing environment of the Sim-Track. Along the way, designers undergo four different tests: capability, efficiency, responsiveness, and power. In the capability test, the car first connects to OnStar, while passing a snowflake on the left which is composed of World of Motion logos, then accelerates past a rain projection and skids out of control. Next, the continuing path disappears and the sim-car turns around to speed up again. A short time later, the sim-car makes a sharp left turn as a lightning bolt strikes. The car then passes by a futuristic city, which is an unintentional reference to CenterCore, an amazing city of the future from World of Motion. Following the capability test, the results of which car designs scored the best in the test are displayed. The sim-car then begins the efficiency test. In the first part, the sim-cars are scanned for "optimum eco-efficiency". The second test performs an aero-dynamic test on the vehicle. Finally, "hyper-spectrum imaging" takes place. On either sides of the walls, designers can spot a WED Performance text inscribed on one of the tires, in honor of W.E.D., Walter Elias Disney’s initials and the original name of Walt Disney Imagineering, the division of the company that built theme parks. There are numerous websites, along with a Hidden Mickey that is difficult to find. Again, after the test is complete, the best scores are displayed. The third test, responsiveness, is next. The sim-car accelerates around hairpin turns with laser-projected trees. After the first right turn, a sign can be seen that says: Motion Lane 82, General Motorway 99, Bowtie Boulevard 12; all of which reference the three attractions that have been in the building and their opening years. Afterwards, two more signs can be seen after a few more turns, one with the "turn right to go left" quote from the 2006 Disney Pixar film Cars. and one with “Beaver X-ing”, referencing a GM plant in Beaverton Oregon, where Imagineers visited GM employees to help with the original Test Track. The sim-car then enters a tunnel to encounter the 18-wheeler from the original version though it is now shown with lasers. When the vehicle exits the tunnel, the results for the responsiveness test are displayed and all of the test icons are displayed. The final test is power where the sim-car stops for a moment. It then accelerates through flashing purple arches towards a wall with the ride's logo on it. The doors split open and the car exits the building. Designers can spot a sign with the number 82 referencing Epcot and World of Motion’s opening year just before the drop. This is followed by another one with a futuristic city picture, which is a reference to World of Motion’s CenterCore. The sim-car accelerates along a straightaway until it crosses over Avenue of the Stars as guests get their pictures taken. Designers can spot a second sign that pays tribute to World of Motion, this time with the logo and the "FN2BFRE" text, referencing to the former ride's theme song, It’s Fun to be Free, at which point the sim-car makes a 90 degree right turn, then a 270 degree left turn circling over an employee parking lot. Exiting the turn, the sim car then travels back down another straightaway before making a complete counterclockwise circle around the ride building. When the test is complete, the vehicle descends back to the loading station where the next group of designers board. #### Post-show Guests can then use their MagicBand, ticket, or design key that has their Chevrolet Custom Concept Vehicle that they made in the Design Studio to see their scores from the ride, play games and make an ad in the "Chevrolet Showroom." In the showroom, guests can also check out some of the newest Chevrolet vehicles, take virtual photos with their custom-designed cars and make Sim-Car cards with their cars using their MagicBand, ticket, or design key. There is also a gift shop located at the exit like the original version of the ride. Many World of Motion logos can be found throughout the attraction. These logos are references to the old attraction and can be found on trash bins, murals, the attraction's main sign, and signage directing Epcot guests to the attraction. ## See also - 2012 in amusement parks - Epcot attraction and entertainment history - Journey to the Center of the Earth, the second generation of Test Track technology, located at Tokyo DisneySea, at Tokyo, Japan. - Radiator Springs Racers, a similar attraction at Disney California Adventure themed after the Cars franchise.
28,167,041
We'll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again
1,162,357,717
null
[ "1976 singles", "1976 songs", "1977 singles", "1978 singles", "Arista Records singles", "Big Tree Records singles", "England Dan & John Ford Coley songs", "Epic Records singles", "Maureen McGovern songs", "Song recordings produced by John Boylan (record producer)", "Song recordings produced by Kyle Lehning", "Songs about parting" ]
"We'll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again" is a song by Jeffrey Comanor from the album A Rumor in His Own Time, which debuted in September 1976. Written by Comanor, the song describes a couple who spend a night together, one which the narrator wishes would "never end". Both the song, which Epic Records released as a single, and album failed to chart. Discovered four months later by Arista Records President Clive Davis, "We'll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again" was covered by soft rock duo Deardorff & Joseph for their eponymous debut album, released on Arista. After Deardorff & Joseph disbanded, Marcia Day, who managed Maureen McGovern, became the manager of Deardorff, while Susan Joseph, who managed England Dan & John Ford Coley, became the manager of Joseph. Both McGovern and England Dan & John Ford Coley released covers of "We'll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again" in February 1978; while McGovern's failed to chart, Dan & Coley's spent six weeks at number one on the Billboard US Easy Listening chart, reached number two on the RPM Canada Adult Contemporary chart, and went to numbers nine and eleven on the magazines' respective overall charts. ## Original release Lyricist and composer Jeffrey Comanor recorded "We'll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again" for the album A Rumor in His Own Time, which debuted in September 1976. Produced by John Boylan and released on Epic Records, both the album and the single failed to chart. "We'll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again" describes a couple that spends a night together, one which the narrator wishes "would never end". Comanor, who wrote the song, stated that his lyrical inspiration originated from a girl he dated who owned a wooden KLH radio that continued to play music quietly when he attempted to turn it off. When Comanor's next girlfriend, Molly, left the city where he lived, he remembered their last night together and how he "hated that night to end": a combination of the two memories formed the introductory lyrics of the song. ## Covers After its release, Arista Records President Clive Davis found the song and wanted Melissa Manchester to record a cover; instead, he gave it to Deardorff & Joseph, a duo of Danny Deardorff and Marcus Joseph, who previously opened for Seals and Crofts, and they recorded it for their eponymous debut album. Released as a single in January 1977, with "The Little Kings of Earth" on the B-side, the song peaked at number twenty-two on the U.S. Easy Listening chart for two weeks in April 1977. The single did not do well on the Billboard Hot 100, and "bubbled under" at number 109. Nineteen months after its initial debut, England Dan & John Ford Coley covered the song for the album Some Things Don't Come Easy. Produced by Kyle Lehning and engineered by Lehning and Marshall Morgan with help from Tom Knox, Big Tree Records issued it as a single on February 17, 1978; the song's debut preceded its album. A Billboard magazine writer described England Dan & John Ford Coley's cover of "We'll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again" as a soft ballad with a "catchy chorus" and "excellent vocal harmonizing". In a review of Some Things Don't Come Easy for AllMusic, Joe Viglione called it "far and away the best song on the album" and wrote that its "hook and instrumentation are so radio-friendly that the 45 could be put on repeat and after the 30th spin not bore like many of the tracks [on Some Things Don't Come Easy]". Another Billboard writer listed "We'll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again" as a "hot cut" from the album, along with "You Can't Dance", "Calling for You Again", and "Lovin' Someone on a Rainy Night". "Calling for You Again", written by Coley and Bob Grundy, was the B-side to the single. Cash Box said that it has "a gentle uplift to a strong chorus, effective vocals and piano-guitar interaction." In February, Maureen McGovern also recorded a cover that Epic Records released as a single. After Deardorff & Joseph separated, Marcia Day, who managed McGovern, became the manager of Danny Deardorff, while Susan Joseph, who managed Dan & Coley, became the manager of Marcus Joseph. According to Day, Susan told her that "We'll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again" would "absolutely not" be Dan & Coley's next single, and that McGovern could release a cover; Susan, however, states that she did not know of its plans for future release. On March 17, 1978, McGovern promoted her song on the fourth season of the variety talk show Dinah!, which aired on NBC. Described by Epic as the "title song" to McGovern's newest album, the cover did not appear on her next album and the single failed to chart. ## Chart performance On March 25, 1978, in their "Top Album Pick" section, Billboard predicted that the first single from Some Things Don't Come Easy would reach the top-ten; afterwards, it went to number nine on the magazine's Hot 100 chart and spent six weeks at number one on their Easy Listening chart. Cashbox placed the song at number fourteen on their US Top 100 Singles chart for the week that ended on April 29, 1978. In Canada, "We'll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again" peaked on the RPM Top Singles chart at number eleven, while on the Adult Contemporary Tracks chart, the song peaked at number two behind "Dust in the Wind" by the progressive rock band Kansas. ### Weekly singles charts ### Year-end charts ## See also - List of Billboard Easy Listening number ones of 1978
7,958,047
Ryan Rowland-Smith
1,156,471,631
Australian baseball player (born 1983)
[ "1983 births", "2006 World Baseball Classic players", "2013 World Baseball Classic players", "2017 World Baseball Classic players", "American Ninja Warrior contestants", "Arizona Diamondbacks players", "Arizona League Mariners players", "Australian expatriate baseball players in Taiwan", "Australian expatriate baseball players in Venezuela", "Australian expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic", "Australian expatriate baseball players in the United States", "Baseball coaches", "Baseball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics", "Baseball players from Sydney", "Brisbane Bandits players", "Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players", "Cardenales de Lara players", "EDA Rhinos players", "Estrellas Orientales players", "Everett AquaSox players", "Expatriate baseball players in Puerto Rico", "Gigantes del Cibao players", "Gulf Coast Astros players", "Inland Empire 66ers players", "Iowa Cubs players", "Leones de Ponce players", "Living people", "Louisville Bats players", "Major League Baseball pitchers", "Major League Baseball players from Australia", "Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics", "Oklahoma City RedHawks players", "Olympic baseball players for Australia", "Olympic medalists in baseball", "Olympic silver medalists for Australia", "Pawtucket Red Sox players", "Peoria Javelinas players", "San Antonio Missions players", "Seattle Mariners announcers", "Seattle Mariners players", "Sportsmen from New South Wales", "Tacoma Rainiers players", "Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players" ]
Ryan Benjamin Rowland-Smith (born 26 January 1983) is an Australian former professional baseball pitcher. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks. Rowland-Smith also represented Australia in the World Baseball Classic three times and in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Born in Sydney, Rowland-Smith grew up watching MLB games on videocassette. Signed out of high school by the Seattle Mariners, he spent the next several years pitching for their minor league teams. Promoted to Seattle for the first time in July 2007, he struck out the first batter he faced, former Mariners' star Ken Griffey Jr. Rowland-Smith began 2008 as a relief pitcher for the Mariners but was sent to the minor leagues briefly in July to work on becoming a starting pitcher. He rejoined the team in August and remained in their starting rotation the rest of the year. In 2009, he made one start for the Mariners at the beginning of the year before going on the disabled list with triceps tendinitis. Rejoining the team in July, he completed the eighth inning in three of his remaining starts for Seattle. In 2010, he made a career-high 20 starts for the Mariners but posted a 1–10 record and a 6.75 earned run average (ERA). Seattle allowed him to become a free agent after the year. Over the next three seasons, Rowland-Smith pitched in the minor leagues for several teams. In 2014, he began the season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, much to his excitement as the Diamondbacks were opening the 2014 season in Australia. His time with the Diamondbacks did not last long, as the team designated him for assignment on 18 April. Rowland-Smith pitched for some minor league teams the remainder of the year, then joined the EDA Rhinos of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in 2015. He pitched for the Brisbane Bandits of the Australian Baseball League in January 2017, then retired after the 2017 World Baseball Classic. ## Early life Rowland-Smith was born 26 January 1983, in Sydney, Australia. His father is Australian celebrity trainer Rob Rowland-Smith, known as "The Sandhill Warrior," and his mother Julie is a retired high school physical education teacher. Ryan was their third child. Stephanie the second child. His oldest sister is named Rhiannon. Rob and Julie divorced when Ryan was three, and Rowland-Smith grew up with his mother and sister in Newcastle, New South Wales. He was a baseball fan from childhood, though he had to watch games on video cassettes because Major League Baseball was not televised in Australia at the time. The videos he had were of the 1992 World Series and the 1993 World Series. Rowland-Smith started playing baseball himself at the age of 12. He graduated from Newcastle High School in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, in December 2000. The Seattle Mariners, one of the only Major League Baseball (MLB) teams that scouted Australia at the time, signed Rowland-Smith as a non-drafted free agent on 19 November 2000. "I signed it before the ink dried," Rowland-Smith said of his contract. "It was the only opportunity I was going to get." ## Career ### 2001–04 seasons Rowland-Smith began his pro career in 2001 with the Rookie level Arizona League Mariners. In 17 relief appearances, he allowed just one home run in 33+1⁄3 innings pitched. He split the 2002 season between the Single-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and the Single-A short-season Everett AquaSox. With Wisconsin to begin the season, he appeared in 12 games (eight starts), posting a 1–2 record and a 6.75 earned run average (ERA). In the middle of the season, he was demoted to Everett. He appeared in 18 games (six starts) with Everett, posting a 4–1 record, a 2.77 ERA, 58 strikeouts, and 58 hits allowed in 61+2⁄3 innings pitched. In 2003, Rowland-Smith pitched for Wisconsin again, appearing in 13 games. He had a 3–0 record, a 1.11 ERA, and 37 strikeouts in 32+1⁄3 innings. During the year, he also pitched for the Single-A advanced Inland Empire 66ers. In 15 games with the 66ers, he lost one game, posted a 3.20 ERA, struck out 15, and allowed 12 hits over 19+2⁄3 innings pitched. He had a 1.90 ERA and 52 strikeouts combined between Wisconsin and Inland Empire. Rowland-Smith played the entire 2004 season with Inland Empire, appearing in 29 games. He split the season between the bullpen and the starting rotation, going 5–3 with a 3.79 ERA as a starter. He struck out 119 batters in 992⁄3 innings and held opponents to a .276 batting average. ### 2005 season The Minnesota Twins selected Rowland-Smith in the Major League portion of the 2004 Rule 5 draft. On 4 March, the Twins signed him to a one-year contract. He spent most of 2005 spring training with the Twins. Ultimately, Minnesota decided not to keep him on the roster all season, and he was returned to Seattle on 25 March. He spent the season with the Double-A San Antonio Missions, setting a career high with 122 innings pitched. In 33 games (17 starts), he had a 6–7 record, a 4.35 ERA, 102 strikeouts, and 133 hits allowed. ### 2006 season Rowland-Smith split the 2006 season with Inland Empire and San Antonio. With the 66ers, he gave up seven runs (four earned) in 6+1⁄3 innings pitched over seven games. He spent a greater portion of the season with the Missions. On 25 August, he struck out a season-high seven batters in 4+1⁄3 innings. In 23 games (one start) for the Missions, he had a 1–3 record, a 2.83 ERA, 48 strikeouts, and 38 hits allowed in 41+1⁄3 innings. Following the regular season, he played with the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League. ### 2007 season For the first time in 2007, Rowland-Smith pitched for the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League (PCL). He made 25 relief appearances for the team, posting a 3–4 record, a 3.67 ERA, 50 strikeouts, and 35 hits allowed in 41+2⁄3 innings before getting promoted to the Mariners in June. Rowland-Smith made his major league debut for the Mariners on 22 June, against the Cincinnati Reds in a game notable for being the return of longtime Mariners star Ken Griffey Jr., to Safeco Field. Griffey wound up being the first batter Rowland-Smith faced; he struck him out, proceeding to pitch 11⁄3 scoreless innings in a 16–1 Mariners loss. He did not allow a run in 10+2⁄3 consecutive innings spanning five games from 22 to 31 August. In the first game of that stretch, he struck out six batters in four scoreless innings of relief in an 8–4 loss to the Twins. He earned his first career win 13 September against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, pitching 2+1⁄3 scoreless innings in a game the Mariners trailed 7–1 but rallied to win 8–7. In his rookie year with Seattle, he struck out 42 batters in 381⁄3 innings, posting a 1–0 record and limiting opposing batters to 39 hits. After the season, he pitched for Lara in the Venezuelan Winter League. Rowland-Smith said about his offseason: > I'd like to get four or five starts [in Venezuela], go back to Australia and try to get in shape for next season. I don't know what's going to happen after that, but they told me they want me down there, starting. I just wanted to get up here and show I could throw strikes at this level. Now that I've been here for a while, I've got so much more confidence. ### 2008 season Rowland-Smith began the season exclusively as a reliever, making 32 relief appearances before making two starts prior to the All-Star break. He collected his first save April 8 against the Tampa Bay Rays in Seattle's 6–5 win, tossing 1+2⁄3 innings and retiring all five batters he faced while protecting one-run lead. His first Major League start came 1 July against the Toronto Blue Jays; Rowland-Smith threw three scoreless innings before getting replaced by Roy Corcoran with two outs in the fourth inning after allowing three runs that inning. The Mariners rallied to win 7–6. He made three more relief appearances before being optioned to Tacoma on 20 July to be converted to a starting pitcher. He went 2–0 with a 2.89 ERA in three starts for the Rainiers, holding opponents to a .185 batting average before joining Seattle's rotation on 9 August. From 21 August until the end of the season, he posted a 2.56 ERA. Against the Oakland Athletics on 21 August, he took the loss but held the team to four hits in seven innings, keeping Oakland scoreless except for a solo home run by Emil Brown. He faced Oakland again in his final start of the year on 27 September, allowing three runs in 6+2⁄3 innings this time but picking up the win in a 7–3 victory. In 47 games (12 starts) with the Mariners in 2008, he had a 5–3 record, a 3.42 ERA, 77 strikeouts, and 114 hits allowed in 118+1⁄3 innings. ### 2009 season In a 2009 spring training game against the Colorado Rockies, Rowland-Smith recorded two singles in two at bats. This was his first time batting against a live pitcher since he was 17 years old. He used teammate Jeff Clement's bat. At the beginning of the season, he started one game before being placed on the disabled list with triceps tendinitis. He was sent to Tacoma for rehab starts, but a dismal outing on 5 June in which he allowed 12 runs in 4+2⁄3 innings prompted the Mariners to option him to Tacoma. In July, he was promoted and added to the starting rotation after going 5–3 with a 4.31 ERA in 10 starts for Tacoma. `He lasted seven innings in his first start back on 24 July, allowing four runs and taking the loss in a 9–0 defeat to the Cleveland Indians. Five days later, he limited the Toronto Blue Jays to two runs over seven innings and picked up his first win of the year in the Mariners' 3–2 victory. Three times in 2009, he threw a season-high eight innings, including a game on 16 September when he limited the Chicago White Sox to one run in a 4–1 victory. Rowland-Smith made his last start of the year for the Mariners on 3 October, holding the Texas Rangers to one run over 6+2⁄3 innings in a 2–1 victory.` Rowland-Smith finished the season with a 5–4 record, a 3.74 ERA, 52 strikeouts, and 87 hits allowed in 96+1⁄3 innings over 15 games (all starts). ### 2010 season Rowland-Smith's game against the White Sox on 16 September 2009, left Christian Caple of MLB.com excited about his chances for next season: > Ryan Rowland-Smith is turning into a can't-miss starter for the Mariners...there's no reason why he can't head into [2010 spring training] as the team's No. 2 starter. In fact, Rowland-Smith started the 2010 season as the third starter in the Mariners' rotation, behind Felix Hernandez and Ian Snell. He struggled to begin the season, posting a 7.62 ERA in his first eight starts while losing all four of his decisions. After the shortest start of his career on 18 May, in which he gave up seven runs in 2+2⁄3 innings, the Mariners moved him to the bullpen. Rowland-Smith returned to the rotation on 5 June, when Doug Fister had to miss a start because of shoulder fatigue. The Mariners lost to the Angels 11–2, but Rowland-Smith limited Los Angeles to one run in five innings. After that, he continued to be used as a starter. He held the Cincinnati Reds scoreless for six innings on 20 June, earning his first win of the year in a 1–0 victory. The win, however, would be his only victory of the year. On 27 July, he gave up 11 runs over five innings in an 11–0 loss to the White Sox. The Mariners left him in the game that long because they wanted to preserve their bullpen. After the game, he was placed on the disabled list with a lower back strain, which Rob Neyer of ESPN speculated was a "phantom injury" designed to get him off the roster, since the Mariners could not send him to the minor leagues without exposing him to waivers. Sent to rehab in Tacoma, he rejoined the team in September when rosters expanded. Upon his activation from the disabled list, Rowland-Smith was mainly used out of the bullpen except for the last game of the season, 3 October, in which he gave up two runs in five innings and had a no-decision in a 4–3 loss to the Athletics. 20 of Rowland-Smith's 27 appearances in 2010 were starts (a career-high), but only one of those was a win, as opposed to ten losses. He had a 6.75 ERA and gave up 141 hits in 109+1⁄3 innings. However, Rowland-Smith was the Mariners' nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, given annually to the MLB player who "best represents the game through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field." Seattle made him their candidate because of his work in hosting the Mariners Care Cystic Fibrosis Foundation golf tournament. In November 2010, the Sydney Blue Sox named Rowland-Smith as one of the players on their 35-man roster for the inaugural Australian Baseball League season, but he never pitched for them. On 2 December 2010, the Mariners decided not to offer him a new contract, making him a free agent. ### 2011–2013 seasons On 9 December 2010, the Houston Astros signed Rowland-Smith to a one-year contract. He spent most of the season with the PCL's Oklahoma City RedHawks. In 22 games (19 starts), he had a 2–10 record, a 6.19 ERA, 87 strikeouts, and 131 hits allowed in 104+2⁄3 innings. After the season, he became a free agent. During the offseason, he played winter ball for the Leones de Ponce of the Puerto Rican Winter League, losing three of his five starts. The Chicago Cubs signed Rowland-Smith to a minor league deal on 2 February 2012. He spent the whole season with the Iowa Cubs of the PCL, where he was used more as a reliever (22 games) than a starter (eight games). He had a 3–6 record, a 3.94 ERA, 62 strikeouts, and 75 hits allowed in 77+2⁄3 innings pitched. After the season, he became a free agent. On 24 February 2013, the Boston Red Sox signed Rowland-Smith to a minor league deal. In 37 games in relief for the Pawtucket Red Sox, their Triple-A team, he had a 7–0 record and a 1.55 ERA. However, he never got to pitch for Boston because of an illness. ### 2014 season Rowland-Smith signed a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks prior to the 2014 season. He was excited about joining Arizona because they were opening their season with two regular-season games in March against the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Australia. > To play Major League Baseball in Australia is such a special thing...For me to be able to play MLB in my own backyard is bizarre to be honest with you. To be able to put my American life and Australian life together will be pretty special. While he did not pitch in the Australian series, Rowland-Smith was on the Diamondbacks roster at the beginning of the 2014 season, his first time on a major league roster since 2010 with the Mariners. He made what would be his last appearance in the major leagues on 14 April, giving up two runs (one earned) in the final two innings of a 7–3 loss to the New York Mets. Designated for assignment on 18 April, he cleared waivers and elected to become a free agent on 21 April. In six games with the Diamondbacks, he posted a 4.91 ERA, allowing five runs (four earned) in 7+1⁄3 innings of work. On 25 April, Rowland-Smith signed a minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. He pitched for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons of the International League, allowing 8 runs in just 14 innings before drawing his release on 11 June. On 28 June, he signed a minor league deal with the Cincinnati Reds. He made one start for the Louisville Bats of the International League but was mostly used out of the bullpen, posting a 4.20 ERA in 12 games with no wins or losses. On 2 August, the Reds released him. ### Last years For 2015, Rowland-Smith left the United States, signing with the EDA Rhinos of the Chinese Professional Baseball League, located in Taiwan. He appeared in nine games with the team, posting a 1–4 record and a 4.70 ERA in 46 innings. For winter 2015–16, Rowland-Smith pitched in one game for Gigantes del Cibao of the Dominican Winter League. After not pitching in 2016, Rowland-Smith signed with the Brisbane Bandits of the Australian Baseball League in January 2017. In four starts with the team, he won one game but had a 6.35 ERA. However, he was part of a Brisbane club which won its second consecutive ABLchampionship. Rowland-Smith planned to retire after the season once he had finished playing for Australia in the World Baseball Classic. ## International play Rowland-Smith represented his native Australia in multiple international tournaments throughout his career. He played for Australia in the 2004 Summer Olympic games, making four relief appearances, going 2–0 with a 1.23 ERA allowing only six hits and five walks while striking out 5. He helped the team to a silver medal. They made it to the championship game before falling to Cuba, 6–2. Rowland-Smith's teammates on the Inland Empire 66ers paid close attention to the gold medal game, cheering on their teammate. At the start of the 2006 season, Rowland-Smith was added to the Australia national baseball team for the 2006 World Baseball Classic. However, he was unable to pitch in the Classic because of a sore elbow. Rowland-Smith once again represented Australia in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. The team was eliminated after losing all three of its games in the first round. Before he retired, Rowland-Smith represented Australia one last time at the 2017 World Baseball Classic. First, he pitched with the team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic – Qualifier 1 from 11 to 14 February 2016. In Australia's second game of the qualifier (the first against South Africa), Rowland-Smith pitched three scoreless innings in relief of Warwick Saupold, allowing two hits and striking out three. Australia defeated the Philippines and South Africa twice to advance in the tournament. "On paper, as far as rosters go, we have the best roster, we have the most depth," he said of the team during the qualifier. It was Australia's fourth-straight World Baseball Classic qualified for, but they failed to advance past the first round, going 1–2 with a win over China and losses to Japan and Cuba. ## Post-playing career Rowland-Smith became a baseball television analyst for Root Sports Northwest, appearing on the pre- and post-game shows for Seattle Mariners broadcasts starting in 2017. He is also a baseball radio analyst for ESPN710 Seattle, appearing on Mariners post-game shows. He was also an analyst for the 2023 World Baseball Classic qualification event. Rowland-Smith said that baseball and talking were the two things he enjoyed doing the most; thus, being a commentator was the perfect occupation for him. He and fellow Australian ballplayer Trent Oeltjen co-founded NxtGen Baseball, a training camp for young baseball players. ## Personal life Rowland-Smith's grandfather was a former New South Wales minister for sport and recreation. His older sister, Rhiannon, is a competitive surfer. While surfing is not his profession, Rowland-Smith avidly pursues it as a hobby. Rowland-Smith was married in 2013 to American actress Amanda Aardsma, the sister of his former teammate David Aardsma. He became friends with Griffey Jr., victim of his first major league strikeout, who attended Rowland-Smith's wedding in 2013. Rowland-Smith is the first player with a hyphenated last name ever to appear in a major league game. During his career, he maintained his own blog to keep up with fans. He was also, in 2009, the only Mariner known to maintain a Twitter account. Rowland-Smith helped the Mariners host a forum on the use of social media in 2009. In June 2019, Rowland-Smith appeared on the television show American Ninja Warrior in the Seattle Qualifying Round. He said of the opportunity, "I know the minute I step out to the steps, if I don’t finish it, I’ll say, ‘OK, I want another shot at this until I do finish it.’ But at the very least, I want to enjoy it and embrace it. I’ve gotten messages from people in that ninja community and it’s so awesome. ... I want to get the most of that experience."
15,435,020
The Silent Command
1,173,343,554
1923 film
[ "1920s American films", "1920s spy drama films", "1923 drama films", "1923 films", "American black-and-white films", "American propaganda films", "American silent feature films", "American spy drama films", "Articles containing video clips", "Films about the United States Navy", "Films directed by J. Gordon Edwards", "Fox Film films", "Silent American drama films", "Surviving American silent films" ]
The Silent Command is a 1923 American silent drama film directed by J. Gordon Edwards featuring Bela Lugosi as a foreign saboteur in his American film debut. The film, written by Anthony Paul Kelly and Rufus King, also stars Edmund Lowe, Alma Tell, and Martha Mansfield. The film depicts the story of Benedict Hisston (Lugosi), who is part of a plot to destroy the Panama Canal. Initially unable to obtain necessarily intelligence from Richard Decatur (Lowe), a captain in the United States Navy, he enlists the aid of femme fatale Peg Williams (Mansfield). Decatur pretends to be seduced into the conspiracy, costing him his career and estranging him from his wife (Tell), but he ultimately betrays the saboteurs in Panama and stops their plan. He returns home to the Navy and his wife, and to popular acclaim for his heroics. The film was produced in cooperation with the Navy and was intended as a propaganda film to encourage support for a larger navy. The Silent Command was shown at the opening of several Fox Theatres locations and was sometimes marketed in conjunction with naval recruitment efforts. It received generally positive reviews from contemporary film critics, although modern appraisals consider the film mediocre. The Silent Command began Lugosi's career in the American film industry. The film's focus on his eyes, at times in extreme close-up, helped to establish his image for later roles. Unlike most Fox Film productions of the silent era, several copies of The Silent Command have survived. It has been released in multiple home video formats, and is now in the public domain and available online. ## Plot Benedict Hisston is a foreign agent, part of a conspiracy to destroy the Panama Canal and the US Navy's Atlantic Fleet. He attempts to acquire information about mine placement in the Canal Zone from Captain Richard Decatur but fails. That information is essential to the conspiracy's success and so he then hires vamp Peg Williams to obtain the intelligence through seduction. Decatur is not fooled and obeys the "silent command" of the Chief of Naval Intelligence to play along with the spies without revealing his purpose to friends or family. He is court-martialed, stripped of rank, and dismissed from the Navy after he strikes an admiral. His association with Williams estranges him from his wife but earns him the trust of Hisston and the other spies. When the conspirators are ready to enact their plan, he travels to Panama with them. He thwarts their attempt at sabotage, saving the canal and the fleet. He is then reinstated into the Navy, reunited with his wife, and honored by the nation for his heroism. ## Cast - Edmund Lowe as Captain Richard Decatur - Alma Tell as Mrs. Richard Decatur - Martha Mansfield as Peg Williams - Betty Jewel as Dolores - Florence Martin as Williams's maid - Bela Lugosi as Benedict Hisston (miscredited as Belo Lugosi) - Carl Harbaugh as Menchen - Martin Faust as Cordoba - Gordon McEdward as Gridley - Byron Douglas as Admiral Nevins - Theodore Babcock as Admiral Meade - George Lessey as Mr. Collins - Warren Cook as Ambassador Mendizabal - Henry Armetta as Pedro - Rogers Keene as Jack Decatur - J.W. Jenkins as the Decatur's butler - Kate Blancke as Mrs. Nevins - Elizabeth Mary Foley as Jill Decatur ## Production Rufus King, later known for his detective novels, wrote the original story for The Silent Command, which was adapted into a screenplay by Anthony Paul Kelly. It was intended as a propaganda film to encourage popular support for expansion of the United States Navy and was made with the Navy's cooperation and support. Fox Film's publicity promoter, Wells Hawks, may have been responsible for this arrangement, as he had previously worked in a publicity role for the Navy. Quotes praising the film were provided by several prominent members of the military for use in advertising, including General John J. Pershing and Theodore Roosevelt Jr., the Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Years later, in a publicity interview for The Return of Chandu, Bela Lugosi commented on the irony of being a propagandist for naval expansion when his native country, landlocked Hungary, "has no navy nor needs any!" In December 1922, Lugosi had starred in a Greenwich Village play, The Red Poppy. The play performed poorly, but Lugosi, in the role of a thuggish Spaniard, received critical praise. He was cast as Hisston in The Silent Command based on the strength of that performance. Extreme close-ups of Lugosi's eyes were used throughout the film to reinforce perception of this character as evil. Film historian Gary Rhodes traced the origin of this technique, intended to suggest the evil eye or hypnosis, to characters in Weimar cinema inspired by Svengali. Lugosi had played one such character, Professor Mors, in the 1919 German film Sklaven fremdes Willens; Edwards himself had portrayed Svengali in a run of Trilby on the St. Louis stage. The Silent Command was released in at least two editions. As shown at its New York premiere, it was an eight-reel film with a 91-minute run time. However, the version screened earlier in Chicago had been 18 minutes shorter, which reduced the film to seven reels; this cut was used for most subsequent releases. H.T. Hodge claimed to have shown a nine-reel version at the Palace Theatre in Abilene, Texas. Additionally, some prints were released as part-color films with tinted scenes. The Silent Command was also released internationally, including Australia and Cuba in 1924, and was retitled His Country for distribution in France. ## Release and reception In 1923, William Fox was expanding his Fox Theatres chain of movie theaters. The Silent Command was shown at the opening or re-opening of several such locations. On August 25, 1923, the first Fox Theatre on the Pacific opened in Oakland, California. The Silent Command was the first feature-length film screened at the Fox Oakland, during an elaborate opening gala that also included Tom Mix riding Tony, the Wonder Horse into the theater. Attendees included members of the film industry, city officials from Oakland and San Francisco, and faculty and students from the University of California, Berkeley The following week, on August 31, it was also the first film shown at the grand opening of Fox's Monroe Theatre in Chicago, in an invitation-only showing involving studio executives and members of the film industry. To encourage attendance at further showings at the Monroe, the studio partnered with the Navy's local recruitment office to produce one-sheets encouraging men to see the film before enlisting. In Springfield, Massachusetts and St. Louis, it was also the debut film shown at theaters re-opening after renovations. Despite the earlier showings in Oakland and Chicago, Fox advertised the film's world premiere at New York's Central Theatre on September 2. As part of the Navy's support for the film, the audience included Rear Admiral Charles Peshall Plunkett and other officers. The film played at the Central for four weeks before being replaced with Monna Vanna. The Silent Command was generally praised by contemporary reviewers. Laurence Reid and C. S. Sewell, writing for Motion Picture News and Moving Picture World respectively, both offered acclaim for the film, despite what Reid described as a slow start. Variety was slightly less complimentary, suggesting the film was better suited for "regular neighborhood" theaters than prestigious first-run houses and criticizing the cinematography in Mansfield's vamp scenes. Most newspaper critics also gave positive reviews, although the Evening Journal wrote that the plot "taxes the credulity of even a generous picture fan." Modern reviews have been less enthusiastic. Lugosi biographer Arthur Lennig considered the film "turgid", and AllMovie awarded it 2+1⁄2 out of 5 stars. ## Legacy The Silent Command was Lugosi's first American film, and influenced the direction of his career in cinema. Lugosi had expressed an interest in playing Latin lover characters in the model of Rudolph Valentino, but his performance as Hisston revealed him to be convincing in more villainous roles. According to Rhodes, critics considered the focus on Lugosi's eyes cliché or even unintentionally humorous, but some filmgoers did find the shots genuinely frightening. This technique, showing Lugosi's eyes in extreme close-up, would be revisited in many of his later films, such as The Midnight Girl, Dracula, and White Zombie. Images of Lugosi's eyes were eventually even used in advertising. Unlike most of Edwards's films, copies of The Silent Command are preserved in three archives: the George Eastman Museum, the Department of Film at the Museum of Modern Art, and Brussels's Cinematek. Grapevine Video made the film available on VHS in 1999, and released a DVD edition in 2005. On January 1, 2019, the film entered the public domain in the United States and became freely available at the Internet Archive. ## See also - Bela Lugosi filmography
21,220,861
Invasion of Martinique (1809)
1,130,035,701
British invasion of Martinique during the Napoleonic Wars
[ "19th century in Martinique", "Battles involving France", "Battles involving the United Kingdom", "Battles of the Napoleonic Wars", "Conflicts in 1809", "February 1809 events", "Invasions by the United Kingdom", "Invasions of Martinique", "January 1809 events" ]
The invasion of Martinique was a successful British amphibious operation against the French colony of Martinique that took place between 30 January and 24 February 1809 during the West Indies campaign of 1804–1810 of the Napoleonic Wars. Martinique, like the nearby island of Guadeloupe, was a major threat to Britain's trade in the West Indies, providing a sheltered base from which privateers and French Navy warships could raid British merchant shipping and disrupt the trade routes that maintained the economy of the United Kingdom. Both islands also provided a focus for larger-scale French operations in the region and in the autumn of 1808, following the Spanish alliance with Britain, the Admiralty decided to order a British squadron to neutralise the threat, beginning with Martinique. The British mustered a large expeditionary force under Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane and Lieutenant-General George Beckwith, commanding 29 ships and 10,000 men – almost four times the number of French regular troops garrisoning Martinique. Landing in force on both the southern and northern coasts of the island, British troops pushed inland, defeating French regulars in the central highlands and routing colonial militia units in the south of the island. By 9 February, the entire island was in British hands except Fort Desaix, a powerful fortification intended to protect the island capital of Fort-de-France, which had been bypassed during the British advance. In a siege lasting 15 days, the Fort was constantly bombarded, with the French garrison suffering 200 casualties before finally surrendering. The capture of the island was a significant blow to France's power in the region, eliminating an important naval base from their control and denying safe harbours to French shipping in the West Indies. The consequences of losing Martinique were so severe that the French Navy dispatched a naval squadron to reinforce the garrison during the invasion. Arriving much too late to affect the outcome, these reinforcements were intercepted off the islands and scattered during the action of 14–17 April 1809; half the force failed to return to France. With Martinique occupied, British attention in the region turned to Guadeloupe, which was captured the following year. ## Background During the Napoleonic Wars, the British Royal Navy was charged with limiting the passage and operations of the French Navy, French merchant ships and French privateers. To achieve this objective, the Royal Navy imposed a system of blockades on French ports, especially the major naval bases at Toulon and Brest. This stranglehold on French movement off their own coastline seriously affected the French colonies, including those in the West Indies, as their produce could not reach France and supplies and reinforcements could not reach them without the risk of British interception and seizure. These islands provided excellent bases for French ships to raid the British trade routes through the Caribbean Sea: in previous conflicts, the British had countered the threat posed by French West Indian colonies by seizing them through force, such as Martinique, which had been previously captured by armed invasion in 1762 and 1794. An attempt in 1780 was defeated by a French battle squadron at the Battle of Martinique. By 1808 there were no French squadrons at sea: any that left port were eliminated or driven back in a series of battles, culminating at the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The fleet that was destroyed at Trafalgar had visited Martinique the year before and was the last full-scale French fleet to visit the Caribbean for the rest of the war. With the bulk of the French Navy confined to port, the British were able to strike directly at French colonies, although their reach was limited by the significant resources required in blockading the French coast and so the size and quality of operations varied widely. In 1804, Haiti fell to a nationalist uprising supported by the Royal Navy, and in 1806 British forces secured most of the northern coast of South America from its Dutch owners. In 1807 the Danish West Indies were invaded and in 1808 Spain changed sides and allied with Britain, while Cayenne fell to an improvised force under Captain James Lucas Yeo in January 1809. The damage done to the Martinique economy during this period was severe, as British frigates raided coastal towns and shipping, and merchant vessels were prevented from trading Martinique's produce with France or allied islands. Disaffection grew on the island, especially among the recently emancipated black majority, and during the summer of 1808 the island's governor, Vice-amiral Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse, sent urgent messages back to France requesting supplies and reinforcements. Some of these messages were intercepted by British ships and the low morale on Martinique was brought to the attention of the Admiralty, who ordered their commander on the West Indian Station, Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane, to raise an expeditionary force from the ships and garrisons available to him and invade the island. During the winter of 1808–1809, Cochrane gathered his forces off Carlisle Bay, Barbados, accumulating 29 ships and 10,000 soldiers under the command of Lieutenant-General George Beckwith. Landings were planned on the island's southern and northern coasts, with the forces ordered to converge on the capital Fort-de-France. The soldiers would be supported and supplied by the Royal Navy force, which would shadow their advance offshore. Beckwith's army was more than twice the size of the French garrison, half of which was composed of an untrained and irregular black militia which could not be relied on in combat. News of the poor state of Martinique's defences also reached France during the autumn of 1808. Attempts were made to despatch reinforcements and urgently needed food supplies, but on 30 October 1808 Circe captured the 16-gun French Curieux class brig Palinure. The British then captured the frigate Thétis in the Bay of Biscay at the action of 10 November 1808. Another relief attempt was destroyed in December off the Leeward Islands and HMS Aimable captured the corvette Iris, carrying flour to Martinique, off the Dutch coast on 2 January 1809. Only the frigate Amphitrite, whose stores and reinforcements were insignificant compared to the forces under Cochrane and Beckwith, managed to reach Martinique. ## Invasion Cochrane's fleet sailed from Carlisle Bay on 28 January, arriving off Martinique early on 30 January. The force was then divided, one squadron anchoring off Sainte-Luce on the southern coast and another off Le Robert on the northern. The invasion began the same morning, 3,000 soldiers going ashore at Sainte-Luce under the command of Major-General Frederick Maitland, supervised by Captain William Charles Fahie, while 6,500 landed at Le Robert under Major-General Sir George Prevost, supervised by Captain Philip Beaver. Beckwith remained on Cochrane's flagship HMS Neptune, to direct the campaign from offshore. A third force, under a Major Henderson and consisting entirely of 600 soldiers from the Royal York Rangers, landed at Cape Salomon near Les Anses-d'Arlet on the southwestern peninsula to secure the entrance to Fort-de-France Bay. During the first day of the invasion, the two main forces made rapid progress inland, the militia troops sent against them retreating and deserting without offering resistance. Serious opposition to the British advance did not begin until 1 February, when French defenders on the heights of Desfourneaux and Surirey were attacked by Prevost's troops, under the direct command of Brigadier-General Daniel Hoghton. Fighting was fierce throughout the next two days, as the outnumbered French used the fortified high ground to hold back a series of frontal assaults. The British lost 84 killed and 334 wounded to French losses of over 700 casualties, and by 3 February the French had been forced back, withdrawing to Fort Desaix near the capital. Progress was also made at Cape Salomon, where the appearance of British troops panicked the French defenders into burning the naval brig Carnation and retreating to the small island, Ilot aux Ramiers, offshore. Henderson's men, assisted by a naval brigade under Captain George Cockburn, set up batteries on the coast and by 4 February had bombarded the island into surrender, opening the principal harbour of Martinique to naval attack. A small naval squadron, consisting of HMS Aeolus, HMS Cleopatra and the brig HMS Recruit, advanced into Fort-de-France Bay on 5 February. This advance spread panic among the French militia defending the bay and Amphitrite and the other shipping anchored there were set on fire and destroyed, while the forts in the southern part of the island were abandoned. On 8 February, Maitland's force, which had not yet fired a shot, arrived on the western side of Fort Desaix and laid siege to it. Minor detachments spread across the remainder of the island: Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Barnes captured Saint-Pierre and another force occupied Fort-de-France and seized the corvette Diligente in the harbour. By 10 February, when Prevost's force linked up with Maitland's, Fort Desaix was the only remaining point of resistance. For nine days, the British soldiers and sailors of the expeditionary force constructed gun batteries and trenches around the fort, bringing ashore large quantities of supplies and equipment in readiness for a lengthy siege. At 16:30 on 19 February the preparations were complete and the bombardment began, 14 heavy cannon and 28 mortars beginning a continuous attack on the fort which lasted for the next four days. French casualties in the overcrowded fort were severe, with 200 men killed or wounded. British casualties were minimal, with five killed and 11 wounded, principally in an explosion in an ammunition tent manned by sailors from HMS Amaranthe. At 12:00 on 23 February, Villaret de Joyeuse's trumpeter was sent to the British camp with a message proposing surrender terms. These were unacceptable to Beckwith and the bombardment resumed at 22:00, continuing until 09:00 the following morning when three white flags were raised over the fort and the French admiral surrendered unconditionally. The bombardment had cracked the roof of the fort's magazine, and there were fears that further shelling might have ignited the gunpowder and destroyed the building completely. ## Aftermath With the surrender of Fort Desaix, British forces solidified their occupation of the island of Martinique. The remaining shipping and military supplies were seized and the regular soldiers of the garrison taken as prisoners of war. The militia were disbanded and Martinique became a British colony, remaining under British command until the restoration of the French monarchy in 1814, when it was returned to French control. British losses in the campaign were heavy, with 97 killed, 365 wounded and 18 missing. French total losses are uncertain but the garrison suffered at least 900 casualties, principally in the fighting in the central highlands on 1 and 2 February and during the siege of Fort Desaix. Upon his return to France, Villaret's conduct was condemned by an inquiry council; he requested in vain a Court-martial to clear his name, and lived in disgrace for two years. In Britain, both Houses of Parliament voted their thanks to Cochrane and Beckwith, who immediately began planning the invasion of Guadeloupe, executed in January 1810. Financial and professional rewards were provided for the junior officers and enlisted men and in 1816 the battle honour Martinique was awarded to the ships and regiments involved, with the date 1809 added in 1909 to distinguish the campaign from the earlier operations of 1762 and 1794. Four decades later the operation was among the actions recognised by a clasp attached to the Naval General Service Medal and the Military General Service Medal, awarded upon application to all British participants still living in 1847. In France, the defeat was the subject of a court martial in December 1809, at which Villaret de Joyeuse and a number of his subordinates were stripped of their commissions, honours, and ranks for inadequately preparing for invasion, in particular for failing properly to strengthen and disperse the magazine at Fort Desaix. There was a subsequent French effort to reach Martinique, launched in February 1809 before news of the British invasion had reached Europe. Three ships of the line and two disarmed frigates were sent with soldiers and supplies towards the island, but learned of Villaret de Joyeuse's surrender in late March and instead took shelter in the Îles des Saintes, blockaded by Cochrane's squadron. On 14 April, Cochrane seized the Saintes and the French fled, the three ships of the line drawing away Cochrane's forces so that the frigates could slip away and reach Guadeloupe. During the ensuing Action of 14–17 April 1809, the French flagship D'Hautpoul was chased down and captured, but two ships of the line escaped and the frigates reached Guadeloupe, although neither would ever return to France. ## British order of battle