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5,568,326	Zhou Tong (archer)	1,163,161,685	Chinese archer (died 1121CE)	[ "1121 deaths", "Buddhist folklore", "Chinese educators", "Chinese folklore", "Chinese male archers", "Chinese martial artists", "Chinese warriors", "Fictional Chinese people in literature", "Fictional Song dynasty people", "Fictional wushu practitioners", "Song dynasty people", "Water Margin characters", "Year of birth missing" ]	Zhou Tong (Chinese: 周同 and 周侗; pinyin: Zhōu Tóng) (died late 1121 CE) was the archery teacher and second military arts tutor of famous Song dynasty general Yue Fei. Originally a local hero from Henan, he was hired to continue Yue Fei's military training in archery after the boy had rapidly mastered spearplay under his first teacher. In addition to the future general, Zhou accepted other children as archery pupils. During his tutelage, Zhou taught the children all of his skills and even rewarded Yue with his two favorite bows because he was his best pupil. After Zhou's death, Yue would regularly visit his tomb twice a month and perform unorthodox sacrifices that far surpassed that done for even beloved tutors. Yue later taught what he had learned from Zhou to his soldiers and they were successful in battle. With the publishing of Yue Fei's 17th folklore biography, The Story of Yue Fei (1684), a new, fictional Zhou Tong emerged, who differed greatly from his historical persona. Not only was he now from Shaanxi, but he was Yue's adopted father, a learned scholar with knowledge of the eighteen weapons of war, and his personal name was spelled with a different, yet related, Chinese character. The novel's author portrayed him as an elderly widower and military arts tutor who counted Lin Chong and Lu Junyi, two of the fictional 108 outlaws on which the Water Margin is based, among his former pupils. A later republican era folktale by noted Yangzhou storyteller Wang Shaotang not only adds Wu Song to this list, but represents Zhou as a knight-errant with supreme swordsmanship. The tale also gives him the nickname "Iron Arm", which he shares with the executioner-turned-outlaw Cai Fu, and makes the outlaw Lu Zhishen his sworn brother. Because of his association with the outlaws, he is often confused with the similarly named outlaw Zhou Tong. Various wuxia novels and folk legends have endowed Zhou with different kinds of martial and supernatural skills. These range from mastery of the bow, double broadswords, and Chinese spear to that of Wudang hard qigong and even x-ray vision. Practitioners of Eagle Claw, Chuōjiǎo and Xingyi commonly include him within their lineage history because of his association with Yue Fei, the supposed progenitor of these styles. He is also linked to Northern Praying Mantis boxing via Lin Chong and Yan Qing. Wang Shaotang's folktale even represents him as a master of Drunken Eight Immortals boxing. However, the oldest historical record that mentions his name only says he taught archery to Yue Fei. Nothing is ever said about him knowing or teaching a specific style of Chinese martial arts. Zhou has appeared in various forms of media such as novels, comic books, and movies. His rare 20th century biography, Iron Arm, Golden Sabre, serves as a sequel to The Story of Yue Fei because it details his adventures decades prior to taking Yue as his pupil. This was later adapted into a ten volume Lianhuanhua comic book. He also appears in a novel concerning one of his fictional martial arts brothers. He was portrayed by three different actors in a string of black and white Yue Fei films produced in the 1940s and 1960s, one of which featured a ten-year-old Sammo Hung as the lead. Veteran martial arts actor Yu Chenghui, who played the sword-wielding antagonist in Jet Li's Shaolin Temple, stated in a 2005 interview that he has always wanted to portray Zhou in a film. ## History ### Mention in Yue family memoirs On his deathbed, Yue Fei's third son Yue Lin (岳霖, 1130–1192 AD) asked his own son, the poet and historian Yue Ke (岳珂, 1183–post-1240), to complete Yue Fei's memoirs. This two-part memoir was completed in 1203, some sixty years after the general's political execution, but was not published until 1234. It was later abridged in 1345 and published in the Yuan dynasty's dynastic chronology History of the Song Dynasty under the title Biography of Yue Fei (chapter 365, biography 124). Zhou's mention in Yue Ke's memoir was only briefly summarized in the Yuan rewrite. It reads, "He [Yue Fei] learned archery from Zhou Tong. He learned everything and could fire with his left and right hands. After Tong's death, he would offer sacrifices at his tomb". Western Washington University history professor Edward Kaplan explains Zhou was a "local hao" (豪 – "heroic (person)"). He comments Hao can also mean "a 'knight errant' in poetic translation, or in prosaic terms a professional strongman and bodyguard.'" This means Zhou was a local hero from Tangyin County, Anyang prefecture, Henan province (the same area as Yue Fei). Historical and scholarly sources spell his personal name as 同 (Tong), meaning "same or similar". This differs from the spelling present in fictional sources, which will be further explained below. So, "周同" represents the historical archer. ### Tutelage Despite being literate, giving him a chance to become a scholar, young Yue Fei chose the military path because there had never been any tradition of full-fledged Confucian civil service in his family history. He would stay up all night reading military strategy books and idolized such great historical heroes as Guan Yu. However, the Yue family was much too poor to afford military lessons for their son, so, Yao Dewang, the boy's maternal grandfather, hired Chen Guang (陳廣) to teach the eleven-year-old how to wield the Chinese spear. Yao was very surprised when his grandson quickly mastered the spear by the age of thirteen. Zhou was then brought in to continue Yue's military training in archery. Dr. Kaplan describes Zhou as the "most important" of the two teachers. A section of the Jin Tuo Xu Pian, the second part of Yue Ke's original published memoir, describes one of Zhou's archery lessons and reveals that he took other children as his pupils: > "One day, [Chou] T'ung gathered his pupils for an archery session and to display his ability put three arrows in succession into the center of the target. Pointing to the target to show grandfather [Yue Fei], he said: 'After you can perform like this, you can say you are an archer'. Grandfather, thanked him and asked to be allowed to try. He drew his bow, let fly his arrow and struck the end of T'ung's arrow. He shot again and again hit the mark. T'ung was greatly amazed and subsequently presented to grandfather his two favorite bows. Thereafter grandfather practiced still more [until] he was able to shoot to the left and right, accurately letting fly the arrow as he moved. When he became a general he taught this to his officers and men so that his whole army became skilled at shooting to the left and right and frequently used this technique to crush the enemy's spirit". The last sentence of the passage is similar to one from the Republican era Biography of Song Yue, Prince of E. But instead of teaching them his own technique, it states Yue taught what he had learned from Zhou to his soldiers who were victorious in battle. ### Death Zhou continued to teach the children until his death, prior to Yue's legal adulthood. Following his passing, Yue became extremely depressed since Zhou had been the greatest influence on his early life. Zhou's student would regularly visit his tomb on the first and fifteenth of every month with sacrifices of meat and wine and would shoot three arrows in succession with one of the two bows his tutor had presented him with (it is never mentioned whether any of Zhou's other archery pupils came to visit his tomb). Dr. Kaplan comments this continuous unusual display of mourning "went far beyond the ceremonial appropriate for even a highly respected teacher". Noted Sinologist Hellmut Wilhelm claims even though the display of grief was genuine, it was also a way of emulating the stories of his heroic idols and "[establishing himself] in the public eye". Yue's father later followed him secretly to Zhou's tomb after striking him during an argument over his melancholic behavior. There, he saw him perform the unorthodox obediences involving the meat, wine, and three arrows. When he finally confronted him, the son confessed that "his gratitude for Chou's instruction could not be requited simply by the usual first and middle of the month ceremonies and so he ... shot off the three arrows to symbolize that Chou had been the source of his inspiration as an archer". Dr. Kaplan's states this happened just prior to Yue's entrance into the army and that the entire event served as a symbol for Yue's "entrance into responsible manhood". The Chronology of Yue Wumu lists the events at Zhou's tomb happening in 1121 when Yue was nineteen, but Yue would have been eighteen in that year since he was born on "the fifteenth day of the second month of 1103". The author of the original source material was using xusui age calculation, in which a child is already considered one year old at birth. Since Yue joined the military shortly after Zhou's death, a relative time frame can be given for when he died. During the early months of 1122, the Song empire mobilized its armed forces to assist the Jurchen in confronting their common enemy, the Liao dynasty. Therefore, it appears that Zhou died in late 1121, before the call to arms was issued. ## Fiction Zhou Tong's fictional life story can be pieced together from two sources: The Story of Yue Fei and Iron Arm, Golden Sabre. The Story of Yue Fei is a fictionalized retelling of Yue Fei's young life, military exploits, and execution. It was written by a native of Renhuo named Qian Cai (钱彩), who lived sometime between the reigns of the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors in the Qing dynasty. The preface dates the book's publication to 1684. It was deemed a threat by the Qing emperors and banned during the Qianlong era. In the novel, Zhou is portrayed as an elderly widower and Yue's only military arts tutor. The General's historical spear master Chen Guang is never mentioned. Zhou teaches Yue Fei and his sworn brothers military and literary arts from chapters two through five, before his death. In the writing of his novel, Qian Cai used a different character when spelling Zhou's given name. Instead of the original character meaning "similar", it was changed to 侗, meaning "rude or rustic". So, "周侗" represents Zhou's distinct fictional persona. This spelling has even been carried over into modern day martial arts manuals. Iron Arm, Golden Sabre was written by Wang Yun Heng and Xiao Yun Long and published in 1986. This novel, which serves as Zhou's own fictional biography, is a prequel to The Story of Yue Fei because it details his adventures decades prior to taking Yue Fei as his student. It follows his life as a young martial arts instructor in the Song army's Imperial guard, his struggles against the Xixia and Liao Tartar barbarian tribes and his tutelage of Water Margin outlaws. The last few chapters incorporate the storyline from the four chapters that he appears in The Story of Yue Fei. This was later adapted into a ten volume Lianhuanhua-style comic book called The Legend of Zhou Tong in 1987. ### Early life and adulthood Zhou is born in Shaanxi and trains in the martial arts from a young age. He is taken as one of the pupils of Shaolin master Tan Zhengfang (谭正芳) and, learning the true essence of Shaolin Kung Fu, becomes proficient in things both literary and martial. Tan's other students include the future generals Jin Tai (金台) and Zong Ze (宗澤) and the future Water Margin outlaws Sun Li and Luan Tingyu. As a young man, Zhou catches the attention of Judge Bao Zheng and enlists in the military as an officer. His superiors take note of his great skill after he helps his classmate General Jin battle Liao Tartars in northern China and install him as a teacher in the Capital Imperial Martial Arts School. The school has three teaching positions named in order of prestige: "Heaven," "Earth," and "Man." Since he has the greatest skill, he occupies the Heaven position. He uses this post and his friendship with General Zong to get their classmate Sun Li installed as the Superintendent of Forces of Dengzhou. Sun later becomes an outlaw under Chao Gai and helps defeat the evil Zhu Family, who learn military arts from his classmate Luan Tingyu. As he grows older, Zhou becomes dissatisfied with politics because the Imperial court chooses to appease the northern barbarian tribes instead of standing against them. He then devotes himself wholeheartedly to his martial arts practice and creates several official and authoritative techniques including the "five step, thirteen lance piercing kick", which is a development of Shaolin Fanzi boxing, and the "Zhou Tong cudgel." He makes a concerted effort to transmit his martial efforts while teaching at the Imperial Martial Arts School and formally accepts two disciples: "Jade Unicorn" Lu Junyi and "Panther head" Lin Chong. Lu Junyi is a millionaire with vast land holdings and does not hold office, but Lin Chong inherits Zhou's position after his retirement, and continues to serve as the lead instructor for the 800,000 members of the Song army's Imperial Guard. During this time, Zhou Tong also has an additional disciple named Wu Song. Wu Song becomes famous for killing a man-eating tiger with his bare hands and is appointed as a constable in his native Shandong. The county magistrate Sun Guoqin later sends Wu on a mission to Kaifeng with precious tiger bone balm in order to curry favor with influential personages. During his stay in the capital, he makes the acquaintance of Zhou. Zhou finds Wu to be a man of great strength, but feels that he lacks refinement in his martial technique and, therefore, offers guidance for Wu's training. Unfortunately, these two men only interact for a brief two months before Wu has to return home, never to see Zhou again. Following his retirement, Zhou serves for a time as an advisor to General Liu Guangshi (劉光世), whose troops are garrisoned in Henan Province. But Zhou later becomes an outlaw himself after he aids the heroes of the Water Margin and is forced to flee from government forces. Meanwhile, he learns his elderly classmate Jin Tai is close to death and hurries to Shaolin (where the general had become a Buddhist monk after the murder of his family) to pay his last respects. As the oldest of Tan's pupils, Jin orders Zhou to find a talented youth to pass on all of his martial arts knowledge to. However, this reunion is cut short when the troops track him to Shaolin. He flees to Wine Spring mountain and lives in hiding for sometime before being invited by his old friend Wang Ming (王明) to become the precept of the Wang family in Unicorn Village. ### Old age and death One day, Zhou surprises the children with a written exam and leaves the classroom to speak with a visitor. Wang's son, Wang Gui (王贵), tricks their maid's son, Yue Fei, into completing their assignment while they go outside to play. After easily finishing the task at hand, Yue writes a heroic poem on a whitewashed wall and signs it with his name. The children then burst into the classroom upon learning of Zhou's forthcoming return and tell Yue to escape in order to avoid apprehension. The old teacher eventually discovers the ruse and, after marveling at Yue's impromptu ballad, asks Yue to fetch his mother, Lady Yao (姚夫人), for an important meeting. With the entire Wang household assembled in the main hall, Zhou asks the Lady for her blessing to have the boy as his adopted son and student. She consents and Yue takes his seat amongst Zhou's students the following morning. Because Zhou knows Yue is poor, he commands the four students to become sworn brothers. Zhou also begins to teach Yue all of the eighteen weapons of war. Six years later, Zhou takes the group to visit his old friend, the abbot of a small Buddhist temple on the "Hill of Dripping Water". Thirteen-year-old Yue wanders behind the temple and finds the "Cave of Dripping Water", in which lives a magical snake. When it lunges at Yue, he dodges to one side and pulls on its tail with his supernatural strength, causing it to turn into an 18-foot-long (5.5 m), gold-plated spear named the "Supernatural Spear of Dripping Water". When they return home, Zhou begins to drill all of his students in the military arts—eighteen weapons of war, archery, and hand-to-hand combat. After three years of practice, Zhou enters them into a preliminary military examination in Tangyin in which sixteen-year-old Yue wins first place by shooting a succession of nine arrows through the bullseye of a target two hundred and forty paces away. After his display of marksmanship, Yue is asked to marry the daughter of Li Chun (李春), an old friend of Zhou's and the county magistrate who presided over the military exams. Father and son then return home to their village. Magistrate Li writes out a marriage certificate and dispatches a messenger to deliver the document to Yue Fei in Unicorn Village. Zhou and Yue set out at dawn and travel back to Tangyin to thank the Magistrate for his generosity and kindness. There, Li prepares a great feast for them, but when food is brought out for any servants that might have accompanied them, Zhou comments that they had come on foot without help. Li decides to let Yue pick from any one of his thousands of horses because every able military man needs a strong steed. After finishing their feast, Zhou and Yue thank Li once again and leave Tangyin to return home. During their journey, Zhou recommends that Yue run the horse to test its speed. Yue spurs the horse on leaving Zhou in pursuit. When they reach the village gate, the two dismount and Zhou returns to his study where he feels hot from the race and removes his outer garments to fan himself. But he soon falls ill and stays bedridden for seven days. Then the book describes his death and burial: > "... his phlegm bubbled up and he died. This was on the fourteenth day of the ninth month in the seventeenth year of the Reign of Xuan He, and his age was seventy-nine ... Buddhist and Taoist Priests were asked to come and chant prayers, for seven times seven, namely forty-nine days. Then the body was taken up to be buried beside the Hill of Dripping Water". Yue lives in a shed by his grave through the winter and in the second lunar month of the following year, his martial brothers come and pull the building down, forcing him to return home and take care of his mother. The quoted death date is not only unreliable because the book is fiction, but also because the Xuan He reign era of Emperor Huizong lasted only seven years (1119–1125) and not seventeen. Although The Story of Yue Fei states Zhou died shortly before Yue took a wife, he historically died after Yue married. It is likely that the original author invented this fictional date. ### Family According to The Story of Yue Fei, Zhou was married with a son. But Zhou comments that his "old wife" died and his "small son" was killed in battle against the Liaos after leaving with the outlaw Lu Junyi to fight in the war. In The Legend of Zhou Tong, his wife is named Meng Cuiying (孟翠英) and his son is named Zhou Yunqing (周云清). He defeats Meng in a lei tai martial arts contest and wins her as his wife. But she is shortly thereafter kidnapped by the wicked monks of the Stone Buddha temple. Both Zhou and Meng eventually defeat the monks with their combined martial skills and later marry at the Miaochuan Pass in Hubei province. Zhou Yunqing first appears as a fierce, impulsive young man who rides his horse into the thick of enemy encampments wielding a long spear. He later dies in battle against the Liao dynasty. After his son's death, Zhou retreats to the Xiangguo Temple for a long mourning period. He later takes seven-year-old Yue Fei as his adopted son and sole heir years after the boy's father drowns in a great flood: > "I see that he [Yue Fei] is clever and handsome and I, an old man, wish to have him as my adopted son ... He need change neither his name nor his surname. I only want him to call me father temporarily so that I can faithfully transmit all the skills I have learned in my life to a single person. Later, when I die, all he has to do is to bury my old bones in the earth and not allow them to be exposed, and that is all". However, after comparing events from The Story of Yue Fei and an account of Yue's life from the sixteenth-century work Restoration of the Great Song Dynasty: The Story of King Yue (大宋中興岳王傳), literary critic C.T. Hsia concluded "that his father did not [historically] die in the flood and that, although Yueh Fei showed almost filial regard for the memory of his teacher Chou T'ung 同 (not 侗), the latter had not been his adopted father". The Restoration of the Great Song was one of the earliest of four "historical novels" (fictionalized dynastic chronologies) written about Yue during the Ming dynasty, all of which predate The Story of Yue Fei. Despite the addition of popular legends, Xiong Damu (fl 1552), the author of The Story of King Yue, relied heavily on historical chronologies including Zhu Xi's (1130–1200) Outlines and Details Based on the T'ung-chien, Yue Ke's family memoir, and the Yuan dynasty's official Biography of Yue Fei to write his story. So, The Story of Yue Fei was the first full-blown fictionalized novel to introduce the adoption storyline. ### Appearance and voice He is generally portrayed as a large elderly man with a powerful voice. A modern folktale by noted Yangzhou storyteller Wang Shaotang (1889–1968), whom folklore researcher Vibeke Børdahl called "the unrivaled master of this [the 20th] century", describes Zhou thus, > "He was beyond the age of fifty, he was more than fifty, and standing upright he measured about eight feet. His face had a golden tan, arched brows, a pair of bright eyes, a regular head form, a square mouth, a pair of protruding ears, and under his chin there were three locks of beard, a grizzled beard. On his head he wore a sky-blue satin scarf, and he was dressed in a stately sky-blue satin coat with a silken girdle, a pair of wide black trousers without crotch and satin boots with thin soles". Heroes and religious masters with above normal height are a recurring theme in Chinese folklore. For instance, his student Wu Song is said to be over nine feet tall in the same folktale. In The Story of Yue Fei, the General simultaneously duels with two other warriors vying for first place in a military exam; one is nine feet tall and the other is eight feet tall. A Hagiography of the Taoist saint Zhang Daoling states he was over seven feet tall. When Zhou is vocalized in "Yangzhou storytelling", he speaks in "Square mouth public talk", which is a manner of speaking reserved for martial heroes, highly respected characters, or, sometimes, lesser characters that pretend to be an important hero. Square mouth public talk is actually a mixture of two forms of dialogue: Fangkou and Guanbai. Fangkou (square mouth) is a manner of steady, yet forceful over pronunciation of dialogue that was possibly influenced by Northern Chinese opera. Guanbai (public talk) is monologue and dialogue that is sometimes used for "imposing heroes". This mixture of styles means Zhou Tong is treated as a highly regarded hero. In her analysis of Yangzhou storytelling, Børdahl noted that the aforementioned tale about Zhou and Wu Song uses different forms of dialogue for both characters. Wu speaks square mouth utilizing standard Mandarin without rusheng (short glottal syllables). On the contrary, Zhou speaks squaremouth using the Yangzhou tone system, which does utilize rusheng syllables. Therefore, she believes "square mouth dialogue should at least be divided into two subcategories, namely the Wu Song variant—without rusheng, and the Zhou Tong variant—with rusheng". ### Students #### Water Margin outlaws The Water Margin (c. 1400) is a Ming dynasty military romance about one hundred and eight demons-born-men and women who band together to rebel against the lavish Song dynasty government. Lin Chong and Lu Junyi, two of these outlaws, are briefly mentioned as being Zhou's previous students in The Story of Yue Fei. They are not characters within the main plot, though, as both are killed by "villainous officials" prior to Zhou becoming precept of the Wang household. Most importantly, the two were not among his historical students since they are fictional characters. Zhou's portrayal as their teacher is connected to a recurring element in Chinese fiction where Tang and Song dynasty heroes train under a "celestial master", usually a Taoist immortal, prior to their military exploits. C. T. Hsia suggests the mold from which all other similar teachers are cast is Guiguzi, master of the feuding strategists Sun Bin and Pang Juan, from the Yuan dynasty tale Latter Volume of the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Seven Kingdoms (七國春秋後集). Hsia goes on to say that Qian Cai, Yue's fictional biographer, associated Zhou with the outlaws because "most such teachers [in the military romance genre] are celestials" with at least two students. But in adopting this format, Qian reversed the traditional pattern of "celestial tutelage" since Zhou is written as a human, while his students are reincarnations of demons (Lin and Lu) and the celestial bird Garuda (Yue Fei). Although Lin and Lu have been connected to Zhou since the early Qing dynasty, Wu Song did not become associated with him until Wang Shaotang created a 20th-century folktale in which the two meet in Kaifeng. The tale takes place during Wu's mission to Kaifeng, but before the murder of his older brother Wu Dalang. Zhou teaches Wu the "Rolling Dragon" style of swordplay during the constable's one-month stay in the capital city. This tale was chapter two of Wang's "Ten chapters on Wu Song" storytelling repertoire, which was later transcribed and published in the book Wu Sung in 1959. It eventually carried over into the storyline of Iron Arm, Golden Sabre and, subsequently, The Legend of Zhou Tong. In the latter version, Wu instead learns Chuōjiǎo boxing from Zhou during a two-month stay in the capital. Wang's tale portrays Zhou as an aging itinerant swordmaster with "a fame reverberating like thunder" throughout the underworld society of Jianghu. He is made the sworn brother of the outlaw "Flowery Monk" Lu Zhishen, a military officer-turned-fighting monk, who is, according to Hsia, first among the most popular protagonists of the Water Margin. He is also given the nickname "Iron Arm" (铁臂膀), which carried over into the title of his fictional biography Iron Arm, Golden Sabre. While the tale fails to explain the reason for the moniker, it does mention Zhou's ability to direct his qi to any part of his body to make it hard enough to overpower the "Iron shirt" technique of another martial artist. Furthermore, Zhou shares the same nickname with Cai Fu, an executioner-turned-outlaw known for his ease in wielding a heavy sword. Because of his association with these outlaws, Zhou is often confused with the similarly named outlaw "Little Conqueror" Zhou Tong. In the Water Margin, this Zhou Tong is a bandit chief of Mount Peach Blossom whom Lu Zhishen beats for trying to forcibly marry the daughter of the Liu family. He dies later under the sword of Li Tianrun, an officer in the rebel army of Fang La. So, the connection between both Zhou's is based solely on the romanized transcription of their name. #### Yue Fei The Story of Yue Fei comments Lu Junyi is Zhou's last student prior to taking on seven-year-old Yue Fei and his three sworn-brothers Wang Gui, Tang Huai (湯懷) and Zhang Xian (張顯). He teaches them literary and military lessons on even and odd days. The novel says Yue is talented in all manners of "literary and military matters" and even surpasses the skill of Lin and Lu. After Yue acquires his "Supernatural Spear of Dripping Water", Zhou tutors all of his students in the eighteen weapons of war, but each excels with one in particular; Yue Fei and Tang Huai, the spear; Zhang Xian, the Hook-Sickle spear and Wang Gui, the Yanyue Dao. All of them learn the skill of archery in addition. Some of these and other children are mentioned in Yue Ke's memoir as being his grandfather's historical childhood friends, but they are never specified as being Zhou's students. Books written by modern-day martial artists make many claims that are not congruent with historical documents or current scholarly thought. For instance, internalist Yang Jwing-Ming says Zhou was a scholar who studied martial arts in the Shaolin Monastery and later took Yue as his student after the young man worked as a tenant farmer for the official-general Han Qi (韓琦, 1008–1075). During this time, he learned all types of military weapons, horseback riding, and hand-to-hand combat. The General later created Xingyi and Eagle Claw boxing from his internal and external training under Zhou. However, history Prof. Meir Shahar notes that unarmed boxing styles did not develop at Shaolin until the late Ming dynasty. He also states that Ji family memoirs and Qing dynasty records suggest Xingyi was created hundreds of years after the death of Yue by a spearplayer named Ji Jike (fl. 1651). In addition, the appearance of Han Qi in the story is a chronological anachronism since he died nearly 30 years before Yue's birth. Yue historically worked as a tenant farmer and bodyguard for descendants of Han Qi in 1124 after leaving the military upon the death of his father in late 1122, but he learned from Zhou well before this time. Eagle Claw Grandmasters Leung Shum and Lily Lau believe "Jow Tong" (the Cantonese rendering of his name) was a monk who brought young Yue to the Shaolin Monastery and taught him a set of hand techniques, which Yue later adapted to create his Ying Kuen (Eagle fist). Liang Shouyu states practitioners of Emei Dapeng Qigong believe Yue trained under Zhou as a child and competed to become China's top fighter at an early age. Their lineage story dictates Zhou also took Yue to a "Buddhist hermit" who taught him said qigong style. Northern Praying Mantis Master Yuen Mankai says Zhou taught Yue the "same school" of martial arts as he did his Water Margin students and that the General was the originator of the praying mantis technique "Black Tiger Steeling [sic] Heart". Although Martial arts historian Stanley Henning admits that Yue's biographies do not mention boxing, he says "he [Yue] almost certainly did practice some form of bare handed fighting" to prepare for his weapons training. But he does not suggest who Yue might have learned it from. ### Martial arts There is insufficient historical evidence to support the claim he knew any skills beyond archery. Contemporary records never once mention Zhou teaching Yue boxing. Despite this, various wuxia novels and folk legends have attributed many different military and supernatural skills to Zhou. These range from mastery of the bow, double swords and Chinese spear to that of Wudang hard qigong, Chuōjiǎo boxing and even X-ray vision. Wang Shaotang's folktale even represents him as a master of Drunken Eight Immortals boxing. In the Shaolin Temple of Henan province at the end of the Ming dynasty, the warrior monks were practicing leg techniques exercises and jumps that they attributed to Zhou Tong. There is a system of fighting called "The Shaolin legs and fists of Zhou Tong" (Shaolin Zhou Tong quantui) attributed to Zhou Tong. Mostly, Shaolin martial arts focusing in leg techniques and jumps are referring to Zhou Tong as the founder of their respective styles. Zhou can also be linked to these combat arts through his historical and folklore students. Practitioners of Eagle Claw, Chuōjiǎo and Xingyi commonly include him within their lineage history because of his association with Yue Fei, the supposed progenitor of these styles. Yuen Mankai believes Zhou taught Lin Chong and Lu Junyi the "same school" of martial arts that was later combined with seventeen other schools to create Mantis fist. This combination of various schools refers to an eighteenth-century martial arts manual that describes the gathering of eighteen masters at the Shaolin Monastery that supposedly took place during the early years of the Song dynasty. Lin Chong and Yan Qing are listed as two of the eighteen masters invited, which means their skills of Mandarin Duck Leg and ground fighting are treated as two separate schools, instead of one. But he believes Mantis first was created during the Ming dynasty and was therefore influenced by these eighteen schools from the Song. He also says Lu Junyi taught Yan Qing the same martial arts as he learned from Zhou. Very few references are made to the people who supposedly taught martial arts to Zhou. In The Legend of Zhou Tong, he learns as a child from a Shaolin master named Tan Zhengfang. Practitioners of Chuōjiǎo claim he learned the style from its creator, a wandering Taoist named Deng Liang. Practitioners of Geok Gar Kuen, a style attributed to Yue Fei, believe he studied under Han De, a "chivalrous person" from Shaanxi. ## In popular culture Zhou has appeared in various kinds of media including novels, comic books, and movies. Apart from The Story of Yue Fei and Iron Arm, Golden Sabre, he appears in a novel based around his older martial arts brother, Jin Tai. A recent graphic novel of The Story of Yue Fei, deletes all mythological elements from the storyline and presents it in a historical manner. Instead of traveling from Hebei to Hubei to inspect land, Zhou travels from Shaanxi to Kaifeng City in Henan to visit an old friend who had been promoted to General. While en route to the capital city, Zhou takes note of a great famine plaguing the peasantry and even hears stories of some people resorting to cannibalism. However, when he arrives in Kaifeng, he sees the empire is wasting money on the construction of large imperial gardens, the court officials Cai Jing and Wang Pu have extravagant residencies, and hears that even eunuchs are rich because they are given high government posts. Upon locating his friend, Zhou is distressed to find him in stocks and shackles and being escorted to the farthest reaches of China by imperial guards. He later learns that the General had accidentally offended some court officials and was sentenced to permanent exile on some trumped up charges. Apparently having little or no money, Zhou decides to visit Wang Ming in Hubei (mistakenly called Hebei) and becomes the estate's tutor. Another noticeable difference in the storyline takes place when Zhou travels with his teenage disciples to visit his friend the Abbot. Instead of Yue wandering behind the temple to battle the magical snake, he stays with Zhou and the Abbot, while the other disciples go off to explore. Zhou watches as the Abbot tests Yue's strength by asking him to move an ornate 300-pound copper stove dating from the Han dynasty. The abbot then lifts a stone floor tile and presents the boy with a large book on military strategy. He goes on to tell Yue how he was once a great soldier who fought in campaigns against the Liao and Western Xia empires, but became a monk after the Song agreed to become a vassal of each state. He later made a name for himself by teaching military skills to youths from the surrounding area. Since he has no heir of his own, the Abbot presents Yue with his own personal spear and instructs him in the proper use of the weapon. Zhou kindly protests the gift at first, but allows Yue to keep it out of friendship. A second graphic novelization drastically changes the storyline involving Zhou. Like the original, Zhou becomes the tutor of the Wang estate, but, when news of his arrival prompts rich families to send their sons to learn from him, he is forced to accept droves of these students on a trial basis. He eventually chooses his friends' sons as his indoor disciples and Yue as his "godchild". Years later, he takes his now teenage students not to see the Buddhist abbot, but to teach them military strategy out in the mountain wilderness. Yue senses trouble after his martial brothers separate to explore the forest and rushes off to rescue them, only to be confronted by a monstrous snake. After vanquishing the beast with his sword, Yue discovers a magic glowing spear within a cave and reports back to Zhou. Following their training, Zhou becomes ill from overexposure to the cold mountain air on the return trip home and dies soon after. Instead of just Yue, all of his students live beside his grave for a mourning period of one hundred days before returning home to their families. These events take place three years before Zhou originally died in The Story of Yue Fei. Stories including Zhou have also been used to educate. The secondary school system of Hong Kong teaches children the value of mentorship by making them read about the close teacher-pupil relationship between Zhou and Yue. A morale tale called "Yue Fei Studies Archery" in Children's Pictorial, a Chinese magazine tailored for children ages two through seven, demonstrates how great achievements are only made possible via diligent practice. The story states how young Yue stumbles upon Zhou's training hall in a neighboring town while gathering fire wood. Yue applies to become a student, but Zhou tells him he must first practice the art of the "far-sighted person" by staring into the morning sun to improve his eyesight. After years of unrelenting practice, Yue is able to spot a lone goose flying off in the distance and two cicadas on a tree far into the forest. Zhou then officially takes him as his disciple and adopted son. Under his tutelage, Yue is able to master the eighteen weapons of war and to shoot a falling leaf from one hundred paces away. He is mentioned numerous times in author Robert Liparulo's thriller Deadlock (2009). Zhou is first featured in chapter eight during a conversation between the main character John "Hutch" Hutchinson, a journalist bent on stopping the maniacal plans of a billionaire madman, and his friend's young son Dillon, an archery enthusiast. When Hutch asks him if he had ever heard of the archery-champion-turned-actor Howard Hill, Dillon replies: "I don't think so ... You told me about Zhou Tong". Hutch then says: "Oh, yeah. Zhou Tong was something. Taught the Song dynasty to be the best military archers in history. But Howard Hill [was the best]". Later in chapter fifty, while Hutch is trailing a killer through an airport, a page goes out over the intercom system for a "Mr. Zhou Tong". When the page goes out again, Hutch muses: "Zhou Tong had been a famous archery teacher and military arts tutor in the Song dynasty. [Dillon and I] had long telephone conversations about him, because of Tong's blending of archery skills and self-discipline. He was an inspiration to [me]. Dillon had sensed that and wanted to known everything about him". He finally realizes that the page had to have been left by Dillon's mother Laura to catch his attention. The page is sent to warn him of a trap, but Hutch receives it too late. Screen actors who have portrayed Zhou in films from the 1940s and 1960s include Wong Sau Nin, Li Ming, and Jing Ci Bo. Jing starred alongside a ten-year-old Sammo Hung, who played young Yue Fei. Veteran martial arts actor Yu Chenghui, who played the sword-wielding antagonist in Jet Li's Shaolin Temple, stated in a 2005 newspaper interview that he never shaved his trademark beard, even at the request of movie producers, because he wanted to portray Zhou in a future film. He went on to say "He is an outstandingly able person from the northern and southern Song dynasties and many Water Margin heroes are his disciples. This person is very important in the martial arts and many people want to portray him in films". ## See also - List of archers - Man Jiang Hong
27,749,327	Ronnie Lee Gardner	1,170,093,499	American executed in 2010 for a Utah murder	[ "1961 births", "1984 murders in the United States", "2010 deaths", "20th-century American criminals", "21st-century executions by Utah", "21st-century executions of American people", "American Latter Day Saints", "American escapees", "American male prostitutes", "American people convicted of burglary", "American people convicted of robbery", "American people executed for murder", "American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment", "American shooting survivors", "Deaths by firearm in Utah", "Escapees from Utah detention", "Executed people from Utah", "People convicted of murder by Utah", "People executed by Utah by firing squad", "People from Salt Lake City", "People with antisocial personality disorder", "Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Utah" ]	Ronnie Lee Gardner (January 16, 1961 – June 18, 2010) was an American criminal who received the death penalty for killing a man during an attempted escape from a courthouse in 1985, and was executed by a firing squad by the state of Utah in 2010. Gardner's case spent nearly 25 years in the court system, prompting the Utah House of Representatives to introduce legislation to limit the number of appeals in capital cases. In October 1984, Gardner killed Melvyn John Otterstrom, 37, during a robbery in Salt Lake City. While being moved in April 1985 to a court hearing for the homicide, he fatally shot attorney Michael Burdell, 36, in an unsuccessful escape attempt. Convicted of two counts of murder, Gardner was sentenced to life imprisonment for the first count and received the death penalty for the second. The state adopted more stringent security measures as a result of the incident at the courthouse. While held at Utah State Prison, Gardner was charged with another capital crime for stabbing an inmate in 1994. However, that charge was discarded by the Utah Supreme Court because the victim survived. In a series of appeals, defense attorneys presented mitigating evidence of the troubled upbringing of Gardner, who had spent nearly his entire adult life in incarceration. His request for commutation of his death sentence was denied in 2010 after the families of his victims testified against him. Gardner's legal team took the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to intervene. The execution of Gardner at Utah State Prison became the focus of media attention in June 2010, because it was the first to be carried out by firing squad in the United States in 14 years. Gardner stated that he sought this method of execution because of his Mormon background. On the day before his execution, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a statement clarifying its position on the issue of blood atonement of individuals. The case also attracted debate over capital punishment and whether Gardner had been destined for a life of violence since his difficult childhood. ## Personal background Ronnie Lee Gardner was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and was the youngest of Dan and Ruth Gardner's seven children. Dan was a heavy drinker who left the household to start another family while Ronnie was a toddler; Dan and Ruth divorced when Ronnie was 18 months old. Six months later, Ronnie was found malnourished and wandering the streets alone in a diaper. Child welfare workers filed a "failure to care" petition and took him into custody, though they later returned him to his mother. Gardner's relationship with his father was tumultuous; Dan did not believe he was Gardner's biological father and frequently told his son of his belief. According to Gardner, he was raised by an older sister, and was sexually abused by his siblings. Sometimes he and his sister Bonnie would run away and seek refuge in a "hobo camp." By the age of 10, Gardner was addicted to drugs and permitted access to alcohol. He and his brother Randy were arrested for stealing cowboy boots and taken into juvenile detention. Gardner recalled with distress that his father Dan came to take his brother Randy home and left him behind. ### Early institutionalization Gardner's mother married Bill Lucas, who had been incarcerated in Wyoming in 1968. The Gardner-Lucas family eventually had nine children. Gardner admired Lucas, who used his stepsons as lookouts while burglarizing homes. By his early teens, Gardner had been held in detention at a series of institutions, including an involuntary commitment at Utah State Hospital in Provo. Gardner was small as a boy, and described that he had to fight to defend himself and earn respect. As Gardner admitted, "I was a nasty little bugger." While held at Utah State Industrial School in Ogden, Jack Statt, (who was living with Gardner's brother Randy) visited Gardner. According to Gardner, Statt met Randy at a bus stop and paid him \$25 for oral sex. When released from the school in 1975, Gardner stayed with Statt. Although social workers noted the men in the household were dressed like women, Statt officially became a foster parent to Gardner and his brother. Gardner said that Statt performed sex acts on them and explained, "I thought life like that was normal." Gardner stated in a psychological evaluation that he worked as a prostitute while living with Statt, who psychologists say fit the profile of a pedophile. Gardner said his time in foster care was the most stable period of his life — "Jack was a good man, and he tried to help us out." While Gardner intermittently continued to go to the industrial school, he met Debra Bischoff at a Salt Lake City apartment complex where his mother lived. Bischoff described him as: "Very caring. He never put me in the rough situations he was in throughout his life. He sheltered me from that stuff." Gardner had a daughter in May 1977 and a son in February 1980 with Bischoff, but was convicted of robbery and sent to Utah State Prison in the same month his son was born. Gardner successfully escaped the prison's maximum security unit on April 19, 1981, and was shot in the neck while attempting to kill a man who he believed had raped Bischoff. In February 1983, he was identified as a ringleader in a disturbance in which inmates barricaded a cell block and started fires. On August 6, 1984, Gardner escaped from custody at the University of Utah Hospital after faking an illness by vomiting. He attacked transportation officer Don Leavitt and forced him to unlock his shackles by telling him: "I guess you know if that doctor comes back, I'll have to kill you both." In the course of the escape, Gardner struck Leavitt so hard that he needed wires to reconstruct his face. Gardner forced a medical student named Mike Lynch to take him from the premises on a motorcycle while pointing a gun into his back. On August 11, a letter carrier found Leavitt's firearm in a mailbox with a note from Gardner that said, "Here's the gun and wallet taken from the guard at the hospital. I don't want to hurt no one else. I just want to be free." ## Murders During the night of October 9, 1984, Gardner robbed the Cheers Tavern in Salt Lake City. While under the influence of cocaine, he shot bartender Melvyn John Otterstrom in the face, killing him. Otterstrom's cousin Craig Watson stated that the robbery "gained less than \$100." Family members said Gardner attended Otterstrom's funeral and pretended to be a childhood friend. Following a tip, police apprehended Gardner three weeks later at the home of his cousin. Gardner said that the shooting occurred because Otterstrom put up a fight, but investigators did not find any evidence to support this claim. Gardner was held in custody in lieu of \$1.5 million bail. His getaway driver was identified as Darcy Perry McCoy, who testified against him. During trial proceedings for the Otterstrom murder on April 2, 1985, Gardner attempted to escape from custody with a revolver smuggled into the Metropolitan Hall of Justice at Salt Lake City. Jim Kleine of the Salt Lake City Fire Department believed that the gun was passed to Gardner as he was being escorted into the courthouse from the underground parking lot. Gardner was immediately shot in the chest by guard Luther Hensley. Gardner then wounded unarmed bailiff George "Nick" Kirk in the abdomen. After running to the courtroom archives, Gardner confronted attorneys Robert Macri and Michael Burdell. According to Macri, after Gardner pointed the gun at him, he changed aim to Burdell, who had been doing pro bono work for his church. Burdell yelled, "Oh, my God," then Gardner shot him in the eye. Gardner made his way outside the building, where he was surrounded by dozens of police officers. Gardner threw the gun away, dropped and yelled: "Don’t shoot, I don’t have a gun." Gardner was taken to the University of Utah Health Services Center where he was listed in serious condition, but recovered. Burdell died about 45 minutes later while in surgery at Holy Cross Hospital. Kirk was initially listed in critical condition at LDS Hospital, but survived surgery. During a search of the courthouse, a bag of men's clothing was found in the basement under a women's restroom sink. Prosecutor Bob Stott believed Gardner's gun had been taped to a water fountain on the first floor. Darcy Perry McCoy was found unarmed and was arrested about a mile away. Her sister, Carma Jolley Hainsworth, was sentenced to eight years in prison for delivering the clothes and messages in preparation for the escape attempt, but the identity of the person who provided Gardner with the firearm was not known at the time. State corrections director William Vickrey cleared the actions of the prison guards who escorted Gardner, but Salt Lake County Sheriff N.D. "Pete" Hayward said that the guard who shot Gardner should have kept shooting until Gardner was dead. A review found that the guards were inhibited from shooting because Gardner had been using a hostage as a human shield. Sheriff Hayward said the escape attempt "appeared to be well-planned" and blamed the security breach on the layout of the Metropolitan Hall of Justice, which allowed unrestricted access to areas where prisoners were transported. Otterstrom, a mountain climber and veteran of the 19th Special Forces Group of the Utah National Guard, was survived by his wife Kathy and his five-year-old son, Jason. Burdell – a Vietnam veteran, former engineer, and member of the Summum Church – was survived by his girlfriend, Donna Nu, who would go on to advocate against Gardner's execution. ## Sentencing and incarceration Gardner was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. In June 1985, Gardner pleaded guilty to the murder of Otterstrom and received a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. At one point, Gardner threatened to disrupt subsequent court hearings because he was upset over being required to wear a leg brace that would lock if he attempted to escape again. He was advised by guards that it would be to his benefit to behave in front of prospective jurors. District Judge Jay E. Banks instructed the jury, on October 22, 1985, that they had the option of a verdict for the lesser offense of manslaughter if they found Gardner to be under mental or emotional duress when he shot Burdell. The jurors deliberated less than three hours and found Gardner guilty of capital murder. Ultimately sentenced to death, Gardner selected execution by firing squad over lethal injection. Legislators in Utah eliminated the firing squad as a method of execution in 2004, but convicts who were sentenced before that date, such as Gardner, could still select that option. Since 1976, only two other people have been executed by firing squad in the United States, both in Utah: Gary Gilmore and John Albert Taylor. In contrast to Taylor, who said he chose the firing squad to embarrass the state, Gardner's attorney said that his client did not want to attract attention and simply preferred to die this way. > I'd prefer to die of old age, your honor, but if that ain't possible, I'll take the firing squad. Gardner's incarceration as Utah's then-youngest inmate on death row was not uneventful. A hearing was held on February 19, 1987, in which Gardner and other inmates claimed "unconstitutional confinement" in unsanitary conditions with poor food. On October 28, 1987, Gardner broke a glass partition in a prison visiting area and had sex with a woman who was meeting him, while other inmates cheered and barricaded the doors. According to state prison spokesperson Juan Benavidez, though Gardner had "knocked out the lights", an officer who was in the control room "could still see what was going on." Gardner claimed breaking the glass was an accident. In 1993, Utah state representative Dan Tuttle introduced what he called "the Ronnie Lee Gardner bill" in which he proposed that law enforcement officers be permitted to shoot inmates attempting to escape, whether they are "armed or not." On September 25, 1994, Gardner got drunk from consuming alcohol, which he fermented in his own prison cell sink, and stabbed inmate Richard "Fats" Thomas with a shiv fashioned from a pair of sunglasses. Thomas suffered nine puncture wounds to his face, mouth, arm and chest that were life-threatening, but made a full recovery. Though Thomas had survived the stabbing, Gardner was charged with another capital crime under a 1974 Utah law reserved for prison attacks by first-degree felony inmates. There was no precedent in the United States for a death penalty that was carried out for such a crime. The constitutionality of the law was challenged, with defense lawyers calling it "stale and anachronistic," and the charge against Gardner was thrown out by the Utah Supreme Court because the victim did not die. In February 1996, Gardner threatened to sue to force the state of Utah to execute him by firing squad. He had told a judge in a 1991 hearing that he was motivated by his children to seek lethal injection, but later changed his mind as they became older. He said that he preferred the firing squad because of his "Mormon heritage." Gardner also felt that lawmakers were trying to eliminate the firing squad, in opposition to popular opinion in Utah, because of concern over the state's image in the upcoming 2002 Winter Olympics. > I like the firing squad. It's so much easier ... and there's no mistakes. In 1998, the old Metropolitan Hall of Justice was vacated and replaced by the multimillion-dollar Scott M. Matheson Courthouse. Gardner's deadly escape attempt in 1985 was blamed on the open access and light security of the previous building and greatly influenced the tighter security measures adopted by Salt Lake City's new courthouse. Former prosecutor Kent Morgan stated, "Absolutely Gardner changed that." On March 3, 2001, the Metropolitan Hall of Justice was demolished. ### Defense motions In 2007, U.S. federal judge Tena Campbell rejected Gardner's appeal that his attorneys were inadequate because they were unable to prove that he did not mean to kill his victim. The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit rejected motions for appeal by his defense on March 8, 2010. Gardner attempted to give up the process at least three times, but his attorneys convinced him to continue appealing each time. State court Judge Robin Reese signed an execution warrant on April 23 ordering the state to carry out the death sentence. At Gardner's commutation hearing on June 10, 2010, lawyers and medical experts in his defense argued whether meningitis contracted at the age of 4 had damaged his brain. Gardner had also huffed gas and glue with his siblings, and played with mercury stolen from gas meters by his stepfather to sell. Three of the jurors that sentenced Gardner to death signed an affidavit that they would have recommended life without parole, an option that was not available in Utah until 1992. Gardner claimed that he was a changed man who counseled other inmates and was interested in starting an organic farm project for youths on 160 acres (65 ha) in Box Elder County, Utah. Gardner's attorney presented a letter his client wrote to Oprah Winfrey requesting funds for the project. Gardner also argued that it was not justifiable to execute him after so much time had passed since the crime. > I can do a lot of good. First of all, I'm a good example. There's no better example in this state of what not to do. Assistant state attorney general Tom Brunker argued against clemency, stating: "Mr. Gardner was sentenced to death and earned that death penalty because of his unflagging history of violent crime." The family of the late George "Nick" Kirk recounted how his being shot by Gardner affected their lives and ultimately shortened Kirk's life. Kirk's daughter Barb Webb said, "He's done a lot of horrific things in his past and I think, given the chance, he would do them all again." Jason Otterstrom, whose father Melvyn was murdered by Gardner, struggled to describe the impact upon his family. After listening to the testimony from the families of the victims, the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole declined Gardner's commutation request, stating that the jury's verdict and sentence were "not inappropriate." The board members cited his violent record during incarceration and questioned his effort to reform as being "too little, too late." Gardner revealed at the hearing that it was Darcy Perry McCoy who provided him the gun with which he murdered Michael Burdell. Deputy Salt Lake County attorney Bob Stott said that McCoy would not be prosecuted because Gardner, the only witness, was going to be executed. > I feel really sorry for him; I do feel sorry. But he made that choice. The Utah Supreme Court upheld lower court rulings on June 14, 2010, exhausting Gardner's appeals within the state. The U.S. Supreme Court turned down final appeals on June 17, though a court order indicated that dissenting Justices Stephen Breyer and John Paul Stevens would have granted a stay of execution. Utah governor Gary Herbert also declined to intervene because Gardner had "a full and fair opportunity" in court. State attorney general Mark Shurtleff announced on Twitter that he signed off on the execution: "I just gave the go ahead to Corrections Director to proceed with Gardner's execution." ### Death penalty debate Opponents of capital punishment gathered at the Utah State Capitol to hold a rally during the final appeals. The protest was attended by Gardner's family, and was organized by Utahans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. The protest also included the support of Brian King of the Utah House of Representatives, who pledged to urge the legislature to reconsider the use of the capital punishment. The family of murder victim Michael Burdell had also appealed on Gardner's behalf, stating that Burdell was a pacifist who would have opposed the death penalty. News media arrived from around the world and raised the issue of blood atonement because of Gardner's citation of his Mormon roots in selecting the firing squad. Some followers of Mormonism were taught that murder is so heinous that the blood of the offender must be spilled to pay for their sins. On the day before Gardner's execution, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints condemned the idea of blood atonement as a way to salvation. They released the following statement: > In the mid-19th century, when rhetorical, emotional oratory was common, some church members and leaders used strong language that included notions of people making restitution for their sins by giving up their own lives. > > However, so-called "blood atonement," by which individuals would be required to shed their own blood to pay for their sins, is not a doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We believe in and teach the infinite and all-encompassing atonement of Jesus Christ, which makes forgiveness of sin and salvation possible for all people. Other denominations voiced their opposition to the use of capital punishment. David Henry, a Baptist minister in Salt Lake City, said: "Violence breeds violence ... . It doesn't work. It's ineffective, and it's brutalizing all of us." Keith O'Brien, a Roman Catholic Cardinal in Scotland, later used Gardner's cases to describe the "culture of vengeance" in the United States. According to polls, support for capital punishment had been steadily declining since the 1990s, but the majority of people in Utah still supported the death penalty in the period leading up to Gardner's scheduled execution. In 2010, Kay McIff of the Utah House of Representatives sponsored legislation to require condemned inmates to raise all appeal arguments in their first post-conviction petition, noting that Gardner's multiple appeals kept his case lingering on death row for nearly 25 years. The bill, HB202, passed the Utah House by a margin of 67-to-5 on February 1, 2011, and unanimously passed the Utah State Senate on February 17. The legislation was signed into law by the Governor on 22 March 2011. The law denies any stay of execution after a first appeal, without a judicial review of new evidence (or a pregnant appellant), that a judge determines would have materially affected the original case. ## Execution The Utah Department of Corrections provided Gardner's attorney, Andrew Parnes, with documentation about executions by firing squad and lethal injection. The records included the Utah execution team's training and expertise. Parnes relayed the information to Gardner after agreeing not to disclose it to anyone else. On June 15, 2010, Gardner ate a last meal of steak, lobster tail, apple pie, vanilla ice cream and 7-Up, before beginning a 48-hour fast while watching The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and reading Divine Justice. According to his lawyers, the fast was motivated by "spiritual reasons." Gardner was visited by an LDS bishop and his family before his execution. Gardner walked voluntarily to his place of execution. When asked if he had any last words, he responded, "I do not, no." Gardner was executed on June 18, 2010, at 12:15 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time by a firing squad at Utah State Prison in Draper. He was placed in restraints on a black metal chair with a hood covering his head. Sandbags were arranged around him to absorb ricochets. The firing squad was made up of five anonymous volunteers who were certified police officers. The officers stood about 25 feet (7.6 m) from Gardner, aiming at a white target positioned over his heart. One of their .30-caliber Winchester rifles was selected at random and loaded with a non-lethal wax bullet so that they would not know with certainty who fired the fatal shots. According to the Utah Department of Corrections, the squad used a countdown cadence beginning with five and simultaneously firing right before two. His dark blue jumpsuit made it difficult to see the blood from his wounds. A medical examiner removed Gardner's hood to reveal his lifeless face. After verifying Gardner's lack of pulse at the neck and pupillary light reflex, the medical examiner pronounced him dead at 12:17 a.m. He was the first person to be executed by firing squad in the United States since the execution of John Albert Taylor 14 years earlier. A commemorative coin was commissioned for prison staff who participated in the execution. Gardner's friends and family gathered outside the prison at a candlelight vigil while playing "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. They did not witness his execution, per his request. Some wore shirts with his prisoner number 14873. His body was cremated and released to his daughter to be taken back to Idaho with family members. > Ultimately, his children and grandchildren got their chance to express their love for him. I'm not sure Ronnie had a lot of love in his life. At least in the end there, he got that. Gardner's brother Randy Gardner has become an outspoken opponent of the death penalty, often wearing Ronnie's prison jumpsuit to anti-death penalty demonstrations. ## See also - Capital punishment in Utah - Grandfather clause - List of most recent executions by jurisdiction - List of people executed in Utah - List of people executed in the United States in 2010 - Religion and capital punishment
12,579,378	Daisy Pearce	1,173,264,386	Australian rules footballer (born 1988)	[ "1988 births", "All-Australians (AFL Women's)", "Australia women's international rules football team players", "Australian rules football commentators", "Australian rules footballers from Melbourne", "Darebin Falcons players", "Living people", "Melbourne Football Club (AFLW) players", "People from Bright, Victoria", "People from Eltham, Victoria", "Women sports announcers" ]	Daisy Pearce (born 27 May 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). Often regarded as the face of women's Australian rules football, Pearce served as Melbourne captain from the competition's inaugural season in 2017 until her retirement at the end of season seven, having previously captained the club in the women's exhibition games staged prior to the 2016 creation of the league. She captained Victoria in the inaugural AFL Women's State of Origin match in 2017, where she was adjudged best afield. Pearce began her state league career in 2005 with the Darebin Falcons in the Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL), captaining the club from 2008 to 2016 and playing roughly 200 games until her final match in 2017. She is a ten-time premiership player (seven times as captain), seven-time league best and fairest winner in the VWFL and VFL Women's (VFLW) competitions and five-time Darebin best and fairest winner. She represented Victoria at both under-19 and senior level, and was recruited by Melbourne with the first selection in the inaugural national women's draft in 2013 for the first women's exhibition game. Pearce was a marquee signing for Melbourne's AFL Women's team leading into the competition's first season in 2017. At AFLW level, Pearce is a three-time AFL Women's All-Australian, having been named captain in the 2017 team and vice-captain in the 2018 team, and captained Melbourne to its first AFL Women's premiership in season seven. She is a three-time Melbourne best and fairest winner and a four-time AFLPA AFLW best captain. The VFL Women's best and fairest award, of which Pearce was the inaugural recipient in 2016, was named the Lambert–Pearce Medal partly in her honour in 2018. Outside her playing career, Pearce became an established media personality in both television and radio. She is an expert commentator for the Seven Network and 1116 SEN's AFL coverage; she appeared on the Seven Network program AFL Game Day as a rotating panel member from 2016 until the show's cancellation in 2020 and hosted her own podcast on SEN, This Is Grit, in 2019. Pearce has also served as a development coach with the Geelong Football Club's Australian Football League (AFL) team since 2023. ## Early life Daisy Pearce was born on 27 May 1988 in Bright, Victoria, to parents Daryl and Dee. She has two brothers, Will and Harry; two younger half-siblings, Ruby and Ali, through her mother; and an older half-brother, Aaron, through her father. Her parents separated in 1995 and her mother and brothers relocated to the Melbourne suburb of Eltham while Daisy remained with her father in Wandiligong, near Bright in the Alpine Shire area, where she attended Bright P-12 College. When Pearce was a teenager, she returned to live with her mother and the rest of the family, and attended Eltham High School. As a child, Pearce supported the Carlton Football Club, and one of her favourite players was Carlton premiership player and former captain Brett Ratten. She was enrolled in the Vickick program, which later became Auskick, and played junior football alongside boys as a child. Her father was a coach at the Bright Football Club, which allowed Pearce to begin training with the under-13 boys team from the age of eight; she played alongside her brother Harry and future premiership defender Ben Reid. Pearce needed dispensation from the local league to continue playing alongside boys as a teenager, but was disallowed, which played a part in her decision to move to Eltham. At high school, she took up netball, tennis and volleyball, making a national youth squad for the latter, before eventually picking up football again. ## Early football career ### State league and representative football Pearce began playing with in the premier division of the Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) in 2005 at the age of 16, winning the Lisa Hardeman Medal in her first season and going on to play roughly 200 games with the women-only football club. In 2007, Darebin went through the VWFL season undefeated, defeating in the grand final, and Pearce was named among the best players in the grand final. Darebin would go on to win five VWFL premierships in a row, before losing to St Albans in the grand final in 2011; Pearce, who had by then become captain, was named Darebin's best player in the loss. In 2013 and 2014, Darebin went through both seasons undefeated, defeating by 49 points in the 2013 grand final and 30 points in the 2014 grand final; Pearce was best afield in the latter. She featured in Darebin's third consecutive grand final win over Diamond Creek in 2015. During her career in the VWFL, Pearce won the Darebin best and fairest award five times and the Helen Lambert Medal as the VWFL's best and fairest player six times. Pearce was a member of the Australian team that played against Ireland in the 2006 Ladies' International Rules Series which, as of 2016, remains the only women's series to have taken place. In June 2007, at the age of 19, she was one of two VWFL representatives, alongside Shannon McFerran, named to play in the E. J. Whitten Legends Game; Pearce was named in the Victorian team while McFerran was named for the All Stars, marking the first time female players were included in the annual charity match. Pearce captained the Victoria under-19 team at the 2007 AFL Women's National Championships; she was named in the championships' All-Australian team and won the award for joint-player of the tournament. Pearce was named in the leadership group for the Victorian senior team at the 2009 championships and was again named in the championships' All-Australian team. She was named deputy vice-captain for Victoria at the 2011 championships. In March 2016, the VFL Women's (VFLW) was launched and Darebin was named among ten teams from the VWFL to participate in Victoria's new state league competition. Pearce won the inaugural VFL Women's best and fairest award and played in the first VFLW premiership in 2016 as Darebin defeated Melbourne University. She played in Darebin's grand final win over Diamond Creek in 2017, kicking a goal and receiving praise from coach Jane Lange for her leadership and commitment as Darebin won its fifth consecutive state league premiership and tenth in twelve seasons. ### Women's exhibition games In May 2013, the Australian Football League (AFL) announced that a women's exhibition game would be held for the first time during its annual Women's Round, involving AFL clubs and the . Fifty of the top female footballers in Australia were selected in the inaugural national women's draft later that month to play for the two clubs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in a curtain raiser to the AFL match between the clubs in June; Pearce was recruited by Melbourne with the first selection in the draft, and was later named as Melbourne's captain. She was adjudged best afield with 28 disposals in the first exhibition game, which Melbourne won by 32 points in front of a crowd of almost 8,000. A second exhibition game between the two clubs, again played as a curtain raiser to the men's match and this time at Etihad Stadium, was announced in June 2014; Pearce was named among Melbourne's best players in its 46-point win. In February 2015, the AFL announced that two women's exhibition games would be played that year between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs, the first to be played at the MCG in May and the second to be played at Etihad Stadium in August. Pearce was named among Melbourne's best players with 23 disposals in the first match, which Melbourne won by eight points, and was best afield with 30 disposals in the second match, which Melbourne won by four points. Later that year, she was named as the inaugural winner of the club's best female player award, polling five out of a possible six votes from the two matches. In February 2016, the AFL announced a ten-match national exhibition series to be played throughout the year, in which Melbourne played two games against the Western Bulldogs in March and September, as well as a match against a women's team at the MCG in May. Pearce was best afield with 33 disposals and eleven marks in the first match, which Melbourne lost by 20 points, and was named among Melbourne's best players in its 71-point win over Brisbane. She was Melbourne's best player in its 39-point loss to the Bulldogs in September; the match was watched by an average audience of 387,000 people in Melbourne, which was greater than the average viewing audience for every Saturday night game during the 2016 AFL home-and-away season, as well as a national audience peak of over one million people. ## AFL Women's career ### 2017–2019: Midfield seasons and pregnancy In July 2016, Pearce and Melissa Hickey were announced as 's two marquee players for the inaugural AFL Women's season in 2017. Pearce was announced as the club's first AFLW captain in January 2017. She made her AFL Women's debut in Melbourne's inaugural match in round 1 against at the club's home ground, Casey Fields, and was listed among her team's best players in the loss, recording 19 disposals and nine tackles. Pearce was among Melbourne's best players in every game for the season; she was named by the AFL Players Association (AFLPA) as "Player of the Week" for round 4 after recording 29 disposals and six tackles in Melbourne's win against and was awarded the maximum three votes for the AFL Women's best and fairest award in Melbourne's round 6 match against . Following the home-and-away season, she revealed that she played the first two rounds with an injury after sustaining bone bruising and a corked calf in the opening round, and had sat out training for the entire week leading into round 2. At the end of the season, Pearce was named captain of the 2017 AFL Women's All-Australian team. She won the inaugural Melbourne best and fairest award and AFLPA AFLW best captain award, and was one of three Melbourne players nominated by her teammates for the AFLPA AFLW most valuable player award. She averaged 21.9 disposals, the most of any player in the inaugural season. Melbourne re-signed Pearce for the 2018 season during the trade and signing period in May. She then captained Victoria in the inaugural AFL Women's State of Origin match on 2 September in front of a crowd of 9,400, where she was adjudged best afield with 37 disposals in the 97-point win. In January 2018, Pearce was re-elected as Melbourne captain. She was among Melbourne's best players in four of its first five matches of the season, polling the maximum three AFL Women's best and fairest votes in Melbourne's loss to in round 3. Pearce polled a game-high nine votes for the AFL Coaches Association (AFLCA) AFLW champion player of the year award in rounds 1 and 3 and the maximum ten votes in round 5, and was selected in afl.com.au's Team of the Week in the same rounds. At the end of the season, Pearce was named vice-captain of the 2018 AFL Women's All-Australian team, and again won the Melbourne best and fairest award and AFLPA AFLW best captain award. She was again nominated by her teammates for the AFLPA AFLW most valuable player award. Melbourne signed Pearce for the 2019 season during the trade and signing period in May. However, on 31 August, Pearce announced her pregnancy with twins, which would result in her missing the 2019 season; she was retained as an inactive player, and Elise O'Dea and Shelley Scott were eventually announced as co-captains in her place. Pearce continued to mentor and work with Melbourne players in an unofficial assistant coach role when they returned for pre-season training in November 2018, and gave birth to twins in February 2019. By April, she was back to her playing weight, and later that month, she re-signed with Melbourne for the 2020 season. In July 2019, Pearce returned to the club to train three days a week as part of what she called her "pre-pre-pre-season" for 2020, adding that she was surprised by how her body had responded after her twins' birth, and resumed training with her Melbourne teammates three weeks later. In August, Pearce was announced as an assistant coach to Dermott Brereton for the Victorian team in that year's E.J. Whitten Legends Game. ### 2020–2021: Return to football and position shifts Pearce was reinstated as Melbourne captain in January 2020. Coach Mick Stinear said, "With her knowledge of our game plan, and her ability to instruct, support and give feedback on and off the field, she's just the ideal person to lead this group". She ran a personal best time over two kilometres in the lead-up to the season. Later that month, Pearce made a successful return to football, playing the first three quarters of Melbourne's practice match win against Collingwood. Leading into the season, womens.afl journalist Sarah Black named Pearce at no. 5 on her list of the top 30 players in the AFLW. Pearce played her first AFLW match in 694 days in Melbourne's win over in round 1, playing in a new role as a defender. Pearce was named among Melbourne's best players in five of its six home-and-away matches for the season; she polled eight coaches' votes in round 2 and five in round 3, and was selected in womens.afl's Team of the Week for round 2. After round 6, the last two home-and-away rounds were abandoned and a modified finals series was brought forward due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing Melbourne to qualify for finals for the first time. Pearce was among Melbourne's best players with 22 disposals in its semi-final win over , before the finals were cancelled with no premiership awarded due to the pandemic. Pearce was selected in the initial 40-woman squad for the 2020 AFL Women's All-Australian team, and was voted as the AFLPA AFLW best captain and nominated by her teammates for the AFLPA AFLW most valuable player award for the third time. Leading into the 2021 season, Pearce was named as Melbourne captain for a fourth season, and was named by Sarah Black at no. 9 on her annual list of the top 30 players in the AFLW. Prior to the opening game of the season, Pearce said that she had been "squeezed out of the midfield, officially" and would continue to primarily play at half-back while still making small appearances in the midfield. Pearce polled the maximum three AFL Women's best and fairest votes in Melbourne's round 1 win against . She was named among Melbourne's best players in its win over in round 6 after moving to the forward line and kicking two goals, and was selected in womens.afl's Team of the Week for that round. Pearce was named among Melbourne's best players in round 8 after kicking a goal and setting up the match-winning goal in the club's close win over Fremantle, which assured its position in that year's finals series. She injured the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in her right knee in the opening two minutes of Melbourne's close win over Brisbane the following week after her leg was caught underneath her in a tackle, which ruled her out of Melbourne's qualifying final win against Fremantle and preliminary final loss to Adelaide. Following the preliminary final, Pearce placed second in that year's AFLPA AFLW best captain award behind captain Ellie Blackburn; she revealed the next day that she had suffered a small tear to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee in the round 9 game, and that she would have surgery to repair the MCL while allowing the ACL to heal naturally. ### 2022: 13-goal season, premiership and retirement Pearce was named as Melbourne captain for a fifth season leading into 2022, continuing in her forward role from midway through the previous season. Stinear said that she was the strongest he had ever seen her; Pearce said that she had focused more heavily on weights and more of a strength and power focus over running during the pre-season. She polled the maximum three AFL Women's best and fairest votes in Melbourne's round 1 win over the Western Bulldogs and was among Melbourne's best players in its loss to Adelaide in round 4, kicking two of the team's three goals for the game. At the halfway point of the season, Pearce was equal-third in the competition for average score involvements with 4.4 per game. She was among Melbourne's best players in its win over Brisbane in round 7, shifting back into defence during the match to record 15 disposals; she received five coaches' votes and was selected in womens.afl's Team of the Week for round 7. Pearce was among Melbourne's best players with five goals in its record-breaking win over Fremantle in round 9, becoming Melbourne's first AFLW player and the fourth AFLW player overall to kick five goals in a match; she received the maximum ten coaches' votes, was selected in womens.afl's Team of the Week for round 9 and polled the maximum three AFL Women's best and fairest votes. She was among Melbourne's best players in its win over Carlton in round 10, kicking two goals and alternating between attack and defence to help Melbourne secure a top-two finish at the end of the home-and-away season. Pearce played in Melbourne's preliminary final win over Brisbane in the first AFLW match played at the MCG to help the club progress to the 2022 AFL Women's Grand Final, its first grand final appearance. She was named in Champion Data's 2022 AFLW All-Star stats team after leading the competition for score involvements with 1.5 per game and kicking 13 goals in ten games, was named in the 2022 AFL Women's All-Australian team, her third All-Australian selection, and was voted as the AFLPA AFLW best captain for the fourth time in her career. Pearce played in Melbourne's loss to Adelaide in the grand final, playing a key role in defence and on the wing. Following the grand final, she won her third Melbourne best and fairest award by a single vote. In May, Pearce said that she would continue playing for "at least one more" season, with the competition's seventh season taking place later in the year. In August, Pearce was named at no. 25 in Sarah Black's season seven list of the top 30 players in the AFLW and was named as Melbourne captain for a sixth season. She kicked a goal from eight disposals in Melbourne's round 1 win over Adelaide, playing a negating role on Adelaide defender Sarah Allan as part of her role to "keep [Adelaide's] intercept (possession) game to a minimum". Pearce was among Melbourne's best players in its win over North Melbourne in round 2 with two goals. In the lead-up to her 50th AFLW game, Pearce said that while she would "love" an AFLW premiership, "It's less about ticking that box and having a premiership than it is about love for the game [...] I think I'll walk away still really fulfilled and feeling like the game has given me so much". She played her 50th game in Melbourne's win over Gold Coast in round 8, kicking a goal from 11 disposals and six marks. Pearce kicked the winning goal in Melbourne's preliminary final win over North Melbourne to help the club progress to the AFL Women's season seven Grand Final, its second consecutive grand final appearance. She played in Melbourne's premiership win over Brisbane the following week, one of five inaugural Melbourne players (the others being Sarah Lampard, Lily Mithen, Karen Paxman and Lauren Pearce; Stinear was also their inaugural coach) to do so. In January 2023, Pearce announced her playing retirement. ## Playing style and positions Pearce is known for being a smart, skilled and composed player who directs play on-field. Longtime Melbourne coach Mick Stinear described Pearce as an "on-field coach" while former teammate Shelley Heath described her as "essentially another coach on the ground". Pearce began her AFL Women's career playing primarily as a midfielder, having achieved most of her recognition playing in that position; her average of 21.9 disposals per game in 2017 was the highest of any player. Upon her return to football in 2020 after the birth of her twins, Pearce began playing as a defender before playing primarily as a forward from midway through the 2021 season; the five goals that she kicked in round 9 of the 2022 season were the most in a game by a Melbourne AFLW player. ## Statistics \\|- \\| 2017 \\|\\| \\|\\| 6 \\| 7 \\|\\| 1 \\|\\| 1 \\|\\| 79 \\|\\| bgcolor=CAE1FF \\| 74<sup>†</sup> \\|\\| 153 \\|\\| 16 \\|\\| 36 \\|\\| 0.1 \\|\\| 0.1 \\|\\| 11.3 \\|\\| bgcolor=CAE1FF \\| 10.6<sup>†</sup> \\|\\| bgcolor=CAE1FF \\| 21.9<sup>†</sup> \\|\\| 2.3 \\|\\| 5.1 \\|\\| 7 \\|- \\| 2018 \\|\\| \\|\\| 6 \\| 7 \\|\\| 2 \\|\\| 1 \\|\\| 89 \\|\\| 38 \\|\\| 127 \\|\\| 11 \\|\\| 37 \\|\\| 0.3 \\|\\| 0.1 \\|\\| 12.7 \\|\\| 5.4 \\|\\| 18.1 \\|\\| 1.6 \\|\\| 5.3 \\|\\| 6 \\|- \\| 2019 \\|\\| \\|\\| 6 \\| 0 \\|\\| — \\|\\| — \\|\\| — \\|\\| — \\|\\| — \\|\\| — \\|\\| — \\|\\| — \\|\\| — \\|\\| — \\|\\| — \\|\\| — \\|\\| — \\|\\| — \\|\\| 0 \\|- \\| 2020 \\|\\| \\|\\| 6 \\| 7 \\|\\| 0 \\|\\| 0 \\|\\| 68 \\|\\| 36 \\|\\| 104 \\|\\| 19 \\|\\| 20 \\|\\| 0.0 \\|\\| 0.0 \\|\\| 9.7 \\|\\| 5.1 \\|\\| 14.9 \\|\\| 2.7 \\|\\| 2.9 \\|\\| 2 \\|- \\| 2021 \\|\\| \\|\\| 6 \\| 9 \\|\\| 3 \\|\\| 4 \\|\\| 67 \\|\\| 22 \\|\\| 89 \\|\\| 17 \\|\\| 25 \\|\\| 0.3 \\|\\| 0.4 \\|\\| 7.4 \\|\\| 2.4 \\|\\| 9.9 \\|\\| 1.9 \\|\\| 2.8 \\|\\| 3 \\|- \\| 2022 \\|\\| \\|\\| 6 \\| 12 \\|\\| 13 \\|\\| 7 \\|\\| 93 \\|\\| 37 \\|\\| 130 \\|\\| 27 \\|\\| 21 \\|\\| 1.1 \\|\\| 0.6 \\|\\| 7.8 \\|\\| 3.1 \\|\\| 10.8 \\|\\| 2.3 \\|\\| 1.8 \\|\\| 6 \\|- \\| bgcolor=F0E68C \\| S7 (2022)<sup>\#</sup> \\|\\| \\|\\| 6 \\| 13 \\|\\| 6 \\|\\| 9 \\|\\| 75 \\|\\| 47 \\|\\| 122 \\|\\| 25 \\|\\| 21 \\|\\| 0.5 \\|\\| 0.7 \\|\\| 5.8 \\|\\| 3.6 \\|\\| 9.4 \\|\\| 1.9 \\|\\| 1.6 \\|\\| 1 \\|- class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 \\| Career ! 55 !! 25 !! 22 !! 471 !! 254 !! 725 !! 115 !! 160 !! 0.5 !! 0.4 !! 8.6 !! 4.6 !! 13.2 !! 2.1 !! 2.9 !! 25 ## Honours and achievements Team - AFL Women's premiership player (): S7 (c) Individual - Melbourne captain: 2017–2018, 2020–S7 - 3× AFL Women's All-Australian team: 2017 (c), 2018, 2022 - 3× Melbourne best and fairest: 2017, 2018, 2022 - 4× AFLPA AFLW best captain: 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022 - AFL Women's State of Origin best-on-ground: 2017 - Victoria representative honours in AFL Women's State of Origin: 2017 ## Coaching career In October 2021, Pearce was among eight women, including five current and former AFLW players, selected in the AFL's women's coaching academy for 2022; she completed a national AFL level three coaching accreditation course as part of the academy, designed to "accelerate the next generation of female coaches" in Australian rules football, and was mentored by former Darebin and St Kilda coach Peta Searle as part of the twelve-month program. By March 2022, Pearce was considering an assistant coaching role for 's AFL team; she had earlier been offered the position of 's inaugural AFLW coach and turned it down after serious consideration. Later that month, she joined the AFL Academy as a coach of its women's program, and in June, Pearce accepted a coaching position at Geelong as part of the AFL's women's coaching acceleration program. She was one of four current AFLW players and nine women overall to receive a position at a club; the program enabled the successful women to start their role anytime before 2025, which allowed Pearce to continue playing until she decided to begin in the role. ### 2023–present: Geelong AFL development coach Pearce began her role as a development coach with Geelong in February 2023, having signed a four-year contract. While in her commentary role for the Seven Network, she was refused entry into 's change rooms following its round 1 draw against Carlton due to her coaching position, a decision which Richmond senior club advisor Neil Balme later clarified was a sign of respect for Pearce's intelligence: "I know I'd trust her to the point that (gathering intelligence is) not what she is there for [...] but to be able to do both jobs is a bit difficult at times". The Brisbane Lions later put the same ban on Pearce, with senior coach Chris Fagan saying that it was a hard decision and either choice was acceptable. ## Media career Pearce is an expert commentator for the Seven Network's AFL coverage on television and AFL Nation's AFL coverage for 1116 SEN on radio. In 2016, Pearce began appearing as a panel member on the Seven Network program AFL Game Day; she was set to continue in the role in 2020 before the show was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2018, Pearce began appearing on the SEN morning shows SEN Breakfast (with Garry Lyon and Tim Watson) and Whateley (with Gerard Whateley), and in 2019, she hosted This Is Grit, a weekly podcast series on SEN focusing on sportswomen. In 2021, she co-hosted The W Show for AFL Media alongside Nat Edwards, where they analysed and discussed AFL Women's news and topics. She previously provided special comments for radio network Triple M in 2017 and has written columns for newspaper The Age. Pearce was a boundary rider for Seven's coverage of the AFL Grand Final in 2018 and 2019. In 2021, she became the first woman to provide special comments for Seven's coverage of the grand final, and was widely praised by fans and media for her commentary. Pearce won the award for Best Opinion/Analysis – TV/Radio at the 2021 Australian Football Media Association Awards, with the AFMA commenting: "Daisy's football knowledge is incredible and she leaves viewers with a better appreciation of the game". Pearce was shifted to Seven's Friday night commentary team for the 2022 season, before moving to Thursday nights in 2023 upon commencing her coaching role with Geelong's AFL team. ## Advocacy Pearce has advocated for both men and women to commentate and talk about women's football in the media. After Tiffany Cherry spoke out against the Nine Network in February 2018 for failing to stand up for gender equality after being replaced by Clint Stanaway as host of the Nine program Women's Footy, Pearce said, "I enjoy seeing men working across and well-informed football commentators talking about [women's football]... why can't we see men working across the AFL Women's competition?" She said that if there was a belief that only women should call AFLW games and only men should call AFL games, "It's almost as if we are taking a few steps back". Pearce believed that this applied to coaching, saying that while she supported women coaching in football, she wanted "the best coach that's out there" to coach her, describing Stinear as "the best coach for the job" at Melbourne. One of several high-profile players to speak out during the AFLW's 2020–2022 collective bargaining agreement negotiations in 2019, Pearce supported the AFL Players Association and the AFL's deal to gradually extend the length of AFLW seasons over the three-year period and played down talks of a crisis developing after a group of players considered splitting from the AFLPA to create their own players union. She believed that broader talks between the AFLPA and AFLW players, which would allow more players to speak directly to the AFLPA, would result in an agreement that would satisfy all players. "[If] the AFL Players Association tell us that moving forward 'we're going to improve communications [...] because we've acknowledged there's some challenges with communicating with part-time girls', I trust that they'll do that". ## Legacy Pearce is often regarded by media as the face of women's Australian rules football and is highly regarded across the football industry for her professionalism, football knowledge and leadership, both on and off the field, as well as being a role model for current and future female footballers. Herald Sun journalist Jay Clark wrote that Pearce had "set the standard in training and professionalism [in women's football] for years" and that her contributions "over more than a decade [made] her a living legend of the women's game", while SEN broadcaster Gerard Whateley called Pearce "the defining figure of the AFLW era" and "the face of a social movement as well as a sport". > Daisy's just the complete package and by playing at Darebin with her, I see how hard she works off the field [...] I couldn't think of a better partner in crime to start that (AFL Women's journey) with. > [Pearce] has been a generational player and a generational leader. Talk about a story of breaking glass ceilings [...] she has just done it by being good in a way that has totally changed the landscape for young women. > [Pearce's] knowledge is excellent. God, she is well prepared [...] she has a presence. You can feel it. She has that lovely balance of being engaging, warm and charismatic, but at the same time she is humble and keen to listen and improve. > I don't think I've ever had a better captain than Daisy at any level of football. Everyone I talk to, including friends from other teams, always comment on how amazing it must be to be captained by Daisy. Everyone respects her and she always delivers no matter what, as a person or as a captain. In 2016, Pearce was named Football Woman of the Year for her work as the AFL's female football ambassador, an AFL talent coordinator and a graduate intern at the Melbourne Football Club. In February 2017, Melbourne unveiled its new AFLW mascot, a costumed human depicting a "young female footy player", named Daisy in honour of Pearce. On 7 March 2017, Pearce became the first woman to be elected as a director on the board of the AFLPA; the association had decided that day to include AFLW players as full members. In September 2018, the VFL Women's best and fairest award was named the Lambert–Pearce Medal to honour Pearce and VWFL founding committee member and former president Helen Lambert. Pearce won the inaugural award in 2016 after winning six Helen Lambert Medals in the VWFL. ## Personal life Pearce studied a Bachelor of Nursing and Midwifery at La Trobe University, graduating in 2010 and receiving a Distinguished Alumni award in 2019. She worked as a midwife at Box Hill Hospital and lived in Eltham at the time. Pearce gave birth to twins with her partner, firefighter Ben O'Neill, in February 2019 via a caesarean section. Her son was diagnosed with dextrocardia while she was pregnant. In October 2020, Pearce and her family relocated to Porepunkah, near Bright, and she has since divided her time between there and Melbourne. In June 2021, Pearce participated in the annual Big Freeze at the 'G event to raise funds for motor neurone disease (MND) research, sliding into the ice bath at the MCG in costume as the titular character from the Australian animated series Bluey. The 2021 edition of the event raised more than \$10 million for Neale Daniher's charity, Fight MND. Following her 50th AFLW game in 2022, which coincided with season seven's Pride Round, Pearce decided to sell her specially designed guernsey at auction and donate all funds to The Reach Foundation, a youth not-for-profit organisation established by former Melbourne player and president Jim Stynes.
6,778	Ceawlin of Wessex	1,157,716,583	King of Wessex	[ "590s deaths", "6th-century English monarchs", "Anglo-Saxon warriors", "House of Wessex", "West Saxon monarchs", "Year of birth unknown", "Year of death uncertain" ]	Ceawlin (also spelled Ceaulin, Caelin and Celin, died ca. 593) was a King of Wessex. He may have been the son of Cynric of Wessex and the grandson of Cerdic of Wessex, whom the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle represents as the leader of the first group of Saxons to come to the land which later became Wessex. Ceawlin was active during the last years of the Anglo-Saxon expansion, with little of southern England remaining in the control of the native Britons by the time of his death. The chronology of Ceawlin's life is highly uncertain. The historical accuracy and dating of many of the events in the later Anglo-Saxon Chronicle have been called into question, and his reign is variously listed as lasting seven, seventeen, or thirty-two years. The Chronicle records several battles of Ceawlin's between the years 556 and 592, including the first record of a battle between different groups of Anglo-Saxons, and indicates that under Ceawlin Wessex acquired significant territory, some of which was later to be lost to other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Ceawlin is also named as one of the eight "bretwaldas", a title given in the Chronicle to eight rulers who had overlordship over southern Britain, although the extent of Ceawlin's control is not known. Ceawlin died in 593, having been deposed the year before, possibly by his successor, Ceol. He is recorded in various sources as having two sons, Cutha and Cuthwine, but the genealogies in which this information is found are known to be unreliable. ## Historical context The history of the sub-Roman period in Britain is poorly sourced and the subject of a number of important disagreements among historians. It appears, however, that in the fifth century, raids on Britain by continental peoples developed into migrations. The newcomers included Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians. These peoples captured territory in the east and south of England, but at about the end of the fifth century, a British victory at the battle of Mons Badonicus halted the Anglo-Saxon advance for fifty years. Near the year 550, however, the British began to lose ground once more, and within twenty-five years, it appears that control of almost all of southern England was in the hands of the invaders. The peace following the battle of Mons Badonicus is attested partly by Gildas, a monk, who wrote De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae or On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain during the middle of the sixth century. This essay is a polemic against corruption and Gildas provides little in the way of names and dates. He appears, however, to state that peace had lasted from the year of his birth to the time he was writing. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is the other main source that bears on this period, in particular in an entry for the year 827 that records a list of the kings who bore the title "bretwalda", or "Britain-ruler". That list shows a gap in the early sixth century that matches Gildas's version of events. Ceawlin's reign belongs to the period of Anglo-Saxon expansion at the end of the sixth century. Though there are many unanswered questions about the chronology and activities of the early West Saxon rulers, it is clear that Ceawlin was one of the key figures in the final Anglo-Saxon conquest of southern Britain. ## Early West Saxon sources The two main written sources for early West Saxon history are the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List. The Chronicle is a set of annals which were compiled near the year 890, during the reign of King Alfred the Great of Wessex. They record earlier material for the older entries, which were assembled from earlier annals that no longer survive, as well as from saga material that might have been transmitted orally. The Chronicle dates the arrival of the future "West Saxons" in Britain to 495, when Cerdic and his son, Cynric, land at Cerdices ora, or Cerdic's shore. Almost twenty annals describing Cerdic's campaigns and those of his descendants appear interspersed through the next hundred years of entries in the Chronicle. Although these annals provide most of what is known about Ceawlin, the historicity of many of the entries is uncertain. The West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List is a list of rulers of Wessex, including the lengths of their reigns. It survives in several forms, including as a preface to the [B] manuscript of the Chronicle. As with the Chronicle, the list was compiled during the reign of Alfred the Great, and both the list and the Chronicle are influenced by the desire of their writers to use a single line of descent to trace the lineage of the Kings of Wessex through Cerdic to Gewis, the legendary eponymous ancestor of the West Saxons, who is made to descend from Woden. The result served the political purposes of the scribe, but is riddled with contradictions for historians. The contradictions may be seen clearly by calculating dates by different methods from the various sources. The first event in West Saxon history, the date of which can be regarded as reasonably certain, is the baptism of Cynegils, which occurred in the late 630s, perhaps as late as 640. The Chronicle dates Cerdic's arrival to 495, but adding up the lengths of the reigns as given in the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List leads to the conclusion that Cerdic's reign might have started in 532, a difference of 37 years. Neither 495 nor 532 may be treated as reliable; however, the latter date relies on the presumption that the Regnal List is correct in presenting the Kings of Wessex as having succeeded one another, with no omitted kings, and no joint kingships, and that the durations of the reigns are correct as given. None of these presumptions may be made safely. The sources also are inconsistent on the length of Ceawlin's reign. The Chronicle gives it as thirty-two years, from 560 to 592, but the Regnal Lists disagree: different versions give it as seven or seventeen years. A recent detailed study of the Regnal List dates the arrival of the West Saxons in England to 538, and favours seven years as the most likely length of Ceawlin's reign, with dates of 581–588 proposed. The sources do agree that Ceawlin is the son of Cynric and he usually is named as the father of Cuthwine. There is one discrepancy in this case: the entry for 685 in the [A] version of the Chronicle assigns Ceawlin a son, Cutha, but in the 855 entry in the same manuscript, Cutha is listed as the son of Cuthwine. Cutha also is named as Ceawlin's brother in the [E] and [F] versions of the Chronicle, in the 571 and 568 entries, respectively. Whether Ceawlin is a descendant of Cerdic is a matter of debate. Subgroupings of different West Saxon lineages give the impression of separate groups, of which Ceawlin's line is one. Some of the problems in the Wessex genealogies may have come about because of efforts to integrate Ceawlin's line with the other lineages: it became very important to the West Saxons to be able to trace the ancestors of their rulers back to Cerdic. Another reason for doubting the literal nature of these early genealogies is that the etymology of the names of several early members of the dynasty do not appear to be Germanic, as would be expected in the names of leaders of an apparently Anglo-Saxon dynasty. The name Ceawlin has no convincing Old English etymology; it seems more likely to be of British origin. The earliest sources do not use the term "West Saxon". According to Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, the term is interchangeable with the Gewisse. The term "West Saxon" appears only in the late seventh century, after the reign of Cædwalla. ## West Saxon expansion Ultimately, the kingdom of Wessex occupied the southwest of England, but the initial stages in this expansion are not apparent from the sources. Cerdic's landing, whenever it is to be dated, seems to have been near the Isle of Wight, and the annals record the conquest of the island in 530. In 534, according to the Chronicle, Cerdic died and his son Cynric took the throne; the Chronicle adds that "they gave the Isle of Wight to their nephews, Stuf and Wihtgar". These records are in direct conflict with Bede, who states that the Isle of Wight was settled by Jutes, not Saxons; the archaeological record is somewhat in favour of Bede on this. Subsequent entries in the Chronicle give details of some of the battles by which the West Saxons won their kingdom. Ceawlin's campaigns are not given as near the coast. They range along the Thames Valley and beyond, as far as Surrey in the east and the mouth of the Severn in the west. Ceawlin clearly is part of the West Saxon expansion, but the military history of the period is difficult to understand. In what follows the dates are as given in the Chronicle, although, as noted above, these are earlier than now thought accurate. ### 556: Beran byrg The first record of a battle fought by Ceawlin is in 556, when he and his father, Cynric, fought the native Britons at "Beran byrg", or Bera's Stronghold. This now is identified as Barbury Castle, an Iron Age hill fort in Wiltshire, near Swindon. Cynric would have been king of Wessex at this time. ### 568: Wibbandun The first battle Ceawlin fought as king is dated by the Chronicle to 568, when he and Cutha fought with Æthelberht, the king of Kent. The entry says "Here Ceawlin and Cutha fought against Aethelberht and drove him into Kent; and they killed two ealdormen, Oslaf and Cnebba, on Wibbandun." The location of "Wibbandun", which can be translated as "Wibba's Mount", has not been identified definitely; it was at one time thought to be Wimbledon, but this now is known to be incorrect. David Cooper proposes Wyboston, a small village 8 miles north-east of Bedford on the west bank of the Great Ouse. Wibbandun is often written as Wibba's Dun, which is close phonetically to Wyboston and Æthelberht's dominance, from Kent to the Humber according to Bede, extended across those Anglian territories south of the Wash. It was this region that came under threat from Ceawlin as he looked to establish a defensible boundary on the Great Ouse River in the easternmost part of his territory. In addition, Cnebba, named as slain in this battle, has been associated with Knebworth, which lies 20 miles to the south of Wyboston. Half-a-mile south of Wyboston is a village called Chawston. The origin of the place-name is unknown but might be derived from the Old English Ceawston or Ceawlinston. A defeat at Wyboston for Æthelberht would have damaged his overlord status and diminished his influence over the Anglians. The idea that he was driven or 'pursued' into Kent (depending on which Anglo-Saxon Chronicle translation is preferred) should not be taken literally. Similar phraseology is often found in the Chronicle when one king bests another. A defeat suffered as part of an expedition to help his Anglian clients would have caused Æthelberht to withdraw into Kent to recover. This battle is notable as the first recorded conflict between the invading peoples: previous battles recorded in the Chronicle are between the Anglo-Saxons and the native Britons. There are multiple examples of joint kingship in Anglo-Saxon history, and this may be another: it is not clear what Cutha's relationship to Ceawlin is, but it certainly is possible he was also a king. The annal for 577, below, is another possible example. ### 571: Bedcanford The annal for 571 reads: "Here Cuthwulf fought against the Britons at Bedcanford, and took four settlements: Limbury and Aylesbury, Benson and Eynsham; and in the same year he passed away." Cuthwulf's relationship with Ceawlin is unknown, but the alliteration common to Anglo-Saxon royal families suggests Cuthwulf may be part of the West Saxon royal line. The location of the battle itself is unidentified. It has been suggested that it was Bedford, but what is known of the early history of Bedford's names does not support this. This battle is of interest because it is surprising that an area so far east should still be in Briton hands this late: there is ample archaeological evidence of early Saxon and Anglian presence in the Midlands, and historians generally have interpreted Gildas's De Excidio as implying that the Britons had lost control of this area by the mid-sixth century. One possible explanation is that this annal records a reconquest of land that was lost to the Britons in the campaigns ending in the battle of Mons Badonicus. ### 577: Lower Severn The annal for 577 reads "Here Cuthwine and Ceawlin fought against the Britons, and they killed three kings, Coinmail and Condidan and Farinmail, in the place which is called Dyrham, and took three cities: Gloucester and Cirencester and Bath." This entry is all that is known of these Briton kings; their names are in an archaic form that makes it very likely that this annal derives from a much older written source. The battle itself has long been regarded as a key moment in the Saxon advance, since in reaching the Bristol Channel, the West Saxons divided the Britons west of the Severn from land communication with those in the peninsula to the south of the Channel. Wessex almost certainly lost this territory to Penda of Mercia in 628, when the Chronicle records that "Cynegils and Cwichelm fought against Penda at Cirencester and then came to an agreement." It is possible that when Ceawlin and Cuthwine took Bath, they found the Roman baths still operating to some extent. Nennius, a ninth-century historian, mentions a "Hot Lake" in the land of the Hwicce, which was along the Severn, and adds "It is surrounded by a wall, made of brick and stone, and men may go there to bathe at any time, and every man can have the kind of bath he likes. If he wants, it will be a cold bath; and if he wants a hot bath, it will be hot". Bede also describes hot baths in the geographical introduction to the Ecclesiastical History in terms very similar to those of Nennius. Wansdyke, an early-medieval defensive linear earthwork, runs from south of Bristol to near Marlborough, Wiltshire, passing not far from Bath. It probably was built in the fifth or sixth centuries, perhaps by Ceawlin. ### 584: Fethan leag Ceawlin's last recorded victory is in 584. The entry reads "Here Ceawlin and Cutha fought against the Britons at the place which is named Fethan leag, and Cutha was killed; and Ceawlin took many towns and countless war-loot, and in anger he turned back to his own [territory]." There is a wood named "Fethelée" mentioned in a twelfth-century document that relates to Stoke Lyne, in Oxfordshire, and it now is thought that the battle of Fethan leag must have been fought in this area. The phrase "in anger he turned back to his own" probably indicates that this annal is drawn from saga material, as perhaps are all of the early Wessex annals. It also has been used to argue that perhaps, Ceawlin did not win the battle and that the chronicler chose not to record the outcome fully—a king does not usually come home "in anger" after taking "many towns and countless war-loot". It may be that Ceawlin's overlordship of the southern Britons came to an end with this battle. ## Bretwaldaship About 731, Bede, a Northumbrian monk and chronicler, wrote a work called the Ecclesiastical History of the English People. The work was not primarily a secular history, but Bede provides much information about the history of the Anglo-Saxons, including a list early in the history of seven kings who, he said, held "imperium" over the other kingdoms south of the Humber. The usual translation for "imperium" is "overlordship". Bede names Ceawlin as the second on the list, although he spells it "Caelin", and adds that he was "known in the speech of his own people as Ceaulin". Bede also makes it clear that Ceawlin was not a Christian—Bede mentions a later king, Æthelberht of Kent, as "the first to enter the kingdom of heaven". The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in an entry for the year 827, repeats Bede's list, adds Egbert of Wessex, and also mentions that they were known as "bretwalda", or "Britain-ruler". A great deal of scholarly attention has been given to the meaning of this word. It has been described as a term "of encomiastic poetry", but there also is evidence that it implied a definite role of military leadership. Bede says that these kings had authority "south of the Humber", but the span of control, at least of the earlier bretwaldas, likely was less than this. In Ceawlin's case the range of control is hard to determine accurately, but Bede's inclusion of Ceawlin in the list of kings who held imperium, and the list of battles he is recorded as having won, indicate an energetic and successful leader who, from a base in the upper Thames valley, dominated much of the surrounding area and held overlordship over the southern Britons for some period. Despite Ceawlin's military successes, the northern conquests he made could not always be retained: Mercia took much of the upper Thames valley, and the north-eastern towns won in 571 were among territory subsequently under the control of Kent and Mercia at different times. Bede's concept of the power of these overlords also must be regarded as the product of his eighth-century viewpoint. When the Ecclesiastical History was written, Æthelbald of Mercia dominated the English south of the Humber, and Bede's view of the earlier kings was doubtless strongly coloured by the state of England at that time. For the earlier bretwaldas, such as Ælle and Ceawlin, there must be some element of anachronism in Bede's description. It also is possible that Bede only meant to refer to power over Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, not the native Britons. Ceawlin is the second king in Bede's list. All the subsequent bretwaldas followed more or less consecutively, but there is a long gap, perhaps fifty years, between Ælle of Sussex, the first bretwalda, and Ceawlin. The lack of gaps between the overlordships of the later bretwaldas has been used to make an argument for Ceawlin's dates matching the later entries in the Chronicle with reasonable accuracy. According to this analysis, the next bretwalda, Æthelberht of Kent, must have been already a dominant king by the time Pope Gregory the Great wrote to him in 601, since Gregory would have not written to an underking. Ceawlin defeated Æthelberht in 568 according to the Chronicle. Æthelberht's dates are a matter of debate, but recent scholarly consensus has his reign starting no earlier than 580. The 568 date for the battle at Wibbandun is thought to be unlikely because of the assertion in various versions of the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List that Ceawlin's reign lasted either seven or seventeen years. If this battle is placed near the year 590, before Æthelberht had established himself as a powerful king, then the subsequent annals relating to Ceawlin's defeat and death may be reasonably close to the correct date. In any case, the battle with Æthelberht is unlikely to have been more than a few years on either side of 590. The gap between Ælle and Ceawlin, on the other hand, has been taken as supporting evidence for the story told by Gildas in De Excidio of a peace lasting a generation or more following a Briton victory at Mons Badonicus. Æthelberht of Kent succeeds Ceawlin on the list of bretwaldas, but the reigns may overlap somewhat: recent evaluations give Ceawlin a likely reign of 581–588, and place Æthelberht's accession near to the year 589, but these analyses are no more than scholarly guesses. Ceawlin's eclipse in 592, probably by Ceol, may have been the occasion for Æthelberht to rise to prominence; Æthelberht very likely was the dominant Anglo-Saxon king by 597. Æthelberht's rise may have been earlier: the 584 annal, even if it records a victory, is the last victory of Ceawlin's in the Chronicle, and the period after that may have been one of Æthelberht's ascent and Ceawlin's decline. ## Wessex at Ceawlin's death Ceawlin lost the throne of Wessex in 592. The annal for that year reads, in part: "Here there was great slaughter at Woden's Barrow, and Ceawlin was driven out." Woden's Barrow is a tumulus, now called Adam's Grave, at Alton Priors, Wiltshire. No details of his opponent are given. The medieval chronicler William of Malmesbury, writing in about 1120, says that it was "the Angles and the British conspiring together". Alternatively, it may have been Ceol, who is supposed to have been the next king of Wessex, ruling for six years according to the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ceawlin died the following year. The relevant part of the annal reads: "Here Ceawlin and Cwichelm and Crida perished." Nothing more is known of Cwichelm and Crida, although they may have been members of the Wessex royal house—their names fit the alliterative pattern common to royal houses of the time. According to the Regnal List, Ceol was a son of Cutha, who was a son of Cynric; and Ceolwulf, his brother, reigned for seventeen years after him. It is possible that some fragmentation of control among the West Saxons occurred at Ceawlin's death: Ceol and Ceolwulf may have been based in Wiltshire, as opposed to the upper Thames valley. This split also may have contributed to Æthelberht's ability to rise to dominance in southern England. The West Saxons remained influential in military terms, however: the Chronicle and Bede record continued military activity against Essex and Sussex within twenty or thirty years of Ceawlin's death. ## See also - List of monarchs of Wessex
1,600,858	The Garden of Earthly Delights	1,163,898,719	Triptych painting by Hieronymus Bosch	[ "1504 paintings", "Bathing in art", "Birds in art", "Books in art", "Camels in art", "Dance in art", "Deer in art", "Demons in art", "Elephants in art", "Fish in art", "Garden of Eden", "Hell in popular culture", "Horses in art", "Lions in art", "Musical instruments in art", "Paintings by Hieronymus Bosch", "Paintings depicting Adam and Eve", "Paintings depicting Jesus", "Paintings of the Museo del Prado by Dutch artists", "Seashells in art", "Spanish royal collection", "Triptychs" ]	The Garden of Earthly Delights is the modern title given to a triptych oil painting on oak panel painted by the Early Netherlandish master Hieronymus Bosch, between 1490 and 1510, when Bosch was between 40 and 60 years old. It has been housed in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain since 1939. As little is known of Bosch's life or intentions, interpretations of his artistic intent behind the work range from an admonition of worldly fleshy indulgence, to a dire warning on the perils of life's temptations, to an evocation of ultimate sexual joy. The intricacy of its symbolism, particularly that of the central panel, has led to a wide range of scholarly interpretations over the centuries. Twentieth-century art historians are divided as to whether the triptych's central panel is a moral warning or a panorama of paradise lost. Bosch painted three large triptychs (the others are The Last Judgment of c. 1482 and The Haywain Triptych of c. 1516) that can be read from left to right and in which each panel was essential to the meaning of the whole. Each of these three works presents distinct, yet linked themes addressing history and faith. Triptychs from this period were generally intended to be read sequentially, the left and right panels often portraying Eden and the Last Judgment respectively, while the main subject was contained in the center piece. It is not known whether The Garden was intended as an altarpiece, but the general view is that the extreme subject matter of the inner center and right panels make it unlikely that it was intended to function in a church or monastery, but was instead commissioned by a lay patron. ## Description ### Exterior When the triptych's wings are closed, the design of the outer panels becomes visible. Rendered in a green–gray grisaille, these panels lack colour, probably because most Netherlandish triptychs were thus painted, but possibly indicating that the painting reflects a time before the creation of the sun and moon, which were formed, according to Christian theology, to "give light to the earth". The typical grisaille blandness of Netherlandish altarpieces served to highlight the splendid color inside. The outer panels are generally thought to depict the creation of the world, showing greenery beginning to clothe the still-pristine Earth. God, wearing a crown similar to a papal tiara (a common convention in Netherlandish painting), is visible as a tiny figure at the upper left. Bosch shows God as the father sitting with a Bible on his lap, creating the Earth in a passive manner by divine fiat. Above him is inscribed a quote from Psalm 33:9 reading "Ipse dīxit, et facta sunt: ipse mandāvit, et creāta sunt"—For he spoke and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. There is a firmament around the Earth, in reference to Genesis 1:7It hangs suspended in the cosmos, which is shown as an impermeable darkness, whose only other inhabitant is God himself. Despite the presence of vegetation, the earth does not yet contain human or animal life, indicating that the scene represents the events of the biblical Third Day. Bosch renders the plant life in an unusual fashion, using uniformly gray tints which make it difficult to determine whether the subjects are purely vegetal or perhaps include some mineral formations. Surrounding the interior of the globe is the sea, partially illuminated by beams of light shining through clouds. The exterior wings have a clear position within the sequential narrative of the work as a whole. They show an unpopulated earth composed solely of rock and plants, contrasting sharply with the inner central panel which contains an Earth teeming with lustful humanity. ### Interior Scholars have proposed that Bosch used the outer panels to establish a Biblical setting for the inner elements of the work, and the exterior image is generally interpreted as set in an earlier time than those in the interior. As with Bosch's Haywain Triptych, the inner centerpiece is flanked by heavenly and hellish imagery. The scenes depicted in the triptych are thought to follow a chronological order: flowing from left-to-right they represent Eden, the garden of earthly delights, and Hell. God appears as the creator of humanity in the left hand wing, while the consequences of humanity's failure to follow his will are shown in the right. However, in contrast to Bosch's two other complete triptychs, The Last Judgment (around 1482) and The Haywain (after 1510), God is absent from the central panel. Instead, this panel shows humanity acting with apparent free will as naked men and women engage in various pleasure-seeking activities. According to some interpretations, the right hand panel is believed to show God's penalties in a hellscape. Art historian Charles de Tolnay believed that, through the seductive gaze of Adam, the left panel already shows God's waning influence upon the newly created earth. This view is reinforced by the rendering of God in the outer panels as a tiny figure in comparison to the immensity of the earth. According to Hans Belting, the three inner panels seek to broadly convey the Old Testament notion that, before the Fall, there was no defined boundary between good and evil; humanity in its innocence was unaware of consequence. #### Left panel The left panel (sometimes known as the Joining of Adam and Eve) depicts a scene from the paradise of the Garden of Eden commonly interpreted as the moment when God presents Eve to Adam. The painting shows Adam waking from a deep sleep to find God holding Eve by her wrist and giving the sign of his blessing to their union. God is younger-looking than on the outer panels, blue-eyed and with golden curls. His youthful appearance may be a device by the artist to illustrate the concept of Christ as the incarnation of the Word of God. God's right hand is raised in blessing, while he holds Eve's wrist with his left. According to the work's most controversial interpreter, the 20th-century folklorist and art historian Wilhelm Fraenger: > As though enjoying the pulsation of the living blood and as though too he were setting a seal on the eternal and immutable communion between this human blood and his own. This physical contact between the Creator and Eve is repeated even more noticeably in the way Adam's toes touch the Lord's foot. Here is the stressing of a rapport: Adam seems indeed to be stretching to his full length in order to make contact with the Creator. And the billowing out of the cloak around the Creator's heart, from where the garment falls in marked folds and contours to Adam's feet, also seems to indicate that here a current of divine power flows down, so that this group of three actually forms a closed circuit, a complex of magical energy ... Eve avoids Adam's gaze, although, according to Walter S. Gibson, she is shown "seductively presenting her body to Adam". Adam's expression is one of amazement, and Fraenger has identified three elements to his seeming astonishment. Firstly, there is surprise at the presence of the God. Secondly, he is reacting to an awareness that Eve is of the same nature as himself, and has been created from his own body. Finally, from the intensity of Adam's gaze, it can be concluded that he is experiencing sexual arousal and the primal urge to reproduce for the first time. The surrounding landscape is populated by hut-shaped forms, some of which are made from stone, while others are at least partially organic. Behind Eve rabbits, symbolising fecundity, play in the grass, and a dragon tree opposite is thought to represent eternal life. The background reveals several animals that would have been exotic to contemporaneous Europeans, including a giraffe, a monkey riding an elephant, and a lion that has killed and is about to devour his prey. In the foreground, from a large hole in the ground, emerge birds and winged animals, some of which are realistic, some fantastic. Behind a fish, a person clothed in a short-sleeved hooded jacket and with a duck's beak holds an open book as if reading. To the left of the area a cat holds a small lizard-like creature in its jaws. Belting observes that, despite the fact that the creatures in the foreground are fantastical imaginings, many of the animals in the mid and background are drawn from contemporary travel literature, and here Bosch is appealing to "the knowledge of a humanistic and aristocratic readership". Erhard Reuwich's pictures for Bernhard von Breydenbach's 1486 Pilgrimages to the Holy Land were long thought to be the source for both the elephant and the giraffe, though more recent research indicates the mid-15th-century humanist scholar Cyriac of Ancona's travelogues served as Bosch's exposure to these exotic animals. According to art historian Virginia Tuttle, the scene is "highly unconventional [and] cannot be identified as any of the events from the Book of Genesis traditionally depicted in Western art". Some of the images contradict the innocence expected in the Garden of Eden. Tuttle and other critics have interpreted the gaze of Adam upon his wife as lustful, and indicative of the Christian belief that humanity was doomed from the beginning. Gibson believes that Adam's facial expression betrays not just surprise but also expectation. According to a belief common in the Middle Ages, before the Fall Adam and Eve would have copulated without lust, solely to reproduce. Many believed that the first sin committed after Eve tasted the forbidden fruit was carnal lust. On a tree to the right a snake curls around a tree trunk, while to its right a mouse creeps; according to Fraenger, both animals are universal phallic symbols. #### Center panel The skyline of the center panel (220 × 195 cm, 87 × 77 in) matches exactly with that of the left wing, while the positioning of its central pool and the lake behind it echoes the lake in the earlier scene. The center image depicts the expansive "garden" landscape which gives the triptych its name. The panel shares a common horizon with the left wing, suggesting a spatial connection between the two scenes. The garden is teeming with male and female nudes, together with a variety of animals, plants and fruit. The setting is not the paradise shown in the left panel, but neither is it based in the terrestrial realm. Fantastic creatures mingle with the real; otherwise ordinary fruits appear engorged to a gigantic size. The figures are engaged in diverse amorous sports and activities, both in couples and in groups. Gibson describes them as behaving "overtly and without shame", while art historian Laurinda Dixon writes that the human figures exhibit "a certain adolescent sexual curiosity". Many of the numerous human figures revel in an innocent, self-absorbed joy as they engage in a wide range of activities; some appear to enjoy sensory pleasures, others play unselfconsciously in the water, and yet others cavort in meadows with a variety of animals, seemingly at one with nature. In the middle of the background, a large blue globe resembling a fruit pod rises in the middle of a lake. Visible through its circular window is a man holding his right hand close to his partner's genitals, and the bare buttocks of yet another figure hover in the vicinity. According to Fraenger, the eroticism of the center frame could be considered either as an allegory of spiritual transition or a playground of corruption. On the right-hand side of the foreground stand a group of four figures, three white- and one black-skinned. The white-skinned figures, two males and one female, are covered from head to foot in light-brown body hair. Scholars generally agree that these hirsute figures represent wild or primeval humanity, but disagree on the symbolism of their inclusion. Art historian Patrik Reuterswärd, for example, posits that they may be seen as "the noble savage" who represents "an imagined alternative to our civilized life", imbuing the panel with "a more clear-cut primitivistic note". Writer Peter Glum, in contrast, sees the figures as intrinsically connected with whoredom and lust. In a cave to their lower right, a male figure points towards a reclining female who is also covered in hair. The pointing man is the only clothed figure in the panel, and as Fraenger observes, "he is clothed with emphatic austerity right up to his throat". In addition, he is one of the few human figures with dark hair. According to Fraenger: > The way this man's dark hair grows, with the sharp dip in the middle of his high forehead, as though concentrating there all the energy of the masculine M, makes his face different from all the others. His coal-black eyes are rigidly focused in a gaze that expresses compelling force. The nose is unusually long and boldly curved. The mouth is wide and sensual, but the lips are firmly shut in a straight line, the corners strongly marked and tightened into final points, and this strengthens the impression—already suggested by the eyes—of a strong controlling will. It is an extraordinarily fascinating face, reminding us of faces of famous men, especially of Machiavelli's; and indeed the whole aspect of the head suggests something Mediterranean, as though this man had acquired his frank, searching, superior air at Italian academies. The pointing man has variously been described as either the patron of the work (Fraenger in 1947), as an advocate of Adam denouncing Eve (Dirk Bax in 1956), as Saint John the Baptist in his camel's skin (Isabel Mateo Goméz in 1963), or as a self-portrait. The woman below him lies within a semicylindrical transparent shield, while her mouth is sealed, devices implying that she bears a secret. To their left, a man crowned by leaves lies on top of what appears to be an actual but gigantic strawberry, and is joined by a male and female who contemplate another equally huge strawberry. There is no perspectival order in the foreground; instead it comprises a series of small motifs wherein proportion and terrestrial logic are abandoned. Bosch presents the viewer with gigantic ducks playing with tiny humans under the cover of oversized fruit; fish walking on land while birds dwell in the water; a passionate couple encased in an amniotic fluid bubble; and a man inside of a red fruit staring at a mouse in a transparent cylinder. The pools in the fore and background contain bathers of both sexes. In the central circular pool, the sexes are mostly segregated, with several females adorned by peacocks and fruit. Four women carry cherry-like fruits on their heads, perhaps a symbol of pride at the time, as has been deduced from the contemporaneous saying: "Don't eat cherries with great lords—they'll throw the pits in your face." The women are surrounded by a parade of naked men riding horses, donkeys, unicorns, camels and other exotic or fantastic creatures. Several men show acrobatics while riding, apparently acts designed to gain the females' attention, which highlights the attraction felt between the two sexes as groups. The two outer springs also contain both men and women cavorting with abandon. Around them, birds infest the water while winged fish crawl on land. Humans inhabit giant shells. All are surrounded by oversized fruit pods and eggshells, and both humans and animals feast on strawberries and cherries. The impression of a life lived without consequence, or what art historian Hans Belting describes as "unspoilt and pre-moral existence", is underscored by the absence of children and old people. According to the second and third chapters of Genesis, Adam and Eve's children were born after they were expelled from Eden. This has led some commentators, in particular Belting, to theorise that the panel represents the world if the two had not been driven out "among the thorns and thistles of the world". In Fraenger's view, the scene illustrates "a utopia, a garden of divine delight before the Fall, or—since Bosch could not deny the existence of the dogma of original sin—a millennial condition that would arise if, after expiation of Original Sin, humanity were permitted to return to Paradise and to a state of tranquil harmony embracing all Creation." In the high distance of the background, above the hybrid stone formations, four groups of people and creatures are seen in flight. On the immediate left a human male rides on a chthonic solar eagle-lion. The human carries a triple-branched tree of life on which perches a bird; according to Fraenger "a symbolic bird of death". Fraenger believes the man is intended to represent a genius, "he is the symbol of the extinction of the duality of the sexes, which are resolved in the ether into their original state of unity". To their right a knight with a dolphin tail sails on a winged fish. The knight's tail curls back to touch the back of his head, which references the common symbol of eternity: the snake biting its own tail. On the immediate right of the panel, a winged youth soars upwards carrying a fish in his hands and a falcon on his back. According to Belting, in these passages Bosch's "imagination triumphs ... the ambivalence of [his] visual syntax exceeds even the enigma of content, opening up that new dimension of freedom by which painting becomes art." Fraenger titled his chapter on the high background "The Ascent to Heaven", and wrote that the airborne figures were likely intended as a link between "what is above" and "what is below", just as the left and right hand panels represent "what was" and "what will be". #### Right panel The right panel (220 × 97.5 cm, 87 × 38.4 in) illustrates Hell, the setting of a number of Bosch paintings. Bosch depicts a world in which humans have succumbed to temptations that lead to evil and reap eternal damnation. The tone of this final panel strikes a harsh contrast to those preceding it. The scene is set at night, and the natural beauty that adorned the earlier panels is noticeably absent. Compared to the warmth of the center panel, the right wing possesses a chilling quality—rendered through cold colourisation and frozen waterways—and presents a tableau that has shifted from the paradise of the center image to a spectacle of cruel torture and retribution. In a single, densely detailed scene, the viewer is made witness to cities on fire in the background; war, torture chambers, infernal taverns, and demons in the midground; and mutated animals feeding on human flesh in the foreground. The nakedness of the human figures has lost all its eroticism, and many now attempt to cover their genitalia and breasts with their hands, ashamed by their nakedness. Large explosions in the background throw light through the city gates and spill into the water in the midground; according to writer Walter S. Gibson, "their fiery reflection turning the water below into blood". The light illuminates a road filled with fleeing figures, while hordes of tormentors prepare to burn a neighbouring village. A short distance away, a rabbit carries an impaled and bleeding corpse, while a group of victims above are thrown into a burning lantern. The foreground is populated by a variety of distressed or tortured figures. Some are shown vomiting or excreting, others are crucified by harp and lute, in an allegory of music, thus sharpening the contrast between pleasure and torture. A choir sings from a score inscribed on a pair of buttocks, part of a group that has been described as the "Musicians' Hell". The focal point of the scene is the "Tree-Man", whose cavernous torso is supported by what could be contorted arms or rotting tree trunks. His head supports a disk populated by demons and victims parading around a huge set of bagpipes—often used as a dual sexual symbol—reminiscent of human scrotum and penis. The tree-man's torso is formed from a broken eggshell, and the supporting trunk has thorn-like branches which pierce the fragile body. A grey figure in a hood bearing an arrow jammed between his buttocks climbs a ladder into the tree-man's central cavity, where nude men sit in a tavern-like setting. The tree-man gazes outwards beyond the viewer, his conspiratorial expression a mix of wistfulness and resignation. Belting wondered if the tree-man's face is a self-portrait, citing the figure's "expression of irony and the slightly sideways gaze [which would] then constitute the signature of an artist who claimed a bizarre pictorial world for his own personal imagination". Many elements in the panel incorporate earlier iconographical conventions depicting hell. However, Bosch is innovative in that he describes hell not as a fantastical place, but as a realistic world containing many elements from day-to-day human life. Animals are shown punishing humans, subjecting them to nightmarish torments that may symbolise the seven deadly sins, matching the torment to the sin. Sitting on an object that may be a toilet or a throne, the panel's centerpiece is a gigantic bird-headed monster feasting on human corpses, which he excretes through a cavity below him, into the transparent chamber pot on which he sits. The monster is sometimes referred to as the "Prince of Hell", a name derived from the cauldron he wears on his head, perhaps representing a debased crown. At his feet, a female has her face reflected on the buttocks of a demon. Further to the left, next to a hare-headed demon, a group of naked persons around a toppled gambling table are being massacred with swords and knives. Other brutal violence is shown by a knight torn down and eaten up by a pack of wolves to the right of the tree-man. During the Middle Ages, sexuality and lust were seen, by some, as evidence of humanity's fall from grace. In the eyes of some viewers, this sin is depicted in the left-hand panel through Adam's, allegedly lustful, gaze towards Eve, and it has been proposed that the center panel was created as a warning to the viewer to avoid a life of sinful pleasure. According to this view, the penalty for such sins is shown in the right panel of the triptych. In the lower right-hand corner, a man is approached by a pig wearing the veil of a nun. The pig is shown trying to seduce the man to sign legal documents. Lust is further said to be symbolised by the gigantic musical instruments and by the choral singers in the left foreground of the panel. Musical instruments often carried erotic connotations in works of art of the period, and lust was referred to in moralising sources as the "music of the flesh". There has also been the view that Bosch's use of music here might be a rebuke against traveling minstrels, often thought of as purveyors of bawdy song and verse. ## Dating and provenance The dating of The Garden of Earthly Delights is uncertain. Ludwig von Baldass (1917) considered the painting to be an early work by Bosch. However, since De Tolnay (1937) consensus among 20th-century art historians placed the work in 1503–1504 or even later. Both early and late datings were based on the "archaic" treatment of space. Dendrochronology dates the oak of the panels between the years 1460 and 1466, providing an earliest date (terminus post quem) for the work. Wood used for panel paintings during this period customarily underwent a lengthy period of storage for seasoning purposes, so the age of the oak might be expected to predate the actual date of the painting by several years. Internal evidence, specifically the depiction of a pineapple (a "New World" fruit), suggests that the painting itself postdates Columbus' voyages to the Americas, between 1492 and 1504. The dendrochronological research brought Vermet to reconsider an early dating and, consequently, to dispute the presence of any "New World" objects, stressing the presence of African ones instead. The Garden was first documented in 1517, one year after the artist's death, when Antonio de Beatis, a canon from Molfetta, Italy, described the work as part of the decoration in the town palace of the Counts of the House of Nassau in Brussels. The palace was a high-profile location, a house often visited by heads of state and leading court figures. The prominence of the painting has led some to conclude that the work was commissioned, and not "solely ... a flight of the imagination". A description of the triptych in 1605 called it the "strawberry painting", because the fruit of the strawberry tree (madroño in Spanish) features prominently in the center panel. Early Spanish writers referred to the work as La Lujuria ("Lust"). The aristocracy of the Burgundian Netherlands, influenced by the humanist movement, were the most likely collectors of Bosch's paintings, but there are few records of the location of his works in the years immediately following his death. It is probable that the patron of the work was Engelbrecht II of Nassau, who died in 1504, or his successor Henry III of Nassau-Breda, the governor of several of the Habsburg provinces in the Low Countries. De Beatis wrote in his travel journal that "there are some panels on which bizarre things have been painted. They represent seas, skies, woods, meadows, and many other things, such as people crawling out of a shell, others that bring forth birds, men and women, white and blacks doing all sorts of different activities and poses." Because the triptych was publicly displayed in the palace of the House of Nassau, it was visible to many, and Bosch's reputation and fame quickly spread across Europe. The work's popularity can be measured by the numerous surviving copies—in oil, engraving and tapestry—commissioned by wealthy patrons, as well as by the number of forgeries in circulation after his death. Most are of the central panel only and do not deviate from the original. These copies were usually painted on a much smaller scale, and they vary considerably in quality. Many were created a generation after Bosch, and some took the form of wall tapestries. The De Beatis description, only rediscovered by Steppe in the 1960s, cast new light on the commissioning of a work that was previously thought—since it has no central religious image—to be an atypical altarpiece. Many Netherlandish diptychs intended for private use are known, and even a few triptychs, but the Bosch panels are unusually large compared with these and contain no donor portraits. Possibly they were commissioned to celebrate a wedding, as large Italian paintings for private houses frequently were. Nevertheless, The Garden's bold depictions do not rule out a church commission, such was the contemporaneous fervor to warn against immorality. In 1566, the triptych served as the model for a tapestry that hangs at El Escorial monastery near Madrid. Upon the death of Henry III, the painting passed into the hands of his nephew William the Silent, the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau and leader of the Dutch Revolt against Spain. In 1568, however, the Duke of Alba confiscated the picture and brought it to Spain, where it became the property of one Don Fernando, the Duke's illegitimate son and heir and the Spanish commander in the Netherlands. Philip II acquired the painting at auction in 1591; two years later he presented it to El Escorial. A contemporaneous description of the transfer records the gift on 8 July 1593 of a "painting in oils, with two wings depicting the variety of the world, illustrated with grotesqueries by Hieronymus Bosch, known as 'Del Madroño'". After an unbroken 342 years at El Escorial, the work moved to the Museo del Prado in 1939, along with other works by Bosch. The triptych was not particularly well-preserved; the paint of the middle panel especially had flaked off around joints in the wood. However, recent restoration works have managed to recover and maintain it in a very good state of quality and preservation. The painting is normally on display in a room with other works by Bosch. ## Sources and context Little is known for certain of the life of Hieronymus Bosch or of the commissions or influences that may have formed the basis for the iconography of his work. His birthdate, education and patrons remain unknown. There is no surviving record of Bosch's thoughts or evidence as to what attracted and inspired him to such an individual mode of expression. Through the centuries art historians have struggled to resolve this question yet conclusions remain fragmentary at best. Scholars have debated Bosch's iconography more extensively than that of any other Netherlandish artist. His works are generally regarded as enigmatic, leading some to speculate that their content refers to contemporaneous esoteric knowledge since lost to history. Although Bosch's career flourished during the High Renaissance, he lived in an area where the beliefs of the medieval Church still held moral authority. He would have been familiar with some of the new forms of expression, especially those in Southern Europe, although it is difficult to attribute with certainty which artists, writers and conventions had a bearing on his work. José de Sigüenza is credited with the first extensive critique of The Garden of Earthly Delights, in his 1605 History of the Order of St. Jerome. He argued against dismissing the painting as either heretical or merely absurd, commenting that the panels "are a satirical comment on the shame and sinfulness of mankind". The art historian Carl Justi observed that the left and center panels are drenched in tropical and oceanic atmosphere, and concluded that Bosch was inspired by "the news of recently discovered Atlantis and by drawings of its tropical scenery, just as Columbus himself, when approaching terra firma, thought that the place he had found at the mouth of the Orinoco was the site of the Earthly Paradise". The period in which the triptych was created was a time of adventure and discovery, when tales and trophies from the New World sparked the imagination of poets, painters and writers. Although the triptych contains many unearthly and fantastic creatures, Bosch still appealed in his images and cultural references to an elite humanist and aristocratic audience. Bosch reproduces a scene from Martin Schongauer's engraving Flight into Egypt. Conquest in Africa and the East provided both wonder and terror to European intellectuals, as it led to the conclusion that Eden could never have been an actual geographical location. The Garden references exotic travel literature of the 15th century through the animals, including lions and a giraffe, in the left panel. The giraffe has been traced to Cyriac of Ancona, a travel writer known for his visits to Egypt during the 1440s. The exoticism of Cyriac's sumptuous manuscripts may have inspired Bosch's imagination. The charting and conquest of this new world made real regions previously only idealised in the imagination of artists and poets. At the same time, the certainty of the old biblical paradise began to slip from the grasp of thinkers into the realms of mythology. In response, treatment of the Paradise in literature, poetry and art shifted towards a self-consciously fictional Utopian representation, as exemplified by the writings of Thomas More (1478–1535). Albrecht Dürer was an avid student of exotic animals, and drew many sketches based on his visits to European zoos. Dürer visited 's-Hertogenbosch during Bosch's lifetime, and it is likely the two artists met, and that Bosch drew inspiration from the German's work. Attempts to find sources for the work in literature from the period have not been successful. Art historian Erwin Panofsky wrote in 1953 that, "In spite of all the ingenious, erudite and in part extremely useful research devoted to the task of "decoding Jerome Bosch", I cannot help feeling that the real secret of his magnificent nightmares and daydreams has still to be disclosed. We have bored a few holes through the door of the locked room; but somehow we do not seem to have discovered the key." The humanist Desiderius Erasmus has been suggested as a possible influence; the writer lived in 's-Hertogenbosch in the 1480s, and it is likely he knew Bosch. Glum remarked on the triptych's similarity of tone with Erasmus's view that theologians "explain (to suit themselves) the most difficult mysteries ... is it a possible proposition: God the Father hates the Son? Could God have assumed the form of a woman, a devil, an ass, a gourd, a stone?" ## Interpretation Because only bare details are known of Bosch's life, interpretation of his work can be an extremely difficult area for academics as it is largely reliant on conjecture. Individual motifs and elements of symbolism may be explained, but so far relating these to each other and to his work as a whole has remained elusive. The enigmatic scenes depicted on the panels of the inner triptych of The Garden of Earthly Delights have been studied by many scholars, who have often arrived at contradictory interpretations. Analyses based on symbolic systems ranging from the alchemical, astrological, and heretical to the folkloric and subconscious have all attempted to explain the complex objects and ideas presented in the work. Until the early 20th century, Bosch's paintings were generally thought to incorporate attitudes of Medieval didactic literature and sermons. Charles De Tolnay wrote that > The oldest writers, Dominicus Lampsonius and Karel van Mander, attached themselves to his most evident side, to the subject; their conception of Bosch, inventor of fantastic pieces of devilry and of infernal scenes, which prevails today (1937) in the public at large, and prevailed with historians until the last quarter of the 19th century. Generally, his work is described as a warning against lust, and the central panel as a representation of the transience of worldly pleasure. In 1960, the art historian Ludwig von Baldass wrote that Bosch shows "how sin came into the world through the Creation of Eve, how fleshly lusts spread over the entire earth, promoting all the Deadly Sins, and how this necessarily leads straight to Hell". De Tolnay wrote that the center panel represents "the nightmare of humanity", where "the artist's purpose above all is to show the evil consequences of sensual pleasure and to stress its ephemeral character". Supporters of this view hold that the painting is a sequential narrative, depicting mankind's initial state of innocence in Eden, followed by the subsequent corruption of that innocence, and finally its punishment in Hell. At various times in its history, the triptych has been known as La Lujuria, The Sins of the World and The Wages of Sin. Proponents of this idea point out that moralists during Bosch's era believed that it was woman's—ultimately Eve's—temptation that drew men into a life of lechery and sin. This would explain why the women in the center panel are very much among the active participants in bringing about the Fall. At the time, the power of femininity was often rendered by showing a female surrounded by a circle of males. A late 15th-century engraving by Israhel van Meckenem shows a group of men prancing ecstatically around a female figure. The Master of the Banderoles's 1460 work the Pool of Youth similarly shows a group of females standing in a space surrounded by admiring figures. This line of reasoning is consistent with interpretations of Bosch's other major moralising works which hold up the folly of man; the Death and the Miser and the Haywain. Although according to the art historian Walter Bosing, each of these works is rendered in a manner that it is difficult to believe "Bosch intended to condemn what he painted with such visually enchanting forms and colors". Bosing concludes that a medieval mindset was naturally suspicious of material beauty, in any form, and that the sumptuousness of Bosch's description may have been intended to convey a false paradise, teeming with transient beauty. In 1947, Wilhelm Fränger argued that the triptych's center panel portrays a joyous world when mankind will experience a rebirth of the innocence enjoyed by Adam and Eve before their fall. In his book The Millennium of Hieronymus Bosch, Fränger wrote that Bosch was a member of the heretical sect known as the Adamites—who were also known as the Homines intelligentia and Brethren and Sisters of the Free Spirit. This radical group, active in the area of the Rhine and the Netherlands, strove for a form of spirituality immune from sin even in the flesh, and imbued the concept of lust with a paradisical innocence. Fränger believed The Garden of Earthly Delights was commissioned by the order's Grand Master. Later critics have agreed that, because of their obscure complexity, Bosch's "altarpieces" may well have been commissioned for non-devotional purposes. The Homines intelligentia cult sought to regain the innocent sexuality enjoyed by Adam and Eve before the Fall. Fränger writes that the figures in Bosch's work "are peacefully frolicking about the tranquil garden in vegetative innocence, at one with animals and plants and the sexuality that inspires them seems to be pure joy, pure bliss." Fränger argued against the notion that the hellscape shows the retribution handed down for sins committed in the center panel. Fränger saw the figures in the garden as peaceful, naive, and innocent in expressing their sexuality, and at one with nature. In contrast, those being punished in Hell comprise "musicians, gamblers, desecrators of judgment and punishment". Examining the symbolism in Bosch's art—"the freakish riddles ... the irresponsible phantasmagoria of an ecstatic"—Fränger concluded that his interpretation applied to Bosch's three altarpieces only: The Garden of Earthly Delights, The Temptation of Saint Anthony, and the Haywain Triptych. Fränger distinguished these pieces from the artist's other works and argued that despite their anti-cleric polemic, they were nevertheless all altarpieces, probably commissioned for the devotional purposes of a mystery cult. While commentators accept Fränger's analysis as astute and broad in scope, they have often questioned his final conclusions. These are regarded by many scholars as hypothesis only, and built on an unstable foundation and what can only be conjecture. Critics argue that artists during this period painted not for their own pleasure but for commission, while the language and secularization of a post-Renaissance mind-set projected onto Bosch would have been alien to the late-Medieval painter. Fränger's thesis stimulated others to examine The Garden more closely. Writer Carl Linfert also senses the joyfulness of the people in the center panel, but rejects Fränger's assertion that the painting is a "doctrinaire" work espousing the "guiltless sexuality" of the Adamite sect. While the figures engage in amorous acts without any suggestion of the forbidden, Linfert points to the elements in the center panel suggesting death and temporality: some figures turn away from the activity, seeming to lose hope in deriving pleasure from the passionate frolicking of their cohorts. Writing in 1969, E. H. Gombrich drew on a close reading of Genesis and the Gospel According to Saint Matthew to suggest that the central panel is, according to Linfert, "the state of mankind on the eve of the Flood, when men still pursued pleasure with no thought of the morrow, their only sin the unawareness of sin." ## Legacy Because Bosch was such a unique and visionary artist, his influence has not spread as widely as that of other major painters of his era. However, there have been instances of later artists incorporating elements of The Garden of Earthly Delights into their own work. Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525–1569) in particular directly acknowledged Bosch as an important influence and inspiration, and incorporated many elements of the inner right panel into several of his most popular works. Bruegel's Mad Meg depicts a peasant woman leading an army of women to pillage Hell, while his The Triumph of Death (c. 1562) echoes the monstrous Hellscape of The Garden, and utilizes, according to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, the same "unbridled imagination and the fascinating colours". While the Italian court painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo (c. 1527–1593) did not create Hellscapes, he painted a body of strange and "fantastic" vegetable portraits—generally heads of people composed of plants, roots, webs and various other organic matter. These strange portraits rely on and echo a motif that was in part inspired by Bosch's willingness to break from strict and faithful representations of nature. David Teniers the Younger (c. 1610–1690) was a Flemish painter who quoted both Bosch and Bruegel throughout his career in such works as his versions of the Temptation of St Anthony, the Rich Man in Hell and his version of Mad Meg. During the early 20th century, Bosch's work enjoyed a popular resurrection. The early surrealists' fascination with dreamscapes, the autonomy of the imagination, and a free-flowing connection to the unconscious brought about a renewed interest in his work. Bosch's imagery struck a chord with Joan Miró and Salvador Dalí in particular. Both knew his paintings firsthand, having seen The Garden of Earthly Delights in the Museo del Prado, and both regarded him as an art-historical mentor. Miró's The Tilled Field contains several parallels to Bosch's Garden: similar flocks of birds; pools from which living creatures emerge; and oversize disembodied ears all echo the Dutch master's work. Dalí's 1929 The Great Masturbator is similar to an image on the right side of the left panel of Bosch's Garden, composed of rocks, bushes and little animals resembling a face with a prominent nose and long eyelashes. When André Breton wrote his first Surrealist Manifesto in 1924, his historical precedents as inclusions named only Gustave Moreau, Georges Seurat, and Uccello. However, the Surrealist movement soon rediscovered Bosch and Bruegel, who quickly became popular among the Surrealist painters. René Magritte and Max Ernst both were inspired by Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights. ## See also - List of paintings by Hieronymus Bosch
8,334,574	Tropical Storm Edouard (2002)	1,173,180,715	Atlantic tropical cyclone	[ "2002 Atlantic hurricane season", "2002 natural disasters in the United States", "Atlantic tropical storms", "Hurricanes in Florida", "Tropical cyclones in 2002" ]	Tropical Storm Edouard was the first of eight named storms to form in September 2002, the most such storms in the North Atlantic for any month at the time. The fifth tropical storm of the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season, Edouard developed into a tropical cyclone on September 1 from an area of atmospheric convection associated with a cold front east of Florida. Under weak steering currents, Edouard drifted to the north and executed a clockwise loop to the west. Despite moderate to strong levels of wind shear, the storm reached a peak intensity of 65 mph (105 km/h) on September 3, but quickly weakened as it tracked westward. Edouard made landfall on northeastern Florida on September 5, and after crossing the state it dissipated on September 6 while becoming absorbed into the larger circulation of Tropical Storm Fay. Florida received moderate rainfall from Edouard, with floods exceeding 7 inches (180 mm) in the western portion of the state. Though Edouard was a tropical storm at landfall, wind speeds along the storm's path over land were light. The rain flooded several roads; however, there were no casualties, and damage was minimal. ## Meteorological history An area of cloudiness and rain showers developed several hundred miles east-southeast of Bermuda on August 25, likely in association with a low-level disturbance that formed along a cold front. For several days, it moved southwestward, and, while located on the southwestern end of an upper-level trough to the north of Puerto Rico, deep atmospheric convection throughout the system increased. The system tracked westward, and initially remained disorganized while surface pressures remained high. The system started to drift northwest and began to slowly organize on August 30 while located a few hundred miles northeast of the Bahamas. A broad low-pressure area developed on August 31, though convection remained disorganized as winds of 20 to 25 mph (32 to 40 km/h) were reported in squalls. Conditions remained favorable for continued organization, and convection persisted and increased across the system. The system developed into Tropical Depression Five on September 1 after developing a low-level circulation while located about 140 miles (230 km) east of Daytona Beach, Florida. Upon first forming, the tropical depression was located in an area of light to moderate westerly wind shear. With a ridge to the north and west of the depression, the system moved to the northwest under weak steering currents. The depression slowly strengthened and intensified into Tropical Storm Edouard on September 2 while located about 120 miles (190 km) east of Jacksonville, Florida. The storm remained disorganized with wind shear displacing most of the deep convection from the low-level circulation. Upon becoming a tropical storm, forecasters initially predicted Edouard to gradually turn to the northeast, and within three days be located a short distance off the coast of South Carolina with winds of 60 mph (97 km/h). However, forecasters admitted little confidence in the prediction, with later forecasts predicting the storm to execute a loop and track westward into northern Florida or southern Georgia. Shortly after the tropical cyclogenesis of Edouard, steering currents became weak, resulting in the storm to turn sharply eastward. Late on September 2, deep convection developed over the center, though the center quickly became exposed again. The environment appeared to become more hostile on September 2 and 3 with increasing shear and dry air overspreading the center. Despite the conditions, the storm maintained vigorous convection over the eastern portion of the circulation, and it quickly intensified on September 3 to reach peak winds of 65 mph (105 km/h). A reconnaissance flight into the system estimated surface winds of up to 60 mph (97 km/h) and reported flight level winds of 82 mph (132 km/h). Shortly after peaking in intensity, Tropical Storm Edouard began to weaken as convection diminished from vertical shear and dry air, with its center becoming exposed from the steadily decreasing convection later on September 3. The development of a weak and narrow mid-level ridge turned the storm to the west-southwest towards northeastern Florida. Despite strong levels of wind shear, Edouard remained a tropical storm while producing sporadic amounts of deep convection, with the banding structure improving on September 4. Early on September 5, Edouard made landfall near Ormond Beach, Florida as a minimal tropical storm, and almost immediately weakened to a tropical depression over land. It tracked across the state for about 13 hours and entered the Gulf of Mexico near Crystal River. Initial forecasts predicted Edouard to re-strengthen to a tropical storm over the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, though uncertainty was noted due to the development of Tropical Storm Fay in the northwestern portion of the gulf. Upon entering the Gulf of Mexico, the depression encountered strong wind shear from the outflow of Tropical Storm Fay. Edouard generated minimal amounts of intermittent convection along the southeastern portion of its circulation, enough for it to remain a tropical cyclone. The remaining convection, however, disappeared by September 6, with Edouard dissipating while becoming absorbed into the larger circulation of Tropical Storm Fay. ## Preparations Three hours after developing, the National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm watch from Titusville, Florida, to Brunswick, Georgia, due to uncertainty in the track of the storm. Hours after becoming a tropical storm, a tropical storm warning was issued from Fernandina Beach, Florida, to the mouth of the Savannah River, with a tropical storm watch further northward to the mouth of the South Santee River in South Carolina, though these were cancelled after Edouard turned to the east. About 10 hours before landfall, the National Hurricane Center issued another tropical storm warning from Titusville, Florida to Brunswick, Georgia, with a tropical storm watch further south to Sebastian Inlet, Florida. Two days before the storm made landfall, several Florida counties were monitoring the progress of the storm. Though no serious impact was anticipated, Brevard County officials identified possible shelters if warranted. Putnam County officials placed several shelters on standby, and utility crews in Duval County were placed on standby in the event of power failure. Several media releases of information were issued regarding the storm. The State Emergency Operation Center was on Level 2, or partial activation, and the state government organized two conferences to discuss county actions in regards to the storm. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch hours before Edouard made landfall for much of eastern Florida due to the expected rainfall from the storm. The South Carolina Emergency Management Division monitored the progress of the storm, and the Division increased its awareness level in response to the storm. Important state agencies in South Carolina government were notified to be ready to respond if the need arose. ## Impact In Bermuda, the outflow from the storm produced cloudy conditions throughout the island. Squally conditions were reported a short distance to the west of the island, though no rain was reported on Bermuda. While moving erratically off the east coast of Florida, Tropical Storm Edouard produced rough surf conditions and rip currents along many beaches. Beachgoers and visitors were advised to exercise extreme caution. The storm produced water levels about 6 inches above normal near Cape Canaveral, though elsewhere wave action and storm tides were not significant. Despite being a tropical storm at landfall, sustained tropical storm force winds were not observed. A rainband ahead of the storm produced a 39 mph (63 km/h) wind gust at Patrick Air Force Base, and a station in St. Augustine recorded a wind gust of 38 mph (61 km/h). Sustained winds peaked at 31 mph (50 km/h) at Patrick Air Force Base. Edouard dropped light to moderate rainfall in eastern Florida, primarily during 2 to 3 hour periods. The highest official rainfall total peaked at 2.5 inches (64 mm) at Orlando Executive Airport, though unofficial totals reached as high as 4.8 inches (120 mm) in Rockledge. Rainfall was higher in western Florida, peaking at 7.64 inches (194 mm) in DeSoto County with an area near Tampa reporting over 7 inches (180 mm). Moderate rainfall resulted in river flooding along the St. Johns River, resulting in flooding along roads in Seminole County. Roadway, urban, and lowland flooding was also reported in the counties of Brevard and Orange. Roadway flooding was extensive in some areas, resulting in road closures in Oviedo, Cocoa Beach, and Cape Canaveral. Heavy rainfall in Pinellas Park caused heavy street flooding along an intersection on U.S. Highway 19. No casualties were reported, and no damage was known to have been incurred. ## See also - List of Florida hurricanes (2000–present) - Other storms of the same name
9,319,956	Zapata rail	1,165,619,957	Species of bird of the monotypic genus Cyanolimnas	[ "Birds described in 1927", "Endemic birds of Cuba", "Higher-level bird taxa restricted to the West Indies", "Mustelirallus" ]	The Zapata rail (Mustelirallus cerverai) is a medium-sized, dark-coloured rail. It has brown upperparts, greyish-blue underparts, a red-based yellow bill, white undertail coverts, and red eyes and legs. Its short wings render it almost flightless. It is endemic to the wetlands of the Zapata Peninsula in southern Cuba, where its only known nest was found in sawgrass tussocks. Little is known of its diet or reproductive behaviour, and its described calls may belong to a different species. The species was discovered by Spanish zoologist Fermín Zanón Cervera in March 1927 in the Zapata Swamp near Santo Tomás, in the southern Matanzas Province of Cuba. The swamp holds one other bird found nowhere else, the Zapata wren, and also gives its name to the Zapata sparrow. Due to ongoing habitat loss in its limited range, its small population size, and predation by introduced mammals and catfish, the Zapata rail is evaluated as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Tourism and climate change may pose threats in the future. ## Discovery and taxonomy The Zapata rail was formally described by American herpetologist Thomas Barbour and his compatriot, ornithologist James Lee Peters, in 1927. They considered it distinctive enough to merit its own genus, Cyanolimnas. The genus name derives from Ancient Greek kuanos "dark blue" and Modern Latin limnas "rail or crake"; the specific name cerverai honours the rail's discoverer, Fermín Zanón Cervera, a Spanish soldier who had stayed on after the Spanish–American War and became a professional naturalist. Barbour had been accompanied by the Spaniard on his previous visits to Cuba, and on hearing of the strange birds to be found in the Zapata area, he sent Cervera on a series of trips into the region. Cervera eventually found the rail near the very small settlement which is commemorated in the Spanish name for the rail, "Gallinuela de Santo Tomás". Cervera also discovered the Zapata wren and the Zapata sparrow, and his name is commemorated by the new ecological centre in the Ciénaga de Zapata National Park. The rail family contains more than 150 species divided into at least 50 genera, the exact number depending on the authority. The Zapata rail is a member of the genus Mustelirallus, and is considered to be related with Pardirallus. All six species in the two genera are long-billed, five have drab plumage, and all but one have a red spot at the bill base. They are believed to be descended from Amaurornis-like ancestral stock. ## Description This is a medium-sized, dark rail, approximately 29 cm (11.4 in) long. The upperparts are olive-brown and the forehead, head sides and underparts are slate-grey, with some white barring on the lower belly. The flanks are grey-brown and the undertail is white. The iris, legs and feet are red, and the bill is yellow with a red base. The tail feathers are only sparsely barbed, and the wings are very short and rounded. The sexes are similar in appearance, but immature birds are duller and have olive feet and bill; the chicks, as with all rails, are covered with blackish down. The Zapata rail's call is described as a bouncing cutucutu-cutucutu-cutucutu similar to that of the bare-legged owl, and a loud limpkin-like kuvk kuck. However, these calls may actually be those of the spotted rail. There are no similar species in Cuba; the sympatric spotted rail is much the same size, but is heavily spotted and barred with white. The Zapata rail's plumage is intermediate between those of the Colombian crake and the plumbeous rail, but these are mainland birds of Central and South America. ## Distribution and habitat This rail is a Cuban endemic restricted to the northern part of the 4500 km<sup>2</sup> (1740 mi<sup>2</sup>) Zapata Swamp, which is also the only location for the Zapata wren, and the nominate subspecies of the Zapata sparrow. The favoured habitat of the Zapata rail is flooded vegetation, 1.5–2.0 m (60–80 in) tall, consisting of tangled, bush-covered swamp and low trees, and preferably near higher ground. Typical plants of the swamp are wax myrtle, the willow Salix longipes, the sawgrass Cladium jamaicensis, and the narrow leaf cattail. The species was once more widespread, with fossil bones found at Havana, Pinar del Río and the Isla de la Juventud. Barbour did not believe that the rail, Zapata sparrow and Zapata wren were relics in the sense that they once ranged widely over Cuba (as did, for example, the dwarf hutia and the Cuban crocodile), since the birds are so highly modified for swamp conditions. He considered that conditions similar to those found today may once have extended over the large submerged area now represented by the shallow banks, with scattered mangrove keys, which stretch towards the Isla de la Juventud and perhaps eastward along the southern Cuban coast. The birds fossilized at Isla de la Juventud are smaller than the single extant specimen, but the paucity of available material makes it impossible to establish whether the populations were genuinely different. ## Behaviour The Zapata rail usually breeds in Cladium jamaicensis sawgrass, building the nest above water-level on a raised tussock. Breeding occurs around September, and possibly also in December and January. American ornithologist James Bond found a nest containing three white eggs 60 cm (2 ft) above water level in sawgrass, but little else is known of the breeding biology. Rails are usually monogamous, and all have precocial chicks which are fed and guarded by the adults. The bird prefers to feed in sawgrass. The diet is not recorded, but most marsh rails are omnivorous, feeding on invertebrates and plant material. The rails may disperse in the rainy season, returning to permanently flooded areas in the dry months. Like other rails, this species is difficult to observe as it moves through the sawgrass, and may crouch to avoid detection, but is not usually particularly wary. When disturbed, it may run a short distance and then stop with its tail raised and the conspicuous white undertail showing. Despite its short wings, the Zapata rail may not be completely flightless. On morphological grounds it would be classed as a flightless species, since the pectoral girdle and wing are as reduced as in other species of rails that are considered to be flightless, but Bond reported that he saw one flutter about ten feet across a canal. ## Conservation status Island species of rails are particularly vulnerable to population loss since they frequently and rapidly evolve to become flightless or very weak fliers, and are very susceptible to introduced predators. Fifteen species have become extinct since 1600, and more than 30 are endangered. The species appears to have been easily found in the Santo Tomás area until 1931, but there were no further records until the 1970s when birds were found 65 km (40 mi) away at Laguna del Tesoro. The few records in subsequent years suggest that numbers remain low, although after no official sightings for two decades, a 1998 survey found the birds at two new locations in the Zapata Swamp. Ten rails were detected at Peralta, and seven at Hato de Jicarita. On the basis of this sample it was estimated that 70–90 rails were present in the 230 hectares (570 acres) between the two sites. As of 2016, the only sighting for several years was in November 2014. The Zapata rail is restricted to a single area, with an extent of about 1,000 km<sup>2</sup> (400 mi<sup>2</sup>), and its small population, estimated on the basis of recent surveys and local assessments of population densities at 250–1,000 individuals, is assessed as decreasing. In the past, grass-cutting for roof thatch was a cause of extensive loss of breeding habitat, and habitat loss through dry-season burning of the vegetation continues. Predation by introduced small Asian mongooses and rats is a problem and, more recently, introduced African sharptooth catfish (Clarias gariepinus) have been identified as major predators of rail chicks. C. cerverai was classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List until 2011, when its status was uplisted to critically endangered. This had already been suggested since, given the lack of knowledge about its calls, the rail's population may be lower than currently estimated. Two remaining sites are in protected areas: the Corral de Santo Tomás Faunal Refuge, and the Laguna del Tesoro nature tourism area. Surveys have recently been conducted throughout the species' range and proposed conservation measures include the control of dry season burning. ### Future threats Cuba has plans to encourage more tourists, including to the Zapata area, and changes to United States policy mean that its citizens are allowed to visit Cuba. In the future, this could further increase the effects of ecotourism; this might have a dangerous impact on the wetland, but there are ways in which the impact of mass tourism can be mitigated. In the longer term, the Ramsar-listed swamp itself may be threatened. Rising sea levels due to global warming could contaminate the wetland with saltwater, damaging the plants and fauna, and by 2100 the area of Ciénaga de Zapata would be reduced by one-fifth. Higher ocean temperatures resulting from climate change could also lead to stronger hurricanes and drought. Bouza warned that the fallen vegetation left by hurricanes could act as fuel for further damaging fires once it had dried out. ## Cited texts
46,852	George I of Great Britain	1,171,183,933	King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1714 to 1727	[ "1660 births", "1727 deaths", "17th-century German people", "18th-century British people", "18th-century German people", "18th-century Irish monarchs", "British monarchs buried abroad", "Burials at Berggarten Mausoleum, Herrenhausen (Hanover)", "Burials at the Leineschloss", "Dukes of Bremen and Verden", "Dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg", "Electoral Princes of Hanover", "English pretenders to the French throne", "Garter Knights appointed by William III", "George I of Great Britain", "German army commanders in the War of the Spanish Succession", "Heirs to the British throne", "House of Hanover", "Military personnel from Hanover", "Monarchs of Great Britain", "Nobility from Hanover", "Osnabrück", "Prince-electors of Hanover", "Princes of Calenberg", "Princes of Lüneburg" ]	George I (George Louis; German: Georg Ludwig; 28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. He was the first British monarch of the House of Hanover as the most senior Protestant descendant of his great-grandfather James VI and I. Born in Hanover to Ernest Augustus and Sophia of Hanover, George inherited the titles and lands of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg from his father and uncles. In 1682, he married his cousin Sophia Dorothea of Celle, with whom he had two children; he also had three daughters with his mistress Melusine von der Schulenburg. George and Sophia Dorothea divorced in 1694. A succession of European wars expanded George's German domains during his lifetime; he was ratified as prince-elector of Hanover in 1708. After the deaths in 1714 of his mother, who had been the heiress presumptive, and his second cousin Anne, Queen of Great Britain, George ascended the British throne as Anne's closest living Protestant relative under the Act of Settlement 1701. Jacobites attempted, but failed, to depose George and replace him with James Francis Edward Stuart, Anne's Catholic half-brother. During George's reign the powers of the monarchy diminished, and Britain began a transition to the modern system of cabinet government led by a prime minister. Towards the end of his reign, actual political power was held by Robert Walpole, now recognised as Britain's first de facto prime minister. George died of a stroke on a trip to his native Hanover, where he was buried. He is the most recent British monarch to be buried outside the United Kingdom. ## Early life George was born on 28 May 1660 in the city of Hanover in the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire. He was the eldest son of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and his wife, Sophia of the Palatinate. Sophia was the granddaughter of King James I of England through her mother, Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia. For the first year of his life George was the only heir to the German territories of his father and three childless uncles. George's brother, Frederick Augustus, was born in 1661, and the two boys (known respectively by the family as "Görgen" and "Gustchen") were brought up together. Their mother was absent for almost a year (1664–1665) during a long convalescent holiday in Italy but corresponded regularly with her sons' governess and took a great interest in their upbringing, even more so upon her return. Sophia bore Ernest Augustus another four sons and a daughter. In her letters Sophia describes George as a responsible, conscientious child who set an example to his younger brothers and sisters. By 1675 George's eldest uncle had died without issue, but his remaining two uncles had married, putting George's inheritance in jeopardy, for his uncles' estates might pass to their own sons, were they to have any, instead of to George. George's father took him hunting and riding and introduced him to military matters; mindful of his uncertain future, Ernest Augustus took the fifteen-year-old George on campaign in the Franco-Dutch War with the deliberate purpose of testing and training his son in battle. In 1679 another uncle died unexpectedly without sons, and Ernest Augustus became reigning Duke of Calenberg-Göttingen, with his capital at Hanover. George's surviving uncle, George William of Celle, had married his mistress in order to legitimise his only daughter, Sophia Dorothea, but looked unlikely to have any further children. Under Salic law, where inheritance of territory was restricted to the male line, the succession of George and his brothers to the territories of their father and uncle now seemed secure. In 1682 the family agreed to adopt the principle of primogeniture, meaning George would inherit all the territory and not have to share it with his brothers. ## Marriage In the same year, George married Sophia Dorothea of Celle, the daughter of his uncle George William, thereby securing additional incomes that would have been outside Salic laws. This marriage of state was arranged primarily to ensure a healthy annual income, and assisted the eventual unification of Hanover and Celle. His mother at first opposed the marriage because she looked down on Sophia Dorothea's mother, Eleonore (who came from lower nobility), and because she was concerned by Sophia Dorothea's legitimated status. She was eventually won over by the advantages inherent in the marriage. In 1683, George and his brother Frederick Augustus served in the Great Turkish War at the Battle of Vienna, and Sophia Dorothea bore George a son, George Augustus. The following year, Frederick Augustus was informed of the adoption of primogeniture, meaning he would no longer receive part of his father's territory as he had expected. This led to a breach between Frederick Augustus and his father, and between the brothers, that lasted until his death in battle in 1690. With the imminent formation of a single Hanoverian state, and the Hanoverians' continuing contributions to the Empire's wars, Ernest Augustus was made an Elector of the Holy Roman Empire in 1692. George's prospects were now better than ever as the sole heir to his father's electorate and his uncle's duchy. Sophia Dorothea had a second child, a daughter named after her, in 1687, but there were no other pregnancies. The couple became estranged—George preferred the company of his mistress, Melusine von der Schulenburg, and Sophia Dorothea had her own romance with the Swedish Count Philip Christoph von Königsmarck. Threatened with the scandal of an elopement, the Hanoverian court, including George's brothers and mother, urged the lovers to desist, but to no avail. According to diplomatic sources from Hanover's enemies, in July 1694, the Swedish count was killed, possibly with George's connivance, and his body thrown into the river Leine weighted with stones. The murder was claimed to have been committed by four of Ernest Augustus's courtiers, one of whom, Don Nicolò Montalbano, was paid the enormous sum of 150,000 thalers, about one hundred times the annual salary of the highest-paid minister. Later rumours supposed that Königsmarck was hacked to pieces and buried beneath the Hanover palace floorboards. However, sources in Hanover itself, including Sophia, denied any knowledge of Königsmarck's whereabouts. George's marriage to Sophia Dorothea was dissolved, not on the grounds that either of them had committed adultery, but on the grounds that Sophia Dorothea had abandoned her husband. With her father's agreement, George had Sophia Dorothea imprisoned in Ahlden House in her native Celle, where she stayed until she died more than thirty years later. She was denied access to her children and father, forbidden to remarry and only allowed to walk unaccompanied within the mansion courtyard. She was, however, endowed with an income, establishment, and servants, and allowed to ride in a carriage outside her castle under supervision. Melusine von der Schulenburg acted as George's hostess openly from 1698 until his death, and they had three daughters together, born in 1692, 1693 and 1701. ## Electoral reign Ernest Augustus died on 23 January 1698, leaving all of his territories to George with the exception of the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück, an office he had held since 1661. George thus became Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (also known as Hanover, after its capital) as well as Archbannerbearer and a Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire. His court in Hanover was graced by many cultural icons such as the mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Leibniz and the composers George Frideric Händel and Agostino Steffani. Shortly after George's accession to his paternal duchy, Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, who was second-in-line to the English and Scottish thrones, died. By the terms of the English Act of Settlement 1701, George's mother, Sophia, was designated as the heir to the English throne if the then reigning monarch, William III, and his sister-in-law, Anne, died without surviving issue. The succession was so designed because Sophia was the closest Protestant relative of the British royal family. Fifty-six Catholics with superior hereditary claims were bypassed. The likelihood of any of them converting to Protestantism for the sake of the succession was remote; some had already refused. In August 1701, George was invested with the Order of the Garter and, within six weeks, the nearest Catholic claimant to the thrones, the former king James II, died. William III died the following March and was succeeded by Anne. Sophia became heiress presumptive to the new Queen of England. Sophia was in her seventy-first year, thirty-five years older than Anne, but she was very fit and healthy and invested time and energy in securing the succession either for herself or for her son. However, it was George who understood the complexities of English politics and constitutional law, which required further acts in 1705 to naturalise Sophia and her heirs as English subjects, and to detail arrangements for the transfer of power through a Regency Council. In the same year, George's surviving uncle died and he inherited further German dominions: the Principality of Lüneburg-Grubenhagen, centred at Celle. Shortly after George's accession in Hanover, the War of the Spanish Succession broke out. At issue was the right of Philip, the grandson of King Louis XIV of France, to succeed to the Spanish throne under the terms of King Charles II of Spain's will. The Holy Roman Empire, the United Dutch Provinces, England, Hanover and many other German states opposed Philip's right to succeed because they feared that the French House of Bourbon would become too powerful if it also controlled Spain. As part of the war effort, George invaded his neighbouring state, Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, which was pro-French, writing out some of the battle orders himself. The invasion succeeded with few lives lost. As a reward, the prior Hanoverian annexation of the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg by George's uncle was recognised by the British and Dutch. In 1706, the Elector of Bavaria was deprived of his offices and titles for siding with Louis against the Empire. The following year, George was invested as an Imperial Field Marshal with command of the imperial army stationed along the Rhine. His tenure was not altogether successful, partly because he was deceived by his ally, the Duke of Marlborough, into a diversionary attack, and partly because Emperor Joseph I appropriated the funds necessary for George's campaign for his own use. Despite this, the German princes thought he had acquitted himself well. In 1708, they formally confirmed George's position as a Prince-Elector in recognition of, or because of, his service. George did not hold Marlborough's actions against him; he understood they were part of a plan to lure French forces away from the main attack. In 1709, George resigned as field marshal, never to go on active service again. In 1710, he was granted the dignity of Arch-Treasurer of the Empire, an office formerly held by the Elector Palatine; the absence of the Elector of Bavaria allowed a reshuffling of offices. The emperor's death in 1711 threatened to destroy the balance of power in the opposite direction, so the war ended in 1713 with the ratification of the Treaty of Utrecht. Philip was allowed to succeed to the Spanish throne but removed from the French line of succession, and the Elector of Bavaria was restored. ## Accession in Great Britain and Ireland Though both England and Scotland recognised Anne as their queen, only the Parliament of England had settled on Sophia, Electress of Hanover, as the heir presumptive. The Parliament of Scotland (the Estates) had not formally settled the succession question for the Scottish throne. In 1703, the Estates passed a bill declaring that their selection for Queen Anne's successor would not be the same individual as the successor to the English throne, unless England granted full freedom of trade to Scottish merchants in England and its colonies. At first Royal Assent was withheld, but the following year Anne capitulated to the wishes of the Estates and assent was granted to the bill, which became the Act of Security 1704. In response the English Parliament passed the Alien Act 1705, which threatened to restrict Anglo-Scottish trade and cripple the Scottish economy if the Estates did not agree to the Hanoverian succession. Eventually, in 1707, both Parliaments agreed on a Treaty of Union, which united England and Scotland into a single political entity, the Kingdom of Great Britain, and established the rules of succession as laid down by the Act of Settlement 1701. The union created the largest free trade area in 18th-century Europe. Whig politicians believed Parliament had the right to determine the succession, and to bestow it on the nearest Protestant relative of the Queen, while many Tories were more inclined to believe in the hereditary right of the Catholic Stuarts, who were nearer relations. In 1710, George announced that he would succeed in Britain by hereditary right, as the right had been removed from the Stuarts, and he retained it. "This declaration was meant to scotch any Whig interpretation that parliament had given him the kingdom [and] ... convince the Tories that he was no usurper." George's mother, the Electress Sophia, died on 28 May 1714 at the age of 83. She had collapsed in the gardens at Herrenhausen after rushing to shelter from a shower of rain. George was now Queen Anne's heir presumptive. He swiftly revised the membership of the Regency Council that would take power after Anne's death, as it was known that Anne's health was failing and politicians in Britain were jostling for power. She suffered a stroke, which left her unable to speak, and died on 1 August 1714. The list of regents was opened, the members sworn in, and George was proclaimed King of Great Britain and King of Ireland. Partly due to contrary winds, which kept him in The Hague awaiting passage, he did not arrive in Britain until 18 September. George was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 20 October. His coronation was accompanied by rioting in over twenty towns in England. George mainly lived in Great Britain after 1714, though he visited his home in Hanover in 1716, 1719, 1720, 1723 and 1725. In total, George spent about one fifth of his reign as king in Germany. A clause in the Act of Settlement that forbade the British monarch from leaving the country without Parliament's permission was unanimously repealed in 1716. During all but the first of the King's absences, power was vested in a Regency Council rather than in his son, George Augustus, Prince of Wales. ## Wars and rebellions Within a year of George's accession the Whigs won an overwhelming victory in the general election of 1715. Several members of the defeated Tory Party sympathised with the Jacobites, who sought to replace George with Anne's Catholic half-brother, James Francis Edward Stuart (called "James III and VIII" by his supporters and "the Pretender" by his opponents). Some disgruntled Tories sided with a Jacobite rebellion, which became known as "The Fifteen". James's supporters, led by Lord Mar, an embittered Scottish nobleman who had previously served as a secretary of state, instigated rebellion in Scotland where support for Jacobitism was stronger than in England. "The Fifteen", however, was a dismal failure; Lord Mar's battle plans were poor, and James arrived late with too little money and too few arms. By the end of the year the rebellion had all but collapsed. In February 1716, facing defeat, James and Lord Mar fled to France. After the rebellion was defeated, although there were some executions and forfeitures, George acted to moderate the Government's response, showed leniency, and spent the income from the forfeited estates on schools for Scotland and paying off part of the national debt. George's distrust of the Tories aided the passing of power to the Whigs. Whig dominance grew to be so great under George that the Tories did not return to power for another half-century. After the election, the Whig-dominated Parliament passed the Septennial Act 1715, which extended the maximum duration of Parliament to seven years (although it could be dissolved earlier by the Sovereign). Thus Whigs already in power could remain in such a position for a greater period of time. After his accession in Great Britain, George's relationship with his son (which had always been poor) worsened. George Augustus, Prince of Wales, encouraged opposition to his father's policies, including measures designed to increase religious freedom in Britain and expand Hanover's German territories at Sweden's expense. In 1717, the birth of a grandson led to a major quarrel between George and the Prince of Wales. The King, supposedly following custom, appointed the Lord Chamberlain (Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle) as one of the baptismal sponsors of the child. The King was angered when the Prince of Wales, disliking Newcastle, verbally insulted the Duke at the christening, which the Duke misunderstood as a challenge to a duel. The Prince was told to leave the royal residence, St. James's Palace. The Prince's new home, Leicester House, became a meeting place for the King's political opponents. The King and his son were later reconciled at the insistence of Robert Walpole and the desire of the Princess of Wales, who had moved out with her husband but missed her children, who had been left in the King's care. Nevertheless, father and son were never again on cordial terms. George was active in directing British foreign policy during his early reign. In 1717, he contributed to the creation of the Triple Alliance, an anti-Spanish league composed of Great Britain, France and the Dutch Republic. In 1718, the Holy Roman Empire was added to the body, which became known as the Quadruple Alliance. The subsequent War of the Quadruple Alliance involved the same issue as the War of the Spanish Succession. The 1713 Treaty of Utrecht had recognised the grandson of Louis XIV of France, Philip V, as king of Spain on the condition that he gave up his rights to succeed to the French throne. But upon Louis XIV's 1715 death, Philip sought to overturn the treaty. Spain supported a Jacobite-led invasion of Scotland in 1719, but stormy seas allowed only about three hundred Spanish troops to reach Scotland. A base was established at Eilean Donan Castle on the west Scottish coast in April, only to be destroyed by British ships a month later. Jacobite attempts to recruit Scottish clansmen yielded a fighting force of only about a thousand men. The Jacobites were poorly equipped and were easily defeated by British artillery at the Battle of Glen Shiel. The clansmen dispersed into the Highlands, and the Spaniards surrendered. The invasion never posed any serious threat to George's government. With the French now fighting against him, Philip's armies fared poorly. As a result, the Spanish and French thrones remained separate. Simultaneously, Hanover gained from the resolution of the Great Northern War, which had been caused by rivalry between Sweden and Russia for control of the Baltic. The Swedish territories of Bremen and Verden were ceded to Hanover in 1719, with Hanover paying Sweden monetary compensation for the loss of territory. ## Ministries In Hanover, the King was an absolute monarch. All government expenditure above 50 thalers (between 12 and 13 British pounds), and the appointment of all army officers, all ministers, and even government officials above the level of copyist, was in his personal control. By contrast in Great Britain, George had to govern through Parliament. In 1715 when the Whigs came to power, George's chief ministers included Robert Walpole, Lord Townshend (Walpole's brother-in-law), Lord Stanhope and Lord Sunderland. In 1717 Townshend was dismissed, and Walpole resigned from the Cabinet over disagreements with their colleagues; Stanhope became supreme in foreign affairs, and Sunderland the same in domestic matters. Lord Sunderland's power began to wane in 1719. He introduced a Peerage Bill that attempted to limit the size of the House of Lords by restricting new creations. The measure would have solidified Sunderland's control of the House by preventing the creation of opposition peers, but it was defeated after Walpole led the opposition to the bill by delivering what was considered "the most brilliant speech of his career". Walpole and Townshend were reappointed as ministers the following year and a new, supposedly unified, Whig government formed. Greater problems arose over financial speculation and the management of the national debt. Certain government bonds could not be redeemed without the consent of the bondholder and had been issued when interest rates were high; consequently each bond represented a long-term drain on public finances, as bonds were hardly ever redeemed. In 1719, the South Sea Company proposed to take over £31 million (three fifths) of the British national debt by exchanging government securities for stock in the company. The Company bribed Lord Sunderland, George's mistress Melusine von der Schulenburg, and Lord Stanhope's cousin, Secretary of the Treasury Charles Stanhope, to support their plan. The Company enticed bondholders to convert their high-interest, irredeemable bonds to low-interest, easily tradeable stocks by offering apparently preferential financial gains. Company prices rose rapidly; the shares had cost £128 on 1 January 1720, but were valued at £500 when the conversion scheme opened in May. On 24 June the price reached a peak of £1,050. The company's success led to the speculative flotation of other companies, some of a bogus nature, and the Government, in an attempt to suppress these schemes and with the support of the Company, passed the Bubble Act. With the rise in the market now halted, uncontrolled selling began in August, which caused the stock to plummet to £150 by the end of September. Many individuals—including aristocrats—lost vast sums and some were completely ruined. George, who had been in Hanover since June, returned to London in November—sooner than he wanted or was usual—at the request of the ministry. The economic crisis, known as the South Sea Bubble, made George and his ministers extremely unpopular. In 1721, Lord Stanhope, though personally innocent, collapsed and died after a stressful debate in the House of Lords, and Lord Sunderland resigned from public office. Sunderland, however, retained a degree of personal influence with George until his sudden death in 1722 allowed the rise of Robert Walpole. Walpole became de facto Prime Minister, although the title was not formally applied to him (officially, he was First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer). His management of the South Sea crisis, by rescheduling the debts and arranging some compensation, helped the return to financial stability. Through Walpole's skilful management of Parliament, George managed to avoid direct implication in the Company's fraudulent actions. Claims that George had received free stock as a bribe are not supported by evidence; indeed receipts in the Royal Archives show that he paid for his subscriptions and that he lost money in the crash. ## Later years As requested by Walpole, George revived the Order of the Bath in 1725, which enabled Walpole to reward or gain political supporters by offering them the honour. Walpole became extremely powerful and was largely able to appoint ministers of his own choosing. Unlike his predecessor, Queen Anne, George rarely attended meetings of the cabinet; most of his communications were in private, and he only exercised substantial influence with respect to British foreign policy. With the aid of Lord Townshend, he arranged for the ratification by Great Britain, France and Prussia of the Treaty of Hanover, which was designed to counterbalance the Austro-Spanish Treaty of Vienna and protect British trade. George, although increasingly reliant on Walpole, could still have replaced his ministers at will. Walpole was actually afraid of being removed from office towards the end of George I's reign, but such fears were put to an end when George died during his sixth trip to his native Hanover since his accession as king. He suffered a stroke on the road between Delden and Nordhorn on 9 June 1727, and was taken by carriage about 55 miles to the east, to the palace of his younger brother, Ernest Augustus, Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück, where he died two days after arrival in the early hours before dawn on 11 June 1727. George I was buried in the chapel of Leine Palace in Hanover, but his remains were moved to the chapel at Herrenhausen Gardens after World War II. Leine Palace had burnt out entirely after British aerial bombings and the King's remains, along with his parents', were moved to the 19th-century mausoleum of King Ernest Augustus in the Berggarten. George was succeeded by his son, George Augustus, who took the throne as George II. It was widely assumed, even by Walpole for a time, that George II planned to remove Walpole from office but was dissuaded from doing so by his wife, Caroline of Ansbach. However, Walpole commanded a substantial majority in Parliament and George II had little choice but to retain him or risk ministerial instability. ## Legacy George was ridiculed by his British subjects; some of his contemporaries, such as Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, thought him unintelligent on the grounds that he was wooden in public. Though he was unpopular in Great Britain due to his supposed inability to speak English, such an inability may not have existed later in his reign as documents from that time show that he understood, spoke and wrote English. He certainly spoke fluent German and French, good Latin, and some Italian and Dutch. His treatment of his wife, Sophia Dorothea, became something of a scandal. His Lutheran faith, his overseeing both the Lutheran churches in Hanover and the Church of England, and the presence of Lutheran preachers in his court caused some consternation among his Anglican subjects. The British perceived George as too German, and in the opinion of historian Ragnhild Hatton, wrongly assumed that he had a succession of German mistresses. However, in mainland Europe, he was seen as a progressive ruler supportive of the Enlightenment who permitted his critics to publish without risk of severe censorship, and provided sanctuary to Voltaire when the philosopher was exiled from Paris in 1726. European and British sources agree that George was reserved, temperate and financially prudent; he disliked being in the public light at social events, avoided the royal box at the opera and often travelled incognito to the homes of friends to play cards. Despite some unpopularity, the Protestant George I was seen by most of his subjects as a better alternative to the Roman Catholic pretender James. William Makepeace Thackeray indicates such ambivalent feelings as he wrote: > His heart was in Hanover ... He was more than fifty years of age when he came amongst us: we took him because we wanted him, because he served our turn; we laughed at his uncouth German ways, and sneered at him. He took our loyalty for what it was worth; laid hands on what money he could; kept us assuredly from Popery ... I, for one, would have been on his side in those days. Cynical and selfish, as he was, he was better than a king out of St. Germains [James, the Stuart Pretender] with the French king's orders in his pocket, and a swarm of Jesuits in his train. Writers of the nineteenth century, such as Thackeray, Walter Scott and Lord Mahon, were reliant on biased first-hand accounts published in the previous century such as Lord Hervey's memoirs, and looked back on the Jacobite cause with romantic, even sympathetic, eyes. They in turn, influenced British authors of the first half of the twentieth century such as G. K. Chesterton, who introduced further anti-German and anti-Protestant bias into the interpretation of George's reign. However, in the wake of World War II continental European archives were opened to historians of the later twentieth century and nationalistic anti-German feeling subsided. George's life and reign were re-explored by scholars such as Beattie and Hatton, and his character, abilities and motives re-assessed in a more generous light. John H. Plumb noted that: > Some historians have exaggerated the king's indifference to English affairs and made his ignorance of the English language seem more important than it was. He had little difficulty in communicating with his ministers in French, and his interest in all matters affecting both foreign policy and the court was profound. Yet the character of George I remains elusive; he was in turn genial and affectionate in private letters to his daughter, and then dull and awkward in public. Perhaps his own mother summed him up when "explaining to those who regarded him as cold and overserious that he could be jolly, that he took things to heart, that he felt deeply and sincerely and was more sensitive than he cared to show." Whatever his true character, he ascended a precarious throne, and either by political wisdom and guile, or through accident and indifference, he left it secure in the hands of the Hanoverians and of Parliament. ## Arms As King his arms were: Quarterly, I, Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or (for England) impaling Or a lion rampant within a tressure flory-counter-flory Gules (for Scotland); II, Azure three fleurs-de-lis Or (for France); III, Azure a harp Or stringed Argent (for Ireland); IV, tierced per pale and per chevron (for Hanover), I Gules two lions passant guardant Or (for Brunswick), II Or a semy of hearts Gules a lion rampant Azure (for Lüneburg), III Gules a horse courant Argent (for Westphalia), overall an escutcheon Gules charged with the crown of Charlemagne Or (for the dignity of Archtreasurer of the Holy Roman Empire). ## Issue and mistresses ### Issue ### Mistresses In addition to Melusine von der Schulenburg, three other women were said to be George's mistresses: 1. Leonora von Meyseburg-Züschen, widow of a Chamberlain at the court of Hanover, and secondly married to Lieutenant-General de Weyhe. Leonore was the sister of Clara Elisabeth von Meyseburg-Züschen, Countess von Platen, who had been the mistress of George I's father, Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover. 2. Sophia Charlotte von Platen, later Countess of Darlington (1673 – 20 April 1725), shown by Ragnhild Hatton in 1978 to have been George's half-sister and not his mistress. 3. Baroness Sophie Caroline Eva Antoinette von Offeln (2 November 1669 – 23 January 1726), known as the "Young Countess von Platen", she married Count Ernst August von Platen, the brother of Sophia Charlotte, in 1697. ## Family tree ## Ancestry
19,392,462	Andha Naal	1,160,514,025	1954 film by S. Balachander	[ "1950s Tamil-language films", "1950s crime thriller films", "1950s mystery thriller films", "1950s police procedural films", "1950s spy thriller films", "1954 films", "AVM Productions films", "Fictional portrayals of the Tamil Nadu Police", "Film noir", "Films directed by S. Balachander", "Films set in 1943", "Films set in Chennai", "Films set in the British Raj", "Films with screenplays by Javar Seetharaman", "Indian World War II films", "Indian black-and-white films", "Indian crime thriller films", "Indian detective films", "Indian mystery thriller films", "Indian nonlinear narrative films", "Indian spy thriller films", "Mariticide in fiction", "Murder–suicide in films", "Police detective films", "World War II spy films" ]	Andha Naal (English: That Day, ) is a 1954 Indian Tamil-language mystery-thriller film, produced by A. V. Meiyappan and directed by S. Balachander. It is the first film noir in Tamil cinema, and the first Tamil film to be made without songs, dance, or stunt sequences. Set in the milieu of World War II, the story is about the killing of a radio engineer Rajan (Sivaji Ganesan). The suspects are Rajan's wife Usha (Pandari Bai), the neighbour Chinnaiya Pillai (P. D. Sambandam), Rajan's brother Pattabi (T. K. Balachandran), Rajan's sister-in-law Hema (Menaka), and Rajan's mistress Ambujam (K. Sooryakala). Each one's account of the incident points to a new suspect. Balachander watched Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950) at a film festival, was inspired by it and wrote a play in the same narrative style, but the script was rejected by All India Radio; Meiyappan later agreed to produce it as the film that would later be titled Andha Naal under AVM Productions. The screenplay was written by Javar Seetharaman, who also played a prominent role as an investigative officer in the film. The cinematography was handled by S. Maruti Rao, and the background score was composed by AVM's own music troupe, Saraswathy Stores Orchestra. The film was shorter than most contemporaneous Tamil films. It was the only film directed by Balachander for AVM. Andha Naal was released on 13 April 1954, on the eve of Puthandu (Tamil New Year). It was critically acclaimed and was awarded a Certificate of Merit for Second Best Feature Film in Tamil at the 2nd National Film Awards in 1955. Despite being a commercial failure at the time of its original release, it has acquired cult status over the years and is regarded as an important film in Tamil cinema. In 2013, Andha Naal was included in News18's list of the "100 Greatest Indian Films of All Time". ## Plot On the night of 11 October 1943, during World War II, Japanese forces bomb the Indian city of Madras (now Chennai). The next morning, Rajan, a radio engineer and communications researcher, is found shot dead by his own handgun in his house in Madras after his neighbour, Chinnaiya Pillai, having heard the gunshot, informs the police. Purushothaman Naidu, a local police inspector, arrives at Rajan's house and starts investigating the death. Criminal Investigation Department (C.I.D.) Officer Sivanandam joins Naidu to help with the investigation. Naidu suggests that the killer could be a thief who killed Rajan for the money found at the crime scene. However, Sivanandam is unconvinced by Naidu's theory because the amount of money at the scene matches the withdrawal entry in the bank passbook found in the same room. Rajan was about to leave Madras in anticipation of the bombings. The two policemen question five people in and around Rajan's house, most of whom are his family members or friends. The first to be questioned is Rajan's wife Usha, who is unable to speak because of her grief. Sivanandam and Naidu feel embarrassed and are reluctant to question her further. They begin interrogating Chinnaiya, who proposes that the killer is probably Pattabi, Rajan's younger brother, and recalls a confrontation between them: Pattabi asked for his share of the family property but Rajan refused his request, feeling that he and his wife would squander it. Chinnaiya concludes that this may have prompted Pattabi to kill Rajan. When Sivanandam and Naidu interrogate Pattabi, who feels remorse for Rajan's death, he admits that he did not treat his brother well nor understand his good intentions. He recounts an incident in which his wife Hema fought with Rajan because he refused to apportion the property. Pattabi says Hema could have killed Rajan for the money as she loses her sanity when overpowered by anger. Sivanandam leaves Naidu to interrogate Hema. She is initially impudent and refuses to give a statement about the crime, but she later agrees when Sivanandam threatens to arrest her husband. She reveals Rajan's extramarital affair with Ambujam, a dancer who is pregnant with his child. As Rajan treated the news of the pregnancy with a reckless attitude, Hema suggests that Ambujam could have killed him. When questioned, Ambujam accuses Chinnaiya of murdering Rajan, saying Chinnaiya was her foster father and wanted her to stay away from Rajan after the three met during a picnic. As their relationship continued, Chinnaiya became frustrated and wanted to end the affair. Sivanandam interrogates Usha, who tells him how she and Rajan fell in love. Sivanandam tricks Usha into using a leaky fountain pen to collect her fingerprints. That evening, he and Naidu meet all the suspects at Rajan's house. Sivanandam carries out an exercise in which the suspects—including Usha—must pretend he is Rajan and shoot him using revolvers loaded with fake bullets. Chinnaiya, Pattabi and Hema shoot him as instructed, but Usha fails to do so and bursts into tears. Sivanandam then demands to have Pattabi and Hema arrested, until Usha reveals the truth. Rajan was a radio engineer who wanted to sell radios to the poor at an affordable price. Unable to get any support from the government, he went to Japan where his work was appreciated. He then became a spy selling India's military secrets to Japan. Usha learnt about this and tried unsuccessfully to reform him. She could not stop him and attempted to shoot him. She changed her mind but pulled the trigger accidentally, killing him, and then cried at his boots later, holding them. Sivanandam and Naidu ask Usha for the papers Rajan used to hatch the bombing plan. After she goes to Rajan's room to fetch them, Sivanandam tells Naidu that Usha's fingerprints which he collected and the ones on Rajan's boots matched, which led him to suspect her, and her failure to shoot during the exercise confirmed his suspicion. When Usha takes a long time to come back, the two hear a moment's silence followed by a gunshot, run into Rajan's room and Sivanandam screams, "Usha!". ## Cast - Sivaji Ganesan as Rajan - Pandari Bai as Usha - Javar Seetharaman as C.I.D. Officer Sivanandam - P. D. Sambandam as Chinnaiya Pillai - T. K. Balachandran as Pattabi - K. Sooryakala as Ambujam - S. Menaka as Hema ## Production Director S. Balachander watched Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950) at a film festival, was inspired by it, and wrote a play in the same narrative style, but the script was rejected by All India Radio. He later approached A. V. Meiyappan, the founder of AVM Productions, and narrated the story for him. Although Meiyappan agreed to produce it as the film that would later be titled Andha Naal, he was unconvinced with Balachander's idea of making it without songs or stunts; however, he agreed to finance the project because he liked the story and trusted Balachander's talent. Andha Naal thus became the first Tamil film that did not have any songs or dance sequences, and was the only film directed by Balachander for AVM Productions. The role of the radio engineer Rajan was initially given to S. V. Sahasranamam, who was dismissed after a few days of shooting because Balachander and Meiyappan were not satisfied with his performance and felt he looked "too old" to play the role. The makers then engaged newcomer N. Viswanathan, a Tamilian professor from Calcutta (now Kolkata). When the production was halfway through, Meiyappan was dissatisfied with his performance and wanted to reshoot the film with Sivaji Ganesan. When Balachander refused Meiyappan ordered the production controller Vasu Menon to settle Balachander's salary dues and to bring the reels to be burnt before him. Balachander was shocked on hearing this and obliged to Meiyappan's wish. Since Meiyappan had introduced Ganesan in Parasakthi (1952), he was very keen to have him play the lead role. Initially, Balachander was hesitant to approach Ganesan because he was unsure whether he would agree to play a negative role. In his autobiography, Ganesan said the film was almost completed before he was approached. He agreed to be part of the film because he found the story interesting and thought that portraying a variety of characters would interest the audience. In 2009, film historian Film News Anandan suggested that the success of Thirumbi Paar (1953), which featured Ganesan as an antihero, encouraged him to play a similar role in Andha Naal. According to film historian Randor Guy, Rajan was one of the earliest antihero roles in Tamil cinema. Ganesan initially demanded a sum of ₹40,000 (equivalent to ₹4.0 million or US\$50,000 in 2023) for the film, which Meiyappan could not afford to pay. He offered to pay him ₹25,000 (equivalent to ₹2.5 million or US\$31,000 in 2023), which Ganesan declined. Balachander, however, convinced Ganesan that Meiyappan would pay him ₹1,000 (equivalent to ₹100,000 or US\$1,300 in 2023) for every day they shot the film. A reluctant Ganesan agreed to this, believing the project would take a long time to complete. But to his dismay, Balachander completed the shoot in 17 days. The screenplay was written by Javar Seetharaman, who also appeared in the film as a C.I.D. officer, and provided the voiceover in the opening sequence before Rajan is shot. It was Seetharaman's first collaboration with AVM Productions as an actor and screenwriter. Pandari Bai was selected to play Rajan's wife, while P. D. Sambandam, T. K. Balachandran, S. Menaka and K. Sooryakala formed the rest of the main cast. V. Srinivasan—who later became popularly known as Muktha Srinivasan—assisted Balachander with the film. Cinematography was handled by S. Maruti Rao, and editing was done by S. Surya. The background score was recorded by Saraswathy Stores Orchestra, AVM Productions' music troupe. Two Hindi songs are used in the film in instrumental form: "Yeh Zindagi Usi Ki Hai" from Anarkali (1953) and "Chup Chup Khade Ho" from Bari Behen (1949). No credit for the story is given in the introductory credits. Andha Naal's photography was markedly different from most early Tamil films. Rao used the "painting with light" technique, which captures the actors' shadows to convey their "mood and character". Its final cut was shorter than most contemporaneous Tamil films. ## Themes and influences Regarded as the first film noir in Tamil cinema, Andha Naal is set in World War II, during the bombing of the Indian city of Madras by Japanese forces in 1943. The story of the blind men and an elephant is referenced in the narrative, when Sivanandam notes how each suspect's account of Rajan's death contradicts those of the others. Though various sources, including Ganesan, have said the film was inspired by Rashomon, Randor Guy notes that this notion is erroneous, that Andha Naal was actually adapted from the 1950 British film The Woman in Question directed by Anthony Asquith, and that there was only a "thematic resemblance" between Andha Naal and Rashomon. Film journalist Jason P. Vest describes the three films as following a nonlinear narrative by presenting diverging accounts of the same incident. Film historian Swarnavel Eswaran Pillai notes that Andha Naal is unrelated to Rashomon except for its whodunit plot, where the killing is explored using various angles, and also notes that, unlike Rashomon, Andha Naal ends with the mystery being solved. In the opinion of B. Vijayakumar of The Hindu, Andha Naal is the first film noir made in South India. According to Ganesan, the main theme of Andha Naal is patriotism; for him the film suggests that if a country does not appreciate its talented young men's efforts, they could turn against the nation. Regarding the more personal undertones, Ganesan said that the film tells how unemployment and desolation can lead young people to become traitors. Rajan becomes a traitor by selling Indian secrets to Japan because his idea was rejected by the Indian government. According to Guy, Andha Naal reuses the thematic line of the 1946 Tamil film Chitra: "a person sending secret messages to the enemy through radio". Swarnavel Eswaran Pillai compared Pandari Bai's "ideologically driven" character Usha in the film to her character in Parasakthi, but in the former, "it is the idea of the Indian nation that she pledges her allegiance to." The Times of India compared Andha Naal to Citizen Kane (1941) for its similar lighting and camera angles. The film uses a Tamil saying "Kolaiyum Seival patthini" (a wife may even kill her own husband) as a clue to the identity of the culprit. Usha is depicted as a virtuous wife and a patriot who loves her country. When she discovers that her husband has betrayed India, she decides to kill him. The jury of the 2nd National Film Awards described Naidu as a "conscientious" officer, and Sivanandam as a "brilliant, eccentric but not so serious" man. ## Release and reception Andha Naal received a "U" (universal) certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification after 14 cuts. It was released on 13 April 1954 on the eve of Puthandu (Tamil New Year). The film received critical acclaim upon release, but failed commercially as the audiences were disappointed over the absence of songs. In theatres, they were disappointed after the first scene when Ganesan's character is shot dead, and many even walked out. Theatre owners had to persuade them to watch the entire film. After its commercial failure, Meiyappan never again made a film without song sequences. The film was later re-released after winning the Certificate of Merit for the Second Best Feature Film in Tamil at the 2nd National Film Awards (1955), and became a box-office success. Moser Baer and AP International have released the film on home video. In addition to its National Film Award win, the film won a Best Film Award from the Madras Filmfans' Association in 1955. Contemporary critics lauded Meiyappan and Balachander for the experimental film. While Ganesan's role as an antihero won him critical acclaim, many critics felt that Pandari Bai's role as the patriotic wife overshadowed his performance. Many contemporary critics expected the film to be a trendsetter, but it failed to inspire many thematically similar films in Tamil. Several years later, Balachander's wife Shanta recalled that he was not affected by the film's failure as he was "delighted that he pulled it off", with critics praising the performances of Ganesan, Pandari Bai and the other actors. A contemporary review from the Tamil monthly magazine Kalaimanram praised AVM for novelty and called Andha Naal a daring venture. The Tamil weekly Kumudam (dated 1 May 1954) praised Meiyappan for recognising "young talents" like Balachander and Seetharaman. However, the reviewer criticised AVM for not publicising the film as a thriller; he asserted that had the film been publicised in such manner, the fans would not have been horrified by the absence of songs in the film. The reviewer's verdict was "Success of art; failure of narrative". The same month, a meeting was organised by the Film Fans Association in Madras to congratulate Meiyappan, Balachander, the actors and the other crew members. V. C. Gopalaratnam, the president of the association, praised Meiyappan for his "pioneering spirit" in producing a film without songs or dances. The Tamil magazine Gundoosi said that, for fans who were wondering whether there would be a day when a shorter film without songs and dance would be produced that had a narrative beyond the traditional love story, "That Day has come. Such a cinema of renaissance is Andha Naal". The writer also appreciated Maruti Rao's cinematography and Meiyappan's courageous effort, and asked fans to support such a film if they "really want Tamil cinema to progress". The Indian Express praised the script by Seetharaman, the performances of Ganesan, Pandari Bai and Sambandam, the absence of songs and dance sequences, and concluded that the film was "remarkable for some fine and original ideas in photography". ## Legacy The film has been described by French film historian Yves Thoraval as a revolution in Tamil cinema for the absence of songs and dances. Though largely ignored at the time of its original release, it has since attained cult status in Tamil cinema. In addition to becoming a trendsetter for Tamil films without songs, it set a benchmark in Tamil cinema for noir-style lighting with some of its dramatic sequences. In 2001, journalist S. Muthiah called Andha Naal the "best film" produced by Meiyappan. He noted that it "proved that a song-and-danceless film could also be a hit." In July 2007 when S. R. Ashok Kumar of The Hindu asked eight Tamil film directors for a list of their all-time favourite Tamil films, three of them—K. Balachander, Mani Ratnam and Ameer—named Andha Naal. Malaysian author Devika Bai, writing for the New Straits Times, described Andha Naal as Balachander's magnum opus, and Balachander as "Tamil cinema's Father of Film Noir". The film is regarded by many critics as Balachander's best. Encouraged by its critical success, Balachander went on to direct and act in several more films of the same genre: Avana Ivan (1962), Bommai (1964) and Nadu Iravil (1970). Andha Naal inspired several later whodunit films: including Puthiya Paravai (1964), Kalangarai Vilakkam (1965), Sigappu Rojakkal (1978), Moodu Pani (1980) and Pulan Visaranai (1990), and several songless Tamil films such as Unnaipol Oruvan (1965), Kudisai (1979), Veedu (1988) and Uchi Veyil (1990). Researcher and ethnographer Preeti Mudliar compared Ratha Kanneer (1954) to Andha Naal because in both films "the sin of foreignness is [neutralised] by a chaste Tamil woman, the virtuous wife". Director Chimbu Deven acknowledged Andha Naal as an influence on his 2014 film Oru Kanniyum Moonu Kalavaanikalum. Andha Naal was screened in the "Tamil Retrospective Section" of the 14th International Film Festival of India in 1991. In 2008, Randor Guy praised it for "being the first Tamil film which had no dance, song or stunt sequence and for [Balachander]'s impressive direction and fine performances by Sivaji Ganesan and Pandari Bai". In March 2012, film historian Mohan Raman told The Times of India that, being the first film noir in Tamil cinema, it was "among the significant black and white films of yore", along with Mayabazar (1957) and Uthama Puthiran (1940). In a 2013 interview with the Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan, Malayalam filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan listed Andha Naal as one of his earliest favourites in Tamil cinema. In April 2013, Andha Naal was included in News18's list of "100 greatest Indian films of all time". In mid-April 2014, it was screened at the Russian Cultural Centre, Chennai, to mark its diamond jubilee anniversary. In March 2015, the Film Heritage Foundation announced that it would be restoring Andha Naal along with a few other Indian films from 1931 to 1965 as a part of its restoration projects being carried out in India and abroad. The Foundation said it would not colourise any of the films as they should be "the way the master or the creator had seen it." Filmmaker Shivendra Singh Dungarpur also believes that the film requires restoration on a "priority basis". A 30-minute play adaptation of the film was staged in April 2016, directed by Balachander's son Raman. Another play adaptation, also directed by him, was staged the following year, on 13 April. ## See also - Rashomon effect
24,063,579	Lactarius indigo	1,158,749,116	Edible fungus in the family Russulaceae from eastern North America, East Asia, and Central America	[ "Edible fungi", "Fungi described in 1822", "Fungi of Asia", "Fungi of Central America", "Fungi of Europe", "Fungi of North America", "Lactarius", "Taxa named by Lewis David de Schweinitz" ]	Lactarius indigo, commonly known as the indigo milk cap, indigo milky, the indigo (or blue) lactarius, or the blue milk mushroom, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Russulaceae. It is a widely distributed species, growing naturally in eastern North America, East Asia, and Central America; it has also been reported in southern France. L. indigo grows on the ground in both deciduous and coniferous forests, where it forms mycorrhizal associations with a broad range of trees. The fruit body color ranges from dark blue in fresh specimens to pale blue-gray in older ones. The milk, or latex, that oozes when the mushroom tissue is cut or broken — a feature common to all members of the genus Lactarius — is also indigo blue, but slowly turns green upon exposure to air. The cap has a diameter of 5–15 cm (2–6 in), and the stem is 2–8 cm (0.8–3 in) tall and 1–2.5 cm (0.4–1.0 in) thick. It is an edible mushroom, and is sold in rural markets in China, Guatemala, and Mexico. In Honduras, the mushroom is called a chora, and is generally eaten with egg; generally as a side dish for a bigger meal. ## Taxonomy and nomenclature Originally described in 1822 as Agaricus indigo by American mycologist Lewis David de Schweinitz, the species was later transferred to the genus Lactarius in 1838 by the Swede Elias Magnus Fries. German botanist Otto Kuntze called it Lactifluus indigo in his 1891 treatise Revisio Generum Plantarum, but the suggested name change was not adopted by others. Hesler and Smith, in their 1960 study of North American species of Lactarius, defined L. indigo as the type species of subsection Caerulei, a group characterized by blue latex and a sticky, blue cap. In 1979, they revised their opinions on the organization of subdivisions in the genus Lactarius, and instead placed L. indigo in subgenus Lactarius based on the color of latex and the subsequent color changes observed after exposure to air. As they explained: > The gradual development of blue to violet pigmentation as one progresses from species to species is an interesting phenomenon deserving further study. The climax is reached in L. indigo which is blue throughout. L. chelidonium and its variety chelidonioides, L. paradoxus, and L. hemicyaneus may be considered as mileposts along the road to L. indigo. The specific epithet indigo is derived from the Latin word meaning "indigo blue". Its names in the English vernacular include the "indigo milk cap", the "indigo Lactarius", the "blue milk mushroom", and the "blue Lactarius". In central Mexico, it is known as añil, azul, hongo azul, zuin, and zuine; it is also called quexque (meaning "blue") in Veracruz and Puebla. ## Description Like many other mushrooms, L. indigo develops from a nodule that forms within the underground mycelium, a mass of threadlike fungal cells called hyphae that make up the bulk of the organism. Under appropriate environmental conditions of temperature, humidity, and nutrient availability, the visible reproductive structures (fruit bodies) are formed. The cap of the fruit body, measuring between 5–15 cm (2.0–5.9 in) in diameter, is initially convex and later develops a central depression; in age it becomes even more deeply depressed, becoming somewhat funnel-shaped as the edge of the cap lifts upward. The margin of the cap is rolled inwards when young, but unrolls and elevates as it matures. The cap surface is indigo blue when fresh, but fades to a paler grayish- or silvery-blue, sometimes with greenish splotches. It is often zonate: marked with concentric lines that form alternating pale and darker zones, and the cap may have dark blue spots, especially towards the edge. Young caps are sticky to the touch.The flesh is pallid to bluish in color, slowly turning greenish after being exposed to air; its taste is mild to slightly acrid. The flesh of the entire mushroom is brittle, and the stem, if bent sufficiently, will snap open cleanly. The latex exuded from injured tissue is indigo blue, and stains the wounded tissue greenish; like the flesh, the latex has a mild taste. Lactarius indigo is noted for not producing as much latex as other Lactarius species, and older specimens in particular may be too dried out to produce any latex. The gills of the mushroom range from adnate (squarely attached to the stem) to slightly decurrent (running down the length of the stem), and crowded close together. Their color is an indigo blue, becoming paler with age or staining green with damage. The stem is 2–6 cm (0.8–2.4 in) tall by 1–2.5 cm (0.4–1.0 in) thick, and the same diameter throughout or sometimes narrowed at base. Its color is indigo blue to silvery- or grayish blue. The interior of the stem is solid and firm initially, but develops a hollow with age. Like the cap, it is initially sticky or slimy to the touch when young, but soon dries out. Its attachment to the cap is usually in a central position, although it may also be off-center. Fruit bodies of L. indigo have no distinguishable odor. L. indigo var. diminutivus (the "smaller indigo milk cap") is a smaller variant of the mushroom, with a cap diameter between 3–7 cm (1.2–2.8 in), and a stem 1.5–4.0 cm (0.6–1.6 in) long and 0.3–1.0 cm (0.1–0.4 in) thick. It is often seen in Virginia. Hesler and Smith, who first described the variant based on specimens found in Brazoria County, Texas, described its typical habitat as "along [the] sides of a muddy ditch under grasses and weeds, [with] loblolly pine nearby". ### Microscopic features When viewed in mass, as in a spore print, the spores appear cream to yellow colored. Viewed with a light microscope, the spores are translucent (hyaline), elliptical to nearly spherical in shape, with amyloid warts, and have dimensions of 7–9 by 5.5–7.5 μm. Scanning electron microscopy reveals reticulations on the spore surface. The hymenium is the spore-producing tissue layer of the fruit body, and consists of hyphae that extend into the gills and terminate as end cells. Various cell types can be observed in the hymenium, and the cells have microscopic characteristics that may be used to help identify or distinguish species in cases where the macroscopic characters may be ambiguous. The spore-bearing cells, the basidia, are four-spored and measure 37–45 μm long by 8–10 μm wide at the thickest point. Cystidia are terminal cells of hyphae in the hymenium which do not produce spores, and function in aiding spore dispersal, and maintaining favorable humidity around developing spores. The pleurocystidia are cystidia that are found on the face of a gill; they are 40–56 by 6.4–8 μm, roughly spindle-shaped, and have a constricted apex. The cheilocystidia—located on the edge of a gill—are abundant, and are 40.0–45.6 by 5.6–7.2 μm. ### Similar species The characteristic blue color of the fruiting body and the latex make this species easily recognizable. Other Lactarius species with some blue color include the "silver-blue milky" (L. paradoxus), found in eastern North America, which has a grayish-blue cap when young, but it has reddish-brown to purple-brown latex and gills. L. chelidonium has a yellowish to dingy yellow-brown to bluish-gray cap and yellowish to brown latex. L. quieticolor has blue-colored flesh in the cap and orange to red-orange flesh in the base of the stem. Although the blue discoloration of L. indigo is thought to be rare in the genus Lactarius, in 2007 five new species were reported from Peninsular Malaysia with bluing latex or flesh, including L. cyanescens, L. lazulinus, L. mirabilis, and two species still unnamed. ## Edibility Although L. indigo is a well-known edible species, opinions vary on its desirability. For example, American mycologist David Arora considers it a "superior edible", while a field guide on Kansas fungi rates it as "mediocre in quality". It may have a slightly bitter, or peppery taste, and has a coarse, grainy texture. The firm flesh is best prepared by cutting the mushroom in thin slices. The blue color disappears with cooking, and the mushroom becomes grayish. Because of the granular texture of the flesh, it does not lend itself well to drying. Specimens producing copious quantities of milk may be used to add color to marinades. In Mexico, individuals harvest the wild mushrooms for sale at farmers' markets, typically from June to November; they are considered a "second class" species for consumption. L. indigo is also sold in Guatemalan markets from May to October. It is one of 13 Lactarius species sold at rural markets in Yunnan in southwestern China. ### Chemical composition A chemical analysis of Mexican specimens has shown L. indigo to contain moisture at 951 mg/g of mushroom, fat at 4.3 mg/g, protein at 13.4 mg/g, and dietary fiber at 18.7 mg/g, much higher in comparison to the common button mushroom, which contains 6.6 mg/g. Compared to three other wild edible mushroom species also tested in the study (Amanita rubescens, Boletus frostii, and Ramaria flava), L. indigo contained the highest saturated fatty acids content, including stearic acid with 32.1 mg/g—slightly over half of the total free fatty acid content. The blue color of L. indigo is due to (7-isopropenyl-4-methylazulen-1-yl)methyl stearate, an organic derivative of azulene, which is biosynthesised from a sesquiterpene very similar to matricin, the precursor for chamazulene. It is unique to this species, but similar to a compound found in L. deliciosus. ## Distribution, habitat, and ecology Lactarius indigo is distributed throughout southern and eastern North America but is most common along the Gulf Coast, Mexico, and Guatemala. Its frequency of appearance in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States has been described as "occasional to locally common". Mycologist David Arora notes that in the United States, the species is found with ponderosa pine in Arizona, but is absent in California's ponderosa pine forests. It has also been collected from China, India, Guatemala, Costa Rica (in forests dominated by oak), and as its southernmost distribution in the Humboldt oak cloud forests of Colombia. In Europe, it has so far only been found in southern France. A study on the seasonal appearance of fruiting bodies in the subtropical forests of Xalapa, Mexico, confirmed that maximal production coincided with the rainy season between June and September. L. indigo is a mycorrhizal fungus, and as such, establishes a mutualistic relationship with the roots of certain trees ("hosts"), in which the fungi exchange minerals and amino acids extracted from the soil for fixed carbon from the host. The subterranean hyphae of the fungus grow a sheath of tissue around the rootlets of a broad range of tree species, forming so-called ectomycorrhizae—an intimate association that is especially beneficial to the host, as the fungus produces enzymes that mineralize organic compounds and facilitate the transfer of nutrients to the tree. Reflecting their close relationships with trees, the fruit bodies of L. indigo are typically found growing on the ground, scattered or in groups, in both deciduous and coniferous forests. They are also commonly found in floodplain areas that have been recently submerged. In Mexico, associations have been noted with Mexican alder, American Hornbeam, American Hophornbeam, and Liquidambar macrophylla, while in Guatemala the mushroom associates with smooth-bark Mexican pine and other pine and oak species. In Costa Rica, the species forms associations with several native oaks of the genus Quercus. Under controlled laboratory conditions, L. indigo was shown to be able to form ectomycorrhizal associations with the neotropical pine species Mexican white pine, Hartweg's pine, Mexican yellow pine, smooth-bark Mexican pine, and the Eurasian pines Aleppo pine, European black pine, maritime pine, and Scots pine. ## See also - List of Lactarius species
5,624,949	Cardiff City F.C.	1,173,411,426	Association football club in Cardiff, Wales	[ "1899 establishments in Wales", "Association football clubs established in 1899", "Cardiff & District League clubs", "Cardiff City F.C.", "English Football League clubs", "FA Cup winners", "Football clubs in Cardiff", "Football clubs in Wales", "Premier League clubs", "South Wales League clubs", "Southern Football League clubs", "Welsh Cup winners", "Welsh football clubs in English leagues" ]	Cardiff City Football Club (Welsh: Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as Riverside A.F.C., the club changed its name to Cardiff City in 1908 and entered the Southern Football League in 1910 before joining the English Football League in 1920. The team has spent 17 seasons in the top tier of English football, the longest period being between 1921 and 1929. Their most recent season in the top flight was the 2018–19 Premier League season. Cardiff is the only team from outside England to have won the FA Cup, doing so in 1927. They have also reached three other cup finals in English competitions, the 1925 FA Cup Final against Sheffield United, the 2008 FA Cup Final against Portsmouth and the 2012 Football League Cup Final against Liverpool, suffering defeat on each occasion. They have won the Welsh Cup on 22 occasions, making them the second-most successful team in the competition's history behind Wrexham. With the exception of a short period this century, the team has played in home colours of blue and white since 1908, from which their nickname "The Bluebirds" derives. Cardiff's first permanent ground was Ninian Park, which opened in 1910; it remained in use for 99 years until the club moved into the Cardiff City Stadium in 2009. Cardiff has long-standing rivalries with nearby clubs Swansea City, with whom they contest the South Wales derby, and Bristol City, with whom they contest the Severnside derby. The club's record appearance holder is Billy Hardy, who made 590 appearances in a 20-year playing spell with Cardiff, and their record goalscorer is Len Davies with 179 goals. ## History ### Early years (1899–1920) Following a meeting at the home of lithographic artist Bartley Wilson in Cardiff, the club was founded in 1899 as Riverside A.F.C. as a way of keeping players from the Riverside Cricket Club together and in shape during the winter months. In their first season, they played friendlies against local sides at their Sophia Gardens ground. In 1900 they joined the Cardiff & District League for their first competitive season. When King Edward VII granted Cardiff city status in 1905, the club put in a request to the South Wales and Monmouthshire Football Association to change their name to Cardiff City. The request was turned down as they were deemed not to be playing at a high enough level. To enhance their standing, the team arranged to join the South Wales League in 1907. The following year they were granted permission to change the name of the club to Cardiff City. Although growing in stature, the club was forced to turn down the opportunity to join the newly formed Second Division of the Southern Football League due to a lack of facilities at their Sophia Gardens ground. Over the next two years, Cardiff played friendlies against some of Britain's top professional sides, including Middlesbrough, Bristol City, and Crystal Palace. The matches were played at grounds in Cardiff and nearby towns so as to gauge the level of public interest in the team. The club eventually secured land to build their own stadium, Ninian Park, which was completed in 1910. The club turned professional the same year. They made their first signing the following year with the acquisition of Jack Evans from fellow Welsh side Cwmparc. With the new ground in place, Cardiff joined the Southern Football League Second Division and appointed their first manager, Davy McDougall, who became player-manager. They went on to finish in fourth place in their first year in the league. The board decided to replace McDougall with Fred Stewart, who had previous managerial experience with Stockport County. He set about adopting a more professional approach, signing several players with Football League experience, including brothers John and George Burton and Billy Hardy. Stewart led the team to promotion in his second season by winning the Second Division title. They remained in the First Division for the next decade, and finished in the top four on two occasions. ### 1920s success and later decline (1920–1945) In 1920, the club submitted a successful application to join the Football League and were placed into the Second Division for the 1920–21 season. Stewart brought in several players with Football League experience, breaking the club's transfer record on two occasions to sign Jimmy Gill and later Jimmy Blair from The Wednesday. They played their first match in the Football League on 28 August 1920, defeating Stockport County 5–2. The side finished the season in second place to win promotion to the First Division. They finished behind Birmingham City on goal average, and reached the semi-final of the FA Cup. In their third season in the top-tier, the team finished runners-up to Huddersfield Town because of a goal average difference of 0.024. Cardiff drew their final match 0–0 as club record goalscorer Len Davies missed a penalty. The following season was the first time Cardiff appeared at Wembley Stadium, having reached their first FA Cup final. The team lost 1–0 to Sheffield United following a goal from England international Fred Tunstall. The 1926–27 season, when they finished in 14th position, was Cardiff's worst performance in the top tier of English Football since winning promotion six seasons before. However, they reached their second FA Cup final in the space of two years. On St George's Day, 23 April 1927, at Wembley Stadium in London, Cardiff became the only non-English side to win the FA Cup by defeating Arsenal 1–0 in the final; Hughie Ferguson scored the only goal of the game in the 74th minute. He received the ball from Ernie Curtis and hurried a tame shot toward the goal; Dan Lewis, the Arsenal goalkeeper, allowed the shot to slip through his grasp and knocked the ball into the net with his elbow. Captain Fred Keenor received the FA Cup trophy at the end of the match from King George V only seven years after Cardiff City had entered the Football League. When the team returned to Cardiff the next day, a crowd of around 150,000 people lined the streets to welcome them. The side also won the Welsh Cup in 1927, defeating Rhyl 2–0. They went on to win the FA Charity Shield after beating amateur side the Corinthians 2–1 at Stamford Bridge. The club entered a period of decline after their cup success. They were relegated from the First Division in the 1928–29 season, despite conceding fewer goals than any other side in the division. They suffered a second relegation two years later, dropping into the Third Division South for the first time since they joined the Football League. During their first season in the division, Cardiff recorded their biggest-ever win when they beat Thames by a scoreline of 9–2. They finished the 1932–33 season in 19th place, resulting in manager Fred Stewart tendering his resignation from his post after 22 years in charge. Club founder Bartley Wilson stepped in to replace Stewart. Results continued to be disappointing, and in March 1934, Ben Watts-Jones was given the opportunity to manage the club he had supported as a youngster. He was unable to turn the team's fortunes around; they finished the season at the bottom of the table, and had to apply for re-election to the league. Watts-Jones remained in charge for another three years until Bill Jennings replaced him. Cardiff remained in the Third Division South until the Football League was suspended following the outbreak of World War II. ### Post war and European competition (1945–2000) In their first season since the resumption of the Football League, under new manager Billy McCandless, Cardiff finished the 1946–47 season as champions of the Third Division South and returned to the Second Division. McCandless left the club soon after and was replaced by Cyril Spiers who led the side to promotion in the 1951–52 season. Cardiff returned to the top tier of English football for the first time in 23 years and stayed there for five seasons. They were relegated after in 1957, after struggling in the bottom half of the table for three seasons. They returned to the First Division for two seasons between 1960 and 1962 before they were again relegated. During the 1960s, Cardiff participated in European competition for the first time as a result of winning the Welsh Cup, which granted qualification to the newly created European Cup Winners Cup. Their first ever match in European competition was in the tournament during the 1964–65 season against Danish side Esbjerg fB. The team won 1–0 on aggregate over two legs, the only goal being scored by Peter King. They went on to reach the quarter-finals before being knocked out by Real Zaragoza. Despite their exploits in Europe, the team were still struggling in league competition under the stewardship of Jimmy Scoular, finishing in 20th position in the Second Division. Two years later the team reached the semi-final of the Cup Winners Cup after victories over Shamrock Rovers, NAC Breda, and Torpedo Moscow set up a tie with German side Hamburg, whose squad contained several German internationals. This remains the furthest any Welsh side has advanced in European competition. After a 1–1 draw in the first leg, over 43,000 fans turned out at Ninian Park to watch Hamburg win 3–2. During the 1970–71 season, Cardiff reached the quarter-finals of the Cup Winners Cup where they faced Spanish side Real Madrid. The first leg of the tie was held at Ninian Park where 47,000 fans watched one of the most significant victories in Cardiff's history when Brian Clark headed in to give Cardiff a 1–0 win. They were later eliminated after losing the second leg 2–0. The team remained in the Second Division for 19 of the 20 seasons between 1962 and 1982, having been relegated to the Third Division for the 1975–76 season. Cardiff were continuously in the lower two divisions of the Football League between 1985 and 1993. The club appointed several managers in attempts to turn the team's performances around with limited success. They were relegated to the Fourth Division once in the 1985–86 season and, despite returning to the Third Division on two occasions, they finished in their lowest-ever league position in 1996—22nd of 24 in Division Three. In 1995, Cardiff and other Welsh clubs competing in English leagues were banned from entering the Welsh Cup by the Football Association of Wales after pressure from UEFA, who did not want teams playing in two national cup competitions. Their final match in the competition was a 2–1 defeat to Wrexham in the 1995 final. ### Foreign investment (2000–present) In August 2000, Lebanese businessman Sam Hammam purchased control of the club and replaced Steve Borley as chairman. Shortly after taking over, he controversially pledged to get the entire Welsh nation to support Cardiff by renaming the club "The Cardiff Celts" and changing the club colours to green, red and white. After lengthy talks with senior players and fans, he decided the best policy was not to change the name of the club. The club crest was redesigned; the new design incorporated the Cardiff City bluebird in front of the Flag of Saint David and featured the club's nickname superimposed at the top of the crest. Hammam funded the transfers of several new players to the club, and new manager Lennie Lawrence guided Cardiff to promotion when they won the Second Division play-off in 2003 against Queens Park Rangers. Substitute Andy Campbell came off the bench to score the only goal in extra time and ensure Cardiff's return to Division One after an 18-year absence. The club experienced increasing financial difficulties over the next few years and plans for a new stadium failed to gain approval from Cardiff Council because of concerns over financial security in 2006. Hammam then agreed to a takeover by a consortium led by new chairman Peter Ridsdale and the lead developer of the new stadium, Paul Guy. During the 2007–08 season, Cardiff reached the semi-final of the FA Cup for the first time in 81 years after beating Middlesbrough 2–0 on 9 March 2008. After coming through their semi-final against Barnsley with a 1–0 win at Wembley Stadium on 6April with a goal from Joe Ledley, they eventually lost 1–0 to Portsmouth in the final, thanks to a goal from Nwankwo Kanu in the 37th minute. In May 2010, Datuk Chan Tien Ghee took over as club chairman following a takeover bid by a Malaysian consortium; Vincent Tan also invested and joined the board. Tan later became the Cardiff's majority shareholder after buying out several other directors and acquired around 82% of the club's shares. In 2011, the club appointed Malky Mackay as manager. He took the side to the League Cup final for the first time in the club's history during his first season. The following season, Cardiff won the 2012–13 Championship title and with it gained promotion to the top tier of English football for the first time after 52 years. On 18 August 2013, Cardiff played their first ever away Premier League match against West Ham United, losing 2–0. Cardiff won only three games in the first half of the season and, on 27 December 2013, Mackay was sacked by Vincent Tan and replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjær. Despite the change in management, Cardiff were relegated to the Championship after a single season following a 3–0 away defeat to Newcastle United. Solskjær himself was sacked on 18 September 2014 after a disappointing start to the following Championship season, and replaced by Leyton Orient manager Russell Slade. In October 2016, Neil Warnock was appointed first team manager of Cardiff. Warnock took over the team with Cardiff second from the bottom of the table after two wins from eleven games, and guided the side to a 12th-placed finish after a good run of form. The start of the 2017–18 season saw Cardiff break a club record by winning their opening three league games of a season, the first time in the club's 107-year professional history. They proceeded to clinch promotion to the Premier League after finishing second in the table. However, they were relegated back to the Championship after a single season. Warnock resigned as manager in November 2019 following a poor start to the season and was replaced by Neil Harris. Harris guided Cardiff to a 5th-placed finish before suffering defeat in the Championship playoff semi-final. After a run of six straight defeats, Harris was sacked on 21 January 2021, beginning a chain of short-term hirings. His replacement, Mick McCarthy, was appointed the following day, but was relieved of his duties less than a year later with the side 2 points above relegation. The club's under–23 manager Steve Morison was appointed as caretaker manager before signing an 18 month contract after guiding the Bluebirds to safety. Morrison was sacked in September 2022 and replaced by Mark Hudson, who lasted only 4 months in the role before he too was dismissed in January 2023. In December 2022, Cardiff City were issued a transfer embargo by FIFA, which was lifted in January 2023. The club are also appealing against an embargo from the English Football League which prevents them paying fees for players until May 2024. In March 2023, Cardiff City reported an operating loss of £29 million for the 2021-22 season. ## Support Cardiff has a large catchment area from which to draw its supporter base. With only two professional teams (Swansea City and Newport County) sharing the South Wales region, the club enjoys considerable support from both the city of Cardiff and the surrounding South Wales Valleys. As a Welsh club playing in the English football league system, national identity is believed to be a major factor in fan support, and some of the club's matches are considered to be Welsh cross-border rivalries with England. During the 1980s, as the club struggled in the lower divisions of English football, crowds dropped to an average of 3,000 per match. An increase in the club's fortunes saw a steady improvement in crowd numbers. The average attendance at home matches rose from 3,594 to 12,522 between 1997 and 2002. Promotion to the second tier in 2003 brought further increases in numbers. The opening of the Cardiff City Stadium led to average attendances reaching 20,000 fans, culminating with highs of between 28,000 and 31,000 during two seasons in the Premier League. Despite this increase, the club has often been regarded as attracting fewer spectators than similarly placed teams. This has been attributed to several factors such as the club's controversial change to red shirts between 2012 and 2015—some supporters being perceived as fairweather fans, and a lack of atmosphere. Welsh national identity also contributes to the supporter culture of the club. "Men of Harlech", a song largely made famous by the 1964 film Zulu, which depicted a battle involving a Welsh regiment, and "I'll Be There", a take on a miner's song that was popular during the 1926 United Kingdom general strike, are both frequently sung before and during matches. The Ayatollah, an act involving raising both arms up and down above the head in a patting motion, has become synonymous with the club and its supporters as a celebratory gesture since its adoption in the early 1990s. The action has become popular with Cardiff fans outside football to show support for the club with boxer Nathan Cleverly, Olympic swimmer David Davies and rugby player Gareth Thomas all having performed the action at some points of their careers. ### Rivalry Known as the South Wales derby, Cardiff City's most significant rivalry is with nearby neighbours Swansea City, and over 100 games have been played in all competitions between the sides. Swansea's first competitive match following their founding in 1912 was against Cardiff in the Southern Football League. The rivalry had been relatively friendly until the 1970s and 1980s. Economic issues, such as the UK miners' strike, rivalry between the two cities and an increase in football hooliganism led to numerous violent clashes between fans at the matches. One game in 1993 was dubbed "The Battle of Ninian Park" for its particularly severe violence and resulted in away fans being banned from attending any matches between the sides for four years. Cardiff player Jason Perry described the period as "the dark, dark days of the derby". When the ban was dropped, "bubble trips" were introduced for away fans who could only attend matches via police-escorted convoys to and from the stadium. Further political divide between the two cities was caused by the Welsh devolution referendum in 1997 when Cardiff was chosen as the site for the newly created Senedd, despite the majority of the city voting against devolution. Swansea, which largely voted in favour of devolution, received funding for a national swimming pool instead. Alan Curtis, who played for both sides, commented, "I think Cardiff has always been perceived [...] to receive whatever funding is going around. It seems to me that everything gets channelled in that direction". Further afield, the club has a rivalry with Bristol City, known as the Severnside derby, and to a lesser extent, Bristol Rovers. There is also a lesser rivalry with Welsh neighbours Newport County due to the proximity of the two Welsh cities; they have rarely played against each other since the 1980s due to Cardiff being in higher leagues. In total, they have only ever played 20 Football League games against each other. A survey by Football Fans Census in 2003 saw Swansea, Bristol City, and Newport listed as Cardiff's main three rivalries, with Stoke City matching Newport in third. In the 1980s, a hooligan group known as the Soul Crew emerged from within the club's fanbase. The group became notorious for their violent clashes with rival supporters and brawls between sets of supporters at football matches and other events. ## Stadium ### Ninian Park Cardiff's first ground was at Sophia Gardens recreational park, where the team played from their founding in 1899 until 1910. With increasing support for the club, Bartley Wilson contacted Bute Estate, who owned large amounts of Cardiff at the time, in an attempt to find land suitable for building a stadium. They eventually agreed on an area of waste ground on Sloper Road. The land was a former rubbish tip and required extensive work to get a playable surface, but with the assistance of Cardiff Corporation and volunteers, the work was completed. The original intention was to name the ground Sloper Park, but Ninian Park was chosen instead after Lord Ninian Crichton-Stuart, who was a driving force behind the ground's construction. The ground hosted its first match on 1 September 1910 with a friendly against Aston Villa; Lord Crichton-Stuart ceremonially kicked off the game. The stadium was built with one stand. A second, which replaced an earth embankment and could hold 18,000 people, was opened in 1928. It hosted its first international match in March 1911 with a Welsh match against Scotland. Towards the end of its lifespan, the ground was replaced for international fixtures by Cardiff Arms Park as doubts mounted over the safety of the aging ground. The club's record attendance in the ground is 57,893 which was achieved during a league match against Arsenal on 22 April 1953. The scaling down of grounds throughout the 1970s and 1980s due to safety fears, which saw the ground capacity fall to 22,000, meant that the record stood until the ground's closure. In its final years of use, the club was forced to seek special dispensation from authorities to keep the remaining standing areas of the ground open beyond the three-year period given to clubs at Championship level or above to remove them. ### Cardiff City Stadium In June 2009, the club completed construction of a 26,828-seat stadium on the site of the now-demolished old Cardiff Athletics Stadium at a cost of £48 million. The ground was named the "Cardiff City Stadium". Three of the four stands retained the names used at Ninian Park—the Grange End, the Canton Stand and the Grandstand—and the fourth stand was named the Ninian Stand. The ground's naming rights were expected to be sold, the club hoping to generate up to £9 million income; they remain unsold. Although a pre-season friendly against Chasetown was played at the ground with limited capacity to test safety features, the stadium was officially opened with a friendly against Scottish side Celtic on 22 July 2009. The first competitive match played at the ground was on 8 August 2009, the opening day of the 2009–10 season, as Cardiff won 4–0 over Scunthorpe United. When it opened, the Cardiff Blues rugby union club left their Cardiff Arms Park home to share the new stadium with Cardiff City. The move proved unpopular among fans of the rugby club, which returned to Cardiff Arms Park in 2012. A few years after the stadium was built, plans to upgrade and expand the stadium were initiated. The expansion plans were completed in August 2014, and the seating capacity was raised to 33,316. In March 2015, it was announced that the Ninian Stand extension was to be shut for the 2015–16 season due to poor ticket sales, dropping the capacity to 27,978. It was reopened the following year due to an increase in demand. In February 2023, the stadium was awarded the Level Playing Field's Centre of Excellence Award in recognition of its accessible facilities and services. ## Colours, kit and crest ### Colours When Riverside A.F.C. was formed in 1899, the club used a chocolate-brown and amber checkered shirt. Following the club's name change to Cardiff City in 1908, they adopted a blue shirt and white or blue shorts and socks, although for the first nine years black socks were used. Kit changes over the club's history have included all blue kits, the introduction of a yellow vertical stripe during the 1970s, and alternating blue stripes. In 2012, Cardiff controversially changed their home kit colours from the traditional blue, white and yellow to red and black, the first time the club had not worn blue as its primary colour since 1908. The crest was also changed to one in which the Welsh Dragon was more prominent than the traditional bluebird. These changes were made to "appeal in 'international markets'" as part of a "major investment plan" unveiled by chairman Vincent Tan. The rebranding provoked strong opposition from the fans, who organised protest marches and demonstrations to voice their displeasure at the changes. Despite Tan previously stating that the club would only return to wearing blue if another owner was found, on 9 January 2015, after three seasons playing in the red kit, the club reverted their home kit back to blue with a red away kit in a bid to "unite" the club. ### Crest history From 1908 Cardiff played in unadorned shirts. This changed in 1959 when they played in shirts with a simple crest featuring an image of a bluebird. The following season their shirts were plain and unadorned and remained so until 1965 when they played in shirts with the word "Bluebirds" embroidered. A new crest, similar to the one used previously, and again featuring a bluebird, was introduced in 1969. Variations of this crest have been used over the years. In the 1980s, extra features including words and motifs were added. A major change was made in 2012, when owner Vincent Tan attempted to rebrand the club to expand its appeal outside Wales. This change gave large prominence to the Welsh Dragon, reducing the bluebird to a minor feature. In March 2015, Cardiff announced a new crest which would once again feature the Bluebird predominantly with a Chinese dragon replacing the standard Welsh dragon. ### Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors ## Players ### First-team squad ### Out on loan ### Retired numbers ### Under-23 and Academy Cardiff runs a youth academy catering to groups from ages seven to eighteen years. Recent players to come through the youth system include Wales internationals: Joe Ledley, Chris Gunter, Aaron Ramsey, Adam Matthews, Darcy Blake, Declan John, Rabbi Matondo, Mark Harris and Rubin Colwill prior to the youth system being granted academy status, Robert Earnshaw and James Collins. ### Notable former players ### Backroom staff Source: ## Manager history Source: ## Records The record for the most appearances in all competitions is currently held by Billy Hardy who appeared in 590 matches for the club between 1911 and 1932, including in the Southern Football League. Phil Dwyer has made the most appearances in the Football League era, having played in 575 matches. Len Davies is the club's top goalscorer with 179 goals in all competitions. Seven other players, Peter King, Robert Earnshaw, Brian Clark, Carl Dale, Derek Tapscott, Jimmy Gill and John Toshack have also scored 100 or more goals for the club. Jack Evans became the first Cardiff City player to win an international cap on 13 April 1912 when he represented Wales in a 3–2 defeat of Ireland. The player who has won the most caps as a Cardiff player is Aron Gunnarsson, who won 62 caps for Iceland during his spell with the club. The highest transfer fee the club has paid for a player is £15 million for Emiliano Sala from Nantes in January 2019. Two days after signing, Sala died in a plane crash in the English Channel. Gary Medel became the most expensive player sold by the club when he joined Inter Milan for £10 million in August 2014. Cardiff's largest victory was a 16–0 victory over Knighton Town in the fifth round of the Welsh Cup in 1962. Their biggest league victory was a 9–2 victory over Thames on 6 February 1932; their biggest FA Cup victory was an 8–0 victory over Enfield on 28 November 1931. ## Honours Cardiff City's honours include the following: League - First Division (level 1) - Runners-up: 1923–24 - Second Division / Championship (level 2) - Champions: 2012–13 - Runners-up: 1920–21, 1951–52, 1959–60, 2017–18 - Third Division (level 3) - Champions: 1946–47 - Runners-up: 1975–76, 1982–83 - Play-off winners: 2003 - Fourth Division / League Two (level 4) - Champions: 1992–93 - Runners-up: 1987–88, 2000–01 - Southern League Second Division - Champions: 1912–13 Cup - FA Cup - Winners: 1926–27 - Runners-up: 1924–25, 2007–08 - Football League Cup - Runners-up: 2011–12 - FA Charity Shield - Winners: 1927 - Welsh Cup - Winners (22): 1911–12, 1919–20, 1921–22, 1922–23, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1929–30, 1955–56, 1958–59, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1987–88, 1991–92, 1992–93 - FAW Premier Cup - Winners: 2001–02
14,682,389	Thopha saccata	1,170,323,429	Australian species of cicada	[ "Hemiptera of Australia", "Insects described in 1803", "Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius", "Thophini" ]	Thopha saccata, the double drummer, is the largest Australian species of cicada and reputedly the loudest insect in the world. Documented by the Danish zoologist Johan Christian Fabricius in 1803, it was the first described and named cicada native to Australia. Its common name comes from the large dark red-brown sac-like pockets that the adult male has on each side of its abdomen—the "double drums"—that are used to amplify the sound it produces. Broad-headed compared with other cicadas, the double drummer is mostly brown with a black pattern across the back of its thorax, and has red-brown and black underparts. The sexes are similar in appearance, though the female lacks the male's tymbals and sac-like covers. Found in sclerophyll forest in Queensland and New South Wales, adult double drummers generally perch high in the branches of large eucalypts. They emerge from the ground where they have spent several years as nymphs from November until March, and live for another four to five weeks. They appear in great numbers in some years, yet are absent in others. ## Taxonomy Danish naturalist Johan Christian Fabricius described the double drummer as Tettigonia saccata in 1803, the first description of an Australian cicada. The type locality was inexplicably and incorrectly recorded as China. It was placed in the new genus Thopha by French entomologists Charles Jean-Baptiste Amyot and Jean Guillaume Audinet-Serville in their 1843 work Histoire naturelle des insectes Hemipteres ("Natural History of Hemiptera Insects"). The generic name is derived from thoph ([] Error: : no text (help)), meaning "drum". They maintained it as native to China. The specific name is derived from the Latin saccus, meaning "sac" or "bag", and more specifically "moneybag". In 1838, Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville pointed out that the double drummer is native to Australia and not China. John Obadiah Westwood designated it the type species of the genus in 1843, and it is also the type species for the tribe Thophini. The common name is derived from the male cicada's sac-like tymbal covers ("drums") on either side of its abdomen. ## Description The adult double drummer is the largest Australian species of cicada, the male and female averaging 4.75 and 5.12 cm (1.87 and 2.02 in) long respectively. The thorax is 2 cm (0.79 in) in diameter, its sides distended when compared with the thorax of other Australian cicadas. The forewings are 5–6.6 cm (2.0–2.6 in) long. The largest collected specimen has a wingspan of 15.1 cm (5.9 in), while the average is 13.3 cm (5.2 in). The average mass is 4.0 g (0.14 oz). The sexes have similar markings, but males have large dark red-brown sac-like structures on each side of their abdomens. These cover the tymbals—specialised structures composed of vertical ribs and a tymbal plate, which is buckled to produce the cicada's song. The head is much broader than that of other cicadas, and is broader than the pronotum behind it. The head, antennae and postclypeus are black, with a narrow broken pale brown transverse band across the vertex just behind the ocelli. The eyes are black in young adult cicadas upon emerging, but turn brown with black pseudopupils at the posterior edge of the eye. The ocelli are deep red. The proboscis is 1.26 cm (0.50 in) in length—very long compared with other Australian cicada species. The thorax is brown, becoming paler in older individuals. The pronotum is rusty brown with black anterior borders, while the mesonotum is a little paler with prominent black markings, with paired cone-shaped spots with bases towards the front on either side of a median stripe; lateral to these spots are a pair of markings resembling a "7" on the right hand side of the mesonotum and its reverse on the left. The abdomen is black between the tymbal covers and red-brown and black more posteriorly. The underparts of the double drummer are red-brown and black, and covered in fine silvery velvety hairs. The female's ovipositor is very long, measuring 1.76 cm (0.69 in). The wings are vitreous (transparent) with light brown veins. The legs are dark brown and have grey velvety hairs. There is little variation in colour over its range, though occasional females are darker overall than average, with markings less prominent or absent. The double drummer is larger and darker overall than the northern double drummer (T. sessiliba); the latter has a white band on the abdomen, while the former has black markings on the leading edge (costa) of the forewing extending past the basal cell. Male cicadas make a noise to attract females, which has been described as "the sound of summer". The song of the double drummer is extremely loud—reportedly the loudest sound of any insect—and can reach an earsplitting volume in excess of 120 dB if there are large numbers of double drummers at close range. Monotonous and dronelike, the song is said to resemble high-pitched bagpipes. The sound of the buckling of the tymbal plate then resonates in an adjacent hollow chamber in the abdomen, as well as in the exterior air-filled sacs, which act as Helmholtz resonators. Singing can cease and restart suddenly, either rarely or frequently, and often ends abruptly. The song has been described as "Tar-ran-tar-rar-tar-ran-tar-rar", and consists of a series of pulses emitted at a rate of 240–250 a second. The tymbal covers are much larger than other species and also make the call louder and send it in a particular direction. There are two distinct phases of song, which the double drummer switches between at irregular intervals. One phase is a continuous call that can last for several minutes; during this period the frequency varies between 5.5 and 6.2 kHz and 6.0–7.5 kHz 4–6 times a second. In the other phase, the song is interrupted by breaks of increasing frequency resulting in a staccato sound. These breaks can be mistaken for silence as the difference in volume is so great, though the song actually continues at a much lower volume. During this staccato phase, which lasts for several seconds, the frequency remains around 5.75–6.5 kHz. The frequency of the song is a high harmonic of the pulse repetition frequency, which makes for a particularly ringing sound. Double drummers congregate in groups to amplify their calls, which likely drives off potential bird predators. Male double drummers also emit a distress call—a sharp fragmented irregular noise—upon being seized by a predator. ## Life cycle The narrow spindle-shaped eggs are laid in a series of slits cut by the mother's ovipositor in branches or twigs, usually of eucalypts. On average about twelve eggs are laid in each slit, for a total of several hundred. These cuts can cause significant damage to the bark of tender trees. The eggs all hatch around 70 days later—usually within a day or two of one another—but take longer in cold or dry conditions. The larvae then fall to the ground and burrow into the soil. Though the timing of the double drummer's life cycle is unknown, nymphs of cicadas in general then spend from four to six years underground. Unusual for Australian cicadas, double drummers emerge during the daytime. Emerging en masse generally, nymphs are covered in mud. This mud remains on their exuviae, which emerging cicadas leave at the bases or in burnt out hollows of eucalypts. Within a forest, successive broods may emerge in different locations each year. The cicada's body and wings desiccate and harden once free of the exuvia. The adult lifespan of the double drummer is about four or five weeks. During this time, they mate and reproduce, and feed exclusively on sap of living trees, sucking it out through specialised mouthparts. Female cicadas die after laying their eggs. ## Distribution and habitat The double drummer has a disjunct distribution, found from northern tropical Queensland, near Shiptons Flat and Cooktown south to Ingham and Sarina, and then from Gympie in southeastern Queensland to Moruya in southern New South Wales. It is found in areas of higher elevation in the northern segment of its range, as the climate there is similar to that in southeast Queensland. Walter Wilson Froggatt and Robert John Tillyard erroneously included South Australia in its distribution. Adults are present from November to early March, prolific in some years and absent in others. They are found in dry sclerophyll forest, preferring to alight and feed on large eucalypts with diameters over 20 cm (7.9 in) and sparse foliage concentrated at a height between 10 and 25 m (33 and 82 ft), particularly rough-barked species, apples (Angophora) and Tristania. Associated trees include the grey box (Eucalyptus moluccana), snappy gum (E. racemosa) and narrow-leaved apple (Angophora bakeri) in a study at three sites in western Sydney. At Hawks Nest in coastal swampy sclerophyll woodland, adults were observed mainly on swamp mahogany (Eucalyptus robusta) and sometimes blackbutt (E. pilularis), as well as Allocasuarina littoralis and introduced pine (Pinus radiata). Nymphs feed primarily on the roots of eucalypts. The double drummer has not adapted well to city life; distribution of the species in cities is limited to natural stands of large trees. ## Behaviour In hotter weather, double drummers perch on the upper branches of trees, while on overcast or rainy days, they may be found lower down on trunks near the ground. Double drummers on tree trunks are skittish, and can fly off en masse if disturbed. Relative to other Australian cicadas they have excellent perception, fly at a moderate cruising speed of 2.5 m/s (8.2 ft/s), with a similarly moderate maximum speed of 4.0 m/s (13 ft/s), and are exceptionally adept at landing. The double drummer has been known to fly out to sea, effectively on a one-way trip as their bodies have later been found washed up on beaches. A swarm of double drummers were reported 8 km (5.0 mi) off the coast of Sussex Inlet in January 1979, in and around the boat of a local fisherman. ## Predation As the adult cicadas emerge in the daytime, large numbers are consumed by birds. Thopha cicadas have also been found in the stomachs of foxes. The double drummer is one of the large cicada species preyed on by the cicada killer wasp (Exeirus lateritius), which stings and paralyses cicadas high in the trees. Their victims drop to the ground where the cicada-hunter mounts and carries them, pushing with its hind legs, sometimes over a distance of 100 m (330 ft). They are then shoved into the hunter's burrow, where the helpless cicada is placed on a shelf in an often extensive "catacomb", to form food-stock for the wasp grub growing from the eggs deposited within. ## Interactions with humans Schoolchildren climb trees to collect live cicadas and keep them as pets in shoeboxes. However, they cannot easily be kept for longer than a day or two, given that they need flowing sap for food. Live adults brought into classrooms by their captors would startle the class with their piercing sound. Poems dedicated to the double drummer appeared in the Catholic Press in 1933 and 1936, describing bird predation and its life cycle to children. ## See also - List of cicadas of Australia
481,634	Cillian Murphy	1,173,648,306	Irish actor (born 1976)	[ "1976 births", "20th-century Irish male actors", "21st-century Irish male actors", "Alumni of University College Cork", "Former Roman Catholics", "Irish atheists", "Irish former Christians", "Irish male film actors", "Irish male stage actors", "Irish male television actors", "Irish male voice actors", "Living people", "Male actors from Cork (city)", "Method actors", "People educated at Presentation Brothers College, Cork", "People from Monkstown, County Dublin" ]	Cillian Murphy (/ˈkɪliən/ KILL-ee-ən; born 25 May 1976) is an Irish actor. He made his professional debut in Enda Walsh's 1996 play Disco Pigs, a role he later reprised in the 2001 screen adaptation. His early notable film credits include the horror film 28 Days Later (2002), the dark comedy Intermission (2003), the thriller Red Eye (2005), the Irish war drama The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006), and the science fiction thriller Sunshine (2007). He played a transgender Irish woman in the comedy-drama Breakfast on Pluto (2005), which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination. Murphy began collaborating with filmmaker Christopher Nolan in 2005, playing Dr. Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow in The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005–2012) as well as appearing in Inception (2010) and Dunkirk (2017) and portraying the lead role of J. Robert Oppenheimer in the biographical epic Oppenheimer (2023). He also gained prominence for his role as Tommy Shelby in the BBC period drama series Peaky Blinders (2013–2022) and for starring in the horror sequel A Quiet Place Part II (2020). In 2011, Murphy won the Irish Times Theatre Award for Best Actor and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance for the one-man play Misterman. In 2020, The Irish Times named him one of the greatest Irish film actors. ## Early life and education Murphy was born on 25 May 1976 in Douglas, Cork. His mother taught French while his father, Brendan, worked for the Department of Education. His grandfather, aunts, and uncles were also teachers. He was raised in Ballintemple, Cork, alongside his younger brother Páidi and two younger sisters Sile and Orla. He started writing and performing songs at the age of 10. Murphy was raised Catholic and attended the fee-paying Catholic secondary school Presentation Brothers College, where he did well academically but often got into trouble, sometimes being suspended; he decided in his fourth year that misbehaving was not worth the hassle. Not keen on sports, which was a major part of the school's curriculum, he found that artistic pursuits were neglected at the school. Murphy got his first taste of performing in secondary school, when he participated in a drama module presented by Corcadorca Theatre Company director Pat Kiernan. He later described the experience as a "huge high" and a "fully alive" feeling that he then set out to chase. Novelist William Wall, who was his English teacher, encouraged him to pursue acting but he was set on becoming a rock star. In his late teens and early 20s, he sang and played the guitar in several bands alongside his brother, Páidi, and the Beatles-obsessed duo named their most successful band The Sons of Mr. Green Genes, which they adopted from the Frank Zappa song of the same name. He later said the band "specialised in wacky lyrics and endless guitar solos". They were offered a five-album deal by Acid Jazz Records, which they rejected because Páidi was still in school and the duo did not agree with the small amount of money they would get for giving the record label the rights to Murphy's compositions. Murphy later confessed, "I'm very glad in retrospect that we didn't sign because you kind of sign away your life to a label and the whole of your music." Murphy began studying law at University College Cork (UCC) in 1996, but failed his first-year exams because he "had no ambitions to do it". Not only was he busy with his band, but he knew within days after starting at UCC that law was not what he wanted to do. After seeing Corcadorca's stage production of A Clockwork Orange, directed by Kiernan, acting began to garner his interest. His first major role was in the UCC Drama Society's amateur production of Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, which starred Irish-American comedian Des Bishop. Murphy also played the lead in their production of Little Shop of Horrors, which was performed in the Cork Opera House. He later admitted that his primary motivation at the time was not to pursue an acting career, but to go to parties and meet women. ## Career ### 1996–2001: Theatre work and early roles Murphy pressured Pat Kiernan until he got an audition at Corcadorca Theatre Company, and in September 1996, he made his professional acting debut on the stage, playing the part of a volatile Cork teenager in Enda Walsh's Disco Pigs. Walsh recalled meeting and discovering Murphy: "There was something about him – he was incredibly enigmatic and he would walk into a room with real presence and you'd go, "My God". It had nothing to do with those bloody eyes that everyone's going on about all the time." Murphy observed, "I was unbelievably cocky and had nothing to lose, and it suited the part, I suppose". Originally intended to run for three weeks in Cork, Disco Pigs ended up touring throughout Europe, Canada and Australia for two years, and Murphy left both university and his band. Though he had intended to go back to playing music, he secured representation after his first agent caught a performance of Disco Pigs, and his acting career began to take off. He starred in many other theatre productions, including Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (1998), The Country Boy, and Juno and the Paycock (both 1999). He began appearing in independent films such as On the Edge (2001), and in short films, including Filleann an Feall (2000) and Watchmen (2001). He also reprised his role for the film adaption of Disco Pigs (2001) and appeared in the BBC television mini-series adaptation of The Way We Live Now. During this period, he moved from Cork, relocating first to Dublin for a few years, then to London in 2001. ### 2002–2004: 28 Days Later and breakthrough In 2002, Murphy starred as Adam in a theatre production of Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things at the Gate Theatre in Dublin. Writing for The Irish Times, Fintan O'Toole praised Murphy's performance, "Murphy measures out his metamorphosis with an impressive subtlety and intelligence". Murphy was cast in the lead role in Danny Boyle's horror film 28 Days Later (2002). He portrayed pandemic survivor Jim, who is "perplexed to find himself alone in the desolate, post-apocalyptic world" after waking from a coma in a London hospital. Casting director Gail Stevens suggested that Boyle audition Murphy for the role, having been impressed with his performance in Disco Pigs. Stevens stated that it was only after seeing his slender physique during filming that they decided to feature him fully nude at the beginning of the film. She recalled that Murphy was shy on set with the tendency to look slightly away from the camera, but enthused that he had a "dreamy, slightly de-energised, floating quality that is fantastic for the film". Released in the UK in late 2002, by the following July, 28 Days Later had become a sleeper hit in North America, and success worldwide, putting Murphy in front of a mass audience for the first time. His performance earned him a nomination for Best Newcomer at the 8th Empire Awards, and Breakthrough Male Performance at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards. Murphy professed that he considered the film to be much deeper than a zombie or horror film, expressing surprise at the film's success, and that American audiences responded well to its content and violence. Murphy said, "The film did so well. And you watch zombie stuff [now], we were the first people to make zombies run, and [that] changed everything. It has a very special place in my heart, that movie." In 2003, Murphy played the role of Konstantine in a stage production of Chekhov's The Seagull at the Edinburgh International Festival. He said that he wanted to play Konstantine because the character "goes on this amazing journey through the play [...] he comes to realise there's no point being an iconoclastic writer just for the sake of it, and that the search for new forms has to have something behind it". Murphy starred as a lovelorn, hapless supermarket stocker who plots a bank heist with Colin Farrell in Intermission (2003), which became the highest-grossing Irish independent film in Irish box office history (until The Wind That Shakes the Barley broke the record in 2006). Reflecting on his roles in 28 Days Later and the "sad-sack Dublin shelf-stacker" in Intermission, Sarah Lyall of the International Herald Tribune stated that Murphy brought "fluent ease to the roles he takes on, a graceful and wholly believable intensity. His delicate good looks have, as much as his acting prowess, caused people to mark him as Ireland's next Colin Farrell, albeit one who seems less likely to be caught tomcatting around or brawling drunkenly at premieres." He had a minor supporting role in the successful Hollywood period drama Cold Mountain (2003). He portrayed a deserting soldier who shares a grim scene with Jude Law's character, and was only on location in Romania for a week. Murphy stated that it was a "massive production", remarking that director Anthony Minghella was the calmest director he'd ever met. Murphy also had a role as a butcher in Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) with Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth. In 2004, Murphy toured Ireland with the Druid Theatre Company, in The Playboy of the Western World (playing the character of Christy Mahon) under the direction of Garry Hynes—who had previously directed Murphy back in 1999 in the theatre productions of Juno and the Paycock—and also in The Country Boy. ### 2005–2006: Villainous roles and critical success Murphy appeared as Dr. Jonathan Crane in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins (2005). Originally asked to audition for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman, Murphy never saw himself as having the right physique for the superhero, but leapt at the chance to connect with director Nolan. Though the lead went to Christian Bale, Nolan was so impressed with Murphy that he gave him the supporting role of Dr. Crane, whose alter ego is supervillain Scarecrow. Nolan told Spin magazine, "He has the most extraordinary eyes, and I kept trying to invent excuses for him to take his glasses off in close-ups". He starred as Jackson Rippner, who terrorises Rachel McAdams on an overnight flight in Wes Craven's thriller, Red Eye (2005). The New York Times film critic Manohla Dargis asserted that Murphy made "a picture-perfect villain" and that his "baby blues look cold enough to freeze water and his wolfish leer suggests its own terrors". The film was favourably reviewed and earned almost \$100 million worldwide. Murphy received several awards nominations for his 2005 villainous roles, among them a nomination as Best Villain at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards for Batman Begins. Entertainment Weekly ranked him among its 2005 "Summer MVPs", a cover story list of 10 entertainers with outstanding breakthrough performances. The New Yorker's David Denby wrote: "Cillian Murphy, who has angelic looks that can turn sinister, is one of the most elegantly seductive monsters in recent movies." Murphy starred as Patrick/"Kitten" Braden, a transgender Irish woman in search of her mother, in Neil Jordan's comedy-drama Breakfast on Pluto (2005), based on the novel of the same title by Patrick McCabe. Seen against the film's kaleidoscopic backdrop of 1970s glitter rock fashion, magic shows, red-light districts and IRA violence, Murphy transforms from androgynous teen to a blonde drag queen. He had auditioned for the role in 2001 and, though Jordan liked him for the part, the director of The Crying Game was hesitant to revisit transgender and IRA issues. The actor lobbied Jordan for several years in a bid to get the film made before Murphy became too old to play the part; in 2004, he prepared for the role by meeting a transvestite who dressed him and took him clubbing with other transvestites. The role required "serious primping" with eyebrow plucking and chest and leg hair removal, and Roger Ebert noted the way that Murphy played the character with a "bemused and hopeful voice". While lukewarm reviews of Breakfast on Pluto tended to praise Murphy's performance highly, a few critics dissented: The Village Voice, which panned the film, found him "unconvincing" and overly cute. Murphy was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for Breakfast on Pluto and won the fourth Irish Film and Television Academy Best Actor Award. Premiere magazine cited his performance as Kitten in their "The 24 Finest Performances of 2005" feature. In 2006, Murphy starred in The Wind That Shakes the Barley, a film about the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War, which won the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and became the most successful Irish independent film at the Irish box office. Murphy was especially keen on appearing in the film due to his intimate connections to Cork, Ireland, where the film was shot. Murphy auditioned six times for the role of Damien O'Donovan, a young doctor turned revolutionary, before winning the part. Murphy considered it a very special privilege to have been given the role and stated that he was "tremendously proud" of the film, remarking that the "memories run very, very deep – the politics, the divisions and everybody has stories of family members who were caught up in the struggle." David Denby noted Murphy's moments of deep stillness and idiosyncrasies in portraying the character. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "Murphy is especially good at playing the zealotry as well as the soul-searching and the regret, at showing us a man who is eaten up alive because he's forced to act in ways that are contrary to his background and his training". GQ magazine presented Murphy with its 2006 Actor of the Year award for his work in The Wind That Shakes the Barley.[^1] ### 2006–2010: Further theatre and film roles Murphy returned to the stage starring opposite Neve Campbell at the New Ambassadors Theatre in London's West End from November 2006 to February 2007, playing the lead role of John Kolvenbach's play Love Song. Theatre Record described his character of Beane as a "winsomely cranky" mentally unstable "sentimentalised lonely hero", noting how he magnetically, with "all blue eyes and twitching hands", moves "comically from painfully shy "wallpaper" to garrulous, amorous male. Variety magazine considered his performance to be "as magnetic onstage as onscreen", remarking that his "unhurried puzzlement pulls the slight preciousness in the character's idiot-savant naivete back from the brink". He starred in the science fiction film Sunshine (2007) as a physicist-astronaut charged with re-igniting the sun, also directed by Danny Boyle. He starred opposite Lucy Liu in Paul Soter's romantic comedy Watching the Detectives (2007); the indie film premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival and was released direct-to-DVD. Murphy starred as Richard Neville, editor of the psychedelic radical underground magazine Oz in the film Hippie Hippie Shake, which was filmed in 2007, but the project, much delayed, was eventually shelved in 2011. Murphy made a brief re-appearance as the Scarecrow in Nolan's The Dark Knight (2008), the sequel to Batman Begins, before starring in The Edge of Love—about a love quadrangle involving the poet Dylan Thomas—with Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller and Matthew Rhys. In July 2008, Murphy made a debut appearance in another medium—on a postage stamp; the Irish Post Office, An Post, released a series of four stamps paying homage to the creativity of films recently produced in Ireland, including one featuring Murphy in a still from The Wind That Shakes the Barley. In 2009, Murphy starred opposite rock singer Feist and actor David Fox in The Water, directed by Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene. The 15-minute Canadian short film, released online in April 2009, is nearly silent until the Feist song of the same title plays close to the end. Murphy was attracted to the role as a fan of Broken Social Scene and the prospect of making a silent movie, which he considered to be the "hardest test for any actor". Murphy also starred in Perrier's Bounty, a crime dramedy from the makers of Intermission, in which he portrayed a petty criminal on the run from a gangster played by Brendan Gleeson. In 2010, he made a return to theatre in From Galway to Broadway and back again, which was a stage show that celebrated the Druid Theatre Company's 35th birthday. The direct-to-video psychological thriller Peacock (2010), co-starring Elliot Page, Susan Sarandon and Bill Pullman, starred Murphy as a man with a split personality who fools people into believing he is also his own wife. Christian Toto of The Washington Times referred to the film as "a handsomely mounted psychological drama with an arresting lead turn by Cillian Murphy", and noted that although Murphy wasn't a stranger to playing in drag, his work in the film set a "new standard for gender-bending performances". Murphy next starred in Christopher Nolan's Inception (2010), playing entrepreneur Robert Fischer, whose mind is infiltrated by DiCaprio's character Cobb to convince him to dissolve his business. That year, Murphy also made an uncredited cameo as programmer Edward Dillinger Jr., son of original Tron antagonist Ed Dillinger (David Warner) in Tron: Legacy. ### 2011–present: Peaky Blinders and success In 2011, Murphy performed in the stage monodrama Misterman, written and directed by Enda Walsh, with whom he had previously worked on Disco Pigs. The production was initially staged in Galway and was taken to St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York. Murphy said of the role, "The live nature of it makes it so dangerous. You're only there because of the good will of the audience, and that's compounded by its being a one-man show." His performance earned critical acclaim, garnering Irish Times Theatre Award and a Drama Desk Award. Sarah Lyall of the International Herald Tribune described Murphy's character Thomas Magill to be a "complicated mixture of sympathetic and not nice at all – deeply wounded, but with a dangerous, skewed moral code", praising his ability to mimic wickedly. Lyall noted Murphy's "unusual ability to create and inhabit creepy yet fascinating characters from the big screen to the small stage in the intense one-man show Misterman", and documented that on one evening the "theater was flooded, not with applause but with silence", eventually culminating in a standing ovation at his powerful performance. He played the lead in the British horror film Retreat (2011), which had a limited release. He also appeared in the science fiction film In Time (2011), starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried, which was poorly reviewed. Murphy starred in Red Lights (2012) with Robert De Niro and Sigourney Weaver. He played Tom Buckley, the assistant to Weaver's character who is a paranormal investigator. Murphy considered working with De Niro to have been one of the most intimidating moments in his career. He remarked: "My first scene when I come to visit him my character is supposed to be terrified and intimidated. There was no acting involved. The man has presence. You can't act presence. I'll never have that. Watching him use it... when you put a camera on it, it just becomes something else." The film was panned by critics and under-performed at the box office. Murphy went on to reprise his role as the Scarecrow for the third time in The Dark Knight Rises (2012), and had a supporting role as Mike in the British independent film Broken (2012). His performance earned him a British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination. Since 2013, Murphy has starred as Thomas Shelby in the BBC television series Peaky Blinders, a series about a criminal gang in Birmingham during the post-World War I period. Jason Statham was initially picked for the role by director Steven Knight, who met both actors to talk about the role. Knight later said, "Cillian, when you meet him, isn't Tommy, obviously, but I was stupid enough not to understand that". He picked Murphy after receiving a text message from Murphy that read, "Remember, I'm an actor". Murphy told The Independent, "[The scripts] were so compelling and confident, and the character was so rich and complex, layered and contradictory. I was like, 'I have to do this.'" Peaky Blinders was praised and received high ratings. A second series began broadcasting on the BBC in October 2014. On 25 August 2019, the first episode of season 5 was broadcast on BBC One. In an interview with Digital Spy, director Anthony Byrne said, "if we did start shooting in January (2021), we wouldn't finish until May or June and then it's another 6 months of editing". Series six premiered on 27 February 2022. In 2013, Murphy made his directorial debut with a music video for the band Money's single Hold Me Forever. The video features dancers from the English National Ballet and was filmed at The Old Vic Theatre in London. In 2014, Murphy starred in the drama Aloft, and Wally Pfister's Transcendence. Both of these garnered mostly unfavourable critic reviews according to the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. That same year, Murphy reunited with Enda Walsh in the play Ballyturk. He starred in Ron Howard's 2015 film In the Heart of the Sea. In 2015, he contributed spoken vocals to the tracks "8:58" and "The Clock" from Paul Hartnoll's album 8:58. The two previously met while Hartnoll was scoring the second season of Peaky Blinders. In 2016, Murphy starred in Ben Wheatley's Free Fire, and portrayed Czechoslovak World War II army soldier Jozef Gabčík, who was involved in Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Anthropoid. Rupert Hawksley of The Telegraph believed Cillian's performance in Anthropoid, but opined that he is "not asked to do an awful lot, other than smoke and look perplexed". In 2017, Murphy played a shell-shocked army officer who is recovered from a wrecked ship in Christopher Nolan's war film Dunkirk, which emerged as a critical and box-office success. He felt that his character, who is nameless and was credited simply as Shivering Soldier, was "representative of something experienced by thousands of soldiers, which is the profound emotional and psychological toll that war can have". Murphy has also played a role in the feature film Anna as Miller, released in June 2019. His next release, A Quiet Place Part II (2021), stars Murphy as Emmett, a hardened survivor and old family friend of the Abbotts. Murphy's character reluctantly takes in the Abbotts following the events of the first film. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian praised his performance. Murphy portrayed J. Robert Oppenheimer in the biographical thriller Oppenheimer. The film marks the sixth collaboration between Nolan and Murphy, and the first starring Murphy as the lead. To prepare for the role, Murphy lost a significant amount of weight to match Oppenheimer's near-emaciated appearance, extensively researched Oppenheimer's life and took inspiration from David Bowie's appearance in the 1970s. Released on 21 July 2023, the film grossed over \$852 million worldwide as of August 2023 and garnered positive reviews from critics. Murphy's performance was lauded, with Empire's Dan Jolin writing: "At the film's pulsing nucleus is Murphy as Oppenheimer, and he is compelling throughout." ## Public image Reserved and private, Murphy professes a lack of interest in the celebrity scene, finding the red carpet experience "a challenge" that he does not "want to overcome". He intentionally practises a lifestyle that will not interest the tabloids, stating, "I haven't created any controversy, I don't sleep around, I don't go and fall down drunk". He prefers not to speak about his life outside of acting and did not appear on any television talk shows until 2010, when he was a guest on Ireland's Late Late Show to promote Perrier's Bounty, though he still remained reserved. In 2015, he was named one of GQ's 50 best dressed men. ## Activism Murphy participated in the 2007 Rock the Vote Ireland campaign, targeting young voters for the general election, and campaigning for the rights of the homeless with the organisation Focus Ireland. In 2011, he became a patron of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre at the National University of Ireland Galway. He is closely associated with the work of Professor Pat Dolan Director UCFRC and UNESCO Chair in Children, Youth and Civic Engagement. In February 2012, he wrote a message of support to the former Vita Cortex workers involved in a sit-in at their plant, congratulating them for "highlighting [what] is hugely important to us all as a nation". Murphy was a supporter of the 2018 Irish referendum to repeal the eighth amendment of the constitution that restricted access to abortions. ## Personal life In 2004, Murphy married his long-time girlfriend Yvonne McGuinness, whom he met at one of his rock band's shows in 1996. They lived in London from 2001 to 2015, before moving to Dublin. They have two sons, born in December 2005 and July 2007. An avid music lover, Murphy stated in 2004, "The only extravagant thing about my lifestyle is my stereo system, buying music and going to gigs". He no longer plays in a rock band, but regularly plays music with friends and on his own, and still writes songs. Murphy does not plan to start another band, and said, "Even if I was good, the very notion of being an actor with a rock band on the side would mean I'd never be taken seriously". Murphy has presented numerous programmes on British digital radio station BBC Radio 6 Music since 2013, including the Cillian Murphy's Limited Edition series where he shares and discusses his favourite music. In 2005, he named fellow Irish actors Colin Farrell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Liam Neeson as friends, calling Neeson his "surrogate movie dad". However, his closest friendships are those he made before becoming well-known. Murphy was raised Roman Catholic and had been verging on agnosticism until researching his role as a physicist and astronaut in the 2007 film Sunshine, which confirmed his atheism. In 2019, he stated that the Catholic faith still shaped his morality. He was a vegetarian for around 15 years, which he said happened because he was "worried about getting mad cow disease" rather than a moral decision. He also had qualms about unhealthy agribusiness practices. He began eating meat again to bulk up for his role in Peaky Blinders''. He enjoys running. ## Filmography ## Awards and nominations [^1]:
248,708	Red Skelton	1,164,242,244	American comedian (1913–1997)	[ "1913 births", "1930s American radio programs", "1940s American radio programs", "1950s American radio programs", "1997 deaths", "20th-century American comedians", "20th-century American composers", "20th-century American male actors", "20th-century American male artists", "20th-century American male musicians", "20th-century American painters", "American burlesque performers", "American clowns", "American male comedians", "American male composers", "American male film actors", "American male painters", "American male radio actors", "American male television actors", "American male television writers", "American radio personalities", "American sketch comedians", "Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)", "CBS Radio programs", "California Republicans", "Cecil B. DeMille Award Golden Globe winners", "Comedians from California", "Deaths from pneumonia in California", "Indiana Historical Society", "Indiana Republicans", "Male actors from Indiana", "Male actors from Palm Springs, California", "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players", "NBC radio programs", "Painters from California", "Painters from Indiana", "People from Vincennes, Indiana", "Primetime Emmy Award winners", "Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award", "Television personalities from California", "United States Army personnel of World War II", "United States Army soldiers", "Vaudeville performers" ]	Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913 – September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program The Red Skelton Show. He has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in radio and television, and also appeared in burlesque, vaudeville, films, nightclubs, and casinos, all while he pursued an entirely separate career as an artist. Skelton began developing his comedic and pantomime skills from the age of 10, when he became part of a traveling medicine show. He then spent time on a showboat, worked the burlesque circuit, and then entered into vaudeville in 1934. The "Doughnut Dunkers" pantomime sketch, which he wrote together with his wife, launched a career for him in vaudeville, radio, and films. His radio career began in 1937 with a guest appearance on The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour, which led to his becoming the host of Avalon Time in 1938. He became the host of The Raleigh Cigarette Program in 1941, on which many of his comedy characters were created, and he had a regularly scheduled radio program until 1957. Skelton made his film debut in 1938 alongside Ginger Rogers and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in Alfred Santell's Having Wonderful Time, and would appear in numerous musical and comedy films throughout the 1940s and 1950s, with starring roles in 19 films, including Ship Ahoy (1941), I Dood It (1943), Ziegfeld Follies (1946), and The Clown (1953). Skelton was eager to work in television, even when the medium was in its infancy. The Red Skelton Show made its television premiere on September 30, 1951, on NBC. By 1954, Skelton's program moved to CBS, where it was expanded to one hour and renamed The Red Skelton Hour in 1962. Despite high ratings, the show was canceled by CBS in 1970, as the network believed that more youth-oriented programs were needed to attract younger viewers and their spending power. Skelton moved his program to NBC, where he completed his last year with a regularly scheduled television show in 1971. He spent his time after that making as many as 125 personal appearances a year and working on his paintings. Skelton's paintings of clowns remained a hobby until 1964, when his wife Georgia persuaded him to show them at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas while he was performing there. Sales of his originals were successful, and he also sold prints and lithographs, earning \$2.5 million yearly on lithograph sales. At the time of his death, his art dealer said he thought that Skelton had earned more money through his paintings than from his television performances. Skelton believed that his life's work was to make people laugh; he wanted to be known as a clown because he defined it as being able to do everything. He had a 70-year-long career as a performer and entertained three generations of Americans. His widow donated many of his personal and professional effects to Vincennes University, including prints of his artwork. They are part of the Red Skelton Museum of American Comedy at Vincennes, Indiana. ## Biography ### Early years, the medicine show and the circus (1913–1929) According to some sources, Skelton was born Richard Red Skelton on July 18, 1913, in Vincennes, Indiana. In a 1983 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Skelton claimed his middle name was really "Red" and that he had made up the middle name Bernard, from the name of a local store, Bernard Clothiers, to satisfy a schoolteacher who would not believe his middle name was "Red". Skelton was the fourth son and youngest child of Joseph Elmer and Ida Mae (née Fields) Skelton. He had three older brothers: Denny Ishmael Skelton (1905–1943), Christopher M. Skelton (1907–1977) and Paul Fred Skelton (1910–1989). Joseph Skelton, a grocer, died two months before Richard was born; he had once been a clown with the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus. His birth certificate surname was that of his father's stepfather. During Skelton's lifetime there was some dispute about the year of his birth. Author Wesley Hyatt suggests that since he began working at such an early age, Skelton may have claimed he was older than he actually was in order to gain employment. Vincennes neighbors described the Skelton family as being extremely poor; a childhood friend remembered that her parents broke up a youthful romance between her sister and Skelton because they thought he had no future. Because of the loss of his father, Skelton went to work as early as the age of seven, selling newspapers and doing other odd jobs to help his family, who had lost the family store and their home. He quickly learned the newsboy's patter and would keep it up until a prospective buyer bought a copy of the paper just to quiet him. According to later accounts, Skelton's early interest in becoming an entertainer stemmed from an incident that took place in Vincennes around 1923, when a stranger, supposedly the comedian Ed Wynn, approached Skelton, who was the newsboy selling papers outside a Vincennes theater. When the man asked Skelton what events were going on in town, Skelton suggested he see the new show in town. The man purchased every paper Skelton had, providing enough money for the boy to purchase a ticket for himself. The stranger turned out to be one of the show's stars, who later took the boy backstage to introduce him to the other performers. The experience prompted Skelton, who had already shown comedic tendencies, to pursue a career as a performer. Skelton discovered at an early age that he could make people laugh. He dropped out of school around 1926 or 1927, when he was 13 or 14 years old, but he already had some experience performing in minstrel shows in Vincennes, and on a showboat, The Cotton Blossom, that plied the Ohio and Missouri rivers. He enjoyed his work on the riverboat, moving on only after he realized that showboat entertainment was coming to an end. Skelton, who was interested in all forms of acting, took a dramatic role with the John Lawrence stock theater company, but was unable to deliver his lines in a serious manner; the audience laughed instead. In another incident, while performing in Uncle Tom's Cabin, Skelton was on an unseen treadmill; when it malfunctioned and began working in reverse, the frightened young actor called out, "Help! I'm backing into heaven!" He was fired before completing a week's work in the role. At the age of 15, Skelton did some early work on the burlesque circuit, and reportedly spent four months with the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus in 1929, when he was 16 years old. Ida Skelton, who held multiple jobs to support her family after the death of her husband, did not suggest that her youngest son had run away from home to become an entertainer, but "his destiny had caught up with him at an early age". She let him go with her blessing. Times were tough during the Great Depression, and it may have meant one less child for her to feed. Around 1929, while Skelton was still a teen, he joined "Doc" R.E. Lewis's traveling medicine show as an errand boy who sold bottles of medicine to the audience. During one show, when Skelton accidentally fell from the stage, breaking several bottles of medicine as he fell, people laughed. Both Lewis and Skelton realized one could earn a living with this ability and the fall was worked into the show. He also told jokes and sang in the medicine show during his four years there. Skelton earned ten dollars a week, and sent all of it home to his mother. When she worried that he was keeping nothing for his own needs, Skelton reassured her: "We get plenty to eat, and we sleep in the wagon." ### Burlesque to vaudeville (1929–1937) As burlesque comedy material became progressively more ribald, Skelton moved on. He insisted that he was no prude; "I just didn't think the lines were funny". He became a sought-after master of ceremonies for dance marathons (known as "walkathons" at the time), a popular fad in the 1930s. The winner of one of the marathons was Edna Stillwell, an usher at the old Pantages Theater. She approached Skelton after winning the contest and told him that she did not like his jokes; he asked if she could do better. They married in 1931 in Kansas City, and Edna began writing his material. At the time of their marriage Skelton was one month away from his 18th birthday; Edna was 16. When they learned that Skelton's salary was to be cut, Edna went to see the boss; Red resented the interference, until she came away with not only a raise, but additional considerations as well. Since he had left school at an early age, his wife bought textbooks and taught him what he had missed. With Edna's help, Skelton received a high school equivalency degree. The couple put together an act and began booking it at small midwestern theaters. When an offer came for an engagement in Harwich Port, Massachusetts, some 2,000 miles from Kansas City, they were pleased to get it because of its proximity to their ultimate goal, the vaudeville houses of New York City. To get to Massachusetts they bought a used car and borrowed five dollars from Edna's mother, but by the time they arrived in St. Louis they had only fifty cents. Skelton asked Edna to collect empty cigarette packs; she thought he was joking, but did as he asked. He then spent their fifty cents on bars of soap, which they cut into small cubes and wrapped with the tinfoil from the cigarette packs. By selling their products for fifty cents each as fog remover for eyeglasses, the Skeltons were able to afford a hotel room every night as they worked their way to Harwich Port. #### "Doughnut Dunkers" Skelton and Edna worked for a year in Camden, New Jersey, and were able to get an engagement at Montreal's Lido Club in 1934 through a friend who managed the chorus lines at New York's Roxy Theatre. Despite an initial rocky start, the act was a success, and brought them more theater dates throughout Canada. Skelton's performances in Canada led to new opportunities and the inspiration for a new, innovative routine that brought him recognition in the years to come. While performing in Montreal, the Skeltons met Harry Anger, a vaudeville producer for New York City's Loew's State Theatre. Anger promised the pair a booking as a headlining act at Loew's, but they would need to come up with new material for the engagement. While the Skeltons were having breakfast in a Montreal diner, Edna had an idea for a new routine as she and Skelton observed the other patrons eating doughnuts and drinking coffee. They devised the "Doughnut Dunkers" routine, with Skelton's visual impressions of how different people ate doughnuts. The skit won them the Loew's State engagement and a handsome fee. The couple viewed the Loew's State engagement in 1937 as Skelton's big chance. They hired New York comedy writers to prepare material for the engagement, believing they needed more sophisticated jokes and skits than the routines Skelton normally performed. However, his New York audience did not laugh or applaud until Skelton abandoned the newly-written material and began performing the "Doughnut Dunkers" and his older routines. The doughnut-dunking routine also helped Skelton rise to celebrity status. In 1937, while he was entertaining at the Capitol Theater in Washington, D.C., President Franklin D. Roosevelt invited Skelton to perform at a White House luncheon. During one of the official toasts, Skelton grabbed Roosevelt's glass, saying, "Careful what you drink, Mr. President. I got rolled in a place like this once." His humor appealed to FDR and Skelton became the master of ceremonies for Roosevelt's official birthday celebration for many years afterward. ### Film work Skelton's first contact with Hollywood came in the form of a failed 1932 screen test. In 1938, he made his film debut for RKO Pictures in the supporting role of a camp counselor in Having Wonderful Time. He appeared in two short subjects for Vitaphone in 1939: Seeing Red and The Broadway Buckaroo. Actor Mickey Rooney contacted Skelton, urging him to try for work in films after seeing him perform his "Doughnut Dunkers" act at President Roosevelt's 1940 birthday party. For his Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) screen test, Skelton performed many of his more popular skits, such as "Guzzler's Gin", but added some impromptu pantomimes as the cameras were rolling. "Imitation of Movie Heroes Dying" were Skelton's impressions of the cinema deaths of stars such as George Raft, Edward G. Robinson, and James Cagney. Skelton appeared in numerous films for MGM throughout the 1940s. In 1940, he provided comic relief as a lieutenant in Frank Borzage's war drama Flight Command, opposite Robert Taylor, Ruth Hussey, and Walter Pidgeon. In 1941, he also provided comic relief in Harold S. Bucquet's Dr. Kildare medical dramas, Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day and The People vs. Dr. Kildare. Skelton was soon starring in comedy features as inept radio detective "The Fox", the first of which was Whistling in the Dark (1941) in which he began working with director S. Sylvan Simon, who became his favorite director. He reprised the same role opposite Ann Rutherford in Simon's other pictures, including Whistling in Dixie (1942) and Whistling in Brooklyn (1943). In 1941, Skelton began appearing in musical comedies, starring opposite Eleanor Powell, Ann Sothern, and Robert Young in Norman Z. McLeod's Lady Be Good. In 1942, Skelton again starred opposite Eleanor Powell in Edward Buzzell's Ship Ahoy, and alongside Ann Sothern in McLeod's Panama Hattie. In 1943, after a memorable role as a nightclub hatcheck attendant who becomes King Louis XV of France in a dream opposite Lucille Ball and Gene Kelly in Roy Del Ruth's Du Barry Was a Lady, Skelton starred as Joseph Rivington Reynolds, a hotel valet besotted with Broadway starlet Constance Shaw (Powell) in Vincente Minnelli's romantic musical comedy, I Dood It. The film was largely a remake of Buster Keaton's Spite Marriage; Keaton, who had become a comedy consultant to MGM after his film career had diminished, began coaching Skelton on set during the filming. Keaton worked in this capacity on several of Skelton's films, and his 1926 film The General was also later rewritten to become Skelton's A Southern Yankee (1948), under directors S. Sylvan Simon and Edward Sedgwick. Keaton was so convinced of Skelton's comedic talent that he approached MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer with a request to create a small company within MGM for himself and Skelton, where the two could work on film projects. Keaton offered to forgo his salary if the films made by the company were not box-office hits; Mayer chose to decline the request. In 1944, Skelton starred opposite Esther Williams in George Sidney's musical comedy Bathing Beauty, playing a songwriter with romantic difficulties. He next had a relatively minor role as a "TV announcer who, in the course of demonstrating a brand of gin, progresses from mild inebriation through messy drunkenness to full-blown stupor" in the "When Television Comes" segment of Ziegfeld Follies, which featured William Powell and Judy Garland in the main roles. In 1946, Skelton played boastful clerk J. Aubrey Piper opposite Marilyn Maxwell and Marjorie Main in Harry Beaumont's comedy picture The Show-Off. Skelton's contract called for MGM's approval prior to his radio shows and other appearances. When he renegotiated his long-term contract with MGM, he wanted a clause that permitted him to remain working in radio and to be able to work on television, which was then largely experimental. At the time, the major work in the medium was centered in New York; Skelton had worked there for some time, and was able to determine that he would find success with his physical comedy through the medium. By 1947, Skelton's work interests were focused not on films, but on radio and television. His MGM contract was rigid enough to require the studio's written consent for his weekly radio shows, as well as any benefit or similar appearances he made; radio offered fewer restrictions, more creative control, and a higher salary. Skelton asked for a release from MGM after learning he could not raise the \$750,000 needed to buy out the remainder of his contract. He also voiced frustration with the film scripts he was offered while on the set of The Fuller Brush Man, saying, "Movies are not my field. Radio and television are." He did not receive the desired television clause nor a release from his MGM contract. In 1948, columnist Sheilah Graham printed that Skelton's wishes were to make only one film a year, spending the rest of the time traveling the U.S. with his radio show. Skelton's ability to successfully ad lib often meant that the way the script was written was not always the way it was recorded on film. Some directors were delighted with the creativity, but others were often frustrated by it. S. Sylvan Simon, who became a close friend, allowed Skelton free rein when directing him. MGM became annoyed with Simon during the filming of The Fuller Brush Man, as the studio contended that Skelton should have been playing romantic leads instead of performing slapstick. Simon and MGM parted company when he was not asked to direct retakes of Skelton's A Southern Yankee; Simon asked that his name be removed from the film's credits. Skelton was willing to negotiate with MGM to extend the agreement provided he would receive the right to pursue television. This time, the studio was willing to grant it, making Skelton the only major MGM personality with the privilege. The 1950 negotiations allowed him to begin working in television beginning September 30, 1951. During the last portion of his contract with the studio, Skelton was working in radio and on television in addition to films. He went on to appear in films such as Jack Donohue's The Yellow Cab Man (1950), Roy Rowland and Buster Keaton's Excuse My Dust (1951), Charles Walters' Texas Carnival (1951), Mervyn LeRoy's Lovely to Look At (1952), Robert Z. Leonard's The Clown (1953), and The Great Diamond Robbery (1954), and Norman Z. McLeod's poorly received Public Pigeon No. 1 (1957), his last major film role, which originated incidentally from an episode of the television anthology series Climax!. In a 1956 interview, he said he would never work simultaneously in all three media again. As a result, Skelton would make only a few appearances in films after this, including playing a saloon drunk in Around the World in Eighty Days (1956), a fictional version of himself as a gambler in Ocean's 11 (1960), and a Neanderthal man in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965). ### Radio, divorce, and remarriage (1937–1951) Performing the "Doughnut Dunkers" routine led to Skelton's first appearance on Rudy Vallée's The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour on August 12, 1937. Vallée's program had a talent-show segment, and those who were searching for stardom were eager to be heard on it. Vallée also booked veteran comic and fellow Indiana native Joe Cook to appear as a guest with Skelton. The two Hoosiers proceeded to trade jokes about their home towns, with Skelton contending to Cook, an Evansville native, that the city was a suburb of Vincennes. The show received enough fan mail after the performance to invite both comedians back two weeks after Skelton's initial appearance and again in November of that year. On October 1, 1938, Skelton replaced Red Foley as the host of Avalon Time on NBC; Edna also joined the show's cast, under her maiden name. She developed a system for working with the show's writers – selecting material from them, adding her own, and filing the unused bits and lines for future use; the Skeltons worked on Avalon Time until late 1939. Skelton's work in films led to a new regular radio-show offer; between films, he promoted himself and MGM by appearing without charge at Los Angeles-area banquets. A radio advertising agent was a guest at one of his banquet performances and recommended Skelton to one of his clients. Skelton went on the air with his own radio show, The Raleigh Cigarette Program, on October 7, 1941. The bandleader for the show was Ozzie Nelson; his wife, Harriet, who worked under her maiden name of Hilliard, was the show's vocalist and also worked with Skelton in skits. #### "I dood it!" Skelton introduced the first two of his many characters during The Raleigh Cigarette Program's first season. The character of Clem Kadiddlehopper was based on a Vincennes neighbor named Carl Hopper, who was hard of hearing. After the cartoon character Bullwinkle was introduced, Skelton contemplated filing a lawsuit against Bill Scott, who voiced the cartoon moose, because he found it similar to his voice pattern for Clem. The second character, the Mean Widdle Kid, or "Junior", was a young boy full of mischief, who typically did things he was told not to do. "Junior" would say things like, "If I dood it, I gets a whipping.", followed moments later by the statement, "I dood it!" Skelton performed the character at home with Edna, giving him the nickname "Junior" long before it was heard by a radio audience. While the phrase was Skelton's, the idea of using the character on the radio show was Edna's. Skelton starred in a 1943 movie of the same name, but did not play "Junior" in the film. The phrase was such a part of national culture at the time that, when General Doolittle conducted the bombing of Tokyo in 1942, many newspapers used the phrase "Doolittle Dood It" as a headline. After a talk with President Roosevelt in 1943, Skelton used his radio show to collect funds for a Douglas A-20 Havoc to be given to the Soviet Army to help fight World War II. Asking children to send in their spare change, he raised enough money for the aircraft in two weeks; he named the bomber "We Dood It!" In 1986, Soviet newspaper Pravda offered praise to Skelton for his 1943 gift, and in 1993, the pilot of the plane was able to meet Skelton and thank him for the bomber. Skelton also added a routine he had been performing since 1928. Originally called "Mellow Cigars", the skit was about an announcer who became ill as he smoked his sponsor's product. Brown and Williamson, the makers of cigarettes, asked Skelton to change some aspects of the skit; he renamed the routine "Guzzler's Gin", where the announcer became inebriated while sampling and touting the imaginary sponsor's wares. While the traditional radio program called for its cast to do an audience warm-up in preparation for the broadcast, Skelton did just the opposite. After the regular radio program had ended, the show's audience was treated to a post-program performance. He then performed his "Guzzler's Gin" or any of more than 350 routines for those who had come to the radio show. He updated and revised his post-show routines as diligently as those for his radio program. As a result, studio audience tickets for Skelton's radio show were in high demand; at times, up to 300 people had to be turned away for lack of seats. #### Divorce from Edna, marriage to Georgia In 1942, Edna announced that she was leaving Skelton, but would continue to manage his career and write material for him. He did not realize she was serious until Edna issued a statement about the impending divorce through NBC. They were divorced in 1943, leaving the courtroom arm in arm. The couple did not discuss the reasons for their divorce, and Edna initially prepared to work as a script writer for other radio programs. When the divorce was finalized, she went to New York, leaving her former husband three fully-prepared show scripts. Skelton and those associated with him sent telegrams and called her, asking her to come back to him in a professional capacity. Edna remained the manager of the couple's funds because Skelton spent money too easily. An attempt at managing his own checking account that began with a \$5,000 balance, ended five days later after a call to Edna saying the account was overdrawn. Skelton had a weekly allowance of \$75, with Edna making investments for him, choosing real estate and other relatively-stable assets. She remained an advisor on his career until 1952, receiving a generous weekly salary for life for her efforts. The divorce meant that Skelton had lost his married man's deferment; he was once again classified as 1-A for service. He was drafted into the Army in early 1944; both MGM and his radio sponsor tried to obtain a deferment for the comedian, but to no avail. His last Raleigh radio show was on June 6, 1944, the day before he was formally inducted as a private; he was not assigned to Special Services at that time. Without its star, the program was discontinued, and the opportunity presented itself for the Nelsons to begin a radio show of their own, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. By 1944, Skelton was engaged to actress Muriel Morris, who was also known as Muriel Chase; the couple had obtained a marriage license and told the press they intended to marry within a few days. At the last minute, the actress decided not to marry him, initially saying she intended to marry a wealthy businessman in Mexico City. She later recanted the story about marrying the businessman, but continued to say that her relationship with Skelton was over. The actress further denied that the reason for the breakup was Edna's continuing to manage her ex-husband's career; Edna stated that she had no intention of either getting in the middle of the relationship or reconciling with her former husband. He was on army furlough for throat discomfort when he married actress Georgia Maureen Davis in Beverly Hills, California, on March 9, 1945; the couple met on the MGM lot. Skelton traveled to Los Angeles from the eastern army base where he was assigned for the wedding. He knew he would possibly be assigned overseas soon, and wanted the marriage to take place first. After the wedding, he entered the hospital to have his tonsils removed. The couple had two children; Valentina, a daughter, was born May 5, 1947, and a son, Richard, was born May 20, 1948. #### A cast of characters Skelton served in the United States Army during World War II. After being assigned to the Special Services, Skelton performed as many as 12 shows per day before troops in both the United States and in Europe. The pressure of his workload caused him to suffer exhaustion and a nervous breakdown. He had a nervous collapse while in the Army, following which he developed a stutter. While recovering at an army hospital at Camp Pickett, Virginia, he met a soldier who had been severely wounded and was not expected to survive. Skelton devoted a lot of time and effort to trying to make the man laugh. As a result of this effort, his stutter reduced; his army friend's condition also improved, and he was no longer on the critical list. He was released from his army duties in September 1945. "I've been told I'm the only celebrity who entered the Army as a private and came out a private," he told reporters. His sponsor was eager to have him back on the air, and Skelton's program began anew on NBC on December 4, 1945. Upon returning to radio, Skelton brought with him many new characters that were added to his repertoire: Bolivar Shagnasty, described as a "loudmouthed braggart"; Cauliflower McPugg, a boxer; Deadeye, a cowboy; Willie Lump-Lump, a fellow who drank too much; and San Fernando Red, a confidence man with political aspirations. By 1947, Skelton's musical conductor was David Rose, who went on to television with him; he had worked with Rose during his time in the Army and wanted Rose to join him on the radio show when it went back on the air. On April 22, 1947, Skelton was censored by NBC two minutes into his radio show. When his announcer Rod O'Connor and he began talking about Fred Allen being censored the previous week, they were silenced for 15 seconds; comedian Bob Hope was given the same treatment once he began referring to the censoring of Allen. Skelton forged on with his lines for his studio audience's benefit; the material he insisted on using had been edited from the script by the network before the broadcast. He had been briefly censored the previous month for the use of the word "diaper". After the April incidents, NBC indicated it would no longer pull the plug for similar reasons. Skelton changed sponsors in 1948; Brown & Williamson, owners of Raleigh cigarettes, withdrew due to program production costs. His new sponsor was Procter & Gamble's Tide laundry detergent. The next year, he changed networks, going from NBC to CBS, where his radio show aired until May 1953. After his network radio contract was over, he signed a three-year contract with Ziv Radio for a syndicated radio program in 1954. His syndicated radio program was offered as a daily show; it included segments of his older network radio programs, and new material done for the syndication. He was able to use portions of his older radio shows because he owned the rights for rebroadcasting them. ### Television (1951–1970) Skelton was unable to work in television until the end of his 1951 MGM movie contract; a renegotiation to extend the pact provided permission after that point. On May 4, 1951, he signed a contract for television with NBC; Procter and Gamble was his sponsor. He said he would be performing the same characters on television that he had been doing on radio. The MGM agreement with Skelton for television performances did not allow him to go on the air before September 30, 1951. His television debut, The Red Skelton Show, premiered on that date: At the end of his opening monologue, two men backstage grabbed his ankles from behind the set curtain, hauling him offstage face down. A 1943 instrumental hit by David Rose, called "Holiday for Strings", became Skelton's TV theme song. The move to television allowed him to create two nonhuman characters, seagulls Gertrude and Heathcliffe, which he performed while the pair were flying by, tucking his thumbs under his arms to represent wings and shaping his hat to look like a bird's bill. He patterned his meek, henpecked television character of George Appleby after his radio character, J. Newton Numbskull, who had similar characteristics. His "Freddie the Freeloader" clown was introduced on the program in 1952, with Skelton copying his father's makeup for the character. (He learned how to duplicate his father's makeup and perform his routines through his mother's recollections.) A ritual was established for the end of every program, with Skelton's shy, boyish wave and words of "Good night and may God bless." During the 1951–1952 season, the program was broadcast from a converted NBC radio studio. The first year of the television show was done live; this led to problems, because not enough time was available for costume changes; Skelton was on camera for most of the half hour, including the delivery of a commercial that was written into one of the show's skits. In early 1952, Skelton had an idea for a television sketch about someone who had been drinking not knowing which way is up. The script was completed, and he had the show's production crew build a set that was perpendicular to the stage, so it would give the illusion that someone was walking on walls. The skit, starring his character Willie Lump-Lump, called for the character's wife to hire a carpenter to redo the living room in an effort to teach her husband a lesson about his drinking. When Willie wakes up there after a night of drinking, he is misled into believing he is not lying on the floor, but on the living room wall. Willie's wife goes about the house normally, but to Willie, she appears to be walking on a wall. Within an hour after the broadcast, the NBC switchboard had received 350 calls regarding the show, and Skelton had received more than 2,500 letters about the skit within a week of its airing. Skelton was delivering an intense performance live each week, and the strain showed in physical illness. In 1952, he was drinking heavily due to the constant physical pain of a diaphragmatic hernia and the emotional distress of marital problems. He thought about divorcing Georgia. NBC agreed to film his shows in the 1952–1953 season at Eagle Lion Studios, next to the Sam Goldwyn Studio, on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood. Later, the show was moved to the new NBC television studios in Burbank. Procter and Gamble was unhappy with the filming of the television show, and insisted that Skelton return to live broadcasts. The situation made him think about leaving television. Declining ratings prompted sponsor Procter & Gamble to cancel his show in the spring of 1953. Skelton announced that any of his future television programs would be variety shows, where he would not have the almost constant burden of performing. Beginning with the 1953–1954 season, he switched to CBS, where he remained until 1970. For the initial move to CBS, he had no sponsor. The network gambled by covering all expenses for the program on a sustaining basis: His first CBS sponsor was Geritol. He curtailed his drinking and his ratings at CBS began to improve, especially after he began appearing on Tuesday nights for co-sponsors Johnson's Wax and Pet Milk Company. By 1955, Skelton was broadcasting some of his weekly programs in color, which was the case about 100 times between 1955 and 1960. He tried to encourage CBS to do other shows in color at the facility, but CBS mostly avoided color broadcasting after the network's television-set manufacturing division was discontinued in 1951. By 1959, Skelton was the only comedian with a weekly variety television show. Others who remained on the air, such as Danny Thomas, were performing their routines as part of situation comedy programs. He performed a preview show for a studio audience on Mondays, using their reactions to determine which skits required editing for the Tuesday program. For the Tuesday afternoon run-through prior to the actual show, he ignored the script for the most part, ad-libbing through it at will. The run-through was well attended by CBS Television City employees. Sometimes during live telecasts and taped programs, Skelton would break up or cause his guest stars to laugh. #### Richard's illness and death At the height of Skelton's popularity, his 9-year-old son Richard was diagnosed with leukemia and was given a year to live. While the network told him to take as much time off as necessary, Skelton felt that unless he went back to his television show, he would be unable to be at ease and make his son's life a happy one. He returned to his television show on January 15, 1957, with guest star Mickey Rooney helping to lift his spirits. In happier times, he had frequently mentioned his children on his program, but he found it extremely difficult to do this after Richard became ill. Skelton resumed this practice only after his son asked him to do so. After his son's diagnosis, Skelton took his family on an extended trip, so Richard could see as much of the world as possible. The Skeltons had an audience with Pope Pius XII on July 22, 1957. According to an International News Service article that appeared in the August 1, 1957, issue of the St.Joseph, Missouri News Press, Richard said that the audience with the Pope was the high point of the trip so far. The Skeltons cut their travels short and returned to the United States after an encounter with an aggressive reporter in London and relentlessly negative reports in British newspapers. The Skelton family received support from CBS management and from the public following the announcement of Richard's illness. In November, Skelton fell down stairs and injured an ankle, and he nearly died after a "cardiac-asthma" attack on December 30, 1957. He was taken to St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, where, his doctors said, "if there were ten steps to death, Red Skelton had taken nine of them by the time he had arrived". Skelton later said he was working on some notes for television and the next thing he remembered, he was in a hospital bed; he did not know how serious his illness was until he read about it himself in the newspapers. His illness and recovery kept him off the air for a full month; Skelton returned to his television show on January 28, 1958. Richard died on May 10, 1958, 10 days before his 10th birthday. Skelton was scheduled to do his weekly television show on the day his son was buried. Though recordings of some older programs were available that the network could have run, he asked that guest performers be used, instead. His friends in the television, film and music industries organized The Friends Of Red Skelton Variety Show, which they performed to replace The Red Skelton Show for that week; by May 27, 1958, Skelton had returned to his program. Richard‘s death had a profound effect on the family. Life magazine, profiling "The Invincible Red" on April 21, 1961, observed that Skelton was still "racked [sic]" by his son’s death. In 1962, the Skelton family moved to Palm Springs, and Skelton used the Bel Air home only on the two days a week when he was in Los Angeles for his television show taping. #### The Red Skelton Hour In early 1960, Skelton purchased the old Charlie Chaplin Studios and updated it for videotape recording. With a recently purchased three-truck mobile color television unit, he recorded a number of his series episodes and specials in color. Even with his color facilities, CBS discontinued color broadcasts on a regular basis and Skelton shortly thereafter sold the studio to CBS and the mobile unit to local station KTLA. Prior to this, he had been filming at Desilu Productions. Skelton then moved back to the network's Television City facilities, where he taped his programs until he left the network. In the fall of 1962, CBS expanded his program to a full hour, retitling it The Red Skelton Hour. Although it was a staple of his radio programs, he did not perform his "Junior" character on television until 1962, after extending the length of his program. Skelton frequently employed the art of pantomime for his characters; a segment of his weekly program was called the "Silent Spot". He attributed his liking for pantomime and for using few props to the early days when he did not want to have a lot of luggage. He explained that having the right hat was the key to getting into character. Skelton's season premiere for the 1960–1961 television season was a tribute to the United Nations. About 600 people from the organization, including diplomats, were invited to be part of the audience for the show. The program was entirely done in pantomime, as UN representatives from 39 nations were in the studio audience. One of the sketches he performed for the UN was that of the old man watching the parade. The sketch had its origins in a question Skelton's son, Richard, asked his father about what happens when people die. He told his son, "They join a parade and start marching." In 1965, Skelton did another show completely in pantomime. This time, he was joined by Marcel Marceau; the two artists alternated performances for the hour-long program, sharing the stage to perform Pinocchio. The only person who spoke during the hour was Maurice Chevalier, who served as the show's narrator. In 1969, Skelton wrote and performed a monologue about the Pledge of Allegiance. In the speech, he commented on the meaning of each phrase of the pledge. He credited one of his Vincennes grammar-school teachers, Mr. Laswell, with the original speech. The teacher had grown tired of hearing his students monotonously recite the pledge each morning; he then demonstrated to them how it should be recited, along with comments about the meaning behind each phrase. CBS received 200,000 requests for copies; the company subsequently released the monologue as a single on Columbia Records. A year later, he performed the monologue for President Richard Nixon at the first "Evening at the White House", a series of entertainment events honoring the recently inaugurated president. ### Off the air and bitterness (1970–1983) As the 1970s began, the networks began a major campaign to discontinue long-running shows that they considered stale, dominated by older demographics, and/or becoming too expensive due to escalating costs. Despite Skelton's continued strong overall viewership, CBS saw his show as fitting into this category and cancelled the program along with other comedy and variety shows hosted by veterans such as Jackie Gleason and Ed Sullivan. Performing in Las Vegas when he got the news of his CBS cancellation, Skelton said, "My heart has been broken." His program had been one of the top-10, highest-rated shows for 17 of the 20 years he was on television. Skelton moved to NBC in 1970 in a half-hour Monday-night version of his former show. Its cancellation after one season ended his television career, and he returned to live performances. In an effort to prove the networks wrong, he gave many of these at colleges and proved popular with the audiences. Skelton was bitter about CBS's cancellation for many years afterwards. Believing the demographic and salary issues to be irrelevant, he accused CBS of bowing to the antiestablishment, antiwar faction at the height of the Vietnam War, saying his conservative political and social views caused the network to turn against him. He had invited prominent Republicans, including Vice President Spiro Agnew and Senate Republican Minority Leader Everett Dirksen, one of the Senate’s strongest supporters of the war, to appear on his program. Personal, as well as professional, changes occurred in Skelton's life at this time. He divorced Georgia in 1971 and married Lothian Toland, daughter of cinematographer Gregg Toland, on October 7, 1973. While he disassociated himself from television soon after his show was cancelled, his bitterness had subsided enough for him to appear on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on July 11, 1975; it was his first television appearance since the cancellation of his television program. (Johnny Carson, one of his former writers, began his rise to network television prominence when he substituted for Skelton after a dress rehearsal injury in 1954.) Skelton was also a guest on The Merv Griffin Show in October of the same year. Hopes he may have had that he could ease back into television through the talk-show circuit were ended on May 10, 1976, when Georgia Skelton committed suicide by gunshot on the 18th anniversary of Richard Skelton's death. Georgia was 54 and had been in poor health for some time. He put all professional activities on hold for some months as he mourned his former wife's death. Despite his anger at CBS, Skelton participated in the CBS 50th anniversary specials in April and May of 1978. Skelton made plans in 1977 to sell the rights to his old television programs as part of a package that would bring him back to regular television appearances. The package called for him to produce one new television show for every three older episodes; this did not materialize. In 1980, he was taken to court by 13 of his former writers over a report that his will called for the destruction of recordings of all his old television shows upon his death. Skelton contended his remarks were made at a time when he was very unhappy with the television industry and were taken out of context. He said at the time, "Would you burn the only monument you've built in over 20 years?" As the owner of the television shows, Skelton initially refused to allow them to be syndicated as reruns during his lifetime. In 1983, Group W announced that it had come to terms with him for the rights to rebroadcast some of his original television programs from 1966 through 1970; some of his earlier shows were made available after Skelton's death. ### Red Skelton onstage Skelton's 70-year career as an entertainer began as a stage performer. He retained a fondness for theaters, and referred to them as "palaces"; he also likened them to his "living room", where he would privately entertain guests. At the end of a performance, he would look at the empty stage where there was now no laughter or applause and tell himself, "Tomorrow I must start again. One hour ago, I was a big man. I was important out there. Now it's empty. It's all gone." Skelton was invited to play a four-week date at the London Palladium in July 1951. While flying to the engagement, Skelton, Georgia and Father Edward J. Carney, were on a plane from Rome with passengers from an assortment of countries that included 11 children. The plane lost the use of two of its four engines and seemed destined to lose the rest, meaning that the plane would crash over Mont Blanc. The priest readied himself to administer last rites. As he did so, he told Skelton, "You take care of your department, Red, and I'll take care of mine." Skelton diverted the attention of the passengers with pantomimes while Father Carney prayed. They ultimately landed at a small airstrip in Lyon, France. He received both an enthusiastic reception and an invitation to return for the Palladium's Christmas show of that year. Though Skelton had always done live engagements at Nevada hotels and appearances such as state fairs during his television show's hiatus, he focused his time and energy on live performances after he was no longer on the air, performing up to 125 dates a year. He often arrived days early for his engagement and would serve as his own promotion staff, making the rounds of the local shopping malls. Before the show, his audiences received a ballot listing about 100 of his many routines and were asked to tick off their favorites. The venue's ushers would collect the ballots and tally the votes. Skelton's performance on that given day was based on the skits his audience selected. After he learned that his performances were popular with the hearing-impaired because of his heavy use of pantomimes, Skelton hired a sign language interpreter to translate the non-pantomime portions of his act for all his shows. He continued performing live until 1993, when he celebrated his 80th birthday. ### Later years and death In 1974, Skelton's interest in film work was rekindled with the news that Neil Simon's comedy The Sunshine Boys would become a movie; his last significant film appearance had been in Public Pigeon No. 1 in 1956. He screen tested for the role of Willy Clark with Jack Benny, who had been cast as Al Lewis. Although Simon had planned to cast Jack Albertson, who played Willy on Broadway, in the same role for the film, Skelton's screen test impressed him enough to change his mind. Skelton declined the part, however, reportedly due to an inadequate financial offer, and Benny's final illness forced him to withdraw, as well. George Burns and Walter Matthau ultimately starred in the film. In 1981, Skelton made several specials for HBO, including Freddie the Freeloader's Christmas Dinner (1981) and the Funny Faces series of specials. He gave a Royal Command Performance for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in 1984, which was later shown in the U.S. on HBO. A portion of one of his last interviews, conducted by Steven F. Zambo, was broadcast as part of the 2005 PBS special The Pioneers of Primetime. Skelton died on September 17, 1997, at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California, at the age of 84, from pneumonia. He is interred in the Skelton Family Tomb, the family's private room, alongside his son, Richard Freeman Skelton, Jr., and his second wife, Georgia Maureen Davis Skelton, in the Great Mausoleum's Sanctuary of Benediction at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Skelton was survived by his widow, Lothian Toland Skelton; his daughter, Valentina Marie Skelton Alonso; and granddaughter Sabrina Maureen Alonso. ## Art and other interests ### Artwork Skelton began producing artwork in 1943, but kept his works private for many years. He said he was inspired to try his hand at painting after visiting a large Chicago department store that had various paintings on display. Inquiring as to the price of one, which Skelton described as "a bunch of blotches", he was told, "Ten thousand wouldn't buy that one." He told the clerk he was one of the ten thousand who would not buy the painting, instead buying his own art materials. His wife Georgia, a former art student, persuaded him to have his first public showing of his work in 1964 at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, where he was performing at the time. Skelton believed painting was an asset to his comedy work, as it helped him to better visualize the imaginary props used in his pantomime routines. In addition to his originals, Skelton also sold reproductions and prints through his own mail-order business. He made his work available to art galleries by selling them franchises to display and sell his paintings. He once estimated the sale of his lithographs earned him \$2.5 million per year. Shortly after his death, his art dealer said he believed that Skelton made more money on his paintings than from his television work. At the time of his death, Skelton had produced over 1,000 oil paintings of clowns. When asked why his artwork focused on clowns, he said at first, "I don't know why it's always clowns." He continued after thinking a moment by saying "No, that's not true—I do know why. I just don't feel like thinking about it ..." At the time of Skelton's death, his originals were priced at \$80,000 and upward. ### Other interests Skelton was a prolific writer of both short stories and music. After sleeping only four or five hours a night, he would wake up at 5 am and begin writing stories, composing music, and painting pictures. He wrote at least one short story a week and had composed over 8,000 songs and symphonies by the time of his death. He wrote commercials for Skoal tobacco and sold many of his compositions to Muzak, a company that specialized in providing background music to stores and other businesses. Skelton was also interested in photography; when attending Hollywood parties, he would take photos and give the film to newspaper reporters waiting outside. He was never without a miniature camera, and kept a photographic record of all his paintings. Skelton was also an avid gardener, who created his own Japanese and Italian gardens and cultivated bonsai trees at his home in Palm Springs. He owned a 600-acre (240 ha) horse ranch in the Anza Valley. ## Fraternity and honors Skelton was a Freemason, a member of Vincennes Lodge No. 1, in Indiana. He also was a member of both the Scottish and the York Rites. He was a recipient of the Gold Medal of the General Grand Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, for Distinguished Service in the Arts and Sciences. On September 24, 1969, he received the honorary 33rd degree in the Scottish Rite and was a Gourgas Medal recipient in 1995. Skelton became interested in Masonry as a small boy selling newspapers in Vincennes, when a man bought a paper from him with a \$5 bill and told him to keep the change. The young Skelton asked his benefactor why he had given him so much money; the man explained that he was a Mason and Masons are taught to give. Skelton decided to become one also when he was grown. He was also member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, as well as a Shriner in Los Angeles. Skelton was made an honorary brother of Phi Sigma Kappa at Truman State University. In 1961, he became an honorary brother of the Phi Alpha Tau Fraternity of Emerson College, when he was awarded the Joseph E. Connor Award for excellence in the field of communications. He also received an honorary degree from the college at the same ceremony. Skelton received an honorary high-school diploma from Vincennes High School. He was also an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity; Skelton had composed many marches, which were used by more than 10,000 high-school and college bands. In 1986, Skelton received an honorary degree from Ball State University. The Red Skelton Memorial Bridge spans the Wabash River and provides the highway link between Illinois and Indiana on U.S. Route 50, near Skelton's home town of Vincennes. He attended the dedication ceremonies in 1963. ## Awards and recognition In 1952, Skelton received Emmy Awards for Best Comedy Program and Best Comedian. He also received an Emmy nomination in 1957 for his noncomedic performance in Playhouse 90's presentation of "The Big Slide". Skelton and his writers won another Emmy in 1961 for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy. He was named an honorary faculty member of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College in 1968 and 1969. Skelton's first major post-television recognition came in 1978, when the Golden Globe Awards named him as the recipient for their Cecil B. DeMille Award, which is given to honor outstanding contributions in entertainment. His excitement was so great upon receiving the award and a standing ovation, that he clutched it tightly enough to break the statuette. When he was presented with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Governor's Award in 1986, Skelton received a standing ovation. "I want to thank you for sitting down", he said when the ovation subsided. "I thought you were pulling a CBS and walking out on me." The honor came 16 years after his television program left the airwaves. Skelton received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild in 1987, and in 1988, he was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Television Hall of Fame. He was one of the International Clown Hall of Fame's first inductees in 1989. Skelton and Katharine Hepburn were honored with lifetime achievement awards by the American Comedy Awards in the same year. He was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1994. Skelton also has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his radio and television work. ## Legacy and tributes Skelton preferred to be described as a clown rather than a comic: "A comedian goes out and hits people right on. A clown uses pathos. He can be funny, then turn right around and reach people and touch them with what life is like." "I just want to be known as a clown", he said, "because to me that's the height of my profession. It means you can do everything—sing, dance and above all, make people laugh." His purpose in life, he believed, was to make people laugh. In Groucho and Me, Groucho Marx called Skelton "the most unacclaimed clown in show business", and "the logical successor to [Charlie] Chaplin", largely because of his ability to play a multitude of characters with minimal use of dialogue and props. "With one prop, a soft battered hat", Groucho wrote, describing a performance he had witnessed, "he successfully converted himself into an idiot boy, a peevish old lady, a teetering-tottering drunk, an overstuffed clubwoman, a tramp, and any other character that seemed to suit his fancy. No grotesque make-up, no funny clothes, just Red." He added that Skelton also "plays a dramatic scene about as effectively as any of the dramatic actors." In late 1965, ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, reminiscing about the entertainment business, singled out Skelton for high praise. "It's all so very different today. The whole business of comedy has changed — from 15 minutes of quality to quantity. We had a lot of very funny people around, from Charley Chase to Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy. The last one of that breed is Red Skelton." Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures also praised Skelton, saying, "He's a clown in the old tradition. He doesn't need punch lines. He's got heart." Skelton and Marcel Marceau shared a long friendship and admiration of each other's work. Marceau appeared on Skelton's CBS television show three times, including one turn as the host in 1961 as Skelton recovered from surgery. He was also a guest on the three Funny Faces specials that Skelton produced for HBO. In a TV Guide interview after Skelton's death, Marceau said, "Red, you are eternal for me and the millions of people you made laugh and cry. May God bless you forever, my great and precious companion. I will never forget that silent world we created together." CBS issued the following statement upon his death: "Red's audience had no age limits. He was the consummate family entertainer—a winsome clown, a storyteller without peer, a superb mime, a singer, and a dancer." The Red Skelton Performing Arts Center was dedicated in February 2006 on the campus of Vincennes University, one block from the home in Vincennes where Skelton was born. The building includes an 850-seat theater, classrooms, rehearsal rooms, and dressing rooms. Its grand foyer is a gallery for Skelton's paintings, statues, and film posters. The theater hosts theatrical and musical productions by Vincennes University, as well as special events, convocations, and conventions. The adjacent Red Skelton Museum of American Comedy opened on July 18, 2013, on what would have been Skelton's 100th birthday. It houses his personal and professional materials, which he had collected since the age of 10, in accordance with his wishes that they be made available in his hometown for the public's enjoyment. Skelton's widow, Lothian, noted that he expressed no interest in any sort of Hollywood memorial. The museum is funded jointly by the Red Skelton Museum Foundation and the Indiana Historical Society. Other foundation projects include a fund that provides new clothes to Vincennes children from low-income families. The foundation also purchased Skelton's birthplace. On July 15, 2017, the state of Indiana unveiled a state historic marker at the home in Vincennes where Skelton was born. The town of Vincennes has held an annual Red Skelton Festival since 2005. A "Parade of a Thousand Clowns", billed as the largest clown parade in the Midwest, is followed by family-oriented activities and live music performances. ## Filmography ### Features ### Short subjects ### Box-office ranking Based on rankings of the amount of money earned in box-office receipts for film showings, for a number of years Skelton was among the most popular stars in the country: - 1944 – 16th-largest box-office draw - 1949 – 13th - 1951 – 14th - 1952 – 21st
313,380	William Sterndale Bennett	1,172,751,435	British composer (1816–1875)	[ "1816 births", "1875 deaths", "19th-century British composers", "19th-century English musicians", "19th-century classical composers", "19th-century classical pianists", "19th-century conductors (music)", "19th-century musicologists", "Academics of the Royal Academy of Music", "Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge", "Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music", "Bach musicians", "British male conductors (music)", "British male pianists", "British music educators", "Burials at Westminster Abbey", "Choristers of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge", "Composers awarded knighthoods", "Composers for piano", "English Romantic composers", "English classical pianists", "English conductors (music)", "English male classical composers", "Knights Bachelor", "Male classical pianists", "Musicians from Sheffield", "Oratorio composers", "Principals of the Royal Academy of Music", "Professors of Music (Cambridge)", "Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medallists" ]	Sir William Sterndale Bennett (13 April 1816 – 1 February 1875) was an English composer, pianist, conductor and music educator. At the age of ten Bennett was admitted to the London Royal Academy of Music (RAM), where he remained for ten years. By the age of twenty, he had begun to make a reputation as a concert pianist, and his compositions received high praise. Among those impressed by Bennett was the German composer Felix Mendelssohn, who invited him to Leipzig. There Bennett became friendly with Robert Schumann, who shared Mendelssohn's admiration for his compositions. Bennett spent three winters composing and performing in Leipzig. In 1837 Bennett began to teach at the RAM, with which he was associated for most of the rest of his life. For twenty years he taught there, later also teaching at Queen's College, London. Among his pupils during this period were Arthur Sullivan, Hubert Parry, and Tobias Matthay. Throughout the 1840s and 1850s he composed little, although he performed as a pianist and directed the Philharmonic Society for ten years. He also actively promoted concerts of chamber music. From 1848 onward, his career was punctuated by antagonism between himself and the conductor Michael Costa. In 1858, Bennett returned to composition, but his later works, though popular, were considered old-fashioned and did not arouse as much critical enthusiasm as his youthful compositions had done. He was Professor of Music at the University of Cambridge from 1856 until 1875. In 1866 he became Principal of the RAM, rescuing it from closure, and remained in this position until his death. He was knighted in 1871. He died in London in 1875 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Bennett had a significant influence on English music, not solely as a composer but also as a teacher, as a promoter of standards of musical education and as an important figure in London concert life. In recent years, appreciation of Bennett's compositions has been rekindled and a number of his works, including a symphony, his piano concerti, some vocal music and many of his piano compositions, have been recorded. In his bicentenary year of 2016, several concerts of his music and other related events took place. ## Biography ### Early years Bennett was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, the third child and only son of Robert Bennett, the organist of Sheffield parish church, and his wife Elizabeth, née Donn. In addition to his duties as an organist, Robert Bennett was a conductor, composer and piano teacher; he named his son after his friend William Sterndale, some of whose poems the elder Bennett had set to music. His mother died in 1818, aged 27, and his father, after remarrying, died in 1819. Thus orphaned at the age of three, Bennett was brought up in Cambridge by his paternal grandfather, John Bennett, from whom he received his first musical education. John Bennett was a professional bass, who sang as a lay clerk in the choirs of King's, St John's and Trinity colleges. The young Bennett entered the choir of King's College Chapel in February 1824 where he remained for two years. In 1826, at the age of ten, he was accepted into the Royal Academy of Music (RAM), which had been founded in 1822. The examiners were so impressed by the child's talent that they waived all fees for his tuition and board. Bennett was a pupil at the RAM for the next ten years. At his grandfather's wish his principal instrumental studies were at first as a violinist, under Paolo Spagnoletti and later Antonio James Oury. He also studied the piano under W. H. Holmes, and after five years, with his grandfather's agreement, he took the piano as his principal study. He was a shy youth and was diffident about his skill in composition, which he studied under the principal of the RAM, William Crotch, and then under Cipriani Potter, who took over as principal in 1832. Among the friends Bennett made at the Academy was the future music critic J. W. Davison. Bennett did not study singing, but when the RAM mounted a student production of The Marriage of Figaro in 1830, Bennett, aged fourteen, was cast in the mezzo-soprano role of the page boy Cherubino (usually played by a woman en travesti). This was among the few failures of his career at the RAM. The Observer wryly commented, "of the page ... we will not speak", but acknowledged that Bennett sang pleasingly and to the satisfaction of the audience. The Harmonicon, however, called his performance "in every way a blot on the piece". Among Bennett's student compositions were a piano concerto (No. 1 in D minor, Op. 1), a symphony and an overture to The Tempest. The concerto received its public premiere at an orchestral concert in Cambridge on 28 November 1832, with Bennett as soloist. Performances soon followed in London and, by royal command, at Windsor Castle, where Bennett played in April 1833 for King William IV and Queen Adelaide. The RAM published the concerto at its own expense as a tribute. A further London performance was given in June 1833. The critic of The Harmonicon wrote of this concert: > [T]he most complete and gratifying performance was that of young Bennett, whose composition would have conferred honour on any established master, and his execution of it was really surprising, not merely for its correctness and brilliancy, but for the feeling he manifested, which, if he proceed as he has begun, must in a few years place him very high in his profession. In the audience was Felix Mendelssohn, who was sufficiently impressed to invite Bennett to the Lower Rhenish Music Festival in Düsseldorf. Bennett asked, "May I come to be your pupil?" Mendelssohn replied, "No, no. You must come to be my friend". In 1834, Bennett was appointed organist of St Ann's, Wandsworth, London, a chapel of ease to Wandsworth parish church. He held the post for a year, after which he taught private students in central London and at schools in Edmonton and Hendon. Although by common consent the RAM had little more to teach him after his seventh or eighth year, he was permitted to remain as a free boarder there until 1836, which suited him well, as his income was small. In May 1835 Bennett made his first appearance at the Philharmonic Society of London, playing the premiere of his Second Piano Concerto (in E-flat major, Op. 4), and in the following year he gave there the premiere of his Third Concerto (in C minor, Op. 9). Bennett was also a member of the Society of British Musicians, founded in 1834 to promote specifically British musicians and compositions. Davison wrote in 1834 that Bennett's overture named for Lord Byron's Parisina was "the best thing that has been played at the Society's concerts". ### Germany: Mendelssohn and Schumann (1836–42) In May 1836, Bennett travelled to Düsseldorf in the company of Davison to attend the Lower Rhenish Music Festival for the first performance of Mendelssohn's oratorio St Paul. Bennett's visit was enabled by a subsidy by the piano-making firm of John Broadwood & Sons. Inspired by his journey up the Rhine, Bennett began work on his overture The Naiads (Op. 15). After Bennett left for home, Mendelssohn wrote to their mutual friend, the English organist and composer Thomas Attwood, "I think him the most promising young musician I know, not only in your country but also here, and I am convinced if he does not become a very great musician, it is not God's will, but his own". After Bennett's first visit to Germany there followed three extended visits to work in Leipzig. He was there from October 1836 to June 1837, during which time he made his debut at the Gewandhaus as the soloist in his Third Piano Concerto with Mendelssohn conducting. He later conducted his Naiads overture. During this visit he also arranged the first cricket match ever played in Germany, ("as fitting a Yorkshireman" as the musicologist Percy M. Young comments). At this time Bennett wrote to Davison: > [Mendelssohn] took me to his house and gave me the printed score of [his overture] 'Melusina', and afterwards we supped at the 'Hôtel de Bavière', where all the musical clique feed ... The party consist[ed] of Mendelssohn, [Ferdinand] David, Stamity [sic] ... and a Mr. Schumann, a musical editor, who expected to see me a fat man with large black whiskers. Bennett had been at first slightly in awe of Mendelssohn, but no such formality ever attached to Bennett's friendship with Robert Schumann, with whom he went on long country walks by day and visited the local taverns by night. Each dedicated a large-scale piano work to the other: in August 1837 Schumann dedicated his Symphonic Studies to Bennett, who reciprocated the dedication a few weeks later with his Fantasie, Op. 16. Schumann was eloquently enthusiastic about Bennett's music; in 1837 he devoted an essay to Bennett in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, praising amongst other works Bennett's Op. 10 Musical Sketches for piano, "three of Bennett's loveliest pictures". The essay ends: "For some time now he has been peering over my shoulder, and for the second time he has asked 'But what are you writing?' Dear friend, I shall write no more than: 'If only you knew!'" Bennett however had from the outset some reservations about Schumann's music, which, he told Davison in 1837, he thought "rather too eccentric". On Bennett's return to London he took up a teaching post at the RAM which he held until 1858. During his second long stay in Germany, from October 1838 to March 1839, he played his Fourth Piano Concerto (Op. 19, in F minor) and the Wood Nymphs Overture, Op. 20. Returning to England, he wrote to his Leipzig publisher Friedrich Kistner in 1840, bemoaning the difference between England and Germany (and hoping that a German would redress the situation): > You know what a dreadful place England is for music; and in London I have nobody who I can talk to about such things, all the people are mad with [Sigismond] Thalberg and [Johann] Strauss [I], and I have not heard a single Symphony or Overture in one concert since last June. I sincerely hope that Prince Albert ... will do something to improve our taste. On Bennett's third trip, from January to March 1842, in which he also visited Kassel, Dresden and Berlin, he played his Caprice for piano and orchestra, Op. 22, in Leipzig. Despite his then-pessimistic view of music in England, Bennett missed his chance to establish himself in Germany. The musicologist Nicholas Temperley writes > One might guess that the early loss of both parents produced in Bennett an exceptionally intense need for reassurance and encouragement. England could not provide this for a native composer in his time. He found it temporarily in German musical circles; yet, when the opportunity came to claim his earned place as a leader in German music, he was not quite bold enough to grasp it. ### Teacher and conductor (1842–49) Bennett returned to London in March 1842, and continued his teaching at the RAM. The next year the post of professor of music at the University of Edinburgh became vacant. With Mendelssohn's strong encouragement Bennett applied for the position. Mendelssohn wrote to the principal of the university, "I beg you to use your powerful influence on behalf of that candidate whom I consider in every respect worthy of the place, a true ornament to his art and his country, and indeed one of the best and most highly gifted musicians now living: Mr. Sterndale Bennett." Despite this advocacy Bennett's application was unsuccessful. Bennett had been impressed in Leipzig with the concept of chamber music concerts, which had been, apart from string quartet recitals, a rarity in London. He began in 1843 a series of such concerts including piano trios of Louis Spohr and Ludwig van Beethoven, works for piano solo, and string sonatas by Mendelssohn and others. Amongst those taking part in these recitals were the piano virtuoso Alexander Dreyschock and Frédéric Chopin's pupil, the 13-year-old Carl Filtsch. In 1844, Bennett married Mary Anne Wood (1824–1862), the daughter of a naval commander. Composition gave way to a ceaseless round of teaching and musical administration. The writer and composer Geoffrey Bush sees the marriage as marking a break in Bennett's career; "from 1844 to 1856 [Bennett] was a freelance teacher, conductor and concert organiser; a very occasional pianist and a still more occasional composer." Clara Schumann noted that Bennett spent too much time giving private lessons to keep up with changing trends in music: "His only chance of learning new music is in the carriage on the way from one lesson to another." Among his pupils was the composer Alice Mary Smith. From 1842, Bennett had been a director of the Philharmonic Society of London. He helped to relieve the society's perilous finances by persuading Mendelssohn and Spohr to perform with the Society's orchestra, attracting full houses and much-needed income. In 1842, the orchestra, under the composer's baton, gave the London premiere of Mendelssohn's Third (Scottish) Symphony, two months after its world premiere in Leipzig. In 1844, Mendelssohn conducted the last six concerts of the society's season, in which among his own works and those of many others he included music by Bennett. From 1846 to 1854, the Society's conductor was Michael Costa, of whom Bennett disapproved; Costa was too devoted to Italian opera and not a partisan of the German masters, as was Bennett. Bennett wrote to Mendelssohn on 24 July, displaying some querulousness, "The Philharmonic Directors have engaged Costa ... with which I am not very well pleased, but I could not persuade them to the contrary, and am tired of quarrelling with them. They are a worse set this year than we have ever had." In May 1848, on the opening of Queen's College, London, Bennett, as one of the Founding Directors, delivered an inaugural lecture and joined the staff, while continuing his work at the RAM and private teaching. He wrote the thirty Preludes and Lessons, Op. 33, for his piano students at the college; they were published in 1853 and remained in widespread use by music students well into the twentieth century. In a profile of Bennett published in 1903, F. G. Edwards noted that Bennett's duties as a teacher severely reduced his opportunity to compose, although he maintained his reputation as a soloist in annual chamber music and piano recitals at the Hanover Square Rooms, which included chamber music and concerti by Johann Sebastian Bach and Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte, "then almost novelties". Over the years he gave over forty concerts at this venue, and amongst those who took part were the violinists Henri Vieuxtemps and Heinrich Ernst, the pianists Stephen Heller, Ignaz Moscheles and Clara Schumann, and the cellist Carlo Piatti (for whom Bennett wrote his Sonata Duo); composers represented included—apart from Bennett's favourite classical masters and Mendelssohn—Domenico Scarlatti, Fanny Mendelssohn and Schumann. As well as the demands of his work as a teacher and pianist, there were other factors that may have contributed to Bennett's long withdrawal from large-scale composition. Charles Villiers Stanford writes that the death of Mendelssohn in 1847 came to Bennett as "an irreparable loss". The following year, Bennett severed his hitherto close ties with the Philharmonic Society, which had presented many of his most successful compositions. This break resulted from an initially minor disagreement with Costa over his interpretation at the final rehearsal of Bennett's overture Parisina. The intransigence of both parties inflated this into a furious row, and began a breach between them which was to last throughout Bennett's career. Bennett was disgusted at the Society's failure to back him up, and resigned. ### Music professional (1849–66) From this point in his life Bennett was ever increasingly involved in the burdens of musical organization. In the opinion of Percy Young, he became "the prototype of the modern administrative musician ... he eventually built for himself an impregnable position, but in doing so destroyed his once considerable creative talent." Bennett became a victim as well as a beneficiary of a trend towards professionalization in the music industry in Britain; "The Principal and the Professor became powerful, whereas the status of the composer and the executant (unless foreign) was implicitly downgraded." In 1849, Bennett became the founding president of the Bach Society in London, whose early members included Sir George Smart, John Pyke Hullah, William Horsley, Potter and Davison. Under his direction the Society gave the first English performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion on 6 April 1854. Further performances of the Passion were given by the Society in 1858 and 1862, the latter coinciding with the publication of Bennett's own edition of the work, with a translation of the text into English by his pupil Helen Johnston. For the 1851 Great Exhibition, Bennett was appointed a Metropolitan Local Commissioner, Musical Juror and superintendent for the music at the opening Royal ceremony. In June 1853 Bennett made his last public appearance as a soloist with orchestra in his own Fourth Piano Concerto. This performance was given with a new organization, the Orchestral Union, and followed a snub from Costa, who had refused to conduct the pianist Arabella Goddard (Davison's wife) in Bennett's Third Concerto at the Philharmonic Society. In the same year Bennett declined an invitation to become the conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He was greatly tempted by the offer, but felt it his duty to remain in England, as the offer came too late for Bennett to make alternative arrangements for some of his pupils, and he refused to let them down. After the controversial 1855 season of the Philharmonic Society at which Richard Wagner conducted, Bennett was elected to take over the conductorship in 1856, a post which he held for ten years. At his first concert, on 14 April 1856, the piano soloist in Beethoven's Emperor Concerto was Clara Schumann, wife of his old friend. It was her first appearance in England. Bennett's stewardship of the Philharmonic Society orchestra was not entirely happy, and the historian of the orchestra, Cyril Ehrlich, notes "a sense of drift and decline". Many leading members of the orchestra were also in the orchestra of the Italian Opera House in London (and therefore partisans of the displaced Costa), and, in addition, Bennett proved unable to resolve personal animosities amongst his leading players. Costa took to arranging schedules for his musicians which made rehearsals (and sometimes performances) for the Society impractical. This gave an "impression that [Bennett] was capable of exerting only waning authority amongst professionals". Moreover, comparing London with other centres around the mid-century, Ehrlich notes "Verdi was in Milan, Wagner in Dresden, Meyerbeer in Paris, Brahms in Vienna, and Liszt in Weimar. London had the richest of audiences, and was offered Sterndale Bennett." He instances the London premiere of Schumann's Paradise and the Peri in the 1856 season, which, by engaging Jenny Lind as soloist, and with Prince Albert in the audience, brought in a substantial subscription, but was musically disastrous (and was not helped by the chaos of a seriously overcrowded venue). One member of the audience thought Lind's voice was "worn and strained" and that there would have been "vehement demonstrations of derision had not the audience been restrained in the presence of Royalty". Newspaper critics were scarcely more complimentary. Temperley writes: "After 1855 [Bennett] was spurred by belated honours, and occasional commissions, to compose a respectable number of significant and substantial works, though it was too late to recapture his early self-confidence." Works from his later years included the cello Sonata Duo for Piatti; a pastoral cantata, The May Queen, Op. 39, for the opening of the Leeds Town Hall in 1858; an Ode (Op. 40) with words by Alfred, Lord Tennyson for the opening of the 1862 International Exhibition in London; an Installation Ode for Cambridge University (Op. 41) with words by Charles Kingsley, which included a lament for the late Prince Albert; a symphony in G minor (Op. 43); a sacred cantata, The Woman of Samaria for the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival of 1867; and finally a second Piano Sonata (The Maid of Orleans, Op. 46). Many of these works were composed during his summer holidays which were spent at Eastbourne. The Ode for the Exhibition was the cause of a further imbroglio with Costa, who although in charge of music for the Exhibition refused to conduct anything by Bennett. Eventually it was conducted by Prosper Sainton, between works by Meyerbeer and Daniel Auber also commissioned for the occasion. The affair leaked into the press, and Costa was widely condemned for his behaviour. In March 1856 Bennett, while still teaching at the RAM and Queen's College, was elected Professor of Music at the University of Cambridge. He modernised the system of awarding music degrees, instituting viva voce examinations and requiring candidates for doctorates to first take the degree of Bachelor of Music. Two years later on 8 June 1868 the newly formed (later Royal) College of Organists awarded him an Honorary Fellowship. In 1858 came yet another clash involving Costa, when the autocratic Earl of Westmorland, the original founder of the RAM, saw fit to arrange a subscription concert for the Academy to include a Mass of his own composition, to be conducted by Costa and using the orchestra and singers of the Opera, over the heads of the Academy directors. Bennett resigned from the RAM at this overbearing behaviour, and was not to return until 1866. Towards the end of 1862 Bennett's wife died after a painful illness. His biographer W. B. Squire suggests that "he never recovered from the effects of Mrs. Bennett's death, and that henceforward a painful change in him became apparent to his friends." In 1865, Bennett again visited Leipzig where he was reunited with old friends including Ferdinand David, and his Op. 43 Symphony was performed. ### Principal of Royal Academy of Music (1866–75) In 1866, Charles Lucas, the Principal of the RAM, announced his retirement. The position was first offered to Costa, who demanded a higher salary than the directors of the RAM could contemplate, and then to Otto Goldschmidt, who was then professor of piano at the RAM. He declined and urged the directors to appoint Bennett. Lind, who was Goldschmidt's wife, wrote that Bennett "is certainly the only man in England who ought to raise that institution from its present decay". Bennett was to find that heading a leading music college was incompatible with a career as a composer. The post of Principal was traditionally not arduous. He was contractually required to attend for only six hours a week, teaching composition and arranging class-lists. But Bennett had not only to run the RAM but to save it from imminent dissolution. The RAM had been temporarily saved from bankruptcy by grants from the government, authorised by Gladstone as Chancellor of the Exchequer, in 1864 and 1865. The following year Gladstone was out of office, and the new Chancellor, Disraeli, refused to renew the grant. The directors of the RAM decided to close it, over the head of Bennett as Principal. Bennett, with the support of the faculty and the students, assumed the Chairmanship of the board of directors. In Stanford's words, "As Chairman he succeeded, after the Government had withdrawn its annual grant, in winning it back, restored the financial credit of the house, and during seven years bore the harassing anxiety of complex negotiations with various public bodies of great influence who were discussing schemes for the advance of national musical education." The schemes referred to were two proposals which would have undoubtedly undermined the viability and influence of the RAM, one to merge it in a proposed National School of Music, backed by the Royal Society of Arts under Henry Cole, the other to relocate it (without security of tenure) in the premises of the Royal Albert Hall. The RAM in 1866 was in poor shape in terms of influence and reputation as well as financially. The critic Henry Chorley published data in that year showing that only 17 per cent of orchestral players in Britain had studied there. No alumni of the RAM were members of the orchestra at Covent Garden opera house. Chorley added, "I cannot remember one great instrumental player the Academy has turned out during the last 25 years." Bennett himself was not entirely in accord with the emphasis Chorley placed on instrumental training for the RAM; he was concerned (and with reason) that such a policy could mean supply outstripping demand for graduates. Bennett himself taught composition at the RAM; this was undoubtedly where his greatest interests lay at this period, and it appears that the examples he gave to his pupils concentrated on his own 'conservative' favourites of Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Mozart. Nonetheless, the reputation and popularity of the RAM increased markedly under his stewardship. The number of pupils, which had dropped catastrophically at the time when the directors had proposed closing the institution, rose steadily. At the end of 1868 there had been 66 students. By 1870 the number was 121, and by 1872 it was 176. Bennett received honorary degrees from the universities of Cambridge (1867) and Oxford (1870). The Philharmonic Society awarded him its Beethoven gold medal in 1867. In 1871, he was knighted by Queen Victoria (two years after his old antagonist Costa had been accorded the same honour), and, in 1872, he received a public testimonial before a large audience at St James's Hall, London. The money subscribed at this event founded a scholarship and prize at the RAM, which is still awarded. An English Heritage blue plaque has been placed at the house in 38 Queensborough Terrace, London, where Bennett lived during many of his later years. Bennett died, aged 58, on 1 February 1875 at his house in St John's Wood, London. According to his son the cause was "disease of the brain"; unable to rise one morning, he had fallen into a decline and died within a week. He was buried on 6 February, close to the tomb of Henry Purcell, in Westminster Abbey. The a cappella quartet, "God is a Spirit", from his cantata The Woman of Samaria, was sung to accompany the obsequies. The first concert of the Philharmonic Society's season, on 18 March, began with a tribute to its sometime conductor: pieces from his unfinished music for Sophocles's tragedy Ajax, and the complete The Woman of Samaria, for which the choir was provided by the RAM. These were followed by Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, for which the soloist was Joseph Joachim, to whom Mendelssohn had introduced Bennett at Joachim's London debut in 1844. The final concert of the season (5 July) included an Idyll in memory of Bennett composed by his old associate George Alexander Macfarren. ## Family Bennett's son, James Robert Sterndale Bennett (1847–1928), wrote a biography of his father. Many of the composer's descendants became musicians or performers, including: - Robert Sterndale Bennett (1880–1963), a grandson, director of music at Uppingham School, Rutland - Thomas Case Sterndale Bennett (1882–1944), a grandson, a composer and singer, whose daughter Joan Sterndale-Bennett (1914–1996) was a well-known West End actress - Ernest Sterndale Bennett (1884–1982), a grandson, a Canadian theatre director - Charlie Simpson (born 1985), a great-great-grandson, a musician (Busted, Fightstar) ## Music ### Style Stanford wrote of Bennett: > He maintained his British characteristics throughout his life ... The English take a kind of pride in concealing their feelings and emotions, and this is reflected in their folk-song. The Thames has no rapids and no falls; it winds along under its woods in a gentle stream, never dry and never halting; it is the type of the spirit of English folkmusic ... England is as remote from Keltic fire and agony, as the Thames is from the Spey. Bennett was a typical specimen of this English characteristic. He was a poet, but of the school of Wordsworth rather than of Byron and Shelley. W. B. Squire wrote in 1885: > His sense of form was so strong, and his refined nature so abhorred any mere seeking after effect, that his music sometimes gives the impression of being produced under restraint. He seldom, if ever, gave rein to his unbridled fancy; everything is justly proportioned, clearly defined, and kept within the limits which the conscientiousness of his self-criticism would not let him overstep. It is this which makes him, as has been said, so peculiarly a musician's composer: the broad effects and bold contrasts which an uneducated public admires are absent; it takes an educated audience to appreciate to the full the exquisitely refined and delicate nature of his genius. Temperley suggests that, despite his reverence for Mendelssohn, Bennett took Mozart as his model. Geoffrey Bush agrees that "[h]is best work, like his piano playing, was full of passion none the less powerful for being Mozartian (that is to say, perfectly controlled)", and characterizes him as "essentially a composer for the piano, a composer of the range (not necessarily the stature) of Chopin". It would appear that Bennett displayed and aroused greater emotion through his piano technique than from his compositions. Stanford writes that "his playing ... was undoubtedly remarkable and had a fire and energy in it which does not appear on the gentle surface of his music", and notes that Bennett's performances were eulogized by, amongst others, John Field, Clara Schumann, and Ferdinand Hiller. Bennett's attitudes to the music of his continental contemporaries, aside from that of Mendelssohn, were cautious. Arthur Sullivan claimed that Bennett was "bitterly prejudiced against the new school, as he called it. He would not have a note of Schumann; and as for Wagner, he was outside the pale of criticism." In Bennett's 1858 lecture on "The visits of illustrious foreign musicians to England", the latest mention is of Mendelssohn, bypassing Chopin, Wagner, Verdi and Hector Berlioz, (who all only came to England after Mendelssohn's last visit); Liszt (who visited London in 1827) is omitted. In a subsequent lecture he opined that Verdi was "immeasurably inferior" to Gioachino Rossini, and could only say in favour of Berlioz that he "must be allowed the character of a successful and devoted artist ... it cannot be doubted that his treatment of a great orchestra is masterly in the extreme." Of Wagner, "the hero of the so-called 'music of the future'", Bennett noted "I have no intention of treating him disrespectfully; that I entirely misunderstand him and his musical opinions may be my fault and not his. At any rate he possesses an influence at this moment over musical life, which it would be impossible to overlook." ### Early compositions Bennett's early period of composition was fruitful and includes those of his works which are most esteemed today. By the time of his first visit to Germany (1836) he had already written, amongst other works, five symphonies and three piano concerti. John Caldwell assesses his early songs as "exquisitely judged essentially Mendelssohnian affairs ... the integration and coherence of their accompaniments is a strong feature." Firman writes that Bennett's finest works are those for the piano: "Rejecting the superficial virtuosity of many of his contemporaries, he developed a style ... peculiarly his own, essentially classical in nature, but with reference to a multiplicity of influences from his own performance repertory." The early piano works were all praised by Robert Schumann, and Temperley points out how Schumann himself was influenced by them, with (as examples) clear traces of Bennett's Op. 16 Fantasie (1837) (in effect a sonata) on Schumann's Novelette, Op. 21 no. 7 (1838), and parallels between Bennett's Op. 12 Impromptus (1836) and Schumann's Op. 18 Arabesque (1838). Temperley feels that the early symphonies are the weakest works of this period, but he suggests that "few piano concertos between Beethoven and Brahms are as successful as Bennett's in embodying the Classical spirit, not in a stiff frame to deck with festoons of virtuosity, but in a living form capable of organic growth, and even of structural surprise." ### Later works Bennett's style did not develop after his early years. In 1908 the musicologist W. H. Hadow assessed his later work as follows: "[W]hen The May Queen appeared [1858] the idiom of music had changed and he had not changed with it. ... He was too conservative to move with the times. ... [His last works] might all have been written in the forties; they are survivals of an earlier method, not developments but restatements of a tradition." Firman comments that later popular, and more superficial, pieces such as Genevieve (1839) came to overshadow the more innovative works of his earlier period such as the Sonata Op. 13, and the Fantasia Op. 16. Young suggests that the cantatas The May Queen and The Woman of Samaria enjoyed in their hey-day "a popularity that was in inverse relation to their intrinsic merit". Caldwell notes that The Woman of Samaria shows that "Bennett was a good craftsman whose only fault was a dread of the operatic ... One would probably tolerate the narrative recitative more readily if the inserted movements showed any spark of life." As regards The May Queen, Caldwell praises the overture (a Mendelssohn-style work originally written as a concert piece in 1844) "but the rest of the work is tame stuff". He comments that "both works received immense longstanding popularity and may be considered as the narrative prototype for the later Victorian secular and sacred forms ... conforming to the current standards of taste and respectability", anticipating such works as Arthur Sullivan's Kenilworth (1864). ### Editions and writings Bennett edited some of the keyboard works of Beethoven and Handel and co-edited the Chorale Book for England with Otto Goldschmidt (1863), based on German hymns collected by Catherine Winkworth. He supervised the first British printed edition of the St Matthew Passion. A full vocal score (with piano accompaniment) was adapted from the German edition prepared by Adolf Bernhard Marx (Berlin 1830), which followed Mendelssohn's revival of the work; this was revised with reference to the score published by the Leipzig Bach Society in 1862. Bennett's additional tempo and dynamic markings were shown in parentheses for distinction. He provided harmonies for the figured bass both in the solo music sections (based on the Leipzig full score) and elsewhere. Bennett also produced editions of Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier and Handel's masque Acis and Galatea. Bennett lectured both at Cambridge and the London Institute; texts of his lectures were edited and published in 2006. At a Sheffield lecture in 1859 he also played works of the composers he discussed, and "so may be regarded as the founder of the lecture-recital". ## Reception As a composer Bennett was acknowledged in his time in both Britain and (particularly in the first half of the century) in Germany, although many British music lovers and several leading critics remained reluctant to acknowledge the possibility that an English composer could be of the same stature as a German one. The Leipzig public, which had initially held that view, had been rapidly converted. Mendelssohn wrote to Bennett "... [M]y Countrymen became aware that music is the same in England as in Germany and everywhere, and so by your successes you have destroyed that prejudice which nobody could ever have destroyed but a true Genius." Bennett's son, in his biography of his father, juxtaposes as illustrations English and German reviews of the overture The Wood Nymphs. The London critic William Ayrton wrote: > ... a discharge of musical artillery in the shape of drums, seconded by blasts of trombones and trumpets that seemed to realise all that we have heard of a tropical tornado. ... So very clever and promising a young man ought to meet with every kind of reasonable encouragement, but judicious and true friends would have hinted to him that his present production is the dry result of labour. Schumann, by contrast, wrote: "The overture is charming; indeed, save Spohr and Mendelssohn, what other living composer is so completely master of his pencil, or bestows with it such tenderness and grace of colour, as Bennett? ... Essay measure after measure; what a firm, yet delicate web it is from beginning to end!" Outside these countries, Bennett remained almost unknown as a musician, although his reputation as a conductor led Berlioz to invite him to join his Société Philharmonique, and the Dutch composer Johannes Verhulst solicited his support for the Netherlands Society for Encouragement of Music. Davison's attempts to interest the French composer Charles Gounod in Bennett's music led to polite but sardonic responses. In the United States, meanwhile, the New York Tribune called Bennett "probably the greatest composer produced by England" with the exception of Henry Purcell two centuries earlier, echoing Schumann's sentiments about The Wood Nymphs and hailing the G minor symphony (Op. 43), but tempered his praise: > Yet it must be confessed that [Bennett] attempted nothing really great. He does not profoundly impress the feelings, rouse the imagination, carry the listener along by the irresistible force of genius; and his music, though its charm will long be recognized, can have no lasting effect upon the development of art. ## Legacy Sir John Betjeman, in a 1975 lecture, rated Bennett as "Queen Victoria's Senior Musical Knight". Temperley assesses Bennett as the most distinguished British composer of the early Victorian era, "the only plausible rivals being Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810–76) and Michael William Balfe (1808–70)". The novelist Elizabeth Sara Sheppard portrayed Bennett as 'Starwood Burney' in her popular eulogy of Mendelssohn, the 1853 novel Charles Auchester. Although Bennett's reputation in Germany did not notably survive the 1840s, his English pupils had significant influence on British music of the later 19th and earlier 20th century Britain. Among his pupils at the RAM and elsewhere were Arthur Sullivan, Joseph Parry, Alice Mary Smith, W. S. Rockstro, Stephen Kemp, Hubert Parry, Tobias Matthay, Francis Edward Bache, Eaton Faning and William Cusins. Bennett's contributions to elevating musical training standards at Cambridge and the RAM were part of a trend in England in the latter part of the 19th century whose "cumulative effect ... prior to World War I was incalculable", according to Caldwell. Through his concert initiatives at the Hanover Rooms Bennett introduced a variety of chamber music to London audiences. His championship also significantly changed British opinion of the music of JS Bach. His "promotion of Bach was a story of perseverance against a contemporary perception that Bach's music was ... too difficult to listen to." Newspaper reviews of the chamber concerts in which he included the music of Bach would initially describe the music in terms such as "grandeur there is, but no beauty" (1847) or "somewhat antiquated ... [but] extremely interesting" (1854). A significant turning point was the attendance of Prince Albert at Bennett's 1858 performance of the St. Matthew Passion. Bennett left a substantial music library, a large proportion of which is owned by his great-great-grandson Barry Sterndale Bennett (born 1939) and is on deposit at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Of his total of some 130 compositions, about a third have been recorded for CD; among these are symphonies, overtures, piano concerti, chamber music, songs and piano solo music. During his bicentenary year of 2016, several concerts and events dedicated to Bennett's works were performed, including concerts and seminars at the RAM. From 11 to 15 April 2016 he was featured as 'Composer of the Week' on BBC Radio 3. ## Quotes - You can learn to sing or to play an instrument, you can make your spouse out of music, but you’ll be never able to emulate the greatest of all symphonies, the one that pattering rain and vigorous wind create in the long winter nights. - I must admit I envy scientists. Unlike the vast majority of us, they can speak the language of truth and, while they engage in conversation with God, the universe flows between their fingers - There is no doubt: the only purpose of a good teacher is to see his student becoming better than him. If this does not occur, he has wasted his gift.
21,656,448	Tunnel Railway	1,153,740,288	Narrow-gauge underground railway in Ramsgate, Kent, England	[ "1936 establishments in England", "2 ft gauge railways in England", "Closed railway lines in South East England", "Rail transport in Kent", "Railway lines closed in 1965", "Railway lines opened in 1936", "Ramsgate", "Rapid transit in England", "Subterranean railways", "Tunnels completed in 1936", "Underground rapid transit in England" ]	The Tunnel Railway (also known as the Ramsgate Cliff Railway, the Ramsgate Tunnel Railway, the Ramsgate Underground Railway and the World Scenic Railway) was a narrow-gauge underground railway in Ramsgate, Kent, England. Following the restructuring of railway lines in Ramsgate in 1926, the section of line between Broadstairs and Ramsgate Harbour including a tunnel to the seafront at Ramsgate was abandoned. The narrow-gauge Tunnel Railway was opened within the disused tunnel in 1936 to connect tourist attractions and shops near Ramsgate harbour with the new railway main line at Dumpton Park. Except for its two stations—one at each end of the tunnel—the line ran entirely underground. The line was built in less than three months, and on its completion in 1936 was one of the shortest independent railway lines in the country. It was open for only three years before being converted to a major air-raid shelter during World War II. After the war's end, it was not included in the 1948 nationalisation of British railways but remained in private hands. Passenger numbers fell during the 1960s, and the line became economically unviable. Following a train crash in 1965, the owners closed the line at the end of September that year. The tunnel still exists, but no trace remains of either of the two stations. ## Background The coastal resort and port town of Ramsgate was historically served by a complex network of unconnected railway lines, the legacy of competition between two rival companies to provide links to London and to neighbouring Margate. The town's first railway station, Ramsgate Town, was opened by the South Eastern Railway on 13 April 1846, on what was then the outskirts of the town, about a mile from the seafront. Lines from the station ran north, before splitting west to Canterbury and on to London, and north to Margate. The London, Chatham and Dover Railway opened a second line to Ramsgate on 5 October 1863. This line ran from London via Herne Bay, Margate and Broadstairs before descending to sea level at Ramsgate through a 1,124-yard (1,028 m) tunnel to Ramsgate Harbour station, on the seafront immediately adjacent to the harbour. Although very conveniently sited for passengers, Ramsgate Harbour station presented severe operating difficulties. Its situation at the end of a steep gradient in the tunnel meant there was the constant risk that an out-of-control train would run through the station onto the beach, as happened on 3 August 1891 and 24 March 1915. Cramped conditions allowed no room for station growth or improvement, and the small turntable meant larger engines could not be used, so heavier trains needed two engines to haul them up the tunnel's gradient. Additionally, by the 1920s the population of Ramsgate had almost doubled since the station had opened, making the freight facilities inadequate, with no room for expansion. ### 1926 restructuring Following the railway grouping of 1923, both the South Eastern Railway and the London, Chatham & Dover Railway became part of the newly formed Southern Railway, which decided to address the duplication of lines and stations at Ramsgate and Margate. It decided to link the two lines at Ramsgate to allow through running between them. This scheme had been proposed by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway before World War I, but work did not commence until 1925. This meant the closure of the terminus stations at Ramsgate Town and Ramsgate Harbour, and the construction of a line skirting the northern edge of the town to link the two existing lines. New stations on the north-eastern and north-western fringes of the town, called Dumpton Park and Ramsgate respectively, replaced the existing stations in the town centre and at the harbour. Construction work on the new line involved over 700 men moving 200,000 long tons (224,000 short tons; 203,200 t) of chalk, at a cost of approximately £500,000 (£ in 2023). The new link opened on 2 July 1926, from which date both former Ramsgate stations were closed along with the line through the tunnel to Ramsgate Harbour. The tunnel was sealed and abandoned, and the former Ramsgate Harbour station was sold to Thanet Amusements, who converted it into a zoo and funfair called Merrie England. Although adequate for the town's residents the new stations were a long way from the seafront attractions, which were at the foot of a steep hill. The day-trippers on whom Ramsgate's tourist industry depended were therefore increasingly attracted to Margate, where the station was next to the beach. By 1933 Merrie England, now under the ownership of Ramsgate Olympia, had become extremely popular, and Ramsgate Olympia began to lobby the Southern Railway to reopen the line through the tunnel, with a new junction station between Dumpton Park and Broadstairs. However, the Southern Railway rejected the proposal as too costly and impractical. Ramsgate Olympia and the Southern Railway were keen to make the attractions near the harbour accessible from the railway main line and to provide a service from the seafront to the greyhound stadium at Dumpton Park. The two companies eventually agreed on a scheme by which a new line would use the 780 yards (710 m) of the tunnel nearest the beach, before branching off into a new 364-yard (333 m) tunnel to emerge at a new station at Hereson Road, a 250-yard (230 m) walk from Dumpton Park station. Ramsgate Olympia planned the construction of a large-scale housing estate, charabanc parking facilities, and a 10,000-seat stadium at Dumpton Park to increase passenger numbers and encourage people to use the new rail line. ### Route The stations each had three platforms; a broad island platform in the centre for passengers waiting to board trains, and narrower outer platforms from which passengers exited the trains. Although the upper station was known as Hereson Road from the outset, the lower station was never officially named. It was known at various times as "Olympia", "Beach", "Sands" and "Lower Terminus". The platforms and ticket offices were immediately outside the mouth of the tunnel at both stations. The line ran between Hereson Road, across the road from Dumpton Park station, down a steep gradient of 1 in 15 in the new tunnel, before running at a 1 in 75 gradient down the original tunnel to the lower terminus. The line consisted of a single line, branching into two platform tracks at the two stations, with a crossing loop halfway along the tunnel. Over the 1,444-yard (1,320 m) journey between Hereson Road and the lower terminus, the line descended 83 feet (25 m). ### Construction and infrastructure The new line's infrastructure was designed by Henry Greenly, a leading figure in the design of narrow gauge railways. He had begun his career at the Metropolitan Railway (now part of the London Underground), and had designed the route, buildings, locomotives and rolling stock for the Rhyl Miniature Railway and the nearby Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway. As the new railway would not be carrying heavy loads and would be travelling only a short distance, it was built as a narrow gauge railway, with a track gauge of . This allowed the new branch tunnel to be built to far smaller dimensions than the existing tunnel, at just 8 feet (2.4 m) high and 6 feet (1.8 m) wide. Although a cable haulage system had initially been considered, Ramsgate Olympia decided early in the line's planning to electrify the line. A third rail system was rejected due to concerns for the safety of the large numbers of children expected to use the line, and the locomotives had trolley poles drawing power from a single 400-volt DC overhead line running the length of the tunnel. The wire ran along the wall of the old tunnel, on brackets in the roof of the new tunnel, and was supported by poles at the open-air stations. The electricity was supplied by an electrical substation built by English Electric, inside the tunnel near the lower end. Construction work began on 2 May 1936. The company hoped to have the line open in time to serve the large crowds expected on the August Bank Holiday, leading to a very tight construction deadline of three months. To try to meet the deadline, construction work was carried out both day and night. As the journey would take place entirely underground it was decided to line the wider, original tunnel with illuminated displays showing scenes from around the world. This led to the line becoming semi-officially known as the "World Scenic Railway". English Electric built two trains for the line, designed to resemble the electric trains already in use on the Southern Railway, but on a smaller scale. A 94 ft 6 in (28.80 m) four-car train, painted red, was capable of carrying 108 passengers, and had a driver's cab at each end to avoid the need to turn the train around. A 99 ft 6 in (30.33 m) train, painted yellow, was also able to carry 108 passengers, but had two extra driver's cabs in the centre, allowing it to be split into two separate 49 ft 9 in (15.16 m) trains, each capable of carrying 54 passengers. It was envisaged that when the line was busy both trains would be used, but during quiet periods the line could be operated by the two-halves of the yellow train. The red train was modified so that it could also be split, reducing its capacity to 102 as the two rows of seats at the centre were replaced by driver's cabs. ### Opening The line opened to passengers on 31 July 1936, less than 12 weeks after construction began. It was formally opened by Lieutenant-Colonel Edwin Charles Cox, Traffic Manager of the Southern Railway, who commented that as the traffic manager of what was then the largest electric rail service in the world, he was now opening what was probably the smallest. Initially, the tunnel was decorated with illuminated scenes depicting Switzerland, Canada, the Netherlands, Japan and Egypt. The railway proved very popular, and over the Bank Holiday weekend carried 20,000 passengers. As it relied on the tourist trade for business, it closed at the end of September. Throughout the 1937, 1938, and 1939 seasons the railway operated between Whitsun and the end of September each year, closing for the autumn and winter. The railway never had a timetable, and operated according to demand. Whenever one station had a sufficient number of passengers the driver signalled to the other station that he was about to depart, and the trains from both stations would set off simultaneously, passing at the halfway crossing loop. The journey took approximately five minutes. Outside of times of peak demand the full-length trains were generally not used, and the trains used split into their two-car sections. There was no depot: trains were stabled in the lower section of the tunnel. ## Wartime In the late 1930s, war between Britain and Germany began to seem likely. Ramsgate's location on both the English Channel and North Sea and its proximity to the Thames Estuary, its large port facilities, and its close proximity to RAF Manston made it a likely target for heavy aerial bombing and as a landing site for any German invasion of Britain. With this in mind the town's borough engineer and surveyor, R. D. Brimmell, devised a scheme in 1938 for a network of tunnels beneath the town, to serve as a vast deep-level air-raid shelter for the town's inhabitants. A 3+1⁄4-mile (5.2 km) semi-circular network of tunnels was dug beneath northern Ramsgate, connecting to the existing railway tunnel. It was opened by the Duke of Kent on 1 June 1939, three months before the outbreak of war, and visited during the war by Winston Churchill. The network was capable of sheltering 60,000 people, although Ramsgate's civilian population at the time was approximately 33,000. ## Post-war operations The Tunnel Railway reopened for the 1946 season as usual. The illuminated tableaux had been removed during the war but were replaced, but this time they were illuminated by floodlights fitted to the sides of the trains rather than being self illuminated. The line was not included in the 1948 nationalisation of the railways and so remained in the hands of Ramsgate Olympia (later Pleasurama). The tableaux were removed around 1955 due to increasing vandalism, and the station signage changed from World Scenic Railway to Tunnel Railway. Part of the chalk cliff near the lower terminus collapsed in 1957, forcing the railway's closure while a strengthening concrete wall was built. The new wall reduced the lower terminus to a single length of track. The second track at Hereson Road was closed at the same time, and removed to build a short siding near the bottom of the tunnel for stabling the trains. The wooden station platforms were replaced by modern concrete structures. At 2:15 pm on 1 July 1965, one of the two-car yellow trains lost control while approaching the lower terminus and ran off the end of the rails before smashing into a building. The driver and several passengers were injured. The station was repaired and services were resumed, but Pleasurama closed the line on 26 September 1965. ## After the closure After closure the tunnel was sealed, although it remained structurally intact inside. The site of the lower terminus was cleared and became an empty site surrounded by a construction hoarding. There was a small roundabout directly outside the south portal of the tunnel. Hereson Road station became used-car dealership. Four of the railway's carriages were sold to the Hollycombe Steam Collection and remain in use, while the other three were given to the Hampshire Narrow Gauge Railway Society. Most of the rails and sleepers were sold to the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway. Following three years of renovation, the lower section of the tunnel was reopened to the public in 2014 as part of the Ramsgate Tunnels tourist attraction. The tunnels were formally reopened by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent in a ceremony on 27 May 2014.
1,615,885	Battle of Little Blue River	1,162,553,998	Battle of the American Civil War	[ "1864 in Missouri", "Battles of the American Civil War in Missouri", "Battles of the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War", "Confederate victories of the American Civil War", "Conflicts in 1864", "Jackson County, Missouri", "October 1864 events", "Price's Missouri Expedition" ]	The Battle of Little Blue River was fought on October 21, 1864, as part of Price's Raid during the American Civil War. Major General Sterling Price of the Confederate States Army led an army into Missouri in September 1864 with hopes of challenging Union control of the state. During the early stages of the campaign, Price abandoned his plan to capture St. Louis and later his secondary target of Jefferson City. The Confederates then began moving westwards, brushing aside Major General James G. Blunt's Union force in the Second Battle of Lexington on October 19. Two days later, Blunt left part of his command under the authority of Colonel Thomas Moonlight to hold the crossing of the Little Blue River, while the rest of his force fell back to Independence. On the morning of October 21, Confederate troops attacked Moonlight's line, and parts of Brigadier General John B. Clark Jr.'s brigade forced their way across the river. A series of attacks and counterattacks ensued, neither side gaining a significant advantage. Meanwhile, Blunt had received permission from Major General Samuel R. Curtis to make a stand at the Little Blue River, and he and Curtis returned to the field with reinforcements that brought total Union strength up to about 2,800 men. More Confederate soldiers from the divisions of Brigadier Generals Joseph O. Shelby and John S. Marmaduke arrived on the field, bringing Confederate strength to about 5,500 men. One regiment of Confederate cavalry threatened the Union flank, and Brigadier General M. Jeff Thompson's Confederate brigade pressed the Union center. The Union line fell back and the fighting largely ending around 16:00, when the Union troops reached Independence. The Union soldiers later fell back to the Big Blue River, abandoning Independence. The next day Union soldiers commanded by Major General Alfred Pleasonton forced their way across the Little Blue River and retook Independence from the Confederates during the Second Battle of Independence. On October 23, the Confederates were defeated by Curtis and Pleasonton at the Battle of Westport, forcing Price's men to retreat from Missouri. A study published by the American Battlefield Protection Program in 2011 determined that the Little Blue River battlefield was in fragmented condition and was threatened by highway development. It found that part of the site was potentially eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. ## Background At the start of the American Civil War in 1861, the state of Missouri was a slave state, but did not secede. However, the state was politically divided: Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson and the Missouri State Guard (MSG) supported secession and the Confederate States of America, while Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon led Union Army forces in Missouri that remained loyal to the United States and opposed secession. Under Major General Sterling Price, the MSG defeated Union armies at the battles of Wilson's Creek and Lexington in 1861, but by the end of the year, the secessionist forces were restricted to the southwestern portion of the state by Union reinforcements. Meanwhile, Jackson and a portion of the state legislature voted to secede and join the Confederate States of America, while another element of the legislature voted to reject secession, essentially giving the state two governments. In March 1862, a Confederate defeat at the Battle of Pea Ridge in Arkansas gave the Union control of Missouri, and Confederate activity in the state was largely restricted to guerrilla warfare and raids throughout 1862 and 1863. By the beginning of September 1864, events in the eastern United States, especially the Confederate defeat in the Atlanta campaign, gave incumbent president Abraham Lincoln, who supported continuing the war, an edge in the 1864 United States presidential election over George B. McClellan, who favored ending the war. At this point, the Confederacy had very little chance of winning the war. Meanwhile, in the Trans-Mississippi Theater, the Confederates had defeated Union attackers during the Red River campaign in Louisiana, which took place from March through May. As events east of the Mississippi River turned against the Confederates, General Edmund Kirby Smith, Confederate commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department, was ordered to transfer the infantry under his command to the fighting in the Eastern and Western Theaters. This proved to be impossible, as the Union Navy controlled the Mississippi River, preventing a large-scale crossing. Despite having limited resources for an offensive, Smith decided that an attack designed to divert Union troops from the principal theaters of combat would have an effect equivalent to the proposed transfer of troops, by decreasing the Confederates' numerical disparity east of the Mississippi. Price and the new Confederate Governor of Missouri, Thomas Caute Reynolds, suggested that an invasion of Missouri would be an effective offensive; Smith approved the plan and appointed Price to command the offensive. Price expected that the offensive would create a popular uprising against Union control of Missouri, divert Union troops away from principal theaters of combat (many of the Union troops previously defending Missouri had been transferred out of the state, leaving the Missouri State Militia as the state's primary defensive force), and aid McClellan's chance of defeating Lincoln in the election. On September 19, Price's column, named the Army of Missouri, entered the state. The army was divided into three divisions, commanded by Major General James F. Fagan and Brigadier Generals John S. Marmaduke and Joseph O. Shelby. Marmaduke's division contained two brigades, commanded by Brigadier General John B. Clark Jr. and Colonel Thomas R. Freeman; Shelby's division had three brigades under Colonels David Shanks (replaced by Brigadier General M. Jeff Thompson after Shanks was killed in action), Sidney D. Jackman, and Charles H. Tyler; and Fagan's division contained four brigades commanded by Brigadier General William L. Cabell and Colonels William F. Slemons, Archibald S. Dobbins, and Thomas H. McCray. ## Prelude When the campaign began, Price's force was composed of about 13,000 cavalrymen, but several thousand of these men were poorly armed, and all 14 of the army's cannons were of light caliber for artillery of the war. Countering Price was the Union Department of Missouri, under the command of Major General William S. Rosecrans, who had fewer than 10,000 men on hand. These soldiers, many of whom were militiamen, were dispersed throughout the state. The Department of Missouri was composed of a series of districts and subdistricts charged with guarding specific local areas. While some of the militia organizations were well-trained, others were poorly armed and trained. While some had fought against guerrillas, experience in more traditional warfare was lacking. In late September, the Confederates encountered a small Union force holding Fort Davidson near the town of Pilot Knob. Attacks against the post in the Battle of Pilot Knob on September 27 failed, but the Union garrison abandoned the fort that night. Price had suffered hundreds of casualties in the battle, and decided to change his objective from St. Louis to Jefferson City. Price's army was accompanied by a sizable wagon train, which significantly slowed its movement. The slow progress of the Confederates enabled Union forces to reinforce Jefferson City, whose garrison was increased from 1,000 men to 7,000 between October 1 and October 6. In turn, Price determined that Jefferson City was too strong to attack, and began moving westwards along the course of the Missouri River. The Confederates gathered recruits and supplies during the movement; a side raid against the town of Glasgow on October 15 was successful, as was another raid against Sedalia. Meanwhile, Union troops commanded by Major General Samuel R. Curtis were withdrawn from their role in suppressing the Cheyenne; the Kansas State Militia was mobilized. Major General James G. Blunt was also transferred from the Cheyenne conflict and began gathering a combination of Union Army troops and state militiamen at Paola, Kansas, near the Missouri-Kansas state border. George W. Dietzler, a major general in the Kansas State Militia, was appointed as its general-in-chief, although the troops were under Curtis's authority. The Kansas State Militia used a brigade organization, but little detail about the exact breakdown is provided in the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion. While some of the militia were technically commanded by Blunt, the militia officers serving under Blunt still considered themselves to be part of the militia organization and attempted to adhere to their former command structure. The total strength of the mobilized militia amounted to about 15,000 men. Dietzler's militia and Blunt's division were grouped under Curtis's command as a new formation known as the Army of the Border. This army was split into two wings: one commanded by Dietzler and composed of the militia retained under his command, and other being Blunt's force. On October 14, or 15, Blunt moved his command to Hickman Mills, Missouri, where he formed it into a three-brigade division; one of the brigades was composed of Kansas militia and was led by Colonel Charles W. Blair. The two brigades composed of the Union Army troops were commanded by Colonels Charles R. "Doc" Jennison and Thomas Moonlight. Blair's command was hampered by his militia units still viewing militia officer William Fishback as their proper commander. Jennison's brigade contained one cavalry regiment and part of another, Moonlight's was composed of one cavalry regiment and parts of two others, and Blair's contained one Union cavalry regiment and three militia units. Each brigade was assigned an artillery battery; Blair's brigade was given an extra artillery section as well. This allotment resulted in Jennison's brigade having five cannons, Moonlight's four, and Blair's eight. Price halted at Marshall on October 15, east of Blunt's column. The next day, Curtis moved most of the Kansas militiamen not assigned to Blunt to Kansas City, Missouri, but was prohibited by Thomas Carney, the governor of Kansas, from taking them east of the Big Blue River. Curtis had previously promised Carney that the militia would only travel as far as was necessary to protect Kansas. On the 17th, Blunt detached his militia brigade to Kansas City, and then sent his other two brigades to Holden. On October 18, Blunt's advance guard, commanded by Moonlight, occupied the town of Lexington, hoping to cooperate with a force commanded by Brigadier General John B. Sanborn to catch and trap Price. However, Sanborn's force was too far south of Lexington to move in concert with Blunt. Additionally, Blunt learned that Price was only 20 miles (32 km) away at Waverly; he also received word from Curtis that the political authorities in Kansas would not allow the latter to send more militiamen to Blunt. Blunt then made the decision to reinforce his outer positions and resist the anticipated Confederate advance. Shelby's division attacked the Union line at Lexington on October 19, beginning the Second Battle of Lexington, but Blunt's troops held. The Union troops retreated once Price deployed men of Fagan's and Marmaduke's divisions into the fray. ## Battle ### Moonlight's stand After the battle at Lexington, Blunt's forces fell back to the west, Moonlight's brigade serving as the rear guard. Early on the morning of October 20, Blunt decided to halt and defend a position east of the Little Blue River. Blunt requested reinforcements from Curtis, but the restrictions on the movement of the Kansas Militia prevented Blunt from being reinforced at the Little Blue River. Curtis therefore ordered Blunt to leave a holding force at the Little Blue River and fall back to the Big Blue River. Blunt argued for a stand at the river but complied with his orders, falling back to Independence that evening. The 11th Kansas Cavalry Regiment, supported by four cannons, was left behind to serve as a rear guard under Moonlight's command. The strength of this force amounted to either 400 or 600 men. Two companies of the 11th Kansas Cavalry and the cannons were placed at a bridge over the river with instructions to burn it when the Confederates arrived, while single companies guarded fords, one within either 1 mile (1.6 km) or 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the bridge and the other 4 miles (6.4 km) to the south of the bridge. The remainder of the 11th Kansas Cavalry was held as a reserve. Despite these precautions, other fords closer to the bridge were left unguarded, and the river was shallow enough to be crossed at many points. The defenders simply were not familiar with the terrain, while some of the Missouri Confederates were. Union prisoners informed Price that a stand would be made at the Little Blue. The Confederates struck at about 07:00 on the morning of October 21, the advance being led by Company D of the 5th Missouri Cavalry Regiment. The Confederate company lost over a third of its strength in a sharp fight with Union skirmishers, who were eventually driven across the bridge. After Confederate pressure grew strong enough that the defenders at the bridge determined that they would not be able to hold out, they set fire to the bridge. Meanwhile, Clark's Confederate brigade arrived, and Marmaduke sent the 4th Missouri Cavalry Regiment to find a ford south of the bridge, while the 10th Missouri Cavalry Regiment found a crossing about halfway between the bridge and the Union company stationed north of it. The northward Union company was outflanked and retreated, later rejoining other parts of their regiment. Clark, in turn, ordered more of his brigade to cross behind the 10th Missouri Cavalry. The ford soon became congested, slowing Confederate movements. The Union troops holding the burning bridge also retreated, although the Confederates were able to put out the flames, rendering it still usable. The 11th Kansas Cavalry, with the exception of the isolated company to the south, retreated to a hilltop line marked by a stone wall. Moonlight's four cannons were deployed here as well. The 10th Missouri Cavalry pursued them uphill and attacked, but was repulsed in disarray by the Kansans and the fire from their repeating rifles. Confederate Colonel Colton Greene was able to get his 3rd Missouri Cavalry Regiment across the ford, although the men of the 10th Missouri Cavalry had already routed. Three cannons from Harris's Missouri Battery also crossed, and moved into a position to support Greene. The whole of the 11th Kansas Cavalry Regiment counterattacked, while the 3rd Missouri Cavalry Regiment was only about 150 men strong. Once the combat reached close quarters, the Confederate artillery was no longer effective, as the risk of accidental friendly fire was too great. Instead, the cannoneers fired blanks in an attempt to mislead the Union troops into thinking they were under heavy artillery fire. The Kansans retreated, and Greene believed that the blank cartridge ruse had been effective. The two sides engaged in a series of counterattacks, neither gaining a significant advantage. ### Blunt arrives Meanwhile, Blunt had been able to get permission from Curtis to fight at the Little Blue River. Blunt then began a return from Independence to the river, bringing his non-militia units and 900 men and six cannons under the command of Colonel James H. Ford. Ford's command consisted of McLain's Colorado Battery, part of the 16th Kansas Cavalry Regiment, and the 2nd Colorado Cavalry Regiment, which were transferred from Curtis's command to Blunt's, becoming a fourth brigade for the latter. The 2nd Colorado Cavalry has previously been sent by Rosecrans to Curtis and McLain's battery had been stationed at Paola until October. Two regiments from Jennison's brigade also accompanied Blunt. Back at the Little Blue River, Clark's brigade had finally gotten across the river. Around 11:00, Moonlight observed some of Shelby's men approaching in support of Clark's brigade. Despite being farther from the battlefield than Fagan's division, Shelby's division was committed to the fighting, as it was considered more reliable. Blunt's command also arrived on the field at about 11:00. By then, Moonlight's force had fallen back to about 2 miles (3.2 km) from the river. Between the commands of Moonlight and Blunt, there were about 2,600 Union men on the field, with the support of 15 cannons. The two regiments from Jennison's brigade supported the Union right, while Ford's men moved to the left. Elements of both Marmaduke's and Shelby's divisions totaling about 5,500 men were present. While numerically inferior, the Union troops had superior firepower. The Union line was held on the left by the 15th Kansas Cavalry Regiment, which was supported by five cannons. The Union line stretched to the north, with the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment next to the 15th Kansas Cavalry, followed by the 2nd Colorado Cavalry Regiment, McLain's battery, the 16th Kansas Cavalry Regiment, and the 11th Kansas Cavalry. Four cannons supported the 11th Kansas Cavalry. About one quarter of the Union soldiers were sent to the rear to hold the men's horses. The men from both sides were deployed dismounted. The increased Union numbers began to put substantial pressure on Greene's regiment. Wood's Missouri Cavalry Battalion arrived to reinforce Greene, and aligned in an orchard. After some fighting and a Union counterattack, the Confederates began to run low on ammunition and started a retreat, which was accompanied by Harris's Battery. Just as the Confederate line was beginning to collapse, the 7th Missouri Cavalry Regiment and Davies's Missouri Cavalry Battalion of Clark's brigade arrived to shore up the line. Additionally, Thompson's brigade of Shelby's division crossed over and deployed to the left of Clark's brigade. After Thompson's men made it across the river, Shelby also fed Jackman's brigade into the fight. Shelby then ordered an assault against the Union line. Most of Jackman's brigade was inexperienced and made little progress, but Nichols's Missouri Cavalry Regiment, which was still mounted, advanced against the Union left flank. Curtis arrived on the battlefield at 13:00, accompanied by two more cannons. There were now about 2,800 Union troops on the field. Curtis noticed Nichols's unit's incursion towards the Union flank, and sent McLain's Battery and two other cannons to counter the threat; as these cannons were taken from other parts of the Union lines, it weakened the Union center. Shelby took advantage of the weakened Union center by pressing the attack harder. Thompson's men began pushing forward. Complicating matters for the Union soldiers was Curtis's decision to send the wagons containing more ammunition back to Independence. With ammunition running low, Nichols's men threatening one flank, and Thompson pressing the Union center, the Union troops began conducting a fighting withdrawal. Blunt placed Ford in charge of the rear guard, although in practice, Moonlight shared command responsibility with Ford, whose men conducted a rear guard maneuver in which the men deployed in two ranks. The front rank resisted the Confederate pursuit until falling back behind the second rank, after which the process was repeated. During the retreat, McLain's Battery was caught in an exposed position, but was rescued by a counterattack made by elements of the 11th Kansas Cavalry. Later, these elements of the 11th Kansas Cavalry were also stuck in an exposed position and had to be rescued by a charge from the 2nd Colorado Cavalry. The 11th and 16th Kansas Cavalry and McLain's battery made a stand on a ridge 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Independence, the 16th even making a brief counterattack, but this position had become indefensible by around 15:00 and was abandoned. The Confederates had become disorganized and Blunt used a lull in the fighting to begin to form a line at Independence. By 16:00 large-scale fighting had ended. The retreat to Independence had been over 7 miles (11 km). Later that afternoon, Blunt ordered a retreat to the Big Blue River, which was lightly pursued by the Confederates. Some skirmishing occurred within Independence itself during the retreat. A detail of Union soldiers destroyed some army supplies in the town, while civilians within the town took potshots at the retreating Union troopers. It is not known if the civilian gunmen were pro-Confederates, or were under the mistaken belief that the Union soldiers were guerrillas in captured uniforms, or if they were attempting to hamper the destruction of military supplies, hoping to take them themselves. By nightfall, Curtis's men were on the west side of the Big Blue River, and Price's army was in the Independence area. ## Aftermath and preservation Official casualty numbers are only known for a few units on each side. The 11th and 15th Kansas Cavalries and the 2nd Colorado Cavalry combined had 20 men killed. On the Confederate side, the 3rd Missouri Cavalry Regiment suffered 31 killed and wounded, while a total of three men were killed between Davies's battalion and the 10th Missouri Cavalry Regiment. Among the Union dead was Major Nelson Smith of the 2nd Colorado Cavalry, while Confederate guerrilla leader George Todd was also killed. Todd had led a group of guerrillas during the battle; he was shot in the throat during the final stages of the action. Confederate surgeon William McPheeters reported that 10 wounded Union soldiers were left in Independence, and that civilians reported about 100 more had been taken with the Union troops during the retreat. McPheeters also noted seeing the bodies of dead Union soldiers strewn along the road from the river to Independence. Historian Mark Lause estimates that the Union may have lost up to about 300 men, and the Confederates more. Shelby later described the fight as the beginning of significant difficulties for his division during the campaign. The day after the battle, Price sent Shelby south of Curtis's main line along the Big Blue River. In the initial stages of the Battle of Byram's Ford, Shelby's men forced their way across the Big Blue River, causing Curtis to order a withdrawal to Brush Creek. Meanwhile, Union cavalry commanded by Major General Alfred Pleasonton attacked Price's rear guard from the east in the Second Battle of Independence. After pushing across the Little Blue River, Pleasonton's men struck Cabell's Confederate brigade, capturing both men and two cannons, as well as taking the town of Independence. On October 23, Price's men fought the Battle of Westport, where they were defeated by Curtis's and Pleasonton's commands. The Confederates began retreating through Kansas, before reentering Missouri on October 25. Price's survivors eventually reached Texas via Arkansas and the Indian Territory, suffering several defeats along the way. Price lost over two thirds of his men during the campaign. A study published by the American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) in 2011 determined that the Little Blue River battlefield was fragmented, but that there was still potential for future preservation. The study also noted that the site was threatened by highway construction. The battlefield is not listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but the ABPP found that 2,493.72 acres (1,009.17 ha) are potentially eligible for listing. At the site, 6.50 acres (2.63 ha) are currently under some form of permanent protection. There is public interpretation at the site but no visitor's center. A driving tour, with interpretative markers, has been established for the battlefields of Little Blue and Second Independence together. The site is part of Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area and the Civil War Roundtable of Western Missouri acts as a battlefield friends group.
5,042,951	Climate change	1,173,569,575	Current rise in Earth's average temperature and its effects	[ "Anthropocene", "Articles containing video clips", "Climate change", "Global environmental issues", "History of climate variability and change", "Human impact on the environment" ]	In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to Earth's climate. The current rise in global average temperature is more rapid than previous changes, and is primarily caused by humans burning fossil fuels. Fossil fuel use, deforestation, and some agricultural and industrial practices increase greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide and methane. Greenhouse gases absorb some of the heat that the Earth radiates after it warms from sunlight. Larger amounts of these gases trap more heat in Earth's lower atmosphere, causing global warming. Climate change is causing a range of increasing impacts on the environment. Deserts are expanding, while heat waves and wildfires are becoming more common. Amplified warming in the Arctic has contributed to melting permafrost, glacial retreat and sea ice loss. Higher temperatures are also causing more intense storms, droughts, and other weather extremes. Rapid environmental change in mountains, coral reefs, and the Arctic is forcing many species to relocate or become extinct. Even if efforts to minimise future warming are successful, some effects will continue for centuries. These include ocean heating, ocean acidification and sea level rise. Climate change threatens people with increased flooding, extreme heat, increased food and water scarcity, more disease, and economic loss. Human migration and conflict can also be a result. The World Health Organization (WHO) calls climate change the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century. Societies and ecosystems will experience more severe risks without action to limit warming. Adapting to climate change through efforts like flood control measures or drought-resistant crops partially reduces climate change risks, although some limits to adaptation have already been reached. Poorer communities are responsible for a small share of global emissions, yet have the least ability to adapt and are most vulnerable to climate change. Many climate change impacts are already felt at the current 1.2 °C (2.2 °F) level of warming. Additional warming will increase these impacts and can trigger tipping points, such as the melting of the Greenland ice sheet. Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, nations collectively agreed to keep warming "well under 2 °C". However, with pledges made under the Agreement, global warming would still reach about 2.7 °C (4.9 °F) by the end of the century. Limiting warming to 1.5 °C will require halving emissions by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Reducing emissions requires generating electricity from low-carbon sources rather than burning fossil fuels. This change includes phasing out coal and natural gas fired power plants, vastly increasing use of wind, solar, nuclear and other types of renewable energy, and reducing energy use. Electricity generated from non-carbon-emitting sources will need to replace fossil fuels for powering transportation, heating buildings, and operating industrial facilities. Carbon can also be removed from the atmosphere, for instance by increasing forest cover and farming with methods that capture carbon in soil. ## Terminology Before the 1980s, when it was unclear whether the warming effect of increased greenhouse gases were stronger than the cooling effect of airborne particulates in air pollution, scientists used the term inadvertent climate modification to refer to human impacts on the climate. In the 1980s, the terms global warming and climate change became more common. Though the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, scientifically, global warming refers only to increased surface warming, while climate change describes the totality of changes to Earth's climate system. Global warming—used as early as 1975—became the more popular term after NASA climate scientist James Hansen used it in his 1988 testimony in the U.S. Senate. Since the 2000s, climate change has increased in usage. Climate change can also refer more broadly to both human-caused changes or natural changes throughout Earth's history. Various scientists, politicians and media now use the terms climate crisis or climate emergency to talk about climate change, and global heating instead of global warming. ## Observed temperature rise Multiple independent instrumental datasets show that the climate system is warming. The 2011–2020 decade warmed to an average 1.09 °C [0.95–1.20 °C] compared to the pre-industrial baseline (1850–1900). Surface temperatures are rising by about 0.2 °C per decade, with 2020 reaching a temperature of 1.2 °C above the pre-industrial era. Since 1950, the number of cold days and nights has decreased, and the number of warm days and nights has increased. Evidence of warming from air temperature measurements are reinforced with a wide range of other observations. For example, changes to the natural water cycle have been predicted and observed, such as an increase in the frequency and intensity of heavy precipitation, melting of snow and land ice, and increased atmospheric humidity. Flora and fauna are also behaving in a manner consistent with warming; for instance, plants are flowering earlier in spring. Another key indicator is the cooling of the upper atmosphere, which demonstrates that greenhouse gases are trapping heat near the Earth's surface and preventing it from radiating into space. Different regions of the world warm at different rates. The pattern is independent of where greenhouse gases are emitted, because the gases persist long enough to diffuse across the planet. Since the pre-industrial period, the average surface temperature over land regions has increased almost twice as fast as the global-average surface temperature. This is because of the larger heat capacity of oceans, and because oceans lose more heat by evaporation. The thermal energy in the global climate system has grown with only brief pauses since at least 1970, and over 90% of this extra energy has been stored in the ocean. The rest has heated the atmosphere, melted ice, and warmed the continents. The Northern Hemisphere and the North Pole have warmed much faster than the South Pole and Southern Hemisphere. The Northern Hemisphere not only has much more land, but also more seasonal snow cover and sea ice. As these surfaces flip from reflecting a lot of light to being dark after the ice has melted, they start absorbing more heat. Local black carbon deposits on snow and ice also contribute to Arctic warming. Arctic temperatures are increasing at over twice the rate of the rest of the world. Melting of glaciers and ice sheets in the Arctic disrupts ocean circulation, including a weakened Gulf Stream, further changing the climate. ### Temperature records prior to global warming Human beings evolved over the last few million years in a climate that cycled through ice ages, with global average temperature ranging between current levels and 5–6 °C colder than today. The temperature record prior to human evolution includes hotter temperatures and occasional abrupt changes, such as the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum 55.5 million years ago. Historical patterns of warming and cooling, like the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age, did not occur at the same time across different regions. Temperatures may have reached as high as those of the late 20th century in a limited set of regions. There was little net warming between the 18th century and the mid-19th century. Climate information for that period comes from climate proxies, such as trees and ice cores. Thermometer records began to provide global coverage around 1850. ## Attribution of recent temperature rise The climate system experiences various cycles on its own which can last for years (such as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)), decades or even centuries. Other changes are caused by an imbalance of energy that is "external" to the climate system, but not always external to the Earth. Examples of external forcings include changes in the concentrations of greenhouse gases, solar luminosity, volcanic eruptions, and variations in the Earth's orbit around the Sun. To determine the human contribution to climate change, known internal climate variability and natural external forcings are ruled out. Unique "fingerprints" for all potential causes are determined and compared with observed patterns of climate change. For example, solar forcing—whose fingerprint involves warming the entire atmosphere—is ruled out because only the lower atmosphere has warmed. Attribution of recent climate change shows that the climate's main driver is elevated greenhouse gases, with aerosols having a dampening effect. ### Greenhouse gases Greenhouse gases are transparent to sunlight, and thus allow it to pass through the atmosphere to heat the Earth's surface. The Earth radiates it as heat, and greenhouse gases absorb a portion of it. This absorption slows the rate at which heat escapes into space, trapping heat near the Earth's surface and warming it over time. Before the Industrial Revolution, naturally-occurring amounts of greenhouse gases caused the air near the surface to be about 33 °C warmer than it would have been in their absence. While water vapour (≈50%) and clouds (≈25%) are the biggest contributors to the greenhouse effect, they increase as a function of temperature and are therefore feedbacks. On the other hand, concentrations of gases such as (≈20%), tropospheric ozone, CFCs and nitrous oxide are not temperature-dependent, and are therefore external forcings. Human activity since the Industrial Revolution, mainly extracting and burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas), has increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, resulting in a radiative imbalance. In 2019, the concentrations of and methane had increased by about 48% and 160%, respectively, since 1750. These levels are higher than they have been at any time during the last 2 million years. Concentrations of methane are far higher than they were over the last 800,000 years. Global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 were equivalent to 59 billion tonnes of . Of these emissions, 75% was , 18% was methane, 4% was nitrous oxide, and 2% was fluorinated gases. emissions primarily come from burning fossil fuels to provide energy for transport, manufacturing, heating, and electricity. Additional emissions come from deforestation and industrial processes, which include the released by the chemical reactions for making cement, steel, aluminum, and fertiliser. Methane emissions come from livestock, manure, rice cultivation, landfills, wastewater, and coal mining, as well as oil and gas extraction. Nitrous oxide emissions largely come from the microbial decomposition of fertiliser. Despite the contribution of deforestation to greenhouse gas emissions, the Earth's land surface, particularly its forests, remain a significant carbon sink for . Land-surface sink processes, such as carbon fixation in the soil and photosynthesis, remove about 29% of annual global emissions. The ocean also serves as a significant carbon sink via a two-step process. First, dissolves in the surface water. Afterwards, the ocean's overturning circulation distributes it deep into the ocean's interior, where it accumulates over time as part of the carbon cycle. Over the last two decades, the world's oceans have absorbed 20 to 30% of emitted . ### Aerosols and clouds Air pollution, in the form of aerosols, affects the climate on a large scale. Aerosols scatter and absorb solar radiation. From 1961 to 1990, a gradual reduction in the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface was observed. This phenomenon is popularly known as global dimming, and is attributed to aerosols produced by dust, pollution and combustion of biofuels and fossil fuels. Globally, aerosols have been declining since 1990 due to pollution controls, meaning that they no longer mask greenhouse gas warming as much. Aerosols also have indirect effects on the Earth's radiation budget. Sulfate aerosols act as cloud condensation nuclei and lead to clouds that have more and smaller cloud droplets. These clouds reflect solar radiation more efficiently than clouds with fewer and larger droplets. They also reduce the growth of raindrops, which makes clouds more reflective to incoming sunlight. Indirect effects of aerosols are the largest uncertainty in radiative forcing. While aerosols typically limit global warming by reflecting sunlight, black carbon in soot that falls on snow or ice can contribute to global warming. Not only does this increase the absorption of sunlight, it also increases melting and sea-level rise. Limiting new black carbon deposits in the Arctic could reduce global warming by 0.2 °C by 2050. ### Land surface changes Humans change the Earth's surface mainly to create more agricultural land. Today, agriculture takes up 34% of Earth's land area, while 26% is forests, and 30% is uninhabitable (glaciers, deserts, etc.). The amount of forested land continues to decrease, which is the main land use change that causes global warming. Deforestation releases contained in trees when they are destroyed, plus it prevents those trees from absorbing more . The main causes of deforestation are: permanent land-use change from forest to agricultural land producing products such as beef and palm oil (27%), logging to produce forestry/forest products (26%), short term shifting cultivation (24%), and wildfires (23%). The type of vegetation in a region affects the local temperature. It impacts how much of the sunlight gets reflected back into space (albedo), and how much heat is lost by evaporation. For instance, the change from a dark forest to grassland makes the surface lighter, causing it to reflect more sunlight. Deforestation can also affect temperatures by modifying the release of chemical compounds that influence clouds, and by changing wind patterns. In tropic and temperate areas the net effect is to produce significant warming, while at latitudes closer to the poles a gain of albedo (as forest is replaced by snow cover) leads to a cooling effect. Globally, these effects are estimated to have led to a slight cooling, dominated by an increase in surface albedo. According to FAO, forest degradation aggravates the impacts of climate change as it reduces the carbon sequestration abilities of forests. Indeed, among their many benefits, forests also have the potential to reduce the impact of high temperatures. ### Solar and volcanic activity As the Sun is the Earth's primary energy source, changes in incoming sunlight directly affect the climate system. Solar irradiance has been measured directly by satellites, and indirect measurements are available from the early 1600s onwards. There has been no upward trend in the amount of the Sun's energy reaching the Earth. Explosive volcanic eruptions represent the largest natural forcing over the industrial era. When the eruption is sufficiently strong (with sulfur dioxide reaching the stratosphere), sunlight can be partially blocked for a couple of years. The temperature signal lasts about twice as long. In the industrial era, volcanic activity has had negligible impacts on global temperature trends. Present-day volcanic CO<sub>2</sub> emissions are equivalent to less than 1% of current anthropogenic CO<sub>2</sub> emissions. Physical climate models are unable to reproduce the rapid warming observed in recent decades when taking into account only variations in solar output and volcanic activity. Further evidence for greenhouse gases causing global warming comes from measurements that show a warming of the lower atmosphere (the troposphere), coupled with a cooling of the upper atmosphere (the stratosphere). If solar variations were responsible for the observed warming, the troposphere and stratosphere would both warm. ### Climate change feedback The response of the climate system to an initial forcing is modified by feedbacks: increased by "self-reinforcing" or "positive" feedbacks and reduced by "balancing" or "negative" feedbacks. The main reinforcing feedbacks are the water-vapour feedback, the ice–albedo feedback, and the net effect of clouds. The primary balancing mechanism is radiative cooling, as Earth's surface gives off more heat to space in response to rising temperature. In addition to temperature feedbacks, there are feedbacks in the carbon cycle, such as the fertilizing effect of on plant growth. Uncertainty over feedbacks is the major reason why different climate models project different magnitudes of warming for a given amount of emissions. As air warms, it can hold more moisture. Water vapour, as a potent greenhouse gas, holds heat in the atmosphere. If cloud cover increases, more sunlight will be reflected back into space, cooling the planet. If clouds become higher and thinner, they act as an insulator, reflecting heat from below back downwards and warming the planet. The effect of clouds is the largest source of feedback uncertainty. Another major feedback is the reduction of snow cover and sea ice in the Arctic, which reduces the reflectivity of the Earth's surface. More of the Sun's energy is now absorbed in these regions, contributing to amplification of Arctic temperature changes. Arctic amplification is also melting permafrost, which releases methane and into the atmosphere. Climate change can also cause methane releases from wetlands, marine systems, and freshwater systems. Overall, climate feedbacks are expected to become increasingly positive. Around half of human-caused emissions have been absorbed by land plants and by the oceans. Climate change increases droughts and heat waves that inhibit plant growth, which makes it uncertain whether this carbon sink will continue to grow. Soils contain large quantities of carbon and may release some when they heat up. As more and heat are absorbed by the ocean, it acidifies, its circulation changes and phytoplankton takes up less carbon, decreasing the rate at which the ocean absorbs atmospheric carbon. Overall, at higher concentrations the Earth will absorb a reduced fraction of our emissions. ## Modelling A climate model is a representation of the physical, chemical, and biological processes that affect the climate system. Models also include natural processes like changes in the Earth's orbit, historical changes in the Sun's activity, and volcanic forcing. Models are used to estimate the degree of warming future emissions will cause when accounting for the strength of climate feedbacks, or reproduce and predict the circulation of the oceans, the annual cycle of the seasons, and the flows of carbon between the land surface and the atmosphere. The physical realism of models is tested by examining their ability to simulate contemporary or past climates. Past models have underestimated the rate of Arctic shrinkage and underestimated the rate of precipitation increase. Sea level rise since 1990 was underestimated in older models, but more recent models agree well with observations. The 2017 United States-published National Climate Assessment notes that "climate models may still be underestimating or missing relevant feedback processes". Additionally, climate models may be unable to adequately predict short-term regional climatic shifts. A subset of climate models add societal factors to a simple physical climate model. These models simulate how population, economic growth, and energy use affect—and interact with—the physical climate. With this information, these models can produce scenarios of future greenhouse gas emissions. This is then used as input for physical climate models and carbon cycle models to predict how atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases might change. Depending on the socioeconomic scenario and the mitigation scenario, models produce atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> concentrations that range widely between 380 and 1400 ppm. The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report projects that global warming is very likely to reach 1.0 °C to 1.8 °C by the late 21st century under the very low GHG emissions scenario. In an intermediate scenario global warming would reach 2.1 °C to 3.5 °C, and 3.3 °C to 5.7 °C under the very high GHG emissions scenario. These projections are based on climate models in combination with observations. The remaining carbon budget is determined by modelling the carbon cycle and the climate sensitivity to greenhouse gases. According to the IPCC, global warming can be kept below 1.5 °C with a two-thirds chance if emissions after 2018 do not exceed 420 or 570 gigatonnes of . This corresponds to 10 to 13 years of current emissions. There are high uncertainties about the budget. For instance, it may be 100 gigatonnes of smaller due to methane release from permafrost and wetlands. However, it is clear that fossil fuel resources are too abundant for shortages to be relied on to limit carbon emissions in the 21st century. Even though the temperature will need to stay at or above 1.5 °C for 20 years to pass the threshold defined by the Paris agreement, a temporary rise above this limit also can have severe consequences. According to the World Meteorological Organization, there is a 66% chance that global temperature will rise temporarily above 1.5 °C in the years 2023–2027. ## Impacts ### Environmental effects The environmental effects of climate change are broad and far-reaching, affecting oceans, ice, and weather. Changes may occur gradually or rapidly. Evidence for these effects comes from studying climate change in the past, from modelling, and from modern observations. Since the 1950s, droughts and heat waves have appeared simultaneously with increasing frequency. Extremely wet or dry events within the monsoon period have increased in India and East Asia. The rainfall rate and intensity of hurricanes and typhoons is likely increasing, and the geographic range likely expanding poleward in response to climate warming. Frequency of tropical cyclones has not increased as a result of climate change. Global sea level is rising as a consequence of glacial melt, melt of the Greenland ice sheets and Antarctica, and thermal expansion. Between 1993 and 2020, the rise increased over time, averaging 3.3 ± 0.3 mm per year. Over the 21st century, the IPCC projects that in a very high emissions scenario the sea level could rise by 61–110 cm. Increased ocean warmth is undermining and threatening to unplug Antarctic glacier outlets, risking a large melt of the ice sheet and the possibility of a 2-meter sea level rise by 2100 under high emissions. Climate change has led to decades of shrinking and thinning of the Arctic sea ice. While ice-free summers are expected to be rare at 1.5 °C degrees of warming, they are set to occur once every three to ten years at a warming level of 2 °C. Higher atmospheric concentrations have led to changes in ocean chemistry. An increase in dissolved is causing oceans to acidify. In addition, oxygen levels are decreasing as oxygen is less soluble in warmer water. Dead zones in the ocean, regions with very little oxygen, are expanding too. ### Tipping points and long-term impacts Greater degrees of global warming increase the risk of passing through 'tipping points'—thresholds beyond which certain impacts can no longer be avoided even if temperatures are reduced. An example is the collapse of West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, where a temperature rise of 1.5 to 2 °C may commit the ice sheets to melt, although the time scale of melt is uncertain and depends on future warming. Some large-scale changes could occur over a short time period, such as a shutdown of certain ocean currents like the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). Tipping points can also include irreversible damage to ecosystems like the Amazon rainforest and coral reefs. The long-term effects of climate change on oceans include further ice melt, ocean warming, sea level rise, and ocean acidification. On the timescale of centuries to millennia, the magnitude of climate change will be determined primarily by anthropogenic emissions. This is due to 's long atmospheric lifetime. Oceanic uptake is slow enough that ocean acidification will continue for hundreds to thousands of years. These emissions are estimated to have prolonged the current interglacial period by at least 100,000 years. Sea level rise will continue over many centuries, with an estimated rise of 2.3 metres per degree Celsius (4.2 ft/°F) after 2000 years. ### Nature and wildlife Recent warming has driven many terrestrial and freshwater species poleward and towards higher altitudes. Higher atmospheric levels and an extended growing season have resulted in global greening. However, heatwaves and drought have reduced ecosystem productivity in some regions. The future balance of these opposing effects is unclear. Climate change has contributed to the expansion of drier climate zones, such as the expansion of deserts in the subtropics. The size and speed of global warming is making abrupt changes in ecosystems more likely. Overall, it is expected that climate change will result in the extinction of many species. The oceans have heated more slowly than the land, but plants and animals in the ocean have migrated towards the colder poles faster than species on land. Just as on land, heat waves in the ocean occur more frequently due to climate change, harming a wide range of organisms such as corals, kelp, and seabirds. Ocean acidification makes it harder for marine calcifying organisms such as mussels, barnacles and corals to produce shells and skeletons; and heatwaves have bleached coral reefs. Harmful algal blooms enhanced by climate change and eutrophication lower oxygen levels, disrupt food webs and cause great loss of marine life. Coastal ecosystems are under particular stress. Almost half of global wetlands have disappeared due to climate change and other human impacts. ### Humans The effects of climate change are impacting humans everywhere in the world. Impacts can be observed on all continents and ocean regions, with low-latitude, less developed areas facing the greatest risk. Continued warming has potentially "severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts" for people and ecosystems. The risks are unevenly distributed, but are generally greater for disadvantaged people in developing and developed countries. #### Food and health The WHO calls climate change the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century. Extreme weather leads to injury and loss of life, and crop failures to malnutrition. Various infectious diseases are more easily transmitted in a warmer climate, such as dengue fever and malaria. Young children are the most vulnerable to food shortages. Both children and older people are vulnerable to extreme heat. The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that between 2030 and 2050, climate change would cause around 250,000 additional deaths per year. They assessed deaths from heat exposure in elderly people, increases in diarrhea, malaria, dengue, coastal flooding, and childhood malnutrition. Over 500,000 more adult deaths are projected yearly by 2050 due to reductions in food availability and quality. By 2100, 50% to 75% of the global population may face climate conditions that are life-threatening due to combined effects of extreme heat and humidity. Climate change is affecting food security. It has caused reduction in global yields of maize, wheat, and soybeans between 1981 and 2010. Future warming could further reduce global yields of major crops. Crop production will probably be negatively affected in low-latitude countries, while effects at northern latitudes may be positive or negative. Up to an additional 183 million people worldwide, particularly those with lower incomes, are at risk of hunger as a consequence of these impacts. Climate change also impacts fish populations. Globally, less will be available to be fished. Regions dependent on glacier water, regions that are already dry, and small islands have a higher risk of water stress due to climate change. #### Livelihoods Economic damages due to climate change may be severe and there is a chance of disastrous consequences. Climate change has likely already increased global economic inequality, and this trend is projected to continue. Most of the severe impacts are expected in sub-Saharan Africa, where most of the local inhabitants are dependent upon natural and agricultural resources and South-East Asia. The World Bank estimates that climate change could drive over 120 million people into poverty by 2030. Inequalities based on wealth and social status have worsened due to climate change. Major difficulties in mitigating, adapting, and recovering to climate shocks are faced by marginalized people who have less control over resources. Indigenous people, who are subsistent on their land and ecosystems, will face endangerment to their wellness and lifestyles due to climate change. An expert elicitation concluded that the role of climate change in armed conflict has been small compared to factors such as socio-economic inequality and state capabilities. Low-lying islands and coastal communities are threatened by sea level rise, which makes flooding more common. Sometimes, land is permanently lost to the sea. This could lead to statelessness for people in island nations, such as the Maldives and Tuvalu. In some regions, the rise in temperature and humidity may be too severe for humans to adapt to. With worst-case climate change, models project that almost one-third of humanity might live in extremely hot and uninhabitable climates, similar to the climate found in the Sahara. These factors can drive environmental migration, both within and between countries. More people are expected to be displaced because of sea level rise, extreme weather and conflict from increased competition over natural resources. Climate change may also increase vulnerability, leading to "trapped populations" who are not able to move due to a lack of resources. ## Reducing and recapturing emissions Climate change can be mitigated by reducing the rate at which greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere, and by increasing the rate at which carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere. In order to limit global warming to less than 1.5 °C global greenhouse gas emissions needs to be net-zero by 2050, or by 2070 with a 2 °C target. This requires far-reaching, systemic changes on an unprecedented scale in energy, land, cities, transport, buildings, and industry. The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that countries need to triple their pledges under the Paris Agreement within the next decade to limit global warming to 2 °C. An even greater level of reduction is required to meet the 1.5 °C goal. With pledges made under the Paris Agreement as of October 2021, global warming would still have a 66% chance of reaching about 2.7 °C (range: 2.2–3.2 °C) by the end of the century. Globally, limiting warming to 2 °C may result in higher economic benefits than economic costs. Although there is no single pathway to limit global warming to 1.5 or 2 °C, most scenarios and strategies see a major increase in the use of renewable energy in combination with increased energy efficiency measures to generate the needed greenhouse gas reductions. To reduce pressures on ecosystems and enhance their carbon sequestration capabilities, changes would also be necessary in agriculture and forestry, such as preventing deforestation and restoring natural ecosystems by reforestation. Other approaches to mitigating climate change have a higher level of risk. Scenarios that limit global warming to 1.5 °C typically project the large-scale use of carbon dioxide removal methods over the 21st century. There are concerns, though, about over-reliance on these technologies, and environmental impacts. Solar radiation modification (SRM) is also a possible supplement to deep reductions in emissions. However, SRM would raise significant ethical and legal issues, and the risks are poorly understood. ### Clean energy Renewable energy is key to limiting climate change. Fossil fuels accounted for 80% of the world's energy in 2018. The remaining share was split between nuclear power and renewables (including hydropower, bioenergy, wind and solar power and geothermal energy). That mix is projected to change significantly over the next 30 years. Solar panels and onshore wind are now among the cheapest forms of adding new power generation capacity in many locations. Renewables represented 75% of all new electricity generation installed in 2019, nearly all solar and wind. Other forms of clean energy, such as nuclear and hydropower, currently have a larger share of the energy supply. However, their future growth forecasts appear limited in comparison. To achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, renewable energy would become the dominant form of electricity generation, rising to 85% or more by 2050 in some scenarios. Investment in coal would be eliminated and coal use nearly phased out by 2050. Electricity generated from renewable sources would also need to become the main energy source for heating and transport. Transport can switch away from internal combustion engine vehicles and towards electric vehicles, public transit, and active transport (cycling and walking). For shipping and flying, low-carbon fuels would reduce emissions. Heating could be increasingly decarbonised with technologies like heat pumps. There are obstacles to the continued rapid growth of clean energy, including renewables. For wind and solar, there are environmental and land use concerns for new projects. Wind and solar also produce energy intermittently and with seasonal variability. Traditionally, hydro dams with reservoirs and conventional power plants have been used when variable energy production is low. Going forward, battery storage can be expanded, energy demand and supply can be matched, and long-distance transmission can smooth variability of renewable outputs. Bioenergy is often not carbon-neutral and may have negative consequences for food security. The growth of nuclear power is constrained by controversy around radioactive waste, nuclear weapon proliferation, and accidents. Hydropower growth is limited by the fact that the best sites have been developed, and new projects are confronting increased social and environmental concerns. Low-carbon energy improves human health by minimising climate change. It also has the near-term benefit of reducing air pollution deaths, which were estimated at 7 million annually in 2016. Meeting the Paris Agreement goals that limit warming to a 2 °C increase could save about a million of those lives per year by 2050, whereas limiting global warming to 1.5 °C could save millions and simultaneously increase energy security and reduce poverty. Improving air quality also has economic benefits which may be larger than mitigation costs. ### Energy conservation Reducing energy demand is another major aspect of reducing emissions. If less energy is needed, there is more flexibility for clean energy development. It also makes it easier to manage the electricity grid, and minimises carbon-intensive infrastructure development. Major increases in energy efficiency investment will be required to achieve climate goals, comparable to the level of investment in renewable energy. Several COVID-19 related changes in energy use patterns, energy efficiency investments, and funding have made forecasts for this decade more difficult and uncertain. Strategies to reduce energy demand vary by sector. In the transport sector, passengers and freight can switch to more efficient travel modes, such as buses and trains, or use electric vehicles. Industrial strategies to reduce energy demand include improving heating systems and motors, designing less energy-intensive products, and increasing product lifetimes. In the building sector the focus is on better design of new buildings, and higher levels of energy efficiency in retrofitting. The use of technologies like heat pumps can also increase building energy efficiency. ### Agriculture and industry `Agriculture and forestry face a triple challenge of limiting greenhouse gas emissions, preventing the further conversion of forests to agricultural land, and meeting increases in world food demand. A set of actions could reduce agriculture and forestry-based emissions by two thirds from 2010 levels. These include reducing growth in demand for food and other agricultural products, increasing land productivity, protecting and restoring forests, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural production.` On the demand side, a key component of reducing emissions is shifting people towards plant-based diets. Eliminating the production of livestock for meat and dairy would eliminate about 3/4ths of all emissions from agriculture and other land use. Livestock also occupy 37% of ice-free land area on Earth and consume feed from the 12% of land area used for crops, driving deforestation and land degradation. Steel and cement production are responsible for about 13% of industrial emissions. In these industries, carbon-intensive materials such as coke and lime play an integral role in the production, so that reducing emissions requires research into alternative chemistries. ### Carbon sequestration Natural carbon sinks can be enhanced to sequester significantly larger amounts of beyond naturally occurring levels. Reforestation and tree planting on non-forest lands are among the most mature sequestration techniques, although the latter raises food security concerns. Farmers can promote sequestration of carbon in soils through practices such as use of winter cover crops, reducing the intensity and frequency of tillage, and using compost and manure as soil amendments. In one of its recent publications, FAO maintains that forest and landscape restoration yields many benefits for the climate, including greenhouse gas emissions sequestration and reduction. Restoration/recreation of coastal wetlands, prairie plots and seagrass meadows increases the uptake of carbon into organic matter. When carbon is sequestered in soils and in organic matter such as trees, there is a risk of the carbon being re-released into the atmosphere later through changes in land use, fire, or other changes in ecosystems. Where energy production or -intensive heavy industries continue to produce waste , the gas can be captured and stored instead of released to the atmosphere. Although its current use is limited in scale and expensive, carbon capture and storage (CCS) may be able to play a significant role in limiting emissions by mid-century. This technique, in combination with bioenergy (BECCS) can result in net negative emissions: is drawn from the atmosphere. It remains highly uncertain whether carbon dioxide removal techniques will be able to play a large role in limiting warming to 1.5 °C. Policy decisions that rely on carbon dioxide removal increase the risk of global warming rising beyond international goals. ## Adaptation Adaptation is "the process of adjustment to current or expected changes in climate and its effects". Without additional mitigation, adaptation cannot avert the risk of "severe, widespread and irreversible" impacts. More severe climate change requires more transformative adaptation, which can be prohibitively expensive. The capacity and potential for humans to adapt is unevenly distributed across different regions and populations, and developing countries generally have less. The first two decades of the 21st century saw an increase in adaptive capacity in most low- and middle-income countries with improved access to basic sanitation and electricity, but progress is slow. Many countries have implemented adaptation policies. However, there is a considerable gap between necessary and available finance. Adaptation to sea level rise consists of avoiding at-risk areas, learning to live with increased flooding and protection. If that fails, managed retreat may be needed. There are economic barriers for tackling dangerous heat impact. Avoiding strenuous work or having air conditioning is not possible for everybody. In agriculture, adaptation options include a switch to more sustainable diets, diversification, erosion control and genetic improvements for increased tolerance to a changing climate. Insurance allows for risk-sharing, but is often difficult to get for people on lower incomes. Education, migration and early warning systems can reduce climate vulnerability. Planting mangroves or encouraging other coastal vegetation can buffer storms. Ecosystems adapt to climate change, a process that can be supported by human intervention. By increasing connectivity between ecosystems, species can migrate to more favourable climate conditions. Species can also be introduced to areas acquiring a favorable climate. Protection and restoration of natural and semi-natural areas helps build resilience, making it easier for ecosystems to adapt. Many of the actions that promote adaptation in ecosystems, also help humans adapt via ecosystem-based adaptation. For instance, restoration of natural fire regimes makes catastrophic fires less likely, and reduces human exposure. Giving rivers more space allows for more water storage in the natural system, reducing flood risk. Restored forest acts as a carbon sink, but planting trees in unsuitable regions can exacerbate climate impacts. There are synergies but also trade-offs between adaptation and mitigation. An example for synergy is increased food productivity which has large benefits for both adaptation and mitigation. Two examples for trade-offs include: Firstly, the increased use of air conditioning allows people to better cope with heat, but increases energy demand. Secondly, more compact urban development may lead to reduced emissions from transport and construction which is good. But at the same time, this kind of urban development may increase the urban heat island effect, leading to higher temperatures and increased exposure of people to heat-related health risks. ## Policies and politics Countries that are most vulnerable to climate change have typically been responsible for a small share of global emissions. This raises questions about justice and fairness. Climate change is strongly linked to sustainable development. Limiting global warming makes it easier to achieve Sustainable Development Goals, such as eradicating poverty and reducing inequalities. The connection is recognised in Sustainable Development Goal 13 which is to "take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts". The goals on food, clean water and ecosystem protection have synergies with climate mitigation. The geopolitics of climate change is complex. It has often been framed as a free-rider problem, in which all countries benefit from mitigation done by other countries, but individual countries would lose from switching to a low-carbon economy themselves. This framing has been challenged. For instance, the benefits of a coal phase-out to public health and local environments exceed the costs in almost all regions. Furthermore, net importers of fossil fuels win economically from switching to clean energy, causing net exporters to face stranded assets: fossil fuels they cannot sell. ### Policy options A wide range of policies, regulations, and laws are being used to reduce emissions. As of 2019, carbon pricing covers about 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon can be priced with carbon taxes and emissions trading systems. Direct global fossil fuel subsidies reached \$319 billion in 2017, and \$5.2 trillion when indirect costs such as air pollution are priced in. Ending these can cause a 28% reduction in global carbon emissions and a 46% reduction in air pollution deaths. Money saved on fossil subsidies could be used to support the transition to clean energy instead. More direct methods to reduce greenhouse gases include vehicle efficiency standards, renewable fuel standards, and air pollution regulations on heavy industry. Several countries require utilities to increase the share of renewables in power production. #### Climate justice Policy designed through the lens of climate justice tries to address human rights issues and social inequality. For instance, wealthy nations responsible for the largest share of emissions would have to pay poorer countries to adapt. A 2023 study published in One Earth estimated that the top 21 fossil fuel companies would owe cumulative climate reparations of \$5.4 trillion over the period 2025–2050. As the use of fossil fuels is reduced, jobs in the sector are lost. To achieve a just transition, these people would need to be retrained for other jobs. Communities with many fossil fuel workers would need additional investments. ### International climate agreements Nearly all countries in the world are parties to the 1994 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The goal of the UNFCCC is to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. As stated in the convention, this requires that greenhouse gas concentrations are stabilised in the atmosphere at a level where ecosystems can adapt naturally to climate change, food production is not threatened, and economic development can be sustained. The UNFCCC does not itself restrict emissions but rather provides a framework for protocols that do. Global emissions have risen since the UNFCCC was signed. Its yearly conferences are the stage of global negotiations. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol extended the UNFCCC and included legally binding commitments for most developed countries to limit their emissions. During the negotiations, the G77 (representing developing countries) pushed for a mandate requiring developed countries to "[take] the lead" in reducing their emissions, since developed countries contributed most to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Per-capita emissions were also still relatively low in developing countries and developing countries would need to emit more to meet their development needs. The 2009 Copenhagen Accord has been widely portrayed as disappointing because of its low goals, and was rejected by poorer nations including the G77. Associated parties aimed to limit the global temperature rise to below 2 °C. The Accord set the goal of sending \$100 billion per year to developing countries for mitigation and adaptation by 2020, and proposed the founding of the Green Climate Fund. As of 2020, only 83.3 billion were delivered. Only in 2023 the target is expected to be achieved. In 2015 all UN countries negotiated the Paris Agreement, which aims to keep global warming well below 2.0 °C and contains an aspirational goal of keeping warming under 1.5 °C. The agreement replaced the Kyoto Protocol. Unlike Kyoto, no binding emission targets were set in the Paris Agreement. Instead, a set of procedures was made binding. Countries have to regularly set ever more ambitious goals and reevaluate these goals every five years. The Paris Agreement restated that developing countries must be financially supported. As of October 2021, 194 states and the European Union have signed the treaty and 191 states and the EU have ratified or acceded to the agreement. The 1987 Montreal Protocol, an international agreement to stop emitting ozone-depleting gases, may have been more effective at curbing greenhouse gas emissions than the Kyoto Protocol specifically designed to do so. The 2016 Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol aims to reduce the emissions of hydrofluorocarbons, a group of powerful greenhouse gases which served as a replacement for banned ozone-depleting gases. This made the Montreal Protocol a stronger agreement against climate change. ### National responses In 2019, the United Kingdom parliament became the first national government to declare a climate emergency. Other countries and jurisdictions followed suit. That same year, the European Parliament declared a "climate and environmental emergency". The European Commission presented its European Green Deal with the goal of making the EU carbon-neutral by 2050. Major countries in Asia have made similar pledges: South Korea and Japan have committed to become carbon-neutral by 2050, and China by 2060. In 2021, the European Commission released its "Fit for 55" legislation package, which contains guidelines for the car industry; all new cars on the European market must be zero-emission vehicles from 2035. While India has strong incentives for renewables, it also plans a significant expansion of coal in the country. Vietnam is among very few coal-dependent fast developing countries that pledged to phase out unabated coal power by the 2040s or as soon as possible there after. As of 2021, based on information from 48 national climate plans, which represent 40% of the parties to the Paris Agreement, estimated total greenhouse gas emissions will be 0.5% lower compared to 2010 levels, below the 45% or 25% reduction goals to limit global warming to 1.5 °C or 2 °C, respectively. ## Society ### Denial and misinformation Public debate about climate change has been strongly affected by climate change denial and misinformation, which originated in the United States and has since spread to other countries, particularly Canada and Australia. The actors behind climate change denial form a well-funded and relatively coordinated coalition of fossil fuel companies, industry groups, conservative think tanks, and contrarian scientists. Like the tobacco industry, the main strategy of these groups has been to manufacture doubt about scientific data and results. Many who deny, dismiss, or hold unwarranted doubt about the scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change are labelled as "climate change skeptics", which several scientists have noted is a misnomer. There are different variants of climate denial: some deny that warming takes place at all, some acknowledge warming but attribute it to natural influences, and some minimise the negative impacts of climate change. Manufacturing uncertainty about the science later developed into a manufactured controversy: creating the belief that there is significant uncertainty about climate change within the scientific community in order to delay policy changes. Strategies to promote these ideas include criticism of scientific institutions, and questioning the motives of individual scientists. An echo chamber of climate-denying blogs and media has further fomented misunderstanding of climate change. ### Public awareness and opinion Climate change came to international public attention in the late 1980s. Due to media coverage in the early 1990s, people often confused climate change with other environmental issues like ozone depletion. In popular culture, the climate fiction movie The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and the Al Gore documentary An Inconvenient Truth (2006) focused on climate change. Significant regional, gender, age and political differences exist in both public concern for, and understanding of, climate change. More highly educated people, and in some countries, women and younger people, were more likely to see climate change as a serious threat. Partisan gaps also exist in many countries, and countries with high emissions tend to be less concerned. Views on causes of climate change vary widely between countries. Concern has increased over time, to the point where in 2021 a majority of citizens in many countries express a high level of worry about climate change, or view it as a global emergency. Higher levels of worry are associated with stronger public support for policies that address climate change. #### Climate movement Climate protests demand that political leaders take action to prevent climate change. They can take the form of public demonstrations, fossil fuel divestment, lawsuits and other activities. Prominent demonstrations include the School Strike for Climate. In this initiative, young people across the globe have been protesting since 2018 by skipping school on Fridays, inspired by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg. Mass civil disobedience actions by groups like Extinction Rebellion have protested by disrupting roads and public transport. Litigation is increasingly used as a tool to strengthen climate action from public institutions and companies. Activists also initiate lawsuits which target governments and demand that they take ambitious action or enforce existing laws on climate change. Lawsuits against fossil-fuel companies generally seek compensation for loss and damage. ## History ### Early discoveries Scientists in the 19th century such as Alexander von Humboldt began to foresee the effects of climate change. In the 1820s, Joseph Fourier proposed the greenhouse effect to explain why Earth's temperature was higher than the sun's energy alone could explain. Earth's atmosphere is transparent to sunlight, so sunlight reaches the surface where it is converted to heat. However, the atmosphere is not transparent to heat radiating from the surface, and captures some of that heat, which in turn warms the planet. In 1856 Eunice Newton Foote demonstrated that the warming effect of the sun is greater for air with water vapour than for dry air, and that the effect is even greater with carbon dioxide (). She concluded that "An atmosphere of that gas would give to our earth a high temperature..." Starting in 1859, John Tyndall established that nitrogen and oxygen—together totaling 99% of dry air—are transparent to radiated heat. However, water vapour and gases such as methane and carbon dioxide absorb radiated heat and re-radiate that heat into the atmosphere. Tyndall proposed that changes in the concentrations of these gases may have caused climatic changes in the past, including ice ages. Svante Arrhenius noted that water vapour in air continuously varied, but the concentration in air was influenced by long-term geological processes. Warming from increased levels would increase the amount of water vapour, amplifying warming in a positive feedback loop. In 1896, he published the first climate model of its kind, projecting that halving levels could have produced a drop in temperature initiating an ice age. Arrhenius calculated the temperature increase expected from doubling to be around 5–6 °C. Other scientists were initially skeptical and believed that the greenhouse effect was saturated so that adding more would make no difference, and that the climate would be self-regulating. Beginning in 1938, Guy Stewart Callendar published evidence that climate was warming and levels were rising, but his calculations met the same objections. ### Development of a scientific consensus In the 1950s, Gilbert Plass created a detailed computer model that included different atmospheric layers and the infrared spectrum. This model predicted that increasing levels would cause warming. Around the same time, Hans Suess found evidence that levels had been rising, and Roger Revelle showed that the oceans would not absorb the increase. The two scientists subsequently helped Charles Keeling to begin a record of continued increase, which has been termed the "Keeling Curve". Scientists alerted the public, and the dangers were highlighted at James Hansen's 1988 Congressional testimony. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), set up in 1988 to provide formal advice to the world's governments, spurred interdisciplinary research. As part of the IPCC reports, scientists assess the scientific discussion that takes place in peer-reviewed journal articles. There is a near-complete scientific consensus that the climate is warming and that this is caused by human activities. As of 2019, agreement in recent literature reached over 99%. No scientific body of national or international standing disagrees with this view. Consensus has further developed that some form of action should be taken to protect people against the impacts of climate change. National science academies have called on world leaders to cut global emissions. The 2021 IPCC Assessment Report stated that it is "unequivocal" that climate change is caused by humans. ## See also - Anthropocene – proposed new geological time interval in which humans are having significant geological impact - List of climate scientists
2,024,871	Hod Stuart	1,170,374,534	Canadian ice hockey player	[ "1879 births", "1907 deaths", "Burials at Beechwood Cemetery (Ottawa)", "Calumet Miners players", "Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States", "Canadian ice hockey defencemen", "Diving deaths", "Hockey Hall of Fame inductees", "Ice hockey people from Ottawa", "Montreal Wanderers players", "Ottawa Rough Riders players", "Ottawa Senators (original) players", "Pittsburgh Bankers players", "Pittsburgh Professionals players", "Portage Lakes Hockey Club players", "Quebec Bulldogs players", "Stanley Cup champions" ]	William Hodgson "Hod" Stuart (February 20, 1879 – June 23, 1907) was a Canadian professional ice hockey cover-point (now known as a defenceman) who played nine seasons for several teams in different leagues. He also played briefly for the Ottawa Rough Riders football team. With his brother Bruce, Stuart played in the first professional ice hockey league, the American-based International Professional Hockey League (IPHL), where he was regarded as one of the best players in the league. Frustrated with the violence associated with the IPHL, he left the league late in 1906 and returned to Canada, where in 1907 he helped the Montreal Wanderers win the Stanley Cup, the championship trophy for hockey. Two months later, he died in a diving accident. To raise money for his widow and children, the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association hosted an all-star game, the first of its kind to be played in any sport. An estimated 3,800 spectators attended the Hod Stuart Memorial Game on January 2, 1908, described by the Montreal Herald as "unique in the history of hockey in Montreal, if not in the whole of Canada". In an era when defencemen were expected to stay behind during the play, Stuart became known for his ability to score goals while playing a defensive role, and for his ability to remain calm during matches that often turned violent. He also became known for his work to reduce that violence and to increase the salaries of hockey players. His efforts were acknowledged when the Hockey Hall of Fame was created in 1945 and he became one of the first nine players to be inducted. He was joined there by his brother Bruce in 1961. ## Personal life Stuart was born in Ottawa, Ontario, the eldest son of William Stuart and Rachel Hodgson. He had two brothers, Alex and Bruce, and two sisters, Jessie and Lottio. Stuart was involved in sports from an early age. His father had been a good lacrosse player and a good curler and was at once point skip of the Ottawa Curling Club, and both Hod and Bruce played hockey from a young age, often for the same teams. Stuart also played rugby and football, and played for the local professional football team, the Ottawa Rough Riders. Outside of hockey Stuart worked as a bricklayer, and later in his life he also worked with his father in construction. He was said to have been a quiet person, and unlike other athletes of his era was not one to talk about his exploits, except with close friends. Loughlin, his wife, came from Quebec; around 1903 they were married and had two children together. ## Playing career Stuart first joined a senior hockey team when he spent the winter of 1895–1896 with the Rat Portage Thistles, a team in northwestern Ontario. Along with his brother Bruce, Stuart joined the Ottawa Hockey Club of the Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL) for the 1899 season. He played the 1900 season for Ottawa, captaining the team. Through his father's business contacts, Stuart got a job in Quebec and moved there in 1900; upon arriving there he joined the Quebec Bulldogs, also of the CAHL. He scored seven goals in fifteen games with the team over the next two seasons. In 1902, the Pittsburgh Bankers of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League signed Stuart to a professional contract; this was disputed between the Bankers and the Pittsburgh Victorias, who also claimed him. Eventually the Bankers won the dispute and kept Stuart; the following year they would also sign Bruce. Stuart was offered a salary of US\$15–20 per week, plus steady income from a day job in Pittsburgh. Stuart scored seven goals and had eight assists and was named the best cover-point in the league in 1903. After one season in Pittsburgh, Stuart moved to the Portage Lakes Hockey Club, a team in northern Michigan, for the 1903–1904 season and played in fourteen exhibition games, finishing fourth on the team with thirteen goals scored. With the formation of the International Professional Hockey League, Stuart left Portage Lake for the Calumet Miners, where he accepted the positions of coach and manager, in addition to playing cover-point, for \$1,800. He scored eighteen goals for Calumet in 1904–1905, helped the team with the league championship and was named to the end of season all-star team as the best cover-point in the league. On December 11, 1905, before the start of the 1905–06 season, Stuart was suspended from the league after the western teams complained that he had won too many championships and was too rough for the league. He was reinstated by the league on December 30, and joined the Pittsburgh Professionals. After Pittsburgh finished their season, Stuart joined Calumet for one game so they could try to win the league championship, which they lost to the Portage Lakes Hockey Club. Once again he was named best cover-point in the IPHL as he scored eleven goals. A big man with a fluid skating stride, he was considered the finest defenceman of his era for his outstanding play on both offence and defence. As the IPHL convinced players to move to the United States and get paid to play, hockey teams in Canada were forced to match the salaries in order to keep their players. Stuart, who was unhappy playing in Pittsburgh because of the violence involved in games, heard from Dickie Boon that the Montreal Wanderers, defending Stanley Cup winners, of the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA) were willing to make Stuart the highest paid player in hockey if he were to join the team. On December 13, 1906, Stuart had a letter published in the Montreal Star that detailed his problems with the IPHL. Stuart's chief concern was the officiating; he said they "don't know how to run hockey over here, the rink people appoint the most dumb and incompetent referees that could be found." In December 1906 Pittsburgh refused to play a game against Michigan Soo, claiming they did not like the choice of referee. While a common problem in the IPHL, Pittsburgh's management believed Stuart was behind the action, and released him from the team. No longer bound to any team, Stuart joined the Wanderers; his first game with the team was watched by 6,069 fans, one of the largest audiences to see a hockey game in Canada to that point. He took part in the Wanderers' Stanley Cup challenge against the New Glasgow Cubs, a team from Nova Scotia, on December 27 and 29, 1906, and along with teammates Riley Hern, Frank Glass, Moose Johnson and Jack Marshall, became the first professional hockey players to compete for the Stanley Cup. Stuart did not escape violence in the ECAHA. On January 12, 1907, the Wanderers faced the Ottawa Senators, a game the Wanderers ultimately won 4–2. Charles Spittal of Ottawa was described as "attempting to split Cecil Blachford's skull", Alf Smith hit Stuart "across the temple with his stick, laying him out like a corpse", and Harry Smith cracked his stick across Ernie "Moose" Johnson's face, breaking Johnson's nose. Stuart was commended for his actions during the game; it was said that he neither flinched nor retaliated, even after bearing most of the hits. At a league meeting on January 18, the Montreal Victorias proposed suspending Spittal and Alf Smith for the season in response to their actions, but this was voted down and the president of the league, Fred McRobie, resigned. The next time the Senators visited Montreal for a game, the police arrested Spittal, Alf and Harry Smith, leading to \$20 fines for Spittal and Alf, and an acquittal for Harry. Even with the persistent violence, Stuart helped the Wanderers to an undefeated season; they then accepted a challenge from the Kenora Thistles for the Stanley Cup. The Thistles won the series, held in January, but lost a rematch between the teams in March, giving the Cup back to the Wanderers. Stuart participated in both challenges, and though did not score a goal in any of the four games, he was said to have played the best game of his career in the first game of the series, even with a broken finger. Regarded as the most important player on the Wanderers, Stuart was said to know how to play every position on the ice, and passed his knowledge of the game onto his teammates. ## Death Tired of the constant violence, Stuart quit hockey after the Stanley Cup championship in 1907 and joined his father in construction. As part of this job, Stuart was sent to Belleville, Ontario, to oversee the building of the Belleville Drill Shed, one of his father's contracts. While in Belleville, he continued to receive offers to join a new hockey team. He was asked if he wanted to manage the Belleville team; a similar offer came from Peterborough, Ontario, while a town outside Toronto was said to have offered a railroad president's salary if Stuart would join them. On the afternoon of June 23, 1907, Stuart went to the Bay of Quinte, near Belleville, to swim with some friends. Stuart swam to the nearby lighthouse, about half a kilometre away from his group, climbed onto a platform and dove into the shallow water. He dived head first onto jagged rocks, gashing his head and breaking his neck. He was killed instantly. His body was brought back to Ottawa, where a service was held at his family's home before he was buried at Beechwood Cemetery. ### All-star game To raise money for Stuart's widow and two children, the ECAHA decided to host an all-star game, the first of its kind to be played in any sport. An estimated 3,800 spectators attended the Hod Stuart Memorial Game on January 2, 1908, with tickets selling out days in advance. Described by the Montreal Herald as "unique in the history of hockey in Montreal, if not in the whole of Canada," the event featured the Montreal Wanderers, Stuart's former team, playing against a squad of top players from the other teams in the ECAHA. The Westmount Arena agreed to host the event for no charge, and all proceeds from the game went to Stuart's family, totaling over \$2,100. Fans were asked to mail in choices of who should play on the all-star team, with the contest winners given two tickets to the game. The Wanderers, an established team, played better than the All-Stars, who had to learn to play together, and led 7–1 after the first half of the game; though the All-Stars played better in the second half, the Wanderers won by a score of 10–7. ### Roster ### Legacy and playing style In the immediate aftermath of his death on June 23, 1907, and surrounding his funeral in Ottawa on June 24, many of Stuart's close colleagues in the tight-knit hockey community would pay tribute to the late sportsman. Representatives from the Ottawa Hockey Club, Ottawa Rowing Club, Ottawa Football Club, St. Patrick's Football Club, Ottawa Victorias and Montreal Wanderers were all present at the funeral services alongside family, friends and several city aldermen, all expressing regret for the passing of one of the city's most distinguished athletes. James Strachan, president of the Montreal Wanderers, called him "a splendid hockey player, and one of the finest fellows in the game," and his brother Billy Strachan, a teammate of Stuart on the 1906–07 Montreal Wanderers, said that "the little I did play in his company gave me a very high opinion of him as a player and as a man." Around the time of his death Hod Stuart was often in the conversation not only as one of the best cover-points in the game, but also one of the best players overall. Montreal native forward Lorne Campbell, who had been a teammate of Stuart on both the Pittsburgh Bankers (WPHL) and the Pittsburgh Professionals (IPHL), claimed in a 1908 interview with the Winnipeg Tribune that Stuart was the best cover-point the game had ever seen up to that point in time, and that he had also helped revolutionize the game of the puck rushing defenceman. Lorne Campbell would also remark that despite Stuart looking slow on the ice to some spectators, this was only due to his peculiar skating stroke that would give away a false impression, and that for a player of his big size Stuart was "the speediest that ever drew on a pair of skates to play hockey." Campbell also complimented Stuart on his stickhandling and his long reach, and claimed him to have been "one of the best generals in the game." Lorne Campbell further claimed that while Stuart had been involved in many violent hockey games as a player, he was not himself a dirty player, "but more sinned against than sinning." Campbell claimed that Stuart "was able to take care of himself on the ice, and those stories about him going into a game with the only thought of laying some player out were pure fiction." According to Campbell Stuart took so many stick whacks across his hands, particularly between the thumb and the first fingers, that he had to devise a special hockey glove so padded with protection that a crack on that part of the hand had no effect on him. ## Career statistics ### Regular season and playoffs Playing stats from Total Hockey ## Awards ### WPHL ### IPHL Awards from Total Hockey ## See also - List of ice hockey players who died during their playing career
1,866,627	Clem Hill	1,155,488,138	Australian cricketer	[ "1877 births", "1945 deaths", "Australia Test cricket captains", "Australia Test cricketers", "Australian Cricket Hall of Fame inductees", "Australian cricketers", "Australian horse racing officials", "Australian rules footballers from South Australia", "Burials at North Road Cemetery", "Cricketers from Adelaide", "People educated at Prince Alfred College", "Road incident deaths in Victoria (state)", "South Adelaide Football Club players", "South Australia cricketers", "Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees", "Wisden Cricketers of the Year" ]	Clement "Clem" Hill (18 March 1877 – 5 September 1945) was an Australian cricketer who played 49 Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1896 and 1912. He captained the Australian team in ten Tests, winning five and losing five. A prolific run scorer, Hill scored 3,412 runs in Test cricket—a world record at the time of his retirement—at an average of 39.21 per innings, including seven centuries. In 1902, Hill was the first batsman to make 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year, a feat that would not be repeated for 45 years. His innings of 365 scored against New South Wales for South Australia in 1900–01 was a Sheffield Shield record for 27 years. The South Australian Cricket Association named a grandstand at the Adelaide Oval in his honour in 2003 and he was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2005.Hill is regarded as one of the best batsman of his era. A stocky left-handed batsman, Hill had a crouched, somewhat awkward stance. He gripped the bat low on the handle, playing with a strong bottom hand. His batting style was nonetheless attractive and effective and he was especially strong on the leg side and when cutting. Able to score quickly when required, he was also recognised for his patience and strong defence. Hill normally batted at No. 3 and, along with his contemporary Victor Trumper, he was a mainstay of the Australian batting line-up in the early years of the 20th century. Hill had a strong throwing arm and was an excellent outfielder. He was a popular team-mate and captain, respected for his directness, honesty and cheerfulness. He played his first first-class cricket match for South Australia while still a schoolboy, aged 16. By the time he was 19, he had been included in the Australian team touring England in 1896, where he made his Test match début. At the Melbourne Cricket Ground two years later, Hill scored 188; his maiden Test century and still the highest score in Ashes Tests by a player under 21. He was named one of Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1899, despite missing half the English season due to illness. In the 1901–02 season, Hill was dismissed in consecutive innings for 99, 98 and 97. In total he was dismissed between 90 and 99 five times in Test cricket. In 1903–04, Hill was at the centre of a riot at the Sydney Cricket Ground after he was adjudged run out in a Test match against England. With Roger Hartigan he still holds the Australian Test record partnership for the eighth wicket—243, made against England at the Adelaide Oval in 1907–08. Hill had a strained relationship with Australian cricket authorities. He turned down an invitation to tour England in 1909 due to his unhappiness with the contract terms offered. Despite this, he was appointed Test captain in 1910–11 for the series against South Africa. His Test cricket career ended in controversy after he was involved in a brawl with cricket administrator and fellow Test selector Peter McAlister in 1912. He was one of the "Big Six", a group of leading Australian cricketers who boycotted the 1912 Triangular Tournament in England when the players were stripped of the right to appoint the tour manager. The boycott effectively ended his Test career. After retiring from cricket, Hill worked in the horse racing industry as a stipendiary steward and later as a handicapper for races including the Caulfield Cup. Hill died in 1945 aged 68 when thrown from a tram in Melbourne in a traffic accident. ## Early life Hill was born on 18 March 1877 in Adelaide, South Australia, to Henry John Hill (known as John) and his wife Rebecca, née Saunders, and grandson of Henry Hill MHA. Clem was one of eight sons and eight daughters in a family that was heavily involved in cricket. His father scored a century (102 not out) for North Adelaide against the touring Kent County Cricket Club, reportedly the first century scored at the Adelaide Oval. Six other brothers played for South Australia and in 1912–13 there were several instances of three Hill brothers in the same representative team. Clem's father was prominent in the Methodist Church and sent Clem to be educated at Prince Alfred College, the local Methodist school. "Inter-collegiate" matches, the annual fixtures against rivals St Peter's College, were fiercely contested. Hill played his first inter-collegiate match at the age of 13, keeping wicket and batting at number ten. His hands suffered from keeping wicket to the fast bowling of future Test team-mate Ernie Jones, leading to a decision to concentrate on batting. At 16, he scored 360 in the inter-collegiate match, a schoolboy record, bettering the mark made earlier by Joe Darling. Despite this, a school sportsmaster threatened to leave him out of the School XI (cricket team) if he continued to play the risky hook shot. Hill made his first-class cricket début in March 1893 while still a schoolboy, just nine days past his 16th birthday. Included in the South Australian team to play Western Australia at the Adelaide Oval, he failed to score a run; he was dismissed for a duck in the first innings and was 0 not out in the second as South Australia won by 10 wickets. In the 1894–95 season, at 17 years of age, he played the touring English team led by A.E. Stoddart, scoring 20 in his only innings in the match. Later the same season, Hill became a regular member of the South Australian team, making his Sheffield Shield debut against Victoria. Batting at number nine, he scored only 21 but the manner in which he made them saw the Australian Test wicket-keeper Jack Blackham declare the discovery of another great batsman. The English team returned to the Adelaide Oval and this time Hill scored his maiden first-class century, 150 not out, against quality bowlers including Tom Richardson and Bobby Peel. So good was the quality of Hill's batting that when he reached his century a cab driver spectator, sitting on his cab, "cheered end clapped so much [he] fell through the roof of the vehicle". In his first season of regular first-class cricket, Hill scored 335 runs in nine innings at an average of 47.85. Hill was also a talented Australian rules footballer and played for the South Adelaide Football Club during the 1890s and early 1900s. ## Test cricket ### Selection and early career Hill topped the averages for South Australia in the 1895–96 season, scoring 371 runs in seven innings. An Australian team to tour England in 1896 was selected towards the end of the season and Hill was not included. A disappointed Hill responded by scoring 206 against New South Wales, who were captained by an Australian selector, Tom Garrett. Experienced cricket watchers were impressed with Hill's ability at such a young age to control the strike, scoring 154 from his side's last 197 runs. Following this performance, public demand saw the selectors draft the 19-year-old Hill into the touring squad. Hill was one of four batsmen touring England for the first time; Joe Darling, Frank Iredale and Harry Donnan were the others. All four scored more than 1,000 runs for the tour with Hill scoring 1,196 runs at an average of 27.81. According to Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, Hill "was a brilliant success" and his batting on good wickets during the tour was "first rate". Hill made his Test début in the First Test at Lord's. Australia collapsed in the first innings to be all out for 53 with Hill bowled by George Lohmann for one. England made 292 runs in reply but the second innings saw an Australian fightback. The captain, Harry Trott (143), was partnered by Syd Gregory (103) to help Australia to a score of 347, setting England 109 runs to win. Hill failed again scoring only five, bowled this time by Jack Hearne. Rain made England's task a little more difficult but they were able to make the runs for the loss of only four wickets. Hill played in the remaining two Tests, but managed to score only 30 runs in the series. Australia lost the series and the Ashes by two Tests to one. The next Ashes series was held in 1897–98 with Stoddart again assembling an English team to tour Australia. The team included players such as K.S. Ranjitsinhji and George Hirst. The touring team's first match on arrival was against South Australia and Hill batted well, scoring exactly 200. The First Test was played in Sydney and a minor controversy ensued when officials abandoned the first day's play due to earlier heavy rain without consulting the two captains. The delay did not seem to affect the English who batted first and scored 551, including centuries by Ranjitsinhji and Archie MacLaren. The Australians were forced to follow-on after making 237. Batting again, Hill scored 96 but England managed to win the match by nine wickets. The Second Test was played in Melbourne and Australia fought back, winning by an innings and 55 runs with Hill scoring 58. Another innings victory in the Third Test in Adelaide saw Australia leading the series two Tests to one. The teams returned to Melbourne for the Fourth Test. England started the match brilliantly, reducing Australia to 6/58 on a pitch that assisted the bowlers. Hill, aged just 20, was watching at the non-striker's end as the wickets fell. Hugh Trumble came to join him and together they began to rescue the Australian innings. When Hill reached his maiden Test century, he had scored all but 42 of his side's runs. Hill played balls pitched outside leg stump particularly well and drove beautifully throughout the innings. At the tea interval, Hill, feeling refreshed, mentioned to Trumble that he thought he would "have a go at them now". The experienced Trumble cautioned Hill, replying "You young devil, you have to stop there. Go along as you have been doing." Hill and Trumble made 165 runs batting together, still a record for a seventh wicket partnership in Ashes Tests. Hill was 182 not out at the end of the day's play, the highest first-day innings against England in Australia, and leaving the ground was greeted by a barrage of photographers. After a rest day, Hill added only six more runs before being dismissed at last by Hearne. His innings remains the highest in Ashes Tests by a player under 21. Batting for 294 minutes he gave only the one chance at dismissal. The journalist and former Test player Tom Horan wrote "Hill's innings will be talked of when the smallest boy who saw it will be white with the snows of time." Australia won the Test by 8 wickets to recover the Ashes. That summer, Hill scored 1,196 runs in 19 innings including five centuries, the first Australian to score 1,000 runs in a home season. ### Consolidation During the Australian team's tour of England in 1899, Hill required surgery to remove a growth in his nose. The after-effects of the operation were more serious than expected; Hill lost an alarming amount of weight and strength and missed around half of the tour. Before this, Hill was recognised by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack as the best of the Australian batsmen that English summer. He scored 301 runs in three Tests at an average of 60.20, and was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. His best performance of the series was in the Second Test at Lord's. Hill scored 135, sharing a partnership of 82 with Victor Trumper, who was playing only his second Test match. Trumper went on to score 135 not out. Hill, who was dropped by Ranjitsinhji fielding at slip when he had made 119, batted for 4 hours and hit 17 boundaries. Australia won the Test, the only one to have a definite result, by 10 wickets and retained the Ashes. In 1900–01, Hill made a then record Sheffield Shield score for South Australia against New South Wales at the Adelaide Oval. He batted for 8 hours and 35 minutes for 365, including 35 boundaries. The record stood for 27 years until beaten by Bill Ponsford. Hill averaged more than 100 runs for the season. England returned to contest the Ashes in 1901–02, under the captaincy of Archie MacLaren. The English team was weakened by the unavailability of players such as Ranjitsinhji, Hirst, C.B. Fry and Wilfred Rhodes. The surprise selection was Sydney Barnes, who had played most of his cricket in the Lancashire League. Repeating the result of the series three years earlier, Australia lost the First Test but won the next four comfortably to retain the Ashes. Hill was the leading run scorer in the series, with 521 runs including 99, 98 and 97 in successive innings. He is still the only person to achieve this most unusual feat. Hill was the victim of bad luck during this sequence of scores between 90 and 99. At Melbourne during the New Years Test he scored 99; the first time a batsman was dismissed one run short of a century in Test cricket. In the first innings in the next Test in Adelaide, having scored 98, Hill was caught by Johnny Tyldesley who was standing on the bicycle track surrounding the oval. Tyldesley attempted to call Hill back but Hill declined, saying the captains had agreed that the fence was the boundary, not the track. Under modern laws, he would have been not out and the shot would count as six runs, allowing him his century. In the second innings, Hill's poor luck continued. He chopped down on a ball when 97 and then, to his horror, saw the ball rolling back towards his stumps. He attempted to hit the ball away from the stumps but accidentally knocked the leg bail and was out, bowled. The English writer, Simon Wilde, has described this sequence as an "unparalleled spell of nonagenarians' neurosis". Hill visited England for a third time in 1902 with the Australian team who won their fourth successive Test series. In the process the Australians "beat the records of all their predecessors in the country" by losing only two of 39 matches during the tour. For the second time, Hill scored more than 1,000 runs in an English summer; 1,534 at an average of 31.95 including four centuries. Rain affected the first two Test matches at Edgbaston and Lord's and both teams moved to Sheffield without a win. The Third Test, the only Test match played at Bramall Lane, saw Hill play one of his finest innings on a poorly prepared pitch that made batting difficult. Australia batted first and could only score 194, Barnes taking 6 wickets for 49 runs. In return Monty Noble and Jack Saunders bowled England out for 145 and Australia led by 49 runs on the first innings. When Reggie Duff was dismissed in the second innings, Hill joined Trumper at the wicket. The pair scored 60 runs in half an hour before Trumper was out, caught by the wicket-keeper. He was followed quickly by the captain, Darling, out for a duck. Syd Gregory was the next batsman and with Hill added 107 runs in only 67 minutes. In semi-darkness and facing fast and accurate bowling on a poor pitch, Hill pushed on to reach his century after 115 minutes of batting. He had given two difficult chances, one at slip when 74 and in the outfield at 77 before he was caught by MacLaren from the bowling of Jackson for 119. Australia won the Test by 143 runs. The final two Tests were thrillers. Australia won the Fourth Test at Old Trafford by a mere three runs with Trumble taking ten wickets for the match. England won the Fifth and final Test at The Oval by one wicket. Chasing 263, England were 5/48 when Gilbert Jessop began an extraordinary display of hitting, scoring a century in only 75 minutes to help England to victory. Of Hill's form during the tour, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack said "Clement Hill played many fine innings, his best performance being in the Test match at Sheffield, but, even allowing for the soft wickets, I do not think he was so great a batsman as in 1899." On the return trip to Australia, the touring team stopped in South Africa to play three Tests, the first Tests between the two nations. Hill was the most successful Australian batsman in the series, scoring 327 runs at an average of 81.75. In the First Test he made 145 when Australia was in trouble after following-on, an innings described in Wisden as "marred by very few mistakes". In the Third Test, Hill batted through much of the Australian first innings to make 91 not out. Australia won the Test by ten wickets and the series two Tests to nil. ### Establishment For the first time under the auspices of the Marylebone Cricket Club, an English team travelled to Australia for the 1903–04 season to contest the Ashes. Contrary to expectations before the tour, the English won the series and the Ashes three Tests to two. Hill trailed Trumper and Noble in the series averages, making 276 runs at 27.60 without ever getting to 100 in an innings. In the First Test, Hill was at the centre of what Wisden described as a "very regrettable and indeed disgraceful [crowd] demonstration". Batting with Trumper, Hill had run well past the stumps at the bowler's end for a fourth run. The English return gave the Australian pair an opportunity for an overthrow. Hill had to run the entire length of the pitch. Albert Relf at mid-on gathered and threw to the wicket-keeper, Dick Lilley who removed the bails and appealed for the run out. Umpire Bob Crockett gave Hill out. Hill could not believe the decision as the ball had passed behind him when he slid his bat to make his ground. The crowd were also convinced that Hill was not out and began to hoot, chanting "Crock!, Crock!, Crock!" Bottles were thrown onto the surrounding cycle track and the English captain Plum Warner threatened to take his team from the ground. At the end of the day, Crockett required a police escort when leaving the ground. Hill's best performance of the series was at his home town, Adelaide, in the Third Test. Hill scored 88 before being dismissed by Ted Arnold, caught by the wicket-keeper. Australia won the Test by 216 runs. Hill toured England for the last time with the 1905 Australian team. The Test series was dominated by what was seen as uninspired cricket with England retaining the Ashes two Tests to nil. The Australian batting suffered from a lack of steadiness and Hill was one of the Australians criticised by Wisden that season; "[Hill] would certainly have met with more consistent success if he had retained his old self-control. He was somewhat indiscriminate in hitting at the off-ball, and many a time his impatience cost him his wicket." However Wisden praised his fielding, saying "Trumper, Hill, and Hopkins did any amount of fine work in the deep field". The Australians recovered the Ashes from the 1907–08 English team, winning the series four Tests to one. England were hit by the loss of their captain, Arthur Jones who contracted an illness that threatened to develop into pneumonia, causing him to miss the first three Tests. Hill, batting with team-mate Roger Hartigan playing his first Test match, set a record in the Third Test in Adelaide. Suffering from influenza and unable to field in the English first innings, Hill joined Hartigan at the fall of the seventh wicket. During his innings, Hill vomited beside the pitch and had to quickly leave the field several times. The pair managed to bat on and take the match into a fourth day. Hartigan, whose leave from work had expired, was relieved to receive a telegram from his employer: "Stay as long as you are making runs." When Hartigan was dismissed for 116, the pair had together made 243 for the eighth wicket—still an Australian Test record. With Sammy Carter, Hill continued before finally dismissed by Jack Crawford for 160, after 5 hours and 19 minutes of batting. At the end of his innings Hill was close to collapse but his efforts assisted his team defeat the English by 245 runs. ### Captain Australia were due to tour England to contest the Ashes in 1909. Hill, along with other senior players, was fighting against a proposal to move the management of international tours away from the players to the new Australian Board of Control for International Cricket Matches. Hill by now was a team selector and strongly opposed the selection in the team of 40-year-old Peter McAlister, who Hill claimed "was past his best" and "not suited to English conditions". McAlister was also a member of the selection panel and was able to secure a majority for his selection. Hill accused his fellow selectors of conspiracy and said he had "decided to wash his hands of the affair" and that "he did not consider that the best men had been chosen". Hill's relationship with McAlister would remain fractious. Hill was also a delegate on the Board of Control, representing the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA). At the Board meeting in February 1909 to set the terms to be offered to the players selected for the tour, the SACA delegates were outvoted on every point. Hill declined to accept the terms offered. Since his marriage in 1905, Hill had spent considerable time away from his wife with his commitments during two Test series against England and this may have also influenced his decision not to tour. When Hill returned to the Test team it was as captain for a series against the visiting South Africa national cricket team in 1910–11. The South Africans, led by Aubrey Faulkner, had a novel bowling attack consisting of several googly bowlers, such as Bert Vogler, Reggie Schwarz and Faulkner himself and the slow left-arm wrist-spin bowler Charlie "Buck" Llewellyn. The South Africans started the tour well, defeating a South Australian team unable to handle the unusual bowling approach. Hill, after consulting with other players, settled on a strategy of hitting the bowlers off their length with aggressive batting. Hill showed the way in the First Test at Sydney, scoring his first 100 runs in 98 minutes. In a partnership with Warren Bardsley, the pair scored 224 runs in only two hours. After just 3 hours and 20 minutes at the crease, he was dismissed for 191; his highest Test score. Australia won the Test by an innings and 114 runs. Australia won the Second Test in Melbourne after bowling the South Africans out for 80 in their second innings, but the South Africans fought back to win the Third Test in Adelaide by 38 runs. Australia won the Fourth Test by 508 runs after being sent in to bat by South Africa, who hoped to trap them on a rain-affected wicket. The Australians managed to end the first day's play at 8/317 to avoid the trap and win the Test. In the second innings, Hill hit another century (100) in only 100 minutes, with Wisden noting that he "play[ed] especially well". Australia won the final Test and the series four Tests to one. ### Brawl and boycott Hill's Test career ended in controversy amid another dispute with the Board of Control. He was once again appointed captain of the Australian team against an English side captained by Johnny Douglas in 1911–12. The English team included bowlers of the calibre of Barnes and Frank Foster and, after losing the first Test in Sydney, won all four remaining Tests to secure the Ashes. Hill had a lean season with the bat, managing 274 runs at an average of 27.40. The England bowlers were clearly superior to the Australian batsmen; Trumper was the only Australian to score a century during the Tests. While this series took place, the Board of Control made plans to usurp the commonly accepted right of the players to appoint the team manager when touring England. In response, a group of senior players, including Hill, threatened to withdraw from the next tour, to take place in 1912, unless their choice, Frank Laver, was appointed. Matters came to a head when Hill sent a telegram to fellow selector, Peter McAlister, urging the inclusion of the New South Wales all-rounder Charlie Macartney in the team for the Fourth Test in Melbourne. The reply from McAlister—a member of the Board of Control who still bore some animosity towards Hill from past comments—to Hill's request was "... Still opposed to Macartney's inclusion. If Iredale (another selector) agrees with you as to Macartney's inclusion, I favour yourself standing down not Minnett." Hill saw the offer to remove himself from the team as sore provocation and his team-mates scorned the suggestion. Australia lost the Third Test by seven wickets. Macartney wrote later, "Persistent ill-feeling seriously affected the morale of the side." At a meeting held after the Test, the Board of Control rejected the players' petition and declared that the manager would be appointed by the Board alone. At a "special meeting" two weeks later, the Board appointed George Crouch from Queensland to the position of tour manager. The following day, 3 February 1912, the selection committee met in Sydney to decide the team for the Fourth Test. It was the first time Hill and McAlister had met since the exchange of telegrams. The pair exchanged insults with McAlister sharply criticising Hill's captaincy. Hill retorted, "In England, Armstrong wouldn't play under you. Did you ever win any except second rate games?" McAlister replied, "I am a better captain than Trumper, Armstrong and yourself put together. You are the worst captain I have ever seen." Hill then warned McAlister to stop insulting him but McAlister repeated the remark. Losing control, Hill struck McAlister a blow across the face. The two then grappled for around ten minutes. Blood was drawn, staining their clothes and splashing on the other men present, Iredale and secretary Sydney Smith. At one stage, fearing that one or both combatants would fall through the window and onto the street, Smith grabbed hold of Hill's coat-tails. The fight ended with a bloody McAlister lying on the floor and Hill, unmarked, standing over him. Hill told Smith he could no longer work with McAlister. Smith then asked Hill to put his resignation in writing and the Board accepted it that evening. The crowds at the Melbourne and Sydney Tests gave Hill three cheers when he arrived at the wicket. When Hill reached the batting crease in his last Test at Sydney, the umpire Bob Crockett said "there were tears in his eyes". An in camera investigation into the fracas took place; the Board's only comment on the meeting was to report that it had been "satisfactorily settled". Hill was then offered an invitation to take part in the 1912 Triangular Tournament in England. Hill declined the invitation, along with Warwick Armstrong, Trumper, Carter, Noble and Vernon Ransford, who collectively became known as the "Big Six". He never played Test cricket again. ### Retirement and legacy At the age of 43, Hill returned to first-class cricket for one match to assist in its re-establishment in Australia after the Great War. In support of the benefits of some former colleagues, he played in a further two first-class matches with his best score of 66 coming in a game against Victoria. His last match was for an Australian XI against New South Wales played to support Bill Howell's benefit. In all Tests, Hill scored 3,412 runs at an average just under 40 runs per innings and including seven centuries. When he retired he had scored more runs in Test cricket than any other player; a record he held for 12 years until surpassed by Jack Hobbs. In 1902 Hill was the first to score 1,000 Test runs in a calendar year; the next to do so was Denis Compton 45 years later in 1947. Prolific in Australian state cricket as well, he headed the South Australian first-class averages on ten occasions between 1895–96 and 1910–11. In successive innings in 1909–10 he scored 175 against Victoria in Adelaide, 205 against New South Wales and 185 against Victoria in Melbourne. He was the only Australian to score more than 17,000 runs in the period before pitches were protected from rain. In club cricket he averaged more than 100 runs for the season on three occasions. In 2003, the South Australian Cricket Association named the new southern grandstand at the Adelaide Oval the "Clem Hill Stand" in recognition of his contribution to South Australian cricket. Hill was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2005. ## Outside cricket Hill served an engineering apprenticeship at the government workshops in Islington. On retirement from cricket, however, Hill began a career in horse racing administration. He was employed as a stipendiary steward with the South Australian Jockey Club and the Adelaide Racing Club and in 1937 he was appointed handicapper for the Victoria Amateur Turf Club (VATC) in Melbourne. At the VATC he was responsible for setting the weights for the Caulfield Cup, one of Australia's richest and most prestigious horse races. He served in this role for six years before poor health saw him take a less demanding role at the Geelong Racing Club. Hill married Florence "Florrie" Hart, granddaughter of William Hart M.L.C. in Tasmania in 1905. The couple settled in Adelaide and raised two daughters, Lesley and Brenda. When he took up his role with the VATC, Hill and his family moved to Toorak, an eastern suburb of Melbourne. In 1945, Hill was thrown from a tram in a traffic accident on busy Collins Street in inner Melbourne. He was taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital and died there soon after aged 68. His body was returned for burial at North Road Cemetery in the Adelaide suburb of Nailsworth. ## Style and personality Short and stocky, Hill was a gifted batsman who could score quickly when required. Wisden described Hill as a "specially brilliant batsman on hard pitches". He had an awkward crouched stance, gripping the bat low on the handle. This limited his forward reach and power and reduced his effectiveness when driving but he compensated for this with quick footwork. Hill's strong bottom hand and his keen eye allowed him to play the cut shot cleanly and with confidence and to hit powerfully on the leg side. He preferred batting against fast bowling rather than slow and medium pace bowlers and he was a fearless exponent of the hook shot. Hill had a tendency to get out in the "nervous nineties", being dismissed six times between 90 and 99 in Test matches. This included a sequence in the 1901–02 series against England of 99, 98 and 97 in successive innings. > While able to drive hard to the off or straight, usually with the ball kept down, Clem Hill scored chiefly on the leg side by skilful strokes perfectly timed and placed, the way in which he turned straight balls clear of fieldsmen being exceptional. Brilliant square and late cutting made Hill delightful to watch and in defence his style claimed admiration while his patience was unlimited An excellent fielder in the deep, Hill had a powerful throwing arm. During a match at Leeds during the 1902 tour of England, he threw a ball from near the boundary, knocking down the stumps at one end and rebounding to hit the stumps the other end. During the same tour at Old Trafford, Hill made a catch that Wisden claimed "will never be forgotten by [those present]". A Dick Lilley hit to square leg looked likely to clear the boundary. Hill himself said he raced 25 yards (23 m) for it with a view simply to save a boundary. In the event, he ran round 'close to the boundary' from his position at long on, aided by the wind seemingly holding up the ball to take the catch low down in front of the pavilion in his outstretched hands; one that Wisden said "few fieldsmen would have thought worth attempting". Hill was a man of high ideals and was popular with his fellow players. Pelham Warner commented on his pleasant nature and Robert Trumble, an author and son of Hugh Trumble, recalled him as honest, direct and without guile. An anecdote told about Hill had him hitting a low shot into shadows where Warren Bardsley was fielding. He completed one run and then asked the umpire if the ball had been caught. The shadow made it impossible for the umpire to see, so Hill then asked Bardsley, "Did you catch it?" When Bardsley replied in the affirmative, Hill immediately walked to the pavilion. When England won four Tests in a row in 1911–12, Hill managed to retain the confidence of his players. Frank Iredale wrote that Hill was a cheery skipper whose men were happy under his leadership. Despite breaking many records, Hill showed little awareness of them. When watching Jack Hobbs break his record for the most runs in Test cricket at Headingley in 1926, it was Hobbs' wife sitting nearby who had to remind Hill that the record was previously his.
57,172	Peasants' Revolt	1,166,456,105	1381 uprising in England	[ "1381 in England", "14th century in London", "14th-century English farmers", "14th-century rebellions", "Battles and military actions in London", "Conflicts in 1381", "History of Essex", "History of Kent", "History of the Royal Borough of Greenwich", "Peasants' Revolt", "Protests in England", "Rebellions in medieval England", "Richard II of England", "Riots and civil disorder in England" ]	The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black Death in the 1340s, the high taxes resulting from the conflict with France during the Hundred Years' War, and instability within the local leadership of London. The final trigger for the revolt was the intervention of a royal official, John Bampton, in Essex on 30 May 1381. His attempts to collect unpaid poll taxes in Brentwood ended in a violent confrontation, which rapidly spread across the southeast of the country. A wide spectrum of rural society, including many local artisans and village officials, rose up in protest, burning court records and opening the local prisons. The rebels sought a reduction in taxation, an end to serfdom, and the removal of King Richard II's senior officials and law courts. Inspired by the sermons of the radical cleric John Ball and led by Wat Tyler, a contingent of Kentish rebels advanced on London. They were met at Blackheath by representatives of the royal government, who unsuccessfully attempted to persuade them to return home. King Richard, then aged 14, retreated to the safety of the Tower of London, but most of the royal forces were abroad or in northern England. On 13 June, the rebels entered London and, joined by many local townsfolk, attacked the prisons, destroyed the Savoy Palace, set fire to law books and buildings in the Temple, and killed anyone associated with the royal government. The following day, Richard met the rebels at Mile End and agreed to most of their demands, including the abolition of serfdom. Meanwhile, rebels entered the Tower of London, killing Simon Sudbury, Lord Chancellor, and Robert Hales, Lord High Treasurer, whom they found inside. On 15 June, Richard left the city to meet Tyler and the rebels at Smithfield. Violence broke out, and Richard's party killed Tyler. Richard defused the tense situation long enough for London's mayor, William Walworth, to gather a militia from the city and disperse the rebel forces. Richard immediately began to re-establish order in London and rescinded his previous grants to the rebels. The revolt had also spread into East Anglia, where the University of Cambridge was attacked and many royal officials were killed. Unrest continued until the intervention of Henry Despenser, who defeated a rebel army at the Battle of North Walsham on 25 or 26 June. Troubles extended north to York, Beverley, and Scarborough, and as far west as Bridgwater in Somerset. Richard mobilised 4,000 soldiers to restore order. Most of the rebel leaders were tracked down and executed; by November, at least 1,500 rebels had been killed. The Peasants' Revolt has been widely studied by academics. Late 19th-century historians used a range of sources from contemporary chroniclers to assemble an account of the uprising, and these were supplemented in the 20th century by research using court records and local archives. Interpretations of the revolt have shifted over the years. It was once seen as a defining moment in English history, but modern academics are less certain of its impact on subsequent social and economic history. The revolt heavily influenced the course of the Hundred Years' War, by deterring later Parliaments from raising additional taxes to pay for military campaigns in France. The revolt has been widely used in socialist literature, including by the author William Morris, and remains a potent symbol for the political left, informing the arguments surrounding the introduction of the Community Charge in the United Kingdom during the 1980s. ## Background and causes ### Economics The Peasants' Revolt was fed by the economic and social upheaval of the 14th century. At the start of the century, the majority of English people worked in the countryside economy that fed the country's towns and cities and supported an extensive international trade. Across much of England, production was organised around manors, controlled by local lords – including the gentry and the Church – and governed through a system of manorial courts. Some of the population were unfree serfs, who had to work on their lords' lands for a period each year, although the balance of free and unfree varied across England, and in the south-east serfdom was relatively rare. Some serfs were born unfree and could not leave their manors to work elsewhere without the consent of the local lord; others accepted limitations on their freedom as part of the tenure agreement for their farmland. Population growth led to pressure on the available agricultural land, increasing the power of local landowners. In 1348 a plague known as the Black Death crossed from mainland Europe into England, rapidly killing an estimated 50 percent of the population. After an initial period of economic shock, England began to adapt to the changed economic situation. The death rate among the peasantry meant that suddenly land was relatively plentiful and labourers in much shorter supply. Labourers could charge more for their work and, in the consequent competition for labour, wages were driven sharply upwards. In turn, the profits of landowners were eroded. The trading, commercial and financial networks in the towns disintegrated. The authorities responded to the chaos by passing emergency legislation, the Ordinance of Labourers in 1349, and the Statute of Labourers in 1351. These attempted to fix wages at pre-plague levels, making it a crime to refuse work or to break an existing contract, imposing fines on those who transgressed. The system was initially enforced through special Justices of Labourers and then, from the 1360s onwards, through the normal Justices of the Peace, typically members of the local gentry. Although in theory these laws applied to both labourers seeking higher wages and to employers tempted to outbid their competitors for workers, they were in practice applied only to labourers, and then in a rather arbitrary fashion. The legislation was strengthened in 1361, with the penalties increased to include branding and imprisonment. The royal government had not intervened in this way before, nor allied itself with the local landowners in quite such an obvious or unpopular way. Over the next few decades, economic opportunities increased for the English peasantry. Some labourers took up specialist jobs that would have previously been barred to them, and others moved from employer to employer, or became servants in richer households. These changes were keenly felt across the south-east of England, where the London market created a wide range of opportunities for farmers and artisans. Local lords had the right to prevent serfs from leaving their manors, but when serfs found themselves blocked in the manorial courts, many simply left to work illegally on manors elsewhere. Wages continued to rise, and between the 1340s and the 1380s the purchasing power of rural labourers increased by around 40 percent. As the wealth of the lower classes increased, Parliament brought in fresh laws in 1363 to prevent them from consuming expensive goods formerly only affordable by the elite. These sumptuary laws proved unenforceable, but the wider labour laws continued to be firmly applied. ### War and finance Another factor in the revolt of 1381 was the conduct of the war with France. In 1337 Edward III of England had pressed his claims to the French throne, beginning a long-running conflict that became known as the Hundred Years' War. Edward had initial successes, but his campaigns were not decisive. Charles V of France became more active in the conflict after 1369, taking advantage of his country's greater economic strength to commence cross-Channel raids on England. By the 1370s, England's armies on the continent were under huge military and financial pressure; the garrisons in Calais and Brest alone, for example, were costing £36,000 a year to maintain, while military expeditions could consume £50,000 in only six months. Edward died in 1377, leaving the throne to his grandson, Richard II, then only ten years old. Richard's government was formed around his uncles, most prominently the rich and powerful John of Gaunt, and many of his grandfather's former senior officials. They faced the challenge of financially sustaining the war in France. Taxes in the 14th century were raised on an ad hoc basis through Parliament, then comprising the Lords, the titled aristocracy and clergy; and the Commons, the representatives of the knights, merchants and senior gentry from across England. These taxes were typically imposed on a household's movable possessions, such as their goods or stock. The raising of these taxes affected the members of the Commons much more than the Lords. To complicate matters, the official statistics used to administer the taxes pre-dated the Black Death and, since the size and wealth of local communities had changed greatly since the plague, effective collection had become increasingly difficult. Just before Edward's death, Parliament introduced a new form of taxation called the poll tax, which was levied at the rate of four pence on every person over the age of 14, with a deduction for married couples. Designed to spread the cost of the war over a broader economic base than previous tax levies, this round of taxation proved extremely unpopular but raised £22,000. The war continued to go badly and, despite raising some money through forced loans, the Crown returned to Parliament in 1379 to request further funds. The Commons were supportive of the young King, but had concerns about the amounts of money being sought and the way this was being spent by the King's counsellors, whom they suspected of corruption. A second poll tax was approved, this time with a sliding scale of taxes against seven different classes of English society, with the upper classes paying more in absolute terms. Widespread evasion proved to be a problem, and the tax only raised £18,600 – far short of the £50,000 that had been hoped for. In November 1380, Parliament was called together again in Northampton. Archbishop Simon Sudbury, the new Lord Chancellor, updated the Commons on the worsening situation in France, a collapse in international trade, and the risk of the Crown having to default on its debts. The Commons were told that the colossal sum of £160,000 was now required in new taxes, and arguments ensued between the royal council and Parliament about what to do next. Parliament passed a third poll tax (this time on a flat-rate basis of 12 pence on each person over 15, with no allowance made for married couples) which they estimated would raise £66,666. The third poll tax was highly unpopular and many in the south-east evaded it by refusing to register. The royal council appointed new commissioners in March 1381 to interrogate local village and town officials in an attempt to find those who were refusing to comply. The extraordinary powers and interference of these teams of investigators in local communities, primarily in the south-east and east of England, raised still further the tensions surrounding the taxes. ### Protest and authority The decades running up to 1381 were a rebellious, troubled period. London was a particular focus of unrest, and the activities of the city's politically active guilds and fraternities often alarmed the authorities. Londoners resented the expansion of the royal legal system in the capital, in particular the increased role of the Marshalsea Court in Southwark, which had begun to compete with the city authorities for judicial power in London. The city's population also resented the presence of foreigners, Flemish weavers in particular. Londoners detested John of Gaunt because he was a supporter of the religious reformer John Wycliffe, whom the London public regarded as a heretic. John of Gaunt was also engaged in a feud with the London elite and was rumoured to be planning to replace the elected mayor with a captain, appointed by the Crown. The London elite were themselves fighting out a vicious, internal battle for political power. As a result, in 1381 the ruling classes in London were unstable and divided. Rural communities, particularly in the south-east, were unhappy with the operation of serfdom and the use of the local manorial courts to exact traditional fines and levies, not least because the same landowners who ran these courts also often acted as enforcers of the unpopular labour laws or as royal judges. Many of the village elites refused to take up positions in local government and began to frustrate the operation of the courts. Animals seized by the courts began to be retaken by their owners, and legal officials were assaulted. Some started to advocate the creation of independent village communities, respecting traditional laws but separate from the hated legal system centred in London. As the historian Miri Rubin describes, for many, "the problem was not the country's laws, but those charged with applying and safeguarding them". Concerns were raised about these changes in society. William Langland wrote the poem Piers Plowman in the years before 1380, praising peasants who respected the law and worked hard for their lords, but complaining about greedy, travelling labourers demanding higher wages. The poet John Gower warned against a future revolt in both Mirour de l'Omme and Vox Clamantis. There was a moral panic about the threat posed by newly arrived workers in the towns and the possibility that servants might turn against their masters. New legislation was introduced in 1359 to deal with migrants, existing conspiracy laws were more widely applied and the treason laws were extended to include servants or wives who betrayed their masters and husbands. By the 1370s, there were fears that if the French invaded England, the rural classes might side with the invaders. The discontent began to give way to open protest. In 1377, the "Great Rumour" occurred in south-east and south-west England. Rural workers organised themselves and refused to work for their lords, arguing that, according to the Domesday Book, they were exempted from such requests. The workers made unsuccessful appeals to the law courts and the King. There were also widespread urban tensions, particularly in London, where John of Gaunt narrowly escaped being lynched. The troubles increased again in 1380, with protests and disturbances across northern England and in the western towns of Shrewsbury and Bridgwater. An uprising occurred in York, during which John de Gisborne, the city's mayor, was removed from office, and fresh tax riots followed in early 1381. There was a great storm in England during May 1381, which many felt to prophesy future change and upheaval, adding further to the disturbed mood. ## Events ### Outbreak of revolt #### Essex and Kent The revolt of 1381 broke out in Essex, following the arrival of John Bampton to investigate non-payment of the poll tax on 30 May. Bampton was a Member of Parliament, a Justice of the Peace and well-connected with royal circles. He based himself in Brentwood and summoned representatives from the neighbouring villages of Corringham, Fobbing and Stanford-le-Hope to explain and make good the shortfalls on 1 June. The villagers appear to have arrived well-organised, and armed with old bows and sticks. Bampton first interrogated the people of Fobbing, whose representative, Thomas Baker, declared that his village had already paid their taxes, and that no more money would be forthcoming. When Bampton and two sergeants attempted to arrest Baker, violence broke out. Bampton escaped and retreated to London, but three of his clerks and several of the Brentwood townsfolk who had agreed to act as jurors were killed. Robert Bealknap, the Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, who was probably already holding court in the area, was empowered to arrest and deal with the perpetrators. By the next day, the revolt was rapidly growing. The villagers spread the news across the region, and John Geoffrey, a local bailiff, rode between Brentwood and Chelmsford, rallying support. On 4 June, the rebels gathered at Bocking, where their future plans seem to have been discussed. The Essex rebels, possibly a few thousand strong, advanced towards London, some probably travelling directly and others via Kent. One group, under the leadership of John Wrawe, a former chaplain, marched north towards the neighbouring county of Suffolk, with the intention of raising a revolt there. Revolt also flared in neighbouring Kent. Sir Simon de Burley, a close associate of both Edward III and the young Richard, had claimed that a man in Kent, called Robert Belling, was an escaped serf from one of his estates. Burley sent two sergeants to Gravesend, where Belling was living, to reclaim him. Gravesend's local bailiffs and Belling tried to negotiate a solution under which Burley would accept a sum of money in return for dropping his case, but this failed and Belling was taken away to be imprisoned at Rochester Castle. A furious group of local people gathered at Dartford, possibly on 5 June, to discuss the matter. From there the rebels travelled to Maidstone, where they stormed the prison, and then on to Rochester on 6 June. Faced by the angry crowds, the constable in charge of Rochester Castle surrendered it without a fight and Belling was freed. Some of the Kentish crowds now dispersed, but others continued. From this point, they appear to have been led by Wat Tyler, whom the Anonimalle Chronicle suggests was elected their leader at a large gathering at Maidstone on 7 June. Relatively little is known about Tyler's former life; chroniclers suggest that he was from Essex, had served in France as an archer and was a charismatic and capable leader. Several chroniclers believe that he was responsible for shaping the political aims of the revolt. Some also mention a Jack Straw as a leader among the Kentish rebels during this phase in the revolt, but it is uncertain if this was a real person, or a pseudonym for Wat Tyler or John Wrawe. Tyler and the Kentish men advanced to Canterbury, entering the walled city and castle without resistance on 10 June. The rebels deposed the absent Archbishop of Canterbury, Sudbury, and made the cathedral monks swear loyalty to their cause. They attacked properties in the city with links to the hated royal council, and searched the city for suspected enemies, dragging the suspects out of their houses and executing them. The city prison was opened and the prisoners freed. Tyler then persuaded a few thousand of the rebels to leave Canterbury and advance with him on London the next morning. #### March on the capital The Kentish advance on London appears to have been coordinated with the movement of the rebels in Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk. Their forces were armed with weapons including sticks, battle axes, old swords and bows. Along their way, they encountered Lady Joan, the King's mother, who was travelling back to the capital to avoid being caught up in the revolt; she was mocked but otherwise left unharmed. The Kentish rebels reached Blackheath, just south-east of the capital, on 12 June. Word of the revolt reached the King at Windsor Castle on the night of 10 June. He travelled by boat down the River Thames to London the next day, taking up residence in the powerful fortress of the Tower of London for safety, where he was joined by his mother, Archbishop Sudbury, the Lord High Treasurer Sir Robert Hales, the Earls of Arundel, Salisbury and Warwick and several other senior nobles. A delegation, headed by Thomas Brinton, the Bishop of Rochester, was sent out from London to negotiate with the rebels and persuade them to return home. At Blackheath, John Ball gave a famous sermon to the assembled Kentishmen. Ball was a well-known priest and radical preacher from Kent, who was by now closely associated with Tyler. Chroniclers' accounts vary as to how he came to be involved in the revolt; he may have been released from Maidstone prison by the crowds, or might have been already at liberty when the revolt broke out. Ball rhetorically asked the crowds "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then a gentleman?" and promoted the rebel slogan "With King Richard and the true commons of England". The phrases emphasised the rebel opposition to the continuation of serfdom and to the hierarchies of the Church and State that separated the subject from the King, while stressing that they were loyal to the monarchy and, unlike the King's advisers, were "true" to Richard. The rebels rejected proposals from the Bishop of Rochester that they should return home, and instead prepared to march on. Discussions took place in the Tower of London about how to deal with the revolt. The King had only a few troops at hand, in the form of the castle's garrison, his immediate bodyguard and, at most, several hundred soldiers. Many of the more experienced military commanders were in France, Ireland and Germany, and the nearest major military force was in the north of England, guarding against a potential Scottish invasion. Resistance in the provinces was also complicated by English law, which stated that only the King could summon local militias or lawfully execute rebels and criminals, leaving many local lords unwilling to attempt to suppress the uprisings on their own authority. Since the Blackheath negotiations had failed, the decision was taken that the King himself should meet the rebels, at Greenwich, on the south side of the Thames. Guarded by four barges of soldiers, Richard sailed from the Tower on the morning of 13 June, where he was met on the other side by the rebel crowds. The negotiations failed, as Richard was unwilling to come ashore and the rebels refused to enter discussions until he did. Richard returned across the river to the Tower. ### Events in London #### Entry to the city The rebels began to cross from Southwark onto London Bridge on the afternoon of 13 June. The defences on London Bridge were opened from the inside, either in sympathy for the rebel cause or out of fear, and the rebels advanced into the city. At the same time, the rebel force from Essex made its way towards Aldgate on the north side of the city. The rebels swept west through the centre of the city, and Aldgate was opened to let the rest of the rebels in. The Kentish rebels had assembled a wide-ranging list of people whom they wanted the King to hand over for execution. It included national figures, such as John of Gaunt, Archbishop Sudbury and Hales; other key members of the royal council; officials, such as Belknap and Bampton who had intervened in Kent; and other hated members of the wider royal circle. When they reached the Marshalsea Prison in Southwark, they tore it apart. By now the Kent and Essex rebels had been joined by many rebellious Londoners. The Fleet and Newgate Prisons were attacked by the crowds, and the rebels also targeted houses belonging to Flemish immigrants. On the north side of London, the rebels approached Smithfield and Clerkenwell Priory, the headquarters of the Knights Hospitaller which was headed by Hales. The priory was destroyed, along with the nearby manor. Heading west along Fleet Street, the rebels attacked the Temple, a complex of legal buildings and offices owned by the Hospitallers. The contents, books and paperwork were brought out and burned in the street, and the buildings systematically demolished. Meanwhile, John Fordham, the Keeper of the Privy Seal and one of the men on the rebels' execution list, narrowly escaped when the crowds ransacked his accommodation but failed to notice he was still in the building. Next to be attacked along Fleet Street was the Savoy Palace, a huge, luxurious building belonging to John of Gaunt. According to the chronicler Henry Knighton it contained "such quantities of vessels and silver plate, without counting the parcel-gilt and solid gold, that five carts would hardly suffice to carry them"; official estimates placed the value of the contents at around £10,000. The interior was systematically destroyed by the rebels, who burnt the soft furnishings, smashed the precious metal work, crushed the gems, set fire to the Duke's records and threw the remains into the Thames and the city drains. Almost nothing was stolen by the rebels, who declared themselves to be "zealots for truth and justice, not thieves and robbers". The remains of the building were then set alight. In the evening, rebel forces gathered outside the Tower of London, from where the King watched the fires burning across the city. #### Taking the Tower of London On the morning of 14 June, the crowd continued west along the Thames, burning the houses of officials around Westminster and opening the Westminster prison. They then moved back into central London, setting fire to more buildings and storming Newgate Prison. The hunt for Flemings continued, and those with Flemish-sounding accents were killed, including the royal adviser, Richard Lyons. In one city ward, the bodies of 40 executed Flemings were piled up in the street, and at the Church of St Martin Vintry, popular with the Flemish, 35 of the community were killed. Historian Rodney Hilton argues that these attacks may have been coordinated by the weavers' guilds of London, who were commercial competitors of the Flemish weavers. Isolated inside the Tower, the royal government was in a state of shock at the turn of events. The King left the castle that morning and made his way to negotiate with the rebels at Mile End in east London, taking only a very small bodyguard with him. The King left Sudbury and Hales behind in the Tower, either for their own safety or because Richard had decided it would be safer to distance himself from his unpopular ministers. Along the way, several Londoners accosted the King to complain about alleged injustices. It is uncertain who spoke for the rebels at Mile End, and Wat Tyler may not have been present on this occasion, but they appear to have put forward their various demands to the King, including the surrender of the hated officials on their lists for execution; the abolition of serfdom and unfree tenure; "that there should be no law within the realm save the law of Winchester", and a general amnesty for the rebels. It is unclear precisely what was meant by the law of Winchester, but it probably referred to the rebel ideal of self-regulating village communities. Richard issued charters announcing the abolition of serfdom, which immediately began to be disseminated around the country. He declined to hand over any of his officials, apparently instead promising that he would personally implement any justice that was required. While Richard was at Mile End, the Tower was taken by the rebels. This force, separate from those operating under Tyler at Mile End, approached the castle, possibly in the late morning. The gates were open to receive Richard on his return and a crowd of around 400 rebels entered the fortress, encountering no resistance, possibly because the guards were terrified by them. Once inside, the rebels began to hunt down their key targets, and found Archbishop Sudbury and Robert Hales in the chapel of the White Tower. Along with William Appleton, John of Gaunt's physician, and John Legge, a royal sergeant, they were taken out to Tower Hill and beheaded. Their heads were paraded around the city, before being affixed to London Bridge. The rebels found John of Gaunt's son, the future Henry IV, and were about to execute him as well, when John Ferrour, one of the royal guards, successfully interceded on his behalf. The rebels also discovered Lady Joan and Joan Holland, Richard's sister, in the castle but let them go unharmed after making fun of them. The castle was thoroughly looted of armour and royal paraphernalia. In the aftermath of the attack, Richard did not return to the Tower but instead travelled from Mile End to the Great Wardrobe, one of his royal houses in Blackfriars, part of south-west London. There he appointed the military commander Richard FitzAlan, the Earl of Arundel, to replace Sudbury as Chancellor, and began to make plans to regain an advantage over the rebels the following day. Many of the Essex rebels now began to disperse, content with the King's promises, leaving Tyler and the Kentish forces the most significant faction in London. Tyler's men moved around the city that evening, seeking out and killing John of Gaunt's employees, foreigners and anyone associated with the legal system. #### Smithfield On 15 June the royal government and the remaining rebels, who were unsatisfied with the charters granted the previous day, agreed to meet at Smithfield, just outside the city walls. London remained in confusion, with various bands of rebels roaming the city independently. Richard prayed at Westminster Abbey, before setting out for the meeting in the late afternoon. The chroniclers' accounts of the encounter all vary on matters of detail, but agree on the broad sequence of events. The King and his party, at least 200 strong and including men-at-arms, positioned themselves outside St Bartholomew's Priory to the east of Smithfield, and the thousands of rebels massed along the western end. Richard probably called Tyler forwards from the crowd to meet him, and Tyler greeted the King with what the royal party considered excessive familiarity, terming Richard his "brother" and promising him his friendship. Richard queried why Tyler and the rebels had not yet left London following the signing of the charters the previous day, but this brought an angry rebuke from Tyler, who requested that a further charter be drawn up. The rebel leader rudely demanded refreshment and, once this had been provided, attempted to leave. An argument then broke out between Tyler and some of the royal servants. The Lord Mayor of London, William Walworth, stepped forward to intervene, Tyler made some motion towards the King, and the royal soldiers leapt in. Either Walworth or Richard ordered Tyler to be arrested, Tyler attempted to attack the Mayor, and Walworth responded by stabbing Tyler. Ralph Standish, a royal squire, then repeatedly stabbed Tyler with his sword, mortally injuring him. The situation was now precarious and violence appeared likely as the rebels prepared to unleash a volley of arrows. Richard rode forward towards the crowd and persuaded them to follow him away from Smithfield, to Clerkenwell Fields, defusing the situation. Walworth meanwhile began to regain control of the situation, backed by reinforcements from the city. Tyler's head was cut off and displayed on a pole and, with their leader dead and the royal government now backed by the London militia, the rebel movement began to collapse. Richard promptly knighted Walworth and his leading supporters for their services. ### Wider revolt #### Eastern England While the revolt was unfolding in London, John Wrawe led his force into Suffolk. Wrawe had considerable influence over the development of the revolt across eastern England, where there may have been almost as many rebels as in the London revolt. The authorities put up very little resistance to the revolt: the major nobles failed to organise defences, key fortifications fell easily to the rebels and the local militias were not mobilised. As in London and the south-east, this was in part due to the absence of key military leaders and the nature of English law, but any locally recruited men might also have proved unreliable in the face of a popular uprising. On 12 June, Wrawe attacked Sir Richard Lyons' property at Overhall, advancing on to Cavendish and Bury St Edmunds in west Suffolk the next day, gathering further support as they went. John Cambridge, the Prior of the wealthy Bury St Edmunds Abbey, was disliked in the town, and Wrawe allied himself with the townspeople and stormed the abbey. The Prior escaped, but was found two days later and beheaded. A small band of rebels marched north to Thetford to extort protection money from the town, and another group tracked down Sir John Cavendish, the Chief Justice of the King's Bench and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. Cavendish was caught in Lakenheath and killed. John Battisford and Thomas Sampson independently led a revolt near Ipswich on 14 June. They took the town without opposition and looted the properties of the archdeacon and local tax officials. The violence spread out further, with attacks on many properties and the burning of the local court records. One official, Edmund Lakenheath, was forced to flee from the Suffolk coast by boat. Revolt began to stir in St Albans in Hertfordshire late on 13 June, when news broke of the events in London. There had been long-running disagreements in St Albans between the town and the local abbey, which had extensive privileges in the region. On 14 June, protesters met with the Abbot, Thomas de la Mare, and demanded their freedom from the abbey. A group of townsmen under the leadership of William Grindecobbe travelled to London, where they appealed to the King for the rights of the abbey to be abolished. Wat Tyler, then still in control of the city, granted them authority in the meantime to take direct action against the abbey. Grindecobbe and the rebels returned to St Albans, where they found the Prior had already fled. The rebels broke open the abbey prison, destroyed the fences marking out the abbey lands and burnt the abbey records in the town square. They then forced Thomas de la Mare to surrender the abbey's rights in a charter on 16 June. The revolt against the abbey spread out over the next few days, with abbey property and financial records being destroyed across the county. On 15 June, revolt broke out in Cambridgeshire, led by elements of Wrawe's Suffolk rebellion and some local men, such as John Greyston, who had been involved in the events in London and had returned to his home county to spread the revolt, and Geoffrey Cobbe and John Hanchach, members of the local gentry. The University of Cambridge, staffed by priests and enjoying special royal privileges, was widely hated by the other inhabitants of the town. A revolt backed by the Mayor of Cambridge broke out with the university as its main target. The rebels ransacked Corpus Christi College, which had connections to John of Gaunt, and the University's church, and attempted to execute the University bedel, who escaped. The university's library and archives were burnt in the centre of the town, with one Margery Starre leading the mob in a dance to the rallying cry "Away with the learning of clerks, away with it!" while the documents burned. The next day, the university was forced to negotiate a new charter, giving up its royal privileges. Revolt then spread north from Cambridge toward Ely, where the prison was opened and the local Justice of the Peace executed. In Norfolk, the revolt was led by Geoffrey Litster, a weaver, and Sir Roger Bacon, a local lord with ties to the Suffolk rebels. Litster began sending out messengers across the county in a call to arms on 14 June, and isolated outbreaks of violence occurred. The rebels assembled on 17 June outside Norwich and killed Sir Robert Salle, who was in charge of the city defences and had attempted to negotiate a settlement. The people of the town then opened the gates to let the rebels in. They began looting buildings and killed Reginald Eccles, a local official. William de Ufford, the Earl of Suffolk fled his estates and travelled in disguise to London. The other leading members of the local gentry were captured and forced to play out the roles of a royal household, working for Litster. Violence spread out across the county, as prisons were opened, Flemish immigrants killed, court records burned, and property looted and destroyed. #### Northern and western England Revolts also occurred across the rest of England, particularly in the cities of the north, traditionally centres of political unrest. In the town of Beverley, violence broke out between the richer mercantile elite and the poorer townspeople during May. By the end of the month the rebels had taken power and replaced the former town administration with their own. The rebels attempted to enlist the support of Alexander Neville, the Archbishop of York, and in June forced the former town government to agree to arbitration through Neville. Peace was restored in June 1382 but tensions continued to simmer for many years. Word of the troubles in the south-east spread north, slowed by the poor communication links of medieval England. In Leicester, where John of Gaunt had a substantial castle, warnings arrived of a force of rebels advancing on the city from Lincolnshire, who were intent on destroying the castle and its contents. The mayor and the town mobilised their defences, including a local militia, but the rebels never arrived. John of Gaunt was in Berwick when word reached him on 17 June of the revolt. Not knowing that Wat Tyler had by now been killed, John of Gaunt placed his castles in Yorkshire and Wales on alert. Fresh rumours, many of them incorrect, continued to arrive in Berwick, suggesting widespread rebellions across the west and east of England and the looting of the ducal household in Leicester; rebel units were even said to be hunting for the Duke himself. Gaunt began to march to Bamburgh Castle, but then changed course and diverted north into Scotland, only returning south once the fighting was over. News of the initial events in London also reached York around 17 June, and attacks at once broke out on the properties of the Dominican friars, the Franciscan friaries and other religious institutions. Violence continued over the coming weeks, and on 1 July a group of armed men, under the command of John de Gisbourne, forced their way into the city and attempted to seize control. The mayor, Simon de Quixlay, gradually began to reclaim authority, but order was not properly restored until 1382. The news of the southern revolt reached Scarborough where riots broke out against the ruling elite on 23 June, with the rebels dressed in white hoods with a red tail at the back. Members of the local government were deposed from office, and one tax collector was nearly lynched. By 1382 the elite had re-established power. In the Somerset town of Bridgwater, revolt broke out on 19 June, led by Thomas Ingleby and Adam Brugge. The crowds attacked the local Augustine house and forced their master to give up his local privileges and pay a ransom. The rebels then turned on the properties of John Sydenham, a local merchant and official, looting his manor and burning paperwork, before executing Walter Baron, a local man. The Ilchester prison was stormed, and one unpopular prisoner executed. ### Suppression The royal suppression of the revolt began shortly after the death of Wat Tyler on 15 June. Sir Robert Knolles, Sir Nicholas Brembre and Sir Robert Launde were appointed to restore control in the capital. A summons was put out for soldiers, probably around 4,000 men were mustered in London, and expeditions to the other troubled parts of the country soon followed. The revolt in East Anglia was independently suppressed by Henry Despenser, the Bishop of Norwich. Henry was in Stamford in Lincolnshire when the revolt broke out, and when he found out about it he marched south with eight men-at-arms and a small force of archers, gathering more forces as he went. He marched first to Peterborough, where he routed the local rebels and executed any he could capture, including some who had taken shelter in the local abbey. He then headed south-east via Huntingdon and Ely, reached Cambridge on 19 June, and then headed further into the rebel-controlled areas of Norfolk. Henry reclaimed Norwich on 24 June, before heading out with a company of men to track down the rebel leader, Geoffrey Litster. The two forces met at the Battle of North Walsham on 25 or 26 June; the Bishop's forces triumphed and Litster was captured and executed. Henry's quick action was essential to the suppression of the revolt in East Anglia, but he was very unusual in taking matters into his own hands in this way, and his execution of the rebels without royal sanction was illegal. On 17 June, the King dispatched his half-brother Thomas Holland and Sir Thomas Trivet to Kent with a small force to restore order. They held courts at Maidstone and Rochester. William de Ufford, the Earl of Suffolk, returned to his county on 23 June, accompanied by a force of 500 men. He quickly subdued the area and was soon holding court in Mildenhall, where many of the accused were sentenced to death. He moved on into Norfolk on 6 July, holding court in Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Hacking. Hugh, Lord la Zouche, led the legal proceedings against the rebels in Cambridgeshire. In St Albans, the Abbot arrested William Grindecobbe and his main supporters. On 20 June, the King's uncle, Thomas of Woodstock, and Robert Tresilian, the replacement Chief Justice, were given special commissions across the whole of England. Thomas oversaw court cases in Essex, backed up by a substantial military force as resistance was continuing and the county was still in a state of unrest. Richard himself visited Essex, where he met with a rebel delegation seeking confirmation of the grants the King had given at Mile End. Richard rejected them, allegedly telling them that "rustics you were and rustics you are still. You will remain in bondage, not as before, but incomparably harsher". Tresilian soon joined Thomas, and carried out 31 executions in Chelmsford, then travelled to St Albans in July for further court trials, which appear to have utilised dubious techniques to ensure convictions. Thomas went on to Gloucester with 200 soldiers to suppress the unrest there. Henry Percy, the Earl of Northumberland, was tasked to restore order to Yorkshire. A wide range of laws were invoked in the process of the suppression, from general treason to charges of book burning or demolishing houses, a process complicated by the relatively narrow definition of treason at the time. The use of informants and denunciations became common, causing fear to spread across the country; by November at least 1,500 people had been executed or killed in battle. Many of those who had lost property in the revolt attempted to seek legal compensation, and John of Gaunt made particular efforts to track down those responsible for destroying his Savoy Palace. Most had only limited success, as the defendants were rarely willing to attend court. The last of these cases was resolved in 1387. The rebel leaders were quickly rounded up. A rebel leader by the name of Jack Straw was captured in London and executed. John Ball was caught in Coventry, tried in St Albans, and executed on 15 July. Grindecobbe was also tried and executed in St Albans. John Wrawe was tried in London; he probably gave evidence against 24 of his colleagues in the hope of a pardon, but was sentenced to be executed by being hanged, drawn and quartered on 6 May 1382. Sir Roger Bacon was probably arrested before the final battle in Norfolk, and was tried and imprisoned in the Tower of London before finally being pardoned by the Crown. As of September 1381, Thomas Ingleby of Bridgwater had successfully evaded the authorities. Although women such as Johanna Ferrour played a prominent role in the revolt, no evidence has been found of women being executed or punished as harshly as their male counterparts. ### Aftermath The royal government and Parliament began to re-establish the normal processes of government after the revolt; as the historian Michael Postan describes, the uprising was in many ways a "passing episode". On 30 June, the King ordered England's serfs to return to their previous conditions of service, and on 2 July the royal charters signed under duress during the rising were formally revoked. Parliament met in November to discuss the events of the year and how best to respond to their challenges. The revolt was blamed on the misconduct of royal officials, who, it was argued, had been excessively greedy and overbearing. The Commons stood behind the existing labour laws, but requested changes in the royal council, which Richard granted. Richard also granted general pardons to those who had executed rebels without due process, to all men who had remained loyal, and to all those who had rebelled – with the exception of the men of Bury St Edmunds, any men who had been involved in the killing of the King's advisers, and those who were still on the run from prison. Despite the violence of the suppression, the government and local lords were relatively circumspect in restoring order after the revolt, and continued to be worried about fresh revolts for several decades. Few lords took revenge on their peasants except through the legal processes of the courts. Low-level unrest continued for several more years. In September 1382 there was trouble in Norfolk, involving an apparent plot against the Bishop of Norwich, and in March the following year there was an investigation into a plot to kill the sheriff of Devon. When negotiating rents with their landlords, peasants alluded to the memory of the revolt and the threat of violence. There were no further attempts by Parliament to impose a poll tax or to reform England's fiscal system. The Commons instead concluded at the end of 1381 that the military effort on the Continent should be "carefully but substantially reduced". Unable to raise fresh taxes, the government had to curtail its foreign policy and military expeditions and began to examine the options for peace. The institution of serfdom declined after 1381, but primarily for economic rather than political reasons. Rural wages continued to increase, and lords increasingly sold their serfs' freedom in exchange for cash, or converted traditional forms of tenure to new leasehold arrangements. During the 15th century serfdom vanished in England. ## Rebels Chroniclers primarily described the rebels as rural serfs, using broad, derogatory Latin terms such as serviles rustici, servile genus and rusticitas. Some chroniclers, including Knighton, also noted the presence of runaway apprentices, artisans and others, sometimes terming them the "lesser commons". The evidence from the court records following the revolt, albeit biased in various ways, similarly shows the involvement of a much broader community, and the earlier perception that the rebels were only constituted of unfree serfs is now rejected. The rural rebels came from a wide range of backgrounds, but typically they were, as the historian Christopher Dyer describes, "people well below the ranks of the gentry, but who mainly held some land and goods", and not the very poorest in society, who formed a minority of the rebel movement. Many had held positions of authority in local village governance, and these seem to have provided leadership to the revolt. Some were artisans, including, as the historian Rodney Hilton lists, "carpenters, sawyers, masons, cobblers, tailors, weavers, fullers, glovers, hosiers, skinners, bakers, butchers, innkeepers, cooks and a lime-burner". They were predominantly male, but with some women in their ranks. The rebels were typically illiterate; only between 5 and 15 per cent of England could read during this period. They also came from a broad range of local communities, including at least 330 south-eastern villages. Many of the rebels had urban backgrounds, and the majority of those involved in the events of London were probably local townsfolk rather than peasants. In some cases, the townsfolk who joined the revolt were the urban poor, attempting to gain at the expense of the local elites. In London, for example, the urban rebels appear to have largely been the poor and unskilled. Other urban rebels were part of the elite, such as at York where the protesters were typically prosperous members of the local community, while in some instances, townsfolk allied themselves with the rural population, as at Bury St Edmunds. In other cases, such as Canterbury, the influx of population from the villages following the Black Death made any distinction between urban and rural less meaningful. With the Peasant's Revolt marking the revolution of the freedom fight, labor had become so expensive that the feudal system was ultimately coming to an end. The rebels of the Peasant's Revolt were represented by various writers since they did not represent themselves in historical records. The distortion of written records implied that these rebels were illiterate, or otherwise incoherent. Some of these distortions made by countless authors were also interpretative and favored their own positions, making the job of historians more difficult as they try to uncover a more truthful representation of the rebels. Author and medievalist Steven Justice exemplifies that the rebels were, in fact, capable of speech and language at its most developed. Examples of this included cultural forms of expression such as rituals, performances, and literary texts. The vast majority of those involved in the revolt of 1381 were not represented in Parliament and were excluded from its decision-making. In a few cases the rebels were led or joined by relatively prosperous members of the gentry, such as Sir Roger Bacon in Norfolk. Some of them later claimed to have been forced to join the revolt by the rebels. Clergy also formed part of the revolt; as well as the more prominent leaders, such as John Ball or John Wrawe, nearly 20 are mentioned in the records of the revolt in the south-east. Some were pursuing local grievances, some were disadvantaged and suffering relative poverty, and others appear to have been motivated by strong radical beliefs. Many of those involved in the revolt used pseudonyms, particularly in the letters sent around the country to encourage support and fresh uprisings. They were used both to avoid incriminating particular individuals and to allude to popular values and stories. One popular assumed name was Piers Plowman, taken from the main character in William Langland's poem. Jack was also a widely used rebel pseudonym, and historians Steven Justice and Carter Revard suggest that this may have been because it resonated with the Jacques of the French Jacquerie revolt several decades earlier. ## Legacy ### Historiography Contemporary chroniclers of the events in the revolt have formed an important source for historians. The chroniclers were biased against the rebel cause and typically portrayed the rebels, in the words of the historian Susan Crane, as "beasts, monstrosities or misguided fools". London chroniclers were also unwilling to admit the role of ordinary Londoners in the revolt, preferring to place the blame entirely on rural peasants from the south-east. Among the key accounts was the anonymous Anonimalle Chronicle, whose author appears to have been part of the royal court and an eye-witness to many of the events in London. The chronicler Thomas Walsingham was present for much of the revolt, but focused his account on the terror of the social unrest and was extremely biased against the rebels. The events were recorded in France by Jean Froissart, the author of the Chronicles. He had well-placed sources close to the revolt, but was inclined to elaborate the known facts with colourful stories. No sympathetic accounts of the rebels survive. For four centuries, chroniclers and historians of the revolt were overwhelmingly negative but attitudes started to change in the 18th century as serfdom was long rejected and in the aftermath of the radicalism associated with the French Revolution. At the end of the 19th century there was a surge in historical interest in the Peasants' Revolt, spurred by the contemporary growth of the labour and socialist movements. Work by Charles Oman, Edgar Powell, André Réville and G. M. Trevelyan established the course of the revolt. By 1907 the accounts of the chroniclers were all widely available in print and the main public records concerning the events had been identified. Réville began to use the legal indictments that had been used against suspected rebels after the revolt as a fresh source of historical information, and over the next century extensive research was carried out into the local economic and social history of the revolt, using scattered local sources across south-east England. Interpretations of the revolt have changed over the years. 17th-century historians, such as John Smyth, established the idea that the revolt had marked the end of unfree labour and serfdom in England. 19th-century historians such as William Stubbs and Thorold Rogers reinforced this conclusion, Stubbs describing it as "one of the most portentous events in the whole of our history". In the 20th century, this interpretation was increasingly challenged by historians such as May McKisack, Michael Postan and Richard Dobson, who revised the impact of the revolt on further political and economic events in England. Mid-20th century Marxist historians were both interested in, and generally sympathetic to, the rebel cause, a trend culminating in Hilton's 1973 account of the uprising, set against the wider context of peasant revolts across Europe during the period. The Peasants' Revolt has received more academic attention than any other medieval revolt, and this research has been interdisciplinary, involving historians, literary scholars and international collaboration. The name "the Peasants' Revolt" emerged in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and its first recorded use by historians was in John Richard Green's Short History of the English People in 1874. Contemporary chronicles did not give the revolt a specific title, and the term "peasant" did not appear in the English language until the 15th century. The title has been critiqued by modern historians such as Miri Rubin and Paul Strohm, both on the grounds that many in the movements were not peasants, and that the events more closely resemble a prolonged protest or rising, rather than a revolt or rebellion. A large slate memorial to 'The Great Rising' was commissioned by Matthew Bell and carved by Emily Hoffnung. It was unveiled by the film director Ken Loach in Smithfield on 15 July 2015. ### Popular culture The Peasants' Revolt became a popular literary subject. The poet John Gower, who had close ties to officials involved in the suppression of the revolt, amended his famous poem Vox Clamantis after the revolt, inserting a section condemning the rebels and likening them to wild animals. Geoffrey Chaucer, who lived in Aldgate and may have been in London during the revolt, used the rebel killing of Flemings as a metaphor for wider disorder in The Nun's Priest's Tale part of The Canterbury Tales, parodying Gower's poem. Although the Peasant's Revolt was only ever mentioned sparingly in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, the Peasant's Revolt was one of the many historical incidents that occurred in Chaucer's life prior to his popular works. With other events such as The Black Death, the devastation that followed after the plague incited the peasants that survived to seek a better quality of life. Evidence of the impression that the revolt made on Chaucer can be seen in the Miller's Prologue of The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer portrays the Miller as someone who is not entirely satisfied with the typical idea of what a peasant is and how they should live, and he uses metaphors in order to make this implication in the Miller's Prologue. The notion that the Miller is able to tell a tale that can match, or is even better than one of the highest-ranking Knights in the pilgrimage shows the rebellion and persistence in bettering one's status, which is similar to what was seen in the attitudes of the peasants in their revolt. Chaucer otherwise made no reference to the revolt in his work, possibly because as he was a client of the King it would have been politically unwise to discuss it. William Langland, the author of the poem Piers Plowman, which had been widely used by the rebels, made various changes to its text after the revolt in order to distance himself from their cause. The revolt formed the basis for the late 16th-century play, The Life and Death of Jack Straw, possibly written by George Peele and probably originally designed for production in the city's guild pageants. It portrays Jack Straw as a tragic figure, being led into wrongful rebellion by John Ball, making clear political links between the instability of late-Elizabethan England and the 14th century. The story of the revolt was used in pamphlets during the English Civil War of the 17th century, and formed part of John Cleveland's early history of the war. It was deployed as a cautionary account in political speeches during the 18th century, and a chapbook entitled The History of Wat Tyler and Jack Strawe proved popular during the Jacobite risings and American War of Independence. The historian James Crossley argues that after the French Revolution, the Peasants' Revolt was seen more positively, especially among radicals and revolutionaries. Thomas Paine and Edmund Burke argued over the lessons to be drawn from the revolt, Paine expressing sympathy for the rebels and Burke condemning the violence. The Romantic poet Robert Southey based his 1794 play Wat Tyler on the events, taking a radical and pro-rebel perspective. As the historian Michael Postan describes, the revolt became famous "as a landmark in social development and [as] a typical instance of working-class revolt against oppression", and was widely used in 19th and 20th century socialist literature. William Morris built on Chaucer in his novel A Dream of John Ball, published in 1888, creating a narrator who was openly sympathetic to the peasant cause, albeit a 19th-century persona taken back to the 14th century by a dream. The story ends with a prophecy that socialist ideals will one day be successful. In turn, this representation of the revolt influenced Morris's utopian socialist News from Nowhere. Florence Converse used the revolt in her novel Long Will in 1903. Later 20th century socialists continued to draw parallels between the revolt and contemporary political struggles, including during the arguments over the introduction of the Community Charge in the United Kingdom during the 1980s. Conspiracy theorists, including writer John Robinson, have attempted to explain alleged flaws in mainstream historical accounts of the events of 1381, such as the speed with which the rebellion was coordinated. Theories include that the revolt was led by a secret, occult organisation called "the Great Society", said to be an offshoot of the order of the Knights Templar destroyed in 1312, or that the fraternity of the Freemasons was covertly involved in organising the revolt. ## See also - Popular revolt in late-medieval Europe - Jack Cade - Kett's Rebellion - Levellers
19,317,201	Freida Pinto	1,168,287,463	Indian actress (born 1984)	[ "1984 births", "21st-century Indian actresses", "Actresses from Mumbai", "Actresses in Hindi television", "Female models from Mumbai", "Indian expatriate actresses in the United States", "Indian film actresses", "Indian television actresses", "Living people", "Mangalorean Catholics", "Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners", "University of Mumbai alumni" ]	Freida Selena Pinto (born 18 October 1984) is an Indian actress who has appeared mainly in American and British films. Born and raised in Mumbai, Maharashtra, she resolved at a young age to become an actress. As a student at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, she took part in amateur plays. After graduation, she briefly worked as a model and then as a television presenter. Pinto rose to prominence with her film debut in the drama Slumdog Millionaire (2008) for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She earned critical acclaim for her roles in Miral (2010), Trishna (2011), and Desert Dancer (2014). She also saw commercial success with the science fiction film Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), and the epic fantasy action film Immortals (2011). Pinto's other notable roles include You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010), Love Sonia (2018), Hillbilly Elegy (2020), and Mr. Malcolm's List (2022). She also starred in the Showtime miniseries Guerrilla (2017), and had a recurring role in the Hulu series The Path (2018). Although the Indian press has credited Pinto with breaking the stereotypical image of an Indian woman in foreign films, she has been a lesser-known figure in Indian cinema and has rarely been featured in prominent productions in India. Along with her film career, she promotes humanitarian causes and is vocal about women's empowerment. ## Early life and background Pinto was born on 18 October 1984 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, Western India to Mangalorean Catholic parents from Mangalore, Karnataka, South India. Her mother, Sylvia Pinto, was the principal of St. John's Universal School in Goregaon, West Mumbai, and her father, Frederick Pinto, was a senior branch manager for the Bank of Baroda in Bandra, West Mumbai. Her elder sister, Sharon, works for NDTV. Pinto had a middle class upbringing in the suburb of Malad, North Mumbai. She first wanted to be an actress when she was five years old, often dressing up and imitating television actors during her childhood. She later recalled being inspired by Sushmita Sen's victory in the 1994 Miss Universe competition, explaining that "the country was really proud of her, and I was like, one day, I want to do the same". Pinto attended the Carmel of St. Joseph School in Malad, North Mumbai and then studied at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai in Fort, South Mumbai. Her major was in English literature, with minors in psychology and economics. At college, she participated in amateur theatre, but declined acting and modeling assignments until her graduation in 2005. Despite her interest in acting from an early age, Pinto was undecided on what career to take until watching Monster (2003) while at college. She stated: "I guess it was when I watched Monster... I pretty much knew. I had to find a way. I had to do something like that, something completely transformational." In 2005, Pinto began a modeling career and joined Elite Model Management India, with whom she worked for two and a half years. She was featured in several television and print advertisements for products such as Wrigley's Chewing Gum, Škoda, Vodafone India, Airtel, Visa, eBay, and De Beers. Around the same time, Pinto began going to auditions for films and television shows. She was chosen to host Full Circle, an international travel show that aired on Zee International Asia Pacific between 2006 and 2008. The show took her to countries all over the world, including Afghanistan, Fiji, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Her auditions for both Bollywood and Hollywood productions, including Shimit Amin's Indian Hindi-language sports film Chak De! India (2007), and for the role of Bond girl Camille Montes in Marc Forster's Quantum of Solace (2008), were largely unsuccessful. Pinto later claimed that it was a good learning experience, stating that she was "glad things happened the way they happened. I needed to be rejected, and I needed to learn that it's part of the game... I can have 100 rejections, but I'm sure there's going to be one particular thing that is almost destined for me to have." ## Acting career ### 2008–2010: Beginnings and breakthrough In 2007, Pinto's modeling agency selected her and six other models to audition for the female lead in Danny Boyle's film Slumdog Millionaire (2008) after a request by its casting director. After undergoing six months of extensive auditions, Pinto won the role of Latika, the love interest of the main character Jamal, played by Dev Patel. During the post-production phase, she attended an acting course at the Barry John Acting Studio in Mumbai. Although the course taught her about the "technical aspects" of acting, she stated that "in terms of the actual experience, there's nothing like going out there and actually playing the part... So for me, my favorite acting school was the six months of auditioning with Danny Boyle". Acclaimed particularly for its plot and soundtrack, Slumdog Millionaire emerged as a sleeper hit; made on a budget of \$15 million, the film grossed US\$377.9 million worldwide. It was the most successful film at the 81st Academy Awards: it was nominated for ten awards, of which it won eight, including the award for Best Picture. Pinto won the Breakthrough Performance Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, along with other cast members from the film. She was also nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the BAFTA Awards. Pinto's performance in the film drew little attention from critics as her screen presence in the film was limited. The Telegraph (Calcutta) opined "it's difficult to form an opinion" on her character; its columnist Bharathi S. Pradhan noted "Slumdog Millionaire wasn't really a test of Freida's acting abilities." Following the success of Slumdog Millionaire, Pinto signed up for two art house productions. In Woody Allen's comedy-drama You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010), she acted alongside Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Anupam Kher, and Naomi Watts. She played a "mystery woman" who draws the attention of the character played by Brolin. Premiering at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, the film received mixed reviews upon its release. Pinto then starred in Julian Schnabel's Miral (2010), based on a semi-biographical novel by Rula Jebreal, playing an orphaned Palestinian woman who grew up in a refugee camp in Israel. Before the film's production began in the Palestinian territories, Pinto prepared for the role by visiting several refugee camps in the area. She stated that she could relate to her character's experiences because of her knowledge about her relatives' experiences during the partition of India in the 1940s. The film received largely negative reviews, and Pinto's performance divided critics: Geoffrey Macnab of The Independent wrote that "Miral ... is played very engagingly by Freida Pinto", while Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian stated that "[Pinto] looks uneasy and miscast". ### 2011–present Pinto had four releases in 2011. The first was the science fiction film Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a reboot of the Planet of the Apes series. She played the role of Caroline Aranha, a primatologist who falls in love with the main character, played by James Franco. To prepare for her role, she researched the career of English anthropologist Jane Goodall. The film went on to gross US\$481.8 million worldwide; it remains her highest-grossing film as of April 2016. Pinto's character received criticism for being too one-dimensional: Anthony Quinn of The Independent called it a "failure", and Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter described the character as the most "boringly decorous tag-along girlfriend seen onscreen in years." Pinto's second screen appearance of the year was playing the title character in Michael Winterbottom's Trishna. The film, based on Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles, gave Pinto the role of a teenage Rajasthani peasant, who leaves her family to work for a British-born Indian hotelier, played by Riz Ahmed. It premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival and gained a mixed response from critics. Nishat Bari of India Today called Pinto's role her "most substantial" one to that point. Philip French of The Guardian stated that Pinto "captivates" in the lead role, while Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called her performance "touchingly beautiful". In contrast, Manohla Dargis of The New York Times wrote that Pinto is "one of [the film's] loveliest attractions, but she and her director haven't been able to give Trishna a pulse". Pinto's third film role in 2011 was playing Princess Lailah in the poorly received independent film Day of the Falcon, a period drama set in the 1930s Middle East, where she was cast alongside Antonio Banderas, Mark Strong and Liya Kebede. Despite overall negative reviews, Andy Webster of The New York Times described Pinto and Kebede as "refreshing" and praised their "independent presences amid the stiflingly male-dominated milieu". Pinto's final screen appearance of the year was in the fantasy-action film Immortals, in which she played the oracle priestess Phaedra. Despite receiving mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, the film grossed US\$226.9 million worldwide. Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Todd McCarthy remarked that Phaedra was "capably embodied" by Pinto. After 2011, Pinto had no new film releases for two years. In 2013, she appeared in the music video for Bruno Mars' single "Gorilla". She was criticised by the Indian media for appearing in the video; The Times of India and Hindustan Times dismissed it as little more than "dirty dancing". In the same year, Pinto was also one of the narrators in the documentary film Girl Rising, produced for the campaign of the same name which promotes access to education for girls all over the world. Pinto's first cinematic appearance in two years was in the biographical drama Desert Dancer (2014), which was about the life of Iranian choreographer Afshin Ghaffarian. She played the heroin-addicted Elaheh, the love interest of the lead character played by Reece Ritchie. The role required her to do dance training consisting of eight hours of rehearsals a day for 14 weeks. She also attended a few sessions at rehabilitation centres in the United States to prepare for her role. It received largely negative reviews, although Andy Webster of The New York Times noted that "Pinto, even with an unfocused and underwritten role, is captivating". Pinto's first film of 2015 was Terrence Malick's Knight of Cups, which featured an ensemble cast including Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman, and Antonio Banderas. She played Helen, a model with whom Bale embarks on a "dalliance". She talked about acting without a script: "It is definitely a bit nerve-racking on the first day because you don't know where you are going to go. But once you figure that out, then it doesn't really matter. It is actually very relaxing. It is fun and liberating. It is an experience that I completely embrace". Premiering at the competition section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival, the film received average to mixed reviews from critics. The film was released in the United States in March 2016. She was among the 100 narrators of Unity (2015), a documentary that explores the relationships between Earth's species. Her third release of that year was the Colombian action film Blunt Force Trauma, in which she starred opposite Ryan Kwanten and Mickey Rourke as a woman looking for her brother's murderer. John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter criticised the film, stating that it "takes itself much more seriously than viewers will." In 2015, Pinto worked on Andy Serkis' Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, a motion capture adventure fantasy film based on Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. She portrays Mowgli's adoptive mother, Messua, in the film. In January 2021, it was announced that Pinto was to play the lead in a biopic of the SOE agent Noor Inayat Khan, based on the book Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan by Shrabani Basu. More recently, she and her Freebird Films company inked a first look TV deal at Entertainment One. ## Personal life Before beginning her film career, Pinto was engaged to Rohan Antao, who had been her publicist at one point. She ended the relationship in January 2009 and began dating her Slumdog Millionaire co-star Dev Patel. After a six-year relationship, the couple separated amicably in December 2014. Pinto became engaged to photographer Cory Tran in November 2019, and they married in 2020 at the Honda Center. She gave birth to their son in November 2021. After the success of Slumdog Millionaire, Pinto had split her time between Mumbai, London, and Los Angeles, and as of 2015 she lives in Los Angeles. Alongside her acting career, Pinto has been actively involved with several humanitarian causes, and is vocal about the uplifting of women and underprivileged children. She has cited Angelina Jolie and Malala Yousafzai as "massive" inspirations in this regard. In 2010, Pinto joined Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf in support of their philanthropic organisation, the Agassi Foundation. She raised \$75,000 for their annual fund raiser — "The 15th Grand Slam for Children"—which was aimed at providing education for underprivileged children. Two years later, she was appointed as the global ambassador of Plan International's Because I am a Girl, a campaign that promotes gender equality with the aim of lifting millions of girls out of poverty. In 2013, Pinto appeared in a video clip for Gucci's "Chime for Change" campaign to raise funds and awareness of women's issues in terms of education, health, and justice. The following year, she participated at the "Girls' rights summit" in London, where she called for more progress toward the end of female genital mutilation and child marriage. In March 2015, she spoke out against the Indian government's ban on India's Daughter, Leslee Udwin's documentary on the 2012 Delhi gang rape. During its premiere at the United States, she said the film needs to reach the public as it is not a "shame-India documentary". In a 2015 interview, she stated: "This film in no way is propagating violence in order to solve the problem. In fact, what we're saying is let's do this in the most civilized possible way ever". In February 2016, Pinto announced that she would be a part of a nonprofit organisation called "We Do It Together", which provides financing for feature films, documentaries, and television shows that focus on women's empowerment. ## Media image Although she played a small role in Slumdog Millionaire, the film catapulted Pinto to widespread recognition. The media has often speculated about her roles and earnings. In March 2009, The Daily Telegraph reported Pinto as the highest-paid Indian actress, although she had not appeared in a Bollywood film to that point. CNN-IBN called her "India's best export to [the] West", while The Telegraph (Calcutta) described her as "arguably the biggest global star from India". Pinto has been frequently included in beauty and fashion polls conducted by various magazines. She was featured in People magazine's annual lists of "World's Most Beautiful People" and "World's Best Dressed Women" in 2009. That year, she was also included in Vogue's list of the "top ten most stylish women". In 2011, Pinto was included as the only Indian celebrity among the "50 Most Beautiful Women in Film", a list compiled by Los Angeles Times Magazine. The following year, People named her one of the "Most Beautiful at Every Age". She was featured in the "Top 99 Most Desirable Women" poll conducted by AskMen, consecutively from 2010 to 2012. In 2009, Pinto was made a spokeswoman for L'Oréal Paris. Two years later, a controversy arose when she appeared in an advert promoting a L'Oréal product; it showed Pinto in what was perceived to be a lighter skin tone due to make-up or editing. The company denied claims of retouching Pinto's picture. A popular actress in Hollywood, Pinto remains a relatively little-known figure in India; critics and analysts have attributed the fact to the failure of Slumdog Millionaire in the country. Indian sociologist Ashis Nandy remarked: "My periscope does not pick her up", while journalist Khalid Mohamed stated: "She is not a factor in Mumbai." The Indian media has criticised her "fluctuating" accents, in Hindi and English, and attributed her inability to find roles in Bollywood to her dark complexion. Despite these criticisms, Pinto has been credited by the media for having avoided being stereotyped as an Indian in Hollywood, as she often plays characters of other nationalities. In a 2012 interview with Hindustan Times, she said she consciously avoids roles that depict stereotypes. Pinto balances out her career by working in "big budget Hollywood blockbusters" alongside "smart independent films.” When asked about her preference for Hollywood, she replied: "I just wanted to become an actor. As an actor, you don't have to limit yourself to a particular culture or ethnicity. I want to spread my tentacles everywhere and am ready for a film offer from any part of the world." ## Filmography ### Film ### Television ### Music video appearances ## Awards and nominations
733,555	2003 Atlantic hurricane season	1,167,141,320	Hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean	[ "2003 Atlantic hurricane season", "Atlantic hurricane seasons", "Tropical cyclones in 2003" ]	The 2003 Atlantic hurricane season was a highly active Atlantic hurricane season with tropical activity before and after the official bounds of the season—the first such occurrence since the 1970 season. The season produced 21 tropical cyclones, of which 16 developed into named storms; seven of those attained hurricane status, of which three reached major hurricane status. With sixteen storms, the season was tied for the fifth-most active Atlantic hurricane season on record, although it has since dropped down to become the seventh most active season. The strongest hurricane of the season was Hurricane Isabel, which reached Category 5 status on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale northeast of the Lesser Antilles; Isabel later struck North Carolina as a Category 2 hurricane, causing \$3.6 billion in damage (2003 USD) and a total of 51 deaths across the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Although the bounds of the season are typically from June 1 to November 30, the season began early with the formation of Subtropical Storm Ana on April 20, and it ended relatively late on December 11 with the dissipation of Tropical Storm Peter. In early September, Hurricane Fabian struck Bermuda as a Category 3 hurricane, where it was the worst hurricane since 1926; on the island it caused four deaths and \$300 million in damage (2003 USD). Hurricane Juan caused considerable destruction to Nova Scotia, particularly Halifax, as a Category 2 hurricane, the first hurricane of significant strength to hit the province since 1893. Additionally, Hurricanes Claudette and Erika struck Texas and Mexico, respectively, as minimal hurricanes. In December, Tropical Storm Odette struck the Dominican Republic, and Tropical Storm Peter formed in the eastern portion of the basin. ## Seasonal forecasts ### Pre-season outlook On May 19, prior to the start of the season, NOAA forecasters issued a 55% probability of above normal activity. The forecasters predicted 11–15 tropical storms, 6–9 of those becoming hurricanes, and 2–4 of those hurricanes reaching at least Category 3 strength on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale. The above normal activity predicted was due to the likelihood of La Niña developing in the season. Noted hurricane expert Dr. William M. Gray on April 4 predicted twelve named storms, with eight reaching hurricane strength and three of the eight reaching Category 3 strength. The prediction issued on May 30 was similar, increasing the named storms to fourteen. The synoptic pattern of the season prior to June 1 resembled other previous seasons, with the 1952, 1954, 1964, 1966, and 1998 seasons considered the best analogs for the season. The prediction also included a 68% probability for a hurricane landfall along the United States. ### Mid-season outlook On August 6, Dr. Gray announced he had maintained his previous prediction; with an active start of the season, the rest of the season was forecast to have been only slightly above average, due to an anticipated overall less favorable environment across the Atlantic Ocean. A day later, NOAA released an updated prediction as well, with a 60% probability of above normal activity, with 12–15 named storms, 7–9 hurricanes, and 3–4 major hurricanes expected. A normal season, as defined by NOAA, has 6–14 tropical storms, 4–8 of which reach hurricane strength, and 1–3 of those reaching Category 3 strength. ## Seasonal summary The official beginning of the season was on June 1, 2003, though Subtropical Storm Ana formed on April 20, well before the start to the season. Starting at the official start of the season, the National Hurricane Center began issuing five-day forecasts, extending from the three-day forecasts issued since 1964. Officials conducted tests during the previous two seasons, indicating the new five-day forecasts would be as accurate as the three-day forecasts were 15 years earlier. The tropics were active and well ahead of climatology in the early portion of the season, with the seventh tropical depression forming by the end of July. The season officially ended on November 30, 2003, although tropical storms Odette and Peter developed in early December. The season is one of only six with a storm before and after the official bounds of the season; the others are 1887, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1970 and 2007. When Tropical Storm Peter formed on December 7, the season became the second on record with two December storms. The 235 days between the development of the first storm, Tropical Storm Ana, and the dissipation of the last storm, Peter, made the 2003 season the longest season since 1952. Overall, the season's activity was reflected with a high cumulative accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) rating of 177. ACE is, broadly speaking, 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, like Isabel and Fabian, have high ACEs. ACE is only calculated for full advisories on tropical systems at or exceeding 34 knots (39 mph, 63 km/h) or tropical storm strength. Subtropical cyclones are excluded from the total. No cyclones in the season had a significant impact on South America or Central America. However, a total of eight tropical cyclones made landfall on Mexico from either the Atlantic or the Pacific Ocean, which was the greatest total since the record of nine in 1971. A total of seven deaths occurred in Mexico from Atlantic hurricanes. Much of the Caribbean did not receive significant impact from tropical cyclones during the season. Six tropical cyclones made landfall along the coast of the United States during the season, including two hurricanes. The first, Claudette, caused locally heavy damage in southeastern Texas in July; two deaths were reported in the state, while earlier in its duration it caused an indirect death from rough waves in Florida. In September, Hurricane Isabel caused deaths and damage from North Carolina through southern Canada. The worst damage from the hurricane occurred in Virginia, where it was the costliest disaster in the history of the state; there, damage totaled over \$1.85 billion (2003 USD), and there were 32 fatalities, ten of which were caused directly by the hurricane. Hurricane Isabel caused deaths in seven states and one Canadian province, and about 6 million people were left without power as a result of the storm. Several cyclones impacted Bermuda during the season, most significantly Hurricane Fabian. On the island, its passage proved to be the costliest and resulted in the first death since a hurricane in 1926. The hurricane killed four on the island when its strong waves and storm surge washed two cars off the causeway between St. George's Parish and St. David's Island. Damage from the hurricane totaled \$300 million (2003 USD). Elsewhere, Hurricane Juan was considered among the most damaging in the history of Halifax, Nova Scotia, where strong winds downed thousands of trees and left low-lying areas flooded from a record storm surge to the city. The hurricane caused a total of eight deaths and damage estimated at \$200 million (2003 CAD, \$150 million 2003 USD). ## Systems ### Tropical Storm Ana A non-tropical low-pressure area developed about 240 miles (390 km) south-southwest of Bermuda on April 18 through the interaction of an upper-level trough and a surface frontal trough. It tracked northwestward at first, then turned to the southeast. After developing centralized convection, the system developed into Subtropical Storm Ana on April 20 to the west of Bermuda. It tracked east-southeastward and organized, and on April 21 it transitioned into a tropical cyclone with peak winds of 60 mph (97 km/h), after developing an upper-level warm core. Increased wind shear caused fluctuations in intensity and a steady weakening trend, and on April 24 the center of Ana merged with an approaching cold front, thus signaling the completion of extratropical transition. The extratropical remnants continued east-northeastward, and on April 27 the gale was absorbed within the cold front. The cyclone is most notable for being the only Atlantic tropical cyclone in the month of April, until Tropical Storm Arlene in 2017. When Ana became a subtropical storm, it became the second subtropical cyclone on record in the month, after a storm in 1992. Ana dropped 2.63 inches (67 mm) of rainfall in Bermuda over a period of several days. Increased swells from the storm caused two drowning deaths in southeastern Florida when a boat capsized. The remnants of the storm brought light rainfall to the Azores and the United Kingdom, though no significant damage was reported. ### Tropical Depression Two A tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on June 6. Tracking westward at a low latitude, convection increased markedly on June 10. The system was declared Tropical Depression Two early on June 11 in the central tropical Atlantic Ocean. The depression was at the time the third tropical cyclone on record to develop in the month of June to the east of the Lesser Antilles; the others were Tropical Depression Two in 2000, Ana in 1979, and a storm in 1933. The next such system to accomplish this would be Bret in 2017. Initially, the depression was forecast to attain tropical storm status, maintaining good outflow and some banding features around the system. Around 09:00 UTC on June 11 satellite-based intensity estimates indicated the depression was near tropical storm status. However, the convection subsequently diminished and became displaced to the northeast of the center, and late on June 11 the depression degenerated into an open tropical wave about 950 miles (1,530 km) east-southeast of Barbados. The tropical wave remained well defined with a well-defined low-level vorticity, though strong wind shear prevented tropical redevelopment. On June 13 its remnants passed through the Windward Islands and subsequently entered the Caribbean. ### Tropical Storm Bill Tropical Storm Bill developed from a tropical wave on June 29 to the north of the Yucatán Peninsula. It slowly organized as it moved northward, and reached a peak of 60 mph (97 km/h) shortly before making landfall 27 miles (43 km) west of Chauvin, Louisiana. Bill quickly weakened over land, and as it accelerated to the northeast, moisture from the storm, combined with cold air from an approaching cold front, produced an outbreak of 34 tornadoes. Bill became extratropical on July 2, and was absorbed by the cold front later that day. Upon making landfall on Louisiana, the storm produced a moderate storm surge, causing tidal flooding. In a city in the northeastern portion of the state, the surge breached a levee, which flooded many homes in the town. Moderate winds combined with wet soil knocked down trees, which then hit a few houses and power lines, and left hundreds of thousands without electric power. Further inland, tornadoes from the storm produced localized moderate damage. Throughout its path, Tropical Storm Bill caused around \$50 million in damage (2003 USD) and four deaths. ### Hurricane Claudette A well-organized tropical wave tracked quickly through the Lesser Antilles on July 7, producing tropical storm force winds but failing to attain a low-level circulation. After organizing in the Caribbean, it developed into Tropical Storm Claudette to the south of the Dominican Republic on July 8. Its intensity fluctuated over the subsequent days, attaining hurricane status briefly on July 10 before weakening and hitting Puerto Morelos on the Yucatán Peninsula on July 11 as a tropical storm. The storm remained disorganized due to moderate wind shear, though after turning west-northwestward into an area of lighter shear, it re-attained hurricane status on July 15 off the coast of Texas; it intensified quickly and made landfall on Matagorda Island with peak winds of 90 mph (140 km/h). It slowly weakened after moving ashore, tracking across northern Tamaulipas before dissipating in northwestern Chihuahua. The precursor cyclone caused light damage in the Lesser Antilles, and waves from the hurricane caused an indirect death off of Florida. Widespread flooding and gusty winds destroyed or severely damaged 412 buildings in southeast Texas, with a further 1,346 buildings suffering lighter impact. The hurricane caused locally severe beach erosion along the coast. High winds downed many trees along the coast, causing one direct and one indirect death. Damage was estimated at \$180 million (2003 USD). ### Hurricane Danny A tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on July 9. The northern portion of the wave tracked to the west-northwest, and on July 13 an area of convection developed along the wave axis. The system slowly organized, and after a closed low-level circulation developed, the system was classified as Tropical Depression Five about 630 miles (1,010 km) east of Bermuda. It quickly organized, becoming Tropical Storm Danny a day after forming. Tracking around the periphery of an anticyclone, the storm moved northwestward before turning north and later northeastward. Despite being located at a high latitude, Danny continued to strengthen due to unusually warm water temperatures, and on July 19 it attained hurricane status about 525 miles (845 km) south of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, despite having an unusually high minimum pressure for a storm of its intensity. Wind shear increased the next day as the hurricane turned eastward, causing a steady weakening trend that was accelerated after crossing into an area of cooler water temperatures. By July 20 the cyclone had turned to the southeast and weakened to tropical depression status, and on July 21 it degenerated into a remnant low-pressure area. The remnants of Danny tracked erratically southwestward before dissipating on July 27 about 630 miles (1,010 km) east of where it originally developed. There were no reports of damages or casualties associated with Danny. ### Tropical Depression Six A tropical wave moved westward off the coast of Africa on July 14. After tracking steadily westward, an area of thunderstorms became more concentrated as its upper-level environment became more favorable, and late on July 19 the National Hurricane Center classified it as Tropical Depression Six while it was located about 1,035 miles (1,666 km) east of the Lesser Antilles. Upon being classified as a tropical cyclone, the depression maintained two ill-defined hooking bands to its north and south, and was originally forecast to attain hurricane status before passing through the Lesser Antilles. With warm waters and very light wind shear forecast, its environmental conditions met four out of five parameters for rapid intensification. Subsequently, convection diminished as the result of cold air inflow and instability from a disturbance to its southeast. With a fast forward speed, confirmation of a low-level circulation on July 20 became difficult. Convection increased in curvature on July 21, and several islands in the Lesser Antilles issued tropical storm warnings and watches. After it passed north of Barbados, a Hurricane hunters flight failed to report a closed low-level circulation, and it is estimated the depression degenerated into an open tropical wave late on July 21. The remnants brought a few showers to the Lesser Antilles, and after tracking into the Caribbean redevelopment was prevented by increased wind shear. The northern portion of the wave axis split and developed into Tropical Depression Seven. ### Tropical Depression Seven A tropical wave interacted with an upper-level low to develop an area of deep convection near Hispaniola on July 23. A mid- to lower-level circulation developed within the system at it tracked generally north-northwestward, and based on surface and satellite observations, it is estimated the system developed into Tropical Depression Seven at 1200 UTC on July 25 about 60 miles (97 km) east of Daytona Beach, Florida. The system was embedded in an environment characterized by high surface pressures. Tracking through an area of cool water temperatures, as well as unfavorable upper-level winds, the depression failed to achieve winds greater than 35 mph (56 km/h). Early on July 26 it moved ashore on St. Catherines Island, Georgia, and after steadily weakening over land it dissipated on July 27. As the storm was never forecast to attain tropical storm status, no tropical storm warnings or watches were issued. However, flood watches were posted for much of Georgia and South Carolina. The depression dropped light to moderate rainfall from Florida to the coast of North Carolina, peaking at 5.17 inches (131 mm) in Savannah, Georgia. Mostly, rainfall totals between 1 and 3 inches (25 and 76 mm) were common. There were no reports of damage or casualties associated with this depression. ### Hurricane Erika The precursor system to Hurricane Erika was first noted as a non-tropical low on August 9 about 1,150 miles (1,850 km) east of Bermuda. It tracked quickly southwestward then westward in tandem with an upper-level low, which prevented tropical development. On August 13 an area of convection increased as it passed through the Bahamas, and while crossing Florida a circulation built toward the surface; it is estimated the system developed into Tropical Storm Erika on August 14 about 85 miles (137 km) west-southwest of Fort Myers, Florida. A strong ridge caused the storm to continue quickly westward, and the system gradually strengthened and organized. By August 15 its forward motion slowed, allowing the convection to organize into curved rainbands, and late in the day an eye feature began developing. Tropical Storm Erika attained hurricane status at around 1030 UTC as it was moving ashore in northeastern Tamaulipas; operationally it was not classified as a hurricane, due to lack of data. The winds rapidly decreased as it tracked across the mountainous terrain of northeastern Mexico, and early on August 17 the cyclone dissipated. The hurricane dropped light to moderate rainfall along its path, which caused some flooding; in Montemorelos in Nuevo León, two people died after being swept away by floodwaters. Several mudslides were reported, which left numerous highways blocked or impassable. In southern Texas, the hurricane caused light winds and minor damage, with no reports of deaths or injuries in the United States. ### Tropical Depression Nine A strong tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on August 14, and after tracking steadily westward an area of convection began to become better organized on August 18. After it tracked through the Lesser Antilles, it developed into Tropical Depression Nine on August 21 to the south of Puerto Rico. The depression quickly showed signs of organization, and forecasters predicted the depression to intensify to a strong tropical storm. However, strong southwesterly wind shear unexpectedly became established over the system, and the depression degenerated into a tropical wave late on August 22 to the south of the eastern tip of the Dominican Republic. The depression caused moderate rainfall in Puerto Rico, where 2 to 3 inches (50 to 75 mm) of precipitation were recorded. The flooding from the rainfall entered 10 houses and left some streets impassable. A mudslide was reported in the eastern portion of the island. A river in northeastern Puerto Rico surpassed its banks from flooding, though it returned to normal levels within hours. Damage in Puerto Rico totaled \$20,000 (2003 USD, \$ 2023 USD). The remnants of the depression dropped light to moderate precipitation in the Dominican Republic, which caused flooding and overflowing rivers. More than 100 houses were flooded, and some crop damage was reported. The rainfall was welcome in the country, as conditions were dry in the preceding months. Flooding was also reported in eastern Jamaica, though damage there, if any, is unknown. ### Hurricane Fabian On August 25, a tropical wave emerged off the coast of Africa, and two days later developed enough organized convection to develop into Tropical Depression Ten. Tracking through warm waters and low vertical shear, the depression was named Tropical Storm Fabian on August 28. On August 30, the storm intensified into a hurricane, and it quickly strengthened to attain major hurricane status late that day; on September 1 Fabian reached its peak intensity of 145 mph (233 km/h). The hurricane turned to the north and gradually weakened before passing 14 miles (23 km) west of Bermuda on September 5 with winds of 120 mph (190 km/h). The cyclone accelerated northeastward into an environment of unfavorable conditions, becoming an extratropical cyclone on September 8; two days later it merged with another extratropical storm between southern Greenland and Iceland. Strong waves caused extensive damage to the Bermuda coastline, destroying 10 nests of the endangered Bermuda petrel. The storm surge from the hurricane stranded one vehicle with three police officers and another with a resident on the causeway between St. George's Parish and St. David's Island, later washing both vehicles into Castle Harbour; all four were killed. Strong winds left about 25,000 people without power on the island, and also caused severe damage to vegetation. The strong winds damaged or destroyed the roofs of numerous buildings on Bermuda, Damage on the island totaled \$300 million (2003 USD). Elsewhere, strong waves from the hurricane killed a surfer in North Carolina and caused three deaths off of Newfoundland when a fishing vessel sank. ### Tropical Storm Grace A strong tropical wave accompanied with a low-pressure system moved off the coast of Africa on August 19. It moved quickly westward, failing to organize significantly, and developed a surface low-pressure area on August 29 in the Gulf of Mexico. Convection continued to organize, and the tropical wave developed into Tropical Depression Eleven on August 30 while located 335 miles (539 km) east-southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas. The depression quickly intensified to become Tropical Storm Grace, though further intensification was limited due to a nearby upper-level low. On August 31, Grace moved ashore on Galveston Island, Texas, and it quickly weakened over land. The storm turned northeastward and was absorbed by a cold front over extreme eastern Oklahoma on September 2. The storm produced light to moderate precipitation from Texas through the eastern United States, peaking at 10.4 inches (260 mm) in eastern Texas. Near where it made landfall, Grace produced flooding of low-lying areas and light beach erosion. In Oklahoma and southern Missouri, the remnants of the storm caused localized flooding. No deaths were reported, and damage was minimal. ### Tropical Storm Henri On August 22, a tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa, and it remained disorganized until reaching the eastern Gulf of Mexico on September 1. A tropical disturbance developed into Tropical Depression Twelve on September 3 about 300 miles (480 km) west of Tampa, Florida. It moved eastward and strengthened into Tropical Storm Henri on September 5, and despite strong wind shear it intensified to reach peak winds of 60 mph (97 km/h) later that day. Subsequently, it quickly weakened, and it struck the western Florida coast as a tropical depression. On September 8 it degenerated into a remnant low-pressure area off the coast of North Carolina, and after moving ashore near Cape Hatteras, it crossed the Mid-Atlantic states and dissipated on September 17 over New England. Henri was responsible for locally heavy rainfall across Florida, but damage was minimal. The remnants of Henri caused heavy precipitation in Delaware and Pennsylvania, causing \$19.6 million in damage (2003 USD). In Delaware, the rainfall caused record-breaking river flooding, with part of the Red Clay Creek experiencing a 500-year flood, and the system left 109,000 residents without power in Pennsylvania. The impacts of the storm were severely compounded the following week by Hurricane Isabel across the region. ### Hurricane Isabel A tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on September 1, which developed into Tropical Depression Thirteen early on September 6 to the southwest of the Cape Verde islands. It quickly intensified into Tropical Storm Isabel, and it continued to gradually intensify within an area of light wind shear and warm waters. Isabel strengthened to a hurricane on September 7, and the following day it attained major hurricane status. Its intensity fluctuated over the subsequent days as it passed north of the Lesser Antilles, and it attained peak winds of 165 mph (266 km/h) on September 11, a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale. The hurricane oscillated between Category 4 and Category 5 status over the following four days, before weakening due to wind shear. On September 18 Isabel made landfall between Cape Lookout and Ocracoke Island in North Carolina with winds of 105 mph (169 km/h). It continued northwestward, becoming extratropical over western Pennsylvania before being absorbed by a larger storm over Ontario on September 19. Strong winds from Isabel extended from North Carolina to New England and westward to West Virginia. The winds, combined with previous rainfall which moistened the soil, downed many trees and power lines across its path, leaving about 6 million electricity customers without power at some point. Coastal areas suffered from waves and its powerful storm surge, with areas in eastern North Carolina and southeast Virginia reporting severe damage from both winds and the storm surge. Throughout its path, Isabel resulted in \$3.6 billion in damage (2003 USD) and 47 deaths, of which 16 were directly related to the storm's effects. The governors of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware declared states of emergencies. Isabel was the first major hurricane to threaten the Mid-Atlantic states and the South since Hurricane Floyd in September 1999. Isabel's greatest impact was due to flood damage, the worst in some areas of Virginia since 1972's Hurricane Agnes. More than 60 million people were affected to some degree — a similar number to Floyd but more than any other hurricane in recent memory. ### Tropical Depression Fourteen A strong tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on September 6, and almost immediately it became associated with a broad surface circulation. With favorable upper-level winds the system quickly became better organized, and on September 8, it possessed enough organization to be classified as Tropical Depression Fourteen while located about 290 miles (470 km) southeast of the southernmost Cape Verde islands. Initially the depression failed to maintain an inner core of deep convection, and despite its occurrence with nearby dry air, the depression was forecast to intensify to hurricane status due to anticipated favorable conditions. In the hours subsequent to formation, the convection near the center decreased as the banding features dissipated. Dry air greatly increased over the depression, and by September 9 the system was not forecast to intensify past minimal tropical storm status. Later that day an upper-level low tracked southward to the west of the depression, which increased wind shear and caused a steady north-northwest motion for the depression. The circulation became elongated and separated from the convection as it passed just west of the Cape Verde Islands, where it brought heavy rainfall, and on September 10 the depression dissipated. ### Hurricane Juan A large tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on September 14, and due to unfavorable wind shear it initially remained disorganized. An area of convection increased in association with an upper-level low, and it developed into Tropical Depression Fifteen on September 24 to the southeast of Bermuda. It steadily organized as it tracked northward, intensifying into Tropical Storm Juan on September 25 and attaining hurricane status on September 26. With warm waters and light wind shear, Juan reached peak winds of 105 mph (169 km/h) on September 27 about 635 miles (1,022 km) south of Halifax, Nova Scotia. It accelerated northward, weakening only slightly before moving ashore near Halifax on September 29 with winds of 100 mph (160 km/h). It quickly weakened while crossing the southern Canadian Maritimes before being absorbed by a large extratropical cyclone over the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The eyewall of Hurricane Juan was the first to directly cross over Halifax since a hurricane in August of 1893; the cyclone became one of the most damaging tropical cyclones in modern history for the city. The hurricane produced a record storm surge of 4.9 feet (1.5 m), which resulted in extensive flooding of the Halifax and Dartmouth waterfront properties. Strong winds caused widespread occurrences of falling trees, downed power lines, and damaged houses, and the hurricane was responsible for four direct deaths and four indirect deaths. More than 800,000 people were left without power. Nearly all wind-related damage occurred to the east of the storm track, and damage amounted to about \$200 million (2003 CAD; \$150 million 2003 USD). ### Hurricane Kate Kate developed from a tropical wave in the central tropical Atlantic on September 25. The storm moved northwestward until a weakness in the subtropical ridge forced it eastward. Kate strengthened to a hurricane, turned sharply westward while moving around a mid-level low, and intensified to a 125 mph (201 km/h) major hurricane on October 4. Kate turned sharply northward around the periphery of an anticyclone, weakened, and became extratropical after passing to the east of Newfoundland. The extratropical storm persisted for three days until losing its identity near Scandinavia. Kate threatened Atlantic Canada just one week after Hurricane Juan caused severe damage in Nova Scotia. The storm had minimal effects on land, limited to moderately strong winds and heavy rainfall over Newfoundland; St. John's reported 1.8 inches (46 mm) on October 6, a record for the date. The interaction between Kate and a high-pressure area to its north produced 3 to 4 ft (1 m) waves along the coast of North Carolina and New England. ### Tropical Storm Larry A tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on September 17, which developed a low-pressure area on September 27 in the western Caribbean. It moved ashore along the Yucatán Peninsula on September 29 and developed into an extratropical cyclone as it interacted with a stationary cold front. Deep convection increased, and it transitioned into Tropical Storm Larry by October 1. The storm drifted generally southward, and after reaching peak winds of 65 mph (105 km/h) it made landfall in the Mexican state of Tabasco on October 5, the first landfall in the region since Hurricane Brenda in 1973. The remnants of Larry crossed the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, degenerating into a remnant low-pressure area before dissipating on October 7 in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The storm caused flooding and mudslides throughout the region, and coincided with the landfall in southwestern Mexico of two Pacific tropical cyclones, Nora and Olaf, adding to the damage. Overall, the storm resulted in five deaths and \$53.4 million in damage (2003 USD). ### Tropical Storm Mindy A tropical wave exited the coast of Africa on October 1 and moved westward. On October 8, thunderstorms spread across the Lesser Antilles, and the wave slowly organized. Rainfall reached 2.98 inches (76 mm) in Christiansted in Saint Croix, and 7.13 inches (181 mm) near Ponce, Puerto Rico. Strong winds left around 29,000 people without power in northeastern Puerto Rico. The rainfall wrecked bridges in Las Piedras and Guayama, and led to flooded streams, downed trees, and rockslides that closed four roads. One car was swept away, and a few houses were flooded. The damage total was at least \$46,000 (2003 USD). It turned northwestward through a weakness in the subtropical ridge, and despite strong wind shear developed into Tropical Storm Mindy late on October 10 over eastern Dominican Republic, with peak winds of 45 mph (72 km/h). It produced 2.63 inches (67 mm) of rain in Santiago Rodríguez, which caused flooding and damaged 320 houses. Although forecast to intensify to 65 mph (105 km/h) winds, the storm weakened due to the wind shear. The center passed near the Turks and Caicos Islands on October 11, and winds reached only 31 mph (50 km/h) at Grand Turk Island. On October 12, Mindy weakened to a tropical depression, and later turned eastward due to an approaching short-wave trough. Devoid of deep convection, the circulation dissipated on October 14 about 445 miles (716 km) south-southwest of Bermuda. Mindy produced 2 to 3 ft (0.6 to 0.9 m) swells along the U.S. Atlantic coast from Florida through North Carolina. ### Tropical Storm Nicholas Forming from a tropical wave on October 13 in the central tropical Atlantic Ocean, Nicholas slowly developed due to moderate levels of wind shear throughout its lifetime. Deep convection slowly organized, and Nicholas attained a peak intensity of 70 mph (110 km/h) on October 17. After moving west-northwestward for much of its lifetime, it turned northward and weakened due to increasing shear. The storm again turned to the west and briefly restrengthened, but after turning again to the north Nicholas transitioned to an extratropical cyclone on October 24. As an extratropical storm, Nicholas executed a large loop to the west, and after moving erratically for a week and organizing into a tropical low, it was absorbed by a non-tropical low. The low continued westward, crossed Florida, and ultimately dissipated over the Gulf Coast of the United States on November 5. Nicholas had no impact as a tropical cyclone, and impact from the low that absorbed the storm was limited to rainfall, gusty winds, and rough surf. The low that absorbed the storm nearly developed into a tropical cyclone, which would have been called Odette. However, moderate wind shear prevented further development. ### Tropical Storm Odette Odette was a rare December tropical storm, the first since Hurricane Lili in 1984, that formed on December 4 in the southwest Caribbean Sea. It became the second December tropical storm on record to form in the Caribbean Sea, after a hurricane in 1822. Odette strengthened and made landfall near Cabo Falso in the Dominican Republic on December 6 as a moderately strong tropical storm. A day later, Odette became extratropical, and eventually merged with a cold front. Eight deaths were directly attributed to this tropical storm in the Dominican Republic due to mudslides or flash flooding. In addition, two deaths were indirectly caused by the storm. Approximately 35% of the nation's banana crop was destroyed. Light to moderate rainfall was reported in Puerto Rico. ### Tropical Storm Peter By December 5, an extratropical cyclone developed and was moving southward, isolated from the westerlies. Convection developed near the center, and the system organized into a subtropical storm late on December 7, about 835 miles (1,344 km) south-southwest of the Azores. The system moved southwestward over warmer waters, and deep convection continued to organize over the center. Banding features also increased, and the National Hurricane Center declared the system as Tropical Storm Peter on December 9, about 980 miles (1,580 km) northwest of the Cape Verde islands. With the development of Peter and Odette, 2003 became the first year since 1887 that two storms were active in the month of December. Initially, the National Hurricane Center did not anticipate strengthening; however, Peter intensified to winds of 70 mph (110 km/h) late on December 9, after an eye feature developed. Usually that would indicate hurricane intensity, but as the eye was short-lived, Peter remained a tropical storm. It turned northward ahead of the same frontal system that absorbed Tropical Storm Odette, and the combination of strong upper-level winds and cooler water temperatures caused quick weakening. By December 10, Peter degenerated into a tropical depression, and after turning northeastward it was absorbed by the cold front the next day. ## Storm names The following names were used for named storms that formed in the North Atlantic in 2003. The names not retired from this list were used again in the 2009 season. This is the same list used for the 1997 season. Storms were named Larry, Mindy, Nicholas, Odette, and Peter for the first time in 2003. ### Retirement On April 30, 2004, The World Meteorological Organization retired three names: Fabian, Isabel, and Juan. They were replaced in the 2009 season by Fred, Ida, and Joaquin, respectively. However, due to lack of activity in 2009, the name Joaquin was not used until the 2015 season. ## Season effects This is a table of all the storms that formed in the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season It includes their duration, names, intensities, areas affected, damages, and death totals. Deaths in parentheses are additional and indirect (an example of an indirect death would be a traffic accident), but were still related to that storm. Damage and deaths include totals while the storm was extratropical, a wave, or a low, and all the damage figures are in 2003 USD. ## See also - Tropical cyclones in 2003 - 2003 Pacific hurricane season - 2003 Pacific typhoon season - 2003 North Indian Ocean cyclone season - South-West Indian Ocean cyclone seasons: 2002–03, 2003–04 - Australian region cyclone seasons: 2002–03, 2003–04 - South Pacific cyclone seasons: 2002–03, 2003–04
59,160	Confirmation bias	1,171,362,222	Bias confirming existing attitudes	[ "Barriers to critical thinking", "Cognitive biases", "Cognitive inertia", "Design of experiments", "Error", "Fallacies", "Ignorance", "Inductive fallacies", "Memory biases", "Misuse of statistics", "Psychological concepts" ]	Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values. People display this bias when they select information that supports their views, ignoring contrary information, or when they interpret ambiguous evidence as supporting their existing attitudes. The effect is strongest for desired outcomes, for emotionally charged issues, and for deeply entrenched beliefs. Confirmation bias cannot be eliminated, but it can be managed, for example, by education and training in critical thinking skills. Biased search for information, biased interpretation of this information, and biased memory recall, have been invoked to explain four specific effects: 1. attitude polarization (when a disagreement becomes more extreme even though the different parties are exposed to the same evidence) 2. belief perseverance (when beliefs persist after the evidence for them is shown to be false) 3. the irrational primacy effect (a greater reliance on information encountered early in a series) 4. illusory correlation (when people falsely perceive an association between two events or situations). A series of psychological experiments in the 1960s suggested that people are biased toward confirming their existing beliefs. Later work re-interpreted these results as a tendency to test ideas in a one-sided way, focusing on one possibility and ignoring alternatives. Explanations for the observed biases include wishful thinking and the limited human capacity to process information. Another proposal is that people show confirmation bias because they are pragmatically assessing the costs of being wrong, rather than investigating in a neutral, scientific way. Flawed decisions due to confirmation bias have been found in a wide range of political, organizational, financial and scientific contexts. These biases contribute to overconfidence in personal beliefs and can maintain or strengthen beliefs in the face of contrary evidence. For example, confirmation bias produces systematic errors in scientific research based on inductive reasoning (the gradual accumulation of supportive evidence). Similarly, a police detective may identify a suspect early in an investigation, but then may only seek confirming rather than disconfirming evidence. A medical practitioner may prematurely focus on a particular disorder early in a diagnostic session, and then seek only confirming evidence. In social media, confirmation bias is amplified by the use of filter bubbles, or "algorithmic editing", which display to individuals only information they are likely to agree with, while excluding opposing views. ## Definition and context Confirmation bias, a phrase coined by English psychologist Peter Wason, is the tendency of people to favor information that confirms or strengthens their beliefs or values and is difficult to dislodge once affirmed. Confirmation bias is an example of a cognitive bias. Confirmation bias (or confirmatory bias) has also been termed myside bias. "Congeniality bias" has also been used. Confirmation biases are effects in information processing. They differ from what is sometimes called the behavioral confirmation effect, commonly known as self-fulfilling prophecy, in which a person's expectations influence their own behavior, bringing about the expected result. Some psychologists restrict the term "confirmation bias" to selective collection of evidence that supports what one already believes while ignoring or rejecting evidence that supports a different conclusion. Others apply the term more broadly to the tendency to preserve one's existing beliefs when searching for evidence, interpreting it, or recalling it from memory. Confirmation bias is a result of automatic, unintentional strategies rather than deliberate deception. Confirmation bias cannot be avoided or eliminated, but only managed by improving education and critical thinking skills. Confirmation bias is a broad construct that has a number of possible explanations, namely: hypothesis-testing by falsification, hypothesis testing by positive test strategy, and information processing explanations. ## Types of confirmation bias ### Biased search for information Experiments have found repeatedly that people tend to test hypotheses in a one-sided way, by searching for evidence consistent with their current hypothesis. Rather than searching through all the relevant evidence, they phrase questions to receive an affirmative answer that supports their theory. They look for the consequences that they would expect if their hypothesis was true, rather than what would happen if it was false. For example, someone using yes/no questions to find a number they suspect to be the number 3 might ask, "Is it an odd number?" People prefer this type of question, called a "positive test", even when a negative test such as "Is it an even number?" would yield exactly the same information. However, this does not mean that people seek tests that guarantee a positive answer. In studies where subjects could select either such pseudo-tests or genuinely diagnostic ones, they favored the genuinely diagnostic. The preference for positive tests in itself is not a bias, since positive tests can be highly informative. However, in combination with other effects, this strategy can confirm existing beliefs or assumptions, independently of whether they are true. In real-world situations, evidence is often complex and mixed. For example, various contradictory ideas about someone could each be supported by concentrating on one aspect of his or her behavior. Thus any search for evidence in favor of a hypothesis is likely to succeed. One illustration of this is the way the phrasing of a question can significantly change the answer. For example, people who are asked, "Are you happy with your social life?" report greater satisfaction than those asked, "Are you unhappy with your social life?" Even a small change in a question's wording can affect how people search through available information, and hence the conclusions they reach. This was shown using a fictional child custody case. Participants read that Parent A was moderately suitable to be the guardian in multiple ways. Parent B had a mix of salient positive and negative qualities: a close relationship with the child but a job that would take them away for long periods of time. When asked, "Which parent should have custody of the child?" the majority of participants chose Parent B, looking mainly for positive attributes. However, when asked, "Which parent should be denied custody of the child?" they looked for negative attributes and the majority answered that Parent B should be denied custody, implying that Parent A should have custody. Similar studies have demonstrated how people engage in a biased search for information, but also that this phenomenon may be limited by a preference for genuine diagnostic tests. In an initial experiment, participants rated another person on the introversion–extroversion personality dimension on the basis of an interview. They chose the interview questions from a given list. When the interviewee was introduced as an introvert, the participants chose questions that presumed introversion, such as, "What do you find unpleasant about noisy parties?" When the interviewee was described as extroverted, almost all the questions presumed extroversion, such as, "What would you do to liven up a dull party?" These loaded questions gave the interviewees little or no opportunity to falsify the hypothesis about them. A later version of the experiment gave the participants less presumptive questions to choose from, such as, "Do you shy away from social interactions?" Participants preferred to ask these more diagnostic questions, showing only a weak bias towards positive tests. This pattern, of a main preference for diagnostic tests and a weaker preference for positive tests, has been replicated in other studies. Personality traits influence and interact with biased search processes. Individuals vary in their abilities to defend their attitudes from external attacks in relation to selective exposure. Selective exposure occurs when individuals search for information that is consistent, rather than inconsistent, with their personal beliefs. An experiment examined the extent to which individuals could refute arguments that contradicted their personal beliefs. People with high confidence levels more readily seek out contradictory information to their personal position to form an argument. This can take the form of an oppositional news consumption, where individuals seek opposing partisan news in order to counterargue. Individuals with low confidence levels do not seek out contradictory information and prefer information that supports their personal position. People generate and evaluate evidence in arguments that are biased towards their own beliefs and opinions. Heightened confidence levels decrease preference for information that supports individuals' personal beliefs. Another experiment gave participants a complex rule-discovery task that involved moving objects simulated by a computer. Objects on the computer screen followed specific laws, which the participants had to figure out. So, participants could "fire" objects across the screen to test their hypotheses. Despite making many attempts over a ten-hour session, none of the participants figured out the rules of the system. They typically attempted to confirm rather than falsify their hypotheses, and were reluctant to consider alternatives. Even after seeing objective evidence that refuted their working hypotheses, they frequently continued doing the same tests. Some of the participants were taught proper hypothesis-testing, but these instructions had almost no effect. ### Biased interpretation of information Confirmation biases are not limited to the collection of evidence. Even if two individuals have the same information, the way they interpret it can be biased. A team at Stanford University conducted an experiment involving participants who felt strongly about capital punishment, with half in favor and half against it. Each participant read descriptions of two studies: a comparison of U.S. states with and without the death penalty, and a comparison of murder rates in a state before and after the introduction of the death penalty. After reading a quick description of each study, the participants were asked whether their opinions had changed. Then, they read a more detailed account of each study's procedure and had to rate whether the research was well-conducted and convincing. In fact, the studies were fictional. Half the participants were told that one kind of study supported the deterrent effect and the other undermined it, while for other participants the conclusions were swapped. The participants, whether supporters or opponents, reported shifting their attitudes slightly in the direction of the first study they read. Once they read the more detailed descriptions of the two studies, they almost all returned to their original belief regardless of the evidence provided, pointing to details that supported their viewpoint and disregarding anything contrary. Participants described studies supporting their pre-existing view as superior to those that contradicted it, in detailed and specific ways. Writing about a study that seemed to undermine the deterrence effect, a death penalty proponent wrote, "The research didn't cover a long enough period of time," while an opponent's comment on the same study said, "No strong evidence to contradict the researchers has been presented." The results illustrated that people set higher standards of evidence for hypotheses that go against their current expectations. This effect, known as "disconfirmation bias", has been supported by other experiments. Another study of biased interpretation occurred during the 2004 U.S. presidential election and involved participants who reported having strong feelings about the candidates. They were shown apparently contradictory pairs of statements, either from Republican candidate George W. Bush, Democratic candidate John Kerry or a politically neutral public figure. They were also given further statements that made the apparent contradiction seem reasonable. From these three pieces of information, they had to decide whether each individual's statements were inconsistent. There were strong differences in these evaluations, with participants much more likely to interpret statements from the candidate they opposed as contradictory. In this experiment, the participants made their judgments while in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner which monitored their brain activity. As participants evaluated contradictory statements by their favored candidate, emotional centers of their brains were aroused. This did not happen with the statements by the other figures. The experimenters inferred that the different responses to the statements were not due to passive reasoning errors. Instead, the participants were actively reducing the cognitive dissonance induced by reading about their favored candidate's irrational or hypocritical behavior. Biases in belief interpretation are persistent, regardless of intelligence level. Participants in an experiment took the SAT test (a college admissions test used in the United States) to assess their intelligence levels. They then read information regarding safety concerns for vehicles, and the experimenters manipulated the national origin of the car. American participants provided their opinion if the car should be banned on a six-point scale, where one indicated "definitely yes" and six indicated "definitely no". Participants firstly evaluated if they would allow a dangerous German car on American streets and a dangerous American car on German streets. Participants believed that the dangerous German car on American streets should be banned more quickly than the dangerous American car on German streets. There was no difference among intelligence levels at the rate participants would ban a car. Biased interpretation is not restricted to emotionally significant topics. In another experiment, participants were told a story about a theft. They had to rate the evidential importance of statements arguing either for or against a particular character being responsible. When they hypothesized that character's guilt, they rated statements supporting that hypothesis as more important than conflicting statements. ### Biased memory recall of information People may remember evidence selectively to reinforce their expectations, even if they gather and interpret evidence in a neutral manner. This effect is called "selective recall", "confirmatory memory", or "access-biased memory". Psychological theories differ in their predictions about selective recall. Schema theory predicts that information matching prior expectations will be more easily stored and recalled than information that does not match. Some alternative approaches say that surprising information stands out and so is memorable. Predictions from both these theories have been confirmed in different experimental contexts, with no theory winning outright. In one study, participants read a profile of a woman which described a mix of introverted and extroverted behaviors. They later had to recall examples of her introversion and extroversion. One group was told this was to assess the woman for a job as a librarian, while a second group were told it was for a job in real estate sales. There was a significant difference between what these two groups recalled, with the "librarian" group recalling more examples of introversion and the "sales" groups recalling more extroverted behavior. A selective memory effect has also been shown in experiments that manipulate the desirability of personality types. In one of these, a group of participants were shown evidence that extroverted people are more successful than introverts. Another group were told the opposite. In a subsequent, apparently unrelated study, participants were asked to recall events from their lives in which they had been either introverted or extroverted. Each group of participants provided more memories connecting themselves with the more desirable personality type, and recalled those memories more quickly. Changes in emotional states can also influence memory recall. Participants rated how they felt when they had first learned that O. J. Simpson had been acquitted of murder charges. They described their emotional reactions and confidence regarding the verdict one week, two months, and one year after the trial. Results indicated that participants' assessments for Simpson's guilt changed over time. The more that participants' opinion of the verdict had changed, the less stable were the participant's memories regarding their initial emotional reactions. When participants recalled their initial emotional reactions two months and a year later, past appraisals closely resembled current appraisals of emotion. People demonstrate sizable myside bias when discussing their opinions on controversial topics. Memory recall and construction of experiences undergo revision in relation to corresponding emotional states. Myside bias has been shown to influence the accuracy of memory recall. In an experiment, widows and widowers rated the intensity of their experienced grief six months and five years after the deaths of their spouses. Participants noted a higher experience of grief at six months rather than at five years. Yet, when the participants were asked after five years how they had felt six months after the death of their significant other, the intensity of grief participants recalled was highly correlated with their current level of grief. Individuals appear to utilize their current emotional states to analyze how they must have felt when experiencing past events. Emotional memories are reconstructed by current emotional states. One study showed how selective memory can maintain belief in extrasensory perception (ESP). Believers and disbelievers were each shown descriptions of ESP experiments. Half of each group were told that the experimental results supported the existence of ESP, while the others were told they did not. In a subsequent test, participants recalled the material accurately, apart from believers who had read the non-supportive evidence. This group remembered significantly less information and some of them incorrectly remembered the results as supporting ESP. ## Individual differences Myside bias was once believed to be correlated with intelligence; however, studies have shown that myside bias can be more influenced by ability to rationally think as opposed to level of intelligence. Myside bias can cause an inability to effectively and logically evaluate the opposite side of an argument. Studies have stated that myside bias is an absence of "active open-mindedness", meaning the active search for why an initial idea may be wrong. Typically, myside bias is operationalized in empirical studies as the quantity of evidence used in support of their side in comparison to the opposite side. A study has found individual differences in myside bias. This study investigates individual differences that are acquired through learning in a cultural context and are mutable. The researcher found important individual difference in argumentation. Studies have suggested that individual differences such as deductive reasoning ability, ability to overcome belief bias, epistemological understanding, and thinking disposition are significant predictors of the reasoning and generating arguments, counterarguments, and rebuttals. A study by Christopher Wolfe and Anne Britt also investigated how participants' views of "what makes a good argument?" can be a source of myside bias that influences the way a person formulates their own arguments. The study investigated individual differences of argumentation schema and asked participants to write essays. The participants were randomly assigned to write essays either for or against their preferred side of an argument and were given research instructions that took either a balanced or an unrestricted approach. The balanced-research instructions directed participants to create a "balanced" argument, i.e., that included both pros and cons; the unrestricted-research instructions included nothing on how to create the argument. Overall, the results revealed that the balanced-research instructions significantly increased the incidence of opposing information in arguments. These data also reveal that personal belief is not a source of myside bias; however, that those participants, who believe that a good argument is one that is based on facts, are more likely to exhibit myside bias than other participants. This evidence is consistent with the claims proposed in Baron's article—that people's opinions about what makes good thinking can influence how arguments are generated. ## Discovery ### Informal observations Before psychological research on confirmation bias, the phenomenon had been observed throughout history. Beginning with the Greek historian Thucydides (c. 460 BC – c. 395 BC), who wrote of misguided reason in The Peloponnesian War; "... for it is a habit of mankind to entrust to careless hope what they long for, and to use sovereign reason to thrust aside what they do not fancy". Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) noted it in the Divine Comedy, in which St. Thomas Aquinas cautions Dante upon meeting in Paradise, "opinion—hasty—often can incline to the wrong side, and then affection for one's own opinion binds, confines the mind". Ibn Khaldun noticed the same effect in his Muqaddimah: > Untruth naturally afflicts historical information. There are various reasons that make this unavoidable. One of them is partisanship for opinions and schools. ... if the soul is infected with partisanship for a particular opinion or sect, it accepts without a moment's hesitation the information that is agreeable to it. Prejudice and partisanship obscure the critical faculty and preclude critical investigation. The result is that falsehoods are accepted and transmitted. In the Novum Organum, English philosopher and scientist Francis Bacon (1561–1626) noted that biased assessment of evidence drove "all superstitions, whether in astrology, dreams, omens, divine judgments or the like". He wrote: > The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion ... draws all things else to support and agree with it. And though there be a greater number and weight of instances to be found on the other side, yet these it either neglects or despises, or else by some distinction sets aside or rejects[.] In the second volume of his The World as Will and Representation (1844), German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer observed that "An adopted hypothesis gives us lynx-eyes for everything that confirms it and makes us blind to everything that contradicts it." In his essay (1897) What Is Art?, Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy wrote: > I know that most men—not only those considered clever, but even those who are very clever, and capable of understanding most difficult scientific, mathematical, or philosophic problems—can very seldom discern even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as to oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions they have formed, perhaps with much difficulty—conclusions of which they are proud, which they have taught to others, and on which they have built their lives. In his essay (1894) The Kingdom of God Is Within You, Tolstoy had earlier written: > The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him. ### Hypothesis-testing (falsification) explanation (Wason) In Peter Wason's initial experiment published in 1960 (which does not mention the term "confirmation bias"), he repeatedly challenged participants to identify a rule applying to triples of numbers. They were told that (2,4,6) fits the rule. They generated triples, and the experimenter told them whether each triple conformed to the rule. The actual rule was simply "any ascending sequence", but participants had great difficulty in finding it, often announcing rules that were far more specific, such as "the middle number is the average of the first and last". The participants seemed to test only positive examples—triples that obeyed their hypothesized rule. For example, if they thought the rule was, "Each number is two greater than its predecessor," they would offer a triple that fitted (confirmed) this rule, such as (11,13,15) rather than a triple that violated (falsified) it, such as (11,12,19). Wason interpreted his results as showing a preference for confirmation over falsification, hence he coined the term "confirmation bias". Wason also used confirmation bias to explain the results of his selection task experiment. Participants repeatedly performed badly on various forms of this test, in most cases ignoring information that could potentially refute (falsify) the specified rule. ### Hypothesis testing (positive test strategy) explanation (Klayman and Ha) Klayman and Ha's 1987 paper argues that the Wason experiments do not actually demonstrate a bias towards confirmation, but instead a tendency to make tests consistent with the working hypothesis. They called this the "positive test strategy". This strategy is an example of a heuristic: a reasoning shortcut that is imperfect but easy to compute. Klayman and Ha used Bayesian probability and information theory as their standard of hypothesis-testing, rather than the falsificationism used by Wason. According to these ideas, each answer to a question yields a different amount of information, which depends on the person's prior beliefs. Thus a scientific test of a hypothesis is one that is expected to produce the most information. Since the information content depends on initial probabilities, a positive test can either be highly informative or uninformative. Klayman and Ha argued that when people think about realistic problems, they are looking for a specific answer with a small initial probability. In this case, positive tests are usually more informative than negative tests. However, in Wason's rule discovery task the answer—three numbers in ascending order—is very broad, so positive tests are unlikely to yield informative answers. Klayman and Ha supported their analysis by citing an experiment that used the labels "DAX" and "MED" in place of "fits the rule" and "doesn't fit the rule". This avoided implying that the aim was to find a low-probability rule. Participants had much more success with this version of the experiment. In light of this and other critiques, the focus of research moved away from confirmation versus falsification of an hypothesis, to examining whether people test hypotheses in an informative way, or an uninformative but positive way. The search for "true" confirmation bias led psychologists to look at a wider range of effects in how people process information. ## Information processing explanations There are currently three main information processing explanations of confirmation bias, plus a recent addition. ### Cognitive versus motivational According to Robert MacCoun, most biased evidence processing occurs through a combination of "cold" (cognitive) and "hot" (motivated) mechanisms. Cognitive explanations for confirmation bias are based on limitations in people's ability to handle complex tasks, and the shortcuts, called heuristics, that they use. For example, people may judge the reliability of evidence by using the availability heuristic that is, how readily a particular idea comes to mind. It is also possible that people can only focus on one thought at a time, so find it difficult to test alternative hypotheses in parallel. Another heuristic is the positive test strategy identified by Klayman and Ha, in which people test a hypothesis by examining cases where they expect a property or event to occur. This heuristic avoids the difficult or impossible task of working out how diagnostic each possible question will be. However, it is not universally reliable, so people can overlook challenges to their existing beliefs. Motivational explanations involve an effect of desire on belief. It is known that people prefer positive thoughts over negative ones in a number of ways: this is called the "Pollyanna principle". Applied to arguments or sources of evidence, this could explain why desired conclusions are more likely to be believed true. According to experiments that manipulate the desirability of the conclusion, people demand a high standard of evidence for unpalatable ideas and a low standard for preferred ideas. In other words, they ask, "Can I believe this?" for some suggestions and, "Must I believe this?" for others. Although consistency is a desirable feature of attitudes, an excessive drive for consistency is another potential source of bias because it may prevent people from neutrally evaluating new, surprising information. Social psychologist Ziva Kunda combines the cognitive and motivational theories, arguing that motivation creates the bias, but cognitive factors determine the size of the effect. ### Cost-benefit Explanations in terms of cost-benefit analysis assume that people do not just test hypotheses in a disinterested way, but assess the costs of different errors. Using ideas from evolutionary psychology, James Friedrich suggests that people do not primarily aim at truth in testing hypotheses, but try to avoid the most costly errors. For example, employers might ask one-sided questions in job interviews because they are focused on weeding out unsuitable candidates. Yaacov Trope and Akiva Liberman's refinement of this theory assumes that people compare the two different kinds of error: accepting a false hypothesis or rejecting a true hypothesis. For instance, someone who underestimates a friend's honesty might treat him or her suspiciously and so undermine the friendship. Overestimating the friend's honesty may also be costly, but less so. In this case, it would be rational to seek, evaluate or remember evidence of their honesty in a biased way. When someone gives an initial impression of being introverted or extroverted, questions that match that impression come across as more empathic. This suggests that when talking to someone who seems to be an introvert, it is a sign of better social skills to ask, "Do you feel awkward in social situations?" rather than, "Do you like noisy parties?" The connection between confirmation bias and social skills was corroborated by a study of how college students get to know other people. Highly self-monitoring students, who are more sensitive to their environment and to social norms, asked more matching questions when interviewing a high-status staff member than when getting to know fellow students. ### Exploratory versus confirmatory Psychologists Jennifer Lerner and Philip Tetlock distinguish two different kinds of thinking process. Exploratory thought neutrally considers multiple points of view and tries to anticipate all possible objections to a particular position, while confirmatory thought seeks to justify a specific point of view. Lerner and Tetlock say that when people expect to justify their position to others whose views they already know, they will tend to adopt a similar position to those people, and then use confirmatory thought to bolster their own credibility. However, if the external parties are overly aggressive or critical, people will disengage from thought altogether, and simply assert their personal opinions without justification. Lerner and Tetlock say that people only push themselves to think critically and logically when they know in advance they will need to explain themselves to others who are well-informed, genuinely interested in the truth, and whose views they do not already know. Because those conditions rarely exist, they argue, most people are using confirmatory thought most of the time. ### Make-believe Developmental psychologist Eve Whitmore has argued that beliefs and biases involved in confirmation bias have their roots in childhood coping through make-believe, which becomes "the basis for more complex forms of self-deception and illusion into adulthood." The friction brought on by questioning as an adolescent with developing critical thinking can lead to the rationalization of false beliefs, and the habit of such rationalization can become unconscious over the years. ## Real-world effects ### Social media In social media, confirmation bias is amplified by the use of filter bubbles, or "algorithmic editing", which displays to individuals only information they are likely to agree with, while excluding opposing views. Some have argued that confirmation bias is the reason why society can never escape from filter bubbles, because individuals are psychologically hardwired to seek information that agrees with their preexisting values and beliefs. Others have further argued that the mixture of the two is degrading democracy—claiming that this "algorithmic editing" removes diverse viewpoints and information—and that unless filter bubble algorithms are removed, voters will be unable to make fully informed political decisions. The rise of social media has contributed greatly to the rapid spread of fake news, that is, false and misleading information that is presented as credible news from a seemingly reliable source. Confirmation bias (selecting or reinterpreting evidence to support one's beliefs) is one of three main hurdles cited as to why critical thinking goes astray in these circumstances. The other two are shortcut heuristics (when overwhelmed or short of time, people rely on simple rules such as group consensus or trusting an expert or role model) and social goals (social motivation or peer pressure can interfere with objective analysis of facts at hand). In combating the spread of fake news, social media sites have considered turning toward "digital nudging". This can currently be done in two different forms of nudging. This includes nudging of information and nudging of presentation. Nudging of information entails social media sites providing a disclaimer or label questioning or warning users of the validity of the source while nudging of presentation includes exposing users to new information which they may not have sought out but could introduce them to viewpoints that may combat their own confirmation biases. ### Science and scientific research A distinguishing feature of scientific thinking is the search for confirming or supportive evidence (inductive reasoning) as well as falsifying evidence (deductive reasoning). Inductive research in particular can have a serious problem with confirmation bias. Many times in the history of science, scientists have resisted new discoveries by selectively interpreting or ignoring unfavorable data. Several studies have shown that scientists rate studies that report findings consistent with their prior beliefs more favorably than studies reporting findings inconsistent with their previous beliefs. However, assuming that the research question is relevant, the experimental design adequate and the data are clearly and comprehensively described, the empirical data obtained should be important to the scientific community and should not be viewed prejudicially, regardless of whether they conform to current theoretical predictions. In practice, researchers may misunderstand, misinterpret, or not read at all studies that contradict their preconceptions, or wrongly cite them anyway as if they actually supported their claims. Further, confirmation biases can sustain scientific theories or research programs in the face of inadequate or even contradictory evidence. The discipline of parapsychology is often cited as an example in the context of whether it is a protoscience or a pseudoscience. An experimenter's confirmation bias can potentially affect which data are reported. Data that conflict with the experimenter's expectations may be more readily discarded as unreliable, producing the so-called file drawer effect. To combat this tendency, scientific training teaches ways to prevent bias. For example, experimental design of randomized controlled trials (coupled with their systematic review) aims to minimize sources of bias. The social process of peer review aims to mitigate the effect of individual scientists' biases, even though the peer review process itself may be susceptible to such biases Confirmation bias may thus be especially harmful to objective evaluations regarding nonconforming results since biased individuals may regard opposing evidence to be weak in principle and give little serious thought to revising their beliefs. Scientific innovators often meet with resistance from the scientific community, and research presenting controversial results frequently receives harsh peer review. ### Finance Confirmation bias can lead investors to be overconfident, ignoring evidence that their strategies will lose money. In studies of political stock markets, investors made more profit when they resisted bias. For example, participants who interpreted a candidate's debate performance in a neutral rather than partisan way were more likely to profit. To combat the effect of confirmation bias, investors can try to adopt a contrary viewpoint "for the sake of argument". In one technique, they imagine that their investments have collapsed and ask themselves why this might happen. ### Medicine and health Cognitive biases are important variables in clinical decision-making by medical general practitioners (GPs) and medical specialists. Two important ones are confirmation bias and the overlapping availability bias. A GP may make a diagnosis early on during an examination, and then seek confirming evidence rather than falsifying evidence. This cognitive error is partly caused by the availability of evidence about the supposed disorder being diagnosed. For example, the client may have mentioned the disorder, or the GP may have recently read a much-discussed paper about the disorder. The basis of this cognitive shortcut or heuristic (termed anchoring) is that the doctor does not consider multiple possibilities based on evidence, but prematurely latches on (or anchors to) a single cause. In emergency medicine, because of time pressure, there is a high density of decision-making, and shortcuts are frequently applied. The potential failure rate of these cognitive decisions needs to be managed by education about the 30 or more cognitive biases that can occur, so as to set in place proper debiasing strategies. Confirmation bias may also cause doctors to perform unnecessary medical procedures due to pressure from adamant patients. Raymond Nickerson, a psychologist, blames confirmation bias for the ineffective medical procedures that were used for centuries before the arrival of scientific medicine. If a patient recovered, medical authorities counted the treatment as successful, rather than looking for alternative explanations such as that the disease had run its natural course. Biased assimilation is a factor in the modern appeal of alternative medicine, whose proponents are swayed by positive anecdotal evidence but treat scientific evidence hyper-critically. Cognitive therapy was developed by Aaron T. Beck in the early 1960s and has become a popular approach. According to Beck, biased information processing is a factor in depression. His approach teaches people to treat evidence impartially, rather than selectively reinforcing negative outlooks. Phobias and hypochondria have also been shown to involve confirmation bias for threatening information. ### Politics, law and policing Nickerson argues that reasoning in judicial and political contexts is sometimes subconsciously biased, favoring conclusions that judges, juries or governments have already committed to. Since the evidence in a jury trial can be complex, and jurors often reach decisions about the verdict early on, it is reasonable to expect an attitude polarization effect. The prediction that jurors will become more extreme in their views as they see more evidence has been borne out in experiments with mock trials. Both inquisitorial and adversarial criminal justice systems are affected by confirmation bias. Confirmation bias can be a factor in creating or extending conflicts, from emotionally charged debates to wars: by interpreting the evidence in their favor, each opposing party can become overconfident that it is in the stronger position. On the other hand, confirmation bias can result in people ignoring or misinterpreting the signs of an imminent or incipient conflict. For example, psychologists Stuart Sutherland and Thomas Kida have each argued that U.S. Navy Admiral Husband E. Kimmel showed confirmation bias when playing down the first signs of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A two-decade study of political pundits by Philip E. Tetlock found that, on the whole, their predictions were not much better than chance. Tetlock divided experts into "foxes" who maintained multiple hypotheses, and "hedgehogs" who were more dogmatic. In general, the hedgehogs were much less accurate. Tetlock blamed their failure on confirmation bias, and specifically on their inability to make use of new information that contradicted their existing theories. In police investigations, a detective may identify a suspect early in an investigation, but then sometimes largely seek supporting or confirming evidence, ignoring or downplaying falsifying evidence. ### Social psychology Social psychologists have identified two tendencies in the way people seek or interpret information about themselves. Self-verification is the drive to reinforce the existing self-image and self-enhancement is the drive to seek positive feedback. Both are served by confirmation biases. In experiments where people are given feedback that conflicts with their self-image, they are less likely to attend to it or remember it than when given self-verifying feedback. They reduce the impact of such information by interpreting it as unreliable. Similar experiments have found a preference for positive feedback, and the people who give it, over negative feedback. ### Mass delusions Confirmation bias can play a key role in the propagation of mass delusions. Witch trials are frequently cited as an example. For another example, in the Seattle windshield pitting epidemic, there seemed to be a "pitting epidemic" in which windshields were damaged due to an unknown cause. As news of the apparent wave of damage spread, more and more people checked their windshields, discovered that their windshields too had been damaged, thus confirming belief in the supposed epidemic. In fact, the windshields were previously damaged, but the damage went unnoticed until people checked their windshields as the delusion spread. ### Paranormal beliefs One factor in the appeal of alleged psychic readings is that listeners apply a confirmation bias which fits the psychic's statements to their own lives. By making a large number of ambiguous statements in each sitting, the psychic gives the client more opportunities to find a match. This is one of the techniques of cold reading, with which a psychic can deliver a subjectively impressive reading without any prior information about the client. Investigator James Randi compared the transcript of a reading to the client's report of what the psychic had said, and found that the client showed a strong selective recall of the "hits". As a striking illustration of confirmation bias in the real world, Nickerson mentions numerological pyramidology: the practice of finding meaning in the proportions of the Egyptian pyramids. There are many different length measurements that can be made of, for example, the Great Pyramid of Giza and many ways to combine or manipulate them. Hence it is almost inevitable that people who look at these numbers selectively will find superficially impressive correspondences, for example with the dimensions of the Earth. ### Recruitment and selection Unconscious cognitive bias (including confirmation bias) in job recruitment affects hiring decisions and can potentially prohibit a diverse and inclusive workplace. There are a variety of unconscious biases that affects recruitment decisions but confirmation bias is one of the major ones, especially during the interview stage. The interviewer will often select a candidate that confirms their own beliefs, even though other candidates are equally or better qualified. ## Associated effects and outcomes ### Polarization of opinion When people with opposing views interpret new information in a biased way, their views can move even further apart. This is called "attitude polarization". The effect was demonstrated by an experiment that involved drawing a series of red and black balls from one of two concealed "bingo baskets". Participants knew that one basket contained 60 percent black and 40 percent red balls; the other, 40 percent black and 60 percent red. The experimenters looked at what happened when balls of alternating color were drawn in turn, a sequence that does not favor either basket. After each ball was drawn, participants in one group were asked to state out loud their judgments of the probability that the balls were being drawn from one or the other basket. These participants tended to grow more confident with each successive draw—whether they initially thought the basket with 60 percent black balls or the one with 60 percent red balls was the more likely source, their estimate of the probability increased. Another group of participants were asked to state probability estimates only at the end of a sequence of drawn balls, rather than after each ball. They did not show the polarization effect, suggesting that it does not necessarily occur when people simply hold opposing positions, but rather when they openly commit to them. A less abstract study was the Stanford biased interpretation experiment, in which participants with strong opinions about the death penalty read about mixed experimental evidence. Twenty-three percent of the participants reported that their views had become more extreme, and this self-reported shift correlated strongly with their initial attitudes. In later experiments, participants also reported their opinions becoming more extreme in response to ambiguous information. However, comparisons of their attitudes before and after the new evidence showed no significant change, suggesting that the self-reported changes might not be real. Based on these experiments, Deanna Kuhn and Joseph Lao concluded that polarization is a real phenomenon but far from inevitable, only happening in a small minority of cases, and it was prompted not only by considering mixed evidence, but by merely thinking about the topic. Charles Taber and Milton Lodge argued that the Stanford team's result had been hard to replicate because the arguments used in later experiments were too abstract or confusing to evoke an emotional response. The Taber and Lodge study used the emotionally charged topics of gun control and affirmative action. They measured the attitudes of their participants towards these issues before and after reading arguments on each side of the debate. Two groups of participants showed attitude polarization: those with strong prior opinions and those who were politically knowledgeable. In part of this study, participants chose which information sources to read, from a list prepared by the experimenters. For example, they could read the National Rifle Association's and the Brady Anti-Handgun Coalition's arguments on gun control. Even when instructed to be even-handed, participants were more likely to read arguments that supported their existing attitudes than arguments that did not. This biased search for information correlated well with the polarization effect. The '''' is a name for the finding that given evidence against their beliefs, people can reject the evidence and believe even more strongly. The phrase was coined by Brendan Nyhan and Jason Reifler in 2010. However, subsequent research has since failed to replicate findings supporting the backfire effect. One study conducted out of the Ohio State University and George Washington University studied 10,100 participants with 52 different issues expected to trigger a backfire effect. While the findings did conclude that individuals are reluctant to embrace facts that contradict their already held ideology, no cases of backfire were detected. The backfire effect has since been noted to be a rare phenomenon rather than a common occurrence (compare the boomerang effect). ### Persistence of discredited beliefs Confirmation biases provide one plausible explanation for the persistence of beliefs when the initial evidence for them is removed or when they have been sharply contradicted. This belief perseverance effect has been first demonstrated experimentally by Festinger, Riecken, and Schachter. These psychologists spent time with a cult whose members were convinced that the world would end on 21 December 1954. After the prediction failed, most believers still clung to their faith. Their book describing this research is aptly named When Prophecy Fails. The term belief perseverance, however, was coined in a series of experiments using what is called the "debriefing paradigm": participants read fake evidence for a hypothesis, their attitude change is measured, then the fakery is exposed in detail. Their attitudes are then measured once more to see if their belief returns to its previous level. A common finding is that at least some of the initial belief remains even after a full debriefing. In one experiment, participants had to distinguish between real and fake suicide notes. The feedback was random: some were told they had done well while others were told they had performed badly. Even after being fully debriefed, participants were still influenced by the feedback. They still thought they were better or worse than average at that kind of task, depending on what they had initially been told. In another study, participants read job performance ratings of two firefighters, along with their responses to a risk aversion test. This fictional data was arranged to show either a negative or positive association: some participants were told that a risk-taking firefighter did better, while others were told they did less well than a risk-averse colleague. Even if these two case studies were true, they would have been scientifically poor evidence for a conclusion about firefighters in general. However, the participants found them subjectively persuasive. When the case studies were shown to be fictional, participants' belief in a link diminished, but around half of the original effect remained. Follow-up interviews established that the participants had understood the debriefing and taken it seriously. Participants seemed to trust the debriefing, but regarded the discredited information as irrelevant to their personal belief. The continued influence effect is the tendency for misinformation to continue to influence memory and reasoning about an event, despite the misinformation having been retracted or corrected. This occurs even when the individual believes the correction. ### Preference for early information Experiments have shown that information is weighted more strongly when it appears early in a series, even when the order is unimportant. For example, people form a more positive impression of someone described as "intelligent, industrious, impulsive, critical, stubborn, envious" than when they are given the same words in reverse order. This irrational primacy effect is independent of the primacy effect in memory in which the earlier items in a series leave a stronger memory trace. Biased interpretation offers an explanation for this effect: seeing the initial evidence, people form a working hypothesis that affects how they interpret the rest of the information. One demonstration of irrational primacy used colored chips supposedly drawn from two urns. Participants were told the color distributions of the urns, and had to estimate the probability of a chip being drawn from one of them. In fact, the colors appeared in a prearranged order. The first thirty draws favored one urn and the next thirty favored the other. The series as a whole was neutral, so rationally, the two urns were equally likely. However, after sixty draws, participants favored the urn suggested by the initial thirty. Another experiment involved a slide show of a single object, seen as just a blur at first and in slightly better focus with each succeeding slide. After each slide, participants had to state their best guess of what the object was. Participants whose early guesses were wrong persisted with those guesses, even when the picture was sufficiently in focus that the object was readily recognizable to other people. ### Illusory association between events Illusory correlation is the tendency to see non-existent correlations in a set of data. This tendency was first demonstrated in a series of experiments in the late 1960s. In one experiment, participants read a set of psychiatric case studies, including responses to the Rorschach inkblot test. The participants reported that the homosexual men in the set were more likely to report seeing buttocks, anuses or sexually ambiguous figures in the inkblots. In fact the fictional case studies had been constructed so that the homosexual men were no more likely to report this imagery or, in one version of the experiment, were less likely to report it than heterosexual men. In a survey, a group of experienced psychoanalysts reported the same set of illusory associations with homosexuality. Another study recorded the symptoms experienced by arthritic patients, along with weather conditions over a 15-month period. Nearly all the patients reported that their pains were correlated with weather conditions, although the real correlation was zero. This effect is a kind of biased interpretation, in that objectively neutral or unfavorable evidence is interpreted to support existing beliefs. It is also related to biases in hypothesis-testing behavior. In judging whether two events, such as illness and bad weather, are correlated, people rely heavily on the number of positive-positive'' cases: in this example, instances of both pain and bad weather. They pay relatively little attention to the other kinds of observation (of no pain and/or good weather). This parallels the reliance on positive tests in hypothesis testing. It may also reflect selective recall, in that people may have a sense that two events are correlated because it is easier to recall times when they happened together. ## See also - Apophenia - Cherry picking - Circular source - Compartmentalization (psychology) - Cognitive bias mitigation - Cognitive inertia - Cognitive miser - Denial - Denialism - Echo chamber (media) - Fallacy - False consensus effect - Groupthink - Hostile media effect - Idée fixe (psychology) - Illusory truth effect - Inoculation theory - List of cognitive biases - Observer-expectancy effect - Post truth - Selective perception - Semmelweis reflex - Woozle effect
236,263	To Autumn	1,144,974,688	Poem by English Romantic poet John Keats	[ "1819 poems", "British poems", "Poetry by John Keats" ]	"To Autumn" is a poem by English Romantic poet John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821). The work was composed on 19 September 1819 and published in 1820 in a volume of Keats's poetry that included Lamia and The Eve of St. Agnes. "To Autumn" is the final work in a group of poems known as Keats's "1819 odes". Although personal problems left him little time to devote to poetry in 1819, he composed "To Autumn" after a walk near Winchester one autumnal evening. The work marks the end of his poetic career, as he needed to earn money and could no longer devote himself to the lifestyle of a poet. A little over a year after the publication of "To Autumn", Keats died in Rome. The poem has three eleven-line stanzas which describe a progression through the season, from the late maturation of the crops to the harvest and to the last days of autumn when winter is nearing. The imagery is richly achieved through the personification of Autumn, and the description of its bounty, its sights and sounds. It has parallels in the work of English landscape artists, with Keats himself describing the fields of stubble that he saw on his walk as conveying the warmth of "some pictures". The work has been interpreted as a meditation on death; as an allegory of artistic creation; as Keats's response to the Peterloo Massacre, which took place in the same year; and as an expression of nationalist sentiment. One of the most anthologised English lyric poems, "To Autumn" has been regarded by critics as one of the most perfect short poems in the English language. ## Background During the spring of 1819, Keats wrote many of his major odes: "Ode on a Grecian Urn", "Ode on Indolence", "Ode on Melancholy", "Ode to a Nightingale", and "Ode to Psyche". After the month of May, he began to pursue other forms of poetry, including the verse tragedy Otho the Great in collaboration with friend and roommate Charles Brown, the second half of Lamia, and a return to his unfinished epic Hyperion. His efforts from spring until autumn were dedicated completely to a career in poetry, alternating between writing long and short poems, and setting himself a goal to compose more than fifty lines of verse each day. In his free time he also read works as varied as Robert Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy, Thomas Chatterton's poetry, and Leigh Hunt's essays. Although Keats managed to write many poems in 1819, he was suffering from a multitude of financial troubles throughout the year, including concerns over his brother, George, who, after emigrating to America, was badly in need of money. Despite these distractions, on 19 September 1819 he found time to write "To Autumn". The poem marks the final moment of his career as a poet. No longer able to afford to devote his time to the composition of poems, he began working on more lucrative projects. Keats's declining health and personal responsibilities also raised obstacles to his continuing poetic efforts. On 19 September 1819, Keats walked near Winchester along the River Itchen. In a letter to his friend John Hamilton Reynolds written on 21 September, Keats described the impression the scene had made upon him and its influence on the composition of "To Autumn": "How beautiful the season is now – How fine the air. A temperate sharpness about it [...] I never lik'd stubble fields so much as now [...] Somehow a stubble plain looks warm – in the same way that some pictures look warm – this struck me so much in my sunday's walk that I composed upon it." Not everything on Keats's mind at the time was bright; the poet knew in September that he would have to finally abandon Hyperion. Thus, in the letter that he wrote to Reynolds, Keats also included a note saying that he abandoned his long poem. Keats did not send "To Autumn" to Reynolds, but did include the poem within a letter to Richard Woodhouse, his publisher and friend, and dated it on the same day. The poem was revised and included in Keats's 1820 collection of poetry titled Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems. Although the publishers Taylor and Hessey feared the kind of bad reviews that had plagued Keats's 1818 edition of Endymion, they were willing to publish the collection after the removal of any potentially controversial poems to ensure that there would be no politically motivated reviews that could give the volume a bad reputation. ## Poem > > Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, > > > > ` Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;` > > > > Conspiring with him how to load and bless > > > > ` With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;` > > > > To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees, > > > > ` And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;` > > ` To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells` > > ` With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,` > > > > And still more, later flowers for the bees, Until they think warm days will never cease, > > > > ` For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.` > > > > Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store? > > > > ` Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find` > > > > Thee sitting careless on a granary floor, > > > > ` Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;` > > > > Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep, > > > > ` Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook` > > ` Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:` > > > > And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep > > > > ` Steady thy laden head across a brook;` > > ` Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,` > > ` Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.` > > > > Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they? > > > > ` Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—` > > > > While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day, > > > > ` And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;` > > > > Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn > > > > ` Among the river sallows, borne aloft` > > ` Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;` > > > > And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn; > > > > ` Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft` > > ` The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;` > > ` And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.` ## Themes "To Autumn" describes, in its three stanzas, three different aspects of the season: its fruitfulness, its labour and its ultimate decline. Through the stanzas there is a progression from early autumn to mid autumn and then to the heralding of winter. Parallel to this, the poem depicts the day turning from morning to afternoon and into dusk. These progressions are joined with a shift from the tactile sense to that of sight and then of sound, creating a three-part symmetry which is not present in Keats's other odes. As the poem progresses, Autumn is represented metaphorically as one who conspires, who ripens fruit, who harvests, who makes music. The first stanza of the poem represents Autumn as involved with the promotion of natural processes, growth and ultimate maturation, two forces in opposition in nature, but together creating the impression that the season will not end. In this stanza the fruits are still ripening and the buds still opening in the warm weather. Stuart Sperry says that Keats emphasises the tactile sense here, suggested by the imagery of growth and gentle motion: swelling, bending and plumping. In the second stanza, Autumn is personified as a harvester, to be seen by the viewer in various guises performing labouring tasks essential to the provision of food for the coming year. There is a lack of definitive action, all motion being gentle. Autumn is not depicted as actually harvesting but as seated, resting or watching. In lines 14–15 the personification of Autumn is as an exhausted labourer. Near the end of the stanza, the steadiness of the gleaner in lines 19–20 again emphasises a motionlessness within the poem. The progression through the day is revealed in actions that are all suggestive of the drowsiness of afternoon: the harvested grain is being winnowed, the harvester is asleep or returning home, the last drops issue from the cider press. The last stanza contrasts Autumn's sounds with those of Spring. The sounds that are presented are not only those of Autumn but essentially the gentle sounds of the evening. Gnats wail and lambs bleat in the dusk. As night approaches within the final moments of the song, death is slowly approaching alongside the end of the year. The full-grown lambs, like the grapes, gourds and hazelnuts, will be harvested for the winter. The twittering swallows gather for departure, leaving the fields bare. The whistling red-breast and the chirping cricket are the common sounds of winter. The references to Spring, the growing lambs and the migrating swallows remind the reader that the seasons are a cycle, widening the scope of this stanza from a single season to life in general. Of all of Keats's poems, "To Autumn", with its catalogue of concrete images, most closely describes a paradise as realized on earth while also focusing on archetypal symbols connected with the season. Within the poem, autumn represents growth, maturation and finally an approaching death. There is a fulfilling union between the ideal and the real. Scholars have noted a number of literary influences on "To Autumn", from Virgil's Georgics, to Edmund Spenser's "Mutability Cantos", to the language of Thomas Chatterton, to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Frost at Midnight", to an essay on autumn by Leigh Hunt, which Keats had recently read. "To Autumn" is thematically connected to other odes that Keats wrote in 1819. For example, in his "Ode to Melancholy" a major theme is the acceptance of the process of life. When this theme appears later in "To Autumn", however, it is with a difference. This time the figure of the poet disappears, and there is no exhortation of an imaginary reader. There are no open conflicts, and "dramatic debate, protest, and qualification are absent". In process there is a harmony between the finality of death and hints of renewal of life in the cycle of the seasons, paralleled by the renewal of a single day. Critics have tended to emphasize different aspects of the process. Some have focused on renewal; Walter Jackson Bate points to the theme of each stanza including "its contrary" idea, here death implying, though only indirectly, the renewal of life. Also, noted by both Bate and Jennifer Wagner, the structure of the verse reinforces the sense of something to come; the placing of the couplet before the end of each stanza creates a feeling of suspension, highlighting the theme of continuation. Others, like Harold Bloom, have emphasized the "exhausted landscape", the completion, the finality of death, although "Winter descends here as a man might hope to die, with a natural sweetness". If death in itself is final, here it comes with a lightness, a softness, also pointing to "an acceptance of process beyond the possibility of grief." The progress of growth is no longer necessary; maturation is complete, and life and death are in harmony. The rich description of the cycle of the seasons enables the reader to feel a belonging "to something larger than the self", as James O'Rourke expresses it, but the cycle comes to an end each year, analogous to the ending of single life. O'Rourke suggests that something of a fear of that ending is subtly implied at the end of the poem, although, unlike the other great odes, in this poem the person of the poet is entirely submerged, so there is at most a faint hint of Keats's own possible fear. According to Helen Vendler, "To Autumn" may be seen as an allegory of artistic creation. As the farmer processes the fruits of the soil into what sustains the human body, so the artist processes the experience of life into a symbolic structure that may sustain the human spirit. This process involves an element of self-sacrifice by the artist, analogous to the living grain's being sacrificed for human consumption. In "To Autumn", as a result of this process, the "rhythms" of the harvesting "artist-goddess" "permeate the whole world until all visual, tactile, and kinetic presence is transubstantiated into Apollonian music for the ear," the sounds of the poem itself. In a 1979 essay, Jerome McGann argued that while the poem was indirectly influenced by historical events, Keats had deliberately ignored the political landscape of 1819. Countering this view, Andrew Bennett, Nicholas Roe and others focused on what they believed were political allusions actually present in the poem, Roe arguing for a direct connection to the Peterloo Massacre of 1819. Later, Paul Fry argued against McGann's stance when he pointed out, "It scarcely seems pertinent to say that 'To Autumn' is therefore an evasion of social violence when it is so clearly an encounter with death itself [...] it is not a politically encoded escape from history reflecting the coerced betrayal [...] of its author's radicalism. McGann thinks to rescue Keats from the imputation of political naïveté by saying that he was a radical browbeaten into quietism". More recently, in 2012, a specific probable location of the cornfield that inspired Keats was discussed in an article by Richard Marggraf Turley, Jayne Archer and Howard Thomas, which draws upon new archival evidence. Traditionally, the water-meadows south of Winchester, along which Keats took daily leisurely walks, were assumed to have provided the sights and sounds of his ode. Marggraf Turley, Archer and Thomas argue that the ode was more directly inspired by Keats's visit to St Giles's Hill—site of a new cornfield—at the eastern extremity of the market city. The land, previously a copse, had recently been turned over to food production to take advantage of high bread prices. This new topography, the authors argue, enables us to see hitherto unsuspected dimensions to Keats's engagement with contemporary politics in particular as they pertained to the management of food production and supply, wages and productivity. In his 1999 study of the effect on British literature of the diseases and climates of the colonies, Alan Bewell read "the landscape of 'To Autumn'" as "a kind of biomedical allegory of the coming into being of English climatic space out of its dangerous geographical alternatives." Britain's colonial reach over the previous century and a half had exposed the mother country to foreign diseases and awareness of the dangers of extreme tropical climates. Keats, with medical training, having suffered chronic illness himself, and influenced like his contemporaries by "colonial medical discourse", was deeply aware of this threat. According to Bewell, the landscape of "To Autumn" presents the temperate climate of rural England as a healthful alternative to disease-ridden foreign environments. Though the "clammy" aspect of "fever", the excessive ripeness associated with tropical climates, intrude into the poem, these elements, less prominent than in Keats's earlier poetry, are counterbalanced by the dry, crisp autumnal air of rural England. In presenting the particularly English elements of this environment, Keats was also influenced by contemporary poet and essayist Leigh Hunt, who had recently written of the arrival of autumn with its "migration of birds", "finished harvest", "cyder [...] making" and migration of "the swallows", as well as by English landscape painting and the "pure" English idiom of the poetry of Thomas Chatterton. In "To Autumn", Bewell argues, Keats was at once voicing "a very personal expression of desire for health" and constructing a "myth of a national environment". This "political" element in the poem, Bewell points out, has also been suggested by Geoffrey Hartman, who expounded a view of "To Autumn" as "an ideological poem whose form expresses a national idea". Thomas McFarland, on the other hand, in 2000 cautioned against overemphasizing the "political, social, or historical readings" of the poem, which distract from its "consummate surface and bloom". Most important about "To Autumn" is its concentration of imagery and allusion in its evocation of nature, conveying an "interpenetration of livingness and dyingness as contained in the very nature of autumn". ## Structure "To Autumn" is a poem of three stanzas, each of eleven lines. Like others of Keats's odes written in 1819, the structure is that of an odal hymn, having three clearly defined sections corresponding to the Classical divisions of strophe, antistrophe, and epode. The stanzas differ from those of the other odes through use of eleven lines rather than ten, and have a couplet placed before the concluding line of each stanza. "To Autumn" employs poetical techniques which Keats had perfected in the five poems written in the Spring of the same year, but departs from them in some aspects, dispensing with the narrator and dealing with more concrete concepts. There is no dramatic movement in "To Autumn" as there is in many earlier poems; the poem progresses in its focus while showing little change in the objects it is focusing on. There is, in the words of Walter Jackson Bate, "a union of process and stasis", "energy caught in repose", an effect that Keats himself termed "stationing". At the beginning of the third stanza he employs the dramatic Ubi sunt device associated with a sense of melancholy, and questions the personified subject: "Where are the songs of Spring?" Like the other odes, "To Autumn" is written in iambic pentameter (but greatly modified from the very beginning) with five stressed syllables to a line, each usually preceded by an unstressed syllable. Keats varies this form by the employment of Augustan inversion, sometimes using a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable at the beginning of a line, including the first: "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness"; and employing spondees in which two stressed syllables are placed together at the beginnings of both the following stanzas, adding emphasis to the questions that are asked: "Who hath not seen thee...", "Where are the songs...?" The rhyme of "To Autumn" follows a pattern of starting each stanza with an ABAB pattern which is followed by rhyme scheme of CDEDCCE in the first verse and CDECDDE in the second and third stanzas. In each case, there is a couplet before the final line. Some of the language of "To Autumn" resembles phrases found in earlier poems with similarities to Endymion, Sleep and Poetry, and Calidore. Keats characteristically uses monosyllabic words such as "...how to load and bless with fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run." The words are weighted by the emphasis of bilabial consonants (b, m, p), with lines like "...for Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells." There is also an emphasis on long vowels which control the flow of the poem, giving it a slow measured pace: "...while barred clouds bloom the soft dying day". Between the manuscript version and the published version of "To Autumn" Keats tightened the language of the poem. One of Keats's changes emphasised by critics is the change in line 17 of "Drows'd with red poppies" to "Drows'd with the fume of poppies", which emphasises the sense of smell instead of sight. The later edition relies more on passive, past participles, as apparent in the change of "While a gold cloud" in line 25 to "While barred clouds". Other changes involve the strengthening of phrases, especially within the transformation of the phrase in line 13 "whoever seeks for thee may find" into "whoever seeks abroad may find". Many of the lines within the second stanza were completely rewritten, especially those which did not fit into a rhyme scheme. Some of the minor changes involved adding punctuation missing from the original manuscript copy and altering capitalisation. ## Critical reception Critical and scholarly praise has been unanimous in declaring "To Autumn" one of the most perfect poems in the English language. A.C. Swinburne placed it with "Ode on a Grecian Urn" as "the nearest to absolute perfection" of Keats's odes; Aileen Ward declared it "Keats's most perfect and untroubled poem"; and Douglas Bush has stated that the poem is "flawless in structure, texture, tone, and rhythm"; Walter Evert, in 1965, stated that "To Autumn" is "the only perfect poem that Keats ever wrote – and if this should seem to take from him some measure of credit for his extraordinary enrichment of the English poetic tradition, I would quickly add that I am thinking of absolute perfection in whole poems, in which every part is wholly relevant to and consistent in effect with every other part." Early reviews of "To Autumn" focused on it as part of Keats's collection of poems Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems. An anonymous critic in the July 1820 Monthly Review claimed, "this writer is very rich both in imagination and fancy; and even a superabundance of the latter faculty is displayed in his lines 'On Autumn,' which bring the reality of nature more before our eyes than almost any description that we remember. [...] If we did not fear that, young as is Mr K., his peculiarities are fixed beyond all the power of criticism to remove, we would exhort him to become somewhat less strikingly original,—to be less fond of the folly of too new or too old phrases,—and to believe that poetry does not consist in either the one or the other." Josiah Conder in the September 1820 Eclectic Review mentioned, "One naturally turns first to the shorter pieces, in order to taste the flavour of the poetry. The following ode to Autumn is no unfavourable specimen." An anonymous reviewer in The Edinburgh Magazine for October 1820 added to a discussion of some of Keats's longer poems the afterthought that "The ode to 'Fancy,' and the ode to 'Autumn,' also have great merit." Although, after Keats's death, recognition of the merits of his poetry came slowly, by mid century, despite widespread Victorian disapproval of the alleged "weakness" of his character and the view often advanced "that Keats's work represented mere sensuality without substance", some of his poems began to find an appreciative audience, including "To Autumn". In an 1844 essay on Keats's poetry in the Dumfries Herald, George Gilfillian placed "To Autumn" among "the finest of Keats' smaller pieces". In an 1851 lecture, David Macbeth Moir acclaimed "four exquisite odes,—'To a Nightingale,' 'To a Grecian Urn,' 'To Melancholy,' and 'To Autumn,'—all so pregnant with deep thought, so picturesque in their limning, and so suggestive." In 1865, Matthew Arnold singled out the "indefinable delicacy, charm, and perfection of [...] Keats's [touch] in his Autumn". John Dennis, in an 1883 work about great poets, wrote that "the 'Ode to Autumn', ripe with the glory of the season it describes—must ever have a place among the most precious gems of lyrical poetry." The 1888 Britannica declared, "Of these [odes] perhaps the two nearest to absolute perfection, to the triumphant achievement and accomplishment of the very utmost beauty possible to human words, may be that to Autumn and that on a Grecian Urn". At the turn of the 20th century, a 1904 analysis of great poetry by Stephen Gwynn claimed, "above and before all [of Keats's poems are] the three odes, To a Nightingale, On a Grecian Urn, and To Autumn. Among these odes criticism can hardly choose; in each of them the whole magic of poetry seems to be contained." Sidney Colvin, in his 1917 biography, pointed out that "the ode To Autumn [...] opens up no such far-reaching avenues to the mind and soul of the reader as the odes To a Grecian Urn, To a Nightingale, or On Melancholy, but in execution is more complete and faultless than any of them." Following this in a 1934 analysis of Romantic poetry, Margaret Sherwood stated that the poem was "a perfect expression of the phase of primitive feeling and dim thought in regard to earth processes when these are passing into a thought of personality." Harold Bloom, in 1961, described "To Autumn" as "the most perfect shorter poem in the English language." Following this, Walter Jackson Bate, in 1963, claimed that "[...] each generation has found it one of the most nearly perfect poems in English." Later, in 1973, Stuart Sperry wrote, "'To Autumn' succeeds through its acceptance of an order innate in our experience – the natural rhythm of the seasons. It is a poem that, without ever stating it, inevitably suggests the truth of 'ripeness is all' by developing, with a richness of profundity of implication, the simple perception that ripeness is fall." In 1981, William Walsh argued that "Among the major Odes [...] no one has questioned the place and supremacy of 'To Autumn', in which we see wholly realized, powerfully embodied in art, the complete maturity so earnestly laboured at in Keats's life, so persuasively argued about in his letters." Literary critic and academic Helen Vendler, in 1988, declared that "in the ode 'To Autumn,' Keats finds his most comprehensive and adequate symbol for the social value of art." In 1997, Andrew Motion summarised the critical view on "To Autumn": "it has often been called Keats's 'most ... untroubled poem' [...] To register the full force of its achievement, its tensions have to be felt as potent and demanding." Following in 1998, M. H. Abrams explained, "'To Autumn' was the last work of artistic consequence that Keats completed [...] he achieved this celebratory poem, with its calm acquiescence to time, transience and mortality, at a time when he was possessed by a premonition [...] that he had himself less than two years to live". James Chandler, also in 1998, pointed out that "If To Autumn is his greatest piece of writing, as has so often been said, it is because in it he arguably set himself the most ambitious challenge of his brief career and managed to meet it." Timothy Corrigan, in 2000, claimed that "'To Autumn' may be, as other critics have pointed out, his greatest achievement in its ability [...] to redeem the English vernacular as the casual expression of everyday experience, becoming in this his most exterior poem even in all its bucolic charm." In the same year, Thomas McFarland placed "To Autumn" with "Ode to a Nightingale", "Ode on a Grecian Urn", "The Eve of St. Agnes" and Hyperion as Keats's greatest achievement, together elevating Keats "high in the ranks of the supreme makers of world literature". In 2008, Stanley Plumly wrote, "history, posterity, immortality are seeing 'Ode to a Nightingale,' 'Ode on a Grecian Urn,' and 'To Autumn' as three of the most anthologized lyric poems of tragic vision in English."
3,093,710	SR Leader class	1,154,002,345	Prototype dual cab steam locomotive	[ "0-6-0+0-6-0 locomotives", "Articulated locomotives", "Experimental locomotives", "Railway locomotives introduced in 1949", "Scrapped locomotives", "Southern Railway (UK) locomotives", "Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain" ]	The Leader was a class of experimental articulated steam locomotive, produced in the United Kingdom to the design of the innovative engineer Oliver Bulleid. The Leader was an attempt to extend the life of steam traction by eliminating many of the operational drawbacks associated with existing steam locomotives. It was intended as a replacement for the ageing fleet of M7 class tank engines still in operation on the Southern Railway (SR). Design work began in 1946 and development continued after the nationalisation of the railways in 1948, under the auspices of British Railways (BR). The Leader project was part of Bulleid's desire to modernise the steam locomotive based on experience gained with the Southern Railway's fleet of electric stock. Bulleid considered that attitudes towards the labour-intensity of steam operation had changed during the post-war period, favouring dieselisation and electrification. In an effort to demonstrate the continued potential of steam, Bulleid pushed forward the boundaries of steam-power, hoping it could compete with diesel and electric locomotives in terms of labour-saving and ease of operation. The design incorporated many novel features, such as the use of thermic siphons, bogies and cabs at each end of the locomotive, resulting in its unique—for a steam locomotive—modern diesel-like appearance. Several of its innovations proved to be unsuccessful however, partly accounting for the project's cancellation in the early 1950s. Five Leader locomotives were begun, although only one was completed. The operational locomotive was trialled on the former Southern Railway network around Brighton. Problems with the design, indifferent reports on performance and political pressure surrounding spiralling development costs, led to all locomotives of the class being scrapped by 1951. ## Background The basis of the Leader originated from a 1944 review of the Southern Railway's steam locomotive fleet, resulting in a Southern Railway design brief which called for a high-powered locomotive requiring little maintenance to replace the ageing fleet of M7 class tank engines. The brief also stipulated that the locomotive would be used on both passenger and freight trains, requiring high route availability. Bulleid proposed an initial design based on his SR Q1 class locomotive, which had proved easy to maintain in service. As the proposal progressed, Bulleid saw that certain tasks required with conventional steam locomotives could be eliminated by adopting some of the features of the contemporary Southern electric locomotives. However, one of the subsequent designs of a 0-4-4-0 wheel arrangement had an unacceptably high axle-loading of 20 long tons (20.3 tonnes; 22.4 short tons), which increased the risk of damaging the Southern Railway's track. By developing the proposal further, Bulleid settled for a design of bogie locomotive, which spread the weight more evenly over the rails and reduced the axle-loading. ## Design A series of initial ideas were presented to the Southern Railway management by Bulleid that incorporated double-ended running, giving the locomotive driver maximum visibility in either direction without a boiler or tender obscuring his view. The need for a turntable to turn the locomotive was therefore eliminated, although the initial designs were rejected by the operating department because of problems with welding technique. The accepted design included two 0-6-0 steam bogies with weight-saving sleeve valves and chains to couple the driving axles. The boiler was offset to provide space for a communication corridor, allowing the driver to access both cabs without leaving the locomotive, an arrangement which led to later problems. The firebox, near the centre of the locomotive, was fed by the fireman from a third cab, linked to both driving cabs by the communication corridor. The entire ensemble was placed on a common frame and thus often referred to as an , even though the actual notation is since both engine units pivoted as on a Garratt, Double Fairlie or Meyer locomotive. The Leader prototype was constructed at Brighton railway works, work beginning in 1946. An initial order for five locomotives was placed straight from the drawing board in 1946 and a further 31 were ordered in 1947, although, with nationalisation looming, this was merely a gesture. The latter order was cancelled after the Southern Railway was taken into public ownership, to allow trials to be carried out on the prototype. ### Bogie and cylinder design Each of the two bogies had three cylinders, with the driving wheels connected by chains enclosed in an oil-bath, based upon Bulleid's chain-driven valve gear on his Pacific locomotives. The valve gear used the unusual sleeve valve arrangement that was also tested on the ex-LB&SCR H1 class Hartland Point in parallel with the construction of the first Leader locomotive. The Leader was the first steam locomotive to use a form of sleeve valve since Cecil Paget's locomotive of 1908 and the concurrent testing of the principle on Hartland Point hints at the rushed nature of the locomotive's conception. The locomotive sat on the unusual Bulleid Firth Brown wheels, which were lighter, yet stronger, than the spoked equivalent. The use of sleeve valves and oil baths to lubricate the moving parts of the engine units was inspired by contemporary internal combustion engine practice. This included oscillating gear that gave a 25-degree axial movement to the sleeves, allowing even lubrication of the moving parts. However, this resulted in an over-complicated mechanism that was difficult to maintain, perpetuating the seizures it was meant to eradicate. This feature was removed from both bogies of the prototype as the trials progressed. Another innovative feature of the steam bogie assembly was the ability to interchange them when faults occurred, an easy operation for maintenance staff when compared to the complexities of overhauling a regular steam locomotive's motion. The three cylinders of each bogie were cast in mono-block format, each surrounded by two annular inlet steam chests and a single large outlet steam chest. These had the added function of keeping the cylinder heated by hot steam to maintain the temperature and pressure of steam entering the cylinders. However, these castings were difficult to machine accurately. The steam-sealing arrangements needed for this system were also complex, with each of the six cylinders and valve sleeves requiring 24 sealing rings. ### Boiler, firebox, smokebox and casing design The boiler was the culmination of lessons learned with the Pacifics and was a prolific steam-raiser. All Leader boilers were constructed at Eastleigh, and proved to be the least problematic area of the entire design. The boiler pressure was set at 280 psi (1,900 kPa) and each was fitted with four thermic siphons within the firebox, both to increase the rate of evaporation and improve water circulation. These had been used previously to great effect on Bulleid's Merchant Navy and West Country and Battle of Britain class designs. The Leader had a "dry lining" firebox. It was not surrounded on top and sides by a "jacket" of water as in normal practice, but was constructed of welded steel and used firebricks instead of water for insulation, a novel but troublesome solution. Using firebricks reduced the grate area from 47 square feet (4.4 m<sup>2</sup>) to 25.5 square feet (2.37 m<sup>2</sup>) and concentrated the fire in a smaller area. The firehole door was offset to the left of the boiler backhead, which created difficulties for the fireman when adding coal to the fire. The firebox was not initially equipped with a firebrick arch, although one was retro-fitted during the summer of 1950. The arch was problematic because it led to a tendency for flames to enter the cab at high outputs, a situation made worse by the narrowing of the firebox area. The smokebox had an inherent problem in maintaining a constant vacuum. This was a result of another Bulleid labour-saving innovation, a sliding hatch controlled from the front cab, that enabled ash to be cleaned out via a chute onto the track when the locomotive was on the move. The problem lay with ash gathering around the edges of the slide, allowing air to leak into the smokebox, thereby reducing the overall efficiency of the locomotive. The fierce blast from the exhaust also meant that ash and embers were ejected into the atmosphere, creating a potential lineside fire hazard. For ease of maintenance, the boiler, firebox and smokebox were encased in steel sheeting, which meant that the engine's shape resembled that of a modern diesel locomotive. That was a major departure from traditional steam locomotive design, allowing the engine to be cleaned using a carriage-washing plant. The locomotive was designed to carry 4 tons (4.06 tonnes) of coal and 4,000 imperial gallons (18,000 L; 4,800 US gal) of water, and the coal bunker was covered by a tarpaulin to prevent water ingress into the fireman's cab. Entry into the locomotive was by way of ladders leading up to sliding doors, although, due to the bogie design, the climb into the fireman's cab necessitated clambering over the oilbath casing. ## Construction Construction of the first five Leader locomotives began at the Southern Railway's Brighton railway works in July 1947. British Railways inherited the Leader project upon nationalisation in 1948, which was far enough advanced to continue constructing the prototype, as Bulleid was still Chief Mechanical Engineer of the newly formed Southern Region of British Railways. Although work on the other four locomotives stalled, the prototype Leader emerged from Brighton as locomotive No. 36001 in June 1949. The other four members of the initial order made by the Southern Railway, Nos. 36002–5, were at varying stages of construction by the end of the development period. No. 36002 was almost complete, No. 36003 was without its outer casing, and Nos. 36004–5 were little more than sets of frames, although most of their major components had been constructed at Eastleigh and Brighton and were stored ready for fitting. With no prospect of further money being allocated by the Railway Executive for their completion, the unfinished locomotives were put into store at various depots around the former Southern Railway network pending a decision on their future. ## Operation With a calculated tractive effort of 25,350 lb, the Leader was given the power classification of 5. This was considerably lower than the contemporary WC/BB pacifics which were rated as class 7, and this meant that the Leader had to be able to have an axle loading that would allow it to operate over secondary routes and on branch lines where the double-ended design would be of most benefit, something that was not likely with the weight inherent in the design. On completion, No. 36001 was immediately put into service trials using empty passenger carriage stock in the south-east of England. The official trial records kept at Brighton works reported varying degrees of success and failure on the runs undertaken. However, the results of the trials as reported to British Railways headquarters at Marylebone were "conspicuous by the absence of praise" for the strengths of the Leader, namely the boiler, braking system and total adhesion provided by the two bogies. Several theories have been put forward regarding this state of affairs, the most plausible being that the more conservative members of the railway workforce at Brighton and the Railway Executive felt that the Leader was too revolutionary and were keen to maintain the status quo. ### Performance of No. 36001 Following trials that lasted over a year, No. 36001 was shown to have several flaws, including heavy coal and water consumption, mechanical unreliability, untenable working conditions for both fireman and driver, loss of steam through the cylinder rings and uneven weight distribution on the bogies. After renewing the cylinder assembly, it was tested around Brighton and Eastleigh using an LNER Dynamometer car, where good running was experienced at high costs in fuel and effort on the part of the fireman. For a period of two weeks the Leader was tested against the performance of a U class locomotive which indicated that the brake release was too slow in service for use on tight schedules despite the brake application being noted as the best used on a Bulleid design. These trials were interrupted by breakage of the crank axles, these being replaced by axles from 36002 only for these to break in turn at approximately the same mileage as the originals. Throughout No. 36001's trials, the firebrick lining provided a constant problem by continually collapsing into the fire. The firebricks were then replaced with cast iron substitutes that melted in the intense heat of the firebox, which were in turn replaced by thicker 9-inch (230 mm) firebricks. Some of the firemen allotted to the Leader complained about cramped conditions in the centre cab of the locomotive, a situation made worse by flames entering the cab from the firebox at high outputs. It was an enclosed space that was constantly hot and the single fireman's entrance door on the side of the locomotive was left open during travel to promote ventilation. The door into the fireman's cab also attracted criticism, as it would have been blocked in the event of the locomotive overturning on that side, preventing the fireman's escape, so that members of the railway trade union ASLEF threatened to stop their crews from operating the Leader. Measurements in the fireman's cab showed temperatures could reach 120 °F (50 °C) earning the locomotive the nickname of The Chinese Laundry due to the heat and humidity. During work on the crank axles at Eastleigh Works the opportunity was taken to place the locomotive on the weighbridge which showed that the offset boiler and coal bunker caused the locomotive's centre of gravity to be shifted to one side. Experiments had to be undertaken to balance the locomotive by filling the linking corridor with large quantities of scrap metal, replaced in a re-design by a raised floor, covering the weighted material. These modifications resulted in the engine exceeding the total weight limit of 150 tons (151 tonnes), severely limiting the design's route availability during testing. A related problem was that despite being a tall locomotive, at 12 feet 11 inches (3.94 m), the cab ceilings were relatively low. The cab at the smokebox end of the locomotive suffered from the same excessive heat as did the fireman's cab. To circumvent this problem the locomotive was used in reverse, as the rear cab was next to the water tank and coal chute and therefore away from the hot gases circulating inside the smokebox. Despite its problems, the locomotive displayed outstanding steaming characteristics and total traction from the two power bogies on its trial runs. When properly fired, the Leader was capable of keeping up with the schedules, even running ahead on occasions. However, operational difficulties were encountered when stopping for water - not only did the locomotive use water at a rapid rate, requiring frequent stops but the all-enclosed casing and the overall height of the locomotive meant that many of the water cranes were too low to feed directly into the water tank, thus requiring either an improvised arrangement of scoops and hoses or filling the tank from a standpipe and hose - both options greatly extended the amount of time needed to take on water. These delays tended to lose any time advantages gained when the locomotive performed well and affected the published performance figures. Despite hauling test trains over the Central Section of the former Southern Railway, the Leader prototype was never used on a revenue-earning service because of the risk of failure of the valve gear and the adverse publicity this would cause for British Railways. ## Livery and numbering ### Southern Railway When the project was under the auspices of the Southern Railway, No. 36001 would have been numbered CC101. Bulleid advocated a continental style of locomotive nomenclature, based upon his experiences at the French branch of Westinghouse Electric before the First World War. The Southern Railway number followed an adaptation of the UIC classification system where "C" refers to the number of driving axles – in this case three on each bogie. Since the design has six driving axles, the numbering would have been CC101–CC105 for the initial batch, the final number being the locomotive identifier. ### British Railways Operational livery was photographic grey with red and white lining. The British Railways "Cycling Lion" crest was also used though, after the works photograph, this was painted over without explanation. Numbering was the British Railways standard system, in the 36001 series. If the class had gone into full production, the locomotives would have been painted in British Railways mixed traffic/freight black livery with red, grey and cream lining. 36001 was initially painted in this livery but this preceded the official works photograph and was subsequently repainted in photographic grey livery. ## Operational assessment Production of the Leader demonstrated the inherent unsuitability of encasing a steam boiler in an enclosed superstructure. The environment inside was highly unsuitable, the weight was prohibitive, and necessary maintenance such as boiler washouts could only be achieved by a major dismantling of the locomotive. Despite the high expectations attached to the Leader, it was not the motive power revolution that Bulleid intended it to be. No part of the Leader design was perpetuated on the British Railways Standard class locomotives by Robert Riddles, nor did it find favour internationally, with the Garratt locomotives providing a similar function for less maintenance. The whole concept was quietly dropped in 1951 after Bulleid left British Railways to become Chief Mechanical Engineer of Córas Iompair Éireann (where he produced CIÉ No. CC1, a peat-burning locomotive to a similar design) and all five were scrapped. The culmination of the project was a £178,865 5s 0d (equivalent to £ as of ) bill for the taxpayer though, when the press reported the story as late as 1953, it was claimed that £500,000 (equivalent to £ as of ) was wasted on the project. R. G. Jarvis, who was placed in charge of the project after Bulleid's departure, insisted that the locomotive required an entire re-design to solve the problems of the original concept. After the problems during the trials in 1950, in November of that year 36001 and the four other Leader locomotives then in various stages of assembly were all cut up for scrap. Only the numberplates of No. 36001 and No. 36002 are known to exist. The numberplate for No. 36001 is in the National Railway Museum; a locomotive builder's plate intended for the locomotive, but never fitted in service, was auctioned for £1050 in 2008. The Leader was a bold attempt at pushing back the boundaries of contemporary steam locomotive design and, if successful, may have prolonged the life of steam on British Railways.
237,129	American white ibis	1,138,807,782	Bird in the ibis family	[ "Articles containing video clips", "Birds described in 1758", "Birds of Central America", "Birds of Colombia", "Birds of Ecuador", "Birds of Venezuela", "Birds of the Americas", "Birds of the Dominican Republic", "Eudocimus", "Native birds of the Southeastern United States", "Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus", "Wading birds" ]	The American white ibis (Eudocimus albus) is a species of bird in the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. It is found from Virginia via the Gulf Coast of the United States south through most of the coastal New World tropics. This particular ibis is a medium-sized bird with an overall white plumage, bright red-orange down-curved bill and long legs, and black wing tips that are usually only visible in flight. Males are larger and have longer bills than females. The breeding range runs along the Gulf and Atlantic Coast, and the coasts of Mexico and Central America. Outside the breeding period, the range extends further inland in North America and also includes the Caribbean. It is also found along the northwestern South American coastline in Colombia and Venezuela. Populations in central Venezuela overlap and interbreed with the scarlet ibis. The two have been classified by some authorities as a single species. Their diet consists primarily of small aquatic prey, such as insects and small fishes. Crayfish are its preferred food in most regions, but it can adjust its diet according to the habitat and prey abundance. Its main foraging behavior is probing with its beak at the bottom of shallow water to feel for and capture its prey. It does not see the prey. During the breeding season, the American white ibis gathers in huge colonies near water. Pairs are predominantly monogamous and both parents care for the young, although males tend to engage in extra-pair copulation with other females to increase their reproductive success. Males have also been found to pirate food from unmated females and juveniles during the breeding season. Human pollution has affected the behavior of the American white ibis via an increase in the concentrations of methylmercury, which is released into the environment from untreated waste. Exposure to methylmercury alters the hormone levels of American white ibis, affecting their mating and nesting behavior and leading to lower reproduction rates. ## Taxonomy The American white ibis was one of the many bird species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in the 1758 10th edition of his Systema Naturae, where it was given the binomial name of Scolopax albus. The species name is the Latin adjective albus "white". Alternative common names that have been used include Spanish curlew and white curlew. English naturalist Mark Catesby mistook immature birds for a separate species, which he called the brown curlew. Local creole names in Louisiana include bec croche and petit flaman. Johann Georg Wagler gave the species its current binomial name in 1832 when he erected the new genus Eudocimus, whose only other species is the scarlet ibis (E. ruber). There has long been debate on whether the two should be considered subspecies or closely related species, and the American Ornithologists' Union considers the two to be a superspecies as they are parapatric. The lack of observed hybrids was a large factor in the view that the species were separate. However, in a field study published in 1987, researchers Cristina Ramo and Benjamin Busto found evidence of interbreeding in a population where the ranges of the scarlet and white ibises overlap along the coast and in the Llanos region of Colombia and Venezuela. They observed individuals of the two species mating and pairing, as well as hybrid ibises with pale orange plumage, or white plumage with occasional orange feathers; their proposal that these birds be classified as a single species, has been followed by least one field guide. Hybrid ibises have also been recorded in Florida, where the scarlet ibis has been introduced into wild populations of American white ibis. Birds of intermediate to red plumage have persisted for generations. Ornithologists James Hancock and Jim Kushlan also consider the two to be a single species, with the differences in plumage, size, skin coloration and degree of bill darkening during breeding season forming the diagnostic characters. They have proposed the populations recontacted in northwestern South America after a period of separation, and that the color difference is likely due to the presence of an enzyme that allows uptake of pigment in the diet. They have questioned whether white-plumaged birds of South America are in fact part of the ruber rather than the albus taxon, and acknowledge that more investigation is needed to determine this. ## Description The white plumage and pink facial skin of adult American white ibises are distinctive. Adults have black wingtips that are usually only visible in flight. In non-breeding condition the long downcurved bill and long legs are bright red-orange. During the first ten days of the breeding season, the skin darkens to a deep pink on the bill and an almost purple-tinted red on the legs. It then fades to a paler pink, and the tip of the bill becomes blackish. It is difficult to determine the sex of an adult American white ibis from its external appearance, since the sexes have similar plumage. However, there is sexual dimorphism in size and proportion as males are significantly larger and heavier than females and have longer and stouter bills. This species is moderately large for an ibis but is relatively short legged, compact and bulky for a large wader. A study of the American white ibis in southern Florida yielded weight ranges of 872.9 to 1,261 g (1.924 to 2.780 lb) for males and 592.7 to 861.3 g (1.307 to 1.899 lb) for females, with average weights of 1,036.4 g (2.285 lb) for males and 764.5 g (1.685 lb) for females. The length of adult female and male birds ranges from 53 to 70 cm (21 to 28 in) with a 90 to 105 cm (35 to 41 in) wingspan. Among standard measurements, American white ibis measure 20.5–31 cm (8.1–12.2 in) along each wing, have a tail measurement of 9.3–12.2 cm (3.7–4.8 in), a tarsus of 6.75–11.3 cm (2.66–4.45 in) and a culmen of 11–16.9 cm (4.3–6.7 in). The newly hatched American white ibis is covered with violet down feathers, deepening to dark brown or black on the head and wings. The chest is often bare and there can be a white tuft on the head. The irises are brown. The exposed skin is pinkish initially, apart from the tip of the bill which is dark gray, but turns gray within a few days of hatching. The bill is short and straight at birth and has an egg tooth which falls off between days five and nine, and develops three black rings from around day six, before turning gray by around six weeks of age. The gray to sandy gray brown juvenile plumage appears between weeks two and six, and face and bill become pink a few weeks later, while the legs remain gray. The irises have turned slate-gray by this stage. Once fledged, the juvenile American white ibis has largely brown plumage and only the rump, underwing and underparts are white. The legs become light orange. As it matures, white feathers begin appearing on the back and it undergoes a gradual molt to obtain the white adult plumage. This is mostly complete by the end of the second year, although some brown feathers persist on the head and neck until the end of the third year. Juvenile birds take around two years to reach adult size and weight. Like other species of ibis, the American white ibis flies with neck and legs outstretched, often in long loose lines or V formations—a 1986 field study in North Carolina noted over 80% of adult ibis doing so, while juveniles rapidly took up the practice over the course of the summer. The resulting improvement in aerodynamics may lower energy expenditure. These lines fly in an undulating pattern as they alternately flap and glide. Soaring in a circular pattern is also seen. Heights of 500 to 1,000 m (1,600 to 3,300 ft) may be reached as birds glide over flights of 20 km (12 mi) or more. More commonly, birds fly between 60 and 100 m (200 and 330 ft) above the ground, gliding or flapping at a rate of around 3.3 wingbeats a second. The main call of the American white ibis is a honking sound, transcribed as urnk, urnk, or hunk, hunk. The call is used in flight, courtship or when disturbed. Birds also utter a muted huu-huu-huu call while foraging, and make a squealing call in courtship. Young in the nest give a high-pitched zziu as a begging call. ### Similar species Immature American white and scarlet ibises are very difficult to tell apart, although scarlet ibises tend to have darker legs and bare skin around the face. An immature American white ibis could be mistaken for an immature glossy ibis, but the latter is wholly dark brown and lacks the white belly and rump. The adult is distinguishable from the wood stork, which is much larger and its wings have more black on them. ## Distribution and habitat The American white ibis is most common in Florida, where over 30,000 have been counted in a single breeding colony. It also occurs throughout the Caribbean, on both coasts of Mexico (from Baja California southwards) and Central America, and as far south as Colombia and Venezuela. The non-breeding range extends further inland, reaching north to Virginia, and west to eastern Texas. The species is known to wander, and has been sighted, sometimes in small flocks, in states far out of its usual range. In North America, breeding takes place along the Atlantic coast, from the Carolinas south to Florida and thence west along the Gulf Coast. Laguna Cuyutlán is an isolated and regionally important wetland in the state of Colima on México's west coast where a breeding colony has been recorded. American white ibises are not faithful to the sites where they breed, and large breeding colonies composed of ten thousand birds or more can congregate and disband in one or two breeding seasons. Breeding populations across its range have fluctuated greatly with wholesale movement between states. Until the 1940s, the species bred only in large numbers in Florida, mostly within the Everglades. Drought conditions elsewhere in the United States led to more than 400,000 American white ibis breeding there in the 1930s. In the 1950s and 1960s, large colonies appeared in Alabama, Louisiana, and then North and South Carolina and the Gulf Coast of Florida, and finally Texas in the 1970s. Between the 1970s and early 1990s, breeding colonies declined and disappeared in South Carolina and Florida, and greatly increased in North Carolina and Louisiana. Colonies last between one and seventeen years, their longevity related to size and quality of nearby wetlands. The longest-lasting are associated with wetlands over 800 km<sup>2</sup> (310 sq mi) in size. Degradation of wetland or breeding sites are reasons for abandonment. The population of American white ibises in a colony at Pumpkinseed Island in Georgetown County, South Carolina, dropped from 10,000 to zero between 1989 and 1990 as Hurricane Hugo had inundated nearby freshwater foraging areas with salt water. The American white ibis is found in a variety of habitats, although shallow coastal marshes, wetlands and mangrove swamps are preferred. It is also commonly found in muddy pools, on mudflats and even wet lawns. Populations that are away from the coast and shoreline, particularly in southern Florida, often reside in other forms of wetlands such as marshes, ponds and flooded fields. In summer, these move to more coastal and estuarine habitats as inland waterways become flooded with summer rains and the ibis find the water levels too deep to forage effectively. ### Fossil record Remains similar to the American white ibis have been found in Middle Pliocene deposits of the Bone Valley formation in central Florida, and Lower Pliocene deposits of the Yorktown Formation at Lee Creek in North Carolina. Two species, one living and one extinct, have been recovered from the Talara Tar Seeps in northern coastal Peru. Eudocimus peruvianus was described from a tarsometatarsus that differed slightly from E. albus, whose remains were also found there. Remains of neither species are common in the beds. The tar seeps have been dated at 13,900 years old. The American white ibis is still found in Peru. ## Behavior A field study late in the Florida nesting season revealed that on an average day, adult American white ibis spent 10.25 hours looking for food, 0.75 hours flying, 13 hours resting, roosting, and attending to their nests. Much of the time roosting is spent preening, biting and working their feathers with their long bills, as well as rubbing the oil glands on the sides of their heads on back plumage. American white ibis generally only preen themselves, not engaging in allopreening unless part of courtship behavior. Bathing often takes place before preening; ibis squat in water 5–20 cm (2.0–7.9 in) deep and flick water over themselves with each wing in succession. Hundreds of birds may bathe together around the time of courtship. The American white ibis is territorial, defending the nesting and display sites against intruders. Agonistic or threat displays include lunging forward with the bill in a horizontal posture, and standing upright and snapping the bill opposite another bird engaging in the same display. Birds also lunge and bite, often holding onto an opponent's head or wings. ### Breeding and lifespan The American white ibis pairs up in spring and breeds in huge colonies, often with other waterbird species. Nesting begins as soon as suitable foraging and nesting habitat is available. The female selects the site, usually in the branches of a tree or shrub, which is often over water, and builds the nest, and males assist by bringing nest material. Anywhere from one to five eggs are typically laid, with two or three being the most common. The eggs are matte pale blue-green in color with brown splotches, measure 5.8 cm × 3.9 cm (2.3 in × 1.5 in), and weigh on average 50.8 g (1.79 oz). Clutch sizes are usually lower in coastal colonies as compared to inland colonies, although there are no statistically significant differences in the fledging rate of both colonies. Throughout the mating and incubation period, the male undergoes a period of starvation to stay close to the nest and aggressively defend his nest and mate from both predators and other ibises in preference to foraging for food. In the 2006 breeding season, a non-breeding adult female was observed to be tending to multiple nests that belonged to other American white ibises—the first time the behavior has been documented for this species. Although the American white ibis is predominantly monogamous and both sexes provide parental care to their young, the male often flies off to engage in extra-pair copulation with other nesting females after mating with its primary female partner. These extra-pair copulations are usually done after the within-pair copulations, and make up about 45% of all total matings, although only about 15% of all extra-pair copulations are successful. By not restricting the number of females it copulates with, the male is able to increase its reproductive success considerably. Although females are receptive towards extra-pair copulations, male mate-guarding greatly reduces the rate of successful female involvement in attempted extra-pair copulations by other males. The breeding success of the American white ibis is sensitive to the hydrological conditions of the ecosystem such as rainfall and water levels. Low and decreasing water levels predict good prey accessibility. Water level reversals, where levels rise in the breeding season, disperse prey and impact on foraging success. Nest numbers and average clutch sizes are smaller in periods of reduced prey availability. The success rate of parents raising one or more young to 20 days of age ranges widely from 5 to 70% of nests, and varies greatly between nearby colonies. American white ibis parents have been known to supplement their chicks' diet with items such as cockroaches and rotting food from human garbage in poorer years, when fish and crayfish are more scarce. Studies have also shown that years with higher nesting numbers had significantly faster spring drying rates of water bodies than years with low nesting numbers. This is because faster drying rates means that there are fewer fish and increased available area where crayfish can be hunted. This highlights the fact that American white ibises do not use probability of nesting failure as a key factor in determining nesting sites but instead, rely on other criteria such as prey availability and nest-site predation rates. The draining of wetlands in south Florida has also impacted on species that forage in shallow water such as the American white ibis, and its increase in numbers is a key indicator of restoration of habitat within the Everglades. The main cause of nest failure among the species is due to nest abandonment, the leading cause of which is inundation from extremely high tides. Parents abandoned 61% of all nesting starts either during or immediately after extremely high tides. The eggs float out of the flooded nests, or get washed out into the sea by wave action. Incubating parents usually abandon the nest when the water or tidal levels reaches 3 to 8 cm (1.2 to 3.1 in) above the bottom of the nest cup. Nevertheless, there have been instances where the parents have been observed to transport their eggs to another nest in an attempt to salvage some eggs. However, despite the fact that some nesting sites face high chance of tidal damage every breeding season, American white ibises still continue to nest in these areas because of other favorable conditions such as abundant nearby food sources and low egg predation rates. The eggs hatch after about three weeks and the young are attended by both parents. Males are present around the nest for most of the day, and females most of the night. The parents exchange nest duties in the morning and in the evening. Most of the feeding of the chicks occurs during the period where they swap nesting duties. Little feeding is done in the period of the day that is between the two duty swaps and no feeding is done between midnight and 6 a.m. Chick mortality is highest in the first twenty days post hatching, with anywhere from 37 to 83% of hatchlings surviving to three weeks of age in the Everglades. During periods of food limitations and starvation events, the American white ibis tends to exhibit sex-dependent pre-fledgling mortality. For many bird species that have sexually dimorphic nestlings, mortality rates are higher for larger-sized male nestlings as a result of the parents' inability to meet its greater nutritional needs. However, in the case of the American white ibis, the male nestlings actually have a lower mortality rate as compared to the females despite being on average 15% greater in mass as compared to its female counterparts. Although current research has yet to discover the underlying factors to why the males tend to have better survival rates under such conditions, it is suspected that the parents tend to feed the larger male nestlings first because they are either perceived by the parents to have a higher chance of survival, or, being generally larger, the male nestlings simply out-compete the small females for food. Bird predators may seize anywhere from 7% to 75% of the progeny in a breeding colony. The fish crow (Corvus ossifragus) is common raider of American white ibis nests, accounting for up to 44% of egg loss in a field study at Battery Island, North Carolina. Other predators of eggs and young include the boat-tailed grackle (Quiscalus major), black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), gulls, and possibly vultures, as well as the common opossum (Didelphis marsupialis), raccoon (Procyon lotor), and rat snakes (Elaphe species). Egg predation rates of the American white ibis decline with nest age owing to increased nest attentiveness by the parents, especially during the last week of incubation. High nest densities and reduced synchrony increase egg predation rates because of the increased opportunities afforded by the longer incubation times, as well as the greater availability of nests available for predation. The American white ibis begins breeding in its third summer, although birds in captivity may breed as young as nine or ten months of age. The oldest member of the species recorded in captivity was over 20 years of age, and a wild bird has been picked up 16 years and 4 months after being banded. ### Diet The American white ibis prefers to eat crayfish and other crustaceans, but also takes aquatic insects and small fish. Outside the nesting season, the diet is highly variable, as abundance and types of prey depend on both the region and the habitat. In the Llanos, located in Colombia and Venezuela, the most frequent prey are insects, such as fly larvae and beetles. Generally in North America the main prey are crustaceans, mostly crayfish. In the Everglades and cypress swamps, the diet is primarily made up of crayfish, while those that feed in willow ponds eat predominantly fish. American white ibises that feed in mangrove swamps focus on crabs. The tactile nature of the ibis's probing for food in mud means that it catches prey that are too slow to evade the ibis once located by its bill. In the Everglades, this means that crayfish make up a large part of the diet, but a more diverse array of invertebrates are taken in coastal areas. Although crayfish are sought by foraging ibises, prey switching to fish does occur if fish are found in great abundance. It is unclear whether the fish are more easily caught if overcrowded, or whether sheer numbers of fish mean that ibises are catching them instead of crayfish—normally, fish are more agile than crayfish and hence elude the ibis's bill more easily. Fish are a more energy-rich source of food for the American white ibis. In the breeding season, American white ibises in a colony at Pumpkinseed Island travelled further to forage in freshwater wetlands and catch crayfish, than nearby saltwater areas where fiddler crabs predominated, indicating their benefit was worth the extra energy expended in fetching them for their young. This travel results in the wholesale transport of nutrients across the landscape by the colony; in a successful breeding year the colony at Pumpkinseed Island was estimated to have contributed a third as much phosphorus to the neighboring estuary as other environmental processes. The American white ibis is found in mixed-species foraging flocks with the glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) in flooded fields, and the two species select different food items with little overlap; the former foraging for crabs and aquatic insects and the latter feeding mainly on grain. The wood stork is also found in the same habitat in Florida, but hunts larger prey and a higher percentage of fish, so there is little overlap. In the Llanos, where American white ibis coexist with the scarlet ibis, their diets differ, the former consuming more bugs, fish and crustaceans, while the latter eat a much higher proportion of beetles. The willet (Tringa semipalmata) has been observed trailing American white ibis and catching prey disturbed by them, and even kleptoparasitizing (stealing) from them, in J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island in Florida. An isolated event of intraspecific predation in juvenile American white ibis has been observed, where a juvenile attacked and consumed a chick from another nest. ### Foraging During the summer, the American white ibis roams along the coast of tidal flats and mangrove swamps as the inland marshes are usually flooded. However, as the water level recedes in the fall, populations at the coast shift their foraging area inland, to inland marshes and swamplands. It has become more common in urban landscapes in Florida since the late 1990s, and is one of a number of wetland-dependent bird species which forages in man-made ponds on golf courses in the southwest of the state. The American white ibis is a tactile, nonvisual forager, which limits its ability to choose from a wide variety of prey. For the most part, the American white ibis forages for food by tactile probing. It wades slowly through shallow water and sticks its long, downcurved bill into the substrate of the water body with its bill held at around 1 to 2 cm (0.39 to 0.79 in) agape at the tip, and sweeps its long bill back and forth across the bottom to pick out suitable food items. Birds may also probe when standing still. Groping with a wide open bill is a technique used by ibis in deeper water when alone, as is head swinging, in which the ibis swings its wide open bill widely in open water. Others copy this type of foraging if they see one ibis doing it. On land, the American white ibis locates prey by sight and pecks, and does not have to insert its bill into the substrate. The American white ibis seeks small prey when other birds are around, as it needs time to break up larger food items into smaller pieces to eat, and other predators such as herons and egrets often take the opportunity to rob the ibis of its catch. Along with the scarlet ibis, the species coexists with another five species of ibis in the Llanos in Venezuela. American white ibis males are aggressive to and take prey items from smaller ibises, but the smaller females are more often the victims of this behavior. Juveniles have lower foraging efficiency compared to adults and in most feeding flocks, the juveniles are usually outnumbered by the adults. They usually tend to stay close to one another and forage for food together at the peripheral region of the group. During the breeding season, adult male ibises have been recorded raiding other parent ibises who are feeding their young in the colony. The raiders force their bill down the throat of the victim—either the parent about to disgorge their food or recently fed young—and extract the ball of food. This behavior allows the otherwise starving adult males to obtain food without having to spend long periods of time away from the nest, and prevent its female mate copulating with another male ibis, which would reduce its own reproductive success. Females and juveniles almost never try to drive off the larger and more aggressive pirating males, but instead try to avoid or move away from them. This pirating behavior is less common between two male ibises as the males will actively fight off the pirate. The explanation of the species' sexual dimorphism of body size is unclear, because no differences between the sexes in feeding success rates or the foraging behavior have been observed and, as males are larger, they need more food than females. ## Parasites and mortality Causes of death of adult ibis are not well known. Alligators could feasibly prey on nesting ibises but there has been little research in the area. A flock of fifty adult American white ibis were killed in a fire in the Everglades. The corpses were found in a dense swathe of cattail (Typha angustifolia), which suggested they had taken shelter there. It is unclear why they had not been able to fly away from the fire, but one hypothesis was that they had been foraging for insects disturbed by the fire. A total of 51 species of parasitic worm have been recovered from the American white ibis, predominantly from the gastrointestinal system and particularly the small intestine. These include Cestoda (tapeworms), Acanthocephala (thorny headed worms), Nematoda (roundworms), Digenea and Spirurida. Several roundworm and spirurid species have been found in the lining of the gizzard. Nematodes are more prevalent in American white ibis from freshwater habitats, and cestodes more frequent in those from saltwater areas. One nematode found in adult birds, Skrjabinoclavia thapari, is borne in the fiddler crab as an intermediate host, while the thorny headed worm species Southwellina dimorpha is carried in crayfish and infests both adult and juvenile ibis. Parasitic protozoa of the genus Sarcocystis have been recovered from the smooth muscles of adult American white ibis, and another species, Haemoproteus plataleae, has been recovered from the blood of adults and nestlings, and can hence be transmitted before the young leave the nest. The larvae of two species of mite of the family Hypoderidae, Phalacrodectes whartoni and Neoattialges eudocimae, have been recovered from under the skin. Two species of the louse suborder Mallophaga, Plegadiphilus eudocimus and Ardeicola robusta, also parasitise the bird. ## Status The American white ibis is classed as being of least concern on the IUCN Red List. The population consists of 150,000 mature adults, and is stable, although some populations have unknown trends. A partial survey of under 50% of the North American population published in 2007 found an almost six-fold increase in the last four decades. The estimated breeding range is huge, at 1,200,000 km<sup>2</sup> (460,000 sq mi). Fluctuating breeding populations and high mobility of colonies make estimating the population difficult. Attempted censuses of breeding colonies across Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and the Carolinas yielded a count of 166,000 breeding birds in 2001, and 209,000 in 2004. The conservation status has been listed in two states—it is a Species of Special Concern in Florida, and a species of Moderate Conservation Concern in Alabama. The preservation of colony sites and freshwater foraging areas is important to maintaining populations; however, the highly mobile nature of breeding colonies makes this challenging. ### Human impact John James Audubon reported that the American white ibis was hunted and sold in Louisiana, and mainly eaten by American Indians. It had orange flesh and a strong fishy taste. Elsewhere, the flesh has been described as appealing on account of the crayfish diet, and both members of the genus Eudocimus have been hunted, which has been responsible for decline, across their range. Crawfish farmers in Louisiana have also shot them for foraging in crawfish ponds. Overall, the impact of hunting is not thought to be major. The pollutant methylmercury is a globally distributed neurotoxin and an endocrine system disruptor. In the Everglades ecosystem, human pollution has led to increased concentrations of methylmercury, which have impacted the behaviors of the American white ibis. Hormone levels in males are affected, leading to a decrease in the rates of key courtship behavior, and fewer approaches by females during the mating season. In addition, methylmercury also increased male-male pairing behaviors by 55%. Both the chemically induced "homosexual" behavior and the diminished ability to attract females by males have reduced reproduction rates in affected populations. Exposure of American white ibises to methylmercury causes reduced foraging efficiency and it also makes them more likely to abandon nests owing to the disruptive effect of the pollutant on the bird's hormone systems, which in turn affects parental care behavior. Tests on captive birds have not shown a decreased survival of American white ibis exposed to methylmercury. ## In culture Native American folklore held that the bird was the last to seek shelter before a hurricane, and the first to emerge afterwards. The bird was thus a symbol for danger and optimism. For this reason, the University of Miami adopted the American white ibis as its official athletics mascot in 1926, and the yearbook was known as The Ibis from that year. The mascot was initially known as Ibis before adopting the name Sebastian in 1957. It was named after San Sebastian Hall, a residence hall on campus, which sponsored an Ibis entry in the college's homecoming celebration.
3,109,037	Battle of Adys	1,172,403,100	256 BC battle of the First Punic War	[ "250s BC conflicts", "256 BC", "3rd century BC in the Roman Republic", "Battles of the First Punic War", "Military history of Tunisia" ]	The battle of Adys (or Adis) took place in late 256 BC during the First Punic War between a Carthaginian army jointly commanded by Bostar, Hamilcar and Hasdrubal and a Roman army led by Marcus Atilius Regulus. Earlier in the year, the new Roman navy had established naval superiority and used this advantage to invade the Carthaginian homeland, which roughly aligned with modern Tunisia in North Africa. After landing on the Cape Bon Peninsula and conducting a successful campaign, the fleet returned to Sicily, leaving Regulus with 15,500 men to hold the lodgement in Africa over the winter. Instead of holding his position, Regulus advanced towards the Carthaginian capital, Carthage. The Carthaginian army established itself on a rocky hill near Adys (modern Uthina) where Regulus was besieging the town. Regulus had his forces execute a night march to launch twin dawn assaults on the Carthaginians' fortified hilltop camp. One part of this force was repulsed and pursued down the hill. The other part then charged the pursuing Carthaginians in the rear and routed them in turn. At this the Carthaginians remaining in the camp panicked and fled. The Romans advanced to and captured Tunis, only 16 kilometres (10 mi) from Carthage. Despairing, the Carthaginians sued for peace. The terms offered by Regulus were so harsh that Carthage resolved to fight on. A few months later, at the battle of the Bagradas River (battle of Tunis), Regulus was defeated and his army all but wiped out. The war continued for a further 14 years. ## Primary sources The main source for almost every aspect of the First Punic War is the historian Polybius (c. 200 – c. 118 BC), a Greek sent to Rome in 167 BC as a hostage. His works include a manual on military tactics, no longer extant but he is now known for The Histories, written sometime after 146 BC, or about a century after the battle of Adys. Polybius's work is considered broadly objective and largely neutral between the Carthaginian and Roman points of view. The accuracy of Polybius's account has been much debated over the past 150 years but the modern consensus is to accept it largely at face value and the details of the war in modern sources are largely based on interpretations of Polybius's account. The historian Andrew Curry sees Polybius as being "fairly reliable"; while Dexter Hoyos describes him as "a remarkably well-informed, industrious, and insightful historian". Other, later, ancient histories of the war exist but in fragmentary or summary form and they usually cover military operations on land in more detail than those at sea. Modern historians usually take into account the later histories of Diodorus Siculus and Dio Cassius, although the classicist Adrian Goldsworthy states "Polybius' account is usually to be preferred when it differs with any of our other accounts". Other sources include inscriptions, archaeological evidence and empirical evidence from reconstructions such as the trireme Olympias. ## Background The First Punic War between the states of Carthage and Rome began in 264 BC. Carthage was the leading maritime power in the Western Mediterranean, its navy dominating both militarily and commercially. Rome had recently unified mainland Italy south of the Arno. The immediate cause of the war was a wish to control the Sicilian town of Messana (modern Messina). More broadly both sides wished to control Syracuse, the most powerful city-state in Sicily. By 260 BC the war had grown into a struggle in which the Romans wanted at least control the whole of Sicily. The Carthaginians were engaging in their traditional policy of waiting for their opponents to wear themselves out, in the expectation of then regaining some or all of their possessions and negotiating a mutually satisfactory peace treaty. The Romans were essentially a land-based power and had gained control of most of Sicily using their army. The war there had reached a stalemate, as the Carthaginians focused on defending their well-fortified towns and cities; these were mostly on the coast and so could be supplied and reinforced by sea without the Romans being able to use their superior army to interfere. The focus of the war shifted to the sea, where the Romans had little experience; on the few occasions they had previously felt the need for a naval presence they had relied on small squadrons provided by their allies. In 260 BC Romans set out to construct a fleet using a shipwrecked Carthaginian quinquereme as a blueprint for their own ships. Naval victories at Mylae and Sulci, and their frustration at the continuing stalemate in Sicily, led the Romans to focus on a sea-based strategy and to develop a plan to invade the Carthaginian heartland in North Africa and threaten their capital, Carthage (close to what is now Tunis). Both sides were determined to establish naval supremacy and invested large amounts of money and manpower in increasing and maintaining the size of their navies. The Roman fleet of 330 warships plus an unknown number of transport ships sailed from Ostia, the port of Rome, in early 256 BC, commanded by the consuls for the year, Marcus Atilius Regulus and Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus. They embarked approximately 26,000 picked legionaries from the Roman forces on Sicily. The Carthaginians were aware of the Romans' intentions and mustered all 350 available warships under Hanno and Hamilcar, off the south coast of Sicily to intercept them. A combined total of about 680 warships carrying up to 290,000 crew and marines met in the battle of Cape Ecnomus. The Carthaginians took the initiative, anticipating that their superior ship-handling skills would tell. After a prolonged and confused day of fighting the Carthaginians were defeated, losing 30 ships sunk and 64 captured to Roman losses of 24 ships sunk. ## Prelude As a result of the sea battle, the Roman army, commanded by Regulus, landed in Africa near Aspis (modern Kelibia) on the Cape Bon Peninsula in summer 256 BC and began ravaging the Carthaginian countryside. They captured 20,000 slaves and "vast herds of cattle", and after a brief siege, captured the city of Aspis. They also fomented rebellions in many of Carthage's subject territories. The Roman Senate sent orders for most of the Roman ships and a large part of the army to return to Sicily, probably due to the logistical difficulties of feeding these more than 100,000 men over the winter. Regulus was left with 40 ships, 15,000 infantry and 500 cavalry to overwinter in Africa. His orders were to weaken the Carthaginian army pending reinforcement in the spring. It was expected he would achieve this by raids and by encouraging Carthage's rebellious subject territories, but consuls had wide discretion. Regulus chose to take his relatively small force and strike inland. He advanced on the city of Adys (modern Uthina), only 60 kilometres (40 mi) south-east of Carthage, and besieged it. The Carthaginians, meanwhile, had recalled Hamilcar from Sicily with 5,000 infantry and 500 cavalry. Hamilcar and two generals named Hasdrubal and Bostar were placed in joint command of an army which was strong in cavalry and elephants and was approximately the same size as the Roman force. ## Armies Most male Roman citizens were liable for military service and served as infantry, with a more wealthy minority providing a cavalry component. Traditionally, each year the Romans would raise two legions, each of 4,200 infantry and 300 cavalry. A small number of the infantry served as javelin-armed skirmishers. The balance were equipped as heavy infantry, with body armour, a large shield, and short thrusting swords. They were divided into three ranks, of which the front rank also carried two javelins, while the second and third ranks had a thrusting spear instead. Both legionary sub-units and individual legionaries fought in relatively open order, or relatively well spaced from each other compared with the more tightly packed close order formations common at the time. An army was usually formed by combining a Roman legion with a similarly sized and equipped legion provided by their Latin allies. It is not clear how the 15,000 infantry at Adys were constituted, but the modern historian John Lazenby suggests that they may have represented four slightly under-strength legions: two Roman and two allied. Regulus did not attract any troops from the towns and cities rebelling against Carthage. In this he differed from other generals, including Roman ones, leading armies against Carthage in Africa. The reasons for this are not known, and Lazenby states that his failure to make up his deficiency in cavalry in particular is puzzling. Carthaginian male citizens, who were largely inhabitants of the city of Carthage, served in their army only if there was a direct threat to the city. When they did they fought as well-armoured heavy infantry armed with long thrusting spears, although they were notoriously ill-trained and ill-disciplined. In most circumstances Carthage recruited foreigners to make up its army. Many would be from North Africa which provided several types of fighters including: close-order infantry equipped with large shields, helmets, short swords and long thrusting spears; javelin-armed light infantry skirmishers; close-order shock cavalry carrying spears; and light cavalry skirmishers who threw javelins from a distance and avoided close combat. Both Iberia and Gaul provided small numbers of experienced infantry: unarmoured troops who would charge ferociously, but had a reputation for breaking off if a combat was protracted. Most of the Carthaginian infantry fought in a tightly packed formation known as a phalanx. Slingers were frequently recruited from the Balearic Islands, although it is not clear if any were present at Adys. The Carthaginians also employed war elephants; North Africa had indigenous African forest elephants at the time. The precise makeup of the army at Adys is not known, but a few months later, at the battle of Tunis, the Carthaginians fielded 100 elephants, 4,000 cavalry and 12,000 infantry; the latter would have included the 5,000 veterans from Sicily and many citizen-militia. ## Battle Determined to prevent the Romans further despoiling the countryside, the Carthaginians advanced to Adys, where they set up a fortified camp on a rocky hill near the town. They did not wish to commit to a battle on the open ground around Adys too hastily. Polybius is critical of this decision by the Carthaginians, as their main advantages over the Romans were their cavalry and their elephants, neither of which could be deployed to advantage from behind fortifications, on steep ground, or in rough terrain. Modern historians point out that the Carthaginian generals would have been well aware of the strength of the legions when formed up in open battle and that to pause in a strong position while scouting the enemy and formulating a plan was not obviously a mistake. This was especially the case as their army was newly formed and not yet fully trained or used to operating together; although the modern historian George Tipps describes this deployment as a "total misuse" of their cavalry and elephants. With the Carthaginian army overlooking him from a fortified hill Regulus immediately made the audacious decision to split his army in two and have each carry out a night march to launch a surprise dawn attack on the camp. The Romans would be attacking uphill against the Carthaginians' prepared position, but an attack from two directions would be difficult to respond to. Tipps describes the plan as a demonstration of Regulus's "recklessness". Both Roman forces were in position on time and successfully launched their attacks, although apparently not simultaneously. Complete surprise cannot have been achieved, as at least a large part of the Carthaginians were able to form up and confront one half of the Roman assault. This column was thrown back by the Carthaginians – it is assumed at the line of their fortifications, although this is not certain – and driven down the hill in disorder. The situation was confused, with the rest of the Carthaginians taking no effective action and failing to co-ordinate with their victorious colleagues. According to the military historian Nigel Bagnall, the cavalry and elephants were promptly evacuated, as it was recognised they would not be able to play any useful role, either in defending the fortifications or on the broken terrain of the hill more generally. Those Carthaginians pursuing the first Roman force chased them off the hill, and all or part of the second Roman column, rather than attacking the Carthaginian camp, charged downhill into the rear of the now over-extended Carthaginians. It is possible this group of Carthaginians also faced a frontal counter-attack by Roman reserves after leaving the hill. In any event, after some further fighting they fled the field. At this the Carthaginians in the camp, the fortifications of which had not been breached, panicked and withdrew. The Romans pursued for some distance, although Polybius provides no figures for Carthaginian losses. Modern historians suggest the Carthaginians suffered few or no losses to their cavalry and elephants. Breaking off their pursuit, the victorious Romans plundered the hilltop camp. ## Aftermath The Romans followed up on their victory and captured numerous towns, including Tunis, only 16 km (10 mi) from Carthage. From Tunis the Romans raided and devastated the immediate area around Carthage. Many of Carthage's African possessions took the opportunity to rise in revolt. The city of Carthage was packed with refugees fleeing Regulus or the rebels and food ran out. In despair, the Carthaginians sued for peace. Regulus, within sight of what he took to be a thoroughly defeated Carthage, demanded harsh terms: Carthage was to hand over Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica; pay all of Rome's war expenses; pay tribute to Rome each year; be prohibited from declaring war or making peace without Roman permission; have its navy limited to a single warship; but provide 50 large warships to the Romans on their request. Finding these terms completely unacceptable, the Carthaginians decided to fight on. They gave charge of the training of their army to the Spartan mercenary commander Xanthippus. In 255 BC Xanthippus led an army of 12,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry and 100 elephants against the Romans and decisively defeated them at the battle of Tunis. Approximately 2,000 Romans retreated to Aspis; 500, including Regulus, were captured; the rest were killed. Xanthippus, fearful of the envy of the Carthaginian generals he had outdone, took his pay and returned to Greece. The Romans sent a fleet to evacuate their survivors and the Carthaginians attempted to oppose it. In the resulting battle of Cape Hermaeum off Africa the Carthaginians were heavily defeated, losing 114 ships captured. The Roman fleet, in turn, was devastated by a storm while returning to Italy, with 384 ships sunk from their total of 464 and 100,000 men lost, the majority non-Roman Latin allies. The war continued for a further 14 years, mostly on Sicily or the nearby waters, before ending with a Roman victory; the terms offered to Carthage were more generous than those proposed by Regulus. The question of which state was to control the western Mediterranean remained open, and when Carthage besieged the Roman-protected town of Saguntum in eastern Iberia in 218 BC, it ignited the Second Punic War with Rome. ## Notes, citations and sources
6,841,099	Battle of the Tenaru	1,158,770,404	1942 battle of World War II	[ "1942 in Japan", "1942 in the Solomon Islands", "August 1942 events", "Battles and operations of World War II involving the Solomon Islands", "Battles of World War II involving Australia", "Battles of World War II involving Japan", "Battles of World War II involving the United States", "Conflicts in 1942", "Guadalcanal Campaign", "Land battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom", "Military history of Japan during World War II", "Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II", "United States Marine Corps in World War II" ]	The Battle of the Tenaru, sometimes called the Battle of the Ilu River or the Battle of Alligator Creek, was a land battle between the Imperial Japanese Army and Allied ground forces that took place on 21 August 1942, on the island of Guadalcanal during the Pacific campaign of World War II. The battle was the first major Japanese land offensive during the Guadalcanal campaign. In the battle, U.S. Marines, under the overall command of U.S. Major General Alexander Vandegrift, repulsed an assault by the "First Element" of the "Ichiki" Regiment, under the command of Japanese Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki. The Marines were defending the Lunga perimeter, which guarded Henderson Field, which had been captured by the Allies in landings on Guadalcanal on 7 August. Ichiki's unit was sent to Guadalcanal, in response to the Allied landings there, with the mission of recapturing the airfield and driving the Allied forces off the island. Underestimating the strength of Allied forces on Guadalcanal, which at the time numbered about 11,000 personnel, Ichiki's unit conducted a nighttime frontal assault on Marine positions at Alligator Creek on the east side of the Lunga perimeter. Jacob Vouza, a Coastwatcher scout, warned the Americans of the impending attack minutes before Ichiki's assault. The Japanese were defeated with heavy losses. The Marines counterattacked Ichiki's surviving troops after daybreak, killing many more. About 800 of the original 917 of the Ichiki Regiment's First Element died. The battle was the first of three separate major land offensives by the Japanese in the Guadalcanal campaign. The Japanese realized after Tenaru that Allied forces on Guadalcanal were much greater in number than originally estimated and subsequently sent larger forces to the island in their attempts to retake Henderson Field. ## Background During the Pacific campaign of World War II, on 7 August 1942, U.S. forces landed on Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Florida Islands in the Solomon Islands. The landings on the islands were meant to deny their use by the Japanese as bases for threatening the supply routes between the U.S. and Australia, and to secure the islands as starting points for a campaign with the eventual goal of isolating the major Japanese base at Rabaul while also supporting the Allied New Guinea campaign. The landings initiated the six-month-long Guadalcanal campaign. Taking the Japanese by surprise, the Allied landing forces accomplished their initial objectives of securing Tulagi and nearby small islands, as well as an airfield then under construction at Lunga Point on Guadalcanal, by nightfall on 8 August. That night, as the transports unloaded, the Allied warships screening the transports were surprised and defeated by an Imperial fleet of seven cruisers and one destroyer, commanded by Japanese Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa. One Australian and three U.S. cruisers were sunk and one other U.S. cruiser and two destroyers were damaged in the Battle of Savo Island. Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner withdrew all remaining Allied naval forces by the evening of 9 August without unloading all the heavy equipment, provisions, and troops from the transports, although most of the divisional artillery was landed, comprising thirty-two 75 mm and 105 mm howitzers. Only five days' rations were landed. The Marines ashore on Guadalcanal initially concentrated on forming a defense perimeter around the airfield, moving the landed supplies within the perimeter, and completing construction of the airfield. Major General Alexander Vandegrift placed his 11,000 troops on Guadalcanal in a loose perimeter around the Lunga Point area. In four days of intense effort, the supplies were moved from the landing beach into dispersed dumps within the perimeter. Work began on completing the airfield immediately, mainly using captured Japanese gear. On 12 August, the airfield was named Henderson Field after Major Lofton Henderson, a Marine aviator who had been killed at the Battle of Midway. Captured Japanese stock increased the total supply of food to 14 days' worth. To conserve the limited food supplies, the Allied troops were limited to two meals per day. In response to the Allied landings on Guadalcanal, the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters assigned the Imperial Japanese Army's 17th Army, a corps-sized command based at Rabaul and under the command of Lieutenant-General Harukichi Hyakutake, with the task of retaking Guadalcanal from Allied forces. The 17th Army, then heavily involved with the Japanese campaign in New Guinea, had only a few units available to send to the southern Solomons area. Of these units, the 35th Infantry Brigade under Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi was at Palau, the 4th (Aoba) Infantry Regiment was in the Philippines, and the 28th (Ichiki) Infantry Regiment, under the command of Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki, was at sea en route to Japan from Guam. The different units began to move towards Guadalcanal immediately, but Ichiki's regiment, being the closest, arrived first. An aerial reconnaissance of the U.S. Marine positions on Guadalcanal on 12 August by one of the senior Japanese staff officers from Rabaul sighted few U.S. troops in the open and no large ships in the waters nearby, convincing Imperial Headquarters that the Allies had withdrawn the majority of their troops. In fact, none of the Allied troops had been withdrawn. Hyakutake issued orders for an advance unit of 900 troops from Ichiki's regiment to be landed on Guadalcanal by fast warship to immediately attack the Allied position and reoccupy the airfield area at Lunga Point. The remaining personnel in Ichiki's regiment would be delivered to Guadalcanal by slower transport later. At the major Japanese naval base at Truk, which was the staging point for delivery of Ichiki's regiment to Guadalcanal, Colonel Ichiki was briefed that 2,000–10,000 U.S. troops were holding the Guadalcanal beachhead and that he should, "avoid frontal attacks". Ichiki, together with 916 of his regiment's 2,300 troops, designated the "First Element" and carrying seven days' supply of food, were delivered to Taivu Point, about 35 kilometers (22 mi) east of Lunga Point, by six destroyers at 01:00 on 19 August. Ichiki was ordered to scout the American positions and wait for the remainder of his force to arrive. Known as the Ichiki Butai (Ichiki Detachment), they were an elite and battle-seasoned force but as was about to be discovered, they were heavily stricken with "victory disease" – overconfidence due to previous success. Ichiki was so confident in the superiority of his men that he decided to destroy the American defenders before the remaining majority of his force arrived, even writing in his journal "18 August, landing; 20 August, march by night and battle; 21 August, enjoyment of the fruit of victory". He concocted a brazenly simple plan: march straight down the beach and through the American defenses. Leaving about 100 personnel behind as a rear guard, Ichiki marched west with the remaining 800 men of his unit and made camp before dawn about 14 kilometers (8.7 mi) east of the Lunga perimeter. The U.S. Marines at Lunga Point received intelligence that a Japanese landing had occurred and took steps to find out exactly what was happening. ## Prelude Reports from patrols of Solomon Islanders, including retired Sergeant Major Jacob C. Vouza of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate Constabulary, under the direction of Martin Clemens, a coastwatcher and officer in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate Defence Force (BSIPDF), along with Allied intelligence from other sources, indicated that Japanese troops were present east of Lunga Point. To investigate further, on 19 August, a Marine patrol of 60 men and four native scouts, commanded by U.S. Marine Captain Charles H. Brush, marched east from the Lunga perimeter. At the same time, Ichiki sent forward his own patrol of 38 men, led by his communications officer, to reconnoiter Allied troop dispositions and establish a forward communications base. Around 12:00 on 19 August at Koli Point, Brush's patrol sighted and ambushed the Japanese patrol, killing all but five of its members, who escaped back to Taivu. The Marines suffered three dead and three wounded. Papers discovered on the bodies of some of the Japanese officers in the patrol revealed that they belonged to a much larger unit and showed detailed intelligence of U.S. Marine positions around Lunga Point. The papers did not detail exactly how large the Japanese force was or whether an attack was imminent. Now anticipating an attack from the east, the U.S. Marine forces, under the direction of Vandegrift, prepared their defenses on the east side of the Lunga perimeter. Several official U.S. military histories identify the location of the eastern defenses of the Lunga perimeter as emplaced on the Tenaru River. The Tenaru River, however, was located further to the east. The river forming the eastern boundary of the Lunga perimeter was the Ilu River, nicknamed Alligator Creek by the Marines, a double misnomer: there are crocodiles not alligators in the Solomons, and Alligator "Creek" was a tidal lagoon separated from the ocean by a sandbar about 7 to 15 meters (23 to 49 ft) wide and 30 meters (98 ft) long. Along the west side of Alligator Creek, Colonel Clifton B. Cates, commander of the 1st Marine Regiment, deployed his 1st (Lieutenant Colonel Leonard B. Cresswell) and 2nd Battalions (Lieutenant Colonel Edwin A. Pollock). To help further defend the Alligator Creek sandbar, Cates deployed 100 men from the 1st Special Weapons Battalion with two 37 mm anti-tank guns equipped with canister shot. Marine divisional artillery, consisting of both 75 mm and 105 mm guns, pre-targeted locations on the east side and sandbar areas of Alligator Creek, and forward artillery observers emplaced themselves in the forward Marine positions. The Marines worked all day on 20 August to prepare their defenses as much as possible before nightfall. Learning of the annihilation of his patrol, Ichiki quickly sent forward a company to bury the bodies and followed with the rest of his troops, marching throughout the night of 19 August and finally halting at 04:30 on 20 August within a few miles of the U.S. Marine positions on the east side of Lunga Point. At this location, he prepared his troops to attack the Allied positions that night. ## Battle Just after midnight on 21 August, Ichiki's main body of troops arrived at the east bank of Alligator Creek and were surprised to encounter the Marine positions, not having expected to find U.S. forces so far from the airfield. Nearby U.S. Marine listening posts heard "clanking" sounds, human voices, and other noises before withdrawing to the west bank of the creek. At 01:30 Ichiki's force opened fire with machine guns and mortars on the Marine positions on the west bank of the creek, and a first wave of about 100 Imperial soldiers charged across the sandbar towards the Marines. Marine machine gun fire and canister rounds from the 37 mm cannons killed most of the Japanese soldiers as they crossed the sandbar. A few of the Japanese soldiers reached the Marine positions, engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the defenders, and captured a few of the Marine front-line emplacements. Japanese machine gun and rifle fire from the east side of the creek killed several of the Marine machine-gunners. A company of Marines, held in reserve just behind the front line, attacked and killed most, if not all, of the remaining Japanese soldiers that had breached the front line defenses, ending Ichiki's first assault about an hour after it had begun. At 02:30 a second wave of about 150 to 200 Japanese troops again attacked across the sandbar and was again almost completely wiped out. At least one of the surviving Imperial officers from this attack advised Ichiki to withdraw his remaining forces, but Ichiki declined to do so. As Ichiki's troops regrouped east of the creek, Japanese mortars bombarded the Marine lines. The Marines answered with 75 mm artillery barrages and mortar fire into the areas east of the creek. At about 05:00, another wave of Japanese troops attacked, this time attempting to flank the Marine positions by wading through the ocean surf and attacking up the beach into the west bank area of the creek bed. The Marines responded with heavy machine gun and artillery fire along the beachfront area, again causing heavy casualties among Ichiki's attacking troops and causing them to abandon their attack and withdraw back to the east bank of the creek. For the next couple of hours, the two sides exchanged rifle, machine gun, and artillery fire at close range across the sandbar and creek. In spite of the heavy losses his force had suffered, Ichiki's troops remained in place on the east bank of the creek, either unable or unwilling to withdraw. At daybreak on 21 August, the commanders of the U.S. Marine units facing Ichiki's troops conferred on how best to proceed, and they decided to counterattack. The 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, under Cresswell, crossed Alligator Creek upstream from the battle area, enveloped Ichiki's troops from the south and east, cutting off any avenue for retreat, and began to "compress" Ichiki's troops into a small area in a coconut grove on the east bank of the creek. Aircraft from Henderson Field strafed Japanese soldiers who attempted to escape down the beach and, later in the afternoon, four or five Marine M3 Stuart tanks attacked across the sandbar into the coconut grove. The tanks swept the coconut grove with machine gun and canister cannon fire, as well as rolling over the bodies, both alive and dead, of any Japanese soldiers unable or unwilling to get out of the way. When the tank attack was over, Vandegrift wrote that, "the rear of the tanks looked like meat grinders". By 17:00 on 21 August, Japanese resistance had ended. Colonel Ichiki was either killed during the final stages of the battle, or performed ritual suicide (seppuku) shortly thereafter, depending on the account. As curious Marines began to walk around looking at the battlefield, some wounded Japanese troops opened fire, killing or wounding several of them. Thereafter, Marines shot and/or bayoneted any Japanese soldier lying on the ground who moved. About 15 injured and unconscious Japanese soldiers were taken prisoner. About 30 of the Japanese troops escaped to rejoin their regiment's rear echelon at Taivu Point. Overall, about 800 Japanese soldiers were killed during the fighting. ## Aftermath For the U.S. and its allies, the victory in the Tenaru battle was psychologically significant in that Allied soldiers, after a series of defeats by Japanese Army units throughout the Pacific and east Asia, now knew that they could defeat the Imperial Armies in a land battle. The battle set another precedent that would continue throughout the war in the Pacific, which was the reluctance of defeated Japanese soldiers to surrender and their efforts to continue killing Allied soldiers, even as the Japanese soldiers lay dying on the battlefield. On this subject Vandegrift remarked, "I have never heard or read of this kind of fighting. These people refuse to surrender. The wounded wait until men come up to examine them [...] and blow themselves and the other fellow to pieces with a hand grenade." Robert Leckie, a Guadalcanal veteran, recalls the aftermath of the battle in his book Helmet for My Pillow, "Our regiment had killed something like nine hundred of them. Most lay in clusters or heaps before the gun pits commanding sandspit, as though they had not died singly but in groups. Moving among them were the souvenir hunters, picking their way delicately as though fearful of booby traps, while stripping the bodies of their possessions." The battle was psychologically significant in that Imperial soldiers believed in their own invincibility and superior spirit. By 25 August, most of Ichiki's survivors reached Taivu Point and radioed Rabaul to tell 17th Army headquarters that Ichiki's detachment had been "almost annihilated at a point short of the airfield". Reacting with disbelief to the news, Japanese Army headquarters officers proceeded with plans to deliver additional troops to Guadalcanal to reattempt to capture Henderson Field. The next major Japanese attack on the Lunga perimeter occurred at the Battle of Edson's Ridge about three weeks later, employing a significantly larger force than had been employed at Tenaru, and coming much closer to a victory. ## Depictions The Battle of the Tenaru is a key part of the 1945 biographical film about Al Schmid, Pride of the Marines. The brunt of the Japanese assault was borne by Marines Corporal Lee Diamond, Private First Class John Rivers, and Private Schmid. The three were credited with 200 Japanese killed in action. Awarded the Navy Cross (America's second highest decoration) for their actions, the trio paid dearly. Rivers lost his life, while Schmid and Diamond suffered horrendous wounds. Schmid lost sight in one eye and was left with very little in the other after a grenade exploded near him. Shot in his arm early in the fight, Diamond's arms and hands were also ripped by the same grenade which blinded Schmid. In 2010, the battle became the climax of the first episode of Steven Spielberg's and Tom Hanks' miniseries, The Pacific.
102,915	Jack Parsons	1,171,791,257	American rocket engineer (1914–1952)	[ "1914 births", "1952 deaths", "20th-century American chemists", "20th-century American engineers", "20th-century American inventors", "20th-century American poets", "20th-century apocalypticists", "Accidental deaths in California", "American Civil Liberties Union people", "American LGBT rights activists", "American Thelemites", "American Zionists", "American aerospace businesspeople", "American aerospace engineers", "American anti-communists", "American anti-fascists", "American chemical engineers", "American company founders", "American critics of Christianity", "American feminist writers", "American industrial engineers", "American libertarians", "American male non-fiction writers", "American occult writers", "American occultists", "American psychedelic drug advocates", "American socialites", "Businesspeople from Los Angeles", "California Institute of Technology faculty", "Ceremonial magicians", "Deaths from laboratory accidents", "Early spaceflight scientists", "Esotericists", "Federal Bureau of Investigation informants", "Former Marxists", "Free love advocates", "Individualist feminists", "Israel–United States relations", "Jet Propulsion Laboratory", "Jet Propulsion Laboratory faculty", "L. Ron Hubbard", "Male feminists", "McCarthyism", "Mechanics (people)", "Members of Ordo Templi Orientis", "New Age spiritual leaders", "Robert A. Heinlein", "Rocket scientists", "Scientists from California", "Sex-positive feminists", "Space advocates", "Stanford University students", "University of Southern California faculty", "Writers from Pasadena, California" ]	John Whiteside Parsons (born Marvel Whiteside Parsons; October 2, 1914 – June 17, 1952) was an American rocket engineer, chemist, and Thelemite occultist. Associated with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Parsons was one of the principal founders of both the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Aerojet Engineering Corporation. He invented the first rocket engine to use a castable, composite rocket propellant, and pioneered the advancement of both liquid-fuel and solid-fuel rockets. Born in Los Angeles, Parsons was raised by a wealthy family on Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena. Inspired by science fiction literature, he developed an interest in rocketry in his childhood and in 1928 began amateur rocket experiments with school friend Edward Forman. He dropped out of Pasadena Junior College and Stanford University due to financial difficulties during the Great Depression, and in 1934 he united with Forman and graduate Frank Malina to form the Caltech-affiliated Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory (GALCIT) Rocket Research Group, supported by GALCIT chairman Theodore von Kármán. In 1939 the GALCIT Group gained funding from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to work on Jet-Assisted Take Off (JATO) for the U.S. military. After the U.S. entered World War II, they founded Aerojet in 1942 to develop and sell JATO technology; the GALCIT Group became JPL in 1943. Following some brief involvement with Marxism in 1939, Parsons converted to Thelema, the new religious movement founded by the English occultist Aleister Crowley. Together with his first wife, Helen Northrup, Parsons joined the Agape Lodge, the Californian branch of the Thelemite Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) in 1941. At Crowley's bidding, Parsons replaced Wilfred Talbot Smith as its leader in 1942 and ran the Lodge from his mansion on Orange Grove Boulevard. Parsons was expelled from JPL and Aerojet in 1944 owing to the Lodge's infamous reputation and his hazardous workplace conduct. In 1945, Parsons separated from Helen, after having an affair with her sister Sara; when Sara left him for L. Ron Hubbard, Parsons conducted the Babalon Working, a series of rituals intended to invoke the Thelemic goddess Babalon on Earth. He and Hubbard continued the working with Marjorie Cameron, whom Parsons married in 1946. After Hubbard and Sara defrauded him of his life savings, Parsons resigned from the O.T.O., then held various jobs while acting as a consultant for Israel's rocket program. Amid McCarthyism, Parsons was accused of espionage and left unable to work in rocketry. In 1952, Parsons died at the age of 37 in a home laboratory explosion that attracted national media attention; the police ruled it an accident, but many associates suspected suicide or murder. Parsons's libertarian and occult writings were published posthumously. Historians of Western esoteric tradition cite him as one of the most prominent figures in propagating Thelema across North America. Although his academic interest in scientific career was negligible, historians have come to recognize Parsons's contributions to rocket engineering. For these innovations, his advocacy of space exploration and human spaceflight, and his role in founding JPL and Aerojet, Parsons is regarded as among the most important figures in the history of the U.S. space program. He has been the subject of several biographies and fictionalized portrayals. ## Biography ### Early life: 1914–1934 Marvel Whiteside Parsons was born on October 2, 1914, at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. His parents, Ruth Virginia Whiteside (c. 1893–1952) and Marvel H. Parsons (c. 1894–1947), had moved to California from Massachusetts the previous year, purchasing a house on Scarff Street in downtown Los Angeles. Their son was his father's namesake, but was known in the household as Jack. The marriage broke down soon after Jack's birth, when Ruth discovered that his father had made numerous visits to a prostitute, and she filed for divorce in March 1915. Jack's father returned to Massachusetts after being publicly exposed as an adulterer, with Ruth forbidding him from having any contact with Jack. His father later joined the armed forces, reaching the rank of major, and married a woman with whom he had a son, Charles, a half-brother Jack only met once. Although she retained her ex-husband's surname, Ruth started calling her son John, but many friends throughout his life knew him as Jack. Ruth's parents Walter and Carrie Whiteside moved to California to be with Jack and their daughter, using their wealth to buy an upscale house on Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena—known locally as "Millionaire's Mile"—where they could live together. Jack was surrounded by domestic servants. Having few friends, he lived a solitary childhood and spent much time reading; he took a particular interest in works of mythology, Arthurian legend, and the Arabian Nights. Through the works of Jules Verne he became interested in science fiction and a keen reader of pulp magazines like Amazing Stories, which led to his early interest in rocketry. At age 12 Parsons began attending Washington Junior High School, where he performed poorly—which biographer George Pendle attributed to undiagnosed dyslexia—and was bullied for his upper-class status and perceived effeminacy. Although unpopular, he formed a strong friendship with Edward Forman, a boy from a poor working-class family who defended him from bullies and shared his interest in science fiction and rocketry, with the well-read Parsons enthralling Forman with his literary prowess. In 1928 the pair—adopting the Latin motto per aspera ad astra (through hardship to the stars)—began engaging in homemade gunpowder-based rocket experiments in the nearby Arroyo Seco canyon, as well as the Parsons family's back garden, which left it pockmarked with craters from explosive test failures. They incorporated commonly available fireworks such as cherry bombs into their rockets, and Parsons suggested using glue as a binding agent to increase the rocket fuel's stability. This research became more complex when they began using materials such as aluminium foil to make the gunpowder easier to cast. Parsons had also begun to investigate occultism, and performed a ritual intended to invoke the Devil into his bedroom; he worried that the invocation was successful and was frightened into ceasing these activities. In 1929 he began attending John Muir High School, where he maintained an insular friendship with Forman and was a keen participant in fencing and archery. After he received poor school results, Parsons's mother sent him away to study at the Brown Military Academy for Boys, a private boarding school in San Diego, but he was expelled for blowing up the toilets. The Parsons family spent mid-1929 touring Europe before returning to Pasadena, where they moved into a house on San Rafael Avenue. With the onset of the Great Depression their fortune began to dwindle, and in July 1931 Jack's grandfather Walter died. Parsons began studying at the privately run University School, a liberal institution that took an unconventional approach to teaching. He flourished academically, becoming editor of the school newspaper, El Universitano, and winning an award for literary excellence; teachers who had trained at the nearby California Institute of Technology (Caltech) honed his attention on the study of chemistry. With the family's financial difficulties deepening, Parsons began working on weekends and school holidays at the Hercules Powder Company, where he learned more about explosives and their potential use in rocket propulsion. He and Forman continued to independently explore the subject in their spare time, building and testing different rockets, sometimes with materials that Parsons had stolen from work. Parsons soon constructed a solid-fuel rocket engine, and with Forman corresponded with pioneer rocket engineers including Robert H. Goddard, Hermann Oberth, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Willy Ley and Wernher von Braun. Parsons and von Braun had hours of telephone conversations about rocketry in their respective countries as well as their own research. Parsons graduated from University School in 1933, and moved with his mother and grandmother to a more modest house on St. John Avenue, where he continued to pursue his interests in literature and poetry. He enrolled in Pasadena Junior College with the hope of earning an associate degree in physics and chemistry, but dropped out after one term because of his financial situation and took up permanent employment at the Hercules Powder Company. His employers then sent him to work at their manufacturing plant in Hercules, California on San Francisco Bay, where he earned a relatively high monthly wage of \$100; he was plagued by headaches caused by exposure to nitroglycerin. He saved money in hopes of continuing his academic studies and began a degree in chemistry at Stanford University, but found the tuition unaffordable and returned to Pasadena. ### GALCIT Rocket Research Group and the Kynette trial: 1934–1938 In hopes of gaining access to the state-of-the-art resources of Caltech for their rocketry research, Parsons and Forman attended a lecture on the work of Austrian rocket engineer Eugen Sänger and hypothetical above-stratospheric aircraft by the institute's William Bollay—a PhD student specializing in rocket-powered aircraft—and approached him to express their interest in designing a liquid-fuel rocket motor. Bollay redirected them to another PhD student, Frank Malina, a mathematician and mechanical engineer writing a thesis on rocket propulsion who shared their interests and soon befriended them. Parsons, Forman, and Malina applied for funding from Caltech together; they did not mention that their ultimate objective was to develop rockets for space exploration, realizing that most of the scientific establishment then considered such ideas science fiction. Caltech's Clark Blanchard Millikan immediately rebuffed them, but Malina's doctoral advisor Theodore von Kármán saw more promise in their proposal and agreed to allow them to operate under the auspices of the university's Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory (GALCIT). Naming themselves the GALCIT Rocket Research Group, they gained access to Caltech's specialist equipment, though the economics of the Great Depression left von Kármán unable to finance them. The trio focused their distinct skills on collaborative rocket development; Parsons was the chemist, Forman the machinist, and Malina the technical theoretician. Malina wrote in 1968 that the self-educated Parsons "lacked the discipline of a formal higher education, [but] had an uninhibited and fruitful imagination." Parsons and Forman who, as described by Geoffrey A. Landis, "were eager to try whatever idea happened to spring to mind", contrasted with Malina, who insisted on scientific discipline as informed by von Kármán. Landis writes that their creativity "kept Malina focused toward building actual rocket engines, not just solving equations on paper". Sharing socialist values, they operated on an egalitarian basis; Malina taught the others about scientific procedure and they taught him about the practical elements of rocketry. They often socialized, smoking marijuana and drinking, while Malina and Parsons set about writing a semiautobiographical science fiction screenplay they planned to pitch to Hollywood with strong anti-capitalist and pacifist themes. Parsons met Helen Northrup at a local church dance and proposed marriage in July 1934. She accepted and they were married in April 1935 at the Little Church of the Flowers in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, before undertaking a brief honeymoon in San Diego. They moved into a house on South Terrace Drive, Pasadena, while Parsons got a job at the explosives manufacturer Halifax Powder Company's facility in Saugus. Much to Helen's dismay, Parsons spent most of his wages funding the GALCIT Rocket Research Group. For extra money, he manufactured nitroglycerin in their home, constructing a laboratory on their front porch. At one point, he pawned Helen's engagement ring, and he often asked her family for loans. Malina recounted that "Parsons and Forman were not too pleased with an austere program that did not include at least the launching of model rockets", but the Group reached the consensus of developing a working static rocket motor before embarking on more complex research. They contacted liquid-fuel rocket pioneer Robert H. Goddard and he invited Malina to his facility in Roswell, New Mexico, but he was not interested in cooperating—reticent about sharing his research and having been subjected to widespread derision for his work in rocketry. They were instead joined by Caltech graduate students Apollo M. O. "Amo" Smith, Carlos C. Wood, Mark Muir Mills, Fred S. Miller, William C. Rockefeller, and Rudolph Schott; Schott's pickup truck transported their equipment. Their first liquid-fuel motor test took place near the Devil's Gate Dam in the Arroyo Seco on Halloween 1936. Parsons's biographer John Carter described the layout of the contraption as showing > oxygen flowing from one side, with methyl alcohol (the fuel) and nitrogen flowing from the other side. Water cooled the rocket during the burn. Thrust pulled down a spring which measured force. The deflection of the spring measured the force applied to it. A small diamond tip on the apparatus scratched a glass plate to mark the furthest point of deflection. The rocket and mount were protected by sandbags, with the tanks (and the experimenters) well away from it. Three attempts to fire the rocket failed; on the fourth the oxygen line accidentally ignited and perilously billowed fire at the Group, but they viewed this experience as formative. They continued their experiments throughout the last quarter of 1936; after the final test was successfully completed in January 1937 von Kármán agreed that they could perform future experiments at an exclusive rocket testing facility on campus. In April 1937, Caltech mathematician Qian Xuesen joined the Group. Several months later, Weld Arnold, a Caltech laboratory assistant who worked as the Group's official photographer, also joined. The main reason for Arnold's appointment to this position was his provision of a donation to the Group on behalf of an anonymous benefactor. They became well known on campus as the "Suicide Squad" for the dangerous nature of some of their experiments and attracted attention from the local press. Parsons himself gained further media publicity when he appeared as an expert explosives witness in the trial of Captain Earl Kynette, the head of police intelligence in Los Angeles who was accused of conspiring to set a car bomb in the attempted murder of private investigator Harry Raymond, a former LAPD detective who was fired after whistleblowing against police corruption. When Kynette was convicted largely on Parsons' testimony, which included his forensic reconstruction of the car bomb and its explosion, his identity as an expert scientist in the public eye was established despite his lack of a university education. While working at Caltech, Parsons was admitted to evening courses in chemistry at the University of Southern California (USC), but distracted by his GALCIT workload he attended sporadically and received unexceptional grades. By early 1938, the Group had made their static rocket motor, which originally burned for three seconds, run for over a minute. In May that year, Parsons was invited by Forrest J Ackerman to lecture on his rocketry work at Chapter Number 4 of the Los Angeles Science Fiction League (LASFL). Although he never joined the society, he occasionally attended their talks, on one occasion conversing with a teenage Ray Bradbury. Another scientist to become involved in the GALCIT project was Sidney Weinbaum, a Jewish refugee from Europe who was a vocal Marxist; he led Parsons, Malina, and Qian in their creation of a largely secretive communist discussion group at Caltech, which became known as Professional Unit 122 of the Pasadena Communist Party. Although Parsons subscribed to the People's Daily World and joined the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), he refused to join the American Communist Party, causing a break in his and Weinbaum's friendship. This, coupled with the need to focus on paid employment, led to the disintegration of much of the Rocket Research Group, leaving only its three founding members by late 1938. ### Embracing Thelema; advancing JATO and foundation of Aerojet: 1939–1942 In January 1939, John and Frances Baxter, a brother and sister who had befriended Jack and Helen Parsons, took Jack to the Church of Thelema on Winona Boulevard, Hollywood, where he witnessed the performance of The Gnostic Mass. Celebrants of the church had included Hollywood actor John Carradine and gay rights activist Harry Hay. Parsons was intrigued, having already heard of Thelema's founder and Outer Head of the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), Aleister Crowley, after reading a copy of Crowley's text Konx om Pax (1907). Parsons was introduced to leading members Regina Kahl, Jane Wolfe, and Wilfred Talbot Smith at the mass. Feeling both "repulsion and attraction" for Smith, Parsons continued to sporadically attend the Church's events for a year. He continued to read Crowley's works, which increasingly interested him, and encouraged Helen to read them. Parsons came to believe in the reality of Thelemic magick as a force that could be explained through quantum physics. He tried to interest his friends and acquaintances in Thelema, taking science fiction writers Jack Williamson and Cleve Cartmill to a performance of The Gnostic Mass. Although they were unimpressed, Parsons was more successful with Grady Louis McMurtry, a young Caltech student he had befriended, as well as McMurtry's fiancée Claire Palmer, and Helen's sister Sara "Betty" Northrup. Jack and Helen were initiated into the Agape Lodge, the renamed Church of Thelema, in February 1941. Parsons adopted the Thelemic motto of Thelema Obtenteum Proedero Amoris Nuptiae, a Latin mistranslation of "The establishment of Thelema through the rituals of love". The initials of this motto spelled out T.O.P.A.N., also serving as the declaration "To Pan". Commenting on Parsons' errors of translation, in jest Crowley said that "the motto which you mention is couched in a language beyond my powers of understanding". Parsons also adopted the Thelemic title Frater T.O.P.A.N—with T.O.P.A.N represented in Kabbalistic numerology as 210—the name with which he frequently signed letters to occult associates—while Helen became known as Soror Grimaud. Smith wrote to Crowley saying that Parsons was "a really excellent man ... He has an excellent mind and much better intellect than myself ... JP is going to be very valuable". Wolfe wrote to German O.T.O. representative Karl Germer that Parsons was "an A1 man ... Crowleyesque in attainment as a matter of fact", and mooted Parsons as a potential successor to Crowley as Outer Head of the Order. Crowley concurred with such assessments, informing Smith that Parsons "is the most valued member of the whole Order, with no exception!" At von Kármán's suggestion, Frank Malina approached the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Committee on Army Air Corps Research to request funding for research into what they referred to as "jet propulsion", a term chosen to avoid the stigma attached to rocketry. The military were interested in jet propulsion as a means of getting aircraft quickly airborne where there was insufficient room for a full-length runway, and gave the Rocket Research Group \$1,000 to put together a proposal on the feasibility of Jet-Assisted Take Off (JATO) by June 1939, making Parsons et al. the first U.S. government-sanctioned rocket research group. Since their formation in 1934, they had also performed experiments involving model, black powder motor-propelled multistage rockets. In a research paper submitted to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Parsons reported these rockets reaching exhaust velocities of 4,875 miles per hour, thereby demonstrating the potential of solid fuels to be more effective than the liquid types primarily preferred by researchers such as Goddard. In light of this progress, Caltech and the GALCIT Group received an additional \$10,000 rocketry research grant from the AIAA. Although a quarter of their funding went to repairing damage to Caltech buildings caused by their experiments, in June 1940 they submitted a report to the NAS in which they showed the feasibility of the project for the development of JATO and requested \$100,000 to continue; they received \$22,000. Now known as GALCIT Project Number 1, they continued to be ostracized by other Caltech scientists who grew increasingly irritated by their accidents and noise pollution, and were forced to relocate their experiments back to the Arroyo Seco, at a site with unventilated, corrugated iron sheds that served as both research facilities and administrative offices. It was here that JPL would be founded. Parsons and Forman's rocket experiments were the cover story of the August 1940 edition of Popular Mechanics, in which the pair discussed the prospect of rockets being able to ascend above Earth's atmosphere and orbit around it for research purposes, as well as reaching the Moon. For the JATO project, they were joined by Caltech mathematician Martin Summerfield and 18 workers supplied by the Works Progress Administration. Former colleagues like Qian were prevented from returning to the project by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), who ensured the secrecy of the operation and restricted the involvement of foreign nationals and political extremists. The FBI was satisfied that Parsons was not a Marxist but were concerned when Thelemite friend Paul Seckler used Parsons' gun in a drunken car hijacking, for which Seckler was imprisoned in San Quentin State Prison for two years. Englishman George Emerson replaced Arnold as the Group's official photographer. The Group's aim was to find a replacement for black-powder rocket motors—units consisting of charcoal, sulfur and potassium nitrate with a binding agent. The mixture was unstable and there were frequent explosions damaging military aircraft. The solid JATO fuel invented by Parsons consisted of amide, corn starch, and ammonium nitrate bound together in the JATO unit with glue and blotting paper. It was codenamed GALCIT-27, implying the previous invention of 26 new fuels. The first JATO tests using an ERCO Ercoupe plane took place in late July 1941; though they aided propulsion, the units frequently exploded and damaged the aircraft. Parsons theorized that this was because the ammonium nitrate became dangerously combustible following overnight storage, during which temperature and consistency changes had resulted in a chemical imbalance. Parsons and Malina accordingly devised a method in which they would fill the JATOs with the fuel in the early mornings shortly before the tests, enduring sleep deprivation to do so. On August 21, 1941, Navy Captain Homer J. Boushey, Jr.—watched by Clark Millikan and William F. Durand—piloted the JATO-equipped Ercoupe at March Air Force Base in Moreno Valley, California. It proved a success and reduced takeoff distance by 30%, but one of the JATOs partially exploded. Over the following weeks 62 further tests took place, and the NAS increased their grant to \$125,000. During a series of static experiments, an exploding JATO did significant damage to the rear fuselage of an Ercoupe; one observer optimistically noted that "at least it wasn't a big hole", but necessary repairs delayed their efforts. The military ordered a flight test using liquid rather than solid fuel in early 1942. Upon the United States' entry into the Second World War in December 1941, the Group realized they could be drafted directly into military service if they failed to provide viable JATO technology for the military. Informed by their left-wing politics, aiding the war effort against Nazi Germany and the Axis powers was as much of a moral vocation to Parsons, Forman and Malina as it was a practical one. Parsons, Summerfield and the GALCIT workers focused on the task and found success with a combination of gasoline with red fuming nitric acid as its oxidizer; the latter, suggested by Parsons, was an effective substitute for liquid oxygen. The testing of this fuel resulted in another calamity, when the testing rocket motor exploded; the fire, containing iron shed fragments and shrapnel, inexplicably left the experimenters unscathed. Malina solved the problem by replacing the gasoline with aniline, resulting in a successful test launch of a JATO-equipped A-20A plane at the Muroc Auxiliary Air Field in the Mojave Desert. It provided five times more thrust than GALCIT-27, and again reduced takeoff distance by 30%; Malina wrote to his parents that "We now have something that really works and we should be able to help give the Fascists hell!" The Group then agreed to produce and sell 60 JATO engines to the United States Army Air Corps. To do so they formed the Aerojet Engineering Corporation in March 1942, in which Parsons, Forman, Malina, von Kármán, and Summerfield each invested \$250, opening their offices on Colorado Boulevard and bringing in Amo Smith as their engineer. Andrew G. Haley was recruited by von Kármán as their lawyer and treasurer. Although Aerojet was a for-profit operation that provided technology for military means, the founders' mentality was rooted in the ideal of using rockets for peaceful space exploration. As Haley recounted von Kármán requesting: "we will make the rockets—you must make the corporation and obtain the money. Later on you will have to see that we all behave well in outer space." Despite these successes, Parsons, the project engineer of Aerojet's Solid Fuel Department, remained motivated to address the malfunctions observed during the Ercoupe tests. In June 1942, assisted by Mills and Miller, he focused his attention on developing an effective method of restricted burning when using solid rocket fuel, as the military demanded JATOs that could provide over 100 pounds of thrust without any risk of exploding. Although solid fuels such as GALCIT-27 were more storable than their liquid counterparts, they were disfavored for military JATO use as they provided less immediate thrust and did not have the versatility of being turned on and off mid-flight. Parsons tried to resolve GALCIT-27's stability issue with GALCIT-46, which replaced the former's ammonium nitrate with guanidine nitrate. To avoid the problems seen with ammonium nitrate, he had GALCIT-46 cooled and then heated prior to testing. When it failed the test, he realized that the fuel's binding black powders rather than the oxidizers had resulted in their instability, and in June that year had the idea of using liquid asphalt as an appropriate binding agent with potassium perchlorate as oxidizer. Malina recounted that Parsons was inspired to use asphalt by the ancient incendiary weapon Greek fire; in a 1982 talk for the International Association of Astronomical Artists Captain Boushey stated that Parsons experienced an epiphany after watching workers using molten asphalt to fix tiles onto a roof. Known as GALCIT-53, this fuel proved to be significantly more stable than the Group's earlier concoctions, fulfilling Parsons' aim of creating a restricted-burn rocket fuel inside a castable container, and providing a thrust 427% more powerful than that of GALCIT-27. This set a precedent which according to his biographer John Carter "changed the future of rocket technology": the thermoplastic asphalt casting was durable in all climates, allowing for mass production and indefinite storage and transforming solid-fuel agents into a safe and viable form of rocket propulsion. Plasticized variants of Parsons' solid-fuel design invented by JPL's Charles Bartley were later used by NASA in Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters and by the Strategic Air Command in Polaris, Poseidon and Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles. ### Foundation of JPL and leading the Agape Lodge: 1942–1944 Aerojet's first two contracts were from the U.S. Navy; the Bureau of Aeronautics requested a solid-fuel JATO and Wilbur Wright Field requested a liquid-fuel unit. The Air Corps had requested two thousand JATOs from Aerojet by late 1943, committing \$256,000 toward Parsons' solid-fuel type. Despite this drastically increased turnover, the company continued to operate informally and remained intertwined with the GALCIT project. Caltech astronomer Fritz Zwicky was brought in as head of the company's research department. Haley replaced von Kármán as Aerojet chairman and imposed payroll cuts instead of reducing JATO output; the alternative was to cut staff numbers while maintaining more generous salaries, but Haley's priority was Aerojet's contribution to the war effort. Company heads including Parsons were exempted from this austerity, drawing the ire of many personnel. Parsons' newfound credentials and financial security gave him the opportunity to travel more widely throughout the U.S. as an ambassador for Aerojet, meeting with other rocket enthusiasts. In New York he met with Karl Germer, the head of the O.T.O. in North America and in Washington, D.C. he met Poet Laureate Joseph Auslander, donating some of Crowley's poetry books to the Library of Congress. He also became a regular at the Mañana Literary Society, which met in Laurel Canyon at the home of Parsons' friend Robert A. Heinlein and included science fiction writers including Cleve Cartmill, Jack Williamson, and Anthony Boucher. Among Parsons' favorite works of fiction was Williamson's Darker Than You Think, a novelette published in the fantasy magazine Unknown in 1940, which inspired his later occult workings. Boucher used Parsons as a partial basis for the character of Hugo Chantrelle in his murder mystery Rocket to the Morgue (1942). Helen went away for a period in June 1941, during which Parsons, encouraged to do so by the sexually permissive attitude of the O.T.O., began a sexual relationship with her 17-year-old sister, Sara. Upon Helen's return, Sara asserted that she was Parsons' new wife, and Parsons himself admitted that he found Sara more sexually attractive than Helen. Conflicted in her feelings, Helen sought comfort in Wilfred Talbot Smith and began a relationship with him that lasted for the rest of his life; the four remained friends. The two couples, along with a number of other Thelemites (some of whom with their children), moved to 1003 South Orange Grove Boulevard, an American Craftsman-style mansion. They all contributed to the rent of \$100 a month and lived communally in what replaced Winona Boulevard as the new base of the Agape Lodge, maintaining an allotment and slaughtering their own livestock for meat as well as blood rituals. Parsons decorated his new room with a copy of the Stele of Revealing, a statue of Pan, and his collection of swords and daggers. He converted the garage and laundry room into a chemical laboratory and often held science fiction discussion meetings in the kitchen, and entertained the children with hunts for fairies in the 25-acre garden. Although there were arguments among the commune members, Parsons remained dedicated to Thelema. He gave almost all of his salary to the O.T.O. while actively seeking out new members—including Forman—and financially supported Crowley in London through Germer. Parsons' enthusiasm for the Lodge quickly began to impact on his professional life. He frequently appeared at Aerojet hungover and sleep-deprived from late nights of Lodge activities, and invited many of his colleagues to them, drawing the ire of staff who previously tolerated Parsons' occultism as harmless eccentricity; known to von Kármán as a "delightful screwball", he was frequently observed reciting Crowley's poem "Hymn to Pan" in an ecstatic manner compared to the preaching of Billy Graham during rocket tests—and on request at parties to their great amusement. They disapproved of his hesitancy to separate his vocations; Parsons became more rigorously engaged in Aerojet's day-to-day business in an effort to resolve this weariness, but the Agape Lodge soon came under investigation by both the Pasadena Police Department and the FBI. Both had received allegations of a "black magic cult" involved in sexual orgies; one complainant was a 16-year-old boy who said that he was raped by lodge members, while neighbors reported a ritual involving a naked pregnant woman jumping through fire. After Parsons explained that the Lodge was simply "an organization dedicated to religious and philosophical speculation", neither agency found evidence of illegal activity and came to the conclusion that the Lodge constituted no threat to national security. Having been a long-term heavy user of alcohol and marijuana, Parsons now habitually used cocaine, amphetamines, peyote, mescaline, and opiates as well. He continued to have sexual relations with multiple women, including McMurtry's fiancée Claire. When Parsons paid for her to have an abortion, McMurtry was angered and their friendship broke down. Crowley and Germer wanted to see Smith removed as head of the Agape Lodge, believing that he had become a bad influence on its members. Parsons and Helen wrote to them to defend their mentor but Germer ordered him to stand down; Parsons was appointed as temporary head of the Lodge. Some veteran Lodge members disliked Parsons' influence, concerned that it encouraged excessive sexual polyandry that was religiously detrimental, but his charismatic orations at Lodge meetings assured his popularity among the majority of followers. Parsons soon created the Thelemite journal Oriflamme, in which he published his own poetry, but Crowley was unimpressed—particularly due to Parsons' descriptions of drug use—and the project was soon shelved. Helen gave birth to Smith's son in April; the child was named Kwen Lanval Parsons. Smith and Helen left with Kwen for a two-room cabin in Rainbow Valley in May. Concurrently in England, Crowley undertook an astrological analysis of Smith's birth chart and came to the conclusion that Smith was the incarnation of a god, greatly altering his estimation of him. Smith remained skeptical as Crowley's analysis was seemingly deliberately devised in Parsons' favor, encouraging Smith to step down from his role in the Agape Lodge and instructing him to take a meditative retreat. Refusing to take orders from Germer any more, Smith resigned from the O.T.O. Parsons—who remained sympathetic and friendly to Smith during the conflict and was weary of Crowley's "appalling egotism, bad taste, bad judgement, and pedanticism"—ceased lodge activities and resigned as its head, but withdrew his resignation after receiving a pacifying letter from Crowley. By mid-1943, Aerojet was operating on a budget of \$650,000. The same year Parsons and von Kármán traveled to Norfolk, Virginia on the invitation of Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox to consult on a new JATO contract for the U.S. Navy. Though JATOs were being mass-produced for military applications, JATO-propelled aircraft could not "keep up" with larger, bomber planes taking off from long aircraft carrier runways—which made Aerojet's industry at risk of becoming defunct. Parsons demonstrated the efficacy of the newer JATOs to solve this issue by equipping a Grumman plane with solid-fuel units; its assisted takeoff from the USS Charger was successful, but produced smoke containing a noxious, yellow-colored residue. The Navy guaranteed Parsons a contract on the condition that this residue was removed; this led to the invention of Aeroplex, a technology for smokeless vapor trails developed at Aerojet by Parsons. As the U.S. became aware that Nazi Germany had developed the V-2 rocket, the military—following recommendations from von Kármán based upon research using British intelligence—placed a renewed impetus on its own rocket research, reinstating Qian to the GALCIT project. They gave the Group a \$3 million grant to develop rocket-based weapons, and the Group was expanded and renamed the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). By this point the Navy were ordering 20,000 JATOs a month from Aerojet, and in December 1944 Haley negotiated for the company to sell 51% of its stock to the General Tire and Rubber Company to cope with the increased demand. Aerojet's Caltech-linked employees—including Zwicky, Malina and Summerfield—would only agree to the sale on the condition that Parsons and Forman were removed from the company, viewing their occult activities as disreputable. JPL historian Erik M. Conway also attributes Parsons' expulsion to more practical concerns: he "still wanted to work in the same way as he'd done in his backyard, instinctive and without regard for safety". Parsons and Forman were unfazed, informing Haley of their prediction that the rocket industry would become obsolete in the postwar age and seeing more financial incentive in starting a chain of laundromats. Haley persuaded them to sell their stock, resulting in Parsons leaving the company with \$11,000. With this money he bought the lease to 1003, which had come to be known as "the Parsonage" after him. ### L. Ron Hubbard and the Babalon Working: 1945–1946 Now disassociated from JPL and Aerojet, Parsons and Forman founded the Ad Astra Engineering Company, under which Parsons founded the chemical manufacturing Vulcan Powder Company. Ad Astra was subject to an FBI investigation under suspicion of espionage when security agents from the Manhattan Project discovered that Parsons and Forman had procured a chemical used in a top secret project for a material known only as x-metal, but they were later acquitted of any wrongdoing. Parsons continued to financially support Smith and Helen, although he asked for a divorce from her and ignored Crowley's commands by welcoming Smith back to the Parsonage when his retreat was finished. Parsons continued to hold O.T.O. activities at the Parsonage but began renting rooms at the house to non-Thelemites, including journalist Nieson Himmel, Manhattan Project physicist Robert Cornog, and science fiction artist Louis Goldstone. Parsons attracted controversy in Pasadena for his preferred clientele. As Parsonage resident Alva Rogers recalled: "In the ads placed in the local paper Jack specified that only bohemians, artists, musicians, atheists, anarchists, or any other exotic types need to apply for rooms—any mundane soul would be unceremoniously rejected". Science fiction writer and U.S. Navy officer L. Ron Hubbard soon moved into the Parsonage; he and Parsons became close friends. Parsons wrote to Crowley that although Hubbard had "no formal training in Magick he has an extraordinary amount of experience and understanding in the field. From some of his experiences I deduce he is in direct touch with some higher intelligence, possibly his Guardian Angel. ... He is the most Thelemic person I have ever met and is in complete accord with our own principles." Parsons and Sara were in an open relationship encouraged by the O.T.O.'s polyandrous sexual ethics, and she became enamored with Hubbard; Parsons, despite attempting to repress his passions, became intensely jealous. Motivated to find a new partner through occult means, Parsons began to devote his energies to conducting black magic, causing concern among fellow O.T.O. members who believed that it was invoking troublesome spirits into the Parsonage; Jane Wolfe wrote to Crowley that "our own Jack is enamored with Witchcraft, the houmfort, voodoo. From the start he always wanted to evoke something—no matter what, I am inclined to think, as long as he got a result." He told the residents that he was imbuing statues in the house with a magical energy in order to sell them to fellow occultists. Parsons reported paranormal events in the house resulting from the rituals; including poltergeist activity, sightings of orbs and ghostly apparitions, alchemical (sylphic) effect on the weather, and disembodied voices. Pendle suggested that Parsons was particularly susceptible to these interpretations and attributed the voices to a prank by Hubbard and Sara. One ritual allegedly brought screaming banshees to the windows of the Parsonage, an incident that disturbed Forman for the rest of his life. In December 1945, Parsons began a series of rituals based on Enochian magic during which he masturbated onto magical tablets, accompanied by Sergei Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto. Describing this magical operation as the Babalon Working, he hoped to bring about the incarnation of Thelemite goddess Babalon onto Earth. He allowed Hubbard to take part as his "scribe", believing that he was particularly sensitive to detecting magical phenomena. As described by Richard Metzger, "Parsons jerked off in the name of spiritual advancement" while Hubbard "scanned the astral plane for signs and visions." Their final ritual took place in the Mojave Desert in late February 1946, during which Parsons abruptly decided that his undertaking was complete. On returning to the Parsonage, he discovered that Marjorie Cameron—an unemployed illustrator and former Navy WAVE—had come to visit. Believing her to be the "elemental" woman and manifestation of Babalon that he had invoked, in early March Parsons began performing sex magic rituals with Cameron, who acted as his "Scarlet Woman", while Hubbard continued to participate as the amanuensis. Unlike the rest of the household, Cameron knew nothing at first of Parsons' magical intentions: "I didn't know anything about the O.T.O., I didn't know that they had invoked me, I didn't know anything, but the whole house knew it. Everybody was watching to see what was going on." Despite this ignorance and her skepticism about Parsons' magic, Cameron reported her sighting of a UFO to Parsons, who secretly recorded the sighting as a materialization of Babalon. Inspired by Crowley's novel Moonchild (1917), Parsons and Hubbard aimed to magically fertilize a "magical child" through immaculate conception, which when born to a woman somewhere on Earth nine months following the working's completion would become the Thelemic messiah embodying Babalon. To quote Metzger, the purpose of the Babalon Working was "a daring attempt to shatter the boundaries of space and time" facilitating, according to Parsons, the emergence of Thelema's Æon of Horus. When Cameron departed for a trip to New York, Parsons retreated to the desert, where he believed that a preternatural entity psychographically provided him with Liber 49, which represented a fourth part of Crowley's The Book of the Law, the primary sacred text of Thelema, as well as part of a new sacred text he called the Book of Babalon. Crowley was bewildered and concerned by the endeavor, complaining to Germer of being "fairly frantic when I contemplate the idiocy of these louts!" Believing the Babalon Working was accomplished, Parsons sold the Parsonage to developers for \$25,000 under the condition that he and Cameron could continue to live in the coach house, and he appointed Roy Leffingwell to head the Agape Lodge, which would now have to meet elsewhere for its rituals. Parsons co-founded a company called Allied Enterprises with Hubbard and Sara, into which Parsons invested his life savings of \$20,970. Hubbard suggested that with this money they travel to Miami to purchase three yachts, which they would then sail through the Panama Canal to the West Coast, where they could sell them on for a profit. Parsons agreed, but many of his friends thought it was a bad idea. Hubbard had secretly requested permission from the U.S. Navy to sail to China and South and Central America on a mission to "collect writing material"; his real plans were for a world cruise. Left "flat broke" by this defrauding, Parsons was incensed when he discovered that Hubbard and Sara had left for Miami with \$10,000 of the money; he suspected a scam but was placated by a telephone call from Hubbard and agreed to remain business partners. When Crowley, in a telegram to Germer, dismissed Parsons as a "weak fool" and victim to Hubbard and Sara's obvious confidence trick, Parsons changed his mind, flew to Miami and placed a temporary injunction and restraining order on them. Upon tracking them down to a harbor in County Causeway, Parsons discovered that the couple had purchased three yachts as planned; they tried to flee aboard one but hit a squall and were forced to return to port. Parsons was convinced that he had brought them to shore through a lesser banishing ritual of the pentagram containing an astrological, geomantic invocation of Bartzabel—a vengeful spirit of Mars. Allied Enterprises was dissolved and in a court settlement Hubbard was required to promise to reimburse Parsons. Parsons was discouraged from taking further action by Sara, who threatened to report him for statutory rape since their sexual relationship took place when she was under California's age of consent of 18. Parsons was ultimately compensated with only \$2,900. Hubbard, already married to Margaret Grubb, bigamously married Sara and went on to found Dianetics and Scientology. The Sunday Times published an article about Hubbard's involvement with the O.T.O. and Parsons' occult activities in December 1969. In response, the Church of Scientology released an unsubstantiated press statement which said that Hubbard had been sent as an undercover agent by the U.S. Navy to intercept and destroy Parsons' "black magic cult", and save Sara from its influence. The Church also stated that Robert A. Heinlein was the clandestine Navy operative who "sent in" Hubbard to undertake this operation. Returning to California, Parsons completed the sale of the Parsonage, which was then demolished, and resigned from the O.T.O. He wrote in his letter to Crowley that he did not believe that "as an autocratic organization, [the O.T.O.] constitutes a true and proper medium for the expression and attainment" of Thelema. ### Loss of FBI clearance, Red Scare Marxist and espionage accusations and acquittal: 1946–1952 Parsons was employed by North American Aviation at Inglewood, where he worked on the Navaho Missile Program. He and Cameron moved into a house in Manhattan Beach, where he instructed her in occultism and esotericism. When Cameron developed catalepsy, Parsons referred her to Sylvan Muldoon's books on astral projection, suggesting that she could manipulate her seizures to accomplish it. They were married on October 19, 1946, four days after his divorce from Helen was finalized, with Forman as their witness. Parsons continued to be seen as a specialist in rocketry; he acted as an expert consultant in numerous industrial tribunals and police and Army Ordnance investigations regarding explosions. In May 1947, Parsons gave a talk at the Pacific Rocket Society in which he predicted that rockets would take humans to the Moon. Although he had become distant from the now largely defunct O.T.O. and had sold much of his Crowleyan library, he continued to correspond with Crowley until the latter's death in December 1947. At the emergence of the Cold War, a Red Scare developed in the U.S. as the Congressional House Un-American Activities Committee began investigating and obstructing the careers of people with perceived communist sympathies. Many of Parsons' former colleagues lost their security clearances and jobs as a result, and eventually the FBI stripped Parsons of his clearance because of his "subversive" character, including his involvement in and advocacy of "sexual perversion" in the O.T.O. He speculated in a June 1949 letter to Germer that his clearance was revoked in response to his public dissemination of Crowley's Liber OZ, a 1941 tract summarizing the individualist moral principles of Thelema. Declassified FBI documents later revealed that the FBI's primary concern was Parsons' former connections to Marxists at Caltech and his membership of the also "subversive" ACLU. When they interviewed Parsons, he denied communist sympathies but informed them of Sidney Weinbaum's "extreme communist views" and Frank Malina's involvement in Weinbaum's communist cell at Caltech, which resulted in Weinbaum's arrest for perjury since he had lied under oath by denying any involvement in communist groups. Malina's security clearance was withdrawn as well. In reaction to this hostile treatment, Parsons sought work in the rocket industry abroad. He sought advice to do so in correspondence with von Kármán; whose advice he followed by enrolling in an evening course in advanced mathematics at USC to bolster his employability in the field—but again he neglected attendance and failed the course. Parsons again resorted to bootlegging nitroglycerin for money, and managed to earn a wage as a car mechanic, a manual laborer at a gas station, and a hospital orderly; for two years he was also a faculty member at the USC Department of Pharmacology. Relations between Parsons and Cameron became strained; they agreed to a temporary separation and she moved to Mexico to join an artists' commune in San Miguel de Allende. Unable to pursue his scientific career, without his wife and devoid of friendship, Parsons decided to return to occultism and embarked on sexually based magical operations with prostitutes. He was intent, informally following the ritualistic practice of Thelemite organization the A∴A∴, on performing "the Crossing of the Abyss", attaining union with the universal consciousness, or "All" as understood in the context of the Great Work, and becoming the "Master of the Temple". Following his apparent success in doing so, Parsons recounted having an out-of-body experience invoked by Babalon, who astrally transported him to the biblical City of Chorazin, an experience he referred to as a "Black Pilgrimage". Accompanying Parsons' "Oath of the Abyss" was his own "Oath of the AntiChrist", which was witnessed by Wilfred Talbot Smith. In this oath, Parsons professed to embody an entity named Belarion Armillus Al Dajjal, the Antichrist "who am come to fulfill the law of the Beast 666 [Aleister Crowley]". Viewing these oaths as the completion of the Babalon Working, Parsons wrote an illeist autobiography titled Analysis by a Master of the Temple and an occult text titled The Book of AntiChrist. In the latter work, Parsons (writing as Belarion) prophesied that within nine years Babalon would manifest on Earth and supersede the dominance of the Abrahamic religions. During this period, Parsons also wrote an essay on his individualist philosophy and politics—which he described as standing for "liberalism and liberal principles"—titled "Freedom is a Two-Edged Sword", in which he condemned the authoritarianism, censorship, corruption, antisexualism and racism he saw as prevalent in American society. None of these works were published in his lifetime. Through Heinlein, Parsons received a visit from writer L. Sprague de Camp, with whom he discussed magic and science fiction, and disclosed that Hubbard had sent a letter offering him Sara back. De Camp later referred to Parsons as "An authentic mad genius if I ever met one", and based the character Courtney James on him in his time travel story A Gun for Dinosaur (1956). Parsons was also visited by Jane Wolfe, who unsuccessfully appealed for him to rejoin the dilapidated O.T.O. He entered a brief relationship with an Irishwoman named Gladis Gohan; they moved to a house in Redondo Beach, a building known by them as the "Concrete Castle". Cameron returned to Redondo Beach from San Miguel de Allende and violently argued with Parsons upon discovering his infidelity, before she again left for Mexico. Parsons responded by initiating divorce proceedings against her on the grounds of "extreme cruelty". Parsons testified to a closed federal court that the moral philosophy of Thelema was both anti-fascist and anti-communist, emphasizing his belief in individualism. This along with references from his scientific colleagues resulted in his security clearance being reinstated by the Industrial Employment Review Board, which ruled that there was insufficient evidence that he had ever had communist sympathies. This allowed Parsons to obtain a contract in designing and constructing a chemical plant for the Hughes Aircraft Company in Culver City. Von Kármán put Parsons in touch with Herbert T. Rosenfeld, President of the Southern Californian chapter of the American Technion Society—a Zionist group dedicated to supporting the newly created State of Israel. Rosenfeld offered Parsons a job with the Israeli rocket program and hired him to produce technical reports for them. In November 1950, as the Red Scare intensified, Parsons decided to migrate to Israel to pursue Rosenfeld's offer, but a Hughes secretary whom Parsons had asked to type up a portfolio of technical documents reported him to the FBI. She accused Parsons of espionage and attempted theft of classified company documents on the basis of some of the reports that he had sought to submit to the Technion Society. Parsons was immediately fired from Hughes; the FBI investigated the complaint and were suspicious that Parsons was spying for the Israeli government. Parsons denied the allegations when interrogated; he insisted that his intentions were peaceful and that he had suffered an error of judgment in procuring the documents. Some of Parsons' scientific colleagues rallied to his defense, but the case against him worsened when the FBI investigated Rosenfeld for being linked to Soviet agents, and more accounts of his occult and sexually permissive activities at the Parsonage came to light. In October 1951, the U.S. attorney decided that because the contents of the reports did not constitute state secrets, Parsons was not guilty of espionage. The Review Board still considered Parsons a liability because of his historical Marxist affiliations and investigations by the FBI, and in January 1952 they permanently reinstated their ban on his working for classified projects, effectively prohibiting him from working in rocketry. To make a living he founded the Parsons Chemical Manufacturing Company, which was based in North Hollywood and created pyrotechnics and explosives such as fog effects and imitation gunshot wounds for the film industry, and he also returned to chemical manufacturing at the Bermite Powder Company in Saugus. Parsons reconciled with Cameron, and they resumed their relationship and moved into a former coach house on Orange Grove Boulevard. Parsons converted its large, first-floor laundry room into a home laboratory to work on his chemical and pyrotechnic projects, homebrew absinthe and stockpile his materials. They let out the upstairs bedrooms and began holding parties that were attended largely by bohemians and members of the Beat Generation, along with old friends including Forman, Malina and Cornog. They also congregated at the home of Andrew Haley, who lived on the same street. Though Parsons in his mid-thirties was a "prewar relic" to the younger attendees, the raucous socials often lasted until dawn and frequently attracted police attention. Parsons also founded a new Thelemite group known as "the Witchcraft", whose beliefs revolved around a simplified version of Crowley's Thelema and Parsons' own Babalon prophecies. He offered a course in its teachings for a ten dollar fee, which included a new Thelemic belief system called "the Gnosis", a version of Christian Gnosticism with Sophia as its godhead and the Christian God as its demiurge. He also collaborated with Cameron on Songs for the Witch Woman, a collection of poems which she illustrated that was published in 2014. ### Death: 1952 Parsons and Cameron decided to travel to Mexico for a few months, both for a vacation and for Parsons to take up a job opportunity establishing an explosives factory for the Mexican government. They hoped that this would facilitate a move to Israel, where they could start a family, and where Parsons could bypass the U.S. government to recommence his rocketry career. He was particularly disturbed by the presence of the FBI, convinced that they were spying on him. On June 17, 1952, a day before their planned departure, Parsons received a rush order of explosives for a film set and began to work on it in his home laboratory. An explosion destroyed the lower part of the building, during which Parsons sustained mortal wounds. His right forearm was amputated, his legs and left arm were broken and a hole was torn in the right side of his face. Despite these critical injuries, Parsons was found conscious by the upstairs lodgers. He tried to communicate with the arriving ambulance workers, who rushed him to the Huntington Memorial Hospital, where he was declared dead approximately thirty-seven minutes after the explosion. When his mother, Ruth, learned of his death, she immediately took a fatal overdose of barbiturates. Pasadena Police Department criminologist Don Harding led the official investigation; he concluded that Parsons had been mixing fulminate of mercury in a coffee can when he dropped it on the floor, causing the initial explosion, which worsened when it came into contact with other chemicals in the room. Forman considered this likely, stating that Parsons often had sweaty hands and could easily have dropped the can. Some of Parsons' colleagues rejected this explanation, saying that he was very attentive about safety. Two colleagues from the Bermite Powder Company described Parsons' work habits as "scrupulously neat" and "exceptionally cautious". The latter statement—from chemical engineer George Santymers—insisted that the explosion must have come from beneath the floorboards, implying an organized plot to kill Parsons. Harding accepted that these inconsistencies were "incongruous" but described the manner in which Parsons had stored his chemicals as "criminally negligent", and noted that Parsons had previously been investigated by the police for illegally storing chemicals at the Parsonage. He also found a morphine-filled syringe at the scene, suggesting that Parsons was narcotized. The police saw insufficient evidence to continue the investigation and closed the case as an accidental death. Both Wolfe and Smith suggested that Parsons' death had been suicide, stating that he had suffered from depression for some time. Others theorized that the explosion was an assassination planned by Howard Hughes in response to Parsons' suspected theft of Hughes Aircraft Company documents. Cameron became convinced that Parsons had been murdered — either by police officers seeking vengeance for his role in the conviction of Earl Kynette or by anti-Zionists opposed to his work for Israel. One of Cameron's friends, the artist Renate Druks, later stated her belief that Parsons had died in a rite designed to create a homunculus. His death has never been definitively explained. The immediate aftermath of the explosion attracted the interest of the U.S. media, making headline news in the Los Angeles Times. These initial reports focused on Parsons' prominence in rocketry but neglected to mention his occult interests. When asked for comment, Aerojet secretary-treasurer T.E. Beehan said that Parsons "liked to wander, but he was one of the top men in the field". Within a few days, journalists had discovered his involvement in Thelema and emphasized this in their reports. A private prayer service was held for Parsons at the funeral home where his body was cremated. Cameron scattered his ashes in the Mojave Desert, before burning most of his possessions. She later tried to perform astral projection to commune with him. The O.T.O. also held a memorial service—with attendees including Helen and Sara—at which Smith led the Gnostic Mass. ## Personal life ### Personality Parsons was considered effeminate as a child; in adult life he exhibited an attitude of machismo. His FBI file described him as "potentially bisexual" and he once expressed experiencing a latent homosexuality. The actor Paul Mathison said he had had a gay relationship with Parsons in the 1950s, though this was disputed by others who knew him and Cameron. Parsons had the reputation of being a womanizer, and was notorious for frequently flirting and having sexual liaisons with female staff members at JPL and Aerojet. He was also known for personal eccentricity such as greeting house guests with a large pet snake around his neck, driving to work in a rundown Pontiac, and using a mannequin dressed in a tuxedo with a bucket labelled "The Resident" as his mailbox. As well as a fencing and archery enthusiast, Parsons was also a keen shooter; he often hunted jack rabbits and cotton tails in the desert, and was amused by mock dueling with Forman while on test sites with rifles and shotguns. Upon proposing to his first wife Helen, he gave her a pistol. Parsons enjoyed playing pranks on his colleagues, often through detonating explosives such as firecrackers and smoke bombs, and was known to spend hours at a time in the bathtub playing with toy boats while living at the Parsonage. As well as intense bursts of creativity, Parsons suffered from what he described as "manic hysteria and depressing melancholy". His father Marvel, after suffering a near-fatal heart attack, died in 1947 as a psychiatric patient at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C., diagnosed with severe clinical depression, a condition Pendle suggested the younger Parsons inherited. ### Professional associations Parsons' obituary listed him as a member of the Army Ordnance Association, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Chemical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, anddespite his lack of an academic degreethe Sigma Xi fraternity. It also stated that he had turned down several honorary degrees. ## Philosophy ### Religious beliefs Parsons adhered to the occult philosophy of Thelema, which had been founded in 1904 by the English occultist Aleister Crowley following a spiritual revelation that he had in Cairo, Egypt, when—according to Crowley's accounts—a spirit being known as Aiwass dictated to him a prophetic text known as The Book of the Law. Prior to becoming aware of Thelema and Crowley, Parsons' interest in esotericism was developed through his reading of The Golden Bough (1890), a work in comparative mythology by Scottish social anthropologist James George Frazer. Parsons had also attended lectures on Theosophy by philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti with his first wife Helen, but disliked the belief system's sentiment of "the good and the true". During rocket tests, Parsons often recited Crowley's poem "Hymn to Pan" as a good luck charm. He took to addressing Crowley as his "Most Beloved Father" and signed off to him as "thy son, John". In July 1945, Parsons gave a speech to the Agape Lodge, in which he attempted to explain how he felt that The Book of the Law could be made relevant to "modern life". In this speech, which was subsequently published under the title of "Doing Your Will", he examined the Thelemite concept of True Will, writing that: > The mainspring of an individual is his creative Will. This Will is the sum of his tendencies, his destiny, his inner truth. It is one with the force that makes the birds sing and flowers bloom; as inevitable as gravity, as implicit as a bowel movement, it informs alike atoms and men and suns. > > To the man who knows this Will, there is no why or why not, no can or cannot; he is! > > There is no known force that can turn an apple into an alley cat; there is no known force that can turn a man from his Will. This is the triumph of genius; that, surviving the centuries, enlightens the world. > > This force burns in every man. Parsons identified four obstacles that prevented humans from achieving and performing their True Will, all of which he connected with fear: the fear of incompetence, the fear of the opinion of others, the fear of hurting others, and the fear of insecurity. He insisted that these must be overcome, writing that "The Will must be freed of its fetters. The ruthless examination and destruction of taboos, complexes, frustrations, dislikes, fears and disgusts hostile to the Will is essential to progress." Though Parsons was a lifelong devotee to Thelema, he grew weary of and eventually left the Ordo Templi Orientis—the religious organization that began propagating Thelema under Crowley's leadership from the 1910s—which Parsons viewed, despite the disagreement of Crowley himself, as excessively hierarchical and impeding upon the rigorous spiritual and philosophical practice of True Will, describing the O.T.O. as "an excellent training school for adepts, but hardly an appropriate Order for the manifestation of Thelema". In this sense Parsons was described by Carter as an "almost fundamentalist" Thelemite who placed The Book of the Law's dogma above all other doctrine. ### Politics From early on in his career, Parsons took an interest in socialism and communism, views that he shared with his friend Frank Malina. Under the influence of another friend, Sidney Weinbaum, the two joined a communist group in the late 1930s, with Parsons reading Marxist literature, but he remained unconvinced and refused to join the American Communist Party. Malina asserted that this was because Parsons was a "political romantic", whose attitude was more anti-authoritarian than anti-capitalist. Parsons later became critical of the Marxist–Leninist government of the Soviet Union led by Joseph Stalin, sarcastically commenting that > The dictatorship of the proletariat is merely temporary — the state will eventually wither away like a snark hunter, leaving us all free as birds. Meanwhile, it may be necessary to kill, torture and imprison a few million people, but whose fault is it if they get in the way of progress? During the era of McCarthyism and the Second Red Scare in the early 1950s, Parsons was questioned regarding his former links to the communist movement, by which time he denied any connection to it, instead describing himself as "an individualist" who was both anti-communist and anti-fascist. In reaction to the McCarthyite red-baiting of scientists, he expressed disdain that > [s]cience, that was going to save the world in H. G. Wells' time is regimented, straight-jacked, [and] scared shitless, its universal language diminished to one word, security. Parsons was politically influenced by Thelema, which holds to the ethical code of "Do what thou wilt". In his essay, "Freedom is a Lonely Star", Parsons equated this principle to the libertarian views of a number of the Founding Fathers of the United States. By his own time, he wrote, these values "sold out by America, and for that reason the heart of America is sick and the soul of America is dead." He proceeded to criticize many aspects of contemporary U.S. society, particularly the police force ("[t]he police mind is usually of a sadistic and homicidal trend") and note they carried out the "ruthless punishment of symbolic scapegoats" such as African-Americans, prostitutes, alcoholics, homeless people and sociopolitical radicals, under the pretense of a country that upheld "liberty and justice for all." To bring about a freer future, Parsons believed in liberalizing attitudes to sexual morality stating that, in his belief, the publication of the Kinsey report and development of the psychonautical sciences had as significant an influence on Western society as the creation of the atomic bomb and the development of nuclear physics. He believed that in the future the restrictions on sexual morality within society should be abolished in order to bring about greater freedom and individuality. Parsons concluded that > the liberty of the individual is the foundation of civilization. No true civilization is possible without this liberty and no state, national or international, is stable in its absence. The proper relation between individual liberty on the one hand and social responsibility on the other is the balance which will assure a stable society. The only other road to social equilibrium demands the total annihilation of individuality. There is not further evasion of nature's immemorial ultimatum: change or perish but the choice of change is ours. Jack Cashill, American studies professor at Purdue University, argues that "Although his literary career never got much beyond pamphleteering and an untitled anti-war, anti-capitalist manuscript", Parsons played a significant role—greater than that of Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey—in shaping the Californian counterculture of the 1960s and beyond through his influence on contemporaries such as Hubbard and Heinlein. Hugh Urban, religious studies professor at Ohio State University, cites Parsons' Witchcraft group as precipitating the neopagan revival of the 1950s. Robert Anton Wilson, a cult writer and occultist known for his works of nonfiction and science fiction, described Parsons' political writings as exemplifying an "ultra-individualist" who exhibited a "genuine sympathy for working people", strongly empathized with feminism and held an antipathy toward patriarchy comparable to that of John Stuart Mill. Wilson argued in this context that Parsons was an influence on the American libertarian and anarchist movements of the 20th century. Parsons was also supportive of the creation of the State of Israel. He made plans to emigrate there when his military security clearance was revoked. ## Legacy and influence In the decades following his death, Parsons was well-remembered among the Western esoteric community; his scientific recognition frequently amounted to a footnote. For instance, English Thelemite Kenneth Grant suggested that Parsons' Babalon Working marked the start of the appearance of flying saucers in the skies, leading to phenomena such as the Roswell UFO incident and Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting. Cameron postulated that the 1952 Washington, D.C. UFO incident was a spiritual reaction to Parsons' death. In 1954 she portrayed Babalon in American Thelemite Kenneth Anger's short film Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, viewing this cinematic depiction of a Thelemic ritual as aiding the literal invocation of Babalon begun by Parsons' working, and later said that his Book of the AntiChrist prophecies were fulfilled through the manifestation of Babalon in her person. In December 1958, JPL was integrated into the newly established National Aeronautics and Space Administration, having built the Explorer 1 satellite that commenced America's Space Race with the Soviet Union. Aerojet was contracted by NASA to build the main engine of the Apollo Command/Service Module, and the Space Shuttle Orbital Maneuvering System. In a letter to Frank Malina, von Kármán ranked Parsons first in a list of figures he viewed as most important to modern rocketry and the foundation of the American space program. According to Richard Metzger, Wernher von Braun—who was nicknamed "The Father of Rocket Science"—once argued that Parsons was more worthy of this moniker. In October 1968, Malina, a pioneer in sounding rocketry, gave a speech at JPL in which he highlighted Parsons' contribution to the U.S. rocket project, and lamented how it had come to be neglected, crediting him for making "key contributions to the development of storable propellants and of long duration solid propellant agents that play such an important role in American and European space technology." The same month, JPL held an open access event to mark the 32nd anniversary of its foundation—which featured a "nativity scene" of mannequins reconstructing the November 1936 photograph of the GALCIT Group—and erected a monument commemorating their first rocket test on Halloween 1936. Among the aerospace industry, JPL was nicknamed as standing for "Jack Parsons' Laboratory" or "Jack Parsons Lives". The International Astronomical Union decided to name a crater on the far side of the Moon Parsons after him in 1972. JPL later credited him for making "distinctive technical innovations that advanced early efforts" in rocket engineering, with aerospace journalist Craig Covault stating that the work of Parsons, Qian Xuesen and the GALCIT Group "planted the seeds for JPL to become preeminent in space and rocketry." Many of Parsons' writings were posthumously published as Freedom is a Two-Edged Sword in 1989, a compilation co-edited by Cameron and O.T.O. leader Hymenaeus Beta, which incited a resurgence of interest in Parsons within occult and countercultural circles. For example, comic book artist and occultist Alan Moore noted Parsons as a creative influence in a 1998 interview with Clifford Meth. The Cameron-Parsons Foundation was founded as an incorporated company in 2006, with the intention of conserving and promoting Parsons' writings and Cameron's artwork, and in 2014 Fulger Esoterica published Songs for the Witch Woman—a limited edition book of poems by Parsons with illustrations by Cameron, released to coincide with his centenary. An exhibition of the same name was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. In 1999, Feral House published the biography Sex and Rockets: The Occult World of Jack Parsons by John Carter, who opined that Parsons had accomplished more in under five years of research than Robert H. Goddard had in his lifetime, and said that his role in the development of rocket technology had been neglected by historians of science; Carter thought that Parsons' abilities and accomplishments as an occultist had been overestimated and exaggerated among Western esotericists, emphasizing his disowning by Crowley for practicing magic beyond his grade. Feral House republished the work as a new edition in 2004, accompanied with an introduction by Robert Anton Wilson. Wilson believed that Parsons was "the one single individual who contributed the most to rocket science", describing him as being "very strange, very brilliant, very funny, [and] very tormented", and considering it noteworthy that the day of Parsons' birth was the predicted beginning of the apocalypse advocated by Charles Taze Russell, the founder of the Bible Student movement. In 2005, Weidenfeld & Nicolson published Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons by George Pendle, who described Parsons as "the Che Guevara of occultism". Pendle said that although Parsons "would not live to see his dream of space travel come true, he was essential to making it a reality." Pendle considered that the cultural stigma attached to Parsons' occultism was the primary cause of his low public profile, noting that "Like many scientific mavericks, Parsons was eventually discarded by the establishment once he had served his purpose." It was this unorthodox mindset, creatively facilitated by his science fiction fandom and "willingness to believe in magic's efficacy", Pendle argued, "that allowed him to break scientific barriers previously thought to be indestructible"—commenting that Parsons "saw both space and magic as ways of exploring these new frontiers—one breaking free from Earth literally and metaphysically." L. Ron Hubbard's role in Parsons' Agape Lodge and the ensuing yacht scam were explored in Russell Miller's 1987 Hubbard biography Bare-faced Messiah. Parsons' involvement in the Agape Lodge was also discussed by Martin P. Starr in his history of the American Thelemite movement, The Unknown God: W.T. Smith and the Thelemites, published by Teitan Press in 2003. The QI Book of the Dead (2004), based on the BBC game show, included a Parsons obituary. Parsons' occult partnership with Hubbard was also mentioned in Alex Gibney's 2015 documentary film Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, produced by HBO. Before his death, Parsons appeared in science fiction writer Anthony Boucher's murder-mystery novel Rocket to the Morgue (1942) under the guise of mad scientist character Hugo Chantrelle. Another fictional character based on Parsons was Courtney James, a wealthy socialite who features in L. Sprague de Camp's 1956 short time travel story A Gun for Dinosaur. In 2005, Pasadena Babalon, a stage play about Parsons written by George D. Morgan and directed by Brian Brophy, premiered at Caltech as a production by its theater Arts Group in 2010, the same year Cellar Door Publishing released Richard Carbonneau and Robin Simon Ng's graphic novel, The Marvel: A Biography of Jack Parsons. Parsons' mythology was incorporated into the narrative of David Lynch's mystery-horror television series Twin Peaks. In 2014, AMC Networks announced plans for a serial television dramatization of Parsons' life, but in 2016 it was reported that the series "will not be going forward." In 2017, the project was adopted as a web television series by CBS All Access. Strange Angel, produced by Mark Heyman and starring Irish actor Jack Reynor as Parsons, premiered in June 2018 and ran for two seasons. Parsons appears as a side character in China Miéville's 2016 fantastical novella, The Last Days of New Paris. In 2018, Parsons was featured in an episode of the Amazon series Lore. Parsons is the subject of musical tributes by Johan Johannson (Fordlandia, 2008), Six Organs of Admittance (Parsons' Blues, 2012), The Claypool Lennon Delirium (South of Reality, 2019), and Luke Haines and Peter Buck (Beat Poetry for Survivalists, 2020). ## Patents - , Aerojet 1945. Reaction motor with propellant charge mounted in it. Classification: Propellant charge supports. - , Aerojet 1943. Rocket motor with solid propellant and propellant charge therefor. Classification: Rocket-engine plants, i.e. plants carrying both fuel and oxidant therefor; Control thereof using semi-solid or pulverulent propellants. - , Aerojet 1943 with Frank J. Malina. Reaction motor operable by liquid propellants and method of operating it. Classification: Propellants. - , 1944/1950 with Frank J. Malina. Reaction motor operable by liquid propellants and method of operating it. Classification: Propellants. - , Aerojet 1953 with Frank J. Malina. Rocket propulsion method. Classification: Propellants. - , Aerojet 1954 with Frank J. Malina, 1954. Rocket propulsion method. Classification: Compositions in which the components are separately stored ... - , Aerojet 1944. Propellant compositions. Classification: Catalytic reforming characterised by the catalyst used containing platinum group metals or compounds thereof. ## See also - Scientology and the occult
36,253,615	Cley Marshes	1,145,032,605	Nature reserve on the North Sea coast of England	[ "Birdwatching sites in England", "Cley next the Sea", "Coastal features of Norfolk", "Coastal fortifications", "Nature reserves in Norfolk", "Norfolk Wildlife Trust" ]	Cley Marshes is a 176-hectare (430-acre) nature reserve on the North Sea coast of England just outside the village of Cley next the Sea, Norfolk. A reserve since 1926, it is the oldest of the reserves belonging to the Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT), which is itself the oldest county Wildlife Trust in the United Kingdom. Cley Marshes protects an area of reed beds, freshwater marsh, pools and wet meadows and is part of the North Norfolk Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Special Protection Area (SPA), and Ramsar Site due to the large numbers of birds it attracts. The reserve is important for some scarce breeding species, such as pied avocets on the islands, and western marsh harriers, Eurasian bitterns and bearded reedlings in the reeds, and is also a major migration stopoff and wintering site. There are also several nationally or locally scarce invertebrates and plants specialised for this coastal habitat. It has five bird hides and an environmentally friendly visitor centre and further expansion is planned through the acquisition of neighbouring land and improvements to visitor facilities. The site has a long history of human occupation, from prehistoric farming to its use as a prisoner of war camp in the Second World War. The reserve attracts large numbers of visitors, contributing significantly to the economy of Cley village. Despite centuries of embankment to reclaim land and protect the village, the marshes have been flooded many times, and the southward march of the coastal shingle bank and encroachment by the sea make it inevitable that the reserve will eventually be lost. New wetlands are being created further inland to compensate for the loss of coastal habitats. ## History ### Prehistory to 1926 Norfolk has a long history of human occupation. Both Modern and Neanderthal people were present in the area before the last glaciation between 100,000 and 10,000 years ago, and humans returned as the ice retreated northwards. The archaeological record is poor until about 20,000 years ago, partly because of the prevailing conditions, but also because the coastline was much further north than at present. As the ice retreated during the Mesolithic, the sea level rose, filling what is now the North Sea. This brought the Norfolk coastline much closer to its present line, so that many ancient sites are now under the sea. The oldest signs of habitation on the marshes are prehistoric Clactonian flint blades possibly from 400,000 years ago, but few other prehistoric remains have been recorded here. Fragments of a Roman vase and jug have been found on the beach. A 1797 map showed what was described as the ruins of "Cley Chapel", although it is more likely that they belonged to a barn. A 1588 map showed "Black Joy Forte", which may have been intended as a defence against the Spanish Armada. There are a number of post-medieval earthworks, presumably sea defences, and pits which may have been associated with salt-making. Until the mid-1600s, much of the area now known as Cley Marshes was part of a vast tidal marsh and was covered by seawater twice a day. The shoreline itself was hundreds of metres north of its present location. The raised area in the north-west corner, called the "Eye", has been farmed since the earliest human habitation. It was 28 ha (70 acres) in extent in 1651, but is now much reduced by coastal erosion. Access to the Eye was by an ancient causeway, passable at low tide. John Heydon started the process of embanking the marshes to reclaim the land in 1522, and his banks were extended and improved by Dutchman Jan van Hasedunch from 1630. Simon Britiff, Lord of the local Manor of Cley, completed the scheme by building the bank on the east side of the Cley channel. Only the east and west banks have survived; the north bank was breached by the sea in 1897, then rebuilt with a concrete facing, but abandoned after another bad storm in 1921. Cley and nearby Blakeney had been prosperous and important ports in the Middle Ages, but land reclamation schemes, especially those by Henry Calthorpe in 1640 just to the west of Cley, led to the silting up of the shipping channel and relocation of the wharf. Further enclosure in the mid-1820s aggravated the problem, and also allowed the shingle ridge at the beach to block the former tidal channel to the Salthouse marshes to the east of Cley. In an attempt to halt the decline, Thomas Telford was consulted in 1822, but his recommendations for reducing the silting were not implemented, and by 1840 almost all of Cley's trade had been lost to Blakeney and other Norfolk ports. The population stagnated, and the value of all property decreased sharply. In the mid-nineteenth century, the Lord of the Manor constructed the present road to the beach in exchange for closing the ancient right of way across the marshes. In the decades preceding World War I, this stretch of coast became famous for its wildfowling; locals were looking for food, but some "Gentleman Gunners" hunted to collect rare birds. One of the best known of the latter was E. C. Arnold, who collected for more than fifty years, and gave his name to the marsh at the north-east corner of the present reserve. ### Nature reserve era Cley Marshes reserve was created in 1926 when Norfolk birdwatcher Dr Sydney Long bought the land which now makes up the reserve for the sum of £5,100, to be held "in perpetuity as a bird breeding sanctuary". Long then established the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. The reserve was extended in 1962 through the lease of the adjacent 11-hectare (27-acre) Arnold's Marsh from the National Trust; this had long been the primary feeding area for waders, but much of the best habitat had been lost to the advancing shingle ridge. New pools and hides were created on the reserve from 1964, and the sale of permits for access to the hides became a useful source of income for the NWT. Further pools and hides were established during the 1970s, and a visitor centre was built in 1981 on the site of the current building. Over the long history of the reserve, it has had only three wardens, all from the same family. Robert Bishop was warden from 1926 to 1937, and was followed by his grandson, Billy, from 1937 to 1978. Billy's son, Bernard, who was appointed in 1978, is still managing the reserve. The reserve now covers 176 hectares (430 acres), and is of international importance for its breeding and wintering birds. It was designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1954, and in 1986 it was subsumed into the 7,700-hectare (19,000-acre) North Norfolk Coast SSSI. The larger area is now additionally protected through Natura 2000, Special Protection Area (SPA) and Ramsar listings, and is part of the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The reserve has been referred to as "a Mecca for birdwatchers". ### Second World War coastal fortifications During the Second World War, Royal Artillery military fortifications were established at the beach end of the reserve, including two 6-inch (15.24 cm) guns, five buildings, two pillboxes, a minefield, and concrete anti-tank blocks. A spigot mortar emplacement and an Allan Williams Turret machine gun emplacement were sited closer to the village. One of the pillboxes and remains of the beach gun emplacements were still surviving as of 2012. The military camp held 160 men and was later used to hold prisoners of war. Italian, but not German, prisoners were allowed to attend dances at the anti-aircraft camp at nearby Stiffkey. Near the end of the war, the camp was used to house East European refugees, and it was finally pulled down in 1948. Many of the wartime buildings were destroyed by the Royal Engineers in 1955, but the generator house was taken over by the coastguard service as an observation post. It was acquired by the NWT in 1983, and the upper part was used as a look-out, while the larger lower section became a beach café. The building was overwhelmed by shingle in a storm in 2008 and subsequently demolished. ## Access and facilities The reserve is to the north of the A149 coast road just east of the village of Cley next the Sea, 6 km (3.7 mi) north of Holt. The visitor centre and car park are to the south of the road, opposite the reserve. The reserve can be reached by public transport using the bus service that stops outside the visitor centre. The reserve is viewable from the visitor centre, footpaths next to the A149 and down the East Bank, the beach and the road running from the beach back to the main road. It can be accessed by footpaths at three points, each leading to one or more bird hides. Beach Road and the beach itself form part of the Peddars Way long distance footpath. The present visitor centre, which opened in June 2007, is on a small hill overlooking the reserve. It contains a café and shop, and is open daily. The reserve and hides are open at all times, with free access to NWT members, although non-members must buy a permit. The visitor centre is built on environmentally friendly principles. Its roof is covered with living sedum plants, rainwater is collected for re-use, and the building's energy profile is reduced using solar water heating, wind turbines and geothermal heat pumps. It has won a number of awards including the Emirates Glass LEAF architectural award for the sustainability category. The success of the centre has led to plans to develop it further, offering more services and educational facilities and enhancing its profitability for the Trust. The centre and four of the five bird hides are accessible to wheelchair users. In 2012 the NWT launched a public appeal to raise £1 million to purchase 58 hectares (143 acres) of private land immediately to the east of the existing reserve, and adjoining the existing 66 ha (163 acre) Trust reserve at Salthouse Marshes. This purchase would create a unified 8 km (5 mi) stretch of NWT-owned coastal land and expand the Cley reserve by one-third. ## Fauna and flora ### Birds The key breeding species are reed bed specialists such as the marsh harrier, Eurasian bittern and bearded reedling, and the island-nesting avocet. Other birds nesting in the wetland include northern lapwing, common redshank and sedge, reed and Cetti's warblers. Eurasian spoonbills, ruffs and black-tailed godwits are present for much of the year, and a pair of little egrets bred for the first time in 2010–2012. Spring migrants including little gull, black tern, Temminck's stint and garganey may pass through on their way to breed elsewhere, and terns frequently visit from the colonies on Blakeney Point. In the autumn, birds arrive from the north. Some, such as Eurasian whimbrels, curlew sandpipers and little stints, just pausing for a few days to refuel before continuing south, others staying for the winter. Offshore, great and Arctic skuas, northern gannets and black-legged kittiwakes may pass close by in favourable winds. Large numbers of ducks winter on the reserve, including many Eurasian wigeons, Eurasian teals, mallards and gadwalls, goldeneyes and northern pintails. Red-throated divers are usually on the sea, and brent geese feed on sea lettuce and other green algae. Barn owls and sometimes hen harriers quarter the marshes in winter, and snow bunting flocks can be found on the beach. The reserve's location means that migrants may be found, sometimes in huge numbers when the weather conditions are right. These may include vagrant rarities, including a western sandpiper in 2012, a displaying great snipe in 2011, a trumpeter finch in 2010 and a collared pratincole in 2009. In order to maintain a good habitat, parts of the reed bed are cut and sold for thatch each year to establish a mosaic of plants of different ages. ### Other animals Water voles are a highly threatened species in the UK, with a huge decline in numbers of 70–90%, mainly due to predation by the introduced American mink, but also habitat loss and water pollution. They are still common at Cley, which is one of a number of East Anglian sites now of national importance for this species. Brown hares are widespread, and European otters may be seen, with spraints regularly found at the southern end of East Bank. The common frog, common toad and common lizard all occur on the reserve. Arnold's Marsh and the other lagoons nearest the beach are salty due to the percolation of seawater through the shingle bank. These saline lagoons may cover mud, firm sand or submerged vegetation, and hold some rare and threatened invertebrates including starlet sea anemone, lagoon sand shrimp, Atlantic ditch shrimp, the mysid shrimps Paramysis nouveli and Neomysis integer, lagoon cockle, the bug Orthotylus rubidus and spire snail. Little whirlpool ramshorn snail has been found in a freshwater channel. Rare beetles associated with these coastal environments include yellow pogonus, Bembidion ephippium and Tachys scutellaris. These marshes are the only reliable UK site for the Pogonus species, and even here it is localised and hard to find. ### Plants The shingle ridge that protects the reserve from the sea and extends to Blakeney Point attracts biting stonecrop, sea campion, yellow horned poppy, sea thrift, bird's foot trefoil and sea beet. Sea barley is a scarcer species of this habitat. In the damper areas, sea wormwood, sea lavender and scrubby sea-blite also thrive. The saltmarsh contains glassworts and common cord grass in the most exposed regions, with a succession of plants following on as the marsh becomes more established: first sea aster, then mainly sea lavender, with sea purslane in the creeks and smaller areas of sea plantain and other common marsh plants. The uncommon spiral tasselweed and long-bracted sedge are other saltmarsh specialists. The upper saltmarsh has a number of scarce species including lesser centaury, curved hard-grass and sea pearlwort, with soft hornwort in the dykes. The drier areas of the reserve contain maritime grasses such as sea couch grass and sea poa grass. The reedbeds are dominated by common reed with saltmarsh rush, brackish water crowfoot, sea clubrush and common bulrush also common in the various wetland habitats. The coastal pastures at Cley and the adjacent Salthouse Marshes have jointleaf rush, common silverweed and less common grasses such as annual beard grass, marsh foxtail and slender hare's-ear. The site is generally rich in plants, especially those that can cope with saline environments, but three species appear to have been lost: divided sedge was last recorded in 1999, grey hair-grass in 1982 and lax-flowered sea lavender in 1977. Lichens are not suited to the prevailing habitat, but the nationally rare soot lichen occurs on untreated wood. The locally rare bryophyte Heim's pottia occurs in the saltmarsh, and the coastal variety piliferum of cuspidate earth-moss is found at Salthouse. ## Recreation A 2005 survey at Cley and five other North Norfolk coastal sites found that 39 per cent of visitors gave birdwatching as the main purpose of their visit. The 7.7 million day visitors and 5.5 million who made overnight stays in the area in 1999 are estimated to have spent £122 million, and created the equivalent of 2,325 full-time jobs. Cley Marshes, like Titchwell Marsh RSPB and Holkham NNR, attracts 100,000 or more visitors annually. Of the six sites, Cley and Titchwell have the highest proportion of pre-planned visits, and Cley, together with neighbouring Blakeney, had the highest per capita spend per visitor. The equivalent of 52 full-time jobs in the Cley area are estimated to result from the £2.45 million spent by the visiting public. The large number of tourists can have negative effects; wildlife may be disturbed, particularly species that breed in exposed areas, such as ringed plovers, and plants can be trampled, which is a particular problem in sensitive habitats such as sand dunes and vegetated shingle. Damage can be reduced by measures such as wardening the breeding colonies and using fences, boardwalks and signs to control access. The access paths to the hides, other than the northernmost, are largely boardwalked, and an extensive programme of fence replacement and improvements to the control of water levels on the reserve took place in 2010–2011. ## Threats The reserve shelters behind a ridge of shingle that runs west from Weybourne along the Norfolk coast, before becoming a spit extending into the sea at Blakeney Point. Saltmarshes can develop behind the shingle, but the sea attacks the ridge and spit through tidal and storm action. The amount of shingle moved by a single storm can be "spectacular"; the spit has sometimes been breached, becoming an island for a time, and this may happen again. The northernmost part of nearby Blakeney was lost to the sea in the early Middle Ages, probably due to a storm. The spit is moving towards the mainland at about 1 m per year, and for the last two hundred years maps have been accurate enough for the encroachment of the sea to be quantified. Blakeney Chapel, just west of the reserve, was 400 m (440 yd) from the sea in 1817, but this had reduced to 195 m (215 yd) by the end of the twentieth century. The landward movement of the shingle also means that the channel of the River Glaven becomes blocked increasingly often, leading to flooding of the reserve and Cley village. The Environment Agency considered a number of remedial options to protect these vulnerable areas, and a new route for the river to the south of its original line was completed in 2007 at a cost of about £1.5 million. The sea defences at Cley were badly breached in 1742, 1897, 1953 and 1996, with smaller incursions in 1993 and 1998. The massive 1953 flood reached 8 km (4 mi) inland at Cley. A 2 m (6 ft) storm surge in December 2013 flooded much of the English east coast, and breached the shingle ridge at Cley, flooding the reserve and damaging or destroying the hides. Restoration of the reserve was assisted by Natural England, and the removal of salt was helped by natural freshwater springs. As of 2015, the reserve was fully restored and functioning. Although the financial benefits from the recreational value of the reserve currently outweigh the costs of maintaining the sea defences, managed retreat is likely to be the long-term solution to rising sea levels at Cley and along much of the rest of the North Norfolk coast, and has already been implemented at other major sites including Titchwell Marsh. The important reedbeds at Cley will inevitably be lost due to increased saltwater flow into the marshes. To compensate, the Environment Agency and the Norfolk Wildlife Trust have been working since 2010 to make a new wetland near Hilgay. The 60-hectare (150-acre) Hilgay Wetland Creation Project is converting former farmland into a variety of wetland habitats by using banks, ditches and a lake to manage water levels. The Trust sees this as the first stage of a long-term plan to create a roughly 10,000-hectare (25,000-acre) Wissey Living Landscape. ## Cited texts
26,187,432	The Monster (novella)	1,137,887,287	1898 novella by Stephen Crane	[ "1898 American novels", "American novellas", "American novels adapted into films", "Novels set in New York (state)", "Works by Stephen Crane", "Works originally published in Harper's Magazine" ]	The Monster is an 1898 novella by American author Stephen Crane (1871–1900). The story takes place in the small, fictional town of Whilomville, New York. An African-American coachman named Henry Johnson, who is employed by the town's physician, Dr. Trescott, becomes horribly disfigured after he saves Trescott's son from a fire. When Henry is branded a "monster" by the town's residents, Trescott vows to shelter and care for him, resulting in his family's exclusion from the community. The novella reflects upon the 19th-century social divide and ethnic tensions in America. The fictional town of Whilomville, which is used in 14 other Crane stories, was based on Port Jervis, New York, where Crane lived with his family for a few years during his youth. It is thought that he took inspiration from several local men who were similarly disfigured, although modern critics have made numerous connections between the story and the 1892 lynching in Port Jervis of an African-American man named Robert Lewis. A study of prejudice, fear, and isolation in a rather small town, the novella was first published in Harper's Magazine in August 1898. A year later, it was included in The Monster and Other Stories—the last collection of Crane's work to be published during his lifetime. Written in a more exact and less dramatic style than two of his previous major works (Maggie: A Girl of the Streets and The Red Badge of Courage), The Monster differs from the other Whilomville stories in its scope and length. Its themes include the paradoxical study of monstrosity and deformity, as well as race and tolerance. While the novella and collection received mixed reviews from contemporary critics, The Monster is now considered one of Crane's best works. ## Background and writing Crane began writing The Monster in June 1897 while living in Oxted, England with his longtime partner Cora Taylor. Despite his previous success—The Red Badge of Courage had gone through 14 printings in the United States and six in England—Crane was running out of money. To survive financially, he worked at a feverish pitch, writing prolifically for both the English and the American markets. He later remarked that he wrote The Monster "under the spur of great need", as he desperately required funds. In August of that year, Crane and Cora were injured in a carriage accident while visiting friend Harold Frederic and his mistress Kate Lyon in Homefield, Kenley; after a week of recuperation, they followed the couple on vacation to Ireland, where Crane finished the story. The Monster was Crane's first story to feature the fictional town of Whilomville; it would eventually serve as the setting of 14 stories, 13 of which would appear in the 1900 anthology Whilomville Stories. The town was based on Port Jervis, New York, where the author lived from the age of six to eleven. Although Crane and his mother relocated to Asbury Park, New Jersey in 1880, until 1896 he frequently stayed with his older brother and Port Jervis resident William Howe Crane. Crane admitted to his publishers that while he readily used Port Jervis as inspiration while writing The Monster, he was anxious to ensure that the residents of his previous hometown did not recognize themselves in the fictional Whilomville. While Crane biographer Thomas Beer claimed to trace the prototype of Henry Johnson to a Port Jervis teamster named Levi Hume, Crane's niece, Edna Crane Sidbury, believed the character and his disfigurement were influenced by a local waste collector whose face was damaged by cancer. In Black Frankenstein: The Making of an American Metaphor, author Elizabeth Young theorized that Crane may also have been inspired by popular freak show attractions such as Zip the Pinhead, whose real name was William Henry Johnson, and Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man. It is also possible that Crane found thematic inspiration in Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy of the People; although first published in 1882, the play—about a physician who finds himself ostracized by his community—first became popular in the United States in the mid-1890s. Modern critics have connected the novella's themes of racial division to a violent episode in Port Jervis' history. On June 2, 1892, an African-American man named Robert Lewis was lynched for allegedly assaulting a local white woman. On his way to the Port Jervis jail, Lewis was set upon by a mob of several hundred white men who dragged him through the town, beat him and hanged him from a tree. William Howe Crane lived within sight of where the lynching took place and was one of the few men, together with the chief of police, who attempted to intervene. Although Stephen Crane was not present, there were detailed accounts published in both the Port Jervis Gazette and the New-York Tribune, and Crane contributed to the Tribune at the time. The Gazette marked the day of Lewis' lynching as "one of the most disgraceful scenes that was ever enacted in Port Jervis", and activist Ida B. Wells launched a campaign to investigate the murder as well as the widespread theory that Lewis was set up. Of the 1,134 reported lynchings throughout the United States between 1882 and 1899, Lewis was the only black man to be lynched in New York. Crane initially sent his manuscript of more than 21,000 words to McClure's, along with several other works including "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky", but it remained unpublished for nearly a year. After McClure's eventual rejection, The Monster appeared in the August 1898 issue of Harper's Magazine with illustrations by Peter Newell. A year later, it was published in the United States by Harper & Brothers Publishers in a collection titled The Monster and Other Stories, which included two other works by Crane, "The Blue Hotel" and "His New Mittens". The first British edition, which added an additional four stories, was published in 1901. ## Plot summary After being admonished by his father, Dr. Ned Trescott, for damaging a peony while playing in his family's yard, young Jimmie Trescott visits his family's coachman, Henry Johnson. Henry, who is described as "a very handsome negro", "known to be a light, a weight, and an eminence in the suburb of the town", is friendly toward Jimmie. Later that evening Henry dresses smartly and saunters through town—inciting catcalls from friends and ridicule from the local white men—on his way to call on the young Bella Farragut, who is extremely taken with him. That same evening, a large crowd gathers in the park to hear a band play. Suddenly, the nearby factory whistle blows to alert the townspeople of a fire in the second district of the town; men gather hose-carts and head toward the blaze that is quickly spreading throughout Dr. Trescott's house. Mrs. Trescott is saved by a neighbor, but cannot locate Jimmie, who is trapped inside. Henry appears from the crowd and rushes into the house in search of the boy, finding him unharmed in his bedroom. Unable to retreat the way he came, Henry carries Jimmie, wrapped in a blanket, to the doctor's laboratory and the hidden stairway that leads outside. He discovers the fire has blocked this way out as well and collapses beside Dr. Trescott's desk. A row of nearby jars shatters from the heat, spilling molten chemicals upon Henry's upturned face. Dr. Trescott returns home to find his house ablaze; after he is told by his hysterical wife that Jimmie is still inside, he rushes into the house by way of the laboratory's hidden passageway. He finds Jimmie still wrapped in the blanket and carries him outside. Hearing that Henry is inside the house, Dr. Trescott attempts to re-enter, but is held back. Another man goes into the house and returns with the badly burned "thing" that used to be Henry Johnson. The injured men and boy are taken to Judge Denning Hagenthorpe's house across the street to be treated, but while it is thought that Dr. Trescott and Jimmie will survive their injuries, Henry is pronounced as good as dead; he is mourned as a hero by the town. Henry Johnson survives, however, under the watchful eye of Dr. Trescott, who treats the injured man out of gratitude for saving his son's life. Hagenthorpe, a leading figure in town, urges Trescott to let Henry die, stating that he "will hereafter be a monster, a perfect monster, and probably with an affected brain. No man can observe you as I have observed you and not know that it was a matter of conscience with you, but I am afraid, my friend, that it is one of the blunders of virtue." Ultimately Trescott decides to move Henry, who has sustained disfiguring injuries to his face and psyche, to a local Black household, but Henry's presence proves troubling for the family's well-being, and he is moved to another. One night Henry absconds, visiting various people around town and leaving terrified neighbors in his wake, including Bella Farragut, who he attempts to court as if no time has passed since they last met. Not welcome anywhere else, Henry is eventually moved to the carriage-house in the newly built Trescott home. Despite Dr. Trescott's protection, Henry is branded a monster by the townspeople, who avoid the Trescotts as a result. Although previously friendly to Henry, Jimmie now mocks him, daring his friends to approach the disfigured man. Once the leading doctor in Whilomville, Trescott's reputation suffers greatly, as does that of his wife, who no longer receives visitors. ## Style The story is told from the point of view of a selectively omniscient narrator who seemingly chooses whether or not to divulge plot points as they occur, causing "a pattern of expectation" on the part of the reader. Although the novella is separated into 24 chapters, some critics—among them Charles B. Ives, Thomas Gullason and Marston LeFrance—believe these chapters are further divided into two parts: chapters 1–9 lead up to Henry's injury, whereas chapters 10–24 map the town's response. Critic David Halliburton wrote in his 1989 book The Color of the Sky: A Study of Stephen Crane that The Monster displayed a more "chastened" and exact style than Crane's earlier works, which were often a mixture of clever bawdiness and epic dramatics—both of which are seen respectively in Maggie: A Girl of the Streets and The Red Badge of Courage. Edwin H. Cady believed The Monster is the best indication of the writer Crane may have become had he lived longer, showcasing a style that is "technically proficient, controlled, and broadly insightful." The Monster relies heavily on Crane's signature use of imagery and symbolism. Frequent images and metaphors dealing with sight appear several times in the story, especially in regard to the townspeople's lack of vision, both literally and morally. The townspeople are similarly depicted using imagery of either animals or machines, characterizing them as both bestial and mindless. Color imagery is also prevalent. For example, fire—both literal and symbolic—features prominently throughout the story. While critics as early as Edward Garnett in 1921 pointed to Crane's heavy use of irony in The Monster, other critics such as Michael D. Warner question whether Crane intended the story to be read as ironic, or if this is the result of the author's "oddly contradictory attitude toward his characters." In his introduction to 1921's Men, Women and Boats, one of the first Crane anthologies, Vincent Starrett noted the difference in tone between The Monster and the 14 other tales that Crane set in the fictional Whilomville. He wrote, "The realism is painful; one blushes for mankind. But while this story really belongs in the volume called Whilomville Stories, it is properly left out of that series. The Whilomville stories are pure comedy, and The Monster is a hideous tragedy." Critic William M. Morgan noted the stories' similar fascination with "pure animal spirits" and "meanings of boyhood", but differentiated The Monster's focus on "a larger, more mature, and modernizing community." Paul Sorrentino also pointed to the style differences, noting the story's focus on the adult characters rather than the children, as well as the overall length of the story; at more than 21,000 words, it dwarfs the other Whilomville tales. However, there is disagreement among critics as to whether The Monster should be considered a short story or a novella. Crane called it a "novelette", and the Library of America edition refers to it as a novella. ## Themes The question of morality plays a large role in The Monster, especially in terms of compassion and tolerance. Several critics have pointed to the novella's non-absolute stance on these themes, mainly in regard to Dr. Trescott's ethical dilemma in his devotion to Henry, a black man and his son's savior. As author Patrick Dooley points out, "What is at stake in The Monster is that if Trescott is a moral man, Crane has rejected common-sense morality. If Trescott's actions are supererogative and saintly, however, he is to be applauded and admired, but the ordinary moral behavior of average people and the competence of everyday heroes will not have been expunged." Crane scholar Stanley Wertheim also noted the duplicitous morality depicted by the town of Whilomville, which exhibits "prejudice, fear and isolation in an environment traditionally associated with neighborliness and goodwill." Various critics have written about the story's paradoxical themes of deformity and monstrosity. Not only does Henry Johnson suffer a literal and physical defacement that brands him a monster, but the Trescotts suffer metaphorical loss of face when they are cast out by society. The trope of monstrosity takes on a second meaning when it becomes clear that the townspeople's actions make them more monstrous than the man they shun for his deformity; as professor and critic Lee Clark Mitchell asked in his essay "Face, Race, and Disfiguration in Stephen Crane's 'The Monster'", "Is 'the monster' the disfigured black man or is it the town that comes to dis-figure him?" Similarly, Harold Bloom called The Monster an example of the "invasion myth", made worse by the fact that the "monster" is born from within the townspeople's collective mind. Henry-the-monster is therefore "generated by its fears of social instability, its prejudices about appearance (including racism), and its all-consuming passion for gossip and drama." Trescott, the only man in town not to see Henry as an invader, also becomes ostracized by the frenzied small-town mentality. Race is a polarizing theme throughout the story. As William M. Morgan wrote, while the white characters are largely depicted as cold and humorless, and the black characters as warm and amusing, the town's racial hierarchy is omnipresent. Slavery is referred to several times throughout the story, as critic Nan Goodman noted; as a post-Civil War work, The Monster revisits slavery's legacy, as well as its effects on modern African Americans like Henry Johnson. At the beginning of the story, it is made clear that the white townspeople tolerate Henry because he "behaves himself" and "knows his place" as a black man. Later, when Henry struggles through the burning house to save Jimmie, it is said that "he was submitting, submitting because of his fathers, bending his mind in a most perfect slavery to this conflagration." However, while his suffering is central to the story, Henry Johnson is never really fleshed out as a character; before the fire, he "strikes in quick succession the minstrel's poses of an old-time, happy-go-lucky Negro", who charms children and women alike. Despite his heroism, Morgan stated, Henry does not stray far from a racial stereotype. Critics such as Lillian Gilkes and John R. Cooley have noted Crane's lack of racial sensitivity while writing The Monster, although they argue that the author was simply exhibiting "unconscious racism" in order to fulfill literary conventions of the late 19th century. In his 2002 essay, "Blunders of Virtue: The Problem of Race in Stephen Crane's ‘The Monster’", John Clemen identifies and attacks critics' tendency either "to ignore the evidence of Crane's racism, to dismiss it as a cultural influence irrelevant to his larger purposes, or to reconfigure it within his irony in such a way as to enable the story and its author to achieve an unintended racial insight." ## Reception and legacy The Monster received mixed to positive reviews from contemporary critics. Before its publication, Crane's friend Joseph Conrad wrote while responding to a partial draft: "the damned story has been haunting me ... I think it must be fine." William Dean Howells, an early champion of Crane, proclaimed the novella to be "the greatest short story ever written by an American". The Spectator concluded that The Monster alone would have cemented Crane's literary reputation; its reviewer wrote, "If Mr. Crane had never written anything else, he would have earned the right of remembrance by this story alone." The reviewer for The Critic dismissed it as "an unpleasant story ... There is humor in the telling, but it is humor of a rather grim character." Julian Hawthorne, son of author Nathaniel Hawthorne, also ultimately disliked the novella, calling it "an outrage on art and humanity". He did, however, point to the similarities between Crane's "monster" and Victor Frankenstein's creation in Mary Shelley's most famous work, stating that Crane, like Shelley before him, successfully depicted an innocent outsider being tormented by townspeople who are themselves made monstrous by their irrational fears. Other critics have since echoed the comparison between Shelley's character and Henry Johnson; Elizabeth Young explained the parallels in that, similar to Frankenstein's narrative—in which "a male body is hideously transformed in a scientist's laboratory and brought back by the scientist from the dead—Johnson's disfigurement takes place in a doctor's laboratory, and it is Trescott that ultimately saves him. The Monster and Other Stories was the last collection of Crane's work to be published during his lifetime. In the mid-20th century, the novella received a resurgence of critical attention, especially in regard to studies of race relations in late 19th-century New York. Critic Chester L. Wolford wrote that the story "reveals truths not socially accepted for almost another hundred years. The story is, indeed, an excoriation of social conditions for the blacks, but more important ... it is an excoriation of all communities, all societies, in all places and all times." African-American author Ralph Ellison called The Monster, alongside Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, "one of the parents of the modern American novel". In a 1999 article, critic James Nagel stated that "no other work of short fiction in the decade was more important thematically, and nothing until William Faulkner's "The Bear" so enriched the genre of the United States. Screenwriter and director Albert Band adapted Crane's novella for the 1959 film Face of Fire, starring Cameron Mitchell as Dr. Trescott and James Whitmore as Johnson. Unlike in the original story, Johnson was depicted as white, and his first name was changed from Henry to Monk.
1,822,836	Battle of Inverkeithing	1,166,766,703	1651 battle during the Third English Civil War	[ "1651 in Scotland", "Battles involving Scotland", "Battles of the English Civil Wars", "Conflicts in 1651", "Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland", "Inverkeithing" ]	The Battle of Inverkeithing was fought on 20 July 1651 between an English army under John Lambert and a Scottish army led by James Holborne as part of an English invasion of Scotland. The battle was fought near the isthmus of the Ferry Peninsula, to the south of Inverkeithing, after which it is named. An English Parliamentary regime had tried, convicted, and executed Charles I, who was king of both Scotland and England in a personal union, in January 1649. The Scots recognised his son, also named Charles, as king of Britain and set about recruiting an army. An English army, under Oliver Cromwell, invaded Scotland in July 1650. The Scottish army, commanded by David Leslie, refused battle until 3 September when it was heavily defeated at the Battle of Dunbar. The English occupied Edinburgh and the Scots withdrew to the choke point of Stirling. For nearly a year all attempts to storm or bypass Stirling, or to draw the Scots out into another battle, failed. On 17 July 1651 1,600 English soldiers crossed the Firth of Forth at its narrowest point in specially constructed flat-bottomed boats and landed at North Queensferry on the Ferry Peninsula. The Scots sent forces to pen the English in and the English reinforced their landing. On 20 July the Scots moved against the English and in a short engagement were routed. Lambert seized the deep-water port of Burntisland and Cromwell shipped over most of the English army. He then marched on and captured Perth, the temporary seat of the Scottish government. Charles and Leslie took the Scottish army south and invaded England. Cromwell pursued them, leaving 6,000 men to mop up the remaining resistance in Scotland. Charles and the Scots were decisively defeated on 3 September at the Battle of Worcester. On the same day the last major Scottish town holding out, Dundee, surrendered. ## Background In 1639 and again in 1640 Charles I who was king of both Scotland and England in a personal union, went to war with his Scottish subjects in the Bishops' Wars. These had arisen from the Scots' refusal to accept Charles's attempts to reform the Church of Scotland, known as the Kirk, to bring it into line with English religious practices. Charles was not successful and the ensuing settlement established the Covenanters' hold on Scottish government; they required all civil office-holders, parliamentarians and clerics to sign the National Covenant and granted the Scottish Parliament authority to approve all of the King's councillors in Scotland. After years of rising tensions, in part caused by Charles's defeat in the Bishops' Wars and his need to fund them, the relationship between Charles and his English Parliament also broke down in armed conflict, starting the First English Civil War in 1642. In England, Charles's supporters, the Royalists, were opposed by the combined forces of the Parliamentarians and the Scots, who in 1643 had formed an alliance bound by the Solemn League and Covenant, in which the English Parliament agreed to reform the English church along similar lines to the Scottish Kirk in return for the Scots' military assistance. After four years of war the Royalists were defeated and Charles surrendered to the Scots. After several months of fruitless negotiations, the Scots handed Charles over to the English parliamentary forces in exchange for a financial settlement and left England on 3 February 1647. The English army council pressed Charles to accept the Heads of Proposals, a less demanding set of terms which did not require a Presbyterian reformation of the church. Instead he signed an offer known as the Engagement, which had been thrashed out with the Scottish delegation. Charles agreed to confirm the Solemn League and Covenant by act of parliament in both kingdoms and to accept Presbyterianism in England, although only for a trial period of three years, in return for the Scots' assistance in regaining his throne in England. After a protracted political struggle the supporters of the Engagement gained a majority in the Scottish Parliament, by which time war had again broken out in England between Royalists and Parliamentarians. The Scots sent an army under the command of the Duke of Hamilton into England to fight on behalf of the King in July, but it was heavily defeated at Preston by a force led by Oliver Cromwell. The rout of the Engager army led to further political upheaval in Scotland and the faction opposed to the Engagement was able to regain control of the government. Exasperated by the prolonged bloodshed the Parliamentarian army purged the English Parliament and established the Rump Parliament, which had Charles tried for treason against the English people. He was executed on 30 January 1649, and the republican Commonwealth was created. The Scottish Parliament, which had not been consulted prior to the King's execution, declared his son, also Charles, king of Britain. Before they would permit him to return from exile in the Dutch Republic to take up his crown, they demanded he first sign both Covenants: recognising the authority of the Kirk in religious matters and that of parliament in civil affairs. Charles II was initially reluctant to accept these conditions, but after Cromwell's campaign in Ireland crushed his Royalist supporters there, he felt compelled to accept the Scottish terms and signed the Treaty of Breda on 1 May 1650. The Scottish Parliament set about rapidly recruiting an army to support the new king and Charles set sail for Scotland, landing on 23 June. ## Opposing forces ### Infantry Infantry formations, equipment and tactics were similar in both armies. The regiment was the standard tactical unit, but their size was not standardised and varied greatly. An infantry regiment was composed of both musketeers and pikemen. The musketeers were armed with muskets possessing 4-foot-long (1.2 m) barrels and, mostly, matchlock firing mechanisms. These relied on the glowing end of a length of slow match, thin cord soaked in saltpetre, igniting the weapon's priming powder when the trigger was pulled. These were reliable and robust weapons. In 1650 musketeer tactics were in the middle of a transition from firing one rank at a time so as to maintain a steady fire, to the entire unit discharging a volley simultaneously for shock effect. Pikemen were equipped with pikes: long wooden shafts tipped with steel points. Pikes as issued in both armies were 18-foot-long (5.5 m), but on the march they were commonly cut down to a more wieldy 15 ft (4.6 m) or so. The pikemen carried basic swords and typically wore a steel helmet but no other armour. Military manuals of the time suggested a ratio of two musketeers for each pikeman, but in practice commanders usually attempted to maximise the number of musketeers and a higher ratio was the rule. Both armies organised their infantry regiments into brigades of three regiments each, which were typically deployed with two regiments abreast and the third behind as a reserve. The men in each unit would form up four or five ranks deep and in a relatively loose formation, with about 3 feet (0.9 m) of frontage per file; so an infantry regiment of 600 might form up 120 men wide and 5 deep, giving it a frontage of 360 feet (110 m) and a depth of 15 feet (4.6 m). The pikemen would be placed in the centre of a formation, in a "stand", with the musketeers divided on each side. The usual tactic against infantry was for the musketeers to fire on their opponents and once it was thought they had been sufficiently weakened or demoralised the stand of pikemen would advance, attempting to break through the enemy centre. This was known as a "push of the pike". The musketeers would also advance, engaging the enemy with their musket butts, which were steel plated for this purpose and attempting to envelop the opposing formation. Against cavalry, doctrine called for infantry units to tighten the spacing between their files to approximately 18 inches (46 cm) per man and to advance steadily. To be effective against infantry, cavalry needed to break into their formation and if the men were packed together this was not possible. It was accepted that so long as the morale of the infantry held, cavalry could do little against the front of such a formation. However, the flanks and rear were increasingly vulnerable as the infantry packed more closely together, as this made manoeuvring or turning the unit more difficult. ### Cavalry Most of the English cavalry were mounted on large, for the time, horses. The cavalrymen wore metal lobster-tailed pot helmets which protected the head and, usually, the neck, cheeks and, to an extent, face. They wore jackets of thick uncured leather and thigh-length boots. Body armour – a cuirass (metal chest and back plates) – was unusual but not unknown. They were each armed with two pistols and a sword. The pistols were 18 inches (46 cm) to 24 inches (61 cm) long and had a very limited effective range. Most but not all cavalry pistols had flintlock firing mechanisms, which were more reliable in damp or windy weather than matchlock mechanisms. Flintlock mechanisms were more expensive than matchlock ones and were usually reserved for the cavalry, who found igniting and using the slow match while controlling a horse inconvenient. The swords were straight, 3-foot-long (90 cm) and effective at both cutting and thrusting. Cavalry were usually positioned on each flank of the infantry. The Scottish cavalry were similarly equipped, with helmets, pistols and swords, and no body armour, although many bore lances rather than pistols. The main difference was that the Scottish horses were smaller and lighter; this gave them more nimble but put them at a disadvantage in a face-to-face confrontation. Their tactics depended on manoeuvrability and a hit-and-run approach, their commanders recognising that they could not withstand the English in a face-to-face encounter. English cavalry tactics were intended to utilise their strengths. They would advance in a tight formation, their riders' legs interlocked, at no faster than a trot – to maintain formation. They would discharge their pistols at very short range and upon coming into contact attempt to use the sheer weight of their mounts and the mass of their formation to force back their opponents and burst through their ranks. Both armies contained dragoons. These had originated as mounted infantry, using horses to increase their operational mobility and dismounting to fight with pikes or muskets. By 1650 they had largely become specialist mounted troops; none carried pikes. The English dragoons had exchanged their muskets for carbines (shorter-barrelled versions of the infantry's muskets) or, occasionally, pistols and been formally recognised as a cavalry arm. Scottish dragoons were part way through this transformation and carried both matchlock muskets and cavalry swords. Dragoons usually acted as scouts, or formed their army's rearguard. ## Prelude ### English invasion of Scotland Scotland was actively rearming and the leaders of the English Commonwealth felt threatened. They pressured Thomas Fairfax, lord general of the New Model Army, which at this point was synonymous with the Parliamentarian army, to launch a preemptive attack. Fairfax was unwilling to strike the first blow against his former allies, believing England and Scotland were still bound by the Solemn League and Covenant. Oliver Cromwell succeeded him as commander-in-chief of the New Model Army and led it across the Tweed into Scotland on 22 July 1650 and so starting the Third English Civil War. Once the Treaty of Breda had been signed the Scottish Parliament started levying men to form a new army, under the command of the experienced general David Leslie. By the time Cromwell entered Scotland Leslie had some 8,000–9,500 infantry and 2,000–3,000 cavalry, although these numbers fluctuated during the course of the campaign. The government instituted a commission to purge the army of anyone suspected of having supported the Engagement, as well as men considered sinful or undesirable. This was opposed, unsuccessfully, by much of the Scottish nobility and the more experienced military leaders, including Leslie. The purge removed many experienced men and officers and the bulk of the army was composed of raw recruits with little training or experience. Leslie prepared a defensive line of earthworks between the Scottish capital Edinburgh and Leith, employed a scorched earth policy from there to the Scottish border and allowed Cromwell to advance unopposed. Lack of supplies and the hostility of the local people towards the English invaders forced Cromwell to rely on intermittent seaborne supplies. Cromwell attempted to bring the Scots to battle at Edinburgh but he was not able to draw Leslie out. Cromwell's attack coincided with a visit by Charles II to the Scottish army, where he was warmly received. Members of the Covenanter government, concerned their godly war would be corrupted by feelings of personal loyalty to the King, ordered a new purge, which removed 80 officers and 4,000 of Leslie's men. On 31 August Cromwell withdrew; the English army reached Dunbar on 1 September, having taken two days to march the final 17 miles (27 km), harassed day and night by the pursuing Scots. The Scottish army outflanked the English and a detachment blocked the road to Berwick and England at the easily defended Cockburnspath Defile. The Scots' main force encamped on the all but invulnerable Doon Hill, 2 miles (3 km) south of Dunbar, where it overlooked the town and the coastal road running south west from the town. On 2 September Cromwell surveyed the situation and wrote to the governor of Newcastle warning him to prepare for a possible Scottish invasion. ### Battle of Dunbar Believing the English army was in a hopeless situation and under pressure to finish it off rapidly, Leslie moved his army off the hill and into a position to attack Dunbar. On the night of 2/3 September Cromwell manoeuvred his army so as to be able to launch a concentrated pre-dawn attack against the Scottish right wing. The Scots were caught by surprise but put up a stout resistance. Their cavalry were pushed back by the English, while Leslie was unable to deploy most of his infantry into the battle because of the nature of the terrain. The battle was undecided when Cromwell personally led his cavalry reserve in a flank attack on the two Scottish infantry brigades which had managed to come to grips with the English and rolled up the Scottish line. Leslie executed a fighting withdrawal but some 6,000 Scots, from his army of 12,000, were taken prisoner and approximately 1,500 killed or wounded. When news of the defeat reached Edinburgh, many people fled the city in panic, but Leslie sought to rally what remained of his army and build a new defensive line at Stirling. This was a narrow choke point which blocked access to north-east Scotland, the major source of supplies and recruits for the Scots. There he was joined by the bulk of the government, clergy and Edinburgh's mercantile elite. Cromwell captured Edinburgh and the port of Leith with little difficulty. Edinburgh Castle held out until December. The historian Austin Woolrych described the behaviour of the occupying troops as "exemplary" and observed that after a short time many fugitives returned to the city and its economic life returned to something akin to normality. After the defeat at Dunbar Leslie attempted to resign as head of the army, but the Scottish government would not permit it, largely because of a lack of any plausible replacement. Several of his officers refused to take orders from him and left to join a new army which was being raised by the Western Association. In the Scottish government the more practical blamed the purges for Leslie's defeat and looked to bring the Engagers back into the fold; the more dogmatic thought God had deserted them because the purges had not gone far enough and argued that too much faith had been put in a worldly prince who was not sufficiently committed to the cause of the Covenant. These more radical elements issued the divisive Western Remonstrance, which castigated the government for its failure to properly purge the army and further widened the rifts among the Scots. The Remonstrants, as this group became known, took command of the Western Association army and attempted to negotiate with Cromwell, urging him to depart Scotland and leave them in control; Cromwell rejected their advances and destroyed their army at the Battle of Hieton (near the centre of modern Hamilton) on 1 December. On 1 January 1651 Charles was formally crowned at Scone. ### Manoeuvres During December 1650 Charles and the Scottish government reconciled with the Engagers who had been purged and with Highland chiefs who had been excluded by their refusal to sign the Covenant. These competing factions were poorly coordinated and it was not until the late spring of 1651 that they were fully integrated into the Scottish army. In January 1651 the English attempted to outflank Stirling by shipping a force across the Firth of Forth, but this was unsuccessful. In early February the English army advanced against Stirling, then retreated in dreadful weather; Cromwell himself fell ill. In late June the Scottish army advanced south. The English moved north from Edinburgh to meet them, but Leslie positioned his army north of Falkirk, behind the River Carron. This position was too strong for Cromwell to assault; Leslie resisted every provocation to fight another open battle and eventually withdrew. Cromwell followed and attempted to bypass Stirling, but was unable to. He then marched to Glasgow and sent raiding parties into Scottish-held territory. The Scottish army shadowed the English, moving south west to another strong position at Kilsyth on 13 July. The English moved back to the east and the Scots returned to the Carron. The English stormed and captured the outlying Scottish position of Callendar House, but Leslie still declined to be drawn out. Cromwell probably intended the action less as an attempt to provoke Leslie into battle and more to draw the Scots' attention away from activities taking place further east. ## Crossing the Forth ### English landing Late in 1650 the Council of State, the executive authority of the English Commonwealth, had ordered the construction of 50 flat-bottomed boats, which arrived in Leith in June 1651. The Scots anticipated the possibility of another attempt to cross the Forth and established a garrison at Burntisland. Early on 17 July, an English force consisting of the garrison of Leith, Daniel's Regiment of Foot and four troops of Colonel Robert Overton's Regiment of Horse, boarded the flat-bottomed boats. They totalled 1,600 men, under the overall command of Overton, and they crossed at the Firth of Forth at its narrowest point, landing at North Queensferry on the Ferry Peninsula. The Scottish troops at Burntisland moved towards the English landing place, sent for reinforcements from Stirling and Dunfermline and dug in to await them. For the next four days the English shipped the balance of their force across the Forth and Major-general John Lambert took command. ### Numbers By the morning of 20 July the English had assembled four infantry and three cavalry regiments on the north shore of the Forth. They were a mixture of experienced veteran units and freshly raised troops; one cavalry regiment may have consisted of militia. The historian Stuart Reid suggests the English were "very much a scratch force". They totalled approximately 4,000 men. The Scots had three infantry regiments brigaded under Major-general James Holborne and 500 Highlanders led by Hector Maclean of Duart; and three cavalry regiments commanded by John Browne of Fordell with some smaller mounted units attached. Much of the garrison at Burntisland is believed to have also been present, but their number is not known. The historian Austin Woolrych states the Scots had more than 4,000 men. ### Engagement The Ferry Peninsula is separated from the rest of Fife by a narrow isthmus, about half a mile (800 m) wide and is dominated by the Ferry Hills, rising 240 feet (73 m) above sea level. Immediately beyond the peninsula, to the north-west, the ground rises up again to Castland Hill, 207 feet (63 m) high. This commands both the coastal road, which ran through the village of Inverkeithing to its east, and the route north to Dunfermline and is a naturally strong defensive position. On 20 July the Scots advanced through these hills but then moved south west closer to the isthmus and the English entrenchments on the Ferry Hills. Holborne, believing the Scots outnumbered by the recently reinforced English force, ordered his men to pull back. Lambert, also of the opinion he had the numerically superior force, sent a cavalry regiment to harass the Scots' rearguard. Holborne promptly turned to face the English in battle order on the lower slopes of Castland Hill. Details of the battle are uncertain, but it seems the Scottish infantry brigade formed up in the centre, with Browne's cavalry on their right and the smaller mounted units and the Highlanders to the left. The English also had their infantry in the centre with their cavalry more evenly divided between the flanks, but with the greater weight on their right. Activity then stalled for an hour and a half, neither party willing to initiate a battle. When a messenger arrived for Lambert with news that further Scottish reinforcements were on their way from Stirling he felt compelled to take the offensive. Browne's cavalry brigade, facing the weaker English flank, charged it and routed some of the English cavalry. All of Browne's cavalry were committed to this fight and so there was no reserve to exploit the advantage. The English had maintained a reserve which counter-charged the disordered Scots, routing them in turn and capturing Browne, who later died of his wounds. The fight went similarly on the other flank, the Scots being initially successful before being routed by the English reserve cavalry, likely personally led by Lambert. After the battle Lambert found two spent bullets lodged in his jacket. This part of the battle was over in less than 30 minutes. The infantry did not engage during the cavalry duels and there is a contemporary suggestion Holborne failed to exploit the Scottish cavalry's initial success with a prompt advance by his infantry. With the battle lost the Scottish infantry attempted to retreat from the field. They were pursued by the English cavalry for 6 miles (10 km) with two of their regiments managing to get away in good order, while the third, and Duart's Highlanders, were wiped out, many men being taken prisoner and Duart being killed. Holborne was among those who escaped; he was court-martialled but exonerated. Lambert claimed to have killed 2,000 of the enemy and captured 1,400 and to have suffered only 8 Englishmen killed, along with an unknown number wounded. Sir James Balfour, a senior officer in the Scottish army, wrote in his journal that about 800 Scots were killed in total. Modern sources believe approximately 1,000 Scots were captured. The site of the battle has been designated by Historic Environment Scotland in its Inventory of Historic Battlefields as a battlefield of national importance. ## Aftermath After the battle Lambert marched 6 miles (10 km) east and occupied the deep-water port of Burntisland. Cromwell captured the fortified island of Inchgarvie and shipped most of the English army to Burntisland, assembling 13,000 to 14,000 men there by 26 July. Only eight regiments were left south of the Forth, all garrisoning Edinburgh. Realising this left open the way into England for the Scots, Cromwell issued contingency orders as to what measures to take if this was to occur. He then ignored the Scottish army at Stirling and on 31 July marched on the seat of the Scottish government at Perth, which he besieged. Perth surrendered after two days cutting off the Scottish army from reinforcements, provisions and materiel. Charles and Leslie, seeing no hope of victory if they stayed to face Cromwell, marched south and invaded England in the desperate hope of sparking a Royalist uprising. Cromwell and Lambert followed, shadowing the Scottish army while leaving General George Monck with 6,000 of the least experienced men to mop up what Scottish resistance remained. By the end of August Monck had captured Stirling, Alyth and St Andrews. Dundee and Aberdeen were the last significant Scottish strongholds. Monck drew up his full army outside Dundee on 26 August and demanded its surrender. The governor, believing the town walls and the local militia strong enough to withstand the English, refused. Infuriated at having to risk his men's lives with an assault when the war was all but over, Monck gave permission for the town to be sacked once it was captured. After a three-day bombardment the hungry and war-weary English troops stormed the west and east ports on 1 September, broke into the town and thoroughly sacked it; several hundred civilians, including women and children, were killed. Subsequently strict military discipline was enforced. On hearing the news from Dundee, Aberdeen promptly surrendered, ending effective Scottish resistance. Meanwhile, Cromwell and his forces overtook the Scottish army at Worcester and on 3 September 1651 defeated them at the Battle of Worcester. Leslie, along with most of the Royalist commanders, was captured; he was imprisoned in the Tower of London and would remain there until the 1660 Restoration. Charles II himself managed to escape the field. The Scottish Covenanter government was abolished and the English commanders imposed military rule. After Cromwell's death on 3 September 1658 there was political turmoil. Eventually Monck led his army south, crossing the Tweed on 2 January 1660 and entering London on 3 February where he called new parliamentary elections. The new parliament invited Charles back as the monarch of both England and Scotland – still separate kingdoms – on 1 May. Scotland and England formally united as a single nation on 28 April 1707. ## Notes, citations and sources
38,711	Texas Revolution	1,173,515,301	Rebellion of US colonists and Tejanos against the Mexican government (1835–36)	[ "1835 in Mexico", "1835 in Texas", "1836 in Mexico", "1836 in Texas", "1836 in the Republic of Texas", "Colonial United States (Mexican)", "Conflicts in 1835", "Conflicts in 1836", "Mexican Texas", "Separatism in Mexico", "Texas Revolution", "Wars fought in Texas" ]	The Texas Revolution (October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836) was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Hispanic Texans) against the centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas. Although the uprising was part of a larger one, the Mexican Federalist War, that included other provinces opposed to the regime of President Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Mexican government believed the United States had instigated the Texas insurrection with the goal of annexation. The Mexican Congress passed the Tornel Decree, declaring that any foreigners fighting against Mexican troops "will be deemed pirates and dealt with as such, being citizens of no nation presently at war with the Republic and fighting under no recognized flag". Only the province of Texas succeeded in breaking with Mexico, establishing the Republic of Texas. It was eventually annexed by the United States. The revolution began in October 1835, after a decade of political and cultural clashes between the Mexican government and the increasingly large population of Anglo-American settlers in Texas. The Mexican government had become increasingly centralized and the rights of its citizens had become increasingly curtailed, particularly regarding immigration from the United States. Mexico had officially abolished slavery in Texas in 1829, and the desire of Anglo Texans to maintain the institution of chattel slavery in Texas was also a major cause of secession. Colonists and Tejanos disagreed on whether the ultimate goal was independence or a return to the Mexican Constitution of 1824. While delegates at the Consultation (provisional government) debated the war's motives, Texians and a flood of volunteers from the United States defeated the small garrisons of Mexican soldiers by mid-December 1835. The Consultation declined to declare independence and installed an interim government, whose infighting led to political paralysis and a dearth of effective governance in Texas. An ill-conceived proposal to invade Matamoros siphoned much-needed volunteers and provisions from the fledgling Texian Army. In March 1836, a second political convention declared independence and appointed leadership for the new Republic of Texas. Determined to avenge Mexico's honor, Santa Anna vowed to personally retake Texas. His Army of Operations entered Texas in mid-February 1836 and found the Texians completely unprepared. Mexican General José de Urrea led a contingent of troops on the Goliad Campaign up the Texas coast, defeating all Texian troops in his path and executing most of those who surrendered. Santa Anna led a larger force to San Antonio de Béxar (or Béxar), where his troops defeated the Texian garrison in the Battle of the Alamo, killing almost all of the defenders. A newly created Texian army under the command of Sam Houston was constantly on the move, while terrified civilians fled with the army, in a melee known as the Runaway Scrape. On March 31, Houston paused his men at Groce's Landing on the Brazos River, and for the next two weeks, the Texians received rigorous military training. Becoming complacent and underestimating the strength of his foes, Santa Anna further subdivided his troops. On April 21, Houston's army staged a surprise assault on Santa Anna and his vanguard force at the Battle of San Jacinto. The Mexican troops were quickly routed, and vengeful Texians executed many who tried to surrender. Santa Anna was taken hostage; in exchange for his life, he ordered the Mexican army to retreat south of the Rio Grande. Mexico refused to recognize the Republic of Texas, and intermittent conflicts between the two countries continued into the 1840s. The annexation of Texas as the 28th state of the United States, in 1845, led directly to the Mexican–American War. ## Background After a failed attempt by France to colonize Texas in the late 17th century, Spain developed a plan to settle the region. On its southern edge, along the Medina and Nueces Rivers, Spanish Texas was bordered by the province of Coahuila. On the east, Texas bordered Louisiana. Following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, the United States also claimed the land west of the Sabine River, all the way to the Rio Grande. From 1812 to 1813 anti-Spanish republicans and U.S. filibusters rebelled against the Spanish Empire in what is known today as the Gutiérrez–Magee Expedition during the Mexican War of Independence. They won battles in the beginning and captured many Texas cities from the Spanish that led to a declaration of independence of the state of Texas as part of the Mexican Republic on April 17, 1813. The new Texas government and army met their doom in the Battle of Medina in August 1813, 20 miles south of San Antonio, where 1,300 of the 1,400 rebel army were killed in battle or executed shortly afterwards by royalist soldiers. It was the deadliest single battle in Texas history. 300 republican government officials in San Antonio were captured and executed by the Spanish royalists shortly after the battle. Antonio López de Santa Anna, future President of Mexico, fought in this battle as a royalist and followed his superiors' orders to take no prisoners. Another interesting note is two founding fathers of the Republic of Texas and future signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1836, José Antonio Navarro and José Francisco Ruiz, took part in the Gutiérrez–Magee Expedition. Although the United States officially renounced that claim as part of the Transcontinental Treaty with Spain in 1819, many Americans continued to believe that Texas should belong to their nation, and over the next decade the United States made several offers to purchase the region. Following the Mexican War of Independence, Texas became part of Mexico. Under the Constitution of 1824, which defined the country as a federal republic, the provinces of Texas and Coahuila were combined to become the state Coahuila y Tejas. Texas was granted only a single seat in the state legislature, which met in Saltillo, hundreds of miles away. After months of grumbling by Tejanos (Mexican-born residents of Texas) outraged at the loss of their political autonomy, state officials agreed to make Texas a department of the new state, with a de facto capital in San Antonio de Béxar. Texas was very sparsely populated, with fewer than 3,500 residents, and only about 200 soldiers, which made it extremely vulnerable to attacks by native tribes and American filibusters. In the hopes that an influx of settlers could control the Indian raids, the bankrupt Mexican government liberalized immigration policies for the region. Finally able to settle legally in Texas, Anglos from the United States soon vastly outnumbered the Tejanos. Most of the immigrants came from the Southern United States. Many were slave owners, and most brought with them significant prejudices against other races, attitudes often applied to the Tejanos. Mexico's official religion was Roman Catholicism, yet the majority of the immigrants were Protestants who distrusted Catholics. Mexican authorities became increasingly concerned about the stability of the region. The colonies teetered at the brink of revolt in 1829, after Mexico abolished slavery. In response, President Anastasio Bustamante implemented the Laws of April 6, 1830, which, among other things, prohibited further immigration to Texas from the United States, increased taxes, and reiterated the ban on slavery. Settlers simply circumvented or ignored the laws. By 1834, an estimated 30,000 Anglos lived in Coahuila y Tejas, compared to only 7,800 Mexican-born residents. By the end of 1835, almost 5,000 enslaved Africans and African Americans lived in Texas, making up 13 percent of the non-Indian population. In 1832, Antonio López de Santa Anna led a revolt to overthrow Bustamante. Texians, or English-speaking settlers, used the rebellion as an excuse to take up arms. By mid-August, all Mexican troops had been expelled from east Texas. Buoyed by their success, Texians held two political conventions to persuade Mexican authorities to weaken the Laws of April 6, 1830. Bustamante was replaced by the liberal federalist Valentin Gomez Farias, who would attempt to reach a compromise with the Texans. In November 1833, the Mexican government attempted to address some of their concerns, repealing some sections of the law and granting the colonists further concessions, including increased representation in the state legislature. Stephen F. Austin, who had brought the first American settlers to Texas, wrote to a friend that "Every evil complained of has been remedied." Mexican authorities were quietly watchful, concerned that the colonists were maneuvering towards secession. Santa Anna overthrew Gomez Farias in April 1834, and soon revealed himself to be a centralist, inaugurating the Centralist Republic of Mexico. In 1835, the 1824 Constitution was overturned; state legislatures were dismissed, militias disbanded. Federalists throughout Mexico were appalled. Citizens in the states of Oaxaca and Zacatecas took up arms. After Santa Anna's troops subdued the rebellion in Zacatecas in May, he gave his troops two days to pillage the city; over 2,000 noncombatants were killed. The governor of Coahuila y Tejas, Agustín Viesca, refused to dissolve the legislature, instead ordering that the session reconvene in Béxar, further from the influence of the Mexican army. Although prominent Tejano Juan Seguín raised a militia company to assist the governor, the Béxar ayuntamiento (city council) ordered him not to interfere, and Viesca was arrested before he reached Texas. Public opinion in Texas was divided. Editorials in the United States began advocating complete independence for Texas. After several men staged a minor revolt against customs duties in Anahuac in June, local leaders began calling for a public meeting to determine whether a majority of settlers favored independence, a return to federalism, or the status quo. Although some leaders worried that Mexican officials would see this type of gathering as a step towards revolution, by the end of August most communities had agreed to send delegates to the Consultation, scheduled for October 15. As early as April 1835, military commanders in Texas began requesting reinforcements, fearing the citizens would revolt. Mexico was ill-prepared for a large civil war, but continued unrest in Texas posed a significant danger to the power of Santa Anna and of Mexico. If the people of Coahuila also took up arms, Mexico faced losing a large portion of its territory. Without the northeastern province to act as a buffer, it was likely that United States influence would spread, and the Mexican territories of Nuevo Mexico and Alta California would be at risk of future American encroachment. Santa Anna had no wish to tangle with the United States, and he knew that the unrest needed to be subdued before the United States could be convinced to become involved. In early September, Santa Anna ordered his brother-in-law, General Martín Perfecto de Cos, to lead 500 soldiers to Texas to quell any potential rebellion. Cos and his men landed at the port of Copano on September 20. Austin called on all municipalities to raise militias to defend themselves. ## Texian offensive: October–December 1835 ### Gonzales In the early 1830s, the army loaned the citizens of Gonzales a small cannon for protection against Indian raids. After a Mexican soldier bludgeoned a Gonzales resident on September 10, 1835, tensions rose even further, and Mexican authorities felt it unwise to leave the settlers with a weapon. Colonel Domingo de Ugartechea, commander of all Mexican military forces in Texas, sent a small detachment of troops to retrieve the cannon. After settlers escorted the group from town without the cannon, Ugartechea sent 100 dragoons with Lieutenant Francisco de Castañeda to demand compliance, with orders to avoid force if possible. Many of the settlers believed Mexican authorities were manufacturing an excuse to attack the town and eliminate the militia. Texians stalled Castañeda's attempts to negotiate the cannon's return for several days as they waited for reinforcements from other colonies. In the early hours of October 2, approximately 140 Texian volunteers attacked Castañeda's force. After a brief skirmish, Castañeda requested a meeting with Texian leader John Henry Moore. Castañeda revealed that he shared their federalist leanings, but that he was honor-bound to follow orders. As Moore returned to camp, the Texians raised a homemade white banner with an image of the cannon painted in black in the center, over the words "Come and Take It". Realizing that he was outnumbered and outgunned, Castañeda led his troops back to Béxar. In this first battle of the revolution, two Mexican soldiers were killed, and one Texian was injured when he fell off his horse. Although the event was, as characterized by historian William C. Davis, "an inconsequential skirmish in which one side did not try to fight", Texians soon declared it a victory over Mexican troops. News of the skirmish spread throughout the United States, encouraging many adventurers to come to Texas to join the fight. Volunteers continued to arrive in Gonzales. On October 11, the troops unanimously elected Austin, who had no official military experience, the leader of the group he had dubbed the Army of the People. From the beginning, the volunteer army proved to have little discipline. Austin's first official order was to remind his men that they were expected to obey their commanding officers. Buoyed by their victory, the Texians were determined to drive the Mexican army out of Texas, and they began preparing to march to Béxar. ### Gulf Coast campaign After learning that Texian troops had attacked Castañeda at Gonzales, Cos made haste for Béxar. Unaware of his departure, on October 6, Texians in Matagorda marched on Presidio La Bahía in Goliad to kidnap him and steal the \$50,000 that was rumored to accompany him. On October 10, approximately 125 volunteers, including 30 Tejanos, stormed the presidio. The Mexican garrison surrendered after a thirty-minute battle. One or two Texians were wounded and three Mexican soldiers were killed with seven more wounded. The Texians established themselves in the presidio, under the command of Captain Philip Dimmitt, who immediately sent all the local Tejano volunteers to join Austin on the march to Béxar. At the end of the month, Dimmitt sent a group of men under Ira Westover to engage the Mexican garrison at Fort Lipantitlán, near San Patricio. Late on November 3, the Texians took the undermanned fort without firing a shot. After dismantling the fort, they prepared to return to Goliad. The remainder of the Mexican garrison, which had been out on patrol, approached. The Mexican troops were accompanied by 15–20 loyal centralists from San Patricio, including all members of the ayuntamiento. After a thirty-minute skirmish, the Mexican soldiers and Texian centralists retreated. With their departure, the Texian army controlled the Gulf Coast, forcing Mexican commanders to send all communication with the Mexican interior overland. The slower land journey left Cos unable to quickly request or receive reinforcements or supplies. On their return to Goliad, Westover's group encountered Governor Viesca. After being freed by sympathetic soldiers, Viesca had immediately traveled to Texas to recreate the state government. Dimmitt welcomed Viesca but refused to recognize his authority as governor. This caused an uproar in the garrison, as many supported the governor. Dimmitt declared martial law and soon alienated most of the local residents. Over the next few months, the area between Goliad and Refugio descended into civil war. Goliad native Carlos de la Garza led a guerrilla warfare campaign against the Texian troops. According to historian Paul Lack, the Texian "antiguerilla tactics did too little to crush out opposition but quite enough to sway the uncommitted toward the centralists." ### Siege of Béxar While Dimmitt supervised the Texian forces along the Gulf Coast, Austin led his men towards Béxar to engage Cos and his troops. Confident that they would quickly rout the Mexican troops, many Consultation delegates chose to join the military. Unable to reach a quorum, the Consultation was postponed until November 1. On October 16, the Texians paused 25 miles (40 km) from Béxar. Austin sent a messenger to Cos giving the requirements the Texians would need to lay down their arms and "avoid the sad consequences of the Civil War which unfortunately threatens Texas". Cos replied that Mexico would not "yield to the dictates of foreigners". The approximately 650 Mexican troops quickly built barricades throughout the town. Within days the Texian army, about 450 strong, initiated a siege of Béxar, and gradually moved their camp nearer Béxar. On October 27, an advance party led by James Bowie and James Fannin chose Mission Concepción as the next campsite and sent for the rest of the Texian army. On learning that the Texians were temporarily divided, Ugartechea led troops to engage Bowie and Fannin's men. The Mexican cavalry was unable to fight effectively in the wooded, riverbottom terrain, and the weapons of the Mexican infantry had a much shorter range than those of the Texians. After three Mexican infantry attacks were repulsed, Ugartechea called for a retreat. One Texian soldier had died, and between 14 and 76 Mexican soldiers were killed. Although Texas Tech University professor emeritus Alwyn Barr noted that the battle of Concepción "should have taught ... lessons on Mexican courage and the value of a good defensive position", Texas history expert Stephen Hardin believes that "the relative ease of the victory at Concepción instilled in the Texians a reliance on their long rifles and a contempt for their enemies". As the weather turned colder and rations grew smaller, groups of Texians began to leave, most without permission. Morale was boosted on November 18, when the first group of volunteers from the United States, the New Orleans Greys, joined the Texian army. Unlike the majority of the Texian volunteers, the Greys looked like soldiers, with uniforms, well-maintained rifles, adequate ammunition, and some semblance of discipline. After Austin resigned his command to become a commissioner to the United States, soldiers elected Edward Burleson as their new commander. On November 26, Burleson received word that a Mexican pack train of mules and horses, accompanied by 50–100 Mexican soldiers, was within 5 miles (8.0 km) of Béxar. After a near mutiny, Burleson sent Bowie and William H. Jack with cavalry and infantry to intercept the supplies. In the subsequent skirmish, the Mexican forces were forced to retreat to Béxar, leaving their cargo behind. To the disappointment of the Texians, the saddlebags contained only fodder for the horses; for this reason the battle was later known as the Grass Fight. Although the victory briefly uplifted the Texian troops, morale continued to fall as the weather turned colder and the men grew bored. After several proposals to take Béxar by force were voted down by the Texian troops, on December 4 Burleson proposed that the army lift the siege and retreat to Goliad until spring. In a last effort to avoid a retreat, Colonel Ben Milam personally recruited units to participate in an attack. The following morning, Milam and Colonel Frank W. Johnson led several hundred Texians into the city. Over the next four days, Texians fought their way from house to house towards the fortified plazas near the center of town. Cos received 650 reinforcements on December 8, but to his dismay most of them were raw recruits, including many convicts still in chains. Instead of being helpful, the reinforcements were mainly a drain on the dwindling food supplies. Seeing few other options, on December 9, Cos and the bulk of his men withdrew into the Alamo Mission on the outskirts of Béxar. Cos presented a plan for a counterattack; cavalry officers believed that they would be surrounded by Texians and refused their orders. Possibly 175 soldiers from four of the cavalry companies left the mission and rode south; Mexican officers later claimed the men misunderstood their orders and were not deserting. The following morning, Cos surrendered. Under the terms of the surrender, Cos and his men would leave Texas and no longer fight against supporters of the Constitution of 1824. With his departure, there was no longer an organized garrison of Mexican troops in Texas, and many of the Texians believed that the war was over. Burleson resigned his leadership of the army on December 15 and returned to his home. Many of the men did likewise, and Johnson assumed command of the 400 soldiers who remained. According to Barr the large number of American volunteers in Béxar "contributed to the Mexican view that Texian opposition stemmed from outside influences". In reality, of the 1,300 men who volunteered to fight for the Texian army in October and November 1835, only 150–200 arrived from the United States after October 2. The rest were residents of Texas with an average immigration date of 1830. Volunteers came from every municipality, including those that were partially occupied by Mexican forces. However, as residents returned to their homes following Cos's surrender, the Texian army composition changed dramatically. Of the volunteers serving from January through March 1836, 78 percent had arrived from the United States after October 2, 1835. ## Regrouping: November 1835 – February 1836 ### Texas Consultation and the Matamoros Expedition The Consultation finally convened on November 3 in San Felipe with 58 of the 98 elected delegates. After days of bitter debate, the delegates voted to create a provisional government based on the principles of the Constitution of 1824. Although they did not declare independence, the delegates insisted they would not rejoin Mexico until federalism had been reinstated. The new government would consist of a governor and a General Council, with one representative from each municipality. Under the assumption that these two branches would cooperate, there was no system of checks and balances. On November 13, delegates voted to create a regular army and named Sam Houston its commander-in-chief. In an effort to attract volunteers from the United States, soldiers would be granted land bounties. This provision was significant, as all public land was owned by the state or the federal government, indicating that the delegates expected Texas to eventually declare independence. Houston was given no authority over the volunteer army led by Austin, which predated the Consultation. Houston was also appointed to the Select Committee on Indian Affairs. Three men, including Austin, were asked to go to the United States to gather money, volunteers, and supplies. The delegates elected Henry Smith as governor. On November 14, the Consultation adjourned, leaving Smith and the Council in charge. The new Texas government had no funds, so the military was granted the authority to impress supplies. This policy soon resulted in an almost universal hatred of the council, as food and supplies became scarce, especially in the areas around Goliad and Béxar, where Texian troops were stationed. Few of the volunteers agreed to join Houston's regular army. The Telegraph and Texas Register noted that "some are not willing, under the present government, to do any duty ... That our government is bad, all acknowledge, and no one will deny." Leaders in Texas continued to debate whether the army was fighting for independence or a return to federalism. On December 22, Texian soldiers stationed at La Bahía issued the Goliad Declaration of Independence. Unwilling to decide the matter themselves, the Council called for another election, for delegates to the Convention of 1836. The Council specifically noted that all free white males could vote, as well as Mexicans who did not support centralism. Smith tried to veto the latter requirement, as he believed even Tejanos with federalist leanings should be denied suffrage. Leading federalists in Mexico, including former governor Viesca, Lorenzo de Zavala, and José Antonio Mexía, were advocating a plan to attack centralist troops in Matamoros. Council members were taken with the idea of a Matamoros Expedition. They hoped it would inspire other federalist states to revolt and keep the bored Texian troops from deserting the army. Most importantly, it would move the war zone outside Texas. The Council officially approved the plan on December 25, and on December 30 Johnson and his aide Dr. James Grant took the bulk of the army and almost all of the supplies to Goliad to prepare for the expedition. Historian Stuart Reid posits that Grant was secretly in the employ of the British government, and that his plan to capture Matamoros, and thus tie Texas more tightly to Mexico, may have been an unofficial plan of his to advance the interests of his employers in the region. Petty bickering between Smith and the Council members increased dramatically, and on January 9, 1836, Smith threatened to dismiss the Council unless they agreed to revoke their approval of the Matamoros Expedition. Two days later the Council voted to impeach Smith and named James W. Robinson the Acting Governor. It was unclear whether either side actually had the authority to dismiss the other. By this point, Texas was essentially in anarchy. Under orders from Smith, Houston successfully dissuaded all but 70 men from continuing to follow Johnson. With his own authority in question following Smith's impeachment, Houston washed his hands of the army and journeyed to Nacogdoches to negotiate a treaty with Cherokee leaders. Houston vowed that Texas would recognize Cherokee claims to land in East Texas as long as the Indians refrained from attacking settlements or assisting the Mexican army. In his absence, Fannin, as the highest-ranking officer active in the regular army, led the men who did not want to go to Matamoros to Goliad. The council had neglected to provide specific instructions on how to structure the February vote for convention delegates, leaving it up to each municipality to determine how to balance the desires of the established residents against those of the volunteers newly arrived from the United States. Chaos ensued; in Nacogdoches, the election judge turned back a company of 40 volunteers from Kentucky who had arrived that week. The soldiers drew their weapons; Colonel Sidney Sherman announced that he "had come to Texas to fight for it and had as soon commence in the town of Nacogdoches as elsewhere". Eventually, the troops were allowed to vote. With rumors that Santa Anna was preparing a large army to advance into Texas, rhetoric degenerated into framing the conflict as a race war between Anglos defending their property against, in the words of David G. Burnet, a "mongrel race of degenerate Spaniards and Indians more depraved than they". ### Mexican Army of Operations News of the armed uprising at Gonzales reached Santa Anna on October 23. Aside from the ruling elite and members of the army, few in Mexico knew or cared about the revolt. Those with knowledge of the events blamed the Anglos for their unwillingness to conform to the laws and culture of their new country. Anglo immigrants had forced a war on Mexico, and Mexican honor insisted that the usurpers be defeated. Santa Anna transferred his presidential duties to Miguel Barragán in order to personally lead troops to put an end to the Texian revolt. Santa Anna and his soldiers believed that the Texians would be quickly cowed. The Mexican Secretary of War, José María Tornel, wrote: "The superiority of the Mexican soldier over the mountaineers of Kentucky and the hunters of Missouri is well known. Veterans seasoned by 20 years of wars can't be intimidated by the presence of an army ignorant of the art of war, incapable of discipline, and renowned for insubordination." At this time, there were only 2,500 soldiers in the Mexican interior. This was not enough to crush a rebellion and provide security – from attacks by both Indians and federalists – throughout the rest of the country. According to author Will Fowler, Santa Anna financed the Texas expedition with three loans; one from the city of San Luis Potosí, and the other two loans from individuals Cayetano Rubio and Juan N. Errazo. Santa Anna had guaranteed at least a portion of the repayments with his own financial holdings. He began to assemble a new army, which he dubbed the Army of Operations in Texas. A majority of the troops had been conscripted or were convicts who chose service in the military over jail. The Mexican officers knew that the Brown Bess muskets they carried lacked the range of the Texian weapons, but Santa Anna was convinced that his superior planning would nonetheless result in an easy victory. Corruption was rampant, and supplies were not plentiful. Almost from the beginning, rations were short, and there were no medical supplies or doctors. Few troops were issued heavy coats or blankets for the winter. In late December, at Santa Anna's behest, the Mexican Congress passed the Tornel Decree, declaring that any foreigners fighting against Mexican troops "will be deemed pirates and dealt with as such, being citizens of no nation presently at war with the Republic and fighting under no recognized flag." In the early nineteenth century, captured pirates were executed immediately. The resolution thus gave the Mexican army permission to take no prisoners in the war against the Texians. This information was not widely distributed, and it is unlikely that most of the American recruits serving in the Texian army were aware that there would be no prisoners-of-war. By December 1835, 6,019 soldiers had begun their march towards Texas. Progress was slow. There were not enough mules to transport all of the supplies, and many of the teamsters, all civilians, quit when their pay was delayed. The large number of soldaderas – women and children who followed the army – reduced the already scarce supplies. In Saltillo, Cos and his men from Béxar joined Santa Anna's forces. Santa Anna regarded Cos's promise not to take up arms in Texas as meaningless because it had been given to rebels. From Saltillo, the army had three choices: advance along the coast on the Atascocita Road from Matamoros to Goliad, or march on Béxar from the south, along the Laredo road, or from the west, along the Camino Real. Santa Anna ordered General José de Urrea to lead 550 troops to Goliad. Although several of Santa Anna's officers argued that the entire army should advance along the coast, where supplies could be gained via sea, Santa Anna instead focused on Béxar, the political center of Texas and the site of Cos's defeat. His brother-in-law's surrender was seen as a blow to the honor of his family and to Mexico; Santa Anna was determined to restore both. Santa Anna may also have thought Béxar would be easier to defeat, as his spies had informed him that most of the Texian army was along the coast, preparing for the Matamoros Expedition. Santa Anna led the bulk of his men up the Camino Real to approach Béxar from the west, confounding the Texians, who had expected any advancing troops to approach from the south. On February 17, they crossed the Nueces River, officially entering Texas. Temperatures reached record lows, and by February 13 an estimated 15–16 inches (38–41 cm) of snow had fallen. A large number of the new recruits were from the tropical climate of the Yucatán and had been unable to acclimate to the harsh winter conditions. Some of them died of hypothermia, and others contracted dysentery. Soldiers who fell behind were sometimes killed by Comanche raiding parties. Nevertheless, the army continued to march towards Béxar. As they progressed, settlers in their path in South Texas evacuated northward. The Mexican army ransacked and occasionally burned the vacant homes. Santa Anna and his commanders received timely intelligence on Texian troop locations, strengths, and plans, from a network of Tejano spies organized by de la Garza. ## Santa Anna's offensive: February–March 1836 ### Alamo Fewer than 100 Texian soldiers remained at the Alamo Mission in Béxar, under the command of Colonel James C. Neill. Unable to spare the number of men necessary to mount a successful defense of the sprawling facility, in January Houston sent Bowie with 30 men to remove the artillery and destroy the complex. In a letter to Governor Smith, Bowie argued that "the salvation of Texas depends in great measure on keeping Béxar out of the hands of the enemy. It serves as the frontier picquet guard, and if it were in the possession of Santa Anna, there is no stronghold from which to repel him in his march towards the Sabine." The letter to Smith ended, "Colonel Neill and myself have come to the solemn resolution that we will rather die in these ditches than give it up to the enemy." Few reinforcements were authorized; cavalry officer William B. Travis arrived in Béxar with 30 men on February 3, and five days later a small group of volunteers arrived, including the famous frontiersman Davy Crockett. On February 11, Neill left to recruit additional reinforcements and gather supplies. In his absence, Travis and Bowie shared command. When scouts brought word on February 23 that the Mexican advance guard was in sight, the unprepared Texians gathered what food they could find in town and fell back to the Alamo. By late afternoon, Béxar was occupied by about 1,500 Mexican troops, who quickly raised a blood-red flag signifying no quarter. For the next 13 days, the Mexican army besieged the Alamo. Several small skirmishes gave the defenders much-needed optimism, but had little real impact. Bowie fell ill on February 24, leaving Travis in sole command of the Texian forces. The same day, Travis sent messengers with a letter To the People of Texas & All Americans in the World, begging for reinforcements and vowing "victory or death"; this letter was reprinted throughout the United States and much of Europe. Texian and American volunteers began to gather in Gonzales, waiting for Fannin to arrive and lead them to reinforce the Alamo. After days of indecision, on February 26 Fannin prepared to march his 300 troops to the Alamo; they turned back the next day. Fewer than 100 Texian reinforcements reached the fort. Approximately 1,000 Mexican reinforcements arrived on March 3. The following day, a local woman, likely Bowie's relative Juana Navarro Alsbury, was rebuffed by Santa Anna when she attempted to negotiate a surrender for the Alamo defenders. This visit increased Santa Anna's impatience, and he scheduled an assault for early on March 6. Many of his officers were against the plan; they preferred to wait until the artillery had further damaged the Alamo's walls and the defenders were forced to surrender. Santa Anna was convinced that a decisive victory would improve morale and sound a strong message to those still agitating in the interior and elsewhere in Texas. In the early hours of March 6, the Mexican army attacked the fort. Troops from Béxar were excused from the front lines, so that they would not be forced to fight their families and friends. In the initial moments of the assault the Mexican troops were at a disadvantage. Although their column formation allowed only the front rows of soldiers to fire safely, inexperienced recruits in the back also discharged their weapons; many Mexican soldiers were unintentionally killed by their own comrades. As Mexican soldiers swarmed over the walls, at least 80 Texians fled the Alamo and were cut down by Mexican cavalry. Within an hour, almost all of the Texian defenders, estimated at 182–257 men, were killed. Between four and seven Texians, possibly including Crockett, surrendered. Although General Manuel Fernández Castrillón attempted to intercede on their behalf, Santa Anna insisted that the prisoners be executed immediately. Most Alamo historians agree that 400–600 Mexicans were killed or wounded. This would represent about one-third of the Mexican soldiers involved in the final assault, which historian Timothy Todish remarks is "a tremendous casualty rate by any standards". The battle was militarily insignificant, but had an enormous political impact. Travis had succeeded in buying time for the Convention of 1836, scheduled for March 1, to meet. If Santa Anna had not paused in Béxar for two weeks, he would have reached San Felipe by March 2 and very likely would have captured the delegates or caused them to flee. The survivors, primarily women and children, were questioned by Santa Anna and then released. Susanna Dickinson was sent with Travis's slave Joe to Gonzales, where she lived, to spread the news of the Texian defeat. Santa Anna assumed that knowledge of the disparity in troop numbers and the fate of the Texian soldiers at the Alamo would quell the resistance, and that Texian soldiers would quickly leave the territory. ### Goliad Campaign Urrea reached Matamoros on January 31. A committed federalist himself, he soon convinced other federalists in the area that the Texians' ultimate goal was secession and their attempt to spark a federalist revolt in Matamoros was just a method of diverting attention from themselves. Mexican double agents continued to assure Johnson and Grant that they would be able to take Matamoros easily. While Johnson waited in San Patricio with a small group of men, Grant and between 26 and 53 others roamed the area between the Nueces River and Matamoros. Although they were ostensibly searching for more horses, it is likely Grant was also attempting to contact his sources in Matamoros to further coordinate an attack. Just after midnight on February 27, Urrea's men surprised Johnson's forces. Six Texians, including Johnson, escaped; the remainder were captured or killed. After learning of Grant's whereabouts from local spies, Mexican dragoons ambushed the Texians at Agua Dulce Creek on March 2. Twelve Texians were killed, including Grant, four were captured, and six escaped. Although Urrea's orders were to execute those captured, he instead sent them to Matamoros as prisoners. On March 11, Fannin sent Captain Amon B. King to help evacuate settlers from the mission in Refugio. King and his men instead spent a day searching local ranches for centralist sympathizers. They returned to the mission on March 12 and were soon besieged by Urrea's advance guard and de la Garza's Victoriana Guardes. That same day, Fannin received orders from Houston to destroy Presidio La Bahía (by then renamed Fort Defiance) and march to Victoria. Unwilling to leave any of his men behind, Fannin sent William Ward with 120 men to help King's company. Ward's men drove off the troops besieging the church, but rather than return to Goliad, they delayed a day to conduct further raids on local ranches. Urrea arrived with almost 1,000 troops on March 14. At the battle of Refugio, an engagement markedly similar to the battle of Concepción, the Texians repulsed several attacks and inflicted heavy casualties, relying on the greater accuracy and range of their rifles. By the end of the day, the Texians were hungry, thirsty, tired, and almost out of ammunition. Ward ordered a retreat, and under cover of darkness and rain the Texian soldiers slipped through Mexican lines, leaving several severely wounded men behind. Over the next several days, Urrea's men, with the help of local centralist supporters, rounded up many of the Texians who had escaped. Most were executed, although Urrea pardoned a few after their wives begged for their lives, and Mexican Colonel Juan José Holzinger insisted that all of the non-Americans be spared. By the end of the day on March 16, the bulk of Urrea's forces began marching to Goliad to corner Fannin. Still waiting for word from King and Ward, Fannin continued to delay his evacuation from Goliad. As they prepared to leave on March 18, Urrea's advance guard arrived. For the rest of the day, the two cavalries skirmished aimlessly, succeeding only in exhausting the Texian oxen, which had remained hitched to their wagons with no food or water throughout the day. The Texians began their retreat on March 19. The pace was unhurried, and after travelling only 4 miles (6.4 km), the group stopped for an hour to rest and allow the oxen to graze. Urrea's troops caught up to the Texians later that afternoon, while Fannin and his force of about 300 men were crossing a prairie. Having learned from the fighting at Refugio, Urrea was determined that the Texians would not reach the cover of timber approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) ahead, along Coleto Creek. As Mexican forces surrounded them, the Texians formed a tight hollow square for defense. They repulsed three charges during this battle of Coleto, resulting in about nine Texians killed and 51 wounded, including Fannin. Urrea lost 50 men, with another 140 wounded. Texians had little food, no water, and declining supplies of ammunition, but voted to not try to break for the timber, as they would have had to leave the wounded behind. The following morning, March 20, Urrea paraded his men and his newly arrived artillery. Seeing the hopelessness of their situation, the Texians with Fannin surrendered. Mexican records show that the Texians surrendered at discretion; Texian accounts claim that Urrea promised the Texians would be treated as prisoners-of-war and granted passage to the United States. Two days later, a group of Urrea's men surrounded Ward and the last of his group less than 1 mile (1.6 km) from Victoria. Over Ward's vehement objections, his men voted to surrender, later recalling they were told they would be sent back to the United States. On Palm Sunday, March 27, Fannin, Ward, Westover, and their men were marched out of the presidio and shot. Mexican cavalry were stationed nearby to chase down any who tried to escape. Approximately 342 Texians died, and 27 either escaped or were spared by Mexican troops. Several weeks after the Goliad massacre, the Mexican Congress granted an official reprieve to any Texas prisoners who had incurred capital punishment. ### Texas Convention of 1836 The Convention of 1836 in Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 1 attracted 45 delegates, representing 21 municipalities. Within an hour of the convention's opening, George C. Childress submitted a proposed Texas Declaration of Independence, which passed overwhelmingly on March 2. On March 6, hours after the Alamo had fallen, Travis's final dispatch arrived. His distress was evident; delegate Robert Potter immediately moved that the convention be adjourned and all delegates join the army. Houston convinced the delegates to remain, and then left to take charge of the army. With the backing of the convention, Houston was now commander-in-chief of all regular, volunteer, and militia forces in Texas. Over the next ten days, delegates prepared a constitution for the Republic of Texas. Parts of the document were copied verbatim from the United States Constitution; other articles were paraphrased. The new nation's government was structured similarly to that of the United States, with a bicameral legislature, a chief executive, and a supreme court. In a sharp departure from its model, the new constitution expressly permitted impressment of goods and forced housing for soldiers. It also explicitly legalized slavery and recognized the people's right to revolt against government authority. After adopting the constitution on March 17, delegates elected interim officers to govern the country and then adjourned. David G. Burnet, who had not been a delegate, was elected president. The following day, Burnet announced the government was leaving for Harrisburg. ## Retreat: March–May 1836 ### Texian retreat: The Runaway Scrape On March 11, Santa Anna sent one column of troops to join Urrea, with instructions to move to Brazoria once Fannin's men had been neutralized. A second set of 700 troops under General Antonio Gaona would advance along the Camino Real to Mina, and then on to Nacogdoches. General Joaquín Ramírez y Sesma would take an additional 700 men to San Felipe. The Mexican columns were thus moving northeast on roughly parallel paths, separated by 40–50 miles (64–80 km). The same day that Mexican troops departed Béxar, Houston arrived in Gonzales and informed the 374 volunteers (some without weapons) gathered there that Texas was now an independent republic. Just after 11 p.m. on March 13, Susanna Dickinson and Joe brought news that the Alamo garrison had been defeated and the Mexican army was marching towards Texian settlements. A hastily convened council of war voted to evacuate the area and retreat. The evacuation commenced at midnight and happened so quickly that many Texian scouts were unaware the army had moved on. Everything that could not be carried was burned, and the army's only two cannon were thrown into the Guadalupe River. When Ramírez y Sesma reached Gonzales the morning of March 14, he found the buildings still smoldering. Most citizens fled on foot, many carrying their small children. A cavalry company led by Seguín and Salvador Flores were assigned as rear guard to evacuate the more isolated ranches and protect the civilians from attacks by Mexican troops or Indians. The further the army retreated, the more civilians joined the flight. For both armies and the civilians, the pace was slow; torrential rains had flooded the rivers and turned the roads into mud pits. As news of the Alamo's fall spread, volunteer ranks swelled, reaching about 1,400 men on March 19. Houston learned of Fannin's defeat on March 20 and realized his army was the last hope for an independent Texas. Concerned that his ill-trained and ill-disciplined force would only be good for one battle and aware that his men could easily be outflanked by Urrea's forces, Houston continued to avoid engagement, to the immense displeasure of his troops. By March 28, the Texian army had retreated 120 miles (190 km) across the Navidad and Colorado Rivers. Many troops deserted; those who remained grumbled that their commander was a coward. On March 31, Houston paused his men at Groce's Landing, roughly 15 miles (24 km) north of San Felipe. Two companies that refused to retreat further than San Felipe were assigned to guard the crossings on the Brazos River. For the next two weeks, the Texians rested, recovered from illness, and, for the first time, began practicing military drills. While there, two cannons, known as the Twin Sisters, arrived from Cincinnati, Ohio. Interim Secretary of War Thomas Rusk joined the camp, with orders from Burnet to replace Houston if he refused to fight. Houston quickly persuaded Rusk that his plans were sound. Secretary of State Samuel P. Carson advised Houston to continue retreating all the way to the Sabine River, where more volunteers would likely flock from the United States and allow the army to counterattack. Unhappy with everyone involved, Burnet wrote to Houston: "The enemy are laughing you to scorn. You must fight them. You must retreat no further. The country expects you to fight. The salvation of the country depends on your doing so." Complaints within the camp became so strong that Houston posted notices that anyone attempting to usurp his position would be court-martialed and shot. Santa Anna and a smaller force had remained in Béxar. After receiving word that the acting president, Miguel Barragán, had died, Santa Anna seriously considered returning to Mexico City to solidify his position. Fear that Urrea's victories would position him as a political rival convinced Santa Anna to remain in Texas to personally oversee the final phase of the campaign. He left on March 29 to join Ramírez y Sesma, leaving only a small force to hold Béxar. At dawn on April 7, their combined force marched into San Felipe and captured a Texian soldier, who informed Santa Anna that the Texians planned to retreat further if the Mexican army crossed the Brazos River. Unable to cross the Brazos due to the small company of Texians barricaded at the river crossing, on April 14 a frustrated Santa Anna led a force of about 700 troops to capture the interim Texas government. Government officials fled mere hours before Mexican troops arrived in Harrisburg, and Santa Anna sent Colonel Juan Almonte with 50 cavalry to intercept them in New Washington. Almonte arrived just as Burnet shoved off in a rowboat, bound for Galveston Island. Although the boat was still within range of their weapons, Almonte ordered his men to hold their fire so as not to endanger Burnet's family. At this point, Santa Anna believed the rebellion was in its final death throes. The Texian government had been forced off the mainland, with no way to communicate with its army, which had shown no interest in fighting. He determined to block the Texian army's retreat and put a decisive end to the war. Almonte's scouts incorrectly reported that Houston's army was going to Lynchburg Crossing, on Buffalo Bayou, in preparation for joining the government in Galveston, so Santa Anna ordered Harrisburg burned and pressed on towards Lynchburg. The Texian army had resumed their march eastward. On April 16, they came to a crossroads; one road led north towards Nacogdoches, the other went to Harrisburg. Without orders from Houston and with no discussion amongst themselves, the troops in the lead took the road to Harrisburg. They arrived on April 18, not long after the Mexican army's departure. That same day, Deaf Smith and Henry Karnes captured a Mexican courier carrying intelligence on the locations and future plans of all of the Mexican troops in Texas. Realizing that Santa Anna had only a small force and was not far away, Houston gave a rousing speech to his men, exhorting them to "Remember the Alamo" and "Remember Goliad". His army then raced towards Lynchburg. Out of concern that his men might not differentiate between Mexican soldiers and the Tejanos in Seguín's company, Houston originally ordered Seguín and his men to remain in Harrisburg to guard those who were too ill to travel quickly. After loud protests from Seguín and Antonio Menchaca, the order was rescinded, provided the Tejanos wear a piece of cardboard in their hats to identify them as Texian soldiers. ### San Jacinto The area along Buffalo Bayou had many thick oak groves, separated by marshes. This type of terrain was familiar to the Texians and quite alien to the Mexican soldiers. Houston's army, comprising 900 men, reached Lynch's Ferry mid-morning on April 20; Santa Anna's 700-man force arrived a few hours later. The Texians made camp in a wooded area along the bank of Buffalo Bayou; while the location provided good cover and helped hide their full strength, it also left the Texians no room for retreat. Over the protests of several of his officers, Santa Anna chose to make camp in a vulnerable location, a plain near the San Jacinto River, bordered by woods on one side, marsh and lake on another. The two camps were approximately 500 yards (460 m) apart, separated by a grassy area with a slight rise in the middle. Colonel Pedro Delgado later wrote that "the camping ground of His Excellency's selection was in all respects, against military rules. Any youngster would have done better." Over the next several hours, two brief skirmishes occurred. Texians won the first, forcing a small group of dragoons and the Mexican artillery to withdraw. Mexican dragoons then forced the Texian cavalry to withdraw. In the melee, Rusk, on foot to reload his rifle, was almost captured by Mexican soldiers, but was rescued by newly arrived Texian volunteer Mirabeau B. Lamar. Over Houston's objections, many infantrymen rushed onto the field. As the Texian cavalry fell back, Lamar remained behind to rescue another Texian who had been thrown from his horse; Mexican officers "reportedly applauded" his bravery. Houston was irate that the infantry had disobeyed his orders and given Santa Anna a better estimate of their strength; the men were equally upset that Houston hadn't allowed a full battle. Throughout the night, Mexican troops worked to fortify their camp, creating breastworks out of everything they could find, including saddles and brush. At 9 a.m. on April 21, Cos arrived with 540 reinforcements, bringing the Mexican force to 1,200 men, which outnumbered the Texians. Cos's men were raw recruits rather than experienced soldiers, and they had marched steadily for more than 24 hours, with no rest and no food. As the morning wore on with no Texian attack, Mexican officers lowered their guard. By afternoon, Santa Anna had given permission for Cos's men to sleep; his own tired troops also took advantage of the time to rest, eat, and bathe. Not long after the Mexican reinforcements arrived, Houston ordered Smith to destroy Vince's Bridge, 5 miles (8.0 km) away, to slow down any further Mexican reinforcements. At 4 p.m. the Texians began creeping quietly through the tall grass, pulling the cannon behind them. The Texian cannon fired at 4:30, beginning the battle of San Jacinto. After a single volley, Texians broke ranks and swarmed over the Mexican breastworks to engage in hand-to-hand combat. Mexican soldiers were taken completely by surprise. Santa Anna, Castrillón, and Almonte yelled often conflicting orders, attempting to organize their men into some form of defense. Within 18 minutes, Mexican soldiers abandoned their campsite and fled for their lives. The killing lasted for hours. Many Mexican soldiers retreated through the marsh to Peggy Lake. Texian riflemen stationed themselves on the banks and shot at anything that moved. Many Texian officers, including Houston and Rusk, attempted to stop the slaughter, but they were unable to gain control of the men. Texians continued to chant "Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!" while frightened Mexican infantry yelled "Me no Alamo!" and begged for mercy to no avail. In what historian Davis called "one of the most one-sided victories in history", 650 Mexican soldiers were killed and 300 captured. Eleven Texians died, with 30 others, including Houston, wounded. Although Santa Anna's troops had been thoroughly vanquished, they did not represent the bulk of the Mexican army in Texas. An additional 4,000 troops remained under the commands of Urrea and General Vicente Filisola. Texians had won the battle due to mistakes made by Santa Anna, and Houston was well aware that his troops would have little hope of repeating their victory against Urrea or Filisola. As darkness fell, a large group of prisoners were led into camp. Houston initially mistook the group for Mexican reinforcements and shouted out that all was lost. ### Mexican retreat and surrender Santa Anna had successfully escaped towards Vince's Bridge. Finding the bridge destroyed, he hid in the marsh and was captured the following day. He was brought before Houston, who had been shot in the ankle and badly wounded. Texian soldiers gathered around, calling for the Mexican general's immediate execution. Bargaining for his life, Santa Anna suggested that he order the remaining Mexican troops to stay away. In a letter to Filisola, who was now the senior Mexican official in Texas, Santa Anna wrote that "yesterday evening [we] had an unfortunate encounter" and ordered his troops to retreat to Béxar and await further instructions. Urrea urged Filisola to continue the campaign. He was confident that he could successfully challenge the Texian troops. According to Hardin, "Santa Anna had presented Mexico with one military disaster; Filisola did not wish to risk another." Spring rains ruined the ammunition and rendered the roads almost impassable, with troops sinking to their knees in mud. Mexican troops were soon out of food, and began to fall ill from dysentery and other diseases. Their supply lines had completely broken down, leaving no hope of further reinforcements. Filisola later wrote that "Had the enemy met us under these cruel circumstances, on the only road that was left, no alternative remained but to die or surrender at discretion". For several weeks after San Jacinto, Santa Anna continued to negotiate with Houston, Rusk, and then Burnet. Santa Anna suggested two treaties, a public version of promises made between the two countries, and a private version that included Santa Anna's personal agreements. The Treaties of Velasco required that all Mexican troops retreat south of the Rio Grande and that all private property – code for slaves – be respected and restored. Prisoners-of-war would be released unharmed, and Santa Anna would be given passage to Veracruz immediately. He secretly promised to persuade the Mexican Congress to acknowledge the Republic of Texas and to recognize the Rio Grande as the border between the two countries. When Urrea began marching south in mid-May, many families from San Patricio who had supported the Mexican army went with him. When Texian troops arrived in early June, they found only 20 families remaining. The area around San Patricio and Refugio suffered a "noticeable depopulation" in the Republic of Texas years. Although the treaty had specified that Urrea and Filisola would return any slaves their armies had sheltered, Urrea refused to comply. Many former slaves followed the army to Mexico, where they could be free. By late May the Mexican troops had crossed the Nueces. Filisola fully expected that the defeat was temporary and that a second campaign would be launched to retake Texas. ## Aftermath ### Military When Mexican authorities received word of Santa Anna's defeat at San Jacinto, flags across the country were lowered to half staff and draped in mourning. Denouncing any agreements signed by Santa Anna, a prisoner of war, the Mexican authorities refused to recognize the Republic of Texas. Filisola was derided for leading the retreat and quickly replaced by Urrea. Within months, Urrea gathered 6,000 troops in Matamoros, poised to reconquer Texas. However, the renewed Mexican invasion of Texas never materialized as Urrea's army was redirected to address continued federalist rebellions in other state regions in Mexico. Most in Texas assumed the Mexican army would return quickly. So many American volunteers flocked to the Texian army in the months after the victory at San Jacinto that the Texian government was unable to maintain an accurate list of enlistments. Out of caution, Béxar remained under martial law throughout 1836. Rusk ordered that all Tejanos in the area between the Guadalupe and Nueces Rivers migrate either to east Texas or to Mexico. Some residents who refused to comply were forcibly removed. New Anglo settlers moved in and used threats and legal maneuvering to take over the land once owned by Tejanos. Over the next several years, hundreds of Tejano families resettled in Mexico. For years, Mexican authorities used the reconquering of Texas as an excuse for implementing new taxes and making the army the budgetary priority of the impoverished nation. Only sporadic skirmishes resulted. Larger expeditions were postponed as military funding was consistently diverted to other rebellions, out of fear that those regions would ally with Texas and further fragment the country. The northern Mexican states, the focus of the Matamoros Expedition, briefly launched an independent Republic of the Rio Grande in 1839. The same year, the Mexican Congress considered a law to declare it treasonous to speak positively of Texas. In June 1843, leaders of the two nations declared an armistice. ### Republic of Texas On June 1, 1836, Santa Anna boarded a ship to travel back to Mexico. For the next two days, crowds of Texian soldiers, many of whom had arrived that week from the United States, gathered to demand his execution. Lamar, by now promoted to Secretary of War, gave a speech insisting that "Mobs must not intimidate the government. We want no French Revolution in Texas!", but on June 4 soldiers seized Santa Anna and put him under military arrest. According to Lack, "the shock of having its foreign policy overturned by popular rebellion had weakened the interim government irrevocably". A group of soldiers staged an unsuccessful coup in mid-July. In response, Burnet called for elections to ratify the constitution and elect a Congress, the sixth set of leaders for Texas in a 12-month period. Voters overwhelmingly chose Houston the first president, ratified the constitution drawn up by the Convention of 1836, and approved a resolution to request annexation to the United States. Houston issued an executive order sending Santa Anna to Washington, D.C., and from there he was soon sent home. During his absence, Santa Anna had been deposed. Upon his arrival, the Mexican press wasted no time in attacking him for his cruelty towards those prisoners executed at Goliad. In May 1837, Santa Anna requested an inquiry into the event. The judge determined the inquiry was only for fact-finding and took no action; press attacks in both Mexico and the United States continued. Santa Anna was disgraced until the following year, when he became a hero of the Pastry War. The first Texas Legislature declined to ratify the treaty Houston had signed with the Cherokee, declaring he had no authority to make any promises. Although the Texian interim governments had vowed to eventually compensate citizens for goods that were impressed during the war efforts, for the most part livestock and horses were not returned. Veterans were guaranteed land bounties; in 1879, surviving Texian veterans who served more than three months from October 1, 1835, through January 1, 1837, were guaranteed an additional 1,280 acres (520 ha) in public lands. Over 1.3 million acres (559 thousand ha) of land were granted; some of this was in Greer County, which was later determined to be part of Oklahoma. Republic of Texas policies changed the status of many living in the region. The constitution forbade free blacks from living in Texas permanently. Individual slaves could only be freed by congressional order, and the newly emancipated person would then be forced to leave Texas. Women also lost significant legal rights under the new constitution, which substituted English common law practices for the traditional Spanish law system. Under common law, the idea of community property was eliminated, and women no longer had the ability to act for themselves legally – to sign contracts, own property, or sue. Some of these rights were restored in 1845, when Texas added them to the new state constitution. During the Republic of Texas years, Tejanos likewise faced much discrimination. ### Foreign relations Mexican authorities blamed the loss of Texas on United States intervention. Although the United States remained officially neutral, 40 percent of the men who enlisted in the Texian army from October 1 through April 21 arrived from the United States after hostilities began. More than 200 of the volunteers were members of the United States Army; none were punished when they returned to their posts. American individuals also provided supplies and money to the cause of Texian independence. For the next decade, Mexican politicians frequently denounced the United States for the involvement of its citizens. The United States agreed to recognize the Republic of Texas in March 1837 but declined to annex the territory. The fledgling republic now attempted to persuade European nations to agree to recognition. In late 1839 France recognized the Republic of Texas after being convinced it would make a fine trading partner. For several decades, official British policy was to maintain strong ties with Mexico in the hopes that the country could stop the United States from expanding further. When the Texas Revolution erupted, Great Britain had declined to become involved, officially expressing confidence that Mexico could handle its own affairs. In 1840, after years in which the Republic of Texas was neither annexed by the United States nor reabsorbed into Mexico, Britain signed a treaty to recognize the nation and act as a mediator to help Texas gain recognition from Mexico. The United States voted to annex Texas as the 28th state in March 1845. Two months later, Mexico agreed to recognize the Republic of Texas as long as there was no annexation to the United States. On July 4, 1845, Texians voted for annexation. This prompted the Mexican–American War, in which Mexico lost almost 55 percent of its territory to the United States and formally relinquished its claim on Texas. ## Legacy Although no new fighting techniques were introduced during the Texas Revolution, casualty figures were quite unusual for the time. Generally in 19th-century warfare, the number of wounded outnumbered those killed by a factor of two or three. From October 1835 through April 1836, approximately 1,000 Mexican and 700 Texian soldiers died, while the wounded numbered 500 Mexican and 100 Texian. The deviation from the norm was due to Santa Anna's decision to label Texian rebels as traitors and to the Texian desire for revenge. During the revolution, Texian soldiers gained a reputation for courage and militance. Lack points out that fewer than five percent of the Texian population enrolled in the army during the war, a fairly low rate of participation. Texian soldiers recognized that the Mexican cavalry was far superior to their own. Over the next decade, the Texas Rangers borrowed Mexican cavalry tactics and adopted the Spanish saddle and spurs, the riata, and the bandana. The Texas Veterans Association, composed solely of revolutionary veterans living in Texas, was active from 1873 through 1901 and played a key role in convincing the legislature to create a monument to honor the San Jacinto veterans. In the late 19th century, the Texas Legislature purchased the San Jacinto battlesite, which is now home to the San Jacinto Monument, the tallest stone column monument in the world. In the early 20th century, the Texas Legislature purchased the Alamo Mission, now an official state shrine. In front of the church, in the center of Alamo Plaza, stands a cenotaph designed by Pompeo Coppini which commemorates the defenders who died during the battle. More than 2.5 million people visit the Alamo every year. The Texas Revolution has been the subject of poetry and of many books, plays and films. Most English-language treatments reflect the perspectives of the Anglos and are centered primarily on the battle of the Alamo. From the first novel depicting events of the revolution, 1838's Mexico versus Texas, through the mid-20th century, most works contained themes of anticlericalism and racism, depicting the battle as a fight for freedom between good (Anglo Texian) and evil (Mexican). In both English- and Spanish-language literature, the Alamo is often compared to the battle of Thermopylae. The 1950s Disney miniseries Davy Crockett, which was largely based on myth, created a worldwide craze for everything Alamo-related. Within several years, John Wayne directed and starred in one of the best-known and perhaps least historically accurate film versions, The Alamo (1960). Notably, this version made the first attempt to leave behind racial stereotypes; it was still banned in Mexico. In the late 1970s, works about the Alamo began to explore Tejano perspectives, which had been all but extinguished even from textbooks about the revolution, and to explore the revolution's links to slavery. ## See also - List of Texas Revolution battles - Timeline of the Texas Revolution
8,394,508	Effects of Hurricane Isabel in Delaware	1,171,661,222	null	[ "2003 in Delaware", "Effects of hurricanes in the United States", "Hurricane Isabel", "Hurricanes in Delaware" ]	The effects of Hurricane Isabel in Delaware resulted in one of only thirteen presidential disaster declarations for the state of Delaware. Hurricane Isabel formed from a tropical wave on September 6, 2003, in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. It moved northwestward, and within an environment of light wind shear and warm waters, it steadily strengthened to reach peak winds of 165 mph (266 km/h) on September 11. After fluctuating in intensity for four days, Isabel gradually weakened and made landfall on the Outer Banks of North Carolina with winds of 105 mph (169 km/h) on September 18. It quickly weakened over land and became extratropical over Pennsylvania the next day. The storm's center remained to the south and west of Delaware, and was about 175 miles (282 km) from the state at its closest approach. At that time, Isabel was a strong tropical storm located in central Virginia. The effects of the hurricane were compounded by flooding caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Henri days before. Moderate winds of up to 62 mph (100 km/h) downed numerous trees, tree limbs, and power lines across the state, leaving at least 15,300 without power. Numerous low-lying areas were flooded due to high surf, strong storm surge, or run-off from flooding further inland. The passage of Hurricane Isabel resulted in \$40 million in damage (2003 USD, (\$ 2023 USD)) and no casualties in the state. Hurricane Isabel was the ninth named storm of the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season on September 6, 2003. ## Preparations On September 16, 44 hours before Hurricane Isabel made landfall on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm watch for the entire coastline of Delaware. The National Hurricane Center also briefly issued a hurricane watch for the coastline. On September 17, 26 hours before Isabel made landfall, the watches were changed to tropical storm warnings. While over the western Atlantic Ocean as a Category 5 hurricane, forecasters predicted Isabel would move northwestward and within five days be at a position 155 miles (249 km) south-southeast of Lewes as a 115 mph (185 km/h) major hurricane. Though located within the cone of uncertainty, all subsequent forecasts predicted a landfall on North Carolina with the hurricane passing to the west of the state. Governor Ruth Ann Minner declared a state of emergency prior to the arrival of the hurricane. The declaration also included for the activation of the Delaware National Guard to assist in hurricane related duties. Minner mandated residents in 13 low-lying areas of Sussex County to evacuate. In all, 787 people evacuated across the state to seven emergency shelters set up by the American Red Cross. Officials began recommending visitors to leave potentially affected areas by three days before Isabel made landfall. Governor Minner mandated all schools to be closed on the day of the hurricane's landfall, and recommended all residents in mobile homes to evacuate and for businesses to close. The University of Delaware preemptively canceled classes. The Cape May-Lewes Ferry closed for several days in anticipation of the storm. The Delaware Department of Transportation planned to place restrictions on state roads in the event strong wind gusts were recorded. ## Impact Strong swells from the hurricane produced a moderate storm surge which peaked at 8.66 feet (2.64 m) in Reedy Point. Tides were only slightly above normal, though high surf on top of the storm surge resulted in beach erosion, particularly in Sussex County. Waves of 17 feet (5.2 m) in height were reported near the coastline. The high waters breached dunes south of Bethany Beach, and several locations along Delaware Route 1 were flooded. The large circulation of Isabel produced gusty winds across the state, including a maximum of 70 mph (110 km/h) in Delaware Pilot Tower in the Delaware Bay. Onshore, gusts peaked at 62 mph (100 km/h) in Lewes, where sustained winds of 53 mph (85 km/h) were also reported. Precipitation was heavy but sporadic, amounting to a maximum of 1.88 inches (48 mm) in Greenwood. Heavy rainfall further inland resulted in moderate to severe river flooding. The Christina River at Cooch's Bridge crested at 2.38 feet (0.73 m) above flood stage, and the Red Clay Creek at Wooddale crested at roughly 4 inches (100 mm) above flood stage. Runoff from streams were slowed due to the approaching storm surge from the hurricane. At the Delaware Breakwater East End Lighthouse in Lewes, strong waves destroyed the lower deck of the lighthouse, while powerful winds blew out the watchroom window. A group of eight volunteers quickly repaired the damage. Moderate wind gusts knocked down numerous trees, tree limbs, and power lines, causing widespread power outages in the state. Conectiv Energy reported the power outage associated with the hurricane as one of the worst in its history. At least 15,300 were left without power during the worst of the hurricane, including 2,500 in the capital city of Dover. Due to the power outages, only one traffic light north of the city of Wilmington was operational. The strong winds also resulted in the Delaware River and Bay Authority to reduce the speed limit on the Delaware Memorial Bridge to 40 mph (64 km/h). 62 roads throughout the state were initially closed due to flooding, downed trees, or downed power lines. Eight roads remained closed for several days, primarily due to flooding. Flooding affected the cities of Seaford, Blades, Bayview, and Augustine Beach, with residents in the latter two being forced to evacuate due to severe flooding conditions. Several state parks reported downed trees and damage. Damage in the state totaled \$40 million (2003 USD, \$44 million 2006 USD), and there were no deaths in the state as a result of the storm. ## Aftermath On September 20, two days after Hurricane Isabel passed the state, Governor Ruth Ann Minner made a formal request for a federal disaster declaration for the state. Later that day, President George W. Bush issued a federal disaster declaration for Delaware, one of twelve disaster declarations for the state. The declaration allowed for the use of federal disaster funds and emergency resources to help families and businesses recover from the effects of Hurricane Isabel. State and federal officials opened a disaster recovery center in Georgetown and Wilmington to assist individuals who suffered losses from Isabel and the remnants of Tropical Storm Henri just days before. 761 people visited the recovery centers before they closed. One week after the disaster declaration, residents began receiving checks for those who applied for aid. By about two months after the passage of Hurricane Isabel, 659 residents applied for assistance, with slightly over \$1 million (2003 USD, \$1.1 million 2006 USD) being distributed to the victims. 141 loan applications were received, as well. FEMA distributed about \$2.5 million (\$ 2023 USD) in Small Business Administration loans, and also received 183 public assistance loans for repair or replacement of public facilities. A total of 35 power crews, along with outside contractors, worked to restore power. By two days after the storm, 2,000 remained without power in scattered areas. Various locations in the city of Dover were without power for about 30 hours. There, the removal of debris exceeded the capacity of the local landfall, resulting in officials temporarily storing it elsewhere. Over 200 volunteers donated time, food and money to provide hot meals for individuals and families affected by the storm. Support teams provided by county officials transported over 300 tons of ruined accessories from the storm, such as appliances, carpets, and drywall, to local landfills. Qualifying for two NASCAR races at Dover International Speedway were cancelled due to the hurricane, although the races went on as scheduled. ## See also - List of Atlantic hurricanes - List of retired Atlantic hurricane names - List of Delaware hurricanes
18,521,501	Oakwood Cemetery (Troy, New York)	1,160,538,918	Historic rural cemetery	[ "1848 establishments in New York (state)", "Cemeteries in Rensselaer County, New York", "Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)", "Historic American Buildings Survey in New York (state)", "National Register of Historic Places in Troy, New York", "Non-profit organizations based in New York (state)", "Rural cemeteries", "Troy, New York" ]	Oakwood Cemetery is a nonsectarian rural cemetery in northeastern Troy, New York, United States. It operates under the direction of the Troy Cemetery Association, a non-profit board of directors that deals strictly with the operation of the cemetery. It was established in 1848 in response to the growing rural cemetery movement in New England and went into service in 1850. The cemetery was designed by architect John C. Sidney and underwent its greatest development in the late 19th century under superintendent John Boetcher, who incorporated rare foliage and a clear landscape design strategy. Oakwood was the fourth rural cemetery opened in New York and its governing body was the first rural cemetery association created in the state. It features four man-made lakes, two residential structures, a chapel, a crematorium, 24 mausolea, and about 60,000 graves, and has about 29 miles (47 km) of roads. It is known both for its dense foliage and rolling lawns, and has historically been used as a public park by Lansingburgh and Troy residents. Oakwood was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Prominent Americans such as Uncle Sam Wilson, Russell Sage, and Emma Willard, at least fourteen members of the United States House of Representatives, and the founders of both Troy and Lansingburgh are buried at Oakwood. The cemetery has been said to be "one of New York State's most distinguished and well-preserved nineteenth-century rural cemeteries." It also offers a famous panoramic view of the Hudson River Valley that is said to be the "most concentrated and complete overview of American history anywhere in America". ## History The first rural cemetery in the United States—Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts—was developed in the 1830s. Rural cemeteries are burial grounds typically located on the fringe of a city that offer a natural setting for interment of the dead. The development of rural cemeteries followed closely with the English garden movement of the early 19th century. The Troy Cemetery Association was formed on September 9, 1848; John Paine, D. Thomas Vail, Isaac McConihe, George M. Tibbits, John B. Gale, and Stephen E. Warren were elected its trustees. It was the first rural cemetery association incorporated under an 1847 law authorizing the incorporation of such associations. The trustees appointed a committee to report on an eligible location for a cemetery and on September 5, 1849, the first parcel of land was purchased. On October 16, 1850, the land of the cemetery was consecrated and Oakwood became the fourth rural cemetery founded in New York. The Association is made up of lot owners who are elected by fellow lot owners; the position is voluntary and receives no pay. Oakwood was designed by John C. Sidney, a Philadelphia engineer familiar with cemetery design, with the help of Garnet Douglass Baltimore, the first African American to earn a degree from the nearby Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The plan consisted of roads, man-made lakes, dense vegetation, and rolling hills, covering about 300 acres (120 ha), including the modern sections A through Q. Sidney also designed the original superintendent's house and receiving tomb, neither of which exist today. For all Sidney's extensive planning, the first plots were laid out in a seemingly haphazard manner by the first superintendent, Robert Fergusson. Although Sidney was the architect of the cemetery, it was superintendent John Boetcher that gave Oakwood its charm. Boetcher became superintendent in 1871 and continued in the position until 1898. At the beginning of his tenure, Oakwood was said to be quite crude. During Boetcher's tenure Oakwood's most important icons were built: the Earl Chapel and Crematorium, the Warren Chapel Mortuary, the keeper's house, the office lodge, numerous mausolea, and both the 101st Street and 114th Street entrances (including a bridge over the Troy and Boston Railroad on Oakwood's western border to the 101st Street entrance). Boetcher incorporated exceptional landscape design techniques during his tenure; Oakwood developed shifting landscape scenery: some areas are dominated by flowing lawns while others comprise dense foliage. Boetcher brought in rare and foreign plants to help beautify the cemetery, including umbrella pines and Colorado blue spruce. In 1869, the City of Troy bought the property of the Third Street Burying Ground for the site of a new city hall. This was the burial site for many of Troy's earliest inhabitants; the city had bought lot number 102 in Section N for re-interment of 146 graves. The Vanderheyden family and Jacob Lansing, founders of Troy and Lansingburgh respectively, were re-interred in Oakwood from private, family cemeteries. With these re-interments, the graves within Oakwood span the entire the history of Troy. Although it was a cemetery by definition, Oakwood quickly became a place for recreation and was used in its early days as a public park. In response to its popularity, many memorials include benches in their design, aimed to invite visitors to rest while enjoying their visit. So popular was Oakwood that in 1908 the Association began a stage service between the Oakwood Avenue and 114th Street entrances. A 325-acre (132 ha) section of Oakwood was nominated for the National Register of Historic Places in August 1984 and was added to the Register on October 10, 1984. The cemetery originally owned about 110 acres (45 ha) on the east side of Oakwood Avenue, but sold the land in two transactions in the 2000s (decade). The land deals were made to increase the Association's operating income. As of 2009, the cemetery contained roughly 60,000 graves and its numbers continue to grow. The Association expects to be able to accept interments until at least the early 23rd century. ## Geography Oakwood is built on an escarpment that rises east of the fluvial plain surrounding the Hudson River, opposite the confluence of the Hudson and Mohawk. It is in eastern Lansingburgh, within the northeast section of the city of Troy. Its western edge is dominated by a steep, densely vegetated hill that descends to the city below while the central and eastern portions of the cemetery comprise rolling hills graced with trees and vegetation that include four man-made ponds created by damming local streams. The property is generally long and thin, running approximately north–south along Oakwood Avenue (New York Route 40). The cemetery covers 352 acres (142 ha) of which 325 acres (132 ha) contribute to the listing on the National Register of Historic Places. In the east–west direction, the cemetery extends from Gurley Avenue and the bed of the old Troy and Boston Railroad on the west, to Oakwood Avenue on the east. The northern boundary is Farrell Road Extension and the southern boundary is a line that extends due east from a point just south of 101st Street, to Oakwood Avenue. The cemetery is split into sections for ease of finding graves which, for the most part, follow an alphabetic (e.g. Section K) or alphanumeric (e.g. Section D-3) naming system, though there are some that follow a numeric scheme. The sections are split by paved and gravel roads and pedestrian paths that total 29 miles (47 km). There are three operating entrances to the cemetery. The main entrance is on Oakwood Avenue at the southern tip of the property; it is flanked by the keeper's house. The 114th Street entrance is marked only by a gate and connects to Gurley Avenue. The 101st Street entrance passes the office lodge. ## Landmarks The large amount of space in rural cemeteries permits the use of sculpture in a way that the crowded churchyard has never allowed. Many rural cemeteries, including Oakwood, subsequently became virtual outdoor sculpture museums, displaying the works of well-known contemporary sculptors as memorials to the deceased. Oakwood is home to thousands of individual statues and sculptures as well as 24 private mausolea. Because of its popularity as a public park, many memorials included benches to invite visitors to rest while investigating the large, hilly property. Many historically important sculptors are represented on the grounds of Oakwood. Robert E. Launitz, creator of the memorial urn for A. J. Downing on the National Mall in Washington, D. C., sculpted the memorial for Major General George H. Thomas, which incorporates a white marble sarcophagus topped with a bald eagle. William Henry Rinehart's final work, a life-size sculpture of Julia Taylor Paine, resides in Oakwood. J. Massey Rhind, known for his statue of Crawford W. Long in the National Statuary Hall Collection, is the artist behind the Robert Ross Monument. The Ross Monument shows Ross defending a ballot box, honoring his martyrdom, which resulted from his active work against election corruption in Troy. Joseph Fuller's grave is marked by an elaborately carved Celtic Cross—one of the first in the cemetery—and is based on another monument that Fuller saw while visiting Ireland. One of the most significant monuments is that to Major General John E. Wool. The 75.5-foot (23.0 m) monolithic obelisk which was a technological marvel in its day is constructed from granite quarried and shaped by the Bodwell Granite Company of Vinalhaven, Maine, and at 650 tons was believed to be the largest shaft quarried in the United States up to that time. It was transported to Troy by boat and brought to the cemetery on rollers. This and the many other obelisks in the cemetery exhibit the sentiment and taste of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. In 1862 the Troy Cemetery Association set aside an area in Section P, called the Soldiers' Plot, for deceased Army and Navy officers and soldiers from Rensselaer County. ### Gardner Earl Memorial Chapel and Crematorium The most significant building on the property is the Gardner Earl Memorial Chapel and Crematorium, a Richardsonian Romanesque structure built between 1887 and 1889, which sits near the edge of the escarpment about 300 feet (91 m) above the Hudson. The building was financed by William S. Earl, a successful Troy manufacturer, as a memorial to his son who became ill and died on a trip to Europe in March 1887. The deceased son was an early promoter of cremation and was himself cremated in Buffalo. The building consists of a 90-foot (27 m) bell tower with an 18-foot (5.5 m) square base on the south side, connected by a triple-arched loggia to a chapel and crematorium on the north side. The floor plan of the entire building measures 136 by 70 feet (41 by 21 m). The exterior is covered by a pink-tinted Westerly granite and the foundation sits completely on bedrock. The interior is noted for its sumptuous and intricate design. The original furnace room was transformed into an elaborately designed reception room in 1889, the furnaces having been moved into a separate room. This features significant use of marble, from Siena, Japan, and Africa, on its walls, floors, and molding. The Troy Daily Times stated on November 7, 1889, that, "the chapel is a model of architectural and mechanical skill," and that the chapel's reception room "is certainly the equal, and possibly in respect to artistic detail and elaborateness of execution, the superior of any church interior in the land." The interior of the chapel is marked by quartered oak ceilings, bluestone floors, and five original Tiffany stained glass windows. The chancel contains an onyx altar and mosaic floor made of more than twenty colors of marble. The Earl Crematorium was listed in its own right on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003 and was designated a National Historic Landmark on March 5, 2012. ### Warren Family Mortuary Chapel The Warren Family Mortuary Chapel is a stone chapel built on a knoll near the center of the cemetery. It was designed by Henry Dudley of New York City and built in 1860 in the English country Gothic style, complete with a nave and transept floor plan. A tower was added in 1883, with great care placed on finding building material that matched the earlier structure. The Chapel contains stained glass windows above the altar designed by artist Robert Walter Weir. Former member of the United States House of Representatives Joseph Mabbett Warren (1813–1896) is interred in the chapel. ### Vanderheyden Bell The Vanderheyden Bell, a memorial itself, is located northeast of the Earl Crematorium. It is a bronze, cast bell weighing more than 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg). Its original home was under a log shelter on the premises. At some point, it was placed into storage. In 1971 it was resurrected and hung among four redwood posts, becoming an additional "tower" on the property. ### Mausolea Oakwood is home to 24 mausolea and burial vaults exhibiting a wide range of architectural styles including Greek Revival, Egyptian Revival, Roman Revival, Gothic Revival, Romanesque, and Palladian. These structures are scattered throughout the grounds, some clustered, some not. They house the remains of some of Troy's wealthier and more important historical figures. The Cannon Mausoleum is mainly Greek Revival to look at, but also has Romanesque aspects, such as a cruciform floor plan and a domed roof. The Strope Mausoleum is a simplified Greek Revival structure, with a bronze door in the Art Nouveau style displaying an angel surrounded by lilies. The Tracy Mausoleum, incorporating the most eclectic mix of design influences on the property, has a rock-faced stone exterior covered with foliate carvings. It displays a combination of Romanesque, Moorish, and Baroque elements, and is topped with a "beehive" roof—one of its more recognizable design features. The Tibbits Mausoleum, Vail Vault, and Gale Mausoluem are all done in the Gothic Revival style. The Kemp Mausoleum is the Palladian representative on site and the Paine Mausoleum is another eclectic design, octagonal in shape, and flanked by benches. The Sage Mausoleum, built of Westerly granite, exhibits obvious Greek influences and is intentionally not marked. Russell Sage, the wealthy financier and member of the United States House of Representatives from Troy, is interred alone; his second wife Margaret decided to be buried with her parents in Syracuse. To the left of the memorial is a bench that contains a relief of Medusa on the center of the back, complete with snakes as hair. ### The Panorama The Panorama is an 84-inch (210 cm) panoramic photograph created by local photographer Tom Wall and set in acrylic on a steel stand in the cemetery's northwestern section. It sits at the edge of a bluff directly overlooking the grounds of Lansingburgh High School and Knickerbacker Middle School. The photograph spans a 100-mile (160 km) view and contains labels and notes—referred to by the Troy Cemetery Association as "cliff notes"—about the history of objects shown in the photograph. From this point, one can view Albany and the Empire State Plaza (most notably the Corning Tower and Alfred E. Smith Building), the Helderberg Escarpment, South Troy, downtown Troy, Lansingburgh, Watervliet, Green Island, Cohoes, the Cohoes Falls, Waterford, the Hudson River, the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers, and the eastern terminus of the Erie Canal. The Troy Cemetery Association claims that the view offers the "most concentrated and complete overview of American history anywhere in America". It shows evidence of paleolithic rocks, Native Americans, the Dutch, the British, the French and Indian Wars, the American Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and the "Way West" movement resulting in the creation of the Erie Canal and Champlain Canal. ## Notable interments There are a number of historically prominent figures buried at Oakwood. At least fourteen members of the United States House of Representatives (all from New York) are buried there, including E. Harold Cluett, John Paine Cushman, John Dean Dickinson, William Henry Draper, Edward Whitford Greenman, Job Pierson, Russell Sage, Dean Park Taylor, John Richardson Thurman, George Tibbits, Martin Ingham Townsend, Henry Vail, Joseph Mabbett Warren (also the mayor of Troy), and Eliphalet Wickes. The cemetery also has its fair share of military men, such as Joseph Bradford Carr, a general during the Civil War; John Augustus Griswold, a promoter of ironclad ships and manufacturer of iron panels for the USS Monitor; Commodore Cicero Price (1805–1888), who served in the American Civil War and commanded the East India Squadron; George Henry Thomas, a general during the American Civil War, nicknamed the "Rock of Chickamauga"; and John E. Wool, commander-in-chief of the American forces during the Mexican–American War. Phineas D. Ballou, who served as mayor of Burlington, Vermont, spent part of his youth residing in Troy and was buried at Oakwood after his accidental death in 1877. As previously mentioned, the founders of Troy and Lansingburgh, Jacob D. Vanderheyden and Abraham Jacob Lansing respectively, were both re-interred at Oakwood, having been moved there from downtown in 1869. Some of education's finest teachers are also buried there, including Amos Eaton, a well-known botanist and geologist and founder of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Mary Warren, founder of America's first educational institution for "problem children"; Emma Willard, pioneer of women's education and founder of the Troy Female Seminary, which was later renamed Emma Willard School in her honor; Emma Willard's husband John Willard, and David Hillhouse Buel, a president of Georgetown University. Finally, Oakwood is also the final resting place of Samuel Wilson, the progenitor of America's national symbol, Uncle Sam. ## See also - National Register of Historic Places listings in Rensselaer County, New York - List of cemeteries in New York
3,232,610	Attack on Sydney Harbour	1,156,564,240	1942 World War II attack by Japan	[ "1940s in Sydney", "1942 in Australia", "Conflicts in 1942", "Military attacks against Australia", "Military history of Sydney during World War II", "Shipwrecks of New South Wales", "South West Pacific theatre of World War II", "Submarine warfare in World War II", "Sydney Harbour" ]	From 31 May to 8 June 1942, during World War II, Imperial Japanese Navy submarines made a series of attacks on the Australian cities of Sydney and Newcastle. On the night of 31 May – 1 June, three Ko-hyoteki-class midget submarines, (M-14, M-21 and M-24) each with a two-member crew, entered Sydney Harbour, avoided the partially constructed Sydney Harbour anti-submarine boom net, and attempted to sink Allied warships. Two of the midget submarines were detected and attacked before they could engage any Allied vessels. The crew of M-14 scuttled their submarine, whilst M-21 was successfully attacked and sunk. The crew of M-21 killed themselves. These submarines were later recovered by the Allies. The third submarine attempted to torpedo the heavy cruiser USS Chicago, but instead sank the converted ferry , killing 21 sailors. This midget submarine's fate was unknown until 2006, when amateur scuba divers discovered the wreck off Sydney's northern beaches. Immediately following the raid, the five Japanese fleet submarines that carried the midget submarines to Australia embarked on a campaign to disrupt merchant shipping in eastern Australian waters. Over the next month, the submarines attacked at least seven merchant vessels, sinking three ships and killing 50 sailors. During this period, between midnight and 02:30 on 8 June, two of the submarines bombarded the ports of Sydney and Newcastle. The midget submarine attacks and subsequent bombardments are among the best-known examples of Axis naval activity in Australian waters during World War II, and are the only occasion in history when either city has come under attack. The physical effects were slight: the Japanese had intended to destroy several major warships, but sank only an unarmed depot ship and failed to damage any significant targets during the bombardments. The main impact was psychological; creating popular fear of an impending Japanese invasion and forcing the Australian military to upgrade defences, including the commencement of convoy operations to protect merchant shipping. ## Forces ### Japanese The Imperial Japanese Navy originally intended to use six submarines in the attack on Sydney Harbour: B1-type submarines I-21, I-27, I-28, and I-29, and C1-type submarines I-22 and I-24. The six submarines made up the Eastern Attack Group of the 8th Submarine Squadron, under the command of Captain Hankyu Sasaki. On 8 June 1942, I-21 and I-29—each carrying a Yokosuka E14Y1 "Glen" floatplane for aerial reconnaissance—scouted various Australasian harbours to select the ones most vulnerable to attack by midget submarines. I-21 scouted Nouméa, Suva, then Auckland, while I-29 went to Sydney. On 11 May, I-22, I-24, I-27, and I-28 were ordered to proceed to the Japanese naval base at Truk Lagoon, in the Caroline Islands, to each receive a Ko-hyoteki-class midget submarine. I-28 failed to reach Truk; she was torpedoed on the surface by the US submarine USS Tautog on 17 May. The three remaining submarines left Truk around 20 May for a point south of the Solomon Islands. I-24 was forced to return a day later when an explosion in her midget submarine's battery compartment killed the midget's navigator and injured the commander. The midget submarine intended for I-28 replaced the damaged midget. ### Allies The naval officer-in-charge of Sydney Harbour at the time of the attack was Rear Admiral Gerard Muirhead-Gould of the Royal Navy. On the night of the attack, three major vessels were present in Sydney Harbour; the heavy cruisers USS Chicago and , and the light cruiser . Other warships in the harbour included: destroyer tender USS Dobbin, auxiliary minelayer , corvettes , , and , armed merchant cruisers HMS Kanimbla and , and Dutch submarine K-IX. A converted ferry—HMAS Kuttabul—was alongside at Garden Island where she served as a temporary barracks for sailors transferring between ships. The hospital ship Oranje had also been in the harbour, but departed an hour before the attack. ## Harbour defences At the time of the attack, the static Sydney Harbour defences consisted of eight anti-submarine indicator loops—six outside the harbour, one between North Head and South Head, and one between South Head and Middle Head, as well as the partially constructed Sydney Harbour anti-submarine boom net between George's Head on Middle Head and Laing Point (formerly known as Green Point) on Inner South Head. The central section of the net was complete and support piles were in place to the west, but 400 m (1,300 ft) wide gaps remained on either side. Material shortages prevented the completion of the boom net prior to the attack. On the day of the attack, the six outer indicator loops were inactive; two were not functioning and there were not enough trained personnel to man both the inner and outer loop monitoring stations. The North Head – South Head indicator loop had been giving faulty signals since early 1940, and as civilian traffic regularly passed over the loop, readings were often ignored. Harbour defence craft included the anti-submarine vessels and Bingera; the auxiliary minesweepers HMAS Goonambee and ; pleasure launches converted to channel patrol boats (and armed with depth charges), namely , Lolita, Steady Hour, , Marlean, and ; and four unarmed Naval Auxiliary Patrol boats. ## Prelude The Japanese Navy used five Ko-hyoteki-class midget submarines in an unsuccessful operation against US battleships during the attack on Pearl Harbor. The navy hoped that upgrades to the submarines, intensified crew training, and the selection of a less well defended target would lead to better results and an increased chance of the crews of the midgets to return alive from their mission. Therefore, on 16 December 1941, the navy initiated plans for a second midget submarine operation. The plans called for two simultaneous attacks against Allied naval vessels in the Indian and South Pacific oceans. These attacks were intended as diversions ahead of the attack on Midway Island in the North Pacific, with the Japanese hoping to convince the Allies that they intended to attack to the south or west of their conquests. Eleven submarines of the 8th Submarine Squadron were to carry out the two attacks, the five submarines of the Western Attack Group in the Indian Ocean, and the six submarines of the Eastern Attack Group in the Pacific Ocean. The submarine groups were to select a suitable port of attack, based on their own reconnaissance. The Western Attack Group selected the port of Diégo-Suarez in Madagascar. This attack—which occurred at nightfall on 30 May and resulted in the damaging of the battleship HMS Ramillies and the sinking of the tanker British Loyalty—came 22 days after the British captured the port from Vichy France at the beginning of the Battle of Madagascar. The four potential targets for the Eastern Attack Group were Nouméa, Suva, Auckland and Sydney. Identified by reconnaissance flights conducted by Warrant Flying Officer Nobuo Fujita of the Imperial Japanese Navy flying from I-25; commencing 17 February over Sydney Harbour, and the eastern Australian harbours of Melbourne and Hobart (1 March), followed by the New Zealand harbours of Wellington (8 March) and Auckland (13 March). I-21 and I-29 were sent to select the final target, with I-29 sailing to Sydney. On the evening of 16 May, I-29 fired on the 5,135 long tons (5,217 t) Soviet merchant vessel Wellen, 30 mi (26 nmi; 48 km) from Newcastle, New South Wales. Although Wellen escaped with minimal damage, shipping between Sydney and Newcastle was halted for 24 hours while aircraft and all available anti-submarine ships from Sydney, including Dutch light cruiser HNLMS Tromp, Australian destroyer and US destroyer USS Perkins, searched unsuccessfully for the submarine. Muirhead-Gould concluded that the submarine had operated alone and had left the area immediately after the attack. I-29's floatplane made a reconnaissance flight over Sydney on 23 May. A secret radar unit set up in Iron Cove detected the flight, but authorities dismissed its report as a glitch, as there were no Allied aircraft operating over Sydney. The aircraft was damaged or destroyed on landing, although its two crew survived. They reported the presence of several capital ships, including two battleships or large cruisers, five other large warships, several minor war vessels and patrol boats, and prolific merchant shipping. The report, which the Allied FRUMEL signals intelligence network partially intercepted, resulted in the Japanese Navy selecting Sydney as the target. The three midget-carrying submarines rendezvoused with I-29 and I-21 approximately 35 mi (30 nmi; 56 km) north-east of Sydney Heads, with all five submarines in position by 29 May. ## Midget submarine operation ### Final reconnaissance Before dawn on 29 May, I-21's floatplane, piloted by Ito Susumu, performed a final reconnaissance flight over Sydney Harbour, with the mission of mapping the locations of the major vessels and of the anti-submarine net. Multiple observers spotted the floatplane but assumed it was a US Navy Curtiss Seagull. No alarm was raised until 05:07, when it was realised that the only ship in the area carrying Seagulls was the U.S. cruiser Chicago, and all four of her aircraft were on board. Richmond Air Force Base launched Wirraway fighters, which failed to locate I-21 or the floatplane. Therefore, the reconnaissance flight did not result in the authorities in Sydney taking any special defence measures. The floatplane was seriously damaged on landing and had to be scuttled, but both aircrew survived. ### Plan of attack The Japanese planned to launch the midgets one after the other between 17:20 and 17:40, from points 5–7 nmi (5.8–8.1 mi; 9.3–13.0 km) outside Sydney Harbour. The first midget was to pass through the Heads just after 18:30, but heavy seas delayed her by over an hour. The other two midgets followed at twenty-minute intervals and were similarly delayed. The choice of targets was left up to the midget commanders, with advice that they should primarily target aircraft carriers or battleships, with cruisers as secondary targets. The midgets were to operate to the east of the Harbour Bridge, although if no suitable targets were to be found in this area they were to move under the Bridge and attack a battleship and large cruiser believed to be in the inner harbour. When the second reconnaissance flyover revealed that the expected British battleship—HMS Warspite—was nowhere to be found, USS Chicago became the priority target. After completing their mission, the midgets were to depart Sydney Harbour and head south for 20 nmi (23 mi; 37 km) to the recovery point off Port Hacking. Four of the mother submarines would be waiting in an east–west line 16 km (8.6 nmi; 9.9 mi) long, with the fifth waiting 6 km (3.2 nmi; 3.7 mi) further south. ### Attack Midget submarine M-14—launched from I-27—was the first to enter Sydney Harbour. The Middle Head – South Head loop detected it at 20:01, but dismissed the reading due to heavy civilian traffic. At 20:15, a Maritime Services Board watchman spotted the midget after it passed through the western gap, collided with the Pile Light, then reversed and trapped its stern in the net. The submarine's bow broke the surface; the watchman rowed toward it to determine what it was and then rowed to the nearby patrol boat to report his finding. Despite efforts by Yarroma to pass on this information, Sydney Naval Headquarters did not receive the report until 21:52. HMAS Yarroma and were dispatched to investigate. Upon confirming that the object in the net was a "baby submarine", Lolita dropped two depth charges while Yarroma's commander requested permission from Sydney Naval Headquarters to open fire. The depth charges failed to detonate, as the water was too shallow for the hydrostatic fuse setting. At 22:35, while Yarroma was waiting for permission to fire, and Lolita was setting up to deploy a third depth charge, the two crewmen on M-14 activated one of the submarine's scuttling charges, killing themselves and destroying the submarine's forward section. Muirhead-Gould gave the general alarm, along with orders for ships to take anti-submarine measures, at 22:27; the alarm was repeated at 22:36 with advice for ships to take precautions against attack, as an enemy submarine might be in the harbour. At the time of the first alarm, Sydney Harbour was closed to external traffic, but Muirhead-Gould ordered ferries and other internal traffic to continue, as he believed that having multiple ships travelling around at speed would help force any submarines to remain submerged. Midget submarine M-24 was the second to enter the harbour. HMAS Falie grazed M-24's hull and reported the contact to command. The report was not followed up. M-24 crossed the indicator loop undetected at 21:48, and at approximately 22:00 followed a Manly ferry through the anti-submarine net. At 22:52, M-24 was spotted by a Chicago searchlight operator less than 500 m (1,600 ft) to the moored cruiser's starboard, and on a course roughly parallel to the ship's facing. Chicago opened fire with a 5 in (130 mm) gun and a quadruple machinegun mount, but inflicted minimal damage as the weapons could not depress far enough. Some of the 5 in (130 mm) shells skipped off the water and hit Fort Denison's Martello tower, while fragments were later found in the suburbs of Cremorne and Mosman. The senior officer present aboard Chicago ordered the crew to begin preparing for departure, and for USS Perkins to begin an anti-submarine screening patrol around the cruiser, orders that were revoked by the sceptical Captain Howard Bode when he arrived on board at around 23:30. `and also fired upon M-24 as it fled west toward the Sydney Harbour Bridge, before the midget was able to submerge and escape. When it returned to periscope depth, the midget found itself west of Fort Denison. It turned and sailed east for about 1 nmi (1.2 mi; 1.9 km), then took up a firing position south-west of Bradley's Head, from where its commander could see Chicago's stern silhouetted against the construction floodlights at Garden Island's new Captain Cook Graving Dock.` Midget submarine M-21—from I-22—probably entered the harbour at the same time that USS Chicago opened fire on M-24. The unarmed Naval Auxiliary Patrol boat Lauriana (later commissioned HMAS Lauriana) spotted M-21 and illuminated the submarine's conning tower, while sending an alert signal to the Port War Signal Station at South Head, and the nearby anti-submarine vessel HMAS Yandra. Yandra attempted to ram the submarine, lost contact, regained contact at 23:03, and fired a full pattern of six depth charges. At the time of the attack, it was assumed that the depth charges had destroyed or disabled the midget, but M-21 survived. Historians believe that the midget took refuge on the harbour floor and waited until the Allied vessels had moved away before it resumed the attack. At 23:14, Muirhead-Gould ordered all ships to observe blackout conditions. Just after 23:30, he set off on a barge towards the boom net, to make a personal inspection. The Admiral reached Lolita at about midnight and indicated to her crew that he did not take the reports of enemy submarines seriously, reportedly saying: "What are you all playing at, running up and down the harbour dropping depth charges and talking about enemy subs in the harbour? There's not one to be seen." The crew reiterated that a submarine had been seen, but Muirhead-Gould remained unconvinced and before he left, added sarcastically: "If you see another sub, see if the captain has a black beard. I'd like to meet him." Despite the blackout order, the Garden Island floodlights remained on until 00:25. About five minutes later, M-24 fired the first of its two torpedoes; it delayed firing the second torpedo for several minutes as the midget submarines would lose longitudinal stability immediately after firing a torpedo. Historians are divided as to the exact paths of the torpedoes relative to Chicago, although all agree that the US cruiser was the intended target. Both torpedoes missed Chicago, while one torpedo may have also passed close to Perkins''' starboard bow. One of the torpedoes continued underneath the Dutch submarine K-IX and HMAS Kuttabul, then hit the breakwater Kuttabul was tied up against. The explosion broke Kuttabul in two and sank her, and damaged K-IX. The attack killed 19 Royal Australian Navy and two Royal Navy sailors, and wounded another 10. The explosion shook residences in the area and damaged Garden Island's lights and telecommunications. The other torpedo ran aground on the eastern shore of Garden Island without exploding. M-24 then dived and moved to leave the harbour. A crossing over the indicator loop that was recorded at 01:58 was initially believed to be another midget submarine entering the harbour, although later analysis showed that the reading indicated an outbound vessel and therefore most likely represented M-24's exit. M-24 did not return to its mother submarine, and its fate remained unknown until 2006. Ships were ordered to make for the open ocean. Chicago left her anchorage at 02:14, leaving a sailor behind on the mooring buoy in her haste to depart. Bombay, Whyalla, Canberra, and Perkins began their preparations to depart. Just before 03:00, as Chicago was leaving the harbour, the lookouts spotted a submarine periscope passing alongside the cruiser. At 03:01, the indicator loop registered an inbound signal; M-21 was re-entering Sydney Harbour after recovering from the attack four hours previously. HMS Kanimbla fired on M-21 in Neutral Bay at 03:50, and at 05:00, three auxiliary patrol boats—HMAS Steady Hour, Sea Mist, and Yarroma—spotted the submarine's conning tower in Taylors Bay. The patrol boats had set their depth charge fuses to 15 m (49 ft), and when Sea Mist passed over where the submarine had just submerged and dropped a depth charge, she had only five seconds to clear the area. The blast damaged M-21, which inverted and rose to the surface before sinking again. Sea Mist dropped a second depth charge, which damaged one of her two engines in the process and prevented her from making further attacks. Steady Hour and Yarroma continued the attack, dropping seventeen depth charges on believed visual sightings and instrument contacts of the midget over the next three and a half hours. At some point during the night, the crew of M-21 killed themselves. At 04:40, HMAS Canberra recorded that the Japanese may have fired torpedoes at her. This may have been one of many false alarms throughout the night. However, M-21 had attempted to fire its two torpedoes, but failed because of damage to the bow either from HMAS Yandra's ramming or depth charges, or a possible collision with USS Chicago, making it possible that M-21 attempted to attack the cruiser. The observer aboard Canberra may have seen bubbles from the compressed air released to fire the torpedoes. ## Secondary missions As per the operation plan, the five mother submarines waited off Port Hacking on the nights of 1 and 2 June for the midget submarines to return. FRUMEL picked up wireless traffic between the five submarines, leading the Royal Australian Air Force to task three Lockheed Hudsons and two Bristol Beauforts with finding the source of the communications. They were unsuccessful. On 3 June, Sasaki abandoned hope of recovering the midget submarines, and the submarines dispersed on their secondary missions. ### Attacks on Allied merchant shipping Four of the submarines began operations against Allied merchant shipping. I-21 patrolled north of Sydney, while I-24 patrolled south of Sydney. I-27 began searching off Gabo Island for ships departing Melbourne, and I-29 travelled to Brisbane. I-22 left the group to conduct reconnaissance operations, first at Wellington and Auckland in New Zealand, and then at Suva in Fiji. Between 1 and 25 June, when the four submarines arrived at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands to re-supply before proceeding to Japanese shipyards for maintenance, the four submarines attacked at least seven Allied merchant vessels. Three of these were sunk: Iron Chieftain by I-24 on 3 June, Iron Crown by I-27 on 4 June, and Guatemala by I-21 on 12 June. The first two attacks resulted in 12 and 37 fatalities respectively, though the third attack killed no one. The attacks forced the authorities to institute changes in merchant traffic; travel north of Melbourne was restricted until a system of escorted convoys was established. I-21 was the only submarine to return to Australian waters, where she sank three ships and damaged two others during January and February 1943. During her two deployments, I-21 sank 44,000 long tons (45,000 t) of Allied shipping, which made her the most successful Japanese submarine to operate in Australian waters. ### Bombardment On the morning of 8 June, I-24 and I-21 briefly bombarded Sydney and Newcastle. Just after midnight, I-24 surfaced 9 mi (14 km) south-south-east of Macquarie Lighthouse. The submarine's commander ordered the gun crew to target the Sydney Harbour Bridge. They fired 10 shells over a four-minute period; nine landed in the Eastern Suburbs and one landed in water. I-24 then crash dived to prevent successful retaliation by coastal artillery batteries. Only one shell detonated, and the only injuries inflicted were cuts and fractures from falling bricks or broken glass when the unexploded shells hit buildings. A United States Army Air Forces pilot, 1st Lieutenant George Cantello, based at Bankstown Airport disobeyed orders and took off to try and locate the source of the shelling, but was killed when engine failure caused his Airacobra to crash in a paddock at Hammondville. In 1988, following efforts by residents and the US Consulate in Sydney, the City of Liverpool established a memorial park, the Lt. Cantello Reserve, with a monument in his honour. At 02:15, I-21 shelled Newcastle, from 9 km (4.9 nmi; 5.6 mi) north-east of Stockton Beach. She fired 34 shells over a 16-minute period, including eight star shells. The target of the attack was the BHP steelworks in the city. However, the shells landed over a large area, causing minimal damage and no fatalities: the only shell to detonate damaged a house on Parnell Place, while an unexploded shell hit a tram terminus. Fort Scratchley returned fire, the only time an Australian land fortification has fired on an enemy warship during wartime, but the submarine escaped unscathed. ## Analysis The attack on Sydney Harbour ended in failure on both sides, and revealed flaws in both the Allied defences and the Japanese tactics. During the primary attack, the Japanese lost all three midget submarines in exchange for the sinking of a single barracks ship. The subsequent operations were no more successful as the five large Japanese submarines sank only three merchant ships and caused minimal property damage during the two bombardments. The performance of the Allied defenders was equally poor. However, one historian states that the lack of damage in Sydney Harbour was due to "a combination of good luck and aggressive counter-attack". The main impact of the midget submarine attack and subsequent operations was psychological; dispelling any belief that Sydney was immune to Japanese attack and highlighting Australia's proximity to the Pacific War. There was no official inquiry into the attacks, despite demand from some sections of the media, as there was concern that an inquiry would lead to defeatism and reduce faith in John Curtin's government, particularly after the damaging inquiry into Australian defences that had followed the Japanese aerial attack on Darwin three months earlier. ### Failures in Allied defences The Allies failed to respond adequately to several warnings of Japanese activity off the east coast of Australia prior to the attack; they simply ignored the warnings or explained them away. They attributed the unsuccessful attack on the freighter Wellen on 16 May to a single submarine, and assumed it had departed Australian waters immediately after the attack. The first reconnaissance flight went unnoticed, and although FRUMEL intercepted the report and distributed it to Allied commanders on 30 May, Muirhead-Gould apparently did not react. New Zealand naval authorities detected radio chatter between the Japanese submarines on 26 and 29 May, and although they could not decrypt the transmissions, radio direction finding indicated that a submarine or submarines were approaching Sydney. The Allies considered dispatching an anti-submarine patrol in response to the 29 May fix, but were unable to do so as all anti-submarine craft were already committed to protecting a northbound troop convoy. The only response to the second reconnaissance flight on 29 May was the launching of search planes. No other defence measures were put into place. Although the midget attack on Diego Suarez in Madagascar occurred on the morning of 31 May (Sydney time), the Allies sent no alert to other command regions, as they believed that Vichy French forces had launched the attack. Historians have questioned the competence of the senior Allied officers. Muirhead-Gould had been hosting a dinner party on the night of the attack, and one of the main guests was the senior United States Navy officer in Sydney Harbour, Captain Howard Bode of USS Chicago. Both officers were sceptical that any attack was taking place. Muirhead-Gould arrived aboard HMAS Lolita at approximately midnight, an action he described as attempting to learn about the situation. But members of Lolita's crew later recounted that when Muirhead-Gould came aboard he immediately chastised the patrol boat's skipper and crew, and quickly dismissed their report. Junior officers on Chicago provided similar descriptions of Bode's return on board, and members of both crews later claimed that Muirhead-Gould and Bode were intoxicated. It was only after the destruction of HMAS Kuttabul that both officers began to take the attack seriously. During the attack, there were several delays between events and responses to them. Over two hours passed between the observation of M-14 in the boom net and Muirhead-Gould's first order for ships to commence anti-submarine actions. It took another two hours to mobilise the auxiliary patrol boats, which did not leave their anchorage for a further hour. Part of these delays was due to a lack of effective communications. None of the auxiliary patrol craft in the harbour had radio communications, so all instructions and reports came from signal lights via the Port War Signal Station or Garden Island, or by physical communication via launches. In Muirhead-Gould's preliminary report on the attack, he stated that the Port War Signal Station was not designed for the volume of communications traffic the attack caused. Telephone communications with Garden Island were unreliable during the early part of the attack, and then the first torpedo explosion disabled them completely. The need to keep information secret may also have contributed to the delays and the defenders' scepticism. As the auxiliary patrol boat crews, the indicator loop staff, and other personnel manning defensive positions would have been outside 'need to know' and would not have been informed about any of the incidents prior to the attack, they would not have been alert, contributing to the disbelief demonstrated in the early hours of the attack. ### Flaws in Japanese tactics The main flaw in the Japanese plans was the use of midget submarines for the primary attack. Midget submarines were originally intended to operate during fleet actions: they would be released from modified seaplane carriers to run amok through the enemy fleet. This concept went out of favour as changing Japanese naval thinking and experience led to recognition that naval warfare would centre around carrier-supported aerial combat. As a result, the midget program's focus changed to the infiltration of enemy harbours, where they would attack vessels at anchor. This concept failed completely during the attack on Pearl Harbor, where the midgets had no effect, and tying up 11 large submarines for six weeks in support of further midget submarine attacks on Sydney and Diego Suarez proved a waste of resources. Moreover, the failures at Sydney Harbour and Diego Suarez demonstrated that the improvements to the midget submarines made after Pearl Harbor had not increased the overall impact of the midget program. The modifications had various effects. The ability to man and deploy the midgets while the mother ships were submerged prevented the Army coastal radars from detecting the mother submarines. However, the midgets were still difficult to control, unstable, and prone to surfacing or diving uncontrollably. Beyond the use of the unreliable midgets, historians have identified areas in the plan of attack where the Japanese could have done significantly more damage. If the Japanese midget submarines had conducted a simultaneous, co-ordinated attack, they would have overwhelmed the defences. A chance for more damage came following the destruction of Kuttabul, when several naval vessels headed to sea, including USS Chicago, USS Perkins, Dutch submarine K-IX, HMAS Whyalla, and HMIS Bombay. The five mother submarines were already en route to the Port Hacking recovery position, and although Sasaki's plan at Pearl Harbor had been to leave some submarines at the harbour mouth to pick off fleeing vessels, he did not repeat this tactic. ### USS Chicago's survival Several factors beyond the control of any of the combatants contributed to the survival of USS Chicago. At the time of M-24's attack on Chicago, the latter had spent some time preparing to depart from Sydney Harbour, and although still moored and stationary, was producing large volumes of white smoke as the boilers warmed up. This smoke, streaming aft under the influence of the wind, and contrasting against the dark, low-lying cloud, may have given the impression that Chicago was moving, causing M-24 to lead the target when firing its torpedoes, and consequently sending its torpedoes across the bow. Another factor that may have influenced Chicago's survival was the extinguishing of Garden Island's floodlights minutes before M-24 fired its first torpedo, impeding targeting. ### Bombardment impact The bombardments failed to cause significant physical damage, but had a major psychological impact on the residents of Sydney and Newcastle. Due to the inaccuracy of the submarines' range-finding equipment, coupled with the unstable firing platform of a submarine at sea, specific targeting was impossible. The intention of the submarine bombardment was to frighten the population of the target area. The failure of the majority of the shells to detonate may have had various causes. As the submarines fired armour-piercing shells, intended for use against steel ship hulls, the relatively softer brick walls may have failed to trigger the impact fuses. Sea water may have degraded the shells, which the Japanese had stored in deck lockers for several weeks. The age of the shells may also have been a factor; some of the shells recovered from the Newcastle bombardment were found to be of English manufacture: surplus munitions from World War I. In Sydney, fear of an impending Japanese invasion caused people to move west; housing prices in the Eastern Suburbs dropped, while those beyond the Blue Mountains rose significantly. The attack also led to a significant increase in the membership of volunteer defence organisations, and strengthening of defences in Sydney Harbour and Port Newcastle. ## Aftermath The papers did not publish news of the submarine attack until 2 June, as most of the attack occurred after the newspapers went to press on the morning of 1 June. Instead, on the morning after the attack, the front pages carried news of Operation Millennium, the Royal Air Force's first 1,000-bomber raid, although several newspapers included a small interior article mentioning the final reconnaissance flyover. The Federal Censor ordered total censorship of the events, issuing an official statement on the afternoon of 1 June which reported that the Allies had destroyed three submarines in Sydney Harbour, and described the loss of Kuttabul and the 21 deaths as the loss of "one small harbour vessel of no military value". Smith's Weekly finally released the real story on 6 June, and follow-up material in 13 June issue caused more political damage, prompting the Royal Australian Navy to attempt to charge the newspaper with releasing defence information. It was several days before the 21 dead sailors aboard Kuttabul could all be recovered. On 3 June, Muirhead-Gould and over 200 Navy personnel attended a burial ceremony for these sailors. On 1 January 1943, the Navy base at Garden Island was commissioned as in commemoration of the ferry and the lives lost. The Australians recovered the bodies of the four Japanese crew of the two midget submarines sunk in Sydney Harbour and had them cremated at Eastern Suburbs Crematorium. For the cremation, the Allies draped the Japanese flag over each coffin and rendered full naval honours. Muirhead-Gould was criticised for this, but defended his actions as respecting the courage of the four submariners, regardless of their origin. Australian politicians also hoped that the Japanese Government would notice the respect paid to the sailors and improve the conditions Australian prisoners-of-war were experiencing in Japanese internment camps. Japanese authorities noted the funeral service, but this did not lead to any major improvement in conditions for Australian POWs. Following the use of the midget submariners' funeral by the Japanese for propaganda purposes, the Australian High Command forbade similar funerals for enemy personnel in the future. An exchange of Japanese and Allied diplomatic personnel stranded in the opposing nations occurred in August 1942, which allowed Tatsuo Kawai, the Japanese ambassador to Australia, to return home with the ashes of the four Japanese submariners. When the exchange ship Kamakura Maru arrived in Yokohama, several thousand people were present to honour the four men. The two main targets of the attack, USS Chicago and HMAS Canberra, were both lost within the next year: Canberra sinking on 9 August 1942 during the Battle of Savo Island, and Chicago on 30 January 1943 following the Battle of Rennell Island. None of the Japanese submarines involved in the attack survived the war. USS Charrette and Fair sank I-21 on 5 February 1944 off the Marshall Islands. An American torpedo boat sank I-22 on 25 December 1942 off New Guinea. An American patrol craft sank I-24 on 10 June 1943 near the Aleutian Islands. HMS Paladin and Petard sank I-27 on 12 February 1943 off the Maldives. Lastly, USS Sawfish sank I-29 on 26 July 1944 in the Philippines. ### M-14 and M-21 The Allies located and recovered M-21 on 3 June and M-14 on 8 June. Although both were damaged during the attack, it was possible to assemble a complete submarine from the two vessels. The centre section of the rebuilt submarine was mounted on a trailer and taken on a 4,000 km (2,500 mi) tour throughout southern New South Wales, Victoria, and western South Australia. The purpose of the tour was twofold; it allowed Australians to see a Japanese midget submarine up close, and was used to raise A£28,000 for the Naval Relief Fund and other charities. The submarine arrived at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on 28 April 1943, flying the White Ensign and a paying-off pennant. The submarine was originally displayed outside the museum in three separate pieces, but was moved inside in the 1980s due to heavy vandalism; on one occasion in 1966, a group of university students painted it bright yellow in response to The Beatles' song Yellow Submarine. The composite submarine was restored and remains on display inside the Memorial as part of a permanent exhibition on the attack, next to the recovered wheelhouse of HMAS Kuttabul.' The conning tower from M-21 is on display at the Royal Australian Navy Heritage Centre on Garden Island. Leftover material from M-21 was melted down and made into souvenirs following the construction of the combined vessel. ### M-24 Over the 64 years following the disappearance of M-24 after the attacks, more than 50 people approached the Royal Australian Navy claiming to have found the submarine. All of these claims were found to be false. One early theory about the midget's fate was that it was damaged or destroyed, along with M-21, in or around Taylors Bay, which would account for reports from Steady Hour and Yarroma of multiple submarines during their three-hour attack against M-21. A second theory was that the midget attempted to return to the mother submarines but exhausted its battery power before reaching the Port Hacking recovery point and would therefore be outside and to the south of Sydney Heads. The third theory was that the midget's crew decided to avoid endangering the five larger submarines during the recovery process, and either ran straight out to sea or headed north. A group of seven amateur scuba divers solved the mystery in November 2006, when they found a small submarine sitting upright on the seabed, 55 metres (180 ft) below sea level and approximately 5 kilometres (2.7 nmi; 3.1 mi) from Bungan Head, off Sydney's Northern Beaches. Commander Shane Moore, the officer responsible for the Royal Australian Navy's heritage collection, confirmed that the wreck was M-24 after viewing footage from multiple dives, along with measurements the group had taken. The wreck had several bullet holes in it, most likely from Chicago's quadruple machine-gun mount. The location of the wreck was kept secret by both the divers and the navy, with Defence Minister Brendan Nelson promising to have the wreck protected as a war grave. The wreck was gazetted on 1 December 2006 as a heritage site. A 500 m (1,600 ft) exclusion zone was established around the wreck site, and any vessel entering the zone is liable to a fine under New South Wales law of up to A\$1.1 million, with additional fines and confiscation of equipment under Commonwealth law. Shore- and buoy-mounted surveillance cameras and a sonar listening device further protect the site. On 7 February 2007, during JMSDF Admiral Eiji Yoshikawa's visit to Australia, Yoshikawa and RAN Vice Admiral Russ Shalders presided over a ceremony held aboard to honour M-24's crew. Relatives of the midget submarines' crews, one of the survivors from Kuttabul, and dignitaries and military personnel from Australia and Japan attended another ceremony on 6 August 2007 at HMAS Kuttabul. then carried relatives of M-24's crew to the wreck site, where they poured sake into the sea before being presented with sand taken from the seabed around the submarine. In May 2012, the NSW state government announced that, with the approval of the Japanese government and the submariners' families, divers would be allowed to observe the M-24'' wreck for a short period of time. Divers would enter a ballot for places on controlled dives run on several days. If successful, opening the site would become an annual event to commemorate the attack. ## See also - Air raids on Australia, 1942–43 - Military history of Australia during World War II ## Explanatory footnotes ## General and cited references
1,192,058	Edgar Towner	1,169,579,181	Australian Victoria Cross recipient	[ "1890 births", "1972 deaths", "20th-century geographers", "Australian Army officers", "Australian Army personnel of World War II", "Australian World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross", "Australian geographers", "Australian military personnel of World War I", "Military personnel from Queensland", "Recipients of the Military Cross" ]	Edgar Thomas Towner, VC, MC (19 April 1890 – 18 August 1972) was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces. A lieutenant in the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War, Towner was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on 1 September 1918, during an attack on Mont St. Quentin on the Western Front. Born in Queensland to a farming family, Towner enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in 1915. Posted to the transport section of the 25th Battalion, he served in Egypt until his unit was sent to the Western Front. He then transferred to the 2nd Machine Gun Battalion where he was commissioned as a lieutenant and twice mentioned in despatches for his leadership. During June 1918, Towner led a machine gun section in attack near Morlancourt and assisted the infantry in reaching its objectives under heavy fire, for which he was awarded the Military Cross. In September, again commanding a machine gun section, he was involved in the Allied counteroffensive that broke the German lines at Mont St. Quentin and Péronne. Fighting for thirty hours after being wounded, his "conspicuous bravery, initiative and devotion to duty" earned him the Victoria Cross, which was presented by King George V in April 1919. Discharged in August, Towner returned to Australia. He was appointed a director of the Russleigh Pastoral Company, and briefly re-enlisted during the Second World War, when he was promoted to major. A keen geographer, he was awarded the Dr Thomson Foundation Gold Medal in 1956 for his geographical work. Unmarried, he died in 1972 at the age of 82. ## Early life Edgar Towner was born on 19 April 1890, at Glencoe Station near Blackall, Queensland, to Edgar Thomas Towner, a grazing farmer, and his Irish wife Greta (née Herley). He was educated at Blackall State School and in Rockhampton, although he also received private instruction from his mother. After leaving school Towner worked on his father's grazing property until 1912, when he acquired land of his own. He named the property "Valparaiso" and worked on its development until the outbreak of the First World War. ## First World War On 4 January 1915, Towner enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. Assigned to the transport section of the 25th Battalion as a private, he embarked aboard HMAT Aeneas from Brisbane on 29 June, bound for Egypt. The troopship arrived in August, and the battalion spent the rest of the month training in the desert before transferring to the Gallipoli Peninsula. Towner, however, remained in Egypt with the army's transportation elements. Following the Allied evacuation of Gallipoli, the 25th Battalion returned to Egypt in December 1915, where Towner rejoined its ranks on 10 January 1916. He was promoted to sergeant on 1 February, before departing with the battalion at Alexandria the following month to join the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front. Disembarking at Marseilles, the unit was the first Australian battalion to arrive in France. In July 1916, the 25th Battalion took part in its first major Western Front action at the Battle of Pozières, part of the Somme offensive. The battalion suffered 785 casualties between 25 July and 7 August. It was briefly transferred to a "quieter sector of the front in Belgium" before returning to action on the Somme in October. On 3 November, Towner was transferred to the Australian Machine Gun Corps and was assigned to the 2nd Machine Gun Battalion of the 2nd Australian Division, and was allotted to the 7th Brigade's Machine Gun Company. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant fifteen days later, and assumed command of the battalion's transport section. Promoted to lieutenant on 24 February 1917, Towner's service with his transport section earned him praise for his "devotion to duty and consistent good work", and on 9 April he was Mentioned in the Despatches of Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. Towner was granted leave to the United Kingdom in January 1918. He received a second Mention in Despatches on 7 April 1918, the notification of which was published in a supplement to the London Gazette on 28 May. On the night of 10/11 June 1918, Towner was in command of a machine gun section during an attack to the south of Morlancourt. One of the first to reach the objective, he deployed his section and got its guns into action "very quickly". By using captured German machine guns he was able to increase his section's fire and provide support to the company on his right as it advanced, seized, and consolidated its position. During the morning of 11 June, one of the posts held by the Australian infantry was blown in by German artillery; braving machine gun and sniper fire, Towner went out in daylight to help reorganise the post. Cited for his "cheerful and untiring attitude" and for "set[ing] a conspicuous example", Towner was awarded the Military Cross for his actions. The announcement of the award and accompanying citation was published in a supplement to the London Gazette on 24 September 1918. ### Victoria Cross On 1 September 1918, Towner was in command of No. 3 Section of the 7th Machine Gun Company during an attack on Mont St. Quentin, near Péronne. Armed with four Vickers machine guns, the section was attached to the right flank of the 24th Australian Infantry Battalion, whose principal objective was to seize the summit of Mont St. Quentin. To accomplish this, the battalion would have to advance through the village of Feuillaucourt before moving down to the Péronne road. The Australians began their advance at 06:00 behind an artillery screen, with Towner's section covering a front of 1,400 metres (1,500 yd). Visibility was limited by rain, and Australian casualties soon began to mount. Locating a German machine gun that was causing heavy losses among the advancing troops, Towner rushed the position and single-handedly killed the crew with his revolver. Having captured the gun, he then turned it on the Germans. Once Feuillaucourt had fallen, the 24th Battalion continued to the Péronne road. However, the Germans had occupied a copse of trees and put up strong resistance, halting the advance. German troops were observed massing for a counter-attack, so Towner moved forward with several of his men, two Vickers guns, and the captured German gun, and brought the assembling Germans under concentrated fire, inflicting many casualties. Attempting to retire, a party of twenty-five German soldiers were cut off by Towner's guns and taken prisoner. Under heavy incoming fire, Towner then scouted over open terrain to locate advantageous positions from which his guns could offer further support. When he moved his section forward, the machine gunners were able to engage more groups of German soldiers; their aggressive action enabled the advance to be renewed, and the battalion attained the cover of a sunken section of the Péronne road. However, on rejoining them Towner found that his section was growing short of ammunition, so he made his way back across the fire-swept ground and located a German machine gun, which he brought forward along with several boxes of ammunition. This he brought into action "in full view of the enemy"; his effective fire forced the Germans to retire further, and allowed one of the stalled Australian flanks to push ahead. German machine gunners had occupied a commanding vantage overlooking the sunken road, and began to rain down heavy fire around Towner's position. One of the bullets struck his helmet, inflicting a gaping wound to his scalp. Refusing to be evacuated for medical treatment, Towner continued firing his gun as the German pressure increased and the situation grew critical. Eventually the Australian infantry were forced to retire a short distance, but with all its crew having become casualties, one gun was left behind. Alone, Towner dashed out over no man's land and retrieved the weapon. With this gun he "continued to engage the enemy whenever they appeared", putting a German machine gun out of action with his accurate fire. Throughout the night, Towner frequented the front lines and "continued to fight and ... inspire his men". He provided supporting fire for the 21st Australian Infantry Battalion as they assaulted a heavily fortified crater on Mont St. Quentin's summit, and repeatedly reconnoitred the German position to reported on troop movements. The next morning his section assisted in repulsing a large German counterattack before Towner was finally evacuated with exhaustion—thirty hours after being wounded. Initially admitted to the 41st Casualty Clearing Station, he was transported by train to the 2nd Red Cross Hospital at Rouen. For his actions during the battle, Towner was awarded the Victoria Cross—the third of six Australians to receive the medal during the fighting around Mont St. Quentin and Péronne. The full citation for Towner's Victoria Cross appeared in a supplement to the London Gazette on 14 December 1918, reading: > War Officer, 14th December, 1918. > > His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of the Victoria Cross to the undermentioned Officers, Warrant Officer, Non-commissioned Officers and Men: — > > Lt. Edgar Thomas Towner, M.C., 2nd Bn., Aus. M.G. Corps. > > For most conspicuous bravery, initiative and devotion to duty on 1st September, 1918, in the attack on Mont St. Quentin, near Peronne, when in charge of four Vickers guns. During the early stages of the advance he located and captured, single-handed, an enemy machine-gun which was causing casualties, and by turning it on the enemy inflicted severe losses. > > Subsequently, by the skilful, tactical handling of his guns, he cut off and captured twenty-five of the enemy. > > Later, by fearless reconnaissance under heavy fire, and by the energy, foresight and promptitude with which he brought fire to bear on various enemy groups, he gave valuable support to the infantry advance. > > Again, when short of ammunition, he secured an enemy machine-gun, which he mounted and fired in full view of the enemy, causing the enemy to retire further, and enabling our infantry to advance. Under intense fire, although wounded, he maintained the fire of this gun at a very critical period. > > During the following night he steadied and gave valuable support to a small detached post, and by his coolness and cheerfulness inspirited the men in a great degree. > > Throughout the night he kept close watch by personal reconnaissance on the enemy movements, and was evacuated exhausted thirty hours after being wounded. > > The valour and resourcefulness of Lt. Towner undoubtedly saved a very critical situation, and contributed largely to the success of the attack. ### Later war service Following his recuperation, Towner was granted three weeks leave to England from 14 September 1918. He rejoined his unit on 12 October and, for six days, was attached to the School of Instruction. Following thirteen days leave in France during late November, he returned again to the 2nd Machine Gun Battalion on 12 December. On 10 April 1919, Towner attended an investiture ceremony in the ballroom of Buckingham Palace, during which he was decorated with his Victoria Cross and Military Cross by King George V. Three weeks later he boarded HT Karagola, bound for Australia. Disembarking at Sydney on 14 June 1919 he made his way to Brisbane, and was discharged from the Australian Imperial Force on 16 August 1919. ## Later life Towner resettled on his property, but was forced to sell Valparaiso in 1922 after he was unable to raise sufficient funds to purchase livestock. He spent the next three years working as a jackaroo, until he entered into a partnership on Kaloola station, a property located near Longreach, in 1925. Towner eventually bought out his partner and assumed another partnership with the Russleigh Pastoral Company, Isisford. He was later appointed a director of the company. With the Second World War looming, Towner enlisted in the Citizens Military Force on 8 August 1939 and was appointed a captain to the 26th Battalion. After a period as a company commander he was promoted to temporary major and second-in-command of the battalion, under fellow Victoria Cross recipient Lieutenant Colonel Harry Murray. However, Towner retired from the army due to ill health on 21 February 1942, and returned to his property at Kaloola. A keen geographer, Towner would often disappear into the bush for weeks on end, for study or exploration. As a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of Australia and member of the Royal Historical Society of New South Wales, he took a particular interest in researching the life of the explorer Sir Thomas Mitchell. In 1946, he successfully lobbied the Australian Government to issue a postage stamp commemorating the centenary of Mitchell's discoveries in central Queensland. He addressed the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia in Brisbane in 1955, and was awarded the Dr Thomson Foundation Gold Medal for his geographical work the following year. Towner's address was published in 1957, in a booklet entitled Lake Eyre and its Tributaries. Towner never married, and on 18 August 1972 died at Longreach Base Hospital at the age of 82. His funeral took place three days later, with a large number of Longreach citizens lining the streets to see his coffin pass by atop a gun carriage. Following a service at St Andrew's Church, he was buried with full military honours at the Longreach Town Cemetery. By the time of his death, Towner had amassed an 80,000-acre (320 km<sup>2</sup>) farm containing 25,000 sheep. He remains the highest-decorated serviceman from Queensland. On 24 April 2009, a statue of Towner crafted by Melbourne sculptor William Eicholtz was unveiled in his birth town of Blackall. Inspired by an essay written by a local schoolboy, the community raised A\$80,000 to commission a monument in Towner's memory.
3,519,877	Bruce Castle	1,135,066,566	16th-century manor house in London	[ "1684 establishments in England", "Buildings and structures in Tottenham", "Country houses in London", "Grade I listed buildings in the London Borough of Haringey", "Grade I listed houses in London", "History of Middlesex", "History of the London Borough of Haringey", "Houses completed in 1684", "Houses in the London Borough of Haringey", "Local museums in London", "Middlesex", "Museums in the London Borough of Haringey", "Reportedly haunted locations in London" ]	Bruce Castle (formerly the Lordship House) is a Grade I listed 16th-century manor house in Lordship Lane, Tottenham, London. It is named after the House of Bruce who formerly owned the land on which it is built. Believed to stand on the site of an earlier building, about which little is known, the current house is one of the oldest surviving English brick houses. It was remodelled in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The house has been home to Sir William Compton, the Barons Coleraine and Sir Rowland Hill, among others. After serving as a school during the 19th century, when a large extension was built to the west, it was converted into a museum exploring the history of the areas now constituting London Borough of Haringey and, on the strength of its connection with Sir Rowland Hill, the history of the Royal Mail. The building also houses the archives of the London Borough of Haringey. Since 1892 the grounds have been a public park, Tottenham's oldest. ## Origins of the name The name Bruce Castle is derived from the House of Bruce, who had historically owned a third of the manor of Tottenham. However, there was no castle in the area, and it is unlikely that the family lived nearby. Upon his accession to the Scottish throne in 1306, Robert I of Scotland forfeited his lands in England, including the Bruce holdings in Tottenham, ending the connection between the Bruce family and the area. The former Bruce land in Tottenham was granted to Richard Spigurnell and Thomas Hethe. The three parts of the manor of Tottenham were united in the early 15th century under the Gedeney family and have remained united since. In all early records, the building is referred to as the Lordship House. The name Bruce Castle first appears to have been adopted by Henry Hare, 2nd Baron Coleraine (1635–1708), although Daniel Lysons speculates in The Environs of London (1795) the name's use dates to the late 13th century. ## Architecture A detached, cylindrical Tudor tower stands immediately to the south-west of the house, and is generally considered to be the earliest part of the building; however, Lysons believes it to have been a later addition. The tower is built of local red brick, and is 21 ft (6.4 m) tall, with walls 3 ft (0.91 m) thick. In 2006, excavations revealed that it continues for some distance below the current ground level. It was described in 1829 as being over a deep well, and being used as a dairy. Sources disagree on the house's initial construction date, and no records survive of its construction. There is some archaeological evidence dating parts of the building to the 15th century; William Robinson's History and Antiquities of the Parish of Tottenham (1840) suggests a date of about 1514, although the Royal Commission on Historic Monuments attributes it to the late 16th century. Nikolaus Pevsner speculates the front may have formed part of a courtyard house of which the remainder has disappeared. The Grade I mansion's principal façade has been substantially remodelled. The house is made of red brick with ashlar quoining and the principal façade, terminated by symmetrical matching bays, has tall paned windows. The house and detached tower are among the earliest uses of brick as the principal building material for an English house. Henry Hare, 2nd Baron Coleraine (1635–1708) oversaw a substantial remodelling of the house in 1684, and much of the existing south façade dates from that time. The end bays were heightened, and the central porch was rebuilt with stone quoins and pilasters, a balustraded top and a small tower and cupola. A plan from 1684 shows the hall in the house's centre, with service rooms to the west and the main parlour to the east. On the first floor, the dining room was over the hall, the main bedchamber over the kitchen, and a lady's chamber over the porch. In the early 18th century Henry Hare, 3rd Baron Coleraine (1694–1749) oversaw a remodelling of the north of the house, that added a range of rooms to the north and the Coleraine coat of arms to the pediment of the north façade. In the late 18th century, under the ownership of James Townsend, the narrow east façade of the house was remodelled into an entrance front, and given the appearance of a typical Georgian house. At the same time, the south front's gabled attics were removed, giving the house's southern elevation its current appearance. An inventory of the house made in 1789 in preparation for its sale listed a hall, saloon, drawing room, dining room and breakfast parlour on the ground floor, with a library and billiard room on the first floor. In the early 19th century, the house's west wing was demolished, leaving it with the asymmetrical appearance it retains today. The house was converted into a school, and in 1870 a three-story extension was built in the Gothic Revival style to the northwest of the house. The 2006 excavations by the Museum of London uncovered the chalk foundations of an earlier building on the site, of which nothing is known. Court rolls of 1742 refer to the repair of a drawbridge, implying that the building then had a moat. A 1911 archaeological journal made passing reference to "the recent levelling of the moat". ## Early residents It is generally believed the house's first owner was Sir William Compton, Groom of the Stool to Henry VIII and one of the period's prominent courtiers, who acquired the manor of Tottenham in 1514. However, there is no evidence of Compton's living in the house, and there is some evidence the building dates to a later period. The earliest known reference to the building dates from 1516, when Henry VIII met his sister Margaret, Queen of Scots, at "Maister Compton's House beside Tottenham". The Comptons owned the building throughout the 16th century, but few records of the family or the building survive. In the early 17th century, Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset and Lady Anne Clifford owned the house. Sackville ran up high debts through gambling and extravagant spending; the house (then still called "The Lordship House") was leased to Thomas Peniston. Peniston's wife, Martha, daughter of Sir Thomas Temple was said to be the Earl of Dorset's mistress. The house was later sold to wealthy Norfolk landowner Hugh Hare. ## 17th century: the Hare family ### Hugh Hare, 1st Baron Coleraine Hugh Hare (1606–1667) had inherited a large amount of money from his great-uncle Sir Nicholas Hare, Master of the Rolls. On the death of his father, his mother had remarried Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester, allowing the young Hugh Hare to rise rapidly in Court and social circles. He married Montagu's daughter by his first marriage and purchased the manor of Tottenham, including the Lordship House, in 1625, and was ennobled as Baron Coleraine shortly thereafter. As he was closely associated with the court of Charles I, Hare's fortunes went into decline during the English Civil War. His castle at Longford and his house in Totteridge were seized by Parliamentary forces, and returned upon the Restoration in a severe state of disrepair. Records of Tottenham from the period are now lost, and the ownership and condition of the Lordship House during the Commonwealth of England are unknown. Hugh Hare died at his home in Totteridge in 1667, having choked to death on a bone eating turkey while laughing and drinking, and was succeeded by his son Henry Hare, 2nd Baron Coleraine. ### Henry Hare, 2nd Baron Coleraine Henry Hare (1635–1708) settled at the Lordship House, renaming it Bruce Castle in honour of the area's historic connection with the House of Bruce. Hare was a noted historian and author of the first history of Tottenham. He grew up at the Hare family house at Totteridge, and it is not known when he moved to Tottenham. At the time of the birth of his first child, Hugh, in 1668, the family were still living in Totteridge, while by the time of the death of his first wife Constantia, in 1680, the family were living in Bruce Castle. According to Hare, Constantia was buried in All Hallows Church in Tottenham. However, the parish register for the period is complete and makes no mention of her death or burial. Following the death of Constantia, Hare married Sarah Alston. They had been engaged in 1661, but she had instead married John Seymour, 4th Duke of Somerset. There is evidence that during Sarah's marriage to Seymour and Hare's marriage to Constantia, a close relationship was sustained between them. The house was substantially remodelled in 1684, following Henry Hare's marriage to the dowager Duchess of Somerset, and much of the existing south façade dates from this time. The façade's central tower with a belvedere is a motif of the English Renaissance of the late 16th/early 17th centuries. Hatfield House, also close to London, had a similar central tower constructed in 1611, as does Blickling Hall in Norfolk, built circa 1616. #### The Ghostly Lady of Bruce Castle Although sources such as Pegram speculate that Constantia committed suicide in the face of a continued relationship between Hare and the Duchess of Somerset, little is known about her life and the circumstances of her early death, and her ghost reputedly haunts the castle. The earliest recorded reference to the ghost appeared in 1858—almost two hundred years after her death—in the Tottenham & Edmonton Advertiser. > A lady of our acquaintance was introduced at a party to an Indian Officer who, hearing that she came from Tottenham, eagerly asked if she had seen the Ghostly Lady of Bruce Castle. Some years before he had been told the following story by a brother officer when encamped on a march in India. One of the Lords Coleraine had married a beautiful lady and while she was yet in her youth had been seized with a violent hatred against her—whether from jealousy or not is not known. He first confined her to the upper part of the house and subsequently still more closely to the little rooms of the clock turret. These rooms looked on the balconies: the lady one night succeeded in forcing her way out and flung herself with child in arms from the parapet. The wild despairing shriek aroused the household only to find her and her infant in death's clutches below. Every year as the fearful night comes round (it is in November) the wild form can be seen as she stood on the fatal parapet, and her despairing cry is heard floating away on the autumnal blast. The legend has now been largely forgotten, and there have been no reported sightings of the ghost in recent times. ## Residents in the 18th century Sarah Hare died in 1692 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, and Hare in 1708, to be succeeded by his grandson Henry Hare, 3rd Baron Coleraine. Henry Hare was a leading antiquary, residing only briefly at Bruce Castle between lengthy tours of Europe. The house was remodelled again under the 3rd Baron Coleraine's ownership. An extra range of rooms was added to the north, and the pediment of the north front ornamented with a large coat of the Coleraine arms. Hare's marriage was not consummated, and following an affair with a French woman, Rosa du Plessis, du Plessis bore him his only child, a daughter named Henrietta Rosa Peregrina, born in France in 1745. Hare died in 1749 leaving his estates to the four-year-old Henrietta, but her claim was rejected owing to her French nationality. After many years of legal challenges, the estates, including Bruce Castle, were granted to her husband James Townsend, whom she had married at age 18. James Townsend was a leading citizen of the day. He served as a magistrate, was Member of Parliament for West Looe, and in 1772 became Lord Mayor of London, while Henrietta was a prominent artist, many of whose engravings of 18th-century Tottenham survive in the Bruce Castle Museum. After 1764, under the ownership of James Townsend, the house was remodelled again. The narrow east front was remodelled into an entrance front, and given the appearance of a typical Georgian house, while the gabled attics on the south front were removed, giving the south façade the appearance it has today. James and Henrietta Townsend's son, Henry Hare Townsend, showed little interest in the area or in the traditional role of the Lord of the Manor. After leasing the house to a succession of tenants, the house and grounds were sold in 1792 to Thomas Smith of Gray's Inn as a country residence. ## John Eardley Wilmot John Eardley Wilmot (c. 1749 – 23 June 1815) was Member of Parliament for Tiverton (1776–1784) and Coventry (1784–1796), and in 1783 led the Parliamentary Commission investigating the events that led to the American Revolution. He also led the processing of compensation claims, and the supply of basic housing and provisions, for the 60,000 Loyalist refugees who arrived in England after the independence of the United States. Following the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789, a second wave of refugees arrived in England. Although the British government did not offer them organised relief, Wilmot, in association with William Wilberforce, Edmund Burke and George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham, founded "Wilmot's Committee", which raised funds to provide accommodation and food, and found employment for refugees from France, large numbers of whom settled in the Tottenham area. In 1804, Wilmot retired from public life and moved to Bruce Castle to write his memoirs of the American Revolution and his role in the investigations of its causes and consequences. They were published shortly before his death in 1815. After Wilmot's death, London merchant John Ede purchased the house and its grounds, and demolished the building's west wing. ## The Hill School Hill and his brothers had taken over the management of their father's school in Birmingham in 1819, which opened a branch at Bruce Castle in 1827, with Rowland Hill as Headmaster. The school was run along radical lines inspired by Hill's friends Thomas Paine, Richard Price and Joseph Priestley; all teaching was on the principle that the teacher's role is to instill the desire to learn, not to impart facts, corporal punishment was abolished and alleged transgressions were tried by a court of pupils, while the school taught a radical (for the time) curriculum including foreign languages, science and engineering. Among other pupils, the school taught the sons of many London-based diplomats, particularly from the newly independent nations of South America, and the sons of computing pioneer Charles Babbage. In 1839 Rowland Hill, who had written an influential proposal on postal reform, was appointed as head of the General Post Office (where he introduced the world's first postage stamps), leaving the school in the hands of his younger brother Arthur Hill. During the period of the School's operation, the character of the area had changed beyond recognition. Historically, Tottenham had consisted of four villages on Ermine Street (later the A10 road), surrounded by marshland and farmland. The construction of the Northern and Eastern Railway in 1840, with stations at Tottenham Hale and Marsh Lane (later Northumberland Park), made commuting from Tottenham to central London feasible for the first time (albeit by a circuitous eight-mile route via Stratford, more than double the distance of the direct road route), as well as providing direct connections to the Port of London. In 1872 the Great Eastern Railway opened a direct line from Enfield to Liverpool Street station, including a station at Bruce Grove, close to Bruce Castle; the railway provided subsidised workmen's fares to allow poor commuters to live in Tottenham and commute to work in central London. As a major rail hub, Tottenham grew into a significant residential and industrial area; by the end of the 19th century, the only remaining undeveloped areas were the grounds of Bruce Castle itself, and the waterlogged floodplains of the River Lea at Tottenham Marshes and of the River Moselle at Broadwater Farm. In 1877 Birkbeck Hill retired from the post of headmaster, ending his family's association with the school. The school closed in 1891, and Tottenham Council purchased the house and grounds. The grounds of the house were opened to the public as Bruce Castle Park in June 1892, the first public park in Tottenham. The house opened to the public as Bruce Castle Museum in 1906. ### Heraud's Tottenham Bruce Castle was among the buildings mentioned in John Abraham Heraud's 1820 Spenserian epic, Tottenham, a romantic depiction of the life of Robert the Bruce: > Lovely is moonlight to the poet's eye, > That in a tide of beauty bathes the skies, > Filling the balmy air with purity, > Silent and lone, and on the greensward dies— > But when on ye her heavenly slumber lies, > TOWERS OF BRUS! 'tis more than lovely then.— > For such sublime associations rise, > That to young fancy's visionary ken, > 'Tis like a maniac's dream—fitful and still again. ## Present day Bruce Castle is now a museum, holding the archives of the London Borough of Haringey, and housing a permanent exhibition on the past, present and future of Haringey and its predecessor boroughs, and temporary displays on the history of the area. Other exhibits include an exhibition on Rowland Hill and postal history, a significant collection of early photography, a collection of historic manorial documents and court rolls related to the area, and one of the few copies available for public reading of the Spurs Opus, the complete history of Tottenham Hotspur. In 1949, the building was Grade I listed; the round tower was separately Grade I listed at the same time, and the 17th-century southern and western boundary walls of the park were Grade II listed in 1974. In 1969 the castle became home to the regimental museum of the Middlesex Regiment whose collection was subsequently transferred to the National Army Museum. In July 2006 a major community archaeological dig was organised in the grounds by the Museum of London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre, as part of the centenary celebrations of the opening of Bruce Castle Museum, in which large numbers of local youths took part. As well as large quantities of discarded everyday objects, the chalk foundations of what appears to be an earlier house on the site were discovered. In 2012 the public grounds at Bruce Castle were used for PARK ART in Haringey, part of the borough's cultural Olympiad offer for 2012. Up Projects, in partnership with Haringey Council and funded by Arts Council England, commissioned Ben Long to create "Lion Scaffolding Sculpture", a nine-metre tall classical lion on a plinth that was constructed from builder's scaffolding. The monumental sculpture, created for the front lawn of Bruce Castle Museum, referenced the traditional archetype of the regal lion commonly found in the grounds of stately homes, but also the heraldic emblem of Robert the Bruce, therefore reflecting on the heritage of the building. Built in situ over four weeks, the fabrication became a durational performance, highlighting the role that work and labour play in the development of any artistic or creative pursuit.
4,578,255	Military history of Australia during World War II	1,170,733,353	Australia's military engagements, 1939–1945	[ "Australia in World War II", "Military history of Australia during World War II", "Military history of the British Empire and Commonwealth in World War II", "Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II", "Wars involving Australia" ]	Australia entered World War II on 3 September 1939, following the government's acceptance of the United Kingdom's declaration of war on Nazi Germany. Australia later entered into a state of war with other members of the Axis powers, including the Kingdom of Italy on 11 June 1940, and the Empire of Japan on 9 December 1941. By the end of the war, almost a million Australians had served in the armed forces, whose military units fought primarily in the European theatre, North African campaign, and the South West Pacific theatre. In addition, Australia came under direct attack for the first time in its post-colonial history. Its casualties from enemy action during the war were 27,073 killed and 23,477 wounded. Many more suffered from tropical disease, hunger, and harsh conditions in captivity; of the 21,467 Australian prisoners taken by the Japanese, only 14,000 survived. Australian Army units were gradually withdrawn from the Mediterranean and Europe following the outbreak of war with Japan. However, Royal Australian Air Force and Royal Australian Navy units and personnel continued to take part in the war against Germany and Italy. From 1942 until early 1944, Australian forces played a key role in the Pacific War, making up the majority of Allied strength throughout much of the fighting in the South West Pacific theatre. While the military was largely relegated to subsidiary fronts from mid-1944, it continued offensive operations against the Japanese until the war ended. World War II contributed to major changes in the nation's economy, military and foreign policy. The war accelerated the process of industrialisation, led to the development of a larger peacetime military and began the process with which Australia shifted the focus of its foreign policy from Britain to the United States. The final effects of the war also contributed to the development of a more diverse and cosmopolitan Australian society. ## Outbreak of war Between World War I and World War II Australia suffered greatly from the Great Depression which started in 1929. This limited Australian defence expenditure and led to a decline in the size and effectiveness of the armed forces during the 1930s. In 1931, the Statute of Westminster granted the Australian government independence in foreign affairs and defence. Nevertheless, from the mid-1930s, Australian governments generally followed British policy towards Nazi Germany, supporting first the appeasement of Hitler and the British guarantee of Polish independence. Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies asked the British government to notify Germany that Australia was an associate of the United Kingdom. On 3 September 1939, Britain declared war when its ultimatum for Germany to withdraw from Poland expired. Because the Statute of Westminster had not yet been ratified by the Australian parliament, any declaration of war by the UK applied to Australia by default. After the British informed Menzies of the declaration of war, the Governor-General of Australia issued a proclamation of the existence of war in Australia. Menzies' support for the war was based on the notion of an imperial defence system, upon which he believed Australia relied and which would be destroyed if the UK was defeated. This position was generally accepted by the Australian public, although there was little enthusiasm for war. At the time war broke out in Europe, the Australian armed forces were less prepared than at the outbreak of World War I in August 1914. The Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the best-prepared of the three services, was small and equipped with only two heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, two sloops, five obsolete destroyers and a number of small and auxiliary warships. The Australian Army comprised a small permanent cadre of 3,000 men and 80,000 part-time militiamen who had volunteered for training with the Citizen Military Forces (CMF). The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), the weakest of the services, had 246 aircraft, few of them modern. While the Commonwealth Government began a large military expansion and transferred some RAAF aircrew and units to British control upon the outbreak of war, it was unwilling to immediately dispatch an expeditionary force overseas due to the threat posed by Japanese intervention. The first Australian shot of the war took place several hours after the declaration of war when a gun at Fort Queenscliff fired across the bows of an Australian ship that failed to identify itself as it attempted to leave Melbourne without required clearances. On 10 October 1939, a Short Sunderland of No. 10 Squadron, based in England for re-equipment, became the first Australian and the first Commonwealth air-force unit to go into action when it undertook a mission to Tunisia. On 15 September 1939 Menzies announced the formation of the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF). This expeditionary force initially consisted of 20,000 men organised into an infantry division (the 6th Division) and auxiliary units. The AIF was institutionally separate from the CMF, which was legally restricted to service in Australia and its external territories, and was formed by raising new units rather than transferring CMF units. On 15 November, Menzies announced the reintroduction of conscription for home-defence service, effective 1 January 1940. Recruitment for the AIF was initially slow, but one in six men of military age had enlisted by March 1940, and a huge surge of volunteers came forward after the fall of France in June 1940. Men volunteered for the AIF for a range of reasons, with the most common being a sense of duty to defend Australia and the British Empire. In early 1940, each of the services introduced regulations which prohibited the enlistment of people not "substantially of European origin"; while these regulations were strictly enforced by the RAN and Army, the RAAF continued to accept small numbers of non-European Australians. The AIF's major units were raised between 1939 and 1941. The 6th Division formed during October and November 1939, and embarked for the Middle East in early 1940 to complete its training and to receive modern equipment after the British Government assured the Australian Government that Japan did not pose an immediate threat. The division was intended to join the British Expeditionary Force in France when its preparations were complete, but this did not eventuate as Axis forces conquered France before the division was ready. A further three AIF infantry divisions (the 7th Division, 8th Division and 9th Division) were raised in the first half of 1940, as well as a corps headquarters (I Corps) and numerous support and service units. All of these divisions and the majority of the support units deployed overseas during 1940 and 1941. An AIF armoured division (the 1st Armoured Division) was also raised in early 1941 but never left Australia. While the Government initially planned to deploy the entire RAAF overseas, it later decided to focus the force's resources on training aircrew to facilitate a massive expansion of Commonwealth air-power. In late 1939, Australia and the other Dominions established the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) to train large numbers of men for service in the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and in other Commonwealth air units. Almost 28,000 Australians eventually trained through EATS in schools in Australia, Canada and Rhodesia. While many of these men were posted to Australian Article XV squadrons, the majority served with British and other Dominion squadrons. Moreover, these nominally "Australian" squadrons did not come under RAAF control and Australians often made up a minority of their airmen. As the Australian Government had no effective control over the deployment of airmen trained through EATS, most Australian historians regard the scheme as having hindered the development of Australia's defence capability. Nevertheless, RAAF airmen trained through EATS represented about nine percent of all aircrew who fought for the RAF in the European and Mediterranean theatres and made an important contribution to Allied operations. ## North Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East During the first years of World War II, Australia's military strategy was closely aligned with that of the United Kingdom. In line with this, most Australian military units deployed overseas in 1940 and 1941 were sent to the Mediterranean and Middle East where they formed a key part of the Commonwealth forces in the area. The three AIF infantry divisions sent to the Middle East saw extensive action, as did the RAAF squadrons and warships in this theatre. ### North Africa The RAN became the first of the Australian services to see action in the Mediterranean theatre. At the time Italy entered the war on 10 June 1940 the RAN had a single cruiser () and the five elderly destroyers of the so-called 'Scrap Iron Flotilla' at Alexandria with the British Mediterranean Fleet. During the first days of the Battle of the Mediterranean, Sydney sank an Italian destroyer and a submarine. The Mediterranean Fleet maintained a high operational tempo, and on 19 July, Sydney, with a British destroyer squadron in company, engaged the fast Italian light cruisers Bartolomeo Colleoni and Giovanni delle Bande Nere in the Battle of Cape Spada. In the running battle which followed, Bartolomeo Colleoni was sunk. The Australian ships spent much of their time at sea throughout 1940. Sydney's sister ship, , relieved her in February 1941. The Australian Army first saw action in Operation Compass, the successful Commonwealth offensive in North Africa which took place between December 1940 and February 1941. The 6th Division relieved the 4th Indian Division on 14 December. Although the 6th Division was not fully equipped, it had completed its training and was given the task of capturing Italian fortresses bypassed by the British 7th Armoured Division during its advance. The 6th Division went into action at Bardia on 3 January 1941. Although a larger Italian force manned the fortress, with the support of British tanks and artillery the Australian infantry quickly penetrated the defensive lines. The majority of the Italian force surrendered on 5 January, and the Australians took 40,000 prisoners. The 6th Division followed up this success by assaulting the fortress of Tobruk on 21 January. Tobruk was secured the next day, with 25,000 Italian prisoners taken. The 6th Division subsequently pushed west along the coast road to Cyrenaica and captured Benghazi on 4 February. The 6th Division withdrew for deployment to Greece later in February and was replaced by the untested 9th Division, which took up garrison duties in Cyrenaica. In the last week of March 1941, a German-led force launched an offensive in Cyrenaica which rapidly defeated the Allied forces in the area, forcing a general withdrawal towards Egypt (April 1941). The 9th Division formed the rear guard of this withdrawal, and on 6 April, was ordered to defend the important port town of Tobruk for at least two months. During the ensuing siege of Tobruk the 9th Division, reinforced by the 18th Brigade of the 7th Division and British artillery and armoured regiments, used fortifications, aggressive patrolling and artillery to contain and defeat repeated German armoured and infantry attacks. The Mediterranean Fleet sustained Tobruk's defenders, and the elderly Australian destroyers made repeated supply "runs" into the port. and were sunk during these operations. Upon the request of the Australian Government, the bulk of the 9th Division was withdrawn from Tobruk in September and October 1941, and was replaced by the British 70th Division. The 2/13th Battalion was forced to remain at Tobruk until the siege was lifted in December when the convoy evacuating it was attacked, however. The defence of Tobruk cost the Australian units involved 3,009 casualties, including 832 killed and 941 taken prisoner. Two Australian fighter squadrons also took part in the fighting in North Africa. No. 239 Wing, a Curtiss P-40-equipped unit in the Desert Air Force, was dominated by Australians, in the form of two RAAF squadrons—No. 3 Squadron and No. 450 Squadron—and numerous individual Australians served in RAF squadrons. These two squadrons differed from the other RAAF squadrons in the Mediterranean in that they were made up of predominantly Australian ground-staff and pilots; the other RAAF units had ground crews made up of mostly British RAF personnel. ### Greece, Crete and Lebanon In early 1941 the 6th Division and I Corps headquarters took part in the ill-fated Allied expedition to defend Greece from an anticipated German invasion. The corps' commander, Lieutenant-General Thomas Blamey, and Prime Minister Menzies both regarded the operation as risky, but agreed to Australian involvement after the British Government provided them with briefings which deliberately understated the chance of defeat. The Allied force deployed to Greece was much smaller than the German force in the region and inconsistencies between Greek and Allied plans compromised the defence of the country. Australian troops arrived in Greece during March 1941, and manned defensive positions in the north of the country alongside British, New Zealand and Greek units. formed part of the naval force which protected the Allied troop convoys travelling to Greece and participated in the Battle of Cape Matapan in late March. The outnumbered Allied force, unable to halt the Germans when they invaded on 6 April, had to retreat. The Australians and other Allied units conducted a fighting withdrawal from their initial positions and naval ships evacuated them from southern Greece between 24 April and 1 May. Australian warships formed part of the force which protected the evacuation and embarked hundreds of soldiers from Greek ports. The 6th Division suffered heavy casualties in this campaign, with 320 men killed and 2,030 captured. While most of the 6th Division returned to Egypt, the 19th Brigade Group and two provisional infantry battalions landed on Crete, where they formed a key part of the island's defences. The 19th Brigade was initially successful in holding its positions when German paratroopers landed on 20 May, but was gradually forced to retreat. After several key airfields were lost the Allies evacuated the island's garrison. Approximately 3,000 Australians, including the entire 2/7th Infantry Battalion, could not be evacuated, and were taken prisoner. As a result of its heavy casualties the 6th Division required substantial reinforcements and equipment before it was again ready for combat. Perth and the new destroyers and also took part in operations around Crete, with Perth embarking soldiers for evacuation to Egypt. The Allied defeat during the Greek Campaign indirectly contributed to a change of government in Australia. Prime Minister Menzies' leadership weakened during the lengthy period he spent in Britain during early 1941, and the high Australian losses in the Greek Campaign led many members of his United Australia Party (UAP) to conclude that he was not capable of leading the Australian war effort. Menzies resigned on 26 August, after losing the confidence of his party and Arthur Fadden from the Country Party (the UAP's coalition partner) became Prime Minister. Fadden's government collapsed on 3 October, and an Australian Labor Party government under the leadership of John Curtin took power. The 7th Division and the 17th Brigade from the 6th Division formed a key part of the Allied ground forces during the Syria–Lebanon Campaign, fought against Vichy French forces in June and July 1941. RAAF aircraft also joined the RAF in providing close air support. The Australian force entered Lebanon on 8 June, and advanced along the coast road and Litani River valley. Although Allied planners had expected little resistance, the Vichy forces mounted a strong defence and counter-attacks which made good use of the mountainous terrain. After the Allied attack became bogged down reinforcements were brought in and the Australian I Corps headquarters took command of the operation on 18 June. These changes enabled the Allies to overwhelm the French forces, and the 7th Division entered Beirut on 12 July. The loss of Beirut and a British breakthrough in Syria led the Vichy commander to seek an armistice and the campaign ended on 13 July 1941. ### El Alamein In the second half of 1941 the Australian I Corps was concentrated in Syria and Lebanon to rebuild its strength and to prepare for further operations in the Middle East. Following the outbreak of war in the Pacific most elements of the Corps, including the 6th and 7th Divisions, returned to Australia in early 1942 to counter the perceived Japanese threat to Australia. The Australian Government agreed to British and United States requests to temporarily retain the 9th Division in the Middle East in exchange for the deployment of additional US troops to Australia and Britain's support for a proposal to expand the RAAF to 73 squadrons. The Australian Government did not intend that the 9th Division would play a major role in active fighting, and it was not sent any further reinforcements. All of the RAN's ships in the Mediterranean also withdrew to the Pacific, but most RAAF units in the Middle East remained in the theatre. In June 1942 four Australian N-class destroyers transferred to the Mediterranean from the Indian Ocean to participate in Operation Vigorous (11 to 16 June 1942), which attempted to supply the besieged island of Malta from Egypt. This operation ended in failure, and had to be scuttled on 16 June, after being bombed the previous day. After this operation, the three surviving destroyers returned to the Indian Ocean. In mid-1942 the Axis forces defeated the Commonwealth force in Libya and advanced into north-west Egypt. In June, the British Eighth Army made a stand just over 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of Alexandria, at the railway siding of El Alamein, and the 9th Division was brought forward to reinforce this position. The lead elements of the Division arrived at El Alamein on 6 July, and the Division was assigned the most northerly section of the Commonwealth defensive line. The 9th Division played a significant role in the First Battle of El Alamein (1 to 27 July 1942), which halted the Axis advance, though at the cost of heavy casualties, including the entire 2/28th Infantry Battalion, which was forced to surrender on 27 July. Following this battle the division remained at the northern end of the El Alamein line and launched diversionary attacks during the Battle of Alam el Halfa in early September. In October 1942 the 9th Division and the RAAF squadrons in the area took part in the Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October to 11 November 1942). After a lengthy period of preparation, the Eighth Army launched its major offensive on 23 October. The 9th Division became involved in some of the heaviest fighting of the battle, and its advance in the coast area succeeded in drawing away enough German forces for the heavily reinforced 2nd New Zealand Division to decisively break through the Axis lines on the night of 1–2 November. The 9th Division suffered a high number of casualties during this battle and did not take part in the pursuit of the retreating Axis forces. During the battle the Australian Government requested that the division be returned to Australia as it was not possible to provide enough reinforcements to sustain it, and the British and US governments agreed to this in late November. The 9th Division left Egypt for Australia in January 1943, ending the AIF's involvement in the war in North Africa. ### Tunisia, Sicily and Italy Although the Second Battle of El Alamein marked the end of a major Australian role in the Mediterranean, several RAAF units and hundreds of Australians attached to Commonwealth forces remained in the area until the end of the war. After the 9th Division was withdrawn Australia continued to be represented in North Africa by several RAAF squadrons which supported the 8th Army's advance through Libya and the subsequent Tunisia Campaign. Two Australian destroyers ( and ) also participated in the Allied landings in North Africa in November 1942. Australia played a small role in the Italian Campaign. The RAN returned to the Mediterranean between May and November 1943, when eight Bathurst-class corvette were transferred from the British Eastern Fleet to the Mediterranean Fleet to protect the invasion force during the Allied invasion of Sicily. The corvettes also escorted convoys in the western Mediterranean before returning to the Eastern Fleet. No. 239 Wing and four Australian Article XV squadrons also took part in the Sicilian Campaign, flying from bases in Tunisia, Malta, North Africa and Sicily. No. 239 Wing subsequently provided air support for the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943, and moved to the mainland in the middle of that month. The two Australian fighter bomber squadrons provided close air support to the Allied armies and attacked German supply lines until the end of the war. No. 454 Squadron was also deployed to Italy from August 1944, and hundreds of Australians served in RAF units during the campaign. The RAAF also took part in other Allied operations in the Mediterranean. Two RAAF squadrons, No. 451 Squadron (Spitfires) and No. 458 Squadron (Wellingtons), supported the Allied invasion of southern France in August 1944. No. 451 Squadron was based in southern France in late August and September, and when the operation ended both squadrons were moved to Italy, though No. 451 Squadron was transferred to Britain in December. No. 459 Squadron was based in the eastern Mediterranean until the last months of the war in Europe and attacked German targets in Greece and the Aegean Sea. In addition, 150 Australians served with the Balkan Air Force, principally in No. 148 Squadron RAF. This special duties squadron dropped men and supplies to guerrillas in Yugoslavia and attempted to supply the Polish Home Army during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. ## Britain and Western Europe While the majority of the Australian military fought on the Western Front in France during World War I, relatively few Australians fought in Europe during World War II. The RAAF, including thousands of Australians posted to British units, made a significant contribution to the strategic bombing of Germany and efforts to safeguard Allied shipping in the Atlantic. The other services made smaller contributions, with two Army brigades being briefly based in Britain in late 1940, and several of the RAN's warships serving in the Atlantic. ### Defence of Britain Australians participated in the defence of Britain throughout the war. More than 100 Australian airmen fought with the RAF during the Battle of Britain in 1940, including over 30 fighter pilots. Two AIF brigades (the 18th and 25th) were also stationed in Britain from June 1940 to January 1941, and formed part of the British mobile reserve which would have responded to any German landings. An Australian Army forestry group served in Britain between 1940 and 1943. Several Australian fighter squadrons were also formed in Britain during 1941 and 1942, and contributed to defending the country from German air raids and, from mid-1944, V-1 flying bombs. The RAAF and RAN took part in the Battle of the Atlantic. No. 10 Squadron, based in Britain at the outbreak of war to take delivery of its Short Sunderland flying boats, remained there throughout the conflict as part of RAF Coastal Command. It was joined by No. 461 Squadron in April 1942, also equipped with Sunderlands. These squadrons escorted Allied convoys and sank 12 U-boats. No. 455 Squadron also formed part of Coastal Command from April 1942, as an anti-shipping squadron equipped with light bombers. In this role the squadron made an unusual deployment to Vaenga airfield in the Soviet Union in September 1942, to protect Convoy PQ 18. Hundreds of Australian airmen also served in RAF Coastal Command squadrons, of whom 652 died. In addition to the RAAF's contribution, several of the RAN's cruisers and destroyers escorted shipping in the Atlantic and Caribbean and hundreds of RAN personnel served aboard Royal Navy ships in the Atlantic throughout the war. ### Air war over Europe The RAAF's role in the strategic air offensive in Europe formed Australia's main contribution to the defeat of Germany. Approximately 13,000 Australian airmen served in dozens of British and five Australian squadrons in RAF Bomber Command between 1940 and the end of the war. There was not a distinctive Australian contribution to this campaign, however, as most Australians served in British squadrons and the Australian bomber squadrons were part of RAF units. The great majority of Australian aircrew in Bomber Command were graduates of the Empire Air Training Scheme. These men were not concentrated in Australian units, and were instead often posted to the Commonwealth squadron with the greatest need for personnel where they became part of a multi-national bomber crew. Five Australian heavy bomber squadrons (No. 460, No. 462, No. 463, No. 466 and No. 467 squadrons) were formed within Bomber Command between 1941 and 1945, however, and the proportion of Australians in these units increased over time. No. 464 Squadron, which was equipped with light bombers, was also formed as part of Bomber Command but was transferred to the Second Tactical Air Force in June 1943, where it continued to attack targets in Europe. Unlike Canada, which concentrated its heavy bomber squadrons into No. 6 Group RCAF in 1943, the RAAF squadrons in Bomber Command were always part of British units, and the Australian Government had little control over how they were used. Australians took part in all of Bomber Command's major offensives and suffered heavy losses during raids on German cities and targets in France. The Australian contribution to major raids was often substantial, and the Australian squadrons typically provided about 10 percent of the main bomber force during the winter of 1943–1944, including during the Battle of Berlin. Overall, the Australian squadrons in Bomber Command dropped 6 percent of the total weight of bombs dropped by the command during the war. Australian aircrew in Bomber Command had one of the highest casualty rates of any part of the Australian military during World War II. Although only two percent of Australians enlisted in the military served with Bomber Command, they incurred almost 20 percent of all Australian deaths in combat; 3,486 were killed and hundreds more were taken prisoner. Hundreds of Australians participated in the liberation of Western Europe during 1944 and 1945. Ten RAAF squadrons, hundreds of Australians in RAF units and about 500 Australian sailors serving with the Royal Navy formed part of the force assembled for the landing in Normandy on 6 June 1944; overall, it has been estimated that about 3,000 Australian personnel took part in this operation. From 11 June until September 1944, the Spitfire-equipped No. 453 Squadron RAAF was often based at forward airfields in France and it and Australian light bomber and heavy bomber squadrons supported the liberation of France. RAAF light bomber and fighter squadrons continued to support the Allied armies until the end of the war in Europe by attacking strategic targets and escorting bomber formations. No. 451 and 453 Squadrons formed part of the British Army of Occupation in Germany from September 1945, and it was planned that there would be a long-term Australian presence in this force. Few RAAF personnel volunteered to remain in Europe, however, and both squadrons were disbanded in January 1946. ## War in the Pacific In the view of Paul Hasluck, Australia fought two wars between 1939 and 1945: one against Germany and Italy as part of the British Commonwealth and Empire and the other against Japan in alliance with the United States and Britain. Due to the emphasis placed on cooperation with Britain, relatively few Australian military units were stationed in Australia and the Asia-Pacific Region after 1940. Measures were taken to improve Australia's defences as war with Japan loomed in 1941, but these proved inadequate. In December 1941, the Australian Army in the Pacific comprised the 8th Division, most of which was stationed in Malaya, and eight partially trained and equipped divisions in Australia, including the 1st Armoured Division. The RAAF was equipped with 373 aircraft, most of which were obsolete trainers, and the RAN had three cruisers and two destroyers in Australian waters. In 1942, the Australian military was reinforced by units recalled from the Middle East and an expansion of the CMF and RAAF. United States military units also arrived in Australia in great numbers before being deployed to New Guinea. The Allies moved onto the offensive in late 1942, with the pace of advance accelerating in 1943. From 1944, the Australian military was mainly relegated to subsidiary roles, but continued to conduct large-scale operations until the end of the war. ### Malaya and Singapore From the 1920s, Australia's defence planning was dominated by the so-called 'Singapore strategy'. This strategy involved the construction and defence of a major naval base at Singapore from which a large British fleet would respond to Japanese aggression in the region. To this end, a high proportion of Australian forces in Asia were concentrated in Malaya during 1940 and 1941, as the threat from Japan increased. At the outbreak of war the Australian forces in Malaya comprised the 8t Division (less the 23rd Brigade) under the command of Major General Gordon Bennett, four RAAF squadrons and eight warships. The RAAF became the first service to see action in the Pacific when Australian aircraft shadowing the Japanese invasion convoy bound for Malaya were fired at on 6 December 1941. Australian units participated in the unsuccessful Commonwealth attempts to defeat the Japanese landings, with RAAF aircraft attacking the beachheads and accompanying the British battleship Prince of Wales and battlecruiser Repulse during their failed attempt to attack the Japanese invasion fleet. The 8th Division and its attached Indian Army units were assigned responsibility for the defence of Johor in the south of Malaya and did not see action until mid-January 1942, when Japanese spearheads first reached the state. The division's first engagement was the Battle of Muar, in which the Japanese Twenty-Fifth Army was able to outflank the Commonwealth positions due to Bennett misdeploying the forces under his command so that the weak Indian 45th Brigade was assigned the crucial coastal sector and the stronger Australian brigades were deployed in less threatened areas. While the Commonwealth forces in Johore achieved a number of local victories, they were unable to do more than slow the Japanese advance and suffered heavy casualties. After being outmanoeuvred by the Japanese, the remaining Commonwealth units withdrew to Singapore on the night of 30–31 January. Following the withdrawal to Singapore the 8th Division was deployed to defend the island's north-west coast. Due to the casualties suffered in Johore most of the division's units were at half-strength. The commander of the Singapore fortress, Lieutenant General Arthur Ernest Percival, believed that the Japanese would land on the north-east coast of the island and deployed the near full-strength British 18th Division to defend this sector. The Japanese landing on 8 February took part in the Australian sector, however, and the 8th Division was forced from its positions after just two days of heavy fighting. The division was also unable to turn back the Japanese landing at Kranji and withdrew to the centre of the island. After further fighting in which the Commonwealth forces were pushed into a narrow perimeter around the urban area of Singapore, Percival surrendered his forces on 15 February. Following the surrender 14,972 Australians were taken prisoner, though some escaped on ships. These escapees included Major General Bennett, who was found by two post-war inquiries to have been unjustified in leaving his command. The loss of almost a quarter of Australia's overseas soldiers, and the failure of the Singapore Strategy that had permitted it to accept the sending of the AIF to aid Britain, stunned the country. ### Netherlands East Indies and Rabaul While Australia's contribution to the pre-war plans to defend South East Asia from Japanese aggression was focused on the defence of Malaya and Singapore, small Australian forces were also deployed to defend several islands to the north of Australia. The role of these forces was to defend strategic airfields which could be used to launch attacks on the Australian mainland. Detachments of coastwatchers were also stationed in the Bismarck Archipelago and Solomon Islands to report on any Japanese operations there. At the start of the Pacific War the strategic port town of Rabaul in New Britain was defended by 'Lark Force', which comprised the 2/22nd Infantry Battalion reinforced with coastal artillery and a poorly equipped RAAF bomber squadron. While Lark Force was regarded as inadequate by the Australian military, it was not possible to reinforce it before the Japanese South Seas Force landed at Rabaul on 23 January 1942. The outnumbered Australian force was swiftly defeated and most of the survivors surrendered in the weeks after the battle. Few members of Lark Force survived the war, as at least 130 were murdered by the Japanese on 4 February, and 1,057 Australian soldiers and civilian prisoners from Rabaul were killed when the ship carrying them to Japan (Montevideo Maru) was sunk by the US submarine Sturgeon on 1 July 1942. AIF troops were also dispatched from Darwin to the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) in the first weeks of the Pacific War. Reinforced battalions from the 23rd Brigade were sent to Koepang in West Timor ('Sparrow Force') and the island of Ambon ('Gull Force') to defend these strategic locations from Japanese attack. The 2/2nd Independent Company was also sent to Dili in Portuguese Timor in violation of Portugal's neutrality. The force at Ambon was defeated by the Japanese landing on 30 January, and surrendered on 3 February 1942. Over 300 Australian prisoners were subsequently killed by Japanese troops in a series of mass executions during February. While the force at Koepang was defeated after the Japanese landed there on 20 February and also surrendered, Australian commandos waged a guerrilla campaign against the Japanese in Portuguese Timor until February 1943. Voyager and were lost in September and December 1942, respectively, while operating in support of the commandos. In the lead-up to the Japanese invasion of Java a force of 242 carrier and land-based aircraft attacked Darwin on 19 February 1942. At the time Darwin was an important base for Allied warships and a staging point for shipping supplies and reinforcements into the NEI. The Japanese attack was successful, and resulted in the deaths of over 230 military personnel and civilians, many of whom were non-Australian Allied seamen, and heavy damage to RAAF Base Darwin and the town's port facilities. Several Australian warships, a 3,000 strong Army unit and aircraft from several RAAF squadrons participated in the unsuccessful defence of Java when the Japanese invaded the island in March 1942. Perth formed part of the main American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM) naval force which was defeated in the Battle of the Java Sea on 27 February, during an attempt to intercept one of the Japanese invasion convoys. Perth was sunk on 1 March, when she and USS Houston encountered another Japanese invasion force while trying to escape to Tjilatjap on the south coast of Java. The sloop was also sunk off the south coast of Java when she was attacked by three Japanese cruisers while escorting a convoy on 4 March. Other Australian warships, including the light cruiser and several corvettes successfully escaped from NEI waters. An army force made up of elements from the 7th Division also formed part of the ABDACOM land forces on Java but saw little action before it surrendered at Bandung on 12 March, after the Dutch forces on the island began to capitulate. RAAF aircraft operating from bases in Java and Australia also participated in the fighting, and 160 ground crew from No. 1 Squadron RAAF were taken prisoner. Following the conquest of the NEI, the Japanese Navy's main aircraft carrier force raided the Indian Ocean. This force attacked Ceylon in early April, and Vampire was sunk off Trincomalee on 12 April, while escorting HMS Hermes, which was also lost. The Australian Army's 16th and 17th Brigades formed part of the island's garrison at the time of the raid but did not see action. ### Buildup of forces in Australia After the fall of Singapore the Australian Government and many Australians feared that Japan would invade the Australian mainland. Australia was ill-prepared to counter such an attack as the RAAF lacked modern aircraft and the RAN was too small and unbalanced to counter the Imperial Japanese Navy. Additionally, the Army, although large, contained many inexperienced units and lacked mobility. In response to this threat most of the AIF was brought back from the Middle East and the Government appealed to the United States for assistance. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill attempted to divert the 6th and 7th Divisions to Burma while they were en route to Australia, but Curtin refused to authorise this movement. As a compromise two brigades of the 6th Division disembarked at Ceylon and formed part of the island's garrison until they returned to Australia in August 1942. The perceived threat of invasion led to a major expansion of the Australian military. By mid-1942 the Army had a strength of ten infantry divisions, three armoured divisions and hundreds of other units. The RAAF and RAN were also greatly expanded, though it took years for these services to build up to their peak strengths. Due to the increased need for manpower, the restrictions which prohibited non-Europeans from joining the military ceased to be enforced from late 1941, and about 3,000 Indigenous Australians eventually enlisted. Most of these personnel were integrated into existing formations, but a small number of racially segregated units such as the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion were formed. A number of small units made up of Indigenous Australians were also established to patrol northern Australia and harass any Japanese forces which landed there; the members of these units did not receive pay or awards for their service until 1992. Thousands of Australians who were ineligible for service in the military responded to the threat of attack by joining auxiliary organisations such as the Volunteer Defence Corps and Volunteer Air Observers Corps, which were modelled on the British Home Guard and Royal Observer Corps respectively. Australia's population and industrial base were not sufficient to maintain the expanded military after the threat of invasion had passed, and the Army was progressively reduced in size from 1943 while only 53 of the 73 RAAF squadrons approved by the government were ever raised. Despite Australian fears, the Japanese never intended to invade the Australian mainland. While an invasion was considered by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters in February 1942, it was judged to be beyond the Japanese military's capabilities and no planning or other preparations were undertaken. Instead, in March 1942, the Japanese military adopted a strategy of isolating Australia from the United States by capturing Port Moresby in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Samoa and New Caledonia. This plan was frustrated by the Japanese defeat in the Battle of the Coral Sea and was postponed indefinitely after the Battle of Midway. While these battles ended the threat to Australia, the Australian government continued to warn that an invasion was possible until mid-1943. The collapse of British power in the Pacific also led Australia to reorient its foreign and military policy towards the United States. Curtin stated in December 1941 "that Australia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom." In February 1942 the US and British Governments agreed that Australia would become a strategic responsibility of the United States and the Allied ANZAC Force was created specifically to defend the Australian continent. In March, General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia after escaping from the Philippines and assumed command of the South West Pacific Area (SWPA). All of the Australian military's combat units in this area were placed under MacArthur's command, and MacArthur replaced the Australian Chiefs of Staff as the Australian Government's main source of military advice until the end of the war. Australian General Thomas Blamey was appointed the Allied land force commander, but MacArthur did not permit him to command American forces. MacArthur also rejected US Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall's request that he appoint Australians to senior posts in his General Headquarters. Nevertheless, the partnership between Curtin and MacArthur proved beneficial for Australia between 1942 and 1944, as MacArthur was able to communicate Australian requests for assistance to the US Government. Large numbers of United States military personnel were based in Australia during the first years of the Pacific War. The first US units arrived in Australia in early 1942 and almost 1 million US personnel passed through Australia during the war. Many US military bases were constructed in northern Australia during 1942 and 1943, and Australia remained an important source of supplies to US forces in the Pacific until the end of the war. Though relations between Australians and Americans were generally good, there was some conflict between US and Australian soldiers, such as the Battle of Brisbane, and the Australian Government only reluctantly accepted the presence of African American troops. ### Papuan campaign Japanese forces first landed on the mainland of New Guinea on 8 March 1942, when they invaded Lae and Salamaua to secure bases for the defence of the important base they were developing at Rabaul. Australian guerrillas from the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles established observation posts around the Japanese beachheads and the 2/5th Independent Company successfully raided Salamaua on 29 June. After the Battle of the Coral Sea frustrated the Japanese plan to capture Port Morseby via an amphibious landing, the Japanese attempted to capture the town by landing the South Seas Force at Buna on the north coast of Papua and advancing overland using the Kokoda Track to cross the rugged Owen Stanley Range. The Kokoda Track campaign began on 22 July, when the Japanese began their advance, opposed by an ill-prepared CMF brigade designated 'Maroubra Force'. This force was successful in delaying the South Seas Force but was unable to halt it. Two AIF battalions from the 7th Division reinforced the remnants of Maroubra Force on 26 August, but the Japanese continued to make ground and reached the village of Ioribaiwa near Port Moresby on 16 September. The South Seas Force was forced to withdraw back along the track on this day, however, as supply problems made any further advance impossible and an Allied counter-landing at Buna was feared. Australian forces pursued the Japanese along the Kokoda Track and forced them into a small bridgehead on the north coast of Papua in early November. The Allied operations on the Kokoda Track were made possible by native Papuans who were recruited by the Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit, often forcibly, to carry supplies and evacuate wounded personnel. The RAAF and USAAF also played an important role throughout the campaign by attacking the Japanese force's supply lines and airdropping supplies to Australian Army units. Australian forces also defeated an attempt to capture the strategic Milne Bay area in August 1942. During the Battle of Milne Bay two brigades of Australian troops, designated Milne Force, supported by two RAAF fighter squadrons and US Army engineers defeated a smaller Japanese invasion force made up of Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces units. This was the first notable Japanese land defeat and raised Allied morale across the Pacific Theatre. Australian and US forces attacked the Japanese bridgehead in Papua in late November 1942, but did not capture it until January 1943. The Allied force comprised the exhausted 7th Division and the inexperienced and ill-trained US 32nd Infantry Division and was short of artillery and supplies. Due to a lack of supporting weapons and MacArthur and Blamey's insistence on a rapid advance the Allied tactics during the battle were centred around infantry assaults on the Japanese fortifications. These resulted in heavy casualties and the area was not secured until 22 January 1943. Throughout the fighting in Papua, most of the Australian personnel captured by Japanese troops were murdered. In response, Australian soldiers aggressively sought to kill their Japanese opponents for the remainder of the war. The Australians generally did not attempt to capture Japanese personnel, and some prisoners of war were murdered. Following the defeats in Papua and Guadalcanal the Japanese withdrew to a defensive perimeter in the Territory of New Guinea. In order to secure their important bases at Lae and Salamaua they attempted to capture Wau in January 1943. Reinforcements were flown into the town and defeated the Japanese force in its outskirts following heavy fighting. The Japanese force began to withdraw towards the coast on 4 February. Following their defeat at Wau the Japanese attempted to reinforce Lae in preparation for an expected Allied offensive in the area. This ended in disaster when, during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea, a troop convoy was destroyed by USAAF and RAAF aircraft from the US Fifth Air Force and No. 9 Operational Group RAAF with the loss of about 3,000 troops. The Papuan campaign led to a significant reform in the composition of the Australian Army. During the campaign, the restriction banning CMF personnel from serving outside of Australian territory hampered military planning and caused tensions between the AIF and CMF. In late 1942 and early 1943, Curtin overcame opposition within the Labor Party to extending the geographic boundaries in which conscripts could serve to include most of the South West Pacific and the necessary legislation was passed in January 1943. The 11th Brigade was the only CMF formation to serve outside of Australian territory, however, when it formed part of Merauke Force in the NEI during 1943 and 1944. ### Attacks on Australian shipping The Japanese efforts to secure New Guinea included a prolonged submarine offensive against the Allied lines of communication between the United States and Australia and Australia and New Guinea. These were not the first Axis naval attacks on Australia; during 1940 and 1941, five German surface raiders operated in Australian waters at various times. The German attacks were not successful in disrupting Australian merchant shipping, though Sydney was sunk with the loss her entire crew of over 640 men in November 1941, in a battle with the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran, off the coast of Western Australia. Following the defeat of the Japanese surface fleet the IJN deployed submarines to disrupt Allied supply lines by attacking shipping off the Australian east coast. This campaign began with an unsuccessful midget submarine raid on Sydney Harbour on the night of 31 May 1942. Following this attack, Japanese submarines operated along the Australian east coast until August 1942, sinking eight merchant ships. The submarine offensive resumed in January 1943 and continued until June during which time a further 15 ships were sunk off the east coast. The 1943 sinkings included the hospital ship Centaur, which was torpedoed off Queensland on 14 May with the loss of 268 lives. The Japanese did not conduct further submarine attacks against Australia after June 1943, as their submarines were needed to counter Allied offensives elsewhere in the Pacific. A single German submarine, , operated in the Pacific Ocean during the war, cruising off the Australian coast and New Zealand in December 1944 and January 1945. It sank two ships in Australian waters before returning to Batavia. Considerable Australian and other Allied military resources were devoted to protecting shipping and ports from Axis submarines and warships. For instance, the RAN escorted over 1,100 coastal convoys the Army established coastal defences to protect important ports and a high proportion of the RAAF's operational squadrons were used to protect shipping at various times. Nevertheless, the use of these units for defensive tasks and the shipping casualties in Australian waters did not seriously affect the Australian economy or Allied war effort. ### New Guinea offensives After halting the Japanese advance, Allied forces went on the offensive across the SWPA from mid 1943. Australian forces played a key role throughout this offensive, which was designated Operation Cartwheel. In particular, General Blamey oversaw a highly successful series of operations around the north-east tip of New Guinea which "was the high point of Australia's experience of operational level command" during the war. After the successful defence of Wau the 3rd Division began advancing towards Salamaua in April 1943. This advance was mounted to divert attention from Lae, which was one of the main objectives of Operation Cartwheel, and proceeded slowly. In late June, the 3rd Division was reinforced by the US 162nd Regimental Combat Team which staged an amphibious landing to the south of Salamaua. The town was eventually captured on 11 September 1943. In early September 1943, Australian-led forces mounted a pincer movement to capture Lae. On 4 September, 9th Division made an amphibious landing to the east of the town and began advancing to the west. The following day, the US 503rd Parachute Regiment made an unopposed parachute drop at Nadzab, just west of Lae. Once the airborne forces secured Nadzab Airfield the 7th Division was flown in and began advancing to the east in a race with the 9th Division to capture Lae. This race was won by the 7th Division, which captured the town on 15 September. The Japanese forces at Salamaua and Lae suffered heavy losses during this campaign, but were able to escape to the north. After the fall of Lae, the 9th Division was given the task of capturing the Huon Peninsula. The 20th Brigade landed near the strategic harbour of Finschhafen on 22 September 1943, and secured the area. The Japanese responded by dispatching the 20th Division overland to the area and the remainder of the 9th Division was gradually brought in to reinforce the 20th Brigade against the expected counter-attack. The Japanese mounted a strong attack in mid-October which was defeated by the 9th Division after heavy fighting. During the second half of November the 9th Division captured the hills inland of Finschhafen from well dug in Japanese forces. Following its defeat the 20th Division retreated along the coast with the 9th Division and 4th Brigade in pursuit. The Allies scored a major intelligence victory towards the end of this campaign when Australian engineers found the 20th Division's entire cipher library, which had been buried by the retreating Japanese. These documents led to a code breaking breakthrough which enabled MacArthur to accelerate the Allied advance by bypassing Japanese defences. While the 9th Division secured the coastal region of the Huon Peninsula the 7th Division drove the Japanese from the inland Finisterre Range. The Finisterre Range campaign began on 17 September, when the 2/6th Independent Company was air-landed in the Markham Valley. The company defeated a larger Japanese force at Kaiapit and secured an airstrip which was used to fly the Division's 21st and 25th Brigades in. Through aggressive patrolling the Australians forced the Japanese out of positions in extremely rugged terrain and in January 1944, the division began its attack on the key Shaggy Ridge position. The ridge was taken by the end of January, with the RAAF playing a key supporting role. Following this success the Japanese withdrew from the Finisterre Range and Australian troops linked up with American patrols from Saidor on 21 April, and secured Madang on 24 April. In addition to supporting the Army's operations on the New Guinea mainland, the RAN and RAAF took part in offensive operations in the Solomon Islands. This involvement had begun in August 1942, when both of the RAN's heavy cruisers, and , supported the US Marine landing at Guadalcanal. On the night after the landing, Canberra was sunk during the Battle of Savo Island and the RAN played no further role in the Guadalcanal Campaign. RAAF aircraft supported several US Army and Marine landings during 1943 and 1944 and an RAAF radar unit participated in the capture of Arawe. The Australian cruisers Australia and Shropshire and destroyers and provided fire support for the US 1st Marine Division during the Battle of Cape Gloucester and the US 1st Cavalry Division during the Admiralty Islands campaign in late 1943 and early 1944. The landing at Cape Gloucester was also the first operation for the RAN amphibious transport . ### North Western Area Campaign The attack on Darwin in February 1942 marked the start of a prolonged aerial campaign over northern Australia and the Japanese-occupied Netherlands East Indies. Following the first attack on Darwin the Allies rapidly deployed fighter squadrons and reinforced the Army's Northern Territory Force to protect the town from a feared invasion. These air units also attacked Japanese positions in the NEI and the Japanese responded by staging dozens of air raids on Darwin and nearby airfields during 1942 and 1943, few of which caused significant damage. These raids were opposed by US, Australian and British fighters and suffered increasingly heavy casualties as Darwin's defences were improved. The Japanese also conducted a number of small and ineffective raids on towns and airfields in northern Queensland and Western Australia during 1942 and 1943. While the Japanese raids on northern Australia ceased in late 1943, the Allied air offensive continued until the end of the war. During late 1942, Allied aircraft conducted attacks on Timor in support of the Australian guerrillas operating there. From early 1943, US heavy bomber squadrons operated against Japanese targets in the eastern NEI from bases near Darwin. The Allied air offensive against the NEI intensified from June 1943, to divert Japanese forces away from New Guinea and the Solomons and involved Australian, Dutch and US bomber units. These attacks continued until the end of the war, with the US heavy bombers being replaced by Australian B-24 Liberator-equipped squadrons in late 1944. From 1944, several RAAF PBY Catalina squadrons were also based at Darwin and conducted highly effective mine-laying sorties across South East Asia. ### Advance to the Philippines The Australian military's role in the South-West Pacific decreased during 1944. In the latter half of 1943, the Australian Government decided, with MacArthur's agreement, that the size of the military would be reduced to release manpower for war-related industries which were important to supplying Britain and the US forces in the Pacific. Australia's main role in the Allied war effort from this point forward was supplying the other Allied countries with food, materials and manufactured goods needed for the defeat of Japan. As a result of this policy, the Army units available for offensive operations were set at six infantry divisions (the three AIF divisions and three CMF divisions) and two armoured brigades. The size of the RAAF was set at 53 squadrons and the RAN was limited to the ships which were in service or planned to be built at the time. In early 1944, all but two of the Army's divisions were withdrawn to the Atherton Tableland in north Queensland for training and rehabilitation. Several new battalions of Australian-led Papuan and New Guinea troops were formed during 1944, and organised into the Pacific Islands Regiment, however, and largely replaced the Australian Army battalions disbanded during the year. These troops had seen action alongside Australian units throughout the New Guinea campaign. After the liberation of most of Australian New Guinea the RAAF and RAN participated in the US-led Western New Guinea campaign, which had the goal of securing bases to be used to mount the liberation of the Philippines. Australian warships and the fighter, bomber and airfield construction squadrons of No. 10 Operational Group RAAF participated in the capture of Hollandia, Biak, Noemfoor and Morotai. After western New Guinea was secured No. 10 Operation Group was renamed the First Tactical Air Force (1TAF) and was used to protect the flank of the Allied advance by attacking Japanese positions in the NEI and performing other garrison tasks. The losses incurred whilst performing these relatively unimportant roles led to a decline in morale, and contributed to the 'Morotai Mutiny' in April 1945. Elements of the RAN and RAAF also took part in the liberation of the Philippines. Four Australian warships and the assault transports , and Westralia—along with a number of smaller warships and support ships—took part in the US landing at Leyte on 20 October 1944. Australian sources state that Australia became the first Allied ship to be struck by a kamikaze when she was attacked during this operation on 21 October, though this claim was disputed by US historian Samuel Eliot Morison. Australian ships also participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, with Shropshire and Arunta engaging Japanese ships during the Battle of Surigao Strait on 25 October. The Australian naval force took part in the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf in January 1945; during this operation, Australia was struck by a further five Kamikazes which killed 44 of her crew and forced her to withdraw for major repairs. RAN ships also escorted US supply convoys bound for the Philippines. The RAAF's No. 3 Airfield Construction Squadron and No. 1 Wireless Unit also landed in the Philippines and supported US operations there, and 1TAF raided targets in the southern Philippines from bases in the NEI and New Guinea. While the Australian Government offered MacArthur I Corps for service in Leyte and Luzon, nothing came of several proposals to utilise it in the liberation of these islands. The Army's prolonged period of relative inactivity during 1944 led to public concern, and many Australians believed that the AIF should be demobilised if it could not be used for offensive operations. This was politically embarrassing for the government, and helped motivate it to look for new areas where the military could be employed. ### Mopping up in New Guinea and the Solomons In late 1944, the Australian Government committed twelve Australian Army brigades to replace six US Army divisions which were conducting defensive roles in Bougainville, New Britain and the Aitape-Wewak area in New Guinea. While the US units had largely conducted a static defence of their positions, their Australian replacements mounted offensive operations designed to destroy the remaining Japanese forces in these areas. The value of these campaigns was controversial at the time and remains so to this day. The Australian Government authorised these operations for primarily political reasons. It was believed that keeping the Army involved in the war would give Australia greater influence in any post-war peace conferences and that liberating Australian territories would enhance Australia's influence in its region. Critics of these campaigns argue that they were unnecessary and wasteful of the lives of the Australian soldiers involved as the Japanese forces were already isolated and ineffective. The 5th Division replaced the US 40th Infantry Division on New Britain during October and November 1944 and continued the New Britain Campaign with the goals of protecting Allied bases and confining the large Japanese force on the island to the area around Rabaul. In late November the 5th Division established bases closer to the Japanese perimeter and began aggressive patrols supported by the Allied Intelligence Bureau. The division conducted amphibious landings at Open Bay and Wide Bay at the base of the Gazelle Peninsula in early 1945, and defeated the small Japanese garrisons in these areas. By April the Japanese had been confined to their fortified positions in the Gazelle Peninsula by the Australian force's aggressive patrolling. The 5th Division suffered 53 fatalities and 140 wounded during this campaign. After the war it was found that the Japanese force was 93,000 strong, which was much higher than the 38,000 which Allied intelligence had estimated remained on New Britain. The II Corps continued the Bougainville Campaign after it replaced the US Army's XIV Corps between October and December 1944. The corps consisted of the 3rd Division, 11th Brigade and Fiji Infantry Regiment on Bougainville and the 23rd Brigade which garrisoned neighbouring islands and was supported by RAAF, RNZAF and USMC air units. While the XIV Corps had maintained a defensive posture, the Australians conducted offensive operations aimed at destroying the Japanese force on Bougainville. As the Japanese were split into several enclaves the II Corps fought geographically separated campaigns in the north, centre and southern portions of the island. The main focus was against the Japanese base at Buin in the south, and the offensives in the north and centre of the island were largely suspended from May 1945. While Australian operations on Bougainville continued until the end of the war, large Japanese forces remained at Buin and in the north of the island. The 6th Division was assigned responsibility for completing the destruction of the Japanese Eighteenth Army, which was the last large Japanese force remaining in the Australian portion of New Guinea. The division was reinforced by CMF and armoured units and began arriving at Aitape in October 1944. The 6th Division was also supported by several RAAF squadrons and RAN warships. In late 1944, the Australians launched a two-pronged offensive to the east towards Wewak. The 17th Brigade advanced through the inland Torricelli Mountains while the remainder of the division moved along the coast. Although the Eighteenth Army had suffered heavy casualties from previous fighting and disease, it mounted a strong resistance and inflicted significant casualties. The 6th Division's advance was also hampered by supply difficulties and bad weather. The Australians secured the coastal area by early May, with Wewak being captured on 10 May, after a small force was landed to the east of the town. By the end of the war, the Eighteenth Army had been forced into what it had designated its 'last stand' area which was under attack from the 6th Division. The Aitape-Wewak campaign cost Australia 442 lives while about 9,000 Japanese died and another 269 were taken prisoner. ### Borneo Campaign The Borneo Campaign of 1945 was the last major Allied campaign in the SWPA. In a series of amphibious assaults between 1 May and 21 July, the Australian I Corps, under Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead, attacked Japanese forces occupying the island. Allied naval and air forces, centred on the US 7th Fleet under Admiral Thomas Kinkaid, 1TAF and the US Thirteenth Air Force also played important roles in the campaign. The goals of this campaign were to capture Borneo's oilfields and Brunei Bay to support the US-led invasion of Japan and British-led liberation of Malaya which were planned to take place later in 1945. The Australian Government did not agree to MacArthur's proposal to extend the offensive to include the liberation of Java in July 1945, however, and its decision to not release the 6th Division for this operation contributed to it not going ahead. The campaign opened on 1 May 1945, when the 26th Brigade Group landed on the small island of Tarakan off the east coast of Borneo. The goal of this operation was to secure the island's airstrip as a base to support the planned landings at Brunei and Balikpapan. While it had been expected that it would take only a few weeks to secure Tarakan and re-open the airstrip, intensive fighting on the island lasted until 19 June, and the airstrip was not opened until 28 June. As a result, the operation is generally considered to have not been worthwhile. The second phase of the Borneo Campaign began on 10 June when the 9th Division conducted simultaneous assaults on the north-west on the island of Labuan and the coast of Brunei. While Brunei was quickly secured, the Japanese garrison on Labuan held out for over a week. After the Brunei Bay region was secured the 24th Brigade was landed in North Borneo and the 20th Brigade advanced along the western coast of Borneo south from Brunei. Both brigades rapidly advanced against weak Japanese resistance, and most of north-west Borneo was liberated by the end of the war. During the campaign the 9th Division was assisted by indigenous fighters who were waging a guerrilla war against Japanese forces with the support of Australian special forces. The third and final stage of the Borneo Campaign was the capture of Balikpapan on the central east coast of the island. This operation had been opposed by General Blamey, who believed that it was unnecessary, but went ahead on the orders of Macarthur. After a preliminary air and naval bombardment the 7th Division landed near the town on 1 July. Balikpapan and its surrounds were secured after some heavy fighting on 21 July, but mopping up continued until the end of the war. The capture of Balikpapan was the last large-scale land operation conducted by the Western Allies during World War II. Although the Borneo Campaign was criticised in Australia at the time, and in subsequent years, as pointless or a waste of the lives of soldiers, it did achieve a number of objectives, such as increasing the isolation of significant Japanese forces occupying the main part of the Dutch East Indies, capturing major oil supplies and freeing Allied prisoners of war, who were being held in deteriorating conditions. Australia's leadership changed again during the Borneo Campaign. Prime Minister Curtin suffered a heart attack in November 1944, and Deputy Prime Minister Frank Forde acted in his place until 22 January 1945. Curtin was hospitalised with another bout of illness in April 1945, and Treasurer Ben Chifley became acting Prime Minister as Forde was attending the San Francisco Conference. Curtin died on 5 July 1945, and Forde was sworn in as Prime Minister. Forde did not have the support of his party, however, and was replaced by Chifley after a leadership ballot on 13 July. ### Intelligence and special forces Australia developed large intelligence services during the war. Prior the outbreak of war the Australian military possessed almost no intelligence gathering facilities and was reliant on information passed on by the British intelligence services. Several small signals intelligence units were established in 1939 and 1940, which had some success intercepting and deciphering Japanese transmissions before the outbreak of the Pacific War. MacArthur began organising large scale intelligence services shortly after his arrival in Australia. On 15 April 1942, the joint Australian-US Central Bureau signals intelligence organisation was established at Melbourne. Central Bureau's headquarters moved to Brisbane in July 1942, and Manila in May 1945. Australians made up half the strength of Central Bureau, which was expanded to over 4,000 personnel by 1945. The Australian Army and RAAF also provided most of the Allied radio interception capability in the SWPA, and the number of Australian radio interception units was greatly expanded between 1942 and 1945. Central Bureau broke a number of Japanese codes and the intelligence gained from these decryptions and radio direction finding greatly assisted Allied forces in the SWPA. Australian special forces played a significant role in the Pacific War. Following the outbreak of war commando companies were deployed to Timor, the Solomon and Bismarck islands and New Caledonia. Although the 1st Independent Company was swiftly overwhelmed when the Japanese invaded the Solomon Islands in early 1942, the 2/2nd and 2/4th Independent Companies waged a successful guerrilla campaign on Timor which lasted from February 1942 to February 1943, when the Australian force was evacuated. Other commando units also played an important role in the New Guinea, New Britain, Bougainville and Borneo campaigns throughout the war where they were used to collect intelligence, spearhead offensives and secure the flanks of operations conducted by conventional infantry. Australia also formed small-scale raiding and reconnaissance forces, most of which were grouped together as the Allied Intelligence Bureau. Z Special Unit conducted raids far behind the front line, including a successful raid on Singapore in September 1943. M Special Unit, coastwatchers and smaller AIB units also operated behind Japanese lines to collect intelligence. AIB parties were often used to support Australian Army units and were assigned to inappropriate tasks such as tactical reconnaissance and liaison. AIB missions in Timor and Dutch New Guinea were also hampered by being placed under the command of unpopular Dutch colonial administrators. The RAAF formed a specially equipped unit (No. 200 Flight) in 1945 to support these operations by transporting and supplying AIB parties in areas held by the Japanese. ### Operations against the Japanese home islands Australia played a minor role in the Japan campaign in the last months of the war and was preparing to participate in the invasion of Japan at the time the war ended. Several Australian warships operated with the British Pacific Fleet (BPF) during the Battle of Okinawa and Australian destroyers later escorted British aircraft carriers and battleships during attacks on targets in the Japanese home islands. Despite its distance from Japan, Australia was the BPF's main base and a large number of facilities were built to support the fleet. Australia's participation in the planned invasion of Japan would have involved elements of all three services fighting as part of Commonwealth forces. It was planned to form a new 10th Division from existing AIF personnel which would form part of the Commonwealth Corps with British, Canadian and New Zealand units. The corps' organisation was to be identical to that of a US Army corps, and it would have participated in the invasion of the Japanese home island of Honshū which was scheduled for March 1946. Australian ships would have operated with the BPF and US Pacific Fleet and two RAAF heavy bomber squadrons and a transport squadron were scheduled to be redeployed from Britain to Okinawa to join the strategic bombardment of Japan as part of Tiger Force. Planning for operations against Japan ceased in August 1945, when Japan surrendered following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. General Blamey signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on behalf of Australia during the ceremony held on board USS Missouri on 2 September 1945. Several RAN warships were among the Allied ships anchored in Tokyo Bay during the proceedings. Following the main ceremony on board Missouri, Japanese field commanders surrendered to Allied forces across the Pacific Theatre. Australian forces accepted the surrender of their Japanese opponents at ceremonies conducted at Morotai, several locations in Borneo, Timor, Wewak, Rabaul, Bougainville and Nauru. ## Australians in other theatres In addition to the major deployments, Australian military units and service men and women served in other theatres of the war, typically as part of British-led Commonwealth forces. About 14,000 Australians also served in the Merchant Navy and crewed ships in many areas of the world. Australia played a minor role in the British-led campaigns against Vichy French colonial possessions in Africa. In late September 1940, the heavy cruiser took part in the unsuccessful British and Free French attempt to capture Dakar in which she sank a Vichy French destroyer. The Australian Government was not informed of the cruiser's involvement in this operation prior to the battle and complained to the British Government. Three Australian destroyers also took part in the invasion of Madagascar in September 1942. Closer to home, played a significant role in ensuring that New Caledonia came under Free French control in September 1940, by escorting a pro-Free French Governor to Nouméa and taking station off the city during the popular protests which resulted in the Governor replacing the pro-Vichy authorities. Australian warships served in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf through much of the war. From June to October 1940, took part in the East African Campaign, and played an important role in the successful evacuation of Berbera. In May 1941, Yarra supported an operation in which Gurkha troops were landed near Basra during the Anglo-Iraqi War. In August 1941, Yarra and Kanimbla took part in the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran, with Yarra sinking the Iranian sloop Babr near Kohorramshahr and Kanimbla landing troops at Bandar Shapur. A dozen Bathurst-class corvettes also escorted Allied shipping in the Persian Gulf during 1942. While most Australian units in the Pacific Theatre fought in the SWPA, hundreds of Australians were posted to British units in Burma and India. These included 45 men from the 8th Division who volunteered to train Chinese guerrillas with the British Mission 204 in southern China and served there from February to September 1942. Hundreds of Australians also served with RAF units in India and Burma, though no RAAF units were deployed to this theatre. In May 1943, some 330 Australians were serving in forty-one squadrons in India, of which only nine had more than ten Australians. In addition, many of the RAN's corvettes and destroyers served with the British Eastern Fleet where they were normally used to protect convoys in the Indian Ocean from attacks by Japanese and German submarines. ## Prisoners of war Just under 29,000 Australians were taken prisoner by the Axis during the war. Only 14,000 of the 21,467 Australian prisoners taken by the Japanese survived captivity. The majority of the deaths in captivity were due to malnutrition and disease. The 8,000 Australians captured by Germany and Italy were generally treated in accordance with the Geneva Conventions. The majority of these men were taken during the fighting in Greece and Crete in 1941, with the next largest group being 1,400 airmen shot down over Europe. Like other western Allied POWs, the Australians were held in permanent camps in Italy and Germany. As the war neared its end the Germans moved many prisoners towards the interior of the country to prevent them from being liberated by the advancing Allied armies. These movements were often made through forced marches in harsh weather and resulted in many deaths. Four Australians were also executed following a mass escape from Stalag Luft III in March 1944. While the Australian prisoners suffered a higher death rate in German and Italian captivity than their counterparts in World War I, it was much lower than the rate suffered under Japanese internment. Like the other Allied personnel captured by the Japanese, most of the thousands of Australians captured in the first months of 1942, during the conquest of Malaya and Singapore, the NEI and New Britain were held in harsh conditions. Australians were held in camps across the Asia-Pacific region and many endured long voyages in grossly overcrowded ships. While most of the Australian POWs who died in Japanese captivity were the victim of deliberate malnutrition and disease, hundreds were deliberately killed by their guards. The Burma–Thai Railway was the most notorious of the prisoner of war experiences, as 13,000 Australians worked on it at various times during 1942 and 1943, alongside thousands of other Allied POWs and Asians conscripted by the Japanese; nearly 2,650 Australians died there. Thousands of Australian POWs were also sent to the Japanese home islands where they worked in factories and mines in generally harsh conditions. The POWs held in camps at Ambon and Borneo suffered the highest death rates; 77 percent of those at Ambon died and few of the 2,500 Australian and British prisoners in Borneo survived; almost all were killed by overwork and a series of death marches in 1945. The treatment of the POWs prompted many Australians to remain hostile towards Japan after the war. Australian authorities investigated the abuses against Allied POWs in their country's zone of responsibility after the war, and guards who were believed to have mistreated prisoners were among those tried by Australian-administered war crimes trials. Thousands of Axis POWs were held in Australia during the war. A total of 25,720 POWs were held in Australia: 18,432 Italians, 5,637 Japanese and 1,651 Germans. These prisoners were housed in purpose-built camps and were treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention. A total of 16,798 civilians were also interned. These included 8,921 Australian-resident "enemy aliens", while the remainder were civilians sent to Australia for internment by other Allied countries. On the morning of 5 August 1944, approximately half of the 1,104 Japanese held at a camp near Cowra, New South Wales, attempted to escape. The prisoners overwhelmed their guards and over 400 broke through the wire fences; however, every escapee was either recaptured or killed within 10 days. ## Home front During the war the Australian Government greatly expanded its powers in order to better direct the war effort, and Australia's industrial and human resources were focused on supporting the Allied armed forces. The expansion of the government's powers began on 9 September 1939, when the National Security Act became law. This act enabled the government to introduce industrial conscription, and both men and women were ordered into essential industries. Rationing was first introduced in 1940, and was greatly expanded during 1942. The Government also strongly encouraged austerity and war bonds as a means of reducing demand for scarce resources. Government policies to develop war-related industries were successful in increasing the sophistication of Australia's industrial sector and self-sufficiency in most categories of weapons. In the decades leading up to the war successive Australian governments had provided subsidies, tariffs and other incentives to encourage the development of military-related manufacturing sectors such as the production of aircraft, automobiles, electronics and chemicals. These secondary industries were integrated into a war economy during 1940 and 1941, and were able to meet most of the Army's needs by 1942. Government-led efforts to develop and manufacture advanced technology enjoyed some notable successes, including the development of lightweight radar sets, optical devices for artillery and equipment adapted for use in the tropics. Australian industry also developed new weapons which were mass-produced for the military, including the Owen submachine gun and a shortened version of the Ordnance QF 25 pounder. In addition, Australian scientists and pharmaceutical companies made important advances in the treatment of tropical diseases. Not all development projects were successful though: efforts to develop an Australian tank (the Sentinel) did not cease until after it had been rendered obsolete and unnecessary, and the development of Australian-designed advanced bomber and fighter aircraft—the CAC Woomera and CAC CA-15 respectively—were abandoned as the engines these aircraft required were not available and adequate US and British designs were produced under licence instead. The massive expansion of the military led to a critical shortage of male workers and increased female participation in the labour force. The number of Australian women in paid employment increased from 644,000 in 1939, to 855,000 in 1944. While this was only a five percentage point increase in the proportion of all Australian women who were working, large numbers of women moved from traditionally "female" roles such as domestic servants into "male" roles in industry. Female branches of the armed forces were established in 1941, and by 1944 almost 50,000 women were serving in the Women's Royal Australian Naval Service, Australian Women's Army Service and Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force. Thousands more served with the civilian Australian Women's Land Army or undertook voluntary war work. Manpower shortages became an increasingly significant economic issue towards the end of the war, and the Australian military was reduced in size from 1944, to free up personnel for war industries and the civilian economy. Industrial conscription and the drive to increase productivity led to an increasing degree of industrial unrest over time. Many workers were required to work long hours in poor conditions and were not able to change their employment due to the manpower laws. Poor work conditions were exacerbated by the Government's austerity measures reducing workers' standards of living. As a result, strikes and other forms of protest disrupted Australian production, especially from 1943 onwards. These protests attracted considerable criticism from other civilians and members of the military. In May 1943, the Government introduced policies which enabled workers who were undertaking unlawful industrial action to be conscripted into the military, but this had little impact due to the shortage of skilled labour in the industries most prone to industrial disputes. World War II marked the beginning of a long period of Australian economic growth. The war greatly increased the size and importance of the Australian manufacturing sector and stimulated the development of more technologically advanced industries. As part of this trend many workers acquired relatively high skill levels and female labour force participation rates greatly increased. Many women were forced out of traditionally male-dominated industries after the war, however. ## After the war World War II cost thousands of Australian lives and consumed a large portion of the national income. During the war, 27,073 members of the Australian military were either killed, died of wounds or died while prisoners of war. Of these, 9,572 were killed in the war against Germany and Italy and 17,501 in the war against Japan. Prisoners of war held by the Japanese made up nearly half of Australia's deaths in the Pacific. At least 386 Australian civilian seamen were killed during the war. Total Australian war expenditure was £2,949,380,000 and at its peak in 1942–43, military costs accounted for 40.1 percent of national income. In the months after the war, Australian authorities were responsible for administering all of Borneo and the NEI east of Lombok until the British and Dutch colonial governments were re-established. While British and Indian forces in the west of the NEI became caught up in the Indonesian National Revolution, the Australians were able to avoid clashes with local nationalists. Australian forces were also responsible for guarding the 344,000 remaining Japanese in the NEI and Australian territories and administering war crimes trials in these areas. A volunteer force was formed as Australia's contribution to the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) in Japan, and Australia provided the BCOF's headquarters and a high proportion of its personnel. This force later formed the nucleus of the post-war Australian Army, which included permanent combat units for the first time. The Australian military was rapidly demobilised after the Japanese surrender. At the end of the war the military had a strength of nearly 600,000 personnel, of whom 224,000 were serving in the Pacific and 20,000 in Britain and other places. Demobilisation planning had begun at the end of 1942 with the final scheme being approved by the Government in March 1945. General demobilisation started on 1 October 1945, and was completed in February 1947. The process generally ran smoothly, though there were protests over delays at Morotai and Bougainville. Personnel were provided with training while they waited to be demobilised and the government provided post-demobilisation assistance with employment, loans, education and other benefits. Service women were given similar assistance to their male counterparts, but were placed under pressure to return to 'traditional' family roles. World War II led to significant changes to Australian society. Economically, the war accelerated the development of Australia's manufacturing industry and led to a large fall in unemployment. The impact of World War II changed Australian society, and contributed to the development of a more cosmopolitan society in which women were able to play a larger role. The war also resulted in a greater maturity in Australia's approach to international affairs, as demonstrated by the development of a more independent foreign policy and the encouragement of mass immigration after the war. ## See also - Military history of the British Commonwealth in the Second World War - Military history of New Zealand during World War II
14,158,329	Cortinarius caperatus	1,155,302,736	Species of fungus	[ "Cortinarius", "Edible fungi", "Fungi described in 1796", "Fungi of Asia", "Fungi of Europe", "Fungi of Iceland", "Fungi of North America", "Taxa named by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon" ]	Cortinarius caperatus is an edible mushroom of the genus Cortinarius found in northern regions of Europe and North America. It was known as Rozites caperata for many years before genetic studies revealed that it belonged to the genus Cortinarius. The fruit bodies appear in autumn in coniferous and beech woods as well as heathlands in late summer and autumn. The ochre-coloured cap is up to 10 cm (4 in) across and has a fibrous surface. The clay-colored gills are attached to the stipe under the cap, and the stipe is whitish with a whitish ring. The Latin specific name, caperatus, means wrinkled, and refers to the distinctive texture of the cap. The flesh has a mild smell and flavor. Popular with mushroom foragers, C. caperatus is picked seasonally in throughout Europe. Although mild-tasting and highly regarded, the mushrooms are often infested with maggots. In central Europe, old specimens could be confused with the poisonous Inosperma erubescens in summer. Fruiting bodies of C. caperatus have been found to bioaccumulate mercury and radioactive isotopes of caesium. ## Taxonomy The mushroom was originally described as Agaricus caperatus in 1796 by South African mycologist Christiaan Hendrik Persoon, who noted it grew in beech woods. The specific epithet caperatus is Latin for "wrinkled". Bohemian naturalist Julius Vincenz von Krombholz illustrated it in his Naturgetreue Abbildungen und Beschreibungen der essbaren, schädlichen und verdächtigen Schwämme, published between 1831 and 1846. It was transferred to the genus Cortinarius by the Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries in 1838. Later it was transferred to Pholiota in 1874 by French mycologist Claude Casimir Gillet, a placement followed by Italian naturalist Pier Andrea Saccardo. Finnish mycologist Petter Adolf Karsten established the genus Rozites in 1879 to accommodate the species—as Rozites caperatus—on the basis of the mushroom having a double veil; that is, a partial veil—the remnants of which become a ring on the stipe—as well as a universal veil. It was known as a Rozites species for many years. Meanwhile, French mycologist Lucien Quélet classified Pholiota as a subgenus of Dryophila in 1886, resulting in Dryophila caperata being added to the species' synonymy. Worthington George Smith placed it in his new genus Togaria (now considered a synonym of Agrocybe). Genetic analysis in 2000 and 2002 showed that Rozites was not a discrete group and its members were nested within Cortinarius. This fungus was found to be closely related to the New Zealand species C. meleagris and C. subcastanellus, both also formerly of Rozites. Hence it has once more been placed within Cortinarius. Within the genus it is classified in the subgenus Cortinarius. Common names include the gypsy mushroom, gypsy, and wrinkled rozites. In Finland, the common name is granny's nightcap. ## Description C. caperatus has a buff to brownish-ochre cap 5–10 cm (2–4 in) diameter, which is covered with whitish fibres. The surface has a wrinkled and furrowed texture. It may have a lilac tinge when young. It is convex initially before expanding and flattening with a boss (umbo) in the centre. The stipe is 4–7 cm (1+5⁄8–2+3⁄4 in) high and 1–1.5 cm (3⁄8–5⁄8 in) thick and slightly swollen at the base, and is whitish with a whitish ring, which is initially attached to the cap. Also known as a partial veil, this is a key identifying feature of the mushroom. The clay-coloured gills are free—they do not reach the stipe under the cap. The spores give an ochre-brown spore print, and the warty almond-shaped spores measure 10–13 μm long by 8–9 μm wide. The flesh is cream-coloured and the flavor mild. Similar-looking North American species include Agrocybe praecox, which lacks the wrinkled cap and is found in cultivated areas, and Phaeolepiota aurea, which has powdery-granular surface. In central Europe, old specimens could be mistaken for the highly poisonous Inosperma erubescens in summer, and young mushrooms for the inedible Cortinarius traganus, although the latter is readily distinguished by its unpleasant odour. ## Distribution and habitat C. caperatus is found across northern Europe, mainly in Scandinavia, where it is common, although it is uncommon in Denmark and Iceland. In the British Isles it is uncommon outside the Scottish Highlands and the New Forest. It has been classified as vulnerable in Germany and Great Britain and endangered in the Netherlands. C. caperatus had become less common in the vicinity of Salzburg in Austria between 1937 and 1988, thought due to picking. It is widely found in northern parts of North America, as far south as Mendocino County on the west coast. It is uncommon in California. C. caperatus is a rare component of subarctic areas of western Greenland. The fungus also grows in temperate Asia, having been recorded growing with bilberry near oriental beech (Fagus orientalis) and fir near Pamukova in the Marmara Region of Turkey. It is also found in boggy areas of the taiga (boreal pine forest) in western Siberia. Fruiting bodies sprout from August to October in conifer and beech woods, as well as heather (often close by sphagnum) in Scotland. It is mycorrhizal but non-selective in its hosts. Mushrooms appear from September to November in North America, and July and August in Alaska. It prefers acidic and sandy soils and avoids chalky ones, and may be found in the same habitats as bay bolete (Imleria badia), brown roll-rim (Paxillus involutus), and chanterelles. It forms relationships with Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). It is often found under Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), or near huckleberry in North America. In Alaska it grows with dwarf birch (Betula nana) and American dwarf birch (B. glandulosa). In Greenland, it grows in association with white birch (Betula pubescens). ## Edibility C. caperatus is a highly regarded edible mushroom with a mild to good flavour. It is said to mix well with stronger-flavoured fungi such as chanterelles, boletes, brittlegills or milk-caps. The mushroom can have a faintly bitter taste if eaten raw, but a pleasant nutty flavour when cooked. It can readily be dried for later use, such as adding to soups and stews. It is sold commercially in Finland, and is a popular target of foragers in many parts of Europe. The mushrooms are often found to be infested with maggots when picked. Mycologist David Arora recommends discarding the tough stipes. ### Radioactivity and environmental contamination The popularity of C. caperatus across Europe has led to safety concerns related to its propensity to accumulate contaminants. Fungi are very efficient at absorbing radioactive isotopes of caesium from the soil and naturally have trace amounts of the element. Caesium may take the place of potassium, which exists in high concentrations in mushrooms. C. caperatus bioaccumulates radioactive caesium <sup>137</sup>Cs—a product of nuclear testing—much more than many other mushroom species. Levels dramatically rose after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. This is a potential health issue as picking and eating wild mushrooms is a popular pastime in central and eastern Europe. Elevated <sup>137</sup>Cs levels were also found in ruminants that eat mushrooms in Scandinavia in the 1990s. Mushrooms from Reggio Emilia in Italy were found to have raised levels of <sup>134</sup>Cs. C. caperatus from various sites across Poland has also been found to contain increased levels of mercury. ## See also - List of Cortinarius species
58,376	École Polytechnique massacre	1,173,891,955	1989 mass shooting in Montréal, Canada	[ "1980s in Montreal", "1989 crimes", "1989 in Quebec", "1989 mass shootings in North America", "1989 murders in Canada", "Crime in Montreal", "Deaths by firearm in Quebec", "December 1989 events", "December 1989 events in Canada", "Hate crimes", "History of Canada (1982–1992)", "History of women in Canada", "Incidents of violence against women", "Mass shootings in Canada", "Mass shootings in Quebec", "Massacres in 1989", "Massacres in Canada", "Massacres of women", "Murder in Canada", "Murder in Quebec", "Murder–suicides in Canada", "School killings in Canada", "School massacres", "School shootings in Canada", "Spree shootings in Canada", "University and college shootings", "Université de Montréal", "Violence against women in Canada", "Women in Montreal", "Women in Quebec", "École Polytechnique massacre" ]	The École Polytechnique massacre (French: tuerie de l'École polytechnique), also known as the Montreal massacre, was an antifeminist mass shooting that occurred on December 6, 1989 at the École Polytechnique de Montréal in Montreal, Quebec. Fourteen women were murdered; another ten women and four men were injured. Perpetrator Marc Lépine, armed with a legally obtained Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic rifle and hunting knife, entered a mechanical engineering class at the École Polytechnique. He ordered the women to one side of the classroom, and instructed the men to leave. After claiming that he was "fighting feminism", he shot all nine women in the room, killing six. The shooter then moved through corridors, the cafeteria, and another classroom, specifically targeting women, for just under 20 minutes. He killed eight more women before ending his own life. In total, 14 women were killed and 14 others were injured. The massacre is now widely regarded as an anti-feminist attack and representative of wider societal violence against women; the anniversary of the massacre is commemorated as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. After the attack, Canadians debated various interpretations of the events, their significance, and the shooter's motives. Other interpretations emphasized the shooter's abuse as a child or suggested that the massacre was the isolated act of a madman, unrelated to larger social issues. The incident led to more stringent gun control laws in Canada, and increased action to end violence against women. It also resulted in changes in emergency services protocols to shootings, including immediate, active intervention by police. These changes were later credited with minimizing casualties during incidents in Montreal and elsewhere. The massacre remained the deadliest mass shooting in Canada until the 2020 Nova Scotia attacks over 30 years later. ## Timeline Sometime after 4 p.m. on December 6, 1989, Marc Lépine arrived at the building housing the École Polytechnique, an engineering school affiliated with the Université de Montréal, armed with a Ruger Mini-14 rifle and a hunting knife. He had purchased the gun less than a month earlier on November 21 in a Checkmate Sports store in Montreal. He had told the clerk that he was going to use it to hunt small game. He had been in and around the École Polytechnique building at least seven times in the weeks leading up to December 6. The perpetrator first sat in the office of the registrar on the second floor for a while, where he was seen rummaging through a plastic bag. He did not speak to anyone, even when a staff member asked if she could help him. He then left the office and was seen in other parts of the building before entering a second-floor mechanical engineering class of about sixty students at about 5:10 p.m. After approaching the student giving a presentation, he asked everyone to stop everything and ordered the women and men to opposite sides of the classroom. No one moved at first, believing it to be a joke until he fired a shot into the ceiling. Lépine then separated the nine women from the approximately fifty men and ordered the men to leave. He asked the women whether they knew why they were there; instead of replying, a student asked who he was. He answered that he was fighting feminism. One of the students, Nathalie Provost, protested that they were women studying engineering, not feminists fighting against men or marching to prove that they were better. He responded by opening fire on the students from left to right, killing six—Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, and Annie St-Arneault—and wounding three others, including Provost. Before leaving the room, he wrote the word "shit" twice on a student project. The gunman continued into the second-floor corridor and wounded three students before entering another room where he twice attempted to shoot a female student. When his weapon failed to fire, he entered the emergency staircase where he was seen reloading his gun. He returned to the room he had just left, but the students had locked the door; he failed to unlock it with three shots fired into the door. Moving along the corridor, he shot at others, wounding one, before moving towards the financial services office, where he shot and killed Maryse Laganière through the window of the door she had just locked. The perpetrator next went down to the first-floor cafeteria, in which about 100 people were gathered. He shot nursing student Barbara Maria Klucznick near the kitchens and wounded another student, and the crowd scattered. Entering an unlocked storage area at the end of the cafeteria, the gunman shot and killed Anne-Marie Edward and Geneviève Bergeron, who were hiding there. He told a male and female student to come out from under a table; they complied and were not shot. The shooter then walked up an escalator to the third floor where he shot and wounded one female and two male students in the corridor. He entered another classroom and told the men to "get out", shooting and wounding Maryse Leclair, who was standing on the low platform at the front of the classroom, giving a presentation. He fired on students in the front row and then killed Maud Haviernick and Michèle Richard who were trying to escape the room, while other students dived under their desks. The killer moved towards some of the female students, wounding three of them and killing Annie Turcotte. He changed the magazine in his weapon and moved to the front of the class, shooting in all directions. At this point, the wounded Leclair asked for help; the gunman unsheathed his hunting knife and stabbed her three times, killing her. He took off his cap, wrapped his coat around his rifle, exclaimed, "Oh shit", and then killed himself with a shot to the head, 20 minutes after having begun his attack. About 60 unfired cartridges remained in the boxes he carried with him. After briefing reporters outside, Montreal Police director of public relations Pierre Leclair entered the building and found his daughter Maryse's stabbed body. The Quebec and Montreal governments declared three days of mourning. A joint funeral for nine of the women was held at Notre-Dame Basilica on December 11, 1989, and was attended by Governor General Jeanne Sauvé, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Quebec premier Robert Bourassa, and Montreal mayor Jean Doré, along with thousands of other mourners. ## Victims Lépine killed 14 women (12 engineering students, one nursing student, and one employee of the university) and injured 14 others, 10 women and four men. - Geneviève Bergeron (born 1968), civil engineering student - Hélène Colgan (born 1966), mechanical engineering student - Nathalie Croteau (born 1966), mechanical engineering student - Barbara Daigneault (born 1967), mechanical engineering student - Anne-Marie Edward (born 1968), chemical engineering student - Maud Haviernick (born 1960), materials engineering student - Maryse Laganière (born 1964), budget clerk in the École Polytechnique's finance department - Maryse Leclair (born 1966), materials engineering student - Anne-Marie Lemay (born 1967), mechanical engineering student - Sonia Pelletier (born 1961), mechanical engineering student - Michèle Richard (born 1968), materials engineering student - Annie St-Arneault (born 1966), mechanical engineering student - Annie Turcotte (born 1969), materials engineering student - Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz (born 1958), nursing student ## Perpetrator The shooter, Marc Lépine, Gamil Gharbi, was born to a French-Canadian mother and an Algerian father. His father, a mutual funds salesman, did not consider women to be the equal of men. He was physically and verbally abusive to his wife and son, discouraging tenderness between the two. When Gamil was seven, his parents separated; his father ceased contact with his children soon after. His mother returned to nursing to support the family, and because of her schedule, the children lived with other families during the week. At 14, Gamil changed his name to "Marc Lépine", citing his hatred of his father as the reason for taking his mother's surname. Lépine attempted to join the Canadian Army during the winter of 1980–1981 but, according to his suicide letter, was rejected because he was "anti-social". The brief biography of the shooter that police released the day after the killings described him as intelligent but troubled. He disliked feminists, career women and women in traditionally-male occupations, such as the police force. He began a pre-university CEGEP (college) program in Pure Sciences in 1982, but switched to a three-year vocational program in electronics technology after his first year. He abandoned this program in his final semester without explanation. Lépine applied to the École Polytechnique in 1986 and in 1989 but lacked two CEGEP courses required for admission. He completed one of them in the winter of 1989. ### Suicide letter On the day of the massacre, Lépine wrote three letters: two were sent to friends, and one was found in an inside pocket of his jacket. Some details from the suicide letter were revealed by the police in the days after the tragedy but the full text was not disclosed. The media brought an unsuccessful access to information case to compel the police to release the suicide letter. A year after the attacks, the three-page statement was leaked to journalist and feminist Francine Pelletier. It contained a list of nineteen Quebec women whom the shooter apparently wished to kill because he considered them feminists. The list included Pelletier herself, as well as a union leader, a politician, a TV personality, and six police officers who had come to the killer's attention as they were on the same volleyball team. The letter (without the list of women) was subsequently published in the newspaper La Presse, where Pelletier was a columnist. Lépine wrote that he considered himself rational and that he blamed feminists for ruining his life. He outlined his reasons for the attack including his anger towards feminists for seeking social changes that "retain the advantages of being women [...] while trying to grab those of the men". He also mentioned Denis Lortie, a Canadian Armed Forces corporal who killed three government employees and wounded thirteen others in an armed attack on the National Assembly of Quebec on May 8, 1984. The text of the original letter in French is available, as well as an English translation. ## Search for a rationale The massacre profoundly shocked Canadians. Government and criminal justice officials feared that extensive public discussion about the massacre would cause pain to the families and lead to antifeminist violence. As a result, a public inquiry was not held, and Lépine's suicide letter was not released. In addition, although an extensive police investigation into the perpetrator and the killings took place, the resulting report was not made public, though a copy was used by the coroner as a source in her investigation. The media, academics, women's organizations, and family members of the victims protested the lack of a public inquiry and paucity of information released. The gender of the victims, as well as his oral statements during the massacre and in the suicide note, has led to the event being seen as an antifeminist attack and as an example of the wider issue of violence against women. Lépine's suicide note contained a list of 19 "radical feminists" he wanted to kill if he had time to do so. Initially, however, politicians and the media downplayed the antifeminism of the attack. Political leaders such as Robert Bourassa, Claude Ryan, and Jacques Parizeau spoke about "victims" and "youth" rather than "women" or "girls". The television journalist Barbara Frum, pleaded that the massacre not be seen as an antifeminist attack or violence against women, and questioned why people insisted on "diminishing" the tragedy by "suggesting that it was an act against just one group?" As predicted by the shooter in his suicide letter, some saw the event as the isolated act of a madman. A psychiatrist interviewed the gunman's family and friends, and examined his writings as part of the police investigation. He noted that the perpetrator defined suicide as his primary motivation, and that he chose a specific suicide method, namely killing oneself after killing others (multiple homicide/suicide strategy), which is considered a sign of a serious personality disorder. Other psychiatrists emphasized the traumatic events of his childhood, suggesting that the blows he had received may have caused brain damage, or that he was psychotic, having lost touch with reality as he tried to erase the memories of a brutal (yet largely absent) father while unconsciously identifying with a violent masculinity that dominated women. A different theory was that the shooter's childhood experiences of abuse led him to feel victimized as he faced losses and rejections in his later life. His mother wondered whether her son might have suffered from attachment disorder, due to the abuse and sense of abandonment he had experienced in his childhood. Others framed the killer's actions as the result of societal changes that had led to increased poverty, powerlessness, individual isolation, and polarization between men and women. Noting the gunman's interest in violent action films, some suggested that violence in the media and in society may have influenced his actions. Following the shootings at Dawson College in September 2006, Globe and Mail columnist Jan Wong controversially suggested that Lépine may have felt alienated from Quebec society as he was the child of an immigrant. In the years since, however, the attack has been widely acknowledged by the public, governments and the media as a misogynistic attack on women and on feminism. Scholars consider the gunman's actions to spring from a widespread societal misogyny, including tolerance of violence against women. Criminologists regard the massacre as an example of a hate or bias crime against women, as the victims were selected solely because of their membership in the category of women, and those targeted were interchangeable with others from the same group. They categorize it as a "pseudo-community" type of "pseudo-commando" murder-suicide, in which the perpetrator targets a specific group, often in a public place, and intends to die in "a blaze of glory". Individuals close to the massacre also commented: Lépine's mother wondered if the attack was not directed at her, as some would have considered her a feminist since she was a single, working mother. Survivor Nathalie Provost who, during and after the attack, denied being a feminist, later claimed this "beautiful title" for herself, and stated her view that the massacre was clearly an anti-feminist act. ## Legacy The injured and witnesses among university staff and students suffered a variety of physical, social, existential, financial, and psychological consequences, including post-traumatic stress disorder. At least two students left notes confirming that they had committed suicide due to distress caused by the massacre. Nine years after the event, survivors reported still being affected by their experiences, though with time some of the effects had lessened. ### Violence against women The massacre galvanized the Canadian women's movement, who immediately saw it as a symbol of violence against women. "The death of those young women would not be in vain, we promised", Canadian feminist Judy Rebick recalled. "We would turn our mourning into organizing to put an end to male violence against women." In response to the killings, a House of Commons Sub-Committee on the Status of Women was created. It released a report "The War against Women" in June 1991, which was not endorsed by the full standing committee. However, following its recommendations, the federal government established the Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women in August 1991. The panel issued a final report, "Changing the Landscape: Ending Violence – Achieving Equality", in June 1993. The panel proposed a two-pronged "National Action Plan" consisting of an "Equality Action Plan" and a "Zero Tolerance Policy" designed to increase women's equality and reduce violence against women through government policy. Critics of the panel said that the plan failed to provide a workable timeline and strategy for implementation and that with over four hundred recommendations, the final report failed to make an impact. In Québec, family members of the victims formed a foundation to support organizations combatting violence, particularly violence against women. Survivors and their relatives continue to speak about the issue. Researchers increased their study of family violence and violence against women. On December 6 1995, the Quebec government adopted the "Policy on Intervention in Conjugal Violence" with the goal of detecting, preventing and ending domestic violence. ### Gun control The massacre was a major spur for the Canadian gun control movement. Less than a week after the event, two École Polytechnique professors created a petition addressed to the Canadian government demanding tighter gun control; and more than half a million signatures were collected. Heidi Rathjen, a student who was in one of the classrooms Lépine did not enter during the shooting, organized the Coalition for Gun Control with Wendy Cukier to pressure for a gun registry and increased firearm regulation. Suzanne Laplante-Edward and Jim Edward, the parents of one of the victims, were also deeply involved. Their activities, along with others, led to the passage of Bill C-17 in 1992, and C-68, commonly known as the Firearms Act, in 1995, ushering in stricter gun control regulations. These new regulations included requirements on the training of gun owners, screening of firearm applicants, 28-day waiting period on new applicants, rules concerning gun and ammunition storage, the registration of all firearms, magazine capacity restrictions for centre-fire semi automatics, and firearm restrictions and prohibitions. In 2009, survivors of the massacre, their families, and Polytechnique students past and present came together to create PolySeSouvient in opposition to legislative actions by Stephen Harper's Conservative government aimed at ending the registration of firearms. The long-gun registry was abolished by the Harper government in April 2012, but the Quebec government won a temporary injunction, preventing the destruction of the province's gun registry data, and ordering the continued registration of long guns in Quebec. In March 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against Quebec, allowing the destruction of all the federal registry data, although Quebec created its own provincial gun registry to replace it. Since its creation, PolySeSouvient, with survivors Nathalie Provost and Heidi Rathjen as spokespersons, has continued to be active in lobbying for stricter gun control and safety in Quebec and Canada. In 2018 Justin Trudeau's Liberal government introduced Bill C-71, which restored the requirement for sales of firearms to be registered, but PolySeSouvient denounced the proposed regulations as ineffective and incomplete. In 2020, in the wake of the mass killing in Nova Scotia, and while also citing the École Polytechnique massacre, Trudeau announced a ban on around 1,500 models of "military-grade assault-style weapons", including the model used for the killings in Montreal. PolySeSouvient welcomed the news, but critiqued the possibility of a grandfathering clause for the weapons as a danger to public safety. ### Emergency services response Emergency response to the shootings was harshly criticized. Security guards at the École Polytechnique were poorly trained, organized and equipped. Communication issues at the 911 call centre delayed the dispatch of police and ambulances, who were initially routed to incorrect addresses. The police officers were disorganized and poorly coordinated. They established a perimeter around the building and waited before entering the building. During this period, several women were killed. Three official investigations condemned the emergency response. Subsequent changes to emergency response protocols led to praise of the police handling of the 1992 shootings at Concordia University, the Dawson College shooting in 2006 and the 2014 attack on Parliament hill in Ottawa. In these incidents, rapid and immediate intervention by police and improved coordination amongst emergency response agencies were credited with minimizing the loss of life. ## Controversy The feminist movement has been periodically criticized for appropriating the massacre as a symbol of male violence against women. In 1990, for example, journalist Roch Côté responded to the publication of Polytechnique, 6 décembre, a feminist memorial anthology, with an uncompromising essay, Manifeste d’un salaud which implied that feminists used the massacre as a chance to unleash "insanities". Critics such as Côté argued that Lépine was a "lone gunman" who does not represent men, and that violence against women is neither condoned nor encouraged officially or unofficially in western culture. In this perspective, feminist memorializing is considered socially divisive on the basis of gender and therefore harmful by bestowing guilt on all men, irrespective of individual propensity to violence against women. Men's rights and anti-feminist commentators state that feminism has provoked violence against women, and without explicitly condoning the shootings, view the massacre as an extreme expression of men's frustrations. A few anti-feminists see the killer as a hero, glorifying his actions, and threatening violence. Male survivors of the massacre have been subjected to criticism for not intervening to stop the shooter. In an interview immediately after the event, a reporter asked one of the men why they "abandoned" the women when it was clear that his targets were women. René Jalbert, the sergeant-at-arms who persuaded Denis Lortie to surrender during his 1984 attack, said that someone should have intervened at least to distract Lépine, but acknowledged that "ordinary citizens cannot be expected to react heroically in the midst of terror". Conservative newspaper columnist Mark Steyn suggested that male inaction during the massacre illustrated a "culture of passivity" prevalent among men in Canada, which enabled the shooting spree: "Yet the defining image of contemporary Canadian maleness is not M Lepine/Gharbi but the professors and the men in that classroom, who, ordered to leave by the lone gunman, meekly did so, and abandoned their female classmates to their fate—an act of abdication that would have been unthinkable in almost any other culture throughout human history." Male students and staff expressed feelings of remorse for not having attempted to prevent the shootings. This issue has been strongly rejected by the Polytechnique student community. Nathalie Provost, one of the female survivors, said that she felt that nothing could have been done to prevent the tragedy, and that her fellow students should not feel guilty. Asmaa Mansour, another survivor, emphasized the actions of the men in saving her life and in helping the injured. ## Commemoration Since 1991, the anniversary of the massacre has been designated the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, intended as a call to action against discrimination against women. A White Ribbon Campaign was launched in 1991 by a group of men in London, Ontario in the wake of the massacre, for the purpose of raising awareness about the prevalence of male violence against women, with the ribbon symbolizing "the idea of men giving up their arms". The Place du 6-Décembre-1989 in the Côte-des-Neiges/Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough of Montreal was created as a memorial to the victims of the massacre. Located at the corner of Decelles Avenue and Queen Mary Road, a short distance from the university, it includes the art installation Nef pour quatorze reines (Nave for Fourteen Queens) by Rose-Marie Goulet. Originally described as a memorial for a "tragic event", in 2019, the plaque was changed to reflect indicate that the attack was anti-feminist and that 14 women were killed. Events are held across the country each year on December 6 in memory of the slain women and numerous memorials have been built. The memorial in Vancouver sparked controversy because it was dedicated to "all women murdered by men", which critics say implies all men are potential murderers. Women involved in the project received death threats and the Vancouver Park Board banned future memorials that might antagonize other groups.Since the commemorative ceremony on the 25th anniversary of the massacre in 2014, fourteen searchlights have been installed annually on the summit of Mount Royal - representing the fourteen victims of the massacre. At 5:10 p.m., the time when the attack began, the name of each victim is read, and a light beam is projected upward into the sky. The event is attended by local and national leaders. In 2013, a new science building at John Abbott College was named in honour of Anne-Marie Edward, a victim of the massacre who attended the CEGEP before going on to university. In 2014, the Order of the White Rose was established, a \$30,000 national scholarship for female engineering graduate students. The selection committee is chaired by Michèle Thibodeau-DeGuire, the first female graduate of École Polytechnique. ## Depiction in media The event has also been commemorated in the arts. The widely hailed movie Polytechnique, directed by Denis Villeneuve, was released in 2009 and caused discussion over the desirability of reliving the tragedy in a commercial film. In a play about the shootings by Adam Kelly called The Anorak, the audience are separated by gender: it was named as one of the best plays of 2004 by the Montreal Gazette. Colleen Murphy's play The December Man (L’homme de décembre) was first staged in Calgary in 2007. Wajdi Mouawad's 2007 play Forêts was inspired by and contains echoes of the tragedy. In 2009 Quebec playwright Gilbert Turp wrote Pur chaos du désir, which examined a marriage breakdown in the aftermath of the Polytechnique killings. Several songs have been written about the events, including This Memory by the folk duo the Wyrd Sisters, Montreal by The Tragically Hip and 6 December 1989 by the Australian singer Judy Small. ## See also - 2014 Isla Vista killings, a killing spree in the United States in which misogyny was cited as one of the killer's motives - Port Arthur massacre, a 1996 shooting in Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia that similarly changed opinion on gun control in that country - Enclave: The Ottawa Women's Monument, a monument in Canada to women killed by men - List of massacres in Canada
180,968	Colorado River	1,171,500,990	Major river in the western United States and Mexico	[ "Border rivers", "Borders of Arizona", "Borders of California", "Borders of Nevada", "Colorado Desert", "Colorado Plateau", "Colorado River", "Drainage basins of the Pacific Ocean", "Freshwater ecoregions", "International rivers of North America", "Mojave Desert", "Rivers of Arizona", "Rivers of Baja California", "Rivers of Clark County, Nevada", "Rivers of Coconino County, Arizona", "Rivers of Colorado", "Rivers of Eagle County, Colorado", "Rivers of Garfield County, Utah", "Rivers of Grand County, Utah", "Rivers of Imperial County, California", "Rivers of Kane County, Utah", "Rivers of La Paz County, Arizona", "Rivers of Mesa County, Colorado", "Rivers of Mohave County, Arizona", "Rivers of Nevada", "Rivers of Riverside County, California", "Rivers of Rocky Mountain National Park", "Rivers of San Bernardino County, California", "Rivers of San Juan County, Utah", "Rivers of Sonora", "Rivers of Southern California", "Rivers of Utah", "Rivers of Yuma County, Arizona", "Rivers of the Gulf of California", "Sonoran Desert" ]	The Colorado River (Spanish: Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The 1,450-mile-long (2,330 km) river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states. The name Colorado derives from the Spanish language for "colored reddish" due to its heavy silt load. Starting in the central Rocky Mountains of Colorado, it flows generally southwest across the Colorado Plateau and through the Grand Canyon before reaching Lake Mead on the Arizona–Nevada border, where it turns south toward the international border. After entering Mexico, the Colorado approaches the mostly dry Colorado River Delta at the tip of the Gulf of California between Baja California and Sonora. Known for its dramatic canyons, whitewater rapids, and eleven U.S. National Parks, the Colorado River and its tributaries are a vital source of water for 40 million people. An extensive system of dams, reservoirs, and aqueducts divert almost its entire flow for agricultural irrigation and urban water supply. Its large flow and steep gradient are used to generate hydroelectricity, meeting peaking power demands in much of the Intermountain West. Intensive water consumption has dried up the lower 100 miles (160 km) of the river, which has rarely reached the sea since the 1960s. Native Americans have inhabited the Colorado River basin for at least 8,000 years. Starting around 1 AD, large agriculture-based societies were established, but a combination of drought and poor land use practices led to their collapse in the 1300s. Their descendants include tribes such as the Puebloans, while others including the Navajo settled in the Colorado Basin after the 1000s. In the 1500s, Spanish explorers began mapping and claiming the watershed, which became part of Mexico upon its independence in 1821. Even after most of the watershed became US territory in 1846, much of the river's course remained unknown. Several expeditions charted the Colorado in the mid-19th century—one of which, led by John Wesley Powell, was the first to run the rapids of the Grand Canyon. Large-scale settlement of the lower basin began in the mid- to late-1800s, with steamboats sailing from the Gulf of California to landings along the river that linked to wagon roads to the interior. Starting in the 1860s, gold and silver strikes drew prospectors to the upper Colorado River basin. Large-scale river management began in the early 1900s, with major guidelines established in a series of international and US interstate treaties known as the "Law of the River". The US federal government constructed most of the major dams and aqueducts between 1910 and 1970; the largest, Hoover Dam, was completed in 1935. Numerous water projects have also involved state and local governments. With all of their waters fully allocated, both the Colorado and the neighboring Rio Grande are now considered among the most controlled and litigated river systems in the world. Since 2000, extended drought has conflicted with increasing demands for Colorado River water, and the level of human development and control of the river continues to generate controversy. ## Course The Colorado begins at La Poudre Pass in the Never Summer Mountains in Rocky Mountain National Park, 10,184 ft (3,104 m) above sea level. After a short run south, the river turns west below Grand Lake, the largest natural lake in the state. For the first 250 miles (400 km) of its course, the Colorado carves its way through the mountainous Western Slope, a sparsely populated region defined by the portion of the state west of the Continental Divide. As it flows southwest, it gains strength from many small tributaries, as well as larger ones including the Blue, Eagle and Roaring Fork rivers. After passing through De Beque Canyon, the Colorado emerges from the Rockies into the Grand Valley, a major farming and ranching region where it meets one of its largest tributaries, the Gunnison River, at Grand Junction. Most of the upper river is a swift whitewater stream ranging from 200 to 500 feet (60 to 150 m) wide, the depth ranging from 6 to 30 feet (2 to 9 m), with a few notable exceptions, such as the Blackrocks reach where the river is nearly 100 feet (30 m) deep. In a few areas, such as the marshy Kawuneeche Valley near the headwaters and the Grand Valley, it exhibits braided characteristics. From Grand Junction, the Colorado turns northwest before cutting southwest across the eponymous Colorado Plateau, a vast area of high desert centered at the Four Corners of the southwestern United States. Here, the climate becomes significantly drier than that in the Rocky Mountains, and the river becomes entrenched in progressively deeper gorges of bare rock, beginning with Ruby Canyon and then Westwater Canyon as it enters Utah, now once again heading southwest. Farther downstream it receives the Dolores River and defines the southern border of Arches National Park, before passing Moab and flowing through "The Portal", where it exits the Moab Valley between a pair of 1,000-foot (300 m) sandstone cliffs. In Utah, the Colorado flows primarily through the "slickrock" country, which is characterized by its narrow canyons and unique "folds" created by the tilting of sedimentary rock layers along faults. This is one of the most inaccessible regions of the continental United States. Below the confluence with the Green River, its largest tributary, in Canyonlands National Park, the Colorado enters Cataract Canyon, named for its dangerous rapids, and then Glen Canyon, known for its arches and erosion-sculpted Navajo sandstone formations. Here, the San Juan River, carrying runoff from the southern slope of Colorado's San Juan Mountains, joins the Colorado from the east. The Colorado then enters northern Arizona, where since the 1960s Glen Canyon Dam near Page has flooded the Glen Canyon reach of the river, forming Lake Powell for hydroelectricity generation. In Arizona, the river passes Lee's Ferry, an important crossing for early explorers and settlers and since the early 20th century the principal point where Colorado River flows are measured for apportionment to the seven U.S. and two Mexican states in the basin. Downstream, the river enters Marble Canyon, the beginning of the Grand Canyon, passing under the Navajo Bridges on a now southward course. Below the confluence with the Little Colorado River, the river swings west into Granite Gorge, the most dramatic portion of the Grand Canyon, where the river cuts up to one mile (1.6 km) into the Colorado Plateau, exposing some of the oldest visible rocks on Earth, dating as long ago as 2 billion years. The 277 miles (446 km) of the river that flow through the Grand Canyon are largely encompassed by Grand Canyon National Park and are known for their difficult whitewater, separated by pools that reach up to 110 feet (34 m) in depth. At the lower end of Grand Canyon, the Colorado widens into Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the continental United States, formed by Hoover Dam on the border of Arizona and Nevada. Situated southeast of metropolitan Las Vegas, the dam is an integral component for management of the Colorado River, controlling floods and storing water for farms and cities in the lower Colorado River basin. Below the dam the river passes under the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge—which at nearly 900 feet (270 m) above the water is the highest concrete arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere—and then turns due south towards Mexico, defining the Arizona–Nevada and Arizona–California borders. After leaving the confines of the Black Canyon, the river emerges from the Colorado Plateau into the Lower Colorado River Valley (LCRV), a desert region dependent on irrigation agriculture and tourism and also home to several major Indian reservations. The river widens here to a broad, moderately deep waterway averaging 500 to 1,000 feet (150 to 300 m) wide and reaching up to 0.25 miles (400 m) across, with depths ranging from 8 to 60 feet (2 to 20 m). Before channelization of the Colorado in the 20th century, the lower river was subject to frequent course changes caused by seasonal flow variations. Joseph C. Ives, who surveyed the lower river in 1861, wrote that "the shifting of the channel, the banks, the islands, the bars is so continual and rapid that a detailed description, derived from the experiences of one trip, would be found incorrect, not only during the subsequent year, but perhaps in the course of a week, or even a day." The LCRV is one of the most densely populated areas along the river, and there are numerous towns including Bullhead City, Arizona, Needles, California, and Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Here, several large diversions draw from the river, providing water for both local uses and distant regions including the Salt River Valley of Arizona and metropolitan Southern California. The last major U.S. diversion is at Imperial Dam, where over 90 percent of the river's flow is moved into the Gila Gravity Canal and Yuma Area Project, and the much bigger All-American Canal to irrigate California's Imperial Valley, the most productive winter agricultural region in the United States. Below Imperial Dam, only a small portion of the Colorado River makes it beyond Yuma, Arizona, and the confluence with the intermittent Gila River—which carries runoff from western New Mexico and most of Arizona–before defining about 24 miles (39 km) of the Mexico–United States border. At Morelos Dam, the entire remaining flow of the Colorado is diverted to irrigate the Mexicali Valley, among Mexico's most fertile agricultural lands. Below San Luis Río Colorado, the Colorado passes entirely into Mexico, defining the Baja California–Sonora border. Since 1960, the stretch of the Colorado between here and the Gulf of California has been dry or a trickle formed by irrigation return flows. The Hardy River provides most of the flow into the Colorado River Delta, a vast alluvial floodplain covering about 3,000 square miles (7,800 km<sup>2</sup>) of northwestern Mexico. A large estuary is formed here before the Colorado empties into the Gulf about 75 miles (120 km) south of Yuma. Occasionally the International Boundary and Water Commission allows a springtime pulse flow to recharge the delta. Before 20th-century development dewatered the lower Colorado, a major tidal bore was present in the delta and estuary; the first historical record was made by the Croatian missionary in Spanish service Father Ferdinand Konščak on July 18, 1746. During spring tide conditions, the tidal bore—locally called El Burro—formed in the estuary about Montague Island in Baja California and propagated upstream. ### Major tributaries The Colorado is joined by over 25 significant tributaries, of which the Green River is the largest by both length and discharge. The Green River takes drainage from the Wind River Range of west-central Wyoming, from Utah's Uinta Mountains, and from the Rockies of northwestern Colorado. The Gila River is the second longest and drains a greater area than the Green, but has a significantly lower flow because of a more arid climate and larger diversions for irrigation and cities. Both the Gunnison and San Juan rivers, which derive most of their water from Rocky Mountains snowmelt, contribute more water than the Gila contributed naturally. ## Discharge In its natural state, the Colorado River poured about 16.3 million acre-feet (20.1 km<sup>3</sup>) into the Gulf of California each year, equaling an average discharge of 22,500 cubic feet per second (640 m<sup>3</sup>/s). Its flow regime was not at all steady – indeed, "prior to the construction of federal dams and reservoirs, the Colorado was a river of extremes like no other in the United States." Summer peak flows often exceeded 100,000 cubic feet per second (2,800 m<sup>3</sup>/s), and winter flows fell as low as 2,500 cubic feet per second (71 m<sup>3</sup>/s). At Topock, Arizona (about 300 miles (480 km) upstream from the Gulf) a maximum historical discharge of 384,000 cubic feet per second (10,900 m<sup>3</sup>/s) was recorded in 1884, and a minimum of 422 cubic feet per second (11.9 m<sup>3</sup>/s) was recorded in 1935. Since the construction of Hoover Dam, the lower Colorado rarely exceeds 35,000 cubic feet per second (990 m<sup>3</sup>/s) or drops below 4,000 cubic feet per second (110 m<sup>3</sup>/s). Annual runoff volume also varies widely, from a high of 22.2 million acre-feet (27.4 km<sup>3</sup>) in 1984 to a low of 3.8 million acre-feet (4.7 km<sup>3</sup>) in 2002, although in most years only a small portion of this flow – if any – reaches the Gulf. About 85–90 percent of the Colorado River's discharge originates in melting snowpack from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming. The three major upper tributaries of the Colorado – the snow-fed Gunnison, Green, and San Juan – alone deliver almost 9 million acre-feet (11 km<sup>3</sup>) per year to the main stem. The remaining 10 to 15 percent comes from a variety of sources, primarily groundwater and summer monsoon storms. Tributaries in the Lower Basin are prone to monsoon–caused flash floods, but these storms do not often contribute significant volumes of runoff. Annual runoff follows snowmelt, which typically begins in April, peaking in May and June before exhausting in July or August. Due to water diversions, flows at the mouth of the river have steadily declined since the early 1900s. Since 1960, the Colorado has typically dried up before reaching the sea, with the exception of a few wet years. In addition to water consumption, flows have declined due to evaporation from reservoirs and warming temperatures that reduce winter snow accumulation. Several of the Colorado's major tributaries, including the Gila River, also no longer reach the Colorado due to upstream diversions. The average flow rate of the Colorado River at the northernmost point of the Mexico–United States border (NIB, or Northerly International Boundary) is 3,869 cubic feet per second (109.6 m<sup>3</sup>/s), or 2.80 million acre-feet (3.45 km<sup>3</sup>) per year – about one-fifth of what the natural flow would be. Below this location, the remaining flow is diverted to irrigate the Mexicali Valley, leaving a dry riverbed from Morelos Dam to the sea that is supplemented by intermittent flows of irrigation drainage water. There have been exceptions, however, particularly in 1983–1987, when the Colorado once again reached the sea after consecutive seasons of record-breaking snowfall. In 1984, 16.5 million acre-feet (20.4 km<sup>3</sup>) of excess runoff reached the ocean. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) operates or has operated 46 stream gauges to measure the discharge of the Colorado River, ranging from the headwaters near Grand Lake to the Mexico–U.S. border. The tables at right list data associated with eight of these gauges. River flows as gauged at Lees Ferry, Arizona, about halfway along the length of the Colorado and 16 miles (26 km) below Glen Canyon Dam, are used to determine water allocations in the Colorado River basin. The average discharge recorded there was approximately 14,600 cubic feet per second (410 m<sup>3</sup>/s), or 10.58 million acre-feet (13.05 km<sup>3</sup>) per year, from 1922 to 2020. This figure has been heavily affected by upstream diversions and reservoir evaporation, especially after the completion of the Colorado River Storage Project in the 1970s. Prior to the completion of Glen Canyon Dam in 1964, the average discharge recorded between 1912 and 1962 was 17,850 cubic feet per second (505 m<sup>3</sup>/s), or 12.93 million acre-feet (15.95 km<sup>3</sup>) per year. ## Drainage basin The Colorado River Basin consists of 246,000 square miles (640,000 km<sup>2</sup>), making it the seventh largest drainage basin in North America. About 238,600 square miles (618,000 km<sup>2</sup>), or 97 percent of the basin, is in the United States. The basin extends into western Colorado and New Mexico, southwestern Wyoming, eastern and southern Utah, southeastern Nevada and California, and most of Arizona. The areas drained within Baja California and Sonora in Mexico are very small and do not contribute significant runoff. Aside from the Colorado River Delta, the basin extends into Sonora at a few locations further east, including the headwaters of the Santa Cruz River and San Pedro River (both tributaries of the Gila River). For hydrological management purposes, the Colorado River Basin is divided into the Upper Basin (the drainage area above Lees Ferry), and the Lower Basin. The Upper Basin covers only 45 percent of the land area of the Colorado River Basin, but contributes 92 percent of the runoff. The entire eastern boundary of the Colorado River Basin runs along the North American Continental Divide and is defined largely by the Rocky Mountains and the Rio Grande Basin. The Wind River Range in Wyoming marks the northern extent of the basin, and is separated from the Colorado Rockies by the endorheic Great Divide Basin in southwestern Wyoming. Streams that are nearby the east side of the divide drain into the Mississippi River and Rio Grande, while nearby areas north of the Wind River Range drain into the Columbia River. The western boundary of the Colorado River Basin is formed by various ranges and plateaus that border the Great Basin, including the Uinta Mountains and Wasatch Range. Major Great Basin watersheds bordering the Colorado River Basin are the Great Salt Lake and Sevier Lake watersheds. To the south, the Colorado River Basin borders several watersheds in Mexico draining into the Gulf of California, including the Sonoyta, Concepción, and Yaqui rivers. Much of the basin is at high elevation; the mean elevation is 5,500 feet (1,700 m). Lees Ferry, more than halfway along the Colorado River from its source, is 3,150 feet (960 m) above sea level. The highest point in the Colorado River Basin is 14,321-foot (4,365 m) Uncompahgre Peak in Colorado's San Juan Mountains, while some water from the river drains via irrigation run-off into California's Salton Sea, 236 feet (72 m) below sea level. About 72 percent of the Colorado River Basin is classified as arid, with the Sonoran and Mojave deserts covering the southern portion and the Colorado Plateau encompassing much of the central portion. The Colorado Plateau is home to most of the major canyon systems formed by the Colorado River and its tributaries, particularly those of the Green and San Juan rivers. About 23 percent of the basin is forest, with the largest area in the Rocky Mountains; other significant forested areas include the Kaibab, Aquarius, and Markagunt plateaus in southern Utah and northern Arizona, and the Mogollon Rim in central Arizona. These high plateaus and escarpments, often exceeding 9,000 feet (2,700 m) in elevation, form the northern and southern edges of the Colorado Plateau geological province. Developed land use in the basin is mostly irrigated agriculture, chiefly in the Grand Valley, the Lower Colorado River Valley, and the Salt River Valley, but the total area of crop and pasture land is only 2–3 percent of the entire basin. Urban areas cover less than 1 percent. Climate in the Colorado River Basin ranges from subtropical hot desert at southern, lower elevations to alpine in the Rocky Mountains. Mean monthly high temperatures are 25.3 °C (77.5 °F) in the Upper Basin and 33.4 °C (92.1 °F) in the Lower Basin, and lows average −3.6 and 8.9 °C (25.5 and 48.0 °F), respectively. Annual precipitation averages 6.5 inches (164 mm), ranging from over 60 inches (1,500 mm) in some areas of the Rockies to less than 4 inches (100 mm) in dry desert valleys. The Upper Basin generally receives snow and rain during the winter and early spring, while precipitation in the Lower Basin falls mainly during intense but infrequent summer thunderstorms brought on by the North American Monsoon. Precipitation is influenced by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) with El Niño being associated with wetter conditions and La Niña with drier conditions. The effect of ENSO is significantly more pronounced in the Lower Basin, where it has a strong impact on monsoonal rainfall. Runoff patterns across the Colorado River Basin reflect this; most of the perennial tributaries originate in the Upper Basin, while tributaries in the Lower Basin are either ephemeral (such as the Little Colorado River) or highly seasonal (such as the Gila and Salt rivers). As of 2010, approximately 13 million people lived within the Colorado River basin, while about 40 million people live in areas supplied by Colorado River water. Colorado River basin states are among the fastest-growing in the US; the population of Nevada alone increased by about 66 percent between 1990 and 2000 as Arizona grew by some 40 percent. Phoenix, Arizona, Las Vegas, Nevada and Mexicali, Baja California are the largest cities by population within the Colorado River Basin. Other significant cities include Tucson, Arizona, St. George, Utah and Flagstaff, Arizona. Due to the rugged and inhospitable topography through which the river flows, there are only a few major towns along the Colorado River itself, including Grand Junction, Colorado and Yuma, Arizona. ## Geology As recently as the Cretaceous period about 100 million years ago, much of western North America was still part of the Pacific Ocean. Tectonic forces from the collision of the Farallon Plate with the North American Plate pushed up the Rocky Mountains between 50 and 75 million years ago in a mountain-building episode known as the Laramide orogeny. The Colorado River first formed as a west-flowing stream draining the southwestern portion of the range, and the uplift also diverted the Green River, once a tributary of the Mississippi River, west towards the Colorado. About 30 to 20 million years ago, volcanic activity related to the orogeny led to the Mid-Tertiary ignimbrite flare-up, which created smaller formations such as the Chiricahua Mountains in Arizona and deposited massive amounts of volcanic ash and debris over the watershed. The Colorado Plateau first began to rise during the Eocene, between about 55 and 34 million years ago, but did not attain its present height until about 5 million years ago, about when the Colorado River established its present course into the Gulf of California. The time scale and sequence over which the river's present course and the Grand Canyon were formed is uncertain. Before the Gulf of California was formed around 12 to 5 million years ago by faulting processes along the boundary of the North American and Pacific plates, the Colorado flowed west to an outlet on the Pacific Ocean—possibly Monterey Bay on the Central California coast, and may have played a role in the formation of the Monterey submarine canyon. Crustal extension in the Basin and Range Province began about 20 million years ago and the modern Sierra Nevada began forming about 10 million years ago, eventually diverting the Colorado southwards towards the Gulf. As the Colorado Plateau continued to rise between 5 and 2.5 million years ago, the river maintained its ancestral course (as an antecedent stream) and began to cut the Grand Canyon. Antecedence played a major part in shaping other peculiar geographic features in the watershed, including the Dolores River's bisection of Paradox Valley in Colorado and the Green River's cut through the Uinta Mountains in Utah. Sediments carried from the plateau by the Colorado River created a vast delta made of more than 10,000 cubic miles (42,000 km<sup>3</sup>) of material that walled off the northernmost part of the gulf in approximately 1 million years. Cut off from the ocean, the portion of the gulf north of the delta eventually evaporated and formed the Salton Sink, which reached about 260 feet (79 m) below sea level. Since then the river has changed course into the Salton Sink at least three times, transforming it into Lake Cahuilla, which at maximum size flooded up the valley to present-day Indio, California. The lake took about 50 years to evaporate after the Colorado resumed flowing to the Gulf. The present-day Salton Sea can be considered the most recent incarnation of Lake Cahuilla, though on a much smaller scale. Between 1.8 million and 10,000 years ago, massive flows of basalt from the Uinkaret volcanic field in northern Arizona dammed the Colorado River within the Grand Canyon. At least 13 lava dams were formed, the largest of which was more than 2,300 feet (700 m) high, backing the river up for nearly 500 miles (800 km) to present-day Moab, Utah. The lack of associated sediment deposits along this stretch of the Colorado River, which would have accumulated in the impounded lakes over time, suggests that most of these dams did not survive for more than a few decades before collapsing or being washed away. Failure of the lava dams caused by erosion, leaks and cavitation caused catastrophic floods, which may have been some of the largest ever to occur in North America, rivaling the late-Pleistocene Missoula Floods of the northwestern United States. Mapping of flood deposits indicate that crests as high as 700 feet (210 m) passed through the Grand Canyon, reaching peak discharges as great as 17 million cubic feet per second (480,000 m<sup>3</sup>/s). ## History ### Indigenous peoples The first humans of the Colorado River basin were likely Paleo-Indians of the Clovis and Folsom cultures, who first arrived on the Colorado Plateau about 12,000 years ago. Very little human activity occurred in the watershed until the rise of the Desert Archaic Culture, which from 8,000 to 2,000 years ago constituted most of the region's human population. These prehistoric inhabitants led a generally nomadic lifestyle, gathering plants and hunting small animals (though some of the earliest peoples hunted larger mammals that became extinct in North America after the end of the Pleistocene epoch). Another notable early group was the Fremont culture, whose peoples inhabited the Colorado Plateau from 2,000 to 700 years ago. The Fremont were likely the first peoples of the Colorado River basin to domesticate crops and construct masonry dwellings; they also left behind a large amount of rock art and petroglyphs, many of which have survived to the present day. Beginning in the early centuries A.D., Colorado River basin peoples began to form large agriculture-based societies, some of which lasted hundreds of years and grew into well-organized civilizations encompassing tens of thousands of inhabitants. The Ancient Puebloan (also known as Anasazi or Hisatsinom) people of the Four Corners region were descended from the Desert Archaic culture. The Puebloan people developed a complex distribution system to supply drinking and irrigation water in Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico. The Puebloans dominated the basin of the San Juan River, and the center of their civilization was in Chaco Canyon. In Chaco Canyon and the surrounding lands, they built more than 150 multi-story pueblos or "great houses", the largest of which, Pueblo Bonito, is composed of more than 600 rooms. The Hohokam culture was present along the middle Gila River beginning around 1 A.D. Between 600 and 700 A.D. they began to employ irrigation on a large scale, and did so more prolifically than any other native group in the Colorado River basin. An extensive system of irrigation canals was constructed on the Gila and Salt rivers, with various estimates of a total length ranging from 180 to 300 miles (290 to 480 km) and capable of irrigating 25,000 to 250,000 acres (10,000 to 101,000 ha). Both civilizations supported large populations at their height; the Chaco Canyon Puebloans numbered between 6,000 and 15,000 and estimates for the Hohokam range between 30,000 and 200,000. #### Megadrought in 14th century These sedentary peoples heavily exploited their surroundings, practicing logging and harvesting of other resources on a large scale. The construction of irrigation canals may have led to a significant change in the morphology of many waterways in the Colorado River basin. Prior to human contact, rivers such as the Gila, Salt and Chaco were shallow perennial streams with low, vegetated banks and large floodplains. In time, flash floods caused significant downcutting on irrigation canals, which in turn led to the entrenchment of the original streams into arroyos, making agriculture difficult. A variety of methods were employed to combat these problems, including the construction of large dams, but when a megadrought hit the region in the 14th century A.D. the ancient civilizations of the Colorado River basin abruptly collapsed. Some Puebloans migrated to the Rio Grande Valley of central New Mexico and south-central Colorado, becoming the predecessors of the Hopi, Zuni, Laguna and Acoma people in western New Mexico. Many of the tribes that inhabited the Colorado River basin at the time of European contact were descended from Puebloan and Hohokam survivors, while others already had a long history of living in the region or migrated in from bordering lands. The Navajo were an Athabaskan people who migrated from the north into the Colorado River basin around 1025 A.D. They soon established themselves as the dominant Native American tribe in the Colorado River basin, and their territory stretched over parts of present-day Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado – in the original homelands of the Puebloans. In fact, the Navajo acquired agricultural skills from the Puebloans before the collapse of the Pueblo civilization in the 14th century. A profusion of other tribes have made a continued, lasting presence along the Colorado River. The Mohave have lived along the rich bottomlands of the lower Colorado below Black Canyon since 1200 A.D. They were fishermen—navigating the river on rafts made of reeds to catch Gila trout and Colorado pikeminnow— and farmers, relying on the annual floods of the river rather than irrigation to water their crops. Ute peoples have inhabited the northern Colorado River basin, mainly in present-day Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, for at least 2,000 years, but did not become well established in the Four Corners area until 1500 A.D. The Apache, Cocopah, Halchidhoma, Havasupai, Hualapai, Maricopa, Pima, and Quechan are among many other groups that live along or had territories bordering on the Colorado River and its tributaries. #### Europeans arrive Beginning in the 17th century, contact with Europeans brought significant changes to the lifestyles of Native Americans in the Colorado River basin. Missionaries sought to convert indigenous peoples to Christianity – an effort sometimes successful, such as in Father Eusebio Francisco Kino's 1694 encounter with the "docile Pimas of the Gila Valley [who] readily accepted Kino and his Christian teachings". From 1694 to 1702 Kino would explore the Gila and Colorado Rivers to determine if California was an island or peninsula. The Spanish introduced sheep and goats to the Navajo, who came to rely heavily on them for meat, milk and wool. By the mid-16th century, the Utes, having acquired horses from the Spanish, introduced them to the Colorado River basin. The use of horses spread through the basin via trade between the various tribes and greatly facilitated hunting, communications, travel and warfare for indigenous peoples. The more aggressive tribes, such as the Utes and Navajos, often used horses to their advantage in raids against tribes that were slower to adopt them, such as the Goshutes and Southern Paiutes. The gradual influx of European and American explorers, fortune seekers and settlers into the region eventually led to conflicts that forced many Native Americans off their traditional lands. After the acquisition of the Colorado River basin from Mexico in the Mexican–American War in 1846, U.S. military forces commanded by Kit Carson forced more than 8,000 Navajo men, women and children from their homes after a series of unsuccessful attempts to confine their territory, many of which were met with violent resistance. In what is now known as the Long Walk of the Navajo, the captives were marched from Arizona to Fort Sumner in New Mexico, and many died along the route. Four years later, the Navajo signed a treaty that moved them onto a reservation in the Four Corners region that is now known as the Navajo Nation. It is the largest Native American reservation in the United States, encompassing 27,000 square miles (70,000 km<sup>2</sup>) with a population of over 180,000 as of 2000. #### Mohave expelled The Mohave were expelled from their territory after a series of minor skirmishes and raids on wagon trains passing through the area in the late 1850s, culminating in an 1859 battle with American forces that concluded the Mohave War. In 1870, the Mohave were relocated to a reservation at Fort Mojave, which spans the borders of Arizona, California and Nevada. Some Mohave were also moved to the 432-square-mile (1,120 km<sup>2</sup>) Colorado River Indian Reservation on the Arizona–California border, originally established for the Mohave and Chemehuevi people in 1865. In the 1940s, some Hopi and Navajo people were also relocated to this reservation. The four tribes now form a geopolitical body known as the Colorado River Indian Tribes. Water rights of Native Americans in the Colorado River basin were largely ignored during the extensive water resources development carried out on the river and its tributaries in the 19th and 20th centuries. The construction of dams has often had negative impacts on tribal peoples, such as the Chemehuevi when their riverside lands were flooded after the completion of Parker Dam in 1938. Ten Native American tribes in the basin now hold or continue to claim water rights to the Colorado River. The U.S. government has taken some actions to help quantify and develop the water resources of Native American reservations. The first federally funded irrigation project in the U.S. was the construction of an irrigation canal on the Colorado River Indian Reservation in 1867. Other water projects include the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project, authorized in 1962 for the irrigation of lands in part of the Navajo Nation in north-central New Mexico. The Navajo continue to seek expansion of their water rights because of difficulties with the water supply on their reservation; about 40 percent of its inhabitants must haul water by truck many miles to their homes. In the 21st century, they have filed legal claims against the governments of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah for increased water rights. Some of these claims have been successful for the Navajo, such as a 2004 settlement in which they received a 326,000-acre-foot (402,000 ML) allotment from New Mexico. ### Early explorers During the 16th century, the Spanish began to explore and colonize western North America. An early motive was the search for the Seven Cities of Gold, or "Cibola", rumored to have been built by Native Americans somewhere in the desert Southwest. According to a United States Geological Survey publication, it is likely that Francisco de Ulloa was the first European to see the Colorado River when in 1536 he sailed to the head of the Gulf of California. Francisco Vásquez de Coronado's 1540–1542 expedition began as a search for the fabled Cities of Gold, but after learning from natives in New Mexico of a large river to the west, he sent García López de Cárdenas to lead a small contingent to find it. With the guidance of Hopi Indians, Cárdenas and his men became the first outsiders to see the Grand Canyon. Cárdenas was reportedly unimpressed with the canyon, assuming the width of the Colorado River at 6 feet (1.8 m) and estimating 300-foot (91 m)-tall rock formations to be the size of a man. After failing at an attempt to descend to the river, they left the area, defeated by the difficult terrain and torrid weather. In 1540, Hernando de Alarcón and his fleet reached the mouth of the river, intending to provide additional supplies to Coronado's expedition. Alarcón may have sailed the Colorado as far upstream as the present-day California–Arizona border. Coronado never reached the Gulf of California, and Alarcón eventually gave up and left. Melchior Díaz reached the delta in the same year, intending to establish contact with Alarcón, but the latter was already gone by the time of Díaz's arrival. Díaz named the Colorado River Rio del Tizon ("Firebrand River") after seeing a practice used by the local natives for warming themselves. The name Tizon lasted for the next 200 years. The name Rio Colorado ("Red River") was first applied to the Colorado by Father Eusebio Francisco Kino in his maps and written reports resulting from his explorations to the Colorado River Delta and his discovery that California was not an island but a peninsula (1700–1702). Kino's 1701 map, "Paso por Tierra a la California," is the first known map to label the river as the Colorado. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, many Americans and Spanish believed in the existence of the Buenaventura River, purported to run from the Rocky Mountains in Utah or Colorado to the Pacific Ocean. The name Buenaventura was given to the Green River by Silvestre Vélez de Escalante as early as 1776, but Escalante did not know that the Green drained to the Colorado. Many later maps showed the headwaters of the Green and Colorado rivers connecting with the Sevier River (Rio San Ysabel) and Utah Lake (Lake Timpanogos) before flowing west through the Sierra Nevada into California. Mountain man Jedediah Smith reached the lower Colorado by way of the Virgin River canyon in 1826. Smith called the Colorado the "Seedskeedee", as the Green River in Wyoming was known to fur trappers, correctly believing it to be a continuation of the Green and not a separate river as others believed under the Buenaventura myth. John C. Frémont's 1843 Great Basin expedition proved that no river traversed the Great Basin and Sierra Nevada, officially debunking the Buenaventura myth. ### Exploration and navigation below Fort Yuma, 1850–1854 Between 1850 and 1854 the U. S. Army explored the lower reach of the Colorado River from the Gulf of California, looking for the river to provide a less expensive route to supply the remote post of Fort Yuma. First in November 1850 to January 1851, by its transport schooner, Invincible under Captain Alfred H. Wilcox and then by its longboat commanded by Lieutenant George Derby. Later Lieutenant Derby, in his expedition report, recommended that a shallow draft sternwheel steamboat would be the way to send supplies up river to the fort. The next contractors George Alonzo Johnson with his partner Benjamin M. Hartshorne, brought two barges and 250 tons of supplies arriving at the river's mouth in February 1852, on the United States transport schooner Sierra Nevada under Captain Wilcox. Poling the barges up the Colorado, the first barge sank with its cargo a total loss. The second was finally, after a long struggle poled up to Fort Yuma, but what little it carried was soon consumed by the garrison. Subsequently, wagons again were sent from the fort to haul the balance of the supplies overland from the estuary through the marshes and woodlands of the Delta. At last Derby's recommendation was heeded and in November 1852, the Uncle Sam, a 65-foot-long side-wheel paddle steamer, built by Domingo Marcucci, became the first steamboat on the Colorado River. It was brought by the schooner Capacity from San Francisco to the delta by the next contractor to supply the fort, Captain James Turnbull. It was assembled and launched in the estuary, 30 miles above the mouth of the Colorado River. Equipped with only a 20-horsepower engine, the Uncle Sam could only carry 35 tons of supplies, taking 15 days to make the first 120-mile trip. It made many trips up and down the river, taking four months to finish carrying the supplies for the fort, improving its time up river to 12 days. Negligence caused it to sink at its dock below Fort Yuma, and was then washed away before it could be raised, in the spring flood of 1853. Turnbull in financial difficulty, disappeared. Nevertheless, he had shown the worth of steamboats to solve Fort Yuma's supply problem. George Alonzo Johnson with his partner Hartshorne and a new partner Captain Alfred H. Wilcox (formerly of the Invincible and Sierra Nevada), formed George A. Johnson & Company and obtained the next contract to supply the fort. Johnson and his partners, all having learned lessons from their failed attempts ascending the Colorado and with the example of the Uncle Sam, brought the parts of a more powerful side-wheel steamboat, the General Jesup, with them to the mouth of the Colorado from San Francisco. There it was reassembled at a landing in the upper tidewater of the river and reached Fort Yuma, January 18, 1854. This new boat, capable of carrying 50 tons of cargo, was very successful making round trips from the estuary to the fort in only four or five days. Costs were cut from \$200 to \$75 per ton. ### Exploration and navigation above Fort Yuma, 1851–1887 Lorenzo Sitgreaves led the first Corps of Topographical Engineers mission across northern Arizona to the Colorado River (near modern Bullhead City, Arizona), and down its east bank to the river crossings of the Southern Immigrant Trail at Fort Yuma in 1851. The second Corps of Topographical Engineers expedition passed along and crossed the Colorado was the 1853–1854 Pacific Railroad Survey expedition along the 35th parallel north from Oklahoma to Los Angeles, led by Lt. Amiel Weeks Whipple. George A. Johnson was instrumental in getting the support for Congressional funding a military expedition up the river. With those funds Johnson expected to provide the transportation for the expedition but was angry and disappointed when the commander of the expedition Lt. Joseph Christmas Ives rejected his offer of one of his steamboats. Before Ives could finish reassembling his steamer in the delta, George A. Johnson set off from Fort Yuma on December 31, 1857, conducting his own exploration of the river above the fort in his steamboat General Jesup. He ascended the river in twenty one days as far as the first rapids in Pyramid Canyon, over 300 miles (480 km) above Fort Yuma and 8 miles (13 km) above the modern site of Davis Dam. Running low on food he turned back. As he returned he encountered Lieutenant Ives, Whipple's assistant, who was leading an expedition to explore the feasibility of using the Colorado River as a navigation route in the Southwest. Ives and his men used a specially built steamboat, the shallow-draft U.S.S. Explorer, and traveled up the river as far as Black Canyon. He then took a small boat up beyond the canyon to Fortification Rock and Las Vegas Wash. After experiencing numerous groundings and accidents and having been inhibited by low water in the river, Ives declared: "Ours has been the first, and will doubtless be the last, party of whites to visit this profitless locality. It seems intended by nature that the Colorado River, along the greater portion of its lonely and majestic way, shall be forever unvisited and undisturbed." Until 1866, El Dorado Canyon was the actual head of navigation on the Colorado River. In that year Captain Robert T. Rogers, commanding the steamer Esmeralda with a barge and ninety tons of freight, reached Callville, Nevada, on October 8, 1866. Callville remained the head of navigation on the river until July 7, 1879, when Captain J. A. Mellon in the Gila left El Dorado Canyon landing, steamed up through the rapids in Black Canyon, making record time to Callville and tied up overnight. Next morning he to steamed up through the rapids in Boulder Canyon to reach the mouth of the Virgin River at Rioville July 8, 1879. From 1879 to 1887, Rioville, Nevada was the high water Head of Navigation for the steamboats and the mining company sloop Sou'Wester that carried the salt needed for the reduction of silver ore from there to the mills at El Dorado Canyon. ### Powell's expeditions, 1869–1871 Up until the mid-19th century, long stretches of the Colorado and Green rivers between Wyoming and Nevada remained largely unexplored due to their remote location and dangers of navigation. Because of the dramatic drop in elevation of the two rivers, there were rumors of huge waterfalls and violent rapids, and Native American tales strengthened their credibility. In 1869, one-armed Civil War veteran John Wesley Powell led an expedition from Green River Station in Wyoming, aiming to run the two rivers all the way down to St. Thomas, Nevada, near present-day Hoover Dam. Powell and nine men – none of whom had prior whitewater experience – set out in May. After braving the rapids of the Gates of Lodore, Cataract Canyon and other gorges along the Colorado, the party arrived at the mouth of the Little Colorado River, where Powell noted down arguably the most famous words ever written about the Grand Canyon of the Colorado: > We are now ready to start on our way down the Great Unknown. Our boats, tied to a common stake, are chafing each other, as they are tossed by the fretful river. They ride high and buoyant, for their loads are lighter than we could desire. We have but a month's rations remaining. The flour has been re-sifted through the mosquito net sieve; the spoiled bacon has been dried, and the worst of it boiled; the few pounds of dried apples have been spread in the sun, and re-shrunken to their normal bulk; the sugar has all melted, and gone on its way down the river; but we have a large sack of coffee. The lighting of the boats has this advantage: they will ride the waves better, and we shall have little to carry when we make a portage. > > We are three-quarters of a mile in the depths of the earth, and the great river shrinks into insignificance, as it dashes its angry waves against the walls and cliffs, that rise to the world above; they are but puny ripples, and we but pigmies, running up and down the sands, or lost among the boulders. > > We have an unknown distance yet to run; an unknown river yet to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls rise over the river, we know not; Ah, well! we may conjecture many things. The men talk as cheerfully as ever; jests are bandied about freely this morning; but to me the cheer is somber and the jests are ghastly. On August 28, 1869, three men deserted the expedition, convinced that they could not possibly survive the trip through the Grand Canyon. They were allegedly killed by Native Americans after making it to the rim of the canyon; two days later, the expedition ran the last of the Grand Canyon rapids and reached St. Thomas. Powell led a second expedition in 1871, this time with financial backing from the U.S. government. The explorers named many features along the Colorado and Green rivers, including Glen Canyon, the Dirty Devil River, Flaming Gorge, and the Gates of Lodore. In what is perhaps a twist of irony, modern-day Lake Powell, which floods Glen Canyon, is also named for their leader. ### American settlement Starting in the latter half of the 19th century, the lower Colorado below Black Canyon became an important waterway for steamboat commerce. In 1852, the Uncle Sam was launched to provide supplies to the U.S. Army outpost at Fort Yuma. Although this vessel accidentally foundered and sank early in its career, commercial traffic quickly proliferated because river transport was much cheaper than hauling freight over land. Navigation on the Colorado River was dangerous because of the shallow channel and flow variations, so the first sternwheeler on the river, the Colorado of 1855, was designed to carry 60 short tons (54 t) while drawing less than 2 feet (0.6 m) of water. The tidal bore of the lower Colorado also presented a major hazard; in 1922, a 15-foot (4.6 m)-high wave swamped a ship bound for Yuma, killing between 86 and 130 people. Steamboats quickly became the principal source of communication and trade along the river until competition from railroads began in the 1870s, and finally the construction of dams along the lower river in 1909, none of which had locks to allow the passage of ships. During the Manifest Destiny era of the mid-19th century, American pioneers settled many western states but generally avoided the Colorado River basin until the 1850s. Under Brigham Young's grand vision for a "vast empire in the desert", (the State of Deseret) Mormon settlers were among the first whites to establish a permanent presence in the watershed, Fort Clara or Fort Santa Clara, in the winter of 1855–1856 along the Santa Clara River, tributary of the Virgin River. In the lower Colorado mining was the primary spur to economic development, copper mining in southwestern New Mexico Territory the 1850s then the Mohave War and a gold rush on the Gila River in 1859, the El Dorado Canyon Rush in 1860 and Colorado River Gold Rush in 1862. In 1860, anticipating the American Civil War, the Mormons established a number of settlements to grow cotton along the Virgin River in Washington County, Utah. From 1863 to 1865, Mormon colonists founded St. Thomas and other colonies on the Muddy and Virgin rivers in northwestern Arizona Territory, (now Clark County, Nevada). Stone's Ferry was established by these colonists on the Colorado at the mouth of the Virgin River to carry their produce on a wagon road to the mining districts of Mohave County, Arizona to the south. Also, in 1866, a steamboat landing was established at Callville, intended as an outlet to the Pacific Ocean via the Colorado River, for Mormon settlements in the Great Basin. These settlements reached a peak population of about 600 before being abandoned in 1871, and for nearly a decade these valleys became a haven for outlaws and cattle rustlers. One Mormon settler Daniel Bonelli, remained, operating the ferry and began mining salt in nearby mines, bring it in barges, down river to El Dorado Canyon where it was used to process silver ore. From 1879 to 1887, Colorado Steam Navigation Company steamboats carried the salt, operating up river in the high spring flood waters, through Boulder Canyon, to the landing at Rioville at the mouth of the Virgin River. From 1879 to 1882 the Southwestern Mining Company, largest in El Dorado Canyon, brought in a 56-foot sloop the Sou'Wester that sailed up and down river carrying the salt in the low water time of year until it was wrecked in the Quick and Dirty Rapids of Black Canyon. Mormons founded settlements along the Duchesne River Valley in the 1870s, and populated the Little Colorado River valley later in the century, settling in towns such as St. Johns, Arizona. They also established settlements along the Gila River in central Arizona beginning in 1871. These early settlers were impressed by the extensive ruins of the Hohokam civilization that previously occupied the Gila River valley, and are said to have "envisioned their new agricultural civilization rising as the mythical phoenix bird from the ashes of Hohokam society". The Mormons were the first whites to develop the water resources of the basin on a large scale, and built complex networks of dams and canals to irrigate wheat, oats and barley in addition to establishing extensive sheep and cattle ranches. One of the main reasons the Mormons were able to colonize Arizona was the existence of Jacob Hamblin's ferry across the Colorado at Lee's Ferry (then known as Pahreah Crossing), which began running in March 1864. This location was the only section of river for hundreds of miles in both directions where the canyon walls dropped away, allowing for the development of a transport route. John Doyle Lee established a more permanent ferry system at the site in 1870. One reason Lee chose to run the ferry was to flee from Mormon leaders who held him responsible for the Mountain Meadows massacre, in which 120 emigrants in a wagon train were killed by a local militia disguised as Native Americans. Even though it was located along a major travel route, Lee's Ferry was very isolated, and there Lee and his family established the aptly named Lonely Dell Ranch. In 1928, the ferry sank, resulting in the deaths of three men. Later that year, the Navajo Bridge was completed at a point 5 miles (8 km) downstream, rendering the ferry obsolete. Gold strikes from the mid-19th to early 20th centuries played a major role in attracting settlers to the upper Colorado River basin. In 1859, a group of adventurers from Georgia discovered gold along the Blue River in Colorado and established the mining boomtown of Breckenridge. During 1875, even bigger strikes were made along the Uncompahgre and San Miguel rivers, also in Colorado, and these led to the creation of Ouray and Telluride, respectively. Because most gold deposits along the upper Colorado River and its tributaries occur in lode deposits, extensive mining systems and heavy machinery were required to extract them. Mining remains a substantial contributor to the economy of the upper basin and has led to acid mine drainage problems in some regional streams and rivers. The Colorado River region in Mexico became favored place for Americans to invest in agriculture in the late nineteenth century when Mexico President Porfirio Díaz welcomed foreign capital to develop the country. The Colorado River Land Company, formed by Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler, his father-in-law Harrison Gray Otis, and others, developed the Mexicali Valley in Baja California as a thriving land company. The company headquarters was nominally based in Mexico, but its real headquarters was in Los Angeles, California. Land was leased mainly to Americans who were required to develop it. Colorado River was used to irrigate the rich soil. The company largely escaped the turmoil of the Mexican Revolution (1910–20), but in the postrevolutionary period, the Mexican government expropriated the company's land to satisfy the demand for land reform. ### Controversy over the name of the upper Colorado River The Colorado River did not officially flow through the State of Colorado until July 25, 1921. Prior to that date, the origin of the Colorado River was officially the confluence of the Grand and Green rivers at in what is now Canyonlands National Park of Utah. Fathers Dominguez and Escalante named the Grand River the Rio San Rafael in 1776. The Grand River above the confluence with the Gunnison River was also known as the Bunkara River, the Blue River, and the North Fork of the Grand River until the 1870s. In 1921, U.S. Representative Edward T. Taylor of Colorado petitioned the Congressional Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce to rename the Grand River as the Colorado River. On July 25, 1921, President Warren G. Harding signed House Joint Resolution 32 - To change the name of the Grand River in Colorado and Utah to the Colorado River, over the objections of representatives from Wyoming, Utah, and the United States Geological Survey, who noted that the Green River was longer and had a larger drainage basin, although the Grand River often contributed a greater flow of water. ## Engineering and development About 40 million people depend on the Colorado River's water for agricultural, industrial and domestic needs. The Colorado irrigates 5.5 million acres (2.2 million hectares) of farmland, and its hydroelectric plants produce 12 billion kilowatt hours (KWh) of hydroelectricity each year. Hydroelectricity from the Colorado is a key supplier of peaking power on the Southwest electric grid. Often called "America's Nile", the Colorado is so intensively managed that each drop of its water is used an average of 17 times in a single year. Southern Nevada Water Authority has called the Colorado River one of the "most controlled, controversial and litigated rivers in the world". In 1922, six U.S. states signed the Colorado River Compact, which divided half of the river's flow to both the Upper Basin (the drainage area above Lee's Ferry, comprising parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming and a small portion of Arizona) and the Lower Basin (Arizona, California, Nevada, and parts of New Mexico and Utah). The Upper and Lower Basin were each allocated 7.5 million acre-feet (9.3 km<sup>3</sup>) of water per year, a figure believed to represent half of the river's annual flow at Lee's Ferry. The allotments operated under the premise that approximately 17.5 million acre-feet of water flowed through the river annually. Arizona initially refused to ratify the compact because it feared that California would take too much of the lower basin allotment. In 1944 a compromise was reached in which Arizona was allocated 2.8 million acre-feet (3.5 km<sup>3</sup>), but with the caveat that California's 4.4-million-acre-foot (5.4 km<sup>3</sup>) allocation was prioritized during drought years. These and nine other decisions, compacts, federal acts and agreements made between 1922 and 1973 constitute what is now known as the Law of the River. In 1944, a treaty between the U.S. and Mexico allocated 1.5 million acre-feet (1.9 km<sup>3</sup>) of Colorado River water to Mexico each year. Morelos Dam was constructed in 1950 to enable Mexico to utilize its share of the river. Water allocated to Mexico from the Colorado River is regulated by the International Boundary and Water Commission, which also apportions waters from the Rio Grande between the two countries. ### Transmountain diversions Large-scale development of Colorado River water supplies started in the late 19th century, at the river's headwaters in La Poudre Pass. The Grand Ditch, directing runoff from the river's headwaters across the Continental Divide to arid eastern Colorado, was considered an engineering marvel when completed in 1890. This was the first of twenty-four "transmountain diversions" constructed to draw water across the Rocky Mountains as the Front Range corridor increased in population. These diversions draw water from the upper Colorado and its tributaries into the South Platte River, Arkansas River and Rio Grande basins. Today, about 80 percent of Colorado's population lives on the Eastern Slope of the Rockies, while 80 percent of precipitation falls on the Western Slope. While first planned at the same time as the Grand Ditch, construction on the Colorado-Big Thompson Project (C-BT) did not begin until the 1930s. Today, the C-BT is the largest of the transmountain diversions, delivering 230,000 acre-feet (280,000,000 m<sup>3</sup>) per year from the Colorado River to cities north of Denver. Numerous other projects followed, with the largest including the Roberts Tunnel, which delivers water from the Blue River to the city of Denver, and the Fryingpan–Arkansas Project, which diverts water from the Fryingpan River to the Arkansas River basin. Combined, the transmountain diversions draw about 580,000 acre-feet (720,000,000 m<sup>3</sup>) of water per year out of the Colorado River basin. Historically, most of the water has been used for irrigation, although water usage is increasing for urban water supply and for recreational purposes such as snowmaking and increasing Eastern Slope streamflows for boating and fishing. Denver Water receives about 50 percent of its supply from the Colorado River basin. However, diversions have caused environmental harm to the upper Colorado River system by reducing streamflows in many tributaries. A number of reservoirs have been built to offset the impact of transmountain diversions by storing water for dry season release on the Western Slope, including Williams Fork Reservoir in 1959 and Wolford Mountain Reservoir in 1996. ### The Imperial Valley and the Salton Sea In 1900, the California Development Company (CDC) envisioned irrigating the Imperial Valley, a then dry basin on the California–Mexico border, using water from the Colorado River. Due to the valley's location below sea level, water could be diverted and allowed to flow there entirely by gravity. Engineer George Chaffey was hired to design the Alamo Canal, which split from the Colorado near Pilot Knob, California and ran south into Mexico, where it joined the Alamo River, a dry arroyo which had historically carried overflowing floodwaters from the Colorado into the Salton Sink at the bottom of Imperial Valley. The scheme worked initially; by 1903, about four thousand people lived in the valley and more than 100,000 acres (40,000 ha) of farmland had been developed. The Alamo Canal experienced continual problems due to the Colorado's high sediment content and its varying water levels. During low flows, the river often dropped below the level of the canal intake, while high flows silted up the intake, forcing the repeated excavation of new cuts. In early 1905, flooding destroyed the intake gates and water began to flow uncontrolled down the canal towards the Salton Sink. By August, the breach had grown large enough to swallow the entire flow of the river, which began to flood the bottom of the valley. The Southern Pacific Railroad attempted to dam the flow in order to protect their tracks which ran through the valley, but was hampered by repeated flooding. It took seven attempts, more than \$3 million, and two years for the railroad, the CDC, and the federal government to permanently block the breach and restore the river's original course – but not before part of the Imperial Valley was flooded under a 45-mile-long (72 km) lake, today's Salton Sea. The Imperial Valley fiasco demonstrated that further economic development of the region would require a dam to control the Colorado's unpredictable flows. ### Boulder Canyon Project A large dam on the Colorado River had been envisioned since the 1920s. In 1928, Congress authorized the Reclamation Service (today's U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, or USBR) to build the Boulder Canyon Project, whose key feature would be a dam on the Colorado in Black Canyon 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. On September 30, 1935, Hoover Dam was completed, forming Lake Mead, capable of holding more than two years of the Colorado's flow. Lake Mead was, and still is, the largest artificial lake in the U.S. by storage capacity. The construction of Hoover Dam stabilized the lower channel of the Colorado River, stored water for irrigation in times of drought, captured sediment and controlled floods. Hoover was the tallest dam in the world at the time of construction and also had the world's largest hydroelectric power plant. The Boulder Canyon Project Act also authorized the All-American Canal, which was built as a permanent replacement for the Alamo Canal and follows a route entirely within the U.S. on its way to the Imperial Valley. The canal's intake is located at Imperial Dam, 20 miles (32 km) above Yuma, Arizona, which diverts the majority of the Colorado's flow with only a small portion continuing to Mexico. With a capacity of over 26,000 cubic feet per second (740 m<sup>3</sup>/s), the All-American Canal is the largest irrigation canal in the world. Because the hot, sunny climate lends to a year-round growing season, the Imperial Valley has become one of the most productive farming regions in North America, providing much of the winter produce supply in the U.S. The Imperial Irrigation District supplies water to 520,000 acres (210,000 ha) south of the Salton Sea. The Coachella Canal, which branches northward from the All-American Canal, irrigates another 78,000 acres (32,000 ha) in the Coachella Valley. Parker Dam was initially built as the diversion point for the Colorado River Aqueduct, planned by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to supply water to Los Angeles. The construction of the dam was opposed by Arizona, which feared that California would take too much water from the Colorado; at one point, Arizona sent members of its National Guard to stop work on the dam. Ultimately, a compromise was reached, with Arizona dropping its objections in exchange for the USBR constructing the Gila Project, which irrigates 110,000 acres (450 km<sup>2</sup>) on the Arizona side of the river. By 1941, the 241-mile (388 km) long Colorado River Aqueduct was completed, delivering 1.2 million acre-feet (1.5 km<sup>3</sup>) of water west to Southern California. The aqueduct enabled the continued growth of Los Angeles and its suburbs, and provides water to about 10 million people today. The San Diego Aqueduct, which branches off from the Colorado River Aqueduct in Riverside County, California, opened in stages between 1954–1971 and provides water to another 3 million people in the San Diego metro area. The Las Vegas Valley of Nevada experienced rapid growth after Hoover Dam, and by 1937 Las Vegas had tapped a pipeline into Lake Mead. Nevada officials, believing that groundwater resources in the southern part of the state were sufficient for future growth, were more concerned with securing a large amount of the dam's power supply than water from the Colorado; thus they settled for the smallest water allocation of all the states in the Colorado River Compact. In 2018, due to declining water levels in Lake Mead, a second pipeline was completed with a lower intake elevation. ### Colorado River Storage Project In the first half of the 20th century, the Upper Basin states, with the exception of Colorado, had developed very little of their water allocations from the Colorado River Compact. By the 1950s, however, water demand was rapidly increasing in Utah's Wasatch Front (Salt Lake City metro area) and the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico, which both began exploring ways to divert water from the Colorado Basin. The Upper Basin states were concerned that they would not be able to use their full Compact allocations due to increasing water demands in the Lower Basin. The Compact requires the Upper Basin to deliver a minimum annual flow of 7.5 million acre-feet (9.3×10<sup>9</sup> m<sup>3</sup>) past Lee's Ferry (measured on a 10-year rolling average). Without additional reservoir storage, the Upper Basin states could not utilize their allocations without impacting water deliveries to the Lower Basin in dry years. In 1956 Congress authorized the USBR to construct the Colorado River Storage Project (CRSP), which planned several large reservoirs on the upper Colorado, Green, Gunnison and San Juan Rivers. The initial blueprints for the CRSP included two dams on the Green River within Echo Park Canyon in Dinosaur National Monument – a move criticized by both the National Park Service and environmental groups such as the Sierra Club. The controversy received nationwide media attention, and the USBR dropped its plans for the Dinosaur dams in exchange for increasing the size of a proposed dam at Glen Canyon. The controversy associated with Glen Canyon Dam did not build momentum until construction was well underway. Due to Glen Canyon's remote location, most of the American public did not even know of its existence; the few who did contended that it had much greater scenic value than Echo Park. The environmental movement in the American Southwest has opposed the damming and diversion of the Colorado River system due to negative effects on the ecology and natural beauty of the river and its tributaries. During the construction of Glen Canyon Dam (1956–66), environmental organizations vowed to block any further development of the river, and a number of later dam and aqueduct proposals were defeated by citizen opposition. Sierra Club leader David Brower fought the dam both during the construction and for many years afterwards until his death in 2000. Brower believed that he was personally responsible for the failure to prevent Glen Canyon's flooding, calling it his "greatest mistake, greatest sin". In addition to Glen Canyon Dam, the CRSP includes the Flaming Gorge Dam on the Green River, the Blue Mesa, Morrow Point and Crystal Dams on the Gunnison River, and the Navajo Dam on the San Juan River. A total of 22 "participating projects" (of which 16 have been constructed) were later authorized in order to develop local water supplies at various locations across the Upper Basin states. These include the Central Utah Project, which delivers 102,000 acre-feet (126,000,000 m<sup>3</sup>) per year from the Green River basin to the Wasatch Front, and the San Juan–Chama Project, which diverts 110,000 acre-feet (140,000,000 m<sup>3</sup>) per year from the San Juan River to the Rio Grande Valley. Both are multi-purpose projects serving a variety of agricultural, municipal and industrial uses. ### Pacific Southwest Water Plan By the middle of the 20th century, planners were concerned that continued growth in water demand would outstrip the available water supply from the Colorado River. After exploring a multitude of potential projects, the USBR published a study in January 1964 known as the Pacific Southwest Water Plan, which proposed diverting water from the northwestern United States into the Colorado River basin. Arizona's water allocation was a significant focus of the plan, due to the growing concern that its water supply could be curtailed due to California's seniority of water rights. In addition, the plan would guarantee full water supplies to Nevada, California and Mexico, allowing the Upper Basin states to utilize their full allocations without risking reductions in the Lower Basin. The project would cost an estimated \$3.1 billion. The first stage of this plan would divert water from Northern California's Trinity, Klamath and Eel Rivers to Southern California, allowing more Colorado River water to be used, by exchange, in Arizona. A canal system, which ultimately would become the Central Arizona Project (CAP), would be constructed to deliver Arizona's Colorado River allocation to Phoenix and Tucson, both located far away from the Colorado River in the middle of the state. At this point, central Arizona was still entirely dependent on local water supplies, such as the 1911 Theodore Roosevelt Dam, and was quickly running out of surplus water. In order to supply the massive amount of power required to pump Colorado River water to central Arizona, two hydroelectric dams were proposed in the Grand Canyon (Bridge Canyon Dam and Marble Canyon Dam), which while not directly located in Grand Canyon National Park, would greatly impact flows of the Colorado River through the park. With the controversy over Glen Canyon Dam still ongoing, the public pressure against these dams was immense. As a result, the two Grand Canyon dams were omitted from the final CAP authorization in 1968. In addition, the boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park were redrawn to prevent future dam projects in the area. The pumping power was replaced by the building of the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station near Page, Arizona, in 1976. In 2019, the Navajo Generating Station ceased operation. The CAP was constructed in stages from 1973 to 1993, ultimately extending 336 miles (541 km) from the Colorado River at Parker Dam to Tucson, Arizona. It delivers 1.4 million acre-feet (1.7 km<sup>3</sup>) of water per year, irrigates 830,000 acres (3,400 km<sup>2</sup>) of farmland and provides municipal water to about 5 million people. Due to environmental concerns, most of the facilities proposed in the Pacific Southwest Water Plan were never built (though a smaller version of the Trinity River project was constructed as part of the unrelated Central Valley Project), leaving Arizona and Nevada vulnerable to future water reductions under the Compact. ### Post-2000 water supply When the Colorado River Compact was drafted in the 1920s, it was based on barely 30 years of streamflow records that suggested an average annual flow of 17.5 million acre-feet (21.6 km<sup>3</sup>) past Lee's Ferry. Modern studies of tree rings revealed that those three decades were probably the wettest in the past 500 to 1,200 years and that the natural long-term annual flow past Lee's Ferry is probably closer to 13.5 million acre-feet (16.7 km<sup>3</sup>), with a natural flow at the mouth around 16.3 million acre-feet (20.1 km<sup>3</sup>). This has resulted in more water being allocated to river users than actually exists in the Colorado. Droughts have exacerbated the issue of water over-allocation. The most severe drought on record, the southwestern North American megadrought, began in the early 21st century, in which the river basin has produced above-average runoff in only five years between 2000 and 2021. The region is experiencing a warming trend, which is accompanied by earlier snowmelt, lower precipitation and greater evapotranspiration. A 2004 study showed that a 1–6 percent decrease of precipitation would lead to runoff declining by as much as 18 percent by 2050. Since 2000, reservoir levels have fluctuated greatly from year to year, but have experienced a steady long-term decline. The particularly dry spell between 2000 and 2004 brought Lake Powell to just a third of capacity in 2005, the lowest level on record since initial filling in 1969. In late 2010, Lake Mead was approaching the "drought trigger" elevation of 1,075 feet (328 m), at which water supplies to Arizona and Nevada would be reduced in accordance with the Colorado River Compact. Due to Arizona and Nevada's water rights being junior to California's, their allocations can legally be cut to zero before any reductions are made on the California side. A wet winter in 2011 temporarily raised lake levels, but dry conditions returned in the next two years. In 2014, the Bureau of Reclamation cut releases from Lake Powell by 10 percent —the first such reduction since the 1960s, when Lake Powell was being filled for the first time. This resulted in Lake Mead dropping to its lowest recorded level since 1937, when it was first being filled. Water year 2018 had a much lower-than-average snowpack. In July 2021, after two more extremely dry winters, Lake Powell fell below the previous low set in 2005. In response, the Bureau of Reclamation began releasing water from upstream reservoirs in order to keep Powell above the minimum level for hydropower generation. Lake Mead fell below the 1,075-foot (328 m) level expected to trigger federally mandated cuts to Arizona and Nevada's water supplies for the first time in history, and is expected to continue declining into 2022. On August 16, 2021, the Bureau of Reclamation released the Colorado River Basin August 2021 24-Month Study, and for the first time declared a shortage and that because of "ongoing historic drought and low runoff conditions in the Colorado River Basin, downstream releases from Glen Canyon Dam and Hoover Dam will be reduced in 2022 due to declining reservoir levels." The Lower Basin reductions will reduce the annual apportionments – Arizona's by 18 percent, Nevada's by 7 percent, and Mexico's by 5 percent. On June 14, 2022, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton told the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural resources that additional cuts of 2-4 million acre-feet were required to stabilize reservoir levels in 2023. Touton warned that if states were unable to negotiate the requisite cuts the Interior department may use its legal authority to cut releases. When the states were unable to come to an agreement about how to share the proposed cuts, Reclamation began the legal steps to unilaterally reduce releases from Hoover and Glen Canyon Dams in 2023. As of December 2022 the lower basin states of Nevada, Arizona, and California had not agreed on how to reduce water use by the approximately 30% required to keep levels in lakes Mead and Powell from crashing. The Bureau of Reclamation has projected that water levels at Lake Powell could fall low enough that by July 2023 Glen Canyon Dam would no longer be able to generate any hydropower. Arizona proposed a plan that severely cut allocations to California, and California responded with a plan that severely cut allocations to Arizona, failing to reach consensus. In April 2023, the federal government proposed cutting allocations to Nevada, Arizona, and California evenly which would cut deliveries by as much as one-quarter to each state, rather than according to senior water rights. In May 2023, the states finally reached a temporary agreement to prevent deadpool, reducing allocations by 3 million acre-feet over three years (until the end of 2026). 700,000 acre-feet were to be negotiated later among California, Arizona, and Nevada. The cuts were less than the federal government had demanded, and so further cuts will be needed after 2026. Fewer cuts were needed in the short term because the Colorado River Basin experienced an unusually rainy and snowy weather in early 2023. The agreement also became easier to negotiate because many cuts are being offset by one-time federal funding. Billions of dollars in funding for programs in the Colorado River Basin to recycle water, increase efficiency, and competitive grants to pay water rights holders not to use water from the river are being provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act, and other programs funded through the United States Environmental Protection Agency and United States Department of the Interior. These are projected to reduce demand by hundreds of thousands of acre-feet per year. ## Ecology ### Wildlife and plants The Colorado River and its tributaries often nourish extensive corridors of riparian growth as they traverse the arid desert regions of the watershed. Although riparian zones represent a relatively small proportion of the basin and have been affected by engineering projects and river diversion in many places, they have the greatest biodiversity of any habitat in the basin. The most prominent riparian zones along the river occur along the lower Colorado below Davis Dam, especially in the Colorado River Delta, where riparian areas support 358 species of birds despite the reduction in freshwater flow and invasive plants such as tamarisk (salt cedar). Reduction of the delta's size has also threatened animals such as jaguars and the vaquita porpoise, which is endemic to the gulf. Human development of the Colorado River has also helped to create new riparian zones by smoothing the river's seasonal flow, notably through the Grand Canyon. More than 1,600 species of plants grow in the Colorado River watershed, ranging from the creosote bush, saguaro cactus, and Joshua trees of the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts to the forests of the Rocky Mountains and other uplands, composed mainly of ponderosa pine, subalpine fir, Douglas-fir and Engelmann spruce. Before logging in the 19th century, forests were abundant in high elevations as far south as the Mexico–U.S. border, and runoff from these areas nourished abundant grassland communities in river valleys. Some arid regions of the watershed, such as the upper Green River valley in Wyoming, Canyonlands National Park in Utah and the San Pedro River valley in Arizona and Sonora, supported extensive reaches of grassland roamed by large mammals such as buffalo and antelope as late as the 1860s. Near Tucson, Arizona, "where now there is only powder-dry desert, the grass once reached as high as the head of a man on horse back". Rivers and streams in the Colorado basin were once home to 49 species of native fish, of which 42 were endemic. Engineering projects and river regulation have led to the extinction of four species and severe declines in the populations of 40 species. Bonytail chub, razorback sucker, Colorado pikeminnow, and humpback chub are among those considered the most at risk; all are unique to the Colorado River system and well adapted to the river's natural silty conditions and flow variations. Clear, cold water released by dams has significantly changed characteristics of habitat for these and other Colorado River basin fishes. A further 40 species that occur in the river today, notably the brown trout, were introduced during the 19th and 20th centuries, mainly for sport fishing. ### Impacts of development Historically, the Colorado transported from 85 to 100 million short tons (77,000,000 to 91,000,000 t) of sediment or silt to the Gulf of California each year – second only to the Mississippi among North American rivers. This sediment nourished wetlands and riparian areas along the river's lower course, particularly in its 3,000-square-mile (7,800 km<sup>2</sup>) delta, once the largest desert estuary on the continent. Currently, the majority of sediments carried by the Colorado River are deposited at the upper end of Lake Powell, and most of the remainder ends up in Lake Mead. Various estimates place the time it would take for Powell to completely fill with silt at 300 to 700 years. Dams trapping sediment not only pose damage to river habitat but also threaten future operations of the Colorado River reservoir system. Reduction in flow caused by dams, diversions, water for thermoelectric power stations, and evaporation losses from reservoirs – the latter of which consumes more than 15 percent of the river's natural runoff—has had severe ecological consequences in the Colorado River Delta and the Gulf of California. Historically, the delta with its large freshwater outflow and extensive salt marshes provided an important breeding ground for aquatic species in the Gulf. Today's desiccated delta, at only a fraction of its former size, no longer provides suitable habitat, and populations of fish, shrimp and sea mammals in the gulf have seen a dramatic decline. Since 1963, the only times when the Colorado River has reached the ocean have been during El Niño events in the 1980s and 1990s. Reduced flows have led to increases in the concentration of certain substances in the lower river that have impacted water quality. Salinity is one of the major issues and also leads to the corrosion of pipelines in agricultural and urban areas. The lower Colorado's salt content was about 50 parts per million (ppm) in its natural state, but by the 1960s, it had increased to well over 2000 ppm. By the early 1970s, there was also serious concern about salinity caused by salts leached from local soils by irrigation drainage water, which were estimated to add 10 million short tons (9,100,000 t) of excess salt to the river per year. The Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act was passed in 1974, mandating conservation practices including the reduction of saline drainage. The program reduced the annual load by about 1.2 million short tons (1,100,000 t), but salinity remains an ongoing issue. In 1997, the USBR estimated that saline irrigation water caused crop damages exceeding \$500 million in the U.S. and \$100 million in Mexico. Further efforts have been made to combat the salt issue in the lower Colorado, including the construction of a desalination plant at Yuma. In 2011, the seven U.S. states agreed upon a "Plan of Implementation", which aims to reduce salinity by 644,000 short tons (584,000 t) per year by 2030. In 2013, the Bureau of Reclamation estimated that around \$32 million was spent each year to prevent around 1.2 million tons of salt from entering and damaging the Colorado River. Agricultural runoff containing pesticide residues has also been concentrated in the lower river in greater amounts. This has led to fish kills; six of these events were recorded between 1964 and 1968 alone. The pesticide issue is even greater in streams and water bodies near agricultural lands irrigated by the Imperial Irrigation District with Colorado River water. In the Imperial Valley, Colorado River water used for irrigation overflows into the New and Alamo rivers and into the Salton Sea. Both rivers and the sea are among the most polluted bodies of water in the United States, posing dangers not only to aquatic life but to contact by humans and migrating birds. Pollution from agricultural runoff is not limited to the lower river; the issue is also significant in upstream reaches such as Colorado's Grand Valley, also a major center of irrigated agriculture. Large dams such as Hoover and Glen Canyon typically release water from lower levels of their reservoirs, resulting in stable and relatively cold year-round temperatures in long reaches of the river. The Colorado's average temperature once ranged from 85 °F (29 °C) at the height of summer to near freezing in winter, but modern flows through the Grand Canyon, for example, rarely deviate significantly from 46 °F (8 °C). Changes in temperature regime have caused declines of native fish populations, and stable flows have enabled increased vegetation growth, obstructing riverside habitat. These flow patterns have also made the Colorado more dangerous to recreational boaters; people are more likely to die of hypothermia in the colder water, and the general lack of flooding allows rockslides to build up, making the river more difficult to navigate. #### Minute 319 In the 21st century, there has been renewed interest in restoring a limited water flow to the delta. In November 2012, the U.S. and Mexico reached an agreement, known as Minute 319, permitting Mexico storage of its water allotment in U.S. reservoirs during wet years, thus increasing the efficiency with which the water can be used. In addition to renovating irrigation canals in the Mexicali Valley to reduce leakage, this will make about 45,000 acre-feet (56,000,000 m<sup>3</sup>) per year available for release to the delta on average. The water will be used to provide both an annual base flow and a spring "pulse flow" to mimic the river's original snowmelt-driven regime. The first pulse flow, an eight-week release of 105,000 acre-feet (130,000,000 m<sup>3</sup>), was initiated on March 21, 2014, with the aim of revitalising 2,350 acres (950 hectares) of wetland. This pulse reached the sea on May 16, 2014, marking the first time in 16 years that any water from the Colorado flowed into the ocean, and was hailed as "an experiment of historic political and ecological significance" and a landmark in U.S.–Mexican cooperation in conservation. The pulse will be followed by the steady release of 52,000 acre-feet (64,000,000 m<sup>3</sup>) over the following three years, just a small fraction of its average flow before damming. ## Recreation Famed for its dramatic rapids and canyons, the Colorado is one of the most desirable whitewater rivers in the United States, and its Grand Canyon section—run by more than 22,000 people annually—has been called the "granddaddy of rafting trips". Grand Canyon trips typically begin at Lee's Ferry and take out at Diamond Creek or Lake Mead; they range from one to eighteen days for commercial trips and from two to twenty-five days for private trips. Private (noncommercial) trips are extremely difficult to arrange because the National Park Service limits river traffic for environmental purposes; people who desire such a trip often have to wait more than 10 years for the opportunity. Several other sections of the river and its tributaries are popular whitewater runs, and many of these are also served by commercial outfitters. The Colorado's Cataract Canyon and many reaches in the Colorado headwaters are even more heavily used than the Grand Canyon, and about 60,000 boaters run a single 4.5-mile (7.2 km) section above Radium, Colorado, each year. The upper Colorado also includes many of the river's most challenging rapids, including those in Gore Canyon, which is considered so dangerous that "boating is not recommended". Another section of the river above Moab, known as the Colorado "Daily" or "Fisher Towers Section", is the most visited whitewater run in Utah, with more than 77,000 visitors in 2011 alone. The rapids of the Green River's Gray and Desolation Canyons and the less difficult "Goosenecks" section of the lower San Juan River are also frequently traversed by boaters. Eleven U.S. national parks—Arches, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Petrified Forest, Rocky Mountain, Saguaro, and Zion—are in the watershed, in addition to many national forests, state parks, and recreation areas. Hiking, backpacking, camping, skiing, and fishing are among the multiple recreation opportunities offered by these areas. Fisheries have declined in many streams in the watershed, especially in the Rocky Mountains, because of polluted runoff from mining and agricultural activities. The Colorado's major reservoirs are also heavily traveled summer destinations. Houseboating and water-skiing are popular activities on Lakes Mead, Powell, Havasu, and Mojave, as well as Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Utah and Wyoming, and Navajo Reservoir in New Mexico and Colorado. Lake Powell and surrounding Glen Canyon National Recreation Area received more than two million visitors per year in 2007, while nearly 7.9 million people visited Lake Mead and the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in 2008. Colorado River recreation employs some 250,000 people and contributes \$26 billion each year to the Southwest economy. ## See also - Colorado River Delta - Colorado Desert - List of Colorado River rapids and features - List of dams in the Colorado River system - List of largest reservoirs in the United States - List of longest rivers of Mexico - List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem) - London Bridge (Lake Havasu City) - Moab uranium mill tailings pile - Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program
3,589,574	SMS Nassau	1,159,032,107	Battleship of the German Imperial Navy; lead ship of her class	[ "1908 ships", "Nassau-class battleships", "Ships built in Wilhelmshaven", "World War I battleships of Germany" ]	SMS Nassau was the first dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial German Navy, a response to the launching of the British battleship HMS Dreadnought. Nassau was laid down on 22 July 1907 at the Kaiserliche Werft in Wilhelmshaven, and launched less than a year later on 7 March 1908, approximately 25 months after Dreadnought. She was the lead ship of her class of four battleships, which included Posen, Rheinland, and Westfalen. Nassau saw service in the North Sea at the beginning of World War I, in II Division of I Battle Squadron of the German High Seas Fleet. In August 1915, she entered the Baltic Sea and participated in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga, where she engaged the Russian battleship Slava. Following her return to the North Sea, Nassau and her sister ships took part in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916. During the battle, Nassau collided with the British destroyer HMS Spitfire. Nassau suffered a total of 11 killed and 16 injured during the engagement. After World War I, the bulk of the High Seas Fleet was interned in Scapa Flow. As they were the oldest German dreadnoughts, the Nassau-class ships were for the time permitted to remain in German ports. After the German fleet was scuttled, Nassau and her three sisters were surrendered to the victorious Allied powers as replacements for the sunken ships. Nassau was ceded to Japan in April 1920. With no use for the ship, Japan sold her to a British wrecking firm which then scrapped her in Dordrecht, Netherlands. ## Description Design work on the Nassau class began in late 1903 in the context of the Anglo-German naval arms race; at the time, battleships of foreign navies had begun to carry increasingly heavy secondary batteries, including Italian and American ships with 20.3 cm (8 in) guns and British ships with 23.4 cm (9.2 in) guns, outclassing the previous German battleships of the Deutschland class with their 17 cm (6.7 in) secondaries. German designers initially considered ships equipped with 21 cm (8.3 in) secondary guns, but erroneous reports in early 1904 that the British Lord Nelson-class battleships would be equipped with a secondary battery of 25.4 cm (10 in) guns prompted them to consider an even more powerful ship armed with an all-big-gun armament consisting of eight 28 cm (11 in) guns. Over the next two years, the design was refined into a larger vessel with twelve of the guns, by which time Britain had launched the all-big-gun battleship HMS Dreadnought. Nassau was 146.1 m (479 ft 4 in) long, 26.9 m (88 ft 3 in) wide, and had a draft of 8.9 m (29 ft 2 in). She displaced 18,873 t (18,575 long tons) with a normal load, and 20,535 t (20,211 long tons) fully laden. The ship had a crew of 40 officers and 968 enlisted men. Nassau retained three-shafted triple expansion engines with twelve coal-fired water-tube boilers instead of more advanced turbine engines. Her propulsion system was rated at 21,699 ihp (16,181 kW) and provided a top speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). She had a cruising radius of 8,300 nautical miles (15,400 km; 9,600 mi) at a speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). This type of machinery was chosen at the request of both Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz and the Navy's construction department; the latter stated in 1905 that the "use of turbines in heavy warships does not recommend itself." This decision was based solely on cost: at the time, Parsons held a monopoly on steam turbines and required a 1 million gold mark royalty fee for every turbine engine made. German firms were not ready to begin production of turbines on a large scale until 1910. Nassau carried a main battery of twelve 28 cm (11 in) SK L/45 guns in an unusual hexagonal configuration. Her secondary armament consisted of twelve 15 cm (6 in) SK L/45 guns and sixteen 8.8 cm (3 in) SK L/45 guns, all of which were mounted in casemates. The ship was also armed with six 45 cm (17.7 in) submerged torpedo tubes. One tube was mounted in the bow, another in the stern, and two on each broadside, on either ends of the torpedo bulkhead. The ship's belt armor was 270 mm (11 in) thick in the central citadel, and the armored deck was 80 mm (3 in) thick. The main battery turrets had 280 mm (11 in) thick sides, and the conning tower was protected with 400 mm (16 in) of armor plating. ## Service history Nassau was ordered under the provisional name Ersatz Bayern, as a replacement for the old Sachsen-class ironclad Bayern. She was laid down on 22 July 1907 at the Kaiserliche Werft in Wilhelmshaven, under construction number 30. Construction work proceeded under absolute secrecy; detachments of soldiers were tasked with guarding the shipyard itself, as well as contractors that supplied building materials, such as Krupp. The ship was launched on 7 March 1908; she was christened by Princess Hilda of Nassau, and the ceremony was attended by Kaiser Wilhelm II and Prince Henry of the Netherlands, representing his wife's House of Orange-Nassau. Fitting-out work was delayed significantly when a dockyard worker accidentally removed a blanking plate from a large pipe, which allowed a significant amount of water to flood the ship. The ship did not have its watertight bulkheads installed, so the water spread throughout the ship and caused it to list to port and sink 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in) to the bottom of the dock. The ship had to be pumped dry and cleaned out, which proved to be a laborious task. The ship was completed by the end of September 1909. She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 1 October 1909, and trials commenced immediately. HMS Dreadnought, the ship that spurred Nassau's construction, had been launched 25 months before Nassau, on 2 February 1906. On 16 October 1909, Nassau and her sister Westfalen participated in a ceremony for the opening of the new third entrance in the Wilhelmshaven Naval Dockyard. They took part in the annual maneuvers of the High Seas Fleet in February 1910 while still on trials. Nassau finished her trials on 3 May and joined the newly created I Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet. Over the next four years, the ship participated in the regular series of squadron and fleet maneuvers and training cruises. The one exception was the summer training cruise for 1912 when, due to the Agadir Crisis, the cruise only went into the Baltic. On 14 July 1914, the annual summer cruise to Norway began. The threat of war caused Kaiser Wilhelm II to cancel the cruise after two weeks, and by the end of July the fleet was back in port. War between Austria-Hungary and Serbia broke out on the 28th, and in the span of a week all of the major European powers had joined the conflict. ### World War I Nassau participated in most of the fleet advances into the North Sea throughout the war. The first operation was conducted primarily by Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper's battlecruisers; the ships bombarded the English coastal towns of Scarborough, Hartlepool, and Whitby on 15–16 December 1914. A German battlefleet of 12 dreadnoughts—including Nassau—and eight pre-dreadnoughts sailed in support of the battlecruisers. On the evening of 15 December, they came to within 10 nmi (19 km; 12 mi) of an isolated squadron of six British battleships. Skirmishes in the darkness between the rival destroyer screens convinced the German fleet commander, Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl, that the entire Grand Fleet was deployed before him. Under orders from the Kaiser to not risk the fleet, von Ingenohl broke off the engagement and turned the battlefleet back towards Germany. #### Battle of the Gulf of Riga In August 1915, the German fleet attempted to clear the Gulf of Riga to facilitate the capture of Riga by the German Army. To do so, the German planners intended to drive off or destroy the Russian naval forces in the area, which included the pre-dreadnought battleship Slava and a number of gunboats and destroyers. The German naval force would also lay a series of minefields in the northern entrance to the gulf to prevent Russian naval reinforcements from being able to enter the area. The fleet that assembled for the assault included Nassau and her three sister ships, the four Helgoland-class battleships, and the battlecruisers Von der Tann, Moltke, and Seydlitz. The force would operate under the command of Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper. The eight battleships were to provide cover for the forces engaging the Russian flotilla. The first attempt on 8 August was unsuccessful, as it had taken too long to clear the Russian minefields to allow the minelayer Deutschland to lay a minefield of her own. On 16 August 1915, a second attempt was made to enter the gulf: Nassau and Posen, four light cruisers, and 31 torpedo boats managed to breach the Russian defenses. On the first day of the assault, the German minesweeper T 46 was sunk, as was the destroyer V 99. The following day, Nassau and Posen engaged in an artillery duel with Slava, resulting in three hits on the Russian ship that forced her to retreat. By 19 August, the Russian minefields had been cleared, and the flotilla entered the gulf. Reports of Allied submarines in the area prompted the Germans to call off of the operation the following day. Nassau and Posen remained in the Gulf until 21 August, and while there assisted in the destruction of the gunboats Sivuch and Korietz. Admiral Hipper later remarked that, > "To keep valuable ships for a considerable time in a limited area in which enemy submarines were increasingly active, with the corresponding risk of damage and loss, was to indulge in a gamble out of all proportion to the advantage to be derived from the occupation of the Gulf before the capture of Riga from the land side." #### Battle of Jutland Nassau took part in the inconclusive Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, in II Division of I Battle Squadron. For the majority of the battle, I Battle Squadron formed the center of the line of battle, behind Rear Admiral Behncke's III Battle Squadron, and followed by Rear Admiral Mauve's elderly pre-dreadnoughts of II Battle Squadron. Nassau was the third ship in the group of four, behind Rheinland and ahead of Westfalen; Posen was the squadron's flagship. When the German fleet reorganized into a nighttime cruising formation, the order of the ships was inadvertently reversed, and so Nassau was the second ship in the line, astern of Westfalen. Between 17:48 and 17:52, eleven German dreadnoughts, including Nassau, engaged and opened fire on the British 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron; Nassau's target was the cruiser Southampton. Nassau is believed to have scored one hit on Southampton, at approximately 17:50 at a range of 20,100 yd (18,400 m), shortly after she began firing. The shell struck Southampton obliquely on her port side, and did not cause significant damage. Nassau then shifted her guns to the cruiser Dublin; firing ceased by 18:10. At 19:33, Nassau came into range of the British battleship Warspite; her main guns fired briefly, but after the 180-degree turn by the German fleet, the British ship was no longer within reach. Nassau and the rest of I Squadron were again engaged by British light forces shortly after 22:00, including the light cruisers Caroline, Comus, and Royalist. Nassau followed her sister Westfalen in a 68° turn to starboard in order to evade any torpedoes that might have been fired. The two ships fired on Caroline and Royalist at a range of around 8,000 yd (7,300 m). The British ships turned away briefly, before turning about to launch torpedoes. Caroline fired two at Nassau; the first passed close to her bows and the second passed under the ship without exploding. At around midnight on 1 June, the German fleet was attempting to pass behind the British Grand Fleet when it encountered a line of British destroyers. Nassau came upon the destroyer Spitfire, and in the confusion, attempted to ram her. Spitfire tried to evade, but could not maneuver away fast enough, and the two ships collided. Nassau fired her forward 11-inch guns at the destroyer. They could not depress low enough for Nassau to be able to score a hit; nonetheless, the blast from the guns destroyed Spitfire's bridge. At that point, Spitfire was able to disengage from Nassau, and took with her a 6 m (20 ft) portion of Nassau's side plating. The collision disabled one of Nassau's 15 cm (5.9 in) guns, and left a 3.5 m (11.5 ft) gash above the waterline; this slowed the ship to 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) until it could be repaired. During the confused action, Nassau was hit by two 4 in (10 cm) shells from the British destroyers, which damaged her searchlights and inflicted minor casualties. Shortly after 01:00, Nassau and Thüringen encountered the British armored cruiser Black Prince. Thüringen opened fire first, and pummeled Black Prince with a total of 27 heavy-caliber shells and 24 shells from her secondary battery. Nassau and Ostfriesland joined in, followed by Friedrich der Grosse. The heavy fire quickly disabled the British cruiser and set her alight; following a tremendous explosion, she sank, taking her entire crew with her. The sinking Black Prince was directly in the path of Nassau; to avoid the wreck, the ship had to steer sharply towards III Battle Squadron. It was necessary for Nassau to reverse her engines to full speed astern to avoid a collision with Kaiserin. Nassau then fell back into a position between the pre-dreadnoughts Hessen and Hannover. At around 03:00, several British destroyers attempted another torpedo attack on the German line. At approximately 03:10, three or four destroyers appeared in the darkness to port of Nassau; at a range of between 5,500 yd (5,000 m) to 4,400 yd (4,000 m), Nassau briefly fired on the ships before turning away 90° to avoid torpedoes. Following her return to German waters, Nassau, her sisters Posen and Westfalen, and the Helgoland-class battleships Helgoland and Thüringen, took up defensive positions in the Jade roadstead for the night. In the course of the battle, Nassau was hit twice by secondary shells, though these hits caused no significant damage. Her casualties amounted to 11 men killed and 16 men wounded. During the course of the battle, she fired 106 main battery shells and 75 rounds from her secondary guns. Repairs were completed quickly, and Nassau was back with the fleet by 10 July 1916. #### Later operations Another fleet advance followed on 18–22 August, during which the I Scouting Group battlecruisers were to bombard the coastal town of Sunderland in an attempt to draw out and destroy Beatty's battlecruisers. As only two of the four German battlecruisers were still in fighting condition, three dreadnoughts were assigned to the Scouting Group for the operation: Markgraf, Grosser Kurfürst, and the newly commissioned Bayern. The High Seas Fleet, including Nassau, would trail behind and provide cover. At 06:00 on 19 August, Westfalen was torpedoed by the British submarine HMS E23 55 nautical miles (102 km; 63 mi) north of Terschelling; the ship remained afloat and was detached to return to port. The British were aware of the German plans and sortied the Grand Fleet to meet them. By 14:35, Admiral Scheer had been warned of the Grand Fleet's approach and, unwilling to engage the whole of the Grand Fleet just 11 weeks after the close call at Jutland, turned his forces around and retreated to German ports. Another sortie into the North Sea followed on 19–20 October. On 21 December, Nassau ran aground in the mouth of the Elbe. She was able to free herself, and repairs were effected in Hamburg at the Reihersteig Dockyard until 1 February 1917. The ship was part of the force that steamed to Norway to intercept a heavily escorted British convoy on 23–25 April, though the operation was canceled when the battlecruiser Moltke suffered mechanical damage and had to be towed back to port. Nassau, Ostfriesland, and Thüringen were formed into a special unit for Operation Schlußstein, a planned occupation of Saint Petersburg. On 8 August, Nassau took on 250 soldiers in Wilhelmshaven and then departed for the Baltic. The three ships reached the Baltic on 10 August, but the operation was postponed and eventually canceled. The special unit was dissolved on 21 August, and the battleships were back in Wilhelmshaven on the 23rd. Nassau and her three sisters were to have taken part in a final fleet action at the end of October 1918, days before the Armistice was to take effect. The bulk of the High Seas Fleet was to have sortied from their base in Wilhelmshaven to engage the British Grand Fleet; Scheer—by now the Grand Admiral (Großadmiral) of the fleet—intended to inflict as much damage as possible on the British navy, to improve Germany's bargaining position, despite the expected casualties. Many of the war-weary sailors felt that the operation would disrupt the peace process and prolong the war. On the morning of 29 October 1918, the order was given to sail from Wilhelmshaven the following day. Starting on the night of 29 October, sailors on Thüringen and then on several other battleships mutinied. The unrest ultimately forced Hipper and Scheer to cancel the operation. #### Fate Following the German collapse in November 1918, a significant portion of the High Seas Fleet was interned in Scapa Flow. Nassau and her three sisters were not among the ships listed for internment, so they remained at German ports. During this period, from November to December, Hermann Bauer served as the ship's commander. On 21 June 1919, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, under the mistaken impression that the Armistice would expire at noon that day, ordered his ships be scuttled to prevent their seizure by the British. As a result, the four Nassau-class ships were ceded to the various Allied powers as replacements for the ships that had been sunk. Nassau was awarded to Japan on 7 April 1920, though the Japanese had no need for the ship. They, therefore, sold her in June 1920 to British shipbreakers, who scrapped the ship in Dordrecht.
324,022	Margaret Bondfield	1,160,526,258	British feminist and trade unionist (1873–1953)	[ "1873 births", "1953 deaths", "20th-century British women politicians", "British Secretaries of State", "Deaths in England", "English Congregationalists", "English justices of the peace", "English socialist feminists", "English suffragists", "English trade unionists", "English women trade unionists", "Female members of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom", "Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies", "GMB (trade union)-sponsored MPs", "Independent Labour Party National Administrative Committee members", "Labor ministers", "Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies", "Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress", "Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour", "Members of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress", "Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom", "People associated with the University of Bristol", "People from Chard, Somerset", "Place of death missing", "Politicians from Somerset", "UK MPs 1923–1924", "UK MPs 1924–1929", "UK MPs 1929–1931", "Women of the Victorian era" ]	Margaret Grace Bondfield (17 March 1873 – 16 June 1953) was a British Labour Party politician, trade unionist and women's rights activist. She became the first female cabinet minister, and the first woman to be a privy counsellor in the UK, when she was appointed Minister of Labour in the Labour government of 1929–31. She had earlier become the first woman to chair the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC). Bondfield was born in humble circumstances and received limited formal education. After serving an apprenticeship to an embroideress she worked as a shop assistant in Brighton and London. She was shocked by the working conditions of shop staff, particularly within the "living-in" system, and became an active member of the shopworkers' union. She began to move in socialist circles, and in 1898 was appointed assistant secretary of the National Amalgamated Union of Shop Assistants, Warehousemen and Clerks (NAUSAWC). She was later prominent in several women's socialist movements: she helped to found the Women's Labour League (WLL) in 1906, and was chair of the Adult Suffrage Society. Her standpoint on women's suffrage—she favoured extending the vote to all adults regardless of gender or property, rather than the limited "on the same terms as men" agenda pursued by the militant suffragists—divided her from the militant leadership. After leaving her union post in 1908 Bondfield worked as organising secretary for the WLL and later as women's officer for the National Union of General and Municipal Workers (NUGMW). She was elected to the TUC Council in 1918, and became its chairman in 1923, the year she was first elected to parliament. In the short-lived minority Labour government of 1924 she served as parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Labour. Her term of cabinet office in 1929–31 was marked by the economic crises that beset the second Labour government. Her willingness to contemplate cuts in unemployment benefits alienated her from much of the Labour movement, although she did not follow Ramsay MacDonald into the National Government that assumed office when the Labour government fell in August 1931. Bondfield remained active in NUGMW affairs until 1938, and during the Second World War carried out investigations for the Women's Group on Public Welfare. ## Childhood and family Margaret Bondfield, known in private life as "Maggie", was born on 17 March 1873 in Chard, Somerset, the tenth of eleven children, and third of four daughters born to William Bondfield and his wife Ann (née Taylor), the daughter of a Congregational minister. William Bondfield worked as a lacemaker, and had a history of political activism. As a young man he had been secretary of the Chard Political Union, a centre of local radicalism that the authorities had on occasion suppressed by military force. He had also been active in the Anti-Corn Law League of the 1840s. Entirely self-educated, he was fascinated by science and engineering, and was the co-designer of a flying machine, a prototype of the modern aircraft, that was exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851. While Margaret was still an infant, William lost his job and was unable to find regular work. The family suffered hardship, with the threat of the workhouse a constant fear. Nevertheless, William and Ann did their best to ensure that their children were educated and prepared for life. Margaret was a clever child, whose skills at reciting poetry or playing piano pieces were often displayed at town events and Sunday School outings. Until the age of 13 she attended the local elementary school; she then worked for a year as a pupil-teacher (she was paid three shillings a week) in the school's boys' department. Local employment opportunities being scarce, she left Chard in 1887, at the age of 14, to begin an apprenticeship at a draper's shop in Hove, near Brighton. ## Early career ### Shop worker Bondfield joined a drapery and embroidery business in Church Road, Hove, where the young apprentices were treated as family members. Relations between customers and assistants were cordial, and Bondfield's later recollections of this period were uniformly happy. Her apprenticeship complete, she worked as a living-in assistant in a succession of Brighton drapery stores, where she quickly encountered the realities of shop staff life: unsympathetic employers, very long hours, appalling living conditions and no privacy. Bondfield reported on her experiences of living-in: "Overcrowded, insanitary conditions, poor and insufficient food were the main characteristics of this system, with an undertone of danger ... In some houses both natural and unnatural vices found a breeding ground". She found some relief from this environment when she was befriended by a wealthy customer, Louisa Martindale, and her daughter Hilda. The Martindales, socially conscious liberals and advocates for women's rights, found Bondfield a willing learner, and lent her books that began her lifelong interest in labour and social questions. Bondfield described Mrs Martindale as "a most vivid influence on my life ... she put me in the way of knowledge that has been of help to many score of my shop mates". Bondfield's brother Frank had established himself in London some years earlier as a printer and trades unionist, and in 1894, having saved £5, she decided to join him. She found London shopworking conditions no better than in Brighton, but through Frank her social and political circles widened. She became an active member of the National Amalgamated Union of Shop Assistants, Warehousemen, and Clerks (NUSAWC), sometimes missing church on Sundays to attend union meetings. Her political and literary education was centred on the Ideal Club, where she met Bernard Shaw, and Sidney and Beatrice Webb. Under the influence of these socialist luminaries, she joined the Fabian Society and later the Independent Labour Party (ILP). As a shopworker, Bondfield was expected to work between 80 and 100 hours a week for 51 weeks in the year, and might be sent out late at night to check that rival shops had closed before her employer would do so. She began to record her experiences, in a series of articles and stories that she wrote under the pseudonym "Grace Dare", for the shopworkers' monthly magazine The Shop Assistant. She wrote surreptitiously, at night: "I would light my half-penny dip [candle], hiding its glare by means of a towel and set to work on my monthly article". In 1896, she was recruited by the Women's Industrial Council (WIC) as an undercover agent, working in various shops while secretly recording every aspect of shop life. Her accounts of squalor and exploitation were published in articles under the "Grace Dare" name, in both The Shop Assistant and the Daily Chronicle newspaper, and provided the basis for a WIC report on shopworkers' conditions published in 1898. ### Union official In 1898, Bondfield accepted the job of assistant secretary of NUSAWC, which that year became "NAUSAWC" after amalgamating with the United Shop Assistants' Union. From this time onward she subordinated her life to her union work and to the wider cause of socialism. She "had no vocation for wifehood or motherhood, but an urge to serve the Union ... I had 'the dear love of comrades' ". At the time the union's membership, at under 3,000, represented only a small fraction of shopworkers, and Bondfield gave priority to increasing this proportion. For months she travelled the country, distributing literature and arranging meetings when she could, with mixed outcomes in the face of apathy from shop staff, and outright opposition from shopowners. In Reading and Bristol she reported no success, although in Gloucester, she thought, "it should not be difficult to organise every shop worker". In 1899 Bondfield was the first woman delegate to the Trades Union Annual Congress, that year held in Plymouth, where she participated in the vote that led to the formation in 1900 of the Labour Representation Committee (LRC), forerunner of the Labour Party. NAUSAWC, its membership by then around 7,000, was one of the first unions to affiliate to the committee. In 1902 Bondfield met Mary Macarthur, some eight years her junior, who chaired the Ayr branch of NAUSAWC. Macarthur, the daughter of a wealthy Scottish draper, had held staunchly Conservative views until a works meeting in 1901 to discuss the formation of a NAUSAWC branch transformed her into an ardent trades unionist. In 1903, Macarthur moved to London where, with Bondfield's recommendation, she became secretary of the Women's Trade Union League. The two became close comrades-in-arms during the next two decades, in a range of causes affecting women. The historian Lise Sanders suggests that Bondfield's more intimate friendships tended to be with women rather than men; Bondfield's biographer Mary Hamilton described Macarthur as the romance of Bondfield's life. 1904 saw the passage of the Shop Hours Act, which made some provision for limiting shop opening hours. In 1907, the first steps were taken to end the Victorian "living-in" practice, which at the time still affected two-thirds of Britain's 750,000 shopworkers. Initially, living-out privileges were only given to male employees; Bondfield campaigned for equivalent rights for women shop workers, arguing that if they were to become "useful, healthy ... wives and mothers", they needed to live "rational lives". As part of her campaign, Bondfield advised the playwright Cicely Hamilton, whose shop-based drama Diana of Dobsons appeared that year. Bondfield described the opening scene, set in a dreary, comfortless women's dormitory over a shop, as very like the real thing. From 1904 onwards, Bondfield was increasingly occupied with the issue of women's suffrage. In that year she travelled with Dora Montefiore of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) to the International Congress of Women in Berlin, but she was not in sympathy with the main WSPU policy, which was to secure the vote for women on the same highly restricted basis that it was then given to men. This involved a property qualification, and thus largely excluded the working class. Bondfield saw no benefit in this policy to the women that she represented, and aligned herself with the Adult Suffrage Society (ASS), which campaigned for universal adult suffrage, men and women alike, regardless of property. In 1906, she became chairman of the society and supported the Franchise and Removal of Women's Disabilities bill, introduced to parliament by Sir Charles Dilke. This proposed full adult suffrage, and the right of women to become MPs. The bill was "talked out" in the House of Commons. In 1907, in the course of a public debate with Teresa Billington-Greig of the Women's Freedom League (a breakaway group from the WSPU), Bondfield argued that the only way forward was a bill that enfranchised all men and all women, without qualification. She wished good luck to those fighting for a "same terms as men" suffrage bill, but "don't let them come and tell me that they are working for my class". The strains of her duties and constant campaigning began to undermine her health, and in 1908 she resigned her union post after ten years' service, during which NAUSAWC membership had risen to over 20,000. Her departure, she said, was "alike a grief and a deliverance". After the passing of the Representation of the People's Act 1918, giving some women the vote, Bondfield's answer to 'Are Women MPs necessary?" was > ‘We shall never reach a satisfactory State until we have the recognition of the citizen irrespective of sex.’ ## Women's Labour League After leaving NAUSAWC, Bondfield transferred the main focus of her energies to the Women's Labour League (WLL), which she had helped to found in 1906. The League's principal aims were "to work for independent labour representation in connection with the Labour Party, and to obtain direct labour representation of women in Parliament and on all local bodies." The president of the League was Margaret MacDonald, wife of the future Labour Party leader Ramsay MacDonald; Bondfield had known the MacDonalds since the 1890s, through their joint work for the WIC. With a government suffrage reform bill pending in parliament, the WLL introduced a motion to the 1909 Labour Party conference committing the party to oppose any suffrage extension bill that did not specifically include women. However, while the party was largely sympathetic to the principle of women's suffrage, it was unwilling to risk losing the limited reforms to male suffrage promised by the government's bill. When Bondfield tabled the WLL motion at the Labour conference, she was persuaded by Arthur Henderson to water it down. Many suffragists reacted angrily; the WSPU accused the WLL, and Bondfield in particular, of treachery. Fran Abrams, in a biographical essay, writes that although Bondfield "was prepared to argue loud and long for adult suffrage, ... she was not prepared to damage her relationship with the Labour Party for it". Since the passing of the Qualification of Women Act in 1907, women had been eligible to vote in and stand as candidates in municipal elections. Several WLL members contested the London County Council elections in 1910; Bondfield stood in Woolwich, unsuccessfully (she contested the same seat in 1913, with a similar result). The League was active in all types of elections, supporting and canvassing for candidates of either sex who spoke out for women's rights. Through these activities Bondfield experienced the lives of the poorest of families, writing: "Oh! the lonely lives of these women, hidden away at the back of a network of small, mean streets!" Alongside her WLL duties, Bondfield maintained a range of other involvements. She spent part of 1910 in the United States, lecturing on suffrage issues with Maud Ward of the People's Suffrage Federation (PSF), and studying labour problems. At home, she worked with the Women's Co-operative Guild (WCG) on maternity and child welfare, and was co-opted to the Parliamentary Standing Committee that piloted the introduction of state maternity benefits and other assistance to mothers. Her investigation on behalf of the WIC into the working conditions in the textile industries led her to join most of the Labour leadership in a "War against Poverty" campaign. In 1910, Bondfield accepted the chairmanship of the British section of the Women's International Council of Socialist and Labour Organisations. Between 1908 and 1910 the WLL and the WIC co-operated in a nationwide investigation of married women's working conditions. Bondfield carried out the fieldwork in Yorkshire. The relationship between the two bodies was sometimes fractious, and when the report was due to be published, there were disagreements over how it should be handled. As a result of these and other clashes, Bondfield, MacDonald and the other League women resigned from the Council. In 1911 Bondfield assumed the role of the WLL's Organising Secretary, and spent much of the year travelling: she formed a WLL branch in Ogmore Vale, Glamorgan, reformed the Manchester branch, and found time to advise laundrywomen engaged in a dispute in South Wales. The sudden death of Mary MacDonald in September 1911 added considerably to Bondfield's workload; the strain, together with internal animosities within the WLL, led her to resign her position in January 1912. The League made strenuous efforts to retain her, and only in September did its committee reluctantly accept her departure. An attempt to re-engage her in 1913 was unsuccessful, and Marion Phillips was appointed to succeed her. ## Campaigns and war From 1912 Bondfield was a member of the WCG's Citizenship Subcommittee, where she worked with Margaret Llewelyn Davies investigating minimum wage rates, infant mortality and child welfare. She also assisted the Guild's education and training programme, lecturing on "Local Government in Relation to Maternity". Freedom from her WLL responsibilities gave her more time for political work, and in 1913 she joined the ILP's National Administration Council. Bondfield spoke at the ILP's mass anti-war rally in Trafalgar Square on 2 August 1914, organised by George Lansbury; other speakers included Keir Hardie, Henderson, and the dockers' leader Ben Tillett. On the outbreak of war a few days later, Bondfield joined the Union of Democratic Control that, while not pacifist, opposed the use of war as an instrument of national policy. She was a member of the Women's Peace Council. In March 1915 she attended a conference in Bern, Switzerland, organised by the Women's International of Socialist and Labour Organizations, which called for a negotiated peace. Later in the war the government, concerned by Bondfield's association with peace organisations, prevented her from travelling to similar gatherings in Sweden and the United States. Bondfield had helped Mary Macarthur to found the National Federation of Women Workers (NFWW) in 1906. This organisation was dedicated to the unionisation of women, and by 1914 had more than 20,000 members. In 1915 Bondfield became NFWW's organising secretary. Together with Macarthur, Phillips and Susan Lawrence, she established the Central Committee for Women's Employment, which organised relief work for the female unemployed. Bondfield's investigations into workers' pay revealed considerable differences between the rates paid to men and to women, even for identical work. Through the NFWW she campaigned for a £1 a week starting minimum wage for women, whatever the nature of the work, and for equal pay with men for equal work. Suffragist militancy having largely lapsed after the outbreak of the First World War, in October 1916 a Speaker's Conference was convened to consider the issue of women's franchise and make proposals for postwar legislation. While Bondfield, Lansbury and other prewar campaigners pressed for universal adult suffrage, the conference recommended only a limited extension of the franchise. The subsequent Representation of the People Act, 1918, gave the vote to women over 30 who were property owners or the wives of property owners, or were university graduates. Bondfield described the Act, which excluded almost all working-class women, as "mean and inadequate ... creating fresh anomalies". ## National prominence The end of the war in November 1918 saw Bondfield's election to the General Council of the TUC, the first woman to be thus elevated. In the following months she travelled as a TUC delegate to international conferences, in Bern and later in Washington DC, where she expressed the view that the peace terms being imposed on Germany were unjust. In April 1920, she was a member of a joint TUC-Labour Party mission to the Soviet Union. A few months earlier, Lansbury had visited the incipient Soviet state and had been most impressed after meeting Lenin, whom he judged to be "symbolic of a new spirit", "the father of his people" and "their champion in the cause of social and economic freedom". Bondfield, who also met Lenin, was more cautious. She told an NFWW conference on her return that if she were a Russian citizen she would support the Bolshevist government as currently "the only possible form of administration". Later, she came to see communism as anti-democratic and dictatorial, and voted against the application of the British Communist Party for affiliation to the Labour Party. Among various public activities, Bondfield joined the governing body of Ruskin College, the Oxford-based institution founded in 1899 to provide higher education opportunities to working-class men. She also became a Justice of the Peace. She first sought election to parliament in 1920, as the Labour candidate in a by-election in Northampton. She increased the Labour vote significantly, but lost by 3,371 votes, to the Coalition Liberal candidate. At the general election of 1922 she was again adopted by Labour at Northampton and, as she had at Woolwich in 1913, turned to Shaw for help in the campaign. He was contemptuous of the Labour leadership for not arranging a more promising seat; nevertheless, he came and spoke for her, but her margin of defeat widened to 5,476. Following two years of negotiation, in 1920 the NFWW voted to merge with the National Union of General Workers and become that union's Women's Section. Bondfield, who supported the merger, believed that provided women could maintain their separate group identity, it was better for men and women to work together. The secretary of the new section was to have been Mary Macarthur, but she died of cancer on 1 January 1921, the date that the merger came into effect. Bondfield was appointed in her place, and remained in the post (with leave of absence while holding ministerial office) until 1938. To honour her friend, Bondfield helped to organise the Mary Macarthur Memorial Fund. She added other responsibilities to her heavy schedule: chairing the Standing Joint Committee of Industrial Women's Organisations (SJCIWO), membership of the Labour Party's Emergency Committee on Unemployment, and chairman of the 1922 Conference of Unemployed Women. In September 1923 she became the first woman to assume the chair of the TUC's General Council. Hoping to win a mandate for tariffs on imported goods, the Conservative Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin called a general election in December 1923. Bondfield was elected in Northampton with a majority of 4,306 over her Conservative opponent. She was one of the first three women—Susan Lawrence and Dorothy Jewson were the others—to be elected as Labour MPs. In an outburst of local celebration her supporters, whom she described as "nearly crazy with joy", paraded her around the town in a charabanc. The Labour Party had won 191 seats to the Conservatives' 258 and the Liberals' 158; with no party in possession of a parliamentary majority, the make-up of the next government was in doubt for several weeks. ## Parliament and office ### First Labour Government The Liberal Party's decision not to enter a coalition with the Conservatives, and Baldwin's unwillingness to govern without a majority, led to Ramsay MacDonald's first minority Labour government which took office in January 1924. According to Lansbury's biographer, Bondfield turned down the offer of a cabinet post; instead, she became parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Labour, Tom Shaw. This appointment meant that she had to give up the TUC Council chair; her decision to do so, immediately after becoming the first woman to achieve this honour, generated some criticism from other trade unionists. Bondfield later described her first months in government as "a strange adventure". The difficulties of the economic situation would have created problems for the most experienced of governments, and the fledgling Labour administration was quickly in difficulties. Bondfield spent much of her time abroad; in the autumn she travelled to Canada as the head of a delegation examining the problems of British immigrants, especially as related to the welfare of young children. When she returned to Britain in early October she found the government in its final throes. On 8 October, MacDonald resigned after losing a confidence vote in the House of Commons. Labour's chances of victory in the ensuing general election were fatally compromised by the controversy surrounding the so-called Zinoviev letter, a missive purportedly sent by Grigory Zinoviev, president of the Communist International, which called on Britain's socialists to prepare for violent revolution. The letter, published four days before polling day, generated a "Red Scare" that led to a significant swing of voters to the right, and ensured a massive Conservative victory. Bondfield lost her seat in Northampton by 971 votes. ### Opposition After her defeat, Bondfield resumed her work for NUGMW and was re-elected to the TUC Council. In 1926 she supported the TUC's decision to hold a General Strike, and also the decision to call it off after nine days. Following the resignation of Sir Patrick Hastings in June 1926, Bondfield was adopted as the Labour candidate at Wallsend, and won the subsequent by-election with a majority of over 9,000. Meanwhile, she had accepted appointment to the Blanesburgh Committee, which the Conservative government had set up to consider reforms to the system of unemployment benefit. Her private view, that entitlement to benefits should be related to contributions, was not widely shared in the Labour Party or the TUC. When the committee made recommendations along these lines she signed the report, which became the basis of the Unemployment Insurance Act 1927. Bondfield's association with this legislation permanently shadowed her relationship with the Labour movement. On 29 March 1928, when a bill came before parliament giving the vote in parliamentary elections to all men and women over 21, she termed the measure "a tremendous social advance", and added: "At last [women] are established on that equitable footing because we are human beings and part of society as a whole ... once and for all, we shall destroy the artificial barrier in the way of any women who want to get education in politics and who want to come forward and take their full share in the political life of their day". The bill passed into law as the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928, adding 4 million voters, most of them women, to the register. In the 1929 general election, held on 30 May, Bondfield easily held her Wallsend seat despite the intervention of a candidate representing unemployed workers. The overall election result left Labour as the largest party with 287 seats, but without an overall majority, and MacDonald formed his second minority administration. ### Minister of Labour When Bondfield accepted the post of Minister of Labour in the new government, she became Britain's first woman cabinet minister, and Britain's first woman privy counsellor. She considered the appointment "part of the great revolution in the position of women". Her period in office was dominated by the issue of rising unemployment and the consequent increasing costs of benefit, which created a division between the government, anxious to demonstrate its financial responsibility, and the wider Labour movement whose priority was to protect the unemployed. According to the historian Robert Skidelsky: "Ministers worried about the finances of the [unemployment] fund; backbenchers worried about the finances of the unemployed". Under increasing pressure from the TUC, Bondfield introduced a bill that reversed the "Blanesburgh" restrictions on unemployment benefit introduced by the previous government, but with visible reluctance. Her handling of this issue is described by Marquand as "maladroit", and by Skidelsky as showing "monumental tactlessness". As the cost of unemployment benefits mounted, Bondfield's attempts to control the fund's deficit provoked further hostility from the TUC and political attacks from the opposition parties. In February 1931 she proposed a scheme to cut benefit and restrict entitlement, but this was rejected by the cabinet as too harsh. Instead, seeking a cross-party solution, the government accepted a Liberal proposal for an independent committee, eventually set up under Sir George May, to report on how public expenditure might be reduced. With the collapse in May 1931 of Austria's leading private bank, Kreditanstalt, and the subsequent failure of several other European banks, the sense of crisis deepened. On 30 July the May committee recommended cuts in expenditure of £97 million, the majority (£67 million) to be found from reductions in unemployment costs. In the ensuing weeks, ministers struggled vainly to meet these demands. Bondfield was prepared to cut general unemployment benefit, provided the most needy recipients—those on so-called "transitional benefit"—were protected. No formula could be found; by 23 August the cabinet was hopelessly split, and resigned the next day. To the outrage of the TUC and most of the Labour Party, MacDonald formed an emergency National Government with the Conservative and Liberal parties, while the bulk of the Labour Party went into opposition. Bondfield did not join the small number of Labour MPs who chose to follow MacDonald, although she expressed her "deep sympathy and admiration" for his actions. In the general election that followed on 27 October 1931, the Labour Party lost more than three-quarters of its Commons seats and was reduced to 52 members. Bondfield was defeated in Wallsend by 7,606 votes; Abrams observes that given the attacks on her from both right and left, "it would have been a miracle had she been re-elected". Of the former Labour cabinet members who opposed the National Government, only Lansbury kept his seat. ## Later career After her defeat, Bondfield returned to her NUGMW post. The TUC, suspicious of her perceived closeness to MacDonald, was cool towards her and she was not re-elected to the General Council. She remained Labour's candidate at Wallsend; in the general election of 1935 she was again defeated. She never returned to parliament; she was adopted as the prospective Labour candidate for Reading, but when it became obvious that the election due for 1940 would be delayed indefinitely by war, she resigned her candidacy. In 1938, after retiring from her NUGMW post, Bondfield founded the Women's Group on Public Welfare. She studied labour conditions in the United States and Mexico during 1938, and toured the US and Canada after the outbreak of war in 1939, as a lecturer for the British Information Services. Her attitude towards the war was different from her semi-pacifist stance of 1914; she actively supported the government and, in 1941, published a booklet, Why Labour Fights. Her main wartime activity was leading an investigation by the Hygiene Committee of the Women's Group on Public Welfare, into the problems that arose from the large-scale evacuation into the countryside of city children. The group's findings were published in 1943, as Our Towns: a Close-up; the report gave many people their first understanding of the extent of inner-city poverty. Suggested solutions included nursery education, a minimum wage, child allowances and a national health service. The report was reprinted several times, and was instrumental in developing support for the social reforms introduced by the Labour government that took office in 1945. Among Bondfield's other wartime activities, in 1944 she helped to launch a national drive for the appointment of more women police officers. ## Last years, retirement and death Although not a candidate herself, Bondfield campaigned for Labour in the general election of July 1945—a reporter found her instructing a meeting in Bury St Edmunds on the benefits of nationalisation. She was active in her local Labour Party, and continued to chair the Women's Group of Public Welfare until 1948. Her main task in these years was her autobiography, published in 1948 under the title A Life's Work. The purpose of the book, she wrote, was not to celebrate her own achievements, instead she hoped that her experiences "may be of some service to the younger generation". The book had an indifferent reception; in The Observer, Harold Nicolson described it as "ill composed and badly proportioned", with too much space devoted to inconsequential meetings while truly important events were hurried over. Nevertheless, he thought the book provided "a fine example of resolute and in the end triumphant energy". The Manchester Guardian's reviewer also criticised the work's confused structure and unselective detail, but found it "a useful, direct and honest" account of Labour's early years. Apart from her autobiography, Bondfield contributed to a collection of essays entitled What Life Has Taught Me, in which 25 public figures pondered on the lessons of life. Bondfield wrote that her religious convictions gave her "strength to meet defeat with a smile, to face success with a sense of responsibility; to be willing to do one's best without hope of reward [and] to bear misrepresentation without giving way to futile bitterness". In March 1948, Bondfield opened the Mary Macarthur Home at Poulton-le-Fylde, near Blackpool in Lancashire, which provided subsidised holidays for low-paid women workers. In 1949, she made a six-month speaking tour of the United States, her final visit to the country; she left convinced that America would soon adopt a national health service. Bondfield, who never married, maintained her good health and interest in life until her final illness in 1953. She moved to a nursing home in Sanderstead, Surrey, where she died, aged 80, on 16 June 1953. At her cremation in Golders Green Crematorium the congregation sang the popular hymn "To Be a Pilgrim". The Labour Party was fully represented; Clement Attlee, then-Leader of the Labour Party and former UK Prime Minister, gave the address. ## Appraisal and legacy In his biographical sketch for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Philip Williamson depicts Bondfield as "physically short and stout ... with sparkling eyes, a firm, brisk manner, and effective, sometimes inspired, public speaking". She had the self-confidence to exist and thrive in a male-dominated world, deriving inspiration from a childhood that, though materially impoverished, her obituarist has described as "of great spiritual and mental wealth". She inherited a strong nonconformist faith, which became a key element throughout her later career, and retained her links with the Congregational Church throughout her life. After her death The Times praised her "unusually wide human sympathies ... her generous nature and real sense of humour". Skidelsky, however, describes her unsympathetically as "a humourless and somewhat priggish person, with long black skirts and a voice that emitted a harsh cascade of sound". A more recent and sympathetic account of her life by Tony Judge sets her career more in the context of her championing of women's political and workplace rights, and her role in the 1931 crisis more as a hapless victim of MacDonald's machinations. Bondfield's career was punctuated by "firsts", in union, parliament and government spheres. Her own view of these achievements was modest: "Some woman was bound to be first. That I should be was the accident of dates and events". Her appointment as Minister of Labour propelled her into what was, in 1929, the hardest job in the cabinet, and in common with other ministers, her lack of experience in government left her heavily dependent on her official advisers. By temperament a realist, she based her actions in government on economic facts rather on party or sectional interests; thus she became "caught between the opposition claims that she was soft on the unemployed, and her own backbenchers' jibe that she had abandoned the workers". Her stance, and her seemingly equivocal attitude towards MacDonald's apostasy, reduced her standing in her own party for decades, so that when Barbara Castle was appointed as Minister of Labour by Harold Wilson in 1968, she insisted that the ministry's name be changed to "Department of Employment", for fear of association with Bondfield's term in office. Castle refused to contribute a preface to a Fabian Society booklet celebrating Bondfield's life, because she considered her predecessor's actions close to political betrayal. In 2001, a speech by Tony Blair celebrating the Labour Party's 100 years in parliament paid tributes to many heroes of the movement's early years; Bondfield's name was not mentioned. Bondfield was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by the University of Bristol, and in 1930 received the freedom of the borough from her home town of Chard, where in 2011 a plaque in her honour was fixed to the Guildhall wall. In 1948 she was appointed a Companion of Honour (CH). Many years after her death, streets and apartment buildings were named after her in the London boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Barking; and Islington, small block of flats built to replace the house lived in by Dr H.H Crippen, destroyed by German bomb in 1940. She was further commemorated in her old constituency of Northampton when a hall of residence in the University of Northampton was named the Margaret Bondfield Hall. In 2014 a campaign began for a plaque on the shop in Church Street, Hove, where in 1886–87 Bondfield had served her apprenticeship. To mark Bondfield's centenary in 1973, Linda Christmas in The Guardian reviewed the progress of women in parliament since the 1930s. By 1973, Christmas reported, only 93 women had sat in parliament; their contributions had overall "not been stunning". Their best numerical representation at that point had been in the 1966 general election, when 29 women (out of 630 MPs) had been elected. The 1979 election saw this number fall to 19, but also saw Margaret Thatcher become Britain's first woman prime minister. Cox and Hobley draw attention to Thatcher's early life as a shopkeeper's daughter, and contrast her account of those days with Bondfield's experiences half a century earlier. Thatcher believed that the concept of service to the customer was absolute; thus, Cox and Hobley assert, she would have had little sympathy for Bondfield's campaigns to better shopworkers' conditions. Despite the changes that have taken place in the retail industry since Bondfield's day, Cox and Hobley believe that, were she alive, "she'd still be champing at the bit, trying to coax shop assistants to join a union, and fiercely championing shopworkers' rights to better pay and conditions". ## Writings Bondfield was a prolific writer of magazine and newspaper articles. Her main publications are listed below: ### Books - A Life's Work (autobiography): London, Hutchinsons 1948. OCLC 577150779 - What Life Has Taught Me (contributor with 27 others): London, Odhams Press 1948. OCLC 222888739 ### Booklets and pamphlets - Socialism for Shop Assistants (in "Pass On Pamphlets" series). London, Clarion Press, 1909. OCLC 40624464 - Shop Workers and the Vote (co-author with Kathryn Oliver). London, People's Suffrage Federation, 1911. OCLC 26958055 - The National Care of Maternity. London, Women's Co-operative Guild, 1914. OCLC 81111433 - Labour and the League of Nations. (co-author with J. Ramsay MacDonald and Arthur Pugh). Bondfield's chapter: "Great Britain's Responsibility". London, League of Nations Union, 1926. OCLC 561089187 - The Meaning of Trade. London, E. Benn Ltd, 1928. OCLC 56418171 - Why Labour Fights. London, 1941. OCLC 44515437 - Our Towns: A Close-up (with the Hygiene Committee of the Women's Group on Public Welfare). London, Oxford University Press, 1943. OCLC 750462348
4,286,037	Scottish National Antarctic Expedition	1,146,518,440	1902–04 expedition led by William Speirs Bruce	[ "1902 in Antarctica", "1902 in Scotland", "1902 in science", "1903 in Antarctica", "1903 in science", "1904 in Antarctica", "1904 in science", "Antarctic expeditions", "Expeditions from the United Kingdom", "Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration", "Science and technology in Scotland", "United Kingdom and the Antarctic" ]	The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (SNAE), 1902–1904, was organised and led by William Speirs Bruce, a natural scientist and former medical student from the University of Edinburgh. Although overshadowed in terms of prestige by Robert Falcon Scott's concurrent Discovery Expedition, the SNAE completed a full programme of exploration and scientific work. Its achievements included the establishment of a staffed meteorological station, the first in Antarctic territory, and the discovery of new land to the east of the Weddell Sea. Its large collection of biological and geological specimens, together with those from Bruce's earlier travels, led to the establishment of the Scottish Oceanographical Laboratory in 1906. Bruce had spent most of the 1890s engaged on expeditions to the Antarctic and Arctic regions, and by 1899 was Britain's most experienced polar scientist. In March of that year, he applied to join the Discovery Expedition; however, his proposal to extend that expedition's field of work into the Weddell Sea quadrant, using a second ship, was dismissed as "mischievous rivalry" by Royal Geographical Society (RGS) president Sir Clements Markham. Bruce reacted by obtaining independent finance; his venture was supported and promoted by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. The expedition has been described as "by far the most cost-effective and carefully planned scientific expedition of the Heroic Age." Despite this, Bruce received no formal honour or recognition from the British Government, and the expedition's members were denied the prestigious Polar Medal despite vigorous lobbying. After the SNAE, Bruce led no more Antarctic expeditions, although he made regular Arctic trips. His focus on serious scientific exploration was out of fashion with his times, and his achievements, unlike those of the polar adventurers Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen, soon faded from public awareness. The SNAE's permanent memorial is the Orcadas weather station, which was set up in 1903 as "Omond House" on Laurie Island, South Orkneys, and has been in continuous operation ever since. ## Background to the expedition During his student years – the 1880s and early 1890s – William Speirs Bruce built up his knowledge of the natural sciences and oceanography, by studying at summer courses under distinguished tutors such as Patrick Geddes and John Arthur Thomson. He also spent time working voluntarily under the oceanographer Dr John Murray, helping to classify specimens collected during the Challenger expedition. In 1892 Bruce gave up his medical studies altogether, and embarked on a voyage to the Antarctic in the whaler Balaena, as part of the 1892–1893 Dundee Whaling Expedition. On his return, he began organising an expedition of his own to South Georgia, claiming that "the taste I have had has made me ravenous", but he could not obtain funding. He then worked at a meteorological station on the summit of Ben Nevis, before joining the Jackson–Harmsworth Arctic Expedition to Franz Josef Land as a scientific assistant. Between 1897 and 1899 he made further Arctic trips, to Spitsbergen and to Novaya Zemlya, first on a private trip organised by Major Andrew Coats, later as a scientist on the Arctic survey vessel Princess Alice. This vessel was owned by Prince Albert of Monaco, a renowned oceanographer who became a friend and supporter of Bruce. After returning from the Arctic in 1899, Bruce sent a lengthy letter to the Royal Geographical Society in London, applying for a scientific post on the major Antarctic expedition (later to be known as the Discovery Expedition), which the RGS was then organising. His recent experiences made it "unlikely that there was any other person in the British Isles at that time better qualified". Bruce's letter, which detailed all his relevant qualifications, was acknowledged but not properly answered until more than a year had passed. By then, Bruce's ideas had progressed away from his original expectation of a junior post on the scientific staff. He now proposed a second ship for the expedition, separately financed from Scottish sources, which would work in the Weddell Sea quadrant while the main ship was based in the Ross Sea. This proposal was denounced by RGS president Sir Clements Markham as "mischievous" and, after some heated correspondence, Bruce resolved to proceed independently. In this way the idea of a distinctive Scottish National Antarctic expedition was born. Bruce was supported by the wealthy Coats family, who were prepared to give whole-hearted financial backing to a Scottish expedition under his leadership. However, as a result, he had acquired the lasting enmity of Markham. ## Preparations ### Scotia In late 1901, Bruce purchased a Norwegian whaler, Hekla, at a cost of £2,620 (approximately £ as of 2023). During the following months, the ship was completely rebuilt as an Antarctic research vessel, with two laboratories, a darkroom, and extensive specialist equipment. Two huge revolving cylinders, each carrying 6,000 fathoms (36,000 ft; 11,000 m) of cable, were fitted to the deck to enable deep-sea trawling for marine specimens. Other equipment was installed for making depth soundings, for the collection of sea water and sea-bottom samples, and for meteorological and magnetic observations. The hull was reinforced to withstand the pressures of Antarctic ice, and the ship was re-rigged as a barque with auxiliary engines. This work increased the cost of the ship to £16,700 (approximately £ as of 2023), which was met by the Coats family who altogether donated £30,000 towards the total expedition costs of £36,000. Renamed Scotia, the ship was ready for her sea trials in August 1902. ### Personnel The expedition's scientific staff consisted of six persons, including Bruce. The zoologist was David Wilton who, like Bruce, had been a member of the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition. He had acquired skiing and sledging skills during several years living in northern Russia. Robert Rudmose-Brown, of University College, Dundee, and formerly an assistant in the Botany Department at the British Museum, was the party's botanist. Dr James Harvie Pirie, who had worked in the Challenger office under John Murray, was geologist, bacteriologist, and the expedition's medical officer. Robert Mossman directed meteorological and magnetic work, and Alastair Ross, a medical student, was taxidermist. Bruce appointed Thomas Robertson as Scotia'''s captain. Robertson was an experienced Antarctic and Arctic sailor who had commanded the whaling ship Active on the Dundee Whaling Expedition. The rest of the 25 officers and men, who signed for three-year engagements, were all Scotsmen, many used to sailing in icy waters on whaling voyages. ### Objectives The objectives of the expedition were published in the Scottish Geographical Magazine and in the RGS Geographical Journal, in October 1902. They included the establishment of a winter station "as near to the South Pole as is practicable", deep sea and other research of the Antarctic Ocean, and systematic observations and research of meteorology, geology, biology, topography and terrestrial physics. The essentially Scottish character of the expedition was expressed in The Scotsman shortly before departure: "The leader and all the scientific and nautical members of the expedition are Scots; the funds have been collected for the most part on this side of the Border; it is a product of voluntary effort, and unlike the expedition which will be simultaneously employed in the exploration of the Antarctic, it owes nothing to Government help". As the work of the expedition would be mainly at sea, or within the confines of the winter station, only a few dogs were taken, to facilitate the occasional sledge journey. Rudmose Brown records that of the original eight dogs, four survived the expedition; they "pulled well in harness, their only weak point being their paws which... were apt to be cut when on rough ice". ## Expedition ### First voyage, 1902–1903 Scotia left Troon, Scotland, on 2 November 1902. On her way southward she called at the Irish port of Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire), at Funchal in Madeira, and then the Cape Verde Isles before an unsuccessful attempt was made to land at the tiny, isolated equatorial archipelago known as St Paul's Rocks. This attempt almost cost the life of the expedition's geologist and medical officer, James Harvie Pirie, who was fortunate to escape from the shark-infested seas after misjudging his leap ashore. Scotia reached Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands on 6 January 1903, where she re-provisioned for the Antarctic journey ahead. On 26 January, Scotia set sail for Antarctic waters. The crew had to manoeuvre round heavy pack ice on 3 February, 25 miles (40 km) north of the South Orkney Islands. Next day, Scotia was able to move southward again and land a small party on Saddle Island, South Orkney Islands, where a large number of botanical and geological specimens were gathered. Ice conditions prevented any further progress until 10 February, after which Scotia continued southward, "scudding along at seven knots under sail". On 17 February the position was 64°18′S, and five days later they passed 70°S, deep within the Weddell Sea. Shortly after this, with new ice forming and threatening the ship, Robertson turned northward, having reached 70°25′S. Having failed to find land, the expedition had to decide where to winter. The matter was of some urgency, since the sea would soon be freezing over, with the risk of the ship becoming trapped. Bruce decided to head back to the South Orkneys and find an anchorage there. In contrast to his stated object, to winter as far south as possible, the South Orkneys were more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from the South Pole, but the northerly location had advantages. The relatively brief period during which the ship would be frozen in would allow more time for trawling and dredging operations early in the year. Also, the islands were well-situated as a site for a meteorological station – their relative proximity to the South American mainland opened the prospect of establishing a permanent station. It took a month of hard sailing before Scotia reached the islands. After several foiled attempts to locate a suitable anchorage, and with its rudder seriously damaged by ice, the ship finally found a sheltered bay on the southern shore of Laurie Island, the most easterly of the South Orkneys chain. On 25 March the ship safely anchored, settling into the ice 1⁄4 mi (400 m) from shore. She was then rapidly converted to winter quarters, with engines dismantled, boilers emptied, and a canvas canopy enclosing the deck. Bruce instituted a comprehensive programme of work, involving meteorological readings, trawling for marine samples, botanical excursions, and the collection of biological and geological specimens. The major task completed during this time was the construction of living accommodations for those who would remain on Laurie Island to operate the proposed meteorological laboratory. The 20-by-20-foot (6 by 6 m) building – its walls built from local materials using the dry stone method, and roof improvised from wood and canvas sheeting – had two windows and was fitted for six people. It was christened "Omond House" after Robert Omond, director of the Edinburgh Observatory and a supporter of the expedition. Rudmose Brown wrote: "Considering that we had no mortar and no masons' tools it is a wonderfully fine house and very lasting. I should think it will be standing a century hence ..." In general, the party maintained excellent health. The exception was the ship's engineer, Allan Ramsay, who had been taken ill with a heart condition in the Falklands during the outward voyage. He chose to remain with the expedition, but he grew steadily weaker as winter progressed. He died on 6 August, and was buried on the island. As winter turned to spring the level of activity increased, and there were numerous sledge journeys, including some to neighbouring islands. Near Omond House, a wooden hut was constructed for magnetic observations and a cairn was built, 9 ft (2.7 m) high, on top of which the Union Flag and the Saltire were displayed. Scotia was made seaworthy again, but remained icebound throughout September and October; it was not until 23 November that strong winds broke up the bay ice, allowing her to float free. Four days later she departed for Port Stanley, leaving a party of six under Robert Mossman at Omond House. ### Buenos Aires, 1903–1904 On 2 December 1903, the expedition reached Port Stanley, where they received their first news from the outside world since leaving the Cape Verde Islands. After a week's rest, Scotia departed for Buenos Aires, where she was to be repaired and provisioned for another season's work. Bruce had further business in the city; he intended to persuade the Argentine government to assume responsibility for the Laurie Island meteorological station after the expedition's departure. During the voyage to Buenos Aires, Scotia ran aground in the Río de la Plata estuary, and was stranded for several days before floating free and being assisted into port by a tug, on 24 December. During the following four weeks, while the ship was dry-docked, Bruce negotiated with the Argentine government over the future of the weather station. He was assisted by the British resident minister, the British Consul, and Dr W. G. Davis who was director of the Argentine Meteorological Office. When contacted by cable, the British Foreign Office registered no objection to this scheme. On 20 January 1904, Bruce confirmed an agreement whereby three scientific assistants of the Argentine government would travel back to Laurie Island to work for a year, under Robert Mossman, as the first stage of an annual arrangement. He then formally handed over the Omond House building, its furnishings and provisions, and all magnetic and meteorological instruments, to the Argentine government. The station, renamed Orcadas Base, has remained operational ever since, having been rebuilt and extended several times. Several of the original crew left during the Buenos Aires interlude, some through illness and one discharged for misconduct, and replacements were recruited locally. Scotia left for Laurie Island on 21 January, arriving on 14 February. A week later, having settled the meteorological party, who were to be relieved a year later by the Argentine gunboat Uruguay, Scotia set sail for her second voyage to the Weddell Sea. ### Second voyage, 1904 Scotia headed south-east, towards the eastern waters of the Weddell Sea, in calm weather. No pack ice was encountered before they were south of the Antarctic Circle, and they were able to proceed smoothly until, on 3 March, heavy pack ice stopped the ship at 72°18'S, 17°59'W. A sounding was taken, revealing a sea-depth of 1,131 fathoms (6,786 ft; 2,068 m), compared to the 2,500 fathoms (15,000 ft; 4,600 m) which had been the general measurement up to that date. This suggested that they were approaching land. A few hours later, they reached an ice barrier, which blocked progress towards the south-east. Over the following days, they tracked the edge of this barrier southwards for some 150 miles (240 km). A sounding 2+1⁄2 miles (4.0 km) from the barrier edge gave a depth of only 159 fathoms (954 ft; 291 m), which strongly indicated the presence of land behind the barrier. The outlines of this land soon became faintly visible, and Bruce named it Coats Land after his chief sponsors. This was the first positive indicator of the eastern limits of the Weddell Sea at high latitude, and suggested that the sea might be considerably smaller than had been previously supposed. A projected visit to Coats Land by a sledging party was abandoned by Bruce because of the state of the sea ice. On 9 March 1904, Scotia reached its most southerly latitude of 74°01'S. At this point, the ship was held fast in the pack ice, and the prospect loomed of becoming trapped for the winter. It was during this period of inactivity that bagpiper Gilbert Kerr was photographed serenading a penguin. On 13 March the ship broke free and began to move slowly north-eastward under steam. Throughout this part of the voyage a regular programme of depth soundings, trawls, and sea-bottom samples provided a comprehensive record of the oceanography and marine life of the Weddell Sea. Scotia headed for Cape Town by a route that took it to Gough Island, an isolated mid-Atlantic volcanic projection that had never been visited by a scientific party. On 21 April, Bruce and five others spent a day ashore, collecting specimens. The ship arrived in Cape Town on 6 May. After carrying out further research work in the Saldanha Bay area, Scotia sailed for home on 21 May. On the voyage home the party called at Saint Helena and visited Napoleon's exile home which they found neglected and in disrepair. On 7 June the ship reached Ascension Island where they were impressed by the sight of giant turtles, some of them 4 ft (1.2 m) across. The final port of call was at Horta in the Azores, where they stopped briefly on 5 July before heading for home. ## Homecoming and after The expedition was warmly received on its return to the Clyde on 21 July 1904. A formal reception for 400 people was held at the Marine Biological Station, Millport, at which John Murray read a telegram of congratulation from King Edward VII. Bruce was presented with the Royal Scottish Geographical Society's gold medal, and Captain Robertson with the silver medal. Following the expedition, more than 1,100 species of animal life, 212 of them previously unknown to science, were catalogued; there was no official acknowledgement from London, where under the influence of Markham the work of the SNAE tended to be ignored or denigrated. Its members were not awarded the prestigious RGS Polar Medals, which were bestowed on members of the Discovery Expedition when it returned home two months after Scotia. Polar Medals would also be awarded after each of Sir Ernest Shackleton's later expeditions, and after Douglas Mawson's Australasian expedition. Bruce fought unavailingly for years to right what he considered a grave injustice, a slight on his country and on his expedition. Some of the aversion of the London geographical establishment may have arisen from Bruce's overt Scottish nationalism, reflected in his own prefatory note to Rudmose Brown's expedition history, in which he said: "While Science was the talisman of the Expedition, Scotland was emblazoned on its flag; and it may be that, in endeavouring to serve humanity by adding another link to the golden chain of science, we have also shown that the nationality of Scotland is a power that must be reckoned with". A significant consequence of the expedition was the establishment by Bruce, in Edinburgh, of the Scottish Oceanographical Laboratory, which was formally opened by Prince Albert of Monaco in 1906. The Laboratory served as a repository for the large collection of biological, zoological and geological specimens amassed during the Scotia voyages, and also during Bruce's earlier Arctic and Antarctic travels. It was also a base from which the scientific reports of the SNAE could be prepared, and it served as general headquarters where polar explorers could meet – Nansen, Amundsen and Shackleton all visited – and where other Scottish polar ventures could be planned and organised. Although Bruce continued to visit the Arctic for scientific and commercial purposes, he never led another Antarctic expedition, his plans for a transcontinental crossing being stifled through lack of funding. The SNAE scientific reports took many years to complete; most were published between 1907 and 1920, but one volume was delayed until 1992. A proposal to convert the Laboratory into a permanent Scottish National Oceanographic Institute failed to come to fruition and, because of difficulties with funding, Bruce was forced to close it down in 1919. He died two years later, aged 54. By this time, the Scotia expedition was barely remembered, even in Scotland, and it has remained overshadowed in polar histories by the more glamorous adventures of Scott and Shackleton. In these histories it is usually confined to a brief mention or footnote, with little attention given to its achievements. Bruce lacked charisma, had no public relations skills ("...as prickly as the Scottish thistle itself", according to a lifelong friend), and tended to make powerful enemies. In the words of oceanographer Professor Tony Rice, his expedition fulfilled "a more comprehensive programme than that of any previous or contemporary Antarctic expedition". The expedition ship Scotia was requisitioned during the Great War, and saw service as a freighter. On 18 January 1916 she caught fire, and was burned out on a sandbank in the Bristol Channel. One hundred years after Bruce, a 2003 expedition, in a modern version of Scotia'', used information collected by the SNAE as a basis for examining climate change in South Georgia during the past century. This expedition asserted that its contribution to the international debate on global warming would be a fitting testament to the SNAE's pioneering research. ## See also - Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration - List of Antarctic expeditions
12,164,416	Lady Blue (TV series)	1,173,773,162	American TV series, 1985–1986	[ "1980s American crime television series", "1985 American television series debuts", "1986 American television series endings", "American Broadcasting Company original programming", "American detective television series", "Fictional portrayals of the Chicago Police Department", "Television series by MGM Television", "Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios", "Television shows set in Chicago" ]	Lady Blue is an American detective and action-adventure television series. Produced by David Gerber, it originally aired for one season on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) network from September 15, 1985, to January 25, 1986. It was picked up by ABC after its pilot aired as a television film on April 15, 1985. The show revolves around Chicago detective Katy Mahoney (Jamie Rose) and her violent methods of handling cases. The supporting cast includes Danny Aiello, Ron Dean, Diane Dorsey, Bruce A. Young, Nan Woods, and Ricardo Gutierrez. Johnny Depp also guest-starred on the series in one of his earliest roles. With cinematography by Jack Priestley, the episodes were filmed on location in Chicago. Television critics noted Lady Blue's emphasis on violence, calling Mahoney "Dirty Harriet" (after Clint Eastwood's character Dirty Harry). Rose said she joined the project after being drawn to its genre. She prepared for the role by watching Eastwood's films, received advice from Eastwood on how to handle a gun, and practiced at a shooting range. After the pilot aired, Lady Blue was criticized by several watchdog organizations (particularly the National Coalition on Television Violence) as the most violent show on television. ABC moved the series from Thursdays to Saturdays before cancelling it in early 1986, partially due to the complaints about excessive violence. Critical reception to the series was primarily negative during its run, but television studies author Cary O'Dell questions whether that stemmed from contemporary sexism. Lady Blue has not been released on DVD, Blu-ray, or an online streaming service. The series' rights are owned by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, but there are no plans for future home releases. ## Premise and characters A detective and action-adventure television series, Lady Blue revolves around Chicago investigator Katy Mahoney (Jamie Rose), her violent means of dealing with criminals and tension with her co-workers. She works in the Violent Crimes Division of the Chicago Police Department. The New York Observer's Bryan Reesman described Mahoney as "the fiery red head" with a "trigger happy" personality and "violent excesses". She frequently uses a .357 Magnum (which John J. O'Connor of The New York Times called "a grotesque extension of her right arm"), and was introduced as capable of "read[ing] a crime in progress like most guys read the sports page". Mahoney's reliance on violence is emphasized in the opening scene of the pilot; she sees a bank robbery while she is in a beauty parlor, shoots and kills three of the perpetrators, and returns to the salon for a pedicure. Television critics and the show's promotional materials called Mahoney "Dirty Harriet" and "Dirty Harriette", comparing her aggressive behavior to Clint Eastwood's character Dirty Harry, and Jon Anderson of the Chicago Tribune described her as "somewhat like Quick Draw McGraw with touches of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood". According to Rose, Mahoney was inspired by Dirty Harry, Wayne, and Rambo. Mahoney and other characters refer to the number of excessive-force complaints filed against her during the series, and she often has difficulties with Internal Affairs. Although Mahoney was portrayed at odds with most of her superiors, her boss Lt. Terry McNichols (Danny Aiello) is more sympathetic and understanding towards her. McNichols is portrayed as fond of chili dogs and appreciative of Mahoney's more unorthodox methods of handling criminals, although he still criticizes her reliance on violence. Rose described McNichols as similar to a character in the crime drama The Sopranos. Describing Aiello's performance, O'Connor wrote that McNichols "offer[ed] an uncanny impersonation of the punch-drunk Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom in a 1940's movie". Mahoney's father, brother, and married lover were killed in the line of duty before the series begins, and O'Connor connected these events to the character's "toughness and determination to survive". Other characters include detective Gino Gianelli (Ron Dean) and his wife Rose (Diane Dorsey), Officer Cassidy (Bruce A. Young), McNichols' niece Willow (Nan Woods), and Mahoney's informant Harvey (Ricardo Gutierrez). In one of his earliest roles, American actor Johnny Depp guest-starred in an episode as the brother of a serial killer. Mexican actress Katy Jurado appeared in the pilot as cocaine kingpin Dona Maria Theresa, and American actors Ajay Naidu and Jim Brown portrayed "worldly-wise waif" Paquito and a "South Side drug czar", respectively. Aiello's best friend was an extra in the series, the cast and crew calling his character "Detective Joe Background". Tom Shales of The Washington Post described the show's tone as "baldly campy [and] ultra-violent". ## Production The executive producer of Lady Blue was David Gerber. Directors Guy Magar and Gary Nelson worked on the series, while Jack Priestley was the cinematographer. Produced by MGM Television and David Gerber Productions, its musical score was composed by John Cacavas. Actress Arnetia Walker performed the show's theme song, "Back to the Blue". Lady Blue was filmed on location in various areas of Chicago, including the Cabrini–Green Homes. Rose recalled having a difficult time in Cabrini Green since the residents threatened the cast and crew and threw bottles at them during filming. Mahoney was Rose's first role after playing Vickie Gioberti in the soap opera Falcon Crest; Reesman wrote that the decision to cast Rose in Lady Blue was a surprise, since she was primarily known for appearing as a child with Bugs Bunny in a Kool-Aid commercial. According to Reesman, Mahoney's "steely nerve and conservative stance on crime" contrasted with Rose's "more upbeat, fun-loving, liberal persona". Rose said that she was drawn to the show's genre: "Action shows are so fun because I got to be strapped to things, hoisted over things, shoot the gun, and jump on moving cars. It was like doing a western." According to the Orange County Register, Mahoney is one of the actress' best-known roles. To prepare for Lady Blue, Rose watched Clint Eastwood films (including the Dirty Harry franchise) and practiced steadying her gun hand. She had worked with Eastwood in the 1984 film Tightrope and a portion of the anthology series Amazing Stories, and received advice on how to mimic using a gun from Eastwood. In addition to Eastwood's assistance, Rose practiced gun-handling at a Chicago shooting range. Although Rose described her role as "physically demanding", she said she was not attempting method acting and relied on stunt doubles during filming. Rose resisted comparisons to Dirty Harry, and said: "It's still going to be a lot different because I'm a woman and I can show lots more emotions than Mr. Eastwood." According to Jamie Rose, Lady Blue had a similar concept as the crime dramas Police Woman and Get Christie Love!; Reesman stated that the latter was not as violent as Lady Blue. John J. O'Connor compared the series' violence to Eastwood's work, and saw it as a combination of Wonder Woman and Dick Tracy comic strips. In the 2011 book Triumph of the Walking Dead: Robert Kirkman's Zombie Epic on Page and Screen, horror fiction writer Vince A. Liaguno described Lady Blue and NYPD Blue as part of a movement towards "grittier depictions of violence". In a 2017 interview, Rose said that Lady Blue was the most violent series of its time and there had been little public exposure to a character as "bloodthirsty" as Mahoney; however, she said that the series was less graphic than future television programs. ## Episodes ## Broadcast history Thirteen episodes of Lady Blue were broadcast on ABC between September 15, 1985 and January 25, 1986. The pilot episode was aired as a television film on April 15, 1985, before it was aired as part of the series in September of that year. According to Lee Margulies of the Los Angeles Times, the pilot film received high ratings. When the series began, its emphasis on violence was criticized and it was included on watchdog organization lists. 18 characters were killed in the pilot, and producers had promised future episodes would feature more deaths. The National Coalition on Television Violence called it the "most violent program" on television during the series' run. In response to the criticism, Rose said that Lady Blue was set in "more of the heroic fantasy world" and compared Mahoney to a superhero; she explained that series was not intended to be a realistic representation of the police. Lady Blue was initially broadcast on Thursday nights at 8 pm EST; the series ranked third in its time slot, behind the half-hour sitcoms Cheers and Night Court and the detective series Simon & Simon. After seven episodes aired, it was moved to Thursday nights at 9 pm EST to accommodate The Colbys. ABC announced that it ordered a limited number of episodes of Lady Blue in its new time, but the series would be moved to another day "without interrupting the weekly flow" if it was successful. The series was later moved to Saturday nights at 9 pm EST, when it aired against The Golden Girls and continued to receive complaints of excessive violence. ABC cancelled Lady Blue in 1986. Reesman also attributed the decision to low ratings. After the end of the series, Rose said: "It was still a great experience. You don't get much opportunity to star in your own series, especially if you're a woman." Lady Blue was rebroadcast on Lifetime, following the network's tradition of airing shows depicting female characters in traditionally-male occupations; other examples include female private detectives in Veronica Clare and Partners in Crime and a female physician in Kay O'Brien. The series has not been released on DVD, Blu-ray or an online-streaming service. Metro-Goldwyn Mayer owns the rights to Lady Blue, but a studio spokesperson said that there were no plans for a home release. ## Critical reception During its run, Lady Blue received primarily negative reviews due to its emphasis on violence. Although O'Connor criticized the series for its "mindless violence and questionable law enforcement", Anderson felt that the show had potential: "Perhaps, with a little more seasoning on the Chicago police department, Jamie Rose might become a star." In his 1991 book The TV Encyclopedia, David Inman called Lady Blue "one of the dumbest shows ever on ABC--and that's saying a lot". Lloyd Grove of The Washington Post criticized the reliance on violence "overpowers, and eventually sours, what could have been an agreeably fast-paced show". In response to the pilot, Grove also panned its writer Robert Vincent O'Neil for copying ideas from Clint Eastwood films and the 1971 movie The French Connection. Despite negative reviews, Reesman reported that teenage and young adult males responded positively to Mahoney's attitude and appearance. In his 2013 book June Cleaver Was a Feminist!: Reconsidering the Female Characters of Early Television, television studies author Cary O'Dell called Lady Blue an "interesting experiment" in imagining the "hardcore cop genre with a female lead". According to O'Dell, criticism of Mahoney and the series' ultimate cancellation were the results of sexism: "Was such rebellion, contempt for authority, and brutal tactics considered too 'unfeminine'?" The author felt that Lady Blue was ahead of its time, contrasting Mahoney's negative reception with the positive reaction to the titular protagonists of the 1991 film Thelma & Louise, who have developed a legacy as "newfangled feminist icons".
51,342,307	William Matthews (priest)	1,166,155,417	19th-century American Catholic priest	[ "1770 births", "1854 deaths", "18th-century American educators", "19th-century American Jesuits", "19th-century American Roman Catholic priests", "19th-century American educators", "American academic administrators", "American librarians", "American school principals", "Burials at Mount Olivet Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)", "Catholics from Maryland", "District of Columbia Public Schools", "Educators from Washington, D.C.", "Former Jesuits", "Founders of orphanages", "Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences alumni", "Georgetown University faculty", "History of Catholicism in the United States", "People educated at Stonyhurst College", "People from Port Tobacco Village, Maryland", "Presidents of Georgetown University", "Presidents of Gonzaga College High School", "Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore", "Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia", "Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington", "St. Mary's Seminary and University alumni" ]	William Matthews (December 16, 1770 – April 30, 1854), occasionally spelled Mathews, was an American who became the fifth Roman Catholic priest ordained in the United States and the first such person born in British America. Born in the colonial Province of Maryland, he was briefly a novice in the Society of Jesus. After being ordained, he became influential in establishing Catholic parochial and educational institutions in Washington, D.C. He was the second pastor of St. Patrick's Church, serving for most of his life. He served as the sixth president of Georgetown College, later known as Georgetown University. Matthews acted as president of the Washington Catholic Seminary, which became Gonzaga College High School, and oversaw the continuity of the school during suppression by the church and financial insecurity. Matthews was vicar apostolic and apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Philadelphia during a period of ecclesiastical turmoil. He was a co-founder and president of the Washington Library Company for thirteen years—the first public library in the District of Columbia. He also was co-director and trustee of the District of Columbia Public Schools, where he was one of the superintendents of a school. He played a significant role in the founding of Washington Visitation Academy for girls, St. Peter's Church on Capitol Hill, and the parish that now includes the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. Matthews was involved in Catholic charitable organizations as well; he was the founder and president of St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum and the co-founder and president of St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asylum. He was born into a prominent Maryland family and became a close adviser to Archbishop John Carroll, the first Catholic bishop in the United States. He became well connected with the capital's political elite, and was chosen to preside over the first Catholic ceremony in the White House, and the only Catholic wedding in its history. He believed that because Catholics enjoyed the freedom to practice their religion in the United States under the Constitution, they had a duty to contribute to the "moral and physical good" of their communities. He staunchly opposed slavery. For his contributions to religious and civic life, Matthews was informally known as the "patriarch of Washington." ## Early life William Matthews was born on December 16, 1770, in the small village of Port Tobacco in Charles County in the Maryland Colony of British America to a prominent, established Maryland family. He was the son of William Matthews, Sr. and Mary Neale. The youngest of seven children, his siblings were Joseph, Ignatius, Mary, Susanna, Margaret, and Ann Teresa. His father, with whom he had little interaction, died when he was six years old. William Matthews Sr.'s ancestry traces to the English landed gentry, and includes Thomas Matthews—an early settler of the Maryland colony who was granted 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) of land in Port Tobacco, Maryland, by the Lords Calvert. His mother descended from Captain James Neale, who settled in the Maryland colony in the mid-seventeenth century. Matthews' matrilineal ancestry traces its origins to the noble O'Neills of Ireland. His cousin, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, was the sole Catholic signatory of the Declaration of Independence. In 1781, aged eleven, Matthews witnessed British troops burn part of his family's estate during the American Revolution. From his parents, Matthews received a sizable inheritance that he drew from throughout his life for the advancement of the church. Two of his nephews on his mother's side became politicians: US Senator Richard T. Merrick and Judge William Matthews Merrick. Matthews became the brother-in-law of Senator William Duhurst Merrick. Many of Matthews' matrilineal relatives entered the priesthood. Six of his mother's seven brothers became Jesuits, and one died during the Jesuit novitiate. His uncle, Bennett Neale, was one of the first Jesuits in the English colony. His other maternal uncles were: Francis Neale, who both preceded and succeeded him as president of Georgetown College; Leonard Neale, the Archbishop of Baltimore and also president of Georgetown; and Charles Neale, the superior of the Jesuits in America. His paternal aunt, Ann Mathews, became a Discalced Carmelite nun in Hoogstraet, in what is now Belgium, taking the name Sister Bernardina Teresa Xavier of St. Joseph. Two of his sisters—Susanna (Sister Mary Eleanora) and Ann Teresa (Sister Mary Aloysia)—also went to Hoogstraet to become Carmelite nuns. In 1790 Sister Bernardina returned to what was now the United States and established a Carmelite convent in the village of Port Tobacco, Maryland, where she had been given land for this purpose. Her nieces also returned to Maryland with her. ### Education At the age of twelve Matthews was sent to Liège in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (modern-day Belgium) to be educated at the College of St Omer, an English Jesuit school. He studied classics as one of the last Americans to be sent to the English school at Liége. He returned to America in his early twenties to briefly study theology at Georgetown College. While at Georgetown in 1796, he was chosen to be the first student to greet President George Washington upon his visit to the college. He entered St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore in 1797. While still a student there, Matthews frequently served as an instructor of English at Georgetown College because the professors and seminarians at St. Mary's were asked by Bishop John Carroll to assist with the teaching duties of the Jesuits at Georgetown. The adult Matthews was described as "short, stocky, [and] dark-haired", with a prominent Aquiline nose. ## Priesthood Returning to his alma mater, Matthews was appointed a professor of rhetoric at Georgetown in 1796, where his lectures were described as monotonous. On December 23, 1798, he took his minor orders. He was strongly attracted to the Jesuits, likely influenced by his uncle Ignatius Matthews' membership in the society. Matthews became a subdeacon on August 22, 1799, and was ordained as a transitional deacon on March 26, 1800. Matthews was ordained a priest at St. Peter's Church in Baltimore, on March 29, 1800, by Bishop John Carroll. With his ordination, he became the fifth Catholic priest ordained in the United States and the first such person born in British America. Later, he served as a missionary in southern Maryland and occasionally as a teacher at Georgetown. ### St. Patrick's Church `Matthews became the second pastor of St. Patrick's Church, succeeding the Dominican priest Anthony Caffry. St. Patrick's was the largest parish in the District of Columbia at the time and the first Catholic church to be constructed in the City of Washington. Matthews held the post from 1804 until his death. He self-financed the purchase of eight lots near St. Patrick's, believing the location would become the heart of the growing city. Three further Catholic parishes, three schools, and an orphanage were established on the land. Matthews oversaw construction of a new, larger church in 1809 on the site of the original building. The brick, Gothic Revival church was completed in 1816. This new St. Patrick's was consecrated by Archbishop John Carroll, and the mass was concelebrated by Leonard Neale.` During the War of 1812, British troops invaded Washington, D.C., in 1814. Matthews barricaded himself and others inside the sanctuary of St. Patrick's Church while most of the city's population fled. As the troops advanced to within two blocks of St. Patrick's, fire from surrounding buildings spread to the roof of the church. Matthews went to the roof to put out the fire, then persuaded General Robert Ross not to destroy the church. During his tenure as pastor, Matthews fostered an unusually large number of conversions to Catholicism. Among his parishioners were Chief Justice Roger Taney, Pierre L'Enfant, James Hoban, Mayor Robert Brent, and Mayor Thomas Carbery. His parish produced a great many seminarians for the priesthood and novices to become nuns. He performed baptisms for a considerable number of black freedmen and slaves. He was said to have "detested slavery," and on at least one occasion, he purchased a mother and her child at a slave auction to grant them freedom. Matthews purchased a pipe organ for St. Patrick's from an Episcopal church in Dumfries, Virginia—likely the first organ in the District of Columbia. He acted as trusted adviser to Bishop John Carroll, whose ecclesiastical jurisdiction as Bishop of Baltimore and later as Archbishop of Baltimore, included the city of Washington and served as a liaison between the bishop and Catholic institutions and priests in Washington. Matthews was also involved in raising money for St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore by selling lottery tickets to parishioners. From 1827 to 1830, Charles Constantine Pise was Matthews' assistant at St. Patrick's. Another one of his assistants was Gabriel Richard. ### St. Peter's Church In 1820, Archbishop Carroll tasked Matthews with establishing the second Catholic parish in Washington: St. Peter's Church. While construction started on a church building, the project quickly ran out of money and went into debt. Matthews ensured that the project was completed. He decided a new site should be chosen and secured a donation of land on Capitol Hill by Daniel Carroll. The church was eventually completed in 1821. He opposed the control of St. Peter's Church properties by lay trustees, as the issue of trusteeism was still active in American Catholic Church. This opposition motivated his subsequent selection for an ecclesiastical mission in Philadelphia. In 1821, the Propaganda Fide in Rome removed Norfolk, Virginia, from the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, placing it within the new Diocese of Richmond. This upset Matthews, who arranged for Archbishop Ambrose Maréchal of Baltimore to use the diplomatic pouch of the French ambassador to the United States to express his misgivings; the ambassador would deliver the archbishop's letters to French ministers to the Holy See, who would present the communications. This would have provided some weightiness to Maréchal's petitions, but it is unclear if he made use of this arrangement. ### Recovery of Ann Mattingly One of Matthews' parishioners, Ann Mattingly, suffered from a tumor in her breast for at least six years. She was in poor health; several doctors and numerous other witnesses had attested to Mattingly's advanced and worsening illness and their inability to treat the disease with the medicine of the time. By 1824, her physicians and attending priests, including Matthews, expected her imminent death. Matthews, along with Stephen Dubuisson and Anthony Kohlmann, turned to the German priest and reputed miracle worker Prince Hohenlohe who prescribed a novena for his cures to be effective; he also set aside the tenth day of each month for offering Mass for the sick outside Europe. Following nine days of public prayer at St. Patrick's parish, on the night of March 9, 1824, Matthews visited Mattingly at 10 pm to hear her confession. The following morning, she received communion during a Mass said by Dubuisson at 4 am. It was then reported to Matthews that she was instantly restored to health and that large ulcers on her back vanished. Matthews immediately went to visit her; according to him, she was smiling and greeted him at the door. Mattingly's quick recovery was noted by several prominent Washington physicians, and by those attending to her in bed, as shocking. When word of the event circulated, it was sensationalized by the local press. Matthews responded by criticizing the priests who exaggerated the story, but described the event to the National Intelligencer as a miracle. He compiled A Collection of Affidavits and Certificates Relative to the Wonderful Cure of Mrs. Ann Mattingly, Which Took Place in the City of Washington, D.C., on the Tenth of March, 1824. By way of Anthony Kohlmann, this pamphlet made its way to Pope Leo XII, who had it translated into Italian and published by his personal printer. ## Academic career ### Georgetown College By 1806, Matthews had become vice president of Georgetown College, and by 1808, he had become a member of its board of directors, where he served until 1815. He was elected president on February 28, 1809, succeeding his uncle Francis Neale. On the same day that he became president, Matthews entered the Jesuit novitiate, which was highly atypical for someone of his age and position. Although working at the college, Matthews chose not to live there and instead moved into St. Patrick's Church. Soon after his election, Matthews became disillusioned with the Society of Jesus and quit the Jesuits on November 1, 1809, resigning the presidency of the Jesuit-run Georgetown at the same time. His uncle, Francis Neale, once again resumed the presidency of Georgetown. The Jesuits had been wary of accepting Matthews' full membership because he had been a member of the Corporation of Roman Catholic Clergymen of Maryland, which considered itself a continuation of the Jesuits in America during the suppression of the Society of Jesus. After the society was restored, there was friction between the Jesuits and the enduring Corporation. Matthews' relationship with Anthony Kohlmann, a subsequent president of Georgetown, was particularly difficult. Two of Matthews' pupils were Charles Boarman—the son of one of the college's professors, who left Georgetown College to join the Navy—and William Wilson Corcoran, who became the first president of Georgetown's alumni association in 1881. Under Matthews' presidency, the towers of Old North Hall were finally completed. ### Washington Seminary As St. Patrick's parish grew, Matthews sought to obtain several assistant curates. At the same time, Georgetown College sought to move its seminarians to a location removed from "worldly distractions", and several within the Society of Jesus wanted to turn St. Patrick's into a Jesuit parish. Consequently, on June 13, 1815, despite his earlier disagreements with the society, Matthews offered the Jesuits a plot of land adjacent to the church on which to build a house of Jesuit priests who would assist him in his parochial duties and simultaneously accommodate the relocated Jesuit seminarians. While the Jesuits prepared to move into the new building, they allowed George Ironside, an educator and former Episcopal priest who converted to Catholicism, to use the structure as a school for lay students beginning in 1817. Subsequently, Anthony Kohlmann returned to Washington and continued operation of the school as its superior. This gave rise to the Washington Catholic Seminary (a school primarily for lay students, not seminarians) on September 8, 1821, contrary to the initial intentions of Matthews—who sought to build a rectory—and the Jesuits, who sought to use the building as their seminary. Since this arrangement did not provide Matthews with the assistant priests he initially sought, he wrote to Archbishop Maréchal expressing his desire that the Jesuits, who he viewed as trying to take over his parish, be removed from the land of St. Patrick's. Nonetheless, Matthews succeeded Adam Marshall as third president of Washington Catholic Seminary—later Gonzaga College High School—in 1824. He also taught as a faculty member at the school. He served as a figurehead president so that the school could accept tuition; Jesuits were forbidden from accepting tuition, but Matthews was permitted to do so because he was a secular priest no longer affiliated with the society. This arrangement allowed the school to prosper. From the start of his presidency until 1827, Matthews worked with Jeremiah Keiley, who was a Jesuit; Matthews oversaw the finances and admissions of the school, while Keiley, as the superior of the Jesuit house, oversaw the curriculum. When word of the arrangement reached the Jesuit Superior General in Rome, Luigi Fortis, he ordered that the Seminary be suppressed on September 25, 1827. Matthews, without success, repeatedly petitioned the Superior General to permit the continuation of the school. Upon the seminary's suppression, Keiley left the Society of Jesus and founded a new, short-lived school. Matthews remained and oversaw the school that was now officially closed but still operating despite the order. He remained president until 1848 when the Jesuits, now permitted to accept tuition, resumed control of the school. After Matthews, John E. Blox became president. Upon the resumption of Jesuit administration, the school was renamed Washington College and again as Gonzaga College in 1857. ## Civic life ### Washington Library In 1811, Matthews co-founded the District of Columbia's first permanent public library, the Washington Library Association, which secured its congressional charter as the Washington Library Company on April 18, 1814, preceding the District of Columbia Public Library. Along with 200 other benefactors, Matthews contributed money by purchasing substantial stock in the library. He served on several of the library's committees, which were responsible for drafting its rules and purchasing books. He was elected the library's second president on April 18, 1821, succeeding the pastor of the F Street Presbyterian Church, Dr. James Laurie. The library prospered under Matthews, where it was used by employees of the federal government and private citizens. He led a successful campaign to raise money by selling library stock, which was invested in Washington's banks and real estate. In the spring of 1827, he purchased a Masonic lodge on Eleventh Street as the first permanent home for the library. Throughout his presidency, its collections steadily increased in size. Matthews acquired 3,000 volumes of Peter Force's collection on American history, doubling the Washington Library's holdings; doing so required a personal loan from him. His presidency came to an end in April 1834 when he was succeeded by Samuel Harrison Smith and Peter Force. ### Washington Public Schools Matthews was a trustee of the District of Columbia Public Schools from July 13, 1813, to 1844. For a part of his term, he served as co-director of the school system, and as one of three members of the board of trustees who collectively acted as superintendents of the Lancasterian school—one of three schools of the public school system alongside the Eastern and Western schools. In this capacity, he visited the school quarterly, and oversaw instruction of the students and performance of the teachers. The school system was perpetually underfunded by the Washington City Council; as a result, the less resource-intensive Lancasterian system was instituted and the school suffered insufficient facilities for many years. It was periodically taken over by the District of Columbia Militia for training, which disrupted studies. On several occasions, the board of trustees requested that Matthews obtain the funds from the City Council that were statutorily promised to them; he separately solicited private donations as well. Matthews further acted as a member of a committee charged with persuading President James Madison to sell his stable on Fourteenth and G Streets to be used as the new schoolhouse for the Lancasterian school. He sat on another committee that was charged with making rules and regulations for the school system in 1815, and the reorganization of the system in 1816. ### St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum In 1825, Matthews founded the St. Vincent's Female Orphan Asylum near St. Patrick's Church in Washington. He had requested that several nuns of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in Emitsburg go to Washington to care for the orphaned girls of the city. Matthews gave \$400 and a small, white house on F Street to the three sisters who came to found the orphanage. During Matthews' time as its president, the institution was run by the nuns. Funding for the institution came initially from parishioners of St. Patrick's; the parish would hold fundraising events for the asylum, which became the center of parish life. This allowed it to expand to a larger facility on 10th and G Streets in 1828. In 1832, Matthews persuaded Congress to equally divide between St. Vincent's and the Washington Orphan Asylum a plot of land that was valued at \$20,000. The orphanage was incorporated by an act of Congress, which also remitted some of its taxes until Congress exempted it from property taxes entirely. Matthews' friendships with many of Washington's social elite drew contributions to the orphanage from people such as Mayor Thomas Carberry and President Andrew Jackson. He was also well acquainted with Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and Roger Taney. These friendships were partly the result of Matthews' strong Federalist and later Whig views. The initial purpose of the institution was to be an orphanage for girls, but since its founding, it was operated as a free school for poor children of Washington that educated orphans and non-orphans alike. This educational function became integral to the institution's purpose, and the number of non-orphaned students eventually far exceeded the number of orphans. In 1831, a board of trustees and a board of female lay managers were created, the latter of which was composed of prominent women in the District who were able to enlist financial support for the institution. On May 14, 1849, to accommodate the institution's growth, the cornerstone for a new building was laid at the same site. Matthews served as president of the asylum from its founding to his death in 1854. ### Visitation Academy Eventually, a female counterpart to the Washington Seminary was established as the Washington Visitation Academy. Its purpose was to educate girls of a higher social class than those at St. Vincent's, as education in Washington was socioeconomically divided at the time. By 1850, a school for girls at Ninth and F Streets, on land that was owned by St. Patrick's Church, prospered. The school was initially run by the Daughters of Charity, but the rules of their order eventually required them to leave the school. It was then taken over by the Sisters of the Visitation from the Georgetown Visitation Convent, who sought to create a school similar to the Georgetown Visitation Academy. At a time when it was considered improper to educate girls in higher academic subjects, but rather only in how to behave in polite society, the Visitation Academy sought to educate girls in both skills. Matthews was not involved in the direct management of the institution but provided financial support. The school moved into a mansion originally intended as the French ambassador's residence, but it was unable to pay the \$3,000 mortgage. The superior, Mother Juliana, requested assistance from him. Matthews declined, as he had previously offered them land and a building free of charge. Several days later, however, he contributed \$10,000 to support the school. ### St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum In mid-1853, the board of trustees of St. Vincent's Asylum approved the creation of St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asylum, later renamed the St. Joseph's Home and School for Boys. Matthews had attempted to create a male orphanage in October 1843, but this closed by 1846. He and Timothy O'Toole, his successor as pastor of St. Patrick's Church, oversaw the establishment of the new orphanage, and Matthews served as president of its board from its founding. Matthews died before its opening in February 1855. His will bequeathed \$3,000 to the boys' orphanage that, like St. Vincent's, relied on private donations and government assistance for funding. ## Vicar Apostolic of Philadelphia On February 26, 1828, the Prefect of the Propaganda Fide, Cardinal Mauro Cappellari, instructed Archbishop Ambrose Maréchal of Baltimore to effectuate the appointment of Matthews by Pope Leo XII as vicar apostolic and apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Philadelphia. This order was promulgated because Bishop Henry Conwell of Philadelphia had been recalled to Rome by the Holy See due to a long-brewing schism over lay trusteeism, and Maréchal had been ordered to oversee the diocese during his absence. Alongside his appointment as administrator, Matthews was also appointed by Bishop Conwell as senior pastor and superior of the clergy at St. Mary's Cathedral, which was one of the centers of the trustee dispute. When Bishop Conwell attempted to return to his diocese from Rome against the orders of the Propaganda Fide during their investigation, the congregation empowered Matthews to announce Conwell's suspension from episcopal office. As apostolic administrator, Matthews took part in the First Provincial Council of Baltimore and acted as a theologian for the participating bishops. He also acted as a representative of the Diocese of Philadelphia at the council, in place of Bishop Conwell. He was later appointed the coadjutor of the Diocese of Philadelphia, which would have elevated him to the episcopate, with the expectation that he would eventually become Bishop of Philadelphia, but he declined the position and the elevation. Instead, Matthews expressed his desire to step down as vicar apostolic, and his term came to an end in 1829. In his place, Francis Kenrick was appointed coadjutor bishop in 1830. At one point, Matthews also declined being appointed the coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Richmond. ## Return to Washington Matthews had a strong spiritual commitment, and he was especially fond of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, encouraging it in his parish and in churches in Baltimore. For this reason, he was chosen by the Visitation Sisters as their spiritual director in 1831. The following year, Matthews officiated at the wedding of Mary Anne Lewis—a ward of President Andrew Jackson and a Catholic—and Joseph Pageot, the secretary of the French diplomatic legation to the United States. The wedding took place on November 29, 1832, in the East Room of the White House, and signified the first Catholic ceremony in the history of the White House, and the only Catholic wedding in its history. One year later, Matthews again presided over a ceremony in the White House, this time in the Red Room, with the baptism of Lewis and Pageot's only son, Andrew Jackson Pageot. This baptism marked the second Catholic ceremony in the residence's history. Matthews believed that since Catholics were granted the freedom to practice their religion by the Constitution of the United States, they had a duty to contribute to the "moral and physical good" of their communities. In the 1830s, Matthews sold his house to fund the building of a new church on the northeastern corner of 15th and H Streets near the White House to alleviate overcrowding at St. Patrick's Church. A new parish was founded in 1839 and the new church was completed in 1840; it was dedicated on November 1 that year. The church was named St. Matthew's Church in honor of both Saint Matthew and William Matthews. The building was replaced by the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle as the parish's church in the 1890s. ## Death and legacy Matthews died on April 30, 1854, and was buried in the cemetery adjacent to St. Patrick's Church. In the mid-1870s, to allow for construction of a new church, his body was exhumed along with the rest of those in the cemetery. While being transferred to a new coffin, it was observed that the body was remarkably preserved. The corpse was laid in front of the altar, where it remained during the All Souls' Day Mass, before being reinterred in the priests' section of Mount Olivet Cemetery. It was reported that at his death, he requested that he be "laid upon the floor to expire" because he "did not deserve to die in his chair". During the latter part of his life and after his death, Matthews was nicknamed the "patriarch of Washington" due to his contributions to the religious and civic worlds of the city. On his gravestone in Mount Olivet Cemetery, the Serra Club placed a bronze plaque in 1973, commemorating his life. In his will, he bequeathed monies to St. Vincent's Asylum, enabling the construction of a larger school on G Street in 1857. The school endured through the nineteenth century, playing a major role in educating girls in Washington. In the center of a mural by Edwin Blashfield above the doors of St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington, Matthews is depicted alongside other important figures of the early Catholic church in America; he stands beside Archbishop Michael Curley and Cardinal James Gibbons. Matthews is also depicted in the interior frieze of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore. The relief depicts his ordination, where he is shown kneeling with his head bowed as Bishop John Carroll places his hands on Matthews' head.
513,149	Cannibal Holocaust	1,172,724,733	1980 Italian horror film directed by Ruggero Deodato	[ "1980 controversies", "1980 films", "1980 horror films", "1980s Italian films", "1980s Italian-language films", "1980s adventure films", "1980s exploitation films", "Animal cruelty incidents in film", "Cannibal-boom films", "Censored films", "English-language Italian films", "Film censorship in Iceland", "Film censorship in Italy", "Film censorship in New Zealand", "Film controversies", "Films about animal cruelty", "Films about filmmaking", "Films about hunter-gatherers", "Films about missing people", "Films about snuff films", "Films directed by Ruggero Deodato", "Films scored by Riz Ortolani", "Films set in 1979", "Films set in New York City", "Films set in South America", "Films set in Venezuela", "Films set in the Amazon", "Films shot in Colombia", "Films shot in New York City", "Films shot in Rome", "Found footage films", "Italian adventure films", "Italian horror films", "Italian independent films", "Italian mockumentary films", "Italian splatter films", "Obscenity controversies in film", "Rape and revenge films", "United Artists films", "Video nasties" ]	Cannibal Holocaust is a 1980 Italian cannibal film directed by Ruggero Deodato and written by Gianfranco Clerici. It stars Robert Kerman as Harold Monroe, an anthropologist who leads a rescue team into the Amazon rainforest to locate a crew of filmmakers that have gone missing while filming a documentary on local cannibal tribes. Produced as part of the contemporary cannibal trend of Italian exploitation cinema, Cannibal Holocaust was inspired by Italian media coverage of Red Brigades terrorism. Deodato believed the news reports to be staged, an idea which became an integral aspect of the film's story. Additionally, other story elements were also influenced by the Mondo documentaries of Gualtiero Jacopetti, particularly the presentation of the documentary crew's lost footage, which constitutes approximately half of the film. The treatment of this footage, which is noted for its visual realism, innovated the found footage style of filmmaking that was later popularized in American cinema by The Blair Witch Project. Cannibal Holocaust was filmed primarily on location in the Amazon rainforest of Colombia with a cast of indigenous tribes interacting with mostly inexperienced American and Italian actors recruited in New York City. Cannibal Holocaust achieved notoriety as its graphic violence aroused a great deal of controversy. After its premiere in Italy, it was ordered to be seized by a local magistrate, and Deodato was arrested on obscenity charges. He was later charged with multiple counts of murder due to rumors that claimed several actors were killed on camera. Although Deodato was cleared of these charges, the film was banned in Italy, Australia, and several other countries due to its graphic content, including sexual assault and genuine violence toward animals. Although some nations have since revoked the ban, it is still upheld in several countries. Critical reception of the film is mixed, although it has received a cult following. The film's plot and violence have been noted as commentary on journalism ethics, exploitation of South American countries, and the difference between Western and non-Western countries, yet these interpretations have also been met with criticism, with any perceived subtext deemed hypocritical or insincere due to the film's presentation. ## Plot An American film crew disappear in the Amazon rainforest while filming a documentary about indigenous cannibal tribes. The team consists of Alan Yates, the director; Faye Daniels, script writer; and two cameramen, Jack Anders and Mark Tomaso. Harold Monroe, an anthropologist at New York University, agrees to lead a rescue mission in hopes of finding the missing filmmakers. In anticipation of his arrival, military personnel stationed in the rainforest conduct a raid on the local Yacumo tribe and take a young man hostage in order to negotiate with the natives. Monroe flies in via floatplane and is introduced to his guides, Chaco and his assistant, Miguel. After several days of trekking through the jungle, the rescue team encounters the Yacumo. They arrange the release of their hostage in exchange for being taken to the Yacumo village. Once there, the group is initially greeted with hostility and learns that the filmmakers caused great unrest among the people. The next day, Monroe and his guides head deeper into the rainforest to locate two warring endocannibal tribes, the Ya̧nomamö and the Shamatari. They encounter a group of Shamatari warriors and follow them to a riverbank, where Monroe's team saves a smaller group of Ya̧nomamö from death. The Ya̧nomamö invite the team back to their village in gratitude, but they are still suspicious of the foreigners. To gain their trust, Monroe bathes naked in a river, where he is joined by a group of Ya̧nomamö women. The women lead Monroe from the river to a shrine, where he discovers the skeletal remains of the filmmakers with their film reels nearby. Shocked by what he sees, he confronts the Ya̧nomamö in the village, during which time he plays music from a tape recorder. The intrigued natives agree to trade it for the filmmakers' surviving reels of film. Back in New York, executives of the Pan American Broadcasting System invite Monroe to host a broadcast of the documentary to be made from the recovered film, but Monroe insists on viewing the raw footage before making a decision. One of the executives first introduces him to Alan's work by showing an excerpt from his previous documentary, The Last Road to Hell, after which she informs Monroe that Alan staged dramatic scenes to get more exciting footage. Monroe then begins to view the recovered footage, which first follows the group's trek through the rainforest. After walking for days, their guide, Felipe, is bitten by a venomous snake. The group amputates Felipe's leg with a machete to save his life, but he dies and is left behind. Upon locating the Yacumo in a clearing, Jack shoots one in the leg so they can easily follow him to the village. Once they arrive, the crew proceeds to intimidate the tribe before herding the natives into a hut, which they burn down in order to stage a massacre for their film. Monroe expresses apprehension about the staged footage and the treatment of the natives, but his concerns are ignored. After he finishes viewing the remaining footage, Monroe expresses his disgust toward the station's decision to air the documentary. To convince the executives otherwise, he shows them the remaining unedited footage that only he has seen. The final two reels begin with the filmmakers locating a Ya̧nomamö girl, whom the men take turns raping against Faye's protests, stating they are wasting film footage. They later encounter the same girl impaled on a wooden pole by a riverbank, where they claim that the natives killed her for loss of virginity, although it is implied that the group themselves killed her and staged it as a murder by the natives for dramatic effect. Shortly afterwards, they are attacked by the Ya̧nomamö tribe as revenge for the girl's rape and death. Jack is hit by a spear, and Alan shoots him to prevent his escape. The scene then moves to the crew filming the natives undressing Jack in their captivity and cutting his genitalia off with a large machete before completely mutilating Jack's lifeless body. Thereafter, an exhausted Alan says they have gotten completely lost trying to escape, and are now surrounded by the natives who pursued them. As a last resort, Alan attempts to scare them off with a flare gun. During the commotion, Faye is captured by the Ya̧nomamö. Alan insists that they attempt to rescue her, but Mark continues to film as she is stripped naked, gang-raped, beaten to death, and beheaded. The Ya̧nomamö then locate and kill the last two team members as the camera drops to the ground. Disturbed by what they have seen, the executives order all of the footage to be burned as Monroe leaves the station, thinking to himself 'I wonder who the real cannibals are?'. ## Cast - Robert Kerman as Professor Harold Monroe - Carl Gabriel Yorke as Alan Yates - Luca Giorgio Barbareschi as Mark Tomaso - Francesca Ciardi as Faye Daniels - Perry Pirkkanen as Jack Anders (credited as Perry Pirkanen) - Salvatore Basile as Chaco - Ricardo Fuentes - Paolo Paoloni as Executive - Lionello Pio Di Savoia as Executive - Luigina Rocchi - Kate Weiman as Executive (uncredited) - Enrico Papa as TV Interviewer (uncredited) - David Sage as Mr. Yates (uncredited) - Ruggero Deodato as Man on University Campus (uncredited) ## Production ### Development Production on Cannibal Holocaust began in 1979, when director Ruggero Deodato was contacted by West German film distributors to make a film similar to his previous work, Last Cannibal World. He accepted the project and immediately went in search of a producer, choosing his friend Francesco Palaggi. The two first flew to Colombia to scout filming locations. Leticia, Colombia was chosen as the principal filming location after Deodato met a Colombian documentary filmmaker at the airport in Bogotá, who suggested the town as a location ideal for filming. Other locations had been considered, specifically those where Gillo Pontecorvo's Burn! had been shot, but Deodato rejected these locations due to lack of suitable rainforest. Deodato conceived of the film's premise while talking to his son about news coverage of the terrorism of the Red Brigades. Deodato thought that the media focused on portraying violence with little regard for journalistic integrity and believed that journalists staged certain news angles in order to obtain more sensational footage. The Italian media was symbolized by the behavior in the film team in Cannibal Holocaust, the depiction of whom was also influenced by the works of Gualtiero Jacopetti, a documentary filmmaker of whom Deodato was a fan. Jacopetti and his partner, Franco Prosperi, are credited with popularizing Mondo films, a genre of documentary, with their first release, Mondo cane. Mondo films focused on sensational and graphic content from around the world, including local customs, violence, sexuality, and death. Deodato included similar content in Cannibal Holocaust, such as graphic violence and animal death, and the documentary that is produced in Cannibal Holocaust resembles a Mondo film. The scene of Monroe bathing naked in a river and the scene of a forced abortion rite have also been noted as being similar to scenes in Antonio Climati's Mondo film Savana violenta. The Italian screenwriter Gianfranco Clerici wrote the script under the working title Green Inferno. He had collaborated with Deodato in his previous films Ultimo mondo cannibale and The House on the Edge of the Park, the latter of which was filmed before Cannibal Holocaust but released afterward. The screenplay included multiple scenes that did not make the film's final cut, including a scene in which a group of Ya̧nomamö cuts off the leg of a Shamatari warrior and feeds him to piranhas in a river. This scene was to take place directly after Monroe's team rescues a smaller group of Ya̧nomamö from the Shamatari. Attempts were made to film this scene, but the underwater camera did not operate properly, and the piranha were difficult to control. As a result, Deodato abandoned his efforts, and still photographs taken during the scene's setup are its only known depiction. The originally scripted version of The Last Road to Hell, which was written to depict soldiers advancing upon an enemy position, also went unused, as Deodato instead decided to use stock footage of political executions for the segment in order to draw further parallels to the films of Jacopetti. The character names Mark Williams and Shanda Tommaso in Clerici's screenplay were also changed to Mark Tomaso and Faye Daniels, respectively, in the film. ### Casting Deodato decided to film Cannibal Holocaust in English in order to appeal to a wider audience and to lend the film credibility. However, the film had to establish a European nationality so that it could be more easily distributed among European countries. Under Italian law, for the film to be recognized as Italian, at least two actors who spoke Italian as a native language had to star in the film. Luca Giorgio Barbareschi and Francesca Ciardi, two inexperienced students from the Actors Studio in New York City, were cast as Mark Tomaso and Faye Daniels, respectively, in part because they were native Italian speakers who also spoke English. Deodato also hired an American from the Actors Studio, Perry Pirkkanen, to play Jack Anders. A friend of Pirkkanen was initially cast to play Alan Yates, but he dropped out of the film shortly before the production team left for the Amazon. He instead appears in the film as an ex-colleague of Yates. Casting director Bill Williams subsequently contacted Carl Gabriel Yorke to play the role. Yorke, a stage actor who had studied under Uta Hagen, was chosen in part because he was the right size for the costumes and boots, which had already been purchased. Because Cannibal Holocaust was a non-union production, Yorke originally wanted to be credited under the stage name Christopher Savage, although he ultimately decided it to be unnecessary due to the film's obscurity and remote filming location. Robert Kerman had years of experience working in adult films under the pseudonym R. Bolla, including the well-known Debbie Does Dallas, before breaking into the Italian film industry. Kerman was recommended to Deodato for his previous film, The Concorde Affair, in which Kerman played an air traffic controller, and his performance impressed Deodato enough to have Kerman cast as Harold Monroe in Cannibal Holocaust. Kerman went on to star in the Italian cannibal films Eaten Alive! and Cannibal Ferox, both directed by Umberto Lenzi. Kerman's girlfriend at the time was cast as one of the station executives, as she was available to film in both New York City and Rome. ### Direction Film historian David Kerekes contends that the film's sense of reality is based on the direction and the treatment of the film team's recovered footage, noting that the "shaky hand-held camerawork commands a certain realism, and 'The Green Inferno,' the ill-fated team's film-within-a-film here, is no exception", and that "this very instability gives the 'Green Inferno' film its authentic quality." David Carter of the cult horror webzine Savage Cinema says that Deodato's methods added a first-person narration quality to the film team's footage, writing: "The viewer feels as if they are there with the crew, experiencing the horrors with them." Deodato was proud of other aspects of the cinematography, namely the numerous moving shots using a standard, shoulder-mounted camera, foregoing the use of a steadicam. Kerekes noted the animal slaughter and inclusion of footage from The Last Road to Hell as adding to the sense of reality of the film. Lloyd Kaufman of Troma Entertainment compares these scenes to Vsevolod Pudovkin's theory of montage, saying: "In Cannibal Holocaust, we see the actors kill and rip apart a giant sea turtle and other animals. [...] The brain has been conditioned to accept that which it's now seeing as real. This mixture of real and staged violence, combined with the handheld camerawork and the rough, unedited quality of the second half of the movie, is certainly enough to convince someone that what they are watching is real." Deodato says he included the execution footage in The Last Road to Hell to draw further similarities to Cannibal Holocaust and the Mondo filmmaking of Gualtiero Jacopetti. ### Filming Principal photography began on 4 June 1979. The scenes featuring the film team were shot first with handheld 16mm cameras in a cinéma vérité style that mimicked an observational documentary, a technique Deodato had learned from his mentor Roberto Rossellini. This same style was also used by Climati in his Mondo film Ultime grida dalla savana, which may have been influential on Deodato's direction. After shooting with the film team was completed, Kerman flew down to film his scenes in the rainforest and then to New York to film exterior shots in the city. Leticia was only accessible by aircraft, and from there, the cast and crew had to travel by boat to reach the set. The interior shots of New York were filmed later in a studio in Rome. Production on the film was delayed numerous times while in the Amazon. After the actor originally cast as Alan Yates dropped out of the role, filming was halted for two weeks until new casting calls were completed and Yorke arrived in Leticia. During principal filming with Kerman, the father of the actor who played Miguel was murdered, and production was again halted as the actor flew back to Bogotá to attend his father's funeral. The locale also presented problems for the production, in particular the heat and sudden rain storms, which sporadically delayed filming. Interpersonal relationships were strained on the set. Kerman and Deodato frequently clashed, as the two got into long, drawn-out arguments every day of shooting, usually because of remarks made by Deodato to which Kerman took offense. Although Deodato noted that the two were always friendly again a few minutes later, Kerman expressed his personal dislike of Deodato in several interviews. He described Deodato as remorseless and uncaring on set and stated that he did not believe that Deodato had a soul. Kerman also noted hostile treatment of other cast and crew members by Deodato, stating: "He was a sadist. He was particularly sadistic to people that couldn't answer back, people that were Colombian, [and] people that were Italian but could be sent home." Yorke and co-star Perry Pirkanen also did not get along, which Yorke attributed to disappointment that Pirkanen felt after his friend dropped out of the production. Yorke also alienated Ciardi after he declined to have sex with her in preparation for filming their sex scene. Multiple cast and crew members were uncomfortable with the film's graphic content, in particular the genuine killing of animals. Yorke described the shoot as having "a level of cruelty unknown to me" and was initially unsure if he was taking part in a snuff film. When his character was scripted to kill a pig on camera, Yorke refused, leaving the duty to Luca Barbareschi. Yorke had traveled with the pig to the set and felt he had formed a relationship with the animal. When it was shot, the emotional impact of hearing the pig squeal subsequently caused Yorke to botch a long monologue, and retakes were not an option because the production did not have access to additional pigs. Kerman similarly objected to the killing of the coati and stormed off the set while its death scene was filmed; he had repeatedly pressed Deodato to let the animal go in the minutes leading up to filming. Pirkanen cried after filming the butchering of a turtle, and crew members vomited off camera when a squirrel monkey was killed for the film. The film's sexual content also proved a point of contention among the cast members. Ciardi did not want to bare her breasts during the sex scene between her and Yorke, and she became agitated with him during the filming of the scene. When she refused to comply with the direction, Deodato led her off the set and screamed at her in Italian until she agreed to perform the scene as instructed. Yorke also became severely upset while filming a scene in which his character takes a part in the rape of a native girl. The film's content had given Yorke anxiety throughout his time in Colombia, and this tension peaked during the rape scene. His experiences on set ultimately weighed so heavily on him that Yorke ended his relationship with his girlfriend in New York shortly after his return from the Amazon. Yorke experienced unfair payment practices when his first payment for the film came in the form of Colombian pesos and was less than what had been agreed upon. He refused to continue shooting until he was paid the correct amount in United States dollars. The native extras also went unpaid for their work despite their involvement in numerous dangerous scenes, including a scene in which they were forced to stay inside a burning hut for a prolonged period of time. ## Soundtrack The film's soundtrack was composed entirely by Italian composer Riz Ortolani, whom Deodato specifically requested because of Ortolani's work in Mondo Cane. Deodato was particularly fond of the film's main theme, "Ti guarderò nel cuore", which was given lyrics and became a worldwide pop hit under the title "More". The music of Cannibal Holocaust is a variety of styles, from a gentle melody in the "Main Theme", to a sad and flowing score in "Crucified Woman", and faster and more upbeat tracks in "Cameraman's Recreation", "Relaxing in the Savannah", and "Drinking Coco", to the sinister-sounding "Massacre of the Troupe". The instrumentation is equally mixed, ranging from full orchestras to electronics and synthesizers. The film's main theme was used in 2022 for the American teen series Euphoria, where it was played during the closing credits for the season 2 episode "The Theater and Its Double". ### Track listing ## Release Cannibal Holocaust premiered on 7 February 1980 in the Italian city of Milan. Although the courts later confiscated the film based on a citizen's complaint, the initial audience reaction was positive. After seeing the film, director Sergio Leone wrote a letter to Deodato, which stated (translated): "Dear Ruggero, what a movie! The second part is a masterpiece of cinematographic realism, but everything seems so real that I think you will get in trouble with all the world." In the ten days before it was seized, the film had grossed approximately \$2 million. In Japan, it grossed \$21 million, becoming the second highest-grossing film of that time after E.T. the Extraterrestrial. Deodato has claimed the film has grossed as much as \$200 million worldwide in the wake of its various re-releases. ### Critical response Critics remain split on their stances of Cannibal Holocaust. Supporters of the film cite it as a serious and well-made social commentary on the modern world. Sean Axmaker praised the structure and setup of the film, saying: "It's a weird movie with an awkward narrative, which Deodato makes all the more effective with his grimy sheen of documentary realism, while Riz Ortolani's unsettlingly lovely, elegiac score provides a weird undercurrent." Jason Buchanan of AllMovie said: "While it's hard to defend the director for some of the truly repugnant images with which he has chosen to convey his message, there is indeed an underlying point to the film, if one is able to look beyond the sometimes unwatchable images that assault the viewer." Detractors, however, criticize the over-the-top gore and the genuine animal slayings and also point to the hypocrisy that the film presents. Nick Schager criticized the brutality of the film, saying: "As clearly elucidated by its shocking gruesomeness—as well as its unabashedly racist portrait of indigenous folks it purports to sympathize with [the real indigenous peoples in Brazil whose names were used in the film—the Ya̧nomamö and Shamatari—are not fierce enemies as portrayed in the film, nor is either tribe truly cannibalistic, although the Ya̧nomamö do partake in a form of post-mortem ritual cannibalism]—the actual savages involved with Cannibal Holocaust are the ones behind the camera." Robert Firsching of AllMovie made similar criticisms of the film's content, saying: "While the film is undoubtedly gruesome enough to satisfy fans, its mixture of nauseating mondo animal slaughter, repulsive sexual violence, and pie-faced attempts at socially conscious moralizing make it rather distasteful morally as well." Slant Magazine'''s Eric Henderson said it is "artful enough to demand serious critical consideration, yet foul enough to christen you a pervert for even bothering." In recent years, Cannibal Holocaust has received accolades in various publications as well as a cult following. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 67% based on 18 reviews, with a weighted average of 5.5/10. British film magazine Total Film ranked Cannibal Holocaust as the tenth greatest horror film of all time, and the film was included in a similar list of the top 25 horror films compiled by Wired. The film also came in eighth on IGN's list of the ten greatest grindhouse films. ### Interpretations Cannibal Holocaust is seen by some critics as social commentary on various aspects of modern civilization by comparing Western society to that of the cannibals. David Carter says: "Cannibal Holocaust is not merely focused on the societal taboo of flesh eating. The greater theme of the film is the difference between the civilized and the uncivilized. Though the graphic violence can be hard for most to stomach, the most disturbing aspect of the film is what Deodato is saying about modern society. The film asks the questions 'What is it to be 'civilized'?' and 'Is it a good thing?'" Mark Goodall, author of Sweet & Savage: The World Through the Shockumentary Film Lens, also contends the film's message is [to show] "the rape of the natural world by the unnatural; the exploitation of 'primitive' cultures for Western entertainment." Deodato's intentions regarding the Italian media coverage of the Red Brigades have also fallen under critical examination and has been expanded to include all sensationalism. Carter explores this, claiming that "[the lack of journalistic integrity] is shown through the interaction between Professor Monroe and the news agency that had backed the documentary crew. They continually push Monroe to finish editing the footage because blood and guts equal ratings." Lloyd Kaufman claims that this form of exploitative journalism can still be seen in the media today and in programming such as reality television. Goodall and film historians David Slater and David Kerekes have also suggested that Deodato was attempting to comment on the documentary works of Antonio Climati with his film. Despite these interpretations, Deodato has said in interviews that he had no intentions in Cannibal Holocaust but to make a film about cannibals. Actor Luca Barbareschi asserts this as well and believes that Deodato only uses his films to "put on a show". Robert Kerman contradicts these assertions, stating that Deodato did tell him of political concerns involving the media in the making of this film. These interpretations have also been criticized as hypocritical and poor justification for the film's content, as Cannibal Holocaust itself is highly sensationalized. Firsching claims that "The fact that the film's sole spokesperson for the anti-exploitation perspective is played by porn star Robert Kerman should give an indication of where its sympathies lie", while Schager says Deodato is "pathetically justifying the unrepentant carnage by posthumously damning his eaten filmmaker protagonists with a 'who are the real monsters – the cannibals or us?' anti-imperialism morale." ## Controversies Since its original release, Cannibal Holocaust has been the target of censorship by moral and animal activists. Other than graphic gore, the film contains several scenes of sexual violence and genuine cruelty to animals, issues which find Cannibal Holocaust in the midst of controversy to this day. Due to this notoriety, Cannibal Holocaust has been marketed as having been banned in over 50 countries. In 2006, Entertainment Weekly magazine named Cannibal Holocaust as the 20th most controversial film of all time. ### Snuff film allegations Ten days after its premiere in Milan, Cannibal Holocaust was confiscated under the orders of a local magistrate, and Ruggero Deodato was charged with obscenity. As all copies were to be turned over to the authorities, the film was released in other countries like the United Kingdom via subterfuge. In January 1981, during the film's theatrical run in France, the magazine Photo suggested that certain deaths depicted in the film were real, which would have made Cannibal Holocaust a snuff film. Following the publication of the Photo article, the charges against Deodato were amended to include murder. The courts believed that the actors who portrayed the missing film crew and the native actress featured in the impalement scene were killed for the camera. Compounding matters was the fact that the supposedly deceased actors had signed contracts with the production which ensured that they would not appear in any type of media, motion pictures, or commercials for one year following the film's release. This was done in order to promote the idea that Cannibal Holocaust was truly the recovered footage of missing documentarians. During the subsequent court proceedings, questions arose as to why the actors were in no other media if they were alive as Deodato claimed. To prove his innocence, Deodato had Luca Barbareschi get in contact with the other three actors, and the four of them were interviewed for an Italian television show. Deodato also explained in court how the special effect in the impalement scene was achieved: a bicycle seat was attached to the end of an iron pole, upon which the actress sat. She then held a short length of balsa wood in her mouth and looked skyward, thus giving the appearance of impalement. Deodato also provided the court with pictures of the girl interacting with the crew after the scene had been filmed. After they were presented with this evidence, the courts dropped all murder charges against Deodato. ### Censorship Although the snuff film allegations were successfully refuted, the Italian courts decided to ban Cannibal Holocaust due to the genuine animal slayings, citing animal cruelty laws. Deodato, Franco Palaggi, Franco Di Nunzio, Gianfranco Clerici, producer Alda Pia and United Artists Europa representative Sandro Perotti each received a four-month suspended sentence after they were all convicted of obscenity and violence. Deodato fought in the courts for three additional years to get his film unbanned. In 1984, the courts ruled in favor of Deodato, and Cannibal Holocaust was granted a rating certificate of VM18 for a cut print. It would later be re-released uncut. Cannibal Holocaust also faced censorship issues in other countries around the world. In 1981, video releases were not required to pass before the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC), which had power to ban films in the United Kingdom. Cannibal Holocaust was released straight-to-video there, thus avoiding the possible banning of the film. This did not save the movie, however, because in 1983, the Director of Public Prosecutions compiled a list of 72 video releases that were not brought before the BBFC for certification and declared them prosecutable for obscenity. This list of "video nasties" included Cannibal Holocaust, which was successfully prosecuted and banned. The film was not approved for release in the UK until 2001, albeit with nearly six minutes of mandated cuts. In 2011, the BBFC waived all but one of these previous edits and passed Cannibal Holocaust with fifteen seconds of cuts. It was determined that the only scene that breached the BBFC's guidelines was the killing of a coatimundi, and the BBFC acknowledged that previous cuts were reactionary to the film's reputation. The film was also banned in Australia, the United States, Norway, Finland, Iceland, New Zealand, Singapore and several other countries in or before 1984. The movie was briefly released in the US by Trans American Films in 1985, but this release lasted for less than a month before being pulled from theaters, likely due to the large controversies surrounding the film. It would eventually get a two-disc DVD release in 2005 by Grindhouse Releasing. In 2005, the Office of Film and Literature Classification in Australia lifted the ban, passing Cannibal Holocaust with an R18+ rating for the uncut print, including the consumer advice, "High level sexual violence, high level violence, animal cruelty." In 2006, the film was rejected for classification and banned in its entirety by the OFLC in New Zealand. Cuts to retain an R18 classification were offered by the Office, but they were eventually refused. ### Animal cruelty Many of the censorship issues with Cannibal Holocaust concern the on-screen killings of animals. Deodato himself has condemned his past actions, saying: "I was stupid to introduce animals." Although six animal deaths appear onscreen, seven animals were killed for the production, as the scene depicting the monkey's death was shot twice, resulting in the death of two monkeys. Both of the animals were eaten by indigenous cast members, who consider monkey brains a delicacy. The animals that were killed onscreen were: - a coati (mistaken for a muskrat in the film), killed with a knife - an arrau turtle, decapitated and its limbs, shell, and entrails removed - a tarantula, killed with a machete - a boa constrictor, also killed with a machete - a squirrel monkey, decapitated with a machete - a pig, shot in the head with a .22 caliber rifle at point blank range Film historian Andrew DeVos has argued that the animal deaths have been harshly condemned because of the film's classification as exploitation, whereas animal mutilations in films perceived by critics to be classics or art films are often ignored. DeVos cites several examples of this double standard, including The Rules of the Game, El Topo, Wake in Fright, and Apocalypse Now. The BBFC made a similar conclusion regarding the censorship of scenes in which the deaths were quick and painless, noting: "Removing these sequences would be inconsistent with the BBFC's decisions to permit quick clean kills in several other films, such as Apocalypse Now." ## Legacy Cannibal Holocaust was innovative in its plot structure, specifically with the concept of the "found footage" being brought back to civilization and later viewed to determine the fate of the crew that shot it. This was later popularized as a distinct style in Hollywood cinema by The Last Broadcast and The Blair Witch Project, both of which use similar storytelling devices. Each film uses the idea of a lost film team making a documentary in the wilderness, and their footage returned. Advertisements for The Blair Witch Project also promoted the idea that the footage is genuine. Deodato has acknowledged the similarities between his film and The Blair Witch Project, and though he holds no malice against the producers, he is frustrated at the publicity that The Blair Witch Project received for being an original production. The producers of The Last Broadcast have denied that Cannibal Holocaust was a major influence. Nonetheless, the film was cited by director Paco Plaza as a source of inspiration for the found footage films REC and REC 2. Cannibal Holocaust has been regarded as the apex of the cannibal genre, and it bears similarities to subsequent cannibal films made during the same time period. Cannibal Ferox also stars Kerman and Pirkanen, and star Giovanni Lombardo Radice says it was made based on the success of Cannibal Holocaust. Cannibal Ferox has also been noted as containing similar themes to Cannibal Holocaust, such as comparison of Western violence to perceived uncivilized cultures and anti-imperialism. In a mixed review, film journalist Jay Slater claims: "Certainly a tough customer, Cannibal Ferox still fails where Deodato succeeds. [...] Lenzi attempts to tackle cultural defilement and racial issues, but Cannibal Ferox is nothing more than a shoddy exercise in sadism and animal cruelty." Reviewer Andrew Parkinson also notes: "At the end, there is a basic attempt to validate Cannibal Ferox, posing that old chestnut of whether civilised man is actually more savage than the uncivilised tribespeople." Unofficial sequels to Cannibal Holocaust were produced in the years following its release. The titles of these films were changed following their original theatrical releases in order to associate the film with Cannibal Holocaust in different markets. In 1985, Mario Gariazzo directed Schiave bianche: violenza in Amazzonia, which was also released as Cannibal Holocaust 2: The Catherine Miles Story. In addition to the new title, Slater notes similarities between the score in The Catherine Miles Story and Riz Ortolani's score in Cannibal Holocaust. Previously known for his work in Mondo films, Antonio Climati directed Natura contro in 1988, which was released as Cannibal Holocaust II in the United Kingdom. In 2005, Deodato announced that he planned to make a companion piece to Cannibal Holocaust entitled Cannibals. Deodato was originally hesitant about directing his new film, as he thought that he would make it too violent for American audiences. However, while he was in Prague filming his cameo appearance in Hostel: Part II for Eli Roth, Deodato viewed Hostel and decided that he would direct after all, citing it as a similarly violent film that was given a mainstream release in the United States. Although the screenplay, written by Christine Conradt, was completed, a financial conflict between Deodato and the film's producer led to the project's cancellation. In 2013, Roth directed The Green Inferno, which takes its title from the fictional documentary produced in Cannibal Holocaust. Roth's film was intended as an homage to Cannibal Holocaust and other cannibal films from the same era. The film's influence has extended to other media as well. In 2001, Death metal band Necrophagia released a song entitled "Cannibal Holocaust" from the eponymous record. It was revealed in April 2020, that the movie would be getting a video game sequel called Ruggero Deodato, Cannibal. The game is being developed by Fantastico Studios and was expected to be available from November 2020 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and mobile. However, in December 2020, the game was retitled Borneo: A Jungle Nightmare and delayed to Spring 2021, but has yet to be released. ## Alternate versions (home media) Due to its graphic content, there are several different versions in circulation, edited to varying degrees. In the United Kingdom, it was originally released on VHS by Go Video in 1982 with approximately six minutes of cuts. These cuts were self-imposed by the distributor, possibly due to technical limitations of the tape. In 2001, the film was passed for release on DVD by the British Board of Film Classification with five minutes and 44 seconds of cuts to remove scenes of animal cruelty and sexual violence; all but 15 seconds of these cuts were waived for a re-release in 2011. The latter also includes a new edit sponsored by Deodato, which reduces the violence toward animals. Grindhouse Releasing's home video releases contain an "Animal Cruelty Free" version that omits the six animal deaths. Other versions also contain alternative footage shot specifically for Middle Eastern markets that do not depict nudity. There are multiple versions of the Last Road to Hell'' segment, which causes variances even among uncensored releases. An extended version includes approximately 10 seconds of footage not seen in an alternative, shorter version. This additional footage includes a wide-angle shot of firing-squad executions, a close-up of a dead victim and extended footage of bodies being carried into the back of a truck. The longer version also includes different titles that correctly name the film crew as they appear in the final film, while the shorter version gives the names that originally appear in the script. In August 2022, UK based distributor 88 Films announced a newly restored 4K UHD Blu-ray will be available in November.
27,985,733	Hill 303 massacre	1,165,371,181	1950 North Korean War Crime Massacre	[ "1950 in South Korea", "1950 murders in South Korea", "20th-century history of the United States Army", "August 1950 events in Asia", "Battle of Pusan Perimeter", "History of North Gyeongsang Province", "Korean War prisoners of war", "Massacres committed by North Korea", "Massacres in 1950", "Massacres in South Korea", "Military scandals", "North Korea–United States relations", "Prisoner of war massacres", "War crimes in South Korea" ]	The Hill 303 massacre (Korean: 303 고지 학살 사건) was a war crime that took place during the opening days of the Korean War on August 17, 1950, on a hill above Waegwan, Republic of Korea. Forty-one United States Army (US) prisoners of war were murdered by troops of the North Korean People's Army (KPA) during one of the engagements of the Battle of Pusan Perimeter. Operating near Taegu during the Battle of Taegu, elements of the US 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, were surrounded by KPA troops crossing the Nakdong River at Hill 303. Most of the US troops were able to escape, but one platoon of mortar operators misidentified KPA troops as Republic of Korea Army (ROK) reinforcements and was captured. KPA troops held the Americans on the hill and initially tried to move them across the river and out of the battle, but they were unable to do so because of a heavy counterattack. US forces eventually broke the KPA advance, routing the force. As the KPA began to retreat, one of their officers ordered the prisoners to be shot so they would not slow them down. The massacre provoked a response from both sides in the conflict. US commanders broadcast radio messages and dropped leaflets demanding the senior North Korean commanders be held responsible for the atrocity. The KPA commanders, concerned about the way their soldiers were treating prisoners of war, laid out stricter guidelines for handling enemy captives. Memorials were later constructed on Hill 303 by troops at nearby Camp Carroll to honor the victims of the massacre. ## Background ### Korean War begins Following the invasion of South Korea by North Korea, and the subsequent outbreak of the Korean War on June 25, 1950, the United Nations (UN) decided to enter the conflict on behalf of South Korea. The United States, a member of the UN, subsequently committed ground forces to the Korean Peninsula with the goal of fighting back the North Korean invasion and to prevent South Korea from collapsing. The 24th Infantry Division was the first US unit sent into Korea. The unit was to take the initial "shock" of KPA advances, delaying much larger KPA units to buy time to allow reinforcements to arrive. The division was consequently alone for several weeks as it attempted to delay the KPA, making time for the 1st Cavalry and the 7th and 25th Infantry Divisions, along with other Eighth United States Army supporting units, to move into position. Advance elements of the 24th Infantry, known as Task Force Smith, were badly defeated in the Battle of Osan on July 5, the first encounter between US and KPA forces. For the first month after this defeat, the 24th Infantry was repeatedly defeated and forced south by superior KPA numbers and equipment. The regiments of the 24th Infantry were systematically pushed south in engagements around Chochiwon, Chonan, and Pyongtaek. The 24th made a final stand in the Battle of Taejon, where it was almost completely destroyed but delayed KPA forces until July 20. By that time, the Eighth Army's force of combat troops was roughly equal to KPA forces attacking the region, with new UN units arriving every day. With Taejon captured, KPA forces began surrounding the Pusan Perimeter in an attempt to envelop it. They advanced on UN positions with armor and superior numbers, repeatedly defeating UN forces and forcing them further south. ### Pusan Perimeter at Taegu In the meantime, Eighth Army commander General Walton Walker had established Taegu as the Eighth Army's headquarters. Right at the center of the Pusan Perimeter, Taegu stood at the entrance to the Nakdong River valley, an area where large numbers of KPA forces could advance while supporting one another. The natural barriers provided by the Nakdong River to the south and the mountainous terrain to the north converged around Taegu, which was also the major transportation hub and last major South Korean city aside from Pusan itself to remain in UN hands. From south to north, the city was defended by the US 1st Cavalry Division and the ROK 1st and 6th Infantry Divisions of ROK II Corps. 1st Cavalry Division, under the command of Maj. Gen. Hobart R. Gay, was spread out in a line along the Nakdong River to the south, with its 5th and 8th Cavalry Regiments holding a 24-kilometer (15 mi) line along the river and the 7th Cavalry Regiment in reserve along with artillery forces, ready to reinforce anywhere a crossing could be attempted. Five KPA divisions massed to oppose the UN at Taegu; from south to north, the 10th, 3rd, 15th, 13th, and 1st Divisions occupied a line from Tuksong-dong and around Waegwan to Kunwi. The KPA planned to use the natural corridor of the Nakdong valley from Sangju to Taegu as its main axis of attack for the next push south. Elements of the KPA 105th Armored Division were also supporting the attack. Beginning August 5, these divisions initiated numerous crossing attempts to assault the UN forces on the other side of the river in an attempt to capture Taegu and collapse the final UN defensive line. The US forces were successful in repelling KPA advances thanks to training and support, but forces in the ROK sectors were not as successful. During this time, isolated reports and rumors of war crimes committed by both sides began to surface. ### Military geography Hill 303 forms an elongated oval 2 miles (3.2 km) long on a northeast–southwest axis with a peak elevation of 994 feet (303 m). It is the first hill mass north of Waegwan and its southern slope comes down to the edge of the town. The hill grants observation of Waegwan, a network of roads running out of the town, the railroad and highway bridges across the river at that point, and long stretches of the river valley to the north and to the south. Its western slope terminates at the east bank of the Nakdong River. From Waegwan a road runs north and south along the east bank of the Nakdong, another northeast through the mountains toward Tabu-dong, and still another southeast toward Taegu. Hill 303 was a critical terrain feature in control of the main Pusan-Seoul railroad and highway crossing of the Nakdong, as well as of Waegwan itself. ## Massacre The exact details of the massacre are unknown and based on the accounts of four US soldiers who survived the event. Three captured KPA soldiers were pointed out by the survivors as participants in the killings, and these three also gave conflicting accounts of what happened. ### North Korean advance The northernmost unit of the 1st Cavalry Division's sector was G Company of the 5th Cavalry Regiment. It held Hill 303, the furthest position on the Eighth Army's extreme right flank. To the north lay the ROK 1st Division. For several days, UN intelligence sources had reported heavy KPA concentrations across the Nakdong, opposite the ROK 1st Division. Early in the morning on August 14, a KPA regiment crossed the Nakdong 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Waegwan into the ROK 1st Division sector through an underwater bridge. Shortly after midnight ROK forces on the high ground just north of the US-ROK Army boundary were attacked by this force. After daylight an air strike partially destroyed the underwater bridge. The KPA attack spread south and, by 12:00 (KST), KPA small-arms fire fell on G Company, 5th Cavalry Regiment, on Hill 303. Instead of moving east into the mountains as other landings had, this force turned south and headed for Waegwan. At 03:30 in the morning on August 15, G Company troops on Hill 303 spotted 50 KPA infantry supported by two T-34 tanks moving south along the river road at the base of the hill. They also spotted another column moving to their rear, which quickly engaged F Company with small-arms fire. In order to escape the enemy encirclement, F Company withdrew south, but G Company did not. By 08:30 the KPA had completely surrounded it and a supporting platoon of H Company mortarmen on Hill 303. At this point the force on the hill was cut off from the rest of the US force. A relief column, composed of B Company, 5th Cavalry, and a platoon of US tanks, tried to reach G Company but was unable to penetrate the KPA force that was surrounding Hill 303. ### US forces captured According to survivor accounts, before dawn on August 15, the H Company mortar platoon became aware of enemy activity near Hill 303. The platoon leader telephoned G Company, 5th Cavalry, which informed him a platoon of 60 ROK troops would come to reinforce the mortar platoon. Later in the morning, the platoon saw two KPA T-34s followed by 200 or more enemy soldiers on the road below them. A little later, a group of Koreans appeared on the slope. A patrol going to meet the climbing Korean troops called out and received in reply a blast of gunfire from automatic weapons. The mortar platoon leader, Lieutenant Jack Hudspeth, believed they were friendly. Some of the Americans realized that the advancing troops were KPA and were going to fire upon them, according to Privates Fred Ryan and Roy Manring, who gave their accounts when they revisited the old mortar position in 1999. Hudspeth ordered them not to fire and threatened them with a court-martial if they did. The rest of the watching Americans were not convinced that the new arrivals were enemy soldiers until the red stars became visible on their field caps. By that time, they were extremely close to the US positions. The KPA troops came right up to the foxholes without either side firing a shot. Hudspeth ordered his platoon to surrender without a fight as it was far outnumbered and outgunned. The KPA quickly took the mortarmen captive. Estimates of the number captured range from 31 to 42. They were captured by the 4th Company, 2nd Battalion, 206th Mechanized Infantry Regiment, 105th Armored Division. The KPA troops marched their prisoners down the hill after taking their weapons and valuables. In a nearby orchard, they tied the prisoners' hands behind their backs, took some of their clothing and removed their shoes. They told them they would be sent to the prisoner-of-war camp in Seoul if they behaved well. ### Imprisonment The original captors did not stay in continuous possession of the prisoners throughout the next two days. There is some evidence that elements of the KPA 3rd Division guarded them after capture. During the first night of captivity, the KPA gave the American prisoners water, fruit and cigarettes. Survivors claimed this was the only food and water the KPA gave them over the three days of their imprisonment. The Americans dug holes in the sand to get more water to drink. The KPA intended to move them across the Nakdong River that night, but US artillery fire on the river crossing sites prevented safe movement. During the night, two of the Americans loosened their bindings, causing a brief commotion. KPA soldiers threatened to shoot the Americans but, according to one survivor's account, a KPA officer shot one of his own men for threatening this. Two captured American officers—Lieutenant Hudspeth, the platoon leader of the mortar platoon, and Lieutenant Cecil Newman, who was a forward artillery observer, were seen conferring with each other about an escape plan according to Private Fred Ryan. Both escaped during the night, but were captured and executed. The KPA attempted to keep the Americans hidden during the day and move them at night, but attacks by US forces made this difficult. The next day, August 16, the prisoners were moved with their guards. One of the mortarmen, Corporal Roy L. Day Jr., spoke Japanese and was able to converse with some of the North Koreans. That afternoon, he overheard a KPA lieutenant say they would kill the prisoners if US forces advanced too close. Later that day, other US forces began to assault Hill 303 to retake the position. B Company and several US tanks tried a second time to retake the hill, now estimated to contain a 700-man battalion. The 61st Field Artillery Battalion and elements of the 82nd Field Artillery Battalion fired on the hill during the day. That night, G Company succeeded in escaping from Hill 303. Guards took away five of the American prisoners; the others did not know what became of them. Before dawn on August 17, troops from both the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 5th Cavalry Regiment, supported by A Company of the 70th Tank Battalion, attacked Hill 303, but heavy KPA mortar fire stopped them at the edge of Waegwan. During the morning, US artillery heavily bombarded the KPA positions on the hill. Throughout the morning of August 17, the KPA guards exchanged fire with US troops attempting to rescue the prisoners. Around 12:00, the KPA unit holding the Americans placed them in a gully on the hill with a light company of 50 guards. Several more American prisoners were added to the group during the day, bringing the number of prisoners on Hill 303 to 45. One survivor estimated that the total number of prisoners was 67 and that the balance of the prisoners were executed on August 15 or 16. ### Execution At 14:00 on August 17, a UN air strike took place, attacking the hill with napalm, bombs, rockets and machine guns. At this time, a KPA officer said that US soldiers were closing in on them and they could not continue to hold the prisoners. The officer ordered the men executed, and the KPA then fired into the Americans in the gully. One of the KPA who was later captured said all or most of the 50 guards participated, but some of the survivors said only a group of 14 KPA guards, directed by their non-commissioned officers, fired into them with PPSh-41 "burp guns". Before all the KPA soldiers left the area, some returned to the ravine and shot survivors of the initial massacre. Only four or five of the men in this group survived, by hiding under the dead bodies of others. In all, 41 US prisoners were killed in the ravine. The bulk of these men—26 in all—were from the mortar platoon but prisoners captured elsewhere were also among them. The US air strike and artillery bombardment pushed the KPA forces off the hill. After the strike, at 15:30, the infantry attacked up the hill unopposed and secured it by 16:30. The combined strength of E and F Companies on the hill was about 60 men. The artillery and the air strike killed and wounded an estimated 500 KPA troops on Hill 303, with survivors fleeing in complete disorder. Two of the massacre survivors making their way down the hill to meet the counter-attacking force were fired upon before they could establish their identity, but not hit. The 5th Cavalry Regiment quickly discovered the bodies of the prisoners with machine-gun wounds, hands still bound behind their backs. That night, near Waegwan, KPA anti-tank fire hit and knocked out two tanks of the 70th Armor Regiment. The next day, August 18, US troops found the bodies of six members of the tank crews showing indications that they had been captured and executed in the same manner as the men on Hill 303. ## Aftermath ### US response The incident on Hill 303 led UN commander General Douglas MacArthur to broadcast to the KPA on August 20, denouncing the atrocities. The U.S. Air Force dropped many leaflets over enemy territory, addressed to North Korean commanders. MacArthur warned that he would hold North Korea's senior military leaders responsible for the event and any other war crimes. > Inertia on your part and on the part of your senior field commanders in the discharge of this grave and universally recognized command responsibility may only be construed as a condonation and encouragement of such outrage, for which, if not promptly corrected, I shall hold you and your commanders criminally accountable under the rules and precedents of war. The incident at Hill 303 would be only one in a series of atrocities the US forces accused KPA soldiers of committing. In late 1953, the United States Senate Committee on Government Operations, led by Joseph McCarthy, conducted an investigation of up to 1,800 reported incidents of war crimes allegedly committed throughout the Korean War. The Hill 303 massacre was one of the first to be investigated. Survivors of the incident were called to testify before the committee, and the US government concluded that the KPA violated the terms of the Geneva Convention, and condemned its actions. ### North Korean response Historians agree there is no evidence that the KPA High Command sanctioned the shooting of prisoners during the early phase of the war. The Hill 303 massacre and similar atrocities are believed to have been conducted by "uncontrolled small units, by vindictive individuals, or because of unfavorable and increasingly desperate situations confronting the captors." T. R. Fehrenbach, a military historian, wrote in his analysis of the event that KPA troops committing these events were likely accustomed to torture and execution of prisoners due to decades of rule by oppressive armies of the Empire of Japan up until World War II. On July 28, 1950, General Lee Yong Ho, commander of the KPA 3rd Division, had transmitted an order pertaining to the treatment of prisoners of war, signed by Choi Yong-kun, Commander-in-Chief, and Kim Chaek, Commander of the KPA Advanced General Headquarters, which stated killing prisoners of war was "strictly prohibited". He directed individual units' Cultural Sections to inform the division's troops of the rule. Documents captured after the event showed that KPA leaders were aware of—and concerned about—the conduct of some of their soldiers. An order issued by the Cultural Section of the KPA 2nd Division dated August 16 said, in part, "Some of us are still slaughtering enemy troops that come to surrender. Therefore, the responsibility of teaching the soldiers to take prisoners of war and to treat them kindly rests on the Political Section of each unit." ### Monument The story quickly gained media attention in the United States, and the survivors' accounts received a great deal of coverage including prominent magazines such as Time and Life. In the years following the Korean War, the US Army established a permanent garrison in Waegwan, Camp Carroll, which is located near the base of Hill 303. The incident was largely forgotten until Lieutenant David Kangas read about the incident in the Korean War history book South to the Nakdong, North to the Yalu by United States Army Center of Military History while stationed at Camp Carroll in 1985, and after checking with various US Army and local sources, he realized that the location of the massacre was unknown. He obtained battle records through the National Archives to pinpoint the location and then began to search for the remaining survivors. The original memorial for the POWs was emplaced in 1990 in front of the garrison headquarters, although none of the American survivors were located by Kangas until 1991. In 1999, Fred Ryan and Roy Manring, two of the three surviving POWs, were invited to attend a ceremony at the execution site. Both Ryan and Manring as well as James Rudd, the third surviving POW, had long been denied VA compensation claims for their severe injuries incurred during the execution because they had never been officially designated as prisoners of war by the US Army. Later, the base garrison at Camp Carroll raised funds to construct a much larger memorial at the massacre site on Hill 303. South Korean military and civilians around Waegwan contributed to the funds for this memorial. The original memorial was placed on the hill on August 17, 2003. In 2009, soldiers of the US 501st Sustainment Brigade began to gather funds for a second, larger monument on the hill. With the assistance of South Korean veterans, politicians and local citizens, the second monument was flown to the top of the hill by a US CH-47 Chinook helicopter on May 26, 2010, in preparation for the 60th anniversary of the event. An annual memorial service is held on the hill to commemorate the deaths of the troops on Hill 303. Troops garrisoned at Camp Carroll scale the hill and place flowers at the monument as a part of this service. ## See also - List of massacres in South Korea - Bodo League massacre - Chaplain–Medic massacre - No Gun Ri massacre - Seoul National University Hospital massacre - Sunchon tunnel massacre - Remembered Prisoners of a Forgotten War: An Oral History of Korean War POWs
62,484,095	Arsenal Women 11–1 Bristol City Women	1,173,650,071	2019 women's association football match	[ "2019–20 in English women's football", "Arsenal W.F.C. matches", "Bristol City W.F.C. matches", "December 2019 sports events in the United Kingdom", "Record association football wins", "Women's Super League matches" ]	The women's association football match between Arsenal Women and Bristol City Women was played at Arsenal's home venue, Meadow Park, Borehamwood, on 1 December 2019. It was part of the 2019–20 Football Association Women's Super League (FA WSL) and finished in an 11–1 victory for the home team. It became the highest-scoring game in the league's history, surpassing Liverpool's 9–0 victory over Doncaster Rovers Belles in 2013. Arsenal were the reigning champions and entered the match third in the league. Bristol City were in tenth position, having not won a game in that season. Dutch international striker Vivianne Miedema scored six of the eleven Arsenal goals, a league record. With her goal tally, she surpassed South Korean Ji So-yun to become the highest-scoring non-British player in FA WSL history. She was involved in all of Arsenal's first ten goals, having assisted the other four, and was substituted before the eleventh was made. This broke her own FA WSL record of five goal involvements that she had set against Liverpool in September 2018. The other Arsenal scorers were Lisa Evans (twice), Leah Williamson, Jordan Nobbs, and Emma Mitchell. Yana Daniëls scored the only goal for Bristol City. BBC Sport called the match an "amazing 11–1 thrashing", while Suzanne Wrack of The Guardian praised Miedema's performance as "one of the great individual displays of any era". The press in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and the United States also reported on the record-breaking game. The result put Arsenal top of the league and left Bristol City in eleventh place out of twelve clubs. The return match was never played, as The Football Association suspended the season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Arsenal finished the season in third position while Bristol City finished tenth, narrowly avoiding relegation. ## Background The Football Association Women's Super League (FA WSL) is a professional association football league of twelve clubs that was launched in 2011 by The Football Association (the FA) to replace the FA Women's Premier League National Division as the highest level of women's football in England. Arsenal won the first two editions of the FA WSL. They entered the 2019–20 season as the reigning league champions, having finished first in the 2018–19 FA WSL season by seven points. Bristol City Women played in the inaugural FA WSL season under the name of Bristol Academy. After being relegated in 2015, they rebranded and won promotion back into the top league in 2016. In the 2017–18 season, Bristol City drew their away game with Arsenal at Meadow Park 1–1. In the 2018–19 season they lost the away fixture 4–0, allowing Arsenal's Dutch international striker Vivianne Miedema to score three goals for a hat-trick. Bristol City finished the 2018–19 season in sixth position. The first round of the 2019–20 season took place in September. Arsenal signed three new players on the squad: Jill Roord, Leonie Maier, and goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger. They began with a home win over West Ham United. Manager Joe Montemurro brought on Jordan Nobbs who had been out with a serious injury sustained in November 2018. Prior to round eight the defending champions had recorded six wins and one defeat, having lost their away game at 2017–18 champions Chelsea, resulting in eighteen points from seven games. By the end of November 2019, Chelsea led the league with nineteen points. Arsenal were tied with Manchester City with the second-most points, but were in third position in the table by virtue of having a worse goal difference. Bristol City signed five new players for the 2019–20 season: Jasmine Matthews, Yana Daniëls, Charlie Wellings, Meaghan Sargeant, and Ebony Salmon. They started with a draw with Brighton & Hove Albion. Manager Tanya Oxtoby stated afterwards that the players needed time to get used to each other. By the end of November, Bristol City were still winless but managed to gain points from three draws, including one with bottom-placed Liverpool. This left Bristol City in tenth place, tied on three points with Birmingham City, but slightly ahead on goal difference. Arsenal and Bristol City had met on 21 November in the League Cup. Arsenal won that match 7–0. Both squads were at full strength for the game, reporting no injured players. ## Match ### Summary The match started at 12:30 pm at Meadow Park on 1 December 2019 in front of a crowd of 1,513 spectators with Helen Conley from Durham as the referee. The game was broadcast live on BBC Red Button and the FA made a livestream available on its FA Player. Arsenal began the game in a 3–1–4–2 formation, with three defenders, one defensive midfielder, four attacking midfielders and two forwards; Bristol City used a 3–4–2–1 formation, with three defenders, four defensive midfielders, two attacking midfielders, and one forward. In the second minute, Arsenal's Beth Mead had the first chance to score but her attempt was saved by Bristol City goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley. Two corner kicks for the home team quickly followed, but neither led to a goal. In the seventh minute, Miedema sprinted past a Bristol City defender and put the ball in front of goal from the left edge of the penalty area. Lisa Evans then headed it in from close range, opening the scoring for Arsenal. Three minutes later Miedema received the ball in the far right-hand corner of the pitch and crossed it to defender Leah Williamson, who scored with a header, doubling Arsenal's lead. In the fifteenth minute Miedema scored with a right-footed shot from the centre of the penalty area after a pass from Lia Wälti. Miedema scored the match's fourth goal from very close range after receiving the ball from Mead. Her third goal came in the thirty-sixth minute, when the Bristol City defence did not deal well with a ball from Evans, allowing Miedema to score again. Arsenal went into the half-time break with a 5–0 lead. Neither team made personnel changes during half time. Six minutes into the second half Daniëlle van de Donk passed the ball to Miedema, who took a shot with her right foot from the centre of the penalty area that landed just inside the goal. Nobbs became the fourth goalscorer of the game three minutes later when she sprinted into the penalty area to shoot from a long pass from Miedema, making the score 7–0. Miedema and Evans then set each other up for the goals that followed. First, Evans assisted Miedema with a pass from the edge of the penalty area, who, after a short run, scored Arsenal's eighth. Next, on the hour mark, Miedema's chip over the defence set up Evans for her second goal of the day, bringing the score to 9–0. Four minutes later Miedema scored her sixth goal (and completed her second hat-trick) to send Arsenal into double figures. When she was substituted out of the game after seventy minutes, she received a standing ovation. Her replacement, Emma Mitchell, scored the home team's final goal of the day after a pass from Mead, making the score 11–0. Bristol City were awarded a late penalty after their Belgian international striker Daniëls was fouled by Arsenal's goalkeeper Zinsberger in the penalty area. Zinsberger had been dispossessed by Daniëls while she was trying to pass the ball away. Zinsberger initially saved Daniëls's penalty kick, but Daniëls was able to get to the rebound first and score the last goal of the match, giving Bristol City a consolation goal. The final score was 11–1. By the end of the game, Arsenal had taken thirty-four shots, an average of one about every three minutes. ### Match details #### Statistics ### Records The match set multiple league records. It became the highest-scoring game, surpassing Liverpool's 9–0 victory over Doncaster Rovers Belles in 2013. It had the highest winning margin in league history, and was the first time a team's score was in double figures. Miedema became the first FA WSL player to score a double hat-trick. Her involvement in ten goals (six goals, four assists) broke the previous record of five, which she had set in September 2018 against Liverpool (three goals, two assists). With her fourth goal, Miedema surpassed South Korean Ji So-yun as the highest-scoring non-British player in league history, ultimately extending the record to thirty-six goals by the end of the match. ## Post-match ### Reactions BBC Sport called the match an "amazing 11–1 thrashing" and singled out Miedema for her "remarkable individual performance". They thought her fourth goal was the best of the game, as did the FA. The Independent's Tom Holmes described her fourth as "wonderful". Molly Hudson in The Times wrote it was difficult to find fresh superlatives to describe Miedema. The Guardian's Suzanne Wrack wrote that the Arsenal "collective was clicking like never before", displaying "crisp instinctive passing", and described Miedema's performance as "one of the great individual displays of any era", an assessment echoed by The Telegraph and goal.com. The international press also reacted. ESPN labelled Miedema's performance as a "stunning solo display of attacking football" and Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad called it "an exceptional achievement". Dutch football magazine Voetbal International referred to her as "inimitable". German football magazine Kicker said it was something of which Messi, Ronaldo, and Lewandowski "could only dream". Eurosport wrote that she further proved her credentials as a nominee for the Ballon d'Or Féminin, an award presented by the French football magazine France Football honouring the world's best female football player. In a post-match interview, Miedema said that she was probably happier helping other players score than scoring herself: > The last few games have been really difficult for us, so it was important to raise the goal difference. I felt really good. I was probably happier with the assists than with the goals. We created more space with three-at-the-back. We knew where we could get at Bristol having played them recently. We’ve got the players to play three or four at the back which really helps. Looking back on the game after the season had ended, she said it had felt like a training game. Bristol City manager Oxtoby said her team did not follow the game plan, resulting in an unacceptable performance. She described the players and staff as "devastated", adding, "We need to move on because, from my perspective, there's nothing to be learned from that." ### Aftermath After the match, Arsenal moved from third to first in the table with twenty-one points. Chelsea had their eighth-round game against Everton postponed because of a frozen pitch, keeping them on nineteen points. Manchester City recorded a 1–0 win over Liverpool, which was not enough to maintain their goal-difference advantage over Arsenal. Bristol City dropped from tenth place to eleventh, placing them second from the bottom of the table, owing to goal difference. Miedema kept her position as the league's top goalscorer with ten goals. She also kept her position as the league leader in assists with seven. Her double hat-trick brought her season goal total across all competitions, club and Dutch national team, to twenty-eight from sixteen games. In the following weeks, Arsenal kept their top league position with wins over Reading, Everton, Birmingham City, and Brighton. On 19 January 2020, they lost 4–1 at home to Chelsea, allowing Manchester City to take the top position. A second loss in a row, a 2–1 defeat away at Manchester City, saw Arsenal drop to third in the table. On 13 February Arsenal won their away game at Liverpool. The following weekend Arsenal's game with Reading was postponed. Manchester City and Chelsea played each other and drew 3–3. This meant that Manchester City topped the table with forty points from sixteen matches, followed by Chelsea with thirty-nine from fifteen and Arsenal with thirty-three from fifteen. Matches for the 2019–20 season stopped after 23 February 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The return match between Bristol City and Arsenal, scheduled for 22 March, was postponed, as on 13 March the FA suspended the season. On 5 June, the FA declared Chelsea champions, based on them having 2.60 points per game, ahead of Manchester City's 2.50 and Arsenal's 2.40. Since Arsenal did not finish in the top two, they did not qualify for the 2020–21 UEFA Women's Champions League. Miedema's sixteen goals in the abbreviated season earned her the league's Golden Boot award for most goals scored, awarded by British banking firm Barclays, sponsor of the FA WSL. The Football Writers' Association named her Women's Footballer of Year, and the Professional Footballers' Association named her the WSL PFA Fans' Player of the Year. On 6 March 2022, Miedema became the first player in the history of the WSL to be involved in 100 goals, with 10 of them coming from the 2019 Bristol City game. After their record-breaking defeat against Arsenal, Bristol City's winless streak continued until 5 January 2020, when they beat Manchester United. They achieved a second win in what turned out to be their last game of the season on 23 February 2020, climbing from the bottom of the table with six points to tenth position with nine points. They narrowly avoided relegation, having earned nine points in fourteen games (0.64 points per game) versus Liverpool's six points in fourteen games (0.43) and Birmingham City's seven points in thirteen games (0.54). ## See also - 2019–20 Arsenal W.F.C. season - 2019–20 Bristol City W.F.C. season
664,348	Falaise pocket	1,173,623,648	Engagement of the Battle of Normandy in the Second World War	[ "1944 in France", "August 1944 events", "Battles and operations of World War II involving Poland", "Battles of World War II involving Canada", "Battles of World War II involving France", "Battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom", "Battles of World War II involving the United States", "Encirclements in World War II", "History of Calvados (department)", "Military history of Normandy", "Military operations of World War II involving Germany", "Operation Overlord", "Tank battles", "Tank battles of World War II", "Western European Campaign (1944–1945)" ]	The Falaise pocket or battle of the Falaise pocket (German: Kessel von Falaise; 12–21 August 1944) was the decisive engagement of the Battle of Normandy in the Second World War. Allied forces formed a pocket around Falaise, Calvados, in which German Army Group B, with the 7th Army and the Fifth Panzer Army (formerly Panzergruppe West) were encircled by the Western Allies. The battle resulted in the destruction of most of Army Group B west of the Seine, which opened the way to Paris and the Franco-German border. ## Overview Six weeks after the 6 June 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy, German forces were in turmoil. The Allies had experienced strong resistance. British forces had expected to liberate Caen immediately after the invasion but this took nearly two months. Similarly, US forces had expected to control Saint-Lô by the 7 June, yet German resistance delayed this until after Caen's liberation. However, the German Army expended irreplaceable resources defending the frontline. Allied air forces achieved air superiority up to 100 km behind enemy lines. Allied forces continuously bombed and strafed German logistical lines, limiting the availability of fuel and ammunition. The German Army had used its available reserves (especially its armour reserves) to buttress the front lines around Caen, leaving few additional troops to create successive lines of defence. The Allied armies developed a multi-stage operation. It started with a British/Canadian attack along the eastern line around Caen in Operation Goodwood on 18 July. The German Army responded by sending a large portion of its armoured reserves to defend. On 25 July thousands of American bombers carpet bombed a 6,000-metre corridor on the western end of the German lines around Saint-Lô in Operation Cobra. American forces pushed into the resulting gap. The German forces were overwhelmed and the Americans broke through. On 1 August, Lieutenant General George S. Patton was named the commanding officer of the newly recommissioned US Third Army—which included large segments of the force that had broken through the German lines. The Third Army quickly pushed south and then east, meeting little resistance. Concurrently, the British/Canadian troops pushed south (Operation Bluecoat) in an attempt to keep the German armour engaged. They forced the Germans back; the orderly withdrawal eventually collapsed due to lack of fuel. Hitler did not allow Army Group B commander Field Marshal Günther von Kluge to withdraw, instead ordering him to conduct Operation Lüttich, a counter-offensive at Mortain against the US. Four depleted panzer divisions were insufficient to defeat the First US Army, driving the Germans deeper into the Allied envelopment. On 8 August, Allied ground forces commander General Bernard Montgomery ordered the Allied armies to converge on the Falaise–Chambois area to envelop Army Group B, with the First US Army forming the southern arm, the British the base, and the Canadians the northern arm of the encirclement. The Germans began to withdraw on 17 August, and on 19 August the Allies linked up in Chambois. Gaps were forced in the Allied lines by German counter-attacks. The biggest was a corridor forced past the 1st Polish Armoured Division on Hill 262, a commanding position at the pocket mouth. By the evening of 21 August, the pocket had been sealed, with trapped inside. Many Germans escaped, but losses were huge. The Allied Liberation of Paris came a few days later, and on 30 August the remnants of Army Group B retreated across the Seine, completing Operation Overlord. ## Background ### Operation Overlord Early Allied objectives in the wake of the D-Day invasion of German-occupied France included the deep water port of Cherbourg and the area surrounding the town of Caen. Allied attacks to expand the bridgehead had rapidly defeated the initial German attempts to destroy the invasion force, but bad weather in the English Channel delayed the Allied build-up of supplies and reinforcements, while enabling the Germans to move troops and supplies with less interference from the Allied air forces. Cherbourg was not captured by the VII US Corps until 27 June, and the German defence of Caen lasted until 20 July, when the southern districts were taken by the British/Canadians in Operation Goodwood and Operation Atlantic. General Bernard Montgomery, the Allied ground forces commander, had planned a strategy of attracting German forces to the east end of the bridgehead against the British/Canadians, while the US First Army advanced down the west side of the Cotentin Peninsula to Avranches. On 25 July the US First Army commander, Lieutenant-General Omar Bradley, began Operation Cobra. The US First Army broke through the German defences near Saint-Lô and by the end of the third day had advanced 15 mi (24 km) south of its start line at several points. Avranches was captured on 30 July and within 24 hours the US VIII Corps of the US Third Army crossed the bridge at Pontaubault into Brittany and continued south and west through open country, almost without opposition. ### Operation Lüttich The US advance was swift and by 8 August, Le Mans, the former headquarters of the German 7th Army, had been captured. After Operation Cobra, Operation Bluecoat and Operation Spring, the German army in Normandy was so reduced that "only a few SS fanatics still entertained hopes of avoiding defeat". On the Eastern Front, Operation Bagration had begun against Army Group Centre which left no possibility of reinforcement of the Western Front. Adolf Hitler sent a directive to Field Marshal Günther von Kluge, the replacement commander of Army Group B after the sacking of Gerd von Rundstedt, ordering "an immediate counter-attack between Mortain and Avranches" to "annihilate" the enemy and make contact with the west coast of the Cotentin peninsula. Eight of the nine Panzer divisions in Normandy were to be used in the attack, but only four could be made ready in time. The German commanders protested that their forces were incapable of an offensive, but the warnings were ignored and Operation Lüttich commenced on 7 August around Mortain. The first attacks were made by the 2nd Panzer Division, SS Division Leibstandarte and the SS Division Das Reich, but they had only 75 Panzer IVs, 70 Panthers and 32 self-propelled guns. The Allies were forewarned by Ultra signals intercepts, and although the offensive continued until 13 August, the threat of Operation Lüttich had been ended within 24 hours. Operation Lüttich had led to the most powerful remaining German units being defeated at the west side of the Cotentin Peninsula by the US First Army, and the Normandy front on the verge of collapse. Bradley said, > This is an opportunity that comes to a commander not more than once in a century. We're about to destroy an entire hostile army and go all the way from here to the German border. ### Operation Totalize The First Canadian Army was ordered to capture high ground north of Falaise to trap Army Group B. The Canadians planned Operation Totalize, with attacks by strategic bombers and a novel night attack using Kangaroo armoured personnel carriers. Operation Totalize began on the night of 7/8 August; the leading infantry rode on the Kangaroos, guided by electronic aids and illuminants, against the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend, which held a 14 km (8.7 mi) front, supported by the 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion and remnants of the 89th Infantry Division. Verrières Ridge and Cintheaux were captured on 9 August, but the speed of the advance was slowed by German resistance and some poor Canadian unit leadership, which led to many casualties in the 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division and 1st Polish Armoured Division. By 10 August, Anglo-Canadian forces had reached Hill 195, north of Falaise. The following day, Canadian commander Guy Simonds relieved the armoured divisions with infantry divisions, ending the offensive. ### Allied plan Still expecting Kluge to withdraw his forces from the tightening Allied noose, Montgomery had for some time been planning a "long envelopment", by which the British/Canadians would pivot left from Falaise toward the River Seine while the US Third Army blocked the escape route between the Seine and the Loire, trapping all surviving German forces in western France. In a telephone conversation on 8 August, the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, recommended an American proposal for a shorter envelopment at Argentan. Montgomery and Patton had misgivings; if the Allies did not take Argentan, Alençon and Falaise quickly, many Germans might escape. Believing he could always fall back on the original plan if necessary, Montgomery accepted the wishes of Bradley as the man on the spot, and the proposal was adopted. ## Battle It is also referred to as the battle of the Falaise gap (after the corridor which the Germans sought to maintain to allow their escape). ### Operation Tractable The Third Army advance from the south made good progress on 12 August; Alençon was captured and Kluge was forced to commit troops he had been gathering for a counter-attack. The next day, the US 5th Armored Division of the US XV Corps advanced 35 mi (56 km) and reached positions overlooking Argentan. On 13 August, Bradley over-ruled orders by Patton for a further push northwards towards Falaise by the 5th Armored Division. Bradley instead ordered the XV Corps to "concentrate for operations in another direction". The US troops near Argentan were ordered to withdraw, which ended the pincer movement by the XV Corps. Patton objected but complied, which left an exit for the German forces in the Falaise pocket. With the Americans on the southern flank halted and then engaged with Panzer Group Eberbach, and with the British pressing in from the north-west, the First Canadian Army, which included the Polish 1st Armoured Division, was ordered to close the trap. After a limited attack by the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division down the Laize valley on 12–13 August, most of the time since Totalize had been spent preparing for Operation Tractable, a set-piece attack on Falaise. The operation commenced on 14 August at 11:42, covered by an artillery smokescreen that mimicked the night attack of Operation Totalize. The 4th Canadian Armoured Division and the 1st Polish Armoured Division crossed the Laison, but delays at the River Dives gave time for the Tiger tanks of the schwere SS-Panzer Abteilung 102 to counter-attack. Navigating through the smoke slowed progress, and the mistaken use by the First Canadian Army of yellow smoke to identify their positions—the same colour strategic bombers used to mark targets—led to some bombing of the Canadians and slower progress than planned. On 15 August, the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Infantry Divisions and the 2nd Canadian (Armoured) Brigade continued the offensive, but progress remained slow. The 4th Armoured Division captured Soulangy against determined German resistance and several German counter-attacks, which prevented a breakthrough to Trun. The next day, the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division entered Falaise against minor opposition from Waffen SS units and scattered pockets of German infantry, and by 17 August had secured the town. At midday on 16 August, Kluge had refused an order from Hitler for another counter-attack, and in the afternoon Hitler agreed to a withdrawal but became suspicious that Kluge intended to surrender to the Allies. Late on 17 August, Hitler sacked Kluge and recalled him to Germany; Kluge then either killed himself or was executed by SS-officer Jürgen Stroop for his involvement in the 20 July plot. Kluge was succeeded by Field Marshal Walter Model, whose first act was to order the immediate retreat of the 7th Army and Fifth Panzer Army, while the II SS Panzer Corps—with the remnants of four Panzer divisions—held the north face of the escape route against the British/Canadians, and the XLVII Panzer Corps—with what was left of two Panzer divisions—held the southern face against the Third US Army. Throughout the retreat, German columns were constantly harried by Allied fighter bombers of the US Ninth Air Force and the RAF Second Tactical Air Force, using bombs, rockets and guns, turning the escape routes into killing grounds. Despite claims of large numbers of tanks and other vehicles destroyed from the air, a post-battle investigation showed that only eleven armoured vehicles could be proved to have had been destroyed by aircraft, although about one third of wrecked trucks were lost to air attack and many others had been destroyed or abandoned by their crews, probably due to the air threat. ### Encirclement On 17 August the encirclement was still incomplete. The 1st Polish Armoured Division, part of the First Canadian Army, was divided into three battlegroups and ordered to make a wide sweep to the south-east to meet American troops at Chambois. Trun fell to the 4th Canadian Armoured Division on 18 August. Having captured Champeaux on 19 August, the Polish battlegroups converged on Chambois, and with reinforcements from the 4th Canadian Armoured Division, the Poles secured the town and linked up with the US 90th and French 2nd Armoured divisions by evening. The Allies were not yet astride the 7th Army escape route in any great strength, and their positions were attacked by German troops inside the pocket. An armoured column of the 2nd Panzer Division broke through the Canadians in St. Lambert, took half the village and kept a road open for six hours until nightfall. Many Germans escaped, and small parties made their way through to the Dives during the night. Having taken Chambois, two of the Polish battlegroups drove north-east and established themselves on part of Hill 262 (Mont Ormel ridge), spending the night of 19 August digging in. The following morning, Model ordered elements of the 2nd SS Panzer Division and 9th SS Panzer Division to attack from outside the pocket towards the Polish positions. Around midday, several units of the 10th SS Panzer Division, 12th SS Panzer Division and 116th Panzer Division managed to break through the Polish lines and open a corridor, while the 9th SS Panzer Division prevented the Canadians from intervening. By mid-afternoon, about 10,000 German troops had passed out of the pocket. The Poles held on to Hill 262 (The Mace), and were able from their vantage point to direct artillery fire on to the retreating Germans. Paul Hausser, the 7th Army commander, ordered that the Polish positions be "eliminated". The remnants of the 352nd Infantry Division and several battle groups from the 2nd SS Panzer Division inflicted many casualties on the 8th and 9th battalions of the Polish Division, but the assault was eventually repulsed at the cost of nearly all of their ammunition, and the Poles watched as the remnants of the XLVII Panzer Corps escaped. During the night there was sporadic fighting, and the Poles called for frequent artillery bombardments to disrupt the German retreat from the sector. German attacks resumed the next morning, but the Poles retained their foothold on the ridge. At about 11:00, a final attempt on the positions of the 9th Battalion was launched by nearby SS troops, which was defeated at close quarters. Soon after midday, the Canadian Grenadier Guards reached Mont Ormel, and by late afternoon the remainder of the 2nd and 9th SS Panzer Divisions had begun their retreat to the Seine. For the Falaise pocket operation, the 1st Polish Armoured Division listed 1,441 casualties including 466 killed, while Polish casualties at Mont Ormel were 351 killed and wounded, with eleven tanks lost. German losses in their assaults on the ridge were estimated at 500 killed and 1,000 men taken prisoner, most from the 12th SS-Panzer Division. Scores of Tiger, Panther and Panzer IV tanks were destroyed, along with many artillery pieces. By the evening of 21 August, tanks of the 4th Canadian Armoured Division had linked with Polish forces at Coudehard, and the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Infantry divisions had secured St. Lambert and the northern passage to Chambois; the Falaise pocket had been sealed. Approximately 20–50,000 German troops, minus heavy equipment, escaped through the gap and were reorganized and rearmed, in time to slow the Allied advance into Eastern France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. ## Aftermath ### Analysis The battle of the Falaise pocket ended the Battle of Normandy with a decisive German defeat. Hitler's involvement had been damaging from the first day, with his insistence on hopelessly unrealistic counter-offensives, micro-management of generals, and refusal to countenance withdrawal when his armies were threatened with annihilation. More than forty German divisions were destroyed during the Battle of Normandy. No exact figures are available, but historians estimate that the battle cost the German forces an estimated 450,000 men, of whom 240,000 were killed or wounded. The Allies had achieved victory at a cost of 209,672 casualties among the ground forces, including 36,976 killed and 19,221 missing. The Allied air forces lost 16,714 airmen killed or missing in connection with Operation Overlord. The final battle of Operation Overlord, the Liberation of Paris, followed on 25 August, and Overlord ended by 30 August, with the retreat of the last German unit across the Seine. The area in which the pocket had formed was full of the remains of battle. Villages had been destroyed, and derelict equipment made some roads impassable. Corpses of soldiers and civilians littered the area, along with thousands of dead cattle and horses. In the hot August weather, maggots crawled over the bodies, and swarms of flies descended on the area. Pilots reported being able to smell the stench of the battlefield hundreds of feet above it. General Eisenhower recorded that: > The battlefield at Falaise was unquestionably one of the greatest "killing fields" of any of the war areas. Forty-eight hours after the closing of the gap I was conducted through it on foot, to encounter scenes that could be described only by Dante. It was literally possible to walk for hundreds of yards at a time, stepping on nothing but dead and decaying flesh. Fear of infection from the rancid conditions led the Allies to declare the area an "unhealthy zone". Clearing the area was a low priority though, and went on until well into November. Many swollen bodies had to be shot to expunge gases within them before they could be burnt, and bulldozers were used to clear the area of dead animals. Disappointed that a significant portion of the German army had escaped from the pocket, many Allied commanders, particularly among the Americans, were critical of what they perceived as Montgomery's lack of urgency in closing the pocket. Writing shortly after the war, Ralph Ingersoll—a prominent peacetime journalist, who had served as a planner on Eisenhower's staff—expressed the prevailing American view at the time: > The international army boundary arbitrarily divided the British and American battlefields just beyond Argentan, on the Falaise side of it. Patton's troops, who thought they had the mission of closing the gap, took Argentan in their stride and crossed the international boundary without stopping. Montgomery, who was still nominally in charge of all ground forces, now chose to exercise his authority and ordered Patton back to his side of the international boundary line. For ten days, however, the beaten but still coherently organized German Army retreated through the Falaise gap. Some historians have thought that the gap could have been closed earlier; Wilmot wrote that despite having British divisions in reserve, Montgomery did not reinforce Guy Simonds and that the Canadian drive on Trun and Chambois was not "vigorous and venturesome" as the situation demanded. The British author and historian Max Hastings wrote that Montgomery, having witnessed what he called a poor Canadian performance during Totalize, should have brought up veteran British divisions to take the lead. D'Este and Blumenson wrote that Montgomery and Harry Crerar might have done more to impart momentum to the British/Canadians. Patton's post-battle claim that the Americans could have prevented the German escape, had Bradley not ordered him to stop at Argentan, was "absurd over-simplification". Wilmot wrote that "contrary to contemporary reports, the Americans did not capture Argentan until 20 August, the day after the link up at Chambois". The American unit that closed the gap between Argentan and Chambois, the 90th Division, was according to Hastings one of the least effective of any Allied army in Normandy. He speculated that the real reason Bradley halted Patton was not fear of accidental clashes with the British, but knowledge that, with powerful German formations still operational, the Americans lacked the means to defend an early blocking position and would have suffered an "embarrassing and gratuitous setback" at the hands of the retreating Fallschirmjäger and the 2nd and 12th SS-Panzer divisions. Bradley wrote after the war that: > Although Patton might have spun a line across the narrow neck, I doubted his ability to hold it. Nineteen German divisions were now stampeding to escape the trap. Meanwhile, with four divisions George was already blocking three principal escape routes through Alencon, Sees and Argentan. Had he stretched that line to include Falaise, he would have extended his roadblock a distance of 40 miles (64 km). The enemy could not only have broken through, but he might have trampled Patton's position in the onrush. I much preferred a solid shoulder at Argentan to the possibility of a broken neck at Falaise. ### Casualties By 22 August, all German forces west of the Allied lines were dead or in captivity. Historians differ in their estimates of German losses in the pocket. The majority state that from 80,000 to 100,000 troops were caught in the encirclement, of whom 10,000–15,000 were killed, 40,000–50,000 were taken prisoner, and 20,000–50,000 escaped. Shulman, Wilmot and Ellis estimated that the remnants of 14–15 divisions were in the pocket. D'Este gave 80,000 troops trapped, of whom 10,000 were killed, 50,000 captured and 20,000 escaped. Shulman gives , 10–15,000 killed and 45,000 captured. Wilmot recorded 100,000 trapped, 10,000 killed and 50,000 captured. Williams wrote that troops escaped. Tamelander estimated that 50,000 German troops were caught, of whom 10,000 were killed and 40,000 taken prisoner, while perhaps another 50,000 escaped. In the northern sector, German losses included 344 tanks, self-propelled guns and other light armoured vehicles, as well as 2,447 soft-skinned vehicles and 252 guns abandoned or destroyed. In the fighting around Hill 262, German losses totalled 2,000 men killed, 5,000 taken prisoner and 55 tanks, 44 guns and 152 other armoured vehicles destroyed. By 22 August 1944, the 12th SS-Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend" had lost c. 8,000 men, out of its initial strength of 20,540, alongside most of its tanks and vehicles, which had been redistributed among several Kampfgruppe in the previous weeks. Although elements of several German formations had managed to escape to the east, even these had left behind most of their equipment. After the battle, Allied investigators estimated that the Germans lost around 500 tanks and assault guns in the pocket, and that little of the extricated equipment survived the retreat across the Seine. ## See also - Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine - Battle of the Mons Pocket - Colmar Pocket - Liberation of France
8,592	Domitian	1,173,882,216	11th Roman emperor from AD 81 to 96	[ "1st-century Roman emperors", "1st-century Roman poets", "1st-century clergy", "1st-century murdered monarchs", "51 births", "96 deaths", "Assassinated heads of state in Europe", "Augurs of the Roman Empire", "Damnatio memoriae", "Deaths by stabbing in Rome", "Domitian", "Eponymous archons", "Flavian dynasty", "Flavii", "Imperial Roman consuls", "Imperial Roman praetors", "Murdered Roman emperors", "Roman emperors to suffer posthumous denigration or damnatio memoriae", "Roman pharaohs", "Sons of Roman emperors" ]	Domitian (/dəˈmɪʃən, -iən/, də-MISH-ən, -⁠ee-ən; Latin: Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Described as "a ruthless but efficient autocrat", his authoritarian style of ruling put him at sharp odds with the Senate, whose powers he drastically curtailed. Domitian had a minor and largely ceremonial role during the reigns of his father and brother. After the death of his brother, Domitian was declared emperor by the Praetorian Guard. His 15-year reign was the longest since that of Tiberius. As emperor, Domitian strengthened the economy by revaluing the Roman coinage, expanded the border defenses of the empire, and initiated a massive building program to restore the damaged city of Rome. Significant wars were fought in Britain, where his general Agricola attempted to conquer Caledonia (Scotland), and in Dacia, where Domitian was unable to procure a decisive victory against King Decebalus. Domitian's government exhibited strong authoritarian characteristics. Religious, military, and cultural propaganda fostered a cult of personality, and by nominating himself perpetual censor, he sought to control public and private morals. As a consequence, Domitian was popular with the people and the army, but considered a tyrant by members of the Roman Senate. Domitian's reign came to an end in 96 when he was assassinated by court officials. He was succeeded the same day by his advisor Nerva. After his death, Domitian's memory was condemned to oblivion by the Senate, while senatorial and equestrian authors such as Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, and Suetonius propagated the view of Domitian as a cruel and paranoid tyrant. Modern revisionists instead have characterized Domitian as a ruthless but efficient autocrat whose cultural, economic, and political programs provided the foundation of the peaceful second century. ## Early life ### Background and family Domitian was born in Rome on 24 October 51, the youngest son of Titus Flavius Vespasianus—commonly known as Vespasian—and Flavia Domitilla Major. He had an older sister, Domitilla the Younger, and brother, also named Titus Flavius Vespasianus. Decades of civil war during the 1st century BC had contributed greatly to the demise of the old aristocracy of Rome, which a new Italian nobility gradually replaced in prominence during the early part of the 1st century. One such family, the Flavians, or Flavia gens, rose from relative obscurity to prominence in just four generations, acquiring wealth and status under the emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Domitian's great-grandfather, Titus Flavius Petro, had served as a centurion under Pompey during Caesar's civil war. His military career ended in disgrace when he fled the battlefield at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC. Nevertheless, Petro managed to improve his status by marrying the extremely wealthy Tertulla, whose fortune guaranteed the upward mobility of Petro's son Titus Flavius Sabinus I, Domitian's grandfather. Sabinus himself amassed further wealth and possible equestrian status through his services as tax collector in Asia and banker in Helvetia (modern Switzerland). By marrying Vespasia Polla he allied the Flavian family to the more prestigious gens Vespasia, ensuring the elevation of his sons Titus Flavius Sabinus II and Vespasian to senatorial rank. The political career of Vespasian included the offices of quaestor, aedile, and praetor, and culminated in a consulship in 51, the year of Domitian's birth. As a military commander, Vespasian gained early renown by participating in the Roman invasion of Britain in 43. Nevertheless, ancient sources allege poverty for the Flavian family at the time of Domitian's upbringing, even claiming Vespasian had fallen into disrepute under the emperors Caligula (37–41) and Nero (54–68). Modern history has refuted these claims, suggesting these stories later circulated under Flavian rule as part of a propaganda campaign to diminish success under the less reputable Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and to maximize achievements under Emperor Claudius (41–54) and his son Britannicus. By all appearances, the Flavians enjoyed high imperial favour throughout the 40s and 60s. While Titus received a court education in the company of Britannicus, Vespasian pursued a successful political and military career. Following a prolonged period of retirement during the 50s, he returned to public office under Nero, serving as proconsul of the Africa Province in 63, and accompanying the emperor Nero during an official tour of Greece in 66. That same year Jews from the Province of Judaea revolted against the Roman Empire, sparking what is now known as the First Jewish–Roman War. Vespasian was assigned to lead the Roman army against the insurgents, with Titus—who had completed his military education by this time—in charge of a legion. ### Youth and character Of the three Flavian emperors, Domitian would rule the longest, despite the fact that his youth and early career were largely spent in the shadow of his older brother. Titus had gained military renown during the First Jewish–Roman War. After their father Vespasian became emperor in 69 following the civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors, Titus held a great many offices, while Domitian received honours, but no responsibilities. By the time he was 16 years old, Domitian's mother and sister had long since died, while his father and brother were continuously active in the Roman military, commanding armies in Germania and Judaea. For Domitian, this meant that a significant part of his adolescence was spent in the absence of his near relatives. During the Jewish–Roman wars, he was likely taken under the care of his uncle Titus Flavius Sabinus II, at the time serving as city prefect of Rome; or possibly even Marcus Cocceius Nerva, a loyal friend of the Flavians and the future successor to Domitian. He received the education of a young man of the privileged senatorial class, studying rhetoric and literature. In his biography in the Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Suetonius attests to Domitian's ability to quote the important poets and writers such as Homer or Virgil on appropriate occasions, and describes him as a learned and educated adolescent, with elegant conversation. Among his first published works were poetry, as well as writings on law and administration. Unlike his brother Titus, Domitian was not educated at court. Whether he received formal military training is not recorded, but according to Suetonius, he displayed considerable marksmanship with the bow and arrow. A detailed description of Domitian's appearance and character is provided by Suetonius, who devotes a substantial part of his biography to his personality: > He was tall of stature, with a modest expression and a high colour. His eyes were large, but his sight was somewhat dim. He was handsome and graceful too, especially when a young man, and indeed in his whole body with the exception of his feet, the toes of which were somewhat cramped. In later life he had the further disfigurement of baldness, a protruding belly, and spindling legs, though the latter had become thin from a long illness. Domitian was allegedly extremely sensitive regarding his baldness, which he disguised in later life by wearing wigs. According to Suetonius, he even wrote a book on the subject of hair care. With regard to Domitian's personality, however, the account of Suetonius alternates sharply between portraying Domitian as the emperor-tyrant, a man both physically and intellectually lazy, and the intelligent, refined personality drawn elsewhere. Historian Brian Jones concludes in The Emperor Domitian that assessing the true nature of Domitian's personality is inherently complicated by the bias of the surviving sources. Common threads nonetheless emerge from the available evidence. He appears to have lacked the natural charisma of his brother and father. He was prone to suspicion, displayed an odd, sometimes self-deprecating sense of humour, and often communicated in cryptic ways. This ambiguity of character was further exacerbated by his remoteness, and as he grew older, he increasingly displayed a preference for solitude, which may have stemmed from his isolated upbringing. Indeed, by the age of eighteen nearly all of his closest relatives had died by war or disease. Having spent the greater part of his early life in the twilight of Nero's reign, Domitian's formative years would have been strongly influenced by the political turmoil of the 60s, culminating with the civil war of 69, which brought his family to power. ## Rise of the Flavians ### Year of the Four Emperors On 9 June 68, amid growing opposition of the Senate and the army, Nero committed suicide and with him the Julio-Claudian dynasty came to an end. Chaos ensued, leading to a year of brutal civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors, during which the four most influential generals in the Roman Empire—Galba, Otho, Vitellius and Vespasian—successively vied for imperial power. News of Nero's death reached Vespasian as he was preparing to besiege the city of Jerusalem. Almost simultaneously the Senate had declared Galba, then governor of Hispania Tarraconensis (modern northern Spain), as Emperor of Rome. Rather than continue his campaign, Vespasian decided to await further orders and send Titus to greet the new Emperor. Before reaching Italy, Titus learnt that Galba had been murdered and replaced by Otho, the governor of Lusitania (modern Portugal). At the same time Vitellius and his armies in Germania had risen in revolt and prepared to march on Rome, intent on overthrowing Otho. Not wanting to risk being taken hostage by one side or the other, Titus abandoned the journey to Rome and rejoined his father in Judaea. Otho and Vitellius realized the potential threat posed by the Flavian faction. With four legions at his disposal, Vespasian commanded a strength of nearly 80,000 soldiers. His position in Judaea further granted him the advantage of being nearest to the vital province of Egypt, which controlled the grain supply to Rome. His brother Titus Flavius Sabinus II, as city prefect, commanded the entire city garrison of Rome. Tensions among the Flavian troops ran high but so long as either Galba or Otho remained in power, Vespasian refused to take action. When Otho was defeated by Vitellius at the First Battle of Bedriacum, the armies in Judaea and Egypt took matters into their own hands and declared Vespasian emperor on 1 July 69. Vespasian accepted and entered an alliance with Gaius Licinius Mucianus, the governor of Syria, against Vitellius. A strong force drawn from the Judaean and Syrian legions marched on Rome under the command of Mucianus, while Vespasian travelled to Alexandria, leaving Titus in charge of ending the Jewish rebellion. In Rome, Domitian was placed under house arrest by Vitellius, as a safeguard against Flavian aggression. Support for the old emperor waned as more legions around the empire pledged their allegiance to Vespasian. On 24 October 69, the forces of Vitellius and Vespasian (under Marcus Antonius Primus) met at the Second Battle of Bedriacum, which ended in a crushing defeat for the armies of Vitellius. In despair, Vitellius attempted to negotiate a surrender. Terms of peace, including a voluntary abdication, were agreed upon with Titus Flavius Sabinus II but the soldiers of the Praetorian Guard—the imperial bodyguard—considered such a resignation disgraceful and prevented Vitellius from carrying out the treaty. On the morning of 18 December, the emperor appeared to deposit the imperial insignia at the Temple of Concord but at the last minute retraced his steps to the Imperial palace. In the confusion, the leading men of the state gathered at Sabinus' house, proclaiming Vespasian as Emperor, but the multitude dispersed when Vitellian cohorts clashed with the armed escort of Sabinus, who was forced to retreat to the Capitoline Hill. During the night, he was joined by his relatives, including Domitian. The armies of Mucianus were nearing Rome but the besieged Flavian party did not hold out for longer than a day. On 19 December, Vitellianists burst onto the Capitol and in a skirmish, Sabinus was captured and executed. Domitian managed to escape by disguising himself as a worshipper of Isis and spent the night in safety with one of his father's supporters, Cornelius Primus. By the afternoon of 20 December, Vitellius was dead, his armies having been defeated by the Flavian legions. With nothing more to be feared, Domitian came forward to meet the invading forces; he was universally saluted by the title of Caesar and the mass of troops conducted him to his father's house. The following day, 21 December, the Senate proclaimed Vespasian emperor of the Roman Empire. ### Aftermath of the war Although the war had officially ended, a state of anarchy and lawlessness pervaded in the first days following the demise of Vitellius. Order was properly restored by Mucianus in early 70 but Vespasian did not enter Rome until September of that year. In the meantime, Domitian acted as the representative of the Flavian family in the Roman Senate. He received the title of Caesar and was appointed praetor with consular power. The ancient historian Tacitus describes Domitian's first speech in the Senate as brief and measured, at the same time noting his ability to elude awkward questions. Domitian's authority was merely nominal, foreshadowing what was to be his role for at least ten more years. By all accounts, Mucianus held the real power in Vespasian's absence and he was careful to ensure that Domitian, still only eighteen years old, did not overstep the boundaries of his function. Strict control was also maintained over the young Caesar's entourage, promoting away Flavian generals such as Arrius Varus and Antonius Primus and replacing them with more reliable men such as Arrecinus Clemens. Equally curtailed by Mucianus were Domitian's military ambitions. The civil war of 69 had severely destabilized the provinces, leading to several local uprisings such as the Batavian revolt in Gaul. Batavian auxiliaries of the Rhine legions, led by Gaius Julius Civilis, had rebelled with the aid of a faction of Treveri under the command of Julius Classicus. Seven legions were sent from Rome, led by Vespasian's brother-in-law Quintus Petillius Cerialis. Although the revolt was quickly suppressed, exaggerated reports of disaster prompted Mucianus to depart the capital with reinforcements of his own. Domitian eagerly sought the opportunity to attain military glory and joined the other officers with the intention of commanding a legion of his own. According to Tacitus, Mucianus was not keen on this prospect but since he considered Domitian a liability in any capacity that was entrusted to him, he preferred to keep him close at hand rather than in Rome. When news arrived of Cerialis' victory over Civilis, Mucianus tactfully dissuaded Domitian from pursuing further military endeavours. Domitian then wrote to Cerialis personally, suggesting he hand over command of his army but, once again, he was snubbed. With the return of Vespasian in late September, his political role was rendered all but obsolete and Domitian withdrew from government devoting his time to arts and literature. ### Marriage Where his political and military career had ended in disappointment, Domitian's private affairs were more successful. In 70 Vespasian attempted to arrange a dynastic marriage between his youngest son and the daughter of Titus, Julia Flavia, but Domitian was adamant in his love for Domitia Longina, going so far as to persuade her husband, Lucius Aelius Lamia Plautius Aelianus, to divorce her so that Domitian could marry her himself. Despite its initial recklessness, the alliance was very prestigious for both families. Domitia Longina was the younger daughter of Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, a respected general and honoured politician who had distinguished himself for his leadership in Armenia. Following the failed Pisonian conspiracy against Nero in 65, he had been forced to commit suicide. She was also a granddaughter of Junia Lepida, a descendant of Emperor Augustus. The new marriage not only re-established ties to senatorial opposition, but also served the broader Flavian propaganda of the time, which sought to diminish Vespasian's political success under Nero. Instead, connections to Claudius and Britannicus were emphasised, and Nero's victims, or those otherwise disadvantaged by him, rehabilitated. In 80, Domitia and Domitian's only attested son was born. It is not known what the boy's name was, but he died in childhood in 83. Shortly following his accession as emperor, Domitian bestowed the honorific title of Augusta upon Domitia, while their son was deified, appearing as such on the reverse of coin types from this period. Nevertheless, the marriage appears to have faced a significant crisis in 83. For reasons unknown, Domitian briefly exiled Domitia, and then soon recalled her, either out of love or due to rumours that he was carrying on a relationship with his niece Julia Flavia. Jones argues that most likely he did so for her failure to produce an heir. By 84, Domitia had returned to the palace, where she lived for the remainder of Domitian's reign without incident. Little is known of Domitia's activities as empress, or how much influence she wielded in Domitian's government, but it seems her role was limited. From Suetonius, we know that she at least accompanied the Emperor to the amphitheatre, while the Jewish writer Josephus speaks of benefits he received from her. It is not known whether Domitian had other children, but he did not marry again. Despite allegations by Roman sources of adultery and divorce, the marriage appears to have been happy. ### Ceremonial heir (71–81) Before becoming Emperor, Domitian's role in the Flavian government was largely ceremonial. In June 71, Titus returned triumphant from the war in Judaea. Ultimately, the rebellion had claimed the lives of tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, a majority of whom were Jewish. The city and temple of Jerusalem were completely destroyed, its most valuable treasures carried off by the Roman army, and nearly 100,000 people were captured and enslaved. For his victory, the Senate awarded Titus a Roman triumph. On the day of the festivities, the Flavian family rode into the capital, preceded by a lavish parade that displayed the spoils of the war. The family procession was headed by Vespasian and Titus, while Domitian, riding a magnificent white horse, followed with the remaining Flavian relatives. Leaders of the Jewish resistance were executed in the Forum Romanum, after which the procession closed with religious sacrifices at the Temple of Jupiter. A triumphal arch, the Arch of Titus, was erected at the south-east entrance to the Forum to commemorate the successful end of the war. Yet the return of Titus further highlighted the comparative insignificance of Domitian, both militarily and politically. As the eldest and most experienced of Vespasian's sons, Titus shared tribunician power with his father, received seven consulships, the censorship, and was given command of the Praetorian Guard; powers that left no doubt he was the designated heir to the Empire. As a second son, Domitian held honorary titles, such as Caesar or Princeps Iuventutis, and several priesthoods, including those of augur, pontifex, frater arvalis, magister frater arvalium, and sacerdos collegiorum omnium, but no office with imperium. He held six consulships during Vespasian's reign but only one of these, in 73, was an ordinary consulship. The other five were less prestigious suffect consulships, which he held in 71, 75, 76, 77 and 79 respectively, usually replacing his father or brother in mid-January. While ceremonial, these offices no doubt gained Domitian valuable experience in the Roman Senate, and may have contributed to his later reservations about its relevance. Under Vespasian and Titus, non-Flavians were virtually excluded from the important public offices. Mucianus himself all but disappeared from historical records during this time, and it is believed he died sometime between 75 and 77. Real power was unmistakably concentrated in the hands of the Flavian faction; the weakened Senate only maintained the facade of democracy. Because Titus effectively acted as co-emperor with his father, no abrupt change in Flavian policy occurred when Vespasian died on 24 June 79. Titus assured Domitian that full partnership in the government would soon be his, but neither tribunician power nor imperium of any kind was conferred upon him during Titus' brief reign. Two major disasters struck during 79 and 80. In October/November 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the surrounding cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum under metres of ash and lava; the following year, a fire broke out in Rome that lasted three days and destroyed a number of important public buildings. Consequently, Titus spent much of his reign coordinating relief efforts and restoring damaged property. On 13 September 81, after barely two years in office, he unexpectedly died of fever during a trip to the Sabine territories. Ancient authors have implicated Domitian in the death of his brother, either by directly accusing him of murder, or implying he left the ailing Titus for dead, even alleging that during his lifetime, Domitian was openly plotting against his brother. It is difficult to assess the factual veracity of these statements given the known bias of the surviving sources. Brotherly affection was likely at a minimum, but this was hardly surprising, considering that Domitian had barely seen Titus after the age of seven. Whatever the nature of their relationship, Domitian seems to have displayed little sympathy when his brother lay dying, instead making for the Praetorian camp where he was proclaimed emperor. The following day, 14 September, the Senate confirmed Domitian's powers, granting tribunician power, the office of pontifex maximus, and the titles of Augustus ("venerable"), and Pater Patriae ("father of the country"). ## Emperor (81–96) ### Rule As emperor, Domitian quickly dispensed with the republican facade his father and brother had maintained during their reign. By moving the centre of government to the imperial court, Domitian openly rendered the Senate's powers obsolete. According to Pliny the Younger, Domitian believed that the Roman Empire was to be governed as a divine monarchy with himself as the benevolent despot at its head. In addition to exercising absolute political power, Domitian believed the emperor's role encompassed every aspect of daily life, guiding the Roman people as a cultural and moral authority. To usher in the new era, he embarked on ambitious economic, military, and cultural programs with the intention of restoring the Empire to the splendour it had seen under the Emperor Augustus. Despite these grand designs, Domitian was determined to govern the Empire conscientiously and scrupulously. He became personally involved in all branches of the administration: edicts were issued governing the smallest details of everyday life and law, while taxation and public morals were rigidly enforced. According to Suetonius, the imperial bureaucracy never ran more efficiently than under Domitian, whose exacting standards and suspicious nature maintained historically low corruption among provincial governors and elected officials. Although he made no pretence regarding the significance of the Senate under his absolute rule, those senators he deemed unworthy were expelled from the Senate, and in the distribution of public offices he rarely favored family members, a policy that stood in contrast to the nepotism practiced by Vespasian and Titus. Above all, however, Domitian valued loyalty and malleability in those he assigned to strategic posts, qualities he found more often in men of the equestrian order than in members of the Senate or his own family, whom he regarded with suspicion, and promptly removed from office if they disagreed with imperial policy. The reality of Domitian's autocracy was further highlighted by the fact that, more than any emperor since Tiberius, he spent significant periods of time away from the capital. Although the Senate's power had been in decline since the fall of the Republic, under Domitian the seat of power was no longer even in Rome, but rather wherever the Emperor was. Until the completion of the Flavian Palace on the Palatine Hill, the imperial court was situated at Alba or Circeii, and sometimes even farther afield. Domitian toured the European provinces extensively, and spent at least three years of his reign in Germania and Illyricum, conducting military campaigns on the frontiers of the Empire. #### Palaces, villas, and other major buildings For his personal use, he was active in constructing many monumental buildings, including the Villa of Domitian, a vast and sumptuous palace situated 20 km outside Rome in the Alban Hills. In Rome itself, he built the Palace of Domitian on the Palatine Hill. Seven other villas are linked with Domitian at Tusculum, Antium, Sabaudia, Vicarello, Caieta, Terracina and Baiae. Only that at Sabaudia has been positively identified. The Stadium of Domitian was dedicated in 86 AD as a gift to the people of Rome as part of an Imperial building program, following the damage or destruction of most of the buildings on the Field of Mars by fire in 79 AD. It was Rome's first permanent venue for competitive athletics, and is today occupied by the Piazza Navona. In Egypt too, Domitian was quite active in constructing buildings and decorating them. He appears, together with Trajan, in offering scenes on the propylon of the Temple of Hathor at Dendera. His cartouche also appears in the column shafts of the Temple of Khnum at Esna. ### Economy Domitian's tendency towards micromanagement was nowhere more evident than in his financial policy. The question of whether Domitian left the Roman Empire in debt or with a surplus at the time of his death has been fiercely debated. The evidence points to a balanced economy for the greater part of Domitian's reign. Upon his accession he revalued the Roman currency dramatically. He increased the silver purity of the denarius from 90% to 98% – the actual silver weight increasing from 2.87 grams to 3.26 grams. A financial crisis in 85 forced a devaluation of the silver purity and weight to 93.5% and 3.04 grams respectively. Nevertheless, the new values were still higher than the levels that Vespasian and Titus had maintained during their reigns. Domitian's rigorous taxation policy ensured that this standard was sustained for the following eleven years. Coinage from this era displays a highly consistent degree of quality including meticulous attention to Domitian's titulature and refined artwork on the reverse portraits. Jones estimates Domitian's annual income at more than 1.2 billion sestertii, of which over one-third would presumably have been spent maintaining the Roman army. The other major expense was the extensive reconstruction of Rome. At the time of Domitian's accession the city was still suffering from the damage caused by the Great Fire of 64, the civil war of 69 and the fire in 80. Much more than a renovation project, Domitian's building program was intended to be the crowning achievement of an Empire-wide cultural renaissance. Around fifty structures were erected, restored or completed, achievements second only to those of Augustus. Among the most important new structures were an odeon, a stadium, and an expansive palace on the Palatine Hill known as the Flavian Palace, which was designed by Domitian's master architect Rabirius. The most important building Domitian restored was the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill, said to have been covered with a gilded roof. Among those completed were the Temple of Vespasian and Titus, the Arch of Titus and the Flavian Amphitheatre (Colosseum), to which he added a fourth level and finished the interior seating area. In order to appease the people of Rome an estimated 135 million sestertii was spent on donatives, or congiaria, throughout Domitian's reign. The Emperor also revived the practice of public banquets, which had been reduced to a simple distribution of food under Nero, while he invested large sums on entertainment and games. In 86 he founded the Capitoline Games, a quadrennial contest comprising athletic displays, chariot racing, and competitions for oratory, music and acting. ### Military campaigns The military campaigns undertaken during Domitian's reign were generally defensive in nature, as the Emperor rejected the idea of expansionist warfare. His most significant military contribution was the development of the Limes Germanicus, which encompassed a vast network of roads, forts and watchtowers constructed along the Rhine river to defend the Empire. Nevertheless, several important wars were fought in Gaul, against the Chatti, and across the Danube frontier against the Suebi, the Sarmatians, and the Dacians. The conquest of Britain continued under the command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola, who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia, or modern day Scotland. Domitian also founded a new legion in 82, the Legio I Minervia, to fight against the Chatti. Domitian is also credited on the easternmost evidence of Roman military presence, the rock inscription near Boyukdash mountain, in present-day Azerbaijan. As judged by the carved titles of Caesar, Augustus and Germanicus, the related march took place between 84 and 96 AD. Domitian's administration of the Roman army was characterized by the same fastidious involvement he exhibited in other branches of the government. His competence as a military strategist was criticized by his contemporaries however. Although he claimed several triumphs, these were largely propaganda manoeuvres. Tacitus derided Domitian's victory against the Chatti as a "mock triumph", and criticized his decision to retreat in Britain following the conquests of Agricola. Nevertheless, Domitian appears to have been very popular among the soldiers, spending an estimated three years of his reign among the army on campaigns—more than any emperor since Augustus—and raising their pay by one-third. While the army command may have disapproved of his tactical and strategic decisions, the loyalty of the common soldier was unquestioned. #### Campaign against the Chatti Once Emperor, Domitian immediately sought to attain his long delayed military glory. As early as 82, or possibly 83, he went to Gaul, ostensibly to conduct a census, and suddenly ordered an attack on the Chatti. For this purpose, a new legion was founded, Legio I Minervia, which constructed some 75 kilometres (46 mi) of roads through Chattan territory to uncover the enemy's hiding places. Although little information survives of the battles fought, enough early victories were apparently achieved for Domitian to be back in Rome by the end of 83, where he celebrated an elaborate triumph and conferred upon himself the title of Germanicus. Domitian's supposed victory was much scorned by ancient authors, who described the campaign as "uncalled for", and a "mock triumph". The evidence lends some credence to these claims, as the Chatti would later play a significant role during the revolt of Saturninus in 89. #### Conquest of northern Britain (77–84) One of the most detailed reports of military activity under the Flavian dynasty was written by Tacitus, whose biography of his father-in-law Gnaeus Julius Agricola largely concerns the conquest of northern Britain between 77 and 84. Agricola arrived c. 77 as governor of Roman Britain, immediately launching campaigns into Caledonia (modern Scotland). In 82, Agricola crossed an unidentified body of water and defeated peoples unknown to the Romans until then. He fortified the coast facing Ireland, and Tacitus recalls that his father-in-law often claimed the island could be conquered with a single legion and a few auxiliaries. He had given refuge to an exiled Irish king whom he hoped he might use as the excuse for conquest. This conquest never happened, but some historians believe that the crossing referred to was in fact a small-scale exploratory or punitive expedition to Ireland. Turning his attention from Ireland, the following year Agricola raised a fleet and pushed beyond the River Forth into Caledonia. To aid the advance, a large legionary fortress was constructed at Inchtuthil. In the summer of 84, Agricola faced the armies of the Caledonians, led by Calgacus, at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Although the Romans inflicted heavy losses on the enemy, two-thirds of the Caledonian army escaped and hid in the Scottish marshes and Highlands, ultimately preventing Agricola from bringing the entire British island under his control. In 85, Agricola was recalled to Rome by Domitian, having served for more than six years as governor, longer than normal for consular legates during the Flavian era. Tacitus claims that Domitian ordered his recall because Agricola's successes outshone the Emperor's own modest victories in Germania. The relationship between Agricola and the Emperor is unclear: on the one hand, Agricola was awarded triumphal decorations and a statue, on the other, Agricola never again held a civil or military post in spite of his experience and renown. He was offered the governorship of the province of Africa but declined it, either due to ill health or, as Tacitus claims, the machinations of Domitian. Not long after Agricola's recall from Britain, the Roman Empire entered into war with the Kingdom of Dacia in the East. Reinforcements were needed, and in 87 or 88, Domitian ordered a large-scale strategic withdrawal of troops in the British province. The fortress at Inchtuthil was dismantled and the Caledonian forts and watchtowers abandoned, moving the Roman frontier some 120 kilometres (75 mi) further south. The army command may have resented Domitian's decision to retreat, but to him the Caledonian territories never represented anything more than a loss to the Roman treasury. #### Dacian wars (85–88) The most significant threat the Roman Empire faced during the reign of Domitian arose from the northern provinces of Illyricum, where the Suebi, the Sarmatians and the Dacians continuously harassed Roman settlements along the Danube river. Of these, the Sarmatians and the Dacians posed the most formidable threat. In approximately 84 or 85 the Dacians, led by King Decebalus, crossed the Danube into the province of Moesia, wreaking havoc and killing the Moesian governor Oppius Sabinus. Domitian quickly launched a counteroffensive, personally travelling to the region accompanied by a large force commanded by his praetorian prefect Cornelius Fuscus. Fuscus successfully drove the Dacians back across the border in mid-85, prompting Domitian to return to Rome and celebrate his second triumph. The victory proved short-lived, however: as early in 86 Fuscus embarked on an ill-fated expedition into Dacia. Fuscus was killed, and the battle standard of the Praetorian Guard was lost. The loss of the battle standard, or aquila, was indicative of a crushing defeat and a serious affront to Roman national pride. Domitian returned to Moesia in August 86. He divided the province into Lower Moesia and Upper Moesia, and transferred three additional legions to the Danube. In 87, the Romans invaded Dacia once more, this time under the command of Tettius Julianus, and finally defeated Decebalus in late 88 at the same site where Fuscus had previously perished. An attack on the Dacian capital Sarmizegetusa was forestalled when new troubles arose on the German frontier in 89. In order to avert having to conduct a war on two fronts, Domitian agreed to terms of peace with Decebalus, negotiating free access of Roman troops through the Dacian region while granting Decebalus an annual subsidy of 8 million sesterces. Contemporary authors severely criticized this treaty, which was considered shameful to the Romans and left the deaths of Sabinus and Fuscus unavenged. For the remainder of Domitian's reign Dacia remained a relatively peaceful client kingdom, but Decebalus used the Roman money to fortify his defenses. Domitian probably wanted a new war against the Dacians, and reinforced Upper Moesia with two more cavalry units brought from Syria and with at least five cohorts brought from Pannonia. Trajan continued Domitian's policy and added two more units to the auxiliary forces of Upper Moesia, and then he used the build up of troops for his Dacian wars. Eventually the Romans achieved a decisive victory against Decebalus in 106. Again, the Roman army sustained heavy losses, but Trajan succeeded in capturing Sarmizegetusa and, importantly, annexed the Dacian gold and silver mines. ### Religious policy Domitian firmly believed in the traditional Roman religion, and personally saw to it that ancient customs and morals were observed throughout his reign. In order to justify the divine nature of the Flavian rule, Domitian emphasized connections with the chief deity Jupiter, perhaps most significantly through the impressive restoration of the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill. A small chapel dedicated to Jupiter Conservator was also constructed near the house where Domitian had fled to safety on 20 December 69. Later in his reign, he replaced it with a more expansive building, dedicated to Jupiter Custos. The goddess he worshipped the most zealously, however, was Minerva. Not only did he keep a personal shrine dedicated to her in his bedroom, she regularly appeared on his coinage—in four different attested reverse types—and he founded a legion, Legio I Minervia, in her name. Domitian also revived the practice of the imperial cult, which had fallen somewhat out of use under Vespasian. Significantly, his first act as emperor was the deification of his brother Titus. Upon their deaths, his infant son, and niece, Julia Flavia, were likewise enrolled among the gods. With regards to the emperor himself as a religious figure, both Suetonius and Cassius Dio allege that Domitian officially gave himself the title of Dominus et Deus ("Lord and God"). However, not only did he reject the title of Dominus during his reign, but since he issued no official documentation or coinage to this effect, historians such as Brian Jones contend that such phrases were addressed to Domitian by flatterers who wished to earn favors from him. To foster the worship of the imperial family, he erected a dynastic mausoleum on the site of Vespasian's former house on the Quirinal, and completed the Temple of Vespasian and Titus, a shrine dedicated to the worship of his deified father and brother. To memorialize the military triumphs of the Flavian family, he ordered the construction of the Templum Divorum and the Templum Fortuna Redux, and completed the Arch of Titus. Construction projects such as these constituted only the most visible part of Domitian's religious policy, which also concerned itself with the fulfilment of religious law and public morals. In 85, he nominated himself perpetual censor, the office that held the task of supervising Roman morals and conduct. Once again, Domitian acquitted himself of this task dutifully, and with care. He renewed the Lex Iulia de Adulteriis Coercendis, under which adultery was punishable by exile. From the list of jurors he struck an equestrian who had divorced his wife and taken her back, while an ex-quaestor was expelled from the Senate for acting and dancing. As eunuchs were popularly used as servants, Domitian punished people who castrated others and wanted to ban the eunuchs themselves. Subsequent emperors made similar prohibitions, but Domitian may have been the first to do so. Despite his moralizing, Domitian had his own favorite eunuch boy, Earinus, who was commemorated by the contemporary court poets Martial and Statius. Domitian also heavily prosecuted corruption among public officials, removing jurors if they accepted bribes and rescinding legislation when a conflict of interest was suspected. He ensured that libellous writings, especially those directed against himself, were punishable by exile or death. Actors were likewise regarded with suspicion. Consequently, he forbade mimes from appearing on stage in public. Philosophers did not fare much better. Epictetus, who had set himself up in Rome as a professor of philosophy, remarked that philosophers were able to "look tyrants steadily in the face", and it was Domitian's decree of 94, expelling all philosophers from Rome, that caused Epictetus to shift his base to the recently founded Roman city of Nicopolis, in Epirus, Greece, where he lived simply, worked safely and died of old age. In 87, Vestal Virgins were found to have broken their sacred vows of lifelong public chastity. As the Vestals were regarded as daughters of the community, this offense essentially constituted incest. Accordingly, those found guilty of any such transgression were condemned to death, either by a manner of their choosing, or according to the ancient fashion, which dictated that Vestals should be buried alive. Foreign religions were tolerated insofar as they did not interfere with public order, or could be assimilated with the traditional Roman religion. The worship of Egyptian deities in particular flourished under the Flavian dynasty, to an extent not seen again until the reign of Commodus. Veneration of Serapis and Isis, who were identified with Jupiter and Minerva respectively, was especially prominent. Fourth century writings by Eusebius maintain that Jews and Christians were heavily persecuted toward the end of Domitian's reign. The Book of Revelation and First Epistle of Clement are thought by some to have been written during this period, the latter making mention of "sudden and repeated misfortunes", which are assumed to refer to persecutions under Domitian. Although Jews were heavily taxed, no contemporary authors give specific details of trials or executions based on religious offenses other than those within the Roman religion. Suetonius mentions having seen in his youth a nonagenarian being stripped by a procurator to see if he was circumcised. ### Opposition #### Revolt of Governor Saturninus (89) On 1 January 89, the governor of Germania Superior, Lucius Antonius Saturninus, and his two legions at Mainz, Legio XIV Gemina and Legio XXI Rapax, revolted against the Roman Empire with the aid of the Germanic Chatti people. The precise cause for the rebellion is uncertain, although it appears to have been planned well in advance. The Senatorial officers may have disapproved of Domitian's military strategies, such as his decision to fortify the German frontier rather than attack, as well as his recent retreat from Britain, and finally the disgraceful policy of appeasement towards Decebalus. At any rate, the uprising was strictly confined to Saturninus' province, and quickly detected once the rumour spread across the neighbouring provinces. The governor of Germania Inferior, Aulus Bucius Lappius Maximus, moved to the region at once, assisted by Titus Flavius Norbanus, the procurator of Rhaetia. From Spain, Trajan was summoned, while Domitian himself came from Rome with the Praetorian Guard. By a stroke of luck, a thaw prevented the Chatti from crossing the Rhine and coming to Saturninus' aid. Within twenty-four days the rebellion was crushed, and its leaders at Mainz savagely punished. The mutinous legions were sent to the front in Illyricum, while those who had assisted in their defeat were duly rewarded. Lappius Maximus received the governorship of the province of Syria, a second consulship in May 95, and finally a priesthood, which he still held in 102. Titus Flavius Norbanus may have been appointed to the prefecture of Egypt, but almost certainly became prefect of the Praetorian Guard by 94, with Titus Petronius Secundus as his colleague. Domitian opened the year following the revolt by sharing the consulship with Marcus Cocceius Nerva, suggesting the latter had played a part in uncovering the conspiracy, perhaps in a fashion similar to the one he played during the Pisonian conspiracy under Nero. Although little is known about the life and career of Nerva before his accession as Emperor in 96, he appears to have been a highly adaptable diplomat, surviving multiple regime changes and emerging as one of the Flavians' most trusted advisors. His consulship may therefore have been intended to emphasize the stability and status quo of the regime. The revolt had been suppressed and the Empire returned to order. #### Relationship with the Senate Since the fall of the Republic, the authority of the Roman Senate had largely eroded under the quasi-monarchical system of government established by Augustus, known as the Principate. The Principate allowed the existence of a de facto dictatorial regime, while maintaining the formal framework of the Roman Republic. Most Emperors upheld the public facade of democracy, and in return the Senate implicitly acknowledged the Emperor's status as a de facto monarch. Some rulers handled this arrangement with less subtlety than others. Domitian was not so subtle, often coming to the Senate as a triumpher and conqueror to show his distain for them. From the outset of his reign, he stressed the reality of his autocracy. He disliked aristocrats and had no fear of showing it, withdrawing every decision-making power from the Senate to reduce its control to an administrative one, and instead relying on a small set of friends and equestrians to control the important offices of state. The dislike was mutual. After Domitian's assassination, the senators of Rome rushed to the Senate house, where they immediately passed a motion condemning his memory to oblivion. Under the rulers of the Nervan-Antonian dynasty, senatorial authors published histories that elaborated on the view of Domitian as a tyrant. Nevertheless, the evidence suggests that Domitian did make concessions toward senatorial opinion. Whereas his father and brother had concentrated consular power largely in the hands of the Flavian family, Domitian admitted a surprisingly large number of provincials and potential opponents to the consulship, allowing them to head the official calendar by opening the year as an ordinary consul. Whether this was a genuine attempt to reconcile with hostile factions in the Senate cannot be ascertained. By offering the consulship to potential opponents, Domitian may have wanted to compromise these senators in the eyes of their supporters. When their conduct proved unsatisfactory, they were almost invariably brought to trial and exiled or executed, and their property was confiscated. Both Tacitus and Suetonius speak of escalating persecutions toward the end of Domitian's reign, identifying a point of sharp increase around 93, or sometime after the failed revolt of Saturninus in 89. At least twenty senatorial opponents were executed, including Domitia Longina's former husband Lucius Aelius Lamia Plautius Aelianus and three of Domitian's own family members, Titus Flavius Sabinus, Titus Flavius Clemens and Marcus Arrecinus Clemens. Flavius Clemens was a cousin of Domitian, and the emperor had even designated Clemens' two young sons as his successors, calling them as "Vespasian" and "Domitian". Some of these men were executed as early as 83 or 85, however, lending little credit to Tacitus' notion of a "reign of terror" late in Domitian's reign. According to Suetonius, some were convicted for corruption or treason, others on trivial charges, which Domitian justified through his suspicion: > He used to say that the lot of Emperors was most unfortunate, since when they discovered a conspiracy, no one believed them unless they had been murdered. Jones compares the executions of Domitian to those under Emperor Claudius (41–54), noting that Claudius executed around 35 senators and 300 equestrians, and yet was still deified by the Senate and regarded as one of the good Emperors of history. Domitian was apparently unable to gain support among the aristocracy, despite attempts to appease hostile factions with consular appointments. His autocratic style of government accentuated the Senate's loss of power, while his policy of treating patricians and even family members as equals to all Romans earned him their contempt. ## Death and succession ### Assassination Domitian was assassinated on 18 September 96 in a conspiracy by court officials. A highly detailed account of the plot and the assassination is provided by Suetonius. He alleges that Domitian's chamberlain Parthenius played the main role in the plot, and historian John Grainger cites Parthenius' likely fear over Domitian's recent execution of Nero's former secretary Epaphroditus as a possible motive. The act itself was carried out by a freedman of Parthenius named Maximus, and a steward of Domitian's niece Flavia Domitilla, named Stephanus. According to Suetonius, a number of omens had foretold Domitian's death. The Germanic soothsayer Larginus Proclus predicted the date of Domitian's death and was consequently sentenced to death by him. Several days prior to the assassination, Minerva had appeared to the emperor in a dream. She announced that she had been disarmed by Jupiter and could no longer give Domitian her protection. According to an auspice he had received, the Emperor believed that his death would be at midday. As a result, he was always restless around that time. On the day of the assassination, Domitian was distressed and repeatedly asked a servant to tell him what time it was. The servant, who was himself one of the plotters, lied to the emperor, telling him that it was already late in the afternoon. Apparently put at ease, the Emperor went to his desk to sign some decrees. Stephanus, who had been feigning an injury to his arm for several days and wearing a bandage to allow him to carry a concealed dagger, suddenly appeared: > ...he pretended that he had discovered a plot, and was for that reason granted an audience: whereupon, as the amazed Domitian perused a document he had handed him, Stephanus stabbed him in the groin. The wounded Emperor put up a fight, but succumbed to seven further stabs, his assailants being a subaltern named Clodianus, Parthenius's freedman Maximus, Satur, a head-chamberlain and one of the imperial gladiators. During the attack, Stephanus and Domitian had struggled on the floor, during which time Stephanus was stabbed by the emperor and died shortly afterward. Domitian's body was carried away on a common bier and unceremoniously cremated by his nurse Phyllis. Later, she took the emperor's ashes to the Flavian Temple and mingled them with those of his niece, Julia. He was 44 years old. As had been foretold, his death came at midday. Cassius Dio, writing nearly a hundred years later, suggests that the assassination was improvised, while Suetonius implies it was a well-organized conspiracy, citing Stephanus' feigned injury and claiming that the doors to the servants' quarters had been locked prior to the attack and that a sword Domitian kept concealed beneath his pillow as a last line of personal protection against a would-be assassin, had also been removed beforehand. Dio included Domitia Longina among the conspirators, but in light of her attested devotion to Domitian—even years after her husband had died—her involvement in the plot seems highly unlikely. The precise involvement of the Praetorian Guard is unclear. One of the guard's commanders, Titus Petronius Secundus, was almost certainly aware of the plot. The other, Titus Flavius Norbanus, the former governor of Raetia, was a member of Domitian's family. ### Succession and aftermath The Fasti Ostienses, the Ostian Calendar, records that on the same day as Domitian's assassination, the Senate proclaimed Marcus Cocceius Nerva emperor. Despite his political experience, this was a remarkable choice. Nerva was old and childless, and had spent much of his career out of the public light, prompting both ancient and modern authors to speculate on his involvement in Domitian's assassination. According to Cassius Dio, the conspirators approached Nerva as a potential successor prior to the assassination, suggesting that he was at least aware of the plot. He does not appear in Suetonius' version of the events, but this may be understandable, since his works were published under Nerva's direct descendants Trajan and Hadrian. To suggest the dynasty owed its accession to murder would have been less than sensitive. On the other hand, Nerva lacked widespread support in the Empire, and as a known Flavian loyalist, his track record would not have recommended him to the conspirators. The precise facts have been obscured by history, but modern historians believe Nerva was proclaimed Emperor solely on the initiative of the Senate, within hours after the news of the assassination broke. The decision may have been hasty so as to avoid civil war, but neither appears to have been involved in the conspiracy. The Senate nonetheless rejoiced at the death of Domitian, and immediately following Nerva's accession as Emperor, passed damnatio memoriae on Domitian's memory; his coins and statues were melted, his arches were torn down and his name was erased from all public records. Domitian and, over a century later, Publius Septimius Geta were the only emperors known to have officially received a damnatio memoriae, though others may have received de facto ones. In many instances, existing portraits of Domitian, such as those found on the Cancelleria Reliefs, were simply recarved to fit the likeness of Nerva, which allowed quick production of new images and recycling of previous material. Yet the order of the Senate was only partially executed in Rome, and wholly disregarded in most of the provinces outside Italy. According to Suetonius, the people of Rome met the news of Domitian's death with indifference, but the army was much grieved, calling for his deification immediately after the assassination, and in several provinces rioting. As a compensation measure, the Praetorian Guard demanded the execution of Domitian's assassins, which Nerva refused. Instead he merely dismissed Titus Petronius Secundus, and replaced him with a former commander, Casperius Aelianus. Dissatisfaction with this state of affairs continued to loom over Nerva's reign, and ultimately erupted into a crisis in October 97, when members of the Praetorian Guard, led by Casperius Aelianus, laid siege to the Imperial Palace and took Nerva hostage. He was forced to submit to their demands, agreeing to hand over those responsible for Domitian's death and even giving a speech thanking the rebellious Praetorians. Titus Petronius Secundus and Parthenius were sought out and killed. Nerva was unharmed in this assault, but his authority was damaged beyond repair. Shortly thereafter he announced the adoption of Trajan as his successor, and with this decision nearly abdicated. ## Flavian family tree ## Legacy ### Ancient sources The classic view of Domitian is usually negative, since most of the antique sources were related to the Senatorial or aristocratic class, with which Domitian had notoriously difficult relations. Furthermore, contemporary historians such as Pliny the Younger, Tacitus and Suetonius all wrote after his reign when his memory had been condemned to oblivion by the Senate. The work of Domitian's court poets Martial and Statius constitutes virtually the only literary evidence concurrent with his reign. Perhaps as unsurprising as the attitude of post-Domitianic historians, the poems of Martial and Statius are highly adulatory, praising Domitian's achievements as equalling those of the gods. The most extensive account of the life of Domitian to survive was written by the historian Suetonius, who was born during the reign of Vespasian, and published his works under Emperor Hadrian (117–138). His De vita Caesarum is the source of much of what is known of Domitian. Although his text is predominantly negative, it neither exclusively condemns nor praises Domitian, and asserts that his rule started well, but gradually declined into terror. The biography is problematic, however, in that it appears to contradict itself with regards to Domitian's rule and personality, at the same time presenting him as a conscientious, moderate man, and as a decadent libertine. According to Suetonius, Domitian wholly feigned his interest in arts and literature, and never bothered to acquaint himself with classic authors. Other passages, alluding to Domitian's love of epigrammatic expression, suggest that he was in fact familiar with classic writers, while he also patronized poets and architects, founded artistic Olympics, and personally restored the library of Rome at great expense after it had burned down. De Vita Caesarum is also the source of several outrageous stories regarding Domitian's married life. According to Suetonius, Domitia Longina was exiled in 83 because of an affair with a famous actor named Paris. When Domitian found out, he allegedly murdered Paris in the street and promptly divorced his wife, with Suetonius further adding that once Domitia was exiled, Domitian took Julia as his mistress, who later died during a failed abortion. Modern historians consider this highly implausible however, noting that malicious rumours such as those concerning Domitia's alleged infidelity were eagerly repeated by post-Domitianic authors, and used to highlight the hypocrisy of a ruler publicly preaching a return to Augustan morals, while privately indulging in excesses and presiding over a corrupt court. Nevertheless, the account of Suetonius has dominated imperial historiography for centuries. Although Tacitus is usually considered to be the most reliable author of this era, his views on Domitian are complicated by the fact that his father-in-law, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, may have been a personal enemy of the Emperor. In his biographical work Agricola, Tacitus maintains that Agricola was forced into retirement because his triumph over the Caledonians highlighted Domitian's own inadequacy as a military commander. Several modern authors such as Dorey have argued the opposite: that Agricola was in fact a close friend of Domitian, and that Tacitus merely sought to distance his family from the fallen dynasty once Nerva was in power. Tacitus' major historical works, including The Histories and Agricola's biography, were all written and published under Domitian's successors, Nerva (96–98) and Trajan (98–117). Unfortunately, the part of Tacitus' Histories dealing with the reign of the Flavian dynasty is almost entirely lost. His views on Domitian survive through brief comments in its first five books, and the short but highly negative characterization in Agricola in which he severely criticizes Domitian's military endeavours. Nevertheless, Tacitus admits his debt to the Flavians with regard to his own public career. Other influential 2nd century authors include Juvenal and Pliny the Younger, the latter of whom was a friend of Tacitus and in 100 delivered his famous Panegyricus Traiani before Trajan and the Roman Senate, exalting the new era of restored freedom while condemning Domitian as a tyrant. Juvenal savagely satirized the Domitianic court in his Satires, depicting the Emperor and his entourage as corrupt, violent and unjust. As a consequence, the anti-Domitianic tradition was already well established by the end of the 2nd century, and by the 3rd century, even expanded upon by early Church historians, who identified Domitian as an early persecutor of Christians, such as in the Acts of John. ### Modern revisionism Over the course of the 20th century, Domitian's military, administrative and economic policies were re-evaluated. Hostile views of Domitian had been propagated until archeological and numismatic advances brought renewed attention to his reign, and necessitated a revision of the literary tradition established by Tacitus and Pliny. It would be nearly a hundred years after Stéphane Gsell's 1894 Essai sur le règne de l'empereur Domitien however, before any new, book-length studies were published. The first of these was Jones' 1992 The Emperor Domitian. He concludes that Domitian was a ruthless but efficient autocrat. For the majority of his reign, there was no widespread dissatisfaction with his policies. His harshness was limited to a highly vocal minority, who exaggerated his despotism in favor of the Nervan-Antonian dynasty that followed. His foreign policy was realistic, rejecting expansionist warfare and negotiating peace at a time when Roman military tradition dictated aggressive conquest. Persecution of religious minorities, such as Jews and Christians, was non-existent. In 1930, Ronald Syme argued for a complete reassessment of Domitian's financial policy, which had been largely viewed as a disaster. His economic program, which was rigorously efficient, maintained the Roman currency at a standard it would never again achieve. Domitian's government nonetheless exhibited totalitarian characteristics. As Emperor, he saw himself as the new Augustus, an enlightened despot destined to guide the Roman Empire into a new era of Flavian renaissance. Using religious, military and cultural propaganda, he fostered a cult of personality. He deified three of his family members and erected massive structures to commemorate the Flavian achievements. Elaborate triumphs were celebrated in order to boost his image as a warrior-emperor, but many of these were either unearned or premature. By nominating himself perpetual censor, he sought to control public and private morals. He started several major construction projects in Rome including the Aqua Traiana and the Baths of Trajan. He became personally involved in all branches of the government and successfully prosecuted corruption among public officials. The dark side of his censorial power involved a restriction in freedom of speech, and an increasingly oppressive attitude toward the Roman Senate. He punished libel with exile or death and, due to his suspicious nature, increasingly accepted information from informers to bring false charges of treason if necessary. Despite his vilification by contemporary historians, Domitian's administration provided the foundation for the Principate of the peaceful 2nd century. His successors Nerva and Trajan were less restrictive, but in reality their policies differed little from his. Much more than a "gloomy coda to the...1st century", the Roman Empire prospered between 81 and 96, in a reign that Theodor Mommsen described as a somber but intelligent despotism. ## See also - Cultural depictions of Domitian - List of Roman emperors
533,748	John J. Crittenden	1,172,308,942	United States Attorney General and politician from Kentucky	[ "1787 births", "1863 deaths", "19th-century American politicians", "American Presbyterians", "American political party founders", "Burials at Frankfort Cemetery", "College of William & Mary alumni", "Crittenden family", "Democratic-Republican Party United States senators from Kentucky", "Fillmore administration cabinet members", "Governors of Kentucky", "Kentucky Constitutional Unionists", "Kentucky Democratic-Republicans", "Kentucky Know Nothings", "Kentucky National Republicans", "Kentucky Unionists", "Kentucky Whigs", "Kentucky lawyers", "Know-Nothing United States senators from Kentucky", "Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives", "Members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky", "Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves", "National Republican Party United States senators from Kentucky", "People from Kentucky in the War of 1812", "People from Russellville, Kentucky", "People from Woodford County, Kentucky", "People of Kentucky in the American Civil War", "Secretaries of State of Kentucky", "Southern Unionists in the American Civil War", "Speakers of the Kentucky House of Representatives", "Tyler administration cabinet members", "Union (American Civil War) political leaders", "Unionist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky", "United States Attorneys General", "United States Attorneys for the District of Kentucky", "United States senators who owned slaves", "Unsuccessful nominees to the United States Supreme Court", "Washington and Lee University alumni", "Whig Party United States senators from Kentucky", "Whig Party state governors of the United States", "William Henry Harrison administration cabinet members" ]	John Jordan Crittenden (September 10, 1787 – July 26, 1863) was an American statesman and politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. He represented the state in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and twice served as United States Attorney General in the administrations of William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and Millard Fillmore. He was also the 17th governor of Kentucky and served in the state legislature. Although frequently mentioned as a potential candidate for the U.S. presidency, he never consented to run for the office. During his early political career, Crittenden served in the Kentucky House of Representatives and was chosen as speaker on several occasions. With the advent of the Second Party System, he allied with the National Republican (later Whig) Party and was a fervent supporter of Henry Clay and opponent of Democrats Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. Lame duck president John Quincy Adams nominated Crittenden to the U.S. Supreme Court on December 17, 1828, but senators who supported president-elect Jackson voted to postpone confirmation until Jackson could nominate his own man. After his brief service as Kentucky secretary of state, the state legislature elected Crittenden to the second of his four non-consecutive stints in the U.S. Senate. Upon his election as president, William Henry Harrison appointed Crittenden as Attorney General, but five months after Harrison's death, political differences prompted him to resign rather than continue his service under Harrison's successor, John Tyler. He was returned to the Senate in 1842, serving until 1848, when he resigned to run for governor, hoping his election would help Zachary Taylor win Kentucky's vote in the 1848 presidential election. Taylor was elected, but Crittenden refused a post in his cabinet, fearing he would be charged with making a "corrupt bargain", as Clay had been in 1825. Following Taylor's death in 1850, Crittenden resigned the governorship and accepted Millard Fillmore's appointment as attorney general. As the Whig Party crumbled in the mid-1850s, Crittenden joined the Know Nothing (or American) Party. After the expiration of his term as attorney general, he was again elected to the U.S. Senate, where he urged compromise on the issue of slavery to prevent the breakup of the United States. As bitter partisanship increased the threat of secession, Crittenden sought out moderates from all parties and formed the Constitutional Union Party, though he refused the party's nomination for president in the 1860 election. In December 1860, he authored the Crittenden Compromise, a series of resolutions and constitutional amendments he hoped would avert the Civil War, but Congress would not approve them. Crittenden was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1861, and supported the Union. However, he criticized many of the policies of President Abraham Lincoln and the U.S. Congress, including the Emancipation Proclamation and the admission of West Virginia to the Union. One of Crittenden's sons, George B. Crittenden, became a general in the Confederate Army. Another son, Thomas Leonidas Crittenden, became a general in the Union Army. Crittenden continued to work for reconciliation of the states throughout his time in office. He declared his candidacy for re-election to the House in 1863 but died before the election took place. ## Early and family life Crittenden was born September 10, 1787, near Versailles, Kentucky. He was the second child and first son of Revolutionary War veteran Major John Crittenden and his wife Judith Harris. John and Judith Crittenden had four sons and five daughters, all but one of whom survived infancy. On his father's side, he was of Welsh ancestry, while his mother's family was French Huguenot. His father had surveyed land in Kentucky with George Rogers Clark, and settled there just after the end of the American Revolution. Two of Crittenden's brothers, Thomas and Robert, became lawyers, while the third, Henry, was a farmer. Crittenden began a college preparatory curriculum at Pisgah Academy in Woodford County. He was then sent to a boarding school in Jessamine County. Among his classmates were Thomas Alexander Marshall and Francis P. Blair. Crittenden became especially close friends with Blair, and later political differences did little to diminish their friendship. After a year at boarding school, Crittenden moved to the Lexington, Kentucky, home of Judge George M. Bibb to study law. He began more advanced studies at Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia. During his brief tenure there, he studied mathematics and belles-lettres and became friends with Hugh Lawson White. Dissatisfied with the curriculum at Washington College, Crittendon moved to Williamsburg and transferred to the College of William and Mary. He studied law under St. George Tucker and became acquainted with future president John Tyler. On May 27, 1811, Crittenden married Sarah O. Lee at her home in Versailles. Lee was a cousin of future U.S. President Zachary Taylor and aunt of U.S. Senator Wilkinson Call. They had seven children before Sarah died in mid-September 1824. Among their children were Confederate major general George Crittenden and Union general Thomas Leonidas Crittenden. Their daughter Sallie Lee "Maria" Crittenden was the mother of John C. Watson, a Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy during the late 19th century. Their daughter Ann Mary Butler Crittenden Coleman published in 1864, Life and Letters of John J. Crittenden, a biography of her father's life. ## Career Completing his studies in 1806, Crittenden was admitted to the bar the following year. He began his practice in Woodford County, but found central Kentucky already well supplied with able lawyers. Crittenden then moved to Logan County, Kentucky, on the then western frontier and opened his practice in Russellville. At age twenty-two, he moved across the Ohio River to Illinois Territory, and Governor Ninian Edwards appointed him its attorney general. The following year, Edwards also made Crittenden his aide-de-camp. In addition to his legal practice when he returned to Kentucky, Crittenden also operated plantations and owned enslaved people. In 1830, his household included 12 free white persons and 6 enslaved people. In 1850, Crittenden owned 44 enslaved people (11 women above age 16, 7 men, 13 boys and 13 girls. In 1860, after distributing some property to his now-adult children, Crittenden owned ten enslaved people, all mulattos (females aged 60, 25, 21, 18 and 16 and males aged 28, 16, 14, 10 and 1). ## Early political career Crittenden's career as an elected official began in the Kentucky House of Representatives, where he represented Logan County from 1811 to 1817. After the 1811 legislative session, he volunteered as an aide to General Samuel Hopkins in an expedition against the Indians. On the outbreak of the War of 1812, Kentucky governor Charles Scott appointed him as an aide-de-camp for the First Kentucky Militia. In 1813, he became an aide-de-camp to Governor Isaac Shelby, serving at the Battle of the Thames in Canada. Following the war, the governor issued him a special commendation for faithfulness in carrying out his orders. He then resumed his law practice in Russellville. In 1814, Governor Shelby appointed Crittenden to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by his former teacher, George M. Bibb; later, however, Shelby learned that Crittenden was only twenty-seven years old, three years shy of the constitutional age requirement for senators. Hence he returned to his seat in the Kentucky House, where he was elected speaker over John Rowan. He would retain the position from 1815 to 1817. As speaker, Crittenden presided over a particularly tumultuous time in the legislature. In October 1816, recently elected governor George Madison died. He was succeeded by Lieutenant Governor Gabriel Slaughter. Slaughter immediately made two extremely unpopular appointments, and quickly fell out of favor with many Kentuckians. A group of legislators, led by John C. Breckinridge, pointed out that the Kentucky Constitution provided only that the lieutenant governor would serve as governor until a new gubernatorial election was held and a qualified successor was chosen. Slaughter, they claimed, was only the "acting governor". The group presented a bill to the House that called for new elections. The bill was defeated, but Crittenden supported it. Crittenden's support of a new election was both popular and politically expedient. When the U.S. Senate term of Martin D. Hardin, one of Slaughter's unpopular nominees, expired in 1817, the Kentucky General Assembly chose Crittenden to fill the vacancy. Though he was the youngest member of the body, he served as the second-ever chairman of the newly created Committee on the Judiciary. He was also a member of the Committee on Naval Affairs. During his term, he introduced legislation to reimburse and indemnify persons who were fined under the 1798 Sedition Act. He found state politics more interesting, however, and this fact, coupled with increased financial responsibilities incurred by the birth of his third and fourth children, prompted his decision to resign his seat on March 3, 1819. ### Legislative interim After leaving Congress, Crittenden moved to Frankfort, the state capital, to attract more legal clients and be nearer to the center of the state's political activity. Among his clients after moving to Frankfort were former presidents Madison and Monroe, future vice-president Richard Mentor Johnson, and future governors James T. Morehead, John Breathitt, and Robert P. Letcher. During this period, he collaborated with Henry Clay in defending Charles Wickliffe, son of Robert C. Wickliffe. Wickliffe was charged with the murder of the editor of the Kentucky Gazette. Crittenden argued that the slaying was self-defense, and Clay delivered a passionate closing argument. The jury returned a verdict of "not guilty" only minutes after the case was submitted to them. In January 1820, Crittenden and John Rowan were chosen to help resolve Kentucky's boundary dispute with Tennessee. The boundary was supposed to run along the line at 36 degrees, 30 minutes north latitude, but when Thomas Walker surveyed it, he erroneously marked the line farther south. Crittenden and Rowan proposed either that the "Walker Line" remain the boundary from the Cumberland Mountains to the Tennessee River and Tennessee would compensate for the error west of the Tennessee River, or that the boundary be reset at 36 degrees, 30 minutes throughout. Tennessee's commissioners rejected both proposals, asking instead that the Walker Line be accepted east of the Tennessee River and a more southerly line west of it, with reciprocal agreements between the states to honor existing land grants. Crittenden was inclined to accept the offer, but Rowan was not. The Kentucky commissioners proposed that the matter be submitted to arbitration, but Tennessee refused. In a report to the General Assembly, Crittenden recommended that Kentucky accept the Tennessee proposal. The legislators were swayed by Crittenden's report, and the articles of agreement were signed on February 2, 1820. Crittenden was elected to the board of trustees for Transylvania University in 1823, possibly due to lobbying by Henry Clay. A year later, the faculty of the university awarded him an honorary doctor of laws. Crittenden also served as a trustee and attorney for the Kentucky Seminary in Frankfort. Crittenden used his influence in support of Clay in the 1824 presidential election until Clay was eliminated from contention. He then threw his support to Andrew Jackson until he learned that John Quincy Adams, if elected, would likely make Clay Secretary of State. Critics termed Adams' alleged promise to Clay the "corrupt bargain", but it resulted in Adams' election. Upon his appointment as Secretary of State, Clay was prepared to recommend Crittenden to replace him as chief counsel in Kentucky for the Second Bank of the United States, but the bank chose not to hire a replacement. ### Old Court – New Court controversy Crittenden was drawn back into public service by the Old Court – New Court controversy. When legislation aimed at providing relief to the state's debtors was struck down by the Kentucky Court of Appeals, supporters of the legislation in the General Assembly passed a bill abolishing the Court and creating a new court, which they stocked with sympathetic justices. Opponents of the legislation held that the Assembly's action was unconstitutional, and for a time both courts claimed authority as the court of last resort in the state. Though he had served as president of the New Court-backed Bank of the Commonwealth since its formation in 1820, Crittenden publicly identified himself with the Old Court supporters in April 1825. In the legislative election of 1825, friends called on Crittenden to seek election to the state House of Representatives. Many believed that he was the only Old Court supporter that commanded enough respect to win one of the two seats allotted to Franklin County, a bastion of the New Court. When Crittenden consented to run, New Court supporters nominated the state's Attorney General Solomon P. Sharp and Lewis Sanders, a prominent lawyer. Crittenden and Sharp were elected to the two seats. In the early hours of the morning of November 7, 1825, the very morning the legislature was to convene, Sharp was assassinated. Charges were made that Old Court supporters had instigated the murder. Crittenden tried to blunt these charges by introducing a resolution condemning Sharp's murder and offering \$3,000 for the murderer's capture. When assassin Jereboam O. Beauchamp was apprehended, it became clear that the motivation for the killing was personal, not political. (Beauchamp's wife had married him on the condition that he kill Sharp, who had refused to claim the child he had fathered with her previously.) Despite this, Crittenden refused a request to represent Beauchamp in his murder trial because he wanted to avoid any implication in the matter. The court controversy dominated the legislative session. Crittenden joined the Old Court majority in the House in passing a measure to abolish the New Court. The bill was killed in the Senate, however, by the tie-breaking vote of Lieutenant Governor Robert B. McAfee. Crittenden later served on a committee of six to resolve the conflict, but to no avail. He was unwilling to accept a solution whereby all the justices resigned from both courts, and the governor would appoint a reorganized court made up equally of Old Court and New Court supporters. This position cost him the support of some New Court partisans that had voted for him in the previous election, and he was not returned to the House in 1826. Ultimately, Old Court partisans gained control of both houses of the legislature, and the New Court was abolished permanently in December 1826. On November 15, 1826, Crittenden married Maria Knox Todd, a widow who was the daughter of Judge Harry Innes. Crittenden took Todd's three children as his own, and the couple had two more children: John and Eugene. Todd's daughter Catherine married her stepbrother, Crittenden's son Thomas; their son, John Jordan Crittenden III, was killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Maria Knox Todd Crittenden died on September 8, 1851, of an unknown illness. ## Association with the National Republicans As a result of the Old Court – New Court controversy, Kentucky's politicians became divided between the Democrats and the National Republicans. Crittenden's alliance with Henry Clay and his own personal political views put him squarely in the National Republican Party. Because of Crittenden's support of his presidential bid, President Adams appointed him United States district attorney for the district of Kentucky in 1827. In 1828, Adams nominated him to replace Kentuckian Robert Trimble as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, but Jackson supporters in the Senate refused to confirm him. When Jackson defeated Adams in the 1828 presidential election, he removed Crittenden from his post as district attorney because of his association with Clay and his opposition to Jackson's financial policies. Crittenden supporters sought to make him the National Republican nominee for governor in the election of 1828. Though his nomination was all but certain, Crittenden declined the opportunity, fearing that his association with Clay, who was losing popularity in the state, would cost his party the election. Instead, he threw his support behind Thomas Metcalfe, who went on to carry a very close election over Democrat William T. Barry. Crittenden instead sought another term in the Kentucky House, but was again denied the seat. In 1829, Crittenden was elected to the Kentucky House via a special election. He served as Speaker of the House for his entire term. In 1830, he was the Whig nominee to replace John Rowan in the Senate. Secretly, the party wished to nominate Henry Clay, giving him a springboard from which to launch another presidential campaign, but it was unknown whether he would be able to secure enough votes for confirmation; it was decided that Crittenden would be the nominee, and if the voting favored the Whigs by a large enough margin, Crittenden would withdraw and allow them to confirm Clay instead. The Democrats countered successively with Richard Mentor Johnson, John Rowan, Charles A. Wickliffe, and John Breathitt. None of them polled more than sixty-four of the sixty-nine votes needed for confirmation. Crittenden garnered sixty-eight votes on fourteen different ballots, but he refused to vote for himself because he wanted Clay to be the nominee. Some of Crittenden's supporters, however, refused to vote for Clay, and the seat was left vacant. The following year, a clear majority of the House of Representatives were pledged to Crittenden for the open Senate seat. However, Clay allies pressured Crittenden to step aside and allow Clay to be the Whig nominee. Crittenden obliged, and Clay was elected by a margin of nine votes over Richard M. Johnson. Crittenden went on to manage both the unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign of Richard Aylett Buckner and the campaign to help Clay win Kentucky in the 1832 presidential election. After Clay's defeat in 1832, he offered to resign his Senate seat and allow Crittenden to succeed him, but Crittenden refused the offer. Later that year, Crittenden retired from the General Assembly. ## Association with the Whigs Crittenden was active in organizing the Whig Party from the remnants of the defunct National Republican Party in 1834. On July 4, 1834, he called to order the party's first organizational meeting in the state at Cove Spring on the outskirts of Frankfort. He was chosen as chair of the committee on resolutions and in a speech on July 5, bitterly condemned President Jackson. Later in 1834, Kentucky governor James T. Morehead appointed Crittenden Secretary of State. In the August elections, Whigs won a majority in both houses of the General Assembly. When the Assembly convened, they elected Crittenden to the U.S. Senate over Democrat James Guthrie by a vote of 94–40. Immediately upon taking his seat in the Senate, Crittenden was named to the Committee on Public Lands and the Committee on the Judiciary, probably due to Clay's influence. Early in his term, Crittenden vociferously opposed Senator Thomas H. Benton's proposal to spend the federal budget surplus on public land graduation and military fortifications along the eastern seaboard. He also blasted the Jackson administration for issuing the Specie Circular, requiring that all payment for government land be made in gold or silver. He pointed out that the principles of the circular had been presented in a resolution on the Senate floor, but had been tabled by a large majority. Crittenden maintained that the tabling of the resolution was a condemnation by the Senate, yet the administration issued the circular only months later, overstepping, as Crittenden saw it, the bounds of the executive branch's authority. Crittenden debated the issue at length with Senator Benton, and Congress ultimately passed a bill requiring the government to accept the notes of specie-paying banks for the purchase of government lands, but President Jackson employed his pocket veto to prevent it from becoming law. During his term, Crittenden remained an outspoken critic of Jackson and his successor, Martin Van Buren. He supported Henry Clay's plan for distributing proceeds from the sale of public lands among the states, and also joined Clay in opposing the administration-backed Second Seminole War. One of the few administration proposals he supported was the recognition of the new Republic of Texas. During this period of Crittenden's service in the Senate, the issue of slavery rose to prominence. Crittenden was regarded as a moderate on the issue, seeking to keep it out of politics altogether. In 1836, he resisted petitions by the Quakers to abolish slavery in Washington, D.C., but he also opposed radical pro-slavery measures such as John C. Calhoun's proposal to ban abolitionist literature from being delivered by mail in the Southern states. In contrast to his usually conciliatory nature, Crittenden was drawn into a disagreement between congressmen Jonathan Cilley and William J. Graves that ended in a duel. On the floor of the House, Cilley had attacked the integrity of Whig newspaper editor James Watson Webb. Webb demanded a retraction of Cilley's comments through his friend, Congressman Graves. When Cilley refused to receive the communication from Graves, Graves charged that Cilley was questioning Webb's honor and challenged him to a duel. Graves, accompanied by Kentucky congressman Richard Menefee and Virginia congressman Richard Wise asked Crittenden to serve as a second for Graves in the duel; Crittenden initially protested, but finally agreed. After two misses by both combatants, Cilley was killed on the third exchange. The House proposed the expulsion of Graves and the censure of the other participants (excluding Crittenden, who was a senator and not subject to House censure). The resolutions of expulsion and censure were eventually tabled, but Crittenden personally felt the sting of what he considered an indirect censure and later regretted his actions. ### Harrison and Tyler administrations In the 1840 presidential election, Crittenden again encouraged Kentucky Whigs to support the nomination of Henry Clay. During the balloting at the party's 1839 convention, candidates Clay and General Winfield Scott played cards with Crittenden and Whig politician George Evans at the Astor House hotel in New York City. When the group received word of William Henry Harrison's victory, Clay blamed his loss on Scott and struck him, with the blow landing on the shoulder which had been wounded during Scott's participation in the Battle of Lundy's Lane. Afterwards Clay had to be physically removed from the hotel room. Scott then sent Crittenden to Clay with Scott's challenge for a duel, but Crittenden reconciled them by convincing Clay to apologize. After Clay lost the nomination, Crittenden supported Harrison. Crittenden was re-elected to the Senate in 1840 even though he was widely expected to be named to a position in Harrison's cabinet. He was apparently given his choice of positions, and selected Attorney General. He resigned his Senate seat to take this post. As attorney general, Crittenden issued only one notable opinion. The plaintiff in the case was an individual whose property had been damaged during Andrew Jackson's invasion of what would become the Florida Territory in 1818. The case was still being adjudicated in 1841. A Florida court found in favor of the plaintiff and ordered the federal government to compensate him for the damages and to pay him interest on his claim from the time the damages were incurred. Treasury Secretary Thomas Ewing asked Crittenden whether the court had the authority to award interest and whether or not it should be paid. Crittenden opined that it did not, and Ewing did not pay the interest. Crittenden's opinion was used as a precedent in similar cases by future attorneys general. Only a week after being appointed by Harrison, Crittenden was dispatched to New York City to mediate tensions with Great Britain over the sinking of the steamboat Caroline by a group of Canadian militia, who were attempting to suppress a rebellion in Canada. In this diplomatic endeavor, Crittenden was acting separately from his official duties as attorney general. He spoke with New York governor William H. Seward and secured his promise to pardon Alexander McLeod, who had seized and burned the Caroline, if he were convicted of a crime in New York. Ultimately, McLeod was acquitted. Shortly after the Caroline affair, President Harrison died and Vice-president John Tyler ascended to the presidency. Tyler resisted Clay's attempts to set the Whig agenda, and vetoed two bank bills against Crittenden's advice. Crittenden and the other Whigs in Tyler's cabinet—excepting Daniel Webster—resigned in protest of Tyler's deviation from the traditional Whig agenda. Crittenden's resignation was effective September 11, 1841. He returned to Kentucky with no political office and very little money. A group of his friends in Woodford County purchased his boyhood home and presented it to him as a gift on his return to Kentucky. Crittenden was appointed to the United States Senate in 1842, filling the vacancy caused by Clay's resignation. In January 1843, he was elected to a full term over Richard Mentor Johnson. The Whigs' feud with President Tyler continued unabated, and some even talked of impeaching him, but Crittenden condemned that course of action. During the 27th and 28th Congresses, he served on the Committee on Military Affairs. He was an advocate of moderate protective tariffs and federal internal improvements. He opposed giving states the option to forgo apportionment, which would have allowed them to elect their congressmen at-large. ### Polk administration Crittenden again supported Clay's presidential bid in 1844. Clay was widely considered the favorite not only for the Whig nomination, but to win the general election. None of the traditional campaign issues—Tyler's "executive usurpation", Clay's "corrupt bargain" with John Quincy Adams, or the protective tariff—seemed to excite the electorate. However, the issue of the annexation of Texas changed the entire campaign. Clay made a tour of the South just before the Whig nominating convention and concluded that the sentiment in favor of annexation in that part of the country was not as strong as had been assumed in Washington, D.C. Acting on this belief, and against Crittenden's advice, Clay sent a letter opposing annexation to Crittenden, asking him to have it published in the National Intelligencer. Clay believed the Democrats would again nominate Martin Van Buren, who was ardently opposed to annexation, and this would keep annexation from becoming an issue in the campaign. Clay was nominated by acclamation at the Whig convention in Baltimore a week later. At the Democratic nominating convention a month later, however, Van Buren was unable to secure his party's nomination, and the Democrats instead nominated James K. Polk, who strongly favored annexation. Clay tried to moderate his views on annexation, but his changes of position drew opposition from supporters of both sides of the issue as he attempted to find a middle ground. Polk went on to win the election in a close race. This was the last time Clay would be nominated for president, and many Whigs believed that, following Clay's defeat, Crittenden was the new leader of their party. In 1845, the Senate took up the question of ending the joint occupancy of the Oregon Territory with Great Britain. Lewis Cass, a senator from Michigan, supported an immediate termination of the joint occupation agreement and maintained that a war with the British over the matter was inevitable. Crittenden disagreed, and insisted that Britain be given two years notice before the joint occupation of the territory was ended in order to allow time for a diplomatic resolution. Ultimately, Crittenden's position prevailed, and a compromise with Britain was effected, setting the dividing line between the two nations' claims at the 49th parallel north. In 1846, the United States entered the Mexican–American War in an attempt to gain control of Texas. Crittenden did not support the war, and after war was declared, he insisted that commissioners accompany the U.S. armies and attempt to broker peace at every opportunity. Throughout the war, he corresponded regularly with Generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. Crittenden's sons, George and Thomas, both served in the war; Thomas Crittenden served on Scott's staff. President Polk consulted Crittenden regarding the terms of peace that should be accepted to end the war. Crittenden insisted that the terms of peace should not include the acquisition of territory to which the United States did not have a "just claim", but the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo submitted to Congress in 1848 called for Mexico to give up its claims not only to Texas, but also to New Mexico, California, and all the territory in between. A few Whigs joined the Democratic majority in Congress to ratify the treaty and defeat the Wilmot Proviso, which would have banned slavery in the newly acquired territory. Friends encouraged Crittenden to run for president in the 1848 election. A Nashville newspaper declared its support for him as early as 1846. A Democratic senator from Rhode Island opined that Crittenden could win support from a sizable number of Democrats in addition to the support of his own party. George B. Kinkead desired to have the Kentucky General Assembly nominate Crittenden for president in 1847. None of these overtures swayed Crittenden. "For Heaven's sake don't talk to me about the Presidency", he said, rebuffing one early offer. Clay hoped Crittenden would again support him, but Crittenden concluded that Clay was no longer a viable candidate and threw his support behind Kentuckian Zachary Taylor. This decision caused a rift between the two friends, and they were not reconciled until years later when Clay lay on his deathbed. ### Campaigns of 1848 The Whig Party was also divided in Kentucky, not only between Clay and Taylor, but between gubernatorial candidates. William J. Graves, out of politics since his fatal shooting of Representative Cilley, had the backing of sitting Whig governor William Owsley, while Archibald Dixon had secured support from former Whig governor Robert P. Letcher. Letcher wrote to Crittenden that a Whig split and Democratic victory in the gubernatorial election would have an injurious effect on Whig hopes of carrying Kentucky in the 1848 presidential election; another former Whig governor, Thomas Metcalfe, concurred. At the Whig nominating convention, both Graves and Dixon withdrew their names and a delegate from Logan County put forward Crittenden's name without his consent. The nomination easily carried before Crittenden's friends could block it. The governorship was less prestigious and paid less than Crittenden's position in the Senate. He would also have to abandon his growing legal practice before the Supreme Court and would lose input on national issues of importance to him such as the territorial questions that grew out of the Mexican War. Nevertheless, he believed that his candidacy would unite the Whigs and help Taylor win Kentucky's electoral votes in the general election. He accepted the nomination a week after it was made. Elijah Hise, Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, was the leading candidate for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, but after the Whig nomination of Crittenden, Hise withdrew from consideration. The Democratic state convention then nominated Congressman Linn Boyd, but Boyd also declined the nomination. The Democrats were finally able to nominate Henderson lawyer Lazarus W. Powell. As Crittenden canvassed the state, his opponents charged him with disloyalty to Clay because he refused to support him in the 1848 election. Crittenden maintained that he supported Clay for the presidency over anyone else, but he had believed that Clay did not intend to seek the Whig nomination in 1848. After Clay announced his candidacy, Crittenden said, he remained neutral in the Whigs' choice. In the gubernatorial election, Crittenden defeated Powell by a vote of 65,860 to 57,397. He resigned his Senate seat to assume the governorship. With his own campaign at a close, Crittenden resumed direction of Taylor's presidential campaign, dispatching accomplished Whig speakers to all parts of the country. After Taylor was elected, he offered Crittenden the post of Secretary of State. Appeals came in from both Whig and Democratic leaders across the country urging him to serve in the cabinet; Taylor was inexperienced, and many felt that without Crittenden to guide him, his administration would fail. Taylor personally visited Crittenden in Frankfort on February 15, 1849, in hopes of persuading him to accept the appointment. Crittenden refused Taylor's overtures, and Taylor similarly rejected Crittenden's appeals to appoint his friend, Robert P. Letcher, as Postmaster General. Crittenden's input is believed to have contributed significantly to the appointments of John M. Clayton as Secretary of State and Orlando Brown as Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Crittenden's reasons for refusing Taylor's appointment were many. Partially, he declined out of respect for Clay's feelings and partially he felt it would be viewed in the same way as Clay and Adams' "corrupt bargain" in 1825. Resigning the governorship also would have amounted to admitting to the Democrats' charges that he only sought the office to help Taylor win the presidency. Finally, he had not been able to fully heal the breach in the Whig Party, and he wanted to remedy that situation. ### Gubernatorial administration During Crittenden's term, he gave strong support to superintendent of public education, Robert Jefferson Breckinridge, who would come to be known as the "Father of public school system in Kentucky." In response to Crittenden's call for financial support for the improvement of public education, the General Assembly passed a common school law on February 26, 1849. This law established guidelines for several public officials regarding their administration of the common schools. The Assembly also reserved tolls collected on the Kentucky, Green, and Barren rivers for education, and passed a two percent property tax to fund the state's schools. Crittenden ordered the refurbishing of the state penitentiary, which had been damaged by a fire, and called for an extensive state geological survey. He also advised the creation of a sinking fund to retire the state's debt. The state adopted a new constitution during Crittenden's term, though Crittenden was not a delegate to the constitutional convention and apparently had little influence on the drafting of the document. Most Whigs opposed the calling of a constitutional convention because it would necessarily involve reapportionment of the state's legislative districts and threaten Whig dominance in the General Assembly; nevertheless, Crittenden belatedly supported the call for a convention during his 1848 gubernatorial campaign. With the question of slavery becoming even more critical following the territorial acquisitions of the Mexican–American War, John C. Calhoun delivered an inflammatory address in December 1848 urging leaders of the southern states to resist "Northern aggression", even if it meant secession from the Union. Crittenden strongly denounced secession in his annual messages to the legislature in 1848 and 1849. In response, the state senate passed a resolution calling on Kentucky's citizens to cherish the Union and resist any efforts to secede. ### Second term as attorney general Vice President Millard Fillmore ascended to the presidency upon Taylor's death and offered Crittenden the post of Attorney General. Believing the rift in the Whig Party was now much improved, he accepted the offer and resigned the governorship in 1850. Fillmore, an opponent of slavery, requested an opinion from Crittenden on the constitutionality of the fugitive slave law, one of the bills involved in the Compromise of 1850. Specifically, he asked if the law suspended the writ of habeas corpus. Crittenden said that it did not, opining that it discharged a duty placed on Congress by the Constitution to return runaway slaves. Crittenden's opinion was probably motivated by a desire to see the Compromise pass and avert further sectional tension. Fillmore, his misgivings assuaged, signed the bill, keeping the Compromise intact. Questions regarding claims in Florida, some already considered by Crittenden during his first term as attorney general, continued during his second term. Specifically, some of the claimants objected to a legal provision, passed by Congress years after the Adams–Onís Treaty, that allowed the secretary of the treasury to refuse to pay claims awarded by Florida courts that he found not to be "just and equitable". The claimants contended that this allowed an executive officer to overrule a judicial decision in violation of the doctrine of separation of powers. Crittenden held that the secretary's ruling was just as much a judicial action as that of the Florida judges. Further, he reiterated his 1841 decision that no interest could be paid on claims arising from damages resulting from Jackson's invasion. Despite this opinion, a Florida judge awarded interest to one of the claimants, and the government appealed the case to the Supreme Court, with Crittenden serving as the government's counsel. The Court upheld Crittenden's entire opinion in its ruling. Crittenden was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Harvard University in 1851. Later that year, he acted as Secretary of State during the illness of Daniel Webster. In this capacity, he wrote a vigorous warning to both Britain and France about interfering in the question of Cuban independence. He also encouraged adherence to the United States' traditional policy of non-interference in Europe during the celebrated visit of Hungarian revolutionary Louis Kossuth to the United States in 1851. In November 1851, the General Assembly convened to elect a successor to Senator Joseph R. Underwood. Underwood, whose term would expire in 1853, desired re-election, and Whigs Charles S. Morehead and George Robertson had also announced their respective candidacies. Crittenden, whose term as attorney general also expired in 1853, had publicly announced that he wished to return to the Senate after his service in President Fillmore's cabinet, and upon learning this, Underwood and Morehead both withdrew from the race. Robertson was not expected to seriously challenge Crittenden, but following the withdrawals of the other candidates, Archibald Dixon entered the race. Historically an ally of Crittenden, Dixon's entrance into the race after Crittenden's announcement showed that he had switched his allegiance from Crittenden to Clay. Democrats, desirous to defeat Crittenden and embarrass the Whigs, pledged to vote against him at all costs, even if it meant electing Dixon. Crittenden's friends, therefore, held back his name from nomination to spare him almost certain defeat. Balloting deadlocked for several days, with Clay supporters throwing their support to Dixon, Robertson, and Lieutenant Governor John B. Thompson, a compromise candidate. Another compromise was proposed whereby Clay, his health failing, would resign his Senate seat, creating two Senate vacancies and allowing both Dixon and Crittenden to be elected, but Clay refused to cooperate. Finally, on the night of December 11, 1851, the Whigs met in caucus and agreed to withdraw both Dixon and Crittenden and elect Thompson. A week after the election, Clay resigned, but Crittenden now declined the appointment to fill his unexpired term. Instead, the legislature elected Dixon to the remainder of Clay's term, set to expire in March 1855. Three weeks before Clay's death in 1852, he sent for Crittenden, and the two were reconciled; Critteden delivered a eulogy for Clay in September 1852, publicly dispelling the feud. After Clay's death, Crittenden became the most prominent Whig leader in Kentucky. He encouraged the party to support the nomination of Millard Fillmore for the presidency in 1852, but the nomination ultimately went to Winfield Scott. Crittenden was proposed as the nominee for vice-president, but he declined. Democrats captured the governorship that year; this was harbinger of the demise of the Whig Party in Kentucky. ### Return to the Senate On February 27, 1853, the twice-widowed Crittenden married his third wife, Elizabeth Moss. Moss was also twice-widowed, most recently to General William Henry Ashley. Moss was Crittenden's wife until his death. Crittenden served as attorney general until the expiration of Fillmore's term in 1853. Following his service as attorney general, he returned to private life. He made a substantial amount of money establishing mining claims for his clients in the former Mexican territory. In 1853, the legislature was to elect a successor to Senator Dixon. Now satisfied that the feud between Clay and Crittenden had ended, Dixon did not seek re-election, leaving Crittenden with no Whig opposition. On a joint vote of the two houses of the General Assembly, Crittenden was elected 78–59 over governor Lazarus Powell. In the period between his election and his taking office, Crittenden was the lead defense counsel in the murder trial of Matt F. Ward, the son of one of Crittenden's lifelong friends. Ward's younger brother had been disciplined by the principal at Louisville Male High School the preceding November, and the elder Ward went to argue with the principal on behalf of his brother. In the ensuing encounter, Ward shot and killed the principal with a pistol. Public sentiment was heavily against Ward, and the trial was moved to Hardin County. During the week-long trial, which began in April 1854, Crittenden emphasized inconsistencies in the accounts of eyewitnesses and called prominent character witnesses such as Louisville mayor James Stephens Speed, Congressman William Preston, and Courier-Journal editor George D. Prentice. He presented a case that Ward had acted in self-defense. Because the prosecution sought the death penalty, Crittenden asserted that if the jury rendered an erroneous conviction, they would have no peace of mind knowing they had sentenced an innocent man to hang. There was a tremendous public outcry when Ward was found not guilty. Newspapers across the nation condemned the verdict and Crittenden for his role in securing it. Only Prentice, in the Courier-Journal, defended Crittenden and the Ward family. Several public meetings passed resolutions calling for Crittenden's resignation from the Senate. After one such meeting, a mob gathered and Crittenden, Prentice, the Wards, and the twelve jurors were burned in effigy. When he assumed his Senate seat in 1855, Crittenden was sixty-nine years old, the eldest member of that body. The Whig Party had practically dissolved by this time, and he joined many of his fellow Kentuckians in associating with the Know Nothing Party. Although he did not agree with all the party's principles, he would not associate with the Democrats, the party he had spent much of his career denouncing, nor would he associate with the new Republican Party because of their stance against slavery. Despite his misgivings about some of the party platform, he campaigned on behalf of Millard Fillmore, the party's candidate in the 1856 presidential election. Crittenden was present on May 22, 1856, when Congressman Preston Brooks attacked Senator Charles Sumner with a cane on the floor of the Senate. During the attack, Brooks's allies from the House, Laurence M. Keitt and Henry A. Edmundson, prevented witnesses from coming to Sumner's aid. Crittenden attempted to intervene, and pleaded with Brooks not to kill Sumner. Senator Robert Toombs then had to intercede for Crittenden, telling Keitt that it would be wrong to attack someone who was not a party to the Brooks-Sumner dispute, though Toombs also indicated later that he had no issue with Brooks beating Sumner, and in fact approved of it. In the early part of his term, Crittenden was concerned with quelling the violence in Kansas Territory. An opponent of the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854, Crittenden also opposed repealing the Missouri Compromise unless the North agreed to substitute popular sovereignty for the exclusion of slavery north of the 36°30' line. In early 1856, he proposed sending General Winfield Scott to the Kansas Territory to ensure that fair elections were held there, but the proposal was blocked by the Pierce administration. He did not agree with all of the act proposed by Toombs to allow for a constitutional convention in Kansas Territory, but he supported it as a step to bring peace there. He regarded the ratifications of both the Topeka Constitution and the Lecompton Constitution as invalid, and made one of the most highly regarded speeches of his career in opposition to the latter. His substitute bill that would have resubmitted the Lecompton Constitution to Kansas for another ratification vote was supported by Republicans, but it was ultimately defeated. So great was Crittenden's influence after his actions on the Kansas question that Abraham Lincoln felt that Crittenden's endorsement of Stephen Douglas cost Lincoln the Illinois senatorial election in 1858. ## Civil War From 1858 to 1860, Crittenden sought out moderates from all sections of the country to effect compromise on the territorial and slavery issues, thus averting war. In 1860, he was named chair of the National Union Executive Committee, a group of congressmen and journalists who feared that sectional differences would destroy the Union. His efforts helped form the Constitutional Union Party later that year. Chosen as the keynote speaker at the party's national convention on May 9, 1860, many urged him to become their nominee for president. At age seventy-three, however, Crittenden was already contemplating retirement and instead orchestrated the nomination of John Bell, whom he actively supported in the 1860 presidential race. Even after the election of Abraham Lincoln as president in 1860, Crittenden rejected the idea that secession was inevitable and continued to work for the preservation of the Union. He believed that the current sectional crisis could—like all past disagreements in U.S. history—be resolved through compromise. However, he believed that this compromise must not be a simple legislative action, which could be altered or even repealed by a successive Congress, but amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which would be much more difficult to change. To that end, he proposed the Crittenden Compromise—a package of six constitutional amendments and four congressional resolutions—in December 1860. Among the resolutions were a condemnation of Northern personal liberty laws and an assertion of the constitutionality of the fugitive slave law. The amendments would have restored the Missouri Compromise line and extended it to California as a line of demarcation between slave and free territories. Crittenden's other amendments would have further guaranteed that slavery would remain legal indefinitely in Washington, D.C., so long as it was legal in either Maryland or Virginia and that slaveholders would be reimbursed for runaway slaves. Also, the amendments denied Congress any power to interfere with the interstate slave trade or with slavery in the existing Southern states and made the fugitive slave law and Three-Fifths Compromise perpetual in duration. The compromise proposal was referred to a special committee proposed by Crittenden's fellow Kentucky senator, Lazarus Powell. Though it was believed that Republicans in general, including their representatives on the committee, were disposed to accept Crittenden's compromise or one substantially similar to it, President-elect Lincoln had already instructed his trusted allies in the legislature to resist any plan to extend slavery into the territories. Consequently, when the committee held its first meeting, the Republican members blocked Crittenden's plan and six others from coming to the floor for a vote. Despite their opposition, however, the Republicans presented no alternative plan. After the rejection of Crittenden's plan in committee, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia followed South Carolina's lead and passed ordinances of secession. On January 3, 1861, Crittenden tried to salvage his plan by recommending to the full Senate that it be submitted to the people in referendum. It was widely believed that a referendum would recommend adoption of Crittenden's plan, and Republicans in Congress used a variety of procedures to prevent a vote on allowing it. On January 16, with procedural delays exhausted, New Hampshire Senator Daniel Clark moved to substitute for Crittenden's plan a resolution stating that constitutional amendments were unnecessary to preserve the Union, and that enforcement of the Constitution and the present laws would eliminate the need for special sectional guarantees. With the senators from southern states (both those that had seceded and those that had not) refusing to vote, Republicans were left with a majority in the chamber and passed Clark's substitute resolution, effectively killing Crittenden's proposal. Crittenden remained in Washington for a few weeks after Congress adjourned. Having learned that John Archibald Campbell, an Alabamian serving on the Supreme Court, had decided to resign in light of his state's secession, President Lincoln proposed to appoint Crittenden to the vacant seat. Lincoln's cabinet approved, and the nomination papers were drafted, but Campbell belatedly reconsidered his resignation, and by the time he definitely determined to resign, Lincoln had changed his mind regarding Crittenden's nomination. Having failed to secure compromise at the federal level, Crittenden returned to Kentucky in early 1861, attempting to persuade his home state to reject the overtures of fellow southern states and remain in the Union. On May 10, 1861, a conference was held to decide Kentucky's course in the war. Crittenden joined Archibald Dixon and S. S. Nicholas as Unionist representatives at the conference; the Southern Rights position was represented by John C. Breckinridge, Governor Beriah Magoffin, and Richard Hawes. The conference failed to produce a united course of action, but adopted the policy of armed neutrality. Unionists in the legislature, however, feared that the state militia and its commander Simon Bolivar Buckner, had Confederate sympathies. To counter any threat that the militia would seize control of the state for the South, the General Assembly organized the Home Guard, a separate militia controlled by a five-man, pro-Union commission. Crittenden enlisted in the Home Guard as a private and was part of a group styled the "Union Defense Committee" that secured weapons for the Home Guard from the federal government. In April, the General Assembly called a border states convention to be held in Frankfort in May. Slates of delegates were nominated by both the Unionists and the Southern Rightists, but war broke out before the election of delegates; the Southern Rights delegates withdrew from the election, and the Unionist slate, including Crittenden, was chosen by default. On May 27, 1861, Crittenden was chosen chair of the convention and called it to order. With war having largely precluded any good the meeting could have accomplished, only nine of Kentucky's twelve delegates were present, along with four from Missouri (out of seven elected), and one from Tennessee (and his election was questionable); Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware sent no delegates. Ultimately, the convention accomplished little beyond calling on the southern states to reconsider their secession and on the northern states to moderate their demands. Against his father's wishes, Crittenden's son George resigned his position as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army to join the Confederate States Army (in which he was promoted to brigadier and then to major general), only to effectively lose his career in the early Confederate defeat at Mill Springs, Kentucky. George's brother, Thomas Leonidas Crittenden, had been a member of Buckner's State Guard, but joined the Union Army in September 1861 and was advanced to the rank of brigadier general, serving under Don Carlos Buell. Another son, Eugene, also served in the Union Army and attained the rank of colonel. One of John Crittenden's grandsons, John Crittenden Coleman, enlisted with the Confederate Army, while another grandson, John Crittenden Watson, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and participated in Union Rear Admiral David Farragut's capture of New Orleans during the war. ### Service in the House of Representatives and death President Lincoln called a special session of Congress to convene July 4, 1861, and Kentucky held special elections in June to select congressmen for the special session. Crittenden had expressed his desire to retire from public service and initially refused pleas to become a candidate, but he finally consented to run in late May. He was elected over secessionist candidate William E. Simms; in all, nine of Kentucky's ten congressional districts selected Unionist candidates in the special election. Upon taking his seat, he was assigned to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. On July 10, 1861, he accompanied Simon B. Buckner on a visit to President Lincoln to secure a renewed commitment from Lincoln to respect Kentucky's neutrality; Lincoln agreed only to issue a declaration that he had no present designs on Kentucky but would not commit to restrict his future actions. In order to calm the fears of border state citizens concerned about the Union's objectives in the war, he introduced the Crittenden–Johnson Resolution, which blamed the secessionist states for the war and stated that the object of the war was not the subjugation of those states, but the defense of the Constitution and the preservation of the Union. When those ends were achieved, the resolution stated, the war should cease. Kentucky Representative Henry C. Burnett asked that the question be divided. Burnett was one of only two votes against the portion of the resolution blaming the Southern states for the war; the only dissent on the remaining portion came from Wisconsin's John F. Potter and Ohio's Albert G. Riddle. In the Senate, the resolution passed 30–5, with Kentucky senators Breckinridge and Powell voting in the minority. In December 1861 the House refused, by a vote of 76–65, to reaffirm the resolution. After Congress adjourned in late July 1861, Crittenden returned home to Frankfort, but presently had to flee the city as Confederate generals Braxton Bragg and Edmund Kirby Smith invaded Kentucky, capturing both Frankfort and Lexington. He took up temporary residence at Louisville's Galt House hotel and was still residing there when Union General William "Bull" Nelson was killed by Brigadier General Jefferson C. Davis there in 1862. He returned to his home in Frankfort shortly after the Battle of Perryville drove the Confederates from the state on October 8, 1862. Returning for the regular congressional session, he became the conduit through which many reports of unconstitutional military arrests in Kentucky were channeled. He spoke against the admission of West Virginia to the Union on the grounds that Virginia had not consented to the creation of the state from its territory. He also opposed the Emancipation Proclamation and the use of slaves as soldiers in the war. When he returned to Kentucky following the 37th Congress, Crittenden's health was failing, and he frequently complained of shortness of breath and chest pain. He had determined to retire from Congress, but once again, friends persuaded him to stand for re-election. Shortly after his nomination, Crittenden and his wife were en route to an alum spring in Indiana to seek treatment to alleviate the symptoms of his failing health when he collapsed in Louisville. After remaining bedfast at the home of a local doctor, he returned home to Frankfort, where he died on July 26, 1863. He was interred at the State Cemetery in Frankfort. Among his other notable kinsmen were nephews Thomas Theodore Crittenden, congressman from Missouri, and Thomas Turpin Crittenden, a general in the Union Army. ## Legacy and honors - In Kentucky, Crittenden County and the town of Crittenden are named for him. - The World War II Liberty Ship SS John J. Crittenden was named in his honor. - Camp Floyd in Utah was renamed Fort Crittenden in his honor.
145,875	Stigand	1,151,660,883	11th-century Archbishop of Canterbury	[ "1072 deaths", "11th-century English Roman Catholic archbishops", "11th-century English Roman Catholic bishops", "Archbishops of Canterbury", "Bishops of Winchester", "Clergy from Norwich", "Year of birth unknown" ]	Stigand (died 1072) was an Anglo-Saxon churchman in pre-Norman Conquest England who became Archbishop of Canterbury. His birth date is unknown, but by 1020 he was serving as a royal chaplain and advisor. He was named Bishop of Elmham in 1043, and was later Bishop of Winchester and Archbishop of Canterbury. Stigand was an advisor to several members of the Anglo-Saxon and Norman English royal dynasties, serving six successive kings. Excommunicated by several popes for his pluralism in holding the two sees, or bishoprics, of Winchester and Canterbury concurrently, he was finally deposed in 1070, and his estates and personal wealth were confiscated by William the Conqueror. Stigand was imprisoned at Winchester, where he died. Stigand served King Cnut as a chaplain at a royal foundation at Ashingdon in 1020, and as an advisor then and later. He continued in his role of advisor during the reigns of Cnut's sons, Harold Harefoot and Harthacnut. When Cnut's stepson Edward the Confessor succeeded Harthacnut, Stigand in all probability became England's main administrator. Monastic writers of the time accused Stigand of extorting money and lands from the church, and by 1066 the only estates richer than Stigand's were the royal estates and those of Harold Godwinson. In 1043 Edward appointed Stigand to the see of Elmham. Four years later he was appointed to the see of Winchester, and then in 1052 to the archdiocese of Canterbury, which Stigand held jointly with Winchester. Five successive popes, including Nicholas II and Alexander II, excommunicated Stigand for holding both Winchester and Canterbury. Stigand was present at the deathbed of King Edward and at the coronation of Harold Godwinson as king of England in 1066. After Harold's death, Stigand submitted to William the Conqueror. On Christmas Day 1066 Ealdred, the Archbishop of York, crowned William King of England. Stigand's excommunication meant that he could only assist at the coronation. Despite growing pressure for his deposition, Stigand continued to attend the royal court and to consecrate bishops, until in 1070 he was deposed by papal legates and imprisoned at Winchester. His intransigence towards the papacy was used as propaganda by Norman advocates of the view that the English church was backward and needed reform. ## Early life Neither the year nor the date of Stigand's birth is known. He was born in East Anglia, possibly in Norwich, to an apparently prosperous family of mixed English and Scandinavian ancestry, as is shown by the fact that Stigand's name was Norse but his brother's was English. His brother Æthelmær, also a cleric, later succeeded Stigand as bishop of Elmham. His sister held land in Norwich, but her given name is unrecorded. Stigand first appears in the historical record in 1020 as a royal chaplain to King Cnut of England (reigned 1016–1035). In that year he was appointed to Cnut's church at Ashingdon, or Assandun, which was dedicated by the reforming bishop Wulfstan of York. Little is known of Stigand's life during Cnut's reign, but he must have had a place at the royal court, as he witnessed occasional charters. Following Cnut's death Stigand successively served Cnut's sons, Harold Harefoot (reigned 1035–1040) and Harthacnut (reigned 1040–1042). After Harthacnut died Stigand became an advisor to Emma of Normandy, Cnut's widow and the mother of Harthacnut and his successor Edward the Confessor. He may have been Emma's chaplain, and it is possible that Stigand was already one of her advisors while Cnut was alive, and that he owed his position at Ashingdon to Emma's influence and favour. Because little is known of Stigand's activities before his appointment as a bishop, it is difficult to determine to whom he owed his position. ## Bishop of Elmham and Winchester Stigand was appointed to the see of Elmham shortly after Edward the Confessor's coronation on 3 April 1043, probably on Emma's advice. This was the first episcopal appointment of Edward's reign. The diocese of Elmham covered East Anglia in eastern England, and was one of the poorer episcopal sees at that time. He was consecrated bishop in 1043, but later that year Edward deposed Stigand and deprived him of his wealth. During the next year, however, Edward returned Stigand to office. The reasons for the deposition are unknown, but it was probably connected to the simultaneous fall from power of the dowager queen, Emma. Some sources state that Emma had invited King Magnus I of Norway, a rival claimant to the English throne, to invade England and had offered her personal wealth to aid Magnus. Some suspected that Stigand had urged Emma to support Magnus, and claimed that his deposition was because of this. Contributing factors in Emma and Stigand's fall included Emma's wealth, and dislike of her political influence, which was linked to the reign of the unpopular Harthacnut. By 1046 Stigand had begun to witness charters of Edward the Confessor, showing that he was once again in royal favour. In 1047 Stigand was translated to the see of Winchester, but he retained Elmham until 1052. He may have owed the preferment to Earl Godwin of Wessex, the father-in-law of King Edward, although that is disputed by some historians. Emma, who had retired to Winchester after regaining Edward's favour, may also have influenced the appointment, either alone or in concert with Godwin. After his appointment to Winchester, Stigand was a witness to all the surviving charters of King Edward during the period 1047 to 1052. Some historians, such as Frank Barlow and Emma Mason, state that Stigand supported Earl Godwin in his quarrel with Edward the Confessor in 1051–1052; others, including Ian Walker, hold that he was neutral. Stigand, whether or not he was a supporter of Godwin's, did not go into exile with the earl. The quarrel started over a fight between Eustace of Boulogne, brother-in-law of the king, and men of the town of Dover. The king ordered Godwin to punish the town, and the earl refused. Continued pressure from Edward undermined Godwin's position, and the earl and his family fled England in 1051. The earl returned in 1052 with a substantial armed force but eventually reached a peaceful accord with the king. Some medieval sources state that Stigand took part in the negotiations that reached a peace between the king and his earl; the Canterbury manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle calls Stigand the king's chaplain and advisor during the negotiations. ## Archbishop of Canterbury ### Appointment to Canterbury and issues with the papacy The Archbishopric of Canterbury became drawn into the conflict between Edward and Godwin. Pope Leo IX was beginning a reform movement later known as the Gregorian Reform. Leo first focused on improving the clergy and prohibiting simony – the buying and selling of clerical and ecclesiastical offices. In 1049 Leo IX publicly pronounced that he would take more interest in English church matters and would investigate episcopal candidates more strictly before confirming them. When Archbishop Edsige of Canterbury died in 1051 the monks of the cathedral chapter elected Æthelric, a relative of Earl Godwin's, as archbishop. King Edward opposed the election and instead appointed Robert of Jumièges, who was Norman and already Bishop of London. Besides furthering Edward's quarrel with Godwin, the appointment signalled that there were limits to Edward's willingness to compromise on ecclesiastical reform. Although not known as a reformer before his appointment, Robert returned in 1051 from Rome, where he had gone to be confirmed by the papacy, and opposed the king's choice for Bishop of London on the grounds that the candidate was not suitable. Robert's attempts to recover church property that had been appropriated by Earl Godwin contributed to the quarrel between the earl and the king. When Godwin returned to England in 1052 Robert was outlawed and exiled, following which King Edward appointed Stigand to the archbishopric. The appointment was either a reward from Godwin for Stigand's support during the conflict with Edward or a reward from King Edward for successfully negotiating a peaceful conclusion to the crisis in 1052. Stigand was the first non-monk to be appointed to either English archbishopric since before the days of Dunstan (archbishop from 959 to 988). The papacy refused to recognise Stigand's elevation, as Robert was still alive and had not been deprived of office by a pope. Robert of Jumièges appealed to Leo IX, who summoned Stigand to Rome. When Stigand did not appear, he was excommunicated. Historian Nicholas Brooks holds the view that Stigand was not excommunicated at this time, but rather was ordered to refrain from any archiepiscopal functions, such as the consecration of bishops. He argues that in 1062 papal legates sat in council with Stigand, something they would not have done had he been excommunicated. The legates did nothing to alter Stigand's position either, although one of the legates later helped depose Stigand in 1070. However Pope Leo IX and his successors, Victor II and Stephen IX, continued to regard Stigand as uncanonically elected. Stigand did not travel to Rome to receive a pallium, the band worn around the neck that is the symbol of an archbishop's authority, from the pope. Travelling to Rome for the pallium had become a custom, practised by a number of his predecessors. Instead, some medieval chroniclers state that he used Robert of Jumièges' pallium. It is not known if Stigand even petitioned the papacy for a pallium soon after his appointment. Owing to the reform movement, Stigand probably knew the request would be unsuccessful. In 1058 Antipope Benedict X, who opposed much of the reform movement, gave Stigand a pallium. However, Benedict was deposed the following year; the reforming party declared Benedict an antipope, and nullified all his acts, including Stigand's pallium grant. The exact circumstances that led to Benedict granting a pallium are unknown, whether it was at Stigand's request or was given without prompting. After his translation to Canterbury, Stigand released Elmham to his brother Æthelmær but retained the bishopric of Winchester. Canterbury and Winchester were the two richest sees in England, and while precedent allowed the holding of a rich see along with a poor one, there was no precedent for holding two rich sees concurrently. He may have retained Winchester out of avarice, or his hold on Canterbury may not have been secure. Besides these, he held the abbey of Gloucester and the abbey of Ely and perhaps other abbeys also. Whatever his reasons, the retention of Winchester made Stigand a pluralist: the holder of more than one benefice at the same time. This was a practice that was targeted for elimination by the growing reform movement in the church. Five successive popes (Leo IX, Victor II, Stephen IX, Nicholas II and Alexander II) excommunicated Stigand for holding both Winchester and Canterbury at the same time. It has been suggested by the historian Emma Mason that Edward refused to remove Stigand because this would have undermined the royal prerogative to appoint bishops and archbishops without papal input. Further hurting Stigand's position, Pope Nicholas II in 1061 declared pluralism to be uncanonical unless approved by the pope. Stigand was later accused of simony by monastic chroniclers, but all such accusations date to after 1066, and are thus suspect owing to the post-Conquest desire to vilify the English Church as corrupt and backward. The medieval chronicler William of Poitiers also claimed that in 1052 Stigand agreed that William of Normandy, the future William the Conqueror, should succeed King Edward. This claim was used as propaganda after the Conquest, but according to the historian David Bates, among others, it is unlikely to be true. The position of Stigand as head of the church in England was used to good effect by the Normans in their propaganda before, during and after the Conquest. ### Ecclesiastical affairs The diocese of York took advantage of Stigand's difficulties with the papacy and encroached on the suffragans, or bishops owing obedience to an archbishop, normally subject to Canterbury. York had long been held in common with Worcester, but during the period when Stigand was excommunicated, the see of York also claimed oversight over the sees of Lichfield and Dorchester. In 1062 papal legates of Alexander II came to England. They did not depose Stigand, and even consulted with him and treated him as archbishop. He was allowed to attend the council they held and was an active participant with the legates in the business of the council. Many of the bishops in England did not want to be consecrated by Stigand. Both Giso of Wells and Walter of Hereford travelled to Rome to be consecrated by the pope in 1061, rather than be consecrated by Stigand. During the brief period that he held a legitimate pallium, however, Stigand did consecrate Aethelric of Selsey and Siward of Rochester. Abbots of monasteries came to Stigand for consecration throughout his time as archbishop. These included not only abbots from monastic houses inside his province, such as Æthelsige as abbot of St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury, but also Baldwin as Abbot of Bury St. Edmunds and Thurstan as Abbot of Ely. After the Norman Conquest, Stigand was accused of selling the office of abbot, but no abbot was deposed for buying the office, so the charge is suspect. Stigand was probably the most lavish clerical donor of his period, when great men gave to churches on an unprecedented scale. He was a benefactor to the Abbey of Ely, and gave large gold or silver crucifixes to Ely, St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury, Bury St. Edmunds Abbey, and to his cathedral church at Winchester. The crucifixes given to Ely, Bury and Winchester all appear to have had about life-size figures of Christ with matching figures of the Virgin and John the Evangelist, as is recorded in the monastic histories, and were probably permanently mounted over the altar or elsewhere. These would have been made with thin sheets of precious metal over a wooden core. No comparably early rood crosses with the side figures of Mary and John seem to survive, though we have large painted wooden crucifixes like the German Gero Cross of around 980, and the Volto Santo of Lucca (renewed with a later figure) which is known to have inspired Leofstan, Abbot of Bury (d. 1065) to create a similar figure, perhaps covered in precious metal, on his return from a visit to Rome. To Ely he gave gold and silver vessels for the altar, and a chasuble embroidered in gold "of such inestimable workmanship and worth, that none in the kingdom is considered richer or more valuable". Although it does not appear that Stigand ever travelled to Rome, there are indications that Stigand did go on pilgrimage. A 12th-century life of Saint Willibrord, written at the Abbey of Echternach in what is now Luxembourg, records that "to this place also came Stigand, the eminent archbishop of the English". In the work, Stigand is recorded as giving rich gifts to the abbey as well as relics of saints. ### Advisor to the king During Edward's reign, Stigand was an influential advisor at court and used his position to increase his own wealth as well as that of his friends and family. Contemporary valuations of the lands he controlled at the death of King Edward, as listed in Domesday Book, come to an annual income of about 2500 pounds. There is little evidence, however, that he enriched either Canterbury or Winchester. He also appointed his followers to sees within his diocese in 1058, having Siward named Bishop of Rochester and Æthelric installed as Bishop of Selsey. Between his holding of two sees and the appointment of his men to other sees in the southeast of England, Stigand was an important figure in defending the coastline against invasion. Stigand may have been in charge of the royal administration. He may also have been behind the effort to locate Edward the Atheling and his brother Edmund after 1052, possibly to secure a more acceptable heir to King Edward. His landholdings were spread across ten counties, and in some of those counties, his lands were larger than the king's holdings. Although Norman propagandists claimed that as early as 1051 or 1052 King Edward promised the throne of England to Duke William of Normandy, who later became King William the Conqueror, there is little contemporary evidence of such a promise from non-Norman sources. By 1053, Edward probably realised that he would not have a son from his marriage, and he and his advisors began to search for an heir. Edward the Atheling, the son of King Edmund Ironside (reigned 1016), had been exiled from England in 1017, after his father's death. Although Ealdred, the Bishop of Worcester, went to the Continent in search of Edward the Exile, Ian Walker, the biographer of King Harold Godwinson, feels that Stigand was behind the effort. In the end, although Edward did return to England, he died soon after his return, leaving a young son Edgar the Ætheling. ## Final years and legacy ### Norman Conquest King Edward, on his deathbed, left the crown to his brother-in-law Harold Godwinson, the son of Earl Godwin. Stigand performed the funeral services for Edward. Norman writers claimed that Stigand crowned Harold as king in January 1066. This is generally considered false propaganda, as it was in William's interest to portray Harold as uncanonically crowned. If Harold was improperly crowned, then William was merely claiming his rightful inheritance, and not deposing a rightful king. The Bayeux Tapestry depicts Stigand at Harold's coronation, although not actually placing the crown on Harold's head. The English sources claim that Ealdred, the Archbishop of York, crowned Harold, while the Norman sources claim that Stigand did so, with the conflict between the various sources probably tracing to the post-Conquest desire to vilify Harold and depict his coronation as improper. Current historical research has shown that the ceremony was performed by Ealdred, owing to the controversy about Stigand's position. However, one historian, Pauline Stafford, theorises that both archbishops may have consecrated Harold. Another historian, Frank Barlow, writing in 1979, felt that the fact that some of the English sources do not name who consecrated Harold "tip(s) the balance in favour of Stigand". Stigand did support Harold, and was present at Edward the Confessor's deathbed. Stigand's controversial position may have influenced Pope Alexander II's support of William the Conqueror's invasion of England. The reformers, led by Archdeacon Hildebrand, later Pope Gregory VII, opposed the older type of bishop, rich and installed by the lay powers. After the death of Harold at the Battle of Hastings, Stigand worked with Earl Edwin and Earl Morcar, as well as Archbishop Ealdred of York, to put Edgar the Ætheling on the throne. This plan did not come to fruition, however, due to opposition from the northern earls and some of the other bishops. Stigand submitted to William the Conqueror at Wallingford in early December 1066, and perhaps assisted at his coronation on Christmas Day, 1066, although the coronation was performed by Ealdred. William took Stigand with him to Normandy in 1067, although whether this was because William did not trust the archbishop, as the medieval chronicler William of Poitiers alleges, is uncertain. Stigand was present at the coronation of William's queen, Matilda, in 1068, although once more the ceremony was actually performed by Ealdred. ### Deposition and death After the first rebellions broke out in late 1067 William adopted a policy of conciliation towards the church. He gave Stigand a place at court, as well as giving administrative positions to Ealdred of York and Æthelwig, Abbot of Evesham. Archbishop Stigand appears on a number of royal charters in 1069, along with both Norman and English leaders. He even consecrated Remigius de Fécamp as Bishop of Dorchester in 1067. Once the danger of rebellion was past, however, William had no further need of Stigand. At a council held at Winchester at Easter 1070, the bishops met with papal legates from Alexander II. On 11 April 1070 Stigand was deposed by the papal legate, Ermenfroi, Bishop of Sion in the Alps, and was imprisoned at Winchester. His brother Æthelmær, Bishop of Elmham, was also deposed at the same council. Shortly afterwards Aethelric the Bishop of Selsey, Ethelwin the Bishop of Durham and Leofwin Bishop of Lichfield, who was married, were deposed at a council held at Windsor. There were three reasons given for Stigand's deposition: that he held the bishopric of Winchester in plurality with Canterbury; that he not only occupied Canterbury after Robert of Jumièges fled but also seized Robert's pallium which was left behind; and that he received his own pallium from Benedict X, an anti-pope. Some accounts state that Stigand did appear at the council which deposed him, but nothing is recorded of any defence that he attempted. The charges against his brother are nowhere stated, leading to a belief that the depositions were mainly political. That spring he had deposited his personal wealth at Ely Abbey for safekeeping, but King William confiscated it after his deposition, along with his estates. The king appointed Lanfranc, a native of Italy and a scholar and abbot in Normandy, as the new archbishop. King William appears to have left the initiative for Stigand's deposition to the papacy, and did nothing to hinder Stigand's authority until the papal legates arrived in England to depose the archbishop and reform the English Church. Besides witnessing charters and consecrating Remigius, Stigand appears to have been a member of the royal council, and able to move freely about the country. But after the arrival of the legates, William did nothing to protect Stigand from deposition, and the archbishop later accused the king of acting with bad faith. Stigand may even have been surprised that the legates wished him deposed. It was probably the death of Ealdred in 1069 that moved the pope to send the legates, as that left only one archbishop in England; and he was not considered legitimate and unable to consecrate bishops. The historian George Garnett draws the parallel between the treatment of King Harold in the Domesday Book of 1086, where he is essentially ignored as king, and Stigand's treatment after his deposition, where his time as archbishop is as much as possible treated as not occurring. Stigand died in 1072 while still imprisoned, and his death was commemorated on 21 February or 22 February. Sometime between his deposition and his death the widow of King Edward and sister of King Harold, Edith of Wessex, visited him in his imprisonment and allegedly told him to take better care of himself. He was buried in the Old Minster at Winchester. At King Edward's death, only the royal estates and the estates of Harold were larger and wealthier than those held by Stigand. Medieval writers condemned him for his greed and for his pluralism. Hugh the Chanter, a medieval chronicler, claimed that the confiscated wealth of Stigand helped keep King William on the throne. A recent study of his wealth and how it was earned shows that while he did engage in some exploitative methods to gain some of his wealth, other lands were gained through inheritance or through royal favour. The same study shows little evidence that he despoiled his episcopal estates, although the record towards monastic houses is more suspect. There is no complaint in contemporary records about his private life, and the accusations that he committed simony and was illiterate only date from the 12th century. Although monastic chroniclers after the Norman Conquest accused him of crimes such as perjury and homicide, they do not provide any evidence of those crimes. Almost 100 years after his death, another Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, was taunted in 1164 by King Henry II's barons with Stigand's fate for daring to oppose his king. Modern historians views tend to see him as either a wily politician and indifferent bishop or to see him purely in terms of his ecclesiastical failings. The historian Frank Stenton felt that his "whole career shows that he was essentially a politician". Concurring with this, the historian Nick Higham said that "Stigand was a seasoned politician whose career had been built on an accurate reading of the balance of power." Another historian, Eric John, said that "Stigand had a fair claim to be the worst bishop of Christendom". However, the historian Frank Barlow felt that "he was a man of cultured tastes, a patron of the arts who was generous to the monasteries which he held". Alexander Rumble argued that Stigand was unlucky in living past the Conquest, stating that it could be said that Stigand was "unlucky to live so long that he saw in his lifetime not only the end of the Anglo-Saxon state but also the challenging of uncanonical, but hitherto tolerated, practices by a wave of papal reforms".
12,284,552	Interstate 80 in Iowa	1,173,397,831	Highway in Iowa	[ "Interstate 80", "Interstate Highways in Iowa", "Transportation in Adair County, Iowa", "Transportation in Cass County, Iowa", "Transportation in Cedar County, Iowa", "Transportation in Dallas County, Iowa", "Transportation in Iowa County, Iowa", "Transportation in Jasper County, Iowa", "Transportation in Johnson County, Iowa", "Transportation in Madison County, Iowa", "Transportation in Muscatine County, Iowa", "Transportation in Polk County, Iowa", "Transportation in Pottawattamie County, Iowa", "Transportation in Poweshiek County, Iowa", "Transportation in Scott County, Iowa" ]	Interstate 80 (I-80) is a transcontinental Interstate Highway in the United States, stretching from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey. In Iowa, the highway travels west to east through the center of the state. It enters the state at the Missouri River in Council Bluffs and heads east through the southern Iowa drift plain. In the Des Moines metropolitan area, I-80 meets up with I-35 and the two routes bypass Des Moines together. On the northern side of Des Moines, the Interstates split and I-80 continues east. In eastern Iowa, it provides access to the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Northwest of the Quad Cities in Walcott is Iowa 80, the world's largest truck stop. I-80 passes along the northern edge of Davenport and Bettendorf and leaves Iowa via the Fred Schwengel Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River into Illinois. Before I-80 was planned, the route between Council Bluffs and Davenport, which passed through Des Moines, was vital to the state. Two competing auto trails, the Great White Way and the River-to-River Road, sought to be the best path to connect three of the state's major population centers. The two trails combined in the 1920s and eventually became US Highway 32 (US 32) in 1926. US 6, which had taken the place of US 32, became the busiest highway in the state. In the early 1950s, plans were drawn up for the construction of an Iowa Turnpike, to be the first modern four-lane highway in the state, along the US 6 corridor. Plans for the turnpike were shelved when the Interstate Highway System was created in 1956. Construction of I-80 took place for over 14 years. The first section of the Interstate opened on September 21, 1958, in the western suburbs of Des Moines. New sections of the highway opened up regularly over the next 12 years, even though construction in eastern Iowa was completed in 1966. The final piece of I-80 in Iowa, the Missouri River bridge to Omaha, Nebraska, opened on December 15, 1972. By the 1980s, I-80 had fallen into disrepair in Iowa and across the country. Federal funding was freed up in 1985 to allow reconstruction of the highway. ## Route description I-80 is the longest Interstate Highway in Iowa. It extends from west to east across the central portion of the state through the population centers of the Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area, Des Moines metropolitan area, and Quad Cities. The majority of the highway runs through farmland, yet roughly a third of Iowa's population live along the I-80 corridor. The route closely follows the Iowa Interstate Railroad, which was once the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Main Line in Iowa. ### Western Iowa I-80 enters Iowa on a bridge over the Missouri River, where it leaves Omaha, Nebraska, to enter Council Bluffs. Almost immediately after landing on the Iowa side of the bridge, it meets I-29 and US 6 at a Y interchange. At the interchange, I-80 splits into a local–express lane configuration. The inner express lanes do not provide any connection to I-29 nor to any of the intermediate interchanges between the two junctions with I-29. The outer local lanes are concurrent with I-29 through southern Council Bluffs for three miles (4.8 km). The speed limit through this section is 65 mph (105 km/h). The South 24th Street interchange serves a commercial area anchored by the Mid-America Center and Horseshoe Casino. The South Expressway exit, which previously marked the southern end of Iowa Highway 192 (Iowa 192), is adjacent to a big-box store commercial center. At the East System interchange in Council Bluffs; I-29 heads south while I-80 and US 6 head to the northeast. East of the I-29 split, I-80 travels northeast for the next 20 miles (32 km). It passes through eastern Council Bluffs where it serves a commercial/residential area. At exit 8, US 6 exits the freeway and heads west. The Interstate leaves Council Bluffs and speed limit increases to 70 mph (110 km/h). Here, I-80 roughly follows the course of Mosquito Creek past Underwood and Neola, both of which are served by interchanges. About two miles (3.2 km) of Neola, I-80 curves to the east as it meets the eastern end of I-880 at a directional T interchange. For the next 50 miles (80 km), I-80 runs in more or less a straight line. Interchanges occur at regular intervals; three to six miles (4.8 to 9.7 km) of Pottwattamie and Cass county farmland separate each exit from the next. Near Avoca, it crosses the West Nishnabotna River and meets US 59. East of the interchange, the Interstate crosses the eastern branch of the West Nishnabotna River. As I-80 approaches the area north of Atlantic, there are three interchanges, Iowa 173, County Road N16 (CR N16), and US 71, which serve the western, central, and eastern parts of the city, respectively. Iowa 173, which serves Atlantic by way of Iowa 83, also connects to Elk Horn and Kimballton. US 71, which continues north toward Carroll, carries US 6 traffic to the Interstate. At this point, US 6 begins the first of three instances when its traffic is routed along I-80. In the eastern part of Cass County, the two routes meet the northern end of Iowa 148. As I-80 and US 6 approach Adair, the highways curve slightly to the south to bypass the community. There are two interchanges in Adair; both of the intersecting roads, at one time or another, carried US 6. CR G30, the White Pole Road, was the original alignment of US 6, while CR N54 has not carried US 6 since 1980. Further east is an interchange with Iowa 25. About one mile (1.6 km) south of the interchange is Freedom Rock. Each year for Memorial Day, the rock is repainted with a patriotic scene by local artist Ray "Bubba" Sorenson II. Near Dexter, I-80 and US 6 graze the northwestern corner of Madison County. After two miles (3.2 km), the routes enter Dallas County and meet CR F60, another former alignment of US 6. ### Central Iowa Continuing east, the two routes follow a due-east section of highway, where they pass Earlham. Near the CR F90/CR P58 interchange, they start heading northeast towards Des Moines. At De Soto, US 6 splits away from I-80 at the interchange with US 169. Tourists who want to see the covered bridges of Madison County (made famous by the book The Bridges of Madison County) and the birthplace of John Wayne, are directed to follow US 169 south to Winterset. Between De Soto and Van Meter, the Interstate crosses the middle and north branches of the Raccoon River, which converge just south of the crossing of the North Raccoon River. As the highway gets closer to Des Moines, it moves more sharply to the northeast. In southern Waukee, there is an interchange with Grand Prairie Parkway, the first diverging diamond interchange in the state. As I-80 enters West Des Moines, the speed limit lowers to 65 mph (105 km/h) and the path of the Interstate straightens out to the east at the Jordan Creek Parkway exit. The highway adds a third lane eastbound and drops the third lane westbound. Almost two miles (3.2 km) to the east is the interchange with I-35, which also marks the beginning of I-235. Eastbound I-80 exits the freeway via a flyover ramp to northbound I-35; eastbound I-235 begins as the continuation of the I-80 freeway. Locally, this exit is called the West Mixmaster. I-80 shares the next 14 miles (23 km) with I-35 on a six-lane freeway where each direction's three lanes are separated by a Jersey barrier. They begin their journey together by heading north; they briefly run through West Des Moines and then cross into Clive at University Avenue. At the Clive–Urbandale city limits is the interchange with Hickman Road, which carries US 6. Hickman Road serves a truck stop to the west and the Living History Farms visitor center to the east. The two Interstates continue north through Urbandale where they pass Douglas Avenue. The Iowa 141 exit is at Rider Corner, the point where the I-35/I-80 freeway curves 90 degrees to the east. East of the 86th Street exit, the freeway begins a slow descent toward the Des Moines River. Merle Hay Road, named for the first Iowan to die in World War I, carries Iowa 28 from the south to its northern end at the Interstates. They cross the Des Moines River just south of the mouth of Beaver Creek. Four miles (6.4 km) to the east is Iowa 415 and one mile (1.6 km) further east is US 69. Between the interchanges there is a fourth lane in each direction. At the end of their 14 miles (23 km) together, I-35 exits to the north and I-235's eastern end is to the south at the East Mixmaster. East of I-35, I-80 meets up with US 65 on the outskirts of Altoona. The two routes only share the highway for one mile (1.6 km) as US 65 splits away at the next exit. Here, US 6 rejoins I-80 for the second time and the Interstate returns to its four-lane configuration. After a third exit for Altoona, the Interstate resumes its 70-mile-per-hour (110 km/h) rural limit. Near Colfax, the highways cross the South Skunk River. After an interchange with Iowa 117, the highway is forced to the north to avoid crossing the river multiple times. As it returns south to its original line, it meets CR F48, which was another former alignment of US 6. At the Iowa 14 exit in Newton, US 6 exits off the Interstate. East of Newton is an interchange that serves the Iowa Speedway. Five miles (8.0 km) east of the speedway is an exit for Iowa 224 which connects to Kellogg. After this interchange, the highway curves to the northeast and descends a hill to cross the North Skunk River. Shortly after the river, it curves back to the east and climbs up the hill. As the road straightens out, it begins a 35-mile-long (56 km) stretch of straight highway. Between the river and the Iowa 146 exit south of Grinnell, the farmland that surrounds the Interstate undulates. Past Grinnell, it passes through the footprint of the North English wind farm, with rows of turbines running parallel to the route. Just south of Malcom, it meets US 63. Further east, at exit 201 for Iowa 21, there are competing truck stops on either side of the freeway. ### Eastern Iowa Now in Iowa County, I-80 continues toward the eastern end of the 50-mile (80 km) stretch of straight highway. It turns slightly to the southeast near the Ladora exit and straightens again at the Marengo interchange, where Kinze Manufacturing, a farm implement manufacturer, advertises its business to passing travelers by arranging farm implements into sculptures. A few miles east, in Williamsburg, is the northern end of Iowa 149. The Williamsburg exit is the location of a Tanger Outlet Mall. The next interchange marks the southern end of US 151. Both the Iowa 149 and US 151 interchanges serve the Amana Colonies which are located 10 miles (16 km) to the north. As I-80 enters the Iowa City area, the speed limit drops to 65 mph (105 km/h). On the edge of Coralville is an interchange with US 218 and Iowa 27. This interchange is also the beginning of I-380, which heads north along US 218 and Iowa 27 toward Cedar Rapids and Waterloo. The I-80/I-380 interchange was identified as the most likely location in Iowa for a semi-trailer truck to overturn. According to the American Transportation Research Institute, 30 trucks rolled over at the interchange during the eight-year study period. The Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) has plans to replace the cloverleaf interchange with a turbine interchange, but the project would not take place until around 2025. At the I-380 interchange, I-80 becomes a six-lane freeway. The Coral Ridge Avenue exit provides access to US 6, which passes beneath the Interstate just before the interchange, and the eponymous shopping center located to the southeast. The 1st Avenue exit in Coralville and Dubuque Street exit in Iowa City direct University of Iowa traffic to different parts of the university campus. The Iowa River flows between the two interchanges and also marks the boundary between Coralville and Iowa City. On Iowa City's east side are the Iowa 1 and Herbert Hoover Highway exits. Between them, the highway drops back to four lanes and the speed limit increases to 70 mph (110 km/h). As it enters Cedar County, it passes West Branch, the birthplace of and site of the library and museum of President Herbert Hoover. It approaches the Cedar River near the village of Rochester. Just east of the river crossing, Iowa 38 joins I-80 from the north. The county road that continues to the south from Iowa 38 leads to Moscow. The two highways travel together for four miles (6.4 km) until they reach the Wilton area. Here, Iowa 38 exits to the south, while US 6 joins I-80 for the last time. Before reaching the Quad Cities, I-80 passes Walcott and Iowa 80, which is self-billed as the "World's Largest Truck Stop". The 65-acre (26 ha) truck stop has three restaurants, a gift shop, movie theater, museum, barber shop, and dentist on site. On average, the truck stop has served more than 1.4 million customers per year since it opened in 1965. As I-80 and US 6 approach the Quad Cities, the speed limit drops to 65 mph (105 km/h) for the final time. Just within the city limits of Davenport is the I-280 interchange. US 6 exits to the south to join I-280 while I-80 is joined by US 61. I-80 and US 61 only share five miles (8.0 km) of freeway before US 61 exits to its own freeway heading north. In between the two exits is an interchange with Northwest Boulevard, which marks the eastern end of Iowa 130. A couple miles east of the eastern US 61 interchange is the western end of I-74. Because of a "turn off to stay on" interchange with I-74 and I-280 near Colona, Illinois, called "the Big X", I-74 through traffic is urged to use I-80 around the Quad Cities to the Big X. At the Big X, traffic from both I-74 and I-80 must exit their respective freeways to continue on the same route. Near the Mississippi River, the Interstate takes a sharp curve to the southeast to line up perpendicularly to the river. Just before the base of the bridge is an interchange with US 67, the last exit in Iowa. I-80 ends its 306-mile-long (492 km) journey through Iowa over the Mississippi River on the Fred Schwengel Memorial Bridge. It enters rural Rock Island County, Illinois, and continues toward Chicago, Illinois. ### Services The Iowa DOT operates 37 rest areas and one scenic overlook in 20 locations along its 780 miles (1,260 km) of Interstate highway. Along I-80, there are nine locations that have facilities for each direction of traffic. Parking areas are divided so passenger automobiles are separated from large semitrailer trucks. Common among all of the rest stops are separate men's and women's restrooms, payphones with TDD capabilities, weather reporting kiosks, vending machines, and free wireless internet. Many stations have family restrooms and dump stations for recreational vehicles. The first rest areas along Iowa's Interstates were built in the 1960s. They were modest facilities; separate buildings housed the restrooms and vending machines. A few rest stops had another building with local tourist information. On August 4, 1999, the first modern rest area opened along eastbound I-80 near Wilton. The new facilities feature one large building housing as many as 28 more toilets than the older buildings, in addition to all the other common rest area amenities. They also feature artwork by local Iowa artists. Each new rest area is designed around a theme. For instance, the facility near Adair is a tribute to the life of Henry A. Wallace, the 33rd Vice President of the United States, who was born in nearby Orient. ## History Since before the Iowa Primary Highway System was created in 1920, the Council Bluffs-to-Davenport, by way of Des Moines, corridor has always been important. Two roughly parallel auto trails, the Great White Way and the River-to-River Road, served cross-state traffic. The two routes were merged into one route, the Whiteway Highway, in 1922. Four years later, the Whiteway Highway would become US 32. The US 32 designation was absorbed into an extended US 6 in 1931. Previously, US 6 had existed only in the Northeastern United States. Within 10 years, US 6 was the most-traveled road in Iowa, with an average of "1,920 cars a day at any given rural point". ### Iowa Turnpike In 1954, Coverdale & Colpitts, a New York City-based engineering firm working on behalf of the Iowa State Highway Commission, reported on the feasibility of building an east–west toll road, to be called the Iowa Turnpike, across the state. The firm found that the turnpike should closely parallel US 6 between Council Bluffs and Davenport. They concluded that the turnpike could be economically possible if \$180 million (equivalent to \$ in ) in revenue bonds were issued at interest rates no higher than 3.5 percent. In early March 1955, the Iowa General Assembly debated the pros and cons on building a toll road. Proponents of the turnpike said it would be a self-financing project. The feasibility report suggested tolls of 1.5 cents per mile (0.93 ¢/km) (equivalent to Error in convert: Needs the number to be converted (help) in ). It was estimated that, in 1953, the turnpike could have generated \$5.9 million (equivalent to \$ in ). If traffic levels were not high enough to raise enough revenue, as the opponents of the project worried, the state would end up paying for the project, thus defeating the purpose of a toll road. The proposed highway was to run from Illinois Route 80 near Port Byron, Illinois, which ran along the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, over a new bridge into Iowa. It would then span 298 miles (480 km) across the state to the South Omaha Bridge where US 275 crossed the Missouri River. The entire route was to be in close proximity to US 6 across the state. It was to be the first modern four-lane highway in the state, with 12-foot-wide (3.7 m) lanes and an at least 15-foot-wide (4.6 m) grassy median. Along the route, 16 interchanges were planned. Most interchanges were to be located near population centers; an option to build a 17th near Grinnell, if necessary, was included. Eight service areas, similar in quality to those found on the Pennsylvania and New Jersey turnpikes, were planned as well. On April 29, 1955, an enabling act, which created the Iowa Toll Road Authority, came into effect giving the authority the power to further study the feasibility of building a turnpike across the state. Before any construction was to begin, the authority was tasked with developing working relationships with neighboring states' toll road authorities. A provision in the enabling act prevented Iowa from issuing toll road bonds before neighboring states had issued similar bonds. Plans were stalled while Illinois's toll road commission worked out litigation regarding the financing of its bonds. Illinois was the only neighboring state to have a toll-road-planning body. Construction on the Iowa Turnpike never began. In January 1956, the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 (H.R. 8836) was introduced in Congress. H.R. 8836 created the Interstate Highway System, a national system of controlled-access highways. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the bill into law on June 29, 1956. The new law was problematic for the Iowa Turnpike for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the law designated 700 miles (1,100 km) of controlled-access highway in Iowa, including a cross-state route in the vicinity of the turnpike's planned route. Secondly, the federal government was going to pay for 90 percent of the construction costs; states were only required to match 10 percent of costs (however, tolls were generally prohibited). The Interstate Highway System's completeness and financing rendered the Iowa Turnpike obsolete before it was ever constructed. ### Construction The first section of I-80 to open for traffic, 2+1⁄2 miles (4.0 km) from the West Mixmaster to the Douglas Avenue interchange in Urbandale, opened on September 21, 1958. By the end of November 1959, the new Interstate extended around the north side of Des Moines to US 69. Within a year, the East Mixmaster, where I-35 splits away to the north, was opened. By the end of 1960, 40 miles (64 km) from US 71 north of Atlantic to US 6 near Dexter, 20 miles (32 km) from I-35 to US 6 west of Newton, and 28 miles (45 km) from Iowa 38 near the Cedar River to US 61 in Davenport had opened to traffic. In eastern Iowa, new sections of road were opened in series. 1962 saw the eastern section extended 20 miles west to Iowa City and the central section was extended 25 miles (40 km) east to Grinnell. Iowa City's section of interstate was completed on November 15, 1963. A 60-mile-long (97 km) section, the longest section to be opened at one time, connected the two sections in October 1964. The easternmost section of I-80, from US 61 to US 67 at the Mississippi River, opened a month later. This gave travelers nearly 185 miles (298 km) of uninterrupted freeway driving. Construction then moved to the western half of the state. A new 20-mile-long (32 km) section from US 71 west to US 59 north of Avoca opened in December 1965. A year later, the Interstate was 90 percent completed when two stretches, a 50-mile-long (80 km) stretch from US 59 to I-29, which included 16 miles (26 km) of I-80N and the missing 25-mile-long (40 km) section between the western section and Des Moines, each opened to traffic. Sections of I-80 in the Council Bluffs area did not open for another couple years. A short section between Madison Avenue and US 6 opened in 1968. The Interstate was completed from the eastern junction with I-29 to I-80N in late December 1969. On both sides of the state, the respective river crossings opened to traffic nearly two years later than the connecting highways. Near LeClaire, the Fred Schwengel Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River opened in 1966 after the highway had been completed to US 67, which runs at the foot of the bridge, in 1964. The center span of the Mississippi River bridge was installed on June 29, 1966. The 237-foot-long (72 m), 520-short-ton (470 t; 460-long-ton) piece was floated into place by barge. In Council Bluffs, the Missouri River crossing opened on December 15, 1972, while the approach to the bridge opened in November 1970. The Missouri River bridge's completion marked the end of the 14 years it took to construct I-80. ### Reconstruction As early as the 1980s, traffic levels on I-80 reached the road's design capacity. As a result, the highway required significant repairs for which Iowa's Interstate maintenance program lacked funding. A 16.2-mile-long (26.1 km) section from CR F90 between Earlham and the western junction with I-35 needed \$500,000 in annual repairs (equivalent to \$ in ). Funds for needed Interstate repair became available in 1985 when President Ronald Reagan signed a bill that freed up \$7 billion from the Highway Trust Fund (equivalent to \$ in ), the national mechanism for funding repairs to the Interstate Highway System. Under the law, Iowa was slated to receive \$200 million per year for its Interstates (equivalent to \$ in ). Reconstruction across the state took place in phases. Road crews worked in roughly 15-mile-long (24 km) zones divided into smaller sections. In each section, one direction of highway was closed while the other direction became a two-lane, two-direction road. When one section was completed, the crew would move on to the next section, preventing the entire zone from being closed at once. Iowa was not alone in the required repairs to I-80. The American Automobile Association reported that nearly every state along I-80 had reports of road work. In Iowa, though, there were two sections in 1988 which were particularly troublesome for travelers. The I-680 interchange near Neola was closed, so I-680-bound traffic was forced to travel through Neola on Iowa 191 to reach that highway. Another bottleneck occurred near Williamsburg, where it was a two-lane road for six miles (9.7 km). Another problem for travelers hoping to avoid the construction on I-80 was the lack of east–west, four-lane highways in Iowa. At the time, the nearest Interstates, I-70 and I-90 were far across state lines in Missouri and Minnesota, respectively. One traveler, interviewed by The Des Moines Register, who was traveling back to Iowa from New York, sought to avoid I-80's construction woes entirely by driving through Canada. ## Exit list ## See also - 80/35 Music Festival
33,422	Wayne Gretzky	1,170,757,132	Canadian ice hockey player and coach	[ "1961 births", "21st-century Canadian businesspeople", "Arizona Coyotes coaches", "Art Ross Trophy winners", "Businesspeople from Ontario", "Canadian businesspeople in retailing", "Canadian emigrants to the United States", "Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States", "Canadian ice hockey centres", "Canadian ice hockey coaches", "Canadian manufacturing businesspeople", "Canadian people of Belarusian descent", "Canadian people of Polish descent", "Canadian people of Ukrainian descent", "Canadian philanthropists", "Canadian restaurateurs", "Companions of the Order of Canada", "Conn Smythe Trophy winners", "Edmonton Oilers (WHA) players", "Edmonton Oilers executives", "Edmonton Oilers players", "Gretzky family", "Hart Memorial Trophy winners", "Hockey Hall of Fame inductees", "IIHF Hall of Fame inductees", "Ice hockey people from Brantford", "Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics", "Indianapolis Racers players", "Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winners", "Lester B. Pearson Award winners", "Lester Patrick Trophy recipients", "Living people", "Los Angeles Kings players", "National Hockey League All-Stars", "National Hockey League executives", "National Hockey League owners", "National Hockey League players with retired numbers", "New York Rangers players", "Olympic cauldron lighters", "Olympic ice hockey players for Canada", "Order of Hockey in Canada recipients", "Owners of Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winners", "Peterborough Petes (ice hockey) players", "Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds players", "St. Louis Blues players", "Stanley Cup champions", "Toronto Argonauts owners", "Wayne Gretzky" ]	Wayne Douglas Gretzky CC (/ˈɡrɛtski/ GRET-skee; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One", he has been called the greatest ice hockey player ever by many sportswriters, players, The Hockey News, and by the NHL itself, based on extensive surveys of hockey writers, ex-players, general managers and coaches. Gretzky is the leading goal scorer, assist producer and point scorer in NHL history, and has more career assists than any other player has total points. He is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season, a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, Gretzky tallied over 100 points in 15 professional seasons, 13 of them consecutive. At the time of his retirement in 1999, he held 61 NHL records: 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and 6 All-Star records. Born and raised in Brantford, Ontario, Gretzky honed his skills on a backyard rink and regularly played minor hockey at a level far above his peers. Despite his unimpressive size and strength, Gretzky's intelligence, stamina, and reading of the game were unrivaled. He was adept at dodging checks from opposing players, and consistently anticipated where the puck was going to be and executed the right move at the right time. Gretzky became known for setting up behind his opponent's net, an area that was nicknamed "Gretzky's office". Gretzky was the top scorer in the 1978 World Junior Championships. In June 1978, he signed with the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association (WHA), where he briefly played before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers. When the WHA folded, the Oilers joined the NHL, where he established many scoring records and led his team to four Stanley Cup championships. Gretzky's trade to the Los Angeles Kings on August 9, 1988, had an immediate impact on the team's performance, ultimately leading them to the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals, and he is credited with popularizing hockey in California. Gretzky played briefly for the St. Louis Blues before finishing his career with the New York Rangers. Gretzky captured nine Hart Trophies as the most valuable player, 10 Art Ross Trophies for most points in a season, two Conn Smythe Trophies as playoff MVP and five Lester B. Pearson Awards (now called the Ted Lindsay Award) for most outstanding player as judged by his peers. He led the league in goal-scoring five times and assists 16 times. He also won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship and performance five times, and often spoke out against fighting in hockey. After his retirement in 1999, Gretzky was immediately inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, making him the most recent player to have the waiting period waived. The NHL retired his jersey number 99 league-wide. Gretzky was one of six players voted to the International Ice Hockey Federation's (IIHF) Centennial All-Star Team. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2000, and received the Order of Hockey in Canada in 2012. Gretzky became executive director for the Canadian national men's hockey team during the 2002 Winter Olympics, in which the team won a gold medal. In 2000, he became part-owner of the Phoenix Coyotes, and following the 2004–05 NHL lock-out, he became the team's head coach. In 2004, Gretzky was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. In September 2009, following the Phoenix Coyotes' bankruptcy, Gretzky resigned as head coach and relinquished his ownership share. In October 2016, he returned to the Oilers as a minority partner and vice-chairman of their parent company, Oilers Entertainment Group. He left in 2021 to become an analyst on Turner Sports' NHL coverage. ## Early years Wayne Douglas Gretzky was born on January 26, 1961, in Brantford, Ontario, the son of Phyllis Leone (Hockin) and Walter Gretzky. The couple married in 1960, and lived in an apartment in Brantford, where Walter worked for Bell Telephone Canada. The family moved into a house on Varadi Avenue in Brantford seven months after Wayne was born, chosen partly because its yard was flat enough to make an ice rink in winter. Wayne was joined by a sister, Kim (born 1963), and brothers Keith, Glen and Brent. The family regularly visited the farm of Wayne's grandparents, Tony and Mary, and watched Hockey Night in Canada together. By age two, Wayne was trying to score goals against Mary using a souvenir stick. The farm was where Wayne skated on ice for the first time, aged two years, 10 months. Walter taught Wayne, Keith, Brent, Glen and their friends hockey on a rink he made in the back yard of the family home, nicknamed the "Wally Coliseum". Drills included skating around Javex bleach bottles and tin cans, and flipping pucks over scattered hockey sticks to be able to pick up the puck again in full flight. Additionally, Walter gave the advice to "skate where the puck's going, not where it's been". Wayne was a classic prodigy whose extraordinary skills made him the target of jealous parents. The team Gretzky played on at age six was otherwise composed of 10-year-olds. His first coach, Dick Martin, remarked that he handled the puck better than the 10-year-olds. According to Martin, "Wayne was so good that you could have a boy of your own who was a tremendous hockey player, and he'd get overlooked because of what the Gretzky kid was doing." The sweaters for 10-year-olds were far too large for Gretzky, who coped by tucking the sweater into his pants on the right side. Gretzky continued doing this throughout his NHL career. By age 10, Gretzky had scored an astonishing 378 goals and 139 assists in just one season with the Brantford Nadrofsky Steelers. His play attracted media attention beyond his hometown of Brantford, including a profile by John Iaboni in the Toronto Telegram in October 1971. In the 1974 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament, Gretzky scored 26 points playing for Brantford. By age 13, he had scored over 1,000 goals. His play attracted considerable negative attention from other players' parents, including those of his teammates, and he was often booed. According to Walter, the "capper" was being booed on "Brantford Day" at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens in February 1975. When Gretzky was 14, his family arranged for him to move to and play hockey in Toronto, partly to further his career, and partly to remove him from the uncomfortable pressure he faced in his hometown. The Gretzkys had to legally challenge the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association to win Wayne the right to play in a different area, which was disallowed at the time. The Gretzkys won, and Wayne played Junior B hockey with the Toronto Nationals, in a league that included 20-year-olds. He earned Rookie of the Year honours in the Metro Junior B Hockey League in 1975–76, with 60 points in 28 games. The following year, as a 15–16-year-old, he had 72 points in 32 games with the same team, renamed the Seneca Nationals. Despite his offensive statistics—scoring 132 points in 60 games in Junior B—two teams bypassed him in the 1977 Ontario Major Junior Hockey League draft of 16-year-olds. The Oshawa Generals picked Tom McCarthy first, and the Niagara Falls Flyers picked Steve Peters second overall. With the third pick, the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds selected Gretzky, even though Walter Gretzky had told the team Wayne would not move to Sault Ste. Marie, a northern Ontario city that inflicts a heavy travelling schedule on its junior team. The Gretzkys made an arrangement with a local family they knew and Wayne played for the Greyhounds, at age 16. It was with the Greyhounds that Gretzky first wore the number 99 on his jersey. He originally wanted to wear number 9—for his hockey hero Gordie Howe—but it was already being worn by teammate Brian Gualazzi. At coach Muzz MacPherson's suggestion, Gretzky settled on 99. ## World Hockey Association By 1978, the World Hockey Association, which had been in competition with the established NHL since 1972, was clearly struggling. The league, which at one point iced fourteen teams, was down to seven surviving franchises. The WHA had long sought to arrange some sort of merger with the NHL, but were constantly rebuffed by a group of hardline owners in the older league. With the WHA's long-term survival obviously in doubt, Birmingham Bulls owner John F. Bassett believed the only way to gain meaningful leverage over the NHL was to sign as many young and promising superstars as possible. The NHL did not allow the signing of players under age 20, but the WHA had no rules regarding such signings. Bassett saw Gretzky as the most promising young prospect. Several WHA teams courted Gretzky, notably the Bulls and the Indianapolis Racers. Ultimately, it was Racers owner Nelson Skalbania who, on June 12, 1978, signed 17-year-old Gretzky to a seven-year personal services contract worth US\$1.75 million. Skalbania opted to have Gretzky sign a personal-services contract rather than a standard player contract in part because by that point it was well known that a majority of NHL owners, if not yet the 3⁄4 required to add new NHL franchises, were willing to absorb at least some WHA teams. While Skalbania knew it was unlikely the Racers would be one of these teams (in part because the WHA insisted that all of its surviving Canadian teams be included), he still hoped to keep the Racers alive long enough to collect compensation from the surviving teams when the WHA dissolved, as well as any funds earned from selling the young star. Gretzky scored his first professional goal against Dave Dryden of the Edmonton Oilers in his fifth game, and his second goal four seconds later. However, he played only eight games for Indianapolis. The Racers were losing \$40,000 per game. Skalbania told Gretzky he would be moved, offering him a choice between the Edmonton Oilers and the Winnipeg Jets. On the advice of his agent, Gretzky picked the Oilers, but the move was not that simple. On November 2, Gretzky, goaltender Eddie Mio and forward Peter Driscoll were put on a private plane, not knowing where they would land and what team they would be joining. While in the air, Skalbania worked on the deal. Skalbania offered to play a game of backgammon with Winnipeg owner Michael Gobuty, the stakes being if Gobuty won, he would get Gretzky and if he lost, he had to give Skalbania a share of the Jets. Gobuty turned down the proposal and the players landed in Edmonton. Mio paid the \$4,000 bill for the flight with his credit card. Skalbania sold Gretzky, Mio and Driscoll to Oilers owner Peter Pocklington, a former business partner. Although the announced price was \$850,000, Pocklington actually paid \$700,000. The money was not enough to keep the Racers alive; they folded that December. One of the highlights of Gretzky's season was his appearance in the 1979 WHA All-Star Game. The format was a three-game series between the WHA All-Stars and Dynamo Moscow played at Edmonton's Northlands Coliseum. The WHA All-Stars were coached by Jacques Demers, who put Gretzky on a line with his boyhood idol Gordie Howe and Howe's son, Mark. In game one, the line scored seven points, and the WHA All-Stars won by a score of 4–2. In game two, Gretzky and Mark Howe each scored a goal and Gordie Howe picked up an assist as the WHA won 4–2. The line did not score in the final game, but the WHA won by a score of 4–3. On Gretzky's 18th birthday, January 26, 1979, Pocklington signed him to a 10-year personal services contract (the longest in hockey history at the time) worth C\$3 million, with options for 10 more years. Gretzky finished third in the league in scoring at 110 points, behind Robbie Ftorek and Réal Cloutier. Gretzky captured the Lou Kaplan Trophy as rookie of the year, and helped the Oilers to first place in the league. By the end of the regular season, the signings of Gretzky and other young stars in addition to other factors had compelled enough of the hardline NHL owners to change their positions, and an agreement (recognized as the 1979 expansion by the NHL) was finalized. Under the agreement, the WHA agreed to fold after the 1979 season with the Oilers and three other teams (the Hartford (New England) Whalers, the Quebec Nordiques and the Winnipeg Jets) joining the older league as expansion franchises. The Oilers, like the other three teams, were to be allowed to protect two goaltenders and two skaters from being reclaimed by the established NHL teams in the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft. The NHL also lowered its minimum age, ensuring players such as Gretzky would not need to return to the junior level, albeit with the caveat that such previously underaged players were supposed to be placed into the 1979 NHL Entry Draft pool. Nevertheless, to avoid any potential for litigation over the validity of Gretzky's personal services contract the Oilers were allowed to keep the young star on their roster as one of their priority selections. In exchange for agreeing to keep Gretzky off the draft board, the NHL placed Edmonton at the bottom of the draft order. The WHA completed the playoffs of its final season as planned. The Oilers reached the Avco World Trophy finals (the only WHA championship series appearance for the franchise), where they lost to the Winnipeg Jets in six games. ## NHL career ### Edmonton Oilers (1979–1988) Gretzky's success in the WHA carried over into the NHL, despite some critics suggesting he would struggle in what was considered the bigger, tougher and more talented league. In his first NHL season, 1979–80, Gretzky was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player (the first of eight in a row) and tied for the scoring lead with Marcel Dionne with 137 points. Although Gretzky played 79 games to Dionne's 80, Dionne was awarded the Art Ross Trophy because he had scored more goals (53 to 51). The season still stands as the highest point total by a first-year player in NHL history. Gretzky became the youngest player to score 50 goals, but was not eligible for the Calder Memorial Trophy, given to the top NHL rookie, because of his previous year of WHA experience. The Calder was instead awarded to Boston Bruins defenceman Ray Bourque. In his second season, Gretzky won the Art Ross (the first of seven consecutive) with a then-record 164 points, breaking both Bobby Orr's record for assists in a season (102) and Phil Esposito's record for points in a season (152). He won his second straight Hart Trophy. In the first game of the 1981 Stanley Cup playoffs, against the Montreal Canadiens, Gretzky had five assists, a single game playoff record. During the 1981–82 season, Gretzky surpassed a record that had stood for 35 years: 50 goals in 50 games, first set by Maurice "Rocket" Richard during the 1944–45 NHL season and tied by Mike Bossy during the 1980–81 NHL season. Gretzky accomplished the feat in only 39 games. His 50th goal of the season came on December 30, 1981, in the final seconds of a 7–5 win against the Philadelphia Flyers and was his fifth of the game. Later that season, Gretzky broke Esposito's record for most goals in a season (76) on February 24, 1982, scoring three to help defeat the Buffalo Sabres 6–3. He ended the 1981–82 season with records of 92 goals, 120 assists, and 212 points in 80 games, becoming the only player in NHL history to break the two hundred-point mark. That year, Gretzky became the first hockey player and first Canadian to be named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year. He was also named 1982 "Sportsman of the Year" by Sports Illustrated. The Canadian Press also named Gretzky Newsmaker of the Year in 1982. The following seasons saw Gretzky break his own assists record three more times (125 in 1982–83, 135 in 1984–85 and 163 in 1985–86); he also bettered that mark (120 assists) in 1986–87 with 121 and 1990–91 with 122, and his point record one more time (215, in 1985–86). By the time he finished playing in Edmonton, he held or shared 49 NHL records. The Edmonton Oilers finished first overall in their last WHA regular season. The same success was not immediate when they joined the NHL, but within four seasons, the Oilers were competing for the Stanley Cup. The Oilers were a young, strong team featuring, in addition to Gretzky, future Hall of Famers including forwards Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson and Jari Kurri; defenceman Paul Coffey; and goaltender Grant Fuhr. Gretzky was its captain from 1983 to 1988. In 1983, they made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, only to be swept by the three-time defending champion New York Islanders. The following season, the Oilers met the Islanders in the Finals again, this time winning the Stanley Cup, their first of five in seven years. Gretzky was named an officer of the Order of Canada on June 25, 1984, for outstanding contribution to the sport of hockey. Since the Order ceremonies are always held during the hockey season, it took 13 years and 7 months—and two Governors General—before he could accept the honour. He was promoted to Companion of the Order of Canada in 2009 "for his continued contributions to the world of hockey, notably as one of the best players of all time, as well as for his social engagement as a philanthropist, volunteer and role model for countless young people". Five times between 1981–82 and 1986–87, Gretzky led the NHL in goals scored. The Oilers also won the Stanley Cup with Gretzky three additional times: in , and . When the Oilers joined the NHL, Gretzky continued to play under his personal services contract with Oilers owner Peter Pocklington. This arrangement came under increased scrutiny by the mid-1980s, especially following reports that Pocklington had used the contract as collateral to help secure a \$31 million loan with the Alberta government-owned Alberta Treasury Branches. Amid growing concern around the NHL that a financial institution might be able to lay claim to Gretzky's rights in the event the heavily leveraged Pocklington were to declare bankruptcy, as well as growing dissatisfaction on the part of Gretzky and his advisers, in 1987, Gretzky and Pocklington agreed to replace the personal services contract with a standard NHL contract. #### The Gretzky rule In June 1985, as part of a package of five rule changes to be implemented for the 1985–86 season, the NHL Board of Governors decided to introduce offsetting penalties, where neither team lost a man when coincidental penalties were called. The effect of calling offsetting penalties was felt immediately in the NHL, because during the early 1980s, when the Gretzky-era Oilers entered a four-on-four or three-on-three situation with an opponent, they frequently used the space on the ice to score one or more goals. Gretzky held a press conference one day after being awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy, criticizing the NHL for punishing teams and players who previously benefited. The rule change became known as "the Gretzky rule." The rule was reversed for the 1992–93 season. #### Strategy and effect on NHL play Gretzky had a major influence on the style of play of the Edmonton Oilers and in the NHL as a whole, helping to inspire a more team-based strategy. Using this approach, the Oilers, led by Gretzky, became the highest-scoring team in NHL history. "He was, I think, the first Canadian forward to play a true team game", said hockey writer and former NHL goaltender Ken Dryden. The focus of the game prior to Gretzky's arrival, he said, especially among the Canadian teams, was on the player with the puck—in getting the puck to a star player who would make the big play. "Gretzky reversed that. He knew he wasn't big enough, strong enough, or even fast enough to do what he wanted to do if others focused on him. Like a magician, he had to direct attention elsewhere, to his four teammates on the ice with him, to create the momentary distraction in order to move unnoticed into the open ice where size and strength didn't matter. ... Gretzky made his opponents compete with five players, not one, and he made his teammates full partners to the game. He made them skate to his level and pass and finish up to his level or they would be embarrassed." Between 1982 and 1985, the Edmonton Oilers averaged 423 goals a season, when no previous team had scored 400, and Gretzky on his own had averaged 207 points, when no player before had scored more than 152 in one year. Dryden wrote in his book The Game, "In the past, defenders and teams had learned to devise strategies to stop opponents with the puck. To stop them without it, that was interference. But now, if players without the puck skated just as hard as those with it, but faster, and dodged and darted to open ice just as determinedly, but more effectively, how did you shut them down?" In this, Gretzky added his considerable influence as the preeminent NHL star of his day to that of the Soviets, who had also developed a more team-style of play, and had successfully used it against the best NHL teams, beginning in the 1972 Summit Series. "The Soviets and Gretzky changed the NHL game", says Dryden. "Gretzky, the kid from Brantford with the Belarusian name, was the acceptable face of Soviet hockey. No Canadian kid wanted to play like Makarov or Larionov. They all wanted to play like Gretzky." At the same time, Gretzky recognized the contributions of their coach in the success of the Oilers: "Under the guidance of Glen Sather, our Oiler teams became adept at generating speed, developing finesse, and learning a transition game with strong European influences." Gretzky explains his style of play further: > People think that to be a good player you have to pick the puck up, deke around ninety-three guys and take this ungodly slap shot. No. Let the puck do all the moving and you get yourself in the right place. I don't care if you're Carl Lewis, you can't outskate that little black thing. Just move the puck: give it up, get it back, give it up. It's like Larry Bird. The hardest work he does is getting open. The jumpshot is cake. > > That's all hockey is: open ice. That's my whole strategy: Find Open Ice. Chicago coach Mike Keenan said it best: "There's a spot on the ice that's no-man's land, and all the good goal scorers find it." It's a piece of frozen real estate that's just in between the defense and the forward. #### "The Trade" Two hours after the Oilers won the Stanley Cup in 1988, Gretzky learned from his father that the Oilers were planning to deal him to another team. Walter Gretzky had known for months after having been tipped off by Skalbania, but kept the news from Wayne so as not to upset him. According to Walter, Wayne was being "shopped" to Los Angeles, Detroit, and Vancouver, and Pocklington needed money as his other business ventures were not doing well. At first, Gretzky did not want to leave Edmonton, but he later received a call while on his honeymoon from Los Angeles Kings owner Bruce McNall, who asked permission to meet and discuss the deal. Gretzky informed McNall that his prerequisites for a deal to take place were that Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski join him as teammates in Los Angeles. Both McNall and Pocklington quickly agreed. After the details of the trade were finalized by the two owners, one final condition had to be met: Gretzky had to call Pocklington and request a trade. When Pocklington told Oilers general manager and head coach Sather about his plans to trade Gretzky to Los Angeles, Sather tried to stop the deal, but when he found out that Gretzky had been involved in the negotiations, he changed his attitude and requested Luc Robitaille in exchange. The Kings refused, instead offering Jimmy Carson. On August 9, 1988, in a move that heralded significant change in the NHL, the Oilers traded Gretzky (along with McSorley and Krushelnyski) to the rival Kings for Carson, Martin Gélinas, \$15 million in cash, and the Kings' first-round draft picks in 1989 (later traded to the New Jersey Devils, who used it to select Jason Miller), 1991, (used to select Martin Ručínský), and 1993, (used to select Nick Stajduhar). "The Trade", as it came to be known, upset Canadians to the extent that New Democratic Party House Leader Nelson Riis demanded the government block it, and Pocklington was burned in effigy outside Northlands Coliseum. In Gretzky's first appearance in Edmonton after the trade, a game nationally televised in Canada, he received a four-minute standing ovation. The arena was sold out, and the attendance of 17,503 was the Oilers' biggest crowd ever to that date. Large cheers erupted for his first shift, his first touch of the puck, his two assists, and Mark Messier's body check of Gretzky into the boards. After the game, Gretzky took the opportunity to confirm his patriotism: "I'm still proud to be a Canadian. I didn't desert my country. I moved because I was traded and that's where my job is. But I'm Canadian to the core. I hope Canadians understand that." After the 1988–89 season, a life-sized bronze statue of Gretzky was erected outside Northlands Coliseum, holding the Stanley Cup over his head. ### Los Angeles Kings (1988–1996) The Kings named Gretzky their alternate captain. He made an immediate impact on the ice, scoring on his first shot on goal in the first regular season game. The Kings got off to their best start ever, winning four straight en route to qualifying for the playoffs. For only the second time in his NHL career, Gretzky finished second in scoring, but narrowly edged the Pittsburgh Penguins' Mario Lemieux (who scored 199 points) for the Hart Trophy as MVP. Despite being underdogs against the defending Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers in the Smythe Division semifinals, Gretzky led the Kings to a shocking upset of his old squad, spearheading the Kings' return from a 3–1 series deficit to win the series 4–3. He was nervous Edmonton would greet him with boos, but they were eagerly waiting for him. The Kings were then swept by the Calgary Flames who went on to win their first Stanley Cup. In 1990, the Associated Press named Gretzky Male Athlete of the Decade. For the second year in a row, the Kings eliminated the defending champions in the first round when they defeated the Flames in six games, but also for the second year in a row their season ended in a second round sweep, this time at the hands of Gretzky's former team. The Oilers went on to win their fifth Cup (and first without Gretzky). In his post-championship interview, Messier (who had replaced Gretzky as Edmonton's captain following the trade) paid tribute to his former teammate by dedicating the Oilers' Cup win to him. Gretzky's first season in Los Angeles saw a marked increase in attendance and fan interest in a city not previously known for following hockey. The Kings now boasted of numerous sellouts. Many credit Gretzky's arrival with putting non-traditional American hockey markets on "the NHL map"; not only did California receive two more NHL franchises (the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and San Jose Sharks) during Gretzky's tenure in Los Angeles, but his popularity in Southern California proved to be an impetus in the league establishing teams in other parts of the U.S. Sun Belt. Gretzky was sidelined for much of the 1992–93 regular season with a back injury (he returned on January 6, 1993, which was also his 1,000th NHL game), and his 65-point output ended a record 13-year streak in which he recorded at least 100 points each season. However, he performed well in the playoffs, notably when he scored a hat trick in game seven of the Campbell Conference Finals against the Toronto Maple Leafs. This victory propelled the Kings into the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history, where they faced the Montreal Canadiens. After winning the first game of the series by a score of 4–1, the team lost the next three games in overtime, and then fell 4–1 in the deciding fifth game, where Gretzky failed to get a shot on net. The next season, Gretzky broke Gordie Howe's career goal-scoring record of 801, and won the scoring title, but the team began a long slide, and despite numerous player and coaching moves, they failed to qualify for the playoffs again until 1998. After the financially troubled McNall was forced to sell the Kings in 1994, Gretzky's relationship with the Kings' new owners grew strained. Under both McNall and the new ownership group, the team was fiscally unstable, to the point that paychecks to players bounced. Finally, in early 1996, Gretzky requested a trade. During the 1994–95 NHL lock-out, Gretzky and some friends (including Mark Messier, Marty McSorley, Brett Hull and Steve Yzerman) formed the Ninety Nine All Stars Tour and played eight exhibition games in various countries. ### St. Louis Blues (1996) On February 27, 1996, Gretzky joined the St. Louis Blues in a trade for Patrice Tardif, Roman Vopat, Craig Johnson and two draft picks (Peter Hogan and Matt Zultek). He partially orchestrated the trade after reports surfaced that he was unhappy in Los Angeles. At the time of the trade, the Blues and New York Rangers emerged as front-runners, but the Blues met his salary demands. Gretzky was immediately named the team's captain. He scored 37 points in 31 games for the team in the regular season and the playoffs, and the Blues came within one game of the Conference Finals. However, the chemistry everyone expected with winger Brett Hull never developed. Gretzky was also forced to endure public criticism from his head coach for the first time in his career. Long prior to either him or Gretzky joining the Blues, Mike Keenan had refused to moderate his coaching style even while coaching Gretzky while with Team Canada during international tournaments. Gretzky's professional relationship with Keenan was thus never particularly warm, and the coach's public rebukes effectively ended any realistic prospect of Gretzky remaining in St. Louis once he became a free agent. Gretzky rejected a three-year deal worth \$15 million with the Blues, and on July 21, signed with the New York Rangers as a free agent, rejoining longtime Oilers teammate Mark Messier (and former Kings teammate Luc Robitaille) for a two-year, \$8 million (plus incentives) contract. ### New York Rangers (1996–1999) Gretzky ended his professional playing career with the New York Rangers, where he played his final three seasons and helped the team reach the Eastern Conference Finals in 1997. The Rangers were defeated in the Conference Finals in five games by the Philadelphia Flyers, despite Gretzky leading the Rangers in the playoffs with 10 goals and 10 assists. For the first time in his NHL career, Gretzky was not named captain, although he briefly wore the captain's "C" in 1998 when captain Brian Leetch was injured and out of the line-up. After the 1996–97 season, Mark Messier signed a free agent contract with the Vancouver Canucks, ending the brief reunion of Messier and Gretzky after just one season. The 1997 playoff run was Gretzky's last as a player, and Rangers did not return to the playoffs until 2006, well after Gretzky retired. Along with Jaromir Jagr, he topped the NHL in 1997–98 with 67 assists. It was the 16th time in 19 seasons that Gretzky earned at least a share of the league lead in the statistic. In 1997, prior to his retirement, The Hockey News named a committee of 50 hockey experts (former NHL players, past and present writers, broadcasters, coaches and hockey executives) to select and rank the 50 greatest players in NHL history. The experts voted Gretzky number one. Gretzky said he would have voted Bobby Orr or Gordie Howe as the best of all time. The 1998–99 season was his last as a professional player. He reached one milestone in this last season, breaking the professional total (regular season and playoffs) goal-scoring record of 1,071, which had been held by Gordie Howe. Gretzky was having difficulty scoring this season and finished with only nine goals, contributing to this being the only season in which he failed to average at least a point per game, but his last goal brought his scoring total for his combined NHL/WHA career to 1,072, one more than Howe. As the season wound down, there was media speculation that Gretzky would retire, but he refused to announce his retirement. His last NHL game in Canada was on April 15, 1999, a 2–2 tie with the Ottawa Senators and the Rangers' second-to-last game of the season. Following the contest, in a departure from the usual three stars announcement, Gretzky was awarded all three stars. Upon returning to New York, Gretzky announced he would retire after the Rangers' last game of the season. The final game of Gretzky's career was a 2–1 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 18, 1999, in Madison Square Garden. Although the game involved two American teams, both national anthems were played, with the lyrics slightly adjusted to accommodate Gretzky's departure. In place of the lyrics "O Canada, we stand on guard for thee", Bryan Adams ad-libbed, "We're going to miss you, Wayne Gretzky". "The Star-Spangled Banner", as sung by John Amirante, was altered to include the words "in the land of Wayne Gretzky". Gretzky ended his career with a final point, assisting on the lone New York goal scored by Brian Leetch. At the time of his retirement, Gretzky was the second-to-last WHA player still active in professional hockey. Mark Messier, who attended the game along with other representatives of the Edmonton Oilers' dynasty, was the last. ## International play Gretzky made his first international appearance as a member of the Canadian national junior team at the 1978 World Junior Championships in Montreal, Quebec. The Canadian coach, Punch McLean, was originally sceptical of Gretzky's ability as he was the youngest player to compete in the tournament at the age of 16. He went on to lead the tournament in scoring with 17 points to earn All-Star Team and Best Forward honours. His 17 points remain the most scored by a 16-year-old in the World Junior Championships. Canada finished with the bronze medal. Gretzky debuted with the Canadian national team at the 1981 Canada Cup. He led the tournament in scoring with 12 points en route to a second-place finish to the Soviet Union, losing 8–1 in the final. Seven months later, Gretzky joined Team Canada for the 1982 World Championships in Finland. He notched 14 points in 10 games, including a two-goal, two-assist effort in Canada's final game against Sweden to earn the bronze. Gretzky did not win his first international competition until the 1984 Canada Cup, when Canada defeated Sweden in a best-of-three finals. He led the tournament in scoring for the second consecutive time and was named to the All-Star Team. Gretzky's international career highlight arguably came three years later at the 1987 Canada Cup. Gretzky has called the tournament the best hockey he had played in his life. Playing on a line with Pittsburgh Penguins' superstar Mario Lemieux, he recorded a tournament-best 21 points in nine games. After losing the first game of a best-of-three final series against the Soviets, Gretzky propelled Canada with a five-assist performance in the second game, including the game-winning pass to Lemieux in overtime, to extend the tournament. In the deciding game three, Gretzky and Lemieux once again combined for the game-winner. With the score tied 5–5 and 1:26 minutes to go in regulation, Lemieux one-timed a pass from Gretzky on a 3-on-1 with defenceman Larry Murphy. Lemieux scored to win the tournament for Canada; the play is widely regarded as one of the most memorable plays in Canadian international competition. The 1991 Canada Cup marked the last time the tournament was played under the "Canada Cup" moniker. Gretzky led the tournament for the fourth and final time with 12 points in seven games. He did not, however, compete in the final against the United States due to a back injury. Canada nevertheless won in two games by scores of 4–1 and 4–2. Five years later, the tournament was revived and renamed the World Cup in 1996. It marked the first time Gretzky did not finish as the tournament's leading scorer; his seven points in eight games placed him fourth overall. Leading up to the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, it was announced that NHL players would be eligible to play for the first time. Gretzky was named to the club on November 29, 1997. However, Gretzky was passed over for the captaincy, along with several other Canadian veterans including Steve Yzerman and Ray Bourque in favour of the younger Eric Lindros. Expectations were high for the Canadian team, but the team lost to the Czech Republic in the semi-finals. The game went to a shootout with a 1–1 tie after overtime, but Gretzky was controversially not selected by coach Marc Crawford as one of the five shooters, all of whom failed to score. Team Canada then lost the bronze medal game 3–2 to Finland to finish without a medal. The Olympics marked Gretzky's eighth and final international appearance, finishing with four assists in six games. He retired from international play holding the records for most goals (20), most assists (28), and most overall points (48) in best-on-best hockey. ## Skills and influences ### Style of play Gretzky's size and strength were unimpressive—in fact, far below average for the NHL—but he is widely considered the smartest player in the history of the game. His reading of the game and his ability to improvise on the fly were unrivaled, and he could consistently anticipate where the puck was going to be and execute the right move at the right time. His coach at the Edmonton Oilers, Glen Sather, said, "He was so much more intelligent. While they were using all this energy trying to rattle his teeth, he was just skating away, circling, analyzing things." He was also considered one of the most creative players in hockey. "You never knew what he was going to do", said hockey Hall of Famer Igor Larionov. "He was improvising all the time. Every time he took the ice, there was some spontaneous decision he would make. That's what made him such a phenomenal player." Gretzky's ability to improvise came into the spotlight at the 1998 Olympics in Japan. Then an older player in the sunset of his career, he had been passed over for the captaincy of the team. But as the series continued, his unique skills made him a team leader. > The Canadians had trouble with the big ice. They had trouble with the European patterns and the lateral play and the endless, inventive cycling. ... Slowly, as game after game went by and the concern continued to rise, Wayne Gretzky began climbing through the line-up. He, almost alone among the Canadians, seemed to take to the larger ice surface as if it offered more opportunity instead of obligation ... His playing time soared, as he was being sent on not just for power plays but double shifts and even penalty kills. By the final round ... it was Wayne Gretzky who assumed the leadership both on and off the ice. He passed and shot with prodigious skill. Hall of Fame defenceman Bobby Orr said of Gretzky, "He passes better than anybody I've ever seen." In his first two seasons in the NHL, his deft passing skills helped earn him a reputation as an ace playmaker, and so opposing defencemen focused their efforts on foiling his attempts to pass the puck to other scorers. In response, Gretzky started shooting on goal himself—and with exceptional effectiveness. He had a fast and accurate shot. "Wayne Gretzky was one of the most accurate scorers in NHL history", said one biography. Statistics support the contention: whereas Phil Esposito, who had set the previous goal-scoring record, needed 550 shots to score 76 goals, Gretzky netted his 76th after only 287 shots—about half as many. He scored his all-time single-season record of 92 goals with just 369 shots. Because he was so light compared to other players, goalies were often surprised by how hard Gretzky's shot was. Goalies called his shots "sneaky fast." He also had a way of never shooting the puck with the same rhythm twice, making his shots harder to time and block. Veteran Canadian journalist Peter Gzowski wrote that Gretzky seemed to be able to slow down time. "There is an unhurried grace to everything Gretzky does on the ice. Winding up for the slapshot, he will stop for an almost imperceptible moment at the top of his arc, like a golfer with a rhythmic swing." "Gretzky uses this room to insert an extra beat into his actions. In front of the net, eyeball to eyeball with the goaltender ... he will ... hold the puck one ... extra instant, upsetting the anticipated rhythm of the game, extending the moment. ... He distorts time, and not only by slowing it down. Sometimes he will release the puck before he appears to be ready, threading the pass through a maze of players precisely to the blade of a teammate's stick, or finding a chink in a goaltender's armour and slipping the puck into it ... before the goaltender is ready to react." Commentators have noted Gretzky's uncanny ability to judge the position of the other players on the ice—so much so that many suspected he enjoyed some kind of extrasensory perception, that he played like he had "eyes in the back of his head." Gretzky said he sensed other players more than he actually saw them. "I get a feeling about where a teammate is going to be", he said. "A lot of times, I can turn and pass without even looking." Gretzky explained that what appeared to be instinct was, in large part, the effect of his relentless study and practice of the game, in co-operation with his coaches. As a result, he developed a deep understanding of its shifting patterns and dynamics. Gzowski said that Gretzky understood the game so well, he could instantly recognize and capitalize upon emerging patterns of play: "What we take to be creative genius is in fact a reaction to a situation that he has stored in his brain as deeply and firmly as his own phone number." Gretzky agreed with this assessment, saying, "That's a hundred percent right. It's all practice. I got it from my Dad. . . . Nobody would ever say a doctor had learned his profession by instinct; yet in my own way I've put in almost as much time studying hockey as a medical student puts in studying medicine." ### Physical attributes When he entered the league in 1979, critics opined that Gretzky was "too small, too wiry, and too slow to be a force in the [NHL]." His weight was 160 pounds (73 kg), compared to the NHL average of 189 pounds (86 kg) at that time. But that year, Gretzky tied for first place in scoring, and won the Hart Trophy for the league's most valuable player. In his second year in the league, weighing just 165 pounds, he broke the previous single-season scoring record, racking up 164 points. The next year (1981–82), at 170 pounds—still "a wisp compared to the average NHL player"—he set the all-time goal-scoring record, putting 92 pucks in the net. He weighed "about 170 pounds" for the better part of his career. He consistently scored last in strength tests among the Edmonton Oilers, bench pressing only 140 pounds (64 kg). Despite his lack of strength, Gretzky had remarkable physical stamina. Like his hero, Gordie Howe, Gretzky possessed "an exceptional capacity to renew his energy resources quickly." In 1980, when an exercise physiologist tested the recuperative abilities of all of the Edmonton Oilers, Gretzky scored so high that the tester said he "thought the machine had broken." His stamina is also indicated by the fact that Gretzky often scored late in the game. In the year he scored his record 92 goals, 22 of them went in the net during the first period, 30 in the second—and 40 in the third. He also had strong general athletic skills. Growing up, he was a competitive runner and also batted .492 for the Junior Intercounty Baseball League's Brantford CKCP Braves in the summer of 1980. As a result, he was offered a contract by the Toronto Blue Jays. Gretzky also excelled at box lacrosse, which he played during the summer. At age ten, after scoring 196 goals in his hockey league, he scored 158 goals in lacrosse. According to Gretzky, lacrosse was where he learned to protect himself from hard checks: "In those days you could be hit from behind in lacrosse, as well as cross-checked, so you had to learn how to roll body checks for self-protection." Gretzky adroitly applied this technique as a professional player, avoiding checks with such skill that a rumour circulated that there was an unwritten rule not to hit him. This was how Gretzky avoided serious injuries despite being undersized and entering the NHL during its "rough and tumble time"; Gretzky noted that his contemporary Mike Bossy "took a beating to score goals, which consequently led him to retire because his back took a beating". Defencemen found Gretzky a most elusive target. The 205-pound (93 kg) Denis Potvin, a fellow hall of famer, compared attempting to hit Gretzky to "wrapping your arms around fog. You saw him but when you reached out to grab him your hands felt nothing, maybe just a chill." Gretzky received a good deal of cover from burly Oiler enforcers Dave Semenko and Marty McSorley. The latter was traded with Gretzky in 1988 to the Los Angeles Kings, where he played the same policeman role for several more years. But Gretzky discouraged unfair hits in another way. "If a guy ran him, Wayne would embarrass that guy", said former Oiler Lee Fogolin. "He'd score six or seven points on him. I saw him do it night after night." ## Post-retirement Gretzky was named honorary chairman of the Open Ice Summit, held in August 1999 to discuss ways to improve Canadian ice hockey. He stressed the need to play and practice hockey for the love of the game, and felt that skill was more important to develop than talent and that Canada had the potential to be world leaders in skill development. Gretzky was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 22, 1999, becoming the tenth player to bypass the three-year waiting period. The Hall of Fame then announced that he would be the last player to do so. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2000. In addition, Gretzky's jersey number 99 was retired league-wide at the 2000 NHL All-Star Game, a decision inspired by Major League Baseball's retirement of the number 42 worn by Jackie Robinson. In October 1999, Edmonton honoured Gretzky by renaming one of Edmonton's busiest freeways, Capilano Drive—which passes by Northlands Coliseum—to Wayne Gretzky Drive. Also in Edmonton, the local transit authority assigned a rush-hour bus route numbered No. 99 which also runs on Wayne Gretzky Drive for its commute. In 2002, the Kings held a jersey retirement ceremony and erected a life-sized statue of Gretzky outside the Staples Center; the ceremony was delayed until then so that Bruce McNall, who had recently finished a prison sentence, could attend. Also in 2002, Gretzky received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. His hometown of Brantford, Ontario, renamed Park Road North to "Wayne Gretzky Parkway" as well as renaming the North Park Recreation Centre to The Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre. Brantford further inducted Gretzky into its "Walk of Fame" in 2004. On May 10, 2010, he was awarded The Ambassador Award of Excellence by the LA Sports & Entertainment Commission. Gretzky was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in 2017. ### Phoenix Coyotes Almost immediately after retirement, several NHL teams approached Gretzky about an ownership role. In May 2000, he agreed to buy a 10% stake in the Phoenix Coyotes in a partnership with majority owner Steve Ellman, taking on the roles of alternate governor, managing partner and head of hockey operations. The Coyotes were in the process of being sold and Ellman convinced Gretzky to come on board, averting a potential move to Portland, Oregon. The sale was not completed until the following year, on February 15, 2001, after two missed deadlines while securing financing and partners before Ellman and Gretzky could take over. Trucking magnate and Arizona Diamondbacks part-owner Jerry Moyes was added to the partnership. Gretzky convinced his long-time agent Michael Barnett to join the team as its General Manager. In 2005, rumours began circulating that Gretzky was about to name himself head coach of the Coyotes, but were denied by Gretzky and the team. Ultimately, Gretzky agreed to become head coach on August 8, 2005. Gretzky made his coaching debut on October 5, and won his first game, on October 8 against the Minnesota Wild. He took an indefinite leave of absence on December 17 to be with his ill mother. Phyllis Gretzky died of lung cancer on December 19. Gretzky resumed his head-coaching duties on December 28. The Coyotes' record at the end of the 2005–06 season was 38–39–5, a 16-win improvement over 2003–04; they were 36–36–5 in games Gretzky coached. In 2006, Moyes became majority owner of the team. There was uncertainty about Gretzky's role until it was announced on May 31, 2006, that he had agreed to a five-year contract to remain head coach. The Coyotes' performance declined in 2006–07, as the team ended the season 15th in their conference. During Gretzky's coaching tenure, the Coyotes did not reach the postseason, and their best finish in the Western Conference standings was 12th. On May 5, 2009, the Coyotes' holding company, Dewey Ranch Hockey LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. An ownership dispute involving Research in Motion's Jim Balsillie (with the intention of relocating the team to Hamilton, Ontario) and the NHL itself arose, which eventually ended up in court. Gretzky did not attend the Coyotes' training camp, leaving associate head coach Ulf Samuelsson in charge, due to an uncertain contractual status with the club, whose bankruptcy hearings were continuing. Bidders for the club had indicated that Gretzky would no longer be associated with the team after it emerged from bankruptcy, and on September 24, 2009, Gretzky stepped down as head coach and head of hockey operations of the Coyotes. Gretzky's final head coaching record was 143–161–24. ### Winter Olympics Gretzky was executive director of the Canadian men's hockey team at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. On February 18, he lashed out at the media at a press conference, frustrated with media and fan comments regarding his team's uninspiring 1–1–1 start. His temper boiled over after Canada's 3–3 draw versus the Czech Republic, as he launched a tirade against the perceived negative reputation of Team Canada amongst other national squads, and called rumours of dissent in the dressing room the result of "American propaganda". "They're loving us not doing well", he said, referring to American hockey fans. American fans online began calling Gretzky a "crybaby"; defenders said he was merely borrowing a page from former coach Glen Sather to take the pressure off his players. Gretzky addressed those comments by saying he spoke out to protect the Canadian players, and the tirade was not "staged". The Canadian team won the gold medal, its first in 50 years. Gretzky again acted as executive director of Canada's men's hockey team at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, though not with the success of 2002; the team was eliminated in the quarterfinals and failed to win a medal. He was asked to manage Canada's team at the 2005 Ice Hockey World Championships, but declined due to his mother's poor health. Gretzky served as an ambassador to Vancouver's successful bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics, and was named Special Advisor to Canada's men's hockey team at the Games. During the Games' opening ceremony, Gretzky, basketball player Steve Nash, skier Nancy Greene, and speed skater Catriona Le May Doan jointly lit the Olympic cauldron inside the ceremony venue of BC Place. Due to BC Place being an indoor stadium, and Olympic protocols stating that the lighting of the cauldron should be visible to the public, Gretzky was then escorted out of the stadium to light a second, outdoor cauldron outside the Vancouver Convention Centre, making him the de facto final torchbearer. ### Alumni games Although Gretzky had previously stated he would not participate in any "old-timers exhibition games", on November 22, 2003, he took to the ice to help celebrate the Edmonton Oilers' 25th anniversary as an NHL team. The Heritage Classic, held at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, was the first regular season NHL game to be played outdoors. It was preceded by the Mega Stars game, which featured Gretzky and many of his Oiler Dynasty teammates against a group of retired Montreal Canadiens players (whose likes included Claude Lemieux, Guy Lafleur and others). Despite frigid temperatures, the crowd numbered 57,167, with an additional several million watching the game on television. The Edmonton alumni won the Megastars game 2–0, while Montreal went on to win the regular season game held later that day, 4–3. Thirteen years later, on December 31, 2016, Gretzky participated in the Winter Classic Alumni Game, which was held between teams of former Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues players two days before the 2017 Winter Classic. Gretzky represented the Blues in the game, which his team won 8–7. ### Edmonton Oilers In October 2016, Gretzky returned to the Oilers as a partner and vice-chairman of the team's parent company, Oilers Entertainment Group, to work closely with owner Daryl Katz and Oilers Entertainment Group CEO Bob Nicholson on the business side of the Oilers' operation. On May 25, 2021, Gretzky announced that he would step down from his role with the Oilers, stating that "The Oilers, their fans, and the city of Edmonton have meant the world to me and my family for over four decades—and that will never end. Given the pandemic and other life changes, I realize I will not be able to dedicate the time nor effort needed to support this world-class organization." It was subsequently reported by various outlets that Gretzky had signed with new U.S. NHL rightsholder Turner Sports to become an analyst. He serves as a studio analyst for NHL broadcasts on TNT and TBS. ## Personal life Gretzky has made several TV appearances, including as a Dance Fever celebrity judge, and acted in a dramatic role alongside Victor Newman in The Young and the Restless in 1981. In 1984, he travelled to the Soviet Union to film a television program on Russian goaltender Vladislav Tretiak. Gretzky was a guest host of the American late night variety show Saturday Night Live in 1989. A fictional crime-fighting version of him served as one of the main characters in the cartoon ProStars in 1991. In December 2016, Gretzky appeared briefly in a cameo on a Christmas episode of The Simpsons as a winter character. Gretzky is a dual citizen of both Canada and the United States, having become a naturalized citizen of the latter. ### Family While serving as a judge on Dance Fever, Gretzky met actress Janet Jones. According to Gretzky, Jones does not recall his being on the show. They met regularly after that, but did not become a couple until 1987 when they ran into each other at a Los Angeles Lakers game that Gretzky and Alan Thicke were attending. Gretzky proposed in January 1988, and they were married on July 16, 1988, in a lavish ceremony the Canadian press dubbed "The Royal Wedding". Broadcast live throughout Canada from Edmonton's St. Joseph's Basilica, members of the Fire Department acted as ceremonial guards. The event reportedly cost Gretzky over US\$1 million. The couple have five children: Paulina, Ty, Trevor, Tristan, and Emma. Paulina and golfer Dustin Johnson announced their engagement on August 18, 2013. Ty played hockey at Shattuck-Saint Mary's, but quit the sport, and attended Arizona State University. Trevor is a former minor league baseball player. His father Walter died in 2021 at the age of 82. ### Business ventures Gretzky owned or partnered in the ownership of two sports teams before becoming a partner in the Phoenix Coyotes. In 1985, Gretzky bought the Hull Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for C\$175,000. During his ownership, the team's colours were changed to silver and black, presaging the change in team jersey colours when he played for the Los Angeles Kings. For the first season that Gretzky played in Los Angeles, the Kings had their training camp at the Olympiques' arena. Gretzky eventually sold the team in 1992 for C\$550,000. In 1991, McNall purchased the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL) with Gretzky and John Candy as minority owners. The club won the Grey Cup championship in the first year of the partnership, but struggled in the two following seasons, and the partnership sold the team before the 1994 season. Only McNall's name was engraved on the Grey Cup as team owner, but in November 2007, the CFL corrected the oversight, adding Gretzky's and Candy's names. In 1992, Gretzky and McNall partnered in an investment to buy a rare T206 cigarette card of Honus Wagner for US\$451,000, later selling the card. It most recently sold for US\$2.8 million. The pair also owned Thoroughbred race horses; one of them, Saumarez, won France's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 1990. Gretzky was a board member and executive officer of the Hespeler Hockey Company. Gretzky's appeal as a product endorser far surpassed that of other hockey players of his era. By 1995, he was among the five highest-paid athlete endorsers in North America, with deals from The Coca-Cola Company, Domino's Pizza, Sharp Corporation, and Upper Deck Company among others. Forbes estimates that Gretzky made US\$93.8 million from 1990 to 1998. He has endorsed and launched a wide variety of products, from pillow cases to insurance. Gretzky is a partner in First Team Sports, a maker of sports equipment and Worldwide Roller Hockey, Inc., an operator of roller hockey rinks. The video game brand EA Sports included Gretzky in its 2010 title NHL Slapshot, and he had previously been an endorser for the 989 Sports games Gretzky NHL 2005 and Gretzky NHL 2006. Gretzky also made an appearance on the music video for Nickelback's "Rockstar". In 2017 as part-owner with Andrew Peller Ltd., Gretzky opened a winery and distillery bearing the name of Wayne Gretzky Estates in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, and with products labelled by the trademark, No. 99. From 1993 to 2020, Gretzky and a business partner operated the Wayne Gretzky's restaurant near the Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto. Gretzky has other restaurants opened in 2016 at the Edmonton International Airport and named No. 99 Gretzky's Wine & Whisky, and in 2018 called Studio 99 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. ### Books Gretzky has written several books, including Gretzky: An Autobiography (1990), with Rick Reilly, and 99: My Life in Pictures (1999), with John Davidson and Dan Diamond. His most recent work, 99: Stories of the Game (2016), with Kirstie McLellan Day, was an in-depth look at the history of hockey. It was the best-selling Canadian book of 2016. ### Political activity In 2003, while not criticizing Canada for declining to participate in the invasion of Iraq, Gretzky praised the president of the United States, George W. Bush, and his handling of the conflict, saying: "the President of the United States is a great leader, I happen to think he's a wonderful man and if he believes what he's doing is right, I back him 100 per cent." During the 2015 Canadian federal election campaign, Gretzky endorsed the Conservative Party and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and was featured at a campaign rally praising Harper by calling him "wonderful to the country." As a non-resident, Gretzky came under some criticism for this endorsement. In 2014, Gretzky praised Harper at a United for Ukraine Gala event in Toronto calling him "one of the greatest prime ministers ever". Earlier in 2015, Gretzky endorsed Patrick Brown during his successful campaign for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. ## Legacy Gretzky's career achievements include many awards and honours. He won a record nine Hart Trophies as the most valuable player in the NHL. Between 1981 and 1994, he won the Art Ross Trophy, presented to the NHL's season points leader, 10 times. Gretzky was named the MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 1985 and 1988, receiving the Conn Smythe Trophy. In addition, he earned the Lester B. Pearson Award (now Ted Lindsay Award) on five occasions; the award is given to the NHL's "most outstanding player", as determined by National Hockey League Players' Association members. The Lady Byng Trophy, awarded for sportsmanship and performance, was presented to Gretzky five times between 1980 and 1999. Gretzky was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999, and into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2000. He was an inaugural recipient of the Order of Hockey in Canada in 2012. A number of awards and trophies have been created under his name. The Wayne Gretzky International Award is presented by the United States Hockey Hall of Fame to honour international individuals who have made major contributions to the growth and advancement of hockey in the United States. The Wayne Gretzky 99 Award is awarded annually to the Most Valuable Player in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. The Wayne Gretzky Trophy is awarded annually to the playoff champion of the OHL's Western Conference. The Edmonton Minor Hockey Association also has an award named for Gretzky. In May 2021, one of his 1979 O-Pee-Chee hockey cards sold for \$3.75 million in a private sale. ## Career statistics ### Regular season and playoffs Figures in boldface italics are NHL records. ### International ### Head coaching record Source: ## See also - List of NHL statistical leaders
35,811,856	Say Hello to My Little Friend (Awake)	1,146,172,905	null	[ "2012 American television episodes", "Awake (TV series) episodes" ]	"Say Hello to My Little Friend" is the eleventh episode of the American television police procedural fantasy drama Awake, which originally aired on NBC on May 10, 2012. Written by Leonard Chang and series creator Kyle Killen, "Say Hello to My Little Friend" earned a Nielsen rating of 0.9, being watched by 2.51 million viewers upon its initial broadcast in the United States. Directed by recurring guest actress Laura Innes, the episode generally received positive reviews, with many critics claiming that it was the best episode of the series since "Pilot" and that Jason Isaacs' performance deserved an Emmy Award. Awake centers on Michael Britten (Isaacs), a detective living in two separate realities after a car crash. In one reality, in which he wears a red wristband, his wife Hannah Britten (Laura Allen) survived the collision, and in another reality, in which he wears a green wristband, his son Rex Britten (Dylan Minnette) survived. In this episode, Michael passes out during a bungee jump while he is at a carnival with Rex and Emma (Daniela Bobadilla). He is unable to switch realities, consistently hallucinates and realizes that Ed Hawkins (Kevin Weisman), a detective who is working with Michael's former partner Bird (Steve Harris), was attempting to kill him in the crash. Meanwhile, Hannah deals with Emma's new baby by trying to convince her parents to let her keep the baby. Shortly after this episode was broadcast, NBC announced their decision to cancel Awake, due to declining ratings, although NBC still decided to air the remaining two episodes in the show's original time slot. Isaacs found "Say Hello to My Little Friend" the most difficult to shoot, and had to imagine an awful thing happening to his family. It was filmed in Los Angeles, California, and continued and introduced key thematic elements to the series. ## Plot ### Background The Brittens are involved in a fatal car crash. As a result, Michael Britten, a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) detective, begins to live in two separate realities. In one reality, in which he wears a red wristband, his wife Hannah Britten (Laura Allen) survives the crash, and in the other reality, in which he wears a green wristband, his son Rex Britten (Dylan Minnette) survives. Michael does not know which reality is real, and uses the wristbands to differentiate the two. Michael sees two separate therapists: Dr. Jonathan Lee (BD Wong) in the "red reality", and Dr. Judith Evans (Cherry Jones) in the "green reality". Meanwhile, in the "red reality", Michael and Hannah continue with their plan to move to Oregon. Michael works with Detective Isaiah "Bird" Freeman (Steve Harris) in the "green reality" and with Detective Efrem Vega (Wilmer Valderrama) in the "red reality" after the collision. ### Events Dr. Lee asks Michael about his latest experience with the "green reality". At a police carnival at an amusement park, Emma (Daniela Bobadilla), Rex's girlfriend, asks if she and Rex can bungee jump. As they are walking to the ride, Michael bumps into someone who claims that it was his fault. At the ride, Michael goes first, but the person in charge of the ride seems concerned about something; Michael passes out and wakes up in the "red reality" (where Hannah is alive, but Rex is dead), as if the "green reality" were a dream. In the "red reality", Dr. Lee says it is progress, that Michael is trying to tell himself that his son is dead and that he is on the verge of a breakthrough. Shortly after getting into his car, Michael suddenly sees the man who he bumped into at the amusement park. Michael sees the mystery man several more times throughout the episode and it becomes more clear the man is only a hallucination. Michael passes out and remembers events shortly before and after the crash; Hannah and Rex are singing the Queen song, "Bohemian Rhapsody". Later, Michael meets with Emma's father Joaquin (Carlos Lacamara) at a coffee shop to discuss the new baby, the mystery man appears to let Michael know that he sees the real mystery man through the window and Michael chases after him. When a police artist (Chad Cleven) draws an image of the man, his real name is revealed to be Ed Hawkins (Kevin Weisman), another detective who took over Michael's spot at the police department after the crash, now working with Bird (Steve Harris), Michael's former partner in the "red reality" and his current one in the "green reality". Michael meets with Bird and Hawkins and the latter says that he was one of the first on the scene of the crash and that he is sorry about Rex's death. Michael starts to believe that his son is really dead; he remembers the crash, yet again, with additional information. Michael realizes that Hawkins was trying to kill him in the crash. As soon as he figures out the situation, Michael wakes up with Rex and Emma; he is relieved to see Rex. After the carnival, Michael phones Dr. Evans to tell her what he now knows about the crash. ## Production The episode was written by Leonard Chang and series creator Kyle Killen. It was Killen's sixth credit and Chang's second writing acknowledgment for the show. The entry was directed by Laura Innes, who guest stars in the recurring role of Captain Tricia Harper in the series. It was Innes' first and only directing credit for Awake. Killen noted that, during the filming of the episode, he became "hungry" and wanted to "bend the rules" with the installment. He stated that the installment was a model episode that he wanted to "pursue with the show going forward". Killen also thought the last "three or four episodes" of Awake, including this episode, represent what the show's writers were able to accomplish throughout Awake's original run. "Say Hello to My Little Friend" marked the first appearance of Hawkins, a detective who was described as a titular "little guy", from the series' second episode, "The Little Guy". Weisman obtained a recurring role in January 2012 and later garnered the role of the character. He was later revealed as the man who caused the Britten family's collision. This entry's production code was "1ATR10". It was filmed in Los Angeles, California. Isaacs found "Say Hello to My Little Friend" the "most difficult [episode] to shoot" as one of the character's realities was fabricated and had to disappear by the end. To prepare himself for the episode, he imagined that he had suddenly lost his own child or that something awful happened to his family. While Isaacs had "played cheesy disco music" through filming the majority of the episodes, he played nothing during the filming of "Say Hello to My Little Friend". During a scene where Michael sits on the floor and starts crying, Isaacs had "no idea what came out of [his mouth]". That scene was shot three or four times with a different performance by Isaacs each time; the actor did not know which take Innes would use. ## Themes "Say Hello to My Little Friend" continued and introduced key thematic elements to the series that were originally introduced in "The Little Guy". Key themes in this installment included when Michael was unable to see Rex and realized that Hawkins was trying to kill him in the car crash. It was described as a "show about grief" when it first started airing and that the "cause of the car crash didn't really matter" at that time. Now, however, The A.V. Club noted that Awake is "dabbling in crooked cops and God only knows what else". He observed that Michael could be having another defense to keep the fantasy world alive because of his thoughts with Hawkins. The A.V. Club also thought that Hawkins was the reasoning for the second episode's name. Writing for HitFix, Alan Sepinwall observed that the episode came from Michael's perspective. According to Sepinwall, "Say Hello to My Little Friend" showed Hannah and Rex together for the first time in the flashback shortly before the crash. He opined that the only people who currently watch the series are "the ones who can quickly identify the red filter from the green filter and figure things out accordingly". Maggie Furlong from The Huffington Post thought that "Say Hello to My Little Friend" "surfaces some serious issues for Britten" that has only been "cryptically referenced" previously. ## Broadcast and reception "Say Hello to My Little Friend" originally aired on NBC on May 10, 2012, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sky Atlantic on July 13, 2012. The episode's initial broadcast in the United States was viewed by approximately 2.51 million viewers. "Say Hello to My Little Friend" earned a Nielsen rating of 0.9, with a 2 share, meaning that roughly 0.9 percent of all television-equipped households and 2 percent of households watching television were tuned in to the episode. A sneak peek was released online shortly before the episode's original broadcast. In the United Kingdom, the episode obtained 275,000 viewers, making it the third most-viewed program for the channel behind Alan Partridges: Mid Morning Matters and The Newsroom. Shortly after this episode was broadcast, NBC announced their decision to cancel Awake, due to declining ratings. Despite the series' cancellation, NBC still decided to air the remaining two episodes. Before its original airing, "Say Hello to My Little Friend" was highly anticipated by commentators. In a review for "Slack Water", The A.V. Club claimed that "Say Hello to My Little Friend" would be "very cool" because Michael will "face a crisis when he stops waking up in [the green reality]". In a review for the same episode, Sepinwall called "Say Hello to My Little Friend" and the following episode "quite good". This episode generally received positive reviews from critics. Commentators from IGN, Paste and TV Fanatic were pleased with Isaacs' performance; they felt that his performance deserved an Emmy Award. IGN's Matt Fowler described Isaacs' performance as "suspense"-worthy, while Paste writer Ross Bonaime thought that his acting deserved an Emmy nomination "at the very least". Although he did not note that his performance was Emmy-worthy, in his "A−" review, Zack Handlen from The A.V. Club claimed that Isaacs' is usually the "bad guy", but he seems like a "dad". Fowler gave the episode itself a "9.5 out of 10", classifying it as "amazing"; the entry's story was called "powerful". However, Bonaime gave the entry a "8.9" rating. Fowler and Nick McHatton, a TV Fanatic critic, stated that this was the best episode of the program since "Pilot"; Handlen said that the episode, for the most part, was "a great hour of television, and a fine uptick from the last couple weeks of Awake", while Bonaime called it "one of Awake's most compelling episodes to date". McHatton called the emotional problems of the episode "heart wrenching" to watch", as they had him in tears; he gave a "4.9 out of 5" rating for the episode. Handlen complimented the "powerful scene, as [Michael] tries to convince her father that he should do anything possible to avoid losing touch with his daughter", and also noted that the episode "raises the stakes for [Michael], changing what he's come to accept as his routine for the first time since the start of the series: while bungee jumping at a fair with Rex and Emma in [the green reality], [Michael] has a fainting spell, and comes to in [the red reality]". Handlen claimed the episode "doesn't seem to fit everything else". Sepinwall complained that viewers went into "the episode already knowing that the Britten family's car crash was anything but". Sepinwall noted that "as it played not only with the structure of the show, but the emotions of our hero by showing us what happens if he stops going to sleep in one reality and waking up in the other". According to Sepinwall, "Say Hello to My Little Friend" was "effective" as it "forced [Michael] to finally confront a truth about his situation", and that he finally needs to grieve, by recognizing that one of his two loved ones is dead. Sepinwall praised how the episode "kept mirroring moments in the pilot", while Screen Rant writer Kevin Yeoman called the installment itself "powerful" and "compelling". Yeoman compared Awake to Mission: Impossible, writing that "with just two episodes left", Awake has to go into Mission: Impossible mode to "provide answers".
511,343	Tintin in Tibet	1,155,137,982	Comic album by Belgian cartoonist Hergé	[ "1960 graphic novels", "Comics set in India", "Comics set in Tibet", "Cryptozoology in fiction", "Literature first published in serial form", "Methuen Publishing books", "Nepal in fiction", "Tibet in fiction", "Tintin books", "Works originally published in Tintin (magazine)", "Yeti in fiction" ]	Tintin in Tibet (French: Tintin au Tibet) is the twentieth volume of The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. It was serialised weekly from September 1958 to November 1959 in Tintin magazine and published as a book in 1960. Hergé considered it his favourite Tintin adventure and an emotional effort, as he created it while suffering from traumatic nightmares and a personal conflict while deciding to leave his wife of three decades for a younger woman. The story tells of the young reporter Tintin in search of his friend Chang Chong-Chen, who the authorities claim has died in a plane crash in the Himalayas. Convinced that Chang has survived and accompanied only by Snowy, Captain Haddock and the Sherpa guide Tharkey, Tintin crosses the Himalayas to the plateau of Tibet, along the way encountering the mysterious Yeti. Following The Red Sea Sharks (1958) and its large number of characters, Tintin in Tibet differs from other stories in the series in that it features only a few familiar characters and is also Hergé's only adventure not to pit Tintin against an antagonist. Themes in Hergé's story include extrasensory perception, the mysticism of Tibetan Buddhism, and friendship. Translated into 32 languages, Tintin in Tibet was widely acclaimed by critics and is generally considered to be Hergé's finest work; it has also been praised by the Dalai Lama, who awarded it the Light of Truth Award. The story was a commercial success and was published in book form by Casterman shortly after its conclusion; the series itself became a defining part of the Franco-Belgian comics tradition. Tintin in Tibet was adapted for the 1991 Ellipse/Nelvana animated series The Adventures of Tintin, the 1992–93 BBC Radio 5 dramatisation of the Adventures, the 1996 video game of the same name, and the 2005–06 Young Vic musical Hergé's Adventures of Tintin; it was also prominently featured in the 2003 documentary Tintin and I and has been the subject of a museum exhibition. ## Synopsis While on holiday at a resort in the French Alps with Snowy and Captain Haddock, Tintin reads about a plane crash in the Gosain Than Massif in the Himalayas of Tibet. He then has a vision of his friend Chang Chong-Chen, badly injured and calling for help from the wreckage of the crashed plane. Convinced of Chang's survival, Tintin flies to Kathmandu, via Delhi, with Snowy and a skeptical Captain Haddock. They hire a Sherpa named Tharkey and, accompanied by porters, travel overland from Nepal towards the crash site. The porters abandon the group in fear when mysterious tracks are found, while Tintin, Haddock and Tharkey go on and eventually reach the crash site. Tintin sets off with Snowy to trace Chang's steps, and finds a cave where Chang has carved his name on a rock. On leaving the cave, he encounters a snowstorm and glimpses what seems to be a human silhouette. Tharkey believes that Tintin saw the Yeti and convinces him to abandon his friend and return with him to Nepal, since the area is too large to search. Tintin spots a scarf on a cliff face, concludes Chang is nearby, and continues with only the Captain. While attempting to scale a cliff face, Haddock slips and hangs out of reach, imperilling Tintin, who is tied to him. He tells Tintin to cut the rope to save himself, but Tintin refuses. Haddock tries to cut it himself, but drops his knife, alerting Tharkey, who has returned in time to rescue them. They try to camp for the night but lose their tent and must trek onwards, unable to sleep lest they freeze, arriving within sight of the Buddhist monastery of Khor-Biyong before being caught in an avalanche. Blessed Lightning, a monk at the monastery, has a vision of Tintin, Snowy, Haddock, and Tharkey in danger. Tintin regains consciousness and, too weak to walk, gives Snowy a note to deliver. Snowy runs to the monastery, loses the message, but is recognised as the dog from Blessed Lightning's vision. Tintin, Haddock and Tharkey regain consciousness in the monastery and are brought before the Grand Abbot. The Abbot tells Tintin to abandon his quest, but Blessed Lightning has another vision, through which Tintin learns that Chang is still alive inside a mountain cave at the Horn of the Yak—and that the Yeti is also there. Tintin and Haddock travel on to the Horn of the Yak. They arrive at a cave. Tintin ventures inside and finds Chang, who is feverish. The Yeti suddenly appears, revealed as a large anthropoid, reacting with anger at Tintin's attempt to take Chang. As it lunges at Tintin, the flash bulb of Tintin's camera goes off and scares the Yeti away. Chang tells Tintin that the Yeti saved his life after the crash. Upon returning to inhabited lands, the friends are surprised to be met by the Grand Abbot, who presents Tintin with a khata scarf in honour of the bravery he has shown for his friend Chang. As the party travels home, Chang muses that the Yeti is not a wild animal, but has a human soul. The Yeti sadly watches their departure from a distance. ## History ### Background and early ideas In October 1957, Hergé sent his publisher, Casterman, the cover of his completed nineteenth Tintin adventure, The Red Sea Sharks, and for several weeks considered plot ideas for his next story. Fondly recalling the Scouting days of his youth, his first idea was to send Tintin back to the United States, as in the third adventure, Tintin in America, to help a group of Native Americans defend their land from a large corporation that wished to drill for oil; on reflection, Hergé came to believe that retracing old ground would be a step backwards. Another idea had Tintin striving to prove that Haddock's butler Nestor was framed for a crime committed by his old employers, the Bird brothers. He dismissed this as well, but kept the idea of an adventure with no guns or violence—the only Tintin story without an antagonist. A third idea sent Tintin and Professor Calculus to a snow-covered polar region, where a stranded group of explorers need Calculus to save them from food poisoning. He abandoned this plot also, but kept the setting in a snowy environment and decided to focus, not on Calculus, but on his main character Tintin. A collaborator of Hergé's, Jacques Van Melkebeke, had suggested in 1954 to set a story in Tibet, likely influenced by the play he adapted for Hergé in the 1940s, M. Boullock a disparu (Mr. Boullock's Disappearance). Bernard Heuvelmans, a cryptozoologist who had helped Hergé envision lunar exploration for the two-part Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon, had given him a copy of his book Sur la piste des bêtes ignorées (On the Trail of Unknown Animals) in 1955, inscribing on the inside the suggestion that one day Tintin should meet the Yeti. By 1958, Hergé decided that Tibet would be the setting of Tintin's next Adventure. Initial ideas for the title were Le museau de la vache (The Cow's Snout), Le museau de l'ours (The Bear's Snout), and Le museau du yak (The Yak's Snout), all of which refer to the mountain in the latter part of the story. Although it was initially claimed that "market research" chose the title Tintin in Tibet suggesting sales would be better if the book used Tintin's name in the title, entertainment producer and author Harry Thompson suggested "the title reflected the solo nature of [Tintin's] undertaking". ### Hergé's psychological problems Hergé reached a particularly traumatic period in his life and suffered a mental breakdown. In 1956, he realised that he had fallen out of love with his wife Germaine, whom he had married in 1932, and by 1958, he and Fanny Vlaminck, a colourist at Studios Hergé twenty-eight years his junior, had developed a deep mutual attraction. They began courting; Hergé's new companion lifted his morale and shared many of his interests. Germaine soon began interfering with the courtship, causing Hergé to admit his desire had been to maintain a relationship with both women. When he failed to please either, he began to contemplate divorcing Germaine to marry Fanny. His Catholic upbringing and Boy Scout ethic, however, caused him to feel tremendous guilt. As he later related to interviewer Numa Sadoul: > "It meant turning upside down all my values—what a shock! This was a serious moral crisis: I was married, and I loved someone else; life seemed impossible with my wife, but on the other hand I had this scout-like idea of giving my word for ever. It was a real catastrophe. I was completely torn up". During this period, Hergé had recurrent nightmares where he faced images of what he described as "the beauty and cruelty of white"—visions of white and snow that he could not explain. As he later told Sadoul: > "At the time, I was going through a time of real crisis and my dreams were nearly always white dreams. And they were extremely distressing. I took note of them and remember one where I was in a kind of tower made up of a series of ramps. Dead leaves were falling and covering everything. At a particular moment, in an immaculately white alcove, a white skeleton appeared that tried to catch me. And then instantly everything around me became white". At the advice of his former editor Raymond de Becker, Hergé travelled to Zürich to consult the Swiss psychoanalyst Franz Riklin, a student of Carl Jung, to decipher his disturbing dreams. Riklin latched on to the "quest for purity" that featured so prominently in Hergé's dreams, and ultimately in Tintin in Tibet. He told the author that he must destroy "the demon of purity" in his mind as soon as possible: "I do not want to discourage you, but you will never reach the goal of your work. It comes to one or the other: you must overcome your crisis, or continue your work. But, in your place, I would stop immediately!" Although Hergé was tempted to abandon Tintin at Riklin's suggestion, devoting himself instead to his hobby of abstract art, he felt that doing so would be an acceptance of failure. In the end, he left his wife so that he could marry Fanny Vlaminck, and continued work on Tintin in Tibet, trusting that completing the book would exorcise the demons he felt possessed him. "It was a brave decision, and a good one", said British Tintin expert Michael Farr. "Few problems, psychological included, are solved by abandoning them". Thompson noted: "It was ironic, but not perhaps unpredictable, that faced with the moral dilemma posed by Riklin, Hergé chose to keep his Scout's word of honour to Tintin, but not to Germaine". Belgian Tintin expert Philippe Goddin summarised: "[Hergé] sought to regain a lost equilibrium, that he imposes on his hero a desire to seek purity ... considering it necessary for Tintin to go through the intimate experience of distress and loneliness ... and discover himself". ### Influences In creating Tintin in Tibet, Hergé drew upon a range of influences. Setting it in the Himalayas, a snow-covered environment, followed his recurring dreams of whiteness and his need to create an adventure that "must be a solo voyage of redemption" from the "whiteness of guilt". The idea of a solo voyage led to Tintin being accompanied only by Snowy, their guide, and a reluctant Haddock—who supplies the needed counterpoint and humour. While considering the character of Chang, absent since The Blue Lotus, Hergé thought of his artistic Chinese friend Zhang Chongren, whom he had not seen since the days of their friendship over twenty years earlier. Hergé and Zhang used to spend every Sunday together, during which Hergé learned much about Chinese culture for his work on The Blue Lotus. Later, Zhang moved back to his homeland and Hergé lost contact with his friend after the Japanese invasion of China in 1937. Hergé felt Chang and Tintin must be reunited, just as he hoped to see his friend again some day. Hergé read a variety of books about Tibet for this project: Fosco Maraini's Secret Tibet, Heinrich Harrer's Seven Years in Tibet, Tsewang Pemba's Tibet my Homeland, Maurice Herzog's Annapurna, discredited author Lobsang Rampa's The Third Eye, and the books of Belgian explorer and spiritualist Alexandra David-Néel. Hergé visited the Belgian Alpine Society to examine their photographic collection of the Himalayas, and they sent him photographer Richard Lannoy's work on India. Models for drawings such as of monks with musical instruments, Sherpas with backpacks, and the aircraft wreckage came from clippings Hergé had collected from sources such as National Geographic. Members of the Studios helped him gather other source material; for instance, collaborator Jacques Martin researched and drew the story's costumes. To learn about the Yeti, which he depicted as a benevolent creature, Hergé contacted his friend Bernard Heuvelmans, the author of On the Trail of Unknown Animals. After re-reading Heuvelmans' description of the Yeti, Hergé went on to research the cryptid species as much as possible. Hergé interviewed mountaineers, including Herzog, who had spotted the tracks of what he believed was an enormous biped that stopped at the foot of a rock face on Annapurna. The creature's care for the starving Chang derives from a Sherpa account of a Yeti that rescued a little girl in similar circumstances. Another influence came from Fanny Vlaminck, who was interested in extrasensory perception and the mysticism of Tibetan Buddhism, prominent themes in the story that also fascinated Hergé. ### Publication Studios Hergé serialised Tintin in Tibet weekly from September 1958 to November 1959, two pages per week, in Tintin magazine. Because of his desire for accuracy, Hergé added the logo of Air India to the airliner crash debris. A representative of Air India complained to Hergé about the adverse publicity the airline might suffer, arguing: "It's scandalous, none of our aircraft has ever crashed; you have done us a considerable wrong". Air India had cooperated with Hergé, aiding his research by providing him reading material, contemporary photographs, and film footage of India and Nepal, particularly Delhi and Kathmandu. While the crashed aircraft's tail number remained "VT", the country code for Indian aircraft, Hergé agreed to change the airline logo in the published edition to the fictional Sari-Airways, dryly noting that there were so many Indian airlines it was possible that there really was a Sari-Airways. While developing the story, members of the Studios confronted Hergé with concerns about elements of Tintin in Tibet. Bob de Moor feared the scene in which Haddock crashes into a stupa was disrespectful to Buddhists. Jacques van Melkebeke suggested that the Yeti not be depicted to create a sense of enigma; Hergé disagreed, believing that it would disappoint his child readers. After the serial concluded, Hergé worked with his publisher, Casterman, to produce the work in book form. Hergé's original design for the front cover featured Tintin and his expedition standing on a backdrop of pure white. Casterman deemed it too abstract, so Hergé added a mountain range at the top; biographer Benoît Peeters expressed that in doing so, the image was deprived of some of its "strength and originality". During production, Hergé kept abreast of the turbulent political developments in Tibet. In March 1959, Tibet's foremost political and spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fled the region into self-imposed exile in India during the 1959 Tibetan uprising. In May 2001, when Tintin in Tibet was published in China, state authorities renamed it Tintin in Chinese Tibet. When Casterman and the Hergé Foundation protested, the authorities restored the book's original title. ## Reception Hergé came to see Tintin in Tibet as his favourite volume in The Adventures of Tintin. He thought it an ode to friendship, composed "under the double sign of tenacity and friendship": "It's a story of friendship", Hergé said about his book years later, "the way people say, 'It's a love story'". ### Critical analysis Tintin in Tibet is well received by critics from the comics and literary fields. Farr calls it "exceptional in many respects, standing out among the twenty-three completed Tintin adventures ... an assertion of the incorruptible value of bonds of friendship". Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier laud it as "the ultimate Tintin book", reaching "a degree of perfection, both in its story and in its stunning art, that has rarely been equaled, before or since" and "arguably the best book in the series". They detail the story's many emotional moments: Haddock's willingness to sacrifice his life for Tintin's, Tharkey's return, the tearful reunion of Tintin and his starving friend Chang, the reverence paid to Tintin by the Grand Abbot and the monks, and the Yeti's sadness while watching the departure of his only friend. "For a comic book to handle such powerful emotions, convey them to the readers, and make them feel what the characters are feeling is a rare and precious achievement". Thompson calls it "a book of overwhelming whiteness and purity", saying that the "intensely personal nature of the story made this Hergé's favourite Tintin adventure", adding that if readers wonder whether "the enormous weight [was] lifted from Hergé's shoulders, [this] can be seen in his next book, The Castafiore Emerald, a masterpiece of relaxation". As Tintin in Tibet was translated into 32 languages, Donald Lopez, professor of Buddhist and Tibetan studies, calls it the "largest selling book about Tibet". Literary critic Jean-Marie Apostolidès, in a psychoanalytical analysis of Tintin in Tibet, observes that Tintin is more firmly in control of the plot than he was in earlier adventures. Apostolidès notes that the character displays worry and emotion not present previously, something he suggested showed Tintin sorting out the problems that he faced in life. In his analysis, he calls Tintin a "foundling" and his friend Chang "the lost child" and "Tintin's twin ... the heroes have to struggle to great heights to escape the temporality and pervasive values of [the] universe". He saw the Yeti, who "internalises certain human characteristics", as more complex than Hergé's previous bestial character, Ranko in The Black Island: "The monster loves Chang with a love as unconditional as Tintin's love for his friend". The literary analysis of Tom McCarthy compares Tintin's quest to Hergé's conquest of his own fear and guilt, writing, "this is the moira of Hergé's own white mythology, his anaemic destiny: to become Sarrasine to Tintin's la Zambinella". McCarthy suggested the "icy, white expanses of Hergé's nightmares [may] really have their analogue in his own hero", especially as "Tintin represents an unattainable goal of goodness, cleanness, authenticity". Hergé biographer Pierre Assouline opines that the work is "a portrait of the artist at a turning point" in his life. He believes that it "stands alone" in The Adventures of Tintin due to its lack of antagonist and few characters, describing it as "a spiritual quest" where the "only conflict is between man and nature ... [Hergé] put the best of himself into Tintin in Tibet". Referring to its "stripped-bare story and archetypal clarity", Benoît Peeters believes Tintin in Tibet to be one of the two "pivotal" books in the series, alongside The Blue Lotus, and deems it poignant that Chang features in both. He also suggests that Hergé included the benevolent Yeti to "make up for the interminable massacre" of animals in the second Tintin adventure, Tintin in the Congo, and that the sadness the Yeti experienced at the story's end reflected Hergé's feelings about his separation from Germaine. Peeters concluded: "Even more than Art Spiegelman's Maus, Tintin in Tibet is perhaps the most moving book in the history of the comic strip". ### Awards At a ceremony in Brussels on 1 June 2006, the Dalai Lama bestowed the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT)'s Light of Truth Award upon the Hergé Foundation in recognition of Tintin in Tibet, which introduced the region to audiences across the globe. ICT executive director Tsering Jampa said: "For many, Hergé's depiction of Tibet was their introduction to the awe-inspiring landscape and culture of Tibet". During the ceremony, copies of Tintin in Tibet in the Esperanto language (Tinĉjo en Tibeto) were distributed. Accepting the award for the foundation, Hergé's widow Fanny Rodwell said: "We never thought that this story of friendship would have a resonance more than 40 years later". ## Adaptations Eight years after Hergé's death, Tintin in Tibet was adapted into an episode of The Adventures of Tintin (1991–92), a television series by French studio Ellipse and Canadian animation company Nelvana. The episode was directed by Stéphane Bernasconi, with Thierry Wermuth voicing Tintin. Tintin in Tibet was also a 1992 episode of the BBC Radio 4 series The Adventures of Tintin, in which Richard Pearce voiced Tintin. The book became a video game for the PC and Super NES in 1995. Tintin and I (2003), a documentary by Danish director Anders Høgsbro Østergaard based on Numa Sadoul's 1971 interview with Hergé, includes restored portions of the interview that Hergé had heavily edited and rewritten in Sadoul's book. With full access to the audio recordings, the filmmaker explored the personal issues that the author had while he was creating Tintin in Tibet and how they drove him to create what is now regarded as his most personal adventure. As the centenary of Hergé's birth approached in 2007, Tintin remained popular. Tintin in Tibet was adapted into a theatrical musical, Hergé's Adventures of Tintin, which ran from late 2005 to early 2006 at the Barbican Arts Centre in London. The production, directed by Rufus Norris and adapted by Norris and David Greig, featured Russell Tovey as Tintin. The musical was revived at the Playhouse Theatre in London's West End before touring in 2007. In 2010, the television channel Arte filmed an episode of its documentary series Sur les traces de Tintin (On the Trail of Tintin) in the Nepalese Himalayas, exploring the inspiration and setting of Tintin in Tibet. From May to September 2012, the Musée Hergé in Louvain-la-Neuve hosted an exhibition about the book, entitled Into Tibet with Tintin.
16,217	Jaguar	1,171,184,400	Large cat native to the Americas	[ "Apex predators", "Big cats", "ESA endangered species", "Fauna of the Amazon", "Fauna of the Cerrado", "Fauna of the Pantanal", "Fauna of the Southwestern United States", "Felids of Central America", "Felids of North America", "Felids of South America", "Jaguars", "Mammals described in 1758", "Near threatened animals", "Near threatened biota of North America", "Near threatened biota of South America", "Panthera", "Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus" ]	The jaguar (Panthera onca) is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus Panthera native to the Americas. With a body length of up to 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) and a weight of up to 158 kg (348 lb), it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the third largest in the world. Its distinctively marked coat features pale yellow to tan colored fur covered by spots that transition to rosettes on the sides, although a melanistic black coat appears in some individuals. The jaguar's powerful bite allows it to pierce the carapaces of turtles and tortoises, and to employ an unusual killing method: it bites directly through the skull of mammalian prey between the ears to deliver a fatal blow to the brain. The modern jaguar's ancestors probably entered the Americas from Eurasia during the Early Pleistocene via the land bridge that once spanned the Bering Strait. Today, the jaguar's range extends from core Southwestern United States across Mexico and much of Central America, the Amazon rainforest and south to Paraguay and northern Argentina. It inhabits a variety of forested and open terrains, but its preferred habitat is tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest, wetlands and wooded regions. It is adept at swimming and is largely a solitary, opportunistic, stalk-and-ambush apex predator. As a keystone species, it plays an important role in stabilizing ecosystems and in regulating prey populations. The jaguar is threatened by habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, poaching for trade with its body parts and killings in human–wildlife conflict situations, particularly with ranchers in Central and South America. It has been listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List since 2002. The wild population is thought to have declined since the late 1990s. Priority areas for jaguar conservation comprise 51 Jaguar Conservation Units (JCUs), defined as large areas inhabited by at least 50 breeding jaguars. The JCUs are located in 36 geographic regions ranging from Mexico to Argentina. The jaguar has featured prominently in the mythology of indigenous peoples of the Americas, including those of the Aztec and Maya civilizations. ## Etymology The word "jaguar" is possibly derived from the Tupi-Guarani word yaguara meaning 'wild beast that overcomes its prey at a bound'. In North America, the word is pronounced disyllabic /ˈdʒæɡwɑːr/, while in British English, it is pronounced with three syllables /ˈdʒæɡjuːər/. Because that word also applies to other animals, indigenous peoples in Guyana call it jaguareté, with the added sufix eté, meaning "true beast". "Onca" is derived from the Portuguese name onça for a spotted cat that is larger than a lynx; cf. ounce. The word "panther" is derived from classical Latin panthēra, itself from the ancient Greek πάνθηρ (pánthēr). ## Taxonomy and evolution ### Taxonomy In 1758, Carl Linnaeus described the jaguar in his work Systema Naturae and gave it the scientific name Felis onca. In the 19th and 20th centuries, several jaguar type specimens formed the basis for descriptions of subspecies. In 1939, Reginald Innes Pocock recognized eight subspecies based on the geographic origins and skull morphology of these specimens. Pocock did not have access to sufficient zoological specimens to critically evaluate their subspecific status but expressed doubt about the status of several. Later consideration of his work suggested only three subspecies should be recognized. The description of P. o. palustris was based on a fossil skull. By 2005, nine subspecies were considered to be valid taxa: - P. o. onca (Linnaeus, 1758) was a jaguar from Brazil. - P. o. peruviana (De Blainville, 1843) was a jaguar skull from Peru. - P. o. hernandesii (Gray, 1857) was a jaguar from Mazatlán in Mexico. - P. o. palustris (Ameghino, 1888) was a fossil jaguar mandible excavated in the Sierras Pampeanas of Córdova District, Argentina. - P. o. centralis (Mearns, 1901) was a skull of a male jaguar from Talamanca, Costa Rica. - P. o. goldmani (Mearns, 1901) was a jaguar skin from Yohatlan in Campeche, Mexico. - P. o. paraguensis (Hollister, 1914) was a skull of a male jaguar from Paraguay. - P. o. arizonensis (Goldman, 1932) was a skin and skull of a male jaguar from the vicinity of Cibecue, Arizona. - P. o. veraecrucis (Nelson and Goldman, 1933) was a skull of a male jaguar from San Andrés Tuxtla in Mexico. Reginald Innes Pocock placed the jaguar in the genus Panthera and observed that it shares several morphological features with the leopard (P. pardus). He, therefore, concluded that they are most closely related to each other. Results of morphological and genetic research indicate a clinal north–south variation between populations, but no evidence for subspecific differentiation. DNA analysis of 84 jaguar samples from South America revealed that the gene flow between jaguar populations in Colombia was high in the past. Since 2017, the jaguar is considered to be a monotypic taxon, though the modern Panthera onca onca is still distinguished from two fossil subspecies, Panthera onca augusta and Panthera onca mesembrina. ### Evolution The Panthera lineage is estimated to have genetically diverged from the common ancestor of the Felidae around to , and the geographic origin of the genus is most likely northern Central Asia. Some genetic analyses place the jaguar as a sister species to the lion with which it diverged , but other studies place the lion closer to the leopard. The lineage of the jaguar appears to have originated in Africa and spread to Eurasia 1.95–1.77 mya. The modern species may have descended from Panthera gombaszoegensis, which is thought to have entered the American continent via Beringia, the land bridge that once spanned the Bering Strait. Fossils of modern jaguars have been found in North America dating to over 850,000 years ago. Results of mitochondrial DNA analysis of 37 jaguars indicate that current populations evolved between 510,000 and 280,000 years ago in northern South America and subsequently recolonized North and Central America after the extinction of jaguars there during the Late Pleistocene. Two extinct subspecies of jaguar are recognized in the fossil record: the North American P. o. augusta and South American P. o. mesembrina. ## Description The jaguar is a compact and muscular animal. It is the largest cat native to the Americas and the third largest in the world, exceeded in size only by the tiger and the lion. It stands 68 to 75 cm (26.8 to 29.5 in) tall at the shoulders. Its size and weight vary considerably depending on sex and region: weights in most regions are normally in the range of 56–96 kg (123–212 lb). Exceptionally big males have been recorded to weigh as much as 158 kg (348 lb). The smallest females from Middle America weigh about 36 kg (79 lb). It is sexually dimorphic, with females typically being 10–20% smaller than males. The length from the nose to the base of the tail varies from 1.12 to 1.85 m (3 ft 8 in to 6 ft 1 in). The tail is 45 to 75 cm (18 to 30 in) long and the shortest of any big cat. Its muscular legs are shorter than the legs of other Panthera species with similar body weight. Size tends to increase from north to south. Jaguars in the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve on the Pacific coast of central Mexico weighed around 50 kg (110 lb). Jaguars in Venezuela and Brazil are much larger, with average weights of about 95 kg (209 lb) in males and of about 56–78 kg (123–172 lb) in females. The jaguar's coat ranges from pale yellow to tan or reddish-yellow, with a whitish underside and covered in black spots. The spots and their shapes vary: on the sides, they become rosettes which may include one or several dots. The spots on the head and neck are generally solid, as are those on the tail where they may merge to form bands near the end and create a black tip. They are elongated on the middle of the back, often connecting to create a median stripe, and blotchy on the belly. These patterns serve as camouflage in areas with dense vegetation and patchy shadows. Jaguars living in forests are often darker and considerably smaller than those living in open areas, possibly due to the smaller numbers of large, herbivorous prey in forest areas. The jaguar closely resembles the leopard but is generally more robust, with stockier limbs and a more square head. The rosettes on a jaguar's coat are larger, darker, fewer in number and have thicker lines, with a small spot in the middle. It has powerful jaws with the third-highest bite force of all felids, after the tiger and the lion. It has an average bite force at the canine tip of 887.0 Newton and a bite force quotient at the canine tip of 118.6. A 100 kg (220 lb) jaguar can bite with a force of 4.939 kN (1,110 lbf) with the canine teeth and 6.922 kN (1,556 lbf) at the carnassial notch. ### Color variation Melanistic jaguars are also known as black panthers. The black morph is less common than the spotted one. Black jaguars have been documented in Central and South America. Melanism in the jaguar is caused by deletions in the melanocortin 1 receptor gene and inherited through a dominant allele. In 2004, a camera trap in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains photographed the first documented black jaguar in Northern Mexico. Black jaguars were also photographed in Costa Rica's Alberto Manuel Brenes Biological Reserve, in the mountains of the Cordillera de Talamanca, in Barbilla National Park and in eastern Panama. ## Distribution and habitat In the 19th century, the jaguar was still sighted at the North Platte River in Colorado and coastal Louisiana. In 1919, sightings of jaguars were reported in the Monterey, California region. In 1999, its historic range at the turn of the 20th century was estimated at 19,000,000 km<sup>2</sup> (7,300,000 sq mi), stretching from the southern United States through Central America to southern Argentina. By the turn of the 21st century, its global range had decreased to about 8,750,000 km<sup>2</sup> (3,380,000 sq mi), with most declines in the southern United States, northern Mexico, northern Brazil, and southern Argentina. Its present range extends from Mexico through Central America to South America comprising Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, particularly on the Osa Peninsula, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. It is considered to be locally extinct in El Salvador and Uruguay. Jaguars have been occasionally sighted in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Between 2012 and 2015, a male vagrant jaguar was recorded in 23 locations in the Santa Rita Mountains. The jaguar prefers dense forest and typically inhabits dry deciduous forests, tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, rainforests and cloud forests in Central and South America; open, seasonally flooded wetlands, dry grassland and historically also oak forests in the United States. It has been recorded at elevations up to 3,800 m (12,500 ft) but avoids montane forests. It favors riverine habitat and swamps with dense vegetation cover. In the Mayan forests of Mexico and Guatemala, 11 GPS-collared jaguars preferred undisturbed dense habitat away from roads; females avoided even areas with low levels of human activity, whereas males appeared less disturbed by human population density. A young male jaguar was also recorded in the semi-arid Sierra de San Carlos at a waterhole. ## Behavior and ecology The jaguar is mostly active at night and during twilight. However, jaguars living in densely forested regions of the Amazon Rainforest and the Pantanal are largely active by day, whereas jaguars in the Atlantic Forest are primarily active by night. The activity pattern of the jaguar coincides with the activity of its main prey species. Jaguars are good swimmers and play and hunt in the water, possibly more than tigers. They have been recorded moving between islands and the shore. Jaguars are also good at climbing trees but do so less often than cougars. ### Ecological role The adult jaguar is an apex predator, meaning it is at the top of the food chain and is not preyed upon in the wild. The jaguar has also been termed a keystone species, as it is assumed that it controls the population levels of prey such as herbivorous and seed-eating mammals and thus maintains the structural integrity of forest systems. However, field work has shown this may be natural variability, and the population increases may not be sustained. Thus, the keystone predator hypothesis is not accepted by all scientists. The jaguar is sympatric with the cougar (Puma concolor). In central Mexico, both prey on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), which makes up 54% and 66% of jaguar and cougar's prey, respectively. In northern Mexico, the jaguar and the cougar share the same habitat, and their diet overlaps dependent on prey availability. Jaguars seemed to prefer deer and calves. In Mexico and Central America, neither of the two cats are considered to be the dominant predator. In South America, the jaguar is larger than the cougar and tends to take larger prey, usually over 22 kg (49 lb). The cougar's prey usually weighs between 2 and 22 kg (4 and 49 lb), which is thought to be the reason for its smaller size. This situation may be advantageous to the cougar. Its broader prey niche, including its ability to take smaller prey, may give it an advantage over the jaguar in human-altered landscapes. ### Hunting and diet The jaguar is an obligate carnivore and depends solely on flesh for its nutrient requirements. An analysis of 53 studies documenting the diet of the jaguar revealed that its prey ranges in weight from 1 to 130 kg (2.2 to 286.6 lb); it prefers prey weighing 45–85 kg (99–187 lb), with the rodent capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) and the pilosan giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) being the most selected. When available, it also preys on marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus), southern tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla), collared peccary (Dicotyles tajacu) and black agouti (Dasyprocta fuliginosa). In floodplains, jaguars opportunistically take reptiles such as turtles and caimans. Consumption of reptiles appears to be more frequent in jaguars than in other big cats. One remote population in the Brazilian Pantanal is recorded to primarily feed on aquatic reptiles and fish. The jaguar also preys on livestock in cattle ranching areas where wild prey is scarce. The daily food requirement of a captive jaguar weighing 34 kg (75 lb) was estimated at 1.4 kg (3.1 lb) of meat. The jaguar's bite force allows it to pierce the carapaces of the yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle (Podocnemis unifilis) and the yellow-footed tortoise (Chelonoidis denticulatus). It employs an unusual killing method: it bites mammalian prey directly through the skull between the ears to deliver a fatal bite to the brain. It kills capybara by piercing its canine teeth through the temporal bones of its skull, breaking its zygomatic arch and mandible and penetrating its brain, often through the ears. It has been hypothesized to be an adaptation to cracking open turtle shells; armored reptiles may have formed an abundant prey base for the jaguar following the late Pleistocene extinctions. However, this is disputed, as even in areas where jaguars prey on reptiles, they are still taken relatively infrequently compared to mammals in spite of their greater abundance. Between October 2001 and April 2004, 10 jaguars were monitored in the southern Pantanal. In the dry season from April to September, they killed prey at intervals ranging from one to seven days; and ranging from one to 16 days in the wet season from October to March. The jaguar uses a stalk-and-ambush strategy when hunting rather than chasing prey. The cat will slowly walk down forest paths, listening for and stalking prey before rushing or ambushing. The jaguar attacks from cover and usually from a target's blind spot with a quick pounce; the species' ambushing abilities are considered nearly peerless in the animal kingdom by both indigenous people and field researchers and are probably a product of its role as an apex predator in several different environments. The ambush may include leaping into water after prey, as a jaguar is quite capable of carrying a large kill while swimming; its strength is such that carcasses as large as a heifer can be hauled up a tree to avoid flood levels. After killing prey, the jaguar will drag the carcass to a thicket or other secluded spot. It begins eating at the neck and chest. The heart and lungs are consumed, followed by the shoulders. ### Social activity The jaguar is generally solitary except for females with cubs. In 1977, groups consisting of a male, female and cubs, and two females with two males were sighted several times in a study area in the Paraguay River valley. In some areas, males may form paired coalitions which together mark, defend and invade territories, find and mate with the same females and search for and share prey. A radio-collared female moved in a home range of 25–38 km<sup>2</sup> (9.7–14.7 sq mi), which partly overlapped with another female. The home range of the male in this study area overlapped with several females. The jaguar uses scrape marks, urine, and feces to mark its territory. The size of home ranges depends on the level of deforestation and human population density. The home ranges of females vary from 15.3 km<sup>2</sup> (5.9 sq mi) in the Pantanal to 53.6 km<sup>2</sup> (20.7 sq mi) in the Amazon to 233.5 km<sup>2</sup> (90.2 sq mi) in the Atlantic Forest. Male jaguar home ranges vary from 25 km<sup>2</sup> (9.7 sq mi) in the Pantanal to 180.3 km<sup>2</sup> (69.6 sq mi) in the Amazon to 591.4 km<sup>2</sup> (228.3 sq mi) in the Atlantic Forest and 807.4 km<sup>2</sup> (311.7 sq mi) in the Cerrado. Studies employing GPS telemetry in 2003 and 2004 found densities of only six to seven jaguars per 100 km<sup>2</sup> in the Pantanal region, compared with 10 to 11 using traditional methods; this suggests the widely used sampling methods may inflate the actual numbers of individuals in a sampling area. Fights between males occur but are rare, and avoidance behavior has been observed in the wild. In one wetland population with degraded territorial boundaries and more social proximity, adults of the same sex are more tolerant of each other and engage in more friendly and co-operative interactions. The jaguar roars/grunts for long-distance communication; intensive bouts of counter-calling between individuals have been observed in the wild. This vocalization is described as "hoarse" with five or six guttural notes. Chuffing is produced by individuals when greeting, during courting, or by a mother comforting her cubs. This sound is described as low intensity snorts, possibly intended to signal tranquility and passivity. Cubs have been recorded bleating, gurgling and mewing. ### Reproduction and life cycle In captivity, the female jaguar is recorded to reach sexual maturity at the age of about 2.5 years. Estrus lasts 7–15 days with an estrus cycle of 41.8 to 52.6 days. During estrus, she exhibits increased restlessness with rolling and prolonged vocalizations. She is an induced ovulator but can also ovulate spontaneously. Gestation lasts 91 to 111 days. The male is sexually mature at the age of three to four years. His mean ejaculate volume is 8.6±1.3 ml. Generation length of the jaguar is 9.8 years. In the Pantanal, breeding pairs were observed to stay together for up to five days. Females had one to two cubs. The young are born with closed eyes but open them after two weeks. Cubs are weaned at the age of three months but remain in the birth den for six months before leaving to accompany their mother on hunts. Jaguars remain with their mothers for up to two years. They appear to rarely live beyond 11 years, but captive individuals may live 22 years. In 2001, a male jaguar killed and partially consumed two cubs in Emas National Park. DNA paternity testing of blood samples revealed that the male was the father of the cubs. Two more cases of infanticide were documented in the northern Pantanal in 2013. To defend against infanticide, the female may hide her cubs and distract the male with courtship behavior. ### Attacks on humans The Spanish conquistadors feared the jaguar. According to Charles Darwin, the indigenous peoples of South America stated that people did not need to fear the jaguar as long as capybaras were abundant. The first official record of a jaguar killing a human in Brazil dates to June 2008. Two children were attacked by jaguars in Guyana. The jaguar is the least likely of all big cats to kill and eat humans, and the majority of attacks come when it has been cornered or wounded. ## Threats The jaguar is threatened by loss and fragmentation of habitat, illegal killing in retaliation for livestock depredation and for illegal trade in jaguar body parts. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List since 2002, as the jaguar population has probably declined by 20–25% since the mid-1990s. Deforestation is a major threat to the jaguar across its range. Habitat loss was most rapid in drier regions such as the Argentine pampas, the arid grasslands of Mexico and the southwestern United States. In 2002, it was estimated that the range of the jaguar had declined to about 46% of its range in the early 20th century. In 2018, it was estimated that its range had declined by 55% in the last century. The only remaining stronghold is the Amazon rainforest, a region that is rapidly being fragmented by deforestation. Between 2000 and 2012, forest loss in the jaguar range amounted to 83.759 km<sup>2</sup> (32.340 sq mi), with fragmentation increasing in particular in corridors between Jaguar Conservation Units (JCUs). By 2014, direct linkages between two JCUs in Bolivia were lost, and two JCUs in northern Argentina became completely isolated due to deforestation. In Mexico, the jaguar is primarily threatened by poaching. Its habitat is fragmented in northern Mexico, in the Gulf of Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula, caused by changes in land use, construction of roads and tourism infrastructure. In Panama, 220 of 230 jaguars were killed in retaliation for predation on livestock between 1998 and 2014. In Venezuela, the jaguar was extirpated in about 26% of its range in the country since 1940, mostly in dry savannas and unproductive scrubland in the northeastern region of Anzoátegui. In Ecuador, the jaguar is threatened by reduced prey availability in areas where the expansion of the road network facilitated access of human hunters to forests. In the Alto Paraná Atlantic forests, at least 117 jaguars were killed in Iguaçu National Park and the adjacent Misiones Province between 1995 and 2008. Some Afro-Colombians in the Colombian Chocó Department hunt jaguars for consumption and sale of meat. Between 2008 and 2012, at least 15 jaguars were killed by livestock farmers in central Belize. The international trade of jaguar skins boomed between the end of the Second World War and the early 1970s. Significant declines occurred in the 1960s, as more than 15,000 jaguars were yearly killed for their skins in the Brazilian Amazon alone; the trade in jaguar skins decreased since 1973 when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species was enacted. Interview surveys with 533 people in the northwestern Bolivian Amazon revealed that local people killed jaguars out of fear, in retaliation, and for trade. Between August 2016 and August 2019, jaguar skins and body parts were seen for sale in tourist markets in the Peruvian cities of Lima, Iquitos and Pucallpa. Human-wildlife conflict, opportunistic hunting and hunting for trade in domestic markets are key drivers for killing jaguars in Belize and Guatemala. Seizure reports indicate that at least 857 jaguars were involved in trade between 2012 and 2018, including 482 individuals in Bolivia alone; 31 jaguars were seized in China. Between 2014 and early 2019, 760 jaguar fangs were seized that originated in Bolivia and were destined for China. Undercover investigations revealed that the smuggling of jaguar body parts is run by Chinese residents in Bolivia. ## Conservation The jaguar is listed on CITES Appendix I, which means that all international commercial trade in jaguars or their body parts is prohibited. Hunting jaguars is prohibited in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, the United States, and Venezuela. Hunting jaguars is restricted in Guatemala and Peru. In Ecuador, hunting jaguars is prohibited, and it is classified as threatened with extinction. In Guyana, it is protected as an endangered species, and hunting it is illegal. In 1986, the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary was established in Belize as the world's first protected area for jaguar conservation. ### Jaguar Conservation Units In 1999, field scientists from 18 jaguar range countries determined the most important areas for long-term jaguar conservation based on the status of jaguar population units, stability of prey base and quality of habitat. These areas, called "Jaguar Conservation Units" (JCUs), are large enough for at least 50 breeding individuals and range in size from 566 to 67,598 km<sup>2</sup> (219 to 26,100 sq mi); 51 JCUs were designated in 36 geographic regions including: - the Sierra Madre Occidental and Sierra de Tamaulipas in Mexico - the Selva Maya tropical forests extending over Mexico, Belize and Guatemala - the Chocó–Darién moist forests from Honduras and Panama to Colombia - Venezuelan Llanos - northern Cerrado and Amazon basin in Brazil - Tropical Andes in Bolivia and Peru - Misiones Province in Argentina Optimal routes of travel between core jaguar population units were identified across its range in 2010 to implement wildlife corridors that connect JCUs. These corridors represent areas with the shortest distance between jaguar breeding populations, require the least possible energy input of dispersing individuals and pose a low mortality risk. They cover an area of 2,600,000 km<sup>2</sup> (1,000,000 sq mi) and range in length from 3 to 1,102 km (1.9 to 684.8 mi) in Mexico and Central America and from 489.14 to 1,607 km (303.94 to 998.54 mi) in South America. Cooperation with local landowners and municipal, state, or federal agencies is essential to maintain connected populations and prevent fragmentation in both JCUs and corridors. Seven of 13 corridors in Mexico are functioning with a width of at least 14.25 km (8.85 mi) and a length of no more than 320 km (200 mi). The other corridors may hamper passage, as they are narrower and longer. In August 2012, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service set aside 3,392.20 km<sup>2</sup> (838,232 acres) in Arizona and New Mexico for the protection of the jaguar. The Jaguar Recovery Plan was published in April 2019, in which Interstate 10 is considered to form the northern boundary of the Jaguar Recovery Unit in Arizona and New Mexico. In Mexico, a national conservation strategy was developed from 2005 on and published in 2016. The Mexican jaguar population increased from an estimated 4,000 individuals in 2010 to about 4,800 individuals in 2018. This increase is seen as a positive effect of conservation measures that were implemented in cooperation with governmental and non-governmental institutions and landowners. An evaluation of JCUs from Mexico to Argentina revealed that they overlap with high-quality habitats of about 1,500 mammals to varying degrees. Since co-occurring mammals benefit from the JCU approach, the jaguar has been called an umbrella species. Central American JCUs overlap with the habitat of 187 of 304 regional endemic amphibian and reptile species, of which 19 amphibians occur only in the jaguar range. ### Approaches In setting up protected reserves, efforts generally also have to be focused on the surrounding areas, as jaguars are unlikely to confine themselves to the bounds of a reservation, especially if the population is increasing in size. Human attitudes in the areas surrounding reserves and laws and regulations to prevent poaching are essential to make conservation areas effective. To estimate population sizes within specific areas and to keep track of individual jaguars, camera trapping and wildlife tracking telemetry are widely used, and feces are sought out with the help of detection dogs to study jaguar health and diet. Current conservation efforts often focus on educating ranch owners and promoting ecotourism. Ecotourism setups are being used to generate public interest in charismatic animals such as the jaguar while at the same time generating revenue that can be used in conservation efforts. A key concern in jaguar ecotourism is the considerable habitat space the species requires. If ecotourism is used to aid in jaguar conservation, some considerations need to be made as to how existing ecosystems will be kept intact, or how new ecosystems will be put into place that are large enough to support a growing jaguar population. Conservationists and professionals in Mexico and the United States have established the 56,000 acres (23,000 ha) Northern Jaguar Reserve in northern Mexico. Advocacy for reintroduction of the jaguar to its former range in Arizona and New Mexico have been supported by documentation of natural migrations by individual jaguars into the southern reaches of both states, the recency of extirpation from those regions by human action, and supportive arguments pertaining to biodiversity, ecological, human, and practical considerations. ## In culture and mythology In the pre-Columbian Americas, the jaguar was a symbol of power and strength. In the Andes, a jaguar cult disseminated by the early Chavín culture became accepted over most of today's Peru by 900 BC. The later Moche culture in northern Peru used the jaguar as a symbol of power in many of their ceramics. In the Muisca religion in Altiplano Cundiboyacense, the jaguar was considered a sacred animal, and people dressed in jaguar skins during religious rituals. The skins were traded with peoples in the nearby Orinoquía Region. The name of the Muisca ruler Nemequene was derived from the Chibcha words nymy and quyne, meaning "force of the jaguar". Sculptures with "Olmec were-jaguar" motifs were found on the Yucatán Peninsula in Veracruz and Tabasco; they show stylized jaguars with half-human faces. In the later Maya civilization, the jaguar was believed to facilitate communication between the living and the dead and to protect the royal household. The Maya saw these powerful felines as their companions in the spiritual world, and several Maya rulers bore names that incorporated the Mayan word for jaguar b'alam in many of the Mayan languages. Balam remains a common Maya surname, and it is also the name of Chilam Balam, a legendary author to whom are attributed 17th and 18th-centuries Maya miscellanies preserving much important knowledge. Remains of jaguar bones were discovered in a burial site in Guatemala, which indicates that Mayans may have kept jaguars as pets. The Aztec civilization shared this image of the jaguar as the representative of the ruler and as a warrior. The Aztecs formed an elite warrior class known as the Jaguar warrior. In Aztec mythology, the jaguar was considered to be the totem animal of the powerful deities Tezcatlipoca and Tepeyollotl. A conch shell gorget depicting a jaguar was found in a burial mound in Benton County, Missouri. The gorget shows evenly-engraved lines and measures 104 mm × 98 mm (4.1 in × 3.9 in). Rock drawings made by the Hopi, Anasazi and Pueblo all over the desert and chaparral regions of the American Southwest show an explicitly spotted cat, presumably a jaguar, as it is drawn much larger than an ocelot. The jaguar is also used as a symbol in contemporary culture. It is the national animal of Guyana and is featured in its coat of arms. The flag of the Department of Amazonas features a black jaguar silhouette leaping towards a hunter. The crest of the Argentine Rugby Union features a jaguar. ## See also - List of largest cats
17,481,271	Fluorine	1,171,900,793	null	[ "Chemical elements", "Diatomic nonmetals", "Fluorinating agents", "Fluorine", "Gases with color", "Halogens", "Industrial gases", "Oxidizing agents", "Reactive nonmetals" ]	Fluorine is a chemical element with the symbol F and atomic number 9. It is the lightest halogen and exists at standard conditions as a highly toxic, pale yellow diatomic gas. As the most electronegative reactive element, it is extremely reactive, as it reacts with all other elements except for the light inert gases. Among the elements, fluorine ranks 24th in universal abundance and 13th in terrestrial abundance. Fluorite, the primary mineral source of fluorine which gave the element its name, was first described in 1529; as it was added to metal ores to lower their melting points for smelting, the Latin verb fluo meaning 'flow' gave the mineral its name. Proposed as an element in 1810, fluorine proved difficult and dangerous to separate from its compounds, and several early experimenters died or sustained injuries from their attempts. Only in 1886 did French chemist Henri Moissan isolate elemental fluorine using low-temperature electrolysis, a process still employed for modern production. Industrial production of fluorine gas for uranium enrichment, its largest application, began during the Manhattan Project in World War II. Owing to the expense of refining pure fluorine, most commercial applications use fluorine compounds, with about half of mined fluorite used in steelmaking. The rest of the fluorite is converted into corrosive hydrogen fluoride en route to various organic fluorides, or into cryolite, which plays a key role in aluminium refining. Molecules containing a carbon–fluorine bond often have very high chemical and thermal stability; their major uses are as refrigerants, electrical insulation and cookware, and PTFE (Teflon). Pharmaceuticals such as atorvastatin and fluoxetine contain C−F bonds. The fluoride ion from dissolved fluoride salts inhibits dental cavities, and so finds use in toothpaste and water fluoridation. Global fluorochemical sales amount to more than US\$69 billion a year. Fluorocarbon gases are generally greenhouse gases with global-warming potentials 100 to 23,500 times that of carbon dioxide, and SF<sub>6</sub> has the highest global warming potential of any known substance. Organofluorine compounds often persist in the environment due to the strength of the carbon–fluorine bond. Fluorine has no known metabolic role in mammals; a few plants and sea sponges synthesize organofluorine poisons (most often monofluoroacetates) that help deter predation. ## Characteristics ### Electron configuration Fluorine atoms have nine electrons, one fewer than neon, and electron configuration 1s<sup>2</sup>2s<sup>2</sup>2p<sup>5</sup>: two electrons in a filled inner shell and seven in an outer shell requiring one more to be filled. The outer electrons are ineffective at nuclear shielding, and experience a high effective nuclear charge of 9 − 2 = 7; this affects the atom's physical properties. Fluorine's first ionization energy is third-highest among all elements, behind helium and neon, which complicates the removal of electrons from neutral fluorine atoms. It also has a high electron affinity, second only to chlorine, and tends to capture an electron to become isoelectronic with the noble gas neon; it has the highest electronegativity of any reactive element. Fluorine atoms have a small covalent radius of around 60 picometers, similar to those of its period neighbors oxygen and neon. ### Reactivity The bond energy of difluorine is much lower than that of either Cl <sub>2</sub> or Br <sub>2</sub> and similar to the easily cleaved peroxide bond; this, along with high electronegativity, accounts for fluorine's easy dissociation, high reactivity, and strong bonds to non-fluorine atoms. Conversely, bonds to other atoms are very strong because of fluorine's high electronegativity. Unreactive substances like powdered steel, glass fragments, and asbestos fibers react quickly with cold fluorine gas; wood and water spontaneously combust under a fluorine jet. Reactions of elemental fluorine with metals require varying conditions. Alkali metals cause explosions and alkaline earth metals display vigorous activity in bulk; to prevent passivation from the formation of metal fluoride layers, most other metals such as aluminium and iron must be powdered, and noble metals require pure fluorine gas at 300–450 °C (575–850 °F). Some solid nonmetals (sulfur, phosphorus) react vigorously in liquid fluorine. Hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide combine readily with fluorine, the latter sometimes explosively; sulfuric acid exhibits much less activity, requiring elevated temperatures. Hydrogen, like some of the alkali metals, reacts explosively with fluorine. Carbon, as lamp black, reacts at room temperature to yield tetrafluoromethane. Graphite combines with fluorine above 400 °C (750 °F) to produce non-stoichiometric carbon monofluoride; higher temperatures generate gaseous fluorocarbons, sometimes with explosions. Carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide react at or just above room temperature, whereas paraffins and other organic chemicals generate strong reactions: even completely substituted haloalkanes such as carbon tetrachloride, normally incombustible, may explode. Although nitrogen trifluoride is stable, nitrogen requires an electric discharge at elevated temperatures for reaction with fluorine to occur, due to the very strong triple bond in elemental nitrogen; ammonia may react explosively. Oxygen does not combine with fluorine under ambient conditions, but can be made to react using electric discharge at low temperatures and pressures; the products tend to disintegrate into their constituent elements when heated. Heavier halogens react readily with fluorine as does the noble gas radon; of the other noble gases, only xenon and krypton react, and only under special conditions. Argon does not react with fluorine gas; however, it does form a compound with fluorine, argon fluorohydride. ### Phases At room temperature, fluorine is a gas of diatomic molecules, pale yellow when pure (sometimes described as yellow-green). It has a characteristic halogen-like pungent and biting odor detectable at 20 ppb. Fluorine condenses into a bright yellow liquid at −188 °C (−306 °F), a transition temperature similar to those of oxygen and nitrogen. Fluorine has two solid forms, α- and β-fluorine. The latter crystallizes at −220 °C (−364 °F) and is transparent and soft, with the same disordered cubic structure of freshly crystallized solid oxygen, unlike the orthorhombic systems of other solid halogens. Further cooling to −228 °C (−378 °F) induces a phase transition into opaque and hard α-fluorine, which has a monoclinic structure with dense, angled layers of molecules. The transition from β- to α-fluorine is more exothermic than the condensation of fluorine, and can be violent. ### Isotopes Only one isotope of fluorine occurs naturally in abundance, the stable isotope <sup>19</sup> F. It has a high magnetogyric ratio and exceptional sensitivity to magnetic fields; because it is also the only stable isotope, it is used in magnetic resonance imaging. Eighteen radioisotopes with mass numbers from 13 to 31 have been synthesized, of which <sup>18</sup> F is the most stable with a half-life of 109.77 minutes. <sup>18</sup> F is a natural trace radioisotope produced by cosmic ray spallation of atmospheric argon as well as by reaction of protons with natural oxygen: <sup>18</sup>O + p → <sup>18</sup>F + n. Other radioisotopes have half-lives less than 70 seconds; most decay in less than half a second. The isotopes <sup>17</sup> F and <sup>18</sup> F undergo β<sup>+</sup> decay and electron capture, lighter isotopes decay by proton emission, and those heavier than <sup>19</sup> F undergo β<sup>−</sup> decay (the heaviest ones with delayed neutron emission). Two metastable isomers of fluorine are known, <sup>18m</sup> F, with a half-life of 162(7) nanoseconds, and <sup>26m</sup> F, with a half-life of 2.2(1) milliseconds. ## Occurrence ### Universe Among the lighter elements, fluorine's abundance value of 400 ppb (parts per billion) – 24th among elements in the universe – is exceptionally low: other elements from carbon to magnesium are twenty or more times as common. This is because stellar nucleosynthesis processes bypass fluorine, and any fluorine atoms otherwise created have high nuclear cross sections, allowing collisions with hydrogen or helium to generate oxygen or neon respectively. Beyond this transient existence, three explanations have been proposed for the presence of fluorine: - during type II supernovae, bombardment of neon atoms by neutrinos could transmute them to fluorine; - the solar wind of Wolf–Rayet stars could blow fluorine away from any hydrogen or helium atoms; or - fluorine is borne out on convection currents arising from fusion in asymptotic giant branch stars. ### Earth Fluorine is the thirteenth most common element in Earth's crust at 600–700 ppm (parts per million) by mass. Though believed not to occur naturally, elemental fluorine has been shown to be present as an occlusion in antozonite, a variant of fluorite. Most fluorine exists as fluoride-containing minerals. Fluorite, fluorapatite and cryolite are the most industrially significant. Fluorite (CaF <sub>2</sub>), also known as fluorspar, abundant worldwide, is the main source of fluoride, and hence fluorine. China and Mexico are the major suppliers. Fluorapatite (Ca<sub>5</sub>(PO<sub>4</sub>)<sub>3</sub>F), which contains most of the world's fluoride, is an inadvertent source of fluoride as a byproduct of fertilizer production. Cryolite (Na <sub>3</sub>AlF <sub>6</sub>), used in the production of aluminium, is the most fluorine-rich mineral. Economically viable natural sources of cryolite have been exhausted, and most is now synthesised commercially. Other minerals such as topaz contain fluorine. Fluorides, unlike other halides, are insoluble and do not occur in commercially favorable concentrations in saline waters. Trace quantities of organofluorines of uncertain origin have been detected in volcanic eruptions and geothermal springs. The existence of gaseous fluorine in crystals, suggested by the smell of crushed antozonite, is contentious; a 2012 study reported the presence of 0.04% F <sub>2</sub> by weight in antozonite, attributing these inclusions to radiation from the presence of tiny amounts of uranium. ## History ### Early discoveries In 1529, Georgius Agricola described fluorite as an additive used to lower the melting point of metals during smelting. He penned the Latin word fluorēs (fluor, flow) for fluorite rocks. The name later evolved into fluorspar (still commonly used) and then fluorite. The composition of fluorite was later determined to be calcium difluoride. Hydrofluoric acid was used in glass etching from 1720 onward. Andreas Sigismund Marggraf first characterized it in 1764 when he heated fluorite with sulfuric acid, and the resulting solution corroded its glass container. Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele repeated the experiment in 1771, and named the acidic product fluss-spats-syran (fluorspar acid). In 1810, the French physicist André-Marie Ampère suggested that hydrogen and an element analogous to chlorine constituted hydrofluoric acid. He also proposed in a letter to Sir Humphry Davy dated August 26, 1812 that this then-unknown substance may be named fluorine from fluoric acid and the -ine suffix of other halogens. This word, often with modifications, is used in most European languages; however, Greek, Russian, and some others, following Ampère's later suggestion, use the name ftor or derivatives, from the Greek φθόριος (phthorios, destructive). The New Latin name fluorum gave the element its current symbol F; Fl was used in early papers. ### Isolation Initial studies on fluorine were so dangerous that several 19th-century experimenters were deemed "fluorine martyrs" after misfortunes with hydrofluoric acid. Isolation of elemental fluorine was hindered by the extreme corrosiveness of both elemental fluorine itself and hydrogen fluoride, as well as the lack of a simple and suitable electrolyte. Edmond Frémy postulated that electrolysis of pure hydrogen fluoride to generate fluorine was feasible and devised a method to produce anhydrous samples from acidified potassium bifluoride; instead, he discovered that the resulting (dry) hydrogen fluoride did not conduct electricity. Frémy's former student Henri Moissan persevered, and after much trial and error found that a mixture of potassium bifluoride and dry hydrogen fluoride was a conductor, enabling electrolysis. To prevent rapid corrosion of the platinum in his electrochemical cells, he cooled the reaction to extremely low temperatures in a special bath and forged cells from a more resistant mixture of platinum and iridium, and used fluorite stoppers. In 1886, after 74 years of effort by many chemists, Moissan isolated elemental fluorine. In 1906, two months before his death, Moissan received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, with the following citation: > [I]n recognition of the great services rendered by him in his investigation and isolation of the element fluorine ... The whole world has admired the great experimental skill with which you have studied that savage beast among the elements. ### Later uses The Frigidaire division of General Motors (GM) experimented with chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants in the late 1920s, and Kinetic Chemicals was formed as a joint venture between GM and DuPont in 1930 hoping to market Freon-12 (CCl <sub>2</sub>F <sub>2</sub>) as one such refrigerant. It replaced earlier and more toxic compounds, increased demand for kitchen refrigerators, and became profitable; by 1949 DuPont had bought out Kinetic and marketed several other Freon compounds. Polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) was serendipitously discovered in 1938 by Roy J. Plunkett while working on refrigerants at Kinetic, and its superlative chemical and thermal resistance lent it to accelerated commercialization and mass production by 1941. Large-scale production of elemental fluorine began during World War II. Germany used high-temperature electrolysis to make tons of the planned incendiary chlorine trifluoride and the Manhattan Project used huge quantities to produce uranium hexafluoride for uranium enrichment. Since UF <sub>6</sub> is as corrosive as fluorine, gaseous diffusion plants required special materials: nickel for membranes, fluoropolymers for seals, and liquid fluorocarbons as coolants and lubricants. This burgeoning nuclear industry later drove post-war fluorochemical development. ## Compounds Fluorine has a rich chemistry, encompassing organic and inorganic domains. It combines with metals, nonmetals, metalloids, and most noble gases, and almost exclusively assumes an oxidation state of −1. Fluorine's high electron affinity results in a preference for ionic bonding; when it forms covalent bonds, these are polar, and almost always single. ### Metals Alkali metals form ionic and highly soluble monofluorides; these have the cubic arrangement of sodium chloride and analogous chlorides. Alkaline earth difluorides possess strong ionic bonds but are insoluble in water, with the exception of beryllium difluoride, which also exhibits some covalent character and has a quartz-like structure. Rare earth elements and many other metals form mostly ionic trifluorides. Covalent bonding first comes to prominence in the tetrafluorides: those of zirconium, hafnium and several actinides are ionic with high melting points, while those of titanium, vanadium, and niobium are polymeric, melting or decomposing at no more than 350 °C (660 °F). Pentafluorides continue this trend with their linear polymers and oligomeric complexes. Thirteen metal hexafluorides are known, all octahedral, and are mostly volatile solids but for liquid MoF <sub>6</sub> and ReF <sub>6</sub>, and gaseous WF <sub>6</sub>. Rhenium heptafluoride, the only characterized metal heptafluoride, is a low-melting molecular solid with pentagonal bipyramidal molecular geometry. Metal fluorides with more fluorine atoms are particularly reactive. ### Hydrogen Hydrogen and fluorine combine to yield hydrogen fluoride, in which discrete molecules form clusters by hydrogen bonding, resembling water more than hydrogen chloride. It boils at a much higher temperature than heavier hydrogen halides and unlike them is miscible with water. Hydrogen fluoride readily hydrates on contact with water to form aqueous hydrogen fluoride, also known as hydrofluoric acid. Unlike the other hydrohalic acids, which are strong, hydrofluoric acid is a weak acid at low concentrations. However, it can attack glass, something the other acids cannot do. ### Other reactive nonmetals Binary fluorides of metalloids and p-block nonmetals are generally covalent and volatile, with varying reactivities. Period 3 and heavier nonmetals can form hypervalent fluorides. Boron trifluoride is planar and possesses an incomplete octet. It functions as a Lewis acid and combines with Lewis bases like ammonia to form adducts. Carbon tetrafluoride is tetrahedral and inert; its group analogues, silicon and germanium tetrafluoride, are also tetrahedral but behave as Lewis acids. The pnictogens form trifluorides that increase in reactivity and basicity with higher molecular weight, although nitrogen trifluoride resists hydrolysis and is not basic. The pentafluorides of phosphorus, arsenic, and antimony are more reactive than their respective trifluorides, with antimony pentafluoride the strongest neutral Lewis acid known. Chalcogens have diverse fluorides: unstable difluorides have been reported for oxygen (the only known compound with oxygen in an oxidation state of +2), sulfur, and selenium; tetrafluorides and hexafluorides exist for sulfur, selenium, and tellurium. The latter are stabilized by more fluorine atoms and lighter central atoms, so sulfur hexafluoride is especially inert. Chlorine, bromine, and iodine can each form mono-, tri-, and pentafluorides, but only iodine heptafluoride has been characterized among possible interhalogen heptafluorides. Many of them are powerful sources of fluorine atoms, and industrial applications using chlorine trifluoride require precautions similar to those using fluorine. ### Noble gases Noble gases, having complete electron shells, defied reaction with other elements until 1962 when Neil Bartlett reported synthesis of xenon hexafluoroplatinate; xenon difluoride, tetrafluoride, hexafluoride, and multiple oxyfluorides have been isolated since then. Among other noble gases, krypton forms a difluoride, and radon and fluorine generate a solid suspected to be radon difluoride. Binary fluorides of lighter noble gases are exceptionally unstable: argon and hydrogen fluoride combine under extreme conditions to give argon fluorohydride. Helium and neon have no long-lived fluorides, and no neon fluoride has ever been observed; helium fluorohydride has been detected for milliseconds at high pressures and low temperatures. ### Organic compounds The carbon–fluorine bond is organic chemistry's strongest, and gives stability to organofluorines. It is almost non-existent in nature, but is used in artificial compounds. Research in this area is usually driven by commercial applications; the compounds involved are diverse and reflect the complexity inherent in organic chemistry. #### Discrete molecules The substitution of hydrogen atoms in an alkane by progressively more fluorine atoms gradually alters several properties: melting and boiling points are lowered, density increases, solubility in hydrocarbons decreases and overall stability increases. Perfluorocarbons, in which all hydrogen atoms are substituted, are insoluble in most organic solvents, reacting at ambient conditions only with sodium in liquid ammonia. The term perfluorinated compound is used for what would otherwise be a perfluorocarbon if not for the presence of a functional group, often a carboxylic acid. These compounds share many properties with perfluorocarbons such as stability and hydrophobicity, while the functional group augments their reactivity, enabling them to adhere to surfaces or act as surfactants; Fluorosurfactants, in particular, can lower the surface tension of water more than their hydrocarbon-based analogues. Fluorotelomers, which have some unfluorinated carbon atoms near the functional group, are also regarded as perfluorinated. #### Polymers Polymers exhibit the same stability increases afforded by fluorine substitution (for hydrogen) in discrete molecules; their melting points generally increase too. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), the simplest fluoropolymer and perfluoro analogue of polyethylene with structural unit –CF <sub>2</sub>–, demonstrates this change as expected, but its very high melting point makes it difficult to mold. Various PTFE derivatives are less temperature-tolerant but easier to mold: fluorinated ethylene propylene replaces some fluorine atoms with trifluoromethyl groups, perfluoroalkoxy alkanes do the same with trifluoromethoxy groups, and Nafion contains perfluoroether side chains capped with sulfonic acid groups. Other fluoropolymers retain some hydrogen atoms; polyvinylidene fluoride has half the fluorine atoms of PTFE and polyvinyl fluoride has a quarter, but both behave much like perfluorinated polymers. ## Production Elemental fluorine and virtually all fluorine compounds are produced from hydrogen fluoride or its aqueous solutions, hydrofluoric acid. Hydrogen fluoride is produced in kilns by the endothermic reaction of fluorite (CaF<sub>2</sub>) with sulfuric acid: CaF<sub>2</sub> + H<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub> → 2 HF(g) + CaSO<sub>4</sub> The gaseous HF can then be absorbed in water or liquefied. About 20% of manufactured HF is a byproduct of fertilizer production, which produces hexafluorosilicic acid (H<sub>2</sub>SiF<sub>6</sub>), which can be degraded to release HF thermally and by hydrolysis: H<sub>2</sub>SiF<sub>6</sub> → 2 HF + SiF<sub>4</sub> SiF<sub>4</sub> + 2 H<sub>2</sub>O → 4 HF + SiO<sub>2</sub> ### Industrial routes to F<sub>2</sub> Moissan's method is used to produce industrial quantities of fluorine, via the electrolysis of a potassium fluoride/hydrogen fluoride mixture: hydrogen and fluoride ions are reduced and oxidized at a steel container cathode and a carbon block anode, under 8–12 volts, to generate hydrogen and fluorine gas respectively. Temperatures are elevated, KF•2HF melting at 70 °C (158 °F) and being electrolyzed at 70–130 °C (158–266 °F). KF, which acts to provide electrical conductivity, is essential since pure HF cannot be electrolyzed because it is virtually non-conductive. Fluorine can be stored in steel cylinders that have passivated interiors, at temperatures below 200 °C (392 °F); otherwise nickel can be used. Regulator valves and pipework are made of nickel, the latter possibly using Monel instead. Frequent passivation, along with the strict exclusion of water and greases, must be undertaken. In the laboratory, glassware may carry fluorine gas under low pressure and anhydrous conditions; some sources instead recommend nickel-Monel-PTFE systems. ### Laboratory routes While preparing for a 1986 conference to celebrate the centennial of Moissan's achievement, Karl O. Christe reasoned that chemical fluorine generation should be feasible since some metal fluoride anions have no stable neutral counterparts; their acidification potentially triggers oxidation instead. He devised a method which evolves fluorine at high yield and atmospheric pressure: 2 KMnO<sub>4</sub> + 2 KF + 10 HF + 3 H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> → 2 K<sub>2</sub>MnF<sub>6</sub> + 8 H<sub>2</sub>O + 3 O<sub>2</sub>↑ 2 K<sub>2</sub>MnF<sub>6</sub> + 4 SbF<sub>5</sub> → 4 KSbF<sub>6</sub> + 2 MnF<sub>3</sub> + F<sub>2</sub>↑ Christe later commented that the reactants "had been known for more than 100 years and even Moissan could have come up with this scheme." As late as 2008, some references still asserted that fluorine was too reactive for any chemical isolation. ## Industrial applications Fluorite mining, which supplies most global fluorine, peaked in 1989 when 5.6 million metric tons of ore were extracted. Chlorofluorocarbon restrictions lowered this to 3.6 million tons in 1994; production has since been increasing. Around 4.5 million tons of ore and revenue of US\$550 million were generated in 2003; later reports estimated 2011 global fluorochemical sales at \$15 billion and predicted 2016–18 production figures of 3.5 to 5.9 million tons, and revenue of at least \$20 billion. Froth flotation separates mined fluorite into two main metallurgical grades of equal proportion: 60–85% pure metspar is almost all used in iron smelting whereas 97%+ pure acidspar is mainly converted to the key industrial intermediate hydrogen fluoride. At least 17,000 metric tons of fluorine are produced each year. It costs only \$5–8 per kilogram as uranium or sulfur hexafluoride, but many times more as an element because of handling challenges. Most processes using free fluorine in large amounts employ in situ generation under vertical integration. The largest application of fluorine gas, consuming up to 7,000 metric tons annually, is in the preparation of UF <sub>6</sub> for the nuclear fuel cycle. Fluorine is used to fluorinate uranium tetrafluoride, itself formed from uranium dioxide and hydrofluoric acid. Fluorine is monoisotopic, so any mass differences between UF <sub>6</sub> molecules are due to the presence of <sup>235</sup> U or <sup>238</sup> U, enabling uranium enrichment via gaseous diffusion or gas centrifuge. About 6,000 metric tons per year go into producing the inert dielectric SF <sub>6</sub> for high-voltage transformers and circuit breakers, eliminating the need for hazardous polychlorinated biphenyls associated with oil-filled devices. Several fluorine compounds are used in electronics: rhenium and tungsten hexafluoride in chemical vapor deposition, tetrafluoromethane in plasma etching and nitrogen trifluoride in cleaning equipment. Fluorine is also used in the synthesis of organic fluorides, but its reactivity often necessitates conversion first to the gentler ClF <sub>3</sub>, BrF <sub>3</sub>, or IF <sub>5</sub>, which together allow calibrated fluorination. Fluorinated pharmaceuticals use sulfur tetrafluoride instead. ### Inorganic fluorides As with other iron alloys, around 3 kg (6.5 lb) metspar is added to each metric ton of steel; the fluoride ions lower its melting point and viscosity. Alongside its role as an additive in materials like enamels and welding rod coats, most acidspar is reacted with sulfuric acid to form hydrofluoric acid, which is used in steel pickling, glass etching and alkane cracking. One-third of HF goes into synthesizing cryolite and aluminium trifluoride, both fluxes in the Hall–Héroult process for aluminium extraction; replenishment is necessitated by their occasional reactions with the smelting apparatus. Each metric ton of aluminium requires about 23 kg (51 lb) of flux. Fluorosilicates consume the second largest portion, with sodium fluorosilicate used in water fluoridation and laundry effluent treatment, and as an intermediate en route to cryolite and silicon tetrafluoride. Other important inorganic fluorides include those of cobalt, nickel, and ammonium. ### Organic fluorides Organofluorides consume over 20% of mined fluorite and over 40% of hydrofluoric acid, with refrigerant gases dominating and fluoropolymers increasing their market share. Surfactants are a minor application but generate over \$1 billion in annual revenue. Due to the danger from direct hydrocarbon–fluorine reactions above −150 °C (−240 °F), industrial fluorocarbon production is indirect, mostly through halogen exchange reactions such as Swarts fluorination, in which chlorocarbon chlorines are substituted for fluorines by hydrogen fluoride under catalysts. Electrochemical fluorination subjects hydrocarbons to electrolysis in hydrogen fluoride, and the Fowler process treats them with solid fluorine carriers like cobalt trifluoride. #### Refrigerant gases Halogenated refrigerants, termed Freons in informal contexts, are identified by R-numbers that denote the amount of fluorine, chlorine, carbon, and hydrogen present. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) like R-11, R-12, and R-114 once dominated organofluorines, peaking in production in the 1980s. Used for air conditioning systems, propellants and solvents, their production was below one-tenth of this peak by the early 2000s, after widespread international prohibition. Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) were designed as replacements; their synthesis consumes more than 90% of the fluorine in the organic industry. Important HCFCs include R-22, chlorodifluoromethane, and R-141b. The main HFC is R-134a with a new type of molecule HFO-1234yf, a Hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) coming to prominence owing to its global warming potential of less than 1% that of HFC-134a. #### Polymers About 180,000 metric tons of fluoropolymers were produced in 2006 and 2007, generating over \$3.5 billion revenue per year. The global market was estimated at just under \$6 billion in 2011 and was predicted to grow by 6.5% per year up to 2016. Fluoropolymers can only be formed by polymerizing free radicals. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), sometimes called by its DuPont name Teflon, represents 60–80% by mass of the world's fluoropolymer production. The largest application is in electrical insulation since PTFE is an excellent dielectric. It is also used in the chemical industry where corrosion resistance is needed, in coating pipes, tubing, and gaskets. Another major use is in PFTE-coated fiberglass cloth for stadium roofs. The major consumer application is for non-stick cookware. Jerked PTFE film becomes expanded PTFE (ePTFE), a fine-pored membrane sometimes referred to by the brand name Gore-Tex and used for rainwear, protective apparel, and filters; ePTFE fibers may be made into seals and dust filters. Other fluoropolymers, including fluorinated ethylene propylene, mimic PTFE's properties and can substitute for it; they are more moldable, but also more costly and have lower thermal stability. Films from two different fluoropolymers replace glass in solar cells. The chemically resistant (but expensive) fluorinated ionomers are used as electrochemical cell membranes, of which the first and most prominent example is Nafion. Developed in the 1960s, it was initially deployed as fuel cell material in spacecraft and then replaced mercury-based chloralkali process cells. Recently, the fuel cell application has reemerged with efforts to install proton exchange membrane fuel cells into automobiles. Fluoroelastomers such as Viton are crosslinked fluoropolymer mixtures mainly used in O-rings; perfluorobutane (C<sub>4</sub>F<sub>10</sub>) is used as a fire-extinguishing agent. #### Surfactants Fluorosurfactants are small organofluorine molecules used for repelling water and stains. Although expensive (comparable to pharmaceuticals at \$200–2000 per kilogram), they yielded over \$1 billion in annual revenues by 2006; Scotchgard alone generated over \$300 million in 2000. Fluorosurfactants are a minority in the overall surfactant market, most of which is taken up by much cheaper hydrocarbon-based products. Applications in paints are burdened by compounding costs; this use was valued at only \$100 million in 2006. #### Agrichemicals About 30% of agrichemicals contain fluorine, most of them herbicides and fungicides with a few crop regulators. Fluorine substitution, usually of a single atom or at most a trifluoromethyl group, is a robust modification with effects analogous to fluorinated pharmaceuticals: increased biological stay time, membrane crossing, and altering of molecular recognition. Trifluralin is a prominent example, with large-scale use in the U.S. as a weedkiller, but it is a suspected carcinogen and has been banned in many European countries. Sodium monofluoroacetate (1080) is a mammalian poison in which two acetic acid hydrogens are replaced with fluorine and sodium; it disrupts cell metabolism by replacing acetate in the citric acid cycle. First synthesized in the late 19th century, it was recognized as an insecticide in the early 20th, and was later deployed in its current use. New Zealand, the largest consumer of 1080, uses it to protect kiwis from the invasive Australian common brushtail possum. Europe and the U.S. have banned 1080. ## Medicinal applications ### Dental care Population studies from the mid-20th century onwards show topical fluoride reduces dental caries. This was first attributed to the conversion of tooth enamel hydroxyapatite into the more durable fluorapatite, but studies on pre-fluoridated teeth refuted this hypothesis, and current theories involve fluoride aiding enamel growth in small caries. After studies of children in areas where fluoride was naturally present in drinking water, controlled public water supply fluoridation to fight tooth decay began in the 1940s and is now applied to water supplying 6 percent of the global population, including two-thirds of Americans. Reviews of the scholarly literature in 2000 and 2007 associated water fluoridation with a significant reduction of tooth decay in children. Despite such endorsements and evidence of no adverse effects other than mostly benign dental fluorosis, opposition still exists on ethical and safety grounds. The benefits of fluoridation have lessened, possibly due to other fluoride sources, but are still measurable in low-income groups. Sodium monofluorophosphate and sometimes sodium or tin(II) fluoride are often found in fluoride toothpastes, first introduced in the U.S. in 1955 and now ubiquitous in developed countries, alongside fluoridated mouthwashes, gels, foams, and varnishes. ### Pharmaceuticals Twenty percent of modern pharmaceuticals contain fluorine. One of these, the cholesterol-reducer atorvastatin (Lipitor), made more revenue than any other drug until it became generic in 2011. The combination asthma prescription Seretide, a top-ten revenue drug in the mid-2000s, contains two active ingredients, one of which – fluticasone – is fluorinated. Many drugs are fluorinated to delay inactivation and lengthen dosage periods because the carbon–fluorine bond is very stable. Fluorination also increases lipophilicity because the bond is more hydrophobic than the carbon–hydrogen bond, and this often helps in cell membrane penetration and hence bioavailability. Tricyclics and other pre-1980s antidepressants had several side effects due to their non-selective interference with neurotransmitters other than the serotonin target; the fluorinated fluoxetine was selective and one of the first to avoid this problem. Many current antidepressants receive this same treatment, including the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: citalopram, its isomer escitalopram, and fluvoxamine and paroxetine. Quinolones are artificial broad-spectrum antibiotics that are often fluorinated to enhance their effects. These include ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin. Fluorine also finds use in steroids: fludrocortisone is a blood pressure-raising mineralocorticoid, and triamcinolone and dexamethasone are strong glucocorticoids. The majority of inhaled anesthetics are heavily fluorinated; the prototype halothane is much more inert and potent than its contemporaries. Later compounds such as the fluorinated ethers sevoflurane and desflurane are better than halothane and are almost insoluble in blood, allowing faster waking times. ### PET scanning Fluorine-18 is often found in radioactive tracers for positron emission tomography, as its half-life of almost two hours is long enough to allow for its transport from production facilities to imaging centers. The most common tracer is fluorodeoxyglucose which, after intravenous injection, is taken up by glucose-requiring tissues such as the brain and most malignant tumors; computer-assisted tomography can then be used for detailed imaging. ### Oxygen carriers Liquid fluorocarbons can hold large volumes of oxygen or carbon dioxide, more so than blood, and have attracted attention for their possible uses in artificial blood and in liquid breathing. Because fluorocarbons do not normally mix with water, they must be mixed into emulsions (small droplets of perfluorocarbon suspended in water) to be used as blood. One such product, Oxycyte, has been through initial clinical trials. These substances can aid endurance athletes and are banned from sports; one cyclist's near death in 1998 prompted an investigation into their abuse. Applications of pure perfluorocarbon liquid breathing (which uses pure perfluorocarbon liquid, not a water emulsion) include assisting burn victims and premature babies with deficient lungs. Partial and complete lung filling have been considered, though only the former has had any significant tests in humans. An Alliance Pharmaceuticals effort reached clinical trials but was abandoned because the results were not better than normal therapies. ## Biological role Fluorine is not essential for humans and other mammals, but small amounts are known to be beneficial for the strengthening of dental enamel (where the formation of fluorapatite makes the enamel more resistant to attack, from acids produced by bacterial fermentation of sugars). Small amounts of fluorine may be beneficial for bone strength, but the latter has not been definitively established. Both the WHO and the Institute of Medicine of the US National Academies publish recommended daily allowance (RDA) and upper tolerated intake of fluorine, which varies with age and gender. Natural organofluorines have been found in microorganisms and plants but not animals. The most common is fluoroacetate, which is used as a defense against herbivores by at least 40 plants in Africa, Australia and Brazil. Other examples include terminally fluorinated fatty acids, fluoroacetone, and 2-fluorocitrate. An enzyme that binds fluorine to carbon – adenosyl-fluoride synthase – was discovered in bacteria in 2002. ## Toxicity Elemental fluorine is highly toxic to living organisms. Its effects in humans start at concentrations lower than hydrogen cyanide's 50 ppm and are similar to those of chlorine: significant irritation of the eyes and respiratory system as well as liver and kidney damage occur above 25 ppm, which is the immediately dangerous to life and health value for fluorine. The eyes and nose are seriously damaged at 100 ppm, and inhalation of 1,000 ppm fluorine will cause death in minutes, compared to 270 ppm for hydrogen cyanide. ### Hydrofluoric acid Hydrofluoric acid is the weakest of the hydrohalic acids, having a pKa of 3.2 at 25 °C. It is a volatile liquid due to the presence of hydrogen bonding (while the other hydrohalic acids are gases). It is able to attack glass, concrete, metals, and organic matter. Hydrofluoric acid is a contact poison with greater hazards than many strong acids like sulfuric acid even though it is weak: it remains neutral in aqueous solution and thus penetrates tissue faster, whether through inhalation, ingestion or the skin, and at least nine U.S. workers died in such accidents from 1984 to 1994. It reacts with calcium and magnesium in the blood leading to hypocalcemia and possible death through cardiac arrhythmia. Insoluble calcium fluoride formation triggers strong pain and burns larger than 160 cm<sup>2</sup> (25 in<sup>2</sup>) can cause serious systemic toxicity. Exposure may not be evident for eight hours for 50% HF, rising to 24 hours for lower concentrations, and a burn may initially be painless as hydrogen fluoride affects nerve function. If skin has been exposed to HF, damage can be reduced by rinsing it under a jet of water for 10–15 minutes and removing contaminated clothing. Calcium gluconate is often applied next, providing calcium ions to bind with fluoride; skin burns can be treated with 2.5% calcium gluconate gel or special rinsing solutions. Hydrofluoric acid absorption requires further medical treatment; calcium gluconate may be injected or administered intravenously. Using calcium chloride – a common laboratory reagent – in lieu of calcium gluconate is contraindicated, and may lead to severe complications. Excision or amputation of affected parts may be required. ### Fluoride ion Soluble fluorides are moderately toxic: 5–10 g sodium fluoride, or 32–64 mg fluoride ions per kilogram of body mass, represents a lethal dose for adults. One-fifth of the lethal dose can cause adverse health effects, and chronic excess consumption may lead to skeletal fluorosis, which affects millions in Asia and Africa. Ingested fluoride forms hydrofluoric acid in the stomach which is easily absorbed by the intestines, where it crosses cell membranes, binds with calcium and interferes with various enzymes, before urinary excretion. Exposure limits are determined by urine testing of the body's ability to clear fluoride ions. Historically, most cases of fluoride poisoning have been caused by accidental ingestion of insecticides containing inorganic fluorides. Most current calls to poison control centers for possible fluoride poisoning come from the ingestion of fluoride-containing toothpaste. Malfunctioning water fluoridation equipment is another cause: one incident in Alaska affected almost 300 people and killed one person. Dangers from toothpaste are aggravated for small children, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends supervising children below six brushing their teeth so that they do not swallow toothpaste. One regional study examined a year of pre-teen fluoride poisoning reports totaling 87 cases, including one death from ingesting insecticide. Most had no symptoms, but about 30% had stomach pains. A larger study across the U.S. had similar findings: 80% of cases involved children under six, and there were few serious cases. ## Environmental concerns ### Atmosphere The Montreal Protocol, signed in 1987, set strict regulations on chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and bromofluorocarbons due to their ozone damaging potential (ODP). The high stability which suited them to their original applications also meant that they were not decomposing until they reached higher altitudes, where liberated chlorine and bromine atoms attacked ozone molecules. Even with the ban, and early indications of its efficacy, predictions warned that several generations would pass before full recovery. With one-tenth the ODP of CFCs, hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are the current replacements, and are themselves scheduled for substitution by 2030–2040 by hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) with no chlorine and zero ODP. In 2007 this date was brought forward to 2020 for developed countries; the Environmental Protection Agency had already prohibited one HCFC's production and capped those of two others in 2003. Fluorocarbon gases are generally greenhouse gases with global-warming potentials (GWPs) of about 100 to 10,000; sulfur hexafluoride has a value of around 20,000. An outlier is HFO-1234yf which is a new type of refrigerant called a Hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) and has attracted global demand due to its GWP of less than 1 compared to 1,430 for the current refrigerant standard HFC-134a. ### Biopersistence Organofluorines exhibit biopersistence due to the strength of the carbon–fluorine bond. Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs), which are sparingly water-soluble owing to their acidic functional groups, are noted persistent organic pollutants; perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) are most often researched. PFAAs have been found in trace quantities worldwide from polar bears to humans, with PFOS and PFOA known to reside in breast milk and the blood of newborn babies. A 2013 review showed a slight correlation between groundwater and soil PFAA levels and human activity; there was no clear pattern of one chemical dominating, and higher amounts of PFOS were correlated to higher amounts of PFOA. In the body, PFAAs bind to proteins such as serum albumin; they tend to concentrate within humans in the liver and blood before excretion through the kidneys. Dwell time in the body varies greatly by species, with half-lives of days in rodents, and years in humans. High doses of PFOS and PFOA cause cancer and death in newborn rodents but human studies have not established an effect at current exposure levels. ## See also - Argon fluoride laser - Electrophilic fluorination - Fluoride selective electrode, which measures fluoride concentration - Fluorine absorption dating - Fluorous chemistry, a process used to separate reagents from organic solvents - Krypton fluoride laser - Radical fluorination
9,189,464	2007 USC Trojans football team	1,171,384,830	American college football season	[ "2007 Pacific-10 Conference football season", "2007 in sports in California", "Pac-12 Conference football champion seasons", "Rose Bowl champion seasons", "USC Trojans football seasons" ]	The 2007 USC Trojans football team (variously "Trojans" or "USC") represented the University of Southern California during the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season, winning a share of the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) championship and winning the 2008 Rose Bowl. The team was coached by Pete Carroll and played its home games at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The team entered the season with high expectations. It was ranked No. 1 in all national pre-season polls, picked unanimously to win the Pac-10 Conference and expected to contend for a national championship. Those hopes were dealt a major blow when the Trojans lost to 41-point underdog Stanford in a mid-season game that was named one of the greatest upsets in a season that became defined by them. After their second loss, there were questions as to whether the team would be able to even win their own conference, let alone compete nationally. However, USC defied mid-season expectations and rallied, finishing the season ranked No. 2 in the Coaches' Poll and No. 3 in the Associated Press (AP) Poll. By the end of the season various sports journalists said the Trojans were playing the best football of anyone in the country. The Trojans were named national champion by Dunkel, became the first team to win (or share) six straight Pacific-10 titles, and were the first team in major college football to achieve six straight 11-win seasons. After the season, ten USC players were selected in the 2008 NFL Draft, with a school-record seven players selected in the first two rounds. Over the next four years, 25 more players from the 2007 USC Trojans football team were drafted into the NFL. ## Before the season ### Pre-season outlook The Trojans ended the 2006 season with a victory in the 2007 Rose Bowl Game and a No. 4 ranking in both AP and Coaches polls, their fifth straight year winning the Pac-10 Championship and finishing in the top 4. During that 5-year period, the team won two national championships (2003, 2004). Prior to the 2007 season, the Trojans were ranked No. 1 in all national pre-season polls and were expected to challenge for the national championship. The team received a boost in the offseason when many draft-eligible juniors decided to return to school for their senior seasons; the holdover of talented veterans was a major factor in the Trojans being considered preeminent favorites for a national championship. As expected, USC was at the top of the first Coaches Poll of the season, released on August 3, 2007, with 45 of a possible 60 first-place votes; other teams receiving first-place votes were No. 2 Louisiana State University (LSU) with 4 votes, No. 3 Florida with 6 votes, and No. 5 Michigan with 2 votes. USC was also at the top of the first AP Poll, released on August 18, with 62 of 65 first-place votes, with No. 2 LSU receiving 2 votes and No. 3 West Virginia receiving one. In mid-August, all twelve experts polled by ESPN picked USC to win the season's BCS Championship Game. On August 29, 2007, the day before the season began, three of four experts at SI.com predicted USC would win the BCS Championship Game, attributing the decision to the Trojans defense. In terms of overall talent, Carroll stated that the 2007 squad is the "most competitive team we've had" during his six-year tenure as coach. Senior starting quarterback John David Booty entered the season as a front-runner for the Heisman Trophy. Booty, along with returning senior tackle Sam Baker, were ranked as two of the "Top 20 Players Heading Into 2007" by Sports Illustrated. The Trojans entered pre-season fall camp well stocked at the running back position, with 10 former high school Super Prep All-Americans, nine of whom were Prep Star all-Americans and seven were Parade all-Americans. The exceptional running back situation at USC was a major factor in Sports Illustrated forecasting the 2007 season as "The Year of the Running Back." In judging USC as a pre-season favorite, particular emphasis was made on the defense. Considered to be one of the best defenses during the 2006 season, the Trojans entered 2007 with 10 returning starters and key backups. After a one-season experiment with the 3–4 defense formation, the defense returned to using the 4–3. The highlight of the defense was the linebacking corp, led by Brian Cushing, Keith Rivers and Rey Maualuga. At the Pacific-10 Conference media day, the Trojans were the unanimous pre-season pick to win the conference; this was USC's fifth year in a row as the favorite to win the conference title, and only the third time in conference history that a team had been picked unanimously (the other two were USC in 2004 and 2005). ### Recruiting class USC's stellar recruiting class was highlighted by the three highest ranked players from the "ESPN 150": No. 1 Joe McKnight (RB); No. 2 Chris Galippo (LB); and No. 3 Marc Tyler (RB). The Trojans also landed Scout.com's National Player of the Year and top overall prospect for 2007, Everson Griffen. Other notable signees included Rivals.com's No. 1 WR Ronald Johnson and 5-star OL Kristofer O'Dowd. Despite recruiting substantially fewer players than other programs, USC signed the No. 1 or No. 2 recruiting class in various rankings, along with the Florida Gators, the winners of the 2006 National Championship. In the pre-season, McKnight and Johnson were named two of the top-10 impact freshman for 2007. The football program received 18 letters of intent on National Signing Day, February 7, 2007, listed below: ### Transfers In May, the Trojans were joined by former Arkansas quarterback Mitch Mustain, who had an 8–0 win–loss record as a starter during his freshman (and only) year with the team. Mustain joined fellow Arkansas teammate and wide receiver Damian Williams, who transferred from Arkansas before the 2006 bowl season. Due to NCAA transfer rules all would be unable to compete until 2008, although they would be allowed on the scout team. In early summer, Jordan Cameron, a former freshman basketball player from Brigham Young University, also transferred to USC to play football as a wide receiver. However, when USC refused to accept some of Cameron's credits from Brigham Young, he was forced to withdraw and attend Ventura College. He missed the football season but was given the option to try to rejoin the team in 2008. Even if he had stayed at USC, due to NCAA transfer rules he would have been ineligible to play in 2007. Cameron ended up enrolling at USC a year later. With the late 2006 dismissal of Troy Van Blarcom (academics) and the death of Mario Danelo, USC was left with only one experienced kicker: David Buehler, a 2006 junior college transfer from Santa Ana College who competed mainly at fullback and safety, but was used for one successful field goal attempt the previous season. In July 2007, Joe Houston, a junior college kicker from El Camino College, joined the team as a "preferred walk-on", guaranteed a non-scholarship spot on the team. As a junior college transfer, Houston would be able to play for the Trojans immediately. USC also recruited former University of Nebraska kicker, Jordan Congdon, who was not eligible for the 2007 season; and Brad Smith, formerly of Davidson College. Smith was able to play immediately under an NCAA rule that permits non-scholarship players who have already received a degree to transfer once with immediate eligibility. ### Departures Following the 2006 season, several players graduated, including starting senior All-Americans Steve Smith (wide receiver) and Ryan Kalil (center), as well as all-conference linebackers Dallas Sartz and Oscar Lua. Junior All-American Dwayne Jarrett, who was their leading receiver in 2005 and 2006, renounced his eligibility and joined the NFL. The Trojans entered fall training camp with a high number of scholarship running backs (10), all of whom were highly touted recruits. In August, midway through camp, running back Emmanuel Moody announced he was leaving USC. Moody, who was the second-leading rusher in the 2006 season, had gained 458 yards on 79 carries in a rotating platoon of running backs in 2006 and had recently been one of three USC running backs appearing on the regional cover of Sports Illustrated'''s college football preview edition. Injuries had limited his playing and practice time: he suffered an ankle injury that caused him to miss the team's last four games of the 2006 season, then missed almost all of spring practice due to a hamstring injury. Halfway through the summer training camp, Moody bruised his knee and was forced to stop practicing. He wished to be a featured player and stated he had "felt forgotten" coming into training camp due to his recent lack of playing and practice time. After looking at several schools, including Oklahoma State and North Carolina, Moody transferred to the University of Florida. At about the same time, backup receiver and redshirt freshman Jamere Holland was dismissed from the team, although not for any violation of team rules. He was allowed to stay on scholarship for the year. Holland redshirted the previous season after breaking his collarbone, reinjured it during spring practice and had clashed with coaches during his return to fall camp. He would later transfer to the University of Oregon. ### Offseason news On January 6, 2007, Shortly after the Trojans ended their 2006 season with a win at the 2007 Rose Bowl, two-year starting placekicker Mario Danelo was found dead at the bottom of a cliff in San Pedro, California. Danelo had been expected to start during the 2007 season. For the 2007 season, USC players wore a \#19 sticker on their helmets in honor of Danelo; in addition the Kennedy-Jones practice field had the number "19" sprayed onto its end zones and the Coliseum hung a banner above the player's tunnel with Danelo's name and also paid tribute to him on the goal-post pads. The Trojans lost their offensive coordinator, Lane Kiffin, on January 23, 2007, when he was hired to be the new head coach of the Oakland Raiders; the 31-year-old Kiffin became the youngest head coach in Raiders history, and the youngest head coach since the formation of the modern NFL. Shortly after Kiffin's departure, Pete Carroll named Steve Sarkisian as his team's new offensive coordinator. Sarkisian had interviewed with the Raiders for their vacant head coach position but withdrew from the process to stay at USC, where he had been the assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach. Intra-conference controversy arose in March 2007, when Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh was quoted as saying "[Pete Carroll]'s only got one more year, though. He'll be there one more year. That's what I've heard. I heard it inside the staff." Upon further questions, Harbaugh claimed he had heard it from staff at USC. At the Pac-10 Conference media day (July 26, 2007), Harbaugh praised the Trojans, stating "There is no question in my mind that USC is the best team in the country and may be the best team in the history of college football"; the declaration, especially in light of his earlier comment, garnered more media attention. In early July, LSU coach Les Miles stirred inter-conference controversy when he publicly criticized USC's 2007 schedule in front of LSU boosters; though the two schools had not played each other since 1984, the LSU Tiger faithful maintained a strong grudge against the Trojans after they shared the national title in the controversial 2003 season. LSU and Michigan were ranked as the pre-season No. 2 team in various polls. ## Schedule The 2007 Trojans schedule was ranked the 8th hardest in the country. Before the season, the road schedule was ranked as the 6th toughest. Within the Pac-10, the schedule ranked as the 2nd toughest. ## Roster ## Coaching staff ## Game summaries ### Idaho USC opened its season hosting the University of Idaho Vandals of the Western Athletic Conference, under first year coach Robb Akey. Trojans Defensive Coordinator Nick Holt had previously been the head coach of the Idaho Vandals for two seasons (2004–05); before that he was USC's linebackers coach from 2001–03 under Carroll (Holt had been an assistant coach at Idaho for eight seasons, from 1990 to 1997). The game was scheduled in 2005, during Holt's tenure with the Vandals. After Holt's sudden resignation in early 2006, Idaho tried to get out of the game to no avail; the Vandals athletic program received \$600,000 for their appearance in the game. The last time the Vandals played USC, in 1929, they were in the same conference, the Pacific Coast Conference. During their time as conference rivals, USC dominated the Vandals, winning all seven games between 1922 and 1929 by a combined score of 215–20. USC entered the 2007 contest as six-touchdown favorites. USC controlled the game, but did not exert the level of domination expected. After taking a 21–0 lead into the second quarter, the offense showed signs of sputtering; the second teams took over for the 4th quarter. Booty completed 21 of 32 passes for 206 yards, threw for three touchdowns and one interception; though he did not convert on a fourth down play in short yardage and was unable to find a rhythm. Primary receiver Patrick Turner was held out of the game to recover from a stinger received in the previous week's practice; cornerback Josh Pinkard was also held out to recover from knee soreness. As a result, young receivers David Ausberry and Vidal Hazelton handled the primary wide receiver duties. The highlight of the Trojans offense was the running game, which rushed for 214 yards while Idaho was held to 98. The role was run by committee: with the debut of redshirt freshman Stafon Johnson (64 yards in 12 carries, two touchdown runs), who scored the first touchdown of the game, as well as C.J. Gable (68 yards in eight carries, one touchdown reception), who made an impressive 33-yard run, and fullback Stanley Havili who made several receptions, including one for a touchdown. The game marked the debut of USC true freshman running back Joe McKnight, who made a spectacular run in the third quarter that was likened to those of predecessor Reggie Bush. Kristofer O'Dowd became the first true freshman to start at center for the Trojans due to an injury to Matt Spanos, earning positive reviews for his performance. Although the defense did not cause many turnovers and lost key linebacker Brian Cushing to an ankle sprain in the first quarter, it met enough expectations to remain ranked among the top defenses in the country. In honor of Trojans kicker Mario Danelo, who died just after the 2006 season, a special ceremony was held before the beginning of the game. Also, after scoring its first touchdown, USC intentionally lined up for the PAT without a kicker in tribute to their late teammate, taking a 5-yard delay of game penalty before David Buehler came on the field to kick the extra point. The moment was chosen by ESPN as one of the Pac-10's Top 10 Moments Of BCS Era. ### Nebraska After a bye week, the Trojans visited the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Nebraska. In the pre-season, the game was named as one of the candidates for the 10 most important games of 2007. For the Huskers, the game was especially critical to their hopes of showing progress under 4th year head coach Bill Callahan. The game marked the first time a No. 1-ranked team visited Lincoln since 1978. Because of the game's significance, ESPN College GameDay chose it as the site of its weekly broadcast. Callahan had been criticized for his conservative play-calling during the 2006 game in Los Angeles; instead of playing to win, it appeared the Huskers were playing to not get blown out by the then-favored Trojans. In that game the normally prolific West Coast offense of Nebraska, which had produced 541 yards a game, was corralled on the ground and attempted only 17 passes in a 28–10 Husker loss. For 2007, Callahan pledged to play more aggressively, using running back Marlon Lucky and quarterback Sam Keller. Keller, the Huskers redshirt senior starting quarterback, was a 2006 transfer from Arizona State; as a Sun Devil Keller started the first seven games of his 2005 junior season, throwing for 2,165 yards, before a disastrous game against USC where, after leading ASU to a 21–3 halftime lead, he and the offense fell apart on the way to a 38–28 loss where he was sacked five times and threw five interceptions. Due to NCAA transfer rules, Keller spent the 2006 season on the Huskers' scout team. The Trojans stayed in nearby Omaha and practiced at a local high school; Carroll took the rare step of closing practice to outsiders after a local radio station announced the location. The game marked the return of primary receiver Patrick Turner and running back Chauncey Washington from injury; linebacker Brian Cushing, who injured his ankle early against Idaho, had not fully recovered but was allowed to suit-up as a reserve. Senior center Matt Spanos remained injured, and true freshman Kris O'Dowd was called to start again. Veteran secondary member Josh Pinkard was lost for the season after his sore knee gave out during a bye week practice, resulting in a torn ACL requiring surgery. Anticipation for the game was high in Lincoln, fueling strong demand for tickets and accommodations; the game brought celebrities including USC fans Will Ferrell (also an alumnus) and Keanu Reeves, Nebraska fans Larry the Cable Guy, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Rush Limbaugh, and Ward Connerly; past Husker Heisman-winner Mike Rozier, Trojans Heisman-winner Marcus Allen and star Trojans safety Ronnie Lott were also on hand for the game. The game fell on Pete Carroll's 56th birthday; as a surprise, Carroll was treated to a recorded message by actor Kiefer Sutherland, star of his favorite television show, 24. The morning recording of College GameDay attracted 13,293 fans, second to the all-time record of 15,808 set by Nebraska in 2001. With 84,959 in attendance, Nebraska recorded its NCAA-record 284th consecutive home sellout dating back to 1962. USC dominated the game 49–31, in a game that was not as close as the final score indicated: the Trojans led 42–10 going into the fourth quarter; Nebraska scored two touchdowns in the final five minutes during garbage time. The Trojans dominated on the ground, as they out-gained Nebraska 313–31 in rushing yards and averaged 8.2 yards per carry, the most ever against a Nebraska team. Stafon Johnson led USC running backs with a career-best 144 yards in 11 carries with one touchdown; other major contributors were C.J. Gable (69 yards in four carries, including a 40-yard run), Washington (43 yards in 12 carries with two touchdowns), and another versatile performance by fullback Stanley Havili (52 rushing yards in two rushes with one touchdown, and three pass receptions for 22 yards with one touchdown). The Trojans passing game again did not find a rhythm, with several dropped passes, but the defense was able to frustrate the Husker offense for most of the game and cause two pivotal 3rd quarter interceptions. The Trojans did not escape injuries, as linebacker Clay Matthews, substituting for the recovering Brian Cushing, broke his thumb, causing Cushing to enter the game as his replacement. The Trojans also suffered two injuries on kick returns: fullback Alfred Rowe suffered a mild concussion, and there was a moment of worry when returner Vincent Joseph, after being tackled and fumbling the ball, lay on the turf for over 10 minutes before being removed by stretcher with a bruised larynx and a neck sprain, but no serious injuries. Linebacker Rey Maualuga was flagged during a field goal attempt for the rarely called penalty of "disconcerting", which is given for "words or signals that disconcert opponents when they are preparing to put the ball in play". After losing first place votes in the polls during the bye week, USC's performance regained six after their performance against the Huskers in a hostile environment. Receiving specific praise was the Trojans offensive line, as well as the continued poise and ability of freshman center O'Dowd. ### Washington State USC opened Pac-10 conference play by hosting the Washington State Cougars. Entering the game, Trojans quarterback John David Booty and the receiver corp remained unproven after an uninspiring performance against Idaho and a run-dominated game against Nebraska. Hoping to take advantage, Washington State elected to go into the game using a man-to-man pass coverage to allow more focus on stopping the Trojans running game. The Cougars had given the then-No. 3 Trojans a scare in their 2006 meeting, with the game coming down to the final seconds. In the end, USC routed the Cougars 47–14, with a primarily aerial attack. Booty reestablished his presence, completing 28 of 35 passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns before leaving the game early in the fourth quarter. Tight end Fred Davis had a career night with nine receptions for 124 yards and two touchdowns. Davis' performance marked the most yards receiving ever in a game by a Trojans tight end. The Trojans' first offensive drive set the tone with 13 plays, 83 yards and a touchdown on fourth down; mostly coming from the air. Receivers Patrick Turner and Vidal Hazelton were able to find a groove and make plays after sputtering against Nebraska. In the rushing game, Chauncey Washington started and rushed for 84 of USC's 207 yards. Stafon Johnson, who led the Trojans ground game against Nebraska, had nine carries and finished with 48 yards. Joe McKnight also got his first extended work and gained 48 yards in seven carries. USC built a 27–7 halftime lead and then scored on its first three possessions in the second half. The Trojans defense kept the Cougars in check, putting pressure on quarterback Alex Brink and limiting Washington State to 64 yards rushing. Junior cornerback Cary Harris dislocated his right shoulder during the game and was replaced by Shareece Wright. Linebacker Brian Cushing reinjured the ankle he sprained in the opener against Idaho. Sixth-year senior running back Hershel Dennis played for the first time since the 2004 season during the fourth quarter, gaining 14 yards in four carries; he had sat out the two previous seasons due to injury. The victory continued the Trojans' domination of the series, 55–8–4; it also extended the record of top-ranked USC teams against the Cougars to 5–0. The game marked the first time it had ever rained during a USC game in September; as a result the attendance was 86,876, the first time in 16 home games that the Trojans failed to draw at least 90,000. USC extended its home winning streak to 35 games. ### Washington The Trojans played their first Pac-10 road game of the season, visiting the Washington Huskies under coach Tyrone Willingham, at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Washington. In 2006, the unranked Huskies gave No. 3 USC a scare; quarterback Isaiah Stanback led Washington to the USC 15 but the offense was unable to start a play before the final two seconds ticked off the clock, preserving a 26–20 USC victory. The Huskies entered the game 0–6 when facing a number-one ranked USC team. Going into the 2007 contest, Carroll expressed concern about containing the Huskies redshirt freshman quarterback Jake Locker, a dual-threat quarterback who led his team in passing and rushing. The Huskies announced prior to the game that they would be wearing throwback uniforms: instead of their standard purple and gold, the Huskies wore dark blue and gold jerseys with plain, gold helmets that were replicas of those worn by the 1960 team that beat No. 1 Minnesota in the Rose Bowl, the only win for Washington over an opponent ranked number one. In a day where half of the week's top-10 teams were defeated, USC escaped becoming the sixth in a messy, mistake-prone 27–24 victory in a wet, windy game in Seattle. Although USC had a 460–190 edge in total yards, their errors helped the Huskies significantly: They committed three turnovers and 16 penalties—their most in more than two seasons—for 161 yards, missed a field goal and had a punt blocked. A disappointed Pete Carroll noted "We just couldn't do more things wrong in the game [. . .] I thought Washington was there for it. They were there to take it. All they needed was one more chance." USC quarterback John David Booty completed 20 of 37 passes for 236 yards and a touchdown but had two interceptions, one of which was returned 54 yards for a touchdown tying the game at 14–14 in the second quarter. The Huskies gained momentum early in the fourth quarter when they came to within 24–17 and forced USC to punt; however, on the return Terrell Thomas stripped the ball from Anthony Russo for a fumble and recovered the ball at the Huskies' 43 yard line, setting up David Buehler's 33-yard field goal with 3:01 remaining. The Huskies did not give up, blocked a USC punt with 1:15 left and scored on quarterback Jake Locker's one-yard run to pull to within three with 34 seconds left. On the ensuing onside kick, Thomas was able to recover the ball for USC, ending the game. Locker displayed the dual passing/running threat Carroll had expressed concern about, but also showed his youth with erratic passing, finishing 12-for-27 with 83 yards passing and one interception, plus another 50 yards on 16 carries with two touchdowns. USC did have positive showings in the running game, with Stafon Johnson running for 122 yards and a touchdown and Chauncey Washington also adding 106 yards and a score. In the end, Carroll and the Trojans described the game as less a victory than an escape, a game where USC's raw athleticism took advantage of Washington's youth. The Trojans suffered numerous injuries during the game: starting freshman center Kristofer O'Dowd hurt his kneecap and guard Chilo Rachal sprained his knee on the same play in the first quarter; they were replaced by senior center Matt Spanos, who had just been cleared for play after tearing a triceps before the season, and reserve guard Alatini Malu. Starting cornerback Shareece Wright, in his first start after replacing the injured Cary Harris, sustained a pulled hamstring muscle and was replaced by Mozique McCurtis. Tailback Stafon Johnson suffered a foot injury and fellow tailback C.J. Gable dressed but did not play because of a groin injury suffered just before the trip to Washington. The game drew comparisons to USC's 33–31 loss to Oregon State the previous season. As a result of the close finish, USC lost the No. 1 ranking in the AP Poll, falling to No. 2 with 1,591 points and 32 first-place votes to LSU's 1,593 points and 33 first-place votes; however, the Trojans remained No. 1 in the Coaches Poll, keeping a more substantial lead: 1,483 points and 45 first-place votes to LSU's 1,454 points and 14 first-place votes. ### Stanford USC continued Pac-10 play by hosting the struggling Stanford Cardinal, under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh. In a major upset, USC stumbled at home to the 41 point underdog, losing 24–23. Harbaugh made headlines prior to the season by claiming 2007 would be Carroll's last year with USC before departing to the NFL, drawing a terse rebuke from Carroll; Harbaugh later called the 2007 Trojans one of the best teams in history at the Pac-10 Media Day, reiterating the position in the week before their game. However, there were no hard feelings between the coaches. The two kept in cordial phone contact and Carroll made light of Harbaugh's comments several times during the season. The Stanford starting quarterback, redshirt senior T. C. Ostrander, suffered a seizure on the afternoon of September 30, one day after their game against Arizona State; he was released from Stanford Hospital after a few hours, but as a precautionary measure he was held out of the game against USC. The starting quarterback position fell to Tavita Pritchard, a redshirt sophomore with three passes in his college career. Stanford was also without two other key starters: defensive lineman Ekom Udofia (ankle) and offensive lineman Allen Smith (knee). On October 3 it was announced that USC running back C.J. Gable, who was averaging a team-best 11 yards a carry, would undergo season-ending abdominal surgery to correct a nagging sports hernia that had limited his ability since the previous season; because he had only played in the first three games, he would seek a medical redshirt season. Gable's fellow running back, Stafon Johnson, was also held out of the game due to a foot bruise suffered the previous week. Stanford was the last team to beat USC at the Coliseum, doing so on September 29, 2001 under Tyrone Willingham, against then-first year coach Carroll. By game week, the line for the game favored the Trojans by 39.5 points, and reached 41 points by gametime. The loss ended multiple USC streaks, including a five-game win streak against Stanford and a 35-game home winning streak. For sportsbooks, the loss to a 41-point underdog marked the biggest upset in their history. There were a few positive efforts for the Trojans: Tight end Fred Davis caught five passes for a career-best 152 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown; and nose tackle Sedrick Ellis had three sacks. However, there were many more errors and substandard performances: quarterback John David Booty, who broke a bone in the middle finger of his throwing hand in the first half, had four passes intercepted in the second half. The offensive line had been suffering since losing two starters in one play during the previous week's game at Washington, but the effect was severe against Stanford; the offensive line gave up four sacks, one more than the Trojans had surrendered all season, and USC gained only 95 yards rushing. Key receiver Patrick Turner dropped several passes, the defense gave up 17 points in the fourth quarter and USC had an extra-point attempt blocked, a point which became a crucial difference. Like their previous game against Washington, USC out-gained Stanford by 224 yards (459 to 235) but made many crucial turnovers and penalties. In the press conference following the game, Coach Carroll summarized his concerns: "It's real clear that we have fallen out of line with our philosophy that has guided this program for years; we're turning the ball over too much." Opinions in the sports press ranged from proclaiming the end of the USC's era of dominance in college football to calling the loss a major, but not fatal set-back to any hopes for a Trojans run at the national championship. The Trojans fell to No. 10 in the AP Poll; however, USC only fell to No. 7 in both the Coaches Poll and Harris Poll, both of which are the human components for determining who the BCS chooses for the National Championship Game. As a result, USC remained in outside title contention with upcoming games against consensus-No. 2 California and top-10 Oregon. The upset landed the Trojans in ESPN.com's Bottom 10. In an interview the following month, Carroll assessed the mistakes that led to the loss as his own: > We really blew it against Stanford. We screwed it up because we played a guy that was hurt. I made a mistake on that. That was me. ... If anything really was a factor, it was my cockiness that there was no way we could lose a game. It didn't matter — we could keep running our offense, keep working on stuff, and they would never beat us. ... Broken hand? What was I thinking? I'm the one that screwed it up. He's a warrior. He's the one telling me "I can play." That's what he should be telling me. ... I missed a big one. It cost us a game that really cost us the flavor of this season. We've been tainted ever since, for obvious reasons. We gave away a game to a team that's won two or three games. Amazing. But it's awesome for football, it's awesome for Stanford and all that. Great for those guys. Sucks to be us in that regard. We screwed it up. At the end of the regular season, Sports Illustrated chose Stanford's upset of USC as the second "Biggest Upset of 2007" after Division I FCS Appalachian State's upset of No. 5 Michigan. ### Arizona After the previous week's upset loss to Stanford, the Trojans hosted the Arizona Wildcats, led by head coach Mike Stoops, aiming to correct mistakes and demonstrate that they were still in contention for the Pac-10 title and to remain an outside candidate for the national title game. Matters were complicated when it was announced that starting quarterback John David Booty would not start due to a broken middle finger on his throwing hand, suffered during the previous week's loss. As a result, redshirt sophomore Mark Sanchez made his first start for the Trojans; previously he had only played during garbage time. The Trojans also remained without offensive linemen Chilo Rachal and Kris O'Dowd, as well as leading rusher Stafon Johnson, who remained idle for a second week after bruising his left foot during the game against Washington. The Trojans entered the game a 21-point favorite. The Trojans again showed inconsistency for most of the game before coming alive in the fourth quarter and pulling away to a 20–13 victory. USC started out well, going ahead 10–0 in the second quarter after running back Chauncey Washington's 18-yard touchdown run and David Buehler's 27-yard field goal. However, the offense began to sputter; the Trojans amassed only 12 total yards in the second quarter and 50 in the third. Part of the offense's problems were turnovers; Sanchez threw two interceptions in the second quarter, allowing Arizona to tie the game going into halftime. The Wildcats kicked another field goal early in the third quarter to go up 13–10, raising speculation that USC was going to be upset for the second consecutive week. The momentum of the game quickly changed in the fourth quarter after freshman running back Joe McKnight, touted as the next great Trojans tailback but yet to meet expectations, made a 45-yard punt return that Sanchez followed up on the next play with a 25-yard touchdown pass to tight end Fred Davis. After a defensive stop, Arizona punter Keenyn Crier kicked an 83-yard punt to the Trojans one-yard line. The Trojans pushed forward with fullback Stanley Havili before McKnight again made a big play, running 59 yards and setting up what would be a Trojans field goal. The USC defense then forced an Arizona turn-over on downs to preserve the victory. Sanchez recovered from his poor first half performance with a strong performance in the second, where he completed 11 of 15 passes for 74 yards and a touchdown while later making a key 10-yard scramble on third and seven late in the fourth quarter. The injuries that had plagued USC throughout the season continued as All-American tackle Sam Baker left the game because of a hamstring strain and freshman guard Zack Heberer, already substituting for an injured Chilo Rachal, suffered a shoulder bruise. On the defense, linebacker Rey Maualuga suffered a hip injury and safety Kevin Ellison broke his nose. An uncommon number of injuries, especially along the offensive line, depleted reserve players and forced Trojans to reach out to the general student population in order to find students with previous lineman experience to help on the scout team's offensive line; however, none were officially added to the roster. In light of the Trojans close victory, USC dropped in both major polls, falling to No. 13 in the AP Poll and No. 9 in the Coaches Poll, tied with previously No. 2 California, which had just lost an upset to Oregon State. The Trojans debuted at No. 14 in the season's first Bowl Championship Series standings, used to determine which two teams play in the BCS National Championship Game. ### Notre Dame USC visited inter-sectional rival Notre Dame for their 79th annual game for possession of the Jeweled Shillelagh. Pre-season demand for tickets was among the highest in Notre Dame history as USC made its first visit back to Notre Dame Stadium since the notable 2005 "Bush Push" game; demand remained high although, going into the season, the Fighting Irish were unranked. Notre Dame had the worst start to their season in program history, opening 0–5 (the previous record was 0–3) and headed into their game with USC at 1–6. With significant problems at most positions, Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis made several changes at quarterback: Starting the opener with sophomore Demetrius Jones, he chose to start heralded freshman Jimmy Clausen for games two through seven; during which time Jones transferred from the program. After Clausen also showed trouble at the position, Weis elected to go with junior Evan Sharpley as the starter for the USC game; Sharpley had backed up Brady Quinn the previous season. In response to controversy over the length of the grass in Notre Dame Stadium during the 2005 game, where USC kickoff returner Desmond Reed suffered torn right knee ligaments and nerve damage while trying to turn on the field, the Fighting Irish cut the grass significantly shorter. Notre Dame entered the game ranked last in total offense (190.9 yards a game) and rushing (32.1 yards a game), and next to last in scoring (11.4 points); their offensive line had given up 34 sacks. With starting quarterback John David Booty still recovering from a broken finger on his throwing hand, USC elected to start Mark Sanchez for the second straight week. On the Thursday night before the game, the Trojans charter flight experienced severe turbulence on approach to South Bend Regional Airport during a lightning storm; their aircraft dropped and threw several passengers (players, coaches and their spouses) from their seats and hit their heads on the ceiling during an initial approach that was aborted before the plane circled and landed safely. Breaking with tradition, the Fighting Irish announced in June that they would be wearing their alternative green jerseys instead of blue against USC; Weis noted that it was in honor of the 1977 Irish team that switched to green jerseys before defeating the Trojans en route to a national championship (Weis was a student at Notre Dame at the time). Previously, the Irish did not let the public know when they would be wearing their green jerseys. The Trojans dominated the game, shutting out Notre Dame 38–0, USC's largest margin of victory in the series. Quarterback Mark Sanchez made significant improvements over the previous week, completing 21 of 38 passes for 235 yards and four touchdowns and no interceptions. There were several highlight plays: Tight end Fred Davis made a one-handed touchdown catch in the first quarter, wide receiver Vidal Hazelton made a 48-yard touchdown run after evading several Irish defenders, and freshman running back Joe McKnight made a 51-yard fourth quarter run for his first touchdown. The USC defense stifled the Irish offense: allowing only 165 yards to the Trojans' 462 yards, making five sacks, and keeping the Irish from rushing for a first down until the fourth quarter. There were several special teams miscues: The Irish blocked a USC punt, the Trojans blocked a 40-yard field goal attempt and the Irish had a fumbled punt return that was recovered by USC. The Trojans had several key players return from injuries and make significant contributions, including linebacker Brian Cushing and running back Stafon Johnson. After two weeks of moving down in the rankings, the Trojans moved up to No. 8 in the Coaches Poll, No. 9 in the AP Poll (tied with Florida) and No. 12 in the BCS standings. ### Oregon With the Ducks as three-point favorites, the Trojans entered a Pac-10 game as underdogs for the first time since November 17, 2001; the game was the first between top-10 teams in the 41-year history of Oregon's Autzen Stadium. The match-up was framed as a battle between Oregon's highly productive offense and USC's defense. The Trojans were affected by the massive wildfires affecting Southern California that week; air quality during outdoor practices in Los Angeles dropped significantly, and Trojans quarterback Mark Sanchez' father, a fire captain with the Orange County Fire Authority, was on the front line fighting the blazes. With John David Booty still recovering from a broken finger, Sanchez was given the start for the third week in a row. The Trojans were also set to return from injury all-American offensive tackle Sam Baker and guard Chilo Rachal. Despite having won the previous three contests, the Trojans noted concerns about playing in the famously loud and raucous Autzen Stadium. Before a stadium-record crowd of 59,277, the Ducks defeated the Trojans 24–17 in a game decided in the final seconds. The Trojans made key mistakes and did not exploit several opportunities against the Ducks. After Oregon fumbled the opening kickoff, USC failed to score with the Ducks stopping running back Joe McKnight on a fourth-and-one play at the Oregon 12 yard line. Later in the first quarter, an apparent 65-yard touchdown run by McKnight was nullified by a holding penalty away from the play. The Trojans trailed 10–3 going into halftime, but tied the game in the third quarter on a Sanchez to Patrick Turner touchdown pass. However, on the next possession, fullback Stanley Havili fumbled the ball and Oregon recovered on the USC 16 yard line, leading to an Oregon touchdown. On USC's next series, Sanchez threw an interception. During the Trojans' following series, Oregon safety Matthew Harper intercepted a pass and returned it 27 yards to the Oregon 42. The Ducks took a 24–10 lead with 11:39 left as running back Jonathan Stewart scored his second touchdown. The Trojans rallied; Sanchez led an 85-yard, five-play drive that he capped with a 14-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver David Ausberry. The USC defense forced an Oregon three-and-out and starting at their 17; the Trojans then advanced to Oregon's 33 with 26 seconds left. However, on second down, Sanchez misread the defensive coverage and threw his second interception of the game to Harper with 11 seconds left in the game. After taking a knee to run out the clock on first down, USC used their final timeout to stop the clock. Unaware of the timeout, Oregon fans stormed the field before the game officially finished, and after being cleared away the Ducks took a second knee and ran out the clock, sealing the victory. The Trojans defense did slow down the Oregon offense, keeping them 212 yards below their season average, allowing the USC offense to out-gain the Ducks, 378 yards to 339. The Ducks' senior quarterback, Dennis Dixon, ran for 76 yards and a touchdown in 17 carries and completed 16 of 25 passes for 157 yards without an interception. However, the Oregon defense ultimately won the game for the Ducks. Sanchez threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns, but also had the two interceptions, including the game-ender. USC Offensive Coordinator Steve Sarkisian's decisions on several key plays were called into question by fans in the week following the game. Eugene's newspaper, The Register-Guard, recorded the crowd noise at 127.2 decibels, making it the loudest crowd for a college football game; 1.2 decibels louder than the 126 decibels made by 77,381 Clemson fans during a game in 2005. The game was viewed as marking Oregon's rise to a national title contender and a break in USC's dominance of the Pac-10 conference. The game also marked the first season since 2002 that the Trojans were going into November no longer considered a national title contender. Despite losing the game, the Trojans were still regarded as a legitimate threat in the conference and were projected as a potential at-large team for the BCS bowl games. However, there were voices in the media that believed the loss signaled the "death" of the "Trojan Dynasty" that had reigned in college football since 2002. The Trojans fell to No. 13 in the AP Poll, No. 15 in the Coaches Poll, and No. 19 in the BCS standings. ### Oregon State USC celebrated homecoming by hosting the Oregon State Beavers, coached by Mike Riley. In 2006, the unranked Beavers stunned the No. 3 Trojans in a 33–31 upset in Corvallis. The Beavers had not won at USC since 1960. Oregon State entered the game with the nation's best rushing defense, allowing only 54.5 yards rushing a game and also recording a nation-leading 34 sacks. The Beaver defense ranked 13th nationally in total defense, surrendering 299.9 yards a game. Trojans quarterback John David Booty returned from injury to start; offensive lineman Sam Baker remained out after re-injuring a hamstring against the Ducks. Oregon State star running back Yvenson Bernard was initially expected to play despite a sprained shoulder, but did not. Former USC linebacker Richard Wood, who was chosen for the College Football Hall of Fame, was honored at halftime. In a strong defensive performance, the Trojans defeated the Beavers 24–3. The USC defense made nine sacks and intercepted a pass; they limited Oregon State to 176 total yards and a field goal off a Trojans fumble in the USC red zone. True freshman Everson Griffen had 31⁄2 sacks, safety Kevin Ellison added two, end Lawrence Jackson had 11⁄2 and nose tackle Sedrick Ellis and linebacker Brian Cushing had one each; cornerback Terrell Thomas made the interception. The Trojans offense had its second lowest total of the season, gaining 287 yards, but it rushed for 100 yards against the Beavers' tight rush defense, led by Chauncey Washington who gained 60 yards in 12 carries. Booty, returning from injury, could not find his rhythm but still completed 19 of 33 passes for 157 yards without an interception; the Trojans converted only five of 16 third downs. Both teams missed field goals in the first quarter, then exchanged field goals going into the second quarter. The Trojans then scored 21 unanswered points in less than eight minutes to close the half. Neither team scored in the second half. USC running back Stafon Johnson was allowed to play a few downs but was kept out for most of the game to allow his foot to heal fully. The Trojans rose slightly in the polls to No. 12 in the AP Poll, No. 15 in the Coaches Poll, and No. 17 in the BCS standings. The 2007 Holiday Bowl was mentioned as a possible destination for the Trojans. Holiday Bowl executive director Bruce Binkowski said they would be very interested in pitting the Trojans against the Texas Longhorns. The two teams last met in the 2006 Rose Bowl for the BCS National Championship. ### California In the pre-season, the Trojans' game against California was named as one of the candidates for the 10 most important games of 2007; the Trojans national title hopes hinged on proving themselves against a veteran team led by head coach Jeff Tedford in California Memorial Stadium. Prior to the season, Cal star receiver DeSean Jackson, an early Heisman Trophy candidate, called out USC cornerback Terrell Thomas in ESPN The Magazine, stating that he would best the cornerback who contributed to limiting him to two catches in the 2006 match-up. After USC's loss to Stanford, the game was still referred to as the Pac-10 game of the year; however, after Cal's mid-season losses to Oregon State and UCLA and USC's loss to Oregon, the game took on less importance. On a rain-soaked evening in Strawberry Canyon, the Trojans gained a 24–17 victory over the No. 24 Golden Bears behind a career-best effort by running back Chauncey Washington. After seeing his early success against the Cal defense, USC began handing the ball almost exclusively to Washington who ran for 220 yards on 29 rushes. Due to the rain and Washington's success on the ground, Booty only attempted 20 passes for 129 yards in 11 completions with one touchdown and no interceptions; the Trojans offensive line did not give up a sack. USC returner Ronald Johnson returned four kicks for 102 yards, including one for 41 yards and another for 35, giving USC favorable field position. Cal running back Justin Forsett had an effective night, running for 164 yards in 31 carries. However, the Trojans defense had another solid effort, holding Cal to 14 points below its scoring average and forcing quarterback Nate Longshore into two interceptions and a sack. Cal's one-time Heisman Trophy candidate, wide receiver DeSean Jackson, was limited to five receptions for 64 yards and was kept from returning any kicks. The game turned to the Trojans favor during the fourth quarter, when the Trojans put together a 10 play, 96-yard drive behind Washington and capped by a three-yard touchdown run by Stafon Johnson. Cal received the ball back with 7:38 left, but the Trojans forced turnovers in the Bears' subsequent two drives; after Lawrence Jackson recovered a fumbled snap on the first drive, cornerback Terrell Thomas intercepted a Longshore pass at the USC 17 with 2:47 to play to seal the victory. As part of its Hall of Fame weekend, Cal wore throwback jerseys based on its 1975 team in honor of All-American quarterback Joe Roth; it was the third team to wear throwback jerseys in their game against the Trojans. Linebacker Keith Rivers suffered a high ankle sprain. After the victory and the subsequent bye week, the Trojans again rose slightly in the polls to No. 11 in the AP Poll, No. 11 in the BCS standings, and No. 12 in the Coaches Poll. ### Arizona State In the pre-season, the game against veteran head coach Dennis Erickson's first squad at ASU was identified as a potential trap game for the Trojans. With No. 2 Oregon's loss during the bye week, Arizona State rose to No. 9 in the polls and the top of the Pac-10 standings while USC remained in contention for at least a share of the Pac-10 title if they could win out. Scheduled for prime time television on Thanksgiving Day, it was the only major college game shown on the holiday evening time slot. It was Arizona State's first Thanksgiving Day game and USC's 20th, though its first since 1938. The game attracted a number of celebrities, including former USC Heisman-winners Marcus Allen and Matt Leinart, who was joined by Arizona Cardinals teammate Larry Fitzgerald, Heisman-winner Gino Torretta, Bob Davie and Charles Barkley; it also included a halftime performance by singer Little Richard. In honor of the holiday, the Sun Devils added a turkey leg to the end of Sparty's pitchfork painted at the center of the field. Eleven years removed from their last Rose Bowl berth, Arizona State had made a quick turn-around under Erickson, returning to national prominence with a 9–1 record. Using an NFL-style offense under junior quarterback Rudy Carpenter, the Sun Devils put extra pressure on their offensive line, allowing in 43 sacks, the most in the Pac-10 Conference and second most in the nation. In order to relieve Carpenter, who had suffered injuries over the season in his throwing hand, Arizona State planned to also work in the running game behind Keegan Herring and Dimitri Nance. USC entered the game ranked first in the Pac-10 and third nationally in defense, giving up 267.9 yards per game. The Sun Devils had trailed in every Pac-10 conference game in the season up to that point. Behind a strong performance by John David Booty, the Trojans defeated the Sun Devils, 44–24, in front of a sold-out Sun Devil Stadium. Under an even passing attack, Booty threw for 26 of 39 passes for 375 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. He distributed the ball to eight different receivers, including four separate players for his touchdowns; Booty also rushed for a touchdown. Tight end Fred Davis made five receptions for 119 yards and a touchdown. David Buehler kicked three field goals. The Trojans defense made six sacks as the Sun Devils were shut down for most of the second half and held to 16 yards rushing; two of the Sun Devils' scores were from a 98-yard kick return for a touchdown and a score off a blocked punt in the fourth quarter. Defensive end Lawrence Jackson made four of USC's sacks, the most by a USC player since 1989, including one that split Carpenter's lip and caused him to throw his helmet towards the sideline in frustration; Jackson also finished with a school-record 5+1⁄2 tackles for losses. Ronald Johnson had another strong game on special teams, returning the opening kickoff 49 yards. Two days later Oregon lost to UCLA, leaving the Trojans in a tie for first place in the Pac-10 standings with Arizona State (winning the tiebreaker). USC's strong victory, along with several upsets during the week, led the Trojans to rise to No. 8 in the AP Poll, No. 8 in the BCS standings, and No. 9 in the Coaches Poll. ### UCLA The Trojans ended the regular season by hosting the UCLA Bruins, led by head coach Karl Dorrell, in the 77th edition of their annual crosstown rivalry game for possession of the Victory Bell. In the 2006 season, the Bruins' 13–9 upset of the then-No. 2 Trojans in the final week of the regular season ended the Trojans' hopes for reaching the national championship game. With both teams ranked going into the season (USC first, UCLA 14th in the AP Poll), there was buzz in Los Angeles that both teams might reach their December 1 game undefeated. UCLA made it as high as 11th in both polls before suffering a 44–7 upset loss at unranked Utah in week 3 that knocked them out of the top 25. It was the 36th time that a Rose Bowl berth was on the line for one of the two teams in the game: A USC victory would guarantee them at least a share of the Pac-10 Conference title and a berth in the 2008 Rose Bowl Game; UCLA, despite entering the game 6–5 (5–3 in the Pac-10), also entered the game with a chance at the Pac-10 title and a Rose Bowl berth if they could defeat the Trojans and Arizona could beat Arizona State in a game later in the day. During the 2006 contest, UCLA Defensive Coordinator DeWayne Walker had the Bruins apply aggressive pressure to John David Booty, limiting the quarterback's ability to drive the passing game while holding the Trojans to 55 yards rushing and an average of only 1.9 yards per carry. USC entered the 2007 game averaging 186.6 yards rushing and 4.8 yards per carry, significantly higher than the 128 yards rushing per game in 2006. UCLA's season was marked by numerous injures, particularly at quarterback. Original starting quarterback Ben Olson injured his knee early in the season and missed over four games. Backup quarterback Patrick Cowan also suffered a knee injury but returned for two more games before suffering a collapsed lung against Arizona. As a result, the Bruins had resorted to playing walk-on McLeod Bethel-Thompson and converted-wide receiver Osaar Rasshan. In the week leading up to the game, a dispute between USC and the Coliseum Commission, the public managers of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, went public. USC threatened to move to the Rose Bowl (home of the UCLA Bruins since 1982) if an agreement could not be reached. In addition to honoring the outgoing seniors during their final game in the Coliseum, the Trojans also honored late players Drean Rucker and Mario Danelo, who would have both been members of the 2007 senior class. Rucker, a linebacker from Moreno Valley, drowned during the summer before his freshman year with USC (and was honored during the 2004 season) and Danelo died from a fatal fall immediately following the 2006 season; members of both families attended. The stadium also held a moment of silence for the passing of Trojans alumnus and donor Louis Galen. USC entered the game as a 20-point favorite. The Trojans defense dominated the Bruins in a 24–7 victory before a sold-out Coliseum crowd. The Trojans held the Bruins to a season-low 168 yards, sacking quarterback Patrick Cowan four times for 31 yards in losses and held the Bruins to 12 net rushing yards. USC forced four turnovers, recovering three UCLA fumbles and intercepting a pass. The Bruins did not convert any of its 11 third down situations. The Bruins sole score came in a drive in the closing minutes of the first half. USC gained 231 rushing yards and 437 overall. On the ground, running back Joe McKnight rushed for 89 yards and a touchdown, Stafon Johnson ran for 73 yards and senior Chauncey Washington gained 66 yards and scored a touchdown. Booty completed 21 of 36 passes for 206 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The victory assured USC a share of the Pac-10 title. Although Arizona State would defeat Arizona later in the night to become co-champions, the Trojans clinched a berth in the Rose Bowl by virtue of their victory over the Sun Devils the previous week. USC extended its streak of Pac-10 titles to six in a row, having already broken the record the previous season with five. Dorrell was fired by UCLA the following Monday. USC's victory, coupled with another week of upsets, led the Trojans to rise to No. 6 in the AP Poll, No. 6 in the Coaches Poll, and No. 7 in the BCS standings. ### Rose Bowl The Trojans ended the 2007 season by participating in the 2008 Rose Bowl, held on New Year's Day in the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California; it was the Trojans' fourth Rose Bowl game and sixth BCS Bowl in six years. Although it traditionally hosts the champions of the Big Ten and Pac-10 conferences, the 2007 Big Ten Champion, Ohio State, was ranked No. 1 in the final BCS poll and instead participated in the 2008 BCS National Championship Game. The rules governing BCS bowl selections allowed the Rose Bowl to select a BCS "at-large" team from the top 14 teams ranked in the BCS Standings that have at least nine wins. Keeping with its traditional bowl ties, the Rose Bowl selected the No. 13-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini (9–3), under third-year head coach Ron Zook. The Illini entered the Rose Bowl after a Cinderella season where they won nine games, including an upset victory over at-the-time No. 1 Ohio State, after winning a total of four games the previous two seasons. It was Illinois' first bowl game since winning the 2001 Big Ten Championship and playing in the 2002 Sugar Bowl. The Illini offense was led by sophomore quarterback "Juice" Williams, who in the regular season passed for 13 touchdowns and ran for seven, junior running back Rashard Mendenhall, who averaged 127 yards rushing per game and scored 18 touchdowns, and freshman receiver Arrelious Benn, who caught 49 passes and had 158 yards in 32 carries. For taking Illinois to the Rose Bowl a year after going 2–10, Zook won both national and Big Ten coach of the year honors. The Illini entered the game 13.5 point underdogs, the biggest of any of the season's 32 bowl games. It was USC's 31st appearance in "The Granddaddy of Them All", having won in 22 of its previous appearances and leading in both categories by a significant margin. The Trojans routed the Illini 49–17 before a sold-out Rose Bowl crowd. USC set a Rose Bowl-record of 633 offensive yards and tied the record for points scored. John David Booty completed 25 of 37 passes for 255 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Seven different Trojans rushed the ball, led by running back Joe McKnight who had 125 rushing yards and touchdown (McKnight totaled 206 yards for the game). Tight end Fred Davis led the receivers with seven receptions for 87 yards and a touchdown. Mendenhall led the Illini, rushing 17 times for 155 yards and one touchdown, with 214 yards overall. Williams had 245 yards passing, completing 21 of 35 passes with two interceptions and was sacked five times. The second Trojans touchdown was a trick play thrown by walk-on receiver-quarterback Garrett Green, who caught a ball thrown backward by Booty and then threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to running back Desmond Reed, who backflipped into the endzone, resulting in an excessive celebration penalty. The fourth quarter included a touchdown by sixth-year senior and one-time starter Hershel Dennis, his first score since 2004, leading to a bench-clearing celebration that resulted in USC receiving another excessive celebration penalty. USC's 32-point victory was the largest margin of victory in the Rose Bowl since 1984, when UCLA defeated Illinois 45–9. The lopsided score amplified existing criticism of the Tournament of Roses for scheduling the lower-ranked Fighting Illini as the at-large team. Booty was selected as the Rose Bowl Offensive MVP, and set a Rose Bowl record with seven career touchdowns. USC linebacker Rey Maualuga was selected as the Defensive MVP with three sacks, an interception and a forced fumble. It was USC's fifth victory in six consecutive appearances in a BCS Bowl. USC ended the season as No. 2 in the final Coaches' Poll and No. 3 in the final AP Poll with one first-place vote. ## After the season ### Comments The 2007 USC Trojans entered the season picked as the unanimous No. 1 team, with expectations of playing in the BCS National Title Game. After the loss to 41-point underdog Stanford the team's opportunities for national success came into serious question, and following the loss to Oregon there were questions as to whether USC would even win the Pacific-10 Conference. The Trojans regrouped and salvaged their season, winning a share of the conference and the Rose Bowl, and by the end of the season were said to be playing the best football of anyone in the country. Injuries to key players, particularly quarterback John David Booty's broken finger during the Stanford game, had a significant impact over the season, leading to questions of how USC would have fared if injuries had not taken their toll. USC finished the season ranked No. 2 in the Coaches Poll and No. 3 in the AP Poll, trading the respective No. 3 and No. 2 spots with Georgia, another team that finished with a strong 11–2 record and a dominating performance in its BCS Bowl game. The teams finished close to each other in the final polls: In the Coaches Poll, USC received 1380 votes to Georgia's 1370; and in the AP Poll Georgia received 1515 to USC's 1500. USC received one first-place vote in the final AP Poll. With LSU's dominating win over Ohio State in the BCS National Championship Game, college football had its first two-loss national champion, and with teams like USC and Georgia locked out of playing LSU or Ohio State, the season served as another example for those advocating for some form of Football Bowl Subdivision playoff. The Trojans accomplished two feats: USC became the first team to win six straight Pac-10 titles and became the first team in major college football to achieve six straight 11-win seasons. In addition, USC set a record by playing in a BCS Bowl for the sixth consecutive season. Immediately after the 2007–08 bowl season, in early looks at the 2008 season, USC was ranked as the pre-season No. 4 (Sports Illustrated) and No. 5 (ESPN.com) due to key player departures mitigated by the overall talent level. Sports Illustrated'' soon revised its ranking to No. 3 after nearly all draft-eligible juniors decided to remain with the program instead of entering the NFL Draft. ### NFL Draft Of all the Trojans' draft-eligible juniors, only offensive guard Chilo Rachal declared himself available for the 2008 NFL Draft. Twelve USC players, eleven seniors and a junior, were invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, the most of any school in 2008: the seniors were offensive tackle Sam Baker, quarterback John David Booty, tight end Fred Davis, nose tackle Sedrick Ellis, defensive end Lawrence Jackson, offensive tackle Drew Radovich, linebacker Keith Rivers, center Matt Spanos, cornerback Terrell Thomas, running back Chauncey Washington, linebacker Thomas Williams, and the junior was offensive guard Rachal. USC did well in the 2008 draft; ten players were taken overall, the most of any school, and a school-record seven players were selected in the first two rounds, beating the previous record of five (1968 and 2006) and the most in the first round. The first round selections were Ellis (seventh, New Orleans Saints), Rivers (ninth, Cincinnati Bengals), Baker (21st, Atlanta Falcons) and Jackson (28th, Seattle Seahawks); the second round picks were Rachal (39th, San Francisco 49ers), Davis (48th, Washington Redskins) and Thomas (63rd, New York Giants); the fifth round selections were Booty (137th, Minnesota Vikings) and Williams (155th, Jacksonville Jaguars); in the seventh round Washington was selected 213th by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Radovich signed as an undrafted free agent with the Minnesota Vikings; Spanos signed with the Miami Dolphins. One year later, eleven more players were selected in the 2009 NFL Draft, again leading all universities in the number of players drafted into the NFL that season. The first round selections were Mark Sanchez (fifth, New York Jets), Brian Cushing (15th, Houston Texans) and Clay Matthews (26th, Green Bay Packers); the second round picks were Rey Maualuga (38th, Cincinnati Bengals) and Fili Moala (56th, Indianapolis Colts); in the third round was Patrick Turner (87th, Miami Dolphins); in the fourth round were Kaluka Maiava (104th, Cleveland Browns) and Kyle Moore (117th, Tampa Bay Buccaneers); in the fifth round was David Buehler (172nd, Dallas Cowboys); and in the sixth round Cary Harris (183rd, Buffalo Bills) and Kevin Ellison (189th, San Diego Chargers). During the 2010 NFL Draft, USC had seven more players from the 2007 team drafted into the NFL, though none in the first round. The second round picks were Taylor Mays (49th, San Francisco 49ers) and Charles Brown (64th, New Orleans Saints); in the third round were Damien Williams (77th, Tennessee Titans) and Kevin Thomas (97th, Indianapolis Colts); in the fourth round were Everson Griffen (100th, Minnesota Vikings) and Joe McKnight (112th, New York Jets); and in the sixth round Anthony McCoy (185th, Seattle Seahawks). At the 2011 NFL Draft, USC tied for the most players drafted from any university into the NFL that year with nine. Of those, six were on the 2007 team, though none of those particular players were in the first round. Shareece Wright was selected in the third round (89th, San Diego Chargers); in the sixth round were Ronald Johnson (182nd, San Francisco 49ers) and Allen Bradford (187th, Tampa Bay Buccaneers); and in three consecutive picks in the seventh round were Stanley Havili (240th, Philadelphia Eagles), David Ausberry (241st, Oakland Raiders) and Malcolm Smith (242nd, Seattle Seahawks). Jordan Cameron, who had tried to transfer onto the team but forced to wait a year at a junior college before enrolling, was drafted in the fourth round (102nd, Cleveland Browns). Finally, at the 2012 NFL Draft, Rhett Ellison was taken in the fourth round (128th, Minnesota Vikings). ### Awards Senior Fred Davis became the first Trojan to win the John Mackey Award, awarded to the nation's top tight end. Five Trojans were selected to the various 2007 College Football All-America Teams. In addition to Fred Davis, tackle Sam Baker earned his third-straight spot on an All-American team. On the defense, tackle Sedrick Ellis, linebacker Keith Rivers, and safety Taylor Mays all earned All-American honors. Ellis was named the Pacific-10 Conference Defensive Player of the Year by league coaches, and selected to the All-Conference first team defense along with defensive end Lawrence Jackson, linebackers Rivers and Rey Maualuga, and cornerback Kevin Ellison. The All-Conference first team offense included Davis, Baker, and offensive lineman Chilo Rachal. The Trojans had nine players invited to participate in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama: Baker, quarterback John David Booty, Davis, Ellis, Jackson, offensive linemen Drew Radovich, Rivers, cornerback Terrell Thomas and running back Chauncey Washington. All nine players were placed on the North team, which was coached by Lane Kiffin, who had coached for the Trojans between 2001 and 2006 before becoming the head coach of the Oakland Raiders. The nine players sent by USC were the second-most ever invited from one team in a single season, one less than the 10 players by Alabama in 1987 and tied with the nine players sent by Auburn in 1988, though the earlier selection rules favored the two locally based schools.
35,578,102	A Canterlot Wedding	1,170,743,086	My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic episodes	[ "2012 American television episodes", "2012 Canadian television episodes", "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes", "Television episodes about weddings" ]	"A Canterlot Wedding" is the title of the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth episodes of the second season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. The fifty-first and fifty-second episodes overall, they were directed by James Wootton and written by Meghan McCarthy. "A Canterlot Wedding" premiered as an hour-long event on The Hub on April 21, 2012. In these episodes, Twilight Sparkle (Tara Strong) learns her brother, Shining Armor (Andrew Francis), will be marrying Princess Cadance (Britt McKillip). The news excites Twilight, but she becomes concerned about the marriage when she notices Cadance is not behaving like the friendly, caring individual she remembers her to be. "A Canterlot Wedding" was series developer Lauren Faust's final involvement in the show. The episodes are a direct reference to the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. They deal with themes that have been considered serious and complex for a children's television series; scholars believe that they involve feminism-related themes. Before the premiere of "A Canterlot Wedding", The Hub began a major marketing campaign that included interactive content on the network's website, promotional events, and a print advertisement in The New York Times in the form of a ceremonial wedding announcement. The episodes' debuts attracted almost one million combined viewers, and critics praised their ambition, music, and visual sequences. ## Plot ### Part 1 Twilight Sparkle is surprised to learn her older brother, Captain of the Royal Guard Shining Armor, is to be married. Princess Celestia, her mentor and the ruler of Equestria, has asked Twilight and her friends from Ponyville to help organize the ceremony. Twilight is resentful, as she had only learned of the marriage at this late date and received a letter instead of a visit. When at Canterlot, she finds security has been increased; a magic shield-shell cast by Shining Armor protects the entire city from an unknown threat. Twilight berates her brother; he apologizes and asks Twilight to be his "best mare", to her delight. Shining Armor reveals he is marrying her "foalsitter" Princess Cadance, further cheering up Twilight. She meets a cold and distant Cadance who has no memory of a special rhyme they used to share. During the wedding preparations, Twilight further distrusts Cadance, as she criticizes every aspect of her friends' planning. As pressure from the ceremony mounts, Twilight's friends dismiss her claims about Cadance's poor behavior, saying Cadence is just stressed. Twilight approaches Shining Armor with her concerns, but Cadance takes him aside, casting a seemingly evil spell upon him. The next day, at a wedding rehearsal, Twilight decries Cadance as evil, causing Cadence to run off in tears. A furious Shining Armor explains that Cadance is being rude due to pressure from the wedding planning and the spell she cast on him was meant to help him deal with the migraines caused by the casting of the shield. He dismisses Twilight as his best mare, claiming she shouldn't come to the wedding at all, and he, Celestia and Twilight's friends, who also refuse to believe her, leave her alone to go check on Cadence, who arrives to comfort Twilight. When Twilight tries to apologize, Cadance transports her beneath Canterlot. ### Part 2 Twilight is in the long-forgotten crystal caves beneath Canterlot. An image of Cadance taunts her, saying the marriage will continue without Twilight's interference. Twilight shatters a crystal wall; she finds disheveled Cadance. Enraged, Twilight attacks the second Cadance, who proves herself to be the real Cadance by reciting the shared rhyme from their youth. Cadance explains she was abducted by an impostor who wants to marry Shining Armor. Twilight and Cadance escape to stop the wedding. Meanwhile, the fake Cadance plots against Shining Armor and the others. Just before the ceremony is completed, Twilight and the real Cadance expose the deception. Enraged, the fake Cadance reveals her true image as Queen Chrysalis, ruler of the shape-shifting, insect-like Changelings who feed on love. Queen Chrysalis has been usurping Shining Armor's power, weakening the shield to allow her Changeling army to invade Canterlot and take over Equestria. Celestia, who is overpowered by Chrysalis, implores Twilight and her friends to retrieve the Elements of Harmony to stop the Changelings. However, they are returned to Chrysalis. As the queen celebrates her victory, Twilight frees Cadance, who frees Shining Armor from Chrysalis's spell. He recasts the shield, expelling Chrysalis and her army from Canterlot. Celestia commends Twilight's conviction that ultimately saved the day. The real wedding goes ahead as planned; Twilight, who again becomes best mare, eagerly oversees preparations for a much more appreciative Cadance. After the wedding ceremony, a celebration with Twilight as the wedding singer ensues. ## Production and promotion "A Canterlot Wedding" was series developer Lauren Faust's final involvement with the show. Faust had served as executive producer during season one and as consulting producer during season two. The episodes are a direct reference to the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. Queen Chrysalis was designed by Rebecca Dart from DHX Media: the character was envisioned as damp, hunched over, weak, and rotten-looking; and "like she crawled out from under a log". Hasbro felt that Dart's design was not intimidating enough, so Dart gave her an upright stance to appear more commanding. To give Queen Chrysalis an insect-like appearance, holes are abundant in the character's design. Her decaying aspects are deliberate contrasts to the vigor of Princess Celestia and Cadance. Shining Armor and Cadance are intended to display strength, honor, and fearlessness. An advertisement formally announcing the marriage of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor was placed in The New York Times' wedding section on April 13, 2012, and McCarthy said the advertisement was placed because the channel wanted to "justify something big and crazy and exciting". Actor and wedding aficionado Tori Spelling appeared at promotional events for "A Canterlot Wedding" and in segments aired on The Hub during the episodes. Spelling, who was scheduled to host a "bridle shower" event in Culver City the week before the episodes' airing, canceled due to pregnancy sicknesses and television personality Brooke Burke took her place. ## Themes The episodes have been subject to feminist analysis. In a chapter of Orienting Feminism, Kevin Fletcher said the episodes both exemplify and resist "princess culture", and suggested they undermine the typical fairy-tale wedding by focusing on Twilight and her friends rather than the royal couple. He stated that Chrysalis's "disordered female behaviour", perceived to be similar to that of evil Disney queens, lends itself to retrogressive interpretations. According to academic and feminist Joanna Russ, matriarchal societies in science fiction are frequently modeled after termites. Fletcher asserted that the function of "A Canterlot Wedding" as retrogressive episodes is enhanced by these components. He believed creators were aware of the post-feminist concept of "having it all"—a rhetoric spawned by post-feminist texts that portray work and social connection as binary options—with the reprise of "This Day Aria" showcasing this awareness. The post-feminist agenda of "having it all", according to Fletcher, is thus deemed harmful since it is linked to an evil queen figure. A study by Christian Valiente and Xeno Rasmusson found the episodes challenge gender stereotypes; females drive the action and dialogue while males are either incompetent or under female control. Females are also in positions of authority, and in primary and active roles. ## Broadcast and reception ### Ratings Both parts of "A Canterlot Wedding" premiered on The Hub in the United States on April 21, 2012. Several sources noted their broadcast was close to the first anniversary of the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. According to Hasbro, the episodes became rating successes. The first part received a viewership of 483,000, over 300% higher than the ratings of the previous year. The second was watched by 475,000 people, and received a 157% increase in viewership. ### Responses "A Canterlot Wedding" received positive reviews. Emily St. James gave the double episode an "A−" rating, considering it to be a reason why she felt Friendship Is Magic was one of the best children's programs. Articles in the New York Daily News and Entertainment Weekly described the episodes as "charming and surprisingly complex" and "ambitious, absorbing, and thoroughly entertaining". Journalists have praised "A Canterlot Wedding"s themes, describing them as serious, complex, and mature for a children's television series. Common Sense Media writer Emily Ashby called the episodes "an illustrator of life lessons that have value for kids of all ages". According to Shaun Scotellaro, founder of fan site Equestria Daily, Cadance was initially criticized by Friendship Is Magic fans for being a "pretty pink alicorn princess"—which was "the exact opposite of what we wanted"—but in the end the show's fans enjoyed the episode, and Scotellaro described it as "perfect". St. James and Sherilyn Connelly of SF Weekly called the music "one of the best things about this show" and "just breathtaking", respectively. Reviewers often singled out "This Day Aria" for particular acclaim. Connelly considered it to be showstopping, and approvingly likened it to "La Resistance" from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and "Walk Through the Fire" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. St. James favorably compared it to the Disney villain songs; similarly, Comic Book Resources's Hannah Grimes cited the song's resemblance to Disney musical numbers, stating it "easily takes the cake as the best song in the entire [of Friendship Is Magic]. ... [I]t's on another level compared to the music in the rest of the series." Critics also praised the episodes' visual sequences. St. James complimented the way "the bright colors and beautiful backgrounds contrast nicely with the more simplistic Flash animation that drives the program". Multiple writers enjoyed the fight between the ponies and the Changelings: Connelly found it thrilling, especially Pinkie Pie's use of Twilight as a gun; and St. James considered it to be vibrant and pleasurable. Other sequences singled out by critics include the "bouncy and fun, filled with real joy and heart" wedding; the climax in which Cadance and Shining Armour defeat the Changelings that "gets [Connelly] gooey inside every time"; and the scene in which Cadance transports Twilight to the caves, which Connelly described as "the most disturbing the show has yet produced". ## Home media release On August 7, 2012, Shout! Factory released a DVD compilation titled "Royal Pony Wedding" containing both parts of "A Canterlot Wedding". They were also released as part of the Season 2 DVD box set.
7,434,278	Ben Paschal	1,166,462,761	American baseball player (1895-1974)	[ "1895 births", "1974 deaths", "Atlanta Crackers players", "Baseball players from Alabama", "Boston Red Sox players", "Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players", "Cleveland Indians players", "Dothan (minor league baseball) players", "Jeanerette Blues players", "Knoxville Smokies players", "Major League Baseball outfielders", "Major League Baseball right fielders", "Muskegon Muskies players", "New York Yankees players", "People from Enterprise, Alabama", "Scranton Miners players", "St. Paul Saints (AA) players" ]	Benjamin Edwin Paschal (October 13, 1895 – November 10, 1974) was an American baseball outfielder who played eight seasons in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1929, mostly for the New York Yankees. After two "cup of coffee" stints with the Cleveland Indians in 1915 and the Boston Red Sox in 1920, Paschal spent most of his career as the fourth outfielder and right-handed pinch hitter of the Yankees' Murderers' Row championship teams of the late 1920s. Paschal is best known for hitting .360 in the 1925 season while standing in for Babe Ruth, who missed the first 40 games with a stomach ailment. During his time in baseball, Paschal was described as a five-tool player who excelled at running, throwing, fielding, hitting for average, and power. However, his playing time with the Yankees was limited because they already had future Baseball Hall of Famers Ruth and Earle Combs, and star Bob Meusel, in the outfield. Paschal was considered one of the best bench players in baseball during his time with the Yankees, and sportswriters wrote how he would have started for most other teams in the American League. He was one of the best pinch hitters in the game during the period, at a time when the term was still relatively new to baseball. ## Early life The son of farmers, Paschal was born in Enterprise, Alabama, and grew up in nearby Sanford. He played collegiate sports at the University of Alabama, before beginning his professional career with Dothan of the Georgia State League, where he played with future Hall of Fame player Bill Terry. Paschal played in 64 games, with a .280 batting average, and his ability attracted the attention of scouts in the area. ## Career ### Early career Signed as a pinch hitter for the Cleveland Indians at age 19, Paschal appeared in nine games, collecting one hit on August 16, which broke up a no-hitter by Bernie Boland with two outs in the ninth inning. The Indians declared Paschal too inexperienced, and he was sent to the Muskegon Reds of the Central League. The league disbanded in the middle of the 1917 season, and Paschal became a free agent. After a two-year break from baseball because of World War I, Paschal moved on to the Charlotte Hornets of the South Atlantic League, where he played from 1920 to 1923. He finished third in the league in batting average in 1920. While in the Southern League, he was nicknamed "the man who hits sticks of dynamite". At the conclusion of the 1920 season, Paschal's contract was purchased by the Boston Red Sox, with an option to keep him if he met certain playing expectations. He appeared in nine games for the Red Sox; his first game brought three hits against pitcher José Acosta of the Washington Senators, and in total he batted .357 with five runs batted in (RBI), but the Red Sox believed he lacked fielding experience and he returned to Charlotte. In August 1921, Paschal was sold to the Rochester Red Wings. However, while sliding in a game on August 20, 1921, he suffered a broken leg which sidelined him for the rest of the season and voided the contract with the Red Wings. He was hitting .317 at the time of the injury. In 1922, Paschal played in 142 games, hitting .326 with 18 home runs and improved these figures in 1923, achieving 200 hits, 22 triples, and 26 home runs in 141 games for a batting average of .351, the fourth best in the league. Paschal began the 1924 season with the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association. He scored 136 runs, while batting .341 and stealing 24 bases. ### Yankees career The New York Yankees bought Paschal from the Crackers near the end of the 1924 season and he played in four games. His only three hits, as well as three RBI, came in a defeat by the Detroit Tigers on September 19. During spring training, Paschal narrowly escaped serious injury while traveling on a bus. The vehicle rolled backwards down a hill and Paschal, along with several other teammates, jumped off before it hit a tree at high speed. The media expected Paschal to be Babe Ruth's understudy prior to the 1925 season, but Ruth collapsed at an Asheville, North Carolina train station just before the regular season's start. Emergency surgery for a "intestinal abscess" left him hospitalized for six weeks. Originally, Paschal was only to be used against left-handed pitchers, but Yankees manager Miller Huggins named him as Ruth's temporary replacement in the outfield. In the first game of the year, Paschal hit a home run in a 5–1 win against the defending World Series-champion Washington Senators. After another game-winning home run against the Senators two weeks later, the New York press noted that he was "making fans forget about Babe Ruth". Paschal's weakness against right-handed pitchers prompted the Yankees to acquire veteran outfielder Bobby Veach, but his declining skills allowed Paschal to retain his position on the team. He hit another game-winning home run against the Cleveland Indians on May 23. At the time, Paschal was fifth in the league in batting average at .403, behind Sammy Hale, Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, and teammate Earle Combs. His six home runs in May set a Yankee rookie record for a month, later equaled by Joe Gordon, then topped by Shane Spencer's nine in September 1998. Ruth returned to the lineup on June 1, relegating Paschal to the bench. In July, an injury to Combs allowed Paschal to start several games in center field. He then started the majority of August and all of September when Bob Meusel moved to third base to cover for an injured Joe Dugan. He hit two home runs during a September 8 game against the Red Sox, but his season ended when he was hit on the leg with a pitch on September 12 against the Philadelphia Athletics. In 89 games, Paschal's batting average for the season was .360, 70 points higher than Ruth, with 12 home runs and 56 RBI. Paschal was set to enter the 1926 season as the fourth outfielder, for which he was sent a new contract. After threatening to hold out for more money, the Yankees sent him a new contract which he signed on February 17 for an estimated \$7,000 ( today). He began the season as a pinch hitter, but injuries quickly took their toll on the Yankees. Paschal started most of July and August, replacing an injured Meusel, who broke a bone in his right foot. Paschal hit an inside-the-park home run in a victory against the Indians on July 9. With the Yankees in a close pennant race in mid-August, Paschal hit a home run in a loss to the Detroit Tigers. Further successes came with a vital pinch-hit double in a win against the Athletics on September 6 and a home run on September 8. The Yankees clinched the pennant on September 15, and Paschal scored the game-winning single. The Yankees faced the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1926 World Series, and Paschal, pinch hitting for Joe Dugan, singled in Lou Gehrig tying the contest at 2–2 in the ninth inning of Game 5. Tony Lazzeri hit a sacrifice fly in the tenth to win the game for the Yankees, but they lost the next two games and the Series. He had played in 96 games, hitting 7 home runs with 32 runs batted in. Before the 1927 season, Paschal returned his playing contract unsigned because of a salary dispute. By that time, the Yankees were forming the nucleus of what became the Murderers' Row teams of the late 1920s. He signed for an estimated \$8,000 (\$ today), a 13% raise. In the season-opening win against the Athletics, right field starter Babe Ruth struck out twice and popped out, forcing Huggins to replace him with Paschal in the sixth inning. As the last man ever to pinch-hit for Ruth, Paschal singled. In one of his few starts of the 1927 season, Paschal was a single short of hitting for the cycle, and almost had three home runs. Replacing the injured Bob Meusel, Paschal hit two home runs, a triple that was yards shy of a home run, and a double which bounced off the right field stands during an 11–2 rout of the Indians. Paschal did not play in the Yankees' 1927 World Series victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Overall, he played in 50 games, primarily as a pinch hitter. After the season, Paschal was discussed as a trade for Boston Red Sox pitcher Red Ruffing, but discussions fell apart (Ruffing was later acquired in a proposed trade during the 1930 season). Paschal was used heavily as a pinch hitter during the 1928 season. Huggins credited Paschal's timely pinch hitting as part of the Yankees' success that season. One of the few highlights of his season was his RBI pinch-hit double in the 10th inning that helped the Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox on August 4. Paschal played in 65 games that season, having a .316 batting average. He shared center field duties with Cedric Durst for an injured Earle Combs during the Yankees' win over the Cardinals in the 1928 World Series. He started the first and last games of the series on a platoon situation; Paschal faced left-handed pitchers and Durst faced right-handed pitchers. Before the 1929 season, Paschal and Durst were mentioned in several trade rumors, and Paschal was rarely used, appearing in only 42 games as a sixth outfielder in the season. A rare start came on June 1 against the White Sox, when he scored a run. On July 2, Paschal hit a pinch-hit home run for Herb Pennock in the seventh inning of a game against the Red Sox to give the Yankees a 3–2 win. He played in 42 games in his final season in the majors, posting a .208 batting average in 81 at-bats. During his time with the Yankees, Paschal was considered a quiet player with a colorless personality. His appearances were limited by the presence of future Hall of Famers Ruth and Combs, and star Bob Meusel in the outfield. He was part a group including Lou Gehrig and Mark Koenig which preferred watching a film to carousing after a game; they were dubbed the team's "movie crowd". ### Later career After the 1929 season, Paschal was, along with Wilcy Moore and Johnny Grabowski, part of a trade for catcher Bubbles Hargrave to the St. Paul Saints of the American Association (AA). In one 1930 game against the Toledo Mud Hens, Paschal had four hits and four RBI in a 23–4 win that broke the AA record for most runs scored in a game. In 144 games, Paschal finished the 1930 season with 204 hits, 10 home runs, and a .350 batting average. The following season, Paschal played 121 games to hit .336, while his average in 1932 was .325 in 147 games. During one game in the 1932 season, Paschal had three doubles and three singles, tying the AA record for most hits in a game. His skills declined during the 1933 season; in 130 games he hit just .272 with seven home runs. He left St. Paul and signed as a free agent with the Knoxville Smokies on December 30, 1933. The St. Petersburg Evening Independent reported a few months later that Paschal was "struggling to keep his job" in the minors. He was released by Knoxville and signed with the Scranton Miners of the New York–Penn League. After a few games with the Miners, Paschal returned home to North Carolina, where he accepted a managerial job for a semi-professional baseball team in Catawba County. ## Personal life Paschal was married and had a child, Ben Jr. He died in Charlotte, North Carolina at the age of 79, and is interred at Sharon Memorial Park.
10,811,647	Nizar ibn al-Mustansir	1,171,604,300	Fatimid prince and Nizari imam (1045–1095)	[ "1045 births", "1095 deaths", "11th-century Arab people", "11th-century Ismailis", "11th-century caliphs", "11th-century executions", "11th-century monarchs in Africa", "11th-century people from the Fatimid Caliphate", "Egyptian Ismailis", "Heirs apparent who never acceded", "Medieval Alexandria", "Nizari imams", "People executed by the Fatimid Caliphate", "Rebels of the medieval Islamic world", "Royalty from Cairo", "Schisms in Islam", "Sons of Fatimid caliphs" ]	Abu Mansur Nizar ibn al-Mustansir (Arabic: أبو منصور نزار بن المستنصر, romanized: Abū Manṣūr Nizār ibn al-Mustanṣir; 1045–1095) was a Fatimid prince, and the oldest son of the eighth Fatimid caliph and eighteenth Isma'ili imam, al-Mustansir. When his father died in December 1094, the powerful vizier, al-Afdal Shahanshah, raised Nizar's younger brother al-Musta'li to the throne in Cairo, bypassing the claims of Nizar and other older sons of al-Mustansir. Nizar escaped Cairo, rebelled and seized Alexandria, where he reigned as caliph with the regnal name al-Mustafa li-Din Allah (Arabic: المصطفى لدين الله, romanized: al-Muṣṭafā li-Dīn Allāh). In late 1095 he was defeated and taken prisoner to Cairo, where he was executed by immurement. During the 12th century, some of Nizar's actual or claimed descendants tried, without success, to seize the throne from the Fatimid caliphs. Many Isma'ilis, especially in Persia, rejected al-Musta'li's imamate and considered Nizar as the rightful imam. As a result, they split off from the Fatimid regime and founded the Nizari branch of Isma'ilism, with their own line of imams who claimed descent from Nizar. This line continues to this day in the person of the Aga Khan. ## Life Nizar was born on 26 September 1045 (5 Rabīʿ al-ʾAwwal 437 A.H.) to the ruling Fatimid imam–caliph, al-Mustansir (r. 1036–1094). At that time, al-Mustansir was around 15 years old and had already been on the throne for ten years. Nizar was most likely the eldest son of the caliph, although another son named Abu Abdallah is sometimes listed as the senior of al-Mustansir's sons. In the late 1060s, the Fatimid Caliphate entered a profound crisis, with the advance of the Seljuk Turks from the east threatening its hold over Syria, and protracted clashes between the Fatimid army's Turkish and black African troops in Egypt leading to the breakdown of the central government and widespread famine and anarchy. In about 1068, as internal turmoil threatened the dynasty with collapse, al-Mustansir dispersed his sons throughout his territories as a safeguard, keeping only an unnamed underage son close to him. The account by the Mamluk-era historian al-Maqrizi says that Abu Abdallah and Abu Ali were to go to Acre to join the army of the commander Badr al-Jamali; Abu'l-Qasim Muhammad (father of the Caliph al-Hafiz) to Ascalon; while another, unnamed but underage son, remained in Cairo. Nizar is not mentioned by al-Maqrizi, but he was very likely included in this measure, and the al-Hidaya al-Amiriyya, a proclamation issued in 1122 by Caliph al-Amir (r. 1101–1130), claims that he was sent to the port of Damietta. This dispersal of the Fatimid princes lasted at least until Badr al-Jamali assumed power in 1073 as vizier and quasi-dictator and restored order in Egypt. ### Disputed succession As the oldest son, Nizar was apparently considered to be his father's most likely successor, as was the custom; indeed, historians often state that Nizar had been his father's designated successor. However, no formal designation of Nizar as heir seems to have taken place by the time of al-Mustansir's death in December 1094. Al-Maqrizi writes that this was due to the machinations of Badr's son al-Afdal Shahanshah, who had succeeded his father to the vizierate in June 1094. According to al-Maqrizi, a deep-seated enmity existed between al-Afdal and Nizar. An anecdote tells how al-Afdal had once tried to enter the palace on horseback—a privilege reserved for the caliph—whereupon Nizar yelled at him to dismount and called him a "dirty Armenian". Since then, the two had been bitter enemies, with al-Afdal obstructing Nizar's activities and demoting his servants, while at the same time winning the army's commanders over to his cause. Only one of them, the Berber Muhammad ibn Masal al-Lukki, is said to have remained loyal to Nizar, because he had promised to appoint him vizier instead of al-Afdal. According to al-Maqrizi, al-Afdal pressured al-Mustansir to prevent Nizar's public nomination as heir, and when the caliph died, al-Afdal raised a much younger half-brother of Nizar, al-Musta'li, to the throne and the imamate. Al-Musta'li, who had shortly before married al-Afdal's sister, was completely dependent on al-Afdal for his accession. This made him a compliant figurehead who was unlikely to threaten al-Afdal's recent, and therefore as yet fragile, hold on power. In order to defend al-Musta'li's succession and counter the claims of Nizar's partisans, al-Mu'stali's son and successor, al-Amir, issued the al-Hidaya al-Amiriyya. This document puts a different spin on the dispersal of the princes: supposedly, they were sent away in order of importance, with those closest to Cairo (and thus the caliph himself) being the highest in rank. Modern historians point out that this was a deliberately misconstrued argument, as the princes were sent away for their protection. According to the historian Paul E. Walker, sending Abu Abdallah to the strong army of Badr al-Jamali was, if anything, an indication of his high importance and of his father's desire to keep him safe. At the same time, the unidentified underage son left in Cairo was clearly not al-Musta'li, who had not even been born yet. Walker identifies the unnamed prince with Abu'l-Qasim Ahmad, whose birth had been publicly announced in 1060. That prince had likely died in the meantime, as the future al-Musta'li, born in 1074, was given the same name. The al-Hidaya al-Amiriyya and other accounts further assert the legitimacy of al-Musta'li's accession by reporting stories that on the wedding banquet of al-Musta'li, or on his deathbed, al-Mustansir had chosen him as his heir, and that one of al-Mustansir's sisters is said to have been called to him privately and received al-Musta'li's nomination as a bequest. Modern historians, such as Farhad Daftary, believe these stories to be most likely attempts to justify and retroactively legitimize what was in effect a coup d'état by al-Afdal. However, al-Maqrizi also includes a different narrative that casts doubt on whether al-Afdal's move was really a carefully prepared coup. When al-Afdal summoned three of al-Mustansir's sons—Nizar, Abdallah, and Isma'il, apparently the most prominent among the caliph's progeny—to the palace to do homage to al-Musta'li, who had been seated on the throne, they each refused. Not only did they reject al-Musta'li, but each of them claimed that al-Mustansir had chosen him as his successor. Nizar claimed that he had a written document to this effect. This refusal apparently took al-Afdal completely by surprise. The brothers were allowed to leave the palace; but while Abdallah and Isma'il made for a nearby mosque, Nizar immediately fled Cairo. To add to the confusion, having learned of al-Mustansir's passing, Baraqat, the chief missionary (da'i) of Cairo (the head of the Isma'ili religious establishment) proclaimed Abdallah as caliph with the regnal name al-Muwaffaq. However, al-Afdal soon regained control. Baraqat was arrested (and later executed), Abdallah and Isma'il were placed under surveillance and eventually publicly acknowledged al-Musta'li. A grand assembly of officials was held, which acclaimed al-Musta'li as imam and caliph. ### Rebellion and death In the meantime, Nizar fled to Alexandria with a few followers. The local governor, a Turk named Nasr al-Dawla Aftakin, opposed al-Afdal, so Nizar was quickly able to gain his support. He also won over the local judge (qadi), the inhabitants and the surrounding Arab tribes to his cause. He then rose in revolt and proclaimed himself imam and caliph with the title of al-Mustafa li-Din Allah ('the Chosen One for God's Religion'). A gold dinar of Nizar, bearing this title, was discovered in 1994, attesting to his assumption of the caliphal title and the minting of coinage with it. According to Walker, the speed with which Nizar gained support, and some other stories narrated in al-Maqrizi, suggest the existence of a relatively large faction that expected or wanted him to succeed al-Mustansir. Nizar's revolt was initially successful: al-Afdal's attack on Alexandria in February 1095 was easily repulsed, and Nizar's forces raided up to the outskirts of Cairo. Over the next months, however, al-Afdal managed to win back the allegiance of the Arab tribes with bribes and gifts. Weakened, Nizar's forces were pushed back to Alexandria, which was placed under siege. In November, Nizar's military commander Ibn Masal abandoned the city, taking most of the remaining treasure with him. This forced Aftakin and Nizar to surrender against a guarantee of their safety (aman). Both were taken back to Cairo, where Nizar was immured and Aftakin was executed. The details or exact date of Nizar's death are unknown. In a surviving letter sent to the Isma'ili Yemeni queen Arwa al-Sulayhi announcing his accession, al-Musta'li gives the "official" version of events as follows: Like the other sons of al-Mustansir, Nizar had at first accepted his imamate and paid him homage, before being moved by greed and envy to revolt. The events up to the capitulation of Alexandria are reported in some detail, but nothing is mentioned of Nizar's fate or that of Aftakin. ## Nizari schism Problems with succession arrangements had emerged before, but al-Musta'li's accession was the first time that rival members of the Fatimid dynasty had actually fought over the throne. Given the pivotal role of the imam in the Isma'ili faith, this was of momentous importance: the issue of succession was not merely a matter of political intrigue, but also intensely religious. In the words of the modern pioneer of Isma'ili studies, Samuel Miklos Stern, "on it depended the continuity of institutional religion as well as the personal salvation of the believer". To the Isma'ili faithful, writes Stern, it was "not so much the person of the claimant that weighed with his followers; they were not moved by any superior merits of Nizar as a ruler [...] it was the divine right personified in the legitimate heir that counted". As a result, the events of 1094–1095 caused a bitter and permanent schism in the Isma'ili movement that continues to the present. While al-Musta'li was recognized by the Fatimid elites and the official Isma'ili religious establishment (the da'wa), as well as the Isma'ili communities dependent on it in Syria and Yemen, most of the Isma'ili communities in the wider Middle East, and especially Persia and Iraq, rejected it. Whether out of genuine conviction, or as a convenient excuse to rid himself of Cairo's control, the chief Isma'ili da'i in Persia, Hassan-i Sabbah, swiftly recognized Nizar's rights to the imamate—possibly already during Nizar's rule in Alexandria—severed relations with Cairo, and set up his own independent hierarchy (the da'wa jadida, lit. 'new calling'). This marked the permanent and enduring split of the Isma'ili movement into rival "Musta'li" and "Nizari" branches. Over the following decades, the Nizaris were among the most bitter enemies of the Musta'li rulers of Egypt. Hassan-i Sabbah founded the Order of Assassins, which was responsible for the assassination of al-Afdal in 1121, and of al-Musta'li's son and successor al-Amir (who was also al-Afdal's nephew and son-in-law) in October 1130. This led to a succession of coups and crises that heralded the decline of the Fatimid state, and its eventual collapse. In 1130–1131 the Fatimid regime was temporarily abolished by al-Afdal's son Kutayfat, before Nizar's nephew Abd al-Majid, in the absence of a direct heir of al-Amir, assumed the imamate and the caliphate as the caliph al-Hafiz in January 1132. Al-Hafiz' succession led to another schism in Isma'ilism, between those Musta'lis who accepted al-Hafiz' succession (the "Hafizis") and those who did not, upholding instead the imamate of al-Amir's infant son al-Tayyib (the "Tayyibis"). Whereas Nizari Isma'ilism survived in Persia and Syria, and Tayyibi Isma'ilism in Yemen and India, the Hafizi sect, closely associated with the Fatimid state, did not long survive the latter's final abolition by Saladin in 1171. ## Descendants and succession Contemporary sources attest that Nizar had a number of sons. At least one of them, al-Husayn, fled with other members of the dynasty (including three of Nizar's brothers, Muhammad, Isma'il, and Tahir) from Egypt to the western Maghreb in 1095, where they formed a sort of opposition in exile to the new regime in Cairo. There are indications that another of Nizar's sons, named al-Mukhtar Muhammad, left for Yemen, as coins in his name were minted there. In 1132, following the highly irregular accession of al-Hafiz, al-Husayn tried to return to Egypt. He managed to raise an army, but al-Hafiz successfully suborned his commanders and had him killed. In 1149, al-Hafiz had to confront a similar threat by a purported son of Nizar. The pretender managed to recruit a large following among the Berbers, but he was also killed when the Fatimid caliph bribed his commanders. The last revolt by a Nizari claimant was by al-Husayn's son Muhammad in 1162, but he was lured with false promises and executed by the vizier Ruzzik ibn Tala'i. None of his sons had been formally designated as successor by Nizar, however, so they lacked the legitimacy to become imams after him. This raised an acute problem for the Nizari faithful, as a line of divinely ordained imams could not possibly be broken. At first, some Nizaris held that Nizar was not dead, but would return as the Islamic messiah, the Mahdi (or at least in his company). In the absence of an imam, coinage from Alamut Castle, the centre of Hassan-i Sabah's nascent Nizari Isma'ili state in central Persia, was minted with Nizar's regnal name of al-Mustafa li-Din Allah until 1162. No imam was named publicly at Alamut until then, and Hassan-i Sabbah and his two immediate successors ruled instead as da'is, or as hujjas ('seals', 'proofs'), representatives acting on behalf of the absent imam. However, the Nizaris soon came to believe that a grandson (or son) of Nizar had been smuggled out of Egypt and brought to Alamut, and was the rightful imam, living in concealment (satr). According to Nizari tradition, the fourth ruler of Alamut, Hassan II (r. 1162–1166), is considered to have been no longer a simple da'i, but secretly a descendant of Nizar and the rightful imam, although this claim was not made explicit until the reign of his son, Nur al-Din Muhammad II. Modern Nizari tradition holds that three imams—Ali al-Hadi, Muhammad (I) al-Muhtadi, and Hassan (I) al-Qahir—ruled after Nizar while in concealment, but various primary sources give different genealogies. According to the German scholar of Shi'ism, Heinz Halm, the identities of the three concealed imams are most likely fictional, and the veracity of Hasan II's claims to Fatimid descent remain a major historiographical issue. Nevertheless, Hassan II's successors have sustained their claim of descent from Nizar down to current imam of Nizari Isma'ilism, the Aga Khan.
2,258,634	Baby Boy (Beyoncé song)	1,168,768,504	2003 single by Beyoncé featuring Sean Paul	[ "2003 singles", "2003 songs", "Beyoncé songs", "Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles", "Dancehall songs", "Music videos directed by Jake Nava", "Sean Paul songs", "Song recordings produced by Beyoncé", "Song recordings produced by Scott Storch", "Songs involved in plagiarism controversies", "Songs written by Beyoncé", "Songs written by Scott Storch" ]	"Baby Boy" is a song by American singer Beyoncé, featuring Jamaican rapper Sean Paul, from her debut solo studio album, Dangerously in Love (2003). It was also included on the reissue of Paul's second studio album, Dutty Rock (2002). Both Beyoncé and Paul co-wrote the song with Robert Waller, Jay-Z and Scott Storch, who produced it with Beyoncé. Containing a lyrical interpolation of "No Fear" by hip-hop group O.G.C., "Baby Boy" is a dancehall and R&B song with Caribbean and Asian influences; its lyrics detail a woman's fantasies. The song was released as the second single from Dangerously in Love on August 3, 2003, by Columbia Records and Music World Entertainment. "Baby Boy" topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for nine consecutive weeks and was Beyoncé's longest-running number-one single until 2007, when it was surpassed by "Irreplaceable". It reached the top-ten in many countries and was certified two-times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). "Baby Boy" also reached the top-ten in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The accompanying music video for "Baby Boy" was directed by Jake Nava and mostly shows Beyoncé dancing in various locations. The song has remained a staple of Beyoncé's concert setlists. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) recognized it as one of the most played songs of 2004. The next year, American singer-songwriter Jennifer Armour filed a copyright infringement lawsuit claiming that "Baby Boy" had used the primary musical hook from her song "Got a Little Bit of Love for You". The case was later dismissed. ## Background and development In 2002, Beyoncé went to Miami, Florida, in the United States, to work with American record producer Scott Storch for her debut solo studio album Dangerously in Love. She and Storch wrote "Baby Boy", with contributions from American songwriter Robert Waller and Beyoncé's now-husband, hip hop artist Jay-Z. The song also contains a lyrical interpolation of "No Fear" by hip hop group O.G.C. used towards the ending of the song: "We steppin' in hotter this year". Once the track was supposedly done, Beyoncé had the idea that it would be "perfect" if Jamaican reggae artist Sean Paul contributed a vocal track. Beyoncé contacted Paul about a possible collaboration for "Baby Boy". Sean Paul agreed, and flew in from Jamaica to join the recording sessions of the song. He contributed a toast verse, and they finished recording "Baby Boy" in March 2003, during the later stages of the album's recording. ## Music and lyrics "Baby Boy" is a midtempo contemporary R&B and dancehall song with reggae, house and South Asian influences. It was composed using common time in the key of C minor, and set in moderate groove of 92 beats per minute. Storch's knowledge on Indian contributes to its Asian influences. Neil Drumming of Entertainment Weekly noted that "'Baby Boy' goes full-tilt Bollywood 'n da hood, with Sean Paul ripping a pulsing tabla raga". Beyoncé's vocals are accompanied by clicky and castanet-sounding beats, synthesized handclaps and slaps. According to gossip blogger Roger Friedman of Fox News Channel, "Baby Boy" is based on the reggae song "Here Comes the Hotstepper" (1995), performed by Jamaican singer Ini Kamoze. "Baby Boy" is considered to be a sequel to Jay-Z's song "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" (2002) featuring Beyoncé. The lyrics detail a woman's fantasies, and in keeping with the album's overall theme, Beyoncé's deemed them as personal to her. Paul remarked: "She's telling me about her fantasies and picturing me and her going here and there, all over the world ... I'm answering back, like, 'I'm wit it'." The lyrics are constructed in the toast–chorus–verse form; Sean Paul performs the toasting while Beyoncé sings all other verses and choruses. The pattern is repeated twice; a further chorus and verse follow, resolving at the toasting and final verse. ## Release "Baby Boy" was released as the second single from Beyoncé's debut studio album, Dangerously in Love (2003). It was serviced to contemporary hit and rhythmic contemporary radio in the United States on August 3, 2003. It was released as a CD single and 12-inch single in the United Kingdom on October 6, 2003. The song was released for maxi single in Canada the following day, and in Germany on October 13. It was released in the United States as a 12-inch and CD single on October 14 and 28, 2003, respectively. "Baby Boy" was included in the revamped edition of Sean Paul's second studio album Dutty Rock (2003). ## Controversy In 2005, American singer-songwriter Jennifer Armour filed a copyright infringement lawsuit, claiming that Beyoncé had used some lyrics and the musical hook from her song "Got a Little Bit of Love for You". In 2003, Armour's former label manager had submitted demo recordings to record labels, including Beyoncé's Columbia Records and Sean Paul's Atlantic Records. According to the district court, an expert witness (Chair, Department of Music Theory & Composition, Shepherd School of Music, Rice University) determined the songs to be "substantially similar" (a requirement for an infringement finding). Concerning the musical hook, the expert witness stated in his report: "When the aural comparisons of the two songs are presented in the key of C minor (for easy comparison) and presented back-to-back, in A–B–A–B fashion, even the least musically inclined listener should immediately determine that the two songs are strikingly similar; I daresay that many listeners may even perceive them as being the same song! And again, transposing a song for this purpose does not alter any fundamental qualities or characteristics of the song but merely assists the ability of those unfamiliar with the technicalities of music in making a comparison." The district court judge nonetheless ruled that she, herself, couldn't hear the similarities between the two songs and dismissed the case, denying the motion for the songs or case to be heard by a jury. On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's ruling but ruled with different reasoning. It held that there was no infringement based on Beyoncé's claim that Armour's demo tape was received shortly after the writing of Beyoncé's song had been substantially completed. However, the court did not address the issue of substantial similarity. ## Critical reception Rolling Stone magazine reviewer Anthony DeCurtis wrote that Beyoncé sounded as if she was "having fun" on the song, while Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the online music guide service AllMusic described Beyoncé's vocals as "assured and sexy". Mark Anthony Neal of the international webzine PopMatters, regarded "Baby Boy" as one of the "high-profile collaborations" on Dangerously in Love. Lisa Verrico of the daily British newspaper The Times described the song a "Latino-tinged collaboration ... Paul does a reggae rap in the middle, but it's when he chats while Beyoncé half raps that the pair have real chemistry". Yancey Strickler of the Flak magazine wrote that "'Baby Boy''s diwali stutter is enhanced by Sean Paul's dancehall monotone". James Anthony of the British newspaper The Guardian commented that the track "bridges the gap between the genres of R&B and dancehall". Los Angeles Times writer Natalie Nichols wrote that "the ... house-spiced 'Baby Boy' successfully meld[s] [Beyoncé's] breathy cooing with hip, interesting production." ## Accolades British record label EMI was honored by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) at the 2005 ASCAP Pop Music Awards as Publisher of the Year for publishing "Baby Boy", among other songs. Scott Storch earned Songwriter of the Year award at the same event. ## Commercial performance "Baby Boy" attained a positioning on the commercial charts before its physical release in the United States. The track led to a higher Billboard 200 chart placing for Dangerously in Love, and helped the album to attain multi-platinum certification in the United States. The single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, at number fifty-seven, while its predecessor "Crazy in Love" was still on the top spot. "Baby Boy" dominated on the radio in the United States, ultimately reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100. It reached the chart's top spot eight weeks after its debut, and stayed there for nine consecutive weeks. The single stayed number one for a week longer than "Crazy in Love" had, becoming Beyoncé's longest-charting number-one single at the time. The feat was not broken until her single "Irreplaceable" (2006), from her second album B'Day (2006), spent ten weeks at the top spot from late 2006 until early 2007. The song became Sean Paul's first number-one single in the United States. "Baby Boy" stayed on the Hot 100 for twenty-nine weeks, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on June 6, 2006. "Baby Boy" achieved success on Billboard crossover and mainstream radio charts, appearing on the Top 40 Tracks, Rhythmic and Mainstream Top 40, as well as peaking atop the Radio Songs and Dance/Mix Show Airplay, and at number two on Dance Club Songs. As of October 6, 2010, "Baby Boy" had sold 6,000 physical units in the United States. Internationally, "Baby Boy" performed just as well, peaking inside the top ten on all of the charts it appeared on, excluding the Ö3 Austria Top 40, Ultratop 50 Wallonia and Italian Singles Chart, on which it reached the top twenty. The single debuted at number two in the United Kingdom, becoming the chart's highest debut of the week and "Baby Boy"'s highest entry internationally. Even though it spent seventeen weeks on the chart, it failed to reach the top, being held off by "Where Is the Love?" by The Black Eyed Peas. In Australia and New Zealand, "Baby Boy" peaked at numbers three and two, respectively. It was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipments in excess of 70,000 units. ## Music video The music video for "Baby Boy" was filmed by English director Jake Nava, who also shot Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love" video. It was filmed in Miami, Florida on August 7–8, 2003. Parts of the video were captured in a house with different style rooms: one in a Japanese style and one in an old English style. Scenes featuring Beyoncé and Paul are shown separately. The video begins with Paul sitting on a throne while toasting; Beyoncé is leaning against a wall and dancing. In the following scene, Beyoncé is seen on a bed. Paul is shown with several women who are lying on the floor caressing each other. Beyoncé walks towards the beach; she spots a man, and the two touch and flirt. As the second verse the begins, Beyoncé is at a party. At the party, Beyoncé decides to dance with the same man that she interacted with earlier. Then, water floods the floor of the party as she sings "the dance floor becomes the sea". As the second chorus of the song begins, the video is cut with scenes of Beyoncé and four backup dancers dancing on a platform in the sand on the beach. The original track is interrupted towards the end with an Arabic instrumental, designed for the music video. This section showcases Beyoncé vigorously dancing on the sand. Sal Cinquemani of the online publication Slant Magazine, described the video as a "baby-oil-logged follow-up" to "Crazy in Love"'s "bootylicous video". In 2013, John Boone and Jennifer Cady of E! Online placed the video at number nine on their list of Beyoncé's ten best music videos, praising the extended belly-dancing breakdown. "Baby Boy" premiered on MTV's program Total Request Live on August 25, 2003, at number ten and reached the top spot. It stayed on the show for forty-one days, the same chart run "Me, Myself and I" earned. ## Live performances Beyoncé first performed "Baby Boy" live at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards; she sang it in a medley with the pre-recorded vocals of Paul. Beyoncé later sang "Baby Boy" with Paul at the 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards. "Baby Boy" has been included on the set list for most of Beyoncé's concert tours. It served as the opening song of her Dangerously in Love Tour (2003). During her performance of the song on the tour, she was initially suspended from the ceiling of the arena that was gradually lowered to a red lounger—a prop she also used during the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. The footage taken at Wembley Arena in London, England was included on Beyoncé's first live album Live at Wembley (2004). Beyoncé also performed "Baby Boy" with her former group Destiny's Child during their final tour Destiny Fulfilled... and Lovin' It (2005), and it was included on their second live album Live in Atlanta (2006). "Baby Boy" was a part of Beyoncé's set list on The Beyoncé Experience (2007) in Los Angeles, California, and on I Am... World Tour (2009–10). On August 5, 2007, Beyoncé performed the song at the Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, New York City; wearing a belly-dancer-type outfit, she descended the staircase holding an umbrella and was met by three men wearing fatigues. A short section of Chaka Demus & Pliers' song "Murder She Wrote" (1993) was incorporated into "Baby Boy". Jon Pareles of The New York Times praised the performance, writing that Beyoncé "needs no distractions from her singing, which can be airy or brassy, tearful or vicious, rapid-fire with staccato syllables or sustained in curlicued melismas. But she was in constant motion, strutting in costumes". She performed in a similar arrangement at the Los Angeles' Staples Center on September 2, 2007. She was dressed in a belly dancing outfit, and the performance was executed with several male backup dancers and live instrumentation. Beyoncé re-produced the dance she executed in the song's music video. When Beyoncé performed "Baby Boy" in Sunrise, Florida on June 29, 2009, she was wearing a glittery gold leotard. When her performance began, she was suspended in the air, and then lowered to the B-stage to where she sang "Baby Boy" with an excerpt from Dawn Penn's "You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)". Animated graphics of turntables, faders and other club equipment were projected behind the dancers and musicians. Beyoncé was accompanied by her backing band Suga Mama, which consisted of two drummers, two keyboardists, a percussionist, a horn section, three imposing backup vocalists and the lead guitarist Bibi McGill. "Baby Boy" was included on her live album The Beyoncé Experience Live (2007), and the deluxe edition of I Am... World Tour (2010). At the 2005 ASCAP Pop Music Awards, "Baby Boy", along with Beyoncé's two other singles from Dangerously in Love – "Me, Myself and I" and "Naughty Girl" – was recognized as one of the most performed songs of 2004. "Baby Boy" was performed by Beyoncé in a pink fringe dress at a concert at Palais Nikaïa in Nice, France, on June 20, 2011, and at the Glastonbury Festival on June 26, 2011, where she brought out British trip hop singer Tricky to guest on the song. Between May 25–28, 2012, Beyoncé performed the song during her Revel Presents: Beyoncé Live revue at Revel Atlantic City, New Jersey. Jim Farber of the Daily News wrote: "The first, and last parts of the show stressed the steeliest Beyoncé, told in bold songs... [like] dancehall-inflected 'Baby Boy.'" On February 3, 2013, Beyoncé performed the song during the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show. In 2013, Beyoncé performed "Baby Boy" as a medley with "Get Me Bodied" during her The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour (2013–14), while the songs were performed separately in 2014. The song was also performed during The Formation World Tour (2016). She has performed the song during both of her co-headlining On the Run (2014) and On the Run II (2018) all-stadium tours with her husband Jay-Z. In 2018, during the OTR II Tour, the song was combined with “Mundian To Bach Ke”. ## Track listings and formats ## Charts ### Weekly charts ### Year-end charts ### Decade-end charts ### All-time charts ## Certifications ## Release history
9,997	Edward Mitchell Bannister	1,159,936,462	Canadian–American painter (1828–1901)	[ "1828 births", "1901 deaths", "19th-century American male artists", "19th-century American painters", "African-American abolitionists", "African-American painters", "American landscape painters", "American male painters", "Artists from New Brunswick", "Artists from Providence, Rhode Island", "Burials at North Burying Ground (Providence)", "Canadian people of Barbadian descent", "Painters from Rhode Island", "People from Saint Andrews, New Brunswick", "People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War", "Pre-Confederation Canadian emigrants to the United States" ]	Edward Mitchell Bannister (November 2, 1828 – January 9, 1901) was an oil painter of the American Barbizon school. Born in Canada, he spent his adult life in New England in the United States. There, along with his wife Christiana Carteaux Bannister, he was a prominent member of African-American cultural and political communities, such as the Boston abolition movement. Bannister received national recognition after he won a first prize in painting at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. He was also a founding member of the Providence Art Club and the Rhode Island School of Design. Bannister's style and predominantly pastoral subject matter reflected his admiration for the French artist Jean-François Millet and the French Barbizon School. A lifelong sailor, he also looked to the Rhode Island seaside for inspiration. Bannister continually experimented, and his artwork displays his Idealist philosophy and his control of color and atmosphere. He began his professional practice as a photographer and portraitist before developing his better-known landscape style. Later in his life, Bannister's style of landscape painting fell out of favor. With decreasing painting sales, he and Christiana Carteaux moved out of College Hill in Providence to Boston and then a smaller house on Wilson Street in Providence. Bannister was overlooked in American art historical studies and exhibitions after his death in 1901, until institutions like the National Museum of African Art returned him to national attention in the 1960s and 1970s. ## Biography ### Early life Bannister was born on November 2, 1828, in Saint Andrews, New Brunswick, near the St. Croix River. His father, Edward Bannister, was a black Barbadian and his mother's parentage is uncertain; Bannister himself was sometimes identified as mixed race. Bannister's father died in 1832, so Edward and his younger brother William were raised by their mother, Hannah Alexander Bannister. Early on, Bannister was apprenticed to a cobbler, but his drawing skill was already noted among his friends and family. Bannister credited his mother with igniting his early interest in art. She died in 1844, after which Bannister and his brother lived on the farm of the wealthy lawyer and merchant Harris Hatch. There, he practiced drawing by reproducing Hatch family portraits and copying British engravings in the family library. Bannister and his brother found work aboard ships as mates and cooks for several months before immigrating to Boston, sometime in the late 1840s. In the 1850 US census, they are listed as living at the same boarding house, with the Revaleon family, and working as barbers. The brothers' role as barbers and status as mixed race gave them relatively high standing as middle-class professionals within Boston. Although he aspired to work as a painter, Bannister had difficulty finding an apprenticeship or academic programs that would accept him, due to racial prejudice. Boston was an abolitionist stronghold, but it was also one of the most segregated cities in the US in 1860. Bannister would later express his frustration with being blocked from artistic education: "Whatever may be my success as an artist is due more to inherited potential than to instruction" and "All I would do I cannot ... simply for the want of proper training." Bannister received his first oil painting commission, The Ship Outward Bound, in 1854 from an African American doctor, John V. DeGrasse. Jacob R. Andrews, a gilder, painter, and member of the Histrionic Club, created the commission's gilt frame. DeGrasse later commissioned Bannister to paint portraits of him and his wife. Patronage like DeGrasse's was critical to Bannister's early career, as the African American community wanted to support and highlight its contributions to high culture. African Americans found portraiture an "ideal medium" for expressing their freedom and opportunity, which is probably why most of Bannister's earliest commissions are within that genre. Through abolitionist newspapers like The Anglo-African and The Liberator and the writings of Martin R. Delany, Bannister likely learned about other African American artists like Robert S. Duncanson, James Presley Ball, Patrick H. Reason, and David Bustill Bowser. Their work would have made Bannister's ambition seem all the more possible. Although most cultural institutions barred Black Bostonians from entrance, Bannister would have had access to several, like the Boston Athenæum library, with collections of European art sources and exhibitions of Luminist marine painters like Robert Salmon and Fitz Hugh Lane. ### Boston activist, artist, and student Bannister met Christiana Carteaux, a hairdresser and businesswoman born in Rhode Island to African American and Narragansett parents, in 1853 when he applied to be a barber in her salon. Both were members of Boston's diverse abolitionist movement, and barbershops were important meeting places for African American abolitionists. They married on June 10, 1857, and she became, in effect, his most important patron. The couple boarded for two years with Lewis Hayden and Harriet Bell Hayden at 66 Southac Street, a stop on Boston's Underground Railroad (a support network for escaped slaves). In 1855 William Cooper Nell acknowledged Bannister's rising artistic status in The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution for his The Ship Outward Bound. Bannister also received encouragement to continue painting from artist Francis Bicknell Carpenter. By 1858, Bannister was listed as an artist in Boston's city directory. Around 1862, he spent a year training in photography in New York, likely to support his painting practice. He then found work as a photographer, taking solar plates and tinting photos. One of Bannister's earliest commissioned portraits was of Prudence Nelson Bell in 1864, which is around when he found studio space at the Studio Building in Boston. At the Studio Building, he came into contact with other prominent artists, like Elihu Vedder and John La Farge. Once Bannister was established as an artist, abolitionist William Wells Brown praised him in a 1865 book: > Mr. Bannister possesses genius, which is now showing itself in his studio in Boston; for he has long since thrown aside the scissors and the comb, and transfers the face to the canvas, instead of taking the hair from the head. [...] Mr. Bannister is spare-made, slim, with an interesting cast of countenance, quick in his walk, and easy in his manners. He is a lover of poetry and the classics, and is always hunting up some new model for his gifted pencil and brush. Bannister was part of Boston's African American artistic community, which included Edmonia Lewis, William H. Simpson, and Nelson A. Primus. He sang as a tenor in the Crispus Attucks Choir, which performed anti-slavery songs at public events, and acted with the Histrionic Club, as well as serving as a delegate for the New England Colored Citizens Conventions in August 1859 and 1865. His name also appears on several public petitions published in The Liberator. Bannister and Carteaux were devout members of the militant abolitionist Twelfth Baptist Church, located on Southac Street near their home at the Hayden House. In May 1859, Bannister served as the secretary for the church's meetings to respond to the Oberlin–Wellington Rescue of imprisoned fugitive slaves and, in 1863, to plan celebrations for the Emancipation Proclamation. During the US Civil War, Carteaux lobbied for equal pay for African American soldiers and organized the 1864 soldiers’ relief fair for the Massachusetts 54th infantry regiment, 55th infantry regiment, and 5th cavalry regiment, which had gone without pay for over a year and a half. Bannister donated his full-length portrait of Robert Gould Shaw, the commander of the 54th killed in action, to raise money for the cause. Bannister's portrait of Gould Shaw was displayed with the label "Our Martyr", according to abolitionist Lydia Maria Child. The portrait was praised in the New York Weekly Anglo-African as "a fine specimen of art" and inspired a poem by Martha Perry Lowe entitled The Picture of Col. Shaw in Boston. The painting was purchased by the state of Massachusetts and installed in its state house, but its current location is unknown. The Bannister portrait of Robert Gould Shaw was one of several memorials to Gould Shaw by members of Boston's African American artistic community such as Edmonia Lewis. These artworks, put to the practical purpose of raising money for Black soldiers, contradicted the ideals of Boston Brahmin abolitionists, such as the Gould Shaws. Although the Brahmins supported abolition, they saw it as an abstract good rather than a concrete cause in need of material support. The portrait's paternalistic praise from Lowe and Child exemplified the divide between Boston's white abolitionists and the African American community. Through art like the 1884 Robert Gould Shaw Memorial, the Boston Brahmins rejected the possessive "Our Martyr" label given to him by Black artists like Bannister and Edmonia Lewis. Bannister's activism also took other forms: on June 17, 1865, Bannister marshaled around two hundred members of the Twelfth Baptist Sunday School at a Grand Temperance Celebration on Boston Common. They marched under a banner reading "Equal rights for all men". Bannister eventually studied at the Lowell Institute with the artist William Rimmer, while Rimmer taught evening life drawing classes at the Institute between 1863 and 1865. Rimmer was known for his skill in artistic anatomy, an area Bannister knew was one of his weaknesses. Because of Bannister's daytime photography business, he mostly took his drawing classes at night. Through Rimmer and the community at the Studio Building, Bannister was inspired by the Barbizon School-influenced paintings of William Morris Hunt, who had studied in Europe and held public exhibitions in Boston around the 1860s. At the Lowell Institute, Bannister formed a lifelong friendship with painter John Nelson Arnold; both later became founding members of the Providence Art Club. Bannister also formed a temporary painting partnership with Asa R. Lewis that lasted from 1868 to 1869. During that partnership of "Bannister & Lewis", Bannister began to advertise himself as both a portrait and landscape painter. Despite his early commissions, Bannister still struggled to receive wider recognition for his work due to racism in the US. Following emancipation and the end of the US Civil War, the abolitionists began to disperse and, with them, their patronage. Due to increasing competition, Bannister did little to support Primus, who had come to him seeking an apprenticeship. An article in the New York Herald belittled both Bannister and his work: "The negro has an appreciation for art while being manifestly unable to produce it." The article reportedly spurred his desire to achieve success as an artist. At the same time, Bannister had begun to receive more recognition within Boston art circles. ### Providence Supported by Carteaux, Bannister became a full-time painter in 1870, shortly after they moved to Providence, Rhode Island, at the end of 1869. He first took a studio in the Mercantile National Bank Building then moved to the Woods Building in Providence, where he shared a floor with artists like Sydney Burleigh and became friends with Providence painter George William Whitaker. He painted more landscapes over time—receiving an 1872 award at the Rhode Island Industrial Exposition for Summer Afternoon—and began submitting paintings to the Boston Art Club. Bannister received national commendation for his work when he won first prize for his large oil Under the Oaks at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial. Even then, the judge wanted to rescind the award after learning his identity until other exhibition artists protested; afterwards, Bannister reflected: "I was and am proud to know that the jury of award did not know anything about me, my antecedents, color or race. There was no sentimental sympathy leading to the award of the medal." Bannister had intentionally submitted his painting with only a signature attached to ensure he would be judged fairly. As his career matured, he received more commissions and accumulated many honors, several from the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association (silver medals in 1881 and 1884). Collectors and local notables Isaac Comstock Bates and Joseph Ely were among his patrons. He was an original board member of the Rhode Island School of Design in 1878. In 1880 Bannister joined with other professional artists, amateurs, and art collectors to found the Providence Art Club to stimulate the appreciation of art in the community. Their first meeting was in Bannister's studio in the Woods Building at the bottom of College Hill. He was the second to sign the club's charter, served on its initial executive board, and taught regular Saturday art classes. He continued to show paintings at Boston Art Club exhibitions, as well as in Connecticut and at New York's National Academy of Design, and exhibited A New England Hillside at the New Orleans Cotton Exposition in 1885. There, Bannister's work was segregated and ignored by the judging committees. With that experience in mind, Bannister decided not to submit any works to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition since they would have to be pre-judged in Boston before they could even be sent to Chicago. In the 1880s Bannister bought a small sloop, the Fanchon, and spent summers sketching, painting watercolors, and sailing Narragansett Bay and up to Bar Harbor in Maine. He would return with his studies and use them as the basis for winter commissions. He supplemented his sailing trips with journeys to exhibitions in New York, but a planned trip to Europe fell through due to lack of money. In 1885, with other art club members, Bannister helped found the Anne Eliza Club (or "A&E Club")—a communal men's discussion group named after the waitress at the Providence Art Club. Through his teaching there and at the Providence Art Club, he became a mentor to younger Providence artists, like Charles Walter Stetson. Stetson often mentioned Bannister in his personal diaries and once praised him by writing, "He is my only confidant in Art matters & I am his." Rhode Island engineer George Henry Corliss commissioned a painting from Bannister in 1886, as his reputation grew. Bannister and Carteaux were consistent members of the African American community in Providence. They lived for a time in the boarding house of Ransom Parker, who had participated in the Dorr Rebellion, and were friends with merchant George Henry, Reverend Mahlon Van Horne, Brown graduate John Hope, and abolitionist George T. Downing, an ally from the Bannisters' political work in Boston. Carteaux founded the Home for Aged Colored Women, which is known as the Bannister Center today. Edward exhibited his painting Christ Healing the Sick in the home in 1892 and donated his portrait of Carteaux to it as well. Although he was a respected member of the Providence Art Club, Bannister's abolitionism likely led to conflict with its mostly white members, who exhibited art with minstrel stereotypes by E. W. Kemble and W. L. Shephard in 1887 and 1893. Around 1890, Bannister sold the Fanchon to Judge George Newman Bliss. His largest exhibition of works was held in 1891, when he showed 33 works at the Spring Providence Art Club Exhibition. Later in the 1890s, Bannister seems to have sold fewer paintings, perhaps due to waning popularity, and exhibited less often. In 1898 Bannister closed his studio and the couple moved to Boston for a year before returning to a smaller home on Wilson Street, Providence, in 1900. ### Death Bannister died of a heart attack on January 9, 1901, while attending an evening prayer meeting at his church, Elmwood Avenue Free Baptist Church. He had experienced heart trouble for some time but had completed two paintings only the previous day. During the service, he offered a prayer and shortly after sat down, gasping. His last words were reportedly "Jesus, help me". After his death the Providence Art Club held a memorial exhibition in his name that focused on his artistic achievements, without mentioning his contribution to abolitionism. In the exhibition pamphlet, they wrote: "His gentle disposition, his urbanity of manner, and his generous appreciation of the work of others, made him a welcome guest in all artistic circles. [...] He painted with profound feeling, not for pecuniary results, but to leave upon the canvas his impression of natural scenery, and to express his delight in the wondrous beauty of land and sea and sky." He is buried in the North Burial Ground in Providence, under a stone monument designed by his art club friends. The disparity between Bannister's financial difficulties at the end of his life and the support shown by Providence's artists after his death led his friend John Nelson Arnold to say about the memorial: "In the labor incident to this work I was constantly reminded of the remark attributed to the mother of Robert Burns on being shown the splendid monument erected to the memory of her gifted son: 'He asked for bread and they gave him a stone.'" Carteaux was admitted to her Home for Aged Colored Women in September 1902; she died in 1903 in a state mental institution in Cranston. She and Bannister are buried together. ## Artistic style The young Bannister advertised himself as a portraitist, but later became popular for his landscapes and seascapes. Drawing on his knowledge of poetry, classics, and English literature as an autodidact, he also painted biblical, mythological, and genre scenes. Much like George Inness, his work reflected the composition, mood, and influences of French Barbizon painters Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Jean-François Millet, and Charles-François Daubigny. Defending Millet in The Artist and His Critics, Bannister saw him as the most "spiritual artist of our time" who voiced "the sad, uncomplaining life he saw about him—and with which he sympathized so deeply." Historian Joseph Skerrett has noted the influence of the Hudson River School on Bannister, while maintaining that he consistently experimented throughout his career: "Bannister managed to please a conservative New England taste in art while continuing to try new methods and styles." For their mutual affinity with the Hudson River School, Bannister has been compared to his contemporary, the Ohio-based African American painter Robert S. Duncanson. Unlike Hudson River School artists, Bannister did not create meticulous landscapes but paid more attention to creating "massive but revealing shapes of trees and mountains" and works more picturesque than sublime. Bannister also avoided the "nationalist grandeur" often found in Hudson River School paintings. Bannister often made pencil or pastel studies in preparation for larger oil paintings. Several of his compositions refer to classical, mathematical methods like the Golden Ratio or "Harmonic Grid", and make careful use of symmetry and asymmetry. In other paintings, his contrast of darks and lights create dynamic diagonals or circles that divide the composition. His paintings are known for their delicate use of color to depict shadow and atmosphere and their loose brushwork. His later palette exhibited lighter, more muted colors: the Boston Common scene he painted late in his life is a notable example. This change in style stands in contrast to his earlier stated disapproval of Impressionist painting. Art historian Traci Lee Costa has argued that a "reductive" emphasis on Bannister's biography has taken attention away from scholarly analysis of his artwork. In the lecture The Artist and His Critics given to the Anne Eliza Club on April 15, 1886, and published afterward, Bannister spelled out his belief that making art is a highly spiritual practice—the pinnacle of human achievement. In its nearly religious approach and focus on subjective representations of nature, Bannister's philosophy has been compared to both German Idealism and American Transcendentalism. In his lecture, Bannister referenced the works of American Transcendentalist Washington Allston. Bannister's friend George W. Whitaker referred to him as "The Idealist" in a 1914 article "Reminiscences of Providence Artists". The lecture and its idealistic view are linked to Bannister's Approaching Storm (see right), which he completed in the same year. Approaching Storm features a human figure at its center, which is nonetheless rendered small by the surrounding landscape. Despite the implied drama, Bannister used a cool color palette of blues and greens, with contrasting yellows that provide warmth against the darker, almost purple sky. The contrast of melancholy elements against more cheerful pastoral themes appears in many of Bannister's paintings. Although committed to freedom and equal rights for African Americans, Bannister did not often directly represent those issues in his paintings. The farms that Bannister painted were reminders of southern Rhode Island's history of chattel slavery, unlike French Barbizon scenes. In Hay Gatherers, Bannister depicts African American field laborers in a rural landscape. Unlike Bannister's idyllic pastorals, Hay Gatherers represents racial oppression and labor exploitation in Rhode Island, particularly South County where most of the state's plantations were. The women workers are separated from the field of wildflowers at the painting's lower left and other field workers in the background by stands of trees, suggesting their closeness to freedom even while they are still within the grasp of plantation labor. Through the geometric composition of Hay Gatherers, which divides the figures and the landscapes into triangular sections, Bannister combined his work on seemingly idealized landscapes with his earlier political art, visible in his humanist portraits such as Newspaper Boy. Bannister's Fort Dumpling, Jamestown, Rhode Island uses a similar triangular composition, whereby people relaxing are juxtaposed against but separated from sailboats in the background, a reminder of the "maritime legacy of slavery". Bannister often conveyed political meaning in his paintings through allegory and allusion. One of his first commissions, The Ship Outward Bound, might have been a veiled reference to the forced return of Anthony Burns to slavery and Virginia under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 in 1854. In African American culture, an image of a ship leaving harbor was a reminder of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Bannister's 1885 drawing The Woodsman is thought to be Bannister's response to the murder of Amasa Sprague, an event that spurred the abolition of capital punishment in Rhode Island after the dubious conviction and hanging of John Gordon. Similarly, his Governor Sprague's White Horse depicted the horse that William Sprague IV rode into the First Battle of Bull Run. Bannister has been criticized for not often directly representing African Americans, outside of his early portraiture. He and artists like Henry Ossawa Tanner were deemed inauthentic during the Harlem Renaissance for producing works that appealed to white aesthetics. Many of Bannister's works were commissioned landscapes and portraits that reinforced European ideas, even though his art subtly dismantled racial stereotypes. In that way, Bannister has been compared to later Bostonian poet William Stanley Braithwaite, whose writing did not clearly reflect his identity. Bannister's work reflected his desire to excel and contribute to racial uplift, while still needing to depend on white patronage to reach a wider audience. Art historian Juanita Holland wrote of Bannister's dilemma: "This was a large part of the double bind that [Boston's] black artists faced: they needed to both address and represent an African American identity, while finding a way for their white viewers to look past race to a perception of the work in more universal terms." ## Legacy Bannister was the only major African American artist of the late nineteenth century who developed his talents without European exposure; he was well known in the artistic community of Providence and admired within the wider East Coast art world. After his death, he was largely forgotten by art history for almost a century, principally due to racial prejudice. His art was often omitted from 20th-century art histories, and his style of melancholic, serene landscapes also fell out of fashion. Still, he and his paintings are an indelible part of a refigured relationship between African American culture and the landscapes of Reconstruction-era America. Bannister's art continued to be supported by galleries like the Barnett-Aden Gallery and the Art Institute of Chicago. Following the civil rights movement in the 1960s, his work was again celebrated and widely collected. In collaboration with the Rhode Island School of Design and the Frederick Douglass Institute, the National Museum of African Art held an exhibition titled Edward Mitchell Bannister, 1828–1901: Providence Artist in 1973. The Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame inducted Bannister in 1976, and Rhode Island College created the Bannister Gallery in 1978 with an inaugural exhibition Four from Providence : Bannister, Prophet, Alston, Jennings. The New York-based Kenkebala Gallery held two exhibitions of Bannister's work, one in 1992 curated by Corrinne Jennings in collaboration with the Whitney and one in 2001 on the centennial of Bannister's death. From June 9 to October 8, 2018, the Gilbert Stuart Museum held an exhibition honoring Bannister and Carteaux's relationship, "My Greatest Successes Have Come Through Her": The Artistic Partnership of Edward and Christiana Bannister, as part of its Rhode Island Masters exhibition series. Bannister's portrait of Christiana Carteaux was the center of the exhibition. In September 2017, a Providence City Council committee unanimously voted to rename Magee Street (which had been named after a Rhode Island slave trader) to Bannister Street, in honor of Edward and Christiana Bannister. The Providence Art Club unveiled a bronze bust of Bannister made by Providence artist Gage Prentiss in May 2021. As of 2018, art historian Anne Louise Avery is compiling the first catalogue raisonné and a major biography of Bannister's work. ## House In 1884 Bannister and Carteaux moved from the boarding house of Ransom Parker to 93 Benevolent Street, and lived there until 1899. The two-and-a-half-story wooden house was built circa 1854 by engineer Charles E. Paine and is now known as "The Vault" or "The Bannister House". Euchlin Reeves and Louise Herreshoff purchased the house in the late 1930s and renovated it to add a brick exterior. The renovation was made to create consistency with their next-door property, so both houses could hold their "little museum" of antiques. Herreshoff died in 1967 and the porcelain collection filling the Bannister House was donated to Washington and Lee University. The house is now listed as contributing to College Hill's historical designation. Brown University bought the property in 1989 and used it to store refrigerators. Due to a lack of plans for its preservation and use, the Providence Preservation Society put the Bannister House on its 2001 list of most endangered buildings in Providence. Brown University president Ruth Simmons assured historian and former Rhode Island deputy secretary of state Ray Rickman that the house would be preserved, although the university debated whether to sell the house to a third party. Because its disrepair and long disuse made the house unsuitable for residence, Brown renovated the property in 2015 and restored it to its original appearance. It was sold in 2016 as part of the Brown to Brown Home Ownership Program—the program specifies that if the house is ever sold, it has to be sold back to the university. ## Selected artworks
164,120	Ethan Hawke	1,173,805,067	American actor and film director (born 1970)	[ "1970 births", "20th-century American male actors", "20th-century American male writers", "20th-century American novelists", "21st-century American male actors", "21st-century American male writers", "21st-century American novelists", "Activists from New York (state)", "American male Shakespearean actors", "American male child actors", "American male film actors", "American male novelists", "American male screenwriters", "American male stage actors", "American male voice actors", "American theatre directors", "Best Supporting Actor Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners", "Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni", "Daytime Emmy Award winners", "Disney people", "Film directors from New Jersey", "Film directors from New York City", "Film directors from Texas", "Hun School of Princeton alumni", "Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead winners", "Living people", "Male actors from Austin, Texas", "Male actors from New Jersey", "Male actors from New York City", "Male feminists", "New York (state) Democrats", "New York University alumni", "Novelists from New Jersey", "Novelists from Texas", "Obie Award recipients", "People from West Windsor, New Jersey", "Screenwriters from New York (state)", "Screenwriters from Texas", "Texas Democrats", "West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South alumni", "Writers from Austin, Texas", "Writers from Manhattan" ]	Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor, author and film director. He made his film debut in Explorers (1985), before making a breakthrough performance in Dead Poets Society (1989). Hawke starred alongside Julie Delpy in Richard Linklater's Before trilogy from 1995 to 2013. Hawke received two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Training Day (2001) and Boyhood (2014) and two for Best Adapted Screenplay for co-writing Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013). Other notable roles include in Reality Bites (1994), Gattaca (1997), Great Expectations (1998), Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), Maggie's Plan (2015), First Reformed (2017), The Black Phone (2021) and The Northman (2022). Hawke directed the narrative films Chelsea Walls (2001), The Hottest State (2006), and Blaze (2018) as well as the documentary Seymour: An Introduction (2014). He created, co-wrote and starred as John Brown in the Showtime limited series The Good Lord Bird (2018), and directed the HBO Max documentary series The Last Movie Stars (2022). He starred in the Marvel television miniseries Moon Knight (2022) as Arthur Harrow. In addition to his film work, Hawke has appeared in many theater productions. He made his Broadway debut in 1992 in Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 2007 for his performance in Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia. In 2010, Hawke directed Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind, for which he received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Director of a Play. In 2018, he starred in the Roundabout Theater Company's revival of Sam Shepard's play True West. He has received numerous nominations including a total of four Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. ## Early life Hawke was born on November 6, 1970 in Austin, Texas, to Leslie (née Green), a charity worker, and James Hawke, an insurance actuary. Hawke's parents were high school sweethearts in Fort Worth, Texas, and married young, when Hawke's mother was 17. Hawke was born a year later. Hawke's parents were both students at the University of Texas at Austin at the time of his birth. They separated and later divorced in 1974, when he was four years old. After the separation, Hawke was raised by his mother. The two relocated several times, before settling in New York City, where Hawke attended the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn Heights. Hawke's mother remarried when he was 10 and the family moved to West Windsor Township, New Jersey. There, Hawke attended the public West Windsor Plainsboro High School (renamed to West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South in 1997). He later transferred to the Hun School of Princeton, a secondary boarding school, from which he graduated in 1988. In high school, Hawke aspired to be a writer, but developed an interest in acting. He made his stage debut at age 13, in a production at The McCarter Theatre of George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan. He also performed in West Windsor-Plainsboro High School productions of Meet Me in St. Louis and You Can't Take It with You. At the Hun School, he took acting classes at the McCarter Theatre, located on the Princeton campus. After graduation from high school, he studied acting at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, dropping out after he was cast in Dead Poets Society (1989). He enrolled in New York University's English program for two years, but dropped out to pursue other acting roles. ## Career ### 1980s: Early years and Dead Poets Society Hawke obtained his mother's permission to attend his first casting call at the age of 14, and secured his first film role in Joe Dante's Explorers (1985), in which he played an alien-obsessed schoolboy alongside River Phoenix. The film was favorably reviewed but had poor box office results. This failure caused Hawke to quit acting for a brief period after the film's release. Hawke later described the disappointment as difficult to bear at such a young age, adding, "I would never recommend that a kid act." In 1989, Hawke made his breakthrough appearance in Peter Weir's Dead Poets Society, playing one of the students taught by Robin Williams as a charismatic English teacher. The Variety reviewer noted "Hawke, as the painfully shy Todd, gives a haunting performance." The film received considerable acclaim, winning the BAFTA Award for Best Film and an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. With revenue of \$235 million worldwide, it remains Hawke's most commercially successful movie to date. Hawke later described the opportunities he was offered as a result of the film's success as critical to his decision to continue acting: > "I didn't want to be an actor and I went back to college. But then the [film's] success was so monumental that I was getting offers to be in such interesting movies and be in such interesting places, and it seemed silly to pursue anything else." While filming Dead Poets Society he auditioned for what would be his next film, 1989's comedy drama Dad, where he played Ted Danson's son and Jack Lemmon's grandson. Hawke's next film, 1991's White Fang, brought his first leading role. The film, an adaptation of Jack London's novel of the same name, featured Hawke as Jack Conroy, a Yukon gold hunter who befriends a wolfdog (played by Jed). According to The Oregonian, "Hawke does a good job as young Jack ... He makes Jack's passion for White Fang real and keeps it from being ridiculous or overly sentimental." He appeared in Keith Gordon's A Midnight Clear (1992), a well-received war film based on William Wharton's novel of the same name. In the survival drama Alive (1993), adapted from Piers Paul Read's 1974 non-fiction book, Hawke portrayed Nando Parrado, one of the survivors of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which crashed in the Andes. ### 1990s: Reality Bites, and Before Sunrise Hawke's next role was in the Generation X drama Reality Bites (1994), in which he played Troy Dyer, a slacker who mocks the ambitions of his girlfriend (played by Winona Ryder). Film critic Roger Ebert called Hawke's performance convincing and noteworthy: "Hawke captures all the right notes as the boorish Troy (and is so convincing it is worth noting that he has played quite different characters equally well in movies as different as "Alive" and "Dead Poets Society")." The New York Times noted, "Mr. Hawke's subtle and strong performance makes it clear that Troy feels things too deeply to risk failure and admit he's feeling anything at all." The following year Hawke received critical acclaim for his performance in Richard Linklater's 1995 drama Before Sunrise. The film follows a young American man (Hawke) and a young French woman (Julie Delpy), who meet on a train and disembark in Vienna, spending the night exploring the city and getting to know one another. The San Francisco Chronicle praised Hawke's and Delpy's performances: "[they] interact so gently and simply that you feel certain that they helped write the dialogue. Each of them seems to have something personal at stake in their performances." Away from acting, Hawke directed the music video for the 1994 song "Stay (I Missed You)", by singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb, who was a member of Hawke's theater company at the time. Spin magazine named Hawke and Loeb's video as its video of the year in 1994. In a 2012 interview, Hawke said that the song, which was included in Reality Bites, is the only number-one popular song by an unsigned artist in the history of music.He published his first novel in 1996, The Hottest State, about a love affair between a young actor and a singer. Hawke said of the novel, > "Writing the book had to do with dropping out of college, and with being an actor. I didn't want my whole life to go by and not do anything but recite lines. I wanted to try making something else. It was definitely the scariest thing I ever did. And it was just one of the best things I ever did." The book met with a mixed reception. Entertainment Weekly said that Hawke "opens himself to rough literary scrutiny in The Hottest State. If Hawke is serious ... he'd do well to work awhile in less exposed venues." The New York Times thought Hawke did "a fine job of showing what it's like to be young and full of confusion", concluding that The Hottest State was ultimately "a sweet love story". In Andrew Niccol's science fiction film Gattaca (1997), "one of the more interesting scripts" Hawke said he had read in "a number of years", he played the role of a man who infiltrates a society of genetically perfect humans by assuming another man's identity. Although Gattaca was not a success at the box office, it drew generally favorable reviews from critics. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reviewer wrote that "Hawke, building on the sympathetic-but-edgy presence that has served him well since his kid-actor days, is most impressive". In 1998, Hawke appeared alongside Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert De Niro in Great Expectations, a contemporary film adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel of the same name, directed by Alfonso Cuarón. During the same year, Hawke collaborated with Linklater again on The Newton Boys, based on the true story of the Newton Gang. Critical reviews for each film were mixed. The following year, Hawke starred in Snow Falling on Cedars, based on David Guterson's novel of the same title. Set in the Pacific Northwest and featuring a love affair between a European-American man and Japanese-American woman, the film met with an unenthusiastic reception; Entertainment Weekly noted, "Hawke scrunches himself into such a dark knot that we have no idea who Ishmael is or why he acts as he does." ### 2000s: Training Day, and Before Sunset Hawke's next film role was in Michael Almereyda's 2000 film Hamlet, in which he played the title character. The film transposed the famous William Shakespeare play to contemporary New York City, a technique Hawke felt made the play more "accessible and vital". Salon reviewer wrote: "Hawke certainly isn't the greatest Hamlet of living memory ... but his performance reinforces Hamlet's place as Shakespeare's greatest character. And in that sense, he more than holds his own in the long line of actors who've played the part." In 2001, Hawke appeared in two more Linklater movies: Waking Life and Tape, both critically praised. In the animated Waking Life, he shared a single scene with former co-star Delpy continuing conversations begun in Before Sunrise. The real-time drama Tape, based on a play by Stephen Belber, takes place entirely in a single motel room with three characters played by Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard, and Uma Thurman. Hawke regarded Tape as his "first adult performance", a performance commended by Ebert for showing "both physical and verbal acting mastery". Hawke's next role, and one for which he received substantial critical acclaim, came in Training Day (2001). Hawke played rookie cop Jake Hoyt, alongside Denzel Washington, as one of a pair of narcotics detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department spending 24 hours in the gang neighborhoods of South Los Angeles. The film was a box office hit, taking \$104 million worldwide, and garnered generally favorable reviews. Variety wrote that "Hawke adds feisty and cunning flourishes to his role that allow him to respectably hold his own under formidable circumstances." Paul Clinton of CNN reported that Hawke's performance was "totally believable as a doe-eyed rookie going toe-to-toe with a legend [Washington]". Hawke himself described Training Day as his "best experience in Hollywood". His performance earned him Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor. Hawke pursued a number of projects away from acting throughout the early 2000s. He made his directorial debut with Chelsea Walls (2002), an independent drama about five struggling artists living in the famed Chelsea Hotel in New York City. The film was critically and financially unsuccessful. A second novel, 2002's Ash Wednesday, was better received and made the New York Times Best Seller list. The tale of an AWOL soldier and his pregnant girlfriend, the novel attracted critical praise. The Guardian called it "sharply and poignantly written ... makes for an intense one-sitting read". The New York Times noted that in the book Hawke displayed "a novelist's innate gifts ... a sharp eye, a fluid storytelling voice and the imagination to create complicated individuals", but was "weaker at narrative tricks that can be taught". In 2003, Hawke made a television appearance, guest starring in the second season of the television series Alias, where he portrayed a mysterious CIA agent. In 2004, Hawke returned to film, starring in two features, Taking Lives and Before Sunset. Upon release, Taking Lives received broadly negative reviews, but Hawke's performance was favored by critics, with the Star Tribune noting that he "plays a complex character persuasively." Before Sunset, the sequel to Before Sunrise (1995) co-written by Hawke, Linklater, and Delpy, was much more successful. The Hartford Courant wrote that the three collaborators "keep Jesse and Celine iridescent and fresh, one of the most delightful and moving of all romantic movie couples." Hawke called it one of his favorite movies, a "romance for realists". Before Sunset was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, Hawke's first screenwriting Oscar nomination. Hawke starred in the 2005 action thriller Assault on Precinct 13, a loose remake of John Carpenter's 1976 film of the same title, with an updated plot. The film received ambivalent reviews; some critics praised the dark swift feel of the film, while others compared it unfavorably to John Carpenter's original. Hawke also appeared that year in the political crime thriller Lord of War, playing an Interpol agent chasing an arms dealer played by Nicolas Cage. In 2006, Hawke was cast in a supporting role in Fast Food Nation, directed by Richard Linklater based on Eric Schlosser's best-selling 2001 book. The same year, Hawke directed his second feature, The Hottest State, based on his eponymous 1996 novel. The film was released in August 2007 to a tepid reception. In 2007, Hawke starred alongside Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, and Albert Finney in the crime drama Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. The final work of Sidney Lumet, the film received critical acclaim. USA Today called it "highly entertaining", describing Hawke and Hoffman's performances as excellent. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praised Hawke's performance, noting that he "digs deep to create a haunting portrayal of loss". The following year, Hawke starred with Mark Ruffalo in the crime drama What Doesn't Kill You. Despite the favorable reception, the film was not given a proper theatrical release due to the bankruptcy of its distributor. In 2009, Hawke appeared in two features: New York, I Love You, a romance movie comprising 12 short films, and Staten Island, a crime drama co-starring Vincent D'Onofrio and Seymour Cassel. ### 2010s: Before Midnight, Boyhood, First Reformed In 2010, Hawke starred as a vampire hematologist in the science fiction horror film Daybreakers. Filmed in Australia with the Spierig brothers, the feature received reasonable reviews, and earned US\$51 million worldwide. His next role was in Antoine Fuqua's Brooklyn's Finest as a corrupt narcotics officer. The film opened in March to a mediocre reception, yet his performance was well received, with the New York Daily News concluding, "Hawke—continuing an evolution toward stronger, more intense acting than anyone might've predicted from him 20 years ago—drives the movie." In the 2011 television adaptation of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, Hawke played the role of Starbuck, the first officer to William Hurt's Captain Ahab. He then starred opposite Kristin Scott Thomas in Paweł Pawlikowski's The Woman in the Fifth, a "lush puzzler" about an American novelist struggling to rebuild his life in Paris. In 2012, Hawke entered the horror genre for the first time, by playing a true crime writer in Scott Derrickson's Sinister, which grossed US\$87 million at the worldwide box office—the film was the first in a series of highly profitable films for Hawke after the start of the new decade. In the week prior to the US opening of Sinister, Hawke explained that he was previously turned off by horror because good acting is not always required for success; however, the producer of Sinister, Jason Blum, who formerly ran a theater company with Hawke, made the offer to the actor based on the character and director. > when I was younger, I ran a theater company with this guy, Jason Blum. And he loved horror movies and he went on to create his own little subgenre with "Paranormal Activity." And he kept trying to talk to me about how I should love this whole genre. And I told him: I've never had a script with a really great character and a real filmmaker attached to it that I'd be interested in. So, he brought me into it. During 2013, Hawke starred in three films of different genres. Before Midnight, the third installment of the Before series, reunited Hawke with Delpy and Linklater. Like its predecessors, the film garnered a considerable degree of critical acclaim; Variety wrote that "one of the great movie romances of the modern era achieves its richest and fullest expression in Before Midnight," and called the scene in the hotel room "one for the actors' handbook." The film earned co-writers Hawke, Linklater, and Delpy another Academy Award nomination, for Best Adapted Screenplay. Hawke then starred in the horror-thriller The Purge, about an American future where crime is legal for one night of the year. Despite mixed reviews, the film topped the weekend box office with a US\$34 million debut, the biggest opening of Hawke's career. Hawke's third film of 2013 was the action thriller Getaway, which was both critically and commercially unsuccessful. The release of Linklater's Boyhood, a film shot over the course of 12 years, occurred in mid-2014. It follows the life of an American boy from age 6 to 18, with Hawke playing the protagonist's father. The film became the best-reviewed film of 2014, and was named "Best Film" of the year by numerous critics associations. Hawke said in an interview that the attention was a surprise to him. When he first became involved with Linklater's project, it did not feel like a "proper movie," and was like a "radical '60s film experiment or something". At the following awards season, the film was nominated for Academy Award for Best Picture, while winning Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama and BAFTA Award for Best Film. It also earned Hawke multiple awards nominations, including the Academy, BAFTA, Golden Globe, and SAG Award for Best Supporting Actor. Hawke next worked with the Spierig brothers again on the science fiction thriller Predestination, in which Hawke plays a time-traveling agent on his final assignment. Following its premiere at the 2014 SXSW Film Festival, the film was released in Australia in August 2014 and in the US in January 2015. The film received largely positive reviews and was nominated for the AACTA Award for Best Film. He then reunited with his Gattaca director Andrew Niccol for Good Kill. In this modern war film, Hawke played a drone pilot with a troubled conscience, which led to The Hollywood Reporter calling it his "best screen role in years." Also in 2014, Hawke appeared in the movie Cymbeline which reunited him with his Assault on Precinct 13 co-star John Leguizamo. In September 2014, Hawke's documentary debut, Seymour: An Introduction, screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), winning second runner-up for TIFF's People's Choice Award for Best Documentary. Conceived after a dinner party at which both Hawke and Bernstein were present, the film is a profile of classical musician Seymour Bernstein, who explained that, even though he is typically a very private person, he was unable to decline Hawke's directorial request because he is "so endearing". Bernstein and Hawke developed a friendship through the filming process, and the classical pianist performed for one of Hawke's theater groups. The film was released in March 2015 to a warm reception; the Los Angeles Times reviewer described it as "quietly moving, indefinitely deep". Hawke had two films premiered at the 2015 TIFF, both garnering favorable reviews. In Robert Budreau's drama film Born to Be Blue, he played the role of jazz musician Chet Baker. The film is set in the late 1960s and focuses on the musician's turbulent career comeback plagued by heroin addiction. His portrayal of Baker was well received; Rolling Stone noted that "Everything that makes Ethan Hawke an extraordinary actor — his energy, his empathy, his fearless, vanity-free eagerness to explore the deeper recesses of a character — is on view in Born to Be Blue." In Rebecca Miller's romantic comedy Maggie's Plan, Hawke starred as an anthropologist and aspiring novelist alongside Greta Gerwig and Julianne Moore. His other films that year included the coming-of-age drama Ten Thousand Saints and the psychological thriller Regression opposite Emma Watson. In November 2015, Hawke published his third novel, Rules for a Knight, in the form of a letter from a father to his four children about the moral values in life. In 2016, Hawke starred in Ti West's western film In a Valley of Violence, in which he played a drifter seeking revenge in a small town controlled by its Marshal (John Travolta). He then portrayed two unpleasant characters in a row, first as the abusive father of a talented young baseball player in The Phenom, then as the harsh husband of Maud Lewis (played by Sally Hawkins) in Maudie. While some critics praised his unexpected turns, others felt that Hawke was "miscast" as a cruel figure. He subsequently reunited with Training Day director Antoine Fuqua and actor Denzel Washington for The Magnificent Seven (2016), a remake of the 1960 western film of the same name. On June 7, his fourth book, Indeh: A Story of the Apache Wars, a graphic novel he wrote with artist Greg Ruth, was released. In 2017, Hawke appeared in a cameo role in the science fiction film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets by Luc Besson; and starred in Paul Schrader's drama film First Reformed, as a former military chaplain tortured by the loss of his son he encouraged to enlist in the armed forces, and focused on impending cataclysmic climate change. The film premiered at the 2017 Venice Film Festival to a positive reception. In 2018, Hawke had two films premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. In Juliet, Naked, a romantic comedy adapted from Nick Hornby's novel of the same name, he appeared as an obscure rock musician whose eponymous album set the plot in motion. His third feature film, Blaze, based on the life of little-known country musician Blaze Foley, was selected in the festival's main competition section. In addition, Hawke starred in Budreau's crime thriller Stockholm which premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. Hawke was in the 2019 western drama The Kid, directed by Vincent D'Onofrio. ### 2020s: Continued work In 2019, Hawke and Jason Blum adapted the book The Good Lord Bird into the miniseries based on the same name which premiered on October 4, 2020, on Showtime. He stars as abolitionist John Brown alongside Daveed Diggs, Ellar Coltrane, and includes an appearance of Maya Hawke. In the 2020 biographical film Tesla, he plays the title character, inventor and engineer Nikola Tesla. His third novel, A Bright Ray of Darkness, was published in February 2021. In 2022, Hawke starred as the primary villain Arthur Harrow in the Disney+ streaming series Moon Knight, produced by Marvel Studios, and as serial killer of children The Grabber in the Blumhouse feature, The Black Phone. The latter marked Hawke's ninth collaboration with Blumhouse. Also that year, he appeared in Robert Eggers' The Northman, a 10th-century Viking epic which was filmed in Ireland, alongside Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Willem Dafoe. In 2022, Hawke's six-part biographical documentary on Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, The Last Movie Stars, was broadcast on HBO Max. Hawke also voiced Bruce Wayne/Batman in the animated children’s television series Batwheels. ### Stage career Hawke has described theater as his "first love", a place where he is "free to be more creative". Hawke made his Broadway debut in 1992, portraying the playwright Konstantin Treplev in Anton Chekhov's The Seagull at the Lyceum Theater in Manhattan. The following year Hawke was a co-founder and the artistic director of Malaparte, a Manhattan theater company, which survived until 2000. Outside the New York stage, Hawke made an appearance in a 1995 production of Sam Shepard's Buried Child, directed by Gary Sinise at the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago. In 1999, he starred as Kilroy in the Tennessee Williams play Camino Real at the Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts. Hawke returned to Broadway in Jack O'Brien's 2003 production of Henry IV, playing Henry Percy (Hotspur). New York magazine wrote: "Ethan Hawke's Hotspur ... is a compelling, ardent creation." Ben Brantley of The New York Times reported that Hawke's interpretation of Hotspur might be "too contemporary for some tastes," but allowed "great fun to watch as he fumes and fulminates." In 2005, Hawke starred in the Off-Broadway revival of David Rabe's dark comedy Hurlyburly. The New York Times critic Brantley praised Hawke's performance as the central character Eddie, reporting that "he captures with merciless precision the sense of a sharp mind turning flaccid". The performance earned Hawke a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor. From November 2006 to May 2007, Hawke starred as Mikhail Bakunin in Tom Stoppard's trilogy play The Coast of Utopia, an eight-hour-long production at the Lincoln Center Theater in New York. The Los Angeles Times complimented Hawke's take on Bakunin, writing: "Ethan Hawke buzzes in and out as Bakunin, a strangely appealing enthusiast on his way to becoming a famous anarchist." The performance earned Hawke his first Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play. In November 2007, he directed Things We Want, a two-act play by Jonathan Marc Sherman, for the artist-driven Off-Broadway company The New Group. The play has four characters played by Paul Dano, Peter Dinklage, Josh Hamilton, and Zoe Kazan. New York magazine praised Hawke's "understated direction", particularly his ability to "steer a gifted cast away from the histrionics". The following year, Hawke received the Michael Mendelson Award for Outstanding Commitment to the Theater. In his acceptance speech, Hawke said "I don't know why they're honoring me. I think the real reason they are honoring me is to help raise money for the theater company. Whenever the economy gets hit hard, one of the first thing [sic] to go is people's giving, and last on that list of things people give to is the arts because they feel it's not essential. I guess I'm here to remind people that the arts are essential to our mental health as a country." In 2009, Hawke appeared in two plays under British director Sam Mendes: as Trofimov in Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard and as Autolycus in Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. The two productions, launched in New York as part of the Bridge Project, went on an eight-month tour in six countries. The Cherry Orchard won a mixed review from the New York Daily News, which wrote "Ethan Hawke ... fits the image of the 'mangy' student Trofimov, but one wishes he didn't speak with a perennial frog in his throat." Hawke's performance in The Winter's Tale was better received, earning him a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. In January 2010, Hawke directed his second play, A Lie of the Mind, by Sam Shepard on the New York stage. It was the first major Off-Broadway revival of the play since its 1985 premiere. Hawke said that he was drawn to the play's take on "the nature of reality", and its "weird juxtaposition of humor and mysticism". In his review for The New York Times, Ben Brantley noted the production's "scary, splendid clarity", and praised Hawke for eliciting a performance that "connoisseurs of precision acting will be savoring for years to come". Entertainment Weekly commented that although A Lie of the Mind "wobbles a bit in its late stages", Hawke's "hearty" revival managed to "resurrect the spellbinding uneasiness of the original". The production garnered five Lucille Lortel Award nominations including Outstanding Revival, and earned Hawke a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Director of a Play. Hawke next starred in the Off-Broadway premiere of a new play, Tommy Nohilly's Blood from a Stone, from December 2010 to February 2011. The play was not a critical success, but Hawke's portrayal of the central character Travis earned positive feedback; The New York Times said he was "remarkably good at communicating the buried sensitivity beneath Travis's veneer of wary resignation." A contributor from the New York Post noted it was Hawke's "best performance in years". Hawke won an Obie Award for his role in Blood from a Stone. The following year Hawke played the title role in Chekhov's Ivanov at the Classic Stage Company. In early 2013, he starred in and directed a new play Clive, inspired by Bertolt Brecht's Baal and written by Jonathan Marc Sherman. Later that year, he played the title role in a Broadway production of Macbeth at the Lincoln Center Theater, but his performance failed to win over the critics, with the New York Post calling it "underwhelming" for showing untimely restraint in a flashy production. In 2019, Hawke returned to Broadway in the revival of Sam Shepard's True West, co-starring Paul Dano. The show was met with critical acclaim. It received the Critic's Pick from The New York Times. The show's previews began on December 27, 2018, and officially opened January 24, 2019, closing on March 17, 2019. Hawke is a member of the LAByrinth theatre company. ## Personal life Hawke lives in Boerum Hill, a Brooklyn neighborhood in New York City, and owns a small island in Nova Scotia, Canada. He is a second cousin twice-removed of Tennessee Williams on his father's side. Hawke's maternal grandfather, Howard Lemuel Green, served five terms in the Texas Legislature (1957–67), served as the elected Tarrant County Judge in Texas from 1967 to 1975, and was also a minor-league baseball commissioner. During his bachelor days, Hawke dated Kim Tannahill, a nanny who worked for Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. ### Family On May 1, 1998, Hawke married actress Uma Thurman, whom he had met on the set of Gattaca in 1996. They have two children, Maya (b. 1998) and Levon Roan Thurman Hawke (b. 2002). The couple separated in 2003 amid allegations of Hawke's infidelity, and filed for divorce the following year. The divorce was finalized in August 2005. In 2008, Hawke married Ryan Shawhughes, who had briefly worked as a nanny to his and Thurman's children before graduating from Columbia University. Dismissing speculation about their relationship, Hawke said, "my [first] marriage disintegrated due to many pressures, none of which were remotely connected to Ryan." They have two daughters. ### Beliefs Hawke identifies as a feminist and has criticized "the movie business [being] such a boys' club." He has also spoken in support of Colin Kaepernick and individual rights. ### Philanthropy Hawke has served as a co-chair of the New York Public Library's Young Lions Committee, one of New York's major philanthropic boards. In 2001, Hawke co-founded the Young Lions Fiction Award, an annual prize for achievements in fiction by writers under 35. In November 2010, he was honored as a Library Lion by the New York Public Library. In May 2016, Hawke joined the library's board of trustees. ### Politics Hawke supports the Democratic Party, and supported Bill Bradley, John Kerry, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton for President of the United States in 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2016, respectively. He is also a supporter of gay rights; in March 2011, he and his wife released a video supporting same-sex marriage in New York. In an October 2012 interview, Hawke said that he prefers great art to politics, explaining that his preference shows "how little" he cares about the latter; "I think about the first people of our generation to do great art. I see Michael Chabon write a great book; when I see Philip Seymour Hoffman do Death of a Salesman last year—I see people of my generation being fully realized in their work, and I find that really kind of exciting. But politics? I don't know. Paul Ryan is certainly not my man." Hawke was critical of Donald Trump, criticizing him for his Make America Great Again slogan, and for threatening to put Hillary Clinton in jail. According to Hawke, members of his family voted for Trump. ## Filmography ## Discography ## Awards and nominations ## Publications
445,359	Australian Cattle Dog	1,164,513,388	Breed of herding dog originally developed in Australia for droving cattle	[ "Dog breeds originating in Australia", "FCI breeds", "Herding dogs" ]	The Australian Cattle Dog (ACD), or simply Cattle Dog, is a breed of herding dog developed in Australia for droving cattle over long distances across rough terrain. This breed is a medium-sized, short-coated dog that occurs in two main colour forms. It has either red or black hair distributed fairly evenly through a white coat, which gives the appearance of a "red" or "blue" dog. As with dogs from other working breeds, the Australian Cattle Dog is energetic and intelligent with an independent streak. It responds well to structured training, particularly if it is interesting and challenging. It was originally bred to herd by biting, and is known to nip running children. It forms a strong attachment to its owners, and can be protective of them and their possessions. It is easy to groom and maintain, requiring little more than brushing during the shedding period. The most common health problems are deafness and progressive blindness (both hereditary conditions) and accidental injury; otherwise, it is a robust breed with a lifespan of 12 to 16 years. The first domestic dogs to arrive in Australia came with the First Fleet in 1788 and later convict fleets. A thriving stray dog population soon grew. Some of the strays, those with stock work potential, apparently found home with the free settler, George Hall. Thomas Hall, a son of George, developed them into working dogs of excellence. Robert Kaleski, who wrote the first standard for the breed, called Hall's dogs Halls Heelers. The Halls Heelers were later developed into the two modern breeds, Australian Cattle Dog and Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog. Kaleski also suggested that Thomas Hall imported dogs from England. However, this assumes correspondence between the Halls and contacts in England (none exists) and sailing time between Sydney and London, at the relevant time, was three months or more. Arrangements for dog import could have taken years to accomplish. Australian Cattle Dog has been nicknamed a "Red Heeler" or "Blue Heeler" on the basis of its colouring and practice of moving reluctant cattle by nipping at their heels. The nickname "Queensland Heeler" may have originated in a popular booklet, published in Victoria. ## Characteristics ### Appearance The Australian Cattle Dog is a sturdy, muscular, compact dog that gives the impression of agility and strength. It has a broad skull that flattens to a definite stop between the eyes, with muscular cheeks and a medium-length, deep, powerful muzzle. The ears are pricked, small to medium in size and set wide apart, with a covering of hair on the inside. The eyes are oval and dark, with an alert, keen expression. The neck and shoulders are strong and muscular; the forelegs are straight and parallel; and the feet round and arched, with small, sturdy toes and nails. The Australian Cattle Dog breed standard states that it should have well-conditioned muscles, even when bred for companion or show purposes, and that its appearance should be symmetrical and balanced, with no individual part of the dog exaggerated. It should not look either delicate or cumbersome, as either characteristic limits the agility and endurance that is necessary for a working dog. #### Size The female Australian Cattle Dog measures approximately 43–48 centimetres (17–19 in) at the withers, and the male measures about 46–51 centimetres (18–20 in) at the withers. The dog should be longer than tall, that is, the length of the body from breast bone to buttocks is greater than the height at the withers, in a ratio of 10 to 9. An Australian Cattle Dog in good condition weighs around 18–25 kilograms (40–55 lb). #### Coat and colour There are two accepted coat colours, red and blue. Chocolate and cream are considered to be faults. Blue dogs can be blue, blue mottled, or blue speckled with tan on the legs and chest and white markings and a black patch or "mask" on one or both sides of the head. Red dogs are evenly speckled with solid red markings and similarly to the blue dogs can have a brown (red) patch "mask" on one or both sides of the head and sometimes on the body. Both red dogs and blue dogs are born white (except for any solid-coloured body or face markings) and the red or black hairs show from around 4-weeks of age as they grow and mature. The distinctive adult colouration is the result of black or red hairs closely interspersed through a predominantly white coat. This is not merle colouration (a speckled effect that has associated health issues), but rather the result of the ticking gene. A number of breeds show ticking, which is the presence of colour through white areas, though the overall effect depends on other genes that will modify the size, shape and density of the ticking. In addition to the primary colouration, an Australian Cattle Dog displays some patches of solid or near-solid colour. In both red and blue dogs, the most common are masks over one or both eyes, a white tip to the tail, a solid spot at the base of the tail, and sometimes solid spots on the body, though these are not desirable in dogs bred for conformation shows. Blue dogs may have tan midway up the legs and extending up the front to breast and throat, with tan on jaws, and tan eyebrows. Both colour forms can have a white "star" on the forehead called the "Bentley Mark", dog said to have been owned by an unsubstantiated Tom Bentley whose descendants allegedly could be identified by a white spot on the forehead and a black tail bar. Common miscolours in the Australian Cattle Dog are black hairs in a red-coated dog, including the extreme of a black saddle on a red dog, and extensive tan on the face and body on a blue dog, called "creeping tan". The Australian Cattle Dog has a double coat—the short, straight outer guard hairs are protective in nature, keeping the elements from the dog's skin while the undercoat is short, fine and dense. The mask consists of a black patch over one or both eyes (for the blue coat colour) or a red patch over one or both eyes (for the red coat colour). Depending on whether one or both eyes have a patch, these are called, respectively, "single" (or "half") mask and "double" (or "full") mask. Dogs without a mask are called plain-faced. Any of these are acceptable according to the breed standard. In conformation shows, even markings are preferred over uneven markings. #### Tail The breed standards of the Australian, American and Canadian kennel clubs specify that the Australian Cattle Dog should have a natural, long, un-docked tail. There will often be a solid colour spot at the base of the tail and a white tip. The tail should be set moderately low, following the slope of the back. It should hang in a slight curve at rest, though an excited dog may carry its tail higher. The tail should feature a good level of brush. In the United States, tails are sometimes docked on working stock. The tail is not docked in Australia, and serves a useful purpose in increasing agility and the ability to turn quickly. The Australian Cattle Dog shares ancestry and early history with the Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog. A breed standard, current in Queensland during the 1930s, describes two varieties of Cattle Dog, “long tail” and “short tail”. The short tail variety was the to be same as the long tail variety except for tail length. The two varieties were exhibited in separate classes. In 1963 the Australian National Kennel Council distinguished the two varieties in separate breed standards. ### Temperament Like many working dogs, the Australian Cattle Dog has high energy levels, an active mind, and a level of independence. The breed ranks 10th in Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs, rated as one of the most intelligent dogs ranked by obedience command trainability. The Cattle Dog needs plenty of exercise, companionship and a job to do, so a non-working dog might participate in dog sports, learning tricks, or other activities that engage its body and mind. When on home ground, the Australian Cattle Dog is an affectionate and playful pet. However, it is reserved with people it does not know and naturally cautious in new situations. Its attitude to strangers makes it an excellent guard dog when trained for this task, and it can be socialised to become accustomed to a variety of people from an early age as a family pet. It is good with older, considerate children, but will herd people by nipping at their heels, particularly younger children who run and squeal. By the time puppies are weaned, they should have learned that the company of people is pleasurable, and that responding to cues from a person is rewarding. The bond that this breed can create with its owner is strong and will leave the dog feeling protective towards the owner, typically resulting in the dog's never being too far from the owner's side. The Australian Cattle Dog can be the friendliest of companions although it is quick to respond to the emotions of its owners, and may defend them without waiting for a command. The ACD was originally bred to move reluctant cattle by biting, and it will bite if treated harshly. The Australian Cattle Dog's protective nature and tendency to nip at heels can be dangerous as the dog grows into an adult if unwanted behaviours are left unchecked. While an Australian Cattle Dog generally works silently, it will bark in alarm or to attract attention. It has a distinctive intense, high-pitched bark. Barking can be a sign of boredom or frustration, although research has shown that pet dogs increase their vocalisation when raised in a noisy environment. It responds well to familiar dogs, but when multiple dogs are present, establishing a pecking order can trigger aggression. It is not a breed that lives in a pack with other dogs. ## As pets ### Grooming Known as a "wash and wear" dog, the Australian Cattle Dog requires little grooming, and an occasional brushing is all that is required to keep the coat clean and odour-free. Even for the show ring it needs no more than wiping down with a moist cloth. It is not a year-round shedder but blows its coat once a year (twice in the case of intact females) and frequent brushing and a warm bath during this period will contain the shedding hair. As with all dogs, regular attention to nails, ears and teeth will help avoid health problems. ### Training Like other working breeds, the Australian Cattle Dog is intelligent and responsive; both of these traits can be an advantage in training where a structured, varied program is used, but can lead to unwanted outcomes if training is not consistent, or is repetitive and boring for the dog. Stock dog trainer Scott Lithgow recommends making training a game so the Cattle Dog learns that obedience leads to enjoyment. Many of a Cattle Dog's natural behaviours are undesirable in a pet: barking, chewing, chasing, digging, defending territory, and nipping heels. Training, therefore, involves helping the dog adopt a lifestyle that is very different from that of its droving ancestors. The Australian Cattle Dog is biddable, and responds well to training. ### Activities The Australian Cattle Dog demands a high level of physical activity. Like many other herding dog breeds, the Cattle Dog has an active and fertile mind and if it is not given jobs to do it will find its own activities. It will appreciate a walk around the neighbourhood, but it needs structured activities that engage and challenge it, and regular interaction with its owner. While individual dogs have their own personalities and abilities, as a breed the Australian Cattle Dog is suited to any activity that calls for athleticism, intelligence, and endurance. Kennel club-sponsored herding trials with a range of events suit the driving abilities of the Cattle Dog. Herding instincts and trainability are measured at non-competitive herding tests, and basic commands are sometimes taught through herding games, where rules such as "stay", "get it" and "that'll do" are applied to fetching a ball or chasing a yard broom. The Australian Cattle Dog was developed for its ability to drive reluctant cattle to travel long distances and may be the best breed in the world for this work. However, some working dog trainers have expressed concern that dogs bred for the show ring are increasingly too short in the legs and too stocky in the body to undertake the work for which they were originally bred. Among the most popular activities for an Australian Cattle Dog is dog agility. It is ideally suited for navigating obstacle courses, since as a herding dog it is reactive to the handler's body language and willing to work accurately at a distance from the handler. Agility has been used by Cattle Dog owners to instil confidence in their dogs, and enhance their performance in training and competition. The Australian Cattle Dog thrives on change and new experiences, and many handlers find training the breed challenging for this reason. An Australian Cattle Dog can excel in obedience competition. It will enjoy the challenges, such as retrieving a scented article, but the breed's problem-solving ability may lead it to find solutions to problems that are not necessarily rewarded by the obedience judges. Rally obedience offers more interaction with the owner and less repetition than traditional obedience trials. Australian Cattle Dogs have been successful in a range of dog sports including weight pulling, flyball and schutzhund. The breed is particularly suited to activities that a dog can share with its owner such as canicross, disc dog, and skijoring or bikejoring. It is an effective hiking companion because of its natural endurance, its general lack of interest in hunting, and preference for staying by its owner's side. Most Australian Cattle Dogs love the water and are excellent swimmers. It is not a hyperactive breed, and once one has had its exercise, it is happy to lie at its owner's feet, or to rest in its bed or crate while keeping an ear and eye open for signs of pending activity. The Australian Cattle Dog is an adaptable dog that can accept city or indoor living conditions, if its considerable exercise and companionship needs are met. The Australian Cattle Dog can be put to work in a number of ways. Cattle Dogs are service dogs for people with a disability or are therapy dogs, some work for customs agencies in drug detection, some as police dogs, others haze pest animals, such as geese, for city or state agencies, and some work as scat-detection dogs, tracking endangered wildlife species. ## Health and lifespan ### Lifespan In a small sample of 11 deceased dogs, Australian Cattle Dogs had a median longevity of 11.7 years (maximum 15.9 yrs). A larger survey of 100 deceased dogs yielded a mean longevity of 13.41 years with a standard deviation of 2.36 years. The median longevities of breeds of similar size are between 11 and 13 years. There is an anecdotal report of a Cattle Dog named Bluey, born in 1910 and living for 29.5 years, but the record is unverified. Even if true, Bluey's record age would have to be regarded more as an uncharacteristic exception than as an indicator of common exceptional longevity for the entire breed. It remains, however, that Australian Cattle Dogs generally age well and appear to live on average almost a year longer than most dogs of other breeds in the same weight class. Many members of the breed are still well and active at 12 or 14 years of age, and some maintain their sight, hearing and even their teeth until their final days. ### Common health problems The Australian Cattle Dog carries recessive piebald alleles that produce white in the coat and skin and are linked to congenital hereditary deafness, though it is possible that there is a multi-gene cause for deafness in a dog with the piebald pigment genes. Around 2.4% of Cattle Dogs in one study were found to be deaf in both ears and 14.5% were deaf in at least one ear. The Australian Cattle Dog is one of the dog breeds affected by progressive retinal atrophy. It has the most common form, progressive rod-cone degeneration (PRCD), a condition that causes the rods and cones in the retina of the eye to deteriorate later in life, resulting in blindness. PRCD is an autosomal recessive trait and a dog can be a carrier of the affected gene without developing the condition. Hip dysplasia is not common in the breed, although it occurs sufficiently often for many breeders to have their breeding stock tested. The Cattle Dog has a number of inherited conditions, but most of these are not common. Hereditary polioencephalomyelopathy of the Australian Cattle Dog is a very rare condition caused by an inherited biochemical defect. Dogs identified with the condition were completely paralysed within their first year. Based on a sample of 69 still-living dogs, the most common health issues noted by owners were musculoskeletal (spondylosis, elbow dysplasia, and arthritis) and reproductive (pyometra, infertility, and false pregnancy), and blindness. A study of dogs diagnosed at Veterinary Colleges in the United States and Canada over a thirty-year period described fractures, lameness and cruciate ligament tears as the most common conditions in the Australian Cattle Dogs treated. ## History ### In Australia The first domestic dogs to arrive in Australia came with the First Fleet in 1788 and later convict fleets. A thriving stray dog population soon grew.[2] Some of the strays, those with stock workpotential, found home with the free settler, George Hall. George Hall and his family arrived in the New South Wales Colony in 1802. By 1825, the Halls had established two cattle stations in the Upper Hunter Valley, and had begun a northward expansion into the Liverpool Plains, New England and Queensland. Getting his cattle to the Sydney markets presented a problem in that cattle had to be moved along unfenced stock routes through sometimes rugged bush and mountain ranges. The mobs of cattle were small (the population centres were small) and the distances comparatively short compared with the long distance droving feats of the Duracks, and others, in the late nineteenth century. Until the invention of ice-making and refrigeration in the 1850s (by a Scotttish immigrant to Australian, James Harrison) butchers, and their customers, had no choice but to buy their meat in small quantities and the cattle growers, including the Halls, had no choice but to maintain a constant, but small, supply of cattle to their markets. A droving dog was needed, but the Halls were prepared for this challenge. Thomas Hall, one of George’s sons, had settled on Dartbrook station in the Upper Hunter Valley in the 1820s. He had taken with him dogs, as well as cattle, and had honed the cattle-handling potential in his dogs. The dogs were the first of the Halls Heelers. The Hall family were dependent on them. By the 1890s, dogs of Halls Heeler ancestry had attracted the attention of a group of men with a recreational interest in the new practice of showing dogs competitively. None were stockmen working cattle on a daily basis, and initially they were interested in a range of working dogs. Prominent members of the group concentrated on breeding these lines. Of these breeders, the Bagust family was the most influential. Robert Kaleski, of Moorebank, a young associate of Harry Bagust, wrote "in 1893 when I got rid of my cross-bred cattle dogs and took up the blues, breeders of the latter had started breeding ... to fix the type. I drew up a standard for them on those lines". This first breed standard for the Cattle Dog breed was published, with photographs, by the New South Wales Department of Agriculture in 1903. Kaleski's standard was adopted by breed clubs in Queensland and New South Wales and re-issued as their own, with local changes. His writings from the 1910s give an insight into the early history of the breed. Most importantly, Kaleski identified Thromas Hall's association with the Halls Heeler. In the 1890s, Cattle Dogs of Halls Heeler derivation were seen in the kennels of exhibiting Queensland dog breeders such as William Byrne. These were a different population from those shown in New South Wales and included both long-tailed and short-tailed exhibits. These dogs may have come from Hall properties in Queensland. Byrne, however, initiated a trend that favoured Cattle Dogs bred in New South Wales and, during the 1920s, many breeders followed this trend. The original Queensland Cattle Dog population became increasingly attenuated. The most significant New South Wales purchase was Little Logic. Little Logic was bred in Rockdale, New South Wales. Sydney exhibitors, however, saw Little Logic for the first time only after the dog had been added to the Hillview kennels of Arch Bevis in Brisbane. The show records of Little Logic and his offspring created a demand in New South Wales for Queensland dogs. By the end of the 1950s, there were few Australian Cattle Dogs whelped that were not descendants of Little Logic and his best known son, Logic Return. The prominence of Little Logic and Logic Return in the pedigrees of modern Australian Cattle Dogs was perpetuated by Wooleston Kennels. For some twenty years, Wooleston supplied foundation and supplementary breeding stock to breeders in Australia, North America and Continental Europe. As a result, Wooleston Blue Jack is ancestral to most, if not all, Australian Cattle Dogs whelped since 1990 in any country. ### In the United States In the 1940s Alan McNiven, a Sydney veterinarian, introduced Dingo, Kelpie, German Shepherd, and Kangaroo Hound into his breeding program; however, the Royal Agricultural Society Kennel Club (RASKC) would not register the cross breeds as Australian Cattle Dogs, even though McNiven argued they were true to conformation, colour and temperament. McNiven responded by giving his pups registration papers from dead dogs, and was consequently expelled from the RASKC and all of his dogs removed from the registry. Meanwhile, Greg Lougher, a Napa, California cattle rancher who met Alan McNiven while stationed in Australia during World War II, had imported several adults and several litters from McNiven. After his de-registration McNiven continued to export his "improved" dogs to the United States. Many U.S. soldiers who were stationed in Queensland or NSW during the War discovered the Australian Cattle Dog and took one home when they returned. In the late 1950s a veterinarian in Santa Rosa, California, Jack Woolsey, was introduced to Lougher's dogs. With his partners, he bought several dogs and started breeding them. The breeders advertised the dogs in Western Horsemen stating they were guaranteed to work and calling them Queensland Heelers. Woolsey imported several purebred Australian Cattle Dogs to add to his breeding program, including Oaklea Blue Ace, Glen Iris Boomerang and several Glen Iris bitches. The National Stock Dog Registry of Butler, Indiana, registered the breed, assigning American numbers without reference to Australian registrations. Australian Cattle Dogs had been classified in the "miscellaneous" category at the American Kennel Club (AKC) since the 1930s; to get the breed full recognition, the AKC required that a National Breed Parent Club be organised for promotion and protection of the breed. In 1967 Esther Ekman met Chris Smith-Risk at an AKC show, and the two fell into conversation about their Australian Cattle Dogs and the process of establishing a parent club for the breed. By 1969 the fledgling club had 12 members and formally applied to the AKC for instructions. One of the requirements was that the club had to start keeping its own registry for the breed and that all dogs on the registry would have to be an extension of the Australian registry, tracing back to registered dogs in Australia. The AKC Parent Club members began researching their dogs, including exchanging correspondence with McNiven, and discovered that few of them had dogs that could be traced back to dogs registered in Australia. The AKC took over the club registry in 1979 and the breed was fully recognised in September 1980. The Australian Cattle Dog Club of America is still active in the promotion of the breed and the maintenance of breed standards. The National Stock Dog Registry continued to recognise Cattle Dogs without prerequisite links to Australian registered dogs, on the condition that any dog of unknown parentage that was presented for registry would be registered as an "American Cattle Dog", and all others would still be registered as "Australian Cattle Dogs". ### In Canada The breed gained official recognition from the Canadian Kennel Club in January 1980 after five years of collecting pedigrees, gathering support, and lobbying officials by two breeders and enthusiasts. The small number of Australian Cattle Dogs in Canada at the time were primarily working dogs on farms and ranches scattered across large distances. However, the fledgling breed club held conformation shows, obedience and agility competitions, and entered their dogs in sports including flyball and lure coursing. At the end of 1980, Landmaster Carina was named the first Australian Cattle Dog in Canada to gain both her conformation and obedience titles. ### In the United Kingdom The first registered Australian Cattle Dogs to arrive in the United Kingdom were two blue puppies, Lenthel Flinton and Lenthel Darlot, imported in 1980 by Malcolm Duding. They were followed soon afterwards by Landmaster Darling Red in whelp. Landmaster Darling Red was imported by John and Mary Holmes, and proved to be an outstanding brood bitch. Over the next few years additional Cattle Dogs arrived in the UK from the Netherlands, Kenya, Germany and Australia, although prior to relaxation of rules regarding artificial insemination, the UK gene pool was limited. In 1985 the Australian Cattle Dog Society of Great Britain was formed and officially recognised by the Kennel Club; before this they had to compete in the category "Any Variety Not Separately Classified". Australian Cattle Dogs were competing successfully in obedience and working trials in the UK during the 1980s. ## See also - Texas Heeler ## General and cited references
11,130,712	Splendid fairywren	1,171,069,600	Species of bird	[ "Birds described in 1830", "Endemic birds of Australia", "Malurus", "Taxa named by Jean René Constant Quoy", "Taxa named by Joseph Paul Gaimard" ]	The splendid fairywren (Malurus splendens) is a passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is also known simply as the splendid wren or more colloquially in Western Australia as the blue wren. The splendid fairywren is found across much of the Australian continent from central-western New South Wales and southwestern Queensland over to coastal Western Australia. It inhabits predominantly arid and semi-arid regions. Exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism, the male in breeding plumage is a small, long-tailed bird of predominantly bright blue and black colouration. Non-breeding males, females and juveniles are predominantly grey-brown in colour; this gave the early impression that males were polygamous as all dull-coloured birds were taken for females. It comprises several similar all-blue and black subspecies that were originally considered separate species. Like other fairywrens, the splendid fairywren is notable for several peculiar behavioural characteristics; the birds are socially monogamous and sexually promiscuous, meaning that although they form pairs between one male and one female, each partner will mate with other individuals and even assist in raising the young from such trysts. Male wrens pluck pink or purple petals and display them to females as part of a courtship display. The habitat of the splendid fairywren ranges from forest to dry scrub, generally with ample vegetation for shelter. Unlike the eastern superb fairywren, it has not adapted well to human occupation of the landscape and has disappeared from some urbanised areas. The splendid fairywren mainly eats insects and supplements its diet with seeds. ## Taxonomy and systematics The splendid fairywren is one of eleven species of the genus Malurus, commonly known as fairywrens, found in Australia and lowland New Guinea. Within the genus it is most closely related to the superb fairywren. These two "blue wrens" are closely related to the purple-crowned fairywren of north-western Australia. Specimens were initially collected at King George Sound, and the splendid fairywren then described as Saxicola splendens by the French naturalists Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard in 1830, three years before John Gould gave it the scientific name of Malurus pectoralis and vernacular name of banded superb-warbler. Though he correctly placed it in the genus Malurus, the specific name of the former authors took priority. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin splendens, which means "shining". Like other fairywrens, the splendid fairywren is unrelated to the true wren. It was first classified as a member of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae by Richard Bowdler Sharpe, though it was later placed in the warbler family Sylviidae by the same author, before being placed in the newly recognised family Maluridae in 1975. More recently, DNA analysis has shown the family Maluridae to be related to the family Meliphagidae (the honeyeaters), and the family Pardalotidae within a large superfamily, Meliphagoidea. The splendid fairywren is also alternatively named the splendid blue wren. ### Subspecies Initially, three of the subspecies were considered separate species as they were each originally described far from their borders with the others. However, as the interior of Australia was explored, it became apparent there were areas of hybridisation where subspecies overlapped. Thus in 1975, they were then reclassified as subspecies of the splendid fairywren. There are four subspecies currently recognized: - Banded fairywren (M. s. splendens) - (Quoy & Gaimard, 1830): Also named the banded wren or banded blue wren. This is the nominate subspecies and is found in much of central and southern Western Australia. - Turquoise fairywren (M. s. callainus) - Gould, 1867: Originally collected by ornithologist Samuel White and described as a separate species by John Gould. Although the taxonomy is not yet settled, it is now considered to include the former subspecies musgravei described in 1922 by amateur ornithologist Gregory Mathews from the Lake Eyre Basin in central Australia. Also named the turquoise wren. It is found in mulga and mallee country across much of South Australia and the southern Northern Territory. It has lighter blue or turquoise upperparts than the splendid fairywren, as well as a black rump. - Black-backed fairywren (M. s. melanotus) - Gould, 1841: Originally described as a separate species. Also named the black-backed wren, it is found in the mallee country of South Australia (Sedan area north-east of Adelaide) through western Victoria, western New South Wales and into south-western Queensland. It differs from the nominate subspecies in having a black back and whitish lower belly. - M. s. emmottorum - Schodde & Mason, IJ, 1999: Named after Angus Emmott, a farmer and amateur biologist from western Queensland. Found in south-western Queensland. ### Evolutionary history In his 1982 monograph, ornithologist Richard Schodde proposed a southern origin for the common ancestor of the superb and splendid fairywrens. At some time in the past it was split into southwestern (splendid) and southeastern (superb) enclaves. As the southwest was drier than the southeast, once conditions were more favourable, the splendid forms were more able to spread into inland areas. These split into at least three enclaves which subsequently evolved in isolation in the following drier glacial periods until the current more favourable climate saw them expand once again and interbreed where they overlap. This suggests the original split was only very recent as the forms had insufficient time to speciate. Further molecular studies may result in this hypothesis being modified. A 2017 genetic study using both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA found the ancestors of the superb and splendid fairywrens diverged from each other around 4 million years ago, and their common ancestor diverged around 7 million years ago from a lineage that gave rise to the white-shouldered, white-winged and red-backed fairywrens. ## Description The splendid fairywren is a small, long-tailed bird 14 cm (5.5 in) long. Exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism, the breeding male is distinctive with a bright blue forehead and ear coverts, a violet throat and deeper rich blue back wings, chest and tail with a black bill, eye band and chest band. The blue breeding plumage of the male is often referred to as nuptial plumage. The non-breeding male is brown with blue in the wings and a bluish tail. The female resembles the non-breeding male but has a chestnut bill and eye-patch. Immature males will moult into breeding plumage the first breeding season after hatching, though this may be incomplete with residual brownish plumage and may take another year or two to perfect. Both sexes moult in autumn after breeding, with males assuming an eclipse non-breeding plumage. They will moult again into nuptial plumage in winter or spring. Some older males have remained blue all year, moulting directly from one year's nuptial plumage to the next. Breeding males' blue plumage, particularly the ear-coverts, is highly iridescent due to the flattened and twisted surface of the barbules. The blue plumage also reflects ultraviolet light strongly, and so may be even more prominent to other fairywrens, whose colour vision extends into this part of the spectrum. The call is described as a gushing reel; this is harsher and louder than other fairywrens and varies from individual to individual. A soft single trrt serves as a contact call within a foraging group, while the alarm call is a tsit. Cuckoos and other intruders may be greeted with a threat posture and churring threat. Females emit a purr while brooding. ## Distribution and habitat The splendid fairywren is widely distributed in the arid and semi-arid zones of Australia. Habitat is typically dry and shrubby; mulga and mallee in drier parts of the country and forested areas in the southwest. The western subspecies splendens and eastern black-backed fairywren (subspecies melanotus) are largely sedentary, although the turquoise fairywren (subspecies musgravei) is thought to be partially nomadic. Unlike the eastern superb fairywren, the splendid fairywren has not adapted well to human occupation of the landscape and has disappeared from some urbanised areas. Forestry plantations of pine (Pinus spp.) and eucalypts are also unsuitable as they lack undergrowth. ## Behaviour and ecology Like all fairywrens, the splendid fairywren is an active and restless feeder, particularly on open ground near shelter, but also through the lower foliage. Movement is a series of jaunty hops and bounces, with its balance assisted by a proportionally large tail, which is usually held upright and rarely still. The short, rounded wings provide good initial lift and are useful for short flights, though not for extended jaunts. However, splendid fairywrens are stronger fliers than most other fairywrens. During spring and summer, birds are active in bursts through the day and accompany their foraging with song. Insects are numerous and easy to catch, which allows the birds to rest between forays. The group often shelters and rests together during the heat of the day. Food is harder to find during winter and they are required to spend the day foraging continuously. Groups of two to eight splendid fairywrens remain in their territory and defend it year-round. Territories average 4.4 ha (11 acres) in woodland-heath areas; size decreases with increasing density of vegetation and increases with the number of males in the group. The group consists of a socially monogamous pair with one or more male or female helper birds that were hatched in the territory, though they may not necessarily be the offspring of the main pair. Splendid fairywrens are sexually promiscuous, each partner mating with other individuals and even assisting in raising the young from such trysts. Over a third of offspring are the result of an 'extramarital' mating. Helper birds assist in defending the territory and feeding and rearing the young. Birds in a group roost side-by-side in dense cover as well as engaging in mutual preening. Major nest predators include Australian magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen), butcherbirds (Cracticus spp.), laughing kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae), currawongs (Strepera spp.), crows and ravens (Corvus spp.), shrike-thrushes (Colluricincla spp.) as well as introduced mammals such as the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), cat (Felis catus) and black rat (Rattus rattus). Like other species of fairywrens, splendid fairywrens may use a 'rodent-run' display to distract predators from nests with young birds. While doing this, the head, neck and tail of the bird are lowered, the wings are held out and the feathers are fluffed as the bird runs rapidly and voices a continuous alarm call. ### Courtship Several courtship displays by splendid fairywren males have been recorded; the 'sea horse flight,' so named for the similarity of movements to those by a seahorse, is an exaggerated undulating flight where the male, with his neck extended and his head feathers erect, flies and tilts his body from horizontal to vertical and by rapidly beating wings is able to descend slowly and spring upwards after alighting on the ground. The 'face fan' display may be seen as a part of aggressive or sexual display behaviours; it involves the flaring of the blue ear tufts by erecting the feathers. Another interesting habit of males of this and other fairywren species during the reproductive season is to pluck petals (in this species, predominantly pink and purple ones which contrast with their plumage) and show them to female fairywrens. Petals often form part of a courtship display and are presented to a female in the male fairywren's own or another territory. Outside the breeding season males may sometimes still show petals to females in other territories, presumably to promote themselves. It is notable that fairywrens are socially monogamous and sexually promiscuous: pairs will bond for life, but regularly mate with other individuals; a proportion of young will have been fathered by males from outside the group. Young are often raised not by the pair alone, but with other males who also mated with the pair's female assisting. Thus, petal-carrying might be a behaviour that strengthens the pair-bond. Petal carrying might also be a way for extra males to gain matings with the female. In either case, the data does not strongly link petal-carrying and presenting to a copulation soon thereafter. Researchers at Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago published a paper in Behavioral Ecology in 2010 showing that male splendid fairywrens sing display-like vocalizations (Type II song) in response to predator calls. The trills "hitchhike" on the predator's vocalization and the female splendid fairywrens, which have become more alert due to the predator calls, also respond more strongly to this type II song than when it's given without a predator call preceding it. ### Breeding Breeding occurs from late August through to January, though heavy rain in August may delay this. The nest is built by the female; it is a round or domed structure made of loosely woven grasses and spider webs, with an entrance in one side close to the ground and well-concealed in thick and often thorny vegetation, such as Acacia pulchella or a species of Hakea. One or two broods may be laid during the breeding season. A clutch of two to four dull white eggs with reddish-brown splotches and spots, measuring 12 × 16 mm (1⁄2 × 5⁄8 in), are laid. Incubation takes about two weeks. The female incubates the eggs for 14 or 15 days; after hatching, nestlings are fed and their fecal sacs removed by all group members for 10–13 days, by which time they are fledged. Young birds remain in the family group as helpers for a year or more before moving to another group, usually an adjacent one, or assuming a dominant position in the original group. In this role they feed and care for subsequent broods. Splendid fairywrens also commonly play host to the brood parasite Horsfield's bronze cuckoo (Chalcites basalis), with the shining bronze cuckoo (Chalcites lucidus) also recorded. ### Feeding The splendid fairywren is predominantly insectivorous; its diet includes a wide range of small creatures, mostly arthropods such as ants, grasshoppers, crickets, spiders and bugs. This is supplemented by small quantities of seeds, flowers, and fruit. They mostly forage on the ground or in shrubs that are less than two metres above the ground; this has been termed 'hop-searching'. Unusually for fairywrens, they may also occasionally forage in the canopy of flowering gums. Birds tend to stick fairly close to cover and forage in groups as this foraging practice does render them vulnerable to a range of predators. Food can be scarce in winter and ants are an important 'last resort' option, constituting a much higher proportion of the diet. Adult fairywrens feed their young a different diet, conveying larger items such as caterpillars and grasshoppers to nestlings. ## Cultural depictions The bird was intended to be illustrated on an Australia Post 45c pre-stamped envelope released on 12 August 1999; however, a superb fairywren was mistakenly illustrated instead.
28,736	Speed of light	1,173,175,856	Speed of electromagnetic waves in vacuum	[ "Fundamental constants", "Light", "Physical quantities", "Special relativity", "Velocity" ]	The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted c, is a universal physical constant that is exactly equal to 299,792,458 metres per second (approximately 300,000 kilometres per second; 186,000 miles per second; 671 million miles per hour). According to the special theory of relativity, c is the upper limit for the speed at which conventional matter or energy (and thus any signal carrying information) can travel through space. All forms of electromagnetic radiation, including visible light, travel at the speed of light. For many practical purposes, light and other electromagnetic waves will appear to propagate instantaneously, but for long distances and very sensitive measurements, their finite speed has noticeable effects. Any starlight viewed on Earth is from the distant past, allowing humans to study the history of the universe by viewing distant objects. When communicating with distant space probes, it can take minutes to hours for signals to travel. In computing, the speed of light fixes the ultimate minimum communication delay. The speed of light can be used in time of flight measurements to measure large distances to extremely high precision. Ole Rømer first demonstrated in 1676 that light does not travel instantaneously by studying the apparent motion of Jupiter's moon Io. Progressively more accurate measurements of its speed came over the following centuries. In a paper published in 1865, James Clerk Maxwell proposed that light was an electromagnetic wave and, therefore, travelled at speed c. In 1905, Albert Einstein postulated that the speed of light c with respect to any inertial frame of reference is a constant and is independent of the motion of the light source. He explored the consequences of that postulate by deriving the theory of relativity and, in doing so, showed that the parameter c had relevance outside of the context of light and electromagnetism. Massless particles and field perturbations, such as gravitational waves, also travel at speed c in vacuum. Such particles and waves travel at c regardless of the motion of the source or the inertial reference frame of the observer. Particles with nonzero rest mass can be accelerated to approach c but can never reach it, regardless of the frame of reference in which their speed is measured. In the special and general theories of relativity, c interrelates space and time and also appears in the famous equation of mass–energy equivalence, E = mc. In some cases, objects or waves may appear to travel faster than light (e.g., phase velocities of waves, the appearance of certain high-speed astronomical objects, and particular quantum effects). The expansion of the universe is understood to exceed the speed of light beyond a certain boundary. The speed at which light propagates through transparent materials, such as glass or air, is less than c; similarly, the speed of electromagnetic waves in wire cables is slower than c. The ratio between c and the speed v at which light travels in a material is called the refractive index n of the material (n = c/v). For example, for visible light, the refractive index of glass is typically around 1.5, meaning that light in glass travels at c/1.5 ≈ 200000 km/s (124000 mi/s); the refractive index of air for visible light is about 1.0003, so the speed of light in air is about 90 km/s (56 mi/s) slower than c. ## Numerical value, notation, and units The speed of light in vacuum is usually denoted by a lowercase c, for "constant" or the Latin celeritas (meaning 'swiftness, celerity'). In 1856, Wilhelm Eduard Weber and Rudolf Kohlrausch had used c for a different constant that was later shown to equal √2 times the speed of light in vacuum. Historically, the symbol V was used as an alternative symbol for the speed of light, introduced by James Clerk Maxwell in 1865. In 1894, Paul Drude redefined c with its modern meaning. Einstein used V in his original German-language papers on special relativity in 1905, but in 1907 he switched to c, which by then had become the standard symbol for the speed of light. Sometimes c is used for the speed of waves in any material medium, and c<sub>0</sub> for the speed of light in vacuum. This subscripted notation, which is endorsed in official SI literature, has the same form as related electromagnetic constants: namely, μ<sub>0</sub> for the vacuum permeability or magnetic constant, ε<sub>0</sub> for the vacuum permittivity or electric constant, and Z<sub>0</sub> for the impedance of free space. This article uses c exclusively for the speed of light in vacuum. ### Use in unit systems Since 1983, the constant c has been defined in the International System of Units (SI) as exactly 299792458 m/s; this relationship is used to define the metre as exactly the distance that light travels in vacuum in 1⁄299792458 of a second. By using the value of c, as well as an accurate measurement of the second, one can thus establish a standard for the metre. As a dimensional physical constant, the numerical value of c is different for different unit systems. For example, in imperial units, the speed of light is approximately 186282 miles per second, or roughly 1 foot per nanosecond. In branches of physics in which c appears often, such as in relativity, it is common to use systems of natural units of measurement or the geometrized unit system where c = 1. Using these units, c does not appear explicitly because multiplication or division by 1 does not affect the result. Its unit of light-second per second is still relevant, even if omitted. ## Fundamental role in physics The speed at which light waves propagate in vacuum is independent both of the motion of the wave source and of the inertial frame of reference of the observer. This invariance of the speed of light was postulated by Einstein in 1905, after being motivated by Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism and the lack of evidence for motion against the luminiferous aether; it has since been consistently confirmed by many experiments. It is only possible to verify experimentally that the two-way speed of light (for example, from a source to a mirror and back again) is frame-independent, because it is impossible to measure the one-way speed of light (for example, from a source to a distant detector) without some convention as to how clocks at the source and at the detector should be synchronized. However, by adopting Einstein synchronization for the clocks, the one-way speed of light becomes equal to the two-way speed of light by definition. The special theory of relativity explores the consequences of this invariance of c with the assumption that the laws of physics are the same in all inertial frames of reference. One consequence is that c is the speed at which all massless particles and waves, including light, must travel in vacuum. Special relativity has many counterintuitive and experimentally verified implications. These include the equivalence of mass and energy (E = mc), length contraction (moving objects shorten), and time dilation (moving clocks run more slowly). The factor γ by which lengths contract and times dilate is known as the Lorentz factor and is given by γ = (1 − v/c)<sup>−1/2</sup>, where v is the speed of the object. The difference of γ from 1 is negligible for speeds much slower than c, such as most everyday speeds – in which case special relativity is closely approximated by Galilean relativity – but it increases at relativistic speeds and diverges to infinity as v approaches c. For example, a time dilation factor of γ = 2 occurs at a relative velocity of 86.6% of the speed of light (v = 0.866 c). Similarly, a time dilation factor of γ = 10 occurs at 99.5% the speed of light (v = 0.995 c). The results of special relativity can be summarized by treating space and time as a unified structure known as spacetime (with c relating the units of space and time), and requiring that physical theories satisfy a special symmetry called Lorentz invariance, whose mathematical formulation contains the parameter c. Lorentz invariance is an almost universal assumption for modern physical theories, such as quantum electrodynamics, quantum chromodynamics, the Standard Model of particle physics, and general relativity. As such, the parameter c is ubiquitous in modern physics, appearing in many contexts that are unrelated to light. For example, general relativity predicts that c is also the speed of gravity and of gravitational waves, and observations of gravitational waves have been consistent with this prediction. In non-inertial frames of reference (gravitationally curved spacetime or accelerated reference frames), the local speed of light is constant and equal to c, but the speed of light can differ from c when measured from a remote frame of reference, depending on how measurements are extrapolated to the region. It is generally assumed that fundamental constants such as c have the same value throughout spacetime, meaning that they do not depend on location and do not vary with time. However, it has been suggested in various theories that the speed of light may have changed over time. No conclusive evidence for such changes has been found, but they remain the subject of ongoing research. It also is generally assumed that the speed of light is isotropic, meaning that it has the same value regardless of the direction in which it is measured. Observations of the emissions from nuclear energy levels as a function of the orientation of the emitting nuclei in a magnetic field (see Hughes–Drever experiment), and of rotating optical resonators (see Resonator experiments) have put stringent limits on the possible two-way anisotropy. ### Upper limit on speeds According to special relativity, the energy of an object with rest mass m and speed v is given by γmc, where γ is the Lorentz factor defined above. When v is zero, γ is equal to one, giving rise to the famous E = mc formula for mass–energy equivalence. The γ factor approaches infinity as v approaches c, and it would take an infinite amount of energy to accelerate an object with mass to the speed of light. The speed of light is the upper limit for the speeds of objects with positive rest mass, and individual photons cannot travel faster than the speed of light. This is experimentally established in many tests of relativistic energy and momentum. More generally, it is impossible for signals or energy to travel faster than c. One argument for this follows from the counter-intuitive implication of special relativity known as the relativity of simultaneity. If the spatial distance between two events A and B is greater than the time interval between them multiplied by c then there are frames of reference in which A precedes B, others in which B precedes A, and others in which they are simultaneous. As a result, if something were travelling faster than c relative to an inertial frame of reference, it would be travelling backwards in time relative to another frame, and causality would be violated. In such a frame of reference, an "effect" could be observed before its "cause". Such a violation of causality has never been recorded, and would lead to paradoxes such as the tachyonic antitelephone. ## Faster-than-light observations and experiments There are situations in which it may seem that matter, energy, or information-carrying signal travels at speeds greater than c, but they do not. For example, as is discussed in the propagation of light in a medium section below, many wave velocities can exceed c. The phase velocity of X-rays through most glasses can routinely exceed c, but phase velocity does not determine the velocity at which waves convey information. If a laser beam is swept quickly across a distant object, the spot of light can move faster than c, although the initial movement of the spot is delayed because of the time it takes light to get to the distant object at the speed c. However, the only physical entities that are moving are the laser and its emitted light, which travels at the speed c from the laser to the various positions of the spot. Similarly, a shadow projected onto a distant object can be made to move faster than c, after a delay in time. In neither case does any matter, energy, or information travel faster than light. The rate of change in the distance between two objects in a frame of reference with respect to which both are moving (their closing speed) may have a value in excess of c. However, this does not represent the speed of any single object as measured in a single inertial frame. Certain quantum effects appear to be transmitted instantaneously and therefore faster than c, as in the EPR paradox. An example involves the quantum states of two particles that can be entangled. Until either of the particles is observed, they exist in a superposition of two quantum states. If the particles are separated and one particle's quantum state is observed, the other particle's quantum state is determined instantaneously. However, it is impossible to control which quantum state the first particle will take on when it is observed, so information cannot be transmitted in this manner. Another quantum effect that predicts the occurrence of faster-than-light speeds is called the Hartman effect: under certain conditions the time needed for a virtual particle to tunnel through a barrier is constant, regardless of the thickness of the barrier. This could result in a virtual particle crossing a large gap faster than light. However, no information can be sent using this effect. So-called superluminal motion is seen in certain astronomical objects, such as the relativistic jets of radio galaxies and quasars. However, these jets are not moving at speeds in excess of the speed of light: the apparent superluminal motion is a projection effect caused by objects moving near the speed of light and approaching Earth at a small angle to the line of sight: since the light which was emitted when the jet was farther away took longer to reach the Earth, the time between two successive observations corresponds to a longer time between the instants at which the light rays were emitted. A 2011 experiment where neutrinos were observed to travel faster than light turned out to be due to experimental error. In models of the expanding universe, the farther galaxies are from each other, the faster they drift apart. For example, galaxies far away from Earth are inferred to be moving away from the Earth with speeds proportional to their distances. Beyond a boundary called the Hubble sphere, the rate at which their distance from Earth increases becomes greater than the speed of light. However, these recession rates, defined as the increase in proper distance per cosmological time, are not velocities in a relativistic sense. Faster-than-light cosmological recession speeds are only a coordinate artifact. ## Propagation of light In classical physics, light is described as a type of electromagnetic wave. The classical behaviour of the electromagnetic field is described by Maxwell's equations, which predict that the speed c with which electromagnetic waves (such as light) propagate in vacuum is related to the distributed capacitance and inductance of vacuum, otherwise respectively known as the electric constant ε<sub>0</sub> and the magnetic constant μ<sub>0</sub>, by the equation $c =\frac {1}{\sqrt{\varepsilon_0 \mu_0}} \ .$ In modern quantum physics, the electromagnetic field is described by the theory of quantum electrodynamics (QED). In this theory, light is described by the fundamental excitations (or quanta) of the electromagnetic field, called photons. In QED, photons are massless particles and thus, according to special relativity, they travel at the speed of light in vacuum. Extensions of QED in which the photon has a mass have been considered. In such a theory, its speed would depend on its frequency, and the invariant speed c of special relativity would then be the upper limit of the speed of light in vacuum. No variation of the speed of light with frequency has been observed in rigorous testing, putting stringent limits on the mass of the photon. The limit obtained depends on the model used: if the massive photon is described by Proca theory, the experimental upper bound for its mass is about 10<sup>−57</sup> grams; if photon mass is generated by a Higgs mechanism, the experimental upper limit is less sharp, m ≤ 10<sup>−14</sup> eV/c<sup>2</sup> (roughly 2 × 10<sup>−47</sup> g). Another reason for the speed of light to vary with its frequency would be the failure of special relativity to apply to arbitrarily small scales, as predicted by some proposed theories of quantum gravity. In 2009, the observation of gamma-ray burst GRB 090510 found no evidence for a dependence of photon speed on energy, supporting tight constraints in specific models of spacetime quantization on how this speed is affected by photon energy for energies approaching the Planck scale. ### In a medium In a medium, light usually does not propagate at a speed equal to c; further, different types of light wave will travel at different speeds. The speed at which the individual crests and troughs of a plane wave (a wave filling the whole space, with only one frequency) propagate is called the phase velocity v<sub>p</sub>. A physical signal with a finite extent (a pulse of light) travels at a different speed. The overall envelope of the pulse travels at the group velocity v<sub>g</sub>, and its earliest part travels at the front velocity v<sub>f</sub>. The phase velocity is important in determining how a light wave travels through a material or from one material to another. It is often represented in terms of a refractive index. The refractive index of a material is defined as the ratio of c to the phase velocity v<sub>p</sub> in the material: larger indices of refraction indicate lower speeds. The refractive index of a material may depend on the light's frequency, intensity, polarization, or direction of propagation; in many cases, though, it can be treated as a material-dependent constant. The refractive index of air is approximately 1.0003. Denser media, such as water, glass, and diamond, have refractive indexes of around 1.3, 1.5 and 2.4, respectively, for visible light. In exotic materials like Bose–Einstein condensates near absolute zero, the effective speed of light may be only a few metres per second. However, this represents absorption and re-radiation delay between atoms, as do all slower-than-c speeds in material substances. As an extreme example of light "slowing" in matter, two independent teams of physicists claimed to bring light to a "complete standstill" by passing it through a Bose–Einstein condensate of the element rubidium. However, the popular description of light being "stopped" in these experiments refers only to light being stored in the excited states of atoms, then re-emitted at an arbitrarily later time, as stimulated by a second laser pulse. During the time it had "stopped", it had ceased to be light. This type of behaviour is generally microscopically true of all transparent media which "slow" the speed of light. In transparent materials, the refractive index generally is greater than 1, meaning that the phase velocity is less than c. In other materials, it is possible for the refractive index to become smaller than 1 for some frequencies; in some exotic materials it is even possible for the index of refraction to become negative. The requirement that causality is not violated implies that the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric constant of any material, corresponding respectively to the index of refraction and to the attenuation coefficient, are linked by the Kramers–Kronig relations. In practical terms, this means that in a material with refractive index less than 1, the wave will be absorbed quickly. A pulse with different group and phase velocities (which occurs if the phase velocity is not the same for all the frequencies of the pulse) smears out over time, a process known as dispersion. Certain materials have an exceptionally low (or even zero) group velocity for light waves, a phenomenon called slow light. The opposite, group velocities exceeding c, was proposed theoretically in 1993 and achieved experimentally in 2000. It should even be possible for the group velocity to become infinite or negative, with pulses travelling instantaneously or backwards in time. None of these options, however, allow information to be transmitted faster than c. It is impossible to transmit information with a light pulse any faster than the speed of the earliest part of the pulse (the front velocity). It can be shown that this is (under certain assumptions) always equal to c. It is possible for a particle to travel through a medium faster than the phase velocity of light in that medium (but still slower than c). When a charged particle does that in a dielectric material, the electromagnetic equivalent of a shock wave, known as Cherenkov radiation, is emitted. ## Practical effects of finiteness The speed of light is of relevance to communications: the one-way and round-trip delay time are greater than zero. This applies from small to astronomical scales. On the other hand, some techniques depend on the finite speed of light, for example in distance measurements. ### Small scales In computers, the speed of light imposes a limit on how quickly data can be sent between processors. If a processor operates at 1 gigahertz, a signal can travel only a maximum of about 30 centimetres (1 ft) in a single clock cycle — in practice, this distance is even shorter since the printed circuit board itself has a refractive index and slows down signals. Processors must therefore be placed close to each other, as well as memory chips, to minimize communication latencies, and care must be exercised when routing wires between them to ensure signal integrity. If clock frequencies continue to increase, the speed of light may eventually become a limiting factor for the internal design of single chips. ### Large distances on Earth Given that the equatorial circumference of the Earth is about 40075 km and that c is about 300000 km/s, the theoretical shortest time for a piece of information to travel half the globe along the surface is about 67 milliseconds. When light is traveling in optical fibre (a transparent material) the actual transit time is longer, in part because the speed of light is slower by about 35% in optical fibre, depending on its refractive index n. Furthermore, straight lines are rare in global communications and the travel time increases when signals pass through electronic switches or signal regenerators. Although this distance is largely irrelevant for most applications, latency becomes important in fields such as high-frequency trading, where traders seek to gain minute advantages by delivering their trades to exchanges fractions of a second ahead of other traders. For example, traders have been switching to microwave communications between trading hubs, because of the advantage which radio waves travelling at near to the speed of light through air have over comparatively slower fibre optic signals. ### Spaceflight and astronomy Similarly, communications between the Earth and spacecraft are not instantaneous. There is a brief delay from the source to the receiver, which becomes more noticeable as distances increase. This delay was significant for communications between ground control and Apollo 8 when it became the first crewed spacecraft to orbit the Moon: for every question, the ground control station had to wait at least three seconds for the answer to arrive. The communications delay between Earth and Mars can vary between five and twenty minutes depending upon the relative positions of the two planets. As a consequence of this, if a robot on the surface of Mars were to encounter a problem, its human controllers would not be aware of it until 5–20 minutes later. It would then take a further 5–20 minutes for commands to travel from Earth to Mars. Receiving light and other signals from distant astronomical sources takes much longer. For example, it takes 13 billion (13×10<sup>9</sup>) years for light to travel to Earth from the faraway galaxies viewed in the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field images. Those photographs, taken today, capture images of the galaxies as they appeared 13 billion years ago, when the universe was less than a billion years old. The fact that more distant objects appear to be younger, due to the finite speed of light, allows astronomers to infer the evolution of stars, of galaxies, and of the universe itself. Astronomical distances are sometimes expressed in light-years, especially in popular science publications and media. A light-year is the distance light travels in one Julian year, around 9461 billion kilometres, 5879 billion miles, or 0.3066 parsecs. In round figures, a light year is nearly 10 trillion kilometres or nearly 6 trillion miles. Proxima Centauri, the closest star to Earth after the Sun, is around 4.2 light-years away. ### Distance measurement Radar systems measure the distance to a target by the time it takes a radio-wave pulse to return to the radar antenna after being reflected by the target: the distance to the target is half the round-trip transit time multiplied by the speed of light. A Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver measures its distance to GPS satellites based on how long it takes for a radio signal to arrive from each satellite, and from these distances calculates the receiver's position. Because light travels about 300000 kilometres (186000 mi) in one second, these measurements of small fractions of a second must be very precise. The Lunar Laser Ranging experiment, radar astronomy and the Deep Space Network determine distances to the Moon, planets and spacecraft, respectively, by measuring round-trip transit times. ## Measurement There are different ways to determine the value of c. One way is to measure the actual speed at which light waves propagate, which can be done in various astronomical and Earth-based setups. However, it is also possible to determine c from other physical laws where it appears, for example, by determining the values of the electromagnetic constants ε<sub>0</sub> and μ<sub>0</sub> and using their relation to c. Historically, the most accurate results have been obtained by separately determining the frequency and wavelength of a light beam, with their product equalling c. This is described in more detail in the "Interferometry" section below. In 1983 the metre was defined as "the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1⁄299792458 of a second", fixing the value of the speed of light at 299792458 m/s by definition, as described below. Consequently, accurate measurements of the speed of light yield an accurate realization of the metre rather than an accurate value of c. ### Astronomical measurements Outer space is a convenient setting for measuring the speed of light because of its large scale and nearly perfect vacuum. Typically, one measures the time needed for light to traverse some reference distance in the Solar System, such as the radius of the Earth's orbit. Historically, such measurements could be made fairly accurately, compared to how accurately the length of the reference distance is known in Earth-based units. Ole Christensen Rømer used an astronomical measurement to make the first quantitative estimate of the speed of light in the year 1676. When measured from Earth, the periods of moons orbiting a distant planet are shorter when the Earth is approaching the planet than when the Earth is receding from it. The distance travelled by light from the planet (or its moon) to Earth is shorter when the Earth is at the point in its orbit that is closest to its planet than when the Earth is at the farthest point in its orbit, the difference in distance being the diameter of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. The observed change in the moon's orbital period is caused by the difference in the time it takes light to traverse the shorter or longer distance. Rømer observed this effect for Jupiter's innermost major moon Io and deduced that light takes 22 minutes to cross the diameter of the Earth's orbit. Another method is to use the aberration of light, discovered and explained by James Bradley in the 18th century. This effect results from the vector addition of the velocity of light arriving from a distant source (such as a star) and the velocity of its observer (see diagram on the right). A moving observer thus sees the light coming from a slightly different direction and consequently sees the source at a position shifted from its original position. Since the direction of the Earth's velocity changes continuously as the Earth orbits the Sun, this effect causes the apparent position of stars to move around. From the angular difference in the position of stars (maximally 20.5 arcseconds) it is possible to express the speed of light in terms of the Earth's velocity around the Sun, which with the known length of a year can be converted to the time needed to travel from the Sun to the Earth. In 1729, Bradley used this method to derive that light travelled 10210 times faster than the Earth in its orbit (the modern figure is 10066 times faster) or, equivalently, that it would take light 8 minutes 12 seconds to travel from the Sun to the Earth. #### Astronomical unit An astronomical unit (AU) is approximately the average distance between the Earth and Sun. It was redefined in 2012 as exactly 149597870700 m. Previously the AU was not based on the International System of Units but in terms of the gravitational force exerted by the Sun in the framework of classical mechanics. The current definition uses the recommended value in metres for the previous definition of the astronomical unit, which was determined by measurement. This redefinition is analogous to that of the metre and likewise has the effect of fixing the speed of light to an exact value in astronomical units per second (via the exact speed of light in metres per second). Previously, the inverse of c expressed in seconds per astronomical unit was measured by comparing the time for radio signals to reach different spacecraft in the Solar System, with their position calculated from the gravitational effects of the Sun and various planets. By combining many such measurements, a best fit value for the light time per unit distance could be obtained. For example, in 2009, the best estimate, as approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), was: light time for unit distance: t<sub>au</sub> = 499.004783836(10) s c = 0.00200398880410(4) AU/s = 173.144632674(3) AU/day. The relative uncertainty in these measurements is 0.02 parts per billion (2×10<sup>−11</sup>), equivalent to the uncertainty in Earth-based measurements of length by interferometry. Since the metre is defined to be the length travelled by light in a certain time interval, the measurement of the light time in terms of the previous definition of the astronomical unit can also be interpreted as measuring the length of an AU (old definition) in metres. ### Time of flight techniques A method of measuring the speed of light is to measure the time needed for light to travel to a mirror at a known distance and back. This is the working principle behind experiments by Hippolyte Fizeau and Léon Foucault. The setup as used by Fizeau consists of a beam of light directed at a mirror 8 kilometres (5 mi) away. On the way from the source to the mirror, the beam passes through a rotating cogwheel. At a certain rate of rotation, the beam passes through one gap on the way out and another on the way back, but at slightly higher or lower rates, the beam strikes a tooth and does not pass through the wheel. Knowing the distance between the wheel and the mirror, the number of teeth on the wheel, and the rate of rotation, the speed of light can be calculated. The method of Foucault replaces the cogwheel with a rotating mirror. Because the mirror keeps rotating while the light travels to the distant mirror and back, the light is reflected from the rotating mirror at a different angle on its way out than it is on its way back. From this difference in angle, the known speed of rotation and the distance to the distant mirror the speed of light may be calculated. Foucault used this apparatus to measure the speed of light in air versus water, based on a suggestion by François Arago. Today, using oscilloscopes with time resolutions of less than one nanosecond, the speed of light can be directly measured by timing the delay of a light pulse from a laser or an LED reflected from a mirror. This method is less precise (with errors of the order of 1%) than other modern techniques, but it is sometimes used as a laboratory experiment in college physics classes. ### Electromagnetic constants An option for deriving c that does not directly depend on a measurement of the propagation of electromagnetic waves is to use the relation between c and the vacuum permittivity ε<sub>0</sub> and vacuum permeability μ<sub>0</sub> established by Maxwell's theory: c<sup>2</sup> = 1/(ε<sub>0</sub>μ<sub>0</sub>). The vacuum permittivity may be determined by measuring the capacitance and dimensions of a capacitor, whereas the value of the vacuum permeability was historically fixed at exactly 4π×10<sup>−7</sup> H⋅m<sup>−1</sup> through the definition of the ampere. Rosa and Dorsey used this method in 1907 to find a value of 299710±22 km/s. Their method depended upon having a standard unit of electrical resistance, the "international ohm", and so its accuracy was limited by how this standard was defined. ### Cavity resonance Another way to measure the speed of light is to independently measure the frequency f and wavelength λ of an electromagnetic wave in vacuum. The value of c can then be found by using the relation c = fλ. One option is to measure the resonance frequency of a cavity resonator. If the dimensions of the resonance cavity are also known, these can be used to determine the wavelength of the wave. In 1946, Louis Essen and A.C. Gordon-Smith established the frequency for a variety of normal modes of microwaves of a microwave cavity of precisely known dimensions. The dimensions were established to an accuracy of about ±0.8 μm using gauges calibrated by interferometry. As the wavelength of the modes was known from the geometry of the cavity and from electromagnetic theory, knowledge of the associated frequencies enabled a calculation of the speed of light. The Essen–Gordon-Smith result, 299792±9 km/s, was substantially more precise than those found by optical techniques. By 1950, repeated measurements by Essen established a result of 299792.5±3.0 km/s. A household demonstration of this technique is possible, using a microwave oven and food such as marshmallows or margarine: if the turntable is removed so that the food does not move, it will cook the fastest at the antinodes (the points at which the wave amplitude is the greatest), where it will begin to melt. The distance between two such spots is half the wavelength of the microwaves; by measuring this distance and multiplying the wavelength by the microwave frequency (usually displayed on the back of the oven, typically 2450 MHz), the value of c can be calculated, "often with less than 5% error". ### Interferometry Interferometry is another method to find the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation for determining the speed of light. A coherent beam of light (e.g. from a laser), with a known frequency (f), is split to follow two paths and then recombined. By adjusting the path length while observing the interference pattern and carefully measuring the change in path length, the wavelength of the light (λ) can be determined. The speed of light is then calculated using the equation c = λf. Before the advent of laser technology, coherent radio sources were used for interferometry measurements of the speed of light. However interferometric determination of wavelength becomes less precise with wavelength and the experiments were thus limited in precision by the long wavelength (\~4 mm (0.16 in)) of the radiowaves. The precision can be improved by using light with a shorter wavelength, but then it becomes difficult to directly measure the frequency of the light. One way around this problem is to start with a low frequency signal of which the frequency can be precisely measured, and from this signal progressively synthesize higher frequency signals whose frequency can then be linked to the original signal. A laser can then be locked to the frequency, and its wavelength can be determined using interferometry. This technique was due to a group at the National Bureau of Standards (which later became the National Institute of Standards and Technology). They used it in 1972 to measure the speed of light in vacuum with a fractional uncertainty of 3.5×10<sup>−9</sup>. ## History Until the early modern period, it was not known whether light travelled instantaneously or at a very fast finite speed. The first extant recorded examination of this subject was in ancient Greece. The ancient Greeks, Arabic scholars, and classical European scientists long debated this until Rømer provided the first calculation of the speed of light. Einstein's theory of special relativity postulates that the speed of light is constant regardless of one's frame of reference. Since then, scientists have provided increasingly accurate measurements. ### Early history Empedocles (c. 490–430 BCE) was the first to propose a theory of light and claimed that light has a finite speed. He maintained that light was something in motion, and therefore must take some time to travel. Aristotle argued, to the contrary, that "light is due to the presence of something, but it is not a movement". Euclid and Ptolemy advanced Empedocles' emission theory of vision, where light is emitted from the eye, thus enabling sight. Based on that theory, Heron of Alexandria argued that the speed of light must be infinite because distant objects such as stars appear immediately upon opening the eyes. Early Islamic philosophers initially agreed with the Aristotelian view that light had no speed of travel. In 1021, Alhazen (Ibn al-Haytham) published the Book of Optics, in which he presented a series of arguments dismissing the emission theory of vision in favour of the now accepted intromission theory, in which light moves from an object into the eye. This led Alhazen to propose that light must have a finite speed, and that the speed of light is variable, decreasing in denser bodies. He argued that light is substantial matter, the propagation of which requires time, even if this is hidden from the senses. Also in the 11th century, Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī agreed that light has a finite speed, and observed that the speed of light is much faster than the speed of sound. In the 13th century, Roger Bacon argued that the speed of light in air was not infinite, using philosophical arguments backed by the writing of Alhazen and Aristotle. In the 1270s, Witelo considered the possibility of light travelling at infinite speed in vacuum, but slowing down in denser bodies. In the early 17th century, Johannes Kepler believed that the speed of light was infinite since empty space presents no obstacle to it. René Descartes argued that if the speed of light were to be finite, the Sun, Earth, and Moon would be noticeably out of alignment during a lunar eclipse. (Although this argument fails when aberration of light is taken into account, the latter was not recognized until the following century.) Since such misalignment had not been observed, Descartes concluded the speed of light was infinite. Descartes speculated that if the speed of light were found to be finite, his whole system of philosophy might be demolished. Despite this, in his derivation of Snell's law, Descartes assumed that some kind of motion associated with light was faster in denser media. Pierre de Fermat derived Snell's law using the opposing assumption, the denser the medium the slower light travelled. Fermat also argued in support of a finite speed of light. ### First measurement attempts In 1629, Isaac Beeckman proposed an experiment in which a person observes the flash of a cannon reflecting off a mirror about one mile (1.6 km) away. In 1638, Galileo Galilei proposed an experiment, with an apparent claim to having performed it some years earlier, to measure the speed of light by observing the delay between uncovering a lantern and its perception some distance away. He was unable to distinguish whether light travel was instantaneous or not, but concluded that if it were not, it must nevertheless be extraordinarily rapid. In 1667, the Accademia del Cimento of Florence reported that it had performed Galileo's experiment, with the lanterns separated by about one mile, but no delay was observed. The actual delay in this experiment would have been about 11 microseconds. The first quantitative estimate of the speed of light was made in 1676 by Ole Rømer. From the observation that the periods of Jupiter's innermost moon Io appeared to be shorter when the Earth was approaching Jupiter than when receding from it, he concluded that light travels at a finite speed, and estimated that it takes light 22 minutes to cross the diameter of Earth's orbit. Christiaan Huygens combined this estimate with an estimate for the diameter of the Earth's orbit to obtain an estimate of speed of light of 220000 km/s, which is 27% lower than the actual value. In his 1704 book Opticks, Isaac Newton reported Rømer's calculations of the finite speed of light and gave a value of "seven or eight minutes" for the time taken for light to travel from the Sun to the Earth (the modern value is 8 minutes 19 seconds). Newton queried whether Rømer's eclipse shadows were coloured; hearing that they were not, he concluded the different colours travelled at the same speed. In 1729, James Bradley discovered stellar aberration. From this effect he determined that light must travel 10,210 times faster than the Earth in its orbit (the modern figure is 10,066 times faster) or, equivalently, that it would take light 8 minutes 12 seconds to travel from the Sun to the Earth. ### Connections with electromagnetism In the 19th century Hippolyte Fizeau developed a method to determine the speed of light based on time-of-flight measurements on Earth and reported a value of 315000 km/s. His method was improved upon by Léon Foucault who obtained a value of 298000 km/s in 1862. In the year 1856, Wilhelm Eduard Weber and Rudolf Kohlrausch measured the ratio of the electromagnetic and electrostatic units of charge, 1/√ε<sub>0</sub>μ<sub>0</sub>, by discharging a Leyden jar, and found that its numerical value was very close to the speed of light as measured directly by Fizeau. The following year Gustav Kirchhoff calculated that an electric signal in a resistanceless wire travels along the wire at this speed. In the early 1860s, Maxwell showed that, according to the theory of electromagnetism he was working on, electromagnetic waves propagate in empty space at a speed equal to the above Weber/Kohlrausch ratio, and drawing attention to the numerical proximity of this value to the speed of light as measured by Fizeau, he proposed that light is in fact an electromagnetic wave. ### "Luminiferous aether" It was thought at the time that empty space was filled with a background medium called the luminiferous aether in which the electromagnetic field existed. Some physicists thought that this aether acted as a preferred frame of reference for the propagation of light and therefore it should be possible to measure the motion of the Earth with respect to this medium, by measuring the isotropy of the speed of light. Beginning in the 1880s several experiments were performed to try to detect this motion, the most famous of which is the experiment performed by Albert A. Michelson and Edward W. Morley in 1887. The detected motion was always less than the observational error. Modern experiments indicate that the two-way speed of light is isotropic (the same in every direction) to within 6 nanometres per second. Because of this experiment Hendrik Lorentz proposed that the motion of the apparatus through the aether may cause the apparatus to contract along its length in the direction of motion, and he further assumed that the time variable for moving systems must also be changed accordingly ("local time"), which led to the formulation of the Lorentz transformation. Based on Lorentz's aether theory, Henri Poincaré (1900) showed that this local time (to first order in v/c) is indicated by clocks moving in the aether, which are synchronized under the assumption of constant light speed. In 1904, he speculated that the speed of light could be a limiting velocity in dynamics, provided that the assumptions of Lorentz's theory are all confirmed. In 1905, Poincaré brought Lorentz's aether theory into full observational agreement with the principle of relativity. ### Special relativity In 1905 Einstein postulated from the outset that the speed of light in vacuum, measured by a non-accelerating observer, is independent of the motion of the source or observer. Using this and the principle of relativity as a basis he derived the special theory of relativity, in which the speed of light in vacuum c featured as a fundamental constant, also appearing in contexts unrelated to light. This made the concept of the stationary aether (to which Lorentz and Poincaré still adhered) useless and revolutionized the concepts of space and time. ### Increased accuracy of c and redefinition of the metre and second In the second half of the 20th century, much progress was made in increasing the accuracy of measurements of the speed of light, first by cavity resonance techniques and later by laser interferometer techniques. These were aided by new, more precise, definitions of the metre and second. In 1950, Louis Essen determined the speed as 299792.5±3.0 km/s, using cavity resonance. This value was adopted by the 12th General Assembly of the Radio-Scientific Union in 1957. In 1960, the metre was redefined in terms of the wavelength of a particular spectral line of krypton-86, and, in 1967, the second was redefined in terms of the hyperfine transition frequency of the ground state of caesium-133. In 1972, using the laser interferometer method and the new definitions, a group at the US National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado determined the speed of light in vacuum to be c = 299792456.2±1.1 m/s. This was 100 times less uncertain than the previously accepted value. The remaining uncertainty was mainly related to the definition of the metre. As similar experiments found comparable results for c, the 15th General Conference on Weights and Measures in 1975 recommended using the value 299792458 m/s for the speed of light. ### Defined as an explicit constant In 1983 the 17th meeting of the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) found that wavelengths from frequency measurements and a given value for the speed of light are more reproducible than the previous standard. They kept the 1967 definition of second, so the caesium hyperfine frequency would now determine both the second and the metre. To do this, they redefined the metre as "the length of the path traveled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299792458 of a second." As a result of this definition, the value of the speed of light in vacuum is exactly 299792458 m/s and has become a defined constant in the SI system of units. Improved experimental techniques that, prior to 1983, would have measured the speed of light no longer affect the known value of the speed of light in SI units, but instead allow a more precise realization of the metre by more accurately measuring the wavelength of krypton-86 and other light sources. In 2011, the CGPM stated its intention to redefine all seven SI base units using what it calls "the explicit-constant formulation", where each "unit is defined indirectly by specifying explicitly an exact value for a well-recognized fundamental constant", as was done for the speed of light. It proposed a new, but completely equivalent, wording of the metre's definition: "The metre, symbol m, is the unit of length; its magnitude is set by fixing the numerical value of the speed of light in vacuum to be equal to exactly 299792458 when it is expressed in the SI unit m s<sup>−1</sup>." This was one of the changes that was incorporated in the 2019 redefinition of the SI base units, also termed the New SI. ## See also - Light-second - Speed of electricity - Speed of gravity - Speed of sound - Velocity factor - Warp factor (fictional)
16,304,842	U.S. Route 41 in Michigan	1,152,469,266	U.S. Highway in Michigan	[ "Lake Michigan Circle Tour", "Lake Superior Circle Tour", "Transportation in Alger County, Michigan", "Transportation in Baraga County, Michigan", "Transportation in Delta County, Michigan", "Transportation in Houghton County, Michigan", "Transportation in Keweenaw County, Michigan", "Transportation in Marquette County, Michigan", "Transportation in Menominee County, Michigan", "U.S. Highways in Michigan", "U.S. Route 41" ]	US Highway 41 (US 41) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. In Michigan, it is a state trunkline highway that enters the state via the Interstate Bridge between Marinette, Wisconsin, and Menominee, Michigan. The 278.769 miles (448.635 km) of US 41 that lie within Michigan serve as a major conduit. Most of the highway is listed on the National Highway System. Various sections are rural two-lane highway, urbanized four-lane divided expressway and the Copper Country Trail National Scenic Byway. The northernmost community along the highway is Copper Harbor at the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula. The trunkline ends at a cul-de-sac east of Fort Wilkins State Park after serving the Central Upper Peninsula and Copper Country regions of Michigan. US 41 passes through farm fields and forest lands, and along the Lake Superior shoreline. The highway is included in the Lake Superior Circle Tour and the Lake Michigan Circle Tour and passes through the Hiawatha National Forest and the Keweenaw National Historical Park. Historical landmarks along the trunkline include the Marquette Branch Prison, Peshekee River Bridge and the Quincy Mine. The highway is known for a number of historic bridges such as a lift bridge, the northernmost span in the state and a structure referred to as "one of Michigan's most important vehicular bridges" by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). Seven memorial highway designations have been applied to parts of the trunkline since 1917, one of them named for a Civil War general. US 41 was first designated as a US Highway in 1926. A section of the highway originally served as part of Military Road, a connection between Fort Wilkins and Fort Howard during the Civil War. US 41 replaced the original M-15 designation of the highway which dated back to the formation of the Michigan state trunkline highway system. M-15 ran from Menominee through Marquette to Houghton and ended in Copper Harbor. Realignments and construction projects have expanded the highway to four lanes in Delta and Marquette counties and have created three business loops off the main highway. ## Route description US 41 is a major highway for Michigan traffic in the Upper Peninsula. The 278.769-mile (448.635 km) highway comprises mostly two lanes; it is undivided except for the sections that are concurrent with US 2 near Escanaba and M-28 near Marquette. US 41/M-28 is a four-lane expressway along the "Marquette Bypass", and segments of the highway in Delta and Marquette counties have four lanes. The route from the southern terminus to downtown Houghton is part of the National Highway System, a system of roadways considered important to the nation's economy, defense and mobility. Sections of the trunkline are on the Lake Superior and Lake Michigan circle tours. ### Menominee to Rapid River US 41 enters Michigan on the Interstate Bridge connecting Marinette, Wisconsin, and Menominee, Michigan. In the city of Menominee, US 41 follows 10th Avenue and 10th Street just west of downtown. The highway meets the southern terminus of M-35, with the Menominee-Marinette Airport to its west, and the waters of the Green Bay less than 1,000 feet (305 m) to the east, following 10th Street out of town. The trunkline runs north through rolling farmland in the central Menominee County communities of Wallace, Stephenson, and the twin communities of Carney and Nadeau. At Powers, US 41 joins with US 2; the two highways run concurrently and turn east toward Escanaba. US 2/US 41 crosses into the Hannahville Indian Community at the communities of Harris in Menominee County and Bark River in Delta County. The county line between the two communities marks the boundary between the Central and Eastern time zones. Just west of downtown Escanaba, US 2/US 41 joins M-35 at the intersection of Ludington Street and Lincoln Road, the center of the Escanaba street grid. The trunkline enters Escanaba from the west on Ludington Street, turns north on Lincoln Road, and joins M-35. The combined highway then runs north adjacent to Little Bay de Noc using a four-lane divided highway to the city of Gladstone, where M-35 turns west along 4th Avenue North. US 2/US 41 continues on a four-lane expressway north to Rapid River at the end of Little Bay de Noc. There, US 2 turns east, and US 41 turns north and inland to cross the Upper Peninsula. The section of US 41 between Menominee and Escanaba illustrates an anomaly in the highway routing: between these two cities M-35 is the shortest state trunkline highway. Under American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials guidelines, US Highways are to follow the most direct path between two locations, but US 41 runs inland and M-35 goes more directly up the Lake Michigan shoreline. According to the 2007 MDOT state highway map, the US 41 routing runs for 65 miles (105 km) versus 55 miles (89 km) for M-35. The original map for the US Highway System shows US 41 continuing north from Powers on a direct line to Marquette. This routing would be more direct than the current US 41 routing via Escanaba and Rapid River, but has not been built. ### Rapid River to Covington This stretch of US 41 runs north through the western edge of the Hiawatha National Forest. At Trenary, US 41 turns northwest through the southwest corner of Alger County, crossing into Marquette County north of Kiva. M-94 follows US 41 for approximately 2 miles (3 km) near Skandia, before it turns westward to provide access to K. I. Sawyer, a former air force base. US 41 continues northerly into the Chocolay Township community of Harvey. It meets the eastern junction with M-28 in Harvey, and the two highways run concurrent for nearly 60 miles (97 km), during which they follow the Lake Superior Circle Tour. US 41/M-28 runs north along the Lake Superior shoreline, passing the Marquette Branch Prison and crossing the Carp River before cresting Shiras Hill on the way into the city of Marquette, entering town on Front Street. South of downtown, the highway turns west on the Marquette Bypass, a four-lane expressway complete with two overpasses. The bypass moves traffic around the former routing of US 41/M-28 along Front and Washington streets, a routing that was used for Business US 41 (Bus. US 41) until 2005. West of Washington Street, US 41/M-28 follows a heavily trafficked business corridor. The 2006 average annual daily traffic (AADT, the yearly traffic count divided by 365) along this corridor ranged from 31,700 to 34,700 vehicles. US 41/M-28 climbs hilly terrain into the cities of Negaunee and Ishpeming, running west and slightly south. The two cities host Bus. M-28, which was once designated as ALT US 41 as well. Between the twin cities, US 41/M-28 skirts the shores of Teal Lake in Negaunee and then narrows to two lanes west of Ishpeming. US 41/M-28 continues west through rural Marquette County and passes along the north shore of Lake Michigamme between Champion and Michigamme, crossing the Peshekee River. In eastern Baraga County, the highway runs along an isthmus between Lake George and Lake Ruth in the community of Three Lakes. Further west, US 41 meets the northern terminus of US 141, which marks the western junction with M-28 near Covington, and the end of the M-28 concurrency. ### Covington to Copper Harbor US 41 turns north solo from Covington, crossing the Sturgeon River, on the way to the historic sawmill town of Alberta. Henry Ford built the village to serve the sawmill in 1935. The Alberta mill supplied wood for Ford Motors until it was closed by Henry Ford II; the property was donated to Michigan Technological University (MTU) in 1954. Continuing north from Alberta, US 41 enters the town of L'Anse on the east side of Keweenaw Bay, rounding the bay to the town of Baraga. Both towns are a part of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. US 41 continues along the shores of the bay north into Houghton County, turning along Portage Lake near Chassell. US 41 enters Houghton along Townsend Drive on the campus of MTU. After crossing the campus, it uses College Avenue into downtown. There, US 41 is split along the one-way pairing of Sheldon Avenue for northbound and Montezuma Avenue for southbound traffic. The two streets merge west of downtown at the southern end of the Portage Lake Lift Bridge. Downtown Houghton marks the start of the Copper Country Trail National Scenic Byway. North of the lift bridge, US 41 turns west through the downtown of Hancock using the one-way pairing of Quincy Street northbound and Hancock Street southbound. The trunkline then follows Lincoln Drive after merging the two directions west of downtown. The highway continues up Quincy Hill and out of town, passing the Quincy Mine at the top of the hill. North of Hancock, US 41 passes the Houghton County Memorial Airport before reaching the towns of Calumet and Laurium. US 41 merges with M-26 in Calumet, and they follow the center of the Keweenaw Peninsula to the community of Phoenix. M-26 turns northwesterly in Phoenix to loop through Eagle River and Eagle Harbor, while US 41 turns easterly through the rural communities of Central and Delaware. The two highways meet one last time in Copper Harbor where M-26 ends. US 41 turns east on Gratiot Street to pass through town towards Fort Wilkins State Park. A mileage sign in Copper Harbor gives the distance down US 41 to Miami, Florida, as 1,990 miles (3,203 km). The roadway continues east, crossing Fanny Hooe Creek near the state park. Past the park entrance, US 41 ends at a cul-de-sac, marked by a large wooden sign. ## History There are two major eras of the history of US 41. The first dates back to the Civil War and a wagon road built by the federal government. The Military Road was built to connect the Copper Country with Wisconsin. After the establishment of the state trunkline highway system, a segment of the Military Road was used for M-15, the predecessor of US 41. ### Military Road The northernmost section of the modern US 41 between Houghton and Copper Harbor originated in the 19th century as the Military Road. The road was one of 13 roads built between 1817 and 1864 by the federal government. Construction of the road was proposed as early as two years after the US acquired the last tracts of land in the Upper Peninsula. Congress asked Secretary of War William Wilkins for funding to build such a road in 1844, since the area depended on a land connection to Green Bay, Wisconsin, for up to six months a year for supplies and mail. The estimate for a 220-mile-long (350 km), 33-foot-wide (10 m) crude road was \$37,400 (equivalent to \$ in ). The matter died until 1848 when the Michigan Legislature petitioned Congress for an appropriation to build to connect Green Bay to the Keweenaw Bay. The appeal went unfulfilled by the government, but private groups stepped in. Mail service was available overland once a month during the winter from Green Bay. In 1857, the Legislature enacted a law to provide a road from Eagle Harbor south to Ontonagon. This road was extended south to the state line pursuant to two laws in 1859. The Civil War refocused discussions about the road. There were fears that Great Britain would enter on the side of the Confederacy during the early days of the war. British troops were as close to Michigan as Ontario, and more than half of the copper used in the US came from mines along the proposed roadway. Control of the area could have been established by seizing the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie, severing communication lines through the Great Lakes. If the locks fell to an enemy force, no troops or supplies could be moved to the Copper Country except by land. The road was also needed during the five or six months of the year that transportation on the Great Lakes was barred by ice or stormy weather. Congress passed a law to build a military wagon road on March 3, 1863, from Fort Wilkins to Houghton and then south to the state line. The road was laid out in 1864 following what is today M-26 between Copper Harbor and Phoenix, US 41 south to Houghton, M-26 south to Winona and Federal Forest Highway 16 (FFH-16) to the state line. Wisconsin authorities ran the road along what is now Highway 29 between Green Bay and Shawano and Highway 55 north to the state line. Military Road would connect Fort Wilkins with Fort Howard near Green Bay. The laws setting up the construction of the Military Road established a five-year deadline for construction. The war removed laborers in mining, lumbering and shipping as well as soldiers from the available workforce, and Congress extended the deadline an additional 21 months in June 1868. A second extension was granted in May 1870. The Wisconsin section of the highway was completed on June 20, 1870. The Houghton County segment was finished in January 1871. The Keweenaw County section was completed by August 1871. A third and final extension on the deadline was needed in April 1872, and the roadway was completed south to the state line in September 1873, shifting the southern segment in the Upper Peninsula west to the modern US 45 corridor in place of the FFH-16 alignment. In payment for the completion of the road, close to 221,000 acres (89,000 ha) were awarded by the federal government to the corporation, including some 174,000 acres (70,000 ha) to Dr James Ayer of Lowell, Massachusetts, for his investments in the company. Most of the remaining land grants went to the company behind the Portage Lake Canal near Houghton and Hancock. Ayer's holdings were controlled by the trustees of his estate after his death in July 1878. A few thousand acres were sold over time, and the trustees benefitted from the sale of timber and the mineral rights. The profits had been exhausted by 1921, and the remaining tracts were sold to a lumberman from Grand Rapids for \$2.3 million (equivalent to \$ in ). Railroads built near the Military Road attracted more traffic than the road. The road was not well built; except in the winter when the weather froze the ground or covered it in snow, the road was barely passable. Most of the 140-mile (225 km) highway was converted into a state trunkline between 1913 and 1920, mostly as M-15 or M-26. Remnants of the original Military Road can be found as backwoods trails labeled "Old Military Road" on maps, or as a street in Ripley near Hancock called "Military Road". ### State trunkline The first state trunkline highway designated along the path of the modern US 41 was M-15, in use as far back as 1919. The 1925 draft plan for the establishment of the US Highway System would have replaced parts of M-15 with three different US Highways. Between Menominee and Powers, M-15 was to become US 41. East of Powers to Rapid River, the trunkline would have been US 2. The next segment between Rapid River and Humboldt was planned as US 102 while the remainder north to Copper Harbor was not initially planned as a part of the new highway system. When the system was created on November 11, 1926, US 41 was the only US Highway routed along the alignment of M-15, and US 41 extended north to Copper Harbor. The original map showed US 41 following an unbuilt alignment between Powers and Marquette. The new US 41 designation was instead routed to follow the former M-15. The 1927 edition of the official Michigan highway service map was the first to show M-28 extended along US 41 into Marquette County and east over the former M-25 through Munising and Newberry, before ending in downtown Sault Ste. Marie. At Negaunee, M-28 was shown along the previous routing of M-15 between Negaunee and Marquette for 10 miles (16 km), while US 41 ran along a portion of M-35. This southern loop routing of M-28 lasted until approximately 1936, when M-28 was displayed as concurrent with US 41. The former route is now Marquette County Road 492 (CR 492). Around 1930, the northern terminus of US 41 was extended east from Copper Harbor to Fort Wilkins State Park. Another realignment shown in 1937 marked the transfer of US 41/M-28 out of downtown Ishpeming and Negaunee. This former routing later became Bus. M-28. The highway was realigned due north between Rapid River and Trenary according to the 1938 service map. US 41 was completely paved in 1951. The final two sections to be paved were in Baraga County and Keweenaw County. M-35 was routed concurrently with US 41 between Negaunee and Baraga by 1953. This extra concurrency connected the two previously disconnected segments of M-35. The Portage Lake Bridge opened in 1959 at a cost of \$13 million (equivalent to \$ in ). The Marquette Bypass was opened in November 1963 as a four-lane expressway south of downtown Marquette at a cost of \$1.7 million (equivalent to \$ in ). Washington and Front streets in Marquette were redesignated as Bus. US 41 at this time. While the expressway was being built, a large vein of jasper exposed, and gifts fashioned from the mineral were presented to local and state politicians. A set of cufflinks to be given to President John F. Kennedy was never presented because he was killed in Dallas just hours after the Marquette Bypass opened to traffic. The concurrency with M-35 through Marquette and Baraga counties was removed in January 1969. M-35 west of Baraga was designated as a new M-38 and M-35 was shortened to its current northern terminus. Another expressway section of US 41 was denoted along US 2/US 41 between Gladstone and Rapid River in 1972. A Bus. M-28 designation was added to Bus. US 41 on the MDOT map in 1975, making it similar to the former Bus. US 41/Bus. M-28 designation along Bus. M-28 in Ishpeming and Negaunee. This second designation was removed by 1982. US 41 in the Copper Country was recognized on September 26, 1995, as the state's first scenic heritage route (now a Pure Michigan Byway). The first section given the designation ran from Central to Copper Harbor. The designation was extended south to Mohawk in 2002 and Houghton in 2004. On September 22, 2005, US 41 north of Houghton was designated the Copper Country Trail of the National Scenic Byways program. This section of the highway was named one of Country magazine's 10 "Best Scenic Roads in America" in November 2014. Construction started on November 1, 2004, to replace the Interstate Bridge carrying US 41 between Marinette, Wisconsin, and Menominee. The project wrapped up on November 22, 2005, when the new bridge opened to traffic. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on December 3, 2005, to celebrate the replacement of the 1929 structure. In 2011, MDOT raised the speed limit along the expressway section in Delta County to 65 mph (105 km/h), although truck traffic remained set at 55 mph (89 km/h) until 2017. ### Marquette roundabout MDOT unveiled plans on March 31, 2009, to rebuild the intersection between Front Street and the eastern end of the Marquette Bypass during 2010 as a roundabout, replacing several intersecting roadways that connect the north and south sections of Front Street with US 41/M-28 through the existing intersection. The previous intersection configuration dated back to November 1963. It had been labeled as "dangerous and [causing] significant traffic delays" by the designers of the replacement. A traffic study concluded in 2007 that the intersection would need either the roundabout or a traffic signal with several turning lanes to accommodate the traffic needs in the area. MDOT decided in favor of a two-lane, 150-foot-wide (46 m) roundabout retaining the right-turn lanes from the previous intersection layout. These lanes will be used by right-turning traffic to bypass the circle at the center of the intersection. MDOT engineers touted the constant-flowing nature of the design as a benefit to the new intersection, and city planners promoted the enhanced safety aspects of the project. Both parties stated the planned intersection was less expensive than a conventional stop light. Residents have expressed concerns about snow plowing and truck traffic in the intersection. The designers consulted officials of Avon, Colorado, where several roundabouts are situated in a location that averages over 300 inches (760 cm) of annual snowfall. Designers planned the size of the new intersection to accommodate truck traffic. MDOT has stated that many of the concerns expressed are due to misconceptions and unfounded assumptions about the design. The department held an informational meeting with the residents on April 15, 2010, before construction began. Topics ranged from emergency vehicles, plowing, trucks, accidents and detour plans. Construction started on the project in May. One lane of traffic in each direction was maintained for US 41/M-28. Motorists seeking access to downtown were detoured via Grove Street or Lakeshore Boulevard. The Downtown Development Authority had plans to purchase billboards helping to direct customers to the downtown shopping district. A section of the intersection was opened in July to traffic from the south that turns west. The lanes northbound into downtown were opened in the beginning of August, and the city held a ribbon cutting ceremony on August 19, 2010. The remaining lanes were opened the next day. To address residents' concerns about truck traffic through the intersection, the mayor noted that a large lumber truck successfully navigated the roundabout after the ribbon was cut. "It just cruised right around and through. All of these people who are wondering is it big enough, can you get a firetruck on it? Yes, you can," stated Mayor John Kivela. ### Keweenaw Bay relocation In 2010, officials from MDOT announced a \$2.3 million project to move a 1.6-mile-long (2.6 km) section of US 41 about 100 feet (30 m) inland along a set of cliffs five miles (8.0 km) north of Baraga. The sandstone cliffs were eroding next to Keweenaw Bay, and a 2007 study from MTU said that action at that time would be needed within a decade. The department had funding available in 2010 and decided to take on the project at the time. Local homes were not affected by the project, although the state had to purchase property to accommodate the shift. A parallel rail line was removed in the project. Rail service from Baraga to Chassell has been suspended for several years, and the right-of-way had been overgrown with brush; the rails will be replaced if needed in the future. The project was completed in October 2010. ## Historic bridges Seven bridges along the US 41 corridor have been recognized for their historic character by various organizations. Six of the seven are listed on MDOT's Historic Bridge Inventory; the seventh not listed by MDOT is on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and Michigan's State Register of Historic Sites (SRHS) along with four of the others. ### Portage Lake Lift Bridge The Portage Lake Lift Bridge connects the cities of Hancock and Houghton by crossing over the Portage Waterway, an arm of Portage Lake that cuts across the Keweenaw Peninsula. A canal links the final several miles of the lake arm to Lake Superior to the northwest. This lift bridge features a middle section capable of being raised from a low point of 4 feet (1.2 m) of clearance over the water to a clearance of 32 feet (9.8 m) to allow boats to pass underneath. The Portage Lake Lift Bridge is the widest and heaviest double-decked vertical lift bridge in the world. The lower deck of the span was originally open to rail traffic when it was built in 1959, but this level is now closed to trains and is used in the winter for snowmobile traffic. The lift bridge is the last of several previous crossings over the waterway. A wooden swing bridge was built in 1875. A newer, iron swing bridge was built in 1897; this structure was partially destroyed in 1905 when it was struck by a ship. This second crossing was rebuilt in 1906 and remained in service until the lift bridge was opened in December 1959. The current bridge was last used for railroad traffic in the summer of 1982, after the Soo Line rail lines north of Houghton were abandoned starting in 1976. The middle section is left in an intermediate position for the warmer nine months of the year so that vehicle traffic can use the lower deck of the lift span and pleasure craft can pass under the bridge. In the winter, the lift span is lowered so snowmobiles and skiers can use the lower deck while cars and trucks use the upper deck. ### Interstate Bridge The Interstate Bridge was built in 1929 for \$700,000 (equivalent to \$ in ) to carry US 41 over the Menominee River at the state line. This span replaced a series of bridges built to connect Marinette, Wisconsin, and Menominee, Michigan, across the river. The first bridge was built in 1865 with a second built in 1872 that was replaced in 1929 with the third bridge. This third crossing was 850 feet (259 m) in length, consisting of eleven 80-foot (24 m) spans. The bridge was rehabilitated in 1970 in a project that included widening the deck and replacing the guard rails. Another construction project in 1999 repaired the Michigan side and the slough bridge portion of the Wisconsin side of the structure; the project closed the bridge for six months. The Interstate Bridge was completely replaced starting on November 1, 2004, in a joint project between the MDOT and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. The 13-month project was budgeted to cost \$6.45 million (equivalent to \$ in ). Demolition started in the center of the crossing, sawing the deck into pieces for disposal. This reconstruction was completed ahead of schedule, and the span reopened on November 22, 2005. The project completely replaced the bridge above the water line with wider traffic lanes, a new bicycle lane and wider sidewalks. Images of wild rice were sculpted into the concrete because "Menominee" in the local Menominee language means "wild rice". These sculptures were added to the other decorative elements placed on the new bridge including the railings and light poles. The new Interstate Bridge was dedicated on December 3, 2005, in a ribbon-cutting ceremony that replicated the 1930 ceremony on the previous crossing. ### NRHP-listed bridges Five other bridges are listed on the NRHP and the Michigan SRHS as well as on the MDOT Historic Bridge Inventory. The first is in Limestone Township in Alger County. Designated Trunk Line Bridge No. 264, it carries King Road across the Whitefish River along a former alignment of US 41 built in 1919. Constructed of two 35-foot (11 m) through girders, the span continues to carry traffic although it is no longer on a state trunkline highway. Drivers cannot use the Peshekee River Bridge south of US 41/M-28 in western Marquette County's Michigamme Township. The structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999 for its engineering and architectural significance. MDOT has listed it on their Historic Bridge Inventory as "one of Michigan's most important vehicular bridges". It was the first bridge designed by the Michigan State Highway Department (MSHD), the forerunner to MDOT, in 1914. As the first crossing, it was designated "Trunk Line Bridge No. 1" and served as the prototype for hundreds of similar concrete through-girder bridges built in the state before the design fell out of favor in 1930. It was bypassed by a new structure built over the Peshekee River for US 41/M-28 and subsequently abandoned as a roadway, deteriorating in a county park. Another abandoned bridge is now privately owned and in use at the mouth of the Backwater Creek on the Keweenaw Bay near L'Anse. The span was constructed in 1918 for \$4,536 (equivalent to \$ in ). It is an 80-foot (24 m) Warren truss design now situated on private property. This abandoned bridge was listed on the National Register in 1999. One bridge still in use crosses the Sturgeon River in Baraga County, known locally as the Canyon Falls Bridge. The structure was completed in 1948 as a steel arch bridge to span the river near the falls as part of a reconstruction project of US 41 between Ishpeming and L'Anse. The crossing has a main span of 128 feet (39 m) flanked by two 52-foot (16 m) approach spans. The last historic bridge on US 41 is located near the northern terminus east of Copper Harbor. The Fanny Hooe Creek crossing was listed on the NRHP in 1999, but as of 2012, MDOT has not included the structure on its inventory of historic bridges online. The creek crossing is just west of the Fort Wilkins State Park entrance. MSHD and the Keweenaw County Road Commission designed and built the span in 1927–28 for \$8,132 (equivalent to \$ in ). The bridge is unique for its stonework decoration on the 25-foot (8 m) span over the creek. This stonework includes fieldstones not usually associated with Michigan highway bridges. The crossing has remained in service since construction without alteration. ## Memorial designations Seven memorial designations have been applied to sections of US 41. Some of these designations follow other highways that run concurrently with US 41. Most of the designations are no longer in use, but the Jacobetti and Veterans memorial highways still have signage posted on the side of the road. The Great Lakes Automobile Route was established in 1917 by the Upper Peninsula Development Bureau. A predecessor of the Great Lakes Circle Tours years later, the route followed "... a circular journey along the banks of lakes Michigan and Superior and Green Bay ..." This route followed the modern US 41 from the M-28 junction in Harvey to Copper Harbor. A branch of the route followed US 2/US 41 between Powers and Rapid River. The name fell out of use before its first anniversary because of World War I. The route was originally intended to entice motorists to drive around Lake Michigan; the side trips to Lake Superior distracted from this mission. Sheridan Road was created in the early 20th century connecting Chicago with Fort Sheridan north of the city. Both the road and the fort were named in honor of Philip Sheridan, Union general during the Civil War. Sheridan, who served as colonel of the 2nd Michigan Cavalry in 1862, was later promoted to the rank of major general during the war. The Greater Sheridan Road Association started to promote an extension of the road south to St. Louis and north through Wisconsin and Michigan to end at Fort Wilkins in Copper Harbor by 1922. The roadway followed US 41's predecessor, M-15, and included numerous road signs bearing Sheridan's silhouette mounted on his horse Rienzi. Towns along the way were encouraged to rename city streets as Sheridan Road on Labor Day 1923. The road was promoted until the Great Depression in the 1930s. All that remains are signs in Menominee noting that First Street was once Sheridan Road. The Townsend National Highway was named for Charles E. Townsend, a former congressman and senator from Michigan. As a senator, he introduced the federal highway aid bill in 1919. The Michigan Good Roads Association promoted a highway in his name between Mobile, Alabama, and Michigan. The Michigan segment followed a number of highways through the two peninsulas, including the modern US 41 between Harvey and Calumet. Only Townsend Drive in Houghton retains the name in part. Memory Lane was created in 1947 along US 41 in Baraga. The local Lions Club planted over 100 red maple trees at the recommendation of a state highway department forester to honor the veterans of World War I and World War II. The Amvets Memorial Drive designation was created for the section of US 2/US 41/M-35 between the northern Escanaba city limits and CR 426 in Delta County. The American Veterans (AMVETS) organization in Michigan petitioned the Michigan Legislature to grant this designation which was granted under Public Act 144 in 1959. The D. J. Jacobetti Memorial Highway follows the segment of US 41 concurrent with M-28 between Harvey and the Ishpeming–Negaunee city limits in Marquette County. The designation was created in 1986 and continues east along M-28 to honor the longest serving member of the Michigan Legislature, elected to a record 21 terms before his death in 1994. A section of US 41 is one of six unrelated Veterans Memorial Highway designations in Michigan. The Upper Peninsula designation follows the western end of M-28, including the section of US 41 between Ishpeming and Covington. This memorial was created in Public Act 10 of 2003 and dedicated on Memorial Day in 2004. ## Major intersections ## Business loops There have been three business loops for US 41: Ishpeming–Negaunee, Marquette and Baraga. Only the business loop serving Ishpeming and Negaunee is still a state-maintained trunkline, but it is no longer designated Bus. US 41. US 41/M-28 was relocated to bypass the two cities' downtowns in 1937. The highway through downtown Ishpeming and Negaunee later carried the ALT US 41/ALT M-28 designation before being designated Bus. M-28 in 1958. The western end of the business loop was transferred to local government control when Bus. M-28 was moved along Lakeshore Drive in 1999. Bus. US 41 in Marquette was first shown on a map in 1964 after the construction of the Marquette Bypass. It was later designated Bus. US 41/Bus. M-28 on a map in 1975; this second designation was removed from maps by 1982. The entire business loop was turned back to local control in a "route swap" between the City of Marquette and MDOT announced in early 2005. The proposal transferred jurisdiction on the unsigned M-554 and the business route from the state to the city. The state would take jurisdiction over a segment of McClellan Avenue to be used to extend M-553 to US 41/M-28. In addition, MDOT would pay \$2.5 million (equivalent to \$ in ) for reconstruction work planned for 2007. The transfer would increase Marquette's operational and maintenance liability expenses by \$26,000 (equivalent to \$ in ) and place the financial burden of the future replacement of a stop light on the city. On October 10, 2005, MDOT and Marquette transferred jurisdiction over the three roadways. As a result, Bus. US 41 was decommissioned when the local government took control over Washington and Front streets. As a result of the decommissioning, the 2006 maps did not show the former business loop. The third business loop was in Baraga in the early 1940s. As shown on the maps of the time, US 41 was relocated in Baraga between the publication of the December 1, 1939, and the April 15, 1940, MSHD maps. A business loop followed the old routing through downtown. The last map that shows the loop was published on July 1, 1941. Bus. US 41 is shown under local control on the June 15, 1942, map. ## See also
36,437,899	RKO Pictures	1,172,456,678	American film production and distribution company	[ "1929 establishments in California", "Academy Award for Technical Achievement winners", "American companies established in 1929", "American film studios", "Articles containing video clips", "Cinema of Southern California", "Defunct organizations based in Hollywood, Los Angeles", "Entertainment companies based in California", "Film distributors of the United States", "Film production companies of the United States", "Howard Hughes", "Mass media companies disestablished in 1959", "Mass media companies established in 1929", "RKO General", "RKO Pictures films", "Re-established companies", "Recipients of the Scientific and Technical Academy Award of Merit" ]	RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chain and Joseph P. Kennedy's Film Booking Offices of America studio were brought together under the control of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in October 1928. RCA executive David Sarnoff engineered the merger to create a market for the company's sound-on-film technology, RCA Photophone, and in early 1929 production began under the RKO name (an abbreviation of Radio-Keith-Orpheum). Two years later, another Kennedy concern, the Pathé studio, was folded into the operation. By the mid-1940s, RKO was controlled by investor Floyd Odlum. RKO has long been renowned for its cycle of musicals starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the mid- to late 1930s. Actors Katharine Hepburn and, later, Robert Mitchum had their first major successes at the studio. Cary Grant was a mainstay for years, with credits including touchstones of the screwball comedy genre with which RKO was identified. The work of producer Val Lewton's low-budget horror unit and RKO's many ventures into the field now known as film noir have been acclaimed, largely after the fact, by film critics and historians. The studio produced two of the most famous films in motion picture history: King Kong and Citizen Kane. RKO was also responsible for notable coproductions such as It's a Wonderful Life and Notorious, and it distributed many celebrated films by animation pioneer Walt Disney and leading independent producer Samuel Goldwyn. Though it often couldn't compete financially for top star and director contracts, RKO's below-the-line personnel were among the finest, including composer Max Steiner, cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca, and designer Van Nest Polglase. Maverick industrialist Howard Hughes took over RKO in 1948. After years of disarray and decline under his control, the studio was acquired by the General Tire and Rubber Company in 1955. The original RKO Pictures ceased production in 1957 and was effectively dissolved two years later. In 1978, broadcaster RKO General, the corporate heir, launched a production subsidiary, RKO Pictures Inc., which revived the theatrical brand with its first releases three years later. In 1989, this business, with its remaining assets, including the studio trademarks and the remake rights to many classic RKO films, was sold to new owners, who established the small independent company RKO Pictures LLC. The original studio's film library is now largely controlled by Warner Bros. Discovery. ## Origin In October 1927, Warner Bros. released The Jazz Singer, the first feature-length talking picture. Its success prompted Hollywood to convert from silent to sound film production en masse. The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) controlled an advanced optical sound-on-film system, Photophone, recently developed by General Electric, RCA's parent company. Its path to joining the anticipated boom in sound movies had a major hurdle: Warner Bros. and Fox, Hollywood's other vanguard sound studio, were already financially and technologically aligned with ERPI, a subsidiary of AT&T's Western Electric division. The industry's two largest companies, Paramount and Loew's/MGM, along with First National Pictures—third of the silent era "Big Three" major studios, but by then in marked decline—and Universal Pictures, were poised to contract with ERPI and its Vitaphone and Movietone systems for sound conversion as well. Seeking a customer for Photophone, then general manager of RCA David Sarnoff approached financier Joseph P. Kennedy in late 1927 about using the system for his Film Booking Offices of America (FBO). A Kennedy-led investment group had acquired the modest-sized, low-budget-focused studio the previous year, and he had turned it into a steady profit maker. Negotiations resulted in RCA acquiring a substantial interest in FBO; Sarnoff had apparently already conceived of a plan for the studio to attain a central position in the film industry, maximizing Photophone revenue. Next was securing a string of exhibition venues like those the leading Hollywood production companies owned. Kennedy began investigating the possibility of such a purchase. At that same time, the allied Keith-Albee and Orpheum theater circuits, built around the then fading medium of live vaudeville, were pursuing a transition into the movie business. In 1926 the exhibitors had acquired a 50 percent stake in the holding company of Producers Distributing Corporation (PDC), a smaller studio than FBO but more prestigious. Famed director Cecil B. De Mille—PDC studio chief and owner of its Culver City production facility—had been draining the company's resources for his well-appointed productions, and it had been finding little success in getting its films into first-run theaters, which were largely tied up by the majors. In early 1927, despite months of DeMille's strenuous objections, an agreement was reached to merge PDC into Pathé, a lower-level studio known for its newsreel and churn out of cheap shorts. Investment banker Elisha Walker, whose Blair & Co. firm owned the controlling interest in Pathé, brought on Keith-Albee general manager John J. Murdock as studio president. In January 1928, a less tense merger, engineered by Murdock, was finalized, establishing the Keith-Albee-Orpheum (KAO) theater chain. With Pathé's finances in a ditch, Murdock, at Walker's prodding, turned to Kennedy for help in reorganizing the studio and consolidating it with PDC. The two men found that they had mutual interests, in particular, removing Edward Albee, the "Czar of Vaudeville" and Murdock's nominal boss, from the picture. Sarnoff's vision of a new big-league studio was coming into focus—and both Kennedy and Walker had similar notions. Assisted by Murdock and with Blair & Co.'s backing, Kennedy quickly maneuvered to interlock KAO and FBO, selling the exhibitor a substantial stake in his studio while buying up copious amounts of KAO stock. Within months, he had installed himself as chairman of the theater chain's new board of directors. When Albee, still KAO president, visited his office, Kennedy reportedly asked, "Didn't you know, Ed? You're washed up. You're through." DeMille departed with a large payout in April and later in the year signed a three-picture deal with MGM. Sarnoff and Kennedy began talks about setting up a holding company funded by RCA cash and KAO securities, but plans stalled as Sarnoff grew frustrated with Kennedy's reluctance to pay for the Photophone work proceeding, if slowly, at FBO and Pathé. An attempt by Kennedy to reorganize yet another studio that had turned to him for help, now ERPI-aligned First National, further strained his relationship with Sarnoff and raised the threat that Photophone would be locked out of the industry entirely. Though Kennedy's deal with First National collapsed within weeks, the RCA executive saw that it was time to make his move. In September, while Kennedy was traveling in Europe, Sarnoff began negotiations with Walker, whose firm was now heavily invested in KAO, to merge the exhibition circuit with Film Booking Offices under RCA control. Soon after Kennedy's return at the end of the month, he closed the deal, arranging to sell off his FBO and KAO shares, options, and convertibles at enormous profit. On October 23, 1928, RCA announced the creation of the Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corp. holding company, with Sarnoff as board chairman. The new administration made clear that Kennedy's services were no longer needed and he stepped down from his board and executive positions in the merged businesses, leaving him with co-ownership and management of Pathé and the PDC assets that it had absorbed. RCA owned the governing stock interest in RKO, 22 percent (in the early 1930s, its stake rose as high as 60 percent). On January 25, 1929, the new company's production arm, presided over by former FBO vice-president Joseph I. Schnitzer, was unveiled as RKO Productions Inc. A week later, it filed for the trademark "Radio Pictures". ## Golden Age studio ### Early years While the main FBO studio in Hollywood was refitted for sound, production of shorts began in New York at the RKO Gramercy studio Sarnoff had just opened. RCA's radio network, NBC, began broadcasting a weekly variety show, The RKO Hour, that became a prime promotional vehicle for the studio's films. The first two features released by the new company were musicals: The melodramatic Syncopation, which actually completed shooting before FBO was reincorporated as RKO, premiered on March 29, 1929. The comedic Street Girl debuted July 30. This was billed as RKO's first "official" production and its first to be shot in Hollywood. As with many early RKO films, the producer was studio chief William LeBaron, who had held the same position at FBO. A few nonsinging pictures followed, but RKO's first major hit was again a musical. The studio spent heavily on the lavish Rio Rita, including a number of Technicolor sequences. Opening in September to rave reviews, it was named one of the ten best pictures of the year by Film Daily. Cinema historian Richard Barrios credits it with initiating the "first age of the filmed Broadway musical". By the end of the year, RKO was making use of an additional production facility—five hundred acres had been acquired near Encino in the San Fernando Valley as a movie ranch for exteriors and large-scale standing sets. With RKO Productions' films handled by sibling subsidiary RKO Distributing Corp., the studio released a limited slate of twelve features in its first year; in 1930, the figure more than doubled to twenty-nine. That July, RKO Productions Inc. was renamed RKO Radio Pictures Inc. RKO Pictures Ltd. was set up to handle British distribution. Encouraged by Rio Rita's success, RKO produced several costly musicals incorporating Technicolor sequences, among them Dixiana and Hit the Deck, both scripted and directed, like Rio Rita, by Luther Reed. Following the example of the other major studios, RKO had planned to create its own musical revue, Radio Revels. Promoted as the studio's most extravagant production to date, it was to be photographed entirely in Technicolor. The project was abandoned, as the public's taste for musicals temporarily subsided. From more than sixty Hollywood musicals in 1929 and over eighty the following year, the number dropped to eleven in 1931. Rio Rita star Bebe Daniels, who had joined the new studio as its top female name after the final months of her contract at Paramount were bought out, fell victim to the shifting market. Her big musical follow-up, Dixiana, had been a big money loser, and in January 1931 her contract was sold to Warner Bros. RKO, meanwhile, was in a contractual bind that it couldn't get out of: it was committed to producing two more features with Technicolor's system, even as audiences had come to associate color with the momentarily out-of-favor musical genre. Fulfilling its obligations, RKO produced two all-Technicolor pictures, The Runaround and Fanny Foley Herself (both 1931), containing no musical sequences. Neither was a success. Despite these issues—and the foundering US economy—RKO had gone on a spending spree, buying up theater after theater to add to its exhibition chain. In October 1930, the company purchased a 50 percent stake in the New York Van Beuren studio, which specialized in cartoons and live shorts. Looking to get out of the film business, Kennedy arranged for RKO to purchase Pathé, in a deal that protected his associates' bond investments while it crushed many small stockholders who had bought in at artificially high prices. (Indeed, Kennedy, who had previously sold all of his Pathé holdings, started buying back bonds, which he turned around for substantial gains.) The deal was secured on January 29, 1931, and the studio, with its contract players, well-regarded newsreel operation, and DeMille's old Culver City studio and backlot, became the semiautonomous RKO Pathé Pictures Inc. The acquisition, though a defensible investment in the long term for Pathé's physical facilities, was yet another major expense borne by the fledgling RKO, particularly as the reliably avaricious Kennedy had masked Pathé's considerable financial woes, just as he had with FBO and KAO. There was an undeniable plus side to the merger: when Pathé's Constance Bennett, Ann Harding, and Helen Twelvetrees joined the Radio family in early 1931, they were bigger box office draws than anyone on the RKO roster. The studio's production schedule surpassed forty features a year, released under the names "Radio Pictures" and, until late 1932, "RKO Pathé". Cimarron (1931) became the only RKO production to win the Academy Award for Best Picture; it cost a profligate \$1.4 million, however, and lost nearly half that on its first release. Cimmaron'''s female principal, Irene Dunne, was the studio's one major homegrown star of this early pre-Code era; having made her screen debut as the lead in the 1930 musical Leathernecking, she would headline at the studio for the entire decade, under contracts that gave her an unusual amount of power. Other significant actors of the period included Joel McCrea, Ricardo Cortez, Dolores del Río, and Mary Astor. Richard Dix, Oscar-nominated for his performance in Cimarron, would serve as RKO's standby B-movie leading man until the early 1940s, while Tom Keene was top-billed in twelve low-budget Westerns between 1931 and 1933. The comedy team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, often wrangling over ingenue Dorothy Lee, was a bankable constant for almost a decade. ### Success under Selznick Exceptions like Cimarron and Rio Rita aside, RKO's product was largely regarded as mediocre, so in October 1931 Sarnoff hired twenty-nine-year-old David O. Selznick to replace LeBaron as production chief. In addition to implementing rigorous cost-control measures, Selznick championed the unit production system, which gave the producers of individual movies much greater independence than they had under the prevailing central producer system. "Under the factory system of production you rob the director of his individualism", said Selznick, "and this being a creative industry that is harmful to the quality of the product made." Instituting unit production, he predicted, would also result in cost savings of 30–40 percent. To make films under the new system, Selznick recruited prize behind-the-camera personnel, such as director George Cukor and producer/director Merian C. Cooper, and gave producer Pandro S. Berman, aged twenty-six, increasingly important projects. Selznick discovered and signed a young actress who would quickly become one of the studio's big stars, Katharine Hepburn. John Barrymore was also enlisted for a few memorable performances. In November 1931, just as Selznick was assuming his new post, the separate Pathé distribution network was folded into RKO's. After less than a year of largely independent operation out of Culver City, the Pathé feature film division soon followed (due to exhibition contracts, features from the division continued to come out under the combined brand until the following November). RKO Pathé was now effectively the studio's newsreel-and-shorts subsidiary. In January 1932, Variety named Constance Bennett as one of the industry's top six female "money stars". From September, the start of the industry's exhibition season, print advertising for the company's features displayed the revised name "RKO Radio Pictures". The New York City–based corporate headquarters moved into the new RKO Building, an Art Deco skyscraper that was one of the first Rockefeller Center structures to open. Hollywood on the Air, an RKO-produced program for NBC radio that promoted films from multiple studios, sparked independent exhibitors' ire at the free access to cinema stars it gave listeners—especially in the middle of prime moviegoing Friday night. Toward the end of 1932, all of the Hollywood studios except for RKO seemingly bowed to the theater owners and prohibited radio appearances by their contract actors. The ban soon crumbled. Selznick spent a mere fifteen months as RKO production chief, resigning over a dispute with new corporate president Merlin Aylesworth concerning creative control. One of his last acts at RKO was to approve a screen test for a thirty-three-year-old, balding Broadway song-and-dance man named Fred Astaire. In a memo, Selznick wrote, "I feel, in spite of his enormous ears and bad chin line, that his charm is ... tremendous". Selznick's tenure was widely considered masterful: In 1931, before he arrived, the studio had produced forty-two features for \$16 million in total budgets. In 1932, under Selznick, forty-one features were made for \$10.2 million, with clear improvement in quality and popularity. He backed several major successes, including A Bill of Divorcement (1932), with Cukor directing Hepburn's debut, and the monumental King Kong (1933)—largely Merian Cooper's brainchild, brought to life by the astonishing special effects work of Willis O'Brien. Still, the shaky finances and excesses that marked the company's pre-Selznick days had not left RKO in shape to withstand the Depression. Most of the other major studios were in similar straits. In January 1933, both RKO and Paramount were forced into receivership, from which the latter would emerge in mid-1935; RKO would not until 1940. ### Cooper at the helm Cooper took over as production head after Selznick's departure and oversaw two hits starring Hepburn: Morning Glory (1933), for which she won her first Oscar, and Little Women (1933), director Cukor's second collaboration with the actress. Among the studio's in-house productions, the latter was the biggest box-office success of the decade. Cooper sought to more tightly align costs and prospective grosses, impacting the budgets for "programmers" such as the Wheeler and Woolsey comedies: under Selznick, Hold 'Em Jail and Girl Crazy (both 1932) had cost an average of \$470,000; under Cooper, Diplomaniacs (1933) was shot for just \$242,000. Ginger Rogers had already made several minor films for RKO when Cooper signed her to a seven-year contract and cast her in the big-budget musical Flying Down to Rio (1933). Rogers was paired with Fred Astaire, making his second film. Billed fourth and fifth respectively, the picture turned them into stars. Hermes Pan, assistant to the film's dance director, became one of Hollywood's leading choreographers through his subsequent work with Astaire. Along with Columbia Pictures, RKO became one of the primary homes of the screwball comedy. As film historian James Harvey describes, compared to their richer competition, the two studios were "more receptive to experiment, more tolerant of chaos on the set. It was at these two lesser 'majors' ... that nearly all the preeminent screwball directors did their important films—[Howard] Hawks and [Gregory] La Cava and [Leo] McCarey and [George] Stevens." The relatively unheralded William A. Seiter directed the studio's first significant contribution to the genre, The Richest Girl in the World (1934). The drama Of Human Bondage (1934), directed by John Cromwell, was Bette Davis's first great success. Stevens's Alice Adams and director John Ford's The Informer were each nominated for the 1935 Best Picture Oscar—the Best Director statuette won by Ford was the only one ever given for an RKO production. The Informers star, Victor McLaglen, also took home an Academy Award; he would appear in a dozen movies for the studio over two decades. From soon after its debut in early 1935 until July 1942, Louis de Rochemont's innovative documentary series The March of Time was distributed by RKO; at its peak in the late 1930s and early 1940s, over twenty million filmgoers saw its two-reelers each month in eleven thousand US and foreign theaters. Lacking the financial resources of industry leaders MGM, Paramount, and Fox, RKO turned out many pictures during the era that belied their economies with high style in an Art Deco mode, exemplified by such Astaire–Rogers musicals as The Gay Divorcee (1934), their first pairing as leads, and Top Hat (1935). One of the figures most responsible for that style was another Selznick recruit: Van Nest Polglase, supervisor of RKO's highly regarded design department for almost a decade. Film historian James Naremore has described RKO as "chiefly a designer's studio. It never had a stable of important actors, writers, or directors, but ... it was rich in artists and special-effects technicians. As a result, its most distinctive pictures contained a strong element of fantasy—not so much the fantasy of horror, which during the thirties was the province of Universal, but the fantasy of the marvelous and adventurous." As a group, the studio's craft divisions were among the strongest in the industry. Costumer Walter Plunkett, who worked with the company from the close of the FBO era through the end of 1939, was known as the top period wardrobist in the business. Sidney Saunders, innovative head of the studio's paint department, was responsible for significant progress in rear projection quality. On June 13, 1935, RKO premiered the first feature film shot entirely in advanced three-strip Technicolor, Becky Sharp. The movie was coproduced with Pioneer Pictures, founded by Cooper—who departed RKO after two years helming production—and John Hay "Jock" Whitney, who brought in his cousin Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney; Cooper had successfully encouraged the Whitneys to purchase a major share of the Technicolor business as well. Although judged by critics a failure as drama, Becky Sharp was widely lauded for its visual brilliance and technical expertise. RKO also employed some of the industry's leading artists and craftsmen whose work was never seen. From the studio's earliest days through late 1935, Max Steiner, regarded by many historians as the most influential composer of the early years of sound cinema, made music for over 100 RKO films. Murray Spivack, head of the studio's audio special effects department, made important advances in the use of rerecording technology first heard in King Kong. ### Briskin and Berman In October 1935 the ownership team expanded, with financier Floyd Odlum leading a syndicate that bought 50 percent of RCA's stake in the company; the Rockefeller brothers, also major stockholders, increasingly became involved in the business. While RKO kept missing the mark in building Hepburn's career, other actors became regular headliners for the studio. Ann Sothern played the lead in seven RKO films between 1935 and 1937, paired five times with Gene Raymond. Stars Barbara Stanwyck and Cary Grant each signed on for several pictures. Both were sound-era trendsetters, working as freelancers under nonexclusive studio deals. Stanwyck had appeared in major studio films since 1929 without a binding long-term contract, as subsequently would several other top-billed women, including Dunne, Bennett, and Harding. When Grant went freelance after wrapping up his Paramount contract in late 1936, it was still rare for a leading man to do so while his star was on the rise. He ultimately appeared in fourteen RKO releases between 1937 and 1948. Soon after the appointment of a new production chief, Samuel Briskin, in late 1936, RKO entered into an important distribution deal with animator Walt Disney (Van Beuren consequently folded its cartoon operations). For nearly two decades, the studio released his company's features and shorts; Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) was the highest-grossing movie in the period between The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Gone with the Wind (1939). The theater operation excepted, on December 31, 1936, most of the domestic RKO subsidiaries, including RKO Distributing Corp. and its exchanges, were folded into RKO Radio Pictures Inc. Following the shift in print advertising a few years earlier, the screen brand on RKO's output, aside from the RKO Pathé line of newsreels and shorts, was likewise changed from "Radio Pictures" to "RKO Radio Pictures". In February 1937, Selznick, now a leading independent producer, took over RKO's Culver City studio and Forty Acres, as the backlot was known, under a long-term lease. Gone with the Wind, his coproduction with MGM, was largely shot there. In addition to its central Hollywood studio, RKO production now revolved around its Encino ranch. While the Disney association was beneficial, RKO's own product was widely seen as declining in quality and Briskin was gone by the end of the year. Pandro Berman—who had filled in on three previous occasions—accepted the position of production chief on a noninterim basis. He left the job before the decade's turn, but his brief tenure resulted in some of the most notable films in studio history, including Gunga Din, with Grant and McLaglen; Love Affair, starring Dunne and Charles Boyer; and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (all 1939). Charles Laughton, who gave a now fabled performance as Quasimodo in the latter, returned periodically to the studio, headlining six more RKO features. For Maureen O'Hara, who made her American screen debut in the film, it was the first of ten pictures she made for RKO through 1952. Carole Lombard signed freelance deals for headlining roles in four films between 1939 and 1941—the last of her pictures to come out before her death in a plane crash. After costarring with Ginger Rogers for the eighth time in The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939), Fred Astaire departed the studio. The studio's B Western star of the period was George O'Brien, who made eighteen RKO pictures, sixteen between 1938 and 1940. The Saint in New York (1938) successfully launched a B detective series featuring the character Simon Templar that ran through 1943. The Wheeler and Woolsey comedy series ended in 1937 when Woolsey became ill (he died the following year). RKO filled the void by releasing independently produced features such as the Dr. Christian series and the Laurel and Hardy comedy The Flying Deuces (1939). The studio soon had its own new B comedy stars in Lupe Vélez and Leon Errol: The Girl from Mexico (1939) was followed by seven frantic installments of the Mexican Spitfire series between 1940 and 1943. The studio's technical departments maintained their reputation as industry leaders; Vernon Walker's special effects unit became famous for its sophisticated use of the optical printer and lifelike matte work, an art that reached its apex with 1941's Citizen Kane. ### Kane and Schaefer's troubles Pan Berman had received his first screen credit in 1925 as a nineteen-year-old assistant director on FBO's Midnight Molly. He departed RKO in December 1939 after policy clashes with studio president George J. Schaefer, handpicked the previous year by the Rockefellers and backed by Sarnoff. With Berman gone, Schaefer became in effect production chief, though other men—including the former head of the industry censorship board, Joseph I. Breen—nominally filled the role. Schaefer, announcing his philosophy with a new studio slogan, "Quality Pictures at a Premium Price", was keen on signing up independent producers whose films RKO would distribute. In 1941, the studio landed one of the most prestigious independents in Hollywood when it arranged to handle Samuel Goldwyn's productions. The first two Goldwyn pictures released by the studio did excellent box office: The Little Foxes, directed by William Wyler and starring Bette Davis, and the Howard Hawks–directed Ball of Fire also garnered four Oscar nominations apiece; the latter was Barbara Stanwyck's biggest hit under the RKO banner. However, Schaefer agreed to terms so favorable to Goldwyn that it was next to impossible for the studio to make money with his films. David O. Selznick loaned out his leading contracted director for two RKO pictures in 1941: Alfred Hitchcock's Mr. and Mrs. Smith, the final release of Carole Lombard's lifetime, was a modest success and Suspicion a substantial one, with an Oscar-winning turn by Joan Fontaine. That May, having granted twenty-five-year-old star and director Orson Welles virtually complete creative control over the film, RKO released Citizen Kane. While it opened to strong reviews and went on to be hailed as one of the greatest movies ever made, it lost money at the time and brought down the wrath of the Hearst newspaper chain on RKO. The next year saw the commercial failure of Welles's The Magnificent Ambersons—like Kane, critically lauded and overbudget—and the expensive embarrassment of his aborted documentary It's All True. The three Welles productions combined to drain \$2 million from the RKO coffers, major money for a corporation that had reported an overall deficit of \$1 million in 1940 and a nominal profit of a bit more than \$500,000 in 1941. Many of RKO's other artistically ambitious pictures were also dying at the box office and it was losing its last exclusive deal with a major star as well. Rogers, after winning an Oscar in 1941 for her performance in the previous year's Kitty Foyle, held out for a freelance contract like Lombard's or Grant's. No star appeared in more RKO films than Rogers: thirty between 1931 and 1943, then one-offs in 1946 and 1956. On June 17, 1942, Schaefer tendered his resignation. He departed a weakened and troubled studio, but RKO was about to turn the corner. Propelled by the box-office boom of World War II and guided by new management, RKO made a strong comeback over the next half-decade. ### Rebound under Koerner By the end of June 1942, Floyd Odlum had taken over a controlling interest in the company via his Atlas Corporation, edging aside the Rockefellers and Sarnoff. Charles Koerner, former head of the RKO theater chain and allied with Odlum, had assumed the title of production chief some time prior to Schaefer's departure. With Schaefer gone, Koerner could actually do the job. Announcing a new corporate motto, "Showmanship in Place of Genius: A New Deal at RKO", a snipe at Schaefer's artistic ambitions in general and his sponsorship of Welles in particular, Koerner brought the studio much-needed stability until his death in February 1946. The change in RKO's fortunes was virtually immediate: corporate profits rose from \$736,241 in 1942 (the theatrical division compensating for the studio's \$2.34 million deficit) to \$6.96 million the following year. The Rockefellers sold off their stock and, early in 1943, RCA dispensed with the last of its holdings in the company as well, cutting David Sarnoff's ties to the studio that was largely his conception. A new RKO Pathé "news magazine" series, This Is America, had been launched the previous October to take the place of The March of Time after Time Inc. switched its distribution to Twentieth Century-Fox. In June 1944, a subsidiary, RKO Television Corporation, was established to produce content for the fledgling medium. Talk Fast, Mister, an hour-long drama shot at the RKO Pathé studio in Manhattan and broadcast by the DuMont Laboratories–owned New York station WABD on December 18, 1944, was the first made-for-TV movie. In collaboration with Mexican businessman Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta, RKO established Estudios Churubusco in Mexico City in 1945. With RKO on increasingly secure ground, Koerner sought to increase its output of handsomely budgeted, star-driven features. However, the studio's only remaining major stars with anything like extended deals were Grant, whose services were shared with Columbia Pictures, and O'Hara, shared with Fox. Lacking in-house stars, Koerner and his successors under Odlum arranged with the other studios to loan out their biggest names or signed one of the growing number of freelance performers to short-term, "pay or play" deals. Thus RKO pictures of the mid- and late forties offered Bing Crosby, Henry Fonda, and others who were out of the studio's price range for extended contracts. John Wayne appeared in 1943's A Lady Takes a Chance while on loan from Republic Pictures; he was soon working regularly with RKO, making nine more movies for the studio. Gary Cooper appeared in RKO releases produced by Goldwyn and, later, the startup International Pictures, and Claudette Colbert starred in a number of RKO coproductions. Ingrid Bergman, on loan out from Selznick, starred opposite Bing Crosby in The Bells of St. Mary's (1945), a coproduction with director Leo McCarey. The top box-office film of the year, it turned a \$3.7 million profit for RKO, the most in the company's history. Bergman returned in the coproductions Notorious (1946) and Stromboli (1950), and in the independently produced Joan of Arc (1948). Freelancing Randolph Scott appeared in one major RKO release annually from 1943 through 1948. In similar fashion, many leading directors made one or more films for RKO during this era, including Alfred Hitchcock once more, with Notorious, and Jean Renoir, with This Land Is Mine (1943), reuniting Laughton and O'Hara, and The Woman on the Beach (1947). RKO and Orson Welles had an arm's-length reunion via The Stranger (1946), an independent production he starred in as well as directed. Welles later called it his worst film, but it was the only one he ever made that turned a profit in its first run. In December 1946, the studio released Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life; while it would eventually be recognized as one of the greatest films of Hollywood's Golden Age, at the time it lost more than half a million dollars for RKO. John Ford's The Fugitive (1947) and Fort Apache (1948), which appeared right before studio ownership changed hands again, were followed by She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Wagon Master (1950); all four were coproductions between RKO and Argosy, the company run by Ford and RKO alumnus Merian C. Cooper. Of the directors under long-term contract to RKO in the 1940s, the best known was Edward Dmytryk, who first came to notice with the remarkably profitable Hitler's Children (1943). Shot on a \$205,000 budget, placing it in the bottom quartile of Big Five studio productions, it was one of the ten biggest Hollywood hits of the year. Another low-cost war-themed film directed by Dmytryk, Behind the Rising Sun, released a few months later, was similarly profitable. ### Focus on B movies Much more than the other Big Five studios, RKO relied on B pictures to fill up its schedule. Of the thirty-one features released by RKO in 1944, for instance, ten were budgeted below \$200,000, twelve were in the \$200,000 to \$500,000 range, and only nine cost more. In contrast, a clear majority of the features put out by the other top four studios were budgeted at over half a million dollars. A focus on B pictures limited the studio's financial risk; while it also limited the potential for reward (Dmytryk's extraordinary coups aside), RKO had a history of making better profits with its run-of-the-mill and low-cost product than with its A movies. The studio's low-budget films offered training opportunities for new directors, as well, among them Mark Robson, Robert Wise, and Anthony Mann. Robson and Wise received their first directing assignments with producer Val Lewton, whose specialized B horror unit also included the more experienced director Jacques Tourneur. The Lewton unit's moody, atmospheric work—represented by films such as Cat People (1942), I Walked with a Zombie (1943), and The Body Snatcher (1945)—is now highly regarded. Richard Dix concluded his lengthy RKO career with the 1943 Lewton production The Ghost Ship. Tim Holt, who succeeded George O'Brien as RKO's cowboy star, appeared in forty-six B Westerns and more than fifty movies altogether for the studio, beginning in 1940. That same year, Chester Lauck and Norris Goff brought their famous comic characters Lum and Abner from radio to the screen for the first of six independently produced RKO releases. Between 1943 and 1946, the studio teamed contract actors Wally Brown and Alan Carney for comedies that openly mimicked the work of the wildly popular Abbott and Costello; Brown and Carney's eight pairings didn't approach their prototypes' success. The Falcon detective series began in 1941; the Saint and the Falcon were so similar that Saint creator Leslie Charteris sued RKO. The Falcon was first played by George Sanders, who had appeared five times as the Saint. He bowed out after four Falcon films and was replaced by his brother, Tom Conway. Conway had a nine-film run in the part before the series ended in 1946. Johnny Weissmuller starred in six Tarzan pictures for RKO between 1943 and 1948 before being replaced by Lex Barker for five more. Film noir, to which lower budgets lent themselves, became something of a house style at the studio; indeed, the RKO B Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) is widely seen as initiating noir's classic period. Its cinematographer, Nicholas Musuraca, who began at FBO in the 1920s and stayed with RKO through 1954, is a central figure in creating the look of classic noir. Design chief Albert D'Agostino—another long-termer, who succeeded Van Nest Polglase in 1941—and art director Walter Keller, along with others in the department, such as art directors Carroll Clark and Jack Okey and set decorator Darrell Silvera, are similarly credited. The studio's 1940s list of contract players was filled with noir regulars: Robert Mitchum (who graduated to major star status) and Robert Ryan each made no fewer than ten film noirs for RKO. Gloria Grahame, Jane Greer, and Lawrence Tierney were also notable studio players in the field. Freelancer George Raft starred in two noir hits: Johnny Angel (1945) and Nocturne (1946). Tourneur, Musuraca, Mitchum, and Greer, along with D'Agostino's design group, joined to make the A-budgeted Out of the Past (1947), now considered one of the greatest of all film noirs. Nicholas Ray began his directing career with the noir They Live by Night (1948), the first of a number of well-received films he made for RKO. ### HUAC and Howard Hughes RKO, and the movie industry as a whole, had its most profitable year ever in 1946. A Goldwyn production released by RKO, The Best Years of Our Lives, was the most successful Hollywood film of the decade and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. But the legal status of the industry's reigning business model was increasingly being called into doubt: the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Bigelow v. RKO that the company was liable for damages under antitrust statutes for having denied an independent movie house access to first-run films—a common practice among all of the Big Five. With profits at a high point, Floyd Odlum cashed in by selling off about 40 percent of his shares in the company to a group of investment firms. After Koerner's death, Radio-Keith-Orpheum president N. Peter Rathvon and RKO Radio Pictures president Ned E. Depinet had exchanged positions, with Depinet moving to the corporate offices in New York and Rathvon relocating to Hollywood and doubling as production chief while a permanent replacement was sought for Koerner. On the first day of 1947, producer and Oscar-winning screenwriter Dore Schary, who had been working at the studio on loan from Selznick, took over the role. RKO appeared in good shape to build on its recent successes, but the year brought a number of unpleasant harbingers for all of Hollywood. The British government imposed a 75 percent tax on films produced abroad; along with similarly confiscatory taxes and quota laws enacted by other countries, this led to a sharp decline in foreign revenues. The postwar attendance boom peaked sooner than expected and television emerged as a competitor for audience interest. Across the board, profits fell—a 27 percent drop for the Hollywood studios from 1946 to 1947. In July, RKO Pathé's signature newsreel was sold to Warner Bros. for a reported \$4 million. The phenomenon later called McCarthyism was building strength, and in October, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) began hearings into Communism in the motion picture industry. Two of RKO's top talents, Dmytryk and producer Adrian Scott, refused to cooperate. As a consequence, they were fired by RKO per the terms of the Waldorf Statement, the major studios' pledge to "eliminate any subversives". Scott, Dmytryk, and eight others who also defied HUAC—dubbed the Hollywood Ten—were blacklisted across the industry. Ironically, the studio's major success of the year was Crossfire, a Scott–Dmytryk film. Odlum concluded it was time to exit the film business, and he put Atlas's remaining RKO shares—approximately 25 percent of the outstanding stock—on the market. For her performance in The Farmer's Daughter (1947), a coproduction with Selznick's Vanguard Films, Loretta Young won the Best Actress Oscar the following March. It was the last major Academy Award for an RKO picture. In May 1948, eccentric aviation tycoon and occasional movie producer Howard Hughes spent \$8.8 million to gain control of the company, beating out British film magnate J. Arthur Rank for Odlum's stake. During Hughes's tenure, RKO suffered its worst years since the early 1930s, as his capricious management style took a heavy toll. Production chief Schary quit almost immediately due to his new boss's interference and Rathvon soon followed. Within weeks of taking over, Hughes had dismissed three-fourths of the work force; production was virtually shut down for six months as the conservative Hughes shelved or canceled several of the "message pictures" that Schary had backed. All of the Big Five saw their profits dwindle in 1948—from Fox, down 11 percent, to Loew's/MGM, down 62 percent—but at RKO they virtually vanished: from \$5.1 million in 1947 to \$0.5 million, a drop of 90 percent. The production-distribution end of the RKO business, now deep in the red, would never make a profit again. Offscreen, Robert Mitchum's arrest and conviction for marijuana possession—he served two months in jail—was widely assumed to mean career death for RKO's most promising young star, but Hughes surprised the industry by announcing that his contract was not endangered. Of much broader significance, Hughes decided to get the jump on his Big Five competitors by being the first to settle the federal government's antitrust suit against the major studios, which had won a crucial Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. Under the consent decree he signed, Hughes agreed to dissolve the old parent company, Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corp., and split RKO's production-distribution business and its exhibition chain into two entirely separate corporations—RKO Pictures Corp. and RKO Theatres Corp.—with the obligation to promptly sell off one or the other. While Hughes delayed the divorcement procedure until December 1950 and didn't actually sell his stock in the theater company for another three years, his decision to acquiesce was one of the crucial steps in the collapse of classical Hollywood's studio system. ### Turmoil under Hughes Shooting at RKO picked up again in early 1949, but from an average of around thirty films annually before Hughes's takeover, production fell to just twelve that year. Sporting the new title of managing director of production, Hughes quickly became notorious for meddling in minute filmmaking matters and promoting actresses he favored—including two under personal contract to him, Jane Russell and Faith Domergue. While his time at RKO was marked by both diminished production and a slew of expensive flops, the studio continued to turn out some well-received films under production chiefs Sid Rogell and Sam Bischoff, though both became fed up with Hughes's interloping and each in turn quit after less than two years. Bischoff was the last man to hold the job under Hughes. There were B noirs such as The Window (1949), which turned into a hit, and The Set-Up (1949), directed by Robert Wise and starring Robert Ryan, which won the Critic's Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. The Thing from Another World (1951), a science-fiction drama coproduced with Howard Hawks's Winchester Pictures, is seen as a classic of the genre. In 1952, RKO put out two films directed by Fritz Lang, Rancho Notorious and Clash by Night. The latter was a project of the renowned Jerry Wald–Norman Krasna production team, lured by Hughes from Warner Bros. with great fanfare in August 1950. The company also began a close working relationship with Ida Lupino. She starred in two suspense films with Robert Ryan—Nicholas Ray's On Dangerous Ground (1952, though shooting had been completed two years earlier) and Beware, My Lovely (1952), a coproduction between RKO and Lupino's company, The Filmakers. Of more historic note, Lupino was Hollywood's only female director during the period; of the five pictures The Filmakers made with RKO, Lupino directed three, including her now celebrated The Hitch-Hiker (1953). Exposing many moviegoers to Asian cinema for the first time, RKO distributed Akira Kurosawa's epochal Rashomon in the United States, sixteen months after its original 1950 Japanese release. The only smash hits released by RKO in the 1950s came out during this period, but neither was an in-house production: Goldwyn's Hans Christian Andersen (1952) was followed by Disney's Peter Pan (1953). The first two shorts directed by a twenty-two-year-old photographer from the Bronx were both released in 1951 by RKO Pathé—Stanley Kubrick's Day of the Fight and Flying Padre. In early 1952, Hughes fought off a lawsuit by screenwriter Paul Jarrico, who had been caught up in the latest round of HUAC hearings; Hughes had fired him and removed his name from the credits of a recent release, The Las Vegas Story, a money-losing melodrama starring Jane Russell. The studio owner subsequently ordered 100 RKO employees on "leave of absence" while he established a "security office" to oversee an ideological vetting system. "We are going to screen everyone in a creative or executive capacity", he declared. "The work of Communist sympathizers will not be used." As more credits were expunged, some in the industry began to question whether Hughes's hunt for subversives served primarily as a convenient rationale for further curtailing production and trimming expenses. In September, Hughes and his corporate president, Ned Depinet, sold their RKO studio stock to a Chicago-based syndicate with no experience in the movie business; the syndicate's chaotic reign lasted until February 1953, when the stock and control were reacquired by Hughes. The studio's net loss in 1952 was over \$10 million, and shooting had taken place for just a single in-house production over the last five months of the year. During the turmoil, Samuel Goldwyn ended his eleven-year-long distribution deal with RKO. Wald and Krasna escaped their contracts and the studio as well. The deal that brought the team to RKO had called for them to produce sixty features over five years; in just shy of half that time, they succeeded in making four. The Encino ranch shut down permanently in 1953 and the property was sold off. In November, Hughes finally fulfilled his obligations under the 1948 consent decree, divesting RKO Theatres; Albert A. List purchased the controlling interest in the business and renamed it List Industries. Hughes soon found himself the target of no fewer than five separate lawsuits filed by minority shareholders in RKO, accusing him of malfeasance in his dealings with the Chicago group and a wide array of acts of mismanagement. "RKO's contract list is down to three actors and 127 lawyers", quipped Dick Powell. Leery of the studio's mounting problems and sparring with it over the release of the forthcoming nature documentary The Living Desert, the Disney company exited its long-standing arrangement with RKO and set up its own distribution firm, Buena Vista. Contractual obligations meant that one last Disney feature would be released by RKO in 1954, and it continued to handle Disney shorts into 1956. Looking to forestall the impending legal imbroglio, by early 1954 Hughes was offering to buy out all of RKO's other stockholders. Before the end of the year, at a cost of \$23.5 million, Hughes had gained near-total control of RKO Pictures Corp., becoming the first virtual sole owner of a studio since Hollywood's pioneer days—virtual, but not quite actual. Floyd Odlum reemerged to block Hughes's acquisition of the 95 percent ownership of RKO stock he needed to write off the company's losses against his earnings elsewhere. Hughes had reneged on his promise to give Odlum first option on buying the RKO theater chain when he divested it, and was now paying the price. With negotiations between the two at a stalemate, in July 1955, Hughes turned around and sold RKO Radio Pictures Inc. to the General Tire and Rubber Company for \$25 million, leaving himself and Odlum the shell of RKO Pictures Corp. and what were now, according to Fortune, its "sole assets ... \$18 million in cash." For Hughes, this was the effective end of a quarter-century's involvement in the movie business. Historian Betty Lasky describes Hughes's relationship with RKO as a "systematic seven-year rape." ### General Tire and demise In taking control of the studio, General Tire restored RKO's close ties to broadcasting. General Tire had bought the Yankee Network, a New England regional radio network, in 1943. In 1950, it purchased the West Coast regional Don Lee Broadcasting System, and two years later, the Bamberger Broadcasting Service, owner of the WOR radio and television stations in New York City. The latter acquisition gave General Tire majority control of the Mutual Broadcasting System, one of America's leading radio networks. General Tire then merged its broadcasting interests into a new subsidiary, General Teleradio. Thomas O'Neil, son of General Tire's founder William O'Neil and chairman of the broadcasting group, saw that the company's new television stations, indeed all TV outlets, were in need of programming. In September 1954, WOR-TV had launched the Million Dollar Movie program, running a single film for a week, twice every night plus Saturday and Sunday matinees; the format proved hugely successful and non-network-affiliated stations around the country were eager to emulate it. With the purchase of RKO, the studio's library was under O'Neil's control and he quickly put the rights to the 742 films to which RKO retained clear title up for sale. C&C Television Corp., a subsidiary of beverage maker Cantrell & Cochrane, won the bidding in December 1955 and was soon offering the films to independent stations in a package called "MovieTime USA". RKO Teleradio Pictures—the newly renamed General Teleradio, under which RKO Radio Pictures now operated as a business division—retained the broadcast rights for the cities where it owned TV stations. By 1956, RKO's classic movies were playing widely on television, often in the Million Dollar Movie format, allowing many to see such films as Citizen Kane and King Kong for the first time. The \$15.2 million RKO made on the deal convinced the other major studios that their libraries held profit potential—a turning point in the way Hollywood did business. The new owners of RKO made an initial effort to revive the studio, hiring veteran producer William Dozier to head production. In the first half of 1956, the production facilities were as busy as they had been in a half-decade, with a planned slate of seventeen features. RKO released Fritz Lang's final two American films, While the City Sleeps and Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (both 1956), but years of mismanagement had driven away many directors, producers, and stars. The studio was also saddled with the last of the inflated B movies such as Pearl of the South Pacific (1955) and The Conqueror (1956) that enchanted Hughes. While the latter, starring John Wayne, was the biggest hit produced at the studio during the decade, that bar was low—it placed only eleventh among the year's top earners. A major money loser in standard terms, its \$4.5 million in North American rentals not coming close to covering its \$6 million production cost, Hughes had paid RKO Teleradio millions to buy back the rights. In March 1956 came the news that RKO Pathé was being dissolved. On January 22, 1957, after a year and a half without a notable success, RKO announced that it was closing its domestic distribution offices—Universal would take over most future releases—and that a reduced production wing would move to the Culver City lot. In fact, General Tire shut down RKO production for good. Overseas distribution exchanges were dispensed with: RKO Japan Ltd. was sold to Disney and the British Commonwealth Film Corporation in July 1957, and RKO Radio Pictures Ltd. in the UK was dissolved a year later. The Hollywood and Culver City facilities were sold in late 1957 for \$6.15 million to Desilu Productions, owned by Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, who had been an RKO contract player from 1935 to 1942. Desilu was acquired by Gulf and Western Industries in 1967 and merged into G+W's other production company, neighboring Paramount Pictures; the former RKO Hollywood studio, FBO's old home, is now part of the Paramount lot. The renovated Culver City studio, where DeMille once reigned, is now owned and operated as an independent production facility. Forty Acres, the Culver City backlot, was razed in the mid-1970s. List Industries, the former RKO Theatres Corp., was bought by Glen Alden Corp. in 1959. Glen Alden acquired another chain in 1967, creating RKO–Stanley Warner Theatres. Cinerama purchased the exhibition circuit from Glen Alden in 1971. Now little more than a name and beneficiary of General Tire's doubtful largesse, RKO announced in early 1958 that it would continue as a financial backer, coproducing independently made pictures. Fewer than half a dozen resulted. The final RKO film, Verboten!, a coproduction with director Samuel Fuller's Globe Enterprises, was released, fitfully, beginning in March 1959, first by Rank and then Columbia. That same year, "Pictures" was stripped from the corporate identity; the holding company for General Tire's broadcasting operation and the few remaining motion picture assets was renamed RKO General. In the words of scholar Richard B. Jewell, "The supreme irony of RKO's existence is that the studio earned a position of lasting importance in cinema history largely because of its extraordinarily unstable history. Since it was the weakling of Hollywood's 'majors,' RKO welcomed a diverse group of individualistic creators and provided them ... with an extraordinary degree of freedom to express their artistic idiosyncrasies.... [I]t never became predictable and it never became a factory." ## Later incarnations Beginning with 1981's Carbon Copy, RKO General became involved in the coproduction of a number of feature films and TV projects through a subsidiary created three years earlier, RKO Pictures Inc. In collaboration with Universal Studios, RKO put out five films over the next three years. Although the studio frequently worked with major names—including Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Jack Nicholson in The Border, and Nastassja Kinski in Cat People (all 1982)—it met with little success. Corporate restructuring brought RKO General under the aegis of the new holding company GenCorp, and starting with the Meryl Streep vehicle Plenty (1985), RKO Pictures took on more projects as sole studio backer. In January 1986, Paramount signed a two-year distribution agreement with the company. Films such as the erotic thriller Half Moon Street (1986) and the Vietnam War drama Hamburger Hill (1987) followed, but production ended as GenCorp underwent a massive reorganization following an attempted hostile takeover. With RKO General dismantling its broadcast business, RKO Pictures Inc., along with the original RKO studio's trademarks, remake rights, and other remaining assets, was put up for sale. After a bid by RKO Pictures' own management team failed, the managers made a deal with Wesray Capital Corporation—under the control of former US treasury secretary William E. Simon and investor Ray Chambers—to buy RKO through Entertainment Acquisition Co., a newly created purchasing entity. The sale was completed in late 1987, and Wesray linked RKO with its Six Flags amusement parks to form RKO/Six Flags Entertainment Inc. In 1989, RKO Pictures, which had produced no films while under Wesray control, was sold off yet again. Actress and Post Cereals heiress Dina Merrill and her husband, producer Ted Hartley, acquired a majority interest and merged the company with their Pavilion Communications. After a brief period as RKO/Pavilion, the business was reorganized as RKO Pictures LLC.' With the inaugural RKO production under Hartley and Merrill's ownership, False Identity (1990), the company also stepped into the distribution business. In 1992, it handled the well-regarded independent production Laws of Gravity, directed by Nick Gomez. RKO's next significant film came in 1998 with Mighty Joe Young, a remake of a 1949 RKO movie that was itself a King Kong knockoff; the Disney coproduction was distributed by Buena Vista. In the early 2000s, the company was involved as a coproducer of TV movies and modestly budgeted features, about one a year. In 2003, it coproduced a Broadway stage version of the 1936 Astaire–Rogers vehicle Swing Time, under the title Never Gonna Dance. That same year, RKO Pictures entered into a legal battle with Wall Street Financial Associates (WSFA). Hartley and Merrill claimed that the owners of WSFA fraudulently induced them into signing an acquisition agreement by concealing their "cynical and rapacious" plans to purchase RKO, with the intention only of dismantling it. WSFA sought a preliminary injunction prohibiting RKO's majority owners from selling their interests in the company to any third parties. The WSFA motion was denied in July 2003, freeing RKO to deal with another potential purchaser, InternetStudios.com. In 2004, that planned sale fell through when InternetStudios.com apparently folded. The company's minimal involvement in new film production continued to focus on its remake rights: Are We Done Yet?, based on Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948), was released in April 2007 to dismal reviews. In 2009, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, a remake of a 1956 RKO film directed by Fritz Lang, fared even worse critically, receiving a 7% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A stage version of Top Hat toured Great Britain in the second half of 2011. The most recent RKO film coproductions are the well-received A Late Quartet (2012) and the 2015 flop Barely Lethal. Two months after Dina Merrill's May 2017 death, independent producer Keith Patterson sued RKO, Hartley, and his second-in-command, Mary Beth O'Connor, over the collapse of plans to create multiple TV series based on RKO properties, starting with Citizen Kane. According to Patterson's suit, O'Connor controls access to Hartley and holds both his healthcare proxy and an option to acquire RKO and its intellectual property at a deep markdown after his death. As of November 2022, 98-year-old Hartley was still making public appearances connected with his avocation as a painter. ## Library RKO Pictures LLC owns the RKO Radio Pictures Inc. film copyrights, trademarks, and story library, with title to more than 500 screenplays (giving it the right to produce remakes, sequels, and prequels) and approximately 900 unproduced scripts. The actual films and their television, video, and theatrical distribution rights are in other hands. In 1971, the US and Canadian TV—and consequently, video—rights to most of the RKO film library were sold at auction after the holders, TransBeacon (a corporate descendant of C&C Television), went bankrupt. The auctioned rights were split between United Artists (UA) and Marian B. Inc. (MBI). In 1984, MBI created a subsidiary, Marian Pictures Inc. (MBP), to which it transferred its share of the RKO rights. Two years later GenCorp's subsidiaries, RKO General and RKO Pictures, repurchased the rights then controlled by MBP. In the meantime, United Artists had been acquired by MGM. In 1986, MGM/UA's considerable library, including its RKO film negatives and rights, was bought by Turner Broadcasting System for its new Turner Entertainment division. When Turner announced plans to colorize ten of the RKO films, GenCorp resisted, claiming copyright infringement, leading to both sides filing lawsuits. During RKO Pictures' brief Wesray episode, Turner acquired many of the distribution rights that had returned to RKO via MBP, as well as both the theatrical rights and the TV rights originally held back from C&C for the cities where RKO owned stations. The new owners of RKO also allowed Turner to move forward with colorization of the library. Early in 1989, Turner declared that no less than the historic Citizen Kane would be colorized; upon review of Welles's ironclad creative contract with RKO, that plan was abandoned. In October 1996, Turner was merged into Time Warner—as Warner Bros. Discovery, it today owns the bulk of the RKO library and controls its distribution in North America. In 2007, Warners' Turner Classic Movies channel obtained the rights to six "lost" RKO films that Merian Cooper acquired in a 1946 legal settlement with his former employer and later transferred to a business associate as a tax shelter. The Disney films originally distributed by RKO are owned and fully controlled by the Walt Disney Company, as is the 1940 RKO adaptation of Swiss Family Robinson, purchased by Disney prior to its 1960 remake. Rights to many other independent productions distributed by the studio, as well as some notable coproductions, are in new hands. Most Samuel Goldwyn films are owned by his estate and administered by Warner Bros. in North America and Miramax—in which Paramount Global currently holds a 49 percent stake—internationally. It's a Wonderful Life, coproduced by Frank Capra's Liberty Films, and The Bells of St. Mary's, coproduced by Leo McCarey's Rainbow Productions, are now owned by Paramount Global, through its predecessor Viacom's indirect acquisition of the latter-day Republic Pictures, formerly National Telefilm Associates. Notorious, a coproduction between RKO and David Selznick's Vanguard Films, is now owned by Disney; it is currently licensed to the Criterion Collection. The Stranger, from William Goetz's International Pictures, has been in the public domain since 1973. Eighteen films produced by RKO itself in 1930–31, including Dixiana, were also allowed to fall into the public domain, as were several later in-house productions, including high-profile releases such as The Animal Kingdom, Bird of Paradise, Of Human Bondage, Love Affair, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and They Knew What They Wanted. In early 1956, Hughes bought his beloved Jet Pilot and The Conqueror—along with a Jane Russell vehicle, The Outlaw (1943), he had produced independently and sold to RKO before acquiring the studio—back from RKO Teleradio. Hughes failed to renew the copyright on The Outlaw, and it is now in the public domain. In 1979, Universal acquired the rights to The Conqueror''. ### European rights Ownership of the major European TV and video distribution rights to the RKO library differs by country: In the UK, the RKO rights, long held by Universal Studios, are now under Warner Bros.' control. The German rights were acquired in 1969 by KirchGruppe on behalf of its KirchMedia division, which went bankrupt in 2002. EOS Entertainment's Beta Film purchased many of KirchMedia's rights in 2004, and the library as of 2010 was distributed by Kineos, created five years earlier as a Beta Film–KirchMedia joint venture. At the end of 2014, Warners took over the French rights from longtime distributor Éditions Montparnasse. Rome's Red Film claims the rights in Italy. Vértice 360 (formerly Manga Films) holds the Spanish rights. ## Logos Most of the films released by RKO Pictures between 1929 and 1957 have an opening logo displaying the studio's famous trademark, a spinning globe and radio tower, nicknamed the "Transmitter." It was inspired by a 200-foot (61 m) tower built in Colorado for a giant electrical amplifier, or Tesla coil, created by inventor Nikola Tesla. For many years, the RKO tower beeped out the Morse code for "A Radio Picture" (during much of World War II, "V for Victory" was substituted). Orson Welles referred to the Transmitter as his "favorite among the old logos, not just because it was so often a reliable portent.... It reminds us to listen." The RKO Pathé feature logo replaced the radio tower with the Pathé brand's hallmark rooster, who stood stock-still as the world turned beneath his feet. RKO's closing logo, an inverted triangle enclosing a thunderbolt, was also a well-known trademark. Instead of the Transmitter, many Disney and Goldwyn films released by the studio originally appeared with colorful versions of the RKO closing logo as part of the main title sequence. For decades, re-releases of these films had Disney/Buena Vista and MGM/Goldwyn logos replacing the RKO insignia, but the originals were restored in many DVD editions. In the 1990s, the Hartley–Merrill RKO Pictures commissioned a new, CGI version of the Transmitter. ## See also - List of RKO Pictures films
29,510,255	2010 United States Senate Democratic primary election in Pennsylvania	1,163,131,158	2010 primary election in Pennsylvania, US	[ "2010 Pennsylvania elections", "May 2010 events in the United States", "Pennsylvania Democratic Party", "Political events in Pennsylvania", "Primary elections in the United States" ]	The Democratic Party primary for the 2010 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania took place on May 18, 2010, when Congressman Joe Sestak defeated incumbent Arlen Specter, which led to the end of Specter's five-term Senatorial career. Just before the start of the primary campaign, after serving in the Senate as a Republican for 29 years, Specter had switched to the Democratic Party in anticipation of a difficult primary challenge by Pat Toomey; Toomey ultimately defeated Sestak in the general election. Political observers and journalists described the race between Specter and Sestak as one of the bitterest and most-watched of all the 2010 primary elections. Although Sestak was initially urged to run by the Democratic establishment, Specter gained broad support from Democrats after he switched parties. Prominent political figures like President Barack Obama and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell later tried to sway Sestak from continuing the race, fearing he would damage Specter's chances in the general election. Former President Bill Clinton offered Sestak a position in the Obama administration if he withdrew his candidacy, an offer Republicans would later criticize. Sestak refused to drop out and criticized Specter's party switch as an opportunistic move aimed solely at self-preservation. Nevertheless, Sestak struggled to overcome problems stemming from low name recognition and Specter's support from such individuals as Joe Biden and Harry Reid, and organizations like the AFL–CIO and Pennsylvania Democratic Committee. Specter led Sestak by more than 20 percentage points for most of the race. However, this lead narrowed significantly in the final month of the campaign, when Sestak concentrated his funds and efforts on television commercials questioning Specter's Democratic credentials. Specter grew more critical of Sestak as the race progressed, attacking his House attendance record, accusing him of failing to pay his staffers minimum wage and alleging he was demoted while serving in the U.S. Navy for creating a poor command climate. Political observers said Sestak's commercials played a major part in his victory. A national swing in momentum toward Republicans and against incumbents ultimately harmed Specter's chances. ## Background ### Chris Matthews speculation Beginning in April 2008, the media reported growing speculation that Chris Matthews, news commentator and host of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, might run in the 2010 Democratic primary for the United States Senate Pennsylvania seat then occupied by Republican Arlen Specter. In an interview with The New York Times Magazine, Matthews said that he believed Specter had been in the Senate for too long, but that running for Senate would mean giving up a career he loved. Mark Leibovich, author of the article, wrote, "Matthews has been particularly obsessed with Pennsylvania of late, devoting hours on and off the air to the state's upcoming Democratic primary, staying in close contact with the state's party apparatus". Speculation was further fueled by Matthews' appearance on an April 14 episode of The Colbert Report. Host Stephen Colbert asked Matthews about the rumors and prodded him to make a public announcement, to which Matthews replied, "Did you ever want to be something your whole life? ... When you grow up, some kids want to be a fireman. I want to be a Senator. But I have to deal with these things as they come." Matthews declined to directly answer questions about his possible candidacy when pressed by the media, but did not deny the possibility. The subject of Matthews' possible candidacy was raised at an October dinner fundraiser for presidential candidate Barack Obama held by Robert Wolf, president of UBS's investment bank. Discussing the dinner later, Matthews told The New York Times, "People have asked me about it. I've never told anyone that I'm running." On November 28, The Patriot-News of Harrisburg reported that Matthews met that week with Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman T.J. Rooney and Executive Director Mary Isenhour to discuss possibly running against Specter. Isenhour told the paper Matthews had not formed a campaign committee or begun raising money, and she did not believe he had yet come to a firm decision, adding, "He's got a really good job with MSNBC. I think he's going to put some thought into it before he jumps in." The same day, the political blog FiveThirtyEight.com reported that Matthews had already met with potential campaign staff, something Matthews claimed was "absolutely not true". The increased speculation led some, like former spokesman for Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign Phil Singer, to criticize Matthews for openly weighing a political campaign bid while working as a news broadcaster. Singer believed Matthews should resign or be suspended from the network until a decision was made. Speculation grew as Matthews spent much of 2008 attending meetings with Pennsylvania representatives and major Democratic fundraisers. Matthews discussed a possible campaign with Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, and poll numbers for a theoretical race showed him only three percentage points behind Specter. However, the speculation came to an end on January 7, 2009, when Matthews told his Hardball staff he was not going to run for Senate. Such media outlets as The New York Times and The Washington Post suggested Matthews' alleged consideration was a tactic to ensure a higher salary during negotiations with MSNBC to renew his contract, which was set to expire in June 2009. ### Arlen Specter party switch As early as 2008, five-term Republican Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter had made clear his plans to seek re-election. Specter had narrowly avoided a primary defeat against conservative challenger Pat Toomey during his 2004 Senate race, and he was expected to face an even greater challenge from Toomey in 2010, particularly since the conservative faction of the Pennsylvania Republican Party had vowed to defeat Specter in the upcoming primary. Some high-profile Democrats, including Vice President Joe Biden and Governor Rendell, began encouraging Specter to join the Democratic Party by publicly offering to help Specter raise money if he switched. A March 2009 Quinnipiac University Polling Institute poll found Specter trailing Toomey 41 percent to 27 percent among Republican primary voters, in large part due to voter angst over Specter's support for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which was supported by President Obama. Since the Pennsylvania primaries are closed, the poll noted that Specter could not be assisted by support from moderates or Democrats. Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said of the poll results, "Pennsylvania Republicans are so unhappy with Sen. Specter’s vote for President Barack Obama's Stimulus Package and so-called pork barrel spending that they are voting for a former Congressman they hardly know." A March 2009 article in The Hill quoted Specter as stating he was considering leaving the Republican party to run for re-election as an Independent candidate. Specter later denied the validity of those claims, announcing on March 18, "To eliminate any doubt, I am a Republican, and I am running for reelection in 2010 as a Republican on the Republican ticket." However, on April 28, 2009, Specter announced he was leaving the Republican Party and becoming a Democrat because he disagreed with the increasingly conservative direction the Republican Party was heading in and found his personal philosophy was now better aligned with the Democrats. Although Specter said that he primarily based his decision on principle, he also admitted it was partially due to his poor chances at winning the Republican primary: "I have traveled the state and surveyed the sentiments of the Republican Party in Pennsylvania and public opinion polls, observed other public opinion polls and have found that the prospects for winning a Republican primary are bleak." Prior to switching parties, Specter said he had been assured by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that he would keep his seniority on the Senate if he joined the Democratic Party. The arrangement displeased some Senate Democrats, and, on May 3, the Senate voted to strip him of his seniority in spite of this. This temporarily made Specter the most junior Democrat in the Senate and severely limited his influence as a legislator. Nevertheless, Specter's decision was praised by many major Democrats, including Reid and President Barack Obama, who promised to campaign for him. Republicans, however, criticized the decision, accusing Specter of betraying his principles and party to preserve his political career. Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said Specter "flipped the bird" to the party and that Specter made the decision based solely because he knew he would lose the election. Senator John Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and a past supporter of Specter, said the decision "represents the height of political self-preservation". Specter defended his position by arguing the Republican Party had strayed too far from the vision of President Ronald Reagan, adding, "I am not prepared to have my 29-year record in the United States Senate decided by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate." ### Joe Sestak declares candidacy Second-term U.S. Representative Joe Sestak, a former U.S. Navy admiral, began privately discussing the possibility of seeking the Democratic nomination with his family in December 2008. Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, approached Sestak in April 2009 and asked him to run, but Sestak claimed he was not initially interested. Nevertheless, media speculation about Sestak's possible campaign began as early as mid-April 2009, and intensified the day Specter changed political parties. While most Democrats embraced the long-time Senator, Sestak issued a statement criticizing Specter's decision, declaring it an opportunist move that should have been made in consultation with Pennsylvanians rather than the Senate Democratic leadership and the Washington political establishment. Menendez approached Sestak again, this time asking him not to run against Specter, but Sestak did not agree to back down. Later, when asked by Fox News, Sestak insisted he had not decided whether he would run for the office, but declined to immediately endorse Specter and said he had to "wait and see". During a May 3 appearance on CNN's State of the Union with John King, Sestak questioned whether Specter was really a genuine Democrat, adding, "I think Arlen has to tell us not that it was too hard to run against someone. ... What I need to know is, what is he running for?" Sestak insisted he would not make a final decision for several months. On May 4, he met with Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, which fueled speculation that he was seeking labor support for a campaign. Meanwhile, Joe Torsella, the former president of the National Constitution Center, had planned on running for the Democratic nomination and initially announced Specter's party change would not affect his decision to run. However, Torsella announced on May 14 he was dropping out of the race because Specter's decision changed the political landscape, and he wanted to avoid a campaign that "would probably be negative, personal, and more about Senator Specter's past than our common future". It had been reported that Governor Rendell, for whom Torsella previously worked as an aide, pushed for Torsella to step aside so Specter could run unopposed, but Torsella's staff denied those claims. Despite Torsella's departure, Sestak continued to consider entering the race and began gaining support from the Democratic party's more liberal factions like the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which began a "Draft Sestak" campaign fund. Sestak became further encouraged to run after taking a tour of all 67 Pennsylvania counties to meet with party leaders and discuss such issues as jobs, the economy and health care. Sestak said that the leaders voiced serious concerns to him about the direction of the country and, although his lack of name recognition was a problem, Sestak said many of the people he encountered voiced support for him. On May 27, the website Talking Points Memo posted a handwritten letter by Sestak to candidates declaring his intent to run for Senate. Sestak did not dispute the authenticity of the letter, but told the press he wanted to discuss the matter with his family before making a formal decision. Sestak told media outlets he realized President Obama wished him not to run against Specter, but that he felt the choice should be with the voters of Pennsylvania rather than the president. Governor Rendell overtly tried to convince him not to run, believing it would damage Sestak's own political future, plus cost the Democratic Party both Sestak's House seat and possibly damage Specter's general election chances. Nevertheless, Sestak formally declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination on August 4, 2009, in a speech before a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall in his native Delaware County. Shortly after the announcement, Toomey issued a statement welcoming Sestak to the race, describing him as "a consistent liberal who really believes in his values", as compared to Specter, who he called "a career political opportunist who believes in nothing but his own re-election". ## Candidates - Joe Sestak, U.S. Congressman - Arlen Specter, Incumbent U.S. Senator Pennsylvania Rep. William C. Kortz and retired manufacturer Joseph Vodvarka also ran in the Democratic primary, but neither remained for the duration of the race. Kortz, who was little known outside the western Pennsylvania area, dropped out of the race on January 14, 2010, after raising only \$20,000 of the \$2 million he sought to raise for his campaign. Vodvarka, an Allegheny County man who had been mostly overlooked throughout the race, was formally removed from the ballot in mid-April 2010 after it was revealed he failed to garner the minimum number of signatures for a nominating petition. ## Campaign ### Early months Both candidates started the campaign well-funded. Sestak had more than \$3 million available from his House fund to use toward starting a Senate campaign, and raised an additional \$1 million by June 30, 2009, which brought his total to about \$4.2 million. Sestak called it the largest campaign war-chest of any Senate challenger. Specter, however, was ahead with \$6.7 million in campaign funding as of March 31. Sestak also faced challenges arising from his low name recognition and Specter's support among high-profile members of the Democratic establishment, like Obama and Biden. Specter spent the early months of his campaign trying to reestablish and strengthen his Democratic credentials, seeking union support and making speeches highlighting his support of positions supported by the party, such as the economic stimulus package, reforming health care, increasing the minimum wage, protecting abortion rights and supporting stem cell research. In a June 2009 speech to Pennsylvania Democratic Committee members in Pittsburgh, Specter said, "I'm again a Democrat and I'm pleased and proud to be a Democrat." Commentators observed that Sestak's involvement in the race would test Specter's loyalty to the Democratic party and likely force him to make more liberal votes in the Senate. Even before Sestak formally declared his candidacy on August 4, 2009, Specter and Sestak began exchanging criticisms about each other that were so heated, The New York Times writer Janie Lorber suggested: "the contest will become one of the more vicious for next year's midterm elections." Sestak repeatedly said Specter was not a "real Democrat" and continued to assert Specter's switch was based on self-preservation rather than principles. Specter called Sestak a "flagrant hypocrite" for questioning Specter's loyalty to the Democratic Party, citing the fact that Sestak himself was registered as an Independent until he became a Democrat in 2006, just before he ran for Congress. Sestak claimed that was because he was serving in the military and wished to be nonpartisan. However, Specter called that a "lame excuse for avoiding party affiliation ... undercut by his documented disinterest in the political process", pointing out that records indicated Sestak voted in only 12 out of 35 elections from 1971 to 2005. A day after Sestak formally entered the race, Specter described Sestak's recent 67-county tour as a "taxpayer-financed self-promotion tour around the state". Specter's campaign also accused Sestak of neglecting his duties in the House and missing more than 100 votes in the last year, which Specter called the worst attendance record for any Pennsylvania Congressman. Sestak responded to the latter point that most of the missed votes were procedural in nature, and were missed because of the statewide tour and because he visited his father, who was dying at the time. Sestak accused Specter of launching a "GOP negative style campaign", which Specter denied. ### Toomey and Obama get involved Specter and Sestak participated in an August 14 panel discussion hosted by Netroots Nation, which included questions from online viewers consisting mainly of liberal and progressive bloggers and advocates. Media reports suggested Specter faced tougher questions from the crowd, with many questioning whether they could trust him based on his switching parties. Specter dismissed suggestions that his recent Democratic votes were politically motivated by the primary, and cited his support of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and Children's Health Insurance Reauthorization Act as proof of his Democratic credentials. Sestak argued that a change in leadership was necessary and that his military background as a United States Navy admiral gave him the necessary experience. Sestak also pointed out that Specter worked with former Senator Bob Dole to defeat President Bill Clinton's health care plan in 1993. When some in the crowd brought up how Senator Chuck Grassley, a past ally of Specter's, was arguing that Obama's health care plan would lead to "death panels," Specter said that Grassley was wrong and that he would call him about the matter. When some in the crowd chanted, "Call him now!", Specter took several audience members backstage and left a phone message for Grassley as they watched. Salon.com said based on the stunt, "Specter may have won the day, if not the battle". However, a straw poll of 250 online activists attending the event showed Sestak was preferred to Specter by a vote of 46 percent to 10 percent. Later, following an e-mail exchange with the expected Republican challenger Toomey about health care, Sestak proposed an unorthodox joint town hall with Toomey about the issue, which was held September 2 at Muhlenberg College in Allentown. Specter was not invited to participate, and political pollster G. Terry Madonna of Franklin & Marshall College described it as an "informal pact" between Sestak and Toomey to weaken their joint rival, something the two men denied. Commentators suggested Toomey was willing to help Sestak at this stage of the race because he preferred Sestak as a general election opponent over Specter, who could possibly draw Republican and Independent voters from Toomey. Also in September, Obama appeared in a 30-second television ad for Specter, praising him for his support of the President's economic recovery initiatives. A September poll by Franklin & Marshall College found Specter maintained a 37 percent to 11 percent lead over Sestak, but also that 54 percent of people felt a change was needed as opposed to 34 percent who felt Specter deserved a sixth term. That poll also found 73 percent felt they did not know enough about Sestak to form an opinion, which pollster Madonna said indicated the race would be focused more on Specter's incumbency and record than about Sestak or Toomey. On September 15, Obama attended a Philadelphia fundraising dinner for Specter, an unusually public declaration of support so early in the primary season, when the President has the option of remaining neutral until the outcome becomes clearer. Governor Rendell said that Obama and Biden felt obligated to strongly support Specter because they so strongly lobbied him to switch parties. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and radio personality Michael Smerconish also spoke on Specter's behalf. Senate Majority Leader Reid took the unusual steps of scheduling no Senate votes that day so both Specter and Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey, Jr. could attend the fundraiser. That move drew criticism from Republicans, as well as from Sestak, who felt Specter was skirting his Senate responsibilities, yet hypocritically criticizing Sestak at the same time for missing more than 100 votes in the U.S. House. The event was expected to raise about \$2.5 million, which was to be split between Specter's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. After the fundraiser, Obama and Specter traveled via Air Force One to Pittsburgh to address labor activists at the AFL–CIO convention. There, Specter assured the audience he would support the Employee Free Choice Act, a proposed bill that would make union formation easier, which Specter had previously opposed as a Republican. ### Specter maintains lead As the primary entered into October, Specter continued to criticize Sestak on his record of missed votes in Congress. He claimed Sestak missed 122 in the past year, or nearly 17 percent of his total votes, whereas Specter missed four. In a letter, Specter told Sestak he should drop out of the campaign and start voting on a more consistent basis, or resign from the House "so he can cease to be a burden to the taxpayers". Around the same time, Sestak launched a website called "The Real Specter", which highlighted the right-leaning votes Specter made and alliances he held during his 29 years as a Republican in the senate. Specter continued to maintain a significant lead against Sestak of 19 percentage points, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released that month. But Sestak pointed out that the gap was 32 points in July, and cited the poll as proof that he was gaining ground in the race. Also that month, new reports indicated Toomey was growing in popularity and, in one poll, was actually ahead of Specter, with 43 percent of respondents saying they would vote for him compared to 42 percent for Specter. This was attributed by some to the challenge presented by Sestak and the declining popularity of Obama, whose approval rating had dropped from 56 percent in July to 49 percent in October. On October 14, Specter reported he had raised \$1.8 million during the previous three-month period, bringing his total to about \$8.7 million. The Senator said that he was aided in large part by his September 15 fundraiser hosted by Obama. In that same period, Sestak raised only \$758,000, about a quarter million dollars lower than the previous quarter, making his total allocation about \$4.7 million. Sestak continued working hard to overcome his name recognition problem, seldom turning down interview requests and asking his staff to work six 12-hour days a week. As a result, Sestak saw a large amount of turnover in his staff, going through nearly half a dozen press secretaries and several chiefs of staff. Sestak called on Specter to participate in six debates, one for each media market in Pennsylvania, but Specter only agreed to participate in one because that was the amount of debates he participated in as a Republican. On December 7, Sestak was endorsed by Congressman Barney Frank, who said that he was impressed by Sestak's leadership on economic and military issues, as well as his positions against the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy and the Defense of Marriage Act. The endorsement was important to Sestak because it was the first time a prominent member of Congress broke with the Democratic establishment to back him over Specter. Frank also said of Specter's switching parties, "I have to say I don't think it did our profession any good for someone to announce that he switched parties purely so he could survive." New polls in January indicated voter support was growing for Toomey, who now held a projected nine percentage point lead over Specter and an eight-point lead over Sestak. Specter continued to lead against Sestak in the Democratic primary poll, this time by a 21-point margin. Some political scientists believed Toomey's gain over Specter could be attributed to voter distrust of establishment candidates and growing dissatisfaction with the health care proposal pending in Congress. However, some Democratic leaders felt Sestak's challenge to Specter was having a detrimental effect not only to Specter but to the Democratic party in general and their prospects for ultimately winning the general election. This feeling was enhanced by the growing national support for the Republican party, and especially by the unexpected victory of the Tea Party-backed Republican Scott Brown in a special election for a traditionally Democratic Massachusetts Senate seat. Specter acknowledged to The New York Times that the national political mood might work against him in the primary, but insisted he was not discouraged and expressed confidence in his ability to survive. ### Race grows more heated The primary continued to grow more heated in February 2010. On February 5, the two candidates held their first face-to-face debate, and used the 30-minute forum to strongly criticize each other, with Sestak continuing to associate Specter with failed Republican policies and Specter arguing his opponent was more focused on criticizing him than debating policy. Sestak continued to attack Specter for switching parties, asking, "Is the best the Democrats can do someone who has been on the other side, with respect, for 50 years, and cast 2,000 votes with President Bush?" Likewise, Specter once again criticized Sestak's missed votes in Congress, which he said would have been enough to earn Sestak a court-martial for going AWOL in his former Naval career. Sestak also criticized Specter for voting in favor of the Iraq War, and Specter in turn condemned Sestak for supporting Obama's proposed troop increase for the War in Afghanistan, which Specter opposed. The next day, the Pennsylvania Democratic Committee voted to endorse Specter over Sestak, with 77 percent of voters supporting the incumbent Senator, or 229 votes compared to Sestak's 72. Sestak criticized the committee for its decision, but also argued it solidified his own position as a political outsider independent from the mainstream Washington establishment. Media outlets said the vote indicated Specter had convinced most important figures in the state party that he was not simply a crossover politician. Later in February, Specter accused Sestak of mistreating his employees and disobeying state and federal minimum wage laws by severely underpaying his House staff. Citing Federal Election Commission reports, Specter claimed ten of Sestak's sixteen campaign staffers were making less than minimum wage and that they were so underpaid they were eligible for food stamps. He also noted that Sestak's three highest-paid staffers were members of his family, including his brother Richard Sestak, who worked as campaign manager. T.J. Rooney, a Specter supporter, wrote a letter to Sestak expressing concern about the potential violation of minimum wage laws, which read: "It is inconceivable to me that our standard bearer wouldn’t be paying his workers the minimum wage". Sestak responded by acknowledging his staff could make more money elsewhere, but said "they choose to work hard and make some sacrifices because they know how important it is to elect someone to the United States Senate who shares their principles". ### Specter maintains momentum As the primary race entered into March, Specter appeared to be maintaining his momentum, with polls indicating he not only led Sestak by 24 percentage points but had recaptured a projected lead against Toomey in the general election by a margin of 49 to 42 percent. Pollsters indicated Specter was still benefiting greatly from his strong name recognition, whereas Sestak and Toomey remained relatively little-known. Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said, "There remains no evidence that his primary challenger, Congressman Joe Sestak, has made much progress as we get within three months of the May primary." However, Time writer Karen Tumulty noted that while "thus far, Sestak has failed to meet expectations", the poll also indicated some weaknesses for Specter. Namely, more than half of the surveyed Pennsylvanians did not feel he deserved another term. Among Democrats who knew the candidates well enough to form an opinion of both, Sestak led Specter 54 percent to 37 percent. On March 16, Governor Rendell restated his past support of Specter and said of Sestak, "He has, in my mind, no chance to win." On March 30, Specter won the backing of the AFL–CIO, which was considered one of the most important endorsements in the primary race. It was one of several major labor endorsements Specter had received, including the state Service Employees International Union and the Pennsylvania State Education Association, which represented 200,000 state teachers. Representatives from the AFL–CIO cited Specter's backing of President Obama's stimulus package as a major factor in their decision. Sestak criticized the union federation's decision, pointing out he had a 100 percent rating from the national AFL–CIO. In comparison, Specter had a 61 percent rating. He also attacked Specter for previously backing President George W. Bush's economic policies and said, "Pennsylvania workers need a Senator they can count on to be there when they need him, not only when he needs them during an election." The Philadelphia Inquirer writer Thomas Fitzgerald called the endorsement "a powerful affirmation of how smoothly Specter has managed his political transition to the Democratic Party since leaving the Republican Party less than a year ago." On April 11, Sestak held a debate with Toomey in Philadelphia without Specter present. Media observers described it as an explicit criticism of Specter for refusing to hold more than one debate with Sestak. During that debate, Sestak strongly attacked Toomey's voting record in what The Morning Call reporter Colby Itkowitz described as "an obvious effort to show Democrats that he could hold his own in a general election matchup." At the end of the debate, Toomey voiced respect for Sestak and described him as a more principled man than Specter, whom he criticized for not participating in more debates. Later that month, when the Senate candidates publicly released their quarterly campaign finance reports on April 15, it was revealed Toomey raised more in the first three months of 2010 than either Democratic candidate, adding \$2.3 million to his total \$4.1 million war chest compared to Specter adding \$1.1 million to his total \$9.1 million fund. Political analysts attributed this to the national swing in momentum toward Republicans, and said that it could indicate the Republicans would be victorious in many Senate races, including in Pennsylvania. Sestak raised \$442,000 in the three-month period, down from his previous quarter, which Specter's campaign said proved Democratic donors had rejected his candidacy. Specter's fundraising advantage was significant because it allowed him to start early in running political campaign commercials. ### Television advertisements Starting in April, both Specter and Sestak launched television advertisements that were particularly critical of each other. Sestak, who had been saving most of his roughly \$5 million campaign funds until the final month of the primary race, unveiled a 60-second spot that highlighted his Navy career and described the role his daughter's experience as a brain cancer survivor played in his decision to enter politics. The commercial did not discuss Specter by name but made several implicit references to him, such as Sestak's statements that "too many politicians are concerned about keeping their jobs instead of helping people" and "if we want real change in Washington, we can't keep sending the same career politicians to represent us". Specter launched several commercials, most focusing on his plans to promote job growth. One advertisement, however, focused entirely on attacking Sestak, highlighting not only his voting attendance record – labeling him "No Show Joe" – but also his Navy service. The commercial stated Sestak was "relieved of duty in the Navy for creating a poor command climate," a reference to Sestak's 2005 transfer from a senior Pentagon planning post to a lesser position, which effectively ended his naval career. The Navy Times had previously reported the transfer resulted from Sestak forcing subordinates to work unreasonable hours. However, Sestak himself disputed that accusation and attributed the transfer to the fact that the new top officer, Admiral Michael Mullen, simply wanted to appoint his own team. Sestak called on Specter to stop broadcasting the commercial, accusing the Senator of "Republican-style" negative campaign tactics, which he compared to those used against Senator John Kerry by the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth during the 2004 presidential election. Sestak said in a statement, "It's time to tell Arlen Specter: Democrats don't 'swift boat'. We're better than that." A group of veterans gathered in Philadelphia to echo Sestak's call that the commercial should be removed, with retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Robert E. Kelley announcing, "We're all here because we're enraged at the fact that someone, anyone, in the United States today would question someone who has 30 years of service." Specter's campaign replied they would not remove the commercial because it was accurate, and instead called on Sestak to remove his advertisement, claiming it violated United States Department of Defense guidelines because it used military images, references, and jargon without a disclaimer that the department did not endorse it. ### Sestak gains in closing weeks Sestak and Specter held their first and only televised debate on May 1 at Philadelphia's Fox affiliate. The two candidates bitterly attacked each other's character and honesty. The two began arguing even before the hour-long debate formally began, when Sestak objected to Specter's use of notes and said that the rules did not allow them. The debate organizer ruled that the notes were allowed. Specter criticized Sestak for campaign advertisements that accused the Senator of lying about Sestak's record. Specter said, "Nobody has ever called me a liar," and demanded an apology, to which Sestak did not respond. Specter also repeatedly asked Sestak to publicly release his military records, to which Sestak again refused to respond. Sestak accused Specter of using Republican-style tactics in the vein of Karl Rove, a former adviser to George W. Bush, and said Specter's attacks were meant to mask his record of supporting Bush's failed economic policies. Specter insisted the questions raised about Sestak's naval record were legitimate because much of Sestak's campaign was based on his military background, adding, "It goes to his ability to get things done, to get along with people. He's all peaches and cream on television." Specter criticized Sestak for supporting the troop build-up in Afghanistan, while Sestak noted that Specter voted against a ban on assault weapons in the 1990s. The Philadelphia Inquirer noted the debate was "every bit as contentious as their Democratic Senate primary struggle has become in its closing days". With only two weeks remaining before the primary, a Quinnipiac University poll released May 4 showed Specter's lead against Sestak had significantly narrowed, dropping from 53 to 32 percent in the previous month to 47–39 percent. A daily tracking poll by Muhlenberg College showed the race as even closer, with Specter supported by 46 percent of likely voters surveyed, and Sestak trailing only four points at 42 percent. The Quinnipiac poll indicated the strongest factor in these changes was that Sestak was gaining better name recognition due to his television commercials. According to the poll, 43 percent of respondents now had a favorable view of him, compared to only 33 percent in March. The day after the poll was released, Sestak unveiled a new television advertisement strongly critical of Specter, highlighting the incumbent Senator's Republican history and showing images of him with George W. Bush and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. The commercial featured a clip of Specter saying, "My change in party will enable me to be reelected" and ended with a narrator saying, "Arlen Specter switched parties to save one job: his, not yours." The same week the advertisement ran, T.J. Rooney said in an interview with Politico that a Sestak primary victory would be "cataclysmic" for the party in the general election, and warned Democratic voters, "If we want to keep this seat in Democratic hands, the only person capable of delivering that victory is Arlen Specter." Specter received several high-profile endorsements during the final weeks leading up to the primary. Senator John Kerry, who had been an early supporter of Sestak's 2006 House campaign, endorsed Specter in the Senate race, calling him "fighter and a friend, and I am proud to vouch for his character". The Philadelphia Inquirer called Sestak "a worthy opponent" and said that his determination made the race especially competitive, but ultimately embraced Specter, whose overall career record the newspaper said was "a good choice for Democrats". The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette also endorsed Specter, focusing more on the fact that Specter stood the best chance of defeating Toomey in a general election challenge. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, however, endorsed Sestak, calling him "incredibly intelligent, thoughtful and articular" while condemning Specter as a "self-serving political ferret" for switching parties. Actor Michael J. Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, appeared in a television advertisement for Specter, praising the Senator for his long-standing support of stem cell research. Fox said, "In the fight against disease, you can look back or move forward. Arlen Specter is moving forward." President Obama sent e-mail messages to his Organizing for America supporters encouraging them to vote for Specter, However, despite his long position of support for Specter, Obama did not fly to Pennsylvania to actively campaign for the Senator during the campaign's final days. As the campaign entered its final week, polls showed Specter and Sestak at a dead heat, with different surveys reporting contradictory findings over which candidate maintained a slight edge. A Quinnipiac University poll found Specter leading 44–42 percent, with fourteen percent undecided. A Franklin & Marshall poll found Sestak ahead 38–36 percent, with about a quarter of voters undecided. In both cases, the lead fell within the survey's margin of error. G. Terry Madonna, director of the Franklin & Marshall poll, said that Sestak improved because his television commercials were resonating with voters on three fronts: the arguments that Specter switched parties for solely political reasons, that he consistently voted for Republican policies and that he had been in office too long. ## Polling ## Results Sestak won the May 18 primary with 53.8 percent of the vote, or 568,563 of the votes cast, compared to 46.2 percent and 487,217 votes for Specter. The defeat led to the end of Specter's nearly 30-year Senate career, the longest of any Pennsylvania Senator in history. Afterward, Sestak declared, "This is what democracy should look like: a win for the people over the establishment. It should come as no surprise to anyone that people want a change." Specter conceded defeat and said, "It's been a great privilege to serve the people of Pennsylvania. It's been a great privilege to be in the United States Senate." Commentators suggested Specter's defeat signaled an electorate unsatisfied with the establishment in both major parties, and indicated that the backing of prominent politicians had little effect on voters during this political age. Sestak's victory was seen as a minor embarrassment for Obama, who strongly and publicly advocated for Specter during the race. Several news outlets reflected that Sestak's television advertisements condemning Specter as a hypocrite and opportunist were especially effective and may have been the primary factor in his victory. The Washington Post said the Pennsylvania race drew more attention than any other primary election in 2010 due to Specter's longevity and his switch to the Democratic party. Toomey went on to defeat Sestak in the general election, winning by a margin of 51 to 49 percent. ## Clinton job offer to Sestak During a February 2010 television interview, Sestak said that in July 2009, he was offered a job in President Obama's administration if he dropped out of the race. During a February 18 taping of Larry Kane: Voice of Reason, a Philadelphia-area local news show, host Larry Kane asked Sestak whether such an offer had been made, to which Sestak responded, "Yes", without elaborating beyond that it was a high-ranking assignment and that he did not plan to take it. In subsequent press inquiries, Sestak repeatedly stood by his original statement. When asked about the matter by The Washington Post, he said, "There has been some indirect means in which they were trying to offer things if I got out." Likewise, during an appearance on the Fox News Channel, he said, "I was asked a direct question yesterday, and I answered it honestly. There's nothing more to go into. I'm in this race now." Over the next month, White House officials did not answer multiple press inquiries about whether Sestak's claims were true. On March 16, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said he had reviewed the matter and found conversations that had been held with Sestak were "not problematic." In March, Congressman Darrell Issa, the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to White House Counsel Robert Bauer stating if Sestak's claim was true, the Obama administration may have violated a federal statute that makes it illegal for a government employee to use his authority to interfere with a Senate election. Interest in the alleged job offer reignited after Sestak defeated Specter in the primary on May 18. Seven Republicans from the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote to Attorney General Eric Holder seeking a review of the legal implications of the offer. Around this time, Sestak continued to maintain that a job offer was made, but he downplayed the importance of the incident and defended Obama's integrity. On May 28, the White House formally responded to the allegations and acknowledged White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel enlisted former President Bill Clinton to offer Sestak a seat on a presidential advisory board or another executive board if Sestak dropped his candidacy. If Sestak accepted, he would have been allowed to remain in the House while serving in the unpaid position. Bauer said that nobody in the administration itself directly discussed the offer with Sestak, and he does not believe there was anything improper, illegal or unethical about the conduct. Republicans in Congress disagreed, arguing the action contradicted claims Obama made during his presidential campaign about ethical conduct and transparency in government. Darrell Issa, in particular, felt it was an impeachable offense and referred to it as "Obama's Watergate". Nevertheless, the matter gradually became less of a focus during the primary election, where other topics like spending and the economy took the spotlight. With Issa poised to become chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform following the Republican Party recapturing the house during the 2010 midterm elections, it was widely expected he would launch an official investigation into the job offer based on his prior critical comments about the matter. However, on November 5, Issa announced he would not pursue an investigation. Some politicians and members of the media said that the job offer made to Sestak was neither illegal nor abhorrent, and that such deals are regularly made by politicians of all levels. Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post felt the matter only appeared to be a scandal because the White House badly mishandled the response, and Chicago Tribune writer John Kass wrote, "Offering a spot to an ambitious young politician to protect an old servile weakling isn't new. Presidents do it, governors do it. Big-city mayors really know how to do it."
483,468	Operation Cobra	1,173,623,378	American offensive in the Western Theater of World War II	[ "1944 in France", "Battles and operations of World War II involving the United States", "Military operations of World War II involving Germany", "Operation Overlord" ]	Operation Cobra was an offensive launched by the First United States Army under Lieutenant General Omar Bradley seven weeks after the D-Day landings, during the Normandy campaign of World War II. The intention was to take advantage of the distraction of the Germans by the British and Canadian attacks around Caen in Operation Goodwood, and thereby break through the German defenses that were penning in their forces while the Germans were unbalanced. Once a corridor had been created, the First Army would then be able to advance into Brittany, rolling up the German flanks once free of the constraints of the bocage country. After a slow start, the offensive gathered momentum and German resistance collapsed as scattered remnants of broken units fought to escape to the Seine. Lacking the resources to cope with the situation, the German response was ineffectual and the entire Normandy front soon collapsed. Operation Cobra, together with concurrent offensives by the British Second Army and the Canadian First Army, was decisive in securing an Allied victory in the Normandy campaign. Having been delayed several times by poor weather, Operation Cobra commenced on 25 July 1944, with a concentrated aerial bombardment from thousands of Allied aircraft. Supporting offensives had drawn the bulk of German armored reserves toward the British and Canadian sector and, coupled with the general lack of men and materiel available to the Germans, it was impossible for them to form successive lines of defense. Units of the U.S. VII Corps led the initial two-division assault, while other First U.S. Army corps mounted supporting attacks designed to pin German units in place. Progress was slow on the first day but opposition started to crumble once the defensive crust had been broken. By 27 July, most organized resistance had been overcome and the VII and VIII Corps advanced rapidly, isolating the Cotentin Peninsula. By 31 July, XIX Corps had destroyed the last forces opposing the First Army, which emerged from the bocage. Reinforcements were moved west by Field Marshal Günther von Kluge and employed in various counterattacks, the largest of which, Unternehmen Lüttich (Operation Liège), was launched on 7 August between Mortain and Avranches. Although this led to the bloodiest phase of the battle, it was mounted by already exhausted and understrength units and was a costly failure. On 8 August, troops of the newly activated Third United States Army captured the city of Le Mans, formerly the German 7th Army headquarters. Operation Cobra transformed the high-intensity infantry combat of Normandy into rapid maneuver warfare and led to the creation of the Falaise pocket and the loss of the German strategic position in northwestern France. ## Background Following the successful Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, progress inland was slow. To facilitate the Allied build-up in France and to secure room for further expansion, the deep water port of Cherbourg on the western flank of the U.S. sector and the historic town of Caen in the British and Canadian sector to the east, were early objectives. The original plan for the Normandy campaign envisioned strong offensive efforts in both sectors, in which the Second Army (Lieutenant-General Sir Miles Dempsey) would secure Caen and the area south of it and the First U.S. Army (Lieutenant General Omar Bradley) would "wheel round" to the Loire valley. General Sir Bernard Montgomery—commanding all Allied ground forces in Normandy—intended Caen to be taken on D-Day, while Cherbourg was expected to fall 15 days later. The Second Army was to seize Caen and then form a front to the southeast, extending to Caumont-l'Éventé, to acquire airfields and protect the left flank of the First U.S. Army as it moved on Cherbourg. Possession of Caen and its surroundings—desirable for open terrain that would permit maneuver warfare—would also give the Second Army a suitable staging area for a push south to capture Falaise, which could be used as the pivot for a swing east to advance on Argentan and then the Touques River. The capture of Caen has been described by the British official historian Lionel Ellis as the most important D-Day objective assigned to the British I Corps (Lieutenant-General John Crocker). Ellis and Chester Wilmot called the Allied plan "ambitious" since the Caen sector contained the strongest defenses in Normandy. The initial attempt by I Corps to reach the city on D-Day was blocked by elements of the 21st Panzer Division and with the Germans committing most of the reinforcements sent to meet the invasion to the defense of Caen, the Anglo-Canadian front rapidly congealed short of the Second Army's objectives. Operation Perch in the week following D-Day and Operation Epsom (26–30 June) brought some territorial gains and depleted its defenders but Caen remained in German hands until Operation Charnwood (7–9 July), when the Second Army managed to take the northern part of the city up to the River Orne in a frontal assault. The successive Anglo-Canadian offensives around Caen kept the best of the German forces in Normandy, including most of the armor, to the eastern end of the Allied lodgement but even so the First U.S. Army made slow progress against dogged German resistance. In part, operations were slow due to the constraints of the bocage landscape of densely packed banked hedgerows, sunken lanes and small woods, for which U.S. units had not trained. With no ports in Allied hands, all reinforcement and supply had to take place over the beaches via the two Mulberry harbors and were at the mercy of the weather. On 19 June, a severe storm descended on the English Channel, lasting for three days and causing significant delays to the Allied build-up and the cancellation of some operations. The First U.S. Army advance in the western sector was eventually halted by Bradley before the town of Saint-Lô, to concentrate on the seizure of Cherbourg. The defense of Cherbourg consisted largely of four German battlegroups formed from the remnants of units that had retreated up the Cotentin Peninsula, but the port defenses had been designed principally to meet an attack from the sea. Organized German resistance finally ended on 27 June, when the U.S. 9th Infantry Division managed to reduce the defenses of Cap de la Hague, north-west of the port. Within four days, VII Corps (Major General J. Lawton Collins) resumed the offensive toward Saint-Lô, alongside XIX Corps and VIII Corps, causing the Germans to move more armor into the U.S. sector. ## Planning The originator of the idea for Operation Cobra is disputed. According to Montgomery's official biographer, the foundation of Operation Cobra was laid on 13 June. Planning was immensely aided by detailed Ultra intelligence which supplied up-to-date decodes of communications between Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW, the German armed forces high command) and Hitler's generals. Montgomery's plan at that time called for the U.S. First Army to take Saint-Lô and Coutances and then make two southward thrusts; one from Caumont toward Vire and Mortain and the other from Saint-Lô toward Villedieu and Avranches. Although pressure was to be kept up along the Cotentin Peninsula towards La Haye-du-Puits and Valognes, the capture of Cherbourg was not the priority. With the capture of Cherbourg by VII Corps on 27 June, Montgomery's initial timetable was overtaken by events and the thrust from Caumont was never adopted. Following the conclusion of Operation Charnwood and the cancellation of the First Army offensive towards Saint-Lô, Montgomery met with Bradley and Dempsey on 10 July to discuss plans for the 21st Army Group. Bradley said that progress on the western flank was very slow but that plans had been laid for another breakout attempt, codenamed Operation Cobra, to be launched by the First Army on 18 July. Montgomery approved the plan and that the strategy would remain the diversion of German attention from the First Army to the British and Canadian sector. Dempsey was instructed to "go on hitting, drawing the German strength, especially the armour, onto yourself—so as to ease the way for Brad". To accomplish this, Operation Goodwood was planned and Eisenhower ensured that both operations would have the support of the Allied strategic bombers. On 12 July, Bradley briefed his commanders on the Cobra plan, which consisted of three phases. The main effort would be under the control of VII Corps. In the first phase, the breakthrough attack would be conducted by the 9th Infantry Division (Major General Manton S. Eddy) and the 30th Infantry Division (Major General Leland Hobbs), which would break into the German defensive zone and then hold the flanks of the penetration while the 1st Infantry Division (Major General Clarence Huebner) and 2nd Armored Division (Major General Edward H. Brooks) pushed into the depth of the position until resistance collapsed. The 1st Infantry Division "was to take Marigny, with this objective exploited by a stream of General Watson's 3rd Armored Division armor that would move south toward Coutances". The 2nd Armored Division—part of "Collins' exploitation force" of the 2nd Armored Division in the east of the VII Corps sector and the "1st Infantry Division reinforced by Combat Command B (CCB) of the 3rd Armored division in the west"—would "pass through the 30th Infantry Division sector ... and guard the overall American left flank." If VII Corps succeeded, the western German position would become untenable, permitting a relatively easy advance to the southwest end of the bocage to cut off and seize the Brittany peninsula. First Army intelligence estimated that no German counterattack would occur in the first few days after Cobra's launch and that if they did later, they would be no more than battalion-sized operations. Cobra was to be a concentrated attack on a 6,400 m (7,000 yd) front, unlike previous U.S. broad front offensives and would have a mass of air support. Fighter-bombers would concentrate on hitting forward German defenses in a 230 m (250 yd) belt immediately south of the Saint-Lô–Periers road, while General Spaatz's heavy bombers would bomb to a depth of 2,300 m (2,500 yd) behind the German main line of resistance. It was anticipated that the physical destruction and shock value of a short, intense preliminary bombardment would greatly weaken the German defense so in addition to divisional artillery, Army- and Corps-level units would provide support, including nine heavy, five medium and seven light artillery battalions. More than a thousand divisional and corps artillery pieces were committed to the offensive and approximately 140,000 artillery rounds were allocated to the operation in VII Corps, with another 27,000 for VIII Corps. To overcome the constraints of the bocage that had made attacks so difficult and costly for both sides, Rhino modifications were made to some M4 Sherman, M5A1 Stuart tanks and M10 tank destroyers, by fitting them with hedge-breaching 'tusks' that could force a path through hedgerows. German tanks remained restricted to the roads but U.S. armored vehicles could maneuver more freely, although the effectiveness of the devices was exaggerated. By the eve of Cobra, 60 percent of the tanks of the First Army had the rhino modification. To preserve operational security, Bradley forbade their use until Cobra was launched. In all, 1,269 M4 medium tanks, 694 M5A1 light tanks and 288 M10 tank destroyers were available. ### Supporting operations On 18 July, the British VIII and I Corps—to the east of Caen—launched Operation Goodwood. The offensive began with the largest air bombardment in support of ground forces yet, with more than 1,000 aircraft dropping 6,000 short tons (5,400 t) of high explosive and fragmentation bombs from low altitude. German positions to the east of Caen were shelled by 400 artillery pieces and many villages were reduced to rubble but German artillery further to the south, on the Bourguébus Ridge, was outside the range of the British artillery and the defenders of Cagny and Émiéville were largely unscathed by the bombardment. This contributed to the losses suffered by Second Army, which sustained over 4,800 casualties. Principally an armored offensive, between 250 and 400 British tanks were put out of action, although recent examination suggests that only 140 were completely destroyed with an additional 174 damaged. The operation remains the largest tank battle ever fought by the British Army and resulted in the expansion of the Orne bridgehead and the capture of Caen on the south bank of the Orne. Simultaneously, the II Canadian Corps on the western flank of Goodwood began Operation Atlantic to strengthen the Allied foothold along the banks of the Orne river and take Verrières Ridge to the south of Caen. Atlantic made initial gains but ran out of steam as casualties mounted. Having cost the Canadians 1,349 men and with the heavily defended ridge firmly in German hands, Atlantic was closed down on 20 July. At Montgomery's urging, "strongly underlined in the Supreme Commander's communications to Montgomery", the II Canadian Corps commander, Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds, began a second offensive a few days later, codenamed Operation Spring. This had the limited but important aim of tying down German units to prevent them from being transferred to the U.S. sector, although Simonds took the opportunity to make another bid for Verrières Ridge. Again the fighting for Verrières Ridge proved extremely bloody for the Canadians, with 25 July marking the costliest day for a Canadian battalion—The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada—since the Dieppe Raid of 1942. A counterstroke by two German divisions pushed the Canadians back past their start lines and Simonds had to commit reinforcements to stabilize the front. With Goodwood, the Canadian operations caused the Germans to commit most of their armor and reinforcements to the eastern sector. Operation Spring—despite its cost—had drawn the 9th SS Panzer Division away from the U.S. sector on the eve of Operation Cobra. Only two Panzer divisions with 190 tanks now faced the First Army. Seven Panzer divisions with 750 tanks were around Caen, far away from Operation Cobra as were all the heavy Tiger tank battalions and the three Nebelwerfer brigades in Normandy. ### Logistics Each division consumed 750 short tons (680 t) of supplies daily. ## Allied offensive ### Preliminary attacks To gain good terrain for Operation Cobra, Bradley and Collins conceived a plan to push forward to the Saint-Lô–Periers road, along which VII and VIII Corps were securing jumping-off positions. On 18 July, at a cost of 5,000 casualties, the U.S. 29th and 35th Infantry Divisions managed to gain the vital heights of Saint-Lô, driving back General der Fallschirmtruppen Eugen Meindl's II Parachute Corps. Meindl's paratroopers, together with the 352nd Infantry Division (which had been in action since its D-Day defense of Omaha Beach) were now in ruins, and the stage for the main offensive was set. Due to poor weather conditions that had also been hampering Goodwood and Atlantic, Bradley decided to postpone Cobra for a few days—a decision that worried Montgomery, as the British and Canadian operations had been launched to support a breakout attempt that was failing to materialize. By 24 July the skies had cleared enough for the start order to be given, and 1,600 Allied aircraft took off for Normandy. However, the weather closed in again over the battlefield. Under poor visibility conditions, more than 25 Americans were killed and 130 wounded in the bombing before the air support operation was postponed until the following day. Some enraged soldiers opened fire on their own aircraft, a not uncommon practice in Normandy when suffering from friendly fire. ### Main attack and breakthrough 25–27 July After the one-day postponement, Cobra got underway at 09:38 on 25 July, when around 600 Allied fighter-bombers attacked strongpoints and enemy artillery along a 270 m (300 yd)-wide strip of ground located in the St. Lô area. For the next hour, 1,800 heavy bombers of the U.S. Eighth Air Force saturated a 6,000 yd × 2,200 yd (3.4 mi × 1.3 mi; 5.5 km × 2.0 km) area on the Saint-Lô–Periers road, succeeded by a third and final wave of medium bombers. Approximately 3,000 U.S. aircraft had carpet-bombed a narrow section of the front, with the Panzer-Lehr-Division taking the brunt of the attack. However, once again not all the casualties were German; Bradley had specifically requested that the bombers approach the target from the east, out of the sun and parallel to the Saint-Lô–Periers road, in order to minimize the risk of friendly losses, but most of the airmen instead came in from the north, perpendicular to the front line. Bradley, however, had apparently misunderstood explanations from the heavy bomber commanders that a parallel approach was impossible because of the time and space constraints Bradley had set. Additionally, a parallel approach would not in any event have assured that all bombs would fall behind German lines because of deflection errors or obscured aim points due to dust and smoke. Despite efforts by U.S. units to identify their positions, inaccurate bombing by the Eighth Air Force killed 111 men and wounded 490. The dead included Bradley's friend and fellow West Pointer Lieutenant General Lesley McNair—the highest-ranking U.S. soldier to be killed in action in the European Theater of Operations. By 11:00, the infantry began to move forward, advancing from crater to crater beyond what had been the German outpost line. Although no serious opposition was forecast, the remnants of Fritz Bayerlein's Panzer Lehr—consisting of roughly 2,200 men and 45 armored vehicles—had regrouped and were prepared to meet the advancing U.S. troops, and to the west of Panzer Lehr the German 5th Parachute Division had escaped the bombing almost intact. Collins' VII Corps were quite disheartened to meet fierce enemy artillery fire, which they expected to have been suppressed by the bombing. Several U.S. units found themselves entangled in fights against strongpoints held by a handful of German tanks, supporting infantry and 88 mm (3.46 in) guns—VII Corps gained only 2,000 m (2,200 yd) during the rest of the day. However, if the first day's results had been disappointing, General Collins found cause for encouragement; although the Germans were fiercely holding their positions, these did not seem to form a continuous line and were susceptible to being outflanked or bypassed. Even with prior warning of the U.S. offensive, the British and Canadian actions around Caen had convinced the Germans that the real threat lay there, and tied down their available forces to such an extent that a succession of meticulously prepared defensive positions in depth, as encountered during Goodwood and Atlantic, were not created to meet Cobra. On the morning of 26 July, the U.S. 2nd Armored Division and the 1st Infantry Division joined the attack as planned, reaching one of Cobra's first objectives—a road junction north of Le Mesnil-Herman—the following day. Also on 26 July, VIII Corps (Major General Troy H. Middleton) entered the battle, led by the 8th U.S. Infantry Division and 90th U.S. Infantry Division. Despite clear paths of advance through the floods and swamps across their front, both divisions initially disappointed the First Army by failing to gain significant ground but first light the next morning revealed that the Germans had been compelled to retreat by their crumbling left flank, leaving only immense minefields to delay VIII Corps. By noon on 27 July, the U.S. 9th Infantry Division was also clear of any organized German resistance and was advancing rapidly. ### Breakout and advance 28–30 July By 28 July, the German defenses across the U.S. front had largely collapsed under the full weight of the VII and VIII Corps advance and resistance was disorganized and patchy. The 4th Armored Division (VIII Corps)—entering combat for the first time—captured Coutances but met stiff opposition east of the town and U.S. units penetrating into the depth of the German positions were counter-attacked by elements of the 2nd SS Panzer Division, 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division and the 353rd Infantry Division, seeking to escape entrapment. Around Roncey, P-47 Thunderbolts of the 405th Fighter Group destroyed a German column of 122 tanks, 259 other vehicles and 11 artillery pieces. An attack by British Typhoons close to La Baleine destroyed 9 tanks, 8 other armored vehicles and 20 other vehicles. A counter-attack was mounted against the U.S. 2nd Armored Division by German remnants but this was a disaster and the Germans abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot. Two columns of the 2nd SS Panzer Division were mauled by the U.S. 2nd Armored Division. A column around La Chapelle was bombarded at point blank range by 2nd Armored Division artillery. In two hours, U.S. artillery fired over 700 rounds, into the column. The Germans suffered the loss of 50 dead, 60 wounded and 197 taken prisoner. Material losses were over 260 German combat vehicles destroyed. Beyond the town another 1,150 German soldiers were killed and the Germans lost 96 armored combat vehicles and trucks. The U.S. 2nd Armored Division destroyed 64 German tanks and 538 other German combat vehicles during Operation Cobra. The U.S. 2nd Armored Division suffered 49 tank losses in the process. The 2nd Armored Division also inflicted over 7,370 casualties on the Germans while suffering 914 casualties. At the beginning of Operation Cobra the German Panzer Lehr Division had only 2,200 combat troops, 12 Panzer IV and 16 Panthers fit for action and 30 tanks in various states of repair behind the lines. Panzer Lehr was in the path of Allied bombing that consisted of 1,500 bombers. The division suffered about 1,000 casualties during this bombardment. An exhausted and demoralized Bayerlein reported that his Panzer Lehr Division was "finally annihilated", with its armor wiped out, its personnel either casualties or missing and all headquarters records lost. Field Marshal Günther von Kluge Oberbefehlshaber West (commander of German forces on the Western Front)—was mustering reinforcements, and elements of the 2nd Panzer Division and the 116th Panzer Division were approaching the battlefield. The U.S. XIX Corps (Major General Charles H. Corlett) entered the battle on 28 July on the left of VII Corps and between 28 and 31 July became embroiled with these reinforcements in the fiercest fighting since Cobra began. During the night of 29/30 July near Saint-Denis-le-Gast, to the east of Coutances, elements of the 2nd Armored Division found themselves fighting for their lives against a German column from the 2nd SS Panzer Division and 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division, which passed through the U.S. lines in the darkness. Other elements of the 2nd Armored Division were attacked near Cambry and fought for six hours; Bradley and his commanders knew that they were dominating the battlefield and such desperate assaults were no threat to the U.S. position. When ordered to concentrate his division, Colonel Heinz Günther Guderian the senior staff officer of the 116th Panzer Division was frustrated by the high level of Allied fighter-bomber activity. Without receiving direct support from the 2nd Panzer Division as promised, Guderian stated that his panzergrenadiers could not succeed in a counterattack against the Americans. Advancing southward along the coast, later that day, the U.S. VIII Corps seized the town of Avranches—described by historian Andrew Williams as "the gateway to Brittany and southern Normandy"—and by 31 July XIX Corps had thrown back the last German counterattacks after fierce fighting, inflicting heavy losses in men and tanks. The U.S. advance was now relentless, and the First Army was finally free of the bocage. ### Operation Bluecoat, 30 July – 7 August On 30 July, to protect Cobra's flank and prevent the disengagement and relocation of further German forces, VIII Corps and XXX Corps of the Second Army began Operation Bluecoat southwards from Caumont toward Vire and Mont Pinçon. Bluecoat kept German armored units fixed on the British eastern front and continued the wearing down of the strength of German armored formations in the area. The breakthrough in the center of the Allied front surprised the Germans, when they were distracted by the Allied attacks at both ends of the Normandy bridgehead. By the time of the U.S. breakout at Avranches, there was little to no reserve strength left for Unternehmen Lüttich, which had been defeated by 12 August, leaving the 7th Army with no choice but to retire rapidly east of the Orne river, with a rearguard of the remaining armored and motorized units, to allow time for the surviving infantry to reach the Seine. After the first stage of the withdrawal beyond the Orne, the maneuver collapsed for a lack of fuel, Allied air attacks and the constant pressure of the Allied armies, culminating in the encirclement of German forces in the Falaise pocket. ## Aftermath At noon on 1 August, the U.S. Third Army was activated under the command of Lieutenant General George S. Patton. Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges assumed command of the First Army and Bradley was promoted to the overall command of both armies, named the U.S. 12th Army Group. Patton wrote a poem containing the words, > So let us do real fighting, boring in and gouging, biting. > Let's take a chance now that we have the ball. > Let's forget those fine firm bases in the dreary shell raked spaces, > Let's shoot the works and win! Yes, win it all! The U.S. advance following Cobra was extraordinarily rapid. Between 1 and 4 August, seven divisions of Patton's Third Army had swept through Avranches and over the bridge at Pontaubault into Brittany. The Westheer (German army in the west) had been reduced to such a poor state by the Allied offensives that, with no prospect of reinforcement in the wake of Operation Bagration, the Soviet summer offensive against Army Group Centre, very few Germans believed they could now avoid defeat. Rather than order his remaining forces to withdraw to the Seine, Adolf Hitler sent a directive to von Kluge demanding "an immediate counterattack between Mortain and Avranches" (Unternehmen Lüttich) to "annihilate" the enemy and make contact with the west coast of the Cotentin peninsula. Eight of the nine Panzer divisions in Normandy were to be used in the attack but only four (one of them incomplete) could be relieved from their defensive tasks and assembled in time. German commanders immediately protested that such an operation was impossible given their remaining resources but these objections were overruled and the counter-offensive commenced, on 7 August around Mortain. The 2nd, 1st SS and 2nd SS Panzer Divisions led the assault, although with only 75 Panzer IVs, 70 Panthers and 32 self-propelled guns. Hopelessly optimistic, the offensive was over within 24 hours, although fighting continued until 13 August. By 8 August, the city of Le Mans—the former headquarters of the German 7th Army—had fallen to the Americans. With von Kluge's few remaining battleworthy formations destroyed by the First Army, the Allied commanders realized that the entire German position in Normandy was collapsing. Bradley declared: > This is an opportunity that comes to a commander not more than once in a century. We're about to destroy an entire hostile army and go all the way from here to the German border. On 14 August, in conjunction with U.S. movements northward to Chambois, Canadian forces launched Operation Tractable; the Allied intention was to trap and destroy the German 7th Army and 5th Panzer Army near the town of Falaise. Five days later, the two arms of the encirclement were almost complete; the advancing U.S. 90th Infantry Division had made contact with the Polish 1st Armored Division and the first Allied units crossed the Seine at Mantes Gassicourt, while German units were fleeing eastward by any means they could find. By 22 August, the Falaise Pocket—which the Germans had been fighting desperately to keep open to allow their trapped forces to escape—was finally sealed, ending the Battle of Normandy with a major Allied victory. All German forces west of the Allied lines were now dead or in captivity and although perhaps 100,000 German troops escaped they left behind 40,000–50,000 prisoners and more than 10,000 dead. A total of 344 tanks and self-propelled guns, 2,447 soft-skinned vehicles and 252 artillery pieces were found abandoned or destroyed in the northern sector of the pocket. The Allies were able to advance freely through undefended territory and by 25 August all four Allied armies (First Canadian, Second British, First U.S., and Third U.S.) involved in the Normandy campaign were on the river Seine.
8,311	Dinosaur	1,173,036,722	Archosaurian reptiles that dominated the Mesozoic Era	[ "Carnian first appearances", "Dinosaurs", "Extant Late Triassic first appearances", "Fossil taxa described in 1842", "Taxa named by Richard Owen" ]	Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 245 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is a subject of active research. They became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event 201.3 mya and their dominance continued throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record shows that birds are feathered dinosaurs, having evolved from earlier theropods during the Late Jurassic epoch, and are the only dinosaur lineage known to have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event approximately 66 mya. Dinosaurs can therefore be divided into avian dinosaurs—birds—and the extinct non-avian dinosaurs, which are all dinosaurs other than birds. Dinosaurs are varied from taxonomic, morphological and ecological standpoints. Birds, at over 10,700 living species, are among the most diverse groups of vertebrates. Using fossil evidence, paleontologists have identified over 900 distinct genera and more than 1,000 different species of non-avian dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are represented on every continent by both extant species (birds) and fossil remains. Through the first half of the 20th century, before birds were recognized as dinosaurs, most of the scientific community believed dinosaurs to have been sluggish and cold-blooded. Most research conducted since the 1970s, however, has indicated that dinosaurs were active animals with elevated metabolisms and numerous adaptations for social interaction. Some were herbivorous, others carnivorous. Evidence suggests that all dinosaurs were egg-laying, and that nest-building was a trait shared by many dinosaurs, both avian and non-avian. While dinosaurs were ancestrally bipedal, many extinct groups included quadrupedal species, and some were able to shift between these stances. Elaborate display structures such as horns or crests are common to all dinosaur groups, and some extinct groups developed skeletal modifications such as bony armor and spines. While the dinosaurs' modern-day surviving avian lineage (birds) are generally small due to the constraints of flight, many prehistoric dinosaurs (non-avian and avian) were large-bodied—the largest sauropod dinosaurs are estimated to have reached lengths of 39.7 meters (130 feet) and heights of 18 m (59 ft) and were the largest land animals of all time. The misconception that non-avian dinosaurs were uniformly gigantic is based in part on preservation bias, as large, sturdy bones are more likely to last until they are fossilized. Many dinosaurs were quite small, some measuring about 50 centimeters (20 inches) in length. The first dinosaur fossils were recognized in the early 19th century, with the name "dinosaur" (meaning "terrible lizard") being coined by Sir Richard Owen in 1842 to refer to these "great fossil lizards". Since then, mounted fossil dinosaur skeletons have been major attractions at museums worldwide, and dinosaurs have become an enduring part of popular culture. The large sizes of some dinosaurs, as well as their seemingly monstrous and fantastic nature, have ensured their regular appearance in best-selling books and films, such as Jurassic Park. Persistent public enthusiasm for the animals has resulted in significant funding for dinosaur science, and new discoveries are regularly covered by the media. ## Definition Under phylogenetic nomenclature, dinosaurs are usually defined as the group consisting of the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of Triceratops and modern birds (Neornithes), and all its descendants. It has also been suggested that Dinosauria be defined with respect to the MRCA of Megalosaurus and Iguanodon, because these were two of the three genera cited by Richard Owen when he recognized the Dinosauria. Both definitions result in the same set of animals being defined as dinosaurs: "Dinosauria = Ornithischia + Saurischia". This definition includes major groups such as ankylosaurians (armored herbivorous quadrupeds), stegosaurians (plated herbivorous quadrupeds), ceratopsians (bipedal or quadrupedal herbivores with neck frills), pachycephalosaurians (bipedal herbivores with thick skulls), ornithopods (bipedal or quadrupedal herbivores including "duck-bills"), theropods (mostly bipedal carnivores and birds), and sauropodomorphs (mostly large herbivorous quadrupeds with long necks and tails). Birds are the sole surviving dinosaurs. In traditional taxonomy, birds were considered a separate class that had evolved from dinosaurs, a distinct superorder. However, a majority of contemporary paleontologists concerned with dinosaurs reject the traditional style of classification in favor of phylogenetic taxonomy; this approach requires that, for a group to be natural, all descendants of members of the group must be included in the group. Birds belong to the dinosaur subgroup Maniraptora, which are coelurosaurs, which are theropods, which are saurischians. Research by Matthew G. Baron, David B. Norman, and Paul M. Barrett in 2017 suggested a radical revision of dinosaurian systematics. Phylogenetic analysis by Baron et al. recovered the Ornithischia as being closer to the Theropoda than the Sauropodomorpha, as opposed to the traditional union of theropods with sauropodomorphs. This would cause sauropods and kin to fall outside traditional dinosaurs, so they re-defined Dinosauria as the last common ancestor of Triceratops horridus, Passer domesticus and Diplodocus carnegii, and all of its descendants, to ensure that sauropods and kin remain included as dinosaurs. They also resurrected the clade Ornithoscelida to refer to the group containing Ornithischia and Theropoda. ### General description Using one of the above definitions, dinosaurs can be generally described as archosaurs with hind limbs held erect beneath the body. Other prehistoric animals, including pterosaurs, mosasaurs, ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and Dimetrodon, while often popularly conceived of as dinosaurs, are not taxonomically classified as dinosaurs. Pterosaurs are distantly related to dinosaurs, being members of the clade Ornithodira. The other groups mentioned are, like dinosaurs and pterosaurs, members of Sauropsida (the reptile and bird clade), except Dimetrodon (which is a synapsid). None of them had the erect hind limb posture characteristic of true dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates of the Mesozoic Era, especially the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Other groups of animals were restricted in size and niches; mammals, for example, rarely exceeded the size of a domestic cat, and were generally rodent-sized carnivores of small prey. They have always been recognized as an extremely varied group of animals; over 900 non-avian dinosaur genera have been identified with certainty as of 2018, and the total number of genera preserved in the fossil record has been estimated at around 1850, nearly 75% of which remain to be discovered, and 1124 species by 2016. A 1995 study predicted that about 3,400 dinosaur genera ever existed, including many that would not have been preserved in the fossil record. In 2016, the estimated number of dinosaur species that existed in the Mesozoic was 1,543–2,468. In 2021, the number of modern-day birds (avian dinosaurs) was estimated to be at 10,806 species. Some are herbivorous, others carnivorous, including seed-eaters, fish-eaters, insectivores, and omnivores. While dinosaurs were ancestrally bipedal (as are all modern birds), some prehistoric species were quadrupeds, and others, such as Anchisaurus and Iguanodon, could walk just as easily on two or four legs. Cranial modifications like horns and crests are common dinosaurian traits, and some extinct species had bony armor. Although known for large size, many Mesozoic dinosaurs were human-sized or smaller, and modern birds are generally small in size. Dinosaurs today inhabit every continent, and fossils show that they had achieved global distribution by at least the Early Jurassic epoch. Modern birds inhabit most available habitats, from terrestrial to marine, and there is evidence that some non-avian dinosaurs (such as Microraptor) could fly or at least glide, and others, such as spinosaurids, had semiaquatic habits. ### Distinguishing anatomical features While recent discoveries have made it more difficult to present a universally agreed-upon list of their distinguishing features, nearly all dinosaurs discovered so far share certain modifications to the ancestral archosaurian skeleton, or are clearly descendants of older dinosaurs showing these modifications. Although some later groups of dinosaurs featured further modified versions of these traits, they are considered typical for Dinosauria; the earliest dinosaurs had them and passed them on to their descendants. Such modifications, originating in the most recent common ancestor of a certain taxonomic group, are called the synapomorphies of such a group. A detailed assessment of archosaur interrelations by Sterling Nesbitt confirmed or found the following twelve unambiguous synapomorphies, some previously known: - In the skull, a supratemporal fossa (excavation) is present in front of the supratemporal fenestra, the main opening in the rear skull roof - Epipophyses, obliquely backward-pointing processes on the rear top corners of the anterior (front) neck vertebrae behind the atlas and axis, the first two neck vertebrae - Apex of a deltopectoral crest (a projection on which the deltopectoral muscles attach) located at or more than 30% down the length of the humerus (upper arm bone) - Radius, a lower arm bone, shorter than 80% of humerus length - Fourth trochanter (projection where the caudofemoralis muscle attaches on the inner rear shaft) on the femur (thigh bone) is a sharp flange - Fourth trochanter asymmetrical, with distal, lower, margin forming a steeper angle to the shaft - On the astragalus and calcaneum, upper ankle bones, the proximal articular facet, the top connecting surface, for the fibula occupies less than 30% of the transverse width of the element - Exoccipitals (bones at the back of the skull) do not meet along the midline on the floor of the endocranial cavity, the inner space of the braincase - In the pelvis, the proximal articular surfaces of the ischium with the ilium and the pubis are separated by a large concave surface (on the upper side of the ischium a part of the open hip joint is located between the contacts with the pubic bone and the ilium) - Cnemial crest on the tibia (protruding part of the top surface of the shinbone) arcs anterolaterally (curves to the front and the outer side) - Distinct proximodistally oriented (vertical) ridge present on the posterior face of the distal end of the tibia (the rear surface of the lower end of the shinbone) - Concave articular surface for the fibula of the calcaneum (the top surface of the calcaneum, where it touches the fibula, has a hollow profile) Nesbitt found a number of further potential synapomorphies and discounted a number of synapomorphies previously suggested. Some of these are also present in silesaurids, which Nesbitt recovered as a sister group to Dinosauria, including a large anterior trochanter, metatarsals II and IV of subequal length, reduced contact between ischium and pubis, the presence of a cnemial crest on the tibia and of an ascending process on the astragalus, and many others. A variety of other skeletal features are shared by dinosaurs. However, because they either are common to other groups of archosaurs or were not present in all early dinosaurs, these features are not considered to be synapomorphies. For example, as diapsids, dinosaurs ancestrally had two pairs of Infratemporal fenestrae (openings in the skull behind the eyes), and as members of the diapsid group Archosauria, had additional openings in the snout and lower jaw. Additionally, several characteristics once thought to be synapomorphies are now known to have appeared before dinosaurs, or were absent in the earliest dinosaurs and independently evolved by different dinosaur groups. These include an elongated scapula, or shoulder blade; a sacrum composed of three or more fused vertebrae (three are found in some other archosaurs, but only two are found in Herrerasaurus); and a perforate acetabulum, or hip socket, with a hole at the center of its inside surface (closed in Saturnalia tupiniquim, for example). Another difficulty of determining distinctly dinosaurian features is that early dinosaurs and other archosaurs from the Late Triassic epoch are often poorly known and were similar in many ways; these animals have sometimes been misidentified in the literature. Dinosaurs stand with their hind limbs erect in a manner similar to most modern mammals, but distinct from most other reptiles, whose limbs sprawl out to either side. This posture is due to the development of a laterally facing recess in the pelvis (usually an open socket) and a corresponding inwardly facing distinct head on the femur. Their erect posture enabled early dinosaurs to breathe easily while moving, which likely permitted stamina and activity levels that surpassed those of "sprawling" reptiles. Erect limbs probably also helped support the evolution of large size by reducing bending stresses on limbs. Some non-dinosaurian archosaurs, including rauisuchians, also had erect limbs but achieved this by a "pillar-erect" configuration of the hip joint, where instead of having a projection from the femur insert on a socket on the hip, the upper pelvic bone was rotated to form an overhanging shelf. ## History of study ### Pre-scientific history Dinosaur fossils have been known for millennia, although their true nature was not recognized. The Chinese considered them to be dragon bones and documented them as such. For example, Huayang Guo Zhi (華陽國志), a gazetteer compiled by Chang Qu (常璩) during the Western Jin Dynasty (265–316), reported the discovery of dragon bones at Wucheng in Sichuan Province. Villagers in central China have long unearthed fossilized "dragon bones" for use in traditional medicines. In Europe, dinosaur fossils were generally believed to be the remains of giants and other biblical creatures. ### Early dinosaur research Scholarly descriptions of what would now be recognized as dinosaur bones first appeared in the late 17th century in England. Part of a bone, now known to have been the femur of a Megalosaurus, was recovered from a limestone quarry at Cornwell near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, in 1676. The fragment was sent to Robert Plot, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford and first curator of the Ashmolean Museum, who published a description in his The Natural History of Oxford-shire (1677). He correctly identified the bone as the lower extremity of the femur of a large animal, and recognized that it was too large to belong to any known species. He, therefore, concluded it to be the femur of a huge human, perhaps a Titan or another type of giant featured in legends. Edward Lhuyd, a friend of Sir Isaac Newton, published Lithophylacii Britannici ichnographia (1699), the first scientific treatment of what would now be recognized as a dinosaur when he described and named a sauropod tooth, "Rutellum impicatum", that had been found in Caswell, near Witney, Oxfordshire. Between 1815 and 1824, the Rev William Buckland, the first Reader of Geology at the University of Oxford, collected more fossilized bones of Megalosaurus and became the first person to describe a non-avian dinosaur in a scientific journal. The second non-avian dinosaur genus to be identified, Iguanodon, was discovered in 1822 by Mary Ann Mantell – the wife of English geologist Gideon Mantell. Gideon Mantell recognized similarities between his fossils and the bones of modern iguanas. He published his findings in 1825. The study of these "great fossil lizards" soon became of great interest to European and American scientists, and in 1842 the English paleontologist Sir Richard Owen coined the term "dinosaur", using it to refer to the "distinct tribe or sub-order of Saurian Reptiles" that were then being recognized in England and around the world. The term is derived . Though the taxonomic name has often been interpreted as a reference to dinosaurs' teeth, claws, and other fearsome characteristics, Owen intended it also to evoke their size and majesty. Owen recognized that the remains that had been found so far, Iguanodon, Megalosaurus and Hylaeosaurus, shared distinctive features, and so decided to present them as a distinct taxonomic group. As clarified by British geologist and historian Hugh Torrens, Owen had given a presentation about fossil reptiles to the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1841, but reports of the time show that Owen did not mention the word "dinosaur", nor recognize dinosaurs as a distinct group of reptiles in his address. He introduced the Dinosauria only in the revised text version of his talk published in April of 1842. With the backing of Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, Owen established the Natural History Museum, London, to display the national collection of dinosaur fossils and other biological and geological exhibits. ### Discoveries in North America In 1858, William Parker Foulke discovered the first known American dinosaur, in marl pits in the small town of Haddonfield, New Jersey. (Although fossils had been found before, their nature had not been correctly discerned.) The creature was named Hadrosaurus foulkii. It was an extremely important find: Hadrosaurus was one of the first nearly complete dinosaur skeletons found (the first was in 1834, in Maidstone, England), and it was clearly a bipedal creature. This was a revolutionary discovery as, until that point, most scientists had believed dinosaurs walked on four feet, like other lizards. Foulke's discoveries sparked a wave of interests in dinosaurs in the United States, known as dinosaur mania. Dinosaur mania was exemplified by the fierce rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, both of whom raced to be the first to find new dinosaurs in what came to be known as the Bone Wars. This fight between the two scientists lasted for over 30 years, ending in 1897 when Cope died after spending his entire fortune on the dinosaur hunt. Many valuable dinosaur specimens were damaged or destroyed due to the pair's rough methods: for example, their diggers often used dynamite to unearth bones. Modern paleontologists would find such methods crude and unacceptable, since blasting easily destroys fossil and stratigraphic evidence. Despite their unrefined methods, the contributions of Cope and Marsh to paleontology were vast: Marsh unearthed 86 new species of dinosaur and Cope discovered 56, a total of 142 new species. Cope's collection is now at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, while Marsh's is at the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University. ### "Dinosaur renaissance" and beyond World War II caused a pause in palaeontological research; after the war, research attention was also diverted increasingly to fossil mammals rather than dinosaurs, which were seen as sluggish and cold-blooded. At the end of the 1960s, however, the field of dinosaur research experienced a surge in activity that remains ongoing. Several seminal studies led to this activity. First, John Ostrom discovered the bird-like dromaeosaurid theropod Deinonychus and described it in 1969. Its anatomy indicated that it was an active predator that was likely warm-blooded, in marked contrast to the then-prevailing image of dinosaurs. Concurrently, Robert T. Bakker published a series of studies that likewise argued for active lifestyles in dinosaurs based on anatomical and ecological evidence (see ), which were subsequently summarized in his 1986 book The Dinosaur Heresies. New revelations were supported by an increase in dinosaur discoveries. Major new dinosaur discoveries have been made by paleontologists working in previously unexplored regions, including India, South America, Madagascar, Antarctica, and most significantly China. Across theropods, sauropodomorphs, and ornithischians, the number of named genera began to increase exponentially in the 1990s. As of 2008, over 30 new species of dinosaurs were named each year. At least sauropodomorphs experienced a further increase in the number of named species in the 2010s, with an average of 9.3 new species having been named each year between 2009 and 2020. As a consequence, more sauropodomorphs were named between 1990 and 2020 than in all previous years combined. These new localities also led to improvements in overall specimen quality, with new species being increasingly named not on scrappy fossils but on more complete skeletons, sometimes from multiple individuals. Better specimens also led to new species being invalidated less frequently. Asian localities have produced the most complete theropod specimens, while North American localities have produced the most complete sauropodomorph specimens. Prior to the dinosaur renaissance, dinosaurs were mostly classified using the traditional rank-based system of Linnaean taxonomy. The renaissance was also accompanied by the increasingly widespread application of cladistics, a more objective method of classification based on ancestry and shared traits, which has proved tremendously useful in the study of dinosaur systematics and evolution. Cladistic analysis, among other techniques, helps to compensate for an often incomplete and fragmentary fossil record. Reference books summarizing the state of dinosaur research, such as David B. Weishampel and colleagues' The Dinosauria, made knowledge more accessible and spurred further interest in dinosaur research. The release of the first and second editions of The Dinosauria in 1990 and 2004, and of a review paper by Paul Sereno in 1998, were accompanied by increases in the number of published phylogenetic trees for dinosaurs. ### Soft tissue and molecular preservation Dinosaur fossils are not limited to bones, but also include imprints or mineralized remains of skin coverings, organs, and other tissues. Of these, skin coverings based on keratin proteins are most easily preserved because of their cross-linked, hydrophobic molecular structure. Fossils of keratin-based skin coverings or bony skin coverings are known from most major groups of dinosaurs. Dinosaur fossils with scaly skin impressions have been found since the 19th century. Samuel Beckles discovered a sauropod forelimb with preserved skin in 1852 that was incorrectly attributed to a crocodile; it was correctly attributed by Marsh in 1888 and subject to further study by Reginald Hooley in 1917. Among ornithischians, in 1884 Jacob Wortman found skin impressions on the first known specimen of Edmontosaurus annectens, which were largely destroyed during the specimen's excavation. Owen and Hooley subsequently described skin impressions of Hypsilophodon and Iguanodon in 1885 and 1917. Since then, scale impressions have been most frequently found among hadrosaurids, where the impressions are known from nearly the entire body across multiple specimens. Starting from the 1990s, major discoveries of exceptionally preserved fossils in deposits known as conservation Lagerstätten contributed to research on dinosaur soft tissues. Chiefly among these were the rocks that produced the Jehol (Early Cretaceous) and Yanliao (Mid-to-Late Jurassic) biotas of northeastern China, from which hundreds of dinosaur specimens bearing impressions of feather-like structures (both closely related to birds and otherwise, see ) have been described by Xing Xu and colleagues. In living reptiles and mammals, pigment-storing cellular structures known as melanosomes are partially responsible for producing colouration. Both chemical traces of melanin and characteristically-shaped melanosomes have been reported from feathers and scales of Jehol and Yanliao dinosaurs, including both theropods and ornithischians. This has enabled multiple full-body reconstructions of dinosaur colouration, such as for Sinosauropteryx and Psittacosaurus by Jakob Vinther and colleagues, and similar techniques have also been extended to dinosaur fossils from other localities. (However, some researchers have also suggested that fossilized melanosomes represent bacterial remains.) Stomach contents in some Jehol and Yanliao dinosaurs closely related to birds have also provided indirect indications of diet and digestive system anatomy (e.g., crops). More concrete evidence of internal anatomy has been reported in Scipionyx from the Pietraroja Plattenkalk of Italy. It preserves portions of the intestines, colon, liver, muscles, and windpipe. Concurrently, a line of work led by Mary Higby Schweitzer, Jack Horner, and colleagues reported various occurrences of preserved soft tissues and proteins within dinosaur bone fossils. Various mineralized structures that likely represented red blood cells and collagen fibres had been found by Schweitzer and others in tyrannosaurid bones as early as 1991. However, in 2005, Schweitzer and colleagues reported that a femur of Tyrannosaurus preserved soft, flexible tissue within, including blood vessels, bone matrix, and connective tissue (bone fibers) that had retained their microscopic structure. This discovery suggested that original soft tissues could be preserved over geological time, with multiple mechanisms having been proposed. Later, in 2009, Schweitzer and colleagues reported that a Brachylophosaurus femur preserved similar microstructures, and immunohistochemical techniques (based on antibody binding) demonstrated the presence of proteins such as collagen, elastin, and laminin. Both specimens yielded collagen protein sequences that were viable for molecular phylogenetic analyses, which grouped them with birds as would be expected. The extraction of fragmentary DNA has also been reported for both of these fossils, along with a specimen of Hypacrosaurus. In 2015, Sergio Bertazzo and colleagues reported the preservation of collagen fibres and red blood cells in eight Cretaceous dinosaur specimens that did not show any signs of exceptional preservation, indicating that soft tissue may be preserved more commonly than previously thought. Suggestions that these structures represent bacterial biofilms have been rejected, but cross-contamination remains a possibility that is difficult to detect. ## Evolutionary history ### Origins and early evolution Dinosaurs diverged from their archosaur ancestors during the Middle to Late Triassic epochs, roughly 20 million years after the devastating Permian–Triassic extinction event wiped out an estimated 96% of all marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species approximately 252 million years ago. The oldest dinosaur fossils known from substantial remains date to the Carnian epoch of the Triassic period and have been found primarily in the Ischigualasto and Santa Maria Formations of Argentina, and the Pebbly Arkose Formation of Zimbabwe. The Ischigualasto Formation (radiometrically dated at 231-230 million years old) has produced the early saurischian Eoraptor, originally considered a member of the Herrerasauridae but now considered to be an early sauropodomorph, along with the herrerasaurids Herrerasaurus and Sanjuansaurus, and the sauropodomorphs Chromogisaurus, Eodromaeus, and Panphagia. Eoraptor's likely resemblance to the common ancestor of all dinosaurs suggests that the first dinosaurs would have been small, bipedal predators. The Santa Maria Formation (radiometrically dated to be older, at 233.23 million years old) has produced the herrerasaurids Gnathovorax and Staurikosaurus, along with the sauropodomorphs Bagualosaurus, Buriolestes, Guaibasaurus, Macrocollum, Nhandumirim, Pampadromaeus, Saturnalia, and Unaysaurus. The Pebbly Arkose Formation, which is of uncertain age but was likely comparable to the other two, has produced the sauropodomorph Mbiresaurus, along with an unnamed herrerasaurid. Less well-preserved remains of the sauropodomorphs Jaklapallisaurus and Nambalia, along with the early saurischian Alwalkeria, are known from the Upper Maleri and Lower Maleri Formations of India. The Carnian-aged Chañares Formation of Argentina preserves primitive, dinosaur-like ornithodirans such as Lagosuchus and Lagerpeton in Argentina, making it another important site for understanding dinosaur evolution. These ornithodirans support the model of early dinosaurs as small, bipedal predators. Dinosaurs may have appeared as early as the Anisian epoch of the Triassic, approximately 245 million years ago, which is the age of Nyasasaurus from the Manda Formation of Tanzania. However, its known fossils are too fragmentary to identify it as a dinosaur or only a close relative. The referral of the Manda Formation to the Anisian is also uncertain. Regardless, dinosaurs existed alongside non-dinosaurian ornithodirans for a period of time, with estimates ranging from 5–10 million years to 21 million years. When dinosaurs appeared, they were not the dominant terrestrial animals. The terrestrial habitats were occupied by various types of archosauromorphs and therapsids, like cynodonts and rhynchosaurs. Their main competitors were the pseudosuchians, such as aetosaurs, ornithosuchids and rauisuchians, which were more successful than the dinosaurs. Most of these other animals became extinct in the Triassic, in one of two events. First, at about 215 million years ago, a variety of basal archosauromorphs, including the protorosaurs, became extinct. This was followed by the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event (about 201 million years ago), that saw the end of most of the other groups of early archosaurs, like aetosaurs, ornithosuchids, phytosaurs, and rauisuchians. Rhynchosaurs and dicynodonts survived (at least in some areas) at least as late as early –mid Norian and late Norian or earliest Rhaetian stages, respectively, and the exact date of their extinction is uncertain. These losses left behind a land fauna of crocodylomorphs, dinosaurs, mammals, pterosaurians, and turtles. The first few lines of early dinosaurs diversified through the Carnian and Norian stages of the Triassic, possibly by occupying the niches of the groups that became extinct. Also notably, there was a heightened rate of extinction during the Carnian pluvial event. ### Evolution and paleobiogeography Dinosaur evolution after the Triassic followed changes in vegetation and the location of continents. In the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic, the continents were connected as the single landmass Pangaea, and there was a worldwide dinosaur fauna mostly composed of coelophysoid carnivores and early sauropodomorph herbivores. Gymnosperm plants (particularly conifers), a potential food source, radiated in the Late Triassic. Early sauropodomorphs did not have sophisticated mechanisms for processing food in the mouth, and so must have employed other means of breaking down food farther along the digestive tract. The general homogeneity of dinosaurian faunas continued into the Middle and Late Jurassic, where most localities had predators consisting of ceratosaurians, megalosauroids, and allosauroids, and herbivores consisting of stegosaurian ornithischians and large sauropods. Examples of this include the Morrison Formation of North America and Tendaguru Beds of Tanzania. Dinosaurs in China show some differences, with specialized metriacanthosaurid theropods and unusual, long-necked sauropods like Mamenchisaurus. Ankylosaurians and ornithopods were also becoming more common, but primitive sauropodomorphs had become extinct. Conifers and pteridophytes were the most common plants. Sauropods, like earlier sauropodomorphs, were not oral processors, but ornithischians were evolving various means of dealing with food in the mouth, including potential cheek-like organs to keep food in the mouth, and jaw motions to grind food. Another notable evolutionary event of the Jurassic was the appearance of true birds, descended from maniraptoran coelurosaurians. By the Early Cretaceous and the ongoing breakup of Pangaea, dinosaurs were becoming strongly differentiated by landmass. The earliest part of this time saw the spread of ankylosaurians, iguanodontians, and brachiosaurids through Europe, North America, and northern Africa. These were later supplemented or replaced in Africa by large spinosaurid and carcharodontosaurid theropods, and rebbachisaurid and titanosaurian sauropods, also found in South America. In Asia, maniraptoran coelurosaurians like dromaeosaurids, troodontids, and oviraptorosaurians became the common theropods, and ankylosaurids and early ceratopsians like Psittacosaurus became important herbivores. Meanwhile, Australia was home to a fauna of basal ankylosaurians, hypsilophodonts, and iguanodontians. The stegosaurians appear to have gone extinct at some point in the late Early Cretaceous or early Late Cretaceous. A major change in the Early Cretaceous, which would be amplified in the Late Cretaceous, was the evolution of flowering plants. At the same time, several groups of dinosaurian herbivores evolved more sophisticated ways to orally process food. Ceratopsians developed a method of slicing with teeth stacked on each other in batteries, and iguanodontians refined a method of grinding with dental batteries, taken to its extreme in hadrosaurids. Some sauropods also evolved tooth batteries, best exemplified by the rebbachisaurid Nigersaurus. There were three general dinosaur faunas in the Late Cretaceous. In the northern continents of North America and Asia, the major theropods were tyrannosaurids and various types of smaller maniraptoran theropods, with a predominantly ornithischian herbivore assemblage of hadrosaurids, ceratopsians, ankylosaurids, and pachycephalosaurians. In the southern continents that had made up the now-splitting supercontinent Gondwana, abelisaurids were the common theropods, and titanosaurian sauropods the common herbivores. Finally, in Europe, dromaeosaurids, rhabdodontid iguanodontians, nodosaurid ankylosaurians, and titanosaurian sauropods were prevalent. Flowering plants were greatly radiating, with the first grasses appearing by the end of the Cretaceous. Grinding hadrosaurids and shearing ceratopsians became very diverse across North America and Asia. Theropods were also radiating as herbivores or omnivores, with therizinosaurians and ornithomimosaurians becoming common. The Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which occurred approximately 66 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous, caused the extinction of all dinosaur groups except for the neornithine birds. Some other diapsid groups, including crocodilians, dyrosaurs, sebecosuchians, turtles, lizards, snakes, sphenodontians, and choristoderans, also survived the event. The surviving lineages of neornithine birds, including the ancestors of modern ratites, ducks and chickens, and a variety of waterbirds, diversified rapidly at the beginning of the Paleogene period, entering ecological niches left vacant by the extinction of Mesozoic dinosaur groups such as the arboreal enantiornithines, aquatic hesperornithines, and even the larger terrestrial theropods (in the form of Gastornis, eogruiids, bathornithids, ratites, geranoidids, mihirungs, and "terror birds"). It is often stated that mammals out-competed the neornithines for dominance of most terrestrial niches but many of these groups co-existed with rich mammalian faunas for most of the Cenozoic Era. Terror birds and bathornithids occupied carnivorous guilds alongside predatory mammals, and ratites are still fairly successful as mid-sized herbivores; eogruiids similarly lasted from the Eocene to Pliocene, becoming extinct only very recently after over 20 million years of co-existence with many mammal groups. ## Classification Dinosaurs belong to a group known as archosaurs, which also includes modern crocodilians. Within the archosaur group, dinosaurs are differentiated most noticeably by their gait. Dinosaur legs extend directly beneath the body, whereas the legs of lizards and crocodilians sprawl out to either side. Collectively, dinosaurs as a clade are divided into two primary branches, Saurischia and Ornithischia. Saurischia includes those taxa sharing a more recent common ancestor with birds than with Ornithischia, while Ornithischia includes all taxa sharing a more recent common ancestor with Triceratops than with Saurischia. Anatomically, these two groups can be distinguished most noticeably by their pelvic structure. Early saurischians—"lizard-hipped", from the Greek sauros (σαῦρος) meaning "lizard" and ischion (ἰσχίον) meaning "hip joint"—retained the hip structure of their ancestors, with a pubis bone directed cranially, or forward. This basic form was modified by rotating the pubis backward to varying degrees in several groups (Herrerasaurus, therizinosauroids, dromaeosaurids, and birds). Saurischia includes the theropods (exclusively bipedal and with a wide variety of diets) and sauropodomorphs (long-necked herbivores which include advanced, quadrupedal groups). By contrast, ornithischians—"bird-hipped", from the Greek ornitheios (ὀρνίθειος) meaning "of a bird" and ischion (ἰσχίον) meaning "hip joint"—had a pelvis that superficially resembled a bird's pelvis: the pubic bone was oriented caudally (rear-pointing). Unlike birds, the ornithischian pubis also usually had an additional forward-pointing process. Ornithischia includes a variety of species that were primarily herbivores. Despite the terms "bird hip" (Ornithischia) and "lizard hip" (Saurischia), birds are not part of Ornithischia. Birds instead belong to Saurischia, the "lizard-hipped" dinosaurs—birds evolved from earlier dinosaurs with "lizard hips". ### Taxonomy The following is a simplified classification of dinosaur groups based on their evolutionary relationships, and those of the main dinosaur groups Theropoda, Sauropodomorpha and Ornithischia, compiled by Justin Tweet. Further details and other hypotheses of classification may be found on individual articles. - Dinosauria \†Ornithischia ("bird-hipped"; diverse bipedal and quadrupedal herbivores) : \†Heterodontosauridae (small herbivores/omnivores with prominent canine-like teeth) : : \†Genasauria ("cheeked lizards") : : : \†Thyreophora (armored dinosaurs; bipeds and quadrupeds) : : : : \†Eurypoda (heavy, quadrupedal thyreophorans) : : : : : \†Stegosauria (spikes and plates as primary armor) : : : : : : \†Huayangosauridae (small stegosaurs with flank osteoderms and tail clubs) : : : : : : \†Stegosauridae (large stegosaurs) : : : : : \†Ankylosauria (scutes as primary armor) : : : : : : \†Parankylosauria (small, southern ankylosaurs with macuahuitl-like tails) : : : : : : \†Nodosauridae (mostly spiky, club-less ankylosaurs) : : : : : : \†Ankylosauridae (characterized by flat scutes) : : : : : : : \†Ankylosaurinae (club-tailed ankylosaurids) : : : \†Neornithischia ("new ornithischians") : : : : \†Cerapoda ("horned feet") : : : : : \†Marginocephalia (characterized by a cranial growth) : : : : : : \†Pachycephalosauria (bipeds with domed or knobby growth on skulls) : : : : : : \†Ceratopsia (bipeds and quadrupeds; many had neck frills and horns) : : : : : : : \†Chaoyangsauridae (small, frill-less basal ceratopsians) : : : : : : : \†Neoceratopsia ("new ceratopsians") : : : : : : : : \†Leptoceratopsidae (little to no frills, hornless, with robust jaws) : : : : : : : : \†Protoceratopsidae (basal ceratopsians with small frills and stubby horns) : : : : : : : : : \†Ceratopsoidea (large-horned ceratopsians) : : : : : : : : : : \†Ceratopsidae (large, elaborately ornamented ceratopsians) : : : : : : : : : : : \†Chasmosaurinae (ceratopsids with enlarged brow horns) : : : : : : : : : : : \†Centrosaurinae (ceratopsids mostly characterized by frill and nasal ornamentation) : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Nasutoceratopsini (centrosaurines with enlarged nasal cavities) : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Centrosaurini (centrosaurines with enlarged nasal horns) : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Pachyrhinosaurini (mostly had nasal bosses instead of horns) : : : : : \†Ornithopoda (various sizes; bipeds and quadrupeds; evolved a method of chewing using skull flexibility and numerous teeth) : : : : : : \†Jeholosauridae (small Asian neornithischians) : : : : : : \†Thescelosauridae ("wondrous lizards") : : : : : : : \†Orodrominae (burrowers) : : : : : : : \†Thescelosaurinae (large thescelosaurids) : : : : : : \†Iguanodontia ("iguana teeth"; advanced ornithopods) : : : : : : : \†Elasmaria (mostly southern ornithopods with mineralized plates along the ribs; may be thescelosaurids) : : : : : : : \†Rhabdodontomorpha (with distinctive dentition) : : : : : : : : \†Rhabdodontidae (European rhabdodontomorphs) : : : : : : : \†Dryosauridae (mid-sized, small headed) : : : : : : : : \†Ankylopollexia (early members mid-sized, stocky) : : : : : : : : : \†Styracosterna ("spiked sterna") : : : : : : : : : : \†Hadrosauriformes (ancestrally had a thumb spike; large quadrupedal herbivores, with teeth merged into dental batteries) : : : : : : : : : : : \†Hadrosauromorpha (hadrosaurids and their closest relatives) : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Hadrosauridae ("duck-billed dinosaurs"; often with crests) : : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Saurolophinae (hadrosaurids with solid, small, no crests) : : : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Brachylophosaurini (short-crested) : : : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Kritosaurini (enlarged, solid nasal crests) : : : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Saurolophini (small, spike-like crests) : : : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Edmontosaurini (flat-headed saurolophines) : : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Lambeosaurinae (hadrosaurids often with hollow crests) : : : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Aralosaurini (solid-crested) : : : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Tsintaosaurini (vertical, tube-like crests) : : : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Parasaurolophini (long, backwards-arcing crests) : : : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Lambeosaurini (usually rounded crests) \Saurischia : \†Herrerasauridae (early bipedal carnivores) : \†Sauropodomorpha (herbivores with small heads, long necks, and long tails) : : \†Unaysauridae (primitive, strictly bipedal "prosauropods") : : \†Plateosauria (diverse; bipeds and quadrupeds) : : : \†Massospondylidae (long-necked, primitive sauropodomorphs) : : : \†Riojasauridae (large, primitive sauropodomorphs) : : : : \†Sauropodiformes (heavy, bipeds and quadrupeds) : : : : : \†Sauropoda (very large and heavy; quadrupedal) : : : : : : \†Lessemsauridae (gigantic yet lacking several weight-saving adaptations) : : : : : : \†Gravisauria ("heavy lizards") : : : : : : : \†Eusauropoda ("true sauropods") : : : : : : : : \†Turiasauria (often large, widespread sauropods) : : : : : : : : \†Neosauropoda ("new sauropods"; columnar limbs) : : : : : : : : : \†Diplodocoidea (skulls and tails elongated; teeth typically narrow and pencil-like) : : : : : : : : : : \†Rebbachisauridae (short-necked, low-browsing diplodocoids often with high backs) : : : : : : : : : : \†Flagellicaudata (whip-tailed) : : : : : : : : : : : \†Dicraeosauridae (small, short-necked diplodocoids with enlarged cervical and dorsal vertebrae) : : : : : : : : : : : \†Diplodocidae (extremely long-necked) : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Apatosaurinae (robust cervical vertebrae) : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Diplodocinae (long, thin necks) : : : : : : : : : \†Macronaria (boxy skulls; spoon- or pencil-shaped teeth) : : : : : : : : : : \†Titanosauriformes ("titan lizard forms") : : : : : : : : : : : \†Brachiosauridae (long-necked, long-armed macronarians) : : : : : : : : : : : \†Somphospondyli ("porous vertebrae") : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Euhelopodidae (stocky, mostly Asian) : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Titanosauria (diverse; stocky, with wide hips; most common in the Late Cretaceous of southern continents) : \Theropoda (carnivorous) : : \Neotheropoda ("new theropods") : : : \†Coelophysoidea (early theropods; includes Coelophysis and close relatives) : : : \†"Dilophosaur-grade neotheropods" (larger kink-snouted dinosaurs) : : : \Averostra ("bird snouts") : : : : \†Ceratosauria (generally elaborately horned carnivores that existed from the Jurassic to Cretaceous periods, originally included Coelophysoidea) : : : : : \†Ceratosauridae (ceratosaurs with large teeth) : : : : : \†Abelisauroidea (ceratosaurs exemplified by reduced arms and hands) : : : : : : \†Abelisauridae (large abelisauroids with short arms and oftentimes elaborate facial ornamentation) : : : : : : \†Noasauridae (diverse, generally light theropods; may include several obscure taxa) : : : : : : : \†Elaphrosaurinae (bird-like; omnivorous as juveniles but herbivorous as adults) : : : : : : : \†Noasaurinae (small carnivores) : : : : \Tetanurae (stiff-tailed dinosaurs) : : : : : \†Megalosauroidea (early group of large carnivores) : : : : : : \†Piatnitzkysauridae (small basal megalosauroids endemic to the Americas) : : : : : : \†Megalosauridae (large megalosauroids with powerful arms and hands) : : : : : : \†Spinosauridae (crocodile-like, semiaquatic carnivores) : : : : : \Avetheropoda ("bird theropods") : : : : : : \†Megaraptora (theropods with large hand claws; either carnosaurs or coelurosaurs, potentially tyrannosauroids) : : : : : : \†Carnosauria (large meat-eating dinosaurs; megalosauroids sometimes included) : : : : : : : \†Metriacanthosauridae (primitive Asian allosauroids) : : : : : : : \†Allosauridae (Allosaurus and its very closest relatives) : : : : : : : \†Carcharodontosauria (robust allosauroids) : : : : : : : : \†Carcharodontosauridae (includes some of the largest purely terrestrial carnivores) : : : : : : : : \†Neovenatoridae ("new hunters"; may include megaraptorans) : : : : : : \Coelurosauria (feathered theropods, with a range of body sizes and niches) : : : : : : : \†"Nexus of basal coelurosaurs" (used by Tweet to denote well-known taxa with unstable positions at the base of Coelurosauria) : : : : : : : \Tyrannoraptora ("tyrant thieves") : : : : : : : : \†Compsognathidae (small early coelurosaurs with short forelimbs) : : : : : : : : \†Tyrannosauroidea (mostly large, primitive coelurosaurs) : : : : : : : : : \†Proceratosauridae (tyrannosauroids with head crests) : : : : : : : : : \†Tyrannosauridae (Tyrannosaurus and close relatives) : : : : : : : : \Maniraptoriformes (bird-like dinosaurs) : : : : : : : : : \†Ornithomimosauria (small-headed, mostly toothless, omnivorous or possible herbivores) : : : : : : : : : : \†Ornithomimidae (very ostrich-like dinosaurs) : : : : : : : : : \Maniraptora (dinosaurs with pennaceous feathers) : : : : : : : : : : \†Alvarezsauroidea (small hunters with reduced forelimbs) : : : : : : : : : : : \†Alvarezsauridae (insectivores with only one enlarged digit) : : : : : : : : : : \†Therizinosauria (tall, long-necked theropods; omnivores and herbivores) : : : : : : : : : : : \†Therizinosauroidea (larger therizinosaurs) : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Therizinosauridae (sloth-like herbivores, often with enlarged claws) : : : : : : : : : : \†Oviraptorosauria (omnivorous, beaked dinosaurs) : : : : : : : : : : : \†Caudipteridae (bird-like, basal oviraptorosaurs) : : : : : : : : : : : \†Caenagnathoidea (cassowary-like oviraptorosaurs) : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Caenagnathidae (toothless oviraptorosaurs known from North America and Asia) : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Oviraptoridae (characterized by two bony projections at the back of the mouth; exclusive to Asia) : : : : : : : : : : \Paraves (avialans and their closest relatives) : : : : : : : : : : : \†Scansoriopterygidae (small tree-climbing theropods with membranous wings) : : : : : : : : : : : \†Deinonychosauria (toe-clawed dinosaurs; may not form a natural group) : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Archaeopterygidae (small, winged theropods or primitive birds) : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Troodontidae (omnivores; enlarged brain cavities) : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Dromaeosauridae ("raptors") : : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Microraptoria (characterized by large wings on both the arms and legs; may have been capable of powered flight) : : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Eudromaeosauria (hunters with greatly enlarged sickle claws) : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Unenlagiidae (piscivores; may be dromaeosaurids) : : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Halszkaraptorinae (duck-like; potentially semiaquatic) : : : : : : : : : : : : : \†Unenlagiinae (long-snouted) : : : : : : : : : : : \*Avialae (modern birds and extinct relatives) ### Timeline of major groups Timeline of major dinosaur groups per Holtz (2007). ## Paleobiology Knowledge about dinosaurs is derived from a variety of fossil and non-fossil records, including fossilized bones, feces, trackways, gastroliths, feathers, impressions of skin, internal organs and other soft tissues. Many fields of study contribute to our understanding of dinosaurs, including physics (especially biomechanics), chemistry, biology, and the Earth sciences (of which paleontology is a sub-discipline). Two topics of particular interest and study have been dinosaur size and behavior. ### Size Current evidence suggests that dinosaur average size varied through the Triassic, Early Jurassic, Late Jurassic and Cretaceous. Predatory theropod dinosaurs, which occupied most terrestrial carnivore niches during the Mesozoic, most often fall into the 100 to 1000 kg (220 to 2200 lb) category when sorted by estimated weight into categories based on order of magnitude, whereas recent predatory carnivoran mammals peak in the 10 to 100 kg (22 to 220 lb) category. The mode of Mesozoic dinosaur body masses is between 1 and 10 metric tons (1.1 and 11.0 short tons). This contrasts sharply with the average size of Cenozoic mammals, estimated by the National Museum of Natural History as about 2 to 5 kg (4.4 to 11.0 lb). The sauropods were the largest and heaviest dinosaurs. For much of the dinosaur era, the smallest sauropods were larger than anything else in their habitat, and the largest was an order of magnitude more massive than anything else that has since walked the Earth. Giant prehistoric mammals such as Paraceratherium (the largest land mammal ever) were dwarfed by the giant sauropods, and only modern whales approach or surpass them in size. There are several proposed advantages for the large size of sauropods, including protection from predation, reduction of energy use, and longevity, but it may be that the most important advantage was dietary. Large animals are more efficient at digestion than small animals, because food spends more time in their digestive systems. This also permits them to subsist on food with lower nutritive value than smaller animals. Sauropod remains are mostly found in rock formations interpreted as dry or seasonally dry, and the ability to eat large quantities of low-nutrient browse would have been advantageous in such environments. #### Largest and smallest Scientists will probably never be certain of the largest and smallest dinosaurs to have ever existed. This is because only a tiny percentage of animals were ever fossilized and most of these remain buried in the earth. Few of the specimens that are recovered are complete skeletons, and impressions of skin and other soft tissues are rare. Rebuilding a complete skeleton by comparing the size and morphology of bones to those of similar, better-known species is an inexact art, and reconstructing the muscles and other organs of the living animal is, at best, a process of educated guesswork. The tallest and heaviest dinosaur known from good skeletons is Giraffatitan brancai (previously classified as a species of Brachiosaurus). Its remains were discovered in Tanzania between 1907 and 1912. Bones from several similar-sized individuals were incorporated into the skeleton now mounted and on display at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin; this mount is 12 meters (39 ft) tall and 21.8 to 22.5 meters (72 to 74 ft) long, and would have belonged to an animal that weighed between and kilograms ( and lb). The longest complete dinosaur is the 27 meters (89 ft) long Diplodocus, which was discovered in Wyoming in the United States and displayed in Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Natural History in 1907. The longest dinosaur known from good fossil material is Patagotitan: the skeleton mount in the American Museum of Natural History in New York is 37 meters (121 ft) long. The Museo Municipal Carmen Funes in Plaza Huincul, Argentina, has an Argentinosaurus reconstructed skeleton mount that is 39.7 meters (130 ft) long. There were larger dinosaurs, but knowledge of them is based entirely on a small number of fragmentary fossils. Most of the largest herbivorous specimens on record were discovered in the 1970s or later, and include the massive Argentinosaurus, which may have weighed to kilograms (90 to 110 short tons) and reached lengths of 30 to 40 meters (98 to 131 ft); some of the longest were the 33.5-meter (110 ft) long Diplodocus hallorum (formerly Seismosaurus), the 33-to-34-meter (108 to 112 ft) long Supersaurus, and 37-meter (121 ft) long Patagotitan; and the tallest, the 18-meter (59 ft) tall Sauroposeidon, which could have reached a sixth-floor window. The heaviest and longest dinosaur may have been Maraapunisaurus, known only from a now lost partial vertebral neural arch described in 1878. Extrapolating from the illustration of this bone, the animal may have been 58 meters (190 ft) long and weighed kg ( lb). However, as no further evidence of sauropods of this size has been found, and the discoverer, Cope, had made typographic errors before, it is likely to have been an extreme overestimation. The largest carnivorous dinosaur was Spinosaurus, reaching a length of 12.6 to 18 meters (41 to 59 ft), and weighing 7 to 20.9 metric tons (7.7 to 23.0 short tons). Other large carnivorous theropods included Giganotosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus. Therizinosaurus and Deinocheirus were among the tallest of the theropods. The largest ornithischian dinosaur was probably the hadrosaurid Shantungosaurus giganteus which measured 16.6 meters (54 ft). The largest individuals may have weighed as much as 16 metric tons (18 short tons). The smallest dinosaur known is the bee hummingbird, with a length of only 5 centimeters (2.0 in) and mass of around 1.8 g (0.063 oz). The smallest known non-avialan dinosaurs were about the size of pigeons and were those theropods most closely related to birds. For example, Anchiornis huxleyi is currently the smallest non-avialan dinosaur described from an adult specimen, with an estimated weight of 110 g (3.9 oz) and a total skeletal length of 34 centimeters (1.12 ft). The smallest herbivorous non-avialan dinosaurs included Microceratus and Wannanosaurus, at about 60 centimeters (2.0 ft) long each. ### Behavior Many modern birds are highly social, often found living in flocks. There is general agreement that some behaviors that are common in birds, as well as in crocodiles (closest living relatives of birds), were also common among extinct dinosaur groups. Interpretations of behavior in fossil species are generally based on the pose of skeletons and their habitat, computer simulations of their biomechanics, and comparisons with modern animals in similar ecological niches. The first potential evidence for herding or flocking as a widespread behavior common to many dinosaur groups in addition to birds was the 1878 discovery of 31 Iguanodon, ornithischians that were then thought to have perished together in Bernissart, Belgium, after they fell into a deep, flooded sinkhole and drowned. Other mass-death sites have been discovered subsequently. Those, along with multiple trackways, suggest that gregarious behavior was common in many early dinosaur species. Trackways of hundreds or even thousands of herbivores indicate that duck-billed (hadrosaurids) may have moved in great herds, like the American bison or the African springbok. Sauropod tracks document that these animals traveled in groups composed of several different species, at least in Oxfordshire, England, although there is no evidence for specific herd structures. Congregating into herds may have evolved for defense, for migratory purposes, or to provide protection for young. There is evidence that many types of slow-growing dinosaurs, including various theropods, sauropods, ankylosaurians, ornithopods, and ceratopsians, formed aggregations of immature individuals. One example is a site in Inner Mongolia that has yielded remains of over 20 Sinornithomimus, from one to seven years old. This assemblage is interpreted as a social group that was trapped in mud. The interpretation of dinosaurs as gregarious has also extended to depicting carnivorous theropods as pack hunters working together to bring down large prey. However, this lifestyle is uncommon among modern birds, crocodiles, and other reptiles, and the taphonomic evidence suggesting mammal-like pack hunting in such theropods as Deinonychus and Allosaurus can also be interpreted as the results of fatal disputes between feeding animals, as is seen in many modern diapsid predators. The crests and frills of some dinosaurs, like the marginocephalians, theropods and lambeosaurines, may have been too fragile to be used for active defense, and so they were likely used for sexual or aggressive displays, though little is known about dinosaur mating and territorialism. Head wounds from bites suggest that theropods, at least, engaged in active aggressive confrontations. From a behavioral standpoint, one of the most valuable dinosaur fossils was discovered in the Gobi Desert in 1971. It included a Velociraptor attacking a Protoceratops, providing evidence that dinosaurs did indeed attack each other. Additional evidence for attacking live prey is the partially healed tail of an Edmontosaurus, a hadrosaurid dinosaur; the tail is damaged in such a way that shows the animal was bitten by a tyrannosaur but survived. Cannibalism amongst some species of dinosaurs was confirmed by tooth marks found in Madagascar in 2003, involving the theropod Majungasaurus. Comparisons between the scleral rings of dinosaurs and modern birds and reptiles have been used to infer daily activity patterns of dinosaurs. Although it has been suggested that most dinosaurs were active during the day, these comparisons have shown that small predatory dinosaurs such as dromaeosaurids, Juravenator, and Megapnosaurus were likely nocturnal. Large and medium-sized herbivorous and omnivorous dinosaurs such as ceratopsians, sauropodomorphs, hadrosaurids, ornithomimosaurs may have been cathemeral, active during short intervals throughout the day, although the small ornithischian Agilisaurus was inferred to be diurnal. Based on fossil evidence from dinosaurs such as Oryctodromeus, some ornithischian species seem to have led a partially fossorial (burrowing) lifestyle. Many modern birds are arboreal (tree climbing), and this was also true of many Mesozoic birds, especially the enantiornithines. While some early bird-like species may have already been arboreal as well (including dromaeosaurids) such as Microraptor) most non-avialan dinosaurs seem to have relied on land-based locomotion. A good understanding of how dinosaurs moved on the ground is key to models of dinosaur behavior; the science of biomechanics, pioneered by Robert McNeill Alexander, has provided significant insight in this area. For example, studies of the forces exerted by muscles and gravity on dinosaurs' skeletal structure have investigated how fast dinosaurs could run, whether diplodocids could create sonic booms via whip-like tail snapping, and whether sauropods could float. ### Communication Modern birds are known to communicate using visual and auditory signals, and the wide diversity of visual display structures among fossil dinosaur groups, such as horns, frills, crests, sails, and feathers, suggests that visual communication has always been important in dinosaur biology. Reconstruction of the plumage color of Anchiornis, suggest the importance of color in visual communication in non-avian dinosaurs. Vocalization in non-avian dinosaurs is less certain. In birds, the larynx plays no role in sound production. Instead they vocalize with a novel organ called the syrinx, located further down the trachea. The earliest remains of a syrinx was found in a specimen of the duck-like Vegavis iaai dated 69 –66 million years ago, and this organ is unlikely to have existed in non-avian dinosaurs. Paleontologist Phil Senter has suggested that since non-avian dinosaurs did not have a syrinx, and since their next closest living relatives, crocodilians, use the larynx, they could not vocalize as the common ancestor would have been mute. He states that they mostly on visual displays and possibly non-vocal acoustic sounds like hissing, jaw grinding or clapping, splashing and wing beating (possible in winged maniraptoran dinosaurs). Other researchers have countered that vocalizations also exist in turtles, the closest relatives of archosaurs, suggesting that the trait is ancestral to their lineage. In addition, vocal communication in dinosaurs is indicated by the development of advanced hearing in nearly all major groups. Hence the syrinx may have supplemented and then replaced the larynx as a vocal organ rather than there being a "silent period" in bird evolution. In 2023, a fossilized larynx was described from a specimen of the ankylosaurid Pinacosaurus. The structure was composed of cricoid and arytenoid cartilages, similar to those of non-avian reptiles. However, the mobile cricoid-arytenoid joint and long arytenoid cartilages would have allowed for air-flow control similar to that of birds, and thus could have made bird-like vocalizations. In addition, the cartilages were ossified, implying that laryngeal ossification is a feature of some non-avian dinosaurs. A 2016 study concludes that some dinosaurs may have produced closed mouth vocalizations like cooing, hooting and booming. These occur in both reptiles and birds and involve inflating the esophagus or tracheal pouches. Such vocalizations evolved independently in extant archosaurs numerous times, following increases in body size. The crests of some hadrosaurids and the nasal chambers of ankylosaurids have been suggested to have functioned in acoustic resonance. ### Reproductive biology All dinosaurs laid amniotic eggs. Dinosaur eggs were usually laid in a nest. Most species create somewhat elaborate nests which can be cups, domes, plates, beds scrapes, mounds, or burrows. Some species of modern bird have no nests; the cliff-nesting common guillemot lays its eggs on bare rock, and male emperor penguins keep eggs between their body and feet. Primitive birds and many non-avialan dinosaurs often lay eggs in communal nests, with males primarily incubating the eggs. While modern birds have only one functional oviduct and lay one egg at a time, more primitive birds and dinosaurs had two oviducts, like crocodiles. Some non-avialan dinosaurs, such as Troodon, exhibited iterative laying, where the adult might lay a pair of eggs every one or two days, and then ensured simultaneous hatching by delaying brooding until all eggs were laid. When laying eggs, females grow a special type of bone between the hard outer bone and the marrow of their limbs. This medullary bone, which is rich in calcium, is used to make eggshells. A discovery of features in a Tyrannosaurus skeleton provided evidence of medullary bone in extinct dinosaurs and, for the first time, allowed paleontologists to establish the sex of a fossil dinosaur specimen. Further research has found medullary bone in the carnosaur Allosaurus and the ornithopod Tenontosaurus. Because the line of dinosaurs that includes Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus diverged from the line that led to Tenontosaurus very early in the evolution of dinosaurs, this suggests that the production of medullary tissue is a general characteristic of all dinosaurs. Another widespread trait among modern birds (but see below in regards to fossil groups and extant megapodes) is parental care for young after hatching. Jack Horner's 1978 discovery of a Maiasaura ("good mother lizard") nesting ground in Montana demonstrated that parental care continued long after birth among ornithopods. A specimen of the oviraptorid Citipati osmolskae was discovered in a chicken-like brooding position in 1993, which may indicate that they had begun using an insulating layer of feathers to keep the eggs warm. An embryo of the basal sauropodomorph Massospondylus was found without teeth, indicating that some parental care was required to feed the young dinosaurs. Trackways have also confirmed parental behavior among ornithopods from the Isle of Skye in northwestern Scotland. However, there is ample evidence of precociality or superprecociality among many dinosaur species, particularly theropods. For instance, non-ornithuromorph birds have been abundantly demonstrated to have had slow growth rates, megapode-like egg burying behavior and the ability to fly soon after birth. Both Tyrannosaurus and Troodon had juveniles with clear superprecociality and likely occupying different ecological niches than the adults. Superprecociality has been inferred for sauropods. Genital structures are unlikely to fossilize as they lack scales that may allow preservation via pigmentation or residual calcium phosphate salts. In 2021, the best preserved specimen of a dinosaur's cloacal vent exterior was described for Psittacosaurus, demonstrating lateral swellings similar to crocodylian musk glands used in social displays by both sexes and pigmented regions which could also reflect a signalling function. However, this specimen on its own does not offer enough information to determine whether this dinosaur had sexual signalling functions; it only supports the possibility. Cloacal visual signalling can occur in either males or females in living birds, making it unlikely to be useful to determine sex for extinct dinosaurs. ### Physiology Because both modern crocodilians and birds have four-chambered hearts (albeit modified in crocodilians), it is likely that this is a trait shared by all archosaurs, including all dinosaurs. While all modern birds have high metabolisms and are endothermic ("warm-blooded"), a vigorous debate has been ongoing since the 1960s regarding how far back in the dinosaur lineage this trait extended. Various researchers have supported dinosaurs as being endothermic, ectothermic ("cold-blooded"), or somewhere in between. An emerging consensus among researchers is that, while different lineages of dinosaurs would have had different metabolisms, most of them had higher metabolic rates than other reptiles but lower than living birds and mammals, which is termed mesothermy by some. Evidence from crocodiles and their extinct relatives suggests that such elevated metabolisms could have developed in the earliest archosaurs, which were the common ancestors of dinosaurs and crocodiles. After non-avian dinosaurs were discovered, paleontologists first posited that they were ectothermic. This was used to imply that the ancient dinosaurs were relatively slow, sluggish organisms, even though many modern reptiles are fast and light-footed despite relying on external sources of heat to regulate their body temperature. The idea of dinosaurs as ectothermic remained a prevalent view until Robert T. Bakker, an early proponent of dinosaur endothermy, published an influential paper on the topic in 1968. Bakker specifically used anatomical and ecological evidence to argue that sauropods, which had hitherto been depicted as sprawling aquatic animals with their tails dragging on the ground, were endotherms that lived vigorous, terrestrial lives. In 1972, Bakker expanded on his arguments based on energy requirements and predator-prey ratios. This was one of the seminal results that led to the dinosaur renaissance. One of the greatest contributions to the modern understanding of dinosaur physiology has been paleohistology, the study of microscopic tissue structure in dinosaurs. From the 1960s forward, Armand de Ricqlès suggested that the presence of fibrolamellar bone—bony tissue with an irregular, fibrous texture and filled with blood vessels—was indicative of consistently fast growth and therefore endothermy. Fibrolamellar bone was common in both dinosaurs and pterosaurs, though not universally present. This has led to a significant body of work in reconstructing growth curves and modeling the evolution of growth rates across various dinosaur lineages, which has suggested overall that dinosaurs grew faster than living reptiles. Other lines of evidence suggesting endothermy include the presence of feathers and other types of body coverings in many lineages (see ); more consistent ratios of the isotope oxygen-18 in bony tissue compared to ectotherms, particularly as latitude and thus air temperature varied, which suggests stable internal temperatures (although these ratios can be altered during fossilization); and the discovery of polar dinosaurs, which lived in Australia, Antarctica, and Alaska when these places would have had cool, temperate climates. In saurischian dinosaurs, higher metabolisms were supported by the evolution of the avian respiratory system, characterized by an extensive system of air sacs that extended the lungs and invaded many of the bones in the skeleton, making them hollow. Such respiratory systems, which may have appeared in the earliest saurischians, would have provided them with more oxygen compared to a mammal of similar size, while also having a larger resting tidal volume and requiring a lower breathing frequency, which would have allowed them to sustain higher activity levels. The rapid airflow would also have been an effective cooling mechanism, which in conjunction with a lower metabolic rate would have prevented large sauropods from overheating. These traits may have enabled sauropods to grow quickly to gigantic sizes. Sauropods may also have benefitted from their size—their small surface area to volume ratio meant that they would have been able to thermoregulate more easily, a phenomenon termed gigantothermy. Like other reptiles, dinosaurs are primarily uricotelic, that is, their kidneys extract nitrogenous wastes from their bloodstream and excrete it as uric acid instead of urea or ammonia via the ureters into the intestine. This would have helped them to conserve water. In most living species, uric acid is excreted along with feces as a semisolid waste. However, at least some modern birds (such as hummingbirds) can be facultatively ammonotelic, excreting most of the nitrogenous wastes as ammonia. This material, as well as the output of the intestines, emerges from the cloaca. In addition, many species regurgitate pellets, and fossil pellets are known as early as the Jurassic from Anchiornis. The size and shape of the brain can be partly reconstructed based on the surrounding bones. In 1896, Marsh calculated ratios between brain weight and body weight of seven species of dinosaurs, showing that the brain of dinosaurs was proportionally smaller than in today's crocodiles, and that the brain of Stegosaurus was smaller than in any living land vertebrate. This contributed to the widespread public notion of dinosaurs as being sluggish and extraordinarily stupid. Harry Jerison, in 1973, showed that proportionally smaller brains are expected at larger body sizes, and that brain size in dinosaurs was not smaller than expected when compared to living reptiles. Later research showed that relative brain size progressively increased during the evolution of theropods, with the highest intelligence – comparable to that of modern birds – calculated for the troodontid Troodon. ## Origin of birds The possibility that dinosaurs were the ancestors of birds was first suggested in 1868 by Thomas Henry Huxley. After the work of Gerhard Heilmann in the early 20th century, the theory of birds as dinosaur descendants was abandoned in favor of the idea of them being descendants of generalized thecodonts, with the key piece of evidence being the supposed lack of clavicles in dinosaurs. However, as later discoveries showed, clavicles (or a single fused wishbone, which derived from separate clavicles) were not actually absent; they had been found as early as 1924 in Oviraptor, but misidentified as an interclavicle. In the 1970s, Ostrom revived the dinosaur–bird theory, which gained momentum in the coming decades with the advent of cladistic analysis, and a great increase in the discovery of small theropods and early birds. Of particular note have been the fossils of the Jehol Biota, where a variety of theropods and early birds have been found, often with feathers of some type. Birds share over a hundred distinct anatomical features with theropod dinosaurs, which are now generally accepted to have been their closest ancient relatives. They are most closely allied with maniraptoran coelurosaurs. A minority of scientists, most notably Alan Feduccia and Larry Martin, have proposed other evolutionary paths, including revised versions of Heilmann's basal archosaur proposal, or that maniraptoran theropods are the ancestors of birds but themselves are not dinosaurs, only convergent with dinosaurs. ### Feathers Feathers are one of the most recognizable characteristics of modern birds, and a trait that was also shared by several non-avian dinosaurs. Based on the current distribution of fossil evidence, it appears that feathers were an ancestral dinosaurian trait, though one that may have been selectively lost in some species. Direct fossil evidence of feathers or feather-like structures has been discovered in a diverse array of species in many non-avian dinosaur groups, both among saurischians and ornithischians. Simple, branched, feather-like structures are known from heterodontosaurids, primitive neornithischians, and theropods, and primitive ceratopsians. Evidence for true, vaned feathers similar to the flight feathers of modern birds has been found only in the theropod subgroup Maniraptora, which includes oviraptorosaurs, troodontids, dromaeosaurids, and birds. Feather-like structures known as pycnofibres have also been found in pterosaurs. However, researchers do not agree regarding whether these structures share a common origin between lineages (i.e., they are homologous), or if they were the result of widespread experimentation with skin coverings among ornithodirans. If the former is the case, filaments may have been common in the ornithodiran lineage and evolved before the appearance of dinosaurs themselves. Research into the genetics of American alligators has revealed that crocodylian scutes do possess feather-keratins during embryonic development, but these keratins are not expressed by the animals before hatching. The description of feathered dinosaurs has not been without controversy in general; perhaps the most vocal critics have been Alan Feduccia and Theagarten Lingham-Soliar, who have proposed that some purported feather-like fossils are the result of the decomposition of collagenous fiber that underlaid the dinosaurs' skin, and that maniraptoran dinosaurs with vaned feathers were not actually dinosaurs, but convergent with dinosaurs. However, their views have for the most part not been accepted by other researchers, to the point that the scientific nature of Feduccia's proposals has been questioned. Archaeopteryx was the first fossil found that revealed a potential connection between dinosaurs and birds. It is considered a transitional fossil, in that it displays features of both groups. Brought to light just two years after Charles Darwin's seminal On the Origin of Species (1859), its discovery spurred the nascent debate between proponents of evolutionary biology and creationism. This early bird is so dinosaur-like that, without a clear impression of feathers in the surrounding rock, at least one specimen was mistaken for the small theropod Compsognathus. Since the 1990s, a number of additional feathered dinosaurs have been found, providing even stronger evidence of the close relationship between dinosaurs and modern birds. Many of these specimens were unearthed in the lagerstätten of the Jehol Biota. If feather-like structures were indeed widely present among non-avian dinosaurs, the lack of abundant fossil evidence for them may be due to the fact that delicate features like skin and feathers are seldom preserved by fossilization and thus often absent from the fossil record. ### Skeleton Because feathers are often associated with birds, feathered dinosaurs are often touted as the missing link between birds and dinosaurs. However, the multiple skeletal features also shared by the two groups represent another important line of evidence for paleontologists. Areas of the skeleton with important similarities include the neck, pubis, wrist (semi-lunate carpal), arm and pectoral girdle, furcula (wishbone), and breast bone. Comparison of bird and dinosaur skeletons through cladistic analysis strengthens the case for the link. ### Soft anatomy Large meat-eating dinosaurs had a complex system of air sacs similar to those found in modern birds, according to a 2005 investigation led by Patrick M. O'Connor. The lungs of theropod dinosaurs (carnivores that walked on two legs and had bird-like feet) likely pumped air into hollow sacs in their skeletons, as is the case in birds. "What was once formally considered unique to birds was present in some form in the ancestors of birds", O'Connor said. In 2008, scientists described Aerosteon riocoloradensis, the skeleton of which supplies the strongest evidence to date of a dinosaur with a bird-like breathing system. CT scanning of Aerosteon'''s fossil bones revealed evidence for the existence of air sacs within the animal's body cavity. ### Behavioral evidence Fossils of the troodonts Mei and Sinornithoides demonstrate that some dinosaurs slept with their heads tucked under their arms. This behavior, which may have helped to keep the head warm, is also characteristic of modern birds. Several deinonychosaur and oviraptorosaur specimens have also been found preserved on top of their nests, likely brooding in a bird-like manner. The ratio between egg volume and body mass of adults among these dinosaurs suggest that the eggs were primarily brooded by the male, and that the young were highly precocial, similar to many modern ground-dwelling birds. Some dinosaurs are known to have used gizzard stones like modern birds. These stones are swallowed by animals to aid digestion and break down food and hard fibers once they enter the stomach. When found in association with fossils, gizzard stones are called gastroliths. ## Extinction of major groups All non-avian dinosaurs and most lineages of birds became extinct in a mass extinction event, called the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction event, at the end of the Cretaceous period. Above the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, which has been dated to 66.038 ± 0.025 million years ago, fossils of non-avian dinosaurs disappear abruptly; the absence of dinosaur fossils was historically used to assign rocks to the ensuing Cenozoic. The nature of the event that caused this mass extinction has been extensively studied since the 1970s, leading to the development of two mechanisms that are thought to have played major roles: an extraterrestrial impact event in the Yucatán Peninsula, along with flood basalt volcanism in India. However, the specific mechanisms of the extinction event and the extent of its effects on dinosaurs are still areas of ongoing research. Alongside dinosaurs, many other groups of animals became extinct: pterosaurs, marine reptiles such as mosasaurs and plesiosaurs, several groups of mammals, ammonites (nautilus-like mollusks), rudists (reef-building bivalves), and various groups of marine plankton. In all, approximately 47% of genera and 76% of species on Earth became extinct during the K-Pg extinction event. The relatively large size of most dinosaurs and the low diversity of small-bodied dinosaur species at the end of the Cretaceous may have contributed to their extinction; the extinction of the bird lineages that did not survive may also have been caused by a dependence on forest habitats or a lack of adaptations to eating seeds for survival. ### Pre-extinction diversity Just before the K-Pg extinction event, the number of non-avian dinosaur species that existed globally has been estimated at between 628 and 1078. It remains uncertain whether the diversity of dinosaurs was in gradual decline before the K-Pg extinction event, or whether dinosaurs were actually thriving prior to the extinction. Rock formations from the Maastrichtian epoch, which directly preceded the extinction, have been found to have lower diversity than the preceding Campanian epoch, which led to the prevailing view of a long-term decline in diversity. However, these comparisons did not account either for varying preservation potential between rock units or for different extents of exploration and excavation. In 1984, Dale Russell carried out an analysis to account for these biases, and found no evidence of a decline; another analysis by David Fastovsky and colleagues in 2004 even showed that dinosaur diversity continually increased until the extinction, but this analysis has been rebutted. Since then, different approaches based on statistics and mathematical models have variously supported either a sudden extinction or a gradual decline. End-Cretaceous trends in diversity may have varied between dinosaur lineages: it has been suggested that sauropods were not in decline, while ornithischians and theropods were in decline. ### Impact event The bolide impact hypothesis, first brought to wide attention in 1980 by Walter Alvarez, Luis Alvarez, and colleagues, attributes the K-Pg extinction event to a bolide (extraterrestrial projectile) impact. Alvarez and colleagues proposed that a sudden increase in iridium levels, recorded around the world in rock deposits at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, was direct evidence of the impact. Shocked quartz, indicative of a strong shockwave emanating from an impact, was also found worldwide. The actual impact site remained elusive until a crater measuring 180 km (110 mi) wide was discovered in the Yucatán Peninsula of southeastern Mexico, and was publicized in a 1991 paper by Alan Hildebrand and colleagues. Now, the bulk of the evidence suggests that a bolide 5 to 15 kilometers (3 to 9+1⁄2 miles) wide impacted the Yucatán Peninsula 66 million years ago, forming this crater and creating a "kill mechanism" that triggered the extinction event. Within hours, the Chicxulub impact would have created immediate effects such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and a global firestorm that likely killed unsheltered animals and started wildfires. However, it would also have had longer-term consequences for the environment. Within days, sulfate aerosols released from rocks at the impact site would have contributed to acid rain and ocean acidification. Soot aerosols are thought to have spread around the world over the ensuing months and years; they would have cooled the surface of the Earth by reflecting thermal radiation, and greatly slowed photosynthesis by blocking out sunlight, thus creating an impact winter. (This role was ascribed to sulfate aerosols until experiments demonstrated otherwise.) The cessation of photosynthesis would have led to the collapse of food webs depending on leafy plants, which included all dinosaurs save for grain-eating birds. ### Deccan Traps At the time of the K-Pg extinction, the Deccan Traps flood basalts of India were actively erupting. The eruptions can be separated into three phases around the K-Pg boundary, two prior to the boundary and one after. The second phase, which occurred very close to the boundary, would have extruded 70 to 80% of the volume of these eruptions in intermittent pulses that occurred around 100,000 years apart. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide would have been released by this volcanic activity, resulting in climate change through temperature perturbations of roughly 3 °C (5.4 °F) but possibly as high as 7 °C (13 °F). Like the Chicxulub impact, the eruptions may also have released sulfate aerosols, which would have caused acid rain and global cooling. However, due to large error margins in the dating of the eruptions, the role of the Deccan Traps in the K-Pg extinction remains unclear. Before 2000, arguments that the Deccan Traps eruptions—as opposed to the Chicxulub impact—caused the extinction were usually linked to the view that the extinction was gradual. Prior to the discovery of the Chicxulub crater, the Deccan Traps were used to explain the global iridium layer; even after the crater's discovery, the impact was still thought to only have had a regional, not global, effect on the extinction event. In response, Luis Alvarez rejected volcanic activity as an explanation for the iridium layer and the extinction as a whole. Since then, however, most researchers have adopted a more moderate position, which identifies the Chicxulub impact as the primary progenitor of the extinction while also recognizing that the Deccan Traps may also have played a role. Walter Alvarez himself has acknowledged that the Deccan Traps and other ecological factors may have contributed to the extinctions in addition to the Chicxulub impact. Some estimates have placed the start of the second phase in the Deccan Traps eruptions within 50,000 years after the Chicxulub impact. Combined with mathematical modelling of the seismic waves that would have been generated by the impact, this has led to the suggestion that the Chicxulub impact may have triggered these eruptions by increasing the permeability of the mantle plume underlying the Deccan Traps. Whether the Deccan Traps were a major cause of the extinction, on par with the Chicxulub impact, remains uncertain. Proponents consider the climatic impact of the sulfur dioxide released to have been on par with the Chicxulub impact, and also note the role of flood basalt volcanism in other mass extinctions like the Permian-Triassic extinction event. They consider the Chicxulub impact to have worsened the ongoing climate change caused by the eruptions. Meanwhile, detractors point out the sudden nature of the extinction and that other pulses in Deccan Traps activity of comparable magnitude did not appear to have caused extinctions. They also contend that the causes of different mass extinctions should be assessed separately. In 2020, Alfio Chiarenza and colleagues suggested that the Deccan Traps may even have had the opposite effect: they suggested that the long-term warming caused by its carbon dioxide emissions may have dampened the impact winter from the Chicxulub impact. ### Possible Paleocene survivors Non-avian dinosaur remains have occasionally been found above the K-Pg boundary. In 2000, Spencer Lucas and colleagues reported the discovery of a single hadrosaur right femur in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico, and described it as evidence of Paleocene dinosaurs. The rock unit in which the bone was discovered has been dated to the early Paleocene epoch, approximately 64.8 million years ago. If the bone was not re-deposited by weathering action, it would provide evidence that some dinosaur populations survived at least half a million years into the Cenozoic. Other evidence includes the presence of dinosaur remains in the Hell Creek Formation up to 1.3 m (4.3 ft) above the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, representing 40,000 years of elapsed time. This has been used to support the view that the K-Pg extinction was gradual. However, these supposed Paleocene dinosaurs are considered by many other researchers to be reworked, that is, washed out of their original locations and then re-buried in younger sediments. The age estimates have also been considered unreliable. ## Cultural depictions By human standards, dinosaurs were creatures of fantastic appearance and often enormous size. As such, they have captured the popular imagination and become an enduring part of human culture. The entry of the word "dinosaur" into the common vernacular reflects the animals' cultural importance: in English, "dinosaur" is commonly used to describe anything that is impractically large, obsolete, or bound for extinction. Public enthusiasm for dinosaurs first developed in Victorian England, where in 1854, three decades after the first scientific descriptions of dinosaur remains, a menagerie of lifelike dinosaur sculptures was unveiled in London's Crystal Palace Park. The Crystal Palace dinosaurs proved so popular that a strong market in smaller replicas soon developed. In subsequent decades, dinosaur exhibits opened at parks and museums around the world, ensuring that successive generations would be introduced to the animals in an immersive and exciting way. The enduring popularity of dinosaurs, in its turn, has resulted in significant public funding for dinosaur science, and has frequently spurred new discoveries. In the United States, for example, the competition between museums for public attention led directly to the Bone Wars of the 1880s and 1890s, during which a pair of feuding paleontologists made enormous scientific contributions. The popular preoccupation with dinosaurs has ensured their appearance in literature, film, and other media. Beginning in 1852 with a passing mention in Charles Dickens' Bleak House, dinosaurs have been featured in large numbers of fictional works. Jules Verne's 1864 novel Journey to the Center of the Earth, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 book The Lost World, the 1914 animated film Gertie the Dinosaur (featuring the first animated dinosaur), the iconic 1933 film King Kong, the 1954 Godzilla and its many sequels, the best-selling 1990 novel Jurassic Park'' by Michael Crichton and its 1993 film adaptation are just a few notable examples of dinosaur appearances in fiction. Authors of general-interest non-fiction works about dinosaurs, including some prominent paleontologists, have often sought to use the animals as a way to educate readers about science in general. Dinosaurs are ubiquitous in advertising; numerous companies have referenced dinosaurs in printed or televised advertisements, either in order to sell their own products or in order to characterize their rivals as slow-moving, dim-witted, or obsolete. ## See also - Dinosaur diet and feeding - Evolutionary history of life - Lists of dinosaur-bearing stratigraphic units - List of dinosaur genera - List of bird genera - List of birds - List of informally named dinosaurs - List of films featuring dinosaurs
1,332,321	1926 World Series	1,163,849,624	1926 Major League Baseball championship series	[ "1920s in St. Louis", "1920s in the Bronx", "1926 Major League Baseball season", "1926 in sports in Missouri", "1926 in sports in New York City", "Baseball competitions in New York City", "Baseball competitions in St. Louis", "New York Yankees postseason", "October 1926 sports events", "St. Louis Cardinals postseason", "World Series" ]	The 1926 World Series was the championship series of the 1926 Major League Baseball season. The 23rd edition of the Series, it pitted the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals against the American League champion New York Yankees. The Cardinals defeated the Yankees four games to three in the best-of-seven series, which took place from October 2 to 10, 1926, at Yankee Stadium and Sportsman's Park. This was the first World Series appearance (and first National League pennant win) for the Cardinals, and would be the first of 11 World Series championships in Cardinals history. The Yankees were playing in their fourth World Series in six years after winning their first American League pennant in 1921 and their first world championship in 1923. They would play in another 36 World Series (and win 26 of those) through the end of the 2022 season. In Game 1, Herb Pennock pitched the Yankees to a 2–1 win over the Cards. In Game 2, pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander evened the Series for St. Louis with a 6–2 victory. Knuckleballer Jesse Haines' shutout in Game 3 gave St. Louis a 2–1 Series lead. In the Yankees' 10–5 Game 4 win, Babe Ruth hit three home runs, a World Series record equaled only four times since. According to newspaper reports, Ruth had promised a sickly boy named Johnny Sylvester to hit a home run for him in Game 4. After Ruth's three-homer game, the boy's condition miraculously improved. The newspapers' account of the story is disputed by contemporary baseball historians, but it remains one of the most famous anecdotes in baseball history. Pennock again won for the Yankees in Game 5, 3–2. Cards' player-manager Rogers Hornsby chose Alexander to start Game 6, and used him in relief to close out Game 7. Behind Alexander, the Cardinals won the final two games of the series, and thus the world championship. In Game 7, the Yankees, trailing 3–2 in the bottom of the ninth inning and down to their last out, Ruth walked, bringing up Bob Meusel. Ruth, successful in half of his stolen base attempts in his career, took off for second base on the first pitch. Meusel swung and missed, and catcher Bob O'Farrell threw to second baseman Hornsby who tagged Ruth out, ending Game 7 and thereby crowning his Cardinals World Series champions for the first time. The 1926 World Series is the only Series to date which ended with a baserunner being caught stealing. ## Season summary The Cardinals won the 1926 National League pennant with 89 wins and 65 losses, two games ahead of the runner-up Cincinnati Reds, after finishing only fourth in 1925 at 77–76. Before 1926 was half over, they traded outfielder Heinie Mueller to the New York Giants for outfielder Billy Southworth. They also claimed future Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander on waivers from the Chicago Cubs. Their starting rotation was led by Flint Rhem with 20 wins and a 3.21 earned run average (ERA), far surpassing his eight wins and 4.92 ERA of 1925. Offensively, the Cardinals were led by Jim Bottomley, Rogers Hornsby (who had batted over .400 in 1925) and catcher Bob O'Farrell, 1926 National League MVP-to-be. The 1926 NL pennant race was heated. During the second and third weeks of September, both the Cardinals and the Reds had multi-game winning streaks and traded first and second place almost every day. On September 17, the Cards took a one-game lead over the Reds and extended their lead when the Reds lost several games in a row. They lost the last game of the season to the Reds on September 26, but still finished two games ahead of them in first place in the final standings. The Yankees had the best record in the AL at 91–63, finishing three games ahead of the Cleveland Indians and greatly improving on their 69-win, seventh-place 1925 season. Lou Gehrig played his first full season as the Yankees' starting first baseman, and the team traded for rookie shortstop Tony Lazzeri in the offseason, eventually playing him at second base. Gehrig, Lazzeri and Ruth led the offense, while Pennock and Urban Shocker led the starting rotation with 42 wins between them. In early September 1926, thousands of Cleveland fans, confident that their Indians would win the pennant even when they trailed the Yankees by six games, made World Series ticket reservations. By September 23, the Indians were only two games behind New York, but then lost three of their final four games to finish the season three games behind. On September 11, Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis met with representatives from four of the top teams in each of the two major leagues. The group gave home field to the AL for World Series Games 1–2 (scheduled for October 2 and 3) and 6–7, while the NL would host Games 3–5. Each game was to start at 1:30 p.m. local time. Some bookmakers made the Yankees a 15-to-1 Series favorite, while others, like New York's top betting commissioners, thought the teams were evenly matched. One New York Times writer found "little justification for installing either team as the favorite". Regardless of the odds, players from both teams were confident of victory. Hornsby said, "We're going to come through winners. We have the better pitching staff, the better hitters and the greater experience. That's what it takes to win. ... We're going to beat the Yankees. Any of my ball players will tell you that, and we expect to do it." Yankee skipper Miller Huggins retorted, > We're confident we're going to win. It'll be whichever team does the hitting, and we're sure we're going to do it. We're out of our hitting slump. We have a more experienced team and more experienced pitchers. We're about even in the strength of the infields, but ours is steadier. Our outfield is better, stronger and more experienced, and all the boys are cocky and ready to go. There's no doubt in their minds or in mine that the Yankees will win. ## Series summary ## Matchups ### Game 1 Yankee Stadium was filled with 61,658 fans on October 2 for Game 1. Those without tickets gathered at City Hall to watch the game's progress as charted on two large scoreboards. Before the start of the game, New York Supreme Court judge Robert F. Wagner, then a candidate for the United States Senate, threw out the ceremonial first pitch and took his position in the VIP box next to New York City mayor Jimmy Walker. Commissioner Landis and former heavyweight champion of the world Jack Dempsey were also in attendance. Southpaw Bill Sherdel started for the Cardinals, having posted a 16–12 record with 235 innings pitched in the regular season. The Yankees started Pennock, the team's only 20-game winner that season. The future Hall of Fame pitcher, nicknamed "The Knight of Kennett Square" for his hometown, had a 3.62 ERA in 2661⁄3 innings during the regular season, and had finished third in the American League Most Valuable Player Award balloting behind winner George Burns and runner-up Johnny Mostil. Taylor Douthit led off Game 1 with a double to left, advanced to third on Southworth's slow grounder to second baseman Tony Lazzeri, stayed there on Hornsby's comebacker right to Pennock but came home on "Sunny Jim" Bottomley's bloop single for the first run of the Series. In the bottom half, Sherdel walked Earle Combs, Babe Ruth and Bob Meusel, to load the bases. Gehrig scored Combs with a fielder's choice grounder for his first World Series run batted in (RBI), reaching first ahead of the relay. The Cardinals and Yankees were tied 1–1 after the first inning. In the bottom of the third, Ruth singled and Meusel bunted him over, but Ruth split his pants sliding into second, prompting radio announcer Graham McNamee to exclaim, "Babe is the color of a red brick house!" Doc Woods, the team's trainer, ran out and sewed up Ruth's pants, much to the amusement of the crowd. The score was still tied at one apiece in the bottom of the sixth, just as rain began to fall. Ruth lined a single past third baseman Les Bell. Meusel again sacrificed Ruth to second. Gehrig followed with a single, scoring Ruth and giving the Yankees the lead. Lazzeri lined a shot to left but Gehrig, on a headfirst dive, was tagged out at third by Bell. Lazzeri advanced to second on the throw. Bell bobbled Dugan's grounder for an error to put runners at first and third, but Hank Severeid forced Dugan at second to end the inning. The Yankees maintained their one-run advantage through the end of the eighth inning. In the top of the ninth, Bottomley singled off Pennock but could not advance, giving the Yankees a 2–1 win in Game 1. Gehrig was their offensive star with both of his team's RBI. Pennock went the distance, striking out four and yielding but three hits, two in the first and one in the ninth. Hard-luck loser Sherdel gave up only two runs and six hits while striking out one. ### Game 2 The second game was played the next day, October 3, at Yankee Stadium in front of a crowd of 63,600. Urban Shocker was the starting pitcher for the Yankees. With 19 wins and 11 losses, Shocker had the second-best pitching record on the team, behind the Game 1 starter, southpaw Herb Pennock. Shocker had a 3.38 ERA in 258 innings, along with 59 strikeouts in the 1926 season. The Cardinals' Game 2 starter was 39-year-old Grover Cleveland "Old Pete" Alexander, a veteran player in his 16th major league season. That season, he posted numbers considerably lower than the pitching season statistics from his prime in the late 1910s with the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs. Alexander had compiled a 12–10 record in 200 innings, while posting a 3.05 ERA and 48 strikeouts, compared to the nearly 250 strikeouts he had in 1915 with the Phillies. The Cardinals were first to bat in the game. After giving up a double to Rogers Hornsby, Shocker got a groundout from Jim Bottomley to end the run-scoring threat. In the Yankees' half of the inning, Mark Koenig grounded into a double play, and Babe Ruth followed by striking out. The Cardinals threatened again in the second inning, after back-to-back singles by catcher Bob O'Farrell and shortstop Tommy Thevenow. However, Alexander came to the plate and popped up to Koenig to end the inning. The Yankees scored first in the bottom of the second inning. Bob Meusel hit a single into center field, and Lou Gehrig followed by hitting a grounder to Alexander, which advanced Meusel to second base. Tony Lazzeri then hit a single to left field that scored Meusel from second. Joe Dugan followed with a single of his own, moving Lazzeri to third base. On the following play, Yankees catcher Hank Severeid struck out, and Lazzeri then attempted to steal home plate. Alexander made an error on his throw to catcher Bob O'Farrell, and Lazzeri was able to slide into home plate for the second Yankees run of the inning. O'Farrell then threw the ball to Thevenow, but the tag was late and Dugan was called safe at second base. The inning ended when Alexander struck out Shocker. In the third inning, Taylor Douthit hit an infield single to shortstop Koenig, and Billy Southworth followed with a single to left field, advancing Douthit to second base. Hornsby laid down a sacrifice bunt to Shocker, moving each runner up a base. Bottomley hit a single into left field, scoring both Douthit and Southworth. The next two batters, Les Bell and Chick Hafey, hit into outs to conclude the inning. In the top of the seventh inning. Bob O'Farrell lined a double, and Tommy Thevenow followed with a single into left field. Pitcher Alexander popped up to Lazzeri, and Douthit followed with a fly ball to left field. Southworth then hit a three-run home run, giving the Cardinals a 5–2 advantage over the Yankees. Hornsby then grounded out to Koenig to end the inning. Gehrig, Lazzeri and Dugan all grounded out in the bottom of the seventh inning. In the top of the eighth, Bottomley hit a single into right field. Yankees manager Miller Huggins came out of the dugout and took Shocker out of the game, calling in Bob Shawkey from the bullpen to replace him. Shawkey struck out the first two batters he faced, and Bottomley was tagged out after attempting to steal second base. The Yankees could not produce any runs in their half of the inning. In the ninth inning, Sad Sam Jones, a 22-year veteran in the American League, replaced Dutch Ruether, who had replaced pitcher Shawkey. Jones gave up an inside-the-park home run to Thevenow. Thevenow had only two other home runs in his career, both of which were inside-the-park and during the 1926 regular season. Jones then walked Douthit and Hornsby and gave up a single to Southworth. With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the ninth inning, Bottomley hit a fly ball to center fielder Earle Combs. The Yankees did not score in the bottom of the ninth inning, and lost the game to the Cardinals by a 6–2 score. Alexander pitched a complete game, allowed hits in only two of the nine innings and did not allow a Yankee hit after the third inning. He also had a series-high 10 strikeouts, allowing four hits, one earned run and one walk. Meanwhile, the Yankees' starter Shocker allowed ten hits and five earned runs, including a home run, in seven innings of work. Shawkey had a perfect inning with two strikeouts, while Jones gave up two hits and allowed two walks in the ninth inning. ### Game 3 After Game 2 ended on October 3, the Yankees and Cardinals boarded trains to St. Louis, Missouri. The mayor of St. Louis, Victor J. Miller, ordered that the workday end by three the next afternoon so that the city could welcome the Cardinals at Union Station. The Cardinals players were treated like champions by fans and citizens alike. Just outside the station, Mayor Miller stood at a podium and presented club manager and player Rogers Hornsby with a brand new Lincoln sedan priced at US\$4,000 and paid for by the city's top businessmen. Each member of the Cardinals' team received a new hat, a new pair of shoes, and an engraved white-gold watch valued at a manufacturer's price of \$100. As the Cardinals were receiving special treatment from the people of St. Louis, fans were lining up outside Sportsman's Park with the hope of being able to purchase tickets to Game 3 for a price of \$3.30. Sportsman's Park was filled with 37,708 people on October 5 for Game 3. On the mound for the Cardinals was right-handed knuckleball pitcher Jesse Haines, a future Hall of Famer with a 13–4 record and 3.25 ERA in 183 innings in 1926. Starting for the Yankees was southpaw pitcher Dutch Ruether, who had a 14–9 record with a 4.60 ERA in 1926. The game was rain delayed for 30 minutes during the top half of the fourth inning. Once the game resumed, the Cardinals came to bat and scored the first runs of the game. Les Bell, a .325 hitter with 17 home runs that season, led the Cardinals with a single to center field. Chick Hafey dropped a sacrifice bunt straight to Ruether, who then threw it to second baseman Tony Lazzeri. Bell beat Lazzeri's tag at second base and was called safe by the umpire. Bob O'Farrell was walked, and Tommy Thevenow hit a grounder to Lazzeri, who tossed it to Mark Koenig for the force out at second base. Koenig tagged O'Farrell out, but made an error in his throw to first baseman Lou Gehrig, which resulted in a run. Then, Haines hit a Ruether pitch for a two-run home run. The Cardinals were leading the Yankees 3–0 by the end of the inning. The Yankees failed to produce any offense in the fifth inning, but the Cardinals added to their lead by picking up a run when Billy Southworth beat the tag at home following a Jim Bottomley grounder to second base. Ruether was then replaced by Bob Shawkey, who closed out the inning by yielding two weak infield groundouts. The Yankees picked up one hit in each of the next two innings, but could not produce any runs. Yankees pitcher Myles Thomas came in to pitch a hitless ninth inning. With one out in the top of the ninth inning, Lou Gehrig hit a line drive single into right field, but Lazzeri grounded into a double play, ending the game as a 4–0 Cardinals victory. Haines pitched a complete game shutout, and only gave up five hits total, two of which came from Gehrig. ### Game 4 Future Hall of Famer Waite Hoyt started Game 4 for the Yankees at Sportsman's Park on October 6. Hoyt had a 16–12 record with a 3.85 ERA in 218 innings for the 1926 season. This was Hoyt's fourth World Series with the Yankees, and he entered the 1926 Series with over 35 innings of pitching experience in the championship series. He was opposed by Flint Rhem, the Cardinals' 20-game winner who had led the team with both a .741 winning percentage and 258 innings pitched. In the first inning, after striking out Earle Combs and Mark Koenig, Rhem gave up a home run to Babe Ruth. Bob Meusel was then walked, but was tagged out at home after attempting to score on a Lou Gehrig single. The Cardinals came into the bottom of the first with two straight singles to put runners at first and third base. Rogers Hornsby singled in Taylor Douthit to tie the game at 1–1 and moved Billy Southworth to second base. Jim Bottomley flied out to left field, and Les Bell followed with a sacrifice fly to center fielder Combs. With the go-ahead run at third base, Hornsby stole second, but Chick Hafey struck out to end to the Cardinals' run-scoring threat. Two innings later, Ruth came up to the plate with two outs and hit Rhem's pitch for a home run, his second of the game. Gehrig led off the next inning with a strikeout. Tony Lazzeri followed with a walk, and Joe Dugan hit a run-scoring double. Catcher Hank Severeid hit a single into center field, and Dugan ran towards home. He was tagged out at the plate by catcher Bob O'Farrell. The Yankees' starter Hoyt struck out to end the inning. The Cardinals responded by scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out and no runners on the bases, Hafey hit a single. O'Farrell followed and hit a ground ball towards Koenig that he bobbled, enabling O'Farrell and Hafey to reach first and second base, respectively. Tommy Thevenow followed with a double to right field that got by Meusel, scoring Hafey and moving O'Farrell to third base. Cardinals' manager Rogers Hornsby then put in left-handed infielder Specs Toporczer to pinch hit for Rhem, who was done pitching for the game. Toporczer hit a fly ball to Earle Combs in center field, upon which O'Farrell promptly tagged up to score another Cardinal run. With the game tied at three apiece and a runner at second base, Douthit hit a double in the outfield, which scored Thevenow. Southworth followed with a single to left fielder Ruth, and Douthit immediately tried to score. Ruth threw from left field to catcher Hank Severeid, who tagged Douthit out at home plate. To start the top of the fifth inning, Art Reinhart was put in as pitcher. Reinhart walked Combs and followed by giving up a run-scoring double to Koenig. He then walked Ruth and Meusel in succession to load the bases for Gehrig. Reinhart walked Gehrig, allowing Koenig to score and keeping the bases loaded with no outs. Hi Bell replaced Reinhart as pitcher, but he was not able to suppress the Yankees' offense. Lazzeri hit a sacrifice fly to right field, which scored Ruth and moved Meusel up to third base. Dugan then hit a weak groundball; he was thrown out at first by catcher O'Farrell, but Meusel scored and Gehrig went to second base. Bell then balked, moving Gehrig to third base. Severeid was walked, and pitcher Hoyt ended the inning by hitting into a force play at second base. The Yankees expanded on their three-run lead in the next inning. After the entire Yankees lineup batted in the fifth inning, Combs was back at the plate to start the sixth. Combs hit an infield single past shortstop Thevenow. Koenig followed by striking out. Ruth, with two home runs already in the game, came up to the plate. The count on Ruth went up to three balls and two strikes before he hit a long home run. Ruth's three home runs was a feat equaled only thrice since. As one of the game announcers (either McNamee or Carlin) described the situation: > The Babe is up. Two home runs today. One ball, far outside. Babe's shoulders look as if there is murder in them down there, the way he is swinging that bat down there. A high foul into the left-field stands. That great big bat of Babe's looks like a toothpick down there, he is so big himself. Here it is. Babe shot a bad one and fouled it. Two strikes and one ball. The outfield have all moved very far towards right. It is coming up now. A little too close. Two strikes and two balls. He has got two home runs and a base on balls so far today. Here it is, and a ball. Three and two. The Babe is waving that wand of his over the plate. Bell is loosening up his arm. The Babe is hit clear into the center-field bleachers for a home run! For a home run! Did you hear what I said? Where is that fellow who told me not to talk about Ruth anymore? Send him up here. > > Oh what a shot! Directly over second. The boys are all over him over there. One of the boys is riding on Ruth's back. Oh, what a shot! Directly over second base far into the bleachers out in center field, and almost on a line and then that dumbbell, where is he, who told me not to talk about Ruth! Oh, boy! Not that I love Ruth, but oh, how I love to see a shot like that! Wow! That is a world's series record, three home runs in one world's series game and what a home run! That was probably the longest hit ever in Sportsman's Park. They tell me this is the first ball ever hit in the center-field stand. That is a mile and half from here. You know what I mean. It was measured at over 430 feet (130 m) and had cleared the 20 feet (6.1 m) wall in center field, crashing through the window of an auto dealer across the street from the stadium. Locals claimed it was the longest home run ever hit in St. Louis. Meusel then hit a single in right field, but was tagged out as he tried to head for second base. Gehrig followed with a double to the opposite side, but could not score when Lazzeri popped up to Thevenow to end the inning. In the seventh inning, the Yankees faced a new pitcher, this time southpaw Bill Hallahan, who served as both a starter and reliever for the Cardinals. After Severeid singled and subsequently advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Hoyt, he scored on a double hit into left field by Combs. The Yankees led 10–4 and did not get any more runs or hits in the eighth or ninth inning. The Cardinals came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning with Hoyt trying to hold on to his six-run lead. Hornsby singled to right field and advanced to second base on the following play. He then ran home to score a run on a Les Bell single to center field. Hafey then popped up in foul territory, and Severeid made the catch. The game ended with a 10–5 score. Waite Hoyt pitched a complete game, allowing two earned runs on 14 hits while striking out eight batters. The Cardinals' five pitchers combined to give up 10 Yankee runs and 14 hits. With the series tied at two games apiece, both teams anticipated Game 5, which featured a rematch between Herb Pennock and Bill Sherdel. #### Babe Ruth and Johnny Sylvester The 1926 World Series produced one of the most famous anecdotes in baseball history, involving Babe Ruth and Johnny Sylvester. Sylvester was an 11-year-old boy from Essex Fells, New Jersey who was supposedly hospitalized after falling off a horse. Sylvester asked his father to get him a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth. Prior to the start of the World Series, the boy's parents sent urgent telegrams to the Yankees in St. Louis, asking for an autographed ball. Soon, the family received an airmail package with two balls, one autographed by the entire St. Louis Cardinals team and the other with signatures from a number of Yankees players and a personal message from Ruth saying, "I'll knock a homer for you on Wednesday". After Ruth hit three home runs in Game 4 on October 6, newspapers reported that Sylvester's condition had miraculously improved. After the World Series had ended, Ruth made a highly publicized visit to Sylvester's home, in which the boy said to Ruth, "I'm sorry the Yanks lost the series". In the spring of 1927, Sylvester's uncle visited Ruth and thanked him for saving the boy's life. Ruth asked how the boy was doing and asked the uncle to give the boy his regards. After the man left, Ruth, who was seated next to a group of baseball writers, said, "Now who the hell is Johnny Sylvester?" There have been many alternate versions of this event. One version, which was later portrayed in The Babe Ruth Story, claims that Ruth went to Sylvester's hospital bed and promised him in person that he would hit a home run for him. On October 9, Ruth followed up on Sylvester and told him he would "try to knock you another homer, maybe two today". Differing newspaper reports from October 1926 claimed that Sylvester suffered from blood poisoning, a spinal infection, a sinus condition, or had a condition requiring a spinal fusion. Contemporary analyses dispute whether Sylvester was ever hospitalized, dying, or if Ruth's three home runs had actually saved the boy's life, as claimed by the newspapers. ### Game 5 Game 5, played at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis on October 7, featured a rematch between Game 1 starters Herb Pennock and Bill Sherdel. Pennock had pitched a complete game three-hitter in the 2–1 Yankees victory, while Sherdel had pitched seven innings, giving up two runs and six hits. Through the first three innings of the fifth game, both pitchers held the opposing team to no runs and a limited number of hits. In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Cardinals cracked through Pennock's tough pitching. Jim Bottomley began by hitting a one-out double past left fielder Babe Ruth. Les Bell followed with a single to right field, scoring Bottomley. Chick Hafey then hit a fly ball caught in foul territory by Ruth, and Bell was called out while attempting to steal second base. In the top of the sixth inning, Pennock hit a line drive double into left field past Hafey. Cardinals' catcher Bob O'Farrell threw to Tommy Thevenow in hopes of picking off Pennock, who was standing a considerable distance away from second base. Thevenow made an error with his tag on Pennock, and Pennock was safe at second base. Earle Combs, the Yankees leadoff hitter, followed by drawing a walk. With runners at first and second base, Koenig hit a single to left fielder Hafey. Pennock scored on the play, and Combs moved to second base. Ruth then struck out, and Bob Meusel followed by hitting a sacrifice fly to right fielder Billy Southworth, on which Combs promptly advanced to third base. Lou Gehrig drew a walk to load the bases for Tony Lazzeri, who ended the inning by hitting a fly ball to center fielder Wattie Holm. The Cardinals came back to take the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Bell led the inning by hitting a double into left field. After a Hafey fly out, O'Farrell hit a single to Ruth in left field, and Bell ran from second base to home to score the run and give the Cardinals a 2–1 advantage. In the top of the ninth inning, the Yankees tied up the game. Gehrig lined a double to left field, and Lazzeri bunted a single, advancing Gehrig to third base. Ben Paschal went in as a pinch-hitter for Joe Dugan and singled into center field, scoring Gehrig and advancing Lazzeri to second base. Severeid laid down a weak bunt, and Cardinals catcher O'Farrell threw to third base to make the force out on Lazzeri. With runners at first and second base, Pennock hit a groundball to shortstop Thevenow, who tossed it to second base to get the force out on Severeid. With Pennock at first base and Paschal at third base, Combs grounded to second base, ending the Yankees' hope of taking the lead. The Cardinals could not break the 2–2 tie in the bottom of the ninth inning, so the game went into extra innings. The Yankees immediately took advantage of Sherdel in the top of the tenth inning. Koenig led things off by singling into left field. Sherdel threw a wild pitch to Ruth, and Koenig advanced to second base. Ruth then walked, and Meusel followed with a sacrifice bunt straight to pitcher Sherdel. Meusel was out at first base, but Ruth and Koenig were safe at second and third base, respectively. Gehrig was intentionally walked, loading the bases. Lazzeri hit a fly ball to left field, and Koenig tagged up on the play to score a run and give the Yankees a one-run lead. Mike Gazella, in place of Joe Dugan at third base, was hit by a pitch from Sherdel. With the bases loaded again, Severeid popped up to second baseman Rogers Hornsby to end the Yankee rally. The Cardinals got a single from Thevenow in the bottom of the tenth inning, but they could not score any runs. The game ended with the Yankees winning by a score of 3–2. Both Pennock and Sherdel pitched ten-inning complete games. Sherdel gave up nine hits and two earned runs, while walking five and striking out two. Pennock finished the game giving up just seven hits and two runs, while striking out four batters. ### Game 6 The teams moved back to Yankee Stadium for Game 6. Over 48,000 fans came into Yankee Stadium on October 9 to see if the Yankees could win their second World Series in franchise history. The game's pitching matchup was between Grover Cleveland Alexander and Bob Shawkey, both of whom had made appearances in previous games in the series. Shawkey had come in as relief in Games 2 and 3, while Alexander had pitched a complete game against the Yankees in the Cardinals' Game 2 victory. In the 1926 season, Shawkey had made most of his pitching appearances in relief, and had been an occasional starter on the Yankees rotation. He started 10 of his 29 total pitching appearances and posted an 8–7 record with a 3.62 earned run average. The game was lopsided from the start. In the top of the first inning, Shawkey gave up three runs on three hits, with the runs coming from a Jim Bottomley double and Les Bell single. Alexander encountered a minor setback in the fourth inning. To open up the bottom of the inning, Bob Meusel launched a triple into left field and scored on the following ground out by Lou Gehrig. Alexander shut down the Yankees for the rest of the inning, and the Cardinals held on to a 3–1 lead. In the top of the fifth inning, the Cardinals expanded their two-run lead. Tommy Thevenow hit a single to left fielder Babe Ruth. Alexander laid down a sacrifice bunt and was tagged out by first baseman Gehrig, but was successful in advancing Thevenow to second base. Wattie Holm, substituting for Taylor Douthit as center fielder, followed by hitting a single into center field, scoring Thevenow on the play. Billy Southworth and Rogers Hornsby followed with groundouts in the infield to end the inning. The Cardinals scored again in the top of the seventh inning. Thevenow again led the inning by hitting a single into left field. Alexander bunted right in front of the plate. Yankees catcher Hank Severeid made the throw to second baseman Tony Lazzeri, but Lazzeri made an error on the play, and both runners were safe at their respective bases. Holm followed by hitting a weak grounder that led to a force out of Thevenow at third base. With runners at first and second base, Southworth lined a double right by Ruth, scoring Alexander and sending Holm to third base. Urban Shocker, the starter in Game 2, then came in to relieve Shawkey as pitcher. Shocker gave up a single to Hornsby into center field, allowing Holm and Southworth to score. Bottomley then hit a grounder to shortstop Mark Koenig, who stepped on second base to get Hornsby out on the force play. Bell followed with a two-run home run, extending the Cardinals' lead to 9–1. Chick Hafey lined a double into left field, but Bob O'Farrell ended the inning by striking out. In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Yankees scored one run on an Earle Combs single to cut the Cardinals' lead to seven runs. In the eighth inning, Myles Thomas came in to relieve Shocker, who had given up three hits and two unearned runs in less than an inning of work. Meanwhile, Alexander shut down the Yankees offense for the rest of the game. In the top of the ninth inning, the Cardinals increased their lead back to eight runs after Hornsby had an RBI groundout, scoring Southworth. Alexander finished with his second complete game of the series and gave up only two runs on eight hits, while striking out six batters. The three Yankee pitchers combined to give up 13 hits, seven earned runs, three unearned runs, and one home run. ### Game 7 The deciding Game 7 was played on October 10, 1926, at Yankee Stadium in front of a crowd of 38,093 people. The game featured two future Hall of Famers, who were both winners in their respective pitching appearances earlier in the series. Jesse Haines took to the mound for the Cardinals; he had pitched in relief in Game 1 and threw a complete game shutout against the Yankees in Game 3. Waite Hoyt had pitched a complete game 10–5 Yankees victory in Game 4. The Yankees scored the first run of the game in the third inning on a Babe Ruth home run into the right field bleachers. In the following half inning, the Cardinals came back to take a 3–1 lead over the Yankees. Jim Bottomley lined a one-out single into left field to start the Cardinals' fourth inning rally. Les Bell just barely made it to first base after shortstop Mark Koenig accidentally kicked the ball while trying to field it. With runners at first and second base, Chick Hafey hit a bloop single into left field, which loaded up the bases for catcher Bob O'Farrell. This time, left fielder Bob Meusel made an error by dropping O'Farrell's fly ball, so Bottomley scored to tie the game, and the bases remained loaded. Tommy Thevenow followed with a two-run single to right fielder Ruth. Hoyt struck out the next batter, and Wattie Holm hit into a force play at second base. All three runs in the inning were charged as unearned on Hoyt, due to the two Yankee errors. In the sixth inning, the Yankees cut the Cardinals' lead. With two outs, Joe Dugan hit a single. Hank Severeid followed with a double, scoring Dugan, before pinch-hitter Ben Paschal grounded to Haines to end the inning. Game 1 and 5 winner Herb Pennock came in relief for Hoyt in the seventh inning. He yielded only one hit in the inning and limited the Cardinals to their 3–2 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, the Yankees loaded up the bases with Earle Combs, Ruth and Lou Gehrig. At this point, there were two outs, and Haines had developed a blister on his pitching hand, and could no longer pitch in the game. Rogers Hornsby had to determine who he would put in to replace Haines as pitcher. Although Grover Cleveland Alexander had pitched a complete game the day before and may have spent the night drinking (Alexander later denied this, saying that Hornsby specifically told him to limit his celebrating since he might be needed the next day), Hornsby decided to trust him after Alexander said he "had it in easy in there" in Game 6 and would be ready whenever Hornsby needed him. According to the popular legend, Alexander told Hornsby his strategy: After getting a strike on Lazzeri, Alexander would then throw an inside fastball. Hornsby warned him that that pitch was Lazzeri's favorite. Alexander responded that if Lazzeri swung at it, he would hit it foul, and Alexander would then throw an outside curve to strike him out. Hornsby then supposedly said, "Who am I to tell you how to pitch?" The first two pitches thrown by Alexander to batter Tony Lazzeri went for a strike and a ball, respectively. On the third pitch, Lazzeri hit a fly ball down the left-field line. The ball initially appeared to be going into the stands for a grand slam, but at the last second, it curved several feet into the stands in foul territory. Alexander then threw a curveball that Lazzeri swung at and missed for strike three, ending the inning and the Yankees' threat. Alexander retired the Yankees in order in the eighth inning. The Cardinals did nothing offensively in the top of the ninth inning, so it was up to Alexander to preserve the Cardinals' game in the bottom of the ninth. Alexander got the first two batters of the inning, Combs and Dugan, to ground out to third baseman Bell. With two outs and no runners on base, Alexander faced Ruth. Ruth had hit a solo home run and walked three times in the game. Manager Hornsby walked to the mound to talk with Alexander. Alexander told Hornsby that he would rather face Ruth than intentionally walk him. Alexander's first pitch to Ruth fell in for a solid strike in the middle of the plate. Alexander's next pitch fell outside of the strike zone for ball one. Ruth then fouled the next pitch, making the count one ball and two strikes. Alexander's next two pitches fell too low for balls two and three, making it a full count. The following full count pitch was noted by New York Herald Tribune sportswriter W. O. McGeehan: "The count went to three and two, Ruth was swaying eagerly. The soupbone creaked again. The ball seemed a fraction of an inch from being a strike. Ruth paused a moment. Even he was uncertain. Then he trotted down to first." With two outs and Ruth at first base, left fielder Bob Meusel came up to the plate, with Lou Gehrig waiting in the batting circle after him. Meusel was a .315 hitter that year and had batted in 81 runs in just over 100 regular-season games. Meusel also had success in Game 6 against Alexander, with a double and triple. Just as Meusel was about to take his first pitch, Ruth made the bold move of trying to steal second base. Ruth was known as a good but overly aggressive baserunner, with about a 50% success rate at stealing bases in his career, and his attempt surprised many people throughout the stadium. Meusel swung and missed, and Cardinals catcher Bob O'Farrell immediately threw the ball to second baseman Hornsby. Hornsby reached for the ball, and laid the tag immediately on Ruth. As the game announcer described it, "Ruth is walked again for the fourth time today. One strike on Bob Meusel. Going down to second! The game is over! Babe tried to steal second and is put out catcher to second!" As Hornsby recalled later, Ruth "didn't say a word. He didn't even look around or up at me. He just picked himself up and walked away". Ruth's failed attempt to steal second base ended the 1926 World Series; it is the only time a World Series has ended with a runner being caught stealing. Ruth explained later that he attempted to steal second base because he thought no one would expect it. He hoped that by getting to second base, he could have an easier chance at scoring if Meusel hit a single into the outfield. ## Aftermath The Cardinals went back home to St. Louis to a rapturous fan reception, having won their first undisputed world championship. Each member of the championship team collected \$5,584.51, while the Yankees' players were given \$3,417.75 each. To date, the Cardinals' 11 world championships are the most won by any National League team, and rank second only to the Yankees' 27. The Cardinals' and Yankees' last wins were within two years of each other (having occurred in 2011 and 2009, respectively). The two teams would meet again in 1928 (which the Yankees swept in four games); 1942 (which the Cardinals won in five games); 1943 (which the Yankees won in five games); and 1964 (which the Cardinals won in seven games). As for the Yankees, Game 7 of the 1926 series marked the last postseason loss for the team in a decade. The Bronx Bombers would go on to sweep their next three World Series, 1927, 1928, and 1932. Their next World Series loss would be Game 1 of the 1936 World Series which the Yankees would eventually win 4 games to 2. ## Composite line score ## See also - 1926 Negro World Series - 1928 World Series Second World Series match-up between the Cardinals and the Yankees
1,068,282	His Majesty's Theatre, London	1,173,907,809	Theatre in London, England	[ "1705 establishments in England", "Ballet in London", "Charles J. Phipps buildings", "Fires in London", "Grade II* listed buildings in the City of Westminster", "Grade II* listed theatres", "Opera houses in England", "The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)", "Theatres completed in 1705", "Theatres completed in 1897", "Theatres in the City of Westminster", "West End theatres" ]	His Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) at the theatre. In the early decades of the 20th century Tree produced spectacular productions of Shakespeare and other classical works, and the theatre hosted premieres by such playwrights as Bernard Shaw, J. M. Synge and, later, Noël Coward and J. B. Priestley. Since the First World War the wide stage has made the theatre suitable for large-scale musical productions, and His Majesty's has accordingly specialised in hosting musicals. It has been home to record-setting musical theatre runs such as the First World War hit Chu Chin Chow and Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, which has run at His Majesty's since 1986, except during the COVID-19 pandemic theatre closures. The first theatre on the site was established in 1705 by the architect and playwright John Vanbrugh as the Queen's Theatre. Legitimate drama unaccompanied by music was prohibited by law in all but the two London patent theatres, and the theatre quickly became an opera house. Between 1711 and 1739 more than 25 operas by George Frideric Handel premiered here. The theatre burnt down in 1789, and a new theatre was completed in 1791. Some of Joseph Haydn's series of concerts in London took place at the theatre in the 1790s. In the early 19th century the theatre was home to an opera company (which moved to the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, in 1847) presenting the first London performances of Mozart's La clemenza di Tito, Così fan tutte and Don Giovanni. It also hosted the ballet of Her Majesty's Theatre in the mid-19th century, before returning to opera with the London premieres of such works as Bizet's Carmen and Wagner's Ring cycle. A third building was constructed in 1868. The theatre's capacity is 1,216 seats, and the building was Grade II\* listed by English Heritage in 1970. LW Theatres has owned the building since 2000. The land beneath it is on a long-term lease from the Crown Estate. The name of the theatre changes with the gender of the monarch. Throughout the reign of Queen Victoria it was called Her Majesty's Theatre, changing to His Majesty's on the accession of Edward VII in 1901. In 1952 the theatre again became Her Majesty's on the accession of Elizabeth II. Following the accession of Charles III in 2022 the name reverted to His Majesty's. ## Background There have been four theatres on the site, at the junction of the Haymarket and Charles II Street in the West End of London. The first opened as the Queen's Theatre on 9 April 1705. In the late 17th century there were two patent theatre companies, who were the only performers permitted by law to stage plays without music. They had been brought together as the United Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, built in 1663, but there were continual disagreements between the actors and their manager, Christopher Rich. In 1695 some of the actors broke away and set up a rival company at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, managed by Thomas Betterton. The company did not prosper at that theatre, and in 1703 the dramatist and architect John Vanbrugh acquired a former stable yard, at a cost of £2,000, for the construction of a new theatre in the Haymarket. He was joined in the enterprise by his principal associate and manager William Congreve and Betterton's company. To build the theatre, Vanbrugh raised the money by subscription, possibly among members of the Kit-Cat Club. According to Colley Cibber: > To recover them [Betterton's company], therefore, to their due Estimation, a new Project was form'd of building them a stately theatre in the Hay-Market, by Sir John Vanbrugh, for which he raised a Subscription of thirty Persons of Quality, at one hundred Pounds each, in Consideration whereof every Subscriber, for his own Life, was to be admitted to whatever Entertainments should be publickly perform'd there, without farther Payment for his Entrance. ## Vanbrugh's theatre: 1705–1789 The land for the theatre was held on a lease renewable in 1740; the freeholder was, and remains, the Crown Estate. Building was delayed by the necessity of acquiring the street frontage, and a three-bay entrance led to a brick shell 130 feet (39.6 m) long and 60 feet (18.3 m) wide. Cibber described the audience fittings as lavish but the facilities for playing poor. Vanbrugh and Congreve received Queen Anne's authority to form a Company of Comedians on 14 December 1704, and the theatre opened as the Queen's Theatre in April 1705 with imported Italian singers in Gli amori d'Ergasto (The Loves of Ergasto), a pastoral opera by Jakob Greber, with an epilogue by Congreve. This was the first opera sung in Italian in London. Later in the season Vanbrugh presented a comedy, The Confederacy, in which Thomas Doggett, later known for Doggett's Coat and Badge, scored one of his greatest successes, but overall, the season was a failure. The theatre proved too large for actors' voices to carry across the auditorium: according to a contemporary account, "the convenience of a good theatre has been sacrificed to exhibit a triumphal piece of architecture ... not one word can be distinctly heard". Another obstacle to success was that in the early 18th century the new theatre was too far from the homes of its potential patrons. Cibber commented that the City, the Inns of Court, and the middle part of the town, from which much of the clientele of theatres came, were not within easy walking distance, and for those in the cheaper seats, "Coach hire is often too hard a Tax upon the Pit and the Gallery". Congreve departed and Vanbrugh bought out his other partners. As he became progressively more involved in the construction of Blenheim Palace, his management of the theatre became increasingly chaotic, showing "numerous signs of confusion, inefficiency, missed opportunities, and bad judgement". In May 1707, experiencing mounting losses and running costs, he sold a fourteen-year lease on the theatre to Owen Swiny and gave up active management of the theatre. The theatre was not licensed to present non-musical plays, and in 1708 the authorities enforced that provision. The actors moved to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and Queen's Theatre concentrated on opera. Some performances of plays at Queen's were licensed in 1709 by the Lord Chamberlain, and the theatre's acoustics were altered to better support drama. After 1709, however, the theatre was devoted to Italian opera and was sometimes referred to as the Haymarket Opera House. The young George Frideric Handel made his English début with his opera Rinaldo, on 24 February 1711 at the theatre, featuring the two leading castrato singers of the era, Nicolo Grimaldi and Valentino Urbani. This was the first Italian opera composed specifically for the London stage. The work was well received, achieving a run, substantial for the time, of fifteen performances. Handel immediately became the most popular composer in London, but he left soon after the close of the opera season in June 1711 to take up an appointment in Hanover. Losses at the Queen's Theatre continued, and Swiny fled abroad to escape his creditors. John James Heidegger took over the management of the theatre and, from 1719, began to extend the stage through arches into the houses to the south of the theatre. A "Royal Academy of Music" was formed by subscription from wealthy sponsors, including the Prince of Wales, to support Handel's productions at the theatre. Under this sponsorship Handel conducted a series of more than twenty-five of his original operas, continuing until 1739. Handel was a partner in the management with Heidegger from 1729 to 1734, and he contributed incidental music for the theatre, including that for a revival of Ben Jonson's The Alchemist, opening on 14 January 1710. On the accession of George I in 1714 the theatre was renamed the King's Theatre (and remained so named during the succession of male monarchs who occupied the throne until 1837). The two patent theatres remained the only ones permitted to perform dramas unaccompanied by music in London, and lacking letters patent, the theatre remained associated with opera. In 1762 Johann Christian Bach travelled to London to premiere three operas at the theatre, including Orione on 19 February 1763. This established his reputation in England, and he became music master to Queen Charlotte. ### Sheridan In 1778 the lease for the theatre was transferred from James Brook to Thomas Harris, stage manager of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, and to the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan for £22,000. They paid for the remodelling of the interior by Robert Adam in the same year. In November 1778, The Morning Chronicle reported that Harris and Sheridan had: > ... at a considerable expence, almost entirely new built the audience part of the house, and made a great variety of alterations, part of which are calculated for the rendering the theatre more light, elegant and pleasant, and part for the ease and convenience of the company. The sides of the frontispiece are decorated with two figures painted by Gainsborough, which are remarkably picturesque and beautiful; the heavy columns which gave the house so gloomy an aspect that it rather resembled a large mausoleum or a place for funeral dirges, than a theatre, are removed. The expense of the improvements was not matched by the box office receipts, and the partnership dissolved; Sheridan took a mortgage on the theatre of £12,000 from the banker Henry Hoare to buy out his partner. One member of the company, Giovanni Gallini, had made his début at the theatre in 1753 and had risen to the position of dancing master, gaining an international reputation. He had tried to buy Harris's share but had been rebuffed. He now purchased the mortgage. Sheridan quickly became bankrupt after placing the financial affairs of the theatre in the hands of William Taylor, a lawyer. The next few years saw a struggle for control of the theatre and Taylor bought Sheridan's interest in 1781. In 1782 the theatre was remodelled by Michael Novosielski, formerly a scene painter at the theatre. In May 1783 Taylor was arrested by his creditors, and a forced sale ensued, at which Harris purchased the lease and much of the effects. Further legal action transferred the interests in the theatre to a board of trustees, including Novosielski. The trustees acted with a flagrant disregard for the needs of the theatre or other creditors, seeking only to enrich themselves, and in August 1785 the Lord Chamberlain took over the running of the enterprise, in the interests of the creditors. Gallini, meanwhile, had become manager. In 1788 the Lord Chancellor observed "that there appeared in all the proceedings respecting this business, a wish of distressing the property, and that it would probably be consumed in that very court to which ... [the interested parties] seemed to apply for relief". Performances suffered, with the box receipts taken by Novosielski, rather than given to Gallini to run the house. Money continued to be squandered on endless litigation or was misappropriated. Gallini tried to keep the theatre going, but he was forced to employ amateur performers. The World described a performance: "... the Dance, if such it can be called was like the movements of heavy Cavalry. It was hissed very abundantly". On another occasion Gallini had to defend himself against a dissatisfied audience who charged the stage and destroyed the fittings, as the company ran for their lives. ### Fire The theatre burnt down on 17 June 1789 during evening rehearsals, and the dancers fled the building as beams fell on the stage. The fire had been deliberately set on the roof, and Gallini offered a reward of £300 for capture of the culprit. With the theatre destroyed, each group laid its own plans for a replacement. Gallini obtained a licence from the Lord Chamberlain to perform opera at the nearby Little Theatre, and he entered into a partnership with R. B. O'Reilly to obtain land in Leicester Fields for a new building, which would require another licence. The two quarrelled, and each planned to wrest control of the venture from the other. The authorities refused to grant either of them a patent for Leicester Fields, but O'Reilly was granted a licence for four years to present opera at the Oxford Street Pantheon (which burned to the ground in 1792). Meanwhile, Taylor reached an agreement with the creditors of the King's Theatre and attempted to buy the remainder of the lease from Edward Vanbrugh, but this was now promised to O'Reilly. A further complication arose as the theatre needed to expand into adjacent land that now came into the possession of a Taylor supporter. The scene was set for a further war of attrition between the lessees, but at this point O'Reilly's first season at the Pantheon failed miserably, and he fled to Paris to avoid his creditors. By 1720 Vanbrugh's direct connection with the theatre had been terminated, but the leases and rents had been transferred to both his own family and that of his wife's through a series of trusts and benefices. After the fire the Vanbrugh family's long association with the theatre was terminated, and all their leases were surrendered by 1792. ## Second theatre: 1791–1867 Taylor completed a new theatre on the site in 1791. According to the theatre historians Mander and Mitchenson: "it was at the time the largest theatre in England; it was generally regarded as one of the most resplendent theatres in the world". Novosielski had again been chosen as architect for the theatre on an enlarged site; the building was described by Malcolm in 1807 as > fronted by a stone basement in rustic work, with the commencement of a very superb building of the Doric order, consisting of three pillars, two windows, an entablature, pediment, and balustrade. This, if it had been continued, would have contributed considerably to the splendour of London; but the unlucky fragment is fated to stand as a foil to the vile and absurd edifice of brick pieced to it, which I have not patience to describe. The Lord Chamberlain, a supporter of O'Reilly, refused a performing licence to Taylor. The theatre opened on 26 March 1791 with a private performance of song and dance entertainment, but it was not allowed to open to the public. The new theatre was heavily indebted and spanned separate plots of land that were leased to Taylor by four different owners on differing terms. As a later manager of the theatre wrote, "In the history of property, there has probably been no parallel instance wherein the legal labyrinth has been so difficult to thread." Meetings were held at Carlton House and Bedford House attempting to reconcile the parties. On 24 August 1792 a General Opera Trust Deed was signed by the parties. The general management of the theatre was to be entrusted to a committee of noblemen, appointed by the Prince of Wales, who would then appoint a general manager. Funds would be disbursed from the profits to compensate the creditors of both the King's Theatre and the Pantheon. The committee never met, and management devolved to Taylor. ### William Taylor The first public performance of opera in the new house was on 26 January 1793, the dispute with the Lord Chamberlain over the licence having been settled. The King's Theatre became the home of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane company while its theatre was being rebuilt. From 1793 seven small houses at the east side of the theatre fronting on the Haymarket were demolished and replaced by a large concert room attached to the theatre. It was in this room that Joseph Haydn gave a series of concerts, in association with the impresario Johann Peter Salomon, on his second visit to London in 1794–95. For this second London season he conducted the last six of his 104 symphonies. The final three were premiered at the concert room of the King's Theatre. During the performance of one of them, No. 102, a chandelier fell from the ceiling and crashed into the auditorium below. There were no serious injuries, and there were shouts of "miracle, miracle" from the audience. With the departure of the Drury Lane company in 1794 the theatre returned to opera, hosting the first London performances of Mozart's La clemenza di Tito in 1806, Così fan tutte and The Magic Flute in 1811, and Don Giovanni in 1816. Between 1816 and 1818, John Nash and George Repton made alterations to the façade and increased the capacity of the auditorium to 2,500. They also added a shopping arcade, called the Royal Opera Arcade, which has survived fires and renovations and still exists. It runs along the rear of the theatre. Between 1818 and 1820 the British premieres of Gioachino Rossini's operas Il barbiere di Siviglia, Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra, L'italiana in Algeri, La Cenerentola and Tancredi took place in the theatre. In 1797 Taylor was elected as member of Parliament for Leominster, a position that gave him immunity from his creditors. When that parliament dissolved in 1802 he fled to France. Later he returned, and was member of Parliament for Barnstaple from 1806 to 1812 while continuing his association with the theatre. ### John Ebers John Ebers, a bookseller, took over the management of the theatre in 1821, and seven more London premieres of Rossini operas (La gazza ladra, Il turco in Italia, Mosè in Egitto, Otello, La donna del lago, Matilde di Shabran and Ricciardo e Zoraide) took place there in the following three years. Ebers sublet the theatre to Giambattista Benelli in 1824, and Rossini was invited to conduct, remaining for a five-month season, with his wife Isabella Colbran performing. Two more of his operas, Zelmira and Semiramide, received their British premieres during the season, but there was public complaint about Rossini's failure to provide a new opera, as promised. Benelli had defaulted on his contract and absconded without paying either the composer or the artists, but this was not known to the London press and public, who blamed Rossini. Ebers engaged Giuditta Pasta for the 1825 season, but he became involved in lawsuits which, combined with a large increase in the rent of the theatre, forced him into bankruptcy, after which he returned to his bookselling business. ### Pierre François Laporte In 1828 Ebers was succeeded as theatre manager by Pierre François Laporte, who held the position (with a brief gap in 1831–1833) until his death in 1841. Two of Rossini's Paris operas (Le comte Ory and Le siège de Corinthe) had their British premieres at the theatre during this period, and Laporte was also the first to introduce the operas of Vincenzo Bellini (La sonnambula, Norma and I puritani) and Gaetano Donizetti (Anna Bolena, Lucia di Lammermoor and Lucrezia Borgia) to the British public. Under Laporte singers such as Giulia Grisi, Pauline Viardot, Giovanni Battista Rubini, Luigi Lablache and Mario made their London stage débuts at the theatre. Among the musical directors of this period was Nicolas Bochsa, the celebrated and eccentric French harpist. He was appointed in 1827 and remained for six years at this position. When Queen Victoria ascended the throne in 1837 the name of the theatre was changed to Her Majesty's Italian Opera House. In the same year Samuel Phelps made his London début as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice at the theatre, also playing in other Shakespearean plays there. In 1863 Robert Browning's Colombe's Birthday played at the theatre. The Morning Post described it as "a delicate wreath of poetic flowers", too subtle for theatregoers accustomed to coarser offerings, and it was not a success. In 1841 disputes arose over Laporte's decision to replace the baritone Antonio Tamburini with a new singer, Colletti. The audience stormed the stage, and the performers formed "a revolutionary conspiracy". A London newspaper described the incident as "one of the most disgraceful scenes that ever occurred within the walls of any theatre". ### Benjamin Lumley Laporte died suddenly, and Benjamin Lumley took over the management in 1842, introducing London audiences to Donizetti's late operas, Don Pasquale and La fille du régiment. Initially, relations were good between Lumley and Michael Costa, the principal conductor at Her Majesty's, but they later deteriorated. Verdi's Ernani, and Nabucco, and I Lombardi received their British premieres in 1845–46, and Lumley commissioned I masnadieri from the composer. It received its world premiere on 22 July 1847, with the Swedish diva Jenny Lind in the star role of Amalia. The British premieres of two more Verdi operas, I due Foscari and Attila, followed in 1847–48. Lind's success was so great that it became known as "Lind mania", but other performers felt neglected, and disputes continued. In 1847 Costa finally transferred his opera company to the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden; the law allowing only the patent companies to perform straight plays had been repealed in 1843, and although opera continued to be an important part of the repertoire at Her Majesty's, a wider range of productions was now possible. Lind's retirement from opera in 1849 was a blow to Lumley, but the appearance of the Cuban singer Donna Maria Martinez at the theatre in July 1850 was the subject of much attention from the press. She was dubbed "the Black Malibran" and was "vehemently applauded and encouraged", but she did not prove a sustained draw, and the highlight of the 1850 season was the premiere of Halévy's Shakespearean opera La Tempesta. The critics were moderately impressed by the music, though there was some regret that Mendelssohn had not lived to compose the work, as originally planned; the audiences were enthusiastic, and there was tumultuous applause for the composer, librettist, stars, conductor and impresario. Mander and Mitchenson describe 1851 as "the last season of operatic prosperity for Her Majesty's". The orchestra seceded to Covent Garden in 1852 and the theatre closed until 1856, when a fire shut down its rival. After the reopening of Her Majesty's Lumley presented two more British premieres of Verdi operas: La traviata in 1856 and Luisa Miller in 1858. ### Ballet Ballet played an important part at Her Majesty's in the mid-19th century. From the early 1830s until the late 1840s the theatre was known for staging romantic ballet. The celebrated ballet master Jules Perrot began staging ballet at Her Majesty's in 1830. Lumley appointed him Premier Maître de Ballet (chief choreographer) to the theatre in 1842. The ballet historian Ivor Guest writes, "probably never before or since has there been a more brilliant period in the history of the ballet than those years when [Perrot] was ballet-master at Her Majesty's Theatre". Among the ballets he staged were Ondine, ou La Naïade (1843), La Esmeralda (1844), and Catarina, ou La Fille du Bandit (1846), as well as the celebrated divertissement Pas de Quatre (1845). Other ballet masters created works for the ballet of Her Majesty's throughout the period of the romantic ballet, most notably Paul Taglioni (son of Filippo Taglioni), who staged ballets including Coralia, ou Le Chevalier inconstant (1847) and Electra (1849, the first production of a ballet to make use of electric lighting). The Italian composer Cesare Pugni was appointed "Composer of the Ballet Music" to the theatre in 1843, a position created for him by Lumley. Between 1843 and 1850 he wrote the music for most of the new ballets presented at the theatre. Throughout the era of the romantic ballet the theatre presented performances by celebrated ballerinas, including Fanny Cerrito, Fanny Elssler, Lucile Grahn, Carlotta Grisi, Lola Montez and Marie Taglioni. ### J. H. Mapleson From 1862 to 1867 the theatre was managed by J. H. Mapleson. He presented Italian, French and German opera, including the British premieres of La forza del destino, Médée, Faust, Orpheus in the Underworld and The Merry Wives of Windsor, and promoted such singers as Mario, Giulia Grisi, De Murska, Thérèse Tietjens, Antonio Giuglini, Charles Santley and Christine Nilsson. On the night of 6 December 1867 the theatre was destroyed by fire, thought to have been caused by an overheated stove. Only the bare walls of the theatre remained, and most of the adjacent shops in Pall Mall, and the Clergy Club hotel in Charles Street (now called Charles II Street), suffered damage of varying severity. After the destruction of the theatre Mapleson took his company to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. ## Third theatre: 1868–1896 A third building was constructed in 1868 at a cost of £50,000, within the shell of the old theatre, for Lord Dudley. It was designed by Charles Lee and Sons and their partner, William Pain, and built by George Trollope and Sons. The designers had taken over John Nash's practice on his retirement. The new theatre was designed to be less susceptible to fire, with brick firewalls, iron roof trusses and Dennett's patent gypsum-cement floors. The auditorium had four tiers, with a stage large enough for the greatest spectaculars. For opera, the theatre seated 1,890, and for plays, with the orchestra pit removed, 2,500. As a result of a dispute over the rent between Dudley and Mapleson, and a decline in the popularity of ballet, the theatre remained dark until 1874, when it was sold to a Revivalist Christian movement. Mapleson returned to Her Majesty's in 1877 and 1878, after a disastrous attempt to build a 2,000-seat National Opera House on a site subsequently used for the building of Scotland Yard. All the fittings of the theatre had been removed, including the seats, carpets and even the wallpaper. £6,000 was spent on fitting out the theatre, and on 28 April 1877 it returned to theatrical use with a revival of Bellini's opera Norma. The London premiere of Bizet's Carmen was given at the theatre on 22 June 1878, and the house hosted the Carl Rosa Opera Company in seasons from 1879 to 1882. Haverly's United Mastodon Minstrels played a season in 1880; a dramatisation of Uncle Tom's Cabin was seen in 1882; and the first complete performances in England of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen were given at Her Majesty's in 1882. The tetralogy was presented twice: the first cycle was well attended, the second less so. The Musical Times congratulated the impresario Angelo Neumann on his enterprise in staging the cycle, but regretfully predicted a substantial financial loss for the production. Sarah Bernhardt appeared at the theatre in La dame aux camelias in 1886. Mapleson returned in 1887 and 1889, but The Times observed that his repertoire comprised "works that had long ceased to attract a large public, the singers were exclusively of second-rate quality, and the standard of performance was extremely low". Mander and Mitchenson comment that in 1889 the house was even the scene of a boxing tournament. Over Christmas seasons pantomimes were staged; after one such – Cinderella, starring Minnie Palmer – the theatre closed in 1890. Its owners were insolvent and the courts ordered the sale of the building and its contents. One of the last things seen in the third theatre was another season by Bernhardt, in which she appeared as Joan of Arc in a play by Jules Barbier, and as Marguerite in a revival of La dame aux camelias. With the rapid advances in theatre technology made since the 1860s, the third theatre quickly became outmoded, and the sub-lease of the theatre, still held by the Dudley family, was due to expire in 1891. The Commissioners of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues (forerunners of the Crown Estate) desired the entire block on which the theatre stood to be rebuilt, except for the Royal Arcade, where the lease did not expire until 1912. Problems were encountered in obtaining all the buildings and in financing the scheme, but the theatre and surrounding buildings were demolished in 1892. When the demolition of the building was about to begin The Times commented: > It is not fitting to dwell on the decay of a fine institution, and it is better to recall the magnificent series of operas from Rinaldo to Der Ring des Nibelungen which have been presented for the first time in England at the house in the Haymarket during its 180 years of active existence. ## Fourth theatre: 1897–present Plans were commissioned from the architect Charles J. Phipps for a theatre and a hotel. In February 1896 an agreement was reached with the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree for the erection of the theatre at a cost of £55,000. The plans were approved in February 1897, and on 16 July 1896 the foundation stone of the new theatre was laid. Phipps died in 1897; the theatre was his last work. ### Architecture The theatre was designed as a symmetrical pair with the Carlton Hotel and restaurant on the adjacent site. The frontage formed three parts, each of nine bays. The hotel occupied two parts, the theatre one, and the two buildings were unified by a cornice above the ground floor. The buildings rose to four storeys, with attic floors above, surmounted by large squared domes in a style inspired by the French Renaissance. The theatre has a Corinthian colonnade at the first floor, rising to the second, forming a loggia in front of the circle foyer. This is above a canopy over the main ground floor entrances. The theatre lies on an east–west axis. The stage at the western end was 49 feet (14.9 m) deep and 69.5 feet (21.2 m) wide, reputedly the first British stage to be flat, rather than raked. The interior of the new theatre was designed by the consulting architect, W. H. Romaine-Walker, in a style drawing on that of the Royal Opera of Versailles by Gabriel. The stalls and pit were entered at ground level, with two partly cantilevered tiers above accommodating dress and family circles on the first level, and upper circle, amphitheatre and gallery on the tier above. In all, there were 1,319 seats. Contemporary opinion was critical of the project. Edwin Sachs wrote in his 1897 guide to theatres, "The treatment is considered to be in the French Renaissance style and stone has been used throughout. The detail cannot, however, be termed satisfactory, nor does the exterior architecturally express the purpose of the building." Later opinion of the theatre has been more favourable: English Heritage describes the building as both Phipps's finest work and one of the best planned theatres in London. The building was Grade II\* listed in January 1970. The adjacent hotel was severely damaged by bombing in the Second World War and was demolished in 1957–58, replaced by the new High Commission for New Zealand (New Zealand House), completed in 1963 (now, like the theatre, a Grade II listed building). The 200-year-old Royal Opera Arcade, built by Nash and Repton, is all that survives of the second theatre and is one of the earliest examples of a London arcade. ### Performance The current theatre opened on 28 April 1897. Tree built the theatre with profits from his tremendous success at the Haymarket Theatre, and he owned, managed and lived in the theatre from its construction until his death in 1917. For his personal use, he had a banqueting hall and living room installed in the massive, central, square French-style dome. The theatre opened with a dramatisation of Gilbert Parker's The Seats of the Mighty. Adaptations of novels by Dickens, Tolstoy, and others formed a substantial part of the repertoire, along with classical works by Molière and others. Tree presented the world premiere of J. M. Synge's The Tinker's Wedding, and the British premiere of Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, in which he starred with Mrs Patrick Campbell, in 1914. Above all, Tree was known for his Shakespeare productions. His longest-running of these was Henry VIII, which had a record-breaking run of 254 consecutive performances from September 1910 to April 1911. His biographer B. A. Kachur writes: > Most of the Shakespeare revivals at Her Majesty's enjoyed equally unprecedented runs. Tree succeeded in popularizing Shakespeare with his audiences because he staged the plays in ways that appealed to spectators' taste for elaborate spectacle and realistic scenery and scenic effects. His Majesty's no longer specialised in opera, but there were occasional operatic presentations in its early years, including seasons given by the conductor Thomas Beecham, in which the British premiere of Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos was presented, as well as revivals – then rare – of Mozart's operas, Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Così fan tutte. In 1904 Tree founded the Academy of Dramatic Art (later RADA), which spent a year based in the theatre before moving in 1905 to Gower Street in Bloomsbury. Tree continued to take graduates of the Academy into his company at His Majesty's, employing some forty actors in this way by 1911. The facilities of the theatre lent themselves to the new genre of musical theatre, and Percy Fletcher was appointed musical director in 1915, a post he held for the next 17 years, until his death. Chu Chin Chow opened in 1916 and ran for a world record 2,235 performances (almost twice as long as the previous record for musical theatre – a record that it held until surpassed by Salad Days, which opened in 1954). Music and drama were combined in Basil Dean's 1923 production of James Elroy Flecker's verse play Hassan, with music by Frederick Delius, which ran for 281 performances. George and Ira Gershwin's musical Oh, Kay! had its London premiere at His Majesty's on 21 September 1927, starring Gertrude Lawrence and John Kirby; with 213 performances it failed to equal the Broadway run of 256. Noël Coward's operetta Bitter Sweet enjoyed a run of 697 performances beginning on 18 July 1929. The Good Companions, a dramatisation by J. B. Priestley of his novel, premiered on 14 May 1931 and ran for 331 performances. In the years after the Second World War, musicals continued to dominate at the theatre; they included transfers of the successful Broadway productions Follow the Girls (1945; 572 performances) and the Lerner and Loewe musicals Brigadoon (1949; 685 performances) and Paint Your Wagon (1953; 477 performances). Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story opened in December 1958 for a run of 1,040 performances, transferring from Broadway via the Manchester Opera House. The London premiere of Fiddler on the Roof was on 16 February 1967, starring Chaim Topol, and the production ran at Her Majesty's for 2,030 performances. Forty years after the first stage adaptation of Priestley's novel, André Previn's musical version of The Good Companions premiered on 11 July 1974 and ran until 15 February 1975, followed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Alan Ayckbourn's collaboration, Jeeves, on 22 April 1975, which ran for just over a month, closing on 24 May. John Cleese organised A Poke in the Eye (With a Sharp Stick) as a benefit for Amnesty International at the theatre in 1976, and it was broadcast as Pleasure at Her Majesty's. This was the first of The Secret Policeman's Balls, organised by and starring such performers as Peter Cook, Graham Chapman, and Rowan Atkinson. The venue was also the setting for the popular ITV variety series Live from Her Majesty's, which ran on television from 1983 to 1988. It was on this programme that Tommy Cooper collapsed and died on stage in 1984. The Phantom of the Opera had its world premiere on 9 October 1986 at the theatre, winning the Olivier Award for Best New Musical; it featured Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, who won an Olivier award for his performance in the title role. The original Victorian stage machinery remains beneath the stage of the theatre; the designer, Maria Björnson, found a way to use it "to show the Phantom travelling across the lake as if floating on a sea of mist and fire", in a scene in the musical. As of 2023, the musical is still playing at the theatre. It is the second longest-running musical and third longest-running stage work in West End history. The theatre is one of forty featured in the 2012 DVD documentary series Great West End Theatres, presented by Donald Sinden. ### Capacity and ownership The theatre's capacity is 1,216 seats on four levels. Really Useful Theatres Group purchased it in January 2000 with nine other London theatres formerly owned by the Stoll-Moss Group. Between 1990 and 1993, renovation and improvements were made by the H. L. M. and C. G. Twelves partnership. In 2014 Really Useful Theatres – now known as LW Theatres – split from the Really Useful Group and took ownership of the theatre. In conformity with the custom of matching the title of the theatre to the gender of the British monarch, the theatre once again became His Majesty's in 2023, marking the coronation of Charles III. ## Notes, references and sources
8,468,930	Ashford v Thornton	1,166,254,127	English law case upholding trial by battle	[ "1818 in British law", "1818 in England", "1818 in case law", "Court of King's Bench (England) cases", "English criminal case law", "History of Birmingham, West Midlands", "People acquitted of murder", "Trials by combat" ]	Ashford v Thornton (1818) 106 ER 149 is an English criminal case in the Court of King's Bench which upheld the right of the defendant to trial by battle on a private appeal from an acquittal for murder. In 1817, Abraham Thornton was charged with the murder of Mary Ashford. Thornton had met Ashford at a dance and had walked with her from the event. The next morning, she was found drowned in a pit with little evidence of violence. Public opinion was heavily against Thornton, but the jury quickly acquitted him of both murder and rape. Mary's brother William Ashford launched an appeal, and Thornton was rearrested. Thornton claimed the right to trial by battle, a medieval usage that had never been abolished by Parliament. Ashford argued that the evidence against Thornton was overwhelming and that he was thus ineligible to wage battle. The court decided that the evidence against Thornton was not overwhelming, and that therefore trial by battle was a permissible option under law. Ashford declined the offer of battle, however, and Thornton was freed from custody in April 1818. Appeals such as Ashford's were abolished by statute in 1819, and with them the right to trial by battle. ## Background ### Legal Trial by battle was a procedure which had been brought to Britain by the Normans; it was not present in Saxon law. It was authorised in "appeals of murder", retrials by private prosecution following an acquittal for murder. If the deceased's next of kin requested such a retrial, the defendant could respond with the "wager of battle", requiring the plaintiff to settle the matter by combat with the outcome to be ordained by God. Such an offer of battle could also take place following an acquittal for treason or another felony. Appeals of murder were uncommon, had to be brought within a year and a day of the death, and were generally tried by jury. An appeal of murder was brought in Dublin in O'Reilly v Clancy in 1815, three years before Ashford v Thornton, and the defendant demanded the wager of battle. Chief Judge William Downes (later Lord Downes) asked: > Can it be possible that this "wager of battle" is being seriously insisted on? Am I to understand that this monstrous proposition as being propounded by the bar—that we, the judges of the Court of King's Bench—the recognized conservators of the public peace, are to become not merely the spectators, but the abettors of a mortal combat? Is that what you require of us? No combat took place in Ireland; Clancy agreed to plead guilty and was transported for life. It is uncertain when the last trial by battle actually took place in Britain. Some references speak of such a trial being held in 1631, but records indicate that King Charles I intervened to prevent the battle. A 1638 case is less clear; while no surviving record details the outcome of the case, the King again stepped in and judges acted to delay proceedings, and no contemporaneous account says the trial by battle actually took place. The last verified judicial battle in Britain was in Scotland in 1597, when Adam Bruntfield accused James Carmichael of murder and then killed him in battle. The last one in England occurred in 1446 when a servant accused his master of treason. The master drank much wine before the battle and was slain by the servant. The wager of battle was not always available to the defendant in an appeal of murder. The defendant could not make the challenge if he was taken in the mainour (in the act of committing his crime), if he attempted to escape from prison, or if there was such strong evidence of guilt that there could be no effective denial. Similarly, a female plaintiff could decline the challenge, as could a plaintiff above 60 years of age, a minor plaintiff, or one who was lame or blind. Peers of the realm, priests, and citizens of the City of London could also decline the challenge to battle. In any of these cases, the trial's outcome would be determined by a jury. If the battle took place, it would occur in judicial lists, 60 feet (18 m) square, after taking oaths against witchcraft and sorcery. If the defendant was defeated but still alive, he was to be hanged on the spot; not even the King could pardon him from the divine judgment against him. He would go free, however, if he defeated his opponent or if he fended him off from sunrise to sunset. If the plaintiff said the word craven ("I am vanquished") and gave up the fight, he was to be declared infamous, deprived of the privileges of a freeman, and held liable for damages to his opponent. Proposals were made in the 17th and 18th centuries to abolish trial by battle, but they were unsuccessful. In 1774, Parliament considered a bill which would have abolished appeals of murder and trials by battle in the American colonies as part of the legislative response to the Boston Tea Party. It was successfully opposed by MP John Dunning, who called the appeal of murder "that great pillar of the Constitution". Writer and MP Edmund Burke supported the abolition, calling the appeal and wager "superstitious and barbarous to the last degree". ### Death of Mary Ashford Mary Ashford was about 20 years old, working as a general servant and housekeeper to her uncle who was a farmer at Langley Heath, Warwickshire, between Birmingham and Sutton Coldfield. Her father was a gardener near Erdington. She worked as usual on 26 May 1817 and planned to attend a party that evening at The Three Tuns, a public house more commonly known as the Tyburn House. The party was an "annual club-feast and dance" which attracted a large attendance. She met her friend Hannah Cox, left her work clothes at Cox's house in Erdington (after having obtained nicer clothes from her mother's house in the same village), and journeyed to the Tyburn House, arriving there at 7:30 to find the dancing already begun. Among those attending at the Tyburn House was Abraham Thornton, the son of a builder from Castle Bromwich. He was about 24 years old and heavyset; descriptions of him range from "well-looking young fellow" to "of repulsive appearance". When he saw Ashford, he asked someone who she was; that person later alleged that Thornton stated that he had been intimate with her sister three times, and would also be intimate with Mary Ashford or die for it. Thornton later denied this statement, which was a major source of the public animus towards him following his arrest. During the course of the evening, he was very attentive to her, and she appeared to enjoy his company. At about 11 p.m., Cox began urging Ashford to leave. When they did, it was with Thornton, who accompanied Ashford closely, while Cox walked behind them. Instead of returning to Erdington, Ashford announced that she would go to her grandfather's house, stating that it was closer to work. This was true, but it ignored the fact that she would have to return to Erdington to obtain her working clothes in the morning. Cox journeyed to Erdington, while Ashford and Thornton went off together. At about 2:45, a labourer saw Thornton leaving a friend's house with a woman; he greeted Thornton, but the woman held her head down. Just before 4 a.m., Cox was awakened by Ashford seeking her working clothes. Ashford changed and hurried off, stating that she needed to be home before her uncle left for market. A reveller returning from Tyburn House saw her walking quickly; he was the last person known to see her alive. At around 6 a.m., a passing labourer saw women's items near a water-filled pit. One of the items was a woman's shoe with blood on it. He raised the alarm, then he and others used a rake to find Mary Ashford's body in the pit. Two workers from a nearby factory found a series of footprints on the newly harrowed field near the pit, showing that a man and a woman had travelled together almost up to the pit, and that the man returned alone. The local mill owner went to Tyburn House to discover who had left the party with Ashford. Daniel Clarke, the landlord, began to ride towards Castle Bromwich to locate Thornton, and encountered him almost at once. He told Thornton of Ashford's death, and Thornton stated that he was with her until 4 a.m., and he went with Clarke to Tyburn. Assistant constable Thomas Dales from Birmingham interrogated Thornton, and soon arrested him. However, Dales did not keep any notes and later proved unable to remember much of what the prisoner told him. Thornton was then examined by magistrate William Bedford, who ordered him to be searched. The search revealed that Thornton was wearing underclothing with bloodstains, and Thornton admitted having sexual intercourse with Ashford the previous night. The prisoner's shoes were removed, and the factory workers compared them with the footprints in the field; they testified at trial that they matched. A post-mortem examination revealed that Ashford died from drowning, and that the only marks on her body were two lacerations in the genital area. The examination concluded that she had been a virgin prior to the sexual act which caused the bleeding. She was menstruating at the time of her death. ## Trial An inquest was held on 30 May 1817, and was presided over by Francis Hacket, a Warwickshire magistrate who by virtue of his position as Warden of Sutton Coldfield was coroner ex officio. Thornton attended in custody, and was permitted to cross-examine witnesses through his solicitor. At the end of the proceedings, a verdict of "Wilful Murder" was returned, and Thornton was committed for trial at the next assizes in Warwick on the Coroner's Warrant. Thornton was held in the county gaol pending the trial. Local opinion was heavily against Thornton. Pamphlets were sold purporting to show Thornton's guilt, and poems were composed with the same theme. The defendant's solicitor complained of these, alleging it made it hard to find an unbiased jury. On 8 August 1817, people filled the street in front of County Hall in Warwick, where the trial was to take place. When the judge, Sir George Sowley Holroyd (a justice of the Court of King's Bench) began proceedings at 8 a.m., people rushed to fill the available seating, and the public benches remained full throughout the one-day trial. Because of the nature of the evidence, women were not permitted to witness the trial. The prosecution's theory of the case, as told in its opening statement to the jury, was that Thornton, having failed in his attempt to seduce Ashford, lay in wait for her in the field near the pit. He knew she would have to cross the field on her return from Erdington. On perceiving him, she attempted to elude him, but he caught her and got her to accompany him into the next field. There, he threw her down and ravished her. The post-mortem showed that she had not eaten in 24 hours, and according to the prosecuting counsel, she was unable to resist and fainted. Fearing the consequences were he to be caught with an unconscious woman whom he had treated in such a manner, Thornton threw her into the pit, where she drowned. At that time, defence counsel were not permitted to address the jury, and the matter proceeded with the prosecution's case. A number of witnesses, including Hannah Cox, testified to the events of the evening of 26 May and of the following morning. The first witnesses to attract significant cross-examination by William Reader, Thornton's barrister, were the two factory workers, William Lavell and Joseph Bird, who had matched Thornton's shoes to the footprints in the harrowed field. Under cross-examination, both admitted that it had rained heavily between the time the footprints were made and the time they attempted to match the prints. Constable Dales told the jury that Thornton admitted having sex with Ashford before he was searched: that is, before his bloodstained clothing came to light. Mr Freer, a Birmingham surgeon who conducted the post-mortem, testified as to its results, and stated that except for the vaginal lacerations, there were no signs of violence on Ashford's person, and that those cuts could have been caused by consensual sexual relations. Freer's testimony concluded the prosecution's case, and as the defendant declined to exercise his right to himself make a statement to the court, the defence began calling witnesses. Through its eleven witnesses, the defence established an alibi for Thornton. Milkman William Jennings (in some sources Jennans) testified that he saw Thornton at 4:30 am, walking leisurely by the farm of John Holden, where Jennings went to buy milk. The Holden farm was 2.25 to 2.5 miles (3.6 to 4.0 km) from the pit, depending on the path taken. At about 4:50 a.m., Thornton was seen at Castle Bromwich by a gamekeeper, John Heydon. Thornton told Heydon that he was with a woman much of the night, and after the two spent about fifteen minutes conversing, Thornton went on towards his father's house. The defence contended that for Thornton to have murdered Ashford, he would have had to chase her down, rape her, kill her, and then travel three miles (4.8 km), all in at most eleven minutes. The witnesses took ten hours to testify, during which time the court sat continuously. After a short break, the judge began his summing up, taking two hours to charge the jury. The judge urged the jury to put their prejudice at hearing that Thornton had had sex with Ashford out of their heads; they were there to determine if Thornton was guilty of the offence charged. He pointed out to the jury the lack of concealment exhibited by Thornton, his admission of the sexual act and of being with Ashford until 4 a.m. The judge told them it was not possible for Thornton to have committed the acts alleged by the prosecution and still have made it to the Holden farm by the time he was seen by Heydon, and stressed that Thornton did not act like a man who ran. The judge concluded by reminding the jury that it was better a murderer go free than an innocent man be convicted. The jury never left the box, but instead conferred together and found Thornton not guilty in six minutes. They were then resworn on the rape allegation. The prosecution informed the court that it had no evidence to offer on that count, and Mr Justice Holroyd directed the jury to find the prisoner not guilty of rape, which they did. Thornton was set free. ## Appeal The acquittal of Thornton was met with outrage in Warwickshire, and indeed across the country. Newspapers published letters and comments which were extremely hostile toward Thornton. The leading papers in this campaign were the Lichfield Mercury and the Independent Whig, but even The Times expressed delight when it learned that the case would be further pursued. Funds were obtained from contributors, and a local solicitor prevailed on Mary's brother, William Ashford, to bring an appeal of murder against Thornton. William Ashford was described as "a plain country young man, about twenty-two years of age, of short stature, sandy hair, and blue eyes". A writ of appeal was issued on 1 October 1817, and Thornton was arrested on a warrant issued pursuant to that writ. As the appeal was to be tried before the King's Bench in London, Thornton was taken to London on 28 October. Supporters of the Ashford family did their best to find evidence to upset his alibi. They had little success. On 6 November, the case first came before the Court, but was quickly adjourned until the 17th when Reader indicated that he had just been instructed, and needed more time to advise his client as to his plea. The initial hearing was little attended, apparently because the public did not realise the notorious Thornton would be there in person. The Warwickshire magistrate, Bedford, was now acting as solicitor for William Ashford. At first, he saw no reason for uneasiness in the appeal. However, on 11 November, he wrote to his clerk, > I am sorry to say that difficulties have been started likely to occasion much trouble and perhaps ultimate defeat. it seems the Appellee [Thornton] has the option of waging Battle and of challenging the Appellor [William Ashford] in single combat which if not accepted by the Appellor the suit is lost and, if accepted, and the Appellee can hold out from sun rise to sun set, then he wins the contest and claims his discharge, otherwise his election subjects him not only to a good threshing [sic] but also the pain of death into the bargain. It is rumoured here that is the plea intended to be set up by the Def. and unless we can devise any means by arguement [sic] to induce the Court not to allow it, I am very apprehensive our poor little Knight will never be able to contend the Battle with his brutish opponent. When the case came to be heard in the King's Bench on 17 November, a huge crowd packed Westminster Hall to such an extent that counsel had great difficulty in entering. When Thornton was called upon for his plea, he responded, "Not guilty; and I am ready to defend the same with my body." He then put on one of a pair of leather gauntlets, which Reader handed him. Thornton threw down the other for William Ashford to pick up and thus accept the challenge, which Ashford did not do. Instead, his counsel, Nathaniel Clarke, argued that Thornton should not be able to compound his murder of the sister with an attempt to murder the brother, to which the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Ellenborough responded, "It is the law of England, Mr Clarke; we must not call it murder." Clarke then argued Ashford's youth and lack of bodily strength as a reason not to allow the battle. Reader, in reply, stated that Ashford's counsel should not waste the Court's time by arguing that trial by battle was unwise because of Ashford's physical condition, but should file responsive pleadings and allow the case to move forward. Reader also noted that he and his co-counsel had advised Thornton to wage battle out of concern that with the "extraordinary and unprecedented prejudice" against the defendant, a fair jury could not be obtained. The matter was adjourned to 22 November to allow Ashford's counsel to file pleadings. At subsequent hearings, each side submitted replications (affidavits) with his version of the evidence. Ashford sought for the Court to rule that the evidence against Thornton was strong and that the defendant was thus ineligible to wage battle; Thornton sought the opposite. Much of the case was argued between 6 and 8 February 1818, but one of Ashford's counsel, Joseph Chitty, asked for and received more time so he could reply to the other side's arguments, and the matter was adjourned until 16 April. Chitty then responded but was so often interrupted in his argument by the judges that when he sat down, according to Sir John Hall in his book on the affair, "it was clear to everyone in Court that his client had lost his case". The judges conferred for about a quarter of an hour, and then delivered judgment seriatim (one after the other). All four ruled for Thornton, holding that the evidence against him was not so strong as to oust his right to battle. Lord Ellenborough stated that > The discussion which has taken place here, and the consideration which has been given to the facts alleged, most conclusively show that this is not a case that can admit of no denial or proof to the contrary; under these circumstances, however obnoxious I am myself to the trial by battle, it is the mode of trial which we, in our judicial character, are bound to award. We are delivering the law as it is, and not as we wish it to be, and therefore we must pronounce our judgment, that the battle must take place. After the other judges delivered their judgments, Lord Ellenborough concluded, > The general law of this land is in favour of the wager of battle, and it is our duty to pronounce the law as it is, and not as we may wish it to be. Whatever prejudices may exist therefore against this mode of trial, still as it is the law of the land, the Court must pronounce judgment for it. However, Lord Ellenborough indicated that Ashford could ask that Thornton be allowed "to go without a day", that is, be released without obligation to return to court. The matter was adjourned until 20 April for Ashford to consider his options, whether to allow Thornton's release or meet him in battle. On 20 April, Ashford's counsel indicated that he had no objection to Thornton's discharge, so long as no action would be taken against his client. With the appellant reassured on that point, the appeal was dismissed. Thornton was then given a pro forma arraignment on the murder charge, to which he interposed a plea that he was acquitted previously. The plea being accepted, the case was ended, and Thornton was freed. With an angry mob outside, Thornton left (at Lord Ellenborough's direction) through a side door. ## Aftermath In June 1819, Lord Eldon, the Lord Chancellor, introduced a bill to abolish private appeals following acquittals and to abolish trial by battle. The bill passed into an Act in great haste – all three required readings in the House of Lords passed on one night. According to Sir Robert Megarry, who wrote of the trial in 2005, the haste was due to a wager of battle being made in another case, though the names of the parties are not known. The act (the Appeal of Murder etc. Act 1819, ) recited, "whereas appeals of murder, treason, felony, and other offences, and the manner of proceeding therein, have been found to be oppressive; and the trial by battle in any suit, is a mode of trial unfit to be used; and it is expedient that the same should be wholly abolished." The Act abolished appeals of murder and other offences, and enacted in section 2: "that from and after the passing of this act, in any writ of right now depending, or which may hereafter be brought, instituted, or commenced, the tenant shall not be received to wage battel, nor shall issue be joined nor trial be had by battel in any writ of right; any law, custom, or usage to the contrary notwithstanding." Abraham Thornton returned to Castle Bromwich, but found the general dislike in which he was held unbearable. He booked passage to New York aboard the Independence, but when his fellow passengers found out who he was, they insisted on his being put ashore. On 30 September 1818, Abraham Thornton sailed from Liverpool aboard the Shamrock to New York. In the United States, he worked as a bricklayer, married and had children. One source claims that he died around 1860 in Baltimore but there is no evidence for this. William Ashford, who for many years worked as a fish-hawker in Birmingham, was found dead in his bed there in January 1867, at the age of seventy. According to Walter Thornbury, who wrote of the case in the late 19th century, "The causes of Mary Ashford's death, only the Last Day can now reveal." Mary Ashford's grave is marked by a murder stone which states that she "incautiously repaired to a scene of amusement, without proper protection". Academics have argued that Ashford v Thornton inspired the judicial combat which is the climax of Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. Scott mentioned the case in his other writings, discussed it with his friends, and backdated the dedication to the book two years to the date of Thornton's wager of battle. An attempt was made in 1985 to claim trial by battle, brought by two brothers in Scotland who were accused of armed robbery, on the grounds that the abolition did not apply in Scotland. The attempt failed when the defendants could offer no evidence to oust the statutory presumption that Parliamentary acts apply to the entire United Kingdom. In 2002, a 60-year-old man, faced with a £25 penalty for a minor motoring offence, appeared before magistrates and demanded trial by battle against a champion to be nominated by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. He stated that trial by battle was still valid under European human rights legislation. Magistrates fined him £200, with £100 costs.
28,014,342	Steamtown, U.S.A.	1,156,563,663	Former museum in Vermont, United States	[ "1964 establishments in Vermont", "Heritage railroads in Vermont", "Passenger railroads in the United States", "Rail transportation preservation in the United States", "Railroad museums in New Hampshire", "Railroad museums in Vermont", "Steam locomotives of Canada", "Steam locomotives of the United States", "Tourist attractions in Cheshire County, New Hampshire", "Tourist attractions in Windham County, Vermont" ]	Steamtown, U.S.A., was a steam locomotive museum that ran steam excursions out of North Walpole, New Hampshire, and Bellows Falls, Vermont, from the 1960s to 1983. The museum was founded by millionaire seafood industrialist F. Nelson Blount. The non-profit Steamtown Foundation took over operations following his death in 1967. Because of Vermont's air quality regulations restricting steam excursions, declining visitor attendance, and disputes over the use of track, some pieces of the collection were relocated to Scranton, Pennsylvania in the mid-1980s and the rest were auctioned off. After the move, Steamtown continued to operate in Scranton but failed to attract the expected 200,000–400,000 visitors. Within two years the tourist attraction was facing bankruptcy, and more pieces of the collection were sold to pay off debt. In 1986, the United States House of Representatives, under the urging of Pennsylvania Representative Joseph M. McDade, voted to approve \$8 million to study the collection and to begin the process of making it a National Historic Site. As a result, the National Park Service (NPS) conducted historical research on the equipment that remained in the Foundation's possession. This research was used as a Scope of Collections Statement for the Steamtown National Historic Site. The scope was published in 1991 under the title Steamtown Special History Study. The report provided concise histories of each piece of equipment and made recommendations as to whether or not each piece belonged in the soon-to-be government-funded collection. By 1995, Steamtown had been acquired and developed by the NPS with a \$66 million allocation. Several more pieces have been removed from the collection as a result of the government acquisition. Part of the Blount collection is still on display at the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton. ## History ### Formation of the collection F. Nelson Blount, the heir to the largest seafood processor in the United States, was an avid railroad enthusiast. When he was just seventeen years old he wrote a book on steam power. Acquiring the narrow-gauge Edaville Railroad in Carver, Massachusetts in 1955, he began amassing one of the largest collections of antique steam locomotives in the United States. In addition to the Edaville Railroad, Blount also ran excursions at Pleasure Island in Wakefield, Massachusetts and Freedomland U.S.A. in New York City. By 1964, another part of his collection housed at an engine facility purchased from the Boston & Maine at North Walpole, New Hampshire consisted of 25 steam locomotives from the United States and Canada, 10 other locomotives, and 25 pieces of rolling stock. On April 26, 1961, Blount and his associates founded the Monadnock, Steamtown & Northern Railroad Amusement Corporation to be the separate tourist railroad operator for his planned museum, Steamtown U.S.A. Blount hoped to open Steamtown at his facility in North Walpole and run excursions with the MS&N over the Boston & Maine's Cheshire Branch to Keene. When B&M labor issues intervened, Blount negotiated with shortline railroad owner Sam Pinsly to operate on 18 miles of the Claremont & Concord Railway between Bradford, New Hampshire and Sunapee, New Hampshire. Starting on July 22, 1961, the MS&N operation at Lake Sunapee utilized a former Canadian National Railway 4-6-4T steam locomotive, \#47, and several former Boston & Maine wooden coaches. The steam operation came to an early end on August 25 when the locomotive was removed from service on account of missing maintenance paperwork, which had been disposed of by the Canadian National when they retired \#47 in 1958. Copies were ultimately found in Canada, but revealed that the locomotive was due for re-tubing (the paperwork is commonly misinterpreted as having been lost in a fire). A diesel replacement was used for an additional seven days until September 17, but was not popular. Despite common belief, the 1961 season was not the first operation of Steamtown U.S.A., but rather the separate excursion operator, Monadnock, Steamtown & Northern. In 1962 the MS&N ran excursions between Keene and Gilboa on the Boston & Maine's Cheshire Branch. Blount came close to entering into an agreement with the state of New Hampshire in which he would donate 20 locomotives in return for a state-funded Steamtown USA, to be located in Keene. This plan was well-received locally in Keene, where support was fostered by Mayor Robert L. Mallat, Jr. The plan was initially approved by New Hampshire governor Wesley Powell. It was determined that ownership of the Cheshire Branch by either Blount or the state of New Hampshire was essential, yet the B&M delayed a sale agreement while statewide pressure mounted. The Keene plans were later rejected in early 1963 by the new governor, John W. King. An advisory committee had said of the proposed plan, that it "does not take advantage of anything that is singularly and peculiarly New Hampshire." In 1963, incorporation papers were filed for the "Steamtown Foundation for the Preservation of Steam and Railroad Americana". The non-profit charitable, educational organization was to have nine non-salaried directors, including the five incorporators of which Blount was one. The other incorporators were former New Hampshire governor, Lane Dwinell; Emile Bussiere; Robert L. Mallat, Jr., mayor of Keene; and Bellows Falls Municipal Judge, Thomas P. Salmon, who later became governor of Vermont. The president of the Campbell Soup Company, William B. Murphy, who had also served as National Chairman of Radio Free Europe, and Fredrick Richardson, then vice president of Blount Seafood, were among the other directors. Steamtown U.S.A. opened for the first time as a museum, and the MS&N ran excursions again over the Cheshire Branch — this time from North Walpole to Westmoreland. Meanwhile, Blount entered into talks with the state of Vermont to operate on the former Rutland Railroad, which had just been approved for total abandonment. The first order of business for the Steamtown Foundation was to acquire the Blount collection at North Walpole, and relocate it to a new property, "Riverside", once owned by the Rutland Railroad across the Connecticut River near Bellows Falls, Vermont. The next year in 1964 Blount founded the Green Mountain Railroad to assume freight duties on the former Rutland line between Bellows Falls and Rutland. The MS&N began operating excursions over that trackage in 1964, and Green Mountain freight service began on April 3, 1965. Meanwhile, pieces of the Steamtown collection began to make their way from North Walpole to Riverside. ### Steamtown in Vermont F. Nelson Blount was killed when his private airplane collided with a tree during an emergency landing, in Marlboro, New Hampshire, on August 31, 1967. By that time a good deal of Blount's collection was controlled by the Steamtown Foundation and had been relocated to Riverside. The Green Mountain Railroad controlled the tracks that lay between Walpole, Bellows Falls and Chester, Vermont, which Steamtown was to use for its excursions. When Blount died most of the controlling stock of the GMRC was transferred to the president of the railroad, Robert W. Adams. The Green Mountain temporarily assumed passenger excursion operations from the MS&N. Now redundant, the Monadnock, Steamtown & Amusement Corporation ceased operations in December 1967 and was later dissolved in August 1971. Throughout its tenure in Vermont, Steamtown provided several types of excursions, primarily in the summer and during the peak foliage season of the autumn. Occasionally, these trips would be lengthy, like one that ran from Boston to Montreal, or those that ran between Bellows Falls and Rutland, Vermont. On a daily basis the excursions ran from Riverside station in Bellows Falls to Chester depot. The cost of the trip, which in 1977 was \$5.75 for an adult and \$2.95 for a child, was combined with entrance into the museum, which was the grounds of Riverside station. The station was located about 2 miles (3 km) outside of town and was situated on the bank of the Connecticut River. One newspaper travel writer, Bill Rice, described the 13-mile (21 km) trip from Riverside to Chester: "The trip to Chester affords a beautiful view of unspoiled Vermont countryside-covered bridges, vintage farms with grazing livestock and cornfield and a winding river with a deep gorge and picturesque waterfall." The river that Rice referred to was the Williams River, which crossed the route of the train seven times. The waterfall was at Brockway Mills Gorge and was seen from a bridge 100 feet (30 m) above the gorge. Rice also said that at the time he was writing, 1977, Steamtown had the largest collection of steam locomotives in the world. In 1971, the Board of Health of Vermont issued a waiver to the GMRC for Vermont's air pollution regulations. The waiver permitted the operation of steam locomotive excursions between Steamtown's Riverside station at Bellows Falls, and Chester depot. In 1974, as the state of Vermont prepared for its celebration of the country's bicentenary, in which the Steamtown excursion featured prominently, the subject of the air pollution regulations came up again. The tourist attraction was operating on temporary permits that allowed it to operate excursions in Vermont. By 1976, the relationship between Steamtown and GMRC deteriorated as the two organizations fought over maintenance of the tracks, which were owned by the state of Vermont. By 1978, the Steamtown Foundation had begun scouting for a new location for Steamtown, U.S.A. Orlando and perhaps other locations in Florida were under consideration. In 1980, Ray Holland, the Chairman of the Board of Steamtown Foundation, resigned after accusing the board of incompetence. His resignation was followed by that of Robert Barbera, a long-time director of the board. In the year that followed, Steamtown did not run excursions. Don Ball, Jr., had taken over direction of Steamtown by this time and discovered that the excursion train did not meet federal safety guidelines. In 1981, despite its vast holdings of vintage railroad stock, Steamtown, U.S.A. had only 17,000 visitors, while Connecticut's Essex Valley Railroad, which ran two small engines, had 139,000 visitors. Even in its best year, 1973, the Vermont location had attracted only 65,000 visitors. Self-syndicated newspaper columnist Michael McManus once said that his goal in writing his weekly column was "to suggest answers to problems of the old industrial states." In March 1982 a substantial article by McManus appeared in the Bangor Daily News. In the article, McManus proposed several reasons why a city, like Chicago, Pittsburgh, or Scranton might find the addition of a tourist attraction like Steamtown beneficial. McManus went on to explain why the business was failing in Vermont. Among the reasons the article gave for poor attendance at the Vermont site were: past failed management, an isolated location and the lack of signs, owing to opposition by the state, on Interstate 91. In addition to these problems, the roof of the largest storage shed on the site collapsed under heavy snow the previous winter, damaging several pieces of equipment. Among the injured were the Canadian Pacific Railway No. 1293 and the Meadow River Lumber Company No. 1 Shay (shown in the infobox). `When asked by McManus to describe the value of the Steamtown collection, Jim Boyd, editor of Railfan magazine said, "Everything there is no longer obtainable anywhere, whether it is the "Big Boy" Union Pacific No. 4012 or the Rahway Valley No. 15, a nice-sized locomotive any museum would give a right arm for. Most of the other large collections do not have any serviceable equipment." McManus closed his argument for the relocation of Steamtown by pointing out, "What is at stake is more than tourism and jobs. It is a significant part of America's past before the welder's torch is turned on the likes of the 1877 'Prince of Liege', the rare Union Pacific diamond stack, etc. The steel alone is worth $3 million."` In June 1983, McManus wrote about Steamtown again, this time announcing that Scranton had taken his suggestion. He said that other cities in contention for the relocation were Springfield, Massachusetts, and Willimantic, Connecticut. "But on May 24, Scranton signed a contract to get it, pledging to raise \$2 million to cover the cost of moving 40 ancient steam engines and 60 cars, few of which are operable, and to create a museum." Steamtown sponsored its last Vermont excursion on October 23, 1983, using Canadian Pacific 1246 to pull a "dozen or so cars" on a 100-mile (160 km) round trip from Riverside station to Ludlow, Vermont. ### Steamtown in Scranton and nationalization When Scranton agreed to take on Steamtown, U.S.A., it was estimated that the museum and excursion business would attract 200,000 to 400,000 visitors to the city every year. In anticipation of this economic boon, the city and a private developer spent \$13 million to renovate the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (DL&W) station and transform it into a Hilton hotel, at a time when the unemployment rate in the city was 13 percent. Only 60,000 visitors showed up at Steamtown in 1987, and the 1988 excursions were canceled. After only three years, it was \$2.2 million in debt and facing bankruptcy. Part of the problem was the cost of restoration of the new property and the deteriorating equipment. In addition, while the tourists in Vermont had enjoyed the sights of cornfields, farms, covered bridges, a waterfall and a gorge on a Steamtown excursion, the Scranton trip to Moscow, Pennsylvania, cut through one of the nation's largest junkyards, an eyesore described by Ralph Nader as "the eighth wonder of the world". In 1986, the U.S. House of Representatives, under the urging of Scranton native Representative Joseph M. McDade, voted to approve the spending of \$8 million to study the collection and to begin the process of making it a National Historic Site. By 1995, Steamtown was acquired and developed by the National Park Service (NPS) at a total cost of \$66 million, and opened as Steamtown National Historic Site the same year. In preparation for its acquisition of the collection, the NPS had conducted historical research during 1987 and 1988 on the equipment that still remained in the foundation's possession. This research was used for a Scope of Collections Statement for Steamtown National Historic Site and was published in 1991 under the title Steamtown Special History Study. Aside from providing concise histories of the equipment, the report also made recommendations as to whether or not each piece belonged in the now government-funded collection. Historical significance to the United States was a criterion of the recommendations. Many of the pieces of equipment that did not meet the report's recommendations were sold or traded for pieces that had historical significance to the DL&W grounds on which the site is located. ## The collection Before its move to Scranton, Steamtown, U.S.A. sold several pieces of the collection. After the facility was nationalized, several other pieces were sold or traded for pieces that were significant to the Scranton area. Some examples of the original collection are profiled below. In some cases, the pieces of equipment discussed here are still in the collection in Scranton, but several others are not. When possible the most recent information on the location of the equipment is provided. ### In operation at Bellows Falls Rahway Valley No. 15 was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works, June 1916. It is a 2-8-0 Consolidation type locomotive. It was built for the Oneida & Western Railroad and wore the number 20 for that company. The railroad's initial purpose was to develop Tennessee's coal and lumber industry, but it became a short line that connected the Cincinnati, New Orleans and the Texas Pacific Railways between Oneida and Jamestown, Tennessee. In the mid-1930s the engine was purchased by Rahway Valley Railroad in New Jersey. Renumbered 15, the locomotive served primarily while the company's other locomotives were being serviced. The locomotive was the favorite of master mechanic Charles Nees. "Perhaps not the most efficient engine, Rahway Valley No. 15 qualified as the line's most attractive." When it was retired in 1953, having been replaced with diesel power, No. 15 was put into well-protected storage until it was purchased by F. Nelson Blount in 1959. Blount used No. 15 first for a static display at Pleasure Island, and then for excursions in New Hampshire and Vermont from 1962 to 1967. It was used again at Steamtown, in 1973, when it blew a flue while heading a triple header excursion from Riverside. The incident left veteran engineer Andy Barbera scalded and No. 15 in need of repair. Since the services of the locomotive were not needed at the time, the repairs were not done and remained undone by the time the Steamtown Special History was written. While in Blount's possession, the locomotive appeared in the movie The Cardinal (1963). The Steamtown Special History Study recommended that the engine be cosmetically and operationally restored, as it had served in the northeastern quarter of the United States and had been serviced, at least once, at the Lackawanna's Scranton shop. As of March 2012, the locomotive is still displayed at Steamtown National Historic Site. Canadian Pacific Railway No. 1293 was built in 1948 by Canadian Locomotive Company. It was retired after only eight years of service when diesel power made it obsolete. This was one of three type 4-6-2, class G5d light-weight "Pacific" model locomotives that were operational at the time that Steamtown was in Bellows Falls. The Steamtown Special History Study gave no details of the operational career of 1293, but said that Blount purchased it under the name of Green Mountain Railroad, in January 1964. The Steamtown Foundation purchased the locomotive from Green Mountain Railroad in 1973 and rebuilt it in 1976. Making its debut as an excursion train in June of that year and sporting a green and black color scheme, 1293 served the state of Vermont as its "Bicentennial Train", logging 13,000 miles (21,000 km). Leased by the state of Vermont for 80-mile (100 km) excursions that were scheduled for the entire year, the engine was dubbed "The Spirit of Ethan Allen". In 1979, the locomotive was renumbered "1881", painted black with silver stripes, and leased to a Hollywood company for use in the filming of the horror movie Terror Train (1979), starring Jamie Lee Curtis. In 1980, the locomotive was repainted with a color scheme used by Canadian Pacific in the 1930s. The black, gold, and Tuscan red paint job was popular with railroad enthusiasts and photographers. The number 1293 was also restored to the engine. In February 1982, the headlights, handrails, and cab roof of 1293 were damaged when the roof of a Steamtown storage building gave way to heavy snow. Although the Steamtown Special History Study reasoned that, since this type of locomotive had historically operated in New England, perhaps as far south as Boston, it qualified to be part of the federal government's collection, the Canadian native sat unused for 12 years following the move to Scranton. Ohio Central Railroad System purchased it in 1996, and it underwent a 13-month restoration. As of July 2010, Ohio Central Railroad has lost control of most of its holdings, but former owner, Jerry Joe Jacobson, maintained a collection of vintage equipment including CPR 1293 and her sister, CRP 1278, which is also a veteran of Steamtown, U.S.A. operational locomotives. No. 1293 is still operational as of October 2011. Canadian Pacific Railway No. 1278, like her sister, CPR 1293, was also built by Canadian Locomotive Company in 1948, and is a type 4-6-2, class G5d light-weight "Pacific" locomotive. It was purchased by Blount in May 1965, and renumbered 127. Blount had planned to renumber all three of the series 1200 CRP locomotives in his collection from 1246, 1278, and 1293 to 124, 127 and 129 respectively, but 1278 was the only one of the three that underwent the change. The new number remained on the locomotive from 1966 until 1973, when its former number was restored. The locomotive was leased to the Cadillac and Lake City Railroad in Michigan from 1970 to 1971. After some repair work, the locomotive was returned to Bellows Falls where it served on excursion runs. After moving to Scranton, CPR 1278 was traded to the Gettysburg Steam Railroad in Pennsylvania. Shortly after 7 p.m. Friday, June 16, 1995, an explosion in the firebox of CPR 1278 burned three members of its crew. One man, James Cornell, the son of the owner of the engine, was critically injured. The train that the locomotive was pulling had 310 passengers on board. None of the passengers, who were taking the "Summer Eve Dinner Excursion" to Mount Holly Springs, were hurt. An investigation done by the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the accident was caused by poor maintenance and operator training. The board also pointed out that the Canadian design of the firebox may have prevented further injuries and perhaps deaths. Jerry Jacobson, the owner of the Ohio Central Railroad (OCR), bought the engine at an auction in 1998. After Jacobson sold the OCR, in 2008, he maintained ownership of the locomotive. As of 2009, it is stored at Jacobson's facility, the Age of Steam Roundhouse, in Sugarcreek, Ohio. Canadian Pacific Railway No. 1246 was the third of the 1200 series Canadian Pacific locomotives in the collection. In the fall of 1983, Steamtown said "farewell to Vermont" by offering two 100-mile (160 km) excursions "through a landscape of covered bridges, rushing streams and scenic countryside". The train, which had the capacity of 800–1000 passengers, was to be pulled by CPR 1246. Built in 1946, CPR 1246 is a 4-6-2 type locomotive. After operating in Steamtown in Scranton between 1984 and 1986, it was determined that 1246 was inadequate for service as it was "too light for the heavy grades and sharp curves of the Steamtown line". The National Park Service sold it to the Connecticut Valley Railroad Museum, in 1988. This locomotive was on static display from 1996 to 2008, at the Valley Railroad in Essex, Connecticut. In 2008, it was moved to the Naugatuck Railroad which is operated by the Railroad Museum of New England, Thomaston, Connecticut. ## Other pieces of the Blount collection ### Union Pacific 4012 "Big Boy", a 4-8-8-4 type locomotive built by American Locomotive Company in November 1941, is among the world's largest steam locomotives and weighs 1,250,000 pounds (570,000 kg). The Steamtown Special History Study recommended that it remain at Steamtown as it is the only articulated type in the collection. It also recommended that it remain on static display, as it was doubtful that the "track, switches, culverts, trestles, bridges, wyes, turntables, and other facilities that would have to carry her [could] bear her great weight". In fact, since the Steamtown turntable and roundhouse were inadequate for its size, Big Boy has remained out-of-doors since its arrival at Scranton, where it was still on display as of May 2015. As of 2019, the locomotive is undergoing cosmetic restoration. ### Meadow River Lumber Company No. 1 While at Steamtown, the Shay locomotive endured extensive damage when the building it was stored in collapsed under heavy snow in February 1982. The Shay's wooden cab was destroyed, but "its sand dome, its headlight, its front number plate, its bell and bell hanger, whistle, and other components" were missing before this incident. It was determined that it would remain at the National Historic Site as it was the only Shay and the only geared locomotive in the collection. ### Bevier & Southern Railroad No. 109 Bevier & Southern Railroad No. 109 was built by Brooks in 1900. This 2-6-0 type locomotive served the Illinois Central Railroad under several numbers: 560, 3706 and 3719. As of July 2010 it is located at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union and referred to as Illinois Central 3719. ### Illinois Central No. 790 This locomotive was built in 1903 by American Locomotive Company as a 2-8-0 Consolidation type. It was originally owned by Chicago Union Transfer Railway and numbered 100. It was sold to Illinois Central Railroad Company in 1904 and renumbered 641. The railroad, which dated back to 1851, operated 4,265 miles (6,864 km) of track between Chicago, Illinois and New Orleans, Louisiana. This locomotive pulled heavy freight in Tennessee and "must have seen hard service, for reportedly the Illinois Central rebuilt it in 1918, modernizing it with a superheater, and possibly replacing the boiler and firebox". In 1943 it was renumber 790 and remained in service until it was replaced by diesel-electric locomotives and put into storage, "the railroad nevertheless had to fire No. 790 up in the spring to assist Illinois Central trains through track inundated by flood waters near Cedar Rapids, because diesel-electric locomotives with their electric motors shorted out in any water, whereas even the bottom of the firebox in a steam locomotive was much higher above the rail, hence above flood waters." It was sold to Louis S. Keller of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1959 who had hoped to use it for excursions. It was used for "flood duty" in April 1965 at the Clinton Corn Processing Company "where it plowed through overflow from the Mississippi River." Later that year it was sold to David de Camp who planned to use it in the area of Lake Placid, New York. The plans were not met and it was sold to F. Nelson Blount in January 1966. The only surviving locomotive of the Chicago Union Transfer Railway, No. 790 is the only Illinois Central 2-8-0 Consolidation type of its class to survive. "About 146 standard gauge 2-8-0s survive in the United States, including Illinois Central No. 790". The Steamtown National Historic Site retained this locomotive on the suggestion of the Steamtown Special History Study. ### Brooks-Scanlon Corporation No. 1 No. 1 was once part of the Steamtown, U.S.A. collection. This type of locomotive was originally developed for use on the flat terrain of the prairie, such as the Great Plains of Kansas and surrounding states, and thus it was referred to as a Prairie-type locomotive. The Prairie locomotives were later used by lumber companies which operated on flat forest terrain. This locomotive was built specifically for the lumber industry and served several lumber firms in Florida. The Carpenter-O'Brien Lumber Company was incorporated in Delaware in 1913. The company, which operated in Florida, ordered this locomotive from Baldwin Locomotive Works, which completed it in 1914. Locomotive No. 1 was put into service at the company's Eastport sawmill in Florida. The locomotive, which could burn either coal or wood, was likely originally outfitted with a Rushton, or cabbage cinder catching stack. "If so, a later owner apparently replaced the Rushton stack with the 'shotgun' stack now on the locomotive." After the United States entered World War I in 1917, the Carpenter-O'Brien Lumber Company was sold to Brooks-Scanlon Corporation. By 1928, Brooks-Scanlon was operating in four Florida counties and producing 100,000,000 board feet (200,000 m<sup>3</sup>) of lumber. This locomotive was probably used to haul logs into the mill from the woods or to switch the yard around the Eastport plant, or both. In the following years the locomotive changed hands four of five times between several interconnected Florida lumber firms. In 1959, locomotive No.1 was taken out of service by its then owner, Lee Tidewater Cypress, in Perry, Florida. It was sold to F. Nelson Blount in 1962 by the Lee Tidewater Cypress parent company, J.C. Turner Company. It was moved to Walpole, New Hampshire and then, across the Connecticut River, to Bellows Falls, Vermont where it stayed until the Blount collection was relocated to Scranton, Pennsylvania. ### Simons Wrecking Company No. 2 Simons Wrecking Company No. 2 is an H.K. Porter, 0-6-0T steam engine built in 1941. The tank engine, which is oil fired, worked for the US Navy during World War II in Virginia as \#14. Later the engine was put into service with Simons Wrecking Co. as No. 2. Once part of Blount's Steamtown collection, Locomotive \#2 was sold before Steamtown moved to Scranton, and languished for many years in an auto salvage yard in Newbury, Massachusetts. In 2006, the engine was removed from the junkyard by Peabody, Massachusetts Public Works Director Dick Carnevale, and restoration began in hopes for it to be displayed in a city park in Peabody. The restoration of the engine was done by Carnevale personally, along with some volunteers. After he resigned in October 2008, the city gave him 60 days to remove the engine from city property. Local residents contacted the Friends of Valley Railroad in Essex, Connecticut, who purchased the engine from Carnevale and transported it to Connecticut where, as of July 2010, the locomotive is undergoing cosmetic restoration and will be displayed at Essex Steam Train and Riverboat. ### Canadian National Railways No. 1551 No. 1551 is a 4-6-0 type locomotive, was built by Montreal Locomotive Works, March 1912, and originally was numbered 1354 for the Canadian Northern Railway. Used primarily on Canadian commuter lines, the locomotive was renumbered 1551 in October 1956 and retired in 1958. Blount bought the engine in 1961 and restoration was begun, but never completed. In 1986, Jerry Joe Jacobson traded a 1929 Baldwin Locomotive Works built shop switcher, Iron and Steel Company No. 3, 0-6-0, for No. 1551. It was restored and ran excursions for the Ohio Central Railroad until Jacobson lost control of the railroad. Jacobson still owns the locomotive. It is stored at Jacobson's "Age of Steam Roundhouse" in Ohio and remains operational. ### Canadian National Railways No. 96 Canadian National Railways No. 96, 2-6-0 Mogul type, is also owned by Jerry Joe Jacobson. It was built in 1910 by the Canadian Locomotive Company and originally numbered 1024 for the Grand Trunk Railway, then 926 when Canadian National obtained it in a merger in 1923, CN renumbered it 96 in 1951. It was sold to Blount in June 1959. While owned by Blount, the locomotive was used for its parts to keep sister Canadian National 89 (also part of Steamtown at the time) operational. It was sold in the 1980s and went to Ontario. It was purchased by Jacobson in 1994 and as of 2009 is stored out of service. ### Southern Railway No. 926; Repton No. 926 is a Schools class 4-4-0 type locomotive, one of 40 named after British public schools. It is one of three Schools class locomotives to survive the onset of diesel power. It was completed in May 1934 and entered service on the Bournemouth route, with some time operating between Waterloo and Portsmouth before that line was electrified. It was one of the last of the class to be overhauled by British Railways in 1960, so was considered a good choice for preservation. In December 1962 the engine was withdrawn from service. In 1963, it was optioned for purchase by New York businessman Edgar Mead, on behalf of the Empire State Railway Museum in Middletown, New York, and stored at Fratton. Repton was ultimately acquired by Steamtown, along with LSWR M7 Class No. 53. It was cosmetically overhauled at Eastleigh Works in 1966, before moving to America the following year. It was then formally handed over to Steamtown, who in the 1970s loaned the engine to the Cape Breton Steam Railway in Canada, where it operated a regular passenger service. It also operated at Scranton following Steamtown's relocation there. In 1989, it was sold again, and returned to the United Kingdom to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR), where it was again overhauled and found to be in good condition. As of 2021 it remains in service on the NYMR. ### Canadian Pacific Railway No. 2816 Canadian Pacific Railway No. 2816 was acquired by Blount in January 1964. It was built by Montreal Locomotive Works in 1930. The 4-6-4 Hudson, H1b class locomotive had logged over 2,000,000 miles (3,200,000 km) in 30 years of service pulling passenger trains between Winnipeg and Calgary, and Winnipeg and Fort William, Ontario. Later, 2816 served on the Windsor-to-Quebec City corridor. The locomotive's final run was on May 26, 1960, pulling a Montreal–Rigaud commuter train. The Steamtown Special History Study recommended that the locomotive be kept in the collection, as it was the only 4-6-4 in the group, but the National Park Service sold it back to Canadian Pacific Railway, who restored it and put it back into service. In 1998, the Steamtown National Historic Site, which is funded by the federal government, began divesting itself of foreign equipment, including CPR 2816. Canadian Pacific Railway acquired it and undertook a 3-year, \$1 million restoration which included converting it from coal-burning to oil. In 2001, renamed the "Empress", 2816 was used for pricy excursions between Calgary and Vancouver, British Columbia. After taking a year off in 2009, the Empress went on tour in 2010 offering rides to the general public across Canada. CPR donated the ticket proceeds to the Children's Wish Foundation. It subsequently remained in service until 2012, when then-CEO E. Hunter Harrison discontinued the steam program. As of present, 2816 remains stored in operational limbo. ### Bullard Company No. 2 Bullard Company No. 2 is a small tank locomotive built by H.K. Porter Company for the Bullard Company, October 1937. It is on display at Steamtown National Historic Site, as of September 2010. According to the Steamtown Special History Study, this locomotive was used to switched cars around the Bullard tool plant in Bridgeport, Connecticut, for about 15 or 20 years before acquisition by Steamtown. The Bullard Company sold it to a used locomotive dealer, the American Machinery Corporation of Bridgeport, Connecticut, probably in the late 1950s or early 1960s. It was purchased by Blount in June 1963. The SSHS also said that a catalog, believed to be the one the Bullard Company used to order the locomotive, was in the possession of the SNHS at the time the report was written. ### Union Pacific Railway No. 737 Union Pacific No. 737, a 4-4-0 "American", was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1887. The oldest locomotive in the collection to have operated in the United States, it is the "oldest genuine Union Pacific in existence and the only Union Pacific 4-4-0 in existence". At the time it was built it was the most common type of locomotive used for both passenger and freight trains in the United States and was therefore referred to as the "American Standard" or "American". In 1904 the locomotive was sold to the Southern Pacific Company where its number was changed to 246 and then to 216. It was retired from service on mainline railroads and put to use in industry in 1929. The locomotive operated as 216 for the Erath Sugar Company and the Vermillion Sugar Company. It was retired by the latter company in 1956 and acquired by Blount in 1957. Originally the locomotive had a "diamond" smoke stack. It is unknown when that was changed to a straight "shotgun" stack. Sometime during the early 20th century the locomotive was converted from coal burning to oil burning and its wooden "cowcatcher" pilot was replaced with a steel pipe pilot. The wooden cab was replaced with an all-steel cab, and its kerosene "box" headlamp was replaced with an electric one. When the engine was relocated from Louisiana to Vermont its steel cab roof was removed in preparation for the ride on a flat car. The roof was later mistaken for scrap metal as a worker at Steamtown cut out a piece for use as a stack cover for the locomotive. In 1970 the train underwent what the Steamtown Historical Study refers to as a "misguided" restoration, and given a diamond-shaped smoke stack and a kerosene "box" headlamp, both of which bearing very little resemblance to the stack and headlamp originally worn by the engine. The restoration thus gave the engine an appearance unlike any form it had assumed during its service life. The engine was removed from the Steamtown collection in 1995 and was moved to the Nevada Southern Railroad Museum at Boulder City, Nevada. The NSRM then loaned (and later transferred ownership to) the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, California. In 2004, the Western Pacific Railroad Museum traded the 737 to the Double T Ranch in Stevinson, California. The Double T has cosmetically restored the engine to its 1914 (SP \#216) appearance, and placed it on display along with some antique passenger cars. This exhibit was dubbed as the "History Train", and offers "excursion rides". During these excursions, the train does not actually move, but sounds and motions that simulate a train ride are produced to create an illusion that the train is in motion.
19,187,812	The Way I See It	1,145,586,218	null	[ "2008 albums", "Albums produced by Raphael Saadiq", "Columbia Records albums", "Raphael Saadiq albums" ]	The Way I See It is the third album by American R&B singer, songwriter, and producer Raphael Saadiq. It was released on September 16, 2008, by Columbia Records – his first for the label. Prior to signing with Columbia, Saadiq had independently released his 2004 album Ray Ray, recorded with the songwriting and production duo Jake and the Phatman. He developed a creative partnership with their colleague, audio engineer Charles Brungardt, who shared Saadiq's fascination with historic recording techniques and equipment. In 2008, the singer returned from a vacation that had inspired him to pursue classic soul music and recorded The Way I See It primarily at his North Hollywood studio with Brungardt. Saadiq and Brungardt disregarded their previous experience in recording production while making The Way I See It. Instead, they experimented with older recording techniques in an attempt to recreate the Motown music aesthetic of the 1960s, producing a traditional soul album that emphasizes upbeat hooks and draws on the Motown Sound and Philadelphia soul styles. Saadiq, whose lyrics mostly deal with romantic subject matter, described it as a series of love songs about music and remaining faithful to it despite trends. The album's title reflects his singular vision for the music, while the packaging is fashioned after the musical eras that inspired Saadiq, evoking dramatic and colorful LP covers by artists such as the Temptations and Ray Charles. Initially overlooked by consumers, The Way I See It charted steadily on the Billboard 200 and became a sleeper hit, selling 282,000 copies in the United States by 2011. It also performed well in European countries such as France, where it charted for 51 weeks. The album received mostly positive reviews from critics and was nominated for the 2009 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. An exemplary release of the classic soul revival at the time, it garnered Saadiq a newer, more diverse audience as he toured extensively in support of the album, performing concerts in the US, Europe, and Asia. ## Background After independently releasing his second studio album Ray Ray in 2004, Raphael Saadiq continued working as a producer, composer, and instrumentalist on other recording artists' music. He was introduced to audio engineer Charles Brungardt through production and songwriting team Jake and the Phatman, who had worked on Ray Ray. Brungardt interned at Blakeslee Recording Company, Saadiq's North Hollywood recording studio, and eventually became his principal sonic partner on projects. The two shared a fascination with historic recording techniques and equipment. They also studied the 2006 book Recording the Beatles together and had an interest in the knowledge of recording gear by engineers and technicians for English rock band the Beatles. Brungardt increased his engineering output, and in 2007, Saadiq enlisted him to engineer and mix English singer Joss Stone's studio album Introducing Joss Stone, which Saadiq produced. While vacationing in the Bahamas and Costa Rica in 2008, Saadiq observed people there listening to classic soul music and was inspired to pursue it as a musical direction for his next album. He recounted the experience in an interview for Blues & Soul, saying that "I was like 'Wow, maybe I should tap into this vibe, because it's actually what I LOVE!' ... I realised that, though you can hear it in many of the records I've done throughout my career, I'd never paid 100% attention to going in that direction before. So the difference this time is that I took a more focused route." As a part of Tony! Toni! Toné! during the late 1980s and 1990s, Saadiq had incorporated influences from the music of Motown in his songwriting for the group. Before recording The Way I See It, Saadiq signed to Columbia Records. Label executive Rick Rubin visited Saadiq's home studio and was impressed by his material there. He said of Rubin's visit and advice to him as a solo artist, "He told me to never box myself in. I just have to be myself. You've got to follow your own path. I've always gone down the road less traveled, but now I do it even more aggressively." ## Recording and production After returning from his vacation, Saadiq started writing and recording The Way I See It, which took four months. In an interview for Sound on Sound, he discussed his comfort level when returning to Blakeslee Recording Company: "The music for this album flowed organically, naturally, and since I have my own studio I was able to perfect it and take my time to make it right. I was able to live with it day after day, and I think that had a lot to do with how the album turned out." He wrote the songs extemporaneously, often by playing guitar and improvising riffs. He subsequently sung them while playing each instrument one at a time, including guitar, bass, and basic piano parts that he planned to include on the recordings. He attributed this secluded approach to "the state of the industry" and idealized "bounc[ing] ideas off other people, do some writing with them, take the material to my band and say, 'OK, let's cut it,' with the orchestra already there. That's my dream. I'd crank records out weekly if I had staff writers like they did at Stax and Motown". Saadiq recorded mostly at Blakeslee Recording Company; additional sessions took place at Harmonie Park Studios in Detroit and the Music Shed Studios in New Orleans. While recording, he immersed himself in a composite character of classic soul singers from videos he watched, including Al Green, Gladys Knight & the Pips, the Four Tops, and the Temptations. He recorded his vocals with only Brungardt present in the studio, a preference he felt prevented him from "looking for answers from somebody who may not really know". Saadiq said he tended to "record complete takes, and if something isn't quite right but it's got a feel that I know I can never ever capture again, I'll leave it, even if it's flat. I mean, there are flat parts on my record, because it's not about perfection, it's about the soul." He recorded background vocals for all songs. Saadiq played most of the instruments, including drums, guitar, piano, sitar, and bass guitar, his instrument of choice throughout his career. He viewed the bass playing of James Jamerson as an integral part of Motown recordings, citing it as the inspiration for his own bass sound on the album. Saadiq worked with other musicians, including Joss Stone, percussionist Jack Ashford, string arranger Paul Riser, multi-instrumentalist Bobby Ozuna, singer CJ Hilton, and recording artist Stevie Wonder. Ashford and Riser were members of the Funk Brothers, a group of session musicians for Motown Records during the 1960s. Ashford played tambourine, vibraphone, bells, and shakers on songs such as "100 Yard Dash", "Love That Girl", and "Staying in Love". Ozuna, one-half of Jake and the Phatman, co-produced and co-wrote three songs and played several instruments, including bongos, tambourine, and drums. Hilton co-wrote "Never Give You Up" and played its drum and keyboard parts. Wonder's contribution of a harmonica solo on the song was impromptu, as Saadiq reached out to Wonder after recording the song's vocal parts with the improvised line, "I'd like to invite Mr. Stevie Wonder to my album. Come on, Stevie!" After having the idea recommended to him by rapper Q-Tip, Saadiq also reached out to Jay-Z to record a featured rap for a remix of "Oh Girl"; it was included on the album as a bonus track. ### Sound engineering The Way I See It was engineered by Saadiq, Gerry Brown, James Tanksley, and Brungardt, who mixed the album with Saadiq. Saadiq and Brungardt both liked to layer multiple instruments and, prior to recording, had contemplated techniques such as sampling and drum programming. However, they ultimately found live instrumentalists more dynamic and challenged themselves to reproduce older music productions and the Motown aesthetic of the 1960s. To familiarize themselves with vintage recording techniques, they studied Mark Lewisohn's 1988 book The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, books about Motown Records, and images of the label's studio personnel, setup of instruments, and microphone placement. They also studied Motown EQs to achieve a tone they found adequate for songs' rhythm guitar parts. Saadiq said that he had to disregard "about 85 to 90 percent of the new techniques ... People used to take recording very seriously. They used to wear lab coats at Abbey Road. So I got serious with what I was trying to do, both mentally and physically." Brungardt said in an interview for Mix that he abandoned the approach learned on previous records he had engineered, where "they wanted it clean with no distortion. I was taught to make sure it was polish, polish, polish, and to make sure everything fits right, the bass hits and things are clean for the big pop vocal." Saadiq's studio integrated modern equipment such as a Pro Tools digital workstation and an SSL 9000 mixing console, and featured various vintage gear, including Saadiq's 1960s Ludwig drum kit and a kick-drum mic purchased from Abbey Road Studios. In the studio, Saadiq and Brungardt experimented with techniques and equipment. They wanted the songs to have slower attacks like older recordings, as producers in the past did not have advanced compressors, audio tools that manipulate the dynamic content of signals and affect certain sounds in a recording's mix. Their production applied tube preamps and tube compressors, with the former used as a front end for Pro Tools. To record vocals for the album, Saadiq used a Shure SM57 dynamic microphone to thicken and distort his voice and embellish his characteristically clean delivery, while Brungardt employed a compressor and a Pro Tools plug-in during the mix. Saadiq sought a certain "edge" for his vocals and an unpolished sonic element for the album. They also tried to record tracks onto cassette tapes in order to produce a grittier, older sound. Brungardt used a FilterBank plug-in when mixing the album to uncompress vocals and roll off high-end sound from tracks. Although they wanted to reproduce an older sound, Saadiq and Brunghardt also wanted to capture more of the bass and drum parts to add a louder, modern element to the mix. They applied a more basic approach to miking the instruments and utilizing the outboard gear, using a Neumann U47 for guitars, alternating overhead microphones for Saadiq's drum kit, a combination of dynamic and condenser mics for the kit's bass drum, and Ampex tape machines for extra warmth to the kit. Brungardt used various standard mics for the snare drum to achieve a more solid cracking sound, rather than capturing the drum's overall tone. Their miking of the guitars' amps was adapted from The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, and as Brungardt recounted, "It really gave us warmth and character. It allowed the amp to breathe and we got the tones of the amp along with the room. For me, that really opened things up so that I could play with the live room, using different reverbs to get a sound." For Saadiq's bass, they used a DI unit to connect a microphone preamplifier, increased the gain on a plug-in for less compression, and adjusted the low-end tones with an equalizer plug-in. ## Music and lyrics The Way I See It has a traditional soul style fashioned after the 1960s Motown Sound and Philadelphia soul. It is a departure from Saadiq's previous work with neo soul, which bears a hip hop influence. J. Gabriel Boylan of The New York Observer said that Saadiq expands further beyond his work as a producer for other recording artists, for whom he encouraged a "classic aesthetic, heavy on organic sounds and light on studio magic, deeply indebted to the past and distrustful of easy formulas". BBC Music's Chris Jones interpreted Saadiq's use of 1960s soul as the album's source material to be a reflection of "America's most recent great political and cultural shift ... the first true post-Obama expression of hope in record form." Saadiq viewed his rootsy direction as a response to the state of popular music and found it analogous to modern politics: "You force so many terrible things on people, they get tired of it. We have a black president now." The album's songs draw on Motown's grooves, driving rhythms, tight drumming, tambourines in the rhythm section, guitar melodies, layered vocal arrangements, and two- to four-minute durations. They also feature bright melodies, swinging bass, sweeping strings, and snare drums that emit reverb. Cameron Carrus of The Lawrentian said that the most hook-oriented riffs are played on the bass and guitar, which blend "the low with the high", and cited "Keep Marchin', "Love That Girl", and "Staying in Love" as examples. Jon Pareles of The New York Times viewed that Saadiq follows the example of 1960s Motown artists such as Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, and Holland–Dozier–Holland, the label's songwriting and production team. Robert Christgau wrote that the album shares Holland–Dozier–Holland's "bright, swift, clearly hooked aesthetic". Saadiq sings in a tenor voice, which is slightly distorted as a result of the album's post-production. Saadiq's songwriting is characterized by straightforward romanticism, positive exhortations, pining ballads, and message songs. Christgau interpreted Saadiq's persona on the album to be "a romantic who stays true to the deliberate simplicity" of the song titles, but "never threatens to assume the fetal position if he doesn't get the extreme cuddling he craves." Patrick Varine of the Observer-Dispatch asserted that Saadiq deviates significantly from contemporary R&B lyrics: "there are no thinly-veiled food-sex metaphors or pimp fantasies". His songwriting also paraphrases classic soul lyrics and, on the album's slower songs, expresses tightly coiled emotions. Saadiq said that some songs were written about his life experiences. He described the album as "basically a series of love songs about music, how falling in love can be easy, but staying true to it can be tricky." He elaborated on this interpretation in an interview for the Chicago Tribune: "You have to watch out for those curves. Trendy music comes out, and how do you stay true to what you love? I'm not saying everything has to sound like a '60s record to stay true, but you should never take the relationship lightly." ### Songs The opening track, "Sure Hope You Mean It", features slightly off-beat percussion, tambourine shakes, and lyrics about a man who awaits a sign of approval from the woman he admires. "Keep Marchin', which evoked socially conscious and positive sentiments, was composed in the vein of the Civil rights movement era soul music by artists such as Sam Cooke and the Staple Singers. Gail Mitchell from Billboard compared the song to Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions' 1968 song "We're a Winner". Saadiq said "Keep Marchin' was also inspired by his journey in the music industry. "Big Easy", featuring New Orleans-style brass playing, was sung from the point of view of a man in New Orleans who reacts to Hurricane Katrina and looks for his lost lover. J. Gabriel Boylan of The New York Observer remarked that the song "manages to cast Hurricane Katrina as the villain in a romance, tearing lovers apart." Its composition—mixing a blissful sound with disheartening lyrics—is similar to the songwriting technique used by Holland–Dozier–Holland. Saadiq was inspired to write "Big Easy" after watching the 2006 documentary film When the Levees Broke. He explained its upbeat composition in an interview for All Things Considered: "In New Orleans, when they mourn, they really celebrate and have a great time. I wanted to give it that same spirit." According to Saadiq, "Just One Kiss" can be interpreted as a song devoted to a female love interest, "but I'm really talking about music and what it did for me. That one guitar line, that certain drum beat, how it turned my life into a ball of gold." The song incorporates cinematic strings, xylophone, and a rolling crescendo. The ballad "Calling", featuring Mexican balladeer Rocio Mendoza, draws on Motown's late 1950s R&B roots and doo-wop music, and incorporates Latin style guitar, and Spanish language lyrics. "Staying in Love", an uptempo rhythm and blues song, was written by Saadiq after he thought of an ex-girlfriend. Incongruous with its 1960s-inspired sound, "Let's Take a Walk" has sexually forward lyrics and come-ons, which the narrator uses to bluntly proposition his love interest. The midtempo "Never Give You Up" is fashioned in Motown's early 1970 sound and, unlike other songs on the album, also incorporates elements from more modern soul music. "Sometimes" was inspired by Saadiq's upbringing in a tough neighborhood in Oakland, and is about dealing with the fatigue of universal hardships when they are worsened by the burden of racism. The line "now I know what they meant by 'Keep Your Head to the Sky' makes reference to Earth, Wind & Fire, whose music Saadiq immersed himself in while growing up. Saadiq said of the song's message, "That's just giving dap to my moms and grandmother and the people who raised me in the neighborhood to let them know its easy but not as easy as it seems all the time and sometimes we have to back up and cry but I'm just giving thanks to the people that helped me along the way." ## Title and packaging Saadiq titled The Way I See It as a declaration to listeners about how his perspective was more informed by classic soul than before in his career. "This is what I really love", he later explained. "And everything you've heard from me before has been based on the roots of this music." The cover photo was taken at a show in 2006 at Sweet's Ballroom in Oakland, in which Saadiq performed Marvin Gaye's 1965 song "Ain't That Peculiar". It showed Saadiq singing into a microphone with his arms raised and wearing a suit, tie, and thick-rimmed glasses: a look similar to that of Temptations singer David Ruffin. According to Saadiq, the photo "set the tone for the whole album ... me singing that song, me wearing that suit, it said everything that this album should be." Music journalist Greg Kot believed the cover "evokes the dramatic portraits and color schemes of old-school jazz and soul albums. Think Ray Charles on Atlantic, Sonny Rollins on Blue Note, Sam and Dave on Stax ... With arms raised, he looks like he's testifying as much as singing." The rest of the album's packaging also adheres to a retro aesthetic with its crimson-tinted cover's font and 1960s Columbia Records logo. The packaging's photography was taken by Norman Seeff. ## Marketing and sales Before completing The Way I See It, Saadiq previewed its songs in May 2008 to music industry associates and journalists at the Sony Club in New York City. He also planned a grassroots marketing strategy for the record, which evolved from his difficulty with Columbia executives to promote the album and their idea of issuing its songs as vinyl records. He felt that "nobody at the label knew" him in an interview with The Dallas Morning News: "They had this record that I turned in that sounded like a '60s record. 'What the hell do we do with this record?' It was quality. There was not a lot of marketing and promotion, but they knew I had the credibility so you don't just throw it in the garbage ... I don't mind being a slow burn because that's actually a better road to take. I have to go in one more time and prove myself again because I am starting over again." In September 2008, Columbia released the album both on CD and as a collector's edition box set with 7-inch vinyl singles. In the United Kingdom, it was issued with two bonus tracks—a "Euro version" of "Big Easy" and the song "Come On Home". In the week leading up to the album's release, Saadiq made promotional appearances at V-103's For Sisters Only, the International Soul Music Summit, and the Uptown Restaurant & Lounge in Atlanta. He also performed songs from the album on VH1 Soulstage. The Way I See It was largely overlooked by consumers at first. The album debuted at number 19 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 23,000 copies in the week of October 4. Nonetheless, it was Saadiq's highest-charting album in the United States at the time and eventually became a sleeper hit, steadily selling 76,000 copies by November. Five singles were released from the album—"Love That Girl" on August 5, 2008, "100 Yard Dash" on March 30, 2009, "Never Give You Up" on May 27, "Let's Take a Walk" on August 7, and "Staying in Love" on October 5. "Love That Girl", "Never Give You Up", and "Staying in Love" all charted on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, peaking at number 45, number 26, and number 74, respectively. During 2009, Saadiq travelled for promotional television appearances and press in Europe, where The Way I See It had charted in several countries. In France, the record spent 51 weeks on the country's albums chart, peaking at number 13 in the week of February 24. In August, it re-entered the American chart at number 101 and had sold 215,000 copies. The album charted for 41 weeks on the Billboard 200, serving as the longest chart-run of Saadiq's career. By May 2011, it had sold 282,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. ## Critical reception The Way I See It was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 79, based on 20 reviews. Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.2 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus. Reviewing the album for The Guardian in April 2009, Caroline Sullivan found it flawlessly produced and performed by Saadiq, while Rolling Stone magazine's Will Hermes said the record showcased an original take on classic Northern soul. Andy Gill of The Independent wrote that it was one of 2008's most captivating albums because "few have managed to retro-fabricate that classic sound so accurately, nor in as many subtle variations" like Saadiq. AllMusic's Andy Kellman stated, "Here's where a modern master, backed by living and breathing session musicians ... masters the masters with startling accuracy." In The Observer, Kitty Empire called the album "both feather-light and substantial" because of how, "unlike most modern records, Saadiq's tunes gather weight the deeper in you go". Writing for MSN Music, Christgau said Saadiq sang with Smokey Robinson's detailed sentimentality and Dennis Edwards' amenable personality. He expanded on his praise in Slate, finding that, while "painstakingly retro", Saadiq's achievement "isn't replicating the Motown Sound but writing consistently charming and catchy songs in that style". Q was more critical, finding the record devoid of a "fresh approach" to elevate it from a simple homage. According to PopMatters writer Christian John Wikane, "one's total enjoyment of the album depends on their appreciation of classic soul and R&B and whether such appreciation is contingent on absolute authenticity." At the end of 2008, The Way I See It was included in a number of critics' best albums lists. It was named one of the year's 10-best records by the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the Houston Chronicle, which cited it as ninth best. It was also ranked at number five by Exclaim!, number seven by The Irish Times, number one by NPR, number five by The Observer, number three by Time Out, and number two by USA Today. The Way I See It was voted the 18th best album of 2008 in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics nationwide, published in The Village Voice; the poll's singles list had six of the album's songs voted in, including "100 Yard Dash" at number 114 and both "Love That Girl" and "Big Easy" at number 250. Nate Chinen of The New York Times included "100 Yard Dash" in his top-five singles list for 2008. The Way I See It also nominated for the 2009 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. "Love That Girl" was nominated for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance, while "Never Give You Up" was nominated for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. ## Touring Saadiq toured for about two years to promote The Way I See It, performing in venues throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. He was originally apprehensive at the prospect of touring extensively, having toured minimally as a solo act, but reconsidered at the advice of his rhythm guitarist Rob Bacon. "The money was just OK, so I was like, 'I don't know – I could probably stay home and find something better,'" Saadiq recounts to the Los Angeles Times. "But then Rob reminded me, 'You know, all those cats you love, that's exactly what they did. Little Richard? He played 10 shows a day at the Apollo.' I said, 'OK, let's go.'" To complement his songs' style, Saadiq adopted a vintage soul image and, having studied footage of classic soul groups and album sleeves, donned old-fashioned attire and performed R&B dance moves at shows. He wore a yellow tailored suit, while his nine-piece backing band wore black suits. The band included a horn section and backup singer Erika Jerry. Before the album's release, Saadiq had toured Europe during the summer in 2008. In November and December, he served as a supporting act for John Legend. He also opened for Seal and the Dave Matthews Band. Throughout his touring in the US and Europe, Saadiq played various music festivals, including Austin City Limits, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, South by Southwest, Voodoo Experience, Bumbershoot, Outside Lands, and Pori Jazz. In February 2009, he performed at the Harvard Club of Boston as part of the music television series Live from the Artists Den. On June 25, he played the Blue Note Tokyo in Japan. His performance at the Bataclan in Paris on July 11 was filmed and released as a DVD, entitled Live in Paris, in 2010. After a stretch of summer festival performances in 2009, Saadiq embarked on another leg of concerts during November and December, with Melanie Fiona, Janelle Monáe, and Anjulie as supporting acts. The tour featured dates in North America, but Saadiq also performed at the Paradiso in Amsterdam on November 13. He continued touring for the album into 2010, including performances at the JazzReggae Festival in May, the Essence Music Festival in July, and a headlining performance at Central Park SummerStage in August. ## Legacy The Way I See It was an exemplary release of the classic soul revival during its peak in 2008. The music scene was marked by similarly retro-minded work from mainstream artists such as Amy Winehouse and Adele, independent acts such as Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings and Mayer Hawthorne, and older artists attempting comebacks such as Al Green and Bettye LaVette. Oliver Wang cited Saadiq's album, along with Solange Knowles' 2008 record Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams, as one of the "retro-soul" efforts that were released by contemporary R&B artists as the music scene peaked in popularity. Wang wrote that The Way I See It "showcased a mastery of any number of past R&B styles, including those out of Memphis, Muscle Shoals, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and of course, Detroit." Estelle said in 2008, "Every song is like a different era of Motown ... Everything sounds exactly like it did back in the day. Not to take away from Amy, but this is the real shit." It was described by David Nathan as the "contemporary album that was the closest to authentically recreating the great soul music sound of the late '60s and early '70s." Ken Tucker found it distinct from other soul revival music: "You can reproduce variations on melodies and rhythm, but without an emotional commitment, it's all tedious pandering to baby boomers. For Raphael Saadiq, there's a glowing vibrancy in soul music that allows him to work out themes and ideas." The Way I See It also earned Saadiq the highest international profile of his career. In promoting the album, he broadened his audience demographic and expanded his repertoire as a touring artist. His extensive touring in the US and Europe garnered the attention of younger, white audiences who were not exposed to his previous solo albums and work with Tony! Toni! Toné!. The Press of Atlantic City wrote that the album "brought in a whole new generation of Saadiq fans, with songs such as '100 Yard Dash' striking a chord with even ironic teenagers." According to Gail Mitchell of Billboard, The Way I See It helped Saadiq reach "the major-market hipster crowd, music supervisors and festival bookers." He also attained a following among Japanese audiences. Saadiq's touring for the album influenced his approach for recording his next album, Stone Rollin, in 2011, as he noted the louder, raw sound and general feeling of performing live. It also continued his partnership with Charles Brungart, who assisted Saadiq in recording Stone Rollin'. Saadiq called The Way I See It "the culmination of a lifetime of experiences informed by the music I grew up on." Kristal Hawkins of The Village Voice said that he "hit his artistic maturity" with the album. Robert Christgau remarked on its place in his solo career, "In 1996, Saadiq turned the climactic Tony! Toni! Toné! album into a virtuoso history lesson. Six years later, he tried to dazzle Maxwell in his own reflected glory. Six years later yet again, he outd[id] himself with a fearless return to retro." Elton John, a fan of Saadiq's music since his beginnings with Tony! Toni! Toné!, said that he was "blown away" by The Way I See It, citing it as "my album of the year – a soul record of the highest quality." He subsequently called Saadiq to congratulate him for the album and ask him to play at his AIDS Foundation Academy Award Party in 2009. In an interview for Blues & Soul, Saadiq elaborated on the album's impact on his career: "before that record – after I'd been in Tony Toni Tone! and Lucy Pearl – most people had thought 'Oh well, he's a producer now. He's never gonna be an artist, he's not gonna put the time in' ... The Way I See It showed them that yes, I could put the time in still and be an artist!" ## Track listing Notes' - signifies a co-producer ## Personnel Information is taken from the album credits. - Jack Ashford – bells, shaker, tambourine, vibraphone - Rob "Fonksta" Bacon – rhythm guitar - Paul Baker – harp - Robert Berg – viola - Sally Berman – violin - Robert Brosseau – violin - Gerry "The Gov" Brown – audio engineer, string engineer - Charles "Biscuits" Brungardt – audio engineer, engineer, mixing - Tom Coyne – mastering - Greg Curtis – organ, piano, Wurlitzer - Timothy P. Davis – copyist - Maurice Draughn – harp - Assa Drori – violin - Jerry Epstein – viola - Brent Fischer – concert master - Armen Garabedian – violin - Agnes Gottschewski – violin - Lynn Grants – viola - Maurice Grants – cello - Al Hershberger – violin - Charles "CJ" Hilton, Jr. – bongos, drums, piano, vocals - Michelle Holme – art direction - Molly Hughes – violin - Infamous Young Spodie – guest appearance, horn arrangements - Vahe Jayrikyan – cello - Kyoko Kashiwagi – violin - Joe Ketendjian – violin - Ralph Koch – cover photo - Johana Krejci – violin - Jeremy Levy – copyist - Diane Louie – copyist - Shanda Lowery – viola - Leah Lucas – viola - John Madison – viola - Constance Markwick – violin - Rocío Marron – soloist, violin - Miguel Martinez – cello - Karolina Naziemiec – viola - Bobby Ozuna – blocks, bongos, drums, producer, shaker, tambourine - Raphael Price – violin - Robert Reed – cello - Paul Riser – string arrangements - Jody Robin – viola - Carl Robinson – string engineer - Lucas Rojas – horn engineer - Anatoly Rosinsky – violin - Elizabeth Rowin – violin - Raphael Saadiq – audio engineer, audio production, bass, bass guitar, drums, engineer, guitar, keyboards, mixing, piano, producer, sitar, vocals - Norman Seeff – photography - Marla Smith – violin - Christina Soule – cello - Daniel Stachyra – violin - Scott Stefanko – viola - Joss Stone – vocals - James Tanksley – engineer - Raymond Tischer – viola - Judith VanderWeg – cello - Elizabeth Wilson – violin - Stevie Wonder – guest appearance, harmonica - Melody Wootton – violin - Andrew Wu – violin ## Charts ### Weekly charts ### Year-end charts ## Release history ## See also - Raphael Saadiq production discography - Retro style
30,222,385	Gymnopilus maritimus	1,115,820,811	Species of fungus	[ "Fungi described in 2009", "Fungi of Europe", "Gymnopilus" ]	Gymnopilus maritimus is a fungus species of the family Hymenogastraceae first collected in northern Sardinia, Italy, in 2006. The species produces moderately sized, sturdy mushrooms of a reddish-orange colour. The cap, which can measure up to 70 millimetres (3 in) across, is covered in orange fibrils, and sometimes has small scales. The yellowish stem measures up to 110 mm (4 in) in length by 8 mm (0.3 in) in width, and sometimes shows remnants of the partial veil. The mushrooms have thick gills of a variable colour, ranging from yellow to rust but staining darker, and the yellow flesh has a mild taste. The mushrooms leave a rusty-brown spore print, while the spores themselves measure from 7.5–11.5 micrometres (0.00030–0.00045 in) in length. The species is most similar in appearance to G. arenophilus and G. fulgens, but can be differentiated from both morphologically. Despite the similarities, it is not closely related to either, suggesting convergent evolution. Instead, within the genus Gymnopilus, it is most closely related to the spectabilis–imperialis clade. However, it is not particularly similar to any of its closest relatives. The species has been found only on coastal sand dunes near Olbia, in Sardinia, where it was observed growing at the base of Juncus maritimus (the sea rush), between the winter months of October and January. However, there is speculation that it may also grow elsewhere in Europe. Mushrooms were seen growing from both the sandy soil and decaying plants; however, as a saprotrophic feeder, it is possible that the species would be able to grow on other substrates. The mushrooms grow in close groups or tight tufts. ## Taxonomy Gymnopilus maritimus was first described by mycologists Laura Guzmán-Dávalos (a specialist in Gymnopilus), Antonio Ortega, Marco Contu and Alfredo Vizzini in 2009 in an article in the journal Mycological Progress. The description was based on several specimens collected during field work by Contu in Sardinia between January 2006 and January 2007; the holotype was collected on 15 January 2006. The discovery has contributed to Sardinia's reputation as an area of mycological significance. The description was later published in Italian by Contu and Vizzini in the journal Micologia e Vegetazione Mediterranea, along with the description of G. purpuresquamulosus, because the original descriptions of both of these species were in English, and difficult for non-specialists to obtain. The specific epithet maritimus refers to the typical habitat of coastal sand dunes, on sandy soil or decomposing Juncus maritimus. The holotype has been deposited in the University of Granada's herbarium. Within the genus Gymnopilus, it is located in the subgenus Gymnopilus and section Macrospori. The subgenus Gymnopilus was proposed by Henri Romagnesi as Cortinatae (while the genus was known as Fulvidula) in 1942, though the name Gymnopilus was given later by Rolf Singer. The subgenus is characterised by mushrooms that feature either no veils, or veils that do not form rings. The section Macrospori, proposed by Guzmán-Dávalos in 1995, is made up of large-spored species with ringless mushrooms. Molecular analysis revealed that G. maritimus forms a sister group to (that is, shares an immediate common ancestor with) the spectabilis–imperialis clade, a clade that includes G. imperialis, G. spectabilis, G. junonius (often considered synonymous with G. spectabilis), G. pampeanus, and others. G. maritimus forms a more inclusive clade along with the members of spectabilis–imperialis; while it produces the smallest fruit bodies, it shares with the other members strong, sturdy mushrooms, caps with fibrils (sometimes with scales) and large, warty spores that turn red in Melzer's reagent or Lugol's iodine. ## Description Gymnopilus maritimus mushrooms have a cap of between 15 and 70 millimetres (0.6 and 3 in) in width that is convex to flattened-convex in shape. There is sometimes a broad umbo, and in older specimens, the cap is depressed in the centre. The margin of the cap is somewhat wavey. The cap surface is dry and dull, coloured red to red-orange, and yellow towards the margin. It is covered in fibrils of an orange colour, and sometimes has minute scales. The dried cap turns blackish-red when potassium hydroxide is applied. The stem is 35 to 110 mm (1 to 4 in) in length by 4 to 8 mm (0.2 to 0.3 in) in width. It is attached centrally to the cap, and is either completely cylindrical, with equal thickness throughout its length, or slightly narrower towards the base, where whitish or cream mycelia are sometimes visible. It is dry, with fibres and furrows. It is a yellowish colour, bruising reddish brown. Traces of the partial veil are sometimes visible on the stem, though it does not form a ring. The yellow (brown at the bottom of the stem) flesh can be up to 15 mm (0.6 in) thick in the cap and does not bruise. It dries dark brown. There is no distinctive odour, and the taste is mild or slightly bitter. The thick gills can be adnate (connected to the stem by the entire depth of the gill) or sinuate (wavy, with the gills becoming shallower than deeper). They are subdistant (neither close nor distant) and swollen in the middle. In colour, they are yellow in the youngest mushrooms, turning an ochre-orange, while the oldest mushrooms they are rust. The gill edges are paler than the faces, and the gills stain orange-brown or darker. No reference is made in the original description to the edibility of the mushrooms. ### Microscopic characteristics Gymnopilus maritimus leaves a rusty-brown spore print. The basidiospores can measure 7.5–11.5 micrometres (0.00030–0.00045 in) in length, though the typical range is 8–10.5 micrometres (0.00031–0.00041 in). In width, they typically measure 5.5–7.5 micrometres (0.00022–0.00030 in), but they can be up to 8 μm wide. In shape, they are ellipsoid or sometimes broadly ellipsoid. The top of the spore (the side where it was once attached to the sterigma, the connection between the basidium and the spore) is rounded and blunt. The spores are covered with fairly large warts, measuring from 0.5–2 micrometres (2.0×10<sup>−5</sup>–7.9×10<sup>−5</sup> in) from the main spore in height. There is no germ pore or plage, and there is no clear depression around the hilum (the area where the spore was attached to the sterigma). The spores turn an orange-yellow to orange-brown colour in potassium hydroxide, and turn reddish-brown in Melzer's reagent and in Lugol's iodine, but they are not metachromatic. The four-spored basidia typically measure 24–35 micrometres (0.00094–0.00138 in) in length by 7–9 micrometres (0.00028–0.00035 in) in width, but can be as much as 10.5 μm wide. They are club-shaped, but narrower in the middle. They are hyaline (translucent) and yellow to yellowish brown. The sterigmata are between 1.6 and 7 μm long. The cheilocystidia (cystidia on the edge of the gill) are typically 30 to 42 (though sometimes as much as 50) μm long by 6–10.5 micrometres (0.00024–0.00041 in) wide. They are shaped like a flask or wine-skin. The top of the cell suddenly widens, and the cell as a whole is thin-walled, hyaline and yellowish, and sometimes appears to contain small grains. The caulocystidia (cystidia on the stem) can be found in tufts at the top of the stem, and measure from 24–60 micrometres (0.00094–0.00236 in) by 3–9 micrometres (0.00012–0.00035 in). They are cylindrical, or narrowly flask-shaped, sometimes with a long neck. They are, again, yellow and hyaline. The yellowish hyphae are between 15 and 13.5 μm wide with a wall of variable thickness. There are clamp connections at the septa (the walls dividing individual hypha cells). The flesh in the cap is radial, and is made up of yellowish hyphae of between 2.4 and 20 μm wide. The pileipellis, the outermost layer of hyphae, forms a cutis, and on older specimens (and on the small scales) forms a trichoderm. ### Similar species There are five species similar in appearance to G. maritimus: G. arenophilus, G. decipiens, G. flavus, G. fulgens and G. pseudofulgens. G. arenophilus and particularly G. fulgens are the most similar. Though G. maritimus and G. arenophilus show similarities in their biogeography and ecology, the typically slightly smaller G. arenophilus differs from G. maritimus morphologically. While G. maritimus has a cap covered in fibrils with small scales, G. arenophilus can sometimes be completely smooth, and spore ornamentation differs, with G. maritimus typically displaying larger warts. Like G. maritimus, G. fulgens has been recorded growing on sand-dune heathland; further, the spores are similar in appearance to those of G. maritimus. However, G. fulgens requires soil rich in peat and must grow among moss. Moreover, there are a number of morphological differences; G. maritimus mushrooms are larger and thicker, there are never remains of the partial veil on G. fulgens stems, the shape of the top of the spores differs between the two species, and the cheilocystidia and caulocystidia are significantly larger on G. maritimus. G. fulgens var. luteicystis is even more distinct from G. maritimus than the nominate variety. Despite the similarities between the three species, the three have been shown to be in different clades within Gymnopilus, suggesting ecological convergence between G. arenophilus and G. maritimus, and morphological convergence between G. fulgens and G. maritimus. Gymnopilus flavus, despite also appearing on land near the Mediterranean, can be differentiated from G. maritimus as it lives among grass, especially Dactylis glomerata, and it has distinctly smaller spores, typically measuring 5 to 6 by 3.5 to 4.2 μm. G. pseudofulgens, also collected in Italy, shows two major morphological differences: it produces smaller mushrooms, and spores that are of a different shape with smaller warts. G. decipiens, another species that grows on sandy soil, again has spores that are markedly different. The American species G. arenicola also favours sandy soil, but has significantly smaller spores than G. maritimus. Two other species of Gymnopilus found around the Mediterranean are G. corsicus and G. spadiceus. G. corsicus has no veil remnants on the stem, and spores that do not turn red in Melzer's reagent or Lugol's iodine, and so can easily be differentiated from G. maritimus. G. spadiceus shows several similarities to G. maritimus, but grows only on pine wood and has rectangular spores. Gymnopils maritimus is clearly a different species from other members of its clade, despite their close relation. All other species in the clade grow upon dead wood and have well-developed rings on their stems. The spores also differ; in the case of G. junonius and G. spectabilis (often considered synonymous), as well as G. pampeanus, they are narrower, and in the case of G. imperialis, they are wider. Of the other members of the clade, only G. junonius and G. spectabilis also grow in Europe. ## Habitat and distribution Gymnopilus maritimus is known only from a single site in Pittulongu, an area of Olbia, in Sardinia, Italy, which is the type locality. There, mushrooms were found growing in close groups and tufts on coastal sand dunes around 10 metres (33 ft) from the high tide line. They were observed at the base of live Juncus maritimus (sea rush) plants, growing on sandy soil or decaying plants, where they were feeding as saprotrophs. As such, it is possible that the species would be able to grow on other substrates. They were observed growing from autumn to winter, between the end of October and January. In addition to the collections in Sardinia, Contu and Vizzini speculate that reports of G. fulgens growing in "sand-dune heaths" on Great Britain, an unusual habitat for that species, may in fact show the presence of G. maritimus on the island. ## See also - List of Gymnopilus species
11,353,966	Crush (video game)	1,148,767,710	2007 video game	[ "2007 video games", "Nintendo 3DS games", "Perspective video games", "Platform games", "PlayStation Portable games", "Puzzle video games", "Sega video games", "Single-player video games", "Video games about mental health", "Video games developed in the United Kingdom", "Video games inspired by M. C. Escher", "Zoë Mode games" ]	Crush is a 2007 puzzle-platform game developed by Kuju Entertainment's Zoë Mode studio and published by Sega for the PlayStation Portable. Its protagonist is Danny, a young man suffering from insomnia, who uses an experimental device to explore his mind and discover the cause of his sleeplessness. Each level of the game, representing events from Danny's life and inspired by artists such as Tim Burton and M.C. Escher, requires the player to control Danny as he collects his "lost marbles" and other thoughts. Crush's primary gameplay feature involves manipulating each game level between 3D and 2D views, allowing the player to reach platforms and locations inaccessible from within a different view. This element was noted by critics to be similar to one in Super Paper Mario, also released in 2007, though the Zoë Mode team had envisioned the concept five years prior. Crush received positive reviews upon release, with critics praising its incorporation of this dimension-shifting component alongside other aspects of the game presentation. Though Crush won several gaming awards, including PSP game of the month, it failed to meet the developer's sales expectations. A port of the game for the Nintendo 3DS called CRUSH3D was announced in January 2011 and was made available in January 2012 in Europe; in February 2012 in Australia; and in March 2012 in North America. ## Plot While Crush and its Nintendo 3DS port CRUSH3D retain the same gameplay mechanics and premise, the two versions feature different plots. ### PSP version The protagonist of the game, a young man named Danny, suffers from chronic insomnia caused by worry, stress, and repressed memories. He is admitted to a mental institution for it, where he consults a mad scientist, Dr. Reubens, who treats Danny with his Cognitive Regression Utilizing pSychiatric Heuristics (C.R.U.S.H.) device, which has a sentient female persona. The device's helmet places Danny under hypnosis, during which he can regain control of his sanity by collecting his lost marbles, and facing his primal fears in the form of monsters (i.e. cockroaches, blockwalkers, slugs). Danny starts recounting key moments in his life that may have contributed to his insomnia: Moving into his first apartment and his suffering job as a chef in the city, his love life some few years ago at the beach with a girl named Tina (which unfortunately ended in him being jilted), and the time he went to a local funfair alone as a young boy, where he ended up assaulted by a group of thugs. When Danny returns to the lab a fourth time after none of these prove to be the case, Dr. Reubens snaps at Danny for wearing out his machine further, and regresses Danny all the way to his childhood, when he was only six years old, against Danny's own will. In the end, Danny reveals that he was left home alone during his parents' date night, with disturbing shadows of the night leaving Danny traumatized. Danny discovers that his childhood fears at that time, principally his nyctophobia, are the real cause of his insomnia. Reubens is disgusted that his treatment was a complete waste and that Danny ruined his machine due to such a petty issue, but tells him he's cured. Right when Reubens begins to snap Danny out of hypnosis, C.R.U.S.H. seems to attack Danny's mind, with Reubens panicking and Danny's life on the line while the screen fades to black. ### 3DS version Doctor 'Doc' Doccerson (instead of Reubens in the PSP version), is infuriated that all of his inventions failed, but today he 'shall surpass them all' with his latest invention, C.R.U.S.H. He uses a tape recorder for his scientific narrative on the experiment. With the help of his best friend and protégé, Danny (who recurrently corrects Doc throughout the game), he enters his mind as his subject to C.R.U.S.H., but after a few tests, Danny is trapped inside C.R.U.S.H., where he can collect his lost marbles (which will unlock new dressing gowns/robe designs) and facing his fears in the form of monsters (i.e. cockroaches, slugs). At one point, Doc tells Danny that C.R.U.S.H. will not let Danny out due to "unresolved feelings." The two question that reasoning as they progress. Towards the end, C.R.U.S.H. interrupts contact between Danny and Doc, overly infatuated with Danny. Danny slowly admits to C.R.U.S.H. that she is simply a machine and compares it to "flirting with a parking meter." C.R.U.S.H., infuriated, sends Danny back to his childhood as a result. When Doc comes back into contact with Danny, Danny lashes out at Doc for building a machine "with the heart of a teenage girl" who "LOLd" at him. Doc, calming Danny down, explains how this "subconscious" is not really his, but old data, and suddenly Danny becomes shocked when he realizes he took the place of someone who underwent treatment with C.R.U.S.H. (being the PSP Danny), but "she knows [he's] not the same." C.R.U.S.H. really wanted Danny to clear her head. In the ending, Danny finally escapes and is free out of C.R.U.S.H's mind. He and Doc discuss C.R.U.S.H's future, while Doc says that he'll fix her. In a sudden plot twist, it turns out that they were not in the real world at all, but all the levels throughout the game are outside Doc's lab. C.R.U.S.H. smiles and laughs into the camera, she winks and the screen cuts to black. ## Gameplay Crush contains ten levels in each of the four locations, all based on an event in Danny's past. The levels represent Danny's mind: a dark city landscape with many tall buildings and the occasional street lamp, a hotel resting aside a seaside location, a dark and mysterious funfair, and a haunted childhood bedroom. Levels are mostly composed of platforms formed by blocks. The player's goal in each level is to collect marbles, which give the player points based on their color. The exit from the level is opened once a predetermined number of points have been collected. Danny can crawl into narrow areas and jump a small height. The main gameplay feature of Crush is the ability to transpose the layout of a level between 2D and 3D representations to reach seemingly inaccessible areas and solve the game's puzzles. The player can switch the third-person camera between four directional side views and a top-down view at any time while in 3D. When in these views, the player can have Danny "crush" the level, collapsing all 3D elements into 2D; crushing from side views results in a 2D platformer-like view, while crushing from the top-down view provides a 2D top-down perspective. Crushing can connect and merge platforms on the same visual plane in the 3D view but separated by a large distance, creating pathways across the level in the 2D view. The player can also "uncrush" the level at any time. Certain blocks, when crushed, become either obstacles through which Danny cannot pass, or ledges the player can use to reach other parts of the level. Attempts to crush a level in any manner that would harm Danny are thwarted. However, uncrushing can leave Danny in a helpless state, such as hanging in mid-air. Enemy monsters inhabit the levels, but the player can crush them by flattening impassable blocks against them. The player may also encounter timers in the form of alarm clocks that will begin to elapse when crushed for the first time and can only be stopped when Danny jumps on them. Danny wakes from his mental explorations if he falls off the level or too high of a surface, is touched by a monster, or fails to stop a timer, but the C.R.U.S.H. device reinserts him at the start of the level or the last checkpoint Danny passed. Throughout the levels are scattered large spheres and cylinders, which the player can roll when crushed appropriately. These can then be used as platforms or to depress switches. Jigsaw pieces can be collected to reveal concept art and extras in the game's menus. Some of Danny's "thoughts", represented by glowing neon icons on the walls of the level, are only activated when the level is crushed in a manner that does not obscure them. Some thoughts allow Danny to jump higher or stop time. Once the player completes each level, they are graded by the duration of Danny's stay on the level, how many times Danny "woke up", and a bonus for collecting all marbles, the jigsaw piece, and a hidden thought trophy. The thought trophy, once completed by crushing, unlocks a level's special challenge mode for later play which requires time-limited completion of the level with an allotted number of crushes. ## Development In an interview, Zoë Mode executive producer Paul Mottram claimed that the game concept was envisioned in 2002, but work did not actually begin until 2006. The initial concept was built on the crushing mechanism between 2D and 3D, and they only had to create appropriate obstacles to prevent players from simply "crushing" across the level. Mottram noted that during the development of Crush, the gameplay of Super Paper Mario had not yet been revealed, and thus the team was surprised to learn that it shared a similar feature. Mottram stated that the crushing mechanism had been developed and refined for six months before developing the story and characters; the development team wanted to have "a normal person in an impossible situation". The art and level design were inspired by Tim Burton, Mike Mignola, and M.C. Escher. The plot was originally more morbid than in the final product, with Danny dying and the rest of the game told as flashbacks. The game levels were developed on a level editor on the PlayStation Portable, but Zoë Mode were not able to refine the editor in time for shipping. Mottram said "It would be great to see user generated content and this is something we have been seriously thinking about for the future" and that downloadable content "would work perfectly with the Crush level structure and I am sure that fans of the game would be eager to see more levels." Mottram has stated they would like to market a sequel based on the highly positive feedback they had received; however, with other Zoë Mode projects such as SingStar and Play taking precedence, he does not know when this could be. ## Reception Crush received "favorable" reviews, while CRUSH3D received "average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. The PSP version was highly praised for its innovative approach to gameplay. Ryan Davis of GameSpot appreciated Crush for owing "very little of its novel concept to games that preceded it". Nick Suttner of 1UP called the game a "cognitively rewarding, expertly designed puzzle experience that truly plays like nothing else". Reviews were mixed on the game's learning curve. IGN's Jeremy Dunham praised the ordering of the puzzle elements, that new gaming elements are introduced at "an ideal pace", and that most puzzles have solutions where the player must "think 'outside the box'". Eurogamer's Dan Whitehead commented that the game introduces these elements too quickly and "doesn't give you much time to put the basics into practice". Some critics found that elements of the game detracted from the game's uniqueness. X-Play's Greg Orlando, while stating that this was "one of the most novel games ever made", noted that it was "simply not very fun", as it lacked many player incentives beyond manipulating the world and collecting objects on each level. Reviewers noted that some puzzles were awkward due to the selection of the PlayStation Portable's controls. Reviewers found the game's story poor, but this was overcome by the gameplay elements; Charles Herold of The New York Times said "the minimal story is as forgettable as its puzzles are ingenious." Gus Mastrapa of The A.V. Club said that the game "satisfies the innate gamer need to express the world in easy-to-manipulate numbers and objects." GamesRadar+ included Crush in their list of the 100 most overlooked games of its generation. Editor Jason Fanelli stated that the ability to switch from 2D to 3D was "one of the most unique (at the time) features we’ve ever seen." The Digital Fix's Ryan Poxon gave CRUSH3D a score of seven out of ten and called it a "puzzle game that genuinely surprised me at how brain teasing the game actually is." 411Mania's Adam Larck gave it a score of 6.6 out of 10 and said, "For a puzzle game, Crush 3D is a good choice for 3DS fans. While the mechanic may not be as creative as it was a few years ago, it’s still a decent game to check out. If you never saw the PSP version or haven’t played games like Fez or Echochrome, I’d recommend checking this out to see what crushing is all about." However, Digital Spy's Liam Martin gave it three stars out of five and stated: "Despite the five-year gap between releases, Crush 3D takes a few steps backwards in terms of visual style and presentation. Other than a rather limited and lacklustre selection of new levels and StreetPass features, it also offers very little in the way of brand new bonus content, making it difficult to recommend to anybody familiar with its PSP counterpart. Despite its shortcomings, however, Crush 3D gets it right where it counts." In Japan, where CRUSH3D was ported for release under the name Nightmare Puzzle: Crush 3D (ナイトメアパズル: クラッシュ 3D, Naitomea Pazuru: Kurasshu Surī Dī)) Famitsu gave it a score of three sevens and one six for a total of 27 out of 40. IGN awarded Crush PSP Game of the Month for May 2007. GameSpy called Crush the third best PlayStation Portable game and the "PSP Puzzle Game of the Year" for its Game of the Year 2007 awards. Similarly, IGN awarded Crush the "Best PSP Puzzle Game", "Most Innovative PSP Game", and "Best PSP Game No One Played" awards in their Game of the Year 2007 selections. Crush won the 2007 Develop Conference Industry Award for "Best New Handheld IP". According to Paul Mottram, positive reception of the game did not translate into high sales, but the game "will hopefully stick around for a while and continue to shift units". GameTrailers made Crush a nominee for "Best PSP Game" in its Game of the Year Awards 2007. ## See also - Echochrome - Fez - Super Paper Mario
8,740,305	2000 Sri Lanka cyclone	1,169,038,631	Tropical cyclone	[ "2000 North Indian Ocean cyclone season", "2000 disasters in Sri Lanka", "2000 in Sri Lanka", "Extremely severe cyclonic storms", "Tropical cyclones in 2000", "Tropical cyclones in India", "Tropical cyclones in Sri Lanka" ]	The 2000 Sri Lanka cyclone (IMD designation: BOB 06 JTWC designation: 04B) was the strongest tropical cyclone to strike Sri Lanka since 1978. The fourth tropical storm and the second severe cyclonic storm of the 2000 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, it developed from an area of disturbed weather on December 25, 2000. It moved westward, and quickly strengthened under favorable conditions to reach top wind speeds of 75 mph (121 km/h). The cyclone hit eastern Sri Lanka at peak strength, then weakened slightly while crossing the island before making landfall over southern India on December 28. The storm degenerated into a remnant low later that day, before merging with another trough on the next day. The storm was the first cyclone over Sri Lanka with winds of at least hurricane strength since a cyclone of 1978 hit the island in the 1978 season, as well as the first tropical storm to hit the island since 1992. The storm was also the first December tropical cyclone of hurricane intensity in the Bay of Bengal since 1996. It produced heavy rainfall and strong winds, damaging or destroying tens of thousands of houses and leaving up to 500,000 homeless. At least nine people died as a result of the cyclone. ## Meteorological history An area of atmospheric convection developed and persisted on December 21 in the central Bay of Bengal forming within an active near-equatorial trough. Located within an area of weak vertical wind shear, the system steadily organized, and after initially remaining nearly stationary it began to move slowly westward. Deep convection continued to develop, and on December 23 a mid-level circulation began to form. Later that day, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert. By the night of the December 23, a low-level circulation developed in the system, located to the south of the deep convection. The disturbance continued to organize, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) classifying it as a deep depression early on December 24. Later that day, the organization of the system degraded slightly, though it quickly reorganized. On December 25, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center initiated advisories on Tropical Cyclone 04B while it was located about 155 miles (249 km) east of Sri Lanka. On the center's first advisory, the tropical storm was drifting west-northwest at 3 mph (4.8 km/h) with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (72 km/h). Shortly thereafter, the IMD upgraded the deep depression to a cyclonic storm as a central dense overcast developed over the center. A subtropical ridge to the north of the cyclone resulted in it continuing generally westward. Deep convection continued to develop over the center of circulation, and the storm steadily strengthened as outflow improved throughout the circulation. By late on December 25, a rainband wrapped tightly into the center, and it intensified into a severe cyclonic storm as it approached the coast of Sri Lanka. The next day the cyclone developed an eye as it turned west-southwestward. On December 26, the cyclone made landfall on near Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. The JTWC assessed the cyclone as attaining peak winds of 75 mph (121 km/h). However, the IMD estimated the cyclone reached a maximum intensity of 105 mph (169 km/h), making it a very severe cyclonic storm. It weakened slightly over land and emerged into the Gulf of Mannar early on December 27 as a tropical storm. Initially, forecasters predicted it to slowly re-intensify; instead it weakened as its convection degraded in organization and intensity. After turning west-northwestward, the storm struck southern India near Kanyakumari on December 28 with winds of 45 mph (72 km/h), with minimal convection due to land interaction and increased wind shear. It rapidly weakened to tropical depression status over land, degenerating into a remnant low later that day. Early on December 29, the cyclone's remnants emerged into the eastern Arabian Sea and merged with another trough. ## Impact Government officials in Sri Lanka issued a last-minute evacuation order for potentially affected areas, though few received the evacuation order. The cyclone hit the eastern and western coastlines with powerful waves, wrecking 25 fishing boats in eastern coastal towns and washing away 109 boats near Puttalam. Eight people were left missing and feared dead. The cyclone was accompanied with a storm surge as made landfall that flooded areas up to 330 feet (100 m) inland. While crossing the country, the cyclone dropped between 4 and 8 inches (100 and 200 millimetres) of precipitation, compounding the effects of severe monsoonal flooding from the previous month. Wind gusts from the cyclone reached 110 mph (180 km/h) near where it made landfall. The area most affected by the cyclone was in and around Trincomalee: 57 people checked into the local hospital as a result of falling trees or debris, with one person killed due to a falling tree. An entire fishing village was completely destroyed, and heavy rainfall flooded rivers, lakes, and canals, covering roads and crops with floodwaters. The flooding destroyed about 77 square miles (200 km<sup>2</sup>) of rice fields, and an additional 19 square miles (49 km<sup>2</sup>) of other crops. Strong winds damaged or destroyed around 83,000 houses across the country, including 2,000 houses destroyed in Kinnia and 6,600 in Trincomalee. The passage of the cyclone left up to 500,000 temporarily homeless on the island, most of whom fled to churches, schools, temples, and shopping centers. The winds blew off the roofs of several police stations and military camps, and flooded several refugee camps. The winds damaged electrical systems and disrupted about 3,000 telephone systems, and many roads were left impassable. Large areas remained without power for several days. No damage reports exist for regions under control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, despite the fact the storm made landfall there. Throughout the country, at least nine people died as a result of the cyclone, and over 48,000 families were affected. Prior to the arrival of the storm in India, government officials there issued a severe storm warning for Thoothukudi District, and also warned fishermen not to go out to sea. Thousands were evacuated to emergency shelters prior to the storm's arrival. The cyclone produced rough surf along the southern Indian coast, and heavy rainfall in and around Thoothukudi, causing flooding in a few low-lying areas. The rainfall caused some damage to banana crops, uprooted several trees, and left some roads impassable, but was largely beneficial in alleviating drought conditions. Across southern India, the cyclone damaged 749 houses and destroyed 81 more, but no deaths were reported in the country. ## Aftermath Sri Lanka governmental aid was slow at first, with the media criticizing the government for its initial response. A street protest occurred in Trincomalee due to lack of aid. Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake organized a meeting of government officials to propose an increase in relief funds. A family of five or more received \$5.50 a week (2000 USD, (\$ 2023 USD), 500 in 2000 LKR) for dry rations, while the families of those who died received \$183 (2000 USD\$, 2023 USD, 15,000 2000 LKR) in compensation. The government also gave \$122 (2000 USD, (\$ 2023 USD, 10,000 2000 LKR)) to those whose houses were damaged or destroyed, and delivered rice rations to those stranded, while state-organized radio broadcasts appealed for donations. Within two days of the cyclone striking, the Sri Lankan Red Cross began an operation with 4,000 volunteers to help those most badly affected. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies issued a preliminary appeal for \$323,000 2000 USD (\$ 2023 USD\$, 525,000 in 2000 CHF) to assist about 10,000 people by making blankets, shelter, food, and kitchen utensils available. To kick-start the operation, the Federation released about \$61,000 (2000 USD (\$ 2023 USD\$, 100,000 in 2000 CHF)) within a few hours of the cyclone making landfall. After about a month, the Red Cross distributed 10 roofing sheets each to 1,720 families, and also sent a set of cooking utensils, bed sheets, and sleeping mats to 3,000 families. Relief ended on November 7, 2001, roughly 40 weeks after the cyclone struck. ## See also - List of notable tropical cyclones - Cyclone Burevi
396,607	The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)	1,172,997,063	1978 animated fantasy film	[ "1970s American animated films", "1970s British films", "1970s English-language films", "1970s fantasy adventure films", "1978 animated films", "1978 drama films", "1978 films", "American adventure drama films", "American animated fantasy films", "American fantasy adventure films", "American films with live action and animation", "Animated films based on British novels", "British adult animated films", "Films based on British novels", "Films based on The Lord of the Rings", "Films based on fantasy novels", "Films based on multiple works of a series", "Films directed by Ralph Bakshi", "Films produced by Saul Zaentz", "Films scored by Leonard Rosenman", "Films shot in California", "Films shot in Spain", "Rotoscoped films", "United Artists animated films", "United Artists films" ]	The Lord of the Rings is a 1978 animated fantasy film directed by Ralph Bakshi from a screenplay by Chris Conkling and Peter S. Beagle. It is based on the novel of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkien, adapting from the volumes The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. Set in Middle-earth, the film follows a group of fantasy races—Hobbits, Men, an Elf, a Dwarf and a wizard—who form a fellowship to destroy a magical ring made by the Dark Lord Sauron, the main antagonist. Bakshi encountered Tolkien's writing early in his career. He had made several attempts to produce The Lord of the Rings as an animated film before producer Saul Zaentz and distributor United Artists provided funding. The film is notable for its extensive use of rotoscoping, a technique in which scenes are first shot in live-action, then traced onto animation cels. It uses a hybrid of traditional cel animation and rotoscoped live-action footage. The Lord of the Rings was released in the United States on November 15, 1978, and in the United Kingdom on July 5, 1979. Although the film was a financial success, it received mixed reviews from critics, and hostility from disappointed viewers who felt that it was incomplete; there was no official sequel to cover the remainder of the story. However, the film has retained a cult following and was a minor inspiration for New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson. ## Plot Early in the Second Age of Middle-earth, Elven smiths forge nine Rings of Power for mortal Men, seven for the Dwarf-Lords, and three for the Elf-Kings. Soon after, the Dark Lord Sauron makes the One Ring, and uses it to attempt to conquer Middle-earth. After defeating Sauron, Prince Isildur takes the Ring, but after he is killed by Orcs, the Ring lies at the bottom of the river Anduin for over 2,500 years. Over time, Sauron captures the Nine Rings and transforms their owners into the Ringwraiths. The One Ring is discovered by Déagol, whose kinsman, Sméagol, kills him and takes the Ring for himself. The Ring twists his body and mind, and he becomes the creature Gollum (Peter Woodthorpe) who takes it with him into the Misty Mountains. Hundreds of years later, Bilbo Baggins (Norman Bird) finds the Ring in Gollum's cave and brings it back with him to the Shire. Decades later, during Bilbo's birthday celebration, the Wizard Gandalf (William Squire) tells him to leave the Ring for his nephew Frodo (Christopher Guard). Bilbo reluctantly agrees, and departs for Rivendell. Seventeen years pass, during which Gandalf learns that evil forces have discovered that the Ring is in the possession of a Baggins. Gandalf meets Frodo to explain the Ring's history and the danger it poses, and Frodo leaves his home, taking the Ring with him. He is accompanied by three Hobbits, his cousins, Pippin (Dominic Guard), Merry (Simon Chandler), and his gardener Sam (Michael Scholes). After a narrow escape from the Ringwraiths, the hobbits eventually come to Bree, from which Aragorn (John Hurt) leads them to Rivendell. Frodo is stabbed atop Weathertop mountain by the chief of the Ringwraiths, and becomes sickened as the journey progresses. The Ringwraiths catch up with them shortly after they meet the Elf Legolas (Anthony Daniels); and at a standoff at the ford of Rivendell, the Ringwraiths are swept away by the river. At Rivendell, Frodo is healed by Elrond (André Morell). He meets Gandalf again, after the latter escapes the corrupt wizard Saruman (Fraser Kerr), who plans to ally with Sauron but also wants the Ring for himself. Frodo volunteers to go to Mordor, where the Ring can be destroyed. Thereafter Frodo sets off from Rivendell with eight companions: Gandalf; Aragorn; Boromir (Michael Graham Cox), son of the Steward of Gondor; Legolas; Gimli (David Buck) the Dwarf, along with Pippin, Merry, and Sam. Their attempt to cross the Misty Mountains is foiled by heavy snow, and they are forced into Moria. There, they are attacked by Orcs, and Gandalf falls into an abyss while battling a Balrog. The remaining Fellowship continue through the Elf-haven Lothlórien, where they meet the Elf queen Galadriel (Annette Crosbie). Boromir tries to take the Ring from Frodo, and Frodo decides to continue his quest alone; but Sam insists on accompanying him. Boromir is killed by Orcs while trying to defend Merry and Pippin. Merry and Pippin are captured by the Orcs, who intend to take them to Isengard through the land of Rohan. The captured hobbits escape and flee into Fangorn Forest, where they meet Treebeard (John Westbrook). Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas track Merry and Pippin into the forest, where they are reunited with Gandalf, who was reborn after destroying the Balrog. The four then ride to Rohan's capital, Edoras, where Gandalf persuades King Théoden (Philip Stone) that his people are in danger. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas then travel to the Helm's Deep. Frodo and Sam discover Gollum stalking them in an attempt to reclaim the Ring, and capture him; but spare his life in return for guidance to Mount Doom. Gollum eventually begins plotting against them, and wonders if "she" might help. At Helm's Deep, Théoden's forces resist the Orcs sent by Saruman, until Gandalf arrives with the absent Riders of Rohan, destroying the Orc army. ## Cast - Christopher Guard as Frodo - William Squire as Gandalf - Michael Scholes as Sam - John Hurt as Aragorn - Simon Chandler as Merry - Dominic Guard as Pippin - Norman Bird as Bilbo - Michael Graham Cox as Boromir - Anthony Daniels as Legolas - David Buck as Gimli - Peter Woodthorpe as Gollum - Fraser Kerr as Saruman - Philip Stone as Théoden - Michael Deacon as Wormtongue - André Morell as Elrond - Alan Tilvern as Innkeeper - Annette Crosbie as Galadriel - John Westbrook as Treebeard This primary cast was supported by a large cast of animation doubles, who were not credited on screen; the matter went to guild arbitration. ## Production ### Development Director Ralph Bakshi was introduced to The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien during the mid-1950s while working as an animator for Terrytoons. In 1957, the young animator started trying to convince people that the story could be told in animation. In 1969, the rights were passed to United Artists, where an "elegant" Peter Shaffer script was abandoned. Film producer Denis O'Dell was interested in producing a film for the Beatles, and approached directors David Lean (busy with Ryan's Daughter), Stanley Kubrick (who deemed it "unfilmable"), and Michaelangelo Antonioni. John Boorman was commissioned to write a script in late 1969, but it was deemed too expensive in 1970. Bakshi approached United Artists when he learned (from a 1974 issue of Variety) that Boorman's script was abandoned. Learning that Boorman intended to produce all three parts of The Lord of the Rings as a single film, Bakshi commented, "I thought that was madness, certainly a lack of character on Boorman's part. Why would you want to tamper with anything Tolkien did?" Bakshi began making a "yearly trek" to United Artists. Bakshi had since achieved box office success producing adult-oriented animated films such as Fritz the Cat but his recent film, Coonskin, tanked, and he later clarified that he thought The Lord of the Rings could "make some money" so as to save his studio. In 1975, Bakshi convinced United Artists executive Mike Medavoy to produce The Lord of the Rings as two or three animated films, and a prequel to The Hobbit. Medavoy offered him Boorman's script, which Bakshi refused, saying that Boorman "didn't understand it" and that his script would have made for a cheap film like "a Roger Corman film". Medavoy accepted Bakshi's proposal to "do the books as close as we can, using Tolkien's exact dialogue and scenes". Although he was later keen to regroup with Boorman for his script (and his surrogate project, Excalibur), Bakshi claimed Medavoy didn't want to produce his film at the time, but allowed him to shop it around if he could get another studio to pay for the expenses on Boorman's script. Bakshi attempted unsuccessfully to persuade Peter Bogdanovich to take on the project, but managed to gain the support of the then President of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Dan Melnick. Bakshi and Melnick made a deal with Mike Medavoy at United Artists to buy the Boorman script. Bakshi said later that "The Boorman script cost \$3 million, so Boorman was happy by the pool, screaming and laughing and drinking, 'cause he got \$3 million for his script to be thrown out." Boorman, however, was unhappy with the project going to animation after Tolkien once wrote to him, pleased that he was doing it in live-action. He never saw Bakshi's film, and after it was released, tried to remake his live-action version with Medavoy. Work began on scripts and storyboards. When Melnick was fired from MGM in 1976, Bakshi's studio had spent between \$200,000 and \$600,000. The new executive Dick Shepherd hadn't read the books and, according to Bakshi, did not want to make the movie; Shepherd obliviously asked whether The Lord of the Rings was about a wedding. Bakshi then contacted Saul Zaentz (who had helped finance Fritz the Cat), asking him to produce The Lord of the Rings; Zaentz agreed. Before production started, Bakshi met with Tolkien's daughter Priscilla to discuss how the film would be made. She showed him the room where her father did his writing and drawing. Bakshi says, "My promise to Tolkien's daughter was to be pure to the book. I wasn't going to say, 'Hey, throw out Gollum and change these two characters.' My job was to say, 'This is what the genius said.'" Bakshi was approached by Mick Jagger, who wanted to play Frodo, but at the time the roles were already cast and recorded. David Carradine also approached Bakshi, offering to play Aragorn, and even suggested that Bakshi do it in live-action; while Bakshi's contract allowed this, he said it couldn't be done and that he'd "always seen it as animation". He said it was impossible to make it in live-action without it being "tacky". ### Screenwriting Bakshi began developing the script himself. Learning of the project, Chris Conkling got an interview with Bakshi but was initially hired to "do research, to say what the costumes should look like or what the characters would be doing at any given time". Together, they first decided how to break the films down. When they started, they contemplated a three-film structure, but "we didn't know how that middle film would work" without a beginning and an end. Conkling even started writing a treatment for one long, three-and-a-half hour feature of the entire work, but eventually settled on scripts for two 150-minute films, the first of which was titled "The Lord of the Rings, Part One: The Fellowship". The second draft of the screenplay, written by Conkling, told the bulk of the story in flashback, from Merry Brandybuck's point of view, so as to lead into the sequel. This version included Tom Bombadil, who rescues the Hobbits from the Barrow Downs, as well as Farmer Maggot, the Old Forest, Glorfindel, Arwen, and several songs. Bakshi felt it was "a much too drastic departure from Tolkien". Conkling began writing a draft that was "more straightforward and true to the source". Still displeased, Bakshi and Zaentz called in fantasy author Peter S. Beagle for a rewrite. Beagle's first draft eliminated the framing device and told the story beginning with Bilbo's Farewell Party, climaxing with the Battle of Helm's Deep, and ending with the cliffhanger of Gollum leading Frodo and Sam to Shelob. The revised draft includes a brief prologue to reveal the history of the Ring. Fans threatened Bakshi that "he'd better get it right" and according to the artist Mike Ploog, Bakshi constantly revised the story to include certain beasts at the behest of such fans. ### Differences from the book Of the adaptation process, Bakshi stated that some elements of the story "had to be left out but nothing in the story was really altered". The film greatly condenses Frodo's journey from Bag End to Bree. Stop-overs at Farmer Maggot's house, Frodo's supposed home in Buckland, and the house of the mysterious Tom Bombadil deep in the Old Forest are omitted. Maggot and his family, Bombadil and his wife Goldberry and the encounter with the Barrow-wight are thus all omitted, along with Fatty Bolger, a hobbit who accompanied Frodo at the beginning. According to Bakshi, the character of Tom Bombadil was dropped because "he didn't move the story along." ### Directing Bakshi said that one of the problems with the production was that the film was an epic, because "epics tend to drag. The biggest challenge was to be true to the book." When asked what he was trying to accomplish with the film, Bakshi stated "The goal was to bring as much quality as possible to the work. I wanted real illustration as opposed to cartoons." Bakshi said that descriptions of the characters were not included because they are seen in the film. He stated that the key thing was not "how a hobbit looks", since everyone has their own idea of such things, but that "the energy of Tolkien survives". In his view what mattered was whether the quality of animation was enough to make the movie work. Bakshi was aware of the work of illustrators like the Brothers Hildebrandt, without accepting that their style had driven his approach; he stated that the film presented a clash of many styles, as in his other films. ### Animation Publicity for the film announced that Bakshi had created "the first movie painting" by utilizing "an entirely new technique in filmmaking". Much of the film used live-action footage which was then rotoscoped to produce an animated look. This saved production costs and gave the animated characters a more realistic look. In animation historian Jerry Beck's The Animated Movie Guide, reviewer Marea Boylan writes that "up to that point, animated films had not depicted extensive battle scenes with hundreds of characters. By using the rotoscope, Bakshi could trace highly complex scenes from live-action footage and transform them into animation, thereby taking advantage of the complexity live-action film could capture without incurring the exorbitant costs of producing a live-action film." Bakshi rejected the Disney approach which he thought "cartoony", arguing that his approach, while not traditional for rotoscoping, created a feeling of realism involving up to a thousand characters in a scene. Bakshi went to England to recruit a voice cast from the BBC Drama Repertory Company, including Christopher Guard, William Squire, Michael Scholes, Anthony Daniels, and John Hurt. Daniels remembers that "The whole cast were in the same studio but we all had to leave a two second gap between the lines which made for rather stilted dialogue." For the live-action portion of the production, Bakshi and his cast and crew went to Spain, where the rotoscope models acted out their parts in costume in the open or in empty soundstages. Additional photography took place in Death Valley. Bakshi was so terrified of the horses used in the shoot that he directed those scenes from inside the caravan. Bakshi had a difficult working relationship with producer Saul Zaentz. When Saul would bring potential investors to Bakshi's studio, he would always show them the same sequence, of Frodo falling off of his horse at the Ford (which was his stunt double actually falling over). During the middle of a large shoot, union bosses called for a lunch break, and Bakshi secretly shot footage of actors in Orc costumes moving toward the craft service table, and used the footage in the film. Many of the actors who contributed voices to this production also acted out their parts for rotoscoped scenes. The actions of Bilbo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee were performed by Billy Barty, while Sharon Baird served as the performance model for Frodo Baggins. Other performers used on the rotoscoping session included John A. Neris as Gandalf, Walt Robles as Aragorn, Felix Silla as Gollum, Jeri Lea Ray as Galadriel, and Aesop Aquarian as Gimli. Although some cel animation was produced and shot for the film, very little of it appears in the final film. Most of the film's crowd and battle scenes use a different technique, in which live-action footage is solarized (per an interview with the film's cinematographer, Timothy Galfas, in the documentary Forging Through the Darkness: the Ralph Bakshi Vision for The Lord of the Rings) to produce a more three-dimensional look. In a few shots the two techniques are combined. Bakshi claimed he "didn't start thinking about shooting the film totally in live action until I saw it really start to work so well. I learned lots of things about the process, like rippling. One scene, some figures were standing on a hill and a big gust of wind came up and the shadows moved back and forth on the clothes and it was unbelievable in animation. I don't think I could get the feeling of cold on the screen without showing snow or an icicle on some guy's nose. The characters have weight and they move correctly." After the Spanish film development lab discovered that telephone lines, helicopters, and cars could be seen in the footage Bakshi had shot, they tried to incinerate the footage, telling Bakshi's first assistant director that "if that kind of sloppy cinematography got out, no one from Hollywood would ever come back to Spain to shoot again." Following the live-action shoot, each frame of the live footage was printed out, and placed behind an animation cel. The details of each frame were copied and painted onto the cel. Both the live-action and animated sequences were storyboarded. Of the production, Bakshi is quoted as saying, > Making two pictures [the live action reference and the actual animated feature] in two years is crazy. Most directors when they finish editing, they are finished; we were just starting. I got more than I expected. The crew is young. The crew loves it. If the crew loves it, it's usually a great sign. They aren't older animators trying to snow me for jobs next year. Although he continued to use rotoscoping in American Pop, Hey Good Lookin''', and Fire and Ice, Bakshi later regretted his use of the technique, stating that he felt that it was a mistake to trace the source footage rather than using it as a guide. By the time Bakshi was done animating, he had only four weeks left to cut the film from a nearly 150-minute rough cut. Restoring a piece of animation where Gandalf fights the Balrog (replaced in the finished film by a photomontage), Eddie Bakshi remarked that little of the film was left on the cutting room floor. Bakshi asked three additional months to edit the film, but was declined. After test-screenings, it was decided to re-cut the end of the picture so that Gollum would resolve leading Frodo and Sam to Shelob before cutting back to Helm's Deep, so as to not end the film on a cliffhanger. Working on the film were Tim Burton, Disney animator Dale Baer, and Mike Ploog, who worked also on other Bakshi animations such as Wizards. ### Music The film score was composed by Leonard Rosenman. Bakshi wanted to include music by Led Zeppelin but producer Saul Zaentz insisted upon an orchestral score because he would not be able to release the band's music on his Fantasy Records label. Rosenman wanted a large score, involving a 100-piece orchestra, 100-piece mixed choir and 100-piece boy choir, but ended up with a smaller ensemble. Bakshi initially called his score "majestic", but later stated that he hated Rosenman's score, which he found to be too cliché. In Lord of the Rings: Popular Culture in Global Context, Ernest Mathijs writes that Rosenman's score "is a middle ground between his more sonorous but dissonant earlier scores and his more traditional (and less challenging) sounding music [...] In the final analysis, Rosenman's score has little that marks it out as distinctively about Middle Earth, relying on traditions of music (including film music) more than any specific attempt to paint a musical picture of the different lands and peoples of Tolkien's imagination." The film's score was issued as a double-LP soundtrack album in 1978. The album reached number 33 in the Canadian RPM Magazine album charts on February 24, 1979. ## Canceled sequels The film was originally intended to be distributed as The Lord of the Rings Part I. Initially a trilogy was planned, but this was revised to two planned films because of the limited budget. Arthur Krim resigned from United Artists and was replaced by Andy Albeck. According to Bakshi, when he completed the film, United Artists executives told him that they were planning to release the film without indicating that a sequel would follow, because they felt that audiences would not pay to see half of a film. Bakshi stated that he strongly opposed this, and agreed with the shocked viewers who complained that the film was unfinished. In his view, "Had it said 'Part One,' I think everyone would have respected it." Although UA found that the film, while financially successful, "failed to overwhelm audiences", Bakshi began working on a sequel, and even had some B-roll footage shot. The Film Book of J.R.R. Tolkien's the Lord of the Rings, published by Ballantine Books on October 12, 1978, still referred to the sequel in the book's inside cover jacket. Indeed, in interviews Bakshi talked about doing "a part two film picking up where this leaves off", and even boasted that the second film could "pick up on sequences that we missed in the first book". Zaentz went so far as to try to stop the Rankin-Bass The Return of the King TV special (which was already storyboarded before Bakshi's film came out) from airing, so as to not clash with Bakshi's sequel. Bakshi was aware of Rankin/Bass's The Hobbit TV special, and angrily commented that "Lord of the Rings is not going to have any song for the sake of a record album." During the lawsuit, he commented that "They're not going to stop us from doing The Lord of the Rings and they won't stop us from doing The Hobbit. Anyone who saw their version of The Hobbit know it has nothing to do with the quality and style of our feature. My life isn't going to be altered by what Rankin-Bass chooses to do badly." Years later, he called their film "an awful, rip-off version of The Hobbit." Bakshi found the two years spent on Rings immensely stressful, and the fan reaction scathing. He took comfort in talking to Priscilla Tolkien, who said she loved it, but got into an argument with Zaentz and refused to do Part Two. Reports vary as to whether the argument had to do with the dropping of the "Part One" subtitle or Bakshi's fee for the sequel. Bakshi said he was "proud to have made part one" and that his work was "there for anyone who would make part two". In interviews leading up to the year 2000, he still toyed with the idea of making the sequel. For his part, Zaentz said he kept in touch with Bakshi, but confided to John Boorman that making the film was the worst experience of his life, which made him protective of the property. Indeed, he commented that the film "wasn't as good as we should have made" and later remarked that an "animated [film] couldn't do it. It was just too complex for animated to handle it, with the emotion that was needed and the size and scope." During development of the live-action films, Bakshi said he was approached by Warner Brothers to make the second part, but refused as he was angry of not being notified about the live-action film. He did use the renewed interest in his film to restore it to DVD, and had the final line redubbed to bolster the film's sense of finality. After the live-action films found success, Bakshi stated that he would never have made the film if he had known what would happen during the production. He is quoted as saying that the reason he made the film was "to save it for Tolkien, because I loved the Rings very much". He concluded that the film made him realize that he was not interested in adapting another writer's story. ## Reception ### Box office, awards and nominations The Lord of the Rings was a financial success. Reports of the budget vary from \$4 to \$8 million, and as high as \$12 million, while the film grossed \$30.5 million at the North American box office. It thus made a profit, having kept its costs low. In the United Kingdom, the film grossed over \$3.2 million. Despite this, the reaction from fans was hostile; Jerry Beck writes that they "intensely dislike[d]" the film's "cheap-looking effects and the missing ending", having been misled by the title to expect the film to cover the whole of the book. The film was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. It was nominated for a Saturn Awards for Best Fantasy Film. Leonard Rosenman's score was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Motion Picture Score, and Bakshi won a Golden Gryphon award for the film at the Giffoni Film Festival. ### Critical response Critics gave mixed responses to the film, but generally considered it to be a "flawed but inspired interpretation". On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average of . The site's critical consensus reads: "Ralph Bakshi's valiant attempt at rendering Tolkien's magnum opus in rotoscope never lives up to the grandeur of its source material, with a compressed running time that flattens the sweeping story and experimental animation that is more bizarre than magical." Frank Barrow of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film was "daring and unusual in concept". Joseph Gelmis of Newsday wrote that "the film's principal reward is a visual experience unlike anything that other animated features are doing at the moment." Roger Ebert called Bakshi's effort a "mixed blessing" and "an entirely respectable, occasionally impressive job ... [which] still falls far short of the charm and sweep of the original story." Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the film "both numbing and impressive". David Denby of New York magazine felt that the film would not make sense to viewers who had not previously read the book. Denby wrote that the film was too dark and lacked humour, concluding that "The lurid, meaningless violence of this movie left me exhausted and sickened by the end." Michael Barrier, an animation historian, described The Lord of The Rings as one of two films that demonstrated "that Bakshi was utterly lacking in the artistic self-discipline that might have permitted him to outgrow his limitations." Barry Langford, writing in the J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia, noted the film's deficiencies, including the "glaringly evident" weaknesses in the rotoscoping animation. The quality of rotoscoping from filmed live action is limited by the quality of the acting, which, given the lack of rehearsal and time for retakes, was not high. The prologue was not rotoscoped, but shot as "silhouetted dumb show through red filters", revealing clumsy mime and confused voiceover, announcing that Mordor defeated Elves and Men at the Battle of Dagorlad, which Langford observes would make the rest of the action incomprehensible. The small budget led to underwhelming battle scenes, as in the Mines of Moria where the Fellowship is confronted by what looks like a very small force of Orcs. The rotoscoping varies from strongly drawn to almost absent, leading to a markedly uneven treatment through the film. The characterisation, in Langford's view, similarly leaves much to be desired. ### Influence on Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings The film has been cited as an influence on director Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, although Jackson said that "our film is stylistically very different and the design is different." Reading about attempts to make the films live-action by Boorman and the Beatles contacting Kubrick and Lean to do the same, Jackson agreed animation was the most sensible choice at the time. Jackson remembers Bakshi's film as a "brave and ambitious attempt". In another interview, Jackson stated that it had "some quaint sequences in Hobbiton, a creepy encounter with the Black Rider on the road, and a few quite good battle scenes" but "about half way through, the storytelling became very disjointed" and it became "confusing" and "incoherent". He and his screenwriter and producer Fran Walsh remarked that Bakshi's Treebeard "looked like a talking carrot". Jackson watched the film for the first time since its premiere in 1997, when Harvey Weinstein screened it to begin the story conferences. Ahead of the films' release, Bakshi said he did not "understand it" but that he does "wish it to be a good movie". He felt bad that he wasn't contacted by Zaentz, who was involved in the project, and erroneously said they were screening his film at New Line while working on the live-action films. Nevertheless, he clarified he wished the filmmakers success. He claims Warner Brothers approached him with a proposal to make part two at the time, but he complained that they didn't involve him in the live-action film, and refused. After the films were released Bakshi said that while, "on the creative side", he does "feel good that Peter Jackson continued," he begrudged Saul Zaentz for not notifying him of the live-action films. He said that, with his own film already made, Jackson could study it: "I'm glad Peter Jackson had a movie to look at—I never did. And certainly there's a lot to learn from watching any movie, both its mistakes and when it works. So he had a little easier time than I did, and a lot better budget." Bakshi had never watched the films, but saw trailers and while he praised the special effects, he said that Jackson "didn't understand" Tolkien and created "special effects garbage" to sell toys, saying his film has "more heart" and that, had he a similar budget, would have made a better film. Bakshi was told the live-action film was derivative of his own, and blamed Jackson for not acknowledging this influence: "Peter Jackson did say that the first film inspired him to go on and do the series, but that happened after I was bitching and moaning to a lot of interviewers that he said at the beginning that he never saw the movie. I thought that was kind of fucked up." Bakshi then said that Jackson mentioned his influence "only once" as "PR bologny". Jackson, who took a fan photograph with Bakshi in 1993, remains puzzled about Bakshi's indignation. In 2015, Bakshi apologized for some of his remarks. Bakshi's animator Mike Ploog praised the live-action film. In fact, Jackson did acknowledge Bakshi's film as early as 1998, when he told a worried fan that he hoped to outdo Bakshi, as well as mentioning in the behind-the-scenes features that "the black Riders galloping out of Bree was an image I remember very clearly [...] from the Ralph Bakshi film." In the audio commentary to The Fellowship of the Ring, Jackson says Bakshi's film introduced him to The Lord of the Rings and "inspired me to read the book" and in a 2001 interview, said he "enjoyed [the film] and wanted to know more". On the audio commentary for the DVD release of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Jackson acknowledges one shot, a low angle of a hobbit at Bilbo's birthday party shouting "Proudfeet!", as an intentional homage to Bakshi's film, which Jackson thought was "a brilliant angle". Another influence came through one of Jackson's conceptual artists, John Howe, who unwittingly copied a scene from Bakshi's film in a painting that depicted the four Hobbits hiding under a branch from a Ringwraith. The painting was used in the 1987 J. R. R. Tolkien Calendar. Jackson turned the painting into a scene in the film. ## Legacy The film was adapted into comic book form with artwork by Spanish artist Luis Bermejo, under licence from Tolkien Enterprises. Three issues were published for the European market, starting in 1979, and were not published in the United States or translated into English due to copyright problems. Warner Bros. (the rights holder to the post-1973 Rankin-Bass library and the pre-1990 Saul Zaentz theatrical library) first released the film on DVD and re-released on VHS in 2001 through the Warner Bros. Family Entertainment label. While the VHS version ends with the narrator saying "Here ends the first part of the history of the War of the Ring.", the DVD version has an alternate narration: "The forces of darkness were driven forever from the face of Middle-Earth by the valiant friends of Frodo. As their gallant battle ended, so, too, ends the first great tale of The Lord of the Rings." Later, The Lord of the Rings was released in a deluxe edition on Blu-ray and DVD on April 6, 2010. The Lord of the Rings was selected as the 36th greatest animated film by Time Out'' magazine, and ranked as the 90th greatest animated film of all time by the Online Film Critics Society.
38,328,317	Nauru reed warbler	1,159,417,798	Passerine bird endemic to the Pacific island of Nauru	[ "Acrocephalus (bird)", "Birds described in 1883", "Birds of Micronesia", "Endemic fauna of Nauru", "Taxa named by Otto Finsch" ]	The Nauru reed warbler (Nauruan: itsirir) (Acrocephalus rehsei) is a passerine bird endemic to the island of Nauru in the Pacific Ocean. It is one of only two native breeding land-birds on Nauru and it is the only passerine found on the island. It is related to other Micronesian reed warblers, all of which evolved from one of several radiations of the genus across the Pacific. Related warblers on nearby islands include the Caroline reed warbler, with which the Nauru species was initially confused, and the nightingale reed warbler, which was formerly sometimes considered the same species. A medium-sized warbler, the Nauru reed warbler has dark brown upperparts, cream underparts and a long, thin beak. It makes a low, cup-shaped nest into which it lays two or three white eggs, and it feeds on insects. However, details about its behavior and ecology are little known. It is found throughout Nauru, which has changed substantially in recent decades due to phosphate mining. The Nauru reed warbler is potentially threatened by introduced predators and habitat loss, and its small range means that it could be vulnerable to chance occurrences, such as tropical cyclones. Reports of a similar warbler from nearby islands suggest that it might previously have been found elsewhere, but was driven to local extinction by introduced cats. ## Taxonomy and systematics Otto Finsch was the first naturalist to visit the island of Nauru, stopping for six hours on 24 July 1880 while travelling from the Marshall Islands to the Solomon Islands. His 1881 report included a warbler he initially identified as the Caroline reed warbler. By 1883 he considered it to be a new species, Calamoherpe rehsei. The generic name Calamoherpe is now recognised as a synonym of Acrocephalus, leading to the current binomial name. The generic name Acrocephalus derives from the Greek akros, meaning "topmost", and kephale, meaning "head". The akros part of the name may have been given through confusion with acutus, and taken to mean "sharp-pointed", referring to the angular head shape typical of this genus. The synonym Calamoherpe is from the Greek kalamos, meaning "reed", and herpes, meaning "creeping thing". Finsch named the species after Ernst Rehse, a German ornithologist and collector and one of Finsch's travelling companions. Since the original descriptions, little has been written about the species, and details about its ecology and behaviour are poorly known. Though the Nauru reed warbler is generally accepted as a species, some authorities, such as H. E. Wolters in Die Vogelarte der Erde (1980) and Howard and Moore in A Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World (1991), have considered it a subspecies of Acrocephalus luscinius, the nightingale reed warbler. A 2011 DNA study has affirmed its status as a separate species. It is considered monotypic, meaning there are no recognised subspecies. The species is known by the English common names Finsch's reed-warbler, Nauru warbler, pleasant warbler, the Nauru reed-warbler, and the Nauru reed warbler. In the native Nauruan language, it is known as Itsirir. A 2009 phylogenic study of the family Acrocephalidae did not include this species, and as recently as 2010 its relation with other members of the genus was unknown. A 2011 analysis of mitochondrial DNA showed that the Nauru reed warbler forms a clade with the Australian reed warbler, the bokikokiko, the southern Marquesan reed warbler and a now-extinct species from Pagan Island in the Marianas. The closest relative of the Nauru reed warbler appears to be the extinct warbler from Pagan. This is currently named as a subspecies of the nightingale reed warbler, A. luscinius yamashinae, but that species is polyphyletic, and the Pagan form, which has been proposed as a new species, the Pagan reed warbler, is in a different clade to nightingale reed warblers from other islands. The pattern of colonisation of the Pacific islands and eventually Australia by the Acrocephalus warblers from Asia was complex, with multiple colonisations of even remote archipelagos. Although the Hawaiian islands were colonised about 2.3 million years ago, the other islands were reached much more recently, in the mid-Pleistocene (between 0.2–1.4 million years ago) or even later. The nearest other warblers geographically to Nauru are the Carolinian reed warbler and the nightingale reed warbler. ## Description The Nauru reed warbler is a medium-sized and warmly coloured reed warbler, with a relatively light build. The entirety of the upperparts are dark brown, with the rump and uppertail coverts slightly brighter than the tail and mantle. When closed, the wing is the same colour as the mantle, short and rounded. The wing does not reach the start of the tail feathers, which enhances the appearance of a long tail. Close inspection of the wing reveals darker centres to both the greater coverts and tertial feathers. Its face shows little contrast, as the ear coverts, crown, nape, chin and throat are all a similar shade of pale brown. The lores are a dark brown, and there is a pale, creamy supercilium, or "eyebrow", extending from the beak to the ear coverts, which are a cinnamon-brown, darkening and merging with the nape. The beak is long, thin and straight. The underparts are much lighter, darkening towards the vent and undertail coverts. The chin is a dull cream, merging with the throat, which then browns towards the base. The centre of the breast is a dull brown-yellow, while the sides are a reddish brown. The upper mandible of the beak is dark grey with pink edges, while the lower mandible is pink, darkening towards to the tip. The legs and feet are dark grey. The bird measures up to 15 centimetres (5.9 in), with a wingspan of 6.7 to 7.2 centimetres (2.6 to 2.8 in). The species exhibits no sexual dimorphism, and characteristics of the young are unknown. As the only passerine on the island, there is no chance that this species may be confused with any other. The Nauru reed warbler is slightly smaller than the Caroline reed warbler, which is also lighter in colour, with a more contrasting eyebrow. The nightingale reed warbler is substantially larger, and the Oriental reed warbler has a duller colouration, with whiter underparts. ## Distribution and habitat The Nauru reed warbler is endemic to the island of Nauru, in the Pacific Ocean. It is one of only two indigenous land birds which breed on the island, the other being the Micronesian pigeon. The warbler can be found throughout the island, thriving in the scrubland in areas previously used for phosphate mining, as well as the remaining patches of forest on the island's central plateau. It is most common in the remains of forest found on the island's steep slopes. It is also readily observed in gardens and ruderal areas on the island's coast. In 1881, Finsch described the species as abundant, calling it "as common as the House-Sparrow in England." Biologist Donald Buden again found it widespread on the island in 2008. The species is sedentary, meaning that the birds do not naturally leave Nauru. Banaba is the nearest island, and despite being similar to Nauru, it lacks any warblers. However, it is possible that populations of the Nauru reed warbler existed on other islands until comparatively recently. On the Marshall Islands, traditional stories refer to a small bird, known in Marshallese as annañ, anang or annãng. This bird was considered the property of chieftains. Though no physical descriptions exist of the species, it has been described as butterfly-sized, pleasant-smelling and as living among rocks on the shores of north-western islands. Ethnographers Krämer and Nevermann reported that the bird became extinct or extirpated around 1880. Based on descriptions of birds seen on Jaluit, Paul Schnee hypothesised that the annañ may have been a Nauru reed warbler. The extinction of the annañ may have been due to hunting by cats, which were introduced to the Marshall Islands by the Russian Otto von Kotzebue in 1817 to hunt rats. They then multiplied before being spread by locals as pets, after which they started to become feral. ## Behaviour and ecology Nauru reed warbler nests are cup-shaped and woven from grasses and twigs. They sometimes include Cassytha filiformis vine or Casuarina equisetifolia needles. The nests are bound to upright stems in a way typical of warblers. Buden reported that the warblers nest in trees and shrubs at a height of 2 to 8 m (6.6 to 26.2 ft). The species may also nest on the ground; the young in ground nests may be more vulnerable to predation by rats. Eggs have variously been reported in December and July, and ornithologist A. Pearson suggested that the species may nest all year round. The clutch size has been reported as two or three eggs. Incubation and fledgling periods are unknown. Pearson reported lower nesting than Buden, recording nests in bushes and undergrowth between 45 and 300 cm (18 and 118 in) from the ground, especially in forked branches of hibiscus and lime. Buden reported that the birds were more vocal in December than in March and April. The song has been described as similar to that of a song thrush, common blackbird, or willie wagtail, and it is delivered both day and night. Finsch described the warbler as insectivorous, feeding primarily on dragonflies. Six species of dragonfly have been observed on the island: Ischnura aurora, Anax guttatus, Diplacodes bipunctata, Pantala flavescens, Tholymis tillarga and Tramea transmarina. Buden did not observe the species feeding on dragonflies, but did see three different feeding habits. Most frequently, the birds were seen moving through trees and shrubs, catching prey on the foliage. Other birds were seen perched close to the floor, darting to the ground, and returning to the perch with prey. In open areas, the birds were observed moving across the ground, "occasionally grasping a presumed prey item". In coastal areas, they have been observed feeding in coconut trees. Potential predators for the birdlife of Nauru in general include feral cats and dogs, as well as the Polynesian rat and the tanezumi rat. Feral cats and wild rats in particular are potential threats to the Nauru reed warbler. ## Status The IUCN lists the species as "Vulnerable", because "its very small range leaves it susceptible to chance events, such as cyclones and the introduction of alien predators." BirdLife International previously estimated that there were between 10,000 and 20,000 Nauru reed warblers, based on 1993 data, but Buden's 2006 estimate of 5,000 birds of all ages led to a revised figure of 3,000 mature individuals, a figure reaffirmed in 2016. In 2001, it was observed that the removal of the phosphate deposits on the island meant that the vegetation was decreasing, presenting a potential threat to the species. In 2008, however, Buden claimed that "habitat degradation and loss of native forest via mining operations has apparently had no major adverse effects on the population." Nauru reed warblers were observed to be common on the island, and flourishing in the scrubland left by mining. Unlike other birds on the island, the species is not hunted, and is protected under Schedule 1 of Nauru's Wild Birds Preservation Ordinance 1937. For conservation purposes, the IUCN recommends regular surveys of the population and the establishment of a monitoring programme through training local people. It also proposed raising conservation awareness by increasing the profile of the bird. ## See also - List of birds of Nauru
4,590,006	Dromaeosauroides	1,167,943,121	Genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous	[ "2003 in Denmark", "Bornholm", "Early Cretaceous dinosaurs of Europe", "Eudromaeosaurs", "Fossil taxa described in 2003" ]	Dromaeosauroides is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of what is now Denmark and possibly also England. It was discovered in the Jydegaard Formation in the Robbedale valley, on the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. This is the only likely place for dinosaur remains to be discovered on Danish territory, since the Mesozoic deposits exposed in the rest of the country are marine. Dromaeosauroides is the first known dinosaur from this location, and the only one which has been scientifically named. It is one of the oldest known dromaeosaurs in the world, and the first known uncontested dromaeosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Europe. It is known from two teeth, the first of which was found in 2000 and the second in 2008. Based on the first tooth (the holotype), the genus and species Dromaeosauroides bornholmensis was named in 2003. The genus name means "Dromaeosaurus-like", due to the similarity to the teeth of that genus, and the species name means "from Bornholm". After this discovery, remains and tracks of more dinosaurs were found in several formations on Bornholm. Some teeth from the United Kingdom that have been referred to the genus Nuthetes may also belong to this animal. Coprolites containing fish remains found in the Jydegaard Formation may belong to Dromaeosauroides. The holotype tooth is 21.7 millimetres (0.85 in) long, and the second tooth is 15 millimetres (0.59 in). They are curved and finely serrated. In life, Dromaeosauroides would have been 2 to 3 metres (7 to 10 ft) in length, and weighed about 40 kilograms (88 lb). As a dromaeosaur it would have been feathered, and had a large sickle claw on its feet like its relatives Dromaeosaurus and Deinonychus. It lived in a coastal lagoon environment with sauropods, as evidenced by a possible titanosaur tooth. ## Discovery and naming Few dinosaur remains have been found in Scandinavia. The mainland of western Denmark is an unlikely region to find dinosaur remains, since the Mesozoic sediments there are marine Maastrichtian chalk. Fossils of non-dinosaurian marine animals, including mosasaurs and plesiosaurs, have been found in these deposits. Mesozoic deposits in Scania, Sweden, are much richer in fossils, including those of dinosaurs. The Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea was part of the same land mass as Scania (the Scandinavian-Russian continent), and has a similar geology. The southwestern part of the island is the only place in Denmark which has yielded dinosaur remains. During the 1990s, the Fossil Project (disbanded in 2005) was formed by a group of unemployed people who received funding from Denmark and the EEC to maintain geological sites on Bornholm. One of these, "Carl Nielsen's sandpit" in the Robbedale valley (not to be confused with the Robbedale Formation, where no vertebrate remains have been found), is part of the Jydegaard Formation. This formation is 140 million years old, dating to the Late Berriasian (or Ryazanian) stage of the Early Cretaceous period. The Fossil Project sifted sand at these sites in cooperation with the NaturBornholm interpretation centre, which exhibited the fossils discovered. In September 2000, Danish palaeontologists Per Christiansen and Niels Bonde taught a field course at the site, "The Hunt for Danish Dinosaurs". During the course, geology student Eliza Jarl Estrup found a theropod tooth, the first dinosaur discovered on Danish territory, and the find was recorded by a local television station. The tooth was presented at the 45th annual meeting of the Palaeontological Association in 2001, and identified as a dromaeosaur. In 2003 the tooth (MGUH 27218/DK 315) was made the holotype specimen of Dromaeosauroides bornholmensis—named and described by Christiansen and Bonde. The genus name combines Dromaeosaurus with the Greek -ides ("in the form of"), referring to the resemblance between the teeth of the two genera. The specific name refers to Bornholm. The name Dromaeosaurus itself has been translated as "swift" or "running reptile". Bonde and Christiansen had expected the first Danish dinosaur remains to be teeth of herbivorous dinosaurs such as hypsilophodonts or Iguanodon, and were surprised to find a dromaeosaur tooth instead, since these are rare in Early Cretaceous formations; herbivores would have been more abundant than carnivores. Because the dromaeosaur seems to have been large, they expected that resilient bones, such as claws, might be found in the future. The palaeontologists did not expect bones of larger dinosaurs to be discovered in the formation (since these would most likely have been found when the sand was commercially exploited), but hoped the remains of a Mesozoic mammal would be found. The holotype tooth has been illustrated in several books and research articles. It was certified "Danekræ" ("Danish creature", according to a 1990 Danish museum law securing important fossils) when its scientific importance was evaluated by the Geological Museum in Copenhagen. In late summer 2008, ranger Jens Kofoed found a second dromaeosaurid tooth. This specimen (DK 559) was found in the same location, and later assigned to D. bornholmensis as well. Kofoed explained that the finds were surprising because people had been unsuccessfully searching for dinosaur remains in Denmark for years, and it was like finding a "needle in a haystack". In a press release, the second dromaeosaur tooth was also certified Danekræ by the Natural History Museum of Denmark, which compared the animal to the raptors in the film Jurassic Park, noting that the animals, unlike the film's raptors, would have been feathered. Since the discovery of Dromaeosauroides, evidence of more dinosaurs has been found on Bornholm. In 2002, a tooth thought to belong to a juvenile titanosaurian sauropod was found in the Jydegaard Formation. Footprints of a sauropod and a thyreophoran were reported from the Middle Jurassic Bagå Formation in 2005. Small dromaeosaur and indeterminate maniraptoran teeth from the Early Cretaceous Rabekke Formation were reported in 2008, and sauropod tracks were also reported from the formation that year. In 2011, footprints of a sauropod, a thyreophoran and a theropod were reported from the Bagå Formation. Lower Jurassic tracks reported form the Rønne Formation on Bornholm in 2014 are the earliest evidence of dinosaur activity in Denmark. A tooth from the multituberculate Sunnyodon was found in the Rabekke Formation in 2004, making it the first known Danish and Scandinavian Mesozoic mammal. In 2012, Jesper Milàn and colleagues described two coprolites (fossilised faeces) containing fish scales and bones. They were found in the Jydegaard Formation, the first such fossils found in Danish continental Mesozoic deposits. Although the producer of these faeces cannot be identified with certainty, marine turtles and dromaeosaurids such as Dromaeosauroides are the most likely candidates. ## Description Fossil theropod teeth are typically identified according to features including size, proportion, curvature of the crown and the morphology and number of denticles (serrations). The holotype of D. bornholmensis is a tooth crown 21.7 millimetres (0.85 in) long, 9.7 millimetres (0.38 in) from front to back and 6.6 millimetres (0.26 in) wide at the base. The front part of the tooth was worn, indicating that it was shed when the animal was alive. It was further affected by taphonomic wear; the base of the tooth is irregular, so it may have been slightly longer in life. The curvature and length of the holotype tooth and the length of its hindmost cutting edge (carina) indicates it was in the front of the jaw. The tooth is recurved with a backward bend, and is oval in cross-section. Its front and back cutting edges are finely serrated, extending two-thirds down each edge. There are six denticles per millimeter (0.04 in), and each denticle is square and chiseled. The overall form of the tooth, its width and shape in cross-section and its curvature resemble those in the maxilla (upper jawbone) and mandible of the species Dromaeosaurus albertensis from North America. Blood grooves are indistinct or absent, also similar to Dromaeosaurus, and differing from members of the Velociraptorinae subfamily. Dromaeosauroides differs from Dromaeosaurus in that the cutting edge at the front side is further from the middle of the tooth. Although the tooth is larger and the denticles similar, each denticle was smaller than those of Dromaeosaurus, which had only 13–20 denticles per 5 millimetres (0.20 in), instead of Dromaeosauroides''' 30. The second known tooth is smaller—15 millimetres (0.59 in)—with the same features as the holotype. The holotype tooth is roughly 25 percent larger than equivalent Dromaeosaurus teeth, from which a body length of 3 metres (120 in) or more was estimated for Dromaeosauroides; it may have been as long as 3 to 4 metres (9.8 to 13.1 ft). In an interview, Christiansen estimated its skull to be 35 centimetres (14 in) long and the animal's weight 40 kilograms (88 lb); a Bengal tiger of the same length would weigh 150 to 180 kilograms (330 to 400 lb) by comparison. As a dromaeosaur, Dromaeosauroides would have had a large sickle claw on its highly mobile second toe, like its relatives Dromaeosaurus, Velociraptor and Deinonychus. That group is closely related to birds, and the NaturBornholm interpretive centre houses a roughly life-sized sculpture of Dromaeosauroides covered in feathers. Later Chinese finds of well-preserved feathered dromaeosaurs indicate that the sculpture should have more and longer feathers to be accurate. Although some smaller dromaeosaurs may have been able to fly, flight was unlikely for an animal the size of Dromaeosauroides. ## Classification Several features of the tooth are only known from members of the family Dromaeosauridae of theropod dinosaurs. Dromaeosauroides was classified as a member of the Dromaeosaurinae subfamily within the Dromaeosauridae, due to its similarity to Dromaeosaurus. Despite the resemblance, Dromaeosauroides is not considered part of that genus. It is unlikely that a genus would survive for 60 million years; Dromaeosauroides lived during the Early Cretaceous, and Dromaeosaurus during the Late Cretaceous. The differences between their denticles also indicate they should be kept separate. According to Bonde, Dromaeosauroides is one of the oldest known dromaeosaurs in the world; older remains, for the most part, have only tentatively been referred to Dromaeosauridae. Dromaeosauroides was the first definite dromaeosaurid known from the Early Cretaceous of Europe, depending on the identity of Nuthetes from the Middle Purbeck formation of the United Kingdom (which may slightly predate the Jydegaard Formation). It is uncertain whether the juvenile holotype specimen of Nuthetes has dromaeosaurid characteristics. Large specimens referred to Nuthetes appear to belong to true dromaeosaurs, and may belong to Dromaeosauroides rather than Nuthetes. These specimens measure 15 to 18 millimetres (0.59 to 0.71 in). Dromaeosauroides has been considered an indeterminate dromaeosaur by some scientists. Bonde responded that since the teeth differ from those of other dromaeosaurs from the Early Cretaceous (and later members of the group, including Dromaeosaurus), it should be considered valid. He also said that these scientists had provided incorrect information about the location, strata and age of the specimen, and that the circumstances of its naming were no different from those of other tooth-based taxa. The German palaeontologist Oliver W. M. Rauhut and colleagues cautioned in 2010 that theropod teeth from the Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous similar to those of dromaeosaurids may instead have belonged to the small tyrannosauroid Proceratosaurus or related taxa. ## Palaeoenvironment Only a corner of the Jydegaard Formation is exposed today; the remainder is overgrown. Jydegaard is part of the Nyker Group, which includes three formations (Rabekke, Robbedale and Jydegaard) ranging from the Berriasian to the Valanginian ages of the Early Cretaceous. Jydegaard consists of sediments deposited in a fresh-to-brackish lagoon facing a coastal strip. In addition to Dromaeosauroides and a possible titanosaur, remains of hybodont sharks, fish such as Lepidotes and Pleuropholis, turtles, lizards, the crocodile Pholidosaurus and thin bone fragments from birds or pterosaurs have been found in the deposit. The bivalve Neomiodon is found in abundance in the sediments below (the Neomiodon Bed), indicating mass mortality, perhaps due to dinoflagellate toxins. The fish and bivalves were found in clay which was probably a lagoon, and the dinosaurs and lizards in sand which probably was land, perhaps a beach; turtles and crocodiles were found in both. Freshwater snails were found in clay that may have been shallow, drying lakes behind a sandy barrier between lagoon and sea, in a setting perhaps similar to the Florida Keys or the southwestern coast of Jutland. Dinosaurs may have fed there, based on the remains of plants and small land animals, and theropods may have hunted along the shore. Bornholm and Scania appear to be the only places were remains of the Scandinavian-Russian fauna of the Early Cretaceous can be found. Further investigations there may show whether this fauna has European or Asian affinities. Based on possible dromaeosaur coprolites from the Jydegaard Formation, which contained scales of the fish Lepidotes, Milàn and colleagues speculated that some dromaeosaurids were able to catch fish with the enlarged sickle claw on the second digit of the foot, similar to the "spear fishing" that has been proposed for the theropod Baryonyx'' and its enlarged thumb claw. The larger of the two coprolites has evidence of coprophagous organisms. ## See also - Timeline of dromaeosaurid research
31,165	Tower of London	1,172,712,081	Castle in central London, England	[ "Army museums in London", "Buildings and structures completed in 1078", "Buildings and structures on the River Thames", "Castles in London", "Defence of London", "Defunct prisons in London", "Fortifications of London", "Gothic architecture in England", "Grade I listed buildings in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets", "Grade I listed castles", "Historic Royal Palaces", "History museums in London", "Honourable Artillery Company", "Local museums in London", "Museums in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets", "Museums on the River Thames", "National government buildings in London", "Regimental museums in London", "Reportedly haunted locations in London", "Royal Regiment of Fusiliers", "Royal residences in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets", "Tourist attractions in London", "Tower of London", "Towers completed in the 11th century", "Towers in London", "William the Conqueror", "World Heritage Sites in London" ]	The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separated from the eastern edge of the square mile of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill. It was founded toward the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 and was a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new Norman ruling class. The castle was also used as a prison from 1100 (Ranulf Flambard) until 1952 (Kray twins), although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under kings Richard I, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site. The Tower of London has played a prominent role in English history. It was besieged several times, and controlling it has been important to controlling the country. The Tower has served variously as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a public record office, and the home of the Crown Jewels of England. From the early 14th century until the reign of Charles II in the 17th century, a procession would be led from the Tower to Westminster Abbey on the coronation of a monarch. In the absence of the monarch, the Constable of the Tower is in charge of the castle. This was a powerful and trusted position in the medieval period. In the late 15th century, the Princes in the Tower were housed at the castle when they mysteriously disappeared, presumed murdered. Under the Tudors, the Tower became used less as a royal residence, and despite attempts to refortify and repair the castle, its defences lagged behind developments to deal with artillery. The zenith of the castle's use as a prison was the 16th and 17th centuries, when many figures who had fallen into disgrace, such as Elizabeth I before she became queen, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Elizabeth Throckmorton, were held within its walls. This use has led to the phrase "sent to the Tower". Despite its enduring reputation as a place of torture and death, popularised by 16th-century religious propagandists and 19th-century writers, only seven people were executed within the Tower before the world wars of the 20th century. Executions were more commonly held on the notorious Tower Hill to the north of the castle, with 112 occurring there over a 400-year period. In the latter half of the 19th century, institutions such as the Royal Mint moved out of the castle to other locations, leaving many buildings empty. Anthony Salvin and John Taylor took the opportunity to restore the Tower to what was felt to be its medieval appearance, clearing out many of the vacant post-medieval structures. In the First and Second World Wars, the Tower was again used as a prison and witnessed the executions of 12 men for espionage. After the Second World War, damage caused during the Blitz was repaired, and the castle reopened to the public. Today, the Tower of London is one of the country's most popular tourist attractions. Under the ceremonial charge of the Constable of the Tower, operated by the Resident Governor of the Tower of London and Keeper of the Jewel House, and guarded by the Yeomen Warders, the property is cared for by the charity Historic Royal Palaces and is protected as a World Heritage Site. ## Architecture ### Layout The Tower was oriented with its strongest and most impressive defences overlooking Saxon London, which archaeologist Alan Vince suggests was deliberate. It would have visually dominated the surrounding area and stood out to traffic on the River Thames. The castle is made up of three "wards", or enclosures. The innermost ward contains the White Tower and is the earliest phase of the castle. Encircling it to the north, east, and west is the inner ward, built during the reign of Richard I (1189–1199). Finally, there is the outer ward which encompasses the castle and was built under Edward I. Although there were several phases of expansion after William the Conqueror founded the Tower of London, the general layout has remained the same since Edward I completed his rebuild in 1285. The castle encloses an area of almost 12 acres (4.9 hectares) with a further 6 acres (2.4 ha) around the Tower of London constituting the Tower Liberties – land under the direct influence of the castle and cleared for military reasons. The precursor of the Liberties was laid out in the 13th century when Henry III ordered that a strip of land adjacent to the castle be kept clear. Despite popular fiction, the Tower of London never had a permanent torture chamber, although the basement of the White Tower housed a rack in later periods. Tower Wharf was built on the bank of the Thames under Edward I and was expanded to its current size during the reign of Richard II (1377–1399). ### White Tower The White Tower is a keep (also known as a donjon), which was often the strongest structure in a medieval castle, and contained lodgings suitable for the lord – in this case, the king or his representative. According to military historian Allen Brown, "The great tower [White Tower] was also, by virtue of its strength, majesty and lordly accommodation, the donjon par excellence". As one of the largest keeps in the Christian world, the White Tower has been described as "the most complete eleventh-century palace in Europe". The White Tower, not including its projecting corner towers, measures 36 by 32 metres (118 by 105 ft) at the base, and is 27 m (90 ft) high at the southern battlements. The structure was originally three storeys high, comprising a basement floor, an entrance level, and an upper floor. The entrance, as is usual in Norman keeps, was above ground, in this case on the south face, and accessed via a wooden staircase which could be removed in the event of an attack. It was probably during Henry II's reign (1154–1189) that a forebuilding was added to the south side of the tower to provide extra defences to the entrance, but it has not survived. Each floor was divided into three chambers, the largest in the west, a smaller room in the north-east, and the chapel taking up the entrance and upper floors of the south-east. At the western corners of the building are square towers, while to the north-east a round tower houses a spiral staircase. At the south-east corner there is a larger semi-circular projection which accommodates the apse of the chapel. As the building was intended to be a comfortable residence as well as a stronghold, latrines were built into the walls, and four fireplaces provided warmth. The main building material is Kentish ragstone, although some local mudstone was also used. Caen stone was imported from northern France to provide details in the Tower's facing, although little of the original material survives as it was replaced with Portland stone in the 17th and 18th centuries. Reigate stone was also used as ashlar and for carved details. Its location, in the lower courses of the building and at higher levels corresponding to a building break, suggest it was readily available and may have been used when access to Caen stone was restricted. As most of the Tower's windows were enlarged in the 18th century, only two original – albeit restored – examples remain, in the south wall at the gallery level. The tower was terraced into the side of a mound, so the northern side of the basement is partially below ground level. As was typical of most keeps, the bottom floor was an undercroft used for storage. One of the rooms contained a well. Although the layout has remained the same since the tower's construction, the interior of the basement dates mostly from the 18th century when the floor was lowered and the pre-existing timber vaults were replaced with brick counterparts. The basement is lit through small slits. The entrance floor was probably intended for the use of the Constable of the Tower, Lieutenant of the Tower of London and other important officials. The south entrance was blocked during the 17th century, and not reopened until 1973. Those heading to the upper floor had to pass through a smaller chamber to the east, also connected to the entrance floor. The crypt of St John's Chapel occupied the south-east corner and was accessible only from the eastern chamber. There is a recess in the north wall of the crypt; according to Geoffrey Parnell, Keeper of the Tower History at the Royal Armouries, "the windowless form and restricted access, suggest that it was designed as a strong-room for safekeeping of royal treasures and important documents". The upper floor contained a grand hall in the west and residential chamber in the east – both originally open to the roof and surrounded by a gallery built into the wall – and St John's Chapel in the south-east. The top floor was added in the 15th century, along with the present roof. St John's Chapel was not part of the White Tower's original design, as the apsidal projection was built after the basement walls. Due to changes in function and design since the tower's construction, except for the chapel little is left of the original interior. The chapel's current bare and unadorned appearance is reminiscent of how it would have been in the Norman period. In the 13th century, during Henry III's reign, the chapel was decorated with such ornamentation as a gold-painted cross, and stained glass windows that depicted the Virgin Mary and the Holy Trinity. ### Innermost ward The innermost ward encloses an area immediately south of the White Tower, stretching to what was once the edge of the River Thames. As was the case at other castles, such as the 11th-century Hen Domen, the innermost ward was probably filled with timber buildings from the Tower's foundation. Exactly when the royal lodgings began to encroach from the White Tower into the innermost ward is uncertain, although it had happened by the 1170s. The lodgings were renovated and elaborated during the 1220s and 1230s, becoming comparable with other palatial residences such as Windsor Castle. Construction of Wakefield and Lanthorn Towers – located at the corners of the innermost ward's wall along the river – began around 1220. They probably served as private residences for the queen and king respectively. The earliest evidence for how the royal chambers were decorated comes from Henry III's reign: the queen's chamber was whitewashed, and painted with flowers and imitation stonework. A great hall existed in the south of the ward, between the two towers. It was similar to, although slightly smaller than, that also built by Henry III at Winchester Castle. Near Wakefield Tower was a postern gate which allowed private access to the king's apartments. The innermost ward was originally surrounded by a protective ditch, which had been filled in by the 1220s. Around this time, a kitchen was built in the ward. Between 1666 and 1676, the innermost ward was transformed and the palace buildings removed. The area around the White Tower was cleared so that anyone approaching would have to cross open ground. The Jewel House was demolished, and the Crown Jewels moved to Martin Tower. ### Inner ward The inner ward was created during Richard the Lionheart's reign, when a moat was dug to the west of the innermost ward, effectively doubling the castle's size. Henry III created the ward's east and north walls, and the ward's dimensions remain to this day. Most of Henry's work survives, and only two of the nine towers he constructed have been completely rebuilt. Between the Wakefield and Lanthorn Towers, the innermost ward's wall also serves as a curtain wall for the inner ward. The main entrance to the inner ward would have been through a gatehouse, most likely in the west wall on the site of what is now Beauchamp Tower. The inner ward's western curtain wall was rebuilt by Edward I. The 13th-century Beauchamp Tower marks the first large-scale use of brick as a building material in Britain, since the 5th-century departure of the Romans. The Beauchamp Tower is one of 13 towers that stud the curtain wall. Clockwise from the south-west corner they are: Bell, Beauchamp, Devereux, Flint, Bowyer, Brick, Martin, Constable, Broad Arrow, Salt, Lanthorn, Wakefield, and the Bloody Tower. While these towers provided positions from which flanking fire could be deployed against a potential enemy, they also contained accommodation. As its name suggests, Bell Tower housed a belfry, its purpose to raise the alarm in the event of an attack. The royal bow-maker, responsible for making longbows, crossbows, catapults, and other siege and hand weapons, had a workshop in the Bowyer Tower. A turret at the top of Lanthorn Tower was used as a beacon by traffic approaching the Tower at night. As a result of Henry's expansion, St Peter ad Vincula, a Norman chapel which had previously stood outside the Tower, was incorporated into the castle. Henry decorated the chapel by adding glazed windows, and stalls for himself and his queen. It was rebuilt by Edward I at a cost of over £300 and again by Henry VIII in 1519; the current building dates from this period, although the chapel was refurbished in the 19th century. Immediately west of Wakefield Tower, the Bloody Tower was built at the same time as the inner ward's curtain wall, and as a water-gate provided access to the castle from the River Thames. It was a simple structure, protected by a portcullis and gate. The Bloody Tower acquired its name in the 16th century, as it was believed to be the site of the murder of the Princes in the Tower. Between 1339 and 1341, a gatehouse was built into the curtain wall between Bell and Salt Towers. During the Tudor period, a range of buildings for the storage of munitions was built along the inside of the north inner ward. The castle buildings were remodelled during the Stuart period, mostly under the auspices of the Office of Ordnance. In 1663, just over £4,000 was spent building a new storehouse (now known as the New Armouries) in the inner ward. Construction of the Grand Storehouse north of the White Tower began in 1688, on the same site as the dilapidated Tudor range of storehouses; it was destroyed by fire in 1841. The Waterloo Block, a former barracks in the castellated Gothic Revival style with Domestic Tudor details, was built on the site and remains to this day, housing the Crown Jewels on the ground floor. ### Outer ward A third ward was created during Edward I's extension to the Tower, as the narrow enclosure completely surrounded the castle. At the same time a bastion known as Legge's Mount was built at the castle's northwest corner. Brass Mount, the bastion in the northeast corner, was a later addition. The three rectangular towers along the east wall 15 metres (49 ft) apart were dismantled in 1843. Although the bastions have often been ascribed to the Tudor period, there is no evidence to support this; archaeological investigations suggest that Legge's Mount dates from the reign of Edward I. Blocked battlements (also known as crenellations) in the south side of Legge's Mount are the only surviving medieval battlements at the Tower of London (the rest are Victorian replacements). A new 50-metre (160 ft) moat was dug beyond the castle's new limits; it was originally 4.5 metres (15 ft) deeper in the middle than it is today. With the addition of a new curtain wall, the old main entrance to the Tower of London was obscured and made redundant; a new entrance was created in the southwest corner of the external wall circuit. The complex consisted of an inner and an outer gatehouse and a barbican, which became known as the Lion Tower as it was associated with the animals as part of the Royal Menagerie since at least the 1330s. The Lion Tower itself no longer survives. Edward extended the south side of the Tower of London onto land that had previously been submerged by the River Thames. In this wall, he built St Thomas's Tower between 1275 and 1279; later known as Traitors' Gate, it replaced the Bloody Tower as the castle's water-gate. The building is unique in England, and the closest parallel is the now demolished water-gate at the Louvre in Paris. The dock was covered with arrowslits in case of an attack on the castle from the River; there was also a portcullis at the entrance to control who entered. There were luxurious lodgings on the first floor. Edward also moved the Royal Mint into the Tower; its exact location early on is unknown, although it was probably in either the outer ward or the Lion Tower. By 1560, the Mint was located in a building in the outer ward near Salt Tower. Between 1348 and 1355, a second water-gate, Cradle Tower, was added east of St Thomas's Tower for the king's private use. ## History ### Foundation and early history Victorious at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, the invading Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror, spent the rest of the year securing his holdings by fortifying key positions. He founded several castles along the way, but took a circuitous route toward London; only when he reached Canterbury did he turn towards England's largest city. As the fortified bridge into London was held by Saxon troops, he decided instead to ravage Southwark before continuing his journey around southern England. A series of Norman victories along the route cut the city's supply lines and in December 1066, isolated and intimidated, its leaders yielded London without a fight. Between 1066 and 1087, William established 36 castles, although references in the Domesday Book indicate that many more were founded by his subordinates. The Normans undertook what has been described as "the most extensive and concentrated programme of castle-building in the whole history of feudal Europe". They were multi-purpose buildings, serving as fortifications (used as a base of operations in enemy territory), centres of administration, and residences. William sent an advance party to prepare the city for his entrance, to celebrate his victory and found a castle; in the words of William's biographer, William of Poitiers, "certain fortifications were completed in the city against the restlessness of the huge and brutal populace. For he [William] realised that it was of the first importance to overawe the Londoners". At the time, London was the largest town in England; the foundation of Westminster Abbey and the old Palace of Westminster under Edward the Confessor had marked it as a centre of governance, and with a prosperous port it was important for the Normans to establish control over the settlement. The other two castles in London – Baynard's Castle and Montfichet's Castle – were established at the same time. The fortification that would later become known as the Tower of London was built onto the south-east corner of the Roman town walls, using them as prefabricated defences, with the River Thames providing additional protection from the south. This earliest phase of the castle would have been enclosed by a ditch and defended by a timber palisade, and probably had accommodation suitable for William. Most of the early Norman castles were built from timber, but by the end of the 11th century a few, including the Tower of London, had been renovated or replaced with stone. Work on the White Tower – which gives the whole castle its name – is usually considered to have begun in 1078, however the exact date is uncertain. William made Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester, responsible for its construction, although it may not have been completed until after William's death in 1087. The White Tower is the earliest stone keep in England, and was the strongest point of the early castle. It also contained grand accommodation for the king. At the latest, it was probably finished by 1100 when Bishop Ranulf Flambard was imprisoned there. Flambard was loathed by the English for exacting harsh taxes. Although he is the first recorded prisoner held in the Tower, he was also the first person to escape from it, using a smuggled rope secreted in a butt of wine. He was held in luxury and permitted servants, but on 2 February 1101 he hosted a banquet for his captors. After plying them with drink, when no one was looking he lowered himself from a secluded chamber, and out of the Tower. The escape came as such a surprise that one contemporary chronicler accused the bishop of witchcraft. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that in 1097 King William II ordered a wall to be built around the Tower of London; it was probably built from stone and likely replaced the timber palisade that arced around the north and west sides of the castle, between the Roman wall (to the east) and the Thames (to the south). The Norman Conquest of London manifested itself not only with a new ruling class, but in the way the city was structured. Land was confiscated and redistributed amongst the Normans, who also brought over hundreds of Jews, for financial reasons. The Jews arrived under the direct protection of the Crown, as a result of which Jewish communities were often found close to castles. The Jews used the Tower as a retreat, when threatened by anti-Jewish violence. The death in 1135 of Henry I left England with a disputed succession; although the king had persuaded his most powerful barons to swear support for the Empress Matilda, just a few days after Henry's death Stephen of Blois arrived from France to lay claim to the throne. The importance of the city and its Tower is marked by the speed at which he secured London. The castle, which had not been used as a royal residence for some time, was usually left in the charge of a Constable, a post held at this time by Geoffrey de Mandeville. As the Tower was considered an impregnable fortress in a strategically important position, possession was highly valued. Mandeville exploited this, selling his allegiance to Matilda after Stephen was captured in 1141 at the Battle of Lincoln. Once her support waned, the following year he resold his loyalty to Stephen. Through his role as Constable of the Tower, Mandeville became "the richest and most powerful man in England". When he tried the same ploy again, this time holding secret talks with Matilda, Stephen had him arrested, forced him to cede control of his castles, and replaced him with one of his most loyal supporters. Until then the position had been hereditary, originally held by Geoffrey de Mandeville, but the position's authority was such that from then on it remained in the hands of an appointee of the monarch. The position was usually given to someone of great importance, who might not always be at the castle due to other duties. Although the Constable was still responsible for maintaining the castle and its garrison, from an early stage he had a subordinate to help with this duty: the Lieutenant of the Tower. Constables also had civic duties relating to the city. Usually they were given control of the city and were responsible for levying taxes, enforcing the law and maintaining order. The creation in 1191 of the position of Lord Mayor of London removed many of the Constable's civic powers, and at times led to friction between the two. ### Expansion The castle probably retained its form as established by 1100 until the reign of Richard I (1189–1199). The castle was extended under William Longchamp, King Richard's Lord Chancellor and the man in charge of England while he was on crusade. The Pipe Rolls record £2,881 1s 10d spent at the Tower of London between 3 December 1189 and 11 November 1190, from an estimated £7,000 spent by Richard on castle building in England. According to the contemporary chronicler Roger of Howden, Longchamp dug a moat around the castle and tried in vain to fill it from the Thames. Longchamp was also Constable of the Tower, and undertook its expansion while preparing for war with King Richard's younger brother, Prince John, who in Richard's absence arrived in England to try to seize power. As Longchamp's main fortress, he made the Tower as strong as possible. The new fortifications were first tested in October 1191, when the Tower was besieged for the first time in its history. Longchamp capitulated to John after just three days, deciding he had more to gain from surrender than prolonging the siege. John succeeded Richard as king in 1199, but his rule proved unpopular with many of his barons, who in response moved against him. In 1214, while the king was at Windsor Castle, Robert Fitzwalter led an army into London and laid siege to the Tower. Although under-garrisoned, the Tower resisted and the siege was lifted once John signed the Magna Carta. The king reneged on his promises of reform, leading to the outbreak of the First Barons' War. Even after the Magna Carta was signed, Fitzwalter maintained his control of London. During the war, the Tower's garrison joined forces with the barons. John was deposed in 1216 and the barons offered the English throne to Prince Louis, the eldest son of the French king. However, after John's death in October 1216, many began to support the claim of his eldest son, Henry III. War continued between the factions supporting Louis and Henry, with Fitzwalter supporting Louis. Fitzwalter was still in control of London and the Tower, both of which held out until it was clear that Henry III's supporters would prevail. In the 13th century, Kings Henry III (1216–1272) and Edward I (1272–1307) extended the castle, essentially creating it as it stands today. Henry was disconnected from his barons, and a mutual lack of understanding led to unrest and resentment towards his rule. As a result, he was eager to ensure the Tower of London was a formidable fortification; at the same time Henry was an aesthete and wished to make the castle a comfortable place to live. From 1216 to 1227 nearly £10,000 was spent on the Tower of London; in this period, only the work at Windsor Castle cost more (£15,000). Most of the work was focused on the palatial buildings of the innermost ward. The tradition of whitewashing the White Tower (from which it derives its name) began in 1240. Beginning around 1238, the castle was expanded to the east, north, and north-west. The work lasted through the reign of Henry III and into that of Edward I, interrupted occasionally by civil unrest. New creations included a new defensive perimeter, studded with towers, while on the west, north, and east sides, where the wall was not defended by the river, a defensive ditch was dug. The eastern extension took the castle beyond the bounds of the old Roman settlement, marked by the city wall which had been incorporated into the castle's defences. The Tower had long been a symbol of oppression, despised by Londoners, and Henry's building programme was unpopular. So when the gatehouse collapsed in 1240, the locals celebrated the setback. The expansion caused disruption locally and £166 was paid to St Katherine's Hospital and the prior of Holy Trinity in compensation. Henry III often held court at the Tower of London, and held parliament there on at least two occasions (1236 and 1261) when he felt that the barons were becoming dangerously unruly. In 1258, the discontented barons, led by Simon de Montfort, forced the King to agree to reforms including the holding of regular parliaments. Relinquishing the Tower of London was among the conditions. Henry III resented losing power and sought permission from the pope to break his oath. With the backing of mercenaries, Henry installed himself in the Tower in 1261. While negotiations continued with the barons, the King ensconced himself in the castle, although no army moved to take it. A truce was agreed with the condition that the King hand over control of the Tower once again. Henry won a significant victory at the Battle of Evesham in 1265, allowing him to regain control of the country and the Tower of London. Cardinal Ottobuon came to England to excommunicate those who were still rebellious; the act was deeply unpopular and the situation was exacerbated when the cardinal was granted custody of the Tower. Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, marched on London in April 1267 and laid siege to the castle, declaring that custody of the Tower was "not a post to be trusted in the hands of a foreigner, much less of an ecclesiastic". Despite a large army and siege engines, Gilbert de Clare was unable to take the castle. The Earl retreated, allowing the King control of the capital, and the Tower experienced peace for the rest of Henry's reign. Although he was rarely in London, Edward I undertook an expensive remodelling of the Tower, costing £21,000 between 1275 and 1285, over double that spent on the castle during the whole of Henry III's reign. Edward I was a seasoned castle builder, and used his experience of siege warfare during the crusades to bring innovations to castle building. His programme of castle building in Wales heralded the introduction of the widespread use of arrowslits in castle walls across Europe, drawing on Eastern influences. At the Tower of London, Edward filled in the moat dug by Henry III and built a new curtain wall along its line, creating a new enclosure. A new moat was created in front of the new curtain wall. The western part of Henry III's curtain wall was rebuilt, with Beauchamp Tower replacing the castle's old gatehouse. A new entrance was created, with elaborate defences including two gatehouses and a barbican. In an effort to make the castle self-sufficient, Edward I also added two watermills. Six hundred Jews were imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1278, charged with coin clipping. Persecution of the country's Jewish population under Edward began in 1276 and culminated in 1290 when he issued the Edict of Expulsion, forcing the Jews out of the country. In 1279, the country's numerous mints were unified under a single system whereby control was centralised to the mint within the Tower of London, while mints outside of London were reduced, with only a few local and episcopal mints continuing to operate. ### Later Medieval Period During Edward II's reign (1307–1327) there was relatively little activity at the Tower of London. However, it was during this period that the Privy Wardrobe was founded. The institution was based at the Tower and responsible for organising the state's arms. In 1321, Margaret de Clare, Baroness Badlesmere became the first woman imprisoned in the Tower of London after she refused Queen Isabella admittance to Leeds Castle and ordered her archers to target Isabella, killing six of the royal escort. Generally reserved for high-ranking inmates, the Tower was the most important royal prison in the country. However it was not necessarily very secure, and throughout its history people bribed the guards to help them escape. In 1323, Roger Mortimer, Baron Mortimer, was aided in his escape from the Tower by the Sub-Lieutenant of the Tower who let Mortimer's men inside. They hacked a hole in his cell wall and Mortimer escaped to a waiting boat. He fled to France where he encountered Edward's Queen. They began an affair and plotted to overthrow the King. One of Mortimer's first acts on entering England in 1326 was to capture the Tower and release the prisoners held there. For four years he ruled while Edward III was too young to do so himself; in 1330, Edward and his supporters captured Mortimer and threw him into the Tower. Under Edward III's rule (1312–1377) England experienced renewed success in warfare after his father's reign had put the realm on the backfoot against the Scots and French. Amongst Edward's successes were the battles of Crécy and Poitiers where King John II of France was taken prisoner, and the capture of the King David II of Scotland at Neville's Cross. During this period, the Tower of London held many noble prisoners of war. Edward II had allowed the Tower of London to fall into a state of disrepair, and by the reign of Edward III the castle was an uncomfortable place. The nobility held captive within its walls were unable to engage in activities such as hunting which were permissible at other royal castles used as prisons, for instance Windsor. Edward III ordered that the castle should be renovated. When Richard II was crowned in 1377, he led a procession from the Tower to Westminster Abbey. This tradition began in at least the early 14th century and lasted until 1660. During the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 the Tower of London was besieged with the King inside. When Richard rode out to meet with Wat Tyler, the rebel leader, a crowd broke into the castle without meeting resistance and looted the Jewel House. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Simon Sudbury, took refuge in St John's Chapel, hoping the mob would respect the sanctuary. However, he was taken away and beheaded on Tower Hill. Six years later there was again civil unrest, and Richard spent Christmas in the security of the Tower rather than Windsor as was more usual. When Henry Bolingbroke returned from exile in 1399, Richard was imprisoned in the White Tower. He abdicated and was replaced on the throne by Bolingbroke, who became King Henry IV. In the 15th century, there was little building work at the Tower of London, yet the castle still remained important as a place of refuge. When supporters of the late Richard II attempted a coup, Henry IV found safety in the Tower of London. During this period, the castle also held many distinguished prisoners. The heir to the Scottish throne, later King James I of Scotland, was kidnapped while journeying to France in 1406 and held in the Tower. The reign of Henry V (1413–1422) renewed England's fortune in the Hundred Years' War against France. As a result of Henry's victories, such as the Battle of Agincourt, many high-status prisoners were held in the Tower of London until they were ransomed. Much of the latter half of the 15th century was occupied by the Wars of the Roses between the claimants to the throne, the houses of Lancaster and York. The castle was once again besieged in 1460, this time by a Yorkist force. The Tower was damaged by artillery fire but only surrendered when Henry VI was captured at the Battle of Northampton. With the help of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (nicknamed "the Kingmaker") Henry recaptured the throne for a short time in 1470. However, Edward IV soon regained control and Henry VI was imprisoned in the Tower of London, where he was probably murdered. In 1471, during the Siege of London, the Tower's Yorkist garrison exchanged fire with Lancastrians holding Southwark, and sallied from the fortress to take part in a pincer movement to attack Lancastrians who were assaulting Aldgate on London's defensive wall. During the wars, the Tower was fortified to withstand gunfire, and provided with loopholes for cannons and handguns: an enclosure called the Bulwark was created for this purpose to the south of Tower Hill, although it no longer survives. Shortly after the death of Edward IV in 1483, the notorious murder of the Princes in the Tower is traditionally believed to have taken place. The incident is one of the most infamous events associated with the Tower of London. Edward V's uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester was declared Lord Protector while the prince was too young to rule. Traditional accounts have held that the 12-year-old Edward was confined to the Tower of London along with his younger brother Richard. The Duke of Gloucester was proclaimed King Richard III in June. The princes were last seen in public in June 1483; it has traditionally been thought that the most likely reason for their disappearance is that they were murdered late in the summer of 1483. Bones thought to belong to them were discovered in 1674 when the 12th-century forebuilding at the entrance to the White Tower was demolished; however, the reputed level at which the bones were found (10 ft or 3 m) would put the bones at a depth similar to that of the Roman graveyard found, in 2011, 12 ft (4 m) underneath the Minories a few hundred yards to the north. Opposition to Richard escalated until he was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 by the Lancastrian Henry Tudor, who ascended to the throne as Henry VII. As king, Henry VII built a tower for a library next to the King's Tower. ### Changing use The beginning of the Tudor period marked the start of the decline of the Tower of London's use as a royal residence. As 16th-century chronicler Raphael Holinshed said the Tower became used more as "an armouries and house of munition, and thereunto a place for the safekeeping of offenders than a palace roiall for a king or queen to sojourne in". Henry VII visited the Tower on fourteen occasions between 1485 and 1500, usually staying for less than a week at a time. The Yeoman Warders have been the Royal Bodyguard since at least 1509. In 1517 the Tower fired its cannon at City crowds engaged in the xenophobic Evil May Day riots, in which the properties of foreign residents were looted. It is not thought that any rioters were hurt by the gunfire, which was probably meant merely to intimidate the mob. During the reign of Henry VIII, the Tower was assessed as needing considerable work on its defences. In 1532, Thomas Cromwell spent £3,593 on repairs and imported nearly 3,000 tons of Caen stone for the work. Even so, this was not sufficient to bring the castle up to the standard of contemporary military fortifications which were designed to withstand powerful artillery. Although the defences were repaired, the palace buildings were left in a state of neglect after Henry's death. Their condition was so poor that they were virtually uninhabitable. From 1547 onwards, the Tower of London was only used as a royal residence when its political and historic symbolism was considered useful, for instance each of Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I briefly stayed at the Tower before their coronations. In the 16th century, the Tower acquired an enduring reputation as a grim, forbidding prison. This had not always been the case. As a royal castle, it was used by the monarch to imprison people for various reasons, however these were usually high-status individuals for short periods rather than common citizenry as there were plenty of prisons elsewhere for such people. Contrary to the popular image of the Tower, prisoners were able to make their life easier by purchasing amenities such as better food or tapestries through the Lieutenant of the Tower. As holding prisoners was originally an incidental role of the Tower – as would have been the case for any castle – there was no purpose-built accommodation for prisoners until 1687 when a brick shed, a "Prison for Soldiers", was built to the north-west of the White Tower. The Tower's reputation for torture and imprisonment derives largely from 16th-century religious propagandists and 19th-century romanticists. Although much of the Tower's reputation is exaggerated, the 16th and 17th centuries marked the castle's zenith as a prison, with many religious and political undesirables locked away. The Privy Council had to sanction the use of torture, so it was not often used; between 1540 and 1640, the peak of imprisonment at the Tower, there were 48 recorded cases of the use of torture. The three most common forms used were the infamous rack, the Scavenger's daughter, and manacles. The rack was introduced to England in 1447 by the Duke of Exeter, the Constable of the Tower; consequentially it was also known as the Duke of Exeter's daughter. One of those tortured at the Tower was Guy Fawkes, who was brought there on 6 November 1605; after torture he signed a full confession to the Gunpowder Plot. Among those held and executed at the Tower was Anne Boleyn. Although the Yeoman Warders were once the Royal Bodyguard, by the 16th and 17th centuries their main duty had become to look after the prisoners. The Tower was often a safer place than other prisons in London such as the Fleet, where disease was rife. High-status prisoners could live in conditions comparable to those they might expect outside; one such example was that while Walter Raleigh was held in the Tower his rooms were altered to accommodate his family, including his son who was born there in 1605. Executions were usually carried out on Tower Hill rather than in the Tower of London itself, and 112 people were executed on the hill over 400 years. Before the 20th century, there had been seven executions within the castle on Tower Green; as was the case with Lady Jane Grey, this was reserved for prisoners for whom public execution was considered dangerous. After Lady Jane Grey's execution on 12 February 1554, Queen Mary I imprisoned her sister Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth I, in the Tower under suspicion of causing rebellion as Sir Thomas Wyatt had led a revolt against Mary in Elizabeth's name. The Office of Ordnance and Armoury Office were founded in the 15th century, taking over the Privy Wardrobe's duties of looking after the monarch's arsenal and valuables. As there was no standing army before 1661, the importance of the royal armoury at the Tower of London was that it provided a professional basis for procuring supplies and equipment in times of war. The two bodies were resident at the Tower from at least 1454, and by the 16th century they had moved to a position in the inner ward. The Board of Ordnance (successor to these Offices) had its headquarters in the White Tower and used surrounding buildings for storage. In 1855 the Board was abolished; its successor (the Military Store Department of the War Office) was also based there until 1869, after which its headquarters staff were relocated to the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich (where the recently closed Woolwich Dockyard was converted into a vast ordnance store). Political tensions between Charles I and Parliament in the second quarter of the 17th century led to an attempt by forces loyal to the King to secure the Tower and its valuable contents, including money and munitions. London's Trained Bands, a militia force, were moved into the castle in 1640. Plans for defence were drawn up and gun platforms were built, readying the Tower for war. The preparations were never put to the test. In 1642, Charles I attempted to arrest five members of parliament. When this failed he fled the city, and Parliament retaliated by removing Sir John Byron, the Lieutenant of the Tower. The Trained Bands had switched sides, and now supported Parliament; together with the London citizenry, they blockaded the Tower. With permission from the King, Byron relinquished control of the Tower. Parliament replaced Byron with a man of their own choosing, Sir John Conyers. By the time the English Civil War broke out in November 1642, the Tower of London was already in Parliament's control. The last monarch to uphold the tradition of taking a procession from the Tower to Westminster to be crowned was Charles II in 1661. At the time, the castle's accommodation was in such poor condition that he did not stay there the night before his coronation. Under the Stuart kings the Tower's buildings were remodelled, mostly under the auspices of the Office of Ordnance. Just over £4,000 was spent in 1663 on building a new storehouse, now known as the New Armouries in the inner ward. In the 17th century there were plans to enhance the Tower's defences in the style of the trace italienne, however they were never acted on. Although the facilities for the garrison were improved with the addition of the first purpose-built quarters for soldiers (the "Irish Barracks") in 1670, the general accommodations were still in poor condition. When the Hanoverian dynasty ascended the throne, their situation was uncertain and with a possible Scottish rebellion in mind, the Tower of London was repaired. Most of the work in this period (1750 to 1770) was done by the King's Master Mason, John Deval. Gun platforms added under the Stuarts had decayed. The number of guns at the Tower was reduced from 118 to 45, and one contemporary commentator noted that the castle "would not hold out four and twenty hours against an army prepared for a siege". For the most part, the 18th-century work on the defences was spasmodic and piecemeal, although a new gateway in the southern curtain wall permitting access from the wharf to the outer ward was added in 1774. The moat surrounding the castle had become silted over the centuries since it was created despite attempts at clearing it. It was still an integral part of the castle's defences, so in 1830 the Constable of the Tower, the Duke of Wellington, ordered a large-scale clearance of several feet of silt. However this did not prevent an outbreak of disease in the garrison in 1841 caused by poor water supply, resulting in several deaths. To prevent the festering ditch posing further health problems, it was ordered that the moat should be drained and filled with earth. The work began in 1843 and was mostly complete two years later. The construction of the Waterloo Barracks in the inner ward began in 1845, when the Duke of Wellington laid the foundation stone. The building could accommodate 1,000 men; at the same time, separate quarters for the officers were built to the north-east of the White Tower. The building is now the headquarters of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. The popularity of the Chartist movement between 1828 and 1858 led to a desire to refortify the Tower of London in the event of civil unrest. It was the last major programme of fortification at the castle. Most of the surviving installations for the use of artillery and firearms date from this period. During the First World War, eleven men were tried in private and shot by firing squad at the Tower for espionage. During the Second World War, the Tower was once again used to hold prisoners of war. One such person was Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler's deputy, albeit just for four days in 1941. He was the last state prisoner to be held at the castle. The last person to be executed at the Tower was German spy Josef Jakobs who was shot on 15 August 1941. The executions for espionage during the wars took place in a prefabricated miniature rifle range which stood in the outer ward and was demolished in 1969. The Second World War also saw the last use of the Tower as a fortification. In the event of a German invasion, the Tower, together with the Royal Mint and nearby warehouses, was to have formed one of three "keeps" or complexes of defended buildings which formed the last-ditch defences of the capital. ## Restoration and tourism The Tower of London has become established as one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country. It has been a tourist attraction since at least the Elizabethan period, when it was one of the sights of London that foreign visitors wrote about. Its most popular attractions were the Royal Menagerie and displays of armour. The Crown Jewels also garner much interest, and have been on public display since 1669. The Tower steadily gained popularity with tourists through the 19th century, despite the opposition of the Duke of Wellington to visitors. Numbers became so high that by 1851 a purpose-built ticket office was erected. By the end of the century, over 500,000 were visiting the castle every year. Over the 18th and 19th centuries, the palatial buildings were slowly adapted for other uses and demolished. Only the Wakefield and St Thomas's Towers survived. The 18th century marked an increasing interest in England's medieval past. One of the effects was the emergence of Gothic Revival architecture. In the Tower's architecture, this was manifest when the New Horse Armoury was built in 1825 against the south face of the White Tower. It featured elements of Gothic Revival architecture such as battlements. Other buildings were remodelled to match the style and the Waterloo Barracks were described as "castellated Gothic of the 15th century". Between 1845 and 1885 institutions such as the Mint which had inhabited the castle for centuries moved to other sites; many of the post-medieval structures left vacant were demolished. In 1855, the War Office took over responsibility for manufacture and storage of weapons from the Ordnance Office, which was gradually phased out of the castle. At the same time, there was greater interest in the history of the Tower of London. Public interest was partly fuelled by contemporary writers, of whom the work of William Harrison Ainsworth was particularly influential. In The Tower of London: A Historical Romance he created a vivid image of underground torture chambers and devices for extracting confessions that stuck in the public imagination. Ainsworth also played another role in the Tower's history, as he suggested that Beauchamp Tower should be opened to the public so they could see the inscriptions of 16th- and 17th-century prisoners. Working on the suggestion, Anthony Salvin refurbished the tower and led a further programme for a comprehensive restoration at the behest of Prince Albert. Salvin was succeeded in the work by John Taylor. When a feature did not meet his expectations of medieval architecture Taylor would ruthlessly remove it; as a result, several important buildings within the castle were pulled down and in some cases post-medieval internal decoration removed. Although only one bomb fell on the Tower of London in the First World War (it landed harmlessly in the moat), the Second World War left a greater mark. On 23 September 1940, during the Blitz, high-explosive bombs damaged the castle, destroying several buildings and narrowly missing the White Tower. After the war, the damage was repaired and the Tower of London was reopened to the public. A 1974 bombing in the White Tower Mortar Room left one person dead and 41 injured. No one claimed responsibility for the blast, but the police investigated suspicions that the IRA was behind it. In the 21st century, tourism is the Tower's primary role, with the remaining routine military activities, under the Royal Logistic Corps, having wound down in the latter half of the 20th century and moved out of the castle. However, the Tower is still home to the regimental headquarters of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, and the museum dedicated to it and its predecessor, the Royal Fusiliers. Also, a detachment of the unit providing the King's Guard at Buckingham Palace still mounts a guard at the Tower, and with the Yeomen Warders, takes part in the Ceremony of the Keys each day. On several occasions through the year gun salutes are fired from the Tower by the Honourable Artillery Company, these consist of 62 rounds for royal occasions, and 41 on other occasions. Since 1990, the Tower of London has been cared for by an independent charity, Historic Royal Palaces, which receives no funding from the Government or the Crown. In 1988, the Tower of London was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites, in recognition of its global importance and to help conserve and protect the site. However, recent developments, such as the construction of skyscrapers nearby, have pushed the Tower towards being added to the United Nations' Heritage in Danger List. The remains of the medieval palace have been open to the public since 2006 where visitors can explore the restored chambers. Although the position of Constable of the Tower remains the highest position held at the Tower, the responsibility of day-to-day administration is delegated to the Resident Governor. The Constable is appointed for a five-year term; this is primarily a ceremonial post today but the Constable is also a trustee of Historic Royal Palaces and of the Royal Armouries. General Sir Gordon Messenger was appointed Constable in 2022. At least six ravens are kept at the Tower at all times, in accordance with the belief that if they are absent, the kingdom will fall. They are under the care of the Ravenmaster, one of the Yeoman Warders. As well as having ceremonial duties, the Yeoman Warders provide guided tours around the Tower. ## Garrison The Yeomen Warders provided the permanent garrison of the Tower, but the Constable of the Tower could call upon the men of the Tower Hamlets to supplement them when necessary. The Tower Hamlets, aka Tower Division of Middlesex's Ossulstone Hundred was an area, significantly larger than the modern London Borough of the same name, which owed military service to the Constable in his ex officio role as Lord Lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets. The earliest surviving reference to the inhabitants of the Tower Hamlets having a duty to provide a guard for the Tower of London is from 1554, during the reign of Mary I, but the relationship is thought to go back much further. Some believe the connection goes back to the time of the Conqueror. The duty is likely to have had its origin in the rights and obligations of the Manor of Stepney which covered most or all of the Hamlets area. ## Crown Jewels The tradition of housing the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London probably dates from the reign of Henry III (1216–1272). The Jewel House was built specifically to house the royal regalia, including jewels, plate, and symbols of royalty such as the crown, sceptre, and sword. When money needed to be raised, the treasure could be pawned by the monarch. The treasure allowed the monarch independence from the aristocracy and consequently was closely guarded. A new position for "keeper of the jewels, armouries and other things" was created, which was well rewarded; in the reign of Edward III (1327–1377) the holder was paid 12d a day. The position grew to include other duties including purchasing royal jewels, gold, and silver, and appointing royal goldsmiths and jewellers. In 1649, during the English Commonwealth following Charles I's execution, the contents of the Jewel House were disposed of along with other royal properties, as decreed by Cromwell. Metal items were sent to the Mint to be melted down and re-used, and the crowns were "totallie broken and defaced". When the monarchy was restored in 1660, the only surviving items of the coronation regalia were a 12th-century spoon and three ceremonial swords. (Some pieces that had been sold were later returned to the Crown.) Detailed records of old regalia survived, and replacements were made for the coronation of Charles II in 1661 based on drawings from the time of Charles I. For the coronation of Charles II, gems were rented because the treasury could not afford to replace them. In 1669, the Jewel House was demolished and the Crown Jewels moved into Martin Tower (until 1841). They were displayed here for viewing by the paying public. This was exploited two years later when Colonel Thomas Blood attempted to steal them. Blood and his accomplices bound and gagged the Jewel House keeper. Although they laid their hands on the Imperial State Crown, Sceptre and Orb, they were foiled when the keeper's son turned up unexpectedly and raised the alarm. Since 1994, the Crown Jewels have been on display in the Jewel House in the Waterloo Block. Some of the pieces were once regularly used by Queen Elizabeth II. The display includes 23,578 gemstones, the 800-year-old Coronation Spoon, St Edward's Crown (traditionally placed on a monarch's head at the moment of crowning) and the Imperial State Crown. ## Royal Menagerie There is evidence that King John (1166–1216) first started keeping wild animals at the Tower. Records of 1210–1212 show payments to lion keepers. The Royal Menagerie is frequently referenced during the reign of Henry III. Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II presented Henry with three leopards, circa 1235, which were kept in the Tower. In 1252, the sheriffs were ordered to pay fourpence a day towards the upkeep of the King's polar bear, a gift from Haakon IV of Norway in the same year; the bear attracted a great deal of attention from Londoners when it went fishing in the Thames while tied to the land by a chain. In 1254 or 1255, Henry III received an African elephant from Louis IX of France depicted by Matthew Paris in his Chronica Majora. A wooden structure was built to house the elephant, 12.2 m (40 ft) long by 6.1 m (20 ft) wide. The animal died in 1258, possibly because it was given red wine, but also perhaps because of the cold climate of England. In 1288, Edward I added a lion and a lynx and appointed the first official Keeper of the animals. Edward III added other types of animals, two lions, a leopard and two wildcats. Under subsequent kings, the number of animals grew to include additional cats of various types, jackals, hyenas, and an old brown bear, Max, gifted to Henry VIII by Emperor Maximilian. In 1436, during the time of Henry VI, all the lions died and the employment of Keeper William Kerby was terminated. Historical records indicate that a semi-circular structure or barbican was built by Edward I in 1277; this area was later named the Lion Tower, to the immediate west of the Middle Tower. Records from 1335 indicate the purchase of a lock and key for the lions and leopards, also suggesting they were located near the western entrance of the Tower. By the 1500s that area was called the Menagerie. Between 1604 and 1606 the Menagerie was extensively refurbished and an exercise yard was created in the moat area beside the Lion Tower. An overhead platform was added for viewing of the lions by the royals, during lion baiting, for example in the time of James I. Reports from 1657 include mention of six lions, increasing to 11 by 1708, in addition to other types of cats, eagles, owls and a jackal. By the 18th century, the menagerie was open to the public; admission cost three half-pence or a cat or dog to be fed to the lions. By the end of the century, that had increased to 9 pence. A particularly famous inhabitant was Old Martin, a large grizzly bear given to George III by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1811. An 1800 inventory also listed a tiger, leopards, a hyena, a large baboon, various types of monkeys, wolves, and "other animals". By 1822, however, the collection included only a grizzly bear, an elephant, and some birds. Additional animals were then introduced. In 1828, there were over 280 representing at least 60 species as the new keeper Alfred Copps was actively acquiring animals. After the death of George IV in 1830, a decision was made to close down the Menagerie on the orders of the Duke of Wellington. In 1831, most of the stock was moved to the London Zoo which had opened in 1828. This decision was made after an incident, although sources vary as to the specifics: either a lion was accused of biting a soldier, or a sailor, Ensign Seymour, had been bitten by a monkey. The last of the animals left in 1835, relocated to Regent's Park. The Menagerie buildings were removed in 1852 but the Keeper of the Royal Menagerie was entitled to use the Lion Tower as a house for life. Consequently, even though the animals had long since left the building, the tower was not demolished until the death of Copps, the last keeper, in 1853. In 1999, physical evidence of lion cages was found, one being 2x3 metres (6.5x10 feet) in size, very small for a lion that can grow to be 2.5 meters (approximately 8 feet) long. In 2008, the skulls of two male Barbary lions (now extinct in the wild) from northwest Africa were found in the moat area of the Tower. Radiocarbon tests dated them from 1280 to 1385 and 1420–1480. In 2011, an exhibition was hosted at the Tower with fine wire sculptures by Kendra Haste. ## In folklore The Tower of London has been represented in popular culture in many ways. As a result of 16th and 19th century writers, the Tower has a reputation as a grim fortress, a place of torture and execution. One of the earliest traditions associated with the Tower was that it was built by Julius Caesar; the story was popular amongst writers and antiquaries. The earliest recorded attribution of the Tower to the Roman ruler dates to the mid-14th century in a poem by Sir Thomas Gray. The origin of the myth is uncertain, although it may be related to the fact that the Tower was built in the corner of London's Roman walls. Another possibility is that someone misread a passage from Gervase of Tilbury in which he says Caesar built a tower at Odnea in France. Gervase wrote Odnea as Dodres, which is close to the French for London, Londres. Today, the story survives in William Shakespeare's Richard II and Richard III, and as late as the 18th century some still regarded the Tower as built by Caesar. Anne Boleyn was beheaded in 1536 for treason against Henry VIII; her ghost supposedly haunts the Church of St Peter ad Vincula in the Tower, where she is buried, and has been said to walk around the White Tower carrying her head under her arm. This haunting is commemorated in the 1934 comic song "With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm". Other reported ghosts include Henry VI, Lady Jane Grey, Margaret Pole, and the Princes in the Tower. In January 1816, a sentry on guard outside the Jewel House claimed to have witnessed an apparition of a bear advancing towards him, and reportedly died of fright a few days later. In October 1817, a tubular, glowing apparition was claimed to have been seen in the Jewel House by the Keeper of the Crown Jewels, Edmund Lenthal Swifte. He said that the apparition hovered over the shoulder of his wife, leading her to exclaim: "Oh, Christ! It has seized me!" Other nameless and formless terrors have been reported, more recently, by night staff at the Tower. ## See also - Castles in Great Britain and Ireland - List of buildings that survived the Great Fire of London - List of castles in England - List of prisoners of the Tower of London - Zammitello Palace, built in imitation of the Tower of London
30,697,259	Egyptian temple	1,162,584,527	Structures for official worship of the gods and commemoration of pharaohs in Ancient Egypt	[ "Ancient Egyptian architecture", "Ancient Egyptian religion", "Ancient Egyptian technology", "Egyptian inventions", "Egyptian temples", "Temples" ]	Egyptian temples were built for the official worship of the gods and in commemoration of the pharaohs in ancient Egypt and regions under Egyptian control. Temples were seen as houses for the gods or kings to whom they were dedicated. Within them, the Egyptians performed a variety of rituals, the central functions of Egyptian religion: giving offerings to the gods, reenacting their mythological interactions through festivals, and warding off the forces of chaos. These rituals were seen as necessary for the gods to continue to uphold maat, the divine order of the universe. Housing and caring for the gods were the obligations of pharaohs, who therefore dedicated prodigious resources to temple construction and maintenance. Out of necessity, pharaohs delegated most of their ritual duties to a host of priests, but most of the populace was excluded from direct participation in ceremonies and forbidden to enter a temple's most sacred areas. Nevertheless, a temple was an important religious site for all classes of Egyptians, who went there to pray, give offerings, and seek oracular guidance from the god dwelling within. The most important part of the temple was the sanctuary, which typically contained a cult image, a statue of its god. The rooms outside the sanctuary grew larger and more elaborate over time, so that temples evolved from small shrines in late Prehistoric Egypt (late fourth millennium BC) to large stone edifices in the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1070 BC) and later. These edifices are among the largest and most enduring examples of ancient Egyptian architecture, with their elements arranged and decorated according to complex patterns of religious symbolism. Their typical design consisted of a series of enclosed halls, open courts, and entrance pylons aligned along the path used for festival processions. Beyond the temple proper was an outer wall enclosing a wide variety of secondary buildings. A large temple also owned sizable tracts of land and employed thousands of laymen to supply its needs. Temples were therefore key economic as well as religious centers. The priests who managed these powerful institutions wielded considerable influence, and despite their ostensible subordination to the king, they may have posed significant challenges to his authority. Temple-building in Egypt continued despite the nation's decline and ultimate loss of independence to the Roman Empire in 30 BC. With the coming of Christianity, traditional Egyptian religion faced increasing persecution, and temple cults died out during the fourth through sixth centuries AD. The buildings they left behind suffered centuries of destruction and neglect. At the start of the nineteenth century, a wave of interest in ancient Egypt swept Europe, giving rise to the discipline of Egyptology and drawing increasing numbers of visitors to the civilization's remains. Dozens of temples survive today, and some have become world-famous tourist attractions that contribute significantly to the modern Egyptian economy. Egyptologists continue to study the surviving temples and the remains of destroyed ones as invaluable sources of information about ancient Egyptian society. ## Functions ### Religious Ancient Egyptian temples were meant as places for the gods to reside on earth. Indeed, the term the Egyptians most commonly used to describe the temple building, ḥwt-nṯr, means "mansion (or enclosure) of a god". A divine presence in the temple linked the human and divine realms and allowed humans to interact with the god through ritual. These rituals, it was believed, sustained the god and allowed it to continue to play its proper role in nature. They were therefore a key part of the maintenance of maat, the ideal order of nature and of human society in Egyptian belief. Maintaining maat was the entire purpose of Egyptian religion, and it was the purpose of a temple as well. Because he was credited with divine power himself, the pharaoh, as a sacred king, was regarded as Egypt's representative to the gods and its most important upholder of maat. Thus, it was theoretically his duty to perform the temple rites. While it is uncertain how often he participated in ceremonies, the existence of temples across Egypt made it impossible for him to do so in all cases, and most of the time these duties were delegated to priests. The pharaoh was nevertheless obligated to maintain, provide for, and expand the temples throughout his realm. Although the pharaoh delegated his authority, the performance of temple rituals was still an official duty, restricted to high-ranking priests. The participation of the general populace in most ceremonies was prohibited. Much of the lay religious activity in Egypt instead took place in private and community shrines, separate from official temples. As the primary link between the human and divine realms, temples attracted considerable veneration from ordinary Egyptians. Each temple had a principal deity, and most were dedicated to other gods as well. Not all deities had temples dedicated to them. Many demons and household gods were involved primarily in magical or private religious practice, with little or no presence in temple ceremonies. There were also other gods who had significant roles in the cosmos but, for unclear reasons, were not honored with temples of their own. Of those gods who did have temples of their own, many were venerated mainly in certain areas of Egypt, though many gods with a strong local tie were also important across the nation. Even deities whose worship spanned the country were strongly associated with the cities where their chief temples were located. In Egyptian creation myths, the first temple originated as a shelter for a god—which god it was varied according to the city—that stood on the mound of land where the process of creation began. Each temple in Egypt, therefore, was equated with this original temple and with the site of creation itself. As the primordial home of the god and the mythological location of the city's founding, the temple was seen as the hub of the region, from which the city's patron god ruled over it. Pharaohs also built temples where offerings were made to sustain their spirits in the afterlife, often linked with or located near their tombs. These temples are traditionally called "mortuary temples" and regarded as essentially different from divine temples. In recent years some Egyptologists, such as Gerhard Haeny, have argued that there is no clear division between the two. The Egyptians did not refer to mortuary temples by any distinct name. Nor were rituals for the dead and rituals for the gods mutually exclusive; the symbolism surrounding death was present in all Egyptian temples. The worship of gods was present to some degree in mortuary temples, and the Egyptologist Stephen Quirke has said that "at all periods royal cult involves the gods, but equally... all cult of the gods involves the king". Even so, certain temples were clearly used to commemorate deceased kings and to give offerings to their spirits. Their purpose is not fully understood; they may have been meant to unite the king with the gods, elevating him to a divine status greater than that of ordinary kingship. In any case, the difficulty of separating divine and mortuary temples reflects the close intertwining of divinity and kingship in Egyptian belief. ### Economic and administrative Temples were key centers of economic activity. The largest required prodigious resources and employed tens of thousands of priests, craftsmen, and laborers. The temple's economic workings were analogous to those of a large Egyptian household, with servants dedicated to serving the temple god as they might serve the master of an estate. This similarity is reflected in the Egyptian term for temple lands and their administration, pr, meaning "house" or "estate". Some of the temple's supplies came from direct donations by the king. In the New Kingdom, when Egypt was an imperial power, these donations often came out of the spoils of the king's military campaigns or the tribute given by his client states. The king might also levy various taxes that went directly to support a temple. Other revenue came from private individuals, who offered land, slaves, or goods to temples in exchange for a supply of offerings and priestly services to sustain their spirits in the afterlife. Much of a temple's economic support came from its own resources. These included large tracts of land beyond the temple enclosure, sometimes in a completely different region than the temple itself. The most important type of property was farmland, producing grain, fruit, or wine, or supporting herds of livestock. The temple either managed these lands directly, rented them out to farmers for a share of the produce, or managed them jointly with the royal administration. Temples also launched expeditions into the desert to collect resources such as salt, honey, or wild game, or to mine precious minerals. Some owned fleets of ships with which to conduct their own trade across the country or even beyond Egypt's borders. Thus, as Richard H. Wilkinson says, the temple estate "often represented no less than a slice of Egypt itself". As a major economic center and the employer of a large part of the local population, the temple enclosure was a key part of the town in which it stood. Conversely, when a temple was founded on empty land, a new town was built to support it. All this economic power was ultimately under the pharaoh's control, and temple products and property were often taxed. Their employees, even the priests, were subject to the state corvée system, which conscripted labor for royal projects. They could also be ordered to provide supplies for some specific purposes. A trading expedition led by Harkhuf in the Sixth Dynasty (c. 2255–2246 BC) was allowed to procure supplies from any temple it wished, and the mortuary temples of the Theban Necropolis in the New Kingdom oversaw the provision of the royally employed tomb workers at Deir el-Medina. Kings could also exempt temples or classes of personnel from taxation and conscription. The royal administration could also order one temple to divert its resources to another temple whose influence it wished to expand. Thus, a king might increase the income of the temples of a god he favored, and mortuary temples of recent rulers tended to siphon off resources from temples to pharaohs long dead. The most drastic means of controlling the temple estates was to completely revise the distribution of their property nationwide, which might extend to closing down certain temples. Such changes could significantly alter Egypt's economic landscape. The temples were thus important instruments with which the king managed the nation's resources and its people. As the direct overseers of their own economic sphere, the administrations of large temples wielded considerable influence and may have posed a challenge to the authority of a weak pharaoh, although it is unclear how independent they were. Once Egypt became a Roman province, one of the first measures of the Roman rulers was to implement a reform on land possession and taxation. The Egyptian temples, as important landowners, were made to either pay rent to the government for the land they owned or surrender that land to the state in exchange for a government stipend. However, the temples and priests continued to enjoy privileges under Roman rule, e.g., exemption from taxes and compulsory services. On the official level, the leading officials of the temples became part of the Roman ruling apparatus by, for example, collecting taxes and examining charges against priests for violating sacral law. ## Development ### Early development The earliest known shrines appeared in prehistoric Egypt in the late fourth millennium BC, at sites such as Saïs and Buto in Lower Egypt and Nekhen and Coptos in Upper Egypt. Most of these shrines were made of perishable materials such as wood, reed matting, and mudbrick. Despite the impermanence of these early buildings, later Egyptian art continually reused and adapted elements from them, evoking the ancient shrines to suggest the eternal nature of the gods and their dwelling places. In the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3100–2686 BC), the first pharaohs built funerary complexes in the religious center of Abydos following a single general pattern, with a rectangular mudbrick enclosure. In the Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2181 BC) that followed the Early Dynastic Period, royal funerary monuments greatly expanded, while most divine temples remained comparatively small, suggesting that official religion in this period emphasized the cult of the king more than the direct worship of deities. Deities closely connected with the king, such as the sun god Ra, received more royal contributions than other deities. Ra's temple at Heliopolis was a major religious center, and several Old Kingdom pharaohs built large sun temples in his honor near their pyramids. Meanwhile, the small provincial temples retained a variety of local styles from Predynastic times, unaffected by the royal cult sites. The expansion of funerary monuments began in the reign of Djoser, who built his complex entirely of stone and placed in the enclosure a step pyramid under which he was buried: the Pyramid of Djoser. For the rest of the Old Kingdom, tomb and temple were joined in elaborate stone pyramid complexes. Near each pyramid complex was a town that supplied its needs, as towns would support temples throughout Egyptian history. Other changes came in the reign of Sneferu who, beginning with his first pyramid at Meidum, built pyramid complexes symmetrically along an east–west axis, with a valley temple on the banks of the Nile linked to a pyramid temple at the foot of the pyramid. Sneferu's immediate successors followed this pattern, but beginning in the late Old Kingdom, pyramid complexes combined different elements from the axial plan and from the rectangular plan of Djoser. To supply the pyramid complexes, kings founded new towns and farming estates on undeveloped lands across Egypt. The flow of goods from these lands to the central government and its temples helped unify the kingdom. The rulers of the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055–1650 BC) continued building pyramids and their associated complexes. The rare remains from Middle Kingdom temples, like the one at Medinet Madi, show that temple plans grew more symmetrical during that period, and divine temples made increasing use of stone. The pattern of a sanctuary lying behind a pillared hall frequently appears in Middle Kingdom temples, and sometimes these two elements are fronted by open courts, foreshadowing the standard temple layout used in later times. ### New Kingdom With greater power and wealth during the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1070 BC), Egypt devoted still more resources to its temples, which grew larger and more elaborate. Higher-ranking priestly roles became permanent rather than rotating positions, and they controlled a large portion of Egypt's wealth. Anthony Spalinger suggests that, as the influence of temples expanded, religious celebrations that had once been fully public were absorbed into the temples' increasingly important festival rituals. The most important god of the time was Amun, whose main cult center, the Precinct of Amun-Re at Karnak in Thebes, eventually became the largest of all temples, and whose high priests may have wielded considerable political influence. Many temples were now built entirely of stone, and their general plan became fixed, with the sanctuary, halls, courtyards, and pylon gateways oriented along the path used for festival processions. New Kingdom pharaohs ceased using pyramids as funerary monuments and placed their tombs a great distance from their mortuary temples. Without pyramids to build around, mortuary temples began using the same plan as those dedicated to the gods. In the middle of the New Kingdom, Pharaoh Akhenaten promoted the god Aten over all others and eventually abolished the official worship of most other gods. Traditional temples were neglected while new Aten temples, differing sharply in design and construction, were erected. But Akhenaten's revolution was reversed soon after his death, with the traditional cults reinstated and the new temples dismantled. Subsequent pharaohs dedicated still more resources to the temples, particularly Ramesses II, the most prolific monument-builder in Egyptian history. As the wealth of the priesthoods continued to grow, so did their religious influence: temple oracles, controlled by the priests, were an increasingly popular method of making decisions. Pharaonic power waned, and in the eleventh century BC a military leader Herihor made himself High Priest of Amun and the de facto ruler of Upper Egypt, beginning the political fragmentation of the Third Intermediate Period (c. 1070–664 BC). As the New Kingdom crumbled, the building of mortuary temples ceased and was never revived. Some rulers of the Third Intermediate Period, such as those at Tanis, were buried within the enclosures of divine temples, thus continuing the close link between temple and tomb. ### Later development In the Third Intermediate Period and the following Late Period (664–323 BC), the weakened Egyptian state fell to a series of outside powers, experiencing only occasional periods of independence. Many of these foreign rulers funded and expanded temples to strengthen their claim to the kingship of Egypt. One such group, the Kushite pharaohs of the eighth and seventh centuries BC, adopted Egyptian-style temple architecture for use in their native land of Nubia, beginning a long tradition of sophisticated Nubian temple building. Amid this turmoil, the fortunes of various temples and clergies shifted and the independence of Amun's priesthood was broken, but the power of the priesthood in general remained. Despite the political upheaval, the Egyptian temple style continued to evolve without absorbing much foreign influence. Whereas earlier temple building mostly focused on male gods, goddesses and child deities grew increasingly prominent. Temples focused more on popular religious activities such as oracles, animal cults, and prayer. New architectural forms continued to develop, such as covered kiosks in front of gateways, more elaborate column styles, and the mammisi, a building celebrating the mythical birth of a god. Though the characteristics of the late temple style had developed by the last period of native rule, most of the examples date from the era of the Ptolemies, Greek kings who ruled as pharaohs for nearly 300 years. After Rome conquered the Ptolemaic kingdom in 30 BC, Roman emperors took on the role of ruler and temple patron. Many temples in Roman Egypt continued to be built in Egyptian style. Others, including some that were dedicated to Egyptian gods—such as the temple to Isis at Ras el-Soda—were built in a style derived from Roman architecture. Temple-building continued into the third century AD. As the empire weakened in the crisis of the third century, imperial donations to the temple cults dried up, and almost all construction and decoration ceased. Cult activities at some sites continued, relying increasingly on financial support and volunteer labor from surrounding communities. In the following centuries, Christian emperors issued decrees that were increasingly hostile to pagan cults and temples. Some Christians attacked and destroyed temples, as in the plundering of the Serapeum and other temples in Alexandria in AD 391 or 392. Through some combination of Christian coercion and loss of funds, temples ceased to function at various times. The last temple cults died out in the fourth through sixth centuries AD, although locals may have venerated some sites long after the regular ceremonies there had ceased. ## Construction Temples were built throughout Upper and Lower Egypt, as well as at Egyptian-controlled oases in the Libyan Desert as far west as Siwa, and at outposts in the Sinai Peninsula such as Timna. In periods when Egypt dominated Nubia, Egyptian rulers also built temples there, as far south as Jebel Barkal. Most Egyptian towns had a temple, but in some cases, as with mortuary temples or the temples in Nubia, the temple was a new foundation on previously empty land. The exact site of a temple was often chosen for religious reasons; it might, for example, be the mythical birthplace or burial place of a god. The temple axis might also be designed to align with locations of religious significance, such as the site of a neighboring temple or the rising place of the sun or particular stars. The Great Temple of Abu Simbel, for instance, is aligned so that twice a year the rising sun illuminates the statues of the gods in its innermost room. Most temples were aligned toward the Nile with an axis running roughly east–west. An elaborate series of foundation rituals preceded construction. A further set of rituals followed the temple's completion, dedicating it to its patron god. These rites were conducted, at least in theory, by the king as part of his religious duties; indeed, in Egyptian belief, all temple construction was symbolically his work. In reality, it was the work of hundreds of his subjects, conscripted in the corvée system. The construction process for a new temple, or a major addition to an existing one, could last years or decades. The use of stone in Egyptian temples emphasized their purpose as eternal houses for the gods and set them apart from buildings for the use of mortals, which were built of mudbrick. Early temples were built of brick and other perishable materials, and most of the outlying buildings in temple enclosures remained brick-built throughout Egyptian history. The main stones used in temple construction were limestone and sandstone, which are common in Egypt; stones that are harder and more difficult to carve, such as granite, were used in smaller amounts for individual elements like obelisks. The stone might be quarried nearby or shipped on the Nile from quarries elsewhere. Temple structures were built on foundations of stone slabs set into sand-filled trenches. In most periods, walls and other structures were built with large blocks of varying shape. The blocks were laid in courses, usually without mortar. Each stone was dressed to fit with its neighbors, producing cuboid blocks whose uneven shapes interlocked. The interiors of walls were often built with less care, using rougher, poorer-quality stones. To build structures above ground level, the workers used construction ramps built of varying materials such as mud, brick, or rough stone. When cutting chambers in living rock, workers excavated from the top down, carving a crawlspace near the ceiling and cutting down to the floor. Once the temple structure was complete, the rough faces of the stones were dressed to create a smooth surface. In decorating these surfaces, reliefs were carved into the stone or, if the stone was of too poor quality to carve, a layer of plaster that covered the stone surface. Reliefs were then decorated with gilding, inlay, or paint. The paints were usually mixtures of mineral pigments with some kind of adhesive, possibly natural gum. Temple construction did not end once the original plan was complete; pharaohs often rebuilt or replaced decayed temple structures or made additions to those still standing. In the course of these additions, they frequently dismantled old temple buildings to use as fill for the interiors of new structures. On rare occasions, this may have been because the old structures or their builders had become anathema, as with Akhenaten's temples, but in most cases, the reason seems to have been convenience. Such expansion and dismantling could considerably distort the original temple plan, as happened at the enormous Precinct of Amun-Re at Karnak, which developed two intersecting axes and several satellite temples. ## Design and decoration Like all ancient Egyptian architecture, Egyptian temple designs emphasized order, symmetry, and monumentality and combined geometric shapes with stylized organic motifs. Elements of temple design also alluded to the form of the earliest Egyptian buildings. Cavetto cornices at the tops of walls, for instance, were made to imitate rows of palm fronds placed atop archaic walls, while the torus molding along the edges of walls may have been based on wooden posts used in such buildings. The batter of exterior walls, while partly meant to ensure stability, was also a holdover from archaic building methods. Temple ground plans usually centered on an axis running on a slight incline from the sanctuary down to the temple entrance. In the fully developed pattern used in the New Kingdom and later, the path used for festival processions—a broad avenue punctuated with large doors—served as this central axis. The path was intended primarily for the god's use when it traveled outside the sanctuary; on most occasions people used smaller side doors. The typical parts of a temple, such as column-filled hypostyle halls, open peristyle courts, and towering entrance pylons, were arranged along this path in a traditional but flexible order. Beyond the temple building proper, the outer walls enclosed numerous satellite buildings. The entire area enclosed by these walls is sometimes called the temenos, the sacred precinct dedicated to the god. The temple pattern could vary considerably, apart from the distorting effect of additional construction. Many temples, known as hypogea, were cut entirely into living rock, as at Abu Simbel, or had rock-cut inner chambers with masonry courtyards and pylons, as at Wadi es-Sebua. They used much the same layout as free-standing temples but used excavated chambers rather than buildings as their inner rooms. In some temples, like the mortuary temples at Deir el-Bahari, the processional path ran up a series of terraces rather than sitting on a single level. The Ptolemaic Temple of Kom Ombo was built with two main sanctuaries, producing two parallel axes that run the length of the building. The most idiosyncratic temple style was that of the Aten temples built by Akhenaten at Akhetaten, in which the axis passed through a series of entirely open courts filled with altars. The traditional design was a highly symbolic variety of sacred architecture. It was a greatly elaborated variant on the design of an Egyptian house, reflecting its role as the god's home. Moreover, the temple represented a piece of the divine realm on earth. The elevated, enclosed sanctuary was equated with the sacred hill where the world was created in Egyptian myth and with the burial chamber of a tomb, where the god's ba, or spirit, came to inhabit its cult image just as a human ba came to inhabit its mummy. This crucial place, the Egyptians believed, had to be insulated from the impure outside world. Therefore, as one moved toward the sanctuary the amount of outside light decreased and restrictions on who could enter increased. Yet the temple could also represent the world itself. The processional way could, therefore, stand for the path of the sun traveling across the sky, and the sanctuary for the Duat where it was believed to set and to be reborn at night. The space outside the building was thus equated with the waters of chaos that lay outside the world, while the temple represented the order of the cosmos and the place where that order was continually renewed. ### Inner chambers The temple's inner chambers centered on the sanctuary of the temple's primary god, which typically lay along the axis near the back of the temple building, and in pyramid temples directly against the pyramid base. The sanctuary was the focus of temple ritual, the place where the divine presence manifested most strongly. The form in which it manifested itself varied. In Aten temples and traditional solar shrines, the object of ritual was the sun itself or a Benben stone representing the sun, worshipped in a court open to the sky. In many mortuary temples, the inner areas contained statues of the deceased pharaoh, or a false door where his ba ("personality") was believed to appear to receive offerings. In most temples, the focus was the cult image: a statue of the temple god which that god's ba was believed to inhabit while interacting with humans. The sanctuary in these temples contained either a naos, a cabinet-like shrine that housed the divine image, or a model barque containing the image within its cabin, which was used to carry the image during festival processions. In some cases the sanctuary may have housed several cult statues. To emphasize the sanctuary's sacred nature, it was kept in total darkness. Whereas in earlier times the sanctuary lay at the very back of the building, in the Late and Ptolemaic periods it became a freestanding building inside the temple, further insulated from the outside world by the surrounding corridors and rooms. Subsidiary chapels, dedicated to deities associated with the primary god, lay to the sides of the main one. When the main temple god was male, the secondary chapels were often dedicated to that god's mythological consort and child. The secondary chapels in mortuary temples were devoted to gods associated with kingship. Several other rooms neighbored the sanctuary. Many of these rooms were used to store ceremonial equipment, ritual texts, or temple valuables; others had specific ritual functions. The room where offerings were given to the deity was often separate from the sanctuary itself, and in temples without a barque in the sanctuary, there was a separate shrine to store the barque. In late temples the ritual areas could extend to chapels on the roof and crypts below the floor. Finally, in the exterior wall at the back of the temple, there were often niches for laymen to pray to the temple god, as close as they could come to its dwelling place. ### Halls and courts Hypostyle halls, covered rooms filled with columns, appear in temples throughout Egyptian history. By the New Kingdom they typically lay directly in front of the sanctuary area. These halls were less restricted than the inner rooms, being open to laymen at least in some cases. They were often less dark as well: New Kingdom halls rose into tall central passages over the processional path, allowing a clerestory to provide dim light. The epitome of this style is the Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak, whose largest columns are 69 feet (21 m) tall. In later periods, the Egyptians favored a different style of hall, where a low screen wall at the front let in the light. The shadowy halls, whose columns were often shaped to imitate plants such as lotus or papyrus, were symbolic of the mythological marsh that surrounded the primeval mound at the time of creation. The columns could also be equated with the pillars that held up the sky in Egyptian cosmology. Beyond the hypostyle hall were one or more peristyle courts open to the sky. These open courts, which had been a part of Egyptian temple design since the Old Kingdom, became transitional areas in the standard plan of the New Kingdom, lying between the public space outside the temple and the more restricted areas within. Here the public met with the priests and assembled during festivals. At the front of each court was usually a pylon, a pair of trapezoidal towers flanking the main gateway. The pylon is known from only scattered examples in the Old and Middle Kingdoms, but in the New Kingdom it quickly became the distinctive and imposing façade common to most Egyptian temples. The pylon served symbolically as a guard tower against the forces of disorder and may also have been meant to resemble Akhet, the hieroglyph for "horizon", underscoring the temple's solar symbolism. The front of every pylon held niches for pairs of flagpoles to stand. Unlike pylons, such flags had stood at temple entrances since the earliest Predynastic shrines. They were so closely associated with the presence of a deity that the hieroglyph for them came to stand for the Egyptian word for "god". ### Enclosure Outside the temple building, proper was the temple enclosure, surrounded by a rectangular brick wall that symbolically protected the sacred space from outside disorder. On occasion, this function was more than symbolic, especially during the last native dynasties in the fourth century BC, when the walls were fully fortified in case of invasion by the Achaemenid Empire. In late temples, these walls frequently had alternating concave and convex courses of bricks, so that the top of the wall undulated vertically. This pattern may have been meant to evoke the mythological waters of chaos. The walls enclosed many buildings related to the temple's function. Some enclosures contain satellite chapels dedicated to deities associated with the temple god, including mammisis celebrating the birth of the god's mythological child. Sacred lakes found in many temple enclosures served as reservoirs for the water used in rituals, as places for the priests to ritually cleanse themselves and as representations of the water from which the world emerged. Mortuary temples sometimes contain a palace for the spirit of the king to whom the temple was dedicated, built against the temple building proper. The Mortuary Temple of Seti I at Abydos incorporates an unusual underground structure, the Osireion, which may have served as a symbolic tomb for the king. Sanatoria in some temples provided a place for the sick to await healing dreams sent by the god. Other temple buildings included kitchens, workshops, and storehouses to supply the temple's needs. Especially important was the pr ꜥnḫ "house of life", where the temple edited, copied, and stored its religious texts, including those used for temple rituals. The house of life also functioned as a general center of learning, containing works on non-religious subjects such as history, geography, astronomy, and medicine. Although these outlying buildings were devoted to more mundane purposes than the temple itself, they still had religious significance; even granaries might be used for specific ceremonies. Through the enclosure ran the processional path, which led from the temple entrance through the main gate in the enclosure wall. The path was frequently decorated with sphinx statues and punctuated by barque stations, where the priests carrying the festival barque could set it down to rest during the procession. The processional path usually ended in a quay on the Nile, which served as the entrance point for river-borne visitors and the exit point for the festival procession when it traveled by water. In Old Kingdom pyramid temples, the quay adjoined an entire temple (the valley temple), which was linked to the pyramid temple by the processional causeway. ### Decoration The temple building was elaborately decorated with reliefs and free-standing sculpture, all with religious significance. As with the cult statue, the gods were believed to be present in these images, suffusing the temple with sacred power. Symbols of places in Egypt or parts of the cosmos enhanced the mythical geography already present in the temple's architecture. Images of rituals served to reinforce the rituals' magical effect and to perpetuate that effect even if the rituals ceased to be performed. Because of their religious nature, these decorations showed an idealized version of reality, emblematic of the temple's purpose rather than real events. For instance, the king was shown performing most rituals, while priests, if depicted, were secondary. It was unimportant that he was rarely present for these ceremonies; it was his role as an intermediary with the gods that mattered. The most important form of decoration was relief. Relief became more extensive over time, and in late temples, walls, ceilings, columns, and beams were all decorated, as were free-standing stelae erected within the enclosure. Egyptian artists used both low relief and sunken relief. Low relief allowed more subtle artistry but involved more carving than sunken relief. Sunken relief was therefore used on harder, more difficult stone and when the builders wanted to finish quickly. It was also appropriate for exterior surfaces, where the shadows it created made the figures stand out in bright sunlight. Finished reliefs were painted using the basic colors black, white, red, yellow, green, and blue, although the artists often mixed pigments to create other colors, and Ptolemaic temples were especially varied, using unusual colors such as purple as accents. In some temples, gilding or inlaid pieces of colored glass or faience substituted for paint. Temple decoration is among the most important sources of information on ancient Egypt. It includes calendars of festivals, accounts of myths, depictions of rituals, and the texts of hymns. Pharaohs recorded their temple-building activities and their campaigns against the enemies of Egypt. The Ptolemaic temples go further to include information of all kinds taken from temple libraries. The decoration in a given room either depicts the actions performed there or has some symbolic tie to the room's purpose, providing a great deal of information on temple activities. Interior walls were divided into several registers. The lowest registers were decorated with plants representing the primeval marsh, while the ceilings and tops of walls were decorated with stars and flying birds to represent the sky. Illustrations of rituals, surrounded by text related to the rituals, often filled the middle and upper registers. Courts and exterior walls often recorded the king's military exploits. The pylon showed the "smiting scene", a motif in which the king strikes down his enemies, symbolizing the defeat of the forces of chaos. The text on the walls was the formal hieroglyphic script. Some texts were written in a "cryptographic" form, using symbols in a different way than the normal conventions of hieroglyphic writing. The cryptographic text became more widespread and more complex in Ptolemaic times. Temple walls also frequently bear written or drawn graffiti, both in modern languages and in ancient ones such as Greek, Latin, and Demotic, the form of Egyptian that was commonly used in Greco-Roman times. Although not part of the temple's formal decoration, graffiti can be an important source of information about its history, both when its cults were functioning and after its abandonment. Ancient graffiti, for instance, often mention the names and titles of priests who worked in the temple, and modern travelers often inscribed their names in temples that they visited. Graffiti left by priests and pilgrims at Philae include the last ancient hieroglyphic text, inscribed in AD 394, and the last one in Demotic script, from AD 452. Large, free-standing sculpture included obelisks, tall, pointed pillars that symbolized the sun. The largest, the Lateran Obelisk, was more than 118 feet (36 m) high. They were often placed in pairs in front of pylons or elsewhere along the temple axis. Statues of the king, which were similarly placed, also reached colossal size; the Colossi of Memnon at the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III and the statue of Ramesses II at the Ramesseum are the largest free-standing statues made in ancient Egypt. There were also figures of gods, often in sphinx form, that served as symbolic guardians of the temple. The most numerous statues were votive figures donated to the temple by kings, private individuals, or even towns to gain divine favor. They could depict the god to whom they were dedicated, the people who donated the statue, or both. The most essential temple statues were the cult images, which were usually made of or decorated with precious materials such as gold and lapis lazuli. ## Personnel A temple needed many people to perform its rituals and support duties. Priests performed the temple's essential ritual functions, but in Egyptian religious ideology, they were far less important than the king. All ceremonies were, in theory, acts by the king, and priests merely stood in his place. The priests were therefore subject to the king's authority, and he had the right to appoint anyone he wished to the priesthood. In fact, in the Old and Middle Kingdoms, most priests were government officials who left their secular duties for part of the year to serve the temple in shifts. Once the priesthood became more professional, the king seems to have used his power over appointments mainly for the highest-ranking positions, usually to reward a favorite official with a job or to intervene for political reasons in the affairs of an important cult. Lesser appointments he delegated to his vizier or to the priests themselves. In the latter case, the holder of an office named his own son as his successor, or the temple clergy conferred to decide who should fill an empty post. Priestly offices were extremely lucrative and tended to be held by the wealthiest and most influential members of Egyptian society. In the Greco-Roman period, priestly offices continued to be advantageous. Especially in rural areas, Egyptian priests distinguished themselves from other inhabitants by means of income and privileges attached to priestly offices, but also by their education in reading and writing. High-ranking offices were, still, so lucrative that some priests fought over their occupation in lengthy court cases. However, that may have changed in the later Roman period, when Egypt was subject to large-scale processes of economic, social, cultural and religious change. The requirements for the priesthood differed over time and among the cults of different gods. Although detailed knowledge was involved in priestly offices, little is known about what knowledge or training may have been required of the officeholders. Priests were required to observe strict standards of ritual purity before entering the most sacred areas. They shaved their heads and bodies, washed several times a day, and wore only clean linen clothing. They were not required to be celibate, but sexual intercourse rendered them unclean until they underwent further purification. The cults of specific gods might impose further restrictions related to that god's mythology, such as rules against eating the meat of an animal that represented the god. The acceptance of women into the priesthood was variable. In the Old Kingdom, many women served as priests, but their presence in clergies declined drastically in the Middle Kingdom before increasing in the Third Intermediate Period. Lesser positions, such as that of a musician in ceremonies, remained open to women in even the most restrictive periods, as did the special role of a ceremonial consort of the god. This latter role was highly influential, and the most important of these consorts, the God's Wife of Amun, even supplanted the High Priest of Amun during the Late Period. At the head of the temple hierarchy was the high priest, who oversaw all the temple's religious and economic functions and in the largest cults was an important political figure. Beneath him might be as many as three grades of subordinate priests who could substitute for him in ceremonies. While these higher ranks were full-time positions from the New Kingdom onward, the lower grades of priesthood still worked in shifts over the course of the year. Whereas many priests did a variety of menial tasks, the clergy also contained several ritual specialists. Prominent among these specialized roles was that of the lector priest who recited hymns and spells during temple rituals, and who hired out his magical services to laymen. Besides its priests, a large temple employed singers, musicians, and dancers to perform during rituals, plus the farmers, bakers, artisans, builders, and administrators who supplied and managed its practical needs. In the Ptolemaic era, temples could also house people who had sought asylum within the precinct, or recluses who voluntarily dedicated themselves to serving the god and living in its household. A major cult, therefore, could have well over 150 full or part-time priests, with tens of thousands of non-priestly employees working on its lands across the country. These numbers contrast with mid-sized temples, which may have had 10 to 25 priests, and with the smallest provincial temples, which might have only one. Some priests' duties took them beyond the temple precinct. They formed part of the entourage in festivals that traveled from one temple to another, and clergies from around the country sent representatives to the national Sed festival that reinforced the king's divine power. Some temples, such as those in the neighboring cities of Memphis and Letopolis, were overseen by the same high priest. At certain times there was an administrative office that presided over all temples and clergies. In the Old Kingdom, kings gave this authority first to their relatives and then to their viziers. In the reign of Thutmose III the office passed from the viziers to the High Priests of Amun, who held it for much of the New Kingdom. The Romans established a similar office, that of the high priest for all Egypt, which oversaw the temple cults until their extinction. ## Religious activities ### Daily rituals The daily rituals in most temples included two sequences of offering rites: one to clean and dress the god for the day, and one to present it with a meal. The exact order of events in these rituals is uncertain and may have varied somewhat each time they were performed. In addition, the two sequences probably overlapped with each other. At sunrise, the officiating priest entered the sanctuary, carrying a candle to light the room. He opened the doors of the shrine and prostrated himself before the god's image, reciting hymns in its praise. He removed the god from the shrine, clothed it (replacing the clothes of the previous day), and anointed it with oil and paint. At some point the priest presented the god's meal, including a variety of meats, fruits, vegetables, and bread. The god was believed to consume only the spiritual essence of this meal. This belief allowed the food to be distributed to others, an act that the Egyptians called the "reversion of offerings". The food passed first to the other statues throughout the temple, then to local funerary chapels for the sustenance of the dead, and finally to the priests who ate it. The quantities even for the daily meal were so large that only a small part of it can have been placed on the offering tables. Most of it must have gone directly to these secondary uses. Temple artwork often shows the king presenting an image of the goddess Maat to the temple deity, an act that represented the purpose of all other offerings. The king may have presented a real figurine of Maat to the deity, or the temple reliefs depicting the act may have been purely symbolic. Other offering rituals took place at noon and at sunset, though the sanctuary was not reopened. Some ceremonies other than offerings also took place daily, including rituals specific to a particular god. In the cult of the sun god Ra, for instance, hymns were sung day and night for every hour of the god's journey across the sky. Many of the ceremonies acted out in ritual the battle against of the forces of chaos. They might, for instance, involve the destruction of models of inimical gods like Apep or Set, acts that were believed to have a real effect through the principle of ḥkꜣ (Egyptological pronunciation heka) "magic". In fact, the Egyptians believed that all ritual actions achieved their effect through ḥkꜣ. It was a fundamental force that rituals were meant to manipulate. Using magic, people, objects, and actions were equated with counterparts in the divine realm and thus were believed to affect events among the gods. In the daily offering, for instance, the cult statue, regardless of which deity it represented, was associated with Osiris, the god of the dead. The priest performing the ritual was identified with Horus, the living son of Osiris, who in mythology sustained his father after death through offerings. By magically equating himself with a god in a myth, the priest was able to interact with the temple deity. ### Festivals On days of particular religious significance, the daily rituals were replaced with festival observances. Different festivals occurred at different intervals, though most were annual. Their timing was based on the Egyptian civil calendar, which most of the time was far out of step with the astronomical year. Thus, while many festivals had a seasonal origin, their timing lost its connection with the seasons. Most festivals took place at a single temple, but others could involve two or more temples or an entire region of Egypt; a few were celebrated throughout the country. In the New Kingdom and later, the festival calendar at a single temple could include dozens of events, so it is likely that most of these events were observed only by the priests. In those festivals that involved a procession outside the temple, the local population also gathered to watch and to celebrate. These were the most elaborate temple ceremonies, accompanied by the recitation of hymns and the performance of musicians. Festival ceremonies entailed reenactment of mythological events or the performance of other symbolic acts, like the cutting of a sheaf of wheat during the harvest-related festival dedicated to the god Min. Many of these ceremonies took place only within the temple building, such as the "union with the sun disk" festival practiced in the Late Period and afterward, when cult statues were carried to the temple roof at the start of the New Year to be enlivened by the rays of the sun. In festivals that involved a procession, priests carried the divine image out from the sanctuary, usually in its model barque, to visit another site. The barque might travel entirely on land or be loaded onto a real boat to travel on the river. The purpose of the god's visit varied. Some were tied to the ideology of kingship. In the Opet Festival, an extremely important ceremony during the New Kingdom, the image of Amun from Karnak visited the form of Amun worshipped at Luxor Temple, and both acted to reaffirm the king's divine rule. Still other celebrations had a funerary character, as in the Beautiful Festival of the Valley, when Amun of Karnak visited the mortuary temples of the Theban Necropolis to visit the kings commemorated there, while ordinary people visited the funerary chapels of their own deceased relatives. Some may have centered on ritual marriages between deities, or between deities and their human consorts, although the evidence that ritual marriage was their purpose is ambiguous. A prominent example is a festival in which an image of Hathor from the Dendera Temple complex was brought annually to visit the Temple of Edfu, the temple of her mythological consort Horus. These varied ceremonies were united by the broad purpose of renewing life among the gods and in the cosmos. The gods involved in a festival also received offerings in much larger quantities than in daily ceremonies. The enormous amounts of food listed in festival texts are unlikely to have been divided among the priests alone, so it is likely that the celebrating commoners also participated in the reversion of these offerings. ### Sacred animals Some temples kept sacred animals, which were believed to be manifestations of the temple god's ba in the same way that cult images were. Each of these sacred animals was kept in the temple and worshipped for a certain length of time, ranging from a year to the lifetime of the animal. At the end of that time, it was replaced with a new animal of the same species, which was selected by a divine oracle or based on specific markings that were supposed to indicate its sacred nature. Among the most prominent of these animals were the Apis, a sacred bull worshipped as a manifestation of the Memphite god Ptah, and the falcon at Edfu who represented the falcon god Horus. During the Late Period, a different form of worship involving animals developed. In this case, laymen paid the priests to kill, mummify, and bury an animal of a particular species as an offering to a god. These animals were not regarded as especially sacred, but as a species, they were associated with the god because it was depicted in the form of that animal. The god Thoth, for instance, could be depicted as an ibis and as a baboon, and both ibises and baboons were given to him. Although this practice was distinct from the worship of single divine representatives, some temples kept stocks of animals that could be selected for either purpose. These practices produced large cemeteries of mummified animals, such as the catacombs around the Serapeum of Saqqara where the Apis bulls were buried along with millions of animal offerings. ### Oracles By the beginning of the New Kingdom, and quite possibly earlier, the festival procession had become an opportunity for people to seek oracles from the god. Their questions dealt with subjects ranging from the location of a lost object to the best choice for a government appointment. The motions of the barque as it was carried on the bearers' shoulders—making simple gestures to indicate "yes" or "no", tipping toward tablets on which possible answers were written, or moving toward a particular person in the crowd—were taken to indicate the god's reply. In the Greco-Roman period, and possibly much earlier, oracles were used outside the festival, allowing people to consult them frequently. Priests interpreted the movements of sacred animals or, being asked questions directly, wrote out or spoke answers that they had supposedly received from the god in question. The priests' claim to speak for the gods or interpret their messages gave them great political influence and provided the means for the High Priests of Amun to dominate Upper Egypt during the Third Intermediate Period. ### Popular worship Although they were excluded from the formal rituals of the temple, laymen still sought to interact with the gods. There is little evidence of the religious practices of individual people from early Egyptian history, so Egyptologists' understanding of the subject derives mostly from the New Kingdom or later periods. The evidence from those times indicates that while ordinary Egyptians used many venues to interact with the divine, such as household shrines or community chapels, the official temples with their sequestered gods were a major focus for popular veneration. Unable to address the cult image directly, laymen still attempted to convey their prayers to it. At times they related messages to priests to deliver to the temple deity; at other times they expressed their piety in the parts of the temple that they could access. Courts, doorways, and hypostyle halls might have spaces designated for public prayer. Sometimes people directed their appeals to the royal colossi, which were believed to act as divine intermediaries. More private areas for devotion were located at the building's outer wall, where large niches served as "chapels of the hearing ear" for individuals to speak to the god. The Egyptians also interacted with deities through the donation of offerings, ranging from simple bits of jewelry to large and finely carved statues and stelae. Among their contributions were statues that sat in temple courts, serving as memorials to the donors after their deaths and receiving portions of the temple offerings to sustain the donors' spirits. Other statues served as gifts to the temple god, and inscribed stelae conveyed to the resident deity the donors' prayers and messages of thanks. Over the centuries, so many of these statues accumulated within a temple building that priests sometimes moved them out of the way by burying them in caches beneath the floor. Commoners offered simple wooden or clay models as votives. The form of these models may indicate the reason for their donation. Figurines of women are among the most common types of votive figures, and some are inscribed with a prayer for a woman to bear a child. Festival processions offered a chance for laymen to approach and perhaps even glimpse the cult image in its barque, and for them to receive portions of the god's food. Because the key rituals of any festival still took place within the temple, out of public sight, Egyptologist Anthony Spalinger has questioned whether the processions inspired genuine "religious feelings" or were simply seen as occasions for revelry. In any case, the oracular events during festivals provided an opportunity for people to receive responses from the normally isolated deities, as did the other varieties of oracle that developed late in Egyptian history. Temples eventually became a venue for yet another type of divine contact: dreams. The Egyptians saw dreaming as a means of communion with the divine realm, and by the Ptolemaic period many temples provided buildings for ritual incubation. People slept in these buildings in hopes of contacting the temple god. The petitioners often sought a magical solution to sickness or infertility. At other times they sought an answer to a question, receiving the answer through a dream rather than an oracle. ## After abandonment After their original religious activities ceased, Egyptian temples suffered slow decay. Many were defaced by Christians trying to erase the remnants of ancient Egyptian religion. Some temple buildings, such as the mammisi at Dendera or the hypostyle hall at Philae, were adapted into churches or other types of buildings. Most commonly the sites were left disused, as at the Temple of Khnum at Elephantine, while locals carried off their stones to serve as material for new buildings. The dismantling of temples for stone continued well into modern times. Limestone was especially useful as a source of lime, so temples built of limestone were almost all dismantled. Sandstone temples, found mostly in Upper Egypt, were more likely to survive. What humans left intact was still subject to natural weathering. Temples in desert areas could be partly covered by drifts of sand, while those near the Nile, particularly in Lower Egypt, were often buried under layers of river-borne silt. Thus, some major temple sites like Memphis were reduced to ruin, while many temples far from the Nile and centers of population remained mostly intact. With the understanding of the hieroglyphic script lost, the information about Egyptian culture that was preserved in the surviving temples lay incomprehensible to the world. The situation changed dramatically with the French campaign in Egypt and Syria in 1798, which brought with it a corps of scholars to examine the surviving ancient monuments. The results of their study inspired a fascination with ancient Egypt throughout Europe. In the early nineteenth century, growing numbers of Europeans traveled to Egypt, both to see the ancient monuments and to collect Egyptian antiquities. Many temple artifacts, from small objects to enormous obelisks, were removed by outside governments and private collectors. This wave of Egyptomania resulted in the rediscovery of temple sites such as Abu Simbel, but artifacts and even whole temples were often treated with great carelessness. The discoveries of the period made possible the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs and the beginnings of Egyptology as a scholarly discipline. Nineteenth-century Egyptologists studied the temples intensively, but their emphasis was on the collection of artifacts to send to their own countries, and their slipshod excavation methods often did further harm. Slowly the antique-hunting attitude toward Egyptian monuments gave way to careful study and preservation efforts. The government also took greater control of archaeological activity as Egypt's independence from foreign powers increased. Yet even in recent times, the ancient remains have faced threats. The most severe was the construction of the Aswan Dam in the 1960s, which threatened to submerge the temples in what had been Lower Nubia beneath the newly formed Lake Nasser. A major effort by the United Nations disassembled some of the threatened monuments and rebuilt them on higher ground, and the Egyptian government gave several of the others, such as the Temple of Dendur, Temple of Taffeh, and Temple of Debod, as gifts to nations that had contributed to the preservation effort. Nevertheless, several other temples vanished beneath the lake. Today there are dozens of sites with substantial temple remains, although many more once existed, and none of the major temples in Lower or Middle Egypt are well preserved. Those that are well preserved, such as Karnak, Luxor, and Abu Simbel, draw tourists from around the world and are therefore a key attraction for the Egyptian tourist industry, which is a major sector of the Egyptian economy. Three temple sites—Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis, Memphis and its Necropolis, and the Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae—have been designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. The Egyptian government is working to balance the demands of tourism against the need to protect ancient monuments from the harmful effects of tourist activity. Archaeological work continues as well, as many temple remains still lie buried and many extant temples are not yet fully studied. Some damaged or destroyed structures, like the temples of Akhenaten, are even being reconstructed. These efforts are improving modern understanding of Egyptian temples, which in turn allow a better understanding of ancient Egyptian society as a whole. ## See also - List of ancient Egyptian sites, including sites of temples
23,254,170	Leopold Report	1,162,574,136	1964 report on wildlife management in US National Parks	[ "1963 documents", "Environmental reports", "March 1963 events in the United States", "National Park Service", "Nature conservation in the United States", "Yellowstone National Park" ]	The Leopold Report, officially known as Wildlife Management in the National Parks, is a 1963 paper composed of a series of ecosystem management recommendations that were presented by the Special Advisory Board on Wildlife Management to United States Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall. Named for its chairman and principal author, zoologist and conservationist A. Starker Leopold, the report proved influential for future preservation mandates. After several years of public controversy regarding the forced reduction of the elk population in Yellowstone National Park, Udall appointed an advisory board to collect scientific data to inform future wildlife management of the national parks. The committee observed that culling programs at other national parks had been ineffective, and recommended different management of Yellowstone's elk population. In addressing the goals, policies, and methods of managing wildlife in the parks, the report suggested that in addition to protection, wildlife populations should be managed and regulated to prevent habitat degradation. Touching upon predator control, fire ecology, and other issues, the report suggested that the National Park Service (NPS) hire scientists to manage the parks using current scientific research. The Leopold Report became the first concrete plan to manage park visitors and ecosystems under unified principles. It was reprinted in several national publications, and many of its recommendations were incorporated into the official policies of the NPS. Although the report is notable for proposing that park management have a fundamental goal of reflecting "the primitive scene ... a reasonable illusion of primitive America", some have criticized it for its idealism and limited scope. ## Background Yellowstone National Park was established by the United States Congress on March 1, 1872, as the first U.S. national park, and quickly became a popular tourist destination. At first, national parks were overseen by a variety of agencies and lacked bureaucratic support. In 1916, more than four decades after Yellowstone's founding, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill creating the National Park Service (NPS), giving it the power "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." The NPS was tasked with both preservation and tourism, two divergent goals that would prove divisive during the resurgence of the conservation movement in the 1940s and 1950s. NPS managers became interested in attracting more tourists to Yellowstone during the 1910s and 1920s. Species such as elk and antelope were considered a major attraction for park visitors, and an attempt was made to increase their numbers through winter feeding and predator control. The effort was successful, and the number of elk expanded significantly, but to the detriment of other wildlife such as bighorn sheep. Despite sporadic reductions of elk by hunters, the animals still posed a problem to the northern range ecosystems, mainly because of overgrazing. In the winter of 1961, park rangers responded to this dilemma by shooting and killing approximately 4,300 elk. This aggressive reduction by the Park Service caused a massive public outcry; network television and newspaper coverage of the culling resulted in public opposition and congressional hearings. The International Association of Game and Fish Commissioners protested the "slaughtering of elk by hired killers" rather than by sportsmen, and schoolchildren from across the country were inspired to write letters of condemnation. Facing public backlash, the NPS announced it would stop killing elk. ## Advisory board and reporting The controversy surrounding the reduction of elk in Yellowstone shed a negative light upon the NPS and their management of wildlife populations within the country's national parks. In response to what was deemed a "crisis in public relations", Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall assembled the Special Advisory Board on Wildlife Management in 1962 to conduct thorough studies to be conducted on its science and resource management. The purpose of the board was to collect scientific data and investigate the necessity of wildlife population control. Chairing the board was A. Starker Leopold, the eldest son of noted conservationist Aldo Leopold. A respected zoologist, professor of ecology, and assistant to the chancellor at the University of California, Berkeley, Leopold was joined on the board by other prominent scientists and conservationists: Professor Stanley A. Cain of the Department of Conservation at the University of Michigan; Ira N. Gabrielson, formerly of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and president of the Wildlife Management Institute; Thomas L. Kimball, executive director of the National Wildlife Federation; and Clarence Cottam, former assistant director of the FWS and director of the Welder Wildlife Foundation. The formation of the advisory board was historically important, as this was the first time an outside group was asked to evaluate wildlife programs within the NPS. The report was officially named "Wildlife Management in the National Parks" when it was first presented on March 4, 1963, but it became informally known as the "Leopold Report". At the same time, a separate advisory board was formed by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to produce "A Report by the advisory committee to the National Park Service on Research". The NAS Report, more commonly known as the Robbins Report, was named after its primary author, biologist William J. Robbins. The Robbins Report was released on August 1, 1963, five months after the Leopold Report. ## Recommendations The report began by arguing that not only was it necessary to control the elk population in Yellowstone National Park, but direct reduction of elk was presented as the most suitable option. According to scientific findings, reduction programs at other national parks had not been implemented on a large enough scale; as a result, the advisory board recommended future reductions of animals should "be larger and in many cases repeated annually". The report also supported the concept of carrying capacity, and the idea that the elk population could be actively managed to restore its natural balance. Although the advisory board recommendations focused on wildlife and habitat management, they also touched upon the recreation of primitive, uncontrolled conditions. Revisiting fire ecology and the importance of fire, which had long been suppressed in national parks and other federal lands, the report recommended the use of prescribed fire as a cheap and natural tool for shaping the park environment. Predator control was also reviewed, and deemed unnatural and unpopular. Recreational hunting was strongly opposed, but the report allowed for select members of the public to assist in the "sole purpose of animal removal". The main goal of the NPS, the report explained, was to preserve national parks primarily for the "aesthetic, spiritual, scientific and educational values they offered to the public". The report strayed from arguments based on scientific data and veered into environmental philosophy, concluding that national parks should serve a historical purpose. One of the most popular passages in the report is from the section "The Goal of Park Management in the United States"; here, the report alludes to recreating an unaltered landscape, a sentiment touching upon a national park ideal: "As a primary goal, we would recommend that the biotic associations within each park be maintained, or where necessary recreated, as nearly as possible in the condition that prevailed when the area was first visited by the white man. A national park should represent a vignette of primitive America." It continues: > Restoring the primitive scene is not done easily nor can it be done completely. Some species are extinct. Given time, an eastern hardwood forest can be regrown to maturity but the chestnut will be missing and so will the roar of pigeon wings. The colorful drapanid finches are not to be heard again in the lowland forests of Hawaii, nor will the jack-hammer of the ivory-bill ring in southern swamps. The wolf and grizzly bear cannot readily be reintroduced into ranching communities, and the factor of human use of the parks is subject only to regulation, not elimination. Exotic plants, animals, and diseases are here to stay. All these limitations we fully realize. Yet, if the goal cannot be fully achieved it can be approached. A reasonable illusion of primitive America could be recreated, using the utmost in skill, judgment, and ecologic sensitivity. This in our opinion should be the objective of every national park and monument. Most importantly, the Leopold Report emphasized the need for scientific research and ecological management expertise in the national parks. Acknowledging the harm caused to nature by humans, the advisory board asked for the implementation of "a set of ecologic skills unknown in this country today". A call to arms was raised for exploring new methods of active protection and restoration of plant and animal life in the national parks: "Americans have shown a great capacity for degrading and fragmenting native biotas. So far we have not exercised much imagination or ingenuity in rebuilding damaged biotas. It will not be done by passive protection alone." ## Reception and publication The report was first presented on March 4, 1963, and originally published in the Transactions of the Twenty-Eighth North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference. Conrad L. Wirth, director of the NPS from 1951 to 1964, stated that the report reworded the Service's 1916 mandate into "modern language", using a scientific perspective to redefine the basic purpose of national parks. Secretary Udall supported the report and instructed the NPS to incorporate the findings into the agency's operations. In a memorandum dated May 2, 1963, he reiterated the purpose of the national park in the scope of the Leopold Report: "... a primary goal of park management is to maintain the biotic associations within each park as nearly as possible in that relationship which existed at a predetermined time period. The goal then is to create or maintain the mood of wild America." The advisory board was reconstituted in part as a permanent Natural Sciences Advisory Board to the NPS. In 1964, Wirth's successor, George B. Hartzog Jr., established the Division of Natural Science Studies, naming biologist George Sprugel Jr. the Service's chief scientist. The memorable idea of a "vignette of primitive America" drew popular attention from readers and the report received widespread publicity and praise amongst conservationists. It was reprinted in several national publications and was also noted in the Sierra Club Bulletin. Leopold often said that had he known the report would be widely read and dissected, he probably would have written it more carefully. ## Legacy The Leopold Report was the first concrete plan for managing park visitors and ecosystems under unified principles. With an infusion of scientists and resource programs, it set into motion a series of ecologically positive legislative actions in the 1960s and into the 1970s. While direct management of the elk population in Yellowstone National Park continues to spark debate amongst scientists, the report nonetheless successfully influenced multiple areas of park management. Prior to the report's publication, California's Sequoia National Park was beset by a thick underbrush, which the report directly referred to as a "dog-hair thicket ... a direct function of overprotection from natural ground fires". This underbrush would have been naturally eradicated by lightning storms, but because of policies that supported wildfire suppression, the growth threatened the park's Giant Sequoia trees. As a direct result of the report's advice regarding the usefulness of controlled burning, in 1964 the park began performing trial controlled burns, which led to a 1968 policy championing the continuation of burns for the betterment of the park's forest ecosystems. Fire ecologist Bruce Kilgore credited the Leopold Report as being a true catalyst for change, stating that it was the "document of greatest significance to National Park Service [fire] policy". Although the Robbins Report did not receive the same recognition as the Leopold Report, it reached similar conclusions. However, unlike the Leopold Report, the Robbins Report criticized the NPS for its lack of scientific research and made recommendations for sweeping changes in the structure of the NPS, with a proposal for a strong focus on a science-based approach. In 1972, the far more detailed Cain Report was released; amounting to 207 pages in comparison to the Leopold Report's scant 28, its committee was chaired by Stanley A. Cain, who also worked on the Leopold Report. Although this report made similar recommendations to the one primarily written by Leopold, it stated that little had been done to advance the previous report's findings, especially in terms of predator control. As a result of the Cain Report's recommendations, President Richard Nixon signed Executive Order 11643, which restricted the usage of poisons such as strychnine and sodium cyanide for predator control. The report's visionary goal for preservation has been both lauded and criticized. Author of the book Searching for Yellowstone: Ecology and Wonder in the Last Wilderness, Paul Schullery, wrote of the report: "Scholars return to it for new interpretations and even inspiration regularly, speakers invoke it on all occasions, and it is trotted out to prove almost every perspective in debates about modern park management." On the other hand, Alston Chase, a vocal critic of the National Park Service, disapproved of the limited scope of the Leopold Report, arguing that it had "inadvertently replaced science with nostalgia, subverting the goal it had set out to support". The report's insistence to return parks to the condition that "prevailed when the area was first visited by the white man" has also been criticized for ignoring the Native Americans' historical presence in the area. Historian and author Philip Burnham in particular stated in his 2000 book, Indian Country, God's Country: Native Americans and the National Parks, that although Leopold et al. were more progressive than their predecessors, they "still dismissed native people as passive onlookers".
619,750	Battle of Albuera	1,169,146,898	1811 battle in the Peninsular War	[ "1811 in Spain", "Battle honours of the King's Royal Rifle Corps", "Battles in Extremadura", "Battles involving France", "Battles involving Poland", "Battles involving Portugal", "Battles involving Spain", "Battles involving the United Kingdom", "Battles of the Peninsular War", "Conflicts in 1811", "King's German Legion", "May 1811 events" ]	The Battle of Albuera (16 May 1811) was a battle during the Peninsular War. A mixed British, Spanish and Portuguese corps engaged elements of the French Armée du Midi (Army of the South) at the small Spanish village of Albuera, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of the frontier fortress-town of Badajoz, Spain. From October 1810, Marshal Masséna's French Army of Portugal had been tied down in an increasingly hopeless stand-off against Wellington's Allied forces, safely entrenched in and behind the Lines of Torres Vedras. Acting on Napoleon's orders, in early 1811 Marshal Soult led a French expedition from Andalusia into Extremadura in a bid to draw Allied forces away from the Lines and ease Masséna's plight. Napoleon's information was outdated and Soult's intervention came too late; starving and understrength, Masséna's army was already withdrawing to Spain. Soult was able to capture the strategically important fortress at Badajoz on the border between Spain and Portugal from the Spanish, but was forced to return to Andalusia following Marshal Victor's defeat in March at the Battle of Barrosa. However, Soult left Badajoz strongly garrisoned. In April, following news of Masséna's complete withdrawal from Portugal, Wellington sent a powerful Anglo-Portuguese corps commanded by Sir William Beresford to retake the border town. The Allies drove most of the French from the surrounding area and began the siege of Badajoz. Soult rapidly gathered a new army from the French forces in Andalusia and, joining with the troops retreating before Beresford, he marched to relieve the siege. With intelligence of another approaching force—a Spanish army under Gen. Joaquín Blake—he planned to turn Beresford's flank and interpose his army between the two. However, Soult was again acting on outdated information; unknown to the marshal, the Spaniards had already linked up with the Anglo-Portuguese corps, and his 24,000 troops now faced a combined Allied army 35,000 strong. The opposing armies met at the village of Albuera. Both sides suffered heavily in the ensuing struggle, and the French finally withdrew on 18 May. Beresford's army was too battered and exhausted to pursue, but was able to resume the investment of Badajoz. Despite Soult's failure to relieve the town, the battle had little strategic effect on the war. Just one month later, in June 1811, the Allies were forced to abandon their siege by the approach of the reconstituted French Armies of Portugal and Andalusia. ## Background Despite his victory over elements of Marshal André Masséna's Army of Portugal at the Battle of Bussaco in September 1810, Viscount Wellington was forced by Masséna's subsequent maneuvering to withdraw his numerically inferior force behind the extensive series of fortifications he had prepared around Torres Vedras to protect the approaches to Lisbon. By 10 October 1810 only the British Light Division and some cavalry patrols remained outside the Lines of Torres Vedras. Wellington manned the fortifications with "secondary troops"—25,000 Portuguese militia, 8,000 Spaniards and 2,500 British marines and artillerymen—keeping his main field army of British and Portuguese regulars dispersed in order to rapidly meet a French assault on any point of the lines. Masséna's Army of Portugal concentrated around Sobral de Monte Agraço, apparently in preparation to attack. However, after a fierce skirmish on 14 October in which the strength of the lines became apparent, the French dug themselves in rather than launch a costly full-scale assault. They remained entrenched for a month before falling back to a position between Santarém and Rio Maior. Following Masséna's withdrawal, Wellington moved the 2nd Division under Lieutenant General Rowland Hill, along with two Portuguese brigades and an attachment of dragoons, across the Tagus to protect the plains of Alentejo—both from Masséna and a possible attack from Andalusia by the French Army of the South. Emperor Napoleon had previously sent dispatches to Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult, commander of the Army of the South, urging him to send assistance to Masséna. The emperor's orders were based on outdated intelligence and called for only a small force; by the time Soult received them the situation had changed considerably. Soult now knew a successful attack against Lisbon was beyond his means with the forces proposed—there were 30,000 Allied troops and six major fortresses between his army and the Portuguese capital—but he had received orders nonetheless and felt obliged to do something. He therefore gathered an army of 20,000 men, mainly from V Corps, and launched an expedition into Extremadura with the limited aim of capturing the fortress at Badajoz and hopefully drawing some of the Allied forces away from their impregnable positions in the lines. Along with V Corps, this venture also pulled both infantry and cavalry from Marshal Claude Victor-Perrin's I Corps who were besieging Cádiz at the time. Soult ordered more of Victor's men to fill the gaps left by his use of V Corps; this was bitterly opposed by Victor since it severely weakened his own forces, leaving him with only 15,000 men besieging a city garrisoned by around 26,000 Allied troops. Following a successful campaign in Extremadura, on 27 January 1811 Soult began his investment of Badajoz. Almost immediately, the Spanish Army of Extremadura arrived in the vicinity with some 15,000 troops under the command of General (Gen.) Gabriel de Mendizábal Iraeta. Soult's army, too small to surround Badajoz, was unable to prevent 3,000 of Mendizabal's men from reinforcing the fortress and the remainder occupying the heights of San Cristóbal. This posed a major threat to the French, so Soult moved at once to engage. In the ensuing Battle of the Gebora the French inflicted 1,000 casualties on the Spanish field army and took 4,000 prisoners, at a cost to themselves of only 400 casualties. The remnants of Mendizabal's defeated army fled towards Badajoz or into Portugal. The garrison of Badajoz, ably commanded by Gen. Rafael Menacho, initially put up strong resistance and by 3 March the French had made little progress against the powerful fortress. On that day, however, Menacho was killed on the ramparts by a chance shot; command of the garrison fell to Brigadier General José Imaz and the Spanish defense started to slacken. The walls were finally breached on 10 March. Soult was anxious to press the siege since he had learned that Masséna, in command of a disintegrating army plagued by sickness, starvation and an unusually harsh Portuguese winter, had retreated from Portugal. Concerned that the British would now be free to send a contingent to relieve Badajoz, Soult sent a deputation into the town to demand the garrison's surrender. Imaz duly capitulated and the French took possession of the fortress on 11 March. On 12 March, news of Victor's defeat at the Battle of Barrosa reached Soult and he left Badajoz to return to Andalusia, anxious that the siege of Cádiz had been lifted. Reaching Seville on 20 March he was relieved to find that Victor's siege lines still held and Andalusia remained under French control. Before his departure, Soult had consolidated his gains in Extremadura by garrisoning Badajoz with 11,000 French troops under the command of Marshal Édouard Mortier. ## Prelude With no political considerations to get in the way, the Allies soon learnt of Soult's investment of Badajoz, and with the threat from Masséna diminished by his withdrawal towards Spain, Wellington prepared to send his 2nd and 4th divisions (now under the command of General William Beresford) to relieve the siege. The orders were first issued on 8 March, but countermanded the next day due to false reports of Masséna offering battle at Tomar. Following further delays as Beresford's two divisions regrouped, the relieving force were ordered to hurry to Badajoz on 15 March. Around this time though, Wellington received news of the town's surrender; the urgency had diminished and Beresford's expedition could proceed at a more moderate pace. ### Mortier keeps busy Marshal Édouard Mortier, commanding the French V Corps, made good use of the Allied delays. Leaving six battalions to hold the fortress, in early March he moved against the nearby Portuguese town of Campo Maior with around 7,000 men and three batteries borrowed from the siege-train stationed at Badajoz. The French captured the outlying Fort São João on 14 March (the night of their arrival) but the Campo Maior fortress proved a harder proposition. Despite being manned by only 800 militia and Ordenanças, commanded by Major José Talaya, the town held out for seven days—surrendering only when an entire face of the bastion crumbled under the bombardment from Mortier's artillery. Mortier also sent two cavalry regiments under General Marie Victor Latour-Maubourg to invest Alburquerque; the 6,000 strong garrison there surrendered before French reinforcements needed to be brought up. Major Talaya's prolonged defence of Campo Maior gave Beresford's divisions time to arrive before the captured fortress had been slighted. On returning to Badajoz after his successful foray into Portugal, Mortier had left one infantry and three cavalry regiments at Campo Maior, under Latour-Maubourg, to dismantle its defences; Beresford's appearance on 25 March caught the French by surprise. However, despite the Allies having 18,000 troops at their disposal, Latour-Maubourg calmly formed up his command and retreated towards Badajoz. Beresford sent 1,500 cavalry, under the command of Brigadier General Robert Long after the French. Most of the French cavalry were driven off by a charge of the 13th Light Dragoons; however, the pursuit of Latour-Maubourg's force then faltered. It was poorly co-ordinated and the greater part of the French force managed to reach the safety of Badajoz. The reason behind this failure was subsequently disputed between supporters of Brigadier Long and General Beresford. ### Allies invest Badajoz Beresford now began the task of positioning his army to invest Badajoz, but a series of mishaps delayed the Allied advance into Spain. The Guadiana, a major river of Spain and Portugal that delineates part of the border, lay across Beresford's line of march. Wellington had promised a stock of Spanish pontoon boats so that a bridge could be erected, but these were not forthcoming. Instead, a bridge had to be fashioned in situ—a task that would take until 3 April to complete. Furthermore, the rations promised to Beresford, to be taken from the town of Estremoz, had been consumed by the remnants of Mendizabal's Army of Extremadura, which had settled in the region following their defeat by Soult at the start of the year. Beresford's troops eventually had to draw on rations from the fortress-town of Elvas in order to feed themselves. Finally, the shoes of the 4th Division had completely worn out following two weeks of marching, and replacements from Lisbon would take a week to arrive. These delays gave the Badajoz garrison time to work on the fortifications, taking them from a state of serious disrepair on 25 March to being tenable on 3 April. Beresford began to bring his army forward on 4 April, but a sudden flood swept away his makeshift bridge across the Guadiana, trapping the Allied vanguard on the eastern bank. This could have proved disastrous for Beresford, but Mortier had been recalled to Paris leaving Latour-Maubourg in command at Badajoz, and he was more concerned with repairing the fortress's defences than confronting the Allied army. After a minor success involving the capture of an entire squadron of the 13th Light Dragoons, Latour-Maubourg retired before Beresford's superior forces, leaving 3,000 men garrisoning Badajoz and 400 in Olivenza. By 8 April new bridges had been thrown across the Guadiana and the following day Beresford's army moved to Olivenza; they were now over the border and 24 kilometres (15 mi) south of Badajoz. While the British 4th Division tackled the small French garrison there, the main Allied army followed Latour-Maubourg south while sending covering forces to watch the Badajoz garrison from Valverde and Albuera. Beresford coordinated his movements with the remnants of the Spanish Army of Extremadura (now under the command of General Castaños), adding 3,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry to his strength. On 15 April, Olivenza fell to the 4th Division, which technically put Beresford in a position to commence the more important task of besieging Badajoz. However, neither Beresford nor Wellington had provided a siege-train for the expedition, so one had to be improvised on the spot. The solution adopted was to take sufficient artillery pieces of various qualities and vintages from the fortress of Elvas, but this expedient caused yet another delay in Allied progress. Beresford took the opportunity presented by this delay to have his forces clear southern Extremadura of French forces and Latour-Maubourg was pushed back to Guadalcanal. Beresford left his cavalry and a brigade under Lieutenant Colonel John Colborne, along with a detachment of Spanish horse, to watch Latour-Maubourg's movements and dissuade him from returning to Extremadura. Wellington was so concerned by the lack of progress that he decided to pay a flying visit to the region. He and Beresford conducted a reconnaissance of Badajoz on 22 April and by the time he left for the north, he had prepared for Beresford a detailed set of memorandum concerning how he should conduct the impending siege and the rest of the campaign. Beresford followed the instructions slowly but surely and finally began the siege of Badajoz on 4 May. A positive development for the Allies during this time was the appearance of another Spanish force in the region. The Cortes of Cádiz, serving as Spain's Regency, had sent General Joaquín Blake, with the two divisions of Zayas and Lardizábal, by sea to Ayamonte on the mouth of the Guadiana. Landing on 18 April, Blake's army moved to join General Francisco Ballesteros at the Spanish town of Jerez de los Caballeros. Although Blake was himself a member of the Spanish Regency, he was junior to Castaños in the military hierarchy (but senior to Ballesteros). He consequently did not protest when General Castaños agreed that Marshal Beresford, who was also junior to Castaños in rank, should command the combined Allied armies in any battle because there were more men in the Anglo-Portuguese force. ### Armies gather From the moment the French were forced to retreat before Beresford, Soult knew that Badajoz was at risk and he was determined that he would not lose the one tangible gain of his winter campaign. By 9 May, he felt that time was running out, so he set out for Badajoz with all the men of I Corps and IV Corps of the Army of the South he could spare from the siege of Cadiz and the occupation of the rest of Andalusia. Combined with the men of V Corps on the Andalusian border, Soult had a force of approximately 23,000 men and 35 artillery pieces cannon moving towards Badajoz. He put Latour-Maubourg in command of his cavalry and Division General Girard in provisional command of V Corps, with Brigade General Michel-Sylvestre Brayer at the head of the first division and Brigade General Joseph Pépin at the head of the second division in place of Division General Gazan, who was acting as Soult's chief of staff. Beresford was alerted to the French advance by reports received on 12 May from Spanish patriots in Seville, who had sent word of Soult's departure. Beresford kept up the pretence of besieging Badajoz by sending an unsuccessful demand for surrender to the French commander on the afternoon of that same day, but he realized he would now not have time to finish the job, so he ordered the withdrawal of his siege guns and supplies. On 13 May, the Spanish cavalry attached to Colborne's brigade came into contact with the French force and, in accordance with orders given by Wellington in April, they fell back while sending word of Soult's new position to Beresford. Later that day Long's British cavalry also encountered the advancing French and hastily pulled back—although Long, too, was following Wellington's orders not to engage, Beresford considered his withdrawal somewhat premature and thought Long could have delayed the French by forcing them to deploy. Also on the 13th, Beresford moved the British 2nd Division, Major General John Hamilton's Portuguese division and three artillery batteries from Badajoz to Valverde—an ideal position to observe the three routes open for Soult's approach. Wellington's orders left Beresford full discretion to fight Soult or to retreat and he was personally inclined to the latter course of action. However, when Beresford met with Blake and Castaños, the two most senior Spanish generals, at Valverde on 14 May, he allowed himself to be persuaded that the numerical superiority the Allied army had over Soult justified risking a battle. The Allied leaders consequently agreed to concentrate at Albuera, which was the location chosen by Wellington as best suited for an attempt to resist any French advance to relieve Badajoz. By 15 May it was clear to Beresford that Soult was taking the central route to Badajoz, which ran through Santa Marta and the village of Albuera. He made further adjustments to his deployment, moving the 2nd Division and Hamilton's Portuguese to defend the village, where they were joined by Alten's KGL brigade and a further Portuguese brigade composed of garrison and light troops temporarily formed for the campaign. Soult's movements became even clearer when his Chasseurs à cheval and hussars engaged Long's cavalry at Santa Marta—once again Long retreated in what Beresford considered to be unreasonable haste. Major General William Lumley took over from Long as the Allied cavalry commander. Accounts differ as to the reason for this, some claiming it was because of Long's incompetence, and others stating that it was simply down to Lumley's seniority. The immediate reason for Beresford's decision seems to have been that Long himself suggested that the appointment of Lumley would resolve questions of seniority that had arisen between Long and the commanders of the Spanish cavalry. The actual change of command did not take place until the morning of the 16th because Lumley did not arrive at the battlefield until then. There were no further engagements that day, so Beresford was able to complete his dispositions. The front of the Allied position was defined by a series of small watercourses flowing from south to north. Two of these, the Nogales (sometimes called the Feria) and Chicapierna brooks, meet just south of the village to form the Albuera river, but none of these were formidable obstacles and the river itself could be crossed at two bridges and a ford. Alten's men were placed in Albuera itself, while Hamilton's division along with most of the Portuguese cavalry formed the Allied left wing to the north of the village and Major General William Stewart's 2nd Division formed up on a hill just to the west of Albuera. The right wing of the Allied army was to be supplied by Castaños's and Blake's four Spanish infantry divisions, while the Allied cavalry and artillery along with the 4th Division would provide a strong strategic reserve. To the west of the Chicapierna and the Albuera, the land rises to a low, treeless north–south ridge crowned by several knolls that become progressively higher to the south. After the battle, Beresford was severely criticized for failing to occupy two of these high points, the first of which lies approximately one mile southwest of the village and the second some 500 yards further south. Blake's divisions were delayed in coming forward and only arrived at around midnight 15–16 May, although they were in position in time for the opening of battle later that morning. Meanwhile, Lowry Cole's 4th Division, and de España's Spanish brigade marched from Badajoz to Albuera in the early hours of 16 May. Meanwhile, Soult was making his own plans. He knew that Blake intended to join forces with Beresford, but he thought that the Spanish divisions were still several days march away. Based on that erroneous premise, Soult decided that his best course of action would be to turn the Allies' southern flank, thus driving a wedge between the two parts of Beresford's army. Soult hoped that as a result he could defeat his opponents in detail, overcoming Beresford's force and then turning south to deal with Blake's divisions. ## Battle Beresford deployed his troops on the reverse slopes of such hills as could be found on the battlefield; unable to see the Allied army, Soult was still unaware that Blake's Spanish divisions had come up during the night. Thus, on the morning of 16 May 1811, the Marshal proceeded with his attempt to turn the Allied right flank. To approach Albuera village directly, the French would have to cross the Albuera River via a small bridge, and Soult's first move was to launch a strong feint attack in this direction. He sent Godinot's infantry brigade, flanked by Briche's light cavalry and supported by artillery, across the bridge towards the village. Four platoons of Vistulan Lancers also crossed the river, but they were driven back by the 3rd Dragoon Guards. A Portuguese gun battery had been positioned to cover the approaches to the bridge, and as Godinot's skirmishers advanced they became engaged with Alten's KGL battalions, who were defending Albuera. At the same time two brigades of dragoons and Werlé's infantry brigade showed themselves on Godinot's left, advancing out of an olive wood in front of Blake's position to Alten's right. With a large concentration of French troops now menacing the village, the Allied commanders took the bait exactly as Soult had planned, and sent reinforcements to Alten's aid. ### French flank attack While the Allies were bracing themselves for a frontal assault on their centre and right, Soult was preparing his real thrust. The two V Corps divisions of Generals Brayer and Pépin, preceded by a cavalry brigade, swung left to begin the Marshal's flanking move—their progress was concealed by intervening olive woods, and the first the Allies knew of them was when four French cavalry regiments burst from the southern end of the woods, crossed two brooks, and scattered Loy's Spanish cavalry on the right of Beresford's lines. Alarmed, Beresford rode forward to observe the French manoeuvres; when Godinot's cavalry support and Werlé's brigade began to move away from Albuera and toward Girard's rear, Soult's true intentions became clear. Beresford immediately issued new orders. He directed Blake to re-position some of his east-facing troops to meet the French approaching from the south. Lumley's cavalry was sent to support Loy's horse and hold Blake's right flank, while Stewart's 2nd Division was sent south from its location behind Albuera to take up a new position behind Blake in readiness to provide support if needed. Cole's 4th Division was ordered to form up behind the cavalry, and Hamilton's Portuguese moved to the Allied centre to support the troops in Albuera and act as a reserve. Unfortunately for Beresford, these prudent counter-measures did not have their intended full effect because of an unexpected development—Blake decided that he would not follow Beresford's orders because he still believed that the French attack would come at his front. Beresford, on hearing of Blake's failure to redeploy, rode south to personally meet with the Spanish commader, but did not find him. By that time, however, four battalions from General Zayas's division (including two battalions of Spanish Guards) had been shifted to form a new southern-facing front supported by a single battery of Spanish artillery. In addition, Lardizabal brought up some of his battalions to support Zayas's right, and Ballesteros some more in support of the left. However, these reinforcements did not arrive in time to meet the first French attack—Zayas's four battalions had to face two entire French divisions alone. ### Thin Spanish line holds While Beresford had been redeploying his army, a "majestic movement changed the whole aspect of the French front". Two brigades of dragoons galloped from the French right-centre, passed behind V Corps, and joined Latour-Maubourg's cavalry on the left. At the same time Werlé's division closed up with the rear of V Corps, becoming the French reserve. Soult had concentrated his entire infantry strength, except for Godinot's 3,500 men who were still engaged at Albuera, and all his cavalry save Briche's light horse, into one front marching on Blake's right flank. The two divisions of V Corps advanced one behind the other against Zayas's position. Most British histories of the battle follow the lead of Professor Oman and state that the first of these divisions, that of Brayer, moved in ordre mixte—four battalions in column flanked on either side by a battalion in line, and further flanked by a battalion and a half in column—while Pépin's division moved in battalion column. French sources, however, are unanimous in stating that the entire French force was in columns. Brayer's skirmishers engaged Zayas line and gradually thinned the Spanish front rank. When Brayer's main column came within about 50 metres (55 yd) of the Spaniards, the skirmishers split to the left and right and the battalions behind them opened fire. The Spaniards held their ground, exchanging volleys with the French, and eventually repelled Brayer's first attack. Despite their resistance Zayas's men, possibly the best troops in the Spanish army at the time, were being slowly forced back. However, they held long enough for Ballesteros and Lardizabal to come up, and for Stewart's 2nd Division to advance to their support. Stewart brought John Colborne's 1st Brigade up, followed by the Division's two other brigades. The 3rd Regiment of Foot (the Buffs) took the lead, followed by the 48th and the 66th. Colborne's brigade formed up on the French left, and supported by a battery of KGL cannon the British opened fire, forcing Brayer's two flanking battalions to face outwards in order to return fire. ### Destruction of Colborne's brigade The musketry duel that developed between Colborne's brigade and Girard's left flank was so intense that both sides faltered. The French began to break, and were only kept in place by their officers beating them back with swords as they tried to retreat. The left of Colborne's brigade, assailed by both musket fire and grapeshot from Girard's supporting guns, tried to force the issue with a bayonet charge but were unsuccessful. On the right Colborne's men continued to trade volleys with the French and, seeing their resolve wavering, also fixed bayonets and charged. As the brigade moved forward a blinding hail- and rain-shower hit the battlefield, rendering both sides' muskets useless. Under cover of the reduced visibility Latour-Maubourg launched two cavalry regiments at Colborne's exposed right flank. Ploughing through the unprepared British infantry, the 1st Vistula Legion Lancers and the 2nd Hussars virtually annihilated Colborne's first three regiments. Only the fourth, the 31st Regiment of Foot, was able to save itself by forming into squares. The cavalry pressed on against Colborne's supporting KGL artillery battery and captured its guns (although all but the howitzer were subsequently recovered). The lancers swept past the 31st's square, scattering Beresford and his staff, and attacked the rear of Zayas's line. Zayas met this assault unflinchingly while continuing to direct fire at Girard. By this time the rainstorm had cleared and Lumley, commanding Beresford's horse, could finally make out the devastation caused by the French and Polish cavalry. He sent two squadrons of the 4th Dragoons to disperse the Uhlans, which they did, but the British troopers were in their turn driven off by a fresh hussar regiment that Latour-Maubourg had sent to cover the lancers' retreat. Closing on the action, the 29th Regiment of Foot (the lead regiment of Stewart's second brigade) opened fire on the scattered Vistula Legion Lancers. Most of this fusillade actually missed its intended targets and instead struck the rear ranks of Zayas's men. The Spaniards nevertheless stood firm; their actions very likely saved the allied army from destruction. Some British sources claim that the Polish cavalrymen refused to accept any surrender by the British infantry, and deliberately speared the wounded as they lay. Tradition reports that the British 2nd Division swore to give no quarter to Poles following Albuera. According to Beresford, of the 1,258 men lost by Colborne's first three regiments, 319 were killed, 460 were wounded and 479 were taken prisoner. ### Hoghton's ordeal The fighting on the Allied right now paused as both sides sought to regroup. Girard's division had suffered considerably in its battle with Zayas, and Colborne's actions, although ultimately disastrous, had caused significant French casualties. Girard now regarded his division as a spent force and brought up Gazan's 2nd Division to take its place. Advancing in column, Gazan's battalions had to struggle through the remnants of Girard's retiring units. As a result, many of the 1st Division's survivors were swept up and incorporated into Gazan's column, which grew by accretion into a dense mass of 8,000 men, losing much of its cohesion in the process. The ensuing disruption and delay gave the Allies time to re-form their own lines. Beresford deployed Hoghton's brigade behind Zayas's lines and Abercrombie's to the rear of Ballesteros, then moved them forward to relieve the Spaniards. Joseph Moyle Sherer, an officer serving under Abercrombie, recounts how a young Spanish officer rode up and "begged me ... to explain to the English that his countrymen were ordered to retire [and] were not flying." Following this hiatus the second phase of the battle began—if anything even more bloodily than the first. The French only deployed a skirmish line against Abercrombie's brigade, so the weight of the renewed assault fell on Hoghton. Despite being joined by the sole survivors of Colborne's brigade (the 31st Foot), just 1,900 men stood in line to face the advancing corps. Hoghton's three battalions (the 29th Regiment of Foot, 1/48th Regiment of Foot and 1/57th Regiment of Foot), suffered huge casualties, with 56 officers and 971 men killed or wounded from their complement of 95 officers and 1,556 men. Ordinarily in a duel between Allied line and French column, the greater volume of fire laid down by the line (where every single weapon could be brought to bear on the front and flanks of the narrower column) could be expected to be the decisive factor. In this case however, the French were well supported by artillery. More than compensating for the firepower disadvantage of his infantry formation, Girard brought guns up to just 275 metres (300 yd) from Hoghton's line—close enough to enfilade it with a crossfire of grape and canister. Early in this engagement Colonel William Inglis of the 57th Foot was wounded by grapeshot from the French artillery. He refused to be carried to the rear and lay with the Colours; throughout the battle his voice could be heard calmly repeating "Die hard 57th, die hard!" In following his exhortations, the 57th earned their nickname: the "Die-Hards". Under this combined arms assault Hoghton's brigade lost two-thirds of its strength. The Brigadier himself was killed, and as casualties rose its shrinking line could no longer cover the frontage of the attacking column. However, the French were in no condition to press home their numerical advantage; British volley fire had taken its toll and Girard lost 2,000 men during the confrontation. He had tried to form his unwieldy corps-sized column into line to bring his full firepower to bear and overwhelm Hoghton's brigade, but his deploying companies were constantly driven back into the column by the intense British musketry. The role of the 57th in this part of the battle was crucial, standing their ground in complete order and giving not an inch before the French onslaught. Beresford noted in his dispatch, "our dead, particularly the 57th Regiment, were lying as they fought in the ranks, every wound in front". ### Soult's retreat Although the French attacks were being held, the result of the battle was still far from certain. Soult had Werlé's divisional-sized brigade in reserve, and most of Latour-Maubourg's cavalry had not been engaged. However, the presence of Cole's fresh 4th Division, still formed up in readiness behind Lumley's squadrons, seems to have persuaded Soult not to use his strong force of horsemen. In his subsequent dispatch to the Emperor, Soult claimed that he had only at that point learned that Blake had joined with Beresford and he faced a much larger Allied force than expected. The Marshal, having outmanoeuvred the Allies with his flank attack, went on the defensive: the cavalry were refused permission to charge, and Werlé remained in reserve. On the Allied side Beresford was proving no more incisive. Anxious to reinforce Hoghton and Abercrombie, he tried to bring up de España's independent brigade, but they refused to move within range of the French. Leaving Cole's division in place (according to Beresford, to protect the Allied flank from further cavalry attack, although Wellington was of the opinion that Beresford was actually securing his line of retreat), Beresford instead called upon Hamilton's Portuguese Division, but Hamilton had moved closer to Albuera to support Alten in fending off Godinot's attack, and the orders took a long time to reach him. Hamilton's brigades only started moving half an hour after the orders had been sent. With his right under heavy pressure and casualties mounting, Beresford finally sent for Alten's KGL, ordering 3,000 Spaniards to Albuera to relieve them and take over the defence there. Alten hastily regrouped and marched south to the Allies' right wing, but Godinot took Albuera before the Spaniards could arrive, exposing another Allied flank to the French. It was at this critical point that the decisive move of the battle was made by General Cole. Standing idle under explicit orders from Beresford, he had nevertheless been considering advancing against the French left flank, but he was wary of moving his infantry across open country in the face of 3,500 French cavalry. His mind was made up though when Colonel Henry Hardinge, of the Portuguese Quarter-master-general's department, rode up and urged him to immediately advance. After a brief consultation with Lumley, Cole began to redeploy his division from column into line. Mindful of the dangers presented by Latour-Maubourg's horsemen, Cole flanked his line at either end with a unit in column: on the right were the division's massed light companies, including those from Brigadier Kemmis's brigade, while the first battalion of the Lusitanian Legion took station on the left. Lumley formed up the whole of the Allied cavalry to the rear and right, accompanied by a battery of horse artillery, and the whole mass, some 5,000 infantrymen, advanced on V Corps' left flank. The sight of the approaching Allied line forced Soult's hand—if Cole's division was not stopped, defeat was certain. He sent four regiments of Latour-Maubourg's dragoons to charge the Portuguese section of Cole's line, and committed the whole of Werlé's reserve to protect V Corps' flank. The dragoons swept down on Harvey's Portuguese brigade fully expecting to destroy it as they had Colborne's. The inexperienced Portuguese, however, stood firm and drove away the cavalry without even forming square. Having once been repulsed, Latour-Maubourg's dragoons made no further attack on Cole's division, and the Allied line marched on. The Fusilier brigade and Lusitanian Legion on the division's left soon encountered Werlé's brigade, which outnumbered them two to one. Despite his advantage in numbers, Werlé had formed his nine battalions into three columns of regiments, and could not bring as many muskets to bear as the Allies. Three separate regimental musket duels ensued, as the 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers and the two battalions of the 7th Fusiliers each took on a column. During the fire-fight the French tried once more to extend into line, but as before the concentrated Allied fire prevented their deployment. After 20–30 minutes of bitter conflict they finally broke and ran. The Fusiliers had lost more than half their numbers, mainly to artillery fire, while Werlé's brigade had suffered 1,800 casualties. Meanwhile, Abercrombie had wheeled his brigade round to face the right of the beleaguered V Corps and charged; Girard's and Gazan's men fled to the rear, joining the fugitives from Werlé's brigade. The Allied 4th Division and parts of the 2nd went after the retreating French, leading Beresford to exclaim "Stop! Stop the Fifty Seventh; it would be a sin to let them go on!" This admonition was unnecessary though: Latour-Maubourg quickly placed his cavalry between the chasing Allied divisions and the fleeing French infantry, and aborting their pursuit the British and Portuguese instead drew up on the heights they had just won. Soult also moved up his final reserve—two strong Grenadier battalions—to cover the retreat, and although these suffered heavily from Allied artillery fire, they and the cavalry ensured there was little further fighting. After some delay Beresford brought up three Portuguese brigades and drove the Grenadiers back, but by this time Soult had massed his artillery in a line against the Allies and Beresford did not further commit his forces. As a postscript to the battle, Alten's KGL, who had not had time to join the southern front, returned to Albuera and drove out what French force remained in the village. After six or seven hours of bitter conflict, the battle had come to an end. ## Aftermath On the morning of 17 May both sides formed up again. Beresford's orders indicated that he would retreat if Soult advanced. All day Soult held his ground, long enough to arrange for transportation of his wounded to Seville. It was not apparent to Beresford that there was little chance of Soult resuming hostilities, even when Kemmis's 1,400 strong brigade (previously stranded on the north bank of the Guadiana) joined the Allied army on the battlefield at dawn. Beresford also had the relatively unscathed Portuguese division, Alten's KGL and several Spanish battalions ready for duty; Soult, in contrast, only had Godinot's brigade and Latour-Maubourg's cavalry in a fit state to fight. News that Wellington was marching to Elvas with a further two divisions hastened the Marshal's decision to retreat, as well as persuading Beresford not to launch a premature offensive against Soult's superior artillery and cavalry. Soult marched away before dawn on 18 May, leaving several hundred wounded behind for the Allies to treat, and Beresford, despite a large advantage in numbers and a day's rest, was nevertheless unable to pursue. So many were injured in the battle that two days later British casualties were still waiting to be collected from the field. The chapel at Albuera was filled with wounded Frenchmen, and the dead still lay scattered across the ground. In proportion to the numbers involved, the Battle of Albuera was the bloodiest of the whole Peninsular War. The losses on both sides were horrific, and while Soult had failed in his aim of relieving the siege of Badajoz, neither side had demonstrated the will to press for a conclusive victory. Allied losses amounted to 5,916: 4,159 British, 389 Portuguese and 1,368 Spaniards. In his despatch of 21 May 1811, Soult estimated British casualties as 5,000 with 800 to 1,000 captured; Spanish as 2,000 with 1,100 captured; Portuguese as 700 to 800. French casualties are harder to ascertain—Soult initially declared 2,800 in his dispatch to Napoleon, but the official figure drawn up on 6 July revised that number upward to 5,936. British historians dispute this, comparing Soult's figure of 241 officer casualties with regimental returns that total 362. Sir Charles Oman extrapolated this figure to come up with the total number of French casualties, which he puts at approximately 7,900. In comparison, the French historians Jacques Vital Belmas and Édouard Lapène place Soult's losses at 7,000. Reviewing Beresford's after action report, Wellington was unhappy with its despondent tone and commented to a staff officer "This won't do. It will drive the people in England mad. Write me down a victory." The report was duly rewritten, although Wellington privately acknowledged that another such battle would ruin his army. Soult, on the basis of higher allied casualties, also claimed "a signal victory". He generously paid tribute to the steadfastness of the allied troops, writing "There is no beating these troops, in spite of their generals. I always thought they were bad soldiers, now I am sure of it. I had turned their right, pierced their centre and everywhere victory was mine—but they did not know how to run!" Likewise, the British House of Commons passed a motion expressing gratitude for the steadfastness of the Spanish troops—a distinction rarely conferred on Britain's allies during the Napoleonic Wars. ## Consequences Although he failed to lift the siege of Badajoz, Soult's campaign had managed to temporarily relieve it. On 12 May Beresford, having learned that Soult had reached Llerena, directed that the siege be abandoned and by the night of the 13th the siege train, artillery and supplies were withdrawn to Elvas and such material that could not be moved was burned. General Philippon, the garrison's commander, took this opportunity to sally out and destroy the surrounding Allied trenchworks and batteries. On 18 May Beresford sent Hamilton's Portuguese division, along with some cavalry, back to Badajoz. A show of Badajoz's investment was resumed the following day, but Soult knew well that Beresford could no longer hurt Badajoz. Beresford's corps was joined by Wellington's field army during June 1811, but even with this reinforcement time was fast running out. The French Army of Portugal, now reconstituted under Marshal Auguste Marmont, had joined up with Soult's Army of the South, and Wellington was forced to pull his 44,000 men back across the border to Elvas. On 20 June the combined French force, over 60,000 strong, lifted the siege. The Battle of Albuera had little effect on the overall course of the war, but it had shown that British and Spanish troops could work together. On the other hand, Anglo-Spanish political relations suffered following the battle. Wellington placed most of the blame for the losses on Blake, while a dispatch read in Spain's Cortes of Cádiz implied that the British had played only a minor role in the battle, despite their much higher losses. ## Remembrance The name "Albuhera" appears as a battle honour on the colours of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, as a successor regiment to the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot who all fought in the battle and later formed the Queen's Regiment. The 57th and its immediate successor the Middlesex Regiment (formed by the union of the West Middlesex and the East Middlesex), had the nickname "The Die-Hards" from Colonel Inglis's cry during the battle "Die Hard, 57th, Die Hard!". The Buffs produced the silver Latham Centrepiece in 1872 to commemorate the action by Lt Mathew Latham in saving the Kings Colour despite severe mutilation by sabre cuts. (See four paintings of the battle scenes Queen's Regimental Association Regimental Art) Lord Byron's epic poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage refers to the battle: > > O Albuera, glorious field of grief! As o'er thy plain the Pilgrim pricked his steed, Who could foresee thee, in a space so brief, A scene where mingling foes should boast and bleed. Peace to the perished! may the warrior's meed And tears of triumph their reward prolong! Till others fall where other chieftains lead, Thy name shall circle round the gaping throng, And shine in worthless lays, the theme of transient song. The date, 16 May, is marked as 'Middlesex Day', the county day for Middlesex, for the actions of the 57th, the West Middlesex, at Albuhera. The Silent Toast - 16th May. The tradition of The Silent Toast, is an important part of the remembrance of The Battle of Albuhera 1811, which was inherited from 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot "The Die Hards". A tradition which is carried on today, by the Queen's Regiment successor, The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, in memory of the forebear and current regiments who gave their lives. The annual toast is made each year on 16th May in the Warrant Officers' and Sgts Mess, whereby the toast "To The Immortal Memory" is proposed by the Commanding Officer and drunk by intermixed sergeants and officers, The original cup was reputedly made out of the silver Gorget accoutrements of the 57th Foot officers who had fought at Albuhera. It is adorned with the medal of Colour Sergeant Holloway who won it at the battle whilst serving as an 11 year old Drummer Boy. He was the longest living survivor of the battle. The Queen's Regimental Association Traditions ## Notes and citations ## General and cited references
2,920,323	Albert Stanley, 1st Baron Ashfield	1,150,574,193	British-American businessman and politician	[ "1874 births", "1948 deaths", "American military personnel of the Spanish–American War", "Barons created by George V", "Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom", "Businesspeople from Detroit", "Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies", "Engineer and Railway Staff Corps officers", "English emigrants to the United States", "Imperial Chemical Industries executives", "Knights Bachelor", "Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Ashton-under-Lyne", "Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom", "People associated with transport in London", "People from Normanton, Derby", "Presidents of the Board of Trade", "UK MPs 1910–1918", "UK MPs 1918–1922", "UK MPs who were granted peerages" ]	Albert Henry Stanley, 1st Baron Ashfield, (8 August 1874 – 4 November 1948), born Albert Henry Knattriess, was a British-American businessman who was managing director, then chairman of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL) from 1910 to 1933 and chairman of the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) from 1933 to 1947. Although born in Britain, his early career was in the United States, where at a young age, he held senior positions in the developing tramway systems of Detroit and New Jersey. In 1898, he served in the United States Navy during the short Spanish–American War. In 1907, his management skills led to his recruitment by the UERL, which was struggling through a financial crisis that threatened its existence. He quickly integrated the company's management and used advertising and public relations to improve profits. As managing director of the UERL from 1910, he led the take-over of competing underground railway companies and bus and tram operations to form an integrated transport operation known as the Combine. He was Member of Parliament for Ashton-under-Lyne from December 1916 to January 1920 and was President of the Board of Trade between December 1916 and May 1919, reorganising the board and establishing specialist departments for various industries. He returned to the UERL and then chaired it and its successor the LPTB during the organisation's greatest period of expansion between the two World Wars, making it a world-respected organisation considered an exemplar of the best form of public administration. ## Early life and career in United States Stanley was born on 8 August 1874, in New Normanton, Derbyshire, England, the son of Henry and Elizabeth Knattriess (née Twigg). His father worked as a coachbuilder for the Pullman Company. In 1880, the family emigrated to Detroit in the United States, where he worked at Pullman's main factory. During the 1890s, the family changed its name to "Stanley". In 1888, at the age of 14, Stanley left school and went to work as an office boy at the Detroit Street Railways Company, which ran a horse-drawn tram system. He continued to study at evening school and worked long hours, often from 7.30 am to 10.00 pm. His abilities were recognised early and Stanley was given responsibility for scheduling the services and preparing the timetables when he was 17. Following the expansion and electrification of the tramway, he became General Superintendent of the company in 1894. Stanley was a naval reservist and, during the brief Spanish–American War of 1898, he served in the United States Navy as a landsman in the crew of USS Yosemite alongside many others from Detroit. In 1903, Stanley moved to New Jersey to become assistant general manager of the street railway department of the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey. The company had been struggling, but Stanley quickly improved its organisation and was promoted to general manager of the department in January 1904. In January 1907, he became general manager of the whole corporation, running a network of almost 1,000 route miles and 25,000 employees. In 1904, Stanley married Grace Lowrey (1878–1962) of New York. The couple had two daughters: Marian Stanley (born 1906) and Grace Stanley (born 1907). ## Career in Britain ### Rescue of the Underground Electric Railways Company On 20 February 1907, Sir George Gibb, managing director of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL), appointed Stanley as its general manager. The UERL was the holding company of four underground railways in central London. Three of these (the District Railway, the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway and the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway) were already in operation and the fourth (the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway) was about to open. The UERL had been established by American financier Charles Yerkes and much of the finance and equipment had been brought from the United States, so Stanley's experience of managing urban transit systems in that country made him an ideal candidate for the position. The cost of constructing three new lines in just a few years had put the company in a precarious monetary position and income was not sufficient to pay the interest on its loans. Stanley's responsibility was to restore its finances. Only recently promoted to general manager of the New Jersey system, Stanley had been reluctant to take the position in London and took it for one year only, provided he would be free to return to America at the end of the year. He told the company's senior managers that the company was almost bankrupt and got resignation letters from each of them post-dated by six months. Through better integration of the separate companies within the group and by improving advertising and public relations, he was quickly able to turn the fortunes of the company around, while the company's chairman, Sir Edgar Speyer, renegotiated the debt repayments. In 1908, Stanley joined the company's board and, in 1910, he became the managing director. With Commercial Manager Frank Pick, Stanley devised a plan to increase passenger numbers: developing the "UNDERGROUND" brand and establishing a joint booking system and co-ordinated fares throughout all of London's underground railways, including those not controlled by the UERL. In July 1910, Stanley took the integration of the group further, when he persuaded previously reluctant American investors to approve the merger of the three tube railways into a single company. Further consolidation came with the UERL's take-over of London General Omnibus Company (LGOC) in 1912 and the Central London Railway and the City and South London Railway on 1 January 1913. Of London's underground railways, only the Metropolitan Railway (and its subsidiaries the Great Northern & City Railway and the East London Railway) and the Waterloo & City Railway remained outside of the Underground Group's control. The LGOC was the dominant bus operator in the capital and its high profitability (it paid dividends of 18 per cent compared with Underground Group companies' dividends of 1 to 3 per cent) subsidised the rest of the group. Stanley further expanded the group through shareholdings in London United Tramways and Metropolitan Electric Tramways and the foundation of bus builder AEC. The much enlarged group became known as the Combine. On 29 July 1914, Stanley was knighted in recognition of his services to transport. Stanley also planned extensions of the existing Underground Group's lines into new, undeveloped districts beyond the central area to encourage the development of new suburbs and new commuter traffic. The first of the extensions, the Bakerloo line to Queen's Park and Watford Junction, opened between 1915 and 1917. The other expansion plans were postponed during World War I. ### Government In 1915, Stanley was given a wartime role as Director-General of Mechanical Transport at the Ministry of Munitions. In 1916, he was selected by Prime Minister David Lloyd George to become President of the Board of Trade. Lloyd George had previously promised this role to Sir Max Aitken (later Lord Beaverbrook), Member of Parliament for Ashton-under-Lyne. At that time, a member of parliament taking a cabinet post for the first time had to resign and stand for re-election in a by-election. Aitken had made arrangements to do this before Lloyd George decided to appoint Stanley to the position instead. Aitken, a friend of Stanley, was persuaded to continue with the resignation in exchange for a peerage so that Stanley could take his seat. Stanley became President of the Board of Trade and was made a Privy Counsellor on 13 December 1916. He was elected to parliament unopposed on 23 December 1916 as a Conservative Unionist. At 42 years old he was the youngest member of Lloyd George's coalition government. At the 1918 general election, Stanley was opposed by Frederick Lister, the President of the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers, in a challenge over the government's policy on war pensions. With the backing of Beaverbrook, who visited his former constituency to speak on his behalf, Stanley won the election. Stanley's achievements in office were mixed. He established various specialist departments to manage output in numerous industries and reorganised the structure of the Board. However, despite previous successes with unions, his negotiations were ineffective. Writing to Leader of the House of Commons and future Prime Minister Bonar Law in January 1919, Lloyd George described Stanley as having "all the glibness of Runciman and that is apt to take in innocent persons like you and me ... Stanley, to put it quite bluntly, is a funk, and there is no room for funks in the modern world." Stanley left the Board of Trade and the government in May 1919 and returned to the UERL. ### Return to the Underground Back at the Underground Group, Stanley returned to his role as managing director and also became its chairman, replacing Lord George Hamilton. In the 1920 New Year Honours, he was created Baron Ashfield, of Southwell in the County of Nottingham, ending his term as an MP. He and Pick reactivated their expansion plans, and one of the most significant periods in the organisation's history began, subsequently considered to be its heyday and sometimes called its "Golden Age". The Central London Railway was extended to Ealing Broadway in 1920, and the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway was extended to Hendon in 1923 and to Edgware in 1924. The City and South London Railway was reconstructed with larger diameter tunnels to take modern trains between 1922 and 1924 and extended to Morden in 1926. In addition, a programme of modernising many of the Underground's busiest central London stations was started; providing them with escalators to replace lifts. New rolling stock was gradually introduced with automatic sliding doors along the length of the carriage instead of manual end gates. By the middle of the 1920s, the organisation had expanded to such an extent that a large, new headquarters building was constructed at 55 Broadway over St James's Park station. Starting in the early 1920s, competition from numerous small bus companies, nicknamed "pirates" because they operated irregular routes and plundered the LGOC's passengers, eroded the profitability of the Combine's bus operations and had a negative impact on the profitability of the whole group. Ashfield lobbied the government for regulation of transport services in the London area. Starting in 1923, a series of legislative initiatives were made in this direction, with Ashfield and Labour London County Councillor (later MP and Minister of Transport) Herbert Morrison, at the forefront of debates as to the level of regulation and public control under which transport services should be brought. Ashfield aimed for regulation that would give the UERL group protection from competition and allow it to take substantive control of the LCC's tram system; Morrison preferred full public ownership. Ashfield's proposal was fraught with controversy, The Spectator noting, "Everybody agrees that Lord Ashfield knows more about transport than anyone else, but people are naturally loth to give, not to him, but to his shareholders, the monopoly of conveying them." After seven years of false starts, a bill was announced at the end of 1930 for the formation of the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB), a public corporation that would take control of the UERL, the Metropolitan Railway and all bus and tram operators within an area designated as the London Passenger Transport Area. As Ashfield had done with shareholders in 1910 over the consolidation of the three UERL controlled tube lines, he used his persuasiveness to obtain their agreements to the government buy-out of their stock. > I have read this bill carefully, and I beg you to accept that I know what I am talking about. You cannot conceive I would be guilty of such folly as to suggest to you in a matter in which my whole life has been wrapped, that you should transfer your interests to a board subject to political interference, that could play ducks and drakes with your investments. Acts of Parliament are not treated like scraps of paper. They are scrupulously observed by all parties. I have promised the Minister my support. You may fail to support me, but in that event you will have to find somebody else to manage your undertakings. I have pledged my word and I am not going back on it. The Board was a compromise – public ownership but not full nationalisation – and came into existence on 1 July 1933. Ashfield served as the organisation's chairman from its establishment in 1933 on an annual salary of £12,500 (approximately £600,000 today), with Pick as Chief Executive. The opening of extensions of the Piccadilly line to Uxbridge, Hounslow and Cockfosters followed in 1933. On the Metropolitan Railway, Ashfield and Pick instigated a rationalisation of services. The barely used and loss-making Brill and Verney Junction branches beyond Aylesbury were closed in 1935 and 1936. Freight services were reduced and electrification of the remaining steam operated sections of the line was planned. In 1935, the availability of government-backed loans to stimulate the flagging economy allowed Ashfield and Pick to promote system-wide improvements under the New Works Programme for 1935–1940, including the transfer of the Metropolitan line's Stanmore services to the Bakerloo line in 1939, the Northern line's Northern Heights project and extension of the Central line to Ongar and Denham. Following a reorganisation of public transportation by the Labour government of Clement Attlee, the LPTB was scheduled to be nationalised along with the majority of British railway, bus, road haulage and waterway concerns from 1 January 1948. In advance of this, Ashfield resigned from the LPTB at the end of October 1947 and joined the board of the new British Transport Commission which was to operate all of the nationalised public transport systems. At nationalisation, the LPTB was to be abolished and replaced by the London Transport Executive. Lord Latham, a member of the LPTB and the incoming chairman of the new organisation, acted as temporary chairman for the last two months of the LPTB's existence. ### Other activities In addition to his management of London Underground and brief political career, Ashfield held many directorships in transport undertakings and industry. He helped establish the Institute of Transport in 1919/20 and was one of its first presidents. He was a director of the Mexican Railway Company and two railway companies in Cuba and a member of the 1931 Royal Commission on Railways and Transportation in Canada. He was one of two government directors of the British Dyestuffs Corporation, its chairman from 1924 and was involved in the creation of Imperial Chemical Industries in 1926, of which he was subsequently a non-executive director. Ashfield was a director of the Midland Bank, Amalgamated Anthracite Collieries and chairman of Albany Ward Theatres, Associated Provincial Picture Houses, and Provincial Cinematograph Theatres. During World War I, he was Colonel of the Territorial Force Engineer and Railway Staff Corps and was Honorary Colonel of the Royal Artillery's 84th Light Anti Aircraft Regiment during World War II. ## Personality Biographers of Stanley characterise him as having an "immensely active mind, and a strong sense of public duty" and a "great charm of manner and a sense of humour which concealed an almost ruthless determination" that made him a "formidable negotiator". His "intuitive understanding of his fellow men" gave him "presence, which allowed him to dominate meetings effortlessly" and "inspired loyalty, devotion even, among his staff". He was "a dapper ladies' man, something of a playboy tycoon, who was always smartly turned out and enjoyed moving in high society". ## Legacy Ashfield died on 4 November 1948 at 31 Queen's Gate, South Kensington. During his near forty-year tenure as managing director and chairman of the Underground Group and the LPTB, Ashfield oversaw the transformation of a collection of unconnected, competing railway, bus and tram companies, some in severe financial difficulties, into a coherent and well managed transport organisation, internationally respected for its technical expertise and design style. Transport historian Christian Wolmar considers it "almost impossible to exaggerate the high regard in which LT was held during its all too brief heyday, attracting official visitors from around the world eager to learn the lessons of its success and apply them in their own countries." "It represented the apogee of a type of confident public administration ... with a reputation that any state organisation today would envy ... only made possible by the brilliance of its two famous leaders, Ashfield and Pick." A memorial to Ashfield was erected at 55 Broadway in 1950 and a blue plaque was placed at his home, 43 South Street, Mayfair in 1984. A large office building at London Underground's Lillie Bridge Depot is named Ashfield House in his honour. It stands to the south of the District line tracks a short distance to the east of West Kensington station and is also visible from West Cromwell Road (A4).
1,017,772	Love. Angel. Music. Baby.	1,171,426,516	2004 studio album by Gwen Stefani	[ "2004 debut albums", "Albums produced by André 3000", "Albums produced by Dallas Austin", "Albums produced by Dr. Dre", "Albums produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis", "Albums produced by Nellee Hooper", "Albums produced by the Neptunes", "Albums recorded at Henson Recording Studios", "Dance-rock albums", "Gwen Stefani albums", "Interscope Records albums", "New wave albums by American artists", "Soul albums by American artists" ]	Love. Angel. Music. Baby. is the debut solo studio album by American singer Gwen Stefani, released on November 12, 2004, by Interscope Records. Stefani, who had previously released five studio albums as lead singer of the rock band No Doubt, began recording solo material in early 2003. She began working on Love. Angel. Music. Baby. as a side project that would become a full album after No Doubt went on hiatus. Stefani co-wrote every song on the album, collaborating with various songwriters and producers including André 3000, Dallas Austin, Dr. Dre, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the Neptunes and Linda Perry. The album also features guest appearances by Eve and André 3000. Designed to sound like a 1980s dance record, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. was influenced by artists and bands such as the Cure, Lisa Lisa, New Order, Prince, Depeche Mode and Madonna. The album incorporates a diverse range of genres, including electropop, dance-rock, new wave, and soul, while lyrically, it explores themes of fashion, wealth and relationships. Promotion of the album included the release of six commercially successful singles and the North American Harajuku Lovers Tour. While promoting, Stefani was often accompanied by backup dancers called the Harajuku Girls. Love. Angel. Music. Baby. was met with generally positive reviews from music critics, and received a total of six Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year, during the 2006 ceremony. It debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200, selling 309,000 copies in its first week, eventually peaking at number five. The album has received multi-platinum sales certifications in several countries and has sold over eight million copies worldwide. ## Background During her time with the band No Doubt, Stefani began making solo appearances on albums by artists such as Eve. In the production of its fifth studio album, Rock Steady (2001), No Doubt collaborated with Prince, the Neptunes, and David A. Stewart and had Mark "Spike" Stent mixing the album. While the band was on tour to promote the album, Stefani listened to Club Nouveau's 1987 song "Why You Treat Me So Bad" and considered recording material that modernized 1980s music. No Doubt's bassist and her former boyfriend, Tony Kanal, introduced her to music by Prince, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, and Debbie Deb, and they talked about producing songs from Kanal's bedroom. In 2003, Stefani began recording solo material. She stated she was considering recording singles to be used on soundtracks, continuing her collaborations or releasing an album under the pseudonym "GS". Jimmy Iovine (chairman and co-founder of Interscope) convinced Stefani to work on this album. On the second day of her sessions with Linda Perry, the two wrote a song about Stefani's writer's block and fears about the solo album. This became the track "What You Waiting For?", which was released as the lead single for the album. When the two began working on a song that Stefani stated was too personal, she left to visit Kanal. He played her a track on which he had been working and which became "Crash", the album's final single. The two tried to write new material, but gave up after two weeks. They did not return to work until six months later, when Stefani began collaborating with other artists, commenting, "If I were to write the chorus of 'Yesterday' by the Beatles, and that's all I wrote, that would be good enough to be part of that history." Stefani resumed work with Linda Perry, who invited Dallas Austin, and many other artists, including Outkast's André 3000, the Neptunes, and Dr. Dre. Stefani announced the album's release in early 2004, marketing it as a "dance record" and a "guilty pleasure". To commemorate the 15th anniversary of the album, Interscope released a version of the album remastered by Chris Gehringer on November 22, 2019. ## Composition ### Music and lyrics Love. Angel. Music. Baby. is an electropop, new wave, dance-rock, and soul album, incorporating elements of R&B, hip hop, and disco. The album takes influence from a variety of 1980s genres to the extent that one reviewer commented, "The only significant '80s radio style skipped is the ska punk revival that No Doubt rode to success." Several songs employ synthesizer sounds characteristic of music from the 1980s, drawing comparisons to the Go-Go's and Cyndi Lauper. Stefani cited Club Nouveau, Depeche Mode, Lisa Lisa, Prince, New Order, the Cure, and early Madonna as major influences for the album. Like pop albums of the 1980s, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. focuses primarily on money, with songs such as "Rich Girl" and "Luxurious" that feature descriptions of riches and wealth. The album contains several references to Stefani's clothing line, L.A.M.B., and alludes to contemporary fashion designers such as John Galliano, Rei Kawakubo, and Vivienne Westwood. Stefani also released a series of dolls named the "Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Fashion Dolls", designed after the costumes from her tour. Although Stefani intended for the album to be a light dance record, she stated that "no matter what you do, things just come out." The album's opening track "What You Waiting For?" discusses her desire to be a mother and in 2006, she and her then husband, Bush singer Gavin Rossdale, had a son named Kingston Rossdale. The fourth track "Cool" discusses Stefani's friendship with Kanal after he ended a romantic relationship with her in 1995. Love. Angel. Music. Baby. introduced the Harajuku Girls, an entourage of four Japanese women whom Stefani referred to as a figment of her imagination. The Harajuku Girls are discussed in several of the songs, including one named after and entirely dedicated to them. They appear in most of the music videos produced for the album and those for Stefani's second album The Sweet Escape (2006). Love. Angel. Music. Baby. includes various styles of music. Many songs are influenced by electro beats designed for club play. Producers Austin and Kanal incorporated R&B into the song "Luxurious" which contains a sample of the Isley Brothers' 1983 single "Between the Sheets". Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis incorporate new jack swing, a fusion genre of R&B that the pair had developed and popularized during the mid-1980s. ### Songs The album opens with "What You Waiting For?", an electropop, new wave, dance-rock, and funk song. Lyrically, the song discusses Stefani's fears of beginning a solo career. "Rich Girl", a collaboration with rapper Eve, is a dancehall and reggae reworking of the English duo Louchie Lou & Michie One's 1994 song "If I Was a Rich Girl", which itself interpolates the song "If I Were a Rich Man" from the 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof. The Neptunes-produced track "Hollaback Girl" combines 1980s hip hop with dance music. It was written as a response to a derogatory comment that grunge musician Courtney Love made, referring to Stefani as a cheerleader. The fourth track "Cool" chronicles Stefani's previous relationship with Tony Kanal, featuring a new wave and synth-pop production. The song was compared to Cyndi Lauper and Madonna songs from the 1980s. "Bubble Pop Electric", the fifth track, is an electro song featuring André 3000's alias Johnny Vulture. It tells of the two having sex at a drive-in movie, and it was generally well received by critics, who drew comparisons to the 1978 film Grease and its 1982 sequel Grease 2. "Luxurious" is a 1990s-inspired R&B song that lyrically talks about the desire to be rich in love, simultaneously comparing Stefani's lover with luxuries. The seventh track, "Harajuku Girls", is a synth-pop song that was described as a tribute to Tokyo's street culture, produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. "Crash" is an electroclash song that uses automobile metaphors to describe a relationship. "The Real Thing" was described as a vintage Europop song, and features guest appearances from New Order vocalist Bernard Sumner and bassist Peter Hook. The next track, the synth-pop song "Serious", drew comparisons to Madonna's work during the early 1980s. A music video was produced for the song, but it was never officially released, although a snippet of the video surfaced on YouTube in October 2006. "Danger Zone", an electro-rock song, was widely interpreted to be about Stefani's husband Gavin Rossdale having an illegitimate daughter; however, the song had been written before the discovery. The closing track "Long Way to Go" is an outtake from André 3000's album The Love Below (2003). The song discusses interracial dating and uses a sample of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 speech "I Have a Dream". ## Promotion Stefani embarked on the Harajuku Lovers Tour on October 16, 2005, to promote Love. Angel. Music. Baby. The tour consisted of only one leg, running for 42 dates across North America, ending on December 21, 2005. The hip hop group the Black Eyed Peas, rapper M.I.A., and singer Ciara accompanied Stefani as opening acts for her tour. The tour was met with varying responses from contemporary critics, who despite praising Stefani's vocals, were critical of other aspects of the show such as its musical material. According to Billboard, the tour grossed \$22 million from 37 shows, 20 of which sold out. A video album of the concert titled Harajuku Lovers Live was released on DVD on December 4, 2006. Additionally, a remix EP titled Love. Angel. Music. Baby. (The Remixes) was released on November 22, 2005, including remixes of "Luxurious", "Cool", "Hollaback Girl", and "What You Waiting For?". ### Singles "What You Waiting For?" was released as the lead single from Love. Angel. Music. Baby. on September 28, 2004. The single peaked at number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was commercially successful overseas, topping the chart in Australia and reaching the top 10 in several countries including France, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. "Rich Girl", featuring Eve, was released as the album's second single on December 14, 2004, becoming Stefani's first top-10 entry as a solo artist in the US when it peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100. Elsewhere, the song performed equally as successfully as "What You Waiting For?". "Hollaback Girl" was released as the third single on March 15, 2005. It became the album's best-selling and most popular single, while also becoming the first single to sell one million digital copies in the US. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 within six weeks of its release, earning Stefani her first number-one single on the chart. "Cool" was released as the fourth single from the album on July 5, 2005. The song fared moderately on the charts, reaching the top 10 in Australia and New Zealand, as well as the top 20 in Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Norway, the UK and the US. "Luxurious" was released as the fifth single on October 11, 2005. The single version features rapper Slim Thug. The song was less successful than the previous singles from the album, peaking at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Crash" was not originally planned as a single, but due to Stefani's pregnancy, her second solo album was delayed, and the song was released as the sixth and final single from the album on January 24, 2006. ## Critical reception Love. Angel. Music. Baby. received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 71, based on 22 reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called the album "intermittently exciting and embarrassing", concluding that it is "stranger and often more entertaining than nearly any other mainstream pop album of 2004." Jennifer Nine of Yahoo! Music praised the album as "the hottest, coolest, best-dressed pop album of the year" and found it to be "sleek, shimmery, and dripping with all-killer-no-filler musical bling". Stylus Magazine's Charles Merwin opined that Stefani was a contender to fill Madonna's role, "[b]ut not enough to get seriously excited about her as the next great solo female careerist." Lisa Haines of BBC Music was more emphatic, stating that Stefani rivaled Madonna and Kelis, while dubbing the album a "stunning and stylish effort that showcases Gwen's credentials as a bonafide pop goddess." Despite stating that Stefani "shamelessly plunders" 1980s music, Krissi Murison of the NME referred to the album as "one of the most frivolously brilliant slabs of shiny retro-pop anyone's had the chuzpah to release all year." John Murphy of musicOMH found the album "enjoyable, if patchy", but commented that it was too long. Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield described the album as "an irresistible party: trashy, hedonistic and deeply weird." The magazine later placed the album at number 39 on its list of the top 50 albums of 2004. Robert Christgau gave the album a three-star honorable mention () and wrote, "Turns out the problem wasn't ska per se—it was No Doubt." Edna Gundersen of USA Today called the album "[f]un, fizzy, frivolous", while noting that Stefani's "caffeinated electro-pop amounts to little more than sly channeling of Lisa Lisa at a disco revival." Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times viewed it as a "clever and sometimes enticing solo debut that doesn't quite add up." The album was generally criticized for its large number of collaborations and producers. The Guardian's Caroline Sullivan argued that although "others lend a hand [...] it's very much Stefani's show"; however, most others disagreed. Jason Damas of PopMatters compared the album to a second No Doubt greatest hits album, and Pitchfork's Nick Sylvester felt that the large number of collaborators result in sacrificing Stefani's identity on the album. Most reviewers held that the collaborations prevented the album from having a solidified sound. Eric Greenwood wrote for Drawer B that "Stefani tries to be all things to all people here", but that the result "comes off as manipulative and contrived." Entertainment Weekly's David Browne shared this opinion, stating that the album "is like one of those au courant retail magazines that resembles a catalog more than an old-fashioned collection of, say, articles." Many reviewers focused on the album's light lyrical themes. Entertainment Weekly called the references to Stefani's clothing line "shameless" and stated that "each song becomes akin to a pricey retro fashion blurb", and Pitchfork quipped that "the Joker's free-money parade through Gotham City was a much more entertaining display of wealth, and he had Prince, not just Wendy & Lisa." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine commented that the album's "fashion fetish [...] gives the album a sense of thematic cohesiveness", but the "obsession with Harajuku girls borders on maniacal". The Guardian disagreed with this perspective, arguing that "her affinity with Japanese pop culture [...] yields a synthetic sheen [...] that works well with the other point of reference, hip-hop." ### Accolades At the Billboard Music Awards, Stefani won the Digital Song of the Year award for "Hollaback Girl" and the New Artist of the Year Award, and she performed "Luxurious" with Slim Thug at the event. At the 2005 Grammy Awards, Stefani received a nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "What You Waiting For?" and performed "Rich Girl" with Eve. At the next year's awards, Stefani received five nominations, including Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Hollaback Girl" and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Rich Girl". ## Commercial performance Love. Angel. Music. Baby. debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200, selling 309,000 copies in its first week. On the issue dated June 18, 2005, the album climbed to a new peak position of number five with 83,000 copies sold. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album quintuple platinum in March 2021, and had sold four million copies by May 2009. The album had similar success in Europe. After entering the UK Albums Chart at number 14 with sales of 45,484 copies, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. peaked at number four in its 25th week on the chart, on May 15, 2005, selling 21,271 copies. The album was certified triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on September 16, 2005, and had sold 1,068,242 copies in the United Kingdom as of March 2016. The album was listed as the 20th best-selling album of 2005 in the UK. It also reached the top 10 in Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden, and the top 20 in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, and Switzerland. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) certified the album platinum in May 2005, denoting sales in excess of one million copies across Europe. In Australia, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. topped the ARIA Albums Chart for two consecutive weeks in February 2005 and spent 56 weeks on the chart. It ended 2005 as the fourth-best-selling album and was certified quadruple platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipments of 280,000 copies. The album peaked at number three for two non-consecutive weeks on the Canadian Albums Chart, and was certified five-times platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) in April 2006 for sales of over half a million copies. As of April 2016, Love. Angel. Music. Baby. had sold over eight million copies worldwide, and became the 12th best-selling album globally of 2005. ## Impact The success of the album's urban contemporary-oriented songs in the adult contemporary market allowed for the success of other artists while Stefani was pregnant and later recording The Sweet Escape. Nelly Furtado's third album Loose was released in June 2006 and was primarily produced by and written with hip hop producers Timbaland and Danja. Furtado's reinvention from a worldbeat singer-songwriter was to Stefani's previous forays into urban contemporary music. In his review of Loose, Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone stated that Timbaland aimed to "produce an omnipop multiformat blockbuster in the style of [Love. Angel. Music. Baby.]—but without Gwen." The Black Eyed Peas member Fergie released her solo debut album The Dutchess in September 2006. The cholas that accompanied Fergie in some of her music videos were viewed as derivatives of the Harajuku Girls and Stefani's "Luxurious" music video. The album's lead single "London Bridge" was paralleled to "Hollaback Girl" and the third single "Glamorous" to "Luxurious". Fergie refuted accusations of piggybacking on Stefani's music, stating that "this is all so ridiculous [...] The Peas and I make music we love, and for others to speculate is their problem." ## Track listing ## Personnel Credits adapted from the liner notes of Love. Angel. Music. Baby. ### Musicians - Gwen Stefani – vocals - Samuel Littlemore – programming (track 1) - Linda Perry – guitar, keyboards (track 1) - Rusty Anderson – additional guitar (track 1) - Mimi (Audia) Parker – background vocals (track 1) - Eve – vocals (track 2) - Mike Elizondo – keyboards, guitar (track 2) - Mark Batson – keyboards, keyboard bass (track 2) - Rick Sheppard – MIDI (tracks 4, 11) - Jason Lader – programming (tracks 4, 6, 9, 11) - Tony Reyes – Line 6 guitar, bass guitar (tracks 4, 11) - Dallas Austin – drums, keyboards (tracks 4, 11) - André 3000 – vocals, keyboards (tracks 5, 12); programming, guitar (track 5) - Tony Kanal – programming, keyboards, synthesizers (tracks 6, 8, 10) - Chipz – programming (track 6) - Aidan Love – programming (tracks 6, 9, 11) - Simon Gogerly – programming (track 6) - Sheldon Conrich – keyboards (track 6) - GMR – French spoken word (track 6) - Lee Groves – mix programming (tracks 6, 8–10); keyboards (tracks 8–10) - James "Big Jim" Wright – keyboards (track 7) - Jimmy Jam – bass (track 7) - IZ – drums, percussion (track 7) - Bobby Ross Avila – guitar, keyboards (track 7) - Zoey – background vocals (track 7) - Naomi Martin – background vocals (track 7) - Wendy Melvoin – guitar (track 9) - Lisa Coleman – keyboards (track 9) - Peter Hook – bass (track 9) - Greg Collins – electric guitar, slide guitar (track 9) - Bernard Sumner – background vocals (track 9) - Aaron Mills – bass (track 12) - Kevin Kendricks – keyboards, piano (track 12) - CutMaster Swiff – cuts (track 12) ### Technical - Nellee Hooper – production (tracks 1, 6, 9, 11); additional production (track 4) - Greg Collins – engineering (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 11); mixing (tracks 5, 12) - Ian Rossiter – recording (track 1); engineering assistance (tracks 6, 9, 11) - Kevin Mills – engineering assistance (tracks 1, 4–6, 9, 11, 12) - Linda Perry – guitar recording, keyboard recording (track 1) - Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing (tracks 1, 4, 6–11); additional production (tracks 7, 9, 10) - David Treahearn – engineering assistance (tracks 1, 4, 6–11) - Rob Haggett – second engineering assistance (tracks 1, 4, 6–11) - Dr. Dre – production, mixing (track 2) - Mauricio "Veto" Iragorri – recording (track 2) - Francis Forde – engineering assistance (track 2) - Brad Winslow – engineering assistance (track 2) - Jaime Sickora – engineering assistance (tracks 2, 5, 12) - Rouble Kapoor – engineering assistance (track 2) - The Neptunes – production (track 3) - Andrew Coleman – recording (track 3) - Jason Finkel – engineering assistance (track 3) - Phil Tan – mixing (track 3) - Dallas Austin – production (tracks 4, 11) - Rick Sheppard – recording, sound design (tracks 4, 11) - Doug Harms – engineering assistance (tracks 4, 11) - Paul Sheehy – engineering assistance (track 4) - Cesar Guevara – engineering assistance (tracks 4, 11) - André 3000 – production, mixing (tracks 5, 12) - John Frye – recording (tracks 5, 12) - Pete Novak – recording (tracks 5, 12) - Warren Bletcher – engineering assistance (tracks 5, 12) - Sean Tallman – engineering assistance (tracks 5, 12) - Glenn Pittman – engineering assistance (tracks 5, 12) - Nick Ferrero – engineering assistance (tracks 5, 12) - John Warren – engineering assistance (track 5) - Tony Kanal – production (tracks 6, 8, 10) - Colin "Dog" Mitchell – recording (tracks 6, 8, 10) - Simon Gogerly – recording (tracks 6, 9, 11) - Jason Lader – additional engineering (track 6) - Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis – production (track 7) - Matt Marrin – recording (track 7) - Ian Cross – recording (track 7) - Ewan Pearson – programming (tracks 9, 11) - Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – mastering at Bernie Grundman Mastering (Hollywood, California) ### Artwork - Gwen Stefani – creative direction - Jolie Clemens – art direction, layout - Nick Knight – photography - Shinjuko – illustrations - Tomoe Ohnishi – illustration coordination - John Copeland – logo, border and type illustrations - Nicole Frantz – photography, art coordination - Cindy Cooper – packaging coordination ## Charts ### Weekly charts ### Year-end charts ### Decade-end charts ### All-time charts ## Certifications and sales ## Release history
18,600,991	Raccoon	1,170,437,771	Medium sized mammal native to North America	[ "Articles containing video clips", "Mammals described in 1758", "Mammals of Azerbaijan", "Mammals of Central America", "Mammals of Europe", "Mammals of Japan", "Mammals of North America", "Mammals of the Caribbean", "Procyonidae", "Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus" ]	The raccoon (/rəˈkuːn/ or US: /ræˈkuːn/ , Procyon lotor), also spelled racoon and sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of 40 to 70 cm (16 to 28 in), and a body weight of 5 to 26 kg (11 to 57 lb). Its grayish coat mostly consists of dense underfur, which insulates it against cold weather. Three of the raccoon's most distinctive features are its extremely dexterous front paws, its facial mask, and its ringed tail, which are themes in the mythologies of the indigenous peoples of the Americas relating to the animal. The raccoon is noted for its intelligence, as studies show that it is able to remember the solution to tasks for at least three years. It is usually nocturnal and omnivorous, eating about 40% invertebrates, 33% plants, and 27% vertebrates. The original habitats of the raccoon are deciduous and mixed forests, but due to their adaptability, they have extended their range to mountainous areas, coastal marshes, and urban areas, where some homeowners consider them to be pests. As a result of escapes and deliberate introductions in the mid-20th century, raccoons are now also distributed across central Europe, the Caucasus, and Japan. In Europe, the raccoon is included since 2016 in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list). This implies that this species cannot be imported, bred, transported, commercialized, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union. Though previously thought to be generally solitary, there is now evidence that raccoons engage in sex-specific social behavior. Related females often share a common area, while unrelated males live together in groups of up to four raccoons in order to maintain their positions against foreign males during the mating season and against other potential invaders. Home range sizes vary anywhere from 3 ha (7.4 acres) for females in cities, to 5,000 ha (12,000 acres) for males in prairies. After a gestation period of about 65 days, two to five young known as "kits" are born in spring. The kits are subsequently raised by their mother until dispersal in late fall. Although captive raccoons have been known to live over 20 years, their life expectancy in the wild is only 1.8 to 3.1 years. In many areas, hunting and vehicular injury are the two most common causes of death. ## Etymology Names for the species include the common raccoon, North American raccoon, and northern raccoon, In various North American native languages, the reference to the animal's manual dexterity, or use of its hands is the source for the names. The word raccoon was adopted into English from the native Powhatan term meaning 'animal that scratches with its hands', as used in the Colony of Virginia. It was recorded on John Smith's list of Powhatan words as aroughcun, and on that of William Strachey as arathkone. It has also been identified as a reflex of a Proto-Algonquian root \*ahrah-koon-em, meaning '[the] one who rubs, scrubs and scratches with its hands'. The word is sometimes spelled as racoon. In Spanish, the raccoon is called mapache, derived from the Nahuatl mapachtli of the Aztecs, meaning '[the] one who takes everything in its hands'. Its Latin name literally means 'before-dog washer'. The genus Procyon was named by Gottlieb Conrad Christian Storr. The animal's observed habit of "washing" or "dowsing" (see below) is the source of its name in other languages. For example, the French raton laveur means washing rat. The colloquial abbreviation coon is used in words like coonskin for fur clothing and in phrases like old coon as a self-designation of trappers. In the 1830s, the United States Whig Party used the raccoon as an emblem, causing them to be pejoratively known as "coons" by their political opponents, who saw them as too sympathetic to African-Americans. Soon after that the term became an ethnic slur, especially in use between 1880 and 1920 (see coon song), and the term is still considered offensive. Dogs bred to hunt raccoons are called coonhound and coon dog. ## Taxonomy In the first decades after its discovery by the members of the expedition of Christopher Columbus, who were the first Europeans to leave a written record about the species, taxonomists thought the raccoon was related to many different species, including dogs, cats, badgers and particularly bears. Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy, placed the raccoon in the genus Ursus, first as Ursus cauda elongata ('long-tailed bear') in the second edition of his Systema Naturae (1740), then as Ursus Lotor ('washer bear') in the tenth edition (1758–59). In 1780, Gottlieb Conrad Christian Storr placed the raccoon in its own genus Procyon, which can be translated as either 'before the dog' or 'doglike'. It is also possible that Storr had its nocturnal lifestyle in mind and chose the star Procyon as eponym for the species. ### Evolution Based on fossil evidence from Russia and Bulgaria, the first known members of the family Procyonidae lived in Europe in the late Oligocene about 25 million years ago. Similar tooth and skull structures suggest procyonids and weasels share a common ancestor, but molecular analysis indicates a closer relationship between raccoons and bears. After the then-existing species crossed the Bering Strait at least six million years later in the early Miocene, the center of its distribution was probably in Central America. Coatis (Nasua and Nasuella) and raccoons (Procyon) have been considered to share common descent from a species in the genus Paranasua present between 5.2 and 6.0 million years ago. This assumption, based on morphological comparisons of fossils, conflicts with a 2006 genetic analysis which indicates raccoons are more closely related to ringtails. Unlike other procyonids, such as the crab-eating raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus), the ancestors of the common raccoon left tropical and subtropical areas and migrated farther north about 2.5 million years ago, in a migration that has been confirmed by the discovery of fossils in the Great Plains dating back to the middle of the Pliocene. Its most recent ancestor was likely Procyon rexroadensis, a large Blancan raccoon from the Rexroad Formation characterized by its narrow back teeth and large lower jaw. ### Subspecies As of 2005, Mammal Species of the World recognizes 22 subspecies of raccoons. Four of these subspecies living only on small Central American and Caribbean islands were often regarded as distinct species after their discovery. These are the Bahamian raccoon and Guadeloupe raccoon, which are very similar to each other; the Tres Marias raccoon, which is larger than average and has an angular skull; and the extinct Barbados raccoon. Studies of their morphological and genetic traits in 1999, 2003 and 2005 led all these island raccoons to be listed as subspecies of the common raccoon in Mammal Species of the World's third edition. A fifth island raccoon population, the Cozumel raccoon, which weighs only 3 to 4 kg (6.6 to 8.8 lb) and has notably small teeth, is still regarded as a separate species. The four smallest raccoon subspecies, with a typical weight of 1.8 to 2.7 kg (4.0 to 6.0 lb), live along the southern coast of Florida and on the adjacent islands; an example is the Ten Thousand Islands raccoon (Procyon lotor marinus). Most of the other 15 subspecies differ only slightly from each other in coat color, size and other physical characteristics. The two most widespread subspecies are the eastern raccoon (Procyon lotor lotor) and the Upper Mississippi Valley raccoon (Procyon lotor hirtus). Both share a comparatively dark coat with long hairs, but the Upper Mississippi Valley raccoon is larger than the eastern raccoon. The eastern raccoon occurs in all U.S. states and Canadian provinces to the north of South Carolina and Tennessee. The adjacent range of the Upper Mississippi Valley raccoon covers all U.S. states and Canadian provinces to the north of Louisiana, Texas and New Mexico. The taxonomic identity of feral raccoons inhabiting Central Europe, Causasia and Japan is unknown, as the founding populations consisted of uncategorized specimens from zoos and fur farms. ## Description ### Physical characteristics Head to hindquarters, raccoons measure between 40 and 70 cm (16 and 28 in), not including the bushy tail which can measure between 20 and 40 cm (7.9 and 15.7 in), but is usually not much longer than 25 cm (9.8 in). The shoulder height is between 23 and 30 cm (9.1 and 11.8 in). The body weight of an adult raccoon varies considerably with habitat, making the raccoon one of the most variably sized mammals. It can range from 2 to 26 kg (4.4 to 57.3 lb), but is usually between 5 and 12 kg (11 and 26 lb). The smallest specimens live in southern Florida, while those near the northern limits of the raccoon's range tend to be the largest (see Bergmann's rule). Males are usually 15 to 20% heavier than females. At the beginning of winter, a raccoon can weigh twice as much as in spring because of fat storage. The largest recorded wild raccoon weighed 28.4 kg (63 lb) and measured 140 cm (55 in) in total length, by far the largest size recorded for a procyonid. The most characteristic physical feature of the raccoon is the area of black fur around the eyes, which contrasts sharply with the surrounding white face coloring. This is reminiscent of a "bandit's mask" and has thus enhanced the animal's reputation for mischief. The slightly rounded ears are also bordered by white fur. Raccoons are assumed to recognize the facial expression and posture of other members of their species more quickly because of the conspicuous facial coloration and the alternating light and dark rings on the tail. The dark mask may also reduce glare and thus enhance night vision. On other parts of the body, the long and stiff guard hairs, which shed moisture, are usually colored in shades of gray and, to a lesser extent, brown. Raccoons with a very dark coat are more common in the German population because individuals with such coloring were among those initially released to the wild. The dense underfur, which accounts for almost 90% of the coat, insulates against cold weather and is composed of 2 to 3 cm (0.79 to 1.18 in) long hairs. The raccoon, whose method of locomotion is usually considered to be plantigrade, can stand on its hind legs to examine objects with its front paws. As raccoons have short legs compared to their compact torso, they are usually not able either to run quickly or jump great distances. Their top speed over short distances is 16 to 24 km/h (9.9 to 14.9 mph). Raccoons can swim with an average speed of about 5 km/h (3.1 mph) and can stay in the water for several hours. For climbing down a tree headfirst—an unusual ability for a mammal of its size—a raccoon rotates its hind feet so they are pointing backwards. Raccoons have a dual cooling system to regulate their temperature; that is, they are able to both sweat and pant for heat dissipation. Raccoon skulls have a short and wide facial region and a voluminous braincase. The facial length of the skull is less than the cranial, and their nasal bones are short and quite broad. The auditory bullae are inflated in form, and the sagittal crest is weakly developed. The dentition—40 teeth with the dental formula:—is adapted to their omnivorous diet: the carnassials are not as sharp and pointed as those of a full-time carnivore, but the molars are not as wide as those of a herbivore. The penis bone of males is about 10 cm (3.9 in) long and strongly bent at the front end, and its shape can be used to distinguish juvenile males from mature males. Seven of the thirteen identified vocal calls are used in communication between the mother and her kits, one of these being the birdlike twittering of newborns. ### Senses The most important sense for the raccoon is its sense of touch. The "hyper sensitive" front paws are protected by a thin horny layer that becomes pliable when wet. The five digits of the paws have no webbing between them, which is unusual for a carnivoran. Almost two-thirds of the area responsible for sensory perception in the raccoon's cerebral cortex is specialized for the interpretation of tactile impulses, more than in any other studied animal. They are able to identify objects before touching them with vibrissae located above their sharp, nonretractable claws. The raccoon's paws lack an opposable thumb; thus, it does not have the agility of the hands of primates. There is no observed negative effect on tactile perception when a raccoon stands in water below 10 °C (50 °F) for hours. Raccoons are thought to be color blind or at least poorly able to distinguish color, though their eyes are well-adapted for sensing green light. Although their accommodation of 11 dioptre is comparable to that of humans and they see well in twilight because of the tapetum lucidum behind the retina, visual perception is of subordinate importance to raccoons because of their poor long-distance vision. In addition to being useful for orientation in the dark, their sense of smell is important for intraspecific communication. Glandular secretions (usually from their anal glands), urine and feces are used for marking. With their broad auditory range, they can perceive tones up to 50–85 kHz as well as quiet noises, like those produced by earthworms underground. ### Intelligence Zoologist Clinton Hart Merriam described raccoons as "clever beasts", and that "in certain directions their cunning surpasses that of the fox". The animal's intelligence gave rise to the epithet "sly coon". Only a few studies have been undertaken to determine the mental abilities of raccoons, most of them based on the animal's sense of touch. In a study by the ethologist H. B. Davis in 1908, raccoons were able to open 11 of 13 complex locks in fewer than 10 tries and had no problems repeating the action when the locks were rearranged or turned upside down. Davis concluded that they understood the abstract principles of the locking mechanisms and their learning speed was equivalent to that of rhesus macaques. Studies in 1963, 1973, 1975 and 1992 concentrated on raccoon memory showed that they can remember the solutions to tasks for at least three years. In a study by B. Pohl in 1992, raccoons were able to instantly differentiate between identical and different symbols three years after the short initial learning phase. Stanislas Dehaene reports in his book The Number Sense that raccoons can distinguish boxes containing two or four grapes from those containing three. In research by Suzana Herculano-Houzel and other neuroscientists, raccoons have been found to be comparable to primates in density of neurons in the cerebral cortex, which they have proposed to be a neuroanatomical indicator of intelligence. ## Behavior ### Social behavior Studies in the 1990s by the ethologists Stanley D. Gehrt and Ulf Hohmann suggest that raccoons engage in sex-specific social behaviors and are not typically solitary, as was previously thought. Related females often live in a so-called "fission-fusion society"; that is, they share a common area and occasionally meet at feeding or resting grounds. Unrelated males often form loose male social groups to maintain their position against foreign males during the mating season—or against other potential invaders. Such a group does not usually consist of more than four individuals. Since some males show aggressive behavior towards unrelated kits, mothers will isolate themselves from other raccoons until their kits are big enough to defend themselves. With respect to these three different modes of life prevalent among raccoons, Hohmann called their social structure a "three-class society". Samuel I. Zeveloff, professor of zoology at Weber State University and author of the book Raccoons: A Natural History, is more cautious in his interpretation and concludes at least the females are solitary most of the time and, according to Erik K. Fritzell's study in North Dakota in 1978, males in areas with low population densities are solitary as well. The shape and size of a raccoon's home range varies depending on age, sex, and habitat, with adults claiming areas more than twice as large as juveniles. While the size of home ranges in the habitat of North Dakota's prairies lie between 7 and 50 km<sup>2</sup> (3 and 20 sq mi) for males and between 2 and 16 km<sup>2</sup> (1 and 6 sq mi) for females, the average size in a marsh at Lake Erie was 0.5 km<sup>2</sup> (0.19 sq mi). Irrespective of whether the home ranges of adjacent groups overlap, they are most likely not actively defended outside the mating season if food supplies are sufficient. Odor marks on prominent spots are assumed to establish home ranges and identify individuals. Urine and feces left at shared raccoon latrines may provide additional information about feeding grounds, since raccoons were observed to meet there later for collective eating, sleeping and playing. Concerning the general behavior patterns of raccoons, Gehrt points out that "typically you'll find 10 to 15 percent that will do the opposite" of what is expected. ### Diet Though usually nocturnal, the raccoon is sometimes active in daylight to take advantage of available food sources. Its diet consists of about 40% invertebrates, 33% plant material and 27% vertebrates. Since its diet consists of such a variety of different foods, Zeveloff argues the raccoon "may well be one of the world's most omnivorous animals". While its diet in spring and early summer consists mostly of insects, worms, and other animals already available early in the year, it prefers fruits and nuts, such as acorns and walnuts, which emerge in late summer and autumn, and represent a rich calorie source for building up fat needed for winter. Contrary to popular belief, raccoons only occasionally eat active or large prey, such as birds and mammals. They prefer prey that is easier to catch, specifically crayfish, insects, fish, amphibians and bird eggs. Raccoons are virulent predators of eggs and hatchlings in both birds and reptile nests, to such a degree that, for threatened prey species, raccoons may need to be removed from the area or nests may need to be relocated to mitigate the effect of their predations (i.e. in the case of some globally threatened turtles). When food is plentiful, raccoons can develop strong individual preferences for specific foods. In the northern parts of their range, raccoons go into a winter rest, reducing their activity drastically as long as a permanent snow cover makes searching for food difficult. ### Dousing One aspect of raccoon behavior is so well known that it gives the animal part of its scientific name, Procyon lotor; lotor is Latin for 'washer'. In the wild, raccoons often dabble for underwater food near the shore-line. They then often pick up the food item with their front paws to examine it and rub the item, sometimes to remove unwanted parts. This gives the appearance of the raccoon "washing" the food. The tactile sensitivity of raccoons' paws is increased if this rubbing action is performed underwater, since the water softens the hard layer covering the paws. However, the behavior observed in captive raccoons in which they carry their food to water to "wash" or douse it before eating has not been observed in the wild. Naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, believed that raccoons do not have adequate saliva production to moisten food thereby necessitating dousing, but this hypothesis is now considered to be incorrect. Captive raccoons douse their food more frequently when a watering hole with a layout similar to a stream is not farther away than 3 m (10 ft). The widely accepted theory is that dousing in captive raccoons is a fixed action pattern from the dabbling behavior performed when foraging at shores for aquatic foods. This is supported by the observation that aquatic foods are doused more frequently. Cleaning dirty food does not seem to be a reason for "washing". ### Reproduction Raccoons usually mate in a period triggered by increasing daylight between late January and mid-March. However, there are large regional differences which are not completely explicable by solar conditions. For example, while raccoons in southern states typically mate later than average, the mating season in Manitoba also peaks later than usual in March and extends until June. During the mating season, males restlessly roam their home ranges in search of females in an attempt to court them during the three- to four-day period when conception is possible. These encounters will often occur at central meeting places. Copulation, including foreplay, can last over an hour and is repeated over several nights. The weaker members of a male social group also are assumed to get the opportunity to mate, since the stronger ones cannot mate with all available females. In a study in southern Texas during the mating seasons from 1990 to 1992, about one third of all females mated with more than one male. If a female does not become pregnant or if she loses her kits early, she will sometimes become fertile again 80 to 140 days later. After usually 63 to 65 days of gestation (although anywhere from 54 to 70 days is possible), a litter of typically two to five young is born. The average litter size varies widely with habitat, ranging from 2.5 in Alabama to 4.8 in North Dakota. Larger litters are more common in areas with a high mortality rate, due, for example, to hunting or severe winters. While male yearlings usually reach their sexual maturity only after the main mating season, female yearlings can compensate for high mortality rates and may be responsible for about 50% of all young born in a year. Males have no part in raising young. The kits (also called "cubs") are blind and deaf at birth, but their mask is already visible against their light fur. The birth weight of the about 10 cm (4 in)-long kits is between 60 and 75 g (2.1 and 2.6 oz). Their ear canals open after around 18 to 23 days, a few days before their eyes open for the first time. Once the kits weigh about 1 kg (2 lb), they begin to explore outside the den, consuming solid food for the first time after six to nine weeks. After this point, their mother suckles them with decreasing frequency; they are usually weaned by 16 weeks. In the fall, after their mother has shown them dens and feeding grounds, the juvenile group splits up. While many females will stay close to the home range of their mother, males can sometimes move more than 20 km (12 mi) away. This is considered an instinctive behavior, preventing inbreeding. However, mother and offspring may share a den during the first winter in cold areas. ### Life expectancy Captive raccoons have been known to live for more than 20 years. However, the species' life expectancy in the wild is only 1.8 to 3.1 years, depending on the local conditions such as traffic volume, hunting, and weather severity. It is not unusual for only half of the young born in one year to survive a full year. After this point, the annual mortality rate drops to between 10% and 30%. Young raccoons are vulnerable to losing their mother and to starvation, particularly in long and cold winters. The most frequent natural cause of death in the North American raccoon population is distemper, which can reach epidemic proportions and kill most of a local raccoon population. In areas with heavy vehicular traffic and extensive hunting, these factors can account for up to 90% of all deaths of adult raccoons. The most important natural predators of the raccoon are bobcats, coyotes, and great horned owls, the latter mainly preying on young raccoons but capable of killing adults in some cases. In Florida, they have been reported to fall victim to larger carnivores like American black bear and cougars and these species may also be a threat on occasion in other areas. Where still present, gray wolves may still occasionally take raccoons as a supplemental prey item. Also in the southeast, they are among the favored prey for adult American alligators. On occasion, both bald and golden eagles will prey on raccoons. In the tropics, raccoons are known to fall prey to smaller eagles such as ornate hawk-eagles and black hawk-eagles, although it is not clear whether adults or merely juvenile raccoons are taken by these. In rare cases of overlap, they may fall victim from carnivores ranging from species averaging smaller than themselves such as fishers to those as large and formidable as jaguars in Mexico. In their introduced range in the former Soviet Union, their main predators are wolves, lynxes and Eurasian eagle-owls. However, predation is not a significant cause of death, especially because larger predators have been exterminated in many areas inhabited by raccoons. ## Range ### Habitat Although they have thrived in sparsely wooded areas in the last decades, raccoons depend on vertical structures to climb when they feel threatened. Therefore, they avoid open terrain and areas with high concentrations of beech trees, as beech bark is too smooth to climb. Tree hollows in old oaks or other trees and rock crevices are preferred by raccoons as sleeping, winter and litter dens. If such dens are unavailable or accessing them is inconvenient, raccoons use burrows dug by other mammals, dense undergrowth or tree crotches. In a study in the Solling range of hills in Germany, more than 60% of all sleeping places were used only once, but those used at least ten times accounted for about 70% of all uses. Since amphibians, crustaceans, and other animals around the shore of lakes and rivers are an important part of the raccoon's diet, lowland deciduous or mixed forests abundant with water and marshes sustain the highest population densities. While population densities range from 0.5 to 3.2 animals per square kilometer (1.3 to 8.3 animals per square mile) in prairies and do not usually exceed 6 animals per square kilometer (15.5 animals per square mile) in upland hardwood forests, more than 20 raccoons per square kilometer (51.8 animals per square mile) can live in lowland forests and marshes. ### Distribution in North America Raccoons are common throughout North America from Canada to Panama, where the subspecies Procyon lotor pumilus coexists with the crab-eating raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus). The population on Hispaniola was exterminated as early as 1513 by Spanish colonists who hunted them for their meat. Raccoons were also exterminated in Cuba and Jamaica, where the last sightings were reported in 1687. The Barbados raccoon became extinct relatively recently, in 1964. When they were still considered separate species, the Bahamas raccoon, Guadeloupe raccoon and Tres Marias raccoon were classified as endangered by the IUCN in 1996. There is archeological evidence that in pre-Columbian times raccoons were numerous only along rivers and in the woodlands of the Southeastern United States. As raccoons were not mentioned in earlier reports of pioneers exploring the central and north-central parts of the United States, their initial spread may have begun a few decades before the 20th century. Since the 1950s, raccoons have expanded their range from Vancouver Island—formerly the northernmost limit of their range—far into the northern portions of the four south-central Canadian provinces. New habitats which have recently been occupied by raccoons (aside from urban areas) include mountain ranges, such as the Western Rocky Mountains, prairies and coastal marshes. After a population explosion starting in the 1940s, the estimated number of raccoons in North America in the late 1980s was 15 to 20 times higher than in the 1930s, when raccoons were comparatively rare. Urbanization, the expansion of agriculture, deliberate introductions, and the extermination of natural predators of the raccoon have probably caused this increase in abundance and distribution. ### Distribution outside North America As a result of escapes and deliberate introductions in the mid-20th century, the raccoon is now distributed in several European and Asian countries. Sightings have occurred in all the countries bordering Germany, which hosts the largest population outside of North America. Another stable population exists in northern France, where several pet raccoons were released by members of the U.S. Air Force near the Laon-Couvron Air Base in 1966. Furthermore, raccoons have been known to be in the area around Madrid since the early 1970s. In 2013, the city authorized "the capture and death of any specimen". It is also present in Italy, with one self-sustaining population in Lombardy. About 1,240 animals were released in nine regions of the former Soviet Union between 1936 and 1958 for the purpose of establishing a population to be hunted for their fur. Two of these introductions were successful – one in the south of Belarus between 1954 and 1958, and another in Azerbaijan between 1941 and 1957. With a seasonal harvest of between 1,000\~1,500 animals, in 1974 the estimated size of the population distributed in the Caucasus region was around 20,000 animals and the density was four animals per square kilometer (10 animals per square mile). #### Distribution in Japan In Japan, up to 1,500 raccoons were imported as pets each year after the success of the anime series Rascal the Raccoon (1977). In 2004, the descendants of discarded or escaped animals lived in 42 of 47 prefectures. The range of raccoons in the wild in Japan grew from 17 prefectures in 2000 to all 47 prefectures in 2008. It is estimated that raccoons cause thirty million yen (\~\$275,000) of agricultural damage on Hokkaido alone. #### Distribution in Germany In Germany – where the raccoon is called the Waschbär (literally, 'wash-bear' or 'washing bear') due to its habit of "dousing" food in water – two pairs of pet raccoons were released into the German countryside at the Edersee reservoir in the north of Hesse in April 1934 by a forester upon request of their owner, a poultry farmer. He released them two weeks before receiving permission from the Prussian hunting office to "enrich the fauna". Several prior attempts to introduce raccoons in Germany had been unsuccessful. A second population was established in eastern Germany in 1945 when 25 raccoons escaped from a fur farm at Wolfshagen (today district of Altlandsberg), east of Berlin, after an air strike. The two populations are parasitologically distinguishable: 70% of the raccoons of the Hessian population are infected with the roundworm Baylisascaris procyonis, but none of the Brandenburgian population is known to have the parasite. In the Hessian region, there were an estimated 285 raccoons in 1956, which increased to over 20,000 in 1970; in 2008 there were between 200,000 and 400,000 raccoons in the whole of Germany. By 2012 it was estimated that Germany now had more than a million raccoons. The raccoon was once a protected species in Germany, but has been declared a game animal in 14 of the 16 German states since 1954. Hunters and environmentalists argue the raccoon spreads uncontrollably, threatens protected bird species, and supersedes indigenous competitors. This view is opposed by the zoologist Frank-Uwe Michler, who finds no evidence that a high population density of raccoons leads to negative effects on the biodiversity of an area. Hohmann holds that extensive hunting cannot be justified by the absence of natural predators, because predation is not a significant cause of death in the North American raccoon population. The raccoon is extensively hunted in Germany as it is seen as an invasive species and pest. In the 1990s, only about 400 raccoons were hunted yearly. This increased dramatically over the next quarter-century: during the 2015–2016 hunting season, 128,100 raccoons were hunted, 60 percent of them in the state of Hesse. #### Distribution in the former Soviet Union Experiments in acclimatising raccoons into the Soviet Union began in 1936, and were repeated a further 25 times until 1962. Overall, 1,222 individuals were released, 64 of which came from zoos and fur farms (38 of them having been imports from western Europe). The remainder originated from a population previously established in Transcaucasia. The range of Soviet raccoons was never single or continuous, as they were often introduced to different locations far from each other. All introductions into the Russian Far East failed; melanistic raccoons were released on Petrov Island near Vladivostok and some areas of southern Primorsky Krai, but died. In Middle Asia, raccoons were released in Kyrgyzstan's Jalal-Abad Province, though they were later recorded as "practically absent" there in January 1963. A large and stable raccoon population (yielding 1,000\~1,500 catches a year) was established in Azerbaijan after an introduction to the area in 1937. Raccoons apparently survived an introduction near Terek, along the Sulak River into the Dagestani lowlands. Attempts to settle raccoons on the Kuban River's left tributary and Kabardino-Balkaria were unsuccessful. A successful acclimatization occurred in Belarus, where three introductions (consisting of 52, 37, and 38 individuals in 1954 and 1958) took place. By January 1963, 700 individuals were recorded in the country. ### Urban raccoons Due to its adaptability, the raccoon has been able to use urban areas as a habitat. The first sightings were recorded in a suburb of Cincinnati in the 1920s. Since the 1950s, raccoons have been present in metropolitan areas like Washington, DC, Chicago, Toronto, and New York City. Since the 1960s, Kassel has hosted Europe's first and densest population in a large urban area, with about 50 to 150 animals per square kilometer (130 to 390 animals per square mile), a figure comparable to those of urban habitats in North America. Home range sizes of urban raccoons are only 3 to 40 hectares (7.5 to 100 acres) for females and 8 to 80 hectares (20 to 200 acres) for males. In small towns and suburbs, many raccoons sleep in a nearby forest after foraging in the settlement area. Fruit and insects in gardens and leftovers in municipal waste are easily available food sources. Furthermore, a large number of additional sleeping areas exist in these areas, such as hollows in old garden trees, cottages, garages, abandoned houses, and attics. The percentage of urban raccoons sleeping in abandoned or occupied houses varies from 15% in Washington, DC (1991) to 43% in Kassel (2003). ## Health Raccoons can carry rabies, a lethal disease caused by the neurotropic rabies virus carried in the saliva and transmitted by bites. Its spread began in Florida and Georgia in the 1950s and was facilitated by the introduction of infected individuals to Virginia and North Dakota in the late 1970s. Of the 6,940 documented rabies cases reported in the United States in 2006, 2,615 (37.7%) were in raccoons. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as local authorities in several U.S. states and Canadian provinces, has developed oral vaccination programs to fight the spread of the disease in endangered populations. Only one human fatality has been reported after transmission of the rabies virus strain commonly known as "raccoon rabies". Among the main symptoms for rabies in raccoons are a generally sickly appearance, impaired mobility, abnormal vocalization, and aggressiveness. There may be no visible signs at all, however, and most individuals do not show the aggressive behavior seen in infected canids; rabid raccoons will often retire to their dens instead. Organizations like the U.S. Forest Service encourage people to stay away from animals with unusual behavior or appearance, and to notify the proper authorities, such as an animal control officer from the local health department. Since healthy animals, especially nursing mothers, will occasionally forage during the day, daylight activity is not a reliable indicator of illness in raccoons. Unlike rabies and at least a dozen other pathogens carried by raccoons, distemper, an epizootic virus, does not affect humans. This disease is the most frequent natural cause of death in the North American raccoon population and affects individuals of all age groups. For example, 94 of 145 raccoons died during an outbreak in Clifton, Ohio, in 1968. It may occur along with a following inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), causing the animal to display rabies-like symptoms. In Germany, the first eight cases of distemper were reported in 2007. Some of the most important bacterial diseases which affect raccoons are leptospirosis, listeriosis, tetanus, and tularemia. Although internal parasites weaken their immune systems, well-fed individuals can carry a great many roundworms in their digestive tracts without showing symptoms. The larvae of the roundworm Baylisascaris procyonis, which can be contained in the feces and seldom causes a severe illness in humans, can be ingested when cleaning raccoon latrines without wearing breathing protection. While not endemic, the worm Trichinella does infect raccoons, and undercooked raccoon meat has caused trichinosis in humans. Trematode Metorchis conjunctus can also infect raccoons. ## Relationship with humans ### Conflicts Raccoons have become notorious in urban areas for consuming food waste. They possess impressive problem-solving abilities and can break into all but the most secure food waste bins, which has earned them the derisive nickname trash panda. The presence of raccoons in close proximity to humans may be undesirable, as raccoon droppings (like most wild animals) contain parasites and other disease vectors. Raccoon roundworm is of particular concern to public health. It can be contracted in humans by accidental ingestion or inhalation of the eggs, which are present in the feces of infected raccoons. While usually harmless to the host, it causes progressive neurological damage in humans, and is eventually fatal if untreated. It is found in about 60% of adult raccoons. The general presence of raccoons in an area is not typically of concern, but nests or droppings found within or near structures should be destroyed. Roundworm eggs are very robust and bleach alone is insufficient; burning or treatment with hot solutions of sodium hydroxide is required. The keeping of raccoons as pets is illegal in some jurisdictions due to these risks. The increasing number of raccoons in urban areas has resulted in diverse reactions in humans, ranging from outrage at their presence to deliberate feeding. Some wildlife experts and most public authorities caution against feeding wild animals because they might become increasingly obtrusive and dependent on humans as a food source. Other experts challenge such arguments and give advice on feeding raccoons and other wildlife in their books. Raccoons without a fear of humans are a concern to those who attribute this trait to rabies, but scientists point out this behavior is much more likely to be a behavioral adjustment to living in habitats with regular contact to humans for many generations. Raccoons usually do not prey on domestic cats and dogs, but isolated cases of killings have been reported. Attacks on pets may also target their owners. While overturned waste containers and raided fruit trees are just a nuisance to homeowners, it can cost several thousand dollars to repair damage caused by the use of attic space as dens. Relocating or killing raccoons without a permit is forbidden in many urban areas on grounds of animal welfare. These methods usually only solve problems with particularly wild or aggressive individuals, since adequate dens are either known to several raccoons or will quickly be rediscovered. Loud noises, flashing lights, and unpleasant odors have proven particularly effective in driving away a mother and her kits before they would normally leave the nesting place (when the kits are about eight weeks old). Typically, though, only precautionary measures to restrict access to food waste and den sites are effective in the long term. Among all fruits and crops cultivated in agricultural areas, sweet corn in its milk stage is particularly popular among raccoons. In a two-year study by Purdue University researchers, published in 2004, raccoons were responsible for 87% of the damage to corn plants. Like other predators, raccoons searching for food can break into poultry houses to feed on chickens, ducks, their eggs, or food. ### Mythology, arts, and entertainment In the mythology of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the raccoon is the subject of folk tales. Stories such as "How raccoons catch so many crayfish" from the Tuscarora centered on its skills at foraging. In other tales, the raccoon played the role of the trickster which outsmarts other animals, like coyotes and wolves. Among others, the Dakota believe the raccoon has natural spirit powers, since its mask resembles the facial paintings, two-fingered swashes of black and white, used during rituals to connect to spirit beings. The Aztecs linked supernatural abilities especially to females, whose commitment to their young was associated with the role of wise women in their society. The raccoon also appears in Native American art across a wide geographic range. Petroglyphs with engraved raccoon tracks were found in Lewis Canyon, Texas; at the Crow Hollow petroglyph site in Grayson County, Kentucky; and in river drainages near Tularosa, the San Francisco River of New Mexico and Arizona. The meaning and significance of the Raccoon Priests Gorget, which features a stylized carving of a raccoon and was found at the Spiro Mounds, Oklahoma, remains unknown. ### Hunting and fur trade The fur of raccoons is used for clothing, especially for coats and coonskin caps. At present, it is the material used for the inaccurately named "sealskin" cap worn by the Royal Fusiliers of Great Britain. Sporrans made of raccoon pelt and hide have sometimes been used as part of traditional Scottish highland men's apparel since the 18th century, especially in North America. Such sporrans may or may not be of the "full-mask" type. Historically, Native American tribes not only used the fur for winter clothing, but also used the tails for ornament. The famous Sioux leader Spotted Tail took his name from a raccoon skin hat with the tail attached he acquired from a fur trader. Since the late 18th century, various types of scent hounds, called coonhounds, which are able to tree animals have been bred in the United States. In the 19th century, when coonskins occasionally even served as means of payment, several thousand raccoons were killed each year in the United States. This number rose quickly when automobile coats became popular after the turn of the 20th century. In the 1920s, wearing a raccoon coat was regarded as status symbol among college students. Attempts to breed raccoons in fur farms in the 1920s and 1930s in North America and Europe turned out not to be profitable, and farming was abandoned after prices for long-haired pelts dropped in the 1940s. Although raccoons had become rare in the 1930s, at least 388,000 were killed during the hunting season of 1934–1935. After persistent population increases began in the 1940s, the seasonal coon hunting harvest reached about one million animals in 1946–1947 and two million in 1962–1963. The broadcast of three television episodes about the frontiersman Davy Crockett and the film Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier in 1954 and 1955 led to a high demand for coonskin caps in the United States, although it is unlikely either Crockett or the actor who played him, Fess Parker, actually wore a cap made from raccoon fur. The seasonal hunt reached an all-time high with 5.2 million animals in 1976–1977 and ranged between 3.2 and 4.7 million for most of the 1980s. In 1982, the average pelt price was \$20. As of 1987, the raccoon was identified as the most important wild furbearer in North America in terms of revenue. In the first half of the 1990s, the seasonal hunt dropped to 0.9 from 1.9 million due to decreasing pelt prices. ### Food While primarily hunted for their fur, raccoons were also a source of food for Native Americans and early American settlers. According to Ernest Thompson Seton, young specimens killed without a fight are palatable, whereas old raccoons caught after a lengthy battle are inedible. Raccoon meat was extensively eaten during the early years of California, where it was sold in the San Francisco market for \$1–3 apiece. American slaves occasionally ate raccoon at Christmas, but it was not necessarily a dish of the poor or rural. The first edition of The Joy of Cooking, released in 1931, contained a recipe for preparing raccoon, and US President Calvin Coolidge's pet raccoon Rebecca was originally sent to be served at the White House Thanksgiving Dinner. Although the idea of eating raccoons may seem repulsive to most mainstream consumers, who see them as endearing, cute, or vermin, several thousand raccoons are still eaten each year in the United States, primarily in the Southern United States. Some people tout the taste of the meat. ### Other uses In addition to the fur and meat, the raccoon baculum (penis bone) have had numerous traditional uses in the Southern United States and beyond. Aboriginals used the bones as a pipe cleaning tool. The bones were used by moonshine distillers to guide the flow of whiskey from the drip tube to the bottle. With their tips filed down, the bones were used as toothpicks under the moniker "coon rods". In hoodoo, the folk magic of the American South, the baculum is sometimes worn as an amulet for love or luck. The bones also have decorative uses (e.g. on the trademark hat of stock car racer Richard Petty or as earrings by actresses Sarah Jessica Parker and Vanessa Williams). ### Pet raccoons Raccoons are sometimes kept as pets, which is discouraged by many experts because the raccoon is not a domesticated species. Raccoons may act unpredictably and aggressively and it is extremely difficult to teach them to obey commands. In places where keeping raccoons as pets is not forbidden, such as in Wisconsin and other U.S. states, an exotic pet permit may be required. One notable pet raccoon was Rebecca, kept by US president Calvin Coolidge. Their propensity for unruly behavior exceeds that of captive skunks, and they are even less trustworthy when allowed to roam freely. Because of their intelligence and nimble forelimbs, even inexperienced raccoons are easily capable of unscrewing jars, uncorking bottles and opening door latches, with more experienced specimens having been recorded to open door knobs. Sexually mature raccoons often show aggressive natural behaviors such as biting during the mating season. Neutering them at around five or six months of age decreases the chances of aggressive behavior developing. Raccoons can become obese and suffer from other disorders due to poor diet and lack of exercise. When fed with cat food over a long time period, raccoons can develop gout. With respect to the research results regarding their social behavior, it is now required by law in Austria and Germany to keep at least two individuals to prevent loneliness. Raccoons are usually kept in a pen (indoor or outdoor), also a legal requirement in Austria and Germany, rather than in the apartment where their natural curiosity may result in damage to property. When orphaned, it is possible for kits to be rehabilitated and reintroduced to the wild. However, it is uncertain whether they readapt well to life in the wild. Feeding unweaned kits with cow's milk rather than a kitten replacement milk or a similar product can be dangerous to their health. ### Local and indigenous names ## See also - Cozumel raccoon, an endangered species in the Yucatán Peninsula - Crab-eating raccoon, of Central and South America, eats crustaceans amongst other things - Raccoon dog, native to East Asia ## General and cited sources
8,642,505	In Rainbows	1,172,962,432	2007 studio album by Radiohead	[ "2007 albums", "Albums free for download by copyright owner", "Albums produced by Nigel Godrich", "Alternative rock albums by British artists", "Art pop albums", "Art rock albums by British artists", "Experimental rock albums by British artists", "Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album", "Pop rock albums by English artists", "Radiohead albums", "Self-released albums", "Surprise albums", "XL Recordings albums" ]	In Rainbows is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was self-released on 10 October 2007 as a pay-what-you-want download, followed by a physical release internationally through XL Recordings on 3 December 2007 and in North America through TBD Records on 1 January 2008. It was Radiohead's first release after their recording contract with EMI ended with their album Hail to the Thief (2003). Radiohead began work on In Rainbows in early 2005. In 2006, after initial recording sessions with their new producer Spike Stent proved fruitless, they re-enlisted their longtime producer Nigel Godrich. Radiohead recorded in the country houses Halswell House and Tottenham House, the Hospital Club in London, and their studio in Oxfordshire. They incorporated conventional rock instrumentation plus electronic instruments, strings, piano and the ondes Martenot. The lyrics are less political and more personal than previous Radiohead albums. Radiohead self-released In Rainbows online and allowed fans to set their own price, saying this liberated them from conventional promotional formats and removed barriers to audiences. It was the first such release by a major act and drew international media attention. Many praised Radiohead for challenging old models and finding new ways to connect with fans, while others felt it set a dangerous precedent at the expense of less successful artists. Radiohead promoted In Rainbows with webcasts, music videos, competitions and a worldwide tour. "Jigsaw Falling into Place" and "Nude" were released as singles; "Nude" became Radiohead's first US top-40 song since their debut single "Creep" (1992). The retail release of In Rainbows topped the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200, and by October 2008 it had sold over three million copies worldwide. It was the bestselling vinyl record of 2008, and is certified platinum in the UK and Canada and gold in the US, Belgium and Japan. In Rainbows received acclaim, winning Grammy Awards for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package, and was ranked one of the best albums of the year and the decade by various publications. Rolling Stone included In Rainbows in its updated lists of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. ## Background In 2004, after finishing the world tour for their sixth studio album, Hail to the Thief (2003), Radiohead went on hiatus. As Hail to the Thief was the final album released under their record contract with EMI, they had no contractual obligation to release new material. The drummer, Philip Selway, said Radiohead still wanted to create music, but took a break to focus on other areas of their lives, and that the end of their contract provided a natural point to pause and reflect. The New York Times described Radiohead as "by far the world's most popular unsigned band". In 2005, the singer and songwriter, Thom Yorke, appeared on the web series From the Basement, performing the future In Rainbows tracks "Videotape", "Down is the New Up" and "Last Flowers". He released his first solo album, The Eraser, in 2006. The lead guitarist, Jonny Greenwood, also released his first solo works, the soundtracks Bodysong (2004) and There Will Be Blood (2007). ## Recording In March 2005, Radiohead began writing and recording in their Oxfordshire studio. They initially chose to work without their longtime producer, Nigel Godrich. According to the guitarist Ed O'Brien, "We were a little bit in the comfort zone ... We've been working together for 10 years, and we all love one another too much." The bassist, Colin Greenwood, later denied this, saying Godrich had been busy working with Charlotte Gainsbourg and Beck. At the Ether Festival in July 2005, Jonny Greenwood and Yorke performed a version of the future In Rainbows track "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" with the London Sinfonietta orchestra and the Arab Orchestra of Nazareth. Regular recording sessions began that August, with Radiohead updating fans on their progress intermittently on their new blog, Dead Air Space. The sessions were slow, and the band struggled to regain confidence. According to Yorke, "We spent a long time in the studio just not going anywhere, wasting our time, and that was really, really frustrating." They attributed their slow progress to a lack of momentum after their break, the lack of deadline and producer and the fact that all the members had become fathers. O'Brien said Radiohead considered splitting up, but kept working "because when you got beyond all the shit and the bollocks, the core of these songs were really good". In December 2005, Radiohead hired the producer Spike Stent, who had worked with artists including U2 and Björk, to help them work through their material. O'Brien told Mojo: "Spike listened to the stuff we'd been self-producing. These weren't demos, they'd been recorded in proper studios, and he said, 'The sounds aren't good enough.'" However, the collaboration with Stent was unsuccessful. In an effort to break the deadlock, Radiohead decided to tour for the first time since 2004. They performed in Europe and North America in May and June 2006, and returned to Europe for several festivals in August, performing many new songs. According to Yorke, the tour forced them to finish writing the songs. He said: "Rather than it being a nightmare, it was really, really good fun, because suddenly everyone is being spontaneous and no one's self-conscious because you're not in the studio ... It felt like being 16 again." ### Nigel Godrich sessions After the tour, Radiohead scrapped their recordings and re-enlisted Godrich.[^1] According to Yorke, Godrich gave the band "a walloping kick up the arse". To focus them, Godrich transferred their rhythm tracks to a single track, where they could not be further altered. According to Colin, "The idea was to make us commit to something ... It was as if we were sampling ourselves. And when you mash sounds together like that they cross-pollinate, they marinade, they interact with each other... They have little sonic babies." Yorke said the band attempted to create "a sense of disembodiment" by using elements from different versions of songs; for example, "All I Need" was assembled from takes from four different versions. For three weeks in October 2006, Radiohead worked at Tottenham House in Marlborough, Wiltshire, a country house scouted by Godrich. The band members lived in caravans, as the building was in a state of disrepair. Yorke described it as "derelict in the stricter sense of the word, where there's holes in the floor, rain coming through the ceilings, half the window panes missing ... There were places you just basically didn't go. It definitely had an effect. It had some pretty strange vibes." The sessions were productive, and the band recorded "Jigsaw Falling into Place" and "Bodysnatchers". Yorke wrote on Dead Air Space that Radiohead had "started the record properly now ... starting to get somewhere I think. Finally." During the recording, Colin Greenwood contracted temporary hearing loss and tinnitus brought upon by faulty headphones. That December, sessions took place at Halswell House in Taunton, and Godrich's Hospital studio in Covent Garden, London, where Radiohead recorded "Videotape" and "Nude". In January, Radiohead resumed recording in their Oxfordshire studio and started to post photos, lyrics, videos and samples of new songs on Dead Air Space. In June, having wrapped up recording, Godrich posted clips of songs on Dead Air Space. Excluding "Last Flowers", which Yorke recorded in the Eraser sessions, the In Rainbows sessions produced 16 songs. Feeling Hail to the Thief was overlong, Radiohead wanted their next album to be concise. Yorke said: "I believe in the rock album as an artistic form of expression. In Rainbows is a conscious return to this form of 45-minute statement ... Our aim was to describe in 45 minutes, as coherently and conclusively as possible, what moves us." They settled on 10 songs, saving the rest for a bonus disc included in the limited edition. The album was mastered by Bob Ludwig in July 2007 at Gateway Mastering, New York City. ## Music In Rainbows incorporates elements of art rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, art pop, and electronica. The opening track, "15 Step", features a handclap rhythm inspired by "Fuck the Pain Away" by Peaches. Radiohead recorded cheers by a group of children from the Matrix Music School & Arts Centre in Oxford. "Bodysnatchers", which Yorke described as a combination of Wolfmother, Neu! and "dodgy hippy rock", was recorded when he was in a period of "hyperactive mania". On "All I Need", Jonny Greenwood wanted to capture the white noise generated by a band playing loudly in a room, which never occurs in the studio. His solution was to have a string section play every note of the scale, blanketing the frequencies. Radiohead recorded a version of "Nude" during the sessions for their 1997 album OK Computer, but discarded it. This version featured a Hammond organ, a "straighter" feel, and different lyrics. For the In Rainbows version, Colin Greenwood wrote a new bassline, which Godrich said "transformed it from something very straight into something that had much more of a rhythmic flow". "Reckoner" developed while Radiohead were working on another song, "FeelingPulledApartByHorses". It features Yorke's falsetto, "frosty, clanging" percussion, a "meandering" guitar line, piano, and a string arrangement by Jonny Greenwood. Yorke described it as "a love song... sort of". Yorke described the process of composing "Videotape" as "absolute agony", and said it "went through every possible parameter". He initially wanted it to be a "post-rave trance track", similar to the music of Surgeon, and Jonny Greenwood was "obsessed" with shifting the start of the bar. Radiohead performed a more conventional rock arrangement on tour in 2006, with Selway's drums building to a climax. For the album, Godrich and Greenwood reduced the song to a minimal piano ballad with percussion from a Roland TR-909 drum machine. ### Lyrics Yorke said that the In Rainbows lyrics were based on "that anonymous fear thing, sitting in traffic, thinking, 'I'm sure I'm supposed to be doing something else' ... it's similar to OK Computer in a way. It's much more terrifying." He said that, unlike Hail to the Thief, there was "very little anger" in In Rainbows: "It's in no way political, or, at least, doesn't feel that way to me. It very much explores the ideas of transience. It starts in one place and ends somewhere completely different." In another interview, Yorke said the album was "about the fucking panic of realising you're going to die! And that any time soon [I could] possibly [have] a heart attack when I next go for a run." O'Brien described the lyrics as "universal. There wasn't a political agenda. It's being human." "Bodysnatchers" was inspired by Victorian ghost stories, the 1972 novel The Stepford Wives and Yorke's feeling of "your physical consciousness trapped without being able to connect fully with anything else". "Jigsaw Falling into Place" was inspired by the chaos witnessed by Yorke when he used to go out on the weekend in Oxford. He said: "The lyrics are quite caustic—the idea of 'before you're comatose' or whatever, drinking yourself into oblivion and getting fucked-up to forget ... [There] is partly this elation. But there's a much darker side." ## Artwork The In Rainbows artwork was designed by Radiohead's longtime collaborator Stanley Donwood. Donwood worked in the studio while Radiohead worked on the album, allowing the artwork to convey the mood of the music. He displayed images in the studio and on the studio computer for the band to interact with and comment on. He also posted images daily on the Radiohead website, though none were used in the final artwork. Donwood experimented with photographic etching, putting prints into acid baths and throwing wax at paper, creating images influenced by NASA space photography. He originally planned to explore suburban life, but realised it did not fit the album, saying: "The music took a different direction and became much more organic, sensual and sexual, so I started working with wax and syringes." He described the final artwork as "very colourful ... It's a rainbow but it is very toxic, it's more like the sort of one you'd see in a puddle." Radiohead did not release the cover for the digital release, preferring to hold it back for the physical release. The limited edition includes a booklet containing additional artwork by Donwood. ## Release On 1 October 2007, Jonny Greenwood announced the album on Radiohead's blog, writing: "Well, the new album is finished, and it's coming out in 10 days; we've called it In Rainbows." The post contained a link to inrainbows.com, where users could pre-order an MP3 version of the album for any amount they wanted, including £0. The release was landmark use of the pay-what-you-want model for music sale. It was suggested by Radiohead's managers, Bryce Edge and Chris Hufford, in April 2007. According to Selway, "Because [the album] was taking quite long, our management were twiddling thumbs at points and they were just coming up with ideas. And this was one that really stuck." Colin Greenwood explained the release as a way of avoiding the "regulated playlists" and "straitened formats" of radio and TV, ensuring listeners around the world would experience the music at the same time and preventing leaks in advance of a physical release. He said that the decision had not been made for financial gain, and that if money had been Radiohead's motivation they would have accepted an offer from Universal Records. ### Formats and distribution For the In Rainbows download, Radiohead employed the network provider PacketExchange to bypass public internet servers, using a less-trafficked private network. The download was packaged as a ZIP file containing the album's ten tracks encoded in a 160 kbit/s DRM-free MP3 format. The staggered online release began at about 5:30am GMT on 10 October 2007. On 10 December, the download was removed. Fans could also order a limited "discbox" edition from Radiohead's website, containing the album on CD and two 12" heavyweight 45 rpm vinyl records with artwork and lyric booklets, plus an enhanced CD with eight additional tracks, digital photos and artwork, packaged in a hardcover book and slipcase. The limited edition was shipped from December 2007. In June 2009, Radiohead made the second In Rainbows disc available for download on their website for £6. Radiohead ruled out an internet-only distribution, saying that 80% of people still bought physical releases and that it was important to have an "artefact" or "object". For the retail release, Radiohead retained ownership of the recordings and compositions but licensed the music to record labels. Licensing agreements were managed by Radiohead's publisher, Warner Chappell Music Publishing. In Rainbows was released on CD and vinyl in Japan by BMG on 26 December 2007, in Australia on 29 December 2007 by Remote Control Records, and in the United States by the ATO imprint TBD Records and in Canada by MapleMusic and Fontana on 1 January 2008. Elsewhere, it was released on 31 December 2007 by the independent record label XL Recordings, which had released Yorke's solo album The Eraser. The CD release came in a cardboard package containing the CD, lyric booklet, and several stickers that could be placed on the blank jewel case to create cover art. In Rainbows was the first Radiohead album available for download in several digital music stores, such as the iTunes Store and Amazon MP3. On 10 June 2016, it was added to the free streaming service Spotify. ### Response The pay-what-you-want release, the first for a major musical act, attracted international media attention and sparked debate about the implications for the music industry. According to Mojo, the release was "hailed as a revolution in the way major bands sell their music", and the media's reaction was "almost overwhelmingly positive". Time called it "easily the most important release in the recent history of the music business". Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote that "for the beleaguered recording business Radiohead has put in motion the most audacious experiment in years". NME wrote that "the music world seemed to judder several rimes off its axis", and praised the fact that everyone, from fans to critics, had access to the album at the same time, calling it an unusual "moment of togetherness". The U2 singer Bono praised Radiohead as "courageous and imaginative in trying to figure out some new relationship with their audience". The rapper Jay-Z described the release as "genius", and the singer Courtney Love wrote on her blog: "The kamikaze pilot in me wants to do the same damn thing. I'm grateful for Radiohead for making the first move." The release also drew criticism. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails thought it did not go far enough, and accused Radiohead of using a compressed digital release as a bait-and-switch to promote a traditional record sale. Reznor released his sixth album, Ghosts I–IV, under a Creative Commons licence the following year. The singer Lily Allen said the release was "arrogant" and sent a bad message to less successful acts, saying: "You don't choose how to pay for eggs. Why should it be different for music?" The Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon said the release "seemed really community-oriented, but it wasn't catered towards their musician brothers and sisters, who don't sell as many records [as Radiohead]. It makes everyone else look bad for not offering their music for whatever." The Guardian journalist Will Hodgkinson argued that Radiohead had made it impossible for less successful musicians to make a living from their music. #### Piracy The release came at a time when CD sales were falling due to internet piracy. It surprised record executives; an unidentified executive at a major European label told Time: "This feels like yet another death knell. If the best band in the world doesn't want a part of us, I'm not sure what's left for this business." U2's manager, Paul McGuinness, said that 60 to 70 percent of Radiohead fans had pirated In Rainbows, and saw this as an indication that Radiohead's strategy had failed. The media measurement company BigChampagne concluded that the music industry should not think of piracy as lost sales, as Radiohead had shown that even releasing music free had not deterred it. Based on this report, Wired concluded that "by 'losing' the battle for the email addresses of those who downloaded their album via bit torrent, [Radiohead] actually won the overall war for the public's attention – no easy feat, these days". In an article for the album's tenth anniversary, NME argued that Radiohead had demonstrated that the best response to piracy was to explore alternative ways to connect with fans, offering content at different price points: "The pay-what-you-want aspect isn't something to be followed slavishly ... It's the willingness to try it and the connection with fans that made it successful that should be an inspiration." #### Response from Radiohead Responding to criticisms, Jonny Greenwood said Radiohead were responding to the culture of downloading free music, which he likened to the legend of King Canute: "You can't pretend the flood isn't happening." Colin said the criticism was "worrying about all these ancillary questions and forgetting about the primal urge of people to share and enjoy music. And there's always going to be a way of finding money or livings to be made out of it." Yorke told the BBC: "We have a moral justification in what we did in the sense that the majors and the big infrastructure of the music business has not addressed the way artists communicate directly with their fans ... Not only do they get in the way, but they take all the cash." Radiohead's managers defended the release as "a solution for Radiohead, not the industry", and doubted "it would work the same way [for Radiohead] ever again". Radiohead have not used the pay-what-you-want system for subsequent releases. In February 2013, Yorke told the Guardian that though Radiohead had hoped to subvert the corporate music industry with In Rainbows, he feared they had instead played into the hands of content providers such as Apple and Google: "They have to keep commodifying things to keep the share price up, but in doing so they have made all content, including music and newspapers, worthless, in order to make their billions. And this is what we want?" In the 2010s, Gigwise and DIY credited In Rainbows as the first "surprise album" — a major album released without prior marketing or publicity — ahead of acts such as Beyoncé and U2. ### Dispute with EMI As Radiohead's recording contract with EMI ended in 2003, Radiohead recorded In Rainbows without a record label. Shortly before work began, Yorke told Time he said: "I like the people at our record company, but the time is at hand when you have to ask why anyone needs one. And, yes, it probably would give us some perverse pleasure to say 'fuck you' to this decaying business model." In August 2007, as Radiohead were finishing In Rainbows, EMI was acquired by the private equity firm Terra Firma for US\$6.4 billion (£4.7 billion), with Guy Hands as the new chief executive. EMI executives including Keith Wozencroft, who had signed Radiohead to EMI, travelled regularly to Radiohead's Oxfordshire studio in hopes of negotiating a new contract. The executives were "devastated" when Radiohead told them they would not be signing. O'Brien later said he had not realised Radiohead's importance to EMI: "That probably sounds really naive. But there weren't people going, 'You're so important.' We were just one of the bands on their roster." According to Eamonn Forde, the author of The Final Days of EMI, Radiohead had lost faith in EMI and thought the new ownership would be a "bloodbath". O'Brien said Radiohead had believed a deal with EMI was possible, and that "it was really sad to leave all the people [we'd worked with] ... But Terra Firma don't understand the music industry." Hands believed that Radiohead would only have canceled their self-release plan with a "really big" offer, and an EMI spokesperson said that Radiohead had demanded "an extraordinary amount of money". Yorke and Radiohead's management released statements denying this, and said that they had instead wanted control over their back catalogue, which Hands had refused. Edge said "we sold 25 million records and we have the moral rights over those six albums". According to Hands, Radiohead wanted a large payment in addition to ownership of their back catalogue, which EMI "valued even more". He estimated that they had wanted "millions and millions". Responding to Hands's statement, Yorke told an interviewer: "It fucking pissed me off. We could have taken them to court. The idea that we were after so much money was stretching the truth to breaking point. That was his PR company briefing against us and I'll tell you what, it fucking ruined my Christmas." Days after Radiohead signed to XL, EMI announced a box set of Radiohead albums recorded before In Rainbows, released in the same week as the In Rainbows special edition. Radiohead were reportedly angered by the release, and commentators including the Guardian saw it as retaliation for the band choosing not to sign with EMI. Hands defended the reissues as necessary to boost EMI's revenues and said "we don't have a huge amount of reasons to be nice [to Radiohead]". The box set was promoted on Google Ads with an advert falsely claiming that In Rainbows was included. EMI removed it, citing a "data source glitch". A spokesperson for Radiohead said they accepted this was a genuine mistake. ## Promotion ### Webcasts Following the release of In Rainbows, Radiohead broadcast two webcasts from their Oxfordshire studio: "Thumbs Down" in November 2007 and "Scotch Mist" on New Year's Eve. In the US, "Scotch Mist" was also broadcast on the liberal media outlet Current TV. The webcasts featured performances of In Rainbows songs, covers of songs by New Order, the Smiths and Björk, poetry, and videos created with the comedian Adam Buxton and the filmmaker Garth Jennings. Colin Greenwood described the webcasts as spontaneous and liberating, bypassing the usual lengthy process of commissioning music videos. ### Singles and music videos The first single from In Rainbows, "Jigsaw Falling into Place", was released in January 2008, followed by "Nude" on 31 March. They were accompanied by music videos directed by Buxton and Jennings. Radiohead held remix competitions for "Nude" and "Reckoner", releasing the separated stems for purchase, and streamed the entries on their website. "Nude" debuted at number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100; boosted by sales of the stems, it was the first Radiohead song to enter the chart since "High and Dry" (1995) and Radiohead's first US top-40 song since their debut single "Creep" (1992). In July, Radiohead released a video for "House of Cards", made with lidar technology instead of cameras. In March 2008, Radiohead ran a contest with the animation company Aniboom whereby entrants submitted concepts for animated music videos for In Rainbows songs. Semifinalists were chosen by TBD Records and the Cartoon Network programming block Adult Swim. Unable to choose only one winner, Radiohead awarded the full prize money of \$10,000 each to four semifinalists, who created videos for "15 Step", "Weird Fishes", "Reckoner" and "Videotape". ### Live performances On 16 January 2008, a surprise Radiohead performance at the London record shop Rough Trade East was relocated to a nearby club after police raised safety concerns. Radiohead toured North America, Europe, South America and Japan from May 2008 until March 2009. To determine how they could reduce carbon emissions for the tour, Radiohead commissioned the environmental group Best Foot Forward. Based on the findings, Radiohead played in amphitheatres rather than smaller venues and focused on playing in city centres to reduce reliance on flights for attendees. They also used a carbon-neutral "forest" of LEDs on stage. Radiohead recorded a live video, In Rainbows — From the Basement, broadcast on VH1 in May 2008. In February 2009, Yorke and Jonny Greenwood performed "15 Step" with the University of Southern California Marching Band at the televised 51st Annual Grammy Awards. ## Sales ### Digital In early October 2007, a Radiohead spokesperson reported that most downloaders paid "a normal retail price" for the digital version of In Rainbows, and that most fans had pre-ordered the limited edition. Citing a source close to the band, Gigwise reported that In Rainbows had sold 1.2 million digital copies before its retail release; this was dismissed by Radiohead's co-manager Bryce Edge as "exaggerated". According to research released in November 2007 by the market research firm Comscore, downloaders paid an average of \$2.26 per download globally, and 62% of downloaders paid nothing. Of those who paid, the average paid was \$6 globally, with 12% paying between \$8 and \$12, around the typical cost of an album on iTunes. Radiohead dismissed the report as "wholly inaccurate", but said that the results had been good. Another survey, conducted by the industry organisation Record of the Day, found that 28.5% of those who downloaded the album paid nothing or £0.01 and the average price per download was £3.88. In December 2007, Yorke said that Radiohead had made more money from digital sales of In Rainbows than the digital sales of all previous Radiohead albums combined. In October 2008, one year after the release, Warner Chappell reported that although most people paid nothing for the download, prerelease sales for In Rainbows had been more profitable than the total sales of Hail to the Thief and that the limited edition had sold 100,000 copies. In 2009, Wired reported that Radiohead had made an "instantaneous" £3 million from the album. Pitchfork saw this as proof that, thanks to their fans, "Radiohead could release a record on the most secretive terms, basically for free, and still be wildly successful, even as industry profits continued to plummet." According to the media measurement company BigChampagne, on the day of release, around 400,000 copies of In Rainbows were pirated via torrent. It had been shared 2.3 million times by 3 November 2007. At its peak, it was shared many times more than the second-most shared album released in the same period. Some piracy came from users driven to torrents after the official website overloaded. ### Retail Because inrainbows.com is not a chart-registered retailer, In Rainbows download and limited edition sales were not eligible for inclusion in the UK Albums Chart. On the week of its retail release, In Rainbows reached number one on the UK Albums Chart, with first-week sales of 44,602 copies. In the US, after some record stores broke street date agreements, it entered the Billboard 200 at number 156. However, in the first week of official release, it became the 10th independently distributed album to reach number one on the Billboard 200, selling 122,000 copies. In October 2008, Warner Chappell reported that In Rainbows had sold three million copies worldwide, including 1.75 million physical sales, since its retail release. It was the bestselling vinyl album of 2008. ## Critical reception On the review aggregate site Metacritic, In Rainbows earned a rating of 88 out of 100, based on 42 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". The Guardian critic Alexis Petridis praised Radiohead's performance in the studio and said they sounded like they were enjoying themselves. Billboard's Jonathan Cohen commended the album for not being overshadowed by its marketing hype. Andy Kellman of AllMusic wrote that In Rainbows "will hopefully be remembered as Radiohead's most stimulating synthesis of accessible songs and abstract sounds, rather than their first pick-your-price download". The NME described In Rainbows as "Radiohead reconnecting with their human sides, realising you [can] embrace pop melodies and proper instruments while still sounding like paranoid androids ... This [is] otherworldly music, alright." Will Hermes, writing in Entertainment Weekly, called In Rainbows "the gentlest, prettiest Radiohead set yet" and stated that it "uses the full musical and emotional spectra to conjure breathtaking beauty". Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone praised its "vividly collaborative sonic touches" and concluded: "No wasted moments, no weak tracks: just primo Radiohead." In 2011, The Rolling Stone Album Guide described it as Radiohead's "most expansive and seductive album, possibly their all-time high". Jon Dolan of Blender called In Rainbows "far more pensive and reflective" than Hail to the Thief, writing that it "formulates a lush, sensualised ideal out of vague, layered discomfort". Spin's Mikael Wood felt that it "succeeds because all of that cold, clinical lab work hasn't eliminated the warmth from their music", while Pitchfork's Mark Pytlik wrote it was a more "human" album that "represents the sound of Radiohead coming back to earth". Robert Christgau, writing for MSN Music, gave In Rainbows a two-star honourable mention and that it was "more jammy, less songy and less Yorkey, which is good". The Wire was more critical, finding "a sense here of a group magisterially marking time, shying away ... from any grand, rhetorical, countercultural purpose". ### Accolades In Rainbows was ranked among the best albums of 2007 by many music publications. It was ranked first by Billboard, Mojo and PopMatters, third by NME and The A.V. Club, fourth by Pitchfork and Q, and sixth by Rolling Stone and Spin. It was also named one of the best albums of the decade by several publications: NME ranked it 10th, Paste 45th, Rolling Stone 30th, the Guardian 22nd, and Newsweek fifth. Rolling Stone included In Rainbows on its updated lists of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time at number 336 in 2012 and 387 in 2020. It was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2019, the Guardian named In Rainbows the 11th-greatest album of the 21st century so far. In 2020, Rolling Stone named In Rainbows one of the 40 most groundbreaking albums for its pay-what-you want release, influencing acts such as Beyoncé and U2. In 2021, Pitchfork readers voted In Rainbows the fourth-greatest album of the previous 25 years. In Rainbows was nominated for the short list of the 2008 Mercury Prize, and won the Grammy awards for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards. It was also nominated for Grammy awards for Album of the Year and Producer of the Year, Non-Classical (for Nigel Godrich), and "House of Cards" was nominated for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, Best Rock Song and Best Music Video. ## Track listing ## In Rainbows Disk 2 The special edition of In Rainbows included a second disc, In Rainbows Disk 2, which contains eight additional tracks. In 2009, Radiohead made Disk 2 available to purchase as downloads on their website, and in October 2016 it was released on streaming and digital services. Pitchforks Chris Dahlen wrote that "a lesser band might have crammed some bootlegs and demo takes in here, but when Radiohead put something on disc, they want it to count". However, he criticised Yorke's vocals: "The cynical/alienated rut into which he grinds himself has the persistence of a toothache ... Yorke sounds like neither a post-millennial prophet nor an uncanny empathist, so much as a crank." David Fricke of Rolling Stone wrote that "if you bought the deluxe box edition of In Rainbows just for the session leftovers, you did not get your eighty dollars' worth", but conceded that the songs "deserve to be on record". Stereogum wrote that the most impressive thing about Disk 2 was "how effortless it all seems". ## Personnel Radiohead - Colin Greenwood - Jonny Greenwood - Ed O'Brien - Philip Selway - Thom Yorke Additional musicians - The Millennia Ensemble – strings - Everton Nelson – leading - Sally Herbert – conducting - Matrix Music School children's choir – uncredited choir on "15 Step" Production - Nigel Godrich – production, mixing, engineering - Richard Woodcraft – engineering - Hugo Nicolson – engineering - Dan Grech-Marguerat – engineering - Graeme Stewart – preproduction - Bob Ludwig – mastering Artwork''' - Stanley Donwood - Dr Tchock ## Charts ### Weekly charts ### Year-end charts ## Certifications and sales [^1]:
39,466,391	Mom & Me & Mom	1,138,256,738	2013 autobiographical book by Maya Angelou	[ "2013 American novels", "African-American autobiographies", "Books by Maya Angelou", "Random House books" ]	Mom & Me & Mom (2013) is the seventh and final book in author Maya Angelou's series of autobiographies. The book was published shortly before Mother's Day and Angelou's 85th birthday. It focuses, for the first time in her books, on Angelou's relationship with her mother, Vivian Baxter. The book explains Baxter's behavior, especially Baxter's abandonment of Angelou and Angelou's older brother when they were young children, and fills in "what are possibly the final blanks in Angelou's eventful life". The book also chronicles Angelou's reunion and reconciliation with Baxter. Mom & Me & Mom is an overview of Angelou's life and revisits many of the same anecdotes she relates in her previous books. The first section, entitled "Mom & Me", centers on Angelou's early years, before the age of 17, and her transition from resentment and distrust of her mother to acceptance, support, and love towards her. After Baxter helps her through the birth of her son, Angelou goes from calling Baxter "Lady" to "Mom". In the book's second section, entitled "Me & Mom", Angelou chronicles the unconditional love, support, and assistance they gave to each other, as Baxter helps her through single motherhood, a failed marriage, and career ups and downs. As she had begun to do in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and continued throughout her series, Angelou upheld the long traditions of African-American autobiography. At the same time she made a deliberate attempt to challenge the usual structure of the autobiography by critiquing, changing, and expanding the genre. She had become recognized and highly respected as a spokesperson for Blacks and women. Angelou was, as scholar Joanne Braxton has stated, "without a doubt, ... America's most visible black woman autobiographer". She had also become "a major autobiographical voice of the time". Like Angelou's previous autobiographies, Mom & Me & Mom received mostly positive reviews. Most reviewers state that Baxter is presented well in the book. Angelou celebrates the unconditional acceptance and support of her mother, who comes across "as a street-smart, caring woman who shaped the author's life and legacy by her words and example". The book has been called "a profoundly moving tale of separation and reunion, and an ultimately optimistic portrait of the maternal bond". Pictures of Angelou, Baxter, and members of their family appear through the book and enhance the text. An audio version, read by Angelou, was released in CD form and as a digital download. ## Background Mom & Me & Mom (2013) is the seventh of Maya Angelou's series of autobiographies. It was completed 11 years after the publication of her previous autobiography, A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2002), and more than thirty years after she wrote her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969). Mom & Me & Mom, in which Angelou relates her relationship with her mother Vivian Baxter, was published shortly before Mother's Day and Angelou's 85th birthday. In the time period between the publication of her sixth and seventh autobiographies, Angelou was the first African-American woman and living poet selected by Sterling Publishing, who placed 25 of her poems in a volume of their Poetry for Young People series in 2004. In 2009, Angelou wrote "We Had Him", a poem about Michael Jackson, which was read by Queen Latifah at his funeral, and wrote "His Day is Done", a poem honoring Nelson Mandela after his death in 2013. She published a book of essays, Letter to My Daughter, in 2009, and two cookbooks, Hallelujah! The Welcome Table in 2004 and Great Food, All Day Long in 2010. During this period, she was awarded the Lincoln Medal in 2008 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011. Angelou had become recognized and highly respected as a spokesperson for Blacks and women and was, as scholar Joanne Braxton has stated, "without a doubt, ... America's most visible black woman autobiographer". She had also become "a major autobiographical voice of the time". Angelou was one of the first African-American female writers to publicly discuss her personal life, and one of the first to use herself as a central character in her books. Writer Julian Mayfield, who called her first autobiography "a work of art that eludes description", stated that Angelou's series set a precedent not only for other Black women writers, but for the genre of autobiography as a whole. Scholar Hilton Als called Angelou one of the "pioneers of self-exposure", willing to focus honestly on the more negative aspects of her personality and choices. For example, while Angelou was composing her second autobiography, Gather Together in My Name, she was concerned about how her readers would react to her disclosure that she had been a prostitute. Her husband Paul Du Feu talked her into publishing the book by encouraging her to "tell the truth as a writer" and to "be honest about it". For the first time, Angelou focuses on her relationship with her mother in this book, and fills in what reviewer Fiona Sturges calls "possibly the final blanks in Angelou's eventful life". According to Candace Smith, who reviewed the audio version of the book for Booklist, Angelou and Baxter's relationship was "touched upon but never fully described" in Caged Bird, but Mom & Me & Mom explains Baxter's actions, especially the reasons she sent Angelou and her older brother Bailey to live with their grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. The book also chronicles Angelou's initial uncomfortable reunion and eventual reconciliation with Baxter. Pictures of Baxter, Angelou, and their family and close friends appear throughout the book and enhance the text. An audio version of the book, read by Angelou, was released in CD form and as a digital download. Angelou explains in the book's prologue why she wrote the book, which was to explain how she became, despite being born poor, Black, and female, a renowned author and poet. The book is divided into two sections: the first 13 chapters are grouped into the first section, called "Mom & Me", and the remaining chapters make up the second section, called "Me & Mom". Angelou thanks her mother, "who generously taught me how to be a mother", which allowed her to dedicate the book to her son, Guy Bailey Johnson, whom she calls "one of the most courageous and generous men I know". ## Plot summary Angelou's mother, Vivian Baxter, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, at the turn of the 20th century, the oldest of six children of her Trinidadian father and her Irish mother. Baxter's family was violent, yet religious and musical. Baxter, "who was to remain a startling beauty", met Angelou's father, Bailey Johnson, a dietitian and cook, in 1924, upon Johnson's return from serving in World War I. They married and moved to California, where Angelou and her older brother, Bailey, Jr., were born. When she was three and Bailey was five, their parents divorced and sent their children, by train with identification tags and no adult supervision, to live with their paternal grandmother, Annie Henderson, in Stamps, Arkansas. Angelou and her brother lived with their grandmother and her son, Uncle Willie, until Angelou was thirteen. They briefly visited their mother in St. Louis, but at the age of eight Angelou was raped, and in retaliation the rapist was killed by members of her family. She felt so guilty for his death that she chose to stop talking to everyone but Bailey for several years. They were sent back to Stamps, but when Bailey turned 14, they returned to their mother's care in San Francisco for his protection. At first, Angelou was resistant and angry towards her mother for abandoning her and Bailey, choosing to call her "Lady", and it took her several years to warm to her. One summer, Bailey and Angelou made separate trips to visit their father in San Diego, in what Kirkus Reviews called "a seriously ugly meeting". Angelou did not get along with her stepmother. During her visit, her father took Angelou to Mexico; he became so drunk, she had to drive him back across the border, even though she had never driven a car before. When they returned to San Diego, Angelou's stepmother cut Angelou with a pair of scissors during an argument. Angelou chose to live on the streets until her wound was healed. When she returned to San Francisco, she decided she wanted a job as a streetcar conductor; at first, she was not hired because she was Black, but upon her mother's encouragement, she was persistent with the streetcar company until she became the first Black to work on the railway. Baxter provided security by following Angelou with a pistol. When Angelou was seventeen, she became pregnant after a one-time encounter with a neighbor boy. She told Bailey, who advised her to hide it from their mother and stepfather until she graduated from high school. Three weeks before the birth of her son, she told them. Baxter's reaction was to run a bath; as Angelou said, "In our family, for some unknown reason, we consider it an honor to run a bath, to put in bubbles and good scents for another person". Baxter helped Angelou through the birth; from then on, Angelou began to call her "Mother", and later, "Mom". The rest of the book consists of a series of anecdotes about the ways that Baxter supported and accepted her daughter and continued to win her love and respect, through unwed motherhood, a failed marriage, and career ups and downs. Angelou relates several stories of Baxter, including her support of Angelou as an independent single mother, her life-saving intervention after a jealous ex-boyfriend beat Angelou, and her initial resistance and then acceptance of Angelou's first marriage to Greek sailor Tosh Angelos. Angelou recounts the beginning of her career as a dancer and entertainer in San Francisco; Baxter cared for her grandson as Angelou traveled Europe as a member of the Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess. Angelou felt so guilty about leaving her son that she returned and resumed her relationship with her mother and son, eventually moving to New York City and starting a new career as a writer and poet. Angelou relates, with pride, her mother's social activities, in the Order of the Eastern Star and black women's charitable organizations in Stockton, California, as well as her career as one of the first black female merchant mariners. At one point, Baxter drops everything and comes to her daughter's aid while Angelou was working on a movie in Stockholm. Baxter supports Angelou's decision to live in Africa for a while and then, after Angelou returned to the U.S., to become a teacher at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Angelou describes Baxter's marriage, late in her life, to Angelou's fourth stepfather, whom Baxter called her greatest love and who was Angelou's favorite. There is a difficult scene between Angelou and her brother, who despite his seemingly easy reentry into their mother's life when they were teenagers (she calls them "the new lovers"), had descended into struggles with drug abuse. Angelou closes Mom & Me & Mom with a description of Vivian Baxter's death in 1991, and of Angelou's final words to her on her deathbed. In 1995, the city of Stockton honored Baxter for her many years of service by naming a park after her. ## Style and genre Starting with Caged Bird, Angelou made a deliberate attempt while writing all her autobiographies, including Mom & Me & Mom, to challenge the usual structure of the autobiography by critiquing, changing, and expanding the genre. Her use of fiction-writing techniques such as dialogue, characterization, and thematic development has often led reviewers to categorize her books as autobiographical fiction. Valerie Sayers, in her review of Mom & Me & Mom in The Washington Post, calls Angelou's books memoirs because of their limited focus, but praises her for describing what it was like to grow up Black in "Jim Crow America". Sayers states: "She manages to fully reveal that national sore without picking at it, a neat trick that...requires considerable restraint and her own steely goodwill". Angelou stated in a 1989 interview that she was the only "serious" writer to choose the genre to express herself. As critic Susan Gilbert stated, Angelou was reporting not one person's story, but the collective's. Scholar Selwyn R. Cudjoe agreed, and viewed Angelou as representative of the convention in African-American autobiography as a public gesture that spoke for an entire group of people. Angelou's editor Robert Loomis was able to convince her to write Caged Bird by challenging her to write an autobiography that could be considered "high art", which she continued throughout her series. Although Angelou was successful, she was, as Sayers insisted, smart and gifted enough to write for any audience, but chose not to write for "a highbrow literary audience", but for "readers as open, playful and straightforward as herself". Angelou's autobiographies conform to the genre's standard structure: they are written by a single author, they are chronological, and they contain elements of character, technique, and theme. In a 1983 interview with African-American literature critic Claudia Tate, Angelou called her books autobiographies. When speaking of her unique use of the genre, she acknowledged that she has followed the slave narrative tradition of "speaking in the first-person singular talking about the first-person plural, always saying I meaning 'we'". Angelou recognized that there were fictional aspects to all her books; she tended to "diverge from the conventional notion of autobiography as truth". Her approach paralleled the conventions of many African-American autobiographies written during the abolitionist period in the US, when truth was often censored for purposes of self-protection. Author Lyman B. Hagen has placed Angelou in the long tradition of African-American autobiography, but insisted that she has created a unique interpretation of the autobiographical form. In a 1998 interview with journalist George Plimpton, Angelou discussed her writing process, and "the sometimes slippery notion of truth in nonfiction" and memoirs. When asked if she changed the truth to improve her story, she stated, "Sometimes I make a diameter from a composite of three or four people, because the essence in only one person is not sufficiently strong to be written about." Although Angelou has never admitted to changing the facts in her stories, she has used these facts to make an impact with the reader. As Hagen stated, "One can assume that 'the essence of the data' is present in Angelou's work". Hagen also stated that Angelou "fictionalizes, to enhance interest". Angelou's long-time editor, Robert Loomis, states that she could rewrite any of her books by changing the order of her facts to make a different impact on the reader. Like Caged Bird, the events in Mom & Me & Mom and the rest of her autobiographies are episodic and crafted as a series of short stories, yet do not follow a strict chronology, something that Angelou uses to compel her readers forward. Sayers agrees, saying that Angelou pays little attention to chronological order in the book. Sayers also states, "Time races through this narrative". Major characters, like Angelou's stepfather Daddy Clidell, disappear after their initial mention. Even though Angelou repeats many anecdotes found in her earlier autobiographies, the focus in Mom & Me & Mom is on her mother; according to reviewer Stacy Russo, "that focus makes this a distinct addition to Angelou's autobiographical writings". Reviewer Pam Kingsbury, who highly recommended the book for all audiences, stated those familiar with Angelou's previous works "will be rewarded with a more complete picture of her life", while new readers "will discover a well-crafted and insightful introduction to the author". Critics have judged Mom & Me & Mom and Angelou's other autobiographies "in light of the first", and Caged Bird generally receives the highest praise. Marjorie Kehe of The Christian Science Monitor, considers the book a sequel to Caged Bird. Many of the events described in Angelou's previous autobiographies are revisited in this one, some with more detail than others, such as her period of homelessness, which was described in Caged Bird, and her serious beating by her jealous boyfriend, which was first disclosed in Letter to My Daughter (2008), Angelou's third book of essays. According to Fiona Sturges, who reviewed Mom & Me & Mom in the British publication The Independent, "As in her previous books, these tales are told with clear-sightedness and an absence of self-pity, and they are no less grim for their familiarity. Angelou has never been one for florid prose, and here she maintains a precise and economical style which makes these bleak moments more vivid, like a film from which you can't look away". Sayers states that major dramatic events, such as the incident when Angelou was beaten, "are delivered without much amplification or further reference". Angelou describes her writing process as regimented. Beginning with Caged Bird, she has used the same "writing ritual" for many years. She gets up at five in the morning and checks into a hotel room, where the staff has been instructed to remove any pictures from the walls. She writes on legal pads while lying on the bed, with a bottle of sherry, a deck of cards to play solitaire, Roget's Thesaurus, and the Bible, and leaves by the early afternoon. She averages 10–12 pages of material a day, which she edits down to three or four pages in the evening. Angelou goes through this process to "enchant" herself, and as she said in a 1989 interview with the BBC, to "relive the agony, the anguish, the Sturm und Drang". She places herself back in the time she is writing about, even during traumatic experiences like her rape in Caged Bird, to "tell the human truth" about her life. Angelou has stated that she plays cards to reach that place of enchantment, to access her memories more effectively. She has stated, "It may take an hour to get into it, but once I'm in it—ha! It's so delicious!" She does not find the process cathartic; rather, she has found relief in "telling the truth". ## Critical reception Mom & Me & Mom debuted at number 8 on The New York Times bestseller list the week of its release, 21 April 2013. The book, like Angelou's previous autobiographies, received mostly positive reviews. Fiona Sturges, who reviews the book in the British publication The Independent, and reviewer Stacy Russo of Library Journal both state that Angelou's readers would recognize many of the passages in Mom & Me & Mom from her earlier autobiographies. Bernardine Evaristo of the British publication The Observer, in one of the few negative reviews of Mom & Me & Mom, calls the book "a slight, anecdotal and badly edited book that rehashes stories from previous memoirs". Evaristo questions the veracity of Angelou's anecdotes, and states that some of them contradict earlier versions. Evaristo also believes that Mom & Me & Mom undermines Caged Bird, which she calls "a ground-breaking triumph". According to reviewer Heid Erdrich, Mom & Me & Mom does not center on Angelou's childhood trauma, as described in Caged Bird, but "rather constructs a portrait of self via details of her relationship to the mother who abandoned her and with whom she reunited as a teenager". Erdrich states that Angelou's prose is "very simply written", and calls her tone "mostly light, even sweet, filled with affection for her younger self". Erdrich states that even though it could have been written for young women experiencing the same difficulties Angelou faced, the book does not preach, but "presents Angelou’s life path scattered with enormous obstacles endured and conquered through knowledge of self and a singular brand of mother love". Publishers Weekly agrees, stating, "The lessons and love presented here will speak to those trying to make their way in the world". Erdrich also states that Angelou's narrative of her "hard-won love for her extraordinary mother" is compelling, and that Angelou portrays Baxter "as extraordinarily self-aware, liberated from what others might think, and independent beyond any feminist of her era" and "the stuff of fiction but real and responsible in unexpected ways for the gift of her talented daughter". Most critics feel that Baxter is presented well in Mom & Me & Mom. Candace Smith, who reviews the audio version of the book, states that Angelou celebrates the unconditional acceptance and support of her mother, who comes across "as a street-smart, caring woman who shaped the author's life and legacy by her words and example". Vanessa Bush of Booklist calls the book a "loving recollection of a complicated relationship" and a "remarkable and deeply revealing chronicle of love and healing". Russo states that the book is "a beautiful tribute to Baxter's independent, vibrant, and courageous spirit". Evaristo disagrees, and states that Baxter comes across as "less rounded, less interesting, more sanctified and less credible" than Angelou describes her elsewhere. Sturges calls the book "a profoundly moving tale of separation and reunion, and an ultimately optimistic portrait of the maternal bond". The most interesting part of the book, according to Sturges, is "Angelou's casual overturning of the idea of the mother who abandons her children as monstrous and inhumane". Sturges also says that Baxter is presented as unapologetic, charismatic, independent, and resilient, traits that "have seemingly been passed on to her daughter". Reviewer Valerie Sayers insists that the scenes that depict Angelou's "halting steps" towards her forgiveness and acceptance of her mother are among the best in the book. Sayers labels Mom & Me & Mom "an account of forgiveness", and like Angelou and Baxter, "just revealing enough, and pretty irresistible". Like her mother expected from her, Angelou expects her readers to move past their resentments and "whatever was unbearable". Sayers also calls both Baxter and Angelou "a Large Dramatic Presence", and says that Angelou matches her mother's spirit. According to Sayers, the book contains Angelou's "trademark good humor and fierce optimism". Kirkus Reviews states that true to Angelou's style, her writing "cuts to the chase with compression and simplicity", and that it contains a "calypso smoothness, flurries and showers of musicality between the moments of wickedness". Kirkus also calls the book a "tightly strung, finely tuned memoir". According to Candace Smith in her review of the book's audio version, Angelou performs it "in her characteristic slow and thoughtful tones, and with careful enunciation". Although some of her anecdotes are painful to hear, Angelou is "unquestionably honest". Smith also states, "Although her voice doesn't show much outward emotion, her words are so powerful and the stories so fascinating that we remain riveted". Most critics agreed that the book would be popular with readers familiar with Angelou's writings and to her new readers. Marjorie Kehe of The Christian Science Monitor, who calls it "a story of redemption" and "a tender read and a lovely tribute", anticipates that Angelou's readers would delight in it. Russo predicts that due to Angelou's popularity and "approachable writing", the book would have wide appeal for many readers. ## Explanatory notes
17,491,404	Victoria Cross	1,168,945,062	Highest military decoration awarded for valour in armed forces of various Commonwealth countries	[ "1856 establishments in the United Kingdom", "Awards established in 1856", "Courage awards", "Decorations of the Merchant Navy", "Military awards and decorations of the United Kingdom", "Victoria Cross" ]	The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously awarded by countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, most of which have established their own honours systems and no longer recommend British honours. It may be awarded to a person of any military rank in any service and to civilians under military command. No civilian has received the award since 1879. Since the first awards were presented by Queen Victoria in 1857, two-thirds of all awards have been personally presented by the British monarch. The investitures are usually held at Buckingham Palace. The VC was introduced on 29 January 1856 by Queen Victoria to honour acts of valour during the Crimean War. Since then, the medal has been awarded 1,358 times to 1,355 individual recipients. Only 15 medals, of which 11 to members of the British Army and 4 to members of the Australian Army, have been awarded since the Second World War. The traditional explanation of the source of the metal from which the medals are struck is that it derives from a Russian cannon captured at the siege of Sevastopol. However, research has indicated another origin for the material. The historian John Glanfield has established that the metal for most of the medals made since December 1914 came from two Chinese cannons and that there is no evidence of Russian origin. The VC is highly prized and has been valued at over £400,000 at auctions. A number of public and private collections are devoted to the Victoria Cross. The private collection of Lord Ashcroft, amassed since 1986, contains over one-tenth of all Victoria Crosses awarded. After a 2008 donation to the Imperial War Museum, the Ashcroft collection went on public display alongside the museum's Victoria and George Cross collection in November 2010. Beginning with the Centennial of Confederation in 1967, Canada, followed in 1975 by Australia and New Zealand, developed their own national honours systems, separate from and independent of the British or Imperial honours system. As each country's system evolved, operational gallantry awards were developed with the premier award of each system, with the Victoria Cross for Australia, the Canadian Victoria Cross and the Victoria Cross for New Zealand being created and named in honour of the Victoria Cross. They are unique awards of each honours system recommended, assessed, gazetted and presented by each country. ## Origin In 1854, after 39 years of peace, Britain was in a major war against Russia. The Crimean War was one of the first wars with modern reporting, and the dispatches of William Howard Russell described many acts of bravery and valour by British servicemen that went unrewarded. Before the Crimean War, there was no official standardised system for recognition of gallantry within the British armed forces. Officers were eligible for an award of one of the junior grades of the Order of the Bath and brevet promotions while a Mention in Despatches existed as an alternative award for acts of lesser gallantry. This structure was very limited; in practice, awards of the Order of the Bath were confined to officers of field rank and brevet promotions or Mentions in Despatches were largely confined to those who were under the immediate notice of the commanders in the field, generally members of the commander's own staff. Other European countries had awards that did not discriminate against class or rank; France awarded the Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honour, established 1802) and the Netherlands gave the Order of William (established in 1815). There was a growing feeling among the public and in the Royal Court that a new award was needed to recognise incidents of gallantry that were unconnected with the length or merit of a man's service. Queen Victoria issued a warrant under the royal sign-manual on 29 January 1856 (gazetted 5 February 1856) that officially constituted the VC. The order was backdated to 1854 to recognise acts of valour during the Crimean War. Queen Victoria had instructed the War Office to strike a new medal that would not recognise birth or class. The medal was meant to be a simple decoration that would be highly prized and eagerly sought after by those in the military services. To maintain its simplicity, Queen Victoria, under the guidance of Prince Albert, vetoed the suggestion that the award be called The Military Order of Victoria and instead suggested the name Victoria Cross. The original warrant stated that the Victoria Cross would only be awarded to officers and men who had served in the presence of the enemy and had performed some signal act of valour or devotion. The first ceremony was held on 26 June 1857 at which Queen Victoria invested 62 of the 111 Crimean recipients in a ceremony in Hyde Park, London. ### Manufacture A single company of jewellers, Hancocks & Co, has been responsible for the production of every VC awarded since its inception. It has long been widely believed that all the VCs were cast in bronze from the cascabels of two cannon that were captured from the Russians at the siege of Sevastopol. However, in 1990 Creagh and Ashton conducted a metallurgical examination of the VCs in the custody of the Australian War Memorial, and later the historian John Glanfield wrote that, through the use of X-ray studies of older Victoria Crosses, it was determined that the metal used for almost all VCs since December 1914 is taken from antique Chinese guns, replacing an earlier gun. Creagh noted the existence of Chinese inscriptions on the cannon, which are now barely legible due to corrosion. A likely explanation is that the cannon were taken as trophies during the First Opium War and held in the Woolwich repository. It was also thought that some medals made during the First World War were composed of metal captured from different Chinese guns during the Boxer Rebellion. This is not so, however. The VCs examined by Creagh and Ashton both in Australia (58) and at the National Army Museum in New Zealand (14) spanned the entire time during which VCs have been issued and no compositional inconsistencies were found. It was also believed that another source of metal was used between 1942 and 1945 to create five Second World War VCs when the Sevastopol metal "went missing". Creagh accessed the Army records at MoD Donnington in 1991 and did not find any gaps in the custodial record. The composition found in the WW2 VCs, among them those for Edwards (Australia) and Upham (New Zealand), is similar to that for the early WW1 medals. This is likely to be due to the reuse of material from earlier pourings, casting sprues, defective medals, etc. The remaining portion of the only remaining cascabel, weighing 358 oz (10 kg), is stored in a vault maintained by 15 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps at MoD Donnington and may only be removed under armed guard. It is estimated that approximately 80 to 85 more VCs could be cast from this source. ## Appearance The decoration is a bronze cross pattée, 1+39⁄64′′ (41 mm) high, 1+27⁄64′′ (36 mm) wide, bearing the crown of Saint Edward surmounted by a lion, and the inscription "for valour". This was originally to have been "for the brave", until it was changed on the recommendation of Queen Victoria, as it implied that only men who were awarded the cross were brave. The decoration, suspension bar, and link weigh about 0.87 troy ounces (27 g). The cross is suspended by a ring from a seriffed "V" to a bar ornamented with laurel leaves, through which the ribbon passes. The reverse of the suspension bar is engraved with the recipient's name, rank, number and unit. On the reverse of the medal is a circular panel on which the date of the act for which it was awarded is engraved in the centre. The Original Warrant Clause 1 states that the Victoria Cross "shall consist of a Maltese cross of bronze". Nonetheless, it has always been a cross pattée; the discrepancy with the warrant has never been corrected. The ribbon is crimson, 1+1⁄2′′(38 mm) wide. The original (1856) specification for the award stated that the ribbon should be red for army recipients and dark blue for naval recipients, but the dark blue ribbon was abolished soon after the formation of the Royal Air Force on 1 April 1918. On 22 May 1920 George V signed a warrant that stated all recipients would now receive a red ribbon and the living recipients of the naval version were required to exchange their ribbons for the new colour. Although the army warrants state the colour as being red, it is defined by most commentators as being crimson or "wine-red". Since 1917 a miniature of the Cross has been affixed to the centre of the ribbon bar when worn without the Cross. In the event of a second award bar, a second replica is worn alongside the first. ## Award process The Victoria Cross is awarded for > ... most conspicuous bravery, or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy. A recommendation for the VC is normally issued by an officer at regimental level, or equivalent, and has to be supported by three witnesses, although this has been waived on occasion. The recommendation is then passed up the military hierarchy until it reaches the Secretary of State for Defence. The recommendation is then laid before the monarch who approves the award with his or her signature. Victoria Cross awards are always promulgated in the London Gazette with the single exception of the award to the American Unknown Soldier in 1921. The Victoria Cross warrant makes no specific provision as to who should actually present the medals to the recipients. Queen Victoria indicated that she would like to present the medals in person and she presented 185 medals out of the 472 gazetted during her reign. Including the first 62 medals presented at a parade in Hyde Park on 26 June 1857 by Queen Victoria, nearly 900 awards have been personally presented to the recipient by the reigning British monarch. Nearly 300 awards have been presented by a member of the royal family or by a civil or military dignitary. About 150 awards were either forwarded to the recipient or next of kin by registered post or no details of the presentations are known. The original royal warrant did not contain a specific clause regarding posthumous awards, although official policy was not to award the VC posthumously. Between the Indian Mutiny in 1857 and the beginning of the Second Boer War, the names of six officers and men were published in the London Gazette with a memorandum stating they would have been awarded the Victoria Cross had they survived. A further three notices were published in the London Gazette in September 1900 and April 1901 for gallantry in the Second Boer War. In an exception to policy for the Second Boer War, six posthumous Victoria Crosses, three to those mentioned in the notices in 1900 and 1901 and a further three, were granted on 8 August 1902, the first official posthumous awards. Five years later in 1907, the posthumous policy was reversed for earlier wars, and medals were sent to the next of kin of the six officers and men whose names were mentioned in notices in the Gazette dating back to the Indian Mutiny. The Victoria Cross warrant was not amended to explicitly allow posthumous awards until 1920, but one quarter of all awards for World War I were posthumous. The process and motivations of selecting the medal's recipients has sometimes been interpreted as inconsistent or overly political. The most common observation being that the Victoria Cross may be given more often for engagements that senior military personnel would like to publicly promote. The 1920 royal warrant made provision for awards to women serving in the Armed Forces. No woman has been awarded a VC. In the case of a gallant and daring act being performed by a squadron, ship's company or a detached body of men (such as marines) in which all men are deemed equally brave and deserving of the Victoria Cross, a ballot is drawn. The officers select one officer, the NCOs select one individual, and the private soldiers or seamen select two individuals. In all, 46 awards have been awarded by ballot with 29 of the awards during the Indian Mutiny. Four further awards were granted to Q Battery, Royal Horse Artillery at Korn Spruit on 31 March 1900 during the Second Boer War. The final ballot awards for the army were the six awards to the Lancashire Fusiliers at W Beach during the landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, although three of the awards were not gazetted until 1917. The final seven ballot awards were the only naval ballot awards with three awards to two Q-ships in 1917 and four awards for the Zeebrugge Raid in 1918. The provision for awards by ballot is still included in the Victoria Cross warrant, but there have been no further such awards since 1918. Between 1858 and 1881, the Victoria Cross could be awarded for actions taken "under circumstances of extreme danger" not in the face of the enemy. Six such awards were made during this period—five of them for a single incident during an Expedition to the Andaman Islands in 1867. In 1881, the criteria were changed again and the VC was only awarded for acts of valour "in the face of the enemy". Due to this, it has been suggested by many historians including Lord Ashcroft that the changing nature of warfare will result in fewer VCs being awarded. ### Colonial awards The Victoria Cross was extended to colonial troops in 1867. The extension was made following a recommendation for gallantry regarding colonial soldier Major Charles Heaphy for action in the New Zealand Wars in 1864. He was operating under British command and the VC was gazetted in 1867. Later that year, the Government of New Zealand assumed full responsibility for operations, but no further recommendations for the Victoria Cross were raised for local troops who distinguished themselves in action. Following gallant actions by three New Zealand soldiers in November 1868 and January 1869 during the New Zealand Wars, an Order in Council on 10 March 1869 created a "Distinctive Decoration" for members of the local forces without seeking permission from the Secretary of State for the Colonies. Although the governor was chided for exceeding his authority, the Order in Council was ratified by the Queen. The title "Distinctive Decoration" was later replaced by the title New Zealand Cross. In addition, in 1870 Victoria sent six ceremonial Highland broadswords to New Zealand, to be presented as "Swords of Honour" to Māori rangatira who had served with distinction during the New Zealand Land Wars. The swords were presented in a ceremony in Wellington in June 1870 to Mōkena Kōhere, Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui (Major Kemp), Te Pokiha Taranui, Henare Tomoana, Ropata Wahawaha, and Ihaka Whaanga. The question of whether awards could be made to colonial troops not serving with British troops was raised in South Africa in 1881. Surgeon John McCrea, an officer of the South African forces was recommended for gallantry during hostilities which had not been approved by the British Government. He was awarded the Victoria Cross and the principle was established that gallant conduct could be rewarded independently of any political consideration of military operations. More recently, four Australian soldiers were awarded the Victoria Cross in the Vietnam War although Britain was not involved in the conflict. Indian troops were not originally eligible for the Victoria Cross since they had been eligible for the Indian Order of Merit since 1837, which was the oldest British gallantry award for general issue. When the Victoria Cross was created, Indian troops were still controlled by the Honourable East India Company and did not come under Crown control until 1860. European officers and men serving with the Honourable East India Company were not eligible for the Indian Order of Merit and the Victoria Cross was extended to cover them in October 1857. It was only at the end of the 19th century that calls for Indian troops to be awarded the Victoria Cross intensified. Indian troops became eligible for the award in 1911. The first awards to Indian troops appeared in the London Gazette on 7 December 1914 to Darwan Sing Negi and Khudadad Khan. Negi was presented with the Victoria Cross by George V during a visit to troops in France. The presentation occurred on 5 December 1914 and he is one of a very few soldiers presented with his award before it appeared in the London Gazette. ### Separate Commonwealth awards Since the Second World War, most but not all Commonwealth countries have created their own honours systems and no longer participate in the British honours system. This began soon after the Partition of India in 1947, when the new countries of India and Pakistan introduced their own systems of awards. The VC was replaced by the Param Vir Chakra (PVC) and Nishan-e-Haider (NH) respectively. Most if not all new honours systems continued to permit recipients of British honours to wear their awards according to the rules of each nation's order of wear. Sri Lanka, whose defence personnel were eligible to receive the Victoria Cross until 1972, introduced its own equivalent, the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya medal. Three Commonwealth realms—Australia, Canada and New Zealand—have each introduced their own decorations for gallantry and bravery, replacing British decorations such as the Victoria Cross with their own. The only Commonwealth countries that still can recommend the VC are the small nations that still participate in the British honours system, none of whose forces have ever been awarded the VC. When the Union of South Africa instituted its own range of military decorations and medals with effect from 6 April 1952, these new awards took precedence before all earlier British decorations and medals awarded to South Africans, with the exception of the Victoria Cross, which still took precedence before all other awards. The other older British awards continued to be worn in the order prescribed by the British Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood. Australia was the first Commonwealth realm to create its own VC, on 15 January 1991. Although it is a separate award, its appearance is identical to its British counterpart. Canada followed suit when in 1993 Queen Elizabeth signed Letters Patent creating the Canadian VC, which is also similar to the British version, except that the legend has been changed from "for valour" to the Latin "pro valore. This language was chosen so as to favour neither French nor English, the two official languages of Canada. New Zealand was the third country to adapt the VC into its own honours system. While the New Zealand and Australian VCs are technically separate awards, the decoration is identical to the British design, including being cast from the same gunmetal as the British VC. The Canadian Victoria Cross also includes metal from the same cannon, along with copper and other metals from all regions of Canada. There have been five recipients of the Victoria Cross for Australia, four for action in Afghanistan and one awarded for action in the Second World War following a review. The first was to Trooper Mark Donaldson (Special Air Service Regiment) on 16 January 2009 for actions during Operation Slipper, the Australian contribution to the War in Afghanistan; Ben Roberts-Smith, Daniel Keighran and Cameron Baird were also awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia for actions in Afghanistan. Teddy Sheean was awarded the VC after the Australian Government convened an expert panel to review his case. The Victoria Cross for New Zealand has been awarded once: Corporal Willie Apiata (New Zealand Special Air Service) on 2 July 2007, for his actions in the War in Afghanistan in 2004. The Canadian Victoria Cross has been cast once, to be awarded to the Unknown Soldier at the rededication of the Vimy Memorial on 7 April 2007 (this date being chosen as it was the 90th anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge), but pressure from veterans' organisations caused the plan to be dropped. ## Authority and privileges As the highest award for valour of the United Kingdom, the Victoria Cross is always the first award to be presented at an investiture, even before knighthoods, as was shown at the investiture of Private Johnson Beharry, who received his medal before General Sir Mike Jackson received his knighthood. Owing to its status, the VC is always the first decoration worn in a row of medals and it is the first set of post-nominal letters used to indicate any decoration or order. Similar acts of extreme valour that do not take place in the face of the enemy are honoured with the George Cross (GC), which has equal precedence but is awarded second because the GC is newer. It is not statutory for "all ranks to salute a bearer of the Victoria Cross": There is no official requirement that appears in the official warrant of the VC, nor in King's Regulations and Orders, but tradition dictates that this occurs and, consequently, senior officers will salute a private awarded a VC or GC. As there was no formal order of wear laid down, the Victoria Cross was at first worn as the recipient fancied. It was popular to pin it on the left side of the chest over the heart, with other decorations grouped around the VC. The Queen's Regulations for the Army of 1881 gave clear instructions on how to wear it; the VC had to follow the badge of the Order of the Indian Empire. In 1900 it was ordained in Dress Regulations for the Army that it should be worn after the cross of a Member of the Royal Victorian Order. It was only in 1902 that Edward VII gave the cross its present position on a bar brooch. The cross is also worn as a miniature decoration on a brooch or a chain with mess jacket, white tie or black tie. As a bearer of the VC is not a Companion in an Order of Chivalry, the VC has no place in a coat of arms. ### Annuity The original warrant stated that NCOs and private soldiers or seamen on the Victoria Cross Register were entitled to a £10 per annum annuity. In 1898, Queen Victoria raised the pension to £50 for those that could not earn a livelihood, be it from old age or infirmity. Today holders of the Victoria Cross or George Cross are entitled to an annuity, the amount of which is determined by the awarding government. Since 2015, the annuity paid by the British Government is £10,000 per year. This is exempted from tax for British taxpayers by Section 638 Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, along with pensions or annuities from other awards for bravery. In Canada, under the Gallantry Awards Order, members of the Canadian Forces or people who joined the British forces before 31 March 1949 while domiciled in Canada or Newfoundland receive Can\$3,000 per year. Under Subsection 103.4 of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986, the Australian Government provides a Victoria Cross Allowance. Until November 2005 the amount was A\$3,230 per year. Since then this amount has been increased annually in line with the Australian Consumer Price Index. ### Forfeited awards The original royal warrant involved an expulsion clause that allowed for a recipient's name to be erased from the official register in certain wholly discreditable circumstances and his pension cancelled. Eight were forfeited between 1861 and 1908. The power to cancel and restore awards is still included in the Victoria Cross warrant. King George V felt very strongly that the decoration should never be forfeited and in a letter from his Private Secretary, Lord Stamfordham, on 26 July 1920, his views are forcefully expressed: > The King feels so strongly that, no matter the crime committed by anyone on whom the VC has been conferred, the decoration should not be forfeited. Even were a VC to be sentenced to be hanged for murder, he should be allowed to wear his VC on the scaffold. ## Recipients A total of 1,358 Victoria Crosses have been awarded since 1856 to 1,355 men. The greatest number of Victoria Crosses awarded for a single day was 24 for deeds performed during the Indian Mutiny on 16 November 1857, 23 for deeds at Lucknow and one by Francis David Millet Brown for action at Narnoul. The greatest number won by a single unit during a single action is seven, to the 2nd/24th Foot, for the defence of Rorke's Drift, 22–23 January 1879, during the Zulu War. The greatest number won in a single conflict is 628, during the First World War. Ishar Singh became the first Indian Sikh to receive the award. Eight of the 12 surviving holders of the Victoria Cross attended the 150th Anniversary service of remembrance at Westminster Abbey on 26 June 2006. Three people have been awarded the VC and Bar, the bar representing a second award of the VC. They are Noel Godfrey Chavasse and Arthur Martin-Leake, both doctors in the Royal Army Medical Corps, for rescuing wounded under fire; and New Zealander Captain Charles Upham, an infantryman, for combat actions. Upham remains the only combatant soldier to have received a VC and Bar. Surgeon General William George Nicholas Manley, an Irishman, is the sole recipient of both the Victoria Cross and the Iron Cross. The VC was awarded for his actions during the Waikato-Hauhau Maori War, New Zealand on 29 April 1864, while the Iron Cross was awarded for tending the wounded during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. Royal New Zealand Air Force Flying Officer Lloyd Allan Trigg is the only serviceman ever awarded a VC on evidence solely provided by the enemy, for an action in which there were no surviving Allied witnesses. The recommendation was made by the captain of the German U-boat sunk by Trigg's aircraft. Lieutenant Commander Gerard Roope was also awarded a VC on recommendation of the enemy, the captain of the Admiral Hipper, but there were also numerous surviving Allied witnesses to corroborate his actions. Since the end of the Second World War, the original VC has been awarded 15 times: four in the Korean War, one in the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation in 1965, four to Australians in the Vietnam War, two during the Falklands War in 1982, one in the Iraq War in 2004, and three in the War in Afghanistan for actions in 2006, 2012 and 2013. In 1921, the British Unknown Warrior was awarded the US Medal of Honor and reciprocally the Victoria Cross was presented to the American Unknown Soldier of the First World War. This is the only ungazetted VC award following the normal British practice for both gallantry and meritorious awards to foreign recipients not being gazetted. It is included in the total of 1,358 awards. In 1856, Queen Victoria laid an unnamed Victoria Cross beneath the foundation stone of Netley Military hospital. When the hospital was demolished in 1966 the VC, known as "The Netley VC", was retrieved and is now on display in the Army Medical Services Museum, Mytchett, near Aldershot. This VC is not counted in official statistics. ## Public sales Since 1879, more than 300 Victoria Crosses have been publicly auctioned or advertised. Others have been privately sold. The value of the VC can be seen by the increasing sums that the medals reach at auctions. In 1955 the set of medals awarded to Edmund Barron Hartley was bought at Sotheby's for the then record price of £300 (approximately £ in present-day terms). In October 1966 the Middlesex Regiment paid a new record figure of £900 (approximately £ in present-day terms) for a VC awarded after the Battle of the Somme. In January 1969, the record reached £1700 (£) for the medal set of William Rennie. In April 2004 the VC awarded in 1944 to Sergeant Norman Jackson, RAF, was sold at an auction for £235,250. On 24 July 2006, an auction at Bonhams in Sydney of the VC awarded to Captain Alfred Shout fetched a world record hammer price of A\$1 million (approximately £410,000 at the time). In November 2009, it was reported that almost £1.5 million was paid to St Peter's College, Oxford by Lord Ashcroft for the VC and bar awarded to Noel Chavasse. Vice Admiral Gordon Campbell's medal group, including the VC he received for actions while in command of HMS Farnborough, was reportedly sold for a record £840,000. ## Thefts Several VCs have been stolen and, being valuable, have been placed on the Interpol watch-list for stolen items. The VC awarded to Milton Gregg, which was donated to the Royal Canadian Regiment Museum in London, Ontario, Canada in 1979, was stolen on Canada Day (1 July 1980), when the museum was overcrowded and has been missing since. A VC awarded in 1917 to Canadian soldier Corporal Filip Konowal was stolen from the same museum in 1973 and was not recovered until 2004. On 2 December 2007, nine VCs were among 100 medals (12 sets) stolen from locked, reinforced glass cabinets at the QEII Army Memorial Museum in Waiouru, New Zealand, with a value of around NZD\$20 million. Charles Upham's VC and Bar was among these. A reward of NZ\$300,000, provided by Lord Ashcroft, was posted for information leading to the recovery of the decorations. On 16 February 2008 New Zealand Police announced all the medals had been recovered. ## Collections There are a number of collections of Victoria Crosses. The VC collection of businessman and politician Lord Ashcroft, amassed since 1986, contains 162 medals, over one-tenth of all VCs awarded. It is the largest collection of such decorations. In July 2008 it was announced that Ashcroft was to donate £5 million for a permanent gallery at the Imperial War Museum where the 50 VCs held by the museum would be put on display alongside his collection. The Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum opened on 12 November 2010, containing a total of 210 VCs and 31 GCs. Prior to the November 2010 opening of the Ashcroft Gallery, the largest collection of VCs on public display was held by the Australian War Memorial, whose collection includes all nine VCs awarded to Australians at Gallipoli. Of the 101 medals awarded to Australians (96 VCs, and five VCs for Australia), this collection contains around 70 medals, including three medals awarded to British soldiers (Grady, 1854; Holbrook, 1914; and Whirlpool, 1858), and three of the VCs for Australia (Donaldson, 2008; Keighran, 2010; and Roberts-Smith, 2010). Museums with holdings of ten or more VCs include: ## Legacy ### Memorials In 2004, a national Victoria Cross and George Cross memorial was installed in Westminster Abbey close to the tomb of the Unknown Warrior. Westminster Abbey contains monuments and memorials to central figures in British history including Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. One VC recipient, Lord Henry Percy, is buried, within a family vault, in the Abbey. Canon William Lummis was a military historian who built up an archive on the service records and final resting places of Victoria Cross holders. This was then summarised into a pamphlet which was taken to be an authoritative source on these matters. However, Lummis was aware of short-comings in his own work and encouraged David Harvey to continue it. The result was Harvey's seminal book Monuments to Courage. In 2007 the Royal Mail used material from Lummis' archives to produce a collection of stamps commemorating Victoria Cross recipients. It is a tradition within the Australian Army for soldiers' recreational clubs on military bases to be named after a particular recipient of the Victoria Cross. Australia has another unique means of remembering recipients of the Victoria Cross. Remembrance Drive is a path through city streets and highways linking Sydney and Canberra. Trees were planted in February 1954 by Queen Elizabeth II in a park near Sydney Harbour and at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, marking either end of the route, with various plantations along the roadsides in memory of the fallen. Beginning in 1995, 23 rest stop memorials named for Australian recipients of the VC from World War II onwards have been sited along the route, providing picnic facilities and public amenities to encourage drivers to take a break on long drives. 23 of the 26 memorial sites have been dedicated, with a further three reserved for the surviving VC recipients, including two of the newer Victoria Cross for Australia awards. Edward Kenna was honoured with the most recent rest stop on 16 August 2012, having died in 2009. Valour Road is a residential street in the city of Winnipeg, Canada named in honour of three World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross who lived in the same block of that street. The story is also commemorated in a sixty-second short film commonly seen on Canadian television. ### In art The subject of soldiers earning the VC has been popular with artists since the medal's inception. Notable are the fifty paintings by Louis William Desanges that were painted in the late 1850s and early 1860s. Many of these were exhibited at the Egyptian Gallery in Piccadilly, but in 1900, they were brought together by Lord Wantage as the Victoria Cross Gallery and exhibited in the town of Wantage, at that time in Berkshire. Later, the collection was broken up and many of the paintings were sent to the various regiments depicted. Some were damaged or destroyed. A number of the acts were also portrayed in a Second World War propaganda pamphlet, and the images commissioned by the Ministry of Information are presented in an online gallery available on the website of The National Archives. In 2016, portrait photographer Rory Lewis was commissioned by the Victoria Cross and George Cross Association to hold portrait sittings with all living recipients of the Victoria Cross and the George Cross. ## See also - Dickin Medal (The animals' VC)
2,163,628	Battle of Lagos	1,171,190,855	1759 naval battle of the Seven Years' War	[ "1759 in Portugal", "Conflicts in 1759", "Lagos, Portugal", "Naval battles involving England", "Naval battles involving France", "Naval battles of the Seven Years' War" ]	The naval Battle of Lagos took place between a British fleet commanded by Sir Edward Boscawen and a French fleet under Jean-François de La Clue-Sabran over two days in 1759 during the Seven Years' War. They fought south west of the Gulf of Cádiz on 18 August and to the east of the small Portuguese port of Lagos, after which the battle is named, on 19 August. La Clue was attempting to evade Boscawen and bring the French Mediterranean Fleet into the Atlantic, avoiding battle if possible; he was then under orders to sail for the West Indies. Boscawen was under orders to prevent a French breakout into the Atlantic, and to pursue and fight the French if they did. During the evening of 17 August the French fleet successfully passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, but was sighted by a British ship shortly after it entered the Atlantic. The British fleet was in nearby Gibraltar, undergoing a major refit. It left port amidst great confusion, most ships not having their refurbishments completed, with many delayed and sailing in a second squadron. Aware that he was pursued, La Clue altered his plan and changed course; half his ships failed to follow him in the dark, but the British did. The British caught up with the French on 18 August and fierce fighting ensued, during which several ships were badly damaged and one French ship was captured. The British, who greatly outnumbered the remaining six French ships, pursued them through the moonlit night of 18–19 August, during which a further two French ships made their escape. On 19 August the remnants of the French fleet attempted to shelter in neutral Portuguese waters near Lagos, but Boscawen violated that neutrality, capturing a further two French ships and destroying the other two. ## Background The endemic ill feeling between France and Great Britain during the 18th century turned into open warfare in 1754 and 1755. In 1756 what become known as the Seven Years' War broke out across Europe, pitting France, Austria and Russia against Britain and Prussia. France supported Austria and Russia in a land campaign against Prussia, and launched what it saw as its main effort in a maritime and colonial offensive against Britain. By the beginning of 1759 neither alliance had the advantage, in either the land or sea campaigns, and both were having serious problems financing the war. In 1759 more than 60 per cent of French revenue went to service its debt, causing numerous shortages. The French Navy in particular was overstretched and suffered from the lack of a coherent doctrine, exacerbated by the inexperience verging on incompetence of the secretary of state for the navy, Nicolas René Berryer, a former chief of police. Meanwhile, Britain's war effort up to early 1757 had been a failure, with setbacks in Europe, North America, India and at sea. From June it came under the control of the assertive new secretary of state for the southern department (foreign minister), William Pitt, who imposed a coordinated strategy. It consisted of a naval and colonial effort to expel the French from North America and ruin their maritime trade, while dispersing their efforts between fighting Prussia in Europe and attempting to defend the wide range of French overseas possessions. By early 1759 this was beginning to bear fruit. In response to the British successes, the ministers of the French king, Louis XV, planned a direct invasion of Britain, which, if successful, would have decided the war in their favour. An army of 17,000 was collected at Vannes, in the south east of Brittany, and nearly 100 transports were assembled near Quiberon Bay. In its final form the French plan required these transports to be escorted by the French navy. However, at the best of times the French struggled to crew their full fleet with experienced mariners; landsmen could be used, but even a small deficiency in ship handling translated into a marked handicap in combat. Three years into the war, thousands of French seamen were held as prisoners by the British; many more were engaged in speculative, and occasionally lucrative, privateering careers; and the unhealthy conditions, onerous onboard discipline and poor wages, paid late, were a strong disincentive to service. The transports also required at least a cadre of skilled men. The French possessed 73 ships of the line, the largest warships of the time: 30 serving abroad and 43 in home waters. The latter were split between the Atlantic port of Brest (22 ships) and the Mediterranean port of Toulon, with a small number at two ports on the Bay of Biscay: Lorient and Rochefort. In total these ships required an aggregate complement of about 25,000 men; they were more than 9,000 short of this. The British had 40 ships of the line in home waters, and a further 15 in their Mediterranean Fleet, which was based in Gibraltar. ### Prelude In May 1759 Edward Boscawen took command of the British fleet in the Mediterranean. As well as 15 ships of the line he also had 12 frigates – smaller and faster than ships of the line and primarily intended for raiding, reconnaissance and messaging. He was tasked with harassing the French, protecting British merchant shipping, and ensuring the safety of the British outpost and naval base at Gibraltar. By late July the ships of the British fleet were low on supplies and in urgent need of maintenance after their prolonged period at sea, during which some ships had been damaged by enemy action. The fleet retired to Gibraltar, arriving on 4 August. There they began the difficult process of scraping the bottoms of the ships free of barnacles and seaweed, repairing and replacing their rigging and replacing spars. While this refurbishment was under way, fresh orders arrived, alerting Boscawen to the likelihood that the French Mediterranean Fleet would attempt to join up with their Atlantic Fleet, probably at Brest, and instructing him to prevent it. He ordered the first two of his frigates to be ready for sea to patrol to the east, where the Mediterranean narrowed to the bottleneck of the Strait of Gibraltar, to give warning if the French were to attempt to break out. Earlier in the year, an aspect of the British strategy had played out in the West Indies. In February, 4,000 British soldiers landed on the French West Indian possession of Guadeloupe. This island's immense sugar production was supposed to exceed that of all the British Leeward Islands combined. After great difficulties in preparing them for sea, nine French ships of the line, under Maximin de Bompart, were despatched to relieve the island. They arrived the day after the French governor surrendered to the British on 1 May. News of this disaster was passed back to Paris, where after deliberation it was decided to reinforce Bompart's force with the Mediterranean Fleet. Orders to sail reached its commander, Admiral Jean-François de La Clue-Sabran, at the end of July, and it left Toulon on 5 August. It consisted of twelve ships of the line and three frigates. La Clue intended to pass the Strait of Gibraltar by night, in order to keep the British in ignorance of his absence from the Mediterranean. He anticipated this might scatter his fleet, and he had ordered his ships to rendezvous off the Spanish port of Cadiz. During the late evening of 17 August the French passed through the strait, but were observed shortly afterwards by the British frigate HMS Gibraltar. The French were aware they had been spotted, and realising by now that the British fleet was in Gibraltar, anticipated a prompt pursuit. The approach of the Gibraltar, firing her guns to indicate that the enemy had been sighted, took the British by surprise. There was a scramble to get under way. Most captains and many crew were ashore; some, including Boscawen, were dining several miles away. Most ships sailed without their captains, some under the command of junior officers. Their seniors followed on as best they could – the flagship, HMS Namur, sailed with three captains and the admiral on board – and sorted themselves out as circumstances allowed. Many officers and men were left ashore. Several ships were barely seaworthy. The process of fitting, or "bending", sails to the masts of the large warships of the time was a complicated one, and most British ships were forced to do this as they got under way, in the dark, undermanned and with few officers. Some were also fitting spars or even stepping in their topmasts. Ships were cluttered with material for their refits and with unstowed stores. HMS Prince had so many casks on one of her gun decks as to be unable to operate that deck's guns; the crew of HMS America threw large amounts of loose material overboard. Despite these difficulties, by 11:00 pm, within three hours of Gibraltar appearing, eight British ships of the line had warped out of the harbour and were heading for the Atlantic. Several ships were left behind, under Vice-Admiral Thomas Brodrick, with orders to sail as soon as they could be made fit for sea. Ships sailing at night usually displayed lanterns from their sterns and masts, so as to avoid collisions and to allow groups of ships to maintain contact. Wishing to be as inconspicuous as possible, the French ships probably did not follow this practice. The French ships had all been issued with sealed orders, which they were to open on passing the Strait of Gibraltar; these instructed them that the fleet was to rendezvous at Cádiz. Knowing they had been observed by the British, La Clue changed his plan. Instead of heading for Cádiz, where he feared he could be easily blockaded by the British, he decided to sail more westerly, to clear Cape St. Vincent and head into the North Atlantic. However, the French navy did not have an effective system of night signalling. So at about midnight La Clue had his flagship, Océan, light her stern lantern, turn to port (left, or westward) and reduce her speed. Normally, such actions would be accompanied by firing a cannon to draw attention. The naval historian Sam Willis suggests it is possible that La Clue – who had been ordered to avoid battle at all costs – knowing the entire fleet was relatively close and not wishing to advertise his manoeuvre to the British, omitted to do this. ## Battle ### At sea Eight of the fifteen ships in the French fleet continued on to Cádiz. It is not clear if this was because they did not observe the flagship's change of course, because they did not understand its implications, or because they felt their freshly opened orders took precedence. At dawn on 18 August La Clue could see only six other ships. He ordered them to rally on the flagship and heave to and await the anticipated appearance of the rest of the fleet. At about 6:00 am a group of large ships came into view and La Clue remained stationary, believing them to be the missing component of his fleet. It was only when the topsails of the nine ships of the second British squadron, the stragglers under Brodrick, were sighted farther back that it was realised all these ships were British. The seven French ships sailed at the speed of their slowest member, the Souverain. Boscawen ordered his ships to maintain formation, to avoid his fastest ships reaching and engaging the French squadron individually and being defeated in detail. The British ships proved to be faster, and were slightly favoured by variable winds, allowing them to gradually overhaul the French by the afternoon of 18 August. Boscawen repeatedly signalled to his ships to "Make more speed". Several of the British ships were hampered by their newly warped sails splitting, or their newly fitted spars breaking loose, as they were overstrained by crews eager to catch the French. At 1:00 pm the French ships hoisted their battle ensigns and opened fire at long range. Ships of the line had most of their guns mounted in their sides, to allow them to fire broadsides, but had a small number of lighter guns mounted in their sterns, able to fire to their rears. It was not possible to effectively fire ahead of such ships. The French were thus able to fire at the British as they grew closer, while the British were unable to offer much reply. The French attempted to disable the British ships' sails and rigging, but with little effect. At 2:30 pm the British Culloden engaged the rearmost French ship, the Centaure; they were evenly matched, each being equipped with 74 heavy guns, 37 on each side. By this time the French had formed a line ahead formation, with their flagship in the centre. Boscawen claimed he wished his leading, and therefore his fastest, ships to engage the first French ships they encountered; then, as the next British ship arrived, bypass this fight to attack the next French ship in line. Any bypassed French ships could, he believed, be safely left to Brodrick's squadron. However, only his own flagship adopted this approach, and only four of the seven French ships were engaged. Centaure was attacked by five British ships, fighting on for five hours and seriously delaying the British pursuit before surrendering after being battered into a wreck and having more than a third of her crew killed or wounded. Meanwhile, Boscawen had pressed on in his 90-gun flagship, determined to engage the largest ship in the French fleet, La Clue's flagship, the 80-gun Océan. Namur passed three French ships, receiving a broadside from each; Boscawen ordered that there be no return fire, instead having his crew lie down, to minimise casualties. By 4:00 pm Namur was close enough to Océan to open fire and a short, sharp fight developed. Océan had nearly 200 men killed or wounded, with La Clue among the latter; while Namur had one of her three masts shot away, together with the topsail yards of both remaining masts. With Namur unable to manoeuvre, Océan, also badly damaged, fled. Boscawen transferred his flag to Newark. As the sun set, the six surviving French ships continued to flee to the north west, with those British ships not slowed by battle damage close behind them. There was sufficient moonlight to allow the British ships to keep in touch, although the two fastest French ships, Souverain and Guerrier, slipped away into the Atlantic during the night. The naval historian Nicholas Tracey suggests La Clue sailed an incorrect course, failed to weather Cape St. Vincent, and became trapped against a lee shore. The badly wounded La Clue now had command only over his flagship and three other ships of the line, Redoutable, Téméraire and Modeste, none of which had yet been engaged. Despairing of escape, he led the remnants of his fleet to a small river west of Lagos in Portugal. Portugal was neutral and it would be illegal for Boscawen to attack him there. There was also a small Portuguese fort overlooking the anchorage and La Clue may have hoped this would be some deterrent. ### Off Lagos As Boscawen approached in Newark, the Portuguese opened fire and he hove to outside of cannon range and selected several ships to attack the French "without any regard to the laws of neutrality." The British America attacked Océan, firing a broadside from short range and demanding her surrender. The French, who had been in the process of abandoning ship, struck their colours. The British were unable to tow Océan off as she had been run ashore with some force in order to prevent this. So they evacuated those left of the crew and set fire to her; several hours later, around midnight, the fire reached her magazine and she exploded. Three ships from Brodrick's rear squadron were sent in after the Redoutable. HMS Prince fired repeatedly into her and then boarded her. She was also firmly beached and so, like Océan, she was torched, and also exploded several hours later. Having observed Océan and Redoutable set alight and seeing HMS Jersey sailing towards them the crew of Modeste fled or surrendered and she was towed out, little damaged, to the British fleet; Jersey was fired on by the Portuguese forts during this operation. The last French ship, Téméraire, was attacked by Warspite at 2:45 pm, but her crew refused to surrender. Warspite manoeuvred so as to be able to fire into Téméraire's stern, where the French could do little to fire back, and after an hour Téméraire also struck her colours and was towed out. ## Aftermath The French had 500 men killed, wounded or captured; against 56 British fatalities and 196 wounded. La Clue, seriously wounded, was carried ashore before the British arrived and survived; five years later he was promoted to lieutenant-general. The battle had no effect on the French plans to invade Britain. The two French ships which escaped from the battle eventually reached Rochefort. The five French ships in Cadiz were blockaded by Boscawen's second-in-command, Admiral Brodrick. They were instructed to head for French Atlantic ports if they were able to break this blockade, with a view to reinforcing the fleet in Brest. But by the time they evaded Brodrick during a winter storm in January 1760, the French Atlantic Fleet had been destroyed at the Battle of Quiberon Bay, and they returned to Toulon instead. Hearing the news of the victory, the notoriously nervous British prime minister, the Duke of Newcastle, said "I was afraid of invasion till now." Boscawen's violation of Portuguese neutrality was fully supported by his government, which placated the Portuguese by persuading them that it was an inadvertent result of Boscawen's general chase order. Three years later, the Spanish and French governments used this breach of neutrality as one of their pretexts for declaring war on and invading Portugal. Boscawen, his captains and their crews were fêted in Britain. After completing their interrupted refits, several of Boscawen's victorious ships were transferred to Admiral Edward Hawke's fleet off Brest, and five were with Hawke when he destroyed the Brest fleet in Quiberon Bay in November. The historian Sarah Kinkel describes the Battle of Lagos as a "definitive" victory. The historian Geoffrey Blainey describes Boscawen as perhaps the most successful naval commander of the 18th century, "when inconclusive battles at sea were normal." The battle was one of a series of British victories in 1759 which caused the year to be known as an annus mirabilis (Latin for "year of wonders"). The three captured French ships went on to serve in the British navy as HMS Centaur, Modeste and Temeraire. Serving on board Océan as a junior officer was Pierre André de Suffren, who was later to gain fame as an admiral leading a French fleet in the Indian Ocean. A young slave named Olaudah Equiano, who would later become a prominent abolitionist in England, participated in the engagement on the British side. He included an account of the battle in his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. ## Order of battle ### Britain Ships of the line: Namur 90 (flag) Prince 90 Newark 80 Warspite 74 Culloden 74 Conqueror 70 Swiftsure 70 Edgar 64 St Albans 64 Intrepid 60 America 60 Princess Louisa 60 Jersey 60 Guernsey 50 Portland 50 Frigates: Ambuscade 40 Rainbow 40 Shannon 36 Active 36 Thetis 32 Lyme 24 Gibraltar 24 Glasgow 24 Sheerness 24 Tartar's Prize 24 Sloops: Favourite 16 Gramont 16 Fireships Aetna 8 Salamander 8 ### France Ships which participated in the battle: Ships of the line: Centaure 74 – captured 18 August Océan 80 (flag) – run aground and burnt 19 August Redoutable [fr] 74 – run aground and burnt 19 August Téméraire 74 – captured 19 August Modeste 64 – captured 19 August Souverain 74 – escaped Guerrier 74 – escaped Ships which became separated at night and sailed to Cadiz: Ships of the line: Triton 64 Lion [fr] 64 Fantasque 64 Fier 50 Oriflamme 50 Frigates: Minerve 26 Chimère 26 Gracieuse 26 ## Notes, citations and sources
46,531	Richard II of England	1,172,287,746	King of England from 1377 to 1399	[ "1367 births", "1400 deaths", "14th-century English monarchs", "14th-century English nobility", "14th-century murdered monarchs", "Burials at Westminster Abbey", "Children of Edward the Black Prince", "Deaths by starvation", "Dukes of Cornwall", "English Roman Catholics", "English people of French descent", "English pretenders to the French throne", "House of Plantagenet", "Knights of the Garter", "Medieval child monarchs", "Monarchs who abdicated", "Peasants' Revolt", "Peers created by Edward III", "People from Bordeaux", "Princes of Wales", "Prisoners in the Tower of London", "Richard II of England", "Royal reburials" ]	Richard II (6 January 1367 – c. 14 February 1400), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died in 1376, leaving Richard as heir apparent to his grandfather, King Edward III; upon the latter's death, the 10-year-old Richard succeeded to the throne. During Richard's first years as king, government was in the hands of a series of regency councils, influenced by Richard's uncles John of Gaunt and Thomas of Woodstock. England then faced various problems, most notably the Hundred Years' War. A major challenge of the reign was the Peasants' Revolt in 1381, and the young king played a central part in the successful suppression of this crisis. Less warlike than either his father or grandfather, he sought to bring an end to the Hundred Years' War. A firm believer in the royal prerogative, Richard restrained the power of the aristocracy and relied on a private retinue for military protection instead. In contrast to his grandfather, Richard cultivated a refined atmosphere centred on art and culture at court, in which the king was an elevated figure. The King's dependence on a small number of courtiers caused discontent among the influential, and in 1387 control of government was taken over by a group of aristocrats known as the Lords Appellant. By 1389 Richard had regained control, and for the next eight years governed in relative harmony with his former opponents. In 1397, he took his revenge on the Appellants, many of whom were executed or exiled. The next two years have been described by historians as Richard's "tyranny". In 1399, after John of Gaunt died, the King disinherited Gaunt's son, Henry Bolingbroke, who had previously been exiled. Henry invaded England in June 1399 with a small force that quickly grew in numbers. Meeting little resistance, he deposed Richard and had himself crowned king. Richard is thought to have been starved to death in captivity, although questions remain regarding his final fate. Richard's posthumous reputation has been shaped to a large extent by William Shakespeare, whose play Richard II portrayed Richard's misrule and his deposition as responsible for the 15th-century Wars of the Roses. Modern historians do not accept this interpretation, while not exonerating Richard from responsibility for his own deposition. While probably not insane, as many historians of the 19th and 20th centuries believed, he may have had a personality disorder, particularly manifesting itself towards the end of his reign. Most authorities agree that his policies were not unrealistic or even entirely unprecedented, but that the way in which he carried them out was unacceptable to the political establishment, leading to his downfall. ## Early life Richard of Bordeaux was the younger son of Edward, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Edward, eldest son of Edward III and heir apparent to the throne of England, had distinguished himself as a military commander in the early phases of the Hundred Years' War, particularly in the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. After further military adventures, however, he contracted dysentery in Spain in 1370. He never fully recovered and had to return to England the next year. Richard was born at the Archbishop's Palace of Bordeaux, in the English principality of Aquitaine, on 6 January 1367. According to contemporary sources, three kings, "the King of Castile, the King of Navarre and the King of Portugal", were present at his birth. This anecdote, and the fact that his birth fell on the feast of Epiphany, was later used in the religious imagery of the Wilton Diptych, where Richard is one of three kings paying homage to the Virgin and Child. Richard's elder brother, Edward of Angoulême, died near his sixth birthday in 1370. The Prince of Wales finally succumbed to his long illness in June 1376. The Commons in the English Parliament genuinely feared that Richard's uncle, John of Gaunt, would usurp the throne. For this reason, Richard was quickly invested with the princedom of Wales and his father's other titles. On 21 June 1377, Richard's grandfather King Edward III, who was for some years frail and decrepit, died after a 50-year reign. This resulted in the 10-year-old Richard succeeding to the throne. He was crowned on 16 July at Westminster Abbey. Again, fears of John of Gaunt's ambitions influenced political decisions, and a regency led by the King's uncles was avoided. Instead, the King was nominally to exercise kingship with the help of a series of "continual councils", from which Gaunt was excluded. Gaunt, together with his younger brother Thomas of Woodstock, Earl of Buckingham, still held great informal influence over the business of government, but the King's councillors and friends, particularly Sir Simon de Burley and Robert de Vere, 9th Earl of Oxford, increasingly gained control of royal affairs. In a matter of three years, these councillors earned the mistrust of the Commons to the point that the councils were discontinued in 1380. Contributing to discontent was an increasingly heavy burden of taxation levied through three poll taxes between 1377 and 1381 that were spent on unsuccessful military expeditions on the continent. By 1381, there was a deep-felt resentment against the governing classes in the lower levels of English society. ## Early reign ### Peasants' Revolt Whereas the poll tax of 1381 was the spark of the Peasants' Revolt, the root of the conflict lay in tensions between peasants and landowners precipitated by the economic and demographic consequences of the Black Death and subsequent outbreaks of the plague. The rebellion started in Kent and Essex in late May, and on 12 June, bands of peasants gathered at Blackheath near London under the leaders Wat Tyler, John Ball, and Jack Straw. John of Gaunt's Savoy Palace was burnt down. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Simon Sudbury, who was also Lord Chancellor, and Lord High Treasurer Robert Hales were both killed by the rebels, who were demanding the complete abolition of serfdom. The King, sheltered within the Tower of London with his councillors, agreed that the Crown did not have the forces to disperse the rebels and that the only feasible option was to negotiate. It is unclear how much Richard, who was still only fourteen years old, was involved in these deliberations, although historians have suggested that he was among the proponents of negotiations. The King set out by the River Thames on 13 June, but the large number of people thronging the banks at Greenwich made it impossible for him to land, forcing him to return to the Tower. The next day, Friday, 14 June, he set out by horse and met the rebels at Mile End. He agreed to the rebels' demands, but this move only emboldened them; they continued their looting and killings. Richard met Wat Tyler again the next day at Smithfield and reiterated that the demands would be met, but the rebel leader was not convinced of the King's sincerity. The King's men grew restive, an altercation broke out, and William Walworth, the Lord Mayor of London, pulled Tyler down from his horse and killed him. The situation became tense once the rebels realised what had happened, but the King acted with calm resolve and, saying "I am your captain, follow me!", he led the mob away from the scene. Walworth meanwhile gathered a force to surround the peasant army, but the King granted clemency and allowed the rebels to disperse and return to their homes. The King soon revoked the charters of freedom and pardon that he had granted, and as disturbances continued in other parts of the country, he personally went into Essex to suppress the rebellion. On 28 June at Billericay, he defeated the last rebels in a small skirmish and effectively ended the Peasants' Revolt. In the following days rebel leaders, such as John Ball, were hunted down and executed. Despite his young age, Richard had shown great courage and determination in his handling of the rebellion. It is likely, though, that the events impressed upon him the dangers of disobedience and threats to royal authority, and helped shape the absolutist attitudes to kingship that would later prove fatal to his reign. ### Coming of age It is only with the Peasants' Revolt that Richard starts to emerge clearly in the annals. One of his first significant acts after the rebellion was to marry Anne of Bohemia, daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, on 20 January 1382. It had diplomatic significance; in the division of Europe caused by the Western Schism, Bohemia and the Holy Roman Empire were seen as potential allies against France in the ongoing Hundred Years' War. Nonetheless, the marriage was not popular in England. Despite great sums of money awarded to the Empire, the political alliance never resulted in any military victories. Furthermore, the marriage was childless. Anne died from plague in 1394, greatly mourned by her husband. Michael de la Pole had been instrumental in the marriage negotiations; he had the King's confidence and gradually became more involved at court and in government as Richard came of age. De la Pole came from an upstart merchant family. When Richard made him chancellor in 1383, and created him Earl of Suffolk two years later, this antagonised the more established nobility. Another member of the close circle around the King was Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, who in this period emerged as the King's favourite. Richard's close friendship to de Vere was also disagreeable to the political establishment. This displeasure was exacerbated by the earl's elevation to the new title of Duke of Ireland in 1386. The chronicler Thomas Walsingham suggested the relationship between the King and de Vere was of a homosexual nature, due to a resentment Walsingham had toward the King. Tensions came to a head over the approach to the war in France. While the court party preferred negotiations, Gaunt and Buckingham urged a large-scale campaign to protect English possessions. Instead, a so-called crusade led by Henry le Despenser, Bishop of Norwich, was dispatched, which failed miserably. Faced with this setback on the continent, Richard turned his attention instead towards France's ally, the Kingdom of Scotland. In 1385, the King himself led a punitive expedition to the north, but the effort came to nothing, and the army had to return without ever engaging the Scots in battle. Meanwhile, only an uprising in Ghent prevented a French invasion of southern England. The relationship between Richard and his uncle John of Gaunt deteriorated further with military failure, and Gaunt left England to pursue his claim to the throne of Castile in 1386 amid rumours of a plot against his person. With Gaunt gone, the unofficial leadership of the growing dissent against the King and his courtiers passed to Buckingham – who had by now been created Duke of Gloucester – and Richard Fitzalan, 4th Earl of Arundel. ### First crisis of 1386–1388 The threat of a French invasion did not subside, but instead grew stronger into 1386. At the parliament of October that year, Michael de la Pole – in his capacity of chancellor – requested taxation of an unprecedented level for the defence of the realm. Rather than consenting, the parliament responded by refusing to consider any request until the chancellor was removed. The parliament (later known as the Wonderful Parliament) was presumably working with the support of Gloucester and Arundel. The King famously responded that he would not dismiss as much as a scullion from his kitchen at parliament's request. Only when threatened with deposition was Richard forced to give in and let de la Pole go. A commission was set up to review and control royal finances for a year. Richard was deeply perturbed by this affront to his royal prerogative, and from February to November 1387 went on a "gyration" (tour) of the country to muster support for his cause. By installing de Vere as Justice of Chester, he began the work of creating a loyal military power base in Cheshire. He also secured a legal ruling from Chief Justice Robert Tresilian that parliament's conduct had been unlawful and treasonable. On his return to London, the King was confronted by Gloucester, Arundel and Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick, who brought an appeal of treason against de la Pole, de Vere, Tresilian, and two other loyalists: the mayor of London, Nicholas Brembre, and Alexander Neville, the Archbishop of York. Richard stalled the negotiations to gain time, as he was expecting de Vere to arrive from Cheshire with military reinforcements. The three peers then joined forces with Gaunt's son Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby, and Thomas de Mowbray, Earl of Nottingham – the group known to history as the Lords Appellant. On 20 December 1387 they intercepted de Vere at Radcot Bridge, where he and his forces were routed and he was obliged to flee the country. Richard now had no choice but to comply with the appellants' demands; Brembre and Tresilian were condemned and executed, while de Vere and de la Pole – who had by now also left the country – were sentenced to death in absentia at the Merciless Parliament in February 1388. The appellants had now succeeded completely in breaking up the circle of favourites around the King. ## Later reign ### A fragile peace Richard gradually re-established royal authority in the months after the deliberations of the Merciless Parliament. The aggressive foreign policy of the Lords Appellant failed when their efforts to build a wide, anti-French coalition came to nothing, and the north of England fell victim to a Scottish incursion. Richard was now over twenty-one years old and could with confidence claim the right to govern in his own name. Furthermore, John of Gaunt returned to England in 1389 and settled his differences with the King, after which the old statesman acted as a moderating influence on English politics. Richard assumed full control of the government on 3 May 1389, claiming that the difficulties of the past years had been due solely to bad councillors. He outlined a foreign policy that reversed the actions of the appellants by seeking peace and reconciliation with France, and promised to lessen the burden of taxation on the people significantly. Richard ruled peacefully for the next eight years, having reconciled with his former adversaries. Still, later events would show that he had not forgotten the indignities he perceived. In particular, the execution of his former teacher Sir Simon de Burley was an insult not easily forgotten. With national stability secured, Richard began negotiating a permanent peace with France. A proposal put forward in 1393 would have greatly expanded the territory of Aquitaine possessed by the English Crown. However, the plan failed because it included a requirement that the English king pay homage to the King of France – a condition that proved unacceptable to the English public. Instead, in 1396, a truce was agreed to, which was to last 28 years. As part of the truce, Richard agreed to marry Isabella of Valois, daughter of Charles VI of France, when she came of age. There were some misgivings about the betrothal, in particular because the princess was then only six years old, and thus would not be able to produce an heir to the throne of England for many years. Although Richard sought peace with France, he took a different approach to the situation in Ireland. The English lordships in Ireland were in danger of being overrun by the Gaelic Irish kingdoms, and the Anglo-Irish lords were pleading for the King to intervene. In the autumn of 1394, Richard left for Ireland, where he remained until May 1395. His army of more than 8,000 men was the largest force brought to the island during the late Middle Ages. The invasion was a success, and a number of Irish chieftains submitted to English overlordship. It was one of the most successful achievements of Richard's reign, and strengthened his support at home, although the consolidation of the English position in Ireland proved to be short-lived. ### Second crisis of 1397–1399 The period that historians refer to as the "tyranny" of Richard II began towards the end of the 1390s. The King had Gloucester, Arundel and Warwick arrested in July 1397. The timing of these arrests and Richard's motivation are not entirely clear. Although one chronicle suggested that a plot was being planned against the King, there is no evidence that this was the case. It is more likely that Richard had simply come to feel strong enough to safely retaliate against these three men for their role in events of 1386–1388 and eliminate them as threats to his power. Arundel was the first of the three to be brought to trial, at the parliament of September 1397. After a heated quarrel with the King, he was condemned and executed. Gloucester was being held prisoner by the Earl of Nottingham at Calais while awaiting his trial. As the time for the trial drew near, Nottingham brought news that Gloucester was dead. It is thought likely that the King had ordered him to be killed to avoid the disgrace of executing a prince of the blood. Warwick was also condemned to death, but his life was spared and his sentence reduced to life imprisonment. Arundel's brother Thomas Arundel, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was exiled for life. Richard then took his persecution of adversaries to the localities. While recruiting retainers for himself in various counties, he prosecuted local men who had been loyal to the appellants. The fines levied on these men brought great revenues to the crown, although contemporary chroniclers raised questions about the legality of the proceedings. These actions were made possible primarily through the collusion of John of Gaunt, but with the support of a large group of other magnates, many of whom were rewarded with new titles, and were disparagingly referred to as Richard's "duketti". These included the former Lords Appellant - Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby, who was made Duke of Hereford, and - Thomas de Mowbray, Earl of Nottingham, who was created Duke of Norfolk. Also among them were - John, the King's half-brother, promoted from earl of Huntingdon to duke of Exeter - Thomas Holland, the King's nephew, promoted from Earl of Kent to Duke of Surrey - Edward of Norwich, Earl of Rutland, the King's cousin, who received Gloucester's French title of Duke of Aumale - Gaunt's son John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, who was made Marquess of Somerset and Marquess of Dorset - John Montacute, 3rd Earl of Salisbury - Lord Thomas le Despenser, who became Earl of Gloucester. With the forfeited lands of the convicted appellants, the King could reward these men with lands suited to their new ranks. A threat to Richard's authority still existed, however, in the form of the House of Lancaster, represented by John of Gaunt and his son Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford. The House of Lancaster not only possessed greater wealth than any other family in England, they were of royal descent and, as such, likely candidates to succeed the childless Richard. Discord broke out in the inner circles of court in December 1397, when Bolingbroke and Mowbray became embroiled in a quarrel. According to Bolingbroke, Mowbray had claimed that the two, as former Lords Appellant, were next in line for royal retribution. Mowbray vehemently denied these charges, as such a claim would have amounted to treason. A parliamentary committee decided that the two should settle the matter by battle, but at the last moment Richard exiled the two dukes instead: Mowbray for life, Bolingbroke for ten years. In 1398 Richard summoned the Parliament of Shrewsbury, which declared all the acts of the Merciless Parliament to be null and void, and announced that no restraint could legally be put on the King. It delegated all parliamentary power to a committee of twelve lords and six commoners chosen from the King's friends, making Richard an absolute ruler unbound by the necessity of gathering a Parliament again. On 3 February 1399, John of Gaunt died. Rather than allowing Bolingbroke to succeed, Richard extended the term of his exile to life and expropriated his properties. The King felt safe from Bolingbroke, who was residing in Paris, since the French had little interest in any challenge to Richard and his peace policy. Richard left the country in May for another expedition in Ireland. ### Court culture In the last years of Richard's reign, and particularly in the months after the suppression of the appellants in 1397, the King enjoyed a virtual monopoly on power in the country, a relatively uncommon situation in medieval England. In this period a particular court culture was allowed to emerge, one that differed sharply from that of earlier times. A new form of address developed; where the King previously had been addressed simply as "highness", now "royal majesty", or "high majesty" were often used. It was said that on solemn festivals Richard would sit on his throne in the royal hall for hours without speaking, and anyone on whom his eyes fell had to bow his knees to the King. The inspiration for this new sumptuousness and emphasis on dignity came from the courts on the continent, not only the French and Bohemian courts that had been the homes of Richard's two wives, but also the court that his father had maintained while residing in Aquitaine. Richard's approach to kingship was rooted in his strong belief in the royal prerogative, the inspiration of which can be found in his early youth, when his authority was challenged first by the Peasants' Revolts and then by the Lords Appellant. Richard rejected the approach his grandfather Edward III had taken to the nobility. Edward's court had been a martial one, based on the interdependence between the king and his most trusted noblemen as military captains. In Richard's view, this put a dangerous amount of power in the hands of the baronage. To avoid dependence on the nobility for military recruitment, he pursued a policy of peace towards France. At the same time, he developed his own private military retinue, larger than that of any English king before him, and gave them livery badges with his White Hart. He was then free to develop a courtly atmosphere in which the king was a distant, venerated figure, and art and culture, rather than warfare, were at the centre. ## Patronage and the arts As part of Richard's programme of asserting his authority, he also tried to cultivate the royal image. Unlike any other English king before him, he had himself portrayed in panel paintings of elevated majesty, of which two survive: an over life-size Westminster Abbey portrait (c. 1390), and the Wilton Diptych (1394–1399), a portable work probably intended to accompany Richard on his Irish campaign. It is one of the few surviving English examples of the courtly International Gothic style of painting that was developed in the courts of the Continent, especially Prague and Paris. Richard's expenditure on jewellery, rich textiles and metalwork was far higher than on paintings, but as with his illuminated manuscripts, there are hardly any surviving works that can be connected with him, except for a crown, "one of the finest achievements of the Gothic goldsmith", that probably belonged to his wife Anne. Among Richard's grandest projects in the field of architecture was Westminster Hall, which was extensively rebuilt during his reign, perhaps spurred on by the completion in 1391 of John of Gaunt's magnificent hall at Kenilworth Castle. Fifteen life-size statues of kings were placed in niches on the walls, and the hammer-beam roof by the royal carpenter Hugh Herland, "the greatest creation of medieval timber architecture", allowed the original three Romanesque aisles to be replaced with a single huge open space, with a dais at the end for Richard to sit in solitary state. The rebuilding had been begun by Henry III in 1245, but had by Richard's time been dormant for over a century. The court's patronage of literature is especially important, because this was the period in which the English language took shape as a literary language. There is little evidence to tie Richard directly to patronage of poetry, but it was nevertheless within his court that this culture was allowed to thrive. The greatest poet of the age, Geoffrey Chaucer, served the King as a diplomat, a customs official and a clerk of The King's Works while producing some of his best-known work. Chaucer was also in the service of John of Gaunt, and wrote The Book of the Duchess as a eulogy to Gaunt's wife Blanche. Chaucer's colleague and friend John Gower wrote his Confessio Amantis on a direct commission from Richard, although he later grew disenchanted with the King. Richard was interested in occult topics such as geomancy, which he viewed as a greater discipline that included philosophy, science, and alchemic elements and commissioned a book on, and sponsored writing and discussion of them in his court. ## Downfall ### Deposition In June 1399, Louis I, Duke of Orléans, gained control of the court of the insane Charles VI of France. The policy of rapprochement with the English crown did not suit Louis's political ambitions, and for this reason he found it opportune to allow Henry Bolingbroke to leave for England. With a small group of followers, Bolingbroke landed at Ravenspurn in Yorkshire towards the end of June 1399. Meeting with Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, who had his own misgivings about the King, Bolingbroke insisted that his only object was to regain his own patrimony. Percy took him at his word and declined to interfere. The King had taken most of his household knights and the loyal members of his nobility with him to Ireland, so Bolingbroke experienced little resistance as he moved south. Keeper of the Realm Edmund, Duke of York, had little choice but to side with Bolingbroke. Meanwhile, Richard was delayed in his return from Ireland and did not land in Wales until 24 July. He made his way to Conwy, where on 12 August he met with the Earl of Northumberland for negotiations. On 19 August, Richard surrendered to Henry Bolingbroke at Flint Castle, promising to abdicate if his life were spared. Both men then returned to London, the indignant king riding all the way behind Henry. On arrival, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London on 1 September. Henry was by now fully determined to take the throne, but presenting a rationale for this action proved a dilemma. It was argued that Richard, through his tyranny and misgovernment, had rendered himself unworthy of being king. However, Henry was not next in line to the throne; the heir presumptive was Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, great-grandson of Edward III's second surviving son, Lionel, Duke of Clarence. Bolingbroke's father, John of Gaunt, was Edward's third son to survive to adulthood. The problem was solved by emphasising Henry's descent in a direct male line, whereas March's descent was through his grandmother, Philippa of Clarence. According to the official record, read by the Archbishop of Canterbury during an assembly of lords and commons at Westminster Hall on Tuesday 30 September, Richard gave up his crown willingly and ratified his deposition citing as a reason his own unworthiness as a monarch. On the other hand, the Traison et Mort Chronicle suggests otherwise. It describes a meeting between Richard and Henry that took place one day before the parliament's session. The King succumbed to blind rage, ordered his own release from the Tower, called his cousin a traitor, demanded to see his wife, and swore revenge, throwing down his bonnet, while Henry refused to do anything without parliamentary approval. When parliament met to discuss Richard's fate, John Trevor, Bishop of St Asaph, read thirty-three articles of deposition that were unanimously accepted by lords and commons. On 1 October 1399, Richard II was formally deposed. On 13 October, the feast day of Edward the Confessor, Henry Bolingbroke was crowned king. ### Death Henry had agreed to let Richard live after his abdication. This changed when it was revealed that the earls of Huntingdon, Kent, and Salisbury, and Lord Despenser, and possibly also the Earl of Rutland – all now demoted from the ranks they had been given by Richard – were planning to murder the new king and restore Richard in the Epiphany Rising. Although averted, the plot highlighted the danger of allowing Richard to live. He is thought to have starved to death in captivity in Pontefract Castle on or around 14 February 1400, although there is some question over the date and manner of his death. His body was taken south from Pontefract and displayed in St Paul's Cathedral on 17 February before burial in King's Langley Priory on 6 March. Rumours that Richard was still alive persisted, but never gained much credence in England; in Scotland, however, a man identified as Richard came into the hands of Regent Albany, lodged in Stirling Castle, and serving as the notional – and perhaps reluctant – figurehead of various anti-Lancastrian and Lollard intrigues in England. Henry IV's government dismissed him as an impostor, and several sources from both sides of the border suggest the man had a mental illness, one also describing him as a "beggar" by the time of his death in 1419, but he was buried as a king in the local Dominican friary in Stirling. Meanwhile, Henry V – in an effort both to atone for his father's act of murder and to silence the rumours of Richard's survival – had decided to have the body at King's Langley reinterred in Westminster Abbey on 4 December 1413. Here Richard himself had prepared an elaborate tomb, where the remains of his wife Anne were already entombed. ## Character and assessment Contemporary writers, even those less sympathetic to the King, agreed that Richard was a "most beautiful king", though with an unmanly "face which was white, rounded and feminine". He was athletic and tall; when his tomb was opened in 1871, he was found to be six feet (1.82 m) tall. He was also intelligent and well read, and when agitated he had a tendency to stammer. While the Westminster Abbey portrait probably shows a good similarity of the King, the Wilton Diptych portrays him as significantly younger than he was at the time; it must be assumed that he had a beard by this point. Religiously, he was orthodox, and particularly towards the end of his reign he became a strong opponent of the Lollard heresy. He was particularly devoted to the cult of Edward the Confessor, and around 1395 he had his own coat of arms impaled with the mythical arms of the Confessor. Though not a warrior king like his grandfather, Richard nevertheless enjoyed tournaments, as well as hunting. The popular view of Richard has more than anything been influenced by Shakespeare's play about the King, Richard II. Shakespeare's Richard was a cruel, vindictive, and irresponsible king, who attained a semblance of greatness only after his fall from power. Writing a work of fiction, Shakespeare took many liberties and made great omissions, basing his play on works by writers such as Edward Hall and Samuel Daniel, who in turn based their writings on contemporary chroniclers such as Thomas Walsingham. Hall and Daniel were part of Tudor historiography, which was highly unsympathetic to Richard. The Tudor orthodoxy, reinforced by Shakespeare, saw a continuity in civil discord starting with Richard's misrule that did not end until Henry VII's accession in 1485. The idea that Richard was to blame for the later-15th century Wars of the Roses was prevalent as late as the 19th century, but came to be challenged in the 20th. Some recent historians prefer to look at the Wars of the Roses in isolation from the reign of Richard II. Richard's mental state has been a major issue of historical debate since the first academic historians started treating the subject in the 19th century. One of the first modern historians to deal with Richard II as a king and as a person was Bishop Stubbs. Stubbs argued that towards the end of his reign, Richard's mind "was losing its balance altogether". Historian Anthony Steel, who wrote a full-scale biography of the King in 1941, took a psychiatric approach to the issue, and concluded that Richard had schizophrenia. This was challenged by V. H. Galbraith, who argued that there was no historical basis for such a diagnosis, a line that has also been followed by later historians of the period, such as Anthony Goodman and Anthony Tuck. Nigel Saul, who wrote an academic biography on Richard II in 1997 concedes that – even though there is no basis for assuming the King had a mental illness – he showed clear signs of a narcissistic personality, and towards the end of his reign "Richard's grasp on reality was becoming weaker". One of the primary historiographical questions surrounding Richard concerns his political agenda and the reasons for its failure. His kingship was thought to contain elements of the early modern absolute monarchy as exemplified by the Tudor dynasty. More recently, Richard's concept of kingship has been seen by some as not so different from that of his antecedents, and that it was exactly by staying within the framework of traditional monarchy that he was able to achieve as much as he did. Yet his actions were too extreme, and too abrupt. For one, the absence of war was meant to reduce the burden of taxation, and so help Richard's popularity with the Commons in parliament. However, this promise was never fulfilled, as the cost of the royal retinue, the opulence of court and Richard's lavish patronage of his favourites proved as expensive as war had been, without offering commensurate benefits. As for his policy of military retaining, this was later emulated by Edward IV and Henry VII, but Richard II's exclusive reliance on the county of Cheshire hurt his support from the rest of the country. Simon Walker writes: "What he sought was, in contemporary terms, neither unjustified nor unattainable; it was the manner of his seeking that betrayed him." ## Family tree ## See also - Cultural depictions of Richard II of England - List of earls in the reign of Richard II of England
5,243,877	Zanzibar Revolution	1,172,215,730	1964 overthrow of the Sultan of Zanzibar	[ "1964 in Tanzania", "1964 in Zanzibar", "20th-century revolutions", "African and Black nationalism in Africa", "Anti-Arabism in Africa", "Anti-Indian racism in Africa", "Conflicts in 1964", "Genocides in Africa", "History of Zanzibar", "January 1964 events in Africa", "Massacres in 1964", "Massacres of ethnic groups", "Rebellions in Africa", "Sultanate of Zanzibar", "Wars involving Zanzibar" ]	The Zanzibar Revolution (Arabic: ثورة زنجبار, romanized: Thawrat Zanjibār) occurred in January 1964 and led to the overthrow of the Sultan of Zanzibar and his mainly Arab government by the island's majority Black African population. Zanzibar was an ethnically diverse state consisting of a number of islands off the east coast of Tanganyika. It had become fully independent in 1963, with responsibility for its own defence and foreign affairs, as a result of Britain giving up its protectorate over it. In a series of parliamentary elections preceding this change, the Arab minority succeeded in retaining the hold on power it had inherited from Zanzibar's former existence as an overseas territory of Oman. Frustrated by under-representation in Parliament, despite winning 54 per cent of the vote in the July 1963 election, the African Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP) early in the morning of 12 January 1964, led by John Okello, the (ASP) youth leader of the Pemba branch, mobilised around 600–800 men on the main island of Unguja (Zanzibar Island). Having overrun the country's police force and appropriated their weaponry, the insurgents proceeded to Zanzibar Town, where they overthrew the Sultan and his government. They proceeded to loot Arab and South Asian-owned properties and businesses and then rape or murder Arab and Indian civilians on the island. The death toll is disputed, with estimates ranging from several hundred to 20,000. The moderate ASP leader Abeid Karume became the country's new president and head of state. The new government's apparent communist ties concerned Western governments. As Zanzibar lay within the British sphere of influence, the British government drew up a number of intervention plans. However, the feared communist government never materialised, and because British and American citizens were successfully evacuated, these plans were not put into effect. The Eastern Bloc powers of East Germany and the Soviet Union, along with the anti-Soviet People's Republic of China, immediately recognised the country and sent advisors. Karume succeeded in negotiating a merger of Zanzibar with Tanganyika to form the new nation of Tanzania, an act judged by contemporary media to be an attempt to prevent communist subversion of Zanzibar. The revolution ended 200 years of Arab dominance in Zanzibar, and is commemorated on the island each year with anniversary celebrations and a public holiday. ## Background The Zanzibar Archipelago, now part of the Southeast African republic of Tanzania, is a group of islands lying in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Tanganyika. It comprises the main southern island of Unguja (also known as Zanzibar), the smaller northern island of Pemba, and numerous surrounding islets. With a long history of Arab rule dating back to 1698, Zanzibar was an overseas territory of Oman until it achieved independence in 1858 under its own Sultanate. In 1890 during Ali ibn Sa'id's reign, Zanzibar became a British protectorate, and although never under direct rule was considered part of the British Empire. By 1964, the country was a constitutional monarchy ruled by Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah. Zanzibar had a population of around 230,000 Africans—some of whom claimed Persian ancestry and were known locally as Shirazis—and also contained significant minorities in the 50,000 Arabs and 20,000 South Asians, who were prominent in business and trade. The various ethnic groups were becoming mixed and the distinctions between them had blurred; according to one historian, an important reason for the general support for Sultan Jamshid was his family's ethnic diversity. However, the island's Arab inhabitants, as the major landowners, were generally wealthier than the Africans and enjoyed access to higher quality social services, such as health and education, than Africans. Apart from that, British authority considered Zanzibar as an Arab country and always held a position of supporting the Arab minority to stay in power. As a result, with the approach of the withdrawal of the British, the major political parties organised themselves largely along ethnic lines, with Arabs dominating the Zanzibar Nationalist Party (ZNP) and Africans the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP). The ZNP looked towards Egypt as its model, which caused some tensions with the British officials on the islands, but for centuries Zanzibar had been dominated by its Arab ruling class, and the Colonial Office could not imagine a Zanzibar ruled by black Africans. In January 1961, as part of the process of British withdrawal from the islands, the island's authorities drew up constituencies and held democratic elections. Both the ASP and the ZNP won 11 of the available 22 seats in Zanzibar's Parliament, so further elections were held in June, with the number of seats increased to 23. The ZNP entered into a coalition with the Zanzibar and Pemba People's Party (ZPPP) and this time took 13 seats, while the ASP, despite receiving the most votes, won just 10. Electoral fraud was suspected by the ASP, and civil disorder broke out, resulting in 68 deaths. To maintain control, the coalition government banned the more radical opposition parties, filled the civil service with its own appointees, and politicised the police. In 1963, with the number of parliamentary seats increased to 31, another election saw a repeat of the 1961 votes. Due to the layout of the constituencies, which were gerrymandered by the ZNP, the ASP, led by Abeid Amani Karume, won 54 percent of the popular vote but only 13 seats, while the ZNP/ZPPP won the rest and set about strengthening its hold on power. The Umma Party, formed that year by disaffected radical Arab socialist supporters of the ZNP, was banned, and all policemen of African mainland origin were dismissed. This removed a large portion of the only security force on the island, and created an angry group of paramilitary-trained men with knowledge of police buildings, equipment and procedures. Furthermore, the new Arab-dominated government made it clear that in foreign policy, the Sultanate of Zanzibar would be seeking close links with the Arab world, especially Egypt, and had no interest in forging relationships with the nations on the African mainland, as the black majority wished. Slavery had been abolished in Zanzibar in 1897, but much of the Arab elite who dominated the island's politics made little effort to hide their racist views of the black majority as their inferiors, a people fit only for slavery. In Parliament, the Minister of Finance Juma Aley responded to questions from Karume by insultingly saying he need not answer questions from a mere "boatman". Aley further explained in another speech in Parliament that if Arabs were over-represented in the Cabinet, it was not because of race, but rather it was only because the mental abilities of blacks were so abysmally low and the mental abilities of Arabs like himself were so high, a remark that enraged the black majority. Memories of Arab slave-trading in the past (some of the older black people had been slaves in their youth) together with a distinctly patronizing view of the Arab elite towards the black majority in the present, meant that much of the black population of Zanzibar had a ferocious hatred of the Arabs, viewing the new Arab-dominated government as illegitimate. The government did not help broaden its appeal to the black majority by drastically cutting spending in schools in areas with high concentrations of black people. The government's budget with its draconian spending cuts in schools in black areas was widely seen as a sign that the Arab-dominated government was planning to lock the black people in a permanent second-class status. On 10 December 1963, with the termination of the British protectorate, complete independence was achieved, with the ZNP/ZPPP coalition as the government. The government requested a defence agreement from the United Kingdom, asking for a battalion of British troops to be stationed on the island for internal security duties, but this request was rejected as it was deemed inappropriate for British troops to be involved in the maintenance of law and order so soon after complete independence. And in any event many of the cabinet, which was seeking closer ties with Egypt, ruled by the radical, anti-Western nationalist Nasser, did not want British troops in Zanzibar. British intelligence reports predicted that a civil disturbance, accompanied by increasing communist activity, was likely in the near future, and that the arrival of British troops might cause the situation to deteriorate further. However, many foreign nationals remained on the island, including 130 Britons who were direct employees of the Zanzibar government. In 1959, a charismatic Ugandan named John Okello arrived in Pemba, working as a bricklayer, and in February 1963 he moved to Zanzibar. Working as an official in the Zanzibar and Pemba Paint Workers' Union and as an activist of the ASP, Okello had built himself a following and almost from the moment when he arrived on Zanzibar had been organizing a revolution that he planned to take place shortly after independence. ## Revolution Around 3:00 am on 12 January 1964, 600–800 poorly armed, mainly African insurgents, aided by some of the recently dismissed ex-policemen, attacked Unguja's police stations to seize weapons, and then the radio station. The attackers had no guns, being equipped only with spears, knives, machetes, and tire irons, having only the advantage of numbers and surprise. The Arab police replacements had received almost no training and, despite responding with a mobile force, were soon overcome. Okello himself led the attack on the Ziwani police HQ, which also happened to be the largest armory on the island. Several of the rebels were shot down, but the police were overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Okello personally attacked a police sentry, wrestled his rifle from him, and used it to bayonet the policeman to death. Arming themselves with hundreds of captured automatic rifles, submachine guns and Bren guns, the insurgents took control of strategic buildings in the capital, Zanzibar Town. At about 7:00 am, Okello made his first radio broadcast from a local radio station his followers had captured two hours earlier, calling upon the Africans to rise up and overthrow the "imperialists". At the time, Okello only referred to himself as "the field marshal", which prompted much speculation on Zanzibar about the identity of this mysterious figure leading the revolution, who spoke his Swahili with a thick Acholi accent that was unfamiliar on Zanzibar. Within six hours of the outbreak of hostilities, the town's telegraph office and main government buildings were under revolutionary control, and the island's only airstrip was captured at 2:18 pm. In the countryside, fighting had erupted between the Manga, as the rural Arabs were called, and the Africans. The Manga were armed mainly with hunting rifles, and once the arms seized from the police stations reached the rebels in the countryside, the Manga were doomed. In Stone Town, the fiercest resistance was at the Malindi police station, where under the command of Police Commissioner J. M. Sullivan (a British policeman who stayed on until a local replacement could be hired), all of the rebel attacks were repulsed, not least because the insurgents tended to retreat whenever they came under fire. Sullivan only surrendered the Melindi station late in the afternoon after running out of ammunition, and marched his entire force (not one policeman had been killed or wounded) down to the Stonetown wharf to board some boats that took them out to a ship, the Salama, to take them away from Zanzibar. Throughout Stone Town, shops and homes owned by Arabs and South Asians had been looted while numerous Arab and South Asian women were gang-raped. The Sultan, together with Prime Minister Muhammad Shamte Hamadi and members of the cabinet, fled the island on the royal yacht Seyyid Khalifa, and the Sultan's palace and other property were seized by the revolutionary government. At least 80 people were killed and 200 injured, the majority of whom were Arabs, during the 12 hours of street fighting that followed. Sixty-one American citizens, including 16 men staffing a NASA satellite tracking station, sought sanctuary in the English Club in Zanzibar Town, and four US journalists were detained by the island's new government. Not knowing that Okello had given orders to kill no whites, the Americans living in Stone Town fled to the English Club, where the point for evacuation was. Those travelling in the car convoy to the English Club were shocked to see the battered bodies of Arab men lying out on the streets of Stone Town with their severed penises and testicles shoved into their mouths. As part of Okello's carefully laid out plans, all over the island, gangs of Africans armed with knives, spears and pangas (machetes) went about systematically killing all the Arabs and South Asians they could find. The American diplomat Don Petterson described his horror as he watched from his house as he saw a gang of African men storm the house of an Arab, behead him in public with a panga, followed by screams from within his house as his wife and three children were raped and killed, followed by the same scene being repeated at the next house of an Arab, followed by yet another and another. After taking control of Stone Town on the first day, the revolutionaries continued to fight the Manga for control of the countryside for at least two days afterwards with whole families of Arabs being massacred after their homes had been stormed. According to the official Zanzibari history, the revolution was planned and headed by the ASP leader Abeid Amani Karume. However, at the time Karume was on the African mainland as was the leader of the banned Umma Party, Abdulrahman Muhammad Babu. Okello, in his capacity as the ASP youth branch secretary for Pemba, had sent Karume to the mainland to ensure his safety. Okello had arrived in Zanzibar from Kenya in 1959, claiming to have been a field marshal for the Kenyan rebels during the Mau Mau uprising, although he actually had no military experience. He maintained that he heard a voice commanding him, as a Christian, to free the Zanzibari people from the Muslim Arabs, though Zanzibaris themselves were predominantly Muslim and it was Okello who led the revolutionaries—mainly unemployed members of the Afro-Shirazi Youth League—on 12 January. One commentator has further speculated that it was probably Okello, with the Youth League, who planned the revolution. There appears to have been three different plots to overthrow the government, led by Karume, Babu and Okello, but it was Okello's plan that was furthest advanced and it was he who struck the blow that brought down the Sultan's regime. Okello was not widely known in Zanzibar, and the government was more concerned with monitoring the ASP and Umma rather than a little-known and barely literate house painter and minor union official. Okello was a complete mystery to the world at the time of the revolution, and MI5 reported to Whitehall that he was an ex-policeman who fought with the Mau Mau in Kenya and had been trained in Cuba in the art of revolutionary violence. Okello himself at a press conference several days later angrily denied having ever been to Cuba or China, stating that he was a Christian whose motto was "Everything can be learned from the Bible". During the revolution, there was an orgy of violence committed against the South Asian and Arab communities with thousands of women being raped by Okello's followers, and much looting and massacres of Arabs all over the island. The American diplomat Don Petterson described the killings of Arabs by the African majority as an act of genocide. Petterson wrote "Genocide was not a term that was as much in vogue then, as it came to be later, but it is fair to say that in parts of Zanzibar, the killing of Arabs was genocide, pure and simple". Okello frequently went on the radio to urge his followers in thunderous Old Testament language to kill as many Arabs as possible, with the maximum of brutality. As a Pan-African nationalist who made his followers sing "God Bless Africa" whenever he marched through the streets, Okello appealed to the black majority, but at the same time, as a militant Christian who claimed to hear the voice of God in his head, Okello's appeal on an island whose population was 95 per cent Muslim was limited. ## Aftermath A Revolutionary Council was established by the ASP and Umma parties to act as an interim government, with Karume heading the council as President and Babu serving as the Minister of External Affairs. The country was renamed the People's Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba; the new government's first acts were to permanently banish the Sultan and to ban the ZNP and ZPPP. Seeking to distance himself from the volatile Okello, Karume quietly sidelined him from the political scene, although he was allowed to retain his self-bestowed title of field marshal. However, Okello's revolutionaries soon began reprisals against the Arab and Asian population of Unguja, carrying out beatings, rapes, murders, and attacks on property. He claimed in radio speeches to have killed or imprisoned tens of thousands of his "enemies and stooges", but actual estimates of the number of deaths vary greatly, from "hundreds" to 20,000. Some Western newspapers give figures of 2,000–4,000; but the higher numbers may be inflated by Okello's own broadcasts and exaggerated reports in some Western and Arab news media. The killing of Arab prisoners and their burial in mass graves was documented by an Italian film crew, filming from a helicopter, for Africa Addio and this sequence of film comprises the only known visual document of the killings. Many Arabs fled to safety in Oman, although by Okello's order no Europeans were harmed. The post-revolution violence did not spread to Pemba. By 3 February Zanzibar was finally returning to normality, and Karume had been widely accepted by the people as their president. A police presence was back on the streets, looted shops were re-opening, and unlicensed arms were being surrendered by the civilian populace. The revolutionary government announced that its political prisoners, numbering 500, would be tried by special courts. Okello formed the Freedom Military Force (FMF), a paramilitary unit made up of his own supporters, which patrolled the streets and looted Arab property. The behaviour of Okello's supporters, his violent rhetoric, Ugandan accent, and Christian beliefs were alienating many in the largely moderate Zanzibari and Muslim ASP, and by March many members of his FMF had been disarmed by Karume's supporters and the Umma Party militia. On 11 March Okello was officially stripped of his rank of Field Marshal, and was denied entry when trying to return to Zanzibar from a trip to the mainland. He was deported to Tanganyika and then to Kenya, before returning destitute to his native Uganda. In April the government formed the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and completed the disarmament of Okello's remaining FMF militia. On 26 April Karume announced that a union had been negotiated with Tanganyika to form the new country of Tanzania. The merger was seen by contemporary media as a means of preventing communist subversion of Zanzibar; at least one historian states that it may have been an attempt by Karume, a moderate socialist, to limit the influence of the radically left-wing Umma Party. Babu had become close to Chinese diplomats who had arranged for several shipments of arms to be sent to Zanzibar to allow the Umma Party to have a paramilitary wing. Both Karume and President Nyerere of Tanganyika were concerned that Zanzibar was starting to become a hot-spot of Cold War tensions as American and British diplomats competed for influence with Soviet, Chinese and East German diplomats, and having a union with the non-aligned Tanganyika was considered the best way of removing Zanzibar from the world spotlight. However, many of the Umma Party's socialist policies on health, education and social welfare were adopted by the government. ## Foreign reaction British military forces in Kenya were made aware of the revolution at 4:45 am on 12 January, and following a request from the Sultan were put on 15 minutes' standby to conduct an assault on Zanzibar's airfield. However, the British High Commissioner in Zanzibar, Timothy Crosthwait, reported no instances of British nationals being attacked and advised against intervention. As a result, the British troops in Kenya were reduced to four hours' standby later that evening. Crosthwait decided not to approve an immediate evacuation of British citizens, as many held key government positions and their sudden removal would further disrupt the country's economy and government. Within hours of the revolution, the American ambassador had authorised the withdrawal of US citizens on the island, and a US Navy destroyer, the USS Manley, arrived on 13 January. The Manley docked at Zanzibar Town harbour, but the US had not sought the Revolutionary Council's permission for the evacuation, and the ship was met by a group of armed men. Permission was eventually granted on 15 January, but the British considered this confrontation to be the cause of much subsequent ill will against the Western powers in Zanzibar. Western intelligence agencies believed that the revolution had been organised by communists supplied with weapons by the Warsaw Pact countries. This suspicion was strengthened by the appointment of Babu as Minister for External Affairs and Abdullah Kassim Hanga as Prime Minister, both known leftists with possible communist ties. Britain believed that these two were close associates of Oscar Kambona, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Tanganyika, and that former members of the Tanganyika Rifles had been made available to assist with the revolution. Some members of the Umma Party wore Cuban military fatigues and beards in the style of Fidel Castro, which was taken as an indication of Cuban support for the revolution. However this practice was started by those members who had staffed a ZNP branch office in Cuba and it became a common means of dress amongst opposition party members in the months leading up to the revolution. The new Zanzibar government's recognition of the German Democratic Republic (the first African government to do so) and of North Korea was further evidence to the Western powers that Zanzibar was aligning itself closely with the communist bloc. Just six days after the revolution, The New York Times stated that Zanzibar was "on the verge of becoming the Cuba of Africa", but on 26 January denied that there was active communist involvement. Zanzibar continued to receive support from communist countries and by February was known to be receiving advisers from the Soviet Union, the GDR and China. Cuba also lent its support with Che Guevara stating on 15 August that "Zanzibar is our friend and we gave them our small bit of assistance, our fraternal assistance, our revolutionary assistance at the moment when it was necessary" but denying there were Cuban troops present during the revolution. At the same time, western influence was diminishing and by July 1964 just one Briton, a dentist, remained in the employ of the Zanzibari government. It has been alleged that Israeli spymaster David Kimche was a backer of the revolution with Kimche in Zanzibar on the day of the Revolution. The deposed Sultan made an unsuccessful appeal to Kenya and Tanganyika for military assistance, although Tanganyika sent 100 paramilitary police officers to Zanzibar to contain rioting. Other than the Tanganyika Rifles (formerly the colonial King's African Rifles), the police were the only armed force in Tanganyika, and on 20 January the police absence led the entire Rifles regiment to mutiny. Dissatisfied with their low pay rates and with the slow progress of the replacement of their British officers with Africans, the soldiers' mutiny sparked similar uprisings in both Uganda and Kenya. However, order on the African mainland was rapidly restored without serious incident by the British Army and Royal Marines. The possible emergence of an African communist state remained a source of disquiet in the West. In February, the British Defence and Overseas Policy Committee said that, while British commercial interests in Zanzibar were "minute" and the revolution by itself was "not important", the possibility of intervention must be maintained. The committee was concerned that Zanzibar could become a centre for the promotion of communism in Africa, much like Cuba had in the Americas. Britain, most of the Commonwealth, and the US withheld recognition of the new regime until 23 February, by which time it had already been recognised by much of the communist bloc. In Crosthwait's opinion, this contributed to Zanzibar aligning itself with the Soviet Union; Crosthwait and his staff were expelled from the country on 20 February and were only allowed to return once recognition had been agreed. ### British military response Following the evacuation of its citizens on 13 January, the US government stated that it recognised that Zanzibar lay within Britain's sphere of influence, and would not intervene. The US did, however, urge that Britain cooperate with other Southeast African countries to restore order. The first British military vessel on the scene was the survey ship HMS Owen, which was diverted from the Kenyan coast and arrived on the evening of 12 January. Owen was joined on 15 January by the frigate Rhyl and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Hebe. While the lightly armed Owen had been able to provide the revolutionaries with an unobtrusive reminder of Britain's military power, the Hebe and Rhyl were different matters. Due to inaccurate reports that the situation in Zanzibar was deteriorating, the Rhyl was carrying a company of troops of the first battalion of the Staffordshire Regiment from Kenya, the embarkation of which was widely reported in the Kenyan media, and would hinder British negotiations with Zanzibar. The Hebe had just finished removing stores from the naval depot at Mombasa and was loaded with weapons and explosives. Although the Revolutionary Council was unaware of the nature of Hebe's cargo, the Royal Navy's refusal to allow a search of the ship created suspicion ashore and rumors circulated that she was an amphibious assault ship. A partial evacuation of British citizens was completed by 17 January, when the army riots in Southeast Africa prompted Rhyl's diversion to Tanganyika so that the troops she was carrying could assist in quelling the mutiny. In replacement, a company of the Gordon Highlanders was loaded aboard Owen so an intervention could still be made if necessary. The aircraft carriers Centaur and Victorious were also transferred to the region as part of Operation Parthenon. Although never enacted, Parthenon was intended as a precaution should Okello or the Umma party radicals attempt to seize power from the more moderate ASP. In addition to the two carriers, the plan involved three destroyers, Owen, 13 helicopters, 21 transport and reconnaissance aircraft, the second battalion of the Scots Guards, 45 Commando of the Royal Marines and one company of the second battalion of the Parachute Regiment. The island of Unguja, and its airport, were to be seized by parachute and helicopter assault, followed up by the occupation of Pemba. Parthenon would have been the largest British airborne and amphibious operation since the Suez Crisis. Following the revelation that the revolutionaries may have received communist bloc training, Operation Parthenon was replaced by Operation Boris. This called for a parachute assault on Unguja from Kenya, but was later abandoned due to poor security in Kenya and the Kenyan government's opposition to the use of its airfields. Instead Operation Finery was drawn up, which would involve a helicopter assault by Royal Marines from HMS Bulwark, a commando carrier then stationed in the Middle East. As Bulwark was outside the region, Finery's launch would require 14 days' notice, so in the event that a more immediate response was necessary, suitable forces were placed on 24 hours' notice to launch a smaller scale operation to protect British citizens. With the merger of Tanganyika and Zanzibar on 23 April, there were concerns that the Umma Party would stage a coup; Operation Shed was designed to provide for intervention should this happen. Shed would have required a battalion of troops, with scout cars, to be airlifted to the island to seize the airfield and protect Karume's government. However, the danger of a revolt over unification soon passed, and on 29 April the troops earmarked for Shed were reduced to 24 hours' notice. Operation Finery was cancelled the same day. Concern over a possible coup remained though, and around 23 September Shed was replaced with Plan Giralda, involving the use of British troops from Aden and the Far East, to be enacted if the Umma Party attempted to overthrow President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania. An infantry battalion, tactical headquarters unit and elements of the Royal Marines would have been shipped to Zanzibar to launch an amphibious assault, supported by follow-on troops from British bases in Kenya or Aden to maintain law and order. Giralda was scrapped in December, ending British plans for military intervention in the country. ## Legacy One of the main results of the revolution in Zanzibar was to break the power of the Arab/Asian ruling class, who had held it for around 200 years. Despite the merger with Tanganyika, Zanzibar retained a Revolutionary Council and House of Representatives which was, until 1992, run on a one-party system and has power over domestic matters. The domestic government is led by the President of Zanzibar, Karume being the first holder of this office. This government used the success of the revolution to implement reforms across the island. Many of these involved the removal of power from Arabs. The Zanzibar civil service, for example, became an almost entirely African organisation, and land was redistributed from Arabs to Africans. The revolutionary government also instituted social reforms such as free healthcare and opening up the education system to African students (who had occupied only 12 per cent of secondary school places before the revolution). The government sought help from the Soviet Union, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and People's Republic of China for funding for several projects and military advice. The failure of several GDR-led projects including the New Zanzibar Project, a 1968 urban redevelopment scheme to provide new apartments for all Zanzibaris, led to Zanzibar focusing on Chinese aid. The post-revolution Zanzibar government was accused of draconian controls on personal freedoms and travel and exercised nepotism in appointments to political and industrial offices, the new Tanzanian government being powerless to intervene. Dissatisfaction with the government came to a head with the assassination of Karume on 7 April 1972, which was followed by weeks of fighting between pro- and anti-government forces. A multi-party system was eventually established in 1992, but Zanzibar remains dogged by allegations of corruption and vote-rigging, though the 2010 general election was seen to be a considerable improvement. The revolution itself remains an event of interest for Zanzibaris and academics. Historians have analysed the revolution as having a racial and a social basis, with some stating that the African revolutionaries represent the proletariat rebelling against the ruling and trading classes, represented by the Arabs and South Asians. Others discount this theory and present it as a racial revolution that was exacerbated by economic disparity between races. Within Zanzibar, the revolution is a key cultural event, marked by the release of 545 prisoners on its tenth anniversary and by a military parade on its 40th. Zanzibar Revolution Day has been designated as a public holiday by the government of Tanzania; it is celebrated on 12 January each year. The Mapinduzi Cup (Revolution Cup), an association football knockout competition is organized by the Zanzibar Football Association in early January between 6–13 January to mark the revolution day (12 January).

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