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15,581,883	Federal Bridge Gross Weight Formula	1,158,258,603	Formula for estimating bridge weight limits	[ "Bridges in the United States", "Trucking industry in the United States", "Trucks", "United States Department of Transportation", "United States transportation law", "Vehicle law" ]	The Federal Bridge Gross Weight Formula, also known as Bridge Formula B or the Federal Bridge Formula, is a mathematical formula in use in the United States by truck drivers and Department of Transportation (DOT) officials to determine the appropriate maximum gross weight for a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) based on axle number and spacing. The formula is part of federal weight and size regulations regarding interstate commercial traffic (intrastate traffic is subject to state limits). The formula is necessary to prevent heavy vehicles from damaging roads and bridges. CMVs are most often tractor-trailers or buses, but the formula is of most interest to truck drivers due to the heavy loads their vehicles often carry. Early 20th-century weight limits were enacted to protect dirt and gravel roads from damage caused by the solid wheels of heavy trucks. As time passed, truck weight limits focused primarily on gross weight limits (which had no prescribed limits on length). By 1974, bridges received special protection from increasing truck weight limits. The bridge formula law was enacted by the U.S. Congress to limit the weight-to-length ratio of heavy trucks, and to protect roads and bridges from the damage caused by the concentrated weight of shorter trucks. The formula effectively lowers the legal weight limit for shorter trucks, preventing them from causing premature deterioration of bridges and highway infrastructure. Compliance with the law is checked when vehicles pass through a weigh station, often located at the borders between states or on the outskirts of major cities, where the vehicle may be weighed and measured. The one exception to the formula allows a standard five-axle semi-truck configuration to weigh the maximum legal gross weight. This exception was specifically requested by the American Trucking Associations to allow tank trucks to reach the maximum legal gross weight without violating the bridge formula law. ## History The first truck weight limits were enacted by four states in 1913, ranging from 18,000 pounds (8,200 kg) in Maine to 28,000 pounds (13,000 kg) in Massachusetts. These laws were passed to protect earth and gravel-surfaced roads from damage caused by the steel and solid rubber wheels of early heavy trucks. By 1933, all states had some form of truck weight regulation. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 instituted the first federal truck weight regulation (set at 73,280 pounds or 33,240 kilograms) and authorized the construction of the Interstate Highway System. In the late 1950s, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) conducted a series of extensive field tests of roads and bridges to determine how traffic contributed to the deterioration of pavement materials. In 1964, the AASHTO recommended to Congress that a bridge formula table be used instead of a single gross weight limit for trucks. The Federal-Aid Highway Act Amendments of 1974 established the bridge formula as law, along with the gross weight limit of 80,000 pounds (36,000 kg). Current applications of the formula allow for up to 7 axles and 86 feet or more length between axle sets, and a maximum load of 105,500 lbs. ## Usage The formula was enacted as law to limit the weight-to-length ratio of a commercial motor vehicle (CMV). The formula is necessary to prevent the concentrated truck's axles from overstressing pavements and bridge members (possibly causing a bridge collapse). In simplified form, this is analogous to a person walking on thin ice. When standing upright, a person's weight is concentrated at the bottom of their feet, funneling all of their weight into a small area. When lying down, a person's weight is distributed over a much larger area. This difference in weight distribution would allow a person to cross an area of ice while crawling that might otherwise collapse under their body weight while standing up. For an overweight truck to comply with the formula, more axles must be added, the distance between axles must be increased, or weight must be removed. While the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), regulates safety for the U.S. trucking industry., the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) oversees the State enforcement of truck the size and weight Federal limits set by Congress for the Federal Aid System as described in 23 CFR 658. The Federal size limits apply in all States to the National Network (NN) which is a network of Interstate Highways, U.S. Highways, and state highways. Provided the truck remains on the NN, in all States and a truck is not subject to State size limits. In a similar fashion, the Federal weight limits and the Federal Bridge Formula apply to the Interstate System in all States. The State truck size and weight regulations apply to the Federal Aid System routes that do not have Federal limits. The weight and size of CMVs are restricted for practical and safety reasons. CMVs are restricted by gross weight (total weight of vehicle and cargo), and by axle weight (i.e., the weight carried by each tire). The federal weight limits for CMVs are 80,000 pounds (36,000 kg) for gross weight (unless the bridge formula dictates a lower limit), 34,000 pounds (15,000 kg) for a tandem axle, and 20,000 pounds (9,100 kg) for a single axle. A tandem axle is defined as two or more consecutive axles whose centers are spaced more than 40 inches (102 cm) but not more than 96 inches (244 cm) apart. Axles spaced less than 40 inches (102 cm) apart are considered a single axle. In effect, the formula reduces the legal weight limit for shorter trucks with fewer axles (see table below). For example, a 25-foot (7.6 m) three-axle dump truck would have a gross weight limit of 54,500 pounds (24,700 kg), instead of 80,000 pounds (36,000 kg), which is the standard weight limit for 63-foot (19.2 m) five-axle tractor-trailer. FHWA regulation §658.17 states: "The maximum gross vehicle weight shall be 80,000 pounds (36,000 kg) except where lower gross vehicle weight is dictated by the bridge formula." ## Bridge collapse The August 2007 collapse of the Interstate 35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis brought renewed attention to the issue of truck weights and their relation to bridge stress. In November 2008, the National Transportation Safety Board determined there had been several reasons for the bridge's collapse, including (but not limited to): faulty gusset plates, inadequate inspections, and the extra weight of heavy construction equipment combined with the weight of rush hour traffic. The I-35 Trade Corridor Study reported that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) expressed concern over bridges on the I-35 corridor due to an expected increase of international truck traffic from Canada and Mexico, with the FHWA listing it as "high-priority" in 2005. As of 2007, federal estimates suggest truck traffic increased 216% since 1970, shortly before the federal gross weight limit for trucks was increased by 30,000 pounds (14,000 kg). This is also the period during which many of the existing interstate bridges were built. Research shows that increased truck traffic (and therefore, increased stress) shortens the life of bridges. National Pavement Cost Model (NAPCOM) estimates indicate that one 80,000-pound (36,000 kg) truck does as much damage to roads as 750 3,800-pound (1,700 kg) cars. Some smaller bridges have a weight limit (or gross weight load rating) indicated by a posted sign (hence the reference to a "posted bridge"). These are necessary when the weight limit of the bridge is lower than the federal or state gross weight limit for trucks. Driving a truck over a bridge that is too weak to support it usually does not result in an immediate collapse. The bridge may develop cracks, which over time can weaken the bridge and cause it to collapse. Most of these cracks are discovered during mandated inspections of bridges. Most bridge collapses occur in rural areas, result in few injuries or deaths, and receive relatively little media attention. While the number varies from year to year, as many as 150 bridges can collapse in a year. About 1,500 bridges collapsed between 1966 and 2007, and most of those were the result of soil erosion around bridge supports. In 1987, the Schoharie Creek Bridge collapsed in upstate New York, due to erosion of soil around the foundation, which sparked renewed interest in bridge design in inspection procedures. In special cases involving unusually overweight trucks (which require special permits), not observing a bridge weight limit can lead to disastrous consequences. Fifteen days after the collapse of the Minneapolis bridge, a heavy truck collapsed a small bridge in Oakville, Washington. ## Formula law CMVs are required to pass through weigh stations at the borders of most states and some large cities. These weigh stations are run by state DOTs, and CMV weight and size enforcement is overseen by the FHWA. Weigh stations check each vehicle's gross weight and axle weight using a set of in-ground truck scales, and are usually where a truck's compliance with the formula is checked. FMCSA regulation §658.17 states: - No vehicle or combination of vehicles shall be moved or operated on any interstate highway when the gross weight on two or more consecutive axles exceeds the limitations prescribed by the following formula: : $W = 500 \left ( \frac{LN}{N-1} + 12N + 36 \right )$ - W = the maximum weight in pounds that can be carried on a group of two or more axles to the nearest 500 pounds (230 kg). - L = spacing in feet between the center of the outer axles of any two or more consecutive axles. - N = number of axles being considered. Two or more consecutive axles may not exceed the weight computed by the bridge formula, even the gross weight of the truck. This means that the "outer group" or axles 1-5 which comprises the entire Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) of truck and all interior combination of axles must also comply with the bridge formula. State may not issue less than four citations when a truck violate each of the Federal weight limits on the Interstate System which are: 1) Single axle 2) Tandem axle, 3) Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW), 4) Inner Group. Penalties for violating weight limits vary between states (bridge formula weight violations are treated as gross weight violations), as the states are responsible for enforcement and collection of fines. Some states, such as Connecticut, issue fines on a percentage basis (e.g. 20% overweight at \$10 per 100 pounds or 45 kilograms), which means larger trucks pay higher fines. For example, a truck with a legal gross limit of 20,000 pounds (9,100 kg) that violates the limit by 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg) would pay a fine of \$500, while a truck with a legal gross limit of 60,000 pounds (27,000 kg) that violates the limit by 5,000 pounds would pay a fine of \$250. Other states, such as New York, issue fines on a per-pound basis (e.g., 5,000 pounds overweight equals a \$300 fine). Others, such as Massachusetts, impose a less complicated fine schedule whereby a vehicle that violates the limits by less than 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) is fined \$40 per 1,000 pounds (450 kg), while a violation over 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) pays \$80 per 1,000 pounds (450 kg) (e.g. 5,000 pounds or 2,300 kilograms overweight equals a \$200 fine). Some states require overweight trucks to offload enough cargo to comply with the limits. In Florida, any vehicle that exceeds the limits by more than 6,000 pounds (2,700 kg) is required to be unloaded until the vehicle is in compliance. Florida also includes a scale tolerance, which allows for violations of less than 10% to be forgiven, and no fine issued. Florida also allows for a load to be shifted (e.g., moved from the front towards the rear of the vehicle) for the vehicle to comply with axle weight limits, without penalty. ## Exception There is one exception to the formula: two consecutive sets of tandem axles may carry 34,000 pounds (15,000 kg) each if the overall distance between the first and last axles of these tandems is 36 feet (11 m) or more. For example, a five-axle truck may carry 34,000 pounds both on the tractor tandem axles (2 and 3) and the trailer tandem axles (4 and 5), provided axles 2 and 5 are spaced at least 36 feet (11 m) apart. This exception allows for the standard 5-axle semi-truck configuration to gross up to 80,000 pounds (36,000 kg) (the legal limit) without being in violation of the bridge formula law. Without it, the bridge formula would allow an actual weight of only 66,000 pounds (30,000 kg) to 67,500 pounds (30,600 kg) on tandems spaced 36 feet (11 m) to 38 feet (11.6 m) apart; compared to 68,000 pounds (31,000 kg) with the exception. This exception was sought by the American Trucking Associations so trucking companies could use 40-foot (12.2 m) trailers and weigh 80,000 pounds (36,000 kg). It was the only way tank truck operators could reach 80,000 pounds without adding axles to their fleets of trailers already in operation. A CMV may exceed the bridge formula limits (or gross weight and its axle weight limits) by up to 550 pounds (249 kg) if the vehicle is equipped with an auxiliary power unit (APU) or idle reduction technology. This is permitted "in order to promote reduction of fuel use and emissions because of engine idling". To be eligible, the vehicle's operator must prove the weight of the APU with written certification, or—by demonstration or certification—that the idle reduction technology is fully functional at all times. Certification of the APU's weight must be available to law enforcement officers if the vehicle is found in violation of applicable weight laws. The additional weight allowed cannot exceed 550 pounds or the weight certified, whichever is less. ## Issues The bridge formula (also referred to as Formula B) is based on research into single-span bridges, and fails to consider multiple-span bridges. Two-span bridges may not be fully protected by Formula B, depending on the truck length, span length, and other factors. Shorter wheelbase vehicles (usually specialized trucks such as garbage trucks and water trucks) have trouble complying with Formula B. In 1987, the U.S. Congress passed the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act, requesting the Transportation Research Board (TRB) to conduct a study to develop alternatives to Formula B. The study recommended several that were never implemented. It suggested that Formula B was too strict for trucks with shorter axle lengths. One of the alternative formulas (later known as the TTI HS-20 Bridge Formula) was developed in conjunction with the Texas Transportation Institute. TTI HS-20 allowed shorter trucks to have higher weight limits than Formula B. For a 3-axle truck with an axle length of 14 feet (4.3 m), the weight limit increased from 46,500 pounds (21,100 kg) to 54,000 pounds (24,000 kg). TTI HS-20 also failed to address the problem of multiple-span bridges. - <sup>1</sup> Calculated values reflect FHWA policy of rounding down when distances fall exactly between 6-inch (15.24 cm) increments. - <sup>2</sup> Calculated values reflect FHWA policy of rounding down when weights fall exactly between 500-pound (227 kg) increments. - <sup>3</sup> Tandem axle by definition. - <sup>4</sup> Distances between 8 feet (2.44 m) to 8 feet 11 inches (2.72 m) may not be rounded down. - <sup>5</sup> \_\_ Maximum legal weight limit based on number of axles. Increased axle lengths beyond these do not increase maximum legal weight. - <sup>6</sup> \_\_ Exception to the formula: when the four axles under consideration are two tandem axles spaced at least 36 feet (10.97 m) apart, a gross weight of 68,000 pounds (30,844 kg) is allowed. - \_\_ Upper blank areas represent unrealistic configurations. ## See also - Long combination vehicle - Dolly (trailer)
21,778,431	Temple of Eshmun	1,173,644,835	Ancient temple to the Phoenician god of healing in Lebanon	[ "1900 archaeological discoveries", "7th-century BC religious buildings and structures", "Archaeological sites in Lebanon", "Archaeology of the Achaemenid Empire", "Astarte", "Conversion of non-Christian religious buildings and structures into churches", "Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire", "Phoenician inscriptions", "Phoenician sites in Lebanon", "Phoenician temples", "Sidon District", "Temple of Eshmun", "Temples in Lebanon", "Temples of Asclepius", "Tourism in Lebanon", "Tourist attractions in Lebanon", "World Heritage Tentative List" ]	The Temple of Eshmun (Arabic: معبد أشمون) is an ancient place of worship dedicated to Eshmun, the Phoenician god of healing. It is located near the Awali river, 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) northeast of Sidon in southwestern Lebanon. The site was occupied from the 7th century BC to the 8th century AD, suggesting an integrated relationship with the nearby city of Sidon. Although originally constructed by Sidonian king Eshmunazar II in the Achaemenid era (c. 529–333 BC) to celebrate the city's recovered wealth and stature, the temple complex was greatly expanded by Bodashtart, Yatonmilk and later monarchs. Because the continued expansion spanned many centuries of alternating independence and foreign hegemony, the sanctuary features a wealth of different architectural and decorative styles and influences. The sanctuary consists of an esplanade and a grand court limited by a huge limestone terrace wall that supports a monumental podium which was once topped by Eshmun's Greco-Persian style marble temple. The sanctuary features a series of ritual ablution basins fed by canals channeling water from the Asclepius river (modern Awali) and from the sacred "YDLL" spring; these installations were used for therapeutic and purificatory purposes that characterize the cult of Eshmun. The sanctuary site has yielded many artifacts of value, especially those inscribed with Phoenician texts, such as the Bodashtart inscriptions and the Eshmun inscription, providing valuable insight into the site's history and that of ancient Sidon. The Eshmun Temple was improved during the early Roman Empire with a colonnade street, but declined after earthquakes and fell into oblivion as Christianity replaced polytheism and its large limestone blocks were used to build later structures. The temple site was rediscovered in 1900 by local treasure hunters who stirred the curiosity of international scholars. Maurice Dunand, a French archaeologist, thoroughly excavated the site from 1963 until the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975. After the end of the hostilities and the retreat of Israel from Southern Lebanon, the site was rehabilitated and inscribed to the World Heritage Site tentative list. ## Eshmun Eshmun (Latinized form of the Phoenician ) was the Phoenician god of healing and renewal of life; he was one of the most important divinities of the Phoenician pantheon and the main male divinity of Sidon. Originally a nature divinity, and a god of spring vegetation, Eshmun was equated to Babylonian deity Tammuz. His role later expanded within the Phoenician pantheon, and he gained celestial and cosmic attributes. The myth of Eshmun was related by the sixth century Syrian Neoplatonist philosopher Damascius and ninth century Patriarch of Constantinople, Photius. They recount that Eshmun, a young man from Beirut, was hunting in the woods when Astarte saw him and was stricken by his beauty. She harassed him with her amorous pursuit until he emasculated himself with an axe and died. The grieving goddess revived Eshmun and transported him to the heavens where she made him into a god of heaven. From a historical perspective, the first written mention of Eshmun goes back to 754 BC, the date of the signing of the treaty between Assyrian king Ashur-nirari V and Mati'el, king of Arpad; Eshmun figures in the text as a patron of the treaty. Eshmun was identified with Asclepius as a result of the Hellenic influence over Phoenicia; the earliest evidence of this equation is given by coins from Amrit and Acre from the third century BC. This fact is exemplified by the Hellenized names of the Awali river which was dubbed Asclepius fluvius, and the Eshmun Temple's surrounding groves, known as the groves of Asclepius. ## History ### Historical background In the 9th century BC, the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II conquered the Lebanon mountain range and its coastal cities. The new sovereigns exacted tribute from Sidon, along with every other Phoenician city. These payments stimulated Sidon's search for new means of provisioning and furthered Phoenician emigration and expansion, which peaked in the 8th century BC. When Assyrian king Sargon II died in 705 BC, King Luli joined with the Egyptians and Judah in an unsuccessful rebellion against Assyrian rule, but was forced to flee to Kition (modern Larnaca in Cyprus) with the arrival of the Assyrian army headed by Sennacherib, Sargon II's son and successor. Sennacherib instated Ittobaal on the throne of Sidon and reimposed the annual tribute. When Abdi-Milkutti ascended to Sidon's throne in 680 BC, he also rebelled against the Assyrians. In response, the Assyrian king Esarhaddon laid siege to the city. Abdi-Milkutti was captured and beheaded in 677 BC after a three-year siege, while his city was destroyed and renamed Kar-Ashur-aha-iddina (the harbor of Esarhaddon). Sidon was stripped of its territory, which was awarded to Baal I, the king of rival Tyre, and loyal vassal to Esarhaddon. Baal I and Esarhaddon signed a treaty in 675 in which Eshmun's name features as one of the deities invoked as guarantors of the covenant. ### Construction Sidon returned to its former level of prosperity while Tyre was besieged for 13 years (586–573 BC) by the Chaldean king Nebuchadnezzar II. Nevertheless, the Sidonian king was still held in exile at the court of Babylon. Sidon reclaimed its former standing as Phoenicia's chief city in the Achaemenid Empire (c.529–333 BC). Eshmunazar I, a priest of Astarte, and the founder of his namesake dynasty, became king around the time of the Achaemenid conquest of the Levant. Archaeological evidence suggest that, at the time of the advent of the Eshmunazar dynasty, there already was a cultic space on the site of the temple, but there were no monumental constructions yet. Originally, the center of worship may have been a cave or a spring. In the following years, Xerxes I awarded king Eshmunazar II with the Sharon plain for employing Sidon's fleet in his service during the Greco-Persian Wars. Eshmunazar II displayed his new-found wealth by constructing numerous temples to Sidonian divinities. Inscriptions found on the king's sarcophagus reveal that he and his mother, Amoashtart, built temples to the gods of Sidon, including the Temple of Eshmun by the "Ydll source near the cistern".As the Bodashtart inscriptions on the foundations of the monumental podium attest, construction of the sanctuary's podium did not begin until the reign of King Bodashtart. The first set of inscriptions bears the name of Bodashtart alone, while the second contains his name and that of the crown prince Yatonmilk. Thirty foundation inscriptions are known to date; they were found concealed in the interior of the podium. The practice of intentional inscription concealment can be traced back to Mesopotamian roots, and it has parallels in the royal buildings of the Achaemenids in Persia and Elam. A Phoenician inscription, located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) upstream from the temple, that dates to the 7th year of Bodashtart's reign, alludes to water adduction works from the Awali river to the "Ydll" source that was used for ritual purification at the temple. ### Roman era and decline The Eshmun sanctuary was damaged by an earthquake in the fourth century BC, which demolished the marble temple atop the podium; this structure was not rebuilt but many chapels and temples were later annexed at the base of the podium. The temple site remained a place of pilgrimage in the classical antiquity during the early Roman Empire and until the advent of Christianity, when the cult of Eshmun was banned during the Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire and a Christian church was built at the temple site across the Roman street from the podium. A Roman colonnade was built in the third century, probably by emperor Septimius Severus, and a Roman Villa showed a period of renewed relative importance for the city during the late period of Phoenicia under Roman rule. Furthermore, within the original Phoenician temple site the Romans added the processional stairway, the basins for ablutions and a nymphaeum with pictorial mosaics, that are still largely intact. Worn statuettes of three nymphs stand in the niches of a Roman fountain. Another earthquake hit Sidon around 570 AD; Antoninus of Piacenza, an Italian Christian pilgrim, described the city as partly in ruins. For many years after the disappearance of the cult of Eshmun, the sanctuary site was used as a quarry: Emir Fakhr-al-Din II used its massive blocks to build a bridge over the Awali river in the 17th century. The site later fell into oblivion until the 19th century ### Modern discovery Between 1737 and 1742, Richard Pococke, an English anthropologist, toured the Middle East and wrote of what he thought were ruins of defensive walls built with 3.7-metre (12 ft) stone blocks near the Awali river. When the French orientalist Ernest Renan visited the area in 1860, he noticed that the Awali bridge abutments were built of finely rusticated blocks that originated from an earlier structure. He also noted in his report, Mission de Phénicie, that a local treasure hunter told him of a large edifice near the Awali bridge. The discovery was made in 1900 by four workers who were extracting blocks from the temple on behalf of Druze notable Nassib Jumblatt. They noticed that certain blocks had inscriptions with the engravings painted in red. A local antiques dealer bought three of the stones, all with the same inscription. Due to the enormous size of the blocks, they were cut down to just 15 or 20 cm in thickness, and some stones were also cut into two or three pieces. The Ottoman authorities dispatched Theodore Makridi, curator of the Museum of Constantinople, who cleared the temple remains between 1901 and 1903. Wilhelm Von Landau also excavated the site between 1903 and 1904. In 1920, Gaston Contenau headed a team of archaeologists who surveyed the temple complex. The first extensive archaeological excavation revealing the Eshmun Temple remains was undertaken by Maurice Dunand between 1963 and 1975. Archaeological evidence shows that the site was occupied from the seventh century BC to the eighth century AD. ### After 1975 During the Lebanese Civil War and the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon (1985–2000), the temple site was neglected and was invaded by vegetation overgrowth; it was cleared and recovered its former condition after the Israeli withdrawal. Today the Eshmun sanctuary can be visited all year round and free of charge, it is accessible from an exit ramp off the main Southern Lebanon highway near Sidon's northern entrance. The site holds a particular archaeological importance since it is the best preserved Phoenician site in Lebanon; it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List's Cultural category on July 1, 1996. In literature, the temple of Eshmun figures in Nabil Saleh's 2009 novel, The Curse of Ezekiel as the setting where Bomilcar falls in love and rescues princess Chiboulet from the evil design of one of the temple's priests. ## Location A number of ancient texts mention the Eshmun Temple and its location. The Phoenician inscriptions on the sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II, a Sidonian king, commemorate the construction of a "house" for the "holy prince" Eshmun by the king and his mother, queen Amashtart, at the "Ydll source by the cistern". Dionysius Periegetes, an ancient Greek travel writer, identified the Eshmun temple by the Bostrenos River, and Antonin de Plaisance, a 6th-century AD Italian pilgrim recorded the shrine as near the river Asclepius fluvius. Strabo and other Sidonian sources describe the sanctuary and its surrounding "sacred forests" of Asclepius, the Hellenized name of Eshmun, in written texts. Located about 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Beirut and 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) northeast of Sidon, the Eshmun Temple sits on the southern bank of the modern Awali river, previously referred to as Bostrenos or Asclepius fluvius in ancient texts. Citrus groves, known as Bustan el-Sheikh (Arabic: بستان الشيخ, the grove of the Sheikh), occupy the ancient "sacred forests" of Asclepius and are a favorite summer picnic location for locals. ## Architecture and description Built under Babylonian rule (605–539 BC), the oldest monument at the site was a pyramidal building resembling a ziggurat that included an access ramp to a water cistern. Fragments of an early, Babylonian-style temple survived into modern time; these include marble torus-shaped column bases with moldings, facetted columns, and bull protome capitals. The Babylonian-style temple was dismantled around the middle of the 4th century BC. The remains of the demolished temple were cast in a favissa that only contained material dating from the 5th and first half of the 4th century BC. The pyramidal structure was superimposed during the Persian period by a massive ashlar podium constructed from heavily bossed limestone blocks that measured more than 3 metres (9.8 ft) across by 1 metre (3.3 ft) thick, which were laid down in courses 1-metre (3.3 ft) high. The podium stands 22 metres (72 ft) high, runs 50 metres (160 ft) into the hillside, and boasts a 70-metre (230 ft) wide façade. The terrace atop of the podium was once covered by a Greco-Persian style marble temple built in the Ionic order around 500 BC. The marble temple has been reduced to a few remaining stone fragments due to theft. During the Hellenistic period, the sanctuary was extended from the base of the podium across the valley. To the east base of the podium stands a large chapel, 10.5 by 11.5 metres (34 ft × 38 ft), dating to the 4th century BC. The chapel was adorned with a paved pool and a large stone "Throne of Astarte" carved of a single block of granite in the Egyptian style; it is flanked by two sphinx figures and surrounded by two lion sculptures. The throne, attributed to the Sidonian goddess Astarte, rests against the chapel wall, which is embellished by relief sculptures of hunting scenes. The once important Astarte basin lost its function during the 2nd century AD and was filled with earth and statue fragments. The west base contains another 4th-century BC chapel—centered on a bull protome topped capital—that remains preserved at the National Museum of Beirut. Widely known as the "Tribune of Eshmun" because of its shape, the altar of Eshmun is a white marble structure dating to the 4th century BC. It is 2.15 metres (7.1 ft) long by 2.26 metres (7.4 ft) wide and 2.17 metres (7.1 ft) tall. Unearthed in 1963 by Maurice Dunand, it stands on a limestone socleplated with marble blocks that rest against a retaining wall. The altar is adorned with Hellenistic style relief sculptures and is framed by decorative moldings, one of which divides the altar into two distinct registers of symmetrical composition. The upper register portrays 18 Greek deities, including two charioteers surrounding the Greek god Apollo, who is depicted playing a cithara (a type of lyre). The lower register honors Dionysus, who leads his thiasos (his ecstatic retinue) in a dance to the music of pipe and cithara players. The Tribune is displayed at the National Museum of Beirut. Northeast of the site, another 3rd century BC temple stands adjacent to the Astarte chapel. Its 22-metre (72 ft) façade is built with large limestone blocks and displays a two-register relief decoration illustrating a drunken revelry in honor of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine. Among the temple reliefs, one shows a man attempting to seize a large rooster which was the common sacrificial animal for Eshmun-Asclepius. The Eshmun Temple complex comprises an elaborate hydraulic installation channeling water from "Ydll" spring that is made up of an intricate system of water canals, a series of retaining basins, sacred ablution basins and paved pools. This system demonstrates the importance of ritual ablutions in Phoenician therapeutic cults. Later vestiges date from the Roman epoch and include a colonnaded road lined with shops. Of the large marble columns bordering the Roman street only fragments and bases remain. The Romans also built a monumental staircase adorned with mosaic patterns that leads to the top of the podium. To the right of the Roman road, near the entrance of the site stands a nymphaeum with niches where statues of the nymphs once stood. The floor of the nymphaeum is covered by a mosaic depicting the Maenads. Across the colonnaded road, facing the nymphaeum, are the ruins of a Roman villa; only the villa's courtyard has survived along with the remains of a mosaic depicting the four seasons. To the right of the processional Roman staircase stands a cubic altar, also of Roman construction. Other Roman period structures include two columns of a great portico leading to pools and other cultic installations. ## Function Eshmun's cult enjoyed a particular importance at Sidon as he was the chief deity after 500 BC. Aside from the extramural sanctuary at Bustan el-Sheikh, Eshmun also had a temple within the city. The extramural Eshmun Temple was associated with purification and healing; ritual lustral ablutions were performed in the sanctuary's sacred basins supplemented by running water from the Asclepius River and the "Ydll" spring water which was considered to have a sacred character and therapeutic quality. The healing attributions of Eshmun were combined with his divine consort Astarte's fertilizing powers; the latter had an annex chapel with a sacred paved pool within the Eshmun sanctuary. Pilgrims from all over the ancient world flocked to the Eshmun Temple leaving votive traces of their devotion and proof of their cure. There is evidence that from the 3rd century BC onwards there have been attempts to Hellenize the cult of Eshmun and to associate him with his Greek counterpart Asclepius, but the sanctuary retained its curative function. ## Artifacts and finds Apart from the large decorative elements, carved friezes and mosaics which were left in situ, many artifacts were recovered and moved from the Eshmun Temple to the national museum, the Louvre or are in possession of the Lebanese directorate general of antiquities. Some of these smaller finds include a collection of inscribed ostraca unearthed by Dunand providing rare examples of cursive Phoenician writing in the Phoenician mainland. One of the recovered ostracon bears the theophoric Phoenician name "grtnt" which suggests that veneration of the lunar-goddess Tanit occurred in Sidon.A number of fragmented votive life-size sculptures of little children lying on their side and holding a pet animal or a small object were also recovered at the temple site; among the best known of these is the Baalshillem Temple Boy, a sculpture of a royal child holding a dove with his right hand. The boy's head is shaved, his torso is bare and his lower body is wrapped in a large cloth. The socle of this sculpture is inscribed with a dedication from Baalshillem II, a Sidonian king to Eshmun, which illustrates the importance of the site to the Sidonian monarchy. These votive sculptures appear to have been purposely broken after dedication to Eshmun and then ceremoniously cast into the sacred canal, probably simulating the sacrifice of the sick child. All of these sculptures represent boys. A31.5 cm × 27 cm (12.4 in × 10.6 in) limestone bust of a Kouros dating from the 6th century BC was found at the site, but unlike the archaic Greek kouroi this figure is not bare. Among the notable finds is a golden plaque showing a snake curling on a staff, a Hellenic symbol of Eshmun. and a granite altar bearing the name of Egyptian Pharaoh Achoris uncovered in the Eshmun sanctuary. This gift attests to the good relations between the Pharaoh and the kings of Sidon. The repute of the sanctuary was far reaching. Cypriot pilgrims from Paphos left marks of their devotion for Astarte on a marble stele inscribed both in Greek and Cypriot syllabary at Astarte's shrine; this stele is now in the custody of the Lebanese directorate general of antiquities. ## Pillaging Treasure hunters have sought out the Eshmun Temple since antiquity; around 1900 artifacts bearing Phoenician inscriptions from the temple site found their way to Beirut's antiquities markets where they stirred the interest of the Ottoman authorities and prompted a series of archeological digs. During the civil war, upon a request from then Lebanese director general of antiquities Maurice Chehab, Maurice Dunand moved more than 2000 artifacts from Sidon to a subterranean chamber at the Byblos crusader castle, 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of Beirut. In 1981, the depot was looted and around 600 sculptures and architectural elements were stolen and smuggled out of Lebanon. Rolf Stucky, ex-director of the Institute of Classical Archaeology of Basel affirmed during a conference in Beirut in December 2009 the successful identification and return of eight sculptures to the Lebanese national museum. ## See also - Phoenician sanctuary of Kharayeb - Roman temple of Bziza - Stucky's drawings architectural elements and reconstructed model of the Temple of Eshmun
485,363	HMAS Melbourne (R21)	1,157,043,476	1955–1982 Majestic-class aircraft carrier of Royal Australian Navy	[ "1945 ships", "Cold War aircraft carriers of Australia", "Majestic-class aircraft carriers of the Royal Australian Navy", "Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness" ]	HMAS Melbourne (R21) was a Majestic-class light aircraft carrier operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from 1955 until 1982, and was the third and final conventional aircraft carrier to serve in the RAN. Melbourne was the only Commonwealth naval vessel to sink two friendly warships in peacetime collisions. Melbourne was laid down for the Royal Navy as the lead ship of the Majestic class in April 1943, and was launched as HMS Majestic (R77) in February 1945. At the end of the Second World War, work on the ship was suspended until she was purchased by the RAN in 1947. At the time of purchase, it was decided to incorporate new aircraft carrier technologies into the design, making Melbourne the third ship to be constructed with an angled flight deck. Delays in construction and integrating the enhancements meant that the carrier was not commissioned until 1955. Melbourne never fired a shot in anger during her service career, having only peripheral, non-combat roles in relation to the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation and the Vietnam War. She was, however, involved in two major collisions with allied vessels; though Melbourne was not found to be the primary cause of either incident. The first collision occurred on the evening of 10 February 1964, in which Melbourne rammed and sank the RAN destroyer , when the latter altered course across her bow. 82 of Voyager's personnel were killed, and two Royal Commissions were held to investigate the incident. The second collision occurred in the early morning of 3 June 1969, when Melbourne also rammed the United States Navy (USN) destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in similar circumstances. 74 American personnel died, and a joint USN–RAN Board of Inquiry was held. These incidents, along with several minor collisions, shipboard accidents and aircraft losses, led to the belief that Melbourne was jinxed. Melbourne was paid off from RAN service in 1982. A proposal to convert her for use as a floating casino failed, and a 1984 sale was cancelled, before she was sold for scrap in 1985 and towed to China for breaking. The scrapping was delayed so Melbourne could be studied by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) as part of a secret project to develop a Chinese aircraft carrier and used to train PLAN aviators in carrier flight operations. ## Construction and acquisition Melbourne was constructed by Vickers-Armstrongs at their Naval Construction Yard in Barrow-in-Furness, North West England. The ship was laid down as HMS Majestic on 15 April 1943, and was launched on 28 February 1945 by Lady Anderson, the wife of Sir John Anderson, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer. Following the end of World War II, the Admiralty ordered the suspension of many British shipbuilding projects, including the fitting out of Majestic and her five sister ships. Construction resumed in 1946, and major modifications to the design were incorporated. A review by the Australian Government's Defence Committee held after World War II recommended that the post-war forces of the RAN be structured around a Task Force incorporating multiple aircraft carriers. Initial plans were for three carriers, with two active and a third in reserve, although funding cuts led to the purchase of only two carriers in June 1947: Majestic and sister ship HMS Terrible, for the combined cost of AU£2.75 million, plus stores, fuel, and ammunition. As Terrible was the closer of the two ships to completion, she was finished without modification, and was commissioned into the RAN on 16 December 1948 as . Work progressed on Majestic at a slower rate, as she was upgraded with the latest technology and equipment. The Colossus-class carrier HMS Vengeance was loaned to the RAN from 13 November 1952 until 12 August 1955 to cover Majestic's absence. The Majestic experienced delays in its construction due to labour difficulties, late delivery of equipment, additional requirements for Australian operations and the prioritisation of the construction of merchant ships. Incorporation of new systems and enhancements caused the cost of the RAN carrier acquisition program to increase to AU£8.3 million. Construction and fitting out did not finish until October 1955. As the carrier neared completion, a commissioning crew was formed in Australia and first used to return Vengeance to the United Kingdom. The completed carrier was commissioned into the RAN as HMAS Majestic on 26 October 1955. Two days later, the ship was renamed Melbourne by Lady White, the wife of Sir Thomas White, the Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, and recommissioned. ## Design As the lead ship of the Majestic-class of light aircraft carriers, Melbourne was conceived as a modified version of the Colossus-class carrier, incorporating improvements in flight deck design and habitability. Majestic- and Colossus-class carriers were almost identical in hull design and both were considered subclasses of the "1942 design" light aircraft carrier program. These carriers were intended as "disposable warships": to be disposed of at the end of World War II or within three years of entering service. Melbourne had a standard displacement of 15,740 long tons (17,630 short tons), which increased to 20,000 long tons (22,000 short tons) at full load. At launch, the carrier was 213.97 metres (702.0 ft) long overall, but this was increased by 2.43 metres (8.0 ft) during a refit in 1969. She had a beam of 24.38 metres (80.0 ft), and a draught of 7.62 metres (25.0 ft). Melbourne's two propellers were driven by two Parsons single-reduction geared turbine sets providing 40,000 shp, which were powered by four Admiralty 3-drum boilers. The carrier could achieve a top speed of 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph), and a range of 12,000 nautical miles (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) or 6,200 nautical miles (11,500 km; 7,100 mi) at 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph). The size of the ship's company averaged 1,350 officers and sailors, including 350 personnel from the embarked Fleet Air Arm squadrons. ### Modifications during construction Following the recommencement of construction, modifications were made to the ship, based on wartime experience and Britain's post-war carrier warfare technology and innovations. These included an angled flight deck, steam catapult and a mirror landing aid, making Melbourne the third aircraft carrier (following HMS Ark Royal and USS Forrestal) to be constructed with these features, instead of having them added later. The main modifications centred around the need to operate jet aircraft, which were larger and heavier than those propeller-driven aircraft that the carrier was originally designed for. The flight deck was angled 5.5 degrees left of the carrier's centreline, to allow for the simultaneous launch and recovery of aircraft. Despite an increase to approximately one acre (4,000 square metres, 4,800 square yards) in area, the deck was still significantly smaller than other Cold War era carriers; S-2 Trackers, with their 22.12-metre (72 ft 7 in) wingspan, had less than a metre's clearance for their starboard wingtip when landing, and pilots from other navies often refused to attempt landing. Water rationing was required in the early years of the carrier's operation, as the ship's fresh water supply was insufficient to freely provide for the steam catapult, propulsion turbines and crew. The flight deck, hangar deck and aircraft lifts were strengthened, and reinforced arrestor cables were installed. Flight direction radar was included, making Melbourne the only military airfield in the Australasian region at the time capable of operating aircraft at night and in poor weather. ### Refits Early in her career, Melbourne underwent a series of short annual refits, commencing in September and ending in January or February of the next year. As time passed, the refits increased in duration or were replaced by major upgrades or overhauls. Melbourne's first major refit started in December 1967 and continued until February 1969, during which she was upgraded to operate S-2 Tracker and A-4 Skyhawk aircraft. The modifications cost A\$8.5 million, and included an overhaul of the hull and machinery, strengthening of the flight deck, improvements to the catapult and arrestor cables, modification of the aviation fuel systems and flight control arrangements, and upgrades of the navigational aids and radar. Air conditioning systems and a liquid oxygen generation plant were also installed. Melbourne re-entered service at the conclusion of the refits on 14 February, and performed sea trials in Jervis Bay from 17 February until 5 May. This was the largest project undertaken by Garden Island Dockyard to that date. The next major refit was required in 1971 for the scheduled rebuilding of the catapult, which was only possible after components were sourced from and USS Coral Sea. The flight deck was again reinforced and strengthened, and attempts were made to increase the effectiveness of the air conditioning system installed in 1969. Melbourne had been designed to operate in North Atlantic and Arctic climates, and the original ventilation systems were inappropriate for her primary operating climate, the tropics. The 1969 and 1971 refits did improve conditions, although there was little scope for upgrade, and the system was still inadequate: temperatures inside the ship continued to reach over 65 °C (149 °F), and on one occasion a hold reached 78 °C (172 °F). The refit took seven months to complete, and cost A\$2 million. More large-scale refits occurred throughout the rest of the 1970s. Melbourne was back in dock from November 1972 until August 1973, with further work done to her catapult. The next major refit ran from April 1975 to June 1976, and was intended to increase the operational lifespan of the carrier to at least 1985. The refit was lengthened by industrial action at the dockyard. Melbourne underwent another refit from late 1978 until August 1979. A refit scheduled to begin in late 1981 was postponed in September until a decision regarding the new carrier was made, then cancelled in January 1982, after the announcement that the RAN would be acquiring HMS Invincible. ## Armament Melbourne carried a defensive armament of anti-aircraft guns and an air group comprising both attack and anti-submarine aircraft. As the ship was never directly involved in a conflict, her weapons and embarked aircraft did not fire a shot in anger. ### Weapons and systems Melbourne's initial armament included 25 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns: six twin and thirteen single mountings. The radar suite consisted of three Type 277Q height-finding sets, a Type 293Q surface search set, and a Type 978 navigational set. Between entering service and 1959, four of the single Bofors were removed. During the 1967–1969 refit, thirteen Bofors were removed, leaving four twin and four single mountings. The three 277Q radars were replaced with updated American and Dutch designs: a LW-02 air search set and a SPN-35 landing aid radar. A TACAN aerial and electronic countermeasures pods were also installed during this refit. The four Bofors twin mountings were removed in 1980. ### Aircraft Melbourne carried three Fleet Air Arm squadrons. Initially, she had up to 22 fixed wing and 2 rotary wing aircraft embarked at any time. The number of aircraft gradually increased until 1972, when the air group peaked at 27 aircraft. Approximately 350 Fleet Air Arm personnel were stationed aboard the carrier. Initially, two types of fixed-wing aircraft were operated from Melbourne. de Havilland Sea Venom FAW.53 fighter aircraft were flown by 805 Squadron RAN and 808 Squadron RAN, while Fairey Gannet anti-submarine strike aircraft were operated by 816 Squadron RAN and 817 Squadron RAN. At the time of their arrival, the Sea Venoms were the only radar equipped and all-weather combat aircraft in the Southern Hemisphere. At Melbourne's commissioning, the standard air group consisted of eight Sea Venoms and two squadrons of eight Gannets, with two Bristol Sycamore search-and-rescue helicopters added shortly after the carrier entered service. These aircraft were due to become obsolete in the late 1950s, and the RAN considered purchasing modern aircraft of French or Italian design, which were better suited to light carrier operations than equivalent British aircraft, or replace Melbourne with a larger carrier. Instead of pursuing either alternative, the Australian government announced in 1959 that Melbourne would be reconfigured during her 1963 refit to operate as a helicopter carrier. The fixed-wing aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm were marked for replacement by 27 Westland Wessex anti-submarine helicopters. A reduction of embarked plane numbers to four Sea Venoms and six Gannets, along with regular rotation and careful use of the aircraft, extended their service life until the mid-1960s, while the size of the air group was maintained by carrying up to ten Wessex helicopters. The decision to retire the fixed-wing component of the Fleet Air Arm was rescinded in 1963, and on 10 November 1964, a AU£212 million increase in defence spending included the purchase of new aircraft for Melbourne. The RAN planned to acquire 14 Grumman S-2E Tracker anti-submarine aircraft, and modernise Melbourne to operate the aircraft. The acquisition of 18 Douglas A-4 Skyhawk fighter-bombers was also suggested, but these were dropped from the initial plan. A separate proposal to order 10 A-4G Skyhawks, a variant of the Skyhawk designed specifically for the RAN and optimised for air defence, was approved in 1965. Both aircraft types entered RAN service in 1968, with the Trackers operated by 816 Squadron RAN and 851 Squadron RAN, and the Skyhawks by 805 Squadron RAN and 724 Squadron RAN. The aircraft did not fly from Melbourne until the conclusion of her refit in 1969. In 1969, the RAN purchased another ten A-4G Skyhawks, instead of the proposed seventh and eighth Oberon-class submarines. Melbourne operated a standard air group of four Skyhawks, six Trackers, and ten Wessex helicopters until 1972, when the Wessexes were replaced with ten Westland Sea King anti-submarine warfare helicopters and the number of Skyhawks doubled. Although replaced by the Sea King, up to three Wessex helicopters could be carried as search-and-rescue aircraft. On 5 December 1976, a fire at the Naval Air Station destroyed or heavily damaged 12 of the Fleet Air Arm's 13 S-2E Trackers. The carrier was sent to the United States in 1977 to transport back 16 S-2G Tracker aircraft as replacements. Over the course of her career, over thirty aircraft were either lost or heavily damaged while operating from Melbourne. The majority of the aircraft ditched or crashed over the side, but some losses were due to catapult or arrestor cable failures. After Melbourne was decommissioned, the Fleet Air Arm ceased fixed-wing combat aircraft operation in 1984, with the final Tracker flight saluting the decommissioned carrier. ## Role Melbourne was the third and final conventional aircraft carrier to operate with the RAN. Following the first decommissioning of sister ship in 1958, Melbourne became the only aircraft carrier in Australian service. Melbourne was unavailable to provide air cover for the RAN for up to four months in every year; this time was required for refits, refuelling, personnel leave, and non-carrier duties, such as the transportation of troops or aircraft. Although one of the largest ships to serve in the RAN, Melbourne was one of the smallest carriers to operate in the post-World War II period. A decision was made in 1959 to restrict Melbourne's role to helicopter operations only, but was reversed shortly before its planned 1963 implementation. As well as an operational aircraft carrier, Melbourne was Flagship of the RAN, a role she received almost immediately following her 1956 arrival in Australia, and fulfilled until her decommissioning in 1982. During her service, the carrier was deployed overseas on 35 occasions, visited over 22 countries, and was seen as the physical and psychological centrepiece of the RAN fleet. As Melbourne was the only ship of her size (both in dimensions and ship's company) in the RAN, the carrier underwent a regular rotation of commanding officers to give them experience. Commanding officers were changed on average every fifteen months, with few remaining on board for more than two years. The majority of Melbourne's commanders later reached flag rank. The carrier was also called on to perform underway replenishments and command and control functions. ## Operational history ### 1955–1964 Following a working-up period in British waters, Melbourne departed Glasgow on 11 March 1956 on her maiden voyage to Australia via the Suez Canal. Aboard were the 64 aircraft of RAN squadrons 808, 816, and 817, as well as the racing yacht Samuel Pepys (named after the English naval administrator and diarist), which was a gift to the RAN Sailing Association from the Royal Navy. The ship visited Gibraltar, Naples, Malta, Port Said, Aden, and Colombo, before arriving in Fremantle on 24 April 1956. Melbourne sailed east via the Great Australian Bight, meeting sister ship near Kangaroo Island a week later. After visiting Melbourne and Jervis Bay, where the aircraft were offloaded and sent to Naval Air Station , the carrier concluded her maiden voyage in Sydney on 10 May. The role of flagship was transferred from Sydney to Melbourne three days later. The carrier immediately underwent a two and a half-month refit, allowing for the inspection of machinery and repair of defects detected during the maiden voyage. Melbourne spent from September to November in Southeast Asian waters, during which she participated in Exercise Albatross and received an official visit by Philippines president Ramon Magsaysay. On return to Australia in mid-November, the carrier visited Melbourne for the 1956 Olympics, where 200 of Melbourne's complement were provided to work as signallers, event marshals, carpenters, and medical workers. In February 1957, Melbourne was sent to the Royal Hobart Regatta. Following this, she travelled to New Zealand, where she participated in exercises with HMNZS Royalist and visited several New Zealand ports. The first of several annual three-month deployments to Southeast Asia as part of the Far East Strategic Reserve began in April, with Melbourne returning to Darwin at the end of June. The carrier spent the rest of the year visiting Australian ports for open inspections by the public. During the visit to Port Adelaide, on 28 October 1957, Melbourne was slightly damaged when she was struck by MV Straat Lanka—the first of several minor collisions the carrier would experience throughout her career. Operations for the year concluded with participation in Exercise Astrolabe off Lord Howe Island, with ships from the RAN, Royal Navy, and Royal New Zealand Navy, before returning to Sydney on 13 December. From February until July 1958, Melbourne was deployed on a 25,000-nautical-mile (46,000 km; 29,000 mi) flag-showing cruise. During this cruise the carrier participated in four inter-fleet exercises and visited Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Pearl Harbor and Fiji. On return to Sydney, Melbourne entered a short refit, which concluded on 13 October and was immediately followed by a visit to Port Phillip, where the carrier was displayed to Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force officer cadets before the carrier returned to Sydney. At the start of 1959, Melbourne spent four days in her namesake city, where she was used for the filming of On The Beach, based on Nevil Shute's post-apocalyptic novel of the same name. After filming concluded, the carrier participated in a demonstration exercise off the coast of Sydney before embarking on a Far East Strategic Reserve deployment from March until May. The rest of the year was spent visiting Australian and New Zealand ports. The following year, 1960, was a bad year for the carrier's air group, with four Sea Venoms and two Gannets damaged in separate incidents aboard Melbourne. All four Sea Venom incidents occurred in March, with three attributed to aircrew error and one to brake failure. The year began with exercises en route to Adelaide, followed by a visit to the Royal Hobart Regatta. The carrier's Strategic Reserve deployment ran from April to June, and was followed by manoeuvres along the east coast of Australia until September. In the lead up to Melbourne's 1961 deployment to the Strategic Reserve, the carrier visited Bombay, Karachi, and Trincomalee. It was the first time a flagship of the RAN had entered Indian waters. Melbourne returned to Australia in June, and on 15 June led several ships in a ceremonial entry to Sydney Harbour to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the RAN. In August, Melbourne was called upon to lead Exercise Tuckerbox, in the Coral Sea. Following the conclusion of Tuckerbox, the carrier visited several New Zealand ports before returning to Sydney for demonstration exercises and public relations activities. In 1962, Melbourne began the year's activities at the Royal Hobart Regatta, before sailing to her Strategic Reserve deployment, by way of Adelaide and Fremantle. After Strategic Reserve duties were completed, the carrier visited Japan, Guam, and Manus Island before returning to Sydney in late July. In September, Melbourne reprised her role as the leader of Exercise Tuckerbox II. The 10,000th catapult launch from Melbourne occurred in late 1962. The carrier's annual refit began in Sydney on 1 October. At the beginning of 1963, Melbourne again visited to the Royal Hobart Regatta, which was immediately followed by a deployment to the Strategic Reserve, including involvement in SEATO Exercise Sea Serpent. The 20,000th landing on Melbourne was performed in April by a Gannet, and in September, Melbourne participated in Exercise Carbine near Hervey Bay, Queensland. ### Voyager collision On 10 February 1964, Melbourne was performing trials in Jervis Bay under the command of Captain John Robertson, following the annual refit. The Daring-class destroyer was also present, undergoing her own trials following refit, under the command of Captain Duncan Stevens. The trials involved interactions between both ships, and when Melbourne performed night-flying exercises that evening, Voyager acted as the carrier's plane guard escort. This required Voyager to maintain a position 20° off Melbourne's port quarter at a distance from the carrier of 1,500 to 2,000 yards (1,400 to 1,800 m). Early in the evening, Voyager had no difficulties maintaining her position during the manoeuvres both ships performed. Following a series of turns intended to reverse the courses of both ships beginning at 8:40 pm, Voyager ended up to starboard of Melbourne. At 8:52 pm, Voyager was ordered to resume the plane guard station. The procedure to accomplish this required Voyager to turn away from Melbourne in a large circle, cross behind the carrier, then take position off Melbourne's port side. Instead, Voyager first turned to starboard, away from Melbourne, then turned to port without warning. It was initially assumed by Melbourne's bridge crew that Voyager was conducting a series of tight turns to lose speed before swinging behind Melbourne, but Voyager did not alter course again. At 8:55 pm, with Voyager approaching, Melbourne's navigator ordered the carrier's engines to half astern speed, with Robertson ordering an increase to full astern a few seconds later. At the same time, Stevens, having just become aware of the situation, gave the order "Full ahead both engines. Hard-a starboard.", before instructing the destroyer's Quartermaster to announce that a collision was imminent. Both ships' measures were too late to avoid a collision; Melbourne hit Voyager at 8:56 pm. Melbourne struck Voyager just aft of the destroyer's bridge, rolling the destroyer to starboard before cutting her in half. Voyager's forward boiler exploded, briefly setting fire to the bow of the carrier before it was extinguished by seawater. The destroyer's forward section sank quickly, under the weight of the two 4.5-inch (110 mm) gun turrets. The aft section did not begin sinking until half an hour after the collision, completely submerging just after midnight. Messages were immediately sent to the Fleet Headquarters in Sydney, although staff in Sydney initially underestimated the extent of the damage to Voyager. Melbourne launched her boats to recover survivors, and the carrier's wardroom and C Hangar were prepared for casualties. At 9:58 pm, Melbourne was informed that search-and-rescue boats from , helicopters from , and five Ton-class minesweepers had been despatched to assist in the search. Melbourne arrived in Sydney with the survivors on 14 February, and after spending time alongside at Garden Island, was moved to Cockatoo Island Dockyard on 25 March, where repairs were undertaken; the damaged section of the bow was cut away and repairs to the ship's internal structure were undertaken in drydock, while a 40-ton prefabricated bow was constructed. Once this was completed, Melbourne was removed while the new bow was put in place in the drydock. The work was completed on 27 April, with the shipyard receiving a commendation. Of the 314 personnel aboard Voyager at the time of the collision, 14 officers, 67 sailors, and 1 civilian dockyard worker were killed, including Stevens and all but two of the bridge team. A Royal Commission into the events of the collision was held in 1964, and found that while Voyager'''s crew was primarily at fault for neglecting to maintain an effective lookout and awareness of the larger ship's location, Melbourne's bridge crew was also at fault, for failing to alert Voyager and not taking measures to avoid the collision. Robertson was posted to the training base —a move that he and the Australian media saw as tantamount to a demotion—but resigned instead. The Royal Commission and its aftermath were poorly handled, and following pressure from the public, media, and politicians, combined with revelations by Voyager's former executive officer that Stevens may have been unfit for command, a second Royal Commission was opened in 1967. This is the only time in Australian history two Royal Commissions have been held for a single incident. The second commission found that Stevens was medically unfit for command and that some of the findings of the first Royal Commission were therefore based on incorrect assumptions. Robertson and the other officers of Melbourne were absolved of blame for the incident. ### 1964–1969 Melbourne spent ten weeks at Cockatoo Island Dockyard, having her new bow fitted. Following the repairs, Melbourne was involved in Strategic Reserve deployments and exercises in Southeast Asia from June until September 1964. During this deployment, the carrier visited Subic Bay, where the RAN performed flight deck trials with S-2 Tracker anti-submarine aircraft and A-4 Skyhawk attack fighters. The success of the trials, along with the discovery that Melbourne was able to operate both aircraft with relatively minor modification, led the Australian Government to approve the purchase of these aircraft. From March 1965 until mid-1967, Melbourne underwent a regular pattern of deployments to Southeast Asia, exercises, and flag-showing visits to nations in the Asia-Pacific region. Several of the Southeast Asian deployments were related to the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation, and involved participation in show of force exercises off the coast of Malaysia. During 1965 and 1966, Melbourne escorted sister ship , which had been recommissioned as a troop transport, for short periods during the latter's first, third, and fourth transport voyages to Vietnam. Despite the carrier being the centrepiece of several plans to involve Australian forces in the Vietnam War, the escort runs were the extent of Melbourne's participation in the conflict, and the carrier remained outside the Market Time area while Sydney and her other escorts proceeded to Vũng Tàu. As the carrier was optimised for anti-submarine warfare, there was little need for her at the start of the war. Utilising the carrier was suggested again by RAN officials in March 1966, when the United States Seventh Fleet was having difficulties maintaining anti-submarine patrols around Yankee Station, but Melbourne could only remain on station for a single, ten-day period, a third of the time that US carriers were operational for on rotating deployments. Seventh Fleet staff suggested in April 1967 that Melbourne deploy in the anti-submarine role, but nothing came of these talks. Consideration was also given to using Melbourne as a floating helicopter base, but only ten Wessex helicopters could be provided, and modifications were required for them to operate as troop carriers. Both options were made more prohibitive by the need to supply at least two escorts for the carrier at a time when the RAN was having difficulty meeting deployment commitments with the available destroyers and destroyer escorts. In September 1967, Melbourne travelled to the United States to collect new aircraft: 14 Trackers and 10 Skyhawks. To operate the new aircraft, the carrier received a major refit on her return to Sydney, which began in December 1967. In May 1967, it was proposed that while Melbourne was out of service, A-4 Skyhawk pilots and maintenance personnel could be attached to a United States Marine Corps Skyhawk squadron in South Vietnam. Australian aircraft were not to be provided, as the A-4G Skyhawks used by the RAN were optimised for air defence, not the fighter-bomber role performed by the Marines, and would have suffered heavy losses from North Vietnam's heavy anti-aircraft defences. This deployment did not occur; the Skyhawk pilot training program was experiencing delays because US squadrons were being shipped training equipment and replacement parts in priority to the RAN, and sending qualified pilots overseas would have caused further holdups with the program, while also disrupting Melbourne's post-refit reactivation. Melbourne re-entered service at the conclusion of the refit on 14 February 1969. She performed sea trials in Jervis Bay from 17 February until 5 May, then sailed for Subic Bay, Philippines, to participate in SEATO Exercise Sea Spirit. ### Frank E. Evans collision Melbourne's commanding officer during the SEATO exercise was Captain John Phillip Stevenson. Rear Admiral John Crabb, the Flag Officer Commanding Australian Fleet, was also embarked on the carrier. During Sea Spirit, Melbourne was assigned five escorts: US Ships Everett F. Larson, Frank E. Evans, and James E. Kyes, HMNZS Blackpool, and HMS Cleopatra. Stevenson held a dinner for the five escort captains at the start of the exercise, during which he recounted the events of the Melbourne–Voyager collision, emphasised the need for caution when operating near the carrier, and provided written instructions on how to avoid such a situation developing again. Additionally, during the lead up to the exercise, Admiral Crabb had strongly warned that all repositioning manoeuvres performed by the escorts had to commence with a turn away from Melbourne. Despite these warnings, a near-miss occurred in the early hours of 31 May when Larson turned towards the carrier after being ordered to the plane guard station. Subsequent action narrowly prevented a collision. The escorts were again warned about the dangers of operating near the carrier and informed of Stevenson's expectations, while the minimum distance between carrier and escorts was increased from 2,000 to 3,000 yards (1,800 to 2,700 m). On the night of 2–3 June 1969, Melbourne and her escorts were involved in anti-submarine training exercises in the South China Sea. In preparation for launching a Tracker, Stevenson ordered Evans to the plane guard station, reminded the destroyer of Melbourne's course, and instructed the carrier's navigational lights to be brought to full brilliance. Evans had performed the manoeuvre four times over the course of the night. Evans was positioned on Melbourne's port bow, but began the manoeuvre by turning starboard, towards the carrier. A radio message was sent from Melbourne to Evans' bridge and Combat Information Centre, warning the destroyer that she was on a collision course, which Evans acknowledged. Seeing the destroyer take no action and on a course to place herself under Melbourne's bow, Stevenson ordered the carrier hard to port, signalling the turn by both radio and siren blasts. At approximately the same time, Evans turned hard to starboard to avoid the approaching carrier. It is uncertain which ship began to manoeuvre first, but each ship's bridge crew claimed that they were informed of the other ship's turn after they commenced their own. After having narrowly passed in front of Melbourne, the turns quickly placed Evans back in the carrier's path. Melbourne hit Evans amidships at 3:15 am, cutting the destroyer in two. Seventy-four of the 273 personnel from Evans were killed in the collision, with the majority of these believed to have been asleep or trapped inside the bow section, which sank within minutes. Melbourne deployed her boats, life rafts, and lifebuoys, before carefully manoeuvring alongside the stern section of Evans, where both ships' crews used mooring lines to lash the ships together. Sailors from Melbourne dived from the flight deck into the water to rescue overboard survivors close to the carrier, while the carrier's boats and helicopters collected those farther out. All of the survivors were located within 12 minutes of the collision and rescued before half an hour had passed, although the search continued for fifteen more hours. After Evans' stern was evacuated, it was cast off, while the carrier moved away to avoid damage. The stern did not sink, and was later recovered, stripped of parts, and sunk for target practice. Following the collision, Melbourne travelled to Singapore for temporary repairs to her bow, arriving on 6 June. Melbourne departed Singapore on 27 June and arrived in Sydney on 9 July, where the carrier underwent almost identical repairs at Cockatoo Island Dockyard as in 1964 (primarily the installation of a new bow section). However, an industrial dispute amongst the shipyard workers meant that, although the work was completed in early September, the ship remained in the drydock until 11 October. A Joint RAN-USN board of inquiry was established to investigate the incident, and was in session over June and July 1969. The board found Evans partially at fault for the collision, but also faulted Melbourne for not taking evasive action sooner, even though international sea regulations dictated that in the lead-up to a collision, the larger ship was required to maintain course and speed. It was learned during the inquiry that Evans' commanding officer was asleep in his quarters at the time of the incident, and charge of the vessel was held by Lieutenants Ronald Ramsey and James Hopson; the former had failed the qualification exam to stand watch, while the latter was at sea for the first time. Subsequent to the inquiry, the three USN officers and Stevenson were court-martialled by their respective navies on charges of negligence, with the three USN officers found guilty and Stevenson 'Honourably Acquitted'. Despite the findings, Stevenson's next posting was as a minor flag officer's chief of staff, seen by him as a demotion in all but name. In a repeat of the aftermath of the Voyager collision, Melbourne's captain resigned amid accusations of scapegoating. In December 2012, Stevenson announced that he had received a letter from the Minister for Defence, apologising for his treatment by the RAN and the government of the day. ### 1970–1976 During the 1970s and early 1980s, replacing parts became an increasing problem. Components were failing due to wear and age, but the companies responsible for manufacturing the parts had gone out of business during the previous twenty years, sometimes immediately after World War II ended. The carrier's engineers often resorted to making replacements from scratch. The ship's catapult was replaced with parts from the decommissioned HMCS Bonaventure in 1970. In 1970, Melbourne participated in three major inter-navy exercises: Sea Rover with SEATO forces in the South China Sea, Bersatu Padu with British Commonwealth forces off Malaysia, and Swan Lake with the Royal Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy off Western Australia. During this year, the carrier also visited Japan to participate in Expo '70, and was hit by Manly ferry South Steyne while alongside at Garden Island, causing minor damage to both vessels. Melbourne was out of service for most of 1971 while she underwent refits, which concluded in early August. In mid-1971, the Australian military's Joint Planning Committee considered using Melbourne as a transport to help complete the withdrawal of the Australian Task Force from Vietnam before the end of 1971. While the Army supported this proposal, the Navy successfully argued against its implementation, claiming that transporting troops and cargo would be misusing Australia's only active aircraft carrier, and would prevent Melbourne from participating in several major multi-national exercises. The refit concluded in late 1971, with the carrier participating in the first RIMPAC exercise, RIMPAC 71, before the end of the year. Operations in 1972 commenced with a three-month deployment to Southeast Asia. During this deployment, Melbourne led a fleet of 17 ships from the RAN, Royal Navy, Royal New Zealand Navy, US Navy, Philippine Navy, and Royal Thai Navy in Exercise Sea Hawk. This was followed by goodwill visits to numerous Southeast Asian ports, including Hong Kong, Jakarta, Manila, Singapore, and Surabaya, before Melbourne returned to Sydney at the end of April. The carrier spent May performing exercises off the New South Wales coast, during which she was called on to rescue three fisherman who had been stranded at sea for the previous two days. In August, Melbourne sailed for Hawaii to participate in RIMPAC 72. At the conclusion of this exercise, Melbourne proceeded to Japan on a diplomatic visit, then sailed to the Philippines to exercise with SEATO ships. During this deployment, a fire ignited inside the ship's main switchboard. The carrier returned to Australia on 27 November after 101 days at sea, and underwent a seven-month refit. On 24 August 1973, Melbourne returned to Hawaii to participate in RIMPAC 73. She returned to Australia on 12 October, but sailed out ten days later to participate in Exercise Leadline off Malaysia, before reaching Sydney again in December. Melbourne began 1974 by transporting 120 Australian soldiers to a temporary assignment with an American infantry battalion based in Hawaii. She then sailed to San Francisco to collect 12 new Chinook and five UH-1 Iroquois helicopters for the Royal Australian Air Force, arriving in Australia with her cargo in April. In June, the carrier took part in Exercise Kangaroo in the Coral Sea, before returning to Sydney in July. On 11 July, the passenger liner SS Australis hit and damaged Melbourne in Sydney Harbour. In November, the carrier took part in disaster relief exercises. These were prophetic, as on the night of 24–25 December 1974, Cyclone Tracy destroyed the city of Darwin. Melbourne's ship's company was recalled immediately from leave, the ship was loaded with supplies, and the carrier departed Sydney on 26 December in the company of . Melbourne, Brisbane, and eleven other ships were deployed as part of the largest peacetime rescue effort ever organised by the RAN: Operation Navy Help Darwin. Melbourne remained off Darwin until 18 January 1975, acting as operational headquarters and a helicopter base. During this operation, the seven Wessex helicopters embarked on Melbourne performed 2,493 flights, carrying 7,824 passengers and 107 tons of cargo. Following Navy Help Darwin, Melbourne participated in RIMPAC 75, then returned to Sydney for a fourteen-month refit, which was delayed by industrial action at the dockyard. While moored in Sydney Harbour, on 24 July, Melbourne was struck by Japanese cargo ship Blue Andromeda. While working up following the refit, Melbourne and provided assistance to MV Miss Chief off the coast of Bundaberg, Queensland on 16 August 1976. In October, Melbourne participated in Exercise Kangaroo II, before sailing to her namesake city for the carrier's 21st birthday celebrations, then returning to Sydney on 5 November. ### 1976–1983 On 5 December 1976, a fire deliberately lit at by a member of the Fleet Air Arm damaged or destroyed all but one of Australia's S-2 Trackers. Following participation in RIMPAC 77, Melbourne was sent to San Diego to collect replacement aircraft. Arriving back in Sydney on 5 April, the carrier was sent on a five-month deployment to the United Kingdom on 28 April, accompanied by and . En route, Melbourne lost a Sea King in the Indian Ocean on 9 May, with the aircrew recovered by Brisbane. A Tracker from Melbourne located the disabled Dutch vessel Impala Princess in the Gulf of Aden on 25 May and directed a French destroyer to assist. Two Bofors naval guns were deposited by Melbourne at Souda Bay, Crete on 2 June, marking the first visit of an Australian warship to Crete since June 1941. These weapons were donated to the Australian War Memorial at Stavromenos, in Crete's Rethymno regional unit. The highlight of the deployment saw the three ships represent Australia and New Zealand at the Silver Jubilee Naval Review on 28 June 1977. A two-seat Harrier jump jet demonstrator undertook a series of trial takeoffs and landings aboard Melbourne on 30 June: a trial organised as part of the project overseeing the ship's potential replacement. Following the Jubilee Review and participation in Exercise Highwood in July, Melbourne and her escorts returned to Australia, arriving in Fremantle on 19 September and Sydney on 4 October. Melbourne was docked in Garden Island's drydock on arrival, where she remained until January 1978. At the end of March 1978, Melbourne left Sydney for RIMPAC 78. During this exercise, Melbourne acquired the nickname 'Little M' after working with 'Big E' USS Enterprise—the smallest and largest aircraft carriers (respectively) in operation at the time. On return in July, the carrier entered a major refit, which continued until 3 August 1979. During this refit, on 3 March, a boiler explosion caused minor damage to the carrier. The remainder of the year involved participation in three exercises, Tasmanex off Wellington, New Zealand, Sea Eagle I in the Tasman Sea, and Kangaroo III in the Coral Sea. During Tasmanex, Melbourne lost her LW-02 radar aerial and a Skyhawk (N13-154907), both of which fell overboard during heavy seas. During February and March 1980, Melbourne participated in RIMPAC 80, as the flagship of Battle Group Two. This was immediately followed by a visit to the Solomon Islands in early April. The carrier was in Sydney from mid-April until mid-August, during which the 25th anniversary of Melbourne's service in the RAN was celebrated on 15 August with a cocktail party aboard the carrier, popularly referred to as 'The Night of the Admirals'. On 18 August, Melbourne sailed for Fremantle to participate in Exercise Sandgroper 80. On 8 September, Melbourne, accompanied by , , , , and deployed to the Indian Ocean as the Australian Squadron for a flag-showing cruise. During this cruise two Skyhawks were lost: on 2 and 21 October. On 24 October, a Tracker from Melbourne observed Soviet warships Storozhevoy and Ivan Rogov shadowing the squadron. The squadron's return in November 1980 concluded the largest and longest RAN deployment since World War II. Following her return, the carrier spent six months in Australian waters, before a two-month deployment to Southeast Asia. During this deployment, on 21 June 1981, Melbourne rescued 99 Vietnamese refugees from a disabled fishing vessel in the South China Sea. The carrier's deployments for the second half of the year consisted of two exercises, Sea Hawk and Kangaroo 81. A major refit scheduled to begin in late 1981 was postponed pending the decision on a replacement carrier. After docking at Garden Island in December, the carrier was accidentally flooded by an officer who was impatient to commence leave. In his haste to shut down the carrier, he failed to deactivate the water pumps, and over 180 tons of fresh water were pumped in before a maintenance party discovered the flooding the next day. Melbourne remained in dock at the start of 1982, and did not leave before the decision regarding her replacement was made. ## Replacement A replacement for Melbourne was under consideration as early as 1956, and the question was revisited on several occasions until the 1980s. In every situation, a new aircraft carrier was turned down due to the increases in manpower and operating costs required to operate the ship when compared to Melbourne. Between 1956 and 1959, the RAN considered acquiring a larger carrier to replace Melbourne, as the Fleet Air Arm was becoming obsolete and the RAN did not believe the ship could be modified to operate newer, heavier aircraft. Under consideration were British carrier HMS Albion and a ship of the United States' Essex class. Both options were turned down, and it was instead proposed to operate Melbourne as a helicopter carrier. In 1960, the United States Navy offered an Essex-class carrier to the Australian government, in the interest of improving relations between the two nations and their navies. The only cost to the RAN would have been the modifications required to make the carrier operationally compatible with the RAN's primarily British-designed fleet. In the late 1960s, the British made a similar offer, following a 1966 review indicating that HMS Hermes was a superfluous naval unit. In 1968, Hermes took part in a combined exercise with the RAN, during which the carrier was visited by RAN and Australian government officials, while RAN Skyhawks and Trackers practised landings on the larger carrier. Both offers were turned down due to operating and manpower costs. The need to secure a replacement for Melbourne grew as the carrier's age caused the operating costs to increase to over A\$25 million per year. In June 1977, the Defence Force Development Committee approved an investigation into acquiring a STOVL/helicopter carrier. By August 1979, the decision was limited to three ships: a modified American Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship, an Italian Giuseppe Garibaldi-class carrier, and a Sea Control Ship design that later became the Spanish Navy's Principe de Asturias. By February 1981, the Iwo Jima class was the preferred option. ### HMS Invincible Plans to replace Melbourne changed in July 1981; the British 1981 Defence White Paper had marked the recently commissioned HMS Invincible as surplus to requirements, and she was offered to the RAN for the 'bargain' price of GB£175 million (A\$285 million). The Invincible class had been considered and discarded during the investigation, but the decreased price and the fact the already-constructed carrier would be ready for RAN service in 1983 prompted the Australian government to announce its intention to purchase Invincible on 25 February 1982 and close the carrier acquisition program. The government also announced that the ship would be renamed and operated as a helicopter carrier, and that a decision on the purchase of fixed wing aircraft would be made after acquisition. The deal was put on hold in April 1982, following the outbreak of the Falklands War. The performance of Invincible and other Royal Navy aircraft carriers during the conflict showed that the report which suggested reductions in the size of Britain's carrier fleet—with the follow-on effect of making Invincible available for sale—was flawed, and both sides withdrew from the deal in July. The RAN was again offered HMS Hermes, and again declined due to the carrier's age and manpower requirements. The Australian government began to reconsider the previous contenders for replacement, as well as considering requesting the United Kingdom or United States to build a simple carrier capable of operating F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters, but the issue was suspended at the commencement of the 1983 Australian Federal Election. On 14 March, following the election of Bob Hawke's Labor Government, the announcement was made that Melbourne would not be replaced. ## Decommissioning and fate Following the decision to replace Melbourne with HMS Invincible, the postponed refit was cancelled outright. The Australian carrier was prepared for disposal, and was decommissioned and placed in reserve on 30 June 1982. She was towed to the mooring dolphins near Bradley's Head, where she remained until 1985. Melbourne was capable of being reactivated as a helicopter-equipped anti-submarine warfare carrier within 26 weeks, but was never required to do so. A Sydney-based group proposed in 1984 to purchase Melbourne and operate her as a floating casino moored in international waters off Eden, New South Wales, but nothing came of this. Melbourne's air wing was disbanded at HMAS Albatross on 2 July 1982, with the transfer of 805 Squadron's Skyhawks to 724 Squadron and 816 Squadron being absorbed into 851 Squadron. The Skyhawks remained in service as fleet support aircraft until 30 June 1984, while the Trackers were withdrawn from service on 31 August 1984 after being used as land-based maritime patrol aircraft. The carrier was initially sold for breaking up as scrap metal for A\$1.7 million, although the sale fell through in June 1984. She was sold again in February 1985 to the China United Shipbuilding Company for A\$1.4 million, with the intention that she be towed to China and broken up for scrap. Prior to the ship's departure for China, the RAN stripped Melbourne of all electronic equipment and weapons, and welded her rudders into a fixed position so that she could not be reactivated. Her steam catapult, arresting equipment and mirror landing system were not removed. At this time, few western experts expected that the Chinese government would attempt to develop aircraft carriers in the future. The carrier departed Sydney on 27 April 1985, heading for Guangzhou, under the tow of tug De Ping. The journey was delayed when the towing line began to part, requiring the carrier and tug to shelter in Queensland's Moreton Bay, on 30 April. The towing gear broke a day later, requiring a second tug to secure the carrier while repairs were made to De Ping. Three days later, Melbourne ran aground while still in Moreton Bay. Melbourne arrived in China on 13 June. The Australian government received a Telex on this day, reading: > Please be advised that HMAS Melbourne arrived at Port Huangpu, intact and safely afloat, proud and majestic. She has been innocent, never once bowed to the natural or human force, in spite of the heavy storm and the talked about jinx. The ship was not scrapped immediately; instead she was studied by Chinese naval architects and engineers as part of the nation's top-secret carrier development program. It is unclear whether the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) orchestrated the acquisition of Melbourne or simply took advantage of the situation; Rear Admiral Zhang Zhaozhong, a staff member at the National Defence College, has stated that the Navy was unaware of the purchase until Melbourne first arrived at Guangzhou. Melbourne was the largest warship any of the Chinese experts had seen, and they were surprised by the amount of equipment which was still in place. The PLAN subsequently arranged for the ship's flight deck and all the equipment associated with flying operations to be removed so that they could be studied in depth. Reports have circulated that either a replica of the flight deck, or the deck itself, was used for clandestine training of PLANAF pilots in carrier flight operations. It has also been claimed that the Royal Australian Navy received and "politely rejected" a request from the PLAN for blueprints of the ship's steam catapult. The carrier was not dismantled for many years; according to some rumours she was not completely broken up until 2002. A 2012 article in Jane's Navy International stated that the large quantity of equipment recovered from Melbourne "undoubtedly helped" Admiral Liu Huaqing secure the Chinese government's support for his proposal to initiate an aircraft carrier development programme. Melbourne's service is commemorated with a stained-glass window at the Garden Island Naval Chapel. One of the ship's anchors is incorporated into a memorial to naval aviation at Nowra, New South Wales. Another anchor and the starboard side ship's bell are on display at the RAN Heritage Centre at Garden Island. Memorabilia from Melbourne's voyages with the Fleet Air Arm embarked, and examples of all the types of aircraft deployed on Melbourne, are on permanent static display in the Fleet Air Arm Museum at HMAS Albatross. Following an overhaul of the RAN battle honours system completed in 2010, Melbourne was retroactively awarded the honour "Malaysia 1965–66" for her service during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation. ## See also - Canberra-class - HMAS Adelaide (L01) - HMAS Canberra (L02) - Majestic class - HMAS Sydney'' (R17)
24,891,869	Henry Petre	1,125,800,286	British aviation pioneer	[ "1884 births", "1962 deaths", "20th-century English lawyers", "Australian Flying Corps officers", "Australian military personnel of World War I", "British aviators", "Companions of the Distinguished Service Order", "English solicitors", "People educated at Mount St Mary's College", "People from Ingatestone", "Petre family", "Recipients of the Military Cross", "Royal Air Force officers", "Royal Air Force personnel of World War I", "Royal Flying Corps officers" ]	Henry Aloysius Petre, DSO, MC (12 June 1884 – 24 April 1962) was an English solicitor who became Australia's first military aviator and a founding member of the Australian Flying Corps, the predecessor of the Royal Australian Air Force. Born in Essex, Petre forsook his early legal career to pursue an interest in aviation, building his own aeroplane and gaining employment as an aircraft designer and pilot. In 1912, he answered the Australian Defence Department's call for pilots to form an aviation school, and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Australian Military Forces. The following year, he chose the site of the country's first air base at Point Cook, Victoria, and established its inaugural training institution, the Central Flying School, with Eric Harrison. Shortly after the outbreak of World War I, Petre was appointed commander of the Mesopotamian Half Flight, the first unit of the newly formed Australian Flying Corps to see active service. He led the Half Flight through the Battles of Es Sinn and Ctesiphon, and the siege of Kut. His actions in the Middle East earned him the Distinguished Service Order, the Military Cross, and four mentions in despatches. Transferring to the Royal Air Force as a major in 1918, he commanded No. 75 Squadron before retiring from the military the following year. Petre resumed his legal practice in England, and continued to fly recreationally until his death in 1962, aged seventy-seven. He was married to racing driver Kay Petre. ## Early career Henry Aloysius Petre (pronounced "Peter") was born on 12 June 1884 at Ingatestone, Essex. He was the son of Sebastian Henry Petre and his wife Catharine, née Sibeth. Descended from the 11th Baron Petre, Henry was schooled at Mount St Mary's College, Chesterfield, before following his father into law and becoming a solicitor in 1905. Impressed by Louis Blériot's pioneering cross-channel flight in July 1909, Petre gave up his legal practice, borrowed £250, and proceeded to build his own aeroplane, with design assistance from his brother Edward, an architect. After spending six months on its construction, Petre crashed the machine on its maiden flight. Uninjured and undiscouraged, he borrowed a further £25, took flying lessons at Brooklands Airfield in Surrey, and obtained Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate No. 128 on 12 September 1911. He became an instructor at Brooklands' Deperdussin School, and later its head, before taking up employment as a designer and pilot with Handley Page Limited in 1912. Characterised by official Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) historian Douglas Gillison as "quiet and academic by nature", and coming from a long line of Catholic clergy, Petre was nicknamed "Peter the Monk". On Christmas Eve 1912, Edward Petre, who was known as "Peter the Painter", was killed in an accident at Marske-by-the-Sea, Yorkshire, while attempting to fly from Brooklands to Edinburgh. In December 1911, the Australian Defence Department had advertised in the United Kingdom for "two competent mechanists and aviators" to establish a flying corps and school. From among fifty applications, Petre was chosen and commissioned as a lieutenant in the Australian Military Forces, his appointment on 6 August 1912 making him the nation's first military pilot. The other appointee, Eric Harrison, joined him later that year. Petre arrived in Australia in January 1913, his first task being to choose a site for the proposed Central Flying School (CFS), which he was to command. After travelling hundreds of kilometres on his motorcycle, and rejecting the government's preferred location near the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in Canberra, he selected 297 hectares (730 acres) at Point Cook, Victoria, to become, as George Odgers described it, the "birthplace of Australian military aviation". Unlike the alternative site near Duntroon, Point Cook was flat, close to the coast and not, in Petre's own words, "isolated in the bush". He and Harrison established the CFS over the following year with four mechanics, three other staff, and five aircraft including two Deperdussin monoplanes, two Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 biplanes, and a Bristol Boxkite for initial training. Harrison made the unit's first flight in the Boxkite on Sunday, 1 March 1914. Eight days later Petre registered Australia's first military flying accident when he crashed a Deperdussin while trying to avoid telephone wires during landing; he escaped with bruising but the plane was wrecked. Petre was best man at Harrison's wedding in June. Its coterie of personnel by now being referred to as the Australian Flying Corps, the CFS commenced its first flying course on 17 August 1914, two weeks after the outbreak of World War I. The four students included Captain Thomas White and Lieutenants Richard Williams, George Merz, and David Manwell; Harrison was responsible for initial training and Petre for advanced instruction. Petre was promoted to captain, so that his rank was the same as White's. In October, Petre chaired the first meeting of the Australian Aero Club, held at Point Cook. ## World War I On 8 February 1915, the Australian government received a request from the British Government of India for aerial assistance in the campaign against the Turks in Mesopotamia. Sufficient aircrew and supporting personnel were available for only half a flight, so the unit, the AFC's first to see active service, became known as the Mesopotamian Half Flight. Petre was appointed the Half Flight's commanding officer and embarked for Basra via Bombay on 14 April, later to be joined by fellow pilots White, Merz and Lieutenant William Treloar, along with thirty-seven ground staff. In Mesopotamia, Petre was required to lead the AFC contingent in reconnaissance and sabotage missions, and had to deal with unreliable machines, hazardous terrain, and the threat of incarceration or death at the hands of hostile tribesmen. From 31 May to 4 June 1915, he took part in operations in the Amara area, for which he was mentioned in despatches. The obsolete aircraft supplied by the Indian Government, two Maurice Farman Shorthorns and a Maurice Farman Longhorn, were only capable of top speeds of 50 mph (80 km/h), and the desert wind (known as the shamal) could reach 80 mph (129 km/h), meaning that the aircraft often made no headway or were simply blown backwards. In July, the Half Flight's equipment was augmented by two Caudron G.3 aircraft, a marginal improvement on the Farmans, but still prone to mechanical failure. Later that month, one of the Caudrons was forced to land in enemy territory. Its crew, Merz and William Burn, a New Zealand military officer, were never seen again; they were later reported killed by Arabs after a running gun battle over several miles. On 24 August 1915, the Half Flight was augmented by four Martinsyde S.1s and redesignated No. 30 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps (RFC). The squadron moved into Kut following the city's capture by the Allies during the Battle of Es Sinn in September; for his part in the operation, Petre was again mentioned in despatches. Over the following two months, both Treloar and White were captured and became prisoners of war, leaving Petre as the only pilot remaining from the original Half Flight. Around the time of the Battle of Ctesiphon in November, he devised an implement shaped like a small garden rake that allowed him to accurately measure ground distances from the air to better map the desert terrain. During the siege of Kut between December 1915 and April 1916, he flew a series of missions using crude parachutes to airdrop grain supplies (and a millstone for grinding), medical supplies, and equipment to the town's entrapped garrison, which included nine of his AFC mechanics. Petre was awarded the Military Cross on 14 January 1916, and was mentioned in despatches twice more over the course of the year. In May 1916 he contracted typhoid and was sent to India for recuperation. He transferred out of No. 30 Squadron in December, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order the same month. In February 1917, he was posted to France with No. 15 Squadron RFC, a reconnaissance unit operating B.E.2s. Two months later his youngest brother John, a squadron commander in the Royal Naval Air Service and a Distinguished Service Cross recipient, was killed in a flying accident. Petre subsequently returned to England and took charge of No. 5 Squadron AFC (also known as No. 29 Squadron RFC), a training unit for Australian fighter pilots, particularly those destined for Palestine. He had hoped to command No. 1 Squadron AFC in Palestine but received an adverse report concerning his leadership abilities, and the position went to Williams. Petre was discharged from the AFC as a major on 31 January 1918, to take a commission with the RFC. In April that year, he transferred to the newly formed Royal Air Force, establishing and commanding No. 75 (Home Defence) Squadron. ## Later life and legacy Petre retired from the RAF on 15 September 1919, and resumed practice as a solicitor in London. He married Kathleen Defries, a Canadian, in 1929. Petre introduced Kathleen to racing cars and, as Kay Petre, she became one of Britain's leading female drivers of the 1930s. Henry Petre maintained his interest in aviation for the rest of his life, taking up competitive gliding and, according to historian Alan Stephens, more than thirty years after his first flight in 1911 still enjoyed "taking an Auster for a spin". Petre broke the British Gliding Duration Record in 1931, with a time of almost three-and-a-half hours, and served as gliding instructor with the Air Training Corps between 1943 and 1948. In 1951, he received the Royal Aero Club's Silver Medal for his long record of active flying. He visited Australia for the first time in forty-five years in 1961, and was photographed sitting in the cockpit of the same Deperdussin—by then an exhibit at the RAAF Museum—that he had flown at Point Cook in 1914. Having retired from his legal practice in 1958, Petre died in London on 24 April 1962, and was survived by Kay, who died in 1994. The couple had no children. In a retrospective on the RAAF in November 1939, Flight magazine described Henry Petre and Eric Harrison as "the fathers of military aviation in Australia". Petre's obituary in The Times called him "an air pioneer who founded the Australian Flying Corps". Though Harrison, through his longer association with Australian service flying as a founding member of the Royal Australian Air Force in 1921 and his career up until the end of World War II, was generally regarded as the "Father of the RAAF" until Air Marshal Richard Williams assumed that mantle, Douglas Gillison considered Petre "equally entitled" to such an accolade. In his volume on the Air Force for The Australian Centenary History of Defence in 2001, Alan Stephens noted that Petre made "the greater contribution to the establishment of Point Cook and the Central Flying School", concluding that "perhaps any judgement would not only be moot but also gratuitous, as by circumstance and achievement both men properly belong in the pantheon of the RAAF".
4,073,978	Billy Joe Tolliver	1,172,211,196	American football player (born 1966)	[ "1966 births", "American football quarterbacks", "American players of Canadian football", "Atlanta Falcons players", "Canadian football quarterbacks", "Houston Oilers players", "Kansas City Chiefs players", "Living people", "New Orleans Saints players", "People from Boyd, Texas", "Players of American football from Dallas", "Players of Canadian football from Dallas", "San Diego Chargers players", "Shreveport Pirates players", "Texas Tech Red Raiders football players" ]	Billy Joe Tolliver (born February 7, 1966) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL) for twelve seasons with the San Diego Chargers, Atlanta Falcons, Houston Oilers, Shreveport Pirates, Kansas City Chiefs, and New Orleans Saints. Over the course of his NFL career, he played in 79 games, completed 891 of 1,707 passes for 10,760 yards, threw 59 touchdowns and 64 interceptions, and retired with a passer rating of 67.7. A graduate of Boyd High School and Texas Tech University, Tolliver was selected 51st in the 1989 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers. He started 19 games in two seasons at San Diego before being traded to Atlanta, where he saw playing time as a backup for three seasons. In 1994, he became one of three starting quarterbacks for Houston and then served as quarterback of the Shreveport Pirates in the CFL during their final season of activity in 1995. After not competing in 1996, Tolliver played for both Atlanta and Kansas City in 1997. He then started 11 games for New Orleans in two seasons but did not take the field in 2000. A stint with the Green Bay Packers in the 2001 offseason concluded his professional career. ## Early life Tolliver grew up in Boyd, Texas, where he attended local schools. He played high school football at Boyd High School. During his senior season, he led the Boyd Yellowjackets to a 15–0–1 record and the 2–A state championship. He amassed more than 1,000 rushing and passing yards and was named Player of the Year by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Tolliver was a three–sport athlete in high school, averaging 15 points and 17 rebounds in basketball and throwing 14 no-hitters in baseball. ## College career After graduating from high school, Tolliver played college football at Texas Tech University and was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. His hard throwing style led Texas Tech head coach David McWilliams to say, "He throws the ball harder, and with more velocity, than anyone I've ever seen." He redshirted his freshman season in 1984 and became the starting quarterback in 1985. On November 9, 1985, Tolliver had his first breakout performance for the Red Raiders as he threw for a record-setting 422 yards and five touchdowns in a 63–7 win over Texas Christian University (TCU), a feat that helped him become a household name in Texas. As he began his sophomore season, he was considered the lone bright spot on Texas Tech's offense. Tolliver struggled at the start of the year; by the end of September he had only completed 54 of 123 passes. After throwing five interceptions in a game against Baylor, he shrugged off the bad game, saying, "even Betty Crocker burns a cake every now and then." His fortunes continued to sink when in a game in late October against the Rice Owls, he was benched, and backup quarterback Monte McGuire rallied the team to a victory. However, Tolliver regained his starting job and brought his team to the 1986 Independence Bowl as Texas Tech won six games for the first time since 1978. He finished the season with 1,802 passing yards and seven touchdowns. Tolliver began his junior year facing Florida State, a game in which he suffered a hairline fracture in his foot, leaving him doubtful for the match. He missed the first three games of the season but returned in Texas Tech's fourth game against Baylor, completing 14 of 25 passes for 189 yards, a touchdown and an interception in a 36–22 loss. Tolliver's next big performance came against TCU, the same team he defeated 63–7 as a freshman. He threw a touchdown pass to Wayne Walker in the last minute to beat TCU 36–35. He finished the season having passed for 1,422 yards and seven touchdowns in eight games. The next season, his senior year, Tolliver and Texas Tech sought to win the Southwest Conference. He started the season strong, throwing an 85-yard pass against Arizona—it was the third-longest pass in school history—but the Red Raiders started with two losses. By the end of the season, Tolliver had set 16 school records and was awarded the Southwest Conference Sportsmanship Award by the league's officials. After four seasons with Texas Tech, he set the school record for career passing yards (6,756), career pass attempts (1,008), career pass completions (493), career touchdown passes (38), season passing yards in 1988 (2,869), and single game passing yards (446) against Oklahoma State University in 1988. Tolliver was inducted into Texas Tech's Hall of Honor in 2002. ## Professional career ### San Diego Chargers Tolliver was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 1989 NFL Draft. The Chargers traded third, fourth, and seventh-round picks in exchange for the New York Giants' second-round pick in order to draft him. Tolliver was signed on July 31, 1989, after a short holdout. He was to compete with Mark Malone and David Archer for the starting job, a spot which eventually went to Jim McMahon after the Chargers traded for him. As the 1989 season began with McMahon as the helm, Tolliver was slated to play the second half of the final preseason game against the Phoenix Cardinals. After 13 completions in 23 attempts, Tolliver ran the ball late in the game and broke his collarbone, sidelining him for at least six weeks. After spending the first seven games on the injured reserve list, Tolliver was taken off the list and named the starter for the game against the Seattle Seahawks on October 29, replacing McMahon who had disappointed at quarterback. In Tolliver's first start, he played three quarters, throwing six completed passes in 17 attempts for 41 yards and throwing an interception in a 10–7 loss. Tolliver subsequently lost the starting job back to McMahon. However, in late November, Tolliver was given the starting job back, remaining the starting quarterback the rest of the season. Tolliver finished the season having played five games with 89 completions in 185 attempts, 1097 yards, five touchdowns, eight interceptions, and a 57.9 quarterback rating. As the 1990 season began, McMahon was released by the team, leaving Tolliver as the starting quarterback at training camp. After training camp and a preseason in which Tolliver started and was relieved by quarterbacks Mark Vlasic and rookie John Friesz, Chargers head coach Dan Henning named Vlasic as the starting quarterback against the Dallas Cowboys in the season opener, saying that he was "steadier" than Tolliver. After a loss against Dallas, Tolliver regained his starting job during the game two against the Cincinnati Bengals. Despite some shaky performances in the following weeks, the Chargers' coaching staff stuck by their quarterback, saying that "the last thing we need around here is more change." Tolliver played nearly the rest of the season as the starting quarterback but was replaced by Friesz for the final game of the season against the Los Angeles Raiders. The Chargers made this move because, according to Henning, "Tolliver has to work on his shortcomings." Tolliver finished the season having completed 216 of 410 passes, thrown for 2,574 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions, and posting a QB rating of 68.9. Although Tolliver had the confidence of Dan Henning, Chargers general manager Bobby Beathard and owner Alex Spanos were unsatisfied with his production during the 1990 season, and were looking towards Friesz as the future quarterback. Tolliver was the leading man for the starting quarterback position as training camp for the 1991 season began, with Friesz battling Bob Gagliano for the backup spot. However, after training camp ended, Friesz was named the starting quarterback for the 1991 season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers. ### Atlanta Falcons Just a few days after losing the starting job, Tolliver was traded to the Atlanta Falcons for a fifth-round draft pick. In Atlanta, Tolliver was the backup quarterback behind Chris Miller and alongside rookie Brett Favre, and played part of seven games throughout the season. Tolliver's breakthrough as a Falcon came against the San Francisco 49ers on November 3. Miller was injured in the second quarter, and Tolliver was brought in for the rest of the game. With one second left, he threw a 44-yard Hail Mary pass to Michael Haynes, which was caught for a touchdown and sealing a 17–14 upset victory. Due to his performance and Miller's injury, Tolliver was given his first start the following week against the Washington Redskins. Tolliver's first start with the Falcons was a 56–17 blowout loss. Afterwards, Tolliver got his second and last start of the season against the Green Bay Packers as a result of Miller suddenly running a fever. Tolliver finished the regular season having completing 40 of 82 passes with four touchdowns, two interceptions, and a QB rating of 75.8. After the Falcons traded Favre to the Packers, Miller and Tolliver were the only quarterbacks on the roster. Before the season started, Wade Wilson signed with the team, and the two shared the role of backup to Miller. Tolliver played two of the first eight games, then was named the starting quarterback when the Falcons lost Miller for the season as a result of reconstructive surgery on his left knee. Tolliver's first start of the season came against the 49ers. He completed 16 of 25 passes, but threw three interceptions in a 41–3 loss. The next week against the Cardinals, Tolliver was benched for the final series as Wilson led the team to victory and Tolliver argued with coach Jerry Glanville. Despite the conflict and a shoulder injury, Glanville gave Tolliver the start the following week against the Buffalo Bills. He played a few more games before being replaced by Wilson for the rest of the season, partially as a result of Wilson throwing five touchdown passes in his first start en route to a 35–7 Falcons victory. Tolliver finished the season with five touchdowns, five interceptions, a 55.7% completion percentage, and a 70.4 QB rating. After the 1992 season, Tolliver was a restricted free agent. Wilson signed a contract with the Saints, and to replace him the Falcons signed Bobby Hebert. Tolliver signed a one-year contract in August, after holding out for a time. Tolliver started the 1993 season as the third-string quarterback behind Hebert and Miller. However, Miller re-injured his left knee in late September, making Tolliver the main backup to Hebert. Tolliver made his first start against the Los Angeles Rams, but was injured in his second start against the Saints; the Falcons signed Chris Hakel as a result of the injury. Tolliver finished the season in occasional relief for Hebert, who remained bothered by injuries. Over the course of the year, Tolliver played in seven games and threw for just under 500 yards, and became a free agent after the season ended. ### Houston Oilers In early September 1994, Tolliver was signed to a contract by the Houston Oilers. He was originally the third-string quarterback, but ineffectiveness by Bucky Richardson led Tolliver to relieve him in a game against the Cleveland Browns. Tolliver played well enough to be considered for the starting job the following week due to Cody Carlson dealing with injuries. Tolliver made his first start in a game against the Raiders, but played inconsistently over seven starts and was replaced by Richardson in the season finale against the New York Jets. After finishing the season, Tolliver became a free agent and left the NFL. ### Shreveport Pirates Tolliver signed a three-year contract worth about \$1 million with the Shreveport Pirates of the Canadian Football League before the 1995 season began. Early in the season, Tolliver got to compete against former teammate David Archer in the San Antonio Texans' CFL debut. He finished the season having thrown for 3,767 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions. After the team folded following a 5–13 season, Tolliver was again without a team. ### Atlanta Falcons (second stint) In October 1996, Tolliver rejoined the Falcons as the third-string quarterback, this time sitting behind Bobby Hebert and Browning Nagle. He spent the 1996 season on the bench, and did not take a snap in a game. He was re-signed by Atlanta in April and given a one-year contract worth \$325,000. Tolliver was slated to compete with Tommy Maddox for the backup quarterback spot at Atlanta as training camp rolled around. Halfway through August, Maddox was released, and Tolliver was made the primary backup behind Chris Chandler. Tolliver played his first NFL game since 1994 on September 7, 1997 against the Carolina Panthers. He completed 7 of 17 passes for 79 yards. After relieving Chandler again the following week, Tolliver was slated to start the next game against the 49ers, in what became his only starting appearance of the season. He was slated to start again against the Denver Broncos, but instead came in late in the game. He was almost able to lead the Falcons to a comeback victory over the Broncos, completing six of nine passes for 85 yards and a touchdown, but he instead lost to the then-undefeated Broncos as the team remained winless. When Chandler went down with an injury in late October, coach Dan Reeves chose to start Tony Graziani. Shortly afterwards, Tolliver was released by the Falcons. ### Kansas City Chiefs In early November, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Elvis Grbac was lost for the season due to a broken collarbone. As a result, the Chiefs signed Tolliver to a two-year contract as the third-string quarterback to replace him. Tolliver finished the season having completed 64 passes in 116 attempts for 677 yards, five touchdowns, and one interception. Only one of the 116 attempts came as a Kansas City quarterback. The 1998 preseason began with Tolliver competing with Pat Barnes for the third-string quarterback job, but this ended when Tolliver was released by the Chiefs in August. ### New Orleans Saints After Saints quarterback Billy Joe Hobert was lost for the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon, the Saints signed Tolliver to a two-year deal. After four starts by Danny Wuerffel, Saints coach Mike Ditka gave Tolliver the start against the Atlanta Falcons. After starting for four weeks and having a few impressive performances, Tolliver was benched in favor of Kerry Collins, who finished the season as starting quarterback. Tolliver finished the year with one of his most statistically impressive seasons, completing 110 of 199 passes for 1,427 yards, eight touchdowns, four interceptions, and finishing with a QB rating of 83.1. Tolliver started the 1999 season as Hobert's backup. Hobert started the first four games but was injured, leaving Tolliver to start against the Tennessee Titans on October 17 and the Giants the week after. Hobert started the next game, but suffered a pinched nerve in his neck, resulting in Tolliver's third start of the season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Against the 49ers, he scored the third and fourth rushing touchdowns of his career en route to a 24–6 win. However, the next week against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tolliver suffered a torn MCL, and he was considered likely to miss the rest of the season. A couple of weeks later, Tolliver had bounced back from his injury by "treating himself with some WD-40" and was named the starter in the December 12 game against the St. Louis Rams. Tolliver was again injured the following week against the Baltimore Ravens, putting an end to his season, which he finished with a 51.9 completion percentage, 1,916 yards, seven touchdowns, 16 interceptions, and a QB rating of 58.9. Throughout the 1999 season, Tolliver remained a vocal supporter of coach Ditka despite the Saints' 3–13 record, saying "I think he's a heck of a football coach, a great motivator. We just got to start buying what he's selling." Ditka was fired by the Saints, but as training camp for the 2000 season began, Tolliver was the Saints' backup quarterback behind Jeff Blake. On August 1, the Saints traded for quarterback Aaron Brooks, which left Tolliver to compete for the third-string spot alongside Jake Delhomme. The Saints' roster was reduced to 53 players, and Tolliver was among those cut. When the Saints lost Jeff Blake for the season in mid-November due to a dislocated foot, Tolliver was re-signed by the Saints, though he did not play a game that season. ### Green Bay Packers In July 2001, Tolliver was signed by the Green Bay Packers. This briefly reunited him with Brett Favre, with whom he was teammates in Atlanta. However, he was cut on August 21, 2001, when Doug Pederson won the backup job, and this stint marked the end of Tolliver's professional career. ## Personal life Tolliver was named after his uncle Joe and aunt Billie. He and his wife, Sheila, have five children. Tolliver is an avid golfer and has played many celebrity tournaments. He is a regular competitor at the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe, the annual competition to determine the best golfers among American sports and entertainment celebrities. He won in 1996, when it was the Isuzu Celebrity Golf Challenge, in 2005, in 2010 (with a new point record of 84 points), and in 2013, and had a total of fourteen top-ten finishes as of the 2019 tournament.
1,416,935	Tell All Your Friends	1,173,290,017	2002 studio album by Taking Back Sunday	[ "2002 debut albums", "Albums produced by Sal Villanueva", "Taking Back Sunday albums", "Victory Records albums" ]	Tell All Your Friends is the debut studio album by American rock band Taking Back Sunday, released on March 26, 2002, through Victory Records. Forming in 1999, the group underwent several lineup changes before settling on vocalist Adam Lazzara, guitarist and vocalist John Nolan, guitarist Eddie Reyes, bassist Shaun Cooper, and drummer Mark O'Connell. Taking Back Sunday released a five-song demo in early 2001, after which they toured the United States for most of the year. They rented a room in Lindenhurst, New York, where they wrote and demoed songs. In December 2001, the band signed with Victory Records; they began recording their debut album with producer Sal Villanueva at Big Blue Meenie Recording Studio in New Jersey. "Great Romances of the 20th Century" was released as the lead single from Tell All Your Friends in March 2002. A few months later, Taking Back Sunday toured across the United States with Brand New and Rufio. At the end of the year, a Fight Club-inspired music video was released for "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)". The group spent the early part of 2003 touring with the Used and the Blood Brothers before headlining their own tour. After that, Nolan and Cooper left Taking Back Sunday and were replaced by Fred Mascherino and Matt Rubano. In September 2003, "You're So Last Summer" was released as the album's second single, and the band began co-headlining a tour with Saves the Day, which lasted until November 2003. By that point, a music video had been released for "You're So Last Summer". Critics have given Tell All Your Friends mostly positive reviews, highlighting its mix of musical styles. It sold 2,000 copies in the first week after its release, charting at number 183 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album was certified gold by the RIAA in the US and had sold 790,000 copies as of 2009; in 2023, it was certified platinum. It is Victory Records' longest-running release on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart at 68 weeks, and on the Independent Albums chart at 78 weeks. In 2012, the band toured to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Tell All Your Friends, playing an acoustic set on the anniversary tour, which was later released in 2013 as the live album TAYF10 Acoustic. It has been included on lists of the best emo albums of all time by publications such as Alternative Press, NME, and Rolling Stone. ## Background Guitarist Eddie Reyes became a staple of the New York hardcore scene, performing in various bands such as the Movielife. He contacted friends Antonio Longo and Steven DeJoseph; the former suggested his childhood friend, John Nolan, as a second guitarist. Bassist Jesse Lacey, who was childhood friends with Longo and Nolan, then joined, marking the formation of Taking Back Sunday in Amityville, New York, in November 1999. After three-to-four months, Lacey left the band when Nolan reportedly romanced Lacey's girlfriend at a party, and later formed Brand New. Adam Lazzara saw Taking Back Sunday live and inquired if they needed a permanent bassist, and drove from his hometown of High Point, North Carolina to Long Island to practice with them. A month later, Reyes invited him to join them and move in with him. Mark O'Connell, who was friends with Reyes, was then asked to become their drummer. After recording their self-titled EP, Longo left the band; in December 2000, Lazzara switched from bass to lead vocals. O'Connell suggested bassist Shaun Cooper, who he knew from various acts throughout school, though the rest of the band needed convincing since they did not know him. In February 2001, the band released a five-track demo The Tell All Your Friends Demo; copies were given to anyone associated with a record label. They embarked on their first tour with Northstar in July 2001. Taking Back Sunday then spent the rest of the year touring, during which they received offers from labels. Among these was one from Triple Crown Records, who were apprehensive as they had just signed Brand New. The band caught the attention of Victory Records; within two weeks of seeing them live, a contract was written up, and they signed to the label in December 2001. ## Production Although other labels expressed interest in Taking Back Sunday, Victory Records encouraged them to make an album. Tell All Your Friends was recorded over a period of two weeks in December 2001 at Big Blue Meenie Recording Studio in New Jersey with producer Sal Villanueva. The band were not aware of him, but went with him at the insistence of Victory Records as he worked on Full Collapse (2001) by labelmates Thursday. Taking Back Sunday arrived without a drum set, presuming that the studio would have one. Engineer Tim Gilles said, "No major studio in America has their own [drum] set. You've gotta be fucking kidding me". The group spent each day driving from Long Island to Jersey City; as all of the members had day jobs, they had to request time off to record. Cooper collectively recorded his bass parts in four hours, spread over half a day. Villanueva would come up with ideas and suggest them to the band. Towards the end of tracking around Christmas, Lazzara became sick and lost his voice for two days. It resulted in the band having to miss one to two weeks of recording time. The sessions concluded in early January 2002, and ended up costing \$10,000. Villanueva had contributed guitar work and co-mixed the recordings with Gilles (under the alias Rumblefish). When the band heard the final mixes, they realized that the studio staff had altered the recordings, namely sounds had been manipulated and the guitar tones differed from how they were recorded. The piano intro to "The Blue Channel", which was initially slow, was sped up to match the tempo of the rest of the song, which was four times faster. Cooper said that the band was unhappy with these choices, and mentioned that the intro to "Great Romances of the 20th Century" was similarly altered from a piano to a synthesizer. The band wanted to make adjustments but were told they were over time and over budget for these changes to happen. They wanted to re-record "Your Own Disaster" from their demo, but were unable to due to time and money constraints. Instead, it was re-recorded for their second studio album, Where You Want to Be (2004). Engineering was handled by Gilles, Erin Farley, and Arun Venkatesh, with mastering by Gilles at Surgical Sound. Neil Rubenstein, who later became the group's tour manager, contributed vocals to "There's No 'I' in Team", "Timberwolves at New Jersey" and "Head Club". Nolan's sister, Michelle, sang on "Bike Scene" and "Ghost Man on Third", and Matt McDannell contributed vocals to "Head Club". Nolan suggested his sister as he was aware that she had "an amazing voice". ## Composition ### Overview Tell All Your Friends's sound would later be described as emo and emo pop, drawing comparisons to Grade, Fugazi, the Movielife (specifically their 2000 album This Time Next Year), Weezer, and Thursday. A review from CMJ New Music Monthly noted that musically, the album sounded like "two guitars butt[ing] heads" to fuse "clean-channel pop melodies" with "chugging metal progressions". The vocals were reminiscent of Saves the Day, and the Canterbury Effect, often switching from singing to screaming. Around this time, emo bands the Get Up Kids and the Promise Ring influenced Taking Back Sunday. Lazzara and Nolan shared an apartment, often staying up talking until 5:00am, and began showing each other compositions on which they were working. Rubenstein would often find them composing songs with acoustic guitars. Taking Back Sunday started jamming in a rehearsal room that Reyes had in Lindenhurst, New York, where they practiced and composed every night. The first song this lineup had written was "Great Romances of the 20th Century", which the members felt was better than anything they had done before, and that it sounded different from other Long Island acts, which were into pop and funk. The band frequently recorded demos; they wrote music together, while Lazzara and Nolan wrote the lyrics. One member would typically come up with a part, which the rest of the group would expand into a song. Nolan wrote a lot of material and had various ideas. He would cut parts and sections out of one song he had been working on and it would eventually end up in a Taking Back Sunday song. Many songs featuring Lazzara and Nolan use call-and-response vocals – something that Reyes' prior band Clockwise had done with their members Hanratty and George Fullan. When Reyes started Taking Back Sunday, he told Fullan that he wanted to include the dual vocals as it was something he really liked. Personal experiences inspired Taking Back Sunday's lyrics. For Nolan, several instances filtered into his lyrics: the falling-out with Lacey, whom he had known all of his life, affected how Nolan felt and what he was trying to work through in his writings; the ending of a five-year long-term relationship since high school and the subsequent process of figuring who you are and what you want to be as a result; and coming to terms with his born again Christian upbringing and the realization that he did not believe in his life up to that point. Nolan and Lazzara had a concept where some of the lyrics could be read "like a play where one line is the boy and the next line is the girl... Sometimes when you read the lyrics it's a little boring and it's more interesting this way". According to Nolan, about half of their song titles came from "sitting around late at night watching TV". The songs followed the structure of: quiet verse, loud bridge, big chorus, repeat, breakdown, chorus, ending. For almost every track, the breakdown consists of Lazzara and Nolan intertwining their vocal parts, crescendoing into screaming. ### Tracks "You Know How I Do" is a mid-tempo track that opens with feedback, which shifts into Nolan's guitar part before the drums join in. A breakdown is heard later in the song, with bass accompaniment and contrasting vocal lines. "Bike Scene", another mid-tempo song, starts with palm-muted guitar parts. Nolan said its name was taken from American Thunder, which had an episode titled "Monterey Peninsula Bike Scene", while the lyrics were potentially inspired by him reading A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (2000) by Dave Eggers and Lazzara reading Fight Club (1996) by Chuck Palahniuk. The line "it's a campaign of distraction and revisionist history" is directly taken from Eggers' book, which was one of Nolan's favourite reads. Lazzara and O'Connell came up with the opening riff for "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)" while at Lazzara's father's house in North Carolina. Nolan suggested it be expanded into a full song after it was brought into practice sessions. The lyrics resulted from a relationship that Lazzara had recently left; an underlying theme of betrayal is present. The track's name came from the band's friend Mike Duvan who said the phrase "cut from the team". It opens with a four-chord guitar intro before shifting into single-note verses. The Nolan–Lacey romancing incident inspired Brand New to include "Seventy Times7" on their debut album, Your Favorite Weapon (2001). Nolan wrote about the event from his point of view in Taking Back Sunday's "There's No 'I' in Team". The track also includes a reference to Brand New's "Mixtape". "Great Romances of the 20th Century" includes an audio sample from the film Beautiful Girls (1996), and opens with an electronic string line. It shifts into mid-tempo, accompanied by flange-effected and distorted electric guitars backed by frantic drum and bass lines. The track was named after a show on the A&E network, while its lyrics discuss two lovers separating. "Ghost Man on Third" is an emo ballad that focuses on Lazzara's difficulty with mental health, specifically coping with depression at an early age. During the song's chorus, Lazzara said he does his "best Daryl Palumbo [of Glassjaw] impression" and electronic strings are heard. "Timberwolves at New Jersey" talks about being a musician in the New Jersey emo/post-hardcore scene, while of some lyrics take digs at former band members. Kevin Craft of PopMatters interpreted it as someone trying to console their friend, who is inexperienced at romance: "The would-be suitor must improve the verses he’s using in his attempts at courtship if he wants to have any shot at impressing girls who favor 'literate boys. The title for "You're So Last Summer" came from the time Lazzara and Nolan went to the movies with their friend Sarah. As the trio left the theater, someone said something and Sarah replied, "You're so last summer" – meaning late to the party. "The Blue Channel" was named after Channel 14, which consisted of TV program listings. The song opens with a piano intro; Lazzara said it and "Head Club" were songs the band used "to get enough songs to fill a record so we could go on tour". "Head Club" is about Nolan being exhausted with writing about Lacey after the romancing incident. The name of the bonus track, "The Ballad of Sal Villanueva", is a tribute to the album's producer Sal Villanueva. It was recorded after they had finished working on the album. ## Release ### Initial promotion, and Nolan and Cooper's departures On February 21, 2002, the release date for Tell All Your Friends was announced as March, and "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)" was posted online. A music video for "Great Romances of the 20th Century" directed by Christian Winters, a friend of the band, was released on March 4. Winters made the video before the group signed with Victory Records; the record company enjoyed it. The song was distributed to radio stations on March 12, 2002; Tell All Your Friends was released on March 26, 2002. John Clark shot the cover art, which featured the number 152, alluding to a gas station Lazzara and his friends would stop at Exit 152 off Interstate 40 in Mebane, North Carolina. The back cover is a photograph of the exit sign. The vinyl version included the bonus track "The Ballad of Sal Villanueva". To promote the album, Victory founder Tony Brummel targeted people who were familiar with the label and also emo fans. In Chicago, Illinois, New York City and Los Angeles, California, Victory gave out 20,000 sampler albums at a cost of about \$100,000; Brummel considered this a better investment than attempting to gain radio airplay. RED Distribution, who handled distribution for Victory, was aware that the group did not have radio play and began posting about the album on emo websites. A Yahoo! Group with over 1,300 fans could download demos of "Bike Scene" and "Head Club", which was hoped would increase sales. TV commercials aired on the relatively new channels MTV2 and Fuse. While in Los Angeles, Midtown frontman Gabe Saporta visited Jillian Newman. He had been sent a package of Victory Records' releases by a friend and was playing them in Newman's office. The only one that grabbed her attention was Tell All Your Friends; she asked what it was. She subsequently watched the band at the SXSW music conference; by June 2002, she started managing them. On December 10, 2002, a music video was released for "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)" on Launch.com. The video, conceived and directed by Winters, was inspired by the 1999 film Fight Club (a favorite of Nolan and Lazzara). Lazzara's original idea for the video had men fighting women, which was rejected by Winters and Victory before Lazzara and Winters expanded it in the final version. Lazzara was suffering from a drinking problem around this time and cheated on Michelle Nolan, who he had been dating for a while. The rest of the band members had quit drinking by the end of 2002; Lazzara resented this. He was constantly in a bad mood and declined any help with his drinking. Cooper felt this drove a wedge between them. Lazzara kept regular contact with Michelle and told her he was going to change his ways. After playing Skate & Surf Festival in late April 2003, Lazzara apologized to Nolan later that evening. However, when Lazzara was unaware Nolan was on the tour bus, he claimed he had joked about the whole thing and did not take it seriously. The following day, Nolan told Cooper that he was leaving the band; Cooper had been mulling over the decision too, and decided he did not want to be in the band without Nolan. A day later, the pair told the rest of the band; Lazzara felt terrible about the situation, and O'Connell was in denial about it. According to Lazzara, Nolan and Cooper were "having trouble because everything was happening so fast. Going from being home [...] to being gone all the time and having your whole life consumed and almost defined by the band that you’re in is a lot to handle". Though he initially cited exhaustion from touring, Nolan later revealed there was constant fighting within the group, with each member feeling they were not receiving enough credit for the group's success. In addition, he felt he and Lazzara had grown apart as friends. The band's scheduled appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and a stint on Warped Tour were canceled. A week after the departures, a meeting was held while Nolan was moving from the place he shared with Lazzara. The band attempted to talk out their problems, but the meeting resulted in Nolan storming out. Nolan and Cooper formed Straylight Run with Michelle and Breaking Pangaea drummer Will Noon and subsequently ceased contact with all the members of Taking Back Sunday except O'Connell. ### New lineup and later promotion Taking Back Sunday underwent a short period where they were unsure what to do next, and even briefly considered breaking up. The band was due to tour the United Kingdom with Brand New in May and June 2003; however, all the shows were canceled because of rumors of the band breaking up. Taking Back Sunday issued a statement, explaining that: "There have been a series of personal events with members of the band [...] We need very much to take a step back at this time". Reyes moved in with his girlfriend and toyed with the idea of taking the band name and restarting with an all-new lineup. He kept calling Cooper, Nolan and O'Connell in an attempt to reconcile. Two months had passed before O'Connell contacted Lazzara and decided to continue the band. Reyes received a call out of the blue from Breaking Pangaea frontman Fred Mascherino, whom he had known for years. Mascherino subsequently auditioned for Nolan's place; on August 5, 2003, it was announced that Mascherino was a member of the band. Bassist Matt Rubano, who grew up with O'Connell, then joined the group. O'Connell had asked Rubano to audition, but he was hesitant initially, since he was not a fan of emo music or aware of the band; however, he bought the album and learned Cooper's parts. On August 12, 2003, the band appeared on IMX. On September 16, 2003, "You're So Last Summer" was released as a radio single. In November 2003, a music video for the track was filmed at Fulton Park in New York City. The video, directed by Winters, debuted on MTV on November 24. In the video, the band performs while Public Enemy vocalist Flavor Flav (in full regalia) jumps around. According to Lazzara, the group was making fun of itself: "We had two guys leave our band and there were two main singers, so we were trying to think of a way to bring the new band members into the video, but not have Fred singing the old guy’s part. And the funniest way to do that was to use Flavor Flav." On December 3, 2003, the band appeared on IMX again. ## Touring After receiving a \$10,000 advance from Victory Records, Taking Back Sunday purchased a van and trailer for touring. In January 2002, the band toured with Rival Schools. For three weeks beginning in mid-March 2002, Taking Back Sunday participated in the Victory Records tour alongside Catch 22, Grade, Student Rick and Reach the Sky. In April and May 2002, the band started their first full tour of the United States supporting the Lawrence Arms. This trek also included appearances at the Skate & Surf and Purgatory festivals. During the first show of the tour, most of the crowd dispersed when the Lawrence Arms came on as Taking Back Sunday became the main draw. The band then toured that summer supporting Brand New, alongside Rufio. The tour had been in the works since the end of 2001; by that point, Nolan and Lacey had not spoken in around a year. Nolan viewed it as a sign that Lacey wanted to rebuild their friendship. After a week or two of the tour being underway, Taking Back Sunday joined Brand New onstage during their performances of "Seventy Times7", and Lacey returned the favor for "There's No 'I' in Team". In addition, shows were often sold out and being upgraded to bigger venues, which would sell out. When this occurred, the group was given extra money. Nolan said: "And it was the first time we actually came home and had money, like we made money from the tour." Until this point, the members would have gone back to work as soon as tours finished. Nolan said it was a "really big one for me [...] like, 'Wow, I'm not like just struggling to get by right now, we are actually kind of making a living doing this. In September 2002, they toured with Midtown and Recover on The Best Revenge Tour. Four shows into the tour, Lazzara fell off the stage and gashed his face in two places and dislocated his hip. The incident forced the group to drop out of the tour. At the end of 2002, Taking Back Sunday toured with the Starting Line and Northstar. The band opened 2003 touring with the Used and the Blood Brothers, and headlined the Takeover Tour in March and April 2003, with main support from From Autumn to Ashes and Recover; Breaking Pangaea, Somehow Hollow, My Chemical Romance and Count the Stars appeared on select dates. Taking Back Sunday played on three 2003 Warped Tour shows, leading up to an appearance at Furnace Fest, which they headlined. On September 9, 2003, the band performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live. From September to November 2003, Taking Back Sunday co-headlined a tour with Saves the Day, supported by Moneen. On November 11, 2003, the band appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly. ## Critical reception Tell All Your Friends was met with a mostly positive critical reception. Several reviewers took notice of how Taking Back Sunday executed the emo sound on Tell All Your Friends. AllMusic reviewer Kurt Morris said Taking Back Sunday's "ability... to sound so blatantly" like the Movielife was "almost their undoing". He found them "a bit more rockin'" than the Movielife, having blended punk, hardcore, emo, and pop in a more successful fashion. Chart Attack reviewer Steve Servos praised the band's quiet-loud dynamic approach, and noted that Lazzara's ability to switch easily from singing to screaming despite his "somewhat raspy voice" set it apart as a release that would "rival any emo record to come out for some time". Rolling Stone's Gil Kaufman lauded how the album made the band sound unique among their emo peers, many times averting from "sad-sack emo pitfalls" into "pop-infused hardcore" and "enlightened, dramatic lyrics" describing "heartache that teeter[s] between despondency and dark vengeance". Peter White of Drowned in Sound enthusiastically noted that the album, which featured "nihilistic" pop songs that often employed "monster riffs" and screams similar to Obituary, would be a landmark of a new musical movement, with the potential to shift nu metal bands such as Limp Bizkit out of the mainstream in favor of emo. Kludge writer Ben Rayner applauded the band's overall execution of the "emo-punk blueprint", and noted that it would appeal to fans of Saves the Day and the Movielife. Despite praise for Taking Back Sunday's musical approach on Tell All Your Friends, some reviewers gave the album criticism for being too similar to other emo recordings around the time of its release. While Morris was mostly pleased with the release, he criticized the originality of the album's material, and Servos noted a "cookie cutter" emo sound present. Stuart Green of Exclaim! wrote positively of the release, but that while the album was "a spirited and well-produced" work, it arrived at a time when the presence of the music scene it belonged to was growing so rapidly that the album failed to stand out. While BBC Music's Olli Siebelt echoed this concern, he also credited the band with making an effort to stand out by including influences from post-punk, nu metal and hardcore punk. According to Siebelt, Taking Back Sunday composed songs which were both "upbeat and emotionally aggressive". Siebelt compared the album to All and the Descendents, saying that it retained "enough of its own identity" to lift the band above its peers. ## Commercial performance Before its release, Juarbe thought Tell All Your Friends was good but was unsure how it would do commercially. At the time, all of Victory's releases were gauged against Thursday, who had sold around 100,000 copies of their releases. Although it was reported that 15,000 copies had been shipped, only 2,000 copies were sold in the album's first week of release. At the time, this was the biggest opening week for a new artist on Victory. The album spent one week (at number 183) on the Billboard 200, and 68 weeks on the Heatseekers Albums chart, peaking at number nine. It spent 78 weeks on the Independent Albums chart, peaking at number eight, and peaked at number 23 on the Catalog Albums chart. It reached number 10 on the Independent Albums Year-end chart in 2003. Despite little airplay, Tell All Your Friends had sold 110,000 copies by March 2003; near the end of the year, sales stood at 252,000. By April 2004 the album had sold nearly 400,000 copies, and by September 2005 it was certified gold by the RIAA. In June 2023, the album reached platinum status. By May 2009, the album had sold 790,000 copies in the US, eventually selling one million copies worldwide. Tell All Your Friends is Taking Back Sunday and Victory Records' bestselling release. It would also become Victory's longest-running record on the Billboard Heatseekers and Independent Albums charts. "Great Romances of the 20th Century" charted at number 33 on UK Rock & Metal Singles chart in 2011. ## Legacy ### Best-of lists, influence and retrospective reviews Drowned in Sound included the album on their list of top albums of 2002. According to Alternative Press's Philip Obenschain, Tell All Your Friends "has remained one of the scene's most celebrated and influential releases". Despite its "not be[ing] their best sounding, most mature or highest in ambition... it's Tell All Your Friends's intangible and emotionally charged energy, the uncertainty, the earnestness and the rough edges that make it so special". The album was included in Rock Sound's 101 Modern Classics list at number 13, and the magazine considered it "[t]he Hybrid Theory of emo". They later ranked it at number 35 on the list of best albums in their lifetime. Billboard said "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)" "basically helped popularize post-hardcore and emo to the public". Austin Saalman of Under the Radar said the album was a "central influence" on the third wave of emo, "which soon unfolded and ultimately dominated '00s popular culture". Tell All Your Friends has been included on several best-of emo album lists by A.Side TV, Alternative Press, Houston Press, Junkee, NME, and Rolling Stone, as well as by journalists Leslie Simon and Trevor Kelley in their book Everybody Hurts: An Essential Guide to Emo Culture (2007). Similarly, "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)" appeared on a best-of emo songs list by Vulture, while Alternative Press included "You're So Last Summer" and "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)" at numbers 81 and 5, respectively, on their list of the best 100 singles from the 2000s. Brandon McMaster of the Crimson Armada cited the album as an influence, while Derek Sanders, lead vocalist of Mayday Parade, has expressed admiration for it. CMJ New Music Monthly writer Andrew Bonazelli predicted that the record would be "a solid bet for the future of rock radio [...] Should pimp-metal eventually go the way of the grunge or glam-rock dodo, the masses' ears just might be taken back by Taking Back Sunday." Chris Collum wrote for AbsolutePunk that Tell All Your Friends "grabs the listener's attention from the start" and the album expressed "feelings that are completely genuine, not contrived, rehearsed or formulaic, without being over-the-top or sappy". Collum called Lazzara and Nolan's vocal delivery "rapid-fire" in a "back-and-forth way, as if they were carrying on a dialogue, [that] allows you to really attach to and get a sense of the raw emotion behind the songs". In a retrospective review for Alternative Press, Brendan Manley wrote that the album "is as close as it gets to a modern masterpiece, capturing not just a band at their apex, but an entire scene". According to Manley, Tell All Your Friends was "the crossover breaking point, finally bringing what had been percolating for years in East Coast VFW Halls to the attention of the masses". Channing Freeman of Sputnikmusic wrote that the album features "power chords and clean strums and palm muting and reverb". About whether this was negative, Freeman said, "With songs this good, it shouldn't be... It's all here, solid and undeniably catchy." Jonathan Bradley wrote for Stylus that although the album "is notable not so much for being a blueprint as it is a playbook", it would "provide the perfect How-To guide for teenagers with guitars all over the United States and beyond". ### Related releases, members' opinions and anniversary celebrations A CD/DVD version of the album was released in November 2005. The CD included "The Ballad of Sal Villanueva" and an acoustic version of "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)" as bonus tracks; live acoustic versions of "You Know How I Do" and "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)", and an interview as enhanced content. The DVD featured the music videos to "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)", "You're So Last Summer", "Great Romances of the 20th Century" and "Timberwolves at New Jersey". Four of the album's tracks were included as part of the Notes from the Past compilation in 2007. Tell All Your Friends was performed live in its entirety at Bamboozle 2011. In a 2011 interview with CMJ, Lazzara and Nolan chose the album's final track ("Head Club") as their least-favorite Taking Back Sunday song. In 2015, Lazzara said that he disliked his vocals on the album: "I was just yelling everything hoping it fit in there somehow, trying to paint with some strange color." To celebrate Tell All Your Friends's 10th anniversary, the band toured the US in October and November 2012 with support from Bayside. In November, the album charted on the Billboard Vinyl Albums chart, peaking at number eight. In June 2013, the band released a live acoustic version of the album and a companion film, TAYF10 Acoustic. The recordings were made in Los Angeles and Chicago. In September, the band performed two electric versions of the album in New Jersey. TAYF10 Acoustic and TAYF10: Live from Starland Ballroom were released as a double-DVD set in December, and TAYF10 Acoustic was released on vinyl. In 2014, Cooper said that Warner Bros. wanted the group to re-record Tell All Your Friends during the Taking Back Sunday (2011) sessions; Cooper replied to them, "Are you nuts?" Throughout 2019, the band performed Tell All Your Friends in its entirety for their 20th anniversary world tour. To help promote the tour, a career-spanning compilation Twenty (2019) was released, which included "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)", "You're So Last Summer" and "Timberwolves at New Jersey" from Tell All Your Friends. A remastered version of Tell All Your Friends was released on vinyl in 2019; a 20th anniversary edition was released on May 27, 2022. ## Track listing All music written by Taking Back Sunday. All lyrics written by Adam Lazzara and John Nolan. All recordings produced by Sal Villanueva. ## Personnel Personnel per booklet and back cover. ### Taking Back Sunday - Shaun Cooper – bass guitar - Adam Lazzara – lead vocals - John Nolan – lead guitar, keyboard, vocals - Mark O'Connell – drums, percussion - Eddie Reyes – rhythm guitar ### Additional musicians - Neil Rubenstein – vocals (tracks 4, 7, and 10) - Michelle Nolan – vocals (tracks 2 and 6) - Matt McDannell – vocals (track 10) - Sal Villaneuva – guitar ### Production - Sal Villanueva – producer, mixing - Michele Logo – photography - John Clark – front cover artwork - Adam Lazzara – back tray photo - Patrick Larson – layout - Rumblefish – mixing - Erin Farley – engineer - Tim Gilles – engineer, mastering - Arun Venkatesh – engineer ## Charts ### Weekly charts ### Year-end charts ## Certifications
901	Astatine	1,173,196,902	null	[ "Astatine", "Chemical elements", "Chemical elements with face-centered cubic structure", "Halogens", "Synthetic elements" ]	Astatine is a chemical element with the symbol At and atomic number 85. It is the rarest naturally occurring element in the Earth's crust, occurring only as the decay product of various heavier elements. All of astatine's isotopes are short-lived; the most stable is astatine-210, with a half-life of 8.1 hours. A sample of the pure element has never been assembled, because any macroscopic specimen would be immediately vaporized by the heat of its radioactivity. The bulk properties of astatine are not known with certainty. Many of them have been estimated from its position on the periodic table as a heavier analog of iodine, and a member of the halogens (the group of elements including fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine). However, astatine also falls roughly along the dividing line between metals and nonmetals, and some metallic behavior has also been observed and predicted for it. Astatine is likely to have a dark or lustrous appearance and may be a semiconductor or possibly a metal. Chemically, several anionic species of astatine are known and most of its compounds resemble those of iodine, but it also sometimes displays metallic characteristics and shows some similarities to silver. The first synthesis of astatine was in 1940 by Dale R. Corson, Kenneth Ross MacKenzie, and Emilio G. Segrè at the University of California, Berkeley, who named it from the Ancient Greek ἄστατος (astatos) 'unstable'. Four isotopes of astatine were subsequently found to be naturally occurring, although much less than one gram is present at any given time in the Earth's crust. Neither the most stable isotope astatine-210, nor the medically useful astatine-211, occur naturally; they are usually produced by bombarding bismuth-209 with alpha particles. ## Characteristics Astatine is an extremely radioactive element; all its isotopes have half-lives of 8.1 hours or less, decaying into other astatine isotopes, bismuth, polonium, or radon. Most of its isotopes are very unstable, with half-lives of seconds or less. Of the first 101 elements in the periodic table, only francium is less stable, and all the astatine isotopes more stable than the longest-lived francium isotopes are in any case synthetic and do not occur in nature. The bulk properties of astatine are not known with any certainty. Research is limited by its short half-life, which prevents the creation of weighable quantities. A visible piece of astatine would immediately vaporize itself because of the heat generated by its intense radioactivity. It remains to be seen if, with sufficient cooling, a macroscopic quantity of astatine could be deposited as a thin film. Astatine is usually classified as either a nonmetal or a metalloid; metal formation has also been predicted. ### Physical Most of the physical properties of astatine have been estimated (by interpolation or extrapolation), using theoretically or empirically derived methods. For example, halogens get darker with increasing atomic weight – fluorine is nearly colorless, chlorine is yellow-green, bromine is red-brown, and iodine is dark gray/violet. Astatine is sometimes described as probably being a black solid (assuming it follows this trend), or as having a metallic appearance (if it is a metalloid or a metal). Astatine sublimes less readily than does iodine, having a lower vapor pressure. Even so, half of a given quantity of astatine will vaporize in approximately an hour if put on a clean glass surface at room temperature. The absorption spectrum of astatine in the middle ultraviolet region has lines at 224.401 and 216.225 nm, suggestive of 6p to 7s transitions. The structure of solid astatine is unknown. As an analog of iodine it may have an orthorhombic crystalline structure composed of diatomic astatine molecules, and be a semiconductor (with a band gap of 0.7 eV). Alternatively, if condensed astatine forms a metallic phase, as has been predicted, it may have a monatomic face-centered cubic structure; in this structure, it may well be a superconductor, like the similar high-pressure phase of iodine. Metallic astatine is expected to have a density of 8.91–8.95 g/cm<sup>3</sup>. Evidence for (or against) the existence of diatomic astatine (At<sub>2</sub>) is sparse and inconclusive. Some sources state that it does not exist, or at least has never been observed, while other sources assert or imply its existence. Despite this controversy, many properties of diatomic astatine have been predicted; for example, its bond length would be 300±10 pm, dissociation energy 83.7±12.5 kJ/mol, and heat of vaporization (∆H<sub>vap</sub>) 54.39 kJ/mol. Many values have been predicted for the melting and boiling points of astatine, but only for At<sub>2</sub>. ### Chemical The chemistry of astatine is "clouded by the extremely low concentrations at which astatine experiments have been conducted, and the possibility of reactions with impurities, walls and filters, or radioactivity by-products, and other unwanted nano-scale interactions". Many of its apparent chemical properties have been observed using tracer studies on extremely dilute astatine solutions, typically less than 10<sup>−10</sup> mol·L<sup>−1</sup>. Some properties, such as anion formation, align with other halogens. Astatine has some metallic characteristics as well, such as plating onto a cathode, and coprecipitating with metal sulfides in hydrochloric acid. It forms complexes with EDTA, a metal chelating agent, and is capable of acting as a metal in antibody radiolabeling; in some respects, astatine in the +1 state is akin to silver in the same state. Most of the organic chemistry of astatine is, however, analogous to that of iodine. It has been suggested that astatine can form a stable monatomic cation in aqueous solution. Astatine has an electronegativity of 2.2 on the revised Pauling scale – lower than that of iodine (2.66) and the same as hydrogen. In hydrogen astatide (HAt), the negative charge is predicted to be on the hydrogen atom, implying that this compound could be referred to as astatine hydride according to certain nomenclatures. That would be consistent with the electronegativity of astatine on the Allred–Rochow scale (1.9) being less than that of hydrogen (2.2). However, official IUPAC stoichiometric nomenclature is based on an idealized convention of determining the relative electronegativities of the elements by the mere virtue of their position within the periodic table. According to this convention, astatine is handled as though it is more electronegative than hydrogen, irrespective of its true electronegativity. The electron affinity of astatine, at 233 kJ mol<sup>−1</sup>, is 21% less than that of iodine. In comparison, the value of Cl (349) is 6.4% higher than F (328); Br (325) is 6.9% less than Cl; and I (295) is 9.2% less than Br. The marked reduction for At was predicted as being due to spin–orbit interactions. The first ionization energy of astatine is about 899 kJ mol<sup>−1</sup>, which continues the trend of decreasing first ionization energies down the halogen group (fluorine, 1681; chlorine, 1251; bromine, 1140; iodine, 1008). ## Compounds Less reactive than iodine, astatine is the least reactive of the halogens. Its compounds have been synthesized in nano-scale amounts and studied as intensively as possible before their radioactive disintegration. The reactions involved have been typically tested with dilute solutions of astatine mixed with larger amounts of iodine. Acting as a carrier, the iodine ensures there is sufficient material for laboratory techniques (such as filtration and precipitation) to work. Like iodine, astatine has been shown to adopt odd-numbered oxidation states ranging from −1 to +7. Only a few compounds with metals have been reported, in the form of states of sodium, palladium, silver, thallium, and lead. Some characteristic properties of silver and sodium astatide, and the other hypothetical alkali and alkaline earth astatides, have been estimated by extrapolation from other metal halides. The formation of an astatine compound with hydrogen – usually referred to as hydrogen astatide – was noted by the pioneers of astatine chemistry. As mentioned, there are grounds for instead referring to this compound as astatine hydride. It is easily oxidized; acidification by dilute nitric acid gives the At<sup>0</sup> or At<sup>+</sup> forms, and the subsequent addition of silver(I) may only partially, at best, precipitate astatine as silver(I) astatide (AgAt). Iodine, in contrast, is not oxidized, and precipitates readily as silver(I) iodide. Astatine is known to bind to boron, carbon, and nitrogen. Various boron cage compounds have been prepared with At–B bonds, these being more stable than At–C bonds. Astatine can replace a hydrogen atom in benzene to form astatobenzene C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>5</sub>At; this may be oxidized to C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>5</sub>AtCl<sub>2</sub> by chlorine. By treating this compound with an alkaline solution of hypochlorite, C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>5</sub>AtO<sub>2</sub> can be produced. The dipyridine-astatine(I) cation, [At(C<sub>5</sub>H<sub>5</sub>N)<sub>2</sub>]<sup>+</sup>, forms ionic compounds with perchlorate (a non-coordinating anion) and with nitrate, [At(C<sub>5</sub>H<sub>5</sub>N)<sub>2</sub>]NO<sub>3</sub>. This cation exists as a coordination complex in which two dative covalent bonds separately link the astatine(I) centre with each of the pyridine rings via their nitrogen atoms. With oxygen, there is evidence of the species AtO<sup>−</sup> and AtO<sup>+</sup> in aqueous solution, formed by the reaction of astatine with an oxidant such as elemental bromine or (in the last case) by sodium persulfate in a solution of perchloric acid. The species previously thought to be AtO−2 has since been determined to be AtO(OH)−2, a hydrolysis product of AtO<sup>+</sup> (another such hydrolysis product being AtOOH). The well characterized AtO−3 anion can be obtained by, for example, the oxidation of astatine with potassium hypochlorite in a solution of potassium hydroxide. Preparation of lanthanum triastatate La(AtO<sub>3</sub>)<sub>3</sub>, following the oxidation of astatine by a hot Na<sub>2</sub>S<sub>2</sub>O<sub>8</sub> solution, has been reported. Further oxidation of AtO−3, such as by xenon difluoride (in a hot alkaline solution) or periodate (in a neutral or alkaline solution), yields the perastatate ion AtO−4; this is only stable in neutral or alkaline solutions. Astatine is also thought to be capable of forming cations in salts with oxyanions such as iodate or dichromate; this is based on the observation that, in acidic solutions, monovalent or intermediate positive states of astatine coprecipitate with the insoluble salts of metal cations such as silver(I) iodate or thallium(I) dichromate. Astatine may form bonds to the other chalcogens; these include S<sub>7</sub>At<sup>+</sup> and At(CSN)−2 with sulfur, a coordination selenourea compound with selenium, and an astatine–tellurium colloid with tellurium. Astatine is known to react with its lighter homologs iodine, bromine, and chlorine in the vapor state; these reactions produce diatomic interhalogen compounds with formulas AtI, AtBr, and AtCl. The first two compounds may also be produced in water – astatine reacts with iodine/iodide solution to form AtI, whereas AtBr requires (aside from astatine) an iodine/iodine monobromide/bromide solution. The excess of iodides or bromides may lead to AtBr−2 and AtI−2 ions, or in a chloride solution, they may produce species like AtCl−2 or AtBrCl<sup>−</sup> via equilibrium reactions with the chlorides. Oxidation of the element with dichromate (in nitric acid solution) showed that adding chloride turned the astatine into a molecule likely to be either AtCl or AtOCl. Similarly, AtOCl−2 or AtCl−2 may be produced. The polyhalides PdAtI<sub>2</sub>, CsAtI<sub>2</sub>, TlAtI<sub>2</sub>, and PbAtI are known or presumed to have been precipitated. In a plasma ion source mass spectrometer, the ions [AtI]<sup>+</sup>, [AtBr]<sup>+</sup>, and [AtCl]<sup>+</sup> have been formed by introducing lighter halogen vapors into a helium-filled cell containing astatine, supporting the existence of stable neutral molecules in the plasma ion state. No astatine fluorides have been discovered yet. Their absence has been speculatively attributed to the extreme reactivity of such compounds, including the reaction of an initially formed fluoride with the walls of the glass container to form a non-volatile product. Thus, although the synthesis of an astatine fluoride is thought to be possible, it may require a liquid halogen fluoride solvent, as has already been used for the characterization of radon fluoride. ## History In 1869, when Dmitri Mendeleev published his periodic table, the space under iodine was empty; after Niels Bohr established the physical basis of the classification of chemical elements, it was suggested that the fifth halogen belonged there. Before its officially recognized discovery, it was called "eka-iodine" (from Sanskrit eka – "one") to imply it was one space under iodine (in the same manner as eka-silicon, eka-boron, and others). Scientists tried to find it in nature; given its extreme rarity, these attempts resulted in several false discoveries. The first claimed discovery of eka-iodine was made by Fred Allison and his associates at the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) in 1931. The discoverers named element 85 "alabamine", and assigned it the symbol Ab, designations that were used for a few years. In 1934, H. G. MacPherson of University of California, Berkeley disproved Allison's method and the validity of his discovery. There was another claim in 1937, by the chemist Rajendralal De. Working in Dacca in British India (now Dhaka in Bangladesh), he chose the name "dakin" for element 85, which he claimed to have isolated as the thorium series equivalent of radium F (polonium-210) in the radium series. The properties he reported for dakin do not correspond to those of astatine, and astatine's radioactivity would have prevented him from handling it in the quantities he claimed. Moreover, astatine is not found in the thorium series, and the true identity of dakin is not known. In 1936, the team of Romanian physicist Horia Hulubei and French physicist Yvette Cauchois claimed to have discovered element 85 by observing its X-ray emission lines. In 1939, they published another paper which supported and extended previous data. In 1944, Hulubei published a summary of data he had obtained up to that time, claiming it was supported by the work of other researchers. He chose the name "dor", presumably from the Romanian for "longing" [for peace], as World War II had started five years earlier. As Hulubei was writing in French, a language which does not accommodate the "ine" suffix, dor would likely have been rendered in English as "dorine", had it been adopted. In 1947, Hulubei's claim was effectively rejected by the Austrian chemist Friedrich Paneth, who would later chair the IUPAC committee responsible for recognition of new elements. Even though Hulubei's samples did contain astatine-218, his means to detect it were too weak, by current standards, to enable correct identification; moreover, he could not perform chemical tests on the element. He had also been involved in an earlier false claim as to the discovery of element 87 (francium) and this is thought to have caused other researchers to downplay his work. In 1940, the Swiss chemist Walter Minder announced the discovery of element 85 as the beta decay product of radium A (polonium-218), choosing the name "helvetium" (from Helvetia, the Latin name of Switzerland). Berta Karlik and Traude Bernert were unsuccessful in reproducing his experiments, and subsequently attributed Minder's results to contamination of his radon stream (radon-222 is the parent isotope of polonium-218). In 1942, Minder, in collaboration with the English scientist Alice Leigh-Smith, announced the discovery of another isotope of element 85, presumed to be the product of thorium A (polonium-216) beta decay. They named this substance "anglo-helvetium", but Karlik and Bernert were again unable to reproduce these results. Later in 1940, Dale R. Corson, Kenneth Ross MacKenzie, and Emilio Segrè isolated the element at the University of California, Berkeley. Instead of searching for the element in nature, the scientists created it by bombarding bismuth-209 with alpha particles in a cyclotron (particle accelerator) to produce, after emission of two neutrons, astatine-211. The discoverers, however, did not immediately suggest a name for the element. The reason for this was that at the time, an element created synthetically in "invisible quantities" that had not yet been discovered in nature was not seen as a completely valid one; in addition, chemists were reluctant to recognize radioactive isotopes as legitimately as stable ones. In 1943, astatine was found as a product of two naturally occurring decay chains by Berta Karlik and Traude Bernert, first in the so-called uranium series, and then in the actinium series. (Since then, astatine was also found in a third decay chain, the neptunium series.) Friedrich Paneth in 1946 called to finally recognize synthetic elements, quoting, among other reasons, recent confirmation of their natural occurrence, and proposed that the discoverers of the newly discovered unnamed elements name these elements. In early 1947, Nature published the discoverers' suggestions; a letter from Corson, MacKenzie, and Segrè suggested the name "astatine" coming from the Greek astatos (αστατος) meaning "unstable", because of its propensity for radioactive decay, with the ending "-ine", found in the names of the four previously discovered halogens. The name was also chosen to continue the tradition of the four stable halogens, where the name referred to a property of the element. Corson and his colleagues classified astatine as a metal on the basis of its analytical chemistry. Subsequent investigators reported iodine-like, cationic, or amphoteric behavior. In a 2003 retrospective, Corson wrote that "some of the properties [of astatine] are similar to iodine ... it also exhibits metallic properties, more like its metallic neighbors Po and Bi." ## Isotopes There are 41 known isotopes of astatine, with mass numbers of 188 and 190–229. Theoretical modeling suggests that about 37 more isotopes could exist. No stable or long-lived astatine isotope has been observed, nor is one expected to exist. Astatine's alpha decay energies follow the same trend as for other heavy elements. Lighter astatine isotopes have quite high energies of alpha decay, which become lower as the nuclei become heavier. Astatine-211 has a significantly higher energy than the previous isotope, because it has a nucleus with 126 neutrons, and 126 is a magic number corresponding to a filled neutron shell. Despite having a similar half-life to the previous isotope (8.1 hours for astatine-210 and 7.2 hours for astatine-211), the alpha decay probability is much higher for the latter: 41.81% against only 0.18%. The two following isotopes release even more energy, with astatine-213 releasing the most energy. For this reason, it is the shortest-lived astatine isotope. Even though heavier astatine isotopes release less energy, no long-lived astatine isotope exists, because of the increasing role of beta decay (electron emission). This decay mode is especially important for astatine; as early as 1950 it was postulated that all isotopes of the element undergo beta decay, though nuclear mass measurements indicate that <sup>215</sup>At is in fact beta-stable, as it has the lowest mass of all isobars with A = 215. A beta decay mode has been found for all other astatine isotopes except for astatine-213, astatine-214, and astatine-216m. Astatine-210 and lighter isotopes exhibit beta plus decay (positron emission), astatine-216 and heavier isotopes exhibit beta minus decay, and astatine-212 decays via both modes, while astatine-211 undergoes electron capture. The most stable isotope is astatine-210, which has a half-life of 8.1 hours. The primary decay mode is beta plus, to the relatively long-lived (in comparison to astatine isotopes) alpha emitter polonium-210. In total, only five isotopes have half-lives exceeding one hour (astatine-207 to -211). The least stable ground state isotope is astatine-213, with a half-life of 125 nanoseconds. It undergoes alpha decay to the extremely long-lived bismuth-209. Astatine has 24 known nuclear isomers, which are nuclei with one or more nucleons (protons or neutrons) in an excited state. A nuclear isomer may also be called a "meta-state", meaning the system has more internal energy than the "ground state" (the state with the lowest possible internal energy), making the former likely to decay into the latter. There may be more than one isomer for each isotope. The most stable of these nuclear isomers is astatine-202m1, which has a half-life of about 3 minutes, longer than those of all the ground states bar those of isotopes 203–211 and 220. The least stable is astatine-214m1; its half-life of 265 nanoseconds is shorter than those of all ground states except that of astatine-213. ## Natural occurrence Astatine is the rarest naturally occurring element. The total amount of astatine in the Earth's crust (quoted mass 2.36 × 10<sup>25</sup> grams) is estimated by some to be less than one gram at any given time. Other sources estimate the amount of ephemeral astatine, present on earth at any given moment, to be up to one ounce (about 28 grams). Any astatine present at the formation of the Earth has long since disappeared; the four naturally occurring isotopes (astatine-215, -217, -218 and -219) are instead continuously produced as a result of the decay of radioactive thorium and uranium ores, and trace quantities of neptunium-237. The landmass of North and South America combined, to a depth of 16 kilometers (10 miles), contains only about one trillion astatine-215 atoms at any given time (around 3.5 × 10<sup>−10</sup> grams). Astatine-217 is produced via the radioactive decay of neptunium-237. Primordial remnants of the latter isotope—due to its relatively short half-life of 2.14 million years—are no longer present on Earth. However, trace amounts occur naturally as a product of transmutation reactions in uranium ores. Astatine-218 was the first astatine isotope discovered in nature. Astatine-219, with a half-life of 56 seconds, is the longest lived of the naturally occurring isotopes. Isotopes of astatine are sometimes not listed as naturally occurring because of misconceptions that there are no such isotopes, or discrepancies in the literature. Astatine-216 has been counted as a naturally occurring isotope but reports of its observation (which were described as doubtful) have not been confirmed. ## Synthesis ### Formation Astatine was first produced by bombarding bismuth-209 with energetic alpha particles, and this is still the major route used to create the relatively long-lived isotopes astatine-209 through astatine-211. Astatine is only produced in minuscule quantities, with modern techniques allowing production runs of up to 6.6 giga becquerels (about 86 nanograms or 2.47 × 10<sup>14</sup> atoms). Synthesis of greater quantities of astatine using this method is constrained by the limited availability of suitable cyclotrons and the prospect of melting the target. Solvent radiolysis due to the cumulative effect of astatine decay is a related problem. With cryogenic technology, microgram quantities of astatine might be able to be generated via proton irradiation of thorium or uranium to yield radon-211, in turn decaying to astatine-211. Contamination with astatine-210 is expected to be a drawback of this method. The most important isotope is astatine-211, the only one in commercial use. To produce the bismuth target, the metal is sputtered onto a gold, copper, or aluminium surface at 50 to 100 milligrams per square centimeter. Bismuth oxide can be used instead; this is forcibly fused with a copper plate. The target is kept under a chemically neutral nitrogen atmosphere, and is cooled with water to prevent premature astatine vaporization. In a particle accelerator, such as a cyclotron, alpha particles are collided with the bismuth. Even though only one bismuth isotope is used (bismuth-209), the reaction may occur in three possible ways, producing astatine-209, astatine-210, or astatine-211. In order to eliminate undesired nuclides, the maximum energy of the particle accelerator is set to a value (optimally 29.17 MeV) above that for the reaction producing astatine-211 (to produce the desired isotope) and below the one producing astatine-210 (to avoid producing other astatine isotopes). ### Separation methods Since astatine is the main product of the synthesis, after its formation it must only be separated from the target and any significant contaminants. Several methods are available, "but they generally follow one of two approaches—dry distillation or [wet] acid treatment of the target followed by solvent extraction." The methods summarized below are modern adaptations of older procedures, as reviewed by Kugler and Keller. Pre-1985 techniques more often addressed the elimination of co-produced toxic polonium; this requirement is now mitigated by capping the energy of the cyclotron irradiation beam. #### Dry The astatine-containing cyclotron target is heated to a temperature of around 650 °C. The astatine volatilizes and is condensed in (typically) a cold trap. Higher temperatures of up to around 850 °C may increase the yield, at the risk of bismuth contamination from concurrent volatilization. Redistilling the condensate may be required to minimize the presence of bismuth (as bismuth can interfere with astatine labeling reactions). The astatine is recovered from the trap using one or more low concentration solvents such as sodium hydroxide, methanol or chloroform. Astatine yields of up to around 80% may be achieved. Dry separation is the method most commonly used to produce a chemically useful form of astatine. #### Wet The irradiated bismuth (or sometimes bismuth trioxide) target is first dissolved in, for example, concentrated nitric or perchloric acid. Following this first step, the acid can be distilled away to leave behind a white residue that contains both bismuth and the desired astatine product. This residue is then dissolved in a concentrated acid, such as hydrochloric acid. Astatine is extracted from this acid using an organic solvent such as dibutyl ether, diisopropyl ether (DIPE), or thiosemicarbazide. Using liquid-liquid extraction, the astatine product can be repeatedly washed with an acid, such as HCl, and extracted into the organic solvent layer. A separation yield of 93% using nitric acid has been reported, falling to 72% by the time purification procedures were completed (distillation of nitric acid, purging residual nitrogen oxides, and redissolving bismuth nitrate to enable liquid–liquid extraction). Wet methods involve "multiple radioactivity handling steps" and have not been considered well suited for isolating larger quantities of astatine. However, wet extraction methods are being examined for use in production of larger quantities of astatine-211, as it is thought that wet extraction methods can provide more consistency. They can enable the production of astatine in a specific oxidation state and may have greater applicability in experimental radiochemistry. ## Uses and precautions Newly formed astatine-211 is the subject of ongoing research in nuclear medicine. It must be used quickly as it decays with a half-life of 7.2 hours; this is long enough to permit multistep labeling strategies. Astatine-211 has potential for targeted alpha-particle therapy, since it decays either via emission of an alpha particle (to bismuth-207), or via electron capture (to an extremely short-lived nuclide, polonium-211, which undergoes further alpha decay), very quickly reaching its stable granddaughter lead-207. Polonium X-rays emitted as a result of the electron capture branch, in the range of 77–92 keV, enable the tracking of astatine in animals and patients. Although astatine-210 has a slightly longer half-life, it is wholly unsuitable because it usually undergoes beta plus decay to the extremely toxic polonium-210. The principal medicinal difference between astatine-211 and iodine-131 (a radioactive iodine isotope also used in medicine) is that iodine-131 emits high-energy beta particles, and astatine does not. Beta particles have much greater penetrating power through tissues than do the much heavier alpha particles. An average alpha particle released by astatine-211 can travel up to 70 μm through surrounding tissues; an average-energy beta particle emitted by iodine-131 can travel nearly 30 times as far, to about 2 mm. The short half-life and limited penetrating power of alpha radiation through tissues offers advantages in situations where the "tumor burden is low and/or malignant cell populations are located in close proximity to essential normal tissues." Significant morbidity in cell culture models of human cancers has been achieved with from one to ten astatine-211 atoms bound per cell. Several obstacles have been encountered in the development of astatine-based radiopharmaceuticals for cancer treatment. World War II delayed research for close to a decade. Results of early experiments indicated that a cancer-selective carrier would need to be developed and it was not until the 1970s that monoclonal antibodies became available for this purpose. Unlike iodine, astatine shows a tendency to dehalogenate from molecular carriers such as these, particularly at sp<sup>3</sup> carbon sites (less so from sp<sup>2</sup> sites). Given the toxicity of astatine accumulated and retained in the body, this emphasized the need to ensure it remained attached to its host molecule. While astatine carriers that are slowly metabolized can be assessed for their efficacy, more rapidly metabolized carriers remain a significant obstacle to the evaluation of astatine in nuclear medicine. Mitigating the effects of astatine-induced radiolysis of labeling chemistry and carrier molecules is another area requiring further development. A practical application for astatine as a cancer treatment would potentially be suitable for a "staggering" number of patients; production of astatine in the quantities that would be required remains an issue. Animal studies show that astatine, similarly to iodine—although to a lesser extent, perhaps because of its slightly more metallic nature—is preferentially (and dangerously) concentrated in the thyroid gland. Unlike iodine, astatine also shows a tendency to be taken up by the lungs and spleen, possibly because of in-body oxidation of At<sup>–</sup> to At<sup>+</sup>. If administered in the form of a radiocolloid it tends to concentrate in the liver. Experiments in rats and monkeys suggest that astatine-211 causes much greater damage to the thyroid gland than does iodine-131, with repetitive injection of the nuclide resulting in necrosis and cell dysplasia within the gland. Early research suggested that injection of astatine into female rodents caused morphological changes in breast tissue; this conclusion remained controversial for many years. General agreement was later reached that this was likely caused by the effect of breast tissue irradiation combined with hormonal changes due to irradiation of the ovaries. Trace amounts of astatine can be handled safely in fume hoods if they are well-aerated; biological uptake of the element must be avoided. ## See also - Radiation protection
38,245	Tosca	1,170,522,536	1900 opera by Giacomo Puccini	[ "1900 operas", "Fiction about suicide", "Fiction set in 1800", "Fictional singers", "Italian-language operas", "Operas", "Operas adapted into films", "Operas based on plays", "Operas based on works by Victorien Sardou", "Operas by Giacomo Puccini", "Operas set in Italy", "Roman Republic (18th century)", "Verismo operas", "Works set in Rome" ]	Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language dramatic play, La Tosca, is a melodramatic piece set in Rome in June 1800, with the Kingdom of Naples's control of Rome threatened by Napoleon's invasion of Italy. It contains depictions of torture, murder, and suicide, as well as some of Puccini's best-known lyrical arias. Puccini saw Sardou's play when it was touring Italy in 1889 and, after some vacillation, obtained the rights to turn the work into an opera in 1895. Turning the wordy French play into a succinct Italian opera took four years, during which the composer repeatedly argued with his librettists and publisher. Tosca premiered at a time of unrest in Rome, and its first performance was delayed for a day for fear of disturbances. Despite indifferent reviews from the critics, the opera was an immediate success with the public. Musically, Tosca is structured as a through-composed work, with arias, recitative, choruses and other elements musically woven into a seamless whole. Puccini used Wagnerian leitmotifs to identify characters, objects and ideas. While critics have often dismissed the opera as a facile melodrama with confusions of plot—musicologist Joseph Kerman famously called it a "shabby little shocker"—the power of its score and the inventiveness of its orchestration have been widely acknowledged. The dramatic force of Tosca and its characters continues to fascinate both performers and audiences, and the work remains one of the most frequently performed operas. Many recordings of the work have been issued, both of studio and live performances. ## Background The French playwright Victorien Sardou wrote more than 70 plays, almost all of them successful, and none of them performed today. In the early 1880s Sardou began a collaboration with actress Sarah Bernhardt, whom he provided with a series of historical melodramas. His third Bernhardt play, La Tosca, which premiered in Paris on 24 November 1887, and in which she starred throughout Europe, was an outstanding success, with more than 3,000 performances in France alone. Puccini had seen La Tosca at least twice, in Milan and Turin. On 7 May 1889 he wrote to his publisher, Giulio Ricordi, begging him to get Sardou's permission for the work to be made into an opera: "I see in this Tosca the opera I need, with no overblown proportions, no elaborate spectacle, nor will it call for the usual excessive amount of music." Ricordi sent his agent in Paris, Emanuele Muzio, to negotiate with Sardou, who preferred that his play be adapted by a French composer. He complained about the reception La Tosca had received in Italy, particularly in Milan, and warned that other composers were interested in the piece. Nonetheless, Ricordi reached terms with Sardou and assigned the librettist Luigi Illica to write a scenario for an adaptation. In 1891, Illica advised Puccini against the project, most likely because he felt the play could not be successfully adapted to a musical form. When Sardou expressed his unease at entrusting his most successful work to a relatively new composer whose music he did not like, Puccini took offence. He withdrew from the agreement, which Ricordi then assigned to the composer Alberto Franchetti. Illica wrote a libretto for Franchetti, who was never at ease with the assignment. When Puccini once again became interested in Tosca, Ricordi was able to get Franchetti to surrender the rights so he could recommission Puccini. One story relates that Ricordi convinced Franchetti that the work was too violent to be successfully staged. A Franchetti family tradition holds that Franchetti gave the work back as a grand gesture, saying, "He has more talent than I do." American scholar Deborah Burton contends that Franchetti gave it up simply because he saw little merit in it and could not feel the music in the play. Whatever the reason, Franchetti surrendered the rights in May 1895, and in August Puccini signed a contract to resume control of the project. ## Roles ## Synopsis ### Historical context According to the libretto, the action of Tosca occurs in Rome in June 1800. Sardou, in his play, dates it more precisely; La Tosca takes place in the afternoon, evening, and early morning of 17 and 18 June 1800. Italy had long been divided into a number of small states, with the Pope in Rome ruling the Papal States in Central Italy. Following the French Revolution, a French army under Napoleon invaded Italy in 1796, entering Rome almost unopposed on 11 February 1798 and establishing a republic there. Pope Pius VI was taken prisoner, and was sent into exile on February 20, 1798. (Pius VI would die in exile in 1799, and his successor, Pius VII, who was elected in Venice on 14 March 1800, would not enter Rome until 3 July. There is thus neither a Pope nor papal government in Rome during the days depicted in the opera). The new republic was ruled by seven consuls; in the opera this is the office formerly held by Angelotti, whose character may be based on the real-life consul Liborio Angelucci. In September 1799 the French, who had protected the republic, withdrew from Rome. As they left, troops of the Kingdom of Naples occupied the city. In May 1800 Napoleon, by then the undisputed leader of France, brought his troops across the Alps to Italy once again. On 14 June his army met the Austrian forces at the Battle of Marengo (near Alessandria). Austrian troops were initially successful; by mid-morning they were in control of the field of battle. Their commander, Michael von Melas, sent this news south towards Rome. However, fresh French troops arrived in the late afternoon, and Napoleon attacked the tired Austrians. As Melas retreated in disarray with the remains of his army, he sent a second courier south with the revised message. The Neapolitans abandoned Rome, and the city spent the next fourteen years under French domination. ### Act 1 Inside the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle Cesare Angelotti, former consul of the Roman Republic and now an escaped political prisoner, runs into the church and hides in the Attavanti private chapel – his sister, the Marchesa Attavanti, has left a key to the chapel hidden at the feet of the statue of the Madonna. The elderly Sacristan enters and begins cleaning. The Sacristan kneels in prayer as the Angelus sounds. The painter Mario Cavaradossi arrives to continue work on his picture of Mary Magdalene. The Sacristan identifies a likeness between the portrait and a blonde-haired woman who has been visiting the church recently (unknown to him, it is Angelotti's sister the Marchesa). Cavaradossi describes the "hidden harmony" ("Recondita armonia") in the contrast between the blonde beauty of his painting and his dark-haired lover, the singer Floria Tosca. The Sacristan mumbles his disapproval before leaving. Angelotti emerges and tells Cavaradossi, an old friend who has republican sympathies, that he is being pursued by the Chief of Police, Baron Scarpia. Cavaradossi promises to assist him after nightfall. Tosca's voice is heard, calling to Cavaradossi. Cavaradossi gives Angelotti his basket of food and Angelotti hurriedly returns to his hiding place. Tosca enters and suspiciously asks Cavaradossi what he has been doing – she thinks that he has been talking to another woman. After Cavaradossi reassures her, Tosca tries to persuade him to take her to his villa that evening: "Non la sospiri, la nostra casetta" ("Do you not long for our little cottage"). She then expresses jealousy over the woman in the painting, whom she recognises as the Marchesa Attavanti. Cavaradossi explains the likeness; he has merely observed the Marchesa at prayer in the church. He reassures Tosca of his fidelity and asks her what eyes could be more beautiful than her own: "Qual'occhio al mondo" ("What eyes in the world"). After Tosca has left, Angelotti reappears and discusses with the painter his plan to flee disguised as a woman, using clothes left in the chapel by his sister. Cavaradossi gives Angelotti a key to his villa, suggesting that he hide in a disused well in the garden. The sound of a cannon signals that Angelotti's escape has been discovered. He and Cavaradossi hasten out of the church. The Sacristan re-enters with choristers, celebrating the news that Napoleon has apparently been defeated at Marengo. The celebrations cease abruptly with the entry of Scarpia, his henchman Spoletta and several police agents. They have heard that Angelotti has sought refuge in the church. Scarpia orders a search, and the empty food basket and a fan bearing the Attavanti coat of arms are found in the chapel. Scarpia questions the Sacristan, and his suspicions are aroused further when he learns that Cavaradossi has been in the church; Scarpia mistrusts the painter, and believes him complicit in Angelotti's escape. When Tosca arrives looking for her lover, Scarpia artfully arouses her jealous instincts by implying a relationship between the painter and the Marchesa Attavanti. He draws Tosca's attention to the fan and suggests that someone must have surprised the lovers in the chapel. Tosca falls for his deceit; enraged, she rushes off to confront Cavaradossi. Scarpia orders Spoletta and his agents to follow her, assuming she will lead them to Cavaradossi and Angelotti. He privately gloats as he reveals his intentions to possess Tosca and execute Cavaradossi. A procession enters the church singing the Te Deum; exclaiming 'Tosca, you make me forget even God!', Scarpia joins the chorus in the prayer. ### Act 2 Scarpia's apartment in the Palazzo Farnese, that evening Scarpia, at supper, sends a note to Tosca asking her to come to his apartment, anticipating that two of his goals will soon be fulfilled at once. His agent, Spoletta, arrives to report that Angelotti remains at large, but Cavaradossi has been arrested for questioning. He is brought in, and an interrogation ensues. As the painter steadfastly denies knowing anything about Angelotti's escape, Tosca's voice is heard singing a celebratory cantata elsewhere in the Palace. She enters the apartment in time to see Cavaradossi being escorted to an antechamber. All he has time to say is that she mustn't tell them anything. Scarpia then claims she can save her lover from indescribable pain if she reveals Angelotti's hiding place. She resists, but the sound of screams coming through the door eventually breaks her down, and she tells Scarpia to search the well in the garden of Cavaradossi's villa. Scarpia orders his torturers to cease, and the bloodied painter is dragged back in. He is devastated to discover that Tosca has betrayed his friend. Sciarrone, another agent, then enters with news: there was an upset on the battlefield at Marengo, and the French are marching on Rome. Cavaradossi, unable to contain himself, gloats to Scarpia that his rule of terror will soon be at an end. This is enough for the police to consider him guilty, and they haul him away to be executed. Scarpia, now alone with Tosca, proposes a bargain: if she gives herself to him, Cavaradossi will be freed. She is revolted, and repeatedly rejects his advances, but she hears the drums outside announcing an execution. As Scarpia awaits her decision, she prays, asking why God has abandoned her in her hour of need: "Vissi d'arte" ("I lived for art"). She tries to offer money, but Scarpia is not interested in that kind of bribe: he wants Tosca herself. Spoletta returns with the news that Angelotti has killed himself upon discovery, and that everything is in place for Cavaradossi's execution. Scarpia hesitates to give the order, looking to Tosca, and despairingly she agrees to submit to him. He tells Spoletta to arrange a mock execution, both men repeating that it will be "as we did with Count Palmieri", and Spoletta exits. Tosca insists that Scarpia must provide safe-conduct out of Rome for herself and Cavaradossi. He easily agrees to this and heads to his desk. While he's drafting the document, she quietly takes a knife from the supper table. Scarpia triumphantly strides toward Tosca. When he begins to embrace her, she stabs him, crying "this is Tosca's kiss!" Once she's certain he's dead, she ruefully says "now I forgive him." She removes the safe-conduct from his pocket, lights candles in a gesture of piety, and places a crucifix on the body before leaving. ### Act 3 The upper parts of the Castel Sant'Angelo, early the following morning A shepherd boy is heard offstage singing (in Romanesco dialect) "Io de' sospiri" ("I give you sighs") as church bells sound for matins. The guards lead Cavaradossi in and a jailer informs him that he has one hour to live. He declines to see a priest, but asks permission to write a letter to Tosca. He begins to write, but is soon overwhelmed by memories: "E lucevan le stelle" ("And the stars shone"). Tosca enters and shows him the safe-conduct pass she has obtained, adding that she has killed Scarpia and that the imminent execution is a sham. Cavaradossi must feign death, after which they can flee together before Scarpia's body is discovered. Cavaradossi is awestruck by his gentle lover's courage: "O dolci mani" ("Oh sweet hands"). The pair ecstatically imagine the life they will share, far from Rome. Tosca then anxiously coaches Cavaradossi on how to play dead when the firing squad shoots at him with blanks. He promises he will fall "like Tosca in the theatre". Cavaradossi is led away, and Tosca watches with increasing impatience as the firing squad prepares. The men fire, and Tosca praises the realism of his fall, "Ecco un artista!" ("What an actor!"). Once the soldiers have left, she hurries towards Cavaradossi, urging him, "Mario, su presto!" ("Mario, up quickly!"), only to find that Scarpia betrayed her: the bullets were real. Heartbroken, she clasps her lover's lifeless body and weeps. The voices of Spoletta, Sciarrone, and the soldiers are heard, shouting that Scarpia is dead and Tosca has killed him. As the men rush in, Tosca rises, evades their clutches, and runs to the parapet. Crying "O Scarpia, avanti a Dio!" ("O Scarpia, we meet before God!"), she flings herself over the edge to her death. ## Adaptation and writing Sardou's five-act play La Tosca contains a large amount of dialogue and exposition. While the broad details of the play are present in the opera's plot, the original work contains many more characters and much detail not present in the opera. In the play the lovers are portrayed as though they were French: the character Floria Tosca is closely modelled on Bernhardt's personality, while her lover Cavaradossi, of Roman descent, is born in Paris. Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, the playwright who joined the project to polish the verses, needed not only to cut back the play drastically, but to make the characters' motivations and actions suitable for Italian opera. Giacosa and Puccini repeatedly clashed over the condensation, with Giacosa feeling that Puccini did not really want to complete the project. The first draft libretto that Illica produced for Puccini resurfaced in 2000 after being lost for many years. It contains considerable differences from the final libretto, relatively minor in the first two acts but much more appreciable in the third, where the description of the Roman dawn that opens the third act is much longer, and Cavaradossi's tragic aria, the eventual "E lucevan le stelle", has different words. The 1896 libretto also offers a different ending, in which Tosca does not die but instead goes mad. In the final scene, she cradles her lover's head in her lap and hallucinates that she and her Mario are on a gondola, and that she is asking the gondolier for silence. Sardou refused to consider this change, insisting that as in the play, Tosca must throw herself from the parapet to her death. Puccini agreed with Sardou, telling him that the mad scene would have the audiences anticipate the ending and start moving towards the cloakrooms. Puccini pressed his librettists hard, and Giacosa issued a series of melodramatic threats to abandon the work. The two librettists were finally able to give Puccini what they hoped was a final version of the libretto in 1898. Little work was done on the score during 1897, which Puccini devoted mostly to performances of La bohème. The opening page of the autograph Tosca score, containing the motif that would be associated with Scarpia, is dated January 1898. At Puccini's request, Giacosa irritably provided new lyrics for the act 1 love duet. In August, Puccini removed several numbers from the opera, according to his biographer, Mary Jane Phillips-Matz, "cut[ting] Tosca to the bone, leaving three strong characters trapped in an airless, violent, tightly wound melodrama that had little room for lyricism". At the end of the year, Puccini wrote that he was "busting his balls" on the opera. Puccini asked clerical friends for words for the congregation to mutter at the start of the act 1 Te Deum; when nothing they provided satisfied him, he supplied the words himself. For the Te Deum music, he investigated the melodies to which the hymn was set in Roman churches, and sought to reproduce the cardinal's procession authentically, even to the uniforms of the Swiss Guards. He adapted the music to the exact pitch of the great bell of St. Peter's Basilica, and was equally diligent when writing the music that opens act 3, in which Rome awakens to the sounds of church bells. He journeyed to Rome and went to the Castel Sant'Angelo to measure the sound of matins bells there, as they would be heard from its ramparts. Puccini had bells for the Roman dawn cast to order by four different foundries. This apparently did not have its desired effect, as Illica wrote to Ricordi on the day after the premiere, "the great fuss and the large amount of money for the bells have constituted an additional folly, because it passes completely unnoticed". Nevertheless, the bells provide a source of trouble and expense to opera companies performing Tosca to this day. In act 2, when Tosca sings offstage the cantata that celebrates the supposed defeat of Napoleon, Puccini was tempted to follow the text of Sardou's play and use the music of Giovanni Paisiello, before finally writing his own imitation of Paisello's style. It was not until 29 September 1899 that Puccini was able to mark the final page of the score as completed. Despite the notation, there was additional work to be done, such as the shepherd boy's song at the start of act 3. Puccini, who always sought to put local colour in his works, wanted that song to be in Roman dialect. The composer asked a friend to have a "good romanesco poet" write some words; eventually the poet and folklorist wrote the verse which, after slight modification, was placed in the opera. In October 1899, Ricordi realized that some of the music for Cavaradossi's act 3 aria, "O dolci mani" was borrowed from music Puccini had cut from his early opera, Edgar and demanded changes. Puccini defended his music as expressive of what Cavaradossi must be feeling at that point, and offered to come to Milan to play and sing act 3 for the publisher. Ricordi was overwhelmed by the completed act 3 prelude, which he received in early November, and softened his views, though he was still not completely happy with the music for "O dolci mani". In any event time was too short before the scheduled January 1900 premiere to make any further changes. ## Reception and performance history ### Premiere By December 1899, Tosca was in rehearsal at the Teatro Costanzi. Because of the Roman setting, Ricordi arranged a Roman premiere for the opera, even though this meant that Arturo Toscanini could not conduct it as Puccini had planned—Toscanini was fully engaged at La Scala in Milan. Leopoldo Mugnone was appointed to conduct. The accomplished (but temperamental) soprano Hariclea Darclée was selected for the title role; Eugenio Giraldoni, whose father had originated many Verdi roles, became the first Scarpia. The young Enrico Caruso had hoped to create the role of Cavaradossi, but was passed over in favour of the more experienced Emilio De Marchi. The performance was to be directed by Nino Vignuzzi, with stage designs by Adolfo Hohenstein. At the time of the premiere, Italy had experienced political and social unrest for several years. The start of the Holy Year in December 1899 attracted the religious to the city, but also brought threats from anarchists and other anticlericals. Police received warnings of an anarchist bombing of the theatre, and instructed Mugnone (who had survived a theatre bombing in Barcelona), that in an emergency he was to strike up the royal march. The unrest caused the premiere to be postponed by one day, to 14 January. By 1900, the premiere of a Puccini opera was a national event. Many Roman dignitaries attended, as did Queen Margherita, though she arrived late, after the first act. The Prime Minister of Italy, Luigi Pelloux was present, with several members of his cabinet. A number of Puccini's operatic rivals were there, including Franchetti, Pietro Mascagni, Francesco Cilea and Ildebrando Pizzetti. Shortly after the curtain was raised there was a disturbance in the back of the theatre, caused by latecomers attempting to enter the auditorium, and a shout of "Bring down the curtain!", at which Mugnone stopped the orchestra. A few moments later the opera began again, and proceeded without further disruption. The performance, while not quite the triumph that Puccini had hoped for, was generally successful, with numerous encores. Much of the critical and press reaction was lukewarm, often blaming Illica's libretto. In response, Illica condemned Puccini for treating his librettists "like stagehands" and reducing the text to a shadow of its original form. Nevertheless, any public doubts about Tosca soon vanished; the premiere was followed by twenty performances, all given to packed houses. ### Subsequent productions The Milan premiere at La Scala took place under Toscanini on 17 March 1900. Darclée and Giraldoni reprised their roles; the prominent tenor Giuseppe Borgatti replaced De Marchi as Cavaradossi. The opera was a great success at La Scala, and played to full houses. Puccini travelled to London for the British premiere at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on 12 July, with Milka Ternina and Fernando De Lucia as the doomed lovers and Antonio Scotti as Scarpia. Puccini wrote that Tosca was "[a] complete triumph", and Ricordi's London representative quickly signed a contract to take Tosca to New York. The premiere at the Metropolitan Opera was on 4 February 1901, with De Lucia's replacement by Giuseppe Cremonini the only change from the London cast. For its French premiere at the Opéra-Comique on 13 October 1903, the 72-year-old Sardou took charge of all the action on the stage. Puccini was delighted with the public's reception of the work in Paris, despite adverse comments from critics. The opera was subsequently premiered at venues throughout Europe, the Americas, Australia and the Far East; by the outbreak of war in 1914 it had been performed in more than 50 cities worldwide. Among the prominent early Toscas was Emmy Destinn, who sang the role regularly in a long-standing partnership with the tenor Enrico Caruso. Maria Jeritza, over many years at the Met and in Vienna, brought her own distinctive style to the role, and was said to be Puccini's favorite Tosca. Jeritza was the first to deliver "Vissi d'arte" from a prone position, having fallen to the stage while eluding the grasp of Scarpia. This was a great success, and Jeritza sang the aria while on the floor thereafter. Of her successors, opera enthusiasts tend to consider Maria Callas as the supreme interpreter of the role, largely on the basis of her performances at the Royal Opera House in 1964, with Tito Gobbi as Scarpia. This production, by Franco Zeffirelli, remained in continuous use at Covent Garden for more than 40 years until replaced in 2006 by a new staging, which premiered with Angela Gheorghiu. Callas had first sung Tosca at age 18 in a performance given in Greek, in the Greek National Opera in Athens on 27 August 1942. Tosca was also her last on-stage operatic role, in a special charity performance at the Royal Opera House on 7 May 1965. Among non-traditional productions, Luca Ronconi, in 1996 at La Scala, used distorted and fractured scenery to represent the twists of fate reflected in the plot. Jonathan Miller, in a 1986 production for the 49th Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, transferred the action to Nazi-occupied Rome in 1944, with Scarpia as head of the fascist police. In Philipp Himmelmann's [de] production on the Lake Stage at the Bregenz Festival in 2007 the act 1 set, designed by Johannes Leiacker, was dominated by a huge Orwellian "Big Brother" eye. The iris opens and closes to reveal surreal scenes beyond the action. This production updates the story to a modern Mafia scenario, with special effects "worthy of a Bond film". In 1992 a television version of the opera was filmed at the locations prescribed by Puccini, at the times of day at which each act takes place. Featuring Catherine Malfitano, Plácido Domingo and Ruggero Raimondi, the performance was broadcast live throughout Europe. Luciano Pavarotti, who sang Cavaradossi from the late 1970s, appeared in a special performance in Rome, with Plácido Domingo as conductor, on 14 January 2000, to celebrate the opera's centenary. Pavarotti's last stage performance was as Cavaradossi at the Met, on 13 March 2004. Early Cavaradossis played the part as if the painter believed that he was reprieved, and would survive the "mock" execution. Beniamino Gigli, who performed the role many times in his forty-year operatic career, was one of the first to assume that the painter knows, or strongly suspects, that he will be shot. Gigli wrote in his autobiography: "he is certain that these are their last moments together on earth, and that he is about to die". Domingo, the dominant Cavaradossi of the 1970s and 1980s, concurred, stating in a 1985 interview that he had long played the part that way. Gobbi, who in his later years often directed the opera, commented, "Unlike Floria, Cavaradossi knows that Scarpia never yields, though he pretends to believe in order to delay the pain for Tosca." ### Critical reception The enduring popularity of Tosca has not been matched by consistent critical enthusiasm. After the premiere, Ippolito Valetta of Nuova antologia wrote, "[Puccini] finds in his palette all colours, all shades; in his hands, the instrumental texture becomes completely supple, the gradations of sonority are innumerable, the blend unfailingly grateful to the ear." However, one critic described act 2 as overly long and wordy; another echoed Illica and Giacosa in stating that the rush of action did not permit enough lyricism, to the great detriment of the music. A third called the opera "three hours of noise". The critics gave the work a generally kinder reception in London, where The Times called Puccini "a master in the art of poignant expression", and praised the "wonderful skill and sustained power" of the music. In The Musical Times, Puccini's score was admired for its sincerity and "strength of utterance." After the 1903 Paris opening, the composer Paul Dukas thought the work lacked cohesion and style, while Gabriel Fauré was offended by "disconcerting vulgarities". In the 1950s, the young musicologist Joseph Kerman described Tosca as a "shabby little shocker."; in response the conductor Thomas Beecham remarked that anything Kerman says about Puccini "can safely be ignored". Writing half a century after the premiere, the veteran critic Ernest Newman, while acknowledging the "enormously difficult business of boiling [Sardou's] play down for operatic purposes", thought that the subtleties of Sardou's original plot are handled "very lamely", so that "much of what happens, and why, is unintelligible to the spectator". Overall, however, Newman delivered a more positive judgement: "[Puccini's] operas are to some extent a mere bundle of tricks, but no one else has performed the same tricks nearly as well". Opera scholar Julian Budden remarks on Puccini's "inept handling of the political element", but still hails the work as "a triumph of pure theatre". Music critic Charles Osborne ascribes Tosca'''s immense popularity with audiences to the taut effectiveness of its melodramatic plot, the opportunities given to its three leading characters to shine vocally and dramatically, and the presence of two great arias in "Vissi d'arte" and "E lucevan le stelle". The work remains popular today: according to Operabase, it ranks as fifth in the world with 540 performances given in the five seasons 2009–10 to 2013–14. ## Music ### General style By the end of the 19th century the classic form of opera structure, in which arias, duets and other set-piece vocal numbers are interspersed with passages of recitative or dialogue, had been largely abandoned, even in Italy. Operas were "through-composed", with a continuous stream of music which in some cases eliminated all identifiable set-pieces. In what critic Edward Greenfield calls the "Grand Tune" concept, Puccini retains a limited number of set-pieces, distinguished from their musical surroundings by their memorable melodies. Even in the passages linking these "Grand Tunes", Puccini maintains a strong degree of lyricism and only rarely resorts to recitative. Budden describes Tosca as the most Wagnerian of Puccini's scores, in its use of musical leitmotifs. Unlike Wagner, Puccini does not develop or modify his motifs, nor weave them into the music symphonically, but uses them to refer to characters, objects and ideas, and as reminders within the narrative. The most potent of these motifs is the sequence of three very loud and strident chords which open the opera and which represent the evil character of Scarpia—or perhaps, Charles Osborne proposes, the violent atmosphere that pervades the entire opera. Budden has suggested that Scarpia's tyranny, lechery and lust form "the dynamic engine that ignites the drama". Other motifs identify Tosca herself, the love of Tosca and Cavaradossi, the fugitive Angelotti, the semi-comical character of the sacristan in act 1 and the theme of torture in act 2. ### Act 1 The opera begins without any prelude; the opening chords of the Scarpia motif lead immediately to the agitated appearance of Angelotti and the enunciation of the "fugitive" motif. The sacristan's entry, accompanied by his sprightly buffo theme, lifts the mood, as does the generally light-hearted colloquy with Cavaradossi which follows after the latter's entrance. This leads to the first of the "Grand Tunes", Cavaradossi's "Recondita armonia" with its sustained high B flat, accompanied by the sacristan's grumbling counter-melody. The domination, in that aria, of themes which will be repeated in the love duet make it clear that though the painting may incorporate the Marchesa's features, Tosca is the ultimate inspiration of his work. Cavaradossi's dialogue with Angelotti is interrupted by Tosca's arrival, signalled by her motif which incorporates, in Newman's words, "the feline, caressing cadence so characteristic of her." Though Tosca enters violently and suspiciously, the music paints her devotion and serenity. According to Budden, there is no contradiction: Tosca's jealousy is largely a matter of habit, which her lover does not take too seriously. After Tosca's "Non la sospiri" and the subsequent argument inspired by her jealousy, the sensuous character of the love duet "Qual'occhio" provides what opera writer Burton Fisher describes as "an almost erotic lyricism that has been called pornophony". The brief scene in which the sacristan returns with the choristers to celebrate Napoleon's supposed defeat provides almost the last carefree moments in the opera; after the entrance of Scarpia to his menacing theme, the mood becomes sombre, then steadily darker. As the police chief interrogates the sacristan, the "fugitive" motif recurs three more times, each time more emphatically, signalling Scarpia's success in his investigation. In Scarpia's exchanges with Tosca the sound of tolling bells, interwoven with the orchestra, creates an almost religious atmosphere, for which Puccini draws on music from his then unpublished Mass of 1880. The final scene in the act is a juxtaposition of the sacred and the profane, as Scarpia's lustful reverie is sung alongside the swelling Te Deum chorus. He joins with the chorus in the final statement "Te aeternum Patrem omnis terra veneratur" ("Everlasting Father, all the earth worships thee"), before the act ends with a thunderous restatement of the Scarpia motif. ### Act 2 In the second act of Tosca, according to Newman, Puccini rises to his greatest height as a master of the musical macabre. The act begins quietly, with Scarpia musing on the forthcoming downfall of Angelotti and Cavaradossi, while in the background a gavotte is played in a distant quarter of the Farnese Palace. For this music Puccini adapted a fifteen-year-old student exercise by his late brother, Michele, stating that in this way his brother could live again through him. In the dialogue with Spoletta, the "torture" motif—an "ideogram of suffering", according to Budden—is heard for the first time as a foretaste of what is to come. As Cavaradossi is brought in for interrogation, Tosca's voice is heard with the offstage chorus singing a cantata, "[its] suave strains contrast[ing] dramatically with the increasing tension and ever-darkening colour of the stage action". The cantata is most likely the Cantata a Giove, in the literature referred to as a lost work of Puccini's from 1897. Osborne describes the scenes that follow—Cavaradossi's interrogation, his torture, Scarpia's sadistic tormenting of Tosca—as Puccini's musical equivalent of grand guignol to which Cavaradossi's brief "Vittoria! Vittoria!" on the news of Napoleon's victory gives only partial relief. Scarpia's aria "Già, mi dicon venal" ("Yes, they say I am venal") is closely followed by Tosca's "Vissi d'arte". A lyrical andante based on Tosca's act 1 motif, this is perhaps the opera's best-known aria, yet was regarded by Puccini as a mistake; he considered eliminating it since it held up the action. Fisher calls it "a Job-like prayer questioning God for punishing a woman who has lived unselfishly and righteously". In the act's finale, Newman likens the orchestral turmoil which follows Tosca's stabbing of Scarpia to the sudden outburst after the slow movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. After Tosca's contemptuous "E avanti a lui tremava tutta Roma!" ("All Rome trembled before him"), sung on a middle C monotone (sometimes spoken), the music gradually fades, ending what Newman calls "the most impressively macabre scene in all opera." The final notes in the act are those of the Scarpia motif, softly, in a minor key. ### Act 3 The third act's tranquil beginning provides a brief respite from the drama. An introductory 16-bar theme for the horns will later be sung by Cavaradossi and Tosca in their final duet. The orchestral prelude which follows portrays the Roman dawn; the pastoral aura is accentuated by the shepherd boy's song, and the sounds of sheep bells and church bells, the authenticity of the latter validated by Puccini's early morning visits to Rome. Themes reminiscent of Scarpia, Tosca and Cavaradossi emerge in the music, which changes tone as the drama resumes with Cavaradossi's entrance, to an orchestral statement of what becomes the melody of his aria "E lucevan le stelle". This is a farewell to love and life, "an anguished lament and grief built around the words 'muoio disperato' (I die in despair)". Puccini insisted on the inclusion of these words, and later stated that admirers of the aria had treble cause to be grateful to him: for composing the music, for having the lyrics written, and "for declining expert advice to throw the result in the waste-paper basket". The lovers' final duet "Amaro sol per te", which concludes with the act's opening horn music, did not equate with Ricordi's idea of a transcendental love duet which would be a fitting climax to the opera. Puccini justified his musical treatment by citing Tosca's preoccupation with teaching Cavaradossi to feign death. In the execution scene which follows, a theme emerges, the incessant repetition of which reminded Newman of the Transformation Music which separates the two parts of act 1 in Wagner's Parsifal. In the final bars, as Tosca evades Spoletta and leaps to her death, the theme of "E lucevan le stelle" is played tutta forze (as loudly as possible). This choice of ending has been strongly criticised by analysts, mainly because of its specific association with Cavaradossi rather than Tosca. Kerman mocked the final music, "Tosca leaps, and the orchestra screams the first thing that comes into its head." Budden, however, argues that it is entirely logical to end this dark opera on its blackest theme. According to historian and former opera singer Susan Vandiver Nicassio: "The conflict between the verbal and the musical clues gives the end of the opera a twist of controversy that, barring some unexpected discovery among Puccini's papers, can never truly be resolved." ## Instrumentation Tosca is scored for three flutes (the second and third doubling piccolo); two oboes; one English horn; two clarinets in B-flat; one bass clarinet in B-flat; two bassoons; one contrabassoon; four French horns in F; three trumpets in F; three tenor trombones; one bass trombone; a percussion section with timpani, cymbals, cannon, one triangle, one bass drum, one glockenspiel, and six church bells; one celesta, one pipe organ; one harp; and strings. ## List of arias and set numbers ## Recordings The first complete Tosca recording was made in 1918, using the acoustic process. The conductor, Carlo Sabajno, had been the Gramophone Company's house conductor since 1904; he had made early complete recordings of several operas, including Verdi's La traviata and Rigoletto, before tackling Tosca with a largely unknown cast, featuring the Italian soprano Lya Remondini in the title role. The next year, in 1919, Sabajno recorded Tosca again, this time with more well-known singers, including Valentina Bartolomasi and Attilio Salvaneschi as Tosca and Cavaradossi. Ten years later, in 1929, Sabajno returned to the opera for the third time, recording it, by the electrical process, with the orchestra and chorus of the Teatro alla Scala and with stars Carmen Melis and Apollo Granforte in the roles of Tosca and Scarpia. In 1938 HMV secured the services of the renowned tenor Beniamino Gigli, together with the soprano Maria Caniglia as Tosca and conductor Oliviero De Fabritiis, for a "practically complete" recording that extended over 14 double-sided shellac discs. In the post-war period, following the invention of long-playing records, Tosca recordings were dominated by Maria Callas. In 1953, with conductor Victor de Sabata and the La Scala forces, she made the recording for EMI which for decades has been considered the best of all the recorded performances of the opera. She recorded the role again for EMI in stereo in 1964. A number of Callas's live stage performances of Tosca were also preserved. The earliest were two performances in Mexico City, in 1950 and 1952, and the last was in London in 1965. The first stereo recording of the opera was made in 1957 by RCA Victor. Erich Leinsdorf conducted the Rome Opera House orchestra and chorus with Zinka Milanov as Tosca, Jussi Björling as Cavaradossi and Leonard Warren as Scarpia. Herbert von Karajan's acclaimed performance with the Vienna State Opera was in 1963, with Leontyne Price, Giuseppe Di Stefano and Giuseppe Taddei in the leading roles. The 1970s and 1980s saw a proliferation of Tosca recordings of both studio and live performances. Plácido Domingo made his first recording of Cavaradossi for RCA in 1972, and he continued to record other versions at regular intervals until 1994. In 1976, he was joined by his son, Plácido Domingo Jr., who sang the shepherd boy's song in a filmed version with the New Philharmonia Orchestra. More recent commended recordings have included Antonio Pappano's 2000 Royal Opera House version with Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna and Ruggero Raimondi. Recordings of Tosca in languages other than Italian are rare but not unknown; over the years versions in French, German, Spanish, Hungarian and Russian have been issued. An admired English language version was released in 1995 in which David Parry led the Philharmonia Orchestra and a largely British cast. Since the late 1990s numerous video recordings of the opera have been issued on DVD and Blu-ray disc (BD). These include recent productions and remastered versions of historic performances. ## Editions and amendments The orchestral score of Tosca'' was published in late 1899 by Casa Ricordi. Despite some dissatisfaction expressed by Ricordi concerning the final act, the score remained relatively unchanged in the 1909 edition. An unamended edition was published by Dover Press in 1991. The 1909 score contains a number of minor changes from the autograph score. Some are changes of phrase: Cavaradossi's reply to the sacristan when he asks if the painter is doing penance is changed from "Pranzai" ("I have eaten.") to "Fame non ho" ("I am not hungry."), which William Ashbrook states, in his study of Puccini's operas, accentuates the class distinction between the two. When Tosca comforts Cavaradossi after the torture scene, she now tells him, "Ma il giusto Iddio lo punirá" ("But a just God will punish him" [Scarpia]); formerly she stated, "Ma il sozzo sbirro lo pagherà" ("But the filthy cop will pay for it."). Other changes are in the music; when Tosca demands the price for Cavaradossi's freedom ("Il prezzo!"), her music is changed to eliminate an octave leap, allowing her more opportunity to express her contempt and loathing of Scarpia in a passage which is now near the middle of the soprano vocal range. A remnant of a "Latin Hymn" sung by Tosca and Cavaradossi in act 3 survived into the first published score and libretto, but is not in later versions. According to Ashbrook, the most surprising change is where, after Tosca discovers the truth about the "mock" execution and exclaims "Finire così? Finire così?" ("To end like this? To end like this?"), she was to sing a five-bar fragment to the melody of "E lucevan le stelle". Ashbrook applauds Puccini for deleting the section from a point in the work where delay is almost unendurable as events rush to their conclusion, but points out that the orchestra's recalling "E lucevan le stelle" in the final notes would seem less incongruous if it was meant to underscore Tosca's and Cavaradossi's love for each other, rather than being simply a melody which Tosca never hears.
12,169,246	Analytical Review	1,123,685,596	Periodical (London : Printed for J. Johnson, 1788-1799. )	[ "1788 establishments in England", "Defunct political magazines published in the United Kingdom", "Magazines disestablished in 1799", "Magazines established in 1788", "Magazines published in London" ]	The Analytical Review was an English periodical that was published from 1788 to 1798, having been established in London by the publisher Joseph Johnson and the writer Thomas Christie. Part of the Republic of Letters, it was a gadfly publication, which offered readers summaries and analyses of the many new publications issued at the end of the eighteenth century. Perhaps most important, the Analytical Review provided a forum for radical political and religious ideas. Although it aimed at impartiality, its articles were often critical of the British government and supportive of the French revolutionaries. While the journal had low circulation numbers for its day, it still influenced popular opinion and was feared by the conservative government of William Pitt the Younger. In late 1797, the Anti-Jacobin, the self-styled nemesis of the Analytical Review, was founded by supporters of the government and other reactionary interests; it criticized the radical politics of the Analytical and monitored it for unpatriotic and irreligious sentiments. Organized into separate departments, each with its own chief reviewer, the Analytical Review focused on politics, philosophy, natural history, and literature. To promote a disinterested air, its reviewers were anonymous, signing their work with pseudonymous initials. Nevertheless, the journal recruited several prominent writers, such as the poet William Cowper, the moralist William Enfield, the physician John Aikin and the polemicist Mary Wollstonecraft. The Analytical Review suspended publication in December 1798 after the deaths of Christie (1796) and Wollstonecraft (1797), the conviction of Johnson for seditious libel (1798) and the retirement of other contributing editors. ## Establishment ### Forerunners The Whig Monthly Review, founded in 1749 by Ralph Griffiths, and the Tory Critical Review, founded in 1756 by Tobias Smollett, were the first journals dedicated to reviewing books in Britain. Although they were joined by smaller publications such as the Analytical Review, these two journals dominated reviewing in the second half of the eighteenth century. They focused on poetry, novels, drama, belles-lettres, travel literature, biographies, science writing and other forms of popular literature. They did not review many complex theological or scholarly works, particularly those in foreign languages. Just prior to the founding of the Analytical Review, two periodicals with similar aims had collapsed. The first was the Theological Repository (1770–73; 1784–88), whose driving force was Dissenting theologian, clergyman, and scientist Joseph Priestley. Its articles were intended to be rigorously analytical and attempted to "settl[e] the [Biblical] text by a comparison of various readings; by accurate translation, division, and punctuation; by a concise, well-digested commentary; by notes philosophical and explanatory; and finally by adding doctrinal and moral conclusions". Sold by Joseph Johnson at a low price to encourage a wide readership, the Repository was open to all opinions, provided that they were expressed courteously: "In this Repository not only will room be given to the freest objections to natural or revealed religion, but they are sincerely requested; and nothing that is new will be rejected, if it be expressed in decent terms". Although the Theological Repository was a financial liability for Johnson by 1771, he continued to publish it until 1773 and helped Priestley renew its publication in 1784. A second forerunner of the Analytical Review was Paul Henry Maty's periodical A New Review (published 1782–86), which was likewise devoted to reviewing books and offering a summary of their contents. Like its successor, the New Review paid special attention to foreign literature and took a leading role in introducing German literature to the British public. ### Founding and ideals The demises of the Theological Repository and the New Review left a publishing vacuum; the arrival in London of the author Thomas Christie, who was dedicated to starting a new periodical that would replace and perhaps even improve upon these precursors, was the primary impetus in the creation of the Analytical Review. Johnson and Christie were mutual friends of Priestley and others, and their combined interest in beginning such a journal resulted in the foundation of the Analytical Review. Johnson and Christie's prospectus describes its reviewers as "the HISTORIANS of the Republic of Letters" [emphasis in original]. Literary scholar Paul Keen has described the Republic of Letters as a vision of society in which "all rational individuals could have their say, and in which an increasingly enlightened reading public would be able to judge the merit of different arguments for themselves". The practical goal of the Analytical Review was to facilitate this society by summarizing serious new and foreign publications in great depth so that intelligent readers might form their own opinions. This aim was embodied in its initial title: The Analytical Review; or, History of Literature, domestic and foreign, on an enlarged plan. Containing Scientific Abstracts of important and interesting Works, published in English; a general account of such as are of less consequence, with short characters; Notices, or Reviews of valuable foreign Books; Criticism on New pieces of Music and Works of Art; and the Literary Intelligence of Europe, etc. The periodical sought to avoid ephemeral works and to review only "standard works which add to the stock of human knowledge and will live beyond a day". Johnson and Christie also intended to eschew editorializing and to avoid shaping the tastes of the public. Scrupulous attention to this point was meant to bring the reviewed work into the foreground and not the reviewer (a goal shared by many eighteenth-century journals). An early review, for example, criticized historian Edward Gibbon for "so frequently and unnecessarily obtruding his particular prejudices on the eye of his readers". All editors signed their reviews with initials (sometimes not their own) rather than with their names. This practice was meant to prevent the appearance of collusion between the reviewers and the authors reviewed, although this did not succeed in practice. It was also intended to prevent any unethical puffing, or false advertising, of friends' or one's own books; nevertheless, both Henry Fuseli and Mary Wollstonecraft reviewed their own books for the journal. In repackaging other publications for its readers, the Analytical Review participated in the encyclopedic movement of the eighteenth century, a movement largely begun by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert's Encyclopédie. Excited and yet overwhelmed by what they viewed as a dramatic increase in human knowledge, encyclopedists of the era aimed to organize and classify all of this new knowledge using a new reference system: the encyclopedia. The Analytical Review was part of this project and its editors believed that they were preserving the knowledge of the past and the present for the future. The journal was, according to scholar Nathaniel Teich, "the most important radical review adopting the encyclopedic format for the attempted universal coverage of published works". Yet, the editors also recognized the ultimate futility of such a project. The Analytical Review was meant to enlighten the public as well as to simplify communication between authors separated by great distances; most importantly, the debates between those authors could be read by the public. In granting authors a public forum in which to communicate, periodicals such as the Analytical helped to define authorship—they encouraged the professionalization of writing and granted prestige to writers and journalists. Unusual for its time, the Analytical Review brought current foreign-language publications, particularly those with a scientific, philosophical, or aesthetic bent, to its readers' attention. For example, it approvingly reviewed Friedrich Schiller's Fiesco (published by Johnson) and argued that more of the author's works should be translated. The Analytical also emphasized the emerging middle-class Protestant work ethic, specifically tying it to scientific knowledge. One issue celebrated successful British merchants, calling them "the most liberal and enlightened men that have appeared in Europe" because of their "love of science" and their "patronage of learned men". ## Organization and reviewers Johnson and Christie set up separate departments for practical sciences, such as mathematics, natural history, agriculture, and medicine; literature, such as poetry, drama, and romance; and finally, politics and religion, which encompassed government, theology, philosophy, morality, law, and trade. For each department, there was a chief reviewer, although he or she might engage others. Although the reviewers' names were not known to the public, Johnson and Christie managed to acquire several luminaries: the poet William Cowper; the popular moralist William Enfield; the writer and physician John Aikin; the poet, essayist, and children's author Anna Laetitia Barbauld; the Unitarian minister William Turner; the physician and literary critic James Currie; the artist Henry Fuseli; the writer Mary Hays; the scholar Alexander Geddes; and the theologian Joshua Toulmin. The reviewers were all paid, however scholars have been unable to discover their rates. Christie was often absent after the founding of the Analytical Review, leaving the day-to-day operations of the journal up to Johnson. In 1790 he went to Paris for six months, during which he met with revolutionary leaders and started a business; in 1792 he returned to help the French translate their constitution and to dissolve his business. He left for Surinam in 1796 to collect money owed to him, and died there. The first issue of the Analytical Review was dated May 1788 and the last issue was dated December 1798. The issues were published monthly and averaged 128 pages. They were also collected into volumes, which consisted of four monthly issues and an appendix (volumes 21–28 switched to a semi-annual publication run without appendices). Each issue contained an extensive table of contents, several major reviews of 10 to 20 pages (sometimes extending to a second issue), many minor reviews, and a "catalogue of books and pamphlets published" during the previous six months. Compared with other major periodicals of its day, the Analytical Review had a low circulation. While both the Tory Critical Review and the British Critic had a circulation of 3,500 by 1797 and the Monthly Review realized 5,000, Johnson and Christie's journal only ever achieved about 1,500. However, it was common practice during the eighteenth century for an individual copy of each publication to be read by many different people. Scholars have estimated that each copy of a London newspaper, for example, was read by thirty people; coffeehouses and taverns were well-stocked with copies of newspapers and journals, as were circulating libraries. Hence, circulation numbers offer only a small glimpse into how many people actually read such publications. Beginning with the Analytical Review'''s third issue, Mary Wollstonecraft became the key editor for dramas, romances, and novels. Scholars have speculated that her reviews are signed by the letters "M", "W", or "T", corresponding roughly to her initials, in large part because they have identified her writing style in these pieces. Her reviews, which number over 200, are generally characterized by their concern for women's issues. Wollstonecraft scholar Mitzi Myers concludes that Wollstonecraft "is not only a pioneer feminist, but also a pioneer feminist critic, whose analysis of the mesh between gender and genre inaugurates the feminist critical project". Wollstonecraft wrote excoriating reviews, criticizing the passive novelistic heroines of the time and praising, for example, the "wise and resilient" Mrs Stafford of Charlotte Smith's autobiographical novel Emmeline (1788). In highlighting this character, she "singles out ... the knowledgeable mother figure who has felt and thought deeply", one who resembles the women she described in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) as having "power ... over themselves". She derides the "derivative, prescriptive, imitative, and affected" and celebrates the "natural, innovative, [and] imaginative". Evincing a particular regard for the works of Thomas Holcroft, such as Anna St. Ives (1792), Wollstonecraft celebrated their championing of innate nobility and virtue over aristocratic titles. Romanticist Anne Chandler argues that Wollstonecraft's reviews demonstrate "an earlier Augustan politics of knowledge, variously outlined by Dryden, Pope, and, to a lesser extent, Swift" which "may be seen in her insistence on a continuum between aesthetic integrity and civic virtue; her belief in a metaphysical dialogue between human wit and divine Nature; and her perception of belletristic criticism as the proper tribunal for a new onslaught of scholarly and scientific research". While writing her last novel, Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman (1798), Wollstonecraft took advantage of her position with Johnson and reviewed almost nothing but novels, exposing herself to the wide variety of novelistic forms. The other reviewers have been the focus of far less scholarship. According to Eudo Mason, "Fuseli's peculiar style, his favourite phrases and quotations, themes and ideas make it possible to determine his authorship beyond reasonable doubt in most cases". He signed reviews "Z.Z." and "R.R." (of which there are about 40), initials which appear throughout the run of the journal. He also occasionally signed reviews "Y.Y.", "U.U.", "V.V.", and "L.L." (although this last was used by another reviewer as well). In total, Mason counts 66 reviews, 56 of which he is certain. Fuseli made it a practice to review texts which mentioned him, works written by friends he wanted to assist with flattering reviews, artistic works, and German literature (in particular those written by Johann Gottfried Herder). Geddes, who contributed from the first issue, wrote forty-six articles, almost all on topics of biblical criticism or ecclesiastical history. However, he left the Analytical in September 1793 to edit for the Monthly Review. Cowper, who probably submitted articles under the initials P.P. and G.G., predominantly reviewed poetry. ## Content and political leanings The Analytical Review offered its readers access to a wide variety of works. In July 1789, when the Bastille fell, the Analytical reviewed The Rural Economy of Gloucestershire, Life of Thomas Chatterton, Transactions in Bengal, Military Operations on the Coromandel Coast, Poetry and Music of the Italian Opera, and Histoire Politique de la Revolution en France. The journal also laid provocative facts before the public to prompt them to think and, if necessary, to take action, although it claimed not to advocate one viewpoint over another. For example, when philosopher and statesman Edmund Burke issued his politically controversial Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), the Analytical Review reviewed it extensively, as well as the many responses to it, such as Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790), Vindiciae Gallicae (1791) by James Mackintosh, and Rights of Man (1791) by Thomas Paine. However, the majority of the excerpts that the reviewers chose to publish came from the rebuttals to Burke's work. Consistent with Joseph Johnson's attitudes, the Analytical Review tended towards a "moderate radicalism", meaning that it opposed the Pitt administration and celebrated the general values of Paine's Rights of Man. It advocated a moderate reform of Parliament, emphasized the benefits of representative government, and outlined the protections afforded by a separation of powers. While the journal supported the ideals of the French Revolution and opposed Britain's war against France, it did not endorse the violent methods of some of the revolutionaries. Johnson continued his attempts to remain even-handed in political debates, arguing that factionalism in government was detrimental. Helen Braithwaite, in her book on Johnson, argues that "by July 1798 ... the Analytical had become a deep thorn in the side of the government"; at Johnson's trial for seditious libel, an issue of the periodical was entered as evidence against him, demonstrating that the government did not view the journal as non-partisan. Derek Roper, in his survey of late-eighteenth-century periodicals, describes the Analytical as "more radical both in politics and in religion than any other journal". As he explains, however, "these sentiments were not always fully explicit, and might be conveyed through the tone and manner of a summary rather than paragraphs of criticism". Many of the founding members of the Analytical Review were Unitarian and quite a few of its contributors were Dissenters, so contemporaries believed there to be a bias in the journal (most eighteenth-century journals were overtly partisan). Christie attempted to assuage these fears in his advertisement: > It has been insinuated that the Analytical review originated from a party [the Unitarians], and is meant to serve their purposes. We give ourselves little trouble about such reports. The public will soon judge from the execution of our work, whether we are sincere or not in our professions of impartiality, and to them we appeal. This sincere attitude seems to have largely prevailed in practice. Theophilus Lindsey, who had helped establish Unitarianism in Britain, wrote to the Reverend Newcome Cappe to express his displeasure at a review in the first issue of the Analytical, demonstrating that Unitarian theology was not being promulgated by the journal. Furthermore, Johnson chose as his theological reviewer, not a Dissenter as his friend Joseph Priestley urged, but Alexander Geddes, a talented Scot who had been ordained in Paris as a Roman Catholic priest. However, modern scholars have suggested that he did so not for religious reasons, but because Geddes lived in London and had close connections both to Wollstonecraft and Johnson's friend, Henry Fuseli. ## Anti-Jacobin Review The self-styled nemesis of the Analytical Review was The Anti-Jacobin; or, Weekly Examiner (later retitled The Anti-Jacobin Review and Magazine), a loyalist periodical begun in November 1797 by the writer William Gifford at the suggestion of the politician George Canning, and with the tacit encouragement of the administration of William Pitt. The chief editor and writer was John Richards Green (writing under the pseudonym "John Gifford") together with Andrew Bisset. In its prospectus, the Anti-Jacobin Review announced: > that the channels of criticism have long been corrupted; that many of the Reviews, sinking the critic in the partisan, have insidiously contributed to favour the designs of those writers who labour to undermine our civil and religious establishments, and, by a shameless dereliction of duty, to cast an odium on their opponents. The editors therefore decided to "counteract the pernicious effects of this dangerous SYSTEM" [emphasis in original] and to "restore criticism to its original standard"—they would "frequently review the Monthly, criticise the Critical, and analyse the Analytical Reviews [sic]" [emphasis in original]. The Anti-Jacobin Review published a regular feature, "The Reviewers Reviewed", which analyzed the "Jacobin" reviews for politically unacceptable statements and images. The Anti-Jacobin Review also attacked the Analytical Review for its perceived atheism and for what they deemed its lack of patriotism. During Johnson's 1798 trial for seditious libel for publishing a pamphlet by Gilbert Wakefield, they wrote: > Does he [Johnson] imagine that we do not know that the proprietor of the Analytical Review is himself under prosecution for selling this same pamphlet of Mr. Wakefield's? It is not the prosecution of Mr. Cuthell, then, but the prosecution of Mr. JOHNSON, that excites the indignation of these venal and contemptible critics, as well as that of the whole party [the Unitarians], who are bursting with spite, and thirsting for revenge. It is by his orders to men whom he pays for scribbling in his miserable Review, that every writer who exposes the defects, as they are delicately termed, of Mr. Wakefield's pamphlet, is abused in the most scurrilous and indiscriminate manner. We advise, therefore, these critics, in future, to throw off a mask which will no longer conceal their object, and boldly, if they dare, pronounce a eulogy on the loyalty of this favorite publisher and friend of the PRIESTLEYS, the DARWINS, the GODWINS, and other unprejudiced authors, who have kindly taken upon themselves, for the last twenty years, the important task of enlightening the public mind. [emphasis in original] The Anti-Jacobin also published parodies of the works of liberal poets; most famously, "Loves of the Triangles" mocked Erasmus Darwin's Loves of the Plants (1791). ## Dissolution and brief resurrection After Johnson was convicted on 17 July 1798, and before he was sentenced on 12 February 1799, he tried to prove that he had "uniformly recommended the circulation of such publications as had a tendency to promote good morals instead of such as were calculated to mislead and inflame the Common people". Periodical scholar Stuart Andrews therefore argues that the last issues of the Analytical Review "must be read in the light of Johnson's impending sentence". The June 1798 issue focused on travel literature and female fashions, and although it reviewed Mary Hays's Appeal to the Men of Great Britain on Behalf of Women, it did not do so with any "political bite". In the same months that the Anti-Jacobin Review launched its first critiques of the Analytical and other journals, the Analytical published extensive articles on the picturesque and other aesthetic theories. The editors of the Anti-Jacobin Review took credit for the "dissolution" of the Analytical Review in the preface to their bound 1798 volume, writing: "The other object of our immediate attacks, the Analytical Review, has received its death-blow, and we have more reason to congratulate ourselves upon the share which we have had in producing its dissolution, than it would be expedient here to unfold." They also published a cartoon by Thomas Rowlandson entitled "A Charm for a Democracy, Reviewed, Analysed, & Destroyed". However, scholars attribute the end of Johnson and Christie's journal to Johnson's trial for seditious libel and the ensuing negative publicity, in addition to the deaths of Christie and Wollstonecraft in 1796 and 1797 respectively. After its suspension with the December 1798 issue, the Analytical Review lay dormant until it was briefly revived as The Analytical Review (New Series) during the first six months of 1799. It was printed and sold by T. Hurst of Paternoster Row, apparently without any connection to Johnson or the prior reviewers. Unlike its predecessor, the new series was cautious; it reviewed relatively uncontroversial works and its articles did not have initialled signatures. This series lasted only from January until June 1799. Butler writes that "one marker of the end of the bourgeois republic of letters was the jailing in 1798 of the doyen of publisher-booksellers, Joseph Johnson". Moreover, she explains that the seeming ideological "coherence" of the Republic of Letters, as it was represented in late-eighteenth-century British journals, was eliminated with the founding of the Anglican British Critic in 1792 and the establishment of the Edinburgh Review in 1802. The Edinburgh, according to Butler, "plainly set out to break the mould of existing journal culture". Rather than attempting to cover a wide variety of texts, as had the Analytical Review'' and its cohorts, it focused on only a few texts and restricted itself to subject areas that the editors deemed worthwhile. For example, it emphasized academic fields for which Scottish universities were well-known, such as the natural sciences, moral philosophy, and political economy. Radical political writings, classical studies, clerical writings, and popular literature were either excluded or ridiculed.
25,087,934	Telopea truncata	1,147,971,051	Shrub in the family Proteaceae endemic to Tasmania	[ "Endemic flora of Tasmania", "Plants described in 1805", "Proteales of Australia", "Telopea (plant)" ]	Telopea truncata, commonly known as the Tasmanian waratah, is a plant in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to Tasmania where it is found on moist acidic soils at altitudes of 600 to 1200 m (2000–4000 ft). Telopea truncata is a component of alpine eucalypt forest, rainforest and scrub communities. It grows as a multistemmed shrub to a height of 3 metres (10 ft), or occasionally as a small tree to 10 m (35 ft) high, with red flower heads, known as inflorescences, appearing over the Tasmanian summer (November to February) and bearing 10 to 35 individual flowers. Yellow-flowered forms are occasionally seen, but do not form a population distinct from the rest of the species. Collected by French botanist Jacques Labillardière in 1792–93, Telopea truncata was first scientifically described in 1805. Genetic analysis revealed that the Tasmanian waratah is the most distinctive of the five waratah species. It can be cultivated in temperate climates, requiring soils with good drainage and ample moisture in part-shaded or sunny positions. Several commercially available cultivars that are hybrids of T. truncata with the New South Wales waratah (T. speciosissima) and Gippsland waratah (T. oreades) have been developed. ## Description The Tasmanian waratah is a large erect shrub up to 3 metres (10 ft) in height with several stems, although it sometimes grows as a single-stemmed tree to 10 m (35 ft) high. Unlike the New South Wales waratah (T. speciosissima), which has a few stems topped with flowers, the stems of the Tasmanian waratah branch freely, with numerous smaller branches topped with flower heads. Younger branches and flower heads frequently have a coating of brownish hairs. The narrow adult leaves are 3–14 cm (1+1⁄8–5+1⁄2 in) long and 0.5–2.2 cm (1⁄4–7⁄8 in) across and have a rough texture. Spathulate (spoon-shaped) to obovate in shape, they have smooth, slightly down-curved margins. The undersurface of the leaves is hairy. Occasional lobed leaves are seen. Flowering occurs from October to January, and is related to altitude: plants at lower elevations flower earlier than ones higher up. The flower heads, known as inflorescences, are terminal—that is, they arise on the ends of small branches—and are surrounded by small inconspicuous hairy bracts. This sets T. truncata apart from all other waratah species, which have hairless bracts. In the shape of a flattened raceme, the flower heads are 3.5–6 cm (1+3⁄8–2+3⁄8 in) in diameter and composed of 10 to 35 individual flowers. They are most commonly bright red, though scattered yellow-flowered plants occur. These were described as forma lutea but are mere colour variations and not genetically distinct. Yellow-flowered plants have both red- and yellow-flowered progeny. Anthesis is basipetal; that is, the flowers at the base (edges) of the flower head open first. The flower is composed of a 2 cm-long perianth on a 1 cm-long stalk, with a pronounced kink in the style above the ovary; all other waratah species have gently incurving styles. Anatomically, the individual flower bears a sessile anther (that is, it lacks a filament), which lies next to the stigma at the end of the style. The ovary lies at the base of the style and atop a stalk known as the gynophore, and it is from here that the seed pod then develops. Meanwhile, a crescent-shaped nectary lies at the base of the gynophore. After flowering, the curved leathery to woody follicles develop. Hanging downwards on wooden stalks, these are roughly oblong in shape, and measure around 5 cm (2 in) long. They split longitudinally to release the winged seeds, which are ripe around March. There are around 16 seeds, which are arranged in two rows. Wooden structures known as lamellae separate the seeds from each other and the follicle walls. ## Taxonomy and evolution While exploring Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) in 1792–3, French botanist Jacques Labillardière collected specimens of what he later formally described as Embothrium truncatum in his 1805 work Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen. The specific epithet is the Latin adjective truncatus, meaning "truncated" or "ending abruptly", referring to the end of the seed wing. This characteristic is not specific to the Tasmanian waratah; all members of the subtribe Embothriinae have truncate seed wings. Embothrium was a wastebasket taxon at the time, and Robert Brown proposed placing the species in a new genus, Telopea, in a talk he gave in 1809, publishing the new name Telopea truncata in 1810. Richard Salisbury had attended the talk and controversially published the species as Hylogyne australis, or southern hylogyne, in Joseph Knight's 1809 book On the cultivation of the plants belonging to the natural order of Proteeae, thus claiming precedence over Brown's formal 1810 description. Salisbury was involved in disputes with several prominent naturalists of the time, and his preemption of Brown was seen as unethical, so his names were largely ignored by his contemporaries in favor of Brown's. James Ross described a new species of waratah, Telopea tasmaniana, in his Hobart Town Almanack in 1835, but it is now considered a synonym of T. truncata. In 1891, German botanist Otto Kuntze published Revisio generum plantarum, his response to what he perceived as a lack of method in existing nomenclatural practice. He revived the genus Hylogyne on the grounds of priority, and correctly made the new combination Hylogyne truncata for T. truncata. However, Kuntze's revisionary program was not accepted by the majority of botanists. Ultimately, the genus Telopea was nomenclaturally conserved over Hylogyne by the International Botanical Congress of 1905. Telopea truncata is one, and possibly the most distinctive, of five species from southeastern Australia which make up the genus Telopea. It is the earliest offshoot of a lineage that gives rise to the Gippsland waratah (T. oreades) and Monga waratah (T. mongaensis) of southeastern mainland Australia. The perianths of T. truncata are of a single shade of red, whereas those of its mainland relatives are coloured with two distinct shades of red—the surfaces facing the centre of the flower head are a much brighter red than those facing away. The genus is classified in the subtribe Embothriinae of the Proteaceae, along with the tree waratahs (Alloxylon) from eastern Australia and New Caledonia, and the South American genera Oreocallis and Embothrium. Almost all of these species have red terminal flowers, and hence the subtribe's origin and floral appearance most likely pre-dated the splitting of Gondwana into Australia, Antarctica, and South America over 60 million years ago. Propylipollis ambiguus (formerly Triporopollenites ambiguus) is the oldest identifiable member of the Embothriinae. It is known only from pollen deposits, and was originally described from Eocene deposits in Victoria. The fossil pollen closely resembles that of T. truncata, Alloxylon pinnatum and Oreocallis grandiflora. Fossil remains of Telopea truncata have been recovered from early to middle Pleistocene strata at Regatta Point in western Tasmania. The leaves are small, and these beds housed a subalpine plant community in what is now lowland terrain. Leaves identical to (and classified as) Telopea truncata have been recovered from early Oligocene deposits around Lake Cethana near Sheffield. ## Distribution and habitat The species is found in central, southern, and western Tasmania and is absent from warmer, dryer areas. It grows on moist acidic soils in wet sclerophyll forest or subalpine scrub at altitudes of 600 to 1200 m (2000–4000 ft). It is an understory component of subalpine forest stands of alpine ash (Eucalyptus delegatensis) and alpine yellow gum (E. subcrenulata), as well as Athrotaxis selaginoides–Nothofagus gunnii short rainforest, Athrotaxis selaginoides rainforest, Leptospermum-with-rainforest scrub, the tall Nothofagus–Atherosperma rainforest and Nothofagus–Phyllocladus short rainforest. It is occasionally found in the Leptospermum scoparium–Acacia mucronata forest community of western Tasmania. ## Ecology The prominent position and striking colour of the flowers of T. truncata and many of its relatives within the subtribe Embothriinae in both Australia and South America strongly suggest it is adapted to pollination by birds, and has been for over 60 million years. The flower heads produce abundant nectar, which is fed upon by many bird species. The Tasmanian waratah has a swollen woody base largely under the soil known as a lignotuber, which stores energy and nutrients as a resource for rapid growth after a bushfire. Like most Proteaceae, T. truncata has fine proteoid roots that arise from larger roots. These are roots with dense clusters of short lateral rootlets that form a mat in the soil just below the leaf litter. They are particularly efficient at absorbing nutrients from nutrient-poor soils, including the phosphorus-deficient native soils of Australia. Waratah seeds are often eaten—and destroyed—by animals and do not travel far (just several metres) from the parent plants. ## Cultivation The flowers of the Tasmanian waratah provide ample nectar and hence are a food source for bird visitors to the garden. The species can be propagated by seed, though seedlings may succumb to damping off. Growing in a natural shady location delays flowering by two to four weeks, while growing in a cooler conditions (due either to latitude or altitude) can delay flowering by up to six weeks. Pruning flower heads can promote subsequent growth of leaves and branches. It grows best in a cool climate with ample water and good drainage, and has done well in cultivation in England. The Royal Horticultural Society gave it an Award of Merit in 1934 and a First Class Certificate in 1938. The relationship between light duration and intensity, temperature, vegetative growth and flower production is poorly known. Yellow forms in cultivation were originally propagated from a plant found on Mount Wellington. ### Cultivars - Telopea 'Champagne' is a cultivar registered under plant breeders' rights (PBR) in 2006. Its creamy-yellow flowerheads appear from October to December. It is a three-way hybrid between T. speciosissima, T. oreades and the yellow-flowered form of T. truncata. - Telopea 'Golden Globe' is a cultivar registered under PBR in 2006. Larger than 'Champagne', it is also a three-way hybrid between T. speciosissima, T. oreades and the yellow-flowered form of T. truncata. It has been propagated and sold as 'Shady Lady Yellow'. It was originally bred in the Dandenongs east of Melbourne. ## Uses The flowers of T. truncata were once used extensively for decoration. Geoffrey Smith observed in 1909 that the collection of the flowers for this purpose had caused the decline of some populations on Mount Wellington. The timber of larger specimens has been used for inlays; it has an attractive grain and a pale red color.
12,451,213	Western yellow robin	1,170,151,014	Species of songbird native to southern Australia	[ "Birds described in 1838", "Birds of South Australia", "Birds of Western Australia", "Endemic birds of Australia", "Eopsaltria" ]	The western yellow robin (Eopsaltria griseogularis) is a species of bird in the Australasian robin family, Petroicidae, native to Australia. Described by John Gould in 1838, the western yellow robin and its Australian relatives are not closely related to either the European or American robins, but they appear to be an early offshoot of the Passerida group of songbirds. Ranging between 13.5 and 15.5 cm (5+1⁄4 and 6 in) long, it has grey upperparts, and a grey breast and head, broken by whitish streaks near the bill and below the eye, with a conspicuous yellow belly. The sexes are similar in appearance. Two subspecies are recognized: subspecies griseogularis, which has a yellow rump, and subspecies rosinae with an olive-green rump. The species inhabits open eucalypt jungle, woodland, and scrub, generally favouring habitats with significant understory. Its range comprises the Southwest of Western Australia and the state's southern coastline, as well as the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. It breeds in a cup-shaped nest in a tree. Predominantly insectivorous, the western yellow robin pounces on prey from a low branch or forages on the ground. Although it is rated as least concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Red List of Threatened Species, it has declined in parts of its range. ## Taxonomy English ornithologist John Gould described the western yellow robin as Eopsaltria griseogularis in 1838, referring to a specimen collected at the Swan River Colony. The genus Eopsaltria had been introduced by English naturalist William Swainson six years earlier for what is now the eastern yellow robin (E. australis). The specific name is derived from the Medieval Latin words griseus, meaning 'grey', and gula meaning "throat". Gould reported that it was common both at the new colony on the Swan Coastal Plain and at any site with brush-like shrubs. It was included in the first collection of local fauna assembled for the newly founded Zoological Society of London in the 1830s. In 1979, Western Australian ornithologist Julian Ford proposed treatment of the western and eastern yellow robin as a single species on account of similarities in calls, ecology, and behavior. Playback of one species' calls in the other's territory evoked a response. Bird taxonomist Richard Schodde did not feel that this finding warranted the lumping of the two species and concluded in 1999 that they formed a superspecies. Analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA of Australasian robins in 2009 and 2011 revealed that the divergence between the eastern and western yellow robin was consistent with species-level separation, confirming their status as distinct species. Amateur ornithologist Gregory Mathews described a second subspecies—Eopsaltria griseogularis rosinae—in 1912, named for Ethel Rosina White, wife of South Australian ornithologist, Samuel Albert White. Schodde observed that the delineation between subspecies does not correspond with a change in habitat and was hence valid. Western yellow robin is the official name given to this species by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC). Like all Australasian robins, it is not closely related to either the European robin (Erithacus rubecula) or the American robin (Turdus migratorius), but rather belongs in the Australasian robin family Petroicidae. The family is most closely related to the families Eupetidae (rail-babbler), Chaetopidae (rockjumper), and Picathartidae (rockfowl)—these all forming a basal lineage in the Passerida. Gould called it 'grey-breasted robin' in 1848, and other names used included grey-breasted shrike-robin and grey-breasted yellow robin from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The 'shrike-' prefix was dropped by the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU) in 1926. The earliest recorded name is b'am-boore—reported by English naturalist and explorer John Gilbert in 1840, and published in Gould's Birds of Australia—is derived from the Nyungar language. The orthographic or dialectal variations in the notes of colonial authors have been assessed, and a recommendation for regular spelling as bamborn and guide to pronunciation as bam'bam was proposed by Ian Abbott in 2009. ## Description The western yellow robin ranges between 13.5 and 15.5 cm (5+1⁄4 and 6 in) long, with a wingspan of 24–27.5 cm (9+1⁄2–10+3⁄4 in) and weight of 20 g (0.7 oz). The male and female are similar in size and coloration, with no seasonal variation in plumage. The head, neck, and upper parts are grey, with a white throat fading into a grey breast. The lores are black, the eyebrows are paler grey, and there is some faint pale streaking over the ear coverts. The underparts are yellow and clearly delineated from the breast. The rump and upper tail coverts are yellow in the nominate subspecies and olive-green in subspecies rosinae. There is a broad area of intermediate coloration between the core ranges of the two subspecies. Birds of subspecies rosinae have longer wings and tail overall, and a shorter bill and tarsus. Those from the west coast between Cliff Head and Kalbarri are significantly smaller overall. Intermediate forms between the two subspecies are found over a broad band between Lancelin and Jurien Bay southeast through the inner Wheatbelt to the coast between Denmark and Fitzgerald River National Park. Juveniles have dark brownish head, neck, and upper parts coarsely streaked with creamy white. The lores are black. The chin and throat are grey-white, the breast is cream and brown, and the belly is white or off-white, tinged with brown. They molt after a few months into immature plumage, resembling adults but retaining some brownish flight feathers and secondary coverts on their wings and tail. The western yellow robin produces its song with sequences of extended whistles, begun with two briefly piped notes. Its song is often heard before dawn, described as having a mournful quality, and is a familiar sound in southwest forests and woodlands. It also utters a scolding call, transcribed as ch-churr or churr-churr, and a two-syllabled zitting call. Around nesting time, the female utters a courtship or food-begging call, composed of a long note with a deeper staccato note at the end. It does not resemble any other species within its range. The similar eastern yellow robin is found only in the eastern states. Immature birds closely resemble immature white-breasted robins (Quoyornis georgianus), though both are usually close by their respective parents. Young western yellow robins also have an olive tinge to the edges of their flight and tail feathers, and gain yellow feathers on their bellies as they molt from juvenile plumage. ## Distribution and habitat In Western Australia, the western yellow robin is found south and west of an imaginary line between Kalbarri and Norseman, though it is largely absent from the coastal plain between Dongara and Rockingham. It is a rare vagrant north to Shark Bay and Toolonga Nature Reserve. Along the southern coastline, it occurs in a broken distribution to the South Australian border, at Eucla, Hampton Tableland, and the Roe Plains. In South Australia, it is found from Yalata east to the Eyre Peninsula where it extends north to the Gawler Ranges and east to Middleback Range. It is sedentary across its range. The nominate Eopsaltria griseogularis griseogularis ranges along the coastal southwest Western Australia from Lancelin in the north and inland to Northam and southeast to King George Sound. Subspecies Eopsaltria griseogularis rosinae occurs from Jurien Bay and Tamala then inland across the Wheatbelt and Goldfields to the southeastern Western Australian coastline, across the Great Australian Bight and on the Eyre Peninsula. Within its range, the western yellow robin is found in eucalypt forest and woodland, and mallee and acacia-shrubland in drier (semi-arid) regions. Fieldwork in the Dryandra Woodland found that it prefers locations with thicker canopy, a thicker layer of leaf litter, and logs. The latter two directly provide habitat for insects upon which the western yellow robin feeds, while the canopy makes for cooler ground temperatures (as well as more leaf litter) that are also favorable to insects. The presence of wandoo trees (Eucalyptus wandoo) and shrubs of the genus Gastrolobium also indicates thicker leaf litter. The species also avoids parts of the woodland bordering on adjacent farmland, as these areas have a thinner layer of leaf litter. In tall jarrah-marri forest, it generally remains in the midstory of bull banksia (Banksia grandis) or understory shrubs. ## Behaviour The social behaviour of the western yellow robin has been little studied. The species is usually found alone or in pairs, and less commonly in small groups—most likely a mated pair and helper birds. In autumn and winter, western yellow robins may join mixed hunting flocks with other insect-eating birds, such as Gilbert's honeyeater (Melithreptus chloropsis), western spinebill (Acanthorhynchus superciliosus), grey fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa), and thornbills (Acanthiza species). ### Breeding Breeding takes place between July and early January, most commonly between September and November. Pairs generally attempt two broods a season. The female has been observed to select the nest site. The nest is located in the fork or on a branch of a tree, usually a eucalypt, such as marri (Corymbia calophylla), jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata), and wandoo in Western Australia, or sugar gum (Eucalyptus cladocalyx) in South Australia. Other trees include snottygobble (Persoonia longifolia), native cypress (Callitris), Jacksonia, Acacia, or she-oak (Casuarinaceae). In more arid country, they may choose mallee eucalypts, bluebush (Maireana), or quandong (Santalum acuminatum). Fieldwork in the Dryandra Woodland found nests were located in the lower part of the tree canopy, so birds were able to have a clear view of the ground, and be concealed by foliage from aerial predators above. The nest is an open cup made of strips of bark, grass, and twigs. Spider webs, dried wattle, and gum leaves are used for binding or lining. It is 7–9 cm (2+3⁄4–3+1⁄2 in) high and 5–7 cm (2–2+3⁄4 in) wide, with a 3–5 cm (1+1⁄4–2 in) wide inner cup-shaped depression. The female builds the nest and is fed by the male and helper birds during this time. Incubation is thought to be around fifteen days. The clutch generally numbers two or rarely three buffs, pale yellow or pearl-grey eggs that are irregularly marked with red-brown and are 18–22 mm long by 15–16 mm wide. The eggs are more elongated than those of the eastern yellow robin. Like all passerines, the chicks are altricial; that is, they are born blind and naked. They are fed by both parents and helpers, and the female leaves to forage for herself during this period. The common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) and the grey shrikethrush (Colluricincla harmonica) have been recorded preying on nestlings. The species is selected as a host for brood parasites, specifically the pallid cuckoo (Cacomantis pallidus) and the shining bronze-cuckoo (Chrysococcyx lucidus). The maximum age recorded from banding has been eight years, in a bird banded at Kodj Kodjin Reserve, Western Australia, which was caught and released at the same location in June 1994. ### Feeding Arthropods, particularly insects, form the bulk of the western yellow robin's diet, although seeds are sometimes eaten. It hunts by scanning the ground from branches or trunks of trees and pouncing on its prey mostly on the ground. One study in Dryandra Woodland found that western yellow robins caught 96% of their prey on the ground, while fieldwork in the same locale showed that they often forage near fallen logs, particularly in the warmer months. Leaf litter near logs often retains more moisture in warmer months and thus shelters more abundant prey. The foraging behavior was first described as resembling the robins of Europe, making short flights to the ground and returning to a twig or branch and seemingly incapable of sustained flight. The appearance of this behavior has been familiar to observers near frontiers of land clearing, although the roosting habits are carefully obscured. ## Conservation The IUCN Red List assessed the western yellow robin in 2016 as a least-concern species, noting a large distribution range and population that, while declining, did not meet their criteria for conservation status of vulnerable to extinction. Recognized threat factors to the population trajectory of the western yellow robin are global warming, particularly severe weather events, and anthropogenic alterations that degrade or remove its habitat. The species has declined in parts of the Wheatbelt, particularly around the towns of Kellerberin, Dowerin and Tammin, most likely due to a loss of suitable habitat. Up to 93% of suitable habitat had been cleared in the region by 2002, and much of what is left is compromised; fragmentation of habitat and livestock activity disrupt the litter layer, and Gastrolobium is often removed as it is poisonous to cattle. ## Explanatory notes
5,663,546	Rodrigues night heron	1,170,151,070	Extinct species of bird	[ "Bird extinctions since 1500", "Birds described in 1874", "Extinct birds of Indian Ocean islands", "Fauna of Rodrigues", "Nycticorax" ]	The Rodrigues night heron (Nycticorax megacephalus) is an extinct species of heron that was endemic to the Mascarene island of Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean. The species was first mentioned as "bitterns" in two accounts from 1691–1693 and 1725–1726, and these were correlated with subfossil remains found and described in the latter part of the 19th century. The bones showed that the bird was a heron, first named Ardea megacephala in 1873, but moved to the night heron genus Nycticorax in 1879 after more remains were described. The specific name megacephala is Greek for "great-headed". Two related extinct species from the other Mascarene islands have also been identified from accounts and remains: the Mauritius night heron and the Réunion night heron. The Rodrigues night heron was robust, its bill was comparatively large, stout and straight, and its legs were short and strong. It is estimated to have been 60 cm (24 in) long, and its appearance in life is uncertain. There was marked sexual dimorphism, males being larger. Little is known about its behaviour, but the contemporary accounts indicate that it ate lizards (probably the Rodrigues day gecko), was adapted to running, and although able to fly, rarely did so. Examinations of the known remains have confirmed its terrestrial adaptations; one researcher thought the species flightless but this idea has not been accepted by others. The species could not be found by 1763, and it is thought to have been driven to extinction by human-related factors such as the introduction of cats. ## Taxonomy The French traveler Francois Leguat mentioned "bitterns" in his 1708 memoir A New Voyage to the East Indies about his stay on the Mascarene island of Rodrigues from 1691–93. Leguat was the leader of a group of nine French Huguenot refugees who settled on Rodrigues after they were marooned there. Leguat's observations on the local fauna are considered some of the first cohesive accounts of animal behaviour in the wild. In 1873, the French zoologist Alphonse Milne-Edwards described subfossil bird bones from Rodrigues he had received via the British ornithologist Alfred Newton. These had been excavated in 1865 under the supervision of his brother, Colonial Secretary Edward Newton, by the police magistrate George Jenner, who found the specimens in a cave on the Plaine Corail, near Rodrigues solitaire remains. Milne-Edwards correlated the bones with the "bitterns" of Leguat's account, but found that they were instead consistent with belonging to a species of heron, whose large head and short legs made it understandable that it was compared to a bittern. He considered the skull different from all other herons in size and shape, but found the tarsometatarsal foot bone similar to that of the extant heron genus Ardea, and therefore named the new species Ardea megacephala. The specific name megacephala is Greek for "great-headed", and references the large head and jaws of this species. The bones examined by Milne-Edwards included the skull, tarsometatarsus, tibiotarsus (lower leg bone), femur (thigh-bone), sternum (breast-bone), coracoids (part of the shoulder-girdle), humerus (upper arm bone), and metacarpals ("hand" bones). The holotype specimen (the specimen the specific name and original scientific description is attached to) is an incomplete but probably associated specimen catalogued as UMZC 572 at the Cambridge University Museum of Zoology. This specimen since appears to have lost a humerus, a dorsal rib, both femora, a tibiotarsus, and both tarsometatarsi. In 1875, A. Newton correlated references to "bitterns" with the heron in the then recently rediscovered 1725–26 account of the French sailor Julien Tafforet, Relation de l'Ile Rodrigue, which he thought confirmed Milne-Edwards's conclusions. More fossils were obtained from caves by the palaeontologist Henry H. Slater in 1874, and these were described by the German zoologist Albert Günther and E. Newton in 1879, with the benefit of bones not known at the time of Milne-Edwards's original description. They included the two last cervical vertebrae (of the neck), fifth dorsal vertebra (of the back), pelvis, scapula (shoulder blade), ulna (lower arm bone), radius (lower arm bone), second phalanx of the inner toe, and first of the hind toe. These bones are now part of the collection of the Natural History Museum, London. Günther and Newton did not find it necessary to describe these bones, as they were the same form as in other herons, particularly the night heron genus Nycticorax, and they therefore transferred the Rodrigues species there, as Nycticorax megacephalus. In 1893, E. Newton and the German ornithologist Hans Gadow referred to the bird as Ardea (Nycticorax) megacephala, and the British zoologist Walter Rothschild used the original name Ardea megacephala in 1907, while noting that he was inclined to believe the three extinct Mascarene herons (which had previously been assigned to either Ardea or Butorides) all belonged in Nycticorax. The Japanese ornithologist Masauji Hachisuka concluded in 1937 that this species was little related to any other heron, and moved it to a new genus as Megaphoyx megacephala. He also used the common name "Rodriguez flightless heron", due to his conviction that it had lost the ability to fly. The American ornithologist Pierce Brodkorb kept the species in Nycticorax in 1963. The British ecologist Anthony S. Cheke referred to the bird as Nycticorax ('Megaphoyx') megacephalus in 1987; in the same book, the British ornithologist Graham S. Cowles stated that a then recently rediscovered skull in the NHM confirmed that the species was a Nycticorax night heron. He also considered the two extinct herons of the other Mascarene islands, the Mauritius night heron (N. mauritianus) and the Réunion night heron (N. duboisi), to belong to that genus. In 1999, the French palaeontologist Cécile Mourer-Chauviré and colleagues considered the tarsometatarsi of the Mascarene night herons closer in proportion to the black-crowned night heron (N. nycticorax) than to other members of the genus, particularly the nankeen night heron (N. caledonicus). An associated but incomplete skeleton preserving the skull and jaws was discovered in Caverne Poule Rouge in 2006. Cheke and the British paleontologist Julian P. Hume stated in 2007 that although the Mascarene night herons may have originated in Madagascar, the black-crowned night heron that they probably descended from is so widespread that they could also have colonised from Asia. Due to the diminished flight capabilities of the Rodrigues and Mauritius night herons, they suggested that the Mascarenes must have been colonised twice in any case, as these birds could not have been the ancestors of the longer-winged Réunion night heron. Hume explained in 2023 that night herons have successfully colonised oceanic islands and archipelagos, the island endemic species becoming increasingly adapted to a terrestrial lifestyle due to a lack of terrestrial mammals. This led to increased size and robustness in their legs, with a corresponding shortening of the wings, which led to lesser flight capabilities compared to their ancestral populations, as well as more robust jaws. Hume stated that while there had been no molecular analysis to examine the interrelationships of the Mascarene herons, the Rodrigues and Mauritius species appear to have been closely related. Hume added that a complete Rodrigues night heron sternum he had found in Caverne Dora in Plaine Corail near other subfossil bird bones was the only known specimen of this species photographed in the location it was found, and that radiocarbon dating of a nearby Rodrigues scops owl humerus gave a range of 3060–2870 years before present. ## Description The Rodrigues night heron was robust, its bill was comparatively large, stout and straight, and its legs were short and strong, and more robust than those of the related Mauritius night heron. There was marked sexual dimorphism in the Rodrigues night heron, which is also present in the black-crowned night heron, and the male was the largest. There is a 17.5% length difference in the tibiotarsus between male and female specimens, 9.3% difference in the tarsometatarsus, and a 9.1% difference in the available mandibles. The difference was almost the same in the Mauritius night heron, and there was little dimorphism in the Réunion night heron. The Rodrigues night heron is estimated to have been 60 cm (24 in) long. Measurements of the bones available by the late 19th century show that the skull was 154 mm (6.1 in) long, the upper mandible was 94 mm (3.7 in) long and 22 mm (0.87 in) wide at the base, and the lower mandible was 147 mm (5.8 in) long. The sternum was 64–88 mm (2.5–3.5 in) long, the scapula 72 mm (2.8 in), the coracoid 59–67 mm (2.3–2.6 in), the humerus 118–180 mm (4.6–7.1 in), the ulna 121 mm (4.8 in), the radius 117 mm (4.6 in), and the metacarpal 62–98 mm (2.4–3.9 in). The pelvis was 63 mm (2.5 in) long, the femur 90–92 mm (3.5–3.6 in), the tibiotarsus 140–210 mm (5.5–8.3 in), the tarsometatarsus 95–162 mm (3.7–6.4 in), and the second phalanx bone 20 mm (0.79 in). The Réunion night heron was the largest of the three Mascarene night heron species in most features, except for in the tarsometatarsus, which was almost the same size as in the Rodrigues night heron, and the femur, which was smaller than in the Rodrigues species. In the Rodrigues night heron, the supratendinal bridge ("bridge" over a tendon) of the tibiotarsus was entirely ossified (turned to bone), whereas it was incompletely ossified in the Réunion species, and unknown in that of Mauritius. The wing-bones of the Rodrigues and Mauritis species, including the humeri, ulnae, and carpometacarpi, were quite reduced, and the legs, the femora in particular, were longer than in extant species. The short and thick proportions of the tarsometatarsi in the Mascarene species were closest to the black-crowned night heron within their genus, this robustness probably being accentuated by the reduced flight abilities of the Rodrigues and Mauritius species. The life appearance of the Rodrigues night heron is uncertain. Hachisuka speculated that Leguat referred to these birds as "bitterns" because their colouration may have reminded him of the plumage of the bitterns native to France, whose feathers are buffish, mottled with black. On the other hand, Tafforet likened them to egrets, which are white, so Hachisuka thought this a contradiction of Leguat, if it also referred to colouration. One 1674 account stated that the related Réunion night heron had "grey plumage, each feather tipped with white, the neck and beak like a heron and the feet green", which is similar to juveniles of extant Nycticorax herons. Hume stated in 2023 that this probably means that the Mascarene herons retained their juvenile (paedomorphic) plumage into adulthood, as is the case for some other island birds. ## Behaviour and ecology Little is known about the behaviour of the Rodrigues night heron apart from the two contemporary descriptions, but it was better documented that its Mauritius relative. Leguat's 1708 description reads as follows, referring to these birds as "bitterns": > We had Bitterns as big and as fat as capons. They are tamer and more easily caught than the 'gelinotes' [Rodrigues rails]... The lizards often serve as prey for the birds, especially for the Bitterns. When we shook them down from the branches with a pole, these birds ran up and gobbled them down in front of us, in spite of all we could do to prevent them; and even if we only pretended to do so they came in the same manner and always followed us about. The "lizards" mentioned were probably geckos of the genus Phelsuma (there were six gecko species on Mauritius), such as the now extinct Rodrigues day gecko, which reached 23 cm (9.1 in) in length. Leguat and his companions were fond of these quite tame lizards, letting them feed from their tables, and therefore tried to protect them from the aggressive herons. In 2023, Hume interpreted Leguat's account as indicating that the bird was very tame and confiding, and not afraid of humans, as is common in many island birds. Cheke and Hume suggested in 2007 that the Rodrigues night heron fed on snails as well as the geckos, and that it and the Mauritius night heron fed on land rather than wetlands or shores, as some extant herons do on Cuba. Hume and colleagues listed the Rodrigues night heron as a possible predator of giant tortoise eggs and hatchlings in 2021. Hume speculated in 2023 that the increased sexual dimorphism in the species was a result of competition between the sexes. This kind of difference is mainly an effect of food availability, and each sex may have exploited different food items due to living on an island with limited resources. He also noted that the comparatively long and wide jaws suggest that the bird fed on larger prey. It may have inhabited and foraged in open forests containing palms with geckos, which is also the main habitat of invertebrates that live in leaf-litter, such as terrestrial crabs, and at other times of the year it could have scavenged from coastal seabird colonies and giant tortoise breeding grounds. Hume suggested that it probably nested on the ground or in low bushes. Many other species endemic to Rodrigues became extinct after humans arrived, and the island's ecosystem is heavily damaged. Before humans arrived, forests covered the island entirely, but very little remains today. The Rodrigues night heron lived alongside other recently extinct birds, such as the Rodrigues solitaire, Rodrigues parrot, Newton's parakeet, Rodrigues rail, Rodrigues scops owl, Rodrigues starling, and the Rodrigues pigeon. Extinct reptiles include the domed Rodrigues giant tortoise, the saddle-backed Rodrigues giant tortoise, and the Rodrigues day gecko. ### Flight and terrestrial abilities Milne-Edwards concluded in 1873 that the sternum of the Rodrigues night heron was weak, and therefore did not belong to a bird with powerful wings (like the grey heron, purple heron, or egrets), and the wings were weak as well, since their bones were not particularly large. He also found the legs to be proportionally short in relation to the large head, but with a well-developed femur, which he inferred to mean that the body of the bird was bulky. After studying Tafforet's 1725–26 account, A. Newton stated in 1875 that it confirmed Milne-Edwards' observation that the bird was short-winged. Tafforet's account reads as follows: > There are not a few Bitterns which are birds which only fly a very little, and run uncommonly well when they are chased. They are of the size of an egret and something like them. Günther and A. Newton agreed with Milne-Edwards in 1879 after comparing the sternum and wing-bones of the Rodrigues night heron with bones they thought belonged to the European subspecies of black-crowned night heron (N. n. nycticorax), finding them to be proportionally smaller. On the other hand, they found the leg bones to be better developed and the body size equal to the extant night heron, since they could compare the pelvis, which had been unknown to Milne-Edwards. They found the foot-bones to be very well-developed, thicker than in the black-crowned night heron, and considered this a sign that the bird was much more cursorial (adapted to running), and would have chased swift, terrestrial animals (such as lizards) rather than aquatic prey. They concluded that the bird had become short-winged without losing the power of flight but it compensated for this by the increased development of the legs, especially by enlarging the metatarsus so it could receive and serve as a base for the foot's tendons. Hachisuka disregarded Tafforet's account in 1937, believing it unlikely that the bird would have been able to rise from the ground because its sternum and wing remains indicated it had become flightless (while he quoted but ignored Günther and Newton's statement that it had not lost the power of flight). He concluded that take-off would only have been possible from sloping ground. The American ornithologists Storrs L. Olson and Alexander Wetmore pointed out in 1976 that the fossils of this heron did not indicate it was entirely flightless, contrary to Hachisuka's claim, as its sternal carina (or keel) was still rather well-developed, and the wing-elements not very reduced. Cowles argued in 1987 that Hachisuka's claim of flightlessness was dubious, and pointed out that Günther and Newton had thought they were using the bones of the European subspecies of the black-crowned night heron for comparison, but they had actually used the bones of the large South American subspecies (N. n. obscurus). This gave them the impression that the wings of the Rodrigues night heron were unusually small; Cowles noted they are not when compared to the European subspecies. He instead found that the femur, tibiotarsus, and tarsometatarsus of the Rodrigues night heron were broader, longer, and more robust than those of the European black-crowned night heron, showing that its legs had become stronger as its need to fly decreased, an adaptation which can also be seen in other species endemic to oceanic islands. In 2007, Cheke and Hume called the night herons of Rodrigues and Mauritius "behaviourally flightless", though still able to fly when required. Hume stated in 2023 that the hypotarsus (a process on the hind side of the tarsometatarsus that support the tendons of the toes) of the Rodrigues night heron was particularly distinct and had very large sulci (grooves) for the tendons that would have given it strong control over the flexion of its toes when it walked and ran. He concluded that although the Rodrigues night heron was still capable of weak flight, it was on the way to flightlessness, and that its adaptations for a terrestrial lifestyle in the forest (stronger than those of the other Mascarene herons) was influenced by the lack of standing water and wetlands on Rodrigues. ## Extinction The night heron species that inhabit continents and large islands are not threatened, but those restricted to small islands have been vulnerable to human activities, and six out of nine species and a subspecies are therefore extinct (three more unnamed extinct species are known). Hume pointed out in 2023 that the night herons of the Mascarenes appear to have survived alongside introduced rats for centuries, and were common until the late 17th and early 18th centuries. These large birds would have been able to defend themselves and their offspring from rats with their strong bills. Cats were introduced to counter the rats, but went feral, and became a threat to the herons, especially the juveniles. In 1763, the French astronomer Alexandre Guy Pingré noted the absence of the Rodrigues night heron and other birds by the time of his visit on Rodrigues to observe the 1761 transit of Venus: > I heard said of neither gélinottes [Rodrigues rail], nor butors [Rodrigues night heron], nor alouettes [small waders], nor bécassines [shearwaters or petrels]; there may have been some at the time of François Leguat, but they have either retreated from their homes or, more likely, the races no longer survive, since the island has been populated with cats. No later visitors mentioned the Rodrigues night heron, and it had probably gone extinct by this time. Milne-Edwards suggested in 1873 that the bird was unable to escape the destruction that threatened it due to its diminished flight capabilities. Hume and the British ornithologist Michael Walters stated in 2012 that the extinction was a consequence of severe deforestation and introduced predators, such as cats. Cheke responded in 2013 that there was no deforestation at the time, the species appeared to have survived introduced rats, and that cats were the main culprits. Hume stated in 2023 that the Rodrigues night heron had been numerous during Leguat's and Tafforet's visits, but that when a small French population colonised the island in 1736 to hunt giant tortoises, this marked the beginning of the end for the heron and other terrestrial birds. Tortoise hunting was no longer viable by the 1770s, and although the hunters probably also killed the birds, it was probably the introduction of cats in 1750 that led to their extinction, most likely by Pingré's 1761 visit a decade later. Hume noted that night herons have proven adept at colonising remote islands (with populations still reaching new islands) but are vulnerable when switching from aquatic to terrestrial life, which increases the impact of overhunting, habitat destruction, invasive predators, and loss of food. He therefore considered the fossil record important to the understanding of extinctions of island avifauna, but cautioned that many islands have inadequate records, and that more extinct island herons await discovery, the group having a much higher extinction rate than currently known.
63,327,665	2020 Tour Championship	1,149,743,503	Professional ranking snooker tournament, March 2020	[ "2020 in English sport", "2020 in snooker", "June 2020 sports events in the United Kingdom", "Players Series", "Snooker competitions in England", "Sport in Milton Keynes", "Sports events postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic", "Tour Championship (snooker)" ]	The 2020 Tour Championship (officially the 2020 Coral Tour Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 20 to 26 June 2020, at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England. Organised by the World Snooker Tour, it was the second edition of the Tour Championship and the third and final event of the second season of the Coral Cup. It was the 16th and penultimate ranking event of the 2019–20 snooker season following the Gibraltar Open and preceding the World Championship. The tournament was originally scheduled for 17 to 22 March 2020, but on the morning of 17 March the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following advice from the UK government, it had been decided that no spectators would be permitted at the event. The draw for the Tour Championship comprised the top eight players based on the single year ranking list. The event was contested as a single-elimination tournament, with each match played over a minimum of two sessions and the final being a best-of-19- match. The winner of the tournament won £150,000 out of a total prize fund of £380,000. The event was sponsored by betting company Coral. Ronnie O'Sullivan was the defending champion, having defeated Neil Robertson 13–11 in the 2019 final; however, O'Sullivan failed to qualify for the 2020 event, placing 18th on the one-year ranking list at the cut-off date. China's Ding Junhui, fifth on the one-year ranking list, was unable to travel to the event because of the COVID-19 situation. His replacement was Stephen Maguire, ranked ninth, who reached the final after defeating Robertson and Judd Trump. His opponent in the final was Mark Allen, who defeated Shaun Murphy and Mark Selby in the two earlier rounds. Maguire won the final 10–6 to claim his first ranking title for seven years, and the sixth of his career. ## Overview The 2020 Tour Championship was the third and final event in the 2020 Coral Cup series, first introduced in the 2018–19 snooker season, the first two events being the World Grand Prix and the Players Championship. It was the 16th and penultimate ranking event of the 2019–20 snooker season, organised by the World Snooker Tour. The players qualified for the series by virtue of their placement on the one-year ranking list (the ranking points won over the 2019–20 season), rather than by their current world ranking positions. The Tour Championship featured the top eight players from the one-year ranking list taking part in a single-elimination tournament. All matches in the first two rounds were played over a maximum of 17 , and the final was played as a best-of-19-frames match. The tournament was primarily broadcast by ITV4 in the United Kingdom. It also aired on Sky Sport in New Zealand, NowTV in Hong Kong, and Superstars Online in China. Eurosport did not broadcast the event, after covering all but one of the other snooker tournaments in the season. The event was sponsored by sports betting company Coral. The Tour Championship was set to take place from 17 to 22 March 2020 in Llandudno, Wales, but on the morning of 17 March the event was postponed, following advice from the UK government that no spectators should be allowed into the event because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On 5 June 2020, the tournament was rescheduled to be held between 20 and 26 June 2020 and moved to a different venue, the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England. The Tour Championship was the second professional snooker tournament to take place after the season had been halted by the pandemic, the first being the 2020 Championship League which had taken place earlier the same month at the same venue. All players and staff admitted into the arena were tested for COVID-19 and placed into isolation for the duration of the event. ### Qualification Qualification for the event was determined on the basis of the one-year ranking list up to and including the 2020 Gibraltar Open. Fifth seed Ding Junhui withdrew prior to the tournament because of travel complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Ding's replacement was Stephen Maguire, ranked ninth on the one-year ranking list. ### Prize fund The event had a prize fund of £380,000, with the winner receiving £150,000. The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below: - Winner: £150,000 - Runner-up: £60,000 - Semi-final: £40,000 - Quarter-final: £20,000 (Prize money at this stage does not count towards prize money rankings) - Highest break: £10,000 - Total: £380,000 ## Summary ### Quarter-finals The first round of the tournament was the quarter-finals, held from 20 to 23 June, with matches played over two as best of 17 frames. The first match was between Neil Robertson and Stephen Maguire, the replacement for Ding Junhui who had been unable to travel to the event from China. Robertson and Maguire had met earlier in the season at the Masters, where Maguire had won 6–5 despite trailing 1–5 earlier in the match. Maguire took three of the four opening frames to lead 3–1, before Robertson made of 100 and 103, winning the next three. Maguire levelled the score at the end of the opening session at 4–4, both players having made two century breaks. Robertson won the first frame of the evening session, but then scored only four points in the next four frames, as Maguire made breaks of 103, 135, 111 and 115, to lead 8–5. Maguire also took frame 14, with a break of 59, to win the match 9–5. Maguire made six century breaks during the match, the two players compiling a total of eight centuries between them; both of these figures were a new record for century breaks in a best-of-17-frames match. Desmond Kane, writing for Eurosport, suggested that Maguire had "produced the greatest performance of his 22-year career", with which Maguire agreed. Post-match, Robertson commented that the match table was playing easy, and he likened the to those of nine-ball, where they are significantly larger. The second match was between reigning world champion and world number one, Judd Trump, and world number five John Higgins. The pair had last met in the final of the 2019 World Snooker Championship. Having qualified for the Tour Championship, Trump was guaranteed to exceed £1 million in prize money for the season. Trump won the opening two frames, before Higgins won the third on the final . Trump took the next two frames, and had developed a 5–3 lead by the end of the first session. He also won the first three frames on the resumption of play, with breaks of 67, 53 and 135, to lead 8–3. Higgins won frame 12, but Trump took the next to win the match 9–4, his fifth successive win against Higgins. Trump commented afterwards that the conditions on the playing table were not the same as the previous day. Yan Bingtao and Mark Selby contested the third quarter-final. Selby won the first frame of the match, but scored only 26 points over the next three frames. Trailing 1–3, he won the next three frames with breaks of 99, 119 and 61 to lead 4–3, but Yan won frame eight to tie the match after the first session. Selby won three of the first four frames in the second session, including three breaks of over 50, to go 7–5 ahead. Trailing by 64 points in frame 12, Yan the table to force a ; Selby played the black and the ball into the corner pocket. Yan won one more frame, but Selby took the 15th to win the match 9–6. The last quarter-final was played between Mark Allen and Shaun Murphy. In the first session, Murphy scored three century breaks to lead 3–2 but lost the next two frames to trail 3–4. He then fluked the in frame eight to level the match, won frame nine with a break of 100, and also took frame 10 to lead 6–4. Allen won the next frame, but Murphy made a break of 131 to lead 7–5. Allen won the next two frames to tie the match, before Murphy made his sixth century break in the next to lead 8–7. Allen won frame 16 to force a , in which he fluked a and made a break of 62 to win the match 9–8. Murphy's six century breaks equalled the record set by Maguire earlier in the tournament for the most 100+ breaks in a best-of-17-frames match. ### Semi-finals The semi-finals were also played as best-of-17-frames matches over two sessions on 24 and 25 June. The first semi-final was between Judd Trump and Stephen Maguire, the two remaining players still able to win the Coral Cup; whilst Maguire needed to win the tournament for the cup, Trump was only required to win this match. Maguire took a 2–1 lead after the first three frames, but Trump won the next three to lead 4–2. Maguire won frame seven, and then frame eight with a break of 132, to finish the first session tied at 4–4. The pair shared the next two frames, before Trump won frame 11 after a break of 79. Maguire won frame 12, which lasted over 40 minutes, to draw level again at 6–6; he then took three straight frames to win the match 9–6. ITV commentator and analyst Stephen Hendry commented on Trump's performance saying "That's the worst I think I've seen Judd [Trump] play for a long time." Trump again mentioned the playing conditions, describing them as "pretty poor", and explained "that's why the standard was so bad. If the conditions are good I seem to play well. It's too hot to play snooker today. It's just a shame the conditions are so bad." The second semi-final was between Mark Allen and Mark Selby. Allen won all of the first four frames of the match, without Selby potting a single ball. Allen also won the next two frames, to lead 6–0. Selby then took frame seven, but Allen won the final frame of the first session to re-establish his six-frame lead at 7–1. Selby won frame nine with a break of 71, before Allen won the next two, including a break of 81 in frame eleven to win the match 9–2. ### Final The final between Mark Allen and Stephen Maguire was played on 26 June as a best-of-19-frames match over two sessions. The two players had met on six previous occasions, Allen having won four of those matches. Their most recent encounter was in the semi-finals of the 2019 UK Championship, which had resulted in a 6–0 victory for Maguire. Allen won the first two frames with breaks of 50 and 76 before Maguire made breaks of 89 and 69 to level the match at 2–2. Maguire won the next frame to lead 3–2 before Allen made a century break to draw level again at 3–3. The final two frames of the first session were shared between the two players, tying the match at 4–4 at the first interval. In the second session, Maguire made the highest break of the tournament, a 139, to win frame nine. He also won the next frame to lead 6–4, and extended his lead to 7–5 before the final interval. Maguire then made breaks of 78 and 53 to lead 9–5, taking him just one frame away from victory. Allen won frame 15 with a break of 107. Frame 16 was dominated by play, and was eventually decided on the final two colours. Allen had a shot on the , but missed, before Maguire potted both balls to win the frame, and the match, 10–6. This was Maguire's first ranking event title since the 2013 Welsh Open. In winning the event, Maguire also won the Coral Cup, as well as the prize for the highest break; worth a total of £260,000, this was the highest prize money haul of his career. Allen was promoted to fourth in the world rankings, the highest position of his career. ## Tournament draw ### Final ## Coral Cup The 2018–19 snooker season introduced the Coral Cup series, featuring three events: the World Grand Prix, the Players Championship, and the Tour Championship. Qualification for the three events was based on players' rankings on the one-year ranking list. Stephen Maguire received the £100,000 bonus for topping the Coral Cup series. The top ten players who accumulated the most prize money over the three events is shown below: ## Century breaks There were 22 century breaks made during the tournament, the highest being a 139 compiled by Stephen Maguire in the ninth frame of the final. - 139, 135, 132, 117, 115, 111, 108, 103 – Stephen Maguire - 135 – Judd Trump - 131, 117, 116, 110, 100, 100 – Shaun Murphy - 125, 107, 100 – Mark Allen - 119, 105 – Mark Selby - 103, 100 – Neil Robertson
16,757,822	John Wilton (general)	1,167,649,875	Australian Army chief	[ "1910 births", "1981 deaths", "20th-century British Army personnel", "Australian Army personnel of World War II", "Australian generals", "Australian military personnel of the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation", "Australian military personnel of the Korean War", "Australian military personnel of the Vietnam War", "Chairmen, Chiefs of Staff Committee (Australia)", "Chiefs of Army (Australia)", "Companions of the Distinguished Service Order", "Companions of the Order of the Bath", "Consuls-General of Australia in New York", "Deaths from cancer in the Australian Capital Territory", "Deaths from prostate cancer", "Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit", "Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies", "Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire", "Military personnel from Sydney", "Royal Artillery officers", "Royal Military College, Duntroon graduates" ]	General Sir John Gordon Noel Wilton, KBE, CB, DSO (22 November 1910 – 10 May 1981) was a senior commander in the Australian Army. He served as Chief of the General Staff (CGS), the Army's professional head, from 1963 until 1966, and as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (CCOSC), forerunner of the role of Australia's Chief of the Defence Force, from 1966 until 1970. His eight-year tenure as senior officer of first the Army and then the Australian military spanned almost the entire period of the nation's involvement in the Vietnam War. Born in Sydney, Wilton entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1927. Owing to lack of opportunity in the Australian military at the time, he took a commission in the British Army following his graduation in 1930. He spent most of the remainder of the decade with the Royal Artillery in India. Wilton returned to Australia on the eve of World War II and was commissioned into the Royal Australian Artillery. He saw action with the 7th Division in Syria and the 3rd Division in New Guinea, earning a mention in despatches in the former campaign and the Distinguished Service Order in the latter. Finishing the war a temporary colonel, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1947. Wilton was posted to Korea in 1953 to take command of the 28th Commonwealth Brigade, leading it in its final action of the war in July. He was raised to Commander of the Order of the British Empire and awarded the US Legion of Merit for his performance in Korea. Wilton was promoted to major general in 1957 and became Commandant of Duntroon. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1962 and made CGS the following January, with the rank of lieutenant general. As CGS he oversaw a reorganisation of the Army's divisional structure, the reintroduction of conscription, and deployments during the Indonesia–Malaysia Konfrontasi and the Vietnam War. Knighted in 1964, he handed over the position of CGS in May 1966 and was appointed CCOSC. In this role he had overall responsibility for Australia's forces in Vietnam, and worked to achieve an integrated defence organisation, including a tri-services academy, a joint intelligence group, and the amalgamation of separate government departments for the Army, Navy and Air Force. Wilton was promoted to general in September 1968, and retired from the military in November 1970. He served as Consul-General in New York City from 1973 to 1975, and died in 1981, aged seventy. ## Early career John Wilton was born in Sydney on 22 November 1910, the second of two sons to English migrants Noel and Muriel Wilton. Noel was an electrical engineer, and moved with his family to Hobart in 1915 to take up employment with the Tasmanian Hydro Electric Department. Attending several schools, John and his brother Maurice lived in Sydney for a time with Muriel following their parents' separation in 1917, before Noel brought them back to Hobart in 1921. In 1923 he moved with them to Grafton, New South Wales, where he managed the Clarence River County Council. John attended Grafton High School, where he attained his leaving certificate. Considered by family to be a "loner", "a clear thinker", and a "quite, determined, achiever", he entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in February 1927, aged sixteen. Early on he was subjected to the usual bastardisation handed out to younger cadets by seniors, but was not known to inflict the same treatment on juniors once he reached the senior class. Although somewhat aloof from his fellows, he did well in team sports such as rugby and hockey, as well as swimming and diving. Second academically in his class of twelve, Wilton graduated from Duntroon on 9 December 1930. By 1930, the effects of the Great Depression had reduced the opportunities for Duntroon graduates. Only four of Wilton's classmates joined the Australian Military Forces; four transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and four to the British Army. Wilton was among the last-mentioned, taking a commission as a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery, with seniority from 22 November 1930. Seeking active duty, he requested a posting to India, and sailed with the 6th Field Brigade to Bombay in November 1931. He spent the next three years based at Fyzabad, near the Nepalese border. Promoted to lieutenant in November 1933, he undertook training and exercises with his battery, and learned to speak Urdu, but saw no action. In February 1935 he was posted to Burma, joining the 10th (Abbottabad) Battery of the Indian Mountain Artillery at Maymyo, near Mandalay. According to biographer David Horner, Wilton's "first taste of excitement" was in April 1935, when he joined the hunt for a rogue tiger and shot the animal as it attacked and mauled one of his companions. In November he saw operational service with his unit in skirmishes with local tribesmen in the Wa State of northern Burma, on the Chinese border. After eight months extended leave in 1936, and a posting to the Indian Army Ordnance Corps, Wilton briefly returned to Australia to marry Helen Marshall on 9 July 1938 at St. Andrew's Church in Summer Hill, New South Wales. John had met Helen, then a nurse, on a double date in Sydney while he was in his last year at Duntroon; the couple had two sons and a daughter. On the same trip home he was invited to transfer to the Australian military, and accepted. Promoted to captain on 31 December 1938, Wilton saw out his British service with a coastal battery in Karachi, and was commissioned into the Royal Australian Artillery on 26 May 1939. His service with the British Army in India and Burma had afforded him regimental experience that he could never have gained in Australia, as well as an understanding of mountainous and tropical conditions that would benefit him in years to come. ## World War II Wilton spent a year in coastal artillery posts at North Head and Port Kembla before transferring to the Second Australian Imperial Force. He was promoted major on 7 May 1940 and given command of a battery in the 2/4th Field Regiment, part of the recently formed 7th Division, which embarked for the Middle East in October. On the voyage he wrote his wife a letter in case he was killed, admonishing: "Remember what has always been our motto—nothing can defeat us—not even death!" Appointed the division's brigade major Royal Artillery on 19 March 1941, Wilton served under Brigadier Frank Berryman in the Syrian campaign, and was responsible for coordinating operations during the Battle of Merdjayoun in June. Assigned to the staff of Headquarters I Corps, Wilton became General Staff Officer Grade 2 (Artillery) on 1 November; this would be the final artillery posting of his career. He was promoted to temporary lieutenant colonel on 25 November. On 30 December, Wilton was mentioned in despatches for his service with the 7th Division. He entered the Middle East Staff School at Haifa in January 1942, and graduated in May. Returning to Australia, Wilton became General Staff Officer Grade 1 in Major General Stanley Savige's 3rd Division in August 1942. Savige later recalled that "I never had a more competent staff, nor such a co-operative team, than that staff after Wilton came along." The 3rd Division was part of Lieutenant General Edmund Herring's II Corps. In October, Herring succeeded Lieutenant General Sydney Rowell as commander of New Guinea Force, and Savige became acting corps commander. With his attention focused on the corps, Savige relied on Wilton to supervise the training of the 3rd Division. Wilton travelled to New Guinea in February 1943 to reconnoitre the terrain and begin plans for the division's forthcoming campaign in Salamaua. He was attached to Kanga Force in Wau during March 1943, before its absorption by 3rd Division the following month. Herring had ordered that the 3rd Division "threaten" Salamaua, and despite Wilton's attempts to clarify precisely what this meant, the order remained vague. Savige and Wilton interpreted it as meaning that the 3rd Division was to capture Salamaua, when in fact its main purpose in the campaign was to divert Japanese forces from Lae. In any event, 3rd Division progressed steadily and by August it had to be ordered to slow down so that Lae could be attacked before Salamaua. Wilton received much of the credit for 3rd Division's performance. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his "skill and ability in New Guinea" between July 1942 and April 1943, the citation being promulgated on 27 April 1944. In September 1943, following his service with 3rd Division, Wilton was posted to Washington, D.C. as General Staff Officer, Australian Military Mission; he spent November and December 1944 in Europe, observing the Allies' military organisation. He was promoted temporary colonel in May 1945, and spent the remainder of the war on the staff of General Sir Thomas Blamey's Advanced Land Headquarters at Morotai in the Dutch East Indies and Forward Echelon Advance Land Headquarters at Manila in the Philippines. On Blamey's recommendation, Wilton was honoured for the "particularly high standard" of his work on the general staff with appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), promulgated on 6 March 1947. ## Post-war career ### Rise to senior command Wilton was still only a substantive captain at the end of hostilities, but was considered by the Military Board to be among those "promising officers who have forced their way to the top during the war" and hence to deserve retention of their wartime rank. He became Deputy Director of Military Operations and Plans at Army Headquarters (AHQ), Melbourne, in March 1946 and was promoted to substantive lieutenant-colonel on 30 September. Wilton took charge of Military Operations and Plans the following year. He was promoted substantive colonel on 11 April 1950, and appointed a member of the Bridgeford Mission, which advised the Australian government on the state of the Malayan Emergency. On a visit to Singapore in February–March 1951 as part of a joint planning team, he urged his British counterparts to maintain their presence in Malaya as the basis of a combined force, without which Australia would be reluctant to commit any troops for the region's security. Wilton relinquished his post at AHQ in November 1951, and attended the Imperial Defence College in London during 1952. Having been assigned a combat command in the Korean War, he was promoted to brigadier on 13 March 1953, arrived in Seoul within the week, and took over the 28th Commonwealth Brigade from fellow Duntroon graduate Brigadier Thomas Daly on 25 March. The 28th was described in the official history of Australia's involvement in the Korean War as "the most nationally diverse" brigade in the 1st Commonwealth Division, consisting of Australian, British, Indian and New Zealand units, yet also "an outstandingly well-knit formation". After operating on the eastern side of the Jamestown Line from April, the 28th was transferred westward to relieve the 29th Brigade at the Hook, the Commonwealth Division's most vulnerable position, on 9–10 July. At 6:15pm on 23 July, Wilton informed his battalion chiefs that an armistice was ready to be signed, and to keep patrols to the minimum level necessary for the line's security. The brigade's last action took place over the next three days, when it used artillery, mortar, machine-gun and rifle fire to repulse a heavy assault by Chinese troops, inflicting as many as 3,000 casualties. Wilton later recalled the "terrible and gruesome sight" of no-man's land "literally carpeted with dead bodies". He was present for the armistice ceremony at Panmunjom on 27 July. Having succeeded in maintaining his command's discipline and morale during a potentially problematic time at the end of the conflict and the beginning of peace, he handed over the 28th to Brigadier Ian Murdoch on 19 February 1954. For his service in Korea, Wilton was raised to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours on 10 June 1954. He was also awarded the US Legion of Merit for his "outstanding leadership and initiative"; the decoration was gazetted on 1 May 1956. After returning to Australia, Wilton was appointed Brigadier in Charge of Administration at Headquarters Eastern Command, his first administrative post. In November 1955 he was assigned to the General Staff at AHQ, where he was responsible for intelligence, operations and plans, and took part in Australian preparations for SEATO exercises. He was promoted to major general on 24 March 1957, and became Commandant of the Royal Military College, Duntroon. Although not strongly religious, Wilton considered himself responsible for the spiritual and moral development of younger cadets; he made a point of attending church parade regularly, and in 1959 personally launched an appeal for public funds to build the college's Anzac Memorial Chapel, which would open in 1966. His chief goal, though, was academic: concerned that graduates were at risk of falling behind their increasingly tertiary-qualified peers in industry and public service, he worked assiduously to make the college a degree-granting institution; this was realised in 1967. From June 1960 through 1962, Wilton was Chief of the Military Planning Office at SEATO Headquarters, Bangkok. He believed Thailand to be strategically vital, declaring "if you want to hold Southeast Asia, you need to hold Thailand". His position allowed him to closely observe the deteriorating situation in Laos, which threatened to spill over into Thailand, and the Western Powers' growing focus on South Vietnam. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1962 Queen's Birthday Honours, in particular for his "conspicuous devotion to duty and his singleness of purpose" as Commandant of Duntroon. On 21 January 1963, Wilton was promoted lieutenant general and became Chief of the General Staff (CGS), succeeding Lieutenant General Sir Reginald Pollard. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the 1964 New Year Honours. ### Chief of the General Staff Following the lead of the US Army, in 1960 the Australian Army had replaced its former "triangular" divisional structure of three infantry battalions under a brigade headquarters, with a "pentropic" organisation consisting of five larger battalions without a brigade layer between division and battalion headquarters. This had the effect of reducing the total number of Australian battalions, while increasing their individual strength. Wilton was unhappy with the pentropic structure, reasoning that the number of battalions, rather than their relative strength, was the overriding factor when considering potential overseas deployments. The US had in any event abandoned the system in June 1961. In October 1964, Wilton commissioned a review that ultimately recommended a return to the triangular formation. In the meantime, as a response to the Indonesia–Malaysia Konfrontasi, the Australian government reintroduced conscription, which Wilton fought until convinced that the government was not going to improve pay and conditions sufficiently to attract by any other means the recruits needed to meet overseas commitments. Wilton was keen to mitigate any prejudices the national servicemen might have against the regular soldiery, and vice versa; when he found a memo from an Army committee asserting that "it must be recognised that the NS man was likely to be a reluctant soldier", he wrote on it "This assumption not justified". In February–March 1965, following a request from the Malaysian government, Australia despatched 1 Squadron, Special Air Service Regiment, and 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, to Borneo—a commitment Wilton felt able to recommend as a result of the recent decisions to increase the Army's personnel and battalion numbers. By mid-1964, Australia had already sent a small team of military advisors, as well as a flight of newly acquired DHC-4 Caribou transports, to aid the South Vietnamese government in its fight against the Viet Cong. The 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, was deployed in May 1965. It was attached to a US Army brigade, and Wilton was responsible for setting its operational parameters. In August, he recommended to his opposite number in the RAAF, Air Marshal Alister Murdoch, the despatch of two UH-1 Iroquois helicopters to Vietnam. Wilton believed that both services would benefit from gaining familiarisation with air/ground operations in the region before any large-scale commitment of Australian forces. He was exasperated when Murdoch rejected the idea on resourcing grounds, despite the fact that two-thirds of the RAAF's UH-1 complement had been purchased for the express purpose of army cooperation. According to the official history of the post-war Air Force, when the Federal government deployed No. 9 Squadron and its UH-1s to Vietnam less than a year later, the unit was under-prepared for combat operations. Wilton supported the RAAF's request that the deputy commander of Australian Forces Vietnam be an air officer, despite the misgivings of some senior Army personnel and the fact that an appointment of this level was not commensurate with the services' relative commitments to the conflict. In what the official history of Australia in the Vietnam War described as a "pragmatic and far-sighted approach", Wilton expressed his hope that such an arrangement would give the Air Force a closer understanding of land/air cooperation, and avoid "increasing differences of views about strategic and tactical concepts with the Australian Armed Forces". Following the Federal government's decision in March 1966 to despatch a task force of two battalions to Vietnam, Wilton negotiated with US and South Vietnamese commanders a self-contained area of operations for the Australians, in Phuoc Tuy Province, where they could function with a reasonable degree of independence. He also approved Nui Dat, in the centre of the province forward of the major population areas, as the task force's main base, despite its distance from support units in Vung Tau and the extra effort required to defend it. Wilton rejected a mobile role for the Australians that would have placed them under the control of a US division because, he believed, "their operations became a bit of a meat grinder" with "tremendous casualties". On 19 May 1966, he took over from Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Scherger as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (CCOSC), a position foreshadowing that of the modern Chief of the Defence Force. He was succeeded as CGS by Lieutenant General Daly. According to the official history, the timing of the CCOSC handover was "especially significant" as it "coincided with the change in Vietnam from an Army force which was responsible to the Chief of the General Staff to a combined force responsive to the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee. Wilton, therefore, carried through his responsibilities concerning the Vietnam commitment to his new appointment." ### Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee #### Vietnam Wilton accepted the domino theory and never wavered in his commitment to Vietnam, but as early as mid-1967 he doubted that the war could be won unless the US was prepared to go all out and invade the North. Cautious about expanding Australia's involvement, he advocated deploying a Centurion tank squadron rather than a third infantry battalion when calls came to increase the strength of the task force in Vietnam, but in the end the Federal government announced both commitments in October 1967. Wilton also advised the government to reject any requests from the US command in Vietnam to rotate the Australian task force out of Phuoc Tuy and display its capabilities in a wider operational arena, reasoning that it was more important for the troops to remain in the countryside they knew and continue to build relations with the local people. He nevertheless strongly backed the Australian task force commander, Brigadier Ronald Hughes, when the latter was criticised at home for conducting "American style operations" outside the immediate vicinity of Phuoc Tuy, such as the set-piece battles of Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral in mid-1968. Conflict continued to simmer between the Army and the RAAF regarding air support, and Wilton oversaw discussions between Daly and Murdoch that secured a separate Army air organisation, leading to the formation of the Australian Army Aviation Corps in July 1968. On 22 August, the Federal government announced that Wilton would be promoted to general, effective 1 September, in recognition of his "outstanding contribution to the Commonwealth in his present appointment". He was the first Australian officer to attain the rank since Blamey, twenty-seven years before. US troop reductions in 1969 under President Richard Nixon's Vietnamization policy led to increasing demands for similar withdrawals of Australian troops. Wilton, Daly and other senior officers argued that the "balanced" nature of the Australian task force would be damaged by a piecemeal withdrawal and that the only valid form of reduction would be "one out, all out"; the government chose a phased withdrawal, pulling out one battalion in October 1970 and the other two in October and December 1971. The divisive nature of the war caused conflict within Wilton's own family; all his children actively opposed it, and in September 1969 his son Robert publicly burnt his draft deferment notice outside Parliament House, Canberra, having earlier called upon students at the Australian National University not to register for national service. The Canberra Times ran an article on the Parliament House incident, complete with a photograph of Robert burning his notice. As Australia's senior soldier, Wilton refused to comment on the situation; Robert reported that he and his father respected one another's viewpoints, and relations within the family remained amicable. One of the most controversial aspects of Australia's conduct of the Vietnam War had been the employment of a barrier minefield around Phuoc Tuy from 1967 to 1969. Wilton maintained that the minefield was already under construction when he first learned of it, and that he considered the decision within the purview of the commander on the ground, Brigadier Stuart Graham. When confronted with the increasing casualties among Australian troops from mines evidently lifted from the area by the Viet Cong, he pointed out that the South Vietnamese, who had been expected to patrol the minefield, were not playing their part. Wilton further believed that the barrier minefield was an innovative solution to the problems facing the task force and that the commander's decision to implement it was "better than sitting on his backside and not trying anything". He rejected suggestions by critics that the minefield was "the biggest blunder" Australia made in Vietnam, declaring that this was "like being wise after the event". #### Joint defence aspirations Wilton's position as CCOSC had no statutory authority over the heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force, nor a direct line of command to Australian Forces Vietnam. David Horner noted that in an emergency, Wilton "had to issue directives and then seek retrospective endorsement of them by either the minister or the Chiefs of Staff Committee." According to historian Eric Andrews, Wilton "chaffed over his lack of command over the services and the need for organisational reform". While CGS, he had joined Scherger in calling for a single Australian Defence Force organisation with one Minister of Defence, in contrast to the existing arrangement where each service operated with virtual autonomy, supported by its own minister and department. In July 1967, he became a member of the Tertiary Education (Services' Cadet Colleges) Committee to plan a tri-service military academy, which was eventually opened as the Australian Defence Force Academy in 1986. He was also able to push through a plan to establish, in 1970, the Joint Intelligence Organisation to replace the former Joint Intelligence Bureau and three single-service intelligence groups. In 1967, and again in 1970, Wilton recommended the creation of a single Defence Board of Administration, consisting of the Defence Minister, the Defence Secretary, CCOSC, and the three service chiefs, to take over the functions of the Air, Military, and Naval Boards, along with those of their separate ministers. Though nothing came of this at the time, Wilton was consulted by the Labor Party before it began reorganising the Defence Department soon after defeating the Liberals in the December 1972 Federal election. The following year, the single-service ministries were abolished in favour of an all-encompassing Department of Defence; by 1984, the CCOSC position had evolved to become the Chief of the Defence Force, directly commanding all three armed services through their respective chiefs. ## Later life Wilton was succeeded as CCOSC by Admiral Sir Victor Smith on 23 November 1970, and retired from the military. He subsequently worked on the Kerr Committee that reviewed pay and conditions in the armed forces, visiting several overseas bases including Nui Dat and Vung Tau. Wilton finished his career as a diplomat, serving as Australia's Consul-General in New York from September 1973 to November 1975. In 1979 he became one of the first sponsors of the Aboriginal Treaty Committee, which advocated for a treaty between the Federal government and Aboriginal representatives. He died of prostate cancer at his home in Canberra on 10 May 1981, aged seventy. Survived by his wife and children, Wilton was accorded a military funeral at Duntroon, in the Anzac Memorial Chapel he helped found, and cremated at Norwood Park Crematorium, Canberra. ## Legacy Reflecting on Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, Wilton considered that it was justified, and that the West's intervention helped delay the takeover of South Vietnam, and the spread of communism to Laos and Cambodia, by almost a decade. "Whether that was worthwhile", he added, "is a matter for the historian to judge". The key lesson, he felt, was not to intervene in a conflict "unless you are prepared to win", because it was "not something that you can just put one foot in and feel the temperature". Biographer David Horner described Wilton as "arguably the most important and influential Australian Army officer in the second half of the twentieth century". Horner credited him with making significant contributions to the evolution of the Australian Defence Force through the pursuit of joint command and control. He further noted that whereas Wilton's predecessor as CCOSC, Scherger, had been promoted to 4-star rank after four years in the role, and Wilton himself after two-and-a-half, Wilton's successors gained their 4-star rank upon taking up the position, indicating its growing importance. From an early age Wilton was considered cerebral and introspective; his colleagues in adulthood found him to have an incisive mind, high standards, and little inclination or capacity for small talk. His serious demeanour earned him the ironic nicknames "Happy Jack", "Smiling John" and "Sir Jovial", though he was capable of thoughtful gestures and flashes of humour. Major General Paul Cullen, the Citizen Military Forces member of the Military Board from 1964 to 1966, described Wilton as "very stiff, very regular, very formal—but a pleasant man". Korean War historian Robert O'Neill contended that "One of the most remarkable aspects of his career was that he rose so far through a highly competitive profession without ever playing to the gallery."
638,764	Hooded pitohui	1,162,532,245	Species of bird from New Guinea	[ "Birds described in 1850", "Birds of New Guinea", "Pitohui (genus)", "Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte", "Toxic birds" ]	The hooded pitohui (Pitohui dichrous) is a species of bird in the genus Pitohui found in New Guinea. It was long thought to be a whistler (Pachycephalidae) but is now known to be in the Old World oriole family (Oriolidae). Within the oriole family, this species is most closely related to the variable pitohuis in the genus Pitohui, and then the figbirds. A medium-sized songbird with reddish-brown and black plumage, this species is one of the few known poisonous birds, containing a range of batrachotoxin compounds in its skin, feathers and other tissues. These toxins are thought to be derived from their diet and may function both to deter predators and to protect the bird from parasites. The close resemblance of this species to other unrelated birds also known as pitohuis which are also poisonous is an example of convergent evolution and Müllerian mimicry. Their appearance is also mimicked by unrelated non-poisonous species, a phenomenon known as Batesian mimicry. The toxic nature of this bird is well known to local hunters, who avoid it. It is one of the most poisonous species of pitohui, but the toxicity of individual birds can vary geographically. The hooded pitohui is found in forests from sea level up to 2,000 m (6,600 ft) but is most common in hills and low mountains. A social bird, it lives in family groups and frequently joins and even leads mixed-species foraging flocks. Its diet is made up of fruits, seeds and invertebrates. This species is apparently a cooperative breeder, with family groups helping to protect the nest and feed the young. The hooded pitohui is common and is currently not at risk of extinction, with its numbers being stable. ## Taxonomy and systematics The hooded pitohui (Pitohui dichrous) was described by the French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1850. Bonaparte placed it in the genus Rectes which had been erected in the same year by Ludwig Reichenbach as an alternative name for the genus Pitohui, which had been described by René Lesson in 1831. No explanation was given for the preference of the newer name over the established older one, but it was common to prefer Latin names over non-Latin names, and to provide Latin names to those without. Richard Bowdler Sharpe encapsulated that attitude when he wrote in 1903 "Pitohui is doubtless an older name than Rectes, but can surely be laid aside as a barbarous word". Eventually however the principle of priority, which favours the first formal name given to a taxon, was applied, and Rectes was suppressed as the junior synonym of Pitohui. The hooded pitohui was placed in the genus Pitohui with five other species, and the genus was thought to reside within the Australasian whistler family (Pachycephalidae). A 2008 examination of the genus, however, found it to be polyphyletic (meaning that the genus contained unrelated species), with some purported members of the genus not actually falling within the whistlers. The hooded pitohui and the closely related variable pitohui were both found to be related to the Old World orioles (Oriolidae). A 2010 study by the same team confirmed that the hooded pitohui and variable pitohui were orioles and indeed were sister species, and that together with the figbirds they formed a well defined basal clade within the family. As the variable pitohui was the type species for the genus Pitohui, the hooded pitohui was retained in that genus and the four remaining species were moved to other genera. The hooded pitohui is monotypic, lacking any subspecies. Birds in the south east of New Guinea are sometimes separated into a proposed subspecies, P. d. monticola, but the differences are very slight and the supposed subspecies are generally regarded as inseparable. Pitohui, the common name for the group and the genus name, is a Papuan term for rubbish bird, a reference to its inedibility. The specific name dichrous is from the Ancient Greek word dikhrous, meaning . Alternate names for the hooded pitohui include the black-headed pitohui and lesser pitohui. ## Physiology and description The hooded pitohui is 22 to 23 cm (8.7–9.1 in) long and weighs 65–76 g (2.3–2.7 oz). The adult has a black , head, chin, throat and upper breast and a black tail. The rest of the plumage is a reddish brown. The bill and legs are black, and the irises are either reddish brown, dark brown or black. Both sexes look alike. Juvenile birds look like adults, except that the of the tail and of the wing are tinged with brown. ### Toxicity In 1990 scientists preparing the skins of the hooded pitohui for museum collections experienced numbness and burning when handling them. It was reported in 1992 that this species and some other pitohuis contained a neurotoxin called homobatrachotoxin, a derivative of batrachotoxin, in their tissues. This made them the first documented poisonous birds, other than some reports of coturnism caused by consuming quail (although toxicity in quails is unusual), and the first bird discovered with toxins in the skin. The same toxin had previously been found only in Central and South American poison dart frogs from the genera Dendrobates, Oophaga and Phyllobates (family Dendrobatidae). The batrachotoxin family of compounds are the most toxic compounds by weight in nature, being 250 times more toxic than strychnine. Later research found that the hooded pitohui had other batrachotoxins in its skin, including batrachotoxinin-A cis-crotonate, batrachotoxinin-A and batrachotoxinin-A 3′-hydroxypentanoate. These frogs also eat ants that naturally contain formic acid, which they can then metabolise and sequester in their tissues. Bioassays of their tissue found that the skins and feathers were the most toxic, the heart and liver less toxic, and the skeletal muscles the least toxic parts of the birds. Of the feathers the toxin is most prevalent in those covering the breast and belly. Microscopy has shown that the toxins are sequestered in the skin in organelles analogous to lamellar bodies and are secreted into the feathers. The presence of the toxins in muscle, heart and liver shows that hooded pitohuis have a form of insensitivity to batrachotoxins. A 65 g (2.3 oz) bird has been estimated to have up to 20 μg of toxins in its skin and up to 3 μg in its feathers. This can vary dramatically geographically and by individual, and some have been collected with no detectable toxins. The poisonous pitohuis, including the hooded pitohui, are not thought to create the toxic compound themselves but instead sequester them from their diet. Phyllobates frogs kept in captivity do not develop the toxins, and the extent of the toxicity varies both in the pitohuis across their range and also across the range of the unrelated blue-capped ifrit, another New Guinean bird found with toxic skin and feathers. Both of these facts suggest that the toxins are obtained from the diet. The presence of the toxins in the internal organs as well as the skins and feathers rules out the possibility that the toxins are applied topically from an unknown source by the birds. One possible source has been identified in the forests of New Guinea: beetles of the genus Choresine (family Melyridae), which contain the toxin and have been found in the stomachs of hooded pitohui. An alternative explanation, that the birds and beetles both get the toxin from a third source, is considered unlikely as the blue-capped ifrit is almost exclusively insectivorous. ## Ecology The function of the toxins to the hooded pitohui has been the source of debate and research since its discovery. The initial suggestion was that the toxins acted as a chemical deterrent to predators. Some researchers cautioned this suggestion was premature, and others noted that the levels of batrachotoxins were three orders of magnitude lower than in the poison dart frogs that do use it in this way. Another explanation for the purpose of the toxins is to mitigate the effects of parasites. In experimental conditions chewing lice were shown to avoid toxic feathers of hooded pitohui in favour of feathers with lower concentrations of toxin or no toxins at all. Additionally lice that did live in the toxic feathers did not live as long as control lice, suggesting that the toxins could lessen both the incidence of infestation and the severity. A comparative study of the tick loads of wild birds in New Guinea would seem to support the idea, as hooded pitohuis had considerably fewer ticks than almost all the 30 genera examined. The batrachotoxins do not seem to have an effect on internal parasites such as Haemoproteus or the malaria-causing Plasmodium. A number of authors have noted that the two explanations, as a chemical defence against predators and as a chemical defence against ectoparasites, are not mutually exclusive, and evidence for both explanations exists. The fact that the highest concentrations of toxins are bound in the feathers of the breast and belly, in both pitohuis and ifrits, has caused scientists to suggest that the toxins rub off on eggs and nestlings providing protection against predators and nest parasites. One argument in favour of the toxin acting as a defence against predators is the apparent Müllerian mimicry in some of the various unrelated pitohui species, which all have similar plumage. The species known as pitohuis were long thought congeneric, due to their similarities in plumage, but are now spread through three families, the oriole, whistlers and Australo-Papuan bellbirds. The similarity in appearance therefore presumably evolved as a shared aposematic signal to common predators of their distasteful nature. This signal is reinforced by the species' strong sour odor. There is also evidence that some other birds in New Guinea have evolved Batesian mimicry, where a non-toxic species adopts the appearance of a toxic species. An example of this is the non-toxic juvenile greater melampitta, which has plumage similar to the hooded pitohui. There have also been experiments to test pitohui batrachotoxins on potential predators. They have been shown to irritate the buccal membranes of brown tree snakes and green tree pythons, both of which are avian predators in New Guinea. The unpalatability of the species is also known to local hunters, who otherwise hunt songbirds of the same size. The existence of resistance to batrachotoxins and the use of those toxins as chemical defences by several bird families have led to competing theories as to its evolutionary history. Jønsson (2008) suggested that it was an ancestral adaptation in Corvoidea songbirds, and that further studies would reveal more toxic birds. Dumbacher (2008) argued instead that it was an example of convergent evolution. ## Distribution and habitat The hooded pitohui is endemic to the islands of New Guinea. It is found widely across the main island, and also on the nearby island of Yapen. It inhabits rainforest, forest edge habitats and secondary growth, and sometimes mangrove forests. It is most commonly found in hills and low mountains, between 350–1,700 m (1,150–5,580 ft), but is found locally down to sea-level and up to 2,000 m (6,600 ft). It typically occurs at higher elevations than the lowland variable pitohui and lower than the (unrelated) black pitohui, although there is some overlap. ## Behaviour ### Calls The hooded pitohui makes a variety of calls, mostly forms of whistles. Its song is a variable collection of three to seven whistles, which can slur up or down with hesitant pauses in between. Usually the song begins with two similar notes followed by an upslur. It also makes an "tuk tuk w’oh tuw’uow" call, two whistled "woiy, woiy" notes, two downslurred whistled "tiuw tow" notes, and three whistles "hui-whui-whooee", which increase in volume. ### Diet and feeding The diet of the hooded pitohui is dominated by fruit, particularly figs of the genus Ficus, grass seeds, some insects and other invertebrates, and possibly small vertebrates. Among the invertebrates found in their diet are beetles, spiders, earwigs, bugs (Hemiptera, including the families Membracidae and Lygaeidae), flies (Diptera), caterpillars and ants. They feed at all levels of the forest, from the forest floor to the canopy, and are reported to do so in small groups, presumably of related birds. The species also regularly joins mixed-species foraging flocks, and on Yapen and between 1,100–1,300 m (3,600–4,300 ft) above sea-level it will often act as the flock leader. This leadership role, and indeed their participation in mixed flocks, is not true across all of their range however. ### Breeding Little is known about the breeding biology of the hooded pitohui and its relatives due to the difficulties of studying the species high in the canopy of New Guinea. Nests with eggs of the hooded pitohui have been found from October through to February. The nest that has been described was 2 m (7 ft) off the ground. The nest is a cup of vine tendrils, lined with finer vines and suspended on thin branches. The clutch is one to two eggs, 27 mm–32.8 mm × 20.5 mm–22.2 mm (1.06 in–1.29 in × 0.81 in–0.87 in), which are creamy or pinkish with brown to black spots and blotches and faint grey patches; in one egg all the markings with at the larger end. The incubation period is not known, but the species is thought to be a cooperative breeder, as more than two birds in a group have been observed defending the nest from intruders and feeding the young. Young birds, which are covered in white down as nestlings before developing their adult plumage, have been observed being fed acorn-shaped red berries and insects. Young birds will make a threat display when approached in the nest, rising up and erecting their head feathers. As chicks develop directly into adult plumage, it has been suggested that this display may be signalling its identity as a toxic species, even though young birds have not developed toxicity at that age. ## Relationship with humans The toxic and unpalatable nature of the hooded pitohui has long been known to local people in New Guinea, and this knowledge has been recorded by Western scientists as far back as 1895. In spite of this, and reports of toxicity in birds going back to classic antiquity, before the discovery that the hooded pitohui was toxic, toxicity was not a trait that scientists attributed to birds. The discovery of toxicity in birds, triggered by this species, sparked interest in the subject and a re-examination of older accounts of unpalatability and toxicity in birds, although the field is still understudied. ### Status and conservation Common and widespread throughout New Guinea, the hooded pitohui is evaluated as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In one study of the effects of small subsistence gardens, populations of hooded pitohui were lower in disturbed agricultural habitat in the lowlands, compared to undisturbed forest, but actually increased in disturbed habitat higher in the mountains.
7,875,665	Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca	1,136,165,286	Species of fungus in the family Hygrophoropsidaceae	[ "Fungi described in 1781", "Fungi of Asia", "Fungi of Australia", "Fungi of Central America", "Fungi of Europe", "Fungi of New Zealand", "Fungi of North America", "Fungi of South America", "Hygrophoropsidaceae", "Taxa named by Franz Xaver von Wulfen" ]	Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca, commonly known as the false chanterelle, is a species of fungus in the family Hygrophoropsidaceae. It is found across several continents, growing in woodland and heathland, and sometimes on woodchips used in gardening and landscaping. Fruit bodies (mushrooms) are yellow–orange, with a funnel-shaped cap up to 8 cm (3+1⁄8 in) across that has a felt-like surface. The thin, often forked gills on the underside of the cap run partway down the length of the otherwise smooth stipe. Reports on the mushroom's edibility vary – it is considered poisonous, but has historically been eaten internationally. Austrian naturalist Franz Xaver von Wulfen described the false chanterelle in 1781, noting both its resemblance with the true chanterelles and people's propensity to confuse them. The false chanterelle was then placed in the genus Clitocybe, but it was later observed that its forked gills and dextrinoid spores indicated a relationship to Paxillus. Genetic analysis has confirmed that it belongs to the order Boletales and is more closely related to boletes. ## Taxonomy Austrian naturalist Franz Xaver von Wulfen described the false chanterelle as Agaricus aurantiacus in 1781, reporting that it appeared in the fir tree forests around Klagenfurt in October. He added that it could be confused with the chanterelle by the inexperienced, but that its true nature was very different; in contrast to its edible lookalike, he described it as "kind of pernicious". The specific epithet is the Latin word aurantiacus, meaning "orange". James Sowerby illustrated it and gave it the name Agaricus subcantharellus, describing it as a "perhaps unfavourable" variety of A. cantharellus (chanterelle). The fungus was placed in the genus Merulius by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1792, and then Cantharellus by Elias Fries in 1821. Bernhard Studer-Steinhäuslin concluded it could only be classified in the genus Clitocybe in 1900, based on its white spores, decurrent gills and lack of a ring. It was elevated to the status of genus in Emile Martin-Sans' 1929 publication L'Empoisonnement par les champignons et particulièrement les intoxications dues aux Agaricacées du groupe des Clitocybe et du groupe des Cortinarius, with authorship attributed to René Maire. Martin-Sans concurred with Maire's assessment of Hygrophoropsis, suggesting that it represented a form intermediate between Cantharellus and Clitocybe, and was thus worthy of generic ranking. The genus name refers to a resemblance to the genus Hygrophorus. It is commonly known as the false chanterelle. Two varieties described by Derek Reid in 1972, H. aurantiaca var. macrospora and H. aurantiaca var. rufa, have since been promoted to distinct species status as H. macrospora (1996) and H. rufa (2008). Two other varieties of the fungus have been described, but they are not considered to have independent taxonomic significance by Index Fungorum: var. nana (Singer 1946), characterized by a small fruit body; and var. robusta (Antonín 2000), characterized by a robust fruit body and an odour similar to Maggi seasoning sauce. Pale forms of the fungus are sometimes referred to as var. pallida. This taxon was first published by Robert Kühner and Henri Romagnesi in 1953, but later considered invalid as it did not conform to nomenclatural rules. Variety nigripes, a taxon with a black-brown stipe, is invalid for similar reasons. H. aurantiaca var. pallida was published validly in 1995. In 1979, Egon Horak suggested that H. aurantiaca and the New Zealand taxon H. coacta were the same species, but neither Index Fungorum nor MycoBank accept this synonymy. According to MycoBank, H. aurantiaca has several heterotypic synonyms, i.e. different types but considered the same species: - Agaricus alectorolophoides Schaeff. (1774) - Agaricus subcantharellus Sowerby (1809) - Cantharellus brachypodus Chevall. (1826) - Cantharellus ravenelii Berk. & M.A.Curtis (1853) - Merulius brachypodes (Chevall.) Kuntze (1891) Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca has been confused with the true chanterelles (genus Cantharellus) because of overall similarities in appearance. However, the forked gills, frequently off-centre stipe placement, and dextrinoid spores of H. aurantiaca suggested a relationship with Paxillus, prompting Rolf Singer to classify the genus Hygrophoropsis in the family Paxillaceae in 1946. Several pigments have been identified from the fungus, including the orange variegatic acid, methyl variegate, the red variegatorubin, and several derivatives of pulvinic acid. The presence of these pigments suggests a chemotaxic relationship with the Boletaceae, Coniophoraceae, and Paxillaceae – families of Boletales with members that have similar compounds. Molecular phylogenetic analysis confirmed its affinity lay in the order Boletales in 1997, though later research showed it is not closely related to Paxillus or other gilled members of the order. ## Description The false chanterelle has a golden-orange cap ranging from 2–10 cm (3⁄4–3+7⁄8 in) in diameter, initially convex but becoming funnel-shaped as the mushroom matures. The cap margin, which remains rolled in a little, becomes wavy or lobed in age. The cap surface is covered with a fine down. The decurrent gill-like structures are narrow and forked, which is a distinctive and distinguishing feature. They are generally a more intense shade of orange than the cap. Along the stipe, the gills may be slightly crimped. The orange stipe is 2–8 cm (3⁄4–3+1⁄8 in) high and 0.5–1 cm (1⁄4–3⁄8 in) thick, and lacks a ring. It often has a darker, brownish, base. The ability to form sclerotia (compact masses of hardened fungal mycelium) has been documented for H. aurantiaca in laboratory studies. These structures contain glycogen and protein that may be used as food reserves during spore germination. The soft, thin flesh ranges from white to yellowish to golden-orange. It has an odour and taste described variously as indistinct, or unpleasant and earthy. The spore print is white to cream. The oval spores are 5.5–7 by 4–4.5 micrometres (μm), with walls that tend to thicken in age. The spores are cyanophilous, meaning they will readily stain dark blue in methyl blue solution. Staining with Melzer's reagent often produces a dextrinoid (reddish-brown) colour reaction. Basidia (spore-bearing cells) measure 25–40 by 5–8 μm, and can be two-, three-, or four-spored. Cystidia (large sterile cells on the hymenium) are absent. The cap cuticle is in the form of a trichoderm, where the outermost hyphae are roughly parallel, like hairs, perpendicular to the cap surface. These hyphae are 4–15 μm in diameter, and contain intracellular pigments that impart an orange-brown to yellow-brown colouring to the cells. Clamp connections are present in the hyphae. Teratological (developmentally abnormal) forms of H. aurantiaca have been reported to occur in the United Kingdom. The fruit bodies of these specimens were club-shaped with a wrinkled upper surface of convoluted gill tissue. The overall morphology of these forms somewhat resembles species of Clavariadelphus. Although the cause of this abnormal development is not known with certainty, environmental pollutants or virus infection have been suggested as contributing factors. ### Similar species Characteristics typically used in the field to distinguish Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca from lookalike species include: the soft, dry consistency of its cap; the crowded, decurrent, and forked gills that are saffron to orange coloured; and the lack of any distinctive taste or odour. The false chanterelle can be distinguished from the true chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius) by its deeper orange colour, brown base to the stipe, velvety cap surface, forked gills rather than gill-like ridges, softer (and thinner) flesh, and lack of the characteristic apricot-smell. The cap surface of Hygrophoropsis fuscosquamula, found in Britain, has fine brown scales overlaying a dull orange background. H. rufa has velvety brown fur covering its cap, while H. macrospora has cream gills and stipe. Microscopically, these three species have larger spores than H. aurantiaca. H. tapinia, found in a range extending from southern Florida to Central America, is set apart from H. aurantiaca by its growth on or under deciduous trees (never conifers), and smaller spores, which measure 3.3–4.8 by 2.5–3.3 μm. Formerly a member of Hygrophoropsis, Aphroditeola olida is also similar in appearance to H. aurantiaca but can be distinguished from the false chanterelle by its smaller, pinkish fruit bodies and candy-like odour. It also has smaller spores. Chrysomphalina chrysophylla has a yellowish brown cap and unforked yellow gills. Cortinarius hesleri, an eastern North American species that associates with oaks, has a rusty brown spore print and a cortina in young specimens. The poisonous jack-o'-lantern mushrooms (genus Omphalotus) comprise another group of lookalikes; however, they have straight, non-forked true gills. The European wood-rotting species Haasiella splendidissima, sometimes confused with H. aurantiaca, is most readily distinguished from the latter by its pink spore print and gills that do not fork. ## Distribution, habitat, and ecology Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca is a widely distributed species. In Europe and North America, it is found in both hardwood and conifer forests, as well as heathland, in summer and autumn. In Mexico, it is common in coniferous forests. It fruits from the ground or from decaying wood, on burned areas in forests, and is often found near fallen trees and tree stumps. The fungus can also grow on woodchips used in gardening and landscaping, and so it also appears on roadsides and other locations where this material is used. Fruit bodies occur singly to scattered, or in clusters, and can be very abundant. Generally considered a dry weather mushroom, it can be plentiful when other mushrooms are scarce. Other locations where the false chanterelle has been recorded include Central and South America, northern Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Populations in California represent a complex of undescribed species that are collectively referred to as Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca sensu lato. A saprophytic fungus, H. aurantiaca obtains nutrients from forest litter and decomposing wood, causing a brown rot on the wood upon which it grows. H. aurantiaca secretes large amounts of oxalic acid, a reducing agent and relatively strong acid. This stimulates weathering of the humus layer of forest soil, and influences the solubility and turnover of nutrients (particularly phosphorus and nitrogen), which in turn affects their availability for use by forest trees. ## Edibility The false chanterelle is considered poisonous, and may cause serious digestive problems. Amongst other toxins, it contains high levels of the sugar alcohol arabitol. The mushroom was sometimes described as edible (though not tasty) until 1999. Fries described it as venenatus, meaning "poisonous", in 1821. Considering the species edible, David Arora speculated that it may have been confused with similar-looking but definitely poisonous species of Omphalotus. It is reported edible in Russia, among the edible mushrooms from Michael Vishnevsky (Nastolnaya kniga nachinayushego gribnika 2018) and in Grib Russya 2017 - S. Y. Afonhkin and L. Korsakova. It was eaten, though not especially highly regarded, by the Zapotec people of Ixtlán de Juárez in Oaxaca. The Tepehuán people of northwestern Mexico also occasionally eat the mushroom, which they refer to in their native language as guin'xacan ("delightful") or kia's gio' ("iguana lard"); there, it is commonly prepared by roasting over charcoal, or boiling and garnishing with cheese.
979,232	Rings of Uranus	1,170,110,719	Planetary ring system of Uranus	[ "Astronomical objects discovered in 1977", "Discoveries by James L. Elliot", "Planetary rings", "Uranus" ]	The rings of Uranus are intermediate in complexity between the more extensive set around Saturn and the simpler systems around Jupiter and Neptune. The rings of Uranus were discovered on March 10, 1977, by James L. Elliot, Edward W. Dunham, and Jessica Mink. William Herschel had also reported observing rings in 1789; modern astronomers are divided on whether he could have seen them, as they are very dark and faint. By 1977, nine distinct rings were identified. Two additional rings were discovered in 1986 in images taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, and two outer rings were found in 2003–2005 in Hubble Space Telescope photos. In the order of increasing distance from the planet the 13 known rings are designated 1986U2R/ζ, 6, 5, 4, α, β, η, γ, δ, λ, ε, ν and μ. Their radii range from about 38,000 km for the 1986U2R/ζ ring to about 98,000 km for the μ ring. Additional faint dust bands and incomplete arcs may exist between the main rings. The rings are extremely dark—the Bond albedo of the rings' particles does not exceed 2%. They are probably composed of water ice with the addition of some dark radiation-processed organics. The majority of Uranus's rings are opaque and only a few kilometres wide. The ring system contains little dust overall; it consists mostly of large bodies 20 cm to 20 m in diameter. Some rings are optically thin: the broad and faint 1986U2R/ζ, μ and ν rings are made of small dust particles, while the narrow and faint λ ring also contains larger bodies. The relative lack of dust in the ring system may be due to aerodynamic drag from the extended Uranian exosphere. The rings of Uranus are thought to be relatively young, and not more than 600 million years old. The Uranian ring system probably originated from the collisional fragmentation of several moons that once existed around the planet. After colliding, the moons probably broke up into many particles, which survived as narrow and optically dense rings only in strictly confined zones of maximum stability. The mechanism that confines the narrow rings is not well understood. Initially it was assumed that every narrow ring had a pair of nearby shepherd moons corralling it into shape. In 1986 Voyager 2 discovered only one such shepherd pair (Cordelia and Ophelia) around the brightest ring (ε), though the faint ν would later be discovered shepherded between Portia and Rosalind. ## Discovery The first mention of a Uranian ring system comes from William Herschel's notes detailing his observations of Uranus in the 18th century, which include the following passage: "February 22, 1789: A ring was suspected". Herschel drew a small diagram of the ring and noted that it was "a little inclined to the red". The Keck Telescope in Hawaii has since confirmed this to be the case, at least for the ν (nu) ring. Herschel's notes were published in a Royal Society journal in 1797. In the two centuries between 1797 and 1977 the rings are rarely mentioned, if at all. This casts serious doubt on whether Herschel could have seen anything of the sort while hundreds of other astronomers saw nothing. It has been claimed that Herschel gave accurate descriptions of the ε ring's size relative to Uranus, its changes as Uranus travelled around the Sun, and its color. The definitive discovery of the Uranian rings was made by astronomers James L. Elliot, Edward W. Dunham, and Jessica Mink on March 10, 1977, using the Kuiper Airborne Observatory, and was serendipitous. They planned to use the occultation of the star SAO 158687 by Uranus to study the planet's atmosphere. When their observations were analysed, they found that the star disappeared briefly from view five times both before and after it was eclipsed by the planet. They deduced that a system of narrow rings was present. The five occultation events they observed were denoted by the Greek letters α, β, γ, δ and ε in their papers. These designations have been used as the rings' names since then. Later they found four additional rings: one between the β and γ rings and three inside the α ring. The former was named the η ring. The latter were dubbed rings 4, 5 and 6—according to the numbering of the occultation events in one paper. Uranus's ring system was the second to be discovered in the Solar System, after that of Saturn. The rings were directly imaged when the Voyager 2 spacecraft flew through the Uranian system in 1986. Two more faint rings were revealed, bringing the total to eleven. The Hubble Space Telescope detected an additional pair of previously unseen rings in 2003–2005, bringing the total number known to 13. The discovery of these outer rings doubled the known radius of the ring system. Hubble also imaged two small satellites for the first time, one of which, Mab, shares its orbit with the outermost newly discovered μ ring. ## General properties As currently understood, the ring system of Uranus comprises thirteen distinct rings. In order of increasing distance from the planet they are: 1986U2R/ζ, 6, 5, 4, α, β, η, γ, δ, λ, ε, ν, μ rings. They can be divided into three groups: nine narrow main rings (6, 5, 4, α, β, η, γ, δ, ε), two dusty rings (1986U2R/ζ, λ) and two outer rings (ν, μ). The rings of Uranus consist mainly of macroscopic particles and little dust, although dust is known to be present in 1986U2R/ζ, η, δ, λ, ν and μ rings. In addition to these well-known rings, there may be numerous optically thin dust bands and faint rings between them. These faint rings and dust bands may exist only temporarily or consist of a number of separate arcs, which are sometimes detected during occultations. Some of them became visible during a series of ring plane-crossing events in 2007. A number of dust bands between the rings were observed in forward-scattering geometry by Voyager 2. All rings of Uranus show azimuthal brightness variations. The rings are made of an extremely dark material. The geometric albedo of the ring particles does not exceed 5–6%, while the Bond albedo is even lower—about 2%. The rings particles demonstrate a steep opposition surge—an increase of the albedo when the phase angle is close to zero. This means that their albedo is much lower when they are observed slightly off the opposition. The rings are slightly red in the ultraviolet and visible parts of the spectrum and grey in near-infrared. They exhibit no identifiable spectral features. The chemical composition of the ring particles is not known. They cannot be made of pure water ice like the rings of Saturn because they are too dark, darker than the inner moons of Uranus. This indicates that they are probably composed of a mixture of the ice and a dark material. The nature of this material is not clear, but it may be organic compounds considerably darkened by the charged particle irradiation from the Uranian magnetosphere. The rings' particles may consist of a heavily processed material which was initially similar to that of the inner moons. As a whole, the ring system of Uranus is unlike either the faint dusty rings of Jupiter or the broad and complex rings of Saturn, some of which are composed of very bright material—water ice. There are similarities with some parts of the latter ring system; the Saturnian F ring and the Uranian ε ring are both narrow, relatively dark and are shepherded by a pair of moons. The newly discovered outer ν and μ rings of Uranus are similar to the outer G and E rings of Saturn. Narrow ringlets existing in the broad Saturnian rings also resemble the narrow rings of Uranus. In addition, dust bands observed between the main rings of Uranus may be similar to the rings of Jupiter. In contrast, the Neptunian ring system is quite similar to that of Uranus, although it is less complex, darker and contains more dust; the Neptunian rings are also positioned further from the planet. ## Narrow main rings ### ε (epsilon) ring The ε ring is the brightest and densest part of the Uranian ring system, and is responsible for about two-thirds of the light reflected by the rings. While it is the most eccentric of the Uranian rings, it has negligible orbital inclination. The ring's eccentricity causes its brightness to vary over the course of its orbit. The radially integrated brightness of the ε ring is highest near apoapsis and lowest near periapsis. The maximum/minimum brightness ratio is about 2.5–3.0. These variations are connected with the variations of the ring width, which is 19.7 km at the periapsis and 96.4 km at the apoapsis. As the ring becomes wider, the amount of shadowing between particles decreases and more of them come into view, leading to higher integrated brightness. The width variations were measured directly from Voyager 2 images, as the ε ring was one of only two rings resolved by Voyager's cameras. Such behavior indicates that the ring is not optically thin. Indeed, occultation observations conducted from the ground and the spacecraft showed that its normal optical depth varies between 0.5 and 2.5, being highest near the periapsis. The equivalent depth of the ε ring is around 47 km and is invariant around the orbit. The geometric thickness of the ε ring is not precisely known, although the ring is certainly very thin—by some estimates as thin as 150 m. Despite such infinitesimal thickness, it consists of several layers of particles. The ε ring is a rather crowded place with a filling factor near the apoapsis estimated by different sources at from 0.008 to 0.06. The mean size of the ring particles is 0.2–20.0 m, and the mean separation is around 4.5 times their radius. The ring is almost devoid of dust, possibly due to the aerodynamic drag from Uranus's extended atmospheric corona. Due to its razor-thin nature the ε ring is invisible when viewed edge-on. This happened in 2007 when a ring plane-crossing was observed. The Voyager 2 spacecraft observed a strange signal from the ε ring during the radio occultation experiment. The signal looked like a strong enhancement of the forward-scattering at the wavelength 3.6 cm near ring's apoapsis. Such strong scattering requires the existence of a coherent structure. That the ε ring does have such a fine structure has been confirmed by many occultation observations. The ε ring seems to consist of a number of narrow and optically dense ringlets, some of which may have incomplete arcs. The ε ring is known to have interior and exterior shepherd moons—Cordelia and Ophelia, respectively. The inner edge of the ring is in 24:25 resonance with Cordelia, and the outer edge is in 14:13 resonance with Ophelia. The masses of the moons need to be at least three times the mass of the ring to confine it effectively. The mass of the ε ring is estimated to be about 10<sup>16</sup> kg. ### δ (delta) ring The δ ring is circular and slightly inclined. It shows significant unexplained azimuthal variations in normal optical depth and width. One possible explanation is that the ring has an azimuthal wave-like structure, excited by a small moonlet just inside it. The sharp outer edge of the δ ring is in 23:22 resonance with Cordelia. The δ ring consists of two components: a narrow optically dense component and a broad inward shoulder with low optical depth. The width of the narrow component is 4.1–6.1 km and the equivalent depth is about 2.2 km, which corresponds to a normal optical depth of about 0.3–0.6. The ring's broad component is about 10–12 km wide and its equivalent depth is close to 0.3 km, indicating a low normal optical depth of 3 × 10<sup>−2</sup>. This is known only from occultation data because Voyager 2's imaging experiment failed to resolve the δ ring. When observed in forward-scattering geometry by Voyager 2, the δ ring appeared relatively bright, which is compatible with the presence of dust in its broad component. The broad component is geometrically thicker than the narrow component. This is supported by the observations of a ring plane-crossing event in 2007, when the δ ring remained visible, which is consistent with the behavior of a simultaneously geometrically thick and optically thin ring. ### γ (gamma) ring The γ ring is narrow, optically dense and slightly eccentric. Its orbital inclination is almost zero. The width of the ring varies in the range 3.6–4.7 km, although equivalent optical depth is constant at 3.3 km. The normal optical depth of the γ ring is 0.7–0.9. During a ring plane-crossing event in 2007 the γ ring disappeared, which means it is geometrically thin like the ε ring and devoid of dust. The width and normal optical depth of the γ ring show significant azimuthal variations. The mechanism of confinement of such a narrow ring is not known, but it has been noticed that the sharp inner edge of the γ ring is in a 6:5 resonance with Ophelia. ### η (eta) ring The η ring has zero orbital eccentricity and inclination. Like the δ ring, it consists of two components: a narrow optically dense component and a broad outward shoulder with low optical depth. The width of the narrow component is 1.9–2.7 km and the equivalent depth is about 0.42 km, which corresponds to the normal optical depth of about 0.16–0.25. The broad component is about 40 km wide and its equivalent depth is close to 0.85 km, indicating a low normal optical depth of 2 × 10<sup>−2</sup>. It was resolved in Voyager 2 images. In forward-scattered light, the η ring looked bright, which indicated the presence of a considerable amount of dust in this ring, probably in the broad component. The broad component is much thicker (geometrically) than the narrow one. This conclusion is supported by the observations of a ring plane-crossing event in 2007, when the η ring demonstrated increased brightness, becoming the second brightest feature in the ring system. This is consistent with the behavior of a geometrically thick but simultaneously optically thin ring. Like the majority of other rings, the η ring shows significant azimuthal variations in the normal optical depth and width. The narrow component even vanishes in some places. ### α (alpha) and β (beta) rings After the ε ring, the α and β rings are the brightest of Uranus's rings. Like the ε ring, they exhibit regular variations in brightness and width. They are brightest and widest 30° from the apoapsis and dimmest and narrowest 30° from the periapsis. The α and β rings have sizable orbital eccentricity and non-negligible inclination. The widths of these rings are 4.8–10 km and 6.1–11.4 km, respectively. The equivalent optical depths are 3.29 km and 2.14 km, resulting in normal optical depths of 0.3–0.7 and 0.2–0.35, respectively. During a ring plane-crossing event in 2007 the rings disappeared, which means they are geometrically thin like the ε ring and devoid of dust. The same event revealed a thick and optically thin dust band just outside the β ring, which was also observed earlier by Voyager 2. The masses of the α and β rings are estimated to be about 5 kg (each)—half the mass of the ε ring. ### Rings 6, 5 and 4 Rings 6, 5 and 4 are the innermost and dimmest of Uranus's narrow rings. They are the most inclined rings, and their orbital eccentricities are the largest excluding the ε ring. In fact, their inclinations (0.06°, 0.05° and 0.03°) were large enough for Voyager 2 to observe their elevations above the Uranian equatorial plane, which were 24–46 km. Rings 6, 5 and 4 are also the narrowest rings of Uranus, measuring 1.6–2.2 km, 1.9–4.9 km and 2.4–4.4 km wide, respectively. Their equivalent depths are 0.41 km, 0.91 and 0.71 km resulting in normal optical depth 0.18–0.25, 0.18–0.48 and 0.16–0.3. They were not visible during a ring plane-crossing event in 2007 due to their narrowness and lack of dust. ## Dusty rings ### λ (lambda) ring The λ ring was one of two rings discovered by Voyager 2 in 1986. It is a narrow, faint ring located just inside the ε ring, between it and the shepherd moon Cordelia. This moon clears a dark lane just inside the λ ring. When viewed in back-scattered light, the λ ring is extremely narrow—about 1–2 km—and has the equivalent optical depth 0.1–0.2 km at the wavelength 2.2 μm. The normal optical depth is 0.1–0.2. The optical depth of the λ ring shows strong wavelength dependence, which is atypical for the Uranian ring system. The equivalent depth is as high as 0.36 km in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum, which explains why λ ring was initially detected only in UV stellar occultations by Voyager 2. The detection during a stellar occultation at the wavelength 2.2 μm was only announced in 1996. The appearance of the λ ring changed dramatically when it was observed in forward-scattered light in 1986. In this geometry the ring became the brightest feature of the Uranian ring system, outshining the ε ring. This observation, together with the wavelength dependence of the optical depth, indicates that the λ ring contains significant amount of micrometre-sized dust. The normal optical depth of this dust is 10<sup>−4</sup>–10<sup>−3</sup>. Observations in 2007 by the Keck telescope during the ring plane-crossing event confirmed this conclusion, because the λ ring became one of the brightest features in the Uranian ring system. Detailed analysis of the Voyager 2 images revealed azimuthal variations in the brightness of the λ ring. The variations appear to be periodic, resembling a standing wave. The origin of this fine structure in the λ ring remains a mystery. ### 1986U2R/ζ (zeta) ring In 1986 Voyager 2 detected a broad and faint sheet of material inward of ring 6. This ring was given the temporary designation 1986U2R. It had a normal optical depth of 10<sup>−3</sup> or less and was extremely faint. It was thought to be visible only in a single Voyager 2 image, until reanalysis of Voyager data in 2022 revealed the ring in post-encounter images. The ring was located between 37,000 and 39,500 km from the centre of Uranus, or only about 12,000 km above the clouds. It was not observed again until 2003–2004, when the Keck telescope found a broad and faint sheet of material just inside ring 6. This ring was dubbed the ζ ring. The position of the recovered ζ ring differs significantly from that observed in 1986. Now it is situated between 37,850 and 41,350 km from the centre of the planet. There is an inward gradually fading extension reaching to at least 32,600 km, or possibly even to 27,000 km—to the atmosphere of Uranus. These extensions are labelled as the ζ<sub>c</sub> and ζ<sub>cc</sub> rings respectively. The ζ ring was observed again during the ring plane-crossing event in 2007 when it became the brightest feature of the ring system, outshining all other rings combined. The equivalent optical depth of this ring is near 1 km (0.6 km for the inward extension), while the normal optical depth is again less than 10<sup>−3</sup>. Rather different appearances of the 1986U2R and ζ rings may be caused by different viewing geometries: back-scattering geometry in 2003–2007 and side-scattering geometry in 1986. Changes during the past 20 years in the distribution of dust, which is thought to predominate in the ring, cannot be ruled out. ### Other dust bands In addition to the 1986U2R/ζ and λ rings, there are other extremely faint dust bands in the Uranian ring system. They are invisible during occultations because they have negligible optical depth, though they are bright in forward-scattered light. Voyager 2'''s images of forward-scattered light revealed the existence of bright dust bands between the λ and δ rings, between the η and β rings, and between the α ring and ring 4. Many of these bands were detected again in 2003–2004 by the Keck Telescope and during the 2007 ring-plane crossing event in backscattered light, but their precise locations and relative brightnesses were different from during the Voyager observations. The normal optical depth of the dust bands is about 10<sup>−5</sup> or less. The dust particle size distribution is thought to obey a power law with the index p = 2.5 ± 0.5. In addition to separate dust bands the system of Uranian rings appears to be immersed into wide and faint sheet of dust with the normal optical depth not exceeding 10<sup>−3</sup>. ## Outer ring system In 2003–2005, the Hubble Space Telescope detected a pair of previously unknown rings, now called the outer ring system, which brought the number of known Uranian rings to 13. These rings were subsequently named the μ (mu) and ν (nu) rings. The μ ring is the outermost of the pair, and is twice the distance from the planet as the bright η ring. The outer rings differ from the inner narrow rings in a number of respects. They are broad, 17,000 and 3,800 km wide, respectively, and very faint. Their peak normal optical depths are 8.5 × 10<sup>−6</sup> and 5.4 × 10<sup>−6</sup>, respectively. The resulting equivalent optical depths are 0.14 km and 0.012 km. The rings have triangular radial brightness profiles. The peak brightness of the μ (mu) ring lies almost exactly on the orbit of the small Uranian moon Mab, which is probably the source of the ring’s particles. The ν (nu) ring is positioned between Portia and Rosalind and does not contain any moons inside it. A reanalysis of the Voyager 2 images of forward-scattered light clearly reveals the μ and ν rings. In this geometry the rings are much brighter, which indicates that they contain much micrometer-sized dust. The outer rings of Uranus may be similar to the G and E rings of Saturn as E ring is extremely broad and receives dust from Enceladus. The μ ring may consist entirely of dust, without any large particles at all. This hypothesis is supported by observations performed by the Keck telescope, which failed to detect the μ ring in the near infrared at 2.2 μm, but detected the ν ring. This failure means that the μ ring is blue in color, which in turn indicates that very small (submicrometer) dust predominates within it. The dust may be made of water ice. In contrast, the ν ring is slightly red in color. ## Dynamics and origin An outstanding problem concerning the physics governing the narrow Uranian rings is their confinement. Without some mechanism to hold their particles together, the rings would quickly spread out radially. The lifetime of the Uranian rings without such a mechanism cannot be more than 1 million years. The most widely cited model for such confinement, proposed initially by Goldreich and Tremaine, is that a pair of nearby moons, outer and inner shepherds, interact gravitationally with a ring and act like sinks and donors, respectively, for excessive and insufficient angular momentum (or equivalently, energy). The shepherds thus keep ring particles in place, but gradually move away from the ring themselves. To be effective, the masses of the shepherds should exceed the mass of the ring by at least a factor of two to three. This mechanism is known to be at work in the case of the ε ring, where Cordelia and Ophelia serve as shepherds. Cordelia is also the outer shepherd of the δ ring, and Ophelia is the outer shepherd of the γ ring. No moon larger than 10 km is known in the vicinity of other rings. The current distance of Cordelia and Ophelia from the ε ring can be used to estimate the ring’s age. The calculations show that the ε ring cannot be older than 600 million years. Since the rings of Uranus appear to be young, they must be continuously renewed by the collisional fragmentation of larger bodies. The estimates show that the lifetime against collisional disruption of a moon with the size like that of Puck is a few billion years. The lifetime of a smaller satellite is much shorter. Therefore, all current inner moons and rings can be products of disruption of several Puck-sized satellites during the last four and half billion years. Every such disruption would have started a collisional cascade that quickly ground almost all large bodies into much smaller particles, including dust. Eventually the majority of mass was lost, and particles survived only in positions that were stabilized by mutual resonances and shepherding. The end product of such a disruptive evolution would be a system of narrow rings. A few moonlets must still be embedded within the rings at present. The maximum size of such moonlets is probably around 10 km. The origin of the dust bands is less problematic. The dust has a very short lifetime, 100–1000 years, and should be continuously replenished by collisions between larger ring particles, moonlets and meteoroids from outside the Uranian system. The belts of the parent moonlets and particles are themselves invisible due to their low optical depth, while the dust reveals itself in forward-scattered light. The narrow main rings and the moonlet belts that create dust bands are expected to differ in particle size distribution. The main rings have more centimeter to meter-sized bodies. Such a distribution increases the surface area of the material in the rings, leading to high optical density in back-scattered light. In contrast, the dust bands have relatively few large particles, which results in low optical depth. ## Exploration The rings were thoroughly investigated by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in January 1986. Two new faint rings—λ and 1986U2R—were discovered bringing the total number then known to eleven. Rings were studied by analyzing results of radio, ultraviolet and optical occultations. Voyager 2'' observed the rings in different geometries relative to the sun, producing images with back-scattered, forward-scattered and side-scattered light. Analysis of these images allowed derivation of the complete phase function, geometrical and Bond albedo of ring particles. Two rings—ε and η—were resolved in the images revealing a complicated fine structure. Analysis of Voyager's images also led to discovery of eleven inner moons of Uranus, including the two shepherd moons of the ε ring—Cordelia and Ophelia. ## List of properties This table summarizes the properties of the planetary ring system of Uranus.
84,625	Sandy Koufax	1,173,819,582	American baseball player (born 1935)	[ "1935 births", "20th-century American Jews", "21st-century American Jews", "American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent", "Baseball players from Brooklyn", "Baseball players from New York (state)", "Basketball players from Brooklyn", "Basketball players from New York (state)", "Brooklyn Dodgers players", "Cincinnati Bearcats baseball players", "Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball players", "Columbia University School of General Studies alumni", "Criollos de Caguas players", "Cy Young Award winners", "International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductees", "Jewish American baseball players", "Jewish Major League Baseball players", "Lafayette High School (New York City) alumni", "Living people", "Los Angeles Dodgers executives", "Los Angeles Dodgers players", "Major League Baseball broadcasters", "Major League Baseball pitchers", "Major League Baseball pitchers who have pitched a perfect game", "Major League Baseball players with retired numbers", "Minor league baseball coaches", "National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees", "National League All-Stars", "National League ERA champions", "National League Most Valuable Player Award winners", "National League Pitching Triple Crown winners", "National League strikeout champions", "National League wins champions", "People from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn", "People from Borough Park, Brooklyn", "People from Vero Beach, Florida", "Sportspeople from Rockville Centre, New York", "United States Army reservists", "University of Cincinnati alumni", "World Series Most Valuable Player Award winners" ]	Sanford Koufax (/ˈkoʊfæks/; born Sanford Braun; December 30, 1935) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, Koufax was the first three-time winner of the Cy Young Award, each time unanimously and the only pitcher to do so when a single award was given for both the leagues, and was also named the National League Most Valuable Player in 1963. Retiring at the age of 30 due to arthritis in his pitching elbow, Koufax was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1972 at the age of 36, the youngest player ever elected. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Koufax was primarily a basketball player in his youth and had only pitched a total of twelve games before signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers at age 19. Due to the bonus rule under which he was signed, Koufax never pitched a game in the minor leagues. As a result, the first half of his career was marred with inconsistency and control problems with flashes of brilliance in between. He set a modern record by striking out 18 batters in a game in 1959 and pitched brilliantly in the 1959 World Series. However, the lack of playing time frustrated Koufax and he almost quit after 1960. After making adjustments prior to the 1961 season to improve his control, Koufax quickly rose to become the most dominant pitcher in the major leagues. He was an All-Star in each of his last six seasons, leading the National League (NL) in earned run average each of his last five years, in strikeouts four times, in wins and shutouts three times each, and in winning percentage, innings pitched and complete games twice each. He was the first NL pitcher in 20 years to post an earned run average below 2.00, doing so three times. After setting the modern NL record in 1961 with 269 strikeouts, he became the first pitcher in 17 years and the first left-hander since 1904 to strike out 300 batters, with 306 in 1963. In 1965, he set a then-major league record with 382 strikeouts. He was the first pitcher to record a 300-strikeout season three times. Koufax tied his own record of 18 strikeouts in a game in 1962, and later became the first pitcher to record three immaculate innings. Koufax won the Major League Triple Crown three times, leading the Dodgers to a pennant in each of those years. He was the first major league pitcher to throw four no-hitters, including a perfect game in 1965. He was named the World Series MVP twice, the first player to do so, leading the weak-hitting Dodgers to titles in 1963 and 1965. At the time of his retirement, Koufax's career earned run average of 2.76 trailed only Whitey Ford among pitchers with at least 2,000 innings pitched since 1925; his .655 winning percentage ranked third among both left-handers and modern NL pitchers. Despite his comparatively short career, his 2,396 career strikeouts ranked seventh in major league history at the time, trailing only Warren Spahn (2,583) among left-handers; his 40 shutouts were tied for ninth in modern NL history. He was the first pitcher in history to average more than nine strikeouts per nine innings pitched, and the first to allow fewer than seven hits per nine innings pitched. He is also one of the outstanding Jewish athletes in American sports; Koufax's decision not to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it fell on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, like Hank Greenberg before him, garnered national attention and made him an icon in the American Jewish community. Since retiring, Koufax has kept a low profile and makes public appearences on rare occasions. In December 1966, he signed a 10-year contract to work as a broadcaster for NBC; uncomfortable in front of television cameras and with public speaking, he resigned after six years. In 1979, Koufax returned to the Dodgers to work as a pitching coach in the Dodgers' farm system; he resigned from the position in 1990, reportedly due to a strained relationship with Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda who resented his work with Dodger pitchers. From 2013 to 2015, Koufax worked in an executive position for the Los Angeles Dodgers, as an advisor to owner Mark Walter. In 1999, he was named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. His number 32 was retired by the Dodgers in 1972 and he was honored with a statue outside the centerfield plaza of Dodger Stadium in 2022. That same year, Koufax became the first player to mark the 50th anniversary of his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. ## Early life Koufax was born Sanford Braun on December 30, 1935, to Evelyn (née Lichtenstein) and Jack Braun in Borough Park, Brooklyn. His parents divorced when he was three years old. The son of a single working parent, he spent most of his childhood with his maternal grandparents. Evelyn, an accountant, eventually remarried when her son was nine years old, to Irving Koufax, an attorney whose name Sandy took. Koufax also had a stepsister, Edie, Irving's daughter from a previous marriage. Shortly after his mother's remarriage, the family moved to the Long Island suburb of Rockville Centre. The day after Koufax graduated from ninth grade, in June 1949, they moved back to Brooklyn, settling in the neighborhood of Bensonhurst. Koufax attended Lafayette High School where he was better known for basketball than for baseball. He started playing basketball for the community center team at the Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst, winning a few local titles with them. After a teacher's strike, which had caused a blackout of all school athletics, Lafayette brought back their basketball team and Koufax went on to become team captain in his senior year; that year, he ranked second in his division in scoring, averaging 16.5 points per game. He made newspaper headlines for the first time when, during a preseason exhibition game between the Lafayette basketball team and the New York Knicks, he dunked twice and showed up Knicks star Harry Gallatin. In 1951, at the age of 15, Koufax also joined a local youth baseball league known as the "Ice Cream League", playing for the Tomahawks. He started out as a left-handed catcher before moving to first base. He joined Lafayette's baseball team as a first baseman in his senior year at the urging of his friend Fred Wilpon. While playing with the high school team, he was spotted by Milt Laurie, a newspaper deliveryman and a baseball coach who was the father of two Lafayette baseball players. Laurie noticed Koufax's strong throwing arm and recognized that he might be able to pitch. He recruited the 17-year-old to pitch for the Coney Island Sports League's Parkviews. Koufax attended the University of Cincinnati where he studied architecture. He was a walk-on for the freshman basketball team, a complete unknown to coach Ed Jucker; he later earned a partial basketball scholarship. In his freshman year, Koufax averaged 9.7 points per game. In the spring of 1954, after the basketball season ended, he tried out for the college baseball team, which was also coached by Jucker. In his only season of intercollegiate baseball, Koufax went 3–1 with a 2.81 earned run average, 51 strikeouts and 30 walks in 32 innings pitched. ### Major League tryouts While with the college baseball team, Koufax began to attract the attention of baseball scouts. Bill Zinser, a scout for the Brooklyn Dodgers, sent the Dodgers front office a glowing report that was filed away and forgotten. Gene Bonnibeau, a scout for the New York Giants, found out about Koufax through a story in one of the Cincinnati newspapers and invited him to try out for the team at the Polo Grounds after the end of his freshman year. The workout did not go well for the nervous Koufax, who threw wildly over the catcher's head, and he never heard from the Giants again. In September, Ed McCarrick, a scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates, showed interest in Koufax after seeing him in a few sandlot games with the Parkviews. At McCarrick's behest, Branch Rickey, general manager of the Pirates at the time, sent his scout Clyde Sukeforth to see Koufax. Sukeforth was impressed with Koufax and invited him to Forbes Field for a tryout in front the Pirates front office. Upon seeing Koufax pitch in person, Rickey remarked to Sukeforth, "This is the greatest arm I've ever seen." The Pirates, however, failed to offer Koufax a contract until after he was already committed to the Dodgers. Al Campanis, a Dodgers scout, heard about Koufax from Jimmy Murphy, a reporter from the Brooklyn Eagle who covered sandlot teams in Brooklyn and who had seen him pitch a few times for the Parkviews. He was also urged by Pat Auletta, the owner of a sporting goods store and father of author Ken Auletta, and who founded the Coney Island Sports League in which the Parkviews played, to come and see Koufax pitch. Auletta arranged a workout at the Lafayette High baseball field; after watching Koufax throw, Campanis arranged a tryout for him at Ebbets Field. With Dodgers manager Walter Alston and scouting director Fresco Thompson watching, Campanis assumed the hitter's stance while Koufax started throwing; he later said, "There are two times in my life the hair on my arms has stood up: The first time I saw the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the second time, I saw Sandy Koufax throw a fastball." Koufax also had a tryout with the Milwaukee Braves, to which he had previously committed, after returning to university. Afterwards, John Quinn, general manager of the Braves, made him an offer of \$30,000. However, as he was already committed to signing with the Dodgers, Koufax declined. Irving Koufax negotiated a contract with the Dodgers on behalf of his son. Koufax signed with the Dodgers for \$20,000 (\$ today) – \$6,000 salary (the league minimum at the time), with a \$14,000 signing bonus; he had planned to use the money as tuition in order finish his college education should his baseball career have failed. ## Professional career At the time of Koufax's signing, the bonus rule implemented by Major League Baseball was still in effect. The rule stipulated that when a major league team signed a player to a contract with a signing bonus in excess of \$4,000 (\$ today), the team was required to keep that player on their 25-man active roster for two full seasons and failure to comply with the rule would result in the team losing the rights to that player's contract, and the player would then be exposed to the waiver wire. Prior to Koufax, the Dodgers had signed Roberto Clemente to a contract with a signing bonus of more than \$4,000 and placed him in their Triple-A affiliate, the Montreal Royals of the International League, subsequently losing him to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Unlike with Clemente, the Dodgers decided to keep Koufax on their major league roster for at least the next two years. To make room for him on their 40-man roster, the Dodgers sold infielder Billy Cox and pitcher Preacher Roe to the Baltimore Orioles. During his first spring training, Koufax struggled with his new training regime and suffered from a sore arm most of the time. Having only pitched twelve games in the sandlots and in college combined, he did not know much about pitching such as how to properly field a ball, how to hold a runner on base, or even pitching signs, later saying, "The only signs I knew were one finger for fastball and two for a curve, and here there were five or six signs." His lack of minor league experience meant Koufax never fully mastered all aspects of the game and took a lot longer to develope as a pitcher. ### Early years (1955–1960) Having injured his ankle in the last week of spring training, Koufax was placed on the disabled list for 30 days; he would be activated by the Dodgers on June 8. To make room for him, they optioned their future Hall of Fame manager, Tommy Lasorda, to the Montreal Royals. Lasorda would later joke that it took "one of the greatest left-handers in history" to keep him off the Dodgers major league roster. Koufax made his major league debut on June 24, 1955, against the Milwaukee Braves, with the Dodgers trailing 7–1 in the fifth inning. Johnny Logan, the first batter Koufax faced, hit a bloop single. Eddie Mathews bunted back to the mound, and Koufax threw the ball into center field. He then walked Henry Aaron on four pitches to load the bases, but struck out Bobby Thomson on a 3–2 fastball for his first career strikeout – an outcome Koufax later came to view as "probably the worst thing that could have happened to me", leading, as it did, to five seasons spent "trying to get out of trouble by throwing harder and harder and harder." Koufax ended up pitching two scoreless innings, inducing a double play to end the bases-loaded threat and picking up another strikeout in a perfect sixth. Koufax's first start was on July 6, the second game of a doubleheader against the Pirates. He lasted only 4.2 innings, giving up eight walks. He did not start again for almost two months. On August 27, Koufax threw a two-hit, 7–0 complete game shutout against the Cincinnati Reds for his first major league win. He struck out 14 batters, the most in a single game by an NL pitcher that season, and allowed only two hits. His only other win in 1955, on September 3, was also a shutout, this time a five-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his rookie year, Koufax threw 41.2 innings in 12 appearances, striking out 30 batters and walking 28, with a record of 2–2 and 3.02 earned run average. The Dodgers went on to win the National League pennant and the 1955 World Series over the New York Yankees, the first title in franchise history; however, Koufax did not appear in the series. During the fall, he had enrolled in the Columbia University School of General Studies, which offered night classes in architecture; after the final out of Game 7, Koufax went straight to Columbia to attend class. The 1956 season was not very different from 1955 for Koufax. Despite the blazing speed of his fastball, Koufax continued to struggle with his control. He saw little work, pitching only 58.2 innings with a 4.91 earned run average, 29 walks and 30 strikeouts. When Koufax allowed baserunners, he was rarely permitted to finish the inning. Teammate Joe Pignatano remarked, years later, that as soon as Koufax threw a couple of balls in a row, Alston would signal for a replacement to start warming up in the bullpen. Jackie Robinson, in his final season, clashed with Alston on Koufax's usage. Robinson saw that Koufax was talented and had flashes of brilliance, and objected to him being benched for weeks at a time. To prepare him for the 1957 season, the Dodgers sent Koufax to Puerto Rico to play winter ball for the Criollos de Caguas. For the Criollos, Koufax compiled a record of 3–6 with a 4.35 earned run average and 76 strikeouts in 64.2 innings pitched. Two of his wins were shutouts, including a one-hitter and a two-hitter, with Roberto Clemente getting both hits against him in the latter. On May 15, the restriction on sending Koufax down to the minors was lifted. Alston gave him a chance to justify his place on the major league roster by giving him the next day's start. Facing the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, Koufax struck out 13 while pitching his first complete game in almost two years. For the first time in his career, he was in the starting rotation, but only for two weeks. Despite winning three of his next five with a 2.90 earned run average, Koufax did not get another start for 45 days. In that start, he struck out 11 in seven innings, but got no decision. On September 29, he became the last man to pitch for the Brooklyn Dodgers before their move to Los Angeles, throwing an inning of relief in the final game of the season. Koufax and fellow Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale served six months in the United States Army Reserve at Fort Dix in New Jersey after the end of the 1957 season and before spring training in 1958. Koufax began the 1958 season 7–3, but sprained his ankle in a collision at first base on July 5 against the Chicago Cubs, resulting in a long layoff. Throughout the season, he was also plagued with back pain which was the result of a tumor on his rib cage, requiring surgery in the off-season. As a result, he finished the season at 11–11 and leading the majors in wild pitches. In 1959, on June 22, he set the record for a night game with 16 strikeouts against Philadelphia Phillies. On August 31, against the Giants, he set the NL single-game record and tied Bob Feller's modern Major League record of 18 strikeouts, and also scored on Wally Moon's walk-off home run for a 5–2 win. That season, the Dodgers won a tight pennant race against the Braves and the Giants, going on to beat the Chicago White Sox in the World Series. Koufax pitched two perfect relief innings in the Series opener, though they came after the Dodgers were already behind 11–0. Alston gave him the start in Game 5, at the Los Angeles Coliseum in front of 92,706 fans. In what would have been the series-clinching game, Koufax allowed only one run in seven innings but lost the game 1–0 when Nellie Fox scored on a double play and the Dodgers failed to score a run in support. Returning to Chicago, the Dodgers won Game 6 and the Series, their first in Los Angeles. In early 1960, Koufax asked Dodgers general manager Buzzie Bavasi to trade him because he was not getting enough playing time, a request that was denied. On May 23, he pitched a one-hit shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates, allowing only a second-inning single by pitcher Bennie Daniels and striking out 10 batters in the process. However, the game was a highlight in an otherwise bad year for Koufax in which he went 8–13 with a 3.97 earned run average. By the end of the year, frustrated with his lack of progress, Koufax was thinking about quitting baseball entirely. In his first six seasons, he had posted a record of 36–40 with a 4.10 earned run average. After the last game of the season, he threw his gloves and spikes into the trash, having decided to retire and devote himself to an electronics business in which he had invested. Nobe Kawano, the clubhouse supervisor, retrieved the equipment in case Koufax decided to return the following year. ### Domination (1961–1964) Koufax decided to try one more year to succeed in baseball; years later he recalled, "That winter was when I really started working out. I started running more. I decided I was really going to find out how good I can be." During the offseason, Koufax underwent tonsillectomy due to recurring throat issues and, as a result, reported to spring training thirty pounds under his normal playing weight. Koufax later stated that it forced him to regain the lost muscle mass and weight through exercise and nutrition, allowing him to get into the "best shape" of his life. From then on, he made it a point to report to spring training under his playing weight. During spring training, Dodger scout Kenny Myers discovered a hitch in Koufax's windup, where he would rear back so far he would lose sight of the target. As a result, Koufax tightened up his mechanics, believing that not only would it help better his control but would also help him disguise his pitches better. On March 23, Koufax was chosen by teammate Gil Hodges (acting as manager of the team) to pitch in a B-squad game against the Minnesota Twins in Orlando, Florida. As teammate Ed Palmquist had missed the flight, leaving the team short one pitcher, Hodges told Koufax he needed to pitch at least seven innings. Prior to the game, catcher Norm Sherry told him: "If you get behind the hitters, don't try to throw so hard." This was due to Koufax's tendency to lose control of his temper and throw hard when he got into trouble. The strategy worked initially before Koufax temporarily reverted to throwing hard and walked the bases loaded with no out in the fifth. Sherry reminded Koufax of their discussion, advising him to settle down and throw to his glove and to throw more breaking pitches. The advice worked; Koufax struck out the side and then went on to pitch seven no-hit innings. Additionally, Dodgers statistician Allan Roth helped Koufax tweak his game in the early 1960s, particularly regarding the importance of first-pitch strikes and the benefits of off-speed pitches. Like Sherry, Roth also urged him to take a little speed off his pitches in order to improve his control. #### 1961 season All the improvements and changes made in the offseason and during spring training resulted in 1961 becoming Koufax's breakout season. He posted an 18–13 record and led the majors with 269 strikeouts, breaking Christy Mathewson's 58-year-old National League mark of 267, and doing so in 110 innings fewer than Mathewson had. That season also marked the first time in his career that Koufax started at least 30 games (35) and pitched at least 200 innings (255.2). He lowered his walks allowed per nine innings from 5.1 in 1960 to 3.4 in 1961 and led the NL with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.80. On September 20, Koufax won a 13-inning contest against the Chicago Cubs for his 18th win of the year. He pitched a complete game, throwing 205 pitches, striking out fifteen batters. That year, he was named an All-Star for the first time and appeared in both All-Star Games. In the first game, he faced only one batter, giving up a hit to Al Kaline in the ninth inning before being removed by NL manager Danny Murtaugh. In the second game, he pitched two scoreless innings. #### 1962 season In 1962, the Dodgers moved from the Los Angeles Coliseum – a football stadium which had a 250-foot (75 m) left-field line, an enormous disadvantage to left-handed pitchers – to the pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium. The new park had a large foul territory and a comparatively poor hitting background. Koufax was an immediate beneficiary of the move, lowering his earned run average at home from 4.29 to 1.75. On April 24, Koufax tied his own record of 18 strikeouts in a 10–2 win over the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field. On June 13, at Milwaukee County Stadium, he hit his first career home run off future Hall of Famer Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves, providing the winning margin in a 2–1 victory. On June 30, against the expansion New York Mets, he threw his first career no-hitter. In the first inning of that game, he struck out all three batters on nine total pitches, becoming the sixth National League pitcher and the 11th pitcher in Major League history to throw an immaculate inning. His no-hitter, along with a 4–2 record, 73 strikeouts and a 1.23 earned run average, earned him the Player of the Month Award for June. It would be the only time in his career he earned this distinction. Koufax had a strong season despite dealing with an injured pitching hand. In April, while at bat, he had been jammed by a pitch from Earl Francis of the Pirates. A numbness developed in the index finger on his left hand, and the finger became cold and white. Koufax was pitching better than ever, however, so he ignored the problem, hoping that the condition would clear up. By July, though, his entire hand was becoming numb. During a start in Cincinnati, his finger split open after one inning. A vascular specialist determined that Koufax had a crushed artery in his palm. Ten days of experimental medicine successfully reopened the artery, preventing the possibility of amputation. Koufax was finally able to pitch again in September, when the team was locked in a tight pennant race with the Giants. However, after the long layoff, he was rusty and ineffective in three appearances and, by the end of the regular season and in part due to Koufax's absence from the Dodgers rotation, the Giants caught up with the Dodgers and forced a three-game playoff. The night before the playoffs began, manager Alston asked Koufax if he could start the next day. With an overworked pitching staff, Drysdale and Johnny Podres having pitched the prior two days, Koufax obliged; he later said, "I had nothing at all." He was knocked out in the second inning, after giving up home runs to future Hall of Famer Willie Mays and Jim Davenport. After winning the second game of the series, the Dodgers blew a 4–2 lead in the ninth inning of the deciding third game, losing the pennant. #### 1963 season In 1963, Major League Baseball expanded the strike zone as a way to combat what they perceived as too much offense. Compared to the previous season, walks in the NL fell 13%, strikeouts increased 6%, the league batting average fell from .261 to .245, and runs scored declined 15%. Koufax, who had reduced his walks allowed per nine innings to 3.4 in 1961 and 2.8 in 1962, reduced it further to 1.7 in 1963, which ranked fifth in the league. The top pitchers of the era – future Hall of Famers Don Drysdale, Juan Marichal, Jim Bunning, Bob Gibson, and Koufax himself – significantly reduced their walks-per-nine-innings ratio for 1963 and in subsequent years. On April 19, Koufax threw his second immaculate inning, this time in a two-hit shutout win against the Houston Colt .45s, becoming the first NL pitcher and the second pitcher ever (after Lefty Grove) to throw two immaculate innings. Koufax threw his second career no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants on May 11, besting Giants ace Juan Marichal – himself a no-hit pitcher on June 15. Koufax carried a perfect game into the eighth inning against the powerful Giants lineup which included future Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and Orlando Cepeda. The perfect game ended when he walked catcher Ed Bailey on a 3-and-2 pitch. He closed out the game after walking pinch-hitter McCovey on four pitches with two out in the ninth. From July 3 to 16, he pitched 33 consecutive scoreless innings, pitching three shutouts to lower his earned run average to 1.65. On July 20, he hit the second and last home run of his career, coincidentally again in Milwaukee. He hit a three-run shot off Braves pitcher Denny Lemaster to propel the team to a 5–4 win; it was his only game with three runs batted in. The Dodgers won the pennant, and Koufax won the first of three pitching Triple Crowns, leading the league in wins (25), strikeouts (306) and earned run average (1.88). He threw 11 shutouts, eclipsing Carl Hubbell's 30-year, post-1900 mark for a left-handed pitcher of 10 and setting a record that stands to this day. Only Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals, with 13 shutouts in his iconic 1968 season (known as "the year of the pitcher"), has thrown more since. Koufax won the National League Most Valuable Player Award, and was the first-ever unanimous selection for the Cy Young Award (at a time when only one was awarded for both leagues; separate awards for each league began in 1967). He was also named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the first time, and was awarded the Hickok Belt as the athlete of the year. In the 1963 World Series, the Dodgers faced the New York Yankees. In Game 1, Koufax beat Whitey Ford 5–2. He struck out the first five batters and 15 overall, breaking Carl Erskine's decade-old record of 14 (later broken by Bob Gibson in Game 1 of the 1968 World Series). In Game 4, Koufax completed the Dodgers' series sweep with a 2–1 victory over Ford, the only run he allowed being a home run by Mickey Mantle. During the series, Koufax struck out 23 batters in 18 innings, a record for a four-game World Series, and had a 2–0 record with an earned run average of 1.50; for his performance, he was awarded the World Series Most Valuable Player Award. #### 1964 season Koufax's 1964 season started with great expectations. On April 14, he made the only Opening Day start of his career, pitching a 4–0 shutout against the St. Louis Cardinals. In his next start, he struck out three batters on nine pitches in the third inning of a 3–0 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, becoming the first pitcher in Major League history to throw three immaculate innings. On April 22, in St. Louis, however, Koufax "felt something let go" in his arm during the first inning, resulting in three cortisone shots in his sore left elbow and three missed starts. On June 4, against the Philadelphia Phillies in Connie Mack Stadium, Koufax threw his third career no-hitter, tying Bob Feller as the only modern-era pitchers to hurl three no-hitters. He only needed 97 pitches and faced the minimum 27 batters while striking out 13. The only full-count he allowed was to Dick Allen in the fourth inning; Allen walked and was thrown out trying to steal second base; he was the only baserunner for the Phillies that day. On August 8, during a game against the Milwaukee Braves, Koufax jammed his pitching arm while diving back to second base to beat a pick-off throw by Tony Cloninger. He managed to pitch and win two more games. However, the morning after his 19th win, a shutout in which he struck out 13 batters, Koufax woke up to find his elbow "as big as his knee" and found that he could no longer straighten his arm. He was diagnosed by Dodgers team physician Robert Kerlan with traumatic arthritis. With the Dodgers out of the pennant race, Koufax did not pitch again that season, finishing with a 19–5 win-loss record and leading the National League with a 1.74 earned run average and 7 shutouts. ### Playing in pain (1965–66) After resting during the off-season, Koufax returned to spring training in 1965 and initially had no problems from pitching. On March 30, however, he woke up the morning after pitching a complete game against the Chicago White Sox to find his entire left arm swollen and black and blue from hemorrhaging. He returned to Los Angeles to consult with Kerlan who warned him that he would eventually lose the full use of his arm if he continued to pitch. Kerlan and Koufax came up with a schedule which he would follow for the last two seasons of his career. Koufax initially agreed to stop throwing between starts but, as it had been a part of his routine for a long time, he soon resumed it. Instead, he stopped throwing sidearm pitches (which he often did against left-handed batters) and removed his rarely-used slider from his repertoire. Before each start, he would get a cortisone shot in his elbow and have capsaicin-based Capsolin ointment (nicknamed the "Atomic Balm" by players) rubbed over his shoulder and arm. Afterwards, he would soak his arm in a tub of ice. Koufax took Empirin with codeine for the pain every night and occasionally during a game, and also took Butazolidin for the inflammation, a drug that was eventually taken off the market due to its toxic side-effects. #### 1965 season Despite the constant pain in his pitching elbow, Koufax pitched a major league-leading 335.2 innings and 27 complete games, leading the Dodgers to another pennant. Koufax captured his second unanimous Cy Young Award, and was runner-up for the National League MVP Award, behind Willie Mays. He won his second pitching Triple Crown, leading the Majors in wins (26), earned run average (2.04), and strikeouts (382). His 382 strikeouts broke Bob Feller's modern record of 348 strikeouts in 1946, and was the highest modern-day total at the time. He walked only 71 batters, the first time a pitcher struck out 300 more batters than he walked (311), a feat replicated only once since, by Randy Johnson (372 strikeouts to 71 walks in 2001). Additionally, he held batters to 5.79 hits per nine innings, and allowed the fewest baserunners per nine innings in any season ever: 7.83, breaking his own record (set two years earlier) of 7.96. Koufax was the pitcher for the Dodgers during the game on August 22, when Giants pitcher Juan Marichal clubbed Dodgers catcher John Roseboro in the head with a bat. The game, which came in the middle of a heated pennant race, had been tense since it began, with Marichal brushing back Dodgers outfielder Ron Fairly and shortstop Maury Wills, and Koufax retaliating by throwing over the head of Willie Mays. After Koufax's retaliation, both benches were warned by umpire Shag Crawford; despite this, he asked Roseboro, "Who do you want me to get?" to which Roseboro replied, "I'll handle it." After the clubbing occurred, Koufax rushed from the mound and attempted to grab the bat from Marichal. A fourteen-minute brawl ensued in which he and Mays attempted to restore peace, with Mays dragging the injured Roseboro away from the fight. After the game resumed, a shaken up Koufax walked two batters before giving up a three-run home run to Mays, with the Dodgers eventually losing the game 4–3. ##### Perfection On September 9, 1965, Koufax became the sixth pitcher of the modern era, and eighth overall, to throw a perfect game. The game, thrown against the Chicago Cubs, was Koufax's fourth no-hitter, setting a then-major league record (broken by Nolan Ryan in 1981), and the first by a left-hander in the modern era. He struck out 14 batters, the most recorded in a perfect game (since tied by Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants in 2012), and struck out at least one batter in each inning in the 1–0 win. The game also set a record for the fewest hits ever in a major league contest, as Cubs pitcher Bob Hendley pitched a one-hitter and allowed only two batters to reach base. Both pitchers had no-hitters intact until the seventh inning. The winning run was unearned, scored without a hit when Dodgers left fielder Lou Johnson walked, reached second on a sacrifice, stole third, and scored on a throwing error by Cubs catcher Chris Krug. ##### World Series and Yom Kippur The Dodgers won the National League pennant on the second-to-last game of the season, against the Milwaukee Braves. Koufax started the game on two days' rest and pitched a complete game 3–1 win, striking out 13, to clinch the pennant for the Dodgers. Koufax declined to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series as it clashed with Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. His decision garnered national headlines, raising the conflict between professional pressures and personal religious beliefs to front-page news. Instead, Drysdale pitched the opener, but was hit hard by the Minnesota Twins. When Dodgers manager Walter Alston came out to remove Drysdale from the game, the latter quipped: "I bet right now you wish I was Jewish, too." In Game 2, Koufax pitched six innings, giving up two runs (one unearned), and the Twins won 5–1 to take an early 2–0 lead in the series. The Dodgers fought back in Games 3 and 4, with wins by Claude Osteen and Drysdale. With the Series tied at 2–2, Koufax pitched a four-hit shutout in Game 5, striking out 10 batters, for a 3–2 Dodgers lead. The Series returned to Metropolitan Stadium for Game 6, which the Twins' Jim Grant won to force a seventh, decisive game. For Game 7, Alston decided to start Koufax over the fully-rested Drysdale against the Twins' Jim Kaat; on just two days of rest, Koufax pitched through fatigue and arthritic pain. Despite giving up on his curveball early in the game after failing to throw strikes with it, and pitching the rest of the game relying almost entirely his fastball, Koufax threw a three-hit shutout, again striking out 10 batters, and clinched the Series for the Dodgers. His performance earned him a second World Series MVP Award, making him the first player to win the award twice. Koufax also won the Hickok Belt for a second time, also the first time anyone had won the belt more than once. That year, he was awarded the Sportsman of the Year award by Sports Illustrated and was named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for a second time. ### Holdout In the offseason, prior to the 1966 season, Koufax and Drysdale met separately with general manager Buzzie Bavasi to negotiate their contracts for the upcoming season. Koufax already harbored ill feelings towards Bavasi which dated back to a contract dispute prior to the 1964 season. After his meeting, he met Drysdale and his wife Ginger for dinner, irritated that Bavasi was using his own teammate against him in the salary negotiations. Drysdale responded that Bavasi had done the same thing with him. The two compared notes on their separate negotiations, realizing that the Dodgers' general manager had been playing one pitcher against the other. Ginger Drysdale, who had previously worked as a model and actress and was once a member of the Screen Actors Guild, suggested to the pair that they negotiate together in order to get what they wanted. Hence, in January 1966, the pair informed the Dodgers of their decision to hold out together. In a highly unusual move for the time, they were represented by entertainment lawyer J. William Hayes, Koufax's business manager. Also highly unusual was their demand of \$1 million (equivalent to \$ million in ), divided equally over the next three years, or \$167,000 (equivalent to \$ million in ) each for each of the next three seasons. They told Bavasi that they would negotiate their contracts as one unit and through their agent. The Dodgers refused to do so, stating it was against their policy, and a stalemate ensued. Instead, the front office waged a public relations campaign against the pair. Koufax and Drysdale did not report to spring training in February 1966. Instead, both signed to appear in the movie Warning Shot, starring David Janssen. Additionally, Koufax had signed a book deal to write his autobiography, Koufax, with author Ed Linn. Hayes, meanwhile, unearthed a state law which made it illegal to extend personal service contracts in California beyond seven years, a law which resulted from the case of De Havilland v. Warner Bros. Pictures; he began to prepare a lawsuit against the Dodgers and to challenge the reserve clause. When Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley found out about this, the team's front office softened their stance towards the pair. Actor and former baseball player, Chuck Connors helped arrange a meeting between Bavasi and the two pitchers. Koufax gave Drysdale the go-ahead to negotiate new deals on behalf of both of them. At the end of the thirty-two day holdout, Koufax signed for \$125,000 (equivalent to \$ million in ) and Drysdale for \$110,000 (equivalent to \$ in ). The deal made Koufax the highest paid player in Major League Baseball for 1966. The holdout is noted to be the first significant event in baseball's labor movement and the first time major league players had challenged the absolute stronghold the owners held in baseball at the time. That same year, trade unionist Marvin Miller used the Koufax–Drysdale holdout as an argument for collective bargaining while campaigning for players' votes during spring training; he would be soon be elected by the players as first executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. #### 1966 season In April 1966, Kerlan told Koufax it was time to retire and that his arm could not take another season. By this time, Koufax could no longer straighten his arm and it occasionally went numb, causing him to drop anything he was holding. Despite this, Koufax kept Kerlan's advice to himself, having decided the year before to make 1966 his last season. He went out to pitch every fourth day, accumulating 323 innings and not missing a single start. He posted a 27–9 win-loss record, with 317 strikeouts and a 1.73 earned run average, winning his third pitching Triple Crown. Koufax won his third unanimous Cy Young Award, the first pitcher ever to win three, and was again runner-up for the National League MVP Award, this time finishing behind Roberto Clemente of the Pirates. In the final game of the regular season, the Dodgers had to beat the Phillies in order to win the pennant. In the second game of a doubleheader, Koufax faced Jim Bunning for the second time that season. On two days rest, Koufax pitched a 6–3 complete-game victory to clinch the pennant. The Dodgers went on to face the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series, and Game 2 marked Koufax's third start in eight days. He pitched well enough, allowing only one earned run, but three errors by Dodgers centerfielder Willie Davis in the fifth inning produced three unearned runs. He did not receive any run support either; Baltimore's 20-year-old future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer pitched a four-hit shutout, and the Orioles won 6–0. Alston lifted Koufax at the end of the sixth with the idea of getting him extra rest before a potential fifth game. Instead, the Dodgers were swept in four games, not scoring a single run in the last two games. ### Retirement On November 18, a few weeks after the 1966 World Series, Koufax announced his retirement from baseball in a press conference at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. During the press conference, Koufax gave severe arthritis and constant pain in his pitching arm, and the medication and treatments that were required to make it possible for him pitch regularly as the reason for ending his career at age 30, saying: > I've got a lot of years to live after baseball and I would like to live them with the complete use of my body. I don't regret one minute of the last twelve years, but I think would regret one year that was too many. The announcement of his retirement came as a shock to baseball, particularly to his teammates. Soon afterwards, Koufax told an incredulous Dick Tracewski, his old Dodger roommate and close friend, that he could have continued to pitch but would have risked disability if he did so: "All my sport coats have two different arms in them. I can't go on doing this medication thing and pitching. It's going to kill me." He also added, "I can't keep using the cortisone... The doctors told me the cortisone will probably harm my kidneys and liver if I keep taking it. Lots of bad things could happen. I just gotta retire." Years later, Koufax stated that he never regretted retiring when he did but did regret having to make the decision to retire. His retirement ended a five-year run in which Koufax went 111-34 with a 1.95 earned run average and 1,444 strikeouts. During that run, he led the Dodgers to three National League pennants and two World Series titles, in both of which he was named the series MVP. He won Cy Young Awards in each of the pennant-winning years, including the NL Most Valuable Player Award in 1963. The year after his retirement, the Dodgers fell in the NL rankings, from 1st in 1966 to 8th in 1967. ### Career overall In his 12-season major league career, Koufax had a 165–87 record with a 2.76 earned run average, 2,396 strikeouts, 137 complete games, and 40 shutouts. He was the first pitcher to average fewer than seven hits allowed per nine innings pitched (6.79) and to strike out more than nine batters (9.28) per nine innings pitched. He remains, over half a century later, on the very short list of pitchers who retired with more career strikeouts than innings pitched. Koufax became the first pitcher in baseball history to have two games with 18 or more strikeouts, and the first to have eight games with 15 or more strikeouts. He also set a then-record of 97 games with at least 10 strikeouts (now sixth-most all-time). In his last ten seasons, from 1957 to 1966, batters hit .203 against him, with a .271 on-base percentage and a .315 slugging average. His run of five consecutive ERA titles is a Major League record. Additionally, he also led the majors in WHIP four consecutive times and FIP six consecutive times, both also records. Due to a lack of run support, Koufax's postseason record over the course of four World Series is an unimpressive 4–3; however, his 0.95 earned run average and two World Series MVP Awards testify to how well he actually pitched. In his three World Series losses, which were all starts, spread over three different Series, Koufax gave up one earned run in each; the Dodgers scored only one run in support across the three games, getting shut out twice. He was selected as an All-Star for six consecutive seasons and made seven out of eight possible All-Star Game appearances those seasons. He pitched six innings across four All-Star games; Koufax was the winning pitcher in the 1965 All-Star Game, and was the starting pitcher in the 1966 All-Star Game, throwing three innings of one-run ball on two days' rest. Koufax was the first pitcher to win three Cy Young Awards, an especially impressive feat because it was during the era when only one was given out for both major leagues. He is also the first pitcher to win the award by a unanimous vote – a distinction which he received twice more. Koufax and Juan Marichal are the only two pitchers to have more than one 25-win season in the post-World War II era, with each man recording three. ## Pitching style Koufax was a power pitcher and threw with a pronounced straight-over-the-top arm action. Most of his velocity came from his strong legs and back, combined with a high leg kick during his wind-up and long forward extension on his release point toward home plate. His large hands also allowed him to put heavy spin on his pitches and control the direction in which they would break. Throughout his career, Koufax relied heavily on two pitches. His four-seam fastball gave batters the impression of rising as it approached them, due to heavy backspin he created by pulling on the seams. His overhand curveball, spun with the middle finger, dropped vertically 12 to 24 inches due to his arm action; sabermetrician Rob Neyer called it the best curve of all time. Koufax also occasionally threw a changeup and, in his final years, added a forkball to his repertoire. At the beginning of his career, Koufax fought a tendency to "tip" pitches to the opposing team through variations in his wind-up, which included the position in which he held his hands at the top of the wind-up. When throwing a fastball with baserunners, his hand position in the stretch would be higher than when he threw a curveball. Once alerted, he made an effort to better disguise his deliveries. Late in his career, perhaps because of his injured arm, his tendency to tip pitches became even more pronounced. Good hitters could often predict what pitch was coming, but were still unable to hit it due to his precise control and the effectiveness of his pitches. ## Post-playing career Soon after his retirement, Koufax signed a 10-year contract with NBC for \$1 million (equivalent to \$ million in ) to be a broadcaster on the Saturday Game of the Week. A shy man, Koufax was never comfortable on the air; he had difficulty in talking baseball with people who had not played the game professionally. It was also challenging for him to describe pitchers whose repertoires and style of pitching differed from his, and to be critical of players he had played with and against. As a result, he quit after six years and his contract with NBC was terminated by mutual consent before the start of the 1973 season. In 1979, Koufax was hired by the Dodgers to be a minor league pitching coach in their farm system. During his tenure, he worked with a number of pitchers, including Orel Hershiser, Dave Stewart, John Franco, Bob Welch, and fellow Hall of Famers Don Sutton and Pedro Martínez. Koufax, with the help of former teammate Roger Craig, taught himself how to throw a split-finger fastball, a popular pitch in the 1980s, in order to be able to teach it to pitchers in the Dodgers minor league system. He resigned from his position in 1990, saying he was not earning his keep as the Dodgers had cut back his workload; most observers, however, blamed it on his uneasy relationship with manager Tommy Lasorda who reportedly resented Koufax working with his pitchers. Despite this, Koufax continued to make informal visits to spring training. In 2002, after the New York Post published a false story on him, Koufax cut ties with the Dodgers as both the team and the newspaper were, at the time, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. He reconnected with the organization in 2004, when the Dodgers were sold to Frank McCourt, and resumed his informal visits to spring training. During this time, Koufax also made spring training visits with other teams, particularly with the New York Mets who were, at the time, owned by his childhood friend Fred Wilpon. Notably, Mets pitcher Al Leiter credited Koufax in helping him become a better pitcher. In 2013, the Dodgers again hired Koufax, this time in a front office role as a special advisor to team chairman Mark Walter, to work with the pitchers during spring training and consult during the season. He retired from the front office job prior to the 2016 season. ## Legacy Koufax was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972, his first year of eligibility, just weeks after his 36th birthday. He was the youngest player ever elected, five months younger than Lou Gehrig was at the time of his special election in December 1939. On June 4, 1972, the Dodgers retired Koufax's uniform number 32, alongside those of Dodger greats Roy Campanella (39) and Jackie Robinson (42). On June 18, 2022, a statue of Koufax was unveiled at Dodger Stadium, next to that of Robinson, his former Brooklyn Dodger teammate. In 1999, The Sporting News placed Koufax at number 26 on its list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players". That same year, he was also named one of the 30 players on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 2020, The Athletic ranked Koufax at number 70 on its "Baseball 100" list, complied by sportswriter Joe Posnanski. Koufax was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1979, and in the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1993. In 1990, he was inducted in the inaugural class of the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. In 1976, sportswriter Harry Stein published an article called the "All-Time All-Star Argument Starter" in Esquire magazine, consisting of five ethnic baseball teams; Koufax was the left-handed pitcher on Stein's Jewish team. In April 2007, he was the final player chosen in the inaugural Israel Baseball League draft, by the Modi'in Miracle. Former New York Mets player Art Shamsky, manager of the Miracle, said of the honorary pick, "His selection is a tribute to the esteem with which he is held by everyone associated with this league". Koufax was voted as one of the four greatest living players by Major League Baseball fans, alongside Willie Mays, Henry Aaron, and Johnny Bench, as a part of the 2015 season's "Franchise Four" vote. Before the 2015 All-Star Game in Cincinnati, he threw the ceremonial first pitch to Bench from in front of the base of the mound. On May 27, 2010, Koufax was included amongst the group of prominent Jewish Americans honored at the White House reception for Jewish American Heritage Month. During his welcoming remarks, in reminiscence of Koufax's decision not to play on Yom Kippur, President Barack Obama remarked: "Sandy and I actually have something in common – we are both lefties. He can't pitch on Yom Kippur; I can't pitch." Obama directly acknowledged the high esteem in which Koufax is held within the Jewish community: "This is a pretty... distinguished group. We've got senators and representatives. We've got Supreme Court justices and successful entrepreneurs, rabbinical scholars, Olympic athletes – and Sandy Koufax." The mention of Koufax's name drew the loudest cheer in the room. That same year, he was one of the two main subjects of the film Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story, alongside Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg of the Detroit Tigers. Koufax agreed to sit down for a rare interview, remarking to Ira Berkow, the writer of the film: "It doesn't make sense if it's 'Jews and Baseball' and I'm not in it." ## Personal life Koufax has been described as being a secular Jew, with biographer Jane Leavy describing him as a "very Jewish being". His decision to not pitch on Yom Kippur in 1965, made out of respect for his heritage, was highly significant for Jewish-Americans. Other than Yom Kippur, there were other Jewish holidays when Koufax did not pitch, including Passover Seder and three times on Rosh Hashanah, one of which was Game 4 of the 1959 World Series. Koufax married Anne Widmark, daughter of actor Richard Widmark, in 1969; they divorced in 1982. His second marriage, to personal trainer Kimberly Francis, lasted from 1985 to 1998. Neither marriage produced children. He married his third wife, Jane Dee Clarke (née Purucker), in 2008. Koufax is the stepfather of Clarke's daughter from her previous marriage to artist John Clem Clarke and has two step-grandchildren. Koufax served as a member of the advisory board of the Baseball Assistance Team, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping former Major League, Minor League, and Negro league baseball players through financial and medical difficulties. In 2009, Koufax was listed amongst the clients who had invested with financier Bernie Madoff and was one of the victims of his Ponzi scheme. His close friend, Mets owner Fred Wilpon had recommended to Koufax that he invest with Madoff. Despite this, Koufax supported Wilpon and offered to testify on behalf of the Mets' ownership before a settlement averted a civil trial. He currently resides in Vero Beach, Florida. In his forties and fifties, Koufax was a marathon runner and exercise enthusiast. Since his twenties, he has remained an avid golfer. After retiring, he often entered amateur golf championships and still takes part in pro-am charity tournaments. Koufax is also a college basketball fan and regularly attends the NCAA Final Four championships. ## See also - Major League Baseball titles leaders - Major League Baseball Triple Crown - List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders - List of Major League Baseball annual strikeout leaders - List of Major League Baseball annual wins leaders - List of Major League Baseball career strikeout leaders - List of Major League Baseball career WHIP leaders - List of Major League Baseball career ERA leaders - List of Major League Baseball career shutout leaders - List of Major League Baseball no-hitters - List of Major League Baseball perfect games - List of Major League Baseball single-game strikeout leaders - List of Major League Baseball pitchers who have thrown an immaculate inning - List of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise - List of Major League Baseball retired numbers - List of baseball players who went directly to Major League Baseball - List of select Jewish baseball players
343,045	Hurricane Connie	1,170,103,263	Category 4 Atlantic hurricane in 1955	[ "1955 Atlantic hurricane season", "1955 natural disasters in the United States", "Articles containing video clips", "Cape Verde hurricanes", "Category 4 Atlantic hurricanes", "Hurricanes in Delaware", "Hurricanes in New England", "Hurricanes in North Carolina", "Retired Atlantic hurricanes" ]	Hurricane Connie was a Category 4 hurricane that contributed to significant flooding across the eastern United States in August 1955, just days before Hurricane Diane affected the same general area. Connie formed on August 3 from a tropical wave in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. It moved quickly west-northwestward, strengthening into a hurricane by August 4. Connie first posed a threat to the Lesser Antilles, ultimately passing about 105 mi (169 km) north of the island group. In the United States Virgin Islands, three people died due to the hurricane, and a few homes were destroyed. The outer rainbands produced hurricane-force wind gusts and intense precipitation, reaching 8.65 in (220 mm) in Puerto Rico. On the island, Connie destroyed 60 homes and caused crop damage. After affecting Puerto Rico, Connie reached maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (230 km/h), and a barometric pressure of 944 mbar (27.9 inHg), as observed by the Hurricane Hunters on August 7. The hurricane later weakened, slowed its forward motion, and turned to the north, striking North Carolina on August 12 as a Category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Connie was the first of three damaging tropical cyclones in the 1955 hurricane season to hit the state, along with Diane and Ione. The storm progressed inland after moving through the Chesapeake Bay region, and was later absorbed by a cold front over Lake Huron on August 15. Ahead of the storm, the United States Weather Bureau issued widespread hurricane warnings, spurring evacuations, flight cancelations, and beach closures. Connie produced strong winds, high tides, and heavy rainfall as it moved ashore, causing heavy crop damage and 27 deaths in North Carolina. Four people were killed in Washington, D.C. due to a traffic accident caused by slick roads. In Chesapeake Bay, Connie capsized a boat, killing 14 people and prompting a change in Coast Guard regulations. There were six deaths each in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and 14 deaths in New York, where record rainfall flooded houses and subways. At least 295,000 people nationwide lost electric power during the storm. Damage in the United States totaled around \$86 million (1955 USD). The rains from Connie contributed to flooding from Hurricane Diane that caused \$700 million in damage. The remnants of Connie killed three people in Ontario, and also destroyed a few houses and boats in the province. As a result of its impacts, including a death toll of 77, the name Connie was retired from the Atlantic hurricane naming list. ## Meteorological history A tropical wave developed into a tropical depression to the west of the Cape Verde islands on August 3, 1955, based on reports from two nearby ships. The depression moved quickly west-northwestward and intensified into Tropical Storm Connie. A Hurricane Hunters flight on August 4 reported a developing eye feature. Observations from the flight, as well as a nearby ship, suggested that Connie attained hurricane status on August 4. The hurricane continued to intensify as it approached the northern Lesser Antilles, passing about 105 mi (169 km) north of the island group on August 6. Later that day, the storm strengthened to major hurricane status, or a Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. After passing the Lesser Antilles, Connie turned more to the northwest as it rounded a large ridge. A Hurricane Hunters flight on August 7 observed an eye shaped like an inverted cone – larger at flight-level, and a diameter of 9 mi (14 km) at the surface. The plane also observed a minimum barometric pressure of 944 mbar (27.88 inHg), the lowest in association with the hurricane. Based on the observations, the Hurricane Research Division estimated maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (230 km/h), making Connie a Category 4 hurricane. The hurricane progressed northwestward, passing northeast of The Bahamas. The eye grew in size, and the combination of upwelling and cooler air resulted in weakening. Connie fell below major hurricane status on August 9. A building ridge to its northeast, as well as some interaction with developing Hurricane Diane to its southeast, caused Connie to move slower toward the west-northwest. On August 10, the hurricane turned to the north as it moved toward the southeast United States coast. On August 12, Connie restrengthened slightly, reaching a secondary peak intensity of 100 mph (160 km/h). The hurricane made landfall near Fort Macon State Park in North Carolina at that intensity around 15:00 UTC. Hurricane Connie weakened as it moved through eastern North Carolina. The storm approached the Atlantic coast near the North Carolina/Virginia border. After passing through the Hampton Roads area, Connie turned back to the north-northwest, steered by a strengthening upper-level trough and low, located over Illinois. On August 13, Connie fell below hurricane intensity as it moved through the Chesapeake Bay region. The track shifted to the northwest, and Connie moved across western Pennsylvania, into Lake Erie. While still a tropical storm, Connie moved across portions of Southwestern Ontario, Lake Huron, and Michigan. On August 15, an approaching cold front absorbed the dissipating storm. ## Preparations On August 5, Hurricane Connie began to become an apparent threat to the northeastern Caribbean Islands, with maximum winds in the storm reaching 125 mph (201 km/h). The National Weather Bureau issued hurricane warnings for Barbuda, Saba and Antigua. The Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico were placed on hurricane alert as warnings were possible later that day. Along the northern coast of Puerto Rico, the threat of Connie forced 40,000 people to evacuate their homes. After Connie affected Puerto Rico, a storm warning was issued for the northern coast of the Dominican Republic, and a hurricane warning was issued for the eastern Bahamas. While Connie was meandering in the western Atlantic Ocean, its potential track posed problems for forecasters, due to its slow movement near the southeast United States coastline. On August 7, a hurricane warning was issued from North Carolina to Norfolk, Virginia, with a hurricane alert issued farther north to New York City. The Weather Bureau later extended the hurricane warnings to Delaware Breakwater, with storm warnings farther northeast to Provincetown, Massachusetts. The alert for North Carolina was up for about three days until Connie moved inland. Ahead of the storm, the United States military flew its planes away from the coast to safer shelters further inland. Two people were killed when they crashed the Navy plane they were evacuating. Large Naval ships rode out the storm at sea, while smaller vessels anchored in Tangier. More than 100 merchant vessels from a dozen counties anchored in the waters of Hampton Roads, or while small boats were secured at port. The American Red Cross opened at least 79 shelters, and mobilized 41 officials with hurricane experience. The Coast Guard ordered four towns along beaches to evacuate, and overall about 14,000 people evacuated the coastline. About 2,000 people evacuated from flood-prone areas in New Bern, North Carolina. In Philadelphia, the Boy Scouts evacuated 800 scouts from Camp Delmont due to the threat of the hurricane. The threat of Connie also canceled a flight by President Dwight Eisenhower from Gettysburg to Washington, D.C., prompting him to travel instead by car. More than 300 residents evacuated in North Jersey. Beaches were closed in New Jersey and New York. An annual parade in Ocean City, New Jersey was postponed due to the storm. Dozens of flights in and out of the New York area were canceled due to weather conditions. The storm also prompted the Canadian Army to halt military exercises. ## Impact ### Caribbean As the hurricane passed north of the Lesser Antilles, the outer rainbands of Connie produced wind gusts as high as 104 mph (167 km/h) on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. On Anguilla, sustained winds reached 51 mph (82 km/h). Wind gusts reached 46 mph (74 km/h) in Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, although there were estimates of 80 mph (130 km/h) wind gusts on Saint Thomas. The outer rainbands of Connie also produced heavy rainfall in the northeastern Caribbean. The highest precipitation total in Puerto Rico was 8.65 in (220 mm) along the lower Río Blanco, of which 7.50 in (191 mm) fell in one day. Rainfall reached 7.04 in (179 mm) in Charlotte Amalie on Saint Thomas. Two people drowned on the island, and one person was electrocuted due to Connie's passage. The hurricane also destroyed a few shacks and boats on Saint Thomas. In Puerto Rico, high winds and waves destroyed 60 poorly-built houses. Connie also damaged crops and utilities in Puerto Rico. Later, San Salvador Island in the Bahamas reported winds of 24 mph (39 km/h). ### United States and Canada Hurricane Connie produced hurricane-force winds in North Carolina and Virginia. Across the Northeastern United States, many areas were in drought conditions before the storm struck. Unusually moist air caused above normal air and water temperatures, resulting in heavy rainfall across the eastern United States. Storm-related rainfall spread from the South Carolina, northeast to Maine, and as far west as Michigan. Record rainfall occurred in Philadelphia and New York City, and the highest precipitation related to Connie was 13.24 in (336 mm) at Fort Schuyler in New York.Connie's rains preceded additional rainfall from Hurricane Diane just four days later, which together caused widespread flooding. Along Connie's western periphery, the rainbands spawned at least six tornadoes, of which five in South Carolina and one in North Carolina. Damage from Connie in the United States was estimated at \$86,065,000, mostly in North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland. When Connie struck North Carolina, it produced sustained winds of 72 mph (116 km/h) in Morehead City, with gusts to 83 mph (134 km/h). Wind gusts near where the hurricane moved ashore reached 100 mph (160 km/h), although it was uncertain whether the gust was estimated or measured. Frying Pan Shoals, located offshore, reported a gust of 92 mph (148 km/h). The hurricane produced tides up to 8 ft (2.4 m) above normal while moving slowly ashore, which resulted in significant beach erosion. Tides were higher at Swansboro, North Carolina than during Hurricane Hazel the previous October, and many piers that were rebuilt after Hazel were damaged or again destroyed by Connie. The storm surge flooded low-lying portions of Wilmington. High waves in advance of the storm flooded coastal roads along the Outer Banks. Rainfall amounts of over 10 in (250 mm) in the area west of where Connie made landfall. Stream flooding occurred as far inland as Raleigh, but was most significant near the coast. Along the Pamlico River in Washington, National Guardsmen were ordered to help about 1,000 people evacuate during the storm. Outer rainbands knocked out power lines in coastal North Carolina. Flooding-induced rainfall closed U.S. Route 17 near New Bern. Throughout North Carolina, the hurricane caused about \$40 million in damage, of which about 75% was from crop damage. There were 27 deaths in the state related to Connie, including traffic deaths, drownings, people in damaged buildings, and electrocutions. In South Carolina to the south of the center, the hurricane destroyed 40 buildings in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Connie also damaged fishing piers, breakwaters, and housing shingles. Newspapers considered the damage "mild" compared to that from Hazel the previous year. As Connie progressed northward, it continued to drop significant amounts of precipitation. Totals of over 10 in (250 mm) were reported on both sides of Chesapeake Bay, in Pennsylvania, and in southeastern New York. Rainfall in Richmond, Virginia totaled 8.79 in (223 mm) on August 12, breaking the day's precipitation record. Severe river flooding occurred in Virginia, from the coast inland to Richmond. Floods washed out a portion of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad near Lankford, and covered portions of five area highways, including U.S. 1 and U.S. 301. The storm downed trees and caused scattered power outages for at least 5,000 people in the state. Ten river gauges in Virginia, as well as sixteen in neighboring Maryland, reached the highest stage on record. More than 100 traffic accidents occurred in Washington D.C. due to slick roads; one accident killed four people, after a car was sideswiped and knocked into a swollen creek where the occupants drowned. The combination of strong winds and high waves wrecked a 125 ft (38 m) schooner in the Chesapeake Bay named the Levin J. Marvel. The 64-year old boat was described as "unseaworthy" when it left from Annapolis, Maryland, and capsized near Fairhaven. Of the 23 passengers and four crew members, 14 people drowned, making it "one of the worst maritime calamities in the history of Tidewater Maryland", as described by The Baltimore Sun. The other passengers were later rescued after holding onto wreckage. Farther from the storm's immediate landfall, Connie's precipitation was beneficial Delaware due to prior drought conditions. Wind gusts in the state reached 60 mph (97 km/h) on a control tower at the New Castle County Airport. The storm spawned a waterspout in Bethany Beach, which knocked off the roofs of a dozen homes, caused a six-hour power outage, and caused a minor injury when a teenager was flown 60 ft (18 m). The rains caused flooding that was described as "inconsequential" by the United States Geological Survey, due to preceding drought conditions. There were six storm deaths in New Jersey – one by drowning, one by electrocution, and four in traffic accidents. The winds and rains knocked down trees and power lines, leaving about 180,000 people without power, and about 20,000 people without phone service. Nearly every police and fire department in Bergen County, along with over 500 electricians, responded to the outages. Manville declared a state of emergency that lasted for 19.5 hours, after three nearby rivers exceeded their banks. A nun in Tenafly required rescue from a trapped elevator during a power outage. Flooding closed portions of the White Horse Pike and other roads near Camden, causing traffic jams. There were also six deaths in neighboring Pennsylvania – four due to traffic accidents, and two people in their cars swept away by floods. Rainfall reached 9 in (230 mm) in southeastern Pennsylvania, with 4.83 in (123 mm) recorded in Philadelphia over a 24-hour period; it was the city's highest daily rainfall in 57 years. The deluge exceeded the capacity of sewers and creeks, closed roads, and entered the basements of homes, forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate. Three days' of rainfall caused creeks to rise in the Lehigh Valley. About 10,000 people lost power in Pennsylvania, but service was quickly restored. U.S. Marines evacuated a group of 63 Girl Scouts from Camp Helena near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, after floods from a nearby creek threatened the group. A boy required rescue from the flooded Darby Creek. Heavy rainfall, totaling over 10 in (250 mm) affected southeastern New York, causing heavy damage, and killing 11 people in the New York metropolitan area, and three people upstate. Hurricane Connie brought the heaviest rain seen in New York City in over 50 years, totaling 5.32 in (135 mm) within a 20-hour span. Large areas of the city were flooded, inundating subways and thousands of houses. About 100,000 people lost power in the city. High winds and tides from the storm cancelled ferry service, and forced LaGuardia Airport to temporarily shut down after flooding reached 1 ft (0.30 m) deep. Flooding washed out a portion of the Delaware and Hudson Railway in the Helderberg Mountains, causing two trains to derail; there were no injuries. In Monroe and Wayne counties, the storm damaged the peach and apple crops. The Chenango County Fair closed early due to the storms' rains. In coastal Connecticut, the rainfall from Connie increased levels along streams, but there was little damage. When the remnants of Connie entered Ontario on August 14, it continued to produce winds of up to 46 mph (74 km/h), and the storm dropped 2.56 in (65 mm) of rainfall near the Great Lakes. In Burlington, 27 boats were destroyed, and one fisherman drowned in Lake Erie after his boat sank during the storm. Two other people drowned in the province. Connie destroyed six houses and damaged several others due to high waves. The storm also caused power outages and damage to the tobacco crop. Late in the storm's path through the United States, Connie produced wind gusts of 65 mph (105 km/h) along Lake Huron in Michigan, causing high waves that damaged or sank many small boats. Damage in Michigan was estimated at \$150,000. ## Aftermath Flooding caused by Connie generally did not attract much media attention; however, the floods were important in setting the conditions for later significant flooding across the Northeastern United States. Just five days after Connie struck North Carolina, Hurricane Diane affected the same area, but instead of continuing to the northwest it turned to the northeast. Diane produced further rainfall in already wet areas from Connie. Damage from Diane totaled at least \$700 million, and six states were declared federal disaster areas from the combined hurricanes' impact; this allowed federal assistance for the affected areas. Immediately after the storm, the U.S. Small Business Administration authorized low-interest loans for homes and businesses affected by Connie. The loss of the Levin J. Marvel during the hurricane prompted the United States Congress to pass a law in 1956, which allowed the Coast Guard to inspect all vessels with more than six passengers; the previous law only allowed inspections for boats of more than 700 tons, much higher than the 183 tons that the Marvel displaced. The inexperienced captain was charged with negligence and manslaughter and stood trial before the United States District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore. Those charges carried a prison term of 11 years. Judge Robert Dorsey Watkins, however, acquitted him of the manslaughter charge, instead sentencing him to one-year probation for negligence. Due to its destructive impact, the name Connie was retired from the Atlantic hurricane naming list. ## See also - List of North Carolina hurricanes (1950–1979) - 1933 Chesapeake–Potomac hurricane – one of the most damaging hurricanes in the Mid-Atlantic - Hurricane Isabel – a hurricane in 2003 that also struck North Carolina and also moved over the Great Lakes
14,520,703	2007 ACC Championship Game	1,171,383,734	null	[ "2007 Atlantic Coast Conference football season", "2007 in sports in Florida", "ACC Championship Game", "Boston College Eagles football games", "December 2007 sports events in the United States", "Virginia Tech Hokies football games" ]	The 2007 Dr. Pepper ACC Championship Game featured the Boston College Eagles and the Virginia Tech Hokies in a regular-season college football game that determined the conference's champion for the 2007 season. Virginia Tech defeated Boston College 30–16 to win the ACC football championship. The game, held at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, was a rematch of a regular-season game that took place on October 25, in Blacksburg, Virginia. In that game, Boston College, courtesy of a late-game comeback by quarterback Matt Ryan, won 14–10. Following the loss, Virginia Tech won five straight games to win the Coastal Division of the ACC, while Boston College stumbled, losing two games before defeating the Clemson Tigers to win the Atlantic Division and representation in the Championship Game. Most pre-game media coverage of the event cast the game as an opportunity for Virginia Tech to avenge its earlier loss. In addition, the winner of the game would be awarded an automatic bid to the Bowl Championship Series 2008 Orange Bowl game in Miami, Florida on January 3, 2008. Despite Boston College's earlier win over Virginia Tech, spread bettors favored Virginia Tech by five points. In the opening quarter of the game, the Eagles took a 7–0 lead on a 51-yard fumble return for a touchdown. The Eagles' offense dominated the first half of the game statistically, but failed to add to its early lead until the second quarter, when a field goal made it 10–0. Virginia Tech answered with a touchdown of their own, but Boston College responded with a seven-play, 74-yard touchdown drive of its own. Then came perhaps the most pivotal play of the game. During the extra point kick following the Boston College touchdown, Virginia Tech's Duane Brown blocked the kick, which was caught by the Hokies' cornerback Brandon Flowers, who returned it 75 yards for a defensive two-point conversion. The play changed the momentum of the game. Virginia Tech added a tying touchdown before halftime, and after a scoreless third quarter, two Matt Ryan interceptions resulted in 14 points for Virginia Tech and a 30–16 Virginia Tech win. With the victory, the Hokies earned their second Atlantic Coast Conference football championship in four years and their first Orange Bowl bid since 1996. ## Background The ACC Championship Game matches the winner of the Coastal and Atlantic Divisions of the Atlantic Coast Conference. A conference championship game was added in 2005, as a result of the league's expansion the previous year, adding former Big East members Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College. With the addition of Boston College, the ACC consisted of 12 teams, allowing it to hold a conference championship game under NCAA rules. Florida State defeated Virginia Tech, 27–22 in the first ACC Championship game. The following year, the game, held in Jacksonville, Florida, pitted Wake Forest against Georgia Tech, with Wake Forest winning 9–6. Before the 2007 season began, most sports writers and pollsters predicted Florida State would win the Atlantic Division while Virginia Tech would win the Coastal Division, setting up a rematch of the 2005 ACC Championship Game. In October, Florida State lost back-to-back ACC conference games to Wake Forest and Miami, eliminating them from contention for their division title. Boston College, which had finished second in the preseason Atlantic Division poll, was ranked No. 2 in the country after Florida State's loss to Miami. Virginia Tech, which suffered a 48–7 defeat at the hands of then-No. 2 LSU, nevertheless remained at the top of the Coastal Division standings as the Eagles passed the Seminoles for the Atlantic Division lead. On October 25, Boston College traveled to Blacksburg, Virginia, home of Virginia Tech, for a Thursday night game broadcast on ESPN. In heavy rain, Virginia Tech's defense dominated for most of the game. As time ran down, however, Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan orchestrated two late-game touchdown drives, scoring 14 points in the final 2 minutes to win 14–10. The victory seemingly sealed Boston College's route to a national championship game, while the loss potentially jeopardized Virginia Tech's chances of being selected to play in the ACC Championship Game. Over the next two weeks, however, Boston College was upset by Florida State and Maryland. The Eagles rallied to win their final two games—against Miami and Clemson—to clinch the division title. Virginia Tech, meanwhile, was undefeated through the remainder of its schedule, including a division-clinching win over its archrival, Virginia. This meant the ACC Championship Game in Jacksonville would be a rematch between these two division champions. ## Pre-game buildup In the weeks leading up to the game, there was much media discussion of the future site of the game due to Jacksonville's expiring contract to host the ACC Championship. The media also discussed whether Virginia Tech would be out for revenge against Boston College after its last-second defeat in Blacksburg on October 25. Despite its previous loss, spread bettors favored Virginia Tech to win the game, with most favoring the Hokies by 4.5–5 points. The game was the 15th contest between Boston College and Virginia Tech and was their second of the 2007 season. The first meeting, which took place in 1993 in the Big East conference, resulted in a 48–34 Boston College win. Between 1993 and 2003, Boston College and Virginia Tech played annually as part of their conference schedules. The teams did not meet in 2004 following Virginia Tech's move to the Atlantic Coast Conference. When Boston College followed in 2005, the schools resumed meeting during the regular season, playing in 2005, 2006, and 2007. ### Off-field issues Following the 2006 ACC Championship Game, the Gator Bowl Association, which administered the ACC Championship Game during its first two years of existence, was awarded a one-year extension to its two-year contract to host the game. The 2006 game suffered from poor attendance, resulting in over \$1 million in losses for the Gator Bowl Association. In the off-season, the Gator Bowl Association declared that if sales did not improve for the 2007 ACC Championship game, the game's Jacksonville future would be in jeopardy. Attendance for the 2006 game was low due to high travel costs stemming from Jacksonville's distance from the participating schools, and the 2007 participants—Boston College and Virginia Tech—faced the same problem. With Jacksonville's future as host in doubt, representatives from Charlotte, North Carolina, Tampa, Florida, and Jacksonville visited the ACC offices to lobby to host the 2008 game. Orlando, Florida, which had been an early contender to host the 2008 game, was eliminated from consideration before the meetings took place. As kickoff drew closer, the Gator Bowl Association expressed displeasure with the poor ticket sales, saying nearly 20,000 tickets remained unsold as of the week of the game, and that if it was not a sellout the game would likely not remain in Jacksonville. ### Offensive matchups Media attention was also directed at the teams' offensive capabilities. Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year in the week leading up to the game. In the first half of the 2007 season, Ryan had been prominently mentioned in candidate lists for the Heisman Trophy, college football's highest individual award. Although Ryan's late-game comeback in their previous game against Virginia Tech had made him a front-runner, the team's two subsequent losses to unranked teams dropped him from contention for the Heisman. Excellent performances in a division-clinching win at Clemson and against Miami seemed to return Ryan to Heisman-candidate form, however, and heading into the ACC Championship Game, Ryan appeared to be the biggest offensive threat for Boston College. Virginia Tech's offense was led by an unusual two-quarterback system, as junior Sean Glennon shared time with freshman Tyrod Taylor. While Glennon proved to be a better pocket passer, Taylor's quickness enabled him to scramble out of trouble and gain positive yardage even when no open receivers were available for passes. Until the final game of the season, either Taylor or Glennon was hampered by injury and limited the two-quarterback system's effectiveness. Although the two-quarterback system proved effective against Virginia, there were still questions about how well such an unusual setup would work in the ACC Championship Game. On the ground, Taylor's offensive scrambling, while effective, was not Virginia Tech's primary rushing weapon. Running back Brandon Ore, Virginia Tech's starter at the position, would need to have a good game, analysts predicted, if the Hokies wanted to win the game. Ore, who suffered several injuries during the 2006 season, failed to produce meaningful offensive yardage until late in the season, disappointing many fans who hoped he would repeat his excellent 2006 performance on the field. With a 146-yard performance against Virginia in the final game of the regular season, Ore seemed to have regained his 2006 form and promised success in the ACC Championship Game. The Boston College ground offense was led by running back Andre Callender, who had perhaps his biggest game of the year during the division-clinching match against Clemson two weeks earlier. In that game, Callender finished with 92 receiving yards and 75 rushing yards. Due to the success of Matt Ryan's passing attack, however, Callender was used mostly as a backfield receiver and was the team's leading receiver statistically during the 2007 season. In the regular season, Callender amassed 905 yards rushing, 613 yards receiving, and 13 total touchdowns. Callender's normal backup, running back A.J. Brooks, was suspended for the ACC Championship Game. ### Defensive matchups Virginia Tech's defense was considered stronger than that of Boston College. For the ACC Championship Game, Virginia Tech returned senior linebacker Vince Hall to the starting lineup. Hall had sat out four straight games, including the previous Boston College match, after suffering a broken forearm and wrist. ESPN named Hall and Xavier Adibi, Tech's other senior linebacker, the "best linebacker duo in the country". On Virginia Tech's defensive secondary, Brandon Flowers, one of Tech's starting cornerbacks, was a second-team All-ACC defensive selection and had five interceptions in the season. Assisting Flowers would be Victor "Macho" Harris, who had also netted five interceptions during the regular season. During the 2007 season, Sports Illustrated called the two "maybe the finest cornerback duo in America." At the end of the regular season, Boston College was ranked 26th nationally in total defense, and 2nd nationally in run defense. Its pass defense, however, was ranked 106th in the country, and since Boston College was without senior cornerback DeJuan Tribble, who was recovering from a sprained knee ligament, it was expected that the Eagles' linebackers would have to play a very good game to stop Virginia Tech's passing offense. Jo-Lonn Dunbar, who had been named to the preseason watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy (awarded to the top defensive player in the country) was expected to fill the gaps and stop both rushing and passing elements of Virginia Tech's offense. In addition, safety Jamie Silva would have to play a strong game to support the Boston College cornerback replacing the injured Tribble. Silva, an All-ACC defensive selection, led the team with five interceptions and was very good in moving up to stop the run as well. On the defensive line, defensive end Nick Larkin was a quarterfinalist for the Lott Trophy, an award given to the defensive player with the most "defensive impact" nationally. ## Game summary The 2007 ACC Championship Game kicked off at 13:10 EST in Jacksonville, Florida. At kickoff, the weather was partly cloudy, with winds from the northeast at 18 miles per hour (29 km/h). The air temperature was 69 °F (21 °C). The official attendance estimate was 53,212, but by most accounts the actual attendance was far lower. Virginia Tech fans made up most of the crowd, and fewer than 5,000 Boston College fans were present at the game. The game was broadcast on ABC and netted a television rating of 4.1, placing it behind the SEC Championship Game and the Big 12 Championship Game, which earned ratings of 5.9 and 6.6, respectively. The Marching Virginians, Virginia Tech's marching band, and the "Screaming Eagles", the Boston College Marching Band, played the national anthem before the game. The pre-game coin toss involved two members of the Wounded Warrior Project, a program that assists the physical rehabilitation of wounded American combat veterans returning to the United States from fighting overseas. One soldier from Virginia and another from Massachusetts were chosen to throw the ceremonial coin that would determine the game's starting possession. Supervising the coin toss was referee Jack Childress, who had also officiated the inaugural ACC Championship Game. ### First quarter Virginia Tech won the opening coin toss and deferred its option to the second half. Boston College received the opening kickoff, which was downed in the end zone for a touchback. Starting at their own 20-yard line, the Eagles advanced down the field as quarterback Matt Ryan completed several passes and running back Andre Callender contributed several long runs. A pass interference call against Virginia Tech, coupled with a 10-yard run by Callender, put Boston College at the Virginia Tech 26-yard line. After three consecutive incomplete passes, Eagles kicker Steve Aponavicius attempted a 36-yard field goal. During the field goal, Virginia Tech special teams player Duane Brown broke through the Eagles' line and blocked the kick, giving Virginia Tech possession of the ball. Virginia Tech's offense, led by quarterback Sean Glennon, began their first possession at their own 37-yard line. However, a sack, a tackle for loss, and an incomplete pass denied the Hokies' offense positive yardage and they were forced to punt. Tech punter Brent Bowden managed a 54-yard kick, which forced the Eagles to start at their own 14-yard line, but three big plays of 16, 19, and 19 yards drove the Eagles deep into Virginia Tech territory. As before, however, Virginia Tech's defense stiffened and Boston College was forced into a fourth down. Instead of attempting a long field goal, the Eagles instead attempted to convert the fourth down but were foiled by an incomplete pass. On the Hokies' second offensive possession, quarterback Tyrod Taylor took the field in place of Sean Glennon. Two successful passes and two short runs resulted in two first downs and Virginia Tech advanced the ball across the 50-yard line and into Boston College territory. As Taylor attempted to scramble for yet another short run, however, he was tackled behind the line of scrimmage and fumbled the ball. The loose ball was scooped up by Boston College defender Jamie Silva, who returned it 51 yards for a touchdown. The touchdown and subsequent extra point were the first points of the game and gave Boston College a 7–0 lead with 4 minutes remaining in the quarter. After the kickoff, Virginia Tech's offense again failed to advance the ball. After a three-and-out, the Hokies again punted. The ball traveled 44 yards, forcing the Eagles to start at their own 21-yard line. As the quarter came to a close, the Eagles drove the ball deep into Virginia Tech territory. At the end of the first quarter, Boston College led 7–0. ### Second quarter At the beginning of the second quarter, the Hokies' defense began to stiffen. Aided by a 10-yard holding penalty against the Eagles, Matt Ryan was forced to complete a 14-yard pass on 4th-and-9 to earn a first down and keep the drive alive. Three incomplete passes followed, however, and the Eagles again settled for a field goal attempt. This time, the 37-yard kick sailed through the uprights, giving Boston College a 10–0 lead with 11:20 remaining in the first half. Virginia Tech's first offensive drive of the second quarter began on an auspicious note as quarterback Sean Glennon completed a 16-yard pass to wide receiver Josh Morgan. Following the play, a Boston College player committed a personal foul, which added 15 yards to the end of the pass. Another long pass by Glennon, coupled with yet another Boston College penalty, put Virginia Tech deep into the red zone, and the Hokies scored on a 5-yard touchdown pass to Morgan. With 8:15 remaining in the first half, Virginia Tech narrowed Boston College's lead to just three points. On the ensuing possession, Boston College needed only seven plays and just under three minutes to travel 74 yards. The drive culminated in a 14-yard quarterback scramble for a touchdown. Duane Brown, who had blocked the first Boston College field goal attempt, again charged through the Boston College offensive line and blocked the extra point attempt. This time, the ball bounced into the hands of Virginia Tech's Brandon Flowers, who returned it 75 yards for a defensive two-point conversion. The play kept Boston College's lead within a single touchdown and extra point. With 5:27 remaining in the half, the score was now 16–9 in favor of Boston College. Tech quarterback Sean Glennon's first pass of the new possession, long throw downfield, was intercepted by Boston College defender Jamie Silva. The length of the pass meant Boston College did not have good field position following the turnover. After earning a quick first down, the Eagles were stopped and forced to punt. With 2:13 remaining before halftime, the Hokies had one more offensive opportunity. Beginning at their own 20-yard line, the Virginia Tech offense marched down the field. Running back Branden Ore ran 11 yards for a first down, and two long passes from Sean Glennon to wide receiver Eddie Royal put the Hokies into scoring position. After failing to gain first downs with short runs, Virginia Tech was forced to use its timeouts to stop the clock and the first half from ending before they had a chance to score. On a 3rd-and-7 from the Boston College 13-yard line, Glennon finally connected with wide receiver Josh Hyman, who crossed into the end zone for a touchdown. The extra point tied the game, 16–16. With no time left to mount an answering drive, Boston College received the kickoff and let time run out. Heading into halftime, the two teams were tied, 16–16. ### Third quarter Because they deferred their selection to the second half during the opening coin toss, Virginia Tech received the ball to begin the half. The Hokies continued to rotate between quarterbacks Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor during the possession, and picked up two first downs, one through the air and the other on the ground. After Glennon was sacked at the 50-yard line, however, the drive sputtered and the Hokies were forced to punt the ball. Boston College, in their first possession of the second half, fared even worse than Virginia Tech did. Two incomplete passes and a 5-yard delay of game penalty forced Boston College into a three-and-out possession that resulted in a punt. On its second possession, Virginia Tech had a three-and-out drive, thanks in part to an 11-yard sack of Sean Glennon by Boston College's Kevin Atkins. After receiving the punt, Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan connected on a 31-yard pass to wide receiver Brandon Robinson. As before, however, the offense stalled. On 4th-and-1 from the Virginia Tech 30-yard line, Ryan attempted a pass that fell incomplete, turning the ball over on downs. As a result of pressure applied by the Boston College defense, the Hokies continued to have difficulty moving the ball. The Hokies were forced to punt again, and Brent Bowden's 50-yard punt stuck the Eagles deep in their own territory. The drive began with a five-yard penalty against Boston College and culminated two plays later in a six-yard loss on a sack of Matt Ryan by Hokie defender Barry Booker. Boston College punted, but the kick by Johnny Ayers traveled just 34 yards before sailing out of bounds. Virginia Tech had good starting field position at their own 44-yard line. One quick first down later, the clock ran out on the third quarter. As neither team had scored in the quarter, the score remained tied at 16–16. ### Fourth quarter Despite starting almost at midfield, the offensive drive that began at the end of the third quarter failed to reach field goal range, and the Hokies were forced to punt. Boston College's offense fared no better, however, and punted after a three-and-out possession. The ball was downed at the Virginia Tech 16-yard line, and the Hokies began their first full offensive possession of the fourth quarter. After an incomplete pass from quarterback Tyrod Taylor, the Hokies got their first big offensive break of the second half. On a designed play, Taylor scrambled for 31 yards, the largest play in the game for the Hokies. Two successful runs by running back Branden Ore followed, earning the Hokies 23 more yards and pushing the offense deep into Boston College territory. A false-start penalty set the Hokie offense back, but on the next play, quarterback Sean Glennon connected with wide receiver Eddie Royal on a 24-yard strike for a touchdown. The touchdown and extra point were the first points of the second half and gave Virginia Tech a 23–16 lead with 6:30 remaining in the game. Boston College began its second possession of the fourth quarter knowing it had to score a touchdown to tie the game. Quarterback Matt Ryan had his best success of the day, connecting on seven of ten passes during the drive and picking up 58 yards. All the Eagles' yardage on the drive came through the air, and with 2:25 remaining, the Eagles found themselves at the Virginia Tech 14-yard line. Facing a fourth down and needing four yards for a first down, Matt Ryan fell back to attempt a pass. The throw was intercepted by Virginia Tech's Vince Hall. Starting at its own 10-yard line, Virginia Tech ran three straight running plays in an effort to run the clock down and prevent Boston College from having enough time to conduct another offensive drive. After the third run was stopped for no gain, however, the Hokies were forced to punt the ball. Boston College now had 28 seconds to score a touchdown and either tie the game with an extra point or win it with a two-point conversion. The Boston College drive began on its own 35-yard line. With little time remaining, Boston College would have to complete one or more Hail Mary passes. Although the odds of completing one such pass, let alone several, were very low, many Virginia Tech fans remained worried, as Boston College had previously beaten the Hokies in similar circumstances earlier in the season. Matt Ryan's first two passes fell incomplete, and his third was intercepted by Virginia Tech's Xavier Adibi and returned 40 yards for a Virginia Tech touchdown. The score came with 11 seconds remaining and gave Virginia Tech its final lead, 30–16. With no chance to win, Boston College elected to let the clock run out after receiving the kickoff. Virginia Tech won the 2007 ACC Championship, 30–16. ## Final statistics Virginia Tech quarterback Sean Glennon was named the game's Most Valuable Player. Glennon finished the game having completed 18 of his 27 passes, earning 174 passing yards, three touchdowns (18 points), and one interception. Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan had finished 33 of 52 for 305 yards and two interceptions, no passing touchdowns, and one rushing touchdown. Each team finished with two turnovers—Virginia Tech fumbled the ball once and threw one interception, while Boston College's offense threw two. Each team earned seven points off of turnovers, and Virginia Tech blocked two kicks. The two blocked kicks effectively netted five points for Virginia Tech, as the blocked field goal prevented Boston College from scoring three points, and the other blocked kick was returned 75 yards for a rare defensive two-point conversion. The two blocked kicks by Virginia Tech were the first and second blocked kicks in ACC Championship Game history, and Boston College's fumble return for a touchdown was the first fumble recovery and defensive touchdown in ACC Championship Game history. ### Virginia Tech statistical recap Two-thirds of Virginia Tech's 300 total offensive yardage came via passes from quarterbacks Sean Glennon (174 yards) and Tyrod Taylor (28 yards). Glennon's three passing touchdowns tied an ACC Championship Game record set by former Virginia Tech quarterback Marcus Vick in 2005. Glennon also set the ACC Championship Game record for pass completion percentage (66.7%) by completing 18 of his 27 passes. Taylor, meanwhile, set ACC Championship Game records for longest run and longest quarterback run with a 31-yard scramble in the second quarter that helped set up the tying touchdown for Virginia Tech. Taylor finished the game with 36 rushing yards, the third-most of any player in the game. On the ground, Taylor's performance was supplemented by Tech running back Branden Ore, who led all rushers with 55 yards on 19 rushes. Fourteen of Ore's 55 yards came on a single play halfway through the fourth quarter when the Boston College's defensive line gave way, admitting Tech's runner into the defensive secondary. The run helped set up Virginia Tech's go-ahead touchdown later in the fourth quarter. Capping Tech's ground game were complementary performances by Kenny Lewis and Sean Glennon, each of whom earned fewer than 10 yards, but picked up first downs on two plays. Leading all Tech receivers was Josh Morgan, who caught eight passes for 55 yards and a touchdown. Eddie Royal also had an excellent game for the Hokies, catching two long passes of 18 yards and 11 yards on subsequent plays in the second quarter. Royal's 2 catches drove the Hokies deep into Boston College territory, setting up a 13-yard touchdown pass to Josh Hyman that tied the game at halftime. Royal's biggest play, however, came halfway through the fourth quarter when he caught the go-ahead touchdown pass from Sean Glennon. The 24-yard reception was Royal's longest catch of the day, and the touchdown gave the Hokies a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the game. Though its offense performed well, it was Virginia Tech's special teams and defense that earned it the win. Duane Brown's twin blocked kicks were the first blocks recorded in ACC Championship Game history and were the 116th and 117th blocked kicks recorded at Virginia Tech under head coach Frank Beamer. In addition to the blocks, Tech special teams excelled on punts and kickoffs. Tech punter Brent Bowden finished the day with seven punts for a total of 324 yards. A 54-yard kick in the first quarter was the fourth-longest punt in ACC Championship Game history. On defense, linebacker Vince Hall, in his second game after recovering from a broken forearm, led all defensive players with 11 tackles. Hall also recorded an interception in the late stages of the fourth quarter that allowed Virginia Tech to run down the clock and force Boston College into a hasty offense. Tied for third overall was Tech's Xavier Adibi, who recorded nine tackles (one for loss) and caught the game-ending interception. Adibi returned the interception 40 yards for a defensive touchdown that sealed the victory for the Hokies. ### Boston College statistical recap Though Boston College lost the game on the scoreboard, it won almost every statistical category. Quarterback Matt Ryan outperformed both Hokie quarterbacks combined in passing yardage, throwing for 305 yards. Ryan was extremely accurate through the air in the fourth quarter, throwing eight straight complete passes, an ACC Championship Game record. Ryan also was surprisingly successful on the ground, rushing for Boston College's touchdown of the game—a 14-yard sprint in the second quarter that put Boston College ahead 16–7. In the first half, the Eagles offense recorded 20 first downs. In the second half, it managed just four first downs, three of which came in one drive in the fourth quarter. As a result of second-half pressure from Virginia Tech, Ryan was forced into two late-game interceptions, including one that was returned for a Virginia Tech defensive touchdown. Ryan finished the game with 35 rushing yards, just one short of Hokie quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who had been highly promoted as a runner heading into the game. Ryan finished fourth among all rushers, and Eagle running back Andre Callender, the sole running back on the Eagles' roster, finished second, rushing for 51 yards in the game. Callender game-long 11-yard run helped set up the Eagles for a field goal attempt early in the second quarter. Callender's true success, however, was in the passing game, where he accrued 92 yards, putting him first among all receivers in the game. Callender's 13 catches were an ACC Championship Game record and were the fourth-highest total for a receiver in any game in ACC history. Wide receiver Kevin Challenger finished the game with 4 catches for 45 yards, while the Eagles' Rich Gunnell finished the game with 54 yards. Surprisingly for the number of receiving yards recorded by the Eagles in the game, no Boston College receiver caught a touchdown. Boston College punter Johnny Ayres kicked four punts a total of 159 yards, including one long kick that traveled 55 yards and set the mark for the third-longest punt in ACC Championship Game history. Kicker Steve Aponavicius successfully kicked a 37-yard field goal early in the second quarter. but after his second kick was blocked, Boston College head coach Jeff Jagodzinski seemed reluctant to try long field goals and instead sent in the offense to attempt to convert the fourth down. Out of four tries, only one fourth down was converted. On defense, Boston College had more success than predicted by pre-game coverage. Jamie Silva's fumble return for a touchdown was the first defensive score in ACC Championship Game history. Silva finished the game with five tackles (one for loss), one interception, the forced fumble, and the defensive touchdown. DeLeon Gause, meanwhile, was the Eagles' leading tackler, recording 10 stops including one tackle for loss. Altogether, the Eagles recorded four sacks and nine tackles for loss, holding the Hokie offense in check for most of the game. ## Post-game effects Virginia Tech's victory in the ACC Championship Game had far-reaching sporting consequences for the 2007–2008 college football bowl season and in the future site of the ACC Championship Game. The 2007 game injected approximately \$10 million into the Jacksonville economy. Thousands of hotel rooms were filled by fans traveling to the game, and the impact they created was larger than that of the previous year's game, which featured teams that had shorter distances to travel and whose fans had generated less demand for overnight accommodation. ### 2008 ACC Championship Game After poor attendance in the ACC Championship Game at Jacksonville for the second straight year, ACC officials and representatives of the conference's member schools elected not to extend the Gator Bowl Association's contract to host the game. On December 12, the ACC announced that Tampa, Florida would host the game in 2008 and 2009 and Charlotte, North Carolina would host the game in 2010 and 2011. The cities were chosen based on bids presented to the ACC and its member schools. Each city requested and was granted a two-year contract, locking the ACC into the locations well in advance of the actual games. Tampa was chosen as the site of the 2008 game because Charlotte was scheduled to hold the annual convention of the Association for Career and Technical Education at the same time as the game, and adequate hotel space would not be ready in time for the two events. ### Bowl effects With its win, Virginia Tech clinched an automatic bid to the 2008 Orange Bowl. This caused ripple effects in the bowl destinations for virtually every bowl-eligible ACC team. In the 2007 season, the ACC had guaranteed tie-ins with eight bowl games. The ACC's representatives to these bowls were picked in a hierarchical system that allowed the Chick-fil-A Bowl to have the first selection after the Orange Bowl's automatic pick of the winner of the ACC Championship Game. Following the Chick-fil-A Bowl were the Gator Bowl, Champs Sports Bowl, Music City Bowl, Meineke Car Care Bowl, Emerald Bowl, and Humanitarian Bowl, in that order. The ACC's agreement with the bowls dictated that the bowls would select the highest-ranking ACC team left after the bowls with higher selections made their pick. Bowls would be allowed to skip the highest remaining team only if the next team was within one conference win of the highest remaining team. Therefore, a bowl could select a 5–3 team over a 6–2 team, but could not select a 4–4 team over a 6–2 team. With Virginia Tech earning an automatic bid to the Orange Bowl, the Chick-fil-A Bowl had the first pick of the remaining ACC teams. Boston College, by virtue of its loss in the ACC Championship Game, was the highest remaining team, but Chick-fil-A Bowl representatives instead chose to invite Clemson, which had finished behind Boston College in the Atlantic Division standings. In making their decision, Chick-fil-A Bowl representatives cited Boston College's poor attendance at the ACC Championship Game in Jacksonville. The Gator Bowl, which is also held in Jacksonville, was reluctant to choose a team that had participated in the ACC Championship Game out of fear that the team's fans would be unwilling to return to Jacksonville so quickly. The Gator Bowl Association requested and received a waiver from the league's strict bowl selection rules and selected Virginia over Boston College. The Champs Sports Bowl was thus forced to select Boston College. Boston College players and fans, owing to the decreased status of the Champs Sports Bowl when compared with the Orange, Chick-fil-A, and Gator Bowls, were disappointed with the selection and match against Michigan State. Had Boston College won the ACC Championship Game, it would have earned the automatic bid to the Orange Bowl, and Virginia Tech would have been selected by the Chick-fil-A Bowl, which had earlier expressed an interest in inviting the Hokies to the game for a second straight year. Clemson would have been bumped down to the Gator Bowl, and Virginia would have been forced into the Champs Sports Bowl. ## See also - List of Atlantic Coast Conference football champions - Boston College–Virginia Tech football rivalry Other conference championship games - 2007 SEC Championship Game - 2007 Big 12 Championship Game - 2007 MAC Championship Game - 2007 Conference USA Football Championship Game
1,251,647	Yukon Quest	1,171,952,370	Sled dog race from Alaska to Yukon	[ "1984 establishments in Alaska", "Annual events in Alaska", "Annual sporting events in Canada", "Annual sporting events in the United States", "Dog sledding races", "Endurance games", "Recurring sporting events established in 1984", "Sports competitions in Alaska", "Sports competitions in Yukon", "Yukon Quest", "Yukon River" ]	The Yukon Quest, formally the Yukon Quest 1,000-mile International Sled Dog Race is a sled dog race scheduled every February since 1984 between Fairbanks, Alaska, and Whitehorse, Yukon, switching directions each year. Because of the harsh winter conditions, difficult trail, and the limited support that competitors are allowed, it is considered the "most difficult sled dog race in the world", or even the "toughest race in the world"—"even tougher, more selective and less attention-seeking than the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race." The originator envisioned it as "a race so rugged that only purists would participate." In the competition, first run in 1984, a dog team leader (called a musher) and a team of 6 to 14 dogs race for 10 to 20 days. The course follows the route of the historic 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, mail delivery, and transportation routes between Fairbanks, Dawson City, and Whitehorse. Mushers pack up to 250 pounds (113 kg) of equipment and provisions for themselves and their dogs to survive between checkpoints. Each musher must rely on a single sled for the entire run, versus three in the Iditarod. Ten checkpoints and four dog drops, some more than 200 miles (322 km) apart, lie along the trail. Veterinarians are present at each to ensure the health and welfare of the dogs, give advice, and provide veterinary care for dropped dogs; together with the race marshal or a race judge, they may remove a dog or team from the race for medical or other reasons. There are only nine checkpoints for rest, versus 22 in the Iditarod. Mushers are permitted to leave dogs at checkpoints and dog drops, but not to replace them. Sleds may not be replaced (without penalty) and mushers cannot accept help from non-racers except at Dawson City, the halfway mark. The route runs on frozen rivers, over four mountain ranges, and through isolated northern villages. Racers cover 1,016 miles (1,635 km) or more. Temperatures commonly drop as low as −60 °F (−51 °C), and winds can reach 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) at higher elevations. Because it begins a month earlier than the Iditarod, the Quest is a colder race, and is run on shorter solar days and through longer, darker nights. Sonny Lindner won the inaugural race in 1984 from a field of 26 teams. The fastest run took place in 2010, when Hans Gatt finished after 9 days and 26 minutes. The 2012 competition had the closest one-two finish, as Hugh Neff beat Allen Moore by twenty-six seconds. In 2005, Lance Mackey became the first Yukon Quest rookie to win the race, a feat that was repeated by 2011's champion, Dallas Seavey. In 2007, Mackey became the first to win both the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod, a feat he repeated the following year. The longest race time was in 1988, when Ty Halvorson took 20 days, 8 hours, and 29 minutes to finish. In 2000, Aliy Zirkle became the first woman to win the race, in 10 days, 22 hours, and 57 minutes. Yukon Quest International, which runs the Yukon Quest sled dog race, also runs two shorter races: the Junior Quest and the Yukon Quest 300 (previously the Yukon Quest 250). The 2020 race finished on schedule despite the incipient COVID-19 pandemic, however the 2021 race was cancelled due to border closures and Covid protocols. In 2022, the US and Canadian sides separated to produce their own shorter versions of the races. To maintain a competitive format, the organizations adopted a multi-race format of different distances that ran along the portions of the trail on either side of the border. This format continued in 2023 and will be the same for the 2024 races. The Yukon Quest International Association (Canada) manages the Canadian side of the Yukon Quest. ## History The idea for the Yukon Quest originated in April 1983 during a bar-room discussion among four Alaskans: LeRoy Shank, Roger Williams, Ron Rosser, and William "Willy" Lipps. The four proposed a thousand-mile sled dog race from Fairbanks, Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon, to celebrate the Klondike Gold Rush-era mail and transportation routes between the two. They disdained the many checkpoints and stages of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race and envisioned an endurance race in which racers would rely on themselves and survival would be as important as speed. "We wanted more of a Bush experience, a race that would put a little woodsmanship into it", Shank said at the race's 25th anniversary. This remained a vague plan until August 1983, when the first public organizational meetings took place. Fundraising began, and the start date for the race was optimistically moved forward from February 1985 to February 25, 1984. The entry fee for the first race was \$500, and Murray Clayton of Haines, Alaska became the first person to enter when he paid his fee in October 1983. In December 1983, the race was officially named the Yukon Quest. Two more months of planning followed, and a crew of volunteers was organized to staff the checkpoints and place trail markers. On February 25, 1984, 26 racers left Fairbanks for Whitehorse. Each team was limited to a maximum of 12 dogs, and racers had to finish with no fewer than nine. They also had to haul 25 pounds (11 kg) of food per dog (300 pounds (136 kg) total) to cover the long distances between checkpoints. Numerous problems occurred in the first race. The leading mushers had to break trail because the snowmobile intended for the task broke down. Trail markers often were absent or misplaced, and no preparations had been made for racers in Dawson City until organizer Roger Williams flew there shortly after the race began. After Dawson City, mushers had their dogs and sleds trucked 60 miles (97 km) to avoid a section of snowless trail, then had to deal with open sections of the Yukon River near Whitehorse due to above-average temperatures. The eventual winner of the inaugural race, Sonny Lindner, was greeted with little fanfare on his arrival. On the race's 25th anniversary, he recalled, "I think it was 90 percent (camping) trip and maybe a little bit of racing." ### First decade After the inaugural race, organizers improved the marking of the trail for the first contest held in the Whitehorse–Fairbanks direction. Musher Bill Cotter said, "The trail was so nice that it was difficult to keep from going too fast." The race grew in popularity over the next few years. In 1988 and again in 1989, 47 mushers entered. In 1989, 31 completed the race—the most that have ever finished it. In 1990, Connie and Terri Frerichs became the first (and so far only) mother and daughter to compete in the same Yukon Quest: Terri finished 21st, beating her mother (22nd) by 26 minutes. The 1991 race saw eight teams withdraw in the first quarter because of an outbreak of a canine disease called the "Healy Virus". Thirty-five more dogs were sickened before the spread of the virus was halted by colder weather halfway through the race. In 1992, unseasonable warmth caused problems in the first half of the race, and the second was affected by bitter cold. The head veterinarian of that race, Jeannie Olson, was replaced after she offered canine acupuncture to several mushers. Though not then forbidden by any rule, this violated equal-treatment guidelines because she did not offer the treatment to every musher. At the end of that race, George Cook became the first musher since 1984 to finish short of Whitehorse when open water on the Yukon River prevented him from continuing. Because he did not quit, race officials gave him the Red Lantern Award. Following the 1992 race, controversy erupted when the Alaska board of directors of Yukon Quest International informed the Yukon board that they were considering dropping the Yukon half of the Quest because Yukon officials did not meet fundraising goals. Alaska officials also believed it would be easier to manage an Alaska-only race. A crisis was averted when the Yukon board of directors agreed to raise more money and the two sides formed a joint board of directors. The 1993 race was run as usual, but Jeff Mann had a more eventful race than most. When a moose attacked his dog team, he was forced to kill it with an axe, then butcher it according to Quest rules. Later, he was penalized 90 minutes for borrowing a reporter's head lantern. Finally, after the conclusion of the race, he was fined half his winnings when his dogs tested positive for ibuprofen. In the 1994 race, Alaskan Bruce Cosgrove was denied entry by Canadian customs officials in the pre-race verification process, the only time a musher has been denied entry into either Canada or Alaska. Cosgrove started the race, but quit before the border. Following the race, controversy again erupted when Alaska Yukon Quest officials announced they would unilaterally eliminate Whitehorse from the Yukon Quest and run a cheaper Fairbanks-to-Dawson City race. Members of the Yukon Quest organization revolted against this and voted to evict the board members who had proposed it. ### Second decade The 1995 race featured 22 mushers, of whom 13 finished. Budget problems caused the first prize to drop by 25% to \$15,000, contributing to the low participation. This problem was fixed for the 1996 race, with a first-place prize of \$25,000. The 1997 race was won by Rick Mackey, brother of later Quest winner Lance Mackey; the two are the only brother-brother winning tandem in Quest history. Following the 1997 race, financial troubles again arose, this time on the Alaska side. Canadian organizers secured international sponsorship for the 1998 race, and when they refused to let this sponsorship money be used to pay debts accumulated in Alaska, members of the Alaska board threatened to host a separate competition. In the end, the Alaska board members were forced to resign, and a deal was worked out between the two sides. The 1998 race was run on schedule and had 38 entrants. The 1999 race was won by Alaska Native Ramy Brooks, who defeated veterinarian Mark May by 10 minutes. In 2000, Aliy Zirkle became the first woman to win the Yukon Quest after taking 10 days, 22 hours, and 57 minutes to trek the 1,000 miles (1,609 km). Also in 2000, Yukon Quest International added two races: the Quest 250 (today the Quest 300) and the Junior Quest (both described below). Competitors in each have gone on to participate in the Yukon Quest. The first of these graduated mushers competed in the 2001 race, won by Tim Osmar. In 2002, the Yukon Quest was won by Hans Gatt, an Austrian-born resident of British Columbia and the first European to win. This was the first of three consecutive wins, making him the first three-time winner. In 2003, Gatt's second win was truncated by a lack of snow near Whitehorse. Unseasonable warmth forced organizers to truck mushers and their dog teams to Braeburn before continuing what became a 921 miles (1,482 km) competition. The 2004 race saw 31 mushers start the race and 20 finish, a drop-out rate of 35%. During the first 24 years of the competition, there were 776 starters and 513 finishers. Though 90 more mushers attempted the race in the first 12 years than in the next dozen runnings, there is little difference in the percentage that did not finish (35% in 1984–1995; 33% in 1996–2007). ### Third decade In 2005, first-time participant Lance Mackey broke Hans Gatt's three-win streak. Mackey finished in 11 days, 32 seconds. The victory was the first of four straight wins by Mackey, who holds the record for most consecutive wins and is also the only four-time winner. During Mackey's second win, a fierce storm atop Eagle Summit caused a whiteout that forced seven mushers and dog teams to be evacuated by helicopter. Partly because of the storm, only 11 finished the 2006 race—the fewest ever. The finishers also endured an unusual course: because snow was scarce near Whitehorse, they doubled back and finished in Dawson City after racing the 1,000 miles (1,609 km). In 2007, three dogs were killed in unrelated incidents, but Mackey tied Gatt's record of three consecutive wins. One month later, Mackey became the first person to win both the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod in the same year. Mackey's fourth win came during the 2008 race, the first Yukon Quest to end in Whitehorse since 2003. Because of the late 2000s recession, the 2009 Yukon Quest purse was reduced to \$151,000 from a planned total of \$200,000. As a result, the first prize was reduced to \$30,000 from the planned \$35,000. Partly because of this, Mackey withdrew before the race, making it easier for a newcomer to win. In the closest one–two finish, German Sebastian Schnuelle completed the race faster than anyone before, finishing that year's 1,016-mile (1,635 km) trip in 9 days, 23 hours, and 20 minutes. He was just four minutes ahead of Hugh Neff. Following the 2009 race, officials decided to advance the competition's start date by one week to better accommodate mushers also participating in the Iditarod. The 2010 race started in Fairbanks on February 6, 2010, and the early start date was kept for the 2011 competition. Hans Gatt won the 2010 race with the fastest finish in Yukon Quest history: 9 days and 26 minutes. That race was marked by good weather, and few mushers dropped out. In 2011, conditions returned to normal, as violent storms blasted the trail and mushers during the second half of the race. Only 13 of the 25 competitors completed the race, tying the record for fewest finishers. In 2013, poor trail conditions over American Summit forced the Dawson to Eagle section of the course to be rerouted over the Yukon River. Brent Sass became the race's third three-time winner in 2020, as the race finished on schedule despite the growing COVID-19 pandemic. For 2021, race officials arranged to hold two separate races—one on the Canadian side of the border and the other on the Alaska side of the border—to abide by international quarantine. This plan was abandoned in September 2020 when the Canadian organizers canceled their race. The American half of the 2021 race is still scheduled for February. ## Route The course of the race varies slightly from year to year because of ice conditions on the Yukon River, snowfall, and other factors. The length of the route has also fluctuated, ranging from 921 miles (1,482 km) in the weather-shortened 2003 race to 1,023 miles (1,646 km) in 1998. In even-numbered years, the race starts in Fairbanks and ends in Whitehorse. In odd-numbered years, the start and finish lines switch. The route follows the Yukon River for much of its course and travels over four mountains: King Solomon's Dome, Eagle Summit, American Summit, and Rosebud Summit. Its length is equivalent to the distance between England and Africa, and the distance between some checkpoints is the breadth of Ireland. Racers endure ice, snow, and extreme cold. Wildlife is common on the trail, and participants sometimes face challenges from moose and wolves. Because of the harsh conditions, the Yukon Quest has been called the "most difficult sled dog race in the world" and the "toughest race in the world". ### Pre-race preparation Because of the extreme difficulty of the competition, several stages of preparation are needed. The first is the food drop, when mushers and race officials position caches of food and supplies at race checkpoints. This is necessary because mushers may only use their supplies along the route, reflecting the Gold Rush era, when dog trains would resupply at points along the trail. One week after the food drop, all dogs participating in the race undergo a preliminary veterinarian inspection to ensure they are healthy enough to race 1,000 miles in subarctic conditions. The final stage of formal preparation is two days before the race, when mushers pick their starting order from a hat. ### Whitehorse to Braeburn The modern start/finish in Whitehorse is at Shipyards Park, but the traditional start took place near the former White Pass and Yukon Route train station, which today houses the Canadian offices of Yukon Quest International. Shortly after leaving the starting line, racers follow the frozen Yukon River north out of town. Crossing onto the Takhini River, mushers follow it north to the Klondike-era Overland Trail. Racers take the trail to Braeburn Lodge, the first checkpoint. This trail segment is about 100 miles (161 km) long. The terrain consists of small hills and frequent frozen streams and lakes. When the race runs from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, the Braeburn checkpoint is the site of a mandatory eight-hour stop to ensure the health of mushers' dogs before the final stage. In odd years, mushers must take a four-hour rest here or at Carmacks. The three minute start time difference is adjusted here. In even years, mushers must take an eight (8) hour rest here before continuing on for the last 100 miles (161 km) of the race. ### Braeburn to Pelly Crossing In the first leg of this, mushers must travel from Bareburn to Carmacks which is 39 miles (63 km). In odd years, mushers have the option of taking their four-hour rest here or at Bareburn. The three minute difference start time is also adjusted if the musher chooses to take their four-hour rest here. Coming out of Braeburn, competitors cross the Klondike Highway and proceed east for about 10 miles (16 km) to Coghlan Lake. From there they turn north, then northwest, and travel along a chain of lakes that stretches for about 30 miles (48 km). They then enter a notorious stretch of heavily forested hills nicknamed "Pinball Alley" for the way the rough terrain bounces sleds into trees, rocks, and other obstacles. Trees are so scarred from repeated sled impacts that they have lost their bark on one side. In 1998, racer Brenda Mackey was jolted around so much by the rough trail that her sled became wedged between two trees, forcing her to cut one down to continue. After Pinball Alley, racers briefly mush along the Yukon River before climbing the riverbank to the Carmacks checkpoint. They then follow a road for about 15 miles (24 km) and turn onto a firebreak trail. After departing the trail, they travel alongside and across the Yukon River to McCabe Creek, the first dog drop on the Whitehorse–Fairbanks route. Leaving McCabe Creek, the race trail parallels a driveway and the Klondike Highway for several miles before turning north to cross the Pelly Burn, an area scorched by a wildfire in 1995. Because the fire destroyed much of the forest in the area, this portion of the trail has few obstacles and is considered fast. From the McCabe Creek site it is about 32 miles (51 km) to Pelly Crossing. ### Pelly Crossing to Dawson City The stretch between Pelly Crossing and Dawson City is the greatest distance between checkpoints of any sled dog competition in the world. Between the two sites are 201 miles (323 km) of open trail, marked only by a dog drop at Scroggie Creek, an abandoned gold-mining site activated only during the Yukon Quest. From Pelly Crossing, mushers travel west on the frozen Pelly River, or on a road that parallels the river if ice conditions are poor. At Stepping Stone, shortly before the Pelly and Yukon rivers meet, they can rest at a hospitality stop before turning north. From Stepping Stone to Scroggie Creek the trail consists of a mining road or "cat" road, named for the Caterpillar tracked mining vehicles that use it. Before organizers coordinated schedules with the mining equipment operators, racers often had to contend with heavy machinery blocking the trail or turning it into a muddy path. The Scroggie Creek dog drop is at the confluence of the Stewart River and Scroggie Creek. After Scroggie Creek, the trail switches from a westerly direction to almost directly north. At this point, mushers enter the gold-mining district surrounding Dawson City. From the Stewart River adjacent to Scroggie, the trail climbs, crossing the Yukon Territory's Black Hills. Fifty miles (80 km) from Dawson City and 55 miles (89 km) from Scroggie Creek, it crosses the Indian River, and mushers begin the climb to King Solomon's Dome, the highest point (4,002 feet (1,220 m)) on the trail. The trail ascends more gradually in the Whitehorse–Fairbanks route than in the opposite direction, where mushers have to endure several switchbacks. When mushers start in Whitehorse, they already have gained several thousand feet from the ascent into the Black Hills, including a climb over 3,550-foot (1,080 m) Eureka Dome. The main difficulties come during the descent from King Solomon's Dome to Bonanza Creek, the epicenter of the Klondike Gold Rush. After reaching the creek, mushers thread through an area of mining waste and follow the Klondike River to Dawson City, the halfway point of the race. They are required to rest for 36 hours in Dawson City as a halfway-rest. ### Dawson City to Eagle The distance from Dawson City to Eagle, the first checkpoint in Alaska for the Whitehorse–Fairbanks route, is 144 miles (232 km). Mushers must rest for four hours in Eagle. Racers exit Dawson City on the Yukon River and follow it for about 50 miles (80 km) to the Fortymile River hospitality stop. The river's name comes from its distance from Fort Reliance, an abandoned trading post established in 1874. From the hospitality stop, mushers travel southwest on the Fortymile River in what is one of the coldest portions of the race, because of cold air sinking to the bottom of the river valley. The trail on the river crosses the United States–Canada border, noticeable only because of the border vista, a strip of land cleared of all foliage. Shortly past the border, the river turns northwest, and mushers leave its frozen surface when it meets the Taylor Highway, a road closed to automobile traffic during the winter. As the trail follows the highway for 49 miles (79 km) conditions are often hazardous, with high winds and drifting snow that can obscure trail markers. After climbing the 3,420-foot (1,040 m) American Summit, the trail gradually descends 20 miles (32 km) to Eagle, on the banks of the Yukon River. ### Eagle to Central The route from Eagle to Central covers a distance of 233 miles (375 km). In winter, Eagle is buffeted by high winds and drifting snow funneled through the town by nearby Eagle Bluff, which stands 300 feet (91 m) above the Yukon River. Because it is the first stop in the United States, competitors are greeted at Eagle by a United States Department of Homeland Security official who checks passports and entry documents. After leaving Eagle, mushers travel northwest for 159 miles (256 km) on the Yukon River, except for a few short portages. During this stretch, two hospitality stops are available. The first is 28 miles (45 km) from Eagle at Trout Creek. The next is Biederman's Cabin, the former home of Charlie Biederman, one of the last people to deliver mail by sled dog. (The final sled dog mail route was canceled in 1963, and Biederman's sled hangs in the National Postal Museum.) A dog drop site is located 18 miles (29 km) from Biederman's Cabin at Slaven's Cabin, a historic site operated by the National Park Service. Some 60 miles (97 km) past Slaven's Cabin mushers arrive in Circle, so named because its founders believed it was on the Arctic Circle. (Circle is actually about 50 miles (80 km) south of that line.) From Circle, it is 74 miles (119 km) to the checkpoint in Central. Mushers follow Birch Creek south until just before Circle Hot Springs. This area, along with the Fortymile stretch, is considered among the coldest on the trail, and mushers are advised to prepare for −60 °F (−51 °C) temperatures. Turning west, they travel through frozen swamps before reaching the Steese Roadhouse checkpoint in Central. In Central during even years, mushers have the option of taking their four-hour rest here or at Mile 101. If they choose to, the three minute start difference will be subtracted from their rest time. ### Central to Two Rivers From Central to the final (or first, in the Fairbanks–Whitehorse direction) checkpoint in Two Rivers is 114 miles (183 km). Despite the comparative closeness of the checkpoints and the location of a dog drop between them, this is considered the most difficult stretch of dog sled trail in the world. At this point, mushers must climb the two steepest and most difficult mountains on the trail: Eagle Summit and Rosebud Summit. After leaving Central, mushers head west, paralleling the Steese Highway, which connects Central and Circle with Fairbanks. The trail travels through frozen swamps, mining areas, and firebreaks for about 20 miles (32 km). Mushers then encounter the Steese Highway for a second time before crossing several creeks to begin the ascent of Eagle Summit. They eventually climb above the tree line and are exposed to the wind as they continue upward. The weather atop Eagle Summit is harsh as this is a convergence zone between the Yukon Flats to the north and the low ground of the Tanana Valley to the south. A differential in the weather within the two valleys causes high winds and precipitation when there is moisture in the atmosphere. The final few hundred yards of the climb consists of a 30-degree slope often scoured to bare rock and tundra by the fierce wind. The crossing point itself is a symmetrical saddle, with two peaks of similar height separated by 100 yards (91 m). The south side of Eagle Summit is not as steep, and mushers generally have an easier time reaching the checkpoint at Mile 101. When descending the steep northern slope of Eagle Summit on the Fairbanks–Whitehorse route, many mushers wrap their sled runners in chains to increase friction and slow the plunge. The Mile 101 checkpoint is a cabin at mile marker 101 (the distance from Fairbanks) on the Steese Highway. At Mile 101, mushers have the option of taking their four-hour rest during even years. They can also take the rest at Central during even years. Again, the three minute start difference will be subtracted from the race if the musher desires to take their rest here. The cabin gives mushers the opportunity for a short rest between Eagle Summit and Rosebud Summit. The ascent of Rosebud Summit begins about 10 miles (16 km) south of the dog drop. It consists of a gradual climb of 5 miles (8.0 km) followed by a steep descent into the valley that contains the north fork of the Chena River. The descent also brings mushers back into forested terrain. The trail then parallels a road for about 27 miles (43 km) before entering the final checkpoint at Twin Bears Campground near Two Rivers. ### Two Rivers to Fairbanks Two Rivers is the final checkpoint in the Whitehorse–Fairbanks route. Mushers are required to rest at least eight hours in Two Rivers in odd years to ensure the health of their dogs during the final leg of the race. The terrain in this stretch is among the easiest on the trail, with gently rolling hills and forest which gradually change into an urban landscape as racers approach Fairbanks. The greatest challenge for racers in the Two Rivers area is distinguishing the Yukon Quest trail from other sled dog trails, many of which have similar markings. Mushers have occasionally been deceived by these markings and taken wrong turns. Beyond Two Rivers, the trail reaches the Chena River northwest of Fairbanks. This is the final stretch, and mushers use the river to enter Fairbanks and reach the finish line, which is on the river itself in the middle of downtown Fairbanks. Regardless of the timing of the finish, several thousand spectators typically gather to watch the first musher cross the finish line. ### Route changes The 1984 route was slightly different from today's. It had just one non-checkpoint dog drop, at the Mile 101 location, and bypassed American Summit, Pelly Junction, and Braeburn. Instead of running through Braeburn, mushers traveled across Lake Laberge for 60 miles (97 km) between Whitehorse and Minto. The inaugural race also included a checkpoint at Chena Hot Springs Resort near Fairbanks. This site was moved to nearby Angel Creek after mushers complained that the hot springs melted nearby snow, causing their dogs to become wet—an extreme hazard in sub-freezing temperatures. Two additional dog drops were added for the 1994 race: Biederman's Cabin (since replaced by Slaven's Cabin) and McCabe Creek. In 1995, the Whitehorse end of the trail was moved away from Lake Laberge to near the Takhini River. Additional changes that year included the rerouting of the trail around the southern and eastern sides of King Solomon's Dome south of Dawson City and the introduction of the Scroggie Creek dog drop site on the shore of the Stewart River. In 1996, the trail was rerouted through Pelly Crossing and a checkpoint was added there, and the Lake Laberge stretch was replaced by a route through Braeburn and along the Dawson-Whitehorse Overland Trail. In 1997, mushers were routed through the Chena River Lakes Flood Control Project and to the Alaska town of North Pole before continuing on to Fairbanks. The North Pole loop was removed before the 2009 race, and mushers were directed through Two Rivers instead. Starting in the 2010 race, the Mile 101 location was upgraded from a dog drop to a full-fledged checkpoint. In the past several races, the Two Rivers checkpoint has changed locations annually: from a lodge to a campground, and then to a gravel pit in 2011. ## Weather The Yukon Quest trail is in the subarctic climate range. In Fairbanks, the average February temperature is −3.8 °F (−20 °C), but −40 °F (−40 °C) is not uncommon, and temperatures have dropped to −58 °F (−50 °C). An average of 7.3 inches (185 mm) of snow falls in February, with average snowpack depth of 22 inches (559 mm). Outside the sheltered urban areas of Fairbanks, Whitehorse, and Dawson City, temperatures and snowfall are often more extreme. During the 2008 race, competitors started in −40 °F (−40 °C) temperatures in Fairbanks and then faced winds of 25 miles per hour (40 km/h) on the trail, resulting in severe wind chills. At higher elevations, such as the crossings of Rosebud and Eagle summits, whiteout blizzards are common. In the 2006 race, 12 teams were struck by a massive storm that eventually caused the evacuation of seven teams by helicopter. In 2009, mushers endured winds up to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h), blowing snow, and subzero temperatures atop Eagle Summit, where conditions had been even worse in a storm during the 1988 race, when wind chill temperatures dropped below −100 °F (−73 °C). The extreme temperatures pose a serious health hazard. Frostbite is common, as is hypothermia. In the 1988 Yukon Quest, Jeff King suffered an entirely frozen hand because of nerve damage from an earlier injury which left him unable to feel the cold. King said his hand became "like something from a frozen corpse". In 1989, King and his team drove through a break in the Yukon River in −38 °F (−39 °C) temperatures. Frozen by the extreme cold, King managed to reach a cabin and thaw out. Other racers have suffered permanent damage from the cold: Lance Mackey suffered frostbitten feet during the 2008 Yukon Quest, and Hugh Neff lost the tips of several toes in the 2004 race. ## Participants Since the race's inception in 1984, 353 people from 11 countries have competed in the Yukon Quest, some many times. The race attracts from 21 (in 1996) to 47 (in 1988 and 1989) mushers each year. Of the 776 entries from 1984 to 2007, 263 (34%) did not finish. The racers have come from various professions: taxicab drivers, swimming instructors, coal miners, tax assessors, lawyers, fur trappers, journalists, and a car salesman have all entered. At the end of the competition, racers are given awards for feats performed on the trail. The foremost is the championship award, given to the winner. Accompanying this is the Golden Harness Award, given to the winner's two lead sled dogs. The next award is the Veterinarians Choice Award, which is voted on by race veterinarians and given to the musher who took the best care of their dogs during the race. Other awards include the Challenge of the North Award—given to the musher who "exemplifies the spirit of the Yukon Quest"—and the Sportsmanship Award, given to the most sportsmanlike competitor, as chosen by a vote of the mushers. The Rookie of the Year Award is given to the highest-finishing first-time competitor. The Dawson Award, consisting of four ounces of gold, is given to the first musher to reach Dawson City (the midpoint) who also finishes the competition. The final award is the Red Lantern, given to the last official finisher of the year's race. Two awards have been discontinued: the Kiwanis Award, given to the first musher to cross the Alaska–Yukon border, and the Mayor's Award, given to the Yukon Quest champion by the Mayor of Fairbanks. The 2011 Yukon Quest champion is Alaskan Dallas Seavey, who finished the race in 10 days, 11 hours and 53 minutes. Seavey, who has run the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race several times, won the Yukon Quest in his rookie year and therefore also was named rookie of the year. Haliburton, Ontario musher Hank DeBruin won the 2011 Red Lantern Award by finishing the race in 13 days, 10 hours, and 54 minutes. For the first time in Yukon Quest history, more than one musher received the sportsmanship award. Following the 2011 race, Allen Moore, Brent Sass and Mike Ellis shared the honor. Ken Anderson, who reached Dawson City third, was the only one of the top three at that point to finish, and thus received the Dawson Award. Wasilla musher Kelley Griffin received the Spirit of the North award, and the Veterinarian's Choice award was given to Mike Ellis and his wife/handler Sue Ellis. ### Dogs Dogs in the Yukon Quest come in a variety of sizes and breeds, though the most common are Alaskan and Siberian Huskies weighing between 45 and 70 pounds (20 and 32 kg). The Alaskan Husky is not a recognized breed, but an amalgam of several different types bred for speed, stamina, and strength. Siberian Huskies are a breed recognized by the American Kennel Club and are characterized by thick coats, stiff ears, a fox-like tail, and medium size. Siberian Huskies are typically larger and slower than their Alaskan counterparts, causing mushers to nickname the breed "Slowberians", but have more pulling power. The difference was seen during the 1998 Yukon Quest, when Bruce Lee's team of Alaskan Huskies competed against André Nadeau's team of Siberians. Lee's team was faster than Nadeau's over short stretches, but Lee had to rest more often. Nadeau had a head start out of the final checkpoint, but Lee was able to overtake him. ## Rules The Yukon Quest encourages participants' self-sufficiency, and one of its objectives is "[to] encourage and facilitate knowledge and application of the widest variety of bush skills and practices that form the foundation of Arctic survival." On the trail, racers may not accept outside assistance and are limited in the changes they may make to their teams and sled. There are 10 checkpoints and four additional locations where sick or injured dogs may be dropped from a team. Only four checkpoint stops are mandated: a 36-hour stop at Dawson City; a four-hour stop in Eagle, Alaska; a two-hour stop at the first checkpoint; and an eight-hour stop at the last. As well as food, camping equipment, and dog-care gear, mushers must carry an axe, a cold-weather sleeping bag, a pair of snowshoes, veterinary records, Quest promotional material, a cooker, and eight booties per dog. Included in the required promotional material are numerous event covers intended to reflect the Quest's ancestry as a mail route. One unusual rule requires mushers to immediately butcher any game animal killed during the race. This rule was applied in 1993, when a musher was attacked by a moose and killed it to protect himself. ### Entry requirements Competitors must meet a series of written and unwritten requirements before entering. The first is that each musher must have a team of dogs. The race does not furnish any dogs, but participants have been known to lease or borrow dog teams rather than raise their own. In the 2009 Yukon Quest, for example, Newton Marshall from the Jamaica Dogsled Team borrowed a dog team from Canadian Hans Gatt. Each competitor must have completed at least two sled dog races sanctioned by Yukon Quest International: one of 200 miles (320 km) and one of 300 miles (480 km). Sanctioned races include the Copper Basin 300 and the Tustumena 200, Alaska races held before the Quest. Those who have completed at least 500 miles (805 km) of Quest-sanctioned racing are eligible to send in an entry form. This requires entrants to certify that they are older than 18, have not been censured by the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, and have never been convicted of animal abuse or neglect. They must pay \$1,500 or \$2,000 for late entries. ### Dog health Many of the Quest's rules are intended to ensure the health of dogs in hazardous conditions. This process begins before the race, when all dogs must be examined by race veterinarians, who certify that the animals are suited and healthy enough to participate. Before the race, dog equipment also must be checked by race officials. Padded harnesses are required, each musher must carry an appropriate amount of food, and additional food supplies must be in position at checkpoints. Mushers must start the race with at most fourteen dogs and finish with no fewer than six in harness (additional dogs may be carried in the sled basket). Dogs are visually examined by veterinarians stationed at every checkpoint, and mushers can be ejected and banned from the race for mistreating dogs. Dog whips and forced feeding are forbidden. Participating dogs may not receive injections during the race or be under the influence of performance-enhancing substances such as steroids. The race marshal may remove any team from the race for violations of these rules or substandard dog care. Organization officials and race veterinarians award one team each year with the Humanitarian Award for exemplary dog care. In 2023 the team of Amanda Otto, who placed second, was in such good condition at the end of the race, still yelping and pulling, that she was awarded in the first unanimous decision in race history. ### Penalties The Yukon Quest's rules allow race officials latitude on whether to assess a time penalty or monetary fine on mushers who violate one or more regulations. The most serious penalties can be assessed for mistreating dogs. Racers have been forcibly removed from the race for inadequate dog care; the most recent instance of this took place in 2008, when Donald Smidt was removed. More common are minor time and monetary penalties. For example, Dan Kaduce was fined \$500 of his eventual \$9,000 winnings for missing roll call at a mandatory meeting in 2007. Fines of \$500 also have been levied for not attending the finish banquet, littering, not wearing start and finish bibs, or losing veterinary records. These minor penalties can have an effect on the race. In 2009, Hugh Neff, then in second place, was penalized two hours for mushing on the Circle Hot Springs road. As a result, he finished four minutes behind Sebastian Schnuelle, the winner. ## Junior Yukon Quest and Yukon Quest 300 In addition to the main 1,000-mile sled dog race, the Yukon Quest organization operates two shorter races: the Junior Yukon Quest and the Yukon Quest 300. The two began in 2000, though in its first three years the Quest 300 was only 250 miles and thus known as the Quest 250. ### Junior Yukon Quest The Junior Yukon Quest, or Junior Quest, is a 135-mile (217 km) race for mushers older than 14 but under 18. Unlike the Yukon Quest, the Junior Quest does not change locations and always starts and ends in Fairbanks. It is billed as an opportunity for young racers to experience a mid-distance sled dog race. They must plan a food drop, camp away from checkpoints, and carry much of the same equipment as mushers in the Yukon Quest and Yukon Quest 300. ### Yukon Quest 300 The Yukon Quest 300 is a 300-mile (480 km) race along the regular Yukon Quest trail. It alternates starting locations along with the main race and is intended for less-experienced mushers training for longer races. The race is also a qualifier for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and the following year's Yukon Quest. Several mushers, including Fort Yukon Native Josh Cadzow, have used the race as a trial before entering the longer races. In 2009, the race was capped at 25 entries. When the Quest 300 starts in Whitehorse, its course follows the main Yukon Quest trail until the Stepping Stone hospitality stop. From there, it turns southwest, ending in Minto Landing, Yukon. The Fairbanks route follows the main trail to Circle, then reverses course, ending in Central. ## See also - American Dog Derby - Carting - Finnmarksløpet (Norway) - Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race (Alaska) - La Grande Odyssée (France and Switzerland) - List of sled dog races - Yukon Arctic Ultra ## Further information - Berton, Pierre. The Klondike Quest: A Photographic Essay 1897-1899. North York, Ont.: Boston Mills, 2005. . - Cook, Ann Mariah. Running North: A Yukon Adventure. Chapel Hill. N.C.: Algonquin Books, 1998. . - Dick, Laurent. Yukon Quest Photo Journey. Anchorage, Alaska: Todd Communications, 2003. . - Evans, Polly. Mad Dogs and an Englishwoman: Travels with Sled Dogs in Canada's Frozen North. New York: Delta, 2009. . - Phillips, Michelle. My Yukon Quest Story: 1000 Mile Sled Dog Journal. Tagish, Yukon: Michelle Phillips, 2003. . - Stuck, Hudson. Ten Thousand Miles with a Dog Sled: A Narrative of Winter Travel in Interior Alaska. 2nd ed. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1916. (Here at Project Gutenberg.) ### Fiction - Browne, Belmore. The Quest of the Golden Valley: A Story of Adventure on the Yukon. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1916. - Henry, Sue. Murder on the Yukon Quest. New York: Avon, 2000. . ### Video - Bristow, Becky. Dog Gone Addiction. Wild Soul Creations, 2007. 67 minutes. - CBC North Television. The Lone Trail: The Dogs and Drivers of the Yukon Quest. CBC, 2004. 60 minutes. - Morner, Dan and Schuerfeld, Sven. 6ON-6OFF. Morni Films, 2005. 63 minutes. - Northern Light Media. Mark Hegener, dir. Appetite and Attitude: A conversation with Lance Mackey. 46 minutes.
38,334	Mary Anning	1,171,731,804	British fossil collector and palaeontologist (1799–1847)	[ "1799 births", "1847 deaths", "19th-century British geologists", "19th-century British women scientists", "19th-century English women", "Deaths from breast cancer", "Deaths from cancer in England", "English Dissenters", "English palaeontologists", "English women geologists", "People from Lyme Regis", "Women paleontologists" ]	Mary Anning (21 May 1799 – 9 March 1847) was an English fossil collector, dealer, and palaeontologist who became known around the world for the discoveries she made in Jurassic marine fossil beds in the cliffs along the English Channel at Lyme Regis in the county of Dorset in Southwest England. Anning's findings contributed to changes in scientific thinking about prehistoric life and the history of the Earth. Anning searched for fossils in the area's Blue Lias and Charmouth Mudstone cliffs, particularly during the winter months when landslides exposed new fossils that had to be collected quickly before they were lost to the sea. Her discoveries included the first correctly identified ichthyosaur skeleton when she was twelve years old; the first two nearly complete plesiosaur skeletons; the first pterosaur skeleton located outside Germany; and fish fossils. Her observations played a key role in the discovery that coprolites, known as bezoar stones at the time, were fossilised faeces, and she also discovered that belemnite fossils contained fossilised ink sacs like those of modern cephalopods. Anning struggled financially for much of her life. As a woman, she was not eligible to join the Geological Society of London and she did not always receive full credit for her scientific contributions. However, her friend, geologist Henry De la Beche, who painted Duria Antiquior, the first widely circulated pictorial representation of a scene from prehistoric life derived from fossil reconstructions, based it largely on fossils Anning had found and sold prints of it for her benefit. Anning became well known in geological circles in Britain, Europe, and America, and was consulted on issues of anatomy as well as fossil collecting. The only scientific writing of hers published in her lifetime appeared in the Magazine of Natural History in 1839, an extract from a letter that Anning had written to the magazine's editor questioning one of its claims. After her death in 1847, Anning's unusual life story attracted increasing interest. An anonymous article about Anning's life was published in February 1865 in Charles Dickens' literary magazine All the Year Round. The profile, "Mary Anning, The Fossil Finder," was long attributed to Dickens himself but, in 2014, historians of palaeontology Michael A. Taylor and Hugh S. Torrens identified Henry Stuart Fagan as the author, noting that Fagan's work was "neither original nor reliable" and "introduced errors into the Anning literature which are still problematic." Specifically, they noted that Fagan had largely and inaccurately plagiarised his article from an earlier account of Anning's life and work by Dorset native Henry Rowland Brown, from the second edition of Brown's 1859 guidebook, The Beauties of Lyme Regis. ## Life and career ### Early childhood Mary Anning was born in Lyme Regis in Dorset, England, on 21 May 1799. Her father, Richard Anning (c.1766–1810), was a cabinetmaker and carpenter who supplemented his income by mining the coastal cliff-side fossil beds near the town, and selling his finds to tourists; her mother was Mary Moore (c.1764–1842) known as Molly. Anning's parents married on 8 August 1793 in Blandford Forum and moved to Lyme, living in a house built on the town's bridge. They attended the Dissenter chapel on Coombe Street, whose worshippers initially called themselves independents and later became known as Congregationalists. Shelley Emling writes that the family lived so near to the sea that the same storms that swept along the cliffs to reveal the fossils sometimes flooded the Annings' home, on one occasion forcing them to crawl out of an upstairs bedroom window to avoid drowning. Molly and Richard had ten children. The first child, also Mary, was born in 1794. She was followed by another daughter, who died almost at once; Joseph in 1796; and another son in 1798, who died in infancy. In December that year, the oldest child, (the first Mary) then four years old, died after her clothes caught fire, possibly while adding wood shavings to the fire. The incident was reported in the Bath Chronicle on 27 December 1798: "A child, four years of age of Mr. R. Anning, a cabinetmaker of Lyme, was left by the mother for about five minutes ... in a room where there were some shavings ... The girl's clothes caught fire and she was so dreadfully burnt as to cause her death." When Anning was born five months later, she was thus named Mary after her dead sister. More children were born after her, but none of them survived more than a year or two. Only the second Mary Anning and her brother Joseph, who was three years older than her, survived to adulthood. The high childhood mortality rate for the Anning family was not unusual. Almost half the children born in the UK in the 19th century died before the age of five, and in the crowded living conditions of early 19th-century Lyme Regis, infant deaths from diseases like smallpox and measles were common. On 19 August 1800, when Anning was 15 months old, an event occurred that became part of local lore. She was being held by a neighbour, Elizabeth Haskings, who was standing with two other women under an elm tree watching an equestrian show being put on by a travelling company of horsemen when lightning struck the tree – killing all three women below. Onlookers rushed the infant home where she was revived in a bath of hot water. A local doctor declared her survival miraculous. Anning's family said she had been a sickly baby before the event but afterwards she seemed to blossom. For years afterwards members of her community would attribute the child's curiosity, intelligence and lively personality to the incident. Anning's education was extremely limited, but she was able to attend a Congregationalist Sunday school, where she learned to read and write. Congregationalist doctrine, unlike that of the Church of England at the time, emphasised the importance of education for the poor. Her prized possession was a bound volume of the Dissenters' Theological Magazine and Review, in which the family's pastor, the Reverend James Wheaton, had published two essays, one insisting that God had created the world in six days, the other urging dissenters to study the new science of geology. ### Fossils as a family business By the late 18th century, Lyme Regis had become a popular seaside resort, especially after 1792 when the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars made travel to the European mainland dangerous for the English gentry, and increasing numbers of wealthy and middle-class tourists were arriving there. Even before Anning's time, locals supplemented their income by selling what were called "curios" to visitors. These were fossils with colourful local names such as "snake-stones" (ammonites), "devil's fingers" (belemnites), and "verteberries" (vertebrae), to which were sometimes attributed medicinal and mystical properties. Fossil collecting was in vogue in the late 18th and early 19th century, at first as a pastime, but gradually transforming into a science as the importance of fossils to geology and biology was understood. The source of most of these fossils were the coastal cliffs around Lyme Regis, part of a geological formation known as the Blue Lias. This consists of alternating layers of limestone and shale, laid down as sediment on a shallow seabed early in the Jurassic period (about 210–195 million years ago). It is one of the richest fossil locations in Britain. The cliffs could be dangerously unstable, however, especially in winter when rain caused landslides. It was precisely during the winter months that collectors were drawn to the cliffs because the landslides often exposed new fossils. Their father, Richard, often took Anning and her brother Joseph on fossil-hunting expeditions to supplement the family's income. They offered their discoveries for sale to tourists on a table outside their home. This was a difficult time for England's poor; the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars that followed, caused food shortages. The price of wheat almost tripled between 1792 and 1812, but wages for the working class remained almost unchanged. In Dorset, the rising price of bread caused political unrest, even riots. At one point, Richard Anning was involved in organising a protest against food shortages. In addition, the family's status as religious dissenters—not followers of the Church of England—attracted disabilities. In the earlier nineteenth century, those who refused to subscribe to the Articles of the Church of England were still not allowed to study at Oxford or Cambridge or to take certain positions in the army, and were excluded by law from several professions. Her father had been suffering from tuberculosis and injuries he suffered from a fall off a cliff. When he died in November 1810 (aged 44), he left the family with debts and no savings, forcing them to apply for poor relief. The family continued collecting and selling fossils together and set up a table of curiosities near the coach stop at a local inn. Although the stories about Anning tend to focus on her successes, Dennis Dean writes that her mother and brother were astute collectors too, and Anning's parents had sold fossils before the father's death. Their first well-known find was in 1811 when Mary Anning was 12; her brother Joseph dug up a 4-foot ichthyosaur skull, and a few months later Anning herself found the rest of the skeleton. Henry Hoste Henley of Sandringham House in Sandringham, Norfolk, who was lord of the manor of Colway, near Lyme Regis, paid the family about £23 for it, and in turn he sold it to William Bullock, a well-known collector, who displayed it in London. There it generated interest, as public awareness of the age of the earth and the variety of prehistoric creatures was growing. It was later sold for £45 and five shillings at auction in May 1819 as a "Crocodile in a Fossil State" to Charles Konig, of the British Museum, who had already suggested the name Ichthyosaurus for it. Anning's mother Molly initially ran the fossil business after her husband Richard's death, but it is unclear how much actual fossil collecting Molly did herself. As late as 1821, Molly wrote to the British Museum to request payment for a specimen. Her son Joseph's time was increasingly taken up by his apprenticeship to an upholsterer, but he remained active in the fossil business until at least 1825. By that time, Mary Anning had assumed the leading role in the family specimen business. ### Birch auction The family's keenest customer was Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas James Birch, later Bosvile, a wealthy collector from Lincolnshire, who bought several specimens from them. In 1820 Birch became disturbed by the family's poverty. Having made no major discoveries for a year, they were at the point of having to sell their furniture to pay the rent. So he decided to auction on their behalf the fossils he had purchased from them. He wrote to the palaeontologist Gideon Mantell on 5 March that year to say that the sale was "for the benefit of the poor woman and her son and daughter at Lyme, who have in truth found almost all the fine things which have been submitted to scientific investigation ... I may never again possess what I am about to part with, yet in doing it I shall have the satisfaction of knowing that the money will be well applied." The auction was held at Bullocks in London on 15 May 1820, and raised £400 (the equivalent of £ in 2023). How much of that was given to the Annings is not known, but it seems to have placed the family on a steadier financial footing, and with buyers arriving from Paris and Vienna, the three-day event raised the family's profile within the geological community. ### Fossil shop and growing expertise in a risky occupation Anning continued to support herself selling fossils. Her primary stock in trade consisted of invertebrate fossils such as ammonite and belemnite shells, which were common in the area and sold for a few shillings. Vertebrate fossils, such as ichthyosaur skeletons, sold for more, but were much rarer. Collecting them was dangerous winter work. In 1823, an article in The Bristol Mirror said of her: > This persevering female has for years gone daily in search of fossil remains of importance at every tide, for many miles under the hanging cliffs at Lyme, whose fallen masses are her immediate object, as they alone contain these valuable relics of a former world, which must be snatched at the moment of their fall, at the continual risk of being crushed by the half suspended fragments they leave behind, or be left to be destroyed by the returning tide: – to her exertions we owe nearly all the fine specimens of Ichthyosauri of the great collections ... The risks of Anning's profession were illustrated when in October 1833 she barely avoided being killed by a landslide that buried her black-and-white terrier, Tray, her constant companion when she went collecting. Anning wrote to a friend, Charlotte Murchison, in November of that year: "Perhaps you will laugh when I say that the death of my old faithful dog has quite upset me, the cliff that fell upon him and killed him in a moment before my eyes, and close to my feet ... it was but a moment between me and the same fate." As Anning continued to make important finds, her reputation grew. On 10 December 1823, she found the first complete Plesiosaurus, and in 1828 the first British example of the flying reptiles known as pterosaurs, called a flying dragon when it was displayed at the British Museum, followed by a Squaloraja fish skeleton in 1829. Despite her limited education, she read as much of the scientific literature as she could obtain, and often, laboriously hand-copied papers borrowed from others. Palaeontologist Christopher McGowan examined a copy Anning made of an 1824 paper by William Conybeare on marine reptile fossils and noted that the copy included several pages of her detailed technical illustrations that he was hard-pressed to tell apart from the original. She also dissected modern animals including both fish and cuttlefish to gain a better understanding of the anatomy of some of the fossils with which she was working. Lady Harriet Silvester, the widow of the former Recorder of the City of London, visited Lyme in 1824 and described Anning in her diary: > The extraordinary thing in this young woman is that she has made herself so thoroughly acquainted with the science that the moment she finds any bones she knows to what tribe they belong. She fixes the bones on a frame with cement and then makes drawings and has them engraved... It is certainly a wonderful instance of divine favour—that this poor, ignorant girl should be so blessed, for by reading and application she has arrived to that degree of knowledge as to be in the habit of writing and talking with professors and other clever men on the subject, and they all acknowledge that she understands more of the science than anyone else in this kingdom. In 1826, at the age of 27, Anning managed to save enough money to purchase a home with a glass store-front window for her shop, Anning's Fossil Depot. The business had become important enough that the move was covered in the local paper, which noted that the shop had a fine ichthyosaur skeleton on display. Many geologists and fossil collectors from Europe and America visited her at Lyme, including the geologist George William Featherstonhaugh, who called Anning a "very clever funny Creature." He purchased fossils from Anning for the newly opened New York Lyceum of Natural History in 1827. King Frederick Augustus II of Saxony visited her shop in 1844 and purchased an ichthyosaur skeleton for his extensive natural history collection. The king's physician and aide, Carl Gustav Carus, wrote in his journal: > We had alighted from the carriage and were proceeding on foot, when we fell in with a shop in which the most remarkable petrifications and fossil remains—the head of an Ichthyosaurus—beautiful ammonites, etc. were exhibited in the window. We entered and found the small shop and adjoining chamber completely filled with fossil productions of the coast ... I found in the shop a large slab of blackish clay, in which a perfect Ichthyosaurus of at least six feet, was embedded. This specimen would have been a great acquisition for many of the cabinets of natural history on the Continent, and I consider the price demanded, £15 sterling, as very moderate. Carus asked Anning to write her name and address in his pocketbook for future reference—she wrote it as "Mary Annins"—and when she handed it back to him she told him: "I am well known throughout the whole of Europe". As time passed, Anning's confidence in her knowledge grew, and in 1839 she wrote to the Magazine of Natural History to question the claim made in an article, that a recently discovered fossil of the prehistoric shark Hybodus represented a new genus, as an error since she had discovered the existence of fossil sharks with both straight and hooked teeth many years ago. The extract from the letter that the magazine printed was the only writing of Anning's published in the scientific literature during her lifetime. Some personal letters written by Anning, such as her correspondence with Frances Augusta Bell, were published while she was alive, however. ### Interactions with the scientific community As a woman, Anning was treated as an outsider to the scientific community. At the time in Britain, women were not allowed to vote, hold public office, or attend university. The newly formed, but increasingly influential Geological Society of London did not allow women to become members, or even to attend meetings as guests. The only occupations generally open to working-class women were farm labour, domestic service, and work in the newly opened factories. Although Anning knew more about fossils and geology than many of the wealthy fossilists to whom she sold, it was always the gentlemen geologists who published the scientific descriptions of the specimens she found, often neglecting to mention Anning's name. She became resentful of this. Anna Pinney, a young woman who sometimes accompanied Anning while she collected, wrote: "She says the world has used her ill ... these men of learning have sucked her brains, and made a great deal of publishing works, of which she furnished the contents, while she derived none of the advantages." Anning herself wrote in a letter: "The world has used me so unkindly, I fear it has made me suspicious of everyone". Torrens writes that these slights to Anning were part of a larger pattern of ignoring the contributions of working-class people in early 19th-century scientific literature. Often a fossil would be found by a quarryman, construction worker, or road worker who would sell it to a wealthy collector, and it was the latter who was credited if the find was of scientific interest. Along with purchasing specimens, many geologists visited Anning to collect fossils or discuss anatomy and classification. Henry De la Beche and Anning became friends as teenagers following his move to Lyme, and he, Anning, and sometimes her brother Joseph, went fossil-hunting together. De la Beche and Anning kept in touch as he became one of Britain's leading geologists. William Buckland, who lectured on geology at the University of Oxford, often visited Lyme on his Christmas vacations and was frequently seen hunting for fossils with Anning. It was to him Anning made what would prove to be the scientifically important suggestion (in a letter auctioned for over £100,000 in 2020 ) that the strange conical objects known as bezoar stones were really the fossilised faeces of ichthyosaurs or plesiosaurs. Buckland would name the objects coprolites. In 1839 Buckland, Conybeare, and Richard Owen visited Lyme together so that Anning could lead them all on a fossil-collecting excursion. Anning also assisted Thomas Hawkins with his efforts to collect ichthyosaur fossils at Lyme in the 1830s. She was aware of his penchant to "enhance" the fossils he collected. Anning wrote: "he is such an enthusiast that he makes things as he imagines they ought to be; and not as they are really found...". A few years later there was a public scandal when it was discovered that Hawkins had inserted fake bones to make some ichthyosaur skeletons seem more complete, and later sold them to the government for the British Museum's collection without the appraisers knowing about the additions. The Swiss palaeontologist Louis Agassiz visited Lyme Regis in 1834 and worked with Anning to obtain and study fish fossils found in the region. He was so impressed by Anning and her friend Elizabeth Philpot that he wrote in his journal: "Miss Philpot and Mary Anning have been able to show me with utter certainty which are the ichthyodorulite's dorsal fins of sharks that correspond to different types." He thanked both of them for their help in his book, Studies of Fossil Fish. Another leading British geologist, Roderick Murchison, did some of his first fieldwork in southwest England, including Lyme, accompanied by his wife, Charlotte. Murchison wrote that they decided Charlotte should stay behind in Lyme for a few weeks to "become a good practical fossilist, by working with the celebrated Mary Anning of that place...". Charlotte and Anning became lifelong friends and correspondents. Charlotte, who travelled widely and met many prominent geologists through her work with her husband, helped Anning build her network of customers throughout Europe, and she stayed with the Murchisons when she visited London in 1829. Anning's correspondents included Charles Lyell, who wrote to ask her opinion on how the sea was affecting the coastal cliffs around Lyme, as well as Adam Sedgwick—one of her earliest customers—who taught geology at the University of Cambridge and who numbered Charles Darwin among his students. Gideon Mantell, discoverer of the dinosaur Iguanodon, also visited Anning at her shop. ### Financial difficulties and change in church affiliation By 1830, because of difficult economic conditions in Britain that reduced the demand for fossils, coupled with long gaps between major finds, Anning was having financial problems again. Her friend, the geologist Henry De la Beche, assisted her by commissioning Georg Scharf to make a lithographic print based on De la Beche's watercolour painting, Duria Antiquior, portraying life in prehistoric Dorset that was based largely on fossils Anning had found. De la Beche sold copies of the print to his fellow geologists and other wealthy friends and donated the proceeds to Anning. It became the first such scene from what later became known as deep time to be widely circulated. In December 1830, Anning finally made another major find, a skeleton of a new type of plesiosaur, which sold for £200. It was around this time that Anning switched from attending the local Congregational church, where she had been baptised and in which she and her family had always been active members, to the Anglican church. The change was prompted in part by a decline in Congregational attendance that began in 1828 when its popular pastor, John Gleed, a fellow fossil collector, left for the United States to campaign against slavery. He was replaced by the less likeable Ebenezer Smith. The greater social respectability of the established church, in which some of Anning's gentleman geologist customers such as Buckland, Conybeare, and Sedgwick were ordained clergy, was also a factor. Anning, who was devoutly religious, actively supported her new church as she had her old. Anning suffered another serious financial setback in 1835 when she lost most of her life savings, about £300, in a bad investment. Sources differ somewhat on what exactly went wrong. Deborah Cadbury says that she invested with a conman who swindled her and disappeared with the money, but Shelley Emling writes that it is not clear whether the man ran off with the money or whether he died suddenly leaving Anning with no way to recover the investment. Concerned about Anning's financial situation, her old friend William Buckland persuaded the British Association for the Advancement of Science and the British government to award her an annuity, known as a civil list pension, in return for her many contributions to the science of geology. The £25 annual pension gave Anning some financial security. ### Illness and death Anning died from breast cancer at the age of 47 on 9 March 1847. Her fossil work had tailed off during the last few years of her life because of her illness, and as some townspeople misinterpreted the effects of the increasing doses of laudanum she was taking for the pain, there had been gossip in Lyme that she had a drinking problem. The regard in which Anning was held by the geological community was shown in 1846 when, upon learning of her cancer diagnosis, the Geological Society raised money from its members to help with her expenses and the council of the newly created Dorset County Museum made Anning an honorary member. She was buried on 15 March in the churchyard of St Michael's, the local parish church. Members of the Geological Society contributed to a stained-glass window in Anning's memory, unveiled in 1850. It depicts the six corporal acts of mercy—feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting prisoners and the sick, and the inscription reads: "This window is sacred to the memory of Mary Anning of this parish, who died 9 March AD 1847 and is erected by the vicar and some members of the Geological Society of London in commemoration of her usefulness in furthering the science of geology, as also of her benevolence of heart and integrity of life." After Anning's death, Henry De la Beche, president of the Geological Society, wrote a eulogy that he read to a meeting of the society and published in its quarterly transactions, the first such eulogy given for a woman. These were honours normally only accorded to fellows of the society, which did not admit women until 1904. The eulogy began: > I cannot close this notice of our losses by death without adverting to that of one, who though not placed among even the easier classes of society, but one who had to earn her daily bread by her labour, yet contributed by her talents and untiring researches in no small degree to our knowledge of the great Enalio-Saurians, and other forms of organic life entombed in the vicinity of Lyme Regis ... Henry Stuart Fagan wrote an article about Anning's life in February 1865 in Charles Dickens' literary magazine All the Year Round (though the article was largely plagiarised and was long mistakenly attributed to Dickens) that emphasised the difficulties Anning had overcome, especially the scepticism of her fellow townspeople. He ended the article with: "The carpenter's daughter has won a name for herself, and has deserved to win it." ## Major discoveries ### Ichthyosaurs Anning's first famous discovery was made shortly after her father's death when she was still a child of about 12. In 1811 (some sources say 1810 or 1809) her brother Joseph found a 4 ft (1.2 m) skull, but failed to locate the rest of the animal. After Joseph told Anning to look between the cliffs at Lyme Regis and Charmouth, she found the skeleton—17 ft (5.2 m) long in all—a few months later. The family hired workmen to dig it out in November that year, an event covered by the local press on 9 November, who identified the fossil as a crocodile. Other ichthyosaur remains had been discovered in years past at Lyme and elsewhere, but the specimen found by the Annings was the first to come to the attention of scientific circles in London. It was purchased by the lord of a local manor, who passed it to William Bullock for public display in London where it created a sensation. At a time when most people in Britain still believed in a literal interpretation of Genesis, that the Earth was only a few thousand years old and that species did not evolve or become extinct, the find raised questions in scientific and religious circles about what the new science of geology was revealing about ancient life and the history of the Earth. Its notoriety increased when Sir Everard Home wrote a series of six papers, starting in 1814, describing it for the Royal Society. The papers never mentioned who had collected the fossil, and in the first one he even mistakenly credited the painstaking cleaning and preparation of the fossil performed by Anning to the staff at Bullock's museum. Perplexed by the creature, Home kept changing his mind about its classification, first thinking it was a kind of fish, then thinking it might have some kind of affinity with the duck-billed platypus (only recently known to science); finally in 1819 he reasoned it might be a kind of intermediate form between salamanders and lizards, which led him to propose naming it Proteo-Saurus. By then Charles Konig, an assistant curator of the British Museum, had already suggested the name Ichthyosaurus (fish lizard) for the specimen and that name stuck. Konig purchased the skeleton for the museum in 1819. The skull of the specimen is still in the possession of the Natural History Museum in London (to which the fossil collections of the British Museum were transferred later in the century), but at some point, it became separated from the rest of the skeleton, the location of which is not known. Anning found several other ichthyosaur fossils between 1815 and 1819, including almost complete skeletons of varying sizes. In 1821, William Conybeare and Henry De la Beche, both members of the Geological Society of London, collaborated on a paper that analysed in detail the specimens found by Anning and others. They concluded that ichthyosaurs were a previously unknown type of marine reptile, and based on differences in tooth structure, they concluded that there had been at least three species. Also in 1821, Anning found the 20 ft (6.1 m) skeleton from which the species Ichthyosaurus platydon (now Temnodontosaurus platyodon) would be named. In the 1980s it was determined that the first ichthyosaur specimen found by Joseph and Mary Anning was also a member of Temnodontosaurus platyodon. In 2022, two plaster casts of the first complete ichthyosaur skeleton fossil found by Anning that was destroyed in the bombing of London during the Second World War, were discovered in separate collections. One is at the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University in the USA and the other at the Natural History Museum in Berlin, Germany. The casts may be secondary, being made from a direct cast of the fossil, but are determined to be of good condition, "historically important", and likely taken from the specimen put for sale at auction by Anning in 1820. ### Plesiosaurus In the same 1821 paper he co-authored with Henry De la Beche on ichthyosaur anatomy, William Conybeare named and described the genus Plesiosaurus (near lizard), called so because he thought it more like modern reptiles than the ichthyosaur had been. The description was based on a number of fossils, the most complete of them specimen OUMNH J.50146, a paddle and vertebral column that had been obtained by Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas James Birch. Christopher McGowan has hypothesised that this specimen had originally been much more complete and had been collected by Anning, during the winter of 1820/1821. If so, it would have been Anning's next major discovery, providing essential information about the newly recognised type of marine reptile. No records by Anning of the find are known. The paper thanked Birch for giving Conybeare access to it, but does not mention who discovered and prepared it. In 1823, Anning discovered a second, much more complete plesiosaur skeleton, specimen BMNH 22656. When Conybeare presented his analysis of plesiosaur anatomy to a meeting of the Geological Society in 1824, he again failed to mention Anning by name, even though she had possibly collected both skeletons and had made the sketch of the second skeleton he used in his presentation. Conybeare's presentation was made at the same meeting at which William Buckland described the dinosaur Megalosaurus and the combination created a sensation in scientific circles. The second fossil was named and described as Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus and is the type specimen (holotype) of this species, which itself is the type species of the genus. Conybeare's presentation followed the resolution of a controversy over the legitimacy of one of the fossils. The fact that the plesiosaur's long neck had an unprecedented 35 vertebrae raised the suspicions of the eminent French anatomist Georges Cuvier when he reviewed Anning's drawings of the second skeleton, and he wrote to Conybeare suggesting the possibility that the find was a fake produced by combining fossil bones from different kinds of animals. Fraud was far from unknown among early 19th-century fossil collectors, and if the controversy had not been resolved promptly, the accusation could have seriously damaged Anning's ability to sell fossils to other geologists. Cuvier's accusation had resulted in a special meeting of the Geological Society earlier in 1824, which, after some debate, had concluded the skeleton was legitimate. Cuvier later admitted he had acted in haste and was mistaken. Anning discovered yet another important and nearly complete plesiosaur skeleton in 1830. It was named Plesiosaurus macrocephalus by William Buckland and was described in an 1840 paper by Richard Owen. Once again Owen mentioned the wealthy gentleman who had purchased the fossil and made it available for examination, but not the woman who had discovered and prepared it. ### Fossil fish and pterosaur Anning found what a contemporary newspaper article called an unrivalled specimen of Dapedium politum. This was a ray-finned fish, which would be described in 1828. In December of that same year she made an important find consisting of the partial skeleton of a pterosaur. In 1829 William Buckland described it as Pterodactylus macronyx (later renamed Dimorphodon macronyx by Richard Owen), and unlike many other such occasions, Buckland credited Anning with the discovery in his paper. It was the first pterosaur skeleton found outside Germany, and it created a public sensation when displayed at the British Museum. Recent research has found that these creatures were not inclined to fly continuously in their search for fish. In December 1829 she found a fossil fish, Squaloraja, which attracted attention because it had characteristics intermediate between sharks and rays. ### Invertebrates and trace fossils Vertebrate fossil finds, especially of marine reptiles, made Anning's reputation, but she made numerous other contributions to early palaeontology. In 1826 Anning discovered what appeared to be a chamber containing dried ink inside a belemnite fossil. She showed it to her friend Elizabeth Philpot who was able to revivify the ink and use it to illustrate some of her own ichthyosaur fossils. Soon other local artists were doing the same, as more such fossilised ink chambers were discovered. Anning noted how closely the fossilised chambers resembled the ink sacs of modern squid and cuttlefish, which she had dissected to understand the anatomy of fossil cephalopods, and this led William Buckland to publish the conclusion that Jurassic belemnites had used ink for defence just as many modern cephalopods do. It was also Anning who noticed that the oddly shaped fossils then known as "bezoar stones" were sometimes found in the abdominal region of ichthyosaur skeletons. She noted that if such stones were broken open they often contained fossilised fish bones and scales, and sometimes bones from small ichthyosaurs. Anning suspected the stones were fossilised faeces and suggested so to Buckland in 1824. After further investigation and comparison with similar fossils found in other places, Buckland published that conclusion in 1829 and named them coprolites. In contrast to the finding of the plesiosaur skeletons a few years earlier, for which she was not credited, when Buckland presented his findings on coprolites to the Geological Society, he mentioned Anning by name and praised her skill and industry in helping to solve the mystery. ## Recognition and legacy Anning's discoveries became key pieces of evidence for extinction. Georges Cuvier had argued for the reality of extinction in the late 1790s based on his analysis of fossils of mammals such as mammoths. Nevertheless, until the early 1820s it was still believed by many scientifically literate people that just as new species did not appear, so existing ones did not become extinct—in part because they felt that extinction would imply that God's creation had been imperfect; any oddities found were explained away as belonging to animals still living somewhere in an unexplored region of the Earth. The bizarre nature of the fossils found by Anning, — some, such as the plesiosaur, so unlike any known living creature — struck a major blow against this idea. The ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and pterosaur she found, along with the first dinosaur fossils which were discovered by Gideon Mantell and William Buckland during the same period, showed that during previous eras the Earth was inhabited by creatures different from those living today, and provided important support for another controversial suggestion of Cuvier's: that there had been an "age of reptiles" when reptiles rather than mammals had been the dominant form of animal life. This phrase became popular after the publication in 1831 of a paper by Mantell entitled "The Age of Reptiles" that summarised the evidence that there had been an extended geological era when giant reptiles had swarmed the land, air, and sea. These discoveries also played a key role in the development of a new discipline of geohistorical analysis within geology in the 1820s that sought to understand the history of the Earth by using evidence from fossils to reconstruct extinct organisms and the environments in which they lived. This discipline eventually came to be called palaeontology. Illustrations of scenes from "deep time" (now known as palaeoart), such as Henry De la Beche's ground-breaking painting Duria Antiquior, helped convince people that it was possible to understand life in the distant past. De la Beche had been inspired to create the painting by a vivid description of the food chain of the Lias by William Buckland that was based on analysis of coprolites. The study of coprolites, pioneered by Anning and Buckland, would prove to be a valuable tool for understanding ancient ecosystems. Throughout the 20th century, beginning with H. A. Forde and his The Heroine of Lyme Regis: The Story of Mary Anning the Celebrated Geologist (1925), a number of writers saw Anning's life as inspirational. According to P. J. McCartney in Henry De la Beche: Observations on an Observer (1978), she was the basis of Terry Sullivan's lyrics to the 1908 song which, McCartney claimed, became the popular tongue twister, "She Sells Seashells": > > She sells seashells on the seashore The shells she sells are seashells, I'm sure So if she sells seashells on the seashore Then I'm sure she sells seashore shells. However, Stephen Winick of the American Folklife Center has shown that no evidence has been presented for any causal connection between Anning and the lyrics (which are about a music-hall performer who has difficulty with tongue-twisters); in particular, Winick consulted McCartney's original text and discovered that not only did McCartney not provide any sources to support his statement, he merely said that Anning was "reputed to be" the subject of the song. Winick also pointed out that the tongue-twister pre-dated Sullivan by decades, and stated that there is a "very imperfect fit between the details of the song and those of Mary Anning’s life", and "not even a real female character in the song, let alone anyone recognizable as Mary Anning", ultimately concluding that if the song was intended as a tribute to Anning, it is "a pretty ineffective one." Much of the material written about Anning was aimed at children, and tended to focus on her childhood and early career. Much of it was also highly romanticised and not always historically accurate. Anning has been referenced in several historical novels, most notably in The French Lieutenant's Woman (1969) by John Fowles, who was critical of the fact that no British scientist had named a species after her in her lifetime. As Anning's biographer Shelley Emling noted, this contrasted with some of the prominent geologists who had used her finds, such as William Buckland and Roderick Murchison, who ended up with multiple fossil species named after them. In 1999, on the 200th anniversary of Anning's birth, an international meeting of historians, palaeontologists, fossil collectors, and others interested in her life was held in Lyme Regis. In 2005 the Natural History Museum added Anning, alongside scientists such as Carl Linnaeus, Dorothea Bate, and William Smith, as one of the "gallery characters" (actors dressed in period costumes) it uses to walk around its display cases. In 2007, American playwright/performer Claudia Stevens premiered Blue Lias, or the Fish Lizard's Whore, a solo play with music by Allen Shearer depicting Anning in later life. Among the presenters of its thirty performances around the Charles Darwin bicentennial were the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, museums of natural history at the University of Michigan and the University of Kansas, and the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. In 2009, Tracy Chevalier wrote a historical novel entitled Remarkable Creatures, in which Anning and Elizabeth Philpot were the main characters. Another historical novel about Anning, Curiosity by Joan Thomas, was published in March 2010. In 2010, 163 years after her death, the Royal Society included Anning in a list of the ten British women who have most influenced the history of science. In 1902, the Lyme Regis Museum was built on the site of her former home. It was commissioned by Thomas Philpot, a relative of the Philpot sisters. The area where she collected fossils is now part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. In 2021, the Royal Mint issued sets of commemorative £0.50 sterling coins called 'The Mary Anning Collection''' minted in acknowledgement of her lack of recognition as 'one of Britain's greatest fossil hunters'. The coins have images of Temnodontosaurus, Plesiosaurus and Dimorphodon, which she discovered, and her discoveries were 'often overlooked at a time when the scientific world was dominated by men', and as 'a working-class woman.' ### Eponyms The only person who did name a species after Anning during her lifetime was the Swiss-American naturalist, Louis Agassiz. In the early 1840s, he named two fossil fish species after Anning – Acrodus anningiae, and Belenostomus anningiae – and another after her friend Elizabeth Philpot. Agassiz was grateful for the help the women had given him in examining fossil fish specimens during his visit to Lyme Regis in 1834. After Anning's death, other species, including the ostracod Cytherelloidea anningi, and two genera, the therapsid reptile genus Anningia, and the bivalve mollusc genus Anningella, were named in her honour. In 2012, the plesiosaur genus Anningasaura was named after Anning and the species Ichthyosaurus anningae was named after her in 2015. In 1991 Anning Paterae, a cluster of shallow volcanoes in the northern hemisphere of Venus and in 1999, (3919) Maryanning, an asteroid were named after her. In 2018, a new research and survey vessel was launched as Mary Anning for Swansea University. and a suite of rooms named after her at the Natural History Museum in London. ### Statue of Mary Anning In August 2018, a campaign called "Mary Anning Rocks" was formed by an 11-year-old schoolgirl from Dorset, Evie Swire, supported by her mother Anya Pearson. The campaign was set up to remember Anning in her hometown of Lyme Regis by erecting a statue and creating a learning legacy in her name. Patrons and supporters include Professor Alice Roberts, Sir David Attenborough and novelist Tracy Chevalier. A crowdfunding campaign began but was put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. The fundraising campaign, led by the charity Mary Anning Rocks, rebooted in November 2020. As of January 2021, Evie Swire's campaign had resulted in a commission to sculptor Denise Dutton. The statue was granted planning permission by Dorset Council for a space overlooking Black Ven, where Anning made many of her finds. Alice Roberts and Evie Swire unveiled the statue on 21 May 2022, the 223rd anniversary of Anning's birth. The life-sized bronze statue depicts Anning with hammer and fossil in hand, overlooking the cliffs that still attract fossil hunters today. It is prominently displayed in Lyme Regis on southern England’s Jurassic Coast. A further emergency crowdfunding campaign began in August 2020 to raise funds to bid for a handwritten letter from Anning to William Buckland in 1829 about a box of coprolites (fossil poo) and a new plesiosaur she had discovered. The letter later sold at Sotheby's for £100,800 but the campaign had only raised £18,532. ### In fiction Mary Anning appears in the web manga Learn Even More with Manga!, derived from the video game Fate/Grand Order. Her depiction in that manga brings several features from Anning's life into play, such as fossil-collecting gear, fossils, and live versions of ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs. She later appears in the video game, voiced by Maria Naganawa. Anning served as inspiration for Sarah Perry's fossil-hunting protagonist, Cora, in the 2016 novel The Essex Serpent. The film Ammonite'', directed by Francis Lee, and based on segments of Anning's life and legacy, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 11 September 2020. Kate Winslet portrays Anning and Saoirse Ronan portrays Charlotte Murchison, with the two engaged in a fictional lesbian relationship. The film was released on 13 November 2020 in the US and 26 March 2021 in the UK. ## See also - Geology of Dorset - Timeline of women in science
68,139,025	Saline Valley salt tram	1,173,536,603	United States historic place in California	[ "Aerial tramways in the United States", "Mineral transport", "Mining in California", "National Register of Historic Places in Inyo County, California", "Owens Valley", "Saltworks" ]	The Saline Valley salt tram is located in Inyo County, California, United States. The electric aerial tramway was constructed from 1911 to 1913 to carry salt from the Saline Valley, over the Inyo Mountains, and into the Owens Valley. Covering a distance of 13.4 mi (21.6 km), it operated sporadically from 1913 to 1935 for four different companies. During its operation, it was the steepest tram in the United States. The tram was built for the Saline Valley Salt Company (SVSC) by the Trenton Iron Company, but the costs of its construction and operation were ruinously expensive for the SVSC. The salt mining operation and tram were leased in 1915 to the Owens Valley Salt Company until it went bankrupt in 1918. In 1920, the tram was taken over by the Trenton Iron Company, which sold it to the Sierra Salt Company in 1928. The Sierra Salt Company put it back into service until the company went bankrupt in 1935. The tram was included in the National Register of Historic Places on December 31, 1974. ## Background The extraction of salt from the Saline Valley began in 1864, when a farmer residing in the nearby Owens Valley gathered salt from a 12 sq mi (31 km<sup>2</sup>) deposit at the southeastern end of the valley. The farmer sold the 99% pure salt to other settlers in the Owens Valley. Located between the Panamint Range and the Inyo Mountains, access to the Saline Valley was difficult; the transportation of salt before the tram from the Saline Valley to the Owens Valley took two days by wagon despite a straight line distance of only 12 mi (19 km). Nearly four decades later, in 1902, the Conn and Trudo Borax Company established a borax mine in the Saline Valley. The next year, White Smith, a Tennessee-born attorney working for Conn and Trudo as a teamster, organized the Saline Valley Salt Company (SVSC). The SVSC mined the valley's salt on a small scale from 1903 until the company's president, L. Bourland, died in 1905. Thereafter, Smith took over its direction and began seeking investors to enlarge the SVSC's operations. In 1908, the SVSC began studying how to move salt more economically from the Saline Valley to the Southern Pacific railroad station near Keeler, California. The company first considered a railway, which could also carry ore from nearby copper mines. This was ruled out as a viable option because of the ruggedness of the Inyo Mountains. The SVSC next considered moving the salt as brine through a pipeline, which the company saw as relatively inexpensive to construct. A pipeline would not allow for the moving of freight into the Saline Valley, however, and in 1911 the SVSC decided to instead construct an aerial tram. ## Construction and operation In order to determine the route and cost of the tramway, the SVSC began a survey of the region to be crossed in April 1911. The terrain was so difficult that some canyons required several days to traverse. The route was finalized in July 1911. On August 14, the SVSC hired the Trenton Iron Company, a subsidiary of the American Steel and Wire Company, to build the tramway. Work began on September 1, and was complicated by the climate – workers labored in temperatures as high as 120 °F (49 °C) – and terrain. To transport materials, a road on the western slopes was extended and a team of eight horses was employed for pulling supplies. On the eastern slopes, where construction of a road was made impossible by the terrain, a temporary, two-cable aerial tram was constructed. Construction was expected to have been completed by May 1912 at a cost of \$250,000 to \$500,000 (\$ to \$ as of ). Instead, work was not completed until July 2, 1913, at a cost of \$750,000 (\$ as of ). The SVSC could not afford to continue its operations and in 1915 leased them to the Owens Valley Salt Company, which operated in the Saline Valley until it went bankrupt in 1918. In 1920, the Taylor Milling Company restarted the Saline Valley salt operation but went bankrupt after a year, and the tram was repossessed by the Trenton Iron Company. The Sierra Salt Company reopened the mining operation in 1925 but did not use the tram until they purchased it in 1928. In 1935, the company went bankrupt and the Saline Valley operation was closed. ## Design The tramway was 13.4 mi (21.6 km) long and was divided into five sections ranging from 0.75 mi (1.21 km) to 4 mi (6.4 km). Each of these sections was managed by a control station. In addition, there were 34 structures for maintaining tension on the line. From 1913 to 1935, the route was the steepest of any aerial tram in the United States; in some places, the vertical angle from structure to structure could be as much as 40°. The line rose 7,600 ft (2,300 m) from the floor of the Saline Valley to the top of the Inyo Mountains and then descended 5,100 ft (1,600 m) into the Owens Valley. The tramway used two cables to carry its buckets, which weighed 800 lb (360 kg) when empty and could hold up to 700 lb (320 kg) of salt. The first cable, for loaded buckets, was 1.125 in (28.6 mm) thick. The second cable, for empty buckets, was 0.875 in (22.2 mm) thick. Power was supplied by a 75 hp (56 kW) Westinghouse electric motor at each control station. The tram moved the buckets at 5.5 mph (8.9 km/h); 20 tons of salt could be moved in an hour. While in operation, the tram required two workers at each terminal, two at every control station, and an additional four workers for maintenance. ## Preservation On October 31, 1973, the Bureau of Land Management nominated the Saline Valley salt tram for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. The nomination was received on October 16, 1974, and approved on December 31, 1974, with the reference ID 74000514. ## See also - Saline Valley Hot Springs - Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad - Keane Wonder Mine - Rhyolite, Nevada
692,976	Beorhtwulf of Mercia	1,157,598,056	9th-century King of the Mercians	[ "852 deaths", "9th-century English monarchs", "Anglo-Saxon warriors", "Mercian monarchs", "Year of birth unknown" ]	Beorhtwulf (, meaning "bright wolf"; also spelled Berhtwulf; died 852) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 839 or 840 to 852. His ancestry is unknown, though he may have been connected to Beornwulf, who ruled Mercia in the 820s. Almost no coins were issued by Beorhtwulf's predecessor, Wiglaf, but a Mercian coinage was restarted by Beorhtwulf early in his reign, initially with strong similarities to the coins of Æthelwulf of Wessex, and later with independent designs. The Vikings attacked within a year or two of Beorhtwulf's accession: the province of Lindsey was raided in 841, and London, a key centre of Mercian commerce, was attacked the following year. Another Viking assault on London in 851 "put Beorhtwulf to flight", according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; the Vikings were subsequently defeated by Æthelwulf. This raid may have had a significant economic impact on Mercia, as London coinage is much reduced after 851. Berkshire appears to have passed from Mercian to West Saxon control during Beorhtwulf's reign. The Welsh are recorded to have rebelled against Beorhtwulf's successor, Burgred, shortly after Beorhtwulf's death, suggesting that Beorhtwulf had been their overlord. Charters from Beorthwulf's reign show a strained relationship with the church, as Beorhtwulf seized land and subsequently returned it. Beorhtwulf and his wife, Sæthryth, may have had two sons, Beorhtfrith and Beorhtric. Beorhtric is known from witnessing his father's charters, but he ceased to do so before the end of Beorhtwulf's reign. Beorhtfrith appears in later sources which describe his murder of Wigstan, the grandson of Wiglaf, in a dispute over Beorhtfrith's plan to marry Wigstan's widowed mother Ælfflæd. Beorhtwulf's death is not recorded in any surviving sources, but it is thought that he died in 852. ## Background and sources For most of the 8th century, Mercia was the dominant Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Mercian influence in the south-eastern kingdoms of Kent, East Anglia, and Essex continued into the early 820s under Coenwulf of Mercia. However, Coenwulf's death in 821 marked the beginning of a period in which Mercia suffered from dynastic conflicts and military defeats that redrew the political map of England. Four (possibly five) kings, from what appear to be four different kin-groups, ruled Mercia throughout the next six years. Little genealogical information about these kings has survived, but since Anglo-Saxon names often included initial elements common to most or all members of a family, historians have suggested that kin-groups in this period can be reconstructed on the basis of the similarity of their names. Three competing kin-groups are recognizable in the charters and regnal lists of the time: the C, Wig and B groups. The C group, which included the brothers Coenwulf, Cuthred of Kent, and Ceolwulf I, was dominant in the period following the deaths of Offa of Mercia and his son Ecgfrith in 796. Ceolwulf was deposed in 823 by Beornwulf, perhaps the first of the B group, who was killed fighting against the East Anglians in 826. He was followed by Ludeca, not obviously linked to any of the three groups, who was killed in battle the following year. After Ludeca's death, the first of the Wig family came to power: Wiglaf, who died in 839 or 840. Beorhtwulf, who succeeded to the throne that year, is likely to have come from the B group, which may also have included the ill-fated Beornred who "held [power] a little while and unhappily" after the murder of King Æthelbald in 757. An alternative model of Mercian succession is that a number of kin-groups may have competed for the succession. The sub-kingdoms of the Hwicce, the Tomsæte, and the unidentified Gaini are examples of such power-bases. Marriage alliances could also have played a part. Competing magnates—those called in charters "dux" or "princeps" (that is, leaders)—may have brought the kings to power. In this model, the Mercian kings are little more than leading noblemen. An important source for the period is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a collection of annals in Old English narrating the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The Chronicle was a West Saxon production, however, and is sometimes thought to be biased in favour of Wessex. Charters dating from Beorhtwulf's reign have survived; these were documents which granted land to followers or to churchmen and were witnessed by the kings who had the authority to grant the land. A charter might record the names of both a subject king and his overlord on the witness list appended to the grant. Such a witness list can be seen on the Ismere Diploma, for example, where Æthelric, son of king Oshere of the Hwicce, is described as a "subregulus", or subking, of Æthelbald of Mercia. ## Accession and coinage It is possible that Beorhtwulf is the same person as the Beorhtwulf who witnessed a charter of Wiglaf's in 836. If so, this is Beorhtwulf's first appearance in the historical record. His accession to the throne of Mercia is usually thought to have occurred in about 840. The date is not given directly in any of the primary sources, but it is known from regnal lists that he succeeded Wiglaf as king. Historian D. P. Kirby suggests that Wiglaf's death occurred in 839, basing this date on the known chronology of the reigns of Beorhtwulf and Burgred, the next two Mercian kings. It is possible that Wigmund, the son of Wiglaf, was king briefly between Wiglaf and Beorhtwulf. The evidence for this possibility comes only from a later tradition concerning Wigmund's son, Wigstan, so it is uncertain whether he actually did so. Almost no Mercian coins are known from the 830s, after Wiglaf regained Mercia from Egbert of Wessex. Beorhtwulf restarted a Mercian coinage early in his reign, and the extended gap in the 830s has led to the suggestion that Wiglaf's second reign was as a client king of Egbert's, without permission to mint his own coinage. Beorhtwulf's coinage would then indicate his independence of Mercia. However, it is more usually thought that Wiglaf took Mercia back by force. An alternative explanation for Beorhtwulf's revival of the coinage is that it was part of a plan for economic regeneration in the face of the Viking attacks. The Viking threat may also account for the evident cooperation in matters of currency between Mercia and Wessex which began in Beorhtwulf's reign and lasted until the end of the independent Mercian kingdom on the death of King Ceolwulf II in the years around 880. The earliest of Beorhtwulf's coins were issued in 841–842, and can be identified as the work of a Rochester die-cutter who also produced coins early in the reign of Æthelwulf of Wessex. After ten years without any coinage, Beorhtwulf would have had to go outside Mercia to find skilled die-cutters, and Rochester was the closest mint. Hence the link to Rochester probably does not indicate that the coins were minted there; it is more likely that they were produced in London, which was under Mercian control. Subsequent coins of Beorhtwulf's are very similar to Æthelwulf's. One coin combines a portrait of Beorhtwulf on the reverse side with a design used by Æthelwulf on the obverse; this has been interpreted as indicating an alliance between the two kingdoms, but it is more likely to have been the work of a forger or an illiterate moneyer reusing the design of a coin of Æthelwulf's. A different coinage appears later in the 840s, and was probably ended by the Viking attacks of 850–851. There are also coins without portraits that are likely to have been produced at the very end of Beorhtwulf's reign. ## Reign Beorhtwulf's kingship began auspiciously. In the battle of Catill or Cyfeiliog, he killed King Merfyn Frych of Gwynedd and later sources imply (see below) that he was able to subjugate the northern Welsh after this. However, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records Viking raids in 841 against the south and east coasts of Britain, including the Mercian province of Lindsey, centred on modern Lincoln. The city of London, chief centre of Mercia's trade, was attacked the following year. The Chronicle states that there was "great slaughter" in London, and large coin hoards were buried in the city at this time. Berkshire appears to have passed out of Mercian hands and become a part of the kingdom of Wessex at some point during the late 840s. In 844 Ceolred, the bishop of Leicester, granted Beorhtwulf an estate at Pangbourne, in Berkshire, so the area was still in Mercian hands at that date. Asser, writing in about 893, believed that King Alfred the Great was born between 847 and 849 at Wantage in Berkshire. The implication is that Berkshire had previously come under the control of Wessex, though it is also possible the territory was divided between the two kingdoms, possibly even before Beorhtwulf's accession. Whatever the nature of the change, there is no record of how it occurred. It appears that the Mercian ealdorman Æthelwulf remained in office afterwards, implying a peaceful transition. In 853, not long after Beorhtwulf's death, the Welsh rebelled against Burgred and were subdued by an alliance between Burgred and Æthelwulf. ### Charters The synod at Croft held by Wiglaf in 836, which Beorhtwulf may have attended, was the last such conclave called together by a Mercian king. During Beorhtwulf's reign and thereafter, the kingdom of Wessex had more influence than Mercia with the Archbishop of Canterbury. A charter of 840 provides evidence of a different kind concerning Beorhtwulf's relations with the church. The charter concerns lands that had originally been granted by Offa to the monastery of Bredon in Worcestershire. The lands had come under the control of the church in Worcester, but Beorhtwulf had seized the land again. In the charter Beorhtwulf acknowledges the church's right to the land, but forces a handsome gift from the bishop in return: "four very choice horses and a ring of 30 mancuses and a skilfully wrought dish of three pounds, and two silver horns of four pounds ... [and] ... two good horses and two goblets of two pounds and one gilded cup of two pounds." This is not an isolated case; there are other charters that show Mercian kings of the time disputing property with the church, such as a charter of 849 in which Beorhtwulf received a lease on land from the bishop of Worcester, and promised in return that he would be "more firmly the friend of the bishop and his community" and, in the words of historian Patrick Wormald, "would not rob them in future". Wormald suggests that this ruthless behaviour may be explained by the fact that landed estates were becoming harder to find, as so much land had been granted to monasteries. The problem had been mentioned over a century before by Bede, who in a letter to Egbert, the Archbishop of York, had complained of "a complete lack of places where the sons of nobles and of veteran thegns can receive an estate". Beorhtwulf's concession of wrongdoing suggests that he could not rely on his nobles to support him in such a disagreement, and may indicate that his hold on the throne was insecure. Holders of land were under an obligation to the king to support the king's household, though exemptions could be obtained. A charter of the late 840s released the monastery of Breedon on the Hill from the requirement to supply food and lodging to Beorhtwulf's servants and messengers, including "the royal hawks, huntsmen, horses, and their attendants". The exemption cost a substantial sum, and did not release the monastery from every burden; the obligation to feed messengers from neighbouring kingdoms or from overseas was excluded from the exemption. ### End In 851, a Viking army landed at Thanet, then still an island, and over-wintered there. A second Viking force of 350 ships is reported by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to have stormed Canterbury and London, and to have "put to flight Beorhtwulf, king of Mercia, with his army". The Vikings were defeated by Æthelwulf and his sons, Æthelstan and Æthelbald, but the economic impact appears to have been significant, as Mercian coinage in London was very limited after 851. No surviving contemporary source records Beorhtwulf's death, but according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle his successor, Burgred, reigned for twenty-two years and was driven from his throne by the Vikings in 874, implying that Beorhtwulf died in 852. From Burgred's charters it is known that his reign began before 25 July 852. It has been suggested that an otherwise unknown king named Eanred may have reigned briefly between Beorhtwulf and Burgred; the evidence for this consists of a single silver penny inscribed "EANRED REX", which has similarities to some of Beorhtwulf's and Æthelwulf's pennies and hence is thought to have been produced after 850. The only recorded King Eanred ruled in Northumbria and is thought to have died in 840, though an alternative chronology of the Northumbrian kings has been proposed that would eliminate this discrepancy. Generally the penny is considered to belong to "an unknown ruler of a southern kingdom", and it cannot be assumed that an Eanred succeeded Beorhtwulf. ## Family Beorhtwulf was married to Sæthryth, apparently a figure of some importance in her own right as she witnessed all of his charters between 840 and 849, after which she disappears from the record. Beorhtwulf is said to have had two sons, Beorhtfrith and Beorhtric. Beorhtric is known from witnessing his father's charters, but he ceased to do so before the end of Beorhtwulf's reign. The story of Beorhtwulf's other known son, Beorhtfrith, is told in the Passio sancti Wigstani, which may include material from a late 9th-century source, with some corroboration in the chronicle of John of Worcester. Beorhtfrith wished to marry the royal heiress Ælfflæd, King Ceolwulf's daughter, widow of Wiglaf's son Wigmund and mother of Wigstan. Wigstan refused to allow the marriage, since Beorhtfrith was a kinsman of Wigmund's and was also Wigstan's godfather. In revenge, Beorhtfrith murdered Wigstan, who was subsequently venerated as a saint. The story, though of late origin, is regarded as plausible by modern historians.
2,221,775	The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest	1,169,554,638	Hanna-Barbera animated television series	[ "1990s American animated television series", "1990s American science fiction television series", "1996 American television series debuts", "1997 American television series endings", "American animated television spin-offs", "American children's animated action television series", "American children's animated adventure television series", "American children's animated science fantasy television series", "Animated television series about orphans", "Anime-influenced Western animated television series", "Cartoon Network original programming", "English-language television shows", "Fiction about neanderthals", "Jonny Quest", "TBS (American TV channel) original programming", "TNT (American TV network) original programming", "Teen animated television series", "Television series about alien visitations", "Television series by Hanna-Barbera", "Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios", "Television shows about virtual reality", "Television shows adapted into comics", "Television shows adapted into video games", "Toonami", "YTV (Canadian TV channel) original programming" ]	The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (also known as Jonny Quest: The Real Adventures) is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera and broadcast on Cartoon Network from August 26, 1996, to April 16, 1997. A continuation of the Jonny Quest (1964) series and The New Adventures of Jonny Quest (1986) series, it features teenage adventurers Jonny Quest, Hadji Singh, and Jessie Bannon as they accompany Dr. Benton Quest and bodyguard Race Bannon to investigate strange phenomena, legends, and mysteries in exotic locales. Action also takes place in the virtual realm of QuestWorld, a three-dimensional cyberspace domain rendered with computer animation. Conceived in the early 1990s, Real Adventures suffered a long and troubled development. Hanna-Barbera dismissed creator Peter Lawrence in 1996 and hired new producers to finish the show. John Eng and Cosmo Anzilotti completed Lawrence's work; David Lipman, Davis Doi, and Larry Houston wrote new episodes with reworked character designs akin to those of classic Quest. Each team produced half of the show's fifty-two episodes. While Lawrence's team crafted stories of real-world mystery and exploration, later writers used science fiction and paranormal plots. Turner supported the show through a massive marketing campaign with thirty-three licensees. Real Adventures debuted with an unprecedented wide release on Cartoon Network, TBS, and TNT, airing twenty-one times per week. Critics have debated the merits of the show's animation, writing, and spirit compared to classic Quest, but it has also received praise in those categories. Real Adventures failed to gain high ratings with its targeted demographics and its merchandise performed poorly, leading to cancellation after fifty-two episodes. Turner Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video have released eight VHS tapes and two laserdiscs; reruns have appeared on Toonami, CNX, and other Turner networks. All 52 episodes are available on DVD and for digital purchase on the iTunes Store. ## Development and history Hanna-Barbera created The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest in the early 1990s after being acquired by Turner Entertainment Co. Turner planned a series of year-long "Turner-wide initiatives" to capitalize on old characters and create new franchises. Turner received copious fan mail and phone inquiries about Quest, and observed "incredibly high" marketing Q Scores. The show was also Hanna-Barbera's most popular venture in the action-adventure genre; no other contemporary series featured realistic children enjoying lifelike adventures. With William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's blessings, the company planned a new series, live action film, and two telefilms—Jonny's Golden Quest and Jonny Quest vs. The Cyber Insects. Combined with a substantial marketing campaign, the project would be their largest initiative since Turner acquired H-B. Turner Home Entertainment President Philip Kent claimed Quest would be a "consumer-products bonanza", and the company considered Real Adventures the linchpin of the Quest revival. Real Adventures, the live-action film, and release of classic episodes on VHS would constitute a "Year of Jonny Quest" marketing blitz. Delayed until 1996, the project echoed 1994's "Year of the Flintstones" and 1995's "Year of Yogi Bear". Production on Real Adventures commenced in 1993. Turner hired a team led by director Dick Sebast, writer Peter Lawrence, and art director Takashi Masunaga. The firm appointed Stephanie Sperber head of the Quest task force in 1994. Hanna-Barbera President Fred Seibert allowed Lawrence to create a new team of companions for Jonny, but Lawrence chose to revive the original group. Sebast and Lawrence decided to make the series as realistic as possible through accurate physics and depictions of machinery. Lawrence emphasized believability, eschewing "ridiculous ...laser guns" for real sidearms. The creative team researched child psychology, ensuring they could depict realistic action and consequences without fueling nightmares. Seibert touted Quest as the "Home Alone of adventure", with "high-tech, multicultural themes" that would appeal to contemporary youth. Promoters promised the new Quest would avoid "mindless violence, chauvinism, xenophobia and insensitivity", addressing historical criticisms of the classic series. Turner also claimed that Quest would appeal to any gender, stating, "Traditionally, action adventure animation may be stronger with boys, but in this case, storylines are being developed to draw girls in ... we're really hoping for a wide berth of viewership." Seibert further described the show's theme as "The X-Files for kids", citing difficult questions and mysteries to be posed in each episode. Departures from the classic series included new character designs and the introduction of a new character to the Quest family. Takashi designed Jonny to be "edgy and handsome", and rendered characters in the style of Japanese animation to differentiate from American superhero cartoons. The team used a new character—Race's daughter, Jessie Bannon—to create conflict with Jonny. She was introduced in Jonny's Golden Quest as Race's daughter by Jezebel Jade. Lawrence initially titled the show Jonny Quest's Extraordinary Adventures, but the title changed in 1995 to its final name. Intended for a 1995 release with 65 episodes, Real Adventures fell into development hell; roughly 30 scripts and only eight reels were in progress by March 1995. After eighteen months of production, Hanna-Barbera removed both Lawrence and Takashi in 1996, hiring John Eng and Cosmo Anzilotti to finish the first twenty-six episodes. Certain sequences necessitated exhaustive work and heavy revision. A new team led by David Lipman, Davis Doi and Larry Houston finished twenty-six more for broadcast as a separate series named The New Jonny Quest. Time Warner's acquisition of Turner negated this plan, leading to the episodes' release as the second season of Real Adventures. ### Animation Peter Lawrence aimed to "go beyond cartooning and into animated film-making" for the show's storytelling. Producers contracted seven studios to animate the first season, including Pacific Animation Co. in Japan and Toon's Factory in France. Japanese and Korean animators drew traditional cel sequences and added color; an international team handled digital post-production and QuestWorld scenes. Teva, a subsidiary of Total Group, organized a post-production team in Paris, led by Eric Jacquot, Gilles Deyries, and Pascal Legeay. Using video post-production high-end specialized tools, including Henry, Spirit, Flame, and others, the team strove to deliver a high-speed computer editing and post-production process. The majority of the first season's footage was digitally inked and painted to enhance background elements. Producers applied the process in excess of twenty hours per episode, adding light effects, rain, snow, glitter, reflections, and fog. Hanna-Barbera implemented a new computer system to combine manual animation with digital paint, and to provide camera movement flexibility, which created a partial three-dimensional effect. Takashi felt the system made the creative team "honest filmmakers" through hands-on production. Lawrence described the system in 1995: > We almost have a fine cut before we start animating. The pencil test is imported into the computer... By having camera mounts on multiple levels, it enables us to review the whole show without the animation. We see the writing and see where there's a stupid line. We can re-cut the show—effectively ADR the show—and not only send the tape, but print it as well. The tape goes to the compositor and the whole thing is laid together way upfront. The "pencil test [is] imported into the computer" referred to by Lawrence was an animatic. This process was implemented by Stephen Toback's H-B Production Technology Group, which also set up and maintained the in-house digital ink and paint systems for Hanna Barbera, as well as the post-production Avid and Pro Tools systems. Japan-based Mook Studios exclusively animated the second season without digital post-processing. Real Adventures maintained the classic show's realistic violence, featuring off-screen deaths of villains and allies. The use of these cutting edge techniques, as well as the show's troubled development, led to speculation that each episode had cost over \$500,000 to make (considered the high end of contemporary animation budgets). ### Music Bodie Chandler directed music for Quest, and Gary Lionelli, Thomas Chase, Stephen Rucker, Lawrence H. Brown, Guy Moon, Kevin Kiner, Christophe Beck, and Mark Koval wrote incidental music and cues. Lionelli conceived a new main theme based on the original 1960s Jonny Quest theme by Hoyt Curtin. Composer Guy Moon considered working for the show the "hardest thing I've done in my life" due to the producers' demands for epic music: "They want a big orchestra with a good synth rig... It's great because they push me so much I'll probably replace my whole demo reel with 'Jonny Quest' music... It's hip and it's current." Stephen Rucker and Thomas Chase (who later composed in The Powerpuff Girls) used MIDI to facilitate composing. Chase appreciated the producers' commitment to scoring, noting, "For many kids, animation music is their first exposure to orchestral music." ### QuestWorld Producers cultivated an element of virtual reality through QuestWorld, a cyberspace simulation rendered with three-dimensional computer animation and motion capture. QuestWorld was designed as a futuristic application of contemporary technology, similar to the classic series' high-tech lasers, satellites, and robots. Seibert traced its origin to "the same problem that James Bond has... When you look at even his newest gadgets, they're somewhat quaint." H-B marketers polled children on their familiarity with virtual reality, discovering that each child was aware of the concept. Planners took inspiration from cyberpunk novels written by Neal Stephenson and William Gibson, including Snow Crash. Short, independent QuestWorld segments called "Quest Bytes" concluded certain episodes. H-B initially contracted Dream Quest Images to animate QuestWorld, but was credited for work on only a single episode as competitor Disney acquired the studio in April 1996, necessitating a different vendor. Animation company Buzz F/X, based in Montreal and Santa Monica, created first season sequences. Work began in April 1996 with the opening titles—a gliding journey through a canyon of green, cartographic lines with scenes illuminated upon the walls. QuestWorld characters were created as wire frame models, augmented with faces scanned from clay busts, then digitally painted and inked. Buzz F/X used mostly inexperienced animators, as budgetary constraints would not permit hiring seasoned employees. Work followed on "Escape to Questworld" and "Trouble on the Colorado" as animators worked 12 hours a day, six days a week in a small garage with inadequate computers. Buzz F/X augmented the small team in July with ten recruits, but only two were experienced. Amateur employees struggled with lighting, and with synchronizing jerky motion capture from the House of Moves in Venice Beach; Quest was their first capture production order. By August, the team was working 14 hours a day, seven days a week, including full nights and mornings. After two more episodes, Buzz F/X terminated its unprofitable contract with H-B, later filing for bankruptcy in 1997 due to \$3.6 million of debt created by work on Quest. H-B hired Blur Studio to finish the second season's scenes on a ten-week production schedule. Blur used Intergraph hardware, and its sharp performance attracted press attention and sealed an amicable relationship with H-B. Both companies produced in total roughly one hundred minutes of computer animation for QuestWorld. ### International promotion and network run Turner Entertainment promoted the series in forty countries and fourteen languages to establish international markets. Broadcasters included Antena 3 in Spain, TF1 in France, Channel One in Russia, RAI in Italy, Taurus Film in Germany, the BBC in the United Kingdom and Asia Television in ten Asian countries, representing ATL's first animated series to be broadcast in both English and Cantonese. Turner planned to introduce US-style animation to the Asian market through Quest. The show was launched in Singapore on TCS Channel 5 (now known as MediaCorp Channel 5) to take advantage of Singapore's "sophisticated retail sector and well-developed licensing industry". Brandweek reported in 1995 that the show's budget, including merchandising and promotional costs, topped \$40 million. Director Richard Donner, producer Lauren Shuler Donner, and Jane Rosenthal purchased rights for a live-action film, having expressed interest in the property after Turner acquired H-B. Peter Segal was attached to direct. Slated to begin production in mid-1995, filming was delayed until 1996 and ultimately never began. Turner advertised Real Adventures as the "next evolution in children's programming ... [redefining] television animation for the next generation." The company hosted a 1995 discussion with Peter Lawrence and Takashi at Yanceyville, and later aired previews at United States waterpark events. Staged in major US cities, these "dive-in theaters" featured previews of new series and local celebrities, including Jennifer Love Hewitt, Lacey Chabert, Cameron Finley, and Ashley Johnson for the UCLA event. Turner announced the debut countries and TV stations on May 1, 1996. Turner aired Real Adventures seven nights a week on TBS, TNT, and Cartoon Network for an unprecedented 21 weekly showings. Turner used this level of coverage to entice marketing partners, as typical cable programs (airing once per week) would not be able to attract desired merchandise interest. Turner aired several commercial spots featuring the Quest logo and show introductions to build viral support. Turner's marketers surmised that juvenile groups watching TNT in the morning, TBS in the afternoon, or Cartoon Network in prime time and late night were mutually exclusive. Real Adventures premiered August 26, 1996, three months after a twenty-hour "Farewell Marathon" of original Quest. Promotional scope exceeded that of recent television events, such as NBC's Gulliver's Travels; industry insiders compared it to a feature film campaign. The show averaged a 2.0 Nielsen rating over August and September 1996, considered a strong start for an animated series. Though Cartoon Network suffered declining viewership in 1996, Quest was consistently one of the highest-rated programs; later season-one episodes drew around 650,000 viewers. Real Adventures's merchandise performed poorly, and it failed to build consistent ratings in its targeted demographics (though it did attract adult audiences). Turner tried to revive interest in February 1997 with a contest for an adventurous trip to Jamaica called Quest World Adventure. Cartoon Network did not order new episodes beyond the 52nd. Reruns aired for two years on Toonami until September 24, 1999, on Cartoon Network in other formats until 2004; and on CNX until 2003. Reruns were also seen in broadcast syndication for a time via The Program Exchange. ## Overview The show's premise is that Dr. Quest, a famous phenomenologist, investigates mysterious occurrences and exotic locales with his son, Jonny Quest, adopted son Hadji Singh, bodyguard Race Bannon, Race's daughter Jessie, and pet bulldog Bandit. Real Adventures is set a few years after the classic series, making Jonny and his friends teenagers. Lawrence aimed to use "existing, real phenomenon"—such as the "Airstrips of Nazca, the Ruins of Teotihuacan or the possible existence of Giant Squid"—to capture audiences' curiosity. Stressing plausibility, he suggested writers cover real-world enigmas, cryptozoology, unique locales, an alien posing as the vice president, and fictional but "believable" mysteries. The Quests would frequently visit the virtual environment of QuestWorld, and encounter the villainous Jeremiah Surd and Ezekiel Rage. Paralyzed years prior by Race's SWAT team, Surd would try to exact revenge through technology; Rage—a former government agent left for dead on a botched mission—would try to destroy the world with nuclear terrorism. The Quests would sparingly fight "monsters of the week", instead battling antagonists whose conflicts lay in "personal objective or ambition ... opposed by Dr. Quest". Lawrence stationed the family at a new compound on the coast of Maine, replete with houses, barns, and workshops. Rooms suited for each character included a library for Dr. Quest, workshop for Jonny, computer-equipped den for Jessie, dojo and gym for Race, and lighthouse lookout for Hadji's meditation. Lawrence equipped Dr. Quest with a fleet of air, land, and sea vehicles, including a 1940s biplane and state-of-the-art catamaran named Questor with diving bells and smaller research vessels stored in the hulls. Peter Lawrence prided Real Adventures on the strength of its writing, opining that "very few writers in this or any other field actually write visually," and contesting that each episode would have "enough material or potential to develop into a movie". ### Characters Peter Lawrence described Jonny as a "hero in training" on the cusp of adulthood. He remarked that Jonny possessed "a straight-ahead, right-on attitude" free of introspection or self-doubt. At age 14, Jonny was a confident problem-solver prone to getting in trouble. Writers framed him as more an intuitive thinker than an intellectual, and created tension by contrasting his father's academic leanings with Jonny's affinity for Race's daring lifestyle. Jonny inherited his father's driving curiosity (rendering him a "walking query"), as well as his mother's "restless, adventurous spirit". Takashi designed Jonny to be lean, wiry, athletic, and coordinated. Creative directors centered episodes around Jonny; Seibert summarized the shift: > We decided to make the show more Jonny-centric. If you analyze the original show, you'll see it's really the Dr. Quest and Race show. Jonny was just hanging out—after all, what can a 10-year-old do? He can't even ride his bike out of the neighborhood. Hadji, age 16, became Dr. Quest's personal assistant, lacking his mentor's formal education but sharing his burning interest in archaeology, anthropology and the paranormal. A Hindu and yogi, he held a fatalistic attitude towards the show's drama, reacting to situations "from the philosophical point of view that everything is as it's supposed to be". Hadji often used wise aphorisms, taken from diverse cultures and sources and sometimes baffling Jonny. Lawrence cut Hadji's classic telekinesis to align his abilities with realistic yogi practices. "He doesn't say things like 'Sim, Sim Sala Bim' anymore," season one voice actor Michael Benyaer explained. "The writers and producers actually researched the actual yogic powers. He can do more plausible stuff. There is an episode where Hadji pretends to stop his breathing so that the bad guys think he is dead." Takashi drew Hadji taller and thinner than his classic counterpart. Jessie Bannon, age 15, was characterized to be just as tough, smarter, and more thoughtful than Jonny. Written as "more of an egghead", she elected to spend time with Dr. Quest as Jonny did with Race, and was "more in tune with Hadji". Turner conceived Jessie as cool, independent, and a strong role model for contemporary girls. Peter Lawrence took pains to ensure Jessie would not be written as "a guy in a skirt", and made her more mature than Jonny. Race Bannon (Jessie's father) age 38, retained his classic, laconic sense of humor and fearless, dependable nature. He retired from government work over ethical scruples with his former intelligence agency. Writers noted that Race was helplessly overprotective of Jessie, and Jonny was "the boy Race never had". Race was also given a western-US accent and a knack for crafting elaborate, colorful similes. Peter Lawrence sculpted Race to be a "cowboy philosopher or philosopher-warrior". Writers tasked Race with physical and self-defense training for the Quest team. Dr. Benton Quest, age 55, retired from government research and operated from the "Quest Compound" on the coast of Maine. Driven by curiosity, he was "consulted by individuals, governments and corporations" to investigate enigmatic events. Described as "single-minded—almost to the point of obsession—in his pursuit of knowledge", he often encountered trouble as "his drive to learn blanks out more basic instincts like self-preservation." Jessie appreciated his ponderous sense of humor. The show's promoters summarized him as the "benevolent king" archetype. Bandit the family dog also appeared in the series. Lawrence removed Bandit's clownish origins, stressing that Bandit could not understand English, nor reliably save the family from perilous situations. Summarizing the group's behavior, Lawrence wrote, "Jonny's response to danger will be close to Race's. Jessie's intrigue with mysterious, unexplained phenomena will be close to Dr. Quest's and Hadji, with his roots in a different culture and a more spiritual approach to life, is different again." Takashi designed each character as physically fit and well-sculpted to reflect "a more exercise-oriented society". Fred Seibert downplayed worries that the new characters would disappoint cult fans of the classic series. He hoped Real Adventures would find success as new interpretations of comic book heroes had done. ### Second season changes Season two directors Larry Houston and Davis Doi changed the show to resemble the classic franchise. Writer Glenn Leopold revived Hadji's latent psionic powers—including spoon-bending and rope tricks—as he felt the first season's realism was "not that interesting to watch". All characters lost a year in age; Jonny became 13. Writer Lance Falk returned Race to governmental guard duty, sealed by an episodic visit with classic Quest spymaster Phil Corven. Race lost his western accent (with Falk even comparing Race's western accent to Batman having a French accent), and Dr. Quest regained his classic red hair and exhibited rudimentary combat skills. Falk regarded Jessie as the "missing piece needed to complete the Quest family", and Leopold added slight romantic overtones to episodes. Some fans complained about changes to Jessie, criticized as a damsel in distress with stereotypically female pink clothes. Jonny saved Jessie from danger several times. Falk defended his portrayal as giving her realistic, human fears, such as claustrophobia. Censors asked the second season team to replace firearms with dart guns, notably in the episode "General Winter". Second season writers took greater creative liberties with Real Adventures, invoking ghosts, other dimensions, and megalomaniacal schemes. Leopold and Falk sought to create a "slam-bang adventure show with real monsters" and heightened narrative emphasis on Jonny and his friends. Falk explained that cool contrivances took precedence over accuracy, stating that "Jonny Quest is a show with one foot in the fantastic, and one foot solidly based in reality." Opposed to QuestWorld, the new team was nonetheless contractually obligated to use it in their episodes. Falk felt that virtual reality undermined the show's "strong connection to reality", and suggested that after so many dangerous incidents Dr. Quest would have turned the system off. Writers brought back several classic characters, including Pasha the Peddler, Jezebel Jade, Dr. Zin and his twin daughters, Anaya and Melana,. Falk honored Quest creator Doug Wildey by creating an eponymous grandfather for Jonny in the episode "Nuclear Netherworld", as well as homage to William Hanna's birthstate of New Mexico where Jonny's grandfather resides. The team created Estella Velasquez as Jessie's mother to retcon the telefilms, feeling that Jade would never get married. Writers eventually killed off villains Ezekiel Rage and Dr. Jeremiah Surd in favor of new adversaries. Comparing Quest without Zin to "James Bond without S.P.E.C.T.R.E.", Falk penned a season finale featuring classic robot spies and a visceral fight between Dr. Quest and Zin. Falk planned to resuscitate Palm Key as the Quest home in new episodes. Cartoon Network did not renew Real Adventures, despite a pledge to explore the history of Jonny's mother Rachel in the season premiere. ## Episodes ## Cast The first season of Real Adventures featured J. D. Roth as Jonny, George Segal as Dr. Quest, Robert Patrick as Race, Jesse Douglas as Jessie, Michael Benyaer as Hadji, and veteran voice actors Frank Welker and Michael Bell as Dr. Jeremiah Surd and Ezekiel Rage, respectively. A childhood fan of the original series, J.D. Roth was inspired by Turner's vision for the new series and swiftly accepted the role of Jonny. Roth was attracted by Jonny's "star quality", and approved of his characterization as a real kid without superpowers. He enjoyed Jonny's infectious enthusiasm and impulsive alacrity. Roth also admired the show's educational quality, something he had tried to integrate in his personal television pilots. When asked about how he played the relationship with Jonny's father, he commented, "Jonny is crazy about his dad. He looks up to him and thinks he is the smartest man ever to walk to face of the earth. He has the typical teenage relationship with his father, but his father definitely sees something in him. Dr. Quest knows that Jonny is going to be something really special." Michael Benyaer also enjoyed playing Hadji: "[he] is one of the few roles for an ethnic actor that is not a bad guy. I mean, how many East Indian heroes have been on television? Hadji is for the sensitive kids out there. He is the outsider in all of us." A Star Wars fan, Benyaer was happy to work with Mark Hamill for "In the Realm of the Condor". Peter Lawrence's request for an Indian-descended voice actor was seen as an "unusual case of multi-ethnic casting". The producers struggled to cast Jessie Bannon. Peter Lawrence ultimately chose Jesse Douglas, who he felt reflected Jessie's energy and intelligence—"[Jesse Douglas] has immense energy, huge energy, and is the kind of woman who could do all the kind of things Jessie could do—you know, athletic, smart, so and so forth [sic]." Douglas impressed Lawrence with her active lifestyle, including ballet, equestrianism, and tennis. When asked about the character's inclusion, Douglas stated, "I'd be bummed if I upset anybody. Jessie is pretty cool. It is not like she is a girl who is whining all the time. If anything, she is a really good springboard for the rest of the storyline." Roth supported her, claiming that "Jonny hasn't discovered girls yet but when he does Jessie would be the type of girl he'd like to be with...I think something will happen between them but right now Jess is his best friend." H-B Chief Fred Seibert agreed, hinting that as adults "there might be a Tracy/Hepburn thing going on." Turner approached George Segal to audition for the part of Dr. Quest. Segal described the show as having "a real family feeling about it... I'd never seen this stuff before. That was quite remarkable." Hanna-Barbera bought out the first cast's contracts and hired new actors for the second season. This cast featured Quinton Flynn as Jonny, John de Lancie as Dr. Quest, Granville Van Dusen (for the first two episodes) and Robert Foxworth as Race, Jennifer Hale as Jessie, and Rob Paulsen as Hadji. Paulsen previously voiced Hadji in The New Adventures of Jonny Quest and the two Quest telefilms. Don Messick was hired to reprise his classic role as Dr. Quest, but was forced into retirement by a stroke during early sessions. Van Dusen voiced Bannon in the 1986 Quest series, and Foxworth took over the part after auditioning for Dr. Quest. Frank Welker, Michael Bell and B.J. Ward reprised their respective roles as Surd, Rage and Iris (the QuestWorld A.I.) in the second season. The casting changes were public information at the time of the series premiere; Fred Seibert hoped that "viewers won't be able to tell" differences between seasons. Throughout the two seasons, several notable guest stars included Kevin Conroy, Earl Boen, Clancy Brown, Robert Ito, James Shigeta, Irene Bedard, Lucy Liu, Brock Peters, Tristan Rogers, Edward Asner, Julian Sands, Helene Udy, Mayim Bialik, Mark Hamill, Andreas Katsulas, Jeffrey Tambor, Dorian Harewood, Clive Revill, Kenneth Mars, Nick Chinlund, George Kennedy, Clyde Kusatsu, Dean Jones, Thomas Gibson, Sarah Douglas, Tasia Valenza and Carl Lumbly. Season two writer Lance Falk has also regretted not thinking about veteran voice actor John Stephenson, who was the very first voice of Dr. Quest, for a guest role. ## Marketing Turner launched a massive marketing campaign to promote Real Adventures, intending to reach 80% of American children aged six to eleven. Each Turner network spent \$5 to \$7 million for a total \$20 million invested in promotion; the company contracted 33 licensees. Other reports pegged the budget at \$40 million, and Marketing Week estimated that the series launched with \$300 million of merchandising support. The Wall Street Journal called Quest a "property to watch" in 1995; People and Good Housekeeping considered it a surefire blockbuster. Turner provided digital and bound style guides featuring collections of Quest artwork, coloring instructions, and product ideas. Produced for \$100,000 and believed to be the first of its kind, the digital style guide included fonts, logos, character art, merchandising mock-ups, voice clips, and other interactive content. Hanna-Barbera launched Questworld.com as the show's internet hub, presenting it as if written by members of the Quest team. Complementing the show's educational, real-world premise, the site hosted links to academic, archaeological, and exploratory websites. Turner announced 32 licensees as of summer 1996. Turner marketed Real Adventures through a substantial diversity of products, considering its Quest campaign a role model for future shows. Galoob acquired figurine licensing rights in 1995 and created a product line of vehicles, figures, and Micro Machines for fall 1996 release. Turner felt that Galoob's commitment legitimized the Quest marketing plan, and next secured partnership with Pizza Hut and food retailers. Pillsbury included \$3 mail-in rebates for future Quest videos, display contests, and instant coupon offers on over 20 million packages. Campbell Soup Company released six holographic miniature posters on the same number of SpaghettiOs cans; the posters were awarded in Converting in 1997. General Mills outfitted boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch with offers for T-shirts and other items. Over five thousand Pizza Hut restaurants held a two-month-long give-away of figurines with meals during the show's launch. Galoob failed to build popularity for its toys outside the United States, and discontinued the line in 1997. Upper Deck Company used art, sketches, and plots from the first season to create a sixty-piece card collection. Turner also marketed Zebco fishing poles bearing the Quest logo. Kid Rhino produced a cassette audio adventure based on the episode "Return of the Anasazi". The show's credits advertised a soundtrack available from Rhino, never sold or otherwise promoted. Turner listed several products in a "Quest Adventure Value Pack" coupon catalogue. Marketers tied in classic Quest merchandise, launching a classic H-B promotion with Days Inn hotels, Planet Hollywood restaurants, and Little Debbie snack cakes and offering rebates for Cyber Insects and classic episodes. The marketing campaign culminated with the release of eight VHS Real Adventures season one episodes. Turner also released two episodes on laserdisc. Metropolitan newspapers worked with Turner to promote the videos through grab-bag give-aways. Turner sold merchandise through several international distributors, and expected to make a \$60 million profit per year in the Asia-Pacific region alone. Savoy Brands International handled South American distribution, involving 750,000 retail outlets in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador and Columbia. Turner debuted Quest at a cocktail party for the European Licensing Fair in late 1996, and released merchandise in Europe through 90,000 retail outlets over the next six months. Copyright Promotions Licensing Group handled lincensing in the United Kingdom. Turner ensured that the license agreements forbade retailers from discounting Quest items. The size of the marketing initiative left one newspaper reviewer wondering, "are [the Quests] back because they're too cool to die, or because they're too well known to be squandered as a licensing product?" Turner worried that the promotion might overhype the brand, and timed commercial rollouts over the life of the show. H-B chief Fred Seibert expected high sales and success: > The new series is the beginning of what will be a multi-faceted global programming, marketing and merchandising effort... The property still has great recognition and we think this will work because of the production values, because it's a real person solving real problems, and because it's the property that started the genre. Dark Horse Comics composed a 12-issue series released over the show's first run, expecting higher store patronage and cross-selling. Editor Phil Amara assured fans that the comics would contain tributes to the classic Jonny Quest. Kate Worley wrote the Real Adventures series and Francisco Lopez illustrated; guest writers and artists regularly contributed. A lifetime fan of Quest, Eisner Award-winner Paul Chadwick drew the cover of the final issue, depicting Jonny's descent into a cave on Easter Island. Dark Horse worked with Galoob to ship comic shop-locator phone numbers and preview-URLs with figurines. The company also advertised and released a special three-issue series through mail offers with over 8 million boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios. Three two-page "mini-adventures" packaged with existing Dark Horse products preceded the series' release. Dark Horse also worked with Converse to stage a promotion in early 1997 for a fan to appear in a Quest comic. Terry Bisson and others working under the alias "Brad Quentin" produced 11 original novellas featuring adventure and virtual reality themes. Critics appreciated that the books may have drawn kids to reading, especially those interested in technology. Only certain comics and coloring books used season two's designs, such as Dark Horse's Countdown to Chaos, featuring General Vostok. Turner did not market the show again until April 2004, when Warner Home Video released the episodes "Escape to Questworld" and "Trouble on the Colorado" as TV Premiere DVD: The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest on MiniDVD. ### Cover-up at Roswell Virgin Sound and Vision produced an adventure game for the series named Cover-Up At Roswell, released in August 1996. Known as Escape from Quest World in development, Roswell cost \$1 million to make. Virgin handled all marketing, sales, and distribution; Turner cross-promoted. Developers recycled fifty minutes of footage and art from six season one episodes to construct a new story about the Quest family gathering alien artifacts and saving an extraterrestrial from autopsy at The Pentagon. Jeremiah Surd and the Men in Black of General Tyler plan to misuse the technology and try to hinder the Quests. Gameplay consists of clicking areas on images of locations to navigate paths. Players sometimes encounter minigames, such as guiding a diving bell away from rocks or shooting rats with a slingshot. Virgin designed certain segments to be viewed with packaged stereostopic Chromatek plastic glasses. Virgin estimated the game would provide 20–25 hours of game play for adults and 80–100 hours for children. The season two cast provided all voices except for Michael Benyaer as Hadji and Charles Howerton as Dr. Quest. The game's music featured a "high-intensity orchestral sound" prone to monotony. One reviewer praised Roswell for "good entertainment and variety", but regretted low replay value and no modes of difficulty. Critics were divided over the puzzles, naming them both "ingenious" and "elementary". Peter Scisco of ComputerLife and FamilyPC's testers criticized some of the puzzles for relying on "reflexes, not logical thinking". Entertainment Weekly rated the game B+, naming the puzzles "unimaginative...Pac-Man rip-offs and dopey jigsaws". Scisco appreciated the nonviolent content and the inclusion of Jessie as a strong female character, but considered the extraterrestrial story too familiar. A writer from the Sydney Morning Herald warned against buying the game for easily frightened children, but recommended it for those who enjoy mental challenges. ### Other promotions Turner, TBS, and Holiday Inn partnered to hold an essay contest as part of the Safe America Foundation's "Quest for Safety" drive. From October 9 to November 4, 1996, spots encouraged children to write essays about important safety issues and personal safety. A panel of public safety and community leaders selected the winner, dubbing them the "Safest Kid in America". TBS posted the winner's essay to the kids section of its website and awarded them a position on the Real Adventures float for the 1997 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena. Second-prize winners received bicycle helmets, T-shirts, and Jonny Quest lapel pins. Turner staged an international contest in February 1997 called "Quest World Adventure", featuring the grand prize of a trip to a "secret island" (Jamaica) in July to take part in a staged dramatic scenario. Commercials instructed fans to mail in episodes' geographical destinations during sweeps week. Advertisements appeared through Time Warner's television channels, Sports Illustrated for Kids, DC Comics publications, radio stations, and Warner Brothers stores. The contest marked the first time that Cartoon Network U.S., TNT Europe, Cartoon Network Europe, Cartoon Network Asia, and Cartoon Network Latin America united for a single promotion. Turner encouraged local cable operators to submit their own spots, generating 34,000 ads among 174 cable systems for a total of \$3.4 million cross-channel media support. 50,000 children with a median age of ten entered the competition, and 20,000 answered correctly. Turner selected ten viewers from the United States and nine from Latin America and Asia as grand-prize winners. They and two-hundred others received Quest-themed adventure packs, including a backpack, flashlight and siren, travel journal, pen, T-shirt, and glow sticks. Cartoon Network aired the names of winning children on a special feature in which Jeremiah Surd issued personal threats. Winners received all-expenses-paid trips to Ocho Rios, Jamaica, with up to three family members. Planners kept the destination secret until shortly before travel. In Jamaica, kids combated Surd's "environmental terrorism" by preventing him from finding the Jamaican "Irie" stones. Children received clues on the mission through e-mails seemingly written by Jonny Quest. Posing as allies, network employees prepared clues, buried treasure, and hosted barbecues, reggae concerts, and rafting trips. Participants searched for the stones at the White River, Dunn's River Falls, and Prospect Plantation; hosts filmed the proceedings for possible future promotions. The quest centered on cerebral challenges and puzzles. Attendees also learned about the history and ecology of Jamaica. The adventure doubled the show's ratings for February sweeps and tripled Questworld.com's hits. Brandweek awarded it the year's top honors for a global marketing promotion. ## Home media On October 8, 1996, Turner Home Entertainment and the Cartoon Network Video line released all four volumes of the series on VHS, "The Alchemist", "Rage's Burning Wheel", "The Darkest Fathoms" and "Escape to Questworld", with each videocassette containing two episodes along with two bonus shorts from the What a Cartoon! series. Warner Home Video released only "Escape to Questworld" on MiniDVD in April 2004, then WHV (via Hanna-Barbera Cartoons and Warner Bros. Family Entertainment) released the first thirteen episodes on February 17, 2009 as Season 1, Volume 1 of The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest on DVD in Region 1. On March 27, 2012, Warner Archive released The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest: Season 1, Volume 2 on DVD in Region 1 as part of their Hanna–Barbera Classics Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com. The complete second (and final) season was released to DVD on November 10, 2015 from Warner Archive. All 52 episodes were made available for digital purchase in 2013 on the iTunes Store. This represents the most recent show to be released under the Hanna-Barbera banner on DVD. All subsequent shows would use the Cartoon Network banner. ## Critical reception Announcement of Jessie Bannon's inclusion caused backlash among Quest fans. TV Guide'''s editors feared that Jonny and Jessie would become romantically entangled, declaring her an "icky female". H-B Chief Fred Seibert responded, "Jessie is a little older and smarter than Jonny... We're not doing Moonlighting here." Seibert also denied that Jessie had been created solely to appeal to little girls, citing extant support for Jonny and the classic team. A Miami Herald columnist called Jessie an "effort to rewrite the past to conform to the sociopolitical mandates of the present" and political correctness "run amok". Billboard conversely welcomed the change over an all-male cast. The fiasco subsided after the Cyber Insects telefilm aired; the Atlanta Journal-Constitution rebuffed the "icky girl" label, as Jessie saved Jonny's life and taught him patience. A test screening of Cyber Insects to 30- to 35-year-old males revealed that though some questioned her addition, most understood that like certain elements criticized in the original series, it was a reflection of the times. Some fans still took issue with the series' distance from classic Quest, which suffered accusations of cultural insensitivity and "racial and sexual stereotypes". Real Adventures evoked critical comparisons to the original series. Cinefantastique felt Real Adventures remained true to the classic show's formula, and praised the "impressive" cast. Another critic recommended the show to "die-hard adult fans", affirming that Real Adventures maintained the violence and off-screen deaths of the old series, as even the opening titles featured "explosions, murder and mayhem". The Washington Post judged the first season as "grittier and more lifelike" than the original Quest. Chicago Tribune critic Allan Johnson agreed that Real Adventures was less "way-out" and contrasted the shows in detail. TV Guide applauded the writing as "miles deeper and darker than on the old show"; Hadji's quotations impressed the magazine's reviewer. Chicago's Daily Herald called the first episode "vintage Quest", and The Panama City Times-Herald echoed this position: > The new series takes the best elements of the old—global adventures, cutting-edge technology and good-spirited teamwork—and updates it for the 1990s. The now-teen-age heroes are caught up in extraordinary dangers both in the "real" world and in virtual reality. Critics debated the success of the show's premise. Peter Scisco of ComputerLife appreciated that the team "rely on their brains, not mutant superpowers". People praised Turner's shift from the "politically correct claptrap" of Captain Planet and the Planeteers, giving Real Adventures a B grade as "children's programming the way it oughta be". The authors of 1998's Saturday Morning Fever contrarily felt the show lacked "the sense of why the original was so successful". They disliked H-B's packaging of disparate seasons as one series, preferring the second for its characters and classic references. Greg Aaron of HotWired praised the franchise's return but warned against QuestWorld hype, arguing that "it will take more than visual sophistication to hook today's viewers". Hanna-Barbera founder and chairman Joseph Barbera considered Real Adventures a "disaster" because of changes to the characters and stories. He conceded, "that's their business. Everybody needs to do their own thing." Critics generally enjoyed the characters and voice acting. People liked the cast, particularly George Segal. Saturday Morning Fever praised Jessie Bannon for her resemblance to Dr. Quest. Allan Johnson approved of the age jump, as Jonny and Hadji were now old enough to be part of the action. He considered Jessie "cool... she gives Jonny grief just because she can, and she's not afraid of the action." He did not enjoy the "toned down" portrayal of Race Bannon. Some fans objected to Race's Western accent in the first season. Peter Lawrence defended the portrayal of Race as a "man of action, not thought—though perfectly capable of deep thought", noting that his accent and mannerisms encouraged variety, surprise, and originality. The quality of Quest's traditional and computer animation split critics. The Toronto Star scathingly criticized the show for "facile plots heavily laced with jarring science fiction and incongruous computer animation", naming QuestWorld a "poorly explained techno-gimmick." Le Figaro concurred, but praised QuestWorld for capturing the attention of young viewers. The Star praised QuestWorld, but regarded traditional sequences as "flat and textureless, with minimal characterization, unnaturally stiff movement, and poor execution of shading and shadow". Ted Cox of the Chicago Daily Herald agreed that animated motion was sometimes "remarkably uneven", but lauded realistic imagery like "the play of light on the ocean". TV Guide also found the animation somewhat flat, but considered the sound effects and backgrounds to be state-of-the-art. Special effects director Alberto Menache criticized QuestWorld in Understanding Motion Capture for Computer Animation and Video Games, considering it a mistake-laden failure. He explained that the size difference between the motion capturers and the characters caused unsteady animation and shaking, consequently mismatching interaction with props and uneven terrain. Menache blamed the show's budget, which did not allow for digital post-production and review; producers instead expected "plug-and-play" results straight from the capture studio. Menache concluded that the QuestWorld sequences suffered from a "pipeline set up for mass production" with little testing or planning. Quest's Senior Vice President of Production Sherry Gunther admitted that the motion capture technology was "a little crude" and best suited for broad movements. Menache was less critical of the facial capture, considering it "medium-quality" but still unacceptable given H-B's resources. These criticisms mirrored the comments of Buzz F/X animator Francois Lord, who cited inexperienced Montreal animators and rushed production schedules. He pointed out that Blur Studios had more time, money, and experience for season two's sequences. The show's sound was warmly received by the industry. Episodes "Nuclear Netherworld" and "Alien in Washington" were nominated respectively for music and sound editing Golden Reel Awards in 1997, and the entire series was nominated for an animated sound editing Golden Reel Award in 1998. Real Adventures'' was also nominated for a 1997 Daytime Emmy Award for music direction and composition.
64,515,085	B. Max Mehl	1,172,062,082	American coin dealer (1884–1957)	[ "1884 births", "1957 deaths", "American Jews", "American numismatists", "American people of Polish-Jewish descent", "Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States", "People from Fort Worth, Texas", "People from Piotrków Governorate", "People from Łódź", "Polish Jews", "Polish numismatists" ]	Benjamin Maximillian Mehl (November 5, 1884 – September 28, 1957), usually known as B. Max Mehl, was an American dealer in coins, selling them for over half a century. The most prominent dealer in the United States, through much of the first half of the 20th century, he is credited with helping to expand the appeal of coin collecting from a hobby for the wealthy to one enjoyed by many. Mehl was born in Congress Poland, which was part of the Russian Empire. His family brought him to what is now Lithuania, and then to the United States, settling in Fort Worth, Texas, where he lived for almost all of his adult life. While still a teenager, he began to sell coins, which he had previously collected. Joining the American Numismatic Association (ANA) in 1903 at age 18, he quickly became a full-time coin dealer, and by 1910 was one of the most well-known in the country. During his half-century of coin dealing, his customer list included Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Colonel E. H. R. Green. He sold coins from the collections of important numismatists (coin collectors) at auction, including Jerome Kern and King Farouk. Mehl was the first dealer to advertise in non-numismatic publications, helping to broaden the appeal of the hobby. He claimed to have spent over a million dollars on advertisements offering to buy a 1913 Liberty Head nickel for \$50, though he knew there were none in circulation to be found. This got the public to search through their pocket change looking for rare coins that Mehl might buy, and greatly increased sales of Mehl's coin books, adding to his profit. Many of his great auction sales took place in the 1940s, but by the following decade, he was becoming less active, and he died in 1957; his business continued into the 1960s. Mehl was elected to the Numismatic Hall of Fame in 1974, and to the CoinFacts Dealer Hall of Fame in 2010. ## Early life Benjamin Maximillian Mehl was born on November 5, 1884, in Łódź, in what was then Congress Poland within the Russian Empire. His parents, Solomon Isaac Mehl and Rachel Mehl, lived in the Jewish Quarter of Łódź, known as Altstadt. Mehl means "meal" (as in ground grain, or flour), and in a time and place when last names were often descriptive of the family trade, the Mehls may have been itinerant millers. Rachel Mehl's last name at birth was Goldstick. In 1885, the Mehl family, including Benjamin, moved to Vilkomu, in the province of Kovno (modern day Kaunas, Lithuania). There was a growing Jewish community, and Benjamin received his initial education in its school. According to a 1906 biographical sketch, he collected coins from early childhood, and was unable to recall a time when he was not interested in them. Seeking greater opportunities, in 1895 the Mehl family, including Benjamin, immigrated to the United States, arriving there in April of that year. They initially lived in New York, and settled for a time in Denton, Texas before moving to Fort Worth, likely because Rachel Mehl had family there. Benjamin was educated in the public schools of Fort Worth. A synagogue was built in Fort Worth in 1895, which the Mehls joined; sometime around 1897, Benjamin was called to the Torah as a bar mitzvah. While attending school, Benjamin, along with his three older brothers and one older sister, was employed in the clothing store Solomon Mehl opened at 1211 Main Street in Fort Worth. He left school at age 16 and became employed full-time as a clerk at the store. From the age of 10, Benjamin collected cigar bands, then stamps, then coins. He dated his start as a coin dealer to 1900, likely with unusual coins taken from the cash register with his father's approval as part of his pay. In June 1903, he applied to become a member of the American Numismatic Association (ANA), giving the Main Street address, and using the name "B. Max Mehl"—he would never use his first name in print. ANA Secretary George F. Heath noted in the ANA's journal, The Numismatist, that the thirteen applicants that month had ages ranging from 18 (Mehl's age) to 65, describing the applications as progress towards the time when every reputable coin collector or student of numismatics belonged to the ANA, adding, "the fires in the Temple of Numisma burn on and on forever." In listing the collecting interests of the applicants, Heath stated that Mehl "collects only U.S. Colonial and Territorial gold and paper money". Each application was subject to no objection being lodged against the prospective member, and Mehl was approved, becoming ANA member number 522 on July 1, 1903. ## Early career (1903–1920) Mehl's first published words in The Numismatist appeared in August 1903. Likely part of a letter to Secretary Heath endorsing the magazine, they read, "I am indeed more than pleased with The Numismatist and think it is the best publication of its kind." In October 1903, that journal reported a change of address for Mehl to Box 24, Alvord, Texas. In 1903, he joined the British Numismatic Society. Mehl's first mail-order advertisement appeared in the December 1903 issue of The Numismatist, selling 33 U.S. coins on a highest-bidder basis. Q. David Bowers, in a 1999 article on Mehl, found it logical that Mehl would focus on the mail order business given Fort Worth's distance from numismatic centers such as New York and Philadelphia—there would be few local collectors to patronize a coin shop in "Cow Town", as Fort Worth was known. By this time Mehl had returned to using the address on Main Street in Fort Worth. The sale was likely not a success, as most of the coins were listed on a circular Mehl sent by mail in January 1904, but the following month, he placed his first full-page advertisement in The Numismatist. According to numismatic author John N. Lupia III, "Apparently he was a smashing success from 1904 on." Mehl was aided in becoming a major coin dealer by C.W. Cowell, a Coloradan who was selling his collection, who sent many rare pieces to Mehl on consignment, allowing him to offer rarities that otherwise would have been beyond his means. The February 1904 advertisement offered The Hub Coin Book for sale for \$.25 (), although in an unfortunate misspelling in the ad, the "k" in Book was rendered as a "b". This book, published by Alexander & Co. of Boston, was widely-sold, and coin dealers could order copies imprinted with their name and address for sale to the public for a small fee. Mehl did so, and sent out copies advertising himself, seeking to promote his business. In 1906, he published the first edition of The Star Coin Book: An Encyclopedia of Rare American and Foreign Coins, sold for ten cents and heavily copied from The Hub Coin Book. Heath described The Star Coin Book as a "well illustrated sixty-four page pamphlet giving prices he pays for coins, particularly the American series, and much other valuable information". Beginning in 1908, Mehl published the more thorough The Star Rare Coin Encyclopedia, which by 1924 had an annual sale of 70,000 copies. These sold for \$1 (the price later increased) to members of the public who were hopeful of picking a valuable coin out of their pocket change. Mehl did not limit himself to advertisements in the numismatic press. Beginning in 1904, he placed classified ads in the Fort Worth Telegram. In 1906, he became the first coin dealer to advertise in the national non-numismatic press, with five lines in Collier's magazine, at an expense of \$12.50. This proved successful as an advertising strategy, helping to transform coin collecting, once a niche hobby for the wealthy and for students of art and archeology, into a pastime for the masses. In 1906, Mehl came east for the first time, visiting New York and the coin business of Lyman H. Low for his first coin auction, where he proved an active participant. Numismatist Farran Zerbe commented on Mehl's youth. Mehl also visited Boston and Philadelphia. In July 1906, he wrote to his customers that he was now a full-time coin dealer, something that likely came as a surprise to many of them, who assumed that he had long been one. According to Bowers, "by 1910, his innovative advertising and colorful personality projected him to the first rank of dealers." By 1907, Mehl had opened his own office at 1309 Main Street in Fort Worth. On August 18, 1907, Mehl and Ethel Rosen married, in the parlor of Ethel's uncle, Northside Fort Worth developer Sam Rosen. Ethel Mehl's family also had roots in Lithuania. They had two daughters, Lorraine and Danna. In January 1908, Mehl began to publish Mehl's Numismatic Monthly, with guest contributors including some of the leading numismatists of the day. Published until 1919 with a hiatus in 1911–1912, according to Bowers it "gave The Numismatist a run for its money and in many aspects was more interestingly edited". When Heath, the editor of The Numismatist, died unexpectedly in 1908, Mehl offered the Numismatic Monthly as a replacement journal for the ANA, but Zerbe took over The Numismatist and continued it. In 1912, Mehl moved to New York to join fellow dealer Wayte Raymond in a partnership. Mehl was concerned about his relative isolation in Texas from the rest of the numismatic world. However, after only a few weeks, Mehl returned to Fort Worth, writing in The Numismatist that serious illness in his family had required his return, and personal matters then obliged him to remain. He stated that he had re-established himself on as large a scale as before. In 1916, Mehl engaged local architect Wiley G. Clarkson to design a three-story, 16,000-square-foot office building of brick, ornamented with stone bas-reliefs of antique coins. Located at 1200 W. Magnolia Avenue, the building was the working place of Mehl and 40 employees (an increase from 10 in 1912) who dealt with correspondence and orders from a subscription list of 70,000 customers. In the years to come, these would include Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and King Farouk of Egypt. Mehl was one of the largest dealers in early United States commemorative coins, and the only one to make them a major part of his business in the 1916–1920 era, including Columbian half dollars in groups and packets of coins sold to beginning collectors. When the promoters of the 1916- and 1917-dated McKinley Birthplace Memorial gold dollar failed to sell many coins to the public at the original issue price of \$3, Mehl purchased about 10,000 (half the extant mintage) at just over face value, selling them to the public at less than the issue price well into the 1920s. Mehl similarly acquired (from Zerbe, the coin's promoter) thousands of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition dollars and sold them to his customers. In late 1919, Mehl stated that he had an advertising budget of \$5,000 per year, and he continued to advertise in non-numismatic publications, spending \$200 () on a single insertion of an advertisement in The American Boy. ## Middle years (1920–1940) In 1921, Mehl sold his first 1804 dollar, one of the great rarities of American numismatics. He turned the sale to good account in his advertising, noting that he had paid over \$2,000 () for an old silver dollar and wondering what rarities the reader might have undiscovered in their possession. The United States Post Office Department found this to be deceptive. Thereafter, Mehl switched campaigns, offering to buy any 1894-S Barber dimes (also extremely scarce) that the reader might have, at a time when common-date Barber dimes were everyday pocket change. During his career, Mehl sold six 1804 dollars, selling two of the six twice. Similarly, Mehl boasted of spending a million dollars advertising in vain to buy a 1913 Liberty Head nickel, knowing that none of these extremely rare coins were to be found in circulation. Though he bought many other coins as a result, his primary purpose was to promote the sale of his catalogue, and his campaign supposedly led to transit delays in some cities as trolley conductors checked through their change. His actual purchase, for \$200, of a rare cent, was also advertised. In his advertisements, Mehl urged collectors to sign up for his "Mehl-ing list". According to a 1929 article on Mehl, he was among the top five recipients of mail in Fort Worth, and during the busier part of the year, ranked second or third, though another source states he accounted for more than half of Fort Worth's incoming mail, leading the post office to put additional trucks on the Magnolia Avenue route. Despite his extensive dealings in coins, the 1929 article disclosed he did not himself collect them, feeling that he could not both collect and deal in coins; instead, he collected autographs. Both his auctions and his fixed-price coin sales were by mail-order only; if a prospective buyer showed up in Fort Worth, Mehl would discuss a purchase and even take the person to dinner, but would insist his guest return home and write to complete the purchase, stating he did not want anyone to feel under pressure to buy. From 1924 to 1926, Mehl served on the ANA's board of governors. In the early 1930s, amid the Great Depression, hobbies prospered, including coin collecting. Mehl greatly expanded his campaign to sell coin books to the American public, who were receptive, liking the idea of finding a rare coin in those difficult times that might solve one's financial worries. Mehl purchased full-page advertisements in Sunday newspapers and had his own nationwide radio program, stating in 1933 that he had spent more than \$50,000 () to advertise on more than 50 radio stations. A 1931 advertisement in The American Weekly, a Sunday newspaper supplement, cost him \$18,500, while a \$2,000 ad in The Saturday Evening Post brought in 9,800 book orders during the first week. Catering to both beginning and advanced collectors, Mehl worked for years to get the noted numismatist, Colonel E.H.R. Green, who made large coin purchases, as a customer; he was eventually successful and sold Green an estimated \$500,000 worth of coins. His incoming mail peaked with 1.25 million pieces in 1935. Mehl proclaimed, in 1938, that he had \$250,000 in capital, \$500,000 in resources and “the largest numismatic establishment in the United States". In 1939, Mehl employed 50 people, and boasted that he had more people on his payroll than all other U.S. coin dealers combined. During the commemorative coin boom of the 1930s, Mehl continued to push them, noting that they had gone up in value during the Depression years even as stocks sank. When representatives of the Arkansas Centennial Commission came to him in late 1935 after having sold out the year's issue of the Arkansas Centennial half dollar, Mehl advised them to get the Bureau of the Mint to agree to strike limited-edition varieties of the coin that could be resold to the public at high prices. The Mint refused, but did agree to strike more of the original coins, few of which were made available to the public, but were sold by Mehl at a premium above the issue price. In January 1936, with prices still rising for commemorative coins (the bubble burst near the end of the year), Mehl published an advertisement urging collectors to "BUY NOW—Potential \$10 and \$20 coins for a fraction of their near-future value!" In 1937, Mehl published a booklet on commemorative coins. ## Later years (1940–1957) According to Bowers, "in the decade of the 1940s, Mehl reached his glory." Mehl had 116 auction sales, all conducted by mail, between 1903 and 1955; those after 1940 included some that Bowers described as "awesome and incredible". Never a researcher, Mehl made exaggerations or errors in his catalogs that led to some criticism of him in the numismatic community. Among the post-1940 sales were the William Forrester Dunham Sale (1941), Fred E. Olsen (1944, containing the first 1913 Liberty Head nickel Mehl ever handled, despite his advertisements), and the duplicates from the King Farouk collection (1947). The Dunham collection included an 1804 dollar and another great rarity, an 1822 half eagle, and Mehl sold another 1804 dollar in the 1946 William Cutler Atwater sale for a record-breaking price of \$10,500. Mehl dubbed the sale of the Farouk coins the "Royal Sale", though only about six percent of the lots in the sale had been owned by Farouk. Unable to gain permission to illustrate the auction catalog cover with a portrait of Farouk, Mehl instead used an Egyptian coin that depicted Farouk, and which required no permission to display. Mehl also handled the auction of the coin collection of composer Jerome Kern (1950). Coin dealer Abe Kosoff wrote in Mehl's 1957 obituary in the pages of The Numismatist, "Max was master of the finesse of cataloging." During World War II, Mehl was chairman of Fort Worth Draft Board \#2. His other civic activities included being president of the Rotary Club and of the Exchange Club. He served as potentate of Moslah Shrine Temple, and sat on the board of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. He was a member of the Fort Worth Club, Colonial Country Club and Temple Beth-El. He received a humanitarian award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, Fort Worth chapter, in 1956. By the 1950s, Mehl's numismatic activities were diminishing. After the Kern collection in 1950 (which he styled his "Golden Jubilee" sale), he conducted only three more auctions, the last on October 25, 1955. B. Max Mehl died on September 28, 1957, having had a serious heart condition for some time, and was interred two days later, with Abe Kosoff as one of his pallbearers, in the Beth-El section of Greenwood Cemetery in Fort Worth. ## Aftermath and assessment After Mehl's death, his executive secretary of over 40 years' service, Mary Ellen Ferguson, kept the firm going until her own death in 1961. Thereafter, Kosoff, who managed Mehl's numismatic estate, offered the trade name for sale for \$25,000. Kenneth Nichols of Costa Mesa, California bought it, and set up the B. Max Mehl Co. He later sold the firm to George Nichols of Beverly Hills. It continued to run advertisements in The Numismatist until July 1966, thereafter fading from active business. Bowers described Mehl as "America's most famous rare coin dealer of the first half of the 20th century ... [who] was a promoter of coins and arguably did more to advance the hobby than any other individual of his time". According to numismatist Pete Smith, "Mehl is remembered as one of the great dealers and promoters for the hobby." Daniel C. Parker called Mehl "the father of modern coin collecting ... he more than anyone before or since that time popularized our hobby. He brought it out of the affluent man's domain and made it a hobby for all ages and economic strata." Many of his contemporaries dubbed Mehl "the P.T. Barnum of numismatics". Tom LaMarre wrote, "Mehl sold more than coins, he sold an image. Ads featured the Mehl building, Mehl standing in front of his luxurious home, or other scenes intended to depict the dealer as a coin tycoon." Charles D. Horning wrote in 1995, "Mehl was truly a phenomenal self-promoter." Parker stated, "Mehl had a fantastic knowledge of human nature. Had he come along 40 or 50 years later, he would have made a fortune on Madison Avenue." Jay Guren, in a 1979 article in Coin World, agreed: "Mehl was a numismatist and much much more. He was a super promoter and comprehended human psychology to a T." Kosoff remembered, "Whatever he did, he did with a flair and a touch of class. It was always the biggest and the best or some other superlative." ANA life member Walt Southward wrote in a 2004 article on Mehl that the dealer "achiev[ed] the status of hobby icon during the 1920s and '30s, he received numerous accolades, from the ANA and others, as he spent many thousands of dollars promoting the hobby. He was credited with being a tremendous advocate for coin collecting, using newspaper and magazine ads and radio programs to spread the word." Mehl was inducted into the ANA's Numismatic Hall of Fame in 1974, and, in 2010, was part of the six-member inaugural grouping inducted into the CoinFacts Dealer Hall of Fame, established by the Professional Coin Grading Service.
41,623,782	Subway Sadie	1,131,384,242	1926 film by Alfred Santell	[ "1920s American films", "1920s English-language films", "1926 comedy-drama films", "1926 films", "American black-and-white films", "American silent feature films", "Films based on short fiction", "Films based on works by Mildred Cram", "Films directed by Alfred Santell", "Films set in New York City", "Films shot in New York City", "First National Pictures films", "Silent American comedy-drama films", "Works set on the New York City Subway" ]	Subway Sadie is a 1926 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Alfred Santell. Adapted from Mildred Cram's 1925 short story "Sadie of the Desert", the film focuses on a relationship between New York salesgirl Sadie Hermann (Dorothy Mackaill) and subway guard Herb McCarthy (Jack Mulhall), who meet on the subway and become engaged. However, after Sadie receives a promotion, she must choose between her new job and marrying Herb. The cast also includes Charles Murray, Peggy Shaw, Gaston Glass, and Bernard Randall. The film began production in May 1926. Arthur Edeson served as cinematographer, shooting around Central Park in areas like casinos and nightclubs. Distributed by First National Pictures, the film premiered in New York on September 12, 1926. Many publications wrote positively of the film, praising its acting and Santell's direction. Today, it remains unknown if a print of Subway Sadie has survived. ## Plot Salesgirl Sadie Hermann (Dorothy Mackaill), employed in a New York City fur store, has always dreamed of traveling to Paris. While riding the subway to work one morning, she meets Irish subway guard Herb McCarthy (Jack Mulhall), and the two strike up a conversation before Herb eventually arranges to have them meet at Cleopatra's Needle that Sunday. Herb and Sadie are soon engaged to be married, but as Sadie has been promoted from saleslady to firm buyer she must cancel the wedding date to sail to Paris for the job, saddening Herb. Sadie prepares to leave, but then receives a message from Herb, which informs her that he is in the hospital as the result of an accident. Sadie chooses to visit him, and she decides to forgo her new job and marry Herb instead, Herb revealing that his father is the president of the subway company. ## Production Alfred Santell directed Subway Sadie, from a screenplay written by Adele Comandini and Paul Schofield. The pair adapted a short story by Mildred Cram entitled "Sadie of the Desert", which had first been published in an October 1925 issue of The Red Book Magazine. On May 3, 1926, the film entered production. Santell and Al Rockett, the film's producer and production manager, selected the actors to appear in the film. Jack Mulhall was cast in the lead as Herb McCarthy. Although he had ridden on a subway many times, he did not take notice of the guards, so as preparation for playing the character he rode on a subway for "practically an entire day" to observe them. Mulhall said of Santell: > That man's a great director. He can make people feel perfectly natural. He's got what Chaplin did when he directed A Woman of Paris—he and Lewis Milestone and Mal St. Clair all have that same touch, they all belong to the new school of directors, it seems to me. They're not so busy thinking about technique that they have actors turning into marionettes. Chosen to play female lead Sadie Hermann, Dorothy Mackaill opined that the film would appeal to "every girl in America". She believed that "there is not a situation in this picture which could not happen to any girl. That is one of the things I like about it. There is nothing in it that could not be true." The rest of the cast includes Charles Murray as a driver, Peggy Shaw as Ethel, Gaston Glass as Fred Perry, and Bernard Randall portraying Brown. Arthur Edeson served as the cinematographer for Subway Sadie, shooting the silent film in black-and-white. Filming took place at several locations in Central Park, including Cleopatra's Needle and a local casino inn, which marked the first time the location had been filmed. A nightclub scene was also shot in New York. Hugh Bennett served as the film's editor, while Al Rockett Productions produced. Rockett told Motion Picture News in June 1926 that the film had been completed. First National Pictures filed a copyright for the film on August 18, 1926. The finished product was seven reels long, and comprised 6,727 feet (2,050 m) of film, running for about 70 minutes. ## Release and reception First National Pictures handled distribution for Subway Sadie, with the film premiering in New York on September 12, 1926. It received positive reviews; a journalist for The New York Times enjoyed the film, calling it "an amusing photoplay". Although the review branded the ending unsurprising, they described it as "nevertheless pleasing". The Evening Independent praised the film, lauding it as "one of the cleverest and most interesting pictures that has been here this season". A review from Photoplay applauded Mackaill's performance and described the film as "a true and human story". The review in the Motion Picture Herald assessed it as "a nice little feature, nothing big, but will go over on bargain nights", with praise directed to Mulhall's performance. A Berkeley Daily Gazette review wrote of the film by saying "sheer brilliance rarely has been equalled" and praised the story, direction, and acting. The Morning Telegraph's review said that Subway Sadie would "delight the majority of straphangers" and that "it is what the boys call excellent box-office". The New York American review was similarly positive, describing it as "a light but charming comedy". In the New York World, the review described the film as "a consistently decent affair" which featured good direction by Santell. A review in The Daily Mirror wrote positively of Mackaill's performance and complimented Santell's directing abilities, while Reading Eagle praised the performances of the leads, calling them "a stellar combination". Not all reviews were positive; a negative review came from The Educational Screen, whose reviewer found the film to be "pretty trite stuff". In June 1927, a Southeast Missourian journalist wrote that the film had since become "very successful". The pairing of Mulhall and Mackaill was described as "such a perfect team" that plans to have them star in many further films occurred. Films they appeared in after Subway Sadie include Smile, Brother, Smile (1927), Ladies' Night in a Turkish Bath (1928), Lady Be Good (1928), and Children of the Ritz (1929). The 1933 drama Curtain at Eight marked the final film they appeared in together. Screenings of Subway Sadie occurred as late as January 12, 1928. As of November 2007, it is unclear whether a print of the film exists; it has likely become a lost film. A poster of the film can be seen at the New York Transit Museum.
16,782,611	Funerary Monument to Sir John Hawkwood	1,161,993,441	Fresco by Paolo Uccello	[ "1430s paintings", "1436 in Europe", "15th century in the Republic of Florence", "Church frescos in Florence", "Equestrian statues in Italy", "Florence Cathedral", "Funerary art", "Monuments and memorials in Florence", "Paintings by Paolo Uccello", "Renaissance paintings" ]	The Funerary Monument (or Equestrian Monument) to Sir John Hawkwood is a fresco by Paolo Uccello, commemorating English condottiero John Hawkwood, commissioned in 1436 for Florence Cathedral. The fresco is an important example of art commemorating a soldier-for-hire who fought in the Italian peninsula and is a seminal work in the development of perspective. The politics of the commissioning and recommissioning of the fresco have been analyzed and debated by historians. The fresco is often cited as a form of "Florentine propaganda" for its appropriation of a foreign soldier of fortune as a Florentine hero and for its implied promise to other condottieri of the potential rewards of serving Florence. The fresco has also been interpreted as a product of internal political competition between the Albizzi and Medici factions in Renaissance Florence, due to the latter's modification of the work's symbolism and iconography during its recommissioning. The fresco is the oldest extant and authenticated work of Uccello, from a relatively well-known aspect of his career compared to the periods before and after its creation. The fresco has been restored (once in 1524 by Lorenzo di Credi, who added the frame) and is now detached from the wall; it has been repositioned twice in modern times. It is now on the north wall of the nave, beside a similar depiction of fellow condottiero Niccolò da Tolentino (d.1435) by Andrea del Castagno. ## John Hawkwood Hawkwood had a long military career and a complicated relationship with Florence. He fought for England during the Hundred Years War and then with the "Great Company" which had harassed the Avignon Papacy. After gaining command of the "White Company" from Albert Sterz in the 1360s, Hawkwood led the company across the Alps in 1363 in the employ of John II, Marquess of Montferrat, to take part in his war against Milan. Hawkwood and the "White Company" remained in Italy, accepting money from many city-states, both to wage war and to refrain from it. Hawkwood's reputation as one of the ablest condottieri in the peninsula developed in the ensuing decades, during which he was employed (by both sides) in the Pisan–Florentine War (1363–1364), notably winning the Battle of Cascina (1364) for Florence, in the wars of Perugia against the Pope (1369), and in the service of Bernabò Visconti in his war against a coalition that included Pisa and Florence, and even (in 1372) the Marquis of Monteferrato. Hawkwood then entered the service of Pope Gregory XI in his wars against Milan (1372–1375) and in the War of the Eight Saints (1375–1378), during which Hawkwood helped put down the Florentine-instigated rebellions in the Papal States. During the conflict, Hawkwood was paid 130,000 florins—which was extracted from local clergy, bishops, abbots, monasteries, and ecclesiastical institutions—to confine his activities to suppressing the rebellions in the Papal States, rather than directly attacking Florence. Hawkwood also received a 600 florin annual salary for the next five years and a lifetime annual pension of 1,200 florins. Hawkwood married Donnina, the illegitimate daughter of Bernabò Visconti, in 1377. In that same year he defected to Florence. Hawkwood's 1377 massacre at Cesena during the twilight of his papal employment in the War of the Eight Saints continues to tarnish his legacy. Thus, until 1377, Hawkwood had principally served the Visconti of Milan and their allies in Pisa, Lucca, and Siena, usually against the interests of Florence, making him an ironic candidate for a monument in the Duomo of Florence. At the bidding of Pisa, Hawkwood attacked the Brunelleschi family's Villa Petraia in Castello, burned Florentine subject territories around Incisa after defeating Florentine condottiero Ranuccio Farnese il Vecchio, and even taunted Florence from outside the city walls. However, Hawkwood was the de facto commander-in-chief (Captain-General) of Florence's military from 1377 until immediately prior to his death in 1394. Hawkwood won many victories for Florence, including his suppression of the Ciompi revolt in January 1382, but contemporary Florentines would have regarded Hawkwood's successful retreat from Milan late in his career, across three rivers—including the notorious Oglio—and across a barren countryside, as his "greatest military feat". Hawkwood, now in his seventies, made preparations to return to England, where he had been sending money to acquire land, and set up a chantry. Just as he was liquidating his affairs in Italy, he died, on March 17, 1394. In 1395, Richard II of England petitioned Florence for the return of Hawkwood's body, as he had done for Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland, the local magnate to the Hawkwood family in England, in whose service he had begun his military career. Florence acquiesced to Richard II's request in a June 3, 1395 letter: > Our devotion can deny nothing to the eminence of your highness. We will leave nothing undone that is possible to do, so that we may fulfill your good pleasure. So, therefore, although we consider it reflected glory on us and our people to keep the ashes and bones of the late brave and most magnificent captain John Hawkwood, who, as commander of our army, fought most gloriously for us and who at public expense was interred in the principal church of Santa Reparata ... nevertheless, according to the tenor of your request, we freely concede permission that his remains shall return to their native land. However, it remains an open question whether Hawkwood's remains were ever transferred to England, to the tomb prepared for him at St. Peter's in Sible Hedingham, or whether his remains were reburied in 1405 under the old choir of the Duomo, of which record has been lost since it was repaved in the 16th century. In any case, the tomb monument would have run into difficulty, as a ban on tombs above floor level in the Cathedral was passed on April 5, 1400. ## Context In the Quattrocento, it was traditional for condottieri like Hawkwood to be buried in major public churches, even when their careers had produced mixed results for the city-state in question. The genre of the equestrian statue was revived during the Quattrocento for the purpose of commemorating condottieri; Donatello's Equestrian Statue of Gattamelata (c. 1447–1453) in Padua is the first surviving bronze equestrian statue since Ancient Rome ("probably with the Hawkwood in mind"). In Venice Tibertino Brandolino was interred at San Francesco; Jacopo de' Cavalli at Santi Giovanni e Paolo; Paolo Savelli at Basilica dei Frari, along with a wooden equestrian statue on a marble sarcophagus, which—along with the bronze horses on the façade of St. Mark—may have inspired Uccello's Hawkwood; and Konrad Aichelberg at a church in Pisa. When such burials were not possible, frescoes were an acceptable substitute: Guidoriccio da Fogliano was painted on horseback by Simone Martini in Palazzo Pubblico in Siena in 1328; Pietro Farnese was depicted in a papier-mâché equestrian monument atop a sarcophagus in the Florence Cathedral in 1363. Holding ever more lavish funeral ceremonies for fallen condottieri was only one way in which Italian city-states competed with each other to attract the services of the most skilled mercenaries. Hawkwood's funeral was sandwiched between the funerals in Siena of Giovanni d'Azzo degli Ubaldini—who had been poisoned by the Florentines in the Visconti wars—and Giovanni "Tedesco" da Pietramala. The commissioning of Uccello to repaint the fresco came at the "climax" of a war with Lucca, which had recently begun a monument to honor Niccolò Piccinino, in contrast to Piccinino's defaming portrait in the Palazzo della Signoria in 1428, depicting him hanging upside-down in chains, which was "depaint[ed]" in April 1430. ## Commissioning ### Background On August 20, 1393—when the Signoria, at the suggestion of Coluccio Salutati, voted to erect a marble statue of Hawkwood in the Duomo, "that brave men may know that the commune of Florence recompenses true service"—Hawkwood was liquidating his Tuscan properties and preparing to return to England. It was unprecedented for the Signoria to vote to erect a monument to a living person in the cathedral. The ambiguous plans of the Signoria—which likely was aware of Hawkwood's health status—might well have been for a tomb rather than a cenotaph; Hawkwood died soon after, on March 17, 1394. The Signoria went to great lengths (unsuccessfully) to entice Donnina to remain in the city—voting to transfer various sums of money to her (in exchange for Hawkwood's Tuscan fortress), despite "thorny legal issues" which required multiple acts of the city council—indicating to some extent the market value of Hawkwood's symbolic capital. Hawkwood's March 20 funeral began in the Piazza della Signoria, continued to the Battistero di San Giovanni, where his body was placed on the baptismal font for public viewing, and culminated in the Cathedral, at a cost of 410 florins, not counting the substantial expenses of the Guilds. The plans for Hawkwood's commemoration were modified on December 2, 1395, when it was decided to also rework the wooden monument of Pietro Farnese, the hero of the Pisan war, and to place marble tomb monuments to Farnese and Hawkwood on the north aisle, facing the high altar. Painters Agnolo Gaddi and Giuliano Arrighi were selected by a committee to sketch directly onto the Duomo wall models for the Hawkwood and Farnese tombs. Although neither tomb was realized, documentary evidence suggests that a painting of Hawkwood—with a figure of Hawkwood by Gaddi and a sarcophagus by Pesello—was completed by June 16, 1396. Historian Frances Stonor Saunders speculates that Uccello may have based his representation of Hawkwood on this early painting and that the earlier painting may have been based on a death mask of Hawkwood. The Hawkwood fresco is situated in the third bay of the northern wall, today flanked by paintings of Dante (c. 1455) and a similar fresco monument to fellow mercenary Niccolò da Tolentino (1456, by Andrea del Castagno); fictive tombs in fresco of two humanist ecclesiasts—Bishop Corsini (c. 1422, probably by Giovanni dal Ponte) and Fra Luigi de' Marsigli (c. 1439 by Bicci di Lorenzo), an Augustinian friar who founded a literary academy—are much smaller than those of the two condottieri. The fresco probably came to replace the tomb (rather than serving as a place marker for it), maybe for reasons of expedience and frugality, although there is little documentary evidence on this regard. ### Fresco The fresco was initially commissioned, decades after Hawkwood's death, in May 1433 by the Albizzi government, just months before the regime's collapse. Perhaps the project was an attempt by the Albizzi to hearken back to a time when the oligarchic elite of Florence had been more aligned with their own conservative interests. On July 13, 1433, design competition notices for the new monument were placed at the Duomo, the Baptistry, and Orsanmichele. The instigators of the renewed project were the grandsons of Guido di Soletto del Pera Baldovinetti, one of the ambassadors who (unsuccessfully) pleaded with Hawkwood to return to Florence's service in 1389, and Donato Velluti, a 14th-century military and political historian. It is almost inconceivable that the commissioners of the monument would not have regarded Hawkwood as a self-interested mercenary, knowing that he often acted against the interests of Florence. After the launching of the design competition, in September 1433, Cosimo and Averardo de' Medici were exiled from Florence, for—among other things—allegedly attempting to embroil Florence in a war with Lucca. ### Recommissioning After Cosimo's triumphant return to Florence, rather than scrapping the project, in May 1436 the Medici regime hired Uccello to replace the Gaddi and Pesello fresco. Hugh Hudson suggests that it would have been too risky for the Medici to cancel the Albizzi project, so they instead shrewdly modified it to fit their interests. There is, of course, some weakness to attributing the commissioning and recommissioning of the monument to Albizzi or Medici intrigues, as only two (maybe three) of the eight operai on July 13, 1433 were members of the Albizzi faction and only one was a Medici when it was resumed on May 18, 1436; yet the influences of both factions doubtlessly did not require blood relation. Around this time, documents attest to multiple repairs of a nearby window, opening the possibility that the original fresco had experienced water damage, and would have needed to be restored in any case. Others have suggested that the recommissioning was part of the "refurbishing" of the cathedral associated with its rededication as Santa Maria del Fiore by Pope Eugene IV in March 1436. Yet Franco Borsi concludes that "undoubtedly under pressure from the Medici" the operai discarded their plans for a straightforward restoration of the Gaddi fresco and opted for a completely new monument. ### Uccello The choice of Paolo Uccello (born in Florence in 1397), who had apprenticed for Lorenzo Ghiberti from June 1407, busying himself polishing the "Gates of Paradise", may have been an attempt to find a painter knowledgeable in bronze and statuary, which the fresco was to mimic. For centuries, art historians have regarded Uccello as a less-prominent artist at the time of the Hawkwood commission: he is not mentioned in the preface of Alberti's De Pictura, nor in Domenico Veneziano's 1438 letter to Piero di Cosimo de' Medici listing the major contemporary painters; nor have art historians even attempted to speculate that he studied the frescoes at the Brancacci Chapel. One difficulty for art historians attempting to gauge Uccello's reputation at the time of the Hawkwood'''s commissioning is the 10-year blind spot in the reconstruction of Uccello's career between 1415—when Uccello was made a member of the Guild of Doctors and Apothecaries (Arte dei Medici e Speziali)—and his trip to Venice in 1425. Similarly, all the works of Uccello's Venetian period are either missing or else of uncertain attribution: Uccello is thought to have made a no-longer-existing mosaic of St. Peter on the façade of St. Mark's Basilica, to have collaborated on the design of architectural structures for the mosaics in the Mascoli Chapel of St. Mark's by Michele Giambono, and possibly to have made some geometrical pattern decorations for the interior of St. Mark's. Uccello was known to have been in Venice in 1427 and to have returned to Florence by 1431, allowing a second window for historiographical speculation: some say he may have gone to Rome; others say he went directly to Florence. Uccello probably painted the Creation of the Animals and Creation of Adam (c. 1431) in the upper part of one of the bays of the Chiostro Verde (the "Green Cloister") in Santa Maria Novella, which—like the Hawkwood, as specified in its commission—is in the "terra verde" grisaille manner. Perhaps Uccello worked on the stories from the life of the Virgin and St. Stephen in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Assumption in the Prato Cathedral around 1435, although Pope-Hennessy, Pudelko, and Salmi all dispute this attribution. Thus, the Florence Cathedral is the repository of all the extant works of Uccello whose attribution is firmly rooted in contemporary documents: two murals—the Hawkwood and the Clock Face with Four Heads of Prophets or Evangelists (1443)—and two stained glass windows—Resurrection (1443–1444) and Nativity (1443–1444). The Hawkwood is Uccello's "earliest dated and fully authenticated extant work". ### Modifications Uccello's Hawkwood was completed, only to be ordered redone by the capo maestro of the Opera del Duomo, on June 28, 1436. Uccello was found not to have been at fault on July 6, and paid for both his first and second versions, the latter of which was finished before August 31. Incidentally, the second version—copied from the original, rather than direct observation—is the only true extant testimony to Hawkwood's appearance. The demanded redesign—which was ordered soon after post-Albizzi members secured a majority among the operai—is at the heart of any discussion about the political implications of the fresco. For centuries, art historians have argued that the rejection was rooted in questions of perspective and color, while more recent scholarship suggests it was the content of the fresco to which the capo maestro objected. The specific objections of the capo maestro are not documented—except that the fresco was "not painted as it should be", but it is clear that only the portion containing the horse and rider was to be erased and redone. A preparatory drawing in the Uffizi with the same static scene is the primary clue to the appearance of the original fresco, in which Hawkwood was apparently more armored, taller, and—along with his horse—in a more militaristic stance. The Hawkwood thus both participated in and reinforced the Quattrocento trend that every Florentine public monument to a soldier of fortune employ a parade horse rather than a battle charger, in less than complete armor, and at a pace more suited for reviewing troops than charging into battle. A study which subjected the drawing to ultraviolet rays confirmed that Uccello had originally depicted Hawkwood as "more threatening", with his baton raised and horse "at the ready". The fresco's current appearance is not identical to the version redone by Uccello. The frame with Renaissance grotto-esque candelabra decoration was added by Lorenzo di Credi in 1524, when he restored the fresco. In 1688, it was restored again, in refurbishments celebrating the marriage of Ferdinand de' Medici and Violante of Bavaria. The fresco was restored and transferred to canvas in 1842 by Giovanni Rizzoli and moved to the west wall of the Duomo, only to be moved back to the north wall in 1947, after being mounted on a masonite and aluminum support. It has been argued, based on Uccello's alleged use of Masaccio's eye-point perspective, that the painting was originally five feet higher than it stands today. The fully restored fresco was also briefly taken down in 1953–1954 to be shown in the "Quattro Maestri" ("Four Masters") exhibition in Florence. ## Style The reworked fresco has been seen as "classicizing" the image of the condottieri, with the terra verde technique giving the conceit of an equestrian bronze statue. The horse's proportions are based loosely upon those prescribed by Alberti in De equo animante, which in turn is based upon the anonymous Sonetto del Cavallo Perfetto; however, in many ways the horse departs radically from Alberti's ideal of a harmonious and "lithe" creature in the style of Leonello d'Este's monument to Niccolò III d'Este, Arco del Cavallo in Ferrara. Furthermore, Uccello's perspective in the Hawkwood monument openly flouted Alberti's conception of perspective as demarcated in De Pictura (1435, translated into Italian as Della Pittura in 1436): the vanishing point is at the eye-level of the spectator rather than within the field of the fresco, for example. Alberti's De re aedificatoria also objected to statues of soldiers and/or lay burials in churches. Although the fresco is often called "monochrome", its background is dark red, the horse and tomb are accented in red, black, white, and orange. The Trompe-l'œil perspective from the base, the chiaroscuro relief-effect of the horse and the rider, and lighting from the left are similar to Masaccio's Holy Trinity. The connection to Masaccio is so strong (or so often reported) that Francesco Albertini actually attributed the work to Massaccio in 1510. However, Uccello's fresco has two viewpoints: the horse and rider are painted as if on level with the spectator, and the cenotaph is seen as if from below. A variety of explanations have been proposed for this split perspective, which has even been suggested by Frederick Hartt to have been a practical joke. Entangled in these questions of perspective is Vasari's criticism of the horse's raising both its right legs at the same time, which would likely topple the horse, if accomplished. However, it is clear from Uccello's other works that he was not interested in using perspective simply for realism; rather, Uccello "placed in an unnatural, fantastic overall atmosphere, the fruit of this painter's complex and unique imagination". This style has even been cited as an example of synthetic realism in line with the late Gothic movement. ### Inscription Underscoring the classical elements of the fresco is the Latin inscription, added on December 17, 1436 and composed by Bartolomeo Fortini de Orlandini, son of Benedetto di Ser Landi Fortini, former treasurer of Florence and apprentice of Spinello Alberti, one of the chief negotiators of Florence during the War of the Eight Saints—the first such inscription on an antique sarcophagus in a Florentine painting. The inscription reads: "Ioannes Acutus eques brittanicus dux aetatis suae cautissimus et rei militaris peritissimus habitus est" (John Hawkwood, British knight, most prudent leader of his age and most expert in the art of war). The epitaph, likely a reference to Hawkwood's aforementioned cautissimus ("most prudent") retreat across the Oglio, is borrowed from the eulogy of Roman general Fabius Maximus, who wore down Hannibal by tactical retreat and avoiding battle. The eulogy of Fabius Maximus agrees so distinctly with Quattrocento humanism that some scholars have even dubbed it a "Renaissance fake". ## Interpretation By classicizing the condottieri, the portrait may have represented an opportunity to—as Leonardo Bruni had advocated—"revive the ancient form of tribute" by choosing a "long-dead and uncontroversial subject". Mallett has interpreted the fresco as a Medicean attempt to exalt "the praiseworthiness of condottieri to a populace with mixed feelings". In fact, Cosimo may have allowed the former Albizzi project to go through merely to pave the way for a similar honor for Niccolò da Tolentino (died 1435), a condottiero whom the Medici would have favored over Hawkwood. The Tolentino fresco was commissioned 20 years after the soldier of fortune's death, and was specified in its contract to be painted in "the same manner and form as the Hawkwood". Thus, the recommissioning of the portrait may be read as part of an ongoing debate over the appropriateness of condottieri for a Republic. Bruni raises this subject in De militia (1420), arguing for a standing Florentine militia, especially given the close ties between Tolentino and the Medici. Intending to depict Hawkwood as an "obedient captain conducting an inspection of troops", the conceit of Hawkwood patiently reviewing troops is "suggestive of a loyal communal servant". The Medici may have wished to emphasize that point that any condottiero, no matter how hostile or fickle, could be bought off and manipulated to Florentine interests and truly Florentinized. Attempts to claim Hawkwood as Florentine were well underway even before his death; for example, Pier Paolo Vergerio the Elder wrote in 1391 that Hawkwood "no longer has any foreign blood ... and has become regenerated more strongly and more healthful in fiber and body under the moderating sky of Italy". Such a viewpoint has even crept into modern scholarship: the 19th-century Italian historian Ercole Ricotti called Hawkwood "the last of the foreign condottieri'' or the first of the Italian ones"; his 18th-century biography Domenico Maria Manni called him "general captain of Florentine armies" and virtually ignored two decades of Hawkwood's service to other city-states; even in the 20th century, Friedrich Gaupp attempted to characterize Hawkwood's direct attack on Florence as a "marriage proposal".
57,690,839	Tropical Storm Carlotta (2018)	1,171,672,475	Tropical Storm in the Pacific of 2018	[ "2018 Pacific hurricane season", "2018 in Mexico", "Eastern Pacific tropical storms", "June 2018 events in Mexico", "Pacific hurricanes in Mexico", "Tropical cyclones in 2018" ]	Tropical Storm Carlotta was a moderately strong tropical cyclone that caused flooding in several states in southwestern and central Mexico. Carlotta, the third named storm of the 2018 Pacific hurricane season, formed as the result of a breakdown in the Intertropical Convergence Zone. On June 12, a broad area of low pressure developed several hundred miles south of Mexico and strengthened into a tropical storm by June 15. The next day, the system stalled unexpectedly within a favorable environment, which led to more intensification than originally anticipated. Early on June 17, Carlotta reached peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 997 mbar (29.44 inHg) while located only 30 mi (50 km) south-southeast of Acapulco. The system then began to interact with land and experience wind shear, which resulted in the storm weakening to tropical depression status later in the day. The system weakened to a remnant low early on June 19 and dissipated several hours later. Carlotta prompted the issuance of multiple watches and warnings for the southern coast of Mexico. The storm caused three deaths, two of which were in Aguascalientes and the other in Oaxaca. Flooding and landslides also occurred throughout the states of Aguascalientes, Guerrero, Michoacán, Oaxaca, and Puebla, as well as in the Yucatán Peninsula. Damage from the system was reported to be minor. ## Meteorological history Tropical Storm Carlotta formed as the result of a breakdown in the Intertropical Convergence Zone to the south of Mexico. A tropical wave that traversed Central America around June 11 may have contributed to the storm's formation as well. On June 12, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that a broad area of low pressure had formed several hundred miles south of southeastern Mexico. The NHC continued to monitor the disturbance over the next two days as it drifted northward. Initially, strong upper-level winds prevented development, but the system increased in organization unexpectedly on June 14. Following further structural improvements, the NHC upgraded the system to tropical depression status at 18:00 UTC while it was located about 140 mi (220 km) south of Acapulco. Around that time, the NHC forecast that a mid-level ridge over Mexico would weaken the following day, and would leave the depression in an area of light steering currents. Despite being located in a favorable environment with low to moderate wind shear and sea surface temperatures exceeding 86 °F (30 °C), the depression experienced minimal change in intensity over the next 18 hours. After the system's center reformed farther north, the NHC amended its intensity forecast to indicate reduced strengthening, citing the fact that the system would spend less time over water. Around 18:00 UTC on June 15, the system strengthened into a tropical storm, after which it was assigned the name Carlotta. The system's intensity then leveled off for about twelve hours. Early on June 16, Carlotta's forward motion began to fluctuate, changing from northeast to southeast in six hours. The storm began to intensify again around 06:00 UTC as it stalled off the coast of Mexico. Soon after, the cyclone began moving in a northerly direction. Over the next twelve hours, Carlotta experienced little change in organization before peaking at 00:00 UTC on June 17, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 997 mbar (29.44 inHg) while located only 30 mi (50 km) south-southeast of Acapulco. Around that time, the NHC noted that the system's structure had improved significantly, with a contracting eye and more symmetric eyewall. As the system started tracking towards the northwest, Carlotta began to weaken because of increasing interaction with land and northerly wind shear. Around 18:00 UTC on the June 17, the storm weakened into a tropical depression after lacking organized deep convection for several hours. Over the next day, the depression continued to weaken before degenerating into a remnant low on June 19 at 00:00 UTC. Shortly afterwards, Carlotta's upper-level circulation decoupled entirely and drifted towards the southwest, while the low- and mid-level remnants remained. The system's remnants dissipated around 06:00 UTC while located offshore of the Mexican coast between Manzanillo and Zihuatanejo, having never made landfall as a tropical cyclone. ## Preparations and impact On June 14 at 21:00 UTC, the Government of Mexico issued a tropical storm watch for Tecpan de Galeana to Punta Maldonado [es], which was upgraded to a tropical storm warning six hours later. At 15:00 UTC, the next day, the tropical storm warning was extended to Lagunas de Chacahua. Six hours later, the warning was discontinued for Tecpan de Galeana to west of Acapulco. On June 17 at 03:00 UTC, the warning was extended westward from Acapulco to Tecpan de Galeana and cancelled to the east of Punta Maldonado. At 09:00 UTC, the warning was discontinued east of Tecpan de Galeana and extended westward to Lazaro Cardenas. The tropical storm warning was canceled at 18:00 UTC, after the storm weakened into a tropical depression. Tropical Storm Carlotta caused flooding in southern Mexico, with the states of Aguascalientes, Guerrero, Michoacán, Oaxaca, and Puebla, being affected, as well as the Yucatán Peninsula. In the Yucatán Peninsula, Carlotta, a tropical wave, and another low-pressure system dropped 70–400 mm (3–20 in) of rain, causing severe flooding. In the Tizimín Municipality, the Popolnáh police station was inundated and the DN-III-E Plan, a plan for the coordination of search and rescue operations and disaster aid, was activated to help with recovery efforts. In Oaxaca, severe flooding killed one individual. Fishermen recovered the body of a 29-year-old man about 10 mi (20 km) off the coast after he was dragged away by flood waters and drowned. The proximity of the storm prompted the closure of the ports of Huatulco, Puerto Ángel, and Puerto Escondido as well as the suspension of fishing operations. Multiple landslides also occurred as a result of the extreme rainfall. Only minor damage was reported in Guerrero. In the Costa Chica region, the storm damaged several palapas on a beach and the fishing equipment of at least 80 families, preventing them from working. In the municipalities of Tecpan de Galeana, Zihuatanejo and Petatlán, 42 homes were inundated by flood waters. A total of 138 trees were downed in Acapulco and several other municipalities. In Acapulco, a hospital sustained damage to its windows and four injuries were reported. Additionally, 32 neighborhoods lost power, nine houses lost their roofs, and 11 roads collapsed. In Tehuacán, Puebla, homes and businesses were flooded, multiple cars were stranded, and several trees fell. Nearby, a state highway and a bridge collapsed, cutting off several towns in the area. In Michoacán, multiple cities along the coast experienced severe flooding. In Melchor Ocampo, a peak rainfall total of 285.0 mm (11.2 in) occurred. Approximately 211 mm (8.31 in) of rain fell in La Villita while 195 mm (7.68 in) was recorded in Presa La Villita. Rainfall caused the Acalpican River to overflow its banks. In the Tiquicheo Municipality, 10 houses were flooded after a river near the city overflowed its banks. Multiple homes were inundated in the Zamora Municipality. In Pátzcuaro, multiple landslides occurred, damaging roads in the region. In Nuevo Urecho, the overflow of the Los Hervores River damaged water pumps, resulting in a water shortage throughout the municipality. Throughout the storm, 35 temporary shelters were in operation in Michoacán. The insurance claims statewide reached MX\$156 million (US\$7.6 million). In Aguascalientes, Carlotta caused infrastructural damage and two indirect deaths in Aguascalientes City. Rainfall from the system flooded streets, sweeping away dozens of cars and prompting the rescue of several people. Two women became trapped in their vehicle because of rising flood waters and died of carbon monoxide poisoning. After 57 mm (2.2 in) of rain fell, the city's drainage system failed, 12 houses were flooded, and 12 trees fell. A waterspout was reported in the state. Mexican authorities alerted the public that the El Cedazo dam had the potential to overflow because of the heavy rainfall, although this did not occur. ## See also - Weather of 2018 - Tropical cyclones in 2018 - List of Eastern Pacific tropical storms - Other storms of the same name - Hurricane Dolores (1974) - Tropical Storm Beatriz (1993) - Tropical Storm Cristina (1996) - Tropical Storm Boris (2014)
428,008	Harry Chauvel	1,168,291,372	Australian army officer (1865–1945)	[ "1865 births", "1945 deaths", "Australian Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath", "Australian Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George", "Australian generals", "Australian military personnel of World War I", "Australian military personnel of the Second Boer War", "Military personnel from New South Wales", "People educated at Sydney Grammar School", "People educated at Toowoomba Grammar School", "Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)", "Volunteer Defence Corps officers" ]	General Sir Henry George Chauvel, GCMG, KCB (16 April 1865 – 4 March 1945) was a senior officer of the Australian Imperial Force who fought at Gallipoli and during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of the First World War. He was the first Australian to attain the rank of lieutenant general and later general, and the first to lead a corps. As commander of the Desert Mounted Corps, he was responsible for one of the most decisive victories and fastest pursuits in military history. The son of a grazier, Chauvel was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Upper Clarence Light Horse, a unit organised by his father, in 1886. After the family moved to Queensland he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Queensland Mounted Infantry in 1890, and saw service during the 1891 Australian shearers' strike. He became a regular officer in 1896, and went to the United Kingdom as part of the Queensland contingent for the 1897 Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. In 1899 he commanded one of two companies of Queensland Mounted Infantry that were Queensland's initial contribution to the Boer War. After the war, he was closely involved with the training of the Australian Light Horse. Promoted to colonel in 1913, Chauvel became the Australian representative on the Imperial General Staff but the First World War broke out while he was still en route to the United Kingdom. Chauvel arranged for the Australian Imperial Force to be diverted to Egypt, where he joined his new command, the 1st Light Horse Brigade, in December. In May 1915, it was sent dismounted to Gallipoli, where Chauvel assumed responsibility for some of the most dangerous parts of the line. He took charge of the 1st Division that November. In March 1916, Chauvel became commander of the Anzac Mounted Division, gaining victories in the Battle of Romani in August and the Battle of Magdhaba in December, and nearly winning the First Battle of Gaza in March 1917. The following month, he took over the Desert Column, later known as the Desert Mounted Corps, thereby becoming the first Australian to command a corps, and the first to reach the rank of lieutenant general. At Beersheba in October 1917, his light horse captured the town and its vital water supply in one of history's last great cavalry charges. By September 1918, Chauvel was able to effect a secret redeployment of three of his mounted divisions and launch a surprise attack on the enemy that won the Battle of Megiddo. He followed up this victory with one of the fastest pursuits in military history. In 1919, Chauvel was appointed Inspector General, the Army's most senior post. He was forced to maintain an increasingly hollow structure by politicians intent on cutting expenditure. He was concurrently Chief of the General Staff from 1923 until his retirement in 1930. In November 1929, he became the first Australian to be promoted to the rank of general. During the Second World War, he was recalled to duty as Inspector in Chief of the Volunteer Defence Corps. ## Early life Henry George Chauvel was born in Tabulam, New South Wales, on 16 April 1865, the second child of a grazier, Charles Henry Edward Chauvel, and his wife Fanny Ada Mary, née James. By 1884, Charles Henry Chauvel's station at Tabulam consisted of 96,000 acres (39,000 ha), on which he raised 12,000 head of cattle and 320 horses. From an early age Henry George Chauvel was known as "Harry". He was educated at Mr Belcher's School near Goulburn, before going to Sydney Grammar School from 1874 to 1880, and Toowoomba Grammar School from 1881 to 1882. While at Sydney Grammar, Harry served in the school cadet unit, rising to the rank of lance corporal. In 1886, Charles Henry was given permission to raise two troops of cavalry. On 14 March 1886, he was commissioned as a captain in the Upper Clarence Light Horse, with his sons Arthur and Harry becoming second lieutenants, while his two younger sons became troopers. The unit escorted Lord Carrington, Governor of New South Wales, when he formally opened the railway at Tenterfield in 1886. Following a series of severe droughts in northern New South Wales, Charles Henry Chauvel sold his property at Tabulam in 1888 for £50,000. After paying his debts, he bought a much smaller 12,000-acre (4,900 ha) property at Canning Downs on the Darling Downs in Queensland. In 1889, Harry Chauvel embarked on a solo tour of Europe, visiting Venice, Rome, Florence, Paris and London. While in the United Kingdom, he watched military manoeuvres near Aldershot in the presence of Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany. Harry resigned his commission in the New South Wales Military Forces when he moved to Queensland, but on 9 January 1890 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Queensland Mounted Infantry. After completing his examinations for the rank, he was confirmed as lieutenant in June 1890. Chauvel's unit was called up in March 1891 during the shearers' strike that had begun earlier that year. Leading his troops and a small detachment of Queensland Police, Chauvel was given the task of escorting a party of strikebreakers to a station north of Charleville. Near Oakwood, Chauvel's troops were confronted by a crowd of around two hundred mounted sheep shearers. When the inspector in charge of the police detachment arrested four of the shearers who were wanted by the police, the crowd became agitated, but Chauvel managed to disperse the crowd peacefully, and bring his charges safely to their destination. During the 1894 Australian shearers' strike, the Queensland government enrolled special constables rather than calling up the militia. Chauvel was appointed a temporary sub-inspector in Clermont, and later the district around Longreach. On 9 September 1896, Chauvel transferred to the Queensland Permanent Military Forces with the rank of captain in the Moreton Regiment. He was sent to the United Kingdom with the Queensland contingent for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Sporting the emu feathers worn by Queensland units, he marched with the colonial troops through London behind Lord Roberts on 21 June 1897. Chauvel qualified at the School of Musketry at Hythe, Kent, and served on exchange with the 3rd Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps and 2nd Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment at Aldershot. On returning to Australia, he became a staff officer at headquarters, Queensland Defence Force. ## Boer War In July 1899, the Premier of Queensland, James Dickson, offered a contingent of troops for service in South Africa in the event of war between the British Empire, and the Boer Transvaal Republic and Orange Free State. For a time Chauvel served as an enrolment officer, signing up volunteers from the Darling Downs. The Boer War broke out in October 1899, and Chauvel was given command of one of two companies of Queensland Mounted Infantry that departed Brisbane on 1 November 1899. They disembarked at Cape Town on 14 December and joined the Imperial force under Lord Methuen at the Orange River. The Queensland Mounted Infantry's first fighting was in an action at Sunnyside on 1 January 1900 alongside the infantry of the Royal Canadian Regiment. In February, the Queensland Mounted Infantry became part of Major General John French's Cavalry Division. After a strenuous march, the Cavalry Division relieved the siege of Kimberley on 15 February. In the reorganisation that followed, the Queensland Mounted Infantry became part of Major General Edward Hutton's 1st Mounted Infantry Brigade, along with the Canadian and New Zealand mounted units. Chauvel distinguished himself fighting alongside a group of New Zealanders and capturing a Maxim gun. The Queensland Mounted Infantry participated in the capture of Pretoria and the Battle of Diamond Hill. Chauvel was given a mixed force of British, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand mounted troops that became known as "Chauvel's Mounted Infantry", with Victor Sellheim as his chief of staff. Initially, Chauvel was given the mission of escorting 10,000 head of cattle to Belfast, Mpumalanga to supply the troops in the eastern Transvaal. However, his force was diverted by local commanders, who assigned it to burning homesteads sheltering Boer commandos and attacking Boer units. The Queensland Mounted Infantry embarked for Australia on 13 December 1900. They reached Brisbane on 17 January 1901 and the regiment was disbanded there on 23 January. For his part in the fighting, Chauvel was mentioned in despatches, and appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG). On 1 January 1901, the colonies of Australia federated to form the Commonwealth of Australia. When Chauvel returned to Australia on 17 January, he found that during his absence he had become an officer in the newly formed Australian Army. A force of 14,000 troops was assembled for the opening of the first Federal Parliament on 9 May 1901 in Melbourne; Chauvel was selected as brigade major of the mounted contingent, his first Federal posting. He became Staff Officer, Northern Military District, based at Townsville, Queensland, in July. In 1902, Chauvel was appointed to command of the 7th Commonwealth Light Horse, a unit newly raised for service in South Africa, with the local rank of lieutenant colonel. Departing from Brisbane on 17 May 1902, the 7th Commonwealth Light Horse arrived at Durban on 22 June, three weeks after the war ended. It therefore re-embarked for Brisbane, where it was disbanded. Chauvel remained in South Africa for a few weeks in order to tour the battlefields. On returning to Australia he became Staff Officer, Northern Military District once more. He was promoted to the brevet rank of lieutenant colonel in December 1902. In 1903, Hutton, now General Officer Commanding Australian Military Forces, sent Chauvel to South Australia to organise the light horse regiments there. On returning to Queensland in 1904, he became acting Chief Staff Officer Queensland, based in Brisbane. He was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant colonel in December 1909, but his ambition to become the Australian representative on the Imperial General Staff in London was blocked by Hutton's successor Major General Charles Hoad. Based on his experiences in South Africa, Chauvel propounded ideas on the nature of mounted infantry. He recommended that Australian troops improve their discipline in the field, called for stronger leadership from officers, and emphasised the need for better organisation for supply and for timely and efficient medical evacuation. Chauvel knew Keith Jopp of Newmarket, Queensland even before the Boer War, and while stationed in Brisbane, Chauvel and Major Brudenell White played tennis at the Jopps' place with their daughters Dora and Sibyl. Chauvel became engaged to Sibyl in January 1906, and they were married on 16 June 1906 at All Saints Anglican Church, Brisbane. Their union ultimately produced two sons and two daughters. That year Chauvel also sold the property at Canning Downs South. In the shuffle of senior positions that followed Hoad's death in 1911, Chauvel was appointed to the Military Board in Melbourne as Adjutant General. As such, Chauvel was involved in the implementation of the universal training scheme. Chauvel was particularly involved with the training of the light horse. "When the next war comes," White predicted, "it will only need an Ashby or a J.E.B. Stuart to make their name immortal." ## First World War ### War Office Chauvel was promoted to colonel in 1913. On 3 July 1914, he sailed for England with his wife and three children to replace Colonel James Gordon Legge as the Australian representative on the Imperial General Staff. While he was still travelling, the First World War broke out. On reporting for duty at the War Office in mid-August 1914, Chauvel was given a cable directing him to assume command of the 1st Light Horse Brigade of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) when it arrived in the United Kingdom. Chauvel became concerned with slow progress on construction of the AIF's proposed quarters on the Salisbury Plain. He made frequent visits to the site and had a Royal Australian Engineers officer, Major Cecil Henry Foott, appointed to the local staff to safeguard Australian interests. Convinced that the huts would not be ready on time, and that Australian troops would therefore have to spend a winter on Salisbury Plain under canvas, Chauvel persuaded the High Commissioner for Australia in London, former Prime Minister Sir George Reid, to approach Lord Kitchener with an alternate plan of diverting the AIF to Egypt, which was done. Accompanied by Major Thomas Blamey, Chauvel sailed for Egypt on the ocean liner SS Mooltan on 28 November 1914, arriving at Port Said on 10 December 1914. ### Gallipoli Chauvel began training his brigade upon arrival in Egypt. He was noted for insisting on high standards of dress and bearing from his troops. The 1st Light Horse Brigade became part of Major General Alexander Godley's New Zealand and Australian Division, along with the 4th Infantry Brigade, the New Zealand Infantry Brigade and New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade. When the rest of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps departed for Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915, the mounted brigades remained in Egypt – the Gallipoli Peninsula being unsuited to mounted operations. Following heavy casualties in the early days of the Gallipoli Campaign, however, the light horse were called upon to provide 1,000 reinforcements. The British commander in Egypt, Lieutenant General Sir John Maxwell, elected instead to ship the mounted brigades to Anzac Cove intact. Chauvel arrived on 12 May 1915 and took over the critical sector, which included Pope's Hill and Quinn's, Courtney's and Steele's Posts, from Colonel John Monash. Open to Turkish observation on two sides, these four advanced posts at the top of Monash Valley were the linchpin of the defence. Chauvel reorganised the defence, appointing permanent commanders for the posts. He also formed special sniper groups who eventually managed to suppress the Turkish snipers, making it safe even for mule trains to move up Monash Valley. Chauvel's brigade soon found itself under heavy pressure from the Turks. On 29 May 1915, the Turks fired a mine under Quinn's Post and broke into it. The permanent commander of the post, Lieutenant Colonel J. H. Cannan was absent on leave and the acting commander, Lieutenant Colonel G. J. Burnage was wounded in the fighting. Chauvel responded by bringing up reserves and appointing a temporary post commander, Lieutenant Colonel H. Pope, with orders to drive the Turks out at all costs. Major S. C. E. Herring was miraculously able to charge across the open practically unscathed, his attack having coincided with a Turkish one on another part of the post so that the Turkish machine gunners could not shoot without hitting their own men. There were in fact only about seventeen Turks in the post, who eventually surrendered. Chauvel's decision may have been the wrong one, but it was decisive; he was also lucky. For this action, he was mentioned in despatches. On 9 July 1915, Chauvel was promoted to brigadier general, back-dated to when he assumed command of the 1st Light Horse Brigade on 10 December 1914. He spent six weeks in Egypt, in June and July, in hospital with pleurisy, but returned in time for the August offensive, for which he was mentioned in despatches. Chauvel was acting commander of the New Zealand and Australian Division for short periods in September and October in Godley's absence. Then on 6 November 1915, he became commander of the 1st Division, and was promoted to major general. He commanded this division through the final phase of the Gallipoli Campaign, the evacuation, and the reorganisation in Egypt in February and March 1916. For his part in the evacuation, he was mentioned in despatches. His role in the campaign as a whole was recognised by his appointment as a Companion of the Order of the Bath. ### Sinai #### Anzac Mounted Division Chauvel assumed command of the newly formed Anzac Mounted Division on 16 March 1916, the day after it relieved the 1st Division on the Suez Canal defences. Chauvel was again mentioned in despatches for his part in the defence of the Canal. His division was committed to No. 3 Section of the Suez Canal Defences, the northern part of the Canal, under Major General H. A. Lawrence. Arrangements were far from ideal. The mounted troops were parcelled out so that only two brigades of the Anzac Mounted Division remained under Chauvel's command. The 3rd Light Horse Brigade had been placed under No. 2 Section by General Sir Archibald Murray GHQ Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF). Lawrence was too far away to control the battle, especially once the telephone lines were cut. Murray, in Ismailia, was even further back. > Chauvel was no hard-riding gambler against odds. Like Alva, he could on occasion ignore the ardent enthusiasm of his officers and bide his time. Always cool, and looking far enough ahead to see the importance of any particular fight in its proper relation to the war as a whole, he was brave enough to break off an engagement if it promised victory only at what he considered an excessive cost to his men and horses. He fought to win, but not at any price. He sought victory on his own terms. He always retained, even in heated moments of battle, when leaders are often careless of life, a very rare concern for the lives of his men and his horses. For the Battle of Romani, Chauvel chose his ground carefully, reconnoitring it from the ground and the air, and selecting both forward and fall back positions. His luck held; the German commander – Friedrich Kreß von Kressenstein – selected the same position as the forming up area for his attack in August 1916. Under great pressure, Chauvel maintained his position until Brigadier-General Edward Chaytor's New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade arrived after being released by Lawrence. The counter-attack that Chauvel had been calling for all day did not materialise until dusk. At Katia and again at Bir el Abd, Chauvel attempted to sweep around the Turkish flank but wound up making frontal attacks on the Turkish rearguard and was beaten off by determined counter-attacks and artillery fire against the 3rd Light Horse Brigade. Despite killing 1,250 Turks and taking over 4,000 prisoners, Chauvel was criticised for his failure to rout and destroy the Turks. However, for the Australian and New Zealand horsemen, who suffered over 900 of the 1,130 British casualties, it was a clear-cut victory, their first decisive win and the turning point of the campaign. Later, Chauvel realised that Romani was the first decisive British victory of the war outside West Africa Campaign. In his report to the War Office on the battle, Murray passed lightly over the part played by the Anzac Mounted Division. The majority of awards for the Battle of Romani went to British troops, including a generous number to officers of Murray's staff. Lawrence was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, but Chauvel, having already been made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for South Africa and Companion of the Order of the Bath for Gallipoli, was recommended for a lesser award, which he refused. In view of this, Murray decided that Chauvel should receive no award at all, and he was merely mentioned in despatches. #### Desert Column In October 1916 Major General Sir Charles Macpherson Dobell, a Canadian officer with broad experience in fighting colonial wars took over command of Eastern Force. Its advanced troops – including Chauvel's Anzac Mounted Division – became part of the newly formed Desert Column under Major-General Sir Philip Chetwode, a British cavalry baronet. In the Battle of Magdhaba in December 1916, Chauvel therefore was answerable to the newly arrived Chetwode, instead of the distant commanders on the Canal. His intelligence on enemy dispositions was considerably better thanks to the work of the aviators of No. 5 Wing, which consisted of No. 14 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps and No. 1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps. However, he had only limited time to capture the position and its water supply, and when the issue was in doubt Chauvel ordered a withdrawal. The order was ignored by Brigadier-General Charles Frederick Cox of the 1st Light Horse Brigade, whose troops carried the position, and was cancelled by Chetwode. Despite his premature withdrawal order, it was Chauvel's plan of attack that won the battle. "Chauvel's leadership," wrote Henry Gullett, "was distinguished by the rapidity with which he summed up the very obscure Turkish position in the early morning, and by his judgement and characteristic patience in keeping so much of his force in reserve until the fight developed sufficiently to ensure its most profitable employment." Chauvel gained another important success in the Battle of Rafa in January 1917. In many ways, the battle was similar to Magdhaba, but the Turkish position was stronger and the threat of its reinforcement was greater. Once again, the availability of water was a crucial feature of the battle. This time it was Chetwode who decided to call off the battle, with Chauvel's concurrence, but once again the troops carried the day. The victories at Magdhaba and Rafah changed Murray's mind about awarding Chauvel a knighthood and in January 1917 Chauvel was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George. In July, he was mentioned in despatches for these operations. However, Chauvel continued to be concerned about the lack of recognition for Australian and New Zealand troops and on 28 September 1917 wrote: > The point is now that, during the period covered by Sir Archibald's Despatch of 1–3–17, the Australia and New Zealand Troops well know that, with the exception of the 5th Mounted Brigade and some Yeomanry Companies of the I.C.C., they were absolutely the only troops engaged with the enemy on this front and yet they see that they have again got a very small portion indeed of the hundreds of Honours and Rewards (including mentions in Despatches) that have been granted. My Lists when commanding the A. & N.Z. Mounted Division, were modest ones under all the circumstances and in that perhaps I am partly to blame but, as you will see by attached list, a good many of my recommendations were cut out and in some cases those recommended for decorations were not even mentioned in Despatches. I am well aware that it is difficult to do anything now to right this, but consider that the Commander–in–Chief [Allenby] should know that there is a great deal of bitterness over it. Chauvel appended 32 names of soldiers he recommended for awards that had been ignored. Two New Zealanders recommended for a Bar to their Distinguished Service Orders (DSO) were not even mentioned in despatches and an outstanding Australian regimental commander recommended for the CMG was also not even mentioned in despatches, while a brigade commander and a staff officer Chauvel recommended for DSOs received mentions. ### Palestine In January 1917, a second mounted division – the Imperial Mounted Division – was formed from the 3rd and 4th Light Horse Brigades and the British 5th and 6th Yeomanry Brigades. A British regular army officer fresh from experience in the Senussi Campaign, Major General Sir H. W. Hodgson, was appointed to command, with an all-British staff. The deliberate mixing of Australian and Imperial troops was done with Chauvel's approval but was contrary to the policy of the Australian Government, which soon registered its displeasure, sending Brigadier General Sir Robert Anderson to Cairo to discuss the matter frankly with Chauvel and his superiors. As a result, the Imperial Mounted Division was renamed the Australian Mounted Division. In the First Battle of Gaza in March 1917, Chauvel's mission was similar to Rafa and Magdhaba, but on a larger scale. He enveloped the Turkish position at Gaza while the British 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division and 54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division attempted to capture it. When this failed, Chetwode ordered Chauvel to attempt to capture Gaza from the rear. Chauvel successfully improvised a late afternoon assault on Gaza that captured the town despite the barriers of high cactus hedges and fierce enemy opposition, entering it after dark, only to have an out-of-touch Dobell order the mounted troops to withdraw, despite Chauvel's protests. This time his brigadiers at the front, Generals Ryrie and Chaytor, although they believed that Gaza could be held, felt compelled to obey, as they could not see the whole battle. All guns, including captured ones were hauled away, as were all unwounded prisoners, the wounded and even the dead. Chauvel ensured that wounded Turkish prisoners that were unfit to make the march to Deir al-Balah were each left with a full water bottle. Dobell launched the Second Battle of Gaza in April 1917 with a full scale frontal assault supported by naval gunfire, tanks and poison gas. It ended even more unsatisfactorily, and Dobell was relieved of command of Eastern Force on 19 April. His place was taken by Chetwode, while Chauvel took over the Desert Column, thereby becoming the first Australian to reach the rank of lieutenant general. Command of the Anzac Mounted Division passed to Chaytor. In June, during the Stalemate in Southern Palestine, General Sir Edmund Allenby took over the EEF from Murray. Allenby moved his headquarters to Palestine and re-organised his command along more regular lines. Eastern Force was abolished and two corps headquarters were formed, XX Corps under Chetwode and XXI Corps under Lieutenant General Edward Bulfin. The three corps commanders were professional soldiers, none of whom had graduated from a military college or a staff college, they had all been commissioned from the militia or volunteers. Two weeks before Allenby arrived, Chauvel attended an awards ceremony: > Mick Bruxner ... was the first recipient and you should have seen his face when he realised he was going to be kissed ... Irwin of the 1st Regiment is a very tall man and had to have his head pulled down and they ... say that he kissed the old General back. I cannot say as I was having such a job keeping my countenance that I was pretending to read something I had in my hand." #### Desert Mounted Corps When Chauvel learned that the Desert Column was to be renamed the 2nd Cavalry Corps he requested Desert Mounted Corps. The corps consisted of the Anzac Mounted Division, the Australian Mounted Division, the newly formed Yeomanry Mounted Division and the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade. Although some British thought that Allenby should replace Chauvel with a British officer, Allenby retained him in command. However he overrode Chauvel's own preference to appoint a Royal Horse Guards officer, Brigadier General Richard Howard-Vyse, known as "Wombat", as Chauvel's chief of staff. Chauvel thus, on 2 August 1917, became the first Australian to permanently command a corps. A "brass-bound brigadier" was quoted as saying, "Fancy giving the command of the biggest mounted force in the world's history to an Australian." On being told of the appointments, in a letter dated 12 August 1917 Chetwode wrote to congratulate Chauvel, "I cannot say how much I envy you the command of the largest body of mounted men ever under one hand – it is my own trade – but Fate has willed it otherwise." At Romani Chauvel had been a battleground commander who led from the front while Chetwode, relying on the phone had been deciding to retreat at the victory at Rafa. Chetwode's "arms length" style of command also impacted the First Battle of Gaza. In the Battle of Beersheba in October 1917, it was again Chauvel and his Desert Mounted Corps that had the critical role. Chetwode believed that the EEF did not have the resources to defeat the Turks in their fixed positions so he planned to drive the Turks from them by turning the enemy flank at Beersheba, in a waterless area on the flank of the enemy line. The Desert Mounted Corps would have a long overnight approach over waterless desert and would have to capture the town with its wells intact or be forced to retreat. The Battle of Beersheba went right down to the line, but the mission was accomplished, albeit not without a mounted infantry bayonet charge by the 4th Light Horse Brigade – the last of history's great cavalry charges – to capture the town and its vital water supply. Few battles have been won in such spectacular fashion. For this decisive victory, and the subsequent capture of Jerusalem, Chauvel was mentioned in despatches twice more, and appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1918 New Year Honours List. Chauvel, however, was still disappointed with the failure to destroy the Turkish army. The Turks had fought hard, forcing the commitment of the Desert Mounted Corps in heavy action before the moment for a sweeping pursuit came. When it did, the men and horses were too tired and could not summon the required energy. In February 1918, the EEF began a series of operations across the Jordan. Allenby soon found his British troops diverted to France, to be replaced by two Indian cavalry divisions, and the Australian Mounted Division faced a similar fate for a time. In the meantime, during the second Transjordan operations Chauvel faced great difficulties with the terrain, the weather and a tenacious enemy; the campaign was not a success. The Desert Mounted Corps found itself fighting outnumbered, with Turkish reinforcements closing in from all sides. Chauvel was forced to withdraw to the West Bank of the Jordan. Subsequently, the 5th Yeomanry Mounted Brigade was disbanded and Chauvel replaced it with the 5th Light Horse Brigade, formed from the Australian and New Zealand components of the now disbanded Imperial Camel Corps Brigade, and a composite French cavalry regiment of Spahis and Chasseurs d'Afrique. In September 1918, Chauvel was able to effect a secret redeployment of two of his mounted divisions. Allenby launched a surprise attack on the enemy and won the Battle of Megiddo. He then followed up this victory with one of the fastest pursuits in military history – 167 km in only three days. This time he succeeded in destroying the Turkish army. The Desert Mounted Corps moved across the Golan Heights and captured Damascus on 1 October. Between 19 September and 2 October, the Australian Mounted Division lost 21 killed and 71 wounded, and captured 31,335 Turkish prisoners. To restore calm in the city, Chauvel ordered a show of force. Lieutenant Colonel T. E. Lawrence later lampooned this as a "triumphal entry" but it was actually a shrewd political stroke, freeing Chauvel's forces to advance another 300 km to Aleppo, which was captured on 25 October. Five days later, Turkey surrendered. For this victory, Chauvel was again mentioned in despatches. Chauvel was obliged to remain in the Middle East due to the situation in Syria and the Egyptian Rebellion, although he was able to have Lady Chauvel join him there in January 1919. By April, the situation had calmed and Chauvel was able to hand over command of the AIF in the Middle East to Ryrie. Chauvel and Lady Chauvel then headed for London on the RMS Malwa. They arrived in time for him to lead Australian troops on a victory march through the city on 3 May. Soon after, he was hospitalised at the 3rd London General Hospital at Wandsworth with appendicitis. The whole Chauvel family was able to sail for home on the transport HMAT Demosthenes on 26 July 1919. For his services as commander of the Desert Mounted Corps, Chauvel was created a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in June 1919, was awarded the French Croix de Guerre avec Palme by the President of France and the Order of the Nile (2nd Class) by the Sultan of Egypt, and was mentioned in despatches for the 11th time. At his special request, when he was conferred with vestments and accoutrements of the Order of St Michael and St George by King George V, the King dubbed him "Sir Harry" rather than "Sir Henry". ## Later life ### Between the wars Chauvel's AIF appointment was terminated on 9 December 1919, and the next day he was appointed Inspector General, the Army's most senior post, which he held until 1930. The office of Inspector General had been created as an auditor who provided annual reports to the Council of Defence. In the event of war, it was intended that the Inspector General would become the Commander in Chief with the Military Board as his general staff. Chauvel's annual reports tended to emphasise the parlous state of the nation's defences. He warned, for example, that if war came, soldiers would "be subject to the unfair handicap and the certainty of increased loss of life which inferiority in armament and shortage of ammunition must inevitability entail". Looking back from the perspective of the Second World War, historian Gavin Long noted that Chauvel's annual reports were "a series of wise and penetrating examinations of Australian military problems of which, however, little notice was taken". In February 1920, Chauvel was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant general, back-dated to 31 December 1919. In January 1920, he chaired a committee to examine the future structure of the army. The committee's recommendations proved to be next to impossible to implement in the face of defence cuts that were imposed in 1920 and 1922. On Lieutenant General Brudenell White's retirement as Chief of the General Staff in 1923, that post was divided into two, with Chauvel becoming 1st Chief of the General Staff as well as Inspector General, while Brigadier General Thomas Blamey became 2nd Chief of the General Staff. Chauvel also served as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, being the senior of the three service chiefs. In November 1929, he became the first Australian to be promoted to the rank of general. He attempted to maintain the Army's structure in the face of short-sighted politicians intent on cutting expenditure. As a result, the Army became increasingly hollow, retaining the form of a large force without the substance. When conscription was abolished by Prime Minister James Scullin's government in 1929, it was left up to Chauvel to attempt to make the new volunteer system work. He finally retired in April 1930. Chauvel's sons Ian and Edward resigned their commissions in the Australian Army in 1930 and 1932 respectively, and accepted commissions in cavalry regiments of the British Indian Army. His daughter Elyne married Thomas Walter Mitchell, a grazier. Chauvel became a frequent visitor to their property "Towong Hill" near Corryong, Victoria. He was staying at Towong Hill during the Black Friday Bushfires of 1939. When the property was threatened by fire, he directed the firefighting effort, and at one point climbed a tree close to the house to hack away burning branches. The dedication of the Shrine of Remembrance in 1934 saw a series of reunions. Ian and Edward arrived from India on leave, Alexander Godley came from Britain, and Richard Howard-Vyse as chief of staff to Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester. In 1937, Chauvel travelled to the United Kingdom as head of the Australian contingent for the coronation of King George VI, where he was welcomed by Chetwode and Howard-Vyse. Chauvel had the contingent dressed as light horsemen, wearing emu plumes, bandoliers and spurs. When the Dominion troops assembled at Buckingham Palace to receive their King George VI Coronation Medals, Chauvel led the parade, with Howard-Vyse as his chief of staff. On the way back, the contingent visited France, where ceremonies were held at the Villers–Bretonneux Australian National Memorial and the Arc de Triomphe. Chauvel frequently led Anzac Day parades through Melbourne but resigned from the leadership of the march in 1938 in protest against a decision by the Returned and Services League of Australia to change the form of service at the Shrine from a Christian to a secular one. ### Second World War and legacy During the Second World War, Chauvel was recalled to duty as Inspector in Chief of the Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC), the Australian version of the British Home Guard. Following Brudenell White's death in the Canberra air disaster, Prime Minister Robert Menzies turned to Chauvel for advice on a successor as Chief of the General Staff. On Chauvel's recommendation, Menzies appointed Lieutenant General Vernon Sturdee to the post. During the war, Chauvel's son Ian served as staff officer in the Italian campaign, while Edward was posted to New Guinea to learn about jungle warfare from the Australian Army. Chauvel's daughter Eve joined the Women's Royal Australian Naval Service and spent a day in a lifeboat in the North Atlantic after her ship was torpedoed by a U-boat. Tom Mitchell was captured by the Japanese in the Battle of Singapore. Chauvel remained with the VDC, based at Victoria Barracks, Melbourne but constantly travelling on inspections until his death on 4 March 1945. Chauvel was given a state funeral service at St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne officiated by the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, Joseph John Booth, after which he was cremated at Springvale Crematorium with full military honours. Eight generals acted as pallbearers: Lieutenant General John Northcott, Chief of the General Staff; Lieutenant General John Whitham, Corps Commander, VDC; Major General James Cannan, Quartermaster General; Major General Charles Brand; Major General Cyril Clowes, GOC, Victoria Line of Communications Area; Major General John Austin Chapman, Deputy Chief of General Staff; Major General Charles Lloyd, Adjutant General; and Major General Clive Steele, Engineer in Chief. Portraits of Chauvel are held by the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, the Naval and Military Club in Melbourne, and the Imperial War Museum in London. A portrait by George Washington Lambert is in the possession of the family. Chauvel is commemorated in a bronze plaque in St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne. His sword is in Christ Church, South Yarra, his uniform in the Australian War Memorial, and his saddle is kept by the 1st Armoured Regiment in South Australia. There is also a memorial window in the chapel of the Royal Military College, Duntroon. Chauvel Street in North Ryde, Sydney is named in his honour. Chauvel's daughter Elyne Mitchell wrote a number of non-fiction works about her father and his corps. In his book Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T. E. Lawrence provided a wildly inaccurate version of Chauvel. Charles Bean noted that "this wise, good and considerate commander was far from the stupid martinet that readers of Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom might infer." Lawrence confessed that "little of his book was strict truth though most of it was based on fact." Chauvel's nephew Charles Chauvel became a well-known film director, whose films included Forty Thousand Horsemen (1940), about the Battle of Beersheba. Harry Chauvel was portrayed in film: by Bill Kerr in The Lighthorsemen (1987), which covered the exploits of an Australian cavalry regiment during the Third Battle of Gaza; by Ray Edwards in A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia (1990), which took place around the 1919 Paris peace conference; and by Colin Baker in the 1992 Young Indiana Jones TV movie Daredevils of the Desert, another retelling of the Third Battle of Gaza from the director of The Lighthorsemen. ## See also - Jean Chauvel (Ambassadeur de France)
12,174,946	Marsh rice rat	1,144,822,511	North American species of rodent	[ "Mammals described in 1837", "Mammals of Mexico", "Mammals of the United States", "Oryzomys", "Taxa named by Richard Harlan", "Taxonomy articles created by Polbot" ]	The marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris) is a semiaquatic North American rodent in the family Cricetidae. It usually occurs in wetland habitats, such as swamps and salt marshes. It is found mostly in the eastern and southern United States, from New Jersey and Kansas south to Florida and northeasternmost Tamaulipas, Mexico; its range previously extended further west and north, where it may have been a commensal in corn-cultivating communities. Weighing about 40 to 80 g (1.4 to 2.8 oz), the marsh rice rat is a medium-sized rodent that resembles the common black and brown rat. The upperparts are generally gray-brown, but are reddish in many Florida populations. The feet show several specializations for life in the water. The skull is large and flattened, and is short at the front. John Bachman discovered the marsh rice rat in 1816, and it was formally described in 1837. Several subspecies have been described since the 1890s, mainly from Florida, but disagreement exists over their validity. The Florida Keys population is sometimes classified as a different species, the silver rice rat (Oryzomys argentatus). Data from the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene indicate a deep divergence between populations east of Mississippi and those further west, which suggests that the western populations may be recognized as a separate species, Oryzomys texensis. The species is part of the genus Oryzomys, which also includes several others occurring further south in Mexico, Central America, and northwestern South America, some of which have previously been regarded as subspecies of the marsh rice rat. One, Oryzomys couesi, occurs with the marsh rice rat in Tamaulipas and southern Texas. The marsh rice rat is active during the night, makes nests of sedge and grass, and occasionally builds runways. Its diverse diet includes plants, fungi, and a variety of animals. Population densities are usually below 10 per ha (four per acre) and home ranges vary from 0.23 to 0.37 ha (0.57 to 0.91 acres), depending on sex and geography. Litters of generally three to five young are born after a pregnancy around 25 days, mainly during the summer. Newborns are helpless at birth, but are weaned after a few weeks. Several animals prey on the marsh rice rat, including the barn owl, and it usually lives for less than a year in the wild. It is infected by many different parasites and harbors a hantavirus that also infects humans. The species is not of conservation concern, but some populations are threatened. ## Taxonomy The marsh rice rat is classified as one of eight species in the genus Oryzomys, which is distributed from the eastern United States (marsh rice rat) into northwestern South America (O. gorgasi). Oryzomys previously included many other species, which were reclassified in various studies culminating in contributions by Marcelo Weksler and coworkers in 2006 that removed more than 40 species from the genus. All are placed in the tribe Oryzomyini ("rice rats"), a diverse assemblage of over 100 species, and on higher taxonomic levels in the subfamily Sigmodontinae of the family Cricetidae, along with hundreds of other species of mainly small rodents, most of which occur in South and Central America. In the United States, the marsh rice rat is the only oryzomyine rodent except for Oryzomys couesi in a small area of southern Texas; the only other sigmodontines present are several species of cotton rats (Sigmodon) in the southern half of the country. ### Early history The marsh rice rat was discovered in 1816 in South Carolina by John Bachman. Bachman intended to describe the species as Arvicola oryzivora, but sent a specimen to Richard Harlan and Charles Pickering at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia to confirm its identity. Another specimen, from New Jersey, was found in the academy's collection, and Harlan took it upon himself, against Pickering's wishes, to describe the new species as Mus palustris, proclaiming it one of the few true rats of the United States. The specific name palustris is Latin for "marshy" and refers to the usual habitat of the species. In 1854, in The quadrupeds of North America, Bachman redescribed it as Arvicola oryzivora, considering it more closely related to the voles then placed in the genus Arvicola, and also recorded it from Georgia and Florida. Three years later, Spencer Fullerton Baird argued that the referral of the species to Arvicola was erroneous and introduced a new generic name for the marsh rice rat, Oryzomys. The name combines the Greek oryza "rice" and mys "mouse" and refers to the rat's habit of eating rice. At the time, Oryzomys was recognized either as a full genus or as a subgenus of the now-defunct genus Hesperomys, but since the 1890s, it has been universally recognized as a genus distinct from Hesperomys, with the marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris) as its type species. ### Species boundaries and subspecies In the 1890s, several subspecies of the marsh rice rat were described from the United States: O. p. natator from Florida in 1893, O. p. texensis from Texas in 1894, and O. p. coloratus from elsewhere in Florida in 1898. Clinton Hart Merriam recognized O. p. natator as a separate species in 1901 and described a subspecies of it, O. p. floridanus, but considered O. p. texensis to be nearly identical to nominate O. p. palustris. In his 1918 revision of North American Oryzomys, Edward Alphonso Goldman again recognized all these as a single species, Oryzomys palustris. He distinguished four subspecies, which he said formed a "closely intergrading series"—O. p. palustris from New Jersey to southeastern Mississippi and eastern Missouri; O. p. natator in central Florida; O. p. coloratus (including O. natator floridanus Merriam) in southern Florida; and O. p. texensis from western Mississippi and southeastern Kansas to eastern Texas. Two additional subspecies were described by William J. Hamilton in 1955 from southern Florida: O. p. planirostris from Pine Island and two miles (3 km) north of Fort Myers and O. p. sanibeli from Sanibel Island. Also in 1955, Claude W. Hibbard described a new species of Oryzomys, O. fossilis, from Pleistocene deposits in Kansas, on the basis of small differences in characters of the tooth with living marsh rice rats. In 1965, Walter Dalquest demoted this species, later also found in Texas, to a subspecies, because it does not differ more from living marsh rice rats than the latter differ from each other. Merriam and Goldman had recognized that a number of Central American species, including Oryzomys couesi and numerous forms with more limited distributions, are related to the marsh rice rat. O. couesi ranges north to southernmost Texas, where its distribution meets that of the marsh rice rat. In 1960, Raymond Hall argued that specimens from the contact zone were intermediate between the local forms of O. couesi and the marsh rice rat, and accordingly included the former in the marsh rice rat. While reporting on the ecology of Texan O. couesi in 1979, Benson and Gehlbach noted that populations of O. couesi and the marsh rice rat there were in fact distinct, with the latter being smaller and less brown and more gray in color; their karyotypes were also distinct. Since then, the two have generally been retained as distinct species, as supported by further research; a 1994 study even found the two to occur at some of the same places (in sympatry) in southern Texas and nearby Tamaulipas, Mexico. In 1973, rice rats were discovered at Cudjoe Key in the Florida Keys, and in 1978 Spitzer and Lazell described this population as a new species, Oryzomys argentatus. The status of this form—either a distinct species or not even subspecifically distinct from O. palustris natator—has remained controversial since; the 2005 third edition of Mammal Species of the World does not recognize O. argentatus as a separate species, but acknowledges a need for further research. A 2005 study using microsatellite DNA found that Florida Keys rice rats exhibit low genetic variation and are significantly different from Everglades rice rats; the study concluded in favor of classifying the Keys rice rat as a "distinct vertebrate population". This population probably diverged from mainland rice rats about 2000 years ago. Among the described subspecies, a 1989 morphometrical study by Humphrey and Setzer separated only two—O. p. natator from much of Florida (including O. p. coloratus, O. p. planirostris, O. p. sanibeli, and O. p. floridanus, as well as O. p. argentatus) and O. p. palustris from the rest of the range (including O. p. texensis). However, Whitaker and Hamilton in their 1998 book on the Mammals of the Eastern United States recognized O. p. planirostris and O. p. sanibeli as separate subspecies, but merged all others into O. p. palustris, and placed O. argentatus as a separate species; their classification was based on their emphasis of overwater gaps as agents of biological diversification and a critique of shortcomings in Humphrey and Setzer's study, not on a reanalysis of the data. In 2010, Delton Hanson and colleagues published a study of the relationships among populations of Oryzomys on the basis of data from three genes—the mitochondrial gene cytochrome b (Cytb) and two nuclear markers, exon 1 of the interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein gene (Rbp3) and intron 2 of alcohol dehydrogenase gene 1 (Adh1-I2). The Cytb data placed all marsh rice rats studied sister to a clade containing various populations of O. couesi; the mean genetic distance between the two groups was 11.30%. The marsh rice rats fell into two main groups, differing on average by 6.05%, one containing animals from Mississippi, southwestern Tennessee, and further west, and the other including specimens from Alabama and further east. Within the eastern group, variation was only about 0.65%, though examples of the putative subspecies O. p. palustris, O. p. coloratus, O. p. sanibeli, and O. p. planirostris were all included. Data from both of the slower-evolving nuclear markers Rbp3 and Adh1-I2 also placed examples of Oryzomys in two main clades, but did not recover the western and eastern groups of the marsh rice rat as separate clades. In addition, Adh1-I2 placed a Costa Rican population within the marsh rice rat clade and some other southern Oryzomys specimens closer to the marsh rice rat than to the O. couesi group. The combined data supported the western and eastern clades within the marsh rice rat and placed the Costa Rican population marginally closer to the marsh rice rat than to O. couesi. Using the genetic species concept, the authors suggested that the western populations of the marsh rice rat be recognized as a separate species, Oryzomys texensis. They recommended further research in the Mississippi–Alabama–Tennessee region, where the ranges of the two meet. ### Common names Many common names have been proposed for the marsh rice rat. Early describers used "rice meadow-mouse" and "rice-field mouse" and in the early 1900s, name such as "rice rat", "marsh mouse", and "swamp rice rat" came into use. Some of the subspecies received their own common names, such as "Florida marsh mouse", "swimming rice rat", and "Central Florida rice rat" for O. p. natator; "Bangs' marsh mouse", "Cape Sable rice rat", and "Everglades rice rat" for O. p. coloratus; and "Texas rice rat" for O. p. texensis. The species is now usually known as the "marsh rice rat", although "marsh oryzomys" has also been in recent use. The Florida Keys form (O. p. argentatus) is known as the "silver rice rat". ## Description The marsh rice rat is a medium-sized rodent that looks much like the common black and brown rats, but has greater differences in color between the upper- and underparts. The fur is thick and short. The upperparts are generally gray to grayish brown, with the head a bit lighter, and are sharply delimited from the underparts, which are off-white, as are the feet. It has small cheek pouches. The ears are about the same color as the upperparts, but a patch of light hairs is in front of them. The tail is dark brown above and may be paler below. The guard hairs are long and have unpigmented, silvery tips. When rice rats swim, air is trapped in the fur, which increases buoyancy and reduces heat loss. As in most other oryzomyines, females have eight mammae. The fore feet have four and the hind feet five digits. On the fore feet, the ungual tufts (tufts of hair on the digits) are absent. The hind feet are broad and have a short fifth digit. Many of the pads are reduced, as are the ungual tufts, but small interdigital webs are present. The Florida Keys form, P. o. argentatus, has even more reduced ungual tufts. Many of these traits are common adaptations to life in the water in oryzomyines. Some geographic variation in fur color occurs; western populations (P. o. texensis) are lighter than those from the east (nominate P. o. palustris), and Florida populations are generally more tawny or reddish than either, with those from southern Florida (P. o. coloratus) being brighter than those from the center of the state (P. o. natator). The Florida Keys form (P. o. argentatus) is silvery, and the two other Florida forms—P. o. planirostris and P. o. sanibeli—lack the reddish tones of mainland Florida populations and are instead grayish, resembling P. o. planirostris, or brownish (P. o. sanibeli). In 1989, Humphrey and Setzer reviewed variation in color among Florida populations. They found P. o. argentatus to be substantially lighter and P. o. planirostris and P. o. sanibeli to be somewhat darker than mainland populations, and P. o. argentatus to have a less yellow fur, but found no significant differences in redness. Substantial variation within populations also was found. Total length is 226 to 305 mm (8.9 to 12.0 in), tail length 108 to 156 mm (4.3 to 6.1 in), hind foot length 28 to 37 mm (1.1 to 1.5 in), and body mass 40 to 80 g (1.4 to 2.8 oz), with males slightly larger than females. The largest individuals occur in Florida and along the Gulf Coast east of the Mississippi River delta. The stomach has the characteristic pattern of sigmodontines (unilocular-hemiglandular); it is not split in two chambers by an incisura angularis and the front part (antrum) is covered by a glandular epithelium. The gall bladder is absent, a synapomorphy (shared-derived character) of Oryzomyini. The karyotype includes 56 chromosomes and a fundamental number of 60 chromosomal arms (2n = 56, FN = 60). The form of the sex chromosomes has been used to distinguish the marsh rice rat from Oryzomys couesi, but may be too variable among Oryzomys species to be useful in differentiating them. X chromosome inactivation occurs in the marsh rice rat, though the animal lacks LINE-1 retrotransposons, which have been suggested as components of the inactivation process. Mutants with fused or additional molars and with light fur have been recorded in laboratory colonies; the abnormal molars are apparently the result of a single autosomal recessive mutation. At about 50%, hematocrit (the proportion of red blood cells in the blood) is high in the marsh rice rat compared to other rodents; this may be an adaptation that enables the rice rat to increase oxygen capacity while swimming under water. ### Male reproductive anatomy The glans penis is long and robust, averaging 7.3 mm (0.29 in) long and 4.6 mm (0.18 in) broad, and the baculum (penis bone) is 6.6 mm (0.26 in) long. As is characteristic of the Sigmodontinae, the marsh rice rat has a complex penis, with the distal (far) end of the baculum ending in three digits. The central digit is notably larger than those at the sides. The outer surface of the penis is mostly covered by small spines, but a broad band of nonspinous tissue is seen. The papilla (nipple-like projection) on the dorsal (upper) side of the penis is covered with small spines, a character the marsh rice rat shares only with Oligoryzomys and Oryzomys couesi among oryzomyines examined. On the urethral process, located in the crater at the end of the penis, a fleshy process (the subapical lobule) is present; it is absent in all other oryzomyines with studied penes except O. couesi and Holochilus brasiliensis. The baculum is deeper than it is wide. Some features of the accessory glands in the male genital region vary among oryzomyines. In the marsh rice rat, a single pair of preputial glands is present at the penis. As is usual for sigmodontines, two pairs of ventral prostate glands and a single pair of anterior and dorsal prostate glands exist. Part of the end of the vesicular gland is irregularly folded, not smooth as in most oryzomyines. ### Skull The marsh rice rat has a large, flattened skull with a short and broad rostrum. The nasal and premaxillary bones extend back beyond the point where the lacrimal, frontal, and maxillary bones meet. In P. o. planirostris, the rostrum is flatter than in mainland Florida forms, in which it is more convex, and the nasals are said to be relatively longer in P. o. argentatus. The zygomatic plate, the flattened front part of the zygomatic arch (cheekbone), is broad and develops a notch at its front end. The arches themselves are robust and contain small but distinct jugal bones. The sphenopalatine foramen, an opening in the side of the skull above the molars, is large; it is much smaller in O. couesi. The narrowest part of the region between the eyes is towards the front and the edges are lined by prominent shelves. The marsh rice rat has a narrow braincase lined by prominent ridges and a narrow interparietal bone. According to Goldman, Florida animals (P. o. coloratus and P. o. natator) generally have the largest and broadest skulls, and the western specimen (P. o. texensis) has a somewhat smaller and narrower skull than those from the east outside Florida (P. o. palustris). In P. o. argentatus, the skull is also relatively narrow. The incisive foramina, openings in the front part of the palate, reach backward between the molars. The palate is long, extending substantially beyond the third molars. The back part, near the third molars, is usually perforated by prominent posterolateral palatal pits, which are recessed into fossae (depressions). The mesopterygoid fossa, the gap behind the end of the palate, is perforated by sphenopalatine vacuities, which are set far to the front. The condition of the arteries in the head is highly derived. The subsquamosal fenestra, an opening in the back part of the skull determined by the shape of the squamosal bone, is present. The squamosal lacks a suspensory process that contacts the tegmen tympani, the roof of the tympanic cavity, a defining character of oryzomyines. Some openings occur in the mastoid bone. In the mandible, the mental foramen, an opening just before the first molar, opens sidewards, not upwards as in a few other oryzomyines. The upper and lower masseteric ridges, which anchor some of the chewing muscles, join at a point below the first molar and do not extend forward beyond that point. The capsular process, a raising of the bone of the back of the mandible that houses the back end of the incisor, is present, but not as large as in O. couesi. ### Teeth The dental formula is (one upper and one lower incisor and three upper and three lower molars), as usual in muroid rodents. The upper incisors are well developed and strongly opisthodont, with the chewing edge located behind the vertical plane of the teeth. The molars are bunodont, with the cusps higher than the connecting crests, and brachydont, low-crowned, as in most other oryzomyines. Many accessory crests, including the mesoloph on the upper molars and the mesolophid on the lower molars, are present, another trait the marsh rice rat shares with most but not all other oryzomyines. The flexi and flexids (valleys between the cusps and crests) at the labial (outer) side of the molars are closed by cingula (ridges). The upper molars have two longitudinal rows of cusps, not three as in the black and brown rats. The first and second upper molars are oval in form and the flexi do not extend to the midline of the molars. The anterocone, the front cusp of the upper first molar, is not divided in two by an indentation at its front (anteromedian flexus), but does display a hollow in the middle, the anteromedian fossette, which divides it into separate cuspules at the labial and lingual (inner) sides of the molar. A crest, the anteroloph, is present behind the labial cuspule, but in older animals, the cusps and the crest are united into a single structure by wear. In the third upper molar, the cusps at the back are reduced and scarcely distinguishable. As in most oryzomyines, the upper molars all have one root on the inner (lingual) side and two on the outer (labial) side; in addition, the first upper molar usually has another small labial root. The first lower molar is rounded at the front end and the labial and lingual conules of the anteroconid, the frontmost cusp, are barely distinct. The second lower molar is elongated and has a crest, the anterolophid, before the two cusps that form the front edge of the molar in some other oryzomyines, the protoconid and metaconid. A distinct ridge (anterolabial cingulum) is at the outer front (anterolabial) edge of the molar, before the protoconid. The lower third molar is about as long as the second and also has an anterolophid, albeit a less well-defined one. The first lower molar has large roots at the front and back of the tooth and usually one or two smaller ones in between, at the labial and lingual side. The second and third lowers molars have either two roots, one labial and one lingual, or only one at the front, and another large root at the back. ### Postcranial skeleton As usual in oryzomyines, 12 ribs are present. The first rib articulates with both the last cervical (neck) and first thoracic (chest) vertebrae, a synapomorphy of the Sigmodontinae. The anapophyses, processes at the back of vertebrae, are absent from the fifth lumbar. Between the second and third caudal vertebrae, hemal arches (small bones) are present with a spinous back border. The entepicondylar foramen is absent, as in all members of the Sigmodontinae; if present, as in some other rodents, this foramen perforates the distal end of the humerus. ### Physiology In poor conditions, the weight of the adrenal gland may increase up to 200%, and rice rats are unable to conserve water well when dehydrated, and in water contaminated with oil, they swim less and their mortality increases. The median amount of radiation needed to kill a marsh rice rat is 5.25 Gy and the lethal dose of potassium cyanide is 7.20 mg/kg; both values are relatively low for cricetid rodents. In one study, wild rice rats in radioactively contaminated areas did not show signs of disease. Exposure to more daylight and higher food availability cause increased development of the gonads in both adult and juvenile rice rats. When the pineal gland is removed or melatonin is administered in male rice rats, the testes are reduced and tend to regress into the body. ## Distribution and habitat The marsh rice rat currently occurs in much of the eastern and southern United States, northeast to southern New Jersey, and south to southeastern Texas and far northeastern Tamaulipas, Mexico. The northernmost records in the interior United States are in eastern Oklahoma, southeastern Kansas, southern Missouri and Illinois, and the southern half of Kentucky, but the species is absent in much of the Appalachians. Fossils of the marsh rice rat are known from Rancholabrean (late Pleistocene, less than 300,000 years ago) deposits in Florida and Georgia and remains referred to the extinct subspecies O. p. fossilis are from the Wisconsinan and Sangamonian of Texas and Illinoian and Sangamonian of Kansas. In the Florida Keys, rice rats occur on most of the Lower Keys, but are absent from the Upper Keys, which are of a different geological origin and were probably never connected to the mainland. The western and eastern Cytb clades within the marsh rice rat may represent expansions from different glacial refugia which the species was restricted to during a glacial period. Cave and archeological remains indicate that the range of the marsh rice rat has extended substantially further north and west earlier in the Holocene, into central Texas, eastern Nebraska, southwestern Iowa, central Illinois, southern Indiana, southern Ohio, West Virginia, and southwestern Pennsylvania. Most northern archeological sites date from about 1000 CE and are associated with corn cultivation, but in some older cave sites the rice rat is found with the extinct giant armadillo Dasypus bellus, suggesting warm climatic conditions. Perhaps a warm period during the Quaternary enabled the rice rat to disperse northward and when the climate cooled, relict populations were able to survive in the north as commensals in corn-cultivating Native American communities. Some subfossil animals are slightly larger than living marsh rice rats, possibly because environmental constraints were relaxed in commensal populations. In Tamaulipas and southern Texas, the ranges of the marsh rice rat and the related Oryzomys couesi meet; in parts of Kenedy, Willacy and Cameron counties, Texas, and in far northeastern Tamaulipas, the two are sympatric (occur in the same places). In experimental conditions, they fail to interbreed and genetic analysis yields no evidence of gene flow or hybridization in the wild. Compared to O. couesi, the marsh rice rat shows less genetic variability within but more between populations in the contact zone, probably because the species is restricted to isolated populations near the coast. The marsh rice rat occurs in several habitats, ranging from coastal salt marshes to mountain streams and clearings. It is semiaquatic, spending much time in the water, and usually occurs in wetland habitats. It prefers areas where the ground is covered with grasses and sedges, which protect it from predators. In southern Illinois, marsh rice rats are more likely to occur in wetlands with more herbaceous cover, visual obstruction, and nearby grasslands. The species also occurs in drier uplands, which serve as sinks for young, dispersing animals and as refuges during high tide. Rice rats are adept overwater dispersers; studies on islands off Virginia's Delmarva Peninsula show that they readily cross 300-m (1000 ft) channels between islands. ## Behavior and ecology Marsh rice rats are active during the night, so are rarely seen, although they may be among the most common small mammals in part of their range. They build nests of sedge and grass, about 13 cm (5 in) large, which are placed under debris, near shrubs, in short burrows, or high in aquatic vegetation. They may also use old nests of marsh wrens (Cistothorus palustris), red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus), muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) or round-tailed muskrats (Neofiber alleni). Marsh rice rats sometimes make large runways or dig burrows. They are accomplished and willing swimmers, easily swimming more than 10 m (33 ft) under water, and often seek safety in the water when alarmed. Rice rats in the Florida Keys occasionally climb in vegetation, but never higher than 90 cm (3.0 ft). Marsh rice rats are very clean and extensively groom themselves, perhaps to keep their fur water-repellent. They are aggressive towards conspecifics and emit high-pitched squeaks while fighting. In dense vegetation, their perceptual range (the distance from which an animal can detect a patch of suitable habitat) is less than 10 m (33 ft). When released outside of their natural wetland habitat, marsh rice rats generally move either upwind or downwind (anemotaxis), perhaps to move in a straight line, which is an efficient strategy to find suitable habitat. Many animals prey on marsh rice rats. The barn owl (Tyto alba) is among the most important; one study found that 97.5% of vertebrate remains in barn owl pellets were marsh rice rats. Other predators include birds such as marsh hawks (Circus cyaneus), and barred owls (Strix varia); snakes such as cottonmouths (Agkistrodon piscivorus); alligators (Alligator mississippiensis); and carnivorans like raccoons (Procyon lotor), red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), American mink (Neogale vison), weasels (Mustela and Neogale sp.), and striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis). Many parasites have been recorded on the marsh rice rat, including various ticks and mites, lice, and fleas among external parasites and many nematodes and digeneans, a pentastomid, and several coccidians among internal parasites (see Parasites of the marsh rice rat). Periodontitis, a bacterial disease affecting the jaws, is particularly virulent in marsh rice rats; the animal has been proposed as a model for research on the disease in humans. The identity of the bacterial agent remains unknown. Vitamin E, fluoride, and iodide protect against bone loss associated with this disease in the rice rat and a high-sucrose diet increases the severity of periodontitis. A case of kyphosis has been observed in a North Carolina marsh rice rat. ### Population dynamics The population density of the marsh rice rat usually does not reach 10 per ha (4 per acre). The weather may influence population dynamics; in the Everglades, densities may exceed 200 per ha (80 per acre) when flooding concentrates populations on small islands, In the Florida Keys, population density is less than 1 per ha (0.4 per acre). On Breton Island, Louisiana, perhaps an atypical habitat, home ranges in males average about 0.37 hectares (0.91 acres) and in females about 0.23 hectares (0.57 acres). A study in Florida found male home ranges to average 0.25 hectares (0.62 acres) and female 0.33 hectares (0.82 acres). Population size is usually largest during the summer and declines during winter, although populations in Texas and Louisiana may be more seasonally stable. Animals also often lose weight during winter. Population size varies dramatically from year to year in southern Texas. In coastal Mississippi, storms probably do not cause the population to decline substantially, and in Texas, inundation of its habitat did not significantly influence population density. However, in Mississippi, flooding did cause a marked decline in rice rat abundance. In the northern part of its range, the species often occurs with the meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus), but no evidence shows they compete with each other. In the south, the hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) and the rice rat regularly occur together; water levels are known to influence relative abundance of these two species in Florida. The cotton rat is mainly active during the day, which may help differentiate its niche from that of the rice rat. ### Diet The marsh rice rat takes both vegetable and animal food, and is more carnivorous than most small rodents are; dominant food items vary seasonally. Plants eaten include species of Spartina, Salicornia, Tripsacum, and Elymus, among others; it mainly eats seeds and succulent parts. It prefers Spartina alterniflora that has been fertilized with nitrogen and mainly eats the inner tissue of the stem, perhaps because nitrogen-fertilized plants contain much less dimethylsulfoniopropionate in their inner tissues. The marsh rice rat was a major pest on rice plantations, feeding on the rice when it was newly planted. It also eats the fungus Endogone at times. Animals that are important to the marsh rice rat's diet include insects, fiddler crabs, and snails, but the species is known to eat many other animals, including fish, clams, and juvenile Graptemys and Chrysemys turtles. They scavenge on carcasses of muskrats, deermice, and sparrows, and may be the most important predator on eggs and young of the marsh wren. Rice rats also eat eggs and young of the seaside sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus) and are aggressive towards the sparrow, apparently leading it to avoid nesting in Juncus in a seaside salt marsh in Florida. On islands in North Carolina, rice rats consume eggs of Forster's tern (Sterna forsteri). They have been observed preying on alligator eggs in Georgia. Laboratory studies have found that rice rats assimilate 88% to 95% of the energy in their food. They lose weight when fed on Spartina, fiddler crabs, or sunflower seeds alone, but a diet consisting of several of those items or of mealworms is adequate to maintain weight. In an experiment, marsh rice rats did not show hoarding behavior, but wild rice rats have been observed carrying food to a nest. Even when they live in uplands, they mostly eat water plants and animals, although they consume some upland plants. ### Reproduction and lifecycle Breeding occurs mostly during the summer. Some studies report that breeding ceases entirely during the winter, but winter breeding occurs as far north as Virginia, primarily because photoperiod influences their circadian rhythm which determines breeding. In both Texas and Virginia, variation in reproductive activity in females is less than in males. In the south of its range, animals may breed less when the summer is at its warmest. The duration of the estrous cycle ranges from 6 to 9 days, with an average of 7.72 days. Estrus occurs again after a litter is born. Copulatory behavior in the marsh rice rat is similar to that in laboratory brown rats. Before mating starts, "the male pursues the running female from behind." The male then repeatedly mounts and dismounts the female; not all mounts result in an ejaculation. Penetrations only last for about 250 ms, but during mating, the penetrations and the intervals between them become longer. Even when a male is satiated after mating, it is able to copulate again when a new female is introduced (the Coolidge effect). Partly because of resistance by the female, the frequency of ejaculation during mating is rather low in marsh rice rats as compared to laboratory rats, hamsters, and deermice. After a gestation of about 25 days, three to five young are usually born, although litter sizes vary from one to seven. Females may have up to six litters a year. Newborns weigh 3 to 4 g (about 0.10 to 0.15 oz) and are blind and almost naked. About as many males as females are born. The external ears (pinnae) soon unfold and on the first day, claws are visible and the young emit high-pitched squeaks. On the second day, they are able to crawl, and during the third to fifth days, the whiskers and eyelids develop. On the two subsequent days, the mammae and incisors become visible and the animals become more active. Between the eighth and 11th days, the eyes open, the fur develops, and the young begin to take solid food. Weaning occurs on the 11th to 20th day, according to different studies. Considerable variation is reported in body masses at different ages, perhaps because of geographic variation. Sexual activity commences when the animals are about 50 to 60 days old. In the wild, rice rats usually live for less than a year; one study suggested that the average lifespan is only seven months. ## Human interactions The marsh rice rat is generally of little importance to humans, which is perhaps why it is not as well studied as some other North American rodents. In 1931, Arthur Svihla noted that virtually no information had been published on the habits and life history of the marsh rice rat since the 1854 publication of Audubon and Bachman's description. Writing on Everglades mammals, Thomas E. Lodge notes that although the name "rat" may associate it unpleasantly with the introduced black and brown rats, its appearance is more endearing, even cute. J. S. Steward proposed the marsh rice rat as a model organism in 1951 to study certain infections to which other rodents used at the time are not susceptible. The marsh rice rat is quite susceptible to periodontitis and has been used as a model system for the study of that disease. The marsh rice rat is the primary host of the Bayou virus (BAYV), the second-most common agent of hantavirus infections in the United States. About 16% of animals are infected and the virus is most prevalent in old, heavy males. The virus may be transmitted among rice rats through bites inflicted during fights. It is also present in rice rat saliva and urine, and human infections may occur because of contact with these excreta. Two related hantaviruses, Catacama virus and Playa de Oro virus, are known from Oryzomys couesi in Honduras and western Mexico, respectively. An arenavirus normally associated with woodrats (Neotoma) has also been found in Florida marsh rice rats. Antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease in the United States, have been found in marsh rice rats in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Another pathogenic bacterium, Bartonella, is known from Georgia marsh rice rats. The 2016 IUCN Red List assesses the conservation status of the marsh rice rat as "Least Concern", because it is a common, widespread, and stable species without major threats that occurs in several protected areas. The Florida Keys form is rare and in decline and is threatened by competition with the black rat, predation by domestic cats, habitat loss, and loss of genetic variation; it is considered endangered. At the northern edge of its distribution, the marsh rice rat is listed as threatened in Illinois, and whether it persists in Pennsylvania is unclear; it probably formerly occurred in tidal marshes on the Delaware River. In Illinois, its population may have regenerated because wetlands have been developed to protect waterfowl and shorebirds and because suitable wetlands often develop in abandoned coal-mining operations. A 2001 study projected that climate change would reduce the range of the marsh rice rat in Texas, where it is now common, but may become threatened by habitat loss in the future. A study at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant found that rice rats accumulate more polychlorinated biphenyls, but less heavy metal than white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus).
46,709,309	Palmyra	1,173,437,750	Ancient city in central Syria	[ "Destroyed cities", "Former populated places in Syria", "Hebrew Bible cities", "Levant", "Lost cities and towns", "Oases of Syria", "Palmyra", "Palmyrene Empire", "Populated places disestablished in 1932", "Populated places established in the 3rd millennium BC", "Populated places of the Byzantine Empire", "Roman towns and cities in Syria", "World Heritage Sites in Danger", "World Heritage Sites in Syria" ]	Palmyra (/pælˈmaɪrə/ pal-MY-rə; Palmyrene: (), romanized: Tadmor; Arabic: تَدْمُر, romanized: Tadmur) is an ancient city in the eastern part of the Levant, now in the center of modern Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second millennium BC. Palmyra changed hands on a number of occasions between different empires before becoming a subject of the Roman Empire in the first century AD. The city grew wealthy from trade caravans; the Palmyrenes became renowned as merchants who established colonies along the Silk Road and operated throughout the Roman Empire. Palmyra's wealth enabled the construction of monumental projects, such as the Great Colonnade, the Temple of Bel, and the distinctive tower tombs. Ethnically, the Palmyrenes combined elements of Amorites, Arameans, and Arabs. The city's social structure was based structured on kinship and clans, and its inhabitants spoke Palmyrene Aramaic, a variety of Western Middle Aramaic, while using Koine Greek for commercial and diplomatic purposes. The Hellenistic period of West Asia influenced the culture of Palmyra, which produced distinctive art and architecture that combined different Mediterranean traditions. The city's inhabitants worshiped local Semitic, Mesopotamian, and Arab deities. By the third century, Palmyra had become a prosperous regional center. It reached the apex of its power in the 260s, when the Palmyrene King Odaenathus defeated the Sasanian emperor Shapur I. The king was succeeded by queen regent Zenobia, who rebelled against Rome and established the Palmyrene Empire. In 273, Roman emperor Aurelian destroyed the city, which was later restored by Diocletian at a reduced size. The Palmyrenes converted to Christianity during the fourth century and to Islam in the centuries following the conquest by the 7th-century Rashidun Caliphate, after which the Palmyrene and Greek languages were replaced by Arabic. Before AD 273, Palmyra enjoyed autonomy and was attached to the Roman province of Syria, having its political organization influenced by the Greek city-state model during the first two centuries AD. The city became a Roman colonia during the third century, leading to the incorporation of Roman governing institutions, before becoming a monarchy in 260. Following its destruction in 273, Palmyra became a minor center under the Byzantines and later empires. Its destruction by the Timurids in 1400 reduced it to a small village. Under French Mandatory rule in 1932, the inhabitants were moved into the new village of Tadmur, and the ancient site became available for excavations. During the Syrian civil war in 2015, the Islamic State (IS) destroyed large parts of the ancient city, which was recaptured by the Syrian Army on 2 March 2017. ## Etymology Records of the name "Tadmor" date from the early second millennium BC; eighteenth century BC tablets from Mari written in cuneiform record the name as "Ta-ad-mi-ir", while Assyrian inscriptions of the eleventh century BC record it as "Ta-ad-mar". Aramaic Palmyrene inscriptions themselves showed two variants of the name; TDMR (i.e., Tadmar) and TDMWR (i.e., Tadmor). The etymology of the name is unclear; the standard interpretation, supported by Albert Schultens, connects it to the Semitic word for "date palm", tamar (), thus referring to the palm trees that surrounded the city. The Greek name Παλμύρα (Latinized Palmyra) was first recorded by Pliny the Elder in the 1st century AD. It was used throughout the Greco-Roman world. It is generally believed that "Palmyra" derives from "Tadmor" and linguists have presented two possibilities; one view holds that Palmyra was an alteration of Tadmor. According to the suggestion by Schultens, "Palmyra" could have arisen as a corruption of "Tadmor", via an unattested form "Talmura", changed to "Palmura" by the influence of the Latin word palma (date "palm"), in reference to the city's palm trees, then the name reached its final form "Palmyra". The second view, supported by some philologists, such as Jean Starcky, holds that Palmyra is a translation of "Tadmor" (assuming that it meant palm), which had derived from the Greek word for palm, "palame". An alternative suggestion connects the name to the Syriac tedmurtā (ܬܕܡܘܪܬܐ) "miracle", hence tedmurtā "object of wonder", from the root dmr "to wonder"; this possibility was mentioned favourably by Franz Altheim and Ruth Altheim-Stiehl (1973), but rejected by Jean Starcky (1960) and Michael Gawlikowski (1974). Michael Patrick O'Connor (1988) suggested that the names "Palmyra" and "Tadmor" originated in the Hurrian language. As evidence, he cited the inexplicability of alterations to the theorized roots of both names (represented in the addition of -d- to tamar and -ra- to palame). According to this theory, "Tadmor" derives from the Hurrian word tad ("to love") with the addition of the typical Hurrian mid vowel rising (mVr) formant mar. Similarly, according to this theory, "Palmyra" derives from the Hurrian word pal ("to know") using the same mVr formant (mar). ## Region and city layout The city of Palmyra lies 215 km (134 mi) northeast of the Syrian capital, Damascus; along with an expanded hinterland of several settlements, farms and forts, the city forms part of the region known as the Palmyrene. The city is located in an oasis surrounded by palms (of which twenty varieties have been reported). Two mountain ranges overlook the city: the northern Palmyrene mountain belt from the north and the southern Palmyrene mountains from the southwest. In the south and the east Palmyra is exposed to the Syrian Desert. A small wadi, al-Qubur, crosses the area, flowing from the western hills past the city before disappearing in the eastern gardens of the oasis. South of the wadi is a spring, Efqa. Pliny the Elder described the town in the 70s AD as famous for its desert location, for the richness of its soil, and for the springs surrounding it, which made agriculture and herding possible. ### Layout Palmyra began as a small Neolithic settlement near the Efqa spring on the southern bank of Wadi al-Qubur. The much later Hellenistic settlement of Palmyra was also located near the Efqa spring on the southern bank of Wadi al-Qubur. It had its residences expanding to the wadi's northern bank during the first century. Although the city's walls at the time of Zenobia originally enclosed an extensive area on both banks of the wadi, the walls rebuilt during Aurelian's reign surrounded only the northern-bank section. Most of the city's monumental projects were built on the wadi's northern bank, among them is the Temple of Bel, on a tell which was the site of an earlier temple (known as the Hellenistic temple). However, excavation supports the theory that the tell was originally located on the southern bank, and the wadi was diverted south of the tell to incorporate the temple into Palmyra's late first and early second century urban organization on the north bank. Also north of the wadi was the Great Colonnade, Palmyra's 1.1-kilometre-long (0.68 mi) main street, which extended from the Temple of Bel in the east, to the Funerary Temple no.86 in the city's western part. It had a monumental arch in its eastern section, and a tetrapylon stands in the center. The Baths of Diocletian were on the left side of the colonnade. Nearby were residences, the Temple of Baalshamin, and the Byzantine churches, which include "Basilica IV", Palmyra's largest church. The church is dated to the Justinian age, its columns are estimated to be 7 metres (23 ft) high, and its base measured 27.5 by 47.5 metres (90 by 156 ft). The Temple of Nabu and the Roman theater were built on the colonnade's southern side. Behind the theater were a small senate building and the large agora, with the remains of a triclinium (banquet room) and the Tariff Court. A cross street at the western end of the colonnade leads to the Camp of Diocletian, built by Sosianus Hierocles (the Roman governor of Syria in the reign of Diocletian). Nearby are the Temple of Al-lāt and the Damascus Gate. ## People, language, and society At its height during the reign of Zenobia, Palmyra had more than 200,000 residents. The earliest known inhabitants were the Amorites in the early second millennium BC, and by the end of the millennium, Arameans were mentioned as inhabiting the area. Arabs arrived in the city in the late first millennium BC. Zabdibel, who aided the Seleucids in the battle of Raphia (217 BC), was mentioned as the commander of "the Arabs and neighbouring tribes to the number of ten thousands"; Zabdibel and his men were not actually identified as Palmyrenes in the texts, but the name "Zabdibel" is a Palmyrene name leading to the conclusion that he hailed from Palmyra. The Arab newcomers were assimilated by the earlier inhabitants, used Palmyrene as a mother tongue, and formed a significant segment of the aristocracy. The classical city also had a Jewish community; inscriptions in Palmyrene from the Beit She'arim necropolis in Lower Galilee confirm the burial of Palmyrene Jews. During the Roman period, occasionally and rarely, members of the Palmyrene families took Greek names while ethnic Greeks were few; the majority of people with Greek names, who did not belong to one of the city's families, were freed slaves. The Palmyrenes seem to have disliked the Greeks, considered them foreigners, and restricted their settlement in the city. During the Umayyad Caliphate, Palmyra was mainly inhabited by the Banu Kalb. Benjamin of Tudela recorded the existence of 2000 Jews in the city during the twelfth century. Palmyra declined after its destruction by Timur in 1400, and was a village of 6,000 inhabitants at the beginning of the 20th century. ### Ethnicity of classical Palmyra Palmyra's population was a mixture of the different peoples inhabiting the city, which is seen in Aramaic, Arabic and Amorite names of Palmyrene clans, but the ethnicity of Palmyra is a matter of debate. Some scholars, such as Andrew M. Smith II, consider ethnicity a concept related to modern nationalism, and prefer not to describe the Palmyrenes with ethnic designations they themselves did not know, concluding that there is a lack of evidence regarding what ethnicity the Palmyrenes perceived themselves. On the other hand, many scholars, such as Eivind Seland, contend that a distinctive Palmyrene ethnicity is apparent in the available contemporary evidence. The second century work De Munitionibus Castrorum mentioned the Palmyrenes as a natio, the Latin equivalent of the Greek ἔθνος (éthnos). Seland noted the epigraphic evidence left by the Palmyrenes outside the city. The inscriptions reveal the existence of a real diaspora satisfying the three criteria set by the sociologist Rogers Brubaker. Palmyrene diaspora members always made clear their Palmyrene origin and used the Palmyrene language, and maintained their distinct religion even when the host society's religion was close to that of Palmyra. Seland concluded that in the case of Palmyra, the people perceived themselves different from their neighbours and a real Palmyrene ethnicity existed. Aside from the existence of a Palmyrene ethnicity, Aramean or Arab are the two main ethnic designations debated by historians; Javier Teixidor stated, "Palmyra was an Aramaean city and it is a mistake to consider it as an Arab town", while Yasamin Zahran criticized this statement and argued that the inhabitants considered themselves Arabs. In practice, according to several scholars such as Udo Hartmann and Michael Sommer, the citizenry of Palmyra were mainly the result of Arab and Aramaean tribes merging into a unity with a corresponding consciousness; they thought and acted as Palmyrenes. ### Language Until the late third century, Palmyrenes spoke Palmyrene Aramaic and used the Palmyrene alphabet. The use of Latin was minimal, but Greek was used by wealthier members of society for commercial and diplomatic purposes, and it became the dominant language during the Byzantine era. There are several theories explaining the disappearance of the Palmyrene language shortly after the campaigns of Aurelian. The linguist Jean Cantineau assumed that Aurelian suppressed all aspects of Palmyrene culture, including the language, but the last Palmyrene inscription dates to 279/280, after the death of the Roman emperor in 275, thus refuting such a theory. Many scholars ascribe the disappearance of the language to a change in society resulting from the reorganization of the Eastern Roman frontier following the fall of Zenobia. The archaeologist Karol Juchniewicz ascribed it to a change in the ethnic composition of the city, resulting from the influx of people who did not speak Aramaic, probably a Roman legion. Hartmann suggested that it was a Palmyrene initiative by nobles allied to Rome attempting to express their loyalty to the emperor; Hartmann noted that Palmyrene disappeared in the written form, and that this does not mean its extinction as spoken language. After the Arab conquest, Greek was replaced by Arabic, from which, although the city was surrounded by Bedouins, a Palmyrene dialect evolved. ### Social organization Classical Palmyra was a tribal community, but due to the lack of sources, an understanding of the nature of Palmyrene tribal structure is not possible. Thirty clans have been documented; five of which were identified as tribes (Phylai Koinē Greek: Φυλαί, pl. of Phyle Φυλή) comprising several sub-clans. By the time of Nero, Palmyra had four tribes, each residing in an area of the city bearing its name. Three of the tribes were the Komare, Mattabol and Ma'zin; the fourth tribe is uncertain, but was probably the Mita. In time, the four tribes became highly civic and tribal lines blurred; by the second century clan identity lost its importance, and it disappeared during the third century. Even the four tribes ceased to be important by the third century as only one inscription mentions a tribe after the year 212; instead, aristocrats played the decisive role in the city's social organization. Women seem to have been active in Palmyra's social and public life. They commissioned inscriptions, buildings or tombs, and in certain cases, held administrative offices. Offerings to gods in the names of women are documented. The last Palmyrene inscription of 279/280 refers to the honouring of a citizen by the Maththabolians, which indicates that the tribal system still carried weight after the fall of Zenobia. A noticeable change is the lack of development of aristocratic residences, and no important public buildings were constructed by locals, indicating that the elite diminished following the campaign of Aurelian. The social change and the reduction of the aristocratic elite is hard to explain. It could be a result of the aristocracy suffering many casualties in the war against Rome, or fleeing to the countryside. According to historian Emanuele Intagliata, the change can be ascribed to the Roman reorganization following Zenobia's fall, as Palmyra ceased to be a rich caravan city and became a frontier fortress, leading the inhabitants to focus on satisfying the needs of a garrison instead of providing the empire with luxurious oriental items. Such a change in functions would have made the city less attractive for an aristocratic elite. Palmyra benefited from Umayyad rule, since its role as a frontier city ended and the East-West trade route was restored, leading to the re-emergence of a merchant class. Palmyra's loyalty to the Umayyads led to an aggressive military retaliation from their successors, the Abbasid Caliphate, and the city diminished in size, losing its merchant class. Following its destruction by Timur, Palmyra maintained the life of a small settlement until its relocation in 1932. ## Culture The scarce artifacts found in the city dating to the Bronze Age reveal that, culturally, Palmyra was most affiliated with western Syria. Classical Palmyra had a distinctive culture, based on a local Semitic tradition, and influenced by Greece and Rome. To appear better integrated into the Roman Empire, some Palmyrenes adopted Greco-Roman names, either alone or in addition to a second native name. The extent of Greek influence on Palmyra's culture is debated. Scholars interpreted the Palmyrenes' Greek practices differently; many see those characters as a superficial layer over a local essence. Palmyra's senate was an example; although Palmyrene texts written in Greek described it as a "boule" (a Greek institution), the senate was a gathering of non-elected tribal elders (a Near-Eastern assembly tradition). Others view Palmyra's culture as a fusion of local and Greco-Roman traditions. The culture of Persia influenced Palmyrene military tactics, dress and court ceremonies. Palmyra had no large libraries or publishing facilities, and it lacked an intellectual movement characteristic of other Eastern cities such as Edessa or Antioch. Although Zenobia opened her court to academics, the only notable scholar documented was Cassius Longinus. Palmyra had a large agora. However, unlike the Greek Agoras (public gathering places shared with public buildings), Palmyra's agora resembled an Eastern caravanserai more than a hub of public life. The Palmyrenes buried their dead in elaborate family mausoleums, most with interior walls forming rows of burial chambers (loculi) in which the dead, lying at full length, were placed. A relief of the person interred formed part of the wall's decoration, acting as a headstone. Sarcophagi appeared in the late second century and were used in some of the tombs. Many burial monuments contained mummies embalmed in a method similar to that used in Ancient Egypt. ### Art and architecture Although Palmyrene art was related to that of Greece, it had a distinctive style unique to the middle-Euphrates region. Palmyrene art is well represented by the bust reliefs which seal the openings of its burial chambers. The reliefs emphasized clothing, jewelry and a frontal representation of the person depicted, characteristics which can be seen as a forerunner of Byzantine art. According to Michael Rostovtzeff, Palmyra's art was influenced by Parthian art. However, the origin of frontality that characterized Palmyrene and Parthian arts is a controversial issue; while Parthian origin has been suggested (by Daniel Schlumberger), Michael Avi-Yonah contends that it was a local Syrian tradition that influenced Parthian art. Little painting, and none of the bronze statues of prominent citizens (which stood on brackets on the main columns of the Great Colonnade), have survived. A damaged frieze and other sculptures from the Temple of Bel, many removed to museums in Syria and abroad, suggest the city's public monumental sculpture. Many surviving funerary busts reached Western museums during the 19th century. Palmyra provided the most convenient Eastern examples bolstering an art-history controversy at the turn of the 20th century: to what extent Eastern influence on Roman art replaced idealized classicism with frontal, hieratic and simplified figures (as believed by Josef Strzygowski and others). This transition is seen as a response to cultural changes in the Western Roman Empire, rather than artistic influence from the East. Palmyrene bust reliefs, unlike Roman sculptures, are rudimentary portraits; although many reflect high quality individuality, the majority vary little across figures of similar age and gender. Like its art, Palmyra's architecture was influenced by the Greco-Roman style, while preserving local elements (best seen in the Temple of Bel). Enclosed by a massive wall flanked with traditional Roman columns, Bel's sanctuary plan was primarily Semitic. Similar to the Second Temple, the sanctuary consisted of a large courtyard with the deity's main shrine off-center against its entrance (a plan preserving elements of the temples of Ebla and Ugarit). ## Site ### Cemeteries West of the ancient walls, the Palmyrenes built a number of large-scale funerary monuments which now form the Valley of Tombs, a one-kilometre-long (0.62 mi) necropolis. The more than 50 monuments were primarily tower-shaped and up to four stories high. Towers were replaced by funerary temples in the first half of the second century AD, as the most recent tower is dated to AD 128. The city had other cemeteries in the north, southwest and southeast, where the tombs are primarily hypogea (underground). ### Notable structures #### Public buildings - The senate building is largely ruined. It is a small building that consists of a peristyle courtyard and a chamber that has an apse at one end and rows of seats around it. - Much of the Baths of Diocletian are ruined and do not survive above the level of the foundations. The complex's entrance is marked by four massive Egyptian granite columns each 1.3 metres (4 ft 3 in) in diameter, 12.5 metres (41 ft) high and weigh 20 tonnes. Inside, the outline of a bathing pool surrounded by a colonnade of Corinthian columns is still visible in addition to an octagonal room that served as a dressing room containing a drain in its center. Sossianus Hierocles, a governor under Emperor Diocletian, claimed to have built the baths, but the building was probably erected in the late second century and Sossianus Hierocles renovated it. - The Agora of Palmyra is part of a complex that also includes the tariff court and the triclinium, built in the second half of the first century AD. The agora is a massive 71-by-84-metre (233 by 276 ft) structure with 11 entrances. Inside the agora, 200 columnar bases that used to hold statues of prominent citizens were found. The inscriptions on the bases allowed an understanding of the order by which the statues were grouped; the eastern side was reserved for senators, the northern side for Palmyrene officials, the western side for soldiers and the southern side for caravan chiefs. - The Tariff Court is a large rectangular enclosure south of the agora and sharing its northern wall with it. Originally, the entrance of the court was a massive vestibule in its southwestern wall. However, the entrance was blocked by the construction of a defensive wall and the court was entered through three doors from the Agora. The court gained its name by containing a 5-metre (16 ft) stone slab that had the Palmyrene tax law inscribed on it. - The Triclinium of the Agora is at the northwestern corner of the Agora and can host up to 40 people. It is a small 12-by-15-metre (39 by 49 ft) hall decorated with Greek key motifs that run in a continuous line halfway up the wall. The building was probably used by the rulers of the city; the French general director of antiquities in Syria, Henri Seyrig, proposed that it was a small temple before being turned into a triclinium or banqueting hall. #### Temples - The Temple of Bel was dedicated in AD 32; it consisted of a large precinct lined by porticos; it had a rectangular shape and was oriented north-south. The exterior wall was 205-metre (673 ft) long with a propylaea, and the cella stood on a podium in the middle of the enclosure. - The Temple of Baalshamin dates to the late 2nd century BC in its earliest phases; its altar was built in AD 115, and it was substantially rebuilt in AD 131. It consisted of a central cella and two colonnaded courtyards north and south of the central structure. A vestibule consisting of six columns preceded the cella which had its side walls decorated with pilasters in Corinthian order. - The Temple of Nabu is largely ruined. The temple was Eastern in its plan; the outer enclosure's propylaea led to a 20-by-9-metre (66 by 30 ft) podium through a portico of which the bases of the columns survives. The peristyle cella opened onto an outdoor altar. - The Temple of Al-Lat is largely ruined with only a podium, a few columns and the door frame remaining. Inside the compound, a giant lion relief (Lion of Al-lāt) was excavated and in its original form, was a relief protruding from the temple compound's wall. - The ruined Temple of Baal-hamon was located on the top of Jabal al-Muntar hill which oversees the spring of Efqa. Constructed in AD 89, it consisted of a cella and a vestibule with two columns. The temple had a defensive tower attached to it; a mosaic depicting the sanctuary was excavated and it revealed that both the cella and the vestibule were decorated with merlons. #### Other buildings - The Great Colonnade was Palmyra's 1.1-kilometre-long (0.68 mi) main street; most of the columns date to the second century AD and each is 9.50 metres (31.2 ft) high. - The Funerary Temple no. 86 (also known as the House Tomb) is located at the western end of the Great Colonnade. It was built in the third century AD and has a portico of six columns and vine patterns carvings. Inside the chamber, steps leads down to a vault crypt. The shrine might have been connected to the royal family as it is the only tomb inside the city's walls. - The Tetrapylon was erected during the renovations of Diocletian at the end of the third century. It is a square platform and each corner contains a grouping of four columns. Each column group supports a 150-ton cornice and contains a pedestal in its center that originally carried a statue. Out of sixteen columns, only one is original while the rest are from reconstruction work by the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities in 1963, using concrete. The original columns were brought from Egypt and carved out of pink granite. - The Walls of Palmyra started in the first century as a protective wall containing gaps where the surrounding mountains formed natural barriers; it encompassed the residential areas, the gardens and the oasis. After 273, Aurelian erected the rampart known as the wall of Diocletian; it enclosed about 80 hectares, a much smaller area than the original pre-273 city. ### Destruction by IS According to eyewitnesses, on 23 May 2015 Islamic State militants destroyed the Lion of Al-lāt and other statues; this came days after the militants had gathered the citizens and promised not to destroy the city's monuments. IS destroyed the Temple of Baalshamin on 23 August 2015. On 30 August 2015, IS destroyed the cella of the Temple of Bel. On 31 August 2015, the United Nations confirmed the temple was destroyed; the temple's exterior walls and entrance arch remain. It became known on 4 September 2015 that IS had destroyed three of the best preserved tower tombs including the Tower of Elahbel. On 5 October 2015, news media reported that IS was destroying buildings with no religious meaning, including the monumental arch. On 20 January 2017, news emerged that the militants had destroyed the tetrapylon and part of the theater. Following the March 2017 capture of Palmyra by the Syrian Army, Maamoun Abdulkarim, director of antiquities and museums at the Syrian Ministry of Culture, stated that the damage to ancient monuments may be lesser than earlier believed and preliminary pictures showed almost no further damage than what was already known. Antiquities official Wael Hafyan stated that the Tetrapylon was badly damaged while the damage to the facade of the Roman theatre was less serious. #### Restoration In response to the destruction, on 21 October 2015, Creative Commons started the New Palmyra project, an online repository of three-dimensional models representing the city's monuments; the models were generated from images gathered, and released into the public domain, by the Syrian internet advocate Bassel Khartabil between 2005 and 2012. Minor restorations took place; two Palmyrene funerary busts, damaged and defaced by IS, were sent off to Rome where they were restored and sent back to Syria. The restoration of the Lion of Al-lāt took two months and the statue was displayed on 1 October 2017; it will remain in the National Museum of Damascus. Regarding the restoration, the discoverer of Ebla, Paolo Matthiae, stated that: "The archaeological site of Palmyra is a vast field of ruins and only 20–30% of it is seriously damaged. Unfortunately these included important parts, such as the Temple of Bel, while the Arch of Triumph can be rebuilt." He added: "In any case, by using both traditional methods and advanced technologies, it might be possible to restore 98% of the site". In February 2022, following acts of restoration and rehabilitation the Afqa spring site was reopened. In October 2022, the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums and the Institute for the History of Material Culture of Russian Academy of Sciences signed an agreement to start the second and third phase of the project for restoring Arch of Triumph. ## History The area had paleolithic settlements. In the Efqa Spring site, a Neolithic settlement existed, with stone tools dated to 7500 BC. Archaeological sounding in the tell beneath the Temple of Bel uncovered a mud-brick structure built around 2500 BC, followed by structures built during the Middle Bronze Age and Iron Age. ### Early period The city entered the historical record during the Bronze Age around 2000 BC, when Puzur-Ishtar the Tadmorean (Palmyrene) agreed to a contract at an Assyrian trading colony in Kultepe. It was mentioned next in the Mari tablets as a stop for trade caravans and nomadic tribes, such as the Suteans, and was conquered along with its region by Yahdun-Lim of Mari. King Shamshi-Adad I of Assyria passed through the area on his way to the Mediterranean at the beginning of the 18th century BC; by then, Palmyra was the easternmost point of the kingdom of Qatna, and it was attacked by the Suteans who paralyzed the traffic along the trade routes. Palmyra was mentioned in a 13th-century BC tablet discovered at Emar, which recorded the names of two "Tadmorean" witnesses. At the beginning of the 11th century BC, King Tiglath-Pileser I of Assyria recorded his defeat of the "Arameans" of "Tadmar"; according to the king, Palmyra was part of the land of Amurru. The city became the eastern border of Aram-Damascus which was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 732 BC. The Hebrew Bible (Second Book of Chronicles 8:4) records a city by the name "Tadmor" as a desert city built (or fortified) by King Solomon of Israel; Flavius Josephus mentions the Greek name "Palmyra", attributing its founding to Solomon in Book VIII of his Antiquities of the Jews. Later Arabic traditions attribute the city's founding to Solomon's Jinn. The association of Palmyra with Solomon is a conflation of "Tadmor" and a city built by Solomon in Judea and known as "Tamar" in the Books of Kings (1 Kings 9:18). The biblical description of "Tadmor" and its buildings does not fit archaeological findings in Palmyra, which was a small settlement during Solomon's reign in the 10th century BC. The Elephantine Jews, a diaspora community established between 650-550 BC in Egypt, might have come from Palmyra. Papyrus Amherst 63 indicates that the ancestors of the Elephantine Jews were Samarians. The historian Karel van der Toorn suggested that these ancestors took refuge in Judea after the destruction of their kingdom by Sargon II of Assyria in 721 BC, then had to leave Judea after Sennacherib devastated the land in 701 BC and headed to Palmyra. This scenario can explain the usage of Aramaic by the Elephantine Jews, and Papyrus Amherst 63, while not mentioning Palmyra, refers to a "fortress of palms" that is located near a spring on a trade route in the fringes of the desert, making Palmyra a plausible candidate. ### Hellenistic and Roman periods During the Hellenistic period under the Seleucids (between 312 and 64 BC), Palmyra became a prosperous settlement owing allegiance to the Seleucid king. Evidence for Palmyra's urbanisation in the Hellenistic period is rare; an important piece is the Laghman II inscription found in Laghman, modern Afghanistan, and commissioned by the Indian emperor Ashoka c. 250 BC. The reading is contested, but according to semitologist André Dupont-Sommer, the inscription records the distance to "Tdmr" (Palmyra). In 217 BC, a Palmyrene force led by Zabdibel joined the army of King Antiochus III in the Battle of Raphia which ended in a Seleucid defeat by Ptolemaic Egypt. In the middle of the Hellenistic era, Palmyra, formerly south of the al-Qubur wadi, began to expand beyond its northern bank. By the late second century BC, the tower tombs in the Palmyrene Valley of Tombs and the city temples (most notably, the temples of Baalshamin, Al-lāt and the Hellenistic temple) began to be built. A fragmentary inscription in Greek from the Temple of Bel's foundations mentions a king titled Epiphanes, a title used by the Seleucid kings. In 64 BC, the Roman Republic conquered the Seleucid kingdom, and the Roman general Pompey established the province of Syria. Palmyra was left independent, trading with Rome and Parthia but belonging to neither. The earliest known inscription in Palmyrene is dated to around 44 BC; Palmyra was still a minor sheikhdom, offering water to caravans which occasionally took the desert route on which it was located. However, according to Appian, Palmyra was wealthy enough for Mark Antony to send a force to conquer it in 41 BC. The Palmyrenes evacuated to Parthian lands beyond the eastern bank of the Euphrates, which they prepared to defend. #### Autonomous Palmyrene region Palmyra became part of the Roman Empire when it was conquered and paid tribute early in the reign of Tiberius, around 14 AD. The Romans included Palmyra in the province of Syria, and defined the region's boundaries. Pliny the Elder asserted that both the Palmyrene and Emesene regions were contiguous; a marker at the Palmyrene's southwestern border was found in 1936 by Daniel Schlumberger at Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi, dating from the reign of Hadrian or one of his successors, which marked the boundary between the two regions. This boundary probably ran northwards to Khirbet al-Bilaas on Jabal al-Bilas where another marker, laid by the Roman governor Silanus, has been found, 75 kilometres (47 mi) northwest of Palmyra, probably marking a boundary with the territory of Epiphania. Meanwhile, Palmyra's eastern border extended to the Euphrates valley. This region included numerous villages subordinate to the center, including large settlements such as al-Qaryatayn. The Roman imperial period brought great prosperity to the city, which enjoyed a privileged status under the empire—retaining much of its internal autonomy, being ruled by a council, and incorporating many Greek city-state (polis) institutions into its government. The earliest Palmyrene text attesting a Roman presence in the city dates to 18 AD, when the Roman general Germanicus tried to develop a friendly relationship with Parthia; he sent the Palmyrene Alexandros to Mesene, a Parthian vassal kingdom. This was followed by the arrival of the Roman legion Legio X Fretensis the following year. Roman authority was minimal during the first century AD, although tax collectors were resident, and a road connecting Palmyra and Sura was built in AD 75. The Romans used Palmyrene soldiers, but (unlike typical Roman cities) no local magistrates or prefects are recorded in the city. Palmyra saw intensive construction during the first century, including the city's first walled fortifications, and the Temple of Bel (completed and dedicated in 32 AD). During the first century Palmyra developed from a minor desert caravan station into a leading trading center, with Palmyrene merchants establishing colonies in surrounding trade centers. Palmyrene trade reached its acme during the second century, aided by two factors; the first was a trade route built by Palmyrenes, and protected by garrisons at major locations, including a garrison in Dura-Europos manned in 117 AD. The second was the Roman conquest of the Nabataean capital Petra in 106, shifting control over southern trade routes of the Arabian Peninsula from the Nabataeans to Palmyra. In 129 Palmyra was visited by Hadrian, who named it "Hadriane Palmyra" and made it a free city. Hadrian promoted Hellenism throughout the empire, and Palmyra's urban expansion was modeled on that of Greece. This led to new projects, including the theatre, the colonnade and the Temple of Nabu. Roman garrisons are first attested in Palmyra in 167, when the cavalry Ala I Thracum Herculiana was moved to the city. By the end of the second century, urban development diminished after the city's building projects peaked. In the 190s, Palmyra was assigned to the province of Phoenice, newly created by the Severan dynasty. Toward the end of the second century, Palmyra began a steady transition from a traditional Greek city-state to a monarchy due to the increasing militarization of the city and the deteriorating economic situation; the Severan ascension to the imperial throne in Rome played a major role in Palmyra's transition: - The Severan-led Roman–Parthian War, from 194 to 217, influenced regional security and affected the city's trade. Bandits began attacking caravans by 199, leading Palmyra to strengthen its military presence. - The new dynasty favored the city, stationing the Cohors I Flavia Chalcidenorum garrison there by 206. Caracalla made Palmyra a colonia between 213 and 216, replacing many Greek institutions with Roman constitutional ones. Severus Alexander, emperor from 222 to 235, visited Palmyra in 229. #### Palmyrene kingdom The rise of the Sasanian Empire in Persia considerably damaged Palmyrene trade. The Sasanians disbanded Palmyrene colonies in their lands, and began a war against the Roman Empire. In an inscription dated to 252 Odaenathus appears bearing the title of exarchos (lord) of Palmyra. The weakness of the Roman Empire and the constant Persian danger were probably the reasons behind the Palmyrene council's decision to elect a lord for the city in order for him to lead a strengthened army. Odaenathus approached Shapur I of Persia to request him to guarantee Palmyrene interests in Persia, but was rebuffed. In 260 the Emperor Valerian fought Shapur at the Battle of Edessa, but was defeated and captured. One of Valerian's officers, Macrianus Major, his sons Quietus and Macrianus, and the prefect Balista rebelled against Valerian's son Gallienus, usurping imperial power in Syria. ##### Persian wars Odaenathus formed an army of Palmyrenes and Syrian peasants against Shapur. According to the Augustan History, Odaenathus declared himself king prior to the battle. The Palmyrene leader won a decisive victory near the banks of the Euphrates later in 260 forcing the Persians to retreat. In 261 Odaenathus marched against the remaining usurpers in Syria, defeating and killing Quietus and Balista. As a reward, he received the title Imperator Totius Orientis ("Governor of the East") from Gallienus, and ruled Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia and Anatolia's eastern regions as the imperial representative. Palmyra itself remained officially part of the empire but Palmyrene inscriptions started to describe it as a "metrocolonia", indicating that the city's status was higher than normal Roman colonias. In practice, Palmyra shifted from a provincial city to a de facto allied kingdom. In 262 Odaenathus launched a new campaign against Shapur, reclaiming the rest of Roman Mesopotamia (most importantly, the cities of Nisibis and Carrhae), sacking the Jewish city of Nehardea, and besieging the Persian capital Ctesiphon. Following his victory, the Palmyrene monarch assumed the title King of Kings. Later, Odaenathus crowned his son Hairan I as co-King of Kings near Antioch in 263. Although he did not take the Persian capital, Odaenathus drove the Persians out of all Roman lands conquered since the beginning of Shapur's wars in 252. In a second campaign that took place in 266, the Palmyrene king reached Ctesiphon again; however, he had to leave the siege and move north, accompanied by Hairan I, to repel Gothic attacks on Asia Minor. The king and his son were assassinated during their return in 267; according to the Augustan History and Joannes Zonaras, Odaenathus was killed by a cousin (Zonaras says nephew) named in the History as Maeonius. The Augustan History also says that Maeonius was proclaimed emperor for a brief period before being killed by the soldiers. However, no inscriptions or other evidence exist for Maeonius' reign. Odaenathus was succeeded by his son; the ten-year-old Vaballathus. Zenobia, the mother of the new king, was the de facto ruler and Vaballathus remained in her shadow while she consolidated her power. Gallienus dispatched his prefect Heraclian to command military operations against the Persians, but he was marginalized by Zenobia and returned to the West. The queen was careful not to provoke Rome, claiming for herself and her son the titles held by her husband while guaranteeing the safety of the borders with Persia and pacifying the Tanukhids in Hauran. To protect the borders with Persia, Zenobia fortified different settlements on the Euphrates including the citadels of Halabiye and Zalabiye. Circumstantial evidence exist for confrontations with the Sasanians; probably in 269 Vaballathus took the title Persicus Maximus ("The great victor in Persia") and the title might be linked with an unrecorded battle against a Persian army trying to regain control of Northern Mesopotamia. ##### Palmyrene empire Zenobia began her military career in the spring of 270, during the reign of Claudius Gothicus. Under the pretext of attacking the Tanukhids, she conquered Roman Arabia. This was followed in October by an invasion of Egypt, ending with a Palmyrene victory and Zenobia's proclamation as queen of Egypt. Palmyra invaded Anatolia the following year, reaching Ankara and the pinnacle of its expansion. The conquests were made behind a mask of subordination to Rome. Zenobia issued coins in the name of Claudius' successor Aurelian, with Vaballathus depicted as king; since Aurelian was occupied with repelling insurgencies in Europe, he tolerated the Palmyrene coinage and encroachments. In late 271, Vaballathus and his mother assumed the titles of Augustus (emperor) and Augusta. The following year, Aurelian crossed the Bosphorus and advanced quickly through Anatolia. According to one account, Roman general Marcus Aurelius Probus regained Egypt from Palmyra; Aurelian entered Issus and headed to Antioch, where he defeated Zenobia in the Battle of Immae. Zenobia was defeated again at the Battle of Emesa, taking refuge in Homs before quickly returning to her capital. When the Romans besieged Palmyra, Zenobia refused their order to surrender in person to the emperor. She escaped east to ask the Persians for help, but was captured by the Romans; the city capitulated soon afterwards. #### Later Roman and Byzantine periods Aurelian spared the city and stationed a garrison of 600 archers, led by Sandarion, as a peacekeeping force. In 273 Palmyra rebelled under the leadership of Septimius Apsaios, declaring Antiochus (a relative of Zenobia) as Augustus. Aurelian marched against Palmyra, razing it to the ground and seizing the most valuable monuments to decorate his Temple of Sol. Palmyrene buildings were smashed, residents massacred and the Temple of Bel pillaged. Palmyra was significantly reduced and it largely disappeared from historical records of that period. After its sacking, Aurelian repaired the Temple of Bel, and the Legio I Illyricorum was stationed in the city. Shortly before 303 the Camp of Diocletian, a castrum in the western part of the city, was built. The 4-hectare (9.9-acre) camp was a base for the Legio I Illyricorum, which guarded the trade routes around the city. Though some of the city would not be rebuilt, Palmyra would become a major stronghold and fortress in the East. Thanks in part to this, in the following years Palmyra began to regain importance, becoming a Christian city in the decades following its destruction by Aurelian. In late 527, Justinian I further strengthened the city, ordering the restoration of Palmyra's churches and public buildings to protect the empire against raids by Lakhmid king Al-Mundhir III ibn al-Nu'man. ### Arab caliphates Palmyra was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate after its 634 capture by the Muslim general Khalid ibn al-Walid, who took the city on his way to Damascus; an 18-day march by his army through the Syrian Desert from Mesopotamia. By then Palmyra was limited to the Diocletian camp. After the conquest, the city became part of Homs Province. #### Umayyad and early Abbasid periods Palmyra prospered as part of the Umayyad Caliphate, and its population grew. It was a key stop on the East-West trade route, with a large souq (market), built by the Umayyads, who also commissioned part of the Temple of Bel as a mosque. During this period, Palmyra was a stronghold of the Banu Kalb tribe, which began to take abode in and around the city after the conquest. After being defeated by Marwan II during a civil war in the caliphate, Umayyad contender Sulayman ibn Hisham fled to the Banu Kalb in Palmyra, but eventually pledged allegiance to Marwan in 744; Palmyra continued to oppose Marwan until the surrender of the Banu Kalb chief al-Asbagh ibn Dhu'ala in 745. That year, Marwan ordered the city's walls demolished. In 750 a revolt, led by Majza'a ibn al-Kawthar and Umayyad pretender Abu Muhammad al-Sufyani, against the new Abbasid Caliphate swept across Syria; the tribes in Palmyra supported the rebels. After his defeat Abu Muhammad took refuge in the city, which withstood an Abbasid assault long enough to allow him to escape. #### Decentralization Abbasid power dwindled during the 10th century, when the empire disintegrated and was divided among a number of vassals. Most of the new rulers acknowledged the caliph as their nominal sovereign, a situation which continued until the Mongol destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate in 1258. The population of the city started to decrease in the ninth century and the process continued in the tenth century. In 955 Sayf al-Dawla, the Hamdanid prince of Aleppo, defeated the nomads near the city, and built a kasbah (fortress) in response to campaigns by the Byzantine emperors Nikephoros II Phokas and John I Tzimiskes. With the advent of Fatimid rule in the late 10th century, Palmyra remained a stronghold of the Kalb and taxes on the oasis' crops was a major source of the tribe's income. Toward the end of the century, the Kalb around Palmyra migrated from the area. Earthquakes devastated Palmyra in 1068 and 1089. In the 1070s Syria was conquered by the Seljuk Empire, and in 1082, the district of Homs came under the control of the Arab lord Khalaf ibn Mula'ib. The latter was a brigand and was removed and imprisoned in 1090 by the Seljuq sultan Malik-Shah I. Khalaf's lands were given to Malik-Shah's brother, Tutush I, who gained his independence after his brother's 1092 death and established a cadet branch of the Seljuk dynasty in Syria. By the twelfth century, the population moved into the courtyard of the Temple of Bel which was fortified; Palmyra was then ruled by Toghtekin, the Burid atabeg of Damascus, who appointed his nephew governor. Toghtekin's nephew was killed by rebels, and the atabeg retook the city in 1126. Palmyra was given to Toghtekin's grandson, Shihab-ud-din Mahmud, who was replaced by governor Yusuf ibn Firuz when Shihab-ud-din Mahmud returned to Damascus after his father Taj al-Muluk Buri succeeded Toghtekin. The Burids transformed the Temple of Bel into a citadel in 1132, fortifying the city, and transferring it to the Bin Qaraja family three years later in exchange for Homs. During the mid-twelfth century, Palmyra was ruled by the Zengid king Nur ad-Din Mahmud. It became part of the district of Homs, which was given as a fiefdom to the Ayyubid general Shirkuh in 1168 and confiscated after his death in 1169. Homs region was conquered by the Ayyubid sultanate in 1174; the following year, Saladin gave Homs (including Palmyra) to his cousin Nasir al-Din Muhammad as a fiefdom. After Saladin's death, the Ayyubid realm was divided and Palmyra was given to Nasir al-Din Muhammad's son Al-Mujahid Shirkuh II (who built the castle of Palmyra known as Fakhr-al-Din al-Maani Castle around 1230). Five years earlier, Syrian geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi described Palmyra's residents as living in "a castle surrounded by a stone wall". ### Mamluk period Palmyra was used as a refuge by Shirkuh II's grandson, al-Ashraf Musa, who allied himself with the Mongol king Hulagu Khan and fled after the Mongol defeat in the 1260 Battle of Ain Jalut against the Mamluks. Al-Ashraf Musa asked the Mamluk sultan Qutuz for pardon and was accepted as a vassal. Al-Ashraf Musa died in 1263 without an heir, bringing the Homs district under direct Mamluk rule. #### Al Fadl principality The Al Fadl clan (a branch of the Tayy tribe) were loyal to the Mamluks, and in 1281, Prince Issa bin Muhanna of the Al Fadl was appointed lord of Palmyra by sultan Qalawun. Issa was succeeded in 1284 by his son Muhanna bin Issa who was imprisoned by sultan al-Ashraf Khalil in 1293, and restored two years later by sultan al-Adil Kitbugha. Muhanna declared his loyalty to Öljaitü of the Ilkhanate in 1312 and was dismissed and replaced with his brother Fadl by sultan an-Nasir Muhammad. Although Muhanna was forgiven by an-Nasir and restored in 1317, he and his tribe were expelled in 1320 for his continued relations with the Ilkhanate, and he was replaced by tribal chief Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr. Muhanna was forgiven and restored by an-Nasir in 1330; he remained loyal to the sultan until his death in 1335, when he was succeeded by his son. Contemporary historian Ibn Fadlallah al-Omari described the city as having "vast gardens, flourishing trades and bizarre monuments". The Al Fadl clan protected the trade routes and villages from Bedouin raids, raiding other cities and fighting among themselves. The Mamluks intervened militarily several times, dismissing, imprisoning or expelling its leaders. In 1400 Palmyra was attacked by Timur; the Fadl prince Nu'air escaped the battle and later fought Jakam, the sultan of Aleppo. Nu'air was captured, taken to Aleppo and executed in 1406; this, according to Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, ended the Al Fadl clan's power. ### Ottoman era While most of Syria came under Ottoman rule in 1516, Palmyra (Tadmur) does not appear to have been incorporated into the Empire before the conquest of Iraq in 1534-1535. It first appears as the centre of an administrative district (sanjak) around 1560. The region was important to the Ottomans above all for its salt deposits. In 1568, the governor of the sancak restored the medieval citadel. After 1568 the Ottomans appointed the Lebanese emir Ali bin Musa Harfush as governor of Palmyra's sanjak, dismissing him in 1584 for insubordination. In 1630 Palmyra came under the tax authority of another Lebanese emir, Fakhr-al-Din II, who renovated Shirkuh II's castle (which became known as Fakhr-al-Din al-Maani Castle). The prince fell from grace with the Ottomans in 1633 and lost control of the village, which remained a separate sanjak until it was absorbed by Zor Sanjak in 1857. The Ottoman governor of Syria, Mehmed Rashid Pasha, established a garrison in the village to control the Bedouin in 1867. ### 20th century In 1918, as World War I was ending, the Royal Air Force built an airfield for two planes, and in November the Ottomans retreated from Zor Sanjak without a fight. The Syrian Emirate's army entered Deir ez-Zor on 4 December, and Zor Sanjak became part of Syria. In 1919, as the British and French argued over the borders of the planned mandates, the British permanent military representative to the Supreme War Council Henry Wilson suggested adding Palmyra to the British mandate. However, the British general Edmund Allenby persuaded his government to abandon this plan. Syria (including Palmyra) became part of the French Mandate after Syria's defeat in the Battle of Maysalun on 24 July 1920. With Palmyra gaining importance in the French efforts to pacify the Syrian Desert, a base was constructed in the village near the Temple of Bel in 1921. In 1929, Henri Seyrig, began excavating the ruins and convinced the villagers to move to a new, French-built village next to the site. The relocation was completed in 1932; ancient Palmyra was ready for excavation as its villagers settled into the new village of Tadmur. During World War II, the Mandate came under the authority of Vichy France, who gave permission to Nazi Germany to use the airfield at Palmyra; forces of Free France, backed by British forces, invaded Syria in June 1941, and on 3 July 1941, the British took control over the city in the aftermath of a battle. ### Syrian civil war As a result of the Syrian civil war, Palmyra experienced widespread looting and damage by combatants. In 2013, the façade of the Temple of Bel sustained a large hole from mortar fire, and colonnade columns have been damaged by shrapnel. According to Maamoun Abdulkarim, the Syrian Army positioned its troops in some archaeological-site areas, while Syrian opposition fighters positioned themselves in gardens around the city. On 13 May 2015, ISIL launched an attack on the modern town of Tadmur, sparking fears that the iconoclastic group would destroy the adjacent ancient site of Palmyra. On 21 May, some artifacts were transported from the Palmyra museum to Damascus for safekeeping; a number of Greco-Roman busts, jewelry, and other objects looted from the museum have been found on the international market. ISIL forces entered Palmyra the same day. Local residents reported that the Syrian Air Force bombed the site on 13 June, damaging the northern wall close to the Temple of Baalshamin. During ISIL's occupation of the site, Palmyra's theatre was used as a place of public executions of their opponents and captives; videos were released by ISIL showing the killing of Syrian prisoners in front of crowds at the theatre. On 18 August, Palmyra's retired antiquities chief Khaled al-Asaad was beheaded by ISIL after being tortured for a month to extract information about the city and its treasures; al-Asaad refused to give any information to his captors. Syrian government forces supported by Russian airstrikes recaptured Palmyra on 27 March 2016 after intense fighting against ISIL fighters. According to initial reports, the damage to the archaeological site was less extensive than anticipated, with numerous structures still standing. Following the recapture of the city, Russian de-mining teams began clearing mines planted by ISIL prior to their retreat. Following heavy fighting, ISIL briefly reoccupied the city on 11 December 2016, prompting an offensive by the Syrian Army which retook the city on 2 March 2017. ## Government From the beginning of its history to the first century AD Palmyra was a petty sheikhdom, and by the first century BC a Palmyrene identity began to develop. During the first half of the first century AD, Palmyra incorporated some of the institutions of a Greek city (polis); the notion of an existing citizenship first appears in an inscription, dated to AD 10, mentioning the "people of Palmyra". In AD 74, an inscription mentions the city's boule (senate). The tribal role in Palmyra is debated; during the first century, four treasurers representing the four tribes seems to have partially controlled the administration but their role became ceremonial by the second century and power rested in the hands of the council. The Palmyrene council consisted of about six hundred members of the local elite (such as the elders or heads of wealthy families or clans), representing the city's four-quarters. The council, headed by a president, managed civic responsibilities; it supervised public works (including the construction of public buildings), approved expenditures, collected taxes, and appointed two archons (lords) each year. Palmyra's military was led by strategoi (generals) appointed by the council. Roman provincial authority set and approved Palmyra's tariff structure, but the provincial interference in local government was kept minimal as the empire sought to ensure the continuous success of Palmyrene trade most beneficial to Rome. An imposition of direct provincial administration would have jeopardized Palmyra's ability to conduct its trading activities in the East, especially in Parthia. With the elevation of Palmyra to a colonia around 213–216, the city ceased being subject to Roman provincial governors and taxes. Palmyra incorporated Roman institutions into its system while keeping many of its former ones. The council remained, and the strategos designated one of two annually-elected magistrates. This duumviri implemented the new colonial constitution, replacing the archons. Palmyra's political scene changed with the rise of Odaenathus and his family; an inscription dated to 251 describes Odaenathus' son Hairan I as "Ras" (lord) of Palmyra (exarch in the Greek section of the inscription) and another inscription dated to 252 describes Odaenathus with the same title. Odaenathus was probably elected by the council as exarch, which was an unusual title in the Roman empire and was not part of the traditional Palmyrene governance institutions. Whether Odaenathus' title indicated a military or a priestly position is unknown, but the military role is more likely. By 257 Odaenathus was known as a consularis, possibly the legatus of the province of Phoenice. In 258 Odaenathus began extending his political influence, taking advantage of regional instability caused by Sasanian aggression; this culminated in the Battle of Edessa, Odaenathus' royal elevation and mobilization of troops, which made Palmyra a kingdom. The monarchy continued most civic institutions, but the duumviri and the council were no longer attested after 264; Odaenathus appointed a governor for the city. In the absence of the monarch, the city was administered by a viceroy. Although governors of the eastern Roman provinces under Odaenathus' control were still appointed by Rome, the king had overall authority. During Zenobia's rebellion, governors were appointed by the queen. Not all Palmyrenes accepted the dominion of the royal family; a senator, Septimius Haddudan, appears in a later Palmyrene inscription as aiding Aurelian's armies during the 273 rebellion. After the Roman destruction of the city, Palmyra was ruled directly by Rome, and then by a succession of other rulers, including the Burids and Ayyubids, and subordinate Bedouin chiefs—primarily the Fadl family, who governed for the Mamluks. ### Military Due to its military character and efficiency in battle, Palmyra was described by Irfan Shahîd as the "Sparta among the cities of the Orient, Arab and other, and even its gods were represented dressed in military uniforms." Palmyra's army protected the city and its economy, helping extend Palmyrene authority beyond the city walls and protecting the countryside's desert trade routes. The city had a substantial military; Zabdibel commanded a force of 10,000 in the third century BC, and Zenobia led an army of 70,000 in the Battle of Emesa. Soldiers were recruited from the city and its territories, spanning several thousand square kilometers from the outskirts of Homs to the Euphrates valley. Non-Palmyrene soldiers were also recruited; a Nabatean cavalryman is recorded in 132 as serving in a Palmyrene unit stationed at Anah. Palmyra's recruiting system is unknown; the city might have selected and equipped the troops and the strategoi led, trained and disciplined them. The strategoi were appointed by the council with the approval of Rome. The royal army in the mid 3rd century AD was under the leadership of the monarch aided by generals, and was modeled on the Sasanians in arms and tactics. The Palmyrenes were noted archers. They used infantry while a heavily armored cavalry (clibanarii) constituted the main attacking force. Palmyra's infantry was armed with swords, lances and small round shields; the clibanarii were fully armored (including their horses), and used heavy spears (kontos) 3.65 metres (12.0 ft) long without shields. #### Relations with Rome Citing the Palmyrenes' combat skills in large, sparsely populated areas, the Romans formed a Palmyrene auxilia to serve in the Imperial Roman army. Vespasian reportedly had 8,000 Palmyrene archers in Judea, and Trajan established the first Palmyrene Auxilia in 116 (a camel cavalry unit, Ala I Ulpia dromedariorum Palmyrenorum). Palmyrene units were deployed throughout the Roman Empire, serving in Dacia late in Hadrian's reign, and at El Kantara in Numidia and Moesia under Antoninus Pius. During the late second century Rome formed the Cohors XX Palmyrenorum, which was stationed in Dura-Europos. ## Religion Palmyra's gods were primarily part of the northwestern Semitic pantheon, with the addition of gods from the Mesopotamian and Arab pantheons. The city's chief pre-Hellenistic deity was called Bol, an abbreviation of Baal (a northwestern Semitic honorific). The Babylonian cult of Bel-Marduk influenced the Palmyrene religion and by 217 BC the chief deity's name was changed to Bel. This did not indicate the replacing of the northwestern Semitic Bol with a Mesopotamian deity, but was a mere change in the name. Second in importance, after the supreme deity, were over sixty ancestral gods of the Palmyrene clans. Palmyra had unique deities, such as the god of justice and Efqa's guardian Yarhibol, the sun god Malakbel, and the moon god Aglibol. Palmyrenes worshiped regional deities, including the greater Levantine gods Astarte, Baal-hamon, Baalshamin and Atargatis; the Babylonian gods Nabu and Nergal, and the Arab Azizos, Arsu, Šams and Al-lāt. The deities worshiped in the countryside were depicted as camel or horse riders and bore Arab names. The nature of those deities is uncertain as only names are known, most importantly Abgal. The Palmyrene pantheon included ginnaye (some were given the designation "Gad"), a group of lesser deities popular in the countryside, who were similar to the Arab jinn and the Roman genius. Ginnaye were believed to have the appearance and behavior of humans, similar to Arab jinn. Unlike jinn, however, the ginnaye could not possess or injure humans. Their role was similar to the Roman genius: tutelary deities who guarded individuals and their caravans, cattle and villages. Although the Palmyrenes worshiped their deities as individuals, some were associated with other gods. Bel had Astarte-Belti as his consort, and formed a triple deity with Aglibol and Yarhibol (who became a sun god in his association with Bel). Malakbel was part of many associations, pairing with Gad Taimi and Aglibol, and forming a triple deity with Baalshamin and Aglibol. Palmyra hosted an Akitu (spring festival) each Nisan. Each of the city's four-quarters had a sanctuary for a deity considered ancestral to the resident tribe; Malakbel and Aglibol's sanctuary was in the Komare quarter. The Baalshamin sanctuary was in the Ma'zin quarter, the Arsu sanctuary in the Mattabol quarter, and the Atargatis sanctuary in the fourth tribe's quarter. The priests of Palmyra were selected from the city's leading families, and are recognized in busts through their headdresses which have the shape of a polos adorned with laurel wreath or other tree made of bronze among other elements. The high priest of Bel's temple was the highest religious authority and headed the clergy of priests who were organized into collegia each headed by a higher priest. The personnel of Efqa spring's sanctuary dedicated to Yarhibol belonged to a special class of priests as they were oracles. Palmyra's paganism was replaced with Christianity as the religion spread across the Roman Empire, and a bishop was reported in the city by 325. Although most temples became churches, the Temple of Al-lāt was destroyed in 385 at the order of Maternus Cynegius (the eastern praetorian prefect). After the Muslim conquest in 634 Islam gradually replaced Christianity, and the last known bishop of Palmyra was consecrated after 818. ### Malakbel and the Roman Sol Invictus In 274, following his victory over Palmyra, Aurelian dedicated a large temple of Sol Invictus in Rome; most scholars consider Aurelian's Sol Invictus to be of Syrian origin, either a continuation of emperor Elagabalus cult of Sol Invictus Elagabalus, or Malakbel of Palmyra. The Palmyrene deity was commonly identified with the Roman god Sol and he had a temple dedicated for him on the right bank of the Tiber since the second century. Also, he bore the epithet Invictus and was known with the name Sol "Sanctissimus", the latter was an epithet Aurelian bore on an inscription from Capena. The position of the Palmyrene deity as Aurelian's Sol Invictus is inferred from a passage by Zosimus reading: "and the magnificent temple of the sun he (i.e. Aurelian) embellished with votive gifts from Palmyra, setting up statues of Helios and Bel". Three deities from Palmyra exemplified solar features: Malakbel, Yarhibol and Šams, hence the identification of the Palmyrene Helios appearing in Zosimus' work with Malakbel. Some scholars criticize the notion of Malakbel's identification with Sol Invictus; according to Gaston Halsberghe, the cult of Malakbel was too local for it to become an imperial Roman god and Aurelian's restoration of Bel's temple and sacrifices dedicated to Malakbel were a sign of his attachment to the sun god in general and his respect to the many ways in which the deity was worshiped. Richard Stoneman suggested another approach in which Aurelian simply borrowed the imagery of Malakbel to enhance his own solar deity. The relation between Malakbel and Sol Invictus can not be confirmed and will probably remain unresolved. ## Economy Palmyra's economy before and at the beginning of the Roman period was based on agriculture, pastoralism, and trade; the city served as a rest station for the caravans which sporadically crossed the desert. By the end of the first century BC, the city had a mixed economy based on agriculture, pastoralism, taxation, and, most importantly, the caravan trade. Taxation was an important source of revenue for the Palmyrene government. Caravaneers paid taxes in the building known as the Tariff Court, where a tax law dating to AD 137 was exhibited. The law regulated the tariffs paid by the merchants for goods sold at the internal market or exported from the city. The classicist Andrew M. Smith II suggested that most land in Palmyra was owned by the city, which collected grazing taxes. The oasis had about 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) of irrigable land, which surrounded the city. The Palmyrenes constructed an extensive irrigation system in the northern mountains that consisted of reservoirs and channels to capture and store the occasional rainfall. The most notable irrigation work is Harbaqa Dam which was constructed in the late first century AD; it is located 48 km (30 mi) southwest of the city and can collect 140,000 cubic metres (4,900,000 cu ft) of water. Terebinth trees in the hinterland were an important source of charcoal, resin and oil; although evidence is lacking, it is possible that olive trees were also planted, and dairy products were produced in the villages; it is also apparent that barley was cultivated. However, agriculture could not support the population and food was imported. After Palmyra's destruction in 273, it became a market for villagers and nomads from the surrounding area. The city regained some of its prosperity during the Umayyad era, indicated by the discovery of a large Umayyad souq in the colonnaded street. Palmyra was a minor trading center until its destruction in 1400; according to Sharaf ad-Din Ali Yazdi, Timur's men took 200,000 sheep, and the city was reduced into a settlement on the desert border whose inhabitants herded and cultivated small plots for vegetables and corn. ### Commerce If the Laghman II inscription in Afghanistan is referring to Palmyra, then the city's role in Central Asian overland trade was prominent as early as the third century BC. During the first centuries AD, Palmyra's main trade route ran east to the Euphrates where it connected at the city of Hīt. The route then ran south along the river toward the port of Charax Spasinu on the Persian Gulf, where Palmyrene ships traveled back and forth to India. Goods were imported from India, China and Transoxiana, and exported west to Emesa (or Antioch) then the Mediterranean ports, from which they were distributed throughout the Roman Empire. In addition to the usual route some Palmyrene merchants used the Red Sea, probably as a result of the Roman–Parthian Wars. Goods were carried overland from the seaports to a Nile port, and then taken to the Egyptian Mediterranean ports for export. Inscriptions attesting a Palmyrene presence in Egypt date to the reign of Hadrian. Since Palmyra was not on the main trading route (which followed the Euphrates), the Palmyrenes secured the desert route passing their city. They connected it to the Euphrates valley, providing water and shelter. The Palmyrene route connected the Silk Road with the Mediterranean, and was used almost exclusively by the city's merchants, who maintained a presence in many cities, including Dura-Europos in 33 BC, Babylon by AD 19, Seleucia by AD 24, Dendera, Coptos, Bahrain, the Indus River Delta, Merv and Rome. The caravan trade depended on patrons and merchants. Patrons owned the land on which the caravan animals were raised, providing animals and guards for the merchants. The lands were located in the numerous villages of the Palmyrene countryside. Although merchants used the patrons to conduct business, their roles often overlapped and a patron would sometimes lead a caravan. Commerce made Palmyra and its merchants among the wealthiest in the region. Some caravans were financed by a single merchant, such as Male' Agrippa (who financed Hadrian's visit in 129 and the 139 rebuilding of the Temple of Bel). The primary income-generating trade good was silk, which was exported from the East to the West. Other exported goods included jade, muslin, spices, ebony, ivory and precious stones. For its domestic market Palmyra imported a variety of goods including slaves, prostitutes, olive oil, dyed goods, myrrh and perfume. ## Research and excavations Palmyra's first scholarly description appeared in a 1696 book by Abednego Seller. In 1751, an expedition led by Robert Wood and James Dawkins studied Palmyra's architecture. French artist and architect Louis-François Cassas conducted an extensive survey of the city's monuments in 1785, publishing over a hundred drawings of Palmyra's civic buildings and tombs. Palmrya was photographed for the first time in 1864 by Louis Vignes. In 1882, the "Palmyrene Tariff", an inscribed stone slab from AD 137 in Greek and Palmyrene detailing import and export taxation, was discovered by prince Semyon Semyonovich Abamelik-Lazarev in the Tariff Court. It has been described by the historian John F. Matthews as "one of the most important single items of evidence for the economic life of any part of the Roman Empire". In 1901, the slab was gifted by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II to the Russian Tsar and is now in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. Palmyra's first excavations were conducted in 1902 by Otto Puchstein and in 1917 by Theodor Wiegand. In 1929, French general director of antiquities of Syria and Lebanon Henri Seyrig began large-scale excavation of the site; interrupted by World War II, it resumed soon after the war's end. Seyrig started with the Temple of Bel in 1929 and between 1939 and 1940 he excavated the Agora. Daniel Schlumberger conducted excavations in the Palmyrene northwest countryside in 1934 and 1935 where he studied different local sanctuaries in the Palmyrene villages. From 1954 to 1956, a Swiss expedition organized by UNESCO excavated the Temple of Baalshamin. Since 1958, the site has been excavated by the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities, and Polish expeditions of the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw, led by many archaeologists including Kazimierz Michałowski (until 1980) and Michael Gawlikowski (until 2009). The stratigraphic sounding beneath the Temple of Bel was conducted in 1967 by Robert du Mesnil du Buisson, who also discovered the Temple of Baal-hamon in the 1970s. In 1980, the historic site including the necropolis outside the walls was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO. The Polish expedition concentrated its work on the Camp of Diocletian while the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities excavated the Temple of Nabu. Most of the hypogea were excavated jointly by the Polish expedition and the Syrian Directorate, while the area of Efqa was excavated by Jean Starcky and Jafar al-Hassani. The Palmyrene irrigation system was discovered in 2008 by Jørgen Christian Meyer who researched the Palmyrene countryside through ground inspections and satellite images. Most of Palmyra still remains unexplored especially the residential quarters in the north and south while the necropolis has been thoroughly excavated by the Directorate and the Polish expedition. Excavation expeditions left Palmyra in 2011 due to the Syrian Civil War. ## See also - Aureliano in Palmira - Crisis of the Third Century - Palmyrene (Unicode block) - Thirty Tyrants (Roman) - Septimius Worod - Zabdas
1,465,211	Still Reigning	1,154,961,460	2004 live album by the band Slayer	[ "2004 live albums", "2004 video albums", "American Recordings (record label) live albums", "American Recordings (record label) video albums", "Concert films", "Live video albums", "Slayer live albums", "Slayer video albums" ]	Still Reigning is a live performance DVD by the thrash metal band Slayer, released in 2004 through American Recordings. Filmed at the Augusta Civic Center on July 11, 2004, the performance showcases Slayer's 1986 album, Reign in Blood, played in its entirety with the four original band members on a set resembling their 1986 "Reign in Pain" tour. Still Reigning was voted "best live DVD" by the readers of Revolver magazine, and received gold certification in 2005. The DVD is notable for the finale, which features Slayer covered in stage blood while performing the song "Raining Blood", leading to a demanding mixing process plagued by production and technical difficulties. The DVD's producer Kevin Shirley spent hours replacing cymbal and drum hits one-by-one. He publicly aired financial disagreements he had with the band and criticized the quality of the recording, and as a result was allegedly subjected to threats and insults from people associated with the band. ## Conception Reign in Blood was released in 1986 and was Slayer's first album to enter the Billboard 200—at 94— and their first to be awarded gold certification. Music critics praised the album; Kerrang! described it as the "heaviest album of all time", while Steve Huey of Allmusic wrote that the album was a "stone-cold classic". The positive reception led to the band's European agent John Jackson, to suggest that the band play Reign in Blood in its entirety on the Jägermeister tour of 2003 and 2004, under the tour banner "Still Reigning". Original drummer Dave Lombardo, who recorded drums on the album, re-joined the band in 2001, after departing in 1991. This influenced the band's decision to play the album in its entirety, as they had the original members and all members regard the album as a high-point in their career. The band was going to enter the recording studio to record their next album (Christ Illusion). However, the band's producer Rick Rubin insisted the band not enter the recording studio due to problems between himself and the band's record label, American Recordings. The band's manager suggested they record a performance of one of the Jägermeister shows and release it on a DVD — the band agreed. The final track of the DVD, "Raining Blood", culminates with the band drenched by stage blood. Guitarist Jeff Hanneman came up with the idea of the blood two years after Reign in Blood'''s release, but the band lacked the funding to do so. The beginning of the film Blade (released in 1998) features a "bloodbath" with vampires dancing in a club with blood coming from the roof via a sprinkler system. The scene revived Jeff Hanneman and guitarist Kerry King's interest, and since the band released a DVD the previous year — War at the Warfield — they decided to add something different for the new DVD — raining blood. King asserted that since Lombardo was not on the previous DVD, this one was going to be important. Due to the short length of the DVD, director Dean Karr chose an additional bonus six songs from the same show as he thought certain members excelled in the performances. ## Recording and production Still Reigning was recorded at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine on July 11, 2004, prior to the 2004 Ozzfest. A ten-man camera crew under the direction of Dean Karr was on hand to document the show, backstage action, and exclusive interviews inside the band's tour bus. The interview, "Slayer: In their own words", is a seventeen-minute piece which features the band talking about their early years, influences, writing lyrics, Lombardo's return, and the band's eventual retirement. At one point Lombardo rejected the possibility of a future "good-bye tour" for Slayer, and states if the band realize they have "lost a step" they will "call it a day". The stage was converted to resemble the band's 1986 "Reign in Pain" tour, which featured the Slayer eagle and inverted crosses as part of the lighting rig. The stage was modified to absorb the "blood" and have it recirculate back down upon the band, which allowed for easier clean-up and lowered the chance of injury by slipping. The DVD was recorded in 1.85:1 video, which caused macro blocking errors such as aliasing and a murky stage when fully lit, and the audio featured English Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo, with no subtitles. Kevin Shirley, who has worked with the bands Iron Maiden and Dream Theater, produced the DVD. He issued a statement describing the demanding mixing process which took place at his New York Studio: "It's OK — some places it rocks hard, and others are a bit sloppy, but I'm sure they won't use the whole concert. It was tough to mix." The following day Shirley apologized for his "unprofessional comment" towards the band, and altered his post on his personal website to read: "The rest of the week I finished mixing a live Slayer set for a DVD, in stereo and surround, and it's great — it rocks hard, but it was tough to mix." On September 30, 2006, Shirley issued a further statement claiming he had not been paid for his work, and had received threats and insults from people associated with the band: "I've just mixed a really wonderful band with one of the worst sounding recordings ever. It's kinda disgraceful that they won't spend anything on a decent recording! I won't say who, because last time I commented on a sloppy recording (on this page), they refused to pay me and I got all manner of threats and insults from people associated with the band, so I'd best be quiet!" The stage blood caused technical difficulties as it soaked the microphone, guitars, and cymbals, which according to Shirley sounded like "coffee mugs being tapped with a spoon". A review of the DVD observed that "If it wasn't for guitarist Jeff Hanneman being out of position and missing all of the blood, the guitar might have sounded pretty bad." Hanneman missed the initial downpour due to a technical problem with his guitar, and was deluged by a light shower when coming back on-stage. Shirley replaced thousands of cymbal and drum hits with those used on previous recordings; the process took several days to complete. After recording the DVD, the band used a sprinkler system with diluted water rather than a bucket with blood that was like tar when recording the DVD. King later remarked, "My guitar didn’t like it, that was the last time I played it," and he donated it to the Hard Rock Cafe after the show. Vocalist Tom Araya felt the same and admitted; "It was messy. I couldn't play because the initial dump at the beginning of the song got all over me. I couldn't hold my pick. I was slapping my bass trying to get sound out of it." ## Reception Still Reigning debuted on the Billboard DVD chart at number seven — selling 9,813 copies. It became the band's second DVD to receive gold certification on July 20, 2005, after War at the Warfield, which received gold certification a year earlier for sales in excess of 50,000. The readers of Revolver magazine voted it "best live DVD" in 2005, making it the second consecutive year the band topped the category. Slayer received a positive reception when performing at the Augusta Civic Center. On finishing half the set list, the band briefly left the stage and returned to play the 28-minute album, Reign in Blood as an encore. On the final song, "Raining Blood" the lights were turned off and Slayer members were deluged by two buckets of stage blood. According to King, the crowd went quiet for a few seconds until they realized the blood was part of the show. King thought Araya looked like a psychotic mass murderer, which contributed to the crowd's reaction. Following the two large drops, stage blood mixed with water was used so it looked like it was "raining blood". Andy Patrizio of IGN awarded the DVD six out of ten commenting, "Tom Araya lost his piercing shriek that opens 'Angel of Death' and the end of 'Necrophobic'", praising Lombardo's return by saying the drummer "...hasn't lost a step at all. With barely any breathing time between songs, the underground drum legend shows that an impending 40th birthday (next month) isn't going to slow him down." Patrizio stated the production was not of the highest caliber, as the rapid "MTV-style" cuts were distracting, as was the switch from black and white to color shots. Patrizio ended the review with the comment, "This is what you get for letting Uwe Boll direct your music video", Boll being a heavily criticized film director. ## Track listing Reign in Blood'' live 1. "Angel of Death" 2. "Piece by Piece" 3. "Necrophobic" 4. "Altar of Sacrifice" 5. "Jesus Saves" 6. "Criminally Insane" 7. "Reborn" 8. "Epidemic" 9. "Postmortem" 10. "Raining Blood" Bonus material 1. "War Ensemble" 2. "Hallowed Point" 3. "Necrophiliac" 4. "Mandatory Suicide" 5. "Spill the Blood" 6. "South of Heaven" 7. "Slayer in Their Own Words" (interview) ## Personnel Slayer - Tom Araya – bass, vocals - Jeff Hanneman – guitar - Kerry King – guitar - Dave Lombardo – drums Production - Dean Karr – director - Arthur Gorson – producer - Rick Sales – executive producer - Nick John – executive producer ## Certifications
11,905,824	God of War: Betrayal	1,160,712,693	2007 video game	[ "2007 video games", "God of War (franchise)", "Interquel video games", "J2ME games", "Java platform games", "Javaground games", "Mobile games", "Single-player video games", "Video game sequels", "Video games based on Greek mythology", "Video games developed in the United States", "Video games set in ancient Greece", "Video games set in antiquity" ]	God of War: Betrayal is an action-adventure mobile game developed by Javaground and Sony Online Entertainment's (SOE) Los Angeles division, and published by Sony Pictures Digital. Released for mobile phones supporting the Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME) on June 20, 2007, it is the third installment in the God of War series, and the fifth chronologically. Loosely based on Greek mythology, Betrayal is set in ancient Greece with vengeance as its central motif. The player controls the protagonist Kratos, who became the new God of War after killing the former, Ares. Kratos is framed for the murder of Argos and pursues the true assassin across Greece, resulting in a confrontation with Olympian messenger Ceryx. Betrayal is the only installment in the series to originally be released on a non-PlayStation platform and presented as a two-dimensional (2D) side-scrolling game. Despite the limitations of the mobile platform, in comparison to its home console counterparts, it retains the action-oriented approach of its predecessors, with the same combination of combo-based combat, platforming, and puzzle game elements. Although God of War is primarily a home console series, Betrayal was praised for its fidelity to the series in terms of gameplay, art style, and graphics: "the real deal third game in the killer franchise". It received awards for "Wireless Game of the Month" (June 2007) and "Best Platform Game" (wireless) of 2007. ## Gameplay Although presented in two-dimensional side-scrolling format, the game retains the action-oriented approach of its predecessors, with the player controlling the character Kratos in the same combination of combat, platforming, and puzzle game elements. Platforming elements include jumping across chasms, climbing ladders, and swinging on ropes. Some puzzles require Kratos to move a box on top of a switch (thus activating it), or moving a box to use it as a jumping-off point to reach a pathway unreachable with normal jumping. Game length is approximately two to four hours, and it consists of ten levels. Kratos retains his main weapon of the previous installments, the Blades of Athena: a pair of blades attached to chains that are wrapped around the character's wrists and forearms. In gameplay, the blades can be swung offensively in various maneuvers. Kratos utilizes the magical abilities Medusa's Gaze and Army of Hades acquired in the original God of War, as well as the secondary weapon, the Blade of Artemis, with each offering alternative combat options, giving him a variety of ways to attack and kill enemies (e.g., Medusa's Gaze briefly turns enemies to stone). Foes encountered in Betrayal primarily stem from Greek mythology, including Gorgons, minotaurs, and cerberuses, as well as those created for the game, such as the humanoid minions of the god Hades, including dead riders and undead legionnaires. In addition to the main gameplay, Betrayal includes a bonus "Arena Mode" where players must kill a certain number of enemies without dying before gaining access to the Arena's upper levels. ## Synopsis ### Setting and characters As with the previous games in the God of War franchise, God of War: Betrayal is set in an alternate version of ancient Greece, populated by the Olympian gods and other beings of Greek mythology. Events are set between those of the games Ghost of Sparta (2010) and God of War II (2007). The protagonist is Kratos, a former Captain of Sparta's army who became the new God of War after killing his predecessor, Ares, the previous God of War. Other characters include Argos, the giant pet of the goddess Hera; an unknown assassin; and the Olympian messenger Ceryx, the son of Hermes and main antagonist. Zeus, the King of the Gods, is an unseen character. ### Plot Kratos is leading the Spartan army in a rampage across Greece. During the campaign, he is attacked by a number of beasts led by Argos, who was sent by the gods to stop Kratos. After a series of skirmishes, Argos is killed by an unknown assassin, who frames Kratos in an attempt to turn the gods against him. The Spartan pursues his foe across Greece to discover the identity of the assassin, but is slowed by constant attacks from the minions of Hades, the God of the Underworld. Zeus sends Ceryx to deliver a message to Kratos: stop the relentless pursuit and take heed of the destruction already caused. Kratos, however, battles and kills Ceryx, which inadvertently allows the assassin to escape. Kratos then realizes his actions have further alienated the gods, and Zeus will soon act in response to his defiance. ## Development God of War: Betrayal was announced by Sony Online Entertainment at a press conference in Los Angeles in May 2007. The game utilizes a total of 110 different animations and features a 2D rendition of the series' three dimensional (3D) graphics. The character art and animation were done by WayForward Technologies, who were contracted by Javaground, who then revised and implemented it all. The only audio components are an orchestral score in the main menu and background sounds (e.g., clashing weapons). In August 2007, Phil Cohen, producer, designer, and game director for Betrayal, spoke of the difficulties in developing a God of War game for a mobile device. Cohen said that although enjoyable, the greatest challenge was creating a single tileset and palette swapping scheme that was diverse enough to portray multiple environments with only several hundred kilobytes, and that met series creator Santa Monica Studio's high standards. He wrote the initial design document between September and October 2005, and revisited it in August 2006, the month development started. The versions for high-end handsets were completed in April 2007, with final versions for low-end handsets completed by June 2007. The porting team adapted the game to over 200 handsets in a matter of weeks. Cohen stated that one challenge was capturing the feel of God of War's visual look and gameplay design, given the limited processing power and memory on most handsets at the time—complicating puzzle design, traps, environment interaction, and enemy behavior. He noted that both David Jaffe and Cory Barlog (game directors of God of War and God of War II, respectively) ensured the Betrayal development team captured the feel of the combat and visual style, and were "helpful with feedback and positive support". The team also worked closely with Eric Williams, the console game's lead combat designer. In keeping the "look and feel" true to the franchise, the development team played God of War extensively to study the pacing and tricks in the console releases. The development team also worked closely with Marianne Krawczyk, the writer of the God of War console games. Krawczyk used Betrayal to bridge the events between God of War and God of War II, include additional backstory, and to explain why the relationship between the gods and Kratos had changed. ## Reception Betrayal received mixed-to-positive reception, including praise for its fidelity to the series in terms of gameplay, art style, and graphics. Levi Buchanan of IGN called it "the real deal third game in the killer franchise". Similarly, Matt Paprocki of Blogcritics wrote, "Betrayal is a full-fledged extension of the God of War franchise, and it earns its title". He said it is "one of the best mobile games you’ll ever play, and has truly made the format a relevant part of the current video game scene." In regards to violence, Chris Antista of GamesRadar stated that it is "quite possibly the goriest thing your mobile's ever seen". Although not a "revolutionary experience", Pocket Gamer's Will Freeman said "it is a thoroughly impressive, utterly solid release that mobile platform fans will relish." Modojo's Justin Davis said that while Betrayal is compelling enough to play all the way to the end, "[it did not] feel like I was having fun." The context-sensitive attacks received praise and criticism. Antista said, "[the thing] fans will be thankful for is the triumphant return of the contextual attacks", but added that the control limitations were the "only real problem", as the sensitivity of the cursor button can result in a failed combo, "And the jump button sends you forward in the direction you're facing automatically." Buchanan noted that the contextual attacks "can prove frustratingly tricky as you have a brief amount of time to input the commands, but the controls on most handsets are quite small". Commenting on the combat, Paprocki said that despite the simplified combo system, the developers have "managed to infuse the sheer brutality and force God of War is known for within the confines of the [mobile] platform." Because of the simplified system, situations that call for Kratos' magical abilities are rare. However, if players do choose to use these abilities, selecting them is a "burden in the haste of a battle", requiring players to cycle through their entire inventory. Paprocki also criticized the lack of an autosave feature, as the game does not save the player's position when receiving a phone call, which "can lead to unbearable frustration." Freeman said that the combination of the weapons and quick time events make the combat "a convincing interpretation of the action in the original console games". Davis said that although there are puzzle and platforming elements, the focus is "clearly on the combat" and felt that the combat system was "a little shallow". He said it seems as if the abundance of enemies "exist solely to act as punching (or slicing, as it were) bags for Kratos". ### Awards IGN named Betrayal "Wireless Game of the Month" for June 2007. In their Best of 2007 – Wireless Awards, they named it the "Best Platform Game". ## See also - 2007 in video gaming
168,070	Philip I Philadelphus	1,156,985,836	King of Syria	[ "1st-century BC Seleucid monarchs", "2nd-century BC births", "83 BC deaths", "Syrian twins", "Year of birth unknown" ]	Philip I Epiphanes Philadelphus (Ancient Greek: Φίλιππος Ἐπιφανής Φιλάδελφος; between 124 and 109 BC–83 or 75 BC) was a Hellenistic Seleucid monarch who reigned as the king of Syria from 94 to either 83 or 75 BC. The son of Antiochus VIII and his wife Tryphaena, he spent his early life in a period of civil war between his father and his uncle Antiochus IX. The conflict ended with the assassination of Antiochus VIII; Antiochus IX took power in the Syrian capital Antioch, but soon fell in battle with Antiochus VIII's eldest son Seleucus VI. After the murder of Seleucus VI in 94 BC, Philip I became king with his twin brother Antiochus XI, and planned to avenge Seleucus VI. In 93 BC Antiochus XI took Antioch from Antiochus IX's son Antiochus X. Antiochus XI became the senior king, and Philip I remained in a base in Cilicia. Antiochus X returned and killed Antiochus XI that year. Philip I then allied with his younger brother Demetrius III, who was based in Damascus. Antiochus X was probably killed in 88 BC. Demetrius III took the capital and besieged Philip I in Beroea (Aleppo), but the latter prevailed and took Antioch; their youngest brother Antiochus XII took Damascus. Philip I tried unsuccessfully to take Damascus for himself, after which he disappears from the historical record; there is no information about when or how he died. The Antiochenes, apparently refusing to accept Philip I's minor son Philip II as his successor, invited Tigranes II of Armenia to take the city. While the invasion of Tigranes II is traditionally dated to 83 BC, the year most scholars agree on for Philip I's death, the conflict may have taken place in 74 BC. Numismatic evidence and clues in ancient contemporary literature indicate that Philip I might have died in 75 BC, giving Antiochus X's widow Cleopatra Selene and her son Antiochus XIII, who probably took control of the south following the death of Antiochus XII in 82 BC, a year of claiming the whole kingdom. Philip I initiated monetary reforms, and his coins remained in circulation until the Romans conquered Syria in 64 BC. Thereafter, Roman authorities in Syria continued to issue coins modeled on Philip I's coins, including his portrait, until 13 BC. ## Background, name and early life The Seleucid dynasty which ruled Syria following the death of Alexander the Great was plagued by dynastic feuds during the 2nd century BC, exacerbated by Ptolemaic and Roman interference. Dynastic marriage was used to maintain a degree of peace between Ptolemaic Egypt and Syria; Ptolemaic princess Cleopatra Thea became the consort of three successive Syrian kings in 150, 145 and 138 BC. Syria gradually disintegrated due to constant civil wars, as the Seleucid kings and their heirs fought for power, tearing the country apart. This lasted until about 123 BC, when Antiochus VIII provided a degree of stability which lasted for a decade until his brother Antiochus IX declared himself king. With his Ptolemaic wife Tryphaena, whom he married in 124 BC, Antiochus VIII fathered five sons: Seleucus VI, the eldest; Antiochus XI and Philip I, who were apparently twins; their younger brother, Demetrius III; and the youngest, Antiochus XII. The name Philip (Greek Phílippos) means "lover of horses". Seleucid kings were mostly named Seleucus and Antiochus; "Philip" was used by the Antigonid dynasty as a royal name, and its use by the Seleucids, who were descended from the Antigonids through Queen Stratonice, was probably meant to signify that they were heirs of the latter. The war with Antiochus IX claimed Tryphaena's life in 109 BC. Following Antiochus VIII's assassination in 96 BC, his second wife, Tryphaena's sister Cleopatra Selene, married Antiochus IX, who took Antioch. Antiochus VIII's sons did not submit to their uncle; Seleucus VI took Antioch in 95 BC after killing Antiochus IX, while Demetrius III seized and ruled Damascus. Antiochus IX's son Antiochus X married Cleopatra Selene and defeated Seleucus VI, who escaped to Mopsuestia, where he was killed by rebels in 94 BC. ## Reign Philip I and Antiochus XI probably resided in Cilicia during Seleucus VI's reign. In 94 BC, shortly after their brother's death, Philip I and Antiochus XI minted jugate coins with their portraits on the obverse. The historian Alfred Bellinger suggested that their base of operations was a coastal city north of Antioch, but according to the numismatist Arthur Houghton, Beroea is a stronger candidate because the city's rulers were Philip I's allies. All the jugate coins were minted in Cilicia; the series with the most numerous surviving specimens was probably issued in Tarsus, making it the likely base of operations. Antiochus XI was portrayed in front of his brother, indicating that he was the senior king. Deriving their legitimacy from Antiochus VIII, the brothers were depicted on the coins with exaggerated aquiline noses similar to their father. Hellenistic kings did not use regnal numbers, which is a modern practise; instead, they used epithets to distinguish themselves from similarly named monarchs. On his coins, Philip I used the epithets Philadelphus (sibling-loving) and Epiphanes (the glorious, or illustrious). The brothers intended to avenge Seleucus VI; according to the fourth century writer Eusebius, they sacked Mopsuestia and destroyed it. ### Reign in Cilicia and Beroea While Philip I remained in Cilicia, Antiochus XI advanced on Antioch and drove Antiochus X from the city in the beginning of 93 BC. Philip I did not live in the Syrian metropolis and left Antiochus XI as master of the capital. By autumn 93 BC, Antiochus X regrouped and defeated Antiochus XI, who drowned in the Orontes. The first century historian Josephus mentioned only Antiochus XI in the battle, but Eusebius wrote that Philip I was also present. Bellinger believed that Philip I's troops participated, but that he remained behind at his base, since only Antiochus XI was killed. Following the defeat, Philip I is thought to have retreated to his capital, which was probably the same base from which he and his brother operated when they first prepared to avenge Seleucus VI. Antiochus X eventually controlled Cilicia, and Philip I probably took Beroea as his base. Demetrius III may have marched north to support Antiochus XI in the battle of 93 BC, and he certainly supported Philip I in the struggle against Antiochus X. Eusebius wrote that Philip I defeated Antiochus X and replaced him in the capital in 93/92 BC (220 SE (Seleucid year)). However, Eusebius does not note the reign of Antiochus XI or mention Demetrius III. The account contradicts archaeological evidence, represented in a market weight belonging to Antiochus X from 92 BC, and contains factual mistakes. The English minister and numismatist Edgar Rogers believed that Philip I ruled Antioch immediately after Antiochus XI, but suggestions that Philip I controlled Antioch before the demise of Antiochus X and Demetrius III can be dismissed; they contradict the numismatic evidence, and no ancient source claimed that Demetrius III, who actually succeeded Antiochus X in Antioch, had to push Philip I out of the city. In any case, Antiochus X disappeared from the record after 92 BC, but could have remained in power until 224 SE (89/88 BC); he probably died fighting against Parthia. Taking advantage of Antiochus X's death, Demetrius III rushed to the capital and occupied it; this led Philip I to break his alliance with his brother. With most of Syria in the hands of Demetrius III, Philip I retreated to his base. In 88 BC, Demetrius III marched on Beroea for the final battle with Philip I. To raise the siege, Philip I's ally Straton, the ruler of Beroea, called on the Arab phylarch Aziz and the Parthian governor Mithridates Sinaces for help. The allies defeated Demetrius III, who was sent into captivity in Parthia. Any captive who was a citizen of Antioch was released without a ransom, a gesture which must have eased Philip I's occupation of Antioch. ### Reign in the capital Shortly after the battle, in late 88 BC or early 87 BC, Philip I entered the Syrian capital, and had Cilicia under his authority. He was faced with the need to replenish the empty treasury to rebuild a country destroyed after years of civil war, and in case a new pretender to the throne arose. Those factors, combined with the low estimates of annual coin dies used by Philip I's immediate predecessors in Antioch—Antiochus X (his second reign) and Demetrius III—compared with the general die estimates of late Seleucid kings, led numismatist Oliver D. Hoover to propose that Philip I simply re-coined his predecessors' coins and skewed their dies. This resulted in currency bearing Philip I's image, reduced in weight from the standard 1,600 g (56 oz) to 1,565 g (55.2 oz). This yielded a profit of half an obol on each older coin which was re-struck. Profit was, however, not the main aim of Philip I; it is more probable that he wanted to pay his troops with coins bearing his own image instead of that of his rivals. The recoinage was also necessary since Philip I's coins were reduced in weight and the king needed to enforce the use of his currency by removing his rivals' heavier coins out of circulation. Philip I may have adopted the New Seleucid era dating, which have the return of Antiochus VIII from his exile in Aspendos in 200 SE (113/112 BC) as a starting point; the traditional Seleucid era started in 1 SE (312/311 BC). Philip I's position on the throne was insecure: Cleopatra Selene hid in Syria with Antiochus XIII, her son by Antiochus X, waiting for an opportunity to regain the throne, while Antiochus XII replaced Demetrius III in Damascus, but there is no evidence that he sought to compete with his brother for Antioch. According to Josephus, Philip I took advantage of Antiochus XII's absence in a campaign against Nabataea to seize Damascus. The governor of the city—Milesius, who opened the gates for the Philip I—was not given a suitable reward by his new master, leading him to wait until Philip I left the city; he then closed the gates, locking the king out until Antiochus XII returned. In the Seleucid dynasty, currency struck during campaigns against a rival (or usurper) showed the king with a beard. Antiochus XII was shown beardless for the first two years of his reign; in 228 SE (85/84 BC), he appeared with a beard, possibly related to Philip I's attack on Damascus. But since Antiochus XII did not march north against his brother, the hypothesis about a connection between Antiochus XII' beard and Philip I's attempt to take Damascus weakens; no coins of Philip I were struck in Damascus, indicating that his occupation of the city was brief. ## End and succession After the attack on Damascus, Philip I disappeared from ancient literature. Without proof, 83 BC is commonly accepted as Philip I's year of death by most scholars; he could have been buried in the Nikatoreion Mausoleum, Seleucia Pieria. Traditionally, Philip I is considered by most scholars to have been succeeded by Tigranes II of Armenia, who was invited by the people of Antioch despite the existence of Philip I's probably-minor son Philip II. The second century historian Appian assigned a fourteen-year reign to Tigranes II which ended in 69 BC, and most scholars accepted the ancient historian's version, hence the date 83 BC. The fate of Philip I is a source of debate in academic circles, as no clues regarding how, where, and when, his life ended, exist. Many theories were presented by different historians: - Escaped to Cilicia: An inscription of Philip II was found in Olba, the capital of a Cilician priestly principality. Historian Auguste Bouché-Leclercq concluded that Philip I could not have returned to the capital following his defeat in Damascus because the populace became weary of the endless Seleucid dynastic quarrels. Bouché-Leclercq conjectured, based on the inscription of his son, that Philip I might have escaped to Cilicia and died in the chaos caused by the Second Mithridatic War (83–81 BC) between Mithridates VI of Pontus and Rome. Another possibility is that Philip I was preparing to take back his throne after the death of Antiochus XII (d. 82 BC), but was caught off guard by the arrival of Tigranes II and put to death in Cilicia. Historian Theodora Stillwell MacKay suggested that Philip I fled to Olba following his confrontation with Antiochus XII. The epigraphers Josef Keil and Adolf Wilhelm suggested that Philip I stayed with the priest-prince of the city. - Peaceful long reign: according to Bellinger, the silence of ancient literature might be an indication of a peaceful reign that was perhaps facilitated by Philip I's alliance with Parthia; this would explain the massive amount of silver coinage produced by Philip I found as far as Dura-Europos, which was under Parthian rule. Appian's account is flawed, and contradicts contemporary accounts, notably the Roman statesman Cicero, who wrote in 75 BC that Cleopatra Selene sent Antiochus XIII to Rome to appeal for his right to the Egyptian throne; he did not have to appeal for his rights to Syria which, in the words of Cicero, he inherited from his ancestors. Cleopatra Selene and her son probably took advantage of Antiochus XII's death in 82 BC to assume control of the south; the statement of Cicero indicates that in 75 BC, Tigranes II was still not in control of Syria, for if he were, Antiochus XIII would have asked the Roman Senate for support to regain Syria, since Tigranes II was the son-in-law of Rome's enemy, Mithridates VI. Likewise, Philip I could not have been alive since Antiochus XIII went to Rome without having to assert his right to Syria. The argument for a later Armenian invasion is corroborated by Josephus, who wrote that the Jews heard about the Armenian invasion and Tigranes II's plans to attack Judea only during the reign of the Hasmonean queen Salome Alexandra, which began in 76 BC; it would be odd if Tigranes II took control of Syria in 83 BC and the Jews learned about it only after 76 BC. Another point of argument is the massive quantity of coinage left by Philip I, which could not have been produced if his reign was short and ended in 83 BC. In light of this, Hoover proposed 75 BC, or slightly earlier, as Philip I's last year; this would be in line with Cicero's statement about Antiochus XIII. Hoover suggested the year 74 BC as the date of Tigranes II's invasion, giving Cleopatra Selene and her son time to claim the whole country. ## Legacy Philip I's coins were still in circulation when the Romans annexed Syria in 64 BC. The first Roman coins struck in Syria were copies of Philip I's coins, and bore his image with the monogram of the Roman governor. The first issue was in 57 BC under governor Aulus Gabinius, and the last series of Philip I's posthumous coins was minted in 13 BC. The Romans may have considered Philip I the last legitimate Seleucid king, a theory held by Kevin Butcher and other scholars. Hoover opted for a simpler answer; Philip I's coins were the most numerous and earlier Seleucid coin models were destroyed, making it economically sensible for the Romans to continue Philip I's model. Anomalous coins of Philip, differing from his standard lifetime models but similar to the later Roman Philip coins, indicate that they might have been minted by the autonomous city of Antioch between 64 and 58 BC before governor Aulus Gabinius issued his Philipean coins, making it viable for the Romans to continue minting coins already being struck. ## Family tree \\|- \\|style="text-align: left;"\\|Citations: \\|- ## See also - List of Syrian monarchs - List of Seleucid rulers - Timeline of Syrian history
9,934,530	Morotai Mutiny	1,149,114,460	1945 incident involving Royal Australian Air Force pilots	[ "1945 in Australia", "History of the Royal Australian Air Force", "Military history of Australia during World War II", "Mutinies in World War II" ]	The "Morotai Mutiny" was an incident in April 1945 involving members of the Australian First Tactical Air Force based on the island of Morotai, in the Dutch East Indies. Eight senior pilots, including Australia's leading flying ace, Group Captain Clive Caldwell, tendered their resignations to protest what they perceived as the relegation of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) fighter squadrons to strategically unimportant ground attack missions against Japanese positions that had been bypassed in the Allies' "island-hopping" campaign. A government investigation vindicated the "mutineers", and three high-ranking officers at First Tactical Air Force Headquarters, including the commander, Air Commodore Harry Cobby, the Australian Flying Corps' top-scoring ace in World War I, were relieved of their posts. George Odgers summed up the cause of the incident in the official history of the RAAF in World War II as "the conviction of a group of young leaders that they were engaging in operations that were not militarily justifiable—a conviction widely shared also by many Australian soldiers and political leaders." Odgers concluded that the ensuing inquiry "made it clear that almost everyone concerned acted from the highest motives, and was convinced that, in the crisis, he acted wisely". ## Background First Tactical Air Force (No. 1 TAF), commanded by Air Commodore Harry Cobby, was the main frontline combat formation of the RAAF in 1944–45. It fell under the operational control of United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Lieutenant General George Kenney, the Allied air forces commander in the South West Pacific Area under General Douglas MacArthur. Initially made up of one Bristol Beaufighter and two P-40 Kittyhawk wings, No. 1 TAF was augmented in 1945 by No. 80 Wing, commanded by Group Captain Clive Caldwell. This wing comprised three Supermarine Spitfire squadrons, whose pilots included veterans of the North African Campaign and the defence of Northern Australia against Japanese air raids. By early 1945, Japanese air power in the South West Pacific had been virtually destroyed. US Army forces were focused on completing the recapture of the Philippines as a stepping stone to an invasion of Japan. During this time, Australian forces including No. 1 TAF were increasingly assigned to garrison duties and harassing Japanese bases on islands bypassed by MacArthur's forces. The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal George Jones, would later contend that the RAAF, in the words of Air Force historian Alan Stephens, "was 'side-stepped' out of the final victory over Japan by MacArthur, who wanted all the glory for himself". US Marine Corps aviators from the Air North Solomons command also believed that MacArthur's headquarters was favouring the USAAF in the assignment of combat duties. The overall situation led to dissatisfaction and poor morale among No. 1 TAF personnel based on Morotai, particularly the Spitfire pilots who had little opportunity for the air-to-air combat they specialised in and whose aircraft were ill-suited to ground attack missions. Group Captain Wilf Arthur, former Officer Commanding No. 81 Wing and now in charge of the Kittyhawk-equipped No. 78 Wing of No. 1 TAF, became concerned that his units' expenditure in terms of men, machines and ordnance was not justified by the damage inflicted on enemy targets or by the relative importance of those targets. In December 1944 he asked his intelligence staff to produce a "balance sheet" to quantify losses versus results. Arthur presented the balance sheet to Cobby, who reviewed it and disseminated it to his headquarters staff, but took no further action. ## Prelude In March 1945, frustrated by the lack of response from Cobby and his staff and convinced that operations were becoming even more wasteful, Arthur began discussing his concerns with other senior No. 1 TAF pilots. First, he spoke to Wing Commander Kenneth Ranger, a senior staff officer who had served with No. 9 Operational Group and had made allegations regarding the leadership of its commander, Air Commodore Joe Hewitt, who was eventually dismissed from his post. Arthur sought out Ranger as someone with "moral guts", who would take "a stand against the type of operations we were engaged in". Next, he enlisted Caldwell's support, although Caldwell was, at the time, facing charges from Cobby over liquor trafficking which made it a risk that his involvement in a protest over operations would be misconstrued as an attempt to divert attention from the charges. Arthur believed that Caldwell "would go as far as he possibly could to back up his opinions [which] were worth a lot more than the opinions of most other people in the area". Through Caldwell more officers joined the protest, including two other celebrated aces, Wing Commander Bobby Gibbes and Squadron Leader John Waddy, as well as Squadron Leader Bert Grace, Squadron Leader Douglas Vanderfield, and later, Squadron Leader Stuart Harpham. During a series of meetings early in April 1945, Caldwell proposed that the eight resign en masse, and the others agreed. Arthur later stated that, "I meant to make as big a fuss as I possibly could with the object of getting the position corrected ... All the same, we realised that, to lay ourselves open to any charge of mutiny, we might lessen the force of what we were doing, which was the reason we put the things in as resignations and not as any attempt to unseat people higher up." Arthur also attempted to secure Cobby's support for the protest. The commander of No. 1 TAF had been the Australian Flying Corps' leading ace in World War I, as Caldwell was the RAAF's in World War II. Arthur reasoned that, although Cobby was partly to blame for the morale issue, "we felt that his value to our move, because of his name with the Public, together with Group Captain Caldwell, would give us a very considerable amount of public support ... he was the prima donna of one war, and ... arm-in-arm with the prima donna of the next war, we would put up a reasonable front and attract a lot of attention in the headlines of the newspapers." Cobby refused to join in and later claimed to be unaware of the depth of feeling among the pilots. ## "Mutiny" On 20 April 1945, the eight pilots presented Cobby with identically worded letters under the heading, "APPLICATION FOR RESIGNATION OF COMMISSION." The letters read, "I hereby respectfully make application that I be permitted to resign my Commission as an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force, forthwith." Cobby appeared taken aback and would not accept the resignations. He spoke to seven of the pilots individually, but not Caldwell, as he was already under charge. When the men refused to withdraw the letters or elaborate on the reason for their actions, Cobby contacted his immediate superior, Air Vice Marshal Bill Bostock, head of RAAF Command, the Air Force's main operational command. Bostock arrived on Morotai the next day and interviewed the pilots, asking them to tear up the letters, without success. His methods were later construed as an attempt to "make the situation go away or to at least cover it up". The pilots' only concession to Bostock's entreaty was to resubmit their resignations with the word "forthwith" replaced by "at the end of current operations". Following these interviews, Bostock advised Jones that morale in No. 1 TAF was at a "dangerously low level" and recommended that Jones fire Cobby and replace him with Air Commodore Frederick Scherger. Jones considered the pilots' action "absurd", because an officer could not legally resign during wartime, but travelled to Morotai from his headquarters in Melbourne to investigate the matter personally. He also interviewed the pilots, later declaring, "I believed them all to be sincere in what they were stating and what they had attempted to do ... Yes, sincerely held beliefs, no matter how ill-founded, coupled possibly with a rather exaggerated sense of national duty." Kenney also became embroiled in the affair, having been informed by Bostock, and insisted on speaking directly to the pilots himself over Jones' protest that this was an internal RAAF disciplinary matter. During a visit to Morotai from his Manila headquarters, Kenney tried to persuade the officers to reconsider their positions, but again they refused. He agreed with Bostock that Cobby should be replaced by Scherger, and declared that if the pilots were court-martialled he would appear in their defence. The commander of the Australian Army's I Corps, Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead, who was at Morotai preparing for the Borneo campaign, also supported Cobby's removal. Morshead and other senior army officers were concerned that the dispute could disrupt preparations for the Australian landings in Borneo and consulted with Kenney on the matter. Jones resolved to dismiss not only Cobby but also his staff officers, Group Captains Gibson and Simms. Scherger took over as Air Officer Commanding No. 1 TAF on 10 May. ## Aftermath Ultimately, no court-martial took place for any actions directly related to the "mutiny", and most of the pilots involved continued on operations until the end of the war. An RAAF investigation found that Jones' removal of Cobby, Gibson and Simms was justified. Upon Jones' request, the Australian government also set up an inquiry into events on Morotai, headed by the barrister John Vincent Barry, KC. Beginning on 16 May 1945, the inquiry focused on both the resignations and the reports of illegal trafficking in alcohol between RAAF and US service personnel on the island. Though Barry's terms of reference encompassed only No. 1 TAF, the inquiry also heard evidence of shortcomings in the Air Force's higher command that may have contributed to structural and morale problems on Morotai, particularly a bitter and long-running feud between Jones and Bostock over the division of operational and administrative control of the RAAF in the Pacific. The complete report of the inquiry was released in October, preceded by a summary of findings issued on 14 September 1945. Barry vindicated Arthur's "balance sheet" and the stand taken by the pilots, finding that their motives in tendering their resignations were sincere. No further action was taken against them over the incident itself, but Caldwell and Gibbes were court-martialled for their involvement in the alcohol racket and reduced to the rank of flight lieutenant. Barry found that Cobby had "failed to maintain proper control over his command". Cobby defended his leadership of No. 1 TAF, contending that although there was "some discontent", it was "a healthy sign of discontent amongst certain officers who wished to do more in the war than they were doing. Unfortunately, it was not within the power of 1st T.A.F. to give them that more important or more interesting work ..." The incident did not change the RAAF's role in the dying days of the war in the Pacific and may have hindered No. 1 TAF's preparations for the Battle of Tarakan. It did improve the situation on Morotai, as Scherger restored morale. The "mutineers" considered that they had achieved most of their goals by effecting a change of command in No. 1 TAF and instigating a governmental inquiry. News of the resignations, the alcohol racket and Caldwell's court-martial were widely reported in Australia. Following publication of Barry's findings, The Daily Telegraph in Sydney commented that "the RAAF should have a complete new deal. It is a badly run show and the fault is high up". The same paper later called Caldwell's court-martial a "witch hunt". Despite this publicity, the action did not become popularly known as the "Morotai Mutiny" until years later. The phrase dated back to the earliest days of the incident, Arthur having written it at the top of an aide-mémoire. He later said that "the alliteration must have appealed to me". Shortly after writing it, he crossed out "Morotai" and added a question mark following "Mutiny". The term did not catch on with the public at the time but Arthur's original words have been credited as the source of the name.
2,607,068	Giant otter	1,167,660,058	Species of mammal	[ "Apex predators", "Endangered biota of South America", "Fauna of the Amazon", "Fauna of the Pantanal", "Mammals described in 1788", "Mammals of Bolivia", "Mammals of Brazil", "Mammals of Colombia", "Mammals of Ecuador", "Mammals of French Guiana", "Mammals of Guyana", "Mammals of Paraguay", "Mammals of Peru", "Mammals of South America", "Mammals of Suriname", "Mammals of Venezuela", "Otters", "Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin" ]	The giant otter or giant river otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) is a South American carnivorous mammal. It is the longest member of the weasel family, Mustelidae, a globally successful group of predators, reaching up to . Atypical of mustelids, the giant otter is a social species, with family groups typically supporting three to eight members. The groups are centered on a dominant breeding pair and are extremely cohesive and cooperative. Although generally peaceful, the species is territorial, and aggression has been observed between groups. The giant otter is diurnal, being active exclusively during daylight hours. It is the noisiest otter species, and distinct vocalizations have been documented that indicate alarm, aggression, and reassurance. The giant otter ranges across north-central South America; it lives mostly in and along the Amazon River and in the Pantanal. Its distribution has been greatly reduced and is now discontinuous. Decades of poaching for its velvety pelt, peaking in the 1950s and 1960s, considerably diminished population numbers. The species was listed as endangered in 1999 and wild population estimates are typically below 5,000. The Guianas are one of the last real strongholds for the species, which also enjoys modest numbers – and significant protection – in the Peruvian Amazonian basin. It is one of the most endangered mammal species in the Neotropics. Habitat degradation and loss is the greatest current threat. They are also rare in captivity; in 2003, only 60 giant otters were being held. The giant otter shows a variety of adaptations suitable to an amphibious lifestyle, including exceptionally dense fur, a wing-like tail, and webbed feet. The species prefers freshwater rivers and streams, which are usually seasonally flooded, and may also take to freshwater lakes and springs. It constructs extensive campsites close to feeding areas, clearing large amounts of vegetation. The giant otter subsists almost exclusively on a diet of fish, particularly characins and catfish, but may also eat crabs, turtles, snakes and small caimans. It has no serious natural predators other than humans, although it must compete with other predators, such as the Neotropical otter and various crocodilian species, for food resources. ## Name The giant otter has a handful of other names. In Brazil it is known as ariranha, from the Tupí word ari'raña, meaning water jaguar (Portuguese: onça-d'água). In Spanish, river wolf (Spanish: lobo de río) and water dog (Spanish: perro de agua) are used occasionally (though the latter also refers to several different animals) and may have been more common in the reports of explorers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. All four names are in use in South America, with a number of regional variations. "Giant otter" translates literally as nutria gigante and lontra gigante in Spanish and Portuguese, respectively. Among the Achuar people, they are known as wankanim, among the Sanumá as hadami, and among the Makushi as turara. The genus name, Pteronura, is derived from the Ancient Greek words πτερόν (pteron, feather or wing) and οὐρά (oura, tail), a reference to its distinctive, wing-like tail. ## Taxonomy and evolution The otters form the subfamily Lutrinae within the mustelids and the giant otter is the only member of the genus Pteronura. Two subspecies are currently recognized by the canonical Mammal Species of the World, P. b. brasiliensis and P. b. paraguensis. Incorrect descriptions of the species have led to multiple synonyms (the latter subspecies is often P. b. paranensis in the literature). P. b. brasiliensis is distributed across the north of the giant otter range, including the Orinoco, Amazon, and Guianas river systems; to the south, P. b. paraguensis has been suggested in Paraguay, Uruguay, southern Brazil, and northern Argentina, although it may be extinct in the last three of these four. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) considers the species' presence in Argentina and Uruguay uncertain. In the former, investigation has shown thinly distributed population remnants. P. b. paraguensis is supposedly smaller and more gregarious, with different dentition and skull morphology. Carter and Rosas, however, rejected the subspecific division in 1997, noting the classification had only been validated once, in 1968, and the P. b. paraguensis type specimen was very similar to P. b. brasiliensis. Biologist Nicole Duplaix calls the division of "doubtful value". An extinct genus, Satherium, is believed to be ancestral to the present species, having migrated to the New World during the Pliocene or early Pleistocene. The giant otter shares the South American continent with three of the four members of the New World otter genus Lontra: the Neotropical river otter, the southern river otter, and the marine otter. (The North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) is the fourth Lontra member.) The giant otter seems to have evolved independently of Lontra in South America, despite the overlap. The smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata) of Asia may be its closest extant relative; similar behaviour, vocalizations, and skull morphology have been noted. Both species also show strong pair bonding and paternal engagement in rearing cubs. Giant otter fossil remains have been recovered from a cave in the Brazilian Mato Grosso. Phylogenetic analysis by Koepfli and Wayne in 1998 found the giant otter has the highest divergence sequences within the otter subfamily, forming a distinct clade that split away 10 to 14 million years ago. They noted that the species may be the basal divergence among the otters or fall outside of them altogether, having split even before other mustelids, such as the ermine, polecat, and mink. Later gene sequencing research on the mustelids, from 2004, places the divergence of the giant otter somewhat later, between five and 11 million years ago; the corresponding phylogenetic tree locates the Lontra divergence first among otter genera, and Pteronura second, although divergence ranges overlap. ## Physical characteristics The giant otter is clearly distinguished from other otters by morphological and behavioural characteristics. It has the greatest body length of any species in the mustelid family, although the sea otter may be heavier. Males are between in length from head to tail and females between . The animal's well-muscled tail can add a further 70 cm (28 in) to the total body length. Early reports of skins and living animals suggested exceptionally large males of up to ; intensive hunting likely reduced the occurrence of such massive specimens. Weights are between 26 and 32 kg (57 and 71 lb) for males and 22 and 26 kg (49 and 57 lb) for females. The giant otter has the shortest fur of all otter species; it is typically chocolate brown, but may be reddish or fawn, and appears nearly black when wet. The fur is extremely dense, so much so that water cannot penetrate to the skin. Guard hairs trap water and keep the inner fur dry; the guard hairs are approximately 8 millimetres (one-third of an inch) in length, about twice as long as the fur of the inner coat. Its velvety feel makes the animal highly sought after by fur traders and has contributed to its decline. Unique markings of white or cream fur color the throat and under the chin, allow individuals to be identified from birth. Giant otter muzzles are short and sloping and give the head a ball-shaped appearance. The ears are small and rounded. The nose (or rhinarium) is completely covered in fur, with only the two slit-like nostrils visible. The giant otter's highly sensitive whiskers (vibrissae) allow the animal to track changes in water pressure and currents, which aids in detecting prey. The legs are short and stubby and end in large webbed feet tipped with sharp claws. Well suited for an aquatic life, it can close its ears and nose while underwater. At the time of Carter and Rosas' writing, vision had not been directly studied, but field observations show the animal primarily hunts by sight; above water, it is able to recognize observers at great distances. The fact that it is exclusively active during the day further suggests its eyesight should be strong, to aid in hunting and predator avoidance. In other otter species, vision is generally normal or slightly myopic, both on land and in water. The giant otter's hearing is acute and its sense of smell is excellent. The species possesses 2n = 38 chromosomes. ## Biology and behaviour The giant otter is large, gregarious, and diurnal. Early travelers' reports describe noisy groups surrounding explorers' boats, but little scientific information was available on the species until Duplaix's groundbreaking work in the late 1970s. Concern over this endangered species has since generated a body of research. ### Vocalizations The giant otter is an especially noisy animal, with a complex repertoire of vocalizations. All otters produce vocalizations, but by frequency and volume, the giant otter may be the most vocal. Duplaix identified nine distinct sounds, with further subdivisions possible, depending on context. Quick hah barks or explosive snorts suggest immediate interest and possible danger. A wavering scream may be used in bluff charges against intruders, while a low growl is used for aggressive warning. Hums and coos are more reassuring within the group. Whistles may be used as advance warning of nonhostile intent between groups, although evidence is limited. Newborn pups squeak to elicit attention, while older young whine and wail when they begin to participate in group activities. An analysis published in 2014 cataloged 22 distinct types of vocalization in adults and 11 in neonates. Each family of otters was shown to have its own unique audio signature. ### Social structure The giant otter is a highly social animal and lives in extended family groups. Group sizes are anywhere from two to 20 members, but likely average between three and eight. (Larger figures may reflect two or three family groups temporarily feeding together.) Group members share roles, structured around the dominant breeding pair. The species is territorial, with groups marking their ranges with latrines, gland secretions, and vocalizations. At least one case of a change in alpha relationship has been reported, with a new male taking over the role; the mechanics of the transition were not determined. Duplaix suggests a division between "residents", who are established within groups and territories, and nomadic and solitary "transients"; the categories do not seem rigid, and both may be a normal part of the giant otter life cycle. One tentative theory for the development of sociality in mustelids is that locally abundant but unpredictably dispersed prey causes groups to form. Aggression within the species ("intraspecific" conflict) has been documented. Defence against intruding animals appears to be cooperative: while adult males typically lead in aggressive encounters, cases of alpha females guarding groups have been reported. One fight was directly observed in the Brazilian Pantanal in which three animals violently engaged a single individual near a range boundary. In another instance in Brazil, a carcass was found with clear indications of violent assault by other otters, including bites to the snout and genitals, an attack pattern similar to that exhibited by captive animals. While not rare among large predators in general, intraspecific aggression is uncommon among otter species; Ribas and Mourão suggest a correlation to the animal's sociability, which is also rare among other otters. A capacity for aggressive behavior should not be overstated with the giant otter. Researchers emphasize that even between groups, conflict avoidance is generally adopted. Within groups, the animals are extremely peaceful and cooperative. Group hierarchies are not rigid and the animals easily share roles. ### Reproduction and life cycle Giant otters build dens, which are holes dug into riverbanks, usually with multiple entrances and multiple chambers inside. They give birth within these dens during the dry season. In Cantão State Park, otters dig their reproductive dens on the shores of oxbow lakes starting around July, when waters are already quite low. They give birth between August and September, and the young pups emerge for the first time in October and November, which are the months of lowest water when fish concentrations in the dwindling lakes and channels are at their peak. This makes it easier for the adults to catch enough fish for the growing young, and for the pups to learn how to catch fish. The entire group, including nonreproductive adults, which are usually older siblings to that year's pups, collaborates to catch enough fish for the young. Details of giant otter reproduction and life cycle are scarce, and captive animals have provided much of the information. Females appear to give birth year round, although in the wild, births may peak during the dry season. The estrous cycle is 21 days, with females receptive to sexual advances between three and 10 days. Study of captive specimens has found only males initiate copulation. At Tierpark Hagenbeck in Germany, long-term pair bonding and individualized mate selection were seen, with copulation most frequently taking place in water. Females have a gestation period of 65 to 70 days, giving birth to one to five pups, with an average of two. Research over five years on a breeding pair at the Cali Zoo in Colombia found the average interval between litters was six to seven months, but as short as 77 days when the previous litter did not survive. Other sources have found greater intervals, with as long as 21 to 33 months suggested for otters in the wild. Mothers give birth to furred and blind cubs in an underground den near the river shore and fishing sites. Males actively participate in rearing cubs and family cohesion is strong; older, juvenile siblings also participate in rearing, although in the weeks immediately after birth, they may temporarily leave the group. Pups open their eyes in their fourth week, begin walking in their fifth, and are able to swim confidently between 12 and 14 weeks old. They are weaned by nine months and begin hunting successfully soon after. The animal reaches sexual maturity at about two years of age and both male and female pups leave the group permanently after two to three years. They then search for new territory to begin a family of their own. Studies of giant otters in captivity have given indications about the environment necessary to both maintain a physically and behaviorally healthy population and allow successful cub-rearing. These include providing at least the minimum recommended land-to-water area ratio, and that all enclosure land surfaces (both artificial and natural) are nearly entirely covered with the recommended substrate conditions (e.g. tree-bark mulch and soft pebble-free sand/soil). Ensuring that the animals have sufficient privacy from human disturbances (visual and acoustic, from zoo staff or visitors) at parturition and during cub-rearing is also essential, but not sufficient. Insufficient land area proportions and unsuitable substrate conditions in zoos have historically been the primary cause of high cub mortality and physical and behavioral health problems among giant otters. For example, stress to the parents during cub-rearing due to inappropriate enclosure conditions has been the primary reason for cub neglect, abuse and infanticide. In the wild, it has been suggested, although not systematically confirmed, that tourists cause similar stresses: disrupted lactation and denning, reduced hunting, and habitat abandonment are all risks. This sensitivity is matched by a strong protectiveness towards the young. All group members may aggressively charge intruders, including boats with humans in them. The longest documented giant otter lifespan in the wild is eight years. In captivity, this may increase to 17, with an unconfirmed record of 19. The animal is susceptible to a variety of diseases, including canine parvovirus. Parasites, such as the larvae of flies and a variety of intestinal worms, also afflict the giant otter. Other causes of death include accidents, gastroenteritis, infanticide, and epileptic seizures. ### Hunting and diet The giant otter is an apex predator, and its population status reflects the overall health of riverine ecosystems. It feeds mainly on fish, including cichlids, perch, characins (such as piranha), and catfish. One full-year study of giant otter scats in Amazonian Brazil found fish present in all fecal samples. Fish from the order Perciformes, particularly cichlids and perch, were seen in 97% of scats, and Characiformes, such as characins, in 86%. Fish remains were of medium-sized species that seem to prefer relatively shallow water, to the advantage of the visually oriented giant otter. Prey species found were also sedentary, generally swimming only short distances, which may aid the giant otter in predation. Hunting in shallow water has also been found to be more rewarding, with water depth less than 0.6 metres (2.0 ft) having the highest success rate. The giant otter seems to be opportunistic, taking whatever species are most locally abundant. If fish are unavailable, it will also take crabs, snakes, and even small caimans and anacondas. The species can hunt singly, in pairs, and in groups, relying on sharp eyesight to locate prey. In some cases, supposed cooperative hunting may be incidental, a result of group members fishing individually in close proximity; truly coordinated hunting may only occur where the prey cannot be taken by a single giant otter, such as with small anacondas and juvenile black caiman. The giant otter seems to prefer prey fish that are generally immobile on river bottoms in clear water. Prey chase is rapid and tumultuous, with lunges and twists through the shallows and few missed targets. The otter can attack from both above and below, swiveling at the last instant to clamp the prey in its jaws. Giant otters catch their own food and consume it immediately; they grasp the fish firmly between the forepaws and begin eating noisily at the head. Carter and Rosas have found captive adult animals consume around 10% of their body weight daily—about 3 kilograms (7 lb), in keeping with findings in the wild. ## Ecology ### Habitat The species is amphibious, although primarily terrestrial. It occurs in freshwater rivers and streams, which generally flood seasonally. Other water habitats include freshwater springs and permanent freshwater lakes. Four specific vegetation types occur on one important creek in Suriname: riverbank high forest, floodable mixed marsh and high swamp forest, floodable low marsh forest, and grass islands and floating meadows within open areas of the creek itself. Duplaix identified two critical factors in habitat selection: food abundance, which appears to positively correlate to shallow water, and low sloping banks with good cover and easy access to preferred water types. The giant otter seems to choose clear, black waters with rocky or sandy bottoms over silty, saline, and white waters. Giant otters use areas beside rivers for building dens, campsites, and latrines. They clear significant amounts of vegetation while building their campsites. One report suggests maximum areas 28 m (92 ft) long and 15 m (49 ft) wide, well-marked by scent glands, urine, and feces to signal territory. Carter and Rosas found average areas a third this size. Giant otters adopt communal latrines beside campsites, and dig dens with a handful of entrances, typically under root systems or fallen trees. One report found between three and eight campsites, clustered around feeding areas. In seasonally flooded areas, the giant otter may abandon campsites during the wet season, dispersing to flooded forests in search of prey. Giant otters may adopt preferred locations perennially, often on high ground. These can become quite extensive, including "backdoor" exits into forests and swamps, away from the water. Otters do not visit or mark every site daily, but usually patrol all of them, often by a pair of otters in the morning. Research generally takes place in the dry season and an understanding of the species' overall habitat use remains partial. An analysis of dry season range size for three otter groups in Ecuador found areas between 0.45 and 2.79 square kilometres (0.17 and 1.08 sq mi). Utreras presumed habitat requirements and availability would differ dramatically in the rainy season: estimating range sizes of 1.98 to as much as 19.55 square kilometres (0.76 to 7.55 sq miles) for the groups. Other researchers suggest approximately 7 square kilometres (2.7 sq mi) and note a strong inverse correlation between sociality and home range size; the highly social giant otter has smaller home range sizes than would be expected for a species of its mass. Population densities varied with a high of 1.2/km<sup>2</sup> (3.1/sq mi) reported in Suriname and with a low of 0.154/km<sup>2</sup> (0.40/sq mi) found in Guyana. In 2021, conservationists at Fundación Rewilding spotted a wild giant otter swimming in the Bermejo River in Impenetrable National Park, located in the Chaco province of northeast Argentina. ### Predation and competition Adult giant otters living in family groups have no known serious natural predators; however, there are some accounts of black caimans in Peru and yacare caimans in the Pantanal preying on giant otters. In addition, solitary animals and young may be vulnerable to attacks by the jaguar, cougar, and anaconda, but this is based on historical reports, not direct observation. Pups are more vulnerable, and may be taken by caiman and other large predators, although adults are constantly mindful of stray young, and will harass and fight off possible predators. When in the water, the giant otter faces danger from animals not strictly preying upon it: the electric eel and stingray are potentially deadly if stumbled upon, and piranha may be capable of at least taking bites out of a giant otter, as evidenced by scarring on individuals. Even if without direct predation, the giant otter must still compete with other predators for food resources. Duplaix documented interaction with the Neotropical otter. While the two species are sympatric (with overlapping ranges) during certain seasons, there appeared to be no serious conflict. The smaller neotropical otter is far more shy, less noisy, and less social; at about a third the weight of the giant otter, it is more vulnerable to predation, hence, a lack of conspicuousness is to its advantage. The neotropical otter is active during twilight and darkness, reducing the likelihood of conflict with the diurnal giant otter. Its smaller prey, different denning habits, and different preferred water types also reduce interaction. Other species that prey upon similar food resources include the caimans and large fish that are themselves piscivores. Gymnotids, such as the electric eel, and the large silurid catfish are among aquatic competitors. Two river dolphins, the tucuxi and Amazon river dolphin, might potentially compete with the giant otter, but different spatial use and dietary preferences suggest minimal overlap. Furthermore, Defler observed associations between giant otters and the Amazon river dolphins, and suggested that dolphins may benefit by fish fleeing from the otters. The spectacled caiman is another potential competitor, but Duplaix found no conflict with the species in Suriname. ## Conservation status The IUCN listed the giant otter as "endangered" in 1999; it had been considered "vulnerable" under all previous listings from 1982 when sufficient data had first become available. It is regulated internationally under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) meaning commercial trade in specimens (including parts and derivatives) is prohibited. ### Threats The animal faces a variety of critical threats. Poaching has long been a problem. Statistics show between 1959 and 1969 Amazonian Brazil alone accounted for 1,000 to 3,000 pelts annually. The species was so thoroughly decimated, the number dropped to just 12 in 1971. The implementation of CITES in 1973 finally brought about significant hunting reductions, although demand did not disappear entirely: in the 1980s, pelt prices were as high as US\$250 on the European market. The threat has been exacerbated by the otters' relative fearlessness and tendency to approach human beings. They are extremely easy to hunt, being active through the day and highly inquisitive. The animal's relatively late sexual maturity and complex social life makes hunting especially disastrous. More recently, habitat destruction and degradation have become the principal dangers, and a further reduction of 50% is expected in giant otter numbers within the 20 years after 2004 (about the span of three generations of giant otters). Typically, loggers first move into rainforest, clearing the vegetation along riverbanks. Farmers follow, creating depleted soil and disrupted habitats. As human activity expands, giant otter home ranges become increasingly isolated. Subadults leaving in search of new territory find it impossible to set up family groups. Specific threats from human industry include unsustainable mahogany logging in parts of the giant otter range, and concentrations of mercury in its diet of fish, a byproduct of gold mining. Other threats to the giant otter include conflict with fishermen, who often view the species as a nuisance (see below). Ecotourism also presents challenges: while it raises money and awareness for the animals, by its nature it also increases human effect on the species, both through associated development and direct disturbances in the field. A number of restrictions on land use and human intrusion are required to properly maintain wild populations. Schenck et al., who undertook extensive fieldwork in Peru in the 1990s, suggest specific "no-go" zones where the species is most frequently observed, offset by observation towers and platforms to allow viewing. Limits on the number of tourists at any one time, fishing prohibitions, and a minimum safe distance of 50 metres (164 ft) are proposed to offer further protection. ### Distribution and population The giant otter has lost as much as 80% of its South American range. While still present in a number of north-central countries, giant otter populations are under considerable stress. The IUCN lists Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela as current range countries. Given local extinctions, the species' range has become discontinuous. Total population numbers are difficult to estimate. An IUCN study in 2006 suggested 1,000 to 5,000 otters remain. Populations in Bolivia were once widespread but the country became a "black spot" on distribution maps after poaching between the 1940s and 1970s; a relatively healthy, but still small, population of 350 was estimated in the country in 2002. The species has likely been extirpated from southern Brazil, but in the west of the country, decreased hunting pressure in the critical Pantanal has led to very successful recolonization; an estimate suggests 1,000 or more animals in the region. In 2006, most of this species lived in the Brazilian Amazon and its bordering areas. A significant population lives in the wetlands of the central Araguaia River, and in particular within Cantão State Park, which, with its 843 oxbow lakes and extensive flooded forests and marshlands, is one of the best habitat patches for this species in Brazil. Suriname still has significant forest cover and an extensive system of protected areas, much of which protects the giant otter. Duplaix returned to the country in 2000 and found the giant otter still present on the Kaburi Creek, a "jewel" of biodiversity, although increased human presence and land use suggests, sooner or later, the species may not be able to find suitable habitat for campsites. In a report for World Wildlife Fund in 2002, Duplaix was emphatic about the importance of Suriname and the other Guianas: > The three Guianas remain the last stronghold of giant otters in South America, with pristine giant otter habitat on some rivers and good giant otter densities overall—still, but for how long? The survival of the giant otter populations in the Guianas is essential to the survival of this endangered species in South America. Other countries have taken a lead in designating protected areas in South America. In 2004, Peru created one of the largest conservation areas in the world, Alto Purús National Park, with an area similar in size to Belgium. The park harbors many endangered plants and animals, including the giant otter, and holds the world record for mammal diversity. Bolivia designated wetlands larger than the size of Switzerland as a freshwater protected area in 2001; these are also home to the giant otter. ## Interactions with indigenous peoples Throughout its range, the giant otter interacts with indigenous groups, who often practice traditional hunting and fishing. A study of five indigenous communities in Colombia suggests native attitudes toward the animal are a threat: the otters are often viewed as a nuisance that interferes with fishing, and are sometimes killed. Even when told of the importance of the species to ecosystems and the danger of extinction, interviewees showed little interest in continuing to coexist with the species. Schoolchildren, however, had a more positive impression of the animal. In Suriname, the giant otter is not a traditional prey species for human hunters, which affords some protection. (One researcher has suggested the giant otter is hunted only in desperation due to its horrible taste.) The animal sometimes drowns in nets set across rivers and machete attacks by fishermen have been noted, according to Duplaix, but "tolerance is the rule" in Suriname. One difference in behavior was seen in the country in 2002: the normally inquisitive giant otters showed "active avoidance behavior with visible panic" when boats appeared. Logging, hunting, and pup seizure may have led groups to be far more wary of human activity. Local people sometimes take pups for the exotic pet trade or as pets for themselves, but the animal rapidly grows to become unmanageable. Duplaix relates the story of an Arawak Indian who took two pups from their parents. While revealing of the affection held for the animals, the seizure was a profound blow to the breeding pair, which went on to lose their territory to competitors. The species has also appeared in the folklore of the region. It plays an important role in the mythology of the Achuar people, where giant otters are seen as a form of the tsunki, or water spirits: they are a sort of "water people" who feed on fish. They appear in a fish poisoning legend where they assist a man who has wasted his sexual energy, creating the anacondas of the world from his distressed and extended genitals. The Bororó people have a legend on the origin of tobacco smoking: those who used the leaf improperly by swallowing it were punished by being transformed into giant otters; the Bororo also associate the giant otter with fish and with fire. A Ticuna legend has it that the giant otter exchanged places with the jaguar: the story says jaguar formerly lived in the water and the giant otter came to the land only to eat. The indigenous Kichwa peoples from Amazonian Peru believed in a world of water where Yaku runa reigned as mother of the water and was charged with caring for fish and animals. Giant otters served as Yaku runa's canoes. A Maxacali creation story suggests that the practice of otter fishing may have been prevalent in the past.
10,579,212	Battle of Verrières Ridge	1,126,558,400	Series of engagements, part of the Battle of Normandy, World War II	[ "1944 in France", "Battles of World War II involving Canada", "Battles of World War II involving Germany", "Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada", "Conflicts in 1944", "July 1944 events", "Land battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom", "Military history of Canada during World War II", "Operation Overlord" ]	The Battle of Verrières Ridge was a series of engagements fought as part of the Battle of Normandy, in Calvados, during the Second World War. The main combatants were two Canadian infantry divisions—with additional support from the Canadian 2nd Armoured Brigade—against elements of three German SS Panzer divisions. The battle was part of the British and Canadian tacks south of Caen, and took place from 19 to 25 July 1944, being part of Operation Atlantic (18–21 July) and Operation Spring (25–27 July). The immediate Allied objective was Verrières Ridge, a belt of high ground which dominates the route from Caen to Falaise. The ridge was occupied by battle-hardened German veterans, who had fallen back from Caen and entrenched to form a strong defensive position. Over the course of six days, substantial Canadian and British forces made repeated attempts to capture the ridge. Strict German adherence to defensive doctrine, as well as strong and effective counterattacks by Panzer formations, resulted in many Allied casualties for little tactical gain. From the perspective of the First Canadian Army, the battle is remembered for its tactical and strategic miscalculations—the most notable being a highly controversial attack by The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada on 25 July, in which 315 of its 325 soldiers were killed, wounded or captured. This attack—the costliest single day for a Canadian battalion since the 1942 Dieppe Raid—has become one of the most contentious and critically analysed events in Canadian military history. While failing to achieve its original objective, an important strategic result of the Battle of Verrières Ridge was to aid the overwhelmingly successful Operation Cobra, by tying down powerful German Panzer formations that might otherwise have been moved to counter-attack Cobra. ## Background Verrières Ridge lies 8 km (5.0 mi) south of the city of Caen, overlooking broad plains and dominating the land between Caen and Falaise. Although an important D-Day objective for Commonwealth forces, the Allied push inland was halted short of Caen and positional warfare ensued until the first week of July. On 9 July, Operation Charnwood captured the northern half of the city but the I SS Panzer Corps maintained defensive positions in the remainder of Caen. A week later, Operation Goodwood renewed the British offensive and Caen finally fell on 19 July; by this time the city had been destroyed. The next Anglo-Canadian goal was the town of Falaise but Verrières Ridge—now strongly defended by the I SS Panzer Corps—stood in their path. Elements of the British Second Army secured part of the adjacent Bourguébus Ridge and managed to gain a foothold on Verrières Ridge but were unable to dislodge its German defenders. ## Forces involved The Canadian II Corps (Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds) assigned two infantry divisions and one armoured brigade to the assault on the German positions around Verrières. The Canadian 3rd Infantry Division—having suffered many casualties during the first six weeks of the Normandy campaign—was given a supporting role. The main effort was to be made by the fresh, though relatively inexperienced, Canadian 2nd Infantry Division, along with the tanks of the Canadian 2nd Armoured Brigade. Additional forces were later made available in the shape of three divisions from the British I Corps: the 51st (Highland) Division, the Guards Armoured Division, and the British 7th Armoured Division. Despite having significantly more combat experience than their Canadian counterparts, the British units played a minor part in the battle. While British forces had been attacking Caen, elements of the I SS Panzer Corps, part of Army Group B (Generalfeldmarschall Günther von Kluge) had turned Verrières Ridge into their main defensive position along the Anglo-Canadian front. Although not particularly high, the ridge's topography meant that advancing forces would be exposed to fire from German positions across the River Orne, from the ridge and from the nearby German-held industrial hamlet of St. Martin. The 12th SS and 1st SS Panzer Divisions held the ridge supported by artillery, dug-in Tiger tanks and mortar emplacements. The 9th SS Panzer Division—was held in reserve. Further support was available from the 272nd Grenadier Infantry Division (a force composed mainly of Russians and Poles that had been raised in 1943), the 116th Panzer Division and a battalion of Tiger tanks. ## Battle ### Attack of Calgary Highlanders In a follow-up to Operation Goodwood on 19 July, the Calgary Highlanders attempted to take the northern spur of Verrières Ridge but German mortar fire limited their progress. Tanks from the Sherbrooke Fusiliers were sent to support the battalion and eliminated several machine-gun positions on either side of Point 67. The Highlanders eventually managed to dig in, despite accurate return fire. Over the next few hours, they strengthened their position and the 5th and 6th Canadian Infantry Brigades made repeated attempts to exploit the gains. Against a tenacious German defence and minor infantry and tank counter-attacks, the Canadians were broadly repulsed with heavy casualties. Simonds rapidly prepared a new offensive for the following day, with the goals of capturing both the eastern side of the Orne river and the main slopes of Verrières Ridge. ### Operation Atlantic The next attack took place on 20 July as part of Operation Atlantic. It was led by the South Saskatchewan Regiment, with supporting units from the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada. In the early hours of 20 July, the Camerons secured a position in Saint-André-sur-Orne but were quickly pinned down by German infantry and tanks. At the same time, the South Saskatchewan Regiment moved directly up the slopes of Verrières Ridge, supported by tanks and Hawker Typhoon ground attack aircraft. The Canadian attack faltered in torrential rain, which rendered air support useless and turned the ground into mud. Counter-attacks by two Panzer divisions threw the South Saskatchewans back past their support lines and their supporting battalion—the Essex Scottish—came under attack. The Essex Scottish lost over 300 men as it tried to hold back the advance of the 12th SS Panzer Division, while to the east the remainder of I SS Panzer Corps engaged British forces in Operation Goodwood, the largest armoured battle of the campaign. By the end of the day, the South Saskatchewans had taken 282 casualties and the ridge was still in enemy hands. Despite these setbacks, Simonds was adamant that Verrières Ridge should be taken and sent in the Black Watch of Canada and the Calgary Highlanders to stabilise the precarious Allied position. Minor counter-attacks by both battalions on 21 July managed to contain Dietrich's armoured formations and by the time the operation was called off, Canadian forces held several footholds on the ridge, including a now secure position on Point 67. Four German divisions still held the ridge. In all, the actions around Verrières Ridge during Operation Atlantic accounted for over 1,300 Allied casualties. ### Operation Spring With the capture of Caen on 19 July, an Anglo-Canadian breakout had become strategically feasible. In the American sector, Lieutenant General Omar Bradley—commander of the U.S. 1st Army—had been planning his own breakout (codenamed Operation Cobra) and Simonds too began preparing a new offensive, codenamed Operation Spring. Spring was originally conceived by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery as a "holding attack", designed to tie down German forces while Cobra was under way. On 22 July, with Operation Atlantic having failed to achieve its aims, Simonds changed the objective of Operation Spring to a breakout offensive. With Verrières Ridge taken, Simonds could launch armour and artillery attacks from its southern flank to push the Germans further back. This would clear the Caen-Falaise road and his two British armoured divisions could then advance south to Falaise. Operation Spring was scheduled in four timed phases. The Calgary Highlanders would attack Bourguébus Ridge and May-sur-Orne to secure the flanks of the main thrust, which was to be a move on Verrières Ridge by the Black Watch, along with armoured support from the British 7th Armoured Division and the 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division. The plan called for the offensive to start on 23 July but poor weather led to a postponement for 48 hours. Taking advantage of this respite, the I SS Panzer Corps reinforced the ridge with an additional four battalions, 480 tanks and 500 guns. Allied Intelligence learned of this reinforcement through Ultra signals intercepts and advised Simonds's headquarters. On 25 July, two days later than originally planned owing to the weather, Operation Spring was launched. The Black Watch were scheduled to begin their attack at about 05:30 from an assembly area at Saint-Martin, 6 km (3.7 mi) south of Caen. The Canadians ran into heavy German resistance on the Saint-Martin road and did not arrive at their assembly area until close to 08:00. By that time, the Black Watch's two highest-ranking officers had been killed and command fell to Major Phil Griffin. At 08:30, he met with 5th Brigade commander, Brigadier General W. J. Megill and despite the non-arrival of most of their promised armoured support, the decision was taken for the attack to proceed. At 09:30, as the Canadian infantry regiments advanced up the ridge, they were easy targets for the well-entrenched German machine gun nests and mortar pits, supported by tanks, 88 mm (3.46 in) anti-tank guns, and Nebelwerfer rocket artillery. To make matters worse, the Black Watch communications were knocked out within minutes of the start of their assault. Very few members of the Black Watch Regiment managed to make it to the crest of the ridge and those who did were subjected to an even heavier bombardment as they ran into the counter-attacking forces of the 272nd Infantry Division and the 9th SS Kampfgruppe Sterz. Of the 325 men that left the assembly area, 315 were killed, wounded or captured. The Black Watch lost all its senior commanders, including Major Phil Griffin, with two companies virtually annihilated. ## Aftermath All of the gains made by the Black Watch and Calgary Highlanders were lost to German counterattacks, which inflicted heavy losses on the Highlanders and the previously unscathed Black Watch support company. The Black Watch had to be reformed after Verrières Ridge, having sustained more casualties than any Canadian infantry battalion since the disastrous 1942 raid on Dieppe. The central area of the ridge near Verrières Village was eventually taken and held by the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry. The east side was also taken, but subsequently lost, although two British armoured brigades were able to secure significant footholds near the positions of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry. The failure to capture the ridge had little effect on the overall Allied position, as the success of Operation Cobra was so overwhelming that the Germans diverted significant resources, including two Panzer divisions, from the ridge in their attempt to keep Bradley's forces boxed in. With German defences weakened, subsequent Commonwealth attacks on the ridge were successful; Operation Totalize finally managed to wrest the position from its SS defenders on 8 August. ### Casualties Allied casualty figures for the battle as a whole were not produced but can be inferred by examining the two operations. The accepted toll for Operation Atlantic is 1,349, with about 300 fatalities. Operation Spring's losses were about 500 killed with a further 1,000 captured or wounded. Working from these figures, historians estimate around 800 Canadian dead and 2,000 wounded or captured. The Canadian dead are buried in Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery, between Caen and Falaise. The Canadian Official Historian Charles Stacey, and military historian Michael Reynolds, wrote that German casualty figures for individual operations are difficult to determine. Stacey attributes this to the gradual degradation of the German logistics chain, leaving incomplete records, and Reynolds wrote that units sometimes over-reported their losses, in the hope of receiving more reinforcements. German losses for the battle were significantly fewer than those suffered by the Canadians. According to Reynolds, between 16 July and 1 August, the 1st SS Panzer Division lost 1,092 men killed, wounded or captured—along with 11 Panzer IV tanks and 10 Sturmgeschütz III self-propelled guns—in fighting across all its fronts including at Verrières. Over a similar period, he estimates the 12th SS Panzer Division—in all sectors—suffered only 134 casualties. Many of the German fallen are buried at La Cambe German war cemetery. ## Historiography and controversy The Battle of Verrières Ridge, although given no particular prominence in German military history, is one of the First Canadian Army's most scrutinised actions. The matter was first brought to public attention by Stacey, who wrestled with the question of how to present the battle in the Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War and was required to make minor changes to the narrative of the battle by Simonds. When Stacey was writing the history, as senior historian of the Historical Section of the Canadian Army, Simonds was the Chief of the General Staff of the Canadian Army and so was effectively Stacey's superior. The report on Operation Spring by Simonds was released after the war and blamed its failure on "11th hour reinforcement" of German lines and "strategically unsound execution on the part of Major Phillip Griffin and the Black Watch". Declassified wartime documents show that Simonds, along with several others in the Allied high command, had likely been notified on 23 July of a massive German build-up on the ridge. Some historians, including David O'Keefe and David Bercuson, accused Simonds of being careless with the lives of his men. Terry Copp and John A. English wrote that given the amount of pressure under which all Allied commanders were to break out from Normandy, Simonds probably had little choice in the decision he made. Operation Spring succeeded in its later-defined objective of a "holding attack" and aided the overwhelming success of Operation Cobra by tying down powerful German formations, which might otherwise have been in the American sector, and that precluded any immediate inquiry into its failure. The German commander of the Normandy Sector, Günther von Kluge, was at the Canadian front on 25 July, instead of the American front, where the eventual breakout occurred. The Battle of Verrières Ridge had little overall effect on British attempts to break out of Caen, as significant resources were transferred to the American front in the aftermath of Cobra to exploit Bradley's success. The ridge eventually fell to the general Allied advance.
24,423,012	Little Butte Creek	1,104,659,028	River in Oregon, USA	[ "Eagle Point, Oregon", "Rivers of Jackson County, Oregon", "Rivers of Klamath County, Oregon", "Rivers of Oregon", "Rogue River (Oregon)", "White City, Oregon" ]	Little Butte Creek is a 17-mile-long (27 km) tributary of the Rogue River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Its drainage basin consists of approximately 354 square miles (917 km<sup>2</sup>) of Jackson County and another 19 square miles (49 km<sup>2</sup>) of Klamath County. Its two forks, the North Fork and the South Fork, both begin high in the Cascade Range near Mount McLoughlin and Brown Mountain. They both flow generally west until they meet near Lake Creek. The main stem continues west, flowing through the communities of Brownsboro, Eagle Point, and White City, before finally emptying into the Rogue River about 3 miles (5 km) southwest of Eagle Point. Little Butte Creek's watershed was originally settled by the Takelma, and possibly the Shasta tribes of Native Americans. In the Rogue River Wars of the 1850s, most of the Native Americans were either killed or forced onto Indian reservations. Early settlers named Little Butte Creek and nearby Big Butte Creek after their proximity to Mount McLoughlin, which was known as Snowy Butte. In the late 19th century, the watershed was primarily used for agriculture and lumber production. The city of Eagle Point was incorporated in 1911, and remains the only incorporated town within the watershed's boundaries. Large amounts of water are diverted from Little Butte Creek for irrigation, water storage, and power generation. Canal systems deliver the water to nearby Howard Prairie Lake and the Klamath River watershed, Agate Lake, and the Rogue Valley. Despite being moderately polluted, the creek is one of the best salmon-producing tributaries of the Rogue River. Coho and Chinook salmon migrate upstream each year; however, several dams hinder their progress. A fish ladder was built in 2005 to help fish swim past a dam constructed in Eagle Point in the 1880s, but was destroyed by flooding just three months later. It was rebuilt in 2008. Restoration of a 1.3-mile (2.1 km) artificially straightened section of the creek in the Denman Wildlife Area was completed in 2011. ## Course Little Butte Creek begins in the Cascade Range near Mount McLoughlin and Brown Mountain. It flows generally west over approximately 17 miles (27 km) to its confluence with the Rogue River. There are two main forks of Little Butte Creek: the North Fork and the South Fork. The South Fork's headwaters are at 5,713 feet (1,741 m) above sea level, while the North Fork's headwaters are considerably lower at 4,638 feet (1,414 m). They meet each other at 1,647 feet (502.0 m), creating the main stem itself. Little Butte Creek's mouth is at 1,204 feet (367.0 m) above sea level, giving the creek an overall gradient of approximately 25 feet per mile (4.7 m/km). The north fork begins at Fish Lake, near Mount McLoughlin. It flows west, collecting only minor tributaries, before merging with the south fork. The south fork's headwaters are just south of the 7,311-foot-tall (2,228 m) Brown Mountain. The Pacific Crest Trail passes through this area. It flows west, receiving Beaver Dam Creek and Dead Indian Creek on the left bank. Beaver Dam Creek drains approximately 28 square miles (73 km<sup>2</sup>), and Dead Indian Creek has a watershed of about 22 square miles (57 km<sup>2</sup>). The Dead Indian Soda Springs are on Dead Indian Creek, about a mile south of its confluence with the south fork. The south fork then turns northwest, collecting water from Lost Creek on the left, near the Lost Creek Bridge, built in 1919. Lost Creek drains about 17 square miles (44 km<sup>2</sup>). Just after the two forks merge about 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Medford, Little Butte Creek receives Lake Creek on the left bank, flowing through the community of the same name at river mile (RM) 17 or river kilometer (RK) 27. Lake Creek drains 15 square miles (39 km<sup>2</sup>). The main stem is crossed by South Fork Little Butte Creek Road in Lake Creek. Water is diverted here into the Joint System Canal for storage in Agate Lake and to provide irrigation for the Medford region. A few miles west, the creek receives Salt Creek and Lick Creek on the right bank, which have watersheds of 17 and 16 square miles (44 and 41 km<sup>2</sup>), respectively. Oregon Route 140 crosses the creek at RM 10 (RK 16). The creek turns southwest, flowing through Eagle Point. Four bridges span the stream in Eagle Point: East Main Street, Loto Street, and the Antelope Creek Bridge near RM 5 (RK 8), and Oregon Route 62 at RM 4 (RK 6). Near RM 3 (RK 5), Little Butte Creek receives Antelope Creek on the left. Antelope Creek is its largest tributary, draining 58 square miles (150 km<sup>2</sup>). Agate Lake on Dry Creek is in the Antelope Creek watershed. At RM 1.5 (RK 2.4) the creek is crossed by Agate Road. It then flows into the Rogue River 132 miles (212 km) from its mouth at the Pacific Ocean. Little Butte Creek's mouth is in the Denman Wildlife Area, approximately 3 miles (5 km) southwest of Eagle Point, and about a mile southeast of Upper Table Rock. ### Discharge The United States Geological Survey monitored the flow of Little Butte Creek at seven different stream gauges: two on the south fork, three on the north fork, and two on the main stem. The first opened in 1908 at the newly constructed Fish Lake Dam on the north fork, while the last opened in 1927 near the Big Elk Ranger Station on the south fork. By 1989, all seven were closed. The data recorded by the lowermost gauges of both forks and the main stem are listed below. ## Watershed Little Butte Creek drains approximately 373 square miles (966 km<sup>2</sup>) of southern Oregon. Elevations range from 1,204 feet (367.0 m) at the mouth of the creek to 9,495 feet (2,894 m) at the summit of Mount McLoughlin, with an average of 3,496 feet (1,066 m). Forest accounts for about 65 percent of the total area of the watershed, while 32 percent is farmland. The remaining three percent is within the Eagle Point city limits. Forty-eight percent of the watershed is federally owned, 50 percent is privately owned, and Eagle Point accounts for the remaining two percent. Over 10,000 people live within the watershed's boundaries. The region experiences a Mediterranean climate. Temperatures average from 90 °F (32 °C) in the summer to 20 °F (−6.7 °C) in the winter. The average precipitation in the area ranges from 19 inches (480 mm) in the lower regions to over 50 inches (1,300 mm) in the upper reaches. July through October are the driest months, while December through April are the wettest. Thirty-four percent of the surface runoff in the watershed is collected from rain, 31 percent from rain on snow, and 35 percent from snowmelt. The two main geologic regions in the Little Butte Creek watershed are the High Cascades and the western Cascades. The western Cascades make up the western two thirds of the watershed, generally below 4,800 feet (1,500 m) in elevation. Steep, rugged canyons are common in this region. The lower stretches of the watershed contain soils such as decomposed lavas, clay, and gravel. The High Cascades compose the eastern third of the watershed, including volcanoes such as Brown Mountain and Mount McLoughlin, and lava plateaus. In some places, streams descend over 300 feet per mile (60 m/km). Nearby watersheds include two Rogue River tributaries—Big Butte Creek to the north and Bear Creek to the south—and small Klamath River tributaries to the east. As of 2003, there were 581 water rights recorded in the watershed, with 394 of them related to irrigation. Four hundred sixty-six water diversions were also recorded. In the summer, many streams are over-appropriated, leading to frequent water shortages along the lower portion of the creek. ## Flora and fauna The flora in the Little Butte Creek watershed is predominately temperate coniferous forest, which makes up approximately 65 percent of the total area. The lower regions are covered with chaparral, and the upper regions by fir forests. The chaparral region is inhabited by oaks such as garry oak and California black oak, with an understory of buckbrush and manzanita. Coast douglas-fir, sugar pine, ponderosa pine, California incense-cedar, and white fir are the most common trees found in the mixed coniferous forest. Shasta red fir, white fir, and the noble fir grow in the higher elevations of the watershed. Mountain hemlock, lodgepole pine, Sitka mountain-ash, and squashberry also grow in this region. Chinquapin can be found around Fish Lake. The most common species of plants above 6,000 feet (1,800 m) near the tree line on Mount McLoughlin and Brown Mountain include whitebark pine, mountain hemlock, Coast Range subalpine fir, heather, and mountain heather. Many species of birds have been spotted in the Little Butte Creek region. Twenty-two species are known to breed in the chaparral region, including several species of wrens, blackbirds, and sparrows. The mixed coniferous forest is home to white-headed woodpeckers, pygmy nuthatches, green-tailed towhees, northern pygmy-owls, Vaux's swifts, winter wrens, and MacGillivray's warblers. The American coot has also been spotted in several places along the creek. Williamson's sapsuckers, black-backed woodpeckers, Canada jays, and hermit warblers frequent the higher elevations. The near-threatened olive-sided flycatcher and Cassin's finch also live in this area. Eurasian three-toed woodpeckers and Clark's nutcrackers have been spotted near the tree line. The endangered Townsend's big-eared bat is known to live in the watershed. Little Butte Creek is known to be one of the best salmon producing tributaries of the Rogue River, and is also one of only a few streams in the Upper Rogue watershed to support salmon populations. The most common anadromous fish inhabiting the creek include chinook and coho salmon, and sea-run cutthroat trout. The Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast Coho Salmon Evolutionary Significant Unit is listed as threatened (2011). Coho salmon are known to spawn in 46 miles (74 km) of streams in the Little Butte Creek watershed. An estimated 35,131 Coho salmon lived in the creek in 2002. Resident fish include coastal cutthroat trout, sculpins, rainbow trout, and brook trout. ## History The Little Butte Creek area was originally settled by the Takelma, and possibly the Shasta tribe of Native Americans. The first non-indigenous settlers arrived in the Eagle Point region in 1852. Little Butte Creek was named by the early settlers for its close proximity to Mount McLoughlin (also known as Snowy Butte), as was nearby Big Butte Creek. Due to conflicts with the Rogue River Indians, Major J. A. Lupton gathered 35 men from Jacksonville on October 8, 1855, and attacked the Native Americans near the mouth of Little Butte Creek, killing about 30 of them. Lupton was also killed, and eleven of his men were injured. On December 24 of the same year, Captain Miles Alcorn discovered and attacked a Native American camp on the north fork, killing eight. On Christmas, the following day, another band of Native Americans were attacked near Little Butte Creek's mouth; some fled, while the rest were either captured or killed. By the late 1850s, the land was primarily used for agriculture and lumber in the upper regions. A sawmill was constructed on the north fork in the 1870s. In 1901, the Sunnyside Hotel was built by Alfred Howlett on the banks of the creek in Eagle Point. Eagle Point was later incorporated in 1911, and remains the only incorporated town in the watershed. In 1917, manganese ore was discovered near the confluence of South Fork Little Butte Creek and its tributary, Lost Creek. Mined nodules consisted of approximately 55 percent manganese and weighed up to 50 pounds (23 kg). Cinnabar was also discovered in the area. In 1922, the 58-foot-long (18 m) Antelope Creek Covered Bridge was constructed on Antelope Creek. It was moved to Little Butte Creek in Eagle Point in 1987. ### Diversions and dams Some of the water in the Little Butte Creek watershed is diverted to irrigate the Rogue Valley and to supplement Bear Creek, both roughly 15 miles (24 km) to the southwest. In the late 19th century, a large number of orchards were planted near Ashland. They were initially irrigated by Bear Creek; however, there was not enough water to satisfy the orchards' needs. In 1898, the Fish Lake Water Company was established to solve the problem. The company proposed the enlargement of Fourmile and Fish lakes by impounding Fourmile Creek and North Fork Little Butte Creek, respectively, and connecting them via the Cascade Canal. Construction of the temporary Fish Lake Dam began in 1902. Around this time, construction of the Joint System Canal to the west also began. Construction of Fourmile Lake Dam started in 1906, along with the Cascade Canal. A network of other small canals, such as Hopkins Canal and the Medford Canal, were also built in the Rogue Valley around this time. Fish Lake Dam was completed in 1908, creating the 7,836-acre-foot (9,666,000 m<sup>3</sup>) reservoir. The Cascade Canal was completed in 1915, delivering about 5,462 acre-feet (6,737,000 m<sup>3</sup>) of water from Fourmile Lake in the Klamath River watershed 4.5 miles (7.2 km) southwest to Fish Lake in the Rogue River watershed. The temporary Fish Lake Dam was also replaced by a permanent earthfill dam. It was later modified in 1922 and 1955. In 1996 an auxiliary spillway was added. The dam stands 50 feet (15 m) high and has a length of 960 feet (293 m). In 1956, the United States Bureau of Reclamation awarded a contract to Portland, Oregon-based Lord Brothers to build the Deadwood Tunnel. The tunnel was finished in 1957. Howard Prairie Lake was completed in 1958, and is about 18 miles (29 km) east of Ashland. Excess water is diverted from the South Fork, Beaver Dam Creek, and two of its tributaries 8.6 miles (14 km) south into the Deadwood Tunnel to supplement the lake and the surrounding regions. Dead Indian Creek is also diverted into Howard Prairie Lake. About 21.4 cubic feet per second (0.606 m<sup>3</sup>/s) annually, or about 16,500 acre-feet (20,400,000 m<sup>3</sup>), was diverted into the Klamath River watershed between 1962 and 1999. The Howard Prairie Delivery Canal was completed in 1959, along with Keene Creek Reservoir, Cascade Tunnel, and Greensprings Tunnel. Water from Howard Prairie Lake is diverted into the canal west to Keene Creek Reservoir, about 16 miles (26 km) east of Ashland. Nearby Hyatt Reservoir also provides water. It is then piped through the mile-long Cascade Tunnel to the Greensprings Power Plant, which generates about 18 megawatts of power. Afterward, the water is conveyed from the power plant 2 miles (3 km) through the Greensprings Tunnel into Emigrant Creek, a tributary of Bear Creek. An average of approximately 38,620 acre-feet (47,640,000 m<sup>3</sup>) of water flows through the tunnel. The water eventually ends up in Emigrant Lake, about 8 miles (10 km) southeast of Ashland, where it either continues along Bear Creek, or is diverted for irrigation. ### Butte Creek Mill The Butte Creek Mill, originally named Snowy Butte Mill, was built in 1872 on the banks of Little Butte Creek about 5.5 miles (8.9 km) from its mouth. A diversion dam was built in the 1880s to provide water for the turbine that powers the mill. The dam was a damaging fish barrier in the watershed. In 2005, the Rogue Basin Fish Access Team built a \$250,000 concrete fish ladder to allow fish to swim past the dam. A small weir made of boulders was built at the base of the ladder, creating a 9-inch (20 cm) jump between the creek and the ladder; however, the boulders were washed away in a severe storm just three months later, making the distance between them over 24 inches (61 cm). The weir was rebuilt in 2008 for about \$122,500, with concrete instead of boulders. The mill is now included on the National Register of Historic Places, and is the only gristmill in Oregon to still grind flour. It is also the oldest water-powered gristmill west of the Mississippi River. On Christmas morning, December 25, 2015, the store had a fire and was considered a total loss. There are plans to rebuild, which have been overtaken by a foundation dedicated to its reconstruction. In February 2021, the mill risked losing its ability to operate because of a possible sale of its water rights, which were ultimately sold to a conservation group which allowed the mill to operate while protecting local aquatic wildlife. ### Restoration Intense flooding occurred throughout the Rogue Valley in 1955, and Little Butte Creek's meanders in the Denman Wildlife Area between Eagle Point and the Rogue River were blamed for severe erosion. The 1.3-mile (2.1 km) section of the creek was subsequently bulldozed and straightened in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The straightness forced water downward instead of outward like a typical creek, scouring the stream bed down to bedrock and creating an unsuitable habitat for wild salmon. In 2007, a plan to divert the creek back into its old meanders was proposed. The \$700,000 project involved building engineered riffles and log jams and adding boulders, extending the creek by approximately 3,500 feet (1,100 m). It was completed in September 2011. ## Pollution The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has monitored Little Butte Creek for eight different parameters that affect water quality: temperature, oxygen saturation, pH, nutrients, bacteria, chemical contaminants such as pesticides and metals, turbidity, and alkalinity. Streams that exceed the standard level are then placed on the DEQ 303d list in accordance with the Clean Water Act. About 40 percent of the streams in the Little Butte Creek watershed were listed on the 2002 DEQ 303d list. The entire main stem exceeded the standard level for temperature, oxygen saturation, fecal coliforms (bacteria), and turbidity. The lower 6.5 miles (10 km) of the North Fork were listed for high temperature and elevated levels of E. coli, while the upper region was affected by chlorophyll a and pH levels. The South Fork was listed for turbidity and temperature. Overall, high temperature is the most common problem in the Little Butte Creek watershed. This is most likely caused by water diversion and depleted riparian zones. Approximately 53 percent of riparian zones in the watershed are damaged due to agriculture or deforestation, while 43 percent are classified as healthy. Another threat to healthy riparian zones are invasive blackberries, which crowd out native vegetation and provide little shade. The resulting higher water temperatures can be very harmful to anadromous fish. High concentration of bacteria is also an issue. In 2003, the Little Butte Creek Watershed Council rated the health of the Little Butte Creek watershed on a scale of 1 (slightly degraded) to 5 (severely degraded). Overall, the watershed received 2.95, or moderately degraded. On the Oregon Water Quality Index (OWQI) used by DEQ, water quality scores can vary from 10 (worst) to 100 (ideal). The average for Little Butte Creek at RM 1.4 (RK 2.3) between 1998 and 2007 was 72 (poor) in the summer and 82 (fair) in the fall, winter, and spring. ## Recreation The Little Butte Creek watershed contains several points of interest. Popular activities in and around Fish Lake include fishing, swimming, and boating. Two campgrounds are on the banks of the lake: Doe Point and the Fish Lake Resort. Several trails in the area lead to the much larger Pacific Crest Trail. Two snowparks are on Oregon Route 140. The Eagle Point Golf Course is in the watershed, built in 1995 by the world-renowned golf course architect Robert Trent Jones, Jr. Another course, Stone Ridge Golf Course, is near Agate Lake. The Butte Creek Mill and the Antelope and Lost Creek covered bridges are also popular attractions. Several historic structures can be found in Eagle Point, including the Eagle Point Museum, built in 1925 as the Long Mountain School, and the Walter Wood House, constructed in 1879. The Denman Wildlife Area is at the mouth of Little Butte Creek, as is nearby TouVelle State Park. ## See also - List of rivers of Oregon
2,308,525	Shooting of James Ashley	1,147,682,076	1998 killing of unarmed man in UK	[ "1958 births", "1990s in East Sussex", "1998 deaths", "1998 in England", "2000s trials", "2008 in United Kingdom case law", "Deaths by firearm in England", "Deaths by person in England", "Hastings", "House of Lords cases", "January 1998 events in the United Kingdom", "Murder trials", "Negligence case law", "People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United Kingdom", "Police misconduct in England", "Trials in London", "United Kingdom tort case law" ]	James Ashley (1958 – 15 January 1998) was a British man who, while unarmed and naked, was shot dead by police in his flat in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, on 15 January 1998. Armed officers raided the building on the suspicion that Ashley kept a firearm and a quantity of cocaine there, and to arrest him and another man in connection with a stabbing. Neither a firearm nor a significant quantity of drugs was found, the other man was not present, and it later emerged that Ashley was not implicated in the stabbing. Ashley, likely woken by the noise of the raid, was out of bed when an armed police officer entered his bedroom. On seeing the officer, Ashley raised one arm and the officer reacted by firing a single shot. Later that morning, Sussex Police chief constable Paul Whitehouse held a press conference in which he praised the conduct of the operation. Two inquiries were held by other police forces under the auspices of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), both of which strongly criticised the raid. The first found that the use of armed officers breached national guidelines, that the raid team had been inadequately trained, and that the officers in charge of it had received no training for their roles and had misrepresented intelligence to gain authorisation for the operation. The second inquiry accused Whitehouse, Deputy Chief Constable Mark Jordan, and Sussex's two assistant chief constables of colluding to obstruct the first. It suggested that Whitehouse knowingly gave false statements in his press conference, and recommended criminal charges against three of the four. The officer who shot Ashley was charged with murder in 2001 but acquitted on the grounds of self-defence. The officers who led the operation were charged with misconduct in public office and were also acquitted. No criminal charges were brought against the chief officers, but Jordan and Whitehouse both faced disciplinary proceedings. Jordan was suspended and allowed to retire in 2001. Whitehouse resigned in the same year under pressure from the Home Secretary, David Blunkett. His successor publicly apologised to Ashley's family in 2003. Ashley's father and son sued the police for negligence and battery in Ashley v Chief Constable of Sussex Police. The police offered to settle all damages under the action for negligence and the other claims were struck out at the High Court, which the family appealed. The case reached the House of Lords (then the United Kingdom's highest court), where the appeal was successful. The lords confirmed that the threshold for a plea of self-defence in a civil case was higher than in a criminal one and that it was for the litigants, not the judge, to decide which causes of action to pursue, even where no further damages were available. Ashley's death has been compared to other mistaken police shootings in the United Kingdom, including those of Stephen Waldorf, John Shorthouse, Harry Stanley, and Jean Charles de Menezes. It was one of the cases considered in a 2003 report by the PCA which recommended stronger control of armed operations and equipping armed officers with less-lethal alternatives such as tasers. ## Prelude James "Jimmy" Ashley was a 39-year-old man from Liverpool living in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, on the south coast of England. Ashley and a group of friends occupied three of the six flats in a converted house in Western Road. He was suspected by Sussex Police of being involved in the distribution of heroin, and the police had heard rumours that he owned a gun. They placed the house under surveillance in October 1997, though the operation was wound up without producing any substantive evidence. On 7 January 1998, Ashley was present when Thomas "Tosh" McCrudden, a friend he had been drinking with, stabbed and seriously wounded another man in an argument outside a pub in Hastings town centre. Ashley's only involvement was to pull McCrudden away from the victim. In the following week, armed officers were deployed to pursue several leads but failed to apprehend McCrudden. Officers believed McCrudden was staying in the Western Road house and formulated a plan to raid it. Detectives obtained a search warrant based on a tip-off from an officer in the regional crime squad that a large quantity of cocaine had been delivered to the house, and the plan to use armed officers was authorised by the deputy chief constable, Mark Jordan, based on the rumour that Ashley had a firearm. The officers conducting the raid were briefed that McCrudden was dangerous and known to be in the flats and about the potential firearm. They were also told, incorrectly, that Ashley was wanted for shooting a man in Eastbourne and had a previous conviction for attempted murder. At the time, it was the largest firearms operation in Sussex Police's history, using 25 armed officers. ## Shooting On 15 January, at approximately 04:30, officers from Sussex Police executed a search warrant on the Western Road house. The operation had three stated objectives—the apprehension of McCrudden, the retrieval of the cocaine, and the seizure of the firearm. It used a technique known as "Bermuda", which was originally designed for hostage-rescue operations but had become standard in Sussex Police for rapid entry operations to secure evidence. The technique was known to be high-risk as it involved lone officers rapidly entering an assigned room before calling in backup if a threat was found, and had previously been criticised in the media, while other police forces had discontinued its use. Only four of the six occupants of the flats were the target of the raid, but the police did not have details of which occupants lived in which of the flats. The police also lacked plans for the building, which hampered the raid when they encountered a locked internal door. Once opened, the door blocked the entrance to Ashley's flat, further delaying the officers. Ashley had been naked in bed when his girlfriend woke him to investigate a noise, likely caused by police forcing doors in the building. As he moved towards the door of his darkened bedroom, he suddenly encountered one of the officers. Ashley raised his arm, to which the officer reacted by firing a single shot at a range of about two feet (60 cm). Ashley was hit in the armpit and the bullet travelled to his heart, killing him almost immediately. At the conclusion of the raid, no firearms or significant quantity of drugs (only a small quantity of cannabis) was found. Three men in two other flats were arrested but McCrudden was not among them and none were wanted by the police; all three were later released without charge. On the day of the raid, Sussex Police's chief constable, Paul Whitehouse, held a press conference at which he announced that Ashley had been wanted for attempted murder. He praised the conduct of the operation, and claimed that the deployment of armed officers had been justified and necessary. ## Inquiries An inquiry was launched by neighbouring Kent Police under the supervision of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), and led by Barbara Wilding, an assistant chief constable. Two police constables (including PC Christopher Sherwood, the officer who shot Ashley) were suspended, along with three more senior officers—a superintendent and two inspectors. Two superintendents from other police forces, experts on police firearms policy, gave evidence to the Kent Police inquiry that the operation did not follow national guidelines for police use of firearms, and that the use of armed officers was not necessary to apprehend McCrudden as there was no evidence that he had access to firearms; further, if a firearm was believed to be in the flat, the preferable tactic would have been to arrest the suspects on the street rather than send police officers into the building. The investigation further found that the use of armed officers in earlier attempts to arrest McCrudden also breached national guidelines, in that senior officers improperly granted authority for the use of firearms, and that on several occasions armed officers self-deployed without authorisation at all. The inquiry revealed that neither the police officer in charge of the manhunt for McCrudden (the incident commander) nor the intelligence commander on the operation were adequately trained for their roles and that they had been warned against the use of the "Bermuda" tactic by national experts because it presented too high a risk for the stated objectives, and that the police had failed to prepare for the operation by obtaining plans for the building and details of other occupants. It also emerged that the officers deployed on the raid had never trained as a group in the use of the tactic, and that Sherwood had never been trained in it individually. The Kent inquiry concluded that the basis for the raid was "not merely exaggerated, it was determinably false" and that the officers involved in its planning had "concocted" the evidence or planned to misrepresent it to justify the operation. The PCA commissioned a second inquiry, convened in August 1998 and chaired by Sir John Hoddinott, chief constable of Hampshire Constabulary, to investigate the conduct of Sussex's chief officers, after Wilding's report accused them of obstructing her investigation. Hoddinott interviewed Whitehouse, Jordan, and Sussex's two assistant chief constables, Nigel Yeo and Maria Wallis, over allegations that they had misled the original inquiry by claiming that they could not recall key details and that they had misrepresented the intelligence that led to the raid. The Hoddinott inquiry suggested that the incident commander and intelligence commander both knew that neither McCrudden nor the cocaine were in the building, or that they at least exaggerated the strength of the intelligence, to bolster their case for authorisation to the deputy chief constable. In particular, the tip off from the regional crime squad was in fact in relation to a potential drugs shipment to an unrelated address, the belief that McCrudden was inside was exaggerated from a report of an unidentified man entering the building, and the report of a firearm was based on nothing more than rumour. Hoddinott sharply criticised Whitehouse and the press conference he held on the day of the raid, in which, according to the report, Whitehouse "wilfully failed to tell the truth as he knew it; he did so without reasonable excuse or justification and what he published and said was misleading and therefore likely to injure the public interest". His report suggested there was "evidence of collusion between some or all of the chief officers" of Sussex Police to conceal what they already knew at the time of the press conference (that Ashley was unarmed, that no significant quantity of drugs had been found, and that McCrudden was not present), and that "an arguable case of attempting to pervert the course of justice might be made out", though he concluded that a charge of misconduct in public office was more credible. Hoddinott also accused Jordan of malfeasance, discreditable conduct, and supporting Whitehouse's false statements, and Yeo, one of the assistant chief constables, of malfeasance. ## Prosecutions and disciplinary proceedings Sherwood was charged with murder and tried at the Old Bailey in London in 2001, but was acquitted after the trial judge, Mrs Justice Anne Rafferty, directed the jury to find him not guilty. Sherwood claimed self-defence, telling the court that he feared for his life, believing—based on the briefing for the operation—that Ashley's outstretched arm was holding a firearm and was about to shoot. In directing the jury, the judge stated that no evidence had been presented that Sherwood fired other than in self-defence, and in her summing up suggested that "those who should be held accountable were not present" in her court. The superintendent and two inspectors suspended after the first inquiry were then prosecuted for misconduct in public office in relation to their planning and execution of the raid. The prosecution alleged that the three had deliberately failed to give an accurate representation of the intelligence but all three were found not guilty at Wolverhampton Crown Court when the Crown Prosecution Service declined to offer any evidence. Nigel Sweeney, prosecuting, told the court that the depth of "corporate failing" within Sussex Police made it impossible to place criminal liability with individual officers. Following the verdict Ashley's family announced their intention to sue Sussex Police for negligence. Hoddinott's report was forwarded to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for consideration of charges against the chief officers of Sussex Police for misconduct in public office, but the CPS dropped the case on the grounds of insufficient evidence. Whitehouse was suspended for three weeks while the Sussex police authority considered Hoddinott's report but was reinstated with written advice, in which the authority told him it was "not satisfied that you have not committed a disciplinary offence", and instructed him that "your role as a strong and supportive commander of your force should never be confused with your duty never to mislead or misinform". He resigned in 2001 after the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, wrote to the police authority, instructing them to consider dismissing Whitehouse. Jordan was also suspended after the report and faced internal disciplinary proceedings following the CPS's decision not to pursue criminal charges, but was allowed to retire on medical grounds in 2001. The three middle-ranking officers acquitted of misconduct in public office remained suspended pending internal disciplinary proceedings, which were dropped in 2003. The officers, along with two others involved in Ashley's death, sued the force the following year, claiming it had been negligent in failing to train them properly and that they had suffered psychiatric injury as a result of the shooting and subsequent criminal and disciplinary proceedings. Their case was thrown out at the High Court and an appeal in 2006 was dismissed on the grounds that the damages suffered were too remote from the alleged negligence to be reasonably foreseeable. The local coroner opened an inquest in the immediate aftermath of Ashley's death but it was adjourned pending the outcome of the police investigations and criminal proceedings. In 2001, the coroner informed the interested parties that the inquest would not be resumed. As a result, the family began campaigning for a public inquiry into the circumstances of Ashley's death and the subsequent investigations. The government considered the request but no such inquiry was held. Whitehouse's successor as chief constable, Ken Jones, almost immediately introduced changes to the force's policies on conducting armed operations. He also issued an apology on behalf of the force in 2003, travelling to Liverpool to make the apology to Ashley's mother in person. He said "James should not have died but, and this will be of small comfort to his loved ones and friends, his death has resulted in safer firearms procedures for us all". Ashley's family welcomed the apology but, with the backing of their local MP, Louise Ellman, continued to campaign for a public inquiry. ## Civil case Ashley's son and father sued Sussex Police for the torts of negligence (in respect of the planning of the operation and the shooting itself), battery, false imprisonment, and misfeasance in public office. The case was first heard by Mrs Justice Linda Dobbs in the High Court in 2004 as Ashley v Chief Constable of Sussex Police. The police admitted false imprisonment and to negligence in relation to the planning of the raid but denied liability for all other counts (including negligence regarding the shooting itself). They offered to pay the full amount of damages sought by the Ashleys under those causes of action. Mrs Justice Dobbs ruled, on summary judgment, that the police's offer meant that continuing with the other claims would be an abuse of process, and that the action for battery had no realistic prospect of success as the burden of proof was on the claimants, who could not negate Sherwood's self-defence claim from the criminal trial. The Ashleys appealed the striking out of their claim for battery to the Court of Appeal, where the case was heard in 2006. The Court of Appeal held that the judge had erred in her decision that the battery claim had no realistic prospect of success and in her decision that the burden of proof rested with the claimant to disprove a defence of self-defence in a civil case. The court allowed the family's appeal, holding that—in a civil action for battery—the burden was on the respondent (the police) to prove their claim of self-defence, and that the claim had to be based on both an "honest" and a "reasonable" belief of being in imminent danger, a higher standard than in criminal law. The court (by a majority) also held that continuing the claim for battery would not be an abuse of process, even though the police had offered to pay all the compensation sought by the family under the claims for negligence and false imprisonment (meaning that they would receive no further damages if their claim for battery succeeded). The police appealed the decision to the House of Lords, then the United Kingdom's court of last resort. The Law Lords considered two main issues, both in relation to the battery claim. The first was the standard for a self-defence claim in a civil case and whether, in a case of a mistaken belief that the defendant was under attack, that belief must be both honest and reasonable, and the second was whether it would be an abuse of process to allow the battery claim to proceed given the police's offer to pay all the damages sought. On the first, the lords unanimously upheld the Court of Appeal's finding that both criteria must be met for a defence of self-defence to succeed in a tort action. Lord Scott noted that "it is fundamental to criminal law ... that, as a general rule, no-one should be punished for a crime he or she did not intend to commit or be punished for the consequences of an honest mistake" but that "the function of the civil law is ... to identify and protect the rights that every person is entitled to assert against, and require to be respected by, others" and that the law "must strike a balance between these conflicting rights". He concluded that "it is one thing to say that if A's mistaken belief was honestly held he should not be punished by the criminal law. It would be quite another to say that A's unreasonably held mistaken belief would be sufficient to justify the law in setting aside B's right not to be subjected to physical violence". The lords were split on the second point, the minority (Lord Carswell and Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury) believing allowing the claim for battery to proceed would be an abuse of process given that no further damages were available. Lord Carswell, quoting Lord Justice Auld from the Court of Appeal, opined that "the civil courts exist to award compensation, not conduct public inquiries". Nonetheless, the majority (three to two) held that the battery claim was not an abuse of process and that it was for the litigants, not the judiciary, to decide which actions to pursue, noting that the success of the claim would not expose Sherwood to double jeopardy, and noting again the different purposes of tort and criminal law. The police and the Ashley family agreed damages in 2009. In a statement, Ashley's son said "The police killed my dad illegally. They have now admitted it and apologised, and at last I know everything that happened". While maintaining that the shooting itself was not unlawful, the police issued a statement describing Ashley's death as "a tragedy which should never have occurred" and conceded that it "was caused by a series of failures at levels of Sussex Police in relation to events prior to the raid and its planning and execution ... Sussex Police also acknowledges that there were serious shortcomings in the way in which the aftermath of Mr Ashley's death was handled". ## Impact Although the case merely confirmed existing law, rather than changing it or creating new law, it was still deemed significant for its confirmation that the standard for a claim of self-defence was higher in a civil case than a criminal one, and for Lord Scott's analysis of the differing purposes of criminal and civil law and the confirmation that a "not guilty" verdict in a criminal court did not preclude civil liability. According to Nick Davies, in an investigation for The Guardian newspaper in 2001, Ashley's death was one of 41 incidents in the preceding decade in which police in England and Wales shot a person who turned out not to have a firearm. Of those shootings, at least 15 proved fatal. In 28 of the 41 cases, the person shot had a replica firearm or some other kind of weapon, and another six were accidental discharges, leaving seven (including Ashley) which Davies described as "disturbing". Davies concluded that "this might look like a ... a licence for police officers to kill. In reality, it indicates something very different but equally disturbing...: police use of firearms is inherently dangerous. The more police are armed, the more they will shoot the wrong people. And the law which surrounds this is inadequate and incapable of fixing the blame when things go wrong". Davies described Ashley's shooting as "merely the final shot in a volley of error unleashed by just about every rank in Sussex police". Ashley's death has been compared by the media and academics to several other mistaken shootings by police officers in Britain, in particular the 1983 shooting of Stephen Waldorf, the 1985 death of John Shorthouse, the 1999 death of Harry Stanley, and the 2005 death of Jean Charles de Menezes. Waldorf was a film editor shot and seriously injured by police officers in London after he was mistaken for an escaped criminal; he later sued the police and was awarded substantial damages. John Shorthouse was a five-year-old boy who was shot dead during an armed police raid on his parents' home in Birmingham. Stanley was shot dead by a police armed response team who mistook a table leg he was carrying for a firearm; after two inquests, a criminal investigation, and an independent inquiry it was eventually decided that the officers involved would not face criminal or disciplinary proceedings. Menezes was a Brazilian electrician who was wrongly identified as a fugitive terrorist involved in a failed suicide bombing the day before and was shot by counter-terrorism officers when he boarded a London Underground train. A 2005 article in The Independent, following the dropping of charges against the officers who shot Stanley, also drew comparisons with Ashley's case and listed it among 30 fatal police shootings in the preceding 12 years, none of which resulted in a successful prosecution of a police officer. Maurice Punch, an academic specialising in policing issues, described the ramifications of the Ashley case as "profound" in that an individual police officer was charged with murder for actions taken "in the course of his duty and under the command of superiors" and for Mrs Justice Rafferty's comments regarding upward accountability, a theme Punch compared to the shooting of three Provisional IRA members by the Special Air Service in Gibraltar in 1988 (Operation Flavius). Among Jones's first actions as the new chief constable was to strengthen Sussex Police's procedures for the deployment of armed officers. In January 2003, a PCA report considered 24 police shootings from 1998 to 2001, including Ashley's. Among its recommendations were that armed police officers also be equipped with non-lethal options, such as tasers, to reduce the chances of further shootings, a recommendation that was endorsed by Ashley's mother. The report also recommended stronger command and control of firearms operations. ## See also - Police use of firearms in the United Kingdom - List of killings by law enforcement officers in the United Kingdom
689,735	Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano	1,169,201,185	Aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy	[ "1944 ships", "Aircraft carriers of the Imperial Japanese Navy", "Maritime incidents in November 1944", "Ships built by Yokosuka Naval Arsenal", "Ships sunk by American submarines", "World War II aircraft carriers of Japan", "World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean", "Yamato-class battleships" ]	Shinano (信濃) was an aircraft carrier built by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II, the largest such built up to that time. Laid down in May 1940 as the third of the Yamato-class battleships, Shinano's partially complete hull was ordered to be converted to an aircraft carrier following Japan's disastrous loss of four of its original six fleet carriers at the Battle of Midway in mid-1942. The advanced state of her construction prevented her conversion into a fleet carrier, so the IJN decided to convert her into a carrier that supported other carriers. Her conversion was still not finished in November 1944 when she was ordered to sail from the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal to Kure Naval Base to complete fitting out and transfer a load of 50 Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka rocket-propelled kamikaze flying bombs. She was sunk en route, 10 days after commissioning, on 29 November 1944, by four torpedoes from the U.S. Navy submarine Archerfish. Over a thousand sailors and civilians were rescued and 1,435 were lost, including her captain. She remains the largest warship ever sunk by a submarine. ## Design and description One of two additional Yamato-class battleships ordered as part of the 4th Naval Armaments Supplement Program of 1939, Shinano was named after the old province of Shinano, following the Japanese ship-naming conventions for battleships. She was laid down on 4 May 1940 at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal to a modified Yamato-class design: her armor would be 10–20 millimeters (0.4–0.8 in) thinner than that of the earlier ships, as it had proved to be thicker than it needed to be for the desired level of protection, and her heavy anti-aircraft (AA) guns would be the new 65-caliber 10 cm Type 98 dual-purpose gun, as it had superior ballistic characteristics and a higher rate of fire than the 40-caliber 12.7 cm Type 89 guns used by her half-sisters. ### Construction and conversion As with Shinano's half-sisters Yamato and Musashi, the new ship's existence was kept a closely guarded secret. A tall fence was erected on three sides of the graving dock, and those working on the conversion were confined to the yard compound. Serious punishment—up to and including death—awaited any worker who mentioned the new ship. As a result, Shinano was the only major warship built in the 20th century that was never officially photographed during its construction. The ship is only known to have been photographed twice: on 1 November 1944, by a Boeing B-29 Superfortress reconnaissance aircraft from an altitude of 9,800 meters (32,000 ft), and ten days later, by a civilian photographer aboard a harbor tug during Shinano's initial sea trials in Tokyo Bay. In December 1941, construction on Shinano's hull was temporarily suspended to allow the IJN time to decide what to do with the ship. She was not expected to be completed until 1945, and the sinking of the British capital ships Prince of Wales and Repulse by IJN bombers had called into question the viability of battleships in the war. The navy also wanted to make the large drydock in which the ship was being built available, which required either scrapping the portion already completed or finishing it enough to launch it and clear the drydock. The IJN decided on the latter, albeit with a reduced work force which was expected to be able to launch the ship in one year. In the month following the disastrous loss of four fleet carriers at the June 1942 Battle of Midway, the IJN ordered the ship's unfinished hull converted into an aircraft carrier. Her hull was only 45 percent complete by that time, with structural work complete up to the lower deck and most of her machinery installed. The main deck, lower side armor, and upper side armor around the ship's magazines had been completely installed, and the forward barbettes for the main guns were also nearly finished. The navy decided that Shinano would become a heavily armored support carrier—carrying reserve aircraft, fuel and ordnance in support of other carriers—rather than a fleet carrier. As completed, Shinano had a length of 265.8 meters (872 ft 1 in) overall, a beam of 36.3 meters (119 ft 1 in) and a draft of 10.3 meters (33 ft 10 in). She displaced 65,800 metric tons (64,800 long tons) at standard load, 69,151 metric tons (68,059 long tons) at normal load and 73,000 metric tons (72,000 long tons) at full load. Shinano was the heaviest aircraft carrier yet built, a record she held until the 81,000-metric-ton (80,000-long-ton) USS Forrestal was launched in 1954. She was designed for a crew of 2,400 officers and enlisted men. ### Machinery Shinano's machinery was identical to that of her half-sisters. The ships were fitted with four geared steam turbine sets with a total of 150,000 shaft horsepower (110,000 kW), each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by 12 Kampon water-tube boilers. The ships had a designed speed of 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph), but Shinano never conducted full-speed sea trials so her actual performance is unknown. She carried 9,047 metric tons (8,904 long tons) of fuel oil which gave her an estimated range of 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). ### Flight deck and hangar Shinano was designed to load and fuel her aircraft on deck where it was safer for the ship; experiences in the Battles of Midway and the Coral Sea had demonstrated that the existing doctrine of fueling and arming their aircraft below decks was a real danger to the carriers if they were attacked while doing so. Much of Shinano's hangar was left open for better ventilation, although steel shutters could close off most of the hangar sides if necessary. This also allowed ordnance or burning aircraft to be jettisoned into the sea, something that the earlier carriers could not do with their enclosed hangars. The carrier's 256-meter (839 ft 11 in) flight deck was 40 meters (131 ft 3 in) wide and overhung her hull at both ends, supported by pairs of pillars. A large island, modeled on that fitted on the earlier Taihō, was sponsoned off the starboard side and integrated with the ship's funnel. Much like Taihō, the only other Japanese carrier with an armored flight deck, Shinano's flight deck functioned as the ship's strength deck and copied British practice as seen in their Illustrious-class carriers. Designed to resist penetration by 500-kilogram (1,100 lb) bombs dropped by a dive bomber, the flight deck consisted of 75 millimeters (3 in) of armor plate laid over 20 millimeters (0.8 in) of ordinary steel. It was equipped with 15 transverse arrestor wires and three crash barriers that could stop a 7,500-kilogram (16,500 lb) aircraft; five of these wires were positioned further forward to allow the ship to land aircraft over the bow in case the aft portion of the flight deck was unusable. Unlike the British carriers, Taihō and Shinano had unarmored sides to their hangars. For stability reasons, the latter only had a single hangar that was 163.4 by 33.8 meters (536 by 111 ft), with a minimum width of 19.8 meters (65 ft) aft, and had a height of 5 meters (16 ft 6 in). The forward area of the hangar was dedicated to maintenance and storage facilities. Aircraft were transported between the hangar and the flight deck by two elevators, one at each end of the hangar on the centerline of the flight deck. The larger of the two measured 15 by 14 meters (49.25 by 45.9 ft). They were capable of lifting aircraft weighing up to 7,500 kilograms (16,500 lb). The ship had an aviation gasoline (avgas) capacity of 720,000 liters (160,000 imp gal; 190,000 U.S. gal). Because Taihō had been sunk by an explosion of gasoline fumes, large ventilation fans were installed on the hangar deck to expel fumes in case of damage to the gasoline system. Canvas wind scoops could also be rigged over the elevator opening to force more air inside. The ship's organic air group was intended to consist of 18 Mitsubishi A7M Reppū (Allied reporting name "Sam") fighters (plus two in storage), 18 Aichi B7A Ryusei ("Grace") torpedo-dive bombers (plus two in storage), and 6 Nakajima C6N Saiun ("Myrt") reconnaissance aircraft (plus one in storage). The remainder of the hangar space would have held up to 120 replacement aircraft for other carriers and land bases. According to Lynn Lucious Moore's "Shinano: The Jinx Carrier" (US Naval Institute Proceedings, February, 1953) the steel flight deck was covered with a thin, shock-absorbent latex-sawdust compound. ### Armament Shinano's primary armament consisted of sixteen 40-caliber 12.7-centimeter (5 in) Type 89 dual-purpose guns in eight twin mounts, two at each corner of the hull. When firing at surface targets, the guns had a range of 14,700 meters (16,100 yd); they had a maximum ceiling of 9,440 meters (30,970 ft) at their maximum elevation of 90 degrees. Their maximum rate of fire was 14 rounds a minute; their sustained rate of fire was around eight rounds per minute. The ship also carried 105 Type 96 25 mm (1 in) light AA guns in 35 triple-gun mounts. These 25-millimeter (0.98 in) guns had an effective range of 1,500–3,000 meters (1,600–3,300 yd), and an effective ceiling of 5,500 meters (18,000 ft) at an elevation of +85 degrees. The maximum effective rate of fire was only between 110 and 120 rounds per minute because of the frequent need to change the fifteen-round magazines. This was the standard Japanese light AA gun during World War II, but it suffered from severe design shortcomings that rendered it largely ineffective. According to historian Mark Stille, the weapon had many faults including an inability to "handle high-speed targets because it could not be trained or elevated fast enough by either hand or power, its sights were inadequate for high-speed targets, it possessed excessive vibration and muzzle blast".... These guns were supplemented by a dozen 28-round AA rocket launchers. Each 12-centimeter (4.7 in) rocket weighed 50 pounds (22.5 kg) and had a maximum velocity of 200 m/s (660 ft/s). Their maximum range was 4,800 meters (5,200 yd). Four Type 94 high-angle fire-control directors were fitted to control the Type 89 guns. The two controlling the port-side guns were adjacent to their guns while the starboard directors were mounted fore and aft on the island. They could control all of the forward and rear guns respectively as necessary. Type 22 and Type 13 air search radars may have been fitted. ### Armor The ship's original waterline armor belt thickness of 400 millimeters (15.7 in) was retained only where it had already been installed abreast the magazines, and reduced to 160 millimeters (6.3 in) elsewhere. Below it was a strake of armor that tapered in thickness from 200 millimeters (7.9 in) to 75 millimeters at its bottom edge. The flat portion of the armor deck over the machinery and magazine spaces, ranging from 100 to 190 millimeters (3.9 to 7.5 in), was retained, and the sloped portion that angled downward towards the bottom of the main armor belt was 230 millimeters (9.1 in) thick. Large external anti-torpedo bulges below the waterline provided the main defense against torpedoes, backed up by an armored bulkhead extending down from the belt armor; the bulkhead was intended to prevent splinters from piercing the main hull and, though not watertight, was backed by a second one which was. The joint between the upper and lower armor belts was weak and proved to be a serious problem when struck by torpedoes. Even though Shinano's avgas tanks were protected by armor that could resist a 155-millimeter (6.1 in) shell, the IJN attempted to isolate the tanks from the rest of the ship with a cofferdam. However the investigation into the loss of Taihō had revealed that her avgas tanks had sprung leaks after she was torpedoed. The resulting fumes then penetrated the cofferdam and exploded. Therefore, the IJN thought it prudent to fill the empty spaces between the tanks and the cofferdam with 2,400 metric tons (2,362 long tons) of concrete to prevent any fumes from escaping. ### Launching The ship was originally scheduled for completion in April 1945, but construction was expedited after the defeat at the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944 as the IJN anticipated that the United States would now be able to bomb Japan with long-range aircraft from bases in the Mariana Islands. The builder was unable to increase the number of workers on Shinano and could not meet the new deadline of October. Even so, the pressure to finish as quickly as possible led to poor workmanship by the workforce. Shinano's launch on 8 October 1944, with Captain Toshio Abe [ja] in command, was marred by what some considered an ill-omened accident. During the floating-out procedure, one of the caissons at the end of the dock that had not been properly ballasted with seawater unexpectedly lifted as the water rose to the level of the harbor. The sudden inrush of water into the graving dock pushed the carrier into the forward end, damaging the bow structure below the waterline and requiring repairs in drydock. These were completed by 26 October. ## Commissioning and sinking ### Departure from Yokosuka On 19 November 1944, Shinano was formally commissioned at Yokosuka, having spent the previous two weeks fitting out and performing sea trials. Worried about her safety after a U.S. reconnaissance bomber fly-over, the Navy General Staff ordered Shinano to depart for Kure by no later than 28 November, where the remainder of her fitting-out would take place. Abe asked for a delay in the sailing date as the majority of her watertight doors had yet to be installed, the compartment air tests had not been conducted, and many holes in the compartment bulkheads for electrical cables, ventilation ducts and pipes had not been sealed. Importantly, fire mains and bailing systems lacked pumps and were inoperable; even though most of the crew had sea-going experience, they lacked training in the portable pumps on board. The escorting destroyers, Isokaze, Yukikaze and Hamakaze, had just returned from the Battle of Leyte Gulf and required more than three days to conduct repairs and to allow their crews to recuperate. Abe's request was denied, and Shinano departed as scheduled with the escorting destroyers at 18:00 on 28 November. Abe commanded a crew of 2,175 officers and men. Also on board were 300 shipyard workers and 40 civilian employees. Watertight doors and hatches were left open for ease of access to machinery spaces, as were some manholes in the double and triple-bottomed hull. Abe preferred a daylight passage, since it would have allowed him extra time to train his crew and given the destroyer crews time to rest. However, he was forced to make a nighttime run when he learned the Navy General Staff could not provide air support. Shinano carried six Shinyo suicide boats, and 50 Ohka suicide flying bombs; her other aircraft were not planned to come aboard until later. Her orders were to go to Kure, where she would complete fitting out and then deliver the kamikaze craft to the Philippines and Okinawa. Traveling at an average speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph), she needed sixteen hours to cover the 300 miles (480 km) to Kure. As a measure of how important Shinano was to the naval command, Abe was slated for promotion to rear admiral once the fitting-out was complete. ### Attacked At 20:48, the American submarine Archerfish, commanded by Commander Joseph F. Enright, detected Shinano and her escorts on her radar and pursued them on a parallel course. Over an hour and a half earlier, Shinano had detected the submarine's radar. Normally, Shinano would have been able to outrun Archerfish, but the zig-zagging movement of the carrier and her escorts—intended to evade any American submarines in the area—inadvertently turned the task group back into the Archerfish's path on several occasions. At 22:45, the carrier's lookouts spotted Archerfish on the surface, and Isokaze broke formation, against orders, to investigate. Abe ordered the destroyer to return to the formation without attacking because he believed that the submarine was part of an American wolfpack. He assumed Archerfish was being used as a decoy to lure away one of the escorts to allow the rest of the pack a clear shot at Shinano. He ordered his ships to turn away from the submarine with the expectation of outrunning it, counting on his 2-knot (3.7 km/h; 2.3 mph) margin of speed over the submarine. Around 23:22, the carrier was forced to reduce speed to 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph), the same speed as Archerfish, to prevent damage to the propeller shaft when a bearing overheated. At 02:56 on 29 November, Shinano turned to the southwest and headed straight for Archerfish. Eight minutes later, Archerfish turned east and submerged in preparation to attack. Enright ordered his torpedoes set for a depth of 10 feet (3.0 m) in case they ran deeper than set; he also intended to increase the chances of capsizing the ship by punching holes higher up in the hull. A few minutes later, Shinano turned south, exposing her entire side to Archerfish—a nearly ideal firing situation for a submarine. The escorting destroyer on that side passed right over Archerfish without detecting her. At 03:15 Archerfish fired six torpedoes before diving to 400 feet (120 m) to escape a depth charge attack from the escorts. Four torpedoes struck Shinano, at an average depth of 4.27 meters (14 ft 0 in). The first hit towards the stern, flooding refrigerated storage compartments and one of the empty aviation gasoline storage tanks and killing many of the sleeping engineering personnel in the compartments above. The second hit the compartment where the starboard outboard propeller shaft entered the hull and flooded the outboard engine room. The third hit further forward, flooding the No. 3 boiler room and killing every man on watch. Structural failures caused the two adjacent boiler rooms to flood as well. The fourth flooded the starboard air compressor room, adjacent anti-aircraft gun magazines, and the No. 2 damage control station and ruptured the adjacent oil tank. ### Sinking Though severe, the damage to Shinano was at first judged to be manageable. The crew were confident in the ship's armor and strength, which translated into lax initial efforts to save the ship. This overconfidence extended to Abe. He doubted the sub's torpedoes could inflict serious damage, since he knew that American torpedoes were less potent than Japanese torpedoes. He ordered the carrier to maintain its maximum speed even after the last torpedo hit. This pushed more water through the holes in the hull resulting in extensive flooding. Within a few minutes the ship was listing 10 degrees to starboard. Despite the crew pumping 3,000 long tons (3,000 t) of water into the port bilges, the list increased to 13 degrees. When it became apparent the damage was more severe than first thought, Abe ordered a change of course towards Shiono Point, the southernmost tip of Honshu's Kii Peninsula. Progressively increasing flooding increased the list to 15 degrees by 03:30. Fifty minutes later, Abe ordered the empty port outboard tanks to be counter-flooded, reducing the list to 12 degrees for a brief time. After 05:00 he ordered the civilian workers to be transferred to the escorts as they were impeding the crew in their duties. A half-hour later, Shinano was making 10 knots with a 13-degree list. At 06:00 her list had increased to 20 degrees after the starboard boiler room flooded, at which point the valves of the port trimming tanks rose above the waterline and became ineffective. The engines shut down for lack of steam around 07:00, and Abe ordered all of the propulsion compartments evacuated an hour later. He then ordered the three outboard port boiler rooms flooded in a futile attempt to reduce the carrier's list. He also ordered Hamakaze and Isokaze to take her in tow. However, the two destroyers displaced only 5,000 metric tons (4,900 long tons) between them, about one-fourteenth of Shinano's displacement and not nearly enough to overcome her deadweight. The first tow cables snapped under the strain and the second attempt was aborted for fear of injury to the crews if they snapped again. The ship lost all power around 09:00 and was now listing over 20 degrees. At 10:18, Abe gave the order to abandon ship; by this time Shinano had a list of 30 degrees. As she heeled, water flowed into the open elevator well on her flight deck, sucking many swimming sailors back into the ship as she sank. A large exhaust vent below the flight deck also sucked many other sailors into the ship as she submerged. At 10:57 Shinano finally capsized and sank stern-first at coordinates (), 65 miles (105 km) from the nearest land, in approximately 4,000 meters (13,000 ft) of water, taking 1,435 officers, men and civilians to their deaths. The dead included Abe and both of his navigators, who chose to go down with the ship. Rescued were 55 officers and 993 petty officers and enlisted men, plus 32 civilians for a total of 1,080 survivors. After their rescue, the survivors were isolated on the island of Mitsuko-jima until January 1945 to suppress the news of the carrier's loss. The carrier was formally struck from the Naval Register on 31 August. US Naval Intelligence did not initially believe Enright's claim to have sunk a carrier. Shinano's construction had not been detected through decoded radio messages or other means, and the American analysts believed that they had located all of Japan's surviving carriers, even though a captured Japanese aviator had revealed in July 1943 that a third Yamato-class battleship was being converted into a carrier. Enright was eventually credited with sinking a 28,000-long-ton (28,000 t) Hayatake (Hiyō-class) carrier by the acting commander of the Pacific Fleet's submarine force on the basis of a drawing Enright submitted depicting the ship he had attacked. Once the existence of Shinano was discovered, Enright was credited with her sinking and awarded the Navy Cross. ## Post-war analysis of the sinking Post-war analysis by the U.S. Naval Technical Mission to Japan noted that Shinano had serious design flaws. Specifically, the joint between the waterline armor belt on the upper hull and the anti-torpedo bulge on the underwater portion was poorly designed, a trait shared by the Yamato-class battleships; Archerfish's torpedoes all exploded along this joint. The force of the torpedo explosions also dislodged an I-beam in one of the boiler rooms, which punched a hole into another boiler room. In addition, the failure to test for watertightness in each compartment played a role as potential leaks could not be found and patched before Shinano put to sea. The executive officer blamed the large amount of water that entered the ship on the failure to air-test the compartments for leaks. He reported hearing air rushing through gaps in the watertight doors just minutes after the last torpedo hit—a sign that seawater was rapidly entering the ship, proving the doors were unseaworthy. ## See also - List of ships sunk by submarines by death toll
15,208,585	Onychopterella	1,131,468,365	Extinct genus of arthropods	[ "Eurypterids of Africa", "Eurypterids of North America", "Fossil taxa described in 1951", "Fossils of South Africa", "Fossils of the United States", "Late Ordovician first appearances", "Onychopterelloidea", "Ordovician arthropods", "Ordovician eurypterids", "Silurian arthropods", "Silurian eurypterids", "Soom Shale fossils" ]	Onychopterella (/ˌɒnɪkɒptəˈrɛlə/ ON-ə-kop-tə-REL-ə, from Ancient Greek: ὄνῠξ (ónyx), "claw", and πτερόν (pteron), "wing") is a genus of predatory eurypterid ("sea scorpion"), an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Onychopterella have been discovered in deposits from the Late Ordovician to the Late Silurian. The genus contains three species: O. kokomoensis, the type species, from the Early Pridoli epoch of Indiana; O. pumilus, from the Early Llandovery epoch of Illinois, both from the United States; and O. augusti, from the Late Hirnantian to Early Rhuddanian stages of South Africa. Its prosoma (head) could be subquadrate (almost square) or subrectangular (almost rectangular), with reniform (kidney-shaped) eyes. The appendages (limbs) were generally long and narrow with a spine on their tip. The abdomen and telson (the posteriormost division of the body) had different shapes and sizes depending on the species. The ornamentation of the body consisted of small, pointed scales. The largest species of the genus was O. kokomoensis with a total length of 16 centimetres (6.3 inches) long, followed by O. augusti (14.3 cm, 5.6 in) and O. pumilus (4 cm, 1.6 in). The first Onychopterella fossils, belonging to O. kokomoensis, were discovered in 1896 at the Waterlime Group of Kokomo, Indiana. The species has received attention from eurypterid researchers for its terminal claw in the sixth pair of appendages or swimming legs. Onychopterella is also the type genus of the basal ("primitive") family of eurypterines Onychopterellidae together with Alkenopterus and Tylopterella, characterized by the presence of spines on the second to fourth pair of appendages and a lack of them on the fifth and sixth pair of appendages (except occasionally one on the distal end of the swimming leg), as well as the lanceolate (lance-shaped) or styliform (pen-shaped) form of the telson and other characteristics. The exceptional preservation of the fossils of O. augusti has permitted scientists to describe part of the alimentary canal that has only been observed in a few species of eurypterids, as well as the internal muscular structure of its limbs and even part of the external branchial respiratory system. This turned out to be highly similar to that of the scorpions of today, supporting a eurypterid-scorpion relationship. Onychopterella was a genus that was able to swim. Most of the time it was likely in the stratum, probably using its spines to walk and its head to dig in the ground. ## Description Like the other onychopterellids, Onychopterella was a small eurypterid. The smallest species, O. pumilus, measured only 4 centimetres (1.6 inches). The size of the largest one, O. kokomoensis, is estimated at 16 cm (6.3 in), representing the biggest species of the family Onychopterellidae. O. augusti had a similar size, with the largest specimen reaching 14.3 cm (5.6 in). The prosoma (head) had a subquadrate (almost square) shape in O. kokomoensis and O. augusti, while in O. pumilus it was subrectangular (almost rectangular). The outline of the carapace (the exoskeleton part covering the prosoma) varied according to the species. It was anteriorly rounded in the corners in O. kokomoensis, with almost straight lateral margins in O. pumilus, and resembled a horseshoe in O. augusti. In O. kokomoensis and O. pumilus, the eyes were reniform (kidney-shaped), standing out for their size and prominence in the latter species. The eyes of O. augusti are unknown. The metastoma (a large plate that is part of the abdomen) of O. kokomoensis was small, oval and slightly narrower anteriorly than posteriorly, while that of O. augusti was subcordate (almost heart-shaped) anteriorly and rounded posteriorly. The metastoma of O. pumilus is not known in its entirety. Only the posterior part, which was rounded, is known. In O. kokomoensis, the preabdomen (body segments 1 to 6) was as long as it was wide, while the postabdomen (segments 7 to 12) was short and compact and gradually increased in length posteriorly. It was the only species with considerably large epimera (lateral "extensions" of the segment) in the pretelson (segment that preceded the tail). In O. pumilus, the preabdomen was wider than long, the fourth segment being the widest. The postabodmen was longer, decreasing in width more rapidly in the eighth and ninth segments than in the rest. The length of the segments gradually increased towards the telson (the posteriormost division of the body). The opisthosoma (abdomen) of O. augusti is known in more detail; the preabdomen was a little wider than long, with raised areas representing branchial (of the gills) chambers or respiratory tissue of the branchial tract. The postabdomen was short, and its segments gradually narrowed towards the telson. Each of the postabdominal segments had small epimera. The shape of the telson in O. kokomoensis was clavate (resembling a club), in O. pumilus it was styliform (pen-shaped) and in O. augusti it was lanceolate (lance-shaped). The walking legs (second to fifth pair of appendages or limbs) were generally undifferentiated, long, narrow and without spines except in the distal end. The swimming legs (sixth pair of appendages) were inconspicuous, very narrow and ending in a very long spike-like ninth podomere (leg segment). The swimming legs of O. augusti were easily recognizable from the other species by the prolongation of the eighth podomere into two lateral projections (parts of the body that protrude) and by the curved shape and great length of the spike-like podomere. The body ornamentation of Onychopterella, composed of small pointed scales, was the same in all species. ## History of research In 1896, paleontologists Samuel Almond Miller and William Frank Eugene Gurley described a new species of Eurypterus, E. kokomoensis, based on four specimens, three of them well-preserved and a fragmentary one, collected at the Waterlime Group at Kokomo, Indiana, in the United States. They noticed differences between the new species and E. remipes, the type species of Eurypterus, such as the proportions of the carapace, the shorter telson and the size and general form of the body. Only two pairs of appendages were described, suggesting the rest broke away during preservation, although the outline of a pair of unusually large swimming legs was reported. Miller and Gurley considered the preserved parts sufficiently similar to assign the species to Eurypterus. FMNH UC6638, an almost complete specimen, was designated as the type specimen. In 1912, paleontologists John Mason Clarke and Rudolf Ruedemann considered E. kokomoensis different enough from other Eurypterus species and raised it to the subgeneric level under the new name Onychopterus on the basis that E. kokomoensis was the development path of other eurypterids such as Dolichopterus, Drepanopterus and Stylonurus from Eurypterus. They also noted the swimming legs were better preserved than stated in the original description, noticing four pairs of appendages and not two. The name Onychopterus is composed by the Ancient Greek words ὄνῠξ (ónyx, "claw"), and πτερόν (pteron, "wing"), therefore translated as "claw wing". They also described E. ranilarva as a close relative of O. (Eurypterus) kokomoensis, differing from the latter mainly in the greater width of the carapace. In 1948, paleontologist Erik Norman Kjellesvig-Waering concluded that Onychopterus warranted generic rank due to the undifferentiation of its fifth appendage and the possession of a claw in the sixth one. He also synonymized E. ranilarva with O. kokomoensis as he considered that the greater width was due only to differences of the preservation. In 1951, paleontologist and geologist Leif Størmer noticed that the name Onychopterus had been used previously by a bird genus introduced in 1850 by the ornithologist Ludwig Reichenbach. Størmer substituted the old name with a new one, Onychopterella. In 1916, researcher and geologist Thomas Edmund Savage erected the new species Eurypterus pumilus to accommodate one single well-preserved specimen showcasing the ventral side of the body from the Edgewood Limestone near Essex, Illinois, in the United States. E. pumilus was placed within Onychopterella in 1948 by Kjellesvig-Waering, who indicated that by its slender appendages without spines and the form of the telson, it clearly belonged to this genus. It differed from the type species by slimmer prosomal (of the prosoma) appendages, a tapering preabdomen, the lack of epimera in the pretelson and the placement of the eyes in a more forward position. The only known specimen of O. pumilus is deposited at the University of Illinois, but its accession number is unknown. It has been debated whether O. pumilus really belongs to this genus. In 1999, professor and paleobiologist Roy E. Plotnick considered that the species represented a form of Drepanopterus, while geologist and paleobiologist James C. Lamsdell suggested in 2012 that it belonged to Stoermeropterus because of the similarities of the metastoma, genital appendage and telson. A 1995 study led by paleontologist Simon J. Braddy proposed that because of its small size, O. pumilus could simply represent an ontogenetic stage (a different developmental stage of the same animal throughout its life) of O. kokomoensis. Due to the lack of a known accession number for the fossil, its re-examination is impossible. In 1995, paleontologists Braddy, Richard John Aldridge and Johannes N. Theron described a well-preserved eurypterid from the Soom Shale Member of the Table Mountain Sandstone, Cape Province, South Africa, and named it O. augusti. It is based on two specimens of which one preserves soft tissues. The holotype (GSSA C373, housed at the Geological Survey of South Africa in Pretoria along with the paratype) was discovered by August Patrick Pedro, honoured in the specific epithet augusti. It differed from the rest of the species by the lack of large epimera in the pretelson, wider body proportions, the short length of the postabdomen and telson, the lanceolate form of the latter, the two projections of the eighth podomere and in a distal spine longer than in the rest of the species. The paratype, GSSA C427, is the largest known specimen. O. augusti was also compared to the enigmatic Silurian eurypterid Marsupipterus sculpturatus, concluding that the differences between the telson (the only known part of Marsupipterus) of both species are probably preservational. ## Classification Onychopterella is classified as part of its own family, Onychopterellidae, the only clade (taxonomic "group") within the monotypic superfamily Onychopterelloidea. It was originally described as a subgenus of Eurypterus, but it was recognized as a distinct genus in 1948. It has been suggested that Onychopterella could represent a paraphyletic genus, that is, a grouping sharing a last common ancestor but not including all descendants of this ancestor, and therefore an invalid genus. In 2007, paleontologists Odd Erik Tetlie and Michael B. Cuggy interpreted Onychopterella as such in a phylogenetic analysis due to the more stylonurine-like dimensions of the fourth and fifth podomeres of the swimming leg in O. augusti than in O. kokomoensis. They also considered Onychopterella the most basal (primitive) member of the suborder Eurypterina (in which the sixth appendage is modified in a swimming leg), mainly because of the narrowness of the swimming leg and its distal spine, resulting in a better model for a primitive swimming leg than other derived members of Eurypterina such as Dolichopterus, ending in a large plate. The species O. pumilus was not included in the analysis because of its possible affiliation with Drepanopterus. In 2011, Lamsdell recovered Onychopterella as monophyletic (a group consisting of all the descendants of the last common ancestor, i.e. a valid genus), considering Moselopteroidea the most basal eurypterine clade. He also erected the new superfamily Onychopterelloidea and family Onychopterellidae, placing within the latter the genera Onychopterella and Tylopterella. This family was characterized by the presence of spines in the second to fourth pairs of appendages, lack of spines in the fifth and sixth (except occasionally a distal spine in the last podomere of the sixth appendage), the shape of the carapace with lateral eyes and a lanceolate or styliform telson, among other features. Alkenopterus was assigned to Onychopterellidae three years later because of the detection of a movable spine in the swimming leg, rather than a simple projection as previously thought. Before the creation of Onychopterellidae, Onychopterella had been classified in the family Erieopteridae since 1989 by paleontologist Victor P. Tollerton, initially together with Erieopterus and Buffalopterus based on similarities of the morphology of the appendages and the opisthosoma. The cladogram below is based on a larger study (simplified to only show eurypterids) in a 2011 phylogenetic analysis carried out by Lamsdell, showcasing the basal members of the Eurypterina suborder of eurypterids with other derived groups. ## Paleobiology Only the alimentary canals of a few species of eurypterids, such as Carcinosoma newlini, Acutiramus cummingsi and Eurypterus lacustris, have been described. However, the excellent levels of preservation of the O. augusti fossils have allowed the description of what most likely was the anterior portion of the gut. Between the two coxal (from the coxa, the point of union with the appendages) muscle masses of the swimming leg, a spiral-shaped structure was found. A similar structure in the stylonurine Hibbertopterus wittebergensis, in which a spiral valve has been found near the posterior zone of the prosoma, has been reported. These valves have developed independently in certain groups of fishes in response to the need to increase the absorptive area of the gut, so Braddy, Aldridge and Theron considered the case was the same for the eurypterids. Nevertheless, the presence of this valve may have depended on the digestion and absorption requirements of each eurypterid, in turn depending on factors such as the feeding habitats or the size of the animal. The appendages of H. wittebergensis suggest it was a sediment feeder, using its valve to extract food from the soil and increase the absorptive capacity of the gut. It is possible that the spiral structure of O. augusti had a similar function, acting as a valve for the mesenteron (midgut, formed by the stomach and intestines), thus increasing the absorptive area of this region. Apart from this spiral structure, the pretelson of the paratype preserves a faint impression that expanded posteriorly to a depression in the medial area, representing an anal opening. Computer models and comparisons with the xiphosurans (commonly known as horseshoe crabs) suggest Onychopterella was a slow-moving and lumbering animal. When it was underwater, it moved by a series of short hops, taking advantage of its buoyancy. Given the relative lengths of the second to sixth pair of appendages, it is feasible that it could have had a stance in which it used eight limbs (an octopodous position) spaced far apart, ensuring little interference. Its great preservation has also allowed the examination of the internal muscular structure of the swimming leg. The coxal muscles were elongated towards an anterolateral orientation. This suggests the legs were maintained in a posterolateral position to walk in order, thus allowing sufficient stability at the animal's center of gravity, which was probably located near the second tergite (upper half of the segment). The presence of proximal podomeres and a terminal spine in the swimming leg indicates their primitive condition as natatory organs and their functional adaptation to walk. This reason and the lack of a more modified spike-like distal podomere may suggest Onychopterella was not a very efficient swimmer. In 1999, Braddy, Aldridge, Theron and Sarah E. Gabbott, a geologist, described a new specimen of O. augusti from the Soom Shale (GSSA C1179, housed at the Geological Survey of South Africa) which preserves four pairs of vertical lamellate (composed of thin plates or scales) book gills (external gills arranged like the pages of a book), part of the respiratory system. This specimen preserves a complete carapace, partial appendages, complete opisthosoma and an almost complete telson. The lamellate structures are evident in the third to sixth segments of the preabdomen. These were horizontally divided into numerous tubes that could represent superficial "ribs". The specimen measured 4.5 cm (1.8 in) in length, while the best preserved lamellate structure (in the left part of the third segment) measured 1.79 millimetres (0.070 inches) in length and 1.67 mm (0.066 in) in width, with approximately 45 closely placed lamellae. This proves that Onychopterella and possibly all eurypterids possessed four pairs of vertically oriented lamellate book gills (possibly for aquatic respiration), instead of five pairs like the xiphosuran Limulus as previously thought. This structure is also comparable to that of the current scorpions, which have four pairs of vertically oriented book lungs with 140-150 lamellae per lung in the third to sixth segments, resulting in a synapomorphy (shared characteristic different from that of their latest common ancestor) between both clades and even increasing the possibilities of a sister group relationship (that is, that both clades are the closest relative to each other). The eurypterid ichnospecies (a species based on fossil prints) Palmichnium capensis is thought to have belonged to O. augusti. This ichnospecies was found in the Table Mountain Sandstone and dates from the Ordovician, coinciding with O. augusti. Its trackways were medium-sized (largest track 13.6 cm, 5.4 in wide) and consisted of several symmetrical series of four tracks and individual typically oval or tear-shaped marks with small impressions on the sides, sometimes bilobed and intermittent. A median line was occasionally displayed. Several factors support that P. capensis represents the tracks of O. augusti; the average external width of P. capensis is comparable to that of fossils of O. augusti, the distal spines of the swimming leg of O. augusti could have caused such bilobed marks and Onychopterella represents the only Ordovician eurypterid from those deposits. In addition, the median line could have been produced by the telson touching the substrate. O. augusti would have been able to make incursions to the terrestrial surface, but it would have been uncomfortable for it, performing an undulatory gait and keeping its telson in regular contact with the ground, hence the median line. But nevertheless, this can not be completely proven unless a specimen of O. augusti is found alongside similar tracks. ## Paleoecology It is thought that the genus Onychopterella lived in brackish (water with salt but not completely salty) and possibly marine water. It was undoubtedly nektobenthic, that is, being able to swim but staying most of the time in the stratum. The less developed and narrow swimming legs, as well as the short and stout postabdomen, show that the genus was not a very good nor active swimmer, possibly using its terminal spine to walk. The broad doublure (the fringe of the dorsal exoskeleton) of the carapace could have been adapted for shoveling or digging. O. augusti was deposited during a period of sea level rise (due to the release of water from glaciers) in glaciolacustrine (relating to lakes derived from glaciers) to shallow marine environments. The conditions under the surface were anoxic (with little oxygen). Coexisting with lingulid brachiopods (such as Orbiculoidea), orthoconic nautiloids, naraoiid chelicerates, conodonts and other organisms, O. augusti would have been a top predator, feeding on other arthropods, worms and probably conodonts. It lived during the Late Hirnantian (Late Ordovician) to Early Rhuddanian (Early Silurian) stages, in South Africa. The type species, O. kokomoensis, inhabited a peritidal environment (in a part of the shore) along with other eurypterids such as Drepanopterus longicaudatus, Carcinosoma newlini and Erieopterus limuloides, as well as with the ostracod Leperditia ohioensis and the brachiopods Pentamerus divergens and Schuchertella interstriata. It was Early Pridoli (Late Silurian) in age, living in Indiana. On the other hand, O. pumilus, which lived in the Early Llandovery (Early Silurian) epoch of Illinois, is associated with many indeterminate species of anthozoans, craniates, brachiopods and gastropods in an open shallow subtidal (the sunlight reaches the bottom of the ocean) environment. Most of the eurypterids found outside the supercontinent Laurentia were highly derived genera that lived during the prelude of the amalgamation (union) of Pangea, as well as genera with a more effective morphology for dispersion. Therefore, the isolated appearance of an ancient form like O. augusti in the supercontinent Gondwana is challenging for the scientific community to explain, since the genus was not a good disperser due to the narrow form of its swimming legs compared to other more derived groups such as Pterygotidae or Adelophthalmidae. It seems unlikely that the eurypterines originated in Gondwana since there is no record of fossil remains of stylonurines or other basal swimming forms. It also seems that the collectivity of O. augusti went extinct without leaving a viable population of eurypterids in Gondwana. It has been proposed that O. augusti established itself in Gondwana by crossing the sea floor during the periods of sea level descent of the Hirnantian. Onychopterella does not represent the only occurrence of basal genera in Gondwana; Paraeurypterus, a genus known from deposits of the Şort Tepe Formation in southeastern Turkey, probably arrived there by the same method as O. augusti. ## See also - List of eurypterid genera - Timeline of eurypterid research
67,465,897	Affine symmetric group	1,173,167,158	Mathematical structure	[ "Coxeter groups", "Permutation groups", "Reflection groups", "Representation theory", "Symmetry" ]	The affine symmetric groups are a family of mathematical structures that describe the symmetries of the number line and the regular triangular tiling of the plane, as well as related higher-dimensional objects. In addition to this geometric description, the affine symmetric groups may be defined in other ways: as collections of permutations (rearrangements) of the integers (..., −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, ...) that are periodic in a certain sense, or in purely algebraic terms as a group with certain generators and relations. They are studied as part of the fields of combinatorics and representation theory. A finite symmetric group consists of all permutations of a finite set. Each affine symmetric group is an infinite extension of a finite symmetric group. Many important combinatorial properties of the finite symmetric groups can be extended to the corresponding affine symmetric groups. Permutation statistics such as descents and inversions can be defined in the affine case. As in the finite case, the natural combinatorial definitions for these statistics also have a geometric interpretation. The affine symmetric groups have close relationships with other mathematical objects, including juggling patterns and certain complex reflection groups. Many of their combinatorial and geometric properties extend to the broader family of affine Coxeter groups. ## Definitions The affine symmetric group may be equivalently defined as an abstract group by generators and relations, or in terms of concrete geometric and combinatorial models. ### Algebraic definition One way of defining groups is by generators and relations. In this type of definition, generators are a subset of group elements that, when combined, produce all other elements. The relations of the definition are a system of equations that determine when two combinations of generators are equal. In this way, the affine symmetric group $\widetilde{S}_n$ is generated by a set $s_0, s_1, \ldots, s_{n - 1}$ of n elements that satisfy the following relations: when $n \geq 3$, 1. $s_i^2 = 1$ (the generators are involutions), 2. $s_is_j = s_js_i$ if j is not one of $i - 1, i, i + 1$, indicating that for these pairs of generators, the group operation is commutative, and 3. $s_is_{i + 1}s_i = s_{i + 1}s_is_{i + 1}$. In the relations above, indices are taken modulo n, so that the third relation includes as a particular case $s_0s_{n - 1}s_0 = s_{n - 1}s_0s_{n - 1}$. (The second and third relation are sometimes called the braid relations.) When $n = 2$, the affine symmetric group $\widetilde{S}_2$ is the infinite dihedral group generated by two elements $s_0, s_1$ subject only to the relations $s_0^2 = s_1^2 = 1$. These relations can be rewritten in the special form that defines the Coxeter groups, so the affine symmetric groups are Coxeter groups, with the $s_i$ as their Coxeter generating sets. Each Coxeter group may be represented by a Coxeter–Dynkin diagram, in which vertices correspond to generators and edges encode the relations between them. For $n \geq 3$, the Coxeter–Dynkin diagram of $\widetilde{S}_n$ is the n-cycle (where the edges correspond to the relations between pairs of consecutive generators and the absence of an edge between other pairs of generators indicates that they commute), while for $n = 2$ it consists of two nodes joined by an edge labeled $\infty$. ### Geometric definition In the Euclidean space $\R^{n}$ with coordinates $(x_1, \ldots, x_n)$, the set V of points for which $x_1 + x_2 + \cdots + x_n = 0$ forms a (hyper)plane, an (n − 1)-dimensional subspace. For every pair of distinct elements i and j of $\{1, \ldots, n\}$ and every integer k, the set of points in V that satisfy $x_i - x_j = k$ forms an (n − 2)-dimensional subspace within V, and there is a unique reflection of V that fixes this subspace. Then the affine symmetric group $\widetilde{S}_n$ can be realized geometrically as a collection of maps from V to itself, the compositions of these reflections. Inside V, the subset of points with integer coordinates forms the root lattice, Λ. It is the set of all the integer vectors $(a_1, \ldots, a_n)$ such that $a_1 + \cdots + a_n = 0$. Each reflection preserves this lattice, and so the lattice is preserved by the whole group. The fixed subspaces of these reflections divide V into congruent simplices, called alcoves. The situation when $n = 3$ is shown in the figure; in this case, the root lattice is a triangular lattice, the reflecting lines divide V into equilateral triangle alcoves, and the roots are the centers of nonoverlapping hexagons made up of six triangular alcoves. To translate between the geometric and algebraic definitions, one fixes an alcove and consider the n hyperplanes that form its boundary. The reflections through these boundary hyperplanes may be identified with the Coxeter generators. In particular, there is a unique alcove (the fundamental alcove) consisting of points $(x_1, \ldots, x_n)$ such that $x_1 \geq x_2 \geq \cdots \geq x_n \geq x_1 - 1$, which is bounded by the hyperplanes $x_1 - x_2 = 0,$ $x_2 - x_3 = 0,$ ..., and $x_1 - x_n = 1,$ illustrated in the case $n = 3$. For $i = 1, \ldots, n- 1$, one may identify the reflection through $x_i - x_{i + 1} = 0$ with the Coxeter generator $s_i$, and also identify the reflection through $x_1 - x_n = 1$ with the generator $s_0 = s_n$. ### Combinatorial definition The elements of the affine symmetric group may be realized as a group of periodic permutations of the integers. In particular, say that a function $u \colon \Z \to \Z$ is an affine permutation if - it is a bijection (each integer appears as the value of $u(x)$ for exactly one $x$), - $u(x + n) = u(x) + n$ for all integers x (the function is equivariant under shifting by $n$), and - $u(1) + u(2) + \cdots + u(n) = 1 + 2 + \cdots + n = \frac{n(n + 1)}{2}$, the $n$th triangular number. For every affine permutation, and more generally every shift-equivariant bijection, the numbers $u(1), \ldots, u(n)$ must all be distinct modulo n. An affine permutation is uniquely determined by its window notation $[u(1), \ldots, u(n)]$, because all other values of $u$ can be found by shifting these values. Thus, affine permutations may also be identified with tuples $[u(1), \ldots, u(n)]$ of integers that contain one element from each congruence class modulo n and sum to $1 + 2 + \cdots + n$. To translate between the combinatorial and algebraic definitions, for $i = 1, \ldots, n- 1$ one may identify the Coxeter generator $s_i$ with the affine permutation that has window notation $[1, 2, \ldots, i - 1, i + 1, i, i + 2, \ldots, n ]$, and also identify the generator $s_0 = s_n$ with the affine permutation $[0, 2, 3, \ldots, n - 2, n - 1, n + 1]$. More generally, every reflection (that is, a conjugate of one of the Coxeter generators) can be described uniquely as follows: for distinct integers i, j in $\{1, \ldots, n\}$ and arbitrary integer k, it maps i to j − kn, maps j to i + kn, and fixes all inputs not congruent to i or j modulo n. ### Representation as matrices Affine permutations can be represented as infinite periodic permutation matrices. If $u : \mathbb{Z} \to \mathbb{Z}$ is an affine permutation, the corresponding matrix has entry 1 at position $(i, u(i))$ in the infinite grid $\mathbb{Z} \times \mathbb{Z}$ for each integer i, and all other entries are equal to 0. Since u is a bijection, the resulting matrix contains exactly one 1 in every row and column. The periodicity condition on the map u ensures that the entry at position $(a, b)$ is equal to the entry at position $(a + n, b + n)$ for every pair of integers $(a, b)$. For example, a portion of the matrix for the affine permutation $[2, 0, 4] \in \widetilde{S}_3$ is shown in the figure. In row 1, there is a 1 in column 2; in row 2, there is a 1 in column 0; and in row 3, there is a 1 in column 4. The rest of the entries in those rows and columns are all 0, and all the other entries in the matrix are fixed by the periodicity condition. ## Relationship to the finite symmetric group The affine symmetric group $\widetilde{S}_n$ contains the finite symmetric group $S_n$ of permutations on $n$ elements as both a subgroup and a quotient group. These connections allow a direct translation between the combinatorial and geometric definitions of the affine symmetric group. ### As a subgroup There is a canonical way to choose a subgroup of $\widetilde{S}_n$ that is isomorphic to the finite symmetric group $S_n$. In terms of the algebraic definition, this is the subgroup of $\widetilde{S}_n$ generated by $s_1, \ldots, s_{n - 1}$ (excluding the simple reflection $s_0 = s_n$). Geometrically, this corresponds to the subgroup of transformations that fix the origin, while combinatorially it corresponds to the window notations for which $\{u(1), \ldots, u(n) \} = \{1, 2, \ldots, n \}$ (that is, in which the window notation is the one-line notation of a finite permutation). If $u = [u(1), u(2), \ldots, u(n)]$ is the window notation of an element of this standard copy of $S_n \subset \widetilde{S}_n$, its action on the hyperplane V in $\R^n$ is given by permutation of coordinates: $(x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_n) \cdot u = (x_{u(1)}, x_{u(2)}, \ldots, x_{u(n)})$. (In this article, the geometric action of permutations and affine permutations is on the right; thus, if u and v are two affine permutations, the action of uv on a point is given by first applying u, then applying v.) There are also many nonstandard copies of $S_n$ contained in $\widetilde{S}_n$. A geometric construction is to pick any point a in Λ (that is, an integer vector whose coordinates sum to 0); the subgroup $(\widetilde{S}_n)_a$ of $\widetilde{S}_n$ of isometries that fix a is isomorphic to $S_n$. ### As a quotient There is a simple map (technically, a surjective group homomorphism) π from $\widetilde{S}_n$ onto the finite symmetric group $S_n$. In terms of the combinatorial definition, an affine permutation can be mapped to a permutation by reducing the window entries modulo n to elements of $\{1, 2, \ldots, n\}$, leaving the one-line notation of a permutation. In this article, the image $\pi(u)$ of an affine permutation u is called the underlying permutation of u. The map π sends the Coxeter generator $s_0 = [0, 2, 3, 4, \ldots, n - 2, n - 1, n + 1]$ to the permutation whose one-line notation and cycle notation are $[n , 2 , 3 , 4, \ldots , n - 2 , n - 1 , 1]$ and $(1 \; n)$, respectively. The kernel of π is by definition the set of affine permutations whose underlying permutation is the identity. The window notations of such affine permutations are of the form $[1 - a_1 \cdot n, 2 - a_2 \cdot n, \ldots, n - a_n \cdot n]$, where $(a_1, a_2, \ldots, a_n)$ is an integer vector such that $a_1 + a_2 + \ldots + a_n = 0$, that is, where $(a_1, \ldots, a_n) \in \Lambda$. Geometrically, this kernel consists of the translations, the isometries that shift the entire space V without rotating or reflecting it. In an abuse of notation, the symbol Λ is used in this article for all three of these sets (integer vectors in V, affine permutations with underlying permutation the identity, and translations); in all three settings, the natural group operation turns Λ into an abelian group, generated freely by the n − 1 vectors $\{(1, -1, 0, \ldots, 0), (0, 1, -1, \ldots, 0), \ldots, (0, \ldots, 0, 1, -1)\}$. ### Connection between the geometric and combinatorial definitions The affine symmetric group $\widetilde{S}_n$ has Λ as a normal subgroup, and is isomorphic to the semidirect product $\widetilde{S}_n \cong S_n \ltimes \Lambda$ of this subgroup with the finite symmetric group $S_n$, where the action of $S_n$ on Λ is by permutation of coordinates. Consequently, every element u of $\widetilde{S}_n$ has a unique realization as a product $u = r \cdot t$ where $r$ is a permutation in the standard copy of $S_n$ in $\widetilde{S}_n$ and $t$ is a translation in Λ. This point of view allows for a direct translation between the combinatorial and geometric definitions of $\widetilde{S}_n$: if one writes $[u(1), \ldots, u(n)] = [r_1 - a_1 \cdot n, \ldots, r_n - a_n \cdot n]$ where $r = [r_1, \ldots, r_n] = \pi(u)$ and $(a_1, a_2, \ldots, a_n) \in \Lambda$ then the affine permutation u corresponds to the rigid motion of V defined by $(x_1, \ldots, x_n) \cdot u = \left(x_{r(1)} + a_1, \ldots, x_{r(n)} + a_n \right).$ Furthermore, as with every affine Coxeter group, the affine symmetric group acts transitively and freely on the set of alcoves: for each two alcoves, a unique group element takes one alcove to the other. Hence, making an arbitrary choice of alcove $A_0$ places the group in one-to-one correspondence with the alcoves: the identity element corresponds to $A_0$, and every other group element g corresponds to the alcove $A = A_0 \cdot g$ that is the image of $A_0$ under the action of g. === Example: n = 2 === Algebraically, $\widetilde{S}_2$ is the infinite dihedral group, generated by two generators $s_0, s_1$ subject to the relations $s_0^2 = s_1^2 = 1$. Every other element of the group can be written as an alternating product of copies of $s_0$ and $s_1$. Combinatorially, the affine permutation $s_1$ has window notation $[2, 1]$, corresponding to the bijection $2k \mapsto 2k - 1, 2k - 1 \mapsto 2k$ for every integer k. The affine permutation $s_0$ has window notation $[0, 3]$, corresponding to the bijection $2k \mapsto 2k + 1, 2k + 1 \mapsto 2k$ for every integer k. Other elements have the following window notations: <math> \begin{align} \overbrace{s_0 s_1 \cdots s_0 s_1}^{2k \text{ factors}} & = [1 + 2k, 2 - 2k ], \\\\[5pt] \overbrace{s_1 s_0 \cdots s_1 s_0}^{2k \text{ factors}} & = [1 - 2k, 2 + 2k ], \\\\[5pt] \overbrace{s_0 s_1 \cdots s_0}^{2k + 1 \text{ factors}} & = [2 + 2k, 1 - 2k ], \\\\[5pt] \overbrace{s_1 s_0 \cdots s_1}^{2k + 1 \text{ factors}} & = [2 - 2(k + 1), 1 + 2(k + 1) ]. \end{align} </math> Geometrically, the space V on which $\widetilde{S}_2$ acts is a line, with infinitely many equally spaced reflections. It is natural to identify the line V with the real line $\R^1$, $s_0$ with reflection around the point 0, and $s_1$ with reflection around the point 1. In this case, the reflection $(s_0 s_1)^k s_0$ reflects across the point –k for any integer k, the composition $s_0 s_1$ translates the line by –2, and the composition $s_1 s_0$ translates the line by 2. ## Permutation statistics and permutation patterns Many permutation statistics and other features of the combinatorics of finite permutations can be extended to the affine case. ### Descents, length, and inversions The length $\ell(g)$ of an element g of a Coxeter group G is the smallest number k such that g can be written as a product $g= s_{i_1} \cdots s_{i_k}$ of k Coxeter generators of G. Geometrically, the length of an element g in $\widetilde{S}_n$ is the number of reflecting hyperplanes that separate $A_0$ and $A_0 \cdot g$, where $A_0$ is the fundamental alcove (the simplex bounded by the reflecting hyperplanes of the Coxeter generators $s_0, s_1, \ldots, s_{n - 1}$). Combinatorially, the length of an affine permutation is encoded in terms of an appropriate notion of inversions: for an affine permutation u, the length is $\ell(u) = \# \left\{ (i, j) \colon i \in \{1, \ldots, n\}, i < j, \text{ and } u(i) > u(j) \right\}.$ Alternatively, it is the number of equivalence classes of pairs $(i, j) \in \mathbb{Z} \times \mathbb{Z}$ such that $i < j$ and $u(i) > u(j)$ under the equivalence relation $(i, j) \equiv (i', j')$ if $(i - i', j - j') = (kn, kn)$ for some integer k. The generating function for length in $\widetilde{S}_n$ is $\sum_{g \in \widetilde{S}_n} q^{\ell(g)} = \frac{1 - q^n}{(1 - q)^n}.$ Similarly, there is an affine analogue of descents in permutations: an affine permutation u has a descent in position i if $u(i) > u(i + 1)$. (By periodicity, u has a descent in position i if and only if it has a descent in position $i + kn$ for all integers k.) Algebraically, the descents corresponds to the right descents in the sense of Coxeter groups; that is, i is a descent of u if and only if $\ell(u \cdot s_i) < \ell (u)$. The left descents (that is, those indices i such that $\ell(s_i \cdot u) < \ell (u)$) are the descents of the inverse affine permutation $u^{-1}$; equivalently, they are the values i such that i occurs before i − 1 in the sequence $\ldots, u(-2), u(-1), u(0), u(1), u(2), \ldots$. Geometrically, i is a descent of u if and only if the fixed hyperplane of $s_i$ separates the alcoves $A_0$ and $A_0 \cdot u.$ Because there are only finitely many possibilities for the number of descents of an affine permutation, but infinitely many affine permutations, it is not possible to naively form a generating function for affine permutations by number of descents (an affine analogue of Eulerian polynomials). One possible resolution is to consider affine descents (equivalently, cyclic descents) in the finite symmetric group $S_n$. Another is to consider simultaneously the length and number of descents of an affine permutation. The multivariate generating function for these statistics over $\widetilde{S}_n$ simultaneously for all n is $\sum_{n \geq 1} \frac{x^n}{1 - q^n} \sum_{w \in \widetilde{S}_n} t^{\operatorname{des}(w)} q^{\ell(w)} = \left[ \frac{x \cdot \frac{\partial}{\partial{x}} \log(\exp(x; q))}{1 - t \exp(x; q)} \right]_{x \mapsto x \frac{1 - t}{1 - q}}$ where des(w) is the number of descents of the affine permutation w and $\exp(x; q) = \sum_{n \geq 0} \frac{x^n (1 - q)^n}{(1 - q)(1 - q^2) \cdots (1 - q^n)}$ is the q-exponential function. ### Cycle type and reflection length Any bijection $u : \mathbb{Z} \to \mathbb{Z}$ partitions the integers into a (possibly infinite) list of (possibly infinite) cycles: for each integer i, the cycle containing i is the sequence $( \ldots, u^{-2}(i), u^{-1}(i), i, u(i), u^2(i), \ldots )$ where exponentiation represents functional composition. For an affine permutation u, the following conditions are equivalent: all cycles of u are finite, u has finite order, and the geometric action of u on the space V has at least one fixed point. The reflection length $\ell_R(u)$ of an element u of $\widetilde{S}_n$ is the smallest number k such that there exist reflections $r_1, \ldots, r_k$ such that $u = r_1 \cdots r_k$. (In the symmetric group, reflections are transpositions, and the reflection length of a permutation u is $n - c(u)$, where $c(u)$ is the number of cycles of u.) In , the following formula was proved for the reflection length of an affine permutation u: for each cycle of u, define the weight to be the integer k such that consecutive entries congruent modulo n differ by exactly kn. Form a tuple of cycle weights of u (counting translates of the same cycle by multiples of n only once), and define the nullity $\nu(u)$ to be the size of the smallest set partition of this tuple so that each part sums to 0. Then the reflection length of u is $\ell_R(u) = n - 2 \nu(u) + c(\pi(u)),$ where $\pi(u)$ is the underlying permutation of u. For every affine permutation u, there is a choice of subgroup W of $\widetilde{S}_n$ such that $W \cong S_n$, $\widetilde{S}_n = W \ltimes \Lambda$, and for the standard form $u = w \cdot t$ implied by this semidirect product, the reflection lengths are additive, that is, $\ell_R(u) = \ell_R(w) + \ell_R(t)$. ### Fully commutative elements and pattern avoidance A reduced word for an element g of a Coxeter group is a tuple $(s_{i_1}, \ldots, s_{i_{\ell(g)}})$ of Coxeter generators of minimum possible length such that $g = s_{i_1} \cdots s_{i_{\ell(g)}}$. The element g is called fully commutative if any reduced word can be transformed into any other by sequentially swapping pairs of factors that commute. For example, in the finite symmetric group $S_4$, the element $2143 = (12)(34)$ is fully commutative, since its two reduced words $(s_1, s_3)$ and $(s_3, s_1)$ can be connected by swapping commuting factors, but $4132 = (142)(3)$ is not fully commutative because there is no way to reach the reduced word $(s_3, s_2, s_3, s_1)$ starting from the reduced word $(s_2, s_3, s_2, s_1)$ by commutations. `proved that in the finite symmetric group `$S_n$`, a permutation is fully commutative if and only if it avoids the permutation pattern 321, that is, if and only if its one-line notation contains no three-term decreasing subsequence. In , this result was extended to affine permutations: an affine permutation u is fully commutative if and only if there do not exist integers `$i < j < k$` such that `$u(i) > u(j) > u(k)$`.` The number of affine permutations avoiding a single pattern p is finite if and only if p avoids the pattern 321, so in particular there are infinitely many fully commutative affine permutations. These were enumerated by length in . ## Parabolic subgroups and other structures The parabolic subgroups of $\widetilde{S}_n$ and their coset representatives offer a rich combinatorial structure. Other aspects of affine symmetric groups, such as their Bruhat order and representation theory, may also be understood via combinatorial models. ### Parabolic subgroups, coset representatives A standard parabolic subgroup of a Coxeter group is a subgroup generated by a subset of its Coxeter generating set. The maximal parabolic subgroups are those that come from omitting a single Coxeter generator. In $\widetilde{S}_n$, all maximal parabolic subgroups are isomorphic to the finite symmetric group $S_n$. The subgroup generated by the subset $\{s_0, \ldots, s_{n - 1} \} \smallsetminus \{s_i\}$ consists of those affine permutations that stabilize the interval $[i + 1, i + n]$, that is, that map every element of this interval to another element of the interval. For a fixed element i of $\{0, \ldots, n - 1\}$, let $J = \{s_0, \ldots, s_{n - 1} \} \smallsetminus \{s_i\}$ be the maximal proper subset of Coxeter generators omitting $s_i$, and let $(\widetilde{S}_n)_J$ denote the parabolic subgroup generated by J. Every coset $g \cdot (\widetilde{S}_n)_J$ has a unique element of minimum length. The collection of such representatives, denoted $(\widetilde{S}_n)^J$, consists of the following affine permutations: $(\widetilde{S}_n)^J = \left \{ u \in \widetilde{S}_n \colon u(i - n + 1) < u(i - n + 2) < \cdots < u(i - 1) < u(i) \right \}.$ In the particular case that $J = \{s_1, \ldots, s_{n - 1} \}$, so that $(\widetilde{S}_n)_J \cong S_n$ is the standard copy of $S_n$ inside $\widetilde{S}_n$, the elements of $(\widetilde{S}_n)^J \cong \widetilde{S}_n/S_n$ may naturally be represented by abacus diagrams: the integers are arranged in an infinite strip of width n, increasing sequentially along rows and then from top to bottom; integers are circled if they lie directly above one of the window entries of the minimal coset representative. For example, the minimal coset representative $u = [-5, 0, 6, 9]$ is represented by the abacus diagram at right. To compute the length of the representative from the abacus diagram, one adds up the number of uncircled numbers that are smaller than the last circled entry in each column. (In the example shown, this gives $5 + 3 + 0 + 1 = 9$.) Other combinatorial models of minimum-length coset representatives for $\widetilde{S}_n/S_n$ can be given in terms of core partitions (integer partitions in which no hook length is divisible by n) or bounded partitions (integer partitions in which no part is larger than n − 1). Under these correspondences, it can be shown that the weak Bruhat order on $\widetilde{S}_n / S_n$ is isomorphic to a certain subposet of Young's lattice. ### Bruhat order The Bruhat order on $\widetilde{S}_n$ has the following combinatorial realization. If u is an affine permutation and i and j are integers, define $u [i, j]$ to be the number of integers a such that $a \leq i$ and $u(a) \geq j$. (For example, with $u = [2, 0, 4] \in \widetilde{S}_3$, one has $u [ 3, 1 ] = 3$: the three relevant values are $a = 0, 1, 3$, which are respectively mapped by u to 1, 2, and 4.) Then for two affine permutations u, v, one has that $u \leq v$ in Bruhat order if and only if $u[i, j] \leq v[i, j]$ for all integers i, j. ### Representation theory and an affine Robinson–Schensted correspondence In the finite symmetric group, the Robinson–Schensted correspondence gives a bijection between the group and pairs $(P, Q)$ of standard Young tableaux of the same shape. This bijection plays a central role in the combinatorics and the representation theory of the symmetric group. For example, in the language of Kazhdan–Lusztig theory, two permutations lie in the same left cell if and only if their images under Robinson–Schensted have the same tableau Q, and in the same right cell if and only if their images have the same tableau P. In , Jian-Yi Shi showed that left cells for $\widetilde{S}_n$ are indexed instead by tabloids, and in he gave an algorithm to compute the tabloid analogous to the tableau P for an affine permutation. In , the authors extended Shi's work to give a bijective map between $\widetilde{S}_n$ and triples $(P, Q, \rho)$ consisting of two tabloids of the same shape and an integer vector whose entries satisfy certain inequalities. Their procedure uses the matrix representation of affine permutations and generalizes the shadow construction, introduced in . ## Inverse realizations In some situations, one may wish to consider the action of the affine symmetric group on $\Z$ or on alcoves that is inverse to the one given above. These alternate realizations are described below. In the combinatorial action of $\widetilde{S}_n$ on $\Z$, the generator $s_i$ acts by switching the values i and i + 1. In the inverse action, it instead switches the entries in positions i and i + 1. Similarly, the action of a general reflection will be to switch the entries at positions j − kn and i + kn for each k, fixing all inputs at positions not congruent to i or j modulo n. In the geometric action of $\widetilde{S}_n$, the generator $s_i$ acts on an alcove A by reflecting it across one of the bounding planes of the fundamental alcove A<sub>0</sub>. In the inverse action, it instead reflects A across one of its own bounding planes. From this perspective, a reduced word corresponds to an alcove walk on the tessellated space V. ## Relationship to other mathematical objects The affine symmetric groups are closely related to a variety of other mathematical objects. ### Juggling patterns In , a correspondence is given between affine permutations and juggling patterns encoded in a version of siteswap notation. Here, a juggling pattern of period n is a sequence $(a_1, \ldots, a_n)$ of nonnegative integers (with certain restrictions) that captures the behavior of balls thrown by a juggler, where the number $a_i$ indicates the length of time the ith throw spends in the air (equivalently, the height of the throw). The number b of balls in the pattern is the average $b = \frac{a_1 + \cdots + a_n}{n}$. The Ehrenborg–Readdy correspondence associates to each juggling pattern ${\bf a} = (a_1, \ldots, a_n)$ of period n the function $w_{\bf a} \colon \Z \to \Z$ defined by $w_{\bf a}(i) = i + a_i - b,$ where indices of the sequence a are taken modulo n. Then $w_{\bf a}$ is an affine permutation in $\widetilde{S}_n$, and moreover every affine permutation arises from a juggling pattern in this way. Under this bijection, the length of the affine permutation is encoded by a natural statistic in the juggling pattern: $\ell(w_{\bf a}) = (b - 1)n - \operatorname{cross}({\bf a}),$ where $\operatorname{cross}({\bf a})$ is the number of crossings (up to periodicity) in the arc diagram of a. This allows an elementary proof of the generating function for affine permutations by length. For example, the juggling pattern 441 has $n = 3$ and $b = \frac{4 + 4 + 1}{3} = 3$. Therefore, it corresponds to the affine permutation $w_{441} = [1 + 4 - 3, 2 + 4 - 3, 3 + 1 - 3] = [2, 3, 1]$. The juggling pattern has four crossings, and the affine permutation has length $\ell(w_{441}) = (3 - 1) \cdot 3 - 4 = 2$. Similar techniques can be used to derive the generating function for minimal coset representatives of $\widetilde{S}_n/S_n$ by length. ### Complex reflection groups In a finite-dimensional real inner product space, a reflection is a linear transformation that fixes a linear hyperplane pointwise and negates the vector orthogonal to the plane. This notion may be extended to vector spaces over other fields. In particular, in a complex inner product space, a reflection is a unitary transformation T of finite order that fixes a hyperplane. This implies that the vectors orthogonal to the hyperplane are eigenvectors of T, and the associated eigenvalue is a complex root of unity. A complex reflection group is a finite group of linear transformations on a complex vector space generated by reflections. The complex reflection groups were fully classified by : each complex reflection group is isomorphic to a product of irreducible complex reflection groups, and every irreducible either belongs to an infinite family $G(m, p, n)$ (where m, p, and n are positive integers such that p divides m) or is one of 34 other (so-called "exceptional") examples. The group $G(m, 1, n)$ is the generalized symmetric group: algebraically, it is the wreath product $(\Z / m \Z) \wr S_n$ of the cyclic group $\Z / m \Z$ with the symmetric group $S_n$. Concretely, the elements of the group may be represented by monomial matrices (matrices having one nonzero entry in every row and column) whose nonzero entries are all mth roots of unity. The groups $G(m, p, n)$ are subgroups of $G(m, 1, n)$, and in particular the group $G(m, m, n)$ consists of those matrices in which the product of the nonzero entries is equal to 1. In , Shi showed that the affine symmetric group is a generic cover of the family $\left\{G(m, m, n) \colon m \geq 1 \right\}$, in the following sense: for every positive integer m, there is a surjection $\pi_m$ from $\widetilde{S}_n$ to $G(m, m, n)$, and these maps are compatible with the natural surjections $G(m, m, n) \twoheadrightarrow G(p, p, n)$ when $p \mid m$ that come from raising each entry to the m/pth power. Moreover, these projections respect the reflection group structure, in that the image of every reflection in $\widetilde{S}_n$ under $\pi_m$ is a reflection in $G(m, m, n)$; and similarly when $m > 1$ the image of the standard Coxeter element $s_0 \cdot s_1 \cdots s_{n - 1}$ in $\widetilde{S}_n$ is a Coxeter element in $G(m, m, n)$. ### Affine Lie algebras Each affine Coxeter group is associated to an affine Lie algebra, a certain infinite-dimensional non-associative algebra with unusually nice representation-theoretic properties. In this association, the Coxeter group arises as a group of symmetries of the root space of the Lie algebra (the dual of the Cartan subalgebra). In the classification of affine Lie algebras, the one associated to $\widetilde{S}_n$ is of (untwisted) type $A_{n - 1}^{(1)}$, with Cartan matrix $\left[ \begin{array}{rr} 2 & - 2 \\ - 2& 2 \end{array} \right]$ for $n = 2$ and $\left[ \begin{array}{rrrrrr} 2 & -1 & 0 & \cdots & 0 & -1 \\ -1 & 2 & -1 & \cdots & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & -1 & 2 & \cdots & 0 & 0 \\ \vdots & \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots & \vdots \\ 0 & 0 & 0 & \cdots & 2 & -1 \\ -1 & 0 & 0 & \cdots & -1 & 2 \end{array} \right]$ (a circulant matrix) for $n > 2$. Like other Kac–Moody algebras, affine Lie algebras satisfy the Weyl–Kac character formula, which expresses the characters of the algebra in terms of their highest weights. In the case of affine Lie algebras, the resulting identities are equivalent to the Macdonald identities. In particular, for the affine Lie algebra of type $A_1^{(1)}$, associated to the affine symmetric group $\widetilde{S}_2$, the corresponding Macdonald identity is equivalent to the Jacobi triple product. ### Braid group and group-theoretic properties Coxeter groups have a number of special properties not shared by all groups. These include that their word problem is decidable (that is, there exists an algorithm that can determine whether or not any given product of the generators is equal to the identity element) and that they are linear groups (that is, they can be represented by a group of invertible matrices over a field). Each Coxeter group W is associated to an Artin–Tits group $B_W$, which is defined by a similar presentation that omits relations of the form $s^2 = 1$ for each generator s. In particular, the Artin–Tits group associated to $\widetilde{S}_n$ is generated by n elements $\sigma_0, \sigma_1, \ldots, \sigma_{n - 1}$ subject to the relations $\sigma_i \sigma_{i + 1} \sigma_i = \sigma_{i + 1}\sigma_i \sigma_{i + 1}$ for $i = 0, \ldots, n - 1$ (and no others), where as before the indices are taken modulo n (so $\sigma_n = \sigma_0$). Artin–Tits groups of Coxeter groups are conjectured to have many nice properties: for example, they are conjectured to be torsion-free, to have trivial center, to have solvable word problem, and to satisfy the $K(\pi, 1)$ conjecture. These conjectures are not known to hold for all Artin–Tits groups, but in it was shown that $B_{\widetilde{S}_n}$ has these properties. (Subsequently, they have been proved for the Artin–Tits groups associated to affine Coxeter groups.) In the case of the affine symmetric group, these proofs make use of an associated Garside structure on the Artin–Tits group. Artin–Tits groups are sometimes also known as generalized braid groups, because the Artin–Tits group $B_{S_n}$ of the (finite) symmetric group is the braid group on n strands. Not all Artin–Tits groups have a natural representation in terms of geometric braids. However, the Artin–Tits group of the hyperoctahedral group $S^{\pm}_n$ (geometrically, the symmetry group of the n-dimensional hypercube; combinatorially, the group of signed permutations of size n) does have such a representation: it is given by the subgroup of the braid group on $n + 1$ strands consisting of those braids for which a particular strand ends in the same position it started in, or equivalently as the braid group of n strands in an annular region. Moreover, the Artin–Tits group of the hyperoctahedral group $S^{\pm}_n$ can be written as a semidirect product of $B_{\widetilde{S}_n}$ with an infinite cyclic group. It follows that $B_{\widetilde{S}_n}$ may be interpreted as a certain subgroup consisting of geometric braids, and also that it is a linear group. ### Extended affine symmetric group The affine symmetric group is a subgroup of the extended affine symmetric group. The extended group is isomorphic to the wreath product $\Z \wr S_n$. Its elements are extended affine permutations: bijections $u \colon \Z \to \Z$ such that $u(x + n) = u(x) + n$ for all integers x. Unlike the affine symmetric group, the extended affine symmetric group is not a Coxeter group. But it has a natural generating set that extends the Coxeter generating set for $\widetilde{S}_n$: the shift operator $\tau$ whose window notation is $\tau = [2, 3, \ldots, n, n + 1]$ generates the extended group with the simple reflections, subject to the additional relations $\tau s_i \tau^{-1} = s_{i + 1}$. ### Combinatorics of other affine Coxeter groups The geometric action of the affine symmetric group $\widetilde{S}_n$ places it naturally in the family of affine Coxeter groups, each of which has a similar geometric action on an affine space. The combinatorial description of the $\widetilde{S}_n$ may also be extended to many of these groups: in , an axiomatic description is given of certain permutation groups acting on $\Z$ (the "George groups", in honor of George Lusztig), and it is shown that they are exactly the "classical" Coxeter groups of finite and affine types A, B, C, and D. (In the classification of affine Coxeter groups, the affine symmetric group is type A.) Thus, the combinatorial interpretations of descents, inversions, etc., carry over in these cases. Abacus models of minimum-length coset representatives for parabolic quotients have also been extended to this context. ## History The study of Coxeter groups in general could be said to first arise in the classification of regular polyhedra (the Platonic solids) in ancient Greece. The modern systematic study (connecting the algebraic and geometric definitions of finite and affine Coxeter groups) began in work of Coxeter in the 1930s. The combinatorial description of the affine symmetric group first appears in work of , and was expanded upon by ; both authors used the combinatorial description to study the Kazhdan–Lusztig cells of $\widetilde{S}_n$. The proof that the combinatorial definition agrees with the algebraic definition was given by .
948,631	Rainbow trout	1,171,366,601	Fresh-water species of fish	[ "Cold water fish", "Commercial fish", "Fauna of the Rocky Mountains", "Fauna of the Sierra Nevada (United States)", "Fish described in 1792", "Fish of Canada", "Fish of the Pacific Ocean", "Fish of the Western United States", "Freshwater fish of Asia", "Freshwater fish of North America", "Freshwater fish of the United States", "Holarctic fauna", "Oncorhynchus", "Taxa named by Johann Julius Walbaum" ]	The rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coastal rainbow trout (O. m. irideus) or Columbia River redband trout (O. m. gairdneri) that usually returns to freshwater to spawn after living two to three years in the ocean. Freshwater forms that have been introduced into the Great Lakes and migrate into tributaries to spawn are also called steelhead. Adult freshwater stream rainbow trout average between 0.5 and 2.5 kilograms (1 and 5 lb), while lake-dwelling and anadromous forms may reach 9 kg (20 lb). Coloration varies widely based on subspecies, forms, and habitat. Adult fish are distinguished by a broad reddish stripe along the lateral line, from gills to the tail, which is most vivid in breeding males. Wild-caught and hatchery-reared forms of the species have been transplanted and introduced for food or sport in at least 45 countries and every continent except Antarctica. Introductions to locations outside their native range in the United States, Southern Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South America have damaged native fish species. Introduced populations may affect native species by preying on them, out-competing them, transmitting contagious diseases (such as whirling disease), or hybridizing with closely related species and subspecies, thus reducing genetic purity. The rainbow trout is included in the list of the top 100 globally invasive species. Other introductions into waters previously devoid of fish or with severely depleted stocks of native fish have created sport fisheries, such as the Great Lakes and Wyoming's Firehole River. Some local populations of specific subspecies, or in the case of steelhead, distinct population segments, are listed as either threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The steelhead is the official state fish of Washington. ## Taxonomy The scientific name of the rainbow trout is Oncorhynchus mykiss. The species was originally named by German naturalist and taxonomist Johann Julius Walbaum in 1792 based on type specimens from the Kamchatka Peninsula in Siberia. Walbaum's original species name, mykiss, was derived from the local Kamchatkan name used for the fish, mykizha. The name of the genus is from the Greek onkos ("hook") and rynchos ("nose"), in reference to the hooked jaws of males in the mating season (the "kype"). Sir John Richardson, a Scottish naturalist, named a specimen of this species Salmo gairdneri in 1836 to honor Meredith Gairdner, a Hudson's Bay Company surgeon at Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River who provided Richardson with specimens. In 1855, William P. Gibbons, the curator of Geology and Mineralogy at the California Academy of Sciences, found a population and named it Salmo iridia (Latin: rainbow), later corrected to Salmo irideus. These names faded once it was determined that Walbaum's description of type specimens was conspecific and therefore had precedence. In 1989, morphological and genetic studies indicated that trout of the Pacific Basin were genetically closer to Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus species) than to the Salmos – brown trout (Salmo trutta) or Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) of the Atlantic Basin. Thus, in 1989, taxonomic authorities moved the rainbow, cutthroat, and other Pacific Basin trout into the genus Oncorhynchus. Walbaum's name had precedence, so the species name Oncorhynchus mykiss became the scientific name of the rainbow trout. The previous species names irideus and gairdneri were adopted as subspecies names for the coastal rainbow and Columbia River redband trout, respectively. Anadromous forms of the coastal rainbow trout (O. m. irideus) or Columbia River redband trout (O. m. gairdneri) are commonly known as steelhead. ### Subspecies Subspecies of Oncorhynchus mykiss are listed below as described by fisheries biologist Robert J. Behnke (2002). ## Description Resident freshwater rainbow trout adults average between 0.5 and 2.5 kg (1 and 5 lb) in riverine environments, while lake-dwelling, and anadromous forms may reach 9 kg (20 lb). Coloration varies widely between regions and subspecies. Adult freshwater forms are generally blue-green or olive green with heavy black spotting over the length of the body. Adult fish have a broad reddish stripe along the lateral line, from gills to the tail, which is most pronounced in breeding males. The caudal fin is squarish and only mildly forked. Lake-dwelling and anadromous forms are usually more silvery in color with the reddish stripe almost completely gone. Juvenile rainbow trout display parr marks (dark vertical bars) typical of most salmonid juveniles. In some redband and golden trout forms, parr marks are typically retained into adulthood. Some coastal rainbow trout (O. m. irideus) and Columbia River redband trout (O. m. gairdneri) populations and cutbow hybrids may also display reddish or pink throat markings similar to cutthroat trout. In many regions, hatchery-bred trout can be distinguished from native trout via fin clips. Fin clipping the adipose fin is a management tool used to identify hatchery-reared fish. ## Life cycle Rainbow trout, including steelhead forms, generally spawn in early to late spring (January to June in the Northern Hemisphere and September to November in the Southern Hemisphere) when water temperatures reach at least 6 to 7 °C (42 to 44 °F). The maximum recorded lifespan for a rainbow trout is 11 years. ### Freshwater life cycle Freshwater resident rainbow trout usually inhabit and spawn in small to moderately large, well-oxygenated, shallow rivers with gravel bottoms. They are native to the alluvial or freestone streams that are typical tributaries of the Pacific basin but introduced rainbow trout have established wild, self-sustaining populations in other river types such as bedrock and spring creeks. Lake-resident rainbow trout are usually found in moderately deep, cool lakes with adequate shallows and vegetation to support the production of sufficient food sources. Lake populations generally require access to gravelly-bottomed streams to be self-sustaining. Spawning sites are usually a bed of fine gravel in a riffle above a pool. A female trout clears a redd in the gravel by turning on her side and beating her tail up and down. Female rainbow trout usually produce 2000 to 3000 4-to-5-millimetre (5⁄32–3⁄16 in) eggs per kilogram of weight. During spawning, the eggs fall into spaces between the gravel, and immediately the female begins digging at the upstream edge of the nest, covering the eggs with the displaced gravel. As eggs are released by the female, a male moves alongside and deposits milt (sperm) over the eggs to fertilize them. The eggs usually hatch in about four to seven weeks although the time of hatching varies greatly with region and habitat. Newly hatched trout are called sac fry or alevin. In approximately two weeks, the yolk sac is completely consumed, and fry commence feeding mainly on zooplankton. The growth rate of rainbow trout varies with area, habitat, life history, and quality and quantity of food. As fry grow, they begin to develop "parr" marks or dark vertical bars on their sides. In this juvenile stage, immature trout are often called "parr" because of the marks. These small juvenile trout are sometimes called 'fingerlings' because they are approximately the size of a human finger. In streams where rainbow trout are stocked for sport fishing, but no natural reproduction occurs, some of the stocked trout may survive and grow or "carryover" for several seasons before they are caught or perish. ### Steelhead life cycle The oceangoing (anadromous) form, including those returning for spawning, are known as steelhead in Canada and the U.S. In Tasmania they are commercially propagated in sea cages and are known as ocean trout, although they are the same species. Like salmon, steelhead return to their original hatching grounds to spawn. Similar to Atlantic salmon, but unlike their Pacific Oncorhynchus salmonid kin, steelhead are iteroparous (able to spawn several times, each time separated by months) and make several spawning trips between fresh and salt water, although fewer than 10 percent of native spawning adults survive from one spawning to another. The survival rate for introduced populations in the Great Lakes is as high as 70 percent. As young steelhead transition from freshwater to saltwater, a process called "smoltification" occurs where the trout undergoes physiological changes to allow it to survive in seawater. There are genetic differences between freshwater and steelhead populations that may account for the smoltification in steelhead. Juvenile steelhead may remain in the river for one to three years before smolting and migrating to sea. Individual steelhead populations leave the ocean and migrate into their freshwater spawning tributaries at different times of the year. Two general forms exist—"summer-run steelhead" and "winter-run steelhead". Summer-run fish leave the ocean between May and October before their reproductive organs are fully mature. They mature in freshwater while en route to spawning grounds where they spawn in the spring. Summer-run fish generally spawn in longer, more inland rivers such as the Columbia River. Winter-run fish are ready to spawn when they leave the ocean, typically between November and April, and spawn shortly after returning to fresh water. Winter-run fish generally spawn in shorter, coastal rivers typically found along the Olympic Peninsula and British Columbia coastline, and summer-run fish are found in some shorter, coastal streams. Once steelhead enter riverine systems and reach suitable spawning grounds, they spawn just like resident freshwater rainbow trout. ### Growth and oxidative stress on mitochondria During periods of rapid growth and aging, trout display high levels of metabolic activity. High metabolic activity has been correlated with increased levels of oxidative stress and decreased machinery repair in rainbow trout. During high oxidative stress, the mitochondria are the most important organelle contributing to tissue damage because of their role in metabolism and production of reactive oxygen species. In a study done by Almaida-Pagàn et al., researchers identified changes to the heart and brain mitochondrial membrane phospholipid composition in rainbow trout due to the differing levels of oxidative stress each organ faced during a high-stress time such as rapid growth and development. Stock rainbow trout of ages 1, 2, and 4 years had their heart and brain mitochondria isolated and analyzed for fatty acid composition. The tissues showed an overall similar percentage of total phospholipids but differed in the types and proportions of phospholipids. With age, the heart showed more unsaturated phospholipids, which are more susceptible to peroxidation, and thus, damage. The brain mitochondria of rainbow trout show decreased levels of docosahexaenoic acid and a lower peroxidation index, suggesting a lower susceptibility to damage by oxidative stress and a different reaction to growth compared to heart mitochondria. During the trout's development into an adult, a time of intense growth, the mitochondrial membrane composition and fluidity changes, which can cause defects in the electron transport chain. These defects combined with altered machinery repair and reactive oxygen species may cause more detrimental effects on the mitochondria in the fish as it matures. ## Feeding Rainbow trout are predators with a varied diet and will eat nearly anything they can capture. They are not as piscivorous or aggressive as brown trout or chars. Rainbow trout, including juvenile steelhead in fresh water, routinely feed on larval, pupal, and adult forms of aquatic insects (typically caddisflies, stoneflies, mayflies and aquatic diptera). They also eat fish eggs and adult forms of terrestrial insects (typically ants, beetles, grasshoppers, and crickets) that fall into the water, as well as algae. Other prey includes small fish up to one-third of their length, crayfish, shrimp, and other crustaceans. As rainbow trout grow, the proportion of fish consumed increases in most populations. Some lake-dwelling forms may become planktonic feeders. In rivers and streams populated with other salmonid species, rainbow trout eat varied fish eggs, including those of salmon, brown and cutthroat trout, mountain whitefish, and the eggs of other rainbow trout. Rainbows also consume decomposing flesh from the carcasses of other fish. They have even been observed to have consumed hatchling snakes, such as the barred grass snake (Natrix helvetica). Adult steelhead in the ocean feed primarily on other fish, squid and amphipods. If food has proper amount of tryptophan, it will affect positively for enzyme activity occurred inside body and immune genes. So immune system and stress resistance of rainbow trout improve. ## Range The native range of Oncorhynchus mykiss is in the coastal waters and tributary streams of the Pacific basin, from the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, east along the Aleutian Islands, throughout southwest Alaska, the Pacific coast of British Columbia and southeast Alaska, and south along the west coast of the U.S. to northern Mexico. It is claimed that the Mexican forms of Oncorhynchus mykiss represent the southernmost native range of any trout or salmon (Salmonidae), though the Formosan landlocked salmon (O. masou formosanus) in Asia inhabits a similar latitude. The range of coastal rainbow trout (O. m. irideus) extends north from the Pacific basin into tributaries of the Bering Sea in northwest Alaska, while forms of the Columbia River redband trout (O. m. gairdneri) extend east into the upper Mackenzie River and Peace River watersheds in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, which eventually drain into the Beaufort Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean. Since 1875, the rainbow trout has been widely introduced into suitable lacustrine and riverine environments throughout the United States and around the world. Many of these introductions have established wild, self-sustaining populations. ## Artificial propagation Since 1870, rainbow trout have been artificially propagated in fish hatcheries to restock streams and introduce them into non-native waters. The first rainbow trout hatchery was established on San Leandro Creek, a tributary of San Francisco Bay, in 1870, and trout production began in 1871. The hatchery was stocked with the locally native rainbow trout, and likely steelhead of the coastal rainbow trout subspecies (O. m. irideus). The fish raised in this hatchery were shipped to hatcheries out of state for the first time in 1875, to Caledonia, New York, and then in 1876 to Northville, Michigan. In 1877, another California rainbow trout hatchery, the first federal fish hatchery in the National Fish Hatchery System, was established on Campbell Creek, a McCloud River tributary. The McCloud River hatchery indiscriminately mixed coastal rainbow trout eggs with the eggs of local McCloud River redband trout (O. m. stonei). Eggs from the McCloud hatchery were also provided to the San Leandro hatchery, thus making the origin and genetic history of hatchery-bred rainbow trout somewhat diverse and complex. In the U.S., there are hundreds of hatcheries operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and various state agencies and tribal governments propagating rainbow trout for conservation and recreational sport fishing. Six of ten Canadian provinces have rainbow trout farms, with Ontario leading production. ### Aquaculture Rainbow trout are commercially farmed in many countries throughout the world. The practice began in the late 19th century, and since the 1950s commercial production has grown dramatically. Worldwide, in 2007, 604,695 tonnes (666,562 short tons) of farmed rainbow trout were harvested with a value of about US\$2.6 billion. The largest producer is Chile. In Chile and Norway, sea cage production of steelhead has expanded to supply export markets. Inland production of rainbow trout to supply domestic markets has increased in countries such as Italy, France, Germany, Denmark, and Spain. Other significant trout-producing countries include the U.S., Iran, the United Kingdom, and Lesotho. While the U.S. rainbow trout industry as a whole is viewed as ecologically responsible, trout raised elsewhere are not necessarily farmed with the same methods. About three-quarters of U.S. production comes from Idaho, particularly the Snake River area, due in part to the quality and temperature of the water available there. California and Washington also produce significant numbers of farmed trout. In the east, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and West Virginia have farming operations. Rainbow trout farming is one of the largest finfish aquaculture industries in the U.S. They are raised inland in facilities where raceways or ponds have continuously flowing water with little pollution and a low risk of escape. The U.S. industry is noted for using best management practices. Imports constitute only about 15 percent of farmed rainbows sold in the U.S., and nearly all domestic production is consumed within the country; very little is exported. The U.S. produces about 7 percent of the world's farmed trout. Rainbow trout, especially those raised in farms and hatcheries, are susceptible to enteric redmouth disease. A considerable amount of research has been conducted on redmouth disease, given its serious implications for rainbow trout farming. The disease does not infect humans. There have been recent interest and efforts in introducing a rainbow trout species that can be completely fed on a vegan diet through genetic selection. Research from a study team led by USDA research geneticist Dr. Ken Overturf concluded that such natural genetic variation of vegan trouts does exist and believe they can produce rainbow trouts that can be completely fed on a 100% plant-based diet. ## Conservation Populations of many rainbow trout subspecies, including anadromous forms (steelhead) of O. m. irideus (coastal rainbow trout) and O. m. gairdneri (Columbia River redband trout), have declined in their native ranges due to over-harvest, habitat loss, disease, invasive species, pollution and hybridization with other subspecies, and some introduced populations, once healthy, have declined for the same reasons. As a consequence, some rainbow populations, particularly anadromous forms within their native range, have been classified as endangered, threatened or species of special concern by federal or state agencies. Rainbow trout, and subspecies thereof, are currently a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-approved indicator species for acute freshwater toxicity testing. Many non-profit organizations have formed to protect, conserve and restore native rainbow trout and steelhead populations. Generally, in partnership with various universities, state, federal and tribal agencies, and private interests, these organizations sponsor projects to restore habitat, prevent habitat loss and promote awareness of threats to native trout populations. Trout Unlimited (TU) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of North American freshwater streams, rivers, and associated upland habitats for trout, salmon, other aquatic species, and people. A typical TU project is the Circle Creek Fish Passage Project, in which access to a spawning stream is being improved for steelhead and other salmonid species. The Wild Salmon Center, an international coalition of Russian, Canadian and U.S. scientists, sponsors the Kamchatka Steelhead Project, a 20-year (1994–2014) scientific program to study and conserve the present condition of Kamchatkan steelhead ("mikizha"), a species listed in the Red Data Book of Russia. Other high-profile organizations involved in rainbow trout conservation include California Trout, which protects wild trout and other salmonids in the waters of California. The Steelhead Society of British Columbia promotes the wellbeing of wild salmonids in British Columbia. In 1997, a group of approximately 40 ichthyologists, biologists and naturalists from several U.S. and Mexican institutions formed a collaborative group—Truchas Mexicanas—to study the diversity of Mexican native trout, most of which are considered subspecies of O. mykiss. ### Hybridization and habitat loss Rainbow trout, primarily hatchery-raised fish of the coastal rainbow trout subspecies (O. m. irideus) introduced into waters inhabited with cutthroat trout, will breed with cutthroats and produce fertile hybrids called cutbows. In the case of the westslope cutthroat trout (O. clarki lewisi), hybridization with introduced rainbow and Yellowstone cutthroat trout (O. clarki bouvieri) is threatening the westslope cutthroat trout with genomic extinction. Such introductions into the ranges of redband trout (O. m. gairdneri, newberrii, and stonei) have severely reduced the range of pure stocks of these subspecies, making them "species of concern" in their respective ranges. Within the range of the Kern River golden trout of Southern California, hatchery-bred rainbows introduced into the Kern River have diluted the genetic purity of the Kern River rainbow trout (O. m. gilberti) and golden trout (O. m. aguabonita) through intraspecific breeding. The Beardslee trout (O. m. irideus var. beardsleei), a genetically unique lake-dwelling variety of the coastal rainbow trout that is isolated in Lake Crescent (Washington), is threatened by the loss of its only spawning grounds in the Lyre River to siltation and other types of habitat degradation. ### Invasive species and disease #### Whirling disease Myxobolus cerebralis is a myxosporean parasite of salmonids (salmon, trout, and their allies) that causes whirling disease in pen farmed salmon and trout and also in wild fish populations. It was first described in rainbow trout introduced to Germany a century ago, but its range has spread and it has appeared in most of Europe, northern Asia, the U.S., South Africa and other countries. In the 1980s, M. cerebralis was found to require Tubifex tubifex (a kind of segmented worm) to complete its life cycle. The parasite infects its hosts with its cells after piercing them with polar filaments ejected from nematocyst-like capsules. This parasite was originally a mild pathogen of brown trout in central Europe and other salmonids in northeast Asia, and the spread of the rainbow trout has greatly increased its impact. Having no innate immunity to M. cerebralis, rainbow trout are particularly susceptible, and can release so many spores that even more resistant species in the same area, such as Salmo trutta, can become overloaded with parasites and incur mortalities of 80 to 90 percent. Where M. cerebralis has become well-established, it has caused a decline or even elimination of whole cohorts of fish. The parasite M. cerebralis was first recorded in North America in 1956 in Pennsylvania, but until the 1990s, whirling disease was considered a manageable problem affecting only rainbow trout in hatcheries. It eventually became established in the natural waters of the Rocky Mountain states (Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Idaho, New Mexico), where it is damaging several sport fishing rivers. Some streams in the western U.S. lost 90 percent of their trout. Whirling disease threatens recreational fishing, which is important for the tourism industry, a key component of the economies of some U.S. western states. For example, in 2005 anglers in Montana spent approximately \$196,000,000 in activities directly related to trout fishing in the state. Some of the salmonids that M. cerebralis infects (bull trout, cutthroat trout, and anadromous forms of rainbow trout—steelhead) are already threatened or endangered, and the parasite could worsen their population decline. #### New Zealand mud snail The New Zealand mud snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum), once endemic to New Zealand, has spread widely and has become naturalised and an invasive species in many areas including Australia, Asia (Japan, in the Garmat Ali River in Iraq since 2008), Europe (since 1859 in England), and North America (U.S. and Canada: Thunder Bay in Ontario since 2001, British Columbia since July 2007), most likely inadvertently during human activity. It can reach concentrations greater than 500,000 per square metre (46,000/sq ft), endangering the food chain by outcompeting native snails and water insects for food, leading to sharp declines in native populations. There is evidence North American fishes are unable to digest the tiny but hard shells of the mud snail, and that their presence may result in poor growth outcomes for rainbow trout. The mud snail was first detected in the U.S. in Idaho's Snake River in 1987. Since then, the snail has spread to the Madison River, Firehole River, and other watercourses around Yellowstone National Park, and has been discovered throughout the western U.S. The exact means of transmission is unknown, but it is likely that it was introduced in water transferred with live game fish and has been spread by ship ballast or contaminated recreational equipment such as wading gear. #### Didymo Didymosphenia geminata, commonly known as didymo or rock snot, is a species of diatom that produces nuisance growths in freshwater rivers and streams with consistently cold water temperatures. In New Zealand, invasive didymo can form large mats on the bottom of rivers and streams in late winter. It is not considered a significant human health risk, but it can affect stream habitats and sources of food for fish, including rainbow trout, and make recreational activities unpleasant. Even though it is native in North America, it is considered a nuisance organism or invasive species. #### Redmouth disease Enteric redmouth disease is a bacterial infection of freshwater and marine fish caused by the pathogen Yersinia ruckeri. It is primarily found in rainbow trout and other cultured salmonids. The disease is characterized by subcutaneous hemorrhaging of the mouth, fins, and eyes. It is most commonly seen in fish farms with poor water quality. Redmouth disease was first discovered in Idaho rainbow trout in the 1950s. ### Removal methods Some fisheries are focused on removing rainbow trout in order to reestablish native trout populations. This can be done by poisoning rivers with chemicals such as antimycin or rotenone which have been declared safe in the U.S. by the Environmental Protection Agency. Once the chemicals have dissipated, native trout are released into the river. Another method is to use electrofishing which enables the fish to be caught alive and harvested or re-located. This technique has been used in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park to rid it of rainbow trout that were introduced in the 1930s and have thrived ever since. They are hoping to re-establish native brook trout in at least some of the 3,400 km (2,100 mi) river system. Neither method of control is 100% effective and are best regarded as methods to change the relative population sizes of fish species. ### Steelhead declines Steelhead populations in parts of its native range have declined due to a variety of human and natural causes. While populations in Alaska and along the British Columbia coast are considered healthy, populations in Kamchatka and some populations along the U.S. West Coast are in decline. The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has 15 identified distinct population segments, in Washington, Oregon, and California. Eleven of these populations are listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, ten as threatened and one as endangered. One distinct population segment on the Oregon coast is designated a U.S. Species of Concern. The Southern California distinct population segment, which was listed as endangered in 2011, has been affected by habitat loss due to dams, confinement of streams in concrete channels, water pollution, groundwater pumping, urban heat island effects, and other byproducts of urbanization. Steelhead in the Kamchatka Peninsula are threatened by over-harvest, particularly from poaching and potential development, and are listed in the Red Data Book of Russia that documents rare and endangered species. #### Hatchery stocking influence Several studies have shown that almost all California coastal steelhead are of native origin, despite over a century of hatchery stocking. Genetic analysis shows that the South Central California Coast and Southern California populations from Malibu Creek north, including the San Gabriel River, Santa Ana River, and San Mateo Creek, are not hatchery strains. Steelhead from Topanga Creek and the Sweetwater River were partly, and those from San Juan Creek completely, of hatchery origin. Genetic analysis has also shown that the steelhead in the streams of the Santa Clara County and Monterey Bay basins are not of hatchery origin, including the Coyote Creek, Guadalupe River, Pajaro River, Permanente Creek, Stevens Creek, San Francisquito Creek, San Lorenzo River, and San Tomas Aquino Creek basins. Natural waterfalls and two major dams have isolated Russian River steelhead from freshwater rainbow trout forms above the impassable barriers; a 2007 genetic study of fin samples collected from steelhead at 20 different sites both above and below passage barriers in the watershed found that although 30 million hatchery trout were stocked in the river from 1911 to 1925, the steelhead remain of native and not hatchery origin. Releases of conventionally reared hatchery steelhead pose ecological risks to wild steelhead populations. Hatchery steelhead are typically larger than the wild forms and can displace wild-form juveniles from optimal habitats. The dominance of hatchery steelhead for optimal microhabitats within streams may reduce wild steelhead survival as a result of reduced foraging opportunities and increased rates of predation. ## Uses ### Fishing Rainbow trout and steelhead are highly regarded game fish among anglers. Rainbow trout are a popular target for fly fishers, and several lure fishing methods are used. The use of lures presented via spinning, casting, or trolling techniques is common. Rainbow trout can also be caught on various live and dead natural baits. Many anglers consider the rainbow trout the hardest-fighting trout species, as this fish is known for leaping when hooked and putting up a powerful struggle. It is considered one of the top five sport fish in North America, and the most important game fish west of the Rocky Mountains. There are tribal commercial fisheries for steelhead in Puget Sound, the Washington coast, and in the Columbia River, but there has been controversy regarding overharvesting of native stocks. The highly desirable sporting qualities and adaptability of the rainbow trout to hatchery rearing and new habitats resulted in it being introduced to many countries around the world by or at the behest of sport fishermen. Many of these introductions have resulted in environmental and ecological problems, as the introduced rainbow trout disrupt local ecosystems and outcompete or prey upon indigenous fishes. Other introductions to support sport angling in waters either devoid of fish or with seriously depleted native stocks have created world-class fisheries such as in the Firehole River in Yellowstone National Park and in the Great Lakes. #### Record The International Game Fish Association recognizes the world record for rainbow trout as a fish caught on Saskatchewan's Lake Diefenbaker by Sean Konrad on September 5, 2009, which weighed 48 lb (22 kg). The record is controversial because the fish was a genetically modified triploid and was part of a large number of triploid rainbow trout which escaped from an aquaculture facility. ### As food Rainbow trout is popular in Western cuisine; both wild-caught and farmed fish are eaten. It has tender flesh and a mild, somewhat nutty flavor. Wild fish has a stronger, gamier taste than farmed fish. While the taste of wild-caught trout is often promoted as superior, rainbow trout and "steelhead" sold in American restaurants is typically farmed. Farmed rainbow trout are considered one of the safest fish to eat and are noted for high levels of vitamin B and a generally appealing flavor. Seafood Watch ranks farmed rainbow trout as a "Best Choice" fish for human consumption. In Montana, it is illegal to sell or market wild-caught rainbow trout, which are legally classified as game fish. The color and flavor of the flesh depend on the diet and freshness of the trout. Farmed trout and some populations of wild trout, especially anadromous steelhead, have reddish or orange flesh as a result of high astaxanthin levels in their diets. Astaxanthin is a powerful antioxidant that may be from a natural source or a synthetic trout feed. Rainbow trout raised to have pinker flesh from a diet high in astaxanthin are sometimes sold in the U.S. with labeling calling them "steelhead". As wild steelhead are in decline in some parts of their range, farmed rainbow trout are viewed as a preferred alternative. In Chile and Norway, rainbow trout farmed in saltwater sea cages are sold labeled as steelhead. Trout can be cooked as soon as they are cleaned, without scaling, skinning, or filleting. If cooked with the skin on, the meat tends to hold together better. While trout sold commercially in Europe is often prepared and served this way, most trout sold commercially in the United States have the fish heads removed and have been fully or partially deboned and filleted. Medium to heavy-bodied white wines, such as chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, or pinot gris, are typical wine pairings for trout. In Mainland China since 2018, it was ruled by an industrial association that rainbow trout can be labelled and sold as salmon. ### Water purification Rainbow trout is sometimes used as a biological indicator for water quality in water purification facilities.
47,397	Æthelflæd	1,167,366,367	Ruler of Mercia in England from 911 to 918	[ "10th-century monarchs in Europe", "10th-century women rulers", "870s births", "9th-century English people", "9th-century English women", "Burials at St Oswald's Priory, Gloucester", "Daughters of kings", "House of Wessex", "Mercian monarchs", "Women in medieval European warfare" ]	Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians (c. 870 – 12 June 918) ruled Mercia in the English Midlands from 911 until her death. She was the eldest daughter of Alfred the Great, king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, and his wife Ealhswith. Æthelflæd was born around 870 at the height of the Viking invasions of England. By 878, most of England was under Danish Viking rule – East Anglia and Northumbria having been conquered, and Mercia partitioned between the English and the Vikings – but in that year Alfred won a crucial victory at the Battle of Edington. Soon afterwards the English-controlled western half of Mercia came under the rule of Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians, who accepted Alfred's overlordship. Alfred adopted the title King of the Anglo-Saxons (previously he was titled King of the West Saxons like his predecessors) claiming to rule all Anglo-Saxon people not living in areas under Viking control. In the mid-880s, Alfred sealed the strategic alliance between the surviving English kingdoms by marrying Æthelflæd to Æthelred. Æthelred played a major role in fighting off renewed Viking attacks in the 890s, together with Æthelflæd's brother, the future King Edward the Elder. Æthelred and Æthelflæd fortified Worcester, gave generous donations to Mercian churches and built a new minster in Gloucester. Æthelred's health probably declined early in the next decade, after which it is likely that Æthelflæd was mainly responsible for the government of Mercia. Edward had succeeded as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 899, and in 909 he sent a West Saxon and Mercian force to raid the northern Danelaw. They returned with the remains of the royal Northumbrian saint Oswald, which were translated to the new Gloucester minster. Æthelred died in 911 and Æthelflæd then ruled Mercia as Lady of the Mercians. The accession of a female ruler in Mercia is described by the historian Ian Walker as "one of the most unique events in early medieval history". Alfred had built a network of fortified burhs and in the 910s Edward and Æthelflæd embarked on a programme of extending them. Among the towns where she built defences were Wednesbury, Bridgnorth, Tamworth, Stafford, Warwick, Chirbury and Runcorn. In 917 she sent an army to capture Derby, the first of the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw to fall to the English, a victory described by Tim Clarkson as "her greatest triumph". In 918 Leicester surrendered without a fight. Shortly afterwards the Viking leaders of York offered her their loyalty, but she died on 12 June 918 before she could take advantage of the offer, and a few months later Edward completed the conquest of Mercia. Æthelflæd was succeeded by her daughter Ælfwynn, but in December Edward took personal control of Mercia and carried Ælfwynn off to Wessex. Historians disagree whether Mercia was an independent kingdom under Æthelred and Æthelflæd but they agree that Æthelflæd was a great ruler who played an important part in the conquest of the Danelaw. She was praised by Anglo-Norman chroniclers such as William of Malmesbury, who described her as "a powerful accession to [Edward's] party, the delight of his subjects, the dread of his enemies, a woman of enlarged soul". According to Pauline Stafford, "like ... Elizabeth I she became a wonder to later ages". In Nick Higham's view, medieval and modern writers have been so captivated by her that Edward's reputation has suffered unfairly in comparison. ## Background Mercia was the dominant kingdom in southern England in the eighth century and maintained its position until it suffered a decisive defeat by Wessex at the Battle of Ellendun in 825. Thereafter the two kingdoms became allies, which was to be an important factor in English resistance to the Vikings. In 865 the Viking Great Heathen Army landed in East Anglia and used this as a starting point for an invasion. The East Anglians were forced to buy peace and the following year the Vikings invaded Northumbria, where they appointed a puppet king in 867. They then moved on Mercia, where they spent the winter of 867–868. King Burgred of Mercia was joined by King Æthelred of Wessex and his brother, the future King Alfred, for a combined attack on the Vikings, who refused an engagement; in the end the Mercians bought peace with them. The following year, the Vikings conquered East Anglia. In 874 the Vikings expelled King Burgred and Ceolwulf became the last King of Mercia with their support. In 877 the Vikings partitioned Mercia, taking the eastern regions for themselves and allowing Ceolwulf to keep the western ones. He was described by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as "a foolish king's thegn" who was a puppet of the Vikings. The historian Ann Williams regards this view as partial and distorted, that he was accepted as a true king by the Mercians and by King Alfred. The situation was transformed the following year when Alfred won a decisive victory over the Danes at the Battle of Edington. Ceolwulf is not recorded after 879. His successor as the ruler of the English western half of Mercia, Æthelflæd's husband Æthelred, is first seen in 881 when, according to the historian of medieval Wales, Thomas Charles-Edwards, he led an unsuccessful Mercian invasion of the north Welsh Kingdom of Gwynedd. In 883 he made a grant with the consent of King Alfred, thus acknowledging Alfred's lordship. In 886 Alfred occupied the Mercian town of London, which had been in Viking hands. He then received the submission of all English not under Viking control and handed control of London over to Æthelred. In the 890s, Æthelred and Edward, Alfred's son and future successor, fought off more Viking attacks. Alfred died in 899 and Edward's claim to the throne was disputed by Æthelwold, son of Alfred's elder brother. Æthelwold joined forces with the Vikings when he was unable to get sufficient support in Wessex, and his rebellion only ended with his death in battle in December 902. ## Family Æthelflæd was born around 870, the oldest child of King Alfred the Great and his Mercian wife, Ealhswith, who was a daughter of Æthelred Mucel, ealdorman of the Gaini, one of the tribes of Mercia. Ealhswith's mother, Eadburh, was a member of the Mercian royal house, probably a descendant of King Coenwulf (796–821). Æthelflæd was thus half-Mercian and the alliance between Wessex and Mercia was sealed by her marriage to Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians. They are mentioned in Alfred's will, which probably dates to the 880s. Æthelflæd, described only as "my eldest daughter", received an estate and 100 mancuses, while Æthelred, the only ealdorman to be mentioned by name, received a sword worth 100 mancuses. Æthelflæd was first recorded as Æthelred's wife in a charter of 887, when he granted two estates to the see of Worcester "with the permission and sign-manual of King Alfred" and the attestors included "Æthelflæd conjux". The marriage may have taken place earlier, perhaps when he submitted to Alfred following the recovery of London in 886. Æthelred was much older than Æthelflæd and they had one known child, a daughter called Ælfwynn. Æthelstan, the eldest son of Edward the Elder and future king of England, was brought up in their court and, in the view of Martin Ryan, certainly joined their campaigns against the Vikings. Æthelred's descent is unknown. Richard Abels describes him as "somewhat of a mysterious character", who may have claimed royal blood and been related to King Alfred's father-in-law, Ealdorman Æthelred Mucel. In the view of Ian Walker: "He was a royal ealdorman whose power base lay in the south-west of Mercia in the former kingdom of the Hwicce around Gloucester". Alex Woolf suggests that he was probably the son of King Burgred of Mercia and King Alfred's sister Æthelswith, although that would mean that the marriage between Æthelflæd and Æthelred was uncanonical, because Rome then forbade marriage between first cousins. ## Æthelflæd and Æthelred Compared to the rest of England, much of English Mercia —Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Shropshire —was unusually stable in the Viking age. It did not suffer major attacks and it did not come under great pressure from Wessex. Mercian scholarship had high prestige at the courts of Alfred and Edward. Worcester was able to preserve considerable intellectual and liturgical continuity and, with Gloucester, became the centre of a Mercian revival under Æthelred and Æthelflæd that extended into the more unstable areas of Staffordshire and Cheshire. Charters show the Mercian leaders supporting the revival by their generosity to monastic communities. In 883 Æthelred granted privileges to Berkeley Abbey and in the 890s he and Æthelflæd issued a charter in favour of the church of Worcester. This was the only occasion in Alfred's lifetime when they are known to have acted jointly; generally Æthelred acted on his own, usually acknowledging the permission of King Alfred. Æthelflæd witnessed charters of Æthelred in 888, 889 and 896. In 901 Æthelflæd and Æthelred gave land and a golden chalice weighing thirty mancuses to the shrine of Saint Mildburg at Much Wenlock church. At the end of the ninth century, Æthelred and Æthelflæd fortified Worcester, with the permission of King Alfred and at the request of Bishop Werferth, described in the charter as "their friend". They granted the church of Worcester a half share of the rights of lordship over the city, covering land rents and the proceeds of justice, and in return the cathedral community agreed in perpetuity to dedicate a psalm to them three times a day and a mass and thirty psalms every Saturday. As the rights of lordship had previously belonged fully to the church, this represented the beginning of transfer from episcopal to secular control of the city. In 904 Bishop Werferth granted a lease of land in the city to Æthelred and Æthelflæd, to be held for the duration of their lives and that of their daughter Ælfwynn. The land was valuable, including most of the city's usable river frontage, and control of it enabled the Mercian rulers to dominate over and profit from the city. Æthelred's health probably declined at some stage in the decade after Alfred died in 899, and Æthelflæd may have become the de facto ruler of Mercia by 902. According to the Three Fragments, the Norse (Norwegian) Vikings were expelled from Dublin and then made an abortive attack on Wales. When this failed they applied to Æthelflæd, her husband being ill, for permission to settle near Chester. Æthelflæd agreed and for some time they were peaceful. The Norse Vikings then joined with the Danes in an attack on Chester, but this failed because Æthelflæd had fortified the town, and she and her husband persuaded the Irish among the attackers to change sides. Other sources confirm that the Norse were driven out of Dublin in 902 and that Æthelflæd fortified Chester in 907. Æthelflæd re-founded Chester as a burh and she is believed to have enhanced its Roman defences by running walls from the north-west and south-east corners of the fort to the River Dee. Simon Ward, who excavated an Anglo-Saxon site in Chester, sees the later prosperity of the town as owing much to the planning of Æthelflæd and Edward. After Æthelflæd's death, Edward encountered fierce resistance to his efforts to consolidate his control of the north-west and he died there in 924, shortly after suppressing a local rebellion. Æthelred was well enough to witness charters at a meeting of Edward's court in 903, but he did not witness any later surviving charter. In 909 Edward sent a West Saxon and Mercian force to the northern Danelaw, where it raided for five weeks. The remains of the royal Northumbrian saint Oswald were seized and taken from his resting place in Bardney Abbey in Lincolnshire to Gloucester. In the late ninth century Gloucester had become a burh with a street plan similar to Winchester, and Æthelred and Æthelflæd had repaired its ancient Roman defences. In 896 a meeting of the Mercian witan was held in the royal hall at Kingsholm, just outside the town. The Mercian rulers built a new minster in Gloucester and, although the building was small, it was embellished on a grand scale, with rich sculpture. The church appears to have been an exact copy of the Old Minster, Winchester. It was initially dedicated to St Peter but when Oswald's remains were brought to Gloucester in 909, Æthelflæd had them translated from Bardney to the new minster, which was renamed St Oswald's in his honour. The relics gave the church great prestige as Oswald had been one of the most important founding saints of Anglo-Saxon Christianity as well as a ruling monarch, and the decision to translate his relics to Gloucester shows the importance of the town to Æthelred and Æthelflæd, who were buried in St Oswald's Minster. Simon Keynes describes the town as "the main seat of their power" and Carolyn Heighway believes that the foundation of the church was probably a family and dynastic enterprise, encouraged by Alfred and supported by Edward and Bishop Werferth. Heighway and Michael Hare wrote: > In the age when English scholarship and religion reached their lowest ebb, Mercia and in particular the lower Severn valley seem to have maintained traditional standards of learning. It is in this context that the establishment of a new minster at Gloucester by Æthelred and Æthelflæd is to be seen. Mercia had a long tradition of venerating royal saints and this was enthusiastically supported by Æthelred and Æthelflæd. Saintly relics were believed to give supernatural legitimacy to rulers' authority, and Æthelflæd was probably responsible for the foundation or re-foundation of Chester Minster and the transfer to it of the remains of the seventh-century Mercian princess Saint Werburgh from Hanbury in Staffordshire. She may also have translated the relics of the martyred Northumbrian prince Ealhmund from Derby to Shrewsbury. In 910 the Danes retaliated against the English attack of the previous year by invading Mercia, raiding as far as Bridgnorth in Shropshire. On their way back they were caught by an English army in Staffordshire and their army was destroyed at the Battle of Tettenhall, opening the way for the recovery of the Danish Midlands and East Anglia over the next decade. ## Lady of the Mercians On her husband's death in 911, Æthelflæd became Myrcna hlædige, "Lady of the Mercians". Ian Walker describes her succession as the only case of a female ruler of a kingdom in Anglo-Saxon history and "one of the most unique events in early medieval history". In Wessex, royal women were not allowed to play any political role; Alfred's wife was not granted the title of queen and was never a witness to charters. In Mercia, Alfred's sister Æthelswith had been the wife of King Burgred of Mercia; she had witnessed charters as queen and had made grants jointly with her husband and in her own name. Æthelflæd benefited from a Mercian tradition of queenly importance, and was able to play a key role in the history of the early tenth century as Lady of the Mercians, which would not have been possible in Wessex. When Æthelred died, Edward took control of the Mercian towns of London and Oxford and their hinterlands, which Alfred had put under Mercian control. Ian Walker suggests that Æthelflæd accepted this loss of territory in return for recognition by her brother of her position in Mercia. Alfred had constructed a network of fortified burhs in Wessex, and Edward and Æthelflæd now embarked on a programme of extending them to consolidate their defences and provide bases for attacks on the Vikings. According to Frank Stenton, Æthelflæd led Mercian armies on expeditions, which she planned. He commented: "It was through reliance on her guardianship of Mercia that her brother was enabled to begin the forward movement against the southern Danes which is the outstanding feature of his reign". Æthelflæd had already fortified an unknown location called Bremesburh in 910 and in 912 she built defences at Bridgnorth to cover a crossing of the River Severn. In 913 she built forts at Tamworth to guard against the Danes in Leicester, and in Stafford to cover access from the Trent Valley. In 914 a Mercian army drawn from Gloucester and Hereford repelled a Viking invasion from Brittany, and the Iron Age Eddisbury hill fort was repaired to protect against invasion from Northumbria or Cheshire, while Warwick was fortified as further protection against the Leicester Danes. In 915 Chirbury was fortified to guard a route from Wales and Runcorn on the River Mersey. Defences were built before 914 at Hereford, and probably Shrewsbury and two other fortresses, at Scergeat and Weardbyrig, which have not been located. In 917 invasions by three Viking armies failed as Æthelflæd sent an army which captured Derby and the territory around it. The town was one of the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw, together with Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and Stamford. Derby was the first to fall to the English; she lost "four of her thegns who were dear to her" in the battle. Tim Clarkson, who describes Æthelflæd as "renowned as a competent war-leader", regards the victory at Derby as "her greatest triumph". At the end of the year, the East Anglian Danes submitted to Edward. In early 918, Æthelflæd gained possession of Leicester without opposition and most of the local Danish army submitted to her. A few months later, the leading men of Danish-ruled York offered to pledge their loyalty to Æthelflæd, probably to secure her support against Norse raiders from Ireland, but she died on 12 June 918, before she could take advantage of the offer. No similar offer is known to have been made to Edward. According to the Three Fragments, in 918 Æthelflæd led an army of Scots and Northumbrian English against forces led by the Norse Viking leader Ragnall at the Battle of Corbridge in Northumbria. Historians consider this unlikely, but she may have sent a contingent to the battle. Both sides claimed victory but Ragnall was able to establish himself as ruler of Northumbria. In the Three Fragments, Æthelflæd also formed a defensive alliance with the Scots and the Strathclyde British, a claim accepted by Clarkson. Little is known of Æthelflæd's relations with the Welsh. The only recorded event took place in 916, when she sent an expedition to avenge the murder of a Mercian abbot and his companions; her men destroyed the royal crannog of Brycheiniog on Llangorse Lake and captured the queen and thirty-three of her companions. According to a version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle strongly sympathetic to Edward the Elder, after Æthelflæd's death "the kings among the Welsh, Hywel and Clydog and Idwal, and all the Welsh people sought to have [Edward] as their lord". Hywel Dda was king of Dyfed in south-west Wales, Clydog ap Cadell probably king of Powys in the north-east, and Idwal ab Anarawd king of Gwynedd in the north-west. Gwent in south-east Wales was already under West Saxon lordship but, in the view of Charles-Edwards, this passage shows that the other Welsh kingdoms were under Mercian lordship until Edward took direct power over Mercia. No coins were issued with the name of Æthelred or Æthelflæd on them, but in the 910s silver pennies were minted in west Mercian towns with unusual ornamental designs on the reverse and this may have reflected Æthelflæd's desire to distinguish specie issued under her control from that of her brother. After her death, west Mercian coin reverses were again the same as those on coins produced in Wessex. No charters of Edward survive for the period between 910 and his death in 924, whereas two survive in Æthelflæd's sole name, S 224, possibly dating to 914 and S 225, dated 9 September 915, issued at Weardbyrig, one of the burhs she built at an unidentified location. ## Death and aftermath Æthelflæd died at Tamworth on 12 June 918 and her body was carried 75 miles (121 km) to Gloucester, where she was buried with her husband in their foundation, St Oswald's Minster. According to the Mercian Register, Æthelflæd was buried in the east porticus. A building suitable for a royal mausoleum has been found by archaeological investigation at the east end of the church and this may have been St Oswald's burial place. Placement next to the saint would have been a prestigious burial location for Æthelred and Æthelflæd. William of Malmesbury wrote that their burial places were found in the south porticus during building works in the early twelfth century. He may have been misinformed about the position but it is also possible that the tombs were moved from their prestigious position next to the saint, when the couple became less known over time or when tenth-century kings acted to minimise the honour paid to their Mercian predecessors. The choice of burial place was symbolic. Victoria Thompson argues that if Æthelflæd had chosen Edward's royal mausoleum in Winchester as the burial place for her husband and herself, that would have emphasised Mercia's subordinate status, whereas a traditional Mercian royal burial place such as Repton would have been a provocative declaration of independence; Gloucester, near the border with Wessex, was a compromise between the two. Martin Ryan sees the foundation as "something like a royal mausoleum, intended to replace the one at Repton (Derbyshire) that had been destroyed by the Vikings". Æthelflæd died a few months too early to see the final conquest of the southern Danelaw by Edward. She was succeeded as Lady of the Mercians by her daughter, Ælfwynn, but in early December 918 Edward deposed her and took Mercia under his control. Many Mercians disliked the subordination of their ancient kingdom to Wessex, and Wainwright describes the Mercian annalist's description of the deposition of Ælfwynn as "heavy with resentment". Edward died in 924 at Farndon in Cheshire a few days after putting down a rebellion by Mercians and Welshmen at Chester. ## Legacy To the West Saxon version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Æthelflæd was merely King Edward's sister, whereas for the Mercian Register she was Lady of the Mercians. Irish and Welsh annals described her as a queen and the Annals of Ulster, which ignore the deaths of Alfred and Edward, described her as famosissima regina Saxonum (renowned Saxon queen). She was also praised by Anglo-Norman historians such as John of Worcester and William of Malmesbury, who described her as "a powerful accession to [Edward's] party, the delight of his subjects, the dread of his enemies, a woman of enlarged soul". He claimed that she declined to have sex after the birth of her only child because it was "unbecoming of the daughter of a king to give way to a delight which, after a time, produced such painful consequences". According to Nick Higham, "successive medieval and modern writers were quite captivated by her" and her brother's reputation has suffered unfairly in comparison. In the twelfth century, Henry of Huntingdon paid her his own tribute: Heroic Elflede! great in martial fame, A man in valour, woman though in name: Thee warlike hosts, thee, nature too obey'd, Conqu'ror o'er both, though born by sex a maid. Chang'd be thy name, such honour triumphs bring. A queen by title, but in deeds a king. Heroes before the Mercian heroine quail'd: Caesar himself to win such glory fail'd. Some historians believe that Æthelred and Æthelflæd were independent rulers. In the Handbook of British Chronology, David Dumville refers to "Q. Æthelflæd" and comments, "The titles given her by all sources (hlæfdige, regina) imply that she wielded royal power and authority". Alex Woolf concurs and Pauline Stafford describes Æthelflæd as "the last Mercian queen", referred to in charters in such terms as "by the gift of Christ's mercy ruling the government of the Mercians". Stafford argues that Æthelred and Æthelflæd exercised most or all of the powers of a monarch after Alfred's death but it would have been a provocative act formally to claim regality, especially after Æthelwold's rebellion. Stafford sees her as a "warrior queen", "Like ... Elizabeth I she became a wonder to later ages." According to Charles Insley, > The assumption that Mercia was in some sort of limbo in this period, subordinate to Wessex and waiting to be incorporated into "England" cannot be sustained ... Æthelred's death in 911 changed little, for his formidable wife carried on as sole ruler of Mercia until her death in 918. Only then did Mercia's independent existence come to an end. Wainwright sees Æthelflæd as willingly accepting a subordinate role in a partnership with her brother and agreeing to his plan of unification of Wessex and Mercia under his rule. Wainwright argues that he probably sent his oldest son Æthelstan to be brought up in Mercia, to make him more acceptable to the Mercians as king; Æthelflæd does not appear to have tried to find a husband for her daughter, who must have been nearly thirty by 918. In Wainwright's view, she was ignored in West Saxon sources for fear that recognition of her achievements would encourage Mercian separatism: > [Æthelflæd] played a vital role in England in the first quarter of the tenth century. The success of Edward's campaigns against the Danes depended to a great extent upon her cooperation. In the Midlands and the North she came to dominate the political scene. And the way in which she used her influence helped to make possible the unification of England under kings of the West Saxon royal house. But her reputation has suffered from bad publicity, or rather from a conspiracy of silence among her West Saxon contemporaries. Simon Keynes points out that all coins were issued in Edward's name, and while the Mercian rulers were able to issue some charters on their own authority, others acknowledged Edward's lordship. In 903 a Mercian ealdorman "petitioned King Edward, and also Æthelred and Æthelflæd, who then held rulership and power over the race of the Mercians under the aforesaid king". Keynes argues that a new polity was created when Æthelred submitted to Alfred in the 880s, covering Wessex and English (western) Mercia. In Keynes's view, "the conclusion seems inescapable that the Alfredian polity of the kingship 'of the Anglo-Saxons' persisted in the first quarter of the tenth century, and that the Mercians were thus under Edward's rule from the beginning of his reign". Ryan believes that the Mercian rulers "had a considerable but ultimately subordinate share of royal authority". In Higham's view, Keynes makes a strong case that Edward ruled over an Anglo-Saxon state with a developing administrative and ideological unity but that Æthelflæd and Æthelred did much to encourage a separate Mercian identity, such as establishing cults of Mercian saints at their new burhs, as well as reverence for their great Northumbrian royal saint at Gloucester: > There must remain some doubt as to the extent to which Edward's intentions for the future were shared in all respects by his sister and brother-in-law, and one is left to wonder what might have occurred had their sole offspring been male rather than female. Celtic visions of Æthelred and Æthelflæd as king and queen certainly offer a different, and equally valid, contemporary take on the complex politics of this transition to a new English state. ## Commemoration In June 2018, Æthelflæd's funeral was re-enacted in front of a crowd of 10,000 people in Gloucester, as part of a series of living history events marking the 1,100th anniversary of her death. The 1,100th anniversary of the death of Æthelflaed was marked throughout 2018 in Tamworth with a number of major events, including the unveiling of a new six-metre statue, the creation of the town's biggest ever piece of community art, a major commemorative church service, talks, a special guided walk, commemorative ale and an academic conference weekend drawing academics and delegates from all over the world. ## See also - Cultural depictions of Æthelflæd
1,990,194	Ima Hogg	1,144,752,490	Philanthropist, patron of the arts, one of the most respected Texas women of the 20th century	[ "1882 births", "1975 deaths", "American art collectors", "American people of Scottish descent", "American philanthropists", "Burials at Oakwood Cemetery (Austin, Texas)", "Classical musicians from Texas", "People from Brazoria County, Texas", "People from Houston", "People from Quitman, Texas", "Women art collectors" ]	Ima Hogg (July 10, 1882 – August 19, 1975), known as "The First Lady of Texas", was an American society leader, philanthropist, mental health advocate, patron and collector of the arts, and one of the most respected women in Texas during the 20th century. Hogg was an avid art collector, and owned works by Picasso, Klee, and Matisse, among others. Hogg donated hundreds of pieces of artwork to Houston's Museum of Fine Arts and served on a committee to plan the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. An enthusiastic collector of early American antiques, she also served on a committee tasked with locating historical furniture for the White House. She restored and refurbished several properties, including the Varner plantation and Bayou Bend, which she later donated to Texas arts and historical institutions who maintain the facilities and their collections today. Hogg received numerous awards and honors, including the Louise E. du Pont Crowninshield Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Santa Rita Award from the University of Texas System, and an honorary doctorate in fine arts from Southwestern University. Hogg was the daughter of Sarah Ann "Sallie" Stinson and James Stephen "Big Jim" Hogg, later attorney general and governor of the state. Ima Hogg's first name was taken from The Fate of Marvin, an epic poem written by her uncle Thomas Hogg. She endeavored to downplay her unusual name by signing her first name illegibly and having her stationery printed with "I. Hogg" or "Miss Hogg". Although it was rumored that Hogg had a sister named "Ura Hogg", she had only brothers. Hogg's father left public office in 1895, and soon after, her mother was diagnosed with tuberculosis. When Sarah died later that year, Jim Hogg's widowed elder sister moved to Austin to care for the Hogg children. Between 1899 and 1901, Hogg attended the University of Texas at Austin; she then moved to New York City to study piano and music theory for two years. After her father's death in 1906, she traveled to Europe and spent two years studying music under Xaver Scharwenka in Vienna. When she returned to Texas, she established and managed the Houston Symphony Orchestra and served as president of the Symphony Society. The discovery of oil on her family's cotton plantation made Hogg very wealthy, and she used this income to benefit the people of Texas. In 1929, she founded the Houston Child Guidance Center, which provided counseling for children with mental health problems or diagnoses and their families. Through her brother's will, she established the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health at the University of Texas at Austin in 1940. Hogg successfully ran for a seat on the Houston School Board in 1943, where she worked to remove gender and race as criteria for determining pay and established art education programs for black students. Hogg never married, and died in 1975. The Ima Hogg Foundation was the major beneficiary of her will, and carries on her philanthropic work today. Several annual awards have been established in her name, honoring her efforts to preserve cultural heritage in Texas. ## Name After the birth of his only daughter, Jim Hogg wrote to his brother, "Our cup of joy is now overflowing! We have a daughter of as fine proportions and of as angelic mien as ever gracious nature favor a man with, and her name is Ima!" Ima Hogg had no middle name, which was unusual for the time. Her first name was taken from her uncle Thomas Hogg's epic Civil War poem The Fate of Marvin, which featured two young women named Ima and Leila. According to Virginia Bernhard's biography of Ima Hogg, "there are some who believe that James Stephen Hogg ... named his only daughter Ima Hogg to attract the attention of Texas voters" in a year when he was running in a close race for district attorney of the Seventh District in Texas, which he won. Alternatively, correspondence from Jim Hogg indicates he may not have been conscious of the combined effect of his daughter's first and last names. Ima Hogg later recounted that "my grandfather Stinson lived fifteen miles [24 km] from Mineola and news traveled slowly. When he learned of his granddaughter's name he came trotting to town as fast as he could to protest but it was too late. The christening had taken place, and Ima I was to remain." During her childhood, Hogg's elder brother William often came home from school with a bloody nose, the result of defending, as she later recalled, "my good name." Throughout her adult years, Hogg signed her name in a scrawl that left her first name illegible. Her personal stationery was usually printed "Miss Hogg" or "I. Hogg", and she often had her stationery order placed in her secretary's name to avoid questions. Hogg did not use a nickname until several months before her death when she began calling herself "Imogene." Her last passport was issued to "Ima Imogene Hogg." Contrary to popular belief, Ima did not have a sister named Ura. Texas legend insists that when Jim Hogg ran for re-election as Texas governor in 1892 he often travelled with Ima and a friend of hers and introduced them as his daughters Ima and Ura. Ima Hogg maintained throughout her life that this never happened. She was frequently forced to dispel the myth; hundreds of people wrote her letters inquiring whether her name was real and if she really had a sister named Ura. The Kansas City Star even invented another sister, Hoosa. In the early 1930s, Hogg worked on a collection of her father's papers and speeches with his biographer, historian Robert C. Cotner; she became a guardian of his place in history, often writing to clarify or refute articles published about her father. According to Bernhard, "the very fact that Ima had been burdened with a name that made a lifetime of explanations necessary also made her anxious to defend her father from all detractors. By doing so, she defended herself as well, and she did so with considerable skill and unfailing politeness." Ima Hogg has been the source of "unfortunate name" or "worst baby name" jokes, lists, and contests, including the incorrect assertion that Jim Hogg had named his two daughters "Ima Hogg" and "Ura Hogg." Similar unfortunate baby names according to United States Census records include Ima Pigg, Ima Muskrat, Ima Nut, Ima Hooker, Ima Weiner, Ima Reck, Ima Pain, and Ima Butt. ## Early years Ima Hogg was born in Mineola, Texas, in 1882 to Jim Hogg and Sarah Ann "Sallie" Stinson. She was the second of four children, including brothers William Clifford Hogg (1875–1930), Michael Hogg (1885–1941), and Thomas Elisha Hogg (1887–1949). The Hogg family had long been active in public service. Her great-grandfather, Thomas Hogg, served in the state legislatures of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Her grandfather, Joseph Lewis Hogg, served in the Congress of the Republic of Texas and helped to write the Texas State Constitution. At the time of her birth, Hogg's father was the district attorney of the Seventh District in Texas. His term expired in 1884, and the family moved to Tyler, where he practiced law. Two years later, Jim Hogg was elected Texas Attorney General and the Hogg family moved to the state capital, Austin, where Ima attended kindergarten. When Jim Hogg was elected the first native-born Governor of Texas four years later, Ima accompanied her mother and elder brother to the swearing-in ceremony and inauguration ball in January 1891, thus witnessing the first inauguration in the newly erected Texas State Capitol. The family moved into the Governor's Mansion. Built in 1855, the building was in poor condition, with cracked walls and dilapidated furnishings. Ima and her siblings were expected to help renovate the building to a liveable state—she was required, among other things, to pry chewing gum from the furniture and door moldings. Hogg and her younger brothers were rambunctious. She recalled that they particularly enjoyed sliding down the banisters in the Governor's Mansion. Hogg's parents allowed this to continue until Thomas cut his chin, after which Jim Hogg nailed tacks along the center of the railing to curb the activity through fear of bloodied posteriors; the holes from the tacks remained visible in the banister for many decades after the Hogg family moved from the home. Hogg's mother attempted to teach her ladylike skills such as needlework, but Hogg claimed that she "never had the patience to succeed". Her mother also encouraged Hogg to learn German. Hogg and her siblings were frequently taken to the Millett Opera House in Austin to enjoy the performances. The children liked animals, and their menagerie included dogs, cats, birds, raccoons, opossums, rabbits, a Shetland pony and a parrot. The children once used their animals to conduct a circus on the grounds of the Governor's Mansion. Hogg charged each visitor five cents, but was forced to return the money when her father discovered the scheme. In later years, the family added a bear, a horse, a fawn, cockatoos, and two ostriches named Jack and Jill to their collection of animals. In response to a challenge from her brothers, Hogg once mounted one of the ostriches, but was thrown from its back after one of the boys hit it with a slingshot. Ima and her ostriches later became the protagonists of a picture book, Ima & the Great Texas Ostrich Race, by Margaret Olivia McManis and Bruce Dupree. Her mother never regained her strength after Thomas's birth, and for the remainder of her life was a semi-invalid. Ima accompanied her to several health spas during their years in Austin. In 1895, Sarah was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and on the recommendation of her doctor, she and Ima moved to Colorado, where they lived with Jim Hogg's elder sister, Martha Francis Davis. Sarah Hogg died in Colorado on September 25, 1895. Davis accompanied the family to Austin and spent several months caring for Hogg and her brothers. Davis, who had lost her husband to tuberculosis and watched her son fight the disease, believed that Hogg must have contracted the disease from her mother. Davis instructed Ima to never marry so as not to pass on the illness. By the end of 1895, the children had been enrolled in a boarding school in San Marcos. The following year, they returned to Austin to live with their father. Although the family employed a housekeeper, Hogg was considered the lady of the house and supervised the housecleaning as well as the education of her younger brothers. In 1898, Hogg accompanied her father to Hawaii, where they met Hawaiian Queen Liliʻuokalani and watched the ceremony that delivered Hawaii to the United States. The two were scheduled to sail to Seattle, but Hogg refused to board the ship. Sobbing, she begged her father to make other arrangements because she "had an awful feeling". He relented and they instead sailed to California, where they learned that their original ship had been lost at sea with no survivors. ## Education and musical interests Music was always present at the Hogg household, and Ima began learning to play the piano at age three. Although her younger brothers attended public school, Ima was enrolled at a private school and received private music lessons. In 1899, she entered the University of Texas at Austin (UT), where her favorite courses were German, Old English, and psychology. She later remarked that "No freshman was ever more immature, more unprepared, more frightened than I." She joined the female social club known as the Valentine Club, and helped to inaugurate the first sorority on the UT campus, Pi Beta Phi. After two years at the university, she moved to New York City to study piano and music theory at the National Conservatory of Music. Although she was not on campus when the Pi Beta Phi chapter was installed in 1902, she became an alumna initiate in 1912 and a year later served as Vice President of the Houston Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club. Near the turn of the 20th century, Hogg's father began speculating in oil. He purchased 4,100 acres (17 km<sup>2</sup>) of land near West Columbia in 1901, land that had been part of the Varner plantation. After two years of study in New York City, Ima Hogg returned to Texas, dividing her time between the plantation and Houston, where her father had a law practice. Under her supervision, the house was later remodeled and a portico was added to what had been the back of the house; she made this the new front entrance, orienting the house away from Varner Creek. On January 26, 1905, Jim Hogg suffered an injury in a train accident. For the next year Ima nursed him as he struggled to regain his health, but on March 3, 1906, she discovered her father dead in his bed. Ima was devastated; to quell her grief, her brother William took her to New York City. During her stay she immersed herself in concerts and museums. In 1907, she vacationed in Germany, and enjoyed her time so much that she chose to remain in Europe to continue her piano studies. For the next two years she studied music in Vienna under Franz Xaver Scharwenka, pianist to the court of Francis Joseph I of Austria, and in Berlin under Martin Krause. After returning from Europe, Hogg settled in Houston with her brother William. Although the city had a population of about 100,000, it had no museums or parks and no professional theater, music, or ballet groups. Hogg chose to teach music and continued in this vocation for the next nine years. One of her first pupils was Jacques Abram, who later became a concert pianist. By 1913, Hogg had become president of the Girls' Musical Society and was on the entertainment committee of the College Women's Club, which organized a small theater group known as the Green Mask Players. That year, she organized the Houston Symphony Orchestra. Hogg served as the vice-president of the Symphony Society when the first session of the board of directors convened. In 1917 the board of directors requested that she serve as president; she went on to serve 12 terms. ## Philanthropist and community leader Hogg was affectionately known as "Miss Ima" by those who knew her, and widely considered to be "The First Lady of Texas". When John B. Connally was Governor of Texas, his wife Nellie declared, "The Governor's wife is usually called the First Lady of the State, but Ima always has been and always will be the First Lady of Texas." In 1957, The New York Times featured prominent Texans in a series about high society, stating: "But one social figure celebrated throughout the state and even beyond its border is Miss Ima Hogg. She is now about 80 but still a civic beacon of Houston." After their father's death in 1906, Hogg and her brothers tried to sell the Varner plantation, but a provision in his will specified that the land be kept for 15 years. On January 15, 1918, oil was found on the Varner plantation. A second strike the following year provided oil income amounting to \$225,000 a month (equivalent to \$ million a month in ) shared among the four siblings. According to Hogg biographer Gwendolyn Cone Neely, the Hoggs did not believe that the oil money was rightfully theirs, as it had come from the land and not hard work, and they were determined to use it for the good of Texas. Hogg founded the Houston Child Guidance Center in 1929 to provide counseling for disturbed children and their families. Hogg was convinced that if children's emotional and mental problems were treated, more serious illness could be prevented in adults. Her interest in mental health came from her father, who had read widely on mental health issues; during his terms as governor, Ima had often accompanied him on visits to state institutions, including charity hospitals and asylums for the mentally ill. She furthered her knowledge of the field while she was a student at UT, taking several courses in psychology. Ima was convinced that her youngest brother, Tom, would have benefited from similar intervention, as he had reacted badly after their mother's death and as an adult was "restless, impulsive, and alarmingly careless with money". Although her ideas on mental health would be considered mainstream today, in 1929 they were pioneering. In 1972, she told the Houston Chronicle that, of all her activities, she had derived most pleasure from her role in establishing the Houston Child Guidance Center. Hogg had previously suffered from mental health problems. In late 1918, she fell ill, probably from severe depression. She consulted with Dr. Francis Xavier Dercum, a specialist in the treatment of nervous and mental diseases, who treated her for the next three years. She was hospitalized for more than a year, and spent a further three years convalescing, primarily in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By the summer of 1923 Hogg was fully recovered, but she permanently discarded her dream of being a concert pianist, ostensibly because of weakness after her illness. Hogg joined her elder brother William on a vacation in Germany in 1930. During their visit, he suffered a gallbladder attack and died on September 12, 1930, after emergency surgery. Ima brought her brother's body back to the United States. His will bequeathed \$2.5 million to UT; his desire was that it be used alongside money donated by his sister for "far-reaching benefit to the people of Texas". Legal challenges tied up the grant until 1939, when the university received \$1.8 million. In 1940, after discussion with her brother Michael—the executor of the will—Hogg used the money to establish the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health at the University of Texas at Austin. The San Antonio Express reported in 1939 that the funds granted to the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health would be used to establish mental hygiene clinics and conduct lectures and teacher training courses across Texas, for mental health research, and to survey mental hygiene conditions in Texas. On the entry of the United States into World War II, the Foundation researched methods to prevent mentally unsuitable candidates from enlisting in the military, and provided counseling to those traumatized by the war. After the war, the Foundation expanded its educational and philanthropic focus, providing mental health care to the poor and the aged. The Foundation awards annual scholarships to individuals pursuing a Master's degree in Social Work. In 1943, Hogg decided to run for a seat on the Houston School Board so that the board would include two female members. Hogg won with 4,350 votes, more than 1,000 ahead of the runner-up. During her term, she worked to remove gender and race as criteria for determining pay. She championed a visiting teacher program for children with emotional problems and began art education programs in the schools for black students. Hogg declined to run for a second term. ### Furniture and art collector Hogg and her brothers were avid art collectors; she owned a large collection, including Native American art and works by Picasso, Chagall, Matisse and Modigliani. Her interest in collecting began during her convalescence in Philadelphia. Her first purchase, in 1922, was a Spanish foot chair or Queen Anne maple chair with carved feet. She researched the early American furniture market extensively, personally visiting Luke Vincent Lockwood, the author of the standard work on the topic, for more information. At the time, Hogg was one of a small number of people who believed that American antiques had value—by contrast, most collectors concentrated on furniture built in Europe. Other collectors soon saw the value in early American pieces. Hogg remained one of the few collectors not located on the East Coast. As her collection grew, she was often asked to loan pieces for exhibit in New England; Hogg always refused, stating "they've got plenty of these things up there". In the 1920s, Hogg's brothers began to develop a new elite neighborhood, which they called River Oaks, which at that time was on the outskirts of Houston. For their home, the Hoggs chose the largest lot, 14.5 acres (5.9 ha). Ima worked closely with architect John Staub to design a house that would show off the art the family had purchased. William and Ima moved into the house, which she christened Bayou Bend, in 1928. In 1939, when she restored her estate along American lines, she donated more than 100 works on paper to Houston's Museum of Fine Arts (MFAH), including works by Cézanne, Sargent, Picasso, and Klee. Following the death of her brother Michael in 1941, she donated his collection of Frederic Remington works to the museum. Consisting of 53 oil paintings, 10 watercolors, and one bronze, it is known as the Hogg Brothers Collection, and is "one of the most important groupings of Western paintings on display in an American museum", according to Hogg biographer Neely. Hogg donated her collection of Native American art to MFAH in 1944, including 168 pieces of pottery, 95 pieces of jewelry, and 81 paintings. In 1960, she was appointed by President Eisenhower to serve on a committee to plan the National Cultural Center, now called the Kennedy Center, in Washington, D.C. In 1961, Jacqueline Kennedy named Hogg to the 18-member advisory committee to work with the Fine Arts Committee in seeking historical furniture for the White House. ### Restorations Although Hogg spent little time at the Varner plantation after Bayou Bend was constructed, she continued to purchase art and antique furniture on its behalf. In the 1950s, she restored the plantation, and each room was given a different theme from Texas history: colonial times, the Confederacy, Napoleonic times (1818), and the Mexican–American War. One room was dedicated to her father, and contained his desk and chair as well as his collection of walking sticks. She donated the property to the state, and it was dedicated as the Varner–Hogg Plantation State Historical Site in 1958, the 107th anniversary of Jim Hogg's birth. As the Varner–Hogg restoration wound to a halt, Hogg refocused her attention on her Houston home, Bayou Bend, which housed some of her personal collection of antiques and artwork. The New York Times described her "superb Early American furniture" collection in 1953, and she had a large collection of Americana and colonial Mexican decorative arts, some of which are still in the house. In the late 1950s she said: "I had been collecting American furniture. I collected, and collected, and collected, until I had so much of it I didn't know what to do with it. I decided to give it to a museum." She collaborated with the original architect John Staub on structural changes that would prepare the home to be a museum. She denuded the home of personal items and items that did not meet her concept; the only piece of non-American furniture in the home was her English dining table, which had too many memories for her to remove it. Several residents of River Oaks sued to prevent Bayou Bend becoming a museum, but Hogg prevailed in court. To alleviate the residents' concerns over increased traffic, she asked the city of Houston to build a footbridge over Buffalo Bayou so that visitors could reach the house without having to drive through River Oaks. In the fall of 1965, Hogg moved out of her home, telling the docents that "When you love something enough it's easy to give it up in order to see it go on." The MFAH opened the new museum to the public in 1966 as MFAH's Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens. At its dedication, Charles F. Montgomery called Bayou Bend "the largest, finest collection this side of Winterthur". In 1963, Hogg purchased property near Round Top, hoping to move its historic building to Bayou Bend. When that plan proved impractical, she decided to restore it in place and temporarily moved to Round Top. After personally supervising the restoration of the Winedale Inn, a stagecoach inn near Round Top, Hogg donated the property to the University of Texas at Austin. Known as the Winedale Historical Center, it is used primarily as an outdoor museum and music center, and annually hosts Shakespeare at Winedale. In 1969, she restored her parents' house in Quitman; the town renamed it the Ima Hogg Museum in her honor. The museum holds items from the history of Wood County and northeast Texas. She later restored the home of her maternal grandfather and had it moved to the park. ## Description and disposition David Warren, the first curator of Bayou Bend, said Hogg was "small and dainty and feminine—and smart and sharp and knowledgeable—all rolled into one". Her biographer Bernhard described her as "elegantly and stylishly dressed", 5 feet 2 inches (157 cm) tall and of fair complexion, "independent and self-possessed" and noted that she could "sugarcoat her single-mindedness with layers of charm". At the age of 81, she was described by The New York Times as a "blue-eyed strawberry blonde". One morning in 1914, Hogg was awakened by a burglar in her bedroom. She confronted the man, who was attempting to steal her jewelry, and not only convinced him to return the jewelry, but "wrote down a name and address, handed it to him and told him to go there that very day to get a job". When asked why she did that, Hogg responded, "He didn't look like a bad man." Later that year, she sailed to Germany, alone. While she was en route, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated, and the day before she arrived, Britain declared war on Germany. The United States was still neutral, however, so Hogg continued her tour of Europe, not leaving until several months later. Though Bernard describes Hogg as a woman of "unfailing politeness", the biographer suggests the philanthropist was not without adversaries. For instance, at a concert arranged by the Houston Symphony for her 90th birthday featuring the elderly pianist Arthur Rubinstein, he characterized her as a "tiresome old woman". Hogg, in turn, regarded the musician as "a pompous old man". By contrast, Hogg said of Vladimir Horowitz, whom she met backstage at a 1975 concert in Houston, "Such a nice man. Not at all like that Mr. Rubinstein." Hogg was a generous benefactor, and believed that "inherited money was a public trust". She was described by the University of Houston as "compassionate by nature", "progressive in outlook", "concerned with the welfare of all Texans", a "zealous proponent of mental health care" and "committed to public education". Hogg was a lifelong Democrat. ## Death Hogg died on August 19, 1975, at the age of 93, from a heart attack resulting from atheroma. She had been vacationing in London at the time, but fell as she was getting into a taxi, and died a few days later in a London hospital. An autopsy report revealed that her death was not related to the earlier fall. On receiving news of her death, the University of Texas declared two days of mourning and flew the flag at half-staff. At the time of her death, Hogg had employed her personal maid, Gertrude Vaughn, for 56 years, and her butler-chauffeur, Lucious Broadnax, for over 40 years. She is buried next to her family in the Oakwood Cemetery in Austin. Hogg's work lives on through the Ima Hogg Foundation, which she founded in 1964 and which was the major beneficiary of her will. Hogg never married; her biographer Bernhard reports that she told a friend "she had gotten over 30 proposals of marriage but 'wouldn't have any of them'". ## Awards, recognition and legacy Hogg received many awards for her contributions to the community. The Garden Club of America honored her in 1959 with the Amy Angell Colliers Montague Model for Civic Achievement. In 1966, she was honored at the 20th annual awards banquet of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She received the seventh annual Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award—the highest award given by the National Trust for Historic Preservation—for "superlative achievement in the preservation, restoration and interpretation of sites, buildings, architecture, districts, and objects of national historical or cultural significance" in Texas. In 1968, Hogg became the first recipient of the Santa Rita Award—the highest award given by the University of Texas System—for contributions to higher education. She was presented with an honorary doctorate in fine arts from Southwestern University in 1971. In 1969, she became the third woman (after Lady Bird Johnson and Oveta Culp Hobby) invited to become a member of the Academy of Texas, a society which recognized efforts to "enrich, enlarge or enlighten" knowledge in any field. She also became the first female president in the 110-year history of the Philosophical Society of Texas. Her restoration work was recognized by many organizations. The National Society of Interior Designers named her to their International Honors List in 1965 and in 1972 presented her with their Thomas Jefferson Award for her contributions to cultural heritage. The Texas State Historical Survey Committee recognized Hogg in 1967 for her "meritorious service in historic preservation" and the American Association of State and Local History gave her an award of merit in 1969. The Houston Symphony established a scholarship in Hogg's name, honored her on her 90th birthday with a special concert, and holds an annual Ima Hogg Young Artist Competition for musicians between the ages of 13 and 30 who perform on orchestral instruments or the piano. The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin presents an annual Ima Hogg Award for Historical Achievement. She was a National Patroness of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity. Mental Health America of Greater Houston (established in 1954 as The Mental Health Association of Greater Houston) presents an annual Ima Hogg Award "to an individual or couple who have advanced mental health causes". The site of her birthplace at 125 N. Line Street in Mineola, Texas is marked with a Texas Historical Commission subject marker. In 1963, former Governor of Texas Allan Shivers—when presenting Hogg with the Distinguished Alumnus Award of the University of Texas Ex-Students Association (the first woman so honored)—said of "Miss Ima": > > Some persons create history. Some record it. Others restore and conserve it. She has done all three.
30,625	The Shawshank Redemption	1,173,084,122	1994 American film by Frank Darabont	[ "1990s American films", "1990s English-language films", "1990s buddy drama films", "1990s prison drama films", "1994 crime drama films", "1994 directorial debut films", "American buddy drama films", "American prison drama films", "Castle Rock Entertainment films", "Columbia Pictures films", "Films about corruption", "Films about friendship", "Films about librarians", "Films about miscarriage of justice", "Films about prison escapes", "Films based on novellas", "Films based on works by Stephen King", "Films directed by Frank Darabont", "Films scored by Thomas Newman", "Films set in 1946", "Films set in 1947", "Films set in 1949", "Films set in 1954", "Films set in 1963", "Films set in 1965", "Films set in 1966", "Films set in Maine", "Films set in Mexico", "Films set in prison", "Films shot in Ohio", "Films shot in chronological order", "Films with screenplays by Frank Darabont", "United States National Film Registry films" ]	The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American prison drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1982 Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. The film tells the story of banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), who is sentenced to life in Shawshank State Penitentiary for the murders of his wife and her lover, despite his claims of innocence. Over the following two decades, he befriends a fellow prisoner, contraband smuggler Ellis "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman), and becomes instrumental in a money laundering operation led by the prison warden Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton). William Sadler, Clancy Brown, Gil Bellows, and James Whitmore appear in supporting roles. Darabont purchased the film rights to King's story in 1987, but development did not begin until five years later, when he wrote the script over an eight-week period. Two weeks after submitting his script to Castle Rock Entertainment, Darabont secured a \$25 million budget to produce The Shawshank Redemption, which started pre-production in January 1993. While the film is set in Maine, principal photography took place from June to August 1993 almost entirely in Mansfield, Ohio, with the Ohio State Reformatory serving as the eponymous penitentiary. The project attracted many stars for the role of Andy, including Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, and Kevin Costner. Thomas Newman provided the film's score. While The Shawshank Redemption received critical acclaim upon its release—particularly for its story, the performances of Robbins and Freeman, Newman's score, Darabont's direction and screenplay and Roger Deakins' cinematography—the film was a box-office disappointment, earning only \$16 million during its initial theatrical run. Many reasons were cited for its failure at the time, including competition from the films Pulp Fiction and Forrest Gump, the general unpopularity of prison films, its lack of female characters, and even the title, which was considered to be confusing for audiences. It went on to receive multiple award nominations, including seven Academy Award nominations, and a theatrical re-release that, combined with international takings, increased the film's box-office gross to \$73.3 million. Over 320,000 VHS rental copies were shipped throughout the United States, and on the strength of its award nominations and word of mouth, it became one of the top video rentals of 1995. The broadcast rights were acquired following the purchase of Castle Rock by Turner Broadcasting System, and it was shown regularly on the TNT network starting in 1997, further increasing its popularity. Decades after its release, the film was still broadcast regularly, and is popular in several countries, with audience members and celebrities citing it as a source of inspiration or naming it a favorite in various surveys, leading to its recognition as one of the most "beloved" films ever made. In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". ## Plot In early 1947, Portland, Maine, banker Andy Dufresne arrives at Shawshank State Prison to serve two consecutive life sentences for murdering his wife and her lover. He is befriended by Ellis "Red" Redding, a contraband smuggler serving a life sentence, who procures a rock hammer and a large poster of Rita Hayworth for Andy. Assigned to work in the prison laundry, Andy is frequently sexually assaulted by "the Sisters" and their leader, Bogs Diamond. In 1949, Andy overhears the captain of the guards, Byron Hadley, complaining about being taxed on an inheritance and offers to help him shelter the money legally. After an assault by the Sisters nearly kills Andy, Hadley beats and cripples Bogs, who is subsequently transferred to another prison; Andy is not attacked again. Warden Samuel Norton meets Andy and reassigns him to the prison library to assist elderly inmate Brooks Hatlen, a front to use Andy's financial expertise to manage financial matters for other prison staff, guards from other prisons, and the warden himself. Andy begins writing weekly letters to the state legislature requesting funds to improve the prison's decrepit library. Brooks is paroled in 1954 after serving 50 years, but he cannot adjust to the outside world and eventually hangs himself. The legislature sends a library donation that includes a recording of The Marriage of Figaro; Andy plays an excerpt over the public address system and is punished with solitary confinement. After his release from solitary, Andy explains to a dismissive Red that hope is what gets him through his sentence. In 1963, Norton begins exploiting prison labor for public works, profiting by undercutting skilled labor costs and receiving bribes. Andy launders the money using the alias "Randall Stephens". In 1965, Andy and Red befriend Tommy Williams, a young prisoner incarcerated for burglary. A year later, Andy helps him pass his General Educational Development (GED) exam. Tommy reveals to Red and Andy that his cellmate at another prison had claimed responsibility for the murders of which Andy was convicted. Andy brings the information to Norton who refuses to listen and, when Andy mentions the money laundering, sends Andy to solitary confinement and has Hadley fatally shoot Tommy under the guise of an escape attempt. Andy refuses to continue the money laundering, but Norton threatens to destroy the library, remove Andy's protection by the guards, and move him to worse conditions. Andy is released from solitary confinement after two months, and he tells a skeptical Red that he dreams of living in Zihuatanejo, a Mexican town on the Pacific coast. Andy also tells him of a specific hayfield near Buxton, asking Red to promise, once he is released, to retrieve a package that Andy buried there. Red worries about Andy's mental well-being, especially when he learns Andy asked a fellow inmate for some rope. At the next day's roll call, the guards find Andy's cell empty. An irate Norton throws a rock at a poster of Raquel Welch hanging on the cell wall, revealing a tunnel that Andy had dug with his rock hammer over the past 19 years. The previous night, Andy used the rope to escape through the tunnel and prison sewage pipe, taking Norton's suit, shoes, and ledger, containing evidence of the money laundering. While guards search for him, Andy poses as Randall Stephens, withdraws over \$370,000 of the laundered money from several banks, and mails the ledger and other evidence of the corruption and murders at Shawshank to a local newspaper. State police arrive at Shawshank and take Hadley into custody, while Norton commits suicide to avoid arrest. The following year, Red is paroled after serving 40 years but struggles to adapt to life outside prison and fears that he never will. Remembering his promise to Andy, he visits Buxton and finds a cache containing money and a letter asking him to come to Zihuatanejo. Red violates his parole by traveling to Fort Hancock, Texas, and crossing the border into Mexico, admitting that he finally feels hope. He finds Andy sanding an old boat on a Zihuatanejo beach, and the two reunited friends happily embrace. ## Cast - Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne: A banker sentenced to life in prison in 1947 for the murder of his wife and her lover - Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding: A prison contraband smuggler who befriends Andy - Bob Gunton as Samuel Norton: The pious and cruel warden of Shawshank penitentiary - William Sadler as Heywood: A member of Red's gang of long-serving convicts - Clancy Brown as Byron Hadley: The brutal captain of the prison guards - Gil Bellows as Tommy Williams: A young convict imprisoned for burglary in 1965 - James Whitmore as Brooks Hatlen: The elderly prison librarian, imprisoned at Shawshank for over five decades The cast also includes Mark Rolston as Bogs Diamond, the head of "the Sisters" gang and a prison rapist; Jeffrey DeMunn as the prosecuting attorney in Dufresne's trial; Alfonso Freeman as Fresh Fish Con; Ned Bellamy and Don McManus as, respectively, prison guards Youngblood and Wiley; and Dion Anderson as Head Bull Haig. Renee Blaine portrays Andy's wife, and Scott Mann portrays her golf-instructor lover Glenn Quentin. Frank Medrano plays Fat Ass, one of Andy's fellow new inmates who is beaten to death by Hadley, and Bill Bolender plays Elmo Blatch, a convict who may actually be responsible for the crimes for which Andy is convicted. James Kisicki and Claire Slemmer portray the Maine National Bank manager and a teller, respectively. ## Analysis The film has been interpreted as being grounded in Christian mysticism. Andy is offered as a messianic, Christ-like figure, with Red describing him early in the film as having an aura that engulfs and protects him from Shawshank. The scene in which Andy and several inmates tar the prison roof can be seen as a recreation of the Last Supper, with Andy obtaining beer/wine for the twelve inmates/disciples as Freeman describes them as the "lords of all creation" invoking Jesus' blessing. Director Frank Darabont responded that this was not his deliberate intention, but he wanted people to find their own meaning in the film. The discovery of The Marriage of Figaro record is described in the screenplay as akin to finding the Holy Grail, bringing the prisoners to a halt, and causing the sick to rise up in their beds. Early in the film, Warden Norton quotes Jesus Christ to describe himself to Andy, saying, "I am the light of the world", declaring himself Andy's savior, but this description can also reference Lucifer, the bearer of light. Indeed, the warden does not enforce the general rule of law, but chooses to enforce his own rules and punishments as he sees fit, becoming a law unto himself, like the behavior of Satan. The warden has also been compared to former United States President Richard Nixon. Norton's appearance and public addresses can be seen to mirror Nixon's. Similarly, Norton projects an image of a holy man, speaking down sanctimoniously to the servile masses while running corrupt scams, like those of which Nixon was accused. Zihuatanejo has been interpreted as an analog for heaven or paradise. In the film, Andy describes it as a place with no memory, offering absolution from his sins by forgetting about them or allowing them to be washed away by the Pacific Ocean, whose name means "peaceful". The possibility of escaping to Zihuatanejo is only raised after Andy admits that he feels responsible for his wife's death. Similarly, Red's freedom is only earned once he accepts he cannot save himself or atone for his sins. Freeman has described Red's story as one of salvation as he is not innocent of his crimes, unlike Andy who finds redemption. While some Christian viewers interpret Zihuatanejo as heaven, film critic Mark Kermode wrote that it can also be interpreted as a Nietzschean form of guiltlessness achieved outside traditional notions of good and evil, where the amnesia offered is the destruction rather than forgiveness of sin, meaning Andy's aim is secular and atheistic. Just as Andy can be interpreted as a Christ-like figure, he can be seen as a Zarathustra-like prophet offering escape through education and the experience of freedom. Film critic Roger Ebert argued that The Shawshank Redemption is an allegory for maintaining one's feeling of self-worth when placed in a hopeless position. Andy's integrity is an important theme in the story line, especially in prison, where integrity is lacking. Robbins himself believes that the concept of Zihuatanejo resonates with audiences because it represents a form of escape that can be achieved after surviving for many years within whatever "jail" someone finds themselves in, whether a bad relationship, job, or environment. Robbins said that it is important that such a place exists for us. Isaac M. Morehouse suggests that the film provides a great illustration of how characters can be free, even in prison, or imprisoned, even in freedom, based on their outlooks on life. Philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre described freedom as an ongoing project that requires attention and resilience, without which a person begins to be defined by others or institutions, mirroring Red's belief that inmates become dependent on the prison to define their lives. Andy displays resilience through rebellion, by playing music over the prison loudspeaker, and refusing to continue with the money-laundering scam. Many elements can be considered as tributes to the power of cinema. In the prison theater, the inmates watch the film Gilda (1946), but this scene was originally intended to feature The Lost Weekend (1945). The interchangeability of the films used in the prison theater suggests that it is the cinematic experience and not the subject that is key to the scene, allowing the men to escape the reality of their situation. Immediately following this scene, Andy is assaulted by the Sisters in the projector room and uses a film reel to help fight them off. At the end of the film, Andy passes through a hole in his cell hidden by a movie poster to escape both his cell and ultimately Shawshank. Andy and Red's relationship has been described as a nonsexual story between two men, that few other films offer, as the friendship is not built on conducting a caper, car chases, or developing a relationship with women. Philosopher Alexander Hooke argued that Andy and Red's true freedom is their friendship, being able to share joy and humor with each other. ## Production ### Development Darabont first collaborated with author Stephen King in 1983 on the short film adaptation of "The Woman in the Room", buying the rights from him for \$1—a Dollar Deal that King used to help new directors build a résumé by adapting his short stories. After receiving his first screenwriting credit in 1987 for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, Darabont returned to King with \$5,000 to purchase the rights to adapt Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, a 96-page novella from King's 1982 collection Different Seasons, written to explore genres other than the horror stories for which he was commonly known. Although King did not understand how the story, largely focused on Red contemplating his fellow prisoner Andy, could be turned into a feature film, Darabont believed it was "obvious". King never cashed the \$5,000 check from Darabont; he later framed it and returned it to Darabont accompanied by a note which read: "In case you ever need bail money. Love, Steve." Five years later, Darabont wrote the script over an eight-week period. He expanded on elements of King's story. Brooks, who in the novella is a minor character who dies in a retirement home, became a tragic character who eventually hanged himself. Tommy, who in the novella trades his evidence exonerating Andy for transfer to a nicer prison, in the screenplay is murdered on the orders of Warden Norton, who is a composite of several warden characters in King's story. Darabont opted to create a single warden character to serve as the primary antagonist. Among his inspirations, Darabont listed the works of director Frank Capra, including Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) and It's a Wonderful Life (1946), describing them as tall tales; Darabont likened The Shawshank Redemption to a tall tale more than a prison movie. He also cited Goodfellas (1990) as an inspiration on the use of dialogue to illustrate the passage of time in the script, and the prison drama Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) directed by John Frankenheimer. While later scouting filming locations, Darabont happened upon Frankenheimer who was scouting for his own prison-set project Against the Wall. Darabont recalled that Frankenheimer took time out from his scouting to provide Darabont with encouragement and advice. At the time, prison-based films were not considered likely box-office successes, but Darabont's script was read by then-Castle Rock Entertainment producer Liz Glotzer, whose interest in prison stories and reaction to the script, led her to threaten to quit if Castle Rock did not produce The Shawshank Redemption. Director and Castle Rock co-founder Rob Reiner also liked the script. He offered Darabont between \$2.4 million and \$3 million to allow him to direct it himself. Reiner, who had previously adapted King's 1982 novella The Body into the 1986 film Stand by Me, planned to cast Tom Cruise as Andy and Harrison Ford as Red. Castle Rock offered to finance any other film Darabont wanted to develop. Darabont seriously considered the offer, citing growing up poor in Los Angeles, believing it would elevate his standing in the industry, and that Castle Rock could have contractually fired him and given the film to Reiner anyway, but he chose to remain the director, saying in a 2014 Variety interview, "you can continue to defer your dreams in exchange for money and, you know, die without ever having done the thing you set out to do". Reiner served as Darabont's mentor on the project, instead. Within two weeks of showing the script to Castle Rock, Darabont had a \$25 million budget to make his film (taking a \$750,000 screenwriting and directing salary plus a percentage of the net profits), and pre-production began in January 1993. ### Casting Freeman was cast at the suggestion of producer Liz Glotzer, who ignored the novella's character description of a white Irishman, nicknamed "Red". Freeman's character alludes to the choice when queried by Andy on why he is called Red, replying "Maybe it's because I'm Irish." Freeman opted not to research his role, saying "acting the part of someone who's incarcerated doesn't require any specific knowledge of incarceration ... because men don't change. Once you're in that situation, you just toe whatever line you have to toe." Darabont was already aware of Freeman from his minor role in another prison drama, Brubaker (1980), while Robbins had been excited to work alongside the actor, having grown up watching him in The Electric Company children's television show. Darabont looked initially at some of his favorite actors, such as Gene Hackman and Robert Duvall, for the role of Andy Dufresne, but they were unavailable; Clint Eastwood and Paul Newman were also considered. Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, and Kevin Costner were offered, and passed on the role—Hanks due to his starring role in Forrest Gump, and Costner because he had the lead in Waterworld. Johnny Depp, Nicolas Cage, and Charlie Sheen were also considered for the role at different stages. Cruise attended table readings of the script, but declined to work for the inexperienced Darabont. Darabont said he cast Robbins after seeing his performance in the 1990 psychological horror Jacob's Ladder. When Robbins was cast, he insisted that Darabont use experienced cinematographer Roger Deakins, who had worked with him on The Hudsucker Proxy. To prepare for the role, Robbins observed caged animals at a zoo, spent an afternoon in solitary confinement, spoke with prisoners and guards, and had his arms and legs shackled for a few hours. Cast initially as young convict Tommy, Brad Pitt dropped out following his success in Thelma & Louise, and the role went to a debuting Gil Bellows. James Gandolfini passed on portraying prison rapist Bogs. Bob Gunton was filming Demolition Man (1993) when he went to audition for the role of Warden Norton. To convince the studio that Gunton was right for the part, Darabont and producer Niki Marvin arranged for him to record a screen test on a day off from Demolition Man. They had a wig made for him as his head was shaved for his Demolition Man role. Gunton wanted to portray Norton with hair as this could then be grayed to convey his on-screen aging as the film progressed. Gunton performed his screen test with Robbins, which was filmed by Deakins. After being confirmed for the role, he used the wig in the film's early scenes until his hair regrew. Gunton said that Marvin and Darabont saw that he understood the character, which went in his favor, as did the fact his height was similar to Robbins', allowing Andy to believably use the warden's suit. Portraying the head guard Byron Hadley, Clancy Brown was given the opportunity to speak with former guards by the production's liaison officer but declined, believing it would not be a good thing to say that his brutal character was in any way inspired by Ohio state correctional officers. William Sadler, who portrays Heywood, said that Darabont had approached him in 1989 on the set of the Tales from the Crypt television series, where he was a writer, about starring in the adaptation he was intending to make. Freeman's son Alfonso has a cameo as a young Red in mug shot photos, and as a prisoner shouting "fresh fish" as Andy arrives at Shawshank. Among the extras used in the film were the former warden and former inmates of the reformatory, and active guards from a nearby incarceration facility. The novella's original title attracted several people to audition for the nonexistent role of Rita Hayworth, including a man in drag clothing. ### Filming On a \$25 million budget, principal photography took place over three months between June and August 1993. Filming regularly required up to 18-hour workdays, six days a week. Freeman described filming as tense, saying, "Most of the time, the tension was between the cast and director. I remember having a bad moment with the director, had a few of those." Freeman referred to Darabont's requiring multiple takes of scenes, which he considered had no discernible differences. For example, the scene where Andy first approaches Red to procure a rock hammer took nine hours to film and featured Freeman throwing and catching a baseball with another inmate throughout it. The number of takes that were shot resulted in Freeman turning up to filming the following day with his arm in a sling. Freeman sometimes simply refused to do the additional takes. Robbins said that the long days were difficult. Darabont felt that making the film taught him a lot, "A director really needs to have an internal barometer to measure what any given actor needs." He found his most frequent struggles were with Deakins. Darabont favored more scenic shots, while Deakins felt that not showing the outside of the prison added a sense of claustrophobia, and it meant that when a wide scenic shot was used, it had more impact. Marvin spent five months scouting prisons across the United States and Canada, looking for a site that had a timeless aesthetic, and was completely abandoned, hoping to avoid the complexity of filming the required footage, for hours each day, in an active prison with the security difficulties that would entail. Marvin eventually chose the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio, to serve as the fictional Shawshank State Penitentiary in Maine, citing its Gothic-style stone and brick buildings. The facility had been shuttered three years earlier in 1990, due to inhumane living conditions. The 15-acre reformatory, housing its own power plant and farm, was partially torn down shortly after filming was completed, leaving the main administration building and two cellblocks. Several of the interior shots of the specialized prison facilities, such as the admittance rooms and the warden's office, were shot in the reformatory. The interior of the boarding room used by Brooks and Red was in the administration building; exterior shots of the boarding house were taken elsewhere. Internal scenes in the prison cellblocks were filmed on a sound stage built inside a nearby shuttered Westinghouse Electric factory. Since Darabont wanted the inmates' cells to face each other, almost all the cellblock scenes were shot on a purpose-built set housed in the Westinghouse factory, except for the scene featuring Elmo Blatch's admission of guilt for the crimes for which Andy was convicted. It was filmed in one of the actual prison's more confined cells. Scenes were also filmed in Mansfield, as well as neighboring Ashland, Ohio. The oak tree under which Andy buries his letter to Red was located near Malabar Farm State Park, in Lucas, Ohio; it was destroyed by winds in 2016. Just as a prison in Ohio stood in for a fictional one in Maine, the beach scene showing Andy and Red's reunion in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, was actually shot in the Caribbean on the island of Saint Croix, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The beach at 'Zihuatanejo' is the Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge, a protected area for leatherback sea turtles. Scenes shot in Upper Sandusky included the prison wood shop scene where Red and his fellow inmates hear The Marriage of Figaro (the woodshop is now called the Shawshank Woodshop), and the opening court scene which was shot at the Wyandot County Courthouse. Other shooting locations included Pugh Cabin in Malabar Farm State Park, where Andy sits outside as his wife engages in an affair, Butler, Ohio, stood in for Buxton, Maine, and the Bissman Building in Mansfield served as the halfway house where Brooks stayed following his release. For the scene depicting Andy's escape from the prison, Darabont envisioned Andy using his miniature rock hammer to break into the sewage pipe, but he determined that this was not realistic. He opted instead to use a large piece of rock. While the film portrays the iconic scene of Andy escaping to freedom through a sewer pipe described as a "river of shit", Robbins crawls through a mixture of water, chocolate syrup, and sawdust. The stream into which Robbins emerges was actually certified toxic by a chemist according to production designer Terence Marsh. The production team dammed the stream to make it deeper and used chlorination to partially decontaminate it. Of the scene, Robbins said, "when you're doing a film, you want to be a good soldier—you don't want to be the one [who] gets in the way. So you will do things as an actor that are compromising to your physical health and safety." The scene was intended to be much longer and more dramatic, detailing Andy's escape across a field and onto a train, but with only a single night available to film the sequence, it was shortened to showing Andy standing triumphant in the water. Of his own work, Deakins considers the scene to be one of his least favorite, saying that he "over-lit" it. In response, Darabont disagreed with Deakins' self-assessment. He said that the time and precision taken by Deakins, and their limited filming schedule, meant he had to be precise in what he could film and how. In a 2019 interview, he stated that he regretted that this meant he could not film a close up of Robbins' face as he climbed down out of the hole from his cell. As for the scene where Andy rebelliously plays music over the prison announcement system, it was Robbins' idea for Andy to turn the music up and not shut it off. While in the finished film the inmates watch Rita Hayworth in Gilda (1946), they were originally intended to be watching Billy Wilder's The Lost Weekend (1945), a film about the dangers of alcohol. As the footage was too costly to procure from Paramount Pictures, producer Niki Marvin approached The Shawshank Redemption's domestic distribution rights-holder Columbia Pictures, which offered a list of lower-priced titles, one of which was Gilda. As filming took place mainly in and around the prison, scenes were often shot in near chronological order respective of the different eras depicted throughout the story. This aided the actors' performances as their real-life relationships evolved alongside those of their respective characters. Darabont commented that the scene in which Andy tells Red about his dreams of going to Mexico, was one of the last filmed and one that he most revisited in recollecting on the film's production. He praised Robbins and Freeman for completing the scene in only a few takes. ### Post-production The final cut of the theatrically released film runs for 142 minutes, and was dedicated to Allen Greene, Darabont's former agent, who died during filming from AIDS. The film's first edit ran for nearly two and a half hours, which Glotzer considered "long", and several scenes were cut including a longer sequence of Red adjusting to life after incarceration; Darabont said that in test screenings the audience seemed to be getting impatient with the scene as they were already convinced that Red would not make it. Another scene cut for time showed a prison guard investigating Andy's escape tunnel; this was thought to slow down the action. The film originally had a cold open that played out Andy's crime, with his trial playing throughout the opening credits, but these scenes were edited together to create a more "punchy" opening. One scripted scene, which Darabont described as his best work, was left unfilmed because of the shooting schedule. In the scene, a dreaming Red is sucked into the poster of Rita Hayworth to find himself alone and insignificant on the Pacific shore, saying "I am terrified, there is no way home." Darabont said that he regretted being unable to capture the scene. In Darabont's original vision for the end of the film, Red is seen riding a bus towards the Mexican border, leaving his fate ambiguous. Glotzer insisted on including the scene of Red and Andy reuniting in Zihuatanejo. She said Darabont felt this was a "commercial, sappy" ending, but Glotzer wanted the audience to see them together. Castle Rock agreed to finance filming for the scene without requiring its inclusion, guaranteeing Darabont the final decision. The scene originally featured a longer reunion in which Andy and Red recited dialogue from their first meeting, but Darabont said it had a "golly-gee-ain't-we-cute" quality and excised it. The beach reunion was test audiences' favorite scene; both Freeman and Robbins felt it provided the necessary closure. Darabont agreed to include the scene after seeing the test audience reactions, saying: "I think it's a magical and uplifting place for our characters to arrive at the end of their long saga..." ### Music The film's score was composed by Thomas Newman. He felt that it already elicited such strong emotions without music that he found it difficult to compose one that would elevate scenes without distracting from them. The piece, "Shawshank Redemption", plays during Andy's escape from Shawshank and originally had a three-note motif, but Darabont felt it had too much of a "triumphal flourish" and asked that it be toned down to a single-note motif. "So Was Red", played following Red's release from prison, and leading to his discovery of Andy's cache, became one of Newman's favorite pieces. The piece was initially written for a solo oboe, until Newman reluctantly agreed to add harmonica—a reference to the harmonica Red receives from Andy to continue his message of hope. According to Darabont, harmonica player Tommy Morgan "casually delivered something dead-on perfect on the first take", and this is heard in the finished film. Newman's score was so successful that excerpts from it were used in movie trailers for years afterwards. ## Release ### Theatrical Leading up to its release, the film was test screened with the public. These were described as "through the roof", and Glotzer said they were some of the best she had seen. It was decided to mostly omit Stephen King's name from any advertising, as the studio wanted to attract a "more prestigious audience", who might reject a film from a writer known mostly for pulp fiction works such as The Shining and Cujo. Following early September premieres at the Renaissance Theatre in Mansfield, and the Toronto International Film Festival, The Shawshank Redemption began a limited North American release on September 23, 1994. During its opening weekend, the film earned \$727,000 from 33 theaters—an average of \$22,040 per theater. Following a Hollywood tradition of visiting different theaters on opening night to see the audiences view their film live, Darabont and Glotzer went to the Cinerama Dome, but found no one there. Glotzer claimed that the pair actually sold two tickets outside the theater with the promise that if the buyers did not like the film, they could ask Castle Rock for a refund. While critics praised the film, Glotzer believed that a lackluster review from the Los Angeles Times pushed crowds away. It received a wide release on October 14, 1994, expanding to a total of 944 theaters to earn \$2.4 million—an average of \$2,545 per theater—finishing as the number-nine film of the weekend, behind sex-comedy Exit to Eden (\$3 million), and just ahead of the historical drama Quiz Show (\$2.1 million), which was in its fifth week at the cinemas. The Shawshank Redemption closed in late November 1994, after 10 weeks with an approximate total gross of \$16 million. It was considered a box-office bomb, failing to recoup its \$25 million budget, not including marketing costs and the cinema exhibitors' cuts. The film was also competing with Pulp Fiction (\$108 million), which also premiered October 14 following its Palme d'Or award win, and Forrest Gump (\$330 million), which was in the middle of a successful 42-week theatrical run. Both films would become quotable cultural phenomena. A general audience trend towards action films starring the likes of Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger was also considered to work against the commercial success of The Shawshank Redemption. Freeman blamed the title, saying it was unmemorable, while Robbins recalled fans asking: "What was that Shinkshonk Reduction thing?". Several alternative titles had been posited before the release due to concerns that it was not a marketable title. The low box office was also blamed on a lack of female characters to broaden the audience demographics, the general unpopularity of prison films, and the bleak tone used in its marketing. After being nominated for several Oscars in early 1995, the film was re-released between February and March, earning a further \$12 million. In total, the film grossed \$28.3 million in the United States and Canada, and \$45 million from other markets for a worldwide total of \$73.3 million. In the United States, it became the 51st-highest-grossing film of 1994, and the 21st-highest-grossing R-rated film of 1994. ### Post-theatrical Despite its disappointing box-office returns, in what was then considered a risky move, Warner Home Video shipped 320,000 rental video copies throughout the United States in 1995. It went on to become one of the top rented films of the year. It was the seventh top video rental of 1995 in the United States. Positive recommendations, repeat customer viewings, and being well received by both male and female audiences were considered key to the film's rental success. Ted Turner's Turner Broadcasting System had acquired Castle Rock in 1993, which enabled his television channel, TNT, to obtain the cable-broadcast rights to the film. According to Glotzer, because of the low box-office numbers, TNT could air the film at a very low cost, but still charge premium advertising rates. The film began airing regularly on the network in June 1997. Television airings of the film accrued record-breaking numbers, and its repeated broadcast was considered essential to turning the film into a cultural phenomenon after its poor box-office performance. Darabont felt the turning point for the film's success was the Academy Award nominations, saying "nobody had heard of the movie, and that year on the Oscar broadcast, they were mentioning this movie seven times". In 1996, the rights to The Shawshank Redemption were acquired by Warner Bros. Pictures, following the merger of its parent company Time Warner with the Turner Broadcasting System. In the United Kingdom, the film was watched by 1.11 million viewers on the subscription television channel Film4 in 2006, making it the year's second most-watched film on subscription digital television. By 2013, The Shawshank Redemption had aired on 15 basic cable networks, and in that year occupied 151 hours of airtime, rivaling Scarface (1983), and behind only Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). It was in the top 15% of movies among adults between the ages of 18 and 49 on the Spike, Up, Sundance TV, and Lifetime channels. Despite its mainly male cast, it was the most-watched movie on the female-targeted OWN network. In a 2014 Wall Street Journal article, based on the margins studios take from box office returns, home media sales, and television licensing, The Shawshank Redemption had made an estimated \$100 million. Jeff Baker, then-executive vice president and general manager of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, said that the home video sales had earned about \$80 million. While finances for licensing the film for television are unknown, in 2014, current and former Warner Bros. executives confirmed that it was one of the highest-valued assets in the studio's \$1.5 billion library. That same year, Gunton said that by its tenth anniversary in 2004, he was still earning six-figure residual payments, and was still earning a "substantial income" from it, which was considered unusual so many years after its release. ## Reception ### Critical response The Shawshank Redemption opened to generally positive reviews. Some reviewers compared the film to other well-received prison dramas, including Birdman of Alcatraz, Cool Hand Luke, and Riot in Cell Block 11. Gene Siskel said that, like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Shawshank Redemption is an inspirational drama about overcoming overbearing authority. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman said that Freeman makes the Red character feel genuine and "lived-in". Janet Maslin of The New York Times said that Freeman was quietly impressive, but lamented that Red's role in the film had limited range, restricted to observing Andy. She considered Freeman's commanding performance made him a much stronger figure than simply an observer. Maslin said that Freeman's performance was especially moving when describing how dependent Red had become on living within the prison walls. Variety's Leonard Klady suggested that Freeman had the "showier" role, allowing him "a grace and dignity that came naturally", without ever becoming banal, and The Washington Post's Desson Howe called Freeman a "master" of comedic and poignant cadence. Even Kenneth Turan's Los Angeles Times review, which Glotzer credited with derailing the film's box-office success, praised Freeman, saying his "effortless screen presence lends Shawshank the closest thing to credibility it can manage". Of Robbins' performance, Gleiberman said that in his "laconic-good-guy, neo-Gary Cooper role, [Robbins] is unable to make Andy connect with the audience". Conversely, Maslin said that Andy has the more subdued role, but that Robbins portrays him intensely, and effectively depicts the character as he transitions from new prisoner to aged father figure, and Klady stated that his "riveting, unfussy ... precise, honest, and seamless" performance anchors the film. Howe said that while the character is "cheesily messianic" for easily charming everyone to his side, comparing him to "Forrest Gump goes to jail", Robbins exudes the perfect kind of innocence to sell the story. The Hollywood Reporter stated that both Freeman and Robbins gave outstanding, layered performances that imbued their characters with individuality, and Rolling Stone's Peter Travers said that the pair created something "undeniably powerful and moving". Gunton and Brown were deemed by Klady as "extremely credible in their villainy", while Howe countered that Gunton's warden was a clichéd character who extols religious virtues while having people murdered. Maslin called the film an impressive directorial debut that tells a gentle tale with a surprising amount of loving care, while Klady said the only failings came when Darabont focused for too long on supporting characters, or embellished a secondary story. The Hollywood Reporter said that both the directing and writing were crisp, while criticizing the film's long running time. Klady said that the length and tone, while tempered by humor and unexpected events, would dampen the film's mainstream appeal, but the story offered a fascinating portrait of the innate humanity of the inmates. Gleiberman disliked that the prisoners' crimes were overlooked to portray them more as good guys. Turan similarly objected to what he perceived as extreme violence and rape scenes, and making most of the prisoners seem like a "bunch of swell and softhearted guys" to cast the prison experience in a "rosy glow". Klady summarized the film as "estimable and haunting entertainment", comparing it to a rough diamond with small flaws, but Howe criticized it for deviating with multiple subplots, and pandering by choosing to resolve the story with Andy and Red's reunion, rather than leaving the mystery. Ebert noted that the story works because it is not about Andy as the hero, but how Red perceives him. Deakins' cinematography was roundly praised, with The Hollywood Reporter calling it "foreboding" and "well-crafted", and Travers saying "the everyday agonies of prison life are meticulously laid out ... you can almost feel the frustration and rage seeping into the skin of the inmates". Gleiberman praised the choice of scenery, writing "the moss-dark, saturated images have a redolent sensuality; you feel as if you could reach out and touch the prison walls". The Hollywood Reporter said of Newman's score, "at its best moments, alights with radiant textures and sprightly grace notes, nicely emblematic of the film's central theme", and Klady described it as "the right balance between the somber and the absurd". ### Accolades The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards in 1995, the most for a Stephen King film adaptation: Best Picture (Marvin), Best Actor (Freeman), Best Adapted Screenplay (Darabont), Best Cinematography (Deakins), Best Film Editing (Richard Francis-Bruce), Best Sound (Robert J. Litt, Elliot Tyson, Michael Herbick, and Willie D. Burton), and Best Original Score (Newman, his first Academy Award nomination). It did not win in any category. It received two Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture for Freeman, and Best Screenplay for Darabont. Robbins and Freeman were both nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role at the inaugural Screen Actors Guild Awards in 1995. Darabont was nominated for a Directors Guild of America award in 1994 for Best Director of a feature film, and a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Deakins won the American Society of Cinematographers award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography, while producer Niki Marvin was nominated for a 1994 Golden Laurel Award by the Producers Guild of America. ## Legacy Darabont later adapted and directed two other King stories, The Green Mile (1999) and The Mist (2007). In a 2016 interview, King said that The Shawshank Redemption was his favorite adaptation of his work, alongside Stand by Me. The oak tree, under which Andy leaves a note for Red directing him to Zihuatanejo, became a symbol of hope for its role in the film, and is considered iconic. In 2016, The New York Times reported that the tree attracted thousands of visitors annually. The tree was partially destroyed on July 29, 2011, when it was split by lightning, and news of the damage was reported by U.S. and international publications. The tree was completely felled by strong winds on or around July 22, 2016, and its vestiges were cut down in April 2017. The remains were turned into The Shawshank Redemption memorabilia, including rock hammers and magnets. The prison site, which was planned to be fully torn down after filming, became a tourist attraction. The Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society, a group of enthusiasts of the film, purchased the building and site from Ohio for one dollar in 2000 and took up maintaining it as a historical landmark, both as its purpose as a prison and as the filming site. A 2019 report estimated the attraction to be earning \$16 million in annual revenue. Many of the rooms and props remain there, including the false pipe through which Andy escapes, and a portion of the oak tree from the finale, after it was damaged in 2011. The surrounding area is also visited by fans, while local businesses market "Shawshanwiches" and Bundt cakes in the shape of the prison. According to the Mansfield/Richland County Convention and Visitors Bureau (later renamed Destination Mansfield), tourism in the area had increased every year since The Shawshank Redemption premiered, and in 2013 drew in 18,000 visitors and over \$3 million to the local economy. As of 2019, Destination Mansfield operates the Shawshank Trail, a series of 15 marked stops around locations related to the film across Mansfield, Ashland, Upper Sandusky, and St Croix. The trail earned \$16.9 million in revenue in 2018. In late August 2014, a series of events was held in Mansfield to celebrate the film's 20th anniversary including a screening of the film at the Renaissance Theatre, a bus tour of certain filming locations, and a cocktail party at the reformatory. Cast from the film attended some of the events, including Gunton, Scott Mann, Renee Blaine, and James Kisicki. The 25th anniversary was similarly celebrated in August 2019. Guests included Darabont, Blaine, Mann, Gunton, Alfonso Freeman, Bellows, Rolston, Claire Slemmer, and Frank Medrano. Darabont stated that only at this event, the first time he had returned to Mansfield, was he able to realize the lasting impact of the film, stating, "It is a very surreal feeling to be back all these years later and people are still talking about it." ### Critical reassessment Contemporary review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 91% approval rating from 81 critics, with an average rating of 8.40/10. The consensus reads, "The Shawshank Redemption is an uplifting, deeply satisfying prison drama with sensitive direction and fine performances." The film also has a score of 82 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 21 critics indicating "universal acclaim". In 1999, film critic Roger Ebert listed Shawshank on his list of The Great Movies. The film has been nominated for, or appeared on, the American Film Institute's lists celebrating the top 100 film or film-related topics. In 1998, it was nominated for AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies list, and was number 72 on the 2007 revised list, outranking Forrest Gump (76) and Pulp Fiction (94). It was also number 23 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers (2006) list charting inspiring films. The characters of Andy and Warden Norton received nominations for AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains list; AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes list for "Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'"; AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs list for "Sull'aria ... che soave zeffiretto" (from The Marriage of Figaro); and AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores for Newman's work. In 2005, the Writers Guild of America listed Darabont's screenplay at number 22 on its list of the 101 greatest screenplays, and in 2006, Film4 listed it number 13 on its list of 50 Films to See Before You Die. In 2014, The Shawshank Redemption was named Hollywood's fourth-favorite film, based on a survey of 2,120 Hollywood-based entertainment industry members; entertainment lawyers skewed the most towards the film. In 2017, The Daily Telegraph named it the 17th-best prison film ever made, and USA Today listed it as one of the 50 best films of all time. In 2019, GamesRadar+ listed its ending as one of the best of all time. The Shawshank Redemption appeared on several lists of the greatest films of the 1990s, by outlets including: Paste and NME (2012), Complex (2013), CHUD.com (2014), MSN (2015), TheWrap, Maxim, and Rolling Stone (all 2017). ### Cultural influence In November 2014, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences celebrated the film's 20th anniversary with a special one-night screening at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California. In 2015, the film was selected by the United States Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Darabont responded: "I can think of no greater honor than for The Shawshank Redemption to be considered part of our country's cinematic legacy." Variety said that the word "Shawshank" could be used to instantly convey images of a prison. The significant and enduring public appreciation for the film has often been difficult for critics to define. In an interview, Freeman said, "About everywhere you go, people say, 'The Shawshank Redemption—greatest movie I ever saw'" and that such praise "Just comes out of them". Robbins said, "I swear to God, all over the world—all over the world—wherever I go, there are people who say, 'That movie changed my life'". In a separate interview, Stephen King said, "If that isn't the best [adaptation of my works], it's one of the two or three best, and certainly, in moviegoers' minds, it's probably the best because it generally rates at the top of these surveys they have of movies. ... I never expected anything to happen with it." In a 2014 Variety article, Robbins claimed that South African politician Nelson Mandela told him about his love for the film, while it has been cited as a source of inspiration by several sportsmen including Jonny Wilkinson (UK), Agustín Pichot (Argentina), Al Charron (Canada), and Dan Lyle (USA), and Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. Gunton said he had encountered fans in Morocco, Australia, South America, Germany, France, and Bora Bora. Director Steven Spielberg said that the film was "a chewing-gum movie—if you step on it, it sticks to your shoe". Speaking on the film's 25th anniversary, Darabont said that older generations were sharing it with younger generations, contributing to its longevity. It has been the number-one film on IMDb's user-generated Top 250 since 2008, when it surpassed The Godfather, having remained at or near the top since the late 1990s. In the United Kingdom, readers of Empire voted the film as the best of the 1990s, the greatest film of all time in 2006, and it placed number four on Empire's 2008 list of "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time" and their 2017 list of "The 100 Greatest Movies". In March 2011, the film was voted by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra listeners as their favorite film of all time. It regularly appears on Empire's top 100 films, was named the greatest film to not win the Academy Award for Best Picture in a 2013 poll by Sky UK (it lost to Forrest Gump), and ranked as Britain's favorite film in a 2015 YouGov poll. When the British Film Institute analyzed the demographic breakdown of the YouGov poll, it noted that The Shawshank Redemption was not the top-ranked film in any group, but was the only film to appear in the top 15 of every age group, suggesting it is able to connect with every polled age group, unlike Pulp Fiction which fared better with younger voters, and Gone with the Wind (1939) with older voters. A 2017 poll conducted by Gatwick Airport also identified the film as the fourth-best to watch while in flight. When English film critic Mark Kermode interviewed a host of United States moviegoers, they compared it to a "religious experience". It was also voted as New Zealand's favorite film in a 2015 poll. Lasting fan appreciation has led to it being considered one of the most beloved films of all time.
1,191,343	Populous: The Beginning	1,157,590,725	1998 video game	[ "1998 video games", "Electronic Arts games", "God games", "PlayStation (console) games", "Populous (series)", "Real-time strategy video games", "Video games developed in the United Kingdom", "Video games featuring female protagonists", "Video games scored by Mark Knight", "Video games with expansion packs", "Windows games" ]	Populous: The Beginning is a real-time strategy video game and the third entry in the Populous series, developed by Bullfrog Productions. The game was released in 1998 on Microsoft Windows, and in 1999 for the PlayStation. Unlike earlier games in the series, which cast the player in the role of a god influencing loyal followers, The Beginning took a radical departure and placed the player in the role of a shaman, who directly leads her tribe against opponents. Throughout the twenty-five missions of the campaign, the player leads their tribe across a solar system, dominating enemy tribes and tapping new sources of magic, with the ultimate goal of the shaman attaining godhood herself. Populous: The Beginning was the first entry in the series to use 3D computer graphics; Bullfrog waited four years after Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods so that the graphics technology could catch up to their vision for a new and different game in the series. The developers considered the addition of terrain deformation and manipulation, combined with "smart" villagers who automatically attended to tasks, to add an entirely new dimension to the series. The game's original title was Populous: The Third Coming before being changed prior to the beta release. Populous: The Beginning plays very differently from earlier titles and received mixed reviews. Critics noted the excellent graphics, while complaints were directed at the artificial intelligence and the indecision in game design between being a real time strategy title and a god game. GamePro's Peter Olafson wrote that Populous: The Beginning was a good game but was "without a quintessential quality that defined Populous." ## Gameplay Whereas previous Populous games were god games where players assumed the role of a god with terrain-altering abilities, Populous: The Beginning adopts elements of real-time strategy games. Rather than being a god, the player controls a Shaman trying to become one, and directly controls the actions of followers, by ordering them to build structures or attack enemies. In the campaign, the player must fight the opposing Dakini, Chumara and Matak tribes for dominion over the solar system. Enemy tribes also have shamans, and on later levels all inhabit the same world. While the objective is almost always to eliminate all of the members of the other tribes, there are often specific ways this can be achieved. Sometimes the player must use magic spells gained from worship at special artifacts such as stone heads or obelisks; these spells include tornadoes, or volcanos that create new landmasses. In other cases, the player only needs to overwhelm the enemies with superior numbers. The game has no formal resource management; new units are created automatically at houses, and training new troops costs nothing except mana. Only wood from trees is required to build new structures. In comparison to the isometric presentation of the previous games in the series, Populous: The Beginning features three-dimensional graphics, with the game camera at a variable height and capable of rotating 360°, enabling the player to quickly move across the planet's terrain. While the terrain's topology is a torus, the map is locally projected onto a sphere to give the illusion of a planet. On maps where there is no fog of war, players can see what opponents are doing at any time. Extensive support for 3D acceleration enables the player to view the game in 16-bit or 32-bit colour. The landscape and real-time structure building and follower movement are also shown. The player commands different types of followers, each of which has advantages and disadvantages in combat. The most basic unit is the Brave, which builds huts, towers, and military buildings. Braves are trained to become other units: tough melee Warriors; weak, long-range, Firewarriors; Preachers, who convert enemy units and prevent enemy preachers from converting friendly troops; and Spies, who perform espionage functions. Shamans are physically weaker than warriors, but can cast powerful spells and can be reincarnated if killed. Some spells will disappear after use. Other spells can slowly be replenished for continued use; the rate of spell regeneration depends upon the player's number of followers. Examples of spells include "Landbridge", which raises the sea floor to create bridges across the sea; "Swarm", which sends a horde of insects to sow confusion in enemy ranks; and "Tornado", which creates a cyclone to destroy buildings. There are twenty-six spells in total, which are slowly learned throughout the campaign. Populous: The Beginning supports multiplayer, either by modem connection (limited to two players), IPX, or over the Internet through an external matchmaking service. Populous: The Beginning allows for a maximum game size of four players playing against each other. ## Plot Populous: The Beginning takes place before the first two games in the series in a planetary system of twenty-five unnamed planets. These worlds are inhabited by four human tribes, represented by their color: the green "Matak", the yellow "Chumara", and the red "Dakini". The fourth blue tribe, controlled by the player, is unnamed. Each of the tribes is generally hostile to one another, though alliances exist on some worlds. All the tribes are ruled by a single female shaman. In addition to the organized tribes are 'wildmen', neutral characters who cluster in groups around trees and water. Though they cannot attack or be attacked, players can use the Shaman's Convert spell to bring wildmen under her tribe's control. The player's goal as Shaman is to become a deity; only by defeating all the enemies in the system can the player's shaman become omnipotent. The player begins on the planet furthest from the sun, and attacks each planet in sequence. Along the way, the Shaman learns new skills and magic to defeat her enemies. Victory requires the player to either destroy the opposition, or on occasion perform special actions. The player loses if the Shaman is killed and there are no remaining followers, if the Shaman is killed and there is no circle of reincarnation, or the player runs out of time on timed levels. Upon beating back the other tribes, the Shaman ascends to godhood and helps her people conquer the Matak, Chumara and Dakini in one final conflict. ## Development Bullfrog Productions released Populous in 1989, followed by Populous II in 1991. The Populous series inspired the term "god game", with players assuming the role of an omniscient being who leads their people to new territories or into battle. Populous: The Beginning was the first in the series developed with entirely 3D graphics, allowing the environment to be scaled and rotated in real time (though characters remained two-dimensional.) The game was published more than four years after Populous II, as Bullfrog waited for hardware advancements to enable a new approach, and was the first in the series to be made without Populous creator Peter Molyneux, who had sold Bullfrog to Electronic Arts in 1995 and left after the release of Dungeon Keeper to form Lionhead Studios. Producer Stuart Whyte said of the work, "We're really proud of what we've done in software because it does look really nice." Alan Wright, the game's project leader, stressed both the departure Populous: The Beginning took from previous titles in the series, as well as distinguishing itself from similar games like Command & Conquer. The elements of smart villagers and terrain-reforming, he said, "adds a whole level of gameplay not found in those titles." Bullfrog representative Brian Allen asserted that these departures distinguished Populous: The Beginning from other real-time strategy games on the market at the time. In some aspects, the developers were forced to remove features due to technical constraints; for example, the "Plague" spell from previous Populous titles was dropped because in practice the spell was too frustrating. Art lead Phil McLaughlin recalled that they wanted the characters to look primitive yet familiar, as opposed to something too fantastic; the final characters had to be constructed from very few polygons, so character concepts (done by Mark Pitcher) did not always satisfactorily translate to the finished product. Textures were assigned to different altitudes of the map and blended using masks, allowing for vibrant and varied landscapes without too much developer effort. The music was composed by Mark Knight, who had joined Bullfrog's team in 1997. A number of strategy and god games being produced in 1998 and 1999, especially at Electronic Arts, where Populous: The Beginning was expected to be one of its standout titles. Originally, the game was known as Populous: The Third Coming, but the name was changed by the time the game was shown in a fully playable beta form in late 1998. Bullfrog released an expansion to Populous: The Beginning, Undiscovered Worlds in 1999. This add-on was only made available in the UK and US, and offered twelve new single-player and twelve multiplayer levels, with a continuation of the storyline begun in the previous game, where the player takes on the role of a new shaman who must restore peace to the solar system. ## Reception Populous: The Beginning received generally favorable reviews on release with some strong criticisms to follow. IGN's Ward Trent was especially smitten with the immersive 3D graphics. Edge stated, "previous Bullfrog games have always placed gameplay above graphical finesse, but that's no longer the case." GameSpot's reviewer Ron Dulin appreciated how The Beginning was a daring revamp of the series, instead of a safe, slightly modified sequel (like the earlier Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods). Computer and Video Games rated The Beginning as a "better play" than the original. Complaints about the game centered on the difficulty of controlling followers, the simplicity of gameplay, and the tension between game styles. The game's AI allowed followers to automatically construct buildings, but this led to problems directing them in the midst of a hectic battle. IGN noted that with the player's followers automatically going about daily life, the replay value was lowered even with the multiplayer options. Others agreed that the automation rendered gameplay too simple, with no upgrades or serious resource management, a sentiment PC Gamer expressed when they wrote that the missions "become mind-numbingly repetitive". Populous: The Beginning played very differently from earlier titles. Edge concluded that while the more rigid play format of The Beginning was new to the series, it had the effect of making the result "less show-stopping"; Edge believed that the game was caught between the god game and RTS genres, and did not excel at either. PCGamer subsequently decided the game failed to live up to the previous games in the series. More charitably, GamePro's Peter Olafson wrote: "Populous: The Beginning is not a bad game, in fact a good one; but it's a different game—one without a quintessential quality that defined Populous." Populous: The Beginning was not a commercial success, and to date remains the final game in the franchise. Electronic Arts shut down Bullfrog in 2001. The official multiplayer servers for Populous: The Beginning went offline in 2004, but the game's multiplayer was kept alive through Populous: Reincarnated and Populous.Online, managed by a group of dedicated fans.
942,346	Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines	1,167,118,670	2004 action role-playing video game	[ "2004 video games", "Action role-playing video games", "Activision games", "Dark fantasy role-playing video games", "Dark fantasy video games", "Dissociative identity disorder in video games", "Fiction about snuff films", "Gothic video games", "Hollywood, Los Angeles in fiction", "Open-world video games", "Python (programming language)-scripted video games", "Santa Monica, California in fiction", "Single-player video games", "Source (game engine) games", "Troika Games games", "Urban fantasy video games", "Vampire: The Masquerade video games", "Video games developed in the United States", "Video games set in 2004", "Video games set in California", "Video games set in Los Angeles", "Video games with gender-selectable protagonists", "Windows games", "Windows-only games" ]	Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is a 2004 action role-playing video game developed by Troika Games and published by Activision for Microsoft Windows. Set in White Wolf Publishing's World of Darkness, the game is based on White Wolf's role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade and follows a human who is killed and revived as a fledgling vampire. The game depicts the fledgling's journey through early 21st-century Los Angeles to uncover the truth behind a recently discovered relic that heralds the end of all vampires. Bloodlines is presented from first- and third-person perspectives. The player assigns their character to one of several vampire clans—each with unique powers, customizes their combat and dialog abilities, and progresses through Bloodlines using violent and nonviolent methods. The selection of clan affects how the player is perceived in the game world and which powers and abilities they possess; this opens up different avenues of exploration and methods of interacting with or manipulating other characters. The player can complete side missions away from the primary storyline by moving freely between the available hubs: Santa Monica, Hollywood, downtown Los Angeles, and Chinatown. Troika's 32-member team began developing Bloodlines in November 2001 as an indirect sequel to the previous year's Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption. Troika used Valve's Source game engine, then in development, which was used for Valve's own Half-Life 2. The game's production was turbulent, as the design's scope exceeded the available resources, and the team was left without a producer for nearly a year until Activision appointed David Mullich to the role, where he found designs and levels unfinished or abandoned. After three years in development with no end in sight and running over budget, Activision set a strict deadline for completion, and Bloodlines was released incomplete in November 2004. Released in competition with Half-Life 2 and several other titles, Bloodlines sold fewer than 80,000 copies during its initial release, which was considered a poor performance. It divided critics at the time; although they praised the game's writing and scale of choice, they criticized its technical flaws. It was Troika Games' last production before its failure in early 2005, when it could not secure additional projects. The game has a cult following as a rarely replicated example of gameplay and narrative, and contemporary reception recognizes it as a flawed masterpiece. Since its original release, Bloodlines received post-release support from fans, supplying unofficial fixes and re-adding unused content. A sequel, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, is in development. ## Gameplay Bloodlines is an action role-playing video game optionally presented from the first- or third-person perspective. Before the game begins, players create a male or female vampire character by selecting a vampire clan and configuring available points in three areas—Attributes, Abilities, and Disciplines (vampiric powers)—or by answering questions, which create a character for the player. The player can select one of seven vampire clans: the powerful Brujah, the decadent Toreador, the insane Malkavian, the aristocratic Ventrue, the monstrously deformed Nosferatu, the blood-magic-wielding Tremere, or the animalistic Gangrel. The player builds their character by spending acquired points to increase their ratings in the three areas. The points spent on Attributes and Abilities combine to determine a player's success or effectiveness in performing tasks such as using firearms, brawling, and lock-picking; for example, determining how accurate or how far the player can shoot or if they can hack a computer. Attributes are represented by physical (strength, dexterity, and stamina), social (charisma, manipulation, and appearance), and mental (perception, intelligence, and wits). Abilities are talents (such as brawling and dodging), skills (such as firearms and melee), and knowledge (such as computers and investigation). The player is initially assigned points to spend in the three areas, with the amount they can spend determined by clan; for example, the Brujah can spend the most points on physical and skill attributes. During character creation, each upgrade costs one point. The upgrade cost increases as the game progresses. Each ability can be raised from zero to five, and it is impossible to accrue enough experience points to complete every skill (allowing the player to specialize or balance their character). Experience points are gained by completing quests, finding items, or unlocking secret paths rather than killing enemies and are used to increase or unlock the character's statistics and abilities. The game features a main story and optional side quests that can be completed at any time; the player can move between the available areas at will to revisit locations, characters, or merchants. The player's clan affects their skills and powers. Although the attractive Toreadors receive bonuses for seduction and persuasion, opening additional dialog options, they are physically weak; the Nosferatu are forced to travel in the shadows or through sewers to avoid alerting humans but receive bonuses to their intelligence and computer skills, which enables access to more information. The Malkavians have different dialog options, reflecting their inherent insanity. Upgrading some skills provides additional dialog options; attractive and charismatic characters seduce to get their way, aggressive characters threaten, and others persuade their targets to cooperate. Ranged combat is first-person, with character points assigned to the firearms skill determining the shot's accuracy and how long it takes to target an opponent. Melee combat is third-person, with access to weapons such as katanas and sledgehammers for melee combat, or pistols, crossbows, and flamethrowers for firearm combat. If a player sneaks up on an opponent, they can perform an instant kill; weapons provide unique instant kill animations. The player can block attacks manually or automatically by leaving their character idle. They can use stealth in missions by sneaking past guards and security cameras, picking locks, and hacking computers to locate alternative routes. Each clan has specific Disciplines, which can be used in combat and to create approaches to quests. Although some powers overlap clans, no two clans share the same three Disciplines. More physical vampires can enhance themselves to become fast and lethal killers or summon spirit allies to attack their foes; others can mentally dominate their targets to force their cooperation or render themselves invisible to hide from detection; and others can boil their opponent's blood from afar. The ability Blood Buff (which temporarily upgrades physical abilities) is common to all vampires. Several abilities can be active at the same time. Blood is a primary currency in Bloodlines, used to activate Disciplines and abilities. It is drained with each use and can be replenished by drinking from rats, visiting blood banks, or drinking from humans by attacking or seducing them; the player can feed on enemies during combat. Drinking from innocents for too long can kill them, costing a character humanity points. Players are penalized for using certain vampiric abilities in front of witnesses; exposing their existence loses masquerade points, although additional masquerade points can be earned from quests and other actions. Violating the masquerade five times draws the ire of vampire hunters and loses the game. The player has humanity points, representing the vampire's humanity. Some actions cost humanity points; a low humanity score alters available dialog options to become more aggressive and increases the chance of entering a frenzied state and embarking on a killing spree when the vampire's blood is low. A large amount of damage can also trigger this frenzy. Like masquerade points, losing all humanity points ends the game, with the vampire becoming a mindless beast. Some areas, known as Elysium, prevent the use of Disciplines or weapons. Players can recruit a ghoul, Heather, as a customizable servant who gives them blood, gifts, and money. ## Synopsis ### Setting Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines takes place in four areas of 21st-century Los Angeles: Santa Monica, Hollywood, Downtown Los Angeles, and Chinatown. Set in the World of Darkness, the game depicts a world in which vampires, werewolves, demons, and other creatures shape human history. A code binds the vampires to maintain their secrecy (forbidding the use of vampiric abilities in front of humans) and avoid unnecessary killing (to preserve the vampire's last shreds of humanity). The vampires are divided into seven clans of the Camarilla, the vampire government, with distinctive traits and abilities. The Toreadors are the closest to humanity, with a passion for culture; the Ventrue are noble, powerful leaders; the Brujah are idealists who excel at fighting; the Malkavians are cursed with insanity or blessed with insight; the Gangrel are loners, in sync with their animalistic nature; the secretive, untrustworthy Tremere wield blood magic; and the monstrous Nosferatu are condemned to a life in the shadows to avoid humanity. The clans are loosely united by their belief in the Camarilla's goals and opposition to the Sabbat: vampires who revel in their nature, embracing the beast within. The Anarch Movement is a faction of idealistic vampires opposed to the Camarilla's political structure, believing that all vampires should share power. The main character of Bloodlines, whom the player controls, is an unnamed fledgling vampire who is transformed at the start of the game and belongs to one of the clans. The fledgling is employed by Sebastian LaCroix (voiced by Andy Milder), prince of Los Angeles' vampires. The fledgling's travels through the vampire world bring them into contact with other undead creatures such as the deformed information broker Bertram Tung, the anarch Smiling Jack (John DiMaggio), and the dissociative Voerman sisters, Jeanette and Therese. Chinatown is controlled by the Kuei-Jin, Asian vampires led by Ming-Xiao, who do not require blood and consider themselves superior to the other vampires. ### Plot The game begins with the player character, an unnamed human, being killed and resurrected as a fledgling vampire. The fledgling and their sire are brought before the Camarilla for this unauthorized act. The sire is executed by order of LaCroix; the fledgling is spared the same fate by the intervention of the anarch Nines Rodriguez and employed by the prince. LaCroix sends the fledgling to Santa Monica to help his ghoul, Mercurio, destroy a Sabbat warehouse. Following their success, the fledgling travels to downtown Los Angeles, meeting separately with Nines, LaCroix, and Jack. LaCroix tasks the fledgling with investigating a docked ship, the Elizabeth Dane, for information about an Ankaran sarcophagus rumored to contain the body of an Antediluvian, one of the oldest and most powerful vampires. Their arrival would herald Gehenna, the vampire apocalypse. The fledgling discovers that the sarcophagus seems to have been opened from within. Increased Sabbat activity coincides with the disappearance of the Malkavian chief, Alistair Grout. At Grout's mansion, the fledgling sees Nines leaving and discovers Grout's remains in the mansion with vampire hunter Grünfeld Bach, who denies involvement in Grout's death. Learning about Nines' presence at the mansion, LaCroix tells the other chiefs to approve Nines' execution. The fledgling is sent to the Museum of Natural History to recover the sarcophagus but finds that it has been stolen. Jack later suggests to the fledgling that LaCroix wants the sarcophagus to drink the blood of the ancient within, gaining its power. Believing that Gary, the Nosferatu chief, has stolen the sarcophagus, the fledgling is sent to Hollywood to find him; after locating a captured Nosferatu for Gary, he reveals that the Giovanni vampire clan stole the sarcophagus. The fledgling infiltrates the Giovanni mansion and finds the sarcophagus guarded by the Kuei-Jin, who claim their leader, Ming-Xiao, has allied with LaCroix. The locked sarcophagus is returned to LaCroix's tower, and Beckett, a vampire scholar, tells the fledgling that the only person who can open it has been abducted by Bach to lure LaCroix. The fledgling kills Bach and learns that the sarcophagus' key has been stolen. The fledgling returns to LaCroix, learning that the Sabbat tried to steal the sarcophagus to destroy it and prevent Gehenna, and kills the Sabbat leader to disperse his followers. The fledgling is met by Ming-Xiao, who offers an alliance. Ming-Xiao reveals that she has the key, and LaCroix killed Grout to prevent his powerful insight from unveiling LaCroix's plans; Ming-Xiao disguised herself as Nines at the mansion to frame him. Denying Ming-Xiao's claims, LaCroix rescinds the blood hunt on Nines and entrusts the fledgling with recruiting the anarchs to punish the Kuei-Jin for murdering Grout. The fledgling finds Nines hiding in Griffith Park, and they are then attacked by a werewolf, and Nines is badly injured. The fledgling escapes with Jack, who reveals that LaCroix has issued an execution on the fledgling for framing Nines on orders from Ming-Xiao. The ending varies, depending on whom, if anyone, the fledgling allies with. If the fledgling supports LaCroix or Ming-Xiao, each sends the fledgling to kill the other. LaCroix opens the sarcophagus to be killed with the fledgling by hidden explosives; Ming-Xiao betrays the fledgling, chaining them to the sarcophagus and sinking it into the ocean. Supporting the anarchs, or no one, makes the fledgling kill Ming-Xiao and maim LaCroix, who is killed after he opens the sarcophagus. If the fledgling opens the sarcophagus, they die in the explosion. If the fledgling is a Tremere, they kill Ming-Xiao; Tremere leader Maximillian Strauss replaces LaCroix, and the sarcophagus is stored. Each ending has Jack watching from afar with the mummy taken from the coffin and the enigmatic taxi driver who transports the fledgling between locations, who says, "The blood of Caine controls our fate ... Farewell, vampire." ## Development ### Conception The development of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines began at Troika Games in November 2001. The developers wanted to put a role-playing game in a first-person setting, believing that the genre had become stale. Troika approached publisher Activision with its idea; Activision suggested using the Vampire: The Masquerade license used a year earlier in Nihilistic Software's Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption, which had experienced sufficient success to merit a sequel. Instead of developing a sequel to Redemption, the development team researched the White Wolf property, including the game's rules and storylines. Troika was a small game studio with five developers and a total staff of thirty-two (including lead writer Brian Mitsoda, who joined the team less than a year after development began). Although some preliminary designs and levels were completed, much of the work was abandoned or redeveloped. Troika wanted to make a 3D game but was uncertain whether to build a new game engine or license an existing one and whether to use first- or third-person. At that time, the Source game engine was being built by Valve. Valve employee Scott Lynch approached Troika about using the engine, and it was the first external team to use it. Troika chose Source for its facial animation and lip-synching system since it wanted players to speak to the characters face-to-face. Since the engine was in development with Bloodlines and Valve's own Half-Life 2, Troika was working with unfamiliar code and tools, forcing it to write code to compensate for the unfinished engine and with only a single source of technical support. Troika developed a lighting system to create distinctive, moody illumination for the nighttime setting, a particle system for the special effects accompanying the vampire Disciplines, and a cloth system for clothing flow. Source lacked its later artificial intelligence (AI) coding, and Troika's code worked poorly with the Source engine. ### Writing Many central plot elements existed before designer Brian Mitsoda's involvement: the prince, the anarchs being upset, aspects of the Gehenna storyline, and Jack and the sarcophagus as a major subplot. The designers broadly tied the overarching story into each hub and level. Each designer controlled their assigned section of the game and worked with a small team, enabling quick decision-making and ease in keeping plot elements consistent. Mitsoda became the primary writer for many of the characters and their quests, dialog, and side content in the game, such as emails, which helped retain a consistent narrative. He was given freedom with respect to the script, with no restrictions on language or content, and could rewrite characters when he thought his initial draft was weak. Although Troika developed the story, it is inspired by White Wolf's Time of Judgment novels about a vampire apocalypse. Bloodlines' story was accepted as canonical by White Wolf, with the game serving as a prequel to Time of Judgment and including characters from the White Wolf game, such as Jack. Discussing character design, Mitsoda said he tried to disguise the need for characters who point a player in an appropriate direction: > You need a character to pose a problem or give out a quest or be a barrier of some kind. I don't like to make the [character] outright say "I need you to do X, then I'll give you Y" ... – it makes the character into an automated quest kiosk. I like the characters to come off like people actually do – they don't say "hi" when strangers come knocking, they say "who the hell are you?" or they're expecting you and know more than they let on, or they don't care. I don't like my [characters] to be standing around as if their lives begin when the character starts talking to them and end when the player leaves. Single-purpose characters needed a distinctive personality trait to quickly establish them with the player, rather than serving as a disposable item, while major characters had to reflect the player's progression and actions through the game. Mitsoda wrote the characters by thinking about whom each character was, assigning them motivations determining why they were where they were, what they thought about the player, and what they wanted from them. Following a suggestion by fellow writer Chad Moore, the Malkavian player character has a dialog script distinct from that of the other eight clans; Mitsoda said it was one of the simpler aspects of the development cycle. He wrote the Malkavian script last, with time running out on development, and the overwork and lack of sleep contributed to what Mitsoda considered an unhealthy state of mind, ideal for writing insane dialog. He wanted to highlight their madness without making it comical. Since the story is set during the Camarilla's takeover of Los Angeles, the team simplified the plot by only allowing the player to belong to one of the LA-based clans. ### Design Troika co-founder Jason Anderson's research on Vampire: The Masquerade source material and fansites found that the game's main attraction was character interaction and involvement in the vampire societies, not statistics and powers. Troika tried to remain faithful to the pen-and-paper role-playing game, hoping not to alienate the game's fans, but rules designed for multiple players did not translate well to single-player computer game design. The team attempted to discover which elements could work equally well in pen-and-paper and computer games. However, although much of the character system and attributes were translated, not all the attributes (such as "knowledge of law") made sense in the computer game. Of 30 pen-and-paper abilities, 15 reached the final design. Another difficult area was feats. Although common feats worked well, with a random chance of success or failure, uncommon ones would appear to fail more often. To avoid this, randomization was replaced by a degree of difficulty in accomplishing the feat. Although pen-and-paper falling damage is random, the computer game bases damage on the distance of the fall. The team's biggest challenge was adapting disciplines. The pen-and-paper version may require a little blood that requires a long time to use or have no blood cost and can be used at will; upgraded disciplines had additional requirements considered too confusing for a computer game. Troika attempted to equalize the disciplines, keeping the effect intact and normalizing the cost, so a first-level power requires one blood point, a second-level two points, and so on. To balance the clans, the aristocratic Ventrue were only allowed to feed on noble blood, though this was changed to allow them to feed on lower-class humans, receiving less blood. During character creation, the game had an optional character biography with unique positive and negative characteristics (increasing one ability while limiting another). This was removed from the released game; Activision felt there was insufficient test time, and removing it was a more stable option. The team's previous experience was with turn-based combat games, and it struggled to develop a real-time combat system affected by customizable attributes and abilities that provided feedback to the player on how those statistics affected the battle. It initially found that by adhering too closely to the White Wolf source material rules for guns, where the effectiveness of a shot is determined in a contest between the player's skill and the opponent's defense, the firearms seemed broken; the player would not hit where they aimed. Troika found it difficult to mesh the available factors in a real-time setting. Melee combat had to deal with various melee weapons and animations and adjust for melee-on-melee and melee-on-ranged combat. Troika used first-person perspective to immerse the player in the setting, interacting face-to-face with the characters and seeing their facial reactions to the player. It chose to follow a single character to aid the immersion, creating the isolation of a vampire unable to trust any other character. This aided the story and compensated for the technical issues of allowing multiple player characters. Choice is a significant aspect of the game, requiring a non-linear design to accommodate the customized characters. Level design began with a list of factors such as Disciplines, stealth, and feats. Each area had to be viable for a shooting character (sufficient ammunition), a discipline-focused character (sufficient blood sources to keep the powers fueled), and a melee specialist (to reach enemies without being killed), with stealth options and option combinations. Level design began with a focus on stealth, considering the positioning of guards and the character's potential stealth capability at that point in the game. Then direct, combat-heavy, and dialog paths were added. The amusement arcade area was to feature playable versions of Activision arcade games such as Pitfall!, though the idea was abandoned due to time constraints. Director Leonard Boyarsky considered the animation system important in the team's choice of the Source engine. The integrated "faceposer" tool allowed Troika to customize facial animations, expressions, gestures, and lip-synching, eliminating the need to explain what a character was doing. Every non-player character required a voiceover, which helped Troika define its characters more quickly. The engine had a physics system permitting new features, such as monsters hurling corpses at the player or dying characters realistically crumbling into pieces, instead of requiring pre-built animations. Although Troika had ignored first-person engines due to technical limitations, such as a low polygon count and limited texture memory, as the technology improved, it thought it could create a real-time action game without sacrificing the immersion and story of a role-playing game. Describing the choice of developing a game based on the existing White Wolf property over creating their own, Boyarsky said that although an original property lacked the constraints of an existing one, the downside was that it had not been tested and could be rejected by its potential audience; an existing property was proven. Troika tried to stay as close as possible to the White Wolf rules while reducing the number of abilities and disciplines to those relevant to Bloodlines gameplay. ### Later development Activision introduced the game in May 2003, but in October, Valve experienced a security breach in which hackers stole the source code for Half-Life 2. The breach required new security implementations for the engine, delaying both games; the release of Bloodlines was postponed until early 2005. Until May 2004, Troika and Activision said that the game would feature a multiplayer component and modes, including a team of vampires against a team of vampire hunters, with the ability to upgrade characters between rounds. The team was left without a producer by Activision for over a year before David Mullich was assigned to the project. With no producer oversight, Mullich found the game's design incomplete, game levels created and abandoned, and several technical issues, including problems with code for the proposed multiplayer option. The Source multiplayer code was in its infancy, increasing its development time, and the idea was abandoned. In addition to problems with the Source engine, the designers found that the game's scope exceeded their resources. Bloodlines has several playstyles, requiring different interfaces, animations, and artificial intelligence for stealth, melee combat, and first- or third-person capability. Compared to contemporary first-person shooters, with 10 to 20 animated character models, Bloodlines had over 150 characters with 3,000 unique animations, in addition to boss characters, with their movement styles. The designers underestimated the time required to develop and improve these systems. The game's scope suffered from content not being removed when necessary; other components would be endlessly refined without being finalized, preventing the developers from focusing on other parts of the game system. All content additionally required approval by White Wolf and Activision. After three years of development, the game was progressing slowly, and it was unknown when it would be finished. Activision set a series of deadlines for the project's development to ensure Troika had sufficient time to effectively test the game, though these milestones were repeatedly extended, and Bloodlines eventually ran over budget. In 2003 Activision intervened, ordering that the game be ready for release in the next few months and even advancing more money to Troika to complete its work on The Temple of Elemental Evil for Atari, freeing the Troika team to work on Bloodlines exclusively. Activision eventually issued an ultimatum that the project be finished within months, on September 15, 2004. Troika delivered a version of Bloodlines on the required date; due to its scale, the game underwent three weeks of testing. Activision decided that the game was suitable for release but was contractually bound to withhold Bloodlines until after the debut of Half-Life 2 in November 2004. Troika convinced Activision to use the delay to fund further development; the additional budget was insufficient to pay all of Troika's staff, and some employees worked unpaid to complete the project. This version underwent another three weeks of testing to become the final release code; the game was still unfinished when Activision forced its release. Bloodlines' creative director Jason Anderson blamed Activision, saying that the publisher took the game from Troika without providing enough time to test and polish it. Conversely, Boyarsky defended Activision for supporting Troika as the project exceeded its budget and schedule. During the nearly four years of development, Anderson estimated that the team worked overtime for all but two months. ### Music The game's original score was composed and produced by Rik Schaffer. Troika licensed many songs for the game, and posters for real bands are featured on the walls of the game's clubs. The soundtrack was released as a limited edition CD to customers who pre-ordered the game through Best Buy. It features nine tracks by artists including Daniel Ash, Chiasm, Tiamat, Darling Violetta, Genitorturers, and Lacuna Coil. "Bloodlines", performed by Al Jourgensen and Ministry, was composed and performed specifically for the game. Activision chose the licensed tracks without input from Troika. The song "Angel" by Massive Attack was used as a placeholder on the game's menu screen. Troika could not obtain the rights to use the song in the finished game and tasked Schaffer with creating something similar. ## Release Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines was released on November 16, 2004, in competition with Half-Life 2, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Halo 2, and several other titles. Valve's contract for Troika's use of the Source engine guaranteed that Bloodlines could not be released before Half-Life 2 and could not be introduced to the public until after the announcement of Half-Life 2, over eighteen months after development began. In February 2004, the game was scheduled for release in spring 2005, partially to avoid competing with Half-Life 2 and the competitive Christmas period, before Activision moved the date to November 2004. Activision obtained model Erin Layne to play Jeanette in promotional material for the game. Layne worked with Bloodlines artist Tim Bradstreet for a day to provide the poses chosen by Activision to represent Jeanette in the game's posters, clothing, and other items. Despite generally favorable reviews, Bloodlines' initial release sold 72,000 copies and earned approximately US\$3.4 million in sales, below Troika's other games, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (234,000 units, \$8.8 million) and The Temple of Elemental Evil (128,000 units, \$5.2 million). In comparison, Bloodlines' release competitor Half-Life 2 had sold 6.5 million copies by 2008. Bloodlines‍' relative failure contributed to the demise of Troika Games. Shortly after its debut, most development staff were laid off; the remaining staff tried to patch Bloodlines and develop game concepts to secure funding to keep Troika in business. Troika, unable to obtain further funding from Activision or other publishers, released its employees in two waves: the first in November 2004, followed by the remaining staff in December, except for its three founders, Anderson, Boyarsky, and Tim Cain. Some employees worked without pay to fix the game. When the company closed in February 2005, it had secured no other game development deals. That month, Boyarsky confirmed that Troika had not been working on a patch for the game since most of its staff had been gone since December 2004. In a 2006 interview, Anderson said that although Troika Games' library had been critically well received, consistent technical issues had marred the perception of the company's games, contributing to Troika's difficulty in obtaining new projects. In 2013, Mitsoda said that Bloodlines was released at "the worst possible time - most people didn't even know we were out ... fans and the Troika [developers] are always going to wonder what the game could have been like with another six months." In a 2017 interview, Boyarsky echoed Mitsoda's sentiments, saying that a further three to six months of development time could have allowed Troika to address many technical flaws, but he was unsure that they could have resolved larger issues. He said, "I feel the second half of the game isn't as good as the first. I feel like we devolved into relying too much on combat at the end." Boyarsky noted that it was impossible to know if the fixes would have made Bloodlines more successful or if it would have remained a niche product. He said, "it might have been too early for people to appreciate it, but we'll never know." The game's fans have created unofficial patches to address Bloodlines' technical problems and restore missing and incomplete content. After experiencing problems with the first versions of an unofficial patch created by Dan Upright, analytical chemist Werner Spahl continued patching the game from version 1.2 with permission and instructions. The game community tested Spahl's patches, providing reports on bugs and spelling errors. Although the game's complexity meant that repairing one aspect often broke another, as work on the patches progressed, Spahl began restoring removed and incomplete content in the game files, adding quests, items, weapons, and characters, with fan help to provide voice acting, models, and reinstating whole levels. Spahl contacted former Troika staff for insight into their intentions for cut content. A library area, for example, was restored after Mitsoda told Spahl only that "it was somehow connected to a main character and a Sabbat boss, and was meant to look like the real-world [Los Angeles] library." A fan traveled to the real library to gather notes on its layout and co-developed the in-game area with Spahl. Schaffer also provided Spahl with unreleased scores from the game. The changes altered the original game so much that some of the game's fans criticized Spahl. This resulted in two patch versions: a basic version, fixing the game's technical issues, and a "plus" version with the additional content. As of 2019, the game has over 15 years of post-release support. The patches are also included in the game version sold on the GOG.com distribution service. Boyarsky voiced his support for unofficial patches, saying, "they've found the stuff that we hoped people would find about the game, in terms of the different paths you can take and how it played differently for every class." Boyarsky said that while he would have preferred that the game was more successful at launch, that people were still playing and modifying it made Troika's efforts feel more "worthwhile". Schaffer released a remastered version of his score through Milan Records in October 2019, including eight previously unreleased tracks. The score could be purchased on compact disc, digital download, and a blood-red vinyl record version with a marbled, black smoke effect housed in a custom sleeve. ## Reception Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines received a mixed response, with reviewers praising its writing and presentation and criticizing its technical problems. The aggregating review website Metacritic provides a score of 80 out of 100 (based on 61 reviews). The game has been called a flawed masterpiece by critics. The scale and variety of choice and effect was highlighted by reviewers as Bloodlines' greatest success, including the variety of clans, with specific dialog options, and the specific reactions from other characters, each with their own clan loyalty and bias. GameSpy called it a nearly flawless classic role-playing game; The New York Times described it as brilliant but unfinished. Eurogamer praised its "effortlessly intelligent" script, saying that "no other game has come close. Nothing's even tried". VideoGamer.com opined that at its best, Bloodlines stands among the greatest RPGs of the preceding five years, although its technical problems should be remembered. According to HonestGamers, the game "may not be polished and may end with a sigh instead of a shout, but for its ambition alone it deserves stream after stream of compliments." Reviewers compared it to other successful role-playing games, including Fallout, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Planescape: Torment, Baldur's Gate II, and Deus Ex; Eurogamer described Bloodlines as Deus Ex with vampires. IGN appreciated Bloodlines' rewarding exploration outside the main story, and The New York Times and GameSpy praised its "wonderfully imaginative" missions. Reviewers noted that later parts of the game were disappointing, delivering repetitive combat-focused missions with regenerating enemies, abandoning dialog and stealth and punishing players who build characters with more social skills than combat abilities. GameSpy said that it had never seen a role-playing game so affected by player actions with everything, from clan choice and character build to actions in missions, influencing future options and dialog. Its writing was consistently praised by reviewers. The narrative was considered deep, successfully using White Wolf's Vampire: The Masquerade content. Eurogamer said that it had the best script the website had ever seen in a video game, and others described it as a superbly crafted tale of conspiracies, underworld subterfuge, fun and intrigue. Reviewers appreciated the use of adult themes, such as sex and death, in the storyline of a contemporary video game, which no other games had tackled with similar effectiveness. The mature themes succeeded without being gratuitous or exploitative, and were explored honestly and intelligently by a knowledgeable writer. The game's characters were praised for their memorable, developed personalities, with most major characters possessing their own backstory and presented as living people instead of ciphers. Its ending had a mixed response, with some reviewers appreciating their ability to choose one of the game's four endings (adding an incentive to replay the game) and others considering the ending anticlimactic. GameSpot and GameSpy called the dialog sharply written, with many memorable lines. Eurogamer noted that the characters' frequent use of vulgar language worked; written as real people, such language fit their character rather than giving the game an adult veneer. The website appreciated the breadth of dialog options, allowing the player greater control of how to play their character. PC Zone opined that the quantity of well-written dialog did not guarantee quality; many player choices seemed to have little effect on a conversation's outcome, and the best response was often the most obvious. The voice acting was repeatedly praised for the actors' quality and the amount of voice work, due to the many dialog options. Much of Bloodlines' criticism focused on technical problems when it was released, undermining the game experience or making it unplayable. Several reviewers noted errors which closed the game and typographical errors in on-screen text. Others cited frequent, sometimes-lengthy load times encountered while moving between hubs and entering or exiting buildings and areas. GameSpot called the game's artificial intelligence poor, often causing enemies to rush at an armed player, fire at them from too great a distance to be effective or become immobilized while waiting for the player's next attack. IGN noted that stealth broke the AI, allowing traps to be triggered and leaving the assailants standing still, unable to locate a hidden player. GameSpy said that the Source Engine was Bloodlines' greatest weakness; although the RPG aspects were the game's strong suit, features of the Source Engine, such as first-person shooting, were where it stumbled. The combat was also criticized. Reviewers called it poor, clumsy and unsatisfactory, complaining that Bloodlines favors melee combat; firearms were weak, unwieldy and slow, even for characters specializing in guns. PC Zone, however, called the first-person shooting entertaining and challenging. Although melee combat was criticized as sluggish and difficult due to enemy attacks interrupting the player's, reviewers considered it overpowered; according to GameSpot, a boss character was killed with melee weapons on a first attempt after the repeated failure to do so with a gun. The New York Times found the unavoidable combat in the last part of the game to be so difficult that they had to cheat to succeed. Stealth was criticized, with IGN noting that even with low stealth skill it was possible to sneak around many enemies and feed from a guard without alerting another guard next to them. GameSpot opined that some of the best missions were stealth-based, as combat was more straightforward. ### Accolades In 2004, IGN named Bloodlines the Best PC RPG of that year and GameSpy called the "Ocean House Hotel" quest the Level of the Year. In 2005, Computer Gaming World called it the Role Playing Game of 2004, saying that it offered "a deep, balanced character creation system, a truckload of interesting quests, a good story and great NPCs to interact with." Computer Games Magazine nominated Bloodlines for its 2004 "Best Writing" award; the award went to Half-Life 2. ## Legacy ### Modern reception Bloodlines is considered a cult classic. Retrospective critiques continue to praise the game's narrative and degree of choice. In 2009, an article in Rock, Paper, Shotgun declared: "The sense of sorrow comes from the realization that there's nothing like [Bloodlines] on the horizon ... why should there be so few games like this? Oh right, because it's so very hard to do ... the lack of games comparable to Bloodlines is one of the great tragedies of our time." Eurogamer called the game inspirational, with an unmatched level of narrative detail. In 2010, The Escapist called Bloodlines a flawed masterpiece which could have been a genuine masterpiece with more time, money, and staff; although great games may inspire awe, it instead created a devoted fan base which continued to develop the game. In 2006, PC Zone listed Bloodlines the seventh-best PC game which people were unlikely to have played, calling it the "best buggy game ever released". In 2007, the game was 80th on Computer & Video Games' list of its top 100 games, and 86th on PC Gamer's 2014 list of the same; it also appeared in PC Gamer's 2015 edition (moving to 63rd), 2017 edition (moving to 42nd), and 2021 edition (moving to 93rd). In 2008, bit-tech listed Jeanette as the second-best non-player video game character. In 2011, Rock, Paper, Shotgun called Bloodlines one of the most important PC games of all time ("it signposts a direction to a future of games that we were denied"), listing it as one of the 122 Best PC Games Ever. Cinema Blend called it one of the most underappreciated games of the decade. In 2011, Official Xbox Magazine called it one of the ten PC franchises it wanted on the Xbox 360 console. In 2013, PC Gamer named it one of the 100 Best Horror Games on PC, and PCGamesN called it the seventh-best PC role-playing game. In 2014, Bloodlines was 90th in Empire's readers' poll of the 100 Greatest Video Games of All Time, and Maximum PC chose it as one of the games they wanted to be remastered for contemporary game systems. In 2015, Rock, Paper, Shotgun listed Bloodlines as the PC's 19th Best RPG and 15th Best Horror Game. In 2017, the game was listed 42nd on IGN's list of the Top 100 RPGs of all Time, Den of Geek named it one of the 20 Video Games that Deserve Remakes, and PC Gamer named it one of the best role-playing games of all time. In 2018, USGamer named it the 22nd best RPG of All Time, summarising that "for all of its bugs and questionable gameplay choices... the raw strength of its design still has the power to grab fans." PC Gamer highlighted the haunted "Ocean House Hotel" as a "high point of unexpected horror", comparing it to the Shalebridge Cradle level from Thief: Deadly Shadows (2004) and Ravenholm from Half-Life 2 (2004). In 2020, Rock, Paper, Shotgun named it the 44th-best RPG for PC. ### Sequel In a November 2004 interview, Boyarsky said that although the team would like to pursue a Bloodlines sequel, the decision was Activision's. Before their closure, Troika had begun development of a workable prototype based on another of White Wolf's tabletop role-playing games, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, set in the same universe as Vampire: The Masquerade. According to Boyarsky, the prototype was one small area built using assets taken from Bloodlines, and allowed the player to play as a werewolf, or a human capable of turning into one. Paradox Interactive obtained the rights to Bloodlines in 2015, following their purchase of White Wolf. Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester confirmed that a sequel was possible, stating "when the time is right I guess a sequel will find its place in the market." Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 was announced in March 2019. Developed by Seattle-based Hardsuit Labs, the game is written by Bloodlines's lead-writer Brian Mitsoda, and Cara Ellison. Set in Seattle, Bloodlines 2 casts the player as a fledgling thinblood vampire with relatively weak abilities, who was turned as part of a masquerade-violating "mass embrace" of humans. The game is in development as of 2021. A 2018 actual play web series, entitled L.A. by Night, aired from 2018 to 2021. L.A. by Night is set in the aftermath of the events of Bloodlines, and featured many returning characters from the game. Initially developed by Geek & Sundry, Paradox took over production in 2020 for the show's fourth and fifth seasons. Jason Carl – otherwise responsible for the Vampire: the Masquerade metaplot, including elements of Bloodlines – acted as storyteller for the show.
89,059	Garret Hobart	1,171,593,214	Vice president of the United States from 1897 to 1899	[ "1844 births", "1896 United States vice-presidential candidates", "1899 deaths", "19th-century vice presidents of the United States", "American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law", "Articles containing video clips", "Burials at Cedar Lawn Cemetery", "Chairmen of the New Jersey Republican State Committee", "McKinley administration cabinet members", "New Jersey lawyers", "People from Keyport, New Jersey", "Politicians from Long Branch, New Jersey", "Politicians from Paterson, New Jersey", "Presidents of the New Jersey Senate", "Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees", "Republican Party New Jersey state senators", "Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly", "Republican Party vice presidents of the United States", "Rutgers University alumni", "Speakers of the New Jersey General Assembly", "Vice presidents of the United States" ]	Garret Augustus Hobart (June 3, 1844 – November 21, 1899) was the 24th vice president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his death in 1899. Prior to serving as vice president, Hobart was an influential New Jersey businessman, politician and political operative. Born in Long Branch, New Jersey, on the Jersey Shore, Hobart grew up in nearby Marlboro. After attending Rutgers College, Hobart read law with prominent Paterson attorney Socrates Tuttle. He both studied with Tuttle and married his daughter, Jennie. Although he rarely set foot in a courtroom, Hobart became wealthy as a corporate lawyer. Hobart served in local governmental positions, and then successfully ran for office as a Republican, serving in both the New Jersey General Assembly, where he was elected Speaker in 1874, and the New Jersey Senate, where he became its president in 1881. He was a longtime party official, and during the 1896 Republican National Convention, New Jersey delegates to the convention were determined to nominate him for vice president. Hobart's political views were similar to those of William McKinley, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate. With New Jersey a key state in the upcoming election, McKinley and his close adviser, future senator Mark Hanna, decided to have the convention select Hobart. The vice-presidential candidate emulated his running mate with a front porch campaign, though spending much time at the campaign's New York City office. McKinley and Hobart were elected. As vice president, Hobart proved a popular figure in Washington and was a close adviser to McKinley. Hobart's tact and good humor were valuable to the President, as in mid-1899 when Secretary of War Russell Alger failed to understand that McKinley wanted him to leave office. Hobart invited Alger to his New Jersey summer home and broke the news to the secretary, who submitted his resignation to McKinley on his return to Washington. Hobart died on November 21, 1899, of heart disease at age 55; his place on the Republican ticket in 1900 was taken by New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt. ## Early life Garret Augustus Hobart was born on June 3, 1844, in Long Branch, New Jersey, to Addison Willard Hobart and the former Sophia Vanderveer. Addison Hobart descended from the early colonial settlers of New England; many Hobarts served as pastors. Addison Hobart came to New Jersey to teach at a school in Bradevelt, a small hamlet in Marlboro Township, New Jersey. His mother was descended from 17th-century Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam (today's New York City) who had moved to Long Island and then to New Jersey. When Addison and Sophia Hobart married in 1841, they moved to Long Branch, where Addison founded an elementary school. Garret was born in Long Branch on June 3, 1844. Three children survived infancy; Garret was the second of three boys. Hobart initially attended his father's school in Long Branch. The family moved to Marlboro in the early 1850s and he was sent to the village school. Childhood tales of the future vice president describe him as an excellent student in both day and Sunday School, and a leader in boyhood sports. Recognizing his abilities, his father sent him to a well-regarded school in Freehold, but after a disagreement with the teacher, he refused to return; He then attended Middletown Point Academy, (later known as the Glenwood Institute) a prominent boarding school in Matawan, New Jersey. Hobart graduated at age 15 and his parents thought he was too young to attend college, so he remained at home for a year to study and work part-time at the Bradevelt School, the same institution that employed his father. Hobart enrolled at Rutgers College in 1860. He graduated in 1863, and was ranked third in his class. In later life, Hobart was a generous donor to Rutgers, receiving an honorary degree after becoming vice president and was elected a trustee shortly before his death. ## Lawyer and part-time politician ### Law practice After graduating from Rutgers, Hobart worked briefly as a teacher to repay loans. Although Hobart was young and in good health, he did not serve in the Union Army. Addison Hobart's childhood friend, lawyer Socrates Tuttle, offered to take Hobart into his office to study law. Tuttle was a prominent Passaic County lawyer who had served in the state legislature. Hobart supported himself by working as a bank clerk in Paterson; he later became director of the same bank. Hobart was admitted to the bar in 1866; he became a counsellor-at-law in 1871 and a master in chancery in 1872. In addition to learning law from Tuttle, Hobart fell in love with his daughter. Jennie Tuttle Hobart remembered, "When this attractive young law student appeared in our home I, then a young girl in my teens, unexpectedly played a rôle of importance by losing my heart to him". They were married on July 21, 1869. The Hobarts had long been Democrats; Garret Hobart's marriage into the Republican Tuttle family converted him. The Hobarts had four children, two of whom survived infancy. One daughter, Fannie, died in 1895; Hobart's son, Garret Jr. survived him. Socrates Tuttle was influential in Paterson, which worked to Hobart's advantage. According to Michael J. Connolly in his 2010 article about Hobart, the future vice president "benefited greatly from Tuttle's beneficence". In 1866, the year he became a lawyer, Hobart was appointed grand jury clerk for Passaic County. When Tuttle became mayor of Paterson in 1871, he made Hobart city counsel. A year later, Hobart became counsel for the county Board of Chosen Freeholders. In 1872, Hobart ran as a Republican for the New Jersey General Assembly from Passaic County's third legislative district. He was easily elected, taking nearly two-thirds of the vote. The General Assembly was then elected annually and he was successful in winning re-election the following year, although his margin of victory was cut in half. ### Early political career In 1874, still only age 30, he was voted Speaker of the Assembly. In 1876, he was nominated for the New Jersey Senate seat for Passaic County. He was elected to a three-year term and he was re-elected in 1879. In 1881 and 1882, he served as President of the state Senate, becoming the first man to lead both houses of the legislature. In 1883, he was the Republican nominee in the election for United States Senate—until 1913, senators were elected by state legislatures. As the Democrats were in the majority, the nomination was a way of honoring Hobart for his political service. When he was asked his feelings about the nomination, he responded, "I do not worry about things that do not come my way." The "complimentary" nomination would prove to be Hobart's only electoral defeat. Hobart said of his involvement in public affairs, "I make politics my recreation." He devoted most of his time to a law practice which according to Hobart's legislative biography was highly profitable. He was rarely seen in a courtroom; his official biography for the 1896 campaign admitted that "he has actually appeared in court a smaller number of times than, perhaps, any lawyer in Passaic County". Hobart's real work was in advising corporations how to accomplish their aims, yet remain within the law. He also had a lucrative business acting as court-appointed receiver of bankrupt railroads, reorganizing them and restoring them to fiscal health. He often invested heavily in them; Hobart's success made him wealthy. In addition to the railroads for which he acted as receiver, he served as president of the Paterson Railway Company, which ran the city's streetcars, and as a board member for other railroads. One reason for Hobart's success in both the private and public sectors was his genial personality. He worked well with others and was noted for tact and charm. Senator Mark Hatfield, in his book on American vice presidents, suggests that these qualities would have made Hobart successful in Washington had he run for Congress. Hatfield states that the reason why Hobart chose not to move from state to national politics before 1896 was a reluctance to leave a comfortable life and successful law practice in Paterson. Instead, Hobart continued to involve himself in party politics; he was widely regarded as Northern New Jersey's most influential Republican. Beginning in 1876, he was a delegate to every Republican National Convention in his lifetime. He was chairman of the New Jersey Republican Committee from 1880 to 1891, resigning the position as he became more deeply involved in Republican National Committee affairs. He was New Jersey's representative on the national committee after 1884, and rose to become vice chairman. ## Election of 1896 ### Selection as candidate Jennie Hobart, in her memoirs, traced her suspicions that her husband might be a vice-presidential contender to a lunch she had with him at the Waldorf Hotel in New York in March 1895. During the meal, industrialist and future senator Mark Hanna interrupted them to ask what Garret Hobart thought of the possible presidential candidacy of Ohio Governor William McKinley—Hanna was one of McKinley's principal backers. Garret Hobart evaded the question, but Jennie Hobart believed the conversation to have been the first of a chain of events which elevated her husband to national office. In November 1895, Republican John Griggs was elected governor of New Jersey; his campaign was managed by Hobart. The election of New Jersey's first Republican governor since the 1860s led to speculation in the newspapers that Hobart would be a candidate for vice president. New Jersey Republicans were anxious to nominate Hobart, both to see one of their own possibly elevated to national office, and in the hope that having Hobart on the national ticket would boost the Republican vote in New Jersey. Hobart was an attractive candidate as he was from a swing state, and the Griggs victory showed that Republicans could hope to win New Jersey's electoral votes, which they had not done since 1872. Another reason for a Hobart selection was his wealth; he could be expected to spend abundantly on his own campaign. According to Hanna biographer Herbert Croly, Hobart, an early supporter of McKinley, helped ensure New Jersey's support for him at the Republican convention. Historian Stanley Jones, in his study of the 1896 election, stated that Hobart stopped off in Canton, Ohio, McKinley's hometown, en route to the convention in St. Louis. Jones wrote that the future vice president was selected several days in advance, after Speaker of the House Thomas Reed of Maine turned down the nomination. Croly asserted that McKinley and Hanna desired an easterner on the ticket to balance it and boost support in the Mid-Atlantic region. The conventional means of assuring this was to nominate a politician from New York, then the largest state in population. As many New York delegates supported their favorite son candidate, Governor (and former vice president) Levi P. Morton, instead of McKinley, giving the state the vice-presidential nomination would be an unmerited reward. According to Croly, > On the other hand, the adjoining state of New Jersey submitted an eligible candidate in Mr. Garret A. Hobart, who had done much to strengthen the Republican party in his own neighborhood. Mr. Hobart was well known to Mr. Hanna, and in all probability, his nomination had been scheduled for some time. It was practically announced early in June. He was a lawyer and a businessman with an exclusively local reputation; and if he did little to strengthen the ticket he did nothing to weaken it. McKinley was nominated for president on the first ballot. Hobart described his subsequent first-ballot nomination for vice president as a tribute from his friends, but Hatfield noted, "it came equally as a tribute from [Hanna, who] wanted a ticket to satisfy the business interests of America, and Hobart, a corporate lawyer, fit that requirement perfectly". Although a Hobart nomination had been talked about at least since Griggs' victory the previous November, Hobart expressed reluctance in a letter to his wife from the convention: "It looks to me I will be nominated for Vice-President whether I want it or not, and as I get nearer to the point where I may, I am dismayed at the thought ... If I want a nomination, everything is going my way. But when I realize all that it means in work, worry, and loss of home and bliss, I am overcome, so overcome I am simply miserable." Despite Hobart's expressed hesitation, he was welcomed home by a crowd of 15,000 at the Paterson Armory. City officials, feeling they had insufficient fireworks to properly honor Hobart, obtained more from New York City. According to historian R. Hal Williams, the Republicans left St. Louis in June with "a popular, experienced [presidential] candidate, a respected vice-presidential nominee, and an attractive platform". Many Republicans were convinced the election would be fought over the issue of tariffs, and they anticipated an easy victory. On June 30, 1896, Hobart journeyed by train to Canton, where he was met at the station by his running mate. McKinley drove Hobart to the Ohioan's home, where Hobart followed McKinley in speaking to a delegation which had arrived to greet the presidential candidate. Hobart only remained in Canton a few hours before returning east. According to Magie, Hobart made the trip "to pay his respects to the head of the ticket and to consult with him upon important matters". McKinley biographer Margaret Leech recorded that the two men were friends almost as soon as they met. ### Campaign The Panic of 1893 had led to hard times in the United States, and the effects were still felt in 1896. One proposal to cure the economic malaise was "Free Silver"; that the government would accept silver bullion and return it to the depositor, struck into silver dollars. At the time, the silver in a dollar coin was worth \$.53. Implementation of the proposals would increase the money supply and cause difficulties in international trade with nations that remained on the gold standard. Proponents argued that the increased money supply would stimulate the economy. President Grover Cleveland was firmly for the gold standard, a stance which bitterly divided the Democratic Party. Most Republicans were for the gold standard, though some, mostly from the West, were "Silver Republicans". The Democrats in early July nominated for president an eloquent silver supporter, former Nebraska congressman William Jennings Bryan, whose Cross of Gold speech at the convention catapulted him to the nomination. The selection of Bryan prompted a wave of popular support for the Democrats. Hobart was a strong supporter of the gold standard; and insisted on it remaining a major part of the Republican campaign even in the face of Bryan's surge. In his speech responding to the formal notification of his convention victory, Hobart stated, "An honest dollar, worth 100 cents everywhere, cannot be coined out of 53 cents worth of silver plus a legislative fiat. Such a debasement of our currency would inevitably produce incalculable loss, appalling disaster, and National dishonor." McKinley was not as strong a supporter of the gold standard as Hobart and considered modifying some of Hobart's expressed views on the gold standard before the acceptance was printed for public distribution. Hobart insisted on it being printed without change, writing, "I think I know the sentiment of Eastern men better than you can, and with this knowledge and my convictions I must retain the statements as I have written them." According to Connolly, "Though a protectionist, Hobart believed the money issue, not tariffs, led to a November Republican victory, and, in denouncing silver, his rhetoric far outstripped [that of] William McKinley." Together with Pennsylvania Senator Matthew Quay, Hobart ran the McKinley campaign's New York office, often making the short journey from Paterson for strategy meetings. The vice-presidential candidate emulated McKinley in giving speeches from his front porch; unlike McKinley he also addressed rallies. In October, he made a short tour of New Jersey to campaign, expressing relief to his wife when it came to a close. On November 3, 1896, the voters cast their ballots in most states; a nervous Hobart spent the day at his office. Special telegraph wires had been attached to his home; at 8:30 in the evening, they conveyed the news to him that McKinley and Hobart had won. The Republican ticket won New Jersey, together with the entire Northeast. The following week, Vice President-elect Hobart attended Rutgers' 130th-anniversary celebrations as guest of honor. The member of the Class of 1863 was now Rutgers' most prominent graduate. ## Vice presidency (1897–1899) Hobart spent much of the four months between election and inauguration reading about the vice presidency, preparing for the move, and winding down some business affairs. He did not, however, resign from the boards of corporations which would not have business before the federal government. "It would be highly ridiculous for me to resign from the different companies in which I am officer and a stockholder whose interests are not in the least affected, or likely to be, by my position as Vice President." On March 2, 1897, Hobart and his family left Paterson to travel to Washington by special train. On March 4, he was inaugurated as vice president in the Senate Chamber. The Chicago Daily News predicted, "Garret A. Hobart will not be seen or heard until, after four years, he emerges from the impenetrable vacuum of the Vice Presidency." ### Presidential advisor Upon moving to Washington, the Hobarts established themselves at the Arlington Hotel, which was the Washington home to many political men of the era, including Hanna. Soon, however, Senator Don Cameron of Pennsylvania, who was retiring from office at the time of Hobart's inauguration, offered them the lease of the house he owned at 21 Madison Place, diagonally across Pennsylvania Avenue from the Executive Mansion (as the White House was still formally known). The asking price was \$10,000 per year; the vice president bargained Cameron down to \$8,000 (equal to the vice-presidential salary) by suggesting that the public might assume he stole the excess. Among the frequent visitors at what came to be known as the "Cream White House" was Hanna, by then a senator, who would come by for breakfast and talk with the vice president until it was time for both to go to the Senate. The president and vice president were already friends from the campaign; after the inauguration, a close relationship grew between the two men and their wives. The First Lady, Ida McKinley, had health issues, and could not stand the strain of the required official entertaining. Jennie Hobart often substituted for the first lady at receptions and other events, and also was a close companion, visiting her daily. The Hobarts and McKinleys visited each other's home without formality; according to Jennie Hobart, writing in 1930, "it was an intimate friendliness that no vice president and his wife, before or since, have had the privilege of sharing with their chief administrator." The Hobarts often entertained at their house, which was useful to McKinley, who could attend and meet informally with congressmen without placing strain on his wife with a White House function. McKinley, who had become insolvent while governor of Ohio, turned over a portion of his presidential salary to Hobart to invest. The vice president had in recent administrations been considered a relatively low-level political functionary, whose activities were generally limited to the constitutional function of presiding over the Senate. Hobart, however, became a close adviser to McKinley and his Cabinet members, although he was not called upon to attend Cabinet meetings. Reporter Arthur Wallace Dunn wrote of Hobart in 1922, "for the first time in my recollection, and the last for that matter, the Vice President was recognized as somebody, as a part of the Administration, and as a part of the body over which he presided". Through late 1897 and early 1898, many Americans called for the United States to intervene in Cuba, then a Spanish colony revolting against the mother country. These calls greatly increased in February 1898, when the American battleship Maine sank in Havana harbor after an explosion. McKinley sought delay, hoping to settle the disputes peacefully, but in April 1898, Hobart told the President that the Senate would act against Spain whether McKinley liked it or not. McKinley gave in; Congress declared war on April 25, beginning the Spanish–American War, and Hobart sent McKinley a pen with which to sign the declaration. ### "Assistant President" Hobart was more assertive as Senate president than his predecessors had been. It was customary for the vice president not to rule on disputed points, but to submit them to a vote. Hobart, with his experience as a presiding officer in the New Jersey Legislature, took a more assertive role, ruling on disputes, and trying to expedite legislation. Hobart was initially diffident in his role, feeling himself unproven beside longtime national legislators, but soon gained self-confidence, writing in a letter that "I find that I am as good and as capable as any of them. If they know a whole lot of things I don't know, I also know a whole lot of things they don't know. And there is a common humanity running through them all that makes us all as one, after all." Hobart was so successful at guiding the administration's legislative agenda through the Senate that he became known as the "assistant President". Hobart was constant in his attendance at the Senate; one onlooker called him a "chronic audience". Vice President Hobart cast his tie-breaking vote only once, using it to defeat an amendment which would have promised self-government to the Philippines, one of the possessions which the United States had taken from Spain after the war. Hobart was instrumental in securing the ratification of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the war; according to McKinley biographer H. Wayne Morgan, Hobart was "almost the president's alter ego, [turning] every screw with his legendary politeness". One post which Hobart refused to relinquish upon his inauguration was his position as one of three Joint Traffic Association (JTA) arbiters. The association was a group of railroads which sought to coordinate rates; if two railroads applied rates in different ways, the matter was settled by Hobart and two other arbiters. Hobart heard appeals while vice president. An October 1897 Supreme Court decision signaled that the JTA was likely to be found in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (it was, the following year) and Hobart resigned as arbiter in November 1897. Hobart was a major investor in the Ramapo Water Company; he had interests in many New York and New Jersey water utilities. In mid-1899, there was controversy over the so-called "Ramapo Scheme", whereby the Ramapo Water Company, which owned large tracts of land in the Catskill Mountains, would sell New York City \$5 million in water per year for 40 years at high rates. The proposal was never agreed to, and a Republican-controlled investigating committee found no wrongdoing, but Hobart's role in the company was widely discussed in the press. ### Illness and death By late 1898, Hobart had fallen ill with a serious heart ailment, which he at first concealed from the public. He continued Senate duty, but nearly collapsed after delivering an address closing the session. He accompanied the president on a vacation trip to Hanna's winter home in Thomasville, Georgia, but quickly contracted the flu and returned to Washington. By April 1899, Hobart's illness was well known in the press, though Hanna assured the newspapers that Hobart would be on the ticket in 1900: "nothing but death or an earthquake can stop the re-nomination of Vice President Hobart". Hobart rented a home in his birthplace of Long Branch, then an upscale Jersey Shore resort. Doctors prescribed complete rest, and the vice president amused himself by feeding two pet fish, a gold one named McKinley and a silver one named Bryan. Despite his vice president's ill health, McKinley called upon him to break the news to Secretary of War Russell Alger that McKinley wanted him to resign—the secretary had ignored or misunderstood repeated hints from the president. According to McKinley biographer Margaret Leech, "The president did not show his usual hypersensitive regard for other people's feelings in handing over to a sick man a disagreeable task which it was his own duty to perform." Hobart invited Alger to Long Branch for the weekend, and broke the news; Alger duly submitted his resignation to McKinley. Hobart's condition worsened within days of the Alger visit, and he was soon bedridden. New York's The Sun attributed Alger's resignation to Hobart's "crystal insight" and "velvet tact"; after which Hobart wrote to McKinley, "My 'crystal insight' is still clear, but the nap is slightly worn off my velvet tact". After a vacation with the McKinleys on Lake Champlain, Hobart returned to Paterson in September. On November 1, 1899, the government announced that Hobart would not return to public life. His condition deteriorated rapidly, and he died on November 21, 1899, at age 55. President McKinley told the family, "No one outside of this home feels this loss more deeply than I do." New Jersey Governor Foster Voorhees ordered that state buildings be draped in mourning for 30 days, and that flags be flown at half staff until Hobart's funeral. Hobart's home, Carroll Hall, was opened to the public for four hours so that citizens might pass by his open casket; 12,000 people did so. Hobart was laid to rest at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in Paterson after a large public funeral, attended by President McKinley and many high government officials. Although the large government delegation meant that few local people could attend the service, a crowd of 50,000 came to Paterson to honor Hobart. The mausoleum over the grave was erected in 1901. His wife purchased eleven plots adjoining the family plot to accommodate the structure. The building has massive marble columns in the front with a heavy metal door; on the back above the sarcophagus is a stained glass window. There are two sarcophagi in the center of the building, for Garret Hobart and his wife. Around the tomb are niches for other members of the family. At the time of construction in 1901, the mausoleum cost about \$80,000. ## Legacy Hobart significantly expanded the powers of the vice presidency, becoming a presidential adviser, and taking a leadership role as president of the Senate. Between his advisory and leadership roles, he was perhaps the most influential vice president since Martin Van Buren. Although Magie, writing in 1910, stated that Hobart's death "fixed his memory at the height of his fame", the former vice president is today little remembered. According to Hatfield, he is best known for his death, clearing the way for the ascent of New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt, who took Hobart's place on the Republican ticket in 1900 and succeeded as president after McKinley's assassination in 1901. A statue of Hobart, erected in 1903, stands outside Paterson's city hall. The communities of Hobart, Oklahoma, and Hobart, Washington, are named after the former vice president. Connolly finds Hobart to be very much a man of his times: > The public increasingly identified Republicans with the union of big business, big money, and big government, a union that ignited a Progressive reaction after 1900. Vice President Garret A. Hobart directed that union as lawyer, business receiver and director, and New Jersey Republican. He represented everything Progressives hated: a railroad advocate when railroads became America's most mistrusted industry, a corporate attorney who facilitated the agglomeration of capital when the public revolted against monopolies and trusts, a financial operator who used his political insight to capture lucrative business opportunities, and a national leader who moved easily between the worlds of political pull and economic power. As much as Hanna or any Gilded Age business-politician, Hobart symbolized the era. ## Electoral history \* Incumbent
1,738,040	Volcano (South Park)	1,168,892,112	null	[ "1997 American television episodes", "Fiction about monsters", "Hunting in popular culture", "South Park (season 1) episodes" ]	"Volcano" is the second episode of the first season of the American animated television series South Park. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on August 20, 1997. In the episode, Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny go on a hunting trip with Stan's uncle Jimbo and his war buddy Ned. While on the trip, Stan is frustrated by his unwillingness to shoot a living creature, and Cartman tries to scare the hunting party with tales of a creature named Scuzzlebutt. Meanwhile, the group is unaware that a nearby volcano is about to erupt. The episode was written and directed by series co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. It was inspired by the 1997 disaster films Volcano and Dante's Peak, both of which Parker and Stone strongly disliked. The plot was also based on the significant amount of hunting Parker and Stone witnessed while growing up in Colorado; Stan's hesitation about the sport mirrors Parker's real-life feelings about hunting. Parker and Stone felt the computer animation in "Volcano" had greatly improved compared to the early episodes; they were particularly pleased with the lava, which was made to resemble orange construction paper. "Volcano" received generally positive reviews and was nominated for a 1997 Environmental Media Award. The episode featured the first appearances of recurring characters Ned Gerblansky and Randy Marsh. The latter, who is also the town geologist, is established as Stan's father in later episodes. It also marked the first of two appearances for Scuzzlebutt, who became a popular minor character and appeared in the video games South Park 10: The Game, South Park: Phone Destroyer and South Park Rally. The episode parodied the Duck and Cover educational videos from the 1950s and 1960s that advised people to hide under tables in the event of a nuclear attack. ## Plot Stan's Uncle Jimbo and his Vietnam War buddy Ned take Stan, Kenny, Kyle, and Cartman on a hunting trip in the mountains. As they arrive, Jimbo explains to the boys how to hunt. Whenever they see a creature, they shoot it after yelling, "It's coming right for us!", so they can claim the shooting was in self-defense. Stan does not have the proper temperament to enjoy hunting, and finds himself unable to shoot a living target. Unlike Stan, Kenny is able to shoot animals, impressing Jimbo. Meanwhile, a South Park geologist Randy discovers that the mountain on which the boys are hunting is a volcano that is about to erupt. He reports his findings to the Mayor, who directs one of her aides to make appropriate decisions about the crisis. During the hunting trip, Jimbo proclaims Kenny his honorary nephew, upsetting Stan. When night falls, Cartman tells the story of Scuzzlebutt, a creature that has a piece of celery in place of one of its hands and Patrick Duffy for a leg. The boys are skeptical, so Cartman decides to dress up as the creature the next morning in order to convince and scare them. When he disappears the next morning, the others set out to find him. They then see Cartman disguised as Scuzzlebutt and start shooting at him. When they catch up with him at the base of the mountain, Stan tries to shoot him in order to redeem himself in his uncle's eyes. However, he is unable to do so and the delay gives Cartman time to remove the costume. At a lower elevation, Randy orders the South Park residents to dig a trench to divert the lava away from the town. Suddenly, the volcano erupts. The hunters try to flee, but find themselves trapped on the other side of the trench. The real Scuzzlebutt then appears, and Jimbo apologizes to the boys for their seemingly imminent deaths, just before realizing that Scuzzlebutt is weaving a wicker basket to carry the hunting party to safety. The lava then flows through the trench just as Randy planned, but due to a miscalculation he made, the trench leads the lava to Denver, destroying it. However, in a misguided attempt to prove he can kill something and impress his uncle, Stan kills Scuzzlebutt. Jimbo is less than impressed, telling Stan that "some things you do kill and some you don't". Ned states that he now understands the folly of guns and drops his rifle, which accidentally fires, killing Kenny. Stan does not understand, since Jimbo tried to kill Scuzzlebutt earlier and other animals and wanted to impress Jimbo like Kenny did, Jimbo points out that Kenny is dead and that Stan will always be Jimbo's nephew. The boys decide that hunting is stupid and confusing, and decide to go home and watch cartoons. ## Production "Volcano" was written and directed by series co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The episode was inspired by volcano-related Hollywood disaster films, such as Dante's Peak and Volcano (1997), which came out around the time they were writing the script; Parker and Stone considered the films two of the worst ever made. Stone said, "If you watch this episode and then go watch Volcano, this makes more sense than Volcano does." Debbie Liebling, who served as a South Park producer at the time of the episode's broadcast, said the volcano erupting in South Park helped establish the setting as a place where "anything can happen". Although Stone and Parker acknowledged that a volcano could not actually erupt in this Colorado town, they felt they were entitled to create the episode anyway because the Volcano film was set in Los Angeles; Stone said, "If they could do it, we could." Similarly, the duo acknowledge the tunnel built in the episode would not really divert the lava, but they included it because Parker said, "Any movie today, that's basically how dumb they are." Another influence on the plot was the amount of hunting Parker and Stone saw around them while growing up in Colorado. Neither of them were hunters, and Parker said Stan's hesitation about hunting was based largely on himself and his father, who hated the idea of killing an animal even though Parker's grandfather, like Jimbo, was enthusiastic about the sport. Parker said he feels many of the first-season episodes considered taboo in 1997 would have been considered less controversial five years later, but that "Volcano" is an exception. Since the episode involved children drinking beer and threatening each other at gunpoint during hunting trips, Parker said he did not believe Comedy Central would have aired it following the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. Parker said, "Back then, it was just sort of funny, kids pointing guns at each other, and it's just not so funny now." South Park animators spent the first four episodes of the show trying to perfect the animation of the characters. By "Volcano" – which was produced after "Weight Gain 4000" –, Parker and Stone felt the textures were improved, as well as smaller details like the lines around the eyes of the characters. While the series pilot "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" was animated with construction paper, subsequent episodes were made using computers. Nevertheless, Parker and Stone wanted the show to maintain its crude paper look; for example, they specifically asked for the night sky in this episode to look like a black piece of paper with holes cut into it for stars, just as it was in the pilot episode. Stone and Parker were especially proud of the animation of the lava, which they said took hours to perfect, although they acknowledged it ended up simply resembling orange construction paper. The lava ball shooting out of the volcano and almost killing Kenny was directly inspired by the Volcano film. Parker and Stone came up with the character of Scuzzlebutt during a random conversation with Comedy Central executive Debbie Liebling. While meeting with her, they simply started drawing the character, and decided to add a celery hand and Patrick Duffy leg for no particular reason. Scuzzlebutt also appeared in a second episode, "City on the Edge of Forever" from the second season. Scuzzlebutt turning out to be a real character rather than a ridiculous story was the first instance of a common characteristic of the Cartman character, in which Cartman says outrageous and completely unrealistic things that turn out to be true. Stone commented, "He's right more often than he's wrong." The "Volcano" episode was in production when South Park debuted on August 13, 1997. Comedy Central executives did not object to most of the content of the episode, but said the scene in which Kyle farted while talking to Stan should have been removed because nothing happened after the fart, and they said it was not funny. Parker and Stone, however, insisted it stay in the episode, and they said the lack of any reaction whatsoever to the fart was what made it funny. During close-ups of Cartman's face while telling the story of Scuzzlebutt around the campfire, the flames from the fire stop moving. Parker and Stone noticed the consistency error after the episode was filmed, but they did not have enough time to go back and fix it before the broadcast date, so it was left in. A cat featured in the background of one of the outdoor scenes was designed to look exactly like Parker's cat, Jake. The scene in which Ned catches fire was based on an experience Parker had during a Colorado camping trip where he tried to do an "Indian Fire Trick", in which one pours gasoline onto a fire to create large flames. Although nobody caught fire, Parker said the trick misfired, and he nearly burned down the forest. After finishing the episode, Parker and Stone realized "Volcano" was about two minutes shorter than the time length required for the episode. In order to add time to the episode, Parker and Stone added the scene with Ned singing the song "Kumbaya" around the fire, as well as the long freeze-frame on a shocked Chef and Mayor McDaniels reacting to the news of the volcano's imminent eruption. In addition to Scuzzlebutt, "Volcano" included the first appearances of recurring characters Randy Marsh and Ned Gerblanski. In this first appearance, Randy is identified only as the South Park geologist, and it is only in the episode "An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig" that he is first introduced as Stan's father. Parker, who provides the voice of Randy Marsh, said the design, voice, and personality of the character are based on his real-life father, who works as a geologist for the United States Geological Survey. Parker said his father is very calm in real life, and Randy's relaxed reaction to learning of the volcano—calmly sipping his coffee—is "about how my dad would react to anything". The look of the Ned character was based on a drawing Parker made in high school, although the character did not originally have a voice box. The voice was inspired by a waitress who worked at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Boulder, Colorado, where Parker and Stone would visit while attending the University of Colorado. The duo said they would go to the restaurant just to hear her voice, but that it was so low they would lose their appetite when she took their orders. Stone and Parker had trouble creating the right voice for the character; they tried putting the microphone directly on their throat, and also bought an actual voice box, but ultimately decided that the best way to provide the character's voice was with natural voice simulation. "Volcano" was released alongside five other episodes in a three-VHS set on May 5, 1998, marking the first time South Park was made available on video. The episode was released on the "Volume I" video along with "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe"; other featured episodes included "An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig", "Death", "Weight Gain 4000", and "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride". "South Park: The Complete First Season", a DVD box set featuring all thirteen episodes, including "Volcano", was released on November 12, 2002. Parker and Stone recorded commentary tracks for each episode, but the tracks were not included on the DVDs due to "standards" issues with some of the statements; Parker and Stone refused to allow the tracks to be edited and censored, so they were released on a separate CD. ## Cultural references and impact The episode features a fictional education film called Lava and You, which says lava will pass harmlessly over potential victims who duck and cover their heads. The film was inspired by actual "Duck and Cover" films from the 1950s and 1960s, in which children were instructed to hide under tables or lean against walls in the case of a nuclear weapon attack; Parker and Stone, like many critics of the films, found the methods painfully simplistic and did not believe they would actually help in the case of such an attack. Jimbo and Ned are described as veterans of the Vietnam War, the military conflict between North Vietnam and South Vietnam that lasted from 1959 to 1975; Cartman, who is far too young to have participated in the war, claims to have flashbacks to his experiences in it. Patrick Duffy, the American television actor best known for his roles in the shows Dallas and Step by Step, appears in the episode as the living leg of Scuzzlebutt. Matt Stone claimed there was no particular reason Duffy was chosen as the leg, except that he is such a nondescript actor: "He's just super bland. Like, how could you possibly be a fan of Patrick Duffy?" The scene where Scuzzlebutt puts a star on top of a tree is a reference to a similar scene in the 1964 television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, in which the Abominable Snow Monster places a Christmas star atop a large tree. Mount Evanston, the fictional mountain in "Volcano", was named after the real Mount Evans in the Front Range region of the Rocky Mountains in Clear Creek County, Colorado; Nichols Canyon in the episode was named after Kirt Nichols, a friend of Trey Parker. Jimbo blames the Democratic Party for passing overly restrictive laws on hunters and gun owners. Upon learning children are in danger due to the volcano, Mayor McDaniels seeks publicity for herself by contacting the television news programs Entertainment Tonight and Inside Edition. Several lines of dialogue from "Volcano" became especially popular among South Park fans, including "It's coming right for us!" by Jimbo, and the two Cartman lines, "Democrats piss me off!" and "Cartoons Kick Ass!", the last of which was featured on T-shirts. Despite the relatively small role Scuzzlebutt played in the series, he nevertheless became a popular minor South Park character. He was included in the South Park video games South Park 10: The Game and South Park Rally. The song "Hot Lava", sung by the Chef in the episode, was featured on the 1998 soundtrack Chef Aid: The South Park Album. ## Reception "Volcano" originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on August 20, 1997. The Environmental Media Association nominated the episode for an Environmental Media Award in the "TV Episodic Comedy" category. However, the eventual recipient of the award was The Simpsons, for the episode "The Old Man and the Lisa". "Volcano" received generally positive reviews. USA Today critic Matt Roush praised the episode, especially the "Duck and Cover" films. The Advertiser called the episode "outrageously lewd" and "hysterically funny". The Washington Post critic Tom Shales considered the episode funnier than its predecessor "Weight Gain 4000". Peter Hawes of The Sunday Star-Times in Auckland, New Zealand, said the episode was funny and intelligent, adding, "Once again, the US national psyche is imperishably captured by a crude cartoon." He liked the way adults were portrayed as less sensible than the children, and he particularly enjoyed the "Duck and Cover" videos: "It is terrifyingly funny, for it is a word-for-word recreation of the insane Atom-bomb Safety film, created and distributed in 1952 by the US government, who never for a second thought it would work." The Daily Record of Glasgow, Scotland, praised the episode and described it as "hardcore humour": "Love it or loathe it, you can't ignore the adult animation series whose bite is worse than its bark."
50,992,907	Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine	1,171,881,689	2013 stealth video game	[ "2013 video games", "Action games", "Cooperative video games", "Games financed by Indie Fund", "Humble Games games", "Indie games", "Linux games", "MacOS games", "Majesco Entertainment games", "Multiplayer and single-player video games", "Pocketwatch Games", "Seumas McNally Grand Prize winners", "Stealth video games", "Video games developed in the United States", "Video games scored by Austin Wintory", "Video games set in Monaco", "Video games with Steam Workshop support", "Windows games", "Xbox 360 Live Arcade games", "Xbox 360 games" ]	Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine is a 2013 stealth video game developed by Pocketwatch Games in which players, alone or cooperatively, perform heists and robberies. Players choose from eight characters, each of whom has a unique and beneficial skill, such as the ability to change appearance or tunnel through walls. Monaco's single-player story is told in four acts from perspectives of different characters. The cooperative mode lets up to four players play together in different locations. Lead developer Andy Schatz began developing Monaco while working for TKO Software. He later founded his independent company Pocketwatch, where he continued development and planned to release it as an Xbox Live Indie Game. While looking for playtesters, Schatz met Andy Nguyen, who became a level designer, producer, and promoter for Monaco. Pocketwatch Games released the game in 2013 for Windows, OS X, and Linux. Majesco Entertainment handled its Xbox 360 release after Microsoft Game Studios twice rejected the game. A Nintendo Switch version, Monaco: Complete Edition, was released in 2019 by Humble Games. Monaco received positive reviews and won two awards at the 2010 Independent Games Festival. Critics praised its cooperative modes but considered its single-player gameplay inferior for lacking content. Frequently compared to heist films, reviewers praised Monaco's art style and how its minimalist design suited its gameplay. Austin Wintory's soundtrack also received praise. Pocketwatch announced a sequel, Monaco 2, in March 2022. ## Gameplay Monaco is a stealth video game played through a top-down perspective. It features single-player and cooperative modes, allowing up to four players to partake in heists and robberies. The game has four main campaigns for the player to complete, each through the perspective of a different character. Each campaign is split into individual missions. Missions take place in locations varying from nightclubs to yachts, with different obstacles and problems to solve. As players only have vision of areas within direct line of sight, they must traverse each mission strategically to navigate the fog of war shrouding the map. Players work together to complete the missions; if one player dies, another must revive them before finishing the mission. The campaign is offered in two modes: "Classic", which is the original and full-length story, and "Enhanced", which is a condensed version released in a later update. Outside of the campaign, Monaco has other game modes, including a zombie mode and player vs player maps. There are eight characters, each with different traits and advantages; the Locksmith, the Cleaner, the Lookout, and the Pickpocket are available immediately, while the Mole, the Gentleman, the Redhead, and the Hacker must be unlocked as the campaign progresses. The Locksmith can open doors faster than other characters; the Lookout is able to see enemies who are not in the player's direct line of sight; the Pickpocket owns a coin-collecting monkey; the Cleaner can put guards to sleep; the Mole can dig through walls and open vents quickly; the Gentleman has the ability to temporarily change his appearance, making the player less detectable to enemies; the Hacker has the ability to upload computer viruses to security systems, shutting them off temporarily; and the Redhead can charm enemies into not attacking and making characters follow her. Players can select one character per mission, with different levels suiting different characters. However, each mission can be completed with any character, and the strategy depends on the chosen characters. Players can find and use items in each mission, including smoke bombs and C4 explosives, as well as firearms including a shotgun and machine gun. These items are single-use, but can be replenished by collecting ten coins scattered around the missions. Items are not shared in the cooperative mode, meaning only the player who collects the coins receives the bonus. ## Plot The Locksmith is questioned by Inspector Voltaire about his recent actions with the Pickpocket, the Cleaner, and Lookout. The Locksmith describes the criminals' prison escape in Monaco alongside another inmate, the Mole. They meet the Gentleman while stealing passports and money to be smuggled out of the country. They board the Gentleman's booby-trapped yacht and try to leave the harbor; while doing so, the Gentleman receives an anonymous telephone call from a man he later identifies as Davide, after which the boat explodes. After receiving medical care at a hospital, the thieves help the Gentleman dispose of evidence from a previous heist and rescue his girlfriend, the Redhead. The group proceeds to steal valuables and hire the Hacker. While attempting to steal from a casino, they are caught by the police and taken back to prison. The Pickpocket, next to be interviewed, recalls events differently from the Locksmith. He says the Hacker, the Redhead, and the Gentleman escaped with them. The Gentleman had experienced legal turmoil in his financial affairs, which drove the thieves to escape and retrieve the money. This intrigues Inspector Voltaire, who believed the money was used to smuggle them out of the country, whereas the Pickpocket claims that it was used to smuggle weapons. The Pickpocket reveals the crooks purposefully blew up the boat to distract Interpol. Later, Davide is believed to have been murdered at a nightclub until Inspector Voltaire receives a phone call revealing that Davide's DNA did not match any of the bodies. To further confuse the police, the thieves planted evidence with Davide's fingerprints at a different crime scene. After confessing this to Inspector Voltaire, the Pickpocket reveals he was a spy sent by Interpol. The Pickpocket claims the Gentleman has assumed Davide's identity and that if Inspector Voltaire attempts to confirm the story, the Gentleman will know one of his accomplices is a spy. In exchange for asylum, Inspector Voltaire then interrogates the Lookout for information on the thieves' backgrounds. Inspector Voltaire asks about the Mole, whom the Lookout says has already been caught. She then tells him about herself and says she steals because of "a moral debt". When discussing why the Locksmith disregards the law, she recalls the time when he had his hand broken after being caught counting cards in blackjack. The Lookout informs Inspector Voltaire that the Pickpocket used to be rich before he was arrested and that the Hacker had also been in trouble before; he was caught trespassing in Interpol's headquarters. She says the Gentleman garnered the nickname "The Rat" because he was responsible for tipping off the police, leading to their recapture. The Lookout tells Inspector Voltaire that the Redhead used to be called the Blonde and was caught burgling the Gentleman's house, ultimately falling in love. The final thief she tells him about is the Cleaner, who she says is acting on behalf of his disabled brother. After disclosing this information, they begin discussing asylum. Inspector Voltaire and Candide, a constable, are told the Locksmith, the Lookout, the Pickpocket, and the Hacker have escaped from prison. The two try and fail to recapture the thieves. They meet the Gentleman, for whom Candide works. Candide poisons Inspector Voltaire and the Mole disposes of the body. ## Development Developer Andy Schatz first prototyped Monaco while working for TKO Software, a video game development company based in Santa Cruz, California. The prototype was a house-robbing game, where players would steal from others' homes while defending their own with traps. Schatz described it as a combination of The Sims, Diablo meets Hitman, and that the later indie game The Castle Doctrine had many similarities to this prototype. His original plan was to develop and release Monaco as an Xbox Live Indie Games game. The development at TKO was done in three weeks while the company searched for solicited paid work, although Monaco's development was ultimately shelved before TKO shut down. Schatz retained the contractual rights to the concept, and founded his own independent company, Pocketwatch Games. After Pocketwatch Games had experimented with simulation games, such as the 2006 Independent Games Festival finalist Wildlife Tycoon: Venture Africa, Schatz returned to Monaco's concept in 2009 and developed an early version of the game using Microsoft XNA to see if it worked on the Xbox 360, with the possibility of releasing the game onto the Xbox Live Indie Games portion of the Xbox Games Store. After only fifteen weeks of development, the game won the 2010 IGF award for "Excellence in Design" alongside the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. After this, the plan to release Monaco directly onto the Xbox Games Store was gone; having won two awards after a short period of development, Schatz described the game as "gold" that he did not want to risk. He was soon approached by Valve, who offered to publish the game on the Steam distribution platform. For release on the Xbox 360, Schatz pitched the game to Microsoft Game Studios twice but was turned down due to marketability concerns. After these events, Schatz thought the game would not be released on the Xbox 360, disappointing him. He felt the platform and its marketplace were easy to work with and that it would have made an ideal platform for the game. Schatz considered releasing the game on PlayStation 3. Empty Clip Studios was hired to port the game to the RapidFire engine so it could be released on the PlayStation 3, but the port was never finished. Schatz decided to partner with a video game publishing company, Majesco Entertainment. Majesco published the game on Xbox, while Schatz self-published the game on personal computer (PC). Schatz met Andy Nguyen while looking for playtesters in 2011; he described Nguyen as a man he "clicked with" who made an energizing work environment. Schatz hired Nguyen to work in festival booths and to sell the company's merchandise at events. Nguyen did not know programming, but eventually became a level designer and producer for Monaco, leaving his job at Citibank to devote more time to the game and to Pocketwatch Games. Schatz described Nguyen as being critical about the game during its development in ways that ultimately improved its design. Also in 2011, Monaco received funding from the Indie Fund project. The additional funding relieved financial pressure and allowed them to refrain from rushing out an unfinished product. The soundtrack for Monaco was composed by Grammy-nominated Austin Wintory, who had previously composed scores for several games, including Journey. Schatz originally used licensed music but asked Wintory to replace some of it with original pieces. Wintory later persuaded Schatz that a complete original soundtrack was warranted. Wintory was excited by the project because it involved using humorous "old-timey piano", saying, "when else am I ever going to be asked to write anything remotely like this?" The stylistic choice of primarily using pianos was explained by Schatz: "the music felt sneaky [and] naughty", with a "farcical silliness" he considered ideal for the game. Wintory described the score for Monaco as being a heavy deviation from Journey and his other past works, although during the 2012 Game Developers Conference explained that its purpose and goal of being able to tell a story through music remained the same. An album called the Gentleman's Private Collection was also produced, consisting of remixes of the original soundtrack by other composers, including Peter Hollens, Tina Guo—who played the violin in the Journey soundtrack—and Chipzel, who composed the soundtrack for Super Hexagon. The full original soundtrack and the Gentleman's Private Collection were released onto Wintory's microsite on Bandcamp on April 24, 2013. ### Release Monaco was released for Windows on April 24, 2013; the Xbox 360 version was delayed until May 10 that year. Mac and Linux versions were released on July 4 and October 21, 2013, respectively. After the release, Pocketwatch Games updated the game to include more levels and mini-games, including two campaign entries, "Origins" and "Fin", the final chapter. After this update's release, development was halted to allow Pocketwatch Games to focus on Tooth and Tail, their next game. On October 21, 2019, a port for the Nintendo Switch, Monaco: Complete Edition, was released which contained all the post-release PC content. The port was published on the Nintendo eShop by Humble Games. ## Reception The PC and Xbox 360 versions of Monaco received "generally favorable reviews", according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. The Nintendo Switch version also received favorable reviews. Destructoid's considered it the best 2013 co-op multiplayer game against games like Diablo III, Guacamelee!, and Payday 2. Despite praise, the Xbox 360 release sold poorly and Andy Schatz believed this was because of the weak demonstration version, the delayed release, and the bugs in the multiplayer mode. After its inclusion in a Humble Bundle, by March 2014, the game surpassed 750,000 sales and by that September, it had sold over a million. Overall, Monaco sold enough copies for Andy Schatz to have "no complaints". The cooperative gamemode, one of the main selling points, was lauded by critics, while the single-player was less well reviewed. Marty Sliva (IGN) regarded it as being one of the best co-op experiences he had in a while and stated that the gameplay mechanics made it one of the most unique and addictive games released in 2013. This sentiment was echoed by Jeff Grubb (VentureBeat), who complimented the game's ability to be both an arcade and a strategic game. Riccio described it as a "well-oiled four-player game", as well as going on to compliment the plot progression. Despite almost universal praise for the cooperative mode, reviewers did not express the same admiration for the single-player mode. Grubb said the game should be skipped if there were no plans on playing it cooperatively. Scott Nichols (Digital Spy) agreed and remarked that while the game contained much content to discover, it is best done cooperatively. Danielle Riendeau (Polygon) considered the single-player mode unfinished and said it needed work. David Sanchez (GameZone) gave the game high praise in his review, and unlike the other crtics, enjoyed both gamemodes. While some reviewers criticised the repetitiveness of the levels, others commended the replayability. Francesco Serino (Eurogamer Italy) criticised the variation and complained it was not long until he saw similar levels because of the simplicity. While saying they were usually well-made, he opined that they were often made for certain characters, which adds more gameplay because of the time it takes to discover the best strategies. Alex Navarro (Giant Bomb) proposed a similar viewpoint and held the opinion that some of the later levels turned into "tedious exercises in trial-and-error". Conversely, Anton Bjurvald (Eurogamer Sweden) enjoyed the simplicity. However, he took issue with the artificial intelligence and critiqued them as being too easy to fool. Aaron Riccio (Slant Magazine) and the Edge staff commended the replayability, with the Edge staff saying that while they disliked the inability to preplan, they continued testing different strategies and approaches. Additionally, Serino appreciated the ability to select characters that matched different playstyles, but disliked that many levels felt designed for specific characters. The soundtrack was well received by critics, and comparisons were drawn for both the game's music and gameplay. Kirk Hamilton (Kotaku) heavily enjoyed it and said Wintory had produced something that managed the tone and pace of the gameplay effectively, smoothly tying into the player's actions. Hamilton drew comparisons with Looney Tunes in this regard. Christian Donlan (Eurogamer) described the piano as akin to that of a vaudeville performance and echoed Hamilton's commendation that the soundtrack provided additional context queues for the stealthy gameplay. Donlan specifically praised the music found in the later levels. Outside the soundtrack, reviewers compared Monaco to other games and films, especially the heist film Ocean's Eleven, with Nichols saying Monaco shared its "ensemble cast, daring break-ins and carefully laid plans" and that it mimicked an "interactive heist flick". Bjurvald and Richard Grisham (GamesRadar) also made this connection, with further positive comparisons being drawn with Pac-Man, Metal Gear, and Wizard of Wor by Grishamm, calling the combination of influences "fresh and fun". ## Sequel Monaco 2 (stylised as Monaco II) was announced by Pocketwatch Games and Humble Games on March 17, 2022, during the Humble Games Showcase 2022. During the announcement, Andy Schatz noted that the game would feature 3D graphics, as opposed to the 2D graphics in Monaco, to allow players to explore the levels vertically. However, Monaco 2 will retain Monaco's top-down view, though it will be aided by isometric camera options. Monaco 2 will also incorporate procedural level generation. The sequel will feature new playable characters, with none of the existing characters being confirmed to return. The sequel will retain the stealth and heist genres. As of March 2022, there is no release date established and only a PC release has been confirmed.
3,565,069	Hurricane Irene (2005)	1,171,663,579	Category 2 Atlantic hurricane in 2005	[ "2005 Atlantic hurricane season", "Cape Verde hurricanes", "Category 2 Atlantic hurricanes", "Hurricanes in New Jersey", "Tropical cyclones in 2005" ]	Hurricane Irene was a long-lived Cape Verde hurricane during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm formed near Cape Verde on August 4 and crossed the Atlantic, turning northward around Bermuda before being absorbed by an extratropical cyclone while situated southeast of Newfoundland. Irene proved to be a difficult storm to forecast due to oscillations in strength. After almost dissipating on August 10, Irene peaked as a Category 2 hurricane on August 16. Irene persisted for 14 days as a tropical system, the longest duration of any storm of the 2005 season. It was the ninth named storm and fourth hurricane of the record-breaking season. Although there were initial fears of a landfall in the United States due to uncertainty in predicting the storm's track, Hurricane Irene never approached land and caused no recorded damage; however, swells up to 8 ft (2.4 m) and strong rip currents resulted in one fatality in Long Beach, New York. ## Meteorological history Hurricane Irene began as a Cape Verde storm. A vigorous tropical wave moved off the west coast of Africa on August 1, initially weakening due to cooler sea surface temperatures. It moved westward and passed near Cape Verde, where convection started to increase. The system subsequently developed into a tropical depression on the afternoon of August 4, 690 miles (1100 km) southwest of the Cape Verde Islands. Early on August 5, the depression abruptly turned to the northwest into an area of higher wind shear, causing some computer models to predict that the depression would dissipate, while others predicted steady strengthening. The sudden threat to the storm's existence prompted National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecaster Lixion Avila to comment, "How little we know about the genesis of tropical cyclones." Despite the unfavorable conditions in its vicinity and its poor organization, Tropical Depression Nine continued to strengthen, becoming Tropical Storm Irene on August 7, the earliest formation date for the ninth storm in the Atlantic basin at the time, beating the previous record held by a storm in the 1936 season by 13 days. (This record stood until surpassed by Hurricane Isaias in 2020.) Because Irene was in an environment laden with dry air and high shear, it soon weakened to a tropical depression, on August 8. On the morning of August 10, as it was passing north of the Lesser Antilles, Irene nearly dissipated into a remnant low, but forecasters predicted with "very low confidence" that the storm would survive. Contrary to these expectations, warmer waters and less wind shear allowed Irene to become gradually more organized while south of Bermuda, and it became a tropical storm once again early on August 11. Due to uncertainties about how the region's subtropical ridge would interact with Irene, the models continued to give unclear signals of the storm's future. Some of the models predicted that Irene would make landfall in North Carolina, while others continued to anticipate that Irene would dissipate. The uncertainty ended when a weakness in the subtropical ridge allowed Irene to turn sharply northward, which caused the storm to pass midway between the Outer Banks of North Carolina and Bermuda on August 15. Soon after, upper-level shear weakened greatly, and Irene rapidly intensified, first to a hurricane, then to its peak strength as a 105 mph (170 km/h) Category 2 hurricane on the afternoon of August 16, while located 350 miles (560 km) northeast of Bermuda; at the same time it also attained minimum pressure of 970 mbar. Though NHC meteorologists thought it was likely that Irene would become a hurricane, they were not expecting an intensification of such a magnitude. Irene entered a region of increased wind shear and began to weaken, and as a result it was downgraded to a tropical storm early on August 18, when it was 520 miles (830 km) south of Cape Race, Newfoundland. All convection within 230 mi (370 km) of the cyclone dissipated on August 18. Irene was subsequently absorbed by an extratropical cyclone later that day. Irene lasted for 14 days as a tropical system, the longest duration of any storm of the 2005 season. ## Impact As Hurricane Irene stayed well away from land, no coastal warnings or watches were issued for it. Despite Irene's long life there were no reports of tropical storm force winds affecting ships. There was no damage as a result of Irene. However, the hurricane generated strong waves and increased the risk of rip currents along the East Coast of the United States. Many beaches in New Jersey restricted swimming activities, and lifeguards at one beach performed more than a hundred rescues over a three-day period. Waves along the coastline of New York reached 4 to 8 ft (1.2 to 2.4 m). A 16-year-old boy drowned after being caught in a rip current near Long Beach, New York on August 14. His body was recovered on August 16 after washing ashore. ## See also - Timeline of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season - List of Category 2 Atlantic hurricanes - List of New Jersey hurricanes
4,094,516	Afroyim v. Rusk	1,173,631,630	null	[ "1967 in United States case law", "Denaturalization case law", "History of immigration to the United States", "United States Citizenship Clause case law", "United States Supreme Court cases", "United States Supreme Court cases of the Warren Court", "United States Supreme Court decisions that overrule a prior Supreme Court decision" ]	Afroyim v. Rusk, 387 U.S. 253 (1967), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, which ruled that citizens of the United States may not be deprived of their citizenship involuntarily. The U.S. government had attempted to revoke the citizenship of Beys Afroyim, a man born in Poland, because he had cast a vote in an Israeli election after becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen. The Supreme Court decided that Afroyim's right to retain his citizenship was guaranteed by the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. In so doing, the Court struck down a federal law mandating loss of U.S. citizenship for voting in a foreign election—thereby overruling one of its own precedents, Perez v. Brownell (1958), in which it had upheld loss of citizenship under similar circumstances less than a decade earlier. The Afroyim decision opened the way for a wider acceptance of dual (or multiple) citizenship in United States law. The Bancroft Treaties—a series of agreements between the United States and other nations which had sought to limit dual citizenship following naturalization—were eventually abandoned after the Carter administration concluded that Afroyim and other Supreme Court decisions had rendered them unenforceable. The impact of Afroyim v. Rusk was narrowed by a later case, Rogers v. Bellei (1971), in which the Court determined that the Fourteenth Amendment safeguarded citizenship only when a person was born or naturalized in the United States, and that Congress retained authority to regulate the citizenship status of a person who was born outside the United States to an American parent. However, the specific law at issue in Rogers v. Bellei—a requirement for a minimum period of U.S. residence that Bellei had failed to satisfy—was repealed by Congress in 1978. As a consequence of revised policies adopted in 1990 by the United States Department of State, it is now (in the words of one expert) "virtually impossible to lose American citizenship without formally and expressly renouncing it." ## Background ### Early history of United States citizenship law Citizenship in the United States has historically been acquired in one of three ways: by birth in the United States (jus soli, "right of the soil"); by birth outside the United States to an American parent (jus sanguinis, "right of the blood"); or by immigration to the United States followed by naturalization. In 1857, the Supreme Court held in Dred Scott v. Sandford that African slaves, former slaves, and their descendants were not eligible to be citizens. After the Civil War (1861–65) and the resulting abolition of slavery in the United States, steps were taken to grant citizenship to the freed slaves. Congress first enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which included a clause declaring "all persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power" to be citizens. Even as the Civil Rights Act was being debated in Congress, its opponents argued that the citizenship provision was unconstitutional. In light of this concern, as well as to protect the new grant of citizenship for former slaves from being repealed by a later Congress, the drafters of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution included a Citizenship Clause, which would entrench in the Constitution (and thereby set beyond the future reach of Congress or the courts) a guarantee of citizenship stating that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States". The Fourteenth Amendment—including the Citizenship Clause—was ratified by state legislatures and became a part of the Constitution in 1868. ### Loss of United States citizenship The Constitution does not specifically deal with loss of citizenship. An amendment proposed by Congress in 1810—the Titles of Nobility Amendment—would, if ratified, have provided that any citizen who accepted any "present, pension, office or emolument" from a foreign country, without the consent of Congress, would "cease to be a citizen of the United States"; however, this amendment was never ratified by a sufficient number of state legislatures and, as a result, never became a part of the Constitution. In the Expatriation Act of 1868, Congress declared that individuals born in the United States had an inherent right to expatriation (giving up of citizenship), it has historically been accepted that certain actions could result in loss of citizenship. The possibility of this was noted by the Supreme Court in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, an 1898 case involving the citizenship of a man born in the United States to Chinese parents who were legally domiciled in the country. After ruling in this case that Wong was born a U.S. citizen despite his Chinese ancestry, the Court went on to state that his birthright citizenship "[had] not been lost or taken away by anything happening since his birth." By making this statement, the Supreme Court affirmed that Wong had not done anything to result in the loss of United States citizenship, therefore acknowledging that there were actions that could result in the loss of citizenship. The Nationality Act of 1940 provided for loss of citizenship based on foreign military or government service, when coupled with citizenship in that foreign country. This statute also mandated loss of citizenship for desertion from the U.S. armed forces, remaining outside the United States in order to evade military service during wartime, or voting in a foreign election. The provision calling for loss of citizenship for foreign military service was held by the Supreme Court not to be enforceable without proof that said service had been voluntary, in a 1958 case (Nishikawa v. Dulles), and revocation of citizenship as a punishment for desertion was struck down that same year in another case (Trop v. Dulles). However, in yet another 1958 case (Perez v. Brownell), the Supreme Court affirmed the provision revoking the citizenship of any American who had voted in an election in a foreign country, as a legitimate exercise (under the Constitution's Necessary and Proper Clause) of Congress' authority to regulate foreign affairs and avoid potentially embarrassing diplomatic situations. Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter, the author of the opinion of the Court (supported by a 5–4 majority), wrote that: > ... the activities of the citizens of one nation when in another country can easily cause serious embarrassments to the government of their own country as well as to their fellow citizens. We cannot deny to Congress the reasonable belief that these difficulties might well become acute, to the point of jeopardizing the successful conduct of international relations, when a citizen of one country chooses to participate in the political or governmental affairs of another country. The citizen may by his action unwittingly promote or encourage a course of conduct contrary to the interests of his own government; moreover, the people or government of the foreign country may regard his action to be the action of his government, or at least as a reflection if not an expression of its policy.... It follows that such activity is regulable by Congress under its power to deal with foreign affairs. In a dissenting opinion, Chief Justice Earl Warren argued that "Citizenship is man's basic right, for it is nothing less than the right to have rights" and that "a government of the people cannot take away their citizenship simply because one branch of that government can be said to have a conceivably rational basis for wanting to do so." While Warren was willing to allow for loss of citizenship as a result of foreign naturalization or other actions "by which [an American] manifests allegiance to a foreign state [which] may be so inconsistent with the retention of [U.S.] citizenship as to result in loss of that status", he wrote that "In specifying that any act of voting in a foreign political election results in loss of citizenship, Congress has employed a classification so broad that it encompasses conduct that fails to show a voluntary abandonment of American citizenship." Two Supreme Court decisions after Perez called into question the principle that loss of citizenship could occur even without the affected individual's intent. In Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez (1963), the Court struck down a law revoking citizenship for remaining outside the United States in order to avoid conscription into the armed forces. Associate Justice William J. Brennan (who had been in the majority in Perez) wrote a separate opinion concurring with the majority in Mendoza-Martinez and expressing reservations about Perez. In Schneider v. Rusk (1964), where the Court invalidated a provision revoking the citizenship of naturalized citizens who returned to live permanently in their countries of origin, Brennan recused himself and did not participate in the decision of the case. ### Beys Afroyim Beys Afroyim (born Ephraim Bernstein, 1893–1984) was an artist and active communist. Various sources state that he was born in either 1893 or 1898, and either in Poland generally, specifically in the Polish town of Ryki, or in Riga, Latvia (then part of the Russian Empire). In 1912, Afroyim immigrated to the United States, and on June 14, 1926, he was naturalized as a U.S. citizen. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as the National Academy of Design in New York City, and he was commissioned to paint portraits of George Bernard Shaw, Theodore Dreiser, and Arnold Schoenberg. In 1949, Afroyim left the United States and settled in Israel, together with his wife and former student Soshana (an Austrian artist). In 1960, following the breakdown of his marriage, Afroyim decided to return to the United States, but the State Department refused to renew his U.S. passport, ruling that because Afroyim had voted in the 1951 Israeli legislative election, he had lost his citizenship under the provisions of the Nationality Act of 1940. A letter certifying Afroyim's loss of citizenship was issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) on January 13, 1961. Afroyim challenged the revocation of his citizenship. Initially, he claimed that he had not in fact voted in Israel's 1951 election, but had entered the polling place solely in order to draw sketches of voters casting their ballots. Afroyim's initial challenge was rejected in administrative proceedings in 1965. He then sued in federal district court, with his lawyer agreeing to a stipulation that Afroyim had in fact voted in Israel, but arguing that the statute under which this action had resulted in his losing his citizenship was unconstitutional. A federal judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected Afroyim's claim on February 25, 1966, concluding that "in the opinion of Congress voting in a foreign political election could import 'allegiance to another country' in some measure 'inconsistent with American citizenship'" and that the question of this law's validity had been settled by the Supreme Court's 1958 Perez decision. Afroyim appealed the district court's ruling against him to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the lower court's reasoning and decision on May 24, 1966. Two of the three judges who heard Afroyim's appeal found the district court's analysis and affirmation of Perez to be "exhaustive and most penetrating". The third judge expressed serious reservations regarding the viability of Perez and suggested that Afroyim might have obtained a different result if he had framed his case differently, but decided to concur (albeit reluctantly) in the majority's ruling. ### Arguments before the Supreme Court After losing his appeal to the Second Circuit, Afroyim asked the Supreme Court to overrule the precedent it had established in Perez, strike down the foreign voting provision of the Nationality Act as unconstitutional, and decide that he was still a United States citizen. Afroyim's counsel argued that since "neither the Fourteenth Amendment nor any other provision of the Constitution expressly grants Congress the power to take away [U.S.] citizenship once it has been acquired ... the only way [Afroyim] could lose his citizenship was by his own voluntary renunciation of it." The Supreme Court agreed to consider Afroyim's case on October 24, 1966 and held oral arguments on February 20, 1967. The official respondent (defendant) in Afroyim's case on behalf of the U.S. government was Dean Rusk, the Secretary of State during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations (1961–1969). The legal brief laying out Afroyim's arguments was written by Nanette Dembitz, general counsel of the New York Civil Liberties Union; the government's brief was written by United States Solicitor General (and future Supreme Court Associate Justice) Thurgood Marshall. The oral arguments in the case were presented by attorneys Edward Ennis—chairman of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)—for Afroyim, and Charles Gordon—general counsel for the INS—for the government. Afroyim was in New York City at this time, having been granted a visitor's visa in 1965 while his case went through the courts. Before heading the ACLU, Ennis had served as general counsel for the INS. In his oral argument supporting Afroyim, Ennis asserted that Congress lacked the power to prescribe forfeiture of citizenship, and he sharply criticized the foreign-relations argument under which the Perez court had upheld loss of citizenship for voting in a foreign election—pointing out, for example, that when a referendum was held in 1935 on the status of the Saar (a region of Germany occupied after World War I by the United Kingdom and France), Americans had participated in the voting without raising any concerns within the State Department at the time. Gordon did not make a good showing in the Afroyim oral arguments despite his skill and experience in the field of immigration law, according to a 2005 article on the Afroyim case by law professor Peter J. Spiro. Gordon mentioned Israeli elections in 1955 and 1959 in which Afroyim had voted—facts which had not previously been presented to the Supreme Court in the attorneys' briefs or the written record of the case—and much of the remaining questioning from the justices involved criticism of Gordon for confusing matters through the last-minute introduction of this new material. Afroyim's earlier stipulation that he had voted in the 1951 Israeli election—together with an accompanying concession by the government that this was the sole ground upon which it had acted to revoke Afroyim's citizenship—allowed the potential issue of diluted allegiance through dual citizenship to be sidestepped. Indeed, in 1951 there was no Israeli nationality law; eligibility to vote in the election that year had been based on residence rather than any concept of citizenship. Although Afroyim had later acquired Israeli citizenship and voted in at least two other elections in his new country, his lawyers were able to avoid discussing this matter and instead focus entirely on whether foreign voting was a sufficient cause for loss of one's U.S. citizenship. ## Opinion of the Court The Supreme Court ruled in Afroyim's favor in a 5–4 decision issued on May 29, 1967. The opinion of the Court—written by Associate Justice Hugo Black, and joined by Chief Justice Warren and Associate Justices William O. Douglas and Abe Fortas—as well as Associate Justice Brennan, who had been part of the majority in Perez—was grounded in the reasoning Warren had used nine years earlier in his Perez dissent. The court's majority now held that "Congress has no power under the Constitution to divest a person of his United States citizenship absent his voluntary renunciation thereof." Specifically repudiating Perez, the majority of the justices rejected the claim that Congress had any power to revoke citizenship and said that "no such power can be sustained as an implied attribute of sovereignty". Instead, quoting from the Citizenship Clause, Black wrote: > All persons born or naturalized in the United States ... are citizens of the United States...." There is no indication in these words of a fleeting citizenship, good at the moment it is acquired but subject to destruction by the Government at any time. Rather the Amendment can most reasonably be read as defining a citizenship which a citizen keeps unless he voluntarily relinquishes it. Once acquired, this Fourteenth Amendment citizenship was not to be shifted, canceled, or diluted at the will of the Federal Government, the States, or any other governmental unit. The Court found support for its position in the history of the unratified Titles of Nobility Amendment. The fact that this 1810 proposal had been framed as a constitutional amendment, rather than an ordinary act of Congress, was seen by the majority as showing that, even before the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment, Congress did not believe that it had the power to revoke anyone's citizenship. The Court further noted that a proposed 1818 act of Congress would have provided a way for citizens to voluntarily relinquish their citizenship, but opponents had argued that Congress had no authority to provide for expatriation. Afroyim's counsel had addressed only the foreign voting question and had carefully avoided any direct challenge to the idea that foreign naturalization might legitimately lead to loss of citizenship (a concept which Warren had been willing to accept in his Perez dissent). Nevertheless, the Court's Afroyim ruling went beyond even Warren's earlier position—holding instead that "The very nature of our government makes it completely incongruous to have a rule of law under which a group of citizens temporarily in office can deprive another group of citizens of their citizenship." In sum Justice Black concluded: > In our country the people are sovereign and the Government cannot sever its relationship to the people by taking away their citizenship. Our Constitution governs us and we must never forget that our Constitution limits the Government to those powers specifically granted or those that are necessary and proper to carry out the specifically granted ones. The Constitution, of course, grants Congress no express power to strip people of their citizenship, whether, in the exercise of the implied power to regulate foreign affairs or in the exercise of any specifically granted power. [...] Citizenship is no light trifle to be jeopardized any moment Congress decides to do so under the name of one of its general or implied grants of power. In some instances, loss of citizenship can mean that a man is left without the protection of citizenship in any country in the world -- as a man without a country. Citizenship in this Nation is a part of a cooperative affair. Its citizenry is the country, and the country is its citizenry. The very nature of our free government makes it completely incongruous to have a rule of law under which a group of citizens temporarily in office can deprive another group of citizens of their citizenship. We hold that the Fourteenth Amendment was designed to, and does, protect every citizen of this Nation against a congressional forcible destruction of his citizenship, whatever his creed, color, or race. Our holding does no more than to give to this citizen that which is his own, a constitutional right to remain a citizen in a free country unless he voluntarily relinquishes that citizenship. ### Dissent The minority—in a dissent written by Associate Justice John Marshall Harlan II and joined by Associate Justices Tom C. Clark, Potter Stewart, and Byron White—argued that Perez had been correctly decided, that nothing in the Constitution deprived Congress of the power to revoke a person's citizenship for good cause, and that Congress was within its rights to decide that allowing Americans to vote in foreign elections ran contrary to the foreign policy interests of the nation and ought to result in loss of citizenship. Harlan wrote: > First, the Court fails almost entirely to dispute the reasoning in Perez; it is essentially content with the conclusory and quite unsubstantiated assertion that Congress is without "any general power, express or implied," to expatriate a citizen "without his assent." Next, the Court embarks upon a lengthy, albeit incomplete, survey of the historical background of the congressional power at stake here, and yet, at the end, concedes that the history is susceptible of "conflicting inferences." ... Finally, the Court declares that its result is bottomed upon the "language and the purpose" of the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; in explanation, the Court offers only the terms of the clause itself, the contention that any other result would be "completely incongruous," and the essentially arcane observation that the "citizenry is the country and the country is its citizenry." I can find nothing in this extraordinary series of circumventions which permits, still less compels, the imposition of this constitutional constraint upon the authority of Congress. Responding to the assertion that Congress did not have power to revoke a person's citizenship without his or her assent, Harlan predicted that "Until the Court indicates with greater precision what it means by 'assent', today's opinion will surely cause still greater confusion in this area of the law." ## Subsequent developments The Afroyim decision stated that no one with United States citizenship could be involuntarily deprived of that citizenship. Nevertheless, the Court distinguished a 1971 case, Rogers v. Bellei, holding in this newer case that individuals who had acquired citizenship via jus sanguinis, through birth outside the United States to an American parent or parents, could still risk loss of citizenship in various ways, since their citizenship (unlike Afroyim's citizenship) was the result of federal statutes rather than the Citizenship Clause. The statutory provision whereby Bellei lost his citizenship—a U.S. residency requirement which he had failed to satisfy in his youth—was repealed by Congress in 1978; the foreign voting provision, already without effect since Afroyim, was repealed at the same time. Although Afroyim appeared to rule out any involuntary revocation of a person's citizenship, the government continued for the most part to pursue loss-of-citizenship cases when an American had acted in a way believed to imply an intent to give up citizenship—especially when an American had become a naturalized citizen of another country. In a 1980 case, however—Vance v. Terrazas—the Supreme Court ruled that intent to relinquish citizenship needed to be proved by itself, and not simply inferred from an individual's having voluntarily performed an action designated by Congress as being incompatible with an intent to keep one's citizenship. The concept of dual citizenship, which previously had been strongly opposed by the U.S. government, has become more accepted in the years since Afroyim. In 1980, the administration of President Jimmy Carter concluded that the Bancroft Treaties—a series of bilateral agreements, formulated between 1868 and 1937, which provided for automatic loss of citizenship upon foreign naturalization of a U.S. citizen—were no longer enforceable, due in part to Afroyim, and gave notice terminating these treaties. In 1990, the State Department adopted new guidelines for evaluating potential loss-of-citizenship cases, under which the government now assumes in almost all situations that Americans do not in fact intend to give up their citizenship unless they explicitly indicate to U.S. officials that this is their intention. As explained by Peter J. Spiro, "In the long run, Afroyim'''s vision of an absolute right to retain citizenship has been largely, if quietly, vindicated. As a matter of practice, it is now virtually impossible to lose American citizenship without formally and expressly renouncing it." While acknowledging that "American citizenship enjoys strong protection against loss under Afroyim and Terrazas", retired journalist Henry S. Matteo suggested, "It would have been more equitable ... had the Supreme Court relied on the Eighth Amendment, which adds a moral tone as well as a firmer constitutional basis, than the Fourteenth." Matteo also said, "Under Afroyim there is a lack of balance between rights and protections on one hand, and obligations and responsibilities on the other, all four elements of which have been an integral part of the concept of citizenship, as history shows." Political scientist P. Allan Dionisopoulos wrote that "it is doubtful that any [Supreme Court decision] created a more complex problem for the United States than Afroyim v. Rusk", a decision which he believed had "since become a source of embarrassment for the United States in its relationships with the Arab world" because of the way it facilitated dual U.S.–Israeli citizenship and participation by Americans in Israel's armed forces. After his Supreme Court victory, Afroyim divided his time between West Brighton (Staten Island, New York) and the Israeli city of Safed until his death on May 19, 1984, in West Brighton. ## See also - List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 387 - Reid v. Covert'', a Supreme Court case holding that treaties cannot override the Constitution
20,374	Metabolism	1,173,094,689	Set of chemical reactions in organisms	[ "Metabolism", "Underwater diving physiology" ]	Metabolism (/məˈtæbəlɪzəm/, from Greek: μεταβολή metabolē, "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the conversion of food to building blocks for proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and some carbohydrates; and the elimination of metabolic wastes. These enzyme-catalyzed reactions allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. The word metabolism can also refer to the sum of all chemical reactions that occur in living organisms, including digestion and the transportation of substances into and between different cells, in which case the above described set of reactions within the cells is called intermediary (or intermediate) metabolism. Metabolic reactions may be categorized as catabolic – the breaking down of compounds (for example, of glucose to pyruvate by cellular respiration); or anabolic – the building up (synthesis) of compounds (such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids). Usually, catabolism releases energy, and anabolism consumes energy. The chemical reactions of metabolism are organized into metabolic pathways, in which one chemical is transformed through a series of steps into another chemical, each step being facilitated by a specific enzyme. Enzymes are crucial to metabolism because they allow organisms to drive desirable reactions that require energy and will not occur by themselves, by coupling them to spontaneous reactions that release energy. Enzymes act as catalysts – they allow a reaction to proceed more rapidly – and they also allow the regulation of the rate of a metabolic reaction, for example in response to changes in the cell's environment or to signals from other cells. The metabolic system of a particular organism determines which substances it will find nutritious and which poisonous. For example, some prokaryotes use hydrogen sulfide as a nutrient, yet this gas is poisonous to animals. The basal metabolic rate of an organism is the measure of the amount of energy consumed by all of these chemical reactions. A striking feature of metabolism is the similarity of the basic metabolic pathways among vastly different species. For example, the set of carboxylic acids that are best known as the intermediates in the citric acid cycle are present in all known organisms, being found in species as diverse as the unicellular bacterium Escherichia coli and huge multicellular organisms like elephants. These similarities in metabolic pathways are likely due to their early appearance in evolutionary history, and their retention is likely due to their efficacy. In various diseases, such as type II diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cancer, normal metabolism is disrupted. The metabolism of cancer cells is also different from the metabolism of normal cells, and these differences can be used to find targets for therapeutic intervention in cancer. ## Key biochemicals Most of the structures that make up animals, plants and microbes are made from four basic classes of molecules: amino acids, carbohydrates, nucleic acid and lipids (often called fats). As these molecules are vital for life, metabolic reactions either focus on making these molecules during the construction of cells and tissues, or on breaking them down and using them to obtain energy, by their digestion. These biochemicals can be joined to make polymers such as DNA and proteins, essential macromolecules of life. ### Amino acids and proteins Proteins are made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain joined by peptide bonds. Many proteins are enzymes that catalyze the chemical reactions in metabolism. Other proteins have structural or mechanical functions, such as those that form the cytoskeleton, a system of scaffolding that maintains the cell shape. Proteins are also important in cell signaling, immune responses, cell adhesion, active transport across membranes, and the cell cycle. Amino acids also contribute to cellular energy metabolism by providing a carbon source for entry into the citric acid cycle (tricarboxylic acid cycle), especially when a primary source of energy, such as glucose, is scarce, or when cells undergo metabolic stress. ### Lipids Lipids are the most diverse group of biochemicals. Their main structural uses are as part of biological membranes both internal and external, such as the cell membrane. Their chemical energy can also be used. Lipids are the polymers of fatty acids that contain a long, non-polar hydrocarbon chain with a small polar region containing oxygen. Lipids are usually defined as hydrophobic or amphipathic biological molecules but will dissolve in organic solvents such as ethanol, benzene or chloroform. The fats are a large group of compounds that contain fatty acids and glycerol; a glycerol molecule attached to three fatty acids by ester linkages is called a triacylglyceride. Several variations on this basic structure exist, including backbones such as sphingosine in sphingomyelin, and hydrophilic groups such as phosphate as in phospholipids. Steroids such as sterol are another major class of lipids. ### Carbohydrates Carbohydrates are aldehydes or ketones, with many hydroxyl groups attached, that can exist as straight chains or rings. Carbohydrates are the most abundant biological molecules, and fill numerous roles, such as the storage and transport of energy (starch, glycogen) and structural components (cellulose in plants, chitin in animals). The basic carbohydrate units are called monosaccharides and include galactose, fructose, and most importantly glucose. Monosaccharides can be linked together to form polysaccharides in almost limitless ways. ### Nucleotides The two nucleic acids, DNA and RNA, are polymers of nucleotides. Each nucleotide is composed of a phosphate attached to a ribose or deoxyribose sugar group which is attached to a nitrogenous base. Nucleic acids are critical for the storage and use of genetic information, and its interpretation through the processes of transcription and protein biosynthesis. This information is protected by DNA repair mechanisms and propagated through DNA replication. Many viruses have an RNA genome, such as HIV, which uses reverse transcription to create a DNA template from its viral RNA genome. RNA in ribozymes such as spliceosomes and ribosomes is similar to enzymes as it can catalyze chemical reactions. Individual nucleosides are made by attaching a nucleobase to a ribose sugar. These bases are heterocyclic rings containing nitrogen, classified as purines or pyrimidines. Nucleotides also act as coenzymes in metabolic-group-transfer reactions. ### Coenzymes Metabolism involves a vast array of chemical reactions, but most fall under a few basic types of reactions that involve the transfer of functional groups of atoms and their bonds within molecules. This common chemistry allows cells to use a small set of metabolic intermediates to carry chemical groups between different reactions. These group-transfer intermediates are called coenzymes. Each class of group-transfer reactions is carried out by a particular coenzyme, which is the substrate for a set of enzymes that produce it, and a set of enzymes that consume it. These coenzymes are therefore continuously made, consumed and then recycled. One central coenzyme is adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy currency of cells. This nucleotide is used to transfer chemical energy between different chemical reactions. There is only a small amount of ATP in cells, but as it is continuously regenerated, the human body can use about its own weight in ATP per day. ATP acts as a bridge between catabolism and anabolism. Catabolism breaks down molecules, and anabolism puts them together. Catabolic reactions generate ATP, and anabolic reactions consume it. It also serves as a carrier of phosphate groups in phosphorylation reactions. A vitamin is an organic compound needed in small quantities that cannot be made in cells. In human nutrition, most vitamins function as coenzymes after modification; for example, all water-soluble vitamins are phosphorylated or are coupled to nucleotides when they are used in cells. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD<sup>+</sup>), a derivative of vitamin B<sub>3</sub> (niacin), is an important coenzyme that acts as a hydrogen acceptor. Hundreds of separate types of dehydrogenases remove electrons from their substrates and reduce NAD<sup>+</sup> into NADH. This reduced form of the coenzyme is then a substrate for any of the reductases in the cell that need to transfer hydrogen atoms to their substrates. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide exists in two related forms in the cell, NADH and NADPH. The NAD<sup>+</sup>/NADH form is more important in catabolic reactions, while NADP<sup>+</sup>/NADPH is used in anabolic reactions. ### Mineral and cofactors Inorganic elements play critical roles in metabolism; some are abundant (e.g. sodium and potassium) while others function at minute concentrations. About 99% of a human's body weight is made up of the elements carbon, nitrogen, calcium, sodium, chlorine, potassium, hydrogen, phosphorus, oxygen and sulfur. Organic compounds (proteins, lipids and carbohydrates) contain the majority of the carbon and nitrogen; most of the oxygen and hydrogen is present as water. The abundant inorganic elements act as electrolytes. The most important ions are sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, phosphate and the organic ion bicarbonate. The maintenance of precise ion gradients across cell membranes maintains osmotic pressure and pH. Ions are also critical for nerve and muscle function, as action potentials in these tissues are produced by the exchange of electrolytes between the extracellular fluid and the cell's fluid, the cytosol. Electrolytes enter and leave cells through proteins in the cell membrane called ion channels. For example, muscle contraction depends upon the movement of calcium, sodium and potassium through ion channels in the cell membrane and T-tubules. Transition metals are usually present as trace elements in organisms, with zinc and iron being most abundant of those. Metal cofactors are bound tightly to specific sites in proteins; although enzyme cofactors can be modified during catalysis, they always return to their original state by the end of the reaction catalyzed. Metal micronutrients are taken up into organisms by specific transporters and bind to storage proteins such as ferritin or metallothionein when not in use. ## Catabolism Catabolism is the set of metabolic processes that break down large molecules. These include breaking down and oxidizing food molecules. The purpose of the catabolic reactions is to provide the energy and components needed by anabolic reactions which build molecules. The exact nature of these catabolic reactions differ from organism to organism, and organisms can be classified based on their sources of energy, hydrogen, and carbon (their primary nutritional groups), as shown in the table below. Organic molecules are used as a source of hydrogen atoms or electrons by organotrophs, while lithotrophs use inorganic substrates. Whereas phototrophs convert sunlight to chemical energy, chemotrophs depend on redox reactions that involve the transfer of electrons from reduced donor molecules such as organic molecules, hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide or ferrous ions to oxygen, nitrate or sulfate. In animals, these reactions involve complex organic molecules that are broken down to simpler molecules, such as carbon dioxide and water. Photosynthetic organisms, such as plants and cyanobacteria, use similar electron-transfer reactions to store energy absorbed from sunlight. The most common set of catabolic reactions in animals can be separated into three main stages. In the first stage, large organic molecules, such as proteins, polysaccharides or lipids, are digested into their smaller components outside cells. Next, these smaller molecules are taken up by cells and converted to smaller molecules, usually acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA), which releases some energy. Finally, the acetyl group on acetyl-CoA is oxidized to water and carbon dioxide in the citric acid cycle and electron transport chain, releasing more energy while reducing the coenzyme nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD<sup>+</sup>) into NADH. ### Digestion Macromolecules cannot be directly processed by cells. Macromolecules must be broken into smaller units before they can be used in cell metabolism. Different classes of enzymes are used to digest these polymers. These digestive enzymes include proteases that digest proteins into amino acids, as well as glycoside hydrolases that digest polysaccharides into simple sugars known as monosaccharides. Microbes simply secrete digestive enzymes into their surroundings, while animals only secrete these enzymes from specialized cells in their guts, including the stomach and pancreas, and in salivary glands. The amino acids or sugars released by these extracellular enzymes are then pumped into cells by active transport proteins. ### Energy from organic compounds Carbohydrate catabolism is the breakdown of carbohydrates into smaller units. Carbohydrates are usually taken into cells after they have been digested into monosaccharides. Once inside, the major route of breakdown is glycolysis, where sugars such as glucose and fructose are converted into pyruvate and some ATP is generated. Pyruvate is an intermediate in several metabolic pathways, but the majority is converted to acetyl-CoA through aerobic (with oxygen) glycolysis and fed into the citric acid cycle. Although some more ATP is generated in the citric acid cycle, the most important product is NADH, which is made from NAD<sup>+</sup> as the acetyl-CoA is oxidized. This oxidation releases carbon dioxide as a waste product. In anaerobic conditions, glycolysis produces lactate, through the enzyme lactate dehydrogenase re-oxidizing NADH to NAD+ for re-use in glycolysis. Fats are catabolized by hydrolysis to free fatty acids and glycerol. The glycerol enters glycolysis and the fatty acids are broken down by beta oxidation to release acetyl-CoA, which then is fed into the citric acid cycle. Fatty acids release more energy upon oxidation than carbohydrates. Steroids are also broken down by some bacteria in a process similar to beta oxidation, and this breakdown process involves the release of significant amounts of acetyl-CoA, propionyl-CoA, and pyruvate, which can all be used by the cell for energy. M. tuberculosis can also grow on the lipid cholesterol as a sole source of carbon, and genes involved in the cholesterol-use pathway(s) have been validated as important during various stages of the infection lifecycle of M. tuberculosis. Amino acids are either used to synthesize proteins and other biomolecules, or oxidized to urea and carbon dioxide to produce energy. The oxidation pathway starts with the removal of the amino group by a transaminase. The amino group is fed into the urea cycle, leaving a deaminated carbon skeleton in the form of a keto acid. Several of these keto acids are intermediates in the citric acid cycle, for example α-ketoglutarate formed by deamination of glutamate. The glucogenic amino acids can also be converted into glucose, through gluconeogenesis (discussed below). ## Energy transformations ### Oxidative phosphorylation In oxidative phosphorylation, the electrons removed from organic molecules in areas such as the citric acid cycle are transferred to oxygen and the energy released is used to make ATP. This is done in eukaryotes by a series of proteins in the membranes of mitochondria called the electron transport chain. In prokaryotes, these proteins are found in the cell's inner membrane. These proteins use the energy from reduced molecules like NADH to pump protons across a membrane. Pumping protons out of the mitochondria creates a proton concentration difference across the membrane and generates an electrochemical gradient. This force drives protons back into the mitochondrion through the base of an enzyme called ATP synthase. The flow of protons makes the stalk subunit rotate, causing the active site of the synthase domain to change shape and phosphorylate adenosine diphosphate – turning it into ATP. ### Energy from inorganic compounds Chemolithotrophy is a type of metabolism found in prokaryotes where energy is obtained from the oxidation of inorganic compounds. These organisms can use hydrogen, reduced sulfur compounds (such as sulfide, hydrogen sulfide and thiosulfate), ferrous iron (Fe(II)) or ammonia as sources of reducing power and they gain energy from the oxidation of these compounds. These microbial processes are important in global biogeochemical cycles such as acetogenesis, nitrification and denitrification and are critical for soil fertility. ### Energy from light The energy in sunlight is captured by plants, cyanobacteria, purple bacteria, green sulfur bacteria and some protists. This process is often coupled to the conversion of carbon dioxide into organic compounds, as part of photosynthesis, which is discussed below. The energy capture and carbon fixation systems can, however, operate separately in prokaryotes, as purple bacteria and green sulfur bacteria can use sunlight as a source of energy, while switching between carbon fixation and the fermentation of organic compounds. In many organisms, the capture of solar energy is similar in principle to oxidative phosphorylation, as it involves the storage of energy as a proton concentration gradient. This proton motive force then drives ATP synthesis. The electrons needed to drive this electron transport chain come from light-gathering proteins called photosynthetic reaction centres. Reaction centers are classified into two types depending on the nature of photosynthetic pigment present, with most photosynthetic bacteria only having one type, while plants and cyanobacteria have two. In plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, photosystem II uses light energy to remove electrons from water, releasing oxygen as a waste product. The electrons then flow to the cytochrome b6f complex, which uses their energy to pump protons across the thylakoid membrane in the chloroplast. These protons move back through the membrane as they drive the ATP synthase, as before. The electrons then flow through photosystem I and can then be used to reduce the coenzyme NADP<sup>+</sup>. ## Anabolism Anabolism is the set of constructive metabolic processes where the energy released by catabolism is used to synthesize complex molecules. In general, the complex molecules that make up cellular structures are constructed step-by-step from smaller and simpler precursors. Anabolism involves three basic stages. First, the production of precursors such as amino acids, monosaccharides, isoprenoids and nucleotides, secondly, their activation into reactive forms using energy from ATP, and thirdly, the assembly of these precursors into complex molecules such as proteins, polysaccharides, lipids and nucleic acids. Anabolism in organisms can be different according to the source of constructed molecules in their cells. Autotrophs such as plants can construct the complex organic molecules in their cells such as polysaccharides and proteins from simple molecules like carbon dioxide and water. Heterotrophs, on the other hand, require a source of more complex substances, such as monosaccharides and amino acids, to produce these complex molecules. Organisms can be further classified by ultimate source of their energy: photoautotrophs and photoheterotrophs obtain energy from light, whereas chemoautotrophs and chemoheterotrophs obtain energy from oxidation reactions. ### Carbon fixation Photosynthesis is the synthesis of carbohydrates from sunlight and carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>). In plants, cyanobacteria and algae, oxygenic photosynthesis splits water, with oxygen produced as a waste product. This process uses the ATP and NADPH produced by the photosynthetic reaction centres, as described above, to convert CO<sub>2</sub> into glycerate 3-phosphate, which can then be converted into glucose. This carbon-fixation reaction is carried out by the enzyme RuBisCO as part of the Calvin – Benson cycle. Three types of photosynthesis occur in plants, C3 carbon fixation, C4 carbon fixation and CAM photosynthesis. These differ by the route that carbon dioxide takes to the Calvin cycle, with C3 plants fixing CO<sub>2</sub> directly, while C4 and CAM photosynthesis incorporate the CO<sub>2</sub> into other compounds first, as adaptations to deal with intense sunlight and dry conditions. In photosynthetic prokaryotes the mechanisms of carbon fixation are more diverse. Here, carbon dioxide can be fixed by the Calvin – Benson cycle, a reversed citric acid cycle, or the carboxylation of acetyl-CoA. Prokaryotic chemoautotrophs also fix CO<sub>2</sub> through the Calvin–Benson cycle, but use energy from inorganic compounds to drive the reaction. ### Carbohydrates and glycans In carbohydrate anabolism, simple organic acids can be converted into monosaccharides such as glucose and then used to assemble polysaccharides such as starch. The generation of glucose from compounds like pyruvate, lactate, glycerol, glycerate 3-phosphate and amino acids is called gluconeogenesis. Gluconeogenesis converts pyruvate to glucose-6-phosphate through a series of intermediates, many of which are shared with glycolysis. However, this pathway is not simply glycolysis run in reverse, as several steps are catalyzed by non-glycolytic enzymes. This is important as it allows the formation and breakdown of glucose to be regulated separately, and prevents both pathways from running simultaneously in a futile cycle. Although fat is a common way of storing energy, in vertebrates such as humans the fatty acids in these stores cannot be converted to glucose through gluconeogenesis as these organisms cannot convert acetyl-CoA into pyruvate; plants do, but animals do not, have the necessary enzymatic machinery. As a result, after long-term starvation, vertebrates need to produce ketone bodies from fatty acids to replace glucose in tissues such as the brain that cannot metabolize fatty acids. In other organisms such as plants and bacteria, this metabolic problem is solved using the glyoxylate cycle, which bypasses the decarboxylation step in the citric acid cycle and allows the transformation of acetyl-CoA to oxaloacetate, where it can be used for the production of glucose. Other than fat, glucose is stored in most tissues, as an energy resource available within the tissue through glycogenesis which was usually being used to maintained glucose level in blood. Polysaccharides and glycans are made by the sequential addition of monosaccharides by glycosyltransferase from a reactive sugar-phosphate donor such as uridine diphosphate glucose (UDP-Glc) to an acceptor hydroxyl group on the growing polysaccharide. As any of the hydroxyl groups on the ring of the substrate can be acceptors, the polysaccharides produced can have straight or branched structures. The polysaccharides produced can have structural or metabolic functions themselves, or be transferred to lipids and proteins by enzymes called oligosaccharyltransferases. ### Fatty acids, isoprenoids and sterol Fatty acids are made by fatty acid synthases that polymerize and then reduce acetyl-CoA units. The acyl chains in the fatty acids are extended by a cycle of reactions that add the acyl group, reduce it to an alcohol, dehydrate it to an alkene group and then reduce it again to an alkane group. The enzymes of fatty acid biosynthesis are divided into two groups: in animals and fungi, all these fatty acid synthase reactions are carried out by a single multifunctional type I protein, while in plant plastids and bacteria separate type II enzymes perform each step in the pathway. Terpenes and isoprenoids are a large class of lipids that include the carotenoids and form the largest class of plant natural products. These compounds are made by the assembly and modification of isoprene units donated from the reactive precursors isopentenyl pyrophosphate and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate. These precursors can be made in different ways. In animals and archaea, the mevalonate pathway produces these compounds from acetyl-CoA, while in plants and bacteria the non-mevalonate pathway uses pyruvate and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate as substrates. One important reaction that uses these activated isoprene donors is sterol biosynthesis. Here, the isoprene units are joined to make squalene and then folded up and formed into a set of rings to make lanosterol. Lanosterol can then be converted into other sterols such as cholesterol and ergosterol. ### Proteins Organisms vary in their ability to synthesize the 20 common amino acids. Most bacteria and plants can synthesize all twenty, but mammals can only synthesize eleven nonessential amino acids, so nine essential amino acids must be obtained from food. Some simple parasites, such as the bacteria Mycoplasma pneumoniae, lack all amino acid synthesis and take their amino acids directly from their hosts. All amino acids are synthesized from intermediates in glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, or the pentose phosphate pathway. Nitrogen is provided by glutamate and glutamine. Nonessensial amino acid synthesis depends on the formation of the appropriate alpha-keto acid, which is then transaminated to form an amino acid. Amino acids are made into proteins by being joined in a chain of peptide bonds. Each different protein has a unique sequence of amino acid residues: this is its primary structure. Just as the letters of the alphabet can be combined to form an almost endless variety of words, amino acids can be linked in varying sequences to form a huge variety of proteins. Proteins are made from amino acids that have been activated by attachment to a transfer RNA molecule through an ester bond. This aminoacyl-tRNA precursor is produced in an ATP-dependent reaction carried out by an aminoacyl tRNA synthetase. This aminoacyl-tRNA is then a substrate for the ribosome, which joins the amino acid onto the elongating protein chain, using the sequence information in a messenger RNA. ### Nucleotide synthesis and salvage Nucleotides are made from amino acids, carbon dioxide and formic acid in pathways that require large amounts of metabolic energy. Consequently, most organisms have efficient systems to salvage preformed nucleotides. Purines are synthesized as nucleosides (bases attached to ribose). Both adenine and guanine are made from the precursor nucleoside inosine monophosphate, which is synthesized using atoms from the amino acids glycine, glutamine, and aspartic acid, as well as formate transferred from the coenzyme tetrahydrofolate. Pyrimidines, on the other hand, are synthesized from the base orotate, which is formed from glutamine and aspartate. ## Xenobiotics and redox metabolism All organisms are constantly exposed to compounds that they cannot use as foods and that would be harmful if they accumulated in cells, as they have no metabolic function. These potentially damaging compounds are called xenobiotics. Xenobiotics such as synthetic drugs, natural poisons and antibiotics are detoxified by a set of xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes. In humans, these include cytochrome P450 oxidases, UDP-glucuronosyltransferases, and glutathione S-transferases. This system of enzymes acts in three stages to firstly oxidize the xenobiotic (phase I) and then conjugate water-soluble groups onto the molecule (phase II). The modified water-soluble xenobiotic can then be pumped out of cells and in multicellular organisms may be further metabolized before being excreted (phase III). In ecology, these reactions are particularly important in microbial biodegradation of pollutants and the bioremediation of contaminated land and oil spills. Many of these microbial reactions are shared with multicellular organisms, but due to the incredible diversity of types of microbes these organisms are able to deal with a far wider range of xenobiotics than multicellular organisms, and can degrade even persistent organic pollutants such as organochloride compounds. A related problem for aerobic organisms is oxidative stress. Here, processes including oxidative phosphorylation and the formation of disulfide bonds during protein folding produce reactive oxygen species such as hydrogen peroxide. These damaging oxidants are removed by antioxidant metabolites such as glutathione and enzymes such as catalases and peroxidases. ## Thermodynamics of living organisms Living organisms must obey the laws of thermodynamics, which describe the transfer of heat and work. The second law of thermodynamics states that in any isolated system, the amount of entropy (disorder) cannot decrease. Although living organisms' amazing complexity appears to contradict this law, life is possible as all organisms are open systems that exchange matter and energy with their surroundings. Living systems are not in equilibrium, but instead are dissipative systems that maintain their state of high complexity by causing a larger increase in the entropy of their environments. The metabolism of a cell achieves this by coupling the spontaneous processes of catabolism to the non-spontaneous processes of anabolism. In thermodynamic terms, metabolism maintains order by creating disorder. ## Regulation and control As the environments of most organisms are constantly changing, the reactions of metabolism must be finely regulated to maintain a constant set of conditions within cells, a condition called homeostasis. Metabolic regulation also allows organisms to respond to signals and interact actively with their environments. Two closely linked concepts are important for understanding how metabolic pathways are controlled. Firstly, the regulation of an enzyme in a pathway is how its activity is increased and decreased in response to signals. Secondly, the control exerted by this enzyme is the effect that these changes in its activity have on the overall rate of the pathway (the flux through the pathway). For example, an enzyme may show large changes in activity (i.e. it is highly regulated) but if these changes have little effect on the flux of a metabolic pathway, then this enzyme is not involved in the control of the pathway. There are multiple levels of metabolic regulation. In intrinsic regulation, the metabolic pathway self-regulates to respond to changes in the levels of substrates or products; for example, a decrease in the amount of product can increase the flux through the pathway to compensate. This type of regulation often involves allosteric regulation of the activities of multiple enzymes in the pathway. Extrinsic control involves a cell in a multicellular organism changing its metabolism in response to signals from other cells. These signals are usually in the form of water-soluble messengers such as hormones and growth factors and are detected by specific receptors on the cell surface. These signals are then transmitted inside the cell by second messenger systems that often involved the phosphorylation of proteins. A very well understood example of extrinsic control is the regulation of glucose metabolism by the hormone insulin. Insulin is produced in response to rises in blood glucose levels. Binding of the hormone to insulin receptors on cells then activates a cascade of protein kinases that cause the cells to take up glucose and convert it into storage molecules such as fatty acids and glycogen. The metabolism of glycogen is controlled by activity of phosphorylase, the enzyme that breaks down glycogen, and glycogen synthase, the enzyme that makes it. These enzymes are regulated in a reciprocal fashion, with phosphorylation inhibiting glycogen synthase, but activating phosphorylase. Insulin causes glycogen synthesis by activating protein phosphatases and producing a decrease in the phosphorylation of these enzymes. ## Evolution The central pathways of metabolism described above, such as glycolysis and the citric acid cycle, are present in all three domains of living things and were present in the last universal common ancestor. This universal ancestral cell was prokaryotic and probably a methanogen that had extensive amino acid, nucleotide, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. The retention of these ancient pathways during later evolution may be the result of these reactions having been an optimal solution to their particular metabolic problems, with pathways such as glycolysis and the citric acid cycle producing their end products highly efficiently and in a minimal number of steps. The first pathways of enzyme-based metabolism may have been parts of purine nucleotide metabolism, while previous metabolic pathways were a part of the ancient RNA world. Many models have been proposed to describe the mechanisms by which novel metabolic pathways evolve. These include the sequential addition of novel enzymes to a short ancestral pathway, the duplication and then divergence of entire pathways as well as the recruitment of pre-existing enzymes and their assembly into a novel reaction pathway. The relative importance of these mechanisms is unclear, but genomic studies have shown that enzymes in a pathway are likely to have a shared ancestry, suggesting that many pathways have evolved in a step-by-step fashion with novel functions created from pre-existing steps in the pathway. An alternative model comes from studies that trace the evolution of proteins' structures in metabolic networks, this has suggested that enzymes are pervasively recruited, borrowing enzymes to perform similar functions in different metabolic pathways (evident in the MANET database) These recruitment processes result in an evolutionary enzymatic mosaic. A third possibility is that some parts of metabolism might exist as "modules" that can be reused in different pathways and perform similar functions on different molecules. As well as the evolution of new metabolic pathways, evolution can also cause the loss of metabolic functions. For example, in some parasites metabolic processes that are not essential for survival are lost and preformed amino acids, nucleotides and carbohydrates may instead be scavenged from the host. Similar reduced metabolic capabilities are seen in endosymbiotic organisms. ## Investigation and manipulation Classically, metabolism is studied by a reductionist approach that focuses on a single metabolic pathway. Particularly valuable is the use of radioactive tracers at the whole-organism, tissue and cellular levels, which define the paths from precursors to final products by identifying radioactively labelled intermediates and products. The enzymes that catalyze these chemical reactions can then be purified and their kinetics and responses to inhibitors investigated. A parallel approach is to identify the small molecules in a cell or tissue; the complete set of these molecules is called the metabolome. Overall, these studies give a good view of the structure and function of simple metabolic pathways, but are inadequate when applied to more complex systems such as the metabolism of a complete cell. An idea of the complexity of the metabolic networks in cells that contain thousands of different enzymes is given by the figure showing the interactions between just 43 proteins and 40 metabolites to the right: the sequences of genomes provide lists containing anything up to 26.500 genes. However, it is now possible to use this genomic data to reconstruct complete networks of biochemical reactions and produce more holistic mathematical models that may explain and predict their behavior. These models are especially powerful when used to integrate the pathway and metabolite data obtained through classical methods with data on gene expression from proteomic and DNA microarray studies. Using these techniques, a model of human metabolism has now been produced, which will guide future drug discovery and biochemical research. These models are now used in network analysis, to classify human diseases into groups that share common proteins or metabolites. Bacterial metabolic networks are a striking example of bow-tie organization, an architecture able to input a wide range of nutrients and produce a large variety of products and complex macromolecules using a relatively few intermediate common currencies. A major technological application of this information is metabolic engineering. Here, organisms such as yeast, plants or bacteria are genetically modified to make them more useful in biotechnology and aid the production of drugs such as antibiotics or industrial chemicals such as 1,3-propanediol and shikimic acid. These genetic modifications usually aim to reduce the amount of energy used to produce the product, increase yields and reduce the production of wastes. ## History The term metabolism is derived from the Ancient Greek word μεταβολή – "Metabole" for "a change" which derived from μεταβάλλ –"Metaballein" means "To change" ### Greek philosophy Aristotle's The Parts of Animals sets out enough details of his views on metabolism for an open flow model to be made. He believed that at each stage of the process, materials from food were transformed, with heat being released as the classical element of fire, and residual materials being excreted as urine, bile, or faeces. Ibn al-Nafis described metabolism in his 1260 AD work titled Al-Risalah al-Kamiliyyah fil Siera al-Nabawiyyah (The Treatise of Kamil on the Prophet's Biography) which included the following phrase "Both the body and its parts are in a continuous state of dissolution and nourishment, so they are inevitably undergoing permanent change." ### Application of the scientific method and Modern metabolic theories The history of the scientific study of metabolism spans several centuries and has moved from examining whole animals in early studies, to examining individual metabolic reactions in modern biochemistry. The first controlled experiments in human metabolism were published by Santorio Santorio in 1614 in his book Ars de statica medicina. He described how he weighed himself before and after eating, sleep, working, sex, fasting, drinking, and excreting. He found that most of the food he took in was lost through what he called "insensible perspiration". In these early studies, the mechanisms of these metabolic processes had not been identified and a vital force was thought to animate living tissue. In the 19th century, when studying the fermentation of sugar to alcohol by yeast, Louis Pasteur concluded that fermentation was catalyzed by substances within the yeast cells he called "ferments". He wrote that "alcoholic fermentation is an act correlated with the life and organization of the yeast cells, not with the death or putrefaction of the cells." This discovery, along with the publication by Friedrich Wöhler in 1828 of a paper on the chemical synthesis of urea, and is notable for being the first organic compound prepared from wholly inorganic precursors. This proved that the organic compounds and chemical reactions found in cells were no different in principle than any other part of chemistry. It was the discovery of enzymes at the beginning of the 20th century by Eduard Buchner that separated the study of the chemical reactions of metabolism from the biological study of cells, and marked the beginnings of biochemistry. The mass of biochemical knowledge grew rapidly throughout the early 20th century. One of the most prolific of these modern biochemists was Hans Krebs who made huge contributions to the study of metabolism. He discovered the urea cycle and later, working with Hans Kornberg, the citric acid cycle and the glyoxylate cycle. ## See also - , a "metabolism first" theory of the origin of life - Microphysiometry - Oncometabolism
17,487,487	Sayf al-Dawla	1,171,603,805	10th-century Muslim ruler of northern Syria	[ "10th-century Arab people", "10th-century Shia Muslims", "10th-century monarchs in the Middle East", "10th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate", "916 births", "967 deaths", "Arab generals", "Arab people of the Arab–Byzantine wars", "Generals of the medieval Islamic world", "Hamdanid emirs of Aleppo", "Sayf al-Dawla" ]	ʿAlī ibn ʾAbū'l-Hayjāʾ ʿAbdallāh ibn Ḥamdān ibn Ḥamdūn ibn al-Ḥārith al-Taghlibī (Arabic: علي بن أبو الهيجاء عبد الله بن حمدان بن الحارث التغلبي, 22 June 916 – 8 February 967), more commonly known simply by his honorific of Sayf al-Dawla (سيف الدولة, lit. 'Sword of the Dynasty'), was the founder of the Emirate of Aleppo, encompassing most of northern Syria and parts of the western Jazira. The most prominent member of the Hamdanid dynasty, Sayf al-Dawla originally served under his elder brother, Nasir al-Dawla, in the latter's attempts to establish his control over the weak Abbasid government in Baghdad during the early 940s CE. After the failure of these endeavours, the ambitious Sayf al-Dawla turned towards Syria, where he confronted the ambitions of the Ikhshidids of Lower Egypt to control the province. After two wars with them, his authority over northern Syria, centred at Aleppo, and the western Jazira, centred at Mayyafariqin, was recognized by the Ikhshidids and the Abbasid caliph. A series of tribal rebellions plagued Sayf al-Dawla's realm until 955, but he overcame them and maintained the allegiance of the most important of the nomadic Bedouins. Sayf al-Dawla is well known for his role in the Arab–Byzantine wars, facing a resurgent Byzantine Empire that in the early 10th century had begun to advance into the Muslim-controlled territories on its eastern border. In this struggle against a much more numerous and well-resourced enemy, Sayf al-Dawla launched raids deep into Byzantine territory and scored a few successes, for which he was widely celebrated in the Muslim world. The Hamdanid ruler generally held the upper hand until 955. After that, the new Byzantine commander, Nikephoros Phokas, and his lieutenants spearheaded a sustained offensive that broke Hamdanid power. The Byzantines annexed Cilicia, and even occupied Aleppo itself briefly in 962. Sayf al-Dawla's final years were marked by military defeats, his own growing disability as a result of disease, and a decline in his authority that led to revolts by some of his closest lieutenants. He died in early 967, leaving a much weakened realm, which by 969 had lost Antioch and the Syrian littoral to the Byzantines and had become a Byzantine tributary. Sayf al-Dawla's court at Aleppo was the centre of a vibrant cultural life, and the literary cycle he gathered around him, including the great al-Mutanabbi, helped ensure his fame for posterity. At the same time, his domains suffered under an oppressive taxation regime to sustain the army. The Hamdanid ruler actively promoted Shi'a Islam in his domains, and under his rule, the Bedouin rose in importance, resulting in the establishment of the Mirdasid dynasty in Aleppo in 1024. ## Life ### Origin and family Sayf al-Dawla was born on 22 June 916 (17 Dhu al-Hijja 303 AH), although some sources give 914, as Ali ibn Abdallah, the second son of Abdallah Abu'l-Hayja ibn Hamdan (died 929), son of Hamdan ibn Hamdun ibn al-Harith, who gave his name to the Hamdanid dynasty. The Hamdanids were a branch of the Banu Taghlib, an Arab tribe resident in the area of the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) since pre-Islamic times. The Taghlib had long been prominent in the area of Mosul, and came to control both the city and its environs following the so-called 'Anarchy at Samarra' (861–870), a period during which the Abbasid Caliphate's metropolitan province of Iraq was engulfed in civil wars among the Abbasid elites. With the caliphal government's authority weakened, the provinces saw the rise of local strongmen, autonomous regional dynasties and anti-Abbasid rebels. As Abbasid power revived in the late 9th century, the caliphal government tried to impose firmer control over the province. Hamdan ibn Hamdun was one of the most determined Taghlibi leaders in opposing this. In his effort to fend off the Abbasids, he secured the alliance of the Kurds living in the mountains north of Mosul, which would be of considerable importance in his family's later fortunes. Family members intermarried with Kurds, who were also prominent in the Hamdanid military. Although the Hamdanids are generally regarded by modern historians as being pro-Shi'a, the division betwean Shi'a and Sunni Islam was not yet solidified, and historian Hugh Kennedy emphasizes that this does not apper to have affected their politics, allying with or fighting against both Shi'a and Sunni polities according to ther momentary interests. Hamdan was defeated by the Abbasids in 895 and imprisoned with his relatives, but his son Husayn ibn Hamdan secured the family's future. He raised troops for the caliph among the Taghlib in exchange for tax remissions, and established a commanding influence in the Jazira by acting as a mediator between the Abbasid authorities and the Arab and Kurdish population. This strong local base allowed the family to survive its often strained relationship with the central Abbasid government in Baghdad during the early 10th century. Husayn was a successful general, distinguishing himself against Kharijite rebels in the Jazira and the Tulunids of Egypt, but was disgraced after supporting the failed usurpation of the throne by the Abbasid prince Ibn al-Mu'tazz in 908. Husayn's younger brother Ibrahim was governor of Diyar Rabi'a (the province around Nasibin) in 919 and after his death in the next year he was succeeded by another brother, Dawud. Ali's father, Abdallah, served as emir (governor) of Mosul in 905/6–913/4, and was repeatedly disgraced and rehabilitated, until re-assuming control of Mosul in 925/6. Enjoying firm relations with the powerful Abbasid commander-in-chief Mu'nis al-Muzaffar, he later played a leading role in the short-lived usurpation of al-Qahir against Caliph al-Muqtadir in 929, and was killed during its suppression. Despite the coup's failure and his death, Abdallah had been able to consolidate his control over Mosul, becoming the virtual founder of a Hamdanid-ruled emirate there. During his long absences in Baghdad in his final years, Abdallah relegated authority over Mosul to his eldest son, al-Hasan, the future Nasir al-Dawla. After Abdallah's death, al-Hasan's position in Mosul was challenged by his uncles, and it was not until 935 that he was able to secure confirmation by Baghdad of his control over Mosul and the entire Jazira up to the Byzantine frontier. ### Early career under Nasir al-Dawla The young Ali began his career under his brother. In 936, al-Hasan invited Ali to his service, promising him the governorship of Diyar Bakr (the region around Amida) in exchange for his help against Ali ibn Ja'far, the rebellious governor of Mayyafariqin. Ali was successful in preventing Ibn Ja'far from receiving the assistance of his Armenian allies, and also secured control over the northern parts of the neighbouring province of Diyar Mudar after subduing the Bedouin (nomadic) Qaysi tribes of the region around Saruj. From this position, he also launched expeditions to aid the Muslim emirates of the Byzantine frontier zone (the Thughur) against the advancing Byzantines, and intervened in Armenia to reverse growing Byzantine influence (see below). In the meantime, al-Hasan became involved in the intrigues of the Abbasid court. Since the murder of al-Muqtadir in 932, the Abbasid government had all but collapsed, and in 936 the powerful governor of Wasit, Muhammad ibn Ra'iq, assumed the title of amir al-umara ('commander of commanders') and with it de facto control of the Abbasid government. Caliph al-Radi was reduced to a figurehead role, and the extensive old civil bureaucracy was drastically reduced both in size and power. Ibn Ra'iq's position was anything but secure, however, and soon a convoluted struggle for control of the office of amir al-umara, and the Caliphate with it, broke out among the local rulers and the Turkic military chiefs, which ended in 946 with the victory of the Buyids. Al-Hasan initially supported Ibn Ra'iq, but in 942 he had him assassinated and secured for himself the post of amir al-umara, receiving the honorific (laqab) of Nasir al-Dawla ('Defender of the Dynasty'), by which he is best known to posterity. The Baridis, a local family of Basra, who also desired control over the caliph, continued to resist, and Nasir al-Dawla sent Ali against them. After scoring a victory over Abu'l-Husayn al-Baridi at al-Mada'in, Ali was named governor of Wasit and was awarded the laqab of Sayf al-Dawla ('Sword of the Dynasty'), by which he became famous. This double award to the Hamdanid brothers marked the first time that a laqab incorporating the prestigious element al-Dawla was granted to anyone other than the vizier, the Caliphate's chief minister. The Hamdanids' success proved short-lived. They were politically isolated, and found little support among the Caliphate's most powerful vassals, the Samanids of Transoxiana and Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikshid of Egypt. Consequently, when in 943 a mutiny over pay issues broke out among their troops (mostly composed of Turks, Daylamites, Qarmatians and only a few Arabs), under the leadership of the Turk Tuzun, they were forced to quit Baghdad. Caliph al-Muttaqi appointed Tuzun as amir al-umara, but soon quarrelled with him and fled north to seek Hamdanid protection. Tuzun defeated Nasir al-Dawla and Sayf al-Dawla in the field, and in 944 an agreement was concluded which allowed the Hamdanids to keep the Jazira and even gave them nominal authority over northern Syria (which at the time was not under Hamdanid control), in exchange for a large tribute. Henceforth, Nasir al-Dawla would be tributary to Baghdad, but his continued attempts to control Baghdad led to repeated clashes with the Buyids. In 958/9 Nasir al-Dawla would even be forced to seek refuge in the court of his brother, before Sayf al-Dawla could negotiate his return to Mosul with the Buyid emir Mu'izz al-Dawla. ### Establishment of the Emirate of Aleppo Like other parts of the Abbasid empire, the collapse of Abbasid authority during the 'Anarchy at Samarra' led to a period of rival warlords competing for control of Syria. From 882, the region was ruled by the semi-autonomous Tulunid dynasty of Egypt, and direct Abbasid control was not restored until 903. Soon after, the region became the focal point of a series of Qarmatian revolts, supported by the Bedouin of the Syrian Desert. The Abbasids were able to retain a tenuous control over the province, until the authority of the Abbasid government collapsed in the civil wars of the 920s and 930s, where Nasir al-Dawla played a prominent role. Syria came under the control of another Egypt-based strongman, Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid, in 935/6, but Ibn Ra'iq detached it from Egyptian control in 939/40. In 942, when Nasir al-Dawla replaced the assassinated Ibn Ra'iq, he attempted to impose his own rule over the region, and particularly Ibn Ra'iq's own province of Diyar Mudar. Hamdanid troops took control of the Balikh River valley, but the local magnates were still inclined towards al-Ikhshid, and Hamdanid authority was tenuous. Al-Ikhshid did not intervene directly, but supported Adl al-Bakjami, the governor of Rahba. Al-Bakjami captured Nasibin, where Sayf al-Dawla had left his treasures, but was finally defeated and captured by Sayf al-Dawla's cousin Abu Abdallah al-Husayn ibn Sa'id ibn Hamdan, and executed at Baghdad in May 943. Husayn then proceeded to occupy the entire province, from Diyar Mudar to the Thughur. Raqqa was taken by storm, but Aleppo surrendered without a fight in February 944. Al-Muttaqi now sent messages to al-Ikhshid, asking for his support against the warlords who wanted to control him. The Hamdanids confined the caliph at Raqqa, but in summer 944 al-Ikhshid arrived in Syria. Husayn abandoned Aleppo to al-Ikhshid, who then visited the exiled caliph at Raqqa. Al-Muttaqi confirmed al-Ikhshid's control over Syria, but after the caliph refused to relocate himself to Egypt, the Egyptian ruler refused to commit himself to further aid for the caliph against his enemies. Al-Ikhshid returned to Egypt, and al-Muttaqi, powerless and dejected, went back to Baghdad, only to be blinded and deposed by Tuzun. It was in this context that Sayf al-Dawla turned his attention to Syria. The previous years had seen a series of personal humiliations, with defeats in the field by Tuzun followed by his failure to persuade al-Muttaqi to nominate him as amir al-umara. It was during the latter attempt that he also had one of his rivals, Muhammad ibn Inal al-Turjuman, assassinated. As Thierry Bianquis writes, following the failure of his brother's designs in Iraq, Sayf al-Dawla's turn to Syria was "born of resentment when, having returned to Nasibin, he found himself under-employed and badly paid". Nasir al-Dawla seems to have encouraged his brother to turn to Syria after Husayn's failure there, writing to Sayf al-Dawla that "Syria lies before you, there is no one in this land who can prevent you from taking it". With money and troops provided by his brother, Sayf al-Dawla invaded northern Syria in the wake of al-Ikhshid's departure. He gained the support of the local Bedouin tribe of Banu Kilab, and even the Kilabi governor installed by al-Ikhshid in Aleppo, Abu'l-Fath Uthman ibn Sa'id al-Kilabi, who accompanied the Hamdanid in his unopposed entrance into the city on 29 October 944. #### Conflict with al-Ikhshid Al-Ikhshid reacted, and sent an army north under Abu al-Misk Kafur to confront Sayf al-Dawla, who was then besieging Homs. In the ensuing battle, the Hamdanid scored a crushing victory. Homs then opened its gates, and Sayf al-Dawla set his sights on Damascus. Sayf al-Dawla briefly occupied the city in early 945, but was forced to abandon it in the face of the citizens' hostility. In April 945 al-Ikhshid himself led an army into Syria, although at the same time he also offered terms to Sayf al-Dawla, proposing to accept Hamdanid control over northern Syria and the Thughur. Sayf al-Dawla rejected al-Ikhshid's proposals, but was defeated in battle in May/June and forced to retreat to Raqqa. The Egyptian army proceeded to raid the environs of Aleppo. Nevertheless, in October the two sides came to an agreement, broadly on the lines of al-Ikhshid's earlier proposal: the Egyptian ruler acknowledged Hamdanid control over northern Syria, and even consented to sending an annual tribute in exchange for Sayf al-Dawla's renunciation of all claims on Damascus. The pact was sealed by Sayf al-Dawla's marriage to a niece of al-Ikhshid, and Sayf al-Dawla's new domain received the—purely formal—sanction by the caliph, who also re-affirmed his laqab soon thereafter. The truce with al-Ikhshid lasted until the latter's death in July 946 at Damascus. Sayf al-Dawla immediately marched south, took Damascus, and then proceeded to Palestine. There he was confronted once again by Kafur, who defeated the Hamdanid prince in a battle fought in December near Ramla. Sayf al-Dawla then retreated to Damascus, and from there to Homs. There he gathered his forces, including large Arab tribal contingents of the Uqayl, Kalb, Numayr, and Kilab, and in spring of 947, he attempted to recover Damascus. He was again defeated in battle, and in its aftermath the Ikhshidids even occupied Aleppo in July. Kafur, the de facto Ikhshidid leader after al-Ikhshid's death, did not press his advantage, but instead began negotiations. For the Ikhshidids, the maintenance of Aleppo was less important than southern Syria with Damascus, which was Egypt's eastern bulwark. As long as their control over this region was not threatened, the Egyptians were more than willing to allow the existence of a Hamdanid state in the north. Furthermore, the Ikhshidids realized that they would have difficulty in asserting and maintaining control over northern Syria and Cilicia, which were traditionally oriented more towards the Jazira and Iraq. Not only would Egypt, threatened by this time by the Fatimid Caliphate in the west, be spared the cost of maintaining a large army in these distant lands, but the Hamdanid emirate would also fulfill the useful role of a buffer state against incursions both from Iraq and from Byzantium. The agreement of 945 was reiterated, with the difference that the Ikhshidids were no longer obligated to pay tribute for Damascus. The frontier thus established, between Jaziran-influenced northern Syria and the Egyptian-controlled southern part of the country, was to last until the Mamluks seized the entire country in 1260. Sayf al-Dawla, who returned to Aleppo in autumn, was now master of an extensive realm: the north Syrian provinces (Jund Hims, Jund Qinnasrin and the Jund al-Awasim) in a line running south of Homs to the coast near Tartus, and most of Diyar Bakr and Diyar Mudar in the western Jazira. He also exercised a—mostly nominal—suzerainty over the towns of the Byzantine frontier in Cilicia. Sayf al-Dawla's domain was a "Syro-Mesopotamian state", in the expression of the Orientalist Marius Canard, and extensive enough to require two capitals: alongside Aleppo, which became Sayf al-Dawla's main residence, Mayyafariqin was selected as the capital for the Jaziran provinces. The latter were held ostensibly in charge of his elder brother Nasir al-Dawla, but in reality, the size and political importance of Sayf al-Dawla's emirate allowed him to effectively throw off the tutelage of Nasir al-Dawla. Although Sayf al-Dawla continued to show his elder brother due deference, henceforth, the balance of power between the two would be reversed. #### Arab tribal revolts Aside from his confrontation with the Ikhshidids, Sayf al-Dawla's consolidation over his realm was challenged by the need to maintain good relations with the restive native Arab tribes. Northern Syria at this time was controlled by Arab tribes, who had been resident in the area since the Umayyad period (661–750), and in many cases before that. The region around Homs was settled by the Kalb and the Tayy tribes, and the north, a broad strip of land from the Orontes to beyond the Euphrates, was controlled by the still largely nomadic Qaysi tribes of Uqayl, Numayr, Ka'b and Qushayr, as well as the aforementioned Kilab around Aleppo. Further south, the Tanukh were settled around Maarrat al-Nu'man, and the coasts were settled by the Bahra and Kurds. In his relations with them, Sayf al-Dawla benefitted from the fact that he was an ethnic Arab, unlike most of the contemporary rulers in the Islamic Middle East, who were Turkic or Iranian warlords who had risen from the ranks of the military slaves (ghilman). This helped him win support among the Arab tribes, and the Bedouin played a prominent role in his administration. In accordance with the usual late Abbasid practice familiar to Sayf al-Dawla and common across the Muslim states of the Middle East, the Hamdanid state was heavily reliant on and increasingly dominated by its non-Arab, mostly Turkic, ghilman. This is most evident in the composition of his army: alongside Arab tribal cavalry, which was often unreliable and driven more by plunder than loyalty or discipline, the Hamdanid armies made heavy use of Daylamites as heavy infantry, Turks as horse archers, and Kurds as light cavalry. These forces were complemented, especially against the Byzantines, by the garrisons of the Thughur, among whom were many volunteers (ghazi) from across the Muslim world. After winning recognition by the Ikhshidids, Sayf al-Dawla began a series of campaigns of consolidation. His main target was to establish firm control over the Syrian littoral, as well as the routes connecting it to the interior. The operations there included a difficult siege of the fortress of Barzuya in 947–948, which was held by a Kurdish brigand leader, who from there controlled the lower Orontes valley. In central Syria, a Qarmatian-inspired revolt of the Kalb and Tayy erupted in late 949, led by a certain Ibn Hirrat al-Ramad. The rebels enjoyed initial success, even capturing the Hamdanid governor of Homs, but they were quickly crushed. In the north, the attempts of the Hamdanid administrators to keep the Bedouin from interfering with the more settled Arab communities resulted in regular outbreaks of rebellion between 950 and 954, which had to be suppressed by Sayf al-Dawla's army. Finally, in spring 955 a major rebellion broke out in the region of Qinnasrin and Sabkhat al-Jabbul, which involved all tribes, both Bedouin and sedentary, including the Hamdanids' close allies, the Kilab. Sayf al-Dawla was able to resolve the situation quickly, initiating a ruthless campaign of swift repression that included driving the tribes into the desert to die or capitulate, coupled with diplomacy that played on the divisions among the tribesmen. Thus the Kilab were offered peace and a return to their favoured status, and were given more lands at the expense of the Kalb, who were driven from their abodes along with the Tayy, and fled south to settle in the plains north of Damascus and the Golan Heights, respectively. At the same time, the Numayr were also expelled and encouraged to resettle in the Jazira around Harran. The revolt was suppressed in June, in what Bianquis calls "a desert policing operation perfectly planned and rigorously executed". It was only Sayf al-Dawla's "feelings of solidarity and his sense of Arab honour", according to Bianquis, that prevented the revolt from ending with the "total extermination, through warfare and thirst, of all the tribes". The suppression of the great tribal revolt marked, in the words of Kennedy, "the high point of Sayf al-Dawla’s success and power", and secured the submission of the Bedouin tribes for the remainder of Sayf al-Dawla's reign. In the same year, Sayf al-Dawla also aided the Kurdish warlord Daysam in capturing parts of Adharbayjan around Salmas. Daysam acknowledged Hamdanid suzerainty, but was evicted within a few months by the Sallarid emir Marzuban ibn Muhammad. ### Wars with the Byzantines Through his assumption of control over the Syrian and Jaziran Thughur in 945/6, Sayf al-Dawla emerged as the chief Arab prince facing the Byzantine Empire, and warfare with the Byzantines became his main preoccupation. Indeed, much of Sayf al-Dawla's reputation stems from his unceasing, though ultimately unsuccessful war with the Empire. By the early 10th century, the Byzantines had gained the upper hand over their eastern Muslim neighbours. The onset of decline in the Abbasid Caliphate after the Anarchy at Samarra was followed by the Battle of Lalakaon in 863, which had broken the power of the border emirate of Malatya and marked the beginning of the gradual Byzantine encroachment on the Arab borderlands. Although the emirate of Tarsus in Cilicia remained strong and Malatya continued to resist Byzantine attacks, over the next half-century the Byzantines overwhelmed the Paulician allies of Malatya and advanced to the Upper Euphrates, occupying the mountains north of the city. Finally, after 927, peace on their Balkan frontier enabled the Byzantines, under John Kourkouas, to turn their forces east and begin a series of campaigns that culminated in the fall and annexation of Malatya in 934, an event which sent shock-waves among the Muslim world. Arsamosata followed in 940, and Qaliqala (Byzantine Theodosiopolis, modern Erzurum) in 949. The Byzantine advance evoked a great emotional response in the Muslim world, with volunteers, both soldiers and civilians, flocking to participate in the jihad against the Empire. Sayf al-Dawla was also affected by this atmosphere, and became deeply impregnated with the spirit of jihad. The rise of the Hamdanid brothers to power in the frontier provinces and the Jazira is therefore to be regarded against the backdrop of the Byzantine threat, as well as the manifest inability of the Abbasid government to stem the Byzantine offensive. In Kennedy's assessment, "compared with the inaction or indifference of other Muslim rulers, it is not surprising that Sayf al-Dawla's popular reputation remained high; he was the one man who attempted to defend the Faith, the essential hero of the time". #### Early campaigns Sayf al-Dawla entered the fray against the Byzantines in 936, when he led an expedition to the aid of Samosata, at the time besieged by the Byzantines. A revolt in his rear forced him to abandon the campaign, and he only managed to send a few supplies to the town, which fell soon after. In 938, he raided the region around Malatya and captured the Byzantine fort of Charpete. Some Arabic sources report a major victory over Kourkouas himself, but the Byzantine advance does not seem to have been affected. His most important campaign in these early years was in 939–940, when he invaded southwestern Armenia and secured a pledge of allegiance and the surrender of a few fortresses from the local princes—the Muslim Kaysites of Manzikert and the Christian Bagratids of Taron and Gagik Artsruni of Vaspurakan—who had begun defecting to Byzantium, before turning west and raiding Byzantine territory up to Koloneia. This expedition temporarily broke the Byzantine blockade around Qaliqala, but Sayf al-Dawla's preoccupation with his brother's wars in Iraq over the next years meant that the success was not followed up. According to the historian Mark Whittow, this was a major missed chance: a more sustained policy could have made use of the Armenian princes' distrust of Byzantine expansionism, to form a network of clients and contain the Byzantines. Instead, the latter were given a free hand, which allowed them to press on and capture Qaliqala, cementing their dominance over the region. #### Failures and victories, 945–955 After establishing himself at Aleppo in 944, Sayf al-Dawla resumed warfare against Byzantium in 945/6. From then until the time of his death, he was the Byzantines' chief antagonist in the East—by the end of his life Sayf al-Dawla was said to have fought against them in over forty battles. Nevertheless, despite his frequent and destructive raids against the Byzantine frontier provinces and into Asia Minor, and his victories in the field, his strategy was essentially defensive, and he never seriously attempted to challenge Byzantine control of the crucial mountain passes or conclude alliances with other local rulers in an effort to roll back the Byzantine conquests. Compared to Byzantium, Sayf al-Dawla was the ruler of a minor principality, and could not match the means and numbers available to the resurgent Empire: the contemporary Arab sources report—with obvious, but nonetheless indicative, exaggeration—that Byzantine armies numbered up to 200,000, while Sayf al-Dawla's largest force numbered some 30,000. Hamdanid efforts against Byzantium were further crippled by the dependence on the Thughur system. The fortified militarized zone of the Thughur was very expensive to maintain, requiring constant provisions of cash and supplies from other parts of the Muslim world. Once the area came under Hamdanid control, the rump Caliphate lost any interest in providing these resources, and the scorched earth tactics of the Byzantines further reduced the area's ability to feed itself. Furthermore, the cities of the Thughur were fractious by nature, and their allegiance to Sayf al-Dawla was the result of his charismatic leadership and his military successes; once the Byzantines gained the upper hand and the Hamdanid's prestige declined, the cities tended to look out only for themselves. Finally, Sayf al-Dawla's origin in the Jazira also affected his strategic outlook, and was probably responsible for his failure to construct a fleet, or to pay any attention at all to the Mediterranean, in stark contrast to most Syria-based polities in history. Sayf al-Dawla's raid of winter 945/6 was of limited scale, and was followed by a prisoner exchange. Warfare on the frontiers then died down for a couple of years, and recommenced only in 948. Despite scoring a victory over a Byzantine invasion in 948, he was unable to prevent the sack of Hadath, one of the main Muslim strongholds in the Euphrates Thughur, by Leo Phokas, one of the sons of the Byzantine Domestic of the Schools (commander-in-chief) Bardas Phokas. Sayf al-Dawla's expeditions in the next two years were also failures. In 949 he raided into the theme of Lykandos but was driven back, and the Byzantines proceeded to sack Marash, defeat a Tarsian army and raid as far as Antioch. In the next year, Sayf al-Dawla led a large force into Byzantine territory, ravaging the themes of Lykandos and Charsianon, but on his return he was ambushed by Leo Phokas in a mountain pass. In what became known as the ghazwat al-musiba, the 'dreadful expedition', Sayf al-Dawla lost 8,000 men and barely escaped himself. Sayf al-Dawla nevertheless rejected offers of peace from the Byzantines, and launched another raid against Lykandos and Malatya, persisting until the onset of winter forced him to retire. In the next year, he concentrated his attention on rebuilding the fortresses of Cilicia and northern Syria, including Marash and Hadath. Bardas Phokas launched an expedition to obstruct these works, but was defeated. Bardas launched another campaign in 953, but despite having a considerably larger force at his disposal, he was heavily defeated near Marash in a battle celebrated by Sayf al-Dawla's panegyrists. The Byzantine commander even lost his youngest son, Constantine, to Hamdanid captivity. Another expedition led by Bardas in the next year was also defeated, allowing Sayf al-Dawla to complete the re-fortification of Samosata and Hadath. The latter successfully withstood yet another Byzantine attack in 955. #### Byzantine ascendancy, 956–962 Sayf al-Dawla's victories brought about the replacement of Bardas by his eldest son, Nikephoros Phokas. Blessed with capable subordinates like his brother Leo and his nephew John Tzimiskes, Nikephoros would bring about a reversal of fortunes in Sayf al-Dawla's struggle with the Byzantines. The new domestic of the schools also benefited from the culmination of military reforms that created a more professional army. In spring 956, Sayf al-Dawla pre-empted Tzimiskes from a planned assault on Amida, and invaded Byzantine territory first. Tzimiskes then seized a pass in Sayf al-Dawla's rear, and attacked him during his return. The hard-fought battle, fought amid torrential rain, resulted in a Muslim victory as Tzimiskes lost 4,000 men. At the same time, Leo Phokas invaded Syria and defeated and captured Sayf al-Dawla's cousin Abu'l-'Asha'ir, whom he had left behind in his stead. Later in the year, Sayf al-Dawla was obliged to go to Tarsus to help repel a raid by the Byzantine Cibyrrhaeot fleet. In 957, Nikephoros took and razed Hadath, but Sayf al-Dawla was unable to react as he discovered a conspiracy by some of his officers to surrender him to the Byzantines in exchange for money. Sayf al-Dawla executed 180 of his ghilman and mutilated over 200 others in retaliation. In the next spring, Tzimiskes invaded the Jazira, captured Dara, and scored a victory at Amida over an army of 10,000 led by one of Sayf al-Dawla's favourite lieutenants, the Circassian Nadja. Together with the parakoimomenos (chamberlain) Basil Lekapenos, he then stormed Samosata, and even inflicted a heavy defeat on a relief army under Sayf al-Dawla himself. The Byzantines exploited Hamdanid weakness, and in 959 Leo Phokas led a raid as far as Cyrrhus, sacking several forts on his way. In 960, Sayf al-Dawla tried to use the absence of Nikephoros Phokas with much of his army on his Cretan expedition, to re-establish his position. At the head of a large army, he invaded Byzantine territory and sacked the fortress of Charsianon. On his return, however, his army was attacked and almost annihilated in an ambush by Leo Phokas and his troops. Once again, Sayf al-Dawla managed to escape, but his military power was broken. The local governors now began to make terms with the Byzantines on their own, and the Hamdanid's authority was increasingly questioned even in his own capital. Sayf al-Dawla now needed time, but as soon as Nikephoros Phokas returned victorious from Crete in summer 961, he began preparations for his next campaign in the east. The Byzantines launched their attack in the winter months, catching the Arabs off guard. They captured Anazarbus in Cilicia, and followed a deliberate policy of devastation and massacre to drive the Muslim population away. After Nikephoros repaired to Byzantine territory to celebrate Easter, Sayf al-Dawla entered Cilicia and claimed direct control over the province. He began to rebuild Anazarbus, but the work was left incomplete when Nikephoros recommenced his offensive in autumn, forcing Sayf al-Dawla to depart the region. The Byzantines, with an army reportedly 70,000 strong, proceeded to take Marash, Sisium, Duluk and Manbij, thereby securing the western passes over the Anti-Taurus Mountains. Sayf al-Dawla sent his army north under Nadja to meet the Byzantines, but Nikephoros ignored them. Instead, the Byzantine general led his troops south and in mid-December, they suddenly appeared before Aleppo. After defeating an improvised army before the city walls, the Byzantines stormed the city and plundered it, except for the citadel, which continued to hold out. The Byzantines departed, taking with them some 10,000 inhabitants, mostly young men, as captives. Returning to his ruined and half-deserted capital, Sayf al-Dawla repopulated it with refugees from Qinnasrin. The latter city was abandoned, resulting in a major blow to commerce in the region. ### Illness, rebellions and death In 963, the Byzantines remained quiet as Nikephoros was scheming to ascend the imperial throne, but Sayf al-Dawla suffered the loss of his sister, Khawla Sitt al-Nas, and was troubled by the onset of hemiplegia as well as worsening intestinal and urinary disorders, which henceforth confined him to a litter. The disease limited Sayf al-Dawla's ability to intervene personally in the affairs of his state; he soon abandoned Aleppo to the charge of his chamberlain, Qarquya, and spent most of his final years in Mayyafariqin, leaving his senior ghilman to carry the burden of warfare against the Byzantines and the rebellions that sprang up in his domains. Sayf al-Dawla's physical decline, coupled with his military failures, especially the capture of Aleppo in 962, meant that his authority became increasingly shaky among his subordinates, for whom military success was the prerequisite for political legitimacy. Thus, in 961, the emir of Tarsus, Ibn az-Zayyat, unsuccessfully tried to turn over his province to the Abbasids. In 963, Sayf al-Dawla's nephew and governor of Harran, Hibat Allah, killed Sayf al-Dawla's trusted Christian secretary and rebelled in favour of his father, Nasir al-Dawla. Nadja was sent to subdue the rebellion, forcing Hibat Allah to flee to his father's court, but then Nadja himself rebelled and attacked Mayyafariqin, defended by Sayf al-Dawla's wife, with the intention of turning it over to the Buyids. Nadja failed, and retreated to Armenia, where he managed to take over a few fortresses around Lake Van. In autumn 964 he again attempted to take Mayyafariqin, but was obliged to abandon it to subdue a revolt in his new Armenian domains. Sayf al-Dawla himself travelled to Armenia to meet his former lieutenant. Nadja re-submitted to his authority without resistance, but was murdered in winter 965 at Mayyafariqin, probably at the behest of Sayf al-Dawla's wife. At the same time, Sayf al-Dawla pursued an alliance with the Qarmatians of Bahrayn, who were active in the Syrian Desert and opposed both to the Buyids of Iraq and to the Ikhshidids of Egypt. Despite his illness and the spreading famine in his domains, in 963 Sayf al-Dawla launched three raids into Asia Minor. One of them even reached as far as Iconium, but Tzimiskes, named Nikephoros' successor as Domestic of the East, responded by launching an invasion of Cilicia in winter. He destroyed an Arab army at the 'Field of Blood' near Adana, and unsuccessfully besieged Mopsuestia before lack of supplies forced him to return home. In autumn 964, Nikephoros, now emperor, again campaigned in the East, and met little resistance. Mopsuestia was besieged but held out, until a famine that plagued the province forced the Byzantines to withdraw. Nikephoros returned in the next year and stormed the city and deported its inhabitants. On 16 August 965, Tarsus was surrendered by its inhabitants, who secured safe passage to Antioch. Cilicia became a Byzantine province, and Nikephoros proceeded to re-Christianize it by converting or expelling its Muslim population and inviting Christian settlers. The year 965 also saw two further large-scale rebellions within Sayf al-Dawla's domains. The first was led by a former governor of the coast, the ex-Qarmatian Marwan al-Uqayli, which grew to threatening dimensions: the rebels captured Homs, defeated an army sent against them and advanced up to Aleppo, but al-Uqayli was wounded in the battle for the city and died shortly after. In autumn, a more serious revolt broke out in Antioch, led by the former governor of Tarsus, Rashiq ibn Abdallah al-Nasimi. The rebellion was obviously motivated by Sayf al-Dawla's inability to stop the Byzantine advance. After raising an army in the town, Rashiq led it to besiege Aleppo, which was defended by Sayf al-Dawla's ghilman, Qarquya and Bishara. Three months into the siege, the rebels had taken possession of part of the lower town, when Rashiq was killed. He was succeeded by a Daylamite named Dizbar. Dizbar defeated Qarquya and took Aleppo, but then departed the town to take control over the rest of northern Syria. The rebellion is described in the Life of Patriarch Christopher of Antioch, an ally of Sayf al-Dawla. In the same year, Sayf al-Dawla was also heavily affected by the death of two of his sons, Abu'l-Maqarim and Abu'l-Baraqat. In early 966, Sayf al-Dawla asked for and received a short truce and an exchange of prisoners with the Byzantines, which was held at Samosata. He ransomed many Muslim captives at great cost, only to see them go over to Dizbar's forces. Sayf al-Dawla resolved to confront the rebel: carried on his litter, he returned to Aleppo, and on the next day defeated the rebel's army, helped by the defection of the Kilab from Dizbar's army. The surviving rebels were ruthlessly punished. Sayf al-Dawla was still unable to confront Nikephoros when he resumed his advance. The Hamdanid ruler fled to the safety of the fortress of Shayzar while the Byzantines raided the Jazira, before turning on northern Syria, where they launched attacks on Manbij, Aleppo and even Antioch, whose newly appointed governor, Taki al-Din Muhammad ibn Musa, went over to them with the city's treasury. In early February 967, Sayf al-Dawla returned to Aleppo, where he died on 8 February (24 Safar 356 AH), although a source claims that he died at Mayyafariqin. The sharif (a descendant of the Family of Muhammad) Abu Abdallah al-Aqsasi read the funeral prayers in Shi'a fashion. His body was embalmed and buried at a mausoleum in Mayyafariqin beside his mother and sister. A brick made of dust collected from his armour after his campaigns was reportedly placed under his head, according to his last will. He was succeeded by his only surviving son (by his cousin Sakhinah), the fifteen-year-old Abu'l-Ma'ali Sharif, better known as Sa'd al-Dawla, to whom Sayf al-Dawla ordered the oath of allegiance to be sworn before his death. Sa'd al-Dawla's reign was marked by internal turmoil, and it was not until 977 that he was able to secure control of his own capital. By this time, the rump emirate was almost powerless. Transformed into a vassal state tributary to Byzantium by the 969 Treaty of Safar, it became a bone of contention between the Byzantines and the new power of the Middle East, the Fatimid Caliphate, that had recently conquered Egypt. ## Cultural activity and legacy Sayf al-Dawla surrounded himself with prominent intellectual figures, most notably the great poets al-Mutanabbi and Abu Firas, the preacher Ibn Nubata, the grammarian Ibn Jinni, and the noted philosopher al-Farabi. Al-Mutanabbi's time at the court of Sayf al-Dawla was arguably the pinnacle of his career as poet. During his nine years at Aleppo, al-Mutanabbi wrote 22 major panegyrics to Sayf al-Dawla, which, according to the Arabist Margaret Larkin, "demonstrated a measure of real affection mixed with the conventional praise of premodern Arabic poetry." The celebrated historian and poet, Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, was also part of the Hamdanid court, and dedicated his major encyclopedia of poetry and songs, Kitab al-Aghani, to Sayf al-Dawla. Abu Firas was Sayf al-Dawla's cousin and had been raised at his court; Sayf al-Dawla had married his sister Sakhinah and appointed him governor of Manbij and Harran. Abu Firas accompanied Sayf al-Dawla on his wars against the Byzantines and was taken prisoner twice. It was during his second captivity from 962 to 966 that he wrote his famous Rūmiyyāt (i.e. Byzantine) poems. Sayf al-Dawla's patronage of poets had a useful political dividend too: it was part of a court poet's duty to his patron to celebrate him in his work, and poetry helped spread the influence of Sayf al-Dawla and his court far across the Muslim world. Sayf al-Dawla paid special favour to poets, but his court contained scholars versed in religious studies, history, philosophy and astronomy as well, so that, as S. Humphreys comments, "in his time Aleppo could certainly have held its own with any court in Renaissance Italy". The Hamdanid emir himself probably also knew Greek, and was conversant with Ancient Greek culture. Sayf al-Dawla was also unusual for 10th-century Syria in his espousal of Twelver Shi'ism in a hitherto solidly Sunni country. During his reign, the founder of the Alawite Shi'a sect, al-Khasibi, benefited from Sayf al-Dawla's patronage. Al-Khasibi turned Aleppo into the stable centre of his new sect, and sent preachers from there as far as Persia and Egypt with his teachings. His main theological work, Kitab al-Hidaya al-Kubra, was dedicated to his Hamdanid patron. Sayf al-Dawla also erected a mausoleum to one of al-Husayn's sons, Muhassin, outside the city walls of Aleppo and close to a Christian monastery, called the Mashhad al-Dikka. In the aftermath of the 962 sack of Aleppo, Sayf al-Dawla invited Alid sharifs from Qom and Harran to settle in his capital. His active promotion of Shi'ism began a process whereby Syria came to host a large Shi'a population by the 12th century. Sayf al-Dawla played a crucial role in the history of the two cities he chose as his capitals, Aleppo and Mayyafariqin. His choice raised them from obscurity to the status of major urban centres; Sayf al-Dawla lavished attention on them, endowing them with new buildings, as well as taking care of their fortification. Aleppo especially benefited from Sayf al-Dawla's patronage: of special note is the great palace (destroyed in the Byzantine sack of 962) in the suburb of Halba outside Aleppo, as well as the gardens and aqueduct which he built there. Aleppo's rise to the chief city in northern Syria dates from his reign. ## Political legacy Sayf al-Dawla has remained to modern times one of the best-known medieval Arab leaders. His bravery and leadership of the war against the Byzantines, despite the heavy odds against him, his literary activities and patronage of poets which lent his court an unmatched cultural brilliance, the calamities which struck him towards his end—defeat, illness and betrayal—have made him, in the words of Bianquis, "from his time until the present day", the personification of the "Arab chivalrous ideal in its most tragic aspect". Sayf al-Dawla's military record was, in the end, one of failure: he lost much of his territory to the Byzantines and, soon after his death, the rump emirate of Aleppo became a Byzantine vassal and an object of dispute with the Fatimids. In retrospect, the Hamdanids' military defeat was inevitable, given the disparity of strength and resources with the Empire. This weakness was compounded by the failure of Nasir al-Dawla to support his brother in his wars against Byzantium, by the Hamdanids' preoccupation with internal revolts, and the feebleness of their authority over much of their domains. As Whittow comments, Sayf al-Dawla's martial reputation often masks the reality that his power was "a paper tiger, short of money, short of soldiers and with little real base in the territories he controlled". The defeat and expulsion of several Arab tribes in the great revolt of 955 also had unforeseen long-term consequences, as it left the Kilab as the dominant tribe in northern Syria. Associating themselves with the Hamdanids as auxiliaries, the Kilab managed to infiltrate the local cities, opening the path to their takeover of the emirate of Aleppo under the Mirdasid dynasty in the 11th century. Several distinguished officials served as his viziers, starting with Abu Ishaq Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Karariti, who had previously been in Abbasid employ. He was succeeded by Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Sulayman ibn Fahd, and finally by the celebrated Abu'l-Husayn Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Maghribi. In the position of qadi of Aleppo, the Hamdanid emir dismissed the incumbent, Abu Tahir Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Mathil, and appointed Abu Husayn Ali ibn Abdallah al-Raqqi in his stead. When the latter was killed by the Byzantines in 960, Ibn Mathil was restored, and later succeeded by Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn Ishaq al-Hanafi. Though fiscal and military affairs were centralized in the two capitals of Aleppo and Mayyafariqin, local government was based on fortified settlements, which were entrusted by Sayf al-Dawla to relatives or close associates. The picture presented by his contemporaries on the impact of Sayf al-Dawla's policies on his own domains is not favourable. Despite the Hamdanids' origins among the Arab Bedouin, the Hamdanid emirate of Aleppo was a highly centralized state on the model of other contemporary Islamic polities, relying on a standing, salaried army of Turkic ghilman and Daylamite infantry which required enormous sums. This led to heavy taxation, as well as massive confiscation of private estates to sustain the Hamdanid military. The 10th-century chronicler Ibn Hawqal, who travelled the Hamdanid domains, paints a dismal picture of economic oppression and exploitation of the common people, linked with the Hamdanid practice of expropriating extensive estates in the most fertile areas and practising a monoculture of cereals destined to feed the growing population of Baghdad. This was coupled with heavy taxation—Sayf al-Dawla and Nasir al-Dawla are said to have become the wealthiest princes in the Muslim world—which allowed them to maintain their lavish courts, but at a heavy price to their subjects' long-term prosperity. According to Kennedy "even the capital of Aleppo seems to have been more prosperous under the following Mirdasid dynasty than under the Hamdanids", and Bianquis suggests that Sayf al-Dawla's wars and economic policies both contributed to a permanent alteration in the landscape of the regions they ruled: "by destroying orchards and peri-urban market gardens, by enfeebling the once vibrant polyculture and by depopulating the sedentarised steppe terrain of the frontiers, the Hamdanids contributed to the erosion of the deforested land and to the seizure by semi-nomadic tribes of the agricultural lands of these regions in the 11th century".
3,575,929	No. 79 Squadron RAAF	1,088,981,456	Royal Australian Air Force flight training unit	[ "Cold War history of Australia", "Flight training", "Military Units in Western Australia", "Military units and formations established in 1943", "RAAF squadrons" ]	No. 79 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) flight training unit that has been formed on four occasions since 1943. The squadron was established in May 1943 as a fighter unit equipped with Supermarine Spitfires, and subsequently saw combat in the South West Pacific theatre of World War II. Between June 1943 and the end of the war in August 1945 it flew air defence patrols to protect Allied bases and ships, escorted Australian and United States aircraft, and attacked Japanese positions. The squadron was disbanded in November 1945, but was re-formed between 1962 and 1968 to operate CAC Sabres from Ubon Air Base in Thailand. In this role it contributed to the defence of Thailand against a feared attack from its neighbouring states and exercised with United States Air Force units. No. 79 Squadron was active again at RAAF Base Butterworth in Malaysia between 1986 and 1988 where it operated Mirage III fighters and a single DHC-4 Caribou transport during the period in which the RAAF's fighter squadrons were transitioning to new aircraft. The squadron was re-formed in its present incarnation during 1998 and is currently stationed at RAAF Base Pearce, where it has operated Hawk 127 jet training aircraft since 2000. The unit's main role is to provide introductory jet aircraft training to RAAF pilots as well as refresher training on the Hawk for experienced pilots. No. 79 Squadron also supports Australian Army and Royal Australian Navy training exercises in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. ## History ### World War II No. 79 Squadron was formed at RAAF Station Laverton in Victoria on 26 April 1943 under the command of flying ace Squadron Leader Alan Rawlinson. The squadron's intended role was to use Spitfire Vc fighters to provide 'high cover' escort for the RAAF's P-40 Kittyhawk-equipped units which were engaging Japanese forces in the New Guinea Campaign. This requirement was considered urgent, and the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal George Jones, directed that No. 79 Squadron receive priority for the RAAF's limited stock of Spitfires. The squadron moved to Wooloomanata Aerodrome several days after it was formed, and received its first Spitfires on 3 May. While at Wooloomanata No. 79 Squadron undertook training exercises to prepare for combat. The allocation of 24 Spitfires to the squadron led to No. 1 Wing RAAF, which was stationed near Darwin and responsible for protecting the town against air attack, to suffer a shortage of these aircraft during June and July. No. 79 Squadron began moving to Goodenough Island in the war zone off the north coast of Papua in mid-May 1943. Its advance party departed Wooloomanata on 17 May, followed by the pilots on 4 June. The main body of ground crew sailed from Sydney on 7 June. The squadron suffered its first fatality on 13 June, when Flight Lieutenant Virgil Brennan—an experienced fighter pilot who had shot down 10 Axis aircraft over Malta—died from wounds incurred when his Spitfire collided with another while they were landing at Cairns. During the unit's transit to Goodenough Island, No. 79 Squadron Spitfires were scrambled from Gurney Airfield at Milne Bay on several occasions between 19 and 25 June to intercept Japanese reconnaissance aircraft, but did not damage these intruders. The squadron completed its movement to Goodenough Island on 26 June and began flying air defence sorties from there as part of No. 73 Wing. It did not intercept any Japanese aircraft while operating from this base. The squadron moved to Kiriwina Airfield on Kiriwina between 9 and 18 August, from where it operated alongside the P-40 Kittyhawk-equipped No. 76 Squadron. This was the closest Allied airfield to the major Japanese base at Rabaul and was expected to be regularly attacked. No Japanese raids were made on the airfield during the first weeks of the squadron's deployment there, and its pilots were disappointed to not see combat while conducting patrols in support of United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) raids on Rabaul. The Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF) began a series of attacks on Goodenough Island and Kiriwina in early October, and the squadron claimed its first victory in 31 October when one of its Spitfires shot down a Kawasaki Ki-61 fighter 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Kiriwina (this type of aircraft was labelled the "Tony" by the Allies). After a period of training, No. 79 Squadron flew its first sweep over Japanese-held territory on 27 November when eight Spitfires were dispatched to Gasmata on New Britain. The next day one of its Spitfires shot down a Mitsubishi Ki-46 "Dinah" reconnaissance aircraft south of Kitava. As few Japanese attacks were made against Kiriwina, No. 79 Squadron's pilots became restive. The offensive patrols over New Britain improved their morale, however. Another Ki-61 was intercepted and shot down by a Spitfire on 21 December, and a Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" fighter was destroyed on the ground at Gasmata seven days later. A Spitfire was lost during a patrol over New Britain on 31 December. During January and February 1944 the squadron conducted offensive sweeps over New Britain, strafed Japanese positions and escorted Allied bombers. On 17 January, eight No. 79 Squadron Spitfires took part in an attack against a Japanese camp near Lindenhafen which involved 73 Australian aircraft; this was the largest RAAF operation of the war up to that time. Two Spitfires were lost during the operations in January and February. In early 1944 No. 73 Wing was selected to support the US Army's Admiralty Islands campaign. The 1st Cavalry Division began to land on the islands on 29 February, and the wing moved to Momote Airstrip on Los Negros Island in March 1944. No. 79 Squadron became operational there with 24 aircraft on the 29th of the month. From Momote, the squadron flew ground attack sorties in support of US troops until Japanese resistance ceased. No Japanese aircraft were encountered throughout this operation. By the end of April, No. 79 Squadron's main role was to escort Allied shipping, though flying was hampered by a shortage of spare parts. The squadron's commanding officer, Squadron Leader M.S. Bott, was killed in an accident on 16 April. Shipping escort patrols continued in May, but difficulties maintaining the Spitfires reduced the squadron to just two operational aircraft with another 12 awaiting repair. Due to a shortage of aircraft the squadron's flying activities were limited to training sorties between August and October, and aircraft availability continued to be a problem until late November. On 9 November, two Spitfires unsuccessfully attempted to intercept three Japanese A6M fighters which had raided Hyane Harbour; while the Japanese force had been tracked by Allied radar for 25 minutes prior to the attack, the Spitfires were scrambled only after the raiders had left the area. No. 79 Squadron subsequently maintained a three-aircraft patrol over Los Negros during daylight hours until 22 November. Two days later the squadron was released from operations ahead of moving to Darwin to be re-equipped with more modern Mark VIII Spitfires. No. 79 Squadron arrived at Sattler Airfield south of Darwin on 12 January 1945 and received its new aircraft shortly afterwards. It began to move to Morotai in the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) on 6 February and became operational there as part of No. 80 Wing at the end of March. The squadron conducted ground attack sorties against Japanese positions on nearby islands until the end of the war and also became responsible for Morotai's air defence from 28 May. Although no Japanese aircraft were encountered in this area, several Spitfires were shot down by anti-aircraft fire during ground attack sorties. Operations were hindered at times by personnel shortages, and many of the airmen who were posted to the unit were judged by the squadron's commander to have been inadequately trained. On 30 July No. 80 Wing was disbanded and the squadron became the first flying unit assigned to the newly formed No. 11 Group. This group was responsible for garrison duties in much of Borneo and the eastern NEI. No. 79 Squadron dropped leaflets on Japanese positions after Japan agreed to surrender on 15 August and returned to Australia in October 1945. It was disbanded at Oakey Airfield on 12 November that year. The unit suffered 13 fatal casualties during the war. In late 2010 the squadron was awarded battle honours for its World War II service in the Pacific, New Britain and Morotai. ### Ubon In May 1962 the Australian Government decided to deploy a squadron of CAC Sabre fighters to Thailand to bolster that country's defences. This action was undertaken as part of Australia's Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) commitment to defend Thailand against attack from its Communist neighbours, which was thought likely to occur. The United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand also deployed forces to Thailand in response to this perceived threat, though Malaysia and several other SEATO members chose not to be involved. On 28 May, Minister for Defence Athol Townley announced that Australia's contribution would be an RAAF squadron equipped with Sabre fighters. The eight aircraft, along with their pilots and ground crew, were drawn from No. 77 Squadron, which formed part of Australia's Commonwealth Strategic Reserve forces at RAAF Base Butterworth in Malaysia. To preserve Malaysia's neutrality, the Sabres were flown to Thailand via Singapore. This force was designated No. 79 Squadron while at Tengah Air Base in Singapore on 29 May. The squadron arrived at Ubon Air Base in the Ubon Ratchathani Province of eastern Thailand on 1 June 1962 and flew its first operational patrol four days later. Facilities at Ubon were initially spartan, and the pilots and ground crew lived in tents. Construction of permanent accommodation began under the supervision of No. 5 Airfield Construction Squadron in September 1962, and facilities were later further improved. Despite Malaysia's policy of neutrality in regards the conflict in Southeast Asia, No. 79 Squadron operated as a detachment of the RAAF force (No. 78 Wing) based at Butterworth throughout its time in Thailand. Aircraft and personnel were regularly transferred between Butterworth and Ubon, and most pilots' nominally six-month-long tours of duty in Thailand were broken into several shorter periods during which they and their aircraft were illegally rotated between the two bases. In March 1963 the Defence Committee, the highest decision-making body of the Department of Defence, recommended to Cabinet that No. 79 Squadron be withdrawn from Thailand on the grounds that the British and New Zealand contingents had left the country. The Cabinet's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee decided against this on 28 March as it was believed that maintaining the squadron at Ubon helped maintain good relationships with Thailand and the United States. The Thai Government was discreetly asked if it would prefer a different form of assistance. Throughout its period at Ubon, No. 79 Squadron formed part of an international force tasked with defending Thailand's air space against intruders. At the start of the deployment, tensions in Thailand were such that the squadron's personnel believed that they were at war. While the situation became more stable from late July 1962, No. 79 Squadron maintained armed aircraft on alert at all times and scrambled Sabres when unidentified aircraft were detected. No air attacks were conducted against Thailand, however, and the unidentified aircraft that were intercepted almost always proved to be from the Central Intelligence Agency-controlled Air America. In January 1965 two Sabres accidentally overflew North Vietnam after becoming lost during a training sortie but returned safely to Ubon. From early April 1965, Ubon became an important base for United States Air Force (USAF) attacks on North Vietnam during the Vietnam War, and No. 79 Squadron became part of an integrated air defence system controlled by the USAF on 25 June. This changed the status of the squadron's presence in Thailand, and RAAF Headquarters assessed that the North Vietnamese would be justified in regarding it as forming part of the air campaign against their country. Due to the threat of counter-attacks on Ubon, the base's ground defences were upgraded during 1966; this included the construction of defensive positions for No. 79 Squadron's aircraft and personnel as well as the deployment of a detachment of RAAF airfield defence guards. While the squadron did not play an active role in the war, it supported the US effort by providing air defence for Ubon and taking part in exercises with USAF aircraft in which the Sabres adopted tactics used by North Vietnamese MiG-17 fighters. In December 1965 the commander of the United States Pacific Air Forces, General Hunter Harris Jr., wrote to the chief of the RAAF, Air Marshal Alister Murdoch, to suggest that No. 79 Squadron join the USAF operations against the Ho Chi Minh trail in southern Laos which were being covertly conducted by Ubon-based aircraft. The Thai Government indicated that it would allow the squadron to be used for this purpose as long as the Australian operations were conducted without a formal agreement or any public announcement. On 2 March 1966 the Australian Cabinet decided to reinforce the Army and RAAF force in South Vietnam, but rejected the option of expanding the scope of RAAF operations in Thailand. This decision was made on the grounds that the expanded force in South Vietnam and existing deployments to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore represented the maximum forces Australia could commit to the region. By mid-1968, No. 79 Squadron no longer had a clear role at Ubon. The USAF had sufficient fighters based in Thailand to defend the country and was reluctant to use the Australian fighters—which were now regarded as obsolete—to intercept potentially hostile aircraft, as the squadron's rules of engagement did not allow it to pursue contacts that left Thai airspace. As a result, the Australian military's chiefs of staff determined that the RAAF presence in Thailand had outlived its political and military usefulness and decided to withdraw the squadron without replacement. No. 79 Squadron was taken off alert status on 26 July and disbanded at the end of the month. On 31 March 2011 it received a battle honour for its deployment to Ubon between May 1962 and August 1968. ### Butterworth On 31 March 1986, No. 79 Squadron was re-formed at RAAF Base Butterworth as a temporary measure to cover part of the period while the RAAF's three fighter squadrons were transitioning from Mirage IIIs to F/A-18 Hornets. The squadron inherited all of No. 3 Squadron's twelve Mirage III fighters and most of its personnel; the remainder of No. 3 Squadron returned to Australia to be re-equipped with Hornets. As well as the Mirage IIIs, the squadron operated a single DHC-4 Caribou transport that was also based at Butterworth. In its new incarnation, No. 79 Squadron continued the air defence and training duties for which No. 3 Squadron had been responsible at Butterworth. It participated in routine training exercises in Southeast Asia, which included making regular deployments to Paya Lebar Air Base in Singapore to train with the Republic of Singapore Air Force. In May 1987 the squadron deployed to Clarke Air Force Base in the Philippines to participate in the annual Cope Thunder exercise with USAF units. It also exercised with No. 77 Squadron's new F/A-18 Hornets in April 1988 when that unit visited Butterworth. The Caribou transport was used to support Australian Army units in Malaysia and also flew training sorties to neighbouring countries. By early 1988 both No. 3 and No. 77 Squadrons had successfully converted to the F/A-18, and No. 79 Squadron was no longer required. Preparations to return the unit's Mirages to Australia took place during the first months of 1988, and on 3 May they departed Butterworth. As the RAAF's F/A-18 Hornet squadrons were to be based in Australia, this marked the end of the permanent deployment of RAAF fighters to Butterworth that had begun in mid-1958. No. 79 Squadron's aircraft commemorated the occasion by conducting a spectacular low-altitude flypast of the base, the first leg of which commenced at transonic speed. The aircraft were flown to Woomera in central Australia to be placed in storage via Paya Lebar, Bali, Darwin and RAAF Base Tindal. Most of No. 79 Squadron's ground crew returned to Australia in late May, and the squadron was formally disbanded at Butterworth on 30 June 1988. ### Training unit No. 79 Squadron was re-formed a third time on 1 July 1998 as a training unit located at RAAF Base Pearce near Perth in Western Australia. The squadron was re-established by separating No. 25 Squadron's Permanent Air Force (full-time) component from its Air Force Reserve (part-time reservist) personnel and responsibilities. The squadron initially operated Aermacchi MB-326 aircraft before being re-equipped with Hawk 127 aircraft between 7 December 2000 and 4 March 2001. In 2000 No. 78 Wing was re-formed and assumed command of No. 76 and No. 79 Squadrons. The Hawks experienced serviceability problems during their first 18 months with the squadron, but these were eventually rectified. In October 2003 two No. 79 Squadron Hawks conducted a tour of Australia to belatedly commemorate the unit's 60th anniversary. As part of this tour the aircrew visited Alan Rawlinson at his home at Naracoorte, South Australia, and later conducted a flyover of the town in his honour. The squadron made its first overseas deployment in almost twenty years during April 2006 when six Hawks and 52 personnel were dispatched to RMAF Base Butterworth to take part in Exercise Bersama Shield. This was also the first time RAAF Hawks had operated overseas. As of May 2010, No. 79 Squadron was equipped with 15 of the RAAF's 33 Hawks. In 2011, the squadron was organised into a Training Flight, Operations Flight, and Maintenance Flight. A program to modernise all of the RAAF's Hawks to a similar standard to the Royal Air Force's Hawk T.2 aircraft began in 2014. No. 79 Squadron's Maintenance Flight was disbanded in July 2016 when responsibility for support services for the Hawks was transferred to BAE Systems. The squadron began using the upgraded Hawks in July 2017. The unit's colours were consecrated at a ceremony held at RAAF Base Pearce on 20 November 2020. RAAF units typically receive colours after 25 years of service, and it took No. 79 Squadron until 2020 to achieve this as a result of having been disbanded and reformed on multiple occasions. In 2022 the Australian Government announced that the RAAF's fleet of Hawks was to be further upgraded and retained in service until 2031. ## Current role In its current role No. 79 Squadron's main responsibility is to provide introductory fast jet training to pilots who have recently graduated from No. 2 Flying Training School. During this training, new pilots who have been selected to fly jet aircraft are taught to operate Hawks and provided with initial instruction on jet aircraft combat tactics. In 2004, each of No. 79 Squadron's training courses lasted for twelve weeks. After completing their initial jet aircraft training, pilots transfer to No. 76 Squadron at RAAF Base Williamtown for advanced instruction before being posted to one of the RAAF's operational conversion units. No. 79 Squadron also provides introductory training on fast jets for RAAF air combat officers who have been selected to serve on board F/A-18F Super Hornets. The squadron trained RAAF personnel selected to serve as navigators on board F-111 strike aircraft until these aircraft were replaced with Super Hornets in 2010. No. 79 Squadron also provides refresher training on the Hawk aircraft for experienced fighter pilots. In addition to its pilot training responsibilities, No. 79 Squadron's Operations Flight provides aircraft to support Navy and Army training exercises. These duties are undertaken by experienced pilots who did not successfully complete operational conversion training, and also by new pilots who have completed training with No. 76 Squadron and been posted back to No. 79 Squadron until a place becomes available in an operational conversion course. No. 76 Squadron has a similar Operations Flight. Most of No. 79 Squadron's exercises with the Navy take place off the coast of Western Australia, but aircraft are occasionally deployed to Darwin for this task.
18,953,024	Paleocene	1,172,888,632	First epoch of the Paleogene Period	[ "Geological epochs", "Paleocene", "Paleogene geochronology" ]	The Paleocene, (IPA: /ˈpæli.əsiːn, -i.oʊ-, ˈpeɪli-/ PAL-ee-ə-seen, -⁠ee-oh-, PAY-lee-) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek παλαιός palaiós meaning "old" and the Eocene Epoch (which succeeds the Paleocene), translating to "the old part of the Eocene". The epoch is bracketed by two major events in Earth's history. The K–Pg extinction event, brought on by an asteroid impact (Chicxulub impact) and possibly volcanism (Deccan Traps), marked the beginning of the Paleocene and killed off 75% of species, most famously the non-avian dinosaurs. The end of the epoch was marked by the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), which was a major climatic event wherein about 2,500–4,500 gigatons of carbon were released into the atmosphere and ocean systems, causing a spike in global temperatures and ocean acidification. In the Paleocene, the continents of the Northern Hemisphere were still connected via some land bridges; and South America, Antarctica, and Australia had not completely separated yet. The Rocky Mountains were being uplifted, the Americas had not yet joined, the Indian Plate had begun its collision with Asia, and the North Atlantic Igneous Province was forming in the third-largest magmatic event of the last 150 million years. In the oceans, the thermohaline circulation probably was much different from what it is today, with downwellings occurring in the North Pacific rather than the North Atlantic, and water density mainly being controlled by salinity rather than temperature. The K–Pg extinction event caused a floral and faunal turnover of species, with previously abundant species being replaced by previously uncommon ones. In the Paleocene, with a global average temperature of about 24–25 °C (75–77 °F), compared to 14 °C (57 °F) in more recent times, the Earth had a greenhouse climate without permanent ice sheets at the poles, like the preceding Mesozoic. As such, there were forests worldwide—including at the poles—but they had low species richness in regards to plant life, and were populated by mainly small creatures that were rapidly evolving to take advantage of the recently emptied Earth. Though some animals attained great size, most remained rather small. The forests grew quite dense in the general absence of large herbivores. Mammals proliferated in the Paleocene, and the earliest placental and marsupial mammals are recorded from this time, but most Paleocene taxa have ambiguous affinities. In the seas, ray-finned fish rose to dominate open ocean and recovering reef ecosystems. ## Etymology The word "Paleocene" was first used by French paleobotanist and geologist Wilhelm Philipp Schimper in 1874 while describing deposits near Paris (spelled "Paléocène" in his treatise). By this time, Italian geologist Giovanni Arduino had divided the history of life on Earth into the Primary (Paleozoic), Secondary (Mesozoic), and Tertiary in 1759; French geologist Jules Desnoyers had proposed splitting off the Quaternary from the Tertiary in 1829; and Scottish geologist Charles Lyell (ignoring the Quaternary) had divided the Tertiary Epoch into the Eocene, Miocene, Pliocene, and New Pliocene (Holocene) Periods in 1833. British geologist John Phillips had proposed the Cenozoic in 1840 in place of the Tertiary, and Austrian paleontologist Moritz Hörnes had introduced the Paleogene for the Eocene and Neogene for the Miocene and Pliocene in 1853. After decades of inconsistent usage, the newly formed International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), in 1969, standardized stratigraphy based on the prevailing opinions in Europe: the Cenozoic Era subdivided into the Tertiary and Quaternary sub-eras, and the Tertiary subdivided into the Paleogene and Neogene Periods. In 1978, the Paleogene was officially defined as the Paleocene, Eocene, and Oligocene Epochs; and the Neogene as the Miocene and Pliocene Epochs. In 1989, Tertiary and Quaternary were removed from the time scale due to the arbitrary nature of their boundary, but Quaternary was reinstated in 2009. The term "Paleocene" is a portmanteau combination of the Ancient Greek palaios παλαιός meaning "old", and the word "Eocene", and so means "the old part of the Eocene". The Eocene, in turn, is derived from Ancient Greek eo—eos ἠώς meaning "dawn", and—cene kainos καινός meaning "new" or "recent", as the epoch saw the dawn of recent, or modern, life. Paleocene did not come into broad usage until around 1920. In North America and mainland Europe, the standard spelling is "Paleocene", whereas it is "Palaeocene" in the UK. Geologist T. C. R. Pulvertaft has argued that the latter spelling is incorrect because this would imply either a translation of "old recent" or a derivation from "pala" and "Eocene", which would be incorrect because the prefix palæo- uses the ligature æ instead of "a" and "e" individually, so only both characters or neither should be dropped, not just one. ## Geology ### Boundaries The Paleocene Epoch is the 10 million year time interval directly after the K–Pg extinction event, which ended the Cretaceous Period and the Mesozoic Era, and initiated the Cenozoic Era and the Paleogene Period. It is divided into three ages: the Danian spanning 66 to 61.6 million years ago (mya), the Selandian spanning 61.6 to 59.2 mya, and the Thanetian spanning 59.2 to 56 mya. It is succeeded by the Eocene. The K–Pg boundary is clearly defined in the fossil record in numerous places around the world by a high-iridium band, as well as discontinuities with fossil flora and fauna. It is generally thought that a 10 to 15 km (6 to 9 mi) wide asteroid impact, forming the Chicxulub Crater in the Yucatán Peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico, and Deccan Trap volcanism caused a cataclysmic event at the boundary resulting in the extinction of 75% of all species. The Paleocene ended with the Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum, a short period of intense warming and ocean acidification brought about by the release of carbon en masse into the atmosphere and ocean systems, which led to a mass extinction of 30–50% of benthic foraminifera–planktonic species which are used as bioindicators of the health of a marine ecosystem—one of the largest in the Cenozoic. This event happened around 55.8 mya, and was one of the most significant periods of global change during the Cenozoic. ### Stratigraphy Geologists divide the rocks of the Paleocene into a stratigraphic set of smaller rock units called stages, each formed during corresponding time intervals called ages. Stages can be defined globally or regionally. For global stratigraphic correlation, the ICS ratify global stages based on a Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) from a single formation (a stratotype) identifying the lower boundary of the stage. In 1989, the ICS decided to split the Paleocene into three stages: the Danian, Selandian, and Thanetian. The Danian was first defined in 1847 by German-Swiss geologist Pierre Jean Édouard Desor based on the Danish chalks at Stevns Klint and Faxse, and was part of the Cretaceous, succeeded by the Tertiary Montian Stage. In 1982, after it was shown that the Danian and the Montian are the same, the ICS decided to define the Danian as starting with the K–Pg boundary, thus ending the practice of including the Danian in the Cretaceous. In 1991, the GSSP was defined as a well-preserved section in the El Haria Formation near El Kef, Tunisia, , and the proposal was officially published in 2006. The Selandian and Thanetian are both defined in Itzurun beach by the Basque town of Zumaia, , as the area is a continuous early Santonian to early Eocene sea cliff outcrop. The Paleocene section is an essentially complete, exposed record 165 m (541 ft) thick, mainly composed of alternating hemipelagic sediments deposited at a depth of about 1,000 m (3,300 ft). The Danian deposits are sequestered into the Aitzgorri Limestone Formation, and the Selandian and early Thanetian into the Itzurun Formation. The Itzurun Formation is divided into groups A and B corresponding to the two stages respectively. The two stages were ratified in 2008, and this area was chosen because of its completion, low risk of erosion, proximity to the original areas the stages were defined, accessibility, and the protected status of the area due to its geological significance. The Selandian was first proposed by Danish geologist Alfred Rosenkrantz in 1924 based on a section of fossil-rich glauconitic marls overlain by gray clay which unconformably overlies Danian chalk and limestone. The area is now subdivided into the Æbelø Formation, Holmehus Formation, and the Østerrende Clay. The beginning of this stage was defined by the end of carbonate rock deposition from an open ocean environment in the North Sea region (which had been going on for the previous 40 million years). The Selandian deposits in this area are directly overlain by the Eocene Fur Formation—the Thanetian was not represented here—and this discontinuity in the deposition record is why the GSSP was moved to Zumaia. Today, the beginning of the Selandian is marked by the appearances of the nannofossils Fasciculithus tympaniformis, Neochiastozygus perfectus, and Chiasmolithus edentulus, though some foraminifera are used by various authors. The Thanetian was first proposed by Swiss geologist Eugène Renevier, in 1873; he included the south England Thanet, Woolwich, and Reading formations. In 1880, French geologist Gustave Frédéric Dollfus narrowed the definition to just the Thanet Formation. The Thanetian begins a little after the mid-Paleocene biotic event—a short-lived climatic event caused by an increase in methane—recorded at Itzurun as a dark 1 m (3.3 ft) interval from a reduction of calcium carbonate. At Itzurun, it begins about 29 m (95 ft) above the base of the Selandian, and is marked by the first appearance of the algae Discoaster and a diversification of Heliolithus, though the best correlation is in terms of paleomagnetism. A chron is the occurrence of a geomagnetic reversal—when the North and South poles switch polarities. Chron 1 (C1n) is defined as modern day to about 780,000 years ago, and the n denotes "normal" as in the polarity of today, and an r "reverse" for the opposite polarity. The beginning of the Thanetian is best correlated with the C26r/C26n reversal. ### Mineral and hydrocarbon deposits Several economically important coal deposits formed during the Paleocene, such as the sub-bituminous Fort Union Formation in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana, which produces 43% of American coal; the Wilcox Group in Texas, the richest deposits of the Gulf Coastal Plain; and the Cerrejón mine in Colombia, the largest open-pit mine in the world. Paleocene coal has been mined extensively in Svalbard, Norway, since near the beginning of the 20th century, and late Paleocene and early Eocene coal is widely distributed across the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and northern Siberia. In the North Sea, Paleocene-derived natural gas reserves, when they were discovered, totaled approximately 2.23 trillion m<sup>3</sup> (7.89 trillion ft<sup>3</sup>), and oil in place 13.54 billion barrels. Important phosphate deposits—predominantly of francolite—near Métlaoui, Tunisia were formed from the late Paleocene to the early Eocene. ### Impact craters Impact craters formed in the Paleocene include: the Connolly Basin crater in Western Australia less than 60 mya, the Texan Marquez crater 58 mya, and possibly the Jordan Jabel Waqf as Suwwan crater which dates to between 56 and 37 mya. Vanadium-rich osbornite from the Isle of Skye, Scotland, dating to 60 mya may be impact ejecta. Craters were also formed near the K–Pg boundary, the largest the Mexican Chicxulub crater whose impact was a major precipitator of the K–Pg extinction, and also the Ukrainian Boltysh crater, dated to 65.4 mya the Canadian Eagle Butte crater (though it may be younger), the Vista Alegre crater (though this may date to about 115 mya). Silicate glass spherules along the Atlantic coast of the U.S. indicate a meteor impact in the region at the PETM. The buried Hiawatha Glacier crater in Greenland has been dated to the late Paleocene, around 58 mya. ## Paleogeography ### Paleotectonics During the Paleocene, the continents continued to drift toward their present positions. In the Northern Hemisphere, the former components of Laurasia (North America and Eurasia) were, at times, connected via land bridges: Beringia (at 65.5 and 58 mya) between North America and East Asia, the De Geer route (from 71 to 63 mya) between Greenland and Scandinavia, the Thulean route (at 57 and 55.8 mya) between North America and Western Europe via Greenland, and the Turgai route connecting Europe with Asia (which were otherwise separated by the Turgai Strait at this time). The Laramide orogeny, which began in the Late Cretaceous, continued to uplift the Rocky Mountains; it ended at the end of the Paleocene. Because of this and a drop in sea levels resulting from tectonic activity, the Western Interior Seaway, which had divided the continent of North America for much of the Cretaceous, had receded. Between about 60.5 and 54.5 mya, there was heightened volcanic activity in the North Atlantic region—the third largest magmatic event in the last 150 million years—creating the North Atlantic Igneous Province. The proto-Iceland hotspot is sometimes cited as being responsible for the initial volcanism, though rifting and resulting volcanism have also contributed. This volcanism may have contributed to the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean and seafloor spreading, the divergence of the Greenland Plate from the North American Plate, and, climatically, the PETM by dissociating methane clathrate crystals on the seafloor resulting in the mass release of carbon. North and South America remained separated by the Central American Seaway, though an island arc (the South Central American Arc) had already formed about 73 mya. The Caribbean Large Igneous Province (now the Caribbean Plate), which had formed from the Galápagos hotspot in the Pacific in the latest Cretaceous, was moving eastward as the North American and South American plates were getting pushed in the opposite direction due to the opening of the Atlantic (strike-slip tectonics). This motion would eventually uplift the Isthmus of Panama by 2.6 mya. The Caribbean Plate continued moving until about 50 mya when it reached its current position. The components of the former southern supercontinent Gondwanaland in the Southern Hemisphere continued to drift apart, but Antarctica was still connected to South America and Australia. Africa was heading north towards Europe, and the Indian subcontinent towards Asia, which would eventually close the Tethys Ocean. The Indian and Eurasian Plates began colliding sometime in the Paleocene or Eocene with uplift (and a land connection) beginning in the Miocene about 24–17 mya. There is evidence that some plants and animals could migrate between India and Asia during the Paleocene, possibly via intermediary island arcs. ### Paleoceanography In the modern thermohaline circulation, warm tropical water becomes colder and saltier at the poles and sinks (downwelling or deep water formation) that occurs at the North Atlantic near the North Pole and the Southern Ocean near the Antarctic Peninsula. In the Paleocene, the waterways between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic were somewhat restricted, so North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)—which circulates cold water from the Arctic towards the equator—had not yet formed, and so deep water formation probably did not occur in the North Atlantic. The Arctic and Atlantic would not be connected by sufficiently deep waters until the early to middle Eocene. There is evidence of deep water formation in the North Pacific to at least a depth of about 2,900 m (9,500 ft). The elevated global deep water temperatures in the Paleocene may have been too warm for thermohaline circulation to be predominately heat driven. It is possible that the greenhouse climate shifted precipitation patterns, such that the Southern Hemisphere was wetter than the Northern, or the Southern experienced less evaporation than the Northern. In either case, this would have made the Northern more saline than the Southern, creating a density difference and a downwelling in the North Pacific traveling southward. Deep water formation may have also occurred in the South Atlantic. It is largely unknown how global currents could have affected global temperature. The formation of the Northern Component Waters by Greenland in the Eocene—the predecessor of the AMOC—may have caused an intense warming in the North Hemisphere and cooling in the Southern, as well as an increase in deep water temperatures. In the PETM, it is possible deep water formation occurred in saltier tropical waters and moved polewards, which would increase global surface temperatures by warming the poles. Also, Antarctica was still connected to South America and Australia, and, because of this, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current—which traps cold water around the continent and prevents warm equatorial water from entering—had not yet formed. Its formation may have been related in the freezing of the continent. Warm coastal upwellings at the poles would have inhibited permanent ice cover. Conversely, it is possible deep water circulation was not a major contributor to the greenhouse climate, and deep water temperatures more likely change as a response to global temperature change rather than affecting it. In the Arctic, coastal upwelling may have been largely temperature and wind-driven. In summer, the land surface temperature was probably higher than oceanic temperature, and the opposite was true in the winter, which is consistent with monsoon seasons in Asia. Open-ocean upwelling may have also been possible. ## Climate ### Average climate The Paleocene climate was, much like in the Cretaceous, tropical or subtropical, and the poles were temperate and ice free with an average global temperature of roughly 24–25 °C (75–77 °F). For comparison, the average global temperature for the period between 1951 and 1980 was 14 °C (57 °F). A 2019 study identified changes in orbital eccentricity as the dominant drivers of climate between the late Cretaceous and the early Eocene. Global deep water temperatures in the Paleocene likely ranged from 8–12 °C (46–54 °F), compared to 0–3 °C (32–37 °F) in modern day. Based on the upper limit, average sea surface temperatures at 60°N and S would have been the same as deep sea temperatures, at 30°N and S about 23 °C (73 °F), and at the equator about 28 °C (82 °F). The Paleocene foraminifera assemblage globally indicates a defined deep-water thermocline (a warmer mass of water closer to the surface sitting on top of a colder mass nearer the bottom) persisting throughout the epoch. The Atlantic foraminifera indicate a general warming of sea surface temperature–with tropical taxa present in higher latitude areas–until the Late Paleocene when the thermocline became steeper and tropical foraminifera retreated back to lower latitudes. Early Paleocene atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> levels at what is now Castle Rock, Colorado, were calculated to be between 352 and 1,110 parts per million (ppm), with a median of 616 ppm. Based on this and estimated plant-gas exchange rates and global surface temperatures, the climate sensitivity was calculated to be +3 °C when CO<sub>2</sub> levels doubled, compared to 7° following the formation of ice at the poles. CO<sub>2</sub> levels alone may have been insufficient in maintaining the greenhouse climate, and some positive feedbacks must have been active, such as some combination of cloud, aerosol, or vegetation related processes. The poles probably had a cool temperate climate; northern Antarctica, Australia, the southern tip of South America, what is now the US and Canada, eastern Siberia, and Europe warm temperate; middle South America, southern and northern Africa, South India, Middle America, and China arid; and northern South America, central Africa, North India, middle Siberia, and what is now the Mediterranean Sea tropical. ### Climatic events The effects of the meteor impact and volcanism 66 mya and the climate across the K–Pg boundary were likely fleeting, and climate reverted to normal in a short time frame. The freezing temperatures probably reversed after 3 years and returned to normal within decades, sulfuric acid aerosols causing acid rain probably dissipated after 10 years, and dust from the impact blocking out sunlight and inhibiting photosynthesis would have lasted up to a year though potential global wildfires raging for several years would have released more particulates into the atmosphere. For the following half million years, the carbon isotope gradient—a difference in the <sup>13</sup>C/<sup>12</sup>C ratio between surface and deep ocean water, causing carbon to cycle into the deep sea—may have shut down. This, termed a "Strangelove ocean", indicates low oceanic productivity; resultant decreased phytoplankton activity may have led to a reduction in cloud seeds and, thus, marine cloud brightening, causing global temperatures to increase by 6 °C (CLAW hypothesis). The Dan–C2 Event 65.2 mya in the early Danian spanned about 100,000 years, and was characterized by an increase in carbon, particularly in the deep sea. Since the mid-Maastrichtian, more and more carbon had been sequestered in the deep sea possibly due to a global cooling trend and increased circulation into the deep sea. The Dan–C2 event may represent a release of this carbon after deep sea temperatures rose to a certain threshold, as warmer water can dissolve a lesser amount of carbon. Savanna may have temporarily displaced forestland in this interval. Around 62.2 mya in the late Danian, there was a warming event and evidence of ocean acidification associated with an increase in carbon; at this time, there was major seafloor spreading in the Atlantic and volcanic activity along the southeast margin of Greenland. The Latest Danian Event, also known as the Top Chron C27n Event, lasted about 200,000 years and resulted in a 1.6–2.8 °C increase in temperatures throughout the water column. Though the temperature in the latest Danian varied at about the same magnitude, this event coincides with an increase of carbon. About 60.5 mya at the Danian/Selandian boundary, there is evidence of anoxia spreading out into coastal waters, and a drop in sea levels which is most likely explained as an increase in temperature and evaporation, as there was no ice at the poles to lock up water. During the mid-Paleocene biotic event (MPBE) around 59 mya (roughly 50,000 years before the Selandian/Thanetian boundary), the temperature spiked probably due to a mass release of the deep sea methane hydrate into the atmosphere and ocean systems. Carbon was probably output for 10–11,000 years, and the aftereffects likely subsided around 52–53,000 years later. There is also evidence this occurred again 300,000 years later in the early Thanetian dubbed MPBE-2. Respectively, about 83 and 132 gigatons of methane-derived carbon were ejected into the atmosphere, which suggests a 2–3 °C (3.6–5.4 °F) rise in temperature, and likely caused heightened seasonality and less stable environmental conditions. It may have also caused an increase of grass in some areas. #### Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum The Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum was an approximately 200,000-year-long event where the global average temperature rose by some 5 to 8 °C (9 to 14 °F), and mid-latitude and polar areas may have exceeded modern tropical temperatures of 24–29 °C (75–84 °F). This was due to an ejection of 2,500–4,500 gigatons of carbon into the atmosphere, most commonly explained as the perturbation and release of methane clathrate deposits in the North Atlantic from tectonic activity and resultant increase in bottom water temperatures. Other proposed hypotheses include methane release from the heating of organic matter at the seafloor rather than methane clathrates, or melting permafrost. The duration of carbon output is controversial, but most likely about 2,500 years. This carbon also interfered with the carbon cycle and caused ocean acidification, and potentially altered and slowed down ocean currents, the latter leading to the expansion of oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) in the deep sea. In surface water, OMZs could have also been caused from the formation of strong thermoclines preventing oxygen inflow, and higher temperatures equated to higher productivity leading to higher oxygen usurpation. Further, expanding OMZs could have caused the proliferation of sulfate-reducing microorganisms which create highly toxic hydrogen sulfide H<sub>2</sub>S as a waste product. During the event, the volume of sulfidic water may have been 10–20% of total ocean volume, in comparison to today's 1%. This may have also caused chemocline upwellings along continents and the dispersal of H<sub>2</sub>S into the atmosphere. During the PETM there was a temporary dwarfing of mammals apparently caused by the upward excursion in temperature. ## Flora The warm, wet climate supported tropical and subtropical forests worldwide, mainly populated by conifers and broad-leafed trees. In Patagonia, the landscape supported tropical rainforests, cloud rainforests, mangrove forests, swamp forests, savannas, and sclerophyllous forests. In the Colombian Cerrejón Formation, fossil flora belong to the same families as modern day flora—such as palm trees, legumes, aroids, and malvales—and the same is true in the North Dakotan Almont/Beicegel Creek—such as Ochnaceae, Cyclocarya, and Ginkgo cranei—indicating the same floral families have characterized South American rainforests and the American Western Interior since the Paleocene. The extinction of large herbivorous dinosaurs may have allowed the forests to grow quite dense, and there is little evidence of wide open plains. Plants evolved several techniques to cope with high plant density, such as buttressing to better absorb nutrients and compete with other plants, increased height to reach sunlight, larger diaspore in seeds to provide added nutrition on the dark forest floor, and epiphytism where a plant grows on another plant in response to less space on the forest floor. Despite increasing density—which could act as fuel—wildfires decreased in frequency from the Cretaceous to the early Eocene as the atmospheric oxygen levels decreased to modern day levels, though they may have been more intense. ### Recovery There was a major die-off of plant species over the boundary; for example, in the Williston Basin of North Dakota, an estimated 1/3 to 3/5 of plant species went extinct. The K–Pg extinction event ushered in a floral turnover; for example, the once commonplace Araucariaceae conifers were almost fully replaced by Podocarpaceae conifers, and the Cheirolepidiaceae, a group of conifers that had dominated during most of the Mesozoic but had become rare during the Late Cretaceous became dominant trees in Patagonia, before going extinct. Some plant communities, such as those in eastern North America, were already experiencing an extinction event in the late Maastrichtian, particularly in the 1 million years before the K–Pg extinction event. The "disaster plants" that refilled the emptied landscape crowded out many Cretaceous plants, and resultantly, many went extinct by the middle Paleocene. The strata immediately overlaying the K–Pg extinction event are especially rich in fern fossils. Ferns are often the first species to colonize areas damaged by forest fires, so this "fern spike" may mark the recovery of the biosphere following the impact (which caused blazing fires worldwide). The diversifying herb flora of the early Paleocene either represent pioneer species which re-colonized the recently emptied landscape, or a response to the increased amount of shade provided in a forested landscape. Lycopods, ferns, and angiosperm shrubs may have been important components of the Paleocene understory. In general, the forests of the Paleocene were species-poor, and diversity did not fully recover until the end of the Paleocene. For example, the floral diversity of what is now the Holarctic region (comprising most of the Northern Hemisphere) was mainly early members of Ginkgo, Metasequoia, Glyptostrobus, Macginitiea, Platanus, Carya, Ampelopsis, and Cercidiphyllum. Patterns in plant recovery varied significantly with latitude, climate, and altitude. For example, what is now Castle Rock, Colorado featured a rich rainforest only 1.4 million years after the event, probably due to a rain shadow effect causing regular monsoon seasons. Conversely, low plant diversity and a lack of specialization in insects in the Colombian Cerrejón Formation, dated to 58 mya, indicates the ecosystem was still recovering from the K–Pg extinction event 7 million years later. ### Angiosperms Flowering plants (angiosperms), which had become dominant among forest taxa by the middle Cretaceous 110–90 mya, continued to develop and proliferate, more so to take advantage of the recently emptied niches and an increase in rainfall. Along with them coevolved the insects that fed on these plants and pollinated them. Predation by insects was especially high during the PETM. Many fruit-bearing plants appeared in the Paleocene in particular, probably to take advantage of the newly evolving birds and mammals for seed dispersal. In what is now the Gulf Coast, angiosperm diversity increased slowly in the early Paleocene, and more rapidly in the middle and late Paleocene. This may have been because the effects of the K–Pg extinction event were still to some extent felt in the early Paleocene, the early Paleocene may not have had as many open niches, early angiosperms may not have been able to evolve at such an accelerated rate as later angiosperms, low diversity equates to lower evolution rates, or there was not much angiosperm migration into the region in the early Paleocene. Over the K–Pg extinction event, angiosperms had a higher extinction rate than gymnosperms (which include conifers, cycads, and relatives) and pteridophytes (ferns, horsetails, and relatives); zoophilous angiosperms (those that relied on animals for pollination) had a higher rate than anemophilous angiosperms; and evergreen angiosperms had a higher rate than deciduous angiosperms as deciduous plants can become dormant in harsh conditions. In the Gulf Coast, angiosperms experienced another extinction event during the PETM, which they recovered quickly from in the Eocene through immigration from the Caribbean and Europe. During this time, the climate became warmer and wetter, and it is possible that angiosperms evolved to become stenotopic by this time, able to inhabit a narrow range of temperature and moisture; or, since the dominant floral ecosystem was a highly integrated and complex closed-canopy rainforest by the middle Paleocene, the plant ecosystems were more vulnerable to climate change. There is some evidence that, in the Gulf Coast, there was an extinction event in the late Paleocene preceding the PETM, which may have been due to the aforementioned vulnerability of complex rainforests, and the ecosystem may have been disrupted by only a small change in climate. ### Polar forests The warm Paleocene climate, much like that of the Cretaceous, allowed for diverse polar forests. Whereas precipitation is a major factor in plant diversity nearer the equator, polar plants had to adapt to varying light availability (polar nights and midnight suns) and temperatures. Because of this, plants from both poles independently evolved some similar characteristics, such as broad leaves. Plant diversity at both poles increased throughout the Paleocene, especially at the end, in tandem with the increasing global temperature. At the North Pole, woody angiosperms had become the dominant plants, a reversal from the Cretaceous where herbs proliferated. The Iceberg Bay Formation on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut (latitude 75–80° N) shows remains of a late Paleocene dawn redwood forest, the canopy reaching around 32 m (105 ft), and a climate similar to the Pacific Northwest. On the Alaska North Slope, Metasequoia was the dominant conifer. Much of the diversity represented migrants from nearer the equator. Deciduousness was dominant, probably to conserve energy by retroactively shedding leaves and retaining some energy rather than having them die from frostbite. At the South Pole, due to the increasing isolation of Antarctica, many plant taxa were endemic to the continent instead of migrating down. Patagonian flora may have originated in Antarctica. The climate was much cooler than in the Late Cretaceous, though frost probably was not common in at least coastal areas. East Antarctica was likely warm and humid. Because of this, evergreen forests could proliferate as, in the absence of frost and a low probability of leaves dying, it was more energy efficient to retain leaves than to regrow them every year. One possibility is that the interior of the continent favored deciduous trees, though prevailing continental climates may have produced winters warm enough to support evergreen forests. As in the Cretaceous, podocarpaceous conifers, Nothofagus, and Proteaceae angiosperms were common. ## Fauna In the K–Pg extinction event, every land animal over 25 kg (55 lb) was wiped out, leaving open several niches at the beginning of the epoch. ### Mammals Mammals had first appeared in the Late Triassic, and remained small and nocturnal throughout the Mesozoic to avoid competition with dinosaurs (nocturnal bottleneck), though, by the Middle Jurassic, they had branched out into several habitats—such as subterranean, arboreal, and aquatic— and the largest known Mesozoic mammal, Repenomamus robustus reached about 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in length and 12–14 kg (26–31 lb) in weight–comparable to the modern day Virginia opossum. Though some mammals could sporadically venture out in daytime (cathemerality) by roughly 10 million years before the K–Pg extinction event, they only became strictly diurnal (active in the daytime) sometime after. In general, Paleocene mammals retained this small size until near the end of the epoch, and, consequently, early mammal bones are not well preserved in the fossil record, and most of what is known comes from fossil teeth. Multituberculates, a now-extinct rodent-like group not closely related to any modern mammal, were the most successful group of mammals in the Mesozoic, and they reached peak diversity in the early Paleocene. During this time, multituberculate taxa had a wide range of dental complexity, which correlates to a broader range in diet for the group as a whole. Multituberculates declined in the late Paleocene and went extinct at the end of the Eocene, possibly due to competition from newly evolving rodents. Nonetheless, following the K–Pg extinction event, mammals very quickly diversified and filled the empty niches. Modern mammals are subdivided into therians (modern members are placentals and marsupials) and monotremes. These 3 groups all originated in the Cretaceous. Paleocene marsupials include Peradectes, and monotremes Monotrematum. The epoch featured the rise of many crown placental groups—groups that have living members in modern day—such as the earliest afrotherian Ocepeia, xenarthran Utaetus, rodent Tribosphenomys and Paramys, the forerunners of primates the Plesiadapiformes, earliest carnivorans Ravenictis and Pristinictis, possible pangolins Palaeanodonta, possible forerunners of odd-toed ungulates Phenacodontidae, and eulipotyphlans Nyctitheriidae. Though therian mammals had probably already begun to diversify around 10 to 20 million years before the K–Pg extinction event, average mammal size increased greatly after the boundary, and a radiation into frugivory (fruit-eating) and omnivory began, namely with the newly evolving large herbivores such as the Taeniodonta, Tillodonta, Pantodonta, Polydolopimorphia, and the Dinocerata. Large carnivores include the wolf-like Mesonychia, such as Ankalagon and Sinonyx. Though there was an explosive diversification, the affinities of most Paleocene mammals are unknown, and only primates, carnivorans, and rodents have unambiguous Paleocene origins, resulting in a 10 million year gap in the fossil record of other mammalian crown orders. The most species-rich order of Paleocene mammals is Condylarthra, which is a wastebasket taxon for miscellaneous bunodont hoofed mammals. Other ambiguous orders include the Leptictida, Cimolesta, and Creodonta. This uncertainty blurs the early evolution of placentals. ### Birds According to DNA studies, modern birds (Neornithes) rapidly diversified following the extinction of the other dinosaurs in the Paleocene, and nearly all modern bird lineages can trace their origins to this epoch with the exception of fowl and the paleognaths. This was one of the fastest diversifications of any group, probably fueled by the diversification of fruit-bearing trees and associated insects, and the modern bird groups had likely already diverged within 4 million years of the K–Pg extinction event. However, the fossil record of birds in the Paleocene is rather poor compared to other groups, limited globally to mainly waterbirds such as the early penguin Waimanu. The earliest arboreal crown group bird known is Tsidiiyazhi, a mousebird dating to around 62 mya. The fossil record also includes early owls such as the large Berruornis from France, and the smaller Ogygoptynx from the United States. Almost all archaic birds (any bird outside Neornithes) went extinct during the K–Pg extinction event, although the archaic Qinornis is recorded in the Paleocene. Their extinction may have led to the proliferation of neornithine birds in the Paleocene, and the only known Cretaceous neornithine bird is the waterbird Vegavis, and possibly also the waterbird Teviornis. In the Mesozoic, birds and pterosaurs exhibited size-related niche partitioning—no known Late Cretaceous flying bird had a wingspan greater than 2 m (6 ft 7 in) nor exceeded a weight of 5 kg (11 lb), whereas contemporary pterosaurs ranged from 2–10 m (6 ft 7 in – 32 ft 10 in), probably to avoid competition. Their extinction allowed flying birds to attain greater size, such as pelagornithids and pelecaniformes. The Paleocene pelagornithid Protodontopteryx was quite small compared to later members, with a wingspan of about 1 m (3.3 ft), comparable to a gull. On the archipelago-continent of Europe, the flightless bird Gastornis was the largest herbivore at 2 m (6 ft 7 in) tall for the largest species, possibly due to lack of competition from newly emerging large mammalian herbivores which were prevalent on the other continents. The carnivorous terror birds in South America have a contentious appearance in the Paleocene with Paleopsilopterus, though the first definitive appearance is in the Eocene. ### Reptiles It is generally believed all non-avian dinosaurs went extinct at the K–Pg extinction event 66 mya, though there are a couple of controversial claims of Paleocene dinosaurs which would indicate a gradual decline of dinosaurs. Contentious dates include remains from the Hell Creek Formation dated 40,000 years after the boundary, and a hadrosaur femur from the San Juan Basin dated to 64.5 mya, but such stray late forms may be zombie taxa that were washed out and moved to younger sediments. In the wake of the K–Pg extinction event, 83% of lizard and snake (squamate) species went extinct, and the diversity did not fully recover until the end of the Paleocene. However, since the only major squamate lineages to disappear in the event were the mosasaurs and polyglyphanodontians (the latter making up 40% of Maastrichtian lizard diversity), and most major squamate groups had evolved by the Cretaceous, the event probably did not greatly affect squamate evolution, and newly evolving squamates did not seemingly branch out into new niches as mammals. That is, Cretaceous and Paleogene squamates filled the same niches. Nonetheless, there was a faunal turnover of squamates, and groups that were dominant by the Eocene were not as abundant in the Cretaceous, namely the anguids, iguanas, night lizards, pythons, colubrids, boas, and worm lizards. Only small squamates are known from the early Paleocene—the largest snake Helagras was 950 mm (37 in) in length—but the late Paleocene snake Titanoboa grew to over 13 m (43 ft) long, the longest snake ever recorded. Kawasphenodon peligrensis from the early Paleocene of South America represents the youngest record of Rhynchocephalia outside of New Zealand, where the only extant representative of the order, the tuatara, resides. Freshwater crocodilians and choristoderans were among the aquatic reptiles to have survived the K–Pg extinction event, probably because freshwater environments were not as impacted as marine ones. One example of a Paleocene crocodile is Borealosuchus, which averaged 3.7 m (12 ft) in length at the Wannagan Creek site. Among crocodyliformes, the aquatic and terrestrial dyrosaurs and the fully terrestrial sebecids would also survive the K-Pg extinction event, and a late surviving member of Pholidosauridae is also known from the Danian of Morocco. Three choristoderans are known from the Paleocene: The gharial-like neochoristoderans Champsosaurus—the largest is the Paleocene C. gigas at 3 m (9.8 ft), Simoedosaurus—the largest specimen measuring 5 m (16 ft), and an indeterminate species of the lizard like non-neochoristoderan Lazarussuchus around 44 centimetres in length. The last known choristoderes, belonging to the genus Lazarussuchus, are known from the Miocene. Turtles experienced a decline in the Campanian (Late Cretaceous) during a cooling event, and recovered during the PETM at the end of the Paleocene. Turtles were not greatly affected by the K–Pg extinction event, and around 80% of species survived. In Colombia, a 60 million year old turtle with a 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) carapace, Carbonemys, was discovered. ### Amphibians There is little evidence amphibians were affected very much by the K–Pg extinction event, probably because the freshwater habitats they inhabited were not as greatly impacted as marine environments. In the Hell Creek Formation of eastern Montana, a 1990 study found no extinction in amphibian species across the boundary. The true toads evolved during the Paleocene. The final record of albanerpetontids from North America and outside of Europe and Anatolia, an unnamed species of Albanerpeton, is known from the Paleocene aged Paskapoo Formation in Canada. ### Fish The small pelagic fish population recovered rather quickly, and there was a low extinction rate for sharks and rays. Overall, only 12% of fish species went extinct. During the Cretaceous, fishes were not very abundant, probably due to heightened predation by or competition with ammonites and squid, although large predatory fish did exist, including ichthyodectids, pachycormids and pachyrhizodontids. Almost immediately following the K–Pg extinction event, ray-finned fish — today, representing nearly half of all vertebrate taxa — became much more numerous and increased in size, and rose to dominate the open-oceans. Acanthomorphs—a group of ray-finned fish which, today, represent a third of all vertebrate life—experienced a massive diversification following the K–Pg extinction event, dominating marine ecosystems by the end of the Paleocene, refilling vacant, open-ocean predatory niches as well as spreading out into recovering reef systems. In specific, percomorphs diversified faster than any other vertebrate group at the time, with the exception of birds; Cretaceous percomorphs varied very little in body plan, whereas, by the Eocene, percomorphs evolved into vastly varying creatures such as early scombrids (today, tuna, mackerels, and bonitos), barracudas, jacks, billfish, flatfishes, and aulostomoid (trumpetfish and cornetfish). However, the discovery of the Cretaceous cusk eel Pastorius shows that the body plans of at least some percomorphs were already highly variable, perhaps indicating an already diverse array of percomorph body plans before the Paleocene. Conversely, sharks and rays appear to have been unable to exploit the vacant niches, and recovered the same pre-extinction abundance. There was a faunal turnover of sharks from mackerel sharks to ground sharks, as ground sharks are more suited to hunting the rapidly diversifying ray-finned fish whereas mackerel sharks target larger prey. The first megatoothed shark, Otodus obliquus—the ancestor of the giant megalodon—is recorded from the Paleocene. Several Paleocene freshwater fish are recorded from North America, including bowfins, gars, arowanas, Gonorynchidae, common catfish, smelts, and pike. ### Insects and arachnids Insect recovery varied from place to place. For example, it may have taken until the PETM for insect diversity to recover in the western interior of North America, whereas Patagonian insect diversity had recovered by 4 million years after the K–Pg extinction event. In some areas, such as the Bighorn Basin in Wyoming, there is a dramatic increase in plant predation during the PETM, although this is probably not indicative of a diversification event in insects due to rising temperatures because plant predation decreases following the PETM. More likely, insects followed their host plant or plants which were expanding into mid-latitude regions during the PETM, and then retreated afterward. The middle-to-late Paleocene French Menat Formation shows an abundance of beetles (making up 77.5% of the insect diversity)—especially weevils (50% of diversity), jewel beetles, leaf beetles, and reticulated beetles—as well as other true bugs—such as pond skaters—and cockroaches. To a lesser degree, there are also orthopterans, hymenopterans, butterflies, and flies, though planthoppers were more common than flies. Representing less than 1% of fossil remains dragonflies, caddisflies, mayflies, earwigs, mantises, net-winged insects, and possibly termites. The Wyoming Hanna Formation is the only known Paleocene formation to produce sizable pieces of amber, as opposed to only small droplets. The amber was formed by a single or a closely related group of either taxodiaceaen or pine tree(s) which produced cones similar to those of dammaras. Only one insect, a thrips, has been identified. There is a gap in the ant fossil record from 78 to 55 mya, except for the aneuretine Napakimyrma paskapooensis from the 62–56 million year old Canadian Paskapoo Formation. Given high abundance in the Eocene, two of the modern dominant ant subfamilies—Ponerinae and Myrmicinae—likely originated and greatly diversified in the Paleocene, acting as major hunters of arthropods, and probably competed with each other for food and nesting grounds in the dense angiosperm leaf litter. Myrmicines expanded their diets to seeds and formed trophobiotic symbiotic relationships with aphids, mealybugs, treehoppers, and other honeydew secreting insects which were also successful in angiosperm forests, allowing them to invade other biomes, such as the canopy or temperate environments, and achieve a worldwide distribution by the middle Eocene. About 80% of the butterfly and moth (lepidopteran) fossil record occurs in the early Paleogene, specifically the late Paleocene and the middle-to-late Eocene. Most Paleocene lepidopteran compression fossils come from the Danish Fur Formation. Though there is low family-level diversity in the Paleocene compared to later epochs, this may be due to a largely incomplete fossil record. The evolution of bats had a profound effect on lepidopterans, which feature several anti-predator adaptations such as echolocation jamming and the ability to detect bat signals. Bees were likely heavily impacted by the K–Pg extinction event and a die-off of flowering plants, though the bee fossil record is very limited. The oldest kleptoparasitic bee, Paleoepeolus, is known from the Paleocene 60 mya. Though the Eocene features, by far, the highest proportion of known fossil spider species, the Paleocene spider assemblage is quite low. Some spider groups began to diversify around the PETM, such as jumping spiders, and possibly coelotine spiders (members of the funnel weaver family). The diversification of mammals had a profound effect on parasitic insects, namely the evolution of bats, which have more ectoparasites than any other known mammal or bird. The PETM's effect on mammals greatly impacted the evolution of fleas, ticks, and oestroids. ### Marine invertebrates Among marine invertebrates, plankton and those with a planktonic stage in their development (meroplankton) were most impacted by the K–Pg extinction event, and plankton populations crashed. Nearly 90% of all calcifying plankton species perished. This reverberated up and caused a global marine food chain collapse, namely with the extinction of ammonites and large raptorial marine reptiles. Nonetheless, the rapid diversification of large fish species indicates a healthy plankton population through the Paleocene. Marine invertebrate diversity may have taken about 7 million years to recover, though this may be a preservation artifact as anything smaller than 5 mm (0.20 in) is unlikely to be fossilized, and body size may have simply decreased across the boundary. A 2019 study found that in Seymour Island, Antarctica, the marine life assemblage consisted primarily of burrowing creatures—such as burrowing clams and snails—for around 320,000 years after the K–Pg extinction event, and it took around a million years for the marine diversity to return to previous levels. Areas closer to the equator may have been more affected. Sand dollars first evolved in the late Paleocene. The Late Cretaceous decapod crustacean assemblage of James Ross Island appears to have been mainly pioneer species and the ancestors of modern fauna, such as the first Antarctic crabs and the first appearance of the lobsters of the genera Linuparus, Metanephrops, and Munidopsis which still inhabit Antarctica today. In the Cretaceous, the main reef-building creatures were the box-like bivalve rudists instead of coral—though a diverse Cretaceous coral assemblage did exist—and rudists had collapsed by the time of the K–Pg extinction event. Some corals are known to have survived in higher latitudes in the Late Cretaceous and into the Paleogene, and hard coral-dominated reefs may have recovered by 8 million years after the K–Pg extinction event, though the coral fossil record of this time is rather sparse. Though there was a lack of extensive coral reefs in the Paleocene, there were some colonies—mainly dominated by zooxanthellate corals—in shallow coastal (neritic) areas. Starting in the latest Cretaceous and continuing until the early Eocene, calcareous corals rapidly diversified. Corals probably competed mainly with red and coralline algae for space on the seafloor. Calcified dasycladalean green algae experienced the greatest diversity in their evolutionary history in the Paleocene. Though coral reef ecosystems do not become particularly abundant in the fossil record until the Miocene (possibly due to preservation bias), strong Paleocene coral reefs have been identified in what are now the Pyrenees (emerging as early as 63 mya), with some smaller Paleocene coral reefs identified across the Mediterranean region. ## See also - Moeraki Boulders
22,303	Oxygen	1,173,064,360	null	[ "Breathing gases", "Chalcogens", "Chemical elements", "Chemical substances for emergency medicine", "Diatomic nonmetals", "E-number additives", "Oxidizing agents", "Oxygen", "Reactive nonmetals" ]	Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as well as with other compounds. Oxygen is Earth's most abundant element, and after hydrogen and helium, it is the third-most abundant element in the universe. At standard temperature and pressure, two atoms of the element bind to form dioxygen, a colorless and odorless diatomic gas with the formula O <sub>2</sub>. Diatomic oxygen gas currently constitutes 20.95% of the Earth's atmosphere, though this has changed considerably over long periods of time. Oxygen makes up almost half of the Earth's crust in the form of oxides. All plants, animals, and fungi need oxygen for cellular respiration, which extracts energy by the reaction of oxygen with molecules derived from food and produces carbon dioxide as a waste product. In tetrapods breathing brings oxygen into the lungs where gas exchange takes place, carbon dioxide diffuses out of the blood, and oxygen diffuses into the blood. The body's circulatory system transports the oxygen to the cells, where cellular respiration takes place. Many major classes of organic molecules in living organisms contain oxygen atoms, such as proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and fats, as do the major constituent inorganic compounds of animal shells, teeth, and bone. Most of the mass of living organisms is oxygen as a component of water, the major constituent of lifeforms. Oxygen is continuously replenished in Earth's atmosphere by photosynthesis, which uses the energy of sunlight to produce oxygen from water and carbon dioxide. Oxygen is too chemically reactive to remain a free element in air without being continuously replenished by the photosynthetic action of living organisms. Another form (allotrope) of oxygen, ozone (O <sub>3</sub>), strongly absorbs ultraviolet UVB radiation and the high-altitude ozone layer helps protect the biosphere from ultraviolet radiation. However, ozone present at the surface is a byproduct of smog and thus a pollutant. Oxygen was isolated by Michael Sendivogius before 1604, but it is commonly believed that the element was discovered independently by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, in Uppsala, in 1773 or earlier, and Joseph Priestley in Wiltshire, in 1774. Priority is often given for Priestley because his work was published first. Priestley, however, called oxygen "dephlogisticated air", and did not recognize it as a chemical element. The name oxygen was coined in 1777 by Antoine Lavoisier, who first recognized oxygen as a chemical element and correctly characterized the role it plays in combustion. Common uses of oxygen include production of steel, plastics and textiles, brazing, welding and cutting of steels and other metals, rocket propellant, oxygen therapy, and life support systems in aircraft, submarines, spaceflight and diving. ## History of study ### Early experiments One of the first known experiments on the relationship between combustion and air was conducted by the 2nd century BCE Greek writer on mechanics, Philo of Byzantium. In his work Pneumatica, Philo observed that inverting a vessel over a burning candle and surrounding the vessel's neck with water resulted in some water rising into the neck. Philo incorrectly surmised that parts of the air in the vessel were converted into the classical element fire and thus were able to escape through pores in the glass. Many centuries later Leonardo da Vinci built on Philo's work by observing that a portion of air is consumed during combustion and respiration. In the late 17th century, Robert Boyle proved that air is necessary for combustion. English chemist John Mayow (1641–1679) refined this work by showing that fire requires only a part of air that he called spiritus nitroaereus. In one experiment, he found that placing either a mouse or a lit candle in a closed container over water caused the water to rise and replace one-fourteenth of the air's volume before extinguishing the subjects. From this, he surmised that nitroaereus is consumed in both respiration and combustion. Mayow observed that antimony increased in weight when heated, and inferred that the nitroaereus must have combined with it. He also thought that the lungs separate nitroaereus from air and pass it into the blood and that animal heat and muscle movement result from the reaction of nitroaereus with certain substances in the body. Accounts of these and other experiments and ideas were published in 1668 in his work Tractatus duo in the tract "De respiratione". ### Phlogiston theory Robert Hooke, Ole Borch, Mikhail Lomonosov, and Pierre Bayen all produced oxygen in experiments in the 17th and the 18th century but none of them recognized it as a chemical element. This may have been in part due to the prevalence of the philosophy of combustion and corrosion called the phlogiston theory, which was then the favored explanation of those processes. Established in 1667 by the German alchemist J. J. Becher, and modified by the chemist Georg Ernst Stahl by 1731, phlogiston theory stated that all combustible materials were made of two parts. One part, called phlogiston, was given off when the substance containing it was burned, while the dephlogisticated part was thought to be its true form, or calx. Highly combustible materials that leave little residue, such as wood or coal, were thought to be made mostly of phlogiston; non-combustible substances that corrode, such as iron, contained very little. Air did not play a role in phlogiston theory, nor were any initial quantitative experiments conducted to test the idea; instead, it was based on observations of what happens when something burns, that most common objects appear to become lighter and seem to lose something in the process. ### Discovery Polish alchemist, philosopher, and physician Michael Sendivogius (Michał Sędziwój) in his work De Lapide Philosophorum Tractatus duodecim e naturae fonte et manuali experientia depromti ["Twelve Treatises on the Philosopher's Stone drawn from the source of nature and manual experience"] (1604) described a substance contained in air, referring to it as 'cibus vitae' (food of life,) and according to Polish historian Roman Bugaj, this substance is identical with oxygen. Sendivogius, during his experiments performed between 1598 and 1604, properly recognized that the substance is equivalent to the gaseous byproduct released by the thermal decomposition of potassium nitrate. In Bugaj's view, the isolation of oxygen and the proper association of the substance to that part of air which is required for life, provides sufficient evidence for the discovery of oxygen by Sendivogius. This discovery of Sendivogius was however frequently denied by the generations of scientists and chemists which succeeded him. It is also commonly claimed that oxygen was first discovered by Swedish pharmacist Carl Wilhelm Scheele. He had produced oxygen gas by heating mercuric oxide (HgO) and various nitrates in 1771–72. Scheele called the gas "fire air" because it was then the only known agent to support combustion. He wrote an account of this discovery in a manuscript titled Treatise on Air and Fire, which he sent to his publisher in 1775. That document was published in 1777. In the meantime, on August 1, 1774, an experiment conducted by the British clergyman Joseph Priestley focused sunlight on mercuric oxide contained in a glass tube, which liberated a gas he named "dephlogisticated air". He noted that candles burned brighter in the gas and that a mouse was more active and lived longer while breathing it. After breathing the gas himself, Priestley wrote: "The feeling of it to my lungs was not sensibly different from that of common air, but I fancied that my breast felt peculiarly light and easy for some time afterwards." Priestley published his findings in 1775 in a paper titled "An Account of Further Discoveries in Air", which was included in the second volume of his book titled Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air. Because he published his findings first, Priestley is usually given priority in the discovery. The French chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier later claimed to have discovered the new substance independently. Priestley visited Lavoisier in October 1774 and told him about his experiment and how he liberated the new gas. Scheele had also dispatched a letter to Lavoisier on September 30, 1774, which described his discovery of the previously unknown substance, but Lavoisier never acknowledged receiving it. (A copy of the letter was found in Scheele's belongings after his death.) ### Lavoisier's contribution Lavoisier conducted the first adequate quantitative experiments on oxidation and gave the first correct explanation of how combustion works. He used these and similar experiments, all started in 1774, to discredit the phlogiston theory and to prove that the substance discovered by Priestley and Scheele was a chemical element. In one experiment, Lavoisier observed that there was no overall increase in weight when tin and air were heated in a closed container. He noted that air rushed in when he opened the container, which indicated that part of the trapped air had been consumed. He also noted that the tin had increased in weight and that increase was the same as the weight of the air that rushed back in. This and other experiments on combustion were documented in his book Sur la combustion en général, which was published in 1777. In that work, he proved that air is a mixture of two gases; 'vital air', which is essential to combustion and respiration, and azote (Gk. ἄζωτον "lifeless"), which did not support either. Azote later became nitrogen in English, although it has kept the earlier name in French and several other European languages. #### Etymology Lavoisier renamed 'vital air' to oxygène in 1777 from the Greek roots ὀξύς (oxys) (acid, literally "sharp", from the taste of acids) and -γενής (-genēs) (producer, literally begetter), because he mistakenly believed that oxygen was a constituent of all acids. Chemists (such as Sir Humphry Davy in 1812) eventually determined that Lavoisier was wrong in this regard, but by then the name was too well established. Oxygen entered the English language despite opposition by English scientists and the fact that the Englishman Priestley had first isolated the gas and written about it. This is partly due to a poem praising the gas titled "Oxygen" in the popular book The Botanic Garden (1791) by Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles Darwin. ### Later history John Dalton's original atomic hypothesis presumed that all elements were monatomic and that the atoms in compounds would normally have the simplest atomic ratios with respect to one another. For example, Dalton assumed that water's formula was HO, leading to the conclusion that the atomic mass of oxygen was 8 times that of hydrogen, instead of the modern value of about 16. In 1805, Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac and Alexander von Humboldt showed that water is formed of two volumes of hydrogen and one volume of oxygen; and by 1811 Amedeo Avogadro had arrived at the correct interpretation of water's composition, based on what is now called Avogadro's law and the diatomic elemental molecules in those gases. The first commercial method of producing oxygen was chemical, the so-called Brin process involving a reversible reaction of barium oxide. It was invented in 1852 and commercialized in 1884, but was displaced by newer methods in early 20th century. By the late 19th century scientists realized that air could be liquefied and its components isolated by compressing and cooling it. Using a cascade method, Swiss chemist and physicist Raoul Pierre Pictet evaporated liquid sulfur dioxide in order to liquefy carbon dioxide, which in turn was evaporated to cool oxygen gas enough to liquefy it. He sent a telegram on December 22, 1877, to the French Academy of Sciences in Paris announcing his discovery of liquid oxygen. Just two days later, French physicist Louis Paul Cailletet announced his own method of liquefying molecular oxygen. Only a few drops of the liquid were produced in each case and no meaningful analysis could be conducted. Oxygen was liquefied in a stable state for the first time on March 29, 1883, by Polish scientists from Jagiellonian University, Zygmunt Wróblewski and Karol Olszewski. In 1891 Scottish chemist James Dewar was able to produce enough liquid oxygen for study. The first commercially viable process for producing liquid oxygen was independently developed in 1895 by German engineer Carl von Linde and British engineer William Hampson. Both men lowered the temperature of air until it liquefied and then distilled the component gases by boiling them off one at a time and capturing them separately. Later, in 1901, oxyacetylene welding was demonstrated for the first time by burning a mixture of acetylene and compressed O <sub>2</sub>. This method of welding and cutting metal later became common. In 1923, the American scientist Robert H. Goddard became the first person to develop a rocket engine that burned liquid fuel; the engine used gasoline for fuel and liquid oxygen as the oxidizer. Goddard successfully flew a small liquid-fueled rocket 56 m at 97 km/h on March 16, 1926, in Auburn, Massachusetts, US. In academic laboratories, oxygen can be prepared by heating together potassium chlorate mixed with a small proportion of manganese dioxide. Oxygen levels in the atmosphere are trending slightly downward globally, possibly because of fossil-fuel burning. ## Characteristics ### Properties and molecular structure At standard temperature and pressure, oxygen is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas with the molecular formula O <sub>2</sub>, referred to as dioxygen. As dioxygen, two oxygen atoms are chemically bound to each other. The bond can be variously described based on level of theory, but is reasonably and simply described as a covalent double bond that results from the filling of molecular orbitals formed from the atomic orbitals of the individual oxygen atoms, the filling of which results in a bond order of two. More specifically, the double bond is the result of sequential, low-to-high energy, or Aufbau, filling of orbitals, and the resulting cancellation of contributions from the 2s electrons, after sequential filling of the low σ and σ<sup>\</sup> orbitals; σ overlap of the two atomic 2p orbitals that lie along the O–O molecular axis and π overlap of two pairs of atomic 2p orbitals perpendicular to the O–O molecular axis, and then cancellation of contributions from the remaining two 2p electrons after their partial filling of the π<sup>\</sup> orbitals. This combination of cancellations and σ and π overlaps results in dioxygen's double-bond character and reactivity, and a triplet electronic ground state. An electron configuration with two unpaired electrons, as is found in dioxygen orbitals (see the filled π\* orbitals in the diagram) that are of equal energy—i.e., degenerate—is a configuration termed a spin triplet state. Hence, the ground state of the O <sub>2</sub> molecule is referred to as triplet oxygen. The highest-energy, partially filled orbitals are antibonding, and so their filling weakens the bond order from three to two. Because of its unpaired electrons, triplet oxygen reacts only slowly with most organic molecules, which have paired electron spins; this prevents spontaneous combustion. In the triplet form, O <sub>2</sub> molecules are paramagnetic. That is, they impart magnetic character to oxygen when it is in the presence of a magnetic field, because of the spin magnetic moments of the unpaired electrons in the molecule, and the negative exchange energy between neighboring O <sub>2</sub> molecules. Liquid oxygen is so magnetic that, in laboratory demonstrations, a bridge of liquid oxygen may be supported against its own weight between the poles of a powerful magnet. Singlet oxygen is a name given to several higher-energy species of molecular O <sub>2</sub> in which all the electron spins are paired. It is much more reactive with common organic molecules than is normal (triplet) molecular oxygen. In nature, singlet oxygen is commonly formed from water during photosynthesis, using the energy of sunlight. It is also produced in the troposphere by the photolysis of ozone by light of short wavelength and by the immune system as a source of active oxygen. Carotenoids in photosynthetic organisms (and possibly animals) play a major role in absorbing energy from singlet oxygen and converting it to the unexcited ground state before it can cause harm to tissues. ### Allotropes The common allotrope of elemental oxygen on Earth is called dioxygen, O <sub>2</sub>, the major part of the Earth's atmospheric oxygen (see Occurrence). O<sub>2</sub> has a bond length of 121 pm and a bond energy of 498 kJ/mol. O<sub>2</sub> is used by complex forms of life, such as animals, in cellular respiration. Other aspects of O <sub>2</sub> are covered in the remainder of this article. Trioxygen (O <sub>3</sub>) is usually known as ozone and is a very reactive allotrope of oxygen that is damaging to lung tissue. Ozone is produced in the upper atmosphere when O <sub>2</sub> combines with atomic oxygen made by the splitting of O <sub>2</sub> by ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Since ozone absorbs strongly in the UV region of the spectrum, the ozone layer of the upper atmosphere functions as a protective radiation shield for the planet. Near the Earth's surface, it is a pollutant formed as a by-product of automobile exhaust. At low earth orbit altitudes, sufficient atomic oxygen is present to cause corrosion of spacecraft. The metastable molecule tetraoxygen (O <sub>4</sub>) was discovered in 2001, and was assumed to exist in one of the six phases of solid oxygen. It was proven in 2006 that this phase, created by pressurizing O <sub>2</sub> to 20 GPa, is in fact a rhombohedral O <sub>8</sub> cluster. This cluster has the potential to be a much more powerful oxidizer than either O <sub>2</sub> or O <sub>3</sub> and may therefore be used in rocket fuel. A metallic phase was discovered in 1990 when solid oxygen is subjected to a pressure of above 96 GPa and it was shown in 1998 that at very low temperatures, this phase becomes superconducting. ### Physical properties Oxygen dissolves more readily in water than nitrogen, and in freshwater more readily than in seawater. Water in equilibrium with air contains approximately 1 molecule of dissolved O <sub>2</sub> for every 2 molecules of N <sub>2</sub> (1:2), compared with an atmospheric ratio of approximately 1:4. The solubility of oxygen in water is temperature-dependent, and about twice as much (14.6 mg/L) dissolves at 0 °C than at 20 °C (7.6 mg/L). At 25 °C and 1 standard atmosphere (101.3 kPa) of air, freshwater can dissolve about 6.04 milliliters (mL) of oxygen per liter, and seawater contains about 4.95 mL per liter. At 5 °C the solubility increases to 9.0 mL (50% more than at 25 °C) per liter for freshwater and 7.2 mL (45% more) per liter for sea water. Oxygen condenses at 90.20 K (−182.95 °C, −297.31 °F) and freezes at 54.36 K (−218.79 °C, −361.82 °F). Both liquid and solid O <sub>2</sub> are clear substances with a light sky-blue color caused by absorption in the red (in contrast with the blue color of the sky, which is due to Rayleigh scattering of blue light). High-purity liquid O <sub>2</sub> is usually obtained by the fractional distillation of liquefied air. Liquid oxygen may also be condensed from air using liquid nitrogen as a coolant. Liquid oxygen is a highly reactive substance and must be segregated from combustible materials. The spectroscopy of molecular oxygen is associated with the atmospheric processes of aurora and airglow. The absorption in the Herzberg continuum and Schumann–Runge bands in the ultraviolet produces atomic oxygen that is important in the chemistry of the middle atmosphere. Excited-state singlet molecular oxygen is responsible for red chemiluminescence in solution. Table of thermal and physical properties of oxygen (O<sub>2</sub>) at atmospheric pressure: ### Isotopes and stellar origin Naturally occurring oxygen is composed of three stable isotopes, <sup>16</sup>O, <sup>17</sup>O, and <sup>18</sup>O, with <sup>16</sup>O being the most abundant (99.762% natural abundance). Most <sup>16</sup>O is synthesized at the end of the helium fusion process in massive stars but some is made in the neon burning process. <sup>17</sup>O is primarily made by the burning of hydrogen into helium during the CNO cycle, making it a common isotope in the hydrogen burning zones of stars. Most <sup>18</sup>O is produced when <sup>14</sup>N (made abundant from CNO burning) captures a <sup>4</sup>He nucleus, making <sup>18</sup>O common in the helium-rich zones of evolved, massive stars. Fifteen radioisotopes have been characterized, ranging from <sup>11</sup>O to <sup>28</sup>O. The most stable are <sup>15</sup>O with a half-life of 122.24 seconds and <sup>14</sup>O with a half-life of 70.606 seconds. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than 27 seconds and the majority of these have half-lives that are less than 83 milliseconds. The most common decay mode of the isotopes lighter than <sup>16</sup>O is β<sup>+</sup> decay to yield nitrogen, and the most common mode for the isotopes heavier than <sup>18</sup>O is beta decay to yield fluorine. ### Occurrence Oxygen is the most abundant chemical element by mass in the Earth's biosphere, air, sea and land. Oxygen is the third most abundant chemical element in the universe, after hydrogen and helium. About 0.9% of the Sun's mass is oxygen. Oxygen constitutes 49.2% of the Earth's crust by mass as part of oxide compounds such as silicon dioxide and is the most abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust. It is also the major component of the world's oceans (88.8% by mass). Oxygen gas is the second most common component of the Earth's atmosphere, taking up 20.8% of its volume and 23.1% of its mass (some 10<sup>15</sup> tonnes). Earth is unusual among the planets of the Solar System in having such a high concentration of oxygen gas in its atmosphere: Mars (with 0.1% O <sub>2</sub> by volume) and Venus have much less. The O <sub>2</sub> surrounding those planets is produced solely by the action of ultraviolet radiation on oxygen-containing molecules such as carbon dioxide. The unusually high concentration of oxygen gas on Earth is the result of the oxygen cycle. This biogeochemical cycle describes the movement of oxygen within and between its three main reservoirs on Earth: the atmosphere, the biosphere, and the lithosphere. The main driving factor of the oxygen cycle is photosynthesis, which is responsible for modern Earth's atmosphere. Photosynthesis releases oxygen into the atmosphere, while respiration, decay, and combustion remove it from the atmosphere. In the present equilibrium, production and consumption occur at the same rate. Free oxygen also occurs in solution in the world's water bodies. The increased solubility of O <sub>2</sub> at lower temperatures (see Physical properties) has important implications for ocean life, as polar oceans support a much higher density of life due to their higher oxygen content. Water polluted with plant nutrients such as nitrates or phosphates may stimulate growth of algae by a process called eutrophication and the decay of these organisms and other biomaterials may reduce the O <sub>2</sub> content in eutrophic water bodies. Scientists assess this aspect of water quality by measuring the water's biochemical oxygen demand, or the amount of O <sub>2</sub> needed to restore it to a normal concentration. ### Analysis Paleoclimatologists measure the ratio of oxygen-18 and oxygen-16 in the shells and skeletons of marine organisms to determine the climate millions of years ago (see oxygen isotope ratio cycle). Seawater molecules that contain the lighter isotope, oxygen-16, evaporate at a slightly faster rate than water molecules containing the 12% heavier oxygen-18, and this disparity increases at lower temperatures. During periods of lower global temperatures, snow and rain from that evaporated water tends to be higher in oxygen-16, and the seawater left behind tends to be higher in oxygen-18. Marine organisms then incorporate more oxygen-18 into their skeletons and shells than they would in a warmer climate. Paleoclimatologists also directly measure this ratio in the water molecules of ice core samples as old as hundreds of thousands of years. Planetary geologists have measured the relative quantities of oxygen isotopes in samples from the Earth, the Moon, Mars, and meteorites, but were long unable to obtain reference values for the isotope ratios in the Sun, believed to be the same as those of the primordial solar nebula. Analysis of a silicon wafer exposed to the solar wind in space and returned by the crashed Genesis spacecraft has shown that the Sun has a higher proportion of oxygen-16 than does the Earth. The measurement implies that an unknown process depleted oxygen-16 from the Sun's disk of protoplanetary material prior to the coalescence of dust grains that formed the Earth. Oxygen presents two spectrophotometric absorption bands peaking at the wavelengths 687 and 760 nm. Some remote sensing scientists have proposed using the measurement of the radiance coming from vegetation canopies in those bands to characterize plant health status from a satellite platform. This approach exploits the fact that in those bands it is possible to discriminate the vegetation's reflectance from its fluorescence, which is much weaker. The measurement is technically difficult owing to the low signal-to-noise ratio and the physical structure of vegetation; but it has been proposed as a possible method of monitoring the carbon cycle from satellites on a global scale. ## Biological production and role of O<sub>2</sub> ### Photosynthesis and respiration In nature, free oxygen is produced by the light-driven splitting of water during oxygenic photosynthesis. According to some estimates, green algae and cyanobacteria in marine environments provide about 70% of the free oxygen produced on Earth, and the rest is produced by terrestrial plants. Other estimates of the oceanic contribution to atmospheric oxygen are higher, while some estimates are lower, suggesting oceans produce \~45% of Earth's atmospheric oxygen each year. A simplified overall formula for photosynthesis is 6 + 6 H <sub>2</sub>O + photons → C <sub>6</sub>H <sub>12</sub>O <sub>6</sub> + 6 O <sub>2</sub> or simply carbon dioxide + water + sunlight → glucose + dioxygen Photolytic oxygen evolution occurs in the thylakoid membranes of photosynthetic organisms and requires the energy of four photons. Many steps are involved, but the result is the formation of a proton gradient across the thylakoid membrane, which is used to synthesize adenosine triphosphate (ATP) via photophosphorylation. The O <sub>2</sub> remaining (after production of the water molecule) is released into the atmosphere. Oxygen is used in mitochondria in the generation of ATP during oxidative phosphorylation. The reaction for aerobic respiration is essentially the reverse of photosynthesis and is simplified as C <sub>6</sub>H <sub>12</sub>O <sub>6</sub> + 6 O <sub>2</sub> → 6 + 6 H <sub>2</sub>O + 2880 kJ/mol In vertebrates, O <sub>2</sub> diffuses through membranes in the lungs and into red blood cells. Hemoglobin binds O <sub>2</sub>, changing color from bluish red to bright red (CO <sub>2</sub> is released from another part of hemoglobin through the Bohr effect). Other animals use hemocyanin (molluscs and some arthropods) or hemerythrin (spiders and lobsters). A liter of blood can dissolve 200 cm<sup>3</sup> of O <sub>2</sub>. Until the discovery of anaerobic metazoa, oxygen was thought to be a requirement for all complex life. Reactive oxygen species, such as superoxide ion (O<sup>−</sup> <sub>2</sub>) and hydrogen peroxide (H <sub>2</sub>O <sub>2</sub>), are reactive by-products of oxygen use in organisms. Parts of the immune system of higher organisms create peroxide, superoxide, and singlet oxygen to destroy invading microbes. Reactive oxygen species also play an important role in the hypersensitive response of plants against pathogen attack. Oxygen is damaging to obligately anaerobic organisms, which were the dominant form of early life on Earth until O <sub>2</sub> began to accumulate in the atmosphere about 2.5 billion years ago during the Great Oxygenation Event, about a billion years after the first appearance of these organisms. An adult human at rest inhales 1.8 to 2.4 grams of oxygen per minute. This amounts to more than 6 billion tonnes of oxygen inhaled by humanity per year. ### Living organisms The free oxygen partial pressure in the body of a living vertebrate organism is highest in the respiratory system, and decreases along any arterial system, peripheral tissues, and venous system, respectively. Partial pressure is the pressure that oxygen would have if it alone occupied the volume. ### Build-up in the atmosphere Free oxygen gas was almost nonexistent in Earth's atmosphere before photosynthetic archaea and bacteria evolved, probably about 3.5 billion years ago. Free oxygen first appeared in significant quantities during the Paleoproterozoic era (between 3.0 and 2.3 billion years ago). Even if there was much dissolved iron in the oceans when oxygenic photosynthesis was getting more common, it appears the banded iron formations were created by anoxyenic or micro-aerophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria which dominated the deeper areas of the photic zone, while oxygen-producing cyanobacteria covered the shallows. Free oxygen began to outgas from the oceans 3–2.7 billion years ago, reaching 10% of its present level around 1.7 billion years ago. The presence of large amounts of dissolved and free oxygen in the oceans and atmosphere may have driven most of the extant anaerobic organisms to extinction during the Great Oxygenation Event (oxygen catastrophe) about 2.4 billion years ago. Cellular respiration using O <sub>2</sub> enables aerobic organisms to produce much more ATP than anaerobic organisms. Cellular respiration of O <sub>2</sub> occurs in all eukaryotes, including all complex multicellular organisms such as plants and animals. Since the beginning of the Cambrian period 540 million years ago, atmospheric O <sub>2</sub> levels have fluctuated between 15% and 30% by volume. Towards the end of the Carboniferous period (about 300 million years ago) atmospheric O <sub>2</sub> levels reached a maximum of 35% by volume, which may have contributed to the large size of insects and amphibians at this time. Variations in atmospheric oxygen concentration have shaped past climates. When oxygen declined, atmospheric density dropped, which in turn increased surface evaporation, causing precipitation increases and warmer temperatures. At the current rate of photosynthesis it would take about 2,000 years to regenerate the entire O <sub>2</sub> in the present atmosphere. ### Extraterrestrial free oxygen In the field of astrobiology and in the search for extraterrestrial life oxygen is a strong biosignature. That said it might not be a definite biosignature, being possibly produced abiotically on celestial bodies with processes and conditions (such as a peculiar hydrosphere) which allow free oxygen, like with Europa's and Ganymede's thin oxygen atmospheres. ## Industrial production One hundred million tonnes of O <sub>2</sub> are extracted from air for industrial uses annually by two primary methods. The most common method is fractional distillation of liquefied air, with N <sub>2</sub> distilling as a vapor while O <sub>2</sub> is left as a liquid. The other primary method of producing O <sub>2</sub> is passing a stream of clean, dry air through one bed of a pair of identical zeolite molecular sieves, which absorbs the nitrogen and delivers a gas stream that is 90% to 93% O <sub>2</sub>. Simultaneously, nitrogen gas is released from the other nitrogen-saturated zeolite bed, by reducing the chamber operating pressure and diverting part of the oxygen gas from the producer bed through it, in the reverse direction of flow. After a set cycle time the operation of the two beds is interchanged, thereby allowing for a continuous supply of gaseous oxygen to be pumped through a pipeline. This is known as pressure swing adsorption. Oxygen gas is increasingly obtained by these non-cryogenic technologies (see also the related vacuum swing adsorption). Oxygen gas can also be produced through electrolysis of water into molecular oxygen and hydrogen. DC electricity must be used: if AC is used, the gases in each limb consist of hydrogen and oxygen in the explosive ratio 2:1. A similar method is the electrocatalytic O <sub>2</sub> evolution from oxides and oxoacids. Chemical catalysts can be used as well, such as in chemical oxygen generators or oxygen candles that are used as part of the life-support equipment on submarines, and are still part of standard equipment on commercial airliners in case of depressurization emergencies. Another air separation method is forcing air to dissolve through ceramic membranes based on zirconium dioxide by either high pressure or an electric current, to produce nearly pure O <sub>2</sub> gas. ## Storage Oxygen storage methods include high-pressure oxygen tanks, cryogenics and chemical compounds. For reasons of economy, oxygen is often transported in bulk as a liquid in specially insulated tankers, since one liter of liquefied oxygen is equivalent to 840 liters of gaseous oxygen at atmospheric pressure and 20 °C (68 °F). Such tankers are used to refill bulk liquid-oxygen storage containers, which stand outside hospitals and other institutions that need large volumes of pure oxygen gas. Liquid oxygen is passed through heat exchangers, which convert the cryogenic liquid into gas before it enters the building. Oxygen is also stored and shipped in smaller cylinders containing the compressed gas; a form that is useful in certain portable medical applications and oxy-fuel welding and cutting. ## Applications ### Medical Uptake of O <sub>2</sub> from the air is the essential purpose of respiration, so oxygen supplementation is used in medicine. Treatment not only increases oxygen levels in the patient's blood, but has the secondary effect of decreasing resistance to blood flow in many types of diseased lungs, easing work load on the heart. Oxygen therapy is used to treat emphysema, pneumonia, some heart disorders (congestive heart failure), some disorders that cause increased pulmonary artery pressure, and any disease that impairs the body's ability to take up and use gaseous oxygen. Treatments are flexible enough to be used in hospitals, the patient's home, or increasingly by portable devices. Oxygen tents were once commonly used in oxygen supplementation, but have since been replaced mostly by the use of oxygen masks or nasal cannulas. Hyperbaric (high-pressure) medicine uses special oxygen chambers to increase the partial pressure of O <sub>2</sub> around the patient and, when needed, the medical staff. Carbon monoxide poisoning, gas gangrene, and decompression sickness (the 'bends') are sometimes addressed with this therapy. Increased O <sub>2</sub> concentration in the lungs helps to displace carbon monoxide from the heme group of hemoglobin. Oxygen gas is poisonous to the anaerobic bacteria that cause gas gangrene, so increasing its partial pressure helps kill them. Decompression sickness occurs in divers who decompress too quickly after a dive, resulting in bubbles of inert gas, mostly nitrogen and helium, forming in the blood. Increasing the pressure of O <sub>2</sub> as soon as possible helps to redissolve the bubbles back into the blood so that these excess gasses can be exhaled naturally through the lungs. Normobaric oxygen administration at the highest available concentration is frequently used as first aid for any diving injury that may involve inert gas bubble formation in the tissues. There is epidemiological support for its use from a statistical study of cases recorded in a long term database. ### Life support and recreational use An application of O <sub>2</sub> as a low-pressure breathing gas is in modern space suits, which surround their occupant's body with the breathing gas. These devices use nearly pure oxygen at about one-third normal pressure, resulting in a normal blood partial pressure of O <sub>2</sub>. This trade-off of higher oxygen concentration for lower pressure is needed to maintain suit flexibility. Scuba and surface-supplied underwater divers and submariners also rely on artificially delivered O <sub>2</sub>. Submarines, submersibles and atmospheric diving suits usually operate at normal atmospheric pressure. Breathing air is scrubbed of carbon dioxide by chemical extraction and oxygen is replaced to maintain a constant partial pressure. Ambient pressure divers breathe air or gas mixtures with an oxygen fraction suited to the operating depth. Pure or nearly pure O <sub>2</sub> use in diving at pressures higher than atmospheric is usually limited to rebreathers, or decompression at relatively shallow depths (\~6 meters depth, or less), or medical treatment in recompression chambers at pressures up to 2.8 bar, where acute oxygen toxicity can be managed without the risk of drowning. Deeper diving requires significant dilution of O <sub>2</sub> with other gases, such as nitrogen or helium, to prevent oxygen toxicity. People who climb mountains or fly in non-pressurized fixed-wing aircraft sometimes have supplemental O <sub>2</sub> supplies. Pressurized commercial airplanes have an emergency supply of O <sub>2</sub> automatically supplied to the passengers in case of cabin depressurization. Sudden cabin pressure loss activates chemical oxygen generators above each seat, causing oxygen masks to drop. Pulling on the masks "to start the flow of oxygen" as cabin safety instructions dictate, forces iron filings into the sodium chlorate inside the canister. A steady stream of oxygen gas is then produced by the exothermic reaction. Oxygen, as a mild euphoric, has a history of recreational use in oxygen bars and in sports. Oxygen bars are establishments found in the United States since the late 1990s that offer higher than normal O <sub>2</sub> exposure for a minimal fee. Professional athletes, especially in American football, sometimes go off-field between plays to don oxygen masks to boost performance. The pharmacological effect is doubted; a placebo effect is a more likely explanation. Available studies support a performance boost from oxygen enriched mixtures only if it is inhaled during aerobic exercise. Other recreational uses that do not involve breathing include pyrotechnic applications, such as George Goble's five-second ignition of barbecue grills. ### Industrial Smelting of iron ore into steel consumes 55% of commercially produced oxygen. In this process, O <sub>2</sub> is injected through a high-pressure lance into molten iron, which removes sulfur impurities and excess carbon as the respective oxides, SO <sub>2</sub> and CO <sub>2</sub>. The reactions are exothermic, so the temperature increases to 1,700 °C. Another 25% of commercially produced oxygen is used by the chemical industry. Ethylene is reacted with O <sub>2</sub> to create ethylene oxide, which, in turn, is converted into ethylene glycol; the primary feeder material used to manufacture a host of products, including antifreeze and polyester polymers (the precursors of many plastics and fabrics). Most of the remaining 20% of commercially produced oxygen is used in medical applications, metal cutting and welding, as an oxidizer in rocket fuel, and in water treatment. Oxygen is used in oxyacetylene welding, burning acetylene with O <sub>2</sub> to produce a very hot flame. In this process, metal up to 60 cm (24 in) thick is first heated with a small oxy-acetylene flame and then quickly cut by a large stream of O <sub>2</sub>. ## Compounds The oxidation state of oxygen is −2 in almost all known compounds of oxygen. The oxidation state −1 is found in a few compounds such as peroxides. Compounds containing oxygen in other oxidation states are very uncommon: −1/2 (superoxides), −1/3 (ozonides), 0 (elemental, hypofluorous acid), +1/2 (dioxygenyl), +1 (dioxygen difluoride), and +2 (oxygen difluoride). ### Oxides and other inorganic compounds Water (H <sub>2</sub>O) is an oxide of hydrogen and the most familiar oxygen compound. Hydrogen atoms are covalently bonded to oxygen in a water molecule but also have an additional attraction (about 23.3 kJ/mol per hydrogen atom) to an adjacent oxygen atom in a separate molecule. These hydrogen bonds between water molecules hold them approximately 15% closer than what would be expected in a simple liquid with just van der Waals forces. Due to its electronegativity, oxygen forms chemical bonds with almost all other elements to give corresponding oxides. The surface of most metals, such as aluminium and titanium, are oxidized in the presence of air and become coated with a thin film of oxide that passivates the metal and slows further corrosion. Many oxides of the transition metals are non-stoichiometric compounds, with slightly less metal than the chemical formula would show. For example, the mineral FeO (wüstite) is written as $\ce{Fe}_{1-x}\ce{O}$, where x is usually around 0.05. Oxygen is present in the atmosphere in trace quantities in the form of carbon dioxide (CO <sub>2</sub>). The Earth's crustal rock is composed in large part of oxides of silicon (silica SiO <sub>2</sub>, as found in granite and quartz), aluminium (aluminium oxide Al <sub>2</sub>O <sub>3</sub>, in bauxite and corundum), iron (iron(III) oxide Fe <sub>2</sub>O <sub>3</sub>, in hematite and rust), and calcium carbonate (in limestone). The rest of the Earth's crust is also made of oxygen compounds, in particular various complex silicates (in silicate minerals). The Earth's mantle, of much larger mass than the crust, is largely composed of silicates of magnesium and iron. Water-soluble silicates in the form of Na <sub>4</sub>SiO <sub>4</sub>, Na <sub>2</sub>SiO <sub>3</sub>, and Na <sub>2</sub>Si <sub>2</sub>O <sub>5</sub> are used as detergents and adhesives. Oxygen also acts as a ligand for transition metals, forming transition metal dioxygen complexes, which feature metal–O <sub>2</sub>. This class of compounds includes the heme proteins hemoglobin and myoglobin. An exotic and unusual reaction occurs with PtF <sub>6</sub>, which oxidizes oxygen to give O<sub>2</sub><sup>+</sup>PtF<sub>6</sub><sup>−</sup>, dioxygenyl hexafluoroplatinate. ### Organic compounds Among the most important classes of organic compounds that contain oxygen are (where "R" is an organic group): alcohols (R-OH); ethers (R-O-R); ketones (R-CO-R); aldehydes (R-CO-H); carboxylic acids (R-COOH); esters (R-COO-R); acid anhydrides (R-CO-O-CO-R); and amides (R-CO-NR <sub>2</sub>). There are many important organic solvents that contain oxygen, including: acetone, methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, furan, THF, diethyl ether, dioxane, ethyl acetate, DMF, DMSO, acetic acid, and formic acid. Acetone ((CH <sub>3</sub>) <sub>2</sub>CO) and phenol (C <sub>6</sub>H <sub>5</sub>OH) are used as feeder materials in the synthesis of many different substances. Other important organic compounds that contain oxygen are: glycerol, formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, citric acid, acetic anhydride, and acetamide. Epoxides are ethers in which the oxygen atom is part of a ring of three atoms. The element is similarly found in almost all biomolecules that are important to (or generated by) life. Oxygen reacts spontaneously with many organic compounds at or below room temperature in a process called autoxidation. Most of the organic compounds that contain oxygen are not made by direct action of O <sub>2</sub>. Organic compounds important in industry and commerce that are made by direct oxidation of a precursor include ethylene oxide and peracetic acid. ## Safety and precautions The NFPA 704 standard rates compressed oxygen gas as nonhazardous to health, nonflammable and nonreactive, but an oxidizer. Refrigerated liquid oxygen (LOX) is given a health hazard rating of 3 (for increased risk of hyperoxia from condensed vapors, and for hazards common to cryogenic liquids such as frostbite), and all other ratings are the same as the compressed gas form. ### Toxicity Oxygen gas (O <sub>2</sub>) can be toxic at elevated partial pressures, leading to convulsions and other health problems. Oxygen toxicity usually begins to occur at partial pressures more than 50 kilopascals (kPa), equal to about 50% oxygen composition at standard pressure or 2.5 times the normal sea-level O <sub>2</sub> partial pressure of about 21 kPa. This is not a problem except for patients on mechanical ventilators, since gas supplied through oxygen masks in medical applications is typically composed of only 30–50% O <sub>2</sub> by volume (about 30 kPa at standard pressure). At one time, premature babies were placed in incubators containing O <sub>2</sub>-rich air, but this practice was discontinued after some babies were blinded by the oxygen content being too high. Breathing pure O <sub>2</sub> in space applications, such as in some modern space suits, or in early spacecraft such as Apollo, causes no damage due to the low total pressures used. In the case of spacesuits, the O <sub>2</sub> partial pressure in the breathing gas is, in general, about 30 kPa (1.4 times normal), and the resulting O <sub>2</sub> partial pressure in the astronaut's arterial blood is only marginally more than normal sea-level O <sub>2</sub> partial pressure. Oxygen toxicity to the lungs and central nervous system can also occur in deep scuba diving and surface supplied diving. Prolonged breathing of an air mixture with an O <sub>2</sub> partial pressure more than 60 kPa can eventually lead to permanent pulmonary fibrosis. Exposure to an O <sub>2</sub> partial pressure greater than 160 kPa (about 1.6 atm) may lead to convulsions (normally fatal for divers). Acute oxygen toxicity (causing seizures, its most feared effect for divers) can occur by breathing an air mixture with 21% O <sub>2</sub> at 66 m (217 ft) or more of depth; the same thing can occur by breathing 100% O <sub>2</sub> at only 6 m (20 ft). ### Combustion and other hazards Highly concentrated sources of oxygen promote rapid combustion. Fire and explosion hazards exist when concentrated oxidants and fuels are brought into close proximity; an ignition event, such as heat or a spark, is needed to trigger combustion. Oxygen is the oxidant, not the fuel. Concentrated O <sub>2</sub> will allow combustion to proceed rapidly and energetically. Steel pipes and storage vessels used to store and transmit both gaseous and liquid oxygen will act as a fuel; and therefore the design and manufacture of O <sub>2</sub> systems requires special training to ensure that ignition sources are minimized. The fire that killed the Apollo 1 crew in a launch pad test spread so rapidly because the capsule was pressurized with pure O <sub>2</sub> but at slightly more than atmospheric pressure, instead of the 1⁄3 normal pressure that would be used in a mission. Liquid oxygen spills, if allowed to soak into organic matter, such as wood, petrochemicals, and asphalt can cause these materials to detonate unpredictably on subsequent mechanical impact. ## See also - Geological history of oxygen - Hypoxia (environmental) for O <sub>2</sub> depletion in aquatic ecology - Ocean deoxygenation - Hypoxia (medical), a lack of oxygen - Limiting oxygen concentration - Oxygen compounds - Oxygen plant - Oxygen sensor
58,056,631	The Masked Singer (American TV series)	1,171,974,515	American reality singing competition television series	[ "2010s American game shows", "2010s American music television series", "2010s American reality television series", "2019 American television series debuts", "2020s American game shows", "2020s American music television series", "2020s American reality television series", "American television series based on South Korean television series", "English-language television shows", "Fox Broadcasting Company original programming", "Music competitions in the United States", "Super Bowl lead-out shows", "Television series by Endemol", "Television series by Fox Entertainment", "The Masked Singer (American TV series)" ]	The Masked Singer (abbreviated as TMS) is an American reality singing competition television series that premiered on Fox on January 2, 2019. It is part of the Masked Singer franchise which began in South Korea and features celebrities singing songs while wearing head-to-toe costumes and face masks concealing their identities. Hosted by Nick Cannon, the program employs panelists who guess the celebrities' identities by interpreting clues provided to them throughout each season. Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, Nicole Scherzinger, and Robin Thicke appear in each episode and vote alongside an audience for their favorite singer after all perform. The least popular is eliminated, taking off their mask to reveal their identity. To prevent their identities from being revealed before each prerecorded episode is broadcast, the program makes extensive use of code names, disguises, non-disclosure agreements, and a team of security guards. While television critics have had mixed reviews for the series and particularly negative opinions of its panelists, the costumes have attracted praise. Inspired by haute couture, they were designed in the first six seasons by Marina Toybina, who won a Costume Designers Guild Award and a Creative Arts Emmy Award. Other production staff won or received nominations for various labor union awards, and the show has won or been nominated for awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Critics Choice Association, and Hollywood Critics Association. The first five seasons received the highest Nielsen ratings for a non-sports program in the adults 18–49 key demographic. Two spin-offs—an aftershow and a dance version, The Masked Dancer—followed as a result. The growth of the Masked Singer franchise has been credited to the show's success, as has an interest in adapting similar South Korean reality television series and other television formats centered on costumes. Media and merchandise associated with the series includes a podcast, clothing, accessories, NFTs, and a stage show. In May 2023, the series was renewed for a tenth season, which is set to premiere on September 27, 2023. ## Format Each season of The Masked Singer features a group of celebrity contestants. In a typical episode, four to six contestants each sing a 90-second cover for panelists and an audience anonymously in costume. Hints to their identities—known as the "clue package"—are given before and occasionally after each performs. The perennial format is a taped interview with a celebrity's electronically masked voice narrating a video showing cryptic allusions to what they are known for. During screenings of the clue packages, after performances, and before an elimination, the panelists are given time to speculate each singer's identity out loud and write comments in note binders. They may ask questions and the host may offer additional clues. After performances conclude, the audience and panelists vote for their favorite singer using an electronic device. The show uses a weighted voting system; panelists' and audience members' votes are worth 50 percent each and combined to form a score. The least popular contestant then takes off their mask to reveal their identity. This process of elimination continues for a set number of episodes until three contestants remain in the season finale, and one is declared the winner after they perform again. The "Golden Mask" trophy is awarded as a prize. Voting does not occur for certain performances; contestants in an episode might occasionally sing as a group, and each episode concludes with the eliminated celebrity singing an encore unmasked. To continue attracting viewers, producers often modify the format each season. Except in the first, fifth and sixth seasons, a "smackdown" round is featured in select episodes in which the two least popular competitors from their first performances sing one after another on the same stage, and a second, eliminating vote occurs. Since the second season, the contestants are initially divided and only compete in a designated subgroup. A "Golden Ear" trophy awarded to the panelist with the most correct first impression guesses at the end of a season was introduced for the fourth, and until the sixth, as was a reduction of performances and the audience viewing and voting remotely. These elements continued in the fifth seasons, and "wildcard" contestants who perform at the end of certain episodes competed for the first time. ### Panelists and host The permanent panel consists of actor and comedian Ken Jeong, television personality Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg, recording artist Nicole Scherzinger, and singer-songwriter Robin Thicke. A guest occasionally appears as a fifth panelist during an episode; Joel McHale has served as a guest panelist in almost every season and previous seasons' winners have appeared. Nick Cannon hosts the show; his role was considered unclear in July 2020 after making anti-Semitic statements Fox said "inadvertently promoted hate". The network accepted Cannon's apology, and he pledged to donate his first paycheck from the fourth season to the Simon Wiesenthal Center after visiting with its officials. Niecy Nash acted as guest host for the first five episodes of the fifth season after Cannon tested positive for COVID-19. ## Production ### Conception and development The Masked Singer is based on the 2015 South Korean television series King of Mask Singer, which is the originator of the Masked Singer franchise. Executive producer Craig Plestis noticed the format in October 2017 at a Thai restaurant in Los Angeles. While waiting for dinner, he observed the other patrons staring at a television playing an episode of the Thai version of the show. Intrigued, Plestis researched the series online and contacted an executive of MBC America, a subsidiary of the producer and broadcaster of the South Korean program, Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). With the help of his agent, Steve Wohl of Paradigm Talent Agency, Plestis secured the rights to produce an American adaptation from the company. Following the creation of a showreel, he pitched the series to several outlets, all of whom rejected the idea. Plestis then met with Fox executive Rob Wade who said he "responded ... right away" to the concept and considered its uniqueness among celebrity singing competitions a strength. After successfully pitching the program under the condition A-list celebrities participate, Plestis began developing it in November. In January 2018, executive producer and showrunner Izzie Pick Ibarra became involved to help cast celebrities and Americanize the format. While The Masked Singer retains elements of the South Korean version, the structure and style are different. Rather than follow a tournament process in which singers perform against each other in multiple rounds, with the winner of the final round facing the previous episode's champion in an attempt to become the new "Mask King", Pick Ibarra opted to produce one elimination per episode, emphasize the clue package and guessing components, and have the celebrities wear more extravagant costumes. Plestis agreed, wanting to create a story arc throughout the episodes and—unlike the South Korean show—reuse the costumes. During performances, the production value is emphasized rather than panelists guessing which celebrity is singing. On August 2, 2018, Fox ordered the series and released a trailer. Endemol Shine North America produced the first season due to Plestis' relationship with the studio. Following it, production transitioned to a new in-house studio, Fox Alternative Entertainment, which is more financially favorable for the network. Since the second and third seasons, respectively, Rosie Seitchik and Cannon have served as executive producers alongside Plestis. Pick Ibarra exited the series following the third and James Breen assumed her roles in subsequent seasons. Numerous production and format changes were implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and testing and safety requirements increased the show's budget. ### Casting Since signing a deal with him in 2018, Fox offered Cannon multiple opportunities to host or produce other television programs, though none interested him. After being fascinated by the Masked Singer concept when presented with it, Cannon joined the show, believing it was "either going to be a huge failure or a huge hit". Pick Ibarra cited him as her number one choice for the role because of his personality and experience. Regarding the panelists, she said the production team was less concerned with selecting those with an ability to critique participants' singing abilities than creating a comedic tone for the series as one of their goals was to reassure celebrities they would not be ridiculed for appearing. Jeong was the first panelist to be signed on due to his humour and pre-existing knowledge of the South Korean version, followed by McCarthy Wahlberg and Thicke because of their enthusiasm regarding the concept, and Scherzinger for her positivity and experience as a singer. According to Plestis, he "only wanted [to cast] people who loved the program, not people who wanted to work on [it]". Unsure whether it would last more than one season, Jeong originally considered The Masked Singer a temporary job while he looked for a permanent role following the cancellation of his sitcom Dr. Ken. Thicke later questioned whether he would have taken the role "if [he had] still been No. 1 on the radio" and Scherzinger said she signed on to the show the day before filming began. In March 2019, Sharon Osbourne stated she was supposed to be signed on as a panelist, claiming those plans fell through when she was being contractually obligated to appear as a judge on The X Factor. The show's producers reach out to celebrities via agents or vice versa. Wade said producers' goal is to cast celebrities of varying ages, genders, and backgrounds to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. In addition to "super big names", they prefer lesser-known celebrities because it is harder to guess them. To surprise viewers with an unknown talent when unmasked, those who are not professional singers are desired, though some must send producers recordings of them singing as a quasi-audition. All are given questionnaires before competing and asked if they have claustrophobia. Due to her strategy of sending potential participants sketches of costumes that might be featured, Pick Ibarra said casting for the first season "was not nearly as hard as [she] anticipated", though several celebrities were reluctant to compete. Following its success, an increased number were interested in participating in the second. By the third, Plestis said casting became "a lot easier". ### Security Before each participant is unmasked, the show's staff undertake significant security precautions to prevent the release of their identities. According to Plestis, the series has two bibles: one related to the format and a second, larger one for security measures. Everyone involved signs a non-disclosure agreement which prevents them from releasing information about the show until its broadcast. After a celebrity is confirmed to appear, they are allowed to inform a few others who also sign one. Outside of those, approximately 25 people know the contestants' real names during a season, though they never refer to them as such. Most are from Fox and the show's legal department; Cannon, the director, and the majority of the program's 150-person crew do not know who the celebrities are until they are unmasked. To prevent identities from being revealed in the event of a leak or hack, all documents except the contract only list participants' costume names. Although the contracts do give their real names, the series' name is unlisted. If a leak occurs, the network does not recognize it. Before arriving on the show's set, celebrities and their family, friends, and agents are disguised and typically driven from a neutral location. If driven from their houses, chauffeurs are instructed to "take long, circuitous routes ... to throw off any would-be tails". The manager of Joey Fatone, "Rabbit" in the first season, said he was picked up at a 7-Eleven near Television City, given a disguise, and driven inside the gate. "Flamingo" in the second season, Adrienne Bailon, stated she was taken to the set inside of an unmarked black car and only discussed her involvement on the show with producers in a "secret warehouse". When contestants arrive on the studio lot, personnel at the gate are not given their names. Each participant is escorted to and from their trailers outside of the set by security guards while disguised with a mask, visor, gloves, pants, and a hoodie to prevent their skin from showing. According to Scherzinger, they also escort panelists directly to their dressing rooms after arriving. Due to the show's security, celebrities said they never encountered another masked participant on set, or if they did, could not speak to them. They are only allowed to communicate with those who wear a special cloth on the back of their clothing which is changed each season to prevent replication or those who wear a shirt with the words "Talk to Me". To do so, they use a portable voice changer or write on a whiteboard. Before performing, they are trained to use different body language and mannerisms than their own. The production crew is discouraged from using their phones during filming and the studio audience walks through a metal detector and has their phones placed in a Yondr magnetic pouch before entering the set. The panelists also forfeit their phones during tapings, and their note binders are placed "in a vault" after each to keep them private. ### Design #### Costumes The series' costumes are designed by Marina Toybina. In addition to her ideas, she considers celebrities' and producers' requests to formulate initial concepts. Each is designed to be dissimilar from those featured in previous seasons and other versions of the Masked Singer franchise by using different sewing and fabrication techniques. After researching "fur and skin textures, historical wardrobe, [and] anything that might be relevant to each character", Toybina sketches each concept with a pencil and works with an illustrator to create a digital version with a 3D effect. Producers review each design and note adjustments to be made. As a result, Toybina may sketch multiple versions before they collectively decide which will be featured during a season. Based on their background and what might suit them well, participants are presented with several to select from. Their reason for choosing a costume can differ; some have an emotional connection while others want to move around freely during performances. After handpicking which fabrics and materials to use based on celebrities' mobility and performing abilities, Toybina collaborates with manufacturers and a team of about 15 people to custom-make each costume. They are created concurrently over two to three months, taking about two to four weeks per mask, and two to four weeks per costume. Beginning as a wire, foam is gradually added around each mask to create an easy-to-wear helmet shape for the performers and a chinstrap often accompanies each to prevent movement. As production time is limited, the team has no opportunity to experiment with different materials—"all garments are ... cut right away on the original fabric". Since "the draping and the handwork [are] all done the old school way", she cited couturiers such as Alexander McQueen, Thierry Mugler, and Hussein Chalayan as inspirations. 3D printing was used for the first time in the fourth season, and the first two-person costume, the first with animatronics, and the first puppet costume were featured. Although adjustments may be made to customize them to celebrities' likings, most costumes turn out identical to her sketches. A maximum of two fittings are conducted with each celebrity at either the costume shop or Toybina's studio in which a "limited number of people" are present. Before filming occurs, Toybina conducts creative meetings with "every single department" of the show to discuss how to perfect the costumes' looks on camera. Contestants are in costume for no more than 30 minutes at once. During this time, they may wear cooling vests to limit heat exposure and hoods to absorb sweat. Hidden screens inside each mask help them breathe and sing clearly. For those who wear a mask detached from their costume's body, a face stocking, paint, or makeup is used to disguise their skin color. Costumes are sanitized between tapings and repaired if needed as no backups exist. Toybina left her role following the sixth season, with Tim Chappel, who served as the costume designer for the Australian version of the show, taking her spot beginning in the seventh season. #### Set According to its designer James Pearse Connelly, the set is based on the Thai version of the show and is inspired by the stage designs of electronic dance music festivals. The front is X-shaped and features an LED interior (allowing for video to be played) enclosed with smoked, tinted glass, while the back is made of shiny black laminate and contains space for trap doors and special effects underneath. The performance floor is flat to prevent tripping hazards and is bordered upstage by two 25-foot-tall (7.6 m) polygon faces with wide mouths as entrances and exits. A curved LED screen spans the space between the faces and a large logo of the show is hung above it. The stage is surrounded by seats for about 300 audience members and the panelists are seated behind them on a raised platform at a mask-shaped desk. The panelists' placement away from the stage allows them to move around during performances, helping the director tell a story. Rather than sitting and speaking into a microphone attached to the desk which would limit their mobility, the panelists wear miniature headsets made by Shure. Many on-stage set pieces were replaced with virtual reality elements and the panelists' desk was lengthened due to social distancing requirements during filming in the COVID-19 pandemic. Backstage, a Batcave-inspired area contains costumes displayed like mannequins in a museum. ### Song selection and rehearsals Pick Ibarra said selecting which songs they sing is a collaborative process; both the performers and producers submit "ideas [which] merge as [the songs] go through the clearance process". While music publishers were reluctant to grant licenses for use in the first season as they were not told who would be performing their songs, this process became easier by the second. Producers gravitate towards songs "that help tell the overall story" of one's costume and ask those who are famous singers to select songs of a genre they are not known for so viewers will be surprised when they are revealed. Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, "Ice Cream" in the second season, stated he "definitely got to pick the songs", but producers wanted them to be mainstream so viewers would connect to them. Other contestants remarked they sometimes disagreed with producers' song choices. Multiple songs are chosen and practiced at the same time; some will not be performed if a contestant is eliminated. Before the competition, vocal coaches and choreographers work with the celebrities for multiple days to determine their strengths and help improve their technique. Tori Spelling, "Unicorn" in the first season, said contestants are given three weeks to practice before their first performance, although only a couple of rehearsals are conducted before then, and the amount of practice time becomes shorter as the season progresses. According to director Alex Rudzinski, contestants generally practice in the week leading up to their performances. Their first rehearsals on stage occur for about half an hour the day before a taping, and a 10–15 minute "camera dress rehearsal sequence" is conducted several hours before filming. Celebrities may train on their own time to better compete and do cardio exercises to prepare for performances. ### Filming #### Clue packages Each celebrity attends one or two voice-over sessions to record audio for their respective clue packages. Due to the length and varying filming locations of the video component, stand-ins are used to give them additional performance practice time. In describing their creation, Wade said "you have to plan stuff and at least drive people down avenues". They may reveal a contestant is an athlete, but not the sport they compete in. McCartney said contestants are interviewed every week of the competition and have their answers fact-checked by producers. Producers listen to podcasts and read contestants' books; if a fact is on Wikipedia, they try to avoid mentioning it. No physical filming occurred in the fourth season; producers worked with Fox-owned Bento Box Entertainment to create animated videos. #### Performances Filming of the first three seasons took place at Television City in Los Angeles, after which production moved to Red Studios Hollywood. With three episodes often filmed per week, the show has a much shorter filming schedule than others. Dates are selected to accommodate celebrities' other activities. Choosing to tape the series rather than broadcast it live was a difficult decision, Pick Ibarra said, but a necessary one because the time commitment would have prevented celebrities from participating. Following the third season, Rudzinski said while an entire season would unlikely be aired live as "being able to edit helps us tell [a] story", a live broadcast remains possible. Before performances occur, Rudzinski receives detailed musical breakdowns of the songs contestants will sing. Based on their beat and structure, he creates a storyboard for each performance. Brad Duns has also acted as director. Except for the fourth and fifth seasons, during which the audience was virtual, a taping begins with them seated next to the stage and a warm-up comedian telling jokes to loosen them up. They are encouraged to act excited by clapping, cheering, and chanting the names of costumes while the production crew records their reactions for later use. Shortly thereafter, the panelists arrive, and the host introduces the first contestant. The clue package plays on the large screen in the studio, and the celebrity enters and performs with at least one background singer accompanying them offstage. They wear in-ear monitors and may use a headset inside of their mask to sing instead of a handheld microphone, opting to use one only as a prop on stage. A teleprompter displays song lyrics as an aid. According to Plestis, the contestants have one take to sing live. Rob Gronkowski, "White Tiger" in the third season, said this was true; after missing lyrics during a performance, he never received an offer from producers to re-record them afterwards. The contestants' vocals are intended to sound like the songs' original artists; if they used Auto-Tune processing, then such effects are applied in post-production. After a celebrity sings, their performance is conducted again with background singers only, allowing producers additional audience reactions to film. During this time, they are allowed to cool down in one of the air-conditioned rooms backstage. After all performances and guesses conclude, the panelists and audience vote for their favorite singer. Except during the fourth and fifth seasons, the producers film the studio audience acting out how they would react to one's elimination, with less than two dozen "extremely well-vetted" people (either friends and family of the celebrity or the show's production crew) remaining on set during the actual reveal. The celebrity is allowed to have their hair and makeup fixed backstage before they are unmasked on camera. As they reveal themselves, the panelists and audience chant "take! it! off!" and "Who Are You" by the Who—which is also the show's opening theme song—plays in the background. Afterward, panelists are discouraged from researching possible answers to the clues presented to them for contestants remaining in the competition between episode tapings. ## Series overview ## Broadcast history and release The Masked Singer debuted on January 2, 2019, as a mid-season replacement to Star. A month before the season finale on February 27, 2019, Fox renewed the show for a second season. During its upfronts for the 2019–2020 United States television season in May 2019, the network renewed the series for a third season to launch as the lead-out of Super Bowl LIV. The second season premiered on September 25, 2019, and was preceded by a "Super Sneak Peek" episode which aired two Sundays prior. Before concluding on December 18, 2019, it was pre-empted for two weeks by the broadcast of the 2019 World Series. On February 2, 2020, the third season premiered following Super Bowl LIV. After a "Road to the Finals" episode aired the previous day, it culminated on May 20, 2020. Two weeks prior, the series was renewed for a fourth season to air during the 2020–2021 television season. Following a preview episode on September 13, it premiered on September 23, 2020. One week of the season was pre-empted due to the 2020 World Series. Two weeks before the finale on December 16, 2020, the series was renewed for a fifth season, which premiered on March 10, 2021. On May 17, 2021, Fox renewed the series for a sixth season a week before the fifth season's finale on May 26. The sixth season began airing starting with a two-night premiere on September 22 and 23, 2021. A seventh season premiered on March 9, 2022. On May 15, 2023, it was announced that the series was renewed for a tenth season. The program is aired by Fox in the United States and has been simulcasted by CTV in Canada since the second season. Fox Entertainment distributes the series in those countries while Propagate Content does so elsewhere. Outside of North America, it has aired on ITV in the United Kingdom, Network 10 in Australia, Three in New Zealand, M-Net in South Africa, and Channel 5 in Singapore, among others. Aside from double-length episodes, most run for about 43 minutes. They are available for streaming in the United States on Hulu, Fox's website, and the Fox Now mobile app through video on demand. The Masked Singer is also available on the American ad-supported service Tubi, where it became the most-watched series less than two months after its April 2020 debut and is used to attract new viewers to the platform. Episodes are available internationally on localized streaming services. ## Reception ### Television viewership and ratings <table> <caption>Viewership and ratings per season of The Masked Singer. TV season ranks/averages include seven-day DVR playback.</caption> <thead> <tr class="header"> <th><p>Season</p></th> <th><p>Timeslot (ET)</p></th> <th><p>Episodes</p></th> <th><p>First aired</p></th> <th><p>Last aired</p></th> <th><p>TV season</p></th> <th><p>Viewership<br /> rank</p></th> <th><p>Avg. viewers<br /> (millions)</p></th> <th><p>18–49<br /> rank</p></th> <th><p>Avg. 18–49<br /> rating</p></th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr class="odd"> <td><p>Date</p></td> <td><p>Viewers<br /> (millions)</p></td> <td><p>Date</p></td> <td><p>Viewers<br /> (millions)</p></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td><p>1</p></td> <td><p>Wednesday 9:00 p.m.</p></td> <td><p>10</p></td> <td><p>January 2, 2019 (2019-01-02)</p></td> <td><p>9.37</p></td> <td><p>TBA</p></td> <td><p>11.48</p></td> <td><p>2018–2019</p></td> <td><p>13</p></td> <td><p>11.57</p></td> </tr> <tr class="odd"> <td><p>2</p></td> <td><p>Wednesday 8:00 p.m.</p></td> <td><p>13</p></td> <td><p>September 25, 2019 (2019-09-25)</p></td> <td><p>8.03</p></td> <td><p>TBA</p></td> <td><p>8.36</p></td> <td><p>2019–2020</p></td> <td><p>12</p></td> <td><p>10.73</p></td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td><p>3</p></td> <td><p>17</p></td> <td><p>February 2, 2020 (2020-02-02)</p></td> <td><p>23.70</p></td> <td><p>TBA</p></td> <td><p>9.01</p></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr class="odd"> <td><p>4</p></td> <td><p>12</p></td> <td><p>September 23, 2020 (2020-09-23)</p></td> <td><p>5.92</p></td> <td><p>TBA</p></td> <td><p>7.41</p></td> <td><p>2020–2021</p></td> <td><p>23</p></td> <td><p>7.56</p></td> <td><p>3</p></td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td><p>5</p></td> <td><p>11</p></td> <td><p>March 10, 2021 (2021-03-10)</p></td> <td><p>5.66</p></td> <td><p>TBA</p></td> <td><p>5.51</p></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr class="odd"> <td><p>6</p></td> <td><p>13</p></td> <td><p>September 22, 2021 (2021-09-22)</p></td> <td><p>4.74</p></td> <td><p>TBA</p></td> <td><p>5.08</p></td> <td><p>2021–2022</p></td> <td><p>40</p></td> <td><p>5.85</p></td> <td><p>8</p></td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td><p>7</p></td> <td><p>11</p></td> <td><p>March 9, 2022 (2022-03-09)</p></td> <td><p>4.15</p></td> <td><p>TBA</p></td> <td><p>4.19</p></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr class="odd"> <td><p>8</p></td> <td><p>12</p></td> <td><p>September 21, 2022 (2022-09-21)</p></td> <td><p>3.70</p></td> <td><p>TBA</p></td> <td><p>4.18</p></td> <td><p>2022–2023</p></td> <td><p>44</p></td> <td><p>5.11</p></td> <td><p>10</p></td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td><p>9</p></td> <td><p>14</p></td> <td><p>February 15, 2023 (2023-02-15)</p></td> <td><p>3.71</p></td> <td><p>TBA</p></td> <td><p>3.73</p></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr class="odd"> <td><p>10</p></td> <td><p>TBA</p></td> <td><p>September 27, 2023 (2023-09-27)</p></td> <td><p>TBD</p></td> <td><p>TBA</p></td> <td><p>TBD</p></td> <td><p>2023–2024</p></td> <td><p>TBD</p></td> <td><p>TBD</p></td> <td><p>TBD</p></td> </tr> <tr class="even"> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Viewership and ratings per season of The Masked Singer. TV season ranks/averages include seven-day DVR playback. In both 2019 and 2020, the show was named the "Hottest Reality/Competition Series" in the United States by Adweek. Excluding post-NFL game debuts, the program's premiere was the highest-rated for an unscripted television series in the country since The X Factor in 2011. Ratings grew toward the end of the first season, and The Masked Singer concluded the 2018–2019 American television season as the highest-rated new series in the adults 18–49 key demographic and the first unscripted series to rank number one in the genre in its first season since Joe Millionaire in 2003. TV Guide named it the television season's "most underestimated show". During the following television season, the series was one of two non-NFL programs to charge over \$200,000 per 30 seconds of advertising. Deadline Hollywood cited the second season as a major reason Fox—for the first time in the network's history—ranked number one in fall entertainment programming. The premiere of the third season following Super Bowl LIV became the series' most-watched episode. Throughout the season's latter half which aired amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, episodes experienced a rise in viewership compared to those broadcast before the outbreak. Although the 18–49 rating was lower than the first's, the show remained the top non-sports program in the demographic. During the 2020–2021 United States television season, ad prices for the show increased 12 percent to about \$226,000 per 30 seconds. While the highest-rated entertainment broadcast since the third season's finale, the first episode of the fourth season tied for the series' lowest at the time. A broadcast following a Thanksgiving NFL game was the most-watched and highest-rated of the series excluding the post-Super Bowl episode since the first season's finale. With the fourth and fifth season's ratings, The Masked Singer remained the highest-rated entertainment program among adults 18–49 for the third consecutive television season. By the seventh season, the show's viewership declined to less than half of the first season's audience, though it is still considered above-average given similar trends for other programs. Simulcasts of the show are popular in Canada; all of the premieres and finales have ranked within the top 10 most-watched programs in the weeks they aired according to audience measurement company Numeris. The post-Super Bowl LIV premiere of the third season was viewed by 2.35 million, the most for a Super Bowl lead-out in the country since 2012. During the 2019–2020 Canadian television season, it was the eighth most-watched series overall. In Australia, The Masked Singer debuted on September 30, 2020, to ratings significantly smaller than others in its timeslot. With 285,000 viewers, The Music attributed its low viewership to a culture barrier and that reveals are well-publicized by the time the series airs. After viewership fell to 125,000 a month later, the program was moved to a less favorable timeslot. ### Critical response The show received a mixed reception from television critics; their critiques were classified as "befuddled" by The Hollywood Reporter. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 52 percent approval rating for the first season, with an average rating of 4 out of 10, based on 25 reviews. Its critical consensus states: "Defying all tropes of the reality competition genre, The Masked Singer manages to be both magnetically apocalyptic and inexplicably boring." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 36 out of 100 based on 10 critics reviewing the first season, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". #### Concept and appeal Critics contrasted the series to other reality television programs in the United States. Entertainment Weekly's Joseph Longo considered it the most captivating competition series since The Voice premiered in 2011, and Stuart Heritage of The Guardian called it one of the best singing competition shows in a decade. Writing for NBC News' Think, Ani Bundel thought the series has an advantage over Dancing with the Stars and The Voice because voting bias is less likely when competitors are unknown. Kelly Lawler of USA Today agreed, praising the avoidance of overproduced backstories, harsh criticisms, and results episodes. The Daily Beast's Laura Bradley felt it was better than Dancing with the Stars because costumes can be used to generate interest instead of casting those "who seek to overplay their 15 minutes of fame". As she considered its format more complex than Top Chef or Dancing with the Stars, Erin Schwartz of The Nation considered The Masked Singer's success surprising. The show received comparisons to the original version of the franchise. Despite its strong viewership indicating the "changes [between it and the South Korean version] seem to have worked", some felt the competition length is too slow in comparison, and makes reveals occur long after established consensuses about who the celebrities are, have formed, nullifying the excitement surrounding them. While contestants on the South Korean series sing the same songs during a duet round, producers' decision not to do so in the American version was also thought of as an "ill-advised" decision by critics as they felt it inhibits fair comparisons. Conversely, for V's Hannah Hightman, the series "retains the bizarreness of King of Mask Singer but adds a distinctly American style, creating an infectiously fun reality TV classic". According to Drew Millard of The Outline, the show is better than previous American adaptations of Asian television series because it is "even crazier than the original". Critics regarded the program as having a positive nature. John Doyle of The Globe and Mail cited it as a cultural change in the United States away from the competitive and often exploitative essence of reality shows like American Idol. Opining in The Washington Post, Sonia Rao thought the series' ethos is its support of eccentricity. Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture named it the best example of escapism on television, and Variety's Daniel D'Addario called it a return to form for the medium as he thought it possesses the now-rare ability to uplift and unite people. Lawler agreed, remarking it was perhaps "the only reality TV show that doesn't manufacture its fun". Schwartz considered it "the rare show on television that allows viewers to turn off their brains, sit back, and enjoy" and felt panelists complement competitors despite the quality of their performances. The way contestants are eliminated has garnered praise for being dignified, though those of "vocal legend[s]" such as Patti LaBelle, Dionne Warwick, and Chaka Khan have been criticized for being premature. #### Performance and production The costume designs have received praise for being inventive, intricate, and impressive. Opinions of the performances have differed; Variety's Caroline Framke described them as mediocre, The New Yorker's Emily Nussbaum thought the choreography was elaborate, and Entertainment Weekly's Kristen Baldwin said some celebrities sound professional while others are more karaoke-like. The way the show is edited has attracted criticism; guesses have been called repetitive, episodes excessive in length, and unmaskings slow. Writing for Decider, Joel Keller found the program's pacing overwhelming. To fix the "manufactured" feeling, Hanh Nguyen of IndieWire felt a live broadcast would add excitement, as did those from Gold Derby and E! Online. Los Angeles Times' television critic Lorraine Ali noted viewers on the West Coast discover which celebrity is unmasked later than those on the East Coast do because the show is not aired live across all time zones. #### Cast and commentary Reviewers referred to the status of celebrities competing. Rob Harvilla of The Ringer wrote that they are either stars of decades past or only have thin connections to actual celebrities and Ali stated the show's "idea of celebrity is fairly elastic". According to Hannah Hightman, the series is "a haven for B-list celebs". Alison de Souza of The Straits Times said the series has never featured an A-lister. With both traditional Hollywood celebrities and reality show stars participating, some indicated the hierarchies of fame are no longer as defined as they once were. Conversely, Adam White of The Daily Telegraph attributed the show's success in part to the "relative starriness of its participants" and BBC News' Neil Smith considered it a "particularly starry" version of the franchise. In her book Transnational Korean Television, the scholar Hyejung Ju argued almost all of the contestants are well-known. In contrast to the New Zealand edition, Jenni Mortimer of The New Zealand Herald said "the celebrity pull on the US version is huge". The series has received criticism for having politicians such as Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani as contestants, with the latter causing panelist Ken Jeong to walk out. Critics felt the panelists undermined the program with pointless statements and awkward interactions. Describing McCarthy Wahlberg as inexperienced, Scherzinger as dull, Jeong as over-the-top, and Thicke as too serious, Kelly Lawler named them the worst panel in reality television history. Rachel Desantis of the New York Daily News thought all except Jeong were unfunny; Miles Surrey of The Ringer disagreed, stating Jeong was annoying. Quartz's Adam Epstein predicted the panelists could be the show's downfall. Their guesses have been called stupid, absurd, worthless, and "the worst part of the [show]" by those who viewed them as implausible. In dissenting, The Daily Beast's Jordan Julian felt they made the panelists "surprisingly entertaining" and D'Addario compared the panelists favorably to the original American Idol judges who he perceived as non-experts in their fields. Cannon's role on the series has divided critics. The Washington Post's Emily Yahr felt he "was made for" the show due to his years of experience in the same role "seeing oddities" on America's Got Talent, and Keller thought he "learned his lesson" from that program by being less distracting. Conversely, Doyle called Cannon "as inarticulate as a three-year-old" and Longo remarked he was overshadowed by the presence and commentary of McCarthy Wahlberg. The panelist's role on the show was criticized by Seitz and Sam Barsanti of The A.V. Club due to her views on vaccines. ### Cultural impact The series' success is attributed to subsequent local adaptations of the Masked Singer franchise. It is part of the Korean wave and follows fellow late 2010s American television shows Better Late Than Never and The Good Doctor, which are also based on South Korean programs. International interest in adapting other costume-centered formats such as Wild Things and Sexy Beasts has been credited to the series' success, as has the debut of other guessing game shows on Fox. An American version of the South Korean game show I Can See Your Voice, which features contestants guessing whether singers are good or bad without hearing them sing for a chance to win money, began airing on the network in 2020. Jeong hosts along with a panel and a "musical superstar" who aid the contestant. It followed episodes of The Masked Singer's fourth season, creating a two-hour programming block based on South Korean formats and featuring Jeong. Game of Talents, another international guessing game adaptation, is hosted by season two winner Wayne Brady and aired after episodes of The Masked Singer's fifth season. In April 2021, an unofficial online fundraiser version of the show featuring Broadway performers titled Broadway's Masked Singer was held in support of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The program has played a major role in Fox's success as an independent network and in-house production company Fox Alternative Entertainment. As a result, Wade described an increased openness to new ideas when shows are pitched. He also predicted more direct relationships between Asian production companies and American television networks would form. Masked Singer was MBC's first format sold to the United States market. Plestis subsequently signed a deal with Tokyo Broadcasting System to develop new television formats and launched an American edition of the South Korean game show My Little Television for TBS. Due in part to her success with The Masked Singer, British production company Studio Lambert signed a similar deal with Pick Ibarra. ### Awards and nominations ## Spin-offs ### The Masked Singer: After the Mask Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television, Fox postponed the premieres of some scripted series to late 2020 and opted to create The Masked Singer: After the Mask as one of two shows that could be produced remotely to fill the programming gap. Cannon hosted the aftershow; it aired on Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. (ET) for four weeks following episodes of the third season during which he discusses the outcome of the preceding Masked Singer episode from a "virtual stage" with guests appearing via videotelephony. A performance from the eliminated celebrity is featured at the end of each episode, which are directed by Tom Sullivan and executive produced by Breen, Plestis, and Cannon. CTV broadcast the series in Canada. The series premiere received a 1.4 rating in the adults 18–49 demographic and about 5.5 million viewers, a "pretty significant improvement" over the average ratings of the previous lead-out, Lego Masters. Subsequent episodes continued to retain about half of The Masked Singer's viewers, which is considered above average for an aftershow. Including DVR, the program concluded the 2019–2020 United States television season with an average viewership of 5.29 million (ranking sixty-eighth among all series broadcast), and an average 18–49 rating of 1.4 (ranking twenty-seventh). According to Variety, it received higher ratings "than shows that probably cost ten times to produce". ### The Masked Dancer Following the premiere of The Masked Singer in January 2019, Ellen DeGeneres began conducting a parody, "The Masked Dancer", as a recurring segment on her daytime talk show. On January 7, 2020, Fox Alternative Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television announced plans to broadcast The Masked Dancer as a television series. Craig Robinson hosts the show, and Jeong, Brian Austin Green, Paula Abdul, and Ashley Tisdale act as panelists. Like The Masked Singer's format, celebrity contestants wear head-to-toe costumes and face masks concealing their identities, but perform different dance styles. It premiered on Fox on December 27, 2020. ## Other media ### Costume displays After being worn during a season, the costumes are placed in storage and occasionally displayed. In mid-2019, some from the first season were accompanied by video and Toybina's original sketches in an exhibit, "Fashion & Fantasy: The Art of The Masked Singer", at the Los Angeles Paley Center for Media. Selections were also present at the annual "Art of Television Costume Design" exhibit at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Museum in Los Angeles from August to October 2019. On February 1, 2020, two costumes were displayed at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County as part of a meet-and-greet promotion. For a week in May 2021, costumes from the fifth season were shown in a West Hollywood, California storefront as part of a For Your Consideration campaign for the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards. ### Merchandise Hoodies, coffee mugs, phone cases, and other merchandise using the show's branding are purchasable on the series' online store. "Family fun packs" consisting of coloring pages, a word search, and a do it yourself mask were once downloadable on its website, as were official Giphy stickers, clue notebooks, Bingo cards, and phone wallpapers. Images of the series were made available to users on Microsoft Teams and Zoom as custom backgrounds. In October 2020, the show launched an official weekly podcast hosted by Bow Wow. In addition to a post-elimination celebrity interview, it features guests and extra clues. During the fifth season, viewers could use the Fox Bet Super 6 app to answer questions about each episode and be entered into weekly draws to win money, including a grand prize of \$100,000. In October 2021, Fox launched an online community known as the "MaskVerse" in which users can trade mask NFTs and communicate on a Discord server. ### The Masked Singer National Tour In February 2020, it was announced that the program would be getting a live tour with shows in over forty American cities featuring two celebrity hosts and a local mystery celebrity who would be unmasked at the end of each. Originally scheduled for mid-2020, the tour was later postponed to the following year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and eventually delayed indefinitely. In June 2021, Plestis said plans were being materialized and that he hoped it would occur in 2022. On November 1, 2021, the tour was reannounced for 2022, and later began on May 28. Natasha Bedingfield, who was costumed as "Pepper" in season six, serves as host of the tour. Shows in the tour include previous Masked Singer'' costumes such as Queen of Hearts, Alien, and Thingamabob. Each show also includes a mystery celebrity, who performs in a tour-specific costume, "Boom Boom Box".
335,537	1999 FIFA Women's World Cup	1,173,013,273	1999 edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup	[ "1999 FIFA Women's World Cup", "1999 in American women's soccer", "1999 in women's association football", "FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments", "International women's association football competitions hosted by the United States", "July 1999 sports events in the United States", "June 1999 sports events in the United States" ]	The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was the third edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national soccer teams. It was hosted as well as won by the United States and took place from June 19 to July 10, 1999, at eight venues across the country. The tournament was the most successful FIFA Women's World Cup in terms of attendance, television ratings, and public interest. The 1999 edition was the first to field sixteen teams, an increase from the twelve in 1995, and featured an all-female roster of referees and match officials. It was played primarily in large American football venues due to expected demand following the successful 1996 Olympics women's tournament. The average attendance was 37,319 spectators per match and the total attendance was 1.194 million, a record that stood until 2015. The tournament earned a profit of \$4 million on its \$30 million operating budget. The final, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, was attended by 90,185 people, setting an international record for spectators at a women's sporting event. The United States won the tournament by defeating China in a penalty shoot-out after a scoreless draw. The 5–4 shoot-out ended with Brandi Chastain scoring the winning penalty with her team's fifth kick, following an earlier miss by China's Liu Ying. Chinese forward Sun Wen and Brazilian midfielder Sissi were the joint top goalscorers of the tournament, with seven goals each. The tournament was considered a "watershed moment" for women's soccer in the U.S. that increased interest and participation in women's soccer. A new professional league, the Women's United Soccer Association, was established following the tournament, and played three seasons before folding because of financial difficulties. The United States also hosted the next World Cup in 2003, which was played in smaller venues and ended with the host team finishing in third place. ## Background The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was the third edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the international women's championship created by FIFA following several precursor tournaments that were organized to test its feasibility. International women's soccer had gained popularity in the 1970s, following the easing of gender sanctions by national associations, and competitions were organized between national teams, including the Mundialito and Women's World Invitational Tournament. A FIFA-organized women's tournament was hosted by China in 1988 and was followed by the announcement of the first FIFA Women's World Cup, to be hosted by China in 1991. The tournament, which had several modified rules and was officially known as the 1st FIFA World Championship for Women's Football for the M&M's Cup until retroactively given the World Cup moniker, was considered a success by FIFA and was followed up by the second World Cup in Sweden four years later with greater media attention but played in front of smaller crowds averaging under 4,500. ### Host selection The United States Soccer Federation announced their intention to bid for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup in February 1995, shortly after hosting the successful 1994 men's World Cup. Australia and Chile both announced their intention to bid but withdrew from the process in December 1995. This left the United States as the sole applicant by the March 1996 deadline for bids. The FIFA Executive Committee officially awarded hosting rights to the United States on May 31, 1996, the same day that the 2002 men's World Cup was jointly awarded to Japan and South Korea. ## Venues With the exception of the semi-finals, the tournament's 32 matches were organized into 15 doubleheaders, consisting of two matches played back-to-back in the same stadium. The semi-finals were played in separate venues, but organized as doubleheaders hosted by the San Jose Clash and New England Revolution of Major League Soccer. Eight venues were used for the tournament: three on the East Coast, four on the West Coast, and one in Chicago. Most of the stadiums were American football venues with higher capacities than many of the stadiums used in the first two tournaments. At FIFA's request, the tournament's organizers had originally planned to use five smaller college football venues on the East Coast located in a single time zone. The final match would be staged at RFK Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C. Following the success of the inaugural women's soccer tournament at the 1996 Summer Olympics, which had high attendances and culminated in 76,489 watching the gold medal match, the organizing committee chose to use larger stadiums instead and received 15 bids in 1997. The eight venues and host cities were announced on November 19, 1997, including five large American football venues that were used in the 1994 men's World Cup. The tournament final was awarded to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, which reprised its role from the 1984 Summer Olympics gold medal match and the 1994 men's final. The opening match would be played at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, near New York City. The tournament's organizing committee estimated that the 1999 World Cup would average an attendance of 25,000 per match, with U.S. matches and later knockout ties at near sellouts in the larger venues. Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in Landover, Maryland, serving the Washington, D.C. market, had a limited capacity of 41,000 seats because of ongoing construction during the group stage. It was later raised to 55,000 for the quarter-finals. Two smaller venues, Civic Stadium in Portland, Oregon, and Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California, were chosen to each host several group stage matches and one quarter-final doubleheader. For the tournament, Civic Stadium was outfitted with a temporary grass field that was laid over its artificial turf surface, which debuted during a warm-up friendly on June 6. Other venues underwent small modifications to host the tournament's matches, including converting American football locker rooms to accommodate more teams and changing the dimensions of the playing field. Ticket pre-sales at discounted prices began in October 1997 and over 300,000 were sold by April 1999. By early June, ticket sales had reached 500,000—setting a new record for a women's sporting event by surpassing the NCAA women's basketball tournament. The opening weekend's eight matches were organized into four doubleheaders that attracted a total of 134,236 spectators, surpassing the total attendance for the 1995 World Cup; the United States–Denmark match drew a crowd of 78,972 at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, setting a new U.S. record for attendance at a women's sporting event. That figure was later surpassed by the final, played between the United States and China at the Rose Bowl in front of a crowd of 90,185 spectators—a world record for women's sports. ## Participating teams and officials ### Qualification The 1999 Women's World Cup had sixteen participating teams, an increase from the twelve in 1995 and the largest field in the tournament's history. Ghana, Mexico, North Korea, and Russia all made their Women's World Cup debuts at the 1999 tournament, with Mexico being the first Spanish-speaking country to qualify while Russia being the first Slavic country to qualify. Of the remaining twelve teams, three were returning for their second tournament; nine had participated in all three editions since 1991. The tournament's seven best quarter-finalists also qualified for the 2000 Sydney Olympics alongside hosts Australia. The United States was granted automatic qualification as the host. The remaining participants were determined through a series of six tournaments run by the continental confederations of world soccer from 1997 to 1998; these comprised 63 countries playing in 141 matches. FIFA allocated six berths to Europe; three to Asia; two to Africa; and one each to North America (excluding the hosts), Oceania, and South America. Another berth (for Mexico) was determined by a play-off series between the second-place finishers in the North and South American tournaments. ### Draw The tournament's final draw took place on February 14, 1999, on a temporary outdoor stage at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, California. It was televised live by ESPN during the halftime of an exhibition match between the United States women's team and the FIFA Women's World Stars at the stadium. The United States lost the match 2–1, their first home defeat in more than 40 matches. The draw was conducted using four pots of four teams each. The four highest-ranked teams, China, Germany, Norway, and the United States, were seeded into Pot A. The remaining pots were organized based on geographic location, with four European teams in Pot B, South America, Asia, and Oceania represented in Pot C, and North America and Africa in Pot D. The United States was placed in slot A1, separated from Canada and Mexico; similarly, China was separated from Japan and North Korea in the draw. As a result of the restrictions in seeding and pot placement, two of the World Cup groups each contained two European teams. Group B was dubbed the "group of death" because it contained non-seeded Brazil, an Olympic semi-finalist, alongside Germany, Italy, and Mexico. The teams drawn in Groups C and D were switched to place China's opening match at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, with hopes of attracting the San Francisco Bay Area's Chinese-American community. ### Squads Each team's squad for the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup consisted of 20 players, the same as the 1995 tournament. The sixteen participating national associations were required to confirm their final rosters no later than June 9, 1999. Three days after the deadline, the full rosters were published by FIFA on their website. Several teams, including the United States, Canada, and Mexico, drew much of their roster from U.S. college teams. The oldest player at the tournament was Norwegian captain Linda Medalen, who turned 34 before the opening matchday, while the youngest was 16-year-old Ifeanyi Chiejine of Nigeria. ### Match officials The 1999 tournament was the first World Cup to feature a pool of 31 referees composed entirely of women—the result of a directive from FIFA president Sepp Blatter approved the year before. They worked in groups during matching and training and were divided between two base facilities in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. to reduce travel. Before the tournament, several coaches raised concerns over the quality of the referee pool, particularly those chosen for geographic diversity. By the end of the group stage, several coaches had complained of inconsistent fouls and offside calls. This was blamed in part on the referees being inexperienced with working in front of large crowds. In a post-tournament report, FIFA stated that the trial of all-female referees had been successful and that further development would produce better results in future tournaments. FIFA published the final list of referees on April 13, 1999. From this list, only Ghanaian assistant referee Juliana Akuteye did not officiate at the tournament. American referee Kari Seitz was selected in June as a replacement for another official who had been denied a travel visa to the United States. ## Preparations The organizing committee for the 1999 tournament was led by chairwoman Donna de Varona, a former Olympian swimmer and co-founder of the Women's Sports Foundation, and president Marla Messing, an attorney and protégé of U.S. soccer president Alan Rothenberg who had helped organize the 1994 men's World Cup in the United States. Headquartered in Century City, California, it had a \$30 million budget for the tournament, a tenth of that for the men's tournament. It was partially funded by a \$2.5 million loan from the U.S. Soccer Foundation using profits from the 1994 men's World Cup. Messing submitted the committee's business plan for the tournament in September 1998, two days before giving birth. The event attracted funding from several major corporate sponsors who had previously shied away from women's soccer, including: McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Fujifilm, Gillette, and Allstate; the companies, however, did not promote the tournament through advertising and tie-in campaigns like they did for the 1994 men's World Cup. The tournament's official equipment sponsor was Adidas, who supplied the match balls and other equipment. A new Women's World Cup Trophy was commissioned for the tournament, designed by William Sawaya of Sawaya & Moroni. It cost \$30,000 to design and assemble the 4.6-kilogram (10 lb) trophy. Following a bureaucratic issue that prevented it from being displayed at the February draw, it was unveiled on April 19, 1999. FIFA also organized several other business events during the tournament, including the FIFA Women's Football Symposium and an extraordinary session of the FIFA Congress. Both took place in Los Angeles before the final. Following the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade a few weeks before the tournament, organizers feared the Chinese team would pull out of the World Cup. However, the team played as planned and reached the final, and the presidents of the United States and China exchanged congratulatory messages. The closing of the U.S. embassy in Beijing also affected the visa process for the North Korean team and staff, as the country did not have formal diplomatic relations with the U.S., but their visas were approved in time for the tournament. ### Media and marketing All 32 matches were televised in the United States on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2, of which 26 were live broadcasts and six were tape delayed. The network also carried some matches in 70 other countries on its affiliated channels. Lifetime Television produced several documentaries and special programs for the World Cup. Eurosport broadcast most matches live across 55 countries, while local broadcasters in several countries also carried matches. The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), the largest women's professional sports league in the country, rescheduled several games to avoid clashing with World Cup fixtures. It also cross-promoted the tournament during its television broadcasts. Over 2,000 accredited journalists covered the event, including 950 writers, 410 photographers, and 600 broadcast personnel. Several major newspapers in the United States sent reporters to cover matches, with credentialed staff growing in number as the tournament went on, while others declined to produce content beyond wire reports. The official slogan of the tournament was "This is my game. This is my future. Watch me play." It was unveiled alongside the logo and branding in July 1997. Tickets were marketed primarily to young girls and their fathers, rather than the stereotypical "soccer mom", and sold out quickly. The organizing committee sponsored and arranged training camps and other events for youth soccer players in host cities. Some of these included appearances by members of the United States team to advertise the tournament and invite players and their families to attend matches. Boy band 'N Sync and pop performers B\*Witched and Billie performed at the opening ceremony for the Women's World Cup at Giants Stadium; Billie's single "Because We Want To" was chosen as the tournament's official song. Jennifer Lopez performed at the closing ceremony before the final, where she also recorded an official music video for her single "Let's Get Loud". ## Group stage The sixteen participating teams were organized into four groups, labeled A to D, by the final draw on February 14, 1999. The group stage consisted of 24 matches played in a round-robin format, in which each team played one match against the other three in their group. Teams were awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw, and none for a defeat. The winners and runners-up from each group qualified for the first round of the knockout stage, which began with the quarter-finals on June 30, 1999. ### Group A Hosts and 1991 champions United States were placed in Group A alongside Denmark, who were undefeated in European qualification, Nigeria, champions of the African qualifying competition, and North Korea in their World Cup debut. The United States defeated Denmark 3–0 in the opening match, played on June 19 in front of a record 78,972 at Giants Stadium, with goals scored by Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, and Kristine Lilly. The following day at the Rose Bowl, North Korea lost 2–1 to Nigeria by conceding goals to Mercy Akide and Rita Nwadike in the second half. The United States hosted Nigeria at Chicago's Soldier Field for their second match. They fell behind in the second minute by conceding a goal to Nkiru Okosieme after a defensive mistake. The Americans rallied and found an equalizer in the form of an own goal scored by Ifeanyi Chiejine in the 19th minute. This initiated a 23-minute period where the home side scored six goals on their way to a 7–1 victory. North Korea earned an upset victory over Denmark in Portland, winning 3–1 with two first-half goals and another in the 73rd minute before a consolation goal by the Danes. The North Korean victory denied the United States an instant berth in the quarter-finals. It also preserved the chances for all four teams in the group to finish in the top two places and qualify for the knockout stage. Nigeria became the first African team to advance to the quarter-finals of a Women's World Cup with a 2–0 defeat of Denmark in their final group stage match. Nigeria's Super Falcons took the lead with a goal by Mercy Akide in the first half and added a second by Okosieme in the 81st minute, while Denmark had a goal disallowed and was unable to finish its chances. The United States rested several of its starting players for its final group stage match against North Korea, but finished with a 3–0 victory with a goal from reserve striker Shannon MacMillan and another two scored by midfielder Tisha Venturini in the second half. The Americans finished first in Group A, with nine points, followed by Nigeria with six. ### Group B Group B, dubbed the tournament's "group of death", included 1995 runners-up Germany, Olympic semi-finalists Brazil, 1991 quarter-finalist Italy, and newcomers Mexico. Brazil opened the group stage with a 7–1 blowout win over Mexico at Giants Stadium, scoring the final six goals of the match after it was tied at 1–1 ten minutes in. Forward Pretinha and midfielder Sissi both scored hat-tricks, the former's completed in stoppage time and the latter in the 50th minute. Kátia scored from a penalty kick before half-time. Italy and Germany played to a 1–1 draw the following day at the Rose Bowl, avoiding an upset for the Italians with a penalty kick scored by Bettina Wiegmann in the 61st minute to level the match. Sissi scored twice for Brazil in their second match, a 2–0 victory against Italy in Chicago, earning the team a quarter-finals berth. Mexico was eliminated from the group in a 6–0 loss to Germany in Portland, having been outshot 43–2 and unable to force a save from German goalkeeper Silke Rottenberg until the 89th minute. Inka Grings scored a hat-trick for the Germans, including the opening and closing goals of the match, while her teammates Sandra Smisek, Ariane Hingst, and Renate Lingor each scored one goal. Brazil and Germany played on the final matchday for first place in Group B, as the second-place team would be drawn against the United States in the quarter-finals. After conceding to Germany's Birgit Prinz in the eighth minute, Brazil rallied from behind and took a 2–1 lead by the end of the first half on goals by Kátia and Sissi. A penalty kick, awarded to Germany in the first minute of the second half after Prinz was fouled in the box, was converted by Wiegmann to tie the match at 2–2. The Germans then took the lead on a deflected shot by Steffi Jones, but a last-minute header from substitute forward Maycon in stoppage time tied the match at 3–3. Brazil finished atop the group and would play Nigeria in the quarter-finals, while Germany advanced as the second-placed team to face the United States. Italy, who were already eliminated by the Brazil–Germany draw, defeated Mexico 2–0 at Foxboro Stadium to finish the tournament with a 1–1–1 record. ### Group C Reigning World Cup champions Norway were seeded into Group C, which also had 1995 quarter-finalists Japan, North American qualification champions Canada, and newcomers Russia, who qualified through the European play-offs. Canada took the lead in the 32nd minute of its opening match against Japan, played at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, but conceded to Japanese forward Nami Otake in the 64th minute and ended the match with a 1–1 draw. Norway began its defense of the World Cup title in Massachusetts with a 2–1 win over the debuting Russians, with a goal by Brit Sandaune off a 28th-minute corner kick taken by Marianne Pettersen, who scored in the 68th minute and took nine more shots; Galina Komarova scored a consolation goal for Russia in the 78th minute, one of just two shots on goal for the team during the entire match. At Jack Kent Cooke Stadium near Washington, D.C., Norway became the first team to secure a place in the quarter-finals by winning 7–1 in a rout of Canada. Canada had tied the match at 1–1 with a goal in the 31st minute by Charmaine Hooper, but Norwegian forward Ann Kristin Aarønes, who had scored the first goal in the eighth minute, restored her team's lead with a header in the 36th minute. Five Norwegian players scored in the second half, equaling the seven goals they scored against Canada in the first round of the 1995 tournament. Four days after their defeat to Norway, the Russians earned their first World Cup win by defeating Japan 5–0 at Portland's Civic Stadium. The team scored four goals in the second half, including two by Olga Letyushova and three throughout the match that were assisted by captain Irina Grigorieva. Russia qualified for the quarter-finals with a 4–1 victory over Canada at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, finishing in second place with six points. Grigorieva scored Russia's first goal in the 54th minute and assisted on their second, the first of two goals scored by Elena Fomina; Canada had reduced the deficit to 2–1 with a goal by Charmaine Hooper in the 76th minute, but Fomina's second in the 86th minute and a stoppage time goal from Olga Karasseva finished off the match. Norway finished unbeaten in the group stage by defeating Japan 4–0 at Soldier Field on June 26, benefiting from an early penalty kick and an own goal that were both conceded by Hiromi Isozaki; Isozaki fouled Monica Knudsen in the box in the seventh minute, leading to a penalty converted by Hege Riise a minute later, and misplayed a cross by Unni Lehn into her own goal in the 26th minute. The Norwegian team lost captain Linda Medalen and forward Ann Kristin Aarønes to injuries in the first half, but not before the latter had scored the team's third goal. The final goal of the match was scored in the 61st minute by Dagny Mellgren, who headed in a cross produced by Lehn. ### Group D Group D included 1995 semi-finalists and Olympic runners-up China, 1995's last-place team Australia, newcomers and African tournament runners-up Ghana, and previous hosts and semi-finalists Sweden. In their opening match against Sweden at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, China conceded an early goal in the second minute to Swedish defender Kristin Bengtsson. Forward Jin Yan scored the equalizer for China in the 17th minute and Liu Ailing scored the winning goal in the 69th minute. Australia and Ghana played to a 1–1 draw at Foxboro Stadium in the group's other opening match a day later, which began with a red card shown to Ghanaian midfielder Barikisu Tettey-Quao in the 25th minute. Ghanaian goalkeeper Memunatu Sulemana made 11 saves to keep the match scoreless until the 74th minute, when Matildas captain Julie Murray scored to break the deadlock. Ghana equalized less than two minutes later with a finish by substitute Nana Gyamfuah following a rebound off Australian goalkeeper Tracey Wheeler's save, securing a point in the group standings. Sweden took an early lead in its second match, played against Australia at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium near Washington, D.C., with a header in the eighth minute by Jane Törnqvist off a corner kick and a tap-in goal by Hanna Ljungberg twelve minutes later. Julie Murray's goal in the 32nd minute reduced the deficit to 2–1 at half-time, but Ljungberg scored again in the 69th minute because of a defensive error by Australia, confirming a 3–1 victory for the Swedes. Sun Wen completed a hat-trick in the first 54 minutes of China's match against Ghana, which ended in a 7–0 victory at Portland's Civic Stadium and clinched the team's quarter-finals berth. Ghana lost defender Regina Ansah to a red card in the 52nd minute and three of her teammates earned three yellow cards for other fouls. The Chinese continued to score in the second half, including a pair by Zhang Ouying in the 82nd minute and at the beginning of stoppage time, while Zhao Lihong added another stoppage time goal a minute later. China closed out its group stage by defeating Australia 3–1, extending its winning streak to three matches and outscoring its opponents 12–2. Australian forward Alicia Ferguson was sent off for a foul in the second minute, which remains the fastest red card in Women's World Cup history. Sun Wen scored her first goal in the 39th minute and followed with a second shortly after half-time, having received passes from Zhao Lihong for both goals. Cheryl Salisbury reduced the deficit to 2–1 with her strike in the 66th minute, ending a 253-minute shutout streak for Chinese goalkeeper Gao Hong. The Chinese ultimately won 3–1 after an assurance goal was scored by Liu Ying in the 73rd minute. Sweden advanced to the quarter-finals with a 2–0 victory over Ghana in Chicago, relying on two goals scored by early substitute Victoria Svensson in the 58th and 86th minutes. ## Knockout stage The knockout stage of the Women's World Cup consisted of three single-elimination rounds leading to a final and a third-place playoff. Following a tie in regulation time, two 15-minute periods of extra time would be used to determine a winner. For the first time in Women's World Cup history, the golden goal would be used during extra time to instantly decide the winner in sudden death. If the score remained tied at the end of extra time, a penalty shootout would ensue. ### Bracket ### Quarter-finals The first match of a quarter-finals doubleheader at Spartan Stadium in San Jose featured China and Russia, the only team to debut at the tournament and also advance to the knockout stage. China advanced with a 2–0 victory over Russia, with goals by Pu Wei and Jin Yan, while their opponents did not manage a shot towards goal until stoppage time. The second match of the doubleheader, between neighboring rivals Norway and Sweden, began with a scoreless first half and ended with four goals scored in the second half for a 3–1 Norwegian win. Norway opened the scoring with a header by Ann Kristin Aarønes in the 51st minute, which was followed by a goal from Marianne Pettersen in the 58th minute and a penalty scored by Hege Riise in the 72nd minute; Sweden scored a consolation goal by way of a run and shot from Malin Moström in the 90th minute. The next doubleheader, at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium near Washington, D.C., began with a match between the United States and Germany played in front of 54,642, including U.S. President Bill Clinton, First Lady Hillary Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton. U.S. defender Brandi Chastain scored an own goal in the fifth minute after a miscommunication with goalkeeper Briana Scurry, but the Americans found an equalizing goal eleven minutes later from Tiffeny Milbrett. Germany retook the lead in first-half stoppage time on a strike by Bettina Wiegmann that beat Scurry from 22 yards (20 m). Chastain redeemed herself by scoring the second equalizing goal for the U.S. in the 49th minute, finishing a corner kick that was taken by Mia Hamm. Defender Joy Fawcett's header off a corner kick in the 66th minute proved to be the game-winning goal, allowing the United States to advance with a 3–2 defeat of the Germans. The second match at Jack Kent Cooke Stadium, featuring Brazil and Nigeria, was the first in FIFA Women's World Cup history to be decided by a golden goal in extra time. Cidinha scored twice in the first 22 minutes of the match and was joined by Nenê in the 35th minute to give Brazil a 3–0 lead at half-time. Nigeria substituted goalkeeper Ann Chiejine for Judith Chime and began pressing its attackers early in the second half. The Super Falcons scored their first goal in the 63rd minute, Prisca Emeafu taking advantage of a defensive mistake, and added a second through Nkiru Okosieme's shot off a rebound in the 72nd minute. Nkechi Egbe scored the equalizing goal for Nigeria in the 85th minute with a far-post strike from 14 yards (13 m). The goal forced sudden death extra time, which Nigeria would play with only 10 players after forward Patience Avre was ejected in the 87th minute for receiving a second yellow card. Brazilian midfielder Sissi, who had assisted two of the first-half goals, scored the golden goal from 22 yards (20 m) in the 104th minute to win the match 4–3 for Brazil. The top seven quarter-finalists also qualified for the 2000 Summer Olympics alongside hosts Australia, who were eliminated in the group stage. The Olympics qualification was determined by a series of tie-breakers, beginning with the margin of defeat in the quarter-final match, followed by goals scored in the quarter-final and group stage performance. Although Russia and Sweden both lost by two goals, the Swedes had scored in their defeat while Russia did not, leaving them as the only quarter-finalist to not qualify for the Olympics. ### Semi-finals The semi-finals fixtures on U.S. Independence Day were organized as doubleheaders with the host Major League Soccer teams, the New England Revolution and the San Jose Clash. Both teams played regular season matches afterwards against the MetroStars and D.C. United, respectively. The United States faced Brazil at Stanford Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area in front of 73,123 spectators. The U.S. began the match with an early lead, following a mistimed catch from Brazilian goalkeeper Maravilha that allowed Cindy Parlow to score from a header in the fifth minute. Brazil responded with several shots in the second half that required goalkeeper Briana Scurry to make three major saves to preserve the lead. On a counterattack in the 80th minute, U.S. striker Mia Hamm drew a penalty kick on a foul from Brazilian captain Elane. Veteran midfielder Michelle Akers, who had stayed on despite two serious head collisions, converted the penalty kick to give the United States a 2–0 victory. In the second semi-final, played before 28,986 attendees at Foxboro Stadium in Massachusetts, China defeated reigning champions Norway in a 5–0 rout that matched the team's worst-ever margin of defeat. Sun Wen opened the scoring in the third minute, with a rebounded shot off a save by goalkeeper Bente Nordby. This was followed by a right-footed volley by Liu Ailing eleven minutes later off a corner kick, increasing the team's lead to 2–0. Liu scored her second goal in the 51st minute, hitting a left-footed volley from 15 yards (14 m), and Fan Yunjie scored China's fourth goal in the 65th minute with another volley off a free kick taken by Sun. China was awarded a penalty kick in the 72nd minute for a handball in the Norwegian box. Sun converted it, scoring her seventh goal of the tournament to tie Sissi as the leading goalscorer. ### Third place play-off The third-place play-off, contested by Norway and Brazil, was the first part of a doubleheader with the final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena kicking off in the morning. Norway had the majority of chances to score during the match, but Maravilha saved all of their shots to preserve her shutout. Pretinha had two chances to score for Brazil and take the lead, but they were denied by Norwegian goalkeeper Bente Nordby late in the second half. After remaining scoreless through regulation time and stoppage time, the match advanced straight into a penalty shootout; the standard golden goal extra time was skipped due to the constraints of television scheduling ahead of the final. Pretinha missed the opening penalty for Brazil, but the remaining five taken by her teammates were all converted; Norway lost its lead in the shootout with a miss in the third round by Silje Jørgensen, and the shootout ended 5–4 in Brazil's favor after the sixth round following a miss by Ann Kristin Aarønes and a successful shot by Formiga. ### Final The 1999 final at the Rose Bowl was played in front of 90,185 spectators, claimed to be a world record for a women's sports event, while its U.S. television broadcast averaged 17.9 million viewers and peaked at 40 million. The two finalists, the United States and China, had previously met in the gold medal match at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, which the U.S. won 2–1. With several unsuccessful attempts at the goal made by the hosts, the match was scoreless after regulation time and moved into extra time. China shot twice towards the U.S. goal in extra time, but saves by midfielder Kristine Lilly and goalkeeper Briana Scurry preserved the tie until the end of extra time. In the ensuing penalty shootout, the first four players scored on their shots before Liu Ying had her attempt in the third round saved by Scurry. Scurry was accused of cheating by multiple media outlets because she had intentionally stepped ahead of the goal line before saving Liu's shot, but stated that "everybody does it". Lilly and Mia Hamm successfully converted their penalties and gave the Americans a lead, but Zhang Ouying and Sun Wen were able to convert theirs and keep it tied 4–4. Brandi Chastain, who had missed a penalty kick in the Algarve Cup against the Chinese months earlier, beat goalkeeper Gao Hong and won the shootout 5–4 for the United States. Chastain celebrated by removing her jersey and revealing her sports bra underneath, creating one of the most iconic moments in women's sports history as it appeared on the covers of major magazines and newspapers. ## Aftermath and legacy The 1999 Women's World Cup is regarded as a watershed moment in the history of U.S. women's soccer because of its cultural impact and the great public interest it generated. It had a total attendance of 1.194 million spectators and averaged 37,319 per match. This remained the highest total attendance for any Women's World Cup until 2015, which had more matches. The tournament's merchandise sales and television ratings were especially high in the U.S., including several matches that set record for ESPN and ESPN2. The final held the record for the largest domestic television audience for a soccer match until the 2014 men's World Cup. The organizing committee reported an estimated profit of \$4 million on its \$30 million operating budget, making the tournament a financial success. The United States became the first team to win two Women's World Cups as well as the first to simultaneously hold the World Cup and Olympic titles. The team, nicknamed the "99ers" and regarded as the best to have been produced by the U.S. women's soccer program, became instant celebrities and appeared on late-night talk shows and news programs. The team went on a months-long victory tour following the final, which was originally self-organized due to a pay dispute with the United States Soccer Federation. They appeared in national advertising campaigns for several major companies. Although the team finished as silver medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics behind Norway, the U.S. team would go on to win gold medals at the three subsequent Olympics. The United States finished third at the next two editions of the Women's World Cup and as runners-up to Japan in 2011 before winning their third World Cup title in 2015 and fourth in 2019. Several members of the 2011, 2015, and 2019 teams cited the 1999 tournament as providing inspiration during their pursuit of a professional career in the sport. Christie Rampone was the last member of the 1999 team to retire, doing so in 2017 after earning 311 caps. The organizers and supporters of the Women's World Cup had hoped to ride the momentum from the tournament's popularity to form a professional women's soccer league akin to Major League Soccer, which was established after the 1994 men's World Cup. The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was formed in January 2000 and began play in April 2001 with eight teams and the support of the United States Soccer Federation. The league's \$40 million, five-year budget lasted only one season while its attendance and television ratings struggled to meet projections and investor demands. The league played three full seasons before folding in September 2003 with losses estimated at \$90 million and an average attendance of 6,667 in its final season. The league's teams continued playing in exhibition matches, but eventually folded, while another professional league was founded in 2007 and folded after three seasons. The National Women's Soccer League was established in 2012 and is the longest-running women's soccer league in U.S. history, drawing on greater financial and planning support from the United States Soccer Federation. China was originally awarded the rights to host the 2003 tournament, but the SARS outbreak forced them to withdraw as hosts. The United States stepped in to host the tournament, which was organized in three months and was used unsuccessfully to prevent the WUSA from folding. The 2003 tournament used smaller venues, including several soccer-specific stadiums built for Major League Soccer teams, and its television broadcasts competed against American football and baseball games that were scheduled at the same time. It averaged an attendance of 20,525 and ended with a victory for Germany over Sweden at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. ## Awards Chinese striker Sun Wen was awarded the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player. She also shared the Golden Shoe with Brazilian midfielder Sissi as the tournament's joint top goalscorers with seven goals and three assists for both players. Sissi also won the Silver Ball, while American veteran Michelle Akers won the Bronze Ball. Ann Kristin Aarønes won the Bronze Shoe with four goals and one assist. China won the FIFA Fair Play Award for its disciplinary record during the tournament. The tournament's awards were presented at the FIFA World Player of the Year ceremony on January 24, 2000, in Brussels. ### All-Star Team The sixteen members of the Women's World Cup All-Star Team were announced on July 8, 1999, including seven players from China and five from the United States. It was the first all-star team to be chosen during the World Cup by FIFA officials. ## Statistics ### Goalscorers A total of 123 goals were scored at the Women's World Cup, setting a new tournament record, and averaged 3.84 per match. 74 different players scored goals, including three own goals and four hat-tricks. Sissi of Brazil and Sun Wen of China PR won the Golden Shoe award for scoring seven goals, while Ann Kristin Aarønes of Norway finished third with four goals. ### Assists ### Tournament ranking Per statistical convention in soccer, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws. ## See also
1,335,280	Homer's Phobia	1,167,966,436	null	[ "1997 American television episodes", "American LGBT-related television episodes", "Animation controversies in television", "Emmy Award-winning episodes", "Homophobia in fiction", "Hunting in popular culture", "LGBT-related animated television episodes", "LGBT-related controversies in animation", "LGBT-related controversies in television", "Television episodes about anti-LGBT sentiment", "The Simpsons (season 8) episodes" ]	"Homer's Phobia" is the fifteenth episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 16, 1997. In the episode, Homer dissociates himself from new family friend John after discovering that he is gay. Homer fears that John will have a negative influence on his son Bart and decides to ensure Bart's heterosexuality by taking him hunting. It was the first episode written by Ron Hauge and was directed by Mike B. Anderson. George Meyer pitched "Bart the homo" as an initial idea for an episode while show runners Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein were planning an episode involving Lisa "discovering the joys of campy things". Oakley and Weinstein combined the two ideas and they eventually became "Homer's Phobia". Fox censors originally found the episode unsuitable for broadcast because of its controversial subject matter, but this decision was reversed after a turnover in the Fox staff. Filmmaker John Waters guest-starred, providing the voice of the new character, John (Named "Javier" in the Latin American Spanish version). "Homer's Phobia" was the show's first episode to revolve entirely around gay themes and received a positive critical response both for its humor and anti-homophobia message. It won four awards, including an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less) and a GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding TV – Individual Episode" in 1998. ## Plot The Simpsons need money to pay for a \$900 repair after Bart damages the gas line. Marge tries to sell a family heirloom — an "authentic" American Civil War doll — to Cockamamie's, a campy collectibles shop. Marge is disappointed when John, the shop owner, reveals her precious heirloom is a cheap liquor bottle of little value. The Simpsons take an instant liking to John, who is invited to their house to see campy items that the family owns. The next morning, Homer tells Marge that he likes John and suggests they invite him and "his wife" over some time. When Marge informs Homer that John is gay, he is horrified. Homer's attitude towards John changes completely, and he refuses to join the tour of Springfield that John has arranged. The rest of the family joins John for the tour and enjoy his company. Bart starts wearing Hawaiian shirts, dancing in women's wigs and eating cupcakes with strawberry icing instead of chocolate icing; which makes Homer worry that Bart might be gay. Hoping to ensure Bart likes girls, Homer forces him to stare at a cigarette billboard featuring scantily clad women. This backfires when Bart craves slim cigarettes, considered effeminate because they are marketed to women. Homer takes Bart to a steel mill to revel in a manly environment; however, the entire workforce is gay, which Homer learns when the steel mill turns into a gay disco during breaks. Desperate, Homer tries to snap Bart out of his brainwashing state by taking him deer hunting with Moe and Barney. When they cannot find any deer, they decide to shoot reindeer at Santa's Village instead. The reindeer violently attack the hunters, who are genuinely afraid and drop their macho posturing. With help from Lisa and Marge, John uses a Japanese Santa Claus robot to scare away the reindeer and save the hunting party. Homer is grateful to John for saving their lives and grudgingly accepts him. As John drives everyone home, Homer tells Bart he is fine with however he chooses to live his life. Bart is confused until Lisa explains Homer thinks that Bart is gay. Bart is stunned as their car drives away, blaring a gay anthem. ## Production The original concept for the episode came from a few lines of show ideas written by George Meyer. One of them read "Bart the homo", and Ron Hauge was selected to write the episode, with the story stemming from that line. The idea of using filmmaker John Waters as a guest star had been around for a while. Many of the staff were fans of his work, and showrunners Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein had planned to use him in an episode called "Lisa and Camp", which revolved around Lisa "discovering the joys of campy things". Their idea was combined with Meyer's, and it became this episode. The episode was originally titled "Bart Goes to Camp", but was renamed because the joke was too oblique. Mike B. Anderson directed the episode, telling The Gold Coast Bulletin: "When I read the script I was enthralled, not only because of the visual possibilities, but also because the story felt very solid. It was engaging and surprising and I really put heart into that episode." Waters accepted his invitation to be a guest star instantly, stating that if it was good enough for the actress Elizabeth Taylor, who appeared in the season four episodes "Lisa's First Word" and "Krusty Gets Kancelled", it was good enough for him. He joked, however, about a negative reaction if his character would be made to look like fitness personality Richard Simmons. John's design was based largely on Waters' own appearance; for animation reasons, Waters' moustache was changed from straight to curvy, so that it did not look like a mistake. According to Oakley, the Fox censor objected to "Homer's Phobia" being aired. The normal procedure is for an episode's script to be sent to the censor and then faxed back with a list of lines and words that should be substituted. However, this episode came back with two pages of notes about almost every single line in the show. The censors stated that they did not like the use of the word "gay", or the discussion of homosexuality at all, and closed with a paragraph that stated that "the topic and substance of this episode are unacceptable for broadcast". Usually the censor notes are ignored as the offending lines and problems are dealt with after the episode has been animated. In this case, the entire episode was deemed a problem, so it could not be solved in this way. The censor problems ultimately came to nothing as when the episode came back from animation in South Korea, the then-Fox president had just been fired and replaced, with the censors being replaced as well. The new censors sent back merely one line: "acceptable for broadcast". The steel mill scene was written by Steve Tompkins. He first pitched that Homer and Bart would encounter longshoremen, but it was too much work to animate the lading of ships, so a steel mill was used instead. Tompkins also wrote a different third act for the episode, which was never produced. Instead of Homer, Bart, Barney, and Moe going deer hunting and ending up at "Santa's Village" they would go back to the steel mill. There, Homer would attempt to prove his heterosexuality by having a human tractor pulling contest with some of the steel mill workers. It was dropped as the writers found it didn't add anything to the storyline. ## Cultural references The episode features numerous cultural references. The song "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" by C+C Music Factory is played twice during the episode: first as the steel mill transforms into a disco, and second over the alternate closing credits. Homer's record collection includes music by The New Christy Minstrels and The Wedding of Lynda Bird Johnson, the albums Loony Luau and Ballad of the Green Berets by Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler. The song that John picks out and he and Homer dance to is "I Love the Nightlife" by Alicia Bridges, and the song that Bart dances to is "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" by Betty Everett. When John is introduced, there is a plastic pink flamingo lying in the background, a reference to John Waters's film Pink Flamingos. Items in John's store include several buttons endorsing political campaigns of Richard Nixon, Dan Quayle, and Bob Dole as well as an issue of TV Guide owned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis that features the title characters from the sitcom Laverne & Shirley on the cover. John's car bears a striking resemblance to the Cadillac driven by Tony Montana in the 1983 film Scarface. When John takes the Simpson family on a driving tour of Springfield's shopping district, he points out a store where he claims that the Mexican film actress Lupe Vélez bought the toilet she drowned in. This is a reference to the urban legend that Velez was found dead with her head in the toilet the night of her suicide in 1944. The episode's name is a play on "homophobia". ## Reception ### Ratings and awards In its original broadcast, "Homer's Phobia" finished tied for 47th place in the weekly ratings for the week of February 10–16, 1997, with a Nielsen rating of 8.7. It was the fourth-highest-rated show on the Fox Network that week. The episode won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less) in 1997. Mike Anderson won the Annie Award for Best Individual Achievement: Directing in a TV Production, and the WAC Award for Best Director for Primetime Series at the 1998 World Animation Celebration. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation called it "a shining example of how to bring intelligent, fair and funny representations of our community onto television" and awarded it the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV – Individual Episode. Several of the episode's animation cels were selected for display at the Silver K Gallery in Melbourne, Australia in 2001. ### Critical reviews and analysis "Homer's Phobia" has been cited as a significant part of The Simpsons' exploration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) themes. The series made several references to homosexuality before the episode aired. In the 1990 episode "Simpson and Delilah," the character Karl (voiced by Harvey Fierstein) kisses Homer, while the recurring character Waylon Smithers is often shown to be in love with his boss, Montgomery Burns, initially suggestively and since then more overtly. However, "Homer's Phobia" was the first episode to revolve entirely around homosexual themes. Two later episodes that explored LGBT issues were "Three Gays of the Condo" and "There's Something About Marrying". When the episode aired, the production team received "very few" complaints about its content, with most of the response being positive. Alan Frutkin gave the episode a positive write-up in the LGBT-interest magazine The Advocate, calling it "vintage Simpsons." Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood stated in their book, I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, that: "Only The Simpsons could do this so tongue-in-cheek that nobody could get in a tizzy about it. Very good indeed." In the book Leaving Springfield, Matthew Henry praised the episode's critiquing of "the most common misconception about homosexuality: namely that gayness is somehow contagious", as well as its other themes. Catharine Lumby of the University of Sydney cited the episode as an example of good satire as it "managed to explore a lot of [homosexual] issues in quite a deep way [...] without being overtly political", which she claimed, along with the episode's humor, made its anti-homophobia message more successful than that of other gay-themed shows like Queer as Folk. In his review of The Simpsons – The Complete Eighth Season DVD, Todd Gilchrist said that the episode "certainly qualifies as one of the all-time greatest episodes". In 1998, TV Guide listed it in its list of top twelve Simpsons episodes. It was placed fifth on Entertainment Weekly's top 25 The Simpsons episode list. In 2003, USA Today published a top 10 episodes list chosen by the webmaster of The Simpsons Archive, which had this episode listed in tenth place. IGN ranked John Waters's performance as the ninth-best guest appearance in the show's history, with TV Guide naming him the third-best film-related guest star. In a 2008 article, Entertainment Weekly named Waters as one of the 16 best The Simpsons guest stars. John Patterson of The Guardian wrote that Waters' appearance "felt to me like a summit meeting between the most influential pop-culture figures of the last 25 years". When The Simpsons began streaming on Disney+ in 2019, former Simpsons writer and executive producer Bill Oakley named this one of the best classic Simpsons episodes to watch on the service. Conversely, in 2002, Off the Telly writers Steve Williams and Ian Jones named "Homer's Phobia" one of the five worst episodes of The Simpsons, stating that it "leaves such a nasty taste in the mouth," as Homer is "quite simply a bastard" throughout the course of the episode. The pair concluded by saying "this is a side of the show we'd not seen before, nor particularly wanted to see." In June 2003, Igor Smykov sued the Russian television channel REN TV on claims that The Simpsons, along with Family Guy, were "morally degenerate and promoted drugs, violence and homosexuality". As evidence, "Homer's Phobia" was shown to the judge to prove that The Simpsons promoted homosexuality and thus should not be aired again on the channel. The case was thrown out after one day. In July 2021, Cathal Gunning of Screen Rant argued that the episode made a huge contribution to "normalizing LGBTQ+ characters," noting that they were a rarity at the time the episode aired, and it didn't "treat its first openly gay character as a walking joke." Gunning also argued that the episode was "groundbreaking" because Homer's fear of a gay man, voiced by John Waters, was mocked, rather than Waters' character, and heralded the episode for being "one of the first attempts to break down the invisible barrier faced by gay characters" while noting it lampooned the hypermasculinity of Homer's friends. ## See also - LGBT representation in “The Simpsons”
148,224	Thomas Beecham	1,156,802,894	British conductor and impresario (1879–1961)	[ "1879 births", "1961 deaths", "20th-century British conductors (music)", "20th-century British male musicians", "20th-century British musicians", "20th-century English musicians", "Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford", "Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom", "Beecham family", "British male conductors (music)", "Conductors (music) awarded knighthoods", "Deaths from coronary thrombosis", "English conductors (music)", "Grammy Award winners", "Impresarios", "Knights Bachelor", "Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour", "People educated at Rossall School", "People from St Helens, Merseyside", "Presidents of the Independent Society of Musicians", "RCA Victor artists", "Recipients of the Legion of Honour", "Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medallists" ]	Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, CH (29 April 1879 – 8 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras. From the early 20th century until his death, Beecham was a major influence on the musical life of Britain and, according to the BBC, was Britain's first international conductor. Born to a rich industrial family, Beecham began his career as a conductor in 1899. He used his access to the family fortune to finance opera from the 1910s until the start of the Second World War, staging seasons at Covent Garden, Drury Lane and His Majesty's Theatre with international stars, his own orchestra and a wide repertoire. Among the works he introduced to England were Richard Strauss's Elektra, Salome and Der Rosenkavalier and three operas by Frederick Delius. Together with his younger colleague Malcolm Sargent, Beecham founded the London Philharmonic, and he conducted its first performance at the Queen's Hall in 1932. In the 1940s he worked for three years in the United States where he was music director of the Seattle Symphony and conducted at the Metropolitan Opera. After his return to Britain, he founded the Royal Philharmonic in 1946 and conducted it until his death in 1961. Beecham's repertoire was eclectic, sometimes favouring lesser-known composers over famous ones. His specialities included composers whose works were neglected in Britain before he became their advocate, such as Delius and Berlioz. Other composers with whose music he was frequently associated were Haydn, Schubert, Sibelius and the composer he revered above all others, Mozart. ## Biography ### Early years Beecham was born in St Helens, Lancashire (now Merseyside), in a house adjoining the Beecham's Pills laxative factory founded by his grandfather, Thomas Beecham. His parents were Joseph Beecham, the elder son of Thomas, and Josephine, née Burnett. In 1885, with the family firm flourishing financially, Joseph Beecham moved his family to a large house in Ewanville, Huyton, near Liverpool. Their former home was demolished to make room for an extension to the pill factory. Beecham was educated at Rossall School between 1892 and 1897, after which he hoped to attend a music conservatoire in Germany, but his father forbade it, and instead Beecham went to Wadham College, Oxford to read Classics. He did not find university life to his taste and successfully sought his father's permission to leave Oxford in 1898. He studied composition with Frederic Austin in Liverpool, Charles Wood in London, and Moritz Moszkowski in Paris. As a conductor, he was self-taught. ### First orchestras Beecham first conducted in public in St. Helens in October 1899, with an ad hoc ensemble comprising local musicians and players from the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hallé in Manchester. A month later, he stood in at short notice for the celebrated conductor Hans Richter at a concert by the Hallé to mark Joseph Beecham's inauguration as mayor of St Helens. Soon afterwards, Joseph Beecham secretly committed his wife to a mental hospital. Thomas and his elder sister Emily helped to secure their mother's release and to force their father to pay annual alimony of £4,500. For this, Joseph disinherited them. Beecham was estranged from his father for ten years. Beecham's professional début as a conductor was in 1902 at the Shakespeare Theatre, Clapham, with Balfe's The Bohemian Girl, for the Imperial Grand Opera Company. He was engaged as assistant conductor for a tour and was allotted four other operas, including Carmen and Pagliacci. A Beecham biographer calls the company "grandly named but decidedly ramshackle", though Beecham's Carmen was Zélie de Lussan, a leading exponent of the title role. Beecham was also composing music in these early years, but he was not satisfied with his own efforts and instead concentrated on conducting. In 1906 Beecham was invited to conduct the New Symphony Orchestra, a recently formed ensemble of 46 players, in a series of concerts at the Bechstein Hall in London. Throughout his career, Beecham frequently chose to programme works to suit his own tastes rather than those of the paying public. In his early discussions with his new orchestra, he proposed works by a long list of barely known composers such as Étienne Méhul, Nicolas Dalayrac and Ferdinando Paer. During this period, Beecham first encountered the music of Frederick Delius, which he at once loved deeply and with which he became closely associated for the rest of his life. Beecham quickly concluded that to compete with the two existing London orchestras, the Queen's Hall Orchestra and the recently founded London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), his forces must be expanded to full symphonic strength and play in larger halls. For two years starting in October 1907, Beecham and the enlarged New Symphony Orchestra gave concerts at the Queen's Hall. He paid little attention to the box office: his programmes were described by a biographer as "even more certain to deter the public then than it would be in our own day". The principal pieces of his first concert with the orchestra were d'Indy's symphonic ballad La forêt enchantée, Smetana's symphonic poem Šárka, and Lalo's little-known Symphony in G minor. Beecham retained an affection for the last work: it was among the works he conducted at his final recording sessions more than fifty years later. In 1908 Beecham and the New Symphony Orchestra parted company, disagreeing about artistic control and, in particular, the deputy system. Under this system, orchestral players, if offered a better-paid engagement elsewhere, could send a substitute to a rehearsal or a concert. The treasurer of the Royal Philharmonic Society described it thus: "A, whom you want, signs to play at your concert. He sends B (whom you don't mind) to the first rehearsal. B, without your knowledge or consent, sends C to the second rehearsal. Not being able to play at the concert, C sends D, whom you would have paid five shillings to stay away." Henry Wood had already banned the deputy system in the Queen's Hall Orchestra (provoking rebel players to found the London Symphony Orchestra), and Beecham followed suit. The New Symphony Orchestra survived without him and subsequently became the Royal Albert Hall Orchestra. In 1909, Beecham founded the Beecham Symphony Orchestra. He did not poach from established symphony orchestras, but instead he recruited from theatre bandrooms, local symphony societies, the palm courts of hotels, and music colleges. The result was a youthful team – the average age of his players was 25. They included names that would become celebrated in their fields, such as Albert Sammons, Lionel Tertis, Eric Coates and Eugene Cruft. Because he persistently programmed works that did not attract the public, Beecham's musical activities at this time consistently lost money. As a result of his estrangement from his father between 1899 and 1909, his access to the Beecham family fortune was strictly limited. From 1907 he had an annuity of £700 left to him in his grandfather's will, and his mother subsidised some of his loss-making concerts, but it was not until father and son were reconciled in 1909 that Beecham was able to draw on the family fortune to promote opera. ### 1910–1920 From 1910, subsidised by his father, Beecham realised his ambition to mount opera seasons at Covent Garden and other houses. In the Edwardian opera house, the star singers were regarded as all-important, and conductors were seen as ancillary. Between 1910 and 1939 Beecham did much to change the balance of power. In 1910, Beecham either conducted or was responsible as impresario for 190 performances at Covent Garden and His Majesty's Theatre. His assistant conductors were Bruno Walter and Percy Pitt. During the year, he mounted 34 different operas, most of them either new to London or almost unknown there. Beecham later acknowledged that in his early years the operas he chose to present were too obscure to attract the public. During his 1910 season at His Majesty's, the rival Grand Opera Syndicate put on a concurrent season of its own at Covent Garden; London's total opera performances for the year amounted to 273 performances, far more than the box-office demand could support. Of the 34 operas that Beecham staged in 1910, only four made money: Richard Strauss's new operas Elektra and Salome, receiving their first, and highly publicised, performances in Britain, and The Tales of Hoffmann and Die Fledermaus. In 1911 and 1912, the Beecham Symphony Orchestra played for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, both at Covent Garden and at the Krolloper in Berlin, under the batons of Beecham and Pierre Monteux, Diaghilev's chief conductor. Beecham was much admired for conducting the complicated new score of Stravinsky's Petrushka, at two days' notice and without rehearsal, when Monteux became unavailable. While in Berlin, Beecham and his orchestra, in Beecham's words, caused a "mild stir", scoring a triumph: the orchestra was agreed by the Berlin press to be an elite body, one of the best in the world. The principal Berlin musical weekly, Die Signale, asked, "Where does London find such magnificent young instrumentalists?" The violins were credited with rich, noble tone, the woodwinds with lustre, the brass, "which has not quite the dignity and amplitude of our best German brass", with uncommon delicacy of execution. Beecham's 1913 seasons included the British premiere of Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier at Covent Garden, and a "Grand Season of Russian Opera and Ballet" at Drury Lane. At the latter there were three operas, all starring Feodor Chaliapin, and all new to Britain: Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina, and Rimsky-Korsakov's Ivan the Terrible. There were also 15 ballets, with leading dancers including Vaslav Nijinsky and Tamara Karsavina. The ballets included Debussy's Jeux and his controversially erotic L'après-midi d'un faune, and the British premiere of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, six weeks after its first performance in Paris. Beecham shared Monteux's private dislike of the piece, much preferring Petrushka. Beecham did not conduct during this season; Monteux and others conducted the Beecham Symphony Orchestra. The following year, Beecham and his father presented Rimsky-Korsakov's The Maid of Pskov and Borodin's Prince Igor, with Chaliapin, and Stravinsky's The Nightingale. During the First World War, Beecham strove, often without a fee, to keep music alive in London, Liverpool, Manchester and other British cities. He conducted for, and gave financial support to, three institutions with which he was connected at various times: the Hallé Orchestra, the LSO and the Royal Philharmonic Society. In 1915 he formed the Beecham Opera Company, with mainly British singers, performing in London and throughout the country. In 1916, he received a knighthood in the New Year Honours and succeeded to the baronetcy on his father's death later that year. After the war, there were joint Covent Garden seasons with the Grand Opera Syndicate in 1919 and 1920, but these were, according to a biographer, pale confused echoes of the years before 1914. These seasons included forty productions, of which Beecham conducted only nine. After the 1920 season, Beecham temporarily withdrew from conducting to deal with a financial problem that he described as "the most trying and unpleasant experience of my life". ### Covent Garden estate Influenced by an ambitious financier, James White, Sir Joseph Beecham had agreed, in July 1914, to buy the Covent Garden estate from the Duke of Bedford and float a limited company to manage the estate commercially. The deal was described by The Times as "one of the largest ever carried out in real estate in London". Sir Joseph paid an initial deposit of £200,000 and covenanted to pay the balance of the £2 million purchase price on 11 November. Within a month, however, the First World War broke out, and new official restrictions on the use of capital prevented the completion of the contract. The estate and market continued to be managed by the Duke's staff, and in October 1916, Joseph Beecham died suddenly, with the transaction still uncompleted. The matter was brought before the civil courts with the aim of disentangling Sir Joseph's affairs; the court and all parties agreed that a private company should be formed, with his two sons as directors, to complete the Covent Garden contract. In July 1918, the Duke and his trustees conveyed the estate to the new company, subject to a mortgage of the balance of the purchase price still outstanding: £1.25 million. Beecham and his brother Henry had to sell enough of their father's estate to discharge this mortgage. For more than three years, Beecham was absent from the musical scene, working to sell property worth over £1 million. By 1923 enough money had been raised. The mortgage was discharged, and Beecham's personal liabilities, amounting to £41,558, were paid in full. In 1924 the Covent Garden property and the pill-making business at St Helens were united in one company, Beecham Estates and Pills. The nominal capital was £1,850,000, of which Beecham had a substantial share. ### London Philharmonic After his absence, Beecham first reappeared on the rostrum conducting the Hallé in Manchester in March 1923, in a programme including works by Berlioz, Bizet, Delius and Mozart. He returned to London the following month, conducting the combined Royal Albert Hall Orchestra (the renamed New Symphony Orchestra) and London Symphony Orchestra in April 1923. The main work on the programme was Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben. No longer with an orchestra of his own, Beecham established a relationship with the London Symphony Orchestra that lasted for the rest of the 1920s. Towards the end of the decade, he negotiated inconclusively with the BBC over the possibility of establishing a permanent radio orchestra. In 1931, Beecham was approached by the rising young conductor Malcolm Sargent with a proposal to set up a permanent, salaried orchestra with a subsidy guaranteed by Sargent's patrons, the Courtauld family. Originally Sargent and Beecham envisaged a reshuffled version of the London Symphony Orchestra, but the LSO, a self-governing co-operative, balked at weeding out and replacing underperforming players. In 1932 Beecham lost patience and agreed with Sargent to set up a new orchestra from scratch. The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO), as it was named, consisted of 106 players including a few young musicians straight from music college, many established players from provincial orchestras, and 17 of the LSO's leading members. The principals included Paul Beard, George Stratton, Anthony Pini, Gerald Jackson, Léon Goossens, Reginald Kell, James Bradshaw and Marie Goossens. The orchestra made its debut at the Queen's Hall on 7 October 1932, conducted by Beecham. After the first item, Berlioz's Roman Carnival Overture, the audience went wild, some of them standing on their seats to clap and shout. During the next eight years, the LPO appeared nearly a hundred times at the Queen's Hall for the Royal Philharmonic Society alone, played for Beecham's opera seasons at Covent Garden, and made more than 300 gramophone records. Berta Geissmar, his secretary from 1936, wrote, "The relations between the Orchestra and Sir Thomas were always easy and cordial. He always treated a rehearsal as a joint undertaking with the Orchestra. ... The musicians were entirely unselfconscious with him. Instinctively they accorded him the artistic authority which he did not expressly claim. Thus he obtained the best from them and they gave it without reserve." By the early 1930s, Beecham had secured substantial control of the Covent Garden opera seasons. Wishing to concentrate on music-making rather than management, he assumed the role of artistic director, and Geoffrey Toye was recruited as managing director. In 1933, Tristan und Isolde with Frida Leider and Lauritz Melchior was a success, and the season continued with the Ring cycle and nine other operas. The 1934 season featured Conchita Supervía in La Cenerentola, and Lotte Lehmann and Alexander Kipnis in the Ring. Clemens Krauss conducted the British première of Strauss's Arabella. During 1933 and 1934, Beecham repelled attempts by John Christie to form a link between Christie's new Glyndebourne Festival and the Royal Opera House. Beecham and Toye fell out over the latter's insistence on bringing in a popular film star, Grace Moore, to sing Mimi in La bohème. The production was a box-office success, but an artistic failure. Beecham manoeuvred Toye out of the managing directorship in what their fellow conductor Sir Adrian Boult described as an "absolutely beastly" manner. From 1935 to 1939, Beecham, now in sole control, presented international seasons with eminent guest singers and conductors. Beecham conducted between a third and half of the performances each season. He intended the 1940 season to include the first complete performances of Berlioz's Les Troyens, but the outbreak of the Second World War caused the season to be abandoned. Beecham did not conduct again at Covent Garden until 1951, and by then it was no longer under his control. Beecham took the London Philharmonic on a controversial tour of Germany in 1936. There were complaints that he was being used by Nazi propagandists, and Beecham complied with a Nazi request not to play the Scottish Symphony of Mendelssohn, who was a Christian by faith but a Jew by birth. In Berlin, Beecham's concert was attended by Adolf Hitler, whose lack of punctuality caused Beecham to remark very audibly, "The old bugger's late." After this tour, Beecham refused renewed invitations to give concerts in Germany, although he honoured contractual commitments to conduct at the Berlin State Opera, in 1937 and 1938, and recorded The Magic Flute for EMI in the Beethovensaal in Berlin in the same years. As his sixtieth birthday approached, Beecham was advised by his doctors to take a year's complete break from music, and he planned to go abroad to rest in a warm climate. The Australian Broadcasting Commission had been seeking for several years to get him to conduct in Australia. The outbreak of war on 3 September 1939 obliged him to postpone his plans for several months, striving instead to secure the future of the London Philharmonic, whose financial guarantees had been withdrawn by its backers when war was declared. Before leaving, Beecham raised large sums of money for the orchestra and helped its members to form themselves into a self-governing company. ### 1940s Beecham left Britain in the spring of 1940, going first to Australia and then to North America. He became music director of the Seattle Symphony in 1941. In 1942 he joined the Metropolitan Opera as joint senior conductor with his former assistant Bruno Walter. He began with his own adaptation of Bach's comic cantata, Phoebus and Pan, followed by Le Coq d'Or. His main repertoire was French: Carmen, Louise (with Grace Moore), Manon, Faust, Mignon and The Tales of Hoffmann. In addition to his Seattle and New York posts, Beecham was guest conductor with 18 American orchestras. In 1944, Beecham returned to Britain. Musically his reunion with the London Philharmonic was triumphant, but the orchestra, now, after his help in 1939, a self-governing co-operative, attempted to hire him on its own terms as its salaried artistic director. "I emphatically refuse", concluded Beecham, "to be wagged by any orchestra ... I am going to found one more great orchestra to round off my career." When Walter Legge founded the Philharmonia Orchestra in 1945, Beecham conducted its first concert. But he was not disposed to accept a salaried position from Legge, his former assistant, any more than from his former players in the LPO. In 1946, Beecham founded the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), securing an agreement with the Royal Philharmonic Society that the new orchestra should replace the LPO at all the Society's concerts. Beecham later agreed with the Glyndebourne Festival that the RPO should be the resident orchestra at Glyndebourne each summer. He secured backing, including that of record companies in the US as well as Britain, with whom lucrative recording contracts were negotiated. As in 1909 and in 1932, Beecham's assistants recruited in the freelance pool and elsewhere. Original members of the RPO included James Bradshaw, Dennis Brain, Leonard Brain, Archie Camden, Gerald Jackson and Reginald Kell. The orchestra later became celebrated for its regular team of woodwind principals, often referred to as "The Royal Family", consisting of Jack Brymer (clarinet), Gwydion Brooke (bassoon), Terence MacDonagh (oboe) and Gerald Jackson (flute). Beecham's long association with the Hallé Orchestra as a guest conductor ceased after John Barbirolli became the orchestra's chief conductor in 1944. Beecham was, to his great indignation, ousted from the honorary presidency of the Hallé Concerts Society, and Barbirolli refused to "let that man near my orchestra". Beecham's relationship with the Liverpool Philharmonic, which he had first conducted in 1911, was resumed harmoniously after the war. A manager of the orchestra recalled, "It was an unwritten law in Liverpool that first choice of dates offered to guest conductors was given to Beecham. ... In Liverpool there was one over-riding factor – he was adored." ### 1950s and later years Beecham, whom the BBC called "Britain's first international conductor", took the RPO on a strenuous tour through the United States, Canada and South Africa in 1950. During the North American tour, Beecham conducted 49 concerts in almost daily succession. In 1951, he was invited to conduct at Covent Garden after a 12-year absence. State-funded for the first time, the opera company operated quite differently from his pre-war regime. Instead of short, star-studded seasons, with a major symphony orchestra, the new director David Webster was attempting to build up a permanent ensemble of home-grown talent performing all the year round, in English translations. Extreme economy in productions and great attention to the box-office were essential, and Beecham, though he had been hurt and furious at his exclusion, was not suited to participate in such an undertaking. When offered a chorus of eighty singers for his return, conducting Die Meistersinger, he insisted on augmenting their number to 200. He also, contrary to Webster's policy, insisted on performing the piece in German. In 1953 at Oxford, Beecham presented the world premiere of Delius's first opera, Irmelin, and his last operatic performances in Britain were in 1955 at Bath, with Grétry's Zémire et Azor. Between 1951 and 1960, Beecham conducted 92 concerts at the Royal Festival Hall. Characteristic Beecham programmes of the RPO years included symphonies by Bizet, Franck, Haydn, Schubert and Tchaikovsky; Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben; concertos by Mozart and Saint-Saëns; a Delius and Sibelius programme; and many of his favoured shorter pieces. He did not stick uncompromisingly to his familiar repertoire. After the sudden death of the German conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler in 1954, Beecham in tribute conducted the two programmes his colleague had been due to present at the Festival Hall; these included Bach's Third Brandenburg Concerto, Ravel's Rapsodie espagnole, Brahms's Symphony No. 1, and Barber's Second Essay for Orchestra. In the summer of 1958, Beecham conducted a season at the Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires, Argentina, consisting of Verdi's Otello, Bizet's Carmen, Beethoven's Fidelio, Saint-Saëns's Samson and Delilah and Mozart's The Magic Flute. These were his last operatic performances. It was during this season that Betty Humby died suddenly. She was cremated in Buenos Aires and her ashes returned to England. Beecham's own last illness prevented his operatic debut at Glyndebourne in a planned Magic Flute and a final appearance at Covent Garden conducting Berlioz's The Trojans. Sixty-six years after his first visit to America, Beecham made his last, beginning in late 1959, conducting in Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and Washington. During this tour, he also conducted in Canada. He flew back to London on 12 April 1960 and did not leave England again. His final concert was at Portsmouth Guildhall on 7 May 1960. The programme, all characteristic choices, comprised the Magic Flute Overture, Haydn's Symphony No. 100 (the Military), Beecham's own Handel arrangement, Love in Bath, Schubert's Symphony No. 5, On the River by Delius, and the Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah. Beecham died of a coronary thrombosis at his London residence, aged 81, on 8 March 1961. He was buried two days later in Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey. Owing to changes at Brookwood, his remains were exhumed in 1991 and reburied in St Peter's Churchyard at Limpsfield, Surrey, close to the joint grave of Delius and his wife Jelka Rosen. ### Personal life Beecham was married three times. In 1903 he married Utica Celestina Welles, daughter of Dr Charles S. Welles, of New York, and his wife Ella Celeste, née Miles. Beecham and his wife had two sons: Adrian, born in 1904, who became a composer and achieved some celebrity in the 1920s and 1930s, and Thomas, born in 1909. After the birth of his second child, Beecham began to drift away from the marriage. By 1911, no longer living with his wife and family, he was involved as co-respondent in a much-publicised divorce case. Utica ignored advice that she should divorce him and secure substantial alimony; she did not believe in divorce. She never remarried after Beecham divorced her (in 1943), and she outlived her former husband by sixteen years, dying in 1977. In 1909 or early 1910, Beecham began an affair with Maud Alice (known as Emerald), Lady Cunard. Although they never lived together, it continued, despite other relationships on his part, until his remarriage in 1943. She was a tireless fund-raiser for his musical enterprises. Beecham's biographers are agreed that she was in love with him, but that his feelings for her were less strong. During the 1920s and 1930s, Beecham also had an affair with Dora Labbette, a soprano sometimes known as Lisa Perli, with whom he had a son, Paul Strang, born in March 1933. In 1943 Lady Cunard was devastated to learn (not from Beecham) that he intended to divorce Utica to marry Betty Humby, a concert pianist 29 years his junior. Beecham married Betty in 1943, and they were a devoted couple until her death in 1958. On 10 August 1959, two years before his death, he married in Zurich his former secretary, Shirley Hudson, who had worked for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's administration since 1950. She was 27, he 80. ## Repertoire ### Handel, Haydn, and Mozart The earliest composer whose music Beecham regularly performed was Handel, whom he called, "the great international master of all time. ... He wrote Italian music better than any Italian; French music better than any Frenchman; English music better than any Englishman; and, with the exception of Bach, outrivalled all other Germans." In his performances of Handel, Beecham ignored what he called the "professors, pedants, pedagogues". He followed Mendelssohn and Mozart in editing and reorchestrating Handel's scores to suit contemporary tastes. At a time when Handel's operas were scarcely known, Beecham knew them so well that he was able to arrange three ballets, two other suites and a piano concerto from them. He gave Handel's oratorio Solomon its first performance since the 18th century, with a text edited by the conductor. With Haydn, too, Beecham was far from an authenticist, using unscholarly 19th-century versions of the scores, avoiding the use of the harpsichord, and phrasing the music romantically. He recorded the twelve "London" symphonies, and regularly programmed some of them in his concerts. Earlier Haydn works were unfamiliar in the first half of the 20th century, but Beecham conducted several of them, including the Symphony No. 40 and an early piano concerto. He programmed The Seasons regularly throughout his career, recording it for EMI in 1956, and in 1944 added The Creation to his repertoire. For Beecham, Mozart was "the central point of European music," and he treated the composer's scores with more deference than he gave most others. He edited the incomplete Requiem, made English translations of at least two of the great operas, and introduced Covent Garden audiences who had rarely if ever heard them to Così fan tutte, Der Schauspieldirektor and Die Entführung aus dem Serail; he also regularly programmed The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro. He considered the best of Mozart's piano concertos to be "the most beautiful compositions of their kind in the world", and he played them many times with Betty Humby-Beecham and others. ### German music Beecham's attitude towards 19th-century German repertoire was equivocal. He frequently disparaged Beethoven, Wagner and others, but regularly conducted their works, often with great success. He observed, "Wagner, though a tremendous genius, gorged music like a German who overeats. And Bruckner was a hobbledehoy who had no style at all ... Even Beethoven thumped the tub; the Ninth symphony was composed by a kind of Mr. Gladstone of music." Despite his criticisms, Beecham conducted all the Beethoven symphonies during his career, and he made studio recordings of Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8, and live recordings of No. 9 and Missa Solemnis. He conducted the Fourth Piano Concerto with pleasure (recording it with Arthur Rubinstein and the LPO) but avoided the Emperor Concerto when possible. Beecham was not known for his Bach but nonetheless chose Bach (arranged by Beecham) for his debut at the Metropolitan Opera. He later gave the Third Brandenburg Concerto in one of his memorial concerts for Wilhelm Furtwängler (a performance described by The Times as "a travesty, albeit an invigorating one"). In Brahms's music, Beecham was selective. He made a speciality of the Second Symphony but conducted the Third only occasionally, the First rarely, and the Fourth never. In his memoirs he made no mention of any Brahms performance after the year 1909. Beecham was a great Wagnerian, despite his frequent expostulation about the composer's length and repetitiousness: "We've been rehearsing for two hours – and we're still playing the same bloody tune!" Beecham conducted all the works in the regular Wagner canon with the exception of Parsifal, which he presented at Covent Garden but never with himself in the pit. The chief music critic of The Times observed: "Beecham's Lohengrin was almost Italian in its lyricism; his Ring was less heroic than Bruno Walter's or Furtwängler's, but it sang from beginning to end". Richard Strauss had a lifelong champion in Beecham, who introduced Elektra, Salome, Der Rosenkavalier and other operas to England. Beecham programmed Ein Heldenleben from 1910 until his last year; his final recording of it was released shortly after his death. Don Quixote, Till Eulenspiegel, the Bourgeois Gentilhomme music and Don Juan also featured in his repertory, but not Also Sprach Zarathustra or Tod und Verklärung. Strauss had the first and last pages of the manuscript of Elektra framed and presented them to "my highly honoured friend ... and distinguished conductor of my work." ### French and Italian music In the opinion of the jury of the Académie du Disque Français, "Sir Thomas Beecham has done more for French music abroad than any French conductor". Berlioz featured prominently in Beecham's repertoire throughout his career, and in an age when the composer's works received little exposure, Beecham presented most of them and recorded many. Along with Sir Colin Davis, Beecham has been described as one of the two "foremost modern interpreters" of Berlioz's music. Both in concert and the recording studio, Beecham's choices of French music were characteristically eclectic. He avoided Ravel but regularly programmed Debussy. Fauré did not feature often, although his orchestral Pavane was an exception; Beecham's final recording sessions in 1959 included the Pavane and the Dolly Suite. Bizet was among Beecham's favourites, and other French composers favoured by him included Gustave Charpentier, Delibes, Duparc, Grétry, Lalo, Lully, Offenbach, Saint-Saëns and Ambroise Thomas. Many of Beecham's later recordings of French music were made in Paris with the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française. "C'est un dieu", their concertmaster said of Beecham in 1957. Of the more than two dozen operas in the Verdi canon, Beecham conducted eight during his long career: Il trovatore, La traviata, Aida, Don Carlos, Rigoletto, Un ballo in maschera, Otello and Falstaff. As early as 1904, Beecham met Puccini through the librettist Luigi Illica, who had written the libretto for Beecham's youthful attempt at composing an Italian opera. At the time of their meeting, Puccini and Illica were revising Madama Butterfly after its disastrous première. Beecham rarely conducted that work, but he conducted Tosca, Turandot and La bohème. His 1956 recording of La bohème, with Victoria de los Ángeles and Jussi Björling, has seldom been out of the catalogues since its release and received more votes than any other operatic set in a 1967 symposium of prominent critics. ### Delius, Sibelius and "Lollipops" Except for Delius, Beecham was generally antipathetic to, or at best lukewarm about, the music of his native land and its leading composers. Beecham's championship of Delius, however, promoted the composer from relative obscurity. Delius's amanuensis, Eric Fenby, referred to Beecham as "excelling all others in the music of Delius ... Groves and Sargent may have matched him in the great choruses of A Mass of Life, but in all else Beecham was matchless, especially with the orchestra." In an all-Delius concert in June 1911 Beecham conducted the premiere of Songs of Sunset. He put on Delius Festivals in 1929 and 1946 and presented his concert works throughout his career. He conducted the British premieres of the operas A Village Romeo and Juliet in 1910 and Koanga in 1935, and the world premiere of Irmelin in 1953. However, he was not an uncritical Delian: he never conducted the Requiem, and he detailed his criticisms of it in his book on Delius. Another major 20th-century composer who engaged Beecham's sympathies was Sibelius, who recognised him as a fine conductor of his music (although Sibelius tended to be lavish with praise of anybody who conducted his music). In a live recording of a December 1954 concert performance of Sibelius's Second Symphony with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in the Festival Hall, Beecham can be heard uttering encouraging shouts at the orchestra at climactic moments. Beecham was dismissive of some of the established classics, saying for example, "I would give the whole of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos for Massenet's Manon, and would think I had vastly profited by the exchange". He was, by contrast, famous for presenting slight pieces as encores, which he called "lollipops". Some of the best-known were Berlioz's Danse des sylphes; Chabrier's Joyeuse Marche and Gounod's Le Sommeil de Juliette. ## Recordings The composer Richard Arnell wrote that Beecham preferred making records to giving concerts: "He told me that audiences got in the way of music-making – he was apt to catch someone's eye in the front row." The conductor and critic Trevor Harvey wrote in The Gramophone, however, that studio recordings could never recapture the thrill of Beecham performing live in the concert hall. Beecham began making recordings in 1910, when the acoustical process obliged orchestras to use only principal instruments, placed as close to the recording horn as possible. His first recordings, for HMV, were of excerpts from Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann and Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus. In 1915, Beecham began recording for the Columbia Graphophone Company. Electrical recording technology (introduced in 1925–26) made it possible to record a full orchestra with much greater frequency range, and Beecham quickly embraced the new medium. Longer scores had to be broken into four-minute segments to fit on 12-inch 78-rpm discs, but Beecham was not averse to recording piecemeal – his well-known 1932 disc of Chabrier's España was recorded in two sessions three weeks apart. Beecham recorded many of his favourite works several times, taking advantage of improved technology over the decades. From 1926 to 1932, Beecham made more than 70 discs, including an English version of Gounod's Faust and the first of three recordings of Handel's Messiah. He began recording with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1933, making more than 150 discs for Columbia, including music by Mozart, Rossini, Berlioz, Wagner, Handel, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy and Delius. Among the most prominent of his pre-war recordings was the first complete recording of Mozart's The Magic Flute with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, made for HMV and supervised by Walter Legge in Berlin in 1937–38, a set described by Alan Blyth in Gramophone magazine in 2006 as having "a legendary status". In 1936, during his German tour with the LPO, Beecham conducted the world's first orchestral recording on magnetic tape, made at Ludwigshafen, the home of BASF, the company that developed the process. During his stay in the US and afterwards, Beecham recorded for American Columbia Records and RCA Victor. His RCA recordings include major works that he did not subsequently re-record for the gramophone, including Beethoven's Fourth, Sibelius's Sixth and Mendelssohn's Reformation Symphonies. Some of his RCA recordings were issued only in the US, including Mozart's Symphony No. 27, K199, the overtures to Smetana's The Bartered Bride and Mozart's La clemenza di Tito, the Sinfonia from Bach's Christmas Oratorio, a 1947–48 complete recording of Gounod's Faust, and an RPO studio version of Sibelius's Second Symphony. Beecham's RCA records that were released on both sides of the Atlantic were his celebrated 1956 complete recording of Puccini's La bohème and an extravagantly rescored set of Handel's Messiah. The former remains a top recommendation among reviewers, and the latter was described by Gramophone as "an irresistible outrage ... huge fun". For the Columbia label, Beecham recorded his last, or only, versions of many works by Delius, including A Mass of Life, Appalachia, North Country Sketches, An Arabesque, Paris and Eventyr. Other Columbia recordings from the early 1950s include Beethoven's Eroica, Pastoral and Eighth symphonies, Mendelssohn's Italian symphony, and the Brahms Violin Concerto with Isaac Stern. From his return to England at the end of the Second World War until his final recordings in 1959, Beecham continued his early association with HMV and British Columbia, who had merged to form EMI. From 1955, his EMI recordings made in London were recorded in stereo. He also recorded in Paris, with his own RPO and with the Orchestra National de la Radiodiffusion Française, though the Paris recordings were in mono until 1958. For EMI, Beecham recorded two complete operas in stereo, Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Carmen. His last recordings were made in Paris in December 1959. Beecham's EMI recordings have been continually reissued on LP and CD. In 2011, to mark the 50th anniversary of Beecham's death, EMI released 34 CDs of his recordings of music from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, including works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, Richard Strauss and Delius, and many of the French "lollipops" with which he was associated. ## Relations with others Beecham's relations with fellow British conductors were not always cordial. Sir Henry Wood regarded him as an upstart and was envious of his success; the scrupulous Sir Adrian Boult found him "repulsive" as a man and a musician; and Sir John Barbirolli mistrusted him. Sir Malcolm Sargent worked with him in founding the London Philharmonic and was a friend and ally, but he was the subject of unkind, though witty, digs from Beecham who, for example, described the image-conscious Herbert von Karajan as "a kind of musical Malcolm Sargent". Beecham's relations with foreign conductors were often excellent. He did not get on well with Arturo Toscanini, but he liked and encouraged Wilhelm Furtwängler, admired Pierre Monteux, fostered Rudolf Kempe as his successor with the RPO, and was admired by Fritz Reiner, Otto Klemperer and Karajan. Despite his lordly drawl, Beecham remained a Lancastrian at heart. "In my county, where I come from, we're all a bit vulgar, you know, but there is a certain heartiness – a sort of bonhomie about our vulgarity – which tides you over a lot of rough spots in the path. But in Yorkshire, in a spot of bother, they're so damn-set-in-their-ways that there's no doing anything with them!" Beecham has been much quoted. In 1929, the editor of a music journal wrote, "The stories gathered around Sir Thomas Beecham are innumerable. Wherever musicians come together, he is likely to be one of the topics of conversation. Everyone telling a Beecham story tries to imitate his manner and his tone of voice." A book, Beecham Stories, was published in 1978 consisting entirely of his bons mots and anecdotes about him. Some are variously attributed to Beecham or one or more other people, including Arnold Bax and Winston Churchill; Neville Cardus admitted to inventing some himself. Among the Beecham lines that are reliably attributed are, "A musicologist is a man who can read music but can't hear it"; his maxim, "There are only two things requisite so far as the public is concerned for a good performance: that is for the orchestra to begin together and end together; in between it doesn't matter much"; and his remark at his 70th birthday celebrations after telegrams were read out from Strauss, Stravinsky and Sibelius: "Nothing from Mozart?" He was completely indifferent to mundane tasks such as correspondence, and was less than responsible with the property of others. On one occasion, during bankruptcy proceedings, two thousand unopened letters were discovered among his papers. Havergal Brian sent him three scores with a view to having them performed. One of them, the Second English Suite, was never returned and is now considered lost. ## Honours and commemorations Beecham was knighted in 1916 and succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his father later that year. In 1938 the President of France, Albert Lebrun, invested him with the Légion d'honneur. In 1955, Beecham was presented with the Order of the White Rose of Finland. He was a Commendatore of the Order of the Crown of Italy and was made a Companion of Honour in the 1957 Queen's Birthday Honours. He was an honorary Doctor of Music of the universities of Oxford, London, Manchester and Montreal. Beecham, by Caryl Brahms and Ned Sherrin, is a play celebrating the conductor and drawing on a large number of Beecham stories for its material. Its first production, in 1979, starred Timothy West in the title role. It was later adapted for television, starring West, with members of the Hallé Orchestra taking part in the action and playing pieces associated with Beecham. In 1980 the Royal Mail put Beecham's image on the 131⁄2p postage stamp in a series portraying British conductors; the other three in the series depicted Wood, Sargent and Barbirolli. The Sir Thomas Beecham Society preserves Beecham's legacy through its website and release of historic recordings. In 2012, Beecham was voted into the inaugural Gramophone magazine "Hall of Fame". ## Books by Beecham Beecham's published books were: The last of these was reissued in 1975 by Severn House, London, with an introduction by Felix Aprahamian and a discography by Malcolm Walker, . ## See also - Thomas Beecham selected discography
1,599,654	California State Route 78	1,171,611,247	Highway in California	[ "Colorado Desert", "Cuyamaca Mountains", "Imperial Valley", "Roads in Imperial County, California", "Roads in Riverside County, California", "Roads in San Diego County, California", "Southern California freeways", "State Scenic Highway System (California)", "State highways in California" ]	State Route 78 (SR 78) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from Oceanside east to Blythe, traversing nearly the entire width of the state. Its western terminus is at Interstate 5 (I-5) in San Diego County and its eastern terminus is at I-10 in Riverside County. The route is a freeway through the heavily populated cities of northern San Diego County and a two-lane highway running through the Cuyamaca Mountains to Julian. In Imperial County, SR 78 travels through the desert near the Salton Sea and passes through the city of Brawley before turning north and passing through an area of sand dunes on the way to its terminus in Blythe. SR 78 was one of the original state highways designated in 1934, although portions of the route existed as early as 1900. However, it was not designated east of Brawley until 1959. The freeway section in the North County of San Diego that connects Oceanside and Escondido was built in the middle of the twentieth century in several stages, including a transitory stage known as the Vista Way Freeway, and has been improved several times. An expressway bypass of the city of Brawley was completed in 2012. There are many projects slated to improve the freeway due to increasing congestion in the region. ## Route description SR 78 begins in Oceanside as a continuation of Vista Way. As it encounters a traffic signal and crosses over I-5, the route becomes a suburban freeway traveling east through Oceanside. The freeway loosely parallels Buena Vista Creek before entering the city of Vista. Turning southeast, SR 78 continues into the city of San Marcos near California State University San Marcos and enters Escondido, where it has an interchange with I-15. A 2011 Caltrans study estimated that the average commuter encountered a delay of 10 minutes on the portion from I-5 to I-15. After passing the Centre City Parkway (I-15 Business) interchange, the freeway abruptly ends at the intersection with Broadway. SR 78 then makes a turn south onto Broadway and continues through downtown Escondido by turning east onto Washington Avenue and south onto Ash Street, which becomes San Pasqual Valley Road. Turning east once again, SR 78 leaves the Escondido city limits and enters the San Pasqual Valley as it provides access to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and San Pasqual Battlefield State Park. After leaving the San Pasqual Valley, the road follows a serpentine alignment, heading south to enter the community of Ramona as Pine Street. In Ramona, SR 78 intersects SR 67 and makes a turn east onto Main Street, going through downtown Ramona. The highway leaves Ramona as Julian Road, which continues on a winding mountain alignment through Witch Creek to Santa Ysabel where it meets SR 79. SR 78 runs concurrently with SR 79 across the headwaters of the San Diego River and through the hamlet of Wynola, briefly entering Cleveland National Forest before reaching Julian and entering the town as Washington Street. The route, still concurrent with SR 79, turns east onto Main Street and travels through downtown Julian before SR 79 diverges south towards Cuyamaca and SR 78 heads northeast as Banner Road. The road intersects with County Route S2 (CR S2) at a junction called Scissors Crossing; CR S2 runs concurrently in a wrong-way concurrency. Shortly afterwards, SR 78 enters Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and is designated as a scenic highway for its length in the state park. Although this route travels many miles south of the town of Borrego Springs, it provides access to the town via CR S3. SR 78 travels through the town of Ocotillo Wells before exiting the state park and entering Imperial County. In Imperial County, SR 78 intersects with SR 86, running concurrently with it southwest of the Salton Sea and northwest of San Felipe Creek. SR 78 passes through the desert community of Elmore Desert Ranch before entering the city of Westmorland. The route, still concurrent with SR 86, enters into the city of Brawley as Main Street, where SR 86 splits to the south towards El Centro. SR 78 continues north onto the Brawley Bypass, a freeway that passes to the north of downtown Brawley. SR 111 runs concurrently with SR 78 for a short duration before the latter exits from the freeway and continues east. Then, SR 78 intersects with SR 115 east of Alamorio, running concurrently with it for a brief distance. Shortly after passing through the small community of Glamis, the road turns northeast and eventually north towards Blythe, passing near the Chocolate Mountain Naval Reserve. As it nears the Colorado River and the Arizona border, SR 78 briefly passes through Cibola National Wildlife Refuge before entering the community of Palo Verde, where the river turns away from the highway and SR 78 enters Riverside County. As it nears Blythe, the highway makes a sharp turn east onto 32nd Avenue before turning north on Rannels Boulevard. It makes a right on 28th Avenue before turning north on South Neighbours Boulevard and passing through Ripley. SR 78 continues north for a few more miles to its terminus at I-10, approximately seven miles (11 km) west of the Arizona border. North of I-10, Neighbours Boulevard becomes Interstate 10 Business for a block before the business route turns east toward Blythe. SR 78 is designated as the Ronald Packard Parkway (after a former Congressman named Ronald Packard from the area) from I-5 in the city of Oceanside to I-15 in the city of Escondido, and Ben Hulse Highway (after a former state senator named Ben Hulse) from SR 86 near Brawley to I-10 near the city of Blythe. The portion of SR 78 from SR 86 in Brawley to CR S3 near Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is designated as part of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail auto tour route, promoted by the National Park Service. An informal nickname for the road is "the Hops Highway," referring to the fact that the 60-mile (97 km) stretch of SR 78 from Oceanside to Julian passes by one-third of all the breweries in San Diego County. SR 78 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, although only the metropolitan section of SR 78 is a freeway. The section of SR 78 from the western junction of SR 79 to the western junction with SR 86 is designated by the California State Legislature as eligible by law for the State Scenic Highway System; however, only the section in Anza Borrego Desert State Park has officially been designated by Caltrans as being part of the system, meaning that it is a substantial section of highway passing through a "memorable landscape" with no "visual intrusions", where the potential designation has gained popular favor with the community; it gained this status in 1971. SR 78 from I-5 to I-15, and from the eastern junction with SR 86 to the eastern junction with SR 111 is part of the National Highway System (NHS), a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration. In 2013, SR 78 had an annual average daily traffic (AADT) of 670 between the San Diego–Imperial county line and the western SR 86 junction, and 163,000 between Twin Oaks Valley Road and Nordahl Road, the latter of which was the highest AADT for the highway. ## History ### Original highway The Old Banner Toll Road connected the towns of Julian and Banner in 1871, after a gold rush began in 1870, and eliminated the need to manually lower supplies to gold miners down a 1,000-foot (300 m) slope. The county bought the road from Horace Wilcox in 1874, and removed the toll. The road remained in service until 1925, and remained operational until a flood in the winter season of 1979–1980. By August 1874, a road from Valle de las Viejas to Julian was open and accessible for horse teams. In the meantime, the City of Oceanside began discussions regarding a road east from Oceanside through the San Marcos valley. Efforts to realign the road from Ramona to Julian began in 1892, when a county surveyor examined the prospect of shifting the road away from the Graves hill. Before the designation of SR 78, a road known as the Brawley-Westmorland-Julian-Oceanside Highway (connecting Oceanside, Escondido, Ramona, Julian, Westmorland, and Brawley) existed during the early twentieth century. This road roughly followed the current routing of SR 78 from Escondido to the east of Brawley, although it traveled along a different routing from Westmorland into Brawley. No road connected Brawley with Glamis in 1919; it was necessary to travel north through Calipatria to reach Blythe. East of the Sand Hills, there was a road from Glamis passing by Smith Well into Palo Verde, which roughly follows the routing of SR 78. At this time, when the road from the west into Julian had been approved, many in the community began discussing a road east into the Imperial Valley. There were many proposed alignments besides the one east of Julian through Banner, including through the San Felipe Valley, and the Montezuma Valley. The plan was to construct the Santa Ysabel grade portion as a gravel road, and the rest of the road between Ballena (near Ramona) and Julian as a concrete road. The work to pave the road from Santa Ysabel to Julian was nearing completion in September 1920. Grading was completed by August 1921, and paving work continued, as well as grading on the Santa Ysabel and Julian grades. In 1922, the Automobile Club of Southern California scouting expedition reported that the road from Ramona to Julian was "in excellent condition" though the pavement was poor from Ballena to Santa Ysabel, and under construction just east of Santa Ysabel. A road from Julian to Kane Springs was completed in 1925. Efforts to include this road extending to Brawley into the state highway system date back from 1927, in order to receive state funding for the road. Plans for a cross-country road through Borrego Springs were being discussed by county government officials in 1927, as there were no east–west state highways in between Mountain Springs and Riverside. Those living in Calipatria and Westmorland supported the prospect of the road to Julian being improved, and included in the state highway system. In 1928, state assembly member Myron Witter wrote a letter to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to suggest that the highway be incorporated as a second entrance to the county from the east, and that it would not detract from the progress of the other highway from El Centro; however, the county wanted to prioritize the paving over the designation. Chambers of commerce in the Imperial Valley generally agreed with Witter, proposing that the El Centro–Calexico road be made a part of the state highway system, and the Kane Springs–Julian road be given second priority for inclusion. In June 1930, an agreement was made between the county and the state to share in the construction and maintenance on the road to Kane Springs from Julian; prison crews were to make up some of the workforce. Vista Way opened on November 26, 1930. By 1932, the road from Escondido to Ramona was a gravel road, and the portion from Julian to U.S. Route 99 (US 99), which is currently designated as SR 86, was still a dirt road. That year, the cost was predicted to be \$176,000 (about \$ in dollars). ### Construction in San Diego County SR 78 was originally formed along with the originally signed state highways in California (Sign Routes) in 1934; however, it only extended to what was then US 99 near Kane Springs. In the North County, SR 78 was legislatively designated as Route 196 from then-US 101 (present-day I-5) to Vista, and as Route 77 from Vista to US 395 in Escondido. SR 78 was legally known as Route 197 from Escondido to Ramona, and Route 198 from Ramona to US 99, which is now SR 86. From the eastern junction of SR 86 to the Riverside county line, the route was designated as Route 146 in 1959. By 1947, US 395 ran concurrently along the portion of SR 78 from Vista to Escondido before continuing along Santa Fe Avenue to Bonsall and Fallbrook and rejoining its alignment during the 1970s. At this time, all of SR 78 that existed had been paved. Before the present-day freeway was built, SR 78 was routed on the Vista Way Freeway (which was an expressway) from Oceanside east to downtown Vista. After this, it followed Santa Fe Avenue and Mission Road east (now signed as CR S14), continuing onto Grand Avenue in Escondido. Following the intersection with US 395, SR 78 turned south on Ash Street and rejoined the current alignment of the highway. In 1949, the rerouting of SR 78 from US 395 to US 99 was listed as a priority by local officials. The road was known for its curves, even though it went over relatively flat terrain; this reduced its efficiency. The 3.5-mile (5.6 km) portion of the SR 78 freeway in Oceanside opened to traffic on February 11, 1954. This highway was extended to Vista in May 1955, at a cost of \$1,159,000 (about \$ in dollars). The part of the freeway from Vista to Escondido was one of the top priorities for highway construction in the county as early as 1960. The center portion of the Vista Way Freeway opened in April 1962, but the western part of the route was not entirely access controlled, as an expressway. The section of the SR 78 freeway from Rancho Santa Fe Road in San Marcos to Nordahl Road was completed in April 1962. The part of the freeway connecting Rancho Santa Fe Road to the Vista portion opened in February 1963, at a cost of \$3.9 million (about \$ in dollars). The opening of the freeway was credited with helping to bring 315 jobs to San Marcos in 1963. The rest of the freeway between Nordahl Road and US 395 opened on December 21, 1964, providing a four-lane highway from Escondido to Oceanside; the segment cost \$1,865,000 (about \$ in dollars). SR 78 was officially designated in the 1964 state highway renumbering. The San Diego Chamber of Commerce and the San Diego Highway Development Association urged for the conversion of SR 78 west of Vista, a length of 5.6 miles (9.0 km), from an expressway to a freeway in April 1967. The College Boulevard diamond interchange on this western segment was scheduled to open to traffic on October 24, 1967, and connected the recently relocated MiraCosta College to the freeway. The interchange, previously an at-grade intersection, improved traffic flow to the college by removing the left turn across the highway needed to access it. The construction of the interchange cost \$800,941 (about \$ in dollars). May 1968 saw the state designating the Jefferson Street and Emerald Drive interchanges as a priority. In August 1968, the state allocated \$750,000 (about \$ in dollars) for building the Jefferson Street interchange. Further funding difficulties were encountered due to US 395 being given priority, but both interchanges had funding by August 1970. The construction of the Emerald Drive interchange was scheduled for the year 1971. While the El Camino Real interchange was already a diamond interchange, the state planned to add traffic signals to the ramps to accommodate more congestion from the nearby mall. The Emerald Drive interchange was completed in September, and the rest of the project was to be completed by the end of the year, leaving Jefferson Drive as the only remaining traffic signal. Construction on the Jefferson Street interchange began in early 1972; the section from I-5 east to Melrose Drive (along the routing of the Vista Way Freeway) had been upgraded to full freeway standards as of 1973. ### Glamis Road Plans to construct a road from Brawley to Glamis date from 1953; the road would provide improved access to two newer state parks. The ceding of the Chocolate Mountains to the U.S. Navy had closed a north–south road traversing Imperial County, and the government needed to restore a corridor for local residents to use, as the road was closed during the day for five days a week. However, in August, the Riverside Chamber of Commerce opposed the construction, even though it would replace the Niland–Blythe road. The chamber reversed its stance in December, as the road would mostly be constructed in Imperial County. To construct the road, the House Armed Services Committee voted to allocate \$660,000 (about \$ in dollars) for the Navy to give to Imperial County to construct it in February 1956. The House Appropriations Committee bundled it with 616 other projects, however, which President Dwight Eisenhower vetoed in mid-July. The allocation was eventually approved by both Congress and Eisenhower a few weeks later. The San Diego Union and the Evening Tribune (later merged to form the Union-Tribune) were recognized by the San Diego county supervisors for their role in winning congressional support for the funding. There was a brief delay in approving the money in February 1957 when there was a proposal to move the gunnery range. However, at the end of the month, the United States Navy obtained ownership from Imperial County of the old Niland–Blythe road running through the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range for the specified amount. The county then used this money to fund the construction of the Glamis Road, which Ben Hulse predicted would become a state highway. This portion of the road was specifically designed to address the challenges of building it through sand dunes. The engineers routed the highway according to the terrain and made cuts in the sand up to 80 feet (24 m) deep. The routing roughly followed an old Native American trail that went from the Imperial Valley to the Palo Verde Valley. According to an Imperial County official, the road was predicted to be more busy than US 80 and to bring traffic to San Diego directly from Needles and US 66. The Glamis road opened in August 1958, and the road from Glamis to Palo Verde was under construction at that time; the part of the road that was already open was dedicated in October. In 1959, the rest of the current routing of SR 78 between Brawley and Palo Verde was added to the state highway system as SR 195 and Legislative Route 146. The state legislature added the portion of SR 78 from SR 115 to the Riverside County line in the 1964 state highway renumbering, also naming the road the Ben Hulse Highway. In March 1964, the Ben Hulse Highway leading to Palo Verde was dedicated, and state senator Hulse's efforts to have the road built were recognized. Following this, in 1965, the newly constructed section was signed as CR S78. The section from Palo Verde to Blythe shows up as part of SR 78 on maps as early as 1965, and the section from southwest of Midway Well to Palo Verde is shown as part of SR 78 as early as 1966. ### North County freeway expansion In 1969, plans to extend the freeway portion of SR 78 east from the Broadway interchange through Escondido were delayed by Caltrans director Jacob Dekema due to a lack of funding until 1980. However, in 1970, the community raised concerns about the number of buildings that would need to be destroyed, as the freeway would go through a dense urban area. Other routes, including routing SR 78 along I-15 south, were proposed. The majority of the Escondido City Council supported sending representatives to the upcoming California Coastal Commission meeting in January 1971 to expedite the process of construction. A month later, an environmental study was conducted that focused on the possibilities of rerouting the proposed freeway. In April 1972, the majority of voters supported a referendum that halted plans to build the SR 78 freeway through the city of Escondido. The city then turned its focus to widening Lincoln Avenue and Ash Street instead, and also requested that the routing of SR 78 be moved to Broadway, Washington Avenue, and Ash Street from Grand Avenue to improve traffic flow. Five years later, signs were installed on eastbound SR 78, directing traffic headed for the San Diego Zoo Safari Park to use I-15 south to Via Rancho Parkway instead of continuing eastbound, to bypass the Escondido traffic. City officials expressed a desire to have SR 78 included in the Interstate Highway System in 1985, but this was determined unlikely to succeed by state senator William Craven. In September, the state government agreed to pay \$7.5 million (about \$ in dollars) for the widening between Oceanside and Escondido, but the county and the five cities the route ran through would have to pay for the rest of the cost. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors endorsed the project that month, in order to have the best chance at getting federal funding. A spike in accidents during that year led to Representative Ron Packard proposing a way to split the costs between the governments; there were 387 accidents from January to August 1985, a sharp increase from 234 in 1984. In recognition for his work obtaining funding, SR 78 between Oceanside and Escondido was named the Ronald Packard Parkway in 2000. The House Public Works and Transportation Subcommittee allocated \$12 million (about \$ in dollars) in a bill during June 1986. The Senate raised an issue over the 65-mile-per-hour (105 km/h) speed limit in October, which made the outcome dubious. The House and Senate eventually settled on a version of the bill in March 1987, only to have President Ronald Reagan veto the bill due to "pork barrel" spending. Congress passed the bill in April 1987, overriding Reagan's veto, in the same legislation that allowed for rural Interstates to have a speed limit of up to 65 miles per hour (105 km/h). The bill authorized \$15 million (about \$ in dollars) in federal funding, and the cities of Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista, San Marcos, and Escondido agreed to pay \$6 million (about \$ in dollars); the total cost was \$30 million (about \$ in dollars). Caltrans predicted that without the widening project, traffic speeds on SR 78 would be as low as 15 miles per hour (24 km/h) by the year 2000 because of congestion. A public relations campaign had begun to garner public support for the project, including bumper stickers saying "I hate 78". The widening project began construction on April 14, 1989, with the first project adding two lanes between San Marcos Boulevard and I-15. Additional funding was secured with a local sales tax increase in 1987, providing \$80 million (about \$ in dollars), and an additional \$7.8 million (about \$ in dollars) from the California Transportation Commission. By March 1991, another part of the project from College Boulevard to Melrose Drive began the bidding process. The next year, the project began to wind down, with bidding on the final part of the work between Nordahl Road and I-15. The widening was complete by the beginning of 1994. ### Upgrades and improvements Several projects took place following the completion of the widening project. A realignment project took place in 1994 to remove one of the curves in the San Pasqual Valley, at a cost of \$2.5 million (about \$ in dollars). The San Marcos Boulevard interchange was renovated beginning in late 1996, but encountered difficulties in the land acquisition process. Work resumed in 1999, and was expected to be finished by 2000, at a cost of \$10 million; the benefits of decreased congestion came into effect once the new westbound offramp was opened. The Twin Oaks Valley Road interchange was another subject of contention, as the state Assembly refused to fund the project with \$5.1 million (about \$ in dollars) in April 1997. However, in June 1998, the California Transportation Commission approved the funding after the San Diego Association of Governments officially requested it. Construction began in August 1999, and was scheduled to end in 2001. A new interchange with Vista Village Drive was opened in 1998, and the College Boulevard interchange in Oceanside was revised along westbound SR 78, at a cost of \$5.5 million (about \$ in dollars). In addition to this, a new interchange was constructed at Las Posas Road in San Marcos, which opened in 2006. According to the U-T San Diego (the renamed San Diego Union-Tribune), SR 78 at Barham Drive was the worst "traffic bottleneck" in the county between 2010 and 2012. Thus, the interchange at Nordahl Road was also improved, and extra lanes were to be added between Nordahl Road and I-15; construction commenced in early 2012, and the new bridge opened in November. The project cost \$41 million. In the late 2000s, planning began for a bypass around the downtown portion of the city of Brawley. An expressway would carry the routing of SR 78 north and east of the city, with an interchange at SR 111, before intersecting with the current alignment of SR 78. A Swedish company began construction on this bypass in April 2008; the first phase consisted of the portion of the bypass that is solely SR 111. The second phase of the bypass, from the western junction with SR 111 to the eastern junction with SR 78, lasted from February 2008 to June 2011. On the third phase of the project, from the junction with SR 86 west of Brawley to the western end of the completed bypass, construction began in late 2010. This project was identified in August 2010 as a project that could be affected by California state budget cuts. The Brawley Bypass, as it was known, opened on October 30, 2012. ## Future The western portion of SR 78 in North County is currently slated for several improvements. There were plans to construct an additional interchange at Rancho Del Oro Road in Oceanside; however, the Oceanside City Council decided to cancel these plans in 2005, despite studies suggesting that this move would be detrimental to the traffic in the region. The city council reinstated those plans in September 2012. There are also plans to improve the interchange with I-5, which currently involves a traffic signal connecting Vista Way and SR 78 with the ramps to I-5 southbound. Plans call for adding more lanes to I-5 and SR 78 as well as for the construction of a new ramp from SR 78 westbound to I-5 southbound and from I-5 southbound to SR 78 eastbound. The nearby lagoon has served as an obstacle in constructing additional ramps. In 2002, the I-5 northbound to SR 78 eastbound ramp was widened to two lanes to ease congestion. At a 2015 meeting, the Oceanside community expressed concerns about a potential "flyover" ramp design for the new interchange. The project is scheduled for completion in the late 2020s. A 2011 Caltrans report proposed adding two high-occupancy vehicle lanes to the freeway portion of SR 78 between I-5 and I-15 to accommodate increased traffic. In early 2016, the mayor of San Marcos stated that there were plans to add another lane in each direction to SR 78 through parts of the city. ## Major intersections ## See also
5,517,291	Holkham Hall	1,148,564,770	Large 18th-century Palladian country house in Norfolk, England	[ "1764 establishments in England", "Agriculture museums in the United Kingdom", "Art museums and galleries in Norfolk", "Coke family", "Country houses in Norfolk", "Gardens by Capability Brown", "Gardens in Norfolk", "Grade I listed buildings in Norfolk", "Grade I listed houses", "Historic house museums in Norfolk", "History museums in Norfolk", "Holkham", "Houses completed in 1764", "Museums in Norfolk", "Palladian architecture", "Tourist attractions in Norfolk", "Transport museums in England" ]	Holkham Hall (/ˈhoʊkəm/ or /ˈhɒlkəm/) is an 18th-century country house near the village of Holkham, Norfolk, England, constructed in the Neo-Palladian style for the 1st Earl of Leicester (of the fifth creation of the title) by the architect William Kent, aided by Lord Burlington. Holkham Hall is one of England's finest examples of the Palladian revival style of architecture, and the severity of its design is closer to Palladio's ideals than many of the other numerous Palladian style houses of the period. The Holkham Estate was built up by Sir Edward Coke, the founder of his family's fortune. He bought Neales manor in 1609, though never lived there, and made many other purchases of land in Norfolk to endow to his six sons. His fourth son, John, inherited the land and married heiress Meriel Wheatley in 1612. They made Hill Hall their home, and by 1659, John had complete ownership of all three Holkham manors. It is the ancestral home of the Coke family, who became Earls of Leicester. The interior of the hall is opulent, but by the standards of the day, simply decorated and furnished. Ornament is used with such restraint that it was possible to decorate both private and state rooms in the same style, without oppressing the former. The principal entrance is through the Marble Hall, which is in fact made of pink Derbyshire alabaster; this leads to the piano nobile, or the first floor, and state rooms. The most impressive of these rooms is the Saloon, which has walls lined with red velvet. Each of the major state rooms is symmetrical in its layout and design; in some rooms, false doors are necessary to fully achieve this balanced effect. ## Architects and patron Holkham was built by Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester, who was born in 1697. A cultivated and wealthy man, Coke made the Grand Tour in his youth and was away from England for six years between 1712 and 1718. It is likely he met both Burlington—the aristocratic architect at the forefront of the Palladian revival movement in England—and William Kent in Italy in 1715, and that in the home of Palladianism the idea of the mansion at Holkham was conceived. Coke returned to England, not only with a newly acquired library, but also an art and sculpture collection with which to furnish his planned new mansion. However, after his return, he lived a feckless life, preoccupying himself with drinking, gambling and hunting, and being a leading supporter of cockfighting. He made a disastrous investment in the South Sea Company and when the South Sea Bubble burst in 1720, the resultant losses delayed the building of Coke's planned new country estate for over ten years. Coke, who had been made Earl of Leicester in 1744, died in 1759—five years before the completion of Holkham—having never fully recovered his financial losses. Thomas's wife, Lady Margaret Tufton, Countess of Leicester (1700–1775), would oversee the finishing and furnishing of the house. Although Colen Campbell was employed by Thomas Coke in the early 1720s, the oldest existing working and construction plans for Holkham were drawn by Matthew Brettingham, under the supervision of Thomas Coke, in 1726. These followed the guidelines and ideals for the house as defined by Kent and Burlington. The Palladian revival style chosen was at this time making its return in England. The style made a brief appearance in England before the Civil War, when it was introduced by Inigo Jones. However, following the Restoration it was replaced in popular favour by the Baroque style. The "Palladian revival", popular in the 18th century, was loosely based on the appearance of the works of the 16th-century Italian architect Andrea Palladio. However it did not adhere to Palladio's strict rules of proportion. The style eventually evolved into what is generally referred to as Georgian, still popular in England today. It was the chosen style for numerous houses in both town and country, although Holkham is exceptional for both its severity of design and for being closer than most in its adherence to Palladio's ideals. Although Thomas Coke oversaw the project, he delegated the on-site architectural duties to the local Norfolk architect Matthew Brettingham, who was employed as the on-site clerk of works. Brettingham was already the estate architect, and was in receipt of £50 a year (about pounds per year in 2023 terms) in return for "taking care of his Lordship's buildings". He was also influential in the design of the mansion, although he attributed the design of the Marble Hall to Coke himself. William Kent was mainly responsible for the interiors of the Southwest pavilion, or family wing block, particularly the Long Library. Kent produced a variety of alternative exteriors, suggesting a far richer decoration than Coke wanted. Brettingham described the building of Holkham as "the great work of [my life]", and when he published his "The Plans and Elevations of the late Earl of Leicester's House at Holkham", he immodestly described himself as sole architect, making no mention of Kent's involvement. However, in a later edition of the book, Brettingham's son admitted that "the general idea was first struck out by the Earls of Leicester and Burlington, assisted by Mr. William Kent". In 1734, the first foundations were laid; however, building was to continue for thirty years, until the completion of the great house in 1764. ## Design The Palladian style was admired by Whigs such as Thomas Coke, who sought to identify themselves with the Romans of antiquity. Kent was responsible for the external appearance of Holkham; he based his design on Palladio's unbuilt Villa Mocenigo, as it appears in I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura, but with modifications. The plans for Holkham were of a large central block of two floors only, containing on the piano nobile level a series of symmetrically balanced state rooms situated around two courtyards. No hint of these courtyards is given externally; they are intended for lighting rather than recreation or architectural value. This great central block is flanked by four smaller, rectangular blocks, or wings, and at each corners is linked to the main house not by long colonnades—as would have been the norm in Palladian architecture—but by short two-storey wings of only one bay. ### Exterior The external appearance of Holkham can best be described as a huge Roman palace. However, as with most architectural designs, it is never quite that simple. Holkham is a Palladian house, and yet even by Palladian standards the external appearance is austere and devoid of ornamentation. This can almost certainly be traced to Coke himself. The on-site, supervising architect, Matthew Brettingham, related that Coke required and demanded "commodiousness", which can be interpreted as comfort. Hence rooms that were adequately lit by one window, had only one, as a second might have improved the external appearance but could have made a room cold or draughty. As a result, the few windows on the piano nobile, although symmetrically placed and balanced, appear lost in a sea of brickwork; albeit these yellow bricks were cast as exact replicas of ancient Roman bricks expressly for Holkham. Above the windows of the piano nobile, where on a true Palladian structure the windows of a mezzanine would be, there is nothing. The reason for this is the double height of the state rooms on the piano nobile; however, not even a blind window, such as those often seen in Palladio's own work, is permitted to alleviate the severity of the facade. On the ground floor, the rusticated walls are pierced by small windows more reminiscent of a prison than a grand house. One architectural commentator, Nigel Nicolson, has described the house as appearing as functional as a Prussian riding school. The principal, or South façade, is 344 feet (104.9 m) in length (from each of the flanking wings to the other), its austerity relieved on the piano nobile level only by a great six-columned portico. Each end of the central block is terminated by a slight projection, containing a Venetian window surmounted by a single storey square tower and capped roof, similar to those employed by Inigo Jones at Wilton House nearly a century earlier. A near identical portico was designed by Inigo Jones and Isaac de Caus for the Palladian front at Wilton, but this was never executed. The flanking wings contain service and secondary rooms—the family wing to the south-west; the guest wing to the north-west; the chapel wing to the south-east; and the kitchen wing to the north-east. Each wing's external appearance is identical: three bays, each separated from the other by a narrow recess in the elevation. Each bay is surmounted by an unadorned pediment. The composition of stone, recesses, varying pediments and chimneys of the four blocks is almost reminiscent of the English Baroque style in favour ten years earlier, employed at Seaton Delaval Hall by Sir John Vanbrugh. One of these wings, as at the later Kedleston Hall, was a self-contained country house to accommodate the family when the state rooms and central block were not in use. The one storey porch at the main north entrance was designed in the 1850s by Samuel Sanders Teulon, although stylistically it is indistinguishable from the 18th-century building. ### Interior Inside the house, the Palladian form reaches a height and grandeur seldom seen in any other house in England. It has, in fact, been described as "The finest Palladian interior in England." The grandeur of the interior is obtained with an absence of excessive ornament, and reflects Kent's career-long taste for "the eloquence of a plain surface". Work on the interiors ran from 1739 to 1773. The first habitable rooms were in the family wing and were in use from 1740, the Long Library being the first major interior completed in 1741. Among the last to be completed and entirely under Lady Leicester's supervision is the chapel with its alabaster reredos. The house is entered through the Marble Hall (though the chief building fabric is in fact pink Derbyshire alabaster), modelled by Kent on a Roman basilica. The room is over 50 feet (15 m) from floor to ceiling and is dominated by the broad white marble flight of steps leading to the surrounding gallery, or peristyle: here alabaster clad Ionic columns support the coffered, gilded ceiling, copied from a design by Inigo Jones, inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. The fluted columns are thought to be replicas of those in the Temple of Fortuna Virilis, also in Rome. Around the hall are statues in niches; these are predominantly plaster copies of classical deities. The hall's flight of steps lead to the piano nobile and state rooms. The grandest, the Saloon, is situated immediately behind the great portico, with its walls lined with patterned red caffoy (a mixture of wool, linen and silk) and a coffered, gilded ceiling. In this room hangs Rubens's Return from Egypt. On his Grand Tour, the Earl acquired a collection of Roman copies of Greek and Roman sculpture which is contained in the extensive Statue Gallery, which runs the full length of the house north to south. The North Dining Room, a cube room of 27 feet (8.2 m) contains an Axminster carpet that perfectly mirrors the pattern of the ceiling above. A bust of Aelius Verus, set in a niche in the wall of this room, was found during the restoration at Nettuno. A classical apse gives the room an almost temple air. The apse in fact, contains concealed access to the labyrinth of corridors and narrow stairs that lead to the distant kitchens and service areas of the house. Each corner of the east side of the principal block contains a square salon lit by a huge Venetian window, one of them—the Landscape Room—hung with paintings by Claude Lorrain and Gaspar Poussin. All of the major state rooms have symmetrical walls, even where this involves matching real with false doors. The major rooms also have elaborate white and multi-coloured marble fireplaces, most with carvings and sculpture, mainly the work of Thomas Carter, though Joseph Pickford carved the fireplace in the Statue Gallery. Much of the furniture in the state rooms was also designed by William Kent, in a stately classicising baroque manner. So restrained is the interior decoration of the state rooms, or in the words of James Lees-Milne, "chaste", that the smaller, more intimate rooms in the family's private south-west wing were decorated in similar vein, without being overpowering. The Long Library running the full length of the wing still contains the collection of books acquired by Thomas Coke on his Grand Tour through Italy, where he saw for the first time the Palladian villas which were to inspire Holkham. The Green State bedroom is the principal bedroom; it is decorated with paintings and tapestries, including works by Paul Saunders and George Smith Bradshaw. It is said that when Queen Mary visited, Gavin Hamilton's "lewd" depiction of Jupiter Caressing Juno "was considered unsuitable for that lady's eyes and was banished to the attics". ## Grounds Work to the designs of William Kent on the park commenced in 1729, several years before the house was constructed. This event was commemorated by the construction in 1730 of the obelisk, 80 ft (24 m) in height, standing on the highest point in the park. It is located over half a mile to the south and on axis with the centre of the house. An avenue of trees stretches over a mile south of the obelisk. Thousands of trees were planted on what had been windswept land; by 1770 the park covered 1,500 acres (6.1 km<sup>2</sup>). Other garden buildings designed by Kent are, near the far end of the avenue the Triumphal Arch, designed in 1739 but only completed in 1752 and the domed doric temple (1730–1735) in the woods near the obelisk. Above the main entrance to the house within the Marble Hall is this inscription: > THIS SEAT, on an open barren Estate > Was planned, planted, built, decorated. > And inhabited the middle of the XVIIIth Century > By THO's COKE EARL of LEICESTER Under Coke of Norfolk, the great-nephew and heir of the builder, extensive improvements were made to the park and by his death in 1842 it had grown to its present extent of over 3,000 acres (12 km<sup>2</sup>). As well as planting over a million trees on the estate Coke employed the architect Samuel Wyatt to design over a number of buildings, including a series of farm buildings and farmhouses in a simplified neo-classical style and, in the 1780s, the new walled kitchen gardens covering 6 acres (24,000 m<sup>2</sup>). The gardens stand to the west of the lake and include: A fig house, a peach house, a vinery, and other greenhouses. Wyatt's designs culminated in c. 1790 with the Great Barn, located in the park half a mile south-east of the obelisk. The cost of each farm was in the region of £1,500 to £2,600: Lodge Farm, Castle Acre, cost £2,604 6s. 5d. in 1797–1800. The lake to the west of the house, originally a marshy inlet or creek off the North Sea, was created in 1801–1803 by the landscape gardener William Eames. After his death, Coke was commemorated by the Leicester Monument, designed by William Donthorne and erected in 1845–1848 at a cost to the tenants of the estate of £4,000. The monument consists of a Corinthian column 120 ft (37 m) high, surmounted by a drum supporting a wheatsheaf and a plinth decorated with bas-reliefs carved by John Henning Jr. The corners of the plinth support sculptures of an ox, sheep, plough and seed-drill. Coke's work to increase farm yields had resulted in the rental income of the estate rising between 1776 and 1816 from £2,200 to £20,000, and had considerable influence on agricultural methods in Britain. In 1850, Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester, called in the architect William Burn to build new stables to the east of the house, in collaboration with W. A. Nesfield, who had designed the parterres. Work started at the same time on the terraces surrounding the house. This work continued until 1857 and included, to the south and on axis with the house, the monumental fountain of Saint George and the Dragon dated c. 1849–57 sculpted by Charles Raymond Smith. To the east of the house and overlooking the terrace, Burn designed the large stone orangery, with a three-bay pedimented centre and three-bay flanking wings. The orangery is now roofless and windowless. ## Holkham today The cost of the construction of Holkham is thought to have been in the region of £90,000. This vast cost nearly ruined the heirs of the 1st Earl, but had the result that they were financially unable to alter the house to suit the whims of taste. Thus, the house has remained almost untouched since its completion in 1764. Today, this perfect, if severe, example of Palladianism is at the heart of a thriving private estate of some 25,000 acres (100 km<sup>2</sup>). Though open to the public on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays, it is still the family home of the Earls of Leicester of Holkham. ## See also - Art collections of Holkham Hall - Noble Households – book with inventory of Holkham Hall of 1760 ## References and further reading - Angelicoussis, E. (2001). The Holkham collection of classical sculptures (Mainz) - Brettingham, Matthew (1761). The Plans, Elevations and Sections, of Holkham in Norfolk. London: J. Haberkorn. - Cornforth, John (200), Early Georgian Interiors. New Haven, CT.; London: Yale University Press for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, pp. 313–24 - Cropplestone, Trewin (1963). World Architecture. London: Hamlyn. - Halliday, E. E. (1967). Cultural History of England. London: Thames & Hudson. - Hiskey, Christine (1997). "The Building of Holkham Hall: Newly Discovered Letters." Architectural History vol. 40. - Hussey, Christopher (1955). English Country Houses: Early Georgian 1715–1760 London, Country Life. (Pages 131–146.) - Hussey, Christopher (1967). English Gardens and Landscapes 1700–1750 London: Country Life. (Pages 45–6.) - Murdoch, Tessa (ed.) (2006). Noble Households: Eighteenth-Century Inventories of Great English Houses. A Tribute to John Cornforth. Cambridge: John Adamson, pp. 207–31 - Nicolson, Nigel (1965). Great Houses of Britain. London: Hamlyn. - Pevsner, Nicholas, and Bill Wilson (1999). Norfolk 2: North-West and South. The Buildings of England. London: Penguin. (Pages 413–424.) - Robinson, John Martin (1983). Georgian Model Farms: A Study of Decorative and Model Farm Buildings in the Age of Improvement 1700–1846. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Page 127.) - Schmidt, Leo and others (2005). "Holkham". Munich; Berlin; London; New York: Prestel. - Summerson, John (1954). Architecture in Britain, 1530 to 1830. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books. - Wilson, Michael I. (1984). William Kent: Architect, Designer, Painter, Gardener, 1685–1748. London, Routledge & Kegan Paul.
561,510	The Raft of the Medusa	1,166,469,237	Painting by Théodore Géricault	[ "1819 paintings", "Death in art", "Incidents of cannibalism", "Louis XVIII", "Maritime paintings", "Paintings about death", "Paintings by Théodore Géricault", "Paintings in the Louvre by French artists" ]	The Raft of the Medusa (French: Le Radeau de la Méduse ) – originally titled Scène de Naufrage (Shipwreck Scene) – is an oil painting of 1818–19 by the French Romantic painter and lithographer Théodore Géricault (1791–1824). Completed when the artist was 27, the work has become an icon of French Romanticism. At 491 by 716 cm (16 ft 1 in by 23 ft 6 in), it is an over-life-size painting that depicts a moment from the aftermath of the wreck of the French naval frigate Méduse, which ran aground off the coast of today's Mauritania on 2 July 1816. On 5 July 1816, at least 147 people were set adrift on a hurriedly constructed raft; all but 15 died in the 13 days before their rescue, and those who survived endured starvation and dehydration and practiced cannibalism (the custom of the sea). The event became an international scandal, in part because its cause was widely attributed to the incompetence of the French captain. Géricault chose this large-scale uncommissioned work to launch his career, using a subject that had already generated widespread public interest. The event fascinated him, and before he began work on the final painting, he undertook extensive research and produced many preparatory sketches. He interviewed two of the survivors and constructed a detailed scale model of the raft. He visited hospitals and morgues where he could view, first-hand, the colour and texture of the flesh of the dying and dead. As he had anticipated, the painting proved highly controversial at its first appearance in the 1819 Paris Salon, attracting passionate praise and condemnation in equal measure. However, it established his international reputation and today is widely seen as seminal in the early history of the Romantic movement in French painting. Although The Raft of the Medusa retains elements of the traditions of history painting, in both its choice of subject matter and its dramatic presentation, it represents a break from the calm and order of the prevailing Neoclassical school. Géricault's work attracted wide attention from its first showing and was then exhibited in London. The Louvre acquired it soon after the artist's death at the age of 32. The painting's influence can be seen in the works of Eugène Delacroix, J. M. W. Turner, Gustave Courbet, and Édouard Manet. ## Background In June 1816, the French frigate Méduse, captained by Hugues Duroy de Chaumareys, departed from Rochefort, bound for the Senegalese port of Saint-Louis. She headed a convoy of three other ships: the storeship Loire, the brig Argus and the corvette Écho. Viscount Hugues Duroy de Chaumereys, a recently returned royalist émigré, had been appointed captain of the frigate by the newly restored Bourbon administration despite having scarcely sailed in 20 years. After the wreck, public outrage mistakenly attributed responsibility for his appointment to Louis XVIII, though this was a routine naval appointment made within the Ministry of the Navy and far outside the concerns of the monarch. The frigate's mission was to accept the British return of Senegal under the terms of France's acceptance of the Peace of Paris. The appointed French governor of Senegal, Colonel Julien-Désiré Schmaltz, and his wife and daughter were among the passengers. In an effort to make good time, the Méduse overtook the other ships, but due to poor navigation it drifted 160 kilometres (100 mi) off course. On 2 July, it ran aground on a sandbank off the West African coast, near today's Mauritania. The collision was widely blamed on the incompetence of De Chaumereys, a returned émigré who lacked experience and ability, but had been granted his commission as a result of an act of political preferment. Efforts to free the ship failed, so, on 5 July, the frightened passengers and crew started an attempt to travel the 100 km (60 mi) to the African coast in the frigate's six boats. Although the Méduse was carrying 400 people, including 160 crew, there was space for only about 250 in the boats. The remainder of the ship's complement and half of a contingent of marine infantrymen intended to garrison Senegal—at least 146 men and one woman—were piled onto a hastily built raft, that partially submerged once it was loaded. Seventeen crew members opted to stay aboard the grounded Méduse. The captain and crew aboard the other boats intended to tow the raft, but after only a few miles the raft was turned loose. For sustenance the crew of the raft had only a bag of ship's biscuit (consumed on the first day), two casks of water (lost overboard during fighting) and six casks of wine. According to critic Jonathan Miles, the raft carried the survivors "to the frontiers of human experience. Crazed, parched and starved, they slaughtered mutineers, ate their dead companions and killed the weakest." After 13 days, on 17 July 1816, the raft was rescued by the Argus by chance—no particular search effort was made by the French for the raft. By this time only 15 men were still alive; the others had been killed or thrown overboard by their comrades, died of starvation, or had thrown themselves into the sea in despair. The incident became a huge public embarrassment for the French monarchy, only recently restored to power after Napoleon's defeat in 1815. ## Description The Raft of the Medusa portrays the moment when, after 13 days adrift on the raft, the remaining 15 survivors view a ship approaching from a distance. According to an early British reviewer, the work is set at a moment when "the ruin of the raft may be said to be complete". The painting is on a monumental scale of 491 cm × 716 cm (193 in × 282 in), so that most of the figures rendered are life-sized and those in the foreground almost twice life-size, pushed close to the picture plane and crowding onto the viewer, who is drawn into the physical action as a participant. The makeshift raft is shown as barely seaworthy as it rides the deep waves, while the men are rendered as broken and in utter despair. One old man holds the corpse of his son at his knees; another tears his hair out in frustration and defeat. A number of bodies litter the foreground, waiting to be swept away by the surrounding waves. The men in the middle have just viewed a rescue ship; one points it out to another, and an African crew member, Jean Charles, stands on an empty barrel and frantically waves his handkerchief to draw the ship's attention. The pictorial composition of the painting is constructed upon two pyramidal structures. The perimeter of the large mast on the left of the canvas forms the first. The horizontal grouping of dead and dying figures in the foreground forms the base from which the survivors emerge, surging upward towards the emotional peak, where the central figure waves desperately at a rescue ship. The viewer's attention is first drawn to the centre of the canvas, then follows the directional flow of the survivors' bodies, viewed from behind and straining to the right. According to the art historian Justin Wintle, "a single horizontal diagonal rhythm [leads] us from the dead at the bottom left, to the living at the apex." Two other diagonal lines are used to heighten the dramatic tension. One follows the mast and its rigging and leads the viewer's eye towards an approaching wave that threatens to engulf the raft, while the second, composed of reaching figures, leads to the distant silhouette of the Argus, the ship that eventually rescued the survivors. Géricault's palette is composed of pallid flesh tones, and the murky colours of the survivors' clothes, the sea and the clouds. Overall the painting is dark and relies largely on the use of sombre, mostly brown pigments, a palette that Géricault believed was effective in suggesting tragedy and pain. The work's lighting has been described as "Caravaggesque", after the Italian artist closely associated with tenebrism—the use of violent contrast between light and dark. Even Géricault's treatment of the sea is muted, being rendered in dark greens rather than the deep blues that could have afforded contrast with the tones of the raft and its figures. From the distant area of the rescue ship, a bright light shines, providing illumination to an otherwise dull brown scene. ## Execution ### Research and preparatory studies Géricault was captivated by accounts of the widely publicised 1816 shipwreck, and realised that a depiction of the event might be an opportunity to establish his reputation as a painter. Having decided to proceed, he undertook extensive research before he began the painting. In early 1818, he met with two survivors: Henri Savigny, a surgeon, and Alexandre Corréard, an engineer from the École nationale supérieure d'arts et métiers. Their emotional descriptions of their experiences largely inspired the tone of the final painting. According to the art historian Georges-Antoine Borias, "Géricault established his studio across from Beaujon hospital. And here began a mournful descent. Behind locked doors he threw himself into his work. Nothing repulsed him. He was dreaded and avoided." Earlier travels had exposed Géricault to victims of insanity and plague, and while researching the Méduse his effort to be historically accurate and realistic led to an obsession with the stiffness of corpses. To achieve the most authentic rendering of the flesh tones of the dead, he made sketches of bodies in the morgue of the Hospital Beaujon, studied the faces of dying hospital patients, brought severed limbs back to his studio to study their decay, and for a fortnight drew a severed head, borrowed from a lunatic asylum and stored on his studio roof. He worked with Corréard, Savigny and another of the survivors, the carpenter Lavillette, to construct an accurately detailed scale model of the raft, which was reproduced on the finished canvas, even showing the gaps between some of the planks. Géricault posed models, compiled a dossier of documentation, copied relevant paintings by other artists, and went to Le Havre to study the sea and sky. Despite suffering from fever, he travelled to the coast on a number of occasions to witness storms breaking on the shore, and a visit to artists in England afforded further opportunity to study the elements while crossing the English Channel. He drew and painted numerous preparatory sketches while deciding which of several alternative moments of the disaster he would depict in the final work. The painting's conception proved slow and difficult for Géricault, and he struggled to select a single pictorially effective moment to best capture the inherent drama of the event. Among the scenes he considered were the mutiny against the officers from the second day on the raft, the cannibalism that occurred after only a few days, and the rescue. Géricault ultimately settled on the moment, recounted by one of the survivors, when they first saw, on the horizon, the approaching rescue ship Argus—visible in the upper right of the painting—which they attempted to signal. The ship, however, passed by. In the words of one of the surviving crew members, "From the delirium of joy, we fell into profound despondency and grief." To a public well-versed in the particulars of the disaster, the scene would have been understood to encompass the aftermath of the crew's abandonment, focusing on the moment when all hope seemed lost—the Argus reappeared two hours later and rescued those who remained. The author Rupert Christiansen points out that the painting depicts more figures than had been on the raft at the time of the rescue—including corpses which were not recorded by the rescuers. Instead of the sunny morning and calm water reported on the day of the rescue, Géricault depicted a gathering storm and dark, heaving sea to reinforce the emotional gloom. ### Final work Géricault, who had just been forced to break off a painful affair with his aunt, shaved his head and from November 1818 to July 1819 lived a disciplined monastic existence in his studio in the Faubourg du Roule, being brought meals by his concierge and only occasionally spending an evening out. He and his 18-year-old assistant, Louis-Alexis Jamar, slept in a small room adjacent to the studio; occasionally there were arguments and on one occasion Jamar walked off; after two days Géricault persuaded him to return. In his orderly studio, the artist worked in a methodical fashion in complete silence and found that even the noise of a mouse was sufficient to break his concentration. He used friends as models, most notably the painter Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863), who modelled for the figure in the foreground with face turned downward and one arm outstretched. Two of the raft's survivors are seen in shadow at the foot of the mast; three of the figures were painted from life—Corréard, Savigny and Lavillette. Jamar posed nude for the dead youth shown in the foreground about to slip into the sea, and was also the model for two other figures. Much later, Delacroix—who would become the standard-bearer of French Romanticism after Géricault's death—wrote, "Géricault allowed me to see his Raft of Medusa while he was still working on it. It made so tremendous an impression on me that when I came out of the studio I started running like a madman and did not stop till I reached my own room." Géricault, who was an abolitionist, hired a Haitian model named Joseph to paint at least two Black individuals on the raft. Most notably, Joseph served as a model for what is considered to be a representation of Jean Charles, a military officer waving a dark red handkerchief in hopes of being noticed by the passing ship. Influenced by an ancient Greek Classical sculpture titled Belvedere Torso and with his back turned toward the viewer, Joseph's silhouette is placed atop the pyramidal grouping of survivors in the composition's right half. In addition, a small rendering of Joseph's face, with his gaze directed toward the spectator, is placed within a group of three figures positioned between the wooden mast and the supporting rope on the mast's right-hand side. Géricault painted with small brushes and viscous oils, which allowed little time for reworking and were dry by the next morning. He kept his colours apart from each other: his palette consisted of vermilion, white, naples yellow, two different yellow ochres, two red ochres, raw sienna, light red, burnt sienna, crimson lake, Prussian blue, peach black, ivory black, Cassel earth and bitumen. Bitumen has a velvety, lustrous appearance when first painted, but over a period of time discolours to a black treacle, while contracting and thus creating a wrinkled surface, which cannot be renovated. As a result of this, details in large areas of the work can hardly be discerned today. Géricault drew an outline sketch of the composition onto the canvas. He then posed models one at a time, completing each figure before moving onto the next, as opposed to the more usual method of working over the whole composition. The concentration in this way on individual elements gave the work both a "shocking physicality" and a sense of deliberate theatricality—which some critics consider an adverse effect. Over 30 years after the completion of the work, his friend Montfort recalled: > [Géricault's method] astonished me as much as his intense industry. He painted directly on the white canvas, without rough sketch or any preparation of any sort, except for the firmly traced contours, and yet the solidity of the work was none the worse for it. I was struck by the keen attention with which he examined the model before touching brush to canvas. He seemed to proceed slowly, when in reality he executed very rapidly, placing one touch after the other in its place, rarely having to go over his work more than once. There was very little perceptible movement of his body or arms. His expression was perfectly calm ... Working with little distraction, the artist completed the painting in eight months; the project as a whole took 18 months. ## Influences The Raft of the Medusa fuses many influences from the Old Masters, from the Last Judgment and Sistine Chapel ceiling of Michelangelo (1475–1564) and Raphael's Transfiguration, to the monumental approach of Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825) and Antoine-Jean Gros (1771–1835), to contemporary events. By the 18th century, shipwrecks had become a recognised feature of marine art, as well as an increasingly common occurrence as more journeys were made by sea. Claude Joseph Vernet (1714–1789) created many such images, achieving naturalistic colour through direct observation—unlike other artists at that time—and was said to have tied himself to the mast of a ship in order to witness a storm. Although the men depicted on the raft had spent 13 days adrift and suffered hunger, disease and cannibalism, Géricault pays tribute to the traditions of heroic painting and presents his figures as muscular and healthy. According to the art historian Richard Muther, there is still a strong debt to Classicism in the work. The fact that the majority of the figures are almost naked, he wrote, arose from a desire to avoid "unpictorial" costumes. Muther observes that there is "still something academic in the figures, which do not seem to be sufficiently weakened by privation, disease, and the struggle with death". The influence of Jacques-Louis David can be seen in the painting's scale, in the sculptural tautness of the figures and in the heightened manner in which a particularly significant "fruitful moment"—the first awareness of the approaching ship—is described. In 1793, David also painted an important current event with The Death of Marat. His painting had an enormous political impact during the time of the revolution in France, and it served as an important precedent for Géricault's decision to also paint a current event. David's pupil, Antoine-Jean Gros, had, like David, represented "the grandiosities of a school irredeemably associated with a lost cause", but in some major works, he had given equal prominence to Napoleon and anonymous dead or dying figures. Géricault had been particularly impressed by the 1804 painting Bonaparte Visiting the Plague-Victims of Jaffa, by Gros. The young Géricault had painted copies of work by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (1758–1823), whose "thunderously tragic pictures" include his masterpiece, Justice and Divine Vengeance Pursuing Crime, where oppressive darkness and the compositional base of a naked, sprawled corpse obviously influenced Géricault's painting. The foreground figure of the older man may be a reference to Ugolino from Dante's Inferno—a subject that Géricault had contemplated painting—and seems to borrow from a painting of Ugolini by Henry Fuseli (1741–1825) that Géricault may have known from prints. In Dante, Ugolino is guilty of cannibalism, which was one of the most sensational aspects of the days on the raft. Géricault seems to allude to this through the borrowing from Fuseli. An early study for The Raft of the Medusa in watercolour, now in the Louvre, is much more explicit, depicting a figure gnawing on the arm of a headless corpse. Several English and American paintings including The Death of Major Pierson by John Singleton Copley (1738–1815)—also painted within two years of the event—had established a precedent for a contemporary subject. Copley had also painted several large and heroic depictions of disasters at sea which Géricault may have known from prints: Watson and the Shark (1778), in which a black man is central to the action, and which, like The Raft of the Medusa, concentrated on the actors of the drama rather than the seascape; The Defeat of the Floating Batteries at Gibraltar, September 1782 (1791), which was an influence on both the style and subject matter of Géricault's work; and Scene of a Shipwreck (1790s), which has a strikingly similar composition. A further important precedent for the political component was the works of Francisco Goya, particularly his The Disasters of War series of 1810–12, and his 1814 masterpiece The Third of May 1808. Goya also produced a painting of a disaster at sea, called simply Shipwreck (date unknown), but although the sentiment is similar, the composition and style have nothing in common with The Raft of the Medusa. It is unlikely that Géricault had seen the picture. ## Exhibition and reception The Raft of the Medusa was first shown at the 1819 Paris Salon, under the title Scène de Naufrage (Shipwreck Scene), although its real subject would have been unmistakable for contemporary viewers. The exhibition was sponsored by Louis XVIII and featured nearly 1,300 paintings, 208 sculptures and numerous other engravings and architectural designs. Géricault's canvas was the star at the exhibition: "It strikes and attracts all eyes" (Le Journal de Paris). Louis XVIII visited three days before the opening and reportedly said: "Monsieur, vous venez de faire un naufrage qui n'en est pas un pour vous", freely translated as "Monsieur Géricault, your shipwreck is certainly no disaster". The critics were divided: the horror and "terribilità" of the subject exercised fascination, but devotees of classicism expressed their distaste for what they described as a "pile of corpses", whose realism they considered a far cry from the "ideal beauty" represented by Girodet's Pygmalion and Galatea, which triumphed the same year. Géricault's work expressed a paradox: how could a hideous subject be translated into a powerful painting, how could the painter reconcile art and reality? Marie-Philippe Coupin de la Couperie, a French painter and contemporary of Géricault, provided one answer: "Monsieur Géricault seems mistaken. The goal of painting is to speak to the soul and the eyes, not to repel." The painting had fervent admirers too, including French writer and art critic Auguste Jal, who praised its political theme, its liberal position–its advancement of the negro and critique of ultra-royalism–and its modernity. The historian Jules Michelet approved: "our whole society is aboard the raft of the Medusa". Géricault had deliberately sought to be both politically and artistically confrontational. Critics responded to his aggressive approach in kind, and their reactions were either ones of revulsion or praise, depending on whether the writer's sympathies favoured the Bourbon or Liberal viewpoint. The painting was seen as largely sympathetic to the men on the raft, and thus by extension to the anti-imperial cause adopted by the survivors Savigny and Corréard. The decision to place a black man at the pinnacle of the composition was a controversial expression of Géricault's abolitionist sympathies. The art critic Christine Riding has speculated that the painting's later exhibition in London was planned to coincide with anti-slavery agitation there. According to art critic and curator Karen Wilkin, Géricault's painting acts as a "cynical indictment of the bungling malfeasance of France's post-Napoleonic officialdom, much of which was recruited from the surviving families of the Ancien Régime". The painting generally impressed the viewing public, although its subject matter repelled many, thus denying Géricault the popular acclaim which he had hoped to achieve. At the end of the exhibition, the painting was awarded a gold medal by the judging panel, but they did not give the work the greater prestige of selecting it for the Louvre's national collection. Instead, Géricault was awarded a commission on the subject of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which he clandestinely offered to Delacroix, whose finished painting he then signed as his own. Géricault retreated to the countryside, where he collapsed from exhaustion, and his unsold work was rolled up and stored in a friend's studio. Géricault arranged for the painting to be exhibited in London in 1820, where it was shown at William Bullock's Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, London, from 10 June until the end of the year, and viewed by about 40,000 visitors. The reception in London was more positive than that in Paris, and the painting was hailed as representative of a new direction in French art. It received more positive reviews than when it was shown at the Salon. In part, this was due to the manner of the painting's exhibition: in Paris it had initially been hung high in the Salon Carré—a mistake that Géricault recognised when he saw the work installed—but in London it was placed close to the ground, emphasising its monumental impact. There may have been other reasons for its popularity in England as well, including "a degree of national self-congratulation", the appeal of the painting as lurid entertainment, and two theatrical entertainments based around the events on the raft which coincided with the exhibition and borrowed heavily from Géricault's depiction. From the London exhibition Géricault earned close to 20,000 francs, which was his share of the fees charged to visitors, and substantially more than he would have been paid had the French government purchased the work from him. After the London exhibition, Bullock brought the painting to Dublin early in 1821, but the exhibition there was far less successful, in large part due to a competing exhibition of a moving panorama, "The Wreck of the Medusa" by the Marshall brothers firm, which was said to have been painted under the direction of one of the survivors of the disaster. The Raft of the Medusa was championed by the curator of the Louvre, comte de Forbin who purchased it for the museum from Géricault's heirs after his death in 1824. The painting now dominates its gallery there. The display caption tells us that "the only hero in this poignant story is humanity". At some time between 1826 and 1830 American artist George Cooke (1793–1849) made a copy of the painting in a smaller size, (130.5 x 196.2 cm; approximately 4 ft × 6 ft), which was shown in Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Washington, D.C. to crowds who knew about the controversy surrounding the shipwreck. Reviews favoured the painting, which also stimulated plays, poems, performances and a children's book. It was bought by a former admiral, Uriah Phillips, who left it in 1862 to the New York Historical Society, where it was miscatalogued as by Gilbert Stuart and remained inaccessible until the mistake was uncovered in 2006, after an enquiry by Nina Athanassoglou-Kallmyer, a professor of art history at the University of Delaware. The university's conservation department undertook restoration of the work. Because of deterioration in the condition of Géricault's original, the Louvre in 1859–60 commissioned two French artists, Pierre-Désiré Guillemet and Étienne-Antoine-Eugène Ronjat [fr], to make a full size copy of the original for loan exhibitions. In the autumn of 1939, the Medusa was packed for removal from the Louvre in anticipation of the outbreak of war. A scenery truck from the Comédie-Française transported the painting to Versailles in the night of 3 September. Some time later, the Medusa was moved to the Château de Chambord where it remained until after the end of the Second World War. ## Interpretation and legacy In its insistence on portraying an unpleasant truth, The Raft of the Medusa was a landmark in the emerging Romantic movement in French painting, and "laid the foundations of an aesthetic revolution" against the prevailing Neoclassical style. Géricault's compositional structure and depiction of the figures are classical, but the contrasting turbulence of the subject represents a significant change in artistic direction and creates an important bridge between Neoclassical and Romantic styles. By 1815, Jacques-Louis David, then in exile in Brussels, was both the leading proponent of the popular history painting genre, which he had perfected, and a master of the Neoclassical style. In France, both history painting and the Neoclassical style continued through the work of Antoine-Jean Gros, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, François Gérard, Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson, Pierre-Narcisse Guérin—teacher of both Géricault and Delacroix—and other artists who remained committed to the artistic traditions of David and Nicolas Poussin. In his introduction to The Journal of Eugène Delacroix, Hubert Wellington wrote about Delacroix's opinion of the state of French painting just prior to the Salon of 1819. According to Wellington, "The curious blend of classic with realistic outlook which had been imposed by the discipline of David was now losing both animation and interest. The master himself was nearing his end, and exiled in Belgium. His most docile pupil, Girodet, a refined and cultivated classicist, was producing pictures of astonishing frigidity. Gérard, immensely successful painter of portraits under the Empire—some of them admirable—fell in with the new vogue for large pictures of history, but without enthusiasm." The Raft of the Medusa contains the gestures and grand scale of traditional history painting; however, it presents ordinary people, rather than heroes, reacting to the unfolding drama. Géricault's raft pointedly lacks a hero, and his painting presents no cause beyond sheer survival. The work represents, in the words of Christine Riding, "the fallacy of hope and pointless suffering, and at worst, the basic human instinct to survive, which had superseded all moral considerations and plunged civilised man into barbarism". The artist's abolitionist views are said to have been expressed in his decision to prominently feature at least two Black individuals, particularly the dominant figure seen waving a dark red handkerchief. According to scholars Klaus Berger and Diane Chalmers Johnson, Géricault made "him the focal point of the drama, the strongest and most perceptive of the survivors, in a sense, the 'hero of the scene.'" They argue that the artist's choice to do so was not a "last-minute" decision as evidenced by early sketches for the work, including a portrait study of the Haitian model Joseph, and point to Géricault's concerns regarding the "extreme cruelties" of illegal slave trade in the French colonies. The subject of marine tragedy was undertaken by J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851), who, like many English artists, probably saw Géricault's painting when it was exhibited in London in 1820. His A Disaster at Sea (c. 1835) chronicled a similar incident, this time a British catastrophe, with a swamped vessel and dying figures also placed in the foreground. Placing a person of color in the centre of the drama was revisited by Turner, with similar abolitionist overtones, in his The Slave Ship (1840). The unblemished musculature of the central figure waving to the rescue ship is reminiscent of the Neoclassical, however the naturalism of light and shadow, the authenticity of the desperation shown by the survivors and the emotional character of the composition differentiate it from Neoclassical austerity. It was a further departure from the religious or classical themes of earlier works because it depicted contemporary events with ordinary and unheroic figures. Both the choice of subject matter and the heightened manner in which the dramatic moment is depicted are typical of Romantic painting—strong indications of the extent to which Géricault had moved from the prevalent Neoclassical movement. Hubert Wellington said that while Delacroix was a lifelong admirer of Gros, the dominating enthusiasm of his youth was for Géricault. The dramatic composition of Géricault, with its strong contrasts of tone and unconventional gestures, stimulated Delacroix to trust his own creative impulses on a large work. Delacroix said, "Géricault allowed me to see his Raft of Medusa while he was still working on it." The painting's influence is seen in Delacroix's The Barque of Dante (1822) and reappears as inspiration in Delacroix's later works, such as The Shipwreck of Don Juan (1840). According to Wellington, Delacroix's masterpiece of 1830, Liberty Leading the People, springs directly from Géricault's The Raft of the Medusa and Delacroix's own Massacre at Chios. Wellington wrote that "While Géricault carried his interest in actual detail to the point of searching for more survivors from the wreck as models, Delacroix felt his composition more vividly as a whole, thought of his figures and crowds as types, and dominated them by the symbolic figure of Republican Liberty which is one of his finest plastic inventions." The art historian Albert Elsen believed that The Raft of the Medusa and Delacroix's Massacre at Chios provided the inspiration for the grandiose sweep of Auguste Rodin's monumental sculpture The Gates of Hell. He wrote that "Delacroix's Massacre at Chios and Géricault's Raft of the Medusa confronted Rodin on a heroic scale with the innocent nameless victims of political tragedies ... If Rodin was inspired to rival Michelangelo's Last Judgment, he had Géricault's Raft of the Medusa in front of him for encouragement." While Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) could be described as an anti-Romantic painter, his major works like A Burial at Ornans (1849–50) and The Artist's Studio (1855) owe a debt to The Raft of the Medusa. The influence is not only in Courbet's enormous scale, but in his willingness to portray ordinary people and current political events, and to record people, places and events in real, everyday surroundings. The 2004 exhibition at the Clark Art Institute, Bonjour Monsieur Courbet: The Bruyas Collection from the Musee Fabre, Montpellier, sought to compare the 19th-century Realist painters Courbet, Honoré Daumier (1808–1879), and early Édouard Manet (1832–1883) with artists associated with Romanticism, including Géricault and Delacroix. Citing The Raft of the Medusa as an instrumental influence on Realism, the exhibition drew comparisons between all of the artists. The critic Michael Fried sees Manet directly borrowing the figure of the man cradling his son for the composition of Angels at the Tomb of Christ. The influence of The Raft of the Medusa was felt by artists beyond France. Francis Danby, a British painter born in Ireland, probably was inspired by Géricault's picture when he painted Sunset at Sea after a Storm in 1824, and wrote in 1829 that The Raft of the Medusa was "the finest and grandest historical picture I have ever seen". The Gulf Stream (1899), by the American artist Winslow Homer (1836–1910), replicates the composition of The Raft of the Medusa with a damaged vessel, ominously surrounded by sharks and threatened by a waterspout. Like Géricault, Homer makes a black man the pivotal figure in the scene, though here he is the vessel's sole occupant. A ship in the distance mirrors the Argus from Géricault's painting. The move from the drama of Romanticism to the new Realism is exemplified by the stoic resignation of Homer's figure. The man's condition, which in earlier works might have been characterised by hope or helplessness, has turned to "sullen rage". In the early 1990s, the American sculptor John Connell, in his Raft Project, a collaborative project with painter Eugene Newmann, recreated The Raft of the Medusa by making life-sized sculptures out of wood, paper and tar and placing them on a large wooden raft. Remarking on the contrast between the dying figures in the foreground and the figures in the mid-ground waving towards the approaching rescue ship, the French art historian Georges-Antoine Borias wrote that Géricault's painting represents, "on the one hand, desolation and death. On the other, hope and life." For Kenneth Clark, The Raft of the Medusa "remains the chief example of romantic pathos expressed through the nude; and that obsession with death, which drove Géricault to frequent mortuary chambers and places of public execution, gives truth to his figures of the dead and the dying. Their outlines may be taken from the classics, but they have been seen again with a craving for violent experience." Today, a bronze bas-relief of The Raft of the Medusa by Antoine Étex adorns Géricault's grave in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. ## General and cited references
774,776	Michael Francis Egan	1,162,081,799	Irish American Roman Catholic Church prelate (1761-1814)	[ "1761 births", "1814 deaths", "18th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests", "19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States", "American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent", "Burials at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul (Philadelphia)", "Charles University alumni", "Christian clergy from County Galway", "Christian clergy from Limerick (city)", "Franciscan bishops", "Irish Franciscans", "Irish emigrants to the United States", "Roman Catholic bishops of Philadelphia" ]	Michael Francis Egan OFM (September 29, 1761 – July 22, 1814) was an Irish, later American, prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was born in Ireland in 1761, and joined the Franciscan Order at a young age. He served as a priest in Rome, Ireland, and Pennsylvania and became known as a gifted preacher. In 1808, Egan was appointed the first Bishop of Philadelphia, and held that position until his death in 1814. Egan's tenure as bishop saw the construction of new churches and the expansion of the Catholic Church membership in his diocese, but much of his time was consumed by disputes with the lay trustees of his pro-cathedral, St. Mary's Church in Philadelphia. He died in Philadelphia, probably of tuberculosis, in 1814. ## Early life and priesthood Michael Francis Egan was born in Ireland on September 29, 1761. The exact location of his birth is disputed. Early biographers believed Egan was possibly born in Galway; more recent scholarship suggests it was Limerick. He joined the Order of Friars Minor (commonly known as the Franciscans) and studied at the Old University of Leuven and Charles University in Prague. Egan received minor orders, subdiaconate, and diaconate at Mechelen, in modern-day Belgium. He was ordained a priest, probably in Prague, in 1785 or 1786. While studying on the continent, Egan became fluent in German. Egan advanced rapidly to positions of responsibility in the Franciscan order. He was appointed custos ("guardian") of the province of Munster in Ireland in March 1787. Later that year, he was also appointed custos of the Pontifical College at Sant’Isidoro a Capo le Case, the home of Irish Franciscans in Rome. Egan remained there until 1790, when he returned to Ireland and was appointed custos of Ennis. He remained in Ireland until 1787 or 1788, when he may have made a visit to the United States. After several more years as a missionary in Ireland, Egan came (or returned) to the United States in 1802. ## Priest in Pennsylvania Accepting an invitation from the Catholics near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Egan arrived in the United States in January 1802 to serve as assistant pastor to Louis de Barth at Conewago Chapel in Adams County. When the state legislature sat in Lancaster that year, word of Egan's preaching abilities traveled back to Philadelphia, and soon the parishioners of that city's St. Mary's Church petitioned Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore to send Egan to them. (At that time, the Bishop of Baltimore had jurisdiction over the entire Catholic Church in the United States.) In 1803, Egan became one of the pastors of St. Mary's Church at Philadelphia. The move coincided with a yellow fever outbreak in Philadelphia. Though less virulent than Philadelphia's famous 1793 outbreak of the disease, there were nonetheless many deaths, and Egan presided over many funerals that year—St. Mary's had 77 interments between June and November 1803. In 1804, Egan received permission to establish a province of Franciscans in the United States for the first time, independent of the Irish Franciscans who were then supervising the American mission. Two years later, a parishioner willed Egan some land along the Yellow Creek in Indiana County, for the establishment of a Franciscan church. Due to the order's vows of poverty, Egan asked Carroll to hold the land in his name. Egan's dream was never realized, as he was unable to attract Franciscans from Europe to establish the planned church. Egan and the trustees of St. Mary's established a singing school in 1804, with the goal of improving the quality of the choir there. The following year was consumed by another yellow fever outbreak, and Egan joined John Rossiter, the pastor of another of Philadelphia's four Catholic churches, St. Joseph's, in ministering to the sick. In 1806, they worked with the parishioners of a third church, Holy Trinity, to found an orphanage, as the problem of orphaned children had been made worse by the yellow fever deaths. ## Bishop of Philadelphia ### Ordination The Catholic population in the United States was growing, and Bishop John Carroll had for some time wished for his vast diocese to be divided into more manageable territories. On April 8, 1808, Pope Pius VII granted Carroll's request, erecting four new sees in the United States and elevating Baltimore to an archdiocese. Among the new sees was the Diocese of Philadelphia, which included the states of Pennsylvania and Delaware as well as the western and southern parts of New Jersey. Even before the diocese was created, Carroll had determined to recommend Egan for the post, writing to Rome that Egan "was truly pious, learned, religious, remarkable for his great humility, but deficient, perhaps, in firmness and without great experience in the direction of affairs". As a result of disruptions caused by the Napoleonic Wars, the papal bull nominating Egan did not reach the United States until 1810. When it arrived, Egan traveled to St. Peter's Pro-cathedral in Baltimore, where he was ordained bishop by Carroll, assisted by Benedict Joseph Flaget and Jean-Louis de Cheverus, who had been appointed to bishoprics but had not yet been consecrated. Egan chose St. Mary's to serve as his pro-cathedral in Philadelphia. Even before Egan's installation, Philadelphia Catholics began to raise funds to expand the church in accordance with its new prominence in the diocese. After their ordinations, the new bishops planned a council of the American church leadership for the near future; in fact, they did not meet until 1829, long after Egan's death. ### Trusteeism dispute Egan's elevation to the episcopate worsened an existing conflict in the American church: the dispute over trusteeism. In Europe, the Church owned property and directly controlled its parishes through the clergy. In the United States, however, early Catholic churches were typically founded by laymen who purchased the property and erected the church buildings. The laypeople accordingly demanded some control over the administration of the parish, even after the arrival of clergy from Europe who, like Egan, held the traditional view of parish organization. The dispute also had nationalist elements to it, as the heavily German parish of Holy Trinity resented the imposition of an Irish bishop instead of one of their own. When Holy Trinity's pastor left for a new assignment in Maryland in 1811, the trustees there were perturbed at Egan's temporary appointment of an Irish priest, Patrick Kenny, to lead the parish, until a German priest could be found (a German priest, Francis Roloff, was assigned the following year). Egan's own research into the issue showed that the trustees had conveyed St. Mary's Church to the previous pastor, Robert Harding, and then to his heirs, but the trustees did not consider that property transfer to have extinguished their role in the church's leadership. By 1811, Egan's worsening health caused him to accept the assistance of two priests at St. Mary's, James Harold and his nephew, William Vincent Harold. Egan and the trustees became further embroiled in a dispute about clerical salaries, a situation possibly made worse by the decline in shipping income in the port city caused by the outbreak of the War of 1812. Egan also came to believe the Harolds were making the situation worse by taking pro-clergy positions that were more extreme than Egan's own and by the younger Harold's scheming to be named Egan's coadjutor bishop. He appealed to the trustees for compromise, and offered to bring his cousin (also a priest) over from Ireland to replace the elder Harold. By 1813, Egan and the trustees had reconciled and together resolved to remove the Harolds, who agreed to resign later that year and relocate to England. ### Death and burial Although the main complaints between bishop and trustees were resolved, some salary disputes lingered into 1813. The conditions at St. Mary's worsened in 1814 with the election of new trustees who were more in conflict with Egan than the previous ones. Elsewhere in the diocese, Egan was more successful. In about 1811, he made his most extensive visitation of his diocese, travelling as far west as Pittsburgh after stopping in Lancaster and Conewago. He continued to raise funds for the Catholic orphanage and opened a new parish, Sacred Heart, in Trenton, New Jersey, in 1813, bringing the total number of churches in the diocese to sixteen. Egan's health continued to decline, and he died on July 22, 1814. While 19th-century chroniclers suggest that it "may be said in all truth that Bishop Egan died of a broken heart", modern biographers believe his health troubles more closely resembled tuberculosis. Egan was buried in St. Mary's churchyard. In 1869, after the construction of the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul on Logan Square, his remains were removed there and reburied in a crypt along with those of his successor in the see of Philadelphia, Henry Conwell. Conwell-Egan Catholic High School in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, is named in honor of Egan and his successor.
808,613	Lee Smith (baseball)	1,153,715,663	American baseball player (born 1957)	[ "1957 births", "20th-century African-American sportspeople", "21st-century African-American people", "African-American baseball coaches", "African-American baseball players", "American League All-Stars", "American League saves champions", "American expatriate baseball players in Canada", "Baltimore Orioles players", "Baseball coaches from Louisiana", "Baseball players from Louisiana", "Boston Red Sox players", "California Angels players", "Chicago Cubs players", "Cincinnati Reds players", "Gulf Coast Cubs players", "Jackson Generals (Texas League) players", "Lake Elsinore Storm players", "Living people", "Major League Baseball pitchers", "Midland Cubs players", "Montreal Expos players", "National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees", "National League All-Stars", "National League saves champions", "New Orleans Zephyrs players", "New York Yankees players", "People from Bienville Parish, Louisiana", "Pompano Beach Cubs players", "St. Louis Cardinals players", "Wichita Aeros players" ]	Lee Arthur Smith (born December 4, 1957) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 18 years in Major League Baseball (MLB) for eight teams. Serving mostly as a relief pitcher during his career, he was a dominant closer, was the first pitcher to reach 400 saves, and held the major league record for career saves from 1993 until 2006, when Trevor Hoffman passed his total of 478. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the class of by the Today's Game Era Committee. A native of Jamestown in Bienville Parish in north Louisiana, Smith was scouted by Buck O'Neil and was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 1975 MLB draft. Smith was an intimidating figure on the pitcher's mound at 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) and 265 pounds (120 kg) with a 95-mile-per-hour (150 km/h) fastball. In 1991, he set a National League (NL) record with 47 saves for the St. Louis Cardinals, and was runner-up for the league's Cy Young Award; it was the second of three times Smith led the NL in saves, and he later led the American League (AL) in saves once. When he retired, he held the major league record for career games finished (802) and was third in games pitched (1,022). He holds the Cubs' team record for career saves (180), and held the same record for the Cardinals (160) until 2006. After his playing career, Smith worked as a pitching instructor in Minor League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants. He served as the pitching coach for the South Africa national baseball team in the World Baseball Classics of 2006 and 2009. ## Early life Smith attended high school in Castor, Louisiana, where his favorite sport was basketball; he did not play on the baseball team until he was a junior. Negro leagues veteran Buck O'Neil is credited with having scouted him. At age 17, Smith was selected in the second round of the 1975 MLB draft by the Chicago Cubs with the 28th overall pick. The Cubs, via O'Neil, were able to get Smith under contract for a \$50,000 signing bonus plus \$8,000 for his education. Smith began his professional career as a starting pitcher, first playing in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 1975. He played in Class A in 1976 and 1977 with the Pompano Beach Cubs, then in Double-A during 1978 and 1979 with the Midland Cubs. In 1978, Smith struggled with Midland in the Texas League, walking 128 batters in 155 innings pitched. When the team moved him to the bullpen, Smith felt he was being demoted and nearly quit the team; a talk from former Cubs outfielder Billy Williams convinced him to stay. Smith returned to Midland in 1979, lowering his earned run average (ERA) by a full run compared to the prior season (5.98 to 4.93). In 1980, Smith played in Triple-A with the Wichita Aeros of the American Association, recording 15 saves and a 3.70 ERA. ## Major league career ### Chicago Cubs (1980–1987) Smith made his major league debut with the Cubs, who were struggling to a last-place finish, on September 1, 1980, against the Atlanta Braves. He pitched a scoreless inning and recorded his first MLB strikeout, coming against Glenn Hubbard. Smith made 18 relief appearances through the end of the season, pitching to a 2.91 ERA with a 2–0 record. He returned to the Cubs for the 1981 season, and was used mostly as a middle relief pitcher. His first major league save came on August 29, when he recorded the final five outs of a 3–1 Cubs win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Smith had an ERA of 3.94 through early June, when the season was interrupted by the 1981 Major League Baseball strike. He finished the season with an ERA of 3.51 and a 3–6 record, coming in 39 relief appearances plus a single start at the end of the season. During the 1982 season, closing for the Cubs was shared between Smith, Willie Hernández, Bill Campbell and Dick Tidrow, each of whom finished at least 25 games while registering 17, 10, 8, and 6 saves, respectively. Smith also started five games between June 16 and July 5, registering a no decision followed by four consecutive losses. These five starts, along with the start at the end of the 1981 season, were the only six starts that Smith made during his major league career. Smith also collected his first MLB hit, coming on July 5 against Atlanta, a second-inning home run off of Phil Niekro. Smith only collected two additional hits, one each in 1983 and 1984, registering a career batting average of .047 (3-for-64). Ferguson Jenkins, who had pitched for the Cubs from 1966 to 1973, returned to the Cubs for the final two seasons of his career, 1982 and 1983. Years later, Smith credited Jenkins with simplifying his delivery, introducing him to the slider and forkball, and teaching him how to set up hitters. Smith subsequently led the Cubs in games finished and saves for each of the 1983 through 1987 seasons. During his first 10 appearances of 1983, Smith allowed no runs while allowing only three hits and striking out 12 batters in 12+2⁄3 innings pitched; his ERA was not above 1.85 at any point during the year. His overall 1.65 ERA for the season proved to be the lowest of his major league career, nearly two runs better than the NL average of 3.63, and he also posted a career-best 1.074 WHIP. He led the NL with 29 saves and 56 games finished. Smith was selected to his first All-Star Game, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits in an inning of work as his NL team lost the 1983 mid-summer classic to the AL, 13–3. Smith received a point in the NL's Cy Young Award voting and eight points in the NL Most Valuable Player Award voting. The 1984 Cubs made the franchise's first postseason appearance since 1945, and were the first of only two playoff teams that Smith played for (the other being the 1988 Red Sox). Smith saved more than 30 games for the first time in his career, but compiled a 3.65 ERA, his worst of the decade. In the postseason, he appeared in two games of the NL Championship Series. In Game 2, Smith earned the save in a 4–2 Cubs win by recording the final two outs. The win gave the Cubs a two-games-to-none lead in the best-of-five series, but the San Diego Padres won the next three games to deny the Cubs a berth in the 1984 World Series. Smith took the loss in Game 4: entering in the bottom of the eighth with the game tied, 5–5, he allowed one hit and kept the game tied; in the bottom of the ninth, he allowed a one-out single to Tony Gwynn, followed by a two-run walk-off home run by Steve Garvey to force a deciding fifth game. Smith did not pitch in Game 5, and San Diego won the final game of the series with a score of 6–3. In 1985, Smith for the first time dominated the league in strikeouts as a relief pitcher. After averaging fewer than eight strikeouts per nine innings in each prior season, he improved to 10.32 in 1985. He finished the season with a career-high 112 strikeouts in only 97+2⁄3 innings pitched. Smith saved more than 30 games while the Cubs had losing records in 1985, 1986 and 1987. In 1987, he was chosen for his second All-Star Game. When the midsummer classic went into extra innings, Smith pitched the 10th, 11th and 12th innings, striking out four and getting credit for the win when the NL scored the only two runs of the game in the 13th. With his 30th save in 1987, Smith became only the second pitcher (joining Dan Quisenberry) to reach the mark in four consecutive seasons. One player told writers Bruce Nash and Allan Zullo for their book, Baseball Confidential, that one of the most daunting sights in the majors was Smith throwing "pure gas from out of the shadows" of Wrigley Field, which did not have lights at the time. Despite his numbers, rumors were swirling about his weight and its effect on his knees, and his request for a trade out of Chicago. On December 8, Smith, the team's career leader in saves, was traded to the Boston Red Sox for pitchers Al Nipper and Calvin Schiraldi. While Smith registered nearly 300 saves after the trade, Nipper only pitched in 31 more major-league games, while Schiraldi was out of baseball before age 30. ### Boston Red Sox (1988–1990) The Boston Red Sox finished the 1987 season with a losing record, at 78–84. One of the main problems was a weak bullpen, leading to Boston's acquisition of Smith in December 1987. Despite giving up a game-winning home run in his 1988 Opening Day debut at Fenway Park, Smith posted an ERA of 2.80 in 64 regular season appearances, his lowest ERA since 1983 (1.65). The Red Sox finished first in the American League East division with a regular season record of 89–73. In Smith's second (and final) appearance in the postseason, he made two appearances in the AL Championship Series. Against the Oakland Athletics, he was the losing pitcher in Game 2, allowing the winning run via three ninth-inning singles. In Game 4, with Boston down three games to none and trailing 2–1, Smith allowed two insurance runs in the eighth inning as Oakland completed the series sweep. Entering 1989, Smith's salary rose to \$1.425 million. His ERA for the season was 3.57, his highest since 1984 (3.65), and he only pitched 70+2⁄3 innings, his lowest total since 1981 (60+1⁄3). He recorded a career-high of 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings. The Red Sox finished at 83–79, third place in their division. For the 1980s, Smith recorded 234 saves in 580 MLB relief appearances, with an ERA of 2.95. Smith and Jeff Reardon are considered to be among the top relievers of the decade, with Reardon recording 264 saves in 507 relief appearances with a 3.06 ERA for the decade. In December 1989, the Red Sox signed free agent Reardon to a three-year, \$6.8 million contract. During the first month of the 1990 season, both Smith and Reardon pitched for the Red Sox, with Smith earning four saves and Reardon earning one. On May 4, the Red Sox chose to bolster their offense and traded Smith to the St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder Tom Brunansky. Overall in his two-plus seasons in Boston, Smith had appeared in 139 games while collecting 58 saves; in 168+2⁄3 innings pitched he struck out 209 batters. ### St. Louis Cardinals (1990–1993) Smith made his St. Louis debut on May 6, 1990, allowing two runs on three hits in an inning of work during a 5–1 loss. He made 53 appearances with the 1990 Cardinals, registering 27 saves with a 2.10 ERA while striking out 70 batters in 68+2⁄3 innings. He also had a stretch of 16 consecutive appearances without allowing a run, spanning late June to early August. The team, however, finished at 70–92 and in last place. In 1991, St. Louis improved to 84–78, while Smith recorded a career-high 47 saves. He surpassed the National League record for saves on October 1, previously held by Bruce Sutter and set in 1984 when Sutter also played for the Cardinals. With Smith's salary roughly doubled to nearly \$2.8 million, this was the first of four consecutive seasons during which he had over 40 saves. Smith won his first Rolaids Relief Man Award, received the most significant consideration for league MVP in his career (finishing eighth in NL MVP voting), and finished second in Cy Young Award voting behind Tom Glavine. Smith again led the NL in saves in 1992, registering 43. In 70 appearances, he struck out 60 batters in 75 innings, while recording a 3.12 ERA; he also won his second Rolaids Relief Man Award. In a game on September 23, 1992, Smith committed an error; he had last committed an error in a National League game on June 30, 1982, while with the Cubs. This span of 546 appearances was the NL record for consecutive errorless games by a pitcher until broken by Heath Bell in 2013. In 1993, Smith passed Jeff Reardon in MLB career saves on April 13 with save number 358, and passed Bruce Sutter on April 14 for the National League's career saves record, recording NL save number 301, compiled with the Cubs and Cardinals. In June, Smith had 15 saves, which set an MLB record for the most saves in any month. On August 31, with St. Louis 10 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies, seemingly out of contention, and with Smith poised to become a free agent after the season, the Cardinals traded Smith to the Yankees for reliever Rich Batchelor. With St. Louis, Smith recorded 43 saves in 55 appearances during 1993, striking out 49 batters in 50 innings, albeit with a 4.50 ERA. He left the Cardinals as their all-time save leader (160) until Jason Isringhausen passed him on June 13, 2006. Smith's NL single-season record of 47 saves was bested by both Rod Beck of the San Francisco Giants and Randy Myers of the Cubs two years later, with 48 and 53 saves respectively. ### Late career (1993–1997) #### New York Yankees The Yankees were just 1+1⁄2 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays when they acquired Smith. In eight appearances for the Yankees, Smith did not allow any runs and picked up three saves and 11 strikeouts in eight innings pitched. The team went 11–15 during September as Toronto won the division by seven games. Smith filed for free agency after the season. #### Baltimore Orioles Smith signed with the Baltimore Orioles for the 1994 season for \$1.5 million plus incentives. At age 36, he had his most successful season; in his first 12 games, he had 12 saves and a 0.00 ERA. After nearly two months, his ERA was under 1.00 and it was still under 2.00 in mid-July. Smith was selected for the All-Star Game in 1991, 1992, and 1993, but had not played. The 1994 All-Star Game was his sixth selection, and he was brought into the game to hold a two-run American League lead in the ninth inning. Instead, he gave up a game-tying two-run home run to Fred McGriff, and the AL lost in 10 innings. Smith's bad streak continued for the next several weeks until the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike ended the season. In the strike-shortened campaign, Smith recorded 33 saves with a 3.29 ERA and captured his third (and final) Rolaids Relief Man Award. #### California Angels After filing for free agency again, Smith signed a two-year contract with the California Angels for over \$2.5 million while the strike was still in progress. In 1995, Smith registered a save in every appearance from April 28 to June 25. On June 11, he saved his 16th consecutive game to break the major league record set by Doug Jones in 1988. He ran his streak to 19 games before losing a save game on June 28; Smith's record was broken by John Wetteland, who saved 24 straight the next year. After keeping his ERA at 0.00 through the first two months of the season, Smith was selected to his seventh and final All-Star Game, thereby becoming the fourth player to be an All-Star for four different teams (after Walker Cooper, George Kell and Goose Gossage). Smith did not fare well for the next month, pushing his ERA up to 5.40. The Angels held a double-digit lead in the division and seemed poised for the postseason. However, the Angels went 14–29 in their final 43 games to finish in a tie with the Seattle Mariners atop the AL West, then lost the tie-breaker game to miss the playoffs. Despite the team's difficulties, Smith pitched effectively during August and September, registering 13 saves against a single blown save. He finished the season with 37 saves and an ERA more than a run lower than the AL average (3.47 vs. 4.71). Early in the 1996 season, Smith spent time on the disabled list following offseason surgery—he had torn a tendon in his right knee while on a hunting trip—and second-year pitcher Troy Percival established himself as the Angels' closer. Smith was briefly with the Lake Elsinore Storm on a rehabilitation assignment, his first time in the minor leagues since 1980. Upon his return to the Angels, Smith was unhappy with an inconsistent role, commenting, "I could write a movie about the past few weeks... but it would have to be a cartoon." He pitched in a total of 11 games for the Angels during April and May, then was traded to the Cincinnati Reds. #### Cincinnati Reds Smith was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for reliever Chuck McElroy on May 27, 1996. Smith assumed setup duty for the Reds as closer Jeff Brantley was en route to a career-high 44 saves. In his return to the National League, Smith appeared in 43 games and registered two saves; his ERA with the Reds (4.06) was nearly as high as the league average (4.21), while for the full season he logged 6.7 strikeouts per nine innings pitched, the lowest to that point in his career. The Reds granted him free agency after the season. #### Montreal Expos Smith was picked up by the Montreal Expos for 1997 on a \$400,000 contract. This was Smith's final season of his career. His last game of the season, and his career, was two innings of extra-innings relief during an interleague rivalry game won by Toronto on July 2. After posting career-worsts in ERA (5.82), hits per nine innings (11.63) and several other statistics, Smith announced his retirement on July 15. Smith was formally released by the Expos on September 25, 1997. #### Post-Major League career Despite his retirement announcement, the Kansas City Royals signed Smith as a free agent and invited him to spring training for 1998. In late March, he refused a minor-league assignment and left training camp. In early June, he signed a minor-league deal with the Houston Astros, appearing in two Double-A games with the Jackson Generals and 10 Triple-A games with the New Orleans Zephyrs. After posting an ERA near 7.00 in Triple-A, he was released at the end of June, and retired again. Over the course of his career in the major leagues, Smith appeared in 1,022 games, accruing a 71–92 win–loss record to go along with his 478 saves. His career ERA was 3.03, and he struck out 1,251 batters. ## Post-retirement Two years after his retirement in 1998, Smith went to work as a roving minor league pitching instructor for the San Francisco Giants. Giants director of player personnel, former teammate Dick Tidrow, along with the manager of the Double-A Shreveport Captains, Jack Hiatt, offered the job to Smith, who gladly agreed, since it was in his hometown. Smith still held this job with the Giants as of 2009. In the 2006 World Baseball Classic, Smith served as the pitching coach of the South Africa national baseball team, which was eliminated in pool play, finishing with an 0–3 record. In 2007, Smith was a coach in the European Baseball Academy for Major League Baseball International in Tirrenia, Italy. For the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Smith returned as a coach for South Africa; the team was again eliminated during pool play, losing both of their games. Smith has three children from a previous marriage, Nikita, Lee Jr. and Dimitri. From his current marriage, he has additional twins, Alana and Nicholas. ## Hall of Fame candidacy ### Background In 1995, sportswriter Jim Murray selected Lee Smith as the active player most likely to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, describing him as "the best one-inning pitcher the game ever saw", and "the best at smuggling a game into the clubhouse in history." Following Smith's retirement, there was speculation on his chances of becoming a member of the Hall of Fame, while more generally "debate continues to rage over how to properly value reliever contributions." At the time that Smith retired, only Hoyt Wilhelm and Rollie Fingers had been inducted to the Hall of Fame primarily for their relief pitching, in 1985 and 1992, respectively. During the time Smith appeared on Hall of Fame balloting (2003–2017), the Hall added relievers Dennis Eckersley (2004), Bruce Sutter (2006), and Goose Gossage (2008). Eckersley, Fingers, and Sutter each captured a Cy Young Award, with Eckersley and Fingers also winning MVP awards, while Smith fared no better than second in Cy Young Award voting and eighth in MVP voting (both coming in 1991). Smith pitched in a transitional era, when closers began to be expected to pitch only a single inning. Although Smith and Gossage each pitched in slightly over 1,000 games, Gossage ended his career with over 500 more innings pitched (1809+1⁄3 to 1289+1⁄3). Sutter was the first MLB pitcher elected to the Hall with fewer than 1,700 innings pitched; Smith, who pitched less than 100 innings each season after 1984 and did not exceed 75 innings in any season after 1990, ended his career with fewer than 1,300. In 2005, statistician Alan Schwarz described Smith as a long shot for election despite the career record, and used Retrosheet data to compare the saves of several top relievers including Smith, Eckersley, Fingers, Gossage and Sutter. While Smith's save percentage (82%), outs per save (3.72) and average of inherited runners per game (.50) compared well with Eckersley's marks (84%, 3.33, .49), his figures in the last two categories sharply trailed those of the others; Fingers, Gossage and Sutter all averaged between 4.72 and 4.82 outs per save, with Sutter inheriting .67 runners per game and the other two .86, suggesting their saves were harder to achieve. Smith started his career earning multiple-inning saves, but the strategy in baseball for closers changed, and he was later used as a one-inning pitcher. He had a higher career save percentage than Fingers, Gossage and Sutter. Closers Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera—elected to the Hall in 2018 and 2019, respectively—exceeded Smith's former record of 478 saves, and the two are now widely considered the best ever one-inning closers. In July 2006, at Sutter's induction to the Hall, Smith talked with reporters about his chances for election, commenting that he was puzzled that he had not yet been selected: "This confuses the hell out of me. But I've always been baffled by it." ### BBWAA balloting In annual balloting for the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), Smith received a high of 50.6% of votes cast, with 75% being the minimum for induction to the Hall. He appeared on the ballot from 2003 through 2017, never falling below 29.9% of the vote, with 5% being the minimum required each year to continue to appear on the ballot. He was removed from the ballot only when he reached the maximum of 15 appearances—he was the last player to appear on 15 BBWAA ballots, having been grandfathered after a 2014 change limited players to 10 years on the ballot. ### Election After not being elected by the BBWAA, Smith was later selected for consideration by the 16-member Today's Game Committee as part of 2019 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting. On December 9, 2018, Smith and outfielder Harold Baines were elected, receiving 16 and 12 votes, respectively, to meet the 75% threshold for induction. A formal induction ceremony was held in Cooperstown, New York, on July 21, 2019. Along with Smith and Baines, the Hall inducted BBWAA-electees Roy Halladay, Edgar Martínez, Mike Mussina, and Mariano Rivera. Smith acknowledged his hometown during his speech, saying, "It wasn't just my arm that got me here. It's the whole community of Castor. I thank you." ## See also - List of Major League Baseball annual saves leaders - List of Major League Baseball leaders in games finished - Major League Baseball titles leaders - List of St. Louis Cardinals team records
18,091,624	1963–64 Gillingham F.C. season	1,122,042,090	null	[ "English football clubs 1963–64 season", "Gillingham F.C. seasons" ]	During the 1963–64 English football season, Gillingham F.C. competed in the Football League Fourth Division, the fourth tier of the English football league system. It was the 32nd season in which Gillingham competed in the Football League, and the 14th since the club was voted back into the league in 1950. Gillingham were undefeated in their first 13 games, the longest such run from the start of the season by any team in the Football League, and by the end of September were top of the league table, where they remained for much of the season, although some fans were unhappy with the team's defensive style of play. In April, the postponement of several games allowed other teams to overtake Gillingham and push them out of the promotion places, but they moved back up the table as they played the re-scheduled games. Going into of the final match of the season, Gillingham were two points behind first-placed Carlisle United, who had already played their last game, meaning that a Gillingham victory would leave the two teams on the same points and the championship would be decided on goal average. Gillingham won their final game and won the Fourth Division championship as their goal average was fractionally better than Carlisle's. It was the club's first Football League divisional championship; Gillingham would not win another until 2013. Gillingham also competed in two knock-out competitions. The team were eliminated in the first round of the FA Cup but reached the fourth round of the Football League Cup, a feat which the club would not repeat until the 1990s. The team played 52 competitive matches, winning 26, drawing 15 and losing 11. Brian Gibbs was the club's top goalscorer with 17 goals in Fourth Division matches and 18 in all competitions. Mike Burgess and John Simpson made the most appearances; both played in every game of the season. The highest attendance recorded at the club's home ground, Priestfield Stadium, was 17,421 for a game against Carlisle on 9 October 1963. ## Background and pre-season The 1963–64 season was Gillingham's 32nd season playing in the Football League and the 14th since the club was elected back into the League in 1950 after being voted out in 1938. It was the club's sixth consecutive season in the Football League Fourth Division, which had been created in 1958 when the parallel Third Division South and Third Division North were merged and reorganised into two national divisions at the third and fourth tiers of the English football league system. Freddie Cox was the team's manager, a position he had held since June 1962; in his first season in charge, Gillingham had finished 5th in the Fourth Division, a huge improvement over their 20th-place finish in the 1961–62 season. Prior to the new season, the club signed Geoff Hudson, a 31-year-old full-back with well over a decade of Football League experience, from Crewe Alexandra. Cox also signed three young players from Portsmouth, all of whom he knew from his time managing that club until 1961: Rod Taylor, a half-back aged 19, 21-year-old full-back Jimmy White, and Brian Yeo, a forward also aged 19. Jimmy Boswell assisted Cox in the role of team trainer. The team wore Gillingham's traditional blue shirts and white shorts, the only change in design from the previous season being the style of collar and the placement of the club badge on the shirt. Redevelopment work took place at the club's home ground, Priestfield Stadium, between seasons as floodlights were installed for the first time, at a cost of . The club had been one of the few in the Football League yet to install lights, which had become prevalent in English professional football since the mid-1950s, and when they were switched on for a game for the first time (September 1963) it made Gillingham the 89th out of 92 Football League clubs to play a home match under lights. ## Fourth Division ### August–December Gillingham's first two matches of the season were both at home to teams from the city of Bradford. The first took place on 24 August against Bradford (Park Avenue); Gordon Pulley scored Gillingham's first goal of the season and Brian Gibbs added a second to give the team a 2–0 victory. Four days later, the team drew 0–0 with Bradford City; Gillingham were the only team in the Football League to concede no goals in their first two games of the season. The game against Bradford City was the first of three consecutive draws for Gillingham in Fourth Division games as they were also held by Southport and Exeter City. Following a win away to Bradford City and a draw away to Hartlepools United, Gillingham beat Lincoln City 1–0 on 18 September to go top of the league table on goal average. Hudson scored the winner, the only goal he scored in more than 300 Football League matches. At this point Gillingham had conceded only one goal in seven Fourth Division games. The team concluded September with a victory over Darlington and a draw against Tranmere Rovers. Gillingham began October with four consecutive victories, defeating Lincoln, Halifax Town, Carlisle United, and Doncaster Rovers. George Francis scored five goals in three games at the start of the month. After 13 consecutive Fourth Division games without defeat, Gillingham lost for the first time on 15 October when they were beaten 3–1 by Carlisle; they were the final team in the Football League's four divisions to lose a game during the 1963–64 season. The team won their next two matches without conceding a goal, but then lost two consecutive games without scoring one. Despite the two defeats, Gillingham remained top of the Fourth Division at the end of October, one point ahead of Carlisle. Gibbs was the team's top league goalscorer at this point in the season, his four goals in the month taking his total to eight. Gillingham won three out of four matches in November and remained top of the division. Gibbs scored five goals in three games, including two in a 3–1 win at home to Workington, the first time the team had scored more than twice in a game at Priestfield during the season so far. On 21 December the team topped this performance by winning 5–1 at home to Southport, their biggest win of the entire season. Ron Newman scored three times, the team's only hat-trick of the season. Gillingham's final two matches of 1963 were both against Chesterfield. On 26 December Pulley scored twice as Gillingham won 3–0 at their opponents' Saltergate stadium, and two days later Gillingham won 1–0 at Priestfield with Gibbs scoring the only goal, his 14th Fourth Division goal of the season. Gillingham finished the year top of the Fourth Division, one point ahead of second-placed Carlisle. They had conceded only 15 goals, the best defensive record in the division; only four other teams in the Fourth Division had conceded fewer than 30. ### January–May Gillingham's first two games of 1964 both resulted in goalless draws, at home to Rochdale and away to Exeter, after which they were still top of the table, one point ahead of Carlisle, although Carlisle had played one fewer game. On 18 January Gillingham won 2–0 at home to Hartlepools with two goals from Newman, the team's fifth consecutive game without conceding a goal. After this the team underwent their longest run of the season without a win; they drew the first four games of February and then ended the month by losing 2–1 away to Brighton & Hove Albion, ending a run of ten games without defeat. During the draw against Doncaster Rovers at Priestfield on 22 February, Cox was barracked by fans unhappy at the team's defensive style of play; he responded by throwing a bucket of water over them, and later told the press "They deserved it. Some people here know nothing about football." Despite the winless run, Gillingham remained top of the table at the end of February. Gillingham beat Chester 2–1 in their first match of March, the team's first win since 18 January. The attendance of 5,274 was the lowest recorded at Priestfield during the season. The team's next two scheduled games were both postponed, allowing Carlisle to overtake them and top the table at the end of March. Gillingham's scheduled match against Oxford United on 4 April was also postponed, and after the matches which did take place on that day the team had slipped to fifth in the table, outside the promotion places. These postponements led to Gillingham being required to play eight games in just over three weeks at the end of the season, beginning with a 3–1 win at home to Barrow on 8 April. The result took the team back up to second place in the table, one point behind Carlisle, but Gillingham then only won one of their next four games to slip to fourth, the lowest position which would result in promotion, although they did have the advantage of having more games still to play than all the other teams in the top half of the table. On 25 April, Gillingham lost 2–1 away to Rochdale, but Bradford City's defeat to York City later on the same day meant that Gillingham remained in fourth place, ahead of fifth-placed Bradford on goal average. As Bradford had now played their final game of the season, Gillingham were effectively promoted, as they could only drop below Bradford if they lost both their remaining games and conceded at least 17 goals in the process, an implausible scenario. A 1–0 victory two days later away to York guaranteed that Gillingham would be promoted. Gillingham's last match of the season was away to Newport County on 30 April. Before the match, Gillingham were two points behind league leaders Carlisle, who had already played their final game of the season. A win for Gillingham would mean that they would end the season level on points with Carlisle and the championship would go to the team with the better goal average. A goal from Francis gave Gillingham a 1–0 victory and meant that they won the Fourth Division championship as their goal average of 1.967 was superior to Carlisle's 1.948. It was the first Football League divisional championship the club had won as well as the first time the club had won promotion to a higher division in 32 seasons in the League. ### Match details Key - In result column, Gillingham's score shown first - H = Home match - A = Away match - pen. = Penalty kick - o.g. = Own goal Results ### Partial league table ## Cup matches ### FA Cup As a Fourth Division club, Gillingham entered the 1963–64 FA Cup in the first round; they were beaten 4–1 by Queens Park Rangers of the Third Division. #### Match details Key - In result column, Gillingham's score shown first - H = Home match - A = Away match - pen. = Penalty kick - o.g. = Own goal Results ### Football League Cup Gillingham entered the 1963–64 Football League Cup at the first round stage and were drawn to play Bristol City of the Third Division. Peter Stringfellow scored twice, his only goals of the season, in a 4–2 win for Gillingham. In the second round, Gillingham played at home to Bury of the Second Division; despite playing a team from two divisions higher, Gillingham won 3–0. Their third round opponents were Bristol Rovers of the Third Division; the initial match at Eastville Stadium in Bristol ended in a 1–1 draw, necessitating a replay at Priestfield, which Gillingham won 3–1 to reach the fourth round (last 16) of the competition. Their opponents at this stage were Leicester City of the First Division, the highest level of English football. Playing at their opponents' Filbert Street stadium, Gillingham lost 4–1 and were eliminated from the competition. Although Leicester were missing five regular starters, the correspondent from the Daily Herald noted that they "made rings round Gillingham's defence". #### Match details Key - In result column, Gillingham's score shown first - H = Home match - A = Away match - pen. = Penalty kick - o.g. = Own goal Results ## Players During the season, 22 players made at least one appearance for Gillingham. Mike Burgess and John Simpson made the most; both played in all 52 competitive matches. Alec Farrall and Gibbs both missed only one game and four other players made more than 40 appearances. Taylor was the sole player to make only one appearance; he played once in November, after which he did not feature in the first team for nearly 18 months. Gibbs finished the season as the team's top scorer, with 18 goals in all competitions. His 17 goals scored in Fourth Division matches took his total number of Football League goals for Gillingham over 100, the first player to achieve this feat. Newman was the second-highest scorer with 11 goals in the Fourth Division and 13 in all competitions. ## Aftermath With the Fourth Division championship not confirmed until the final match, Gillingham did not receive the trophy until June, when it was presented to club chairman Clifford Grossmark at a formal reception at the Cafe Royal in London. The club received a pay-out of from the Football League for winning the title. In the team's first season in the Third Division, they finished in 7th place, four points off a second consecutive promotion. Gillingham spent seven seasons in the Third Division before being relegated back to the Fourth in 1971. The club did not reach the last 16 of the League Cup again until the 1996–97 season. The 1963–64 Fourth Division remained Gillingham's only Football League divisional championship win for nearly fifty years, until the club again won the championship of the fourth tier of English football (by now called Football League Two) in the 2012–13 season.
153,669	Robert Burnell	1,167,469,740	13th-century English Chancellor and bishop	[ "1230s births", "1292 deaths", "13th-century English Roman Catholic archbishops", "13th-century English Roman Catholic bishops", "13th-century regents", "Bishops of Bath and Wells", "Burials at Wells Cathedral", "Clergy from Shropshire", "Lord chancellors of England", "Regents of England", "Year of birth uncertain" ]	Robert Burnell (sometimes spelled Robert Burnel; c. 1239 – 25 October 1292) was an English bishop who served as Lord Chancellor of England from 1274 to 1292. A native of Shropshire, he served as a minor royal official before entering into the service of Prince Edward, the future King Edward I of England. When Edward went on the Eighth Crusade in 1270, Burnell stayed in England to secure the prince's interests. He served as regent after the death of King Henry III of England while Edward was still on crusade. He was twice elected Archbishop of Canterbury, but his personal life—which included a long-term mistress who was rumoured to have borne him four sons—prevented his confirmation by the papacy. In 1275 Burnell was elected Bishop of Bath and Wells, after Edward had appointed him Lord Chancellor in 1274. Burnell was behind the efforts of the royal officials to enforce royal rights during his term of office as chancellor, including the implementation of the Quo warranto procedures. He also helped with the legislative and legal reforms of Edward's reign. During Burnell's tenure the chancellor's office and records became fixed in London rather than travelling with the king. Burnell went abroad on diplomatic missions for Edward, and for a time governed Gascony. He continued to enjoy the king's trust until his death in 1292; one historian has suggested that Burnell may have been the most important royal official of the 13th century. ## Early life By 1198 Burnell's family had bestowed its name on Acton Burnell in Shropshire, where Burnell was born probably in about 1239, as he was close in age to King Edward. His father was probably Roger Burnell, who died in about 1259. He had three brothers, two of whom died fighting the Welsh at the Battle of Moel-y-don in 1282; the third, Hugh, died in 1286. Hugh's son Philip was Robert's eventual heir. Burnell worked as a clerk in the royal chancery, the office responsible for the writing of documents, before moving to the household of Prince Edward, later King Edward I of England. By 1257 Burnell was spending most of his time with the prince and the prince's household. After Simon de Montfort's victory at the Battle of Lewes in 1264, Burnell continued to serve Edward, and was named the prince's clerk in December 1264. As a reward for his service, Burnell was given the prebend of Holme in the diocese of York some time before 1267, and was named Archdeacon of York in December 1270. He also held the office of chancellor to Edward from the time of the Battle of Evesham in 1265 until 1270, when Edward left on crusade. Prince Edward tried to have Burnell elected to the Archbishopric of Canterbury in 1270, but was frustrated by the Canterbury cathedral chapter's members, who instead elected their prior, William Chillenden. Eventually Pope Gregory X set Chillenden aside and installed his own choice in the see, Robert Kilwardby. Burnell did not accompany the prince on crusade in late 1270, although he had originally planned to do so. Instead, he was appointed one of the four lieutenants who looked after Edward's interests while the prince was away. Thus he was still in England when Henry III died in November 1272. Burnell acted as one of the regents of the kingdom until August 1274, when the prince, now king, returned from Palestine. During the regency Burnell supervised a parliament, dealt with raids on the Welsh Marches and resolved a trade conflict with Flanders. After the king's return to England Burnell was made chancellor. The historian Richard Huscroft considers that Burnell gained valuable experience governing England during Edward's absence, ensuring Burnell's dominance in the English government after Edward's return. ## Chancellor and bishop On 23 January 1275 Burnell was elected to the see of Bath and Wells. He received the temporalities of the see on 19 March 1275 and was consecrated on 7 April 1275. Three years later Edward once more tried to secure the see of Canterbury for his favourite. Burnell was elected to the archbishopric in June or July 1278, but the election was quashed by Pope Nicholas III in January 1279. King Edward sent a deputation, including the eventual appointee, John Peckham, to secure Nicholas' confirmation of the election. The pope named three cardinals as investigators, and then appointed Peckham instead. The bishop's second failure to obtain the archbishopric was probably a consequence of his lifestyle, which included keeping a mistress. Edward made one final attempt to promote his friend to a wealthier see in early 1280, when Burnell was nominated to become Bishop of Winchester, but Pope Nicholas III quashed the election on 28 June 1280. Burnell was the chief and most influential of Edward I's advisers during the first half of his reign. As part of his duties Burnell spent most of his time in attendance on the king. He heard many requests and petitions from those who desired patronage or other advancements, and was diligent and active in dealing with routine business. Burnell played a leading role in the legislation introduced by King Edward. The king's major legislative acts mainly date to Burnell's tenure of the office of chancellor, from 21 September 1274 until Burnell's death in 1292. Burnell was instrumental in the enforcement of royal writs and enactments, including the Statutes of Westminster, enacted in 1275, 1285, and 1290. Those of 1275 attempted to deal with the usurpation of royal rights. Keeping the peace in the realm and the extension of royal jurisdiction to cover rape was dealt with in the statutes from 1285, along with a number of other issues. The last statute, from 1290, regulated land law, the result of pressure from the magnates, the leading laymen of England. During Burnell's time in office Edward and his royal officials made great efforts to reassert royal rights that were felt to have been usurped by the king's subjects. These efforts were made under writs of Quo warranto, which asked the recipient what royal grant or warrant gives the recipient the authority to exercise a right or a power. They were first issued in 1278, after earlier attempts to recover royal rights through parliament unintentionally resulted in too much work for that body. Through these writs, attempts were made to enforce the rule that the only correct way to receive a privilege or grant of land was through a written charter, which might have deprived most of the magnates of England of their lands and rights. Most lands at that time were held not by documentary grants, but by the force of custom. By the 1290s the government was forced to back down and permit rights as they had been allowed from "time out of mind". The distinction between the king's personal household department of the Wardrobe and the governmental department of the Chancery, which was headed by the chancellor, disappeared almost entirely during Burnell's period of office. The Wardrobe had developed as a less formal department for the collection and distribution of money, but under Edward had effectively become a treasury for warfare. There was no rivalry between the holders of the Great Seal, the official seal of government and used for formal documents, and the Privy Seal, used to authenticate the king's less formal letters. During Burnell's time in office the king only used a Privy Seal warrant, or an informal set of instructions for the chancellor to issue a letter from the Chancery under the Great Seal, when the king and Burnell were apart; after Burnell's death the number of Privy Seal warrants increased greatly. Edward had such trust in his chancellor and the chancellor's clerks that Burnell and the clerks were allowed to dispense with the hanaper system, which required fees for sealing charters to be paid into the hanaper department of the Chancery for disbursal. Robert and his clerks were permitted to enjoy the profits from the fees of their office. Burnell was also responsible for the decision to force the Court of Chancery to settle in London, rather than following the king and his court around the country. A Chancery memorandum of 1280 records that the chancellor, along with the other ministers, now had the duty of sorting the many petitions that came into the government and only passing on the most urgent to the king. As bishop, Burnell had a wall built around the cathedral at Wells, which helped to improve the security of the cathedral and its outlying buildings. He left the court each year at Lent, when he returned to his diocese and attended to its affairs. Peckham appointed Burnell to be his deputy when the archbishop went to Wales in 1282. It was probably Burnell who suggested a compromise in 1285 over the jurisdictions of the royal and ecclesiastical courts, which allowed royal officials to return cases involving only religious matters to the church courts. ## Foreign service Burnell was active in the king's foreign policy, especially towards France, Scotland and Wales, and undertook a number of diplomatic missions to those countries. Burnell served as the royal spokesman on several of these occasions, one of them being at Paris in 1286 when he made a speech detailing the history of English–French relations since the Treaty of Paris of 1259. The speech was a prelude to discussions, successfully concluded, involving the homage that Edward owed to King Philip IV of France, for Edward's land in France. Burnell was employed in Gascony during the late 1280s, helping to administer that duchy and to reorganise its government. He showed himself sensitive to the Gascon desire for independence and did not attempt to impose the same systems of government that were used in England. The historian Michael Prestwich therefore argues that the first half of Edward's reign was the period when Gascony enjoyed its most successful government under the Plantagenets. Later, in June 1291, Burnell gave two speeches at the great council of English and Scottish nobles in Norham to decide the succession to the Scottish crown. Edward had been asked to mediate an end to the crisis over the succession, or the Great Cause as it was known in England. In Welsh affairs, Burnell attended a number of councils dealing with Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales, and in 1277 he escorted Llywelyn to Westminster, where Llywelyn pledged homage to Edward. Burnell was present during Edward's conquest of Wales in the 1280s; he witnessed documents in Rhuddlan in 1282, and subsequently at Conwy and Caernarfon. Sometime before 1290 Burnell vowed to go on crusade to help reinforce the crusader city of Acre, which was threatened by Muslims in the late 1280s, but he never fulfilled his obligation. ## Death and legacy Burnell died in Berwick, on 25 October 1292. His body, without his heart, is interred in the nave of Wells Cathedral; his heart was buried at Bath Abbey. Although he was usually busy with royal business, Burnell managed to expand his bishopric and provide for his relatives. He amassed great wealth, and acquired numerous estates in Shropshire, Worcestershire, Somerset, Kent, Surrey and elsewhere. At his death, he owned 82 manors over 19 counties, most of them his personal property rather than that of the diocese of Bath and Wells. Even after he became a bishop Burnell kept a mistress, Juliana. Rumours circulated that they had four sons, and that he had a number of daughters, all of which Burnell denied. He kept a magnificent household, sufficient for him to be able to host a parliament at his home in Acton Burnell in autumn 1283. He married off a number of young female relatives, rumoured to be his daughters, to noblemen. Amabilla Burnell married a member of a royal justice's family, and a Joan Burnell was the subject of a guarantee to the bishop that the son of William of Greystoke would marry her. A William Burnell was dean of Wells Cathedral, and was named as one of the bishop's executors. Robert Burnell's eventual heir was his nephew, Philip. Burnell built extensively at Acton Burnell Castle, and large parts of his house have survived. It was substantially different in plan from the older hall-style houses, which had the private quarters at the back of a large hall. At Acton Burnell the bishop's quarters were well away from the building's main public spaces, and included a latrine. The house was not quite a castle, but it was designed to have some defensive capability. The overall form of the structure was of a fortified hall-house, much like the Norman-era hall-keeps. He also built the chapel and great hall in the Bishop's Palace in Wells. Burnell was a dominant figure during the first part of Edward's reign, and he controlled most aspects of royal administration. He was involved not only in domestic issues but also in foreign relations, a responsibility he retained for two decades after Edward's return to England in 1274. Huscroft argues that he may have been the most important royal administrator of the 13th century.
32,263,130	Elizabeth Maitland, Duchess of Lauderdale	1,172,259,085	Peer in the Scottish Peerage	[ "1626 births", "1698 deaths", "17th-century Scottish women", "17th-century spies", "British duchesses by marriage", "Burials at St Peter's, Petersham", "Clan Maitland", "Earls of Dysart", "Hereditary women peers", "People from Richmond, London", "Scottish countesses", "Tollemache family", "Wives of knights" ]	Elizabeth Maitland, Duchess of Lauderdale, 2nd Countess of Dysart (née Murray; 28 September 1626 – 5 June 1698), was a Scottish noblewoman. She was the eldest daughter of William Murray and his wife Catherine, the Earl and Countess of Dysart. She was raised in English court circles during the years leading up to the English Civil War and received a well-rounded education from her parents. Her first husband was Lionel Tollemache, by whom she had eleven children. In 1672, three years after Lionel's death, she married John Maitland and resumed her close connection with the restored court. After her father's death Maitland held the title of Countess of Dysart in her own right and from the date of her remarriage in 1672 she was also the Duchess of Lauderdale. She was famous for the political influence she exercised and for her support for Charles II during his exile. As a member of the secret Royalist organisation known as the Sealed Knot, she actively supported the return of the monarchy after the execution of Charles I. She was also a lifelong patron of artists, particularly Peter Lely. She died at the age of 71 at her family home, Ham House near Richmond by the Thames, and is buried in the nearby parish church. ## Early life Murray was the eldest of the four daughters of William Murray, 1st Earl of Dysart, and his wife Catherine Bruce. Dysart was a close friend and gentleman of the bedchamber of Charles I. Murray's birth was recorded in the baptismal register at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in 1626. During that year, her parents moved to Ham House, near Richmond by the Thames, where she spent her childhood. Her father saw that she received a full education, which was unusual for women of the period, and her mother ensured she was prepared to run a household efficiently. ## English Civil War and first marriage During the English Civil War, Elizabeth's father was often away from the family in service to the King. Her mother took the opportunity to travel along the Thames to the court at Oxford, to spend time with William while also instructing her daughters in etiquette. Elizabeth developed a reputation for charisma and beauty, being described by Thomas Knyvett as "...a pretty witty Lass." After some years of searching for a suitable match, she married Sir Lionel Tollemache in 1648, a prudent choice for the daughter of a prominent Royalist given his lack of political involvement, and one that created a stable marriage. The following year, Ham House was placed in the hands of trustees administered by Lionel, to help secure the estate from the threat of sequestration. At the start of their marriage, Sir Lionel and Lady Dysart lived at Fakenham Magna in Suffolk, a wooded countryside near his family estate at Helmingham Hall and removed from much of the upheaval of war. They had eleven children, five of whom survived to adulthood: - Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Earl of Dysart, the eldest son, inherited the Earldom of Dysart on his mother's death in 1698. - Thomas Tollemache, lieutenant-general and MP. - Elizabeth Tollemache (1659–1735) married Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll. - William Tollemache (1661–1694) was a captain in the Royal Navy. - Catherine Tollemache married James Stewart, Lord Doune and secondly John Gordon, 16th Earl of Sutherland. Elizabeth often based herself at Ham House after her mother's death in 1649. She became acquainted with the Parliamentarian Oliver Cromwell, probably when his army headquarters were located in nearby Kingston-upon-Thames in the summer of 1647, and the connection provided a cover for her own Royalist tendencies. She also used that friendship to successfully plead for the life of John Maitland, the royalist Earl of Lauderdale, after his capture at the Battle of Worcester. In 1653 she joined the secret Royalist organisation, the Sealed Knot. She was in correspondence with exiled supporters of Charles II and visited Europe often to convey letters to the King, despite being frequently pregnant and under the close scrutiny of the Protectorate. Her dedication to the cause led her to develop a type of invisible ink to be used for secret correspondence. Upon her father's death in 1655 she inherited his titles, becoming Countess of Dysart and Lady Huntingtower in her own right. In September 1658 one of her neighbours, Judith Isham, joked about her new title, writing that people "call her my Lady Dessert, she is soe takeing, expressing extraordinary sivility to every person". A few years later, Elizabeth wrote to her kinsman Sir Robert Moray to help her trace her family lineage in order to complete the settlement of her family coat of arms. The result was a pedigree which allowed her to trace her ancestry back to King James II of Scotland. In 1660, when Charles II was crowned, he rewarded Elizabeth with an annual pension of £800. She and her husband were also granted the freehold of 75 acres surrounding Ham House in recognition of "the service done by the late Earl of Dysart and his daughter". Her enemies accused her of witchcraft because of her political influence and she was subject to unfounded accusations of having had a liaison with Cromwell. Her title as Countess of Dysart was secured by the grant of new Letters Patent on 5 December 1670, which also reaffirmed the ability of female heirs to inherit the title where no male heir existed. ## Second marriage In 1669 her husband Lionel died in France and Elizabeth became the sole owner of Ham House, along with other properties including Framsden Hall in Suffolk. Soon after Lionel's death she became the mistress of John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale, the Scottish noble and politician, and became involved in the intrigues and power struggles of the Restoration court through her influence upon him, as well as other Scottish aristocrats such as William, Duke of Hamilton. Elizabeth and John married in February 1672, after the death of his estranged first wife Lady Anne Home in December 1671. He received a dukedom in May 1672, which then made Elizabeth the Duchess of Lauderdale. He was a member of the Cabal Ministry of Charles II and was appointed both Secretary of State and High Commissioner for Scotland. A month after their marriage, they travelled north to Scotland for the opening of the Scottish Parliament where, in defiance of tradition, Elizabeth decided to accompany her husband. Her insistence on chairs for herself and her ladies-in-waiting was the source of comment and condemnation. The pair became known for their influence, wealth and extravagance. In January 1671 she wrote to her cousin, the Scottish architect William Bruce, seeking advice about a new gateway to the forecourt of Ham House in preparation for a planned visit by Charles II and his wife, Queen Catherine of Braganza. Bruce offered to send her a sketch for the piers that would be an improvement on a design supplied by her mason, John Lampen, with Scottish stone supplied by Robert Mylne. After some delay, the iron gates were made in England by Edward Harris and painted blue with smalt. She quarrelled with Bruce over further works, and in 1674 wrote to a mutual cousin the Earl of Kincardine, "the insolence of that creature is insufferable." In 1673, she and her husband initiated a series of alterations to Ham House to enlarge and modernise the property according to the latest style. The infill of the southern face of the house enabled the creation of a set of royal chambers on the first floor as well as separate apartments for the Duke and Duchess on the ground floor. Shortly after the completion of the apartments, Elizabeth commissioned the creation of a bathroom in the basement of the home, an indication of her attention to hygiene. ## Later life In early 1680, Elizabeth suffered a severe attack of gout which affected her health for the rest of her life. In the same year, John's health also deteriorated after suffering a stroke as well as bouts of scurvy and bladder stones. He resigned his government positions in September, at which point Elizabeth nursed him at Ham House. Maitland's death in April 1682 precipitated legal action by her brother-in-law Lord Tweedale over his debts and funeral expenses. Tweedale had insisted on an ostentatious burial for his brother and subsequently sent the bill to Elizabeth, which triggered a dispute between them that persisted into the following decade. The Duke had mortgaged Ham House to fund the renovation of his Scottish properties (especially his favoured residence Thirlestane Castle), which had now been settled upon Lord Tweedale in the late Duke's will, while Ham House had been returned to Elizabeth. The Duchess sold some of her jewels as well as part of the late Duke's book collection to cover the interest on the mortgages. Despite the efforts of Lord Tweedale's son and even James II, the dispute persisted until being settled in the Scottish courts in June 1688, who required Lord Tweedale to cover the debts, while assigning Elizabeth the responsibility for the funeral expenses. ## Death and legacy Elizabeth suffered from gout for many years, which limited her mobility until she was largely confined to the ground floor at Ham House. Despite that, she maintained a brisk correspondence with friends and family, as she was keenly interested in the news from Court. In 1694 she suffered the loss of her sons Thomas and William. The Duchess of Lauderdale died at the age of 71 on 5 June 1698 at Ham House. She is buried, according to her wishes, with other members of the Dysart family in a vault under the chancel of Petersham Parish Church. Elizabeth Murray was first described in popular literature in the 1975 book by Doreen Cripps, Elizabeth of the Sealed Knot, which was based on research within the Tollemache family archives. Several portraits of Elizabeth were painted throughout her life by a range of artists including Peter Lely, John Weesop, Joan Carlile and Benedetto Gennari. Her patronage of Lely extended over decades, with four paintings of her, including the double portrait with John Maitland which remains on view at Ham House.
4,252,586	Iridion 3D	1,171,956,225	2001 video game	[ "2001 video games", "Game Boy Advance games", "Game Boy Advance-only games", "Interplay Entertainment games", "Majesco Entertainment games", "Rail shooters", "Shin'en Multimedia games", "Single-player video games", "Video games developed in Germany" ]	Iridion 3D is a quasi-3D rail shooter video game developed by Shin'en Multimedia. A launch title for the Game Boy Advance portable game console, it was released in North America on June 11, 2001 and in Europe on September 21. The player controls a single starship defending Earth from the alien Iridion. The game spans seven levels from Earth to the aliens' home planet, each following a linear path that culminate with a boss. Iridion began development as a shooter for the Game Boy Color; when Shin'en decided to drop development and shift their focus to the Game Boy Advance, Iridion was the first game by the developer to appear on the system. Though billed as a 3D game, Shin'en used realtime encoding and resizing to manipulate the size of 2D sprites instead of creating a true 3D environment. More room on the game cartridge was available for graphics due to the game's use of the GAX Sound Engine, which allowed real-time decoding of song data in a small file size. On release Iridion garnered generally mixed reviews. The graphics and sound were generally praised; a year after its release, critics at Extended Play still considered it the best-looking game on the platform. In contrast, critics derided the game's repetitive and frustrating gameplay. Despite lukewarm reception to the title upon release, Iridion 3D was a financial success, and influenced future Shin'en shooters such as Iridion II and Nanostray. ## Gameplay The game is a simple forward-scrolling rail shooter, similar to the Star Fox series. Only the Game Boy Advance's directional pad, A, and Start buttons are used during gameplay. The ship remains locked at a set speed and cannot brake or speed up. The player encounters more than fifteen types of enemy, not including level bosses. Some are easy to destroy; others, including the fire creatures found on the Iridion home world, are indestructible and must be avoided. Other enemies prevent the player from dodging enemy fire by laying mines to block paths. Passive objects, such as garbage or asteroids, can damage or destroy the player's craft. Enemies vary in armor and weaponry—some cannot return fire but travel in waves to ram the player. The player's ship can use five types of weapons, with three levels of power each. Players boost weapon power by collecting powerups that match the current weapon's power; collecting a different color gives the player the first level of that weapon type. If the player's ship is destroyed the power level of the weapon is reduced by one. Flashing powerups restore the craft's shields. Each level has the player follow a linear path through waves of enemies and culminates with a boss. In boss stages the player's craft does not move forward, but hovers in front of the boss. Each boss has a single vulnerability which flashes when hit. These areas are often heavily shielded and must be hit repeatedly to remove armor. Other bosses' vulnerabilities are hidden and appear for only short periods. Most bosses have weapons that fire upon the player or reflect the player's shots. At the end of each level, players receive bonuses for defeated enemies, lives remaining, and the energy level of the player's craft. An extra life is granted if the score reaches certain thresholds. ## Plot In the opening cinematic of Iridion 3D Earth is attacked without warning by the Iridion, who take over much of the surface and lay mines in orbit and bombs in the Pacific Ocean. The player is the pilot of an experimental SHN fighter, the last hope for defending Earth from the Iridion. The player pilots his ship alone against hordes of Iridion fighters and natural obstacles. The early stages begin on Earth, with the player fighting through an Iridion garbage tunnel. The player proceeds to the Pacific Ocean and destroys much of the Iridion invasion fleet on Earth before heading into the stratosphere to destroy the orbital blockade around Earth and subsequently annihilating the Iridion boss at the Moon. With the invasion fleet in ruins, the player heads into the far reaches of space. After destroying an Iridion mining colony within an asteroid belt, the player proceeds into the Iridion home system. Eventually the player fights the Iridion on their home world, destroying the Iridion "mainframe" and ending the alien threat forever. ## Development Manfred Linzer began developing a shoot-em-up video game in 1996 on his Amiga computer, but abandoned the project after producing a single level and some related music. Linzer later co-founded Shin'en Multimedia in 1999, and Iridion began development as a shooter for the Game Boy Color. On January 10, 2001, Shin'en announced they would stop making games for the Color, instead working on games exclusively for the upcoming Game Boy Advance. Iridion's executive producer was Dan Kitchen, a former programmer for Atari. Although advertised as a 3D game, Iridion 3D uses solely 2D graphics for texture scrolling and sprites which depict explosions and enemies. The developers created the illusion of 3D by looping background textures—a graphically intensive technique for the Game Boy Advance. Graphical objects shrink or enlarge to depict position relative to the player. Level environments feature changes such as progression from day to night. Kitchen, Majesco's vice president of handhelds, wrote that "by pushing the graphics hardware of the Game Boy Advance to its technical limits, Iridion 3D provides a truly realistic 3D gaming experience." He hoped that players would be impressed by the capabilities of a game on a portable system. Linzer composed Iridion 3D's music. Some of the music had been started before programming of the game itself. The game was Shin'en's first product to utilize the GAX Sound Engine, which allowed real-time decoding of song data in an extremely small file size; this allowed more space on the cartridge to be used for graphics. The soundtrack was released as part of an arranged collection on compact disc in 2003 and digitally in 2010. By March 2001, the GBA version of Iridion was shown in workable form. IGN saw early screens and declared that Iridion was "aiming to set the standard" of what Game Boy Advance shooters should be, pushing the platform to its limits and producing the most stunning game seen at the time for the handheld system. GameSpot's Ben Stahl noted the excellent graphics and high frame rate, ending with, "At this point, Iridion 3D looks like it could be a great game for fans of the genre." The game was one of 17 titles that launched alongside the Advance. ## Reception Iridion 3D received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Among the launch titles for the Game Boy Advance, Iridion was often considered one of the weaker offerings. Despite the weak reviews, Linzner maintained that Iridion 3D was the best game for the Game Boy Advance without licensed characters. Iridion 3D's graphics were often praised; reviews from The Washington Post, Popular Science, and GameSpy considered Iridion 3D a standout game for the Game Boy Advance and a showcase for the system's graphic performance. A year after its release, Extended Play's Miguel Concepcion argued that Iridion remained the best-looking game for the system. Miguel Lopez of GameSpot lauded the graphics, writing that "while it's ultimately all smoke and mirrors, Iridion's world is richly detailed, has remarkable depth, and is unbelievably fluid. It's often hard to tell if the game's backgrounds are composed of streaming full motion video or just some really fancy math-powered 2D bitmaps." Less positively, Aaron Curtiss of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the faux-3D visuals of Iridion were a letdown compared to true 3D games like F-Zero: Maximum Velocity. NextGen wrote, "This beautiful game would be a must-buy in first-person view, but as it is, it's nearly unplayable." In contrast to praise for Iridion's graphics, its gameplay was generally panned. IGN's Craig Harris wrote that the shooter would only impress for its graphics. Harris and Curtiss noted that player's freedom of movement was limited. Concepcion complained that on a small screen distances were hard to judge and the player's ship was often hit by bullets that appeared to be in the distance. GameSpy's Andrew S. Bub and Game Informer's Jay Fitzloff criticized the craft placement, as the player's view was often obscured by their own ship. Edge and others observed that Iridion's replay value was low, while Curtiss wrote that the changing environments helped keep the game interesting. AllGame's Skyler Miller called Iridion 3D nothing more than a technology demo. A more positive review came from GamePro, whose reviewer summed up his experience by writing that, "if you're looking for some classic shooter action on your new GBA, Iridion 3D will fit the bill nicely without blowing you away." The sound design and music received praise. Cindi Lash of the Post-Gazette praised the soundtrack as demonstrating the promise of the Game Boy's hardware to leave "tinny carousel-like tunes" in the past. WiredLounge.com said that "The soundtrack is an instant classic, maybe even one of the best shooter scores ever." Concepcion noted that the game's mood-fitting "high-energy techno" was an oddity coming from a German game company. Iridion 3D was one of the more successful third-party titles on the Game Boy Advance, paving the way for a sequel. Shin'en followed the game with Iridion II in 2003 and Nanostray in 2005. Iridion 3D was released on Steam on April 8, 2020, alongside Iridion II.
498,730	Kathryn D. Sullivan	1,170,316,434	American astronaut (born 1951)	[ "1951 births", "20th-century American geologists", "20th-century American women scientists", "21st-century American geologists", "21st-century American women scientists", "American astronaut-politicians", "American astronauts", "American women geologists", "Articles containing video clips", "Dalhousie University alumni", "Female United States Navy officers", "Living people", "Members of the Society of Woman Geographers", "Military personnel from New Jersey", "National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration personnel", "Obama administration personnel", "Ohio State University faculty", "People from Columbus, Ohio", "People from Paterson, New Jersey", "People from Woodland Hills, Los Angeles", "Scientists from Los Angeles", "Smithsonian Institution people", "Space Shuttle program astronauts", "Spacewalkers", "United States Astronaut Hall of Fame inductees", "United States Navy captains", "United States Navy reservists", "United States Under Secretaries of Commerce", "University of California, Santa Cruz alumni", "William Howard Taft Charter High School alumni", "Women astronauts" ]	Kathryn Dwyer Sullivan (born October 3, 1951) is an American geologist, oceanographer, and former NASA astronaut and US Navy officer. She was a crew member on three Space Shuttle missions. A graduate of University of California, Santa Cruz, in the United States, and Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada—where she earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in geology in 1978—Sullivan was selected as one of the six women among the 35 astronaut candidate in NASA Astronaut Group 8, the first group to include women. During her training, she became the first woman to be certified to wear a United States Air Force pressure suit, and on July 1, 1979, she set an unofficial sustained American aviation altitude record for women. During her first mission, STS-41-G, Sullivan performed the first extra-vehicular activity (EVA) by an American woman. On her second, STS-31, she helped deploy the Hubble Space Telescope. On the third, STS-45, she served as Payload Commander on the first Spacelab mission dedicated to NASA's Mission to Planet Earth. Sullivan was Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) after being confirmed by the US Senate on March 6, 2014. Her tenure ended on January 20, 2017, after which she was designated as the 2017 Charles A. Lindbergh Chair of Aerospace History at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, and also served as a Senior Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. On June 7, 2020, Sullivan became the first woman to dive into the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of Earth's oceans. In September 2021, President Joe Biden appointed her to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. ## Early life and education Kathryn Dwyer Sullivan was born in Paterson, New Jersey, on October 3, 1951, the daughter of Donald Paul Sullivan and his wife Barbara, née Kelly. She had a brother, Grant. In 1958 the family moved to the San Fernando Valley in California, where her father worked in the aerospace industry for Marquardt Corporation. She was in the first grade at Havenhurst Elementary School, where Sally Ride was a classmate, but the school closed in 1958 to make way for Van Nuys Airport, and neither woman could recall meeting the other. During her school years she was a girl scout. Sullivan graduated from William Howard Taft High School in the Woodland Hills district of Los Angeles, California, in 1969. She took both French and German in high school, and resolved to have a career in the foreign service. She chose to enter the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), on account of its renowned Russian studies program. The university required that humanities students take three science classes and vice versa. She chose to take courses in marine biology, topology and oceanography. She enjoyed these, and altered her course to take in more science subjects. She was an exchange student at the University of Bergen in Norway for the 1971–1972 school year and the two summers around it, and decided to change her major to oceanography. She was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Earth Sciences from UCSC in 1973, and a Doctor of Philosophy in geology from Dalhousie University and the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1978, writing her doctoral thesis on The structure and evolution of the Newfoundland Basin under the supervision of Michael John Keen. While at Dalhousie, she participated in several oceanographic expeditions that studied the floors of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. ## NASA career ### Selection and training When Sullivan visited her family for Christmas in 1976, her brother Grant, an aerospace engineer and corporate jet pilot, told her that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had issued a call for applications for a new group of astronauts. NASA had made it known that it was interested in recruiting women, and Grant encouraged her to apply. He had applied for both pilot and mission specialist positions. After she returned to Nova Scotia she saw a NASA ad in a science journal, and decided to apply. She reasoned that the Space Shuttle was a kind of research vessel, but her dream was still to descend to the ocean floor in a submersible. That prospect came closer when she received an offer from William B. F. Ryan from the Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University to join his team exploring the ocean in the submersible DSV Alvin. Ryan had been an unsuccessful finalist for NASA Astronaut Group 6 in 1967, and he counseled her to wait for NASA to call. They both felt that the odds on being accepted were long, but Sullivan did not join Ryan's team while she waited to hear about her selection. Grant's application was unsuccessful, but Kathryn was invited to come to the Johnson Space Center (JSC) for a week of interviews and physical examinations commencing on November 14, 1977. She was the only woman in this group of twenty-five finalists. Over the course of a week she was given physical and psychological examinations, and was interviewed by a selection panel chaired by George Abbey. She was successful, and her selection as one of the six women among the 35 members of NASA Astronaut Group 8 was publicly announced on January 16, 1978. It was the first astronaut group to include women. Sullivan was one of the three members of the group (the others being Sally Ride and Steve Hawley) for whom NASA astronaut would be their first full-time paid job since leaving university. On August 31, 1979, NASA announced that the 35 astronaut candidates had completed their training and evaluation, and were now officially astronauts, qualified for selection on space flight crews. To mark the occasion the Chief of the Astronaut Office, John Young, presented each of them with a silver NASA astronaut pin; they would become eligible for a gold one after they had flown in space. Like other astronaut groups before them, each was given a particular assignment. Sullivan helped develop systems management checklists for the first Space Shuttle flights. To give the newcomers more experience, they were periodically rotated to different jobs, so after nine months she became a mission manager at NASA's High Altitude Research Project, based at nearby Ellington Air Force Base. She became the first woman to be certified to wear a United States Air Force pressure suit, and on July 1, 1979, she set an unofficial sustained American aviation altitude record for women of 19,000 metres (63,000 ft) during a four-hour flight in a NASA WB-57F reconnaissance aircraft. For the first Space Shuttle mission, STS-1, Sullivan was assigned to media support, working with Vic Ratner and Bob Walker on ABC News Radio. For the STS-2 mission she flew in the back seat of a NASA Northrop T-38 Talon chase plane piloted by fellow astronaut Hoot Gibson, photographing the Space Shuttle tiles to verify that none had been damaged. She was then assigned to the support crew at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), along with fellow astronauts Steve Hawley, Loren Shriver and Don Williams, for the next four Space Shuttle missions. ### STS-41-G In July 1983 Sullivan joined the Mission Development group, which organised and supervised the development of payloads for future missions that did not yet have a crew assigned to them. She was assigned the Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications' OSTA-3 satellite and the Orbital Refueling System (ORS). The objective of the latter was to demonstrate that the Space Shuttle could be used to refuel a satellite in orbit, thereby extending its useful life. For this the aging Landsat 4 satellite was chosen. In September 1983 she was officially assigned to this mission, which was designated STS-41-G. Sally Ride was also assigned to this mission, so it became the first time that two women were in space together. The mission lifted off from the KSC in the on October 5, 1984. Sullivan performed the first extra-vehicular activity (EVA) by an American woman on October 11, 1984. With fellow mission specialist David Leestma, she performed a 3.5-hour spacewalk in which they operated the ORS to show that a satellite could be refueled in orbit. They installed a valve into a satellite propulsion system that mimicked that of Landsat 4 and transferred 59 kilograms (130 lb) of hydrazine to it using the ORS. This demonstrated that the procedure could be performed with a real satellite. During the eight-day mission, the crew also deployed the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, conducted scientific observations of Earth with the OSTA-3 pallet (including the SIR-B radar, FILE, and MAPS experiments) and large format camera (LFC), and conducted several in-cabin experiments as well as activating eight "Getaway Special" canisters. STS-41G completed 132 orbits of Earth in 197.5 hours, before landing back at the KSC on October 13, 1984. ### STS-61-J In September 1985 Sullivan was assigned to the STS-61-J mission, which was scheduled to deploy the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in August 1986. The original intention was that the HST would be periodically retrieved by the Space Shuttle and returned to Earth for maintenance, although some components were designed for servicing in-orbit. In 1984 NASA management decided this would be too dangerous and too costly, and that the HST would instead be maintained in-orbit by periodic servicing missions for up to fifteen years. Convinced that NASA would attempt to fix any component that jeopardized the HST's mission whether it had been designated as serviceable or not, Sullivan pressed for as many components as possible to be replaceable or amenable to in-orbit servicing. Working with fellow astronaut Bruce McCandless II and NASA and Lockheed Corporation engineers, she ensured that there would be a complete set of tools and procedures for as many HST maintenance missions as possible. The STS-61-J mission was cancelled after the January 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, but the crew continued to work on the mission objectives. At this point, just fourteen systems were designated as "on-orbit maintainable". There were up to twelve units in each one, so forty-three were designated as Block I "on-orbit replaceable units" (ORUs). Lockheed produced two lists of additional units that could be modified to be serviceable; there were twenty-six systems and fifty-one units in Block II and eight systems and sixteen units in Block III. With more time available, an attempt was now made to work through these. Meanwhile Sullivan served as capsule communicator (CAPCOM) for STS-26, the Space Shuttle's October 1988 return-to-flight mission. She chose the wakeup music, including a contribution from Robin Williams, who provided a pastiche of his Good Morning, Vietnam radio greeting. She continued working as CAPCOM on the STS-27 and STS-29 missions. ### STS-31 At the end of March 1989, Sullivan returned to working on the HST mission, which was now designated STS-31. The crew was the same, except that Loren Shriver replaced Young as mission commander. STS-31 was launched from KSC, on April 24, 1990. During this five-day mission, crew members aboard the deployed the HST, and conducted middeck experiments involving the study of protein crystal growth, polymer membrane processing, and the effects of weightlessness and magnetic fields on an ion arc. They also operated several cameras, including the IMAX cargo bay camera, for Earth observations. Their apogee of 617 kilometers (333 nmi) above Earth was the highest yet achieved by a Space Shuttle orbiter. (It was later exceeded by the STS-82 HST servicing mission.) The HST was deployed on the second day using Discovery's Canadarm with the Shuttle doors opened towards the ground. In case McCandless and Sullivan had to perform an EVA, the Shuttle's cabin pressure was lowered from 101 kilopascals (14.7 psi) to 28 kilopascals (4.1 psi). At one point McCandless and Sullivan donned their space suits and entered the airlock to perform an emergency EVA to help deploy the Hubble's solar arrays, but this was not required, as the engineers were able to deploy them with a series of commands from Earth. Discovery followed the HST for the next two days in case intervention was required. After making 76 orbits of Earth in 121 hours, Discovery landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California, on April 29, 1990. ### STS-45 Sullivan served as Payload Commander on STS-45, the first Spacelab mission dedicated to NASA's Mission to Planet Earth. It lifted off in the Discovery on March 24, 1992. During this nine-day mission, the crew operated the twelve experiments that constituted the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science cargo. This was the first of several flights designed to study the composition of the mid-atmosphere and its variations over an eleven-year solar cycle, the regular period of energetic activity by the Sun. The mission also included the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Instrument (SSBUV) to measure the ozone layer in concert with other measurements taken by satellites. The mission also carried the Oscar statuette for the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award that film maker George Lucas received on March 30, the presentation being made by the STS-45 crew from Earth orbit. Sullivan had special responsibility for a dose-response experiment that involved firing an electron pulse into the upper atmosphere and recording the luminosity induced with a special camera. Discovery landed at the Kennedy Space Center on April 2, 1992. Sullivan left NASA in 1993 having flown on three Space Shuttle missions and logged 532 hours in space. ## Military career Sullivan became an adjunct professor of geology at Rice University in Houston in 1985. In this role she joined an oceanographic research cruise in 1988, where she met Andreas Rechnitzer, a US Navy oceanographer, and she started thinking about joining the US Naval Reserve (USNR) as an oceanography officer. She spoke to McCandless about it; he said he was having lunch with the Secretary of the Navy and would raise the matter. Later that year, Sullivan became a direct commission officer in the USNR with the rank of lieutenant commander. In October 1990 she assumed command of a small specialized unit of oceanographers and meteorologists. Based at Naval Air Station Dallas, it provided support to the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command center on Guam. The unit was sent to Guam on January 13, 1991, four days before the start of Operation Desert Storm, and stayed for thirty days to augment the regular component responsible for the Western Pacific to free it to concentrate on the Persian Gulf. She retired from the USNR with the rank of captain in 2006. ## Civilian career ### NOAA Chief Scientist While she was still working on preparations for STS-45, Sullivan received a call from Sylvia Earle, the chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In 1981 Earle and Sullivan had been part of the first group of women admitted to the Explorers Club. Earle was stepping down from the role at the NOAA, and asked Sullivan if she was interested in taking over. With the permission of her STS-45 mission commander, Charles Bolden, Sullivan flew to Washington, DC, where she was interviewed by the Administrator of the NOAA, John A. Knauss. Her nomination was forwarded to the US Senate for confirmation, and she arranged to be seconded from NASA to NOAA as acting chief scientist from August 17, 1992. Before she could be confirmed, President George H. W. Bush lost the 1992 United States presidential election and was succeeded by Bill Clinton, and the nomination was withdrawn. Sullivan still wanted the job, so she lobbied for it, enlisting the help of the outgoing Secretary of Commerce, Barbara Franklin, and senators Barbara Mikulski and Bill Nelson. The incoming Secretary of Commerce, Ronald H. Brown, forwarded her nomination to the Senate again in April, and she was confirmed on May 28, 1993. As chief scientist at NOAA, she oversaw a diverse portfolio which included ranging research into climate change, the use of satellites for oceanography, and marine biodiversity. ### Career 1996 to 2011 Sullivan was president and CEO of the COSI Columbus, an interactive science center in Columbus, Ohio, from 1996 to 2006. From 2006 to 2011 she was Director for Ohio State University's Battelle Center for Mathematics and Science Education Policy while remaining a volunteer science advisor to COSI. She was appointed as vice chair of the National Science Board by President George W. Bush in 2004. In 2009 Sullivan was elected to a three-year term as the chair of the Section on General Interest in Science and Engineering for the American Association for the Advancement of Science. ### Assistant Secretary of Commerce In January 2011 President Barack Obama sent the Senate his nomination of Sullivan to be an Assistant Secretary of Commerce. Sullivan was first nominated in December 2010, but because the Senate did not approve her nomination before the session ended, the White House renewed the nomination. On May 4, 2011, Sullivan was confirmed by unanimous consent of the Senate and appointed by President Obama to serve as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction and Deputy Administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Sullivan became Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Acting NOAA Administrator on February 28, 2013, following the resignation of Jane Lubchenco. President Obama nominated Sullivan to serve as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator on August 1, 2013, and she was confirmed by the Senate on March 6, 2014. Her term ended on January 20, 2017. ### Positions since 2017 Sullivan was named the 2017 Charles A. Lindbergh Chair of Aerospace History, a competitive twelve-month fellowship at the National Air and Space Museum. During her residence in the museum, Sullivan's research focused on the Hubble Space Telescope. She has also served as a Senior Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. Her book Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut's Story of Invention was released from MIT Press in November 2019. It recounted her experience as part of the team that launched, rescued, repaired, and maintained the Hubble Space Telescope. In June 2020 Sullivan traveled on an expedition aboard the Triton Submarines DSV Limiting Factor to the bottom of the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, becoming the first woman and eighth person to reach the deepest known point in Earth's oceans, and the first person to travel both to Challenger Deep and into space. In November 2020 Sullivan was named a volunteer member of Joe Biden's presidential transition Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to the Department of Commerce, and he appointed her to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in September 2021. ## Awards and recognition Sullivan's awards from NASA included the NASA Space Flight Medal in 1984, 1990 and 1992; the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 1988 and 1991, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal in 1992, and a Certificate of Appreciation in 1996. She received the Haley Space Flight Award in 1991, the Gold Medal of the Society of Woman Geographers in 1993, the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1994, and the Adler Planetarium Women in Space Science Award in 2004. In 2014 Sullivan was named in the Time 100 list, an annual list of the world's most influential people. John Glenn wrote in her blurb: > Kathy is not just an ivory-tower scientist. She was part of NASA's first class of female astronauts, selected in 1978, and went on to fly three shuttle missions. She is the first American woman to walk in space and served aboard the mission that deployed the Hubble Space Telescope. That role in helping humanity look outward has not prevented her from looking homeward. The planet is suffering increasingly severe upheavals, at least partly a result of climate change—droughts, floods, typhoons, tornadoes. I believe my good friend Kathy is the right person for the right job at the right time. Sullivan received honorary Doctor of Science degrees from Willamette University in 2013 in conjunction with her presentation of a commencement address, and from Brown University in May 2015, for her "abundant contributions to science, education and the public good, and her ongoing commitment to improving the state of our planet for future generations". In September 2015 she presented the John H. Glenn Lecture in Space History Series at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Titled "Looking at Earth: An Astronaut's Journey", Sullivan discussed her life of exploration and discovery, what it is like to fulfill her childhood dreams, and how NOAA's study of our planet helps us understand today's environmental challenges. Sullivan was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2004, elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2016, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017. In 2020 the American Association of Geographers named her Honorary Geographer. She was on the list of the BBC's 100 Women announced on November 23, 2020. In September of 2023 Sullivan will be inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio. ## See also - List of female astronauts - List of people who descended to Challenger Deep
13,978,625	Noel Park	1,167,575,159	null	[ "Architecture in England", "Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Haringey", "Conservation areas in London", "Districts of the London Borough of Haringey", "Garden suburbs", "Housing estates in London", "Places formerly in Middlesex", "Planned communities in England" ]	Noel Park in north London is a planned community built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries consisting of 2,200 model dwellings, designed by Rowland Plumbe. It was developed as the Noel Park Estate on a tract of land on the edge of north London as part of the fast growing development of Wood Green. It is one of four developments on the outskirts of London built by the Artizans, Labourers & General Dwellings Company (Artizans Company). From 2003 to sometime in 2009, the name was also given to a small park near the southern edge of Noel Park, formerly known – and now known again – as Russell Park. One of the earliest garden suburbs in the world, the Noel Park Estate was designed to provide affordable housing for working-class families wishing to leave the inner city; every property had both a front and back garden. It was planned from the outset as a self-contained community close enough to the rail network to allow its residents to commute to work. In line with the principles of the Artizans Company's founder, William Austin, no public houses were built within the estate, and there are still none today. As a result of London's rapid expansion during the early 20th century, and particularly after the area was connected to the London Underground in 1932, Noel Park became completely surrounded by later developments. In 1965 it was incorporated into the newly created London Borough of Haringey, and in 1966 it was bought by the local authority and taken into public ownership. Despite damage sustained during the Second World War and demolition work during the construction of Wood Green Shopping City in the 1970s, Noel Park today remains largely architecturally intact. In 1982, the majority of the area was granted Conservation Area and Article Four Direction status by the Secretary of State for the Environment, in recognition of its significance in the development of suburban and philanthropic housing and in the history of the modern housing estate. ## Location Noel Park is a neighbourhood of Wood Green, 6.4 miles (10.3 km) north of Charing Cross, near the centre of the modern London Borough of Haringey, of which it is a ward. The area forms a rough triangle, bordered by the A109 road (Lordship Lane) to the north, A1080 road (Westbury Avenue) to the south-east, and A105 road (Wood Green High Road, formerly part of Green Lanes) to the west. When construction began, the River Moselle, running parallel to Lordship Lane a short distance south of it, formed the de facto northern boundary of the area. During the development of the area in the 1880s the river was culverted and the land between the river and Lordship Lane built on. The historic western boundary was the now-defunct Palace Gates Line of the Great Eastern Railway (GER), a short distance to the east of Wood Green High Road. Since the railway's closure in 1964, much of the area between the former railway line and Wood Green High Road has been occupied by the eastern section of the large The Mall Wood Green shopping, cinema and residential complex (commonly known as Shopping City). ## History and development ### Early history Most of Wood Green, including the site of Noel Park, was sparsely populated up until the nineteenth century. The 1619 Earl of Dorset's Survey of Tottenham shows the area as forming the historic Duckett's Manor; as with the rest of the Moselle valley, the land consisted almost entirely of woodland and pasture, with the only building shown in the area which was to become Noel Park being Ducketts Farm. This building was the former manor house of Ducketts dating from 1254 and is the earliest recorded property in Wood Green. The tiny settlements at Wood Green and Elses Green are shown a short distance to the north-east. The manor itself was situated on the ancient drovers' road of Green Lanes. The last recorded occupancy of the manor was in 1881, shortly before the site was cleared for the construction of the Noel Park Estate. By 1880 the estate had been broken up into fifteen smaller farms. The rough northern meadows adjacent to the Moselle were used for beef farming, whilst the southern fields, known as Grainger's Farm, were used as grazing land. The western edge of the estate was by this time occupied by the Great Eastern Railway's Palace Gates Line and Green Lanes railway station, opened in 1878. ### Artizans, Labourers & General Dwellings Company The Artizans, Labourers & General Dwellings Company (Artizans Company) was established in 1867 by William Austin. Austin was an illiterate who had begun his working life on a farm as a scarecrow paid 1 penny per day, and had worked his way up to become a drainage contractor. The company was established as a for-profit joint stock company, with the objective of building new houses for the working classes "in consequence of the destruction of houses by railroads and other improvements". The company aimed to fuse the designs of rural planned suburbs such as Bedford Park with the ethos of high-quality homes for the lower classes pioneered at Saltaire. Whilst earlier philanthropic housing companies such as the Peabody Trust and the Improved Industrial Dwellings Company focused on multi-storey blocks of flats in the inner cities, the Artizans Company aimed to build low-rise housing in open countryside alongside existing railway lines to allow workers to live in the countryside and commute into the city. The company attracted the attention of Lord Shaftesbury, who served as president until 1875. The company built and immediately sold a group of houses in Battersea, then still a rural village. The proceeds of the sale were used to purchase a plot of land in Salford for development, and by 1874 the company had developments in Liverpool, Birmingham, Gosport and Leeds. The first of the four large-scale estates built by the Artizans Company was Shaftesbury Park, a development of 1,200 two-storey houses covering 42.5 acres (0.17 km<sup>2</sup>; 0.07 sq mi) built in 1872 on the site of a former pig farm in Battersea. The success of Shaftesbury Park led to the construction of Queen's Park, built in 1874 on a far more ambitious scale on 76 acres (0.31 km<sup>2</sup>; 0.12 sq mi) of land to the west of London, adjacent to the newly opened Westbourne Park station, purchased from All Souls College, Oxford. A third London estate was planned at Cann Hall, and a site of 61 acres (0.25 km<sup>2</sup>; 0.10 sq mi) was purchased. However, the Queen's Park project suffered serious mismanagement and fraud; the company secretary William Swindlehurst and two others were found guilty in 1877 of defrauding £9,312 (approximately £ today) from the project. The company was forced to raise rents, and tenants were no longer permitted to buy their houses; by 1880 the company's finances had recovered sufficiently to allow further expansion. ### Selection of the site On 14 February 1881, Rowland Plumbe was appointed Consulting Architect to the Artizans Company, with a brief to prepare a third estate. A leading architect of the period, Plumbe had primarily been a designer of hospitals, such as the London Hospital, and Poplar Hospital; he had been President of the Architectural Association in 1871–72 and a Council Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects since 1876. In April 1881, the Artizans Company inspected sites at Fulham and "in the vicinity of Alexandra Park" in the Tottenham Local Board. The Fulham site was rejected as too prone to flooding, and the Wood Green site rejected as being too far from any centre of population. However, the next month, the decision was taken to bid for the site near Wood Green. Despite its distance from London at the time, the area was well served by railways. The Palace Gates Line, opened in 1878 to serve nearby Alexandra Palace, had an intermediate station at Green Lanes, immediately adjacent to the site in question. This provided direct service to the City of London from the outset; following the construction of a link with the Tottenham and Hampstead Junction Railway on 1 June 1880, direct services also ran to Blackwall and North Woolwich, providing direct links with the Port of London. In addition, the Great Northern Railway's station at Wood Green (now Alexandra Palace station) was within walking distance. The company decided that the quality of transport links compensated for the distance from any significant centre of population, and in June 1881 a site of 100 acres (0.40 km<sup>2</sup>; 0.16 sq mi) was purchased by the company for £56,345 (approximately £ today). ### Design Plumbe designed the estate with five classes of houses. Although the houses were built to the same five basic designs, each street was given a distinct style of design and ornamentation. Varying mixes of red and yellow bricks, and variations in window design and ornamental motifs, were used to give each street a distinct identity. All were designed with front and back gardens. Corner houses were given distinctive designs and turrets. The distribution of houses followed the traditional Victorian model of town planning. The larger first- and second-class houses were built in the centre, close to the church and school, while the more numerous third-, fourth-, and fifth-class houses were built in the estate's outskirts. Welch (2006) speculates that this segregation of housing was not Plumbe's intention; Plumbe himself was quoted in 1896 as saying that "I regret that it is necessary to separate the richer and more cultured classes from the poorer, owing to the prejudices which exist; and these prejudices exist on the part of the poor as well as on the part of the other class". Except for the corner houses, the houses were built in pairs, each sharing a porch with its neighbour. For many of the smaller fourth- and fifth-class houses, the doors were aligned at right angles to the façade of the house, so as not to open directly adjacently to their neighbours. All houses were designed with at least one parlour and with the kitchen, scullery, and toilet in separate rooms at the rear of the house; the first-class houses also had toilets upstairs. In line with the design principles of the time, the downstairs toilets were accessible only from the back gardens, and the houses were not fitted with separate bathrooms; baths were taken in a moveable bath located in the kitchen. All houses were built with marble-mantelpieced fireplaces and flues. All houses were supplied with running water supplied from the New River, which flowed through Wood Green. However, not all houses were supplied with gas or mains electricity from the outset, the remainder being lit by candles or oil or paraffin lamps. Houses at Noel Park were deliberately designed to be relatively small, both for cheapness and to discourage tenants from taking on lodgers. Many of the larger houses at Shaftesbury Park had been sublet and split, and the practice went against the principles of the Artizans Company's founders. To discourage the practice at Queen's Park and Noel Park, cottage flats were built; these maintained the terraced façade, but split the house into upper and lower flats, each flat having a separate front door onto the street. ### Construction On 4 May 1883, the Artizans Company sold a parcel of land adjacent to the railway line to the Great Eastern Railway for construction of a goods yard, and a siding was built into the development site. Although initially the company had considered making bricks on the site, the rail yard allowed raw materials to be purchased wholesale and transported cheaply to the site, with large warehouses and workshops constructed for the manufacture of doors, flooring and other necessary materials; in 1884 the Pall Mall Gazette reported that "in a shed 330ft long by 50ft broad are stored a million superficial feet of flooring boards". In early 1883 serious discrepancies were discovered between the amounts of building material apparently purchased and the actual amounts acquired. Rowland Plumbe and Sir Richard Farrant, Deputy Chairman of the Artizans Company, visited the site to investigate the matter. Mr Hunt, the foreman, advised that "in answer to questions as to the mode of measurement in use for Ballast heaps, that one third was added to the measurement for shrinkage". When summoned to appear before the "Hornsey Committee" of the Artizans Company the next day, Hunt instead sent his assistant, without the relevant ledgers and instead with a paper described in the Committee minutes as "a paper of measurements which were soon ascertained not to be the actual measurements but measurements falsified so as to work out cubically to about the measurements certified by Mr Hunt". The total overpaid by the company was calculated by Plumbe as £1,071.14s.3d (approximately £ today); Hunt was immediately dismissed and a gatekeeper to record all goods entering the site was put in place to avoid a repetition of the incident. In 1883, it was decided to name the estate "Noel Park", in honour of Ernest Noel (1831–1931), Liberal Member of Parliament for Dumfries Burghs and chairman of the Artizans Company since 1880. The streets were laid out on a grid plan of broad avenues running on a south-west to north-east axis and narrower roads running north-west to south-east. Streets were named after prominent members of the Artizans Company and leading political figures of the time, with the exception of Darwin Avenue, named for Charles Darwin, prominent naturalist and an early investor in the Artizans Company, and Moselle Avenue, which was to follow the course of the culverted River Moselle; see Derivation of street names, below. ### Opening On 4 August 1883, with approximately 200 houses completed, Noel Park was formally opened. Noel gave a speech at the opening ceremony in which he described the development as: > ... what, out of the metropolis, would be called a town, which would eventually ... be larger than the Royal Borough of Windsor and nearly as large as the old cathedral city of Canterbury. But this town would not contain various classes of population, but would be built for the express purpose of meeting the wants of the artisan classes, so that they whose resources are limited should be enabled to reside amid pleasant surroundings. Lord Shaftesbury then laid the memorial stone, praising Noel Park as "the furtherance of a plan which has proved to be most beneficial, and would, if carried out to its full extent, completely alter for the better the domiciliary habits of the people of the metropolis". Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury, sent a note which was read to the crowd in which he stated that "no one who cares for our labouring population can doubt that this is one of the first, perhaps the most, necessary of all steps for their good". A newspaper report of the event included the following, "the Noel Park Estate, Green Lanes, Wood Green, London — quite a town of artisans' and labourers' dwellings — was opened by Lord Shaftesbury....All the streets are wide, and the architecture houses and the agreeable surroundings of trees and fields give them a singularly comfortable and pleasant appearance". ### Financial difficulties Noel Park was heavily marketed as a "Suburban Workman's Colony", with promotional material playing heavily on the area's transport links. The Great Eastern Railway was persuaded in 1884 to rename Green Lanes railway station to "Green Lanes (Noel Park)" (shown on some signs and maps as "Green Lanes & Noel Park"); the area was also less than half a mile from Wood Green railway station (now Alexandra Palace station) on the Great Northern Railway. By 1886 Noel Park had over 7,000 residents. However, the poor workers at whom the Noel Park development was aimed found themselves unable to afford railway tickets. The issuing of cheap early morning workman's fares on the Great Eastern Railway's lines further east in Tottenham, Stamford Hill and Walthamstow had led to overcrowding on trains and large numbers of poor workers moving to the areas (many of them displaced by the construction of the GER's Liverpool Street station in the City of London and rehoused by the company). William Birt, General Manager of the GER, was strongly against extending the policy of workmen's fares, stating that "to issue them from Green Lanes would do us a very large amount of injury, and would cause the same public annoyance and inconvenience as exists already upon the Stamford Hill and Walthamstow lines" and that "no one living in Noel Park could desire to possess the same class of neighbours as the residents of Stamford Hill have in the neighbourhood of St Ann's Road". In 1884, a deputation led by Lord Shaftesbury was made to the Great Eastern Railway and Great Northern Railway, proposing that for trains due to arrive in central London prior to 8 am, third class tickets should be sold at a fare of 3d providing the return journey was not made before 4 pm. By May 1885 both railways had adopted this policy. However, the delays and uncertainty caused by the fares dispute had discouraged prospective tenants, leaving large numbers of properties vacant and causing further building work to slow considerably. In 1887, construction work was temporarily suspended altogether, in response to the large backlog of un-let properties. By the time of the 1894 Ordnance Survey, roughly 50% of the estate was complete. The entire southern half of the estate between Gladstone Avenue and Westbury Avenue at this point remained open fields. ### Amenities Terraces of shops were built around the fringes of the estate, to cater for the residents of the expanding suburb of Wood Green including the Noel Park Estate as well as for the users of the adjacent railway station. The designs of the terraces varied, from short terraces of small shops on the edges of the less-visited eastern portions of the estate, to parades of large shops on Wood Green High Road near the railway station. One of the few buildings constructed in the early stages of Noel Park's development not designed by Rowland Plumbe, Noel Park School was built in 1889 by the Wood Green School Board, to the design of architect Charles Wall. The school was designed to accommodate 1,524 pupils of both sexes; however, by 1898 the growth of the Noel Park estate led to severe overcrowding problems, with an average attendance of 1,803, making it the most overcrowded school in the School Board's area. In 1924 a school for the partially blind opened within the school. In 1946, the school became a Secondary Modern. Between 1957 and 1963 the secondary facilities were closed, leaving the school as a primary school. In 1965, the school came under the control of the newly created London Borough of Haringey. Following reorganisation of Haringey's education services, it is now a primary school serving approximately 500 pupils between the ages of three and 11. Although Plumbe's original plans for the estate had envisaged a recreational area in the centre of the estate, this never came into being and the land reserved for it was built over during the estate's early development. Despite Noel Park's proximity to the leisure facilities of nearby Alexandra Park, in 1929 a long, thin strip of land near the south of the estate was designated as parkland and given the name "Russell Park". In 2003, following consultation with residents, the park was renamed "Noel Park" by Haringey Council. Its name has since been changed back to Russell Park. A site for a church had been set aside on the estate from the outset, and in 1884 Plumbe submitted designs for a church and mission hall. The mission hall opened in March 1885 with room for 350, and soon began to suffer from overcrowding. The people of Noel Park started a fund to pay for the church, which was consecrated on 1 November 1889 as St Mark's. The church is relatively large, seating 850. It is built in the Venetian Gothic style, and divided into a five-bay nave, transepts, chancel, morning chapel and organ chamber. Although Plumbe's original design envisaged a tower, none was ever built. By 1900, St Mark's was reported as having a congregation twice that of any other church in Wood Green. In 1913, a second much larger mission hall was opened nearby, named the Walsham-How Mission Hall after William Walsham How, leader of the Shropshire Mission to East London. The Shropshire Hall, built by the Shropshire Mission in Gladstone Avenue, is now the Noel Park Children's Centre. Noel Park's relative geographic isolation led to the formation of large numbers of clubs and societies using the two mission halls for a wide range of activities, including large numbers of sporting societies. Due to the temperance views of the Artizans Company's directors, no public houses were built in Noel Park, a situation which remains the case today. ## 20th century ### Early 20th-century expansion In 1905, G. J. Earle, the Artizans Company's Surveyor, drew up plans for the remainder of the site based on the experiences learned from the completed northern half of the estate. Buildings were designed to a modified version of Plumbe's third-class house plan in the Arts and Crafts style, with white-rendered brickwork, regular low gables, and curved ground floor windows. The toilets were now designed with connecting doors to the sculleries, and in some cases the staircases repositioned to the front of the house. They were no longer described or marketed as "third-class" houses. By October 1906, 1,999 properties were let, including 88 shops and 4 stables. Although the estate was nearing completion by this point, construction work was not entirely completed until 1929. By this point, the Noel Park development and the growing community of Wood Green were coming to dominate the area. In recognition of this, in 1902 Green Lanes railway station was renamed Noel Park & Wood Green. In 1911 a group of mid-Victorian houses on Wood Green High Road, immediately south of the railway station, were demolished by the Artizans Company to make way for the Cheapside shopping parade, built to serve residents of Noel Park and the growing community of Wood Green. The centrepiece of the Cheapside development was the Wood Green Empire, a 3,000-capacity theatre designed by Frank Matcham. The Empire soon became one of London's leading entertainment venues, hosting acts such as Marie Lloyd, Frankie Vaughan and Shirley Bassey. The Empire is best known as the theatre in which magician Chung Ling Soo (William Ellsworth Robinson) was fatally shot in the chest on 23 March 1918, when a theatrical pistol used in a bullet catch demonstration malfunctioned. With the postwar decline of variety and music hall and increased competition from cinema and television, the theatre went into decline and was closed on 31 January 1955. Following its closure it was used by Associated TeleVision as a studio until 1963. The interior was demolished in 1970, but the building remains intact and is now used as a shop and offices. ### Piccadilly line In 1904 the Great Northern & City Railway underground railway had opened, running from the City of London to a terminus at Finsbury Park station, followed in 1906 by the Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway (GNP&BR) from the western suburbs through central London to Finsbury Park, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Noel Park; both were prevented from expanding further north by a legal agreement with the Great Northern Railway giving the GNR a veto on any expansion of underground railways into areas within which they would compete with the GNR. This led to serious congestion at Finsbury Park as passengers from the expanding suburbs changed from buses and trams to the GN&CR and GNP&BR, and in June 1923 a petition of 30,000 signatures calling for the extension of one of the underground lines northwards was delivered to the Ministry of Transport. The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), successor to the GNR, was compelled by the Ministry of Transport to waive the veto or proceed with its own electrification. In November 1925, the LNER abandoned its electrification scheme. In 1929 the incoming Second Labour Government initiated a policy of direct subsidy for major infrastructure projects, and in 1930 the Underground Electric Railways Company of London began work on extending the GNP&BR, now the Piccadilly line. The Piccadilly line extension to Cockfosters opened in stages, with stations at Wood Green and Turnpike Lane – both on the western edge of Noel Park, at the junctions of Wood Green High Road and Lordship Lane, and Wood Green High Road and Westbury Avenue, respectively – opening on 19 September 1932. With the area now connected to west and central London by clean, rapid and frequent electric trains, the population of the surrounding areas began to rise rapidly. ### Postwar reconstruction Although of little strategic value and undamaged during the early stages of World War II, in the final stages of the war a number of V-1 flying bombs and V-2 ballistic missiles struck the area. The worst attack occurred in February 1945, when a V-2 struck Westbeech Road, killing 17 and injuring 68. The bombsites were redeveloped with housing in then-current styles, rather than to Plumbe and Earle's designs. In 1958, as part of the commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the creation of the Wood Green Local Board, the railway goods depot was used for a three-day exhibition of locomotives and other railway rolling stock. The exhibition was a great success, and was visited by around 14,000 spectators. Among locomotives on exhibit were the land speed record holder Mallard and a Class 9F steam locomotive. However, by this point the Palace Gates Line was in severe decline. Passenger numbers had fallen greatly since the opening of the Piccadilly line, while freight usage dropped throughout the 1950s as a result of improved road haulage and declining demand for coal. The line was closed to passengers on 7 January 1963. With freight usage dwindling to a trickle following the ending of passenger services, the goods yard was closed on 7 December 1964. The site of the goods yard was used for the construction of a large apartment block known as The Sandlings, and Noel Park & Wood Green railway station was converted into commercial premises, before being demolished in the early 1970s to become the site of the eastern section of Wood Green Shopping City. ### Transfer to local authority control In 1952, the Artizans, Labourers & General Dwellings Company was renamed the Artizans and General Properties Company Ltd. The combination of a taxation system biased against private property developments and legal restrictions on raising rents made the company's traditional model unprofitable, and it began to divest itself of its original low-rent developments and instead to sell vacant houses on the estates and to reinvest in non low-rent housing and commercial property, especially in the United States and Canada where depreciation before tax was permitted. In 1966, ownership of the four original London estates (Shaftesbury Park, Queen's Park, Noel Park and Leigham Court) was transferred to the respective local authorities as council housing – in the case of Noel Park, the newly created London Borough of Haringey, which purchased the 2,175 properties comprising the Noel Park estate for a total of £2,917,000 (approximately £ today) – leaving 377 homes at Pinnerwood Park in Pinner as the last residential estate in Greater London owned by the company. In 1976, the Artizans Company, by then renamed Artagen Properties Ltd, became a wholly owned subsidiary of Sun Life, and on 3 February 1981 the company was renamed Sun Life Properties Ltd. ## Modern Noel Park Following the transfer to local authority control, much of the property on the estate was found to be in poor condition. In 1971 a report by the London Borough of Haringey found that half the properties on the estate were still lacking basic facilities such as baths, internal toilets and hot water. Houses were systematically extended to the rear to accommodate modern bathrooms. In the early 1970s, the nine-storey Wood Green Shopping City shopping, cinema and residential complex was built on both sides of Wood Green High Road, and now dominates the area. Although some houses were demolished during construction works, it was intended at the time to divert Wood Green High Road around Shopping City, which would have necessitated the demolition of much of the western section of Noel Park. However, the diversion scheme was abandoned, leading to the current unusual situation in which the road runs directly through the shopping centre; Cherry & Pevsner note that Noel Park was "spared worse damage by the abandonment of the proposed road". In 1980, the Housing Act 1980 gave council tenants the right to buy their homes. In light of this, a group of 1500 properties in the area was given Conservation Area status, and Plumbe's northern section of the estate was granted Article Four Direction by Michael Heseltine, Secretary of State for the Environment, preventing any alterations to the external appearances of the properties without planning permission, in recognition of its architectural and historic interest. St Mark's Church was meanwhile Grade II listed. However, these measures have not been consistently enforced, and Noel Park has been cited in a report by English Heritage as a prominent example of the failure of conservation areas. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, the estate was the home of a large squatter community, mostly made up of young punks from Ireland, Wales, Scotland and outside London, which greatly enlivened the area but also led to many legal and other conflicts with Haringey Council, who ironically had left so many of the properties empty in the first place. Many of these were later to move to the Woodberry Down Estate in Manor House. In line with the original principles of the Artizans Company, there are still no public houses in Noel Park. In 2008 parts of Wood Green including Noel Park were declared a Controlled Drinking Zone, allowing police to confiscate alcohol from those engaged in anti-social behaviour. As with much of Haringey, Noel Park is now one of the most ethnically diverse areas in the world. In 2002, 86% of pupils attending Noel Park School were from ethnic minorities. ## Derivation of street names - Ashley Crescent: Evelyn Ashley, MP for Isle of Wight, son of Lord Shaftesbury and Chairman of the Artizans Company - Buller Road: Redvers Buller, winner of the Victoria Cross at the Battle of Hlobane, 1879 - Darwin Road: Charles Darwin, naturalist and early investor in the Artizans Company - Dovecote Avenue: On the site of the original Duckett's (Dovecote) Manor, by this time demolished - Farrant Avenue: Sir Richard Farrant, Deputy Chairman of the Artizans Company 1881–1906 - Gladstone Avenue: William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister at the time of the opening of Noel Park - Hewitt Avenue: Thomas Hewitt QC, Director of the Artizans Company 1895–1917 - Lymington Avenue: Viscount Lymington, Director of the Artizans Company 1883-1891 - Mark Road: Mark H Judge, Director of the Artizans Company 1878–1922 - Maurice Avenue: Maurice Powell, Director of the Artizans Company 1880–1914 - Morley Avenue: Samuel Morley, MP for Bristol and Director of the Artizans Company 1877–1880 - Moselle Avenue: Runs above the culverted River Moselle - Pelham Road: T W Pelham, Director of the Artizans Company 1880–1894 - Redvers Road: Redvers Buller (see Buller Road, above) - Russell Avenue: John Russell, former Liberal Prime Minister - Salisbury Road: Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, leader of the Conservative Party - Vincent Road: Unknown; Welch speculates from Rev. Henry Vincent Le Bas, the only member of the Noel Park Committee at the time of opening not known to have had a street named for him
13,033,265	SMS Friedrich Carl	1,173,360,172	Armored cruiser of the German Imperial Navy	[ "1902 ships", "Maritime incidents in November 1914", "Prinz Adalbert-class cruisers", "Ships built in Hamburg", "Ships sunk by mines", "World War I cruisers of Germany", "World War I shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea" ]	SMS Friedrich Carl was a German armored cruiser built in the early 1900s for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). She was the second and final member of the Prinz Adalbert class, which was built to provide scouts for the German fleet and station ships in Germany's colonial empire. Friedrich Carl was built by the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg. She was laid down in August 1901, launched in June 1902, and commissioned in December 1903. She was armed with a main battery of four 21 cm (8.3 in) guns and could reach a top speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). Friedrich Carl served with the scouting forces of the Active Battle Fleet for the first few years of her career, including a stint as the flagship of the reconnaissance squadron. She went on cruises abroad, including voyages escorting Kaiser Wilhelm II on tours in the Mediterranean Sea. She also participated in extensive training exercises in the Baltic and North Seas. In 1909, she was withdrawn from front-line service and used as a torpedo training ship until 1914. After the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, Friedrich Carl returned to active service for operations in the Baltic Sea against the Imperial Russian Navy. She served as the flagship of the cruiser squadron in the Baltic and participated in patrols in the Gulf of Finland. The ship was modified to carry a pair of seaplanes. In mid-November, the cruiser squadron was tasked with attacking the Russian base at Libau, but while en route on 17 November, Friedrich Carl struck a pair of naval mines. She remained afloat long enough for most of her crew to be taken off by the light cruiser SMS Augsburg before sinking; seven or eight men died as she sank. ## Design Friedrich Carl was the second ship of the Prinz Adalbert class, which was ordered under the Second Naval Law of 1900. The law called for a force of fourteen armored cruisers able to serve in Germany's colonial empire and scout for the main German fleet in home waters. The need for one type of ship to fill both roles was the result of budgetary limitations, which prevented Germany from building vessels specialized to each task. The Prinz Adalbert design was based on the previous armored cruiser, Prinz Heinrich, but it incorporated more powerful armament and more comprehensive armor protection. The ship was 126.5 m (415 ft) long overall, and had a beam of 19.6 m (64 ft 4 in) and a draft of 7.43 m (24 ft 5 in) forward. She displaced 9,087 t (8,943 long tons; 10,017 short tons) as built and up to 9,875 t (9,719 long tons; 10,885 short tons) fully loaded. Friedrich Carl was powered by three vertical triple expansion engines driving three screws, steam being generated by fourteen coal-fired water-tube boilers. Her engines were rated at 17,000 metric horsepower (13,000 kW) to yield a maximum speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph), though she slightly exceeded these figures on speed trials. She carried up to 1,630 t (1,600 long tons; 1,800 short tons) of coal that enabled a maximum range of up to 5,080 nautical miles (9,410 km; 5,850 mi) at a cruising speed of 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph). Her standard crew consisted of 35 officers and 551 enlisted men. Friedrich Carl was armed with four 21 cm (8.3 in) SK L/40 guns arranged in two twin gun turrets, one on either end of the superstructure. Her secondary armament consisted of ten 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/40 guns mounted in casemates in a two-story arrangement amidships. For defense against torpedo boats, she carried twelve 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns in both single pedestal mounts and casemates. Friedrich Carl was also equipped with four 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes submerged below the waterline, one in the bow, one in the stern, and one on each broadside. The ship was protected by Krupp armor; her armored belt was 100 mm (3.9 in) thick amidships and reduced to 80 mm (3.1 in) forward and aft. The deck armor was 40 to 80 mm (1.6 to 3.1 in) thick, and on her forward conning tower the plating was 150 mm (5.9 in) thick. The main battery turrets had 150 mm thick sides and the casemate guns were protected with 100 mm of Krupp steel. ## Service history ### Construction through 1905 Friedrich Carl was ordered under the provisional name Ersatz König Wilhelm and built at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg under yard number 155. Her keel was laid down in August 1901 and she was launched on 21 June 1902. At the launching ceremony, Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia gave a speech; he was the son of the ship's namesake, Prince Friedrich Carl. Friedrich Leopold's wife, Louise Sophie, christened the ship. Fitting-out work followed, and in November 1903 a shipyard crew began builder's trials before she was moved to Wilhelmshaven to have her artillery installed. Work on the vessel was completed by 12 December 1903, the day she began sea trials; her first commander was Kapitän zur See (KzS—Captain at Sea) Johannes Merten. The trials were interrupted in March 1904 when Friedrich Carl was tasked with escorting Kaiser Wilhelm II aboard the Norddeutscher Lloyd steamer SS König Albert on a trip to the Mediterranean Sea. On 12 March the ships left Bremerhaven and steamed to Vigo, Spain, where the Spanish king, Alfonso XIII, visited Friedrich Carl on 15 March. Three days later the ships arrived in Gibraltar, where they met the British Channel Squadron. They then proceeded to Naples, Italy, by way of Mahón, where on 24 March Wilhelm II transferred to his yacht, Hohenzollern. King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy visited Friedrich Carl at Mahón before she, Hohenzollern, and the dispatch boat Sleipner began a tour of Mediterranean ports. Friedrich Carl was in need of repairs, so she left Hohenzollern and Sleipner on 26 April and began the voyage back to Germany; she stopped in Venice, Italy, on 7 May and arrived back in Kiel on 17 May. There, she was assigned to the reconnaissance force of the Active Battle Fleet, taking the place of the protected cruiser Victoria Louise. Beginning in June 1904, Friedrich Carl joined II Squadron for a tour of Dutch, British, and Norwegian ports that lasted until August. During the voyage, Friedrich Carl had to tow two torpedo boats in company with the coastal defense ship Odin and the torpedo boat S98 to Stavanger, Norway. On returning to Germany, the German fleet conducted its annual maneuvers in August and September in the North and Baltic Seas. Following the conclusion of the maneuvers in September, Merten was replaced as the ship's commander by Fregattenkapitän (FK—Frigate Captain) Hugo von Cotzhausen. The ship's sea trials were also officially ended at this point. In November, the crew briefly staged a mutiny against Cotzhausen, citing his inept leadership, though he remained in command. Konteradmiral (KAdm—Rear Admiral) Gustav Schmidt, who was the commander of reconnaissance forces of the Active Battlefleet, transferred from Prinz Heinrich, making Friedrich Carl the new flagship of the reconnaissance squadron. From January to February 1905, Friedrich Carl participated in training exercises in the Baltic. While cruising north of the Great Belt, she struck a submerged shipwreck but suffered no significant damage. Beginning on 23 March, she again accompanied Wilhelm II, who was aboard the HAPAG steamship SS Hamburg, for another voyage to the Mediterranean. While the ships were in Lisbon, they were visited by King Carlos I of Portugal. The German Chancellor, Bernhard von Bülow, sent a message to Wilhelm II in Lisbon suggesting he visit Morocco, and on 31 March Friedrich Carl and Hamburg arrived in Tangier, where they met the French cruisers Du Chayla and Linois. Wilhelm II made a speech supporting Moroccan independence, which led to the First Moroccan Crisis. The following day, the two German vessels steamed to Gibraltar, where Friedrich Carl accidentally collided with the British pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Prince George. It is not known if either ship suffered any damage. During the cruise, Schmidt transferred to Prinz Heinrich. On her return to Germany in June, Friedrich Carl resumed her role as flagship, apart from during a maintenance period from 10 to 26 August. ### 1905–1914 In July, Friedrich Carl joined the rest of the fleet for a cruise in the North and Baltic Seas, during which she ran aground but was not damaged. She then participated in squadron exercises in the Baltic. In February 1906, she went on a training cruise to Denmark. The new armored cruiser Yorck replaced Friedrich Carl as the squadron flagship in late March. Friedrich Carl in turn replaced Prinz Heinrich as the flagship of the deputy commander, Kommodore (Commodore) Raimund Winkler. She remained in this role until the new armored cruiser Roon took her place on 15 August. The autumn maneuvers of 1906 were conducted in Norwegian waters and the western Baltic. After the maneuvers, FK Franz von Hipper took command of the ship. Friedrich Carl resumed her role as the deputy commander flagship on 31 October when KzS Eugen Kalau vom Hofe came aboard the ship; she held the position until 5 March 1908. The year 1907 passed uneventfully for Friedrich Carl; she briefly served as the squadron flagship from 11 September to 28 October after Yorck suffered an accident. Friedrich Carl went on a major training cruise into the Atlantic Ocean in early 1908 and on her return to Wilhelmshaven was decommissioned on 5 March for lengthy repairs. On returning to service on 1 March 1909, KzS Friedrich Schultz assumed command of the ship, which was to be used as a torpedo test ship. In this role, she replaced the protected cruiser SMS Vineta; Schultz was also the commander of the Torpedo Testing Inspectorate. On 30 March, Friedrich Carl was assigned to the temporary Training and Testing Ship Unit for maneuvers off the island of Rügen in April. The unit was dissolved on 24 April, and from mid-August to early September, Friedrich Carl participated in the autumn maneuvers as part of the Reconnaissance Group of the Reserve Fleet. The years 1910 and 1911 followed a similar training routine to that of 1909, and Schultz had been replaced by KzS Ernst Ritter von Mann und Edler von Tiechler as the ship's captain in September 1909 and by KAdm Wilhelm von Lans as commander of the Torpedo Testing Inspectorate on 19 December 1909. Tiechler was in turn replaced by FK Andreas Michelsen in September 1911; he held the command until the outbreak of World War I in July 1914. In July 1911, Friedrich Carl conducted torpedo tests with the light cruiser Augsburg in Norwegian waters. The winter of 1911–1912 was particularly severe, and in early 1912 Friedrich Carl was used to rescue merchant ships that had been trapped in the iced-over Baltic. That year, the Training and Testing Ship Unit was reactivated as the Training Squadron for exercises. KAdm Reinhard Koch replaced Lans on 1 October 1912 and kept Friedrich Carl as his flagship. During the autumn maneuvers that year, Friedrich Carl was assigned to II Scouting Group of what was now the High Seas Fleet. The training routine in 1913 and the first half of 1914 followed the same pattern as in previous years. On 6 April 1914, she ran aground off Swinemünde but was pulled free without damage. During the Kiel Week sailing regatta in July 1914, Großadmiral (Grand Admiral) Alfred von Tirpitz came aboard Friedrich Carl to observe the festivities, which coincided with a visit from the British 2nd Battle Squadron. During the visit, British ambassador Edward Goschen visited Tirpitz aboard the ship, when news of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand arrived. On 31 July, days after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia but before Germany entered the war, Friedrich Carl went into drydock at the Kaiserliche Werft (Imperial Shipyard) in Kiel for repairs in preparation for the coming conflict. ### World War I On 28 August 1914, Friedrich Carl returned to service under the command of KzS Max Schlicht; he held the position for just two months before being replaced by FK Loesch. Friedrich Carl was assigned to the Cruiser Division of the Baltic Sea, taking the place of the protected cruiser Freya and becoming the flagship of KAdm Robert Mischke. In late September, the division supported the laying of a defensive minefield off Langeland. The ship was transferred to the unit commanded by KAdm Ehler Behring, serving as his flagship. At the time, the unit included the protected cruisers Vineta, Hertha, and Hansa and the light cruisers Augsburg, Thetis, and Lübeck, along with attendant torpedo boats and U-boats. The division was based in Neufahrwasser in Danzig. Friedrich Carl took part in a sortie into the Gulf of Finland on 24 October to sweep for Russian warships and British submarines that were operating in the area, though the Germans failed to locate any hostile vessels. By this time, the ship had been modified to carry seaplanes; she carried two planes provisionally and had no permanent modifications made to support them. On 30 October another patrol was carried out, again without success. In early November, Friedrich Carl was withdrawn for repairs, which were completed by mid-month. In the meantime, the German naval command, which was aware that British submarines were operating in the Baltic Sea, had ordered Behring to attack the Russian port at Libau to prevent it being used as a British submarine base. Friedrich Carl was assigned to the attack force, and she left Memel on 16 November to bombard Russian positions around Libau. At 01:46 on 17 November, while 33 nautical miles (61 km; 38 mi) west of Memel, she struck a naval mine that had been laid by Russian destroyers in October. The ship's crew initially thought the shock of the explosion was from striking a submarine; Loesch immediately altered course to return to Memel, at which point she struck a second mine at 01:57. She began to take on water, though she remained afloat for some time. At 6:20, Augsburg arrived on the scene and evacuated the crew, and Friedrich Carl was abandoned to sink, which she did at 07:15. Seven or eight men died in the sinking.
132,071	Lock Haven, Pennsylvania	1,173,293,872	null	[ "1769 establishments in Pennsylvania", "1840 establishments in Pennsylvania", "Cities in Clinton County, Pennsylvania", "Cities in Pennsylvania", "County seats in Pennsylvania", "Lock Haven, Pennsylvania", "Pennsylvania populated places on the Susquehanna River", "Populated places established in 1769" ]	Lock Haven is the county seat of Clinton County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Located near the confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Creek, it is the principal city of the Lock Haven Micropolitan Statistical Area, itself part of the Williamsport–Lock Haven combined statistical area. At the 2010 census, Lock Haven's population was 9,772. Built on a site long favored by pre-Columbian peoples, Lock Haven began in 1833 as a timber town and a haven for loggers, boatmen, and other travelers on the river or the West Branch Canal. Resource extraction and efficient transportation financed much of the city's growth through the end of the 19th century. In the 20th century, a light-aircraft factory, a college, and a paper mill, along with many smaller enterprises, drove the economy. Frequent floods, especially in 1972, damaged local industry and led to a high rate of unemployment in the 1980s. The city has three sites on the National Register of Historic Places—Memorial Park Site, a significant pre-Columbian archaeological find; Heisey House, a Victorian-era museum; and Water Street District, an area with a mix of 19th- and 20th-century architecture. A levee, completed in 1995, protects the city from further flooding. While industry remains important to the city, about a third of Lock Haven's workforce is employed in education, health care, or social services. ## History ### Pre-European The earliest settlers in Pennsylvania arrived from Asia between 12000 BCE and 8000 BCE, when the glaciers of the Pleistocene Ice Age were receding. Fluted point spearheads from this era, known as the Paleo-Indian Period, have been found in most parts of the state. Archeological discoveries at the Memorial Park Site 36Cn164 near the confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Creek collectively span about 8,000 years and represent every major prehistoric period from the Middle Archaic to the Late Woodland period. Prehistoric cultural periods over that span included the Middle Archaic starting at 6500 BCE; the Late Archaic starting at 3000 BCE; the Early Woodland starting at 1000 BCE; the Middle Woodland starting at 0 CE; and the Late Woodland starting at 900 CE. First contact with Europeans occurred in Pennsylvania between 1500 and 1600 CE. ### Eighteenth century In the early 18th century, a tribal confederacy known as the Six Nations of the Iroquois, headquartered in New York, ruled the Indian (Native American) tribes of Pennsylvania, including those who lived near what would become Lock Haven. Indian settlements in the area included three Munsee villages on the 325-acre (1.32 km<sup>2</sup>) Great Island in the West Branch Susquehanna River at the mouth of Bald Eagle Creek. Four Indian trails, the Great Island Path, the Great Shamokin Path, the Bald Eagle Creek Path, and the Sinnemahoning Path, crossed the island, and a fifth, Logan's Path, met Bald Eagle Creek Path a few miles upstream near the mouth of Fishing Creek. During the French and Indian War (1754–63), colonial militiamen on the Kittanning Expedition destroyed Munsee property on the Great Island and along the West Branch. By 1763, the Munsee had abandoned their island villages and other villages in the area. `With the signing of the first Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768, the British gained control from the Iroquois of lands south of the West Branch. However, white settlers continued to appropriate land, including tracts in and near the future site of Lock Haven, not covered by the treaty. In 1769, Cleary Campbell, the first white settler in the area, built a log cabin near the present site of Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, and by 1773 William Reed, another settler, had built a cabin surrounded by a stockade and called it Reed's Fort. It was the westernmost of 11 mostly primitive forts along the West Branch; Fort Augusta, located by the confluence of the East (or North) and West branches of the Susquehanna at what is now Sunbury, was the easternmost and most defensible. In response to settler incursions, and encouraged by the British during the American Revolution (1775–83), Indians attacked colonists and their settlements along the West Branch. Fort Reed and the other white settlements in the area were temporarily abandoned in 1778 during a general evacuation known as the Big Runaway. Hundreds of people fled along the river to Fort Augusta, about 50 miles (80 km) from Fort Reed; some did not return for five years. In 1784, the second Treaty of Fort Stanwix, between the Iroquois and the United States, transferred most of the remaining Indian territory in Pennsylvania, including what would become Lock Haven, to the state. The U.S. acquired the last remaining tract, the Erie Triangle, through a separate treaty and sold it to Pennsylvania in 1792.` ### Nineteenth century Lock Haven was laid out as a town in 1833, and it became the county seat in 1839, when Clinton County was created out of parts of Lycoming and Centre counties. Incorporated as a borough in 1840 and as a city in 1870, Lock Haven prospered in the 19th century largely because of timber and transportation. The forests of Clinton County and counties upriver held a huge supply of white pine and hemlock as well as oak, ash, maple, poplar, cherry, beech, and magnolia. The wood was used locally for such things as frame houses, shingles, canal boats, and wooden bridges, and whole logs were floated to Chesapeake Bay and on to Baltimore, to make spars for ships. Log driving and log rafting, competing forms of transporting logs to sawmills, began along the West Branch around 1800. By 1830, slightly before the founding of the town, the lumber industry was well established. `The West Branch Canal, which opened in 1834, ran 73 miles (117 km) from Northumberland to Farrandsville, about 5 miles (8 km) upstream from Lock Haven. A state-funded extension called the Bald Eagle Cut ran from the West Branch through Lock Haven and Flemington to Bald Eagle Creek. A privately funded extension, the Bald Eagle and Spring Creek Navigation, eventually reached Bellefonte, 24 miles (39 km) upstream. Lock Haven's founder, Jeremiah Church, and his brother, Willard, chose the town site in 1833 partly because of the river, the creek, and the canal. Church named the town Lock Haven because it had a canal lock and because it was a haven for loggers, boatmen, and other travelers. Over the next quarter century, canal boats 12 feet (4 m) wide and 80 feet (24 m) long carried passengers and mail as well as cargo such as coal, ashes for lye and soap, firewood, food, furniture, dry goods, and clothing. A rapid increase in Lock Haven's population (to 830 by 1850) followed the opening of the canal.` A Lock Haven log boom, smaller than but otherwise similar to the Susquehanna Boom at Williamsport, was constructed in 1849. Large cribs of timbers weighted with tons of stone were arranged in the pool behind the Dunnstown Dam, named for a settlement on the shore opposite Lock Haven. The piers, about 150 feet (46 m) from one another, stretched in a line from the dam to a point 3 miles (5 km) upriver. Connected by timbers shackled together with iron yokes and rings, the piers anchored an enclosure into which the river current forced floating logs. Workers called boom rats sorted the captured logs, branded like cattle, for delivery to sawmills and other owners. Lock Haven became the lumber center of Clinton County and the site of many businesses related to forest products. The Sunbury and Erie Railroad, renamed the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad in 1861, reached Lock Haven in 1859, and with it came a building boom. Hoping that the area's coal, iron ore, white pine, and high-quality clay would produce significant future wealth, railroad investors led by Christopher and John Fallon financed a line to Lock Haven. On the strength of the railroad's potential value to the city, local residents had invested heavily in housing, building large homes between 1854 and 1856. Although the Fallons' coal and iron ventures failed, Gothic Revival, Greek Revival, and Italianate mansions and commercial buildings such as the Fallon House, a large hotel, remained, and the railroad provided a new mode of transport for the ongoing timber era. A second rail line, the Bald Eagle Valley Railroad, originally organized as the Tyrone and Lock Haven Railroad and completed in the 1860s, linked Lock Haven to Tyrone, 56 miles (90 km) to the southwest. The two rail lines soon became part of the network controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad. `During the era of log floating, logjams sometimes occurred when logs struck an obstacle. Log rafts floating down the West Branch had to pass through chutes in canal dams. The rafts were commonly 28 feet (9 m) wide—narrow enough to pass through the chutes—and 150 feet (46 m) to 200 feet (61 m) long. In 1874, a large raft got wedged in the chute of the Dunnstown Dam and caused a jam that blocked the channel from bank to bank with a pile of logs 16 feet (5 m) high. The jam eventually trapped another 200 log rafts, and 2 canal boats, The Mammoth of Newport and The Sarah Dunbar.` In terms of volume, the peak of the lumber era in Pennsylvania arrived in about 1885, when 1.9 million logs went through the boom at Williamsport. These logs produced a total of 226 million board feet (530 thousand cubic metres) of sawed lumber. After that, production steadily declined throughout the state. Lock Haven's timber business was also affected by flooding, which badly damaged the canals and destroyed the log boom in 1889. The Central State Normal School, established to train teachers for central Pennsylvania, held its first classes in 1877 at a site overlooking the West Branch Susquehanna River. The small school, with enrollments below 150 until the 1940s, eventually became Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania. In the early 1880s, the New York and Pennsylvania Paper Mill in Castanea Township near Flemington began paper production on the site of a former sawmill; the paper mill remained a large employer until the end of the 20th century. ### Twentieth century As older forms of transportation such as the canal boat disappeared, new forms arose. One of these, the electric trolley, began operation in Lock Haven in 1894. The Lock Haven Electric Railway, managed by the Lock Haven Traction Company and after 1900 by the Susquehanna Traction Company, ran passenger trolleys between Lock Haven and Mill Hall, about 3 miles (5 km) to the west. The trolley line extended from the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad station in Lock Haven to a station of the Central Railroad of Pennsylvania, which served Mill Hall. The route went through Lock Haven's downtown, close to the Normal School, across town to the trolley car barn on the southwest edge of the city, through Flemington, over the Bald Eagle Canal and Bald Eagle Creek, and on to Mill Hall via what was then known as the Lock Haven, Bellefonte, and Nittany Valley Turnpike. Plans to extend the line from Mill Hall to Salona, 3 miles (5 km) south of Mill Hall, and to Avis 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Lock Haven, were never carried out, and the line remained unconnected to other trolley lines. The system, always financially marginal, declined after World War I. Losing business to automobiles and buses, it ceased operations around 1930. `William T. Piper Sr. built the Piper Aircraft Corporation factory in Lock Haven in 1937 after the company's Taylor Aircraft manufacturing plant in Bradford, Pennsylvania, was destroyed by fire. The factory began operations in a building that once housed a silk mill. As the company grew, the original factory expanded to include engineering and office buildings. Piper remained in the city until 1984, when its new owner, Lear-Siegler, moved production to Vero Beach, Florida. The Clinton County Historical Society opened the Piper Aviation Museum at the site of the former factory in 1985, and 10 years later the museum became an independent organization.` The state of Pennsylvania acquired Central State Normal School in 1915 and renamed it Lock Haven State Teachers College in 1927. Between 1942 and 1970, the student population grew from 146 to more than 2,300; the number of teaching faculty rose from 25 to 170, and the college carried out a large building program. The school's name was changed to Lock Haven State College in 1960, and its emphasis shifted to include the humanities, fine arts, mathematics, and social sciences, as well as teacher education. Becoming Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania in 1983, it opened a branch campus in Clearfield, 48 miles (77 km) west of Lock Haven, in 1989. An 8-acre (3.2 ha) industrial area in Castanea Township adjacent to Lock Haven was placed on the National Priorities List of uncontrolled hazardous waste sites (commonly referred to as Superfund sites) in 1982. Drake Chemical, which went bankrupt in 1981, made ingredients for pesticides and other compounds at the site from the 1960s to 1981. Starting in 1982, the United States Environmental Protection Agency began a clean-up of contaminated containers, buildings, and soils at the site and by the late 1990s had replaced the soils. Equipment to treat contaminated groundwater at the site was installed in 2000 and continues to operate. ### Floods Pennsylvania's streams have frequently flooded. According to William H. Shank, the Native Americans of Pennsylvania warned white settlers that great floods occurred on the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers every 14 years. Shank tested this idea by tabulating the highest floods on record at key points throughout the state over a 200-year period and found that a major flood had occurred, on average, once every 25 years between 1784 and 1972. Big floods recorded at Harrisburg, on the main stem of the Susquehanna about 120 miles (190 km) downstream from Lock Haven, occurred in 1784, 1865, 1889, 1894, 1902, 1936, and 1972. Readings from the Williamsport stream gauge, 24 miles (39 km) below Lock Haven on the West Branch of the Susquehanna, showed major flooding between 1889 and 1972 in the same years as the Harrisburg station; in addition, a large flood occurred on the West Branch at Williamsport in 1946. Estimated flood-crest readings between 1847 and 1979—based on data from the National Weather Service flood gauge at Lock Haven—show that flooding likely occurred in the city 19 times in 132 years. The biggest flood occurred on March 18, 1936, when the river crested at 32.3 feet (9.8 m), which was about 11 feet (3.4 m) above the flood stage of 21 feet (6.4 m). The third biggest flood, cresting at 29.8 feet (9.1 m) in Lock Haven, occurred on June 1, 1889, and coincided with the Johnstown Flood. The flood demolished Lock Haven's log boom, and millions of feet of stored timber were swept away. The flood damaged the canals, which were subsequently abandoned, and destroyed the last of the canal boats based in the city. The most damaging Lock Haven flood was caused by the remnants of Hurricane Agnes in 1972. The storm, just below hurricane strength when it reached the region, made landfall on June 22 near New York City. Agnes merged with a non-tropical low on June 23, and the combined system affected the northeastern United States until June 25. The combination produced widespread rains of 6 to 12 inches (152 to 305 mm) with local amounts up to 19 inches (483 mm) in western Schuylkill County, about 75 miles (121 km) southeast of Lock Haven. At Lock Haven, the river crested on June 23 at 31.3 feet (9.5 m), second only to the 1936 crest. The flood greatly damaged the paper mill and Piper Aircraft. In 1992 federal, state, and local governments began construction of barriers to protect the city. The project included a levee of 36,000 feet (11,000 m) and a flood wall of 1,000 feet (300 m) along the Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Creek, closure structures, retention basins, a pumping station, and some relocation of roads and buildings. Completed in 1995, the levee protected the city from high water in the year of the Blizzard of 1996, and again 2004, when rainfall from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan threatened the city. ## Geography Lock Haven is the county seat of Clinton County. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.7 square miles (7.0 km<sup>2</sup>), 2.5 square miles (6.5 km<sup>2</sup>) of which is land. About 0.2 square miles (0.5 km<sup>2</sup>), 6 percent, is water. `Lock Haven is at 561 feet (171 m) above sea level near the confluence of Bald Eagle Creek and the West Branch Susquehanna River in north-central Pennsylvania. The city is approximately 200 miles (320 km) by highway northwest of Philadelphia and 175 miles (280 km) northeast of Pittsburgh. U.S. Route 220, a major transportation corridor, skirts the city on its southern edge, intersecting with Pennsylvania Route 120, which passes through the city and connects it with Renovo in northern Clinton County. Other highways entering Lock Haven include state routes 150, which connects to Avis, and 664.` The city and nearby smaller communities—Castanea, Dunnstown, Flemington, and Mill Hall—are mainly at valley level in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, a mountain belt characterized by long, even valleys running between long continuous ridges. Bald Eagle Mountain, one of these ridges, runs parallel to Bald Eagle Creek on the south side of the city. Upstream of the confluence with Bald Eagle Creek, the West Branch Susquehanna River drains part of the Allegheny Plateau, a region of dissected highlands (also called the "Deep Valleys Section") generally north of the city. The geologic formations in the southeastern part of the city are mostly limestone, while those to the north and west consist mostly of siltstone and shale. Large parts of the city are flat, but slopes rise to the west, and very steep slopes are found along the river, on the university campus, and along Pennsylvania Route 120 as it approaches U.S. Route 220. ### Climate Under the Köppen climate classification, Lock Haven is in zone Dfa, meaning a humid continental climate with hot or very warm summers. The average temperature here in January is 28 °F (−2 °C), and in July it is 73 °F (23 °C). Between 1888 and 1996, the highest recorded temperature for the city was 106 °F (41 °C) in 1936, and the lowest recorded temperature was −22 °F (−30 °C) in 1912. The average wettest month is June. Between 1926 and 1977, the mean annual precipitation was approximately 39 inches (990 mm), and the number of days each year with precipitation of 0.1 inches (2.5 mm) or more was 77. Annual snowfall amounts between 1888 and 1996 varied from 0 in several years to about 65 inches (170 cm) in 1942. The maximum recorded snowfall in a single month was 38 inches (97 cm) in April 1894. ## Demographics As of the census of 2010, there were 9,772 people living in 3,624 housing units spread across the city. The average household size during the years 2009–13 was 2.38. During those same years, multi-unit structures made up 57 percent of the housing-unit total. The rate of home ownership was 35 percent, and the median value of owner-occupied units was about \$100,000. The estimated population of the city in 2013 was 10,025, an increase of 2.6 percent after 2010. The population density in 2010 was 3,915 people per square mile (1,506 per km<sup>2</sup>). The reported racial makeup of the city was about 93 percent White and about 4 percent African-American, with other categories totaling about 3 percent. People of Hispanic or Latino origin accounted for about 2 percent of the residents. Between 2009 and 2013, about 2 percent of the city's residents were foreign-born, and about 5 percent of the population over the age of 5 spoke a language other than English at home. In 2010, the city's population included about 16 percent under the age of 18 and about 12 percent who were 65 years of age or older. Females accounted for 54 percent of the total. Students at the university comprised about a third of the city's population. Between 2009 and 2013, of the people who were older than 25, 82 percent had graduated from high school, and 20 percent had at least a bachelor's degree. In 2007, 640 businesses operated in Lock Haven. The mean travel time to work for employees who were at least 16 years old was 16 minutes. The median income for a household in the city during 2009–13 was about \$25,000 compared to about \$53,000 for the entire state of Pennsylvania. The per capita income for the city was about \$19,000, and about 40 percent of Lock Haven's residents lived below the poverty line. ## Economy Lock Haven's economy, from the city's founding in 1833 until the end of the 19th century, depended heavily on natural resources, particularly timber, and on cheap transportation to eastern markets. Loggers used the Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Creek to float timber to sawmills in Lock Haven and nearby towns. The West Branch Canal, reaching the city in 1834, connected to large markets downstream, and shorter canals along Bald Eagle Creek added other connections. In 1859, the first railroad arrived in Lock Haven, spurring trade and economic growth. By 1900, the lumber industry had declined, and the city's economic base rested on other industries, including a furniture factory, a paper mill, a fire brick plant, and a silk mill. In 1938, the Piper Aircraft Corporation, maker of the Piper Cub and other light aircraft, moved its production plant to Lock Haven. It remained one of the city's biggest employers until the 1980s, when, after major flood damage and losses related to Hurricane Agnes in 1972, it moved to Florida. The loss of Piper Aircraft contributed to an unemployment rate of more than 20% in Lock Haven in the early 1980s, though the rate had declined to about 9% by 2000. Another large plant, the paper mill that had operated since the 1880s in Castanea Township, closed in 2001. By 2005, 32% of the city's labor force was employed in health care, education, or social services, 16% in manufacturing, 14% in retail trade, 13% in arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation, and food services, and smaller fractions in other sectors. The city's biggest employers, Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania and UPMC Susquehanna Lock Haven hospital, are among the seven biggest employers in Clinton County. ## Arts, culture, historic sites, and media ` Lock Haven University presents public concerts, plays, art exhibits, and student recitals at the Price Performance Center, the Sloan Auditorium, and the Sloan Fine Arts Gallery on campus. The Millbrook Playhouse in Mill Hall has produced plays since 1963. Summer concerts are held in city parks, and the local Junior Chamber International (Jaycees) chapter sponsors an annual boat regatta on the river. The city sponsors a festival called Airfest at the airport in the summer, a Halloween parade in October, and a holiday parade in December. Light-airplane pilots travel to the city in vintage Piper planes to attend Sentimental Journey Fly-Ins, which have been held each summer since 1986. Enthusiasts of radio-controlled model airplanes meet annually at the William T. Piper Memorial Airport to fly their planes.` The central library for Clinton County is the Annie Halenbake Ross Library in Lock Haven; it has about 130,000 books, subscriptions to periodicals, electronic resources, and other materials. Stevenson Library on the university campus has additional collections. The Piper Aviation Museum exhibits aircraft and aircraft equipment, documents, photographs, and memorabilia related to Piper Aircraft. An eight-room home, the Heisey House, restored to its mid-19th-century appearance, displays Victorian-era collections; it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and is home to the Clinton County Historical Society. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has placed three cast aluminum markers—Clinton County, Fort Reed, and Pennsylvania Canal (West Branch Division)—in Lock Haven to commemorate historic places. The Water Street District, a mix of 19th- and 20th-century architecture near the river, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Memorial Park Site 36Cn164, an archaeological site of prehistoric significance discovered near the airport, was added to the National Register in 1982. The city's media include The Express, a daily newspaper, and The Eagle Eye, the student newspaper at the university. Radio stations WBPZ (AM) and WSQV (FM) broadcast from the city. A television station, Havenscope (available on-campus only), and a radio station, WLHU (Internet station only, with no FCC broadcast license), both managed by students, operate on the university campus. ## Parks and recreation The city has 14 municipal parks and playgrounds ranging in size from the 0.75-acre (0.30 ha) Triangle Park in downtown to the 80-acre (32 ha) Douglas H. Peddie Memorial Park along Route 120. Fields maintained by the city accommodate baseball for the Pony League, Little League, and Junior League and softball for the Youth Girls League and for adults. In 1948, a team from the city won the Little League World Series. In 2011, the Keystone Little League based in Lock Haven advanced to the Little League World Series and placed third in the United States, drawing record crowds. Hanna Park includes tennis courts, and Hoberman Park includes a skate park. The Lock Haven City Beach, on the Susquehanna River, offers water access, a sand beach, and a bath house. In conjunction with the school district, the city sponsors a summer recreation program. A 25-mile (40 km) trail hike and run, the Bald Eagle Mountain Megatransect, took place annually near Lock Haven until it was replaced in 2016 by a similar event, the 27-mile (43 km) Boulder Beast. The local branch of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) offers a wide variety of recreational programs to members, and the Clinton Country Club maintains a private 18-hole golf course in Mill Hall. ## Government and politics Lock Haven has a council–manager form of government. The council, the city's legislative body, consists of six members and a mayor, each serving a four-year term. The council sets policy, and the city manager oversees day-to-day operations. The mayor is Joel Long, whose term expires in 2024. The manager is Gregory J. Wilson. Lock Haven is the county seat of Clinton County and houses county offices, courts, and the county library. Three elected commissioners serving four-year terms manage the county government. Miles Kessinger, Jeffrey Snyder, and Angela Harding have terms running from 2020 through 2023. Stephanie Borowicz, a Republican, represents the 76th District, which includes Lock Haven, in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Cris Dush, a Republican, represents Lock Haven as part of the 25th District of the Pennsylvania State Senate. ### State senate ### State House of Representatives ### United States House of Representatives ### United States Senate ## Education `The Keystone Central School District serves most of Clinton County, including Lock Haven, as well as parts of Centre County and Potter County. Three of the district's elementary schools are in Lock Haven: Dickey Elementary, Robb Elementary, and Woodward Elementary. All of these schools are for children enrolled in kindergarten through fifth grade. The total enrollment of these three schools combined in 2002–03 was 790. There is a fourth elementary school in Mill Hall simply called Mill Hall Elementary located directly behind the Middle School. Central Mountain Middle School in Mill Hall is the nearest public middle school, for grades six to eight. The nearest public high school, grades nine to twelve, is Central Mountain High School, also in Mill Hall. The District Administration Offices are housed at the Central Mountain High School location.` The city has two private schools, Lock Haven Christian School, with about 80 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, and Lock Haven Catholic School, which had about 190 students in kindergarten through sixth grade as of 2002–03. In 2015, the Catholic School is completing a 10,000-square-foot (930 m<sup>2</sup>) expansion to include grades seven and eight, which will make it a combined elementary and middle school. Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, offering a wide range of undergraduate studies as well as continuing-education and graduate-school programs at its main campus, occupies 175 acres (71 ha) on the west edge of the city. Enrollment at this campus was about 4,400 in 2003. ## Infrastructure ### Transportation `Lock Haven Taxi, based in the central downtown, has taxicabs for hire. Fullington Trailways provides daily intercity bus service between Lock Haven and nearby cities including State College, Williamsport, and Wilkes-Barre. Charter and tour buses are available through Susquehanna Trailways, based in Avis, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Lock Haven. Pennsylvania Bicycle Route G follows Pennsylvania Route 150 and links to the Pine Creek Rail Trail at the eastern end of the county near Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania. A 2.5-mile (4.0 km) walking trail on the levee along the river is restricted to pedestrian use.` The Norfolk Southern Railway's Buffalo Line mainline from Harrisburg to Buffalo, New York, runs through the center of Lock Haven. On the east side of town, it connects to the Nittany and Bald Eagle Railroad, a short line. Trains serving Lock Haven carry only freight. The City of Lock Haven operates the William T. Piper Memorial Airport, a general aviation facility with a paved runway, runway lighting, paved taxiways, a tie-down area, and hangar spaces. No commercial, charter, or freight services are available at this airport. ### Utilities Electric service to Lock Haven residents is provided by PPL Corporation in Allentown. UGI Central Penn Gas provides natural gas to the city. Verizon Communications handles local telephone service; long-distance service is available from several providers. Comcast and River Valley Internet offer high-speed connections to the Internet. The City of Lock Haven owns the reservoirs and water distribution system for Wayne Township, Castanea Township, and the city. Water is treated at the Central Clinton County Water Filtration Authority Plant in Wayne Township before distribution. The city also provides water to the Suburban Lock Haven Water Authority, which distributes it to surrounding communities. Lock Haven operates a sewage treatment plant for waste water, industrial waste, and trucked sewage from the city and eight upstream municipalities: Bald Eagle Township, Castanea, Flemington, Lamar, Mill Hall, Porter Township, Woodward Township, and Walker Township in Centre County. Storm water runoff from within the city is transported by city-owned storm sewers. Curbside pickup of household garbage is provided by a variety of local haulers licensed by the city; recyclables are picked up once every two weeks. The Clinton County Solid Waste Authority owns and operates the Wayne Township Landfill, which serves Lock Haven. ### Health care `In April 2023, UPMC Lock Haven Hospital was converted to an outpatient emergency department linked to the UPMC Williamsport Hospital, about a 30-minute drive from Lock Haven. Geisinger Jersey Shore Hospital in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, is somewhat closer, about 20 minutes by ambulance. Susque-View Home, next to the emergency department, offers long-term care to the elderly and other services including speech, physical, and occupational therapy for people of all ages.` ## Notable people Brittani Kline, winner of America's Next Top Model (cycle 16), is a 2015 graduate of Lock Haven University. Alexander McDonald, a U.S. Senator from Arkansas, was born near Lock Haven in 1832. Artist John French Sloan was born in Lock Haven in 1871, and cartoonist Alison Bechdel, author of Dykes to Watch Out For and Fun Home, was born in Lock Haven in 1960. Richard Lipez, author of the Donald Strachey mysteries, was born in Lock Haven in 1938. Other notable residents have included diplomat and Dartmouth College president John Sloan Dickey, federal judge Kermit Lipez of the U.S. Federal First District Court of Appeals, and C. J. Snare, singer and songwriter for the band FireHouse. ## See also - National Register of Historic Places listings in Clinton County, Pennsylvania
48,068	Maurice Ravel	1,173,331,252	French composer (1875–1937)	[ "1875 births", "1937 deaths", "19th-century French composers", "19th-century French male musicians", "19th-century classical composers", "20th-century French composers", "20th-century French male classical pianists", "20th-century classical composers", "20th-century conductors (music)", "Ballets Russes composers", "Burials at Levallois-Perret Cemetery", "Composers for piano", "French atheists", "French ballet composers", "French classical composers", "French male classical composers", "French military personnel of World War I", "French opera composers", "French people of Basque descent", "French people of Swiss descent", "French-Basque people", "Honorary Members of the Royal Philharmonic Society", "Impressionist composers", "Jazz-influenced classical composers", "Legion of Honour refusals", "Male opera composers", "Maurice Ravel", "Neoclassical composers", "Neurological disease deaths in France", "People from Labourd", "People with traumatic brain injuries", "Prix de Rome for composition" ]	Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In the 1920s and 1930s Ravel was internationally regarded as France's greatest living composer. Born to a music-loving family, Ravel attended France's premier music college, the Paris Conservatoire; he was not well regarded by its conservative establishment, whose biased treatment of him caused a scandal. After leaving the conservatoire, Ravel found his own way as a composer, developing a style of great clarity and incorporating elements of modernism, baroque, neoclassicism and, in his later works, jazz. He liked to experiment with musical form, as in his best-known work, Boléro (1928), in which repetition takes the place of development. Renowned for his abilities in orchestration, Ravel made some orchestral arrangements of other composers' piano music, of which his 1922 version of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition is the best known. A slow and painstaking worker, Ravel composed fewer pieces than many of his contemporaries. Among his works to enter the repertoire are pieces for piano, chamber music, two piano concertos, ballet music, two operas and eight song cycles; he wrote no symphonies or church music. Many of his works exist in two versions: first, a piano score and later an orchestration. Some of his piano music, such as Gaspard de la nuit (1908), is exceptionally difficult to play, and his complex orchestral works such as Daphnis et Chloé (1912) require skilful balance in performance. Ravel was among the first composers to recognise the potential of recording to bring their music to a wider public. From the 1920s, despite limited technique as a pianist or conductor, he took part in recordings of several of his works; others were made under his supervision. ## Life and career ### Early years Ravel was born in the Basque town of Ciboure, France, near Biarritz, 18 kilometres (11 mi) from the Spanish border. His father, Pierre-Joseph Ravel, was an educated and successful engineer, inventor and manufacturer, born in Versoix near the Franco-Swiss border. His mother, Marie, née Delouart, was Basque but had grown up in Madrid. In 19th-century terms, Joseph had married beneath his status – Marie was illegitimate and barely literate – but the marriage was a happy one. Some of Joseph's inventions were successful, including an early internal combustion engine and a notorious circus machine, the "Whirlwind of Death", an automotive loop-the-loop that was a major attraction until a fatal accident at Barnum and Bailey's Circus in 1903. Both Ravel's parents were Roman Catholics; Marie was also something of a free-thinker, a trait inherited by her elder son. He was baptised in the Ciboure parish church six days after he was born. The family moved to Paris three months later, and there a younger son, Édouard, was born. (He was close to his father, whom he eventually followed into the engineering profession.) Maurice was particularly devoted to their mother; her Basque-Spanish heritage was a strong influence on his life and music. Among his earliest memories were folk songs she sang to him. The household was not rich, but the family was comfortable, and the two boys had happy childhoods. Ravel senior delighted in taking his sons to factories to see the latest mechanical devices, but he also had a keen interest in music and culture in general. In later life, Ravel recalled, "Throughout my childhood I was sensitive to music. My father, much better educated in this art than most amateurs are, knew how to develop my taste and to stimulate my enthusiasm at an early age." There is no record that Ravel received any formal general schooling in his early years; his biographer Roger Nichols suggests that the boy may have been chiefly educated by his father. When he was seven, Ravel started piano lessons with Henri Ghys, a friend of Emmanuel Chabrier; five years later, in 1887, he began studying harmony, counterpoint and composition with Charles-René, a pupil of Léo Delibes. Without being anything of a child prodigy, he was a highly musical boy. Charles-René found that Ravel's conception of music was natural to him "and not, as in the case of so many others, the result of effort". Ravel's earliest known compositions date from this period: variations on a chorale by Schumann, variations on a theme by Grieg and a single movement of a piano sonata. They survive only in fragmentary form. In 1888 Ravel met the young pianist Ricardo Viñes, who became not only a lifelong friend, but also one of the foremost interpreters of his works, and an important link between Ravel and Spanish music. The two shared an appreciation of Wagner, Russian music, and the writings of Poe, Baudelaire and Mallarmé. At the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889, Ravel was much struck by the new Russian works conducted by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. This music had a lasting effect on both Ravel and his older contemporary Claude Debussy, as did the exotic sound of the Javanese gamelan, also heard during the Exposition. Émile Decombes took over as Ravel's piano teacher in 1889; in the same year Ravel gave his earliest public performance. Aged fourteen, he took part in a concert at the Salle Érard along with other pupils of Decombes, including Reynaldo Hahn and Alfred Cortot. ### Paris Conservatoire With the encouragement of his parents, Ravel applied for entry to France's most important musical college, the Conservatoire de Paris. In November 1889, playing music by Chopin, he passed the examination for admission to the preparatory piano class run by Eugène Anthiome. Ravel won the first prize in the Conservatoire's piano competition in 1891, but otherwise he did not stand out as a student. Nevertheless, these years were a time of considerable advance in his development as a composer. The musicologist Arbie Orenstein writes that for Ravel the 1890s were a period "of immense growth ... from adolescence to maturity". In 1891 Ravel progressed to the classes of Charles-Wilfrid de Bériot, for piano, and Émile Pessard, for harmony. He made solid, unspectacular progress, with particular encouragement from Bériot but, in the words of the musicologist Barbara L. Kelly, he "was only teachable on his own terms". His later teacher Gabriel Fauré understood this, but it was not generally acceptable to the conservative faculty of the Conservatoire of the 1890s. Ravel was expelled in 1895, having won no more prizes. His earliest works to survive in full are from these student days: Sérénade grotesque, for piano, and "Ballade de la Reine morte d'aimer", a mélodie setting a poem by Roland de Marès (both 1893). Ravel was never so assiduous a student of the piano as his colleagues such as Viñes and Cortot were. It was plain that as a pianist he would never match them, and his overriding ambition was to be a composer. From this point he concentrated on composition. His works from the period include the songs "Un grand sommeil noir" and "D'Anne jouant de l'espinette" to words by Paul Verlaine and Clément Marot, and the piano pieces Menuet antique and Habanera (for four hands), the latter eventually incorporated into the Rapsodie espagnole. At around this time, Joseph Ravel introduced his son to Erik Satie, who was earning a living as a café pianist. Ravel was one of the first musicians – Debussy was another – who recognised Satie's originality and talent. Satie's constant experiments in musical form were an inspiration to Ravel, who counted them "of inestimable value". In 1897 Ravel was readmitted to the Conservatoire, studying composition with Fauré, and taking private lessons in counterpoint with André Gedalge. Both these teachers, particularly Fauré, regarded him highly and were key influences on his development as a composer. As Ravel's course progressed, Fauré reported "a distinct gain in maturity ... engaging wealth of imagination". Ravel's standing at the Conservatoire was nevertheless undermined by the hostility of the Director, Théodore Dubois, who deplored the young man's musically and politically progressive outlook. Consequently, according to a fellow student, Michel-Dimitri Calvocoressi, he was "a marked man, against whom all weapons were good". He wrote some substantial works while studying with Fauré, including the overture Shéhérazade and a single movement violin sonata, but he won no prizes, and therefore was expelled again in 1900. As a former student he was allowed to attend Fauré's classes as a non-participating "auditeur" until finally abandoning the Conservatoire in 1903. In May 1897 Ravel conducted the first performance of the Shéhérazade overture, which had a mixed reception, with boos mingling with applause from the audience, and unflattering reviews from the critics. One described the piece as "a jolting debut: a clumsy plagiarism of the Russian School" and called Ravel a "mediocrely gifted debutant ... who will perhaps become something if not someone in about ten years, if he works hard". Another critic, Pierre Lalo, thought that Ravel showed talent, but was too indebted to Debussy and should instead emulate Beethoven. Over the succeeding decades Lalo became Ravel's most implacable critic. In 1899 Ravel composed his first piece to become widely known, though it made little impact initially: Pavane pour une infante défunte ("Pavane for a dead princess"). It was originally a solo piano work, commissioned by the Princesse de Polignac. From the start of his career, Ravel appeared calmly indifferent to blame or praise. Those who knew him well believed that this was no pose but wholly genuine. The only opinion of his music that he truly valued was his own, perfectionist and severely self-critical. At twenty years of age he was, in the words of the biographer Burnett James, "self-possessed, a little aloof, intellectually biased, given to mild banter". He dressed like a dandy and was meticulous about his appearance and demeanour. Orenstein comments that, short in stature, light in frame and bony in features, Ravel had the "appearance of a well-dressed jockey", whose large head seemed suitably matched to his formidable intellect. During the late 1890s and into the early years of the next century, Ravel was bearded in the fashion of the day; from his mid-thirties he was clean-shaven. ### Les Apaches and Debussy Around 1900 Ravel and a number of innovative young artists, poets, critics and musicians joined together in an informal group; they came to be known as Les Apaches ("The Hooligans"), a name coined by Viñes to represent their status as "artistic outcasts". They met regularly until the beginning of the First World War, and members stimulated one another with intellectual argument and performances of their works. The membership of the group was fluid, and at various times included Igor Stravinsky and Manuel de Falla as well as their French friends. Among the enthusiasms of the Apaches was the music of Debussy. Ravel, twelve years his junior, had known Debussy slightly since the 1890s, and their friendship, though never close, continued for more than ten years. In 1902 André Messager conducted the premiere of Debussy's opera Pelléas et Mélisande at the Opéra-Comique. It divided musical opinion. Dubois unavailingly forbade Conservatoire students to attend, and the conductor's friend and former teacher Camille Saint-Saëns was prominent among those who detested the piece. The Apaches were loud in their support. The first run of the opera consisted of fourteen performances: Ravel attended all of them. Debussy was widely held to be an Impressionist composer – a label he intensely disliked. Many music lovers began to apply the same term to Ravel, and the works of the two composers were frequently taken as part of a single genre. Ravel thought that Debussy was indeed an Impressionist but that he himself was not. Orenstein comments that Debussy was more spontaneous and casual in his composing while Ravel was more attentive to form and craftsmanship. Ravel wrote that Debussy's "genius was obviously one of great individuality, creating its own laws, constantly in evolution, expressing itself freely, yet always faithful to French tradition. For Debussy, the musician and the man, I have had profound admiration, but by nature I am different from Debussy ... I think I have always personally followed a direction opposed to that of [his] symbolism." During the first years of the new century Ravel's new works included the piano piece Jeux d'eau (1901), the String Quartet and the orchestral song cycle Shéhérazade (both 1903). Commentators have noted some Debussian touches in some parts of these works. Nichols calls the quartet "at once homage to and exorcism of Debussy's influence". The two composers ceased to be on friendly terms in the middle of the first decade of the 1900s, for musical and possibly personal reasons. Their admirers began to form factions, with adherents of one composer denigrating the other. Disputes arose about the chronology of the composers' works and who influenced whom. Prominent in the anti-Ravel camp was Lalo, who wrote, "Where M. Debussy is all sensitivity, M. Ravel is all insensitivity, borrowing without hesitation not only technique but the sensitivity of other people." The public tension led to personal estrangement. Ravel said, "It's probably better for us, after all, to be on frigid terms for illogical reasons." Nichols suggests an additional reason for the rift. In 1904 Debussy left his wife and went to live with the singer Emma Bardac. Ravel, together with his close friend and confidante Misia Edwards and the opera star Lucienne Bréval, contributed to a modest regular income for the deserted Lilly Debussy, a fact that Nichols suggests may have rankled with her husband. ### Scandal and success During the first years of the new century Ravel made five attempts to win France's most prestigious prize for young composers, the Prix de Rome, past winners of which included Berlioz, Gounod, Bizet, Massenet and Debussy. In 1900 Ravel was eliminated in the first round; in 1901 he won the second prize for the competition. In 1902 and 1903 he won nothing: according to the musicologist Paul Landormy, the judges suspected Ravel of making fun of them by submitting cantatas so academic as to seem like parodies. In 1905 Ravel, by now thirty, competed for the last time, inadvertently causing a furore. He was eliminated in the first round, which even critics unsympathetic to his music, including Lalo, denounced as unjustifiable. The press's indignation grew when it emerged that the senior professor at the Conservatoire, Charles Lenepveu, was on the jury, and only his students were selected for the final round; his insistence that this was pure coincidence was not well received. L'affaire Ravel became a national scandal, leading to the early retirement of Dubois and his replacement by Fauré, appointed by the government to carry out a radical reorganisation of the Conservatoire. Among those taking a close interest in the controversy was Alfred Edwards, owner and editor of Le Matin, for which Lalo wrote. Edwards was married to Ravel's friend Misia; the couple took Ravel on a seven-week Rhine cruise on their yacht in June and July 1905, the first time he had travelled abroad. By the latter part of the 1900s Ravel had established a pattern of writing works for piano and subsequently arranging them for full orchestra. He was in general a slow and painstaking worker, and reworking his earlier piano compositions enabled him to increase the number of pieces published and performed. There appears to have been no mercenary motive for this; Ravel was known for his indifference to financial matters. The pieces that began as piano compositions and were then given orchestral dress were Pavane pour une infante défunte (orchestrated 1910), Une barque sur l'océan (1906, from the 1905 piano suite Miroirs), the Habanera section of Rapsodie espagnole (1907–08), Ma mère l'Oye (1908–10, orchestrated 1911), Valses nobles et sentimentales (1911, orchestrated 1912), Alborada del gracioso (from Miroirs, orchestrated 1918) and Le tombeau de Couperin (1914–17, orchestrated 1919). Ravel was not by inclination a teacher, but he gave lessons to a few young musicians he felt could benefit from them. Manuel Rosenthal was one, and records that Ravel was a very demanding teacher when he thought his pupil had talent. Like his own teacher, Fauré, he was concerned that his pupils should find their own individual voices and not be excessively influenced by established masters. He warned Rosenthal that it was impossible to learn from studying Debussy's music: "Only Debussy could have written it and made it sound like only Debussy can sound." When George Gershwin asked him for lessons in the 1920s, Ravel, after serious consideration, refused, on the grounds that they "would probably cause him to write bad Ravel and lose his great gift of melody and spontaneity". The best-known composer who studied with Ravel was probably Ralph Vaughan Williams, who was his pupil for three months in 1907–08. Vaughan Williams recalled that Ravel helped him escape from "the heavy contrapuntal Teutonic manner ... Complexe mais pas compliqué was his motto." Vaughan Williams's recollections throw some light on Ravel's private life, about which the latter's reserved and secretive personality has led to much speculation. Vaughan Williams, Rosenthal and Marguerite Long have all recorded that Ravel frequented brothels; Long attributed this to his self-consciousness about his diminutive stature, and consequent lack of confidence with women. By other accounts, none of them first-hand, Ravel was in love with Misia Edwards, or wanted to marry the violinist Hélène Jourdan-Morhange. Rosenthal records and discounts contemporary speculation that Ravel, a lifelong bachelor, may have been homosexual. Such speculation recurred in a 2000 life of Ravel by Benjamin Ivry; subsequent studies have concluded that Ravel's sexuality and personal life remain a mystery. Ravel's first concert outside France was in 1909. As the guest of the Vaughan Williamses, he visited London, where he played for the Société des Concerts Français, gaining favourable reviews and enhancing his growing international reputation. ### 1910 to First World War The Société Nationale de Musique, founded in 1871 to promote the music of rising French composers, had been dominated since the mid-1880s by a conservative faction led by Vincent d'Indy. Ravel, together with several other former pupils of Fauré, set up a new, modernist organisation, the Société Musicale Indépendente, with Fauré as its president. The new society's inaugural concert took place on 20 April 1910; the seven items on the programme included premieres of Fauré's song cycle La chanson d'Ève, Debussy's piano suite D'un cahier d'esquisses, Zoltán Kodály's Six pièces pour piano and the original piano duet version of Ravel's Ma mère l'Oye. The performers included Fauré, Florent Schmitt, Ernest Bloch, Pierre Monteux and, in the Debussy work, Ravel. Kelly considers it a sign of Ravel's new influence that the society featured Satie's music in a concert in January 1911. The first of Ravel's two operas, the one-act comedy L'heure espagnole was premiered in 1911. The work had been completed in 1907, but the manager of the Opéra-Comique, Albert Carré, repeatedly deferred its presentation. He was concerned that its plot – a bedroom farce – would be badly received by the ultra-respectable mothers and daughters who were an important part of the Opéra-Comique's audience. The piece was only modestly successful at its first production, and it was not until the 1920s that it became popular. In 1912 Ravel had three ballets premiered. The first, to the orchestrated and expanded version of Ma mère l'Oye, opened at the Théâtre des Arts in January. The reviews were excellent: the Mercure de France called the score "absolutely ravishing, a masterwork in miniature". The music rapidly entered the concert repertoire; it was played at the Queen's Hall, London, within weeks of the Paris premiere, and was repeated at the Proms later in the same year. The Times praised "the enchantment of the work ... the effect of mirage, by which something quite real seems to float on nothing". New York audiences heard the work in the same year. Ravel's second ballet of 1912 was Adélaïde ou le langage des fleurs, danced to the score of Valses nobles et sentimentales, which opened at the Châtelet in April. Daphnis et Chloé opened at the same theatre in June. This was his largest-scale orchestral work, and took him immense trouble and several years to complete. Daphnis et Chloé was commissioned in or about 1909 by the impresario Sergei Diaghilev for his company, the Ballets Russes. Ravel began work with Diaghilev's choreographer, Michel Fokine, and designer, Léon Bakst. Fokine had a reputation for his modern approach to dance, with individual numbers replaced by continuous music. This appealed to Ravel, and after discussing the action in great detail with Fokine, Ravel began composing the music. There were frequent disagreements between the collaborators, and the premiere was under-rehearsed because of the late completion of the work. It had an unenthusiastic reception and was quickly withdrawn, although it was revived successfully a year later in Monte Carlo and London. The effort to complete the ballet took its toll on Ravel's health; neurasthenia obliged him to rest for several months after the premiere. Ravel composed little during 1913. He collaborated with Stravinsky on a performing version of Mussorgsky's unfinished opera Khovanshchina, and his own works were the Trois poèmes de Mallarmé for soprano and chamber ensemble, and two short piano pieces, À la manière de Borodine and À la manière de Chabrier. In 1913, together with Debussy, Ravel was among the musicians present at the dress rehearsal of The Rite of Spring. Stravinsky later said that Ravel was the only person who immediately understood the music. Ravel predicted that the premiere of the Rite would be seen as an event of historic importance equal to that of Pelléas et Mélisande. At the end of the year Ravel was in England, visiting the novelist Arnold Bennett in his Essex home; the two had known each other since meeting in 1908, when Bennett was living in France. ### War When Germany invaded France in 1914 Ravel tried to join the French Air Force. He considered his small stature and light weight ideal for an aviator, but was rejected because of his age and a minor heart complaint. While waiting to be enlisted, Ravel composed Trois Chansons, his only work for a cappella choir, setting his own texts in the tradition of French 16th-century chansons. He dedicated the three songs to people who might help him to enlist. After several unsuccessful attempts to enlist, Ravel finally joined the Thirteenth Artillery Regiment as a lorry driver in March 1915, when he was forty. Stravinsky expressed admiration for his friend's courage: "at his age and with his name he could have had an easier place, or done nothing". Some of Ravel's duties put him in mortal danger, driving munitions at night under heavy German bombardment. At the same time his peace of mind was undermined by his mother's failing health. His own health also deteriorated; he suffered from insomnia and digestive problems, underwent a bowel operation following amoebic dysentery in September 1916, and had frostbite in his feet the following winter. During the war, the Ligue Nationale pour la Defense de la Musique Française was formed by Saint-Saëns, Dubois, d'Indy and others, campaigning for a ban on the performance of contemporary German music. Ravel declined to join, telling the committee of the league in 1916, "It would be dangerous for French composers to ignore systematically the productions of their foreign colleagues, and thus form themselves into a sort of national coterie: our musical art, which is so rich at the present time, would soon degenerate, becoming isolated in banal formulas." The league responded by banning Ravel's music from its concerts. Ravel's mother died in January 1917, and he fell into a "horrible despair", compounding the distress he felt at the suffering endured by the people of his country during the war. He composed few works in the war years. The Piano Trio was almost complete when the conflict began, and the most substantial of his wartime works is Le tombeau de Couperin, composed between 1914 and 1917. The suite celebrates the tradition of François Couperin, the 18th-century French composer; each movement is dedicated to a friend of Ravel's who died in the war. ### 1920s After the war, those close to Ravel recognised that he had lost much of his physical and mental stamina. As the musicologist Stephen Zank puts it, "Ravel's emotional equilibrium, so hard won in the previous decade, had been seriously compromised." His output, never large, became smaller. Nonetheless, after the death of Debussy in 1918, he was generally seen, in France and abroad, as the leading French composer of the era. Fauré wrote to him, "I am happier than you can imagine about the solid position which you occupy and which you have acquired so brilliantly and so rapidly. It is a source of joy and pride for your old professor." Ravel was offered the Legion of Honour in 1920, and although he declined the decoration, he was viewed by the new generation of composers typified by Satie's protégés Les Six as an establishment figure. Satie had turned against him, and commented, "Ravel refuses the Légion d'honneur, but all his music accepts it." Despite this attack, Ravel continued to admire Satie's early music, and always acknowledged the older man's influence on his own development. Ravel took a benign view of Les Six, promoting their music, and defending it against journalistic attacks. He regarded their reaction against his works as natural, and preferable to their copying his style. Through the Société Musicale Indépendente, he was able to encourage them and composers from other countries. The Société presented concerts of recent works by American composers including Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson and George Antheil and by Vaughan Williams and his English colleagues Arnold Bax and Cyril Scott. Orenstein and Zank both comment that, although Ravel's post-war output was small, averaging only one composition a year, it included some of his finest works. In 1920 he completed La valse, in response to a commission from Diaghilev. He had worked on it intermittently for some years, planning a concert piece, "a sort of apotheosis of the Viennese waltz, mingled with, in my mind, the impression of a fantastic, fatal whirling". It was rejected by Diaghilev, who said, "It's a masterpiece, but it's not a ballet. It's the portrait of a ballet." Ravel heard Diaghilev's verdict without protest or argument, left, and had no further dealings with him. Nichols comments that Ravel had the satisfaction of seeing the ballet staged twice by other managements before Diaghilev died. A ballet danced to the orchestral version of Le tombeau de Couperin was given at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in November 1920, and the premiere of La valse followed in December. The following year Daphnis et Chloé and L'heure espagnole were successfully revived at the Paris Opéra. In the post-war era there was a reaction against the large-scale music of composers such as Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss. Stravinsky, whose Rite of Spring was written for a huge orchestra, began to work on a much smaller scale. His 1923 ballet score Les noces is composed for voices and twenty-one instruments. Ravel did not like the work (his opinion caused a cooling in Stravinsky's friendship with him) but he was in sympathy with the fashion for "dépouillement" – the "stripping away" of pre-war extravagance to reveal the essentials. Many of his works from the 1920s are noticeably sparer in texture than earlier pieces. Other influences on him in this period were jazz and atonality. Jazz was popular in Parisian cafés, and French composers such as Darius Milhaud incorporated elements of it in their work. Ravel commented that he preferred jazz to grand opera, and its influence is heard in his later music. Arnold Schönberg's abandonment of conventional tonality also had echoes in some of Ravel's music such as the Chansons madécasses (1926), which Ravel doubted he could have written without the example of Pierrot Lunaire. His other major works from the 1920s include the orchestral arrangement of Mussorgsky's piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition (1922), the opera L'enfant et les sortilèges to a libretto by Colette (1926), Tzigane (1924) and the Violin Sonata No.2 (1927). Finding city life fatiguing, Ravel moved to the countryside. In May 1921 he took up residence at Le Belvédère, a small house on the fringe of Montfort-l'Amaury, 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of Paris, in the Yvelines département. Looked after by a devoted housekeeper, Mme Revelot, he lived there for the rest of his life. At Le Belvédère Ravel composed and gardened, when not performing in Paris or abroad. His touring schedule increased considerably in the 1920s, with concerts in Britain, Sweden, Denmark, the US, Canada, Spain, Austria and Italy. `After two months of planning, Ravel made a four-month tour of North America in 1928, playing and conducting. His fee was a guaranteed minimum of $10,000 and a constant supply of Gauloises cigarettes. He appeared with most of the leading orchestras in Canada and the US and visited twenty-five cities. Audiences were enthusiastic and the critics were complimentary. At an all-Ravel programme conducted by Serge Koussevitzky in New York, the entire audience stood up and applauded as the composer took his seat. Ravel was touched by this spontaneous gesture and observed, "You know, this doesn't happen to me in Paris." Orenstein, commenting that this tour marked the zenith of Ravel's international reputation, lists its non-musical highlights as a visit to Poe's house in New York, and excursions to Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon. Ravel was unmoved by his new international celebrity. He commented that the critics' recent enthusiasm was of no more importance than their earlier judgment, when they called him "the most perfect example of insensitivity and lack of emotion".` The last composition Ravel completed in the 1920s, Boléro, became his most famous. He was commissioned to provide a score for Ida Rubinstein's ballet company, and having been unable to secure the rights to orchestrate Albéniz's Iberia, he decided on "an experiment in a very special and limited direction ... a piece lasting seventeen minutes and consisting wholly of orchestral tissue without music". Ravel continued that the work was "one long, very gradual crescendo. There are no contrasts, and there is practically no invention except the plan and the manner of the execution. The themes are altogether impersonal." He was astonished, and not wholly pleased, that it became a mass success. When one elderly member of the audience at the Opéra shouted "Rubbish!" at the premiere, he remarked, "That old lady got the message!" The work was popularised by the conductor Arturo Toscanini, and has been recorded several hundred times. Ravel commented to Arthur Honegger, one of Les Six, "I've written only one masterpiece – Boléro. Unfortunately there's no music in it." ### Last years At the beginning of the 1930s Ravel was working on two piano concertos. He completed the Piano Concerto in D major for the Left Hand first. It was commissioned by the Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who had lost his right arm during the First World War. Ravel was stimulated by the technical challenges of the project: "In a work of this kind, it is essential to give the impression of a texture no thinner than that of a part written for both hands." Ravel, not proficient enough to perform the work with only his left hand, demonstrated it with both hands. Wittgenstein was initially disappointed by the piece, but after long study he became fascinated by it and ranked it as a great work. In January 1932 he premiered it in Vienna to instant acclaim, and performed it in Paris with Ravel conducting the following year. The critic Henry Prunières wrote, "From the opening measures, we are plunged into a world in which Ravel has but rarely introduced us." The Piano Concerto in G major was completed a year later. After the premiere in January 1932 there was high praise for the soloist, Marguerite Long, and for Ravel's score, though not for his conducting. Long, the dedicatee, played the concerto in more than twenty European cities, with the composer conducting; they planned to record it together, but at the sessions Ravel confined himself to supervising proceedings and Pedro de Freitas Branco conducted. In October 1932 Ravel suffered a blow to the head in a taxi accident. The injury was not thought serious at the time, but in a study for the British Medical Journal in 1988 the neurologist R. A. Henson concludes that it may have exacerbated an existing cerebral condition. As early as 1927 close friends had been concerned at Ravel's growing absent-mindedness, and within a year of the accident he started to experience symptoms suggesting aphasia. Before the accident he had begun work on music for a film, Don Quixote (1933), but he was unable to meet the production schedule, and Jacques Ibert wrote most of the score. Ravel completed three songs for baritone and orchestra intended for the film; they were published as Don Quichotte à Dulcinée. The manuscript orchestral score is in Ravel's hand, but Lucien Garban and Manuel Rosenthal helped in transcription. Ravel composed no more after this. The exact nature of his illness is unknown. Experts have ruled out the possibility of a tumour, and have variously suggested frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's disease and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. Though no longer able to write music or perform, Ravel remained physically and socially active until his last months. Henson notes that Ravel preserved most or all his auditory imagery and could still hear music in his head. In 1937 Ravel began to suffer pain from his condition, and was examined by Clovis Vincent, a well-known Paris neurosurgeon. Vincent advised surgical treatment. He thought a tumour unlikely, and expected to find ventricular dilatation that surgery might prevent from progressing. Ravel's brother Edouard accepted this advice; as Henson comments, the patient was in no state to express a considered view. After the operation there seemed to be an improvement in his condition, but it was short-lived, and he soon lapsed into a coma. He died on 28 December, at the age of 62. On 30 December 1937 Ravel was interred next to his parents in a granite tomb at Levallois-Perret cemetery, in north-west Paris. He was an atheist and there was no religious ceremony. ## Music Marcel Marnat's catalogue of Ravel's complete works lists eighty-five works, including many incomplete or abandoned. Though that total is small in comparison with the output of his major contemporaries, it is nevertheless inflated by Ravel's frequent practice of writing works for piano and later rewriting them as independent pieces for orchestra. The performable body of works numbers about sixty; slightly more than half are instrumental. Ravel's music includes pieces for piano, chamber music, two piano concerti, ballet music, opera and song cycles. He wrote no symphonies or church works. Ravel drew on many generations of French composers from Couperin and Rameau to Fauré and the more recent innovations of Satie and Debussy. Foreign influences include Mozart, Schubert, Liszt and Chopin. He considered himself in many ways a classicist, often using traditional structures and forms, such as the ternary, to present his new melodic and rhythmic content and innovative harmonies. The influence of jazz on his later music is heard within conventional classical structures in the Piano Concerto and the Violin Sonata. Ravel placed high importance on melody, telling Vaughan Williams that there is "an implied melodic outline in all vital music". As a result, there are few leading notes in his output. Chords of the ninth and eleventh and unresolved appoggiaturas, such as those in the Valses nobles et sentimentales, are characteristic of Ravel's harmonic language. Dance forms appealed to Ravel, most famously the bolero and pavane, but also the minuet, forlane, rigaudon, waltz, czardas, habanera and passacaglia. National and regional consciousness was important to him, and although a planned concerto on Basque themes never materialised, his works include allusions to Hebraic, Greek, Hungarian and gypsy themes. He wrote several short pieces paying tribute to composers he admired – Borodin, Chabrier, Fauré and Haydn, interpreting their characteristics in a Ravellian style. Another important influence was literary rather than musical: Ravel said that he learnt from Poe that "true art is a perfect balance between pure intellect and emotion", with the corollary that a piece of music should be a perfectly balanced entity with no irrelevant material allowed to intrude. ### Operas Ravel completed two operas, and worked on three others. The unrealised three were Olympia, La cloche engloutie and Jeanne d'Arc. Olympia was to be based on Hoffmann's The Sandman; he made sketches for it in 1898–99, but did not progress far. La cloche engloutie after Hauptmann's The Sunken Bell occupied him intermittently from 1906 to 1912, Ravel destroyed the sketches for both these works, except for a "Symphonie horlogère" which he incorporated into the opening of L'heure espagnole. The third unrealised project was an operatic version of Joseph Delteil's 1925 novel about Joan of Arc. It was to be a large-scale, full-length work for the Paris Opéra, but Ravel's final illness prevented him from writing it. Ravel's first completed opera was L'heure espagnole (premiered in 1911), described as a "comédie musicale". It is among the works set in or illustrating Spain that Ravel wrote throughout his career. Nichols comments that the essential Spanish colouring gave Ravel a reason for virtuoso use of the modern orchestra, which the composer considered "perfectly designed for underlining and exaggerating comic effects". Edward Burlingame Hill found Ravel's vocal writing particularly skilful in the work, "giving the singers something besides recitative without hampering the action", and "commenting orchestrally upon the dramatic situations and the sentiments of the actors without diverting attention from the stage". Some find the characters artificial and the piece lacking in humanity. The critic David Murray writes that the score "glows with the famous Ravel tendresse." The second opera, also in one act, is L'enfant et les sortilèges (1926), a "fantaisie lyrique" to a libretto by Colette. She and Ravel had planned the story as a ballet, but at the composer's suggestion Colette turned it into an opera libretto. It is more uncompromisingly modern in its musical style than L'heure espagnole, and the jazz elements and bitonality of much of the work upset many Parisian opera-goers. Ravel was once again accused of artificiality and lack of human emotion, but Nichols finds "profoundly serious feeling at the heart of this vivid and entertaining work". The score presents an impression of simplicity, disguising intricate links between themes, with, in Murray's phrase, "extraordinary and bewitching sounds from the orchestra pit throughout". Although one-act operas are generally staged less often than full-length ones, Ravel's are produced regularly in France and abroad. ### Other vocal works A substantial proportion of Ravel's output was vocal. His early works in that sphere include cantatas written for his unsuccessful attempts at the Prix de Rome. His other vocal music from that period shows Debussy's influence, in what Kelly describes as "a static, recitative-like vocal style", prominent piano parts and rhythmic flexibility. By 1906 Ravel was taking even further than Debussy the natural, sometimes colloquial, setting of the French language in Histoires naturelles. The same technique is highlighted in Trois poèmes de Mallarmé (1913); Debussy set two of the three poems at the same time as Ravel, and the former's word-setting is noticeably more formal than the latter's, in which syllables are often elided. In the cycles Shéhérazade and Chansons madécasses, Ravel gives vent to his taste for the exotic, even the sensual, in both the vocal line and the accompaniment. Ravel's songs often draw on vernacular styles, using elements of many folk traditions in such works as Cinq mélodies populaires grecques, Deux mélodies hébraïques and Chants populaires. Among the poets on whose lyrics he drew were Marot, Léon-Paul Fargue, Leconte de Lisle and Verlaine. For three songs dating from 1914 to 1915, he wrote his own texts. Although Ravel wrote for mixed choirs and male solo voices, he is chiefly associated, in his songs, with the soprano and mezzo-soprano voices. Even when setting lyrics clearly narrated by a man, he often favoured a female voice, and he seems to have preferred his best-known cycle, Shéhérazade, to be sung by a woman, although a tenor voice is a permitted alternative in the score. ### Orchestral works During his lifetime it was above all as a master of orchestration that Ravel was famous. He minutely studied the ability of each orchestral instrument to determine its potential, putting its individual colour and timbre to maximum use. The critic Alexis Roland-Manuel wrote, "In reality he is, with Stravinsky, the one man in the world who best knows the weight of a trombone-note, the harmonics of a 'cello or a pp tam-tam in the relationships of one orchestral group to another." For all Ravel's orchestral mastery, only four of his works were conceived as concert works for symphony orchestra: Rapsodie espagnole, La valse and the two concertos. All the other orchestral works were written either for the stage, as in Daphnis et Chloé, or as a reworking of piano pieces, Alborada del gracioso and Une barque sur l'ocean, (Miroirs), Valses nobles et sentimentales, Ma mère l'Oye, Tzigane (originally for violin and piano) and Le tombeau de Couperin. In the orchestral versions, the instrumentation generally clarifies the harmonic language of the score and brings sharpness to classical dance rhythms. Occasionally, as in the Alborada del gracioso, critics have found the later orchestral version less persuasive than the sharp-edged piano original. In some of his scores from the 1920s, including Daphnis et Chloé, Ravel frequently divides his upper strings, having them play in six to eight parts while the woodwind are required to play with extreme agility. His writing for the brass ranges from softly muted to triple-forte outbursts at climactic points. In the 1930s he tended to simplify his orchestral textures. The lighter tone of the G major Piano Concerto follows the models of Mozart and Saint-Saëns, alongside use of jazz-like themes. The critics Edward Sackville-West and Desmond Shawe-Taylor comment that in the slow movement, "one of the most beautiful tunes Ravel ever invented", the composer "can truly be said to join hands with Mozart". The most popular of Ravel's orchestral works, Boléro (1928), was conceived several years before its completion; in 1924 he said that he was contemplating "a symphonic poem without a subject, where the whole interest will be in the rhythm". Ravel made orchestral versions of piano works by Schumann, Chabrier, Debussy and Mussorgsky's piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition. Orchestral versions of the last by Mikhail Tushmalov, Sir Henry Wood and Leo Funtek predated Ravel's 1922 version, and many more have been made since, but Ravel's remains the best known. Kelly remarks on its "dazzling array of instrumental colour", and a contemporary reviewer commented on how, in dealing with another composer's music, Ravel had produced an orchestral sound wholly unlike his own. ### Piano music Although Ravel wrote fewer than thirty works for the piano, they exemplify his range; Orenstein remarks that the composer keeps his personal touch "from the striking simplicity of Ma mère l'Oye to the transcendental virtuosity of Gaspard de la nuit". Ravel's earliest major work for piano, Jeux d'eau (1901), is frequently cited as evidence that he evolved his style independently of Debussy, whose major works for piano all came later. When writing for solo piano, Ravel rarely aimed at the intimate chamber effect characteristic of Debussy, but sought a Lisztian virtuosity. The authors of The Record Guide consider that works such as Gaspard de la Nuit and Miroirs have a beauty and originality with a deeper inspiration "in the harmonic and melodic genius of Ravel himself". Most of Ravel's piano music is extremely difficult to play, and presents pianists with a balance of technical and artistic challenges. Writing of the piano music the critic Andrew Clark commented in 2013, "A successful Ravel interpretation is a finely balanced thing. It involves subtle musicianship, a feeling for pianistic colour and the sort of lightly worn virtuosity that masks the advanced technical challenges he makes in Alborada del gracioso ... and the two outer movements of Gaspard de la nuit. Too much temperament, and the music loses its classical shape; too little, and it sounds pale." This balance caused a breach between the composer and Viñes, who said that if he observed the nuances and speeds Ravel stipulated in Gaspard de la nuit, "Le gibet" would "bore the audience to death". Some pianists continue to attract criticism for over-interpreting Ravel's piano writing. Ravel's regard for his predecessors is heard in several of his piano works; Menuet sur le nom de Haydn (1909), À la manière de Borodine (1912), À la manière de Chabrier (1913) and Le tombeau de Couperin all incorporate elements of the named composers interpreted in a characteristically Ravellian manner. Clark comments that those piano works which Ravel later orchestrated are overshadowed by the revised versions: "Listen to Le tombeau de Couperin and the complete ballet music for Ma mère L'Oye in the classic recordings conducted by André Cluytens, and the piano versions never sound quite the same again." ### Chamber music Apart from a one-movement Sonata for Violin and Piano dating from 1899, unpublished in the composer's lifetime, Ravel wrote seven chamber works. The earliest is the String Quartet (1902–03), dedicated to Fauré, and showing the influence of Debussy's quartet of ten years earlier. Like the Debussy, it differs from the more monumental quartets of the established French school of Franck and his followers, with more succinct melodies, fluently interchanged, in flexible tempos and varieties of instrumental colour. The Introduction and Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet (1905) was composed very quickly by Ravel's standards. It is an ethereal piece in the vein of the Pavane pour une infante défunte. Ravel also worked at unusual speed on the Piano Trio (1914) to complete it before joining the French Army. It contains Basque, Baroque and far Eastern influences, and shows Ravel's growing technical skill, dealing with the difficulties of balancing the percussive piano with the sustained sound of the violin and cello, "blending the two disparate elements in a musical language that is unmistakably his own," in the words of the commentator Keith Anderson. Ravel's four chamber works composed after the First World War are the Sonata for Violin and Cello (1920–22), the "Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré" for violin and piano (1922), the chamber original of Tzigane for violin and piano (1924) and finally the Violin Sonata (1923–27). The two middle works are respectively an affectionate tribute to Ravel's teacher, and a virtuoso display piece for the violinist Jelly d'Arányi. The Violin and Cello Sonata is a departure from the rich textures and harmonies of the pre-war Piano Trio: the composer said that it marked a turning point in his career, with thinness of texture pushed to the extreme and harmonic charm renounced in favour of pure melody. His last chamber work, the Violin Sonata (sometimes called the Second after the posthumous publication of his student sonata), is a frequently dissonant work. Ravel said that the violin and piano are "essentially incompatible" instruments, and that his Sonata reveals their incompatibility. Sackville-West and Shawe-Taylor consider the post-war sonatas "rather laboured and unsatisfactory", and neither work has matched the popularity of Ravel's pre-war chamber works. ### Recordings Ravel's interpretations of some of his piano works were captured on piano roll between 1914 and 1928, although some rolls supposedly played by him may have been made under his supervision by Robert Casadesus, a better pianist. Transfers of the rolls have been released on compact disc. In 1913 there was a gramophone recording of Jeux d'eau played by Mark Hambourg, and by the early 1920s there were discs featuring the Pavane pour une infante défunte and Ondine, and movements from the String Quartet, Le tombeau de Couperin and Ma mère l'Oye. Ravel was among the first composers who recognised the potential of recording to bring their music to a wider public, and throughout the 1920s there was a steady stream of recordings of his works, some of which featured the composer as pianist or conductor. A 1932 recording of the G major Piano Concerto was advertised as "Conducted by the composer", although he had in fact supervised the sessions while a more proficient conductor took the baton. Recordings for which Ravel actually was the conductor included a Boléro in 1930, and a sound film of a 1933 performance of the D major concerto with Wittgenstein as soloist. ## Honours and legacy Ravel declined not only the Légion d'honneur, but all state honours from France, refusing to let his name go forward for election to the Institut de France. He accepted foreign awards, including honorary membership of the Royal Philharmonic Society in 1921, the Belgian Ordre de Léopold in 1926, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford in 1928. After Ravel's death, his brother and legatee, Edouard, turned the composer's house at Montfort-l'Amaury into a museum, leaving it substantially as Ravel had known it. As at 2023 the maison-musée de Maurice Ravel remains open for guided tours. In his later years, Edouard Ravel declared his intention to leave the bulk of the composer's estate to the city of Paris for the endowment of a Nobel Prize in music, but evidently changed his mind. After his death in 1960, the estate passed through several hands. Despite the substantial royalties paid for performing Ravel's music, the news magazine Le Point reported in 2000 that it was unclear who the beneficiaries were. The British newspaper The Guardian reported in 2001 that no money from royalties had been forthcoming for the maintenance of the Ravel museum at Montfort-l'Amaury, which was in a poor state of repair. Many works have been dedicated to Ravel or composed in his memory, by Satie, Stravinsky and others. ## Notes, references and sources
37,407,571	Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book	1,151,049,639	1959 satirical graphic novel	[ "1959 comics debuts", "1959 graphic novels", "American graphic novels", "Ballantine Books books", "Comics by Harvey Kurtzman", "Parody comics", "Satirical comics" ]	Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book is a graphic novel by American cartoonist Harvey Kurtzman, published in 1959. Kurtzman aimed it at an adult audience, in contrast to his earlier work for adolescents in periodicals such as Mad. The social satire in the book's four stories targets Peter Gunn-style private-detective shows, Westerns such as Gunsmoke, capitalist avarice in the publishing industry, Freudian pop psychology, and lynch-hungry yokels in the South. Kurtzman's character Goodman Beaver makes his first appearance in one of the stories. Kurtzman created the satirical Mad in 1952, but left its publisher EC Comics in 1956 after a dispute over financial control. After two failed attempts with similar publications, Kurtzman proposed Jungle Book as an all-original cartoon book to Ballantine Books to replace its successful series of Mad collections, which had moved to another publisher. Ballantine accepted Kurtzman's proposal, albeit with reservations about its commercial viability. It was the first mass-market paperback of original comics published in the United States. Though it was not a financial success, Jungle Book attracted fans and critics for its brushwork, satirical adult-oriented humor, experimental dialogue balloons, and adventurous page and panel designs. ## Contents The full title of the book is Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book: Or, Up from the Apes! (and Right Back Down)—In Which Are Described in Words and Pictures Businessmen, Private Eyes, Cowboys, and Other Heros All Exhibiting the Progress of Man from the Darkness of the Cave into the Light of Civilization by Means of Television, Wide Screen Movies, the Stone Axe, and Other Useful Arts. At 140 pages, Jungle Book is Kurtzman's longest solo work. Freed from the length constraints of magazine pieces, Kurtzman was able to make inventive use of page and panel rhythms. According to critic and publisher Kim Thompson, his satire never had "more pitiless a bite" at any other time in his career. Kurtzman had aimed his Mad stories at an adolescent audience; his targeting Jungle Book at an adult audience was uncommon in American comics. Four stories make up the book: ### "Thelonius Violence, Like Private Eye" Thelonius Violence speaks in jazz slang while surrounded by beautiful women and jazz background music, which was a parody of the jazz-choreographed fight scenes in the Peter Gunn television series. Violence's job is to protect a young, vapid woman named Lolita Nabokov who is being blackmailed over her exam cheating. Violence suffers the onslaughts of a thug who attempts to keep him away from the young woman, but in the end it is revealed that the thug and Violence are partners in her extortion. In his parody, Kurtzman retained little from the original Peter Gunn aside from the main character. Kurtzman stated he "was trying to get ... that Henry Mancini feel to the story". "Thelonius Violence" appears first in the book, but was one of the last stories to be completed. It remained a favorite of Kurtzman's, as he "had control of this story. The action and line are good. It took time and practice and effort to get it, but it's there." ### "The Organization Man in the Gray Flannel Executive Suit" Goodman Beaver is an editor hired by Schlock Publications Inc. During his time there, he loses his youthful idealism and succumbs to the corruption he finds in the publishing world. Goodman finds himself sexually harassing the secretaries, just as the other cynical executives at Schlock do, and ends up stealing from the company. Goodman Beaver was a stand-in for Kurtzman himself in this semi-autobiographical tale. At this point in his career, Kurtzman had had several negative experiences with publishers, and he used this story to satirize the corrupting influence of capitalism and power. Kurtzman's memories of his time at Timely Comics were a strong influence on the Schlock Publications he portrayed; Timely publisher Martin Goodman was Kurtzman's model for the publisher in the story. Kurtzman also used Burt Lancaster as his model for the editor of the men's magazine in the story, and Hugh Hefner was his model for the editor of the "girlie" magazine. As Goodman Beaver did in the story, early in his career Kurtzman worked making crossword puzzles for Goodman. The title is an amalgamation of three bestselling 1950s novels: Executive Suite (1952) by Cameron Hawley, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1955) by Sloan Wilson, and The Organization Man (1956) by William H. Whyte. ### "Compulsion on the Range" "Compulsion on the Range" is a satire that blends Westerns and Freudian pop psychology. In the 1950s, a trend of "adult" Westerns appeared in which characters were given psychological backgrounds to explain their motivations, as in The Left Handed Gun, in which an angst-ridden Billy the Kid gets his revenge after losing his father figure. In "Compulsion", a psychologist tries to work out why Marshall Matt Dolin (a parody of James Arness as Marshal Matt Dillon from the popular Gunsmoke TV show) insists on trying to outshoot Johnny Ringding, chasing him across the West. "Compulsion" was the third story in the book, but the first to be drawn, and was Kurtzman's least favorite, as he thought he had yet to perfect the style he had developed for the book. The story recycled ideas from a Kurtzman strip called "Endings to End the Fast Draw" that TV Guide had rejected in 1958. ### "Decadence Degenerated" One of Kurtzman's favorites, "Decadence Degenerated" is set in a town in the Deep South called Rottenville, where nothing happens until local beauty Honey Lou is found murdered. A quiet bookworm named Si Mednick is lynched for the murder because, as one of the yokels declares, "You cain not truss [sic] a man who reads!" The town sheriff overlooks the lynching, despite the presence of a "Northern" reporter—actually from the northern part of the state. At the time the story appeared, Hollywood was releasing adaptations of works set in the South by writers such as Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner. Kurtzman said his inspiration came from his memories of Paris, Texas, where he was stationed during World War II. He learned the Southern drawl used in the story from what he heard at United Service Organizations (USO) dances. He recalled, "I just wanted a parody of that town. I worked from memory." The scene in which the unemployed townsmen mentally undress Honey Lou affected Art Spiegelman, who saw the possibilities of the comics medium in the formalities of the scene's portrayal of motion. ## Style and themes The black-and-white art is in loose, fluid, and sketchy brushwork with a gray wash. The drawings are in an exaggerated cartoon style, with rounded, fluid, elongated figures. The rendering is simple and clean, and faces often have mere circles for eyes. Most of the women lack noses except when drawn in profile. Kurtzman blends the verbal and visual aspects of the work—for example, when an enraged Goodman Beaver confronts his diminutive boss Mr. Schlock, Goodman is graphically overwhelmed by Schlock's word balloons, which demonstrates Goodman's helpless subservience and Schlock's effortless psychological dominance over his employees. Kurtzman lettered the dialogue in an expressive, handwriting-like style. Unlike as in the majority of American comic books, Kurtzman did not letter using all capitals. His tall and thin dialogue balloons necessitated frequent hyphenation, which makes the dialogue more difficult to read. Kurtzman experimented with drawing on blue-lined paper; the blue lines were not supposed to reproduce visibly when the book was printed, but the gray wash Kurtzman used unintentionally reinforced them. Kurtzman used the book to lampoon humankind's inability or incompetence, its failure to reach its supposed aspirations, and its self-delusion. He also targeted middlebrow entertainment, deflating its pretensions. The women in the stories are extraordinarily curvaceous and are frequently objectified—although the character Sam in "Decadence Degenerated" avoids being ogled or groped, it is only because she is depicted as repulsive. ## Publication Kurtzman founded the satirical Mad at EC Comics as a color comic book in 1952, and turned it into a black-and-white comics magazine in 1955. In 1956, Kurtzman left over a dispute with EC Comics publisher William Gaines about financial control. Kurtzman tried his hand at another magazine in 1957 with the financial backing of Hugh Hefner. The result, Trump, was slick and lavish, and lasted only two issues before Hefner canceled it. Kurtzman then co-founded and co-published Humbug along with a group of Mad and Trump artists. In 1958, after eleven unprofitable issues, Humbug also came to an end. Kurtzman was left disillusioned and cynical about the business end of publishing, and with a wife, three children, and a mortgage to take care of, was struggling financially. While still at EC, Kurtzman had overseen the first five Mad pocket books published by Ballantine Books, which became perennial sellers with sales in the millions. When Kurtzman left EC, his royalties from the books ceased and Gaines had Kurtzman's name removed from them. In 1958 Gaines abandoned Ballantine for Signet Books. Kurtzman proposed an original paperback to Ian Ballantine, who was looking for something to replace the Mad line. Kurtzman was well respected at the Ballantine offices, and it was editor Bernard Shir-Cliff who provided Kurtzman with the postcard of the gap-toothed character that was to become Mad's mascot Alfred E. Neuman. Ballantine had earlier published The Humbug Digest in the same format with material culled from Kurtzman's Humbug magazine, though it fared poorly in the market. Rather than reprint material cut-and-pasted to fit the narrow pages of the paperback format as had been done with Ballantine's Mad books, Kurtzman wanted to create new material designed to fit the page dimensions. Ballantine accepted Kurtzman's proposal on faith, but he had reservations. He suspected it was the Mad brand name that sold books rather than Kurtzman's name, although the artist had been the creative force behind Mad. In January Kurtzman signed a contract with Ballantine that came with an advance of \$1500 with a 4% royalty per copy sold; the deadline was 144 pages by May 1, 1959. The contracted book was to be called Pleasure Package, for which Kurtzman mocked up a cover, but appeared as Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book. When it was published in September 1959, Jungle Book was the first mass-market paperback of original comics content in the United States. The 35¢ book had small dimensions at 4+1⁄4 × 7 inches (11 × 18 cm) and was poorly printed onto low-quality paper. Ballantine printed 150000 copies for the book's first run, a low number for the company. Jungle Book sold poorly; after five years and despite an offer of copies with subscriptions to Kurtzman's Help! magazine only 78000 copies had sold—for Ballantine to break even 107000 copies would have to have been sold. Ballantine pulped the remaining copies, and Kurtzman and the company's relationship came to an end. Kurtzman lamented the book's poor sales as he said he "truly liked the format". He had been developing at least one other story, a science-fiction parody, but abandoned it after two pages. If Jungle Book had been a market success, Kurtzman had intended to continue producing books in the format. He reprinted "Decadence Degenerated" in the second issue of Help!, a magazine he edited in the 1960s. "Compulsion on the Range" was reprinted in the underground comic book Yellow Dog in 1969. Kitchen Sink Press reprinted Jungle Book in 1986 in a deluxe hardcover format with the pages reproduced at the size in which they were drawn. The reprinting includes an introduction by Art Spiegelman. Dark Horse Comics published Harvey’s Kurtzman’s Jungle Book in 2014 as the first volume of its Essential Kurtzman series. Under the Kitchen Sink Books imprint, this volume was edited and designed by John Lind; it includes a new content including an essay by Kitchen, a foreword by cartoonist Gilbert Shelton, and an interview with cartoonists Robert Crumb and Peter Poplaski about the book. The French translation of this edition, which included a new introduction by Georges Wolinski, was awarded a "Heritage Selection" at the 2018 Angoulême International Comics Festival. ## Reception and legacy Jungle Book sold poorly, but developed a fan following and became a collectors' item. Admirers included pioneering underground cartoonists such as Joel Beck, Denis Kitchen, Jay Lynch, Spain Rodriguez, Gilbert Shelton, Art Spiegelman, Skip Williamson, and Robert Crumb, who wrote "[s]ome of [Kurtzman's] greatest stuff was done in a little Ballantine Book called Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book". Goodman Beaver later appeared in a series of stories drawn by Will Elder in Kurtzman's Help!, and Kurtzman and Elder later adapted the strip into Little Annie Fanny in Playboy magazine. Biographers Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle see the book as a precursor of the graphic novel. In 1962, Kurtzman made another aborted attempt at this form with Marley's Ghost, an adaptation of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, a project he had conceived in 1954. He finished seven of the project's projected 100 pages, and had long-time collaborator Jack Davis reinterpret one of the pages as part of the proposal. The project failed to interest a publisher. Graphic novels did not start to become widespread until 1978, a year which saw the publication of McGregor and Gulacy's Sabre and Eisner's A Contract with God, the latter a book also made up of four short stories. By the time of the publication of these books a well-organized comics fandom had developed whose conventions, fanzines, and comic shops provided a more receptive environment for such innovations. The Comics Journal placed Jungle Book 26th on its 1999 list of "Top 100 English-Language Comics of the Century", along with four other works with which Kurtzman was involved. Kim Thompson described the book as "the biggest 'if' in comics' history: What if it had been a success?" Thompson speculated on what Kurtzman may have been capable of if he had not had to resort to teaching, illustration, and Little Annie Fanny. Thompson called the book "one of the artform's most stunning successes, and one of the field's most heartbreaking failures". Kurtzman's self-portrait from the back cover of the book is used in connection with the Harvey Awards, named in Kurtzman's honor.
26,431,480	Milos Raonic	1,173,819,177	Canadian tennis player (born 1990)	[ "1990 births", "Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco", "Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Spain", "Canadian humanitarians", "Canadian male tennis players", "Canadian people of Montenegrin descent", "Canadian people of Serbian descent", "Canadian television sportscasters", "Living people", "Montenegrin emigrants to Canada", "Naturalized citizens of Canada", "Olympic tennis players for Canada", "People from Monte Carlo", "People from Thornhill, Ontario", "Racket sportspeople from Ontario", "Serb diaspora sportspeople", "Serbs of Montenegro", "Sportspeople from Podgorica", "Sportspeople from the Regional Municipality of York", "Tennis commentators", "Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics", "Yugoslav emigrants to Canada" ]	Milos Raonic (Serbian Cyrillic: Милош Раонић, romanized: Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on 21 November 2016, making him the highest-ranked Canadian player in history. Raonic is the first Canadian man in the Open Era to reach the Australian Open semifinals, the French Open quarterfinals, and the Wimbledon final. He has won eight ATP Tour titles. Raonic's career highlights include a major final at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships; two major semifinals at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships and 2016 Australian Open; and four ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals at the 2013 Canadian Open, 2014 Paris Masters, 2016 Indian Wells Masters, and the 2020 Cincinnati Masters. Raonic first gained widespread recognition by reaching the fourth round of the 2011 Australian Open as a qualifier, where he was said to be the future of professional tennis. Coupled with his first ATP Tour title three weeks later, his world ranking rose from No. 152 to No. 37 in one month, and he was awarded the 2011 ATP Newcomer of the Year. Raonic is the first player born in the 1990s to win an ATP Tour title, to be ranked in the top 10, and to qualify for the ATP Tour Finals (the latter of which he achieved in 2014). Raonic is frequently described as having one of the best serves among his contemporaries. Statistically, Raonic is one of the best servers in the Open Era, winning 91% of service games to rank third of all time. Aided by his serve, he plays an all-court style with an emphasis on short points. All his singles titles have been won on hardcourts. His overall winning percentage of 68% is one of the highest among currently active players. ## Early and personal life Raonic was born on December 27, 1990, in Titograd, SFR Yugoslavia (now Podgorica, Montenegro), and is of Serb heritage. Prompted by the breakup of Yugoslavia and subsequent ethnic conflict, and seeking more professional opportunities, his family moved to Canada in 1994 when he was three, settling in Brampton, Ontario. His parents are both engineers; his father, Dušan, holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, while his mother, Vesna, has degrees in mechanical and computer engineering, including a master's. He has two older siblings: his sister, Jelena, is eleven years older, while his brother, Momir, is nine years older. Raonic's uncle, Branimir Gvozdenović, is a politician in the Government of Montenegro, where he has served as Deputy Prime Minister. Raonic is fluent in Serbian and English. His first, brief introduction to tennis came at age six or seven with a week-long tennis camp at the Bramalea Tennis Club in Brampton, followed by weekly hour-long group sessions led by tennis coach Steve Gibson, who recognized his potential. He moved to nearby Thornhill, Ontario soon after, and one or two years passed before he asked his parents if he could play again. His father sought out coach Casey Curtis at the Blackmore Tennis Club in neighbouring Richmond Hill, Ontario. Curtis was at first reluctant to take on Raonic, but was convinced after Raonic demonstrated his commitment by working with his father and a ball machine daily for two months. Years later, Raonic said he chose tennis because of its "individuality and [because he] felt [he] could train more alone and on a ball machine with [his] dad". Raonic and Curtis worked together "twice a day, almost every day, for the next nine years." Provided that he complete his courses, Raonic was allowed to reduce his hours of attendance at Thornhill Elementary School so that he could practise more, which he did both before and after school. His parents and siblings supported his tennis, taking turns driving him to practice and tournaments, but did not push him to it or interfere with coaching. Rather, they emphasized school throughout, insisting that he maintain academic excellence as a prerequisite to playing tennis. He attended Thornhill Secondary School, and accelerated his course load—achieving an 82 percent average—so that he could graduate a year early. Late in 2007, at the age of 16, Raonic moved to Montreal as one of the first group of players at Tennis Canada's new National Tennis Centre, thus marking the end of his formal relationship with Curtis. Raonic's four favourite sports teams are FC Barcelona, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Toronto Raptors. He played in the 2016 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game held in Toronto. He worked for Rogers Sportsnet as an analyst while recovering from injury for their broadcast of the 2011 Canadian Open. In November 2011, Raonic won an exhibition match against his childhood idol, Pete Sampras, which was dubbed "The Face Off." In 2012, he took up residence in Monte Carlo, Monaco in a 50 metre<sup>2</sup> (538 sq ft) apartment, located minutes away from the Monte Carlo Country Club—his "home" tennis club and the site of the Monte-Carlo Masters tournament—and Stade Louis II, which he uses for off-court training. Raonic was in a relationship with Canadian model Danielle Knudson. ## Tennis career ### Amateur career Raonic first competed at a junior event sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in October 2003 at the age of 12. Two years later, in October 2005, he picked up his first singles match victory at age 14. His first juniors titles in both singles and doubles came at the same Grade 4 tournament in October 2006. Later that year, he won the Prince Cup doubles title, partnering fellow Canadian Vasek Pospisil for the first time at an ITF event. Pospisil and Raonic partnered at four more junior tournaments, including the 2008 Wimbledon Championships and the 2008 French Open, reaching the semifinals in the latter. His most notable titles as a junior were in doubles, winning two Grade 1 events in 2008 partnered with Bradley Klahn. Over five years, Raonic compiled a 53–30 win–loss record in singles, and a 56–24 record in doubles on the ITF Junior Circuit. Except for reaching the semifinals at the 2008 French Open in doubles, Raonic did not advance past the second round of junior Grand Slam events. His career-high combined junior ranking, which considers both singles and doubles results, was No. 35. While an amateur, Raonic played in fourteen professional tournaments against adults in North America: ten ITF Futures events at the bottom tier of professional tennis; three ATP Challenger Tour events at the middle tier; and one ATP World Tour event at the top tier. He played his first professional circuit match in the qualifying draw of an ITF Futures tournament in Toronto in October 2005 at the age of 14; he won his first professional circuit main draw match at an ITF Futures tournament in Gatineau, Quebec, in March 2007 against Fabrice Martin. With the win, Raonic earned his first world ranking of No. 1518. He played his first professional circuit doubles match at the same tournament, partnered with Pospisil again. Raonic lost his first ATP Challenger Tour match in Granby, Quebec, in July 2007 against Gary Lugassy. Raonic won his first ITF Futures doubles title in Gatineau, Quebec in March 2008, and reached his first ITF Futures singles final two weeks later in Sherbrooke, Quebec. He received a wildcard to the qualifying tournament of the 2008 Canadian Open, but lost in the first round to Alexander Kudryavtsev. The match was his first in the ATP World Tour. By the summer of 2008, Raonic had received scholarship offers from several colleges, including the University of Michigan, Princeton, and Northwestern University, and committed to play for the University of Virginia that fall while studying finance. Just two weeks before school started, he consulted his parents about his plan to turn professional instead. Raonic and his parents agreed that he would take correspondence courses in finance from Athabasca University while starting a professional tennis career, setting a deadline of two years for reaching the top 100. During that summer, his world ranking ranged between No. 915 and No. 937. Raonic reached the top 100 in January 2011, around five months later than the target deadline. He thus turned down the scholarships and turned professional, agreeing to be represented by the sports agency SFX. University of Virginia men's tennis coach Brian Boland later commented that "I have only seen two guys turn down scholarships and then succeed quickly on the Tour: Sam Querrey and Milos Raonic." ### 2008–2010: Early professional years After turning professional in September 2008 until the end of 2010, Raonic played both singles and doubles, primarily at ITF Futures and ATP Challenger tournaments. He won his first ITF Futures singles title in March 2009 in Montreal. He added three more singles titles and five doubles titles at the ITF Futures level in 2009 and 2010. He was less successful at the ATP Challenger level, tallying only one title. In his fourth tournament after turning professional, Raonic won the doubles title at the Men's Rimouski Challenger in November 2008, partnered with Pospisil. At the ATP World Tour level, Raonic gained entry into few tournaments, compiling a main draw record of three wins and five losses over nearly two and half years. In 2009, Raonic again received a wildcard for the qualifying tournament of the Canadian Open. This time, he beat No. 77 Teymuraz Gabashvili and No. 113 Michaël Llodra to qualify for the main draw of an ATP World Tour tournament for the first time. In the first round, he held a match point, but lost to No. 10 Fernando González in three sets. The matches against Gabashvili and González were the first singles matches for Raonic against a top 100 player and top 10 player, respectively. A year later, at the 2010 Canadian Open, Raonic and Pospisil were given a doubles wildcard to the main draw, marking Raonic's first ever ATP World Tour doubles match. They won their first round match against Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. It was first time that the world Nos. 1 and 2 had played together in a tour doubles match since Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe did so in 1976. In the second round, Raonic and Pospisil lost to reigning Wimbledon doubles champions Jürgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner. After the match, Raonic said: "Our goal here is pretty much as ambassadors to Canada. The more players that we can get to come, the more people we can get going to take tennis lessons." Less than a month later, Raonic gained entry into a Grand Slam tournament for the first time at the 2010 US Open. He qualified for the main draw, but lost in the first round to Carsten Ball. Raonic's first ATP main draw singles victory came in September 2010 at the Malaysian Open against No. 105 Igor Kunitsyn. He followed this with a second round victory over No. 31 Sergiy Stakhovsky. The following week, Raonic lost in the second round of the 2010 Japan Open to No. 1 Nadal. This marked his first singles match against a player ranked No. 1, and his first singles match against a member of the Big Four—a quartet of dominant tennis players including Nadal, Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray. Raonic's coaching relationship evolved during his early professional years. Since late 2007, Raonic had been working with Tennis Canada coaches—including Guillaume Marx, Head Boys National Coach—based out of the National Training Centre at Jarry Park in Montreal. In November 2009, with Raonic's world ranking at No. 377, Tennis Canada hired recently retired former player Frédéric Niemeyer to coach Raonic and travel with him for 18 weeks during the 2010 season. Toward the end of 2010, however, Niemeyer decided to travel less owing to "family considerations." As a result, Tennis Canada arranged for a two-week trial period with former No. 40 Galo Blanco in co-operation with Niemeyer, including tournaments in Malaysia and Japan in late September and early October. Over this period, Raonic climbed from No. 237 to No. 155. Tennis Canada hired Blanco, and Raonic moved to Barcelona to train with Blanco and trainer Tony Estalella. Commenting on the training regiment, Blanco said "the off-season Milos had this winter in Barcelona was amazing. We never saw anything like that before, working the way he worked for six weeks." ### 2011: Top 25 and first ATP Tour title The first two months of 2011 represented a significant breakthrough for Raonic, as he rose from No. 156 at the beginning of January to No. 37 by the end of February. In doing so, he became the highest-ranked Canadian male ever. He began this climb by qualifying for the Australian Open main draw. His first round victory over Björn Phau marked his first victory in a main draw Grand Slam match. In the second round, he defeated No. 22 seed Llodra, becoming the first Canadian man in 10 years to reach the third round of a Grand Slam singles tournament. With his career-first victory over a top 10 player (Mikhail Youzhny) in the third round, he became the first qualifier to make the fourth round of a major since Marcelo Filippini at the 1999 French Open. Despite losing in the fourth round to No. 7 David Ferrer, Raonic received rave reviews for his Australian Open performance. Patrick McEnroe said "Raonic [is] the real deal". BBC Sport referred to Raonic as part of "a new generation". Martina Navratilova referred to Raonic as "a new star" saying that "the sky is the limit". The Sydney Morning Herald referred to Raonic as a "future superstar". Two weeks later, Raonic won his first ATP title at the Pacific Coast Championships, with victories over No. 45 Xavier Malisse, No. 170 James Blake, No. 74 Ričardas Berankis, and No. 9 Fernando Verdasco. With the victory, he became the first player born in the 1990s to win an ATP title, and the youngest winner since Marin Čilić won the 2008 Connecticut Open at age 19. Raonic's victory was the first ATP title by a Canadian since Greg Rusedski in 1995. The following week, Raonic reached the final of an ATP 500 tournament for the first time at the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships. He defeated Verdasco for the second time in three days in the first round, and No. 17 Mardy Fish in the semifinal. In the final, he lost in three sets to No. 8 Roddick, with Roddick making a diving forehand to break serve for the match on his fifth championship point. Roddick stated: "That's the best shot I've ever hit in my life, considering the circumstance." With his improved ranking (No. 37), Raonic earned direct entry to Grand Slam tournaments and other ATP World Tour events for the first time. He reached the third round at both the Indian Wells Masters and the Monte-Carlo Masters. In May, Raonic rose to a new career-high ranking of No. 25. He was seeded for the first time at a Grand Slam event at the French Open, but lost in the first round to Michael Berrer. At the Halle Open, Raonic reached his first ATP World Tour doubles final, partnered with Robin Haase. The pair lost to Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi in the deciding super tiebreak. During his second round singles match at Wimbledon against Gilles Müller, Raonic retired with an early lead after injuring his right hip when he slipped and fell on the grass. He underwent hip surgery which prevented him from competing until September. His only significant result in the latter half of 2011 after returning from injury was a semifinal appearance at the Stockholm Open, where he lost to Gaël Monfils. ### 2012: Continued rise and first title defence Raonic began 2012 with titles in two of his first three tournaments, starting with his second ATP title at the Chennai Open in India. He had back-to-back wins over top 10 players at a tournament for the first time, beating Nicolás Almagro in the semifinals and Janko Tipsarević in the final. Raonic held serve during the entire tournament, becoming the first player to do so since Federer at the 2008 Halle Open. He lost in the third round of the Australian Open to Lleyton Hewitt. In February, Raonic defended his title at the Pacific Coast Championships, defeating Denis Istomin in the final for his third ATP title. The following week in Memphis, Raonic reached the final of the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships for the second straight year, but lost to Melzer. In the spring, Raonic played his first three matches against No. 3 Federer on three different surfaces: hard court in the third round of the Indian Wells Masters; clay in the second round at the Madrid Open; and grass in the quarterfinals at the Halle Open. On each occasion, Raonic won the first set before losing the next two. After the Halle Open match, Federer remarked: "I am happy to have beaten him now because by the end of my career, he'll be serving at 300 km/h." He defeated No. 4 Murray in straight sets in the quarterfinals at the Barcelona Open. This marked his first victory over a member of the Big Four. In the semifinal, he lost to No. 6 Ferrer. Raonic lost to Juan Mónaco in the third round of the French Open, and followed this with a second round loss to Querrey at Wimbledon. Raonic reached his first ATP 1000 quarterfinals at back-to-back events in August, losing to John Isner at the Canadian Open and Stan Wawrinka at the Cincinnati Masters. His loss to Wawrinka followed his victory over No. 7 Tomáš Berdych, his fourth top 10 victory of the year. On August 13, his world ranking was No. 19, marking his first time in the top 20. At the US Open, Raonic lost in the fourth round to eventual champion Murray. Raonic was the first Canadian male to reach the fourth round of the US Open since Laurendeau in 1988. In October at the Japan Open, Raonic reached his third ATP 500 final, defeating Radek Štěpánek, Viktor Troicki, Tipsarević, and Murray, before dropping the final to Japan's Kei Nishikori in three sets. His victories over Tipsarević and Murray marked the third time he won back-to-back matches against top 10 players. In 2012, Raonic led the ATP in points won on 1st serve (82%) and in service games won (93%). He finished the year at a career high singles ranking of No. 13. His six victories over top 10 players in 2012, including two over Murray, marks a career-high. ### 2013: Top 10 ranking and first Masters 1000 final In all four 2013 Grand Slam tournaments, Raonic matched his previous best result. He reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, falling to No. 2 Federer. At the French Open, he lost in the third round to Kevin Anderson. At Wimbledon, he lost in the second round to Igor Sijsling. At the US Open, he fell to No. 9 Richard Gasquet in the fourth round in a five-set thriller, despite a career-high 39 aces. Raonic again achieved success at ATP 250 and ATP 500 events. In February, Raonic earned his third consecutive title at the Pacific Coast Championships, defeating Tommy Haas in the final. Over three years, he achieved a perfect 12–0 match record, and did not drop a single set. He is the only man in the Open Era to win three consecutive singles titles at this event. In September, he won the Thailand Open tournament, defeating No. 9 Gasquet in the semifinals and No. 6 Berdych in the final. The titles were Raonic's fourth and fifth, both coming in ATP 250 events like previous titles. In October, Raonic reached the Japan Open final for the second consecutive year, but lost a close match to No. 7 Juan Martín del Potro. It marked his fourth consecutive loss in the final of an ATP 500 event. In eight of the nine ATP 1000 events, Raonic matched or improved on his career-best performance. This included his first ATP 1000 series final at the Canadian Open in August. During his third round victory over del Potro, Raonic was awarded a point even though his foot touched the net. He did not report his error to the umpire, and won the last nine points to close out the match. Raonic later admitted that he was wrong not to admit his error at the time: "I made a mistake in the spur of the moment ... I'm disappointed with myself, how I dealt with it." After beating Ernests Gulbis in the quarterfinals, Raonic defeated compatriot Pospisil in the semifinals. The match against Pospisil was the first all-Canadian semifinal in an ATP 1000 tournament. In the final, he lost to Nadal in just 68 minutes. Following the tournament, Raonic was ranked No. 10, becoming the first Canadian player and the first player born in the 1990s to break into the top 10. In 2013, Raonic again led the ATP in points won on first serve (82%) and in service games won (91%). He had 45 match victories for the second consecutive year. His coaching team underwent significant changes in 2013. In May, Raonic split with his coach of two and half years, Blanco. Less than a month later, Raonic hired former No. 3 tennis player Ivan Ljubičić as his coach. In December, he hired Riccardo Piatti as a co-coach with Ljubičić. ### 2014: First Grand Slam semifinal Raonic opened 2014 by reaching the third round of the Australian Open, losing to Grigor Dimitrov. He sustained an ankle injury that kept him out of action for six weeks. From March through May, Raonic improved on his career-best performance at five consecutive ATP 1000 events. At the Indian Wells Masters, he beat No. 6 Murray to reach the quarterfinals, losing to Alexandr Dolgopolov. He lost in the quarterfinals of the Miami Masters to Nadal. He reached the quarterfinals for the third ATP 1000 tournament in a row at the Monte-Carlo Masters, before falling to Wawrinka. The result garnered Raonic a career-high ranking as world No. 9. Raonic lost in the third round of the Madrid Open to Nishikori. At the Italian Open, Raonic defeated Jérémy Chardy in the quarterfinals to reach his first Masters 1000 semifinal on clay. After winning the first set, he lost his semifinal match to eventual champion Djokovic. Although he had played Djokovic in the 2013 Davis Cup, this was their first ATP match against one another. At the French Open, Raonic was seeded in the top eight for the first time at a Grand Slam tournament. He notched victories against Nick Kyrgios, Jiří Veselý, Gilles Simon, and Marcel Granollers to reach the quarterfinals of a major for the first time in his career, becoming the first Canadian man to do so in the Open Era. He lost in the quarterfinals to Djokovic in straight sets. After the match, Raonic commented: "I've gone farther in a Slam than I have before and I've learned things even from this loss." At Wimbledon, Raonic was again seeded eighth. He defeated Matthew Ebden, Jack Sock, Łukasz Kubot, Nishikori, and Kyrgios to reach his first major semifinal. He became the first Canadian men's singles player to reach the semifinals at a major since Robert Powell in 1908. In the quarterfinal victory against Kyrgios, Raonic tied a career-high with 39 aces. In the semifinals, Raonic lost to Federer in straight sets. After the match, Raonic reflected: "There's a lot of good things to take from it. ... But when you get here to this point, I think it's just human nature, the greed of human nature, that you want so much more. You feel it in front of you and you want to grab it." Despite the loss, Raonic saw his world ranking improve to a career-high No. 6. In his next tournament, Raonic reached his first final of the year at the Washington Open, facing Pospisil in the first all-Canadian final in ATP history. Raonic won the title in straight sets. It was his first ATP 500 title, after finishing as runner-up in four previous ATP 500 tournaments. After reaching the quarterfinals at the Canadian Open and the semifinals at the Cincinnati Masters, he claimed the men's 2014 US Open Series. At the US Open, Raonic was seeded fifth. He won his first three matches to face rival Nishikori in the fourth round. On the morning of September 2, Raonic and Nishikori tied the all-time latest finish for a match at the US Open, ending at 2:26 a.m. This tied previous matches between Mats Wilander and Mikael Pernfors in 1993, and between Isner and Philipp Kohlschreiber in 2012. The five set match lasted 4 hours and 19 minutes, with Raonic losing and Nishikori advancing to the quarterfinals. In October, Raonic reached the final of the Japan Open for the third consecutive year, but lost to Nishikori again. Three years prior, in 2011, Raonic had set a personal goal of reaching the year-end ATP Finals, where only the top eight players earned a spot. Heading into the last ATP 1000 event of 2014, the Paris Masters, Raonic trailed Ferrer for the eighth spot, and needed a deep run to surpass him. He beat Sock and Roberto Bautista Agut to set up a quarterfinals match against No. 2 Federer, who had beaten him in all six previous meetings. Needing a win to avoid being eliminated from contention for the ATP Finals, Raonic won in straight sets. His victory was hailed as "a career-defining win." In the post-match interview, Raonic was asked to rank this victory in his career. He replied: "Considering all the circumstances around it, I think this was the biggest win for me." He went on to beat No. 5 Berdych in the semifinals to earn a spot in the second ATP 1000 final of his career. He lost to Djokovic in the final, but secured his place in the 2014 ATP Finals. He is the first Canadian to reach the ATP Finals, and the first player born in the 1990s to do so. Anticlimactically, Raonic withdrew from the tournament due to a leg-muscle tear prior to his match against Nishikori, after losses to Federer and Murray. Raonic ended the year at a career-high season-ending ranking of No. 8. He was one of just three players to reach the quarterfinals or better at seven of the nine ATP 1000 tournaments. Raonic finished with a career-high total of 1107 aces in 2014. At the time, this was the fifth highest single-year ace total in history. (It was surpassed by both Ivo Karlović and Isner in 2015.) ### 2015: Top 4 ranking and injury woes Raonic began 2015 by reaching the final at the Brisbane International after defeating No. 5 Nishikori in three sets, all decided in tiebreaks. He lost to No. 2 Federer in three sets, with Federer recording his 1,000th match win on the professional tour. Later in the month, he reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open after beating No. 12 Feliciano López. He lost to Djokovic in straight sets. At the Indian Wells Masters, Raonic won his quarterfinal match against No. 3 Nadal, after saving three match points from Nadal in the second set tiebreak. It was Raonic's first career victory over Nadal after five defeats. He lost to Federer in the semifinals. In April, Raonic opened the Monte-Carlo Masters with a victory over João Sousa. Just one game into his second-round match against Tommy Robredo, Raonic called for a medical timeout due to a right foot injury. Although he went on to win the match, Raonic's manager indicated that Raonic had made a pre-existing injury worse by playing. In his quarterfinal match against Berdych, he complained of numbness in his right foot during a medical timeout, and retired while trailing 2–5 in the opening set. It was diagnosed as a pinched nerve, and Raonic was expected to be healthy for the Madrid Open. In Madrid, Raonic advanced to the quarterfinals with straight sets victories over Mónaco and Leonardo Mayer. After Raonic lost in the quarterfinals against Murray, Murray observed that Raonic was "struggling [with injury]." Following the match, Raonic announced that he would undergo surgery to repair a nerve in his foot, targeting a return in time for the French Open. Ironically, Raonic's world ranking reached a new career-high of No. 4 the following week, the highest by a Canadian man or woman. Following surgery, Raonic withdrew from the Italian Open and the French Open. He returned in time for the grass court season. Having played in Halle in previous years, Raonic elected to play at the Queen's Club Championships for the first time. Raonic lost in the quarterfinals in his Queen's debut, and lost in the third round at Wimbledon. After his Wimbledon loss to Kyrgios, Raonic commented that his foot injury had led to problems throughout his body: "There wasn't a place it wasn't [bothering me]... First ankle, then the hip, and then the back. Then when those things aren't working, you just put too much pressure on your shoulder, and then your shoulder hurts." The cascading injuries led to a withdrawal from Canada's Davis Cup tie against Belgium; a withdrawal from the Washington Open, where Raonic was the defending champion; first round losses at the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Masters; and a third round loss at the US Open to López. In September, at the St. Petersburg Open, Raonic won his seventh singles title—and first in Europe—with a three-set victory over Sousa. His serve was broken just once in the entire tournament. After early losses at the China Open and Shanghai Masters, Raonic ended his ATP season by withdrawing from three consecutive tournaments, citing injury. On November 2, he fell outside the top 10, dropping to No. 14. After six weeks off, Raonic joined the Philippine Mavericks of the exhibition International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) in December. After four matches, he withdrew due to back spasms. In late November, Raonic parted ways with both Ljubičić, who had been his coach since June 2013, and Austin Nunn, who had been his media manager for nearly four years. Ljubičić was added to Federer's coaching team two weeks later. Raonic contacted former No. 1 tennis player Carlos Moyá about a coaching relationship, and they trained together and had discussions during the IPTL events. The relationship was subsequently formalized and on January 1, 2016, Raonic announced that Moyá would join his coaching team alongside Piatti. Raonic said that he chose Moyá for three reasons: "Carlos is very laid back and positive [... and] he communicates well." ### 2016: First Grand Slam final and top 3 ranking Raonic reached the final of the Brisbane International against No. 3 Federer in a rematch of their 2015 final. This time, Raonic upset Federer in straight sets, winning his eighth career title. Asked to talk about Raonic after the match, Federer observed: "[F]or a big guy he moves well ... He's improved his fitness the last few years. Also, tactically, I think he's better now than he's ever been. He's made a conscious effort of playing close to the baseline, which before when he was working with the Spanish coaches he was way back." In the fourth round of the Australian Open, he upset No. 4 Wawrinka in five sets, beating the 2014 champion for the first time in five meetings. He then beat Monfils in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time in his career. He became the first Canadian man to reach the Australian Open semifinals. In the semifinals, he lost to No. 2 Murray in five sets, sustaining an adductor injury while leading two sets to one. After the match, he reflected that the loss was "probably the most heartbroken [he has] felt on court." The adductor injury kept Raonic out of competition for six weeks, during which he withdrew from the Delray Beach Open and the Mexican Open, and Canada's Davis Cup clash with France. He returned to action at the Indian Wells Masters, reaching the final against No. 1 Djokovic with a string of four victories over top 20 opponents: Bernard Tomic, Berdych, Monfils, and David Goffin. In the semifinal victory over Goffin, Raonic's average second serve (112 mph) was faster than Goffin's average first serve (110 mph). Before the final, Djokovic said: "Milos is probably playing the best tennis that he has ever played. His serve was phenomenal before the start of this season, but it seems like he has improved even more, especially the second serve. He's going for it more. He's not giving you the same look." Raonic lost a lopsided straight sets match to Djokovic in the final, his third consecutive loss in an ATP 1000 final. Raonic followed Indian Wells by reaching the quarterfinals at the next three ATP 1000 events in Miami, Monte Carlo, and Madrid, eventually losing to Kyrgios, Murray, and Djokovic, respectively. On May 2, he re-entered the top 10 at No. 10. Raonic continued the clay court season with a second-round loss at the Italian Open to Kyrgios. At the French Open, he was the eighth seed, but fell in the fourth round in straight sets to No. 55 Albert Ramos Viñolas. During the French Open, former No. 1 and three-time Wimbledon champion John McEnroe announced that he would join Raonic's team as a consultant for the grass court season. Commenting on McEnroe joining Moyá and Piatti on his coaching team, Raonic said: "I was sort of just looking for another set of eyes to be a bit more efficient on grass" and he said it was about "generally improving." McEnroe left Raonic's team in August. Raonic began the grass court season by advancing to his first grass court final at the Queen's Club Championships without dropping serve in victories over Kyrgios, Veselý, Bautista Agut, and Tomic, but lost the final in three sets to Murray. At Wimbledon, Raonic won his first three matches in straight sets against Pablo Carreño Busta, Andreas Seppi, and Sock. In the fourth round against Goffin, Raonic came back from a two set deficit to win in five sets for the first time in his career. In ten previous best-of-five matches where he lost the first two sets, he also lost the third set. Raonic then beat Querrey in the quarterfinals and Federer in the semifinals, marking Federer's first defeat in 11 Wimbledon semifinals. With the victory, Raonic reached his first Grand Slam final, matching Greg Rusedski. In the final, he lost to Murray in straight sets, though he made the fastest serve of the tournament at 147 miles per hour (237 km/h). With the transition to hard courts after Wimbledon, Raonic made the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open, losing to Monfils, before falling to Murray for the fifth time in 2016 in the Cincinnati Masters semifinal. Raonic was the fifth seed at the US Open, but lost in the second round to Ryan Harrison, partly due to debilitating cramps. In September, cramps were cited as the reason for Raonic to miss Canada's Davis Cup tie against Chile. Later that month, Raonic failed to defend his title at the St. Petersburg Open, falling in his opening match to Youzhny. Raonic withdrew from the China Open prior to his semifinal match due to an ankle injury sustained in the quarterfinal. With the result, Raonic qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals for the second time. Raonic suffered another injury, a quadriceps tear, during his quarterfinal match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Paris Masters and withdrew before his scheduled semifinal against Murray. At the ATP World Tour Finals, Raonic lost to Djokovic, but beat Monfils and Thiem in round robin play to qualify for his first Tour Finals semifinal. He lost the semifinal match to Murray in 3 hours and 38 minutes, the longest match on the ATP Tour in 2016 and the longest match in World Tour Finals history. Raonic rose to a career-high No. 3, finishing the year behind only Murray and Djokovic. In December, he ended his coaching relationship with Moya, and added former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek to his coaching staff alongside Piatti for the 2017 season. ### 2017: More injuries and out of top 20 At his first tournament of the season, the Brisbane International, Raonic reached the semifinals with wins over Diego Schwartzman and Rafael Nadal in the first two rounds. He lost to Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets. At the Australian Open, he won his first two matches in straight sets respectively over Dustin Brown and Gilles Müller. In the third and fourth rounds, he defeated Gilles Simon and then Roberto Bautista Agut both in four sets. Though Raonic failed to get past eventual finalist Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals, this result marked the third year in a row that Milos made at least the quarterfinals at this tournament. At his next tournament in February, he reached the final in Delray Beach, giving Jack Sock a walkover in the final due to a hamstring tear in his right leg. Returning from injury at the Miami Open in March, Raonic defeated Viktor Troicki in his opening round but had to withdraw from his next match against qualifier Jared Donaldson, again with the hamstring injury. In May, Raonic advanced to his second final of the season, losing to Marin Čilić in Istanbul. He lost in the fourth round of the French Open to Pablo Carreño Busta in a five-set marathon. At Wimbledon, he made it to the quarterfinals but was defeated by Roger Federer in straight sets. After his run at Wimbledon, he only played two more tournaments, losing in the quarterfinals in Washington, D.C. to Jack Sock and in the second round in Montreal to Adrian Mannarino. He then had to withdraw from various tournaments, including the US Open, due to injury. Raonic returned in October at the Japan Open but had to retire in his second round match against Yūichi Sugita again with an injury. Although he reached two finals in 2017, it was the first time since 2011 that he failed to win at least one title. ### 2018: Return to top 20 After ending his 2017 season early, Raonic dropped to No. 24. He began his season at the Brisbane International as the fourth seed. He lost in the second round to Alex de Minaur in straight sets. Raonic then went on to compete at the 2018 Australian Open, where he lost in the opening round to Lukáš Lacko in four sets. This was Raonic's second time overall that he lost in the first round of a Grand Slam and the first time since the 2011 French Open. This also meant that he would fall out of the top 30 for the first time since February 2011. Raonic's next tournament was the Delray Beach Open. He easily beat Taro Daniel in the first round but went on to lose to Steve Johnson in straight sets in the next round. At Indian Wells, Raonic reached his first Masters 1000 semifinal since November 2016 in Paris with wins over compatriot Félix Auger-Aliassime, João Sousa, Marcos Baghdatis by walkover and Sam Querrey, respectively in the first rounds. He was defeated by Juan Martín del Potro in straight sets. The next week at the Miami Open, Raonic advanced to the quarterfinals but lost for the second week in a row to del Potro, this time in three close sets. He did not compete at the French Open because of a knee injury. In June at the Stuttgart Open, he advanced to his first final in over a year, but was defeated by world No. 2 Roger Federer. At Wimbledon, he advanced to the quarterfinals, but lost to John Isner. ### 2019: Fourth Australian Open quarterfinal Raonic was seeded 16th at the 2019 Australian Open. He defeated Nick Kyrgios in the first round in straight sets and narrowly defeated 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka in four close tiebreak sets in the second round. In the third, he defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert. In the fourth round, he faced fourth seed Alexander Zverev. He started the match dominantly, winning 12 of the first 14 games to take a two-set lead. Zverev played a competitive third set, but Raonic ultimately won in a tiebreak. In the quarterfinals, he lost to 28th seed Lucas Pouille in four sets. He announced his split with coach Goran Ivanišević, and will now be coached by French former ATP player Fabrice Santoro. ### 2020: Fifth Australian Open quarterfinal, Fourth Masters 1000 final Raonic started his 2020 at Qatar open in Doha where he was seeded 4th. However, only in his first match he lost to Corentin Moutet in straight sets. Raonic then participated in 2020 Australian Open, where he defeated Lorenzo Giustino, Cristian Garín, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Marin Čilić before losing to Novak Djokovic at the quarter-final stage in straight sets. In February 2020, Raonic participated in New York Open where he was seeded second, but he lost to Soonwoo Kwon in his first match at the tournament. Days later, he took part in Delray Beach Open and defeated Denis Istomin, Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, Steve Johnson before losing his semi-final match to Reilly Opelka. Raonic found form at the 2020 Cincinnati Masters, where he defeated Sam Querrey, Daniel Evans, and a resurgent Andy Murray, all in straight sets. In the quarterfinal stage, he recovered from a set and a break down, and saved a match point to defeat Filip Krajinović in their quarterfinal encounter. He defeated 4th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets to reach his fourth Masters 1000 final. He lost to Novak Djokovic in 3 sets in the final. At the US Open, he lost in the second round to countryman, Vasek Pospisil. After a semifinal appearance at the St. Petersburg Open, Raonic would end his year with another semifinal appearance at the Paris Masters where he lost to 3rd seed and eventual champion Daniil Medvedev in straight sets. ### 2021: ATP Cup debut, injuries and hiatus Raonic opened his 2021 campaign at the 2021 ATP Cup representing team Canada alongside countrymen Denis Shapovalov, Steven Diez and Peter Polansky. Canada was drawn into a round robin group with teams Serbia and Germany, and Raonic was penciled in as the number 2 player. In the first tie against team Serbia, Raonic won his singles match in straight sets over Dušan Lajović. Partnering with Shapovalov in the deciding doubles match, they were unable to get the win and thus lost the tie 2–1. In the second tie, versus team Germany, Raonic lost his singles match against Jan-Lennard Struff in two tiebreaker sets, and after Shapovalov lost his match against Zverev, Canada was officially eliminated from the tournament. At the 2021 Australian Open, he lost in the fourth round to eventual champion Novak Djokovic. Raonic struggled with calf and right leg injuries for most of the year. After losing in the fourth round at the 2021 Miami Masters to eventual champion Hubert Hurkacz in three sets, he took a hiatus that lasted for three months and returned at the 2021 Atlanta Open in July. As the top seed, he lost in his opening match against eventual finalist Brandon Nakashima in three sets. After the loss, he took another hiatus due to his injuries. ### 2023: Comeback for grass season after two years According to his coach Mario Tudor, Raonic planned on returning to the tour in 2023. In May, news came that he would participate in the grass court season. In June, he entered the 2023 Libéma Open using his protected ranking and won his first match back, defeating fifth seed Miomir Kecmanović in straight sets. He won his first Major match since 2021 at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships defeating Dennis Novak. He lost to Tommy Paul in the second round. As a result, he moved more then 300 positions up, close to the top 500 in the rankings. He stated that this might be his last Wimbledon. He further added he expected to play the Canadian Open (tennis) in Toronto and then the US Open (tennis) before retiring. In the 2023 Canadian Open, he reached the third round, losing to Mackenzie McDonald. ## National representation Early in his career, Raonic was questioned about whether he would follow the example of Rusedski, the last prominent Canadian tennis player, who decided to represent Great Britain instead. Raonic declared that he would play for Canada. Raonic embraced his role as Canada's top singles player, intent on growing the game in Canada. He stated in 2010: "I want to make a difference in Canada with [my career]. I feel if I were to achieve my goals it could make a great difference to the growth of tennis in Canada and help to produce more top players in the future." Before a Davis Cup tie with Japan in 2015, he said: "I'm here because I want to be here. I don't have anybody telling me I need to be here. I want to succeed at this event, and I want to succeed representing Canada." ### Davis Cup From 2010 to 2016, Canada competed in 16 Davis Cup ties. Raonic represented Canada in 11 of those ties, missing five due to injury: Ecuador in 2011, Japan in 2014, Belgium in 2015, and France and Chile in 2016. Overall, Raonic has 16 match wins in 22 Davis Cup matches (14–5 in singles; 2–1 in doubles). He is one of the most successful players in Canadian Davis Cup history, tied for sixth in match wins overall and for third in singles match wins. Raonic made his Davis Cup debut in Bogotá against Colombia in 2010 at the age of 19. Raonic lost both of his singles matches (against Santiago Giraldo and Juan Sebastián Cabal), but won his doubles match partnered with Nestor, who was then the top ranked doubles player in the world. His first singles match victory came in Canada's next tie against the Dominican Republic, when he beat Víctor Estrella Burgos in five sets. This marked the first five set match of Raonic's career. Competing against Mexico in 2011, Raonic won three rubbers in a tie for the first time, beating both Manuel Sánchez and Daniel Garza in singles and partnering with Pospisil to win in doubles as well. In the 2013 Davis Cup World Group first round, Raonic won singles rubbers over Ramos Viñolas and Guillermo García López to lead Canada over top-seeded Spain. He repeated this feat with victories over Fabio Fognini and Seppi to help Canada defeat Italy in the quarterfinals, sending Canada into the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time since 1913. In the semifinal against Serbia, Raonic won his singles match over Tipsarević, but lost to No. 1 Djokovic as Canada was eliminated. The defeat marked Raonic's first singles match against Djokovic. ### Olympics Raonic represented Canada at the London 2012 Olympics and competed in the singles competition as an unseeded player. He won his first-round match over Japan's Tatsuma Ito in straight sets. In the second round, Raonic lost to French player Tsonga 3–6, 6–3, 23–25, breaking three Olympic tennis records. The match holds the records for the most games played in a best-of-three sets match (66 games) and the most games played in a single set (48 games) in Olympic history. At the time, it was the longest Olympic match by time played (3 hours 57 minutes), but this record was broken three days later in the semifinal match between Federer and del Potro (4 hours 26 minutes). Raonic decided not to play in the 2016 Summer Olympics, citing health concerns and the Zika virus. ### Hopman Cup In 2014, Raonic partnered with Bouchard to represent Canada in the Hopman Cup. Raonic won two of three singles matches, and paired with Bouchard to win two of three doubles matches. Canada finished in second place in their pool—behind top-seeded Poland—and were eliminated. ## Playing style The most distinctive part of Raonic's game is his powerful and accurate serve, from which his "Missile" nickname is derived. He is frequently cited as having one of the best serves among his contemporaries, along with Karlović and Isner. Some consider Raonic's serve to be among the best of all time. Sampras, Raonic's childhood idol, describes the Canadian's serve as "bigger than big." After a match against Raonic, Djokovic commented "I can't recall the last time I was feeling so helpless returning. Even his second serve." Women's tennis player Serena Williams has said that "If she could take one thing from another player, it would be Milos Raonic's serve." Statistically, Raonic is among the strongest servers in the Open Era, winning 91% of service games to rank third all-time. Raonic has one of the fastest recorded serves of all time. Aided by his serve, Raonic employs an all-court style with an emphasis on short points. His groundstrokes are both good, but his forehand is stronger than his backhand. Because of this, he has been known to run around his backhand and hit inside-out forehands instead. He attempts to dictate play and is generally more aggressive than his opponent, as evidenced by usually having more winners and more unforced errors. To finish points quickly, Raonic occasionally approaches the net, with either a serve and volley or chip and charge strategy. Raonic prefers playing on hard courts, where he has been more successful than on clay or grass courts. All but two of the tournaments where Raonic has reached the final have been played on hard courts, and all but three of his victories over top 10 players have been on hard courts as well. When he was twenty, the National Post described Raonic as a "hothead whose on-court demeanour was holding him back." As he grew older, commentators came to see him as "stoic", "robotic", and "emotionless", with The Daily Telegraph referring to him as "an analytical character who questions everything he does in practice". In 2014, Raonic explained: "I'm the son of two engineers, so everything is a numbers and calculation game." In 2016, he added: "I am very systematic in how [I] need to go about things to bring out the best tennis for myself, and maybe that comes off as mechanical and robotic and those kind of things, but I don't know if I'd ever change that because I feel that's the way I get the best out of myself when it comes to my tennis." Aspects of Raonic's game which have been criticized include his return of serve, quickness and mobility, backhand, short game, and the use of backspin or sidespin. His above-average height—196 cm (6 ft 5 in)—is linked to his strong serve, but is said to limit his movement around the court. ## Equipment and apparel Raonic endorses the Wilson BLX Blade 98 18x20 tennis racket, and uses LUXILON M2 Pro 1.25 16L strings. In January 2013, Raonic became the first tennis player to endorse New Balance clothing and shoes, in a deal reported to be worth "US\$1 million annually over a five-year term." Roughly two and a half years later, this deal was extended "for the length of [Raonic's] career and beyond," and stipulates that New Balance will increase its support of the Milos Raonic Foundation. The lifelong nature of this contract was described by Tennis Canada as "unique." Since March 2014, Raonic has donned a sleeve on his right arm while playing. At first, he wore a fisherman's sleeve to cover a rash he had due to an allergic reaction to massage cream. This was replaced with an athletic compression sleeve, often colour-coordinated with his on-court apparel. The sleeve is worn for comfort, and wearing it became a habit for Raonic. The sleeve has become a distinctive part of Raonic's image, and has spawned a Twitter account. The motto "Believe in the Sleeve" has become synonymous with Raonic in the media and among Raonic's fans. Serena Williams described the sleeve as "super cool and different." Raonic is represented by CAA Sports, a division of Creative Artists Agency. His other sponsorship deals include Aviva (insurance), Canada Goose (apparel), Commerce Court (real estate), Lacoste (apparel), Rolex (watches), SAP (software), and Zepp (sports metrics). ## Rivals and contemporaries ### Raonic and the Big Four Raonic holds a combined 9–36 record against the Big Four, including 0–11 against Djokovic, 2–7 against Nadal, 3–11 against Federer, and 4–9 against Murray. Each of Raonic's deepest runs in significant tournaments (i.e. majors and ATP 1000 tournaments) has ended with a loss to a member of the Big Four: Nadal in the 2013 Canadian Open final, Federer in the 2014 Wimbledon semifinal, Djokovic in the 2014 Paris Masters final, Murray in the 2016 Australian Open semifinal, Djokovic in the 2016 Indian Wells Masters final, Murray in the 2016 Wimbledon final, and Murray in the semifinals of the 2016 ATP World Tour Finals. At majors, Raonic has a 1–8 record against the Big Four, losing the first five matches in straight sets. He has met only one of the four in Davis Cup play: he lost to Djokovic in the 2013 semifinals. Raonic's most frequent opponent, either inside or outside the Big Four, is Federer (14 matches). His first victory over Federer in the 2014 Paris Masters quarterfinal was hailed as "a career-defining win." His second victory over Federer—at the 2016 Brisbane International—was his first in a final against the Big Four. A third victory over Federer—in the 2016 Wimbledon semifinal—marked Raonic's first victory at a Grand Slam tournament against the Big Four. Raonic referred to his match against Murray at the 2016 ATP World Tour Finals as "the best match [he's] ever competed in." ### Raonic and Nishikori Kei Nishikori is often cited as Raonic's primary rival. The two have very different strengths; according to The Globe and Mail, Raonic uses his "size and his serve", while Nishikori uses his "savvy and speed." Both are the first from their respective countries to achieve a top 10 ranking, and both have a career-high ranking inside the top 4. In May 2015, they were the two youngest players in the top 10. Nishikori holds a 5–2 advantage in seven close matches, including two wins in the Japan Open final (2012, 2014). Of the twenty-five sets they have played, ten have required a tiebreak. Only one of their matches has been a straight sets victory. Five matches have required the maximum number of sets. One of these was a marathon US Open five-set match that equalled the record for latest finish ever at 2:26 a.m. Nishikori and Raonic are among a group of players whom tennis pundits suggest could be the successors of the Big Four. The members of this group vary, but have included Grigor Dimitrov, Ernests Gulbis, Marin Čilić, and Dominic Thiem. Raonic holds a positive record against Gulbis and Thiem, having won on all six combined occasions, but has a negative record against Čilić and Dimitrov, having lost four matches to the latter in six meetings, including one walkover. ### Raonic and Pospisil Pospisil is more of a contemporary rather than a rival of Raonic. Owing to their similarity in age—Pospisil is six months older—and the fact that both are successful products of Tennis Canada's development programs, they have been linked as the leaders of a new generation of Canadian tennis players. They partnered in doubles frequently early in their careers, winning doubles titles together in junior and ATP Challenger events. Between 2011 and 2015, Raonic and Pospisil have been the two top-ranked Canadian men in year-end rankings. As well as four ATP Challenger and Futures matches, they have played each other in two ATP World Tour matches: Raonic beat Pospisil in the first all-Canadian semifinal at an ATP 1000 tournament, and in the first all-Canadian final in ATP history. They are frequent Davis Cup teammates, and they planned to play doubles together at the 2016 Rio Olympics until Raonic withdrew. ### Raonic, Isner, and Karlović Raonic is often compared to Isner and Karlović. The trio possess statistically dominant serves, leading the ATP in service games won and in aces per match in the period between 2012 and 2018. They have played each other infrequently, however. Raonic is 1–1 against Karlović and 1–5 against Isner. Karlović holds a 3–2 head-to-head advantage over Isner. ## Philanthropy In 2011, while recovering from a hip injury sustained at Wimbledon, Raonic decided to become involved with philanthropic work, focusing on helping disadvantaged children. The following year, in 2012, he launched the Milos Raonic Foundation, which aims to "support children from disadvantaged backgrounds in order to remove economic, physical and other barriers that might prevent them from becoming healthy, productive members of society. ... In the initial stages of its work, the foundation will focus, in particular, on children with physical disabilities." As of 2016, the foundation had awarded \$120,000 in grants to the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, and \$30,000 to the Canadian Paralympic Committee. Raonic and his parents are the three directors of the foundation, which has partnered with ATP Aces for Charity. Several celebrity fundraising events have been held in conjunction with the foundation. On November 15, 2012, the inaugural "Raonic Race for Kids" was held, with multiple teams competing in quick physical and intellectual challenges. Teams were led by celebrities, including Canadian Football Hall of Fame quarterback Damon Allen and tennis players Eugenie Bouchard and Daniel Nestor. The next night, a second "Face Off" event featured exhibition matches between Raonic and Andy Roddick, and between Serena Williams and Agnieszka Radwańska. In November 2013, the second "Raonic Race for Kids" featured Davis Cup captain Martin Laurendeau, musician Jim Cuddy, and broadcaster George Stroumboulopoulos. The third "Raonic Race for Kids" in November 2014 featured Tennis Canada CEO Kelly Murumets, soccer player Dwayne De Rosario, and figure-skating champions Patrick Chan, Tessa Virtue, and Scott Moir. In December 2020 it was announced that Raonic joined the High Impact Athletes, an organization based on the effective altruism movement where professional athletes pledge to donate at least 1% of its income to the most effective, evidence based charities in the world. ## Career statistics ### Grand Slam tournament performance timeline Current through the 2023 US Open . Note: Milos Raonic has not played doubles at any Grand Slam tournament. ### Grand Slam finals: 1 (1 runner-up) ### Records - These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis (post-1968). ## Awards - 2011 – ATP Newcomer of the Year - 2011 – Tennis Canada male player of the year - 2012 – QMI Agency Canadian Male Athlete of the Year - 2012 – Tennis Canada male player of the year - 2013 – Tennis Canada male player of the year - 2013 – Lionel Conacher Award - 2014 – Emirates ATP Top 10 Trophy - 2014 – Tennis Canada male player of the year - 2014 – Lionel Conacher Award - 2014 – Canadian Club of Toronto's Canadian of the Year - 2015 – Tennis Canada male player of the year - 2016 – Toronto Sports Hall of Honour male athlete of the year - 2016 – Tennis Canada male player of the year ## See also - List of Canadian sports personalities
199,921	Kelpie	1,173,104,139	Shape-shifting water spirit in Scottish folklore	[ "Fairies", "Horses in mythology", "Scottish folklore", "Scottish legendary creatures", "Scottish mythology", "Shapeshifting", "Water spirits" ]	A kelpie, or water kelpie (Scottish Gaelic: Each-Uisge), is a shape-shifting spirit inhabiting lochs in Irish and Scottish folklore. It is usually described as a black horse-like creature, able to adopt human form. Some accounts state that the kelpie retains its hooves when appearing as a human, leading to its association with the Christian idea of Satan as alluded to by Robert Burns in his 1786 poem "Address to the Devil". Almost every sizeable body of water in Scotland has an associated kelpie story, but the most extensively reported is that of Loch Ness. The kelpie has counterparts across the world, such as the Germanic nixie, the wihwin of South America and the Australian bunyip. The origins of narratives about the creature are unclear but the practical purpose of keeping children away from dangerous stretches of water and warning young women to be wary of handsome strangers has been noted in secondary literature. Kelpies have been portrayed in their various forms in art and literature, including two 30-metre-high (100 ft) steel sculptures in Falkirk, The Kelpies, completed in October 2013. ## Etymology The etymology of the Scots word kelpie is uncertain, but it may be derived from the Gaelic calpa or cailpeach, meaning "heifer" or "colt". The first recorded use of the term to describe a mythological creature, then spelled kaelpie, appears in the manuscript of an ode by William Collins, composed some time before 1759 and reproduced in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh of 1788. The place names Kelpie hoall and Kelpie hooll are reported in A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue as appearing in the 1674 burgh records for Kirkcudbright. ## Folk beliefs ### Description and common attributes The kelpie is the most common water spirit in Scottish folklore, and the name is attributed to several different forms in narratives recorded throughout the country. The late 19th century saw the onset of an interest in transcribing folklore, and recorders were inconsistent in spelling and frequently anglicised words, which could result in differing names for the same spirit. Commentators have disagreed over the kelpie's aquatic habitat. Folklorists who define kelpies as spirits living beside rivers, as distinguished from the Celtic lochside-dwelling water horse (each-uisge), include 19th-century minister of Tiree John Gregorson Campbell and 20th-century writers Lewis Spence and Katharine Briggs. This distinction is not universally applied however; Sir Walter Scott for instance claims that the kelpie's range may extend to lochs. Mackillop's dictionary reconciles the discrepancy, stating that the kelpie was "initially thought to inhabit ... streams, and later any body of water." But the distinction should stand, argues one annotator, who suggests that people are led astray when an each uisge in a "common practice of translating" are referred to as kelpies in English accounts, and thus mistakenly attribute loch-dwelling habits to the latter. Others associate the term kelpie with a wide variety of legendary creatures. Counterparts in some regions of Scotland include the shoopiltee and nuggle of Shetland and the tangie of Orkney; in other parts of the British Islands they include the Welsh ceffyl dŵr and the Manx cabbyl-ushtey. Parallels to the general Germanic neck and the Scandinavian bäckahäst have been observed; Nick Middleton observes that "the kelpie of Scottish folklore is a direct parallel of the [sic] bäckahästen [of Scandinavian folklore]". The wihwin of Central America and the Australian bunyip are seen as similar creatures in other parts of the world. The kelpie is usually described as a powerful and beautiful black horse inhabiting the deep pools of rivers and streams of Scotland, preying on any humans it encounters. One of the water-kelpie's common identifying characteristics is that its hooves are reversed as compared to those of a normal horse, a trait also shared by the nykur of Iceland. An Aberdeenshire variation portrays the kelpie as a horse with a mane of serpents, whereas the resident equine spirit of the River Spey was white and could entice victims onto its back by singing. The creature's nature was described by Walter Gregor, a folklorist and one of the first members of the Folklore Society, as "useful", "hurtful", or seeking "human companionship"; in some cases, kelpies take their victims into the water, devour them, and throw the entrails to the water's edge. In its equine form the kelpie is able to extend the length of its back to carry many riders together into the depths; a common theme in the tales is of several children clambering onto the creature's back while one remains on the shore. Usually a little boy, he then pets the horse but his hand sticks to its neck. In some variations the lad cuts off his fingers or hand to free himself; he survives but the other children are carried off and drowned, with only some of their entrails being found later. Such a creature said to inhabit Glen Keltney in Perthshire is considered to be a kelpie by 20th-century folklorist Katharine Mary Briggs, but a similar tale also set in Perthshire has an each uisge as the culprit and omits the embellishment of the young boy. The lad does cut his finger off when the event takes place in Thurso, where a water kelpie is identified as the culprit. The same tale set at Sunart in the Highlands gives a specific figure of nine children lost, of whom only the innards of one are recovered. The surviving boy is again saved by cutting off his finger, and the additional information is given that he had a Bible in his pocket. Gregorson Campbell considers the creature responsible to have been a water horse rather than a kelpie, and the tale "obviously a pious fraud to keep children from wandering on Sundays". Kelpie myths usually describe a solitary creature, but a fairy story recorded by John F. Campbell in Popular Tales of the West Highlands (1860) has a different perspective. Entitled Of the Drocht na Vougha or Fuoah, which is given the translation of the bridge of the fairies or kelpies, it features a group of voughas. The spirits had set about constructing a bridge over the Dornoch Firth after becoming tired of travelling across the water in cockleshells. It was a magnificent piece of work resplendent with gold piers and posts, but sank into the water to become a treacherous area of quicksand after a grateful onlooker tried to bless the kelpies for their work. The same story is recorded by Folklore Society member and folklore collector Charlotte Dempster simply as The Kelpie's Bridge (1888) with no mention of Voughas or Fuoah. Quoting the same narrative Jennifer Westwood, author and folklorist, uses the descriptor water kelpies, adding that in her opinion "Kelpies, here and in a few other instances, is used in a loose sense to mean something like 'imps'". Progeny resulting from a mating between a kelpie and a normal horse were impossible to drown, and could be recognised by their shorter than normal ears, a characteristic shared by the mythical water bull or tarbh uisge in Scottish Gaelic, similar to the Manx tarroo ushtey. ### Shapeshifting Kelpies have the ability to transform themselves into non-equine forms, and can take on the outward appearance of human figures, in which guise they may betray themselves by the presence of water weeds in their hair. Gregor described a kelpie adopting the guise of a wizened old man continually muttering to himself while sitting on a bridge stitching a pair of trousers. Believing it to be a kelpie, a passing local struck it on the head, causing it to revert to its equine form and scamper back to its lair in a nearby pond. Other accounts describe the kelpie when appearing in human form as a "rough, shaggy man who leaps behind a solitary rider, gripping and crushing him", or as tearing apart and devouring humans. A folk tale from Barra tells of a lonely kelpie that transforms itself into a handsome young man to woo a pretty young girl it was determined to take for its wife. But the girl recognises the young man as a kelpie and removes his silver necklace (his bridle) while he sleeps. The kelpie immediately reverts to its equine form, and the girl takes it home to her father's farm, where it is put to work for a year. At the end of that time the girl rides the kelpie to consult a wise man, who tells her to return the silver necklace. The wise man then asks the kelpie, once again transformed into the handsome young man the girl had first met, whether if given the choice it would choose to be a kelpie or a mortal. The kelpie in turn asks the girl whether, if he were a man, she would agree to be his wife. She confirms that she would, after which the kelpie chooses to become a mortal man, and the pair are married. Traditionally, kelpies in their human form are male. One of the few stories describing the creature in female form is set at Conon House in Ross and Cromarty. It tells of a "tall woman dressed in green", with a "withered, meagre countenance, ever distorted by a malignant scowl", who overpowered and drowned a man and a boy after she jumped out of a stream. The arrival of Christianity in Scotland in the 6th century resulted in some folk stories and beliefs being recorded by scribes, usually Christian monks, instead of being perpetuated by word of mouth. Some accounts state that the kelpie retains its hooves even in human form, leading to its association with the Christian notion of Satan, just as with the Greek god Pan. Robert Burns refers to such a Satanic association in his "Address to the Devil" (1786): > > When thowes dissolve the snawy hoord An' float the jinglin icy boord Then, water-kelpies haunt the foord By your direction An' nighted trav'llers are allur'd To their destruction. ### Capture and killing When a kelpie appeared in its equine persona without any tack, it could be captured using a halter stamped with the sign of a cross, and its strength could then be harnessed in tasks such as the transportation of heavy mill stones. One folk tale describes how the Laird of Morphie captured a kelpie and used it to carry stones to build his castle. Once the work was complete, the laird released the kelpie, which was evidently unhappy about its treatment. The curse it issued before leaving – "Sair back and sair banes/ Drivin' the Laird o' Morphies's stanes,/ The Laird o' Morphie'll never thrive/ As lang's the kelpy is alive" – (Sore back and sore bones/ Driving the Lord of Morphie's stones,/ The Lord of Morphie will never thrive/ As long as the kelpie is alive) was popularly believed to have resulted in the extinction of the laird's family. Some kelpies were said to be equipped with a bridle and sometimes a saddle, and appeared invitingly ready to ride, but if mounted they would run off and drown their riders. If the kelpie was already wearing a bridle, exorcism might be achieved by removing it. A bridle taken from a kelpie was endowed with magical properties, and if brandished towards someone, was able to transform that person into a horse or pony. Just as with cinematic werewolves, a kelpie can be killed by being shot with a silver bullet, after which it is seen to consist of nothing more than "turf and a soft mass like jelly-fish" according to an account published by Spence. When a blacksmith's family were being frightened by the repeated appearances of a water kelpie at their summer cottage, the blacksmith managed to render it into a "heap of starch, or something like it" by penetrating the spirit's flanks with two sharp iron spears that had been heated in a fire. ## Loch Ness Almost every sizeable Scottish body of water has a kelpie story associated with it, but the most widely reported is the kelpie of Loch Ness. Several stories of mythical spirits and monsters are attached to the loch's vicinity, dating back to 6th-century reports of Saint Columba defeating a monster on the banks of the River Ness. The early 19th-century kelpie that haunted the woods and shores of Loch Ness was tacked up with its own saddle and bridle. A fable attached to the notoriously nasty creature has the Highlander James MacGrigor taking it by surprise and cutting off its bridle, the source of its power and life, without which it would die within twenty-four hours. As the kelpie had the power of speech, it attempted unsuccessfully to bargain with MacGrigor for the return of its bridle. After following MacGrigor to his home, the kelpie asserted that MacGrigor would be unable to enter his house while in possession of the bridle, because of the presence of a cross above the entrance door. But MacGrigor outwitted the creature by tossing the bridle through a window, so the kelpie accepted its fate and left, cursing and swearing. The myth is perpetuated with further tales of the bridle as it is passed down through the family. Referred to as "Willox's Ball and Bridle", it had magical powers of healing; a spell was made by placing the items in water while chanting "In the name of the Father, the Son and of the Holy Ghost"; the water could then be used as a cure. A popular and more recent explanation for the Loch Ness monster among believers is that it belongs to a line of long-surviving plesiosaurs, but the kelpie myth still survives in children's books such as Mollie Hunter's The Kelpie's Pearls (1966) and Dick King-Smith's The Water Horse (1990). ## Origins According to Derek Gath Whitley (1911), the association with horses may have its roots in horse sacrifices performed in ancient Scandinavia. Stories of malevolent water spirits served the practical purpose of keeping children away from perilous areas of water, and of warning adolescent women to be wary of attractive young strangers. The stories were also used to enforce moral standards, as they implied that the creatures took retribution for bad behaviour carried out on Sundays. The intervention of demons and spirits was possibly a way to rationalise the drowning of children and adults who had accidentally fallen into deep, fast flowing or turbulent water. Historian and symbologist Charles Milton Smith has hypothesised that the kelpie myth might originate with the water spouts that can form over the surface of Scottish lochs, giving the impression of a living form as they move across the water. Sir Walter Scott alludes to a similar explanation in his epic poem The Lady of the Lake (1810), which contains the lines > > He watched the wheeling eddies boil, Till from their foam his dazzled eyes Beheld the River Demon rise: in which Scott uses "River Demon" to denote a "kelpy". Scott may also have hinted at an alternative rational explanation by naming a treacherous area of quicksand "Kelpie's Flow" in his novel The Bride of Lammermoor (1818). ## Artistic representations Pictish stones dating from the 6th to 9th centuries featuring what has been dubbed the Pictish Beast may be the earliest representations of a kelpie or kelpie-like creature. Victorian artist Thomas Millie Dow sketched the kelpie in 1895 as a melancholy dark-haired maiden balanced on a rock, a common depiction for artists of the period. Other depictions show kelpies as poolside maidens, as in Draper's 1913 oil on canvas. Folklorist Nicola Bown has suggested that painters such as Millie Dow and Draper deliberately ignored earlier accounts of the kelpie and reinvented it by altering its sex and nature. Two 30-metre-high (100 ft) steel sculptures in Falkirk on the Forth and Clyde Canal, named The Kelpies, borrow the name of the mythical creature to associate with the strength and endurance of the horse; designed by sculptor Andy Scott, they were built as monuments to Scotland's horse-powered industrial heritage. Construction was completed in October 2013 and the sculptures were opened for public access from April 2014. ## See also - List of fictional horses - Water horse - Nuckelavee - Hippocampus (mythology) - Kappa (folklore) - Neck (water spirit) - Peg Powler - Selkie - Vodyanoi
27,255,201	Ben Gascoigne	1,170,032,997	New Zealand–Australian astronomer (1915–2010)	[ "1915 births", "2010 deaths", "20th-century Australian astronomers", "20th-century New Zealand astronomers", "Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science", "New Zealand Protestants", "New Zealand emigrants to Australia", "Officers of the Order of Australia", "People educated at Auckland Grammar School", "People from Napier, New Zealand", "University of Auckland alumni" ]	Sidney Charles Bartholemew "Ben" Gascoigne AO (11 November 1915 – 25 March 2010) was a New Zealand-born optical astronomer and expert in photometry who played a leading role in the design and commissioning of Australia's largest optical telescope, the Anglo-Australian Telescope, which for a time was one of the world's most important astronomical facilities. Born in Napier, New Zealand, Gascoigne trained in Auckland and at the University of Bristol, before moving to Australia during World War II to work at the Commonwealth Solar Observatory at Mount Stromlo in Canberra. He became skillful in the design and manufacture of optical devices such as telescope elements. Following the war, Gascoigne and astronomer Gerald Kron used newly modernised telescopes at Mount Stromlo to determine that the distance between our galaxy and the Magellanic Cloud dwarf galaxies had been underestimated by a factor of two. Because this measurement was used to calibrate other distances in astronomy, the result effectively doubled the estimated size of the universe. They also found that star formation in the Magellanic Clouds had occurred more recently than in the Milky Way; this overturned the prevailing view that both had evolved in parallel. A major figure at Mount Stromlo Observatory, Gascoigne helped it develop from a solar observatory to a centre of stellar and galactic research, and was instrumental in the creation of its field observatory in northern New South Wales, Siding Spring Observatory. When the British and Australian governments agreed to jointly build the Anglo-Australian Telescope at Siding Spring, Gascoigne was involved from its initial conception and throughout its lengthy commissioning, taking its first photograph. Gascoigne was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for his contributions to astronomy and to the Anglo-Australian Telescope. Gascoigne and his wife, artist Rosalie Gascoigne, had three children. After he retired, Gascoigne wrote several works on Australian astronomical history. He acted as Rosalie's photographer and assistant, using his technical skills to make her artworks resilient for public display. ## Early life Gascoigne's parents met and married in Levin, New Zealand, just before the First World War. They soon moved to Napier, where Gascoigne was born in 1915. He attended Auckland Grammar School, and won a scholarship to Auckland University College (now the University of Auckland) a year before he was due to finish high school. Faced with a choice between studying history or the sciences, he chose the latter because he had a severe stammer and thought that it would be less of an impediment. He completed both a Bachelor's degree and a Master's qualification in science, securing Honours in both mathematics and physics, finishing his studies in 1937. Despite these achievements, he did not consider himself to be practically trained, saying: "I was still very much a theorist, with no practical physics at all. The professor in Auckland used to wince when I walked past the cupboard in which the good instruments were kept!" In 1933, while studying at the university, he met his future wife Rosalie Norah King Walker, although they did not marry for another decade. Rosalie completed a Bachelor of Arts while Gascoigne was studying in Auckland; she also studied at Auckland's teacher training college while he was in Bristol. Although Gascoigne had always intended to study mathematics at Cambridge, an event occurred that significantly shaped his career. In 1931, an earthquake in New Zealand killed Michael Hiatt Baker, a young traveller from Bristol, and his parents established a postgraduate scholarship in his memory, for study at the University of Bristol, which Gascoigne won and took up in 1938. During his thesis studies at Bristol, Gascoigne developed a diffraction theory of the Foucault test that is used for evaluating the shape of large telescope mirrors. He completed his doctorate in physics in 1941, but by then war had broken out in Europe, and he had already returned to New Zealand on the last available ship. ## War service 1940–1945 Returning to a job in the physics department at Auckland, Gascoigne worked on military optics, developing gun sights and rangefinders, although he did not remain there for long. Richard van der Riet Woolley, director of the Commonwealth Solar Observatory in Canberra (now Mount Stromlo Observatory), sought out Gascoigne because his "experience in optical work [was] unique" and Gascoigne was "trained in a way that no one else in Australia has been qualified". When in 1941 Gascoigne was offered a research fellowship by Woolley, he moved to Canberra. The Solar Observatory staff had similar responsibilities to those Gascoigne had held in New Zealand. His first task was to design an anti-aircraft gun sight, and he was also involved in a range of other military optical projects. In 1944, the Melbourne Observatory, home to the Commonwealth Time Service, was closed. Gascoigne reestablished the Time Service at Mount Stromlo, using two Shortt-Synchronome clocks and astronomical observing equipment that he and his colleagues adapted; the Time Service remained at Mount Stromlo until 1968. The knowledge and experience Gascoigne gained during the war proved valuable. He was at the only facility in Australia where optical work could be done, from design and manufacture to assembly and testing. Gascoigne developed a wide range of skills and "finished up quite practical, especially with a screwdriver." A decade after Gascoigne first met Rosalie in New Zealand, she travelled to Canberra, and on 9 January 1943 they were married. Their first son, Martin, was born in November, and their second, Thomas, was born in 1945. ## Mount Stromlo Following the end of the war Woolley redirected the Commonwealth Observatory from solar research towards the study of stars and galaxies. It took time to get the old and unused telescopes back up to working condition: they had to be overhauled and refurbished, and in one case rebuilt from scrap. Woolley got funding approval from the Prime Minister for construction of a 74-inch telescope, but it would not be finished for years. Gascoigne began to work in the nascent field of photoelectric photometry, using electrical devices to measure the brightness of stars more accurately than had been possible using photographic techniques. In 1951, with equipment brought by visiting astronomer Gerald Kron from California's Lick Observatory, he observed Cepheid variable stars, which are used to measure astronomical distances. Granted nine months of observing time on the Observatory's Reynolds 30-inch reflector telescope – an extraordinary opportunity – Gascoigne, Kron and others surveyed Cepheid stars in both the Small Magellanic Cloud and, later, the Large Magellanic Cloud. They also examined the colours of star clusters in the Small Cloud. The research produced remarkable results: "it meant that the Magellanic Clouds were twice as far away as was previously thought, and if then the baseline is twice as long, the size of the universe is doubled." It also showed that star formation in the Magellanic Clouds had occurred more recently than in the Milky Way. The results overturned the prevailing view that our galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds had evolved in parallel. Gascoigne said of his work: > When suddenly all this dropped into place, after I had been working away at it for quite a while, measuring more Cepheids in our own Galaxy and some in the Large Cloud, the feeling of triumph, the great feeling that I had really done something, was wonderful. I had joined the professional astronomers. Not only that, but I truly understood a problem, a proper problem... Subsequent research confirmed what were described as pioneering results, arrived at through very innovative techniques. In 1949, the Gascoignes' third child, daughter Hester, was born. Like many Observatory personnel, the Gascoignes lived in a staff residence on Mount Stromlo, which was a long difficult trip away from Canberra. It was cold and lonely, particularly for Rosalie, but they enjoyed the outdoors, and the landscape inspired Rosalie's creativity and later her artistic career. In 1960 they relocated to Deakin in suburban Canberra, and in the late 1960s they moved to another suburb, Pearce. In 1957, administrative responsibility for the Commonwealth Observatory was transferred from the Australian Government's Department of the Interior to the Australian National University (ANU), a move supported by both its director, Richard Woolley, and Gascoigne. This was an era of significant change at Mount Stromlo: in January 1956 Woolley had resigned as director of Mount Stromlo to take up a position as Astronomer Royal and director of the Royal Observatory Greenwich. He was replaced by Dutch-American Bart Bok, whom Gascoigne liked and under whose directorship he played a significant role. Also in 1957, the Mount Stromlo team began searching for a new field observatory site, due to the increased light pollution from Canberra's growth. The search was vigorously promoted by Bok, and after an examination of 20 possible locations, two were shortlisted: Mount Bingar, near Griffith, New South Wales, and Siding Spring, near Coonabarabran, New South Wales. Gascoigne was one of a group of scientists who visited Siding Spring Mountain as part of the search, and he was one of those who advocated this choice: > We had to climb the last bit on foot ... [I was] the first astronomer to set foot on Siding Spring. I liked the look of the place right away, partly because it had such good features for astronomy – for example, the north and west faces had sheer cliffs that were very good for draining away the cold air – and because of its beautiful outlook, on the edge of the national park. It really is a wonderful place to be. In 1962, Siding Spring was selected, and by 1967 Siding Spring Observatory was fully operational. At the end of Woolley's directorship, the 74-inch telescope he had initiated finally came online. Gascoigne, looking for a new research project and keen to use the new telescope, took up the study of globular clusters, compact groups of tens of thousands of ancient stars of similar age. With a new design of photometer, he was able to measure the exceptionally faint stars in these clusters. Gascoigne determined that the clusters in the Magellanic Clouds were both young and old, and had quite different characteristics to those in the Milky Way: this information was important for modelling the evolution of galaxies. In 1963, Gascoigne developed a device, known as an optical corrector plate, which allowed wide field photography on the new 40-inch telescope at Siding Spring. Such corrector plates were subsequently used on many telescopes and became known as Gascoigne correctors. During this period he was also active in supporting the establishment of a national research organisation for astronomers, the Astronomical Society of Australia. It held its first meeting in 1966, and Gascoigne was made its first vice-president. When Bok retired as Stromlo's director in early 1966, Gascoigne became acting director for three months until the arrival of Bok's replacement, American astronomer Olin J. Eggen. Like Bok Eggen was a productive scientist, but he was "enigmatic", "somewhat gruff" and selective in the friendships he formed. Although Eggen and Gascoigne had previously collaborated on research projects, when Eggen arrived to take up the post, he and Gascoigne did not get on well, in contrast to Gascoigne's relationships with other astronomers. Gascoigne said of Eggen: "he made it clear I had no further part in running the Observatory. I was given no information, saw no documents, attended no meetings, and was asked for no advice, not even in optical matters." ## Anglo-Australian Telescope In 1963 Gascoigne published an article in the journal Nature titled "Towards a Southern Commonwealth Observatory". Gascoigne was then given a significant opportunity that became the focus of the remainder of his paid academic career: to help establish one of the world's largest optical telescopes, at Siding Spring. In the early 1960s, the Australian and British governments proposed a partnership to build a joint optical telescope facility, and Gascoigne was among the experts involved. Former Mount Stromlo director and now head of the Greenwich observatory, Richard Woolley, was prominent in supporting the project from the British end. In 1967, the two governments formally agreed to collaborate on the construction of a large telescope, to be known as the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT). Given the existing infrastructure of the ANU's Siding Spring Observatory, the site was readily agreed as the location for the AAT. Gascoigne was one of the four members of the Technical Committee established to guide the telescope's development. He provided leadership on the design and optics of the new telescope, and was made the chief commissioning astronomer in 1974. A bitter struggle over the management and operation of the new facility went on for some years. The Australian National University and the director at Stromlo, Olin Eggen, wanted the telescope to be under the control of the university while other Australian astronomers, including some at Stromlo, and the British wanted it established independently. Gascoigne's co-authored history of the telescope states that "None of the eight fellow of the Australian Academy of Science [Gascoigne was one of them] supported the ANU" and in 1973 the debate was resolved in favour of an independent structure, the Anglo-Australian Observatory. Gascoigne was one of only a few Stromlo employees who ended up working on the AAT for an extended period during its establishment phase: the Anglo-Australian Observatory chose to offer short-term positions rather than academic tenure like that at the ANU. The work at Siding Spring was rewarding, but it could also be dangerous. During construction, Gascoigne constantly warned colleagues to take care on the elevated catwalks around the telescope. However, Gascoigne himself was almost killed when, while working one night around the telescope structure, he fell seven metres to the floor of the observatory, narrowly missing "a massive steel structure with long protruding bolts". He survived, and was the first to take a photograph using the telescope, on 26 or 27 April 1974. Gascoigne was so pleased with the quality of the optics that he said he wanted a number describing the hyperboloid shape of the mirror (1.1717) engraved on his headstone. The site quickly became one of the world's most important astronomical observatories and was for many years home to world-leading astrophotographer David Malin. The successes of the AAT have been documented in annual reports by its Board, while a 2008 analysis of the relative impacts of astronomical observing facilities placed the AAT in the top three, coming after only the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the W. M. Keck Observatory (both telescopes built more than two decades later). For Gascoigne, it was "a wonderful thing to be associated with – the high point in my life." It was during the period of Gascoigne's association with the Anglo-Australian telescope that he and his wife commissioned architect Theo Bischoff to design a house for them, which was planned and constructed between 1967 and 1969. Bischoff, who was responsible for numerous Canberra residences, designed a modernist home to the detailed, if contrasting, instructions from his client couple, who in turn were heavily influenced by their negative experiences with Canberra housing, particularly their home on Mount Stromlo. Based on Gascoigne's interest in optics, and Rosalie's strong visual sense as an artist, the resulting design "was based on maximising the potential for observation", creating "a form of habitable optical instrument". ## Artist's assistant and historian By the middle of 1975, the Anglo-Australian Telescope was fully operational, and Gascoigne was offered a job with the new telescope, based in Sydney. By this time his wife was emerging as a significant artist who relied on the landscapes and materials around their home for her inspiration. Gascoigne decided to return to the Australian National University in Canberra; he retired a few years later in 1980, and supported Rosalie in her work. Gascoigne completed a course in welding and became his wife's assistant, making "her assemblies of 'found objects' safer and more durable". He also catalogued and photographed her work, describing himself as "artist's handyman, cook, and archivist." Rosalie Gascoigne's artistic career came late – she was almost 60 when she held her first solo shows – and her rise was "meteoric"; five public galleries purchased works from her early exhibitions. She died in 1999. In 2008, Gascoigne donated Rosalie's final major work, a ten-panel installation titled Earth (1999), to the National Gallery of Australia. As well as being an astronomer, Gascoigne was a scholar of the history of Australian astronomy. He wrote histories of major telescopes, such as the Melbourne Telescope and the AAT. He wrote biographies for the Australian Dictionary of Biography, including those of the first trained astronomer at Canberra's Mount Stromlo Observatory, William Bolton Rimmer, and pioneering Australian astronomer Robert Ellery. Gascoigne died on 25 March 2010. A memorial service was held at St John's Church in Reid, Canberra, on 12 April. ## Recognition and legacy Gascoigne was widely respected for his astronomical skills and his generous nature. English astronomer and writer Sir Fred Hoyle, at one time the Chairman of the AAT, gave Gascoigne considerable credit for the telescope's success, and astronomer Harry Minnett likewise credited him, together with Roderick Oliver Redman, for the telescope's extremely good optics. Former AAT director Russell Cannon regarded Gascoigne as a world leader in his field, as well as being "a delightful man". Historian of astronomy Ragbir Bhathal considered Gascoigne to have been an important figure in Australian astronomy, responsible for substantial advances in the field. In 1966, Gascoigne was elected a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the Astronomical Society of Australia; became the first person to be elected as an Honorary Member of the Optical Society of Australia; and was the first Australian to be elected as an Associate of the Royal Astronomical Society. On 11 June 1996, Gascoigne was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for his contributions to astronomy and to the AAT. On 1 January 2001, he was awarded the Centenary Medal, for his service to society and to astronomy. ## Select bibliography Scientific journal articles: Books
50,942,341	The May Pamphlet	1,154,379,896	1945 anarchist essays by Paul Goodman	[ "1945 essays", "Books by Paul Goodman", "Essays about anarchism", "Pacifism in the United States" ]	The May Pamphlet is a collection of six anarchist essays written and published by Paul Goodman in 1945. Goodman discusses the problems of living in a society that represses individual instinct through coercion. He suggests that individuals resist such conditions by reclaiming their natural instincts and initiative, and by "drawing the line", an ideological delineation beyond which an individual should refuse to conform or cooperate with social convention. While themes from The May Pamphlet—decentralization, peace, social psychology, youth liberation—would recur throughout his works, Goodman's later social criticism focused on practical applications rather than theoretical concerns. The pamphlet was originally published piecemeal in small, New York anarchist journals and was first compiled as a set among literary essays in Art and Social Nature (1946). The essays were not well known before Goodman's 1960 book Growing Up Absurd led to a resurgence of interest in his oeuvre, including the pamphlet's republication in Drawing the Line (1962). The May Pamphlet was Goodman's principal contribution to anarchist theory and a primary influence on Colin Ward, who later dedicated Anarchy in Action to Goodman's memory. ## Publication Before he became one of the best-known American literary anarchists of his time, Paul Goodman first articulated his political beliefs in the 1940s. Propelled by his rejection of the World War II draft, his anarcho-pacifist peers, and the ugliness of wartime social conditions, Goodman authored the essays that would become The May Pamphlet in May and early June 1945, with the exception of "Revolution, Sociolatry, and War", written in October. He started the essays in advance of his May 1945 draft interview and, according to one story, brought the manuscript with him as he proceeded to portray himself as incorrigible and unfit for the military. Having been dismissed from the war-supporting Partisan Review and influential New York literary circles for refusing to jettison his pacifism, Goodman turned to the city's marginal, bohemian communities. He published in several small, anarchist journals and was influential in the circles behind each. Three of these journalsWhy? An Anarchist Bulletin, Retort, and Politicseach published an essay in what would later be compiled as The May Pamphlet. The full pamphlet was first compiled and released in Goodman's 1946 book Art and Social Nature. Irving Novick's one-man publishing imprint, Vinco, produced the book, which sold poorly. Art and Social Nature placed Goodman's anarchist essays alongside his literary essays. The author considered the topics to have overlap, as he considered societal order to be mostly a matter of aesthetics. The May Pamphlet was the book's opening section, composed of Goodman's anarchist short essays from 1945. Another publisher, Alexander Katz, read "Revolution, Sociolatry, and War" in Politics and became interested in Goodman. Katz bought the book's unsold copies in purchasing Vinco, which he renamed the Arts and Science Press when establishing his own one-man imprint in the late 1940s. As Growing Up Absurd (1960) launched Goodman's career as a social critic, Goodman revised the pamphlet for republication and swapped its essay sequence in his 1962 book Drawing the Line. After Goodman's death in 1972, his literary executor Taylor Stoehr used this revised version in the 1977 reissue of Drawing the Line, which Stoehr expanded to include other political essays by Goodman, such as a new essay on "Crisis and New Spirit". The May Pamphlet was translated and published in German (Anarchistisches Manifest) in 1977. ## Synopsis In The May Pamphlet, Goodman discusses the problems of living within a society that impedes individual initiative and imposes on personal liberties, i.e., coercive societal conditions. His thesis, with debt to Wilhelm Reich, is that a coercive society depends on repression of individual instinct, to which the antidote is for individuals to take initiative and form a "natural society" in the present rather than waiting for large-scale structural changes. The original, 49-page May Pamphlet contains six essays: 1. "Reflections on Drawing the Line" 2. "On Treason Against Natural Societies" – originally published in Retort, Fall 1945 3. "A Touchstone for the Libertarian Program" – originally published in Why?, June 1945 4. "Natural Violence" 5. "Revolution, Sociolatry, and War" – originally published in Politics, December 1945 6. "Unanimity" Throughout The May Pamphlet, Goodman uses the word "libertarian", referring to the libertarian socialist (i.e., anarchist) tradition, as was its common connotation in that era. The first short essay, "Reflections on Drawing the Line", describes inventiveness as a necessary condition of libertarianism (anarchism). Goodman sees libertarianism as the fulfillment of "natural powers": that individuals produce art and society by living their nature. "Free action is to live in present society as though it were a natural society" goes the pamphlet's main maxim. Goodman writes that new order should not simply replace old order, but instead, spheres of free action should expand until they compose the totality of a free society, though Goodman does also contend that "any genuine liberation" requires "total change". The exact meaning of "free" and "natural" is imprecise in this context yet generally refers to the ability to work in mutual aid without coercive legal pressure to do otherwise. His examples of coercive restrictions include industrial labor's restraints on time and specialty, and adult "lack of encouragement" towards childhood sexuality. The title's "Drawing the Line" refers to establishing the limits, as a line in the sand, beyond which an individual would act in resistance. But Goodman conservatively advocates for non-allegiance in lieu of open insurrection. Goodman embodied this stance by living a free, "sexually polymorphous bohemian-artist life" in defiance of societal norms. Goodman faults modern society and its focus on industry for man's alienation from nature, thus causing disaffection, coercion, and war. He refers to this trade-off as "", that the masses, alienated from nature, enable industrial progress in hopes of a higher standard of living. In this way, their unconscious desires are coerced into behavioral norms in the name of institutional power. Goodman's solution is a return to nature in which individuals reconnect with their natural urges and powers to pursue meaningful work, mutual aid, and direct democracy. The revolutionary potential of this redirection of energies rests in individual decisions, not necessarily collective action. The second essay discusses the personal, therapeutic benefits of small acts of resistance. To Goodman, "Treason Against Natural Societies" meant the self-betrayal in which an individual internally knows they are being coerced against their nature but instead "cowardly takes leave of his heart" and conforms. This ability to betray one's better instinct, he writes, is what enables a war. "A Touchstone for the Libertarian Program", the third essay, encourages libertarians (i.e., anarchists) to dilute their prejudices against jailable offenses and in fact advocate on behalf of such offenses which, he wagers, are more likely political in nature. He praises marginalized personal behavior ("acts of liberty") as "our strongest propaganda" and contends that most jailable offenses are political non-crimes: free expressions whose repression encourages timidity. If prisoners were released, he argues, an increase in petty crime would likely deter bigger, more spectacular crime. Goodman notes this proposal as being impossible as moral relations and property depend on the existence of prison. The fourth essay, "Natural Violence", blames the "sterilization" of natural experiences—such as birth, death, and sex—for aggressive deviance, such as war ("war is unnatural violence"). The May Pamphlet's last two essays are more theoretical. Similar to other essays first published in Politics, "Revolution, Sociolatry, and War", is an anarchist response to Marxist theory. Goodman approves of Karl Marx's social psychology but disagrees on topics of statism and history. In discussing American societal structure, Goodman proposes reliance on small, communitarian groups based in mutual aid in lieu of large states and corporations. Goodman argues that his 1940s society was built to serve industrial progress at the expense of individual alienation from their natural abilities. Those external institutions, with their narrow focus on socioeconomic progress, he wrote, are weak substitutes for small sets of individuals working in mutuality and decentralized syndicalism to realize their personal desires. The immediate creation of these small communities would produce individual fulfillment through meaningful work and direct participation in decision-making, like "sane men in a madhouse", undoing a society that had grown big, anonymous, oriented towards mass consumption, and whose decisions and design were increasingly made externally from those affected. Goodman expects routine aggression to be relieved by "natural institutions" such as friendly competition and mutual interdependence. "Unanimity", the sixth and final essay, argues that only invention can resolve natural conflict. "If a man cannot invent a way out", Goodman asks, "what right has such a man to be a libertarian on the issue at all?" He faults negative criticism for unproductively dispiriting individuals where positive criticism—a tenor throughout Goodman's social criticism—can offer possibilities for improvement and self-actualization. He proposes that individuals connect their creative efforts to their deeper, psychoanalytic needs—their nature—and to wider wisdom of the community. Goodman puts special emphasis on unanimity as opposed to rough consensus, and writes that unanimity is found by "sharpening" the point of conflict until a new idea emerges. The act of unifying one's social and political attitudes, he additionally suggests, has therapeutic effects. Goodman views his commentary as standard anarchism to which he has added elements of psychoanalysis. ## Themes and analysis The major themes of The May Pamphlet include how individuals can resist coercive societal conditions and invent solutions to social dilemmas by realizing their natural abilities. Goodman believed that individual initiative—sociobiological drives and animal instinct in defiance of norms—and the everyday conflict it created to be the purpose of living, the foundation for communities, and a trait to nurture. Goodman proposes that individuals realize their natural abilities and apply them creatively rather than letting them be co-opted by coercive pressures within society. Individuals could be free in a coercive society, he wrote, through pursuit of creative work, acts of passion or emotion, and "spontaneous recreation". The duties of citizenship, to Goodman, entail dismantling the institutional barriers that separate people from life's basic circumstances. He wrote about "waging peace" as one would "wage war". Though the essays do not prompt for specific actions, Goodman generally suggests approaches such as avoiding societal coercion in the manner one avoids anything dangerous in the everyday, or "drawing the line", an ideological delineation beyond which an individual should refuse to conform or cooperate with social convention. To allay the confrontation that comes with drawing the line, he advocates for individuals to do what is within one's own nonconfrontational power: reform oneself rather than attempt to influence others directly, remove oneself from coercive situations to instead find affinity groups closer to one's identity. Goodman prefers this anarchist system of self-identifying and adjusting one's own prejudices so as to permit a loose worldview that can afford multiple contradictory views. He simultaneously proposes civil disobedience as a core facet of anarchism: that individuals should exercise moral conscience to challenge societal coercion, even if that exercise is a jailable crime. In turn this would, Goodman argued, help individuals better distinguish political prisoners from common criminals. The essays generally encourage draft and war resistance, though he does not specifically address the draft or his pacifism in these essays. Goodman likely wrote these essays from his need to justify his draft dodging, according to his literary executor Taylor Stoehr. Goodman's politics derived from his personal situation as a meditation on how to cope, which Stoehr described as visible throughout the essays. These principles largely served Goodman well, wrote Goodman's biographer, and Goodman's reliance on instinct was sometimes among his most endearing traits, except when he could not identify his deeper instincts and could neither articulate his confusion nor admit it. While themes from The May Pamphlet—decentralization, peace, social psychology, youth liberation—would recur throughout his later body of work, his social criticism came to focus on practical application rather than theoretical concerns, like that of unanimity. ## Reception and legacy The May Pamphlet was Goodman's main contribution to anarchist theory. The essays were both his first explicitly political works and his foremost political writings of the period. The pamphlet, with its notable absence of class analysis, departed from radical conventions. The Party of Eros, an intellectual history of the New Left, remarked that The May Pamphlet had more in common with writings on Ancient Greek direct democracy than those on Marxist or Syndicalist working-class radicalism. The essays were influential on the central position of the New York Why? Group, who were disenchanted with traditional anarchism, alienated from rising pro-war fervor, and excited by politics that put gradual, individual change before millenarian, collective conflict. Goodman reformulated anarchist politics to elevate issues of expression, such as discrimination and conscription, as existential hazards for freedom and well-being. Goodman's early anarchist thought was also influential in Politics's development of its pacifist, nonviolent, individualist socialist, anti-mass society political stance. The May Pamphlet was a primary influence on British anarchist Colin Ward, who dedicated the 1973 Anarchy in Action to Goodman's memory. The essays outlined the conceptual positions and convictions that would undergird Goodman's entire career, namely that his contemporaneous American society deprived its people of vital, human needs, leading their animal desires to be sublimated into war spirit, materialistic consumption, and racism. This created what Goodman called "The Dilemma", that one could either conform to society and be sick for deprivation of basic needs, or not confirm and become demented as an exile from vital societal connection. Goodman's 1962 Utopian Essays and Practical Proposals discusses ways in which The May Pamphlet's principles could perform under direct action or policy. Art and Social Nature and its cornerstone, The May Pamphlet, established Goodman as a noteworthy cultural theorist, despite it being mostly ignored at its release. Goodman would sustain The May Pamphlet's anarchist social critique for the rest of his life and continued to refine its ideas in works including Growing Up Absurd, the 1960 study of alienated youth in America that established his importance as a mainstream cultural theorist and pillar of leftist thought during the counterculture. The May Pamphlet saw a wider audience when Growing Up Absurd brought about a resurgence of Goodman's writing. Through his influence, the stances of the 1940s New York anarchist magazines prefigured the activism and personal empowerment stances of the 1960s New Left. ## See also - Prefigurative politics
39,032	Rolls-Royce Merlin	1,172,845,936	Aircraft engine family by Rolls-Royce	[ "1930s aircraft piston engines", "Articles containing video clips", "Rolls-Royce aircraft piston engines", "V12 aircraft engines" ]	The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled V-12 piston aero engine of 27-litres (1,650 cu in) capacity. Rolls-Royce designed the engine and first ran it in 1933 as a private venture. Initially known as the PV-12, it was later called Merlin following the company convention of naming its four-stroke piston aero engines after birds of prey. After several modifications, the first production variants of the PV-12 were completed in 1936. The first operational aircraft to enter service using the Merlin were the Fairey Battle, Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire. The Merlin remains most closely associated with the Spitfire and Hurricane, although the majority of the production run was for the four-engined Avro Lancaster heavy bomber. A series of rapidly-applied developments, brought about by wartime needs, markedly improved the engine's performance and durability. Starting at 1,000 horsepower (750 kW) for the first production models, most late war versions produced just under 1,800 horsepower (1,300 kW), and the very latest version as used in the de Havilland Hornet over 2,000 horsepower (1,500 kW). One of the most successful aircraft engines of the World War II era, some 50 versions of the Merlin were built by Rolls-Royce in Derby, Crewe and Glasgow, as well as by Ford of Britain at their Trafford Park factory, near Manchester. A de-rated version was also the basis of the Rolls-Royce/Rover Meteor tank engine. Post-war, the Merlin was largely superseded by the Rolls-Royce Griffon for military use, with most Merlin variants being designed and built for airliners and military transport aircraft. The Packard V-1650 was a version of the Merlin built in the United States. Production ceased in 1950 after a total of almost 150,000 engines had been delivered. Merlin engines remain in Royal Air Force service today with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, and power many restored aircraft in private ownership worldwide. ## Design and development ### Origin In the early 1930s, Rolls-Royce started planning its future aero-engine development programme and realised there was a need for an engine larger than their 21-litre (1,296 cu in) Kestrel which was being used with great success in a number of 1930s aircraft. Consequently, work was started on a new 1,100 hp (820 kW)-class design known as the PV-12, with PV standing for Private Venture, 12-cylinder, as the company received no government funding for work on the project. The PV-12 was first run on 15 October 1933 and first flew in a Hawker Hart biplane (serial number K3036) on 21 February 1935. The engine was originally designed to use the evaporative cooling system then in vogue. This proved unreliable and when ethylene glycol from the U.S. became available, the engine was adapted to use a conventional liquid-cooling system. The Hart was subsequently delivered to Rolls-Royce where, as a Merlin testbed, it completed over 100 hours of flying with the Merlin C and E engines. In 1935, the Air Ministry issued a specification, F10/35, for new fighter aircraft with a minimum airspeed of 310 mph (500 km/h). Fortunately, two designs had been developed: the Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane; the latter designed in response to another specification, F36/34. Both were designed around the PV-12 instead of the Kestrel, and were the only contemporary British fighters to have been so developed. Production contracts for both aircraft were placed in 1936, and development of the PV-12 was given top priority as well as government funding. Following the company convention of naming its piston aero engines after birds of prey, Rolls-Royce named the engine the Merlin after a small, Northern Hemisphere falcon (Falco columbarius). Two more Rolls-Royce engines developed just prior to the war were added to the company's range. The 885 hp (660 kW) Rolls-Royce Peregrine was an updated, supercharged development of their V-12 Kestrel design, while the 1,700 hp (1,300 kW) 42-litre (2,560 cu in) Rolls-Royce Vulture used four Kestrel-sized cylinder blocks fitted to a single crankcase and driving a common crankshaft, forming an X-24 layout. This was to be used in larger aircraft such as the Avro Manchester. Although the Peregrine appeared to be a satisfactory design, it was never allowed to mature since Rolls-Royce's priority was refining the Merlin. As a result, the Peregrine saw use in only two aircraft: the Westland Whirlwind fighter and one of the Gloster F.9/37 prototypes. The Vulture was fitted to the Avro Manchester bomber, but proved unreliable in service and the planned fighter using it – the Hawker Tornado – was cancelled as a result. With the Merlin itself soon pushing into the 1,500 hp (1,100 kW) range, the Peregrine and Vulture were both cancelled in 1943, and by mid-1943 the Merlin was supplemented in service by the larger Griffon. The Griffon incorporated several design improvements and ultimately superseded the Merlin. ### Development Initially the new engine was plagued with problems such as failure of the accessory gear trains and coolant jackets. Several different construction methods were tried before the basic design of the Merlin was set. Early production Merlins were unreliable: Common problems were cylinder head cracking, coolant leaks, and excessive wear to the camshafts and crankshaft main bearings. #### Early engines The prototype, developmental, and early production engine types were the: - PV-12 The initial design using an evaporative cooling system. Two built, passed bench type testing in July 1934, generating 740 hp (550 kW) at 12,000-foot (3,700 m) equivalent. First flown 21 February 1935. - Merlin B Two built, ethylene glycol liquid cooling system introduced. "Ramp" cylinder heads (inlet valves were at a 45-degree angle to the cylinder). Passed Type Testing February 1935, generating 950 hp (710 kW) at 11,000-foot (3,400 m) equivalent. - Merlin C Development of Merlin B; crankcase and cylinder blocks became three separate castings with bolt-on cylinder heads. First flight in Hawker Horsley 21 December 1935, 950 hp (710 kW) at 11,000-foot (3,400 m). - Merlin E Similar to C with minor design changes. Passed 50-hour civil test in December 1935 generating a constant 955 hp (712 kW) and a maximum rating of 1,045 hp (779 kW). Failed military 100-hour test in March 1936. Powered the Supermarine Spitfire prototype. - Merlin F (Merlin I) Similar to C and E. First flight in Horsley 16 July 1936. This became the first production engine, and was designated as the Merlin I. The Merlin continued with the "ramp" head, but this was not a success and only 172 were made. The Fairey Battle I was the first production aircraft to be powered by the Merlin I and first flew on 10 March 1936. - Merlin G (Merlin II) Replaced "ramp" cylinder heads with parallel pattern heads (valve stems parallel to the cylinder bore axis) scaled up from the Kestrel engine. 400-hour flight endurance tests carried out at RAE July 1937; acceptance test 22 September 1937. It was first widely delivered as the 1,030 hp (770 kW) Merlin II in 1938, and production was quickly stepped up for Fairey Battle II. - Merlin III Merlin II with standardised de Havilland/Rotol SBAC propeller shaft, and dual accessory-drive. 1,030 hp (770 kW) at 3,000 rpm at 10,250 feet (3,120 m) at +6.5 lb boost. Formed basis for the Rolls-Royce/Rover Meteor tank engine - "Racing" Merlin Racing engine for 1937/38 "Speed Spitfire" world speed record attempt. Merlin III with strengthened pistons, connecting rods, and gudgeon-pins, running on increased octane fuel, developed 2,160 hp (1,610 kW) at 3,200 rpm and +27 lb boost, a power/weight ratio of 0.621 lb per horsepower. Completed 15-hour endurance run at 1,800 hp (1,300 kW), 3,200 rpm at +22 lb boost. - Merlin IV Merlin with pressure-water cooling for Armstrong Whitworth Whitley IV. - Merlin V Merlin for Fairey Battle V. - Merlin VIII Medium-supercharged Merlin developed for Fairey Fulmar I, rated 1,010 hp (750 kW) at 2,850 rpm at 6,750 feet (2,060 m), 1,080 hp (810 kW) at 3,000 rpm for take-off using 100-octane fuel. - Merlin X First Merlin with two-speed supercharger, 1,145 hp (854 kW) in low gear at 5,250 feet (1,600 m), 1,010 hp (750 kW) in high gear at 17,750 feet (5,410 m). First of Rolls-Royce unitised "Power Plant" installation designs for this engine in 1937 and used in Handley Page Halifax I, Vickers Wellington II, and Armstrong Whitworth Whitley V and VII. - Merlin XII Merlin fitted with 0.477:1 reduction gear installed in some Spitfire II's with three-bladed Rotol constant-speed propeller. Rated at 1,150 hp (860 kW) at 3,000 rpm at 14,000 feet (4,300 m). - Merlin XX Merlin X with Stanley Hooker re-designed supercharger incorporating re-designed inlet and improved guide vanes on impeller with revised blower gear ratios; 8:15:1 for low gear, 9:49:1 for high gear. New larger SU twin choke updraught carburettor. Engine interchangeable with Merlin X. Rated at 1,240 hp (920 kW) at 2,850 rpm in low gear at 10,000 feet (3,000 m) and +9 lb boost; 1,175 hp (876 kW) at 2,850 rpm in high gear at 17,500 feet (5,300 m) at +9 lb boost. Revised Rolls-Royce unitised "Power Plant" installation design. Engine used in Bristol Beaufighter II, Boulton Paul Defiant II, Handley Page Halifax II and V, Hawker Hurricane II and IV, and Avro Lancaster I and III. First Merlin produced by Packard Motor Car Company as V-1650-1 and designated by Rolls-Royce as Merlin 28. #### Production engines The Merlin II and III series were the first main production versions of the engine. The Merlin III was the first version to incorporate a "universal" propeller shaft, allowing either de Havilland or Rotol manufactured propellers to be used. The first major version to incorporate changes brought about through experience in operational service was the XX, which was designed to run on 100-octane fuel. This fuel allowed higher manifold pressures, which were achieved by increasing the boost from the centrifugal supercharger. The Merlin XX also utilised the two-speed superchargers designed by Rolls-Royce, resulting in increased power at higher altitudes than previous versions. Another improvement, introduced with the Merlin X, was the use of a 70%–30% water-glycol coolant mix rather than the 100% glycol of the earlier versions. This substantially improved engine life and reliability, removed the fire hazard of the flammable ethylene glycol, and reduced the oil leaks that had been a problem with the early Merlin I, II and III series. The process of improvement continued, with later versions running on higher octane ratings, delivering more power. Fundamental design changes were also made to all key components, again increasing the engine's life and reliability. By the end of the war the "little" engine was delivering over 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) in common versions, and as much as 2,030 hp (1,510 kW) in the Merlin 130/131 versions specifically designed for the de Havilland Hornet. Ultimately, during tests conducted by Rolls-Royce at Derby, an RM.17.SM (the high altitude version of the Merlin 100-Series) achieved 2,640 hp (1,970 kW) at 36 lb boost (103"Hg) on 150-octane fuel with water injection. With the end of the war, work on improving Merlin power output was halted and the development effort was concentrated on civil derivatives of the Merlin. Development of what became the "Transport Merlin" (TML) commenced with the Merlin 102 (the first Merlin to complete the new civil type-test requirements) and was aimed at improving reliability and service overhaul periods for airline operators using airliner and transport aircraft such as the Avro Lancastrian, Avro York (Merlin 500-series), Avro Tudor II & IV (Merlin 621), Tudor IVB & V (Merlin 623), TCA Canadair North Star (Merlin 724) and BOAC Argonaut (Merlin 724-IC). By 1951 the time between overhauls (TBO) was typically 650–800 hours depending on use. By then single-stage engines had accumulated 2,615,000 engine hours in civil operation, and two-stage engines 1,169,000. In addition, an exhaust system to reduce noise levels to below those from ejector exhausts was devised for the North Star/Argonaut. This "cross-over" system took the exhaust flow from the inboard bank of cylinders up-and-over the engine before discharging the exhaust stream on the outboard side of the UPP nacelle. As a result, sound levels were reduced by between 5 and 8 decibels. The modified exhaust also conferred an increase in horsepower over the unmodified system of 38 hp (28 kW), resulting in a 5 knot improvement in true air speed. Still-air range of the aircraft was also improved by around 4 per cent. The modified engine was designated the "TMO" and the modified exhaust system was supplied as kit that could be installed on existing engines either by the operator or by Rolls-Royce. Power ratings for the civil Merlin 600, 620, and 621-series was 1,160 hp (870 kW) continuous cruising at 23,500 feet (7,200 m), and 1,725 hp (1,286 kW) for take-off. Merlins 622–626 were rated at 1,420 hp (1,060 kW) continuous cruising at 18,700 feet (5,700 m), and 1,760 hp (1,310 kW) for take-off. Engines were available with single-stage, two-speed supercharging (500-series), two-stage, two-speed supercharging (600-series), and with full intercooling, or with half intercooling/charge heating, charge heating being employed for cold area use such as in Canada. Civil Merlin engines in airline service flew 7,818,000 air miles in 1946, 17,455,000 in 1947, and 24,850,000 miles in 1948. #### Basic component overview (Merlin 61) From Jane's: Cylinders Twelve cylinders consisting of high-carbon steel liners set in two, two-piece cylinder blocks of cast "R.R.50" aluminium alloy having separate heads and skirts. Wet liners, ie. coolant in direct contact with external face of liners. Cylinder heads fitted with cast-iron inlet valve guides, phosphor bronze exhaust valve guides, and renewable "Silchrome" steel-alloy valve seats. Two diametrically opposed spark plugs protrude into each combustion chamber. Pistons Machined from "R.R.59" alloy forgings. Fully floating hollow gudgeon pins of hardened nickel-chrome steel. Three compression and one oil-control ring above the gudgeon pin, and one oil-control ring below. Connecting rods H-section machined nickel-steel forgings, each pair consisting of a plain and a forked rod. The forked rod carries a nickel-steel bearing block which accommodates steel-backed lead-bronze-alloy bearing shells. The "small-end" of each rod houses a floating phosphor bronze bush. Crankshaft One-piece, machined from a nitrogen-hardened nickel-chrome molybdenum steel forging. Statically and dynamically balanced. Seven main bearings and six throws. Crankcase Two aluminium-alloy castings joined together on the horizontal centreline. The upper portion bears the wheelcase, supercharger and accessories; and carries the cylinder blocks, crankshaft main bearings (split mild-steel shells lined with lead bronze alloy), and part of the housing for the airscrew reduction gear. The lower half forms an oil sump and carries the oil pumps and filters. Wheelcase Aluminium casting fitted to rear of crankcase. Houses drives to the camshafts, magnetos, coolant and oil pumps, supercharger, hand and electric starters, and the electric generator. Valve gear Two inlet and two exhaust poppet valves of "K.E.965" steel per cylinder. Both the inlet and exhaust valves have hardened "stellited" ends; while the exhaust valves also have sodium-cooled stems, and heads protected with a "Brightray" (nickel-chromium) coating. Each valve is kept closed by a pair of concentric coil-springs. A single, seven-bearing camshaft, located on the top of each cylinder head operates 24 individual steel rockers; 12 pivoting from a rocker shaft on the inner, intake side of the head to actuate the exhaust valves, the others pivoting from a shaft on the exhaust side of the head to actuate the inlet valves. #### Technical improvements Most of the Merlin's technical improvements resulted from more efficient superchargers, designed by Stanley Hooker, and the introduction of aviation fuel with increased octane ratings. Numerous detail changes were made internally and externally to the engine to withstand increased power ratings and to incorporate advances in engineering practices. ##### Ejector exhausts The Merlin consumed an enormous volume of air at full power (equivalent to the volume of a single-decker bus per minute), and with the exhaust gases exiting at 1,300 mph (2,100 km/h) it was realised that useful thrust could be gained simply by angling the gases backwards instead of venting sideways. During tests, 70 pounds-force (310 N; 32 kgf) thrust at 300 mph (480 km/h), or roughly 70 hp (52 kW) was obtained which increased the level maximum speed of the Spitfire by 10 mph (16 km/h) to 360 mph (580 km/h). The first versions of the ejector exhausts featured round outlets, while subsequent versions of the system used "fishtail" style outlets which marginally increased thrust and reduced exhaust glare for night flying. In September 1937 the Spitfire prototype, K5054, was fitted with ejector type exhausts. Later marks of the Spitfire used a variation of this exhaust system fitted with forward-facing intake ducts to distribute hot air out to the wing-mounted guns to prevent freezing and stoppages at high altitudes, replacing an earlier system that used heated air from the engine coolant radiator. The latter system had become ineffective due to improvements to the Merlin itself which allowed higher operating altitudes where air temperatures are lower. Ejector exhausts were also fitted to other Merlin-powered aircraft. ##### Supercharger Central to the success of the Merlin was the supercharger. A.C. Lovesey, an engineer who was a key figure in the design of the Merlin, delivered a lecture on the development of the Merlin in 1946; in this extract he explained the importance of the supercharger: > The impression still prevails that the static capacity known as the swept volume is the basis of comparison of the possible power output for different types of engine, but this is not the case because the output of the engine depends solely on the mass of air it can be made to consume efficiently, and in this respect the supercharger plays the most important role ... the engine has to be capable of dealing with the greater mass flows with respect to cooling, freedom from detonation and capable of withstanding high gas and inertia loads ... During the course of research and development on superchargers it became apparent to us that any further increase in the altitude performance of the Merlin engine necessitated the employment of a two-stage supercharger. As the Merlin evolved so too did the supercharger; the latter fitting into three broad categories: 1. Single-stage, single-speed gearbox: Merlin I to III, XII, 30, 40, and 50 series (1937–1942). 2. Single-stage, two-speed gearbox: experimental Merlin X (1938), production Merlin XX (1940–1945). 3. Two-stage, two-speed gearbox with intercooler: mainly Merlin 60, 70, and 80 series (1942–1946). The Merlin supercharger was originally designed to allow the engine to generate maximum power at an altitude of about 16,000 ft (4,900 m). In 1938 Stanley Hooker, an Oxford graduate in applied mathematics, explained "... I soon became very familiar with the construction of the Merlin supercharger and carburettor ... Since the supercharger was at the rear of the engine it had come in for pretty severe design treatment, and the air intake duct to the impeller looked very squashed ..." Tests conducted by Hooker showed the original intake design was inefficient, limiting the performance of the supercharger. Hooker subsequently designed a new air intake duct with improved flow characteristics which increased maximum power at a higher altitude of over 19,000 ft (5,800 m); and also improved the design of both the impeller, and the diffuser which controlled the airflow to it. These modifications led to the development of the single-stage Merlin XX and 45 series. A significant advance in supercharger design was the incorporation in 1938 of a two-speed drive (designed by the French company Farman) to the impeller of the Merlin X. The later Merlin XX incorporated the two-speed drive as well as several improvements that enabled the production rate of Merlins to be increased. The low-ratio gear, which operated from takeoff to an altitude of 10,000 ft (3,000 m), drove the impeller at 21,597 rpm and developed 1,240 hp (920 kW) at that height; while the high gear's (25,148 rpm) power rating was 1,175 hp (876 kW) at 18,000 ft (5,500 m). These figures were achieved at 2,850 rpm engine speed using +9 pounds per square inch (1.66 atm) (48") boost. In 1940, after receiving a request in March of that year from the Ministry of Aircraft Production for a high-rated (40,000 ft (12,000 m)) Merlin for use as an alternative engine to the turbocharged Hercules VIII used in the prototype high-altitude Vickers Wellington V bomber, Rolls-Royce started experiments on the design of a two-stage supercharger and an engine fitted with this was bench-tested in April 1941, eventually becoming the Merlin 60. The basic design used a modified Vulture supercharger for the first stage while a Merlin 46 supercharger was used for the second. A liquid-cooled intercooler on top of the supercharger casing was used to prevent the compressed air/fuel mixture from becoming too hot. Also considered was an exhaust-driven turbocharger but, although a lower fuel consumption was an advantage the added weight and the need to add extra ducting for the exhaust flow and waste-gates, meant that this option was rejected in favour of the two-stage supercharger. Fitted with the two-stage two-speed supercharger, the Merlin 60 series gained 300 hp (220 kW) at 30,000 ft (9,100 m) over the Merlin 45 series, at which altitude a Spitfire IX was nearly 70 mph (110 km/h) faster than a Spitfire V. The two-stage Merlin family was extended in 1943 with the Merlin 66 which had its supercharger geared for increased power ratings at low altitudes, and the Merlin 70 series that were designed to deliver increased power at high altitudes. While the design of the two-stage supercharger forged ahead, Rolls-Royce also continued to develop the single-stage supercharger, resulting in 1942 in the development of a smaller "cropped" impeller for the Merlin 45M and 55M; both of these engines developed greater power at low altitudes. In squadron service the LF.V variant of the Spitfire fitted with these engines became known as the "clipped, clapped, and cropped Spitty" to indicate the shortened wingspan, the less-than-perfect condition of the used airframes, and the cropped supercharger impeller. ##### Carburettor developments The use of carburettors was calculated to give a higher specific power output, due to the lower temperature, hence greater density, of the fuel/air mixture compared to injected systems. However, the Merlin's float controlled carburettor meant that if Spitfires or Hurricanes were to pitch nose down into a steep dive, negative g-force (g) produced temporary fuel starvation causing the engine to cut-out momentarily. By comparison, the contemporary Bf 109E, which had direct fuel injection, could "bunt" straight into a high-power dive to escape attack. RAF fighter pilots soon learned to avoid this with a "half-roll" of their aircraft before diving in pursuit. A restrictor in the fuel supply line together with a diaphragm fitted in the float chamber, jocularly nicknamed "Miss Shilling's orifice", after its inventor, went some way towards curing fuel starvation in a dive by containing fuel under negative G; however, at less than maximum power a fuel-rich mixture still resulted. Another improvement was made by moving the fuel outlet from the bottom of the S.U. carburettor to exactly halfway up the side, which allowed the fuel to flow equally well under negative or positive g. Further improvements were introduced throughout the Merlin range: 1943 saw the introduction of a Bendix-Stromberg pressure carburettor that injected fuel at 5 pounds per square inch (34 kPa; 0.34 bar) through a nozzle directly into the supercharger, and was fitted to Merlin 66, 70, 76, 77 and 85 variants. The final development, which was fitted to the 100-series Merlins, was an S.U. injection carburettor that injected fuel into the supercharger using a fuel pump driven as a function of crankshaft speed and engine pressures. ##### Improved fuels At the start of the war, the Merlin I, II and III ran on the then standard 87-octane aviation spirit and could generate just over 1,000 hp (750 kW) from its 27-litre (1,650-cu in) displacement: the maximum boost pressure at which the engine could be run using 87-octane fuel was +6 pounds per square inch (141 kPa; 1.44 atm). However, as early as 1938, at the 16th Paris Air Show, Rolls-Royce displayed two versions of the Merlin rated to use 100-octane fuel. The Merlin R.M.2M was capable of 1,265 hp (943 kW) at 7,870 feet (2,400 m), 1,285 hp (958 kW) at 9,180 feet (2,800 m) and 1,320 hp (980 kW) on take-off; while a Merlin X with a two-speed supercharger in high gear generated 1,150 hp (860 kW) at 15,400 feet (4,700 m) and 1,160 hp (870 kW) at 16,730 feet (5,100 m). From late 1939, 100-octane fuel became available from the U.S., West Indies, Persia, and, in smaller quantities, domestically, consequently, "... in the first half of 1940 the RAF transferred all Hurricane and Spitfire squadrons to 100 octane fuel." Small modifications were made to Merlin II and III series engines, allowing an increased (emergency) boost pressure of +12 pounds per square inch (183 kPa; 1.85 atm). At this power setting these engines were able to produce 1,310 hp (980 kW) at 9,000 ft (2,700 m) while running at 3,000 revolutions per minute. Increased boost could be used indefinitely as there was no mechanical time limit mechanism, but pilots were advised not to use increased boost for more than a maximum of five minutes, and it was considered a "definite overload condition on the engine"; if the pilot resorted to emergency boost he had to report this on landing, when it was noted in the engine log book, while the engineering officer was required to examine the engine and reset the throttle gate. Later versions of the Merlin ran only on 100-octane fuel, and the five-minute combat limitation was raised to +18 pounds per square inch (224 kPa; 2.3 atm). In late 1943 trials were run of a new "100/150" grade (150-octane) fuel, recognised by its bright-green colour and "awful smell". Initial tests were conducted using 6.5 cubic centimetres (0.23 imp fl oz) of tetraethyllead (T.E.L.) for every one imperial gallon of 100-octane fuel (or 1.43 cc/L or 0.18 U.S. fl oz/U.S. gal), but this mixture resulted in a build-up of lead in the combustion chambers, causing excessive fouling of the spark plugs. Better results were achieved by adding 2.5% mono methyl aniline (M.M.A.) to 100-octane fuel. The new fuel allowed the five-minute boost rating of the Merlin 66 to be raised to +25 pounds per square inch (272 kPa; 2.7 atm). With this boost rating the Merlin 66 generated 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) at sea level and 1,860 hp (1,390 kW) at 10,500 ft (3,200 m). Starting in March 1944, the Merlin 66-powered Spitfire IXs of two Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) squadrons were cleared to use the new fuel for operational trials, and it was put to good use in the summer of 1944 when it enabled Spitfire L.F. Mk. IXs to intercept V-1 flying bombs coming in at low altitudes. 100/150 grade fuel was also used by Mosquito night fighters of the ADGB to intercept V-1s. In early February 1945, Spitfires of the Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) also began using 100/150 grade fuel. This fuel was also offered to the USAAF where it was designated "PPF 44-1" and informally known as "Pep". ## Production Production of the Rolls-Royce Merlin was driven by the forethought and determination of Ernest Hives, who at times was enraged by the apparent complacency and lack of urgency encountered in his frequent correspondence with the Air Ministry, the Ministry of Aircraft Production and local authority officials. Hives was an advocate of shadow factories, and, sensing the imminent outbreak of war, pressed ahead with plans to produce the Merlin in sufficient numbers for the rapidly expanding Royal Air Force. Despite the importance of uninterrupted production, several factories were affected by industrial action. By the end of its production run in 1950, 168,176 Merlin engines had been built; over 112,000 in Britain and more than 55,000 under licence in the U.S. ### Derby The existing Rolls-Royce facilities at Osmaston, Derby were not suitable for mass engine production although the floor space had been increased by some 25% between 1935 and 1939; Hives planned to build the first two- or three hundred engines there until engineering teething troubles had been resolved. To fund this expansion, the Air Ministry had provided a total of £1,927,000 by December 1939. Having a workforce that consisted mainly of design engineers and highly skilled men, the Derby factory carried out the majority of development work on the Merlin, with flight testing carried out at nearby RAF Hucknall. All the Merlin-engined aircraft taking part in the Battle of Britain had their engines assembled in the Derby factory. Total Merlin production at Derby was 32,377. The original factory closed in March 2008, but the company maintains a presence in Derby. ### Crewe To meet the increasing demand for Merlin engines, Rolls-Royce started building work on a new factory at Crewe in May 1938, with engines leaving the factory in 1939. The Crewe factory had convenient road and rail links to their existing facilities at Derby. Production at Crewe was originally planned to use unskilled labour and sub-contractors with which Hives felt there would be no particular difficulty, but the number of required sub-contracted parts such as crankshafts, camshafts and cylinder liners eventually fell short and the factory was expanded to manufacture these parts "in house". Initially the local authority promised to build 1,000 new houses to accommodate the workforce by the end of 1938, but by February 1939 it had only awarded a contract for 100. Hives was incensed by this complacency and threatened to move the whole operation, but timely intervention by the Air Ministry improved the situation. In 1940 a strike took place when women replaced men on capstan lathes, the workers' union insisting this was a skilled labour job; however, the men returned to work after 10 days. Total Merlin production at Crewe was 26,065. The factory was used postwar for the production of Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars and military fighting vehicle power plants. In 1998 Volkswagen AG bought the Bentley marque and the factory. Today it is known as Bentley Crewe. ### Glasgow Hives further recommended that a factory be built near Glasgow to take advantage of the abundant local work force and the supply of steel and forgings from Scottish manufacturers. In September 1939, the Air Ministry allocated £4,500,000 for a new Shadow factory. This government-funded-and-operated factory was built at Hillington starting in June 1939 with workers moving into the premises in October, one month after the outbreak of war. The factory was fully occupied by September 1940. A housing crisis also occurred at Glasgow where Hives again asked the Air Ministry to step in. With 16,000 employees, the Glasgow factory was one of the largest industrial operations in Scotland. Unlike the Derby and Crewe plants which relied significantly on external subcontractors, it produced almost all the Merlin's components itself. Hillingdon required "a great deal of attention from Hives" from when it was producing its first complete engine; it had the highest proportion of unskilled workers in any Rolls-Royce-managed factory”. Engines began to leave the production line in November 1940, and by June 1941 monthly output had reached 200, increasing to more than 400 per month by March 1942. In total 23,675 engines were produced. Worker absenteeism became a problem after some months due to the physical and mental effects of wartime conditions such as the frequent occupation of air-raid shelters. It was agreed to cut the punishing working hours slightly to 82 hours a week, with one half-Sunday per month awarded as holiday. Record production is reported to have been 100 engines in one day. Immediately after the war the site repaired and overhauled Merlin and Griffon engines, and continued to manufacture spare parts. Finally, following the production of the Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet and others, the factory was closed in 2005. ### Manchester The Ford Motor Company was asked to produce Merlins at Trafford Park, Stretford, near Manchester, and building work on a new factory was started in May 1940 on a 118-acre (48 ha) site. Built with two distinct sections to minimise potential bomb damage, it was completed in May 1941 and bombed in the same month. At first, the factory had difficulty in attracting suitable labour, and large numbers of women, youths and untrained men had to be taken on. Despite this, the first Merlin engine came off the production line one month later and it was building the engine at a rate of 200 per week by 1943, at which point the joint factories were producing 18,000 Merlins per year. In his autobiography Not much of an Engineer, Sir Stanley Hooker states: "... once the great Ford factory at Manchester started production, Merlins came out like shelling peas ...". Some 17,316 people worked at the Trafford Park plant, including 7,260 women and two resident doctors and nurses. Merlin production started to run down in August 1945, and finally ceased on 23 March 1946. Total Merlin production at Trafford Park was 30,428. ### Packard V-1650 As the Merlin was considered to be so important to the war effort, negotiations were started to establish an alternative production line outside the UK. Rolls-Royce staff visited North American automobile manufacturers to select one to build the Merlin in the U.S. or Canada. Henry Ford rescinded an initial offer to build the engine in the U.S. in July 1940, and the Packard Motor Car Company was selected to take on the \$130,000,000 Merlin order (equivalent to \$ in dollars). Agreement was reached in September 1940, and the first Packard-built engine, a Merlin XX, designated the V-1650-1, ran in August 1941. Total Merlin production by Packard was 55,523. Six development engines were also made by Continental Motors, Inc. ## Variants This is a list of representative Merlin variants, describing some of the mechanical changes made during development of the Merlin. Engines of the same power output were typically assigned different model numbers based on supercharger or propeller gear ratios, differences in cooling system or carburettors, engine block construction, or arrangement of engine controls. Power ratings quoted are usually maximum "military" power. All but the Merlin 131 and 134 engines were "right-hand tractor", i.e. the propeller rotated clockwise when viewed from the rear. In addition to the mark numbers, Merlin engines were allocated experimental numbers by the Ministry of Supply (MoS) – e.g.: RM 8SM for the Merlin 61 and some variants – while under development; these numbers are noted where possible. Merlin engines used in Spitfires, apart from the Merlin 61, used a propeller reduction ratio of .477:1. Merlins used in bombers and other fighters used a ratio of .42:1. Data from Bridgman (Jane's) unless otherwise noted: - Merlin II (RM 1S) 1,030 hp (770 kW) at 3,000 rpm at 5,500 ft (1,676 m) using + 6 psi boost (41 kPa gauge; or an absolute pressure of 144 kPa or 1.41 atm); used 100% glycol coolant. First production Merlin II delivered 10 August 1937. Merlin II used in the Boulton Paul Defiant, Hawker Hurricane Mk.I, Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I fighters, and Fairey Battle light bomber. - Merlin III (RM 1S) Merlin III fitted with "universal" propeller shaft able to mount either de Havilland or Rotol propellers. From late 1939, using 100-octane fuel and +12 psi boost (83 kPa gauge; or an absolute pressure of 184 kPa or 1.82 atm), the Merlin III developed 1,310 hp (980 kW) at 3,000 rpm at 9,000 ft (2,700 m); using 87-octane fuel the power ratings were the same as the Merlin II. Used in the Defiant, Hurricane Mk.I, Spitfire Mk.I fighters, and Battle light bomber. First production Merlin III delivered 1 July 1938. - Merlin X (RM 1SM) 1,130 hp (840 kW) at 3,000 rpm at 5,250 ft (1,600 m); maximum boost pressure +10 psi; this was the first production Merlin to use a two-speed supercharger; Used in Halifax Mk.I, Wellington Mk.II, and Whitley Mk.V bombers. First production Merlin X, 5 December 1938. - Merlin XII (RM 3S) 1,150 hp (860 kW); fitted with Coffman engine starter; first version to use 70/30% water/glycol coolant rather than 100% glycol. Reinforced construction, able to use constant boost pressure of up to +12 psi using 100-octane fuel; Used in Spitfire Mk.II. First production Merlin XII, 2 September 1939. - Merlin XX (RM 3SM) 1,480 hp (1,100 kW) at 3,000 rpm at 6,000 ft (1,829 m); two-speed supercharger; boost pressure of up to +14 psi; Used in Hurricane Mk.II, Beaufighter Mk.II, Halifax Mk.II and Lancaster Mk.I bombers, and in the Spitfire Mk.III prototypes (N3297 & W3237). First production Merlin XX, 4 July 1940. - Merlin 32 (RM 5M) 1,645 hp (1,227 kW) at 3,000 rpm at 2,500 ft (762 m); a "low altitude" version of Merlin with cropped supercharger impellers for increased power at lower altitudes and a maximum boost pressure of +18 psi; fitted with Coffman engine starter; used mainly in Fleet Air Arm aircraft, mainly the Fairey Barracuda Mk.II torpedo bomber and Supermarine Seafire F. Mk.IIc fighters. Also Hurricane Mk.V and Spitfire P.R. Mk.XIII. First production Merlin 32, 17 June 1942. - Merlin 45 (RM 5S) 1,515 hp (1,130 kW) at 3,000 rpm at 11,000 ft (3,353 m); used in Spitfire Mk.V, PR.Mk.IV and PR.Mk.VII, Seafire Ib and IIc. Maximum boost pressure of +16 psi. First production Merlin 45, 13 January 1941. - Merlin 47 (RM 6S) 1,415 hp (1,055 kW) at 3,000 rpm at 14,000 ft (4,267 m); high-altitude version used in Spitfire H.F.Mk.VI. Adapted with a Marshall compressor (often called a "blower") to pressurise the cockpit. First production Merlin 47, 2 December 1941. - Merlin 50.M (RM 5S) 1,585 hp (1,182 kW) at 3,000 rpm at 3,800 ft (1,158 m); low-altitude version with supercharger impeller "cropped" to 9.5 in (241 mm) in diameter. Permitted boost was +18 psi (125 kPa gauge; or an absolute pressure of 225 kPa or 2.2 atm) instead of +16 psi (110 kPa gauge; or an absolute pressure of 210 kPa or 2.08 atm) on a normal Merlin 50 engine. Merlin 50 series was first to use the Bendix-Stromberg "negative-g" carburettor. - Merlin 61 (RM 8SM) 1,565 hp (1,167 kW) at 3,000 rpm at 12,250 ft (3,734 m), 1,390 hp (1,040 kW) at 3,000 rpm at 23,500 ft (7,163 m); fitted with a new two-speed two-stage supercharger providing increased power at medium to high altitudes; +15 psi boost; used in Spitfire F Mk.IX, and P.R Mk.XI. First British production variant to incorporate two-piece cylinder blocks designed by Rolls-Royce for the Packard Merlin. Reduction gear ratio .42:1, with gears for pressurisation pump. First production Merlin 61, 2 March 1942. - Merlin 63 & 63A 1,710 hp (1,280 kW) at 3,000 rpm at 8,500 ft (2,591 m), 1,505 hp (1,122 kW) at 3,000 rpm at 21,000 ft (6,401 m); strengthened two-speed two-stage development of Merlin 61; +18 psi boost; Reduction gear ratio .477:1; Merlin 63A did not have extra gears for pressurisation and incorporated a strengthened supercharger drive quill shaft. Used in Spitfire F Mk.VIII and F. Mk. IX. - Merlin 66 (RM 10SM) 1,720 hp (1,280 kW) at 5,790 ft (1,765 m) using +18 psi boost (124 kPa gauge; or an absolute pressure of 225 kPa or 2.2 atm); low-altitude version of Merlin 63A. Fitted with a Bendix-Stromberg anti-g carburettor; intercooler used a separate header tank. Used in Spitfire L.F. Mk.VIII and L.F. Mk.IX. - Merlin 76/77 (RM 16SM) 1,233 hp (919 kW) at 35,000 ft (10,668 m); Fitted with a two-speed, two-stage supercharger and a Bendix-Stromberg carburettor. Dedicated "high altitude" version used in the Westland Welkin high-altitude fighter and some later Spitfire and de Havilland Mosquito variants. The odd-numbered mark drove a Marshall Roots-type blower for cockpit pressurising. - Merlin 130/131 2,060 hp (1,540 kW); redesigned "slimline" versions for the de Havilland Hornet. Engine design modified to decrease frontal area to a minimum and was the first Merlin series to use down-draught induction systems. Coolant pump moved from the bottom of the engine to the starboard side. Two-speed, two-stage supercharger and S.U. injection carburettor. Corliss throttle. Maximum boost was 25 psi (170 kPa) gauge; or an absolute pressure of 270 kPa or 2.7 atm). On the Hornet the Merlin 130 was fitted in the port nacelle: the Merlin 131, fitted in the starboard nacelle, was converted to a "reverse" or left-hand tractor engine using an additional idler gear in the reduction gear casing. - Merlin 133/134 2,030 hp (1,510 kW); derated for use at low altitude 130/131 variants used in Sea Hornet F. Mk. 20, N.F. Mk. 21 and P.R. Mk. 22. Maximum boost was lowered to +18 psi gauge (230 kPa or 2.2 atm absolute). - Merlin 266 (RM 10SM) The prefix "2" indicates engines built by Packard, otherwise as Merlin 66, optimised for low-altitude operation. Fitted to the Spitfire Mk.XVI. - Merlin 620 1,175 hp (876 kW) continuous cruising using 2,650 rpm at +9 psi boost (62 kPa gauge; or an absolute pressure of 165 kPa or 1.6 atm); capable of emergency rating of 1,795 hp (1,339 kW) at 3,000 rpm using +20 psi boost (138 kPa gauge; or an absolute pressure of 241 kPa or 2.4 atm); civilian engine developed from Merlin 102; two-stage supercharger optimised for medium altitudes, and used an S.U. injection carburettor. "Universal Power Plant" (UPP) standardised annular radiator installation development of that used on Lancaster VI and Avro Lincoln. The Merlin 620–621 series was designed to operate in the severe climatic conditions encountered on Canadian and long-range North Atlantic air routes. Used in Avro Tudor, Avro York, and the Canadair North Star. ## Applications In chronological order, the first operational aircraft powered by the Merlin to enter service were the Fairey Battle, Hawker Hurricane, and Supermarine Spitfire. Although the engine is most closely associated with the Spitfire, the four-engined Avro Lancaster was the most numerous application, followed by the twin-engined de Havilland Mosquito. List from Lumsden 2003 - Armstrong Whitworth Whitley - Avro Athena - Avro Lancaster - Avro Lancastrian - Avro Lincoln - Avro Manchester III - Avro Tudor - Avro York - Boulton Paul Balliol and Sea Balliol - Boulton Paul Defiant - Bristol Beaufighter II - CAC CA-18 Mark 23 Mustang - Canadair North Star - CASA 2.111B and D - Cierva Air Horse - de Havilland Mosquito - de Havilland Hornet - Fairey Barracuda - Fairey Battle - Fairey Fulmar - Fairey P.4/34 - Fiat G.59 - Handley Page Halifax - Handley Page Halton - Hawker Hart (Test bed) - Hawker Henley - Hawker Horsley (Test bed) - Hawker Hotspur - Hawker Hurricane and Sea Hurricane - Hispano Aviación HA-1112 - I.Ae. 30 Ñancú - Miles M.20 - North American Mustang Mk X - Renard R.38 - Short Sturgeon - Supermarine Type 322 - Supermarine Seafire - Supermarine Spitfire - Tsunami Racer - Vickers F.7/41 - Vickers Wellington Mk II and Mk VI - Vickers Windsor - Westland Welkin ### Postwar At the end of World War II, new versions of the Merlin (the 600- and 700-series) were designed and produced for use in commercial airliners such as the Avro Tudor, military transport aircraft such as the Avro York, and the Canadair North Star which performed in both roles. These engines were basically military specification with some minor changes to suit the different operating environment. A Spanish-built version of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-2, the 1954 Hispano Aviación HA-1112-M1L Buchon, was built in Hispano's factory in Seville with the Rolls-Royce Merlin 500/45 engine of 1,600 horsepower (1,200 kW) – a fitting powerplant for the last-produced version of the famous Messerschmitt fighter, as the Bf 109 V1 prototype aircraft had been powered by the Rolls-Royce Kestrel V-12 engine in 1935. The CASA 2.111 was another Spanish-built version of a German aircraft, the Heinkel He 111, that was adapted to use the Merlin after the supply of Junkers Jumo 211F-2 engines ran out at the end of the war. A similar situation existed with the Fiat G.59 when available stocks of the Italian licence-built version of the Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine ran short. The Australian built Avro Lincoln from A73-51 used Australian built Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Merlin 102s. A total of 108 CAC Merlins were built by the time production ended. ### Alternative applications A non-supercharged version of the Merlin using a larger proportion of steel and iron components was produced for use in tanks. This engine, the Rolls-Royce Meteor, in turn led to the smaller Rolls-Royce Meteorite. In 1943, further Meteor development was handed over to Rover, in exchange for Rover's gas turbine interests. In 1938, Rolls-Royce started work on modifying some Merlins which were later to be used in British MTBs, MGBs, and RAF Air-Sea Rescue Launches. For these the superchargers were modified single-stage units and the engine was re-engineered for use in a marine environment. Some 70 engines were converted before priority was given to producing aero engines. Experiments were carried out by the Irish Army involving replacing the Bedford engine of a Churchill tank with a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine salvaged from an Irish Air Corps Seafire aircraft. The experiment was not a success, although the reasons are not recorded. ## Surviving engines One of the most successful of the World War II era aircraft engines, the Merlin continues to be used in many restored World War II vintage aircraft all over the world. The Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight is a notable current operator of the Merlin. In England the Shuttleworth Collection owns and operates a Merlin-powered Hawker Sea Hurricane IB and a Supermarine Spitfire VC – Both can be seen flying at home displays throughout the summer months. ## Engines on display Preserved examples of the Rolls-Royce Merlin are on display at the following museums: - Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum - Aviation Heritage Museum (Western Australia) - City of Norwich Aviation Museum in Horsham St Faith, Norfolk. - Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre - Polish Aviation Museum, Kraków (Cracow), Poland - Rolls-Royce Heritage Centre, Derby – several versions, including displayed superchargers, reduction gears and other components - Royal Air Force Museum, Cosford & London - Science Museum (London) - Shuttleworth Collection - Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC - Wings Museum, West Sussex, England ## Specifications (Merlin 61) ## See also
840,060	Jacob van Ruisdael	1,163,360,648	Dutch landscape painter and engraver ( c. 1629 – 1682)	[ "1620s births", "1682 deaths", "Artists from Haarlem", "Dutch Golden Age painters", "Dutch landscape painters", "Dutch male painters", "Dutch printmakers", "Jacob van Ruisdael", "Landscape artists", "Painters from Haarlem" ]	Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael (; c. 1629 – 10 March 1682) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, and etcher. He is generally considered the pre-eminent landscape painter of the Dutch Golden Age, a period of great wealth and cultural achievement when Dutch painting became highly popular. Prolific and versatile, Ruisdael depicted a wide variety of landscape subjects. From 1646 he painted Dutch countryside scenes of remarkable quality for a young man. After a trip to Germany in 1650, his landscapes took on a more heroic character. In his late work, conducted when he lived and worked in Amsterdam, he added city panoramas and seascapes to his regular repertoire. In these, the sky often took up two-thirds of the canvas. In total he produced more than 150 Scandinavian views featuring waterfalls. Ruisdael's only registered pupil was Meindert Hobbema, one of several artists who painted figures in his landscapes. Hobbema's work has at times been confused with Ruisdael's. Ruisdael always spelt his name thus: Ruisdael, not Ruysdael. Ruisdael's work was in demand in the Dutch Republic during his lifetime. Today it is spread across private and institutional collections around the world; the National Gallery in London, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg hold the largest collections. Ruisdael shaped landscape painting traditions worldwide, from the English Romantics to the Barbizon school in France, and the Hudson River School in the US, and influenced generations of Dutch landscape artists. ## Life Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael was born in Haarlem in 1628 or 1629 into a family of painters, all landscapists. The number of painters in the family, and the multiple spellings of the Van Ruisdael name, have hampered attempts to document his life and attribute his works. The name Ruisdael is connected to a castle, now lost, in the village of Blaricum. The village was the home of Jacob's grandfather, the furniture maker Jacob de Goyer. When De Goyer moved away to Naarden, three of his sons changed their name to Van Ruysdael or Van Ruisdael, probably to indicate their origin. Two of De Goyer's sons became painters: Jacob's father Isaack van Ruisdael and his well-known uncle Salomon van Ruysdael. Jacob himself always spelled his name with an "i", while his cousin, Salomon's son Jacob Salomonszoon van Ruysdael, also a landscape artist, spelled his name with a "y". Jacob's earliest biographer, Arnold Houbraken, called him Jakob Ruisdaal. It is not known whether Ruisdael's mother was Isaack van Ruisdael's first wife, whose name is unknown, or his second wife, Maycken Cornelisdochter. Isaack and Maycken married on 12 November 1628. Ruisdael's teacher is also unknown. It is often assumed Ruisdael studied with his father and uncle, but there is no evidence for this. He appears to have been strongly influenced by other contemporary local Haarlem landscapists, most notably Cornelis Vroom and Allart van Everdingen. The earliest date that appears on a Ruisdael painting and etching is 1646. Two years after this date he was admitted to membership of the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke. By this time landscape paintings were as popular as history paintings in Dutch households, though at the time of Ruisdael's birth, history paintings appeared far more frequently. This growth in popularity of landscapes continued throughout Ruisdael's career. Around 1657, Ruisdael moved to Amsterdam, by then a prosperous city which was likely to have offered a bigger market for his work. His fellow Haarlem painter Allaert van Everdingen had already moved to Amsterdam and found a market there. On 17 June 1657 he was baptized in Ankeveen, near Naarden. Ruisdael lived and worked in Amsterdam for the rest of his life. In 1668, his name appears as a witness to the marriage of Meindert Hobbema, his only registered pupil, a painter whose works have, by some, been confused with Ruisdael's own. For a landscape artist, it seems Ruisdael travelled relatively little: to Blaricum, Egmond aan Zee, and Rhenen in the 1640s, with Nicolaes Berchem to Bentheim and Steinfurt just across the border in Germany in 1650, and possibly with Hobbema across the German border again in 1661, via the Veluwe, Deventer and Ootmarsum. Despite Ruisdael's numerous Norwegian landscapes, there is no record of him having travelled to Scandinavia. There is some speculation that Ruisdael was also a doctor. In 1718, his biographer Houbraken reports that he studied medicine and performed surgery in Amsterdam. Archival records of the 17th century show the name "Jacobus Ruijsdael" on a list of Amsterdam doctors, albeit crossed out, with the added remark that he earned his medical degree on 15 October 1676 in Caen, northern France. Various art historians have speculated that this was, in all probability, a case of mistaken identity. Pieter Scheltema suggests it was Ruisdael's cousin who appeared on the record. The Ruisdael expert Seymour Slive argues that the spelling "uij" is not consistent with Ruisdael's own spelling of his name, that his unusually high production suggests there was little time to study medicine, and that there is no indication in any of his art that he visited northern France. The evidence is inconclusive. Ruisdael was not Jewish. Slive reports that, because of Ruisdael's depiction of a Jewish cemetery and various biblical names in the Ruisdael family, he often heard speculation that Ruisdael must surely be Jewish. The evidence shows otherwise. Ruisdael was buried in the Saint Bavo's Church, Haarlem, a Protestant church at that time. His uncle Salomon van Ruysdael belonged to the Young Flemish subgroup of the Mennonite congregation, one of several types of Anabaptists in Haarlem, and it is probable that Ruisdael's father was also a member there. His cousin Jacob was a registered Mennonite in Amsterdam. Ruisdael did not marry. According to Houbraken, whose short biography does contain a few errors, this was "to reserve time to serve his old father". No likeness of Ruisdael is known to exist The art historian Hendrik Frederik Wijnman disproved the myth that Ruisdael died a poor man, supposedly in the old men's almshouse in Haarlem. Wijnman showed that the person who died there was in fact Ruisdael's cousin, Jacob Salomonszoon. Although there is no record of Ruisdael owning land or shares, he appears to have lived comfortably, even after the economic downturn of the disaster year 1672. His paintings were valued fairly highly. In a large sample of inventories between 1650 and 1679 the average price for a Ruisdael was 40 guilders, compared to an average of 19 guilders for all attributed paintings. In a ranking of contemporary Dutch painters based on price-weighted frequency in these inventories, Ruisdael ranks seventh; Rembrandt ranks first. Ruisdael died in Amsterdam on 10 March 1682. He was buried 14 March 1682 in Saint Bavo's Church, Haarlem. ## Work ### Early years Ruisdael's work from c. 1646 to the early 1650s, when he was living in Haarlem, is characterised by simple motifs and careful and laborious study of nature: dunes, woods, and atmospheric effects. By applying heavier paint than his predecessors, Ruisdael gave his foliage a rich quality, conveying a sense of sap flowing through branches and leaves. His accurate rendering of trees was unprecedented at the time: the genera of his trees are the first to be unequivocally recognisable by modern-day botanists. His early sketches introduce motifs that would return in all his work: a sense of spaciousness and luminosity, and an airy atmosphere achieved through pointillist-like touches of chalk. Most of his thirty black chalk sketches that survive date from this period. An exemplar of Ruisdael's early style is Dune Landscape, one of the earliest works, dated 1646. It breaks with the classic Dutch tradition of depicting broad views of dunes that include houses and trees flanked by distant vistas. Instead, Ruisdael places tree-covered dunes prominently at centre stage, with a cloudscape concentrating strong light on a sandy path. The resulting heroic effect is enhanced by the large size of the canvas, "so unexpected in the work of an inexperienced painter" according to Irina Sokolova, curator at the Hermitage Museum. The art historian Hofstede de Groot said of Dune Landscape: "It is hardly credible that it should be the work of a boy of seventeen". Ruisdael's first panoramic landscape, View of Naarden with the Church at Muiderberg in the Distance, dates from 1647. The theme of an overwhelming sky and a distant town, in this case the birthplace of his father, is one he returned to in his later years. For unknown reasons, Ruisdael almost entirely stopped dating his work from 1653. Only five works from the 1660s have a, partially obscured, year next to his signature; none from the 1670s and 1680s have a date. Dating subsequent work has therefore been largely based on detective work and speculation. All thirteen known Ruisdael etchings come from his early period, with the first one dated 1646. It is unknown who taught him the art of etching. No etchings exist signed by his father, his uncle, or his fellow Haarlem landscapist Cornelis Vroom, who influenced his other work. His etchings show little influence from Rembrandt, either in style or technique. Few original impressions exist; five etchings survive in only a single impression. The rarity of prints suggests that Ruisdael considered them trial essays, which did not warrant large editions. The etching expert Georges Duplessis singled out Grainfield at the Edge of a Wood and The Travellers as unrivalled illustrations of Ruisdael's genius. ### Middle period Following Ruisdael's trip to Germany, his landscapes took on a more heroic character, with forms becoming larger and more prominent. A view of Bentheim Castle, dated 1653, is just one of a dozen of Ruisdael's depictions of a particular castle in Germany, almost all of which pronounce its position on a hilltop. Significantly, Ruisdael made numerous changes to the castle's setting (it is actually on an unimposing low hill) culminating in a 1653 version which shows it on a wooded mountain. These variations are rightly considered by art historians to be evidence of Ruisdael's compositional skills. On his trip to Germany, Ruisdael encountered water mills which he turned into a principal subject for painting, the first artist to ever do so. Two Water Mills with an Open Sluice, dated 1653, is a prime example. The ruins of Egmont Castle near Alkmaar were another favourite subject of Ruisdael's and feature in The Jewish Cemetery, of which he painted two versions. With these, Ruisdael pits the natural world against the built environment, which has been overrun by the trees and shrubs surrounding the cemetery. Ruisdael's first Scandinavian views contain big firs, rugged mountains, large boulders and rushing torrents. Though convincingly realistic, they are based on previous art works, rather than on direct experience. There is no record that Ruisdael made any trip to Scandinavia, although fellow Haarlem painter Allart van Everdingen had travelled there in 1644 and had popularised the subgenre. Ruisdael's work soon outstripped van Everdingen's finest efforts. In total Ruisdael produced more than 150 Scandinavian views featuring waterfalls, of which Waterfall in a Mountainous Landscape with a Ruined Castle, c. 1665–1670, is seen as his greatest by Slive. In this period Ruisdael started painting coastal scenes and sea-pieces, influenced by Simon de Vlieger and Jan Porcellis. Among the most dramatic is Rough Sea at a Jetty, with a restricted palette of only black, white, blue and a few brown earth colours. However, forest scenes remain a subject of choice, such as the Hermitage's most famous Ruisdael, A Wooded Marsh, dated c. 1665, which depicts a primieval scene with broken birches and oaks, and branches reaching for the sky amidst an overgrown pond. ### Later years During Ruisdael's last period he began to depict mountain scenes, such as Mountainous and Wooded Landscape with a River, dateable to the late 1670s. This portrays a rugged range with the highest peak in the clouds. Ruisdael's subjects became unusually varied. The art historian Wolfgang Stechow identified thirteen themes within the Dutch Golden Age landscape genre, and Ruisdael's work encompasses all but two of them, excelling at most: forests, rivers, dunes and country roads, panoramas, imaginary landscapes, Scandinavian waterfalls, marines, beachscapes, winter scenes, town views, and nocturnes. Only the Italianate and foreign landscapes other than Scandinavian are absent from his oeuvre. The imaginary landscapes of gardens that Ruisdael painted in the 1670s actually reflect an ongoing discourse on the Picturesque in circles of gardening aesthetes like Constantijn Huygens. Slive finds it appropriate that a windmill is the subject of one of Ruisdael's most famous works. Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede, dated 1670, shows Wijk bij Duurstede, a riverside town about 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Utrecht, with a dominant cylindrical windmill. In this composition, Ruisdael united typical Dutch elements of low-lying land, water and expansive sky, so that they converge on the equally characteristic Dutch windmill. The painting's enduring popularity is evidenced by card sales in the Rijksmuseum, with the Windmill ranking third after Rembrandt's Night Watch and Vermeer's View of Delft. Windmills featured throughout Ruisdael's entire career. Various panoramic views of the Haarlem skyline and its bleaching grounds appear during this stage, a specific genre called Haerlempjes, with the clouds creating various gradations of alternating bands of light and shadow towards the horizon. The paintings are often dominated by Saint Bavo's Church, in which Ruisdael would one day be buried. While Amsterdam does feature in his work, it does so relatively rarely given that Ruisdael lived there for over 25 years. It does feature in his only known architectural subject, a drawing of the interior of the Old Church, as well as in views of the Dam, and the Panoramic view of the Amstel looking toward Amsterdam, one of Ruisdael's last paintings. Figures are introduced sparingly into Ruisdael's compositions, and are by this period rarely from his own hand but executed by various artists, including his pupil Meindert Hobbema, Nicolaes Berchem, Adriaen van de Velde, Philips Wouwerman, Jan Vonck, Thomas de Keyser, Gerard van Battum and Jan Lingelbach. ### Attributions In his 2001 catalogue raisonné, Slive attributes 694 paintings to Ruisdael and lists another 163 paintings with dubious or, he believes, incorrect attribution. There are three main reasons why there is uncertainty over whose hand painted various Ruisdael-style landscapes. Firstly, four members of the Ruysdael family were landscapists with similar signatures, some of which were later fraudulently altered into Jacob's. This is further complicated by the fact that Ruisdael used variations of his signature. This typically reads "JvRuisdael" or the monogram "JVR", sometimes using a small italic 's' and sometimes a Gothic long 's', such as on Landscape with Waterfall. Secondly, many 17th-century landscape paintings are unsigned and could be from pupils or copyists. Finally, fraudsters imitated Ruisdaels for financial gain, with the earliest case reported by Houbraken in 1718: a certain Jan Griffier the Elder could imitate Ruisdael's style so well that he often passed them off as genuine Ruisdaels, especially with figurines added in the style of the artist Wouwerman. There is no large-scale systematic approach to ascertaining Ruisdael's attributions, unlike the forensic science used to find the correct attributions of Rembrandt's paintings through the Rembrandt Research Project. ### Legacy Ruisdael has shaped landscape painting traditions from the English Romantics to the Barbizon school in France, and the Hudson River School in the US, as well as generations of Dutch landscape artists. Among the English artists influenced by Ruisdael are Thomas Gainsborough, J. M. W. Turner, and John Constable. Gainsborough drew, in black chalk and grey wash, a copy of a Ruisdael in the 1740s—now both paintings are housed in the Louvre in Paris. Turner made many copies of Ruisdaels and even painted fantasy views of a nonexistent port he called Port Ruysdael. Constable also copied various drawings, etchings and paintings by Ruisdael, and was a great admirer from a young age. "It haunts my mind and clings to my heart", he wrote after seeing a Ruisdael. However, he thought Jewish Cemetery was a failure, because he considered that it attempted to convey something outside the reach of art. In the 19th century, Vincent van Gogh acknowledged Ruisdael as a major influence, calling him sublime, but at the same time saying it would be a mistake to try to copy him. Van Gogh had two Ruisdael prints, The Bush and a Haerlempje, on his wall, and thought the Ruisdaels in the Louvre were "magnificent, especially The Bush, The Breakwater and The Ray of Light". His experience of the French countryside was informed by his memory of Ruisdael's art. Van Gogh's contemporary Claude Monet is also said to be indebted to Ruisdael. Similarly, Piet Mondrian's early abstract compositions the eventually led to the founding of De Stijl have been traced back to Ruisdael's panoramas. Among art historians and critics, Ruisdael's reputation has had its ups and downs over the centuries. The first account, in 1718, is from Houbraken, who waxed lyrical over the technical mastery which allowed Ruisdael to realistically depict falling water and the sea. In 1781, Sir Joshua Reynolds, founder of the Royal Academy, admired the freshness and force of Ruisdael's landscapes. A couple of decades later other English critics were less impressed. In 1801, Henry Fuseli, professor at the Royal Academy, expressed his contempt for the entire Dutch School of Landscape, dismissing it as no more than a "transcript of the spot", a mere "enumeration of hill and dale, clumps of trees". Of note is that one of Fuseli's students was Constable, whose admiration for Ruisdael remained unchanged. Around the same time in Germany, the writer, statesman and scientist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe lauded Ruisdael as a thinking artist, even a poet, saying "he demonstrates remarkable skill in locating the exact point at which the creative faculty comes into contact with a lucid mind". John Ruskin however, in 1860, raged against Ruisdael and other Dutch Golden Age landscapists, calling their landscapes places where "we lose not only all faith in religion but all remembrance of it". In 1915, the Dutch art historian Abraham Bredius called his compatriot not so much a painter as a poet. More recent art historians have rated Ruisdael highly. Kenneth Clark described him as "the greatest master of the natural vision before Constable". Waldemar Januszczak finds him a marvellous storyteller. Januszczak does not consider Ruisdael the greatest landscape artist of all time, but is especially impressed by his works as a teenager: "a prodigy whom we should rank at number 8 or 9 on the Mozart scale". Slive states Ruisdael is acknowledged "by general consent, as the pre-eminent landscapist of the Golden Age of Dutch art". Ruisdael is now seen as the leading artist of the "classical" phase in Dutch landscape art, which built upon the realism of the previous "tonal" phase. The tonal phase suggested atmosphere through the use of tonality, while the classical phase strived for a more grandiose effect, with paintings built up through a series of vigorous contrasts of solid form against the sky, and of light against shade, with a tree, animal, or windmill often singled out. Although many of Ruisdael's works were on show in the Art Treasures Exhibition, Manchester 1857, and various other grand exhibitions across the world since, it was not until 1981 that an exhibition was solely dedicated to him. Over fifty paintings and thirty-five drawings and etchings were exhibited, first at the Mauritshuis in The Hague, then, in 1982, at the Fogg Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2006, the Royal Academy in London hosted a Ruisdael Master of Landscape exhibition, displaying works from over fifty collections. ### Interpretation There are no 17th-century documents to indicate, either at first or second hand, what Ruisdael intended to convey through his art. While The Jewish Cemetery is universally accepted as an allegory for the fragility of life, how other works should be interpreted is much disputed. At one end of the spectrum is Henry Fuseli, who contends they have no meaning at all, and are simply a depiction of nature. At the other end is Franz Theodor Kugler who sees meaning in almost everything: "They all display the silent power of Nature, who opposes with her mighty hand the petty activity of man, and with a solemn warning as it were, repels his encroachments". In the middle of the spectrum are scholars such as E. John Walford, who sees the works as "not so much bearers of narrative or emblematic meanings but rather as images reflecting the fact that the visible world was essentially perceived as manifesting inherent spiritual significance". Walford advocates abandoning the notion of "disguised symbolism". Perhaps Ruisdael's work can be interpreted according to the religious world view of his time: nature serves as the "first book" of God, both because of its inherent divine qualities and because of God's obvious concern for man and the world. The intention is spiritual, not moral. Andrew Graham-Dixon fancifully asserts all Dutch Golden Age landscapists could not help but search everywhere for meaning. He says of the windmill in The Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede that it symbolises "the sheer hard work needed to keep Holland above water and to safeguard the future of the nation's children". The symmetries in the landscapes are "reminders to fellow citizens always to remain on the straight and narrow". Slive, sensible scholar that he is, is more reluctant to read too much into the work, but does put The Windmill in its contemporary religious context of man's dependence on the "spirit of the Lord for life". With regards to interpreting Ruisdael's Scandinavian paintings, he says "My own view is that it strains credulity to the breaking point to propose that he himself conceived of all his depictions of waterfalls, torrents and rushing streams and dead trees as visual sermons on the themes of transcience and vanitas". ### Collections Ruisdaels are scattered across collections globally, both private and institutional. The most notable collections are at the National Gallery in London, which holds twenty paintings; the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, which holds sixteen paintings; the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, which holds nine, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, Spain has four (and two additional paintings attributed to Jacob Isaacksz. van Ruisdael). In the US, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has five Ruisdaels in its collection, and the J. Paul Getty Museum in California has three. On occasion a Ruisdael changes hands. In 2014, Dunes by the Sea was auctioned at Christie's in New York, and realised a price of \$1,805,000. Of his surviving drawings, 140 in total, the Rijksmuseum, the Teylers Museum in Haarlem, Dresden's Kupferstich-Kabinett, and the Hermitage each hold significant collections. Ruisdael's rare etchings are spread across institutions. No collection holds a print of each of the thirteen etchings. Of the five unique prints, the British Museum holds two, two are in the Albertina in Vienna, and one is in Amsterdam. ## Context According to some, Ruisdael and his art should not be considered apart from the context of the incredible wealth and significant changes to the land that occurred during the Dutch Golden Age. In his study on 17th-century Dutch art and culture, Simon Schama remarks that "it can never be overemphasized that the period between 1550 and 1650, when the political identity of an independent Netherlands nation was being established, was also a time of dramatic physical alteration of its landscape". Ruisdael's depiction of nature and emergent Dutch technology are wrapped up in this. Christopher Joby places Ruisdael in the religious context of the Calvinism of the Dutch Republic. He states that landscape painting does conform to Calvin's requirement that only what is visible may be depicted in art, and that landscape paintings such as those of Ruisdael have an epistemological value which provides further support for their use within Reformed Churches. The art historian Yuri Kuznetsov places Ruisdael's art in the context of the war of independence against Spain. Dutch landscape painters "were called upon to make a portrait of their homeland, twice rewon by the Dutch people – first from the sea and later from foreign invaders". Jonathan Israel, in his study of the Dutch Republic, calls the period between 1647 and 1672 the third phase of Dutch Golden Age art, in which wealthy merchants wanted large, opulent and refined paintings, and civic leaders filled their town halls with grand displays containing republican messages. As well, ordinary middle class Dutch people began buying art for the first time, creating a high demand for paintings of all kinds. This demand was met by enormous painter guilds. Master painters set up studios to produce large numbers of paintings quickly. Under the master's direction, studio members would specialise in parts of a painting, such as figures in landscapes, or costumes in portraits and history paintings. Masters would sometimes add a few touches to authenticate a work mostly done by pupils, to maximise both speed and price. Numerous art dealers organised commissions on behalf of patrons, as well as buying uncommissioned stock to sell on. Landscape artists did not depend on commissions in the way most painters had to do, and could therefore paint for stock. In Ruisdael's case, it is not known whether he kept stock to sell directly to customers, or sold his work through dealers, or both. Art historians only know of one commission, a work for the wealthy Amsterdam burgomaster Cornelis de Graeff, jointly painted with Thomas de Keyser.
50,936,093	Laguna del Maule (volcano)	1,172,873,354	Volcanic field in the Andes mountain range, Chile	[ "Calderas of Chile", "Mountains of Chile", "Volcanoes of Maule Region" ]	Laguna del Maule is a volcanic field in the Andes mountain range of Chile, close to, and partly overlapping, the Argentina–Chile border. The bulk of the volcanic field is in the Talca Province of Chile's Maule Region. It is a segment of the Southern Volcanic Zone, part of the Andean Volcanic Belt. The volcanic field covers an area of 500 km<sup>2</sup> (190 sq mi) and features at least 130 volcanic vents. Volcanic activity has generated cones, lava domes, lava coulees and lava flows, which surround the Laguna del Maule lake. The field gets its name from the lake, which is also the source of the Maule River. The field's volcanic activity began 1.5 million years ago during the Pleistocene epoch; such activity has continued into the postglacial and Holocene epoch after glaciers retreated from the area. Postglacial volcanic activity has included eruptions with simultaneous explosive and effusive components, as well as eruptions with only one component. In the postglacial era, volcanic activity has increased at Laguna del Maule, with the volcanic field rapidly inflating during the Holocene. Three major caldera-forming eruptions took place in the volcanic field prior to the last glacial period. The most recent eruptions in the volcanic field took place 2,500 ± 700, 1,400 ± 600 and 800 ± 600 years ago and generated lava flows; today geothermal phenomena occur at Laguna del Maule. Volcanic rocks in the field include basalt, andesite, dacite and rhyolite; the latter along with rhyodacite makes up most of the Holocene rocks. In pre-Columbian times, the field was a regionally important source of obsidian. Between 2004 and 2007, ground inflation began in the volcanic field, indicating the intrusion of a sill beneath it. The rate of inflation is faster than those measured on other inflating volcanoes such as Uturunku in Bolivia and Yellowstone Caldera in the United States and has been accompanied by anomalies in soil gas emission and seismic activity. This pattern has created concern about the potential for impending large-scale eruptive activity. ## Geography and structure The Laguna del Maule volcanic field straddles the Chilean–Argentine frontier; most of the complex lies on the Chilean side. The locality belongs to the Maule Region, of Talca Province in the Andes mountain range; it is close to the confluence of the Maule and Campanario rivers in the Maule valley. The city of Talca lies about 150 km (93 mi) west. The Argentine section of the field is in the Mendoza and Neuquén provinces, and the city of Malargüe is located about 140 km (87 mi) east from the volcanic field. Highway 115 [es] passes through the northern part of the volcanic field, and the Paso Pehuenche mountain pass is a few kilometres northeast of the lake; it connects Argentina and Chile. Otherwise, the region is sparsely inhabited and economic activity is limited to oil prospecting, pastures and tourism. The Laguna del Maule volcanic field covers a surface area of 500 km<sup>2</sup> (190 sq mi) and contains at least 130 volcanic vents including cones, lava domes, lava flows, and shield volcanoes; 36 silicic coulees and lava domes surround the lake. Over 100 km<sup>2</sup> (39 sq mi) of the field is covered by these volcanic rocks. The volcanic field lies at an average height of 2,400 m (7,900 ft), and some summits around Laguna del Maule reach altitudes of 3,900 m (12,800 ft). Volcanic ash and pumice produced by the eruptions has been found over 20 km (12 mi) away in Argentina. A number of Quaternary volcanic systems of various ages surround Laguna del Maule lake, including about 14 shield volcanoes and stratovolcanoes that have been degraded by glaciation. Among the structures in the volcanic field, the Domo del Maule lava dome is of rhyolitic composition and generated a lava flow to the north that dammed the Laguna del Maule. This lava flow is joined by other lava flows from the Crater Negro, a small cone in the southwest sector of the volcanic field; the lavas of this cone are andesitic and basaltic. Loma de Los Espejos is a large lava flow of acidic rocks that is 4 km (2.5 mi) long in the northern sector of the volcanic field, close to the outlet of Laguna del Maule. It consists of two lobes with a volume of about 0.82 km<sup>3</sup> (0.20 cu mi) and contains obsidian and vitrophyre. Crystals within the flow reflect the sunlight. The well-preserved Colada de las Nieblas lava flow is in the extreme southwest sector of the volcanic field and originates at a tuff cone. This lava flow is 300 m (980 ft) thick, varying from 5 km (3.1 mi) to 6 km (3.7 mi) in length, and is about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. The Barrancas centre has a volume of 5.5 km<sup>3</sup> (1.3 cu mi) and reaches an elevation of 3,092 m (10,144 ft). Past glaciation of this part of the Andes left traces in adjacent valleys, such as their U-shaped or trench-shaped outline. The older volcanics of Laguna del Maule have been disproportionately eroded by glacial action. Slopes around Laguna del Maule lake are covered by colluvium including talus. The Laguna del Maule lake lies on the crest of the Andes, within a depression with a diameter of 20 km (12 mi). The lake has a depth of 50 m (160 ft) and covers a surface of 54 km<sup>2</sup> (21 sq mi); the surface is at an altitude of 2,160 m (7,090 ft). The name of the volcanic field comes from the lake; the Maule river originates there and the Barrancas River has its headwaters in the volcanic field as well. Terraces around the lake indicate that water levels have fluctuated in the past; an eruption dated between 19,000 ± 700 and 23,300 ± 400 years ago dammed the lake 200 m (660 ft) higher than its present level. When the dam broke 9,400 years ago, a lake outburst flood occurred that released 12 km<sup>3</sup> (2.9 cu mi) of water and left traces, such as scour, in the down-valley gorge. Benches and beach bars developed on the lake, which has left a shoreline around Laguna del Maule lake. The lake is regulated by a dam at the outlet that was built in 1950 and completed in 1957; it is Chile's fourth-largest reservoir with a capacity of 0.850 cubic kilometres (0.204 cu mi) but its surface area has been declining since the mid-2000s by almost 10 per cent between 1984 and 2020. Additionally, tephra fallout such as from the 1932 Quizapu eruption has impacted the lake through the Holocene and affected life in the lake waters. Besides Laguna del Maule, other lakes in the field are Laguna El Piojo on the Chilean side in the southwest sector of the field, Laguna Cari Launa on the Chilean side in the northeastern sector of the field, and Laguna Fea in the south at 2,492 m (8,176 ft) elevation and Laguna Negra lake both on the Argentine side. Laguna Fea is dammed by a pumice dam and currently lacks an outlet. The Laguna Sin Salida ("lake without exit"; so named because it lacks a river running out of it) is in the northeastern sector of the volcanic field and it formed within a glacial cirque. ## Geology Subduction of the eastern part of the Nazca Plate beneath the western margin of the South American Plate occurs at a rate of about 74 ± 2 mm/a (2.913 ± 0.079 in/year). This subduction process is responsible for growth of the Chilean Andes, and volcanic and geothermal manifestations such as the 1960 Valdivia earthquake and the 2010 Chile earthquake, as well as Laguna del Maule, which formed 25 km (16 mi) behind the volcanic arc. A phase of strong volcanic activity began in the Andes 25 million years ago, probably due to increased convergence rates of the Nazca and South America plates over the past 28 million years. It is likely that this phase has persisted without interruption until today. The subduction of the Nazca plate beneath the South American Plate has formed a volcanic arc about 4,000 km (2,500 mi) long, which is subdivided into several segments distinguished by varying angles of subduction. The part of the volcanic belt named the Southern Volcanic Zone contains at least 60 volcanoes with historical activity and three major caldera systems. Major volcanoes of the Southern Volcanic Zone include from north to south: Maipo, Cerro Azul, Calabozos, Tatara-San Pedro, Laguna del Maule, Antuco, Villarrica, Puyehue-Cordón Caulle, Osorno, and Chaitén. Laguna del Maule is located within a segment known as the Transitional Southern Volcanic Zone, 330 km (210 mi) west of the Peru–Chile Trench and 25 km (16 mi) behind the main arc. Volcanoes in this segment are typically located on basement blocks that have been uplifted between extensional basins. In the area of Laguna del Maule, the subducting Nazca plate reaches a depth of 130 km (81 mi) and is 37 million years old. During the Late Miocene, the convergence rate was higher than today and the Malargüe fold belt formed east of the main chain in response. The Moho is found at depths of 40–50 km (25–31 mi) beneath the volcanic field. ### Local The Campanario Formation is 15.3 to 7 million years old and forms much of the basement in the Laguna del Maule area; this geological formation contains andesitic-dacitic ignimbrites and tuffs with later dacitic dykes that were emplaced 3.6–2.0 million years ago. An older unit, of Jurassic–Cretaceous age, crops out northwest of the volcanic field. Other units include an Oligocene–Miocene group of lacustrine and fluvial formations named Cura-Mallín, and another intermediary formation named Trapa-Trapa, which is of volcanic origin and between 19 and 10 million years old. Remnants of Quaternary ignimbrites and Pliocene, early Quaternary volcanic centres, are also found around the field; they form the Cola del Zorro Formation, which is partly covered by the eruption products of Laguna del Maule. Glacial tills occur at the volcanic field. Faults such as the Troncoso Fault lie within the southwest sector of the volcanic field. Troncoso is alternatively described as a strike-slip or as a normal fault; it separates distinct regimes of tectonic and volcanic activity within the Laguna del Maule volcanic field. Faults have been imaged in lake sediments. Other north–south cutting faults are found within the Campanario Formation and the tectonic Las Loicas Trough is associated with Laguna del Maule and passes southeast of it. Some faults at Laguna del Maule may be linked to the northern termination of the Liquiñe-Ofqui Fault Zone. Northeast of Laguna del Maule is the Cerro Campanario, a mafic stratovolcano that is 3,943 m (12,936 ft) high and was active 160,000–150,000 years ago. The volcanoes Nevado de Longaví, Tatara-San Pedro and the caldera Rio Colorado lie west of Laguna del Maule; the latter two may be part of a volcano alignment with Laguna del Maule. The local volcanoes are in a segment of the crust where the Wadati–Benioff zone is 90 km (56 mi) deep. More distant are the Calabozos caldera and a late Pleistocene system with domes and flows south of Cerro San Francisquito, which are both silicic volcanic systems. The activity of Tatara-San Pedro and Laguna del Maule with the presence of rhyolite may be influenced by the subduction of the Mocha Fracture Zone, which projects in the direction of these volcanic centres. Nearby are the Risco Bayo and Huemul plutons, which are about 6.2 million years old and may have formed through volcanism similar to that of Laguna del Maule. ### Composition of erupted rocks Laguna del Maule has erupted andesite, basaltic andesite, basalt, dacite, rhyodacite and rhyolite, the andesites and basaltic andesites define a rock suite with medium potassium contents. In the Loma de Los Espejos rocks a SiO <sub>2</sub> content of 75.6–76.7% by weight has been noted. After deglaciation, the composition of Laguna del Maule volcanic rocks has grown more silicic; since 19,000 years ago, andesite eruptions have been restricted to the edges of the volcanic field, consistent with the maturation of a silicic magmatic system. Generally, the postglacial phase of activity has generated about 6.4 km<sup>3</sup> (1.5 cu mi) of rhyolite and 1.0 km<sup>3</sup> (0.2 cu mi) of rhyodacite. Of the more than 350 km<sup>3</sup> (84 cu mi) of volcanic rock in the Laguna del Maule field, about 40 km<sup>3</sup> (9.6 cu mi) were emplaced postglacially. Laguna del Maule magmas contain large amounts of water and carbon dioxide; postglacial magmas on average consist of 5–6% water by weight with some variation between individual eruptions. Flushing of the magma with carbon dioxide may be important for starting eruptions. Several stratigraphic units have been distinguished at the volcanic field, including the Valley unit exposed in the Maule valley and the Lake unit found around the lake. The Valley unit's rocks are basaltic andesite. Plagioclase and, in lesser measure, clinopyroxene and olivine form its phenocrysts. The Lake unit is mostly postglacial and includes glassy rhyolite, which is poor in crystals. Phenocrysts in the postglacial rocks are biotite, plagioclase and quartz. Mafic rocks occur as discrete rock fragments in the rhyolitic units erupted by the rdm eruption. Microlites in the Lake unit rocks include biotite, plagioclase and spinel. Variable vesicular texture has been noted on rocks erupted during different eruptions. Temperatures of the postglacial magmas have been estimated at 820–950 °C (1,510–1,740 °F). The Holocene rhyolites are glassy and contain few crystals. Hydrothermal alteration has been reported at various sites, generating alunite, calcite, halite, illite, jarosite, kaolinite, montmorillonite, opal, quartz, smectite, sulfur, travertine and zeolite. The postglacial rocks are composed of similar elements. High aluminium (Ai) and low titanium (Ti) are present in the basaltic andesite and basalt, a typical pattern for basic rocks in zones where plates converge. The rocks overall belong to the calc-alkaline series, although some iron-rich rocks have been attributed to the tholeiitic series. Strontium (Sr) isotope ratios have been compared to the ones of Tronador volcano; additional compositional similarity is found to other volcanoes close to Laguna del Maule such as Cerro Azul and Calabozos. Laguna del Maule stands out for the frequency of rhyolitic rocks, compared to volcanoes farther south in the chain. There are compositional trends in the region of the volcanic arc between 33° and 42°; more northerly volcanoes are more andesitic in composition while to the south basalts are more frequent. ### Magma genesis The postglacial activity appears to originate from a shallow silicic magma chamber beneath the caldera. Research published in 2017 by Anderson et al. indicates that this system is somewhat heterogeneous with distinct compositions of magmas erupted in the northwesterly and southeasterly parts of the volcanic field. The early post-glacial rhyodacites contain mafic inclusions implying that mafic lavas exist but do not reach the surface. From Sr isotope ratios it has been inferred that the magma is of deep origin, and the rare-earth element composition shows no evidence of crustal contamination. Neodymium (Nd) and Sr isotope ratios indicate all rocks are derived from the same parent source, with the rhyolites forming by fractional crystallization of the basic magma, similar to the postulated origins of rocks from the Central Volcanic Zone. Partial melting may also be the source of the rhyolites. Overall the environment where the rocks formed appears to be an oxidized 760–850 °C (1,400–1,560 °F) hot system that formed over 100,000 to 200,000 years, and was influenced by the injection of basaltic magma. The rhyolitic melts may originate in a crystal rich mush beneath the volcanic field and probably in at least two magma chambers. The magma remains in the chamber for days or weeks before erupting. A minimum long-term magma supply rate of 0.0005 km<sup>3</sup>/a (0.00012 cu mi/a) has been estimated, with a rate of 0.0023 km<sup>3</sup>/a (0.00055 cu mi/a) during the past 20,000 years. ## Obsidian In pre-Columbian times, Laguna del Maule was an important source of obsidian for the region, on both sides of the Andes. Finds have been made from the Pacific Ocean to Mendoza, 400 km (250 mi) away, as well as at archaeological sites of Neuquén Province. Obsidian forms sharp edges and was used by ancient societies for the production of projectiles as well as cutting instruments. In South America, obsidian was traded over large distances. Obsidian has been found in the Arroyo El Pehuenche, Laguna Negra and Laguna del Maule localities. These sites yield obsidians with varying properties, from large blocks at Laguna del Maule to smaller pebbles probably carried by water at Arroyo El Pehuenche. Another scheme has a Laguna del Maule 1 source at Laguna Fea and Laguna Negra and a Laguna del Maule 2 source on the Barrancas river. ## Climate and vegetation Laguna del Maule lies at the interface between a semi-arid, temperate climate and a colder montane climate. It has a tundra climate, with maximum temperatures of 14.1 °C (57.4 °F) in January and minimum of −4.6 °C (23.7 °F) in July. Annual precipitation reaches about 1,700 mm/a (67 in/year); precipitation related to cold fronts falls during autumn and winter, although occasional summer storms also contribute to rainfall. Laguna del Maule is subject to the rain shadow effect of mountains farther west, which is why the numerous summits more than 3,000 m (9,800 ft) high around the lake are not glaciated. Most of the lake water comes from snowmelt; for much of the year the landscape around the lake is covered with snow and storms and snowfall frequently impede traffic at the lake. The area of Laguna del Maule was glaciated during the last glacial period. A glacial maximum occurred between 25,600 ± 1,200 and 23,300 ± 600 years ago, during which 80 km-wide (50 mi) ice cap covered the volcano and the surrounding valleys. Probably due to changes in the position of the Westerlies, after c. 23,000 years ago the glaciers retreated above Laguna del Maule. The glaciation has left moraines and terraces in the area, with undulating hills lying close to the outlet of the lake. Poorly developed moraines with the appearance of tiny hills lie downstream of Laguna del Maule, and form small hills around the lake rising about 10–20 m (33–66 ft) above the lake level. Other climate changes in the Holocene such as the Little Ice Age are recorded from sediments in Laguna del Maule, such as a humid period in the 15th to 19th centuries and drought during the early and middle Holocene. Since the 2010, a long drought has caused a decline in the level of Laguna del Maule. The landscape around Laguna del Maule is mostly desertic without trees. Vegetation around Laguna del Maule is principally formed by cushion plants and sub-shrubs; at higher altitudes vegetation is more scattered. The rocks around Laguna del Maule host a plant named Leucheria graui, which has not been found elsewhere. ## Eruptive history Laguna del Maule has been active since 1.5 million years ago. Its average magma volcanic output rate has been estimated to be 200,000 m<sup>3</sup>/a (7,100,000 cu ft/a)—comparable to other volcanic arc systems. Eruptions occur about every 1,000 years and it has been inferred that eruptions lasted between 100 and more than 3,000 days. Eruptions include both caldera-forming events and eruptions that did not leave a caldera. Three caldera-forming events have occurred during the system's lifespan. The first took place 1.5 million years ago and produced the dacitic Laguna Sin Puerto ignimbrite, which is exposed northwest of Laguna del Maule lake. The second occurred between 990,000 and 950,000 years ago and produced the Bobadilla caldera and a rhyodacitic ignimbrite, also known as the Cajones de Bobadilla ignimbrite. This ignimbrite reaches a thickness of 500 m (1,600 ft) and borders Laguna del Maule lake in the north, extending about 13 km (8.1 mi) away from it. The Bobadilla caldera is centred beneath the northern shore of Laguna del Maule, and has dimensions of 12 km × 8 km (7 mi × 5 mi). The third took place 336,000 years ago and produced the welded Cordon Constanza ignimbrite. The 36 rhyodacitic lava domes and flows which surround the lake were erupted from about 24 individual vents. The eruptions began 25,000 years ago, after the onset of deglaciation, and continued until the last such eruption approximately 2,000 years ago. After deglaciation 23,000–19,000 years ago, two pulses of volcanism occurred at Laguna del Maule, the first 22,500–19,000 years ago and the second in the middle-late Holocene. A first, large Plinian eruption formed the rhyolite of Laguna del Maule measuring 20 km<sup>3</sup> (4.8 cu mi) from a vent presumably located below the northern part of the lake. The Cerro Barrancas centre became active circa 14,500 ± 1,500 years before present and was the main site of volcanic activity between 14,500 and about 8,000 years ago. After that point activity shifted and the volume output increased; the subsequent units have a volume of 4.8 km<sup>3</sup> (1.2 cu mi). These two phases of volcanic activity occurred within 9,000 years of each other and the magmas involved may have been sourced from different magma reservoirs. Undated postglacial units are andesitic Crater Negro scoria cone and lava flow just west of Laguna del Maule, andesitic Playa Oriental on the southeastern shore of Laguna del Maule, rhyolitic Arroyo de Sepulveda at Laguna del Maule and rhyodacitic Colada Dendriforme (unit rcd) in the western part of the field. This rhyolitic flare-up is unprecedented the history of the volcanic field, and it is the largest such event in the southern Andes and on a global scale only the Mono-Inyo Craters and Taupō rival it. It took place in two stages, a first early after deglaciation and a second during the Holocene, which featured magmas with distinct composition. Compared to the pre-glacial volcanism, post-glacial activity has been concentrated around Laguna del Maule. Three mafic volcanic vents named Arroyo Cabeceras de Troncoso, Crater 2657 and Hoyo Colorado are also considered postglacial. The former two are andesitic, while the latter is a pyroclastic cone. Mafic volcanism appears to have decreased after glacial times at Laguna del Maule, probably because such magmas were hindered from ascending by a more silicic magma system, and the post-glacial volcanism has a mainly silicic composition. The magma chamber acts as a trap for mafic magma, preventing it from rising to the surface and thus explaining the absence of postglacial mafic volcanism. ### Explosive eruptions and far-field effects Explosive activity including ash and pumice has accompanied a number of the postglacial eruptions; the largest is associated with Los Espejos and has been dated to 23,000 years ago. The deposit of this Plinian eruption reaches 4 m (13 ft) of thickness at a distance of 40 km (25 mi). White ash and pumice form layered deposits east of the Loma de Los Espejos; another explosive eruption is linked to the Barrancas centre which emplaced block and ash flows 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) long. Other such explosive events have been dated at 7,000, 4,000 and 3,200 years ago by radiocarbon dating. About three Plinian eruptions and three smaller explosive eruptions have been identified at Laguna del Maule; most of them took place between 7,000 and 3,000 years ago. It has been estimated that the ash and pumice deposits have a volume comparable with that of the lava flows. A tephra layer in the Argentine Caverna de las Brujas cave dated 7,780 ± 600 years ago has been tentatively linked to Laguna del Maule, and another with a thickness of 80 cm (31 in) that is 65 km (40 mi) away from Laguna del Maule is dated 765 ± 200 years ago and appears to coincide with a time with no archaeological findings in the high cordillera. Other tephras that possibly were erupted at Laguna del Maule have been found in Argentinian archaeological sites, one 7,195 ± 200 years ago at El Manzano and another 2,580 ± 250 to 3,060 ± 300 years old at Cañada de Cachi. The El Manzano tephra reaches a thickness of 3 m (9.8 ft) about 60 km (37 mi) away from Laguna del Maule and would have had a severe impact on Holocene human communities south of Mendoza. However, there is no evidence for long-term depopulation of affected regions after eruptions. ### Most recent activity and geothermal system The most recent dates for eruptions are ages of 2,500 ± 700, 1,400 ± 600 and 800 ± 600 years for rhyolitic lava flows, with the last eruption forming the Las Nieblas flow. No eruptions have occurred during historical time, but petroglyphs in Valle Hermoso may depict volcanic activity at Laguna del Maule. Laguna del Maule is geothermally active, featuring bubbling pools, fumaroles and hot springs. Temperatures in these systems range between 93–120 °C (199–248 °F). There is no degassing at the surface but emission of gas bubbles has been observed in Laguna del Maule lake and a creek southwest of the lake. In the Troncoso valley, CO <sub>2</sub> emissions have killed small animals. Hot springs occur mainly north and northeast of Laguna del Maule. The Baños del Maule hot springs are now submerged below the lake. The Baños Campanario hydrothermal springs lie northwest from Laguna del Maule and their waters together with these from the Termas del Medano springs appear to form through a mixing of magmatic and precipitation water. The field has been evaluated as a potential source of geothermal energy. It and the neighbouring Tatara-San Pedro volcano form the so-called Mariposa geothermal system discovered in 2009, whose temperature has been estimated on the basis of gas chemistry to be 200–290 °C (392–554 °F) and which features fumaroles. One estimate puts the potential productivity of Laguna del Maule as an energy source at 50–200 MW (67,000–268,000 hp). ## Possible future eruptions The Laguna del Maule volcanic system is undergoing strong deformation; uplift between 2004 and 2007 attracted the attention of the global scientific community after it was detected by radar interferometry. Between January 2006 and January 2007 uplift of 18 cm/year (7.1 in/year) was measured, and uplift during 2012 was about 28 cm (11 in). Between 2007 and 2011 the uplift reached close to 1 m (3 ft 3 in). A change in the deformation pattern occurred in 2013 related to an earthquake swarm that January, with deformation slowing through to mid-2014 but with another increase between 2016 and at least 2020. Measurements in 2016 indicated that the uplift rate was 25 cm/year (9.8 in/year); uplift has continued into 2019 and the total deformation has reached 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) to 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in). This uplift is one of the largest in all volcanoes that are not actively erupting; the strongest uplift worldwide was recorded between 1982 and 1984 at Campi Flegrei in Italy with an end change of 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in). Other actively deforming dormant volcanoes in the world are Lazufre in Chile, Santorini in Greece from 2011 to 2012, and Yellowstone Caldera in the United States at a rate of 1/7th that of Laguna del Maule. Another South American volcano, Uturunku in Bolivia has been inflating at a pace 1/10th that of Laguna del Maule's. There is evidence that earlier deformations occurred at Laguna del Maule, with the lake shores having risen by about 67 m (220 ft) during the Holocene possibly as a consequence of about 20 km<sup>3</sup> (4.8 cu mi) entering the magmatic system and accumulating in the area of the Barrancas vents. The present-day uplift is centred beneath the western segment of the ring of post-glacial lava domes, more specifically beneath the southwest sector of the lake. The source of the deformation has been traced to an inflation of a sill beneath the volcanic field that is 5.2 km (3.2 mi) deep with dimensions of 9.0 km × 5.3 km (5.6 mi × 3.3 mi). This sill has been inflating at an average pace of 31,000,000 ± 1,000,000 m<sup>3</sup>/a (1.095×10<sup>9</sup> ± 35,000,000 cu ft/a) between 2007 and 2010. The rate of volume change increased between 2011 and 2012. As of July 2016, 2,000,000 m<sup>3</sup>/a (71,000,000 cu ft/a) of magma are estimated to enter the magma chamber. The average recharge rate required to explain the inflation is about 0.05 km<sup>3</sup>/a (0.012 cu mi/a). This volume change is approximately 10 to 100 times as large as the field's long-term magma supply rate. Gravimetric analysis has indicated that between April 2013 and January 2014, approximately 0.044 km<sup>3</sup> (0.011 cu mi) of magma intruded beneath the field. The presence of a sill is also supported by magnetotelluric measurements indicating conductivity anomalies at depths of 4–5 km (2.5–3.1 mi) beneath the western side of the volcanic field and at 8–9 km (5.0–5.6 mi) depth beneath its northern part. They show the existence of rhyolitic melt, but they do not show a magmatic system associated with the southeastern vents, leaving their magma supply route uncertain. The existence of a Bouguer gravity anomaly also indicates the presence of a low-density body 2–5 km (1.2–3.1 mi) beneath the volcano, and several low-density bodies below the lake, the eastern vents and the Barrancas centre. The latter may be a trace of magma left behind by the Holocene eruptions there. Seismic tomography has found a 450 km<sup>3</sup> (110 cu mi) magma reservoir centered beneath the northwestern part of the lake, at 2–8 km (1.2–5.0 mi) depth. It may contain about 5% melt and has a heterogeneous structure with varying melt fractions in various parts of the reservoir. A reservoir of crystal-rich mush estimated as having a volume of 115 cubic kilometres (28 cu mi), with about 30 cubic kilometres (7.2 cu mi) of magma embedded within the mush, may have moved away from the old vents towards its present-day position. It is being resupplied by deeper, more crystal-poor magmas. In the deep crust, further magma systems may connect Laguna del Maule with Tatara-San Pedro volcano. ### Seismicity Strong seismic activity has accompanied the deformation at Laguna del Maule. Seismic swarms have been recorded above the depth of the deforming sill south of the ring of lava domes, particularly around Colada Las Nieblas. A magnitude 5.5 earthquake occurred south of the volcanic field in June 2012. A major volcano-tectonic earthquake swarm occurred in January 2013, possibly due to faults and underground liquids being pressurized by the intrusion of magma. Between 2011 and 2014, swarms of earthquakes occurred every two or three months and lasted from half an hour to three hours. Afterwards activity decreased until 2017 and increased again, with the most intense seismic episode taking place in June 2020. Most earthquake activity appears to be of volcano-tectonic origin, while fluid flow is less important; two intersecting lineaments on the southwest corner of the lake appear to be involved. The 2010 Maule earthquake, 230 km (140 mi) west of Laguna del Maule, did not affect the volcanic field; the rate of uplift remaining unchanged, while other measurements indicate a change in the uplift rates at that point. Although some shallow earthquakes have been interpreted as reflecting diking and faulting on the magma chamber, the pressure within the chamber appears to be insufficient to trigger a rupture all the way between the surface and the chamber and thus no eruption has occurred yet. ### Potential mechanisms for the uplift Several mechanisms have been proposed for the inflation, including the movement of magma underground, the injection of new magma, or the action of volcanic gases and volatiles which are released by the magma. Another proposal is that the inflation may be situated in a hydrothermal system; unless the Baños Campanario 15 km (9.3 mi) away are part of a hydrothermal system, there is little evidence that such a system exists at Laguna del Maule. Carbon dioxide () anomalies, concentrated on the northern lakeshore, have been found around Laguna del Maule, in 2020 together with dead animals and discoloured soil; the anomalies are possibly triggered by the stress of the inflation activating old faults. These anomalies may indicate that the inflation is of mafic composition, as rhyolite only poorly dissolves CO <sub>2</sub>. Gravity change measurements also show an interaction between magma source, faults and the hydrothermal system. ### Hazards and management This uplift has been a cause of concern in light of the history of explosive activity of the volcanic field, with 50 eruptions in the last 20,000 years; the current uplift may be the prelude of a large rhyolitic eruption. In particular, the scarce fumarolic activity implies that a large amount of gas is trapped within the magma reservoir, increasing the hazard of an explosive eruption. It is not clear if such an eruption would fit the pattern set by Holocene eruptions or would be a larger event. The prospect of renewed volcanic activity at Laguna del Maule has caused concern among the authorities and inhabitants of the region. A major eruption would have a serious impact on Argentina and Chile, including the formation of lava domes, lava flows, pyroclastic flows near the lake, ash fall at larger distances and lahars. The international road across Paso Pehuenche and air traffic in the region could be endangered by renewed eruptions. A break-out flood from Laguna Fea may endanger communities downstream. Laguna del Maule is considered to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes of the Southern Andean volcanic belt, and is Argentina's third most dangerous volcano. In March 2013, the Southern Andean Volcano Observatory declared a "yellow alert" for the volcano in light of the deformation and earthquake activity, withdrew it in 2021 and reinstated it in 2023; the alert was supplemented afterwards with an "early" warning (withdrawn in January 2017). The Argentine Servicio Geológico Minero and the Chilean National Geology and Mining Service monitor the volcano with a network of stations, and a bi-national volcanic hazard map has been published.
2,488,658	Battle of Vukovar	1,171,373,738	1991 Croatian War of Independence siege	[ "1991 in Croatia", "August 1991 events in Europe", "Battles involving Serbia", "Battles involving Yugoslavia", "Battles of the Croatian War of Independence", "History of Vukovar", "November 1991 events in Europe", "October 1991 events in Europe", "Republic of Serbian Krajina", "September 1991 events in Europe", "Serbian war crimes in the Croatian War of Independence", "Sieges", "Sieges involving Croatia", "Sieges post-1945", "Urban warfare", "Vukovar" ]	The Battle of Vukovar was an 87-day siege of Vukovar in eastern Croatia by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), supported by various paramilitary forces from Serbia, between August and November 1991. Before the Croatian War of Independence the Baroque town was a prosperous, mixed community of Croats, Serbs and other ethnic groups. As Yugoslavia began to break up, Serbia's President Slobodan Milošević and Croatia's President Franjo Tuđman began pursuing nationalist politics. In 1990, an armed insurrection was started by Croatian Serb militias, supported by the Serbian government and paramilitary groups, who seized control of Serb-populated areas of Croatia. The JNA began to intervene in favour of the rebellion, and conflict broke out in the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia in May 1991. In August, the JNA launched a full-scale attack against Croatian-held territory in eastern Slavonia, including Vukovar. Vukovar was defended by around 1,800 lightly armed soldiers of the Croatian National Guard (ZNG) and civilian volunteers, against as many as 36,000 JNA soldiers and Serb paramilitaries equipped with heavy armour and artillery. During the battle, shells and rockets were fired into the town at a rate of up to 12,000 a day. At the time, it was the fiercest and most protracted battle seen in Europe since 1945, and Vukovar was the first major European town to be entirely destroyed since the Second World War. When Vukovar fell on 18 November 1991, several hundred soldiers and civilians were massacred by Serb forces and at least 20,000 inhabitants were expelled. Overall, around 3,000 people died during the battle. Most of Vukovar was ethnically cleansed of its non-Serb population and became part of the self-declared proto-state known as the Republic of Serbian Krajina. Several Serb military and political officials, including Milošević, were later indicted and in some cases jailed for war crimes committed during and after the battle. The battle exhausted the JNA and proved a turning point in the Croatian War of Independence. A cease-fire was declared a few weeks later. Vukovar remained in Serb hands until 1998, when it was peacefully reintegrated into Croatia with the signing of the Erdut Agreement. It has since been rebuilt but has less than half of its pre-war population and many buildings are still scarred by the battle. Its two principal ethnic communities remain deeply divided and it has not regained its former prosperity. ## Background Vukovar is an important regional centre on Croatia's eastern border, situated in eastern Slavonia on the west bank of the Danube river. The area has a diverse population of Croats, Serbs, Hungarians, Slovaks, Ruthenians and many other nationalities, who had lived together for centuries in relative harmony before the Croatian War of Independence. It was also one of the wealthiest areas of Yugoslavia before the conflict. Vukovar's long-standing prosperity was reflected in one of Croatia's finest ensembles of Baroque architecture. The region underwent major demographic changes following the Second World War, when its ethnic German inhabitants were expelled and replaced with settlers from elsewhere in Yugoslavia. In 1991, the last Yugoslav census recorded the Vukovar municipality, which included the town and surrounding villages, as having 84,189 inhabitants, of whom 44 percent were Croats, 38 percent were Serbs and the remainder were members of other ethnic groups. The town's population was 47 percent Croat and 33 percent Serb. From 1945, Yugoslavia was governed as a federal socialist state comprising six newly created republics – Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. The current border between Serbia and Croatia was defined in 1945 by a Yugoslav federal government commission which assigned areas with a Serb majority to the Socialist Republic of Serbia and those with a Croat majority to the Socialist Republic of Croatia. Nevertheless, a sizable Serb minority remained within the latter. Following the death of Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito in 1980, long-suppressed ethnic nationalism revived and the individual republics began to assert their authority more strongly as the federal government weakened. Slovenia and Croatia moved towards multi-party democracy and economic reform, but Serbia's authoritarian communist President Slobodan Milošević opposed reform and sought to increase the power of the Yugoslav government. In 1990, Slovenia and Croatia held elections that ended communist rule and brought pro-independence nationalist parties to power in both republics. In Croatia, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) of Franjo Tuđman took power, with Tuđman as president. Tuđman's programme was opposed by many members of Croatia's Serb minority, towards whom he was overtly antagonistic. Croatia's Serb Democratic Party (SDS), supported by Milošević, denounced the HDZ as a reincarnation of the nationalist-fascist Ustaše movement, which had massacred hundreds of thousands of Serbs during the Second World War. From mid-1990, the SDS mounted an armed rebellion in Serb-inhabited areas of Croatia and set up the self-declared Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Krajina, with covert support from the Serbian government and Serbian paramilitary groups. The Croatian government rapidly lost control of large swathes of the republic. In February 1991, the Krajina Serbs declared independence from Croatia and announced that they would unite with Serbia. Other Serb communities in Croatia also announced that they would secede and established their own militias. ## Prelude to the battle The conflict between Serbs and Croats spread to eastern Slavonia in early 1991. On 1 April, Serb villagers around Vukovar and other towns in eastern Slavonia began to erect barricades across main roads. The White Eagles, a Serbian paramilitary group led by Vojislav Šešelj, moved into the Serb-populated village of Borovo Selo just north of Vukovar. In mid-April 1991, an incident occurred in the outskirts of Borovo Selo when three Armbrust man-portable recoilless guns were fired on Serb positions. There were allegations that Gojko Šušak, at the time the Deputy Minister of Defence, led the attack. There were no casualties, but the attack aggravated and deepened ethnic tensions. On 2 May, Serb paramilitaries ambushed two Croatian police buses in the centre of Borovo Selo, killing 12 policemen and injuring 22 more. One Serb paramilitary was also killed. The Battle of Borovo Selo represented the worst act of violence between the country's Serbs and Croats since the Second World War. It enraged many Croatians and led to a surge of ethnic violence across Slavonia. Shortly after, Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) units moved into Borovo Selo. The army's intervention was welcomed by local Croatian leaders, but Croatia's Deputy Interior Minister, Milan Brezak, accused the JNA of preventing the Croatian police from dealing with the paramilitaries. Gun battles broke out across the region between rival militias. In Vukovar, Croatians harassed Serb residents, sometimes violently. Croatian police forcibly took over the local radio station, Radio Vukovar, and Serb members of the station's ethnically mixed staff were fired and replaced with Croats. Serb militias systematically blocked transport routes in the predominantly Serb-inhabited countryside around Vukovar, and within days the town could only be reached by an unpaved track running through Croat-inhabited villages. The atmosphere in Vukovar was said to be "murderous". On 19 May 1991, the Croatian government held a nationwide referendum on a declaration of sovereignty. In Vukovar, as elsewhere in Croatia, hardline Serb nationalists urged Serbs to boycott the referendum, while moderates advocated using the poll to register opposition to independence. Many local Serbs did vote. The referendum passed with 94 percent nationally voting in favour. Violence in and around Vukovar worsened after the independence referendum. Repeated gun and bomb attacks were reported in the town and surrounding villages. Sporadic shelling of the city started in June, and increased in intensity throughout the summer. Borovo Naselje, the Croatian-held northern suburb of Vukovar, sustained a significant shelling on 4 July. Serb paramilitaries expelled thousands of non-Serbs from their homes in the municipality. Croatian paramilitaries, led by Tomislav Merčep, attacked Serbs in and around Vukovar (in what was later investigated as the 1991 killings of Serbs in Vukovar). Between 30 and 86 Serbs disappeared or were killed, and thousands of others fled their homes. A Croatian government representative in Vukovar told the Zagreb authorities that "the city is again [the] victim of terror, armed strife and provocative shoot-outs with potentially unfathomable consequences. The policy pursued so far has created an atmosphere of terror among the Croatian and Serbian population." Gunmen from both sides burned and looted hundreds of houses and farms in the area. The conflict blurred ethnic lines. Many Serbs who had lived in Vukovar for generations – known as the starosedioci or "old settlers" – resisted the propaganda coming from Belgrade and Knin and continued to live peacefully with their Croatian neighbours. The došljaci, or "newcomers", whose families had relocated from southern Serbia and Montenegro to replace the deported Germans after 1945, were the most responsive to nationalist appeals. The journalist Paolo Rumiz describes how they "tried to win their coethnics over to the patriotic mobilization, and when they had no success with that, they killed them, plundered their property and goods, or drove them away. The old settlers would not let themselves be stirred up against other nationalities." When Croats fled the fighting they often gave their house keys for safekeeping to their Serb neighbours, whom they trusted, rather than to the Croatian police. The political scientist Sabrina P. Ramet notes that a distinctive feature of the war in eastern Slavonia was "the mobilization of those who were not integrated into the multi-cultural life of the cities against urban multi-culturalism." Former Belgrade mayor Bogdan Bogdanović characterised the attack on Vukovar as an act of urbicide, a deliberate assault on urbanism. ## Opposing forces By the end of July 1991, an improvised Croatian defence force in Vukovar was almost surrounded by Serbian militias in the neighbouring villages. Paramilitaries, JNA soldiers and Serbian Territorial Defence (TO) conscripts were present in Serb-inhabited areas. There was a small JNA barracks in Vukovar's Sajmište district, surrounded by Croatian-controlled territory. Although the two sides were commonly referred to as "Croatian" and "Serbian" or "Yugoslav", Serbs and Croats as well as many other of Yugoslavia's national groups fought on both sides. The first commander of the attacking force was Macedonian. Serbs and members of other ethnicities made up a substantial portion of the Croatian defenders. ### Croatian forces The Croatian force in Vukovar comprised 1,800 men assembled from units of the newly created Croatian National Guard, including 400 members of the 3rd Guards Brigade and the 1st Guards Brigade. The 4th Battalion of the 3rd Guards Brigade was stationed in the city from the beginning, while elements of the 1st Guards Brigade arrived retreating from elsewhere in western Syrmia. In addition to the guardsmen there were 300 police officers and 1,100 civilian volunteers from Vukovar and nearby communities. The bulk of the force had initially been organised in an improvised manner. In late September 1991, it was formally reorganised as the 204th Vukovar Brigade, also known as the 124th Brigade. Volunteers arrived from other parts of Croatia, including 58 members of the far-right paramilitary Croatian Defence Forces (HOS), backed by Dobroslav Paraga's extreme nationalist Croatian Party of Rights (HSP). The defenders were a cross-section of Vukovar society. As many as one-third were non-Croats, including Serbs, Ruthenians, Hungarians and members of other ethnicities. About 100 of the defenders were Serbs. "We had complete confidence in them", one Croatian veteran later said. "They defended Vukovar alongside us." Croatian forces in Vukovar were commanded by Mile Dedaković, a former JNA officer who had joined the ZNG and volunteered to take charge of the town's defences. During the battle, he went by the nom de guerre Jastreb ("Hawk"). Gojko Šušak, by now Croatia's Minister of Defence, used Dedaković as an example of how Serbs were also taking part in Vukovar's defence. The claim was later reprinted by independent sources, but was false. Dedaković's second-in-command, Branko Borković, was another former JNA officer who had volunteered for service in Vukovar. The two men established a unified command structure, organised the defenders into a single brigade and implemented an integrated defence system. A defensive ring of six sectors was established, each assigned to one unit within the 204th Brigade. The defenders used a network of cellars, canals, ditches and trenches to redeploy around the sectors as needed. At the start of the battle, they were poorly armed and many were equipped only with hunting rifles. They relied mostly on light infantry weapons, but obtained a few artillery pieces and anti-aircraft guns and improvised their own land mines. They also obtained several hundred anti-tank weapons such as M79 and M80 rocket launchers, but were critically short of ammunition throughout the battle. The capture of JNA barracks somewhat improved the situation as Vukovar had the priority in the supply of arms. It is estimated that the Vukovar battlefield consumed around 55–60 percent of all ammunition available to the Croatian forces. ### Yugoslav and Serb forces The attacking force included JNA soldiers conscripted from across Yugoslavia, members of the TO, Chetniks (Serbian nationalist paramilitaries), local Serb militiamen and units of the Yugoslav Navy and the Yugoslav Air Force. At their peak, the Yugoslav and Serb forces in the vicinity of Vukovar numbered about 36,000. They were equipped with heavy artillery, rockets and tanks and supported by aircraft and naval vessels on the Danube. Although the battle was fought primarily by the federal Yugoslav military, the government of Serbia was directly involved. The Serbian secret police agency, the SDB, took part in military operations, and some of its officers commanded Serbian TO units fighting in Vukovar. Serbia's Ministry of Internal Affairs directed the activities of the paramilitaries. It was also responsible for arming and equipping them. Slobodan Milošević was later accused of direct involvement. According to Veselin Šljivančanin, who was later convicted of war crimes committed at Vukovar, the order to shell Vukovar came "from Dedinje" – the elite Belgrade quarter where Milošević lived. At the start of the war in Slovenia, the army still saw itself as the defender of a federal, communist Yugoslavia, rather than an instrument of Serbian nationalism. Its head, General Veljko Kadijević, the Yugoslav Minister of Defence and a committed communist, initially sought to forcibly keep Yugoslavia together and proclaimed the army's neutrality in the Serb-Croat conflict. The JNA leadership aimed to cut Croatia in two by seizing the Serb-inhabited inland regions, almost all of the Dalmatian coast and much of central and eastern Croatia. It aimed to force Croatia's political leadership to capitulate and renegotiate its membership of Yugoslavia. The JNA's leadership was not yet dominated by ethnic Serbs, and these early goals reflected the Yugoslav outlook of its multiethnic leadership. Kadijević was half-Croat and half-Serb, his deputy was a Slovene, the commander of the JNA forces in the first phase of the battle was a Macedonian, and the head of the Yugoslav Air Force, which repeatedly bombed Vukovar during the battle, was a Croat. The loss of Slovenia in the Ten-Day War made it impossible to fulfil the original objective of keeping Yugoslavia intact. Many of the Serb members of the army no longer wanted to fight for a multiethnic Yugoslavia. The army developed an increasingly Serbian character as non-Serbs deserted or refused to be drafted. Some JNA commanders overtly supported the Serb rebels in Croatia and provided them with weapons. Although Kadijević and other senior JNA commanders initially argued that "the JNA must defend all the nations of Yugoslavia", they eventually recognised that they had no chance of achieving their original goals, and threw their support behind the rebel Serbs of Croatia. Yugoslav and Serb propaganda portrayed Croatian separatists as genocidal Ustaše, who had illegally taken over Yugoslav territory and were threatening Serb civilians in a reprise of the anti-Serb pogroms of the Second World War. Kadijević later justified the JNA's offensive against Vukovar on the grounds that it was part of the "backbone of the Croatian army" and had to be "liberated". The JNA's periodical Narodna Armija claimed after the battle that Vukovar "had for decades been prepared to support German military penetration down the Danube." Šešelj declared: "We're all one army. This war is a great test for Serbs. Those who pass the test will become winners. Deserters cannot go unpunished. Not a single Ustaša must leave Vukovar alive." ## Phase I, August to September 1991 The Battle of Vukovar took place in two phases over about 90 days: from August to September 1991, before the town was fully surrounded, and from early October to mid-November, when the town was encircled then taken by the JNA. Starting in June, Vukovar and neighbouring villages were subjected to daily or near-daily artillery and mortar fire. In July, the JNA and TO began deploying in large numbers across eastern Slavonia, surrounding Vukovar from three sides. Heavy fighting began at the end of August. On 23 August, Borovo Naselje came under heavy shellfire, and Croatian forces shot down two Yugoslav G-2 Galeb ground-attack aircraft using shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles. The following day, the JNA, the Yugoslav Air Force and the Yugoslav Navy launched a major attack using aircraft, naval vessels on the Danube, tanks and artillery. The attack, which was mounted from both sides of the border, caused extensive damage and resulted in many civilian casualties. On 14 September, the Croatian government ordered an attack against all JNA garrisons and arms depots in the country, an offensive dubbed the Battle of the Barracks. Vukovar's JNA barracks was among those attacked that day, but the JNA managed to defend it. In retaliation, Serb paramilitaries attacked areas to the southwest of Vukovar from the direction of Negoslavci, forcing about 2,000 people to flee. There were reports of mass killings and scores of civilian deaths. Croatian forces outside the Vukovar perimeter received large quantities of arms and ammunition from depots captured elsewhere, enabling them to hold the line. The JNA responded by launching a major offensive in eastern Slavonia, from where it intended to progress west via Vinkovci and Osijek to Zagreb. The JNA did not bypass Vukovar because its leadership wished to relieve the besieged barracks and to eliminate a possible threat to their supply lines. The JNA did not intend to make Vukovar the main focus of the offensive, but as happened with Stalingrad in the Second World War, an initially inconsequential engagement became an essential political symbol for both sides. On 19 September, a JNA force consisting of at least 100 T-55 and M-84 tanks with armoured personnel carriers and heavy artillery pieces left Belgrade. It crossed into Croatia near the Serbian town of Šid on 20 September. The Croatians were quickly routed and fell back to Vukovar. The JNA's 1st Guards Mechanised Brigade soon reached the Vukovar barracks and lifted the Croatian siege of the facility. They also moved to encircle Vukovar. By 30 September, the town was almost completely surrounded. All roads in and out were blocked, and the only route in was via a farm track through a perilously exposed cornfield. The JNA launched repeated assaults on Vukovar but failed to make any progress. Its armour, designed for combat in open country, was barely able to enter Vukovar's narrow streets. Support from regular infantry was lacking, and the TO's poorly trained and motivated troops were inadequate substitutes. The JNA's soldiers appeared to have little understanding of how to conduct urban operations and its officers displayed slow and reactive decision-making on the ground. Croatian forces countered the JNA's attacks by mining approach roads, sending out mobile teams equipped with anti-tank weapons, deploying many snipers, and fighting back from heavily fortified positions. The JNA initially relied on massing armoured spearheads which would advance along a street in a column followed by a few companies of infantry. The Croatians responded by opening fire with anti-tank weapons at very close range – often as short as 20 metres (66 ft) – to disable the lead and rear vehicles, trapping the rest of the column, where it could be systematically disabled. They tried to avoid completely destroying the JNA's armour, as the materiel they retrieved from disabled vehicles was an important source of resupply. The Croatians employed a strategy of "active defence", carrying out hit-and-run attacks to keep the JNA off balance. Anti-tank and anti-personnel mines hindered JNA manoeuvres. Unconventional tactics were used to undermine the JNA's morale, such as firing weather rockets and sabotaging JNA tanks by planting mines underneath them while they were parked at night, causing them to explode when their crews started them in the morning. JNA casualties were heavy. On one road, dubbed the "tank graveyard", about a hundred JNA armoured vehicles were destroyed, fifteen of them by Colonel Marko Babić. The high casualties had a debilitating effect on morale all the way up the chain of command. The JNA began launching artillery and rocket barrages against the town. By the end of the battle, over 700,000 shells and other missiles had been fired at Vukovar at a rate of up to 12,000 a day. It is estimated that Vukovar as well as its surroundings were bombarded with more than 2.5 million shells over 20 millimetres (0.79 in). Metre for metre, the bombardment was more intense than at Stalingrad. The thousands of civilians remaining in Vukovar took shelter in cellars and bomb shelters that had been built during the Cold War. ### JNA weaknesses and adoption of new tactics The JNA's lack of infantry support was due to a disastrously low level of mobilisation in the preceding months. Many reservists – who were drawn from all the Yugoslav republics, including Croatia – refused to report for duty, and many serving soldiers deserted rather than fight. Serbia was never formally at war and no general mobilisation was carried out. An estimated 150,000 Serbs went abroad to avoid conscription, and many others deserted or went into hiding. Only 13 percent of conscripts reported for duty. Another 40,000 staged rebellions in towns across Serbia; the Serbian newspaper Vreme commented in July 1991 that the situation was one of "total military disintegration". Morale on the battlefield was poor. JNA commanders resorted to firing on their own positions to motivate their men to fight. When the commander of a JNA unit at Vukovar demanded to know who was willing to fight and who wanted to go home, the unit split in two. One conscript, unable to decide which side to take, shot himself on the spot. A JNA officer who served at Vukovar later described how his men refused to obey orders on several occasions, "abandoning combat vehicles, discarding weapons, gathering on some flat ground, sitting and singing Give Peace a Chance by John Lennon." In late October, an entire infantry battalion from Novi Sad in Serbia abandoned an attack on Borovo Naselje and fled. Another group of reservists threw away their weapons and went back to Serbia on foot across a nearby bridge. A tank driver, Vladimir Živković, drove his vehicle from the front line at Vukovar to the Yugoslav parliament in Belgrade, where he parked on the steps in front of the building. He was arrested and declared insane by the authorities. His treatment enraged his colleagues, who protested by taking over a local radio station at gunpoint and issuing a declaration that "we are not traitors, but we do not want to be aggressors." In late September, Lieutenant Colonel General Života Panić was put in charge of the operation against Vukovar. He established new headquarters and command-and-control arrangements to resolve the disorganisation that had hindered the JNA's operations. Panić divided the JNA forces into Northern and Southern Areas of Responsibility (AORs). The northern AOR was assigned to Major General Mladen Bratić, while Colonel Mile Mrkšić was given charge of the south. As well as fresh troops, paramilitary volunteers from Serbia were brought in. They were well armed and highly motivated but often undisciplined and brutal. They were formed into units of company and battalion size as substitutes for the missing reservists. The commander of the Novi Sad corps was videotaped after the battle praising the Serb Volunteer Guard ("Tigers") of Željko Ražnatović, known as "Arkan": > The greatest credit for this goes to Arkan's volunteers! Although some people accuse me of acting in collusion with paramilitary formations, these are not paramilitary formations here! They are men who came voluntarily to fight for the Serbian cause. We surround a village, he dashes in and kills whoever refuses to surrender. On we go! Panić combined well-motivated paramilitary infantry with trained engineering units to clear mines and defensive positions, supported by heavy armour and artillery. The paramilitaries spearheaded a fresh offensive that began on 30 September. The assault succeeded in cutting the Croatian supply route to Vukovar when the village of Marinci, on the route out of the town, was captured on 1 October. Shortly afterwards, the Croatian 204th Brigade's commander, Mile Dedaković, broke out with a small escort, slipping through the Serbian lines to reach the Croatian-held town of Vinkovci. His deputy, Branko Borković, took over command of Vukovar's defences. General Anton Tus, commander of the Croatian forces outside the Vukovar perimeter, put Dedaković in charge of a breakthrough operation to relieve the town and launched a counter-offensive on 13 October. Around 800 soldiers and 10 tanks were engaged in the attack, which began in the early morning with artillery preparation. Special police forces entered Marinci before noon, but had to retreat as they did not have enough strength to hold their positions. Croatian tanks and infantry encountered heavy resistance from the JNA and were halted at Nuštar by artillery fire. The JNA's 252nd Armoured Brigade inflicted heavy losses on the Croatian side. The elite Lučko Anti-Terrorist Unit alone suffered 12 fatalities. Around 13:00 the attack was stopped by the HV General Staff. A humanitarian convoy of the Red Cross was let through to Vukovar. ## Phase II, October to November 1991 During the battle's final phase, Vukovar's remaining inhabitants, including several thousand Serbs, took refuge in cellars and communal bomb shelters, which housed up to 700 people each. A crisis committee was established, operating from a nuclear bunker beneath the municipal hospital. The committee assumed control of the town's management and organised the delivery of food, water and medical supplies. It kept the number of civilians on the streets to a minimum and ensured that each shelter was guarded and had at least one doctor and nurse assigned to it. Vukovar's hospital had to deal with hundreds of injuries. In the second half of September, the number of wounded reached between 16 and 80 per day, three-quarters of them civilians. Even though it was marked with the Red Cross symbol, the hospital was struck by over 800 shells during the battle. Much of the building was wrecked, and the staff and patients had to relocate to underground service corridors. The intensive care unit was moved into the building's nuclear bomb shelter. On 4 October, the Yugoslav Air Force attacked the hospital, destroying its operating theatre. One bomb fell through several floors, failed to explode and landed on the foot of a wounded man, without injuring him. Croatian forces adapted several Antonov An-2 biplanes to parachute supplies to Vukovar. The aircraft also dropped improvised bombs made of fuel cans and boilers filled with explosive and metal bars. The crews used GPS to locate their targets, then pushed the ordnance through the side door. The European Community attempted to provide humanitarian aid to the 12,000 civilians trapped within the perimeter, but only one aid convoy made it through. On 12 October, the Croatians suspended military action to allow the convoy to pass, but the JNA used the pause as cover to make further military gains. Once the convoy set off, the JNA delayed it for two days and used the time to lay mines, bring in reinforcements and consolidate JNA control of the road out of Vukovar. When the convoy arrived, it delivered medical supplies to Vukovar's hospital and evacuated 114 wounded civilians. On 16 October, the JNA mounted a major attack against Borovo Naselje. It made some progress, but became bogged down in the face of determined Croatian resistance. On 30 October, the JNA launched a fully coordinated assault, spearheaded by paramilitary forces, with infantry and engineering troops systematically forcing their way past the Croatian lines. The JNA's forces, divided into northern and southern operations sectors, attacked several points simultaneously and pushed the Croatians back. The JNA also adopted new tactics, such as firing directly into houses and then driving tanks through them, as well as using tear gas and smoke bombs to drive out those inside. Buildings were also captured with the use of anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns. On 2 November, the JNA reached the strategic suburb of Lužac, between Borovo Naselje and Vukovar, cutting one of the two roads linking the town centre with its northern suburb. Meanwhile, the ZNG (which had been renamed the Croatian Army) attempted to retake the villages of Marinci and Cerić to reopen the supply route to Vukovar. It mounted a heavy bombardment of the JNA's access routes to Vukovar and launched a tank attack on the JNA's lines. On 4 November, JNA General Mladen Bratić was killed when his tank was hit by a shell. The JNA's advantage in artillery and rockets enabled it to halt the Croatian advance and inflict heavy casualties. ### Fall of Vukovar JNA troops launched an amphibious assault across the Danube north of Lužac on 3 November to link up with Arkan's "Tigers". This attack split the Croatian perimeter in half and divided the main group of defenders in the town centre from a smaller stronghold in Borovo Naselje. The JNA's Operational Group South began systematically clearing the town centre, cutting off the remaining Croatian soldiers. On 5 November, Croatian forces shelled the Serbian town of Šid, killing three civilians and wounding several others. The JNA and paramilitaries captured a key hilltop, Milova Brda, on 9 November, giving them a clear view of Vukovar. The assault was spearheaded by paramilitaries, with JNA soldiers and TO fighters playing a supporting role, especially in demining operations and close artillery support. The Croatian-held village of Bogdanovci, just west of Vukovar, fell on 10 November. As many as 87 civilians were killed after its capture. On 13 November, the JNA cut the last link between Borovo Naselje and Vukovar. Croatian forces outside the Vukovar perimeter mounted a last-ditch attempt to break the siege by attacking from the village of Nuštar, but were repelled by the JNA once again. By now, the Croatians were running out of ammunition and were exhausted from fighting around the clock without any prospect of relief. They had been reduced to three separate pockets. With defeat now inevitable, several hundred Croatian soldiers and civilians attempted to break out over the course of several days, as the JNA mounted its final offensive. Most of those in Borovo Naselje were unable to do so and were killed. On 18 November, the last Croatian soldiers in Vukovar's town centre surrendered. By 18 November, many of Vukovar's civilian inhabitants were living in squalid conditions and nearing starvation. One woman told UN Special Envoy Cyrus Vance that she had spent the two previous months in a bomb shelter with her five children without toilets or water for washing. They lived on two slices of bread and a piece of pâté per day. One of the Croatian soldiers described conditions as the battle reached its peak: > By early October, there were no cigarettes. People were smoking grape leaves or tea. There was no yeast for bread. My son was eating tinned food with me and my wife. There was less and less of that. The shelling became 24 hours a day, and the cease-fires were worse. When people came out of the shelters to go to the well during the cease-fires, the snipers shot them. You can't keep children in for two months, and when they ran outside, when there was sun in the morning, they shot at them, too. When the battle ended, the scale of the town's destruction shocked many who had not left their shelters in weeks. Siniša Glavašević, a reporter for Croatian Radio and a native of Vukovar, who had stayed in the town throughout the battle, described the scene as the survivors emerged: > The picture of Vukovar at the 22nd hour of the 87th day [of the siege] will stay forever in the memory of those who witnessed it. Unearthly scenes are endless, the smell of burning, under the feet the remnants of old roof tiles, building materials, glass, ruins, and a dreadful silence. ... We hope that the torments of Vukovar are over. Although active combat had ended in central Vukovar by 18 November, sporadic fighting continued for several days elsewhere in the town. Some Croatian soldiers continued to resist until 20 November and a few managed to slip away from Borovo Naselje as late as 23 November. Foreign journalists and international monitors entered the town soon after the surrender and recorded what they saw. Blaine Harden of The Washington Post wrote: > Not one roof, door or wall in all of Vukovar seems to have escaped jagged gouges or gaping holes left by shrapnel, bullets, bombs or artillery shells – all delivered as part of a three-month effort by Serb insurgents and the Serb-led Yugoslav army to wrest the city from its Croatian defenders. Not one building appears habitable, or even repairable. Nearly every tree has been chopped to bits by firepower. Chuck Sudetic of The New York Times reported: > Only soldiers of the Serbian-dominated army, stray dogs and a few journalists walked the smoky, rubble-choked streets amid the ruins of the apartment buildings, stores and hotel in Vukovar's center. Not one of the buildings seen during a daylong outing could be described as habitable. In one park, shell fire had sheared thick trees in half like blades of grass cut by a mower. Across the street, the dome of an Orthodox Christian church had fallen onto the altar. Automatic weapons fire erupted every few minutes as the prowling Serbian soldiers, some of them drunk, took aim at land mines, pigeons and windows that had survived the fighting. Laura Silber and the BBC's Allan Little described how "corpses of people and animals littered the streets. Grisly skeletons of buildings still burned, barely a square inch had escaped damage. Serbian volunteers, wild-eyed, roared down the streets, their pockets full of looted treasures." The JNA celebrated its victory, as Marc Champion of The Independent described: > The colonels who ran "Operation Vukovar" entertained more than 100 journalists inside the ruins of the Dunav Hotel at a kind of Mad Hatter's victory celebration. They handed out picture postcards of the old Vukovar as mementoes and served drinks on starched white tablecloths, as wind and rain blew in through shattered windows ... Inside the Dunav Hotel was an Alice in Wonderland world where Colonel [Miodrag] Gvero announced that the gaping holes in the walls had been blasted by the Croatian defenders. They had placed sticks of dynamite in the brickwork to make the army look bad, he said. ## Casualties Overall, around 3,000 people died during the battle. Croatia suffered heavy military and civilian casualties. The Croatian side initially reported 1,798 killed in the siege, both soldiers and civilians. Croatian general Anton Tus later stated that about 1,100 Croatian soldiers were killed, and 2,600 soldiers and civilians were listed as missing. Another 1,000 Croatian soldiers were killed on the approaches to Vinkovci and Osijek, according to Tus. He noted that the fighting was so intense that losses in eastern Slavonia between September and November 1991 constituted half of all Croatian war casualties from that year. According to figures published in 2006 by the Croatian Ministry of Defence, 879 Croatian soldiers were killed and 770 wounded in Vukovar. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimates Croatian casualties at around 4,000–5,000 dead across eastern Slavonia as a whole. The 204th Vukovar Brigade lost over 60 percent of its strength in the battle. The CIA reports that 1,131 civilians were killed over the course of the fighting. Among the dead were 86 children. Kardov estimated that 550 civilians went missing during the battle. According to Croatian officials, in eastern Slavonia, 2,000 Croatians were killed, 800 went missing, 3,000 were taken prisoner and 42,852 were made refugees by the end of 1991. Although JNA losses were undoubtedly substantial, the exact numbers are unclear because of a lack of official data. The JNA officially acknowledged 1,279 killed in action, including 177 officers, during the entire war in Croatia. The military historian Norman Cigar contends that the actual number may have been considerably greater as casualties were consistently under-reported during the war. According to Tus, the JNA's Novi Sad corps alone lost 1,300 soldiers during the campaign in eastern Slavonia. He extrapolates from this to estimate that between 6,000 and 8,000 soldiers and volunteers died in eastern Slavonia, with the loss of 600 armoured vehicles and heavy weapons, as well as over 20 aircraft. Serbian sources disagree with this assessment. Following the war, Colonel Milisav Sekulić said that the battle resulted in the deaths of 1,180 JNA soldiers and TO personnel. General Andrija Biorčević, the former commander of the Novi Sad corps, remarked that there were "[not] more than 1,500 killed on our side." This sentiment was echoed by JNA General Života Panić, who shared a similar figure. In 1997, the journalist Miroslav Lazanski, who has close ties to the Serbian military, wrote in the Belgrade newspaper Večernje novosti that "on the side of the JNA, Territorial Defence and volunteer units, exactly 1,103 members were killed." He cited losses of 110 armoured vehicles and two combat aircraft shot down, plus another destroyed due to technical failure. At the time, Lazanski's assessment was endorsed by three retired JNA generals. According to Croatian Serb sources, 350 Vukovar Serbs perished in the battle, including 203 TO fighters and 147 civilians. ## War crimes Many captured Croatian soldiers and civilians were summarily executed after the battle. Journalists witnessed one such killing in Vukovar's main street. They also reported seeing the streets strewn with bodies in civilian attire. BBC television reporters recorded Serbian paramilitaries chanting: "Slobodane, Slobodane, šalji nam salate, biće mesa, biće mesa, klaćemo Hrvate!" ("Slobodan [Milošević], Slobodan, send us some salad, [for] there will be meat, there will be meat, we will slaughter Croats"). A Serbian journalist embedded with the JNA reserve forces in Vukovar later reported: > After Vukovar fell, people were lined up and made to walk to detention areas. As the prisoners walked by, local Serbian paramilitaries pulled people out of the lines at random, claiming that they had to be executed because they were "war criminals." Most of these people were Croats who had spent the duration of the fighting in basements, particularly in the Vukovar hospital. The selection of those who were to be executed also was done as these people were leaving the shelters. They were removed from lines under the supervision, and with the apparent permission, of Major Veselin Šljivančanin, the JNA officer in charge of security after Vukovar's fall. Around 400 people from Vukovar's hospital – non-Serb patients, medical personnel, local political figures and others who had taken refuge there – were taken by the JNA. Although some were subsequently released, around 200 were transported to the nearby Ovčara farm and executed in what became known as the Vukovar massacre. At least 50 others were taken elsewhere and never seen again. Thousands more were transferred to prison camps in Serbia and rebel-controlled Croatia. Further mass killings followed. At Dalj, north of Vukovar, where many inhabitants were previously massacred, numerous prisoners from Vukovar were subjected to harsh interrogations, beatings and torture, and at least 35 were killed. The JNA imprisoned 2,000 people at the Velepromet industrial facility in Vukovar, 800 of whom were classified by the JNA as prisoners of war. Many were brutally interrogated, several were shot on the spot by TO members and paramilitaries, and others were sent to Ovčara, where they were killed in the massacre. The remaining prisoners were transferred to a JNA-run prison camp in Sremska Mitrovica. They were stripped naked on arrival, beaten and interrogated, and forced to sleep for weeks on bare wooden floors. Most were released in January 1992 under an agreement brokered by UN envoy Cyrus Vance. Others were kept prisoner until mid-1992. Serbs who fought on the Croatian side were regarded as traitors by their captors and treated particularly harshly, enduring savage beatings. Detainees who were not suspected of involvement in military activities were evacuated from Vukovar to other locations in Serbia and Croatia. The non-Serb population of the town and the surrounding region was systematically ethnically cleansed, and at least 20,000 of Vukovar's inhabitants were forced to leave, adding to the tens of thousands already expelled from across eastern Slavonia. About 2,600 people went missing as a result of the battle. As of November 2017, the whereabouts of more than 440 of these individuals are unknown. There were also incidents of war rape, for which two soldiers were later convicted. Serb forces singled out a number of prominent individuals. Among them was Dr. Vesna Bosanac, the director of the town's hospital, who was regarded as a heroine in Croatia but demonised by the Serbian media. She and her husband were taken to Sremska Mitrovica prison, where she was locked up in a single room with more than 60 other women for several weeks. Her husband was subjected to repeated beatings. After appeals from the International Committee of the Red Cross, the couple were eventually released in a prisoner exchange. The journalist Siniša Glavašević was taken to Ovčara, severely beaten and shot along with the other victims of the massacre. Vukovar was systematically looted after its capture. A JNA soldier who fought at Vukovar told the Serbian newspaper Dnevni Telegraf that "the Chetnik [paramilitaries] behaved like professional plunderers, they knew what to look for in the houses they looted." The JNA also participated in the looting; an official in the Serbian Ministry of Defence commented: "Tell me of even one reservist, especially if he is an officer, who has spent more than a month at the front and has not brought back a fine car filled with everything that would fit inside the car." More than 8,000 works of art were looted during the battle, including the contents of the municipal museum, Eltz Castle, which was bombed and destroyed during the siege. Serbia returned 2,000 pieces of looted art in December 2001. ### Indictments and trials Three JNA officers – Mile Mrkšić, Veselin Šljivančanin and Miroslav Radić – were indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on multiple counts of crimes against humanity and violations of the laws of war, having surrendered or been captured in 2002 and 2003. On 27 September 2007, Mrkšić was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment on charges of murder and torture, Šljivančanin was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for torture and Radić was acquitted. Šljivančanin's sentence was increased to 17 years on appeal. It was reduced to ten years after a second appeal and he was granted early release in July 2011. Slavko Dokmanović, the Serb mayor of Vukovar, was also indicted and arrested for his role in the massacre, but committed suicide in June 1998, shortly before judgement was to be passed. Serbian paramilitary leader Vojislav Šešelj was indicted on war crimes charges, including several counts of extermination, for the Vukovar hospital massacre, in which his "White Eagles" were allegedly involved. In March 2016, Šešelj was acquitted on all counts pending appeal. On 11 April 2018, the Appeals Chamber of the follow-up Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals convicted him of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to 10 years' imprisonment for a speech delivered in May 1992 in which he called for the expulsion of Croats from Vojvodina. He was acquitted of the war crimes and crimes against humanity that he was alleged to have committed elsewhere, including in Vukovar. The ICTY's indictment of Slobodan Milošević characterised the overall JNA and Serb offensive in Croatia – including the fighting in eastern Slavonia – as a "joint criminal enterprise" to remove non-Serb populations from Serb-inhabited areas of Croatia. Milošević was charged with numerous crimes against humanity, violations of the laws of war, and breaches of the Geneva Conventions in relation to the battle and its aftermath. He died in March 2006, before his trial could be completed. The Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadžić was indicted for "wanton destruction of homes, religious and cultural buildings" and "devastation not justified by military necessity" across eastern Slavonia, and for deporting Vukovar's non-Serb population. He was arrested in July 2011, after seven years on the run, and pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He died in July 2016, before his trial could be completed. In December 2005, a Serbian court convicted 14 former paramilitaries for their involvement in the hospital massacre. In 2011, a Serbian court indicted more than 40 Croatians for alleged war crimes committed in Vukovar. An earlier indictment against a Croatian soldier was dropped because of irregularities in the investigation. Croatia also indicted a number of Serbs for war crimes committed in Vukovar, including former JNA generals Veljko Kadijević and Blagoje Adžić. Adžić died of natural causes in Belgrade in March 2012 and never faced trial. Kadijević fled Yugoslavia following Milošević's overthrow and sought asylum in Russia. He was granted Russian citizenship in 2008 and died in Moscow in November 2014. In 1999, Croatia sued Yugoslavia before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), claiming that genocide had been committed in Vukovar. Following Serbia and Montenegro's dissolution in 2006, this suit was passed on to Serbia. In February 2015, the ICJ ruled that the battle and ensuing massacre did not constitute genocide, but affirmed that serious crimes had been committed by the JNA and Serb paramilitaries. ## Political aspects ### Propaganda The Serbian and Croatian media waged a fierce propaganda struggle over the progress of the battle and the reasons behind it. Both sides' propaganda machines aimed to promote ultra-nationalist sentiments and denigrate the other side with no pretence of objectivity or self-criticism. The Croatian media described the Serbian forces as "Serb terrorists" and a "Serbo-Communist army of occupation" intent on crushing the thousand-year dream of an independent Croatia. The propaganda reached peak intensity in the wake of Vukovar's fall. The Croatian newspaper Novi list denounced the Serbs as "cannibals" and "brutal Serb extremists". The Serbian media depicted the JNA and Serbian forces as "liberators" and "defenders" of the Serbian people, and the Croatian forces as "Ustashoid hordes", "blackshirts", "militants" and "drunk and stoned monsters". There were overt appeals to racial and gender prejudice, including claims that Croatian combatants had "put on female dress to escape from the town" and had recruited "black men". Victim status became a central aim for the propaganda machines of both sides, and the battle was used to support claims of atrocities. Victims became interchangeable as anonymous victims were identified as Croats by the Croatian media and as Serbs by the Serbian media. According to the Serbian opposition periodical Republika, the state-owned station TV Novi Sad was under orders to identify any bodies its reporters filmed as being "Serbian corpses". After the battle, Belgrade television showed pictures of hundreds of corpses lined up outside Vukovar's hospital and claimed that they were Serbs who had been "massacred" by the Croats. According to Human Rights Watch, the bodies belonged to those who had died of their injuries at the hospital, whose staff had been prevented from burying them by the intense Serbian bombardment, and had been forced to leave them lying in the open. Serbian television continued to broadcast claims of "massacred Serbs in Vukovar" for some time after the town's fall. Such victim-centred propaganda had a powerful motivating effect. One Serbian volunteer said that he had never seen the town before the war, but had come to fight because "the Croats had a network of catacombs under the city where they killed and tortured children just because they were Serbs." Reuters erroneously reported that 41 children had been massacred in Vukovar by Croatian soldiers. Although the claim was retracted a day later, it was used by the Serbian media to justify military action in Croatia. Many of those fighting at Vukovar believed that they were engaged in a struggle to liberate the town from a hostile occupier. ### International reaction The international community made repeated unsuccessful attempts to end the fighting. Both sides violated cease-fires, often within hours. Calls by some European Community members for the Western European Union to intervene militarily were vetoed by the British government. Instead, a Conference for Yugoslavia was established under the chairmanship of Lord Carrington to find a way to end the conflict. The United Nations (UN) imposed an arms embargo on all of the Yugoslav republics in September 1991 under Security Council Resolution 713, but this was ineffective, in part because the JNA had no need to import weapons. The European powers abandoned attempts to keep Yugoslavia united and agreed to recognise the independence of Croatia and Slovenia on 15 January 1992. International observers tried unsuccessfully to prevent the human rights abuses that followed the battle. A visit by UN envoys Marrack Goulding and Cyrus Vance was systematically obstructed by the JNA. Vance's demands to see the hospital, from which wounded patients were being dragged out to be killed, were rebuffed by one of the massacre's chief architects, Major Veselin Šljivančanin. The major also blocked Red Cross representatives in an angry confrontation recorded by TV cameras: "This is my country, we have conquered this. This is Yugoslavia, and I am in command here!" There was no international media presence in Vukovar, as there was in the simultaneous Siege of Dubrovnik and the subsequent Siege of Sarajevo, and relatively little of the fighting in Vukovar was broadcast to foreign audiences. The British journalist Misha Glenny commented that the JNA, the Croatian Serb government and many ordinary Serbs were often hostile to the foreign media, while the Croatians were more open and friendly. ### Croatian reaction The Croatian media gave heavy coverage to the battle, repeatedly airing broadcasts from the besieged town by the journalist Siniša Glavašević. Much popular war art focused on the "VukoWAR", as posters dubbed it. The Croatian government began suppressing Glavašević's broadcasts when it became clear that defeat was inevitable, despite the confident slogans of "Vukovar shall not fall" and "Vukovar must not fall." Two of the main daily newspapers, Večernji list and Novi list, failed to report the loss of Vukovar and, on 20 November, two days after it had fallen, repeated the official line that the fight was still continuing. News of the surrender was dismissed as Serbian propaganda. Many Croatians soon saw Western satellite broadcasts of JNA soldiers and Serb paramilitaries walking freely through the town and detaining its inhabitants. When the surrender could no longer be denied, the two newspapers interpreted the loss as a demonstration of Croatian bravery and resistance, blaming the international community for not intervening to help Croatia. The Croatian government was criticised for its approach to the battle. Surviving defenders and right-wing politicians accused the government of betraying and deliberately sacrificing Vukovar to secure Croatia's international recognition. The only explanation that many were willing to accept for the town's fall was that it had been given up as part of a conspiracy. The Croatian commanders in Vukovar, Mile Dedaković and Branko Borković, both survived the battle and spoke out publicly against the government's actions. In an apparent attempt to silence them, both men were briefly detained by the Croatian military police. The Croatian government also suppressed an issue of the newspaper Slobodni tjednik that published a transcript of a telephone call from Vukovar, in which Dedaković had pleaded with an evasive Tuđman for military assistance. The revelations caused public outrage and reinforced perceptions that the defenders had been betrayed. From a military point of view, the outcome at Vukovar was not a disaster for Croatia's overall war effort. The battle broke the back of the JNA, leaving it exhausted and unable to press deeper into the country. Vukovar was probably indefensible, being almost completely surrounded by Serb-held territory and located closer to Belgrade than to Zagreb. Although the defeat was damaging to Croatian morale, in a strategic context, the damage and delays inflicted on the JNA more than made up for the loss of the town. Following the battle, Vukovar became a symbol of Croatian resistance and suffering. The survivors, veterans and journalists wrote numerous memoirs, songs and testimonies about the battle and its symbolism, calling it variously "the phenomenon", "the pride", "the hell" and "the Croatian knight". Writers appealed to the "Vukovar principle", the "spirituality of Vukovar" and "Vukovar ethics", the qualities said to have been exhibited by the defenders and townspeople. Croatian war veterans were presented with medals bearing the name of Vukovar. In 1994, when Croatia replaced the Croatian dinar with its new currency, the kuna, it used the destroyed Eltz Castle in Vukovar and the Vučedol Dove – an artefact from an ancient Neolithic culture centred on eastern Slavonia, which was discovered near Vukovar – on the new twenty-kuna note. The imagery emphasised the Croatian nature of Vukovar, which at the time was under Serb control. In 1993 and 1994, there was a national debate on how Vukovar should be rebuilt following its reintegration into Croatia, with some Croatians suggesting that it should be preserved as a monument. The ruling HDZ made extensive use of popular culture relating to Vukovar as propaganda in the years before the region was reintegrated into Croatia. In 1997, President Tuđman mounted a tour of eastern Slavonia, accompanied by a musical campaign called Sve hrvatske pobjede za Vukovar ("All Croatian victories for Vukovar"). The campaign was commemorated by the release of a compilation of patriotic music from Croatia Records. When Vukovar was returned to Croatian control in 1998, its recovery was hailed as the completion of a long struggle for freedom and Croatian national identity. Tuđman alluded to such sentiments when he gave a speech in Vukovar to mark its reintegration into Croatia: > Our arrival in Vukovar – the symbol of Croatian suffering, Croatian resistance, Croatian aspirations for freedom, Croatian desire to return to its eastern borders on the Danube, of which the Croatian national anthem sings – is a sign of our determination to really achieve peace and reconciliation. ### Serbian reaction Although the battle had been fought in the name of Serbian defence and unity, reactions in Serbia were deeply divided. The JNA, the state-controlled Serbian media and Serbian ultra-nationalists hailed the victory as a triumph. The JNA even erected a triumphal arch in Belgrade through which its returning soldiers could march, and officers were congratulated for taking "the toughest and fiercest Ustaša fortress". The Serbian newspaper Politika ran a front-page headline on 20 November announcing: "Vukovar Finally Free". In January 1992, from the ruins of Vukovar, the ultranationalist painter Milić Stanković wrote an article for the Serbian periodical Pogledi ("Viewpoints"), in which he declared: "Europe must know Vukovar was liberated from the Croat Nazis. They were helped by Central European scum. They crawled from under the papal tiara, as a dart of the serpent's tongue that protruded from the bloated Kraut and overstretched Eurocommunal anus." The Serbian geographer Jovan Ilić set out a vision for the future of the region, envisaging it being annexed to Serbia and its expelled Croatian population being replaced with Serbs from elsewhere in Croatia. The redrawing of Serbia's borders would unite all Serbs in a single state, and would cure Croats of opposition to Serbian nationalism, which Ilić termed an "ethno-psychic disorder". Thus, Ilić argued, "the new borders should primarily be a therapy for the treatment of ethno-psychic disorders, primarily among the Croatian population." Other Serbian nationalist writers acknowledged that the historical record showed that eastern Slavonia had been inhabited by Croats for centuries, but accused the region's Croat majority of "conversion to Catholicism, Uniating and Croatisation", as well as "genocidal destruction". Most irredentist propaganda focused on the region's proximity to Serbia and its sizeable Serb population. The Croatian Serb leadership also took a positive view of the battle's outcome. Between 1991 and 1995, while Vukovar was under the control of the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK), the city's fall was officially commemorated as "Liberation Day". The battle was portrayed as a successful struggle by local Serbs to defend their lives and property from the aggression of the Croatian state. Thousands of Vukovar Serbs that had suffered alongside their Croatian neighbours, sheltering in basements or bomb shelters for three months in appalling conditions, were now denigrated as podrumaši, the "people from the basement". Serb civilian dead were denied recognition, and the only people buried in the Serbian memorial cemetery at Vukovar were local Serbs who had fought with or alongside the JNA. In contrast, many in Serbia were strongly opposed to the battle and the wider war, and resisted efforts by the state to involve them in the conflict. Multiple anti-war movements appeared in Serbia as Yugoslavia began to disintegrate. In Belgrade, sizeable anti-war protests were organized in opposition to the battle. The protesters demanded that a referendum be held on a formal declaration of war, as well as an end to conscription. When the JNA tried to call up reservists, parents and relatives gathered around barracks to prevent their children taking part in the operation. Resistance to conscription became widespread across Serbia, ranging from individual acts of defiance to collective mutinies by hundreds of reservists at a time. A number of Serbian opposition politicians condemned the war. Desimir Tošić of the Democratic Party accused Milošević of "using the conflict to cling to power", and Vuk Drašković, the leader of the Serbian Renewal Movement, appealed to JNA soldiers to "pick up their guns and run". After the fall of Vukovar, he condemned what had been done in the name of Yugoslavia, writing in the daily newspaper Borba: > I cannot applaud the Vukovar victory, which is so euphorically celebrated in the war propaganda of intoxicated Serbia. I cannot, for I won't violate the victims, thousands of dead, nor the pain and misfortune of all Vukovar survivors ... [Vukovar] is the Hiroshima of both Croatian and Serbian madness ... Everyone in this state, Serbs but especially Croats, have established days of the greatest shame and fall. By late December 1991, just over a month after victory had been proclaimed in Vukovar, opinion polls found that 64 percent wanted to end the war immediately and only 27 percent were willing for it to continue. Milošević and other senior Serbian leaders decided against continuing the fighting, as they saw it as politically impossible to mobilise more conscripts to fight in Croatia. Desertions from the JNA continued as the well-motivated and increasingly well-equipped Croatian Army became more difficult to counter. By the end of 1991, Serbia's political and military leadership concluded that it would be counter-productive to continue the war. The looming conflict in Bosnia also required that the military resources tied up in Croatia be freed for future use. Although the battle was publicly portrayed as a triumph, it profoundly affected the JNA's character and leadership behind the scenes. The army's leaders realised that they had overestimated their ability to pursue operations against heavily defended urban targets, such as the strategic central Croatian town of Gospić, which the JNA assessed as potentially a "second Vukovar". The "Serbianisation" of the army was greatly accelerated, and, by the end of 1991, it was estimated to be 90 percent Serb. Its formerly pro-communist, pan-Yugoslav identity was abandoned, and new officers were now advised to "love, above all else, their unit, their army and their homeland – Serbia and Montenegro". The JNA's failure enabled the Serbian government to tighten its control over the military, whose leadership was purged and replaced with pro-Milošević nationalists. After the battle, General Veljko Kadijević, commander of the JNA, was forced into retirement for "health reasons", and in early 1992, another 38 generals and other officers were forced to retire, with several put on trial for incompetence and treason. Many individual JNA soldiers who took part in the battle were revolted by what they had seen and protested to their superiors about the behaviour of the paramilitaries. Colonel Milorad Vučić later commented that "they simply do not want to die for such things". The atrocities that they witnessed led some to experience subsequent feelings of trauma and guilt. A JNA veteran told a journalist from the Arabic-language newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat: > 'I was in the Army and I did my duty. Vukovar was more of a slaughter than a battle. Many women and children were killed. Many, many.' I asked him: 'Did you take part in the killing?' He answered: 'I deserted.' I asked him: 'But did you kill anyone?' He replied: 'I deserted after that ... The slaughter of Vukovar continues to haunt me. Every night I imagine that the war has reached my home and that my own children are being butchered.' ### Other Yugoslav reaction In Bosnia and Herzegovina, President Alija Izetbegović made a televised appeal to Bosnian citizens to refuse the draft on the grounds that "this is not our war". He called it their "right and duty" to resist the "evil deeds" being committed in Croatia and said: "Let those who want it, wage it. We do not want this war." When JNA troops transferred to the front via the Višegrad region of north-eastern Bosnia, local Bosnian Croats and Muslims set up barricades and machine-gun posts. They halted a column of 60 JNA tanks but were dispersed by force the following day. More than 1,000 people had to flee the area. This action, nearly seven months before the start of the Bosnian War, caused the first casualties of the Yugoslav Wars in Bosnia. Macedonia's parliament adopted a declaration of independence from Yugoslavia in January 1991, but it did not take effect until a referendum in September 1991 confirmed it. A group of Macedonian JNA officers secretly sought to prevent soldiers from Macedonia being sent to Croatia, and busloads of soldiers' parents, funded by the Macedonian government, travelled to Montenegro to find their sons and bring them home. Meanwhile, Macedonians continued to be conscripted into the JNA and serve in the war in Croatia. The commander of JNA forces in the first phase of the battle, General Aleksandar Spirkovski, was a Macedonian. His ethnicity was probably a significant factor in the decision to replace him with Života Panić, a Serb. In 2005, the Macedonian Army's Chief of Staff, General Miroslav Stojanovski, became the focus of international controversy after it was alleged that he had been involved in possible war crimes following the battle. ## Occupation, restoration and reconstruction Vukovar suffered catastrophic damage in the battle. Croatian officials estimated that 90 percent of its housing stock was damaged or destroyed, accounting for 15,000 housing units in total. The authorities placed the cost of reconstruction at \$2.5 billion. The town barely recovered during its seven years under Serb control. Marcus Tanner of The Independent described post-battle Vukovar as: > a silent, ghostly landscape, consisting of mile upon mile of bricks, rusting cars, collapsed roofs, telegraph poles and timber beams poking out from the rubble. The wind whistles through the deserted warehouses along the river front. By next spring, grass and saplings will be sprouting and birds nesting in these piles, and hope of rebuilding will be over. When Michael Ignatieff visited Vukovar in 1992, he found the inhabitants living in squalor: > Such law and order as there is administered by warlords. There is little gasoline, so ... everyone goes about on foot. Old peasant women forage for fuel in the woods, because there is no heating oil. Food is scarce, because the men are too busy fighting to tend the fields. In the desolate wastes in front of the bombed-out high rise flats, survivors dig at the ground with hoes. Every man goes armed. The population increased to about 20,000 as Serb refugees from other parts of Croatia and Bosnia were relocated by RSK authorities. They initially lived without water or electricity, in damaged buildings patched up with plastic sheeting and wooden boards. Residents scavenged the ruins for fragments of glass that they could stick back together to make windows for themselves. The main sources of income were war profiteering and smuggling, though some were able to find jobs in eastern Slavonia's revived oil industry. Reconstruction was greatly delayed by economic sanctions and lack of international aid. After the Erdut Agreement was signed in 1995, the United Nations Transitional Authority for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) was established to enable the return of Croatian refugees and to prepare the region for reintegration into Croatia. This UN peacekeeping force provided security during the transition period between 1996 and 1998. It was only in 1999 that Croats began returning to Vukovar in significant numbers, and many of the pre-war inhabitants never returned. By March 2001, the municipality was recorded as having 31,670 inhabitants – less than half the pre-war total – of whom 18,199 (57.46 percent) were Croats and 10,412 (32.88 percent) were Serbs. The community did not recover its mixed character: Croats and Serbs now lived separate social lives. Public facilities such as shops, cafés, restaurants, sports clubs, schools, non-governmental organisations and radio stations were re-established on segregated lines, with separate facilities for each community. Although the Croatian government sponsored reconstruction efforts in and around Vukovar, the Serb-populated town centre remained in ruins until 2003. Both Croat and Serb residents believed the government had neglected it deliberately, in order to punish the Serb community. Human Rights Watch noted that, of 4,000 homes that had been rebuilt, none of them were inhabited by Serbs. Unemployment was high because of the destruction of the town's major industries, and many of the inhabitants could not sell their houses. Most houses and many of Vukovar's historic buildings had been restored by 2011. ## Commemorations and memorials Signs of the battle are still widely apparent in Vukovar, where many buildings remain visibly scarred by bullets and shrapnel. The town hospital presents an exhibition and reconstruction of the conditions in the building during the battle. At Ovčara, the site of the massacre is marked by a mass grave and exhibition about the atrocity. Local guides, some of whom lived through the battle, offer tourists the opportunity to visit these and other sites on walking and bicycle tours. The riverside water tower was long preserved in its badly damaged state as a war memorial. In 2016, a campaign was launched to restore the water tower to its pre-war state. The reconstructed water tower was opened to the public in October 2020. Every November, Vukovar's authorities hold four days of festivities to commemorate the town's fall, culminating in a "Procession of Memory" held on 18 November. This represents the expulsion of the town's Croat inhabitants and involves a five-kilometre (3.1 mile) walk from the city's hospital to the Croatian Memorial Cemetery of Homeland War Victims. It is attended by tens of thousands of people from across Croatia. Local Serbs have avoided participating in the Croatian commemorations, often preferring either to leave the town or stay indoors on 18 November. Until 2003, they held a separate, low-key commemoration at the Serbian military cemetery on 17 November. Such commemorations have been held on 18 November since then. The RSK-era term "Liberation Day" has been dropped, but Serbs also avoid using the Croatian terminology, instead calling it simply "18 November". The issue of how to remember the Serb dead has posed particular difficulties. Local Serbs who died fighting alongside the JNA were buried by the Croatian Serb authorities on a plot of land where Croatian houses had once stood. The gravestones were originally topped with a sculptural evocation of the V-shaped Serbian military cap, or šajkača. After Vukovar's reintegration into Croatia, the gravestones were repeatedly vandalised. The Serb community replaced them with more neutral gravestones without overt military connotations. Vukovar Serbs report feeling marginalised and excluded from places associated with Croatian nationalist sentiment, such as war monuments. The Croatian sociologist Kruno Kardov gives the example of a prominent memorial, a large cross made from white stone, where the Vuka flows into the Danube. According to Kardov, Serbs rarely if ever go there, and they feel great stress if they do. A Serb boy spoke of how he wanted to know what was written on the monument but was too frightened to go and read the inscription; one day he got up the courage, ran to the monument, read it and immediately ran back to "safety". As Kardov puts it, Vukovar remains divided by an "invisible boundary line ... inscribed only on the cognitive map of the members of one particular group." The battle is widely commemorated in Croatia. Almost every town has streets named after Vukovar. In 2009, the lead vessel of the Croatian Navy's two newly launched Helsinki-class missile boats was named after the town. The Croatian Parliament has declared 18 November to be the "Remembrance Day of the Sacrifice of Vukovar in 1991", when "all those who participated in the defence of the city of Vukovar – the symbol of Croatian freedom – are appropriately honoured with dignity." As a symbol of Croatia's national identity, Vukovar has become a place of pilgrimage for people from across Croatia who seek to evoke feelings of "vicarious insideness", as Kardov describes them, in the suffering endured during the country's war of independence. Some gather in front of the town's main memorial cross on New Year's Eve to pray as the year ends, though such sentiments have attracted criticism from local Croats for not allowing them to "rejoice for even a single night", as one put it. The town has thus become, in Kardov's words, "the embodiment of a pure Croatian identity" and the battle "the foundational myth of the Croatian state". This has led to it becoming as much an "imagined place", a receptacle for Croatian national sentiment and symbolism, as a real place. Kardov concludes that it is questionable whether Vukovar can ever once again be "one place for all its citizens". In November 2010, Boris Tadić became the first President of Serbia to travel to Vukovar, when he visited the massacre site at Ovčara and expressed his "apology and regret". ## Films and books The battle was portrayed in the Serbian films Dezerter ("The Deserter") (1992), Kaži zašto me ostavi ("Why Have You Left Me?") (1993) and Vukovar, jedna priča ("Vukovar: A Story") (1994); in the Croatian films Vukovar se vraća kući ("Vukovar: The Way Home") (1994), Zapamtite Vukovar ("Remember Vukovar") (2008); and in the French film Harrison's Flowers (2000). A 2006 Serbian documentary film about the battle, Vukovar – Final Cut, won the Human Rights Award at the 2006 Sarajevo Film Festival. The battle is also at the centre of Serbian writer Vladimir Arsenijević's 1995 novel U potpalublju ("In the Hold").Also, the Croatian film Sixth Bus (2022) ("Šesti autobus"), which opened the Pula Film Festival 2022 has the Battle for Vukovar as its theme.
2,064,329	Harold Davidson	1,123,719,662	British priest	[ "1875 births", "1937 deaths", "20th-century English Anglican priests", "Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford", "Burials in Norfolk", "Deaths due to lion attacks", "English military chaplains", "Military personnel from Southampton", "People educated at Whitgift School", "People from Sholing", "People from Stiffkey", "Royal Navy chaplains", "Royal Navy personnel of World War I", "World War I chaplains" ]	Harold Francis Davidson (14 July 1875 – 30 July 1937), generally known as the Rector of Stiffkey, was a Church of England priest who in 1932, after a public scandal, was convicted of immorality by a church court and defrocked. Davidson strongly protested his innocence and to raise funds for his reinstatement campaign he exhibited himself in a barrel on the Blackpool seafront. He performed in other sideshows of a similar nature, and died after being attacked by a lion in whose cage he was appearing in a seaside spectacular. Before his ordination in 1903, Davidson had a brief career on the London stage as an entertainer. As a young curate he became actively involved with charitable activity among London's poor, an interest he maintained following his appointment in 1906 as rector of the rural Norfolk parish of Stiffkey. After the First World War, in which he served as a naval chaplain, he devoted himself primarily to his London work. Styling himself the "Prostitutes' Padre", his declared mission was the rescue of young girls he considered in danger of falling into vice. In this role he approached and befriended hundreds of girls and, although there was little direct evidence of improper behaviour, Davidson was frequently found in compromising situations. His neglect of his local duties over many years strained relations with his parishioners in Stiffkey; after a formal complaint, the Bishop of Norwich instituted disciplinary proceedings through a consistory court. Davidson's defence was severely compromised by his eccentric conduct, and was damaged beyond repair when the prosecution produced a photograph of him with a near-naked teenage girl. Davidson's later career as a showman earned him much notoriety but little money. His attempts at legal redress were unsuccessful, despite recognition even in church circles that he had not been fairly treated by the consistory court. After his death the case continued to attract public interest for decades, through fictional, stage and screen versions of the story. His descendants have continued to assert his innocence of any wrongdoing, and later commentators have generally accepted that however unwise and inappropriate his behaviour, his basic motives were genuine and he did not deserve the humiliations he endured. ## Family background and childhood Harold Davidson was born on 14 July 1875 in Sholing, near the south coast port of Southampton, to the Reverend Francis Davidson and his wife Alice. Francis Davidson was the vicar of St Mary's, Sholing, a post he had held since 1866; as many as 27 members of the Davidson family were or had been Anglican clergy. Alice Davidson, née Hodgskin, was a great-niece of the educator and Rugby School headmaster Thomas Arnold. Sholing was a poor parish, with a mixed population of dock labourers and itinerant workers, many of whom had little interest in churchgoing. Francis Davidson, described by Harold Davidson's earliest biographer, Tom Cullen, as "a tiny man ... with a luxuriant beard that gave him the appearance of a gnome", served the parish for 48 years. Although he could be pugnacious when necessary, according to a former parishioner he was a true pastor, willing to offer help whatever the circumstances. Davidson's family assumed that he would follow his father in becoming a priest and he was brought up strictly. When he was six he began attending Banister Court School in Southampton, an establishment founded initially for the sons of Merchant Navy officers. In 1890 Harold was sent to live with two maiden aunts in Croydon while he attended the Whitgift School. Here he became an enthusiastic amateur actor, encouraged by his friendship with a fellow-pupil, Leon Quartermaine, who later won recognition on the stage and in films. In February 1894 the pair appeared together in a school production of the farce Sent to the Tower. Under his aunts' influence, Davidson became a part-time worker at Toynbee Hall, an East End charity founded by Samuel and Henrietta Barnett which attracted many volunteers from schools and universities. Because of these distractions he neglected his school work and failed to win a scholarship that would enable him to attend Oxford University and study for holy orders. In the face of his father's disapproval, he decided to pursue a career as a stage comedian. ## Theatre, Oxford and ordination Davidson's principal theatrical genre was that of the "drawing-room entertainer"; Cullen describes this kind of performance as "An answer to the demand of a rising middle class which was neither cultured nor resourceful, but which wanted desperately to be diverted". Within a few months of leaving Whitgift in 1894, Davidson appeared on the London stage, at Steinway Hall in Lower Seymour Street, performing a comic routine. He was reasonably successful and in the next few years found provincial engagements with Masonic lodges, literary societies and similar social organisations. Cullen suggests that his greatest triumph was as a comic actor in a touring production of Brandon Thomas's popular farce Charley's Aunt. Davidson played the part of Lord Fancourt Babberley, who masquerades as the rich aunt of a fellow-Oxford undergraduate—a frenetic role for which Cullen believes Davidson was eminently suitable. During his theatrical days, Davidson maintained high standards of personal morality, observed strict teetotalism and gave regular Bible readings to the elderly in the towns in which he performed on tour. He later gave an account of an incident from November 1894 when he was performing in London. While walking along the Thames Embankment in a thick fog, he said, he encountered a 16-year-old girl who was about to throw herself into the Thames. After preventing her suicide attempt, Davidson learned that she had run away from home near Cambridge, was penniless and without shelter. He paid her fare home: "Her pitiful story made a tremendous impression on me ... I have ever since ... kept my eyes open for opportunities to help that kind of girl." In 1898 Davidson finally bowed to his father's wish that he should study for holy orders, after the intervention of the Reverend Basil Wilberforce, grandson of the abolitionist William Wilberforce and a friend of the Davidson family. Wilberforce was an alumnus of Exeter College, Oxford, and used his influence to secure Davidson a place there despite the latter's lack of qualifications. At Oxford, Davidson's behaviour was notably eccentric; he displayed considerable energy but disregarded rules, was persistently unpunctual and regularly failed his examinations. He continued to appear on the stage when he could, and decorated the walls of his rooms with autographed pictures of actresses. By 1901 his academic inadequacies were such that he was required to leave Exeter College, although he was allowed to continue studying for his degree at Grindle's Hall, a cramming establishment. He finally passed his examinations in 1903, at the age of 28, and that year was ordained by the Bishop of Oxford—after some reluctance on the part of the bishop to accept so unpromising a candidate. In 1901, when Annie Horniman's travelling theatrical company visited Oxford, Davidson fell in love with one of the company's leading actresses, Moyra ("Molly") Cassandra Saurin, an attractive blonde and blue-eyed woman from County Meath in Ireland. The couple were quickly engaged, but the relationship was stormy and was several times broken off. There was no question of marriage until Davidson was fully established in his new profession. His first church appointment was a curacy at Holy Trinity Church, Windsor, Berkshire, with an additional role as assistant chaplain to the Household Cavalry at Combermere Barracks. In 1905 he was transferred to London as curate at St Martin-in-the-Fields, where his enthusiasm and industry drew approving comments. ## Rector of Stiffkey ### Early years Davidson's appointment in 1906 as rector of the Norfolk parish of Stiffkey with Morston came through the patronage of the 6th Marquess Townshend, whose family had a long history of public and political service in the county. The appointment was probably given in recognition of Davidson's role in reconciling the fierce opposition of the Townshend family to the marquess's proposed marriage to Gwladys Sutherst, the daughter of a bankrupt Yorkshire businessman; as curate of St Martin's, Davidson had officiated at the wedding on 8 August 1905. The Stiffkey living was highly desirable, with 60 acres (24 ha) of glebe land, a large Georgian rectory, and an income in 1906 of £503 per annum, rising during Davidson's incumbency to £800. Stiffkey, close to the northern Norfolk coast, lies on both sides of the River Stiffkey, with extensive salt marshes on its seaward side. At the time of Davidson's arrival in 1906 the village, with a population of around 350, was generally impoverished although, according to Davidson's 2007 biographer Jonathan Tucker, it was well supplied with shops and public houses. Davidson was quickly on good terms with most of the villagers, who referred to him with affection as "Little Jimmy"—he was only 5 feet 3 inches (1.60 metres) tall. He was less well-regarded by the local gentry, including the main landowner, Colonel Groom, who fell out with Davidson after the priest rebuked him for keeping a mistress. On 9 October 1906, now settled into a prosperous living, Davidson married Molly Saurin. The Stiffkey rectory became a family home, as children were born at regular intervals. Notwithstanding his parochial and domestic responsibilities, Davidson quickly adopted the habit of spending much of the week in London, engaged in various kinds of social work. Through his friendship with Reginald Kennedy-Cox, whom he had met at Oxford, Davidson became involved with the Malvern Mission, forerunner of the Dockland Settlements, of which he later became a trustee. He also became chaplain to the Actors' Church Union, based at St Paul's, Covent Garden, and was frequently to be found backstage in London's theatres, ministering to the needs of showgirls—sometimes with an unwelcomed degree of persistence. Between 1910 and 1913 he expanded this work to Paris, to which he made regular visits, sometimes acting as a chaperone for dancers recruited by the Folies Bergère. Many out-of-work and would-be actresses were invited to stay at the Stiffkey rectory, sometimes as many as 20 at a time, to the consternation of Molly Davidson and of some of the local establishment who feared for the morals of local farmhands. Among those most disapproving of Davidson's conduct was Major Philip Hamond, a churchwarden at Morston, who later became Davidson's principal adversary. ### First World War Davidson was 39 years old at the outbreak of war in 1914. In October 1915, possibly to escape the increasingly turbulent atmosphere in the Stiffkey rectory, he joined the Royal Navy as a chaplain. He began his service on HMS Gibraltar, a depot ship based in the Shetland Islands, where he irritated his shipmates by calling church parades every time another ship visited the anchorage; he had the full approval of the base commander, Vice Admiral Sir Reginald Tupper, who was known as "Holy Reggie". Davidson's service report from Gibraltar's captain records that "he performs his duties in a perfunctory manner. Not on good terms with messmates, disregards mess rules and regulations". In October 1916 Davidson joined HMS Fox in the Middle East, and shortly afterwards was arrested by the naval police during a raid on a Cairo brothel. He explained that he was looking for a diseased prostitute who had been infecting his men. Again his commanding officer's reports were negative; however, Davidson remained with the Fox until August 1918 when he was posted to HMS Leviathan in the northern Atlantic. Here, his commander was slightly more complimentary; he found Davidson "a clever writer and entertainer [who] pays attention to duty". Davidson left the Navy in March 1919. ### "Prostitutes' Padre" When Davidson returned home he found that Molly was six months pregnant. The dates of his service leave during 1918 made it apparent that he was not the father. A daughter was born on 21 June 1919; the likely father was a Canadian army colonel, Ernest Doudemain, a friend from Davidson's schooldays who had lodged at the rectory in the latter part of 1918. Although deeply upset by his wife's infidelity, Davidson accepted the child—who bore some resemblance to him—as his own. To escape the poisoned atmosphere in Stiffkey he applied for a year's posting as chaplain to a hill station at Simla in India, but the opportunity fell through. Instead, Davidson resumed his pre-war routine of spending his weeks in London, departing early on Monday morning and returning late on Saturday. Sometimes, through a missed rail connection or other mishap, he was barely in time for the Sunday morning service at Stiffkey, and sometimes he would fail to arrive at all. Davidson, perhaps on the basis of his youthful Thames-side rescue, had convinced himself that nearly all young girls alone in London were in need of rescue from a life of vice. Typical of these was Rose Ellis, whom he met in Leicester Square in September 1920. Twenty years old and living precariously from part-time prostitution, she was homeless and had no money. Davidson gave her cash for a room, and arranged to meet her the following week. Thus began a friendship that endured for more than a decade. Davidson brought her to the rectory, where she worked for a time in the gardens. He also tried to get her a job with a touring theatre company, took her to Paris to find employment as an au pair, kept her supplied with small sums of money, and paid her medical bills when she was suffering from venereal disease. According to his own estimate, Davidson approached around 150 to 200 girls a year over a period of 12 years (he later modified these figures to an overall total of between 500 and 1000). His activities usually centred on the innumerable Lyons, ABC and Express Dairies teashops and their staffs of waitresses. Davidson was mesmerised, says Blythe, by "the ineffable harmonies created by starched linen crackling over young breasts and black-stockinged calves in chubby conference just below the hem of the parlourmaid's frock". Many rejected his advances; a number of teashops considered him a pest and barred him. Landladies took exception to his habit of visiting their female tenants at all hours of the night. Commentators have found little evidence that he behaved indecently, or molested the girls; he bought them tea, found them rooms, listened to their problems and sometimes found them work on the stage or in domestic service. He styled himself the "Prostitutes' Padre", and asserted to his bishop that this was "the proudest title that a true priest of Christ can hold". ### Financial problems To meet the costs of his lifestyle, Davidson needed more money than his Stiffkey living could provide. He sought to improve his financial position when, in about 1920, he met Arthur John Gordon, supposedly a wealthy American company promoter but in reality an undischarged bankrupt and confidence trickster. Gordon not only persuaded Davidson to invest his savings in a range of dubious schemes, but also got him to solicit funds from other investors. Davidson borrowed heavily to increase his investment and by 1925 was in serious financial difficulties. In February that year he failed to pay his local rates and was threatened with imprisonment. He avoided this by borrowing from moneylenders at exorbitant interest rates, but in October was forced to file a petition of bankruptcy with debts totalling £2,924. Eventually a settlement was reached, whereby around half of his Stiffkey stipend was applied to the reduction of his debts. Somehow, however, Davidson managed to continue his London life. He never stopped believing in Gordon's essential honesty, and was certain that one day his investments would pay off. Much of his time in London was spent, not in pursuit of girls, but looking for Gordon. ## Downfall and deposition ### Complaints and investigations Although many of Davidson's parishioners accepted that his London rescue mission was entirely honourable, some, including Major Hamond, were less convinced. Hamond was suspicious of the stream of visitors that Davidson brought to the Stiffkey rectory and thought he was neglecting his parochial duties. In 1927 relations between the two men worsened when Davidson, in a letter which Tucker describes as "breathless in its rudeness and insensitivity", upbraided the major for clearing the ground in the Morston churchyard alongside his recently deceased wife's grave: "Morston Churchyard is the private freehold property of the Rector of Morston ... you have no possible right to interfere with it in any way without my permission any more than I have the right to come and annex a part of your garden." On one occasion, Davidson arrived late at Morston to officiate at a communion service, having forgotten the bread and wine; enraged, Hamond ordered him back to the rectory to collect it. An even greater lapse, in Hamond's eyes, was Davidson's failure to return to Stiffkey in time to officiate at the 1930 Armistice Day ceremony at the local war memorial. Early in 1931, advised by a cousin who was a priest, Hamond made a formal complaint against Davidson to the Bishop of Norwich, the Right Reverend Bertram Pollock, citing the rector's supposed behaviour with women in London. Under the provisions of the Clergy Discipline Act of 1892, members of the clergy could be prosecuted in a consistory court for "immoral acts" and, if convicted, face punishments ranging from temporary suspension to full deposition—"defrocking"—from holy orders. Pollock was initially reluctant to prosecute Davidson, but was advised by his legal counsel Henry Dashwood that the case should proceed. In search of evidence, Dashwood hired a private enquiry agent, who soon found Rose Ellis and persuaded her to sign a statement detailing her ten-year association with Davidson. The statement—which was immediately retracted by Ellis and never presented in court—contained little indication of any intimate relationship other than that she had once lanced a boil on Davidson's bottom. Enquiries continued for many months. The bishop was initially reluctant to pursue the case—Davidson thought he might be prepared to replace the charges with a lesser one of indiscipline. In February 1932 Dashwood advised Pollock that the matter could not be suppressed in this way; allegations had been printed in the Evening News on 1 February, and the story had been picked up by other papers whose lurid headlines had created much public interest. On 7 February the bishop received a letter from a 17-year-old girl, Barbara Harris, which contained specific allegations of immoral conduct against Davidson and promised more: "I know lots of things against him that might help you ... He has the keys of a lot of girls' flats and front doors." This letter is described by Matthew Parris in his account of the case as "a masterpiece of vituperation"; Davidson's lawyers failed to identify some obvious differences between the handwriting in the letter and other examples of Harris's writing, a factor which might have affected the impact of her subsequent testimony to the court. ### Consistory court hearing A consistory court was convened for 29 March 1932, under the presidency of the Norwich diocesan chancellor, F. Keppel North. Davidson was accused of associating with "women of loose character", and "accosting, molesting, and importuning young females for immoral purposes". The prosecution's case was in the hands of a high-profile legal team, headed by Roland Oliver KC and including the future cabinet minister Walter Monckton. Davidson, meanwhile, engaged experienced lawyers to defend him, funding this partly through the sale of newspaper stories. Because of the level of press interest, and the number of London-based witnesses involved, the court sat in Church House, Westminster, rather than in Norwich. After Oliver provided a summary account of Davidson's life in London, Barbara Harris gave evidence. Cullen likens her evidence to "a whip of scorpions" that Davidson took full in the face. Davidson had first met Harris in September 1930, when she was 16. He had used a favoured ploy—affecting to confuse her with a well-known film actress—to persuade her to take a meal with him. He then began regular visits to her lodgings, gave her small sums of money and promised to find her work. From time to time he shared rooms with her: "At first he kept to the chair", Harris wrote, "but after the first few nights he did not". In her evidence to the court she said she had not had intercourse with Davidson, though he had attempted this on several occasions; when she had repulsed his advances, she claimed that he had "relieved himself". Other aspects of the odd relationship were revealed during Harris' lengthy examination and cross-examination: her visit to the Stiffkey rectory where she had been made to work as an unpaid kitchenmaid and given only a chair to sleep in; Davidson's repeated promises to divorce his wife and marry Harris; an incident when she and another girl, the latter in a nightgown, had danced in front of Davidson, supposedly so that he could judge their dancing abilities. The picture that Harris' letter and evidence presented, if true, Tucker says, was that of "a man who is out of control ... running around London entertaining teenage girls ... adopting the guise of a kindly priest to ingratiate himself". Harris was followed into the witness-box by a succession of landladies, waitresses and other women, all of whom confirmed Davidson's habitual pestering without making any serious accusation of misconduct. When Davidson himself took to the stand, on 25 May, his light-hearted, even flippant, manner created, says Tucker, "the flavour of a comedy routine with the rector's counsel as straight man". Davidson's disastrous finances were aired—he took great offence when his association with Gordon was presented as a "partnership in crime". He caused disbelief and amusement in the court when, questioned about the boil-lancing incident with Rose Ellis, he professed not to know what a "buttock" was, claiming: "It is a phrase I have honestly never heard. So far as I remember it is a little below the waist." At this stage, only Harris's largely uncorroborated testimony had provided specific allegations of immorality; the rest of the evidence was inconclusive and it seemed that the prosecution might fail. Davidson's cause was severely damaged, however, when Oliver produced a photograph of him, taken on 28 March 1932, with a nearly naked girl. She was Estelle Douglas, the 15-year-old daughter of one of Davidson's oldest friends. Davidson explained that the picture had been intended as a publicity shot to help the girl find work as an actress. He protested that he had been set up, and did not know she was naked under her shawl; he thought she was wearing a bathing suit, as she had been in an earlier photograph. On 6 June, after closing speeches from both sides, the court adjourned until 8 July to allow the chancellor, who alone would determine the outcome, to consider the evidence. ### Verdict, sentence, defrocking During the court proceedings Davidson continued to officiate at Stiffkey and Morston, although his erratic attendance meant that substitutes often had to be arranged. On 12 June 1932 the Reverend Richard Cattell arrived to officiate at the evening service in Stiffkey. He had just begun when Davidson entered the church and attempted to seize the Bible. The two priests wrestled with the book for some seconds before Cattell yielded, telling the congregation: "As nothing short of force will prevent Mr Davidson from taking part, I can see nothing left to do but to withdraw." The crowds of reporters and sightseers at weekends led the Archdeacon of Lynn to issue a statement deploring the "media circus" and asking that "the full spirit of worship" be restored to Sunday services. On 8 July 1932 Keppel North announced his verdict; Davidson was guilty on five counts of immorality. The sentence would be determined by the bishop; in the meantime, Davidson was entitled to seek leave to appeal to the Privy Council. Sorely in need of funds to meet his continuing legal expenses, Davidson reverted to his early career as a stage entertainer. On 18 July he made his debut with a variety act at the Prince's Cinema in Wimbledon and later toured in the provinces until, possibly dissuaded by pressure from church authorities, theatres declined to book him. He then continued his public performances by appearing in a barrel on the Blackpool sea front, or "Golden Mile", where thousands paid to observe him through a small window. Not everyone was impressed; one customer, recalling the event years later, said: "He was very tatty and the place stank." He shared his seafront billing with, among other attractions, "Mariana the Gorilla Girl", the "Bearded Lady from Russia" and Dick Harrow, "the world's fattest man". To the consternation of Hamond and some other parishioners, the bishop delayed issuing an instruction forbidding Davidson to preach. When Hamond locked Morston church against him, the rector preached to a large congregation on the grass outside the church. In August, Davidson's licence to minister as a priest was revoked; his last service was morning worship at Stiffkey on 21 August 1932, when around 1,000 people congregated outside the church. That afternoon he demanded the Morston church keys from Hamond, who sent him away by turning him round and administering a substantial kick. Hamond was later fined for this assault. In July and again in October, Davidson was refused leave to appeal to the Privy Council on grounds of either fact or law. The consistory court reconvened for sentencing in Norwich Cathedral on 21 October. Davidson was allowed briefly to address the court; he admitted that his behaviour had been indiscreet, but regretted none of his actions and proclaimed his innocence "of any of the graver charges that have been made against me". Then, in what Blythe describes as a "horrible little ceremony", Bishop Pollock delivered the most severe sentence available—that of deposition: "Now therefore we, Bertram ... do thereby pronounce decree and declare that the said Reverend Harold Francis Davidson being a priest and deacon ought to be entirely removed, deposed and degraded from the said offices." Davidson was thus defrocked. As the ceremony ended he made a furious impromptu speech, denouncing the sentence and declaring his intention to appeal to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Gordon Lang. ## Campaigning for reinstatement ### Blackpool showman The consistory court had awarded the prosecution's costs against Davidson, who now faced enormous legal bills and had no regular source of income. His only recourse was to return to Blackpool and resume his career as a showman; this became his milieu for the next four years, interrupted by occasional prosecutions for obstruction and a nine-day spell in prison in 1933, for non-payment of rent owing to one of his former London landladies. He informed the press: "While I am in the barrel I shall be occupied in preparing my case". Although the barrel act remained his staple performance, he introduced variations over the years: freezing in a refrigerated chamber, or being roasted in a glass-fronted oven while a mechanised devil prodded him with a pitchfork. In August 1935 the freezing routine led to Davidson's arrest and prosecution for attempted suicide; he won the case and was awarded £382 damages for false imprisonment. How much money Davidson made from his various acts is uncertain; Tucker believes that the main financial beneficiary was his agent, Luke Gannon. Molly Davidson had managed to acquire a small house in South Harrow, where Davidson spent his winters. Off-season he worked sporadically, at one time as a door-to-door book salesman and on other as a porter at St Pancras railway station. He could not avoid press attention; in November 1936 he was arrested and fined for pestering two 16-year-old girls at Victoria station—he had approached them offering auditions for a leading role in a West End show. That same month he interrupted a Church Assembly at Central Hall, Westminster, at which the Archbishop of Canterbury was present. Davidson was prevented from addressing the meeting, at which he dropped numerous copies of a mimeographed pamphlet titled "I Accuse", in which he listed his grievances and castigated the Church's hierarchy. ### Death in Skegness By 1937 interest in Davidson's Blackpool sideshows was waning and, for that summer, he accepted an invitation to join the self-styled "Captain" Fred Rye's animal-themed show in the east coast resort of Skegness. He considered this a step upwards from what he termed "the blatant vulgarities of Blackpool". Davidson's act consisted of a 10-minute address delivered outside a cage containing two lions, after which he would enter the cage and spend a few minutes with the lions. This required courage on Davidson's part, because he was fearful of animals. A 16-year-old tamer, Irene Somner, supervised proceedings. The act was billed as "Daniel in a modern lion's den", and attracted large audiences, including a significant number of clergy. On 28 July 1937, at the evening performance, Davidson gave his usual speech before entering the cage in which two lions, Freddie and Toto, were sitting quietly. Then, according to Blythe: "in scarcely credible terms, the little clergyman from Norfolk and the lion acted out the classical Christian martyrdom to the full". Eyewitnesses later reported that after Davidson had cracked his whip and shouted, Freddie became agitated and knocked Davidson over, before seizing him by the neck and running with him around the cage. Somner struggled to pacify the snarling Freddie, who eventually dropped the unconscious Davidson, enabling her to drag him to safety; he was badly gashed, and had suffered a broken bone in his neck. An uncorroborated story circulated that while waiting for the ambulance, Davidson asked that the London newspapers be alerted in time for next day's first editions. According to some press reports he sat up in hospital and asked visitors for their impressions of his ordeal in the cage. Most historians of the affair, however, believe that Davidson never recovered consciousness. He died on 30 July, his death possibly hastened by an insulin injection administered by a doctor who believed that Davidson was a diabetic. The coroner's verdict was death by misadventure. Friends and well-wishers covered the expenses of the funeral, which took place on 3 August in Stiffkey churchyard. A large crowd—around 3,000 according to Tucker—was in attendance including, from Davidson's distant past, the Marchioness Townshend. Onlookers unable to get into the churchyard found vantage points on nearby walls, roofs and in trees. When the headstone was put in place it contained a line from Robert Louis Stevenson: "For on faith in man and genuine love of man all searching after truth must be founded." ## Aftermath and appraisal In Skegness, Rye saw Davidson's death as a business opportunity; crowds flocked to see "The Actual Lion that Mauled and Caused the Death of the Ex-Rector of Stiffkey". By contrast, Molly Davidson's financial situation was desperate. When her family applied to the church authorities for help, Archbishop Lang acted on her behalf behind the scenes and eventually she received grants from two church charities. She died in a Dulwich nursing home in 1955. Of the other major participants in the legal case, Pollock remained as Bishop of Norwich until his resignation in 1942, a year before his death. Davidson's girls—Rose Ellis, Barbara Harris, Estelle Douglas and the rest—disappeared from public view after the 1932 trial, although a 1934 letter from Davidson indicates that Harris was then working at the London store Selfridges, under the name "Babs Simpson". When announcing a 2010 book about the war artist Leslie Cole, The Fleece Press revealed that Harris had married Cole after changing her name and had thereafter successfully concealed her true identity from all enquirers. Even her husband may not have known of her past. After Davidson's death and burial, press attention withered as newspapers concentrated on more significant events in the years before the Second World War. In the decades after the war interest in the affair was periodically revived. In 1963 Blythe, deemed by Parris to be the affair's "best historian", published his account. Later in the 1960s, two stage musical versions were produced: The Stiffkey Scandals of 1932, which appeared in Edinburgh in 1967 and London in 1968, and God Made the Little Red Apple, staged in Manchester in 1969. Neither of these productions was commercially successful; when the former was adapted for television, The Daily Telegraph's critic questioned the artistic justification for a musical about "so sad and peculiar a person". In the 1970s Davidson's case was the subject of a radio documentary, A Proper Little Gent, and in 1994 an episode of BBC Television's Matter of Fact series examined the affair. Cullen's full-length biography of Davidson in 1975 posits a theory that multiple personalities led him to behave in different ways in differing circumstances. Robert Brown, in a biographical sketch for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, suggests that what really motivated Davidson will never be known. In 2001 Ken Russell made a short film inspired by his life The Lion's Mouth. In 2007 John Walsh published a fictionalised account of Davidson's life, Sunday at the Cross Bones (Fourth Estate), in which, according to a review in The Guardian, Davidson is depicted as "well-meaning but ineffectual, bewildered by the world's wickedness and his own barely acknowledged desires". The question of Davidson's treatment by the consistory court was first raised by the Church Times immediately after the trial. A leading article argued that, although Davidson's conduct had been "foolish and eccentric", his intentions at least at the start of his ministry had been guided by idealism. Chancellor North was criticised both for lacking compassion and for the general conduct of the proceedings: "No experienced criminal solicitor could conceivably have blundered so badly and consistently." In 2006 Davidson's granddaughter, Karylin Collier, privately published a brief biography, The Rector of Stiffkey: His Life and Trial, in which she maintains the innocence of all the charges against him. Tucker argues that "Harold Davidson probably deserved to be quietly defrocked for his shortcomings as a priest", but nevertheless believes that he was not an immoral man. He also highlights the incompetent presentation of Davidson's case by his legal team, particularly their failure to question the provenance of the Barbara Harris letter. Tucker concludes that since the proceedings were flawed and the evidence of immorality flimsy, the Church of England owes it to the Davidson family to re-examine the original findings. The writer-historian A. N. Wilson summarises Davidson as a "Tragic buffoon cum Christian Martyr". In his history of Britain in the inter-war years, A. J. P. Taylor writes that "Davidson offered a parable of the age. He attracted more attention than, say, Cosmo Gordon Lang, archbishop of Canterbury. Which man deserves a greater place in the history books?"
21,394,000	Bale Out	1,156,686,624	2009 song by Lucian Piane	[ "2009 YouTube videos", "2009 songs", "American dance songs", "Barbra Streisand songs", "Cultural depictions of Barbra Streisand", "Cultural depictions of actors", "Internet memes introduced in 2009", "Mashup songs", "Musical parodies", "Sound collages", "Viral videos" ]	"Bale Out: RevoLucian's Christian Bale Remix!" is a satirical dance remix by American composer Lucian Piane, also known as RevoLucian, released on February 2, 2009, to YouTube and Myspace. The piece parodies Christian Bale by utilizing audio from a July 2008 rant made by the actor on the set of Terminator Salvation. Various other elements are used in the remix, including pulsating dance track beats and clips of Barbra Streisand from a 2006 exchange with a supporter of then-President George W. Bush, creating the impression of Streisand arguing with Bale. The day after its release, the YouTube page for the song had been viewed over 200,000 times, and over a million times by February 5, 2009. The Associated Press called it a "hypnotic dance track", and United Press International noted it was "catchy", characterizing it as a "YouTube sensation". Gil Kaufman of MTV.com described the piece as "a techno-ripping, demonic dance party". Time magazine's website called the track "hilarious", and Nine News characterized it as a "raging online success". The director of Terminator Salvation McG liked the remix and put a copy of it on his iPod, and Bale said he had heard the remix and thought "they did a good job". ## Background In July 2008, Christian Bale was filming an intense scene in New Mexico for the film Terminator Salvation with actress Bryce Dallas Howard. The film's director of photography, Shane Hurlbut, walked into Bale's eyeline, and the actor proceeded to humiliate Hurlbut by lecturing him. Bale said he would leave the film if Hurlbut repeated the error and was not subsequently fired. Hurlbut responded calmly and apologized several times to Bale, and continued shooting for seven hours after the incident. The website TMZ.com reported the occurrence soon after it happened, and posted an audio recording on February 2, 2009. The event did not become widely publicized until after TMZ.com had posted the audio of Bale's outburst. TMZ.com reported that film executives for Terminator Salvation sent a copy of the audio recording to the film's insurance company, in case Bale refused to continue filming. Four days after the audio recording was posted to the Internet, Bale appeared as a guest on Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM, where he discussed the controversy. He said he "acted like a punk", and that he and Hurlbut talked after the argument and "resolved this completely". Bale acknowledged the two worked together for several hours after the episode, and "at least a month after that", and noted, "I've seen a rough cut of the movie and he has done a wonderful job. It looks fantastic." ## Composition Prior to the release of "Bale Out", Lucian Piane was known for a variety of satirical remixes, including tracks featuring Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, political commentator Bill O'Reilly during an on-camera outburst in the 1980s, and Andrew Meyer, who received national media attention when he was tasered by police during a speech given by U.S. Senator John Kerry at the University of Florida. The Associated Press reported that Piane was "drawn to the musicality of Bale's rage-filled voice". Piane spent three hours working on the remix. "When I heard Christian Bale flip out I had to remix the track. ... It's good to hear that clubs have already started playing it as it is very funny", said Piane. In an interview with LA Weekly, Piane commented that he wants his remix remembered, instead of Bale's outburst: "We're all people in this world. So I figured, [instead of] remembering that one time Christian Bale went crazy on set, maybe people will remember the remix." The "Bale Out" mashup incorporates audio clips of Bale lashing out, and Hurlbut responding "I was looking at the lights." The chorus includes a clip of Bale saying "it's fucking distracting", and "What don't you fuckin' understand?" The sound collage includes clips of Barbra Streisand from a 2006 exchange with a supporter of former-President George W. Bush, making it sound as though Streisand is arguing with Bale. Piane told the Associated Press: "I don't know if Christian Bale is enjoying it, but I hope he does. I think I've taken something that maybe made him look really bad and turned it into something that all these people are enjoying." ## Release Piane uploaded the piece to MySpace and YouTube on February 2, 2009, hours after the original clip of Bale appeared on the internet. Piane made an MP3 file of "Bale Out" available as a free download from his MySpace page. "Bale Out" had been viewed over 200,000 times one day after it was uploaded to YouTube, and within two days it had received 700,000 hits. Three days after its posting, "Bale Out" had been viewed over one million times on YouTube, and over 1.5 million times after one week. In a report on the remix for The Situation Room on CNN, correspondent Brooke Anderson noted "by the looks of this musical parody already posted on YouTube, this infamous rant will be talked about – for a long time to come." Anderson Cooper of Anderson Cooper 360° described the RevoLucian remix as "the ballistic Bale boogie". A piece in Vue Weekly posed the question "what does it all mean in the end when a remixed diatribe by a Hollywood star will get way more hits in a day than any film-criticism site in a year?" ## Reception LA Weekly reported that McG, the director of Terminator Salvation, had a copy of "Bale Out" on his iPod. "And I have to admit, that dance remix [on YouTube] is pretty hot", said McG in an interview with Fast Company. In an interview with E!: Entertainment Television to discuss Terminator: Salvation, Christian Bale said he had heard the remix and commented: "It was a good remix; they did a good job." Bale said he had received a remix of his outburst from a friend: "They did a bloody good job! I've gotta say, what a great impulse, you know? To take something ugly like that and make it into a dance? That's a wonderful thing." The Associated Press described the piece as a "hypnotic dance track", "beat-driven", and a "pulsating tune". The AP noted "Bale has become an unwitting music sensation because of the incident." A Los Angeles Times blog described "Bale Out" as "a genius piece of mixing by L.A.'s very own RevoLucian", and called the piece a "brilliant" club remix. MTV.com called it "a techno-ripping, demonic dance party in which Bale's berating is repeated ad nauseam under pictures of the actor and random f-bomb interjections from Barbra Streisand". United Press International characterized the remix as a "YouTube sensation", calling it "catchy". LA Weekly described the remix as "a mash-up of Bale's best quotes set to a synth-heavy beat", and noted "'Bale Out' turned 'What don't you fuckin' understand?' into one of the year's most addictive choruses and spun a little art out of the debacle." The Irish Independent called the piece a "painstakingly constructed dance track", and described the chorus as "oddly catchy". The Globe and Mail commented that the remix has "an imperilling beat, a genius comedic flair and more sheer scariness than American Psycho and Terminator combined". The Wall Street Journal wrote that Piane combined Bale's language with "a driving house music track". Time magazine's website described the piece as "a hilarious YouTube musical remix". Nine News called RevoLucian's piece a "cheeky remix" and a "raging online success". The Daily Telegraph in London highlighted the RevoLucian piece among the "Best of the mash-ups and spoofs" of the Bale outburst, noting he arranged the audio clips from Bale into a "potential dancefloor success". Dose magazine commented "We've been throwing light-switch raves to the RevoLucian mix all week", and BlackBook magazine described it as "a brilliant club mix of Bale's meltdown that's bound to scream in your head all day". The A.V. Club called the piece "a Hater-worthy techno remix", and The Celebrity Cafe commented "Revolucian's remix must have had techno artists everywhere sweating to come up with something half as good, and likely inspired a few outlandish requests by club goers." North Carolina State University doctoral student Matt Morain commented on the remixes spawned by Bale's rant, in an April 2009 paper on Internet memes. Morain noted that remixes of Bale's rant received more hits than the rant itself, "What is more surprising than the nearly two million views is that a number of remixes appeared, in response to the clip, which have substantially higher view-counts than the original. In this process of remixing we can clearly see the elements of fantasy theme and rhetorical transmission." Perez Hilton commented, "Once again, Lucian Piane has outdone himself! You must listen to this." Hilton posted a video to his blog of himself dancing to Piane's remix. On November 17, 2009, Piane's remix received a nomination for "Best Remix of the Year" by the website Urlesque. The website's staff noted the Piane remix "spread like wildfire", and became an Internet phenomenon. Piane's remix was one of five nominations; it lost to the "Slap Chop Rap" parodying Vince Offer. "Bale Out" was a finalist in the category of "Latest Favorite Viral Video", in the "2009 Best of Clicker Awards"; the winner was "David After Dentist". "Bale Out" was nominated for a Webby Award in 2010, in the category of "Best Video Remixes/Mashups". The 2010 winner in the category for the Webby was "Auto-Tune the News". ## Awards and nominations ## See also - List of Internet phenomena - List of YouTube celebrities - "Ocean's Three and a Half" - Parody music - "R U Professional"
2,461,964	Casino Royale (novel)	1,170,895,655	1953 novel by Ian Fleming, the first James Bond book	[ "1953 British novels", "1953 debut novels", "Action novels", "Baccarat", "British novels adapted into films", "British novels adapted into television shows", "Casino Royale (novel)", "Fiction about suicide", "James Bond books", "Jonathan Cape books", "Novels by Ian Fleming", "Novels set in France", "Novels set in casinos" ]	Casino Royale is the first novel by the British author Ian Fleming. Published in 1953, it is the first James Bond book, and it paved the way for a further eleven novels and two short story collections by Fleming, followed by numerous continuation Bond novels by other authors. The story concerns the British secret agent James Bond, gambling at the casino in Royale-les-Eaux to try and bankrupt Le Chiffre, the treasurer of a French union and a member of the Russian secret service. Bond is supported in his endeavours by Vesper Lynd, a member of his own service, as well as Felix Leiter of the CIA and René Mathis of the French Deuxième Bureau. Fleming used his wartime experiences as a member of the Naval Intelligence Division, and the people he met during his work, to provide plot elements; the character of Bond also reflected many of Fleming's personal tastes. Fleming wrote the draft in early 1952 at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica while awaiting his marriage. He was initially unsure whether the work was suitable for publication, but was assured by his friend, the novelist William Plomer, that the novel had promise. Within the spy storyline, Casino Royale deals with themes of Britain's position in the world, particularly the relationship with the US in light of the defections to the Soviet Union of the British agents Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean. The book was given broadly positive reviews by critics at the time and sold out in less than a month after its UK release on 13 April 1953, although US sales upon release a year later were much slower. Since publication Casino Royale has appeared as a comic strip in The Daily Express, and been adapted for the screen three times: a 1954 episode of the CBS television series Climax! with Barry Nelson as an American Bond, a 1967 film version with David Niven playing "Sir James Bond", and a 2006 film in the Eon Productions film series starring Daniel Craig as James Bond. ## Plot Le Chiffre, the paymaster for a French Communist Party trade union in Alsace, loses 50 million francs in Soviet subsidies by investing in a chain of brothels three months before the French Fourth Republic ratifies the Loi Marthe Richard. He desperately absconds to the Royale-les-Eaux casino in Somme with the remaining 25 million francs in union funds in a last-ditch attempt to recoup his losses by winning a high-stakes baccarat game before his handlers realize anything is amiss. Unbeknownst to him SMERSH has already discovered his perfidy and sent an agent from the Polish People's Republic to assassinate him, while his mistress passes word of his financial troubles to the Head of Station S (Soviet Union) at the British Secret Service. As NATO has determined the union could serve as a fifth column in a war with the Eastern Bloc, the agency's director M approves S's proposal to send a 00 Agent to play against Le Chiffre and bankrupt both him and the union. M chooses the agent James Bond, 007, for the mission because of Bond's expertise in gambling. As part of Bond's cover as a wealthy Jamaican planter, M also assigns as his companion Vesper Lynd, personal assistant to the Head of Section S. Although Bond and Vesper attempt to maintain a dispassionate working relationship, they nevertheless grow closer. The CIA and the French Deuxième Bureau also send agents Felix Leiter and Rene Mathis as observers. Mathis quickly warns Bond that his cover has somehow been blown and that he is under surveillance from the couple staying in the hotel room above him. That night he narrowly survives a bombing by two of Le Chiffre's Bulgarian henchmen, who are themselves killed after being falsely assured that one of the explosives was merely a smokescreen to help them escape. The game soon turns into an intense confrontation between Le Chiffre and Bond; Le Chiffre buys the bank, and Bond takes the strategy of constantly calling his bets until one of them have been bankrupted. Although initially Bond costs him millions of francs Le Chiffre wins the first round with a series of sudden coups, cleaning Bond out of his funds. As Bond contemplates the prospect of reporting his failure to M, Leiter gives him an envelope of money and a note: "Marshall Aid. Thirty-two million francs. With the compliments of the USA." Le Chiffre attempts to retrieve his remaining debts by raising the stakes to that amount, the highest bet raised in the history of the game. When Bond unexpectedly calls the bet Le Chiffre's Corsican associate threatens to kill him with a silenced handgun, which Bond disarms while pretending to faint. Bond wins the hand, and goes on to clean out Le Chiffre and win eighty million francs of his funds. Desperate to recover the money, Le Chiffre kidnaps Lynd and captures Bond after a high-speed car chase. Le Chiffre tortures Bond at his villa by beating his genitals with a carpet-beater, threatening to kill both him and Lynd if he does not return the money. Before Le Chiffre can "finish" them, the SMERSH assassin enters and shoots him through the head as punishment for losing the money. The agent does not kill Bond, saying that he has no orders to do so, but cuts a Cyrillic 'Ш' for шпион (shpión, Russian for spy) into Bond's hand with a penknife so that future SMERSH agents will be able to identify him as such. Bond awakens in hospital two days later. The media reports a cover story that Le Chiffre committed suicide and Bond vanished to southern France and Monaco to continue gambling. Fearful for his life and disillusioned with the morality of the Cold War after his beating, Bond informs a shocked Mathis of his intention to resign from the Secret Service after his recovery. Lynd visits Bond every day as he recuperates, and he gradually realises that he loves her. When he is released from hospital they spend time together at a quiet guest house and eventually become lovers. Bond eventually decides to propose marriage to her, but sees a mysterious man named Adolph Gettler tracking their movements, which greatly distresses Lynd. Although Vesper's mood seems to improve after a few days, Bond awakens one morning to discover that she has committed suicide. She leaves behind a note explaining that she had been working as an unwilling double agent for the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs. SMERSH had kidnapped her lover, a Polish Royal Air Force pilot, who had revealed information about her under torture; SMERSH then used that information to blackmail her into helping them undermine Bond's mission, including her own faked kidnapping. She had tried to start a new life with Bond, but upon seeing Gettler—a SMERSH agent—she realised that she would never be free of her tormentors, and that staying with Bond would only put him in danger. As Bond vows revenge against SMERSH, he coldly telephones his London liaison, "Pass this on at once: 3030 was a double, working for Redland. ... Yes, dammit, I said 'was.' The bitch is dead now." ## Background Ian Fleming, born in 1908, was a son of Valentine Fleming, a wealthy banker and MP who died in action on the Western Front in May 1917. Educated at Eton, Sandhurst and, briefly, the universities of Munich and Geneva, Fleming moved through several jobs before he was recruited by Rear Admiral John Godfrey, the Director of Naval Intelligence, to become his personal assistant. Fleming joined the organisation full-time in August 1939, with the codename "17F", and worked for them throughout the war. Early in 1939 he began an affair with Ann O'Neill (née Charteris), who was married to the 3rd Baron O'Neill. In 1942 Fleming attended an Anglo-American intelligence summit in Jamaica and, despite the constant heavy rain during his visit, he decided to live on the island once the war was over. His friend Ivar Bryce helped find a plot of land in Saint Mary Parish where, in 1945, Fleming had a house built, which he named Goldeneye. The name of the house and estate has many possible sources. Fleming mentioned both his wartime Operation Goldeneye and Carson McCullers' 1941 novel Reflections in a Golden Eye, which described the use of British naval bases in the Caribbean by the US Navy. Upon Fleming's demobilisation in May 1945, he became the Foreign Manager in the Kemsley newspaper group, which at the time owned The Sunday Times. In this role he oversaw the paper's worldwide network of correspondents. His contract allowed him to take two months holiday every winter in Jamaica. In 1948 Charteris gave birth to Fleming's daughter, Mary, who was stillborn; Charteris and Fleming became engaged shortly in 1951. Fleming had previously mentioned to friends that he wanted to write a spy novel, but it was not until early 1952, to distract himself from his forthcoming nuptials, that he began to write Casino Royale at his Goldeneye estate in Jamaica on 17 February; he typed out 2,000 words in the morning, directly from his own experiences and imagination, and finished work on the manuscript in March 1952. It was a pattern he retained for future Bond books. In May 1963 he wrote a piece for Books and Bookmen magazine in which he said: "I write for about three hours in the morning ... and I do another hour's work between six and seven in the evening. I never correct anything and I never go back to see what I have written ... By following my formula, you write 2,000 words a day." Back in London, Fleming had his manuscript—which he described as his "dreadful oafish opus"—retyped by Joan Howe, his red-haired secretary at The Times on whom the character Miss Moneypenny was partly based. Clare Blanchard, a former girlfriend, advised him not to publish the book, or at least to do so under a pseudonym. During the book's final draft stages, Fleming allowed his friend, and later editor, William Plomer to see a copy, and remarked "I really am thoroughly ashamed of it ... after rifling through this muck you will probably never speak to me again, but I have got to take that chance." Despite this, Plomer thought the book had sufficient promise and sent a copy to the publishing house Jonathan Cape. At first they were unenthusiastic, but were persuaded to publish on the recommendation of Fleming's older brother, Peter, an established travel writer whose books they managed. Although Fleming provided no dates within his novels, two writers have identified different timelines based on events and situations within the novel series as a whole. John Griswold and Henry Chancellor—both of whom have written books on behalf of Ian Fleming Publications—put the events of Casino Royale in 1951; Griswold allows a possible second timeframe and considers the story could have taken place in either May to July 1951, or May to July 1952. In Goldfinger Fleming reveals that Casino Royale took place in 1951, when the character Junius Du Pont says to Bond, "France, '51, Royale les Eaux. [...] That Casino. Ethel, that's Mrs Du Pont, and me were next to you at the table the night you had the big game with the Frenchman." ## Development ### Plot inspirations Casino Royale was inspired by certain incidents that took place during Fleming's wartime career at the Naval Intelligence Division (NID), or by events of which he was aware. On a trip to Portugal, en route to the United States, Fleming and the NID Director, Admiral Godfrey, went to the Estoril Casino. Because of Portugal's neutral status, Estoril's population had been swelled by spies and agents from the warring regimes. Fleming claimed that while there he was cleaned out by a "chief German agent" at a table playing chemin de fer. Godfrey told a different story: that Fleming only played Portuguese businessmen, and afterwards fantasised about playing against German agents. The failed attempt to kill Bond at Royale-Les-Eaux was inspired by Fleming's knowledge of the attempted assassination of Franz von Papen, Vice-Chancellor of Germany and an ambassador under Hitler. Both Papen and Bond survived their assassination attempts, carried out by Bulgarians, because trees protected them from the blasts. Fleming also included four references in the novel to "Red Indians", including twice on the last page, which came from a unit of commandos, known as No. 30 Commando or 30 Assault Unit (30AU), composed of specialist intelligence troops. The unit was Fleming's idea, and he nicknamed the troops his "Red Indians", although they disliked the name. ### Characters The lead character of Casino Royale is James Bond, an agent of the Secret Service. Fleming initially named the character James Secretan before he appropriated the name of James Bond, author of the ornithology guide, Birds of the West Indies. Fleming explained to the ornithologist's wife "that this brief, unromantic, Anglo-Saxon and yet very masculine name was just what I needed, and so a second James Bond was born". He further explained that "When I wrote the first one in 1953, I wanted Bond to be an extremely dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened; I wanted him to be a blunt instrument ... when I was casting around for a name for my protagonist I thought by God, [James Bond] is the dullest name I ever heard." Fleming decided that Bond should resemble both the American singer Hoagy Carmichael and himself, and in the novel Lynd remarks that "Bond reminds me rather of Hoagy Carmichael, but there is something cold and ruthless." According to Andrew Lycett, Fleming's biographer, "within the first few pages ... [Fleming] had introduced most of Bond's idiosyncrasies and trademarks", which included his looks, his Bentley and his smoking and drinking habits. The full details of Bond's martini were kept until chapter seven of the book and Bond eventually named it "The Vesper", after Lynd. Bond's order, to be served in a deep champagne goblet, was for "three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel." Speaking of Bond's origins, Fleming said that "he was a compound of all the secret agents and commando types I met during the war", although the author gave many of his own traits to the character. Bond's tastes are often taken from Fleming's own, as is some of his behaviour: Fleming used the casino to introduce Bond in his first novel because "skill at gambling and knowledge of how to behave in a casino were seen ... as attributes of a gentleman". Lycett sees much of Bond's character as being "wish fulfilment" by Fleming. Bond's superior, M, was largely based on Godfrey, Fleming's NID superior officer; Godfrey was known for his bellicose and irascible temperament. One of the likely models for Le Chiffre was the influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician Aleister Crowley, on whose physical features Fleming based Le Chiffre's. Crowley's tastes, especially in sado-masochism, were also ascribed to Le Chiffre; as Fleming's biographer Henry Chancellor notes, "when Le Chiffre goes to work on Bond's testicles with a carpet-beater and a carving knife, the sinister figure of Aleister Crowley is there lurking in the background." ## Style Fleming later said of his work, "while thrillers may not be Literature with a capital L, it is possible to write what I can best describe as 'thrillers designed to be read as literature'". He used well-known brand names and everyday details to produce a sense of realism, which the author Kingsley Amis called "the Fleming effect". Amis describes it as "the imaginative use of information, whereby the pervading fantastic nature of Bond's world ... [is] bolted down to some sort of reality, or at least counter-balanced." Within the text the novelist Raymond Benson—who later wrote a series of Bond novels—identifies what he described as the "Fleming Sweep", the use of "hooks" at the end of chapters to heighten tension and pull the reader into the next. The hooks combine with what the novelist Anthony Burgess calls "a heightened journalistic style" to produce "a speed of narrative, which hustles the reader past each danger point of mockery". The semiotician and essayist, Umberto Eco, in his 1979 examination of the Bond books, "The Narrative Structure of Ian Fleming", considered that Fleming "has a rhythm, a polish, a certain sensuous feeling for words. That is not to say that Fleming is an artist; yet he writes with art." When examining the passage relating to the death of Le Chiffre, Eco wrote that "there is a ... baroque feeling for the image, a total adaptation off the image without emotional comment, and a use of words that designate things with accuracy", and he went on to conclude that "Fleming is more literate than he gives one to understand." ## Themes Casino Royale was written after, and was heavily influenced by, the Second World War; Britain was still an imperial power, and the Western and Eastern blocs were engaged in the Cold War. The journalist William Cook observes that with the decline in power of the British Empire, "Bond pandered to Britain's inflated and increasingly insecure self-image, flattering us with the fantasy that Britannia could still punch above her weight." The cultural historians Janet Woollacott and Tony Bennett agree, and consider that "Bond embodied the imaginary possibility that England might once again be placed at the centre of world affairs during a period when its world power status was visibly and rapidly declining." In 1953 parts of central London, including Oxford Street and High Holborn still had uncleared bomb sites and sweets had ceased being rationed, but coal and other food items were still regulated. According to The Times journalist and historian Ben Macintyre, Bond was "the ideal antidote to Britain's postwar austerity, rationing and the looming premonition of lost power". Casino Royale deals with the question of Anglo-American relations, reflecting the real-world central role of the US in the defence of the West. The academic Jeremy Black points to the 1951 defections of two members of MI6—Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean—to the Soviet Union as having a major impact on how Britain was poorly viewed in US intelligence circles; Fleming was aware of this tension between the two countries, but he did not focus on it too strongly, and Bond and Leiter's warm relationship did not reflect the reality of the US-UK relationship. Amis, in his exploration of Bond in The James Bond Dossier, pointed out that Leiter is "such a nonentity as a piece of characterization ... he, the American, takes orders from Bond, the Britisher, and that Bond is constantly doing better than he". The journalist and author Christopher Hitchens observed that "the central paradox of the classic Bond stories is that, although superficially devoted to the Anglo-American war against communism, they are full of contempt and resentment for America and Americans". David Seed, in his examination of spy fiction, disagrees, and writes that while Bond beats Le Chiffre, his "activities are constantly supported by American agencies, financing and know-how". The treachery of Le Chiffre, with the overtones of a fifth column, struck a chord with the largely British readership as Communist influence in the trade unions had been an issue in the press and parliament at the time. Britain had also suffered from defections to the Soviet Union from two MI6 operatives who were part of the Cambridge Five spy ring that betrayed Western secrets to the Soviets. Thus Lycett observes that Casino Royale can be seen as Fleming's "attempt to reflect the disturbing moral ambiguity of a post-war world that could produce traitors like Burgess and Maclean". The journalist and writer Matthew Parker observes that with the defections of the two spies so recent to the publication, it was "perhaps the closest Fleming came to a [John] le Carré-style spy story". Chancellor sees the moral ambiguity of the Cold War reflected in the novel. Benson considers the most obvious theme of the novel to be good versus evil. Parker agrees, and highlights a conversation between Bond and Matthis in the chapter titled "The Nature of Evil", in which Bond says: "By ... [Le Chiffre's] evil existence ... he was creating a norm of badness by which, and by which alone, an opposite norm of goodness could exist." The subject was also dealt with by the academic Beth Butterfield, in an examination of Bond from an existentialist viewpoint. In light of Bond's conversation, Butterfield identifies a crisis of confidence in Bond's character, where he has "moved beyond good and evil" to the point where he does his job not because of principles, but to pursue personal battles. Eco comes to the same conclusion, stating that Bond "abandon[s] the treacherous life of moral mediation and of psychological anger, with all the dangers they entail." Black also identifies a mechanism Fleming uses in Casino Royale—and in subsequent Bond novels—which is to use the evil of his opponents both as a justification of his actions, and as a device to foil their own plans. Black refers to the episode of the attempted assassination of Bond by Bulgarian assassins which results in their own deaths. ## Publication and reception ### Publication history Casino Royale was first released on 13 April 1953 in the UK as a hardback edition by publishers Jonathan Cape, with a cover devised by Fleming. Cape printed 4,728 copies of Casino Royale, which sold out in less than a month; a second print run the same month also sold out, as did a third run of more than 8,000 books published in May 1954. The sales figures were strong enough for Cape to offer Fleming a three-book deal. In April 1955 Pan Books issued a paperback version and sold 41,000 copies in the first year. In the US three publishers turned the book down before Macmillan Publishing Co offered Fleming a deal. Casino Royale was published on 23 March 1954 in the US, but sales were poor, totalling only 4,000 copies across the entire US during the course of the year. When the novel was released as a US paperback in 1955, it was re-titled by publisher American Popular Library; Fleming's suggestions for a new title, The Double-O Agent and The Deadly Gamble, were disregarded in favour of You Asked for It, but this marketing ploy failed to raise the interest. The Popular Library version also changed Bond's name, calling him "Jimmy Bond". In 2023 Ian Fleming Publications—the company that administers all Fleming's literary works—had the Bond series edited as part of a sensitivity review to remove or reword some racial or ethnic descriptors. The rerelease of the series was for the 70th anniversary of Casino Royale. ### Critical reception Hugh I'Anson Fausset, writing in The Manchester Guardian, thought that Casino Royale was "a first-rate thriller ... with a breathtaking plot". Although he considered the book to be "schoolboy stuff", he felt the novel was "galvanised into life by the hard brilliance of the telling". Alan Ross, writing in The Times Literary Supplement wrote that Casino Royale was "an extremely engaging affair", and that "the especial charm ... is the high poetry with which he invests the green baize lagoons of the casino tables". He concluded that the book was "both exciting and extremely civilized". Reviewing for The Listener, Simon Raven believed that Fleming was a "kind of supersonic John Buchan", but he was somewhat dismissive of the plot, observing that it is "a brilliant but improbable notion" that includes "a deal of champagne-drinking, bomb-throwing, relentless pitting of wits etc ... with a cretinous love-affair". Raven also dismissed Bond as an "infantile" creation, but did allow that "Fleming tells a good story with strength and distinction ... his creation of a scene, both visually and emotionally, is of a very high order indeed." John Betjeman, writing in The Daily Telegraph, considered that "Ian Fleming has discovered the secret of the narrative art ... which is to work up to a climax unrevealed at the end of each chapter. Thus the reader has to go on reading". Publishers Jonathan Cape included many of the reviews on their advertisements for the book, which appeared in a number of national newspapers; the reviews included those from The Sunday Times, which concluded that Fleming was "the best new English thriller-writer since [Eric] Ambler" and The Observer, which advised their readers: "don't miss this". The critic for Time magazine examined Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye alongside Casino Royale; he praised Casino Royale, saying that "Fleming keeps his incidents and characters spinning through their paces like juggling balls." The Time reviewer went on to say that "As for Bond, he might be [Philip] Marlowe's younger brother except that he never takes coffee for a bracer, just one large Martini laced with vodka." Writing for The New York Times, Anthony Boucher wrote that the book belongs "pretty much to the private-eye school" of fiction. He praised the first part, saying that Fleming "manages to make baccarat clear even to one who's never played it and produced as exciting a gambling sequence as I've ever read. But then he decides to pad out the book to novel length and leads the weary reader through a set of tough clichés to an ending which surprises nobody save Operative 007. You should certainly begin this book; but you might as well stop when the baccarat game is over." ## Adaptations In 1954 CBS paid Ian Fleming \$1,000 to adapt Casino Royale into a one-hour television adventure as part of its Climax! series. The episode aired live on 21 October 1954 and starred Barry Nelson as secret agent "Card Sense" James 'Jimmy' Bond and Peter Lorre as Le Chiffre. A brief tutorial on baccarat is given at the beginning of the show by the presenter of the programme, William Lundigan, to enable viewers to understand a game which was not popular in America at the time. For this Americanised version of the story, Bond is an American agent, described as working for "Combined Intelligence", while the character Leiter from the original novel is British, renamed "Clarence Leiter". The agent for Station S., Mathis, does not appear as such; his surname is given to the leading lady, named Valérie Mathis instead of Vesper Lynd. In March 1955 Ian Fleming sold the film rights of Casino Royale to the producer Gregory Ratoff for \$6,000. After Ratoff's death, producer Charles K. Feldman represented Ratoff's widow and obtained the rights to make a film version. Feldman decided the best way to profit from the film rights was to make a satirical version, which was produced and released in 1967 by Columbia Pictures. The film, which cast David Niven as Bond, was made with five credited directors (plus one uncredited) and a cast that included Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, Orson Welles and Woody Allen. The 1967 version is described by the British Film Institute as "an incoherent all-star comedy". Casino Royale was the first James Bond novel to be adapted as a daily comic strip; it was published in The Daily Express and syndicated worldwide. The strip ran from 7 July 1958 to 13 December 1958, and was written by Anthony Hern and illustrated by John McLusky. To aid The Daily Express in illustrating Bond, Fleming commissioned an artist to create a sketch of what he believed James Bond to look like. McLusky felt that Fleming's 007 looked too "outdated" and "pre-war" and changed Bond to give him a more masculine look. A graphic novel adaptation of the book was released by Dynamite Entertainment in April 2018, written by Van Jensen and illustrated by Dennis Calero. Following the 1967 adaptation, the rights to the film remained with Columbia Films until 1989 when the studio, and the rights to their intellectual property portfolio was acquired by the Japanese company Sony. In 1999, following legal action between Sony Pictures Entertainment and MGM/UA, Sony traded the rights to Casino Royale for MGM's partial-rights to Spider-Man. This led to Eon Productions making the 2006 film Casino Royale. The film stars Daniel Craig as Bond, supported by Eva Green as Vesper Lynd and Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre; Judi Dench returned for her fifth Bond film as Bond's superior, M. Casino Royale is a reboot, showing Bond at the beginning of his career as a 00-agent, and overall stays true to the original novel.
1,783,947	Fremantle Prison	1,173,656,762	Former prison in Fremantle, Western Australia	[ "1855 establishments in Australia", "1991 disestablishments in Australia", "Australian Convict Sites", "Convictism in Western Australia", "Defunct prisons in Western Australia", "Fremantle Prison", "Government buildings completed in 1859", "Hampton Road, Fremantle", "Heritage places in Fremantle", "Landmarks in Perth, Western Australia", "Limestone buildings", "Museums in Western Australia", "Neoclassical architecture in Australia", "Prison museums in Australia", "State Register of Heritage Places in the City of Fremantle" ]	Fremantle Prison, sometimes referred to as Fremantle Gaol or Fremantle Jail, is a former Australian prison and World Heritage Site in Fremantle, Western Australia. The site includes the prison cellblocks, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages, and tunnels. It was initially used for convicts transported from Britain, but was transferred to the colonial government in 1886 for use for locally-sentenced prisoners. Royal Commissions were held in 1898 and 1911, and instigated some reform to the prison system, but significant changes did not begin until the 1960s. The government department in charge of the prison underwent several reorganisations in the 1970s and 1980s, but the culture of Fremantle Prison was resistant to change. Growing prisoner discontent culminated in a 1988 riot with guards taken hostage, and a fire that caused \$1.8 million worth of damage. The prison closed in 1991, replaced by the new maximum-security Casuarina Prison. The prison was administered by a comptroller general, sheriff, or director, responsible for the entire convict or prison system in Western Australia, and a superintendent in charge of the prison itself. Prison officers, known as warders in the 19th century, worked under stringent conditions until they achieved representation through the Western Australian Prison Officers' Union. Convicts were initially of good character as potential future colonists, but less desirable convicts were eventually sent. As a locally-run prison, Fremantle's population was generally short-sentenced white prisoners in the 1890s, with very few Aboriginal prisoners. By the late 20th century, most prisoners were serving longer sentences, a higher proportion of them were violent, and Aboriginal people were present in large numbers. Prison life at Fremantle was extremely regulated. Meals were an important part of the day, eaten in the cells throughout the operational life of the prison. Convict or prisoner labour was used on public infrastructure works until around 1911; subsequently, only work inside the prison was allowed, though there was never enough to fully occupy the inmates. Punishments varied over the years, with flogging and time in irons eventually replaced by lengthening of sentences and deprivation of visitors or entertainment. More than 40 hangings were carried out at Fremantle Prison, which was Western Australia's only lawful place of execution between 1888 and 1984. Prominent escapees included Moondyne Joe, as well as John Boyle O'Reilly and six other Fenians in the 19th century, and Brenden Abbott in 1989. There have been various riots and other disturbances, with major riots causing damage in 1968 and 1988. Since 1991, Fremantle Prison has been conserved as a recognised heritage site, and various restoration works have been undertaken. New uses have been found for some buildings within the prison, which has also become a significant tourist attraction. The process of obtaining World Heritage listing as part of the Australian Convict Sites submission focused historical interpretation and conservation efforts on the prison's convict era (1850 – 1886), at the expense of its more recent history, including Aboriginal prisoners held there. ## Architecture ### Layout Fremantle Prison was built on a land grant of about 36 acres (15 ha) from limestone quarried on-site. A 15-foot (4.6 m) tall boundary wall encloses the prison grounds, with a gatehouse in the centre of the western wall, facing The Terrace. Other roads bounding the site are Knutsford Street to the north, Hampton Road to the east, and Fothergill Street to the south. Cottages, which housed prison workers and officials, are located outside the wall either side of the gatehouse. Inside the walls, the parade ground is located east of the gatehouse. Beyond it is the Main Cell Block at the centre of the site, which contains two chapels. North of the main block is New Division, and west of that, in the north-western corner, is the former Women's Prison, previously the cookhouse, bakehouse and laundry. The hospital building stands in the north-eastern corner, while the former workshops are located in the south-eastern corner, as well as to the north of the gatehouse. A system of tunnels, constructed to provide fresh water from an aquifer, runs under the eastern edge of the site. ### Buildings #### Houses on The Terrace North of the gatehouse, located at 2, 4, and 6 The Terrace, are cottages built in Victorian style, in contrast to the Georgian style of the other houses. Number 10 is a double-storey house, initially built in 1853 for the chaplain, but taken over by the superintendent in 1878 and later used by the prison administration. An adjoining single-storey at number 12, finished in 1854, was the home of the gatekeeper, located on the north side of the gatehouse. Number 16 The Terrace, south of the gatehouse, is a double-storey house that accommodated first the superintendent, and later the resident magistrate. It remained in use as housing for prison officers until the 1970s. Number 18, the southernmost house on The Terrace, and number 8, the northernmost of the initial buildings, both featured two sitting rooms, three bedrooms, and two dressing rooms, as well as a kitchen, water closet and shed, but with mirrored layouts. Number 18 was expanded with additions built in the 1890s. #### Gatehouse The gatehouse and associated entry complex was constructed between 1854 and 1855 using convict labour. It was designed by Royal Engineer and Comptroller General Edmund Henderson, and constructed out of limestone. The gatehouse has two towers either side of a narrow gate, reminiscent of those found in 13th century English castles or walled cities. Iron that had been scavenged from shipwrecks was used to make the gate, while the clock at the top of the structure was imported from England. As the main entrance, the gatehouse has remained a significant feature and landmark; since the closure of the prison, it has housed a café and office areas. Restoration was carried out in 2005, preserving the original stone facade and removing non-original rendering. #### Main Cell Block Little-changed since its construction in the 1850s by convicts, the Main Cell Block was designed to hold up to 1000 prisoners. The central, four-storey high cell block is flanked on either end by large dormitory wards, called the Association Rooms. Here, as many as 80 men slept in hammocks, either as a reward for good behaviour or because they would soon receive their ticket of leave. In contrast, the cramped cells measured just seven by four feet (2.1 by 1.2 m). Although each cell initially had a basin connected to running water, the installation was before the advent of S-bends; the smells coming up the pipes led to their removal by the 1860s. Following a Royal Commission, the cells were enlarged by removing a dividing wall from between two cells. Electric lighting was installed in the 1920s, but there were never any toilets – buckets were used for the duration of the prison's operation. Since the prison's closure, six cells have been restored to represent the varying living conditions at different times in the prison's history. The main block also houses the gallows, solitary confinement cells, and two chapels – Anglican and Catholic. #### New Division Fremantle Prison's New Division building was constructed between 1904 and 1907, as a response to overcrowding. It also allowed prison administrators to implement the "separate system", whereby prisoners were completely isolated for the first three months of their sentence. A panopticon in the exercise yard was initially used to facilitate this concept during the prisoners' hour of exercise each day. The system was not successful, and considered a dated prisoner management strategy, leading to its removal within five years. New Division was the first building to have electricity, with underground wiring. During World War II, the Australian Army appropriated the division, to keep their prisoners separate from the main population. In 1994 the building was retrofitted to cater for offices, small business premises, and meeting rooms. #### Women's Prison The north-western complex was originally a service area with a cookhouse, bakehouse and laundry, built in the 1850s. A place for women prisoners was needed following the closure of Perth Gaol and the transfer of prisoners to Fremantle. The buildings were converted to a prison, and a wall built around them, creating Western Australia's first separate prison for women. Population and crime growth led to them being extended in the 1890s and 1910s. The construction of Bandyup Women's Prison saw Fremantle's Women's Prison close in 1970, with the space used for education and assessment until the main prison's closure in 1991. #### Hospital Built between 1857 and 1859, the hospital was a crucial component of Fremantle Prison. Public works during the convict era relied on convict labour, which could only be provided if the convicts were healthy. From 1886 to 1903, medical services were relocated to the main cell block, with the former building used to keep invalids and female prisoners. The hospital was refurbished and reopened in 1904. It subsequently remained in continuous operation until the prison's closure in 1991. #### Workshops The original workshop was a blacksmith's shop, one of the first buildings to be constructed on the prison site. Later known as the East Workshops, other workshops included carpenter's, plumber's and painter's, a printing office, and from the 1850s, a metal shop. The West Workshops were built at the start of the twentieth century, providing more work for prisoners through a paint shop, mat maker, shoe maker, book binder and tailor shop. In 1993 the four northern workshops were adapted for use as TAFE art workshops. ### Tunnels In the 1850s, shafts were sunk into the limestone bedrock to provide the prison with fresh water from an aquifer, and a tank was installed in 1874 to offer the town of Fremantle an alternative water supply. Prisoners worked a pump to fill the tank, which was connected to the jetties through gravity-fed pipes. In 1896, a town reservoir was constructed on Swanbourne Street, fed from the prison by a triple-expansion steam-driven pump that could take more than 4.5 megalitres (1,000,000 imperial gallons) per day from the prison tunnels. Prisoners, relieved of manual pumping, were employed to supply wood and stoke boilers. The tunnels were closed in 1910, though the groundwater continued to be used for the prison's gardens. In 1989, diesel leaking from nearby tanks was found to have contaminated the water; however, the pollution was largely cleared by 1996 through bioremediation. The tunnels were opened to tourists in mid-2005. ## History ### 19th century While the Swan River Colony was established as a "free settlement" (unlike the penal colonies on the east coast), by the 1840s demand for cheap labour overcame an early reluctance, and the colony agreed to accept some convicts from Britain. The arrival of the first convict ship Scindian on 2 June 1850 was unexpected, as a sailing ship that had been sent ahead had been blown off-course. The colony's Round House jail was full, so the 75 convicts had to be left on the ship until a temporary prison was built. Comptroller General of Convicts Edward Henderson looked for a place to build a permanent convict establishment, and ultimately settled on the current site, on a hill overlooking Fremantle. The design for Fremantle Prison was based on the Pentonville Prison in Britain, but with diagonal cell blocks replaced with a four-storey linear structure, which would be the longest, tallest prison cell block in the southern hemisphere. Construction began in 1851, and work rapidly progressed following the arrival of the Royal Engineers later that year. They trained convicts to work with limestone, which was quarried on-site. The first priority was the construction of accommodation for Henderson and the prison warders, to relieve the expense of paying for private lodging. The prison walls were constructed between 1853 and 1855, while the gatehouse and associated entry complex was built in 1854 and 1855. Construction of the southern half of the Main Cell Block began in 1853 and was finished in 1855, with prisoners transferred from the temporary prison on 1 June 1855. Construction of the northern wing followed. The Crimean War saw the Royal Engineers recalled, leaving only one of their number, Henry Wray, to oversee the building's construction, which was completed by the end of 1859. During Western Australia's convict era, the prison was known as the Convict Establishment, and was used for prisoners transported from Britain. Longer term locally-sentenced prisoners were also held there from 1858, at a cost to the colonial government. In 1868, penal transportation to Western Australia ceased, and the number of convicts in the colony gradually declined, down to 83 in the mid-1880s. Due to the great expense of sending these convicts back to Britain, the authorities there negotiated with the colonial government to relinquish jurisdiction over them, as well as the prison complex – demolition was considered too expensive. Early negotiations had broken down, but were restarted in August 1883. After one and a half years, a compromise was reached, and the transfer was finalised on 31 March 1886. Once the prison came under the control of the colonial government, it was renamed Fremantle Prison. All prisoners in Perth Gaol were transferred to Fremantle, and from 1887 female prisoners were also imprisoned there, in their own separate section. The Western Australian gold rushes of the 1890s resulted in strong economic growth, and a massive increase in population: doubling from almost 50,000 in 1891 to more than 100,000 by 1895, and to 184,000 by 1901. This influx included desperate, dishonest people, from elsewhere in Australia and overseas, and Fremantle Prison was soon overcrowded. The 1890s also saw a growing public unease with the treatment of prisoners. In September 1898 a Royal Commission was established by the Governor of Western Australia to investigate the colony's penal system. The commission heard evidence from almost 240 witnesses, including a range of prisoners. Three reports were made between December 1898 and June 1899, dealing with the most recognisable and prominent issues including classification, sentencing, punishments, and diet. In particular, they considered the philosophy of the prison system – the causes of crime, as well as the types of punishments and their justifications – and in light of this, the practicality of various reform proposals. ### Early 20th century Within a year of the enquiry, almost 100 cells had been enlarged by knocking down the inner wall between two cells, and a classification system was introduced. Internal walls were constructed in the main block, creating four separate divisions. Following the urgings of the prison Superintendent George and various official enquiries, new workshops were built to provide increased useful employment for prisoners. Five spaces were designed for tailors, bookbinders, shoemakers, mat makers and painters. New regulations for prison officers were published in the Government Gazette in 1902, and a new Prisons Act was passed in 1903. While in theory the passing of the Act should have resulted in significant prison reform, this did not eventuate. The legislation left much of the changes to executive regulation, at the discretion of the governor, and was described by the media as a feeble document. New Division, completed in 1907 and occupied in 1908, resulted from the 1899 Commissioners' report recommending a modified version of the separate system. The new division was similar in design to Henderson's 1850s structure, but was constructed in an L-shape, was only three stories tall, and had electric lighting. It also differed in its use from the main cell block. Unlike occupants of the earlier building, prisoners remained continuously in their cells except when exercising in separate yards, watched panopticon-style by a warder in a central tower. In 1911 another Royal Commission investigation into Fremantle Prison recommended closing the facility. Its report was ignored by the state government, which was more concerned with building infrastructure such as roads and schools than the plight of its prisoners. However, there was a rapid change in prison policy, with the appointment of a superintendent, Hugh Hann, who had recent English and colonial experience, and the election of a Labor government with members interested in penal reform. One immediate result was the dismantling of the separate system at Fremantle Prison and the demolition of the separate exercise yards in 1912. Fremantle Prison was partially used as a military prison during both world wars – for the detention of military personnel, as well as an internment centre. From 1940 until 1946, it was one of more than 50 military prisons across Australia holding a combined total of more than 12,000 enemy aliens and prisoners of war. Fremantle accommodated up to 400 military prisoners and up to 160 civilian prisoners by October 1945. The World War II takeover necessitated the commissioning of Barton's Mill Prison in 1942. ### 20th century reform Prison outstations were established as part of the reforms in the 20th century, and to reduce the overcrowding at Fremantle. Pardelup Prison Farm opened in 1927, near Mount Barker, while Barton's Mill, though planned to be a temporary measure, remained open as a prison after World War II. Significant reform to Western Australia's prison system did not begin until the 1960s, lagging behind those which occurred elsewhere in Australia and the world after World War II. Seven new prisons were opened between 1960 and 1971, and in 1970, female prisoners and staff were moved from Fremantle to the new Bandyup Women's Prison. New legislation regarding probation, parole, and convicted drunkards was also introduced, which provided alternatives to imprisonment. With these new arrangements, and more variety in prisons and prison types, a classification board was set up in 1963 to assess prisoners. The appointment of Colin Campbell as comptroller general in 1966 fostered substantial changes within Fremantle Prison itself. One of his first changes was to clear the classification committee's backlog of prisoners awaiting assessment. Campbell also established an officer training school, as well as an assessment centre to evaluate new prisoners. Work release and community service programs were also introduced, along with training programs, social workers and welfare officers. Within the midst of Campbell's reforms, the Prisons Department was renamed the Department of Corrections in 1971, restructured, and the position of comptroller general was replaced with director of the department. In 1972 a Royal Commission was appointed to investigate mistreatment of and discrimination against Aboriginal prisoners. Its 1973 report found that there was not "any appreciable discrimination", however, racial stereotypes are present throughout the report, and the testimony of Aboriginal prisoners was considered unreliable. The report also made recommendations regarding various aspects of prison life, including additional, independent, trained welfare officers. William Kidston succeeded Campbell in 1977, and oversaw a shift in policy from "paternalistic rehabilitation" of prisoners to merely providing opportunities for rehabilitation. A new Prisons Act was passed in 1981, which updated the 1903 Act with modern philosophies and practices. This act was, however, slanted towards prisoner management and safety, and the department was at the same time renamed the Prisons Department once more, to emphasise imprisonment as its primary responsibility. Ian Hill became Director of the Prisons Department in 1983, and reorganised the department several times, striving for increased efficiency. Whilst the changes of the 1980s were effective throughout most of Western Australia's prison system, the culture of Fremantle Prison was resistant to change. Growing prisoner discontent eventually culminated in the 1988 prison riot, investigated by an official enquiry later that year. ### Closure and subsequent use The state government made the decision to decommission Fremantle Prison in 1983, but it remained in operation until 30 November 1991. Prisoners were moved to a new metropolitan maximum security prison at Casuarina. There were divergent views in the community over the site's future, whether it should be preserved or redeveloped. The ultimate decision was for conservation of the prison, but allowing for the buildings to be adapted for reuse by the community. The Fremantle Prison Trust was established in 1992 to advise the Minister for Works on the management of the site. Various new uses were found for different parts of the prison, including wedding services in the chapels, the Coastal Business Centre in New Division, and the Fremantle Children's Literature Centre in the hospital; the prison also became a tourist attraction. A private company, the Fremantle Prison Guardians, organised the tourist operation for ten years under contract, until the end of 2001; subsequently, the state government took control. A hostel providing short-stay accommodation in the Women's Prison opened in May 2015. ## Staff and prisoners ### Administration Western Australia's first comptroller general of convicts, Edmund Henderson, administered the convict establishment for thirteen years. The primary responsibilities of the comptroller general were to "direct convict labour and be responsible for convict discipline". With the transfer of Fremantle Prison to the colonial government in 1886, the role of the comptroller was replaced by that of the sheriff, responsible for all of the prisons in the colony. The position of comptroller general was recreated, with duties split off from the sheriff's office, in early 1911. In 1971, the Prisons Department was renamed the Department of Corrections, restructured, and the position of comptroller general was replaced with director of the department. While the comptroller, sheriff, or director was responsible for the overall convict or prison system, largely centred around Fremantle Prison, the responsibility of the prison itself lay with the superintendent. ### Officers On convict ships, the convicts were guarded by pensioner guards, who were soldiers awarded pensions for their service in areas such as China, Crimea, and Afghanistan. Some remained in the military, but many opted to stay in the colony as settlers, having brought their wives and children with them. The pensioner guards were expected to help deal with any incidents of unrest at the prison. Fremantle Prison's officers were known as warders until the early 20th century. They lived in specially built terrace houses within walking distance of the prison, and their lives were just as regimented as the prisoners. In the 1890s warders still had stringent living and working conditions, including ten- to twelve-hour working days. Due to a high turnover rate, many had little knowledge of either official policies or unofficial rules and traditions. The warder's role, previously unwritten, only became clearly defined in 1902. As well as guarding against escapes and enforcing discipline, they oversaw prisoner work and instructed inmates in trades. The warders were also supposed to be moral role models for prisoners, while maintaining a formal, distant, relationship. The prison officer's role in the 20th century did not change much, with the job still entailing a boredom-inducing daily routine focused on security. Officer training became a priority under Campbell's administration, from the late 1960s. Training courses were set up for staff inductions and promotions, and seminars were started for senior officers. The most significant change in this period, however, was that prison officers achieved representation through the Western Australian Prison Officers' Union. The strength of the union was based on the ability to almost cripple the prison system through strike action, first taken in 1975. ### Prisoners Convicts were introduced into Western Australia for three main purposes: inexpensive labour, additional labour, and an injection of British government spending into the local economy. During the initial years of transportation, convicts were generally young, from a rural background, and of good character, having only committed minor offences – potential future colonists, after their sentence had been served. By the 1860s the majority were older, more serious offenders from urban areas, including political prisoners considered to be "difficult and dangerous". Following the transfer of Fremantle Prison to local control in 1886, it became Western Australia's primary prison. In the late 1880s and 1890s the number of inmates swelled dramatically. This increase predominantly comprised prisoners serving shorter sentences of under three months. The number of inmates in 1897 was 379, and Inspector of Prisons James Roe viewed the prison as "inconveniently full". Despite a large expansion of the prison system, the problem of overcrowding remained throughout the 20th century, as did Western Australia's high incarceration rate relative to the rest of Australia. The nature of prisoners changed, with three times the proportion of 16- to 19-year-olds in 1984 compared to 1898, and a growing over-representation of Aboriginal prisoners to nearly half the incarcerated population. Sentences also increased in length, such that in 1984 more than 80% of inmates were serving more than a year. In the 1970s and 1980s, there was an increasing number of people committed for violent crimes, but still a minority of the population. Both staff and prisoners, however, perceived a notable increase in violence during these years, coinciding with the rise of illegal drugs in prison, and of sentences for drug-related offences. ## Prison operation ### Routine In the Convict Establishment of 1855, the day began with the wakeup bell at 4:30 am, and the officers and prisoners assembled in the parade ground at 5:25 am. Prisoners were sent to work before and after breakfast (in their cells), before assembling for muster at midday. This was followed by dinner in the exercise yard or the work site, and more work throughout the afternoon, until supper at 6:00 pm in the cells. Night officers took over at 7:15 pm. The transfer of the Convict Establishment to the colonially-run Fremantle Prison saw little change, and no new regulations. A similar routine, but with fewer working hours, is described in the 1930s: > The following routine is observed by those who go to Fremantle Jail:— 6.15 am., warning bell; prisoners rise and fold beds. 6.30. officers muster and unlock cells. 7.0. [sic] breakfast, which lasts 15 minutes, after which men assemble in their respective exercise yards. 7.55, parade for work. 11.45, parade for dinner, after which men are in yard until 1 pm, parade for work; 4.45 parade for tea. 5.30. muster; all cells, etc., locked for the night. 7.55. warning bell; prisoners to bed. 8.0, [sic] lights out except as provided for in reformatory regulations. Not much had changed by the 1960s. The day began with a waking bell at 6:45 am. After a prisoner count, they moved into the yard until 7:30, when they collected breakfast and headed back to their cells. The 8:00 bell signalled a parade, and then the start of work, which lasted until 11:15. They ate a meal, locked in their cells until 12:20 pm, followed by some time in the yards. At 1:00 there was another parade, and another session of work which lasted to 4:15. Another meal was collected, and prisoners were locked away in their cells overnight. The lights stayed on until 9:30 pm. On the weekends the routine featured no work, and included a film played for the prisoners. ### Diet Prisoners ate meals in their cells, from the early years of the prison through to its closure in 1991. Bread from the prison bakehouse was included in every meal in the convict era. It was served with black tea for breakfast, and with either tea or cocoa in the evening. The main meal, called dinner, was in the middle of the day, and also featured soup, meat, and vegetables. By the 1890s food was still very limited in variety, with few vegetables. Porridge was given for breakfast, usually too fluid or overly solid, and the general standard of the prison's food was quite low, particularly in 1897 and 1898. However, the quality soon improved, as noted by the 1898 Royal Commission, which recommended decreasing rations to reduce costs. In the 1960s, food preparation was overseen by a qualified chef, who also trained prisoners. The diet consisted of quality food, but "without trimmings". Breakfast was porridge, with a third of a pint of milk, a hot drink (tea, unless the prisoner bought coffee or cocoa), and either Vegemite, honey, or margarine, depending on the week. Lunch and dinner had more variation. Both meals consisted of a meat dish – corned beef, sausages, or mince pie – as well as mashed potato and cabbage, although there was occasionally a roast dinner. Meat, vegetables and bread were still a prominent part of the diet in 1991. ### Labour As well as being used to build the prison itself, convict labour, with convicts in chain gangs, was used for other public works in the Fremantle and surrounding Perth area, including The Causeway, Perth Town Hall and Stirling Highway. The work undertaken by a convict depended on their behaviour and demeanour. Upon arrival to Western Australia, convicts were kept within the prison for a period of observation. If found to have a reasonable disposition, the convict would be sent to work, in a gang under the control of a warder. Typical activities included "quarrying, filling swamps, burning lime, constructing public buildings, roads and jetties" around Fremantle and Perth. After some time, they might be sent to work on road or other projects away from these main settlements. Continued good behaviour could see the convict granted a ticket-of-leave, allowing private employment in a specified district of the colony, and eventually a Conditional Pardon, allowing most freedoms, except for returning to England. A Certificate of Freedom would only be granted at the end of a sentence. Misbehaviour would result in demotion through these levels of work, including returning to convict status within the prison. Re-offenders and captured escapees, after corporal punishment and time in solitary confinement, would be placed on a chain gang undertaking hard labour, typically on roads near Fremantle. Outside work, mostly on public infrastructure, continued beyond the convict era, but gradually declined due to discipline concerns, the rise of trade unions that saw such work as "a threat to free labour", and an increasing emphasis on work as rehabilitation rather than punishment. By 1911 outside work had all but ceased, but could not adequately be replaced by employment within the prison walls; a lack of suitable work plagued the prison throughout its lifetime. Work in the 19th century consisted of cooking, washing clothes, cleaning the prison, tailoring, bootmaking, and printing. However, demand exceeded the availability of such work – increasingly so in the later years of the 19th century – so prisoners were also given activities with no practical value other than keeping them occupied. These included breaking stones, operating a water pump, and oakum picking. Even with these extra activities, by 1899, 60 to 70 men were employed at the pump, each doing only a few minutes work per hour, and occupied the rest of the time with recreation such as draughts. New workshops built in 1901 allowed prisoners to work in bootmaking and tailoring, and from 1904, printing. Only a small fraction of prisoners were allocated to the workshops – 35 out of an average of 279 prisoners in 1902. In 1908, there were still few men employed in the workshops, 20 in tailoring, 15 in bootmaking, and 12 in mat making, with only half of these working at a time, and little improvement by the 1911 Royal Commission. The 20th century saw little change in the work prisoners did. There were similar workshops, with the addition of metal work, and similar jobs around the prison complex, including in the laundry, in the kitchen, and cleaning the prison. In 1984, 90% of prisoners were reported to be employed, either full-time or part-time. The meaningfulness of the work was nominal, as work was viewed as "a management option rather than [for] production", but security concerns and discipline restricted the rehabilitative value of the work, and limited much of the work to jobs non-existent outside of prison. ### Punishments In the convict era, particularly during Hampton's term as governor, misbehaving prisoners were punished with flogging, solitary confinement, and working in chain gangs at gunpoint. Particularly difficult prisoners were put to work hand pumping groundwater into the prison's reservoir. Known as cranking, it was especially despised by the prisoners. Staff disliked giving the lashings – in 1851, out of a total of 400 lashings ordered, 150 were remitted as the superintendent could not find anyone to undertake the task. The role was so disliked that inducements were offered, including extra pay or improved lodgings. By the 1880s, punishments also included a restricted diet of bread and water (for a short time span), time in irons, and a lengthening of a prisoner's sentence by a visiting magistrate. The cat o' nine tails, which had been used since the early days of the prison, was abolished during the post-1911 Royal Commission reforms. Other reforms in this period saw the number of punishments inflicted decrease from 184 in 1913 to 57 in 1914, and 35 in 1915. Flogging was discontinued in the 1940s, with the last incident occurring in 1943. From that decade, punishments were decided by the superintendent after hearing the case against a prisoner, or by a magistrate for grievous violations. Lesser transgressions could result in solitary confinement, or restriction from visitors, education, and concerts; serious offences were punishable by the cancellation of any remission earned and a bread-and-water diet, normally over a two-week period. ### Executions As soon as Fremantle Prison came under local control in 1886, a refractory block with gallows was planned. It was completed in 1888, and first used in 1889 to execute a convicted murderer, Jimmy Long, a Malayan. The gallows room was the only lawful place of execution in Western Australia between 1888 and 1984. At least 43 men and one woman were hanged in this period. Martha Rendell was the only woman to be hanged at the prison, in 1909. The last person to be hanged was serial killer Eric Edgar Cooke, executed in 1964. The execution process followed a strict procedure. From the day of sentencing to death, prisoners were kept in a concrete-floored cell in New Division. They were vigilantly observed to prevent them escaping their sentence through suicide. With hangings taking place on Monday mornings, at 8:00 am, condemned prisoners were woken three hours earlier, and provided with a last meal, shower, and clean clothes. Afterwards, handcuffed, they were moved to a holding or "condemned cell" nearby the gallows, and allowed a couple of sips of brandy to calm their nerves. Shortly before 8:00 am, they were hooded, led up to the execution chamber, which could hold as many as eleven witnesses, stood over the trap door, had a noose put around their neck, and were hanged by dropping through the opening trap door. The time between from leaving the cell and the execution itself was quite short, approximately 60 seconds. Following a medical examination, the deceased was removed for burial. ### Escapes There were a multitude of attempted escapes from Fremantle Prison. Prominent escapees included Moondyne Joe in 1867, John Boyle O'Reilly in 1869 and six other Fenians in 1876, and Brenden Abbott in 1989. #### Moondyne Joe Joseph Bolitho Johns, better known as Moondyne Joe, was Western Australia's best known bushranger. In July 1865, Johns was sentenced to ten years penal servitude for killing a steer. He and another prisoner absconded from a work party in early November, and were on the run for nearly a month, during which time Johns adopted the nickname Moondyne Joe. For absconding and for being in possession of a firearm, Moondyne Joe was sentenced to twelve months in irons, and transferred to Fremantle Prison. In July 1866 he received a further six months in irons for trying to cut the lock out of his door, but in August Moondyne Joe succeeded in escaping again. Moondyne Joe formulated a plan to escape the colony by travelling overland to South Australia, but was captured on 29 September about 300 kilometres (190 mi) north-east of Perth. As punishment for escaping and for the robberies committed while on the run, Moondyne Joe received five years hard labour on top of his remaining sentence. Extraordinary measures were taken to ensure that he did not escape again. He was transferred to Fremantle Prison where a special "escape-proof" cell was made for him, built from stone, lined with jarrah sleepers and over 1000 nails. In early 1867 Moondyne Joe was set to work breaking stone, but rather than permit him to leave the prison, the acting comptroller-general ordered that the stone be brought in and dumped in a corner of the prison yard, where Moondyne Joe worked under the constant supervision of a warder. Governor John Hampton was so confident of the arrangements, he was heard to say to Moondyne Joe: "If you get out again, I'll forgive you". However, the rock broken by Moondyne Joe was not removed regularly, and eventually a pile grew up until it obscured the guard's view of him below the waist. Partially hidden behind the pile of rocks, he occasionally swung his sledgehammer at the limestone wall of the prison. On 7 March 1867, Moondyne Joe escaped through a hole he had made in the prison wall. A few days before the second anniversary of his escape, Moondyne Joe was recaptured, returned to prison, and sentenced to an additional four years in irons. Eventually, Governor Frederick Weld heard of his predecessor Hampton's promise, and decided that further punishment would be unfair. Moondyne Joe was given a ticket of leave in May 1871. #### The Fenians From 1865 to 1867, British authorities rounded up supporters of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, or Fenians, an Irish independence movement, and transported sixty-two of them to Western Australia. In 1869, John Boyle O'Reilly escaped on the American whaling ship Gazelle and settled in Boston. Later that year, pardons were issued to many of the imprisoned Fenians, after which only eight militant Fenians remained in Western Australia's penal system. The Fenians in America bought the whaling ship Catalpa, which on 29 April 1875 sailed from New Bedford, Massachusetts on a secret rescue mission. Coordinating with local Fenian agents, the escape was arranged for 17 April 1876, when most of the Convict Establishment garrison would be watching the Royal Perth Yacht Club regatta. Catalpa dropped anchor in international waters off Rockingham and dispatched a whaleboat to the shore. At 8.30 am, six Fenians who were working in work parties outside the prison walls absconded, and were met by carriages that raced 50 kilometres (31 mi) south to where the boat was waiting. The whaleboat managed to rendezvous with Catalpa the following day, which then headed out to sea. They were chased by the steamship SS Georgette, which had been commandeered by the colonial governor. Though Georgette caught up with the whaler on 19 April, Catalpa's master claimed they were in international waters, and that an attack on Catalpa would be considered an act of war against the United States. Not wanting to cause a diplomatic incident, Georgette allowed Catalpa to flee. #### Brenden Abbott Brenden Abbott, "the Postcard Bandit", escaped from Fremantle Prison in 1989. He had been sentenced to twelve years in prison for "Australia's first 'drop in'-style bank robbery" at the Belmont branch of the Commonwealth Bank. While working in the prison's tailor shop, he was able to stitch together overalls resembling those worn by the guards. Abbott and two accomplices took the opportunity to escape, wearing the overalls, when left unsupervised in the workshop. They cut through a bar and got onto the roof. One accomplice fell and broke his leg, but Abbott and the other managed to jump over to the wall, and thus escape. Abbott avoided capture until 1995, committing various robberies as he moved across Australia. He also escaped from a Queensland prison after two years and returned to Western Australia, allegedly robbing the Commonwealth Bank's Mirrabooka branch. Abbott was recaptured in Darwin, six months after his escape, and was sent to a Queensland maximum-security prison with a twenty year sentence to serve. ### Riots There have been various prisoner riots and other disturbances at Fremantle Prison over the years that it was operational. One of the earliest was in 1854, while major riots which occurred in 1968 and 1988 resulted in damage to the prison. #### 1968 A riot occurred on 4 June 1968, precipitated by the serving of allegedly contaminated food to prisoners the previous evening. Other factors that contributed were the rudimentary and deplorable state of sanitation and personal cleanliness facilities, tougher sentencing introduced with the Parole Act of 1964, and the overcrowding. When the work bell was rung at 1 pm, prisoners rebelled; refusing to go back to work, they assembled themselves in the exercise yards. The prison superintendent Mr Thorpe negotiated with two deputations of prisoners. As well as better food, they demanded single cells and the dismissal of specific wardens. After approximately three hours, the negotiations broke down, and that night's evening meal was withheld. That caused the prisoners to riot, breaking fittings; during the commotion, three prison officers, three prisoners, and a detective sustained injuries. Additional police and wardens arrived at 5 pm, but took seven hours to subdue the prisoners, with the last of them locked in their cells just after midnight. The extent of the damage was in the order of \$200 to \$300 (\$3,000 – \$5,000 in 2021). To relieve the overcrowding and reduce prisoner agitation, around 60 men who had not taken part in the riot were transferred to prisons at Albany, Geraldton, Karnet, and Barton's Mill. However, other improvements could not be undertaken without funding from the state government, which did not consider prison reform a priority. #### 1988 On 4 January 1988, despite the 42 °C (108 °F) heat, officers decided prisoners should remain outside in the exercise yards in the afternoon. As division 3 prisoners were let inside at around 4 pm, a voice exclaimed "Let's take 'em", and simultaneously, guards were splashed with boiling water, usually used for making tea. A horde of prisoners stormed the cellblock, attacking the guards with whatever makeshift weapons they could find. This resulted in pandemonium; prisoners rushed along landings, overpowering officers and taking them hostage, while at the same time, other prisoners darted between cells, starting fires. The prisoners withdrew to the exercise yard, taking six hostages, as flames quickly overran the building, spread into the rafters, and caused the roof to collapse. Police negotiators communicated with the ring leaders, and by nightfall only five hostages remained. Meanwhile, the fire brigade had trouble bringing the inferno in the main cell block under control, as the prison's gate was too narrow for their trucks, and prisoners impeded their endeavours by throwing debris at them. The prisoners' leaders made three demands: a meeting with Attorney General Joe Berinson, access to the media, and a guarantee of no retribution afterwards. The next morning, after 19 hours, the hostages were released, even though only the third demand had been met. Prisoners did, however, have an opportunity to communicate with the press during the siege, as the riot was a live media event with television helicopters filming from overhead. Although there were no deaths, the fire caused \$1.8 million of damage, and officers were injured. In the aftermath of the riot, there was extensive media attention on Fremantle Prison, and investigative journalists uncovered prior warnings to the prison authorities of the risk of such an event. The government hastily initiated an enquiry into the incident, and a report was completed within six weeks. A trial involving thirty-three prisoners charged over the riot was also held, the largest in the state's history, which resulted in lengthened sentences for the prisoners. ## Conservation ### Heritage listing Fremantle Prison was listed in the Western Australian Register of Historic Places as an interim entry on 10 January 1992 and included as a permanent entry on 30 June 1995. Described as the best preserved convict-built prison in the country, it became the first building in Western Australia to be listed on the Australian National Heritage List, in 2005. The Australian Federal Heritage Minister, Senator Ian Campbell, stated that it would be included in a nomination of eleven convict areas to become World Heritage Sites. Five years later, these locations were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2010 as the Australian Convict Sites. The process of obtaining World Heritage listing focused historical interpretation and conservation efforts on the prison's convict era. This came at the expense of its more recent history, included use as an internment centre during World War II, and the imprisonment of Aboriginal prisoners. The prioritisation, evident from the first conservation plans from before the prison closed, is reflected in the branding of the tourist experience as "Fremantle Prison – the Convict Establishment", and through restorations that, while necessary to prevent damage and deterioration, strip away the site's recent history. ### Restoration Various parts of Fremantle Prison have had restoration works undertaken since the 1990s; a total of \$800,000 was spent between 1996/97 and 1998/99 on works which included restoring the facade of the Anglican chapel. In 2005, work was undertaken on the restoration of the prison gatehouse area. Non-original rendering was removed and the original stonework was revealed. Work was also completed on the tunnels during 2005/06, and the main cell block was restored with an eighteen month, \$1.9 million project in 2006 and 2007. The gallows room was restored in 2013 to conditions at the time of the last execution, in 1964. ## Tourism Fremantle Prison receives international and domestic tourists, as well as ex-prisoners, former prison officers, and their descendants. Tourist numbers increased each year from 2001/02 to 2009/10, up from almost 105,000 to nearly 180,000 over that period. As of 2018, the prison has won, been a finalist in, or received other commendation at tourism or heritage awards each year since 2006. While the tourist experience is based on authenticity and heritage values, some details are concealed or de-emphasised, such as prison tattooing, riots, and graffiti portraying revenge, sexuality, or brutality. Attractions include guided tours, a visitors' centre with searchable convict database, art gallery, café, gift shop, and tourist accommodation. Educational activities are regularly held for school children, as are exhibitions and re-enactments of historical events. Functions such as theme parties and dinners are held in the prison, with re-enactments serving as entertainment. Tours of the prison show aspects of prison life and recount successful and attempted escapes. Sections of the tunnels are accessible, and night tours focus on the prison's reputation for being haunted. The Fremantle Prison Collection contains around 15,000 items associated with the prison's site, history, or the experiences of its workers and prisoners. It is also involved in preserving oral histories, with interview transcripts stored at Fremantle Prison and recordings archived in the Battye Library Oral History Collection. Recollections have been recorded since 1989, and include the experiences of authorities, staff, volunteer visitors, and prisoners. The Fremantle Prison records and collections, including archaeological, provide a substantial resource for researchers. The Prison Gallery showcases and offers for sale the artworks of current and ex-prisoners of Western Australia. It also hosts other exhibits related to the history of the prison, including historical artefacts. Many cells and areas of the prison depict prisoners' artwork, including that of the 19th-century forger James Walsh, whose artwork was hidden beneath layers of white-wash for decades. Painting or drawing on walls was originally forbidden, though graffiti, which could be viewed as art or vandalism, occurred throughout the prison's operational years. This rule was relaxed in special cases – including, from 1976, long-term prisoners within their own cells – but only for work considered art and not graffiti. Art, or art therapy, was not officially permitted until the 1980s; graffiti was never formally permitted, but in the prison's last six months, with closure imminent, the rule was not enforced. A more contemporary prison artist was Dennis (NOZ) Nozworthy, who stated that he found art on death row, in 1982. Some of his work currently is held in the collections of Curtin University, Perth Central TAFE, and the WA Government, Department of Justice. Other cells contain Aboriginal artwork, many by unknown artists. The Walmajarri artist Jimmy Pike started painting in Fremantle prison, having received tuition from Steve Culley and David Wroth. ## See also - List of reportedly haunted locations - List of convict ship voyages to Western Australia - Parkhurst apprentices - Tourism in Perth - Notable prisoners: - David Birnie – a serial killer - John Button – served 5 years after being wrongfully convicted of manslaughter - Bon Scott – the former lead singer of rock band AC/DC spent time in the Assessment Centre before being transferred to Riverbank Juvenile Institution - James Wilson – an Irish Nationalist
70,604,093	1990–91 Gillingham F.C. season	1,154,364,684	null	[ "1990–91 Football League Third Division by team", "Gillingham F.C. seasons" ]	During the 1990–91 English football season, Gillingham F.C. competed in the Football League Fourth Division, the fourth tier of the English football league system. It was the 59th season in which Gillingham competed in the Football League, and the 41st since the club was voted back into the league in 1950. Early in the season, Ron Hillyard, the club's long-serving goalkeeper, ended his playing career with a club record number of appearances. Gillingham's form was inconsistent in the first half of the season; after falling to 17th in the league table, the team began a lengthy unbeaten run and were 10th at the end of 1990. Around the end of March, Peter Beadle and David Crown, two of the team's regular starting forwards, were injured and both missed most of the remainder of the season. The team went 10 consecutive games without winning between the last game of March and the first of May and finished the season 15th in the Fourth Division. Gillingham also competed in three knock-out competitions. The team were eliminated in the first round of both the FA Cup and Football League Cup. Gillingham progressed from the initial group stage of the Associate Members' Cup but lost in the first round proper. The team played a total of 52 competitive matches, winning 14, drawing 19 and losing 19. Steve Lovell was the team's top goalscorer, with 19 in the Fourth Division and 21 in all competitions. He also made the most appearances, playing in every match. The highest attendance recorded at the club's home ground, Priestfield Stadium, was 8,004, for a game against local rivals Maidstone United. ## Background and pre-season The 1990–91 season was Gillingham's 59th season playing in the Football League and the 41st since the club was elected back into the League in 1950 after being voted out in 1938. It was the club's second consecutive season in the Football League Fourth Division, the fourth tier of the English football league system. In the previous season, the first since being relegated from the Third Division, Gillingham had finished 14th out of 24 teams. At the start of the season, Damien Richardson was the club's manager, a post he had held since April 1989. His assistant manager was Ron Hillyard, who was also the club's first-choice starting goalkeeper at the start of the season. Alan Walker was the team captain. Richardson signed only one new player ahead of the new season: David Crown, a 32-year old forward who had played nearly 400 Football League games and scored over 120 goals, joined from Southend United for a transfer fee of . Veteran defender Paul Haylock was among several players released by the club; after playing nearly 200 games for Gillingham he joined their local rivals Maidstone United. The club adopted a new kit design, adding a pattern of white diagonal stripes of varying thicknesses and vertical shadow stripes to the team's traditional blue shirts. As the shirts were cut from large bolts of fabric, the exact pattern of stripes varied from shirt to shirt, something which also occurred with some other unusually-patterned kits of the era. The second-choice kit, to be worn in the event of a clash of colours with the opposition, was all red. The team prepared for the new season with a number of friendly matches, including a 1–0 defeat at home to Ipswich Town and a 4–1 defeat at home to West Ham United, both of the Second Division, as well as a goalless draw with the Australian Olympic team, who were undertaking a tour of Europe. ## Fourth Division ### August–December Gillingham's first match of the season was at their home ground, Priestfield Stadium, against Darlington. Crown did not make his debut as he had been injured in a friendly; Peter Heritage and Steve Lovell were the starting forwards. Lovell scored the only goal from a penalty kick in a 1–0 victory, during which Gillingham's Billy Manuel was sent off for violent conduct. Lovell also scored in the next three league games, including twice in a 3–0 win at home to Hartlepool United on 8 September, giving him a total of five league goals in the first four games. On 15 September, Hillyard made his final appearance for Gillingham in a 2–1 defeat away to Scarborough, injuries bringing an end to a playing career with the club which had begun in 1974. His total of 563 Football League games for Gillingham fell short of fellow goalkeeper John Simpson's record of 571 but Hillyard ended his career with a club record total of 655 games for the club across all competitions. Harvey Lim, who had served as back-up to Hillyard during the previous season, replaced him in goal for the next game against Hereford United, and played every game during the remainder of the season apart from a three-match spell in March when he was suspended after being sent off. Crown made his debut in the sixth league game of the season when he came on as a substitute in a home game against Maidstone United on 22 September; the game between the two Kent-based clubs drew an attendance of 8,004, Gillingham's largest home crowd of the season. Maidstone, who had only gained promotion from non-League football in 1989, won 2–0, meaning that they had beaten Gillingham at Priestfield in both seasons since they had entered the Football League. Three days later, David McDonald, a teenaged defender signed on loan from Tottenham Hotspur of the Football League First Division after an injury to Joe Dunne, made his debut in a 1–1 draw against York City; Ian Docker scored his first goal for Gillingham after more than 50 games for the team. Gillingham ended the month 14th in the league table. Lovell scored twice in both of the team's first two games in October, a 2–1 win over Carlisle United and a 2–2 draw with Rochdale, taking his league goals total to nine in nine games; after the game manager Richardson told the press that Lovell "personifies everything that is good about the game. People talk about his goals but his play has been superb this season. He has taken the role of leader and I think he has reached his peak." In the next eight matches, however, Lovell scored only twice. Crown made his first appearance in the starting line-up on 20 October against Blackpool. That game resulted in the second of three defeats for the team in the final four games of October, leaving them 17th in the table. On 9 November Gillingham won for the first time in five weeks with a 2–1 victory over Halifax Town; Crown scored the opening goal, his first for the club. The team followed this up with a 4–0 win over Cardiff City, their biggest victory of the season so far, and the first time Gillingham had scored four or more goals in a game since September 1989. On 15 December, Gillingham extended their unbeaten league run to five games by beating Burnley 3–2 with three goals from Crown in the first 27 minutes of the game; it was the first time a Gillingham player had scored a hat-trick in the first half of a game since 1973. The team's final game of 1990 was a goalless draw at home to Northampton Town; Gillingham ended the year 10th in the Fourth Division, three points below the promotion play-off places. ### January–May Gillingham's first match of the new year ended in a 1–1 draw away to Stockport County on 1 January with a goal from 18-year-old forward Peter Beadle, who had played intermittently in the first half of the season, mainly as a substitute. The team played three further league matches in January and drew them all, extending their unbeaten run to twelve games. They only won four of the twelve matches, however, and by the end of January had dropped to 12th in the league table. The last of the four consecutive draws was away to Darlington on 29 January, a game in which Darlington had two players sent off and the referee was hit in the face by an apple thrown from the crowd. Four days later, Gillingham achieved their first Fourth Division win of 1991, a 2–1 victory over Hereford United. The next game resulted in a 2–0 defeat to Cardiff City on 15 February, ending an unbeaten league run stretching back to October; Lim was sent off during the defeat, leading to midfielder Docker taking over in goal. As this resulted in Lim serving a three-match suspension, Richardson signed goalkeeper Peter Gleasure on loan from Northampton Town to cover his absence. Following the defeat to Cardiff, Gillingham beat Halifax Town 1–0, but then lost the next two games, falling to 14th in the table. Paul Hague, a teenaged defender, made his debut away to Carlisle United on 12 March, a game which Gillingham won 4–0, the team's biggest away win since 1968. Beadle scored twice; Crown and Lovell scored the other goals. Lovell was by now playing in a midfield role with Beadle and Crown starting in the forward positions. Gillingham drew their next two games but then beat Rochdale 3–1, Beadle again scoring twice. Both of Gillingham's first-choice forwards were missing from the team for most of the latter stages of the season due to injury. Beadle played his last game of the season against Walsall on 30 March; two days later Crown was substituted against Lincoln City and would not play again until the penultimate match of the season more than a month later. Crown's replacement against Lincoln was Adrian Owers, a midfielder newly signed on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion for the remainder of the season. With two of his key forwards missing, Richardson moved Mike Trusson, usually a midfielder, into an attacking role. When questioned as to why he did not move Lovell, still the team's leading goalscorer, back into a forward position, Richardson told the press "he is not a centre-forward but would have been expected to fulfill the centre-forward's role [...] In my opinion he is best left where he is at the moment." Gillingham played eight matches in April and failed to win any, achieving only two draws and losing the other six; by the end of the month they were 16th in the table. Tony Butler, another teenaged defender, made his debut in a 2–2 draw against Blackpool on 20 April and retained his place in the team for the remainder of the season; he went on to play 180 games for the club. He was one of three defenders aged 18 or under in the team for the game against Blackpool, along with Hague, who returned to the starting line-up having been absent for a month, and Richard Carpenter. Four days later Gillingham were defeated again by Maidstone, losing 3–1 at Watling Street. Gillingham's winless run extended to ten games with three defeats in which they failed to score any goals, culminating on 4 May with a 3–0 loss away to Wrexham, who were bottom of the division. The run finally ended in the last match of the season at home to Doncaster Rovers when goals from Mark O'Connor and Lovell gave Gillingham a 2–0 victory. The team finished the season in 15th place in the Fourth Division with 54 points, 18 points below the promotion play-off places and 14 above 24th-placed Wrexham. ### Match details Key - In result column, Gillingham's score shown first - H = Home match - A = Away match - pen. = Penalty kick - o.g. = Own goal Results ### Partial league table ## Cup matches ### FA Cup As a Fourth Division team, Gillingham entered the 1990–91 FA Cup in the first round and were paired with AFC Bournemouth of the Third Division; the match took place 11 days after the teams had met in the Associate Members' Cup. Gillingham lost 2–1 and were eliminated from the competition. #### Match details Key - In result column, Gillingham's score shown first - H = Home match - A = Away match - pen. = Penalty kick - o.g. = Own goal Results ### Football League Cup Gillingham entered the 1990–91 Football League Cup in the first round and their opponents were Shrewsbury Town of the Third Division. It was a two-legged tie, with the first leg at Priestfield where Lovell scored the only goal as Gillingham defeated their higher-level opponents. A week later, however, Shrewsbury won the second leg 2–0 at their Gay Meadow ground and thus won the tie by an aggregate score of 2–1, ending Gillingham's participation in the League Cup. #### Match details Key - In result column, Gillingham's score shown first - H = Home match - A = Away match - pen. = Penalty kick - o.g. = Own goal Results ### Associate Members' Cup The 1990–91 Associate Members' Cup, a tournament exclusively for Third and Fourth Division teams, began with a preliminary round in which the teams were drawn into groups of three, contested on a round-robin basis; Gillingham's group included AFC Bournemouth and Maidstone United. Gillingham's first game was away to Bournemouth and resulted in a 0–0 draw. Three weeks later Gillingham defeated Maidstone 4–1 at home; the result meant that they finished second in the group and qualified for the first round proper, in which their opponents were fellow Fourth Division team Hereford United. In front of a crowd of 1,455, the lowest of the season at Priestfield, Gillingham lost the match 1–0 and were eliminated from the competition. #### Match details Key - In result column, Gillingham's score shown first - H = Home match - A = Away match - pen. = Penalty kick - o.g. = Own goal Results ## Players Twenty-eight players made at least one appearance for Gillingham during the season; Lovell made the most, playing in all 52 games. Walker, O'Connor, Trusson, Lim and Manuel all played more than 40 times. Lim was named the club's player of the year. Gary West, who had a brief loan spell with the club, and teenagers Dave Jordan and Mark Dempsey, who both made their professional debut during the season, tied for the fewest games played, each making only 2 appearances. Dempsey went on to make over 50 appearances for the club, but Jordan left without playing again and dropped into non-League football. Ten players scored at least one goal for the team. Lovell was the leading goalscorer, with 19 goals in the Fourth Division, 1 in the League Cup and 1 in the Associate Members' Cup for a total of 21 in all competitions. It was the fourth consecutive season in which he was the team's top scorer. Crown was the only other player to reach double figures, scoring 12 times in the league and 14 times in all competitions. ## Aftermath Writing in the programme for the final match of the season, the club's chief executive, Barry Bright, expressed "abject disappointment" at the team's failure to achieve promotion, blaming injuries to key players and the fact that too many games resulted in draws. Most of the team's regular starters remained at the club for the following season, although Manuel moved to Brentford for . In the 1991–92 season, Gillingham again spent most of the season in mid-table, finishing 11th. The team would eventually achieve promotion back to the third tier of English football in 1996, ending a spell of seven seasons at the lower level.
53,692,650	Pru (album)	1,169,223,081	null	[ "2000 debut albums", "Capitol Records albums", "Contemporary R&B albums by American artists", "Neo soul albums" ]	Pru is the debut studio album by American singer Pru. It was released on November 7, 2000, through Capitol Records. Pru was managed by Capitol Records executive Roy Lott, who had signed Pru to Warner/Chappell Music Publishing after being impressed by her songwriting and voice on a demo tape. Pru collaborated with Ben Garrison, the Characters, and Rick Williams on the album. According to Lott, Pru was part of Capitol Records' attempts to attract a wider audience through her crossover appeal. According to music critics, the album encompasses several genres, with some commentators noting influences from neo soul. Pru also used poetry as an inspiration for writing music. Reviews of the album were generally positive, singling out in particular its composition and Pru's voice. They also compared her favorably to contemporary artists. The album peaked at number 176 on the Billboard 200 chart, an achievement made possible in part by an intensive marketing strategy devised by Capitol Records executives. Two singles – "Candles" and "Aaroma (of a Man)" [sic] – were released to positive reviews. "Candles" peaked at number 68 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Billboard chart. ## Background and recording American singer Prudencesa Renfro, professionally known as Pru, was signed through Warner/Chappell Music Publishing by Capitol Records' executive Roy Lott, who said that he was "drawn to" her songwriting and voice. Jack Ponti, of Cazzy Dog Management, had helped Pru produce a demo tape to secure the record deal. Lott had noted Pru's potential as an artist through her lyrics. He worked closely with her to match her songwriting to the most appropriate sound, serving as the executive producer for her debut studio album Pru. Prior to securing a record deal, Pru had found inspiration for her music in artists such as Cassandra Wilson and Dianne Reeves. She wrote song lyrics and poetry while attending high school and then Texas Southern University, coupling her lyrics with the music of other artists such as Michael Jackson, Rachelle Ferrell, Sade, Naughty by Nature, the Isley Brothers, and Miles Davis. While discussing her approach to songwriting, Pru elaborated: "From a word, I can get a whole picture, a visual. The song becomes a poem, almost like a thesis." She considered her music as a form of poetry, citing the album track "Hazy Shades" as an example of a poem turned into a song. Pru stated that she wanted her songs to bring variety to contemporary R&B, and described the material as the opposite of the formulaic music typically found on radio. On her official website, the singer identified her style as connected with the soul. Though AllMusic gives the singer songwriting credit on twelve of the tracks, Pru is only credited for co-writing "Aaroma" on the album's liner notes. The record was completed at Studio 57 and Weight Room in New York City, with mixing handled by Mike Shipley and Tony Maserati. Following release of the album, Pru spoke highly of her experiences with the producers and felt that they "la[id] a good bed around the lyrics and the melodies". ## Composition and sound Pru comprises thirteen songs, among which music critics identified several different musical genres. Tucson Weekly'''s Margaret Regan wrote that Pru's material was an example of new age music, while Janine Coveney of Billboard called the singer's sound as "alterna-soul/pop music". AllMusic's Ed Hogan noted that the songs combined hip hop, Latin music, contemporary R&B, rock, and trip hop. Pru called the opening track, "Prophecy of a Flower", the album's focal point, saying that "everything else falls a little to the left and to the right of that". The R&B and soul song's lyrics incorporate words from the he loves me... he loves me not game. The second track, "183 Miles", combines hip hop and country music, its lyrics revolving around a love story. Sampling the Miracles' 1965 song "The Tracks of My Tears", "Candles" is a "midtempo groove" that features the titular object, candles, as a metaphor for "stress (burned at both ends) and healing (lit for meditation)". The Miracles' single was a direct inspiration for the lyrics and instrumentation on the track. Hogan, however, saw "Candles" as diverging from the song's message. Coveney described "Aaroma", the fourth track, as offering a "sexy challenge" to the listener. Pru adapted one of the song's lyrics, "If a man came my way and I didn't doubt him", from one of her poems. While discussing the meaning of the title, the singer said it derived from an "old southern saying: 'I could smell you coming'". "Hazy Shade" is a ballad that Hogan described as "recall[ing] 'blue light in the basement' old skool slow jams". Preceded by "Salsa Interlude", Pru's cover of Sade's 1984 single "Smooth Operator" features a stronger Latin-inspired instrumental than the original. Hogan noted that the song included "popping percussion and fluttery flute runs". The ending of the ninth track, "Can't Compare Your Love", takes inspiration from spoken word performances, and the following song ,"Sketches of Pain", deliberately plays with the title of Miles Davis' 1960 album Sketches of Spain. Colin Ross of PopMatters described the twelfth track, "What They Gone Do?", as featuring a "brassy two-step" in its instrumentation. ## Release and promotion On August 19, 2000, Pru was first announced as an untitled album scheduled for release the following month. Pushed back to October 24, 2000, the album was developed under the working title Inside A Poem – a reference to Pru's poetic style of songwriting. Retitled Pru, Capitol Records released the record on November 7, 2000, as an audio CD, cassette, and digital download. It was also made available as an "enhanced audio CD", which contains multimedia computer files and a video entitled "In the Life of Pru". Pru reached a peak position of number 176 on the Billboard 200, spending two weeks on the chart, and peaked on Billboard's R&B Albums at number 38, leaving the chart after thirty-two weeks. Prior to the album's release, Pru performed with a band that included members of the Family Stand at the Los Angeles venue Luna Park and the New York City club S.O.B. She sang later in Chicago, Houston, and Atlanta to promote the album further. Pru also toured with the Family Stand and members of Sade. While discussing the album's promotion, Linton said: "Pru is a live performance artist and, being new, we wanted people to get their first impression of her in that environment". According to Billboard magazine, Capitol Records had placed significant focus on the marketing for the album, including the release of an electronic press kit and promotion through "non-retail accounts". Lott told Billboard magazine that Pru would act as a primary part of Capitol Records' attempt to attract a wider audience with her crossover appeal. David Linton, Capitol Records' senior vice president of R&B promotion and marketing, identified R&B, adult contemporary music, and top 40 music as potential markets for the singer. ### Singles Released as the lead single from Pru, "Candles" was sent to rhythmic radio stations in the United States during the first week of September. Lott said the song was chosen as Pru's debut single as he felt that its allusions to the Miracles' song would appeal to listeners of all ages. It was further promoted by its inclusion on a back-to-school CD sampler from retailer Delia's. Director Dave Meyers shot the accompanying music video, which was released on November 25, 2000. The video premiered on MTV in February 2001, following roughly two months of rotation on BET. "Candles" reached number 68 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Billboard chart where it spent fourteen weeks, and peaked at number 65 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay Billboard chart where it spent ten weeks. For both chart appearances, Billboard credited the song as appearing on The Sound of Style: Capital Records Fall 2000 Collection. Critical response to "Candles" was positive. David Dickinson, a music director at WHUR-FM, felt the single would be appropriate for radio and praised its production and Pru's voice. A writer from Billboard magazine complimented the lyrics and Pru's vocal performance, contrasting the artist's "cool, literate sensibility [against] the blatant sexual overtones" from other contemporary R&B female singers, but expressed doubt that hip-hop and mainstream R&B stations would play the song, seeing it as better suited for adult R&B radio. "Aaroma" was released as the album's second single under the modified title "Aaroma (of a Man)". A writer from Billboard magazine compared its lyrics positively to those in Toni Braxton's "Un-Break My Heart" (1996). Another reviewer from the same publication singled out the track as one of the best from the album. According to a Billboard article published on June 16, 2001, dance and R&B remixes of the song were commissioned from Hani al-Badir and Carlos "Six July" Broady, respectively; the remixes were scheduled to be added to a re-release of the album. A music video for the single was filmed in June 2001. The song was also featured on the EMI-released album Celebrating Black Music Sampler 2001. Along with the two singles "Candles" and "Aaroma (of a Man)", the record was promoted as featuring "Smooth Operator" and "183 Miles". ## Critical reception Upon its release, Pru received positive feedback from music critics. Ed Hogan praised Pru's experimentation with musical genres. In discussing its many influences, Colin Ross wrote that the album never sounded uneven or disjointed. He commended the singer for communicating a range of emotions, by turns seeming "innocent, self-assured, uncertain, elated and vulnerable", praising in particular the album's instrumentation and lyrics. A Billboard writer described Pru as "sparkl[ing] with colorfully imaged songs about love won, lost and anticipated". USA Today's Steve Jones praised the performer for the "remarkable depth in her poetics about joy and heartbreak". Jones wrote that the album demonstrated that Pru had a clear sense of what she wanted to achieve for her career and sound. Ebony's Lynn Norment described her as possessing a "rich, earthy voice and lyrical talent", responding positively to the artist's influences from scripture and poetry. A writer for Sister 2 Sister commended Pru for her ability to convey emotion to the listener, and identified "Prophecy of a Flower" as their favorite track from the album. The Houston Press' Craig D. Lindsey praised Pru's music and live performances, describing her songs as "soulful, earthy and organic" and the antithesis to music such as Destiny's Child's 1999 single "Bills, Bills, Bills". The album was called "[a]rtful ... stunning ... sexy" by a reviewer from People. Several media outlets compared Pru to other artists, with a Billboard reviewer attributing the singer as writing in the same style as contemporary neo soul performers. The singer's voice was compared to Lauryn Hill, Macy Gray, and Erykah Badu by AllMusic's Stacia Proefrock. She was classified as part of an "emerging school of poetics" by Ross, who said that she was "subtly changing the landscape of contemporary R&B lyricism". A Billboard reviewer also placed the singer as a member of "the new soul movement", and compared her work to that of Angie Stone, Amel Larrieux, Jill Scott, and Badu. A writer from the journal Today's Black Woman saw Pru as part of the neo soul genre along with Badu and Scott, saying that these singers incorporated in their music "traditional R&B as well as its new millennium, hip-hop inspired modern counterpart". Pru responded positively to the comparisons, saying: "What I think is being classified as the neo-soul classic movement has artists that are individually different in their own right, but aren't different from modern R&B." ## Track listing Credits adapted from the liner notes of Pru. All tracks are produced by Ben Garrison, the Characters, Pru, and Rick Williams. ## Personnel Credits adapted from the liner notes of Pru'' and AllMusic. - Kwaku Alston – photography - Marc Anthony – guitar - Linda Cobb – art direction, design - Leah Coloff – cello - Jeff Crews – assistant engineer, engineer - Loren Dawson – violin - Daphaney Epps – backing vocals - Mark Fineberg – flute, horn - Ben Garrison – African percussion, arranger, drum programming, engineer, producer, vocal percussion - Ben "Hollowell" Garrison – engineer - Genvieve – make-up - Lisa Gutkin – violin - Roy "Royalty" Hamilton – keyboards - Chaz Harper – engineer - Lamenga Kafi – backing vocals - David Laurence – viola - Roy Lott – executive producer - Tony Maserati – mixing - Ozzie Melendez – horn - Mika Mukawa – assistant engineer, engineer - Jack Ponti – direction, management - Nikki Ponti – production coordination - Pru – arranger, primary artist, producer, vocals - Hernán Santiago – assistant engineer, engineer - Todd Schwartz – horn - Mike Shipley – mixing - Maggie Sikkens – A&R - Troy Taylor – Fender rhodes, organ, piano, synthesizer, backing vocals, Wurlitzer - Rick Williams – arranger, bass, guitar, producer, songwriter, vocal percussion - Basia Zamorska – stylist ## Charts ## Release history
357,926	Eurasian crag martin	1,161,402,188	Small passerine bird in the swallow family	[ "Birds described in 1769", "Birds of Eurasia", "Birds of North Africa", "Ptyonoprogne", "Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli" ]	The Eurasian crag martin or just crag martin (Ptyonoprogne rupestris) is a small passerine bird in the swallow family. It is about 14 cm (5.5 in) long with ash-brown upperparts and paler underparts, and a short, square tail that has distinctive white patches on most of its feathers. It breeds in the mountains of southern Europe, northwestern Africa and across the Palearctic. It can be confused with the three other species in its genus, but is larger with brighter tail spots and different plumage tone. Many European birds are resident, but some northern populations and most Asian breeders are migratory, wintering in northern Africa, the Middle East or India. The Eurasian crag martin builds a nest adherent to the rock under a cliff overhang or increasingly onto a man-made structure. It makes a neat half-cup mud nest with an inner soft lining of feathers and dry grass. Nests are often solitary, although a few pairs may breed relatively close together at good locations. Two to five brown-blotched white eggs are incubated mainly by the female, and both parents feed the chicks. This species does not form large breeding colonies, but is gregarious outside the breeding season. It feeds on a wide variety of insects that it catches with its beak while flying near to cliff faces or over streams and alpine meadows. Adults and young may be hunted and eaten by birds of prey or corvids, and this species is a host of blood-sucking mites. With its large, expanding range and large population, there are no significant conservation concerns involving the species. This bird is closely related to the other three crag martins which share its genus, and has sometimes been considered to be the same species as one or more of them, although it appears that there are areas where two species' ranges overlap without hybridisation occurring. All four Ptyonoprogne crag martins are quite similar in behaviour to other Old World swallows that build mud nests, and are sometimes subsumed into the larger genus Hirundo, but this approach leads to inconsistencies in classifying several other genera, particularly the house martins. ## Taxonomy The Eurasian crag martin was formally described as Hirundo rupestris by Italian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1769 and was moved to the new genus Ptyonoprogne by German ornithologist Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach in 1850. Its nearest relatives are the three other members of the genus, the pale crag martin, P. obsoleta, the rock martin, P. fuligula, and the dusky crag martin, P. concolor. The genus name is derived from the Greek ptuon (πτύον), "a fan", referring to the shape of the opened tail, and Procne (Πρόκνη), a mythological girl who was turned into a swallow. The specific rupestris means "of rocks", from the Latin rupes "rock". There are no generally recognised subspecies. Two races, Central Asian P. r. centralasica and P. r. theresae in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, have been proposed, but the slight differences in size and colour show no consistent geographical pattern. Fossils of this species have been found in Late Pleistocene deposits in Bulgaria, and in central France in layers dated at 242,000 to 301,000 years ago. The four Ptyonoprogne species are members of the swallow family, and are placed in the subfamily Hirundininae, which comprises all swallows and martins except the very distinctive river martins. DNA studies suggest that there are three major groupings within the Hirundininae, broadly correlating with the type of nest built. The groups are the "core martins" including burrowing species like the sand martin, the "nest-adopters", which are birds like the tree swallow that use natural cavities, and the "mud nest builders". The Ptyonoprogne species construct an open mud nest and therefore belong to the last group; Hirundo species also build open nests, Delichon house martins have a closed nest, and the Cecropis and Petrochelidon swallows have retort-like closed nests with an entrance tunnel. Ptyonoprogne is closely related to the larger swallow genus Hirundo into which it is often subsumed, but a DNA analysis showed that an enlarged genus Hirundo should logically contain all the mud-builder genera, including the Delichon house martins, a practice which few authorities follow. Although the nests of the Ptyonoprogne crag martins resemble those of typical Hirundo species like the barn swallow, the research showed that if Delichon, Cecropis and Petrochelidon are split from Hirundo, Ptyonoprogne should also be treated as a separate genus. ## Description The Eurasian crag martin is 13–15 cm (5.1–5.9 in) long, with a 32–34.5 cm (12.6–13.6 in) wingspan, and weighs an average 23 g (0.81 oz). It has ash-brown upperparts and paler underparts, and has a broader body, wings and tail than any other European swallow. The tail is short and square, with white patches near the tips of all but the central and outermost pairs of feathers. The underwing and undertail coverts are blackish, the eyes are brown, the small bill is mainly black, and the legs are brownish-pink. The sexes are alike, but juveniles have buff-brown tips to the plumage of the head, upperparts and wing coverts. This species can be distinguished from the sand martin by its larger size, the white patches on the tail, and its lack of a brown breast band. Where the range overlaps with that of another Ptyonoprogne species, the Eurasian crag martin is darker, browner and 15% larger than the rock martin, and larger and paler, particularly on its underparts than the dusky crag martin. The white tail spots of the Eurasian crag martin are significantly larger than those of both its relatives. The crag martin's flight appears relatively slow for a swallow. Rapid wing beats are interspersed with flat-winged glides, and its long flexible primaries give it the agility to manoeuvre near cliff faces. The average migration flight speed has been measured at 9.9 m/s (32.5 ft/s), less than the roughly 11 m/s (36 ft/s) typical for hirundines, but the data is limited. The bird often flies high, and shows the white spots as it spreads its tail. The vocalisations include short high pli, and piieh and tshir calls resembling those of the linnet and the house martin, respectively. ## Distribution and habitat The Eurasian crag martin breeds in mountains from Iberia and northwesternmost Africa through southern Europe, the Persian Gulf and the Himalayas to southwestern and northeastern China. Northern populations are migratory, with European birds wintering in north Africa, Senegal, Ethiopia and the Nile Valley, and Asian breeders going to southern China, the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East. Some European birds stay north of the Mediterranean, and, like martins in warmer areas such as India, Turkey and Cyprus, just move to lower ground after breeding. The breeding range is bounded by the 20 °C (68 °F) July isotherm, and wintering areas need a temperature of about 15 °C (59 °F) for enough insect food to be available. This is a rare species any distance north of its breeding areas. For example, there are only 12 records from the UK, none from Ireland, and the first record for Sweden was reported as recently as 1996. South of its normal wintering range, it has occurred as a vagrant in The Gambia. In 2022, the first nesting of the species was recorded on the territory of the Slovak Republic in the Malá Fatra National Park. Crag martins breed on dry, warm and sheltered cliffs in mountainous areas with crags and gorges. The typical altitude is 2,000–2,700 m (6,600–8,900 ft) but breeding occurs up to 5,000 m (16,000 ft) in Central Asia. The Eurasian crag martin's choice of nest sites is very similar to that of Savi's pipistrelle, Hypsugo savii; the bird and the bat often breed in the same locations and have almost identical ranges in Europe. In South Asia, migrant Eurasian birds sometimes join with flocks of the dusky crag martin and roost communally on ledges of cliffs or buildings. The largest known wintering roost of Eurasian crag martins has been recorded at the Gorham's Cave Complex in Gibraltar. The caves were home to a maximum of 12,000 birds during the 2020-2021 winter season; 1-2% of the entire European population of Eurasian crag martins. ## Behaviour ### Breeding Crag martin pairs nest alone or in small colonies, usually containing fewer than ten nests. Nests are on average 30 m (98 ft) apart and each pair aggressively defends its breeding territory against other crag martins and most other bird species. Nesting takes place from May to August, and usually two broods are raised. The nest, built by both adults, is an open half cup made of mud and lined with soft material such as feathers or dry grass. It is constructed under an overhang on a rock cliff face, in a crevice or cave, or on a man-made structure. It takes one to three weeks to build and is re-used for the second brood and in subsequent years. The clutch is two to five eggs with an average of three. The eggs are white with brownish blotches particularly at the wide end, and average 20.2 mm × 14.0 mm (0.80 in × 0.55 in) with a weight of 2.08 g (0.073 oz). The eggs are incubated mainly by the female for 13–17 days to hatching, and the chicks take another 24–27 days to fledge. Both parents feed the chicks bringing food every two to five minutes, and the young are fed for 14–21 days after fledging. With such frequent feeding rates the adults mainly forage in the best hunting zones in the immediate vicinity of the nest, since the further they fly to forage the longer it would take to bring food to the chicks in the nest. In an Italian study, the hatching rate was 80.2 percent, and the average number of fledged young was 3.1. The crag martin has over the last few decades increasingly used houses and other man-made sites to nest. This greater availability of breeding sites has enabled the species to expand its range, but it is possible that this will lead to competition with other hirundines, such as the barn swallow and common house martin, which also use artificial nest sites. An Italian study showed that, as with other aerial feeders, the start of breeding was delayed by cold or wet weather, but this had no influence on the clutch size nor on the number of fledged young. Unexpectedly, it was found that once the eggs had hatched there was a negative relationship between temperature and the number of fledged young. The authors suggested that hot weather dried up the small rivers where the parents found food. Colony size did not influence the laying date, the clutch size or the number of successfully fledged young, but this species does not form large colonies anyway. ### Feeding The Eurasian crag martin feeds mainly on insects caught in its beak in flight, although it will occasionally take prey items off rocks, the ground, or a water surface. When breeding, birds often fly back and forth near to a rock face hunting for insects, feeding both inside and outside the nesting territory. At other times, they may hunt while flying above streams or alpine meadows. The insects taken depend on what is locally available and may include flies, ants, aerial spiders, and beetles. Aquatic species such as stoneflies, caddisflies and pond skaters appear to be important in at least Spain and Italy. Unlike other hirundines, these birds feed close to their breeding sites, and may be locally vulnerable to fluctuations in insect availability. This martin is gregarious outside the breeding season, and may form sizeable flocks where food is abundant. Cliff faces generate standing waves in the airflow which concentrate insects near vertical areas. The crag martin exploits the area close to the cliff when it hunts, relying on its high manoeuvrability and ability to perform tight turns. ### Winter roost fidelity Eurasian crag martins are known to form large roosts in winter, with the largest known roost being the Gorham's Cave Complex in Gibraltar. A study carried out at these caves and published in Scientific Reports in 2021, revealed that birds showed very high fidelity towards individual caves within and between years. Mark-recapture showed there was over a 90% chance of recapturing birds at the caves where they were first caught. The condition of birds from different caves suggests differences in roost quality which correlates to the fitness of Eurasian crag martins and, ultimately, survivorship. ## Predators and parasites This species is occasionally hunted by the peregrine falcon, which shares its mountain habitat, and during its migration over the Himalayas, it is reported to be subject to predation by crows. Common kestrels, Eurasian sparrowhawks, Eurasian jays and common ravens are also treated as predators and attacked by repeated dives if they approach nesting cliffs. Despite the general aggressiveness of the crag martin, it tolerates sympatric common house martins, perhaps because the large numbers of that highly colonial species provide an early warning of predators. The crag martin is a host of blood-sucking mites of the genus Dermanyssus, including D. chelidonis, and of the nasal mite Ptilonyssus ptyonoprognes. Two new species of parasites were first discovered on this martin, the fly Ornithomya rupes in Gibraltar and the flea Ceratophyllus nanshanensis from China. ## Status The European population of the Eurasian crag martin is estimated to be 360,000–1,110,000 individuals, including 120,000–370,000 breeding pairs. A rough estimate of the worldwide population is 500,000–5,000,000 individuals, with Europe hosting between one-quarter and one-half of the total. The population is estimated to be increasing following a northward expansion, which may be partly due to increased use of man-made structures as nest sites. Expansions of the range have been reported in Austria (where motorway bridges are used as nest sites), Switzerland, the former Yugoslavia, Romania, and Bulgaria. With its very large range and high numbers, the Eurasian crag martin is not considered to be threatened, and it is classed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. ## Cited texts
218,947	Derek Jeter	1,173,490,275	American baseball player (born 1974)	[ "1974 births", "2006 World Baseball Classic players", "2009 World Baseball Classic players", "21st-century African-American businesspeople", "African-American Catholics", "African-American baseball players", "Albany-Colonie Yankees players", "American League All-Stars", "American people of English descent", "American people of German descent", "American people of Irish descent", "American philanthropists", "Baseball players from Michigan", "Baseball players from New Jersey", "Baseball players from the Bronx", "Businesspeople from Michigan", "Businesspeople from New Jersey", "Businesspeople from New York City", "Catholics from Michigan", "Catholics from New Jersey", "Catholics from New York (state)", "Columbus Clippers players", "Gold Glove Award winners", "Greensboro Hornets players", "Gulf Coast Yankees players", "Kalamazoo Central High School alumni", "Living people", "Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVPs", "Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners", "Major League Baseball executives", "Major League Baseball players with retired numbers", "Major League Baseball shortstops", "Miami Marlins executives", "Miami Marlins owners", "National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees", "New York Yankees players", "People from Marlboro Township, New Jersey", "People from North Arlington, New Jersey", "People from Pequannock Township, New Jersey", "Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders players", "Silver Slugger Award winners", "Sportspeople from Kalamazoo, Michigan", "Sportspeople from Morris County, New Jersey", "Tampa Yankees players", "Trenton Thunder players", "World Baseball Classic players of the United States", "World Series Most Valuable Player Award winners" ]	Derek Sanderson Jeter (/ˈdʒiːtər/ JEE-tər; born June 26, 1974) is an American former professional baseball shortstop, businessman, and baseball executive. As a player, Jeter spent his entire 20-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the New York Yankees. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2020; he received 396 of 397 possible votes (99.75%), the second-highest percentage in MLB history (behind only teammate Mariano Rivera) and the highest by a position player. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) and part owner of the league's Miami Marlins from September 2017 to February 2022. A five-time World Series champion with the Yankees, Jeter is regarded as a central contributor to the franchise's dynasty during the late 1990s and early 2000s for his hitting, base-running, fielding, and leadership. He is the Yankees' all-time career leader in hits (3,465), doubles (544), games played (2,747), stolen bases (358), times on base (4,716), plate appearances (12,602) and at bats (11,195). His accolades include 14 All-Star selections, five Gold Glove Awards, five Silver Slugger Awards, two Hank Aaron Awards, and a Roberto Clemente Award. Jeter was the 28th player to reach 3,000 hits and finished his career ranked sixth in MLB history in career hits and first among shortstops. In 2017, the Yankees retired his uniform number 2. The Yankees drafted Jeter out of high school in 1992, and he debuted in the major leagues at age 20 in 1995. The following year, he became the Yankees' starting shortstop, won the Rookie of the Year Award, and helped the team win the 1996 World Series over the Atlanta Braves. Jeter continued to excel during the team's championship seasons of 1998–2000; he finished third in voting for the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in 1998, recorded multiple career-high numbers in 1999, and won both the All-Star Game MVP and World Series MVP Awards in 2000. He consistently placed among the AL leaders in hits and runs scored for most of his career, and served as the Yankees' team captain from 2003 until his retirement in 2014. Throughout his career, Jeter contributed reliably to the Yankees' franchise successes. He holds many postseason records, and has a .321 batting average in the World Series. Jeter has earned the nicknames "Captain Clutch" and "Mr. November" due to his outstanding play in the postseason. Jeter is one of the most heavily marketed athletes of his generation and is involved in numerous product endorsements. As a celebrity, his personal life and relationships with other celebrities have drawn the attention of the media. ## Early life Jeter was born on June 26, 1974, in Pequannock Township, New Jersey, the son of accountant Dorothy (née Connors) and substance abuse counselor Sanderson Charles Jeter. His mother is of English, German, and Irish ancestry, while his father is African-American. They met while serving in the United States Army in Germany. His father played baseball at Fisk University in Tennessee as a shortstop, and holds a PhD. When Jeter was a child, his parents made him sign a contract every year that defined acceptable and unacceptable forms of behavior. Dorothy instilled a positive attitude in her son, insisting that he not use the word "can't." It was a baseball family, and Jeter's younger sister Sharlee (born c. 1979) was a softball star in high school. The Jeters lived in New Jersey until Derek was four years old, at which point they moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan. At age five Jeter began playing little league baseball. The children lived with their parents during the school year and spent their summers with their grandparents in New Jersey. Attending New York Yankees games with his grandparents, Jeter became a passionate fan of the team. Watching star outfielder Dave Winfield inspired him to pursue a career in baseball. Jeter attended Kalamazoo Central High School, where he ran cross country in the fall, played basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring. Jeter posted high batting averages for the school's baseball team; he batted .557 in his sophomore year and .508 as a junior. In his senior year, he batted .508 and compiled 23 runs batted in (RBIs), 21 walks, four home runs, a .637 on-base percentage (OBP), a .831 slugging percentage (SLG), 12 stolen bases (in 12 attempts), and only one strikeout. Jeter received several honors after his senior season, including the Kalamazoo Area B'nai B'rith Award for Scholar Athlete, the 1992 High School Player of the Year Award from the American Baseball Coaches Association, the 1992 Gatorade High School Player of the year award, and USA Today's High School Player of the Year. He also received an All-State honorable mention in basketball. Jeter earned a baseball scholarship to attend the University of Michigan and play college baseball for the Michigan Wolverines. ## Professional career ### Draft The Houston Astros held the first overall pick in the 1992 MLB draft. Hall of Fame pitcher Hal Newhouser, who worked for the Astros as a scout, evaluated Jeter extensively and lobbied team management to select him. Fearing Jeter would insist on a salary bonus of at least \$1 million to forgo college for a professional contract, they chose Cal State Fullerton outfielder Phil Nevin, who signed for \$700,000. Newhouser felt so strongly about Jeter's potential that he quit his job with the Astros in protest after they ignored his drafting advice. The Yankees, who selected sixth, also rated Jeter highly. Yankees scout Dick Groch, assigned to scout in the Midwest, watched Jeter participate in an all-star camp held at Western Michigan University. Though Yankees officials were concerned that Jeter would attend college instead of signing a professional contract, Groch convinced them to select him, saying, "the only place Derek Jeter's going is to Cooperstown." The second through fifth picks were Paul Shuey, B. J. Wallace, Jeffrey Hammonds, and Chad Mottola; those five would combine for two All-Star Game appearances (Nevin and Hammonds). The Yankees drafted Jeter, who chose to turn pro, signing for \$800,000. ### Minor leagues (1992–1995) Jeter played four seasons in Minor League Baseball, formally known as the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (NAPBL). Jeter began the 1992 season with the Gulf Coast Yankees of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League, based in Tampa, Florida. In his first professional game, Jeter failed to get a hit in seven at-bats, going 0-for-7, while striking out five times. Jeter continued to struggle during the rest of the season, batting .202 in 47 games. Manager Gary Denbo benched Jeter in the season's final game to ensure his average would not drop below .200, known in baseball as the Mendoza Line. Homesick and frustrated by his lack of success, Jeter accrued \$400-per-month phone bills from daily calls to his parents. The Yankees promoted Jeter to the Greensboro Hornets of the Class A South Atlantic League (SAL) to give him more at-bats. He batted .247 in his first 11 games with Greensboro, and struggled defensively, making nine errors in 48 chances. Weighing 156 pounds (71 kg), Jeter had a scrawny appearance that did not match his reputation as the Yankees' future leader. Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte, who played for the Hornets that season, at first questioned the hype surrounding Jeter, but recognized his talent and poise. Jeter focused the next offseason on his fielding. Baseball America rated Jeter among the top 100 prospects in baseball before the 1993 season, ranking him 44th. Returning to the Hornets in 1993, his first full season of professional baseball, Jeter hit .295 with five home runs, 71 RBIs, and 18 stolen bases; SAL managers voted him the "Most Outstanding Major League Prospect" in the league. He finished second in the SAL in triples (11), third in hits (152), and 11th in batting average, and was named to the postseason All-Star team. Jeter committed 56 errors, a SAL record. Despite this, he was named the SAL's Best Defensive Shortstop, Most Exciting Player, and Best Infield Arm by Baseball America. Coming off his strong 1993 season, Baseball America rated Jeter as the 16th-best prospect in baseball. Jeter played for the Tampa Yankees of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League (FSL), the Albany-Colonie Yankees of the Class AA Eastern League, and the Columbus Clippers of the Class AAA International League during the 1994 season, combining to hit .344 with five home runs, 68 RBIs, and steal 50 bases across the three levels. He was honored with Minor League Player of the Year Awards by Baseball America, The Sporting News, and Topps/NAPBL. He was also named the most valuable player of the FSL. Considered the fourth-best prospect in baseball by Baseball America heading into the 1995 season, Jeter was projected as the starting shortstop for the Yankees. However, he suffered mild inflammation in his right shoulder in the Arizona Fall League after the conclusion of the 1994 regular season. As a precaution, the Yankees signed Tony Fernández to a two-year contract. With Fernández the starting shortstop, the Yankees assigned Jeter to Class AAA. During the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike, Gene Michael, the Yankees' general manager, offered Jeter the opportunity to work out for the MLB team with replacement players in spring training before the 1995 season. Jeter denied receiving the offer, and he did not cross the picket line. ### New York Yankees (1995–2014) #### 1995–1998 Early in the 1995 season, Fernández and infielder Pat Kelly were injured. Consequently, Jeter made his MLB debut on May 29, 1995. He was assigned uniform number 2, which was most recently worn by Mike Gallego from 1992 to 1994. Batting ninth, he went hitless in five at bats, striking out once. The following day, he recorded his first two major league hits and scored his first two career runs. Jeter batted .250 and committed two errors in 13 games before being returned to Class AAA Columbus; Fernández replaced Jeter at shortstop. The Yankees advanced to the postseason in 1995. Jeter traveled with the team during the 1995 American League Division Series (ALDS), though he was not on the active roster. The Yankees lost to the Seattle Mariners. After Fernández batted a disappointing .245 and appeared in only 108 games due to injuries in 1995, newly hired Yankees manager Joe Torre turned to Jeter for the 1996 season, hoping for a .250 batting average and dependable defense. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, often skeptical of younger players, was unconvinced. After Clyde King, a close Steinbrenner advisor, observed Jeter for two days in spring training in 1996, he came away with the impression that Jeter was not yet ready to contribute at the major league level. To provide depth to the team at the shortstop position after an injury to Fernández, Steinbrenner approved a trade that would have sent pitcher Mariano Rivera to the Mariners for shortstop Félix Fermín, but Michael, by then the vice president of scouting, and assistant general manager Brian Cashman convinced Steinbrenner to give Jeter an opportunity. Rated the sixth-best prospect in baseball by Baseball America heading into the 1996 season, Jeter started on Opening Day, the first Yankee rookie to start as shortstop for the team since Tom Tresh in 1962. He hit his first MLB home run that day. With his speed and ability to execute the hit and run, Jeter served as a complement to leadoff hitter Tim Raines while batting in the ninth spot in the batting order. By year's end Jeter far exceeded Torre's expectations – and anyone's – hitting .314 with 10 home runs, 104 runs scored, and 78 RBIs. He was named the unanimous AL Rookie of the Year, receiving all 28 first-place votes in only the fifth sweep in the honor's 50-year history. The Yankees reached the 1996 postseason, and Torre batted Jeter in the leadoff spot based on his strong year-long performance. During Game 1 of the 1996 American League Championship Series (ALCS), the Yankees trailed the Baltimore Orioles 4–3 in the eighth inning when Jeter hit a fly ball to right field that was ruled a home run by the umpires after 12-year-old fan Jeffrey Maier reached over the wall to catch the ball. Though the ball would have remained in play if not for Maier, and could have been caught by Tony Tarasco, the home run stood as called, tying the game. It marked the first home run of Jeter's postseason career. The Yankees won the game and defeated the Orioles in five games. Overall, Jeter batted .361 in the 1996 postseason, helping to lead the Yankees offensively with Bernie Williams, as Wade Boggs, Paul O'Neill, and Tino Martinez struggled. The Yankees defeated the Atlanta Braves in the 1996 World Series to win their first championship since the 1978 World Series. Following his Rookie of the Year season, Jeter was considered to be among a "new crop" of MLB shortstops on the rise, along with Alex Rodriguez and Nomar Garciaparra, as the careers of older shortstops such as Cal Ripken Jr., Barry Larkin, Ozzie Smith, and Alan Trammell were concluding. Rodriguez, the first overall selection in the 1993 MLB draft, first contacted Jeter about his experiences as a high first-round pick. The two became friends to the extent that The New York Times journalist Jack Curry commented "[r]arely have two higher-profile opponents been as close." Rodriguez described Jeter as being "like my brother," even though they were on-field adversaries. Before the 1997 season, Jeter and the Yankees agreed on a \$540,000 contract with performance bonuses. Becoming the Yankees' leadoff batter, Jeter batted .291, with 10 home runs, 70 RBIs, 116 runs, and 190 hits. Though he hit two home runs during the 1997 American League Division Series, the Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians, three games to two. Jeter earned \$750,000 for the 1998 season. That year, Jeter was selected for his first All-Star Game. In the regular season, he batted .324 with a league-leading 127 runs, 19 home runs, and 84 RBIs, for a team that won 114 games during the regular season and is widely considered to be one of the greatest of all time. In the playoffs, Jeter hit only .176 in the 1998 ALDS and ALCS, but batted .353 in the World Series, as the Yankees defeated the San Diego Padres in four games. At season's end, Jeter finished third in voting for the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award. #### 1999–2002 Eligible for salary arbitration for the first time before the 1999 season, Jeter was awarded a \$5 million salary. Jeter led the AL in hits that season with 219, while finishing second in the league in batting average (.349) and runs scored (134), appearing in his second All-Star game that year. His season totals in batting average, runs, hits, runs batted in, doubles (37), triples (9), home runs (24), SLG (.552), and OBP (.438) are all personal bests. Jeter, who for part of the year hit third in the batting order, also drove in 102 runs, becoming only the second Yankee shortstop to do so, following Lyn Lary's 107 RBIs in 1931. In the postseason, Jeter batted .455 in the ALDS, .350 in the ALCS, and .353 in the World Series, as the Yankees defeated the Braves to win another championship, Jeter's third. During the 1999–2000 offseason, the Yankees negotiated with Jeter, tentatively agreeing to a seven-year, \$118.5 million contract. However, because Steinbrenner did not want to set a record for the largest contract, Steinbrenner waited while Juan González and the Detroit Tigers negotiated on a reported eight-year, \$143 million contract extension. When that agreement fell through, so did Jeter's tentative deal. To avoid arbitration, Jeter and the Yankees agreed to a one-year deal worth \$10 million. Jeter batted a team-best .339 in the 2000 regular season and added 15 home runs, 73 RBIs, 119 runs scored, and 22 stolen bases. In the 2000 MLB All-Star Game, he recorded three hits, including a two-run single that gave his team the lead and victory. The performance earned him the All-Star Game MVP Award, the first time a Yankee won the award. During the postseason, he batted only .211 in the Division Series but rebounded to hit .318 in the Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners, and .409 in the World Series against the New York Mets. Jeter added two home runs, a triple, and two doubles in the World Series, including a leadoff home run on the first pitch of Game 4 and a triple later in the third inning. His home run in Game 5 tied the game and extended his World Series hitting streak to 14 games. The Yankees defeated the Mets in five games for their third consecutive title and fourth in Jeter's first five full seasons. Jeter won the World Series MVP Award, becoming the first (and so far only) player to win the All-Star Game MVP and World Series MVP Awards in the same season. With one year remaining until he would become eligible for free agency, Jeter signed a ten-year, \$189 million contract before the 2001 season to remain with the Yankees. Alex Rodriguez had signed a ten-year, \$252 million contract with the Texas Rangers earlier in the offseason, setting the market for Jeter's negotiations. Jeter became the second-highest-paid athlete across all team sports and auto racing, trailing only Rodriguez. The \$18.9 million average annual value of Jeter's contract was the third-highest in baseball, behind only Rodriguez (\$25.2 million) and Manny Ramirez (\$20 million). In 2001, Jeter posted another strong season, batting .311 with 21 home runs, 74 RBIs, 110 runs scored, and 27 stolen bases, making his fourth All-Star appearance. Jeter made a notable defensive assist in Game 3 of the 2001 American League Division Series against the Oakland Athletics. With Jeremy Giambi on first base, Oakland right fielder Terrence Long hit a double off Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina into the right-field corner. As Giambi rounded third base and headed for home plate, Yankees right fielder Shane Spencer retrieved the ball and made a wild throw that missed cut-off man Tino Martinez and dribbled down the first-base line. Jeter ran from shortstop to grab the ball and flipped it backhanded to catcher Jorge Posada, rather than throwing it overhand. Posada tagged Giambi out on the leg just before he crossed home plate, preserving the Yankees' one-run lead. Facing elimination, the Yankees eventually won the game, as well as the series. The play, known as "The Flip," was later voted seventh in Baseball Weekly's 10 Most Amazing Plays of all time, and won the 2002 Best Play ESPY Award. As a result of the September 11 attacks, the start of the playoffs was delayed and the season's end was extended past the usual October timeframe. The Yankees advanced to the 2001 World Series to face the Arizona Diamondbacks. Game 4 marked the first time that any non-exhibition MLB game had been played in the month of November. In extra innings, Jeter hit a game-winning home run off of Byung-hyun Kim. The words "Mr. November" flashed on the scoreboard, alluding to former Yankee Reggie Jackson's nickname, "Mr. October." Despite the home run, Jeter slumped at the plate; he denied injuries were a factor, though a fall into a photographer's box trying to catch a foul ball may have aggravated an earlier hamstring injury. Jeter batted .148 in the World Series, as the Yankees lost in seven games. Jeter batted .297, with 18 home runs, 75 RBIs, 124 runs scored, 191 hits, and a career-best 32 stolen bases during the 2002 regular season. He led the majors in stolen base percentage (91.4%), getting caught only three times. He made his fifth All-Star appearance. In the 2002 postseason, the Anaheim Angels defeated the Yankees in the ALDS on their way to winning the World Series. #### 2003–2008 On Opening Day of the 2003 season, Jeter dislocated his left shoulder when he collided with Toronto Blue Jays catcher Ken Huckaby at third base. He was placed on the disabled list for six weeks and missed 36 games; he had never played fewer than 148 games in the prior seven full seasons. Jeter returned to bat .324, finishing third in batting average to Bill Mueller, who batted .326. Ramirez finished second. Steinbrenner named Jeter the captain of the Yankees on June 3, 2003, following eight seasons without a captain after Don Mattingly retired in 1995. That postseason, Jeter batted .314 with two home runs, five RBIs, and 10 runs scored across 17 playoff games, including three hits in Game 3 of the 2003 World Series against the Florida Marlins – the only three hits Josh Beckett allowed during the game. Jeter committed a crucial error in a Game 6 loss, and the Marlins won the series in six games. The Yankees acquired Rodriguez from the Texas Rangers during the 2003–04 offseason. Rodriguez had won two Gold Glove Awards at shortstop and was considered the best shortstop in baseball. Jeter—who had no Gold Gloves at the time—remained the team's starting shortstop while Rodriguez moved to third base. Rodriguez's fielding range allowed Jeter to cede ground to his right to Rodriguez and cheat to his left: fielding balls hit to his left is a weakness identified by scouts. The 2004 season began with Jeter mired in a slump, at one point getting only one hit in a span of 36 at-bats; through April, he batted .168. His batting average improved to .277 by the All-Star break in July. Jeter made the All-Star team and finished the season with a .292 average; 23 home runs, the second-most of his career; 78 RBIs; 111 runs scored; and a career-best 44 doubles, which broke the Yankee single-season record for doubles by a shortstop, besting Tony Kubek's 38 in 1961. He batted .316 with a team-leading four RBIs as the Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins in the 2004 ALDS. Jeter struggled in the 2004 ALCS, batting .200 with one extra base hit, as the Yankees lost the series to the Red Sox in seven games, despite winning the first three games. In the 12th inning of a tied game on July 1, 2004, against their rivals, the Boston Red Sox, Trot Nixon hit a pop fly down the left field line. Jeter ran from his position at shortstop and made an over-the-shoulder catch. He launched himself over the third-base side railing and two rows of seats, receiving a lacerated chin and bruised face. The Yankees went on to win the game in the bottom of the 13th inning. This was voted the Play of the Year in the This Year in Baseball Awards competition, as voted on by fans at MLB.com. Following the 2004 season, Jeter was presented with his first Gold Glove Award; his diving catch on July 1 was cited as a reason for the award. Though Jeter was fourth among shortstops in fielding percentage and errors, two traditional fielding statistics, critics pointed to his lower ratings in the more advanced sabermetric statistics, such as range factor and ultimate zone rating (UZR). Jeter was second in the AL in runs scored (122) in the 2005 season, and was third in the league in both at bats (654) and hits (202). Though his critics continued to see Jeter as a liability defensively, he won his second consecutive Gold Glove in 2005. Orlando Cabrera of the Angels had a higher fielding percentage and committed fewer errors, but voters noted that Jeter had more assists. Though Jeter batted .333 during the 2005 ALDS, the Yankees lost to the Angels. For the 2006 season, the Yankees signed Johnny Damon to play center field and lead off, moving Jeter to the second position in the batting lineup. During the 2006 season, Jeter recorded his 2,000th career hit, becoming the eighth Yankee to reach the milestone. Jeter finished the season second in the AL in both batting average (.343) and runs scored (118), third in hits (214), and fourth in OBP (.417), earning his seventh All-Star selection. Jeter batted .500 with one home run in the 2006 ALDS, including a perfect 5-for-5 performance in Game 1, making him the sixth player to record five hits in one postseason game. The Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, three games to one. Many expected Jeter would win the AL MVP Award for 2006. In a close vote, Jeter finished second in the voting to Justin Morneau of the Twins. It was his sixth top-10 finish in the MVP balloting in 11 full seasons through 2006. Though he lost the MVP Award, he won the Hank Aaron Award, given for superior offensive performance. He also won his third consecutive Gold Glove Award. Though the Yankees continued to struggle with postseason failures, Jeter remained a consistent contributor. During the 2007 season, Jeter was third in the AL with 203 hits, his third consecutive season and sixth overall, with at least 200 hits. He also finished ninth in batting average (.322). He was selected for his eighth All-Star appearance. In the field, he was involved in turning a career-high 104 double plays. He struggled during the 2007 ALDS, batting 3-for-17 (.176) with one RBI, as the Indians defeated the Yankees. Jeter hit his 400th career double on June 27, 2008, and his 200th home run on July 12. Jeter's slugging percentage (SLG) dropped to .410 in the 2008 season, his lowest mark since 1997. His offense took an upward turn after May as he hit .322 with a .824 OPS after June 1. Jeter was elected to his ninth All-Star game as the starting shortstop. He finished the season with a .300 batting average. Jeter tied Lou Gehrig's record for hits at Yankee Stadium (1,269) with a home run off Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price on September 14, 2008. On September 16, he broke the record against Chicago White Sox pitcher Gavin Floyd. The Yankees were eliminated from postseason contention, the only full season in Jeter's career where he did not compete in the playoffs. Following the final game in Yankee Stadium history, Jeter made a speech at the request of the Yankees, thanking the Yankees fans for their support—a moment later voted by fans as the Moment of the Year in MLB.com's This Year in Baseball Awards: > From all of us up here, it's a huge honor to put this uniform on every day and come out here and play. Every member of this organization, past and present, has been calling this place home for 85 years. There's a lot of tradition, a lot of history and a lot of memories. The great thing about memories is you're able to pass them along from generation to generation. Although things are going to change next year and we're going to move across the street, there are a few things with the New York Yankees that never change. That's pride, tradition and most of all, we have the greatest fans in the world. We're relying on you to take the memories from this stadium and add them to the new memories we make at the new Yankee Stadium and continue to pass them on from generation to generation. We just want to take this moment to salute you, the greatest fans in the world. #### 2009–2013 For the 2009 season, Yankees manager Joe Girardi switched Jeter and Damon in the batting order, with Damon moving to second and Jeter to the leadoff role. Jeter batted .334, third-best in the AL, with a .406 OBP, an .871 OPS, 18 home runs, 66 RBIs, 30 stolen bases in 35 attempts, 107 runs scored, 72 walks, and 212 hits (second in MLB). Defensively, Jeter committed a career-low eight errors, and his .986 fielding percentage was his career best. The addition of Gold Glove-winning first baseman Mark Teixeira allowed second baseman Robinson Canó to shift his focus to his right, helping Jeter. During the season, the Sporting News named Jeter eighth on their list of the 50 greatest current players in baseball. Jeter achieved two career hit milestones in the second half of the 2009 season. On August 16, 2009, against the Seattle Mariners, Jeter doubled down the right-field line for his 2,675th hit as a shortstop, breaking Luis Aparicio's previous major league record. Then, Jeter became the all-time hits leader as a member of the Yankees (2,722), passing Lou Gehrig on September 11, 2009. The hit was a single off Baltimore Orioles pitcher Chris Tillman in the third inning. In the 2009 postseason, Jeter batted .355, including .407 in the 2009 World Series, as he won his fifth World Series championship. He was named Sportsman of the Year for 2009 by Sports Illustrated, and won the Roberto Clemente Award, Hank Aaron Award, his fourth Gold Glove Award and his fourth Silver Slugger Award. Jeter also finished third in the AL MVP voting, behind Minnesota's Joe Mauer and Yankee teammate Mark Teixeira. It was also the fifth championship for Pettitte, Posada, and Rivera, who along with Jeter were referred to as the "Core Four." In 2010, Jeter, along with Posada and Rivera, became the first trio of teammates in any of the four major league sports in North America (MLB, NFL, NBA, or NHL) to play in at least 16 consecutive seasons on the same team as teammates. The 2010 season was statistically Jeter's worst in many respects. The Yankee captain batted .270 with a .340 OBP and .370 SLG, all career lows, as he hit more ground balls than usual. Despite this, Jeter was elected to start at shortstop in the All-Star Game. He rebounded to bat .342 in his last 79 at-bats after making adjustments to his swing with the help of Kevin Long, the Yankees hitting coach, who had successfully helped Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson make adjustments that improved their production. With Long, Jeter changed the way he strode with his left leg. Following the season, Jeter won his fifth Gold Glove award. Jeter committed six errors during the season, his lowest total in 15 full seasons. After the 2010 season, Jeter became a free agent for the first time in his career. At age 36, Jeter appeared to be in decline; Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus suggested that Jeter, once a "good, not great" shortstop, had declined to become "below average" defensively, to the extent that he would likely need to change positions; Cashman later acknowledged that Jeter might need to shift to the outfield. Though Jeter stated that he wanted to remain with the Yankees, negotiations became tense. Jeter's agent, Casey Close, stated that he was "baffled" by the Yankees' approach to the negotiations, and Cashman, now the team's general manager, responded publicly that Jeter should test the open market to ascertain his value, which angered Jeter. According to reports, Jeter initially sought a four-year contract worth between \$23 million and \$25 million per season. He reached an agreement with the Yankees on a three-year contract for \$51 million with an option for a fourth year. He spent the offseason working with Long on adjustments to his swing. The adjustments left Jeter frustrated, as he batted .242 in the first month of the 2011 season. As he struggled, it appeared that the 2011 season was the continuation of Jeter's decline. Jeter broke Rickey Henderson's franchise record for stolen bases when he stole his 327th base against the Mariners on May 28, 2011. He suffered a calf injury on June 13 that required his fifth stint on the 15-day disabled list, and his first since 2003. At that point, he was batting .260 for the 2011 season with a .649 OPS. Rehabilitating from his injury in Tampa, Jeter worked on his swing with Denbo, his former minor league manager. With Denbo, Jeter returned to the mechanics he used in his minor league days. Following his activation from the disabled list, he hit .326 with an .806 OPS in his last 64 games of the season. Jeter finished the year with a .297 batting average, six home runs, 61 runs batted in, 84 runs, and 16 stolen bases. He credited the turnaround to his work with Denbo; Long acknowledged that his attempt to adjust Jeter's swing did not work. On July 9, 2011, Jeter recorded his 3,000th career hit, a home run off of David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays. Jeter finished the day with five hits in five at-bats, the second player to have five hits on the day he achieved his 3,000th hit (the first was Craig Biggio). He also became the second player to hit a home run for his 3,000th hit, Wade Boggs having done so in 1999. The last of Jeter's five hits proved to be the game-winning hit. He is the only member of the 3,000 hit club to record all of his hits with the New York Yankees. Jeter joined Honus Wagner as only the second regular shortstop to reach the 3,000 hit plateau. Only Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron, and Robin Yount were younger than Jeter on the day of their 3,000th hit. MLB and HBO produced Derek Jeter 3K, a documentary that profiled his path to 3,000 hits and originally aired on July 28, 2011. Fatigued from the stress of chasing 3,000 career hits and wanting to rest his calf, Jeter opted not to attend the 2011 MLB All-Star Game. Jeter and Posada played their 1,660th game together on July 14, 2011, breaking the previous franchise record of 1,659 by Gehrig and Tony Lazzeri. Jeter played his 2,402nd game with the Yankees on August 29, 2011, breaking Mickey Mantle's record for most games played as a Yankee. He finished the 2011 season with 162 hits, his 16th consecutive season with 150 hits, which tied him with Pete Rose for the second-most consecutive 150-hit seasons, one behind Hank Aaron for the MLB record. Jeter was honored with the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award, given in recognition of charitable endeavors. Despite continuing concerns about his age, the beginning of the 2012 season saw Jeter on a hot streak: he batted .420 through April 25. Rodriguez commented that Jeter is playing as he did in 1999, while Girardi said Jeter looks like he is 25 years old. In the 2012 MLB All-Star Game, Jeter recorded his 11th All-Star hit, passing Mantle for the most All-Star Game hits in Yankees history. Jeter went 1-for-2 in the game, moving into fourth all-time with a .458 average among players with a minimum of 12 plate appearances in the All-Star Game. Jeter finished the 2012 season with the most hits in MLB (216). Against the Tampa Bay Rays on September 14 of that year, he moved into the Top 10 on the all-time hit list, surpassing Willie Mays by beating out an infield single for his 3,284th career hit. After hitting .364 in the 2012 ALDS, Jeter fractured his left ankle during Game 1 of the 2012 ALCS against the Detroit Tigers reaching for a ground ball, an injury which ended his season. Jeter had received a cortisone shot to treat a bone bruise in his left foot in September, which could have contributed to the break. Jeter had surgery on his broken left ankle on October 20, with an expected recovery time of four to five months. While rehabilitating, Jeter suffered a small crack in the area of his previous ankle fracture. As a result, Jeter began the 2013 season on the disabled list. The Yankees activated Jeter on July 11, but after playing in one game, Jeter returned to the disabled list with a quadriceps strain. He returned to the Yankees lineup on July 28, hitting a home run on the first pitch off of Matt Moore of Tampa Bay. Jeter was again placed on the 15-day disabled list on August 5 due to a Grade 1 calf strain, and after a brief return to the lineup, he was placed on the 15-day disabled list for a third time on September 11 due to problems with his ankle, ending his season. On September 14, 2013, Jeter was transferred to the 60-day disabled list. Jeter batted .190 in only 17 games played during the 2013 season. #### Final season (2014) Jeter re-signed with the Yankees on a one-year, \$12 million contract for the 2014 season. Jeter announced on his Facebook page on February 12, 2014, that the 2014 season would be his last. During his final season, each opposing team honored Jeter with a gift during his final visit to their city, which has included donations to Jeter's charity, the Turn 2 Foundation. On July 10, Jeter recorded his 1,000th career multi-hit game, becoming the fourth player to do so. He was elected to start at shortstop in the 2014 All-Star Game, and batted leadoff for the AL. Jeter went 2-for-2, scored one run and received two standing ovations in the four innings he played at the 2014 All-Star Game. As a result, Jeter's .481 career All-Star batting average (13-for-27) ranked him fifth all-time (among players with at least 10 at-bats). At 40, Jeter also became the oldest player to have two or more hits in an All-Star Game. In July, Jeter broke Omar Vizquel's MLB career record of 2,609 games started at shortstop, and Gehrig's franchise career record of 534 doubles. On July 17, Derek scored the 1,900th run of his career becoming the 10th player in MLB history to do so. Jeter passed Carl Yastrzemski for seventh place on MLB's all-time career hit list on July 28 and on August 11 he passed Honus Wagner climbing to sixth on the all-time hits list. The Yankees honored Jeter with a pregame tribute on September 7. Beginning with that day's game, the Yankees wore a patch on their hats and uniforms honoring Jeter for the remainder of the season. In the final week of Jeter's career, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig honored him as the 15th recipient of the Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award for being "one of the most accomplished shortstops of all-time." During Jeter's final series at Yankee Stadium, Louisville Slugger announced they would retire their "P72" model baseball bat, the bat Jeter uses, though it will be sold under the name "DJ2," in Jeter's honor. The average ticket price for Jeter's final home game, on September 25, reached \$830 on the secondary market. In his final game at Yankee Stadium, Jeter hit a walk-off single against Orioles pitcher Evan Meek to win the game, 6–5. Jeter decided to play exclusively as the designated hitter in the final series of his career, at Fenway Park in Boston, so that his final memories of playing shortstop would be at Yankee Stadium. The Red Sox honored Jeter with a pregame ceremony including Red Sox retired stars Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice, Fred Lynn, Luis Tiant and Rico Petrocelli, the Boston Bruins' Bobby Orr, New England Patriots receiver Troy Brown and the Boston Celtics' Paul Pierce, while many Boston fans at Fenway Park loudly cheered for Jeter and gave him a standing ovation. In his final at-bat, he hit an RBI infield single against Clay Buchholz, before being substituted for pinch runner Brian McCann; he received an ovation from the Red Sox fans as he exited the field. ### World Baseball Classic Jeter started at shortstop for the United States national baseball team in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. He hit 9-for-20 (.450) and scored five runs in six games. Only teammate Ken Griffey Jr. (.524) and Cuba's Yoandy Garlobo (.480) had a higher batting average with a minimum of 20 at-bats. Jeter's play earned him recognition as the shortstop selection on the All-Tournament Team. In the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Jeter again started at shortstop. He was named captain of the United States team by manager Davey Johnson, and he batted 8-for-29 (.276) in eight games. Jeter and the United States team faced the Yankees at Steinbrenner Field in an exhibition game, the only time Jeter played against the Yankees. ## Player profile Jeter is considered to be one of the most consistent baseball players of all time. He played fewer than 145 games a season only three times in his career: when he dislocated his left shoulder on Opening Day 2003 (119 games), when he injured his calf in 2011 (131 games), and in 2013 when he struggled with a myriad of injuries (17 games). For his career, he averaged 204 hits, 113 runs scored and 21 stolen bases per 162 games. He is currently sixth on the all-time hits list in MLB history. Highly competitive, Jeter once said, "If you're going to play at all, you're out to win. Baseball, board games, playing Jeopardy!, I hate to lose." Jeter has been viewed as one of the best players of his generation. An aggressive hitter, Jeter swung at most pitches in the strike zone and many near it. Though right-handed hitters often pull the ball into left field, Jeter's signature inside-out swing, dubbed the "Jeterian Swing," resulted in most of his hits going to center and right field. Similarly, most of his home runs were hit to right field rather than to center or to left, as his swing took advantage of Yankee Stadium's close right-field fences. Jeter is also known for his professionalism. In an age where professional athletes often found themselves in personal scandals, he mostly avoided major controversy in a high-profile career in New York City while maintaining a strong work ethic. Due to his style of play, opponents and teammates held him in high esteem. A clubhouse leader, Jeter often defused confrontations between teammates. ### Postseason performance Jeter is noted for his postseason performances and has earned the titles of "Captain Clutch," and "Mr. November" due to his outstanding postseason play. He had a career .309 postseason batting average, and a .321 batting average in the World Series. Except for 2008, 2013 and 2014, the Yankees qualified for the postseason every year of Jeter's major league career. He holds MLB postseason records for games played (158), plate appearances (734), at-bats (650), hits (200), singles (143), doubles (32), triples (5), runs scored (111), total bases (302) and strikeouts (135). Jeter is also fourth in home runs (20) and runs batted in (61), fifth in base on balls (66) and sixth in stolen bases (18). ### Defense Jeter won five Gold Glove Awards, trailing only Vizquel, Ozzie Smith, Luis Aparicio, Dave Concepción, and Mark Belanger for most by a shortstop. He was credited with positioning himself well and for a quick release when he threw the ball. One of his signature defensive plays is the "jump-throw," by which he leapt and threw to first base while moving towards third base. Despite this, Jeter's defense was the subject of criticism from a number of sabermetricians, including Rob Neyer and the publication Baseball Prospectus. The 2006 book The Fielding Bible by John Dewan contains an essay by Bill James in which he concluded that Jeter "was probably the most ineffective defensive player in the major leagues, at any position" over his entire career. A 2008 study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that, from 2002 through 2005, Jeter was the worst defensive shortstop in MLB. Two sites that rely on advanced defensive statistics, FanGraphs.com and FieldingBible.com, rated Jeter below middle-of-the-pack status in 2010, despite his receiving his fifth Gold Glove Award that season. Jeter committed 18 errors in 2007, his highest total since finishing with 24 in 2000. After the season, Cashman and his staff saw Jeter's defense as an area that needed to be addressed. At the Yankees' request, Jeter embarked on a rigorous training program to combat the effects of age, by focusing on lateral movement and first-step quickness. Jeter's ultimate zone rating (UZR) improved from worst in the AL for shortstops in 2007 to close to league average in 2008. When asked to respond to criticism of his defense, Jeter replied: "I play in New York, man. Criticism is part of the game, you take criticism as a challenge." Jeter further asserted that many defensive factors cannot be quantified. The controversy over Jeter's fielding became a flash point for the debate over whether the analyses of statistics or subjective observation is the better method to assess a player's defensive ability and for criticism of the Gold Glove Award. ## Personal life Jeter has owned homes in Marlboro Township, New Jersey; Greenwood Lake, New York; and the Davis Islands neighborhood of Tampa, Florida. He previously owned a penthouse apartment in Manhattan's Trump World Tower. Jeter settled a tax dispute regarding his official residence with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance in 2008. New York State alleged that Jeter should have paid state income tax from 2001 to 2003, as Jeter resided in the Manhattan apartment he bought in 2001; Jeter claimed to have established his residence in Tampa Bay, Florida, in 1994, and that he was still a resident of Florida at the time. Florida has no state income tax. As of 2020, Jeter and his wife (the former Hannah Davis) reside in Miami. In September 2020, the couple listed their waterfront Tampa home for \$29 million. They subsequently listed their Greenwood Lake home in March 2021. In December 2002, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner criticized Jeter for staying out until 3 a.m. at a birthday party during the 2002 season, saying that his star shortstop "wasn't totally focused" and that "it didn't sit well" with him. The two mocked the incident in a May 2003 Visa commercial, similar to the manner in which Steinbrenner and former Yankees manager Billy Martin made light of their feud in a Miller Lite commercial during the 1970s. Jeter's personal life has been a frequent topic in gossip columns and celebrity magazines since his rookie year in 1996. He had a well-publicized relationship with singer-songwriter Mariah Carey from 1997 to 1998. Carey cowrote the song "The Roof (Back in Time)" about their first kiss. Jeter has also dated model Vida Guerra, former Miss Universe Lara Dutta, singer Joy Enriquez, television personality Vanessa Minnillo, and the actresses Jordana Brewster, Jessica Biel, and Minka Kelly. Jeter is Catholic, having been raised in the faith, attending Catholic schools as a child and identifying with the faith while playing for the Yankees. Jeter and model Hannah Davis, who had been dating since 2012, became engaged in 2015. In July 2016, the two married. They have three daughters, born in August 2017, January 2019, and December 2021, and a son born in May 2023. ## Business interests During his injury-shortened 2013 season, Jeter arranged a partnership with Simon & Schuster to form an imprint called Jeter Publishing. He called it "the blueprint for postcareer." It will begin publishing nonfiction books for adults, children's picture books, elementary grade fiction, and books for children who are learning to read. Eventually, the partnership could lead to film and television productions. On October 1, 2014, Jeter's new website, ThePlayersTribune.com, appeared online; it was billed as "a new media platform that will present the unfiltered voice of professional athletes, bringing fans closer to the games they love than ever before." It was reported by the Tampa Bay Business Journal in March 2015 that Jeter had partnered with Concessions Tampa to bid for a space within the Tampa International Airport, and plans to open a restaurant named after his website. Jeter also serves as a brand development officer for Luvo Inc. and has investment interests in multi-channel video network company, Whistle Sports Network. He explored purchasing the Buffalo Bills football team in 2014. Jeter joined the board of Rockefeller Capital Management in April 2021. ### Miami Marlins In July 2017, Jeter engaged in the bidding for ownership of the Miami Marlins. In August 2017, Jeter and Bruce Sherman finalized a deal to purchase the Miami Marlins. The sale was completed in September 2017, following unanimous approval of the other 29 MLB team owners. Though Jeter only owned a 4% stake in the franchise, he was named chief executive officer (CEO) of the team, and Sherman, the controlling owner, entrusted him to oversee day-to-day operations of the team. On February 28, 2022, Jeter announced that he would no longer serve as CEO of the Marlins or hold any shares in the club. After more than four years as the Miami Marlins' chief executive, he ended the relationship and sold his 4% ownership in the team. ### Arena Club On September 8, 2022, Jeter announced that he joined entrepreneur Brian Lee and multiple capital venture firms in launching a card grading, storage vault, and marketplace platform named Arena Club. ## Appearances outside of baseball ### Philanthropy Jeter created the Turn 2 Foundation, a charitable organization, in 1996. It was established to help children and teenagers avoid drug and alcohol addiction, and to reward those who show high academic achievement. In 2012, Jeter received an honorary doctorate from Siena College honoring him for his foundation's work. Since 2009, Jeter has served as an ambassador for Weplay, a website designed to encourage children to get involved in sports. Jeter, along with Japanese baseball player Hideki Matsui, took part in a charity baseball game at Tokyo Dome to raise funds for survivors of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. In 2018, Jeter donated furniture and household items to families forced to relocate by Hurricane Irma. In July 2019, Jeter donated \$3.2 million from the Turn 2 Foundation to the Kalamazoo Public School District to renovate the school's baseball and softball complex. ### Endorsements Jeter has appeared in national ad campaigns for Nike, Gatorade, Fleet Bank, Subway, Ford, VISA, Discover Card, Florsheim, Gillette, Skippy, and XM Satellite Radio. He endorses a cologne named Driven, designed in collaboration with and distributed by Avon. Jeter has his own Jumpman shoe. To commemorate Jeter's final year, the Jordan brand made a tribute commercial titled "#RE2PECT," which had many baseball players (such as Jon Lester) and celebrities, even rival Boston Red Sox fans, tip their caps. In 2006, Jeter was the second-highest paid endorser in baseball, behind Ichiro Suzuki, who received endorsement deals in Japan. He was ranked as the most marketable player in baseball according to the 2003, 2005, and 2010 Sports Business Surveys. A 2011 list by the marketing firm Nielsen ranked Jeter as the most marketable player in baseball, accounting for personal attributes such as sincerity, approachability, experience, and influence. ### Other appearances Jeter has appeared on television as a guest actor in the sitcom Seinfeld in the episode titled, "The Abstinence" and Saturday Night Live, a late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show, in episode 7 during season 27. He had cameo appearances in the comedy films Anger Management and The Other Guys. Jeter was the subject of a 2005 segment on the TV news magazine 60 Minutes and a 2014 episode of Finding Your Roots, a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) television series. Jeter also appears as a character in the Broadway play Bronx Bombers. Jeter made an appearance alongside Peyton Manning to celebrate Saturday Night Live's 40th Anniversary in February 2015. Video games have featured Jeter on their cover, including 2K Sports' MLB 2K5, MLB 2K6, and MLB 2K7, Acclaim Entertainment's All-Star Baseball series of video games, and Gameloft's wireless phone baseball game, Derek Jeter Pro Baseball 2008. A wax figure immortalizes Jeter at the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in New York, and a sculpture at the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory in Louisville, Kentucky. The Captain, a documentary miniseries about Jeter's life and career, debuted on ESPN on July 18, 2022. Jeter announced that he is joining Fox Sports as the MLB on Fox Studio Analyst at Super Bowl LVII on Fox Sports. ## Career highlights ### Honors Kalamazoo Central High School inducted Jeter into its athletic hall of fame in 2003 and renamed its baseball field in his honor in 2011. In 2015, Jeter was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. The Yankees retired Jeter's uniform number and unveiled a plaque in his honor that was installed at Monument Park in a pregame ceremony on May 14, 2017. On January 21, 2020, Jeter was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as part of its class of 2020 in his first year of eligibility, only one vote shy of being only the second unanimous selection in Hall of Fame history. His 99.7% of the vote was second only to Mariano Rivera (100%), and ahead of Ken Griffey (99.3%) in the history of Hall of Fame voting. He was formally enshrined in a ceremony on September 8, 2021, in Cooperstown, New York. ### Awards ### Statistical highlights - Led League - Singles (1997, 1998) - Runs scored (1998) - Hits (1999, 2012) - League Top–Ten - Hits (1997–2002, 2004–2007, 2009, 2012) - Runs scored (1997–2006, 2009, 2012) - Batting average (1998–2001, 2003–2007, 2009, 2012) - Total bases (1999) - AL MVP voting (1997–2001, 2003–2009) - AL hitters (1997, 1999–2000, 2003, 2009) ## See also - List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders - List of Major League Baseball batting champions - List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders - List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders - List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders - List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders - List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders - List of Major League Baseball career total bases leaders - List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders - List of Major League Baseball hit records - List of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise - List of New York Yankees team records - New York Yankees award winners and league leaders
43,790,120	Jacobus Anthonie Meessen	1,140,268,583	Dutch photographer (1836–1885)	[ "1836 births", "1885 deaths", "19th-century Dutch architects", "19th-century Dutch photographers", "Artists from Utrecht", "Photography in the Dutch East Indies" ]	Jacobus Anthonie Meessen (; 5 December 1836 – 14 November 1885) was a Dutch photographer who took more than 250 portraits and landscapes of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) between 1864 and 1870. Born to a carpenter in Utrecht, Meessen worked in that trade in the Indies before marrying in the Netherlands in the early 1860s. He returned to the colony in 1864, intent on documenting its land and people. He worked mostly in the capital of Batavia (now Jakarta), Java, and Padang, Sumatra; he also photographed Bangka, Belitung, Borneo, and Nias. When Meessen returned to the Netherlands in 1870, he established a short-lived partnership with Abraham Vermeulen and began disseminating his photographs. Selected images were given to King William III in an elaborately decorated album in 1871, while more were published by De Bussy in 1875 and exhibited in Paris and Amsterdam. In his final years, Meessen worked predominantly as an architect. Collections of his albumen prints, some of which were hand-tinted or annotated, are held in four institutions in the Netherlands. ## Biography Meessen was born in Utrecht, the Netherlands, on 5 December 1836 to the carpenter Hermanus Johannes Meessen and his wife Megteld Legué. In 1858, Meessen first went to Batavia (now Jakarta), the capital of the Dutch colony in the East Indies, where he worked as a carpenter. By 1860 he was living in the Purbalingga area. Two years later he returned to the Netherlands, where he served as a special inspector for the Bureau voor den Waterstaat. On 11 December 1862, he wed Johanna Alida (Jansje) Steenbeek in Utrecht, and the couple settled in that city for the next two years. Their marriage produced three daughters, born in 1865, 1866, and 1869. The first, Antonia, died in infancy. ### Photography Meessen and his wife departed for the Indies in 1864, first arriving in Batavia, where Meessen established a photo studio in early 1867. He was one of the few photographers active in the Indies in the 1860s; contemporaries included Isidore van Kinsbergen, Adolph Schaefer, and the commercial firm of Woodbury and Page (operated by Walter B. Woodbury and James Page). Meessen hoped to eventually take images of the Indies' various lands and people. From May to August, he was in Sumatra, first in Padang and later in the Minang Highlands. There he offered various photographic services, including double and family portraits. When he returned to Batavia in September, he opened another studio, offering portraits and selling prints of landscapes. Three months later Jacobus and Johanna sold their belongings and moved back to Padang, where the Meessens established a photography studio. In their biography of the photographer, Mattie Boom and Steven Wachlin suggest that this was likely a commercial necessity, as Meessen may have been unable to compete with the Batavia-based Woodbury and Page. By November 1868 Jacobus was advertising his first album, titled Sumatra's Westkust (Sumatra's West Coast). Bound in Moroccan leather, the album contained more than sixty landscapes of Padang and surrounding cities (including Padang Panjang and Fort de Kock). By June 1869, his studio at the Sumatra Hotel was offering workshops, as well as images from northern Sumatra and Nias. Altogether, Meessen's photographic ventures in the Indies – and the resulting albums – cost some 34,000 Netherlands Indies gulden, which included camera equipment (though it is not known what model(s) he used), chemicals, transportation, and accommodations. Meessen worked alone, never taking a partner while in the Indies, and documented the land and people in the colony in his albumen prints. In his ethnographic photography of the indigenous peoples of the Indies, he often had to overcome superstitions which, the Bataviaasch Handelsblad wrote, "made taking images of the people outside Java almost impossible". Others were more enthusiastic, including the villagers of Nias: "Upon arrival I fired a few shots and flew the Dutch flag. Soon the villagers came and asked what I wanted. Once I told them, they promised their assistance. At exactly 5 a.m. the following morning I found some 60 warriors waiting for me on the beach." ### Return to the Netherlands In June 1869, Meessen and his wife returned to Batavia, and the following year they returned to Utrecht. There, in late 1870, Meessen partnered with Abraham Adrianus Vermeulen to open a new studio, named A. A. Vermeulen & Company. They signed a contract for five years, but this collaboration collapsed in March 1873. Boom and Wachlin suggest that Vermeulen – best known for portraits – had been interested in the possibility of expanding his range with landscapes, whereas Meessen required a place to print and market his images of the Indies. Indeed, in February 1871 Meessen gave an album of his better-executed photographs from his time in Java and Sumatra to King William III. This album of 153 images was lavishly decorated with silver and gold, and featured the names of Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and Nias in the corners. In the center were silver coconut and banana trees surrounding Dutch and Batavian weapons. Over the next few years Meessen continued marketing his images of the Indies. In 1875, he published a collection of 250 – consisting of 175 landscapes and 75 portraits – through the Amsterdam-based printer De Bussy; this collection was titled Verzameling Fotografien van Nederlandsch Indië (Collection of Photographs of the Dutch East Indies), sold for 225 gulden, and came in a walnut box. At the 1875 Exposition Géographique in Paris, he exhibited these images to critical acclaim. The Bataviaasch Handelsblad, in one review, wrote that the attempt to document the Indies was commendable, and expressed hope that images of animals could also be taken. In 1883 Meessen again exhibited his photographs, this time at the International Colonial and Export Trade Exhibition in Amsterdam. Ultimately, however, he does not appear to have made a return on his investment. Meessen's final years were migratory, with some time spent in Gorredijk and other parts of Opsterland, Friesland. He worked as a building superintendent, and later municipal architect. One of his projects in this capacity was an elementary school on Zuidwest Dubbele Street in Gorredijk, a Neo-Gothic building – possibly influenced by similar schools in Raamsdonkveer and Amsterdam – constructed to replace an older school which had been demolished. Meessen died in Opsterland on 14 November 1885 after being stricken by an illness three days earlier. The incomplete school was finished by Hidde Petrus Nicolaas Halbertsma. ## Style and legacy Reviewing the quality of Meessen's photography, Boom and Wachilin write that his Javanese pictures are among his best, whereas those from other islands are of more variable quality. They note considerable detail in his cityscapes. He chose buildings to photograph that were popular with other photographers, including the Governor General's Palace and the home of Raden Saleh. Many of his studio portraits appear to be purely commercial, leading Boom and Wachlin to suggest that they were meant to fund Meessen's landscape photography. Some of his images, particularly the portraits, were hand-tinted. Meessen's photos from the album he gave to King William III are kept in the Hague at the National Library of the Netherlands. This album features a travelogue regarding Meessen's photography, as well as images from six islands (Java, Sumatra, Bangka, Belitung, Borneo, and Nias) and various ethnic groups, including the Javanese, Chinese, Dayaks, and Malays. He includes commentary on several images of people, noting in an image of njai (concubines): "[They are] a necessary evil for the military. They preserve, in and outside the barracks, the best discipline, and prove invaluable in expeditions or sea journeys." Two further photographs, one of the river Ciliwung in Batavia, and another of Kali Mati in Padang, are held at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies holds a copy of the De Bussy publication, and the Leiden University Library holds 281 prints, 7 of which are of disputed provenance, which were donated to the Royal Dutch Geographical Society by Pieter Johannes Veth in 1891. The four extant collections of Meessen's work are considerably fewer than those of his contemporaries such as Woodbury and Page, and his oeuvre has been little studied or collected. ## Explanatory notes
40,955,884	Flora of Madagascar	1,147,265,804	Plants endemic to Madagascar	[ "Flora of Madagascar" ]	The flora of Madagascar consists of more than 12,000 species of plants, as well as a poorly known number of fungi and algae. Around 83% of Madagascar's vascular plants are found only on the island. These endemics include five plant families, 85% of the over 900 orchid species, around 200 species of palms, and such emblematic species as the traveller's tree, six species of baobab and the Madagascar periwinkle. The high degree of endemism is due to Madagascar's long isolation following its separation from the African and Indian landmasses in the Mesozoic, 150–160 and 84–91 million years ago, respectively. However, few plant lineages remain from the ancient Gondwanan flora; most extant plant groups immigrated via across-ocean dispersal well after continental break-up. After its continental separation, Madagascar probably experienced a dry period, and tropical rainforest expanded only later in the Oligocene to Miocene when rainfall increased. Today, humid forests, including the lowland forests, are mainly found on the eastern plateau where abundant rainfall from the Indian Ocean is captured by an escarpment. A large part of the central highlands, in the sub-humid forests ecoregion, is today dominated by grasslands. They are widely seen as result of human landscape transformation but some may be more ancient. Grassland occurs in a mosaic with woodland and bushland, including tapia forest, and hard-leaved thickets on the high mountains. Dry forest and succulent woodland are found in the drier western part and grade into the unique spiny thicket in the southwest, where rainfall is lowest and the wet season shortest. Mangroves occur on the west coast, and a variety of wetland habitats with an adapted flora are found across the island. The first human presence in Madagascar dates only 2000–4000 years back, and settlement in the interior occurred centuries later. The Malagasy people have used the native flora for various purposes, including food, construction, and medicine. Exotic plants were introduced by early settlers, later traders and French colonialists, and many have become important to agriculture. Among them are rice, the staple dish of Malagasy cuisine grown in terraced fields in the highlands, and greater yam, taro, cowpea, and plantain. Plantation crops include litchi, cloves, coffee, and vanilla, the latter one of the country's main export produce today. More than 1,300 introduced plants are known, of which around 600 have become naturalised, and some invasive. Human population growth and economic activity have put pressure on natural vegetation in the region, especially through massive deforestation. Madagascar's high endemism and species richness coupled with a sharp decrease in primary vegetation make the island a global biodiversity hotspot. To preserve natural habitats, around 10% of the land surface is protected, including the World Heritage sites Tsingy de Bemaraha and the Rainforests of the Atsinanana. While historically mainly European naturalists described Madagascar's flora scientifically, today a number of national and international herbaria, botanical gardens and universities document plant diversity and engage in its conservation. ## Diversity and endemism Madagascar has been described as "one of the most floristically unique places in the world". As of 2018, 343 families of vascular plants and bryophytes, with roughly 12,000 species, were known according to the Catalogue of the plants of Madagascar. Many plant groups are still insufficiently known. Madagascar is the island with the second-highest number of vascular plants, behind New Guinea. Of the vascular plants, 83% are endemic: they are found only in Madagascar. These endemics include five entire plant families: Asteropeiaceae, Barbeuiaceae, Physenaceae, Sarcolaenaceae and Sphaerosepalaceae. As many as 96% of Madagascan trees and shrubs are estimated to be endemic. ### Vascular plants Among the non-flowering plants, ferns, lycophytes and allies count roughly 570 described species in Madagascar. About half of these are endemic; in the scaly tree fern family Cyatheaceae, native to the humid forests, all but three of 47 species are endemic. Six conifers in genus Podocarpus – all endemic – and one cycad (Cycas thouarsii), are native to the island. In the flowering plants, basal groups and magnoliids account for some 320 Madagascan species, around 94% of which are endemic. The families most rich in species are Annonaceae, Lauraceae, Monimiaceae, and Myristicaceae, containing mainly trees, shrubs, and lianas, and the predominantly herbaceous pepper family (Piperaceae). Monocots are highly diversified. They include Madagascar's most species-rich plant family, the orchids (Orchidaceae), with over 900 species of which 85% are endemic. Palms (Arecaceae) have around 200 species in Madagascar (most in the large genus Dypsis), more than three times as many as in continental Africa; all but five are endemic. Palm genera that are endemic to Madagascar are Beccariophoenix, Bismarckia, Dypsis, Lemurophoenix, Marojejya, Masoala, Ravenea, Satranala, Tahina, and Voanioala. Other large monocot families include the Pandanaceae with 88 endemic pandan (Pandanus) species, mainly found in humid to wet habitats, and the Asphodelaceae, with most species and over 130 endemics in the succulent genus Aloe. Grasses (Poaceae, around 550 species) and sedges (Cyperaceae, around 300) are species-rich, but have lower levels of endemism (40% and 37%, respectively). The endemic traveller's tree (Ravenala madagascariensis), a national emblem and widely planted, is the sole Madagascan species in the family Strelitziaceae. The eudicots account for most of Madagascar's plant diversity. Their most species-rich families on the island are: - Fabaceae (legumes, 662 species – 77% endemic), accounting for many trees in humid and dry forests, including rosewood; - Rubiaceae (coffee family, 632 – 92%), with notably over 100 endemic Psychotria and 60 endemic Coffea species; - Asteraceae (composite family, 535 – 81%), with over 100 endemic species in Helichrysum; - Acanthaceae (acanthus family, 500 – 94%), with 90 endemic species in Hypoestes; - Euphorbiaceae (spurge family, 459 – 94%), notably the large genera Croton and Euphorbia; - Malvaceae (mallows, 486 – 87%), including the large genus Dombeya (177 – 97%) and seven out of nine baobabs (Adansonia), of which six are endemic; - Apocynaceae (dogbane family, 363 – 93%), including the Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus); - Melastomataceae (melastomes, 341 – 98%), mainly trees and shrubs. ### Non-vascular plants A checklist from 2012 records 751 moss species and infraspecific taxa, 390 liverworts, and three hornworts. About 34% of the mosses and 19% of the liverworts are endemic. It is unknown how many of these species may have gone extinct since their discovery, and a number likely remain to be described. ### Fungi Many undescribed species of fungi are suspected in Madagascar. A number of edible mushrooms are consumed in the country, especially from the genera Auricularia, Lepiota, Cantharellus (the chanterelles), and Russula (the brittlegills). Most of the ectomycorrhizal species are found in plantations of introduced eucalyptus and pine, but also in native tapia (Uapaca bojeri) woodlands. The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, responsible for chytridiomycosis, an infectious disease threatening amphibian populations worldwide, was long considered absent from Madagascar. In 2010 it was recorded, however, and has been confirmed since in various areas and in numerous frog families, alerting scientists to a new threat to the island's already endangered frog fauna. Over 500 species of lichens of Madagascar have been documented, but the true number was estimated to be at least twice as high. Wet tropical areas of siliceous bedrock make up approximately two-thirds of the country, and are where most of the lichens have been found. Dry tropical areas of granitic and limestone bedrock make up the other one-third of the country with just over 20 species documented in these habitats. ### Algae Algae, a diverse group of non-plant photosynthetic organisms, are in general poorly known in Madagascar. A review of freshwater diatoms listed 134 species; most of them have been described from fossil deposits and it is unknown if they have become extinct. It is assumed that Madagascar harbours a rich endemic diatom flora. Diatom deposits from lake sediments have been used to reconstruct paleoclimatic variations on the island. ## Vegetation types Madagascar features contrasting and unique vegetation types, determined mainly by topography, climate, and geology. A steep eastern escarpment captures most of the rainfall brought by trade winds from the Indian Ocean. Consequently, the eastern belt harbours most of the humid forests, while the west has a drier vegetation. The rain shadow region in the southwest has a sub-arid climate. The central highlands, above 800 m (2,600 ft), feature some high mountains, though the Tsaratanana Massif in the north has the highest elevation, namely 2,876 m (9,436 ft). Temperatures are highest on the west coast, with annual means of up to 30 °C (86 °F), while the high massifs have a cool climate with a 5 °C (41 °F) annual mean. The geology of Madagascar features mainly igneous and metamorphic basement rocks, with some lava and quartzite in the central and eastern plateaus, while the western part has belts of sandstone, limestone (including the tsingy formations), and unconsolidated sand. The marked east–central–west distinction among Madagascan flora was already described by the English naturalist Richard Baron in 1889. Twentieth-century authors, including Henri Perrier de la Bâthie and Henri Humbert, built upon this concept and proposed several similar classification systems, based on floristic and structural criteria. A classification from 2007, the Atlas of the vegetation of Madagascar, distinguishes 15 vegetation types (including two degraded types and cultivation) based on satellite imagery and ground surveys; they are defined mainly based on vegetation structure and differ in species composition in different parts of the island. They partly correspond to the seven terrestrial ecoregions defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Madagascar. ### Humid forests Tropical rainforest covers around 8% of the island, but used to encompass more than twice as much. It ranges from sea level to 2,750 m (9,020 ft) elevation and is mainly found on the eastern plateaus, on basement rocks with lateritic soils. In the north, humid forest extends west to the Sambirano river basin and islands including Nosy Be. Annual rainfall is 1,500–2,400 mm (59–94 in) – up to 6,000 mm (240 in) in areas such as Masoala Peninsula – and the dry season is short or absent. The predominantly evergreen forest, up to 35 m high (115 ft), is composed of tree and understory species from various families such as Burseraceae, Ebenaceae, Fabaceae, and Myristicaceae; bamboos and lianas are frequent. Cyclones hit the east coast of Madagascar in some years and can destroy habitats. The WWF classifies the eastern belt of humid forest, below 800 m (2,600 ft) elevation, in the "lowland forests" ecoregion and the montane forests of the highlands in the "sub-humid forests" ecoregion. Degraded humid forest (savoka in Malagasy) covers about ten percent of the island. It spans various states of degradation and is composed of forest remnants and planted or otherwise introduced species. It is primarily the result of slash-and-burn cultivation in primary forest. Some forest fragments still harbour a considerable amount of biodiversity. Littoral forest, found in several isolated areas along the eastern coast, covers less than 1% of the land area, on mainly sandy sediments. Climate is humid, with 1,300–3,200 mm (51–126 in) annual rainfall. Littoral forest covers sandy soil forest, marsh forest, and grasslands. Its flora includes various tree families, lianas, and epiphytic orchids and ferns; in the marsh forests, pandans (Pandanus) and the traveller's tree (Ravenala madagascariensis) are common. It is part of the WWF's "lowland forests" ecoregion. An isolated area of humid forest in the south west, on the eastern slope of the Analavelona massif, is classified as "Western humid forest" by the Atlas. It occurs on lavas and sand, at 700–1,300 m (2,300–4,300 ft) elevation. The forest is maintained through condensating moisture from ascending air. It is unprotected but the local population considers it sacred. The WWF includes it in the "sub-humid forests" ecoregion. ### Dry forests and thicket Dry forest, accounting for roughly 5% of the surface, is found in the west, from the northern tip of the island to the Mangoky river in the south. It ranges from sea level to 1,600 m (5,200 ft) in elevation. Climate is sub-humid to dry, with 600–1,500 mm (24–59 in) annual rainfall and a dry season of around six months. Geology is varied and can include limestone forming the eroded tsingy outcrops. Vegetation is diverse; it ranges from forest to bushland and includes trees of the Burseraceae, Fabaceae, Euphorbiaceae, and baobab species. The WWF classifies the northern part of this vegetation as "dry deciduous forest" ecoregion and the southern part, including the northernmost range of Didiereaceae, as "succulent woodlands" ecoregion. "Western sub-humid forest" occurs inland in the southwest and covers less than 1% of the surface, mainly on sandstone, at 70–100 m (230–330 ft) elevation. Climate is sub-humid to sub-arid, with 600–1,200 mm (24–47 in) annual rainfall. The vegetation, up to 20 m tall (66 ft) with a closed canopy, includes diverse trees with many endemics such as baobabs (Adansonia), Givotia madagascariensis, and the palm Ravenea madagascariensis. Cutting, clearing and invasive species such as opuntias and agaves threaten this vegetation type. It is part of the WWF's "sub-humid forests" ecoregion. The driest part of Madagascar in the southwest features the unique "spiny forests" ecoregion (WWF). They cover ca. 4% of its area, at an elevation below 300 m (980 ft), on limestone and sandstone bedrocks. Mean annual rainfall is very low and concentrated in one month or less. It is a dense thicket composed of plants adapted to dry conditions, notably through succulent stems or leaves transformed into spines. The characteristic plants are the endemic subfamily Didiereoideae, baobabs, and Euphorbia species. A more open coastal bushland within the region is classified separately by the Atlas. Degraded spiny forest accounts for c. 1% of the surface and is the result of cutting, clearing, and encroachment. Introduced species such as agaves and opuntias are found with remnants of the native flora. ### Grassland, woodland, and bushland Grasslands dominate a large part of Madagascar, more than 75% according to some authors. Mainly found on the central and western plateaus, they are dominated by C<sub>4</sub> grasses such as the common Aristida rufescens and Loudetia simplex and burn regularly. While many authors interpret them as the result of human degradation through tree-felling, cattle raising and intentional burning, it has been suggested that at least some of the grasslands may be primary vegetation. Grassland is often found in a mixture with trees or shrubs, including exotic pine, eucalypt, and cypress. The Atlas distinguishes a "wooded grassland–bushland mosaic" covering 23% of the surface and a "plateau grassland–wooded grassland mosaic" covering 42%. Both occur on various substrates and account for most of the WWF's "sub-humid forests" ecoregion. At higher altitudes on thin soil, they grade into an indigenous, hard-leaved vegetation that includes Asteraceae, Ericaceae, Lauraceae, and Podocarpaceae shrubs, among others, and is singled out by the WWF as "ericoid thickets" ecoregion. An evergreen open forest or woodland type, tapia forest, is found on the western and central plateaus, at altitudes of 500–1,800 m (1,600–5,900 ft). It is dominated by the eponymous tapia tree (Uapaca bojeri) and covers less than 1% of the surface. The broad regional climate is sub-humid to sub-arid, but tapia forest is mainly found in drier microclimates. Trees other than tapia include the endemic Asteropeiaceae and Sarcolaenaceae, with a herbaceous understory. Tapia forest is subject to human pressure, but relatively well adapted to fire. It falls in the WWF's "sub-humid forests" ecoregion. ### Wetlands Marshes, swamp forests and lakes are found in all regions, along with rivers and streams. Typical species of wet habitats include several endemic Cyperus sedges, ferns, pandans (Pandanus), and the traveller's tree. Two species of water lilies (Nymphaea lotus and N. nouchali) are found in the west and east, respectively. Lagoons are mainly found on the east coast, but also occur in the west; they have a specialised halophyte flora. Peat bogs are restricted to highlands above 2,000 m (6,600 ft) elevation; their distinct vegetation includes, among others, Sphagnum moss and sundew species (Drosera). Many wetlands have been converted into rice paddies and are otherwise threatened by destruction and pollution. Mangroves occur on the western, Mozambique channel coast, from the very north to just south of the Mangoky river delta. Eleven mangrove tree species are known from Madagascar, of which the most frequent belong to the families Acanthaceae, Lecythidaceae, Lythraceae, Combretaceae, and Rhizophoraceae. Mangrove forests are threatened by encroachment and cutting. The WWF lists the mangroves of Madagascar as separate ecoregion. ## Origins and evolution ### Paleogeography Madagascar's high species richness and endemicity are attributed to its long isolation as a continental island since the Mesozoic era. Once part of the Gondwana supercontinent, Madagascar separated from continental Africa and from the Indian subcontinent around 150–160 and 84–91 million years ago, respectively. The Madagascan flora was therefore long seen predominantly as a relict of an old Gondwanan vegetation, separated by vicariance through the continental break-up. Molecular clock analyses however suggest that most plant and other organismal lineages immigrated via across-ocean dispersal, given that they are estimated to have diverged from continental groups well after Gondwana broke up. The only endemic plant lineage on Madagascar old enough to be a possible Gondwana relict appears to be Takhtajania perrieri (Winteraceae). Most extant plant groups have African affinities, consistent with the relatively small distance to the continent, and there are also strong similarities with the Indian Ocean islands of the Comoros, Mascarenes, and Seychelles. There are however also links to other, more distant floras, such as those of India and Malesia. After their separation from Africa, Madagascar and India moved northwards, to a position south of 30° latitude. During the Paleocene and Eocene, now separated from India, Madagascar moved northwards again and crossed the subtropical ridge. This passage likely induced a dry, desert-like climate across the island, which later contracted to what is today the sub-arid spiny thicket in the southwest. Humid forests probably established since the Oligocene, when India had cleared the eastern seaway, allowing trade winds to bring in rainfall, and Madagascar had moved north of the subtropical ridge. The intensification of the Indian Ocean monsoon system after around eight million years ago is believed to have further favoured the expansion of humid and sub-humid forests in the Late Miocene, especially in the northern Sambirano region. Some of the grasslands may also date to the Late Miocene, when there was a global grassland expansion. ### Species evolution Several hypotheses exist as to how plants and other organisms have diversified into so many species in Madagascar. They mainly assume either that species diverged in parapatry by gradually adapting to different environmental conditions on the island, for example dry versus humid, or lowland versus montane habitats, or that barriers such as large rivers, mountain ranges, or open land between forest fragments, favoured allopatric speciation. A Madagascan lineage of Euphorbia occurs across the island, but some species evolved succulent leaves, stems and tubers in adaptation to arid conditions. In contrast, endemic tree ferns (Cyathea) all evolved under very similar conditions in Madagascan humid forests, through three recent radiations in the Pliocene. Madagascar's fauna is thought to have coevolved to a certain extent with its flora: The famous plant–pollinator mutualism predicted by Charles Darwin, between the orchid Angraecum sesquipedale and the moth Xanthopan morganii, is found on the island. Highly unstable rainfall in Madagascar was suggested to have created unpredictable patterns of flowering and fruiting in plants; this in turn would have narrowed opportunities for flower- and fruit-feeding animals and could explain their relatively low numbers in Madagascar. Among these, lemurs are the most important, but the historic extinctions of giant lemurs probably deprived some large-seeded plants of their seed dispersers. The extinct Madagascan megafauna also included grazers such as two giant tortoises (Aldabrachelys) and the Malagasy hippopotamuses, but it is unclear to what extent their habitats resembled today's widespread grasslands. ## Exploration and documentation ### Early naturalists Madagascar and its natural history remained relatively unknown outside the island before the 17th century. Its only overseas connections were occasional Arab, Portuguese, Dutch, and English sailors, who brought home anecdotes and tales about the fabulous nature of Madagascar. With the growing influence of the French in the Indian Ocean, it was mainly French naturalists that documented Madagascar's flora in the following centuries. Étienne de Flacourt, envoy of France at the military post of Fort Dauphin (Tolagnaro) in the south of Madagascar from 1648 to 1655, wrote the first detailed account of the island, Histoire de la grande isle Madagascar (1658), with a chapter dedicated to the flora. He was the first to mention the endemic pitcher plant Nepenthes madagascariensis and the Madagascar periwinkle. About one century later, in 1770, French naturalists and voyagers Philibert Commerson and Pierre Sonnerat visited the island from the Isle de France (now Mauritius). They collected and described a number of plant species, and many of Commerson's specimens were described later by Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck and Jean Louis Marie Poiret in France. Sonnerat described, among others, the emblematic traveller's tree. Another contemporary, Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars, also visited Madagascar from the Isle de France; he collected on the island for six months and wrote, among others, Histoire des végétaux recueillis dans les îles australes d'Afrique and a work on orchids of Madagascar and the Mascarenes. ### 19th to 20th century French naturalist Alfred Grandidier was a preeminent 19th-century authority on Malagasy wildlife. His first visit in 1865 was followed by several other expeditions. He produced an atlas of the island and, in 1885, published L'Histoire physique, naturelle et politique de Madagascar, which would comprise 39 volumes. Although his main contributions were in zoology, he was also a prolific plant collector; several plants were named after him, including Grandidier's baobab (Adansonia grandidieri) and the endemic succulent genus Didierea. The British missionary and naturalist Richard Baron, Grandidier's contemporary, lived in Madagascar from 1872 to 1907 where he also collected plants and discovered up to 1,000 new species; many of his specimens were described by Kew botanist John Gilbert Baker. Baron was the first to catalogue Madagascar's vascular flora in his Compendium des plantes malgaches, including over 4,700 species and varieties known at that time. During the French colonial period (1897 to 1958), Henri Perrier de la Bâthie was a major botanist in Madagascar. Beginning study in 1896, he compiled a large herbarium which he later donated to the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. Among his publications were notably the first classification of the island's vegetation, La végétation malgache (1921), and Biogéographie des plantes de Madagascar (1936), and he directed the publication of the Catalogue des plantes de Madagascar in 29 volumes. His contemporary and collaborator Henri Humbert, a professor in Algiers and later in Paris, made ten expeditions to Madagascar and, in 1936, initiated and edited the monograph series Flore de Madagascar et des Comores. A number of other important botanists, working in the colonial era through to Madagascar's independence, described more than 200 species each: Aimée Camus lived in France and specialised in grasses; René Capuron was a major contributor to the woody plant flora; and Jean Bosser, director of the French ORSTOM institute in Antananarivo, worked with grasses, sedges, and orchids. Roger Heim was one of the major mycologists working in Madagascar. ### Research in the 21st century Today, national and international research institutions are documenting the flora of Madagascar. The Botanical and Zoological Garden of Tsimbazaza hosts a botanical garden and the country's largest herbarium with over 80,000 specimens. The FO.FI.FA (Center for Research on Rural Development) herbarium has some 60,000 specimens of primarily woody plants; a number of them and those of the Tsimbazaza herbarium have been digitised and are available online through JSTOR and Tropicos. The University of Antananarivo has a department for plant biology and ecology. Outside the country, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is one of the leading institutions in the revision of Madagascar's plant families; it also maintains the Kew Madagascar Conservation Centre and cooperates with the Silo National des Graines Forestières to build a seed bank of Madagascan plants in the Millennium Seed Bank project. The National Museum of Natural History in Paris has traditionally been one of the centres of research on the flora of Madagascar. It holds a herbarium with roughly 700,000 Malagasy plant specimens and a seed bank and living collection, and continues to edit the Flore de Madagascar et des Comores series begun by Humbert in 1936. The Missouri Botanical Garden maintains the Catalogue of the plants of Madagascar, a major online resource, and also has a permanent base in Madagascar. ## Human impact Madagascar was colonised rather recently compared to other landmasses, with first evidence for humans – arrived from either Africa or Asia – dating to 2,300 or perhaps 4,000 years before present. It is assumed that humans first stayed near the coast and penetrated into the interior only several centuries later. The settlers had a profound impact on the long-isolated environment of Madagascar through land clearing and fire, introduction of zebu cattle, and probably hunting to extinction the native megafauna including, among others, elephant birds, giant lemurs and giant tortoises. The first Europeans arrived in the 16th century, starting an age of overseas exchange. Population growth and transformation of the landscape was particularly rapid since the mid-20th century. ### Uses of native species The native flora of Madagascar has been and still is used for a variety of purposes by the Malagasy people. More than a hundred plants used locally and commercially were described at the end of the 19th century by the English naturalist Richard Baron. These included many timber trees such as native ebony (Diospyros) and rosewood (Dalbergia) species, the raffia palm Raphia farinifera used for fibre, dyeing plants, as well as medicinal and edible plants. The traveller's tree has various uses in the east of Madagascar, chiefly as building material. Madagascar's national instrument valiha is made from bamboo and lent its name to the endemic genus Valiha. Yams (Dioscorea) in Madagascar include introduced, widely cultivated species as well as some 30 endemics, all edible. Edible mushrooms, including endemic species, are collected and sold locally (see above, Diversity and endemism: Non-vascular plants and fungi). Many native plant species are used as herbal remedies for a variety of afflictions. An ethnobotanical study in the southwestern littoral forest, for instance, found 152 native plants used locally as medicine, and countrywide, over 230 plant species have been used as traditional malaria treatments. The diverse flora of Madagascar holds potential for natural product research and drug production on an industrial scale; the Madagascar periwinkle (Cataranthus roseus), a source of alkaloids used in the treatment of different cancers, is a famous example. ### Agriculture One of the characteristic features of agriculture in Madagascar is the widespread cultivation of rice. The cereal is a staple of Malagasy cuisine and has been an important export crop since pre-colonial times. It was likely introduced with early Austronesian settlers, and archaeobotanical remains evidence its presence in Madagascar at least by the 11th century. Both the indica and japonica varieties were introduced early on. Rice was first cultivated in mud flats and marshes near the coast, reaching the highlands much later. Its widespread cultivation in terraced fields was promoted with the expansion of the Imerina kingdom in the 19th century. Land conversion for rice cultivation has been an important cause of wetlands loss. Other major crops, such as greater yam, coconut, taro and turmeric are also believed to have been brought in by early settlers from Asia. Other crops have a likely African origin, such as cowpea, bambara groundnut, oil palm, and tamarind. Some crops like teff, sorghum, common millet and plantain may have been present before colonisation, but it is possible that humans brought new cultivars. Arab traders presumably brought fruits such as mango, pomegranate, and grapes. Later European traders and colonists introduced crops like litchi and avocado and promoted the cultivation of exports like cloves, coconut, coffee and vanilla in plantations. Today Madagascar is the primary vanilla-producing country worldwide. Forestry in Madagascar involves many exotic species such as eucalypts, pines and acacias. The traditional slash-and-burn agriculture (tavy), practised for centuries, today accelerates the loss of primary forests as populations grow (see below, Threats and conservation). ### Introduced plants More than 1,300 exotic plants have been reported in Madagascar, with the legumes (Fabaceae) the most frequent family. This represents around 10% relative to the native flora, a ratio lower than in many islands and closer to what is known for continental floras. Many exotic plant species have been introduced for agriculture or other uses. Around 600 species have naturalised and some are considered invasive. A notorious example is the South American water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), which spread widely through subtropical and tropical regions and is considered a serious plant pest in wetlands. In general, invasive plants spread mostly in already disturbed, secondary vegetation, and the remaining primary forests of the east appear little affected. A prickly pear cactus, Opuntia monacantha, was introduced to southwest Madagascar in the late 18th century by French colonialists, who used it as natural fence to protect military forts and gardens. The cactus quickly spread and found use as cattle feed by Antandroy pastoralists. In the early 20th century, cochineals were introduced as a biological control for the plant, which had become a nuisance; they rapidly eradicated most of the cacti. This probably led to famine among the Antandroy people, although some authors challenge the causal link between famine and cactus eradication. Today, several Opuntia species are again present mainly in the south, spreading into native vegetation in some areas. The prickly pear illustrates the dilemma of plant introductions: while many authors see exotic plants as a threat to the native flora, others argue that they have not yet been linked directly to the extinction of a native species, and that some may actually provide economic or ecological benefits. A number of plants native to Madagascar have become invasive in other regions, such as the traveller's tree in Réunion and the flamboyant tree (Delonix regia) in various tropical countries. ### Threats and conservation Madagascar, together with its neighbouring islands, is considered a biodiversity hotspot because of its high species richness and endemism coupled with a dramatic decrease of primary vegetation. Six of the seven WWF ecoregions in Madagascar (see Vegetation types) are considered "critical/endangered". Data on the distribution and status of many native plants in Madagascar are still lacking, but a 2011 Red List assessed 1,676 endemic vascular plant species and found over 1,000 of them to be endangered or critically endangered. Rapid human population increase and economic activity entail habitat loss and fragmentation, in particular massive deforestation. Forest cover decreased by around 40% from the 1950s to 2000, and the remaining forests are highly fragmented. Slash-and-burn cultivation has a long tradition but with an ever-denser population, forest is cut faster than it regrows, especially in the humid east. In addition, illegal logging of luxury timber species such as rosewood and ebony increased especially with the 2009 Malagasy political crisis. Rare plants, such as endemic succulents and baobabs, are threatened by harvest and trade for horticulture, food, or cosmetics. Global warming is expected to reduce or shift climatically suitable areas for plant species and threatens coastal habitats, such as littoral forests, through rising sea levels. Conservation of natural habitats in Madagascar is concentrated in over six million hectares (23,000 sq mi) – about ten percent of the total land surface – of national parks and other nature reserves, an area that has tripled from 2003 to 2013. These protected areas include the World Heritage sites Tsingy de Bemaraha and the Rainforests of the Atsinanana. Some critically endangered plant species have been grown ex situ in nursery programmes, and seeds have been collected and stored in the Millennium Seed Bank project. Madagascar is the country with the highest proportion of its flora listed in the CITES convention, which aims to control trade in endangered species. To reduce unsustainable deforestation by local communities, better land-use planning, crop intensification and diversification, promotion of non-timber forest products, economic empowerment through land tenure security and access to credit, and family planning have been proposed. The restoration of wildlife corridors between fragmented habitats to support species migration has been proposed for climate change adaptation. To reduce species loss along coastal areas targeted for titanium extraction, agreements with the QMM mining company include the setting aside of conservation areas and habitat restoration.
2,456,129	Archaeoindris	1,139,746,022	Extinct giant lemur	[ "Endemic fauna of Madagascar", "Extinct animals of Madagascar", "Fossil taxa described in 1909", "Holocene extinctions", "Lemur genera", "Prehistoric animals of Madagascar", "Prehistoric monotypic mammal genera", "Prehistoric primate genera", "Quaternary mammals of Africa", "Subfossil lemurs" ]	Archaeoindris fontoynontii is an extinct giant lemur and the largest primate known to have evolved on Madagascar, comparable in size to a male gorilla. It belonged to a family of extinct lemurs known as "sloth lemurs" (Palaeopropithecidae) and, because of its extremely large size, it has been compared to the ground sloths that once roamed North and South America. It was most closely related to Palaeopropithecus, the second largest type of sloth lemur. Along with the other sloth lemurs, Archaeoindris was related to the living indri, sifakas, and woolly lemurs, as well as the recently extinct monkey lemurs (Archaeolemuridae). The genus, Archaeoindris, translates to "ancient indri-like lemur", even though it probably became extinct recently, around 350 BCE. Archaeoindris was first described by Herbert F. Standing in 1909 based on subfossil fragmentary jaws, although Charles Lamberton later discovered a complete skull. Only six bones from the lower skeleton have been found and excavations in the 1980s offered no leads for new finds. Its remains have been found at only one location: Ampasambazimba, a subfossil site in central Madagascar. Following its initial discovery, some subfossil remains of Megaladapis grandidieri (a type of extinct koala lemur) were mistakenly associated with Archaeoindris, while smaller leg bones from a juvenile and a massive adult leg bone were erroneously assumed to belong to two separate species. These errors were gradually corrected between the 1930s and 1980s. The skeleton of Archaeoindris was massive and robust, and shared many traits with that of Palaeopropithecus. The arms were longer than the legs, but no hand or foot bones have been found for comparison with the other sloth lemurs. Size estimates based on the limited remains have varied widely, ranging as high as 244 kilograms (538 pounds), but the most thorough statistical investigation using regression analyses predicts a mass of 160 kg (350 lb). Misattributions and limited remains have resulted in varying opinions about the way Archaeoindris moved in its environment, ranging from tree-dwelling to ground-dwelling. Its skeleton suggests it was a deliberate climber that visited the ground to travel. The diet of Archaeoindris was mostly leaves, and its habitat—prior to human arrival—was a mix of woodlands, bushlands, and savanna, rich in lemur diversity. Today, the region is dominated by grasslands and lemur diversity is very low in the nearest protected area, Ambohitantely Special Reserve. Although it was a rare lemur, it was still extant when humans first arrived on Madagascar, and it would have been vulnerable to hunting and habitat loss. ## Etymology The generic name Archaeoindris, meaning "ancient indri-like lemur", is derived from the Greek word ἀρχαῖος (archaios, or "ancient") and indris, a common variation of the generic name Indri. The species name, fontoynontii (sometimes spelled fontoynonti), was selected in honor of Antoine Maurice Fontoynont, the president of the Académie Malgache (Malagasy Academy) at the time. Fontoynont was reported to have been supervising the excavation when it was discovered. ## Evolutionary history Archaeoindris was a type of sloth lemur (family Palaeopropithecidae), a recently extinct family of giant lemurs (known as subfossil lemurs) native to Madagascar. Its ancestors were likely arboreal (tree-dwelling), and this giant sloth lemur has been compared to the extinct giant ground sloths of North and South America. Archaeoindris was most closely related to Palaeopropithecus, a genus containing the second largest of the sloth lemurs and specialized for suspensory behavior in its arboreal habitat. Traits of the postcranium (skeleton below the skull) indicate that Babakotia was the next most closely related sloth lemur to Archaeoindris and Palaeopropithecus, followed by Mesopropithecus, the smallest of the sloth lemurs. All four genera of sloth lemurs are known to be a sister taxon (close relatives) of family Indriidae, which includes the indri (Indri), sifakas (Propithecus), and woolly lemurs (Avahi). This relationship is supported by data from morphological, developmental, and molecular research. Another member of this clade (related group) is the family of monkey lemurs (Archaeolemuridae). Dental features, such as the morphology of their molar teeth and the modified number of teeth in their toothcomb (a specialized grooming structure found in lemuriforms), have long suggested a relationship. However, other anatomical and developmental traits suggested that monkey lemurs might be more closely related to family Lemuridae, which include five genera of lemur, including the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta). Molecular analysis has shown strong support for the former, placing the monkey lemurs in a clade with the sloth lemurs and indriids. ### Taxonomic classification The family Palaeopropithecidae contained a large number of species compared to most other subfossil lemur families. It included four known genera and seven species, all of which are now extinct. Among these was the genus Archaeoindris, one of only a few monotypic lemur taxa. Archaeoindris fontoynontii was first described by Herbert F. Standing in 1909 from two fragments of a maxilla (upper jaw) and a complete mandible (lower jaw). These type specimens—AM-6239 (maxillae) and AM-6237 (mandible)—are stored in the collection at the University of Antananarivo. The mandible contains a complete set of upper teeth, the left maxillary fragment contains the last premolar (P4) and all three molars (M1–M3), and the right maxillary fragment bears both premolars (P2 and P4) and the first molar (M1). At the time, Standing noted similarities with the dentition of Palaeopropithecus. Sixteen years after Standing's discovery, Charles Lamberton discovered the first and only complete cranium (skull) and associated mandible for Archaeoindris, both of which were well preserved. He published this find in 1934. Only six postcranial specimens of Archaeoindris have been found. Two of these belonged to an adult and include a damaged humerus (upper arm bone) and an almost complete femur (thigh bone). The other four come from an immature individual and include a damaged humerus, a damaged ulna (lower arm bone), and two femurs, both lacking the epiphyses (rounded end of the bone) on both ends. Archaeoindris is one of the least common of the subfossil lemurs, and the few known specimens were all found at Ampasambazimba in the Central Highlands. Excavations run by a multi-disciplinary Malagasy-American team at this fossil site between 1983 and 1984 yielded no new subfossil remains, and no other potential sites are known for this species. Historically, some remains from other subfossil lemurs have been mistakenly attributed to Archaeoindris, resulting in incorrect interpretations of its anatomy and behavior. In 1934, Lamberton missed earlier attribution errors and incorrectly labeled a tibia and two fibulae (lower leg bones) from a species of koala lemur (Megaladapis grandidieri) as belonging to Archaeoindris. Because of these misattributions and Lamberton's use of the immature bones, his reconstruction was inaccurate. In 1936, Alice Carleton corrected Lamberton by identifying the tibia and fibulae as belonging to a koala lemur. Carleton's corrections were later confirmed and other misattributions were corrected in the 1960s and 1970s by Alan Walker and William L. Jungers. In 1910, twenty-four years before Lamberton's monograph on Archaeoindris, Standing identified a massive right femur from Ampasambazimba as a new species, Lemuridotherium madagascariense. Although Standing recognized the strong similarities between Lemuridotherium and Archaeoindris, he placed them in separate genera due to what he perceived as a great size difference. Lamberton was also persuaded by the size difference, partly because he failed to recognize the smaller tibia and fibulae as belonging to the smaller Megaladapis grandidieri. Furthermore, Lamberton did not realize that the smaller femurs he assigned to Archaeoindris belonged to a juvenile. Although some later authors considered Lemuridotherium a synonym of Archaeoindris, it was not until 1988 that Martine Vuillaume-Randriamanantena provided a definitive proof. Vuillaume-Randriamanantena also established associations between the postcrania and crania of Archaeoindris, summarized what is known about the postcranial skeleton, and documented the strong similarity with the genus Palaeopropithecus. ## Anatomy and physiology Though similar to Palaeopropithecus, Archaeoindris was significantly larger and more robust. Archaeoindris was one of the largest primates to ever evolve, and was the largest-known strepsirrhine primate, weighing an estimated 160 kg (350 lb). It was roughly the size of an adult male gorilla, which was first noted by Lamberton. Since its discovery, size estimates have varied from "larger than a human" to "possibly the largest primate ever". In a study by Jungers from 1990, the area of its molar teeth predicted a mass of 230.5 kg (508 lb), while the femoral head diameter predicted a mass of 244.1 kg (538 lb). In 1995, Laurie Godfrey estimated a mass of 197.5 kg (435 lb) using the midshaft circumferences of the humerus and femur. Based on multiple regressions of the cortical area of the femur in 2008, Jungers and colleagues generated the current best estimate of 161.2 kg (355 lb) with a possible range of 150–187.8 kg (331–414 lb). These estimates were considered to be more accurate since the harder cortical bone in the midshaft of the femur supported an animal's weight, and its thickness better correlated with the animal's mass than the midshaft diameter (which includes both hard cortex and spongy bone). The only fossil primate that was probably larger than Archaeoindris was Gigantopithecus blacki, a close relative of orangutans. Like all three species of Palaeopropithecus, Archaeoindris exhibited derived traits not seen in the two other less specialized genera of sloth lemur. These traits included deflated auditory bullae and paired protrusions of bone around the nasal opening consisting of part of the premaxilla and the nasal bones. Its skull was wider than that of Megaladapis, but shorter, measuring 269 millimeters (10.6 inches). Its face was shorter than that of Palaeopropithecus, with its eyes directed further forward. The neurocranium (braincase) was small and elevated relative to the face, unlike Palaeopropithecus. Postorbital constriction (narrowing of the skull behind the eye sockets) is pronounced. The skull also bore a low, broad sagittal crest (a ridge of bone on the top of the skull to which jaw muscles attach) and robust but smaller nuchal crests (ridges of bone on the back of the skull to which neck muscles attach). Unlike Palaeopropithecus the rims of the orbits (eye sockets) were not as thick. The area of the orbit was 946 mm<sup>2</sup> (1.466 sq in), comparable to that of gorillas. Based on the ratio of its orbit area to the size of its optic canal, Archaeoindris had low retinal summation, meaning its eyes were less sensitive to light (like living diurnal lemurs). Yet the ratio was not as low as in comparably sized apes, suggesting Archaeoindris had low visual acuity and lacked trichromatic color vision. The jaw exhibited a long, robust mandibular symphysis (joining of the two halves of the lower jaw), which fused early during development. Its palate (bones on the roof of the mouth) was rectangular. Like other sloth lemurs, it likely experienced accelerated dental development, and had an adult dental formula of . Its teeth were also similar to those of Palaeopropithecus, both in morphology and proportions. The four lower incisors that would have made up the toothcomb were modified, being shorter and more robust, possibly for feeding purposes. The canines were short and stout, but sharp. Also, there was a diastema (gap) between the lower premolars (p2 and p4). Other dental similarities with Palaeopropithecus included small third upper and lower molars (M3 and m3), the first and second molars were narrow and long, and the enamel of its cheek teeth was crenulated (low and rounded), though not as wrinkled and slightly higher-crowned. Most bones of the postcranial skeleton, including the bones of the hands, feet, vertebral column, ribs, radius (lower arm bone), tibia, and fibula, have not been found for Archaeoindris. As with many cranial features, the postcranial bones that have been discovered are similar to that of Palaeopropithecus, but significantly larger and more robust. The head of the femur was large and lacked a fovea capitis femoris (a small depression in the head of the femur). The femur was short and extremely robust, had a very high collodiaphyseal angle (the angle of the neck and shaft of the bone), and the greater trochanter was small. In the adult, the humerus was significantly longer than the femur, while in the immature specimen, both the humerus and ulna were much longer than the femur, making the arms considerably longer than the legs, as also seen in Palaeopropithecus. The relative length of the arms to the legs was shorter in Archaeoindris, so although its intermembral index was over 100, it was lower than that of Palaeopropithecus. ## Behavior Archaeoindris is thought to have been a leaf-eater (folivorous), a view supported by wear patterns on its teeth. Its fused mandibular symphyses and the likelihood of accelerated dental development suggest that it began processing fibrous foods in the mouth with thorough chewing. Its diet may also have included some fruits and seeds. Like most of the other giant lemurs, Archaeoindris is thought to have been diurnal because of its relatively small orbits, which are comparable to those of gorillas. Both Standing and Lamberton assumed Archaeoindris to be a slow-moving tree-dweller like Megaladapis, primarily due to the misattributed bones. Lamberton also speculated that it would have resembled a ground sloth—a view later supported by Jungers in 1980 after several misattributions had been corrected and having considered its gorilla-like size. Jungers went on to propose that it would have spent most of its time on the ground (terrestrial). However, the functional morphology of its hip joint indicates a degree of mobility typically seen in more arboreal animals. Other traits shared with Palaeopropithecus, particularly seen in the femur, suggest that Archaeoindris spent considerable time in the trees for feeding and possibly nesting, although it also would have visited the ground to feed and travel. It is described as a deliberate, scansorial (climbing) browser, and it is unknown whether it was like Palaeopropithecus in performing hang-feeding since hand and foot bones are missing. Given its bulky size, this would be unexpected. ## Distribution and habitat Archaeoindris is known from only one subfossil site, Ampasambazimba, in central Madagascar, and all remains date to the Late Quaternary. The area today is dominated by grasslands, particularly of the grass genus Aristida. Prior to human arrival, the area around Ampasambazimba was not completely forested, but more of an open habitat, consisting of a mix of woodlands, bushlands, and savanna. Animal remains at this subfossil site have yielded about 20 species of lemur living in sympatry (sharing the same geographic area). In comparison, the nearby Ambohitantely Special Reserve today contains only four species, roughly 20% of the area's original lemur diversity. ## Extinction Despite being the most species-rich family among the giant lemurs, all four genera of sloth lemur, including Archaeoindris, have gone extinct. Radiocarbon dating of the stratigraphic level of some of the Archaeoindris remains were dated to 8000 BP, while two other specimens were dated to 2362–2149 BP (412–199 BCE) and 2711–2338 BP (761–388 BCE). From these dates, it is likely that Archaeoindris was still alive on the high plateau in 350 BCE when the first humans reached the west coast of Madagascar, despite being rare by that time. Consequently, it would have been especially vulnerable to hunting and habitat loss.
9,423,557	Act of Independence of Lithuania	1,168,152,026	1918 proclamation restoring the independent State of Lithuania	[ "1918 documents", "1918 in Lithuania", "1918 in international relations", "1918 in law", "Declarations of independence", "Dissolution of the Russian Empire", "February 1918 events", "Separatism in Russia" ]	The Act of Independence of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Nepriklausomybės Aktas) or the Act of February 16, also the Lithuanian Resolution on Independence (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Nepriklausomybės Nutarimas), was signed by the Council of Lithuania on February 16, 1918, proclaiming the restoration of an independent State of Lithuania, governed by democratic principles, with Vilnius as its capital. The Act was signed by all twenty representatives of the Council, which was chaired by Jonas Basanavičius. The Act of February 16 was the result of a series of resolutions on the issue, including one issued by the Vilnius Conference and the Act of January 8. The path to the Act was long and complex because the German Empire exerted pressure on the Council to form an alliance. The Council had to carefully maneuver between the Germans, whose troops were present in Lithuania, and the demands of the Lithuanian people. The immediate effects of the announcement of Lithuania's re-establishment of independence were limited. Publication of the Act was prohibited by the German authorities, and the text was distributed and printed illegally. The work of the Council was hindered, and Germans remained in control over Lithuania. The situation changed only when Germany lost World War I in the fall of 1918. In November 1918 the first Cabinet of Lithuania was formed, and the Council of Lithuania gained control over the territory of Lithuania. Independent Lithuania, although it would soon be battling the Wars of Independence, became a reality. The laconic Act is the legal basis for the existence of modern Lithuania, both during the interwar period and since 1990. The Act formulated the basic constitutional principles that were and still are followed by all Constitutions of Lithuania. The Act itself was a key element in the foundation of Lithuania's re-establishment of independence in 1990. Lithuania, breaking away from the Soviet Union, stressed that it was simply re-establishing the independent state that existed between the world wars and that the Act never lost its legal power. ## Historic background and Council of Lithuania Lithuania had a centuries-long tradition of statehood following the coronation of Mindaugas, the King of Lithuania. After the last Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, Lithuania was annexed by the Russian Empire. During the 19th century, both the Lithuanians and the Poles attempted to restore their independence. Lithuanians rebelled during the 1830 November Uprising and the 1863 January Uprising, but their first real opportunity arose when both Russia and Germany were weakened during World War I. In 1915, Germany occupied western parts of the Russian Empire. After the Russian Revolution in 1917, Germany conceived the geopolitical strategy of Mitteleuropa – a regional network of puppet states that would serve as a buffer zone – and agreed to allow the Vilnius Conference, hoping that it would proclaim that the Lithuanian nation wanted to detach itself from Russia and establish a closer relationship with Germany. However, this strategy backfired; the conference, held on September 18–23, 1917, adopted a resolution that an independent Lithuania should be established and that a closer relationship with Germany would be conditional on Germany's formal recognition of the new state. On September 21, the 214 attendees at the conference elected a 20-member Council of Lithuania to codify this resolution. The German authorities did not allow that resolution to be published, but they did permit the Council to proceed. The Vilnius Conference also resolved that a constituent assembly be elected "in conformity with democratic principles by all the inhabitants of Lithuania". ## Path to the Act of February 16 ### Act of December 11 The Act of December 11 was the second stage in the progression towards the final Act of Independence. The first draft, demanded by chancellor Georg von Hertling, was prepared by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 1 December. Further changes were jointly prepared by the German chancellery and by a delegation of the Council of Lithuania. The delegation's members were Antanas Smetona, Steponas Kairys, Vladas Mironas, Jurgis Šaulys, Petras Klimas and Aleksandras Stulginskis. After discussion amongst the parties, a compromise was reached on the document's text. The German representative, Kurt von Lersner, insisted that not one word be changed in the agreed-upon text and that all the Council members sign the document. After the delegation returned to Vilnius, a session of the Council was held on December 11 in order to discuss the Act. It was adopted without any further changes. Fifteen voted in favor of the Act, three voted against it, one member abstained, and one did not participate. It is not entirely clear whether every member of the Council signed this document. The Act was written in German, and apparently no official Lithuanian translation was prepared. Therefore, different sources provide slightly different translations. The Act of December 11 pronounced Lithuania's independence, but also asked the German government for protection (clause 2) and called for "a firm and permanent alliance" with Germany. Since the Act specified that the alliance was to be formed based on conventions concerning military affairs, transportation, customs, and currency, many Lithuanians argued that the Council had overstepped its authority: the September resolution adopted by the Vilnius Conference clearly demanded that a constituent assembly decide these crucial matters of state. ### Act of January 8 When peace talks started between Germany and Russia in 1918, German authorities asked the Lithuanian representatives to prepare two notifications of independence—one for Russia, in which Lithuania's ties with Russia would be denounced and nothing would be mentioned about an alliance with Germany, and a version to be released in Germany that would essentially repeat the Act of December 11. The Council decided to amend the first part of the Act of December 11. Petras Klimas included a sentence calling for the Constituent Assembly. Another important development was the statement that democratic principles would be the basis of the new state's governance, something that was declared by the Vilnius Conference, but omitted in the Act of December 11. The second part, mentioning the "firm and permanent alliance with Germany", was completely omitted. Its final version was approved on January 8, 1918, the day that U.S. President Woodrow Wilson announced his Fourteen Points. In its essence, the Act of January 8 did not differ from the Act of February 16. However, Ober Ost, the German military administration, rejected the changes. On January 26, in compliance with the earlier request, the two versions of the notification were approved, but they did not include the changes of January 8. The texts were prepared based on the Act of December 11. These concessions to the Germans created tensions among the council members. Four members – Mykolas Biržiška, Steponas Kairys, Stanisław Narutowicz and Jonas Vileišis – resigned from the Council in protest. Chairman Antanas Smetona, who supported the Act of December 11, stepped down. Jonas Basanavičius, who would later be called the patriarch of independence, was elected chairman. ### Act of February 16 Germany failed to recognize Lithuania as an independent state, and the Lithuanian delegation was not invited to the Brest-Litovsk negotiations that started on December 22, 1917, between the Central Powers and Russia in order to settle territorial claims. During the first and final official joint session between the Council and the German authorities, it was made clear that the Council would serve only as an advisory board. This situation gave additional backing to those Council members who were seeking independence without any ties to other countries. The prime concern at this point was to invite back those members who had left the Council. Negotiations were undertaken that led to the reformulation of previous versions of the Act. The four withdrawn members demanded that the Council return to the Act of January 8 and omit the mention of any alliance with Germany. After heated debates that lasted for several weeks, on February 15, at 10 am, the new revision of the Act was ready. It included, with minor stylistic changes, the wording of the Act of January 8 and promulgation and notification, drafted on February 1. Promulgation and notification do not carry legal weight and do not change the meaning of a legal document. The Council, including the withdrawn members, was invited to return the next day for its finalization. On the next day, February 16, 1918, at 12:30 pm, all twenty Council members met in the room of the Lithuanian Committee for Support of the War Victims, at 30 Didžioji Street in Vilnius. The building has since been known as the House of the Signatories (Lithuanian: signatarų namai) and houses a museum. The Council first voted to approve the first part, the first two paragraphs up to the word drauge, of the Act. This section was approved unanimously. The second part, however, did not receive support from the four withdrawn members because they were not satisfied with the word "finally" in describing the duties of the Constituent Assembly (in "... the foundation of the Lithuanian State and its relations with other countries will be finally determined by the Constituent Assembly ..."). They were afraid that this word would give a pretext for the Council to usurp the powers of the Constituent Assembly, while the majority argued that the word simply expressed the non-negotiable and non-appealable nature of the future Assembly's decisions. Therefore, the Act was unanimously approved en bloc but did not have full-fledged support from all twenty men. ## Final text of the Act ## Path to the Act Note: the colors of the functional sections correspond to the colored lines in the original text above. ## Aftermath ### Lithuania Soon after the signing, the Act was taken to Germany and handed to parties in the Reichstag. On February 18, the text was reprinted in German newspapers, including Das Neue Litauen, Vossische Zeitung, Tägliche Rundschau [de] and Kreuzzeitung. In Lithuania a text of the proclamation was prepared for printing in newspapers, particularly in Lietuvos aidas, the Council's newspaper established by Antanas Smetona; but the German authorities prohibited this publication. Although the majority of the copies of the issue were confiscated, the newspaper's editor, Petras Klimas, managed to hide about 60 of them. On March 3, 1918, Germany and the now-Bolshevik Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. It declared that the Baltic nations were in the German interest zone and that Russia renounced any claims to them. On March 23, Germany recognized independent Lithuania on the basis of the December 11 declaration. However, in substance, nothing had changed either in Lithuania or in the Council's status: any efforts to establish an administration were hindered. This situation changed when the German Revolution started and Germany lost the war in the fall of 1918 – it was no longer in a position to dictate terms. The Council of Lithuania adopted the first provisional constitution on November 2. The functions of government were entrusted to a three-member presidium, and Augustinas Voldemaras was invited to form the first Cabinet of Ministers of Lithuania. Complete international recognition took several years; the US affirmed it on July 28, 1922. ### The Act Two copies of the Act were signed: the original and a duplicate. The original was given to Jonas Basanavičius to safeguard and protect. The original was never published or used in any public matters; its existence was first mentioned in the press in 1933. The duplicate was used in day-to-day business and was stored in the president's archives until June 15, 1940, the day when Lithuania received an ultimatum from the Soviet Union and lost its independence. After that date the document disappeared. Both the original and the duplicate were missing for decades; historians and adventurers hunted for them. In 2006, a team of engineers searched the walls of the former house of Petras Vileišis. Two facsimiles of the duplicate were produced, one in 1928 and the other in 1933. The 1928 facsimile is a closer reproduction of the Act in its original state. It contains spelling errors and the background is visually "noisy", while the 1933 facsimile shows the Act in an "improved" condition. In 2017, Lithuanian businessman Darius Mockus offered a 1-million-Euro reward to anyone who could find the original document and give it to the State of Lithuania. The offer's deadline was set to February 16, 2018, when Lithuania will commemorate the 100th anniversary of its declaration of independence. On March 29, 2017, Vytautas Magnus University professor Liudas Mažylis announced he had found the original document in the Federal Foreign Office Political Archive in Berlin, Germany, hand-written in the Lithuanian language and signed by the twenty. He also announced that he had found the German-language version of the February 16, 1918 document and the Act of December 11, 1917. The latter displays nineteen signatures (without that of Pranas Dovydaitis). Germany confirmed the documents' authenticity on the following day and they were displayed publicly by two officials — Michael Roth, the German Minister of State for Europe, and Deividas Matulionis, Lithuania ambassador in Germany. On October 7, 2017, Lithuania Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius and Germany Minister of Foreign Affairs Sigmar Gabriel signed an agreement that the original Act of Independence will be displayed for five years in the House of the Signatories where it was originally signed, making it the main symbol of the Lithuania's Centenary of the Restoration of the State celebrations. On December 22, 2017, experts from the Lithuanian Police Forensic Research Center after a thorough analysis announced that the hand-written act was written by one of the signatories Jurgis Šaulys hand. On December 22, 2017, yet another version of the Act of Independence of Lithuania was found by historian Darius Antanavičius in the Vatican Secret Archives that was sent to the Holy See. This version of the Act was printed in German language and signed by Antanas Smetona, Jonas Vileišis, Jurgis Šaulys and Justinas Staugaitis. ### Signatories Most of the signatories of the Act remained active in the cultural and political life of independent Lithuania. Jonas Vileišis served in the Seimas and as mayor of Kaunas, temporary capital of Lithuania; Saliamonas Banaitis was involved in finance, opening several banks. Among the signatories were two future Presidents of Lithuania, Antanas Smetona and Aleksandras Stulginskis. Jonas Basanavičius, chairman of the Council of Lithuania, returned to an academic life, pursuing his research in Lithuanian culture and folklore. Five signatories died before World War II started; three died during the Nazi occupation. Those who did not emigrate to Western countries became political prisoners after Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union. Aleksandras Stulginskis and Petras Klimas were sent to prison in Siberia by Soviet authorities, but survived and returned to Lithuania; Pranas Dovydaitis and Vladas Mironas were also sent to Siberia but died there. Kazys Bizauskas disappeared during the summer of 1941 while being transported to a Soviet prison in Minsk; he is presumed to have been shot along with a number of other prisoners. Donatas Malinauskas was deported to Russia on June 14, 1941 during the massive June deportation. Several of the surviving signatories emigrated. Jurgis Šaulys and Kazimieras Steponas Šaulys died in Switzerland. Antanas Smetona, Mykolas Biržiška, and Steponas Kairys emigrated to the United States and are buried there. ## Legacy The Act of February 16, proclaimed the re-establishment (atstatyti) of the Lithuanian state, making it the successor to the Lithuanian historical state, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In this respect the Council deviated from the resolution adopted by the Vilnius Conference which called for establishment (sudaryti) of a Lithuanian state. However, it was made clear that the new state would be quite different from the old Duchy: it was to be organized only in ethnic Lithuanian lands (except for the Vilnius region which was majority Polish) and was to be governed by democratic principles, as opposed to the multi-ethnic Duchy that had been ruled by an aristocracy. The termination of the ties binding Lithuania to other states was addressed to Germany, Russia, and Poland, all of which had their own plans for the country. Even though not addressed directly, the Act renounced any attempt to resurrect the former Polish–Lithuanian union. The Act of February 16, 1918, is the legal basis for the existence of present-day Lithuania, both during the interwar period and since 1990. The Act became one of the key elements during the restoration of Lithuania's independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. A paragraph in the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania, delivered on March 11, 1990, stated: > The Act of Independence of February 16, 1918 of the Council of Lithuania and the Constituent Assembly (Seimas) decree of 15 May 1920 on the re-established democratic State of Lithuania never lost their legal effect and comprise the constitutional foundation of the State of Lithuania. This formulation emphasized the continuity of the two legal Acts. The Act of February 16, 1918, and its successor, the Act of March 11, 1990, are regarded as two of the most important developments of Lithuanian society in the 20th century. February 16 in Lithuania is an official holiday. On this day various ceremonies are hosted all across Lithuania. The 2014 commemoration included laying flowers at the signatories’ graves in Rasos Cemetery, awarding the Lithuanian National Prize, the hoisting of the three Baltic States’s flags at Daukantas Square, dedicated concerts at Cathedral Square in Vilnius and at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society hall, and the lighting of 16 fires along Gediminas Avenue. In 1992, an award was established in honor of Jonas Basanavičius, who led the Council of Lithuania when the Act of February 16 was signed. The Jonas Basanavičius Prize is bestowed for distinguished work within the previous five years in the fields of ethnic and cultural studies. ## See also - Kingdom of Lithuania (1918) - Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania, the Act of March 11, 1990 - Centennial of the Restored State of Lithuania
977,032	Japanese battleship Mutsu	1,170,009,557	Japanese WW2 battleship	[ "1920 ships", "Cover-ups", "Maritime incidents in June 1943", "Nagato-class battleships", "Naval magazine explosions", "Second Sino-Japanese War naval ships of Japan", "Ships built by Yokosuka Naval Arsenal", "Ships sunk by non-combat internal explosions", "Shipwrecks in the Inland Sea", "World War II battleships of Japan", "World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean" ]	Mutsu (陸奥) was the second and last Nagato-class dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) at the end of World War I. She was named after the province. In 1923 she carried supplies for the survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake. The ship was modernized in 1934–1936 with improvements to her armour and machinery, and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. Other than participating in the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in 1942, where she did not see any significant combat, Mutsu spent most of the first year of the Pacific War in training. She returned to Japan in early 1943. That June, one of her aft magazines detonated while she was at anchor, sinking the ship with the loss of 1,121 crew and visitors. The IJN investigation into the cause of her loss concluded that it was the work of a disgruntled crew member. The navy dispersed the survivors in an attempt to conceal the sinking in the interest of morale in Japan. Much of the wreck was scrapped after the war, but some artefacts and relics are on display in Japan, and a small portion of the ship remains where she was sunk. ## Description Mutsu had a length of 201.17 metres (660 ft) between perpendiculars and 215.8 metres (708 ft) overall. She had a beam of 28.96 metres (95 ft) and a draught of 9 metres (29 ft 6 in). The ship displaced 32,720 tonnes (32,200 long tons) at standard load and 39,116 tonnes (38,498 long tons) at full load. Her crew consisted of 1,333 officers and enlisted men as built and 1,368 in 1935. The crew totaled around 1,475 men in 1942. In 1927, Mutsu's bow was remodeled to reduce the amount of spray produced when steaming into a head sea. This increased her overall length by 1.59 metres (5 ft 3 in) to 217.39 metres (713 ft 3 in). During her 1934–1936 reconstruction, the ship's stern was lengthened by 7.55 metres (24 ft 9 in) to improve her speed, and her forward superstructure was rebuilt into a pagoda mast. She was given torpedo bulges to improve her underwater protection and to compensate for the weight of the additional armour and equipment. These changes increased her overall length to 224.94 m (738 ft), her beam to 34.6 m (113 ft 6 in) and her draught to 9.49 metres (31 ft 2 in). Her displacement increased over 7,000 tonnes (6,900 long tons) to 46,690 tonnes (45,950 long tons) at deep load. ### Propulsion Mutsu was equipped with four Gihon geared steam turbines, each of which drove one propeller shaft. The turbines were designed to produce a total of 80,000 shaft horsepower (60,000 kW), using steam provided by 21 Kampon water-tube boilers; 15 of these were oil-fired, and the remaining half-dozen consumed a mixture of coal and oil. The ship had a stowage capacity of 1,600 t (1,600 long tons) of coal and 3,400 t (3,300 long tons) of fuel oil, giving her a range of 5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at a speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph). The ship exceeded her designed speed of 26.5 knots (49.1 km/h; 30.5 mph) during her sea trials, reaching 26.7 knots (49.4 km/h; 30.7 mph) at 85,500 shp (63,800 kW). During a refit in 1924 the fore funnel was rebuilt in a serpentine shape in an unsuccessful effort to prevent smoke interference with the bridge and fire-control systems. That funnel was eliminated during the ship's 1930s reconstruction when all of her existing boilers were replaced by ten lighter and more powerful oil-fired Kampon boilers, which had working pressures of 22 kg/cm<sup>2</sup> (2,157 kPa; 313 psi) and temperatures of 300 °C (572 °F). In addition her turbines were replaced by lighter, more modern, units. When Mutsu conducted her post-reconstruction trials, she reached a speed of 24.98 knots (46.3 km/h; 28.7 mph) with 82,300 shp (61,400 kW). Additional fuel oil was stored in the bottoms of the newly added torpedo bulges, which increased her capacity to 5,560 t (5,470 long tons) and thus her range to 8,560 nmi (15,850 km; 9,850 mi) at 16 knots. ### Armament Mutsu's eight 45-caliber 41-centimetre (16.1 in) guns were mounted in two pairs of twin-gun, superfiring turrets fore and aft. Numbered one to four from front to rear, the hydraulically powered turrets gave the guns an elevation range of −2 to +35 degrees. The rate of fire for the guns was around two rounds per minute. A special Type 3 Sankaidan incendiary shrapnel shell was developed in the 1930s for anti-aircraft use. The turrets aboard the Nagato-class ships were replaced in the mid-1930s using those stored from the unfinished Tosa-class battleships. While in storage the turrets were modified to increase their range of elevation to −3 degrees to +43 degrees, which increased the guns' maximum range from 30,200 to 37,900 metres (33,000 to 41,400 yd). The ship's secondary armament of twenty 50-calibre 14-centimetre (5.5 in) guns was mounted in casemates on the upper sides of the hull and in the superstructure. The manually operated guns had a maximum range of 20,500 metres (22,400 yd) and fired at a rate of six to ten rounds per minute. Anti-aircraft defence was provided by four 40-calibre 8-centimetre (3 in) 3rd Year Type AA guns in single mounts. These guns had a maximum elevation of +75 degrees, and a rate of fire of 13 to 20 rounds per minute. The ship was also fitted with eight 533-millimetre (21 in) torpedo tubes, four on each broadside, two above water and two submerged. Around 1926, the four above-water torpedo tubes were removed and the ship received three additional 76 mm AA guns that were situated around the base of the foremast. The 76 mm AA guns were replaced by eight 40-calibre 12.7-centimetre (5 in) dual-purpose guns in 1932, fitted on both sides of the fore and aft superstructures in four twin-gun mounts. When firing at surface targets, the guns had a range of 14,700 metres (16,100 yd); they had a maximum ceiling of 9,440 metres (30,970 ft) at their maximum elevation of +90 degrees. Their maximum rate of fire was 14 rounds a minute, but their sustained rate of fire was around eight rounds per minute. Two twin-gun mounts for licence-built Vickers 2-pounder (40 mm (1.6 in)) "pom-pom" light AA guns were also added to the ship in 1932. These guns had a maximum elevation of +80 degrees, which gave them a ceiling of 4,000 metres (13,000 ft). They had a maximum rate of fire of 200 rounds per minute. The two-pounders were replaced by 1941 by 20 licence-built Hotchkiss 25 mm (1 in) Type 96 light AA guns in five twin-gun mounts. This was the standard Japanese light AA gun during World War II, but it suffered from severe design shortcomings that rendered it a largely ineffective weapon. According to historian Mark Stille, the twin and triple mounts "lacked sufficient speed in train or elevation; the gun sights were unable to handle fast targets; the gun exhibited excessive vibration; the magazine was too small, and, finally, the gun produced excessive muzzle blast". These 25-millimetre (0.98 in) guns had an effective range of 1,500–3,000 metres (1,600–3,300 yd), and a ceiling of 5,500 metres (18,000 ft) at an elevation of 85 degrees. The maximum effective rate of fire was only between 110 and 120 rounds per minute because of the frequent need to change the 15-round magazines. ### Armour The ship's waterline armour belt was 305 mm (12 in) thick and tapered to a thickness of 100 mm (3.9 in) at its bottom edge; above it was a strake of 229 mm (9 in) armour. The main deck armour was 69 mm (2.7 in) while the lower deck was 75 mm (3 in) thick. The turrets were protected with an armour thickness of 305 mm on the face, 230–190 mm (9.1–7.5 in) on the sides, and 152–127 mm (6–5 in) on the roof. The barbettes of the turrets were protected by armour 305 mm thick, and the casemates of the 140 mm guns were protected by 25 mm armour plates. The sides of the conning tower were 369 mm (14.5 in) thick. The new 41 cm turrets installed during Mutsu's reconstruction were more heavily armoured than the original ones. Face armour was increased to 460 mm (18 in), the sides to 280 mm (11 in), and the roof to 250–230 mm (10–9 in). The armour over the machinery and magazines was increased by 38 mm on the upper deck and 25 mm on the upper armoured deck. These additions increased the weight of the ship's armour to 13,032 tonnes (12,826 long tons), 32.6 percent of her displacement. In early 1941, in preparation for war, Mutsu's barbette armour was reinforced with 100 mm (3.9 in) armour plates above the main deck and 215 mm (8.5 in) plates below it. ### Aircraft Mutsu had an additional boom added to the mainmast in 1926 to handle the Yokosuka E1Y floatplane recently assigned to the ship. In 1933 a catapult was fitted between the mainmast and Turret No. 3, and a collapsible crane was installed in a port-side sponson the following year; the ship was equipped to operate two or three seaplanes, although no hangar was provided. The ship was operating Nakajima E4N2 biplanes until they were replaced by Nakajima E8N2 biplanes in 1938. A more powerful catapult was installed in November 1938 to handle heavier aircraft like the single Kawanishi E7K, added in 1939–40. Mitsubishi F1M biplanes replaced the E8Ns on 11 February 1943. ### Fire control and sensors The ship was fitted with a 10-metre (32 ft 10 in) rangefinder in the forward superstructure. Additional six-metre (19 ft 8 in) and three-metre (9 ft 10 in) anti-aircraft rangefinders were also fitted, although the date is unknown. The rangefinders in No. 2 and 3 turrets were replaced by 10-metre units in 1932–33. Mutsu was initially fitted with a Type 13 fire-control system derived from Vickers equipment received during World War I, but this was replaced by an improved Type 14 system around 1925. It controlled the main and secondary guns; no provision was made for anti-aircraft fire until the Type 31 fire-control director was introduced in 1932. A modified Type 14 fire-control system was tested aboard her sister ship Nagato in 1935 and later approved for service as the Type 94. A new anti-aircraft director, also called the Type 94, used to control the 127 mm AA guns, was introduced in 1937, although when Mutsu received hers is unknown. The 25 mm AA guns were controlled by a Type 95 director that was also introduced in 1937. ## Construction and service Mutsu, named for Mutsu Province, was laid down at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on 1 June 1918 and launched on 31 May 1920. Funding for the ship had partly come from donations from schoolchildren. While Mutsu was still fitting out, the American government called a conference in Washington, D.C. late in 1921 to forestall the expensive naval arms race that was developing between the United States, the United Kingdom and the Empire of Japan. The Washington Naval Conference convened on 12 November and the Americans proposed to scrap virtually every capital ship under construction or being fitted out by the participating nations. Mutsu was specifically listed among those to be scrapped even though she had been commissioned a few weeks earlier. This was unacceptable to the Japanese delegates; they agreed to a compromise that allowed them to keep Mutsu in exchange for scrapping the obsolete dreadnought Settsu, with a similar arrangement for several American Colorado-class dreadnoughts that were fitting out. Mutsu was commissioned on 24 October 1921 with Captain Shizen Komaki in command. Captain Seiichi Kurose assumed command on 18 November and the ship was assigned to the 1st Battleship Division on 1 December. Mutsu hosted Edward, Prince of Wales, and his aide-de-camp and second cousin, Lieutenant Louis Mountbatten, on 12 April 1922 during the prince's visit to Japan. On 4 September 1923, Mutsu loaded supplies at Uchinoura Bay, Kyushu, for the victims of the Great Kantō earthquake. With her sister Nagato, she sank the hulk of the obsolete battleship Satsuma on 7 September 1924 during gunnery practice in Tokyo Bay, in accordance with the Washington Naval Treaty. Captain Mitsumasa Yonai, later Prime Minister of Japan, assumed command on 10 November. The ship was transferred to the reserve on 1 December 1925. Mutsu served as flagship of Emperor Hirohito during the 1927 naval manoeuvres and fleet review. Captain Zengo Yoshida relieved Captain Teikichi Hori on 10 December 1928. On 29 March 1929, the ship was assigned to Battleship Division 3, together with three light cruisers. Mutsu's anti-aircraft armament was upgraded during 1932. Upon completion, she was assigned to Battleship Division 1 of the 1st Fleet, and again served as the Emperor's flagship during the annual maneuvers and fleet review in 1933. The ship was placed in reserve on 15 November and began her lengthy reconstruction. This was completed on 30 September 1936 and Mutsu rejoined the 1st Battleship Division on 1 December 1936. In August 1937, she transported 2,000 men of the 11th Infantry Division to Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Her seaplanes bombed targets in Shanghai on 24 August before she returned to Sasebo the following day. On 15 November 1938, Captain Aritomo Gotō assumed command of the ship. Mutsu was placed in reserve from 15 December 1938 to 15 November 1939. She was refitted in early 1941 in preparation for war; as part of this work, she was fitted with external degaussing coils and additional armour for her barbettes. ### World War II During the war Mutsu saw limited action, spending much of her time in home waters. On 8 December 1941, she sortied for the Bonin Islands, along with Nagato, the battleships Hyūga, Yamashiro, Fusō, and Ise of Battleship Division 2, and the light carrier Hōshō as distant support for the fleet attacking Pearl Harbor, and returned six days later. On 18 January 1942, Mutsu towed the obsolete armoured cruiser Nisshin as a target for the new battleship Yamato, which promptly sank Nisshin. In June 1942 Mutsu, commanded by Rear Admiral Gunji Kogure, was assigned to the Main Body of the 1st Fleet during the Battle of Midway, together with Yamato, Nagato, Hōshō, the light cruiser Sendai, nine destroyers, and four auxiliary ships. Following the loss of all four carriers on 4 June, Yamamoto attempted to lure the American forces west to within range of the Japanese air groups at Wake Island, and into a night engagement with his surface forces, but the American forces withdrew and Mutsu saw no action. After rendezvousing with the remnants of the striking force on 6 June, about half of the survivors from the sunken aircraft carriers of the 1st Air Fleet were transferred to Mutsu. She arrived at Hashirajima on 14 June. On 14 July, Mutsu was transferred to Battleship Division 2 and then to the advance force of the 2nd Fleet on 9 August. Two days later, the ship departed Yokosuka accompanied by the cruisers Atago, Takao, Maya, Haguro, Yura, and Myōkō, the seaplane tender Chitose, and escorting destroyers to support operations during the Guadalcanal Campaign. They arrived at Truk on 17 August. On 20 August, while sailing from Truk to rendezvous with the main body of the 3rd Fleet, Mutsu, the heavy cruiser Atago, and escorting destroyers unsuccessfully attempted to locate the escort carrier USS Long Island in response to a flying boat detecting the American ship. During the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on 27 August, Mutsu, assigned to the support force, fired four shells at enemy reconnaissance aircraft, the first and only time her guns were fired in anger during the war. Mutsu returned to Truk on 2 September; a group of skilled AA gunnery officers and men were detached to serve as instructors to ground-based naval anti-aircraft gunners stationed in Rabaul. During October Mutsu off-loaded surplus fuel oil to the fleet oil tanker Kenyo Maru, allowing the tanker to refuel other ships involved in Guadalcanal operations. On 7 January 1943, Mutsu departed from Truk for Japan via Saipan, accompanied by the carrier Zuikaku, the heavy cruiser Suzuya and four destroyers. Mutsu left Hashirajima for Kure on 13 April, where she prepared to sortie to reinforce the Japanese garrisons in the Aleutian Islands in response to the Battle of the Komandorski Islands. The operation was cancelled the next day and the ship resumed training. ### Loss On 8 June 1943, Mutsu was moored in the Hashirajima fleet anchorage, with 113 flying cadets and 40 instructors from the Tsuchiura Naval Air Group aboard for familiarisation. At 12:13 the magazine of her No. 3 turret exploded, destroying the adjacent structure of the ship and cutting her in two. A massive influx of water into the machinery spaces caused the 150-metre (490 ft) forward section of the ship to capsize to starboard and sink almost immediately. The 45-metre (148 ft) stern section upended and remained floating until about 02:00 hours on 9 June before sinking, coming to rest a few hundred feet south of the main wreck at coordinates . The nearby Fusō immediately launched two boats which, together with the destroyers Tamanami and Wakatsuki and the cruisers Tatsuta and Mogami, rescued 353 survivors from the 1,474 crew members and visitors aboard Mutsu; 1,121 men were killed in the explosion. Only 13 of the visiting aviators were among the survivors. After the explosion, as the rescue operations commenced, the fleet was alerted and the area was searched for Allied submarines, but no traces were found. To avert the potential damage to morale from the loss of a battleship so soon after the string of recent setbacks in the war effort, Mutsu's destruction was declared a state secret. Mass cremations of recovered bodies began almost immediately after the sinking. Captain Teruhiko Miyoshi's body was recovered by divers on 17 June, but his wife was not officially notified until 6 January 1944. Both he and his second in command, Captain Koro Oono, were posthumously promoted to rear admiral, as was normal practice. To further prevent rumours from spreading, healthy and recovered survivors were reassigned to various garrisons in the Pacific Ocean. Some of the survivors were sent to Truk in the Caroline Islands and assigned to the 41st Guard Force. Another 150 were sent to Saipan in the Mariana Islands, where most were killed in 1944 during the battle for the island. At the time of the explosion, Mutsu's magazine contained some 16-inch Type 3 "Sanshikidan" incendiary shrapnel anti-aircraft shells, which had caused a fire at the Sagami arsenal several years earlier due to improper storage. Because they might have been the cause of the explosion, the minister of the navy, Admiral Shimada Shigetaro, immediately ordered the removal of Type 3 shells from all IJN ships carrying them, until the conclusion of the investigation into the loss. ## Investigation into the loss A commission led by Admiral Kōichi Shiozawa was convened three days after the sinking to investigate the loss. The commission considered several possible causes: - Sabotage by enemy secret agents. Given the heavy security at the anchorage and lack of claims of responsibility by the Allies, this could be discounted. - Sabotage by a disgruntled crewman. While no individual was named in the commission's final report, its conclusion was that the cause of the explosion was most likely a crewman in No. 3 turret who had recently been accused of theft and was believed to be suicidal. - A midget or fleet submarine attack. Extensive searches immediately following the sinking had failed to detect any enemy submarine, and the Allies had made no attempt at claiming the enormous propaganda value of sinking a capital ship in her home anchorage; consequently, this possibility was quickly discounted. Eyewitnesses also spoke of a reddish-brown fireball, which indicated a magazine explosion; this was confirmed during exploration of the wreck by divers. - Accidental explosion within a magazine. While the Mutsu carried many projectiles, immediate suspicion focused on the Type 3 anti-aircraft shell as it was believed to have caused a fire before the war at the Sagami arsenal. Known as "sanshiki-dan" (Japanese for "type 3 shell"), these were fired by the main armament and contained 900 to 1,200 25 mm diameter steel tubes (depending upon sources), each containing an incendiary charge. Tests were conducted at Kamegakubi Naval Proving Ground on several shells salvaged from No. 3 turret and on shells from the previous and succeeding manufacturing batches. Using a specially built model of the Mutsu's No. 3 turret, the experiments were unable to induce the shells to explode under normal conditions. The commission issued its preliminary conclusions on 25 June, well before the divers had completed their investigation of the wreck, and concluded that the explosion was the result of a disgruntled seaman. Historian Mike Williams put forward an alternative theory of fire: > A number of observers noted smoke coming from the vicinity of No. 3 turret and the aircraft area just forward of it, just before the explosion. Compared with other nations' warships in wartime service, Japanese battleships contained a large amount of flammable materials including wooden decking, furniture, and insulation, as well as cotton and wool bedding. Although she had been modernized in the 1930s, some of the Mutsu's original electrical wiring may have remained in use. While fire in the secure magazines was a very remote possibility, a fire in an area adjacent to the No. 3 magazine could have raised the temperature to a level sufficient to ignite the highly sensitive black-powder primers stored in the magazine and thus cause the explosion. ## Salvage operations Divers were brought into the area to retrieve bodies and to assess the damage to the ship. Prior to diving on the wreck they were allowed to familiarize themselves on board Mutsu's sister ship, Nagato. The Navy leadership initially gave serious consideration to raising the wreck and rebuilding her, although these plans were dropped after the divers completed their survey of the ship on 22 July. Thus Mutsu was struck from the Navy List on 1 September. As part of the investigation, Dive-boat No. 3746, a small Nishimura-class search and rescue submarine, explored the wreck on 17 June with a crew of seven officers. While crawling on the harbour bottom, it became snagged on the wreckage and its crew nearly suffocated before they could free themselves and surface. In July 1944, the oil-starved IJN recovered 580 tonnes (570 long tons; 640 short tons) of fuel from the wreck. The 1.2-metre (3 ft 11 in) diameter chrysanthemum mon, symbol of the Imperial Throne, was raised in 1953 but lost or scrapped shortly thereafter. One of the 140 mm casemate guns was raised in 1963 and donated to the Yasukuni Shrine. In 1970, the Fukada Salvage Company began salvage operations that lasted until 1978 and scrapped about 75% of the ship. The two aft turrets were raised in 1970 and 1971. Despite the fact that the salvaged components were remarkably preserved, in particular the two gun turrets, bow (including chrysanthemum mount) and stern (with every propeller, and intact rudders and steering gear), the ship was broken up for her low-background steel and sold to an anonymous "research institute." The salvagers retrieved 849 bodies of crewmen lost during the explosion. In 1995, the Mutsu Memorial Museum declared that no further salvage operations were planned. The only significant portion of the ship that remains is a 35-metre (114 ft 10 in) long section running from the bridge structure forward to the vicinity of No. 1 turret. The highest portion of the ship is 12 metres (39 ft 4 in) below the surface. ### Surviving artifacts In addition to the 140 mm gun donated to the Yasukuni Shrine, now on display at the Yasukuni Museum, the following items recovered over the years can be viewed at various museums and memorials in Japan: - Many artifacts are displayed at the Mutsu Memorial Museum in Tōwa-chō. This is a successor to a local museum funded by the town of Suō-Ōshima which opened in July 1970. To make room for a new road, this museum was moved in April 1994 to a new building. Since 1963, a memorial service has been held here every year on 8 June in honour of the crew. A very large portion of the bow was located at Suo-Oshima until at least 2012, but it may have been moved or lost. - The fully restored No. 4 turret is on display on the grounds of the former Imperial Japanese Naval Academy at Etajima. This is the ship's original turret, removed during her refit in the 1930s. - One 410 mm gun from No. 3 turret formerly on display at the Museum of Maritime Science, Shinagawa, in Tokyo was relocated to the grounds of the Verny Commemorative Museum in Yokosuka in September 2016. - A rudder and a section of propeller shaft were on display at the Arashiyama Art Museum until it closed around 1991. The rudder, an anchor and one propeller have been relocated to the JMSDF Kure Museum, directly across the street from the Yamato Museum. The left-side 410 mm gun from No. 3 turret is displayed outside as well, in Daiwa Park, Kure. The current whereabouts of the propeller shaft is now unknown. - A part of the number three gun turret's armour is on display at Shide Shrine in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture. - One of the 410 mm guns is on display at the Hijiri Museum in Omi, Nagano.
174,609	Chicxulub crater	1,172,856,848	Prehistoric impact crater in Mexico	[ "Cretaceous impact craters", "Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary", "Extinction events", "Impact craters of Mexico", "Mérida, Yucatán", "Natural history of the Caribbean", "Natural history of the Yucatán Peninsula", "Oceans", "Prehistoric dinosaurs" ]	The Chicxulub crater () is an impact crater buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Its center is offshore near the community of Chicxulub, after which it is named. It was formed slightly over 66 million years ago when a large asteroid, about ten kilometers (six miles) in diameter, struck Earth. The crater is estimated to be 180 kilometers (110 miles) in diameter and 20 kilometers (12 miles) in depth. It is the second largest confirmed impact structure on Earth, and the only one whose peak ring is intact and directly accessible for scientific research. The crater was discovered by Antonio Camargo and Glen Penfield, geophysicists who had been looking for petroleum in the Yucatán Peninsula during the late 1970s. Penfield was initially unable to obtain evidence that the geological feature was a crater and gave up his search. Later, through contact with Alan R. Hildebrand in 1990, Penfield obtained samples that suggested it was an impact feature. Evidence for the crater's impact origin includes shocked quartz, a gravity anomaly, and tektites in surrounding areas. The date of the impact coincides with the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary (commonly known as the K–Pg or K–T boundary). It is now widely accepted that the resulting devastation and climate disruption was the cause of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, a mass extinction of 75% of plant and animal species on Earth, including all non-avian dinosaurs. ## Discovery In the late 1970s, geologist Walter Alvarez and his father, Nobel Prize-winning scientist Luis Walter Alvarez, put forth their theory that the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction was caused by an impact event. The main evidence of such an impact was contained in a thin layer of clay present in the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary (K–Pg boundary) in Gubbio, Italy. The Alvarezes and colleagues reported that it contained an abnormally high concentration of iridium, a chemical element rare on Earth but common in asteroids. Iridium levels in this layer were as much as 160 times above the background level. It was hypothesized that the iridium was spread into the atmosphere when the impactor was vaporized and settled across Earth's surface among other material thrown up by the impact, producing the layer of iridium-enriched clay. At the time, there was no consensus on what caused the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction and the boundary layer, with theories including a nearby supernova, climate change, or a geomagnetic reversal. The Alvarezes' impact hypothesis was rejected by many paleontologists, who believed that the lack of fossils found close to the K–Pg boundary—the "three-meter problem"—suggested a more gradual die-off of fossil species. The Alvarezes, joined by Frank Asaro and Helen Michel from University of California, Berkeley, published their paper on the iridium anomaly in Science in June 1980. Their paper was followed by other reports of similar iridium spikes at the K–Pg boundary across the globe, and sparked wide interest in the cause of the K–Pg extinction; over 2,000 papers were published in the 1980s on the topic. There were no known impact craters that were the right age and size, spurring a search for a suitable candidate. Recognizing the scope of the work, Lee Hunt and Lee Silver organized a cross-discipline meeting in Snowbird, Utah, in 1981. Unknown to them, evidence of the crater they were looking for was being presented the same week, and would be largely missed by the scientific community. In 1978, geophysicists Glen Penfield and Antonio Camargo were working for the Mexican state-owned oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) as part of an airborne magnetic survey of the Gulf of Mexico north of the Yucatán Peninsula. Penfield's job was to use geophysical data to scout possible locations for oil drilling. In the offshore magnetic data, Penfield noted anomalies whose depth he estimated and mapped. He then obtained onshore gravity data from the 1940s. When the gravity maps and magnetic anomalies were compared, Penfield described a shallow "bullseye", 180 km (110 mi) in diameter, appearing on the otherwise non-magnetic and uniform surroundings—clear evidence to him of an impact feature. A decade earlier, the same map had suggested a crater to contractor Robert Baltosser, but Pemex corporate policy prevented him from publicizing his conclusion. Penfield presented his findings to Pemex, who rejected the crater theory, instead deferring to findings that ascribed the feature to volcanic activity. Pemex disallowed release of specific data, but let Penfield and Camargo present the results at the 1981 Society of Exploration Geophysicists conference. That year's conference was under-attended and their report attracted scant attention, with many experts on impact craters and the K–Pg boundary attending the Snowbird conference instead. Carlos Byars, a Houston Chronicle journalist who was familiar with Penfield and had seen the gravitational and magnetic data himself, wrote a story on Penfield and Camargo's claim, but the news did not disseminate widely. Although Penfield had plenty of geophysical data sets, he had no rock cores or other physical evidence of an impact. He knew Pemex had drilled exploratory wells in the region. In 1951, one bored into what was described as a thick layer of andesite about 1.3 kilometers (4,300 ft) down. This layer could have resulted from the intense heat and pressure of an Earth impact, but at the time of the borings it was dismissed as a lava dome—a feature uncharacteristic of the region's geology. Penfield was encouraged by William C. Phinney, curator of the lunar rocks at the Johnson Space Center, to find these samples to support his hypothesis. Penfield tried to secure site samples, but was told they had been lost or destroyed. When attempts to return to the drill sites to look for corroborating rocks proved fruitless, Penfield abandoned his search, published his findings and returned to his Pemex work. Seeing the 1980 Science paper, Penfield wrote to Walter Alvarez about the Yucatán structure, but received no response. Alvarez and other scientists continued their search for the crater, although they were searching in oceans based on incorrect analysis of glassy spherules from the K–Pg boundary that suggested the impactor had landed in open water. Unaware of Penfield's discovery, University of Arizona graduate student Alan R. Hildebrand and faculty adviser William V. Boynton looked for a crater near the Brazos River in Texas. Their evidence included greenish-brown clay with surplus iridium, containing shocked quartz grains and small weathered glass beads that looked to be tektites. Thick, jumbled deposits of coarse rock fragments were also present, thought to have been scoured from one place and deposited elsewhere by an impact event. Such deposits occur in many locations but seemed concentrated in the Caribbean Basin at the K–Pg boundary. When Haitian professor Florentine Morás discovered what he thought to be evidence of an ancient volcano on Haiti, Hildebrand suggested it could be a telltale feature of a nearby impact. Tests on samples retrieved from the K–Pg boundary revealed more tektite glass, formed only in the heat of asteroid impacts and high-yield nuclear detonations. In 1990, Carlos Byars told Hildebrand of Penfield's earlier discovery of a possible impact crater. Hildebrand contacted Penfield and the pair soon secured two drill samples from the Pemex wells, which had been stored in New Orleans for decades. Hildebrand's team tested the samples, which clearly showed shock-metamorphic materials. A team of California researchers surveying satellite images found a cenote (sinkhole) ring centered on the town of Chicxulub Puerto that matched the one Penfield saw earlier; the cenotes were thought to be caused by subsidence of bolide-weakened lithostratigraphy around the impact crater wall. More recent evidence suggests the crater is 300 km (190 mi) wide, and the 180 km (110 mi) ring is an inner wall of it. Hildebrand, Penfield, Boynton, Camargo, and others published their paper identifying the crater in 1991. The crater was named for the nearby town of Chicxulub. Penfield also recalled that part of the motivation for the name was "to give the academics and NASA naysayers a challenging time pronouncing it" after years of dismissing its existence. In March 2010, forty-one experts from many countries reviewed the available evidence: twenty years' worth of data spanning a variety of fields. They concluded that the impact at Chicxulub triggered the mass extinctions at the K–Pg boundary. Dissenters, notably Gerta Keller of Princeton University, have proposed an alternate culprit: the eruption of the Deccan Traps in what is now the Indian subcontinent. This period of intense volcanism occurred before and after the Chicxulub impact; dissenting studies argue that the worst of the volcanic activity occurred before the impact, and the role of the Deccan Traps was instead shaping the evolution of surviving species post-impact. A 2013 study compared isotopes in impact glass from the Chicxulub impact with isotopes in ash from the K–Pg boundary, concluding that they were dated almost exactly the same within experimental error. ## Impact specifics A 2013 study published in Science estimated the age of the impact as 66,043,000 ± 11,000 years ago (± 43,000 years ago considering systematic error), based on multiple lines of evidence, including argon–argon dating of tektites from Haiti and bentonite horizons overlying the impact horizon in northeastern Montana, United States. This date was supported by a 2015 study based on argon–argon dating of tephra found in lignite beds in the Hell Creek and overlying Fort Union formations in northeastern Montana. A 2018 study based on argon–argon dating of spherules from Gorgonilla Island, Colombia, obtained a slightly different result of 66,051,000 ± 31,000 years ago. The impact has been interpreted to have occurred in Northern Hemisphere spring based on annual isotope curves in sturgeon and paddlefish bones found in an ejecta-bearing sedimentary unit at the Tanis site in southwestern North Dakota. This sedimentary unit is thought to have formed within hours of impact. A 2020 study concluded that the Chicxulub crater was formed by an inclined (45–60° to horizontal) impact from the northeast. The site of the crater at the time of impact was a marine carbonate platform. The water depth at the impact site varied from 100 meters (330 ft) on the western edge of the crater to over 1,200 meters (3,900 ft) on the northeastern edge, with an estimated depth at the centre of the impact of approximately 650 meters (2,130 ft). The seafloor rocks consisted of a sequence of Jurassic–Cretaceous marine sediments, 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) thick. They were predominantly carbonate rock, including dolomite (35–40% of total sequence) and limestone (25–30%), along with evaporites (anhydrite 25–30%), and minor amounts of shale and sandstone (3–4%) underlain by approximately 35 kilometers (22 mi) of continental crust, composed of igneous crystalline basement including granite. There is broad consensus that the Chicxulub impactor was a C-type asteroid with a carbonaceous chondrite-like composition, rather than a comet. In 1998, a 2.5-millimeter (0.098 in) meteorite was described from the North Pacific from sediments spanning the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary; it was suggested to represent a fragment of the Chicxulub impactor. Analysis suggested that it best fitted the criteria of the CV, CO and CR groups of carbonaceous chondrites. A 2021 paper suggested, based on geochemical evidence including the excess of chromium isotope <sup>54</sup>Cr and the ratios of platinum group metals found in marine impact layers, that the impactor matched the characteristics of CM or CR carbonaceous chondrites. The impactor was around 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) in diameter—large enough that, if set at sea level, it would have reached taller than Mount Everest. ### Effects The impactor's velocity was estimated at 20 kilometers per second (12 mi/s). The kinetic energy of the impact was estimated at 72 teratonnes of TNT (300 ZJ). The impact generated winds in excess of 1,000 kilometers per hour (620 mph) near the blast's center, and produced a transient cavity 100 kilometers (62 mi) wide and 30 kilometers (19 mi) deep that later collapsed. This formed a crater mainly under the sea and covered by 600 meters (2,000 ft) of sediment by the 21st century. The impact, expansion of water after filling the crater, and related seismic activity spawned megatsunamis over 100 meters (330 ft) tall, with one simulation suggesting the immediate waves from the impact may have reached up to 1.5 kilometers (0.93 mi) high. The waves scoured the sea floor, leaving ripples underneath what is now Louisiana with average wavelengths of 600 meters (2,000 ft) and average wave heights of 16 meters (52 ft), the largest ripples documented. Material shifted by subsequent earthquakes and the waves reached to what are now Texas and Florida, and may have disturbed sediments as far as 6,000 kilometers (3,700 mi) from the impact site. The impact triggered a seismic event with an estimated magnitude of 9–11 at the impact site. A cloud of hot dust, ash and steam would have spread from the crater, with as much as 25 trillion metric tons of excavated material being ejected into the atmosphere by the blast. Some of this material escaped orbit, dispersing throughout the Solar System, while some of it fell back to Earth, heated to incandescence upon re-entry. The rock heated Earth's surface and ignited wildfires, estimated to have enveloped nearly 70% of the planet's forests. The devastation to living creatures even hundreds of kilometers away was immense, and much of present-day Mexico and the United States would have been devastated. Fossil evidence for an instantaneous extinction of diverse animals was found in a soil layer only 10 centimeters (3.9 in) thick in New Jersey, 2,500 kilometers (1,600 mi) away from the impact site, indicating that death and burial under debris occurred suddenly and quickly over wide distances on land. Field research from the Hell Creek Formation in North Dakota published in 2019 shows the simultaneous mass extinction of myriad species combined with geological and atmospheric features consistent with the impact event. Due to the relatively shallow water, the rock that was vaporized included sulfur-rich gypsum from the lower part of the Cretaceous sequence, and this was injected into the atmosphere. This global dispersal of dust and sulfates would have led to a sudden and catastrophic effect on the climate worldwide, instigating large temperature drops and devastating the food chain. The researchers stated that the impact generated an environmental calamity that extinguished life, but it also induced a vast subsurface hydrothermal system that became an oasis for the recovery of life. Researchers using seismic images of the crater in 2008 determined that the impactor landed in deeper water than previously assumed, which may have resulted in increased sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere, due to more water vapor being available to react with the vaporized anhydrite. This could have made the impact even deadlier by cooling the climate and generating acid rain. The emission of dust and particles could have covered the entire surface of Earth for several years, possibly a decade, creating a harsh environment for living things. Production of carbon dioxide caused by the destruction of carbonate rocks would have led to a sudden greenhouse effect. For over a decade or longer, sunlight would have been blocked from reaching the surface of Earth by the dust particles in the atmosphere, cooling the surface dramatically. Photosynthesis by plants would also have been interrupted, affecting the entire food chain. A model of the event developed by Lomax et al (2001) suggests that net primary productivity rates may have increased to higher than pre-impact levels over the long term because of the high carbon dioxide concentrations. A long-term local effect of the impact was the creation of the Yucatán sedimentary basin which "ultimately produced favorable conditions for human settlement in a region where surface water is scarce". ## Post-discovery investigations ### Geophysical data Two seismic reflection datasets have been acquired over the offshore parts of the crater since its discovery. Older 2D seismic datasets have also been used that were originally acquired for hydrocarbon exploration. A set of three long-record 2D lines was acquired in October 1996, with a total length of 650 kilometers (400 mi), by the BIRPS group. The longest of the lines, Chicx-A, was shot parallel to the coast, while Chicx-B and Chicx-C were shot NW–SE and SSW–NNE respectively. In addition to the conventional seismic reflection imaging, data was recorded onshore to allow wide-angle refraction imaging. In 2005, another set of profiles was acquired, bringing the total length of 2D deep-penetration seismic data up to 2,470 kilometers (1,530 mi). This survey also used ocean bottom seismometers and land stations to allow 3D travel time inversion to improve the understanding of the velocity structure of the crater. The data was concentrated around the interpreted offshore peak ring to help identify possible drilling locations. At the same time, gravity data were acquired along 7,638 kilometers (4,746 mi) of profiles. The acquisition was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) with logistical assistance from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and the Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán (CICY – Yucatán Center for Scientific Investigation). ### Borehole drilling Intermittent core samples from hydrocarbon exploration boreholes drilled by Pemex on the Yucatán peninsula have provided some useful data. UNAM drilled a series of eight fully-cored boreholes in 1995, three of which penetrated deeply enough to reach the ejecta deposits outside the main crater rim, UNAM-5, 6 and 7. In 2001–2002, a scientific borehole was drilled near the Hacienda Yaxcopoil, known as Yaxcopoil-1 (or more commonly Yax-1), to a depth of 1,511 meters (4,957 ft) below the surface, as part of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program. The borehole was cored continuously, passing through 100 meters (330 ft) of impactites. Three fully-cored boreholes were also drilled by the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (Federal Electricity Commission) with UNAM. One of them, (BEV-4), was deep enough to reach the ejecta deposits. In 2016, a joint United Kingdom–United States team obtained the first offshore core samples, from the peak ring in the central zone of the crater with the drilling of the borehole known as M0077A, part of Expedition 364 of the International Ocean Discovery Program. The borehole reached 1,335 meters (4,380 ft) below the seafloor. ## Morphology The form and structure (morphology) of the Chicxulub crater is known mainly from geophysical data. It has a well-defined concentric multi-ring structure. The outermost ring was identified using seismic reflection data. It is up to 130 kilometers (81 mi) from the crater center, and is a ring of normal faults, throwing down towards the crater center, marking the outer limit of significant crustal deformation. This makes it one of the three largest impact structures on Earth. Moving into the center, the next ring is the main crater rim, also known as the "inner rim" which correlates with a ring of cenotes onshore and a major circular Bouguer gravity gradient anomaly. This has a radius that varies between 70 and 85 kilometers (43 and 53 mi). The next ring structure, moving inwards, is the peak ring. The area between the inner rim and peak ring is described as the "terrace zone", characterized by a series of fault blocks defined by normal faults dipping towards the crater center, sometimes referred to as "slump blocks". The peak ring is about 80 km in diameter and of variable height, from 400 to 600 meters (1,300 to 2,000 ft) above the base of the crater in the west and northwest and 200 to 300 meters (660 to 980 ft) in the north, northeast and east. The central part of the crater lies above a zone where the mantle was uplifted such that the Moho is shallower by about 1–2 kilometers (0.62–1.24 mi) compared to regional values. The ring structures are best developed to the south, west and northwest, becoming more indistinct towards the north and northeast of the structure. This is interpreted to be a result of variable water depth at the time of impact, with less well-defined rings resulting from the areas with water depths significantly deeper than 100 meters (330 ft). ## Geology ### Pre-impact geology Before the impact, the geology of the Yucatán area, sometimes referred to as the "target rocks", consisted of a sequence of mainly Cretaceous limestones, overlying red beds of uncertain age above an unconformity with the dominantly granitic basement. The basement forms part of the Maya Block and information about its makeup and age in the Yucatán area has come only from drilling results around the Chicxulub crater and the analysis of basement material found as part of the ejecta at more distant K–Pg boundary sites. The Maya block is one of a group of crustal blocks found at the edge of the Gondwana continent. Zircon ages are consistent with the presence of an underlying Grenville age crust, with large amounts of late Ediacaran arc-related igneous rocks, interpreted to have formed in the Pan-African orogeny. Late Paleozoic granitoids (the distinctive "pink granite") were found in the peak ring borehole M0077A, with an estimated age of 326 ± 5 million years ago (Carboniferous). These have an adakitic composition and are interpreted to represent the effects of slab detachment during the Marathon-Ouachita orogeny, part of the collision between Laurentia and Gondwana that created the Pangaea supercontinent. Red beds of variable thickness, up to 115 meters (377 ft), overlay the granitic basement, particularly in the southern part of the area. These continental clastic rocks are thought to be of Triassic-to-Jurassic age, although they may extend into the Lower Cretaceous. The lower part of the Lower Cretaceous sequence consists of dolomite with interbedded anhydrite and gypsum, with the upper part being limestone, with dolomite and anhydrite in part. The thickness of the Lower Cretaceous varies from 750 meters (2,460 ft) up to 1,675 meters (5,495 ft) in the boreholes. The Upper Cretaceous sequence is mainly platform limestone, with marl and interbedded anhydrite. It varies in thickness from 600 meters (2,000 ft) up to 1,200 meters (3,900 ft). There is evidence for a Cretaceous basin within the Yucatán area that has been named the Yucatán Trough, running approximately south–north, widening northwards, explaining the observed thickness variations. ### Impact rocks The most common observed impact rocks are suevites, found in many of the boreholes drilled around the Chicxulub crater. Most of the suevites were resedimented soon after the impact by the resurgence of oceanic water into the crater. This gave rise to a layer of suevite extending from the inner part of the crater out as far as the outer rim. Impact melt rocks are thought to fill the central part of the crater, with a maximum thickness of 3 kilometers (1.9 mi). The samples of melt rock that have been studied have overall compositions similar to that of the basement rocks, with some indications of mixing with carbonate source, presumed to be derived from the Cretaceous carbonates. An analysis of melt rocks sampled by the M0077A borehole indicates two types of melt rock, an upper impact melt (UIM), which has a clear carbonate component as shown by its overall chemistry and the presence of rare limestone clasts and a lower impact melt-bearing unit (LIMB) that lacks any carbonate component. The difference between the two impact melts is interpreted to be a result of the upper part of the initial impact melt, represented by the LIMB in the borehole, becoming mixed with materials from the shallow part of the crust either falling back into the crater or being brought back by the resurgence forming the UIM. The "pink granite", a granitoid rich in alkali feldspar found in the peak ring borehole shows many deformation features that record the extreme strains associated with the formation of the crater and the subsequent development of the peak ring. The granitoid has an unusually low density and P-wave velocity compared to typical granitic basement rocks. Study of the core from M0077A shows the following deformation features in apparent order of development: pervasive fracturing along and through grain boundaries, a high density of shear faults, bands of cataclasite and ultra-cataclasite and some ductile shear structures. This deformation sequence is interpreted to result from initial crater formation involving acoustic fluidization followed by shear faulting with the development of cataclasites with fault zones containing impact melts. The peak ring drilling below the sea floor also discovered evidence of a massive hydrothermal system, which modified approximately 1.4 × 10<sup>5</sup> km<sup>3</sup> of Earth's crust and lasted for hundreds of thousands of years. These hydrothermal systems may provide support for the impact origin of life hypothesis for the Hadean eon, when the entire surface of Earth was affected by impactors much larger than the Chicxulub impactor. ### Post-impact geology After the immediate effects of the impact had stopped, sedimentation in the Chicxulub area returned to the shallow water platform carbonate depositional environment that characterised it before the impact. The sequence, which dates back as far as the Paleocene, consists of marl and limestone, reaching a thickness of about 1,000 m (3,300 ft). The K–Pg boundary inside the crater is significantly deeper than in the surrounding area. On the Yucatán peninsula, the inner rim of the crater is marked by clusters of cenotes, which are the surface expression of a zone of preferential groundwater flow, moving water from a recharge zone in the south to the coast through a karstic aquifer system. From the cenote locations, the karstic aquifer is clearly related to the underlying crater rim, possibly through higher levels of fracturing, caused by differential compaction. ## Astronomical origin of impactor In September 2007, a report published in Nature proposed an origin for the asteroid that created the Chicxulub crater. The authors, William F. Bottke, David Vokrouhlický, and David Nesvorný, argued that a collision in the asteroid belt 160 million years ago between a 170 km (106 mi) diameter parent body and another 60 km (37 mi) diameter body, resulted in the Baptistina family of asteroids, the largest surviving member of which is 298 Baptistina. They proposed that the "Chicxulub asteroid" was also a member of this group. The Baptistina family was subsequently considered an unlikely source of the Chicxulub asteroid because a spectrographic analysis published in 2009 revealed that 298 Baptistina has a different composition more typical of an S-type asteroid than the presumed carbonaceous chondrite composition of the Chicxulub impactor. In 2011, data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer revised the date of the collision which created the Baptistina family to about 80 million years ago. This made an asteroid from this family highly improbable to be the asteroid that created the Chicxulub crater, as typically the process of resonance and collision of an asteroid takes many tens of millions of years. In 2010, another hypothesis implicated the newly discovered asteroid 354P/LINEAR, a member of the Flora family of asteroids, as a possible remnant cohort of the K–Pg impactor. In July 2021, a study reported that the impactor likely originated in the outer main part of the asteroid belt, based on numerical simulations. The original 1980 paper describing the crater suggested that it was created by an asteroid around 6.6 kilometers (4.1 mi) in diameter. Two papers published in 1984 proposed the impactor to be a comet originating from the Oort cloud, and it was proposed in 1992 that tidal disruption of comets could potentially increase impact rates. In February 2021, four independent laboratories reported elevated concentrations of iridium in the crater's peak ring, further corroborating the asteroid impact hypothesis. In the same month, Avi Loeb and a colleague published a study in Scientific Reports suggesting the impactor was a fragment from a disrupted comet, rather than an asteroid—the long-standing leading candidate among scientists. This was followed by a rebuttal published in Astronomy & Geophysics that June, which charged that the paper ignored the fact that the mass of iridium deposited across the globe by the impact (estimated to be approximately 2.0–2.8 × 10<sup>11</sup> grams), was too large to be created by a comet impactor the size required to create the crater, and that Loeb et al. had overestimated likely comet impact rates. They found that an asteroid impactor was strongly favored by all available evidence, and that a comet impactor could be effectively ruled out. ## See also - Barberton Greenstone Belt - List of impact craters on Earth - List of possible impact structures on Earth - Nadir crater - Permian–Triassic extinction event - Timeline of Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event research

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